Author: Nancy
Disclaimer: JAG and characters don't belong to me.
Classification: PG-13 violence
Category: Drama/Romance
Summary: Harm walked into the gray concrete cell to find his client
resting his head on his arms. The Marine guard stood motionless at
attention as Harm approached the disinterested man. "Petty Officer
Maskew? I'm Commander Rabb and I've come to take your statement. Come
on, I don't have much time," Harm sighed in frustration as the man
failed to look up.
Harm turned and looked again to the guard who continued to stare
emotionlessly at the opposite wall. "Maskew?"
Harm walked closer and tentatively shook the sleeping inmate. The
movement caused the man to begin to slide sideways revealing a large
bloody gaping wound to his neck. Harm turned just in time to see the
Marine guard thrust a sharp blade at him.
Part 2
Beep...beep...beep
Harm blinked, 'Oh hell.' He was drifting again and his watch alarm was sounding...1230. Time was up. If he was going to interview the client and make it to Andrews, he had to leave now.
"Sir, do you have the file?" Bud stopped at Harm's office.
Harm frowned and looked at the picture on his desk of Bud's kids, "Bud, I'll handle it. Thanks anyway."
"You sure Sir?" Bud frowned. "I don't mind really."
"I know, why don't you use that extra time this afternoon to spend some time with those boys of yours," Harm smiled and gathered up his files.
He thought regretfully of Mattie and for all her adolescent posturing, he knew that having someone to come see her art mattered. Maybe what the Admiral said was right about his quals he thought as he walked past Mac's office. Maybe that's what all of these dreams were about, making decisions.
"Hey, you look like someone ran over your puppy," she called out.
He leaned against her office door, "Mac would you do me a huge favor?"
Beep, beep, beep…Mac pressed a button on her computer and looked up at Harm.
Harm's steps echoed down the hall of gray concrete blocks until he stopped at the interview room. The keys jingled noisily as the Marine that escorted him unlocked the door and then locked the door behind him as he handed off the JAG officer to the guard inside the room. His retreating steps could be heard echoing down the hall as Harm stepped on into the room and removed his notepad and pen from the inside of his flight jacket. His client was resting his head flat on folded arms across the interview table. The Marine guard stood motionless at attention as Harm approached the disinterested man.
"Petty Officer Maskew? I'm Commander Rabb, and I've come to take your statement." Pause. "Come on, I don't have much time," Harm sighed in frustration as the man failed to look up. Harm turned and looked again to the guard who continued to stare emotionlessly at the opposite wall. "Maskew?" Harm walked closer and tentatively shook the sleeping inmate. The movement caused the man to began to slide sideways revealing a large bloody gaping wound to his neck. Blood was everywhere! Harm turned just in time to see the Marine guard thrust a sharp blade him. He felt the warm wetness…
Beep...beep...beep
He was having that dream again. He wanted to wake up and stop it, but he was so tired. Mac? She was here...that fragrance. Where was he? Did he fall asleep at work again?
He moved a little and felt the sheets of the bed...nope...not at work...beep...beep...beep. Turn the damn alarm off...he tried to move his arm, but it wasn't cooperating...just sleep a little longer.
"Harm?" that was definitely Mac...a worried Mac.
"Huh?" I'm trying, but I just can't seem to get everything together.
"Come on, you've got to wake up," she sounds a little desperate.
His eyelids finally opened to a blurry white world. 'Where am I, and who in the hell are they? My dreams are getting stranger,' he thought as several strangers stood over him.
"I'm Dr. Ivey, Commander. You're a very lucky man surviving that stabbing attack," the doctor hovering over him explained.
"It was real?" Harm whispered.
"Oh yes. You've been in a coma in intensive care for nearly a week. You've had your family and friends quite worried," the young doctor reported.
"I thought it was a dream," Harm replied weakly. "They're okay?"
"Who?"
"My friends,"
"Yes," he replied as he flicked a penlight in Harm's pupils.
"Ya sure?" Harm sounded a little worried.
"They'll be checking in on you, and you can see for yourself," the doctor smiled.
"That's good," Harm smiled and returned to a dreamless sleep. Beep… beep…beep…the familiar sound he had been hearing... the heart monitor rhymically tracked the steady beating of his heart rate as it had for the past week while he drifted within the layers of consciousness and deep unconsciousness.
~*~
Harm sat up in the bed of the private room they moved him into earlier that day with Mac perched next to him in a chair. They were alone for the first time since he had awakened after a steady stream of visitors.
"You know you're giving me premature gray hairs," Mac smiled and sighed as she looked at Harm's still pale face next to the white of the hospital linens.
"Oh, well you must use something to cover it up because I haven't noticed," he leaned forward and reached over touching her hair inspecting for the so-called gray hair she was referring.
She laughed and leaned into his gentle touch, "That feels good, I've always loved it when someone played with my hair."
"You have pretty hair, and it smells good," he pulled her close taking a good whiff.
"Harm!" she cried out softly.
"I just wanted to check something out," he blushed with embarrassment as he let her hair go.
"What?"
"Oh nothing," he looked down and then asked, "I'm still a trying to put all the pieces together from that day." He looked back at her.
She shifted uncomfortably and nodded, "What do you want to know?"
"I remember finishing up my brief for the Simmons case, Bud had offered to go to Pax, but I told him I would handle it and after that everything is like Swiss cheese," he smiled.
"Swiss cheese," she smiled, "I guess that's from the blood loss," she grew more serious, "The doctors said you were lucky. You stopped by my office and asked me if I would go to Mattie's school for you. You wanted me to look at her art project and meet her teacher. By the way, the teacher's name is Mrs. Sherwin not Sherlock!" She playfully squeezed his hand and then continued to hold it. "You ask me to call you and tell you if Mattie was okay with everything," Mac frowned as she continued to recall the events of the day.
"Yea, I remember I was afraid she would think I didn't care about her," Harm looked down. "How was the art show? Was she disappointed that I didn't come? I bet her project was the best."
Mac gave his hand a gentle reassuring squeeze, "I may be a little biased, but I thought it was the best," she grinned when his face lit up.
"You know she's really intelligent, and I just figured she was artistic too!"
"You sound like a proud papa!"
"Was she upset that I didn't show?"
"A little, but she understands about work. Remember she was a working gal when you found her. She was more upset when she heard that you were hurt." Mac frowned. "Harm, why did you change your mind and decide to go to the interview when Bud said he would go?"
Harm looked down again, "It was my assignment, not Bud's."
"It was Sturgis's, not yours."
"It was meant to be, by the way what was the name of the shampoo you said you use?" Harm smiled.
Mac gave him a hard stare that dissolved into a smile. "You're hung up on the way my hair smells," she chuckled. "What's the deal?"
"You came by a lot when I was out of it didn't you?" he quizzed.
"Yes, I was worried, we all were," she replied raising an eyebrow at him. "What does that have to do with my hair? Did you have dreams about my hair or something?"
Harm smiled at her and letting his mind wonder for a moment to an image of Mac just out of the shower with a soft thick towel wrapped around her. Her wet hair freshly shampooed had that light clean scent that he could still smell with her next to him.
"Harm? Are you alright?" Mac's voice broke the image.
"Yea, what were we talking about?"
"I think you're getting tired, so I better let you get some rest. I'll come back by tomorrow. Sweet dreams sailor," she leaned over and kissed the top of his head.
"You can bet on it," he smiled as she left.
A month later Harm was greeted warmly by the JAG staff when he returned to work. He thought of his last return. He felt invisible, the black sheep, the sinner returning to pay penance for misdeeds. Today he could only describe his feelings as light heartedness, being free and a deep sense of peace that he had never experienced before.
"Commander could you please step into my office," the Admiral stood before him. As in his dreams, Harm noticed that although there was no harshness to his voice, there was an obvious lack of eye contact that the Admiral was known for making when he addressed anyone.
"Yes Sir," Harm followed his CO into the familiar paneled office and shut the door.
"Have a seat," the Admiral directed Harm to the informal seating area in front of the fireplace.
"There is something I must say to you Commander," he paused gathering his thoughts while Harm waited puzzled.
"I believe that my attitude towards you contributed to your attack," the Admiral let out a deep breath his hands grasped in front of him. His head bent uncharacteristically bowed.
"Sir, I don't understand," Harm replied bewildered.
"I thought that I knew what was best for you, and I wanted to change you. I let my feelings push you into a dangerous situation. There has not been a night that has gone by since your attack that I don't hear your request to postpone the interview until the next day. There was no good reason for me not to grant that postponement. My pride got in the way and as a result you suffered the consequences. Commander, I'm asking for your forgiveness?" AJ looked at his junior officer somberly.
Harm was stunned, "Sir, you had nothing to do with the attack. Petty Officer Maskew had planned his escape. You saw the evidence. You know that he was later connected with the murder of those two women in Norfolk. No one knew at the time that he was that dangerous. I don't blame you." Harm shook his head in disbelief.
"The Admiral stood up and paced then stopped at the fireplace before turning abruptly around to face the man who could ease his conscience. "I've examined the evidence, and I hold myself guilty!"
"Then you don't have all the facts Sir!"
The Admiral frowned as Harm stood up and drew in a deep breath.
"Maskew would have killed any other JAG officer but me no matter when they interviewed him."
"Go on."
"Because the original appointment was changed, our office would have notified Pax to let them know when a JAG was coming. Maskew already had his blade hidden away. When he was moved to the interview room he knew just how to kill the guard, retrieve the keys, change clothes and wait until the JAG arrived. At the time, he was only charged with failure to obey orders, not a violent crime so it would not be unheard of for the inside guard to leave a JAG officer alone with the client. So if Bud, Mac or Sturgis would have gone in my place they would have been killed."
"I don't understand why you believe they would have been killed and when you weren't," the Admiral asked.
"I was supposed to go to Mattie's school to see her art on display, but I was going to miss it because of the interview and my carrier quals. I asked Mac to go by the school for me and try to smooth things over with Mattie and then call me on my cell phone," Harm grinned sheepishly when the Admiral rolled his eyes.
"I was prepared to go straight to Andrews after the interview with Maskew so I was wearing my flight jacket to Pax. When I arrived I still hadn't heard from Mac and tried calling her several times unsuccessfully before I went into the brig. Sergeant Mitchell the Marine in charge of the brig noticed my flight jacket and struck up a conversation about my flight experience. Seems he wanted to fly, but didn't have the eyes. I told him about my vision problem, well one thing led to another, and he offered to keep my cell phone and listen out for Mac's call while I interviewed Maskew." Harm looked at the Admiral as understanding began to sink in.
"Mitchell came to the interview room to get me for Mac's call just as Maskew began his attack. You know the rest. No other JAG officer would have survived his attack, trust me I know," Harm said solemnly. "It was fate."
The Admiral let out a deep breath and sat down across from Harm contemplating what Harm had just told him, "Harm, you know you didn't have to tell me any of this. You could have played on my sympathy."
"You feel sympathy Sir?" Harm asked seriously with a twinkle in his eye.
"Don't push it Commander," the gruff tone wasn't congruent with the barely concealed smile on the Admiral's lips.
"No Sir," Harm replied with a grin on his face.
"What was that all about?" Mac asked as Harm left the Admiral's office.
"He's writing me up for missing too much work lately…said I was a slacker."
"You're kidding!"
"Yep."
"You are so not funny."
"Yes I am. I can tell by that funny face you're making. By the way, you never told me what shampoo you use."
"Why do you want to try it?" she laughed
"No, I would like open the bottle and put it in my shower and…" he leaned towards her.
"Should we be having this conversation here?" she replied flirtatiously.
"We could have it in my shower," he rebutted with a raised eyebrow.
"Are you still on drugs?" she coughed.
"I don't do drugs."
"What's with you?" she reached up as if to check his temperature with her hand. She couldn't believe their conversation.
"New lease on life," he smiled broadly.
"You do seem different…happier, more at peace," she stopped at his office door and looked into his face reading all the characteristics she had just described.
"Just like my new Mattie original?" Harm opened his office door and waved his hand proudly to the picture Mattie painted of his Stearman flying into a golden sunset. If you looked closely, you could see a dark haired man and a reddish brown haired girl in the cockpit smiling.
The END
"You fill up my senses like a night in the forest
Like the mountains in springtime
Like a walk in the rain
Like a storm in the desert
Like a sleepy blue ocean
You fill up my senses
Come fill me again
Come let me love you
Let me give my life to you
Let me drown in your laughter
Let die in your arms
Let me lay down beside you
Let always be with you
Come let me love you
Come love me again
Let me give me life to you
Come let love you
Come love me again
You fill up my senses like a night in the forest
Like the mountains in springtime
Like a walk in the rain
Like a storm in the desert
Like a sleepy blue ocean
You fill up my senses
Come fill me again"…John Denver
Harm put down his guitar and pulled Mac into his arms and inhaled her essence before he lifted her chin up so he could kiss her...come let me love you…come love me again…you fill up my senses.
* NancyT's Stories * Please send Feedback! *
