Chapter 6

09:35, JAG Headquarters, Washington D.C.

Cmdr Meg Austin was standing outside the building of her old workplace feeling very nervous. "You would think that working undercover for Navy Intel would help you get over nerves, but all it could get you would be bullets in your ass", she said sarcastically to herself.

She was nervous about meeting all the people that she used to work with and especially Admiral Chegwidden, whom she looked up to like a father and…Harm.

All during the flight from Honolulu she had played all possible scenarios in her mind regarding their meeting but had arrived to the conclusion that she'll play by ear. She'll have to see what his reaction would be. She just hoped he wasn't too angry at her. She will have to apologies for never keeping in touch and just see how she could avoid telling him the real reason, Harm could always tell when she was lying or avoiding a question.

She just hoped to God that her heart won't betray her the moment she saw those kind hazel eyes and that handsome smile of his.

So she took a deep breath and walked in.

Meg walked slowly through the common room. Looking around she could not see any familiar faces "It's been 5 years, what do you expect Meg", she thought. The guard at the main door has directed her towards Harm's new office and now that she was standing in front of it she felt even more nervous than before. "You can do this Meg, what is the worse that could happen? Give you the cold shoulder…" she said to herself wrinkling her nose. She had reached the conclusion that Allison had been right a few days ago when she had told her to take the bull by the horns, and settle this one way or the other.

As she went up to his door she was a little disappointed when she saw that he wasn't in his office. She took a deep breath and leaned her hand against the edge of the doorway.

She hesitated for a second before walking into the small office. She smiled as she recognized some of Harm's things: the model of the yellow biplane, his law degree, the large mess on his desk. "I suppose some things would never change" she thought to herself as she shook her head slightly. She stepped farther into the office and put her briefcase next to an extra chair that was pilled with files and laid her cover gingerly on top of those files. She walked around the small office, very much aware of the distinct smell of Harm's cologne and his beloved cigars. She walked to the wooden shelves by his desk and gently picked up the photograph of Harm and his father. She studied closely and noticed the strong resemblance between the two Rabb men.

Harriet walked into the common area, carrying a file that Commander Turner had requested. Passing by commander Rabb's office she noticed a woman inside. She frowned slightly and walked towards the open door. "Can I help you ma'am", she asked the tall blonde officer that was holding a picture frame in her hand.

Meg whirled around at the sound of another person's voice and quickly replaced the picture in its rightful place. "Oh, uh…I was looking for commander Rabb…"

Harriet took a look around for a second, "He was supposed to be back by now. Is he expecting you ma'am?" Harriet looked at the woman with curious eyes. She was a beautiful woman, with a distinct posture. She was a navy commander with many awards and decorations, but didn't give the impression of self importance or arrogance that other officers gave when they are around lower-ranking officers. She could see the gentleness in the commander's eyes and the warm smile she had on her face as she was coming out of Harm's office.

"Not exactly, I'm here for a case", Meg said getting out of Harm's office toward the young Lt. "I used to work here a while back and I thought I should say hello to the commander before I went to the Admiral's office", she finished standing in front of Harriet.

"Well ma'am he went out to get some coffee…" started Harriet but stopped when she saw her husband coming towards them. "Bud, did you see commander Rabb?"

Bud was about to answer when he saw how was standing in front of him. "Lt. Austin! I mean commander" he said immediately correcting his mistake as he saw the three bars on Meg's uniform. "It's nice to see you ma'am".

"Hello Lt Roberts, its nice to see you too", said Meg with a small smile as she was shaking Bud's hand.

At Harriet's frowned look, Bud clarified "Commander Austin is Commander Rabb's former partner and the one that recommended me at JAG". "Commander Austin this is my wife, Lt. Harriet Roberts", he finished indicating Harriet.

Meg's face light up at hearing that. "Well Lt. my congratulations, you have done well for yourself", she said looking at Bud and than addressed Harriet "Nice to meet you Lt. and just between the two of us you have my condolences", she said with a wicked grin on her face as she shook Harriet's hand.

"Nice to meet you too ma'am and thank you", Harriet replied laughing at the little joke the commander gave, and also at the dumbfounded look her husband was giving them.

"You can extend those condolences to the rest of us commander", said Admiral Chegwidden with a glint in his eyes as he came towards them. "As you were", he said to them as the three of them stood attention in front of a CO. "Nice to see you again commander, it's been a long time", he said.

"Nice to see you too, sir", said Meg shaking the hand the Admiral has extended. "Indeed it's been a long time, but I'm glad to be back, even under these circumstances", she finished.

"Yes, I wished the circumstances were more different", he said a little saddened. "Well, shall we go into my office? I think we have a lot to talk about" he said gesturing with his hand towards his office.

"Yes sir", Meg replied following her ex-CO.

"Mr. Roberts I believe commander Turner is waiting for you to go in court", he said turning towards Bud. "And when commander Rabb arrives from wherever he disappeared to, tell him to come to my office Lt", he finished addressing Harriet.

"Yes sir", Harriet and Bud replied in one voice and went about their business.

Entering the Admiral's office Meg felt like she went back in time, remembering all those times that she and Harm had been called in his office to be "chewed out" for all the trouble and hair loss they had given him.

The Admiral saw the small smile that was on Meg's face and asked her, "Brought back good memories commander?"

"Yes sir", she smiled at the Admiral.

"Good. Now back to our business at hand. Admiral Smith told you you'll be working with Lt. Roberts and Cmdr Rabb? He asked looking intently at Meg to see how she would react but as usual the young woman didn't flinch. He always admired her ability to hide her emotions, that was probably why she had been so successful in all those missions she had with NI.

"Yes sir", she replied "And I wanted to thank you for all that you are doing, Captain Krennick told me all about the help you and Admiral Smith are giving for this case"

"You don't have to thank me Commander, I am just doing my job. I want this case solved as smoothly as possible", he replied. "You'll have the Cmdr and the Lt at your disposal after they get finished with their 11 o' clock appearance in court for their closing arguments, that will give you enough time to settle in." he finished.

"Yes, thank you sir", Meg replied.

"Now tell me how's Pearl Harbor?" he asked indicating Meg a chair while he leaned against his desk with his arms crossed.

"Well you know I've been stationed there for the last six months, after I finished my last mission with NI, the cases are not as interesting as the one's you used to give us, but it's a breath of fresh air being back in court after years of secret missions. Even tough you may not believe it I actually enjoy working with Captain Krennick again" she finished smiling wryly.

"I believe you have no choice now that she's part of your family", the Admiral gave a little chuckle, still being amazed at the turn that things have took over the past years.

In the same time Harm was just walking into his office with two cups of coffee in his hands when he noticed the familiar smell of lilies and knew that she had been there. Looking around his office he noticed the briefcase that sat near a chair and also the cover that was on top of the files and his heart started to beat faster.

Just when he was about to go and look for her, Harriet came hurrying towards him "Sir, Admiral Chegwidden wants you in his office" she said. Noticing that Harm was looking around for someone she began to smile and finally told him, "Commander Austin's with the Admiral, sir".

"Thanks Harriet", he said starting towards the Admiral's office.

He could not remember the last time he felt this nervous about meeting someone again, but this wasn't just anyone. It was Meg, the woman that held a very special place in his heart and that would probably change his life, hopefully for the better.

Taking a deep breath he knocked on the door and entered the office when he heard a gruff "Come in".

"Commander Rabb reporting as ordered, sir", he said looking ahead but he could see Meg's smiling face as she stood to his right in her dress blues. When he came in the room he only saw her back but he could tell she was still as beautiful, more slender than he remembered and with longer hair that was pulled in a bun at the nape of her head.

"At ease, glad you could finally join us commander. I believe no introductions are needed", the Admiral said moving his hand in Meg's direction.

"I'm not so sure, sir", said Meg looking directly at Harm who was just staring at her, "Remember me, Commander?" she finished, her rosy lips turned into an impish smile. Harm was trying to remember if she always had such beautiful blue eyes.

"You can always jump into the sea from a helicopter, just to refresh my memory", Harm said with an ironic smile on his face.

"Maybe that way you could remember that it was you that jumped from 50ft, sir", she replied.

"What was I supposed to do, sit around and just look at you?" he asked with a bigger grin on his face.

Harm was amazed that even after all this time she still wanted to be the one with last word. He had really missed her.

"There are always people looking at me, sir", she grinned back.

"And I can't say I blame them, Meg", he said

"Sorry to interrupt this repartee, but seeing that no introductions are necessary let's get on with our business", the Admiral said with an amused voice. "Anderson will be arriving Monday at 13:30 and our main objective is to find out who got the missiles and stop them before they leave the country. What we know for sure is that they are still on US soil and that all the leads take us back to Anderson. That's all Navy Intel were willing to tell us, so will have to work with that for now. They want this rapped up quickly and they don't care what we have to give Anderson in exchange for the information, but I'm not going to let that happen," he said with an angry voice.

"We may have to sir", Meg said in a determined voice. "He's not going to tell us anything until he is sure he gets what he wants, he may even ask to be a part of the recovery mission just so that he would not divulge the whole information and thus make sure that when he comes back and if he comes back he has his way", she finished with anger in her voice.

"In other words, he may try to play with us", said Harm looking at her. He did not like what he heard or the icy look in Meg's eyes. He could tell that this was affecting her and he could not blame her.

"Well, that is why we have our best teams in this", said the Admiral looking at the clock. "I think we have to cut this meeting short, I expect you to be fully prepared for Monday and get me good results. Dismissed"

"Ay, ay sir", they replied saluting and heading for the door.

Chegwidden shook his head when he heard the crackdown laughter that came from the other side of the door.

"Do really think that I could not remember you, Meg?" he asked her while he was releasing her from the crushing hug he gave her.

"Well, if you can remember Maria Elena…" Meg rolled her eyes trying to remember the woman's name.

"Carmelita Moreno Gutierrez", he finished with a grin on his face.

"Well if you can remember her, then maybe you can remember me as well. My name is simpler", she said as she walked beside him.

Whoever saw them like that would probably wonder if time had really passed. It was a relief for the both of them that they seemed to click back instantly. They would have time to clarify all that happened in the past, but for now they would just enjoy the new found complicity.

"Your name is the only thing that's simple about you, Meg", he whispered in her ear making her shiver a little. "I got us each a cup of coffee, hopefully it's still a little warm", he said closing the door to his office.

"Well, thank you commander that was very kind of you" she said taking some files from a chair and sitting in front of Harm's desk. "It's really good to see you again Harm"

"It's good to see you too Meg", he said handing her the coffee and getting a smug smile on his face when he saw Meg's expression.

"I can believe you remember how I drink my coffee", she said giving him a smile that almost stopped his heart.

"I remember a lot more than you give me credit for" he replied. "So when did you get your promotion to Cmdr?" he asked looking at her uniform and also seeing all her decorations. He realized that he was probably lucky to see her alive.

"About 6 months ago when I got transferred to Pearl Harbor", she said taking a sip of her coffee. "I heard that you went back flying".

"Yes but I could not keep my wings open for long" he said with a certain sadness in his voice.

"Well at least you got to do what you love most, even if it was for a short while" she said with a tender look in her sapphire blue eyes. Harm knew that Meg was the only woman in his life that understood what flying had meant to him. "Fighting in court may not be as exciting as fighting in the air, but can bring the same results. And anyway in a few years even the F-14 may go into retirement" she finished with a glint in her eyes.

"Oh, come on Meg" he said with a scandalized voice, "We are talking about a supersonic, interceptor, twinjet, fighter aircraft. I would give them at least 20 more years of service"

"I'd bring that number down to 6 years" she said looking serious.

"Six years?" he asked with an incredulous look.

"Don't forget I'm a weapons specialist Harm." she said in a voice that brooked no opposition. And Harm had learned that when Meg was certain about something it was probably right.

"Well I'm not going to argue with you on this one" he said looking at his watch. "Time for me to go, I'll see you when I come back from court" he said getting his briefcase and his cover. He turned to take one more look at her.

"Don't worry I'll be here when you come back. Good luck Harm" she said as she looked into his eyes and guessed what he was thinking

"Thanks Meg,, he said giving her his signature smile.

"Well Meg, time to get to work" she said to herself as she started to sort the paperwork that was on Harm's desk. She was amazed that he could still find things in that mess.