Title: We the People Revisited
Author: Jenny Hambly
Disclaimer: JAG and it's characters are owned by Donald P. Bellisario,
CBS and Paramount and no profit is being made from this story
Major Sarah MacKenzie sighed as she watched the car carrying her Uncle Matt disappear into the distance. She knew that even with the best lawyer JAG had to offer he was never going to walk away from this one without serving some brig time. She felt so helpless, her uncle had done so much for her and now there was nothing she could do to save him from the inevitable. She could only hope that her new partner was really as good as everybody said he was.
Over the years Sarah had learnt to be tough and to take care of herself, but everybody has times when the trials of life become too much and they need someone to turn to. Matt had always been that person for Sarah, even though they didn’t get to see each other very much anymore, he was always there to run to when things got really bad – who would she run to now, there was nobody else.
She lowered her head and took a deep breath, she was determined not to let her emotions show in front of her new colleagues. It was hard enough for a woman officer in the Marine Corps to gain respect without her going to pieces on her first assignment. She’d just have to suck it up like she had so many times in the past and get on with her job. At this point in her life she really didn’t need the upheaval of a new job, new colleagues and a new CO. Her first impressions of Admiral Chegwidden had been positive. He seemed tough but fair and was clearly a man who expected a lot from his people, she hoped that she would be able to earn his respect. She looked over to where Webb was still giving out orders. “Damn you”, she mumbled under her breath, why did he have to turn her life upside down just so that he could win.
Out of the corner of her eye she spotted her new partner, Lt. Commander Harmon Rabb Jr, walking over to Webb. From where she stood she could overhear their conversation and Rabb was making his demands concerning the treatment of her uncle. From the moment they stepped off the helicopter he had fallen into defence attorney mode and had been doing all he could to ensure that his client was well treated. She had watched as he had shaken her uncle’s hand and told him not to worry and that he and Sarah would be meeting him at the brig as soon as he had wrapped things up there. She watched Rabb as he argued with Webb and her mind drifted back to the previous day.
Out of the blue she had received orders to report to Washington and that she was to meet her new CO in the White House Rose Garden, where he was attending a medal ceremony. Upon arrival she was informed that the recipient of the medal, was to be her new partner. He was being awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross. As the Admiral left to take his seat Sarah groaned. That was all she needed, to be partnered with some cocky flyboy who probably thought he was God’s gift to the Navy, aviation and the legal profession. Well, he would soon find out that Sarah MacKenzie was a force to be reckoned with and not some faint hearted female that he could push around.
When the ceremony was over she looked up to see her new CO approaching, accompanied by two younger officers, a Lt. j.g. and a Lt. Commander. The three men were talking as they approached and, whilst Rabb’s attention was on what the Admiral was saying to him, she took the opportunity to look him up and down. He was tall and undoubtedly handsome, she just hoped that he didn’t have an ego to match.
Then the strangest thing happened. As the Admiral introduced them Rabb just stood and stared at her. She started to feel uncomfortable as she stood with her hand outstretched and the seconds ticked by. Just as she was about to lower her hand he reached out and took it in his firm grasp, apologising and saying something about deja vu. Great, she thought, just what they needed, something else to complicate their relationship.
She had begun the assignment suspicious of his motives and thinking only of helping her uncle, regardless of the affect it would have on her own career, but as things progressed her opinion of him slowly began to change. Against her better judgement she had agreed to take him with her to Red Rock Mesa, but she was determined to make him understand that she wasn’t a pushover. She made sure that he understood that he couldn’t get around her with that flyboy grin of his, but there was something about him. Why had she confided in him about her alcoholism? Somehow it had just seemed right at the time, she hardly knew him and yet she felt she could trust him. She had even held him at gunpoint – most officers would have had her up on charges, but he didn’t seem to hold it against her, in fact he was even willing to risk his own career to help her uncle.
She studied him again. He was very attractive and that grin was enough to melt any woman’s heart, add to that the fact that he obviously had some issues with the way she looked and her resemblance to someone who was obviously very close to him and she knew she would have to be very careful to guard her heart. She had already made the mistake once of letting her heart rule her mind with John Farrow and she was determined not to let herself get into that situation again.
Lost in her thoughts, she wasn’t aware at first that he had glanced up and was looking at her. He smiled and she quickly looked away, embarrassed at having been caught staring at him. Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad in Washington after all. She would get the opportunity to work on high profile cases and with a good CO and a partner that she was beginning to think she might get along with, maybe life just took a turn for the better.
Lt. Commander Harmon Rabb smiled as he watched is new partner turn away, embarrassed at having been caught staring at him. He sighed, it was so hard for him to forget that he had only met her the day before, she was so much like Dianne. When he had first looked at her it had taken every ounce of his self control not to throw his arms around her, for a second he though that some horrible mistake had been made and now Diane had come back to him, but when he got over the initial shock he realised that this wasn’t possible and pulled himself together enough to shake her hand. She must have thought he was crazy!
He knew that she was very worried about her uncle and had promised that he would do everything he could to help. This was his third female partner in a row and he had certainly managed to build a good working relationship with both Kate and Meg and along the way they had managed to become friends too. When he had been told that he would be partnered with a marine his first thought had been of some tough jarhead who would want to do everything by the book. They didn’t get off to the best start, at first he thought that she didn’t approve of him, she had commented on the fact that he didn’t have a bag packed and ready to go in his car and had seemed to frown on the fact that he had Cuban cigars at his apartment. She also hadn’t told him that the Colonel was her uncle and had then tried to ditch him to go to Red Rock Mesa alone. On top of all that she made it clear that she was not going to be susceptible to his charm and then pulled a gun on him!! Not exactly a recipe for a friendly partnership. However, as the investigation had gone on she had begun to open up to him and had even confided in him about her past, something that he felt wasn’t easy for her. She was obviously used to putting up walls, but there were moments when he had managed to see through that shield, past the tough jarhead to a woman with whom he thought he could be friends.
Whatever happened, he had the feeling that the next few months getting to know his new partner would be interesting.
His business with Webb concluded, he walked over to where Mac, as she liked to be called, was leaning against the car. He gave her a smile and to his surprise was rewarded with one in return. “Well Major”, he said, “are you ready to head out to the brig”.
“Yes Commander”, she replied formally and then her expression softened a little and she looked up at him, “and thank you Harm”.
“Hey, that’s what partners are for”, he told her with a grin.
Yes, the next few months were definitely going to be interesting.
The End (or rather the beginning!!)