If Only the Dead Could Talk

rooster dawn

Disclaimer: The characters of JAG are the property of Donald Bellisario and Bellisarius Production, Inc. Used without permission. No copyright infringement intended. May be reproduce if unchanged, author given full credit, and no financial transaction is involved.

Spoiler: None

Pairing: Harm/Mac, Victoria/Henry

Alternate Universe

Summary: When the future meets the past, strange things happen. The son of a lost love of Harm meets Mac's daughter at Annapolis with interesting results.

Author's note: This is a continuing story of an "A Special Child" Mac's daughter, given up at birth, reunited with Mac, is now attending Annapolis.

part five

1000 hours

Saturday

24 Dec 2005

Rabb/MacKenzie Estate

The next morning Mac was sitting in the kitchen with Tory. They had just finished cleaning the breakfast dishes and were taking a break. Mac wanted to talk to Tory about her plans for the day.

Harm had called last night telling her he would be back today sometime after lunch. Mac was undecided about whether it would be better to tell him they had a guest staying at the house or walking in to find him there.

She was leaning on having Tory taking Henry out for the day whether it was shopping or seeing an early movie. It would give her the chance to talk about Henry, sort of feel him out about the best way to tell him.

She figured she would first play up the daughter bringing home her boyfriend home to meet the parent angle as part of the saga. Then maybe mention that he was the son of one of his academy classmates.

She even thought she would subtly bring up Diane. How many years did he know her at the academy? How close were they? If he asked her why, she could say she was concerned about Tory and this boy. She didn't want her distracted during her time there.

She needed to tell him she invited Bud and Harriet over for dinner. She knew it was probably too much, but she thought it was best to do it before the holiday. It would make a nice gift for Henry to hear about his mother.

"Tory, do you think you can take Henry shopping or the movies? I want to talk to Harm about Henry before he meets him. I don't want him to be totally shock when he meets Henry for the first time." she pleaded.

"Are you going to tell him Henry is his son?" she asked curiously.

"No, but I'm going to try to set the mood for their first meeting. Sort of get him into the right frame of mind so to speak. We don't know for sure that Henry is his son. We're only assuming that he is." Mac replied.

"Mom, you know it has to be true. We've examined all the facts. They all point to the truth, that Henry is his son." she argued.

"Yes, but there is one fact we having established yet sweetie. We don't know if they were intimate back then. It goes against the Codes of Conduct for all the cadets. I'm sure you know that." Mac rebutted her argument.

"Come on Mom!" she whined.

"Victoria! Enough with the whining. I promise you we will have a definitive answer, though it won't be one hundred percent. They will have to do DNA test to confirm it. Now go and get Henry and take him out.

Bring him back by 1600 hours. The Roberts are coming over tonight. I want Harm and Henry to spend some time together before they arrive. Who knows, maybe Harm will take Henry to the Wall tonight and tell his father about his son." smiled Mac as she gave Tory a big hug.

1300 hours

Saturday

24 Dec 2005

Rabb/MacKenzie Estate

Harm was finally home. It had been a long trying week dealing with less than cooperative witnesses. He finally got all the answers he needed and was able to write a report that everyone could live with. The pilot was going to take a hit to his career, but he still had a career. He still would be able to fly.

He was glad to be home so he could sleep in his own bed. Of course having Mac there to share it was a bonus he would never get tired of. Bunks on board carriers were still too short for a man of his statue.

He was surprise to see a cobalt blue 96 corvette sitting in the driveway when he drove up the driveway. He didn't know anyone who drove one. He examined the exterior and then the interior. He whistled in admiration.

This baby was mint. It had less than fifteen thousand miles on it. It was times like this when he wished he had a new corvette. Sure he loved his old red 69 corvette, but it never had the lines or panache of the newer models. Next to the new models his looked like a hunk of cheap metal.

"I see you have found something new to love." smiled Mac as she came out the door and down the steps to greet him.

It's a pretty hot looking car Mac. It's in mint condition. Almost makes me want to trade mine in." he replied with a grin.

"I would have to say it looks nicer than that old clunker you drive." she teased.

"You wound me marine." he replied as he faked being shot.

"Still neither one of these measures up to mine. It still has the style and grace of a powerful beast. It's a true vision." she smiled with satisfaction.

He walked over to her and gave her a kiss and hug.

"It doesn't measure up though to its owner." he replied. "Who does the new corvette belong to?"

"A boy who's infatuated with Tory. I think she likes him as well." she replied coyly.

"When did she find time to find a boy? I couldn't breathe or think for myself until I was a fourth year cadet." he sighed in disbelief.

"She's a bit more gifted than you were Squid. Actually she was running late for a class. She ran right into him before she ended up on her six and her books went flying." she smiled.

"He must be a pretty big boy for that to happen. She's not exactly small herself especially when she's moving. When did all this happen?" he asked in amazement.

"Late September I think. She told us that story when she was here at Thanksgiving Harm. I thought you were listening. And yes, he is rather tall. I now understand how small I look when I'm standing next to you. I understand now why you always laughed or smirked when I said I could take you." she smiled.

"I think I'm going to have to have a talk with him. He's not there to date plebes." he snorted.

"Calm down Harm. They're not really dating. They just have a lot in common. They both love to sail and they both want to become pilots." she explained as she saw his eyes light up at the mention of pilots.

"He wants to become a pilot?" he asked.

"Yes Harmon, he comes from a family with a rich naval history. I think he will be a fourth generation pilot if he makes it." she smiled.

She knew it would all become very clear to him once he saw Henry and knew his name. But this conversation did open up an opportunity to gather some new info from him to shed more light on the topic.

"By the way since you mention dating, what was your relationship with Diane like at the academy? Were you just good friends or did you ever get intimate with her? You did say you were going to talk to her the weekend she died about getting married." she quizzed.

Harm blushed at the mention of sleeping with Diane. Of all the things he and Mac had talked about concerning Diane, that subject had never been approached. He was wondering why it was finally coming up now.

"Why do you want to know Mac?" he asked.

"Because it will be a subject of conversation tonight Harm, I can guarantee you that. Henry, that's the boy's name by the way, is the son of someone you attended the academy with. Bud happened to know his mother back in the day before he came to Jag.

He and Harriet are coming over for dinner tonight. And you know Bud will slip up and talk about shipboard romances. If he doesn't then Harriet most certainly will. I just want you to be prepared to talk about the subject. Did you Harmon?" she explained.

"God Mac, that was so many years ago, I don't understand why anyone would want to know." he whined.

"Just answer the question Harm. If you don't tell me now, Tory will ask you tonight." she ordered him.

"Why would she want to know?" he asked in fear.

"Because she knows you were friends with Diane. She's been told she looks like her. Besides it will be hard for you to tell her not to when you've done it yourself." she answered.

Harm was target fixated. He was so focus on telling Mac whether or not he slept with Diane that he hadn't drawn the conclusion that this somehow involved Henry. That Henry was Diane's son. That Henry would be old enough to be his son since he was with Diane at the time.

He sighed before finally answering. "No I didn't sleep with her until the last semester. I didn't want any unneeded distractions at the time. When the realization that we were going to be going our separate ways hit us, we became intimate the last couple of months."