Title: Crumbling Pedestals and JAG Officers
Author: Anne Taul, anne_taul@gowebway.com

Summary: An intimate look at how Mac relates, interpersonally to the people around her, focusing on her relationships to two female friends, one older and one younger.

Disclaimer: Jag, its characters, premise and situations are the property of Bellasarius Productions, et. al. This is intended entirely for recreation. No infringement of copyright, etc. is intended. We're just having fun!

 

Crumbling Pedestals and JAG Officers

Jessica Coleman leaned the back of the chair she sat in against the wall behind her and propped her feet up on the desk in front of her. Suddenly the wheels of the leather desk chair, unbalanced by her weight, moved forward without the seat of the chair. She made a small, annoyed sound as she was dumped into the floor. On the way down she grabbed furiously for anything to break her fall. The only thing her hand caught, however, was an electrical cord, so that she pulled a lamp off the desk into the floor along with her.

Undaunted and uninjured she bounced back to her feet with the elasticity that only an eight year old can manage.

A uniformed man rushed into the office, his face full of concern,"Jessica, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Lt. Roberts. Why are you so worried?"

"Because Major MacKenzie asked me to keep an eye on you while she was in court --- and she won't like it if you get hurt. Besides Jag headquarters is no place to play, be careful."

"No way am I going to get hurt. I'm practically a marine, myself," the little girl stated emphatically.

Bud Roberts stood over his young charge, and admonished her with, "Until you enlist and put on a uniform, you're still a civilian around here, is that understood?"

"Yes, Sir!"

Trying a new control tactic, Bud sat down and looked Jessica in the eye, "So, you want to be a marine, hunh?"

Jessica seemed a little unsure of this new approach, but giving the lieutenant the benefit of doubt, sat down across from him and answered, "Yeah, I'm going to be a marine, just like Mac. I'm going to be strong and smart and brave. Nobody's going to mess with me."

Lt. Roberts smiled, "You really like the major, don't you?"

Jessica smiled back at him, finally deciding that he must be okay,"She's the greatest! Don't you think so?"

"Well, sure."

Sarah MacKenzie walked out of the courtroom and turned down the hallway toward her office at Jag. She was stopped by a deep voice asking, "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

She turned to face her partner, Lt. Commander Harmon Rabb, Jr, and replied, "I'm just going to go by my office to pick up a few things and Jessica, then we're going to cut out of here a couple minutes early. You should call it a day too, Harm."

"Not just yet." he began, "About Jessica, you're spending an awfully lot of time with her, aren't you, Mac."

"I guess so, but remember, it was your idea that I spend time with her at all. Why? Are you jealous?"

He grinned a big toothy grin in her direction and replied, "Well, maybe I am." Then he laughed.

Mac smiled to herself as she remembered the day she had come into the office after attending a fundraising luncheon for the D.C. area chapter of Big Brother/Big Sisters and suggesting to Harm that he should look into participating in this worthwhile program.

She had told him, "You love kids, you miss having Josh in your life, and you know what it's like for these boys growing up without a father. Harm, you're the perfect person, why don't you give 'em a call? Come on. It'll be fun."

He had looked at her quizzically, then responded, "You really believe in this, don't you?"

She nodded

He started to speak, then stopped and looked for something in his file cabinet. When he turned back to her, he said, "I'll call 'em if you will. We can both try it ."

"Harm, I'm not sure. I wasn't planning to ..."

"Neither was I, but I will if you will. Come on, I dare you."

That was it. How could she not respond to a direct challenge like that?

She had been paired with Jessica, an at ­ risk, troubled child.. Her school conduct record alone was enough to cast doubt on the promise of this relationship. Then there was her juvenile court record, her lack of motivation, and her sarcastic, defiant attitude. At first, Mac had little hope for any future in this association. Something about the child seemed very sad, indeed.

But the more time Mac spent with Jessica, the more natural and easy it seemed. She really enjoyed her time with the little girl. Harm teased her about becoming an instant mother and wanted to know if her maternal hormones were kicking into overdrive.

"He's such a ....man," she thought to herself. But after a while, she couldn't deny that she really loved the little girl. She didn't know much about Jessica's family or her home life (she picked her up after school or they met in the park, usually ­ at her father's request), but she had begun to think of Jessica as her own child.

Whenever she asked her young friend about her home or suggested that she should meet her father, Jessica always changed the subject. They had a lot of fun together, doing all sorts of things.

Mac dismissed it when Harm tried to warn her that the little girl idolized her and had her placed on a very high pedestal. "That's not healthy," he had observed.

She told him that he was just bitter because the kid he'd been assigned to had so many problems that they hadn't been able to forge a relationship at all.

As Major MacKenzie entered her office, she immediately spied the broken lamp on the floor beside the desk. "What happened here?" she inquired a bit impatiently.

Bud Roberts stood as he answered, "You really don't want to know, ma'am."

"And why is that, Bud?"

Jessica jumped into the conversation at this point. "It was my fault, ma'am. I knocked over the lamp when I fell out of the chair."

"You, what? Honey, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry, Mac. I know good marines don't fall out of their chairs and break lamps."

"Jessica, you're not a marine, you're a little girl," the officer assured her.

The small ­ for ­ her age ­ child pulled herself to her full height and replied, "That's only temporary, Ma'am. I plan to be the best marine that's ever served under your command."

Mac had to smile at this. She said, "How about being my friend, first?" Are you ready to get out of here?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'm always your friend, and I'm ready to go. She had picked up her briefcase and headed for the door, Jessica in tow, when Harm stuck his head in and said, "Not so fast, Major. The admiral wants to see both of us in his office, right now.

Mac sighed heavily, apologized to Jessica, and looked pleadingly at Lt. Roberts, saying, "I'm sorry, Bud, do you mind?"

"No problem, ma'am," came his reply.

"Thanks. I owe you one."

AJ Chegwidden sat behind the large desk in his office as she and Harm entered. He motioned for them to sit down, and they took the two large chairs just in front of his desk.

The Judge Advocate General seemed preoccupied with a folder open in front of him, so Harm asked, "Is there anything wrong, Sir?"

Chegwidden looked up to catch them both in his gaze, then said, "Commander, Major, we're about to audited."

"By Congress, Sir?" Mac hazarded a guess.

"No, Major, by the United States Marine Corp"

"What?" Harm sounded surprised

"Sir," began Mac, "the Marine Corp is not in the habit of monitoring the activities of Jag, and certainly doesn't practice jurisdiction over them."

The admiral smiled. "Well, maybe we're just lucky. The Joint Chiefs, as well as the SecNav , want to know if our office handles cases involving marines with as much care and efficiency as it does cases involving the regular navy."

Harm got to his feet, "That's ridiculous, Sir. We handle all of our cases with care and efficiency, no matter who they involve."

The commanding officer raised out of his chair and leaned against his knuckles which rested upon his desk. "Would you agree with that, Major?"

"Absolutely, Sir!"

"I concur, people. However the Marine Corp auditor will be here tomorrow afternoon to begin checking us out. All of our files will be made available, and we will all cooperate in every way possible . Is that clear?"

"Aye, sir," they responded in unison.

Chegwidden nodded his head and said, "Dismissed."

Mac followed Harm toward the door, then turned and asked, "Admiral, do you know who they're sending?"

"Does that make a difference, Major?"

"No, Sir, I just wondered."

He picked up a form from the file he had been pouring over and read a name, " Lt. Colonel Barbara Justice. Do you know her?"

Mac looked at him with an unbelieving stare. "Yes, sir, I do. She was a major the last time I saw her, but Barb Justice was a battalion leader at Camp Lejune when I was there. She's been a firearms expert, and a good one. She's the reason I'm a senior officer today. She recommended me for promotion after OCS and set the example that made me what I am today. I'd even say that's she's a good friend, Sir."

"Will that be a problem, Mac?"

"No, Sir, not at all."

"Good"

As they exited the office, Harm eyed her bemusedly and commented, "sounds like somebody you admire, Mac?"

"She is. I spent a lot of time wanting to be her. She was more than a role model, really, she was my hero."

"Then, but what about now?"

"Harm, I haven't seen her for a long time, but I do owe her a lot.."

"Not enough, I hope to compromise the integrity of this office?"

"What do you think?"

"Just asking."

"Don't worry, Flyboy, I'll make you look good."

"I don't need any special favors."

"Yeah? Since when?"

"Go on, get out of here! I'll see you later."

"Bye"

On her way into Jag headquarters the next morning, Mac ran into Harm in the parking lot. They fell into an easy gait beside each other. He mentioned their impending visit from the auditor, then began teasing her about how the Marine Corp was probably sending someone to check up on her and make sure she wasn't giving the Corp a bad name. She only grinned, trying to avoid the reaction that she knew would egg him on.

As they got off the elevator, they were joined by AJ Chegwidden.

After exchanging "good mornings", the admiral ordered, "Major, Commander, my office"

Harm and Mac followed him into the office, where he motioned for them to close the door. "Anything wrong, Admiral?" Mac questioned, "You look serious, Sir."

"Well, Major, I've never liked to have my officers left in the dark about what's going on."

Harm straightened up to his full height and asked, "Sir, is there something you haven't told us?"

"Sit down, you two," he motioned toward the chairs in front of his desk. They each took one. "It's about Colonel Justice's visit. You see, she's not only going to be investigating us, we're also going to be investigating her."

"Investigating what, Sir?" Mac asked cautiously.

Chegwidden took a deep breath, crossed his arms over his chest and sat down on the edge of the desk. "There have been some allegations about her, perhaps, giving unfair assistance to female marines."

"What?" Mac came up out of her chair with an astonished look. "Sir, Colonel Justice is one of the finest officers I've ever known."

"I'm sure that's true Major, but there have been some accusations that she has helped to secure unwarranted promotions for female marines, when other personnel may have actually been better qualified."

Mac was beginning to look a little defensive by the time she said, "As you well know, Sir, sometimes an officer has to make judgment calls about the people serving a particular command. That doesn't make it improper."

"Apparently what we're talking about here is more than a judgment call. There have been reports that she has passed over recommending qualified male marines for promotions and training posts in favor of less qualified female personnel."

This time it was Harm who rose out of his seat, "Sir, that's sexual discrimination!"

"If it's true!" Mac interjected.

"You see the problem, then." Chegwidden commented.

"Sir, surely you don't believe the wild allegations of some disgruntled men who didn't measure up?"

"Wait a minute, Mac." Harm began, " If it were women complaining, you'd be singing a different tune. Are you suggesting we perpetuate a double standard in these cases?"

"Of course not," she concluded, lowering her eyes. "But, Harm, you don't know Barb Justice like I do, she's not capable of that kind of thing."

The admiral again entered the conversation, "Maybe that's the trouble, Mac. Maybe you're too close, too personally involved with this. Should I assign it to someone else?"

"No, Sir, my personal feeling will in no way effect my ability to carry out a thorough and objective investigation."

"Good. The colonel is arriving this afternoon. We'll start by reviewing the service records and personnel files of all the females she's recommended for promotion in the last few years. Look at the criteria and the comments, if any of them weren't qualified for the positions she helped them get, I want to know about it."

"That could take a while," Harm sighed.

"Do you have other plans, Commander?" Chegwidden answered him

"No, Sir," Harm replied.

Mac crossed her arms in front of her and asked, " How far back should we search, Sir?"

"I don't know, Major, as far back as it takes for me to be able to give answers to the Pentagon brass. They have to be satisfied."

"Does the colonel know that we'll be conducting this investigation?" Harm inquired.

"If she does, it won't be because we told her, understood?"

"Yes, Sir" they repeated in unison.

"Then, you have your assignment, get started. Mr. Roberts can help you, if you need him."

"Aye, Sir" they mouthed together, then turned to leave the office.

Once outside, Harm looked at his partner with a hard, fixed expression, "Mac, are you okay with this? "Cause, I could do this and let you..."

She cut him off, " Harm, it's fine.

"Yeah," he said. He grasped her elbow and steered her into his office, then guided her to a chair. The steady pressure on her arm let her know that he meant for her to sit. She did, and he sat down in another chair across from her.

Mac could see the concern on his face as he asked her, " What's the problem? Why is this eating you up so badly?"

She avoided eye contact with him. But she knew that he knew her too well, so there was no point trying to lie to him. "Harm, Colonel Justice is the officer who recommended me for promotion, a couple of times. I owe a large part of my career to her."

"Oh, now I see," he remarked, "if she's guilty of granting unwarranted promotions, then, maybe, you don't deserve to be where you are?"

"That's not exactly how I would have put it, but, yeah, basically."

"Mac, you know better than that. You're a fantastic marine ­ a great officer."

"Thanks, but it's not just that."

"What, then. Come on, this is me, you can tell me." He coaxed.

"Harm, I've always looked up to Barb Justice. She's a role model, an inspiration to me."

"And now, you've got to investigate your hero. That's the trouble with heroes, sometimes the pedestals get bigger than the people. You know, I can ask the admiral to take you off this case. I don't have to give him any specific reason or any details. I can just...."

"No, Harm. I can handle it. Don't worry."

Harm walked around to sit behind his desk. He caught her in his stare, and said, "If we're going to have time to go through all those files, we better get some of our other cases out of the way. What are you working on?"

She glanced at her watch, sighed heavily and stood up. "Well, as a matter of fact, I'm due in court in 20 minutes."

"What's on the docket?"

"The Cooper case. Chief Cooper's guilty of dereliction of duty. He's a sloppy sailor. But still he deserves a sterling defense, right?"

"Right"

She started out the door, then turned to look back at him, "Thanks," she said, it was almost a whisper.

"Anytime," he answered as he watched her walk down the hallway..

"Is this all of them?" Mac asked as she took a stack of folders off Bud Roberts' desk.

"Yes, Ma'am," he assured her, "that's every female marine promoted in the last three years that received attention from Lt. Colonel Justice's office. I pulled the service records and the personnel files."

"Thanks, Bud"

She attempted to pick up the whole stack at once, but realized it would probably take two trips.

Harmon Rabb rounded the corner just at that moment and picked up the remaining folders. "Here, let me give you a hand." He offered. "Where do you want them?"

Her elbow motioned toward a rolling wire basket often used for moving large numbers of files around in the office. "Let's stick 'em in there and store them in my office for now. I'm going to set up in the law library when I start going through them."

"Great," he said, depositing the folders. "I'm going to go through the ones from 4 and 5 years ago this afternoon. Five years back might be enough, don't you think?"

"Probably, but if not, we'll just pull on farther back, a year at a time. I do think if there's anything to find, that surely it'll be within 5 years." She mused

"How about we leave this for now and go get some lunch? I'm buying." he suggested.

"Yeah, I'm starving!" she responded. "Where do you want to go? I'll drive."

He thought for a minute, then said, "How about that new place out in Georgetown?"

"Sounds good."

Mac wheeled the laden cart into her office and locked the door, then called to Bud over her shoulder, "We'll be back in a bit."

After lunch, Harm got off the elevator and approached Bud Roberts' desk. The nervous looking younger officer was talking to a tall, regal woman wearing a marine dress uniform. He knew immediately who she was. Crossing in front of her, He said, "You must be Lt. Colonel Justice. I'm Lt. Commander Harmon Rabb, Jr." He extended his hand in greeting. The woman shook his hand and replied, "Pleased to meet you Commander, but, actually I was hoping to see an old friend."

Harm smiled broadly and answered her unasked question, "Major MacKenzie is looking for a parking place, Ma'am, she'll be right in." As if on cue, Mac emerged from the elevator. "And there she is." Harm added.

Colonel Justice turned and walked toward her with open arms. "Mac, how are you?"

Mac embraced her briefly, then answered, "Never better, Barb. How are you."

"Oh, I'm fine. It's been a long time."

"Yes, it has," agreed Mac. "How long will you be here Barbara? Do these reviews take long?"

"I'm not sure. It just depends on the review, how long it takes. I may be here as long as 2 or 3 weeks, but more likely it'll only be a few days."

Mac smiled at her old friend. "We'll have some time for a visit, though."

"Of course we will."

Admiral Chegwidden came round the corner. He held out an arm, pointing down the hallway. "If you'll come this way, Colonel Justice, I'll show you the office we've set up for you to use while you're with us at Jag."

She walked in front of him in the direction he indicated and thanked him.

Harm moved over behind Mac and whispered in her ear, "She's not so bad, for a dragon lady."

Mac spun round on her heels and looked up at him, "Well, she's no dragon lady, but I'm glad you like her."

After an afternoon of barricade in a corner of the law library, Mac grabbed her briefcase from her desk and headed toward the elevator. As she passed Harm's office, he called to her. When she stopped, he teased, "not as hearty as you thought you were, hunh? Are you cutting out early on us?"

Her facial expression belied a hint of amusement as she said, "Jessica has a soccer game in a half hour, so I took a couple hours leave to watch it."

"Mac, you're awfully involved. Won't her father be there for her? Maybe you shouldn't go."

"Well, so far, her father never has shown up for one. Actually, I've never really met him. And as far as my being involved, yeah, I am. I like it that way."

"Okay, whatever makes you happy, Major, but be careful."

"Be careful? At a city park soccer field? What kind of advice is that?"

"Just enjoy yourself, okay."

"Thank you, I will. See you in the morning."

By the middle of the morning, Harm and Mac were both weary from reviewing records of women in the Marine Corp. She stretched her arms over her head and looked at him across the table they were working on opposite sides of in the Jag law library. "Harm, I've seen evaluation reports on over a hundred women and every one of them has met all of the stated qualifications for the promotions they've received. How are you doing?"

Harm stood up extending his long legs, "Every one I've looked at is perfect, too. Our Colonel Justice seems to be involved with a very honorable class of marines."

"Harm, all marines are honorable.'

"Yeah, right"

He picked up a cup from the table. "Do you want some more coffee?"

"Sure, thanks"

When he returned, handing her a steaming cup, she stood up, as well.

"It doesn't look like there's going to be anything to these accusations." She commented.

"Still, we have to keep looking. Just one incident anywhere in her past could be enough to raise suspicions later on."

"You're right. I just hate it that an old friend who I haven't seen in over 3 years is in town and I don't have any time to spend with her."

"You were pretty close, then."

"Yeah, I guess so. We met when I was in college. She's one of the reasons I wanted to be a marine. Then a few years later we were at Camp Lejune together, in the firearms program. I always planned to model my career after hers. You could say I have always had a lot of respect for her."

"That's why you don't believe she's guilty?"

Through a very introspective expression, she said, "Yeah"

Harm had just set his cup down and moved back around to his side of the table when Bud Roberts came bounding in, as only Bud can.

"Commander, oh, excuse me, Sir, Ma'am. Commander, the admiral wants to see you in his office right away, Sir"

Rabb looked a little annoyed when he asked, "Did he say what it's about, Bud?"

"No. Sir, he didn't."

Harm shot a sarcastic smile in Mac's direction, and said, "I'll be right back. Don't use up all the fun while I'm gone."

"Oh, don't worry," she sounded equally as flippant.

He left the room and she continued pouring over the files.

Her research went on for a few minutes, then she heard the door open and someone entered the room. Over her shoulder she said, "You're back soon, must not have been important."

To her surprise, she heard Colonel Justice's voice respond, "I didn't know you were expecting me."

Mac straightened up in her chair and closed the file folder she was reading. "Barbara, hi, I'm sorry, I thought it was Harm."

"Sorry to disappoint, my friend. What's the deal between you two anyway?"

"What do you mean?" Mac really didn't know.

"I mean, what' s your relationship?"

"We don't have a relationship. I mean, well we do. What I mean is, we're friends, just friends -- and partners."

"Well, Mac, he's awfully good looking to stop at being a casual friend ­ and partner."

"Yeah, I guess he is, I don't pay that much attention to that, in him."

Come on, a woman who doesn't notice the appearance of a man who looks that good is working too hard. What are you working on . anyway?"

Mac hesitated before answering. "Just researching some loose ends for a couple of cases."

"I didn't think you'd lie to me."

"What do you mean Barb?"

"I know that one of the reasons I got this audit assignment was to get me out of the field while I was being investigated for sexual discrimination. I figured out that probably Jag was doing the investigation. And since you've been so busy, you must be working on it. Am I right?"

"Barb, it's not my choice."

"No. I know it's not, and I don't hold it against you."

"Good. What are you're plans for the weekend? Can we get together?"

"Sure. I'd love to. Tonight I'm meeting an old Annapolis classmate of mine who works at the Pentagon for dinner, but I'm free tomorrow and Sunday."

Mac yawned and stretched in her seat. "How about a run in the park in the morning, then breakfast. I'll introduce you to another friend of mine that I do that with every Saturday morning."

"That sounds great, as long as you warn your friend that I'm not fast as I used to be.'

"Barb, this friend's only 8 years old. She tries so hard to keep up, though. She's a great kid."

"That's about my speed. I accept."

"We'll pick you up at your hotel at 0630."

"Okay, but I'm buying breakfast."

"It's a deal."

"Justice winked at her and added, "Why don't you invite Commander Rabb to come along?"

"Okay, I will."

Just before she exited the room, Col. Justice advised, "Mac, before you draw any conclusions, maybe you should look at the records of some of the men in my command who have been promoted."

The grass was still wet with dew and the sun was just beginning to tinge colors on the horizon when the party of runners came around a curve in the trail surrounding the park. Harm said to the two marines, "You ladies go on, I'll wait for Jessica." The two women quickened their pace and shot ahead. The lanky naval officer shortened his long stride to keep pace with the child beside him. When he noticed that her shoe was untied, he stopped and tied it for her. "Are you getting tired?" he asked.

She hesitated, then asked him, "Do marines get tired?"

He couldn't help but laugh. He answered, "Oh, yes ma'am, all the time."

"Well, then, maybe I am, just a little."

At his suggestion, they sat down on a nearby bench to rest.

Jessica was the first to speak, "I bet Mac doesn't get tired, though."

Harm smiled at the thought of his friend with tireless energy.. "Sometimes she does, Jessica. You really think she's pretty terrific, don't you?"

"Yes, Sir. She's the absolute very best. I'm going to grow up to be just like her."

"A lawyer, you mean?"

A marine lawyer, Sir". Harm could see the full effect of hero worship in his small companion's eyes.

"I see"

They continued on their bench until Mac and Barbara Justice came back round the path to where they sat, then they joined back in. Going down a long segment of the trail, Mac developed a cramp in her calf muscle and dropped to her knees. Harm motioned the other two to go on, then got to the ground beside her. "Here, let me rub it," he offered. She moved her hands and allowed him, but said, "I think it's alright."

He continued to massage her leg, and observed, "You're really enjoying being with Col. Justice, aren't you?"

"Yeah, It makes me feel good, and worthy, somehow."

Harm pulled her up to her feet and concluded, "You feel the same way about her that Jessica feels about you."

The other two runners stopped for a sip of water at tiny fountain in the park. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Jessica began to interrogate her companion: "How long have you been a marine? How strong are you? Can you kill someone with your bare hands? How much training do you have in strategic warfare? Have you ever been in combat? What kind of medals do you wear?"

Colonel Justice carefully answered the questions, with an amused smile.

The child listened to all she said, then began reciting the same statistics about Sarah MacKenzie.

"Very impressive," she commented.

"Yes, she is," Jessica confirmed, "Mac's the best marine in the whole world."

They headed back on to the track, and Barbara Justice panted heavily, "No argument there, Sweetie. No argument there."

Harm and Mac rejoined them on the next lap.

First thing on Monday morning, Mac asked Bud to pull records on the male marines that Colonel Justice had recommended for promotion in the past year. Harm told her that this might only complicate the picture, but she explained to him that if there was no difference in the criteria she had used to make these evaluations, it would preclude discrimination. So, now they were saddled with all the recommendations she had made about promotions.

Mac talked quietly with Barbara Justice at the coffee pot. Harm walked past. After saying "Good morning", he lay a hand on Mac's shoulder and said, "Are you ready to get back to work?" With this he moved on toward his office.

Colonel Justice looked quizzically at Mac, "The two of you seem closer than I'd noticed before. You're making progress, Mac."

Mac looked back at her, almost annoyed, "Well, Barb, I don't know about that. Harm is my friend, actually my best friend, but I'm not sure that being closer to him is necessarily progress."

Justice turned away as she muttered, "Methinks thou doth protest too much."

Mac followed this up with the comment, "Ridiculous!"

After lunch, the duo's work was interrupted when Colonel Justice requested to question them about some of their cases. They sat on opposite sides of the office that served as her headquarters at Jag, while she paced up and down between them, asking questions. "Why didn't Corporal Benson get the same kind of hearing as the Chief Petty Officer on the U.S.S. Atlantis," she inquired.

Harm looked a little exasperated. "Because the law doesn't allow for that kind of resolution in cases involving that kind of offense, Ma'am. That's a legal question, not a procedural one, Colonel."

"Fair enough," she conceded.

Next she handed a stack of file folders to Mac. "Major, you sure have been tough on some of these marines."

Mac accepted the folders with a cursory glance, and responded, "That's my job, ma'am. You should see what I did to the sailors."

Harm fought to hold back a laugh, when he added, "Yeah, you have a reputation of really knowing how to treat a sailor."

Barbara Justice raised her eyebrows at this, and Sarah MacKenzie turned three very bright shades of red. She avoided eye contact with both of her companions.

When she had finally regained her composure, she said, "I'll get you for that, Rabb."

Having found all her buttons to push, Harm couldn't help saying, "Promises, promises"

At the conclusion of the interview, they walked out together. She turned to glare at him with fire in her eyes. The look she sent his way might just as well have said, "drop dead", but she just said, "I can't believe you act that way in front of people. Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Better than teasing you? No,ma'am, frankly I don't. Come on, let's get back to work. If we get this finished up, I'll buy you dinner. You can even choose the place."

They sat back down in the law library.

Harm concentrated on the file he was reading, then stopped and uttered an, "Hello, this is it."

Mac glanced up. "What is it?"

He looked at her. "Do you still have that folder with the performance evaluations from the promotions committee?"

"Sure. Which one?"

"May, 1996"

"Here it is," she said handing him a folder. "But, Harm, all the service records have a copy of the performance evaluations in them. This would just be a duplicate."

"Yeah," he said, handing the folder back to her. "So pull the one on Gunnery Sargent Christina Lopez."

"Here it is," Mac said removing a piece of paper from the folder.. "It's an outstanding evaluation. She scored excellents in all the line items. She deserved the promotion."

"This," said Harm, holding up another piece of paper, "is the copy of the evaluation from Gunnery Sargent Lopez's personnel file."

"So," replied Mac.

"This is the copy she was given in her performance review. See she signed it on the back, indicating that she had been shown it."

"Harm, what are you driving at?'

He handed the form to her. "Well, look at it."

She began reading this new paper. "Very goods and goods in all categories. It's a good evaluation...." She stopped short. "It's not the same evaluation. This one must be for a different period."

He flashed her a smile. "Check the dates, Counselor."

"They're the same. The promotion board got a different evaluation. It has to be a mistake."

"I'm sorry, Mac. Check the signatures."

"Barb Justice signed them both. Oh no, she's guilty. Harm, she did it. She falsified evaluations to have Lopez promoted. But this is a mistake. It doesn't establish a pattern of behavior."

Rabb swallowed hard and fixed a sympathetic stare on her. "I've got three more here, just like it. Aw, Mac, I'm really sorry."

She lowered her head, avoiding his gaze, but didn't say anything.

He watched her as a single tear rolled down her cheek, then as she quivered from the involuntary sobs that she wouldn't let out (because she's Mac) . Harm rose and walked around the table to stand beside her. After a minute or so, he crouched next to her chair and dropped a comforting arm around her shoulders. When she finally looked up at him, there was pain in her face. She said, "I'm okay, really I am. Thanks."

She stood up. " So, what do we do now, confront her?

He put his hands into his pockets and turned to face her. "That's not our place, Major. We work for the Judge Advocate General, remember?"

"Well, we better go tell him what we've found," she stated, as she moved toward the door.

But Harm caught her elbow as she reached for the doorknob. "You don't have to do this, Mac. I'll take care of it."

"No, it's my responsibility. I might as well get used to the fact that she's just not everything I thought she was."

"Okay," he conceded, "just let me fix this." He wiped a stray tear off her cheek.

AJ Chegwidden sat up straighter in his chair and congratulated them, "Good work, people! I hate to see things like that going on in the ranks. It gives us all a bad name."

He placed the documents he'd been viewing back into a folder and handed it to Harm. "I'll get Carolyn Imes to prosecute. You're defense counsel, Commander."

"Sir..." Mac began to speak, but the admiral cut her off.

"Sorry, Major, you're out of this one. You can assist Commander Rabb, if he needs help."

"Thank you both," he continued. "Dismissed."

As they rose to leave, he spoke again, "I'm sorry, Mac."

She turned and looked into his eyes, "I am too, Sir"

Mac was working at the desk in her office when Colonel Barbara Justice entered and closed the door. Mac glanced up, but didn't say anything..

Justice dropped a stack of folders on the desk in front of her, and began, "So, you found all my deep, dark secrets, didn't you?"

"Barb, how could you?" Mac rose from her desk, her face flushed.. She could feel the heat rising in her.

"You don't understand, Mac. As a high ranking female officer, I felt it was my responsibility to work to increase female leadership in the Corp. Women can do these jobs as well as men, but people won't ever see that, if they don't get the chance."

Mac was fuming by now, "You're right, I don't understand. Come on,now! I'm as big an advocate for women in the military as anybody, but not that way. You're right, we can do the job just as well, so you should be letting us prove that on our own!! You can't improve the position of women by elevating unqualified marines to power!

"Wait a minute! I never recommended a promotion for any marine, male or female, that I didn't believe was qualified for the position."

"You doctored their service records!"

"I only spruce them up a little. Sometimes things don't show up on paper to be as good as they actually are. Sometimes you need an extra edge."

Now, Mac was right in front of her, her face red and her temper boiling, "So, is that what you did for me? Did you spruce me up? Did you give me an extra edge?"

A wave of understanding flooded onto Justice's face, "That's what this is about!?! No, Mac, I never doctored you're records. Of course not. I never even thought about it. You were the most promotable officer I ever worked with. When you came to me at Lejune, straight out of OCS, I knew that you were destined for great things. But there were other young women out there, too. I wanted the other young women with great potential to look as good as you did to the people who determined the course of their careers. Mac, you're acting like a lawyer. Come on, you're a marine. You understand the importance of highlighting women's potential for achievement in the Corp.

Mac stopped at the door, turned around and said, "I am a lawyer!"

Mac was standing beside Bud's desk when he answered the phone. He handed her the receiver, "This call's for you, Major."

"Who is it , Bud?"

"I don't know, but whoever it is, they're pretty upset."

She answered the call. Harm came out of his office in time to hear her end of the conversation, "Calm down. What? Where are you? Are you sure? Can you get out of there? What? Hold on, I'm on my way. I'll be right there." The volume of her voice had risen with each question, until she was almost screaming.

She dashed toward the stairs, skipping the elevator. Harm yelled after her, "Mac, what's wrong?"

"It's Jessica, she's in trouble."

"I'll come with you."

"No. I can handle it. " she called back, and disappeared in the stairwell.

Barbara Justice came rushing up behind Harm and tossed him a set of keys. "Come on, Commander, let's go." She urged.

They followed Mac's Jeep at a distance, not wanting to anger her.

Mac pulled up in front of a small brick house and stopped. She got out of the Jeep. The sounds from inside the house were overwhelming: screaming, cursing, things breaking. But Mac's focus was the small girl sitting on the front steps. She was black and blue, her face bruised horribly. Her left arm hung limp at her side, with several bends and joints that were not anatomical, belying multiple fractures. Her blonde hair had been pulled back from her face in a rubber band, but now was bright red and dripping from the free flow of blood draining out of a scalp laceration.

The marine ran toward the child, who tried to stop her.

A sound from inside the house alerted them to the fact that the storm was moving toward them.

"Mac, make him stop! Make him stop!" Jessica pleaded. She trusted the Jag officer to protect her from the tirade of this monster.

She stepped in front of the little girl, shielding her, and ordered the raging man to halt. As she looked at him, though, all she saw was her own father, with closed fist, ready to strike. She moved out of his path in panic. As she did, he was able to bring a large object that he wielded in his hand down on the top of her head. She collapsed to the ground. This left him a straight path for the child.

Only semi ­conscious, Mac saw him deliver a heavy blow down onto the little girl, who called her name with a tone full of both disappointment and pain.

It may have been a dream , but she thought she heard Harm's voice yelling, "Go ahead, Colonel", then a gun shot. Everything went black..

When she finally regained consciousness, she had a mammoth­sized headache. She felt a pressure on her hand. No, someone was holding her hand. She responded with a slight squeeze to the hand in hers. A familiar voice said, "Wake up, Sleepyhead."

As her vision began to clear and her eyes gradually focused, she saw Harm smiling down at her from his seat beside her hospital bed. She tried to smile back at him, but moving those muscles seemed to increase the pain in her head. So, instead, she whispered his name.

"I'm right here," he responded.

She tried to sit up, but he gently held her shoulder against the bed. "Don't get up. You're okay, but you need to rest, now."

"What happened? Where's Jessica?" she questioned.

"She's banged up, but she'll be okay too. She's out in the hall with Colonel Justice."

Now, with everything that had happened clear in her head again, she anguished, "Harm, she trusted me, and I let her down. I wasn't able to protect her."

Her partner squeezed her hand. "You did just fine." he assured her.

"It's just been a tough day for heroes."

She looked into his eyes and said, "I don't believe in heroes anymore."