Aftermath

Chapter 4

Mac stretched her legs out on the couch and relaxed against the cushions. She smiled as she watched Harm walk around the kitchen, humming on a tune. He was preparing their last dinner at the cabin. It would be their last night there before they had to get back to reality.

The week had been wonderful, and she wondered how getting back to everyday life would affect their newfound relationship.

"What are you thinking about?"

She noticed that Harm was standing right in front of the couch studying her with curiosity.

"Getting back to everyday life." She admitted.

"Ah that." He sat down beside her. "Well, for one thing you won't be able to sit on the couch all day." He teased.

"Funny." She poked him in the stomach with her foot.

He took a hold of her foot and smiled. "Don't you poke me Mackenzie." He pushed her feet away and lay down beside her. "I'm going to have a talk with Admiral Chegwidden."

She whipped her head around to look at him so fast it hurt. She'd mentioned it to him throughout the week, with him only mumbling something she couldn't understand before he'd started talking about something entirely different.

"Don't look so surprised, I never said that I never would talk to him." He started playing with a lock of her hair. "I'm going to beg my way into the Navy again."

"My guess is that you won't have to beg at all." She studied him with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"What are you thinking now?" He asked with curiosity.

"Well, if you're coming back to JAG, what will happen with you and me?" She wondered.

"Oh, I'm not coming back to JAG." He sat up and put his feet on the ground. "If the Admiral is willing to help me back..."

"Which he will be." Mac interrupted.

"If he helps me back, I'll be stationed somewhere else. We can't be under the same command now." He stood. "Dinner should be done now."

She stood as well and followed him to the kitchen. "So you don't want to come back to JAG?"

"There are other places for a Navy lawyer to be stationed, Mac." He reminded her.

"I guess." She didn't look as convinced as him.

One week later they were at Manderley, walking along the shore, looking over the ocean. It was windy, but the air was warm. The place had been Clayton Webb's hiding place, for when he just needed to get away from everything. Mrs Webb had had his ashes spread at the beach, and Mac had wanted to see the place. She wasn't totally comfortable with what had happened in Paraguay yet, and she feared that she never would be, but she felt better now than a week ago, and she knew that time would heal the wounds left by the mission. The dream didn't haunt her anymore, at least when she was asleep. She still thought about what had happened several times every day, but it didn't hurt as much as before.

Harm was, with the help of the Admiral, back in uniform again. He didn't want to admit it, but after his talk with Admiral Chegwidden he'd gained some of the respect he'd had for the older man. They'd come to an agreement, an understanding really.

"This is a nice place. I can understand why Webb felt so comfortable out here." Harm reached for Mac's hand.

"Yeah." She agreed with a smile. "How much money do the Webb's have anyway? This house, and the house Mrs Webb lives in is worth a fortune."

"Old money." Harm shrugged his shoulders. "Webb really didn't fit the rich kid stereotype, huh?"

"Not really. He was a good guy though. Even if he had his..."

"...moments?" Harm filled in when she hesitated.

She laughed softly. "Something like that."

They walked to the car and both turned to look over the ocean. "So, what now?" Harm wondered.

"We move on." Mac said with determination.

He nodded and kissed her sweetly. "How about we find something to eat before we drive back to the city?"

"Yeah, I'm starving."

Monday morning Harm parked his car on his usual spot outside JAG Headquarters, he entered the building as he'd done for years, he greeted everyone he passed with a good morning, just as he'd done every other morning. It was like he'd never left.

"You work here?"

Harm focused on the teenage boy beside him as he waited for the elevator.

"Yes."

"So you're a lawyer then? What's your rank?" The boy asked.

"Commander." Harm offered his hand. "Commander Harmon Rabb junior."

The boy took the offered hand. "I'm Jack Kensington. I'm late for a tour of this place."

"Hight School?" Harm asked.

"Yeah, it's a part of career week. Today it's this place, and some police office or something." The boy shrugged like he didn't care.

"Have you thought about what you want to do with your life?" Harm asked.

"Not really. As long as I'm far away from this shitty city, I don't care."

The elevator came and Harm stepped inside. The kid followed him. And the doors closed.

"I you want to get away, have a great career, experience new places, you should think about joining the Navy. I wanted to get away too when I was your age. Best thing I ever did was joining the Navy, got to be a pilot for a while, and now I'm here. And as a bonus, the uniform attracts a lot of women." Harm smiled as the doors opened.

"Yeah? You got a lot of women running after you?" The kid followed Harm out of the elevator.

"Just one." Harm's smile widened when he saw Mac approach him with what Harm assumed was Jack's class.

"That's my class." Jack said as his teacher approached him. "Sorry I'm late, I..."

"It's my fault." Harm cut in. "We started talking about the Navy as a career choice, and lost track of time."

"That's okay, we're just starting the tour." Mac said. "Everyone, this is Commander Rabb, he'll be your escort today."

Harm stared at her. "What? Me?"

"I've got court in ten minutes. Welcome back, Harm." She said with a cute smile as she started walking away.

"Was the Admiral smiling when he told you to give me this assignment?" He said before she could get too far away.

"Oh yeah." She waved her hand and left them.

Harm stared at the teenagers in front of him. "Well, I guess we'll start then. Follow me."

Later that day

Harm was in his office. He'd just finished his tour of JAG Headquarters and answered a million questions about the military in general. Even though he'd been less than happy to do it, he'd found it rather fulfilling. He couldn't really describe how happy he was to be back at JAG, and by charing his love for his work and for the military in general he'd realized how much he would have regretted it if he'd decided not to go back. Even though the Admiral had told Harm that the moment he put a ring on Mac's finger and they said I do, he would have to reassign one of them, Harm wasn't worried about the future. He wasn't going to propose to Mac just yet, but when he did and when they got married he'd be happy to change duty station as long as he had her.

There was a knock on his door and Petty Officer Coates came into view. "Commander. The Admiral would like to see you in the conference room."

Harm nodded. "I'll be right there, Coates." He stood and followed Coates towards the conference room, wondering what assignments the Admiral had for him now.

Coates opened the door and let him walk through it first.

"Welcome back!"

Harm was so surprised he just froze for a moment. In front of him all his friends and coworkers stood smiling.

"We missed you, sir." Harriet was the first one to speak. She stepped close to him and offered a hug, which he gladly accepted.

"Welcome back, sir." Bud offered his hand.

Harm shook the outstretched hand. "It's good to be back, Bud. Really good."

"Did you enjoy your first assignment, Commander?" The Admiral asked.

"Actually, sir, it wasn't so bad. It made me realize how much I missed this place." He smiled. "And I might have convinced some of the teenagers to pursue a career in the Navy."

"I thought you might." The Admiral smiled and offered his hand. "Welcome back, Harm."

"Thank you, sir." He shook the outstretched hand.

The door opened behind him, and everyone focused on the new arrivals. "Court ran late." Sturgis said.

"Did we miss cake?" Mac asked.

"Welcome back, Harm." Sturgis said and slapped Harm's shoulder in a friendly gesture.

"Thanks Sturgis." Harm turned to Mac. "There's cake?"

"I made cake, sir." Harriet said brightly, as she started cutting it and handing it out on plates.

Mac leaned in and hugged him. "Welcome back, Commander."

He hugged her back. "It's good to be back, Colonel."

They ended the hug and shared a sweet smile. "Now, let's have some of that cake." Harm said and turned to the rest of the people in the room. It was good to be back.

The End