War Cries

Title: War Cries, the shipper version

Author: Anne R.

Summary: This is a rewrite of the season one episode, War Cries, but with Mac in place of Meg. For story purposes, some of the plot was changed.

Note: This is hopefully just the first of many season one rewrites to be posted during the next few weeks.

War Cries, the shipper version

Harm looked over worriedly at Mac as the plane landed on the runway at Jorge Chavez Airport in Lima Peru. He wasn't happy about the fact that the Admiral had assigned her to come with him on this investigation. It wasn't that he didn't want Mac with him, he was just concerned about her safety. The Peruvian's had not been happy that a US Marine had shot one of their people, especially a child. Corporal Parr claimed that the boy he had shot had fired at him first, but no weapon was found on the boy. The Shining Path, a radical group trying to overthrow the current Peruvian government, was using the case as a way to gain public support for their cause. Security at the US embassy was a tight as it could be, and they had been warned that snipers in the area wouldn't hesitate to take out a marine officer. Which was why he hadn't wanted Mac to come to Peru with him. He wasn't concerned with his own safety, only that of the woman who sat beside him.

"Harm, would you quit worrying" Mac said giving him a smile. "It's not like they're going to be waiting for us to land."

"Sorry" Harm replied. "I just don't like the idea of you being here."
"I'm a marine" Mac replied as she unfastened her seat belt. "I think I can handle it."

That didn't reassure him but he knew it would be pointless to argue with her. He unfastened his seat belt and stood up.

"Just don't make yourself a target," Harm said as he grabbed their things.

They headed off the plane and were met by Gunnery Sgt. Granger.

"Commander Rabb, Major Mackenzie, welcome to Peru. I'm Gunnery Sgt. Granger from the Embassy attachment," he said. "If you follow me, your vehicle is right this way."

As they made their way back to the embassy, it was quite apparent that the Peruvian people were not happy they were there. Harm and Mac watched as they people in the streets hurled rocks, stones and anything else they could find to throw at their vehicle.

"Don't worry" Gunny said as he looked back at them. "The glass is rock proof and bullet proof and the side panels are reinforced steel."

"Glad to hear it" Harm replied.

"Are they always this friendly?" Mac asked.

"They didn’t take to well to our shooting their little terrorist" Gunny replied.

"Terrorist" Mac said. "I thought he was just a boy."

"Ma'am, around here a boy is a terrorist" Gunny replied.

Once they arrived at the Embassy, they were immediately taken to Ambassador Bartlett's office, where Helgado Vargas of the Peruvian Foreign Minister's office was also waiting. Both informed Harm and Mac that they wanted a quick resolution to the situation, before things got any further out of hand. The Ambassador was scheduled to make an appearance at a dedication for a new children's hospital and she didn't want any problems. Their next stop was to see Corporal Parr, the marine who had shot the boy. Corporal Parr recounted his version of the previous night's activities. He had been patrolling that night when he heard a noise and went to investigate. He claimed he saw a figure on the wall, yelled for them to freeze, and then fired at them when they had fired at him. Despite his claim that the boy had fired, no gun had been found. Further investigation found that Corporal Parr had fired 15 rounds into the boy.

"So what do you think?" Harm said after the finished their talk with Corporal Parr.

"I'd have an easier time believing him if he hadn't fired 15 rounds into the boy" Mac replied. "And since no weapon was found on the boy, there's no way he can prove he was fired at first. None of the other marines of duty heard gunshots."

They were interrupted by one of the marines.

"Sir, ma'am, the Ambassador would like to see you in her office right away" the marine said.

They quickly headed to the Ambassador's office and found Gunny there.

"This note was just left at the Embassy gate" Ambassador Bartlett said as she handed the note to Harm. "It's from the Shining Path. They want Corporal Parr delivered to the Peruvian authorities to stand trial for murder."

"We can't do that," Mac said quickly.

"If we don’t, it says they'll retaliate" Harm replied.

"What kind of retaliation?" Mac asked.

"Bomb, assassination" Gunny replied.

As he spoke, they felt the ground shake as an explosion ripped through the embassy gate.

Gunny ran out of the room and Harm looked at Mac.

"Stay here with the Ambassador till one of the marines gets in here," he said. "I'm going to see what happened."

Mac was going to protest, but she knew it wouldn't be right to leave the Ambassador at that moment. She stayed till one of the marines arrived, and then went to find Harm. When she finally found him, she waited till they were alone before letting him know how she felt.

"I didn't appreciate being ordered to stay with the Ambassador" Mac said angrily.

"Mac, don't start. I was just thinking about your safety." Harm replied. "I didn't want you out near the gate in case they had planned anything else."

"Harm, let me remind you again that I'm a marine. Trained to handle myself in these types of situations."

"All right, I'm sorry" Harm said. "Please don't be mad at me." He flashed her one of his best flyboy smiles and Mac couldn’t help but smile back.

"I'll forgive you this time, flyboy" Mac replied. "Just don't let it happen again."

They headed back to the Ambassador's office and learned that the boy had been identified as fifteen year old Ramón Escamilla. The Ambassador had requested that they handle the visit to the family, and Harm took Mac aside after meeting with the Ambassador.

"I'm going to go see Ramon's family" Harm said. "But I want you to stay here."
"Harm, I thought we had this discussion already" Mac replied.

"Mac, you're a marine officer. It's way to dangerous for you to be out on the streets." Harm said firmly.

"Harm" Mac started to protest

"Mac, please. I don’t want anything to happen to you" Harm said, and then quickly looked away as he realized what he had said.

"Well, I don’t want anything to happen to you either" Mac said softly.

He looked into her deep brown eyes and suddenly they forgot where they were. He leaned down and his lips found hers. When she didn't resist, he gently pulled her into his arms. Finally, he pulled away. He opened his mouth to speak and Mac gently put her finger to his lips.

"Don’t even say you're sorry, Commander" she said softly. "Cause I'm not sorry you did that."

"I'm not sorry," he said. "You don't know how long I've wanted to do that."

"As long as I've wanted you to do that" Mac whispered.

They stood here for a minute, staring at each other till finally Harm spoke.

"As much as I'd like to continue what we just started, I think it's going to have to wait till after this investigation is finished."

"I know" Mac replied.

"And I'm serious about you staying here while I go talk to Mrs. Escamilla." Harm said firmly.

"All right" Mac replied. "I'll stay. I want to go over the shooting with Corporal Parr again anyway."

"I'll meet you back here later" Harm replied as he turned to leave. Mac reached out to him and he stopped when he felt her hand on his arm.

"Be careful, sailor" Mac said softly.

"Always" Harm replied with a smile.

Harm headed to Ramon's family with Corporal Cortez, who would interpret for him. Mrs. Escamilla and her daughter Tianna provided Harm with no answers as to why Ramón had been at the embassy that night. Mrs. Escamilla said that her son was a good boy, who regularly attended church and played soccer His father had died when he was a child, and he had taken good care of his family. When Harm asked if he was part of Shining Path, his mother denied it. She asked who had killed her son, and Harm told her that he couldn't give her that information. She said the name Parr, and her daughter Tianna started to speak in Spanish and the two women began to argue. Tianna pushed Harm and Corporal Cortez out and Harm asked the Corporal what the two women had been arguing about. Cortez informed Harm that Tianna claimed that she was pregnant, and that Corporal Parr was the father.

While Harm visited with the family, Mac and Corporal Parr went over the shooting site.

He recounted what he had told them earlier and Mac looked around the grounds.

"Ma'am, is there anyway I can go talk to his family" Corporal Parr asked. 'I'd like the chance to apologize to them face to face."

"I'm sorry, Corporal" Mac replied. "Commander Rabb was going to go talk to Ramon's family today."

"Ma'am, I have to see them" Corporal Parr pleaded.

"Corporal, there's no way" Mac replied as she looked around.

It was evident that Ramón had not picked the easiest place to enter the embassy grounds and Mac suddenly realized that he had come in right underneath the Ambassadors living area. A shell casing she found from a semi-automatic weapon furthered her belief that Ramón Escamilla had come to the embassy with the intent to kill the Ambassador. She headed back to wait for Harm and tell him of her findings.

"Ramón was here to kill Corporal Parr" Harm said when he saw Mac. "Ramon's sister Tianna is pregnant and Corporal Parr is the father."

"Are you sure, Harm?" Mac asked. "I went over the shooting site with Corporal Parr and found a shell casing from a semi-automatic. And Ramón came in right under underneath the Ambassador's living quarters. Of course, that explains why he wanted to go talk to Ramon's family."

"Let's get Corporal Parr and Gunny and go to the Ambassador's office" Harm suggested.

"We need to let her know what is going on."

They went to find Corporal Parr and were surprised to find the Gunny's men in full gear.

"Gunny, what's going on?" Harm asked.

"The Shining Path has kidnapped Corporal Parr" Gunny replied. "We're going to get him back."

"Gunny, Corporal Parr wasn't kidnapped" Mac replied. "He kept asking me if he could go see Ramon's family, and Commander Rabb has just learned that Corporal Parr has been seeing Ramon's sister Tianna."

"Gunny, I'm going to need you, Corporal Cortez and two other men to come with me to the Mrs. Escamilla's" Harm said quickly. "I'll meet you out front in three minutes."

"Yes, sir" Gunny replied and he headed out to gather his men.

"I'm going with you this time" Mac said as she looked Harm. "And don't even consider ordering me to stay, because I won't."

"I figured you say that" Harm replied. "Let's go marine."

Harm, Mac, Gunny and Corporal Cortez along with several other marines headed to the Escamilla apartment. As they pulled up, Gunny headed out first, followed by Mac, with Harm right behind her. The rest of the marines followed Harm, and they quickly headed up to the apartment, and found a nearly hysterical Mrs. Escamilla. Corporal Cortez managed to translate to them that Tianna was at the Santa Rosa Church with Corporal Parr, but that the Shining Path was on their way to kill them. They headed back to the vehicle and over to the Santa Rosa Church. Harm was starting to regret his decision to let Mac come with them, but there was nothing he could do now. He should have known that the Shining Path would be involved in this, and he hated the fact that Mac was here when she should be safe at the embassy. Mac looked over at him and she shot him a reassuring smile. She wasn’t worried about herself, and she was glad that she had made Harm let her come with him. She would have gone crazy waiting at the embassy, not knowing if he was all right or not. They pulled up in front of the church, as several people came running out. Gunny and the marines readied their weapons and Harm and Mac slowly headed in. As they walked in, they could see Corporal Parr and Tianna, and several men with guns nearing them. One of the men saw Harm and Mac walk in, and quickly grabbed Tianna, holding her at gunpoint.

"Let her go" Harm said and Corporal Cortez quickly translated it to the men.

"I can take him" Gunny said as he leveled his gun at the man holding Tianna.

"Don't" Harm replied.

The man holding Tianna started yelling in Spanish at them before throwing Tianna to the ground and heading out the back of the church with the other group members. Corporal Parr held Tianna in his arms and tried to comfort her as she started to cry

"They'll come back" she cried.

"Why is the Shining Path after you?" Mac asked.

"Because I'm pregnant with his baby" Tianna cried. "He killed my brother and now they want to kill him. And because I'm with him, they'll kill me too."

"It's all right, Tianna" Corporal Parr said softly. "You'll be safe with me at the embassy."

Harm looked and Mac and they realized they had no choice but to bring the young woman back to the embassy with them. They knew if they left her, the Shining Path would come back for her.

"Come on, Corporal" Harm replied. "Let's get out of here before they change their mind."

The group returned to the embassy and Harm and Mac were left with the task of informing the Ambassador that Tianna would be staying at the embassy, and that there was a good chance that the Ambassador had actually been the target the other night. Harm also suggested that the Ambassador consider canceling her appearance at the dedication the next day.

"I'm sorry, Commander" the Ambassador replied. "But that's not an option. The president called me personally to make sure I would be at the dedication. I told him I would be, and I will."

"Ambassador, do you realize how dangerous it is for you to be out in public?" Harm replied.

"That's why you'll be right next to me Commander" the Ambassador replied with a smile. "And of course Major Mackenzie, you'll be right behind us. You did bring your dress whites didn't you?"

It was obvious that the Ambassador would not change her mind about going to the dedication, so Harm, Mac and Gunny spent most of the evening working on a plan to get her there safely. They knew the Shining Path would be waiting for the motorcade of cars to leave the Embassy, so they decided they would send a decoy motorcade first, then the real motorcade would leave a short time later. Despite their plans, both Harm and Mac knew it was extremely risky for the Ambassador to be going out. And since they would be riding with her, their lives were just as much in danger. They both knew this, and as they retired to their rooms for the night, Harm stopped outside Mac's room.

"Can I come in for a minute?" Harm asked.

"Sure" Mac replied as they walked into the room. "What's up?"

Harm looked down the hall before closing the door behind him. He wasn't sure how he was going to say what he wanted to say, and he stood there for a few seconds trying to collect his thoughts.

"Mac, about tomorrow" he started and she cut him off.

"Harm, don't even say it" Mac said quickly. "I'm going with you, and there's nothing you can do about it. Besides, I think you'd have a hard time explaining to the Ambassador why I wasn't with you."

"Can I talk now" Harm said with a smile when she finished.

"Sure" Mac replied.

"I wasn't going to suggest leaving you behind, though God knows if I could think of a way to do it, I would." Mac opened her mouth to say something and this time Harm stopped her. "Let me finish. I know it's your job and that you’re a marine and that's what you're trained to do. But these men are ruthless, Mac, and they won't hesitate to kill anyone who gets in their way. I'm just so afraid of something happening to you."

"How do you think I feel?" Mac whispered softly. "I wasn't exactly happy when the Ambassador decided to use you as her own human shield."

Harm looked at Mac, and seeing the concern in her eyes, reached his arm around Mac and gently pulled her into his arms. Neither spoke for a minute, each treasuring the simple pleasure of being in the others arms.

"I'll be fine" Harm said when he finally let her go. "But I'd better go. It's going to be a long day tomorrow. See you in the morning."

"Good night Harm" Mac replied.

"Good night Mac" Harm said before he turned and walked out the door. Once outside the door, he took a deep breath as he headed into his room. Things were getting more and more complicated and he wasn't sure where things were going. But first they had to get through tomorrow. He wasn't looking forward to it, but not because he was worried about himself. His main concern was Mac. Not that she couldn't handle herself. There was nobody else he would chose to go with him besides her. He just didn't know what he would do if anything happened to her.

Meanwhile, Mac was having her own worries. She really didn't like the whole setup for tomorrow, especially Harm being the Ambassador's shield. She knew it was their job, but that didn't make it any easier. As she crawled into bed, she said a silent prayer that they would both get through tomorrow without anything happening to them.

The next morning they were both dressed and ready to go with plenty of time to spare. They headed down to talk to Gunny and make sure that everything was all set. The decoy motorcade had just left and the Ambassador was being fitted with her bulletproof vest. Gunny assured them that everything was all set. He would be in the jeep leading the motorcade and there would be one vehicle in front of theirs and two behind, all filled with secret service men. Harm and Mac had their weapons as well, and a few minutes later they climbed into the vehicles. The Ambassador climbed in first, then Mac, and then Harm. The motorcade headed out of the embassy grounds, and slowly made its way down the streets of Lima. As they headed out of the ally they had gone down, a bus suddenly cut off the vehicle in front of them, with the jeep Gunny and his men were in on the other side of the bus. Almost instantly, a missile was launched, striking the vehicle in front of theirs, and it burst in to flames.

"Turn around" Harm yelled to the driver.

The vehicles behind them had begun to move and the driver gunned the vehicle into reverse and headed back down the alley. But as they reached the end of the alley, another bus suddenly appeared, blocking the way. Another missile was launched, this time hitting one of the other vehicles. Men were shooting at them from all ends, and Harm noticed the man with the missile launcher was getting ready to take out their vehicle.

"Come on" Harm yelled and Mac pulled the Ambassador as they quickly exited the vehicle. "Over there" he said pointing to a small area underneath the over hang. The secret service man came around to help, and he and Harm continued to shoot while Mac dragged the nearly hysterical Ambassador to safety. A few seconds later Harm and the secret service man joined them.

"You okay?" Harm asked as he reached Mac.

"For now" Mac replied. "But unless we get out of here, none of us are going to be okay."

Harm looked down the alley, and realized the bus that had been blocking the way was now gone.

"We'll get her back in the vehicle, you get her out of here" Harm said to the secret service man. "We'll cover you on the way out. You go first and then we'll get her in."

They waited till the secret service man was in and then looked at each other quickly.

"You ready" Harm asked.

"Let's go" Mac replied.

They each took one of the Ambassador's arms and pulled her towards the vehicle. They got the ambassador to the vehicle, and Harm yelled to the drive to take off. As the vehicle took off, Harm and Mac looked for somewhere to take cover. They could see Gunny and his men on the way, but in the mean time the bullets continued to fly. He grabbed Mac's hand and they started back towards under hang again. They had almost reached the area when Harm felt a bullet hit his shoulder and cried out in pain.

"Harm" Mac yelled as she pulled him next to her. "Let me see."

"It's all right, it went straight through" Harm said as he grimaced in pain. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine" Mac replied. "Its you I'm worried about." She could see the blood from the wound on his dress whites but she didn't have anything to put on it to stop the bleeding.

As she spoke, Gunny and his marines appeared, taking out the rest of the men who had been shooting at them.

"Commander, Major, you okay?" Gunny yelled as he approached them.

"The Commander's been hit" Mac replied quickly. "We need to get him back to the embassy right away."

"Cortez, get the jeep over here" Gunny yelled. "Where's the Ambassador?"

"On her way back to the embassy" Harm replied.

Suddenly, they heard a gun load, and before Gunny could raise his gun, one of the women in the street shot at him. Mac immediately raised her gun, shooting the woman. Harm ran over to Gunny and Mac quickly followed.

"He's dead" Harm replied. Mac went over to the woman and suddenly realized it was Mrs. Escamilla, Tianna's mother.

"Harm, it's Tianna's mother" Mac cried. "She was part of the Shining Path."

"Which means Tianna is part of the Shining Path" Harm replied.

Corporal Cortez pulled up in the jeep and Mac helped Harm in.

"Get us back to the embassy ASAP" Mac directed Cortez. "You okay?" she asked Harm.

"I'm okay. Just call the embassy and warn them about Tianna" Harm replied.

Mac picked up the phone and called to the embassy. She was surprised when Corporal Parr answered.

"Corporal, this is Major Mackenzie. There's no easy way to tell you this, but Tianna is with the Shining Path. She's there to kill the ambassador."

"Ma'am, you're wrong" Corporal Parr replied. "Tianna wouldn't do that."

"Listen to me, Corporal. Tianna is with the Shining Path. Her mother just killed Gunny. Corporal, are you there. Corporal."

"He hung up" Mac said as she put the phone down. "Step on it, Corporal."

Having done all she could, Mac turned her attention back to Harm.

"Stay with me, sailor" she said as she reached out and took his hand in hers. She didn't care if Corporal Cortez noticed or not. Her main concern was making sure they got Harm back to the embassy safely.

They arrived at the embassy a short time later and Harm looked over at Mac.

"Go find Tianna" he said firmly. "I'll be fine."

"Stay here, I'll send someone out" Mac replied giving his hand a quick squeeze. "Corporal, come with me."

Mac and Corporal Cortez headed into the embassy and heard gunshots a few seconds later. They ran in and found Corporal Parr holding the body of Tianna.

"She was going up to the Ambassador room to kill her" Corporal Parr said as he held her limp body. "I didn't have any choice."

Mac's heart went out to the young man, but she was more worried about Harm.

"Corporal Parr, get the embassy doctor. Commander Rabb has been hit. Corporal Cortez, help me bring the Commander in."

Mac and Corporal Cortez headed back to the jeep to get Harm who was making his way towards them. Mac ran to him and put an arm around him to support him.

"I heard gunshots" Harm said as he leaned against Mac. "What happened?"

"Corporal Parr shot Tianna" Mac replied. "She was on her way to kill the Ambassador."

"How's the Ambassador?" Harm asked.

"She's fine" Mac replied. "Which is better than you're doing. Come on, let's get you to the doctor."

Fortunately, the bullet had gone straight through and the embassy doctor had cleaned and bandaged the wound and a short time later Mac helped Harm back to his room. They would be leaving in the morning and the doctor had suggested that Harm get some rest until then.

"Can I get you anything?" Mac asked once he was settled on the bed.

"Just stay with me till I fall asleep" he said tiredly.

"I can do that" Mac replied as she sat down on the bed next to him.

"I'm glad you're okay," he said as he looked into her brown eyes. "I was scared we weren't going to get out of there."

"Me too" Mac said softly. "I was afraid I'd lost you there for a minute."

"Never" Harm said giving her a small smile and taking her hand in his. "You're stuck with me marine."

"Can't think of anybody I'd rather be stuck with" Mac replied with a smile. "Get some rest, sailor. I'll take care of everything else."

"How's Corporal Parr?" Harm asked. He felt bad for the young man who had been a pawn in Tianna's game.

"He'll be all right" Mac replied. "It'll take a little time but he'll get over everything. Tianna wasn't pregnant, it was just part of the plan to get her into the embassy."

"I figured that" Harm replied. "She was just using Corporal Parr wasn't she?"

Mac nodded. "She was part of the Shining Path all along. She used Parr to get close to the Ambassador."

Harm was going to ask her more, but she stopped him.

"Later, sailor" she said gently. "You need to get some rest."

"All right" he said tiredly. "You'll stay with me."

"Wouldn’t dream of leaving" Mac replied softly.

The End