Requital
Title: Requital
Author: pharmduh
Rating: K
Spoilers: Season 8, Up to "Ice Queen"/"Meltdown"
Summary: Harm finds himself in jail, yet again.
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. Belong to DPB, Paramount, TPTB etc.
Author's notes: This takes place between "Ice Queen" and "Meltdown" (otherwise known as the NCIS spinoff/takeover) - yes, I did used to be a bit sore about them stealing JAG's timeslot, but I'm okay with it now, I swear. :o)
Anyway, if you like it you can find more stuff here. Feedback is much appreciated. Hope I did this right.
Requital
She came to visit him the day after Gunny Gibbs slapped a pair of handcuffs on him. That wasn’t surprising. What surprised him was her anger.
He had hoped that, as his best friend, she would be…not sympathetic, but understanding. It wasn’t the first time the system had screwed them over. And he had hoped she would offer some respite from the hell of knowing he was stuck on the wrong side of the brig bars. All because of an overzealous gunny and a phone number he had written on a bar napkin.
After years of pushing Mac to the utmost limits of her patience, Harm knew what she was like when angry. He still hadn’t figured out how to stop making her angry, but he knew her tense stance, her shield of professionalism, her eyes that alternated between hot rage and cold fury, the way her jaw set when she wanted to keep her tongue in check.
All these symptoms appeared before him like a dream, or maybe a nightmare, fully adorned in a Marine Lt. Colonel’s Class A uniform. She nodded tersely to the guard, who proceeded to execute an about-face and shut the door behind him.
He let his long legs dangle as far as they would and rubbed his chin in a nervous gesture, his cheeks already rough with stubble. “Thanks for coming, Mac.”
Her eyes stopped studying him long enough to pin him with her trademark stare. “Did you think I wouldn’t?”
He let out a short, ugly laugh. “I didn’t think I’d be sitting here before yesterday. Really, Mac, you’re a sight for sore eyes.” His statement didn’t have the desired effect. Her tone immediately became official.
“SECNAV doesn’t want us touching this with a ten-foot pole. Besides, half the staff is on the prosecution’s witness list. The other half will probably end up on the defense’s witness list.”
“Which means…”
“Your lawyer’s not going to be one of us. Bias, and all that.” She paused momentarily, remembering the scene in the conference room where she, Sturgis, and Bud had volunteered to defend Harm simultaneously. It would have been comical if his life wasn’t on the line. “But the Admiral’s hell bent on finding a good defense lawyer.” His stare unnerved her, though she would never admit it out loud. It was as if he was trying to look through her…and succeeding.
“I didn’t kill her, Mac,” he stated emphatically.
Mac glanced at him in surprise. “I know that, Harm.”
“Then why are you so mad at me?”
Her eyes held his blue-green ones for a long moment. “You weren’t entirely truthful, Harm.”
He didn’t have to rack his brain for long. “Mac, about the investigation on the Seahawk…” She looked at him expectantly. “As much as I wanted to, and I really did want to, I couldn’t tell you about Loren and…and…”
“Sergei?”
It didn’t seem like that big of a deal now. But he had felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulders then, and he told her so.
“Maybe that’s because you insisted on carrying that weight alone.” Her voice was laced with hurt, though she tried to keep it at bay. Harm felt worse in this moment than when the doors had closed on him with a finalized clang. “Not only was it part of my investigation-” she stopped, changing directions. “I know that it was personal Harm, for you and Singer both, but I’d like to think that we…our professional and personal lives are grounded in trust.”
Harm sighed in frustration at his own actions. He had managed to screw up yet again. “Mac, there’s no one in the world I trust more than you,” he said solemnly. “And that’s a fact, Counselor.”
She sighed as well, partly in relief and partly because the sincerity of his statement had affected her more than she liked. “I know, and the feeling’s mutual, but sometimes…”
“I screw up and need to acknowledge that I have done so.” That brought a small smile to her face. “My judgement has always been skewed involving personal matters.” He broke eye contact to study the rough wooden table between them. Initials and hearts had been etched in numerous places, and he had a sudden urge to scratch ‘S + H 4ever’ in with his blunt fingernails.
“I guess that explains the scuttlebutt that you purposely antagonized the much-beloved NCIS agents.”
A glint of humor returned to his eyes. “You know what they say about scuttlebutt.”
She nodded. “It’s usually true.” A larger smile appeared on her face. “I was mad at you about that too, because it’s just plain stupid, but,” she silenced his protest, “I guess they are pretty annoying.”
“Especially that Gunny Gibbs.”
“Agent Gibbs,” she corrected, then chuckled to herself.
“What?”
“Nothing. He just reminds me a lot of…you. Now you know how I feel.”
“Mac, he-” Harm stopped. “I admit he does use some of my tricks,” he said, remembering Gibbs’ mock phone call to Admiral Chegwidden, “but he is nothing like me.”
“Hmm,” was her simple answer.
“Can you believe they think I’m at flight risk?” he asked, changing the subject.
“I don’t know, Harm. That might have something to do with your previous brig break.”
“Or maybe the gunny-”
“Harm,” she warned.
He grinned his first flyboy grin since the whole ordeal began. “Just kidding.”
Mac threw him a pointed look before rising from her chair. “Oh, your mother called today. At work.”
Harm instantly grew serious. “What did you tell her?”
“That I know you’re innocent, and we’re going to get you out of this mess. As usual.” Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “You’re front page, bottom half, Navy Times. Sturgis will bring you the paper tomorrow.” Harm realized suddenly that she was preparing to leave.
“When will you be back?”
“Soon. We’re behind you every step of the way.”
“I know.” And he was unspeakably grateful for it. “Thanks.”
Mac cast him another smile, somewhat sad, before knocking on the door to signal the guard. And then she was gone.
As the gruff guard lifted him from the chair, Harm swore that he would find a way out of this. If not for himself, then for Mac.
And then he would have the gunny’s badge.
THE END
Author: pharmduh
Rating: K
Spoilers: Season 8, Up to "Ice Queen"/"Meltdown"
Summary: Harm finds himself in jail, yet again.
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. Belong to DPB, Paramount, TPTB etc.
Author's notes: This takes place between "Ice Queen" and "Meltdown" (otherwise known as the NCIS spinoff/takeover) - yes, I did used to be a bit sore about them stealing JAG's timeslot, but I'm okay with it now, I swear. :o)
Anyway, if you like it you can find more stuff here. Feedback is much appreciated. Hope I did this right.
Requital
She came to visit him the day after Gunny Gibbs slapped a pair of handcuffs on him. That wasn’t surprising. What surprised him was her anger.
He had hoped that, as his best friend, she would be…not sympathetic, but understanding. It wasn’t the first time the system had screwed them over. And he had hoped she would offer some respite from the hell of knowing he was stuck on the wrong side of the brig bars. All because of an overzealous gunny and a phone number he had written on a bar napkin.
After years of pushing Mac to the utmost limits of her patience, Harm knew what she was like when angry. He still hadn’t figured out how to stop making her angry, but he knew her tense stance, her shield of professionalism, her eyes that alternated between hot rage and cold fury, the way her jaw set when she wanted to keep her tongue in check.
All these symptoms appeared before him like a dream, or maybe a nightmare, fully adorned in a Marine Lt. Colonel’s Class A uniform. She nodded tersely to the guard, who proceeded to execute an about-face and shut the door behind him.
He let his long legs dangle as far as they would and rubbed his chin in a nervous gesture, his cheeks already rough with stubble. “Thanks for coming, Mac.”
Her eyes stopped studying him long enough to pin him with her trademark stare. “Did you think I wouldn’t?”
He let out a short, ugly laugh. “I didn’t think I’d be sitting here before yesterday. Really, Mac, you’re a sight for sore eyes.” His statement didn’t have the desired effect. Her tone immediately became official.
“SECNAV doesn’t want us touching this with a ten-foot pole. Besides, half the staff is on the prosecution’s witness list. The other half will probably end up on the defense’s witness list.”
“Which means…”
“Your lawyer’s not going to be one of us. Bias, and all that.” She paused momentarily, remembering the scene in the conference room where she, Sturgis, and Bud had volunteered to defend Harm simultaneously. It would have been comical if his life wasn’t on the line. “But the Admiral’s hell bent on finding a good defense lawyer.” His stare unnerved her, though she would never admit it out loud. It was as if he was trying to look through her…and succeeding.
“I didn’t kill her, Mac,” he stated emphatically.
Mac glanced at him in surprise. “I know that, Harm.”
“Then why are you so mad at me?”
Her eyes held his blue-green ones for a long moment. “You weren’t entirely truthful, Harm.”
He didn’t have to rack his brain for long. “Mac, about the investigation on the Seahawk…” She looked at him expectantly. “As much as I wanted to, and I really did want to, I couldn’t tell you about Loren and…and…”
“Sergei?”
It didn’t seem like that big of a deal now. But he had felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulders then, and he told her so.
“Maybe that’s because you insisted on carrying that weight alone.” Her voice was laced with hurt, though she tried to keep it at bay. Harm felt worse in this moment than when the doors had closed on him with a finalized clang. “Not only was it part of my investigation-” she stopped, changing directions. “I know that it was personal Harm, for you and Singer both, but I’d like to think that we…our professional and personal lives are grounded in trust.”
Harm sighed in frustration at his own actions. He had managed to screw up yet again. “Mac, there’s no one in the world I trust more than you,” he said solemnly. “And that’s a fact, Counselor.”
She sighed as well, partly in relief and partly because the sincerity of his statement had affected her more than she liked. “I know, and the feeling’s mutual, but sometimes…”
“I screw up and need to acknowledge that I have done so.” That brought a small smile to her face. “My judgement has always been skewed involving personal matters.” He broke eye contact to study the rough wooden table between them. Initials and hearts had been etched in numerous places, and he had a sudden urge to scratch ‘S + H 4ever’ in with his blunt fingernails.
“I guess that explains the scuttlebutt that you purposely antagonized the much-beloved NCIS agents.”
A glint of humor returned to his eyes. “You know what they say about scuttlebutt.”
She nodded. “It’s usually true.” A larger smile appeared on her face. “I was mad at you about that too, because it’s just plain stupid, but,” she silenced his protest, “I guess they are pretty annoying.”
“Especially that Gunny Gibbs.”
“Agent Gibbs,” she corrected, then chuckled to herself.
“What?”
“Nothing. He just reminds me a lot of…you. Now you know how I feel.”
“Mac, he-” Harm stopped. “I admit he does use some of my tricks,” he said, remembering Gibbs’ mock phone call to Admiral Chegwidden, “but he is nothing like me.”
“Hmm,” was her simple answer.
“Can you believe they think I’m at flight risk?” he asked, changing the subject.
“I don’t know, Harm. That might have something to do with your previous brig break.”
“Or maybe the gunny-”
“Harm,” she warned.
He grinned his first flyboy grin since the whole ordeal began. “Just kidding.”
Mac threw him a pointed look before rising from her chair. “Oh, your mother called today. At work.”
Harm instantly grew serious. “What did you tell her?”
“That I know you’re innocent, and we’re going to get you out of this mess. As usual.” Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “You’re front page, bottom half, Navy Times. Sturgis will bring you the paper tomorrow.” Harm realized suddenly that she was preparing to leave.
“When will you be back?”
“Soon. We’re behind you every step of the way.”
“I know.” And he was unspeakably grateful for it. “Thanks.”
Mac cast him another smile, somewhat sad, before knocking on the door to signal the guard. And then she was gone.
As the gruff guard lifted him from the chair, Harm swore that he would find a way out of this. If not for himself, then for Mac.
And then he would have the gunny’s badge.
THE END