August 2010

Harm finished responding to the email from General Creswell before he hit send. It had been a busy week for him. He had been on leave for a week, spending time in Beallsville with his family, and while he'd been away, work had piled up.

A knock on the door made him look up. "What's up Petty Officer?"

"Commander White is here."

"Send her in," he stood and rounded his desk.

"Commander White reporting as ordered, sir."

"At ease," he offered his hand. "Nice to see you again Commander."

"You too, Admiral. It's been a while since we slaved over law books trying to pass law school," Commander White smiled.

Harm chuckled. "Feels like a lifetime ago."

"You've managed well since then, Admiral. I haven't seen you since the JAG conference in 2003, I think.

"You were getting married then," Harm remembered.

"I was out for three years. Had a baby, then the marriage ended and I decided to get back in. Thankfully the JAG corps needed lawyers."

"How do you make it work with a career and a kid?" Harm wondered.

Commander White darkened. "Our daughter was born with a heart condition. She died."

"I'm so sorry, Amy," Harm hesitated, unsure what else he could say.

"Thank you. It's been a struggle, but being back in uniform has helped a lot," she smiled weakly. "Tell me, what should I begin with?" she wondered.

"Petty Officer Sanders will show you around, and to your office. You'll be here for three weeks while you're waiting for your next assignment, right?" Harm motioned for his door.

"I'm taking over as Captain Johnson's chief of staff," Commander White clarified. "His current is leaving the service."

"San Diego is a fine place," Harm said as he led her to the bullpen. "Sanders?"

Sanders ended her conversation with Lieutenant Lewis and walked over. "Sir?"

"Show Commander White around, and to her office. Commander, you'll be sitting second chair to Lieutenant Lewis. He was just handed an article 32. He's right out of law school and he's in need of a little guidance," Harm turned to leave when he remembered one more thing. "And there's a barbeque at my house on Saturday and you're invited. Get the information from Sanders."

"Thank you, sir," Commander White said.

Harm saw that Commander Graves was hovering close by and he smiled. "What's up Graves?"

"It's the Hollenbeck Court Martial, sir. My client won't listen to reason and I don't know what to do," Graves hesitated.

"You don't speak the language of the Marines?" Harm teased. "Step into my office and let me know what the problem is. Maybe I can help, I do have some experience with Marines."

It was late in the day when Harm caught up with Commander White and Lieutenant Lewis on his way out.

"Sir."

"At ease. How's the article 32 coming?" he wondered.

"Well, sir, our client is an idiot, and I'm pretty sure the judge thinks that I am one too," Lieutenant Lewis said.

"Because?"

"I was stuttering, then Commander White butted in and the judge asked if I needed help finding the words," Lieutenant Lewis let out a sigh. "Anyway, the prosecution did a very good job. He even convinced me that my client is an idiot who should never have been in the Navy in the first place.

"I told the Lieutenant not to be discouraged. We have one more chance to make our case before the judge makes a ruling," Commander White said.

"Don't worry, the prosecuting attorney is quite good. On top of that your client did show up drunk on two occasions and was caught with drugs. It was an uphill battle from the start. Not to mention that the Judge is quite hard to play," Harm smiled. "Don't worry, you'll do great tomorrow."

"I was nervous today, sir, and it didn't help that the judge chewed my head off for coming unprepared," Lieutenant Lewis looked even more defeated.

Harm smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, you'll do better tomorrow. You'll be more prepared. At least I hope you will be or the judge will have your head."

"Yes, sir," the Lieutenant said.

The next day

Harm crossed the bullpen and headed for Lieutenant Colonel Moore's office. His chief of staff was a no nonsense Marine, he had done two tours in the Middle East and he had been shot twice and almost died both times. He was a great asset to the office and he kept everyone in line, making Harm's job easy. Mac had been impressed when Harm had requested a Marine as his chief of staff.

"I'm out of here," Harm said and waived Moore off when he started to stand. "Make sure Commander Barnes finishes the report before he leaves. The investigation should be over by now."

"Yes, sir," Moore said.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, Colonel," Harm turned to leave and saw Mac walking into the bullpen.

"Hey," she smiled when he walked to meet her. "Ready to go?"

"I am," he said and offered sweet smile. "How was your day?"

"So far, it's been good," she turned when he motioned for the elevator, and followed him. "Are you sure it's okay for you to take half the day off your first week back after being on leave?"

"Yeah, I'm the boss so no one can argue with me," he joked. "We have a lot of preparations to do for tomorrows barbeque. It could be classified as work, right? Building office moral."

Mac laughed softly. "Yes, I guess you can call it work."

The next day their back yard was filled with his staff and their families. He had some new staff and he had gotten the idea to throw a barbeque so that everyone could meet outside the office and get to know each other.

Mac noticed that Harm walked over to her followed by a good-looking blonde. "Mac, this is Commander Amy White. She's TAD to our office for a while. I guess you already met in court though. Amy, Mac is my wife."

Amy looked surprised. "Nice to meet you Colonel."

Mac smiled. "Nice to meet you too, Commander."

"Amy and I went to law school together," Harm explained.

"I never could win an argument against him. I think all our arguments made me a better lawyer though," Amy said.

"I know the feeling," Mac said teasingly and put her arm around Harm's waste.

Harm laughed. "Mac and I worked together for nine years at JAG in Washington. Let's just say that we've had our battles in court," he pulled Mac close and looked lovingly at her.

"How long are you here for, Commander?" Mac wondered.

"I am to report to the San Diego office in three weeks," Commander Lee said.

Harm saw someone trying to get his attention. "Excuse me ladies," he kissed Mac's cheek and released her.

"Harm really seems to be handling his responsibilities well. He's made a great career for himself, despite that JAG wasn't his first career choice," Commander White pointed out.

Mac nodded. "He did once go back to flying full time. He was away for about six months before he realized that he'd been out too long. He came back to JAG and although he kept up his flight status until we had the kids, he has been happy being with JAG."

"He always seemed destined for a long Navy career. Even back in law school I could picture him an Admiral one day," Commander White smiled. "He was always such a nice guy."

"Yeah, he sure is," Mac agreed.

"I'm sorry, but it's like you remind me of someone. I know we haven't met so it's weird, but I feel like I've seen you before. Maybe on TV," Commander White hesitated a little. "No, now I know, you remind me of Diane Schonke."

Mac nodded. "I've heard that before. Did you know her?"

"We hung out a few times when she visited Harm while we were in school. They were on and off a lot though, so I never got to know her. You don't actually remind me of her, must be the Marine, Navy difference I guess. She was all American too, while you must have some other origin too. It's just a tiny resemblance," Commander White smiled apologetically. "I didn't mean to bring it up."

Mac smiled reassuringly. "No problem, I've heard it before meeting some of Harm's friends. Harm had some trouble at first, flashbacks I guess, but it passed quickly. Totally different personality, he says. I'm not worried about replacing a ghost."

"I wouldn't be either. Harm has changed a lot since back then. He seems more content and happy now. He was always closed off, obsessing about school and his father of course. It's nice to see that he has let go," Commander White looked thoughtful. "I never understood the obsession back then, but now, after my own loss, I can understand why losing his father stuck with him."

"Did you experience loss recently?" Mac wondered.

"My daughter," Commander White said sadly.

"I'm so sorry," Mac said honestly.

"Thank you. I didn't mean to bring it up like that," she apologized.

"It's okay, really. You should never apologize for that," Mac touched her arm in a sweet gesture.

"Thank you," Commander White took a cleansing breath. "Lieutenant Lewis had some trouble in court yesterday."

Mac smiled. "He'll do fine once he's more experienced. I hope he wasn't too discouraged by what I said?"

"I think it's what he needed to get himself together, actually. I think you'll see a different man on Monday," Commander White said just as Harm appeared with their topic on his tail.

"Mac, I don't think you've officially met the new guy. Except from in court of course," Harm added the last part with amusement. "Lieutenant Lewis, this is my wife, Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Rabb."

Lieutenant Lewis jaw dropped a little. "Ma'am, hi, nice to meet you again."

Mac shook his hand. "You too Lieutenant, and congratulations on your new assignment with JAG."

"Thank you, ma'am," Lewis picked his jaw off the floor and smiled. "Sorry about yesterday, I promise I'll come more prepared on Monday."

"Don't worry about it Lieutenant," Mac reassured. "Hey honey, Commander White tells me that you were such a great guy in Law School."

Harm smiled. "That's true."

"There's a few stories I could tell you about…."

"But you won't," Harm warned. "And that's an order."

"Yes, sir," White sobered up.

Mac looked between the two with amusement. "I bet he never fired a gun into the court room ceiling?"

White looked questioningly at her. "He really did that?"

Mac nodded. "He sure did."

"I was just trying to win my case," Harm argued laughingly and took Mac's hand.

Later, after saying good night to the kids, they cleaned up the rest after the party. Harm was thoughtful as he closed the dishwasher and looked out the window. It had been a great day, his staff seemed to think so too.

"Are you okay, honey?"

He turned and faced his wife. "Yeah, just thinking about Amy actually."

"Commander White? She seems really nice," Mac walked over to him.

"She is. Very sharp too, and a good lawyer. If it wasn't for me already having a full staff I would have offered her a billet," he hesitated. "She lost her daughter two years ago."

"I know, she mentioned it when we were talking about you and the loss of your father. It's heartbreaking," Mac put her hand on his arm. "It couldn't have been easy dealing with that and a divorce."

"No, it couldn't," Harm agreed.

"She mentioned that I reminded her of Diane," Mac said.

Harm's eyes met hers. "It must be weird for you to hear that."

Mac shrugged. "It doesn't bother me," she hesitated. "Do you see the resemblance?"

"You know I did for a while," he took her hand. "But I don't see her in you, you know that right?"

"I haven't given it a lot of thought," she admitted. "But I have wondered what your friends from back then thinks when they see me."

"Keeter told me that he didn't see the likeness after spending ten minutes with you, because you are totally different than she was," Harm said and smiled. "I love your personality, the way your mind works and everything about you. I have never felt about anyone the way I feel about you. I love you, baby."

Mac smiled. "You've come a long way since we first met, Harm."

He smiled and cupped her face. "You have no idea how true that is. A lot of women have tried to change me, but only you have succeeded. I have never been so open about my feelings before, and I mean before we got married too. No one knows me better than you do."

"That goes both ways," she kissed him softly. "I love you too."

He kissed her again. "I think we've done enough work for tonight. Let's relax in the hammock for a while."

"That sounds like a good idea," she agreed and let him lead her outside.