Harms thoughts practically spun all around Mac after the realization had hit him. Mic's beautiful girlfriend he had heard so many stories about was his old friend, partner, what had she been to him? He didn't want to confuse their relationship – if you could call it that – with what he had with Diane. If they had just gone to dinner with Mic he would've already talked to her and he didn't have time to get nervous about it. Why was he even getting nervous? There was nothing to be nervous about, it was only Mac!

Through his circling thoughts he barely registered Jordan's voice asking him if she should leave so he could prepare for court.

Court - the thing he was supposed to be preparing for.

That was what he was meant to do right now. He reminded himself quickly. And so he pulled himself together, apologized to Jordi and got back to work, which tonight involved reminding himself of just how Mac worked in the court room.

"The judge has no idea what he will have to deal with, if we start back up!" Harm thought smiling t.

After Mic and Sarah had left JAG headquarters with a huge stack of files they immediately went home and ordered dinner in. Mac went to look through the files and audibly sighed when she realized that the charges actually were only one small folder and the rest contained research Mic had done and the court transcripts.

Meyers, her client was first on her list for tomorrow morning but when she opened the Lieutenants personnel file she got confused. Sarah distinctly remembered that the Admiral referred to a male officer when he sent Bud to ask for an OK and she was pretty sure she had stood next to a male but here the officer in question was listed as a female. When she looked closer at the file she noticed something else: the file had been changed the same day the JAG investigation had started.

Sarah grabbed the folder with the formal charges because right now she had no clue what was going on. Normally she could get into any case by simply reading though the research but what her client had to do with a changed personnel file and sex changes and why he was on trial she couldn't quite fathom.

The next morning Sarah sat in a little room and waited for her client to arrive and went over her list of questions again. All members of the marine corps know the mantra that you always stay a marine and in her heart Mac would always be a Jarhead but right now she was really glad to be a civilian because that gave her the possibility to argue more liberal without fearing to hurt or even end her career. When the door opened and Lieutenant Meyers finally walked in she motioned for him – yes, he is male, her mind noted - to sit down.

"Lieutenant I need you to tell me the absolute truth, even if you think it could hurt your case. I am going to need to ask a couple of difficult questions and you will have to answer truthfully. I am your lawyer and as such I am not allowed to discuss anything you tell me with anyone. Can you do that? Do you think you can trust me?" Mac started off the interview and all the while observed her client.

A little under four hours later Mac had finished her interview and was going over a list of names she had found in Mic's notes. Google was her best friend in finding out who they were. As it turned out they were all members of congress.

"Great I leave the country for two years and forget all political figures in Washington!" she chided herself.

The names had one more thing in common they were all part of the same committee for women in the military and it seemed that there were and had been several issues in the works. Mic must have included their names in the case notes because he thought they maybe could help. After going over her strategy once more Sarah decided that it couldn't hurt in any way to talk to the head of the committee, a woman called Bobby Latham. At Jag Mic prepared to leave for an investigation. Apparently an Australian and an American vessel had collided during a war game and so he had to cancel his lunch with Mac and catch his transport to Europe. He told Harm good luck in court and then hurried off.

About an hour after Mic had left Mac crossed the bullpen and knocked at his office door. When she got no answer she tentatively pressed down the handle and tried to open it, this was when Bud saw her and said

"Major, the commander had to leave for Europe. Didn't you get his message?"

"Lieutenant it is Miss Mackenzie now or Mac or Sarah, if you prefer and no, I couldn't get his message because my phone died. You wouldn't have a charger for this thing, by any chance?" she replied and held up her phone.

Lucky for Mac Bud found a matching charger and so she plugged in her phone. While she waited for the techno gadget to recharge she ceased the opportunity and checked out a couple of things in the law library. She checked if there were any precedence's or current trials that may be important but she found none. After a while Bud brought her fresh coffee and asked:

"Do you need anything else?"

"Yes, Bud what can you tell me about congresswoman Latham?"

The Lieutenant looked a little befuddled but composed himself fast – faster then in the past, Mac's thoughts added – and replied:

„She is a strong supporter of women in the armed forces but if you don't mind me asking, why do you ask about her? Aren't you defending a male officer?"

"So not everyone knows?" Mac thought to herself and decided not to tell Bud the whole truth.

"Her name appeared in the case notes and I wanted to know more about her before our meeting in an hour."

"I guess Commander Rabb would be better at telling you how she is. They previously worked together and are, if you will, friends but since he is your opponent you may don't want to…." Bud started to ramble off and Sarah stopped him smiling.

"Thank you Bud and don't worry, you did help me with this." She now knew that Bobby Latham was or better is a strong and intelligent woman. She was really looking forward to meeting her now.

Do you know the charges? Guess away! Hope you enjoyed.