A Little Lower Than The Angels

Chapter 5

Disclaimers: I don’t own any of the JAG or NCIS characters. I don’t own any product or label mentioned for the purposes of telling this story. Any similarities to person living or dead are purely coincidental.

Spoilers: Any JAG episode up to and including ‘Lawyers, Guns and Money’ in Season 8, The story begins near the end of the episode ‘Meltdown.’ Events in the episode “Need to Know,’ will also be touched upon.

A/N: This chapter will also be an answer to Cece’s March Challenge, 06’. I believe this chapter could stand alone as an episode reaction to Meltdown and Lawyers, Guns and Money.’ The dialogue to be included is in bold italics. The tense is changed in one part, but you will recognize it, I’m sure.

A/N: A reminder that this has not been betaed. I got an independent streak this time, and I think I’m already suffering for it. (LOL) So any mistakes are mine, and I am aware my dates are off, I’ll square it away before I archive.

Rating K



0830

Friday

April 25, 2003

Conference Room

JAG Headquarters

Falls Church, Virginia


Harm sat with Commander Coleman, waiting for two NCIS agents and the prosecutor Major Mike McBurney, who had requested a meeting before court this morning.

“Sir, I strongly advise you to consider everything you say in this meeting.” She spoke with a measured tone that a junior officer must use when speaking to a superior.

“Commander, I’m well aware of what I should and should not say. At this point, I don’t think I have anything to lose.” Things had been going very badly in court, Bud and Petty Officer Coates testimonies had been damning, to say the least.

“The new evidence links you to the crime scene Commander Rabb, but it still does not prove that you committed murder. It’s not too late to reconsider this meeting.”

“I’m going to trust my instincts on this one, Commander.” He gave her a side long glance, signaling in a very subtle way, that this discussion was over.

At that moment, Special Agents Tony DiNossso and Viv Blackadder opened the conference room door, followed by Major McBurney.

Commander Coleman started the meeting by stating plainly, that she had advised Commander Rabb against this meeting.

“So noted.” McBurney acknowledged her.

The NCIS agents began their interview with the new forensic evidence discovered, and a new location, that a man with ‘sandy’ colored hair, had frequented with Lieutenant Singer.

Harm braced himself and his chest became tight, as he thought they might have discovered another link to Sergei’s relationship with Singer that could hurt him later. He was beginning to think that knowing Singer was like being cursed, neither of them should ever have gone near her.

“My brother Sergei,” Harm acknowledged wearily.

“No, not this time, we think we have narrowed it down to one person in particular, recognize him?” DiNosso slid a picture across the table, in front of him. It was a picture of Commander Teddy Lindsey.

Harm sat for a moment stunned, the thought hadn’t even occurred to him. He remembered the ‘conversation’ at the end of Lindsey’s audit. When he hadn’t been successful at breaking up the team at JAG, Harm hadn’t given him another thought. He had tried to frame him. Lindsey had nearly ruined his life forever and he took the evidence to accomplish that, right in front of him. Harm could see Lindsey, taking his cover in his mind’s eye.

He had taken it and thrown it over the bridge at Potomac Park. Thank God Gibbs had gone with his gut and they had taken the time to test the silt on the cover, the evidence hadn’t been there long enough to place Harm at the murder scene.

The charges against Harm were dismissed and charges were brought against Commander Teddy Lindsey, for his role in the death of Lieutenant Loren Singer. After being processed out of the brig at the Washington Navy Yard, Harm was free to return to JAG and resume his life.

1115

Friday

April 25, 2003

Admiral Chegwidden’s office

JAG Headquarters

Falls Church, Virginia


Harm stood at attention before the Admiral,

“At ease Commander, have a seat.”

‘Yes Sir”

Admiral Chegwidden looked at him, his expression stern, and his unflinching gaze making Harm slightly uncomfortable. “Commander Rabb….I’m sure it goes without saying that your actions, though well intentioned and honorable, compromised your career, not to mention this office. Do you understand that?”

Harm waited a beat, and then answered. “Yes, sir.”

“Good.” His tone of voice was firm and spoke to the utter exasperation he felt with Rabb for nearly scuttling his career, and also for not telling him or someone, what the hell had been going on.

Harm was silent as the Admiral continued.

“I want you to go home, rest up and be ready to work on Monday.”

“Sir, I can finish the day…”

“Don’t be ridiculous, take the time, and that’s an order. You’ve been in that brig for a week, get out of town, and blow the stink of that place off of you.”

Harm thought the Admiral had described it pretty accurately; he did hate the smell of that institution. Maybe he and Mac could get out to Leesburg tomorrow and take ‘Sarah’ up for awhile.

“Yes, sir”

“Alright, you’re dismissed.”
Harm stood and came to attention and as he started to leave the room the Admiral spoke to him again.

“Commander Rabb,

I want you to think about something, as you rest up over the weekend. I want you to think about what your silence in this very complicated matter nearly cost you. You have been under my command for over 7 years, if you can’t trust me as your commanding officer by now, then I don’t know you as well as I thought I did.”

“Yes, sir”

.

He opened the door to the Admiral’s office and as he closed it, his mind turned to Mac.

He was ready for a date with both of his ‘Sarah’s.’

As he was walking across the bullpen, he noticed that Mac’s office door was closed. He asked Lieutenant Sims about where Mac was and she replied that she had left 45 minutes before. “I was to tell you that she would leave a message on your voice mail.”

He retrieved the message as he took the elevator down. He could have sworn he detected the scent of Mac’s perfume, in the enclosed space. In her message, she promised to come by his apartment tonight after she secured for the day. As he breathed in her scent, he smiled hoping that maybe they would pick up where they left off last Thursday.

Admiral Chegwidden had followed, a moment after Harm left the office, and as he watched him walk to the elevators, he wondered if Rabb had heard a word he said.


At that same moment….

CIA Headquarters

Langley, Virginia



Mac stood in front of the mirror, inspecting her profile, her very pregnant profile in the mirror. Clayton Webb had come to JAG today, with the knowledge of the State Department and having convinced the SecNav, that Mac was sorely needed for a mission, in Paraguay.

When they were on their way to Langley, Webb had explained why he needed someone he trusted implicitly. Webb drove home the point that the mission was vital, that it would eliminate a threat to a battle group that was just off the coast of South America. It might actually lead to the capture of a suspected Al Qaeda operative and many of his ‘associates’ in Paraguay. He told Mac he didn’t trust himself, that he was taking too many chances.

Mac thought of Harm. She was sure he had probably gotten her message by now. When she had been offered the mission, she hesitated, but then thought that Webb was Harm’s friend too, and if he had been offered this mission, Harm would have taken it. He would complain about Webb’s lack of planning the whole time, but he would help him, without question. She knew Harm felt partially responsible for Webb having been assigned to Tierra del Fuego anyway, after the Angelshark investigation.


She would see Harm for awhile before they had to leave for South America. They were to leave Reagan International at 1850. She was sure the Admiral would send Harm home and have him resume his duties Monday. She knew that Harm probably needed the time to get his bearings, after this fiasco and she didn’t really think this mission would take more than a week. Of course, she knew this was serious, but thought, how bad could it be?


1600

Friday

April 25, 2003

Harm’s Apartment

North of Union Station



Mac stood before Harm’s apartment door, she had to wear her ‘pregnancy’ suit so that she could look ‘in character’ when she and Webb boarded the plane for Paraguay. She had been briefed on her role as the diamond expert wife of an arms dealer. Drugs and diamonds had become the currency of terrorists operating there.

She knocked and Harm answered immediately. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself.” It was good to see him, but she immediately saw how tired he looked.

Harm automatically opened his arms and she stepped into them. He hugged her to him and felt the burgeoning belly of her pregnancy suit pressing against him.

“What’s this?” He backed off from her, looking directly at her stomach.
“I have an assignment. I’ll be out of the country for awhile. I’m pretending to be a pregnant wife.”

“Where, and whose ‘wife’ will you be?”

“I can only tell you we’re going to be in Paraguay.”

“This has Webb written all over it.” Harm stepped back again and folded his arms across his chest.

“Harm…I hesitated for a second before I accepted, but he needs my help and I really thought you’d have done the same thing, in my place.”

“I wouldn’t have been anyone’s pregnant wife.” He smirked at her, teasing, but still disliking the idea of Mac on this mission.

She laughed and he tried to laugh with her, but he still had the feeling deep down that he didn’t want her to go. “Mac, I don’t want you to do this.”

“What?” She wondered, ‘Where was this coming from?’

“I don’t want you to go.” He unfolded his arms and placed his hands on his hips, he leaned in closer as he spoke, dropping his tone of his voice.

Closing the distance between them, she rested her hands at his sides. “Harm, I’m coming back.” Then she touched his cheek and he leaned down and kissed hers. “We have a date, remember?”

“When do you have to leave?” He closed his arms around her, pulling her close, in spite of her pregnancy suit.

“I have to be at the airport in a little over an hour, with security and everything. I just wanted to stop by and check on you, you’ve been through a lot, and I wanted to be sure you were okay.”

“I’m not okay; I don’t want you to go.” He wasn’t just going to miss her, something about this didn’t feel right.

Harm loosened his hold on her and guided her to his couch. “Come on …we need to talk.”

Mac sat next to him, as he rested his arm on the back of the couch, holding her loosely, in the circle of his arms. “You know I cant back out now, you wouldn’t, would you?”

Harm didn’t answer; he just looked at her and glanced down at her stomach.

Mac grinned at him, and then self consciously placed her hand over it, stroking it as though there really was a baby there. “Yeah, it’s a little weird looking isn’t it? Now I know what I’ll look like when I’m pregnant.”

Harm looked back up at her, his expression softening and melting her heart. There was a new intimacy between them; this was just another aspect of it. Then he spoke, “you’ll be beautiful, Mac.”

“Think so?” She smiled, trying to hide the blush his attention was causing.

He nodded his agreement and then leaned forward and kissed her. He was careful, as though she really were pregnant; it was a very chaste and sweet kiss. “Thank you for the note you sent me. It meant a lot to me. Last weekend was pretty rough.”

“I’m sure it was, I wanted to do something but we were ordered to keep away. I’m not sure how Commander Coleman interpreted it, but I couldn’t allow you to think you had been deserted by all of us.”

He leaned forward and kissed her, it was a light affectionate touch to her lips. “Thank you for standing by me.” He spoke in a whisper, with his face just inches from her, his gaze locking onto hers.

“Not a problem….” Oh, she was more deeply in love with him, by the second. The sensible part of her brain admonished her, ‘change the subject Mackenzie or you’ll never get out of here.’ So she began to speak about whatever popped into her head. “But I am a little ticked at you Sailor.”

Harm narrowed his eyes and backed away from her, slightly.

“You didn’t tell me about your ‘independent’ investigation of Lieutenant Singer, while we were aboard the Seahawk. I understand Commander Manneti did some ‘research’ for you.”

He nodded, acknowledging her statement, as he averted his eyes. This was still so hard for him.

“You know that I suspected that Sergei might have been the father, I didn’t know for sure, but I wanted to eliminate the possibility of his involvement, unfortunately all it did was raise my suspicions further that he ‘was’ the father. I also thought that the less you knew, the less you would be compromised by the situation.”

“Your intentions were honorable….but you were wrong.” Her tone was not accusing; it only confirmed what he already understood…now. Mac was the second person to tell him about how his honorable intentions had nearly ruined his career.

“I know, I just …” He couldn’t look at her now; it had affected him more deeply than she knew, to be locked in a cell, with his future and reputation seemingly destroyed. There was so much to tell her but there he needed more than an afternoon to explain it. Why was it so hard to tell the woman he loved most what he was feeling?

“Wanted to protect him?” She touched his cheek and tried to catch his gaze, but he turned away from her for a moment.

“Yes.”

“Like you want to protect me?” She smiled at him indulgently when he looked back at her.

“I’ve learned my lesson about Sergei, but you are different, you’re my partner…you’re…” He didn’t finish the sentence aloud, but only to himself he thought, ‘mine.’ He quickly shifted his conversation and tried to lighten things up by teasing her, “Besides, I don’t want the future mother of my children on a mission, without me.”

“I’ll have Webb with me.”

“That’s a comforting thought.” He looked down again at her body, imagining, for just a moment, what it would be like to know that she was carrying his child.

“What are you thinking? When you look at me like that, what do you see?” She remembered that look; he had looked at her this way, long ago, as they stood on Admirals porch. Back then, he looked as though he truly saw her, ‘Sarah,’ maybe for the first time. She would never forget the intensity in his eyes that night; it truly had been the beginning of the end of any thought of a future with Mic. No one, before or since had affected her so profoundly, with a look.

“I see a desirable woman, even in your pregnancy suit, you are beautiful to me.” His gaze was direct, as though he was saying so much more.

For a moment she was mesmerized by his look, all coherent thought was in danger of skittering out of her consciousness. She mentally shook herself and answered him.

“Thank you…you know you really are full of surprises.”

He smiled, loosening his embrace and placing his hand on her ‘pregnant’ belly. Even though Mac could not feel his touch, the gesture sent a tingle down her spine. “It’s kind of…I don’t know, disconcerting… to see you this way…and….” He was struggling to find the words.

“What?” Mac’s voice cracked, and she cleared her throat, hoping Harm didn’t notice. If he did he didn’t acknowledge it.

He looked back up into her eyes. “The first time, I imagined seeing you this way, I wanted to be….the one..who….”

Mac was so touched she was speechless; he had really been giving their baby deal a lot more thought than she realized. “Harm, this is no baby, and when it is a baby, I’m keeping my promise, it will be ours… together.”


“And I don’t want you to worry; I can take care of myself.” She nudged him, teasing, “Believe it or not, I got through quite a few years in the Marines, before I ever met you.”

Harm had only been half joking about Webb and his ability to watch her back, he didn’t trust him. He knew most of the time that Clayton Webb had noble and worthy goals, however, he didn’t care what he had to do to meet them. That’s what worried him.

“I know you can handle yourself Mac. I’ve witnessed that, but I don’t trust Webb. He may have a plan, but you know as well as I do that on his missions, most of the players are in the dark and my bet would be that you will be too.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll be back here before you know it.”

Harm smiled sadly, “I still don’t want to lose you Mac.”

“You won’t lose me Harm. I’ll probably be back within the week.”

He looked at her, his doubt evident on his face.

Mac tried to humor him, “You think I need a guardian angel Harm?”

“I think I fly a little lower than the angels Mac.”

Mac suddenly became serious.

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” She whispered, looking directly into his eyes, trying to tell him with a look how much his presence in her life meant to her. She reached up and traced a slim finger across his brow and down his cheek.

Harm leaned across to capture her lips in a kiss. A kiss that began as the others had today, but became so much deeper and full of meaning, because as his hand rested on her stomach, he thought of how he wanted to make her his, just this way. He wanted a real family, he wanted her, he wanted her to carry his child, and he wanted to make the life and love with her that would create it.





1705

April 25, 2003

Admiral Chegwidden’s office
Falls Church, Virginia.


Admiral Chegwidden stood at his office window, watching as the sun began to set. Secretary of the Navy Sheffield stood near the fireplace studying the current Judge Advocate General. The SecNav knew AJ was angry, he assumed it was about the mission that his Chief of Staff had taken. AJ had made it clear that he hadn’t wanted to offer it to her, but Sheffield had applied a great deal of pressure, as was his prerogative, too much was at stake.

“Speak your mind AJ” Better to hear it now, than through the scuttlebutt at the Pentagon.

The Admiral turned back to look at him, then returned his gaze to the sunset, squinting as the yellow was becoming orange red against a deep blue sky. His jaw was clenched, he was sick and tired of being between a rock and a hard place. He always seemed to be between the SecNav and the Company, or the press, or some congressional representative, or whatever and his career always hung in the balance. He never thought his days as a SEAL would seem uncomplicated compared to this.

“Come on AJ, speak freely, off the record. You’re hanging on to your control by a thread.” He chuckled, “I’m seeing a man so afraid to lose control…

The Admiral had heard enough, he wasn’t ready for ‘arm chair analysis’ from the SecNav, certainly not after the month he’d had. He turned back to look at him. “I learned a long time ago, as a SEAL that if you lost control, in that world, you were dead….or people under your command died.”

The Admiral turned away again, locking his hands behind his back.

“Right now, I feel less in control of what happens to people under my command, than I ever did in a war zone.”

Secretary Sheffield answered him, “I understand your concern AJ, but Colonel Mackenzie has skills that make her role in this mission very critical. Her language skills alone make her invaluable. Add to that, she is an experienced Marine, who has successfully worked with the agent, key in this mission, in the past.”

“I am aware that Mac is very competent, but she usually had back up…besides Webb.” The Admiral didn’t even want to think about the times he had compromised his people.

The SecNav knew the ‘back up’ he was referring to, “Commander Rabb.”

The Admiral nodded, “Yes, or someone from this office.”

“Admiral, I can assure you that Agent Webb isn’t the only ‘back up’ she has.”
The Admiral turned toward him and looked at him curiously.

“I can’t say more, but be assured, everything is under control.”

Admiral Chegwidden looked again out of his window.

He was already dreading Monday, he knew that Rabb would be in his office immediately after staff call. Hell, he might even show up ‘before’ staff call.

TBC

(Note from Cece: This is a stand alone chapter of a longer fic,. The completed fic will eventually be posted in the regular Fanfic Archives under mkim.)