Title: Black Ops - the Shipper Version  

Author: Anne R.  

Email: AHRSECRET@hotmail.com  

Disclaimer: I don't own them. Sure wish I did. But DB and CBS do. Hopefully they'll get season six right.  

Summary: This is another rewrite of a season one episode. I made some major changes to this episode to make it more interesting. Meg didn't do much in this one except show the Senator around, so I had to adjust for that. Hope you like it.  

"Rabb, Mackenzie, my office immediately" the Admiral yelled from his office.

A few seconds later Harm and Mac stood at attention in front of the Admiral's office.

"At ease. You two are being taken off your current cases and reassigned the investigation in to the death of Lt. Douglas Marion, the son of Senator Grace Marion. Lt. Marion drown during night maneuvers with seal team two at Roosevelt Roads Naval Air Base. Senator Marion is demanding an answer as to why her son died."

"A seal drown?" Harm asked.

"Lt. Marion wasn't a seal. He was a naval aviator on a training assignment with seal team two" the Admiral replied.

"Does it say what kind of training assignment?" Mac asked.

"No, but that's what you two are going to find out. If seal team two was negligent in the training of Lt. Marion, then head's are going to roll" the Admiral replied.

"We'll be on the first flight to Roosevelt Roads" Harm replied.

"I've already arranged for you two to take an F-14 from Pax River" the Admiral replied. "I assume there wouldn't be a problem with that."

"No sir" Harm said as he tried to hide a smile. Mac hadn't enjoyed the last ride with him in an F-14 and he waited for her to say something to the Admiral. But Mac remained silent. She had seen Harm hide the smile when the Admiral had mentioned the F-14, and she wasn't about to let the Admiral know she hated flying in the F-14. After all, she was a Marine.

"Dismissed"

Harm and Mac walked out of the Admiral's office and back to Harm's office.

"All right flyboy, what was that smirk for?" Mac asked once they were inside his office.

"Nothing" Harm replied. "I didn't think you'd ever ride in an F-14 again. You didn't exactly enjoy your first ride with me."

"Well, I'm not going to tell the Admiral that" Mac replied. "Besides, I'm willing to give you another chance."

"Oh really" Harm said with a smile. "So it was my fault you got sick last time."

"Exactly" Mac replied. "See you at Pax"

They arrived at Roosevelt Roads Naval Air Base a few hours later. Unfortunately for Mac, the second ride in an F-14 hadn't been any better than her first and she was happy when they finally landed.

"You okay?" Harm asked as he helped her down.

"Remind me next time to say yes when the Admiral asks if I have problem with taking an F-14 anywhere" Mac replied.

"Sorry" Harm replied as he put his arm around her while they walked to the hanger.

"Not your fault" Mac said as she gave him a weak smile. "Now I know why I joined the marines."

They got direction to the BOQ, and stopped just long enough to drop their things before heading back to interview the members of seal team two. Lt. Alexander Kellogue was in charge of seal team two and Harm and Mac interviewed him first. They learned that Lt. Marion had volunteered for the special ops training just two days prior to his death. Lt. Kellogue did not know why Lt. Marion had volunteered to train with the seals or for what reason they were training a naval aviator as part of the seal team. They spent the day interviewing the rest of seal team two and learned that Lt. Marion had been participating in a 30/30 night helo cast and recovery exercise. Such jumps were part of the standard training according to members of the team, and all said that Lt. Marion was prepared for the exercise. However, none could explain why Lt. Marion had drowned.

"They’re covering something up," Mac said after they finished the last interview.

"That's for sure" Harm replied. "They all had exactly the same story."

"Maybe when we get the autopsy report we'll know more" Mac replied.

A headed to talk to the doctor who had performed the autopsy on Lt. Marion.

"He suffered massive head trauma, four fractured vertebrae, a crushed chest and lacerated lung" the replied when they asked what the cause of death had been. "Any one of them would have been fatal."

"You mean he didn't drown?" Harm asked surprised. They had been lead to believe that Lt. Marion had simply drowned.

"He didn’t have time to drown" the doctor replied. "The impact killed him."

"He must have hit something in the water" Harm replied.

"Or just hit the water" the doctor replied. "At terminal velocity it would be as hard as concrete."

"Terminal velocity is 125 mph" Harm replied.

"Which one would attain rather rapidly when your chute doesn't open" the doctor replied.

"Why would you assume he had a chute?" Mac asked.

"Of course" the doctor replied. "That explains the low oxygen levels in his blood. He fell out of an airplane didn't he?"

"How low were his oxygen levels?" Harm asked.

"Low enough to render him unconscious before he hit the water" the doctor replied.

"Can you estimate how far he fell without oxygen?" Harm asked.

"He was without oxygen at least 2 minutes so I'd say 20,000 feet or more" the doctor replied.

"What would you say if someone told you this officer was killed jumping from a helicopter flying at 30 knots 30 feet above the water?" Harm asked.

"I'd call him a liar" the doctor replied.

"I knew it" Harm said as they headed back to the hanger where seal team two was training. "They all lied under oath."

"So what are you going to do about it, counselor?" Mac asked.

"Charge them all with an Article 134 and order them to stand down and restrict them to quarters" Harm replied.

"Let's do it" Mac replied.

A short time later they had informed all the members of their rights and that they were all being charged with an Article 134, giving false statements under oath, and that they were restricted to quarters till the investigation was finished.

"Commander you don't want to do this" Lt. Kellogue said after they had been given their rights.

"No I don't, but I'm going to" Harm replied. "You lied to us, Lt. You all did. Lt. Marion didn't die executing a 30/30 insertion. He was killed a halo jump."

"Sir, if you'd speak to my commander, General Behnke" Lt. Kellogue said.

"General?" Mac asked.

"Special Ops south is commanded by an army one star" Lt. Kellogue replied.

"He could be a five star and he wouldn't get you out of this" Harm replied.

"With all due respect Commander, I think he can" Lt. Kellogue replied.

"We'll see about that" Harm replied.

They headed out of the hanger and Harm stopped Mac once they were out of ear shoot of seal team two.

"I'm going to go see General Behnke" Harm said.

"Harm, are you sure that's a good idea right now?" Mac asked. "You just about lost it in there with Lt. Kellogue."

"I'll keep my cool" Harm replied. "I promise."

"Well, I'm going with you to make sure you do" Mac said with a smile. "And then we have to get back and meet the Admiral and Senator Marion."

"I'm not looking forward to telling him it was seal negligence that caused Lt. Marion's death" Harm replied.

"That'll be nothing compared to telling Senator Marion" Mac said quietly.

"Come on, let's go see this General Behnke" Harm replied.

Mac was glad she had gone with Harm to see General Behnke. He didn’t seem the least bit concerned that a man had been killed while training with one of the teams he commanded. He informed them that all though he technically commanded seal team two, Lt. Kellogue made all the decisions with regard to how the personnel were trained and therefore would be responsible for the death of Lt. Marion. He further irritated Harm and Mac by telling them that since the Navy already had it's share of scandals, and that it would be to their advantage to make this disappear quickly. General Behnke felt that Lt. Kellogue had learned his lesson and it would be pointless to ruin his career over one mistake.

"What a jerk" Mac said as they headed back to meet the Admiral and the Senator.

"And you were worried about me keeping my cool" Harm replied with a smile.

"General Behnke's up to something" Mac replied. "I can guarantee it."

They arrived at the air land just as the jet carrying the Admiral and the Senator landed.

"So how bad is it?" the Admiral asked once the Senator had been taken to VIP lounge by one of the base personnel.

"It looks like negligence on the part of the seal team" Harm replied and they filled him in on what they learned.

"I'd like to talk to the members of seal team two" the Admiral said.

"We thought you might" Mac replied. "They're at the hanger waiting for you."

The members of seal team two stood at attention as the Admiral came in.

"My name is Admiral Chegwidden. I am the Judge Advocate General of the United States Navy. Before I leave this hanger, I will know the why and the how of Lt. Douglas Marion's death."

"General Behnke gave me a direct order sir." Lt. Kellogue replied.

"To submit a false after action report?" the Admiral asked.

"Yes, sir" Lt. Kellogue replied.

"And you did" the Admiral asked.

"Sir, it was a direct order, sir" Lt. Kellogue replied.

"But was it lawful" the Admiral asked.

"Sir, I have to assume every order in a Black Ops is lawful or I wouldn't obey half of them" Lt. Kellogue replied.

"It wasn't a training jump. Lt. Marion was killed in a mission wasn't he?" Harm asked.

"Yes, sir"

A short time later they had learned that Lt. Marion had in fact been killed in a Black Ops mission. General Behnke had planned a drug interdiction mission in Columbia, in which seal team two would capture one of the drug lords planes, which Lt. Marion was to fly out. Seal team two had not been scheduled to complete the mission, but someone from the Navy had ordered General Behnke to use seal team two. Two hours prior to the mission, they were informed they would be completing the mission, and that the 30/30 had been changed to a halo jump. Lt. Kellogue said that Lt. Marion had agreed to complete the mission, despite not ever having done a halo jump. The other members of the team had taken Lt. Marion's gear, so that all he had when he jumped was his chute and O2 bottle. However, when they found, Lt. Marion, his oxygen mask had been removed and they assumed that he had panicked and removed it during the jump.

"Did you recover his equipment?" Harm asked.

"Yes, sir, the 02 bottle was half full and the mask was functioning properly" Lt. Kellogue replied.

"A naval aviator would never rip off his oxygen mask unless something was very wrong, sir" Harm replied.

"I agree, Commander. You and the Major can check it out while I have a little conversation with this General Behnke. And when you're finished, Senator Marion would like to see you two in the VIP lounge."

While the Admiral went to talk to General Behnke, Harm and Mac went to see the Master Chief about Lt. Marion's equipment. Upon closer inspection, the master chief had found that the O-ring in his oxygen mask had been cut. It was a small enough slit that it hadn't been noticeable in the warm ground temperature, but in the cold at 30,000 feet it would have made the mask inoperable. They learned that General Behnke had provided the equipment for the jump, including Lt. Marion's mask.

"Why would General Behnke have killed Lt. Marion?" Mac asked as they headed to the VIP lounge to meet the Admiral and the Senator.

"Maybe he wanted the mission to fail" Harm replied. "Though that doesn't explain why he'd intentionally kill him."

When they arrived at the VIP lounge, they found a very upset Senator Marion with the Admiral.

"General Behnke has already informed me that my son was killed because of seal negligence. Where is the officer responsible for my son's death?"
"I think you'll find that person in General Behnke's command" Harm replied.

"Explain yourself, Commander" the Admiral replied.

"We found evidence that the oxygen mask used by Lt. Marion was sabotaged by someone in the General Behnke's command" Harm replied.

"Don't make my son's death an army navy war" the Senator replied.

"Ma'am, General Behnke changed the mission from a 30/30 insertion to a halo jump two hours prior to it's execution, and he provided the oxygen mask used by your son" Mac replied. "The master chief inspected the equipment and found an intentional slit in the O-ring."

"Why on earth would General Behnke want to kill my son?" the Senator asked.

"Without a pilot, the seals couldn't complete their mission" Harm replied.

"I think it's time we had a talk with this General Behnke" the Admiral replied. "He wasn't there when I went to see him earlier. He sure as hell better be there now."

"I'm going with you" the Senator replied.

They headed to General Behnke's only to find that he was not there. None of his personnel would tell the Admiral where the General was.

"There's a mission in progress," Harm said as they left the General's office.

"I want you two to find out why the General didn't want the Senator's son flying that plane out of Columbia" the Admiral replied.

"Yes, sir, how sir" Harm replied.

"You and the major will halo jump with seal team two, and bring the plane back here" the Admiral replied.

"Halo jump, sir" Harm said as he looked at Mac. He was going to protest her going, but the look on her face told him he'd better not. "Aye, Aye, sir"

"I don't like the idea of you doing this" Harm said as they waited to board the plane a short time later.

"Well, I appreciate you keeping that opinion to yourself earlier" Mac replied. "I know you were going to tell the Admiral I shouldn't go with you."

"It's only because I care about you" Harm replied. "Who knows what General Behnke will do once he finds out we're going in after the plane."

"Even more the reason I should be with you to cover your six" Mac replied with a smile. "Besides, I think I can handle myself."

"I know you can handle yourself, I just don't want anything to happen to you" Harm said softly as he looked into her brown eyes.

"Same here, flyboy" Mac replied, her eyes never leaving his. To his surprise, she leaned towards him, her lips finding his. Once his initial shock had passed, he reached his arms around her pulled her closer to him.

"What was that for?" he asked breathlessly when she finally pulled away.

"Good luck" she said with a smile. "Come on, flyboy, we've got a plane to find."

They were surprised to find the Admiral and the Senator on the plane when they boarded. The Senator had requested to come along to see what a halo jump was and the Admiral had agreed to come with her. As they neared the jump point, Harm turned to Mac.

"You ready marine?" he asked.

"I'm ready. What about you?" she asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be" Harm replied. "I'll be right behind you."

"I thought I was covering your six" Mac said with a smile.

"No, I'm covering yours" Harm replied.

With one final salute to their commanding officer, they followed the rest of seal team two as they jumped from the plane. A short time later, they arrived at the airstrip. They were surprised to see just one WW II plane on the runway, but several men surrounding it.

"They must have moved it already," Lt. Kellogue said as he looked at the runway. "The only thing here is that World War II hunk of junk."

"That hunk of junk is our way of here" Harm replied. "We'll need a diversion to get to it."

"We'll take care of that," Lt. Kellogue said. "You two just get the plane ready to fly."

Harm and Mac waited while the other members of the seal team detonated small explosives, drawing the men who were guarding the plane away. Mac would cover them as they headed across the runway. Neither had noticed the Army helicopter that was hidden behind one of the hangers.

"Let's go" Harm said and he and Mac headed across the runway to the plane. They pulled down the hatch, and climbed in. Once aboard, they quickly realized why General Behnke hadn't wanted Lt. Marion to fly the plane. The old WW II plane had been equipped with an AWAC's system to allow the drug cartel to fly undetected by the coast guard and navy.

"This is army equipment," Mac said.

"And I bet I know who gave it to the cartel" Harm replied. "General Behnke. No wonder he didn’t want Lt. Marion to fly this plane."

"Good guess, Commander" a voice said and they looked up to see General Behnke, his gun on Harm. "Drop your weapon, Major and slide it over to me."

Mac did as instructed and kicked the gun over to General Behnke.

"You'll never get away with this" Harm replied.

"Sure, I will, because you're going to fly me out of here" General Behnke replied. "I'm not going to have my career ruined because of you two."

"I'm not flying you anywhere" Harm replied.

"I'm sure I can convince you otherwise," General Behnke said with a laugh as he suddenly grabbed Mac, pointing the gun at her head. "So, Commander, what do you say now?"

"I'll fly plane," Harm said quickly. "But you have to let her go. You don't need her."

He was desperate to find anyway to get Mac out of this situation. He didn't care what happened to him, he just didn't want Mac involved.

"You're not in much of a position to make any requests, Commander" General Behnke replied. "Besides, I can't let her go. She already knows too much. She stays. Now let's get this plane started and get out of here. Move it Commander, or the Major is dead."

Harm followed General Behnke's request and headed towards the cockpit. They had to figure a way out of this before the plane was in the air. He knew the rest of the seal team wouldn't move till the plane was going, but he didn't want to wait that long. Mac was already thinking the same thing, and knew she had to do something. Harm sat down in the pilot's seat and General Behnke forced Mac forward to the other seat.

"Sit down" he directed.

Mac looked at Harm and he knew what she was thinking. He tried to shoot her a look back not to do it, but she ignored him. He wasn't sure what she had planned but he'd be ready.

"Start it up" General Behnke ordered.

Harm looked around at the dashboard, trying to figure out the old plane. But General Behnke was getting impatient.

"Come on, Commander" General Behnke said irritably.

With General Behnke's attention on Harm, Mac decided this was the time to make her move. She turned around in the seat quickly, one foot knocking the gun from General Behnke's hand and the other, sending him crashing to the floor. As Mac headed towards him, he suddenly sprang up, knife in hand. Mac tried to avoid the blade, but he managed to connect it with her arm and she cried out in pain.

"Mac" Harm screamed as he saw the knife. In a second, he was out of the seat, pushing Mac out of the way of General Behnke's reach, and sending General Behnke and himself to the floor. As they struggled, Mac frantically searched for General Behnke's gun that she had kicked. Despite the pain from her bleeding arm, she crawled on the floor, knowing the gun had to be underneath the one of the seats. She finally found it, and as she turned back towards them, she watched in horror as General Behnke lifted the knife, ready to stab Harm in the chest.

"No" she screamed as she fired the gun, her shot hitting General Behnke in the head. He dropped the knife and fell to the floor.

"Mac" Harm cried as he quickly headed to her, enclosing her in a hug. "Are you okay?"

"I thought he was going to kill you" Mac whispered. "He would have if I hadn't killed him."

"I know" Harm whispered as he pulled away. "But it's you I'm worried about. Let me see your arm."

As she held out her arm, they heard a voice.

"Commander, Major you okay?" Lt. Kellogue yelled as he opened the door. He saw the dead body of General Behnke and he looked at them surprised. "What the hell happened?"

"General Behnke was waiting for us" Harm replied. "I don’t know if anyone else is coming but we need to get out of here."

"The rest of the team is right behind me" Lt. Kellogue replied. "Can you get this piece of junk started?"

"I can, but I need someone to take care of Major Mackenzie. General Behnke cut her arm" Harm replied. He didn’t want to leave her but he knew he had to get them out of here before anyone else showed up.

"I'll take care of her" Lt. Kellogue replied. "Just get us out of here." He turned to make sure the rest of the team was behind him and Mac looked at Harm.

"Come on, flyboy" she said giving him a small smile. "Someone's got to fly this plane. I'll be fine."

"You sure" Harm said softly.

"It's just a little cut" Mac replied. "Go. And that's an order."

"Yes, ma'am" he replied and turned and headed to the cockpit.

A few minutes later, the rest of seal team two was aboard, and Lt. Kellogue attended to Mac's arm. Once they were in the air, Harm kept glancing back to make sure she was okay. He hated not being able to take care of her, but he didn’t have any choice. He landed the plane smoothly at the base, and quickly headed to her side.

"How you doing?" he asked gently. He could see the blood soaking through the cloth that Lt. Kellogue had put on earlier and he knew she was going to need stitches.

"I've been better," she said weakly. He helped her to her feet, and placed his arm protectively around her. She swayed a little, and he held on to her a little tighter.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked. He would have picked her up and carried her the rest of the way to the base hospital, but he knew she wouldn't stand for that. Especially not with the members of the seal team watching them.

"As long as you don't let go" Mac replied.

"Don't worry, I won't" Harm said softly.

Once they reached the base hospital, Mac was taken into one of the examination rooms.

Admiral Chegwidden and Senator Marion arrived a short time later.

"How's the Major?" the Admiral asked.

"She'll be okay, she's just going to need quite a few stitches" Harm replied.

"What happened out there?" the Admiral asked.

Harm filled them in on what had happened, including how General Behnke had given the equipment to the drug cartel, which was why he hadn't wanted Lt. Marion to fly the plane.

"Thank you Commander" Senator Marion said once he had finished. "At least now I know why my son was killed."

"Commander Rabb" the nurse called and Harm quickly excused himself and headed to her. "We've finished stitching up Major Mackenzie's arm, and we'll be happy to release her as long as someone is going to be with her. She's still a little shaky from the loss of blood and we'd rather she wasn't alone."

"I'll stay with her" Harm replied quickly.

"If you'll follow me, I'll take you to her and you can help her back to the barracks."

He followed the nurse back to the room Mac was in.

"I'll be back in a few minutes with instructions for Major Mackenzie" she said before turning and leaving and Harm quickly made his way over to Mac.

"How you feeling?" he asked.

"Better" she replied. "Am I getting out of here?"

"The doctor said he'd release you as long as someone stays with you" Harm replied.

"Did someone volunteer to stay with me?" Mac asked with a smile.

"Someone did volunteer and that someone is going to stay with you till your better" Harm said softly.

"I'm glad" Mac replied softly. "Cause I don't want that someone to leave."

"Don't worry" Harm replied as he placed a kiss on her forehead. "He's never going to leave you."

The End.