To Hell and Back

by byrhthelm

A favour refused and a chance meeting with an old and dear friend turns Harmon Rabb's world on its head.

7. Chapter 7

To Hell and Back

Chapter 7

At twenty-one thirty hours a grit and dust-covered Harm looked at his equally filthy family and at the pile of salvaged bricks, now neatly stacked just inside the newly formed arch ready to fill in the hole when he took out the second door to the hallway.

Well… I think that's about enough bricks…"

"Enough?" Mattie muttered mutinously, "There's way more than enough! He… uh… heck, Harm, you've got enough bricks here to build another Smithsonian Arts Building!"

"It might look like that," Harm agreed, not at all put out by the teenager's dour mood, "but it would be playing he… uh… heck if, when I take out that door, there wouldn't be enough bricks to fill the hole."

Mattie winced, and reddened. Because neither Harm nor Beth had immediately picked her up over her near verbal lapse, she'd figured she'd gotten away with it, but Harm's deliberate use of the same formula of near slip and recovery meant that he had noticed, and moreover, had just very gently reprimanded her.

"Just so," Harm commented gravely, fighting to keep the amusement he felt out of his voice and face, "But now, we need to get cleaned up. Beth… If you could start a pan of milk for some hot chocolate while Mattie and I shower, I'll be out in five minutes and take over while you use my shower to get freshened up."

"Good thinking Badman One!" Beth grinned. She used Harm's old Patrick Henry tactical call sign as an excuse for her smile, which really had been caused by the by-play between Mattie and Harm over the latter's gentle reproof of the teenager.

With their naval habits firmly engrained Harm was out of the shower and had taken over the preparation of the drinks, while Beth also returned to the lounge and started to make down her bed on the couch before Mattie emerged from the refuge of her own (for the present) bathroom. Gratefully accepting a mug of hot chocolate from Harm she sank onto one of the armchairs and bemusedly shook her head, "I just don't get it, how do the two of you manage to shower so quickly? I mean I can understand how Harm does it, he's got much less hair to wash – it took ages to get the grit and brick dust out of mine! But, Skates, your hair is almost as long as mine, so how do you do it?"

"That's the Navy for you, Kiddo. On board ship there are a lot of bodies, not a lot of showers and not a lot of water. So you get used to showering quickly. First you stand under the water and get wet all over, then you turn the water off, lather up and scrub, then back under the water to rinse off. While we don't exactly follow the same routine ashore, you never quite lose the feeling that there's someone waiting impatiently for you to finish so they can get their shower!"

"That still doesn't explain the hair, though…" Mattie objected.

"All part and parcel of it, Matts. You just have to be ruthless and ignore the tears! Of course, although my hair is as long, almost, as yours, but isn't anywhere near so curly, so washing and drying is comparatively quick and simple, but, I cheat. Unless I'm making a special effort, I just give my hair a rough towel dry and then let it dry on its own."

"So… you're going to need extra time tomorrow, then?" Harm asked slyly, but Beth wasn't biting.

"Probably," she agreed in an equitable voice before taking a deeply appreciative sip of her chocolate. "Nutmeg?" she queried.

"What else?" Harm smiled.

"Well, whatever it was it was good!" Mattie enthused, having gulped down her drink in typical teenage fashion.

"Finished already, Matts?" Harm asked.

"M'mm… it was too good to let go cold. Mom used to make it with shaved chocolate on top of whipped cream, but I could get used to this!" Mattie smiled.

"I'll just bet you could!" Harm agreed and then glanced at his watch, "But it's about time you got used to going to bed."

"I'm not really tired, Harm…" Mattie objected.

"Well, for someone who isn't tired, you're putting on pretty convincing act! Go on, I can see your eyes drooping from clear over here!"

"Well, maybe an early night wouldn't hurt," Mattie conceded in a slightly grudging voice, and then completely betrayed herself by falling prey to an enormous yawn. Once she had recovered she grinned in some embarrassment, "Oh… well, maybe I am more tired than I thought! So, yeah, bed suddenly sounds like a good idea!"

"Goodnight then Squirt!" Harm smiled.

"Goodnight, Mattie," Beth added and then continued, "Oh, just leave your mug on the coffee table, we'll sort it out.

Mattie who had taken a step towards the kitchen are stopped, turned and placed her mug on the table, "Thanks, guys. Goodnight!" and with a sunny smile Mattie ducked under the newly-made arch as if she suspected it might collapse on her at any second, and crossed what would be the new living room to her bedroom.

"Some show of confidence in your handiwork there!" Beth grinned at Harm, neither of whom had missed Mattie's flinch.

"She'll get used to it in a day or two," Harm said as he drained his mug, "Finished?" he asked as he levered himself to his feet.

"Not quite," Beth replied raising her mug to her lips and emptying the last few drops before handing the empty mug to Harm, who took it with a smile and turned towards the kitchen area.

Harm spent a couple of minutes cleaning the pan in which the milk had been heated and rinsing out the mugs, not realising that while he was doing so, Beth had stripped down to her underwear and was just about to climb into her sleepwear when Harm turned to cross the room back in the direction of his own bedroom.

Harm had seen Beth in similar states of undress before, in the locker room aboard the Patrick Henry more than just a few occasions as she changed into and out of her flight suit, and really, the sight of her in underwear was no more revealing than a bikini, in which he also seen her on various beaches during liberty ashore in various ports, but for some reason, maybe the domestic setting, made this time different, and Harm was instantly aware of the eroticism in the play of her muscle sliding smoothly under her skin as Beth bent and reached for her nightwear. Angry and embarrassed with himself at his, as far as he was concerned, untoward reaction to the situation he swiftly turned back towards the sink, pretending to busy for another minute or two, so by the time he turned back, Beth was not only in her crimson silk pyjamas, but was sliding under the comforter on the couch.

"All done?" she asked.

Harm just smiled nodded, not quite trusting himself to speak, but drawing a knitted brow glance from Beth, who then gave a mental shrug, "Put the light out on your way, please Harm."

Harm nodded again.

Beth instinctively felt that there was something wrong, and tried again, "Goodnight then, Harm."

Harm had no choice, this time he had to respond, so he licked his suddenly dry lips before he spoke, "Goodnight, Beth, sleep tight," but his answer came from an equally dry throat and was more of croak.

"Harm, are you alright?" Beth asked, sitting up.

Harm cleared his throat and grinned sheepishly, "Uh, yeah, just a bit of a frog in my throat," he explained.

"Oh, if that's all…" Beth lay down again and pulled the comforter up over her shoulders and closed her eyes, only to open one of them and with a grin to say, "Goodnight, again, Harm."

This time Harm's "Goodnight, Beth," sounded more like him, so reassured that there was nothing wrong, the petite brunette smiled again and closed her eyes. The click of the light switch was the signal for Beth to compose herself for sleep and within minutes she had slipped into dreamland.

Harm almost gave himself a head slap, 'For God's sake, Rabb! Have you turned into some sort of animal that can't keep himself under control? That's Beth out there! Yes, I know we said we'd start dating, but our first date isn't until tomorrow! And we haven't even kissed yet! You've got no right to be thinking those thoughts!"

Not that his mental berating was of any help. No sooner had he slid under his own comforter and turned out the light than he found that his brain was replaying the sight of Beth getting ready for bed. With a silent groan he resigned himself to a restless night – that is if he ever got to sleep.

xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

Much to his surprise when Harm woke on Friday morning he realised that he must have slept, although he felt muzzy-headed, tired and grumpier than usual, so it was with a muttered curse that he threw the comforter off and scrambled out of bed and into his running gear. Exiting the bedroom in the doomed hope that Beth was still a-bed he saw that she too was up and dressed ready for running, with her bedding already neatly folded and stowed away on the lower shelf of the coffee table.

"Oh good, you are going. Okay if I join you?"

Totally unable to come up with a polite reason why she shouldn't, Harm gave a grunt that signified his assent and looping the spare apartment and building keys around his neck on their length of cord he grunted something that Beth more or less interpreted correctly as "C'mon then," and followed him out into the hallway and down the three flights of stairs to ground level.

Once outside Harm went through his five minute stretching exercises and then without so much as a word or a sign that Beth, who had been completing her own warm up, should follow him, he set out at a steady pace for Florida Avenue and M Street ready to cross over the Avenue into Gallaudet Campus, where he planned a couple of laps of a figure of eight circuit that also took in Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Snorting her displeasure at Harm's incivility, but putting it down to Harm's habitual early morning grumpiness, Beth fell in alongside him, easily matching her pace to his, proving to her own satisfaction that she hadn't lost much of the speed and endurance that had seen her as a star of middle-distance track and field events at the academy.

The two ran on steadily, and Harm once they had crossed Florida Avenue and hit the walkways on the campus, was surprised when he opened his stride and increased his pace to find that Beth was right there on his shoulder. A slight frown creased his forehead and again he increased his pace, and again Beth kept with him. A further spurt on his part only elicited the same response from his former RIO, and at last seeing the absurdity of the situation, Harm relaxed and for the first time since he had started the run he began to enjoy it. Beth noticed the tension ooze out of Harm's shoulders and smiled inwardly, whatever had been wrong with Harm's morning seemed to have dissolved in the effort he had put into his running.

Shaking his head at his own foolishness, it hadn't after all been Beth he had been running from, but his own thoughts, Harm eased up to a more reasonable pace, and glancing sideways grinned down at Beth to have his grin returned by her dazzling smile.

Forty minutes and seven miles after they had set out on their run the pair eased to a jog as they covered the last couple of hundred yards down Fourth Street NE towards the alley where the lot building stood where Harm danced lightly on his toes, just to keep moving, as he opened the building door and turned right for the stairs.

"Not the elevator?" Beth asked.

Harm shook his head, "I use the stairs to cool down," he explained as he started up at a walk. Beth shrugged and followed on behind him, silently acknowledging that he made sense.

Mattie was already up, showered and dressed when they entered the apartment and was busy at the worktop in the kitchen area, filling the old-fashioned percolator with water before placing the coffee-laden liner over the spigot. "Be ready in five minutes!" she called over her shoulder as Harm headed for his en-suite bathroom and Beth headed for the second bathroom, which she and Mattie shared.

While Harm was showering the almost euphoric state produced by the endorphins that had been generated during his run slowly dissipated, so by the time he had dried and dressed in uniform he was back in a sombre, thoughtful mood, making an almost silent breakfast, which Beth wrote off as Harm's normal early morning mood – she had seen him like this more than enough times aboard ship, and when he replied to Mattie's chatter with a couple of monosyllabic grunts, Beth shot the teenager a warning glance and rolled her eyes, but as the minutes ticked lowly by she too became concerned. Harm's early morning grumpiness as usually expressed by impatient responses to other people's comments and questions. But today he seemed abstracted, and taken with his mood on their run, Beth came to the conclusion that something was not well in the world of Harmon Rabb.

Harm was absorbed in his thoughts barely noticing what he ate and drank while for Beth and Mattie the rest of the meal passed in an almost oppressive silence, and by the end of breakfast they were exchanging guarded but worried frowns. Harm dealt with the breakfast detritus almost on automatic pilot, still obviously immersed in his thoughts and it barely registered with him when Beth said, "I'd like to take Mattie to school this morning. It's about time I did some of the ferrying and after all I haven't even seen the place yet!"

"Huh? Oh… yeah… go ahead…" Harm murmured as he shrugged into his uniform jacket.

Given Harm's absent approval of her idea, Beth said quietly to Mattie, "Grab your gear and let's get saddled up before he decides he wants to re-join the human race!"

xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

Once they were safely in Beth's car and the wheels were rolling an exasperated Mattie turned towards Beth, "Umm… would anyone like to tell me what the heck is going on this morning!"

"Believe me, Mattie, if I knew, I would have said something and then tried to help to fix whatever the problem is! At first I thought it was just Harm's normal early morning grumpiness, and he seemed to have worked that off during our run…"

"You went running with him? Wow! Cool, was it tough keeping up with him?"

"No, I used to run middle distance track at the Academy… but that's not the point right now! Something is definitely wrong with Harm this morning!"

"Yeah, this wasn't his usual early morning self… he seemed… I don't know… distracted, like he was thinking very hard about something? I mean, he was alright when I went to bed last night…" Mattie chewed her bottom lip for a moment before she asked, "You guys didn't have a fight after I went to bed, did you?"

Beth shook her head, "No… we weren't very many minutes later than you. We finished our drinks, and Harm did the washing up while I got my bed ready then he turned the light out and I dropped straight off to sleep. But why should you think we had a fight?"

"Well… like I said, he was okay last night, and then this morning during breakfast when you weren't looking, he kept looking at you out of the corner of his eye, like whatever was bugging him had to do with you! And I thought you two had sorted all that out the other evening!"

"So did I Mattie! That is, if you're right! But whatever's going on there, I'm not going to let it colour the whole weekend! I'll call him later – don't forget we're all supposed to be going to Lieutenant Commander Singer's wet down this evening!"

"Oh, cra… Uh… Oh… darn it, yeah! It's not going to be much fun if he keeps that mood going all day and all night!"

"No, it's not! And for heaven's sake Mattie, try to watch your language tonight!"

"I know, I know," Mattie said penitently, "And I do try, but I grew up in the hangar around mechanics and pilots who aren't exactly known for saying 'oh dear' when they skin their knuckles or something goes wrong with their plane! My mom used to try to keep me in line, but my dad, well he could cuss with the best of them, and he did – even in the house!"

"And you really want to take your dad as a role model?" Beth asked sardonically.

"Of course not! I am not going to be a drunk, a thief or a liar! But it's a habit, and some habits are hard to break. I am trying, Beth, honestly!"

"So… try a little harder, hey? You're doing pretty well, but pretty well can be bettered!" Beth advised her.

Mattie nodded, "I'll do that!"

Beth braked to a halt at the edge of the pavement outside the school and sat for a moment in thought, and then her mind made, she turned to Mattie, "Okay, as you believe that it's something to do with me that's got Harm all bent out of shape, I'll give him a call this morning and try to fix up a lunch time face to face so we can hammer this out!"

Mattie nodded and her irrepressible grin spread across her face, "Now, that sounds like a plan!" she agreed enthusiastically.

Beth laughed, "Go on, get outta here, or you're going to be late for home room!"

Mattie looked out of the side window of the car at the throng of students milling round the steps leading into the school building, "Yeah, right," she agreed, but with a sigh she turned around and grabbed her book bag from the back seat and then opened her door and slid out of the car.

"One of us will pick you up this afternoon," Beth told Mattie. "Fifteen thirty hours, right?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the teenager grinned and with a casually flipped mockery of a salute and another flashing grin she merged with the stream of other students making their way towards the steps, "Hey, Susan! Wait up!" Beth heard Mattie's clarion call as she attracted the attention of one of her new friends, and with a grin of her own and an indulgent shake of her head, Beth knocked the car into gear and pulled away from the kerbside.

xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

Harm tried to concentrate on work, and he had managed, before the daily briefing to arrange a visit to Norfolk to interview Seaman Apprentice Bander. And that would happen straight after staff call on Monday. With the telephone replaced on its cradle he had steepled his fingers and sat back to ponder his own problems for a few minutes until adjourning to the Admiral's Office for his daily briefing. He had come no nearer to finding resolution when a tap on his door frame alerted him to another presence.

"Hey, old buddy, you going to sit there day-dreaming all day, or are you actually going to move your butt and get it to staff call, you've got about thirty seconds before you're adrift!" Sturgis Turner flung the last few words back over his shoulder as he headed at a fast pace across the bull pen. Harm stifled yet another oath and grabbing a legal pad he almost raced after the tall former submariner, catching up with him just as he entered the conference room, a bare few seconds ahead of Legalman One Coates who brought everyone in the room to their feet with her shout of "Admiral on deck!"

Nothing earth shattering had transpired at staff call, a couple of cases that were coming up for appeal needed to be checked through for any procedural errors, other than that his workload hadn't increased. So now he shut himself in his office, his mind a-whirl.

He had had time enough on the drive to Falls Church to become acutely conscious of his breakfast behaviour, and that awareness had done nothing to improve his tarnished self-image. Okay, he was still mad at himself for his reaction to the sight of Beth's half-clad body, and she deserved much, much better from him. After all, by sleeping on his couch and, yes, even by unself-consciously getting ready for bed in his presence, she had shown complete and total trust in him as a friend, and by his reaction he had betrayed that trust and shamed himself. But that was no reason for him to take out his annoyance on other people, especially not Beth and Mattie who had done nothing to deserve his surliness. So now he had the task of making a suitable apology to both Beth and Mattie for his behaviour this morning, without explaining the reason for his bad temper, if possible.

xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

Beth's morning had gone much better as far as her work was concerned. She had spent the most of the morning so far in publishing the report she had compiled on the deliberations of the late night meeting of a couple of days ago, and had printed, signed and despatched to her head of section. The meeting had made several recommendations, not the least of which was the retention on the F-14 until the naval version of the F-35 was service ready. Not that all the operational reasons for such a recommendation would make the slightest bit of difference to the minds of the non-aviators who held the Navy's purses strings.

But she was concerned about Harm's behaviour too. Mattie's question as to whether she and Harm had had a fight after the youngster had gone to bed had triggered a memory. The memory of Harm's suddenly constricted voice, his 'frog in the throat' as he bid her good night.

Beth frowned, he had been fine right up to then, the evening had passed companionably, if grittily, enough and Mattie had taken advantage of the opportunity to try to glean from Harm the story of some of his more outrageous exploits both in the air and in the courtroom. Harm had, naturally enough, proved to be laughingly reticent, but Beth had spilled the beans in recounting the tailhook rescue of David Medwick and his RIO after their F-14 had been damaged over hostile territory. Even then Harm had laughingly shrugged off Mattie's awe-struck 'wow', "Hey, I wouldn't have even tried it if the gal in the back seat hadn't come up with the necessary calculations as fast as you can snap your fingers!"

So… what had gone wrong in those last few minutes? Cudgelling her brains provoked no answer of any kind, but Beth wouldn't, couldn't let things lie as they fell. She hated pressuring Harm, knowing how much he disliked that, but she needed some sort of answer. And with a resigned sigh she reached for her phone and dialled his office number.

"Rabb."

"Hey, Harm, it's Beth. Can we meet for lunch…? Harm we need to talk."

"Umm… Beth… if it's about my bad temper this morning… Look I'm sorry about that, deeply sorry. The thing is I had a bad night last night and it wrong-footed me this morning, but that's no excuse. I shouldn't have taken my bad mood out on you and Mattie."

"No, Harm, you shouldn't. I accept that you're sorry about being such an ass, but I'm not buying that explanation you just gave, not for one minute. I've been doing some thinking this morning, and it seems to me that whatever hair got up your ass happened between Mattie going to bed and us going to bed, and I want to know what the hell happened. One minute you were fine, relaxed, joking, teasing Mattie and then… Wham! You got all stiff, and your voice got tight. You said you had a frog in your throat, and I believed you then, but not anymore. So, no more lies, please, Harm. Come clean. Whatever's bugging you we can work out. We worked out our problem about me coming to live with you and Mattie, and we talked it out. We can do the same this time around Harm, please!"

Harm swallowed nervously, he had forgotten just how percipient Beth could be, and just how retentive her memory was when it came to details… especially details he'd rather she forgot, so he made one last attempt to stave off what he saw as a looming disaster.

"Yeah, well, we can't really talk about this on the phone, and we can't talk about it at home with Mattie around, so…"

"So we meet for lunch. Just like I said." Beth replied her voice heavy with patience. "Because if we don't talk this out, and talk it out today, I can't see us pretending to be a happy family at the wet-down this evening. And if that's the case, then I'd rather not go at all, and I'm pretty sure that Mattie will agree with me!"

"Beth, that's blackmail!" Harm protested.

"Yep!" Beth replied with every evidence of satisfaction in her voice.

Like any good officer, Harm knew when his position was untenable and when retreat was the wisest, if not the only, course of action to take. "Okay… I'll meet you half-way. Do you know the Dogfish? It's on the six two hundred block on the Leesburg Pike just outside Falls Church?"

"I'll find it," Beth hesitated, and when she spoke again her voice was softer, "We do need to talk about this, Harm."

Harm sighed and passed a hand backwards over his hair, "Yeah… yeah, we do…"

xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

Harm arrived at the Dogfish, as he had expected, before Beth. It was nearer to Falls Church than the Pentagon and there was less traffic for him to cope with, unlike Beth who had to navigate her way through Pentagon City's notoriously congested streets before she hit the open road. He walked into the restaurant to be greeted by a smiling brunette in her early forties, "Just a table for one, Commander?" she asked.

"No, I'll be joined by another officer, she'll be in uniform so if you could show me to a quiet table, and then steer her in my direction once she arrives?"

Her eyes flitted to his hand, ringless, except for his academy class ring, and Harm was pretty sure he saw a glint of suspicion in her eyes, but then she smiled again, "Sure, thing, Commander!" She smiled as she saw the question in his eyes, "Former CS Two, twelve years before I married Jack…" she nodded her head in the direction of the kitchen door, even as she guided Harm to a secluded corner table next to a window that was draped with a fishing net. She slid two menus onto the table, "While you're waiting, is there anything I can get you?"

"Uh… Just a large bottle of mineral water and two glasses, please."

"You got, it!" she smiled and whirled away in the direction of the bar, to return in less than two minutes with the water and the glasses and just in time to greet the next customer through the door.

"Good afternoon, Lieutenant. This way please. Your friend's already here."

Beth smiled her thanks and dutifully followed the woman to Harm's table. Harm stood as she approached and waited until she had seated herself before sitting down again.

Beth was in no mood to waste time in small talk and as soon as she had sat down she looked across the table straight into Harm's eyes, "Okay, Hammer, what the hell was this morning all about if it wasn't just early morning grumpiness?"

"Beth, I promise I will tell you, but let's order first and get our food delivered, otherwise it's going to be a bit difficult to put into a coherent whole. Please?"

Beth glowered but she had had enough experience of trying to hold a private conversation in a restaurant to recognise the justice of Harm's words and with an "Okay…" she picked up the menu and began to scan it, her eyebrows rising slightly at the extent of the dishes on offer.

Temporarily distracted she shook her head, "Harm, we are going to have to come back here one evening and have dinner. This menu is fantastic!"

"M'mm let's see if the food is as good first," Harm countered.

"You mean you've never eaten here before?"

"No, but back in October, Tuna had just come ashore and he and Loren ate here, and she enthused about the place, even though she's not a great fan of sea-food." Harm paused and looked slightly surprised when Beth put the menu down, "You've decided already?"

"Yeah, I'll have the shrimp salad. Time's not on our side today, is it?"

"No it's not. I know I'm going to be adrift, but I'm okay with that. But how about you?"

"Yeah, I told Captain Neville, I had some personal business to attend to, and he said okay too. He knows that I'm in the process of moving into a construction site and…"

But Beth was interrupted, as the waitress returned to the table to take their orders, Harm having decided on the same dish as Beth, and once again as they were left on their own they stayed mostly silent, apart from the odd inconsequential remark.

Things changed however some minutes later when the waitress returned with their meals. She deftly slid a plate in front of each of them with a smiling, "Enjoy your meal!"

"Thank you," Harm replied gravely, "There is just one other thing, though."

"Sure, what is it?" the waitress asked her hand going to her apron pocket for her order pad.

"No, nothing off the menu, thanks," Harm said affably, "but could you please ensure that we are not disturbed, by anyone, for anything?"

The waitress cast a quick look from Harm to Beth, nodded wisely and her smile even wider whisked away.

Beth's eyes followed the waitress and then turning back to Harm said, "You do realise that she thinks there's something romantic going on here. She probably thinks you're about to propose."

"I can't help what other people think," Harm said defensively.

"No, you can't," Beth conceded as she speared a shrimp on her fork. "But you can help with what you think! I know that sometimes you keep things pretty close to your vest, and you have no idea how wild that used to drive me at times. But, Harm, this is me. This is us. We've got too much history between us to start shutting each other out now."

Harm nodded. Beth was right about that, he had undoubtedly saved her life when pulled her back aboard the Patrick Henry, and then years later she had equally undoubtedly saved his life when with the sheer force of her will she had called him back to the land of the living from the depths of hypothermia.

"Yeah… you jumped my bones…" he muttered.

"Harm, that was years ago! So what's that got to do with last night and this morning?"

Harm struggled to put his jumbled thoughts into coherent words. Eloquent and lucid he might be in questioning a witness or addressing a court-martial, but ever since he'd been told, at age six, he had to be the man of the family, he had struggled to give voice to his most private innermost thoughts.

"Umm… yeah, last night… it was a good evening wasn't it, the three of us sat around all working to a common end."

"Yeah, it was," Beth said, before she popped another forkful of salad into her mouth. Harm followed suit, not because he was particularly hungry, but rather that while his mouth was fill he couldn't be expected to talk.

Beth swallowed and stared challengingly across the table at Harm, "Okay… so… we have established that we had a good evening, right up to, as I said, Mattie went to bed. And then somehow in the next few minutes, something went wrong, something inside your head, because I didn't say or do anything to spoil the atmosphere."

Harm flushed and looked miserably guilty, "Uh… yeah… yeah you did… I don't mean you did it deliberately, and I'm damned sure that you didn't even know you were doing it. But, I reacted badly to it, and I'm very much ashamed of myself for letting you down, letting me down, and betraying the trust that you had every right to expect from me."

Beth looked at him wide-eyed in astonishment, "Harm, just what the hell are you yammering on about? Because I'm still none the wiser! All I did was get ready for bed while you washed up the milk pan and the mugs!"

"Yeah…" Harm admitted sullenly, but with a hint of bitterness, "Yeah, that's all you did. Like I said it was my reaction…"

"Harm! How can a simple thing like me getting ready for bed turn into a five act tragedy?"

"It just did," Harm defended himself, so can we leave it at that, please?"

"No, we damned well can't just leave it at that! Just what, exactly, did I do that you reacted so badly to?"

Harm mumbled something that Beth didn't catch, and with a flash of impatience she exclaimed, "For heaven's sake, Harm! All I did was make my bed down and get into my pyjamas!"

"Yeah." Harm replied.

Beth's mental light bulb flashed on, "Was that it? You caught a glimpse of me in my underwear? "

Harm nodded miserably.

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Beth expostulated. "You've seen me in my underwear in the PH's lock room, I dunnamany times. Hell, you've seen me on the beach in my bikini. And that shows a damned sight more flesh than that bra and panties."

Harm nodded, still miserably, "I know, I know, but in the locker room, that was Skates the RIO, getting changed, and on a public beach, well, hell there were lots of women in bikinis. Those settings were entirely appropriate. But what happened last night wasn't. I reacted to the sight of you bending and stretching, and I had to turn away again until you were safely under the covers. It was… It was… Beth, I don't know what it was, but all of a sudden I felt like a pervert, a voyeur sneaking a peek at something that you hadn't given me permission for. I betrayed your trust that I would continue to regard you in… in… in…"

"A non-sexual way?" Beth challenged.

Harm couldn't meet her eyes, "Yeah," he mumbled.

Beth's eyes gleamed with fond amusement, wasn't it just typical of Harmon Rabb to take a minor event and blow it up into a catastrophe.

"So… you liked what you saw?" she asked, the amusement now trembling in her voice.

"Yeah… but the point is, I shouldn't have seen it!"

"But you did see, and you liked it. Well! That's a relief!" Beth gurgled.

"Pardon?" Harm was so startled that he involuntarily looked up and across the table into Beth's deep brown eyes that were brimming over with amusement. "A relief?" he asked incredulously.

"Hell, yeah! Harm you may not have noticed, but I'm not a twenty-two year old Ensign just graduated from the academy, and I've had to put in a lot of work to get to and stay in the shape I'm in. So when a man tells me he liked the sight of my body, then that's the cherry on top of the frosting!"

"But you don't need a man to validate yourself!" Harm objected.

"No, I don't need a man. Any man… Just one, particular man… and that man, Harmon Rabb is you. So, can we please put this behind us, and get on with our lunch, otherwise we are well and truly going to be adrift!"

Relieved at Beth's reaction to his confession, Harm felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders and he rediscovered his appetite. The two quickly cleared their plates and Harm paid the check before they both paused at the doorway to replace their covers on their heads.

"So… we're still on for this evening?" Harm asked anxiously.

"Oh… You betcha!" Beth grinned. "Oh… and I'll pick up Mattie… we had a talk in the car this morning, and I think she'll need reassuring that everything is back to normal. Or as normal as it can be with Harmon Rabb in the picture!" With that she gave another of her gurgles of laughter and strode away to where her car was parked.

Harm's protesting "Beth!" just faintly reaching her ears.

xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie looked at the slip of paper in her hand and confirmed the room number printed on to the number plate on the door. Raising her hand she knocked, twice, lightly, on the door and then turned the handle. She stepped into what was obviously a waiting room, furnished with comfortable looking chairs in front of a row of occasional tables, partially covered with a profusion of magazines on a variety of subjects. Her gaze, however was fixed on the Corpsman Three, who sat at a desk next to a door in the right hand wall.

The Corpsman seeing the rank of his visitor stood and asked, "Good afternoon, ma'am. How may I help you?"

"I'm Lieutenant Colonel MacKenzie. I have a thirteen thirty appointment with Commander Elgin."

The Corpsman glanced at his principal's calendar, "Yes, ma'am. If you'd like to take a seat, I'll tell Commander Elgin that you're here." He waited until Mac had perched on the edge of one of the chairs and then with a sharp double rap on the door next to his desk he entered the Doctor's office, closing the door behind him.

Two minutes and thirty-one seconds later, by Mac's internal clock, the smiling Corpsman emerged from the Doctor's office. "The Doctor won't be long, ma'am." He told Mac as he sat at his desk again.

It was in fact seven minutes and thirty-two seconds before the door opened, and a slim, blonde officer with a white lab coat worn over a regulation blouse and skirt smiled across the room at Mac. "Colonel MacKenzie? Would you like to come in please?"

Mac rose, and not without trepidation walked past Commander Elgin and in to the inner office. Mac didn't know exactly what she had been expecting, but the leather psychiatrist's couch she had dreaded seeing wasn't there, instead there were a couple of the same comfortable looking chairs that lined the waiting room, arranged at an angle to a coffee table, as well as the expected desk, on which sat a computer screen, with a bank of filing cabinets lining the wall behind the desk.

Commander Elgin settled herself in her office chair and leaned back, studying the Marine officer , "Please take a seat, Colonel," she invited.

"Oh… I'm not staying long, Commander," Mac averred, I just need you to sign off on an evaluation report stating that I'm fit for duty."

Inez Elgin continued to study Mac, the nervous tension and, yes, the anger that emanated from the Marine light Colonel was almost visible, but she kept her voice non-confrontational as she replied, "I'm sure that's what you want, Colonel, but is it what you need? And maybe even more to the point, it's not really what I need from you. I am as keen as you are to get you back to duty, and as with as little fuss as possible but to do that we have to work together. And there's one thing more that's puzzling me. If you're so keen to have me sign off on a report, what brought you to me in the first place?"

Mac glared at the neat blonde on the other side of the desk, "My CO seems to think that I'm suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder!"" she snapped.

"Your CO? And that would be?"

"Rear Admiral Chegwidden!" Mac almost spat his name out.

"Isn't he the Navy and Marine Corps JAG?"

"Yes."

"And you work for him in what capacity?"

"I'm a Marine Corps JAG Division attorney," Mac replied with a haughty toss of her head.

"And you succumbed to PTSD as a result of your courtroom activities?" Inez asked, the furrows on her forehead becoming more pronounced.

"Of course not! Besides I don't have PTSD!" Mac snapped.

Inez smiled softly, "Very well, Colonel, let's assume for the moment that I believe you don't have PTSD, what made your CO mandate that you seek counselling."

"I had a public argument with another attorney," Mac confessed, the colour rising to her cheeks.

"A professional argument? Surely isn't that what advocacy is all about?"

"No, it was a personal argument." Mac spat. She hated being backed into a corner, and this blonde… girl – she was at least ten years younger than Mac – had done just that.

"It must have been a pretty spectacular argument for your CO to have ordered you to receive counselling. But one thing interests me. To make an argument there needs to be two people; has the other participant been ordered to attend counselling?"

"No! He hasn't! Rabb is the Admiral's golden haired boy. He can do no wrong! He fires an automatic weapon into a courtroom ceiling and gets a slap on the wrist! He switches designator so he can go back to being an aviator, and then when he fails at that he is allowed to switch back to being a JAG, without anything being said. He keeps flying though and dumps a forty million dollar airplane into the ocean, and again walks away without a scratch! And then, just over six months ago he resigned his commission rather than obey an order given to him by the Admiral, and then the Admiral went crawling on his knees to beg Rabb to come back!"

'Rabb'… the name rang a bell in Inez's memory, her friend, her good friend Jordy Parker, had at one time dated a Harmon Rabb, who if she remembered correctly had been a JAG, and had gotten Jordy off a DUI charge after she had taken some medicine which she didn't know contained alcohol.

"I see," she answered gravely after the couple of seconds she spent in remembering, while giving the impression that she had been studying Mac. "And who started this spectacular personal argument?"

"Rabb did! The son of a bitch turned his back on me and walked away from me while I was reprimanding him!"

"Why would you reprimand him? Do you outrank him?" Inez asked.

"No… we're the same rank," Mac admitted unwillingly, "But I'm the Chief of Staff, and he had made arrangements direct with the Admiral to secure early for the remainder of the week and without having the courtesy to keep me informed!" she added hotly.

"I see… so it was a professional argument, then?"

Mac shook her head, "No! It was personal. I was sick and tired of him getting his own way every time! I mean, at one time we were very good friends. On the verge of becoming more. Then he decided he had to go back to being an aviator, and he just walked out on me! And we had just struck a bargain that if neither of us were in a relationship five years down the track, then we'd have a child together!"

"Pardon?" Inez said blankly.

"If we weren't in a relationship, then in five years' time we'd have a child. But he abandoned me, just like everyone else has!"

Inez made a note to tackle that claim on a future occasion, but for now as she saw the way that Mac was twisting a handkerchief into a rope, probably unconsciously, she decided that the Marine Officer was already too het up for her own good, and certainly not ready to face any abandonment issues she might have. "So you never had this child?"

Mac shook her bitterly, "No! The time came and went, but we… but he never mentioned it, and then just as I thought we were getting closer, and finally maybe getting ready to make good on the deal, he goes flying off on one of his Don Quixote adventures – the one he resigned his commission for, and things fell apart rapidly after that. Then he has the gall to ask me to be a character witness in a guardianship case. He didn't want to have a child with me, but he was quite happy to take care of a total stranger, a teenager at that, and then had the brass neck to ask me to help him! When I refused he roped in another flier! God knows what he said to make her agree to such a wild hair scheme. But it's probably no more than she deserves!"

'Wow! Bitterness, anger, jealousy,' Inez thought as she made some quick notes. 'There may be some PTSD in there somewhere. But she needs to face her anger problems first. And I find it interesting that everything seems to be someone else's fault, either this Rabb, or the Admiral. No sign there that she might be in the slightest degree at fault, oh yes, definitely denial to be added to the list.'

"Well Colonel, we may not seem to have covered much ground this afternoon, but you have definitely given me something to work on over the weekend. I'd like to see you again at thirteen thirty hours on Monday."

"You mean you're not going to sign off on the evaluation report?" Mac demanded indignantly.

"Not just yet, there are one or two matters we need to work through before I can do that, otherwise the next time we saw each other would be at my court-martial for dereliction of duty!" Inez stood and smiled encouragingly, "It's not that bad Colonel, and I'm confident we can get you back to work in short order. So, thirteen thirty hours in Monday!"

The way she said it left no more room for argument so Mac, unaware that she sounded like a sulky school girl, muttered, "Yeah, okay…" and picking up her cover and purse, she stalked out of the office, head high, the perfect Marine, in perfect denial.

xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

Harm had hoped to slide unobtrusively into his office but his attempt to do so was doomed, as he was intercepted by Jennifer Coates halfway across the bull-pen.

"The Admiral said he wants to see you as soon as you returned, sir," she said with a sympathetic smile.

Harm bit back a curse, "In trouble, am I?" he asked.

"You could be, sir, after all you are nearly half an hour adrift."

Harm managed a weak smile, and quickly passed his cover to Jen, "Can you look after this until the Admiral's finished tearing me a new one?" he asked in what he hoped wasn't too plaintive a voice.

"I can do that, sir!" Jen replied taking the cover and placing it on her desk as she walked past the front of it before sitting down and thumbing the intercom call button, "Commander Rabb to see, you, sir."

"Send him in!" The Admiral thundered causing Jen and Harm's eyes to meet and both winced.

"Oh well, here goes nothing!" Harm declared and squaring his shoulders, he rapped on the Admiral's office door frame.

"Enter!"

Harm entered, closed the door behind him and advanced across the carpet to halt, at attention, in front of the expanse of the Admiral's desk.

"Commander Rabb, reporting as ordered, sir!"

"Yes… at last! Your watch stopped did it, Commander? Or did you simply lose track of the time? I allow my officers a great deal of leeway, but I do expect them to be present during duty hours. This is not always the case, though is it, particularly when it comes to Commander Harmon Rabb! Your record of unpunctuality is going to take some beating, Rabb!"

"Sir, I can only apologise, and plead the urgent need to deal with a domestic upheaval which needed to be settled ASAP! On the flip side, sir, Lieutenant Hawkes will be collecting Mattie from school today."

"And how is that beneficial, Rabb?"

"Well, sir instead of securing at fifteen hundred, I shall more than make up for my being adrift by being here until normal secure, sir."

Chegwidden glared at him in amazement, the officer in front of him had just made it sound as if staying until the end of the working day was an immense favour that he had just bestowed. Then Chegwidden's somewhat dry sense of humour kicked in, besides if he was any kind of a judge, then Rabb was finding coping with the changes to his domestic life a challenge.

This isn't going to become a habit is it Rabb?"

"No, sir!"

"So… without going into details which I don't need to hear, what sort of a mess did you get yourself into this time?"

Harm managed a weak grin, "Just being myself, only more so, sir. I misread a situation and made an even bigger horse's ass of myself than normal, but Lieutenant Hawkes has just straightened me out."

Chegwidden grunted, "Huh! If that's so, then she must be a remarkable woman!"

Harm's grin this time was the genuine article, "That she is, sir! That she is!"

Chegwidden shook his head, "Go on Rabb, go and do some work! Dismissed!"

"Aye, aye, sir!"

"Oh, before you go, Harm, are you and your family intending to go to Lieutenant Commander Singer's wet-down this evening?"

"We are, sir."

"H'mm… Now that she's part of your family, I guess I'd better try to make friends with Miss…"

"Miss Grace, sir. And if I may sir, it may not be easy, she's not one to forgive and forget easily, and her temper does match her hair."

"So… possible squalls ahead?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Well… let's hope she isn't as good a shot as my ex-wife!"

"Oh, I don't think Mattie has ever used a firearm, sir."

Chegwidden ran his hand over his head, where he could still feel the scar. "Neither had Marcella, but she was a dead shot with a smoothing iron, and she had an arm like a major league pitcher!"

Harm winced in sympathy. True, Mattie had shown no propensity for physical violence but when upset or angered, she had a razor sharp edge to her tongue. "I'll try to keep any potential missiles out of her reach, sir!"

"Yeah, you do that. Now go and do some damned work!"

"Aye, aye, sir!"

Harm let himself out of the office with a silent sigh of relief. That had gone much better than he could ever have hoped for, so it was with a smile that he retrieved his cover rom Jen's desk, "Thanks, Jen. I'll get this out of your way now!"

"It's not a problem, sir!" Jen replied and then continued, "If you don't mind me asking, sir, but will Mattie be coming to the wet down?"

"She will."

"Oh, good… I just haven't had time to call her, and I don't want her thinking I'd forgotten about her!"

"Oh… I don't think that's the case, Coates. She's been pretty busy herself, what with settling in to a new school, in a new school district with a different curriculum and helping out around the apartment!"

"The apartment?" Jen queried. Somehow she had a feeling that Harm wasn't talking about cooking and cleaning.

"Yeah, we've taken over the apartment next door and I'm converting the two into one large apartment and Mattie – and Lieutenant Hawkes – have been helping me salvage some of the bricks I knocked out of the dividing wall."

Jen considered Harm's statement for a moment and then her dimple revealing grin broke out on her face, "Yeah, I can just see Mattie doing that!"

"Not without grumbling, though!" Harm assured her.

"Oh, even from the little I know of her, sir, I have no problem in picturing that either! But I'd also bet they were cheerful grumbles, weren't they, sir?"

Harm didn't even have to think about his answer, "Yeah, they were grumbles, but yeah, she was cheerful enough about it."

xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

It was just gone nineteen thirty hours when Harm ushered Beth and Mattie out of the chill, rain swept night into the warmth of McMurphy's bar and grill, catching Terence, the barman's eye, he asked "Same room?"

"Same room, Commander, you're not the first to arrive, and Mandy's there taking drinks orders!"

"Thanks Terence!"

"Nice looking kid, and nice and polite too," Beth remarked, as Harm guided his two charges past the line of booths that faced the bar and towards a door in the rear wall of the building.

"That he is," Harm agreed, "And a jewel amongst bar-tenders. Came over from Ireland about three year ago to work for his uncle Michael. They guy who owns this place."

"Michael McMurphy?" Beth asked incredulously. "You have got to be joking!"

"No, not really. His name is Michael. The McMurphy is the bar. Michael's real name, and Terence's, is Scanlon, or something along those lines. I suppose there might have been a McMurphy sometime in the dim and distant past. This place has been in business for over a hundred years."

Mattie who had been looking around with wide-eyed curiosity, this was her first time in a bar and grill, said "Is everywhere in Falls Church so cool?"

Both Beth and Harm grinned at the youngster's naivety. "No, not everywhere is as cool, and not that McMurphy's is particularly cool either," Harm told her. "It's just a friendly neighbourhood bar, where we come to celebrate or mourn."

"Mourn? Like who?" Mattie asked not liking being reminded that Harm and Beth were Navy officers, who had in the past, and might in the future face up to dangers far greater than she could imagine.

"Not who, but what," Harm chuckled, as opening the door he cast his eyes around the private room. As he had expected, Harriet Sims was there, and although she was in civilian clothing she was still the admin officer, anxiously checking her note-pad to make sure none of the arrangements she had made had gone adrift.

"'Evening, Harriet," Harm greeted her.

The blonde turned with a beaming smile, "Good evening, sir. And you Lieutenant," she added addressing Beth, and then turning towards the teenager added, "And you, Mattie. We didn't get much of a chance to talk on Christmas Eve, but once this has all settled down, maybe we can get our heads together for a little while."

"Careful, Mattie, Harriet's little chats are more like third degree interrogations and would make a battle hardened seal nervous!"

"Oh, sir! It's no such thing!" Harriet protested with a grin, "Now please stop teasing me and go and find somewhere to sit, please! I still haven't found where they've stowed the cake!"

"Cake, there's going to be cake?" Mattie asked, her eyes almost glowing, as Harm nodded towards an empty table off to one side of what was obviously intended as a dance floor.

Once the three of them had seated themselves Harm turned back towards Mattie, "You were asking about mourning, well, as I said it's not who, well not generally, but things. If we lose a case that we feel we shouldn't have done, then the loser and a couple of friends maybe can come down here and try to figure out what went wrong. It's almost like an unofficial branch office at times. Of course what really rubs salt into the wound is when you come here to mourn, and the winner of the case has also come here to celebrate."

"Wow, that's got to be tough! What do you do?" Mattie asked.

"What can you do? Well, you smile and you suck up their condescension and you silently vow to wipe the courtroom floor with their Marine green ass the next time you face off in court!" Harm declared, unaware that he had made another slip of the tongue. It passed right by Mattie, but Beth was fully aware of the past shared by Harm and Mac, and a frown passed over her face, that of all the occasions that Harm had lost a case, it was those few times he had lost to Sarah MacKenzie that rankled.

But before that theme could be developed, Mandy, Terence's sidekick arrived to take their drinks order, "Good evening, Commander, ma'am, what can I get you?"

"A tonic water with ice and a twist of lemon for me, please," Harm ordered.

"A glass of red wine – the house red will be fine" Beth answered.

"And a diet Pepsi for me, please," Mattie asked and then with a guilty look at Harm, "That is if it's okay?"

"Sure, it will rot your teeth and your stomach, but hey, you only live once, so why not?" Harm grinned, for once relaxing his almost total ban on over-sweetened fizzy drinks.

"Thanks, Harm!" Mattie grinned, pleasantly surprised, but she was coming to realise that what she had at one time taken for granted would now be no more than an occasional treat, just another of the changes she was going to have to cope with.

Mandy noted their order and whisked away with a smiling "I'll be right back!" and true to her word was back in under two minutes with her loaded tray.

Mattie took a sip of her drink and sighed ecstatically, "M'mm… this is sooo good!"

Harm barely repressed a shudder and sent a pained look at Beth who it appeared was having a hard time not breaking out in giggles.

Harm looked around the room, exchanging nods of acknowledgement with the other JAGs, and Harm was pleased to note that Sturgis Turner seemed to be making an effort to mix and be pleasant. Maybe that talk they'd had on Wednesday was bearing fruit. Harm hoped so, Sturgis was a good attorney, but he needed to learn a totally different command style than one to which he had become accustomed as a bubblehead.

Everyone's notice however was taken as the door opened and a subdued cheer was heard as Loren Singer and her husband were ushered through the door, and escorted by the Admiral, no less to the table of honour.

No sooner were they all seated, when the Admiral got back onto his feet and called for quiet. The buzz of conversation died down and the Admiral looked around, a half-smile on his face. "I have been asked by the newly promoted Lieutenant Commander Singer to make this short. So I shall! Commander Singer, many congratulations on your promotion. You earned it! There; short enough?" he demanded of the now blushing promotee.

"Yes, sir. And thank you!" Loren choked out and gratefully accepted a drink from her broadly grinning husband.

Harm and Beth sat back with smiles on their faces as they watched Mattie absorb the atmosphere, but their contemplation of the teenager's enjoyment was shortly interrupted, "Hi Harm, may I join you for a few moments? Oh… and you know Pete Murray, don't you?"

"Yes, I know him, how are you Captain?" Harm said as he stood and offered his hand.

"Pretty well, thank you, sir," Carolyn Imes' date replied.

The exchange drew a puzzled frown to Mattie's forehead, even she knew that a Captain outranked a Commander, but this Captain had just called a Commander 'sir'.

"It's Mathilda, isn't it?" Carolyn asked her.

"Well, yeah. But everyone calls me Mattie," Mattie replied, "Except for Harm, he sometimes calls me 'Squirt'," she added shooting a darklng look at her guardian.

"Don't let her fool you, Carolyn," Harm added to the conversation, "If she really objected, she'd pretty soon let me know!"

Carolyn smiled, "I guess she would at that!" and then turned her attention to Beth, "And you're Beth, Lieutenant Hawkes, yes?"

"Beth is just fine," Skates agreed amiably, but her personal BS meter had just kicked in.

Oblivious to the suspicious light in the petite NFO's eyes Carolyn went on blithely, "I'm sure I recognise you, but if so, I'm so sorry, but I cannot for the life of me remember from where or when!"

"From Falls Church, from my court-martial, perhaps? Or maybe you did a JAGMan investigation aboard the PH while I was still flying?"

"Ah, yes… that would be it. Aboard the PH. Anyway, let me introduce you to Captain Pete Murray. Pete is the XO of the Falls Church Marine Corps security company."

Pete and Beth exchanged courteous nods, while Pete turned his head slightly to bring Mattie full into his field of vision, "Hi, considering that you're not Navy or Corps, I'm Pete, and I very happy to meet you!"

"No? Really? Why?" Mattie asked.

"Well, when these guys get together, sooner or later the conversation turns to the law and cases and courts-martial, and it kinda leaves me all adrift, so when it starts a bit later then I could come and talk to you about…"

"About what?" Mattie asked. And determined though she had been to stay aloof, there was something about Pete Murray that she warmed to.

"Well… do you like baseball?" Pete asked.

"Sure, who doesn't," Mattie asked with a teenager's shrug, "But I prefer football."

"Oh you do, do you? Any team in particular?"

"Baltimore Ravens," Mattie said almost defiantly.

"Not the best team ever, but a good solid team." Pete nodded judgementally.

"Hey, they were top of their division last season, and runners up this season!" Mattie defended her favourites.

"Yeah," Pete agreed, "They did, but everyone in that division got their butts handed to them this year by the Steelers!"

"Are you a Steelers fan?" Mattie demanded suspiciously.

"Hell no! No, I'm a Bears fan. Have been ever since the Mike Ditka days! Now, Carolyn… Poor Carolyn has a real cross to bear, she's a Saints fan!"

"New Orleans? Now that's a team that really sucks!" Mattie grinned.

"Hey, you may laugh, young lady, but we've got some good first round draft picks coming up, so we'll show you and the rest of the world, once they've settled down!" Carolyn laughingly objected.

"Or unless they sell off their first round drafts like they did last year!" Pete shot back.

Harm sat back, enjoying watching Mattie getting to know some of the other members of JAG, and quite unconsciously slid his arm along the back of the banquette seat, only becoming aware that he had done so when he felt Beth's head slipping into the hollow if his shoulder. He blinked in mild surprise and then deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, he dropped his arm so that his hand rested lightly on Beth's upper arm.

"Ah, that's better!" she breathed just loud enough for only Harm to hear as she nestled in even closer.