2200 local
Harm and Mac's apartment
October 29, 2005

"What time did you say we have to pick up Mattie?" Harm was sprawled in the corner of the sofa with Mac plastered across his chest.

"I didn't. But I believe the witching hour is one o'clock." She nuzzled the hollow at the base of his neck. "We have plenty of time before you have to leave."

"Who said she could stay out till one?" He tried to twist away from her lips. "And don't think you can distract me, Mac."

Mac's lips followed him. "Mm hmm." She gave him one more kiss, then pulled back. "You said she could stay out that late. 'It's the first time she's been able to go to a party since she got to England. It's nice that she got invited to a Halloween party. After all she's been through, she deserves some fun.' End quote. Now where were we? Oh, yes. We were necking, I believe."

"I see. Just how would you define 'necking,' Colonel?" Harm ran a gentle hand through Mac's hair, brushing her bangs off her face.

"Um, let's see. Lots of kissing. Some strategically placed hands. Maybe a bit of rolling around on the sofa." She proceeded to demonstrate. She ran the fingers of one hand into his hair while the other slipped beneath his sweater. Her lips met his in a searing kiss.

Harm's tongue slipped out between his lips, stroking hers, arousing her. He caressed her, running sensuous hands in gentle circles on her back. His leg nudged hers apart. He ended the kiss and pulled back to look into her eyes. "Want to take this to the bedroom?"

"I thought you'd never ask." She smiled at him and began to untangle her legs from his. "I don't know if we'll ever manage to make a baby, but I sure do like trying."

A low chuckle rumbled from his chest. "Me too, Mac. Me too." He rose and led her to their room.

*********
2300 local

Harm looked at his wife and smiled. "Something came up at the office today."

"Uh huh." She stretched, then rearranged herself on his chest.

"Yeah. A sexual harassment case came in. The convening authority decided to go straight to court-martial."

"No article 32 hearing?" Mac sat up in bed, pulling the comforter with her. "That's unusual."

"I know. It seems that some lieutenant attached to CNAUK in administration doesn't know how to take no for an answer."

"Oh?" Mac was intrigued.

"To make matters worse, the person he wouldn't take no from is a petty officer first class."

"So if not sexual harassment, then fraternization."

"Well, in this case, merely attempted fraternization, since the petty officer turned the guy down. Repeatedly, according to Commander Johnson." Harm shook his head. "According to the petty officer, the lieutenant continued to ask her out on dates after she made it very clear that she wasn't willing to go out with him and told him not to ask her again."

Mac snorted. "And this guy made it through the Academy?"

"OCS, actually." Harm shook his head. "I doubt he'd have lasted through plebe summer at Annapolis. Anyway, he's being charged with sexual harassment and conduct unbecoming."

"Conduct unbecoming?"

"Apparently he also had a habit of touching her when he'd ask her out, sometimes at the office."

"Great." Mac rolled her eyes. "Some guys just don't get it, do they?"

"No. You'd think considering all the training we have, they would."

Mac snuggled back into his side. "So why are you telling me this?"

"Because I was wondering if you'd consider letting me ask the General to activate you, under his command, and prosecute the case."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. Having been told who defense counsel is, I want someone prosecuting who knows how to deal with the defense attorney."

Mac pulled away and looked at him through narrowed eyes. "You're not going to tell me that the defense counsel is Lieutenant Vukovic."

"Okay. I won't tell you that." He flashed a grin at her. "Would it matter?"

"I don't know. Maybe." She sighed. "I guess I should tell you about a conversation he and I had before we left Washington."

Harm gritted his teeth. "Am I going to want to hit him?"

She giggled.

"What?"

"Just the thought of you and Vic like that. He wouldn't know what hit him."

"Probably not. On the other hand, he might go all macho and try to tell me about his wild adolescence." Harm sounded disgusted.

"Could be. Then again, you've been in bar fights with Marine noncoms. Anyway, when he was trying to convince me to take him with me to San Diego, he brought up my relationship with John Farrow. He said he was trying to show me that I had been allowed a 'youthful indiscretion,' and that I should do the same for him."

"You have got to be kidding. You were what, twenty-three?"

"Something like that."

"That's youthful. Vic is thirty-one years old. He is way past the statute of limitations for youthful indiscretions."

Mac blew her bangs out of her eyes. "Why is Vic coming all the way here for a trial?"

"The accused requested his services. It seems they're old friends. He's convinced his best shot at acquittal is his old fraternity brother."

"Does he know how bad a lawyer Vic really is?" Mac was incredulous.

"No, he doesn't. Other than you, Bud, and me, does anyone know how bad he is?"

"Lt. Mayfield." Mac grinned. "All right. If the General allows it, I'll do it. If he won't, I guess you'll have to find yourself another prosecutor. Maybe Harriet will let Bud come for a visit."

Harm let out a shout of laughter. "That'll be the day." He kissed the tip of her nose. "I guess I should get up and get dressed. It's almost time to go get Mattie."

"You have fifty-five minutes." She ran her fingertip around his nipple. "How dressed do you have to get?"

"All the way dressed, Mac. I might have to help her down the stairs."

"Okay. I'll come with you." She pushed the covers down toward the foot of the bed and slid out just as he reached for her. Wagging a finger at him, she said, "Nuh uh. We have to go get Mattie, remember?"

"How could I forget? Next time, remind me to lower her curfew." He pulled on his jeans.

"You think one is too late for her to be out?" Mac was buttoning her blouse.

"No, I think it's too late for me to be out." Harm tossed Mac her sweater. "Have you seen my socks?"

"Just get some clean ones." Mac headed for the door.

1000 local

Mattie squeezed honey onto her toast as Mac poured herself a cup of coffee.

"So how was the party?" Mac took a sip.

Mattie put down the honey. "Okay, I guess."

"You guess. You don't know?" Mac reached for a slice of toast.

"It was okay. It would have been a lot better if I could have danced. Or even stood around. Or moved from one spot to the other without worrying about falling into the chip dip."

Mac frowned at Mattie's tone. "I thought you were doing pretty well with the crutches."

"Sometimes. I'm okay in the morning. But by dinner time, I've sort of lost it. When I'm tired, I have trouble keeping my balance. Sometimes I can barely hold onto the crutches." She bit off a piece of toast. "So I mostly sat in one place last night."

"And staying still is not you." Mac smiled in sympathy. "Would it have been better if you'd taken your wheelchair?"

"No way! That thing sucks." Mattie caught Mac's expression. "Sorry. I just get mad sometimes. It's so unfair. I mean, I used to be a good athlete. Now I'm sitting on the sidelines."

"Beats the alternative."

"I guess." She didn't sound convinced. She ate her breakfast in silence for a few minutes. "Mac, can I ask you something?"

"Sure." She swallowed some more coffee. "Go ahead."

"Is it bad of me to hate my dad?"

"Feelings aren't bad, Mattie, so no, at least not in a moral sense. Why do you hate him?"

"Why do you think? He deserted me again when I needed him most. Just like he did when my mom died. Trouble comes; he disappears. I can't decide if it's he doesn't love me or if he's just a loser." She reached for her juice. "Sometimes I wish he'd never come back in the first place. It would have been easier to not have six months of him being a decent dad."

"Probably so." Mac stared into her coffee mug. "You know, I think your dad does love you. He has an illness that he hasn't really gotten under control."

"Huh?"

"He told Harm that he got sober for you. That's not a good reason to dry out."

"It's not?" Mattie's eyes widened.

"Nope. If an alcoholic gets sober for someone else, it's easy to start drinking again when there are problems." She took another swallow of coffee. "Look at it this way. Your dad only quit drinking because he was going to lose you, right?"

"Yeah."

"And he worked hard at it while he knew that the payoff could be having you back at home."

"Yeah."

"But when you got hurt and were lying in a coma, and the doctors were telling him and Harm that you might never wake up, he lost his reason to be sober. Had he decided to get sober for himself in the first place, then he might not have started drinking again after your accident." She gave Mattie a searching look. "Does that make any sense to you at all?"

"Maybe. Like he thought I was going to die, so why bother?"

"Right. I can't pretend to know why your father started drinking in the first place, but it does look like he doesn't deal well with serious problems. So when your mother died, he drank. When you got hurt, he drank."

"So he's a loser, but he loves me?" Mattie's eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

"I don't know if he's a loser or not. But yes, I think he loves you."

Mattie took a deep breath. "How come you know so much about this?"

"Because my father was an alcoholic. I'm one too."

"You? No way. I've never seen you drink." Her jaw dropped a fraction. "Oh."

Mac smiled at her. "Exactly. You know, Mattie, you can hate your dad if you like. But you might want to look at me and think about it. I hated my father so much that I completely ignored him for seventeen years. If it hadn't been for Harm pushing me, I wouldn't have even gone to see him when he was dying. As it was, I put it off so long that he was in a coma by the time I got there. I got to talk to him, but I didn't get to hear what he had to say. All I got was what this priest told me about my father - how he had followed my career and how he was proud of me. But my anger kept me from hearing that from my father. I'm not saying you need to pick up the phone and call your dad right now, but you might want to consider who you're going to hurt more in the long run - you or him." She rose to put her mug in the sink. She returned to the table and patted Mattie on the shoulder. "I've found in my life that being angry hurts me far more than it hurts the person I'm angry at."

Mattie nodded, her face a study in confusion. "Do you mind telling me why you quit drinking?"

"Not at all. I was riding in a car with a friend right after we graduated from high school. We were both drunk, so I was too stupid to keep him from driving. He crashed the car and was killed. Lying in the hospital bed, I realized that I could easily end up that way myself. I decided I liked living too much. But I got sober for me. I think it makes a difference."

"Sounds like it." Mattie used her arms to push away from the table. "Thanks, Mac."

"No problem. Like I said, you can always talk to me and Harm about anything."

"Anything? I can think of a few things I'm not sure I can talk to Harm about."

"You mean like boys?"

"Yep. He gets all flustered and uncomfortable. It's kind of funny."

"That's my Harm. He's kind of cute when he's embarrassed." She smiled at the memories.

"Most of my friends think he's just plain hot."

Mac laughed. "Yeah, well, there's that too."

"If Britney Spears wants to be a milf, does that mean Harm's a filf?"

"Mattie...."

"Gotta go do some homework. Talk to you later." Mattie pulled herself up on her crutches and headed down the hall.

"A filf? What the heck is a filf?" Mac muttered as she watched the girl go.

**********

1400 local
Force Judge Advocate's Office
London
November 1, 2005

"Coates, can you get me General Cresswell on the phone, please?"

"Aye, Captain." Jen smiled and reached for the telephone. She hit speed dial #3 and sat back to wait. "This is Captain Rabb's yeoman. He'd like to speak to the general. Is he available?" She waited for the connection to go through, then transferred the call to Harm.

"General Cresswell, how are you?" Harm exchanged pleasantries for a minute with his former CO. "I have a request, sir."

"It wouldn't be in regard to the upcoming trial of Lt. Wilson, would it?"

"Actually, it would. I understand that Lt. Vukovic will be arriving next week to serve as defense counsel. With our current load, I could really use an extra attorney to prosecute this case. The investigating officer is juggling a number of major cases at the moment and doesn't have the time."

"Let me guess. You're wondering if I could activate a certain Marine Corps JAG lawyer who is currently IMA to be trial counsel on this one."

Harm could imagine the grin on the general's face. "Yes, sir. I can't think of a better person for the job."

"Because she's a woman and it's a sexual harassment case, or because you think she can deal with Vukovic?"

"Yes, sir." Harm tried to keep the smile out of his voice.

There was a long pause on the other end of the call. "All right. Colonel Mackenzie can prosecute. She'll report to me, so she's not under your command. Tell her I want to be kept informed at least every other day."

"Yes, sir. Thank you."

"Don't thank me. Thank the colonel for being willing to do it. I'll have her orders faxed to your office."

"Aye, aye, sir."

"Oh, and Captain?"

"Yes, sir?"

"If you want to keep Vukovic, you have my blessing. They seem to be over-staffed in San Diego."

Harm laughed. "That's quite all right, General. I wouldn't want to deprive Commander Turner of his talents."

"Understood. He will be assigned TAD to your office while he's there, so if you want to put him to work on anything else, be my guest."

"I'll keep that under advisement."

"Good-bye, Captain."

"Good-bye, General."

0800 local
Force Judge Advocate's Office
London
November 8, 2005

Harm carefully perused the papers in front of him, then checked the clock. The copy of the orders he'd received from General Cresswell had clearly stated that Lt. Vukovic was to report at 0745. So far, the man was fifteen minutes late. It seemed some things never changed. A slight flurry of activity in the outer office caught his attention.

"Hey, Beautiful. How's it going?"

Harm could almost hear a leer in the lieutenant's voice. He wondered how long it would take the junior officer to appear in his office.

"Sir, I've told you before. It's Petty Officer or Coates." Jen's voice was neutral. "Captain Rabb said for you to go right in."

"Thanks, Petty Officer." Vukovic took a step toward Harm's office. "Was that better?"

"I couldn't say, sir."

"I thought I told you to call me Vic."

"Sir, Captain Rabb is waiting."

Lt. Vukovic knocked on the door jamb, then entered at Harm's command. "Lt. Vukovic reporting as ordered." He stood at a position somewhere between attention and parade rest.

"Sir." Harm looked up from the papers he'd been reading.

"Excuse me?" Vukovic looked perplexed.

"Proper military etiquette requires a junior officer, when reporting to a senior officer, to stand at attention, and say, 'Lt. Vukovic reporting as ordered, sir.' Would you like to try it again?" Harm's smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"I don't understand what you're getting at, Captain." The lieutenant shifted on his feet.

Harm rose and came around his desk. Invading the younger man's personal space, he said, "What I'm getting at, Lieutenant, is that while you are under my command, you will conduct yourself in a manner befitting an officer in the United States Navy. If you slept through the classes in OCS on military protocol, I'll be happy to give you a refresher course."

Vic snapped to attention. "That won't be necessary, sir."

"Good. Another thing, Lieutenant. While you are under my command, you will appear clean shaven."

"But, sir, I have a heavy beard. I can't help it."

"At 8 am?" Harm's tone was skeptical. "As I said, you will follow the regulations regarding dress and grooming while you're here."

"Aye, sir."

"And last, but definitely not least, you will avoid any and all appearances of familiarity with enlisted personnel. It wouldn't do for your client's defense counsel to find himself brought up on similar charges." Harm took a step back so he could see the man's face. "Have I made myself perfectly clear?"

"Yes, sir." Vic kept his eyes fixed on a point past Harm's shoulder. "Is there anything else, Captain?"

"Yes, Lieutenant. You need to give me a copy of your orders." Harm returned to his chair.

"Oh. Yes, sir." Vukovic handed them across the desk.

Harm gave them a perfunctory glance, then said, "Petty Officer Coates will show you to an office. Your client is confined to quarters at Daws Hill pending trial." He reached for a pen. "Oh, one other thing. While you're here, I expect you to be on time. Dismissed."

"Aye, sir." Lt. Vukovic turned on his heel in a fair imitation of military precision and left the office.

Harm smiled as he watched him go. He could hardly wait till Vukovic saw who his opposing counsel was. It was going to be a very interesting week or two.

Part 3