Meg's Apartment
#5 522 Seagull Crescent
Reston VA
Meg looked quizzically at Harm as he bolted straight upright from his prone position on the couch nearly dislodging Meg who was curled up in his arms. "Mattie, what is it? Are you all right?" The tone of worry in his voice caused Meg to pay attention to what Harm was doing on the phone.
"Is Mattie OK?" Meg asked worriedly only to be answered by a shrug of the shoulders as he listened to Mattie on the other end of the phone.
"No…you stay there… I'm in Reston right now, with Meg… I'll be over there in four hours. I just need to phone my boss…OK? You hang in there, Mattie." Harm said.
As Harm got off the phone, Meg gave Harm a taciturn stare. "I'm going with you." Her tone was final.
"You don't need to…Meg." Harm put up a token protest. "Mattie's my responsibility."
"Harm." Meg argued her point at Harm who had no choice but to retreat. "When we got involved, Mattie became MY responsibility too. Whatever we do, we'll do it together."
"But, you have work tomorrow." Harm replied trying to make Meg see reason.
"And you don't?" Meg retorted caustically. "No…I'm going…that's final!"
"It won't look good on you if you beg off tomorrow citing personal reasons. You don't have as understanding a boss as I do." Harm replied as he dialled Animal's number. The discussion paused for a moment as Harm got the XO on the line. "Sir…yes, I won't be in tomorrow as something personal came up. It involves a child-protection matter." There was a mumbling on the phone line as Animal gave his response. All Meg could hear clearly was the name Mattie…
Harm heard more clearly on the phone line. "You make sure that Mattie is safe. Captain! Take whatever time you need. Those vultures will just shovel her from home to home, whatever is convenient for them not giving a shit about what's good for the child. You go do right for Mattie…Harm and I'll back you to Admiral Hadfield – and he'll understand too."
"Yes, sir." Harm sounded absolutely grateful as he hung up.
The discussion was held over as Meg was on the phone when Harm hung up with Mattie. All he heard was "Yes, sir. I will…you know I'll back Harm to the ends of the earth. Thank you, sir, I'll keep you updated." Harm's jaw hung open as Meg got off the phone looking smugly at him. "Well…that takes care of that." Meg said. "So… shall we get going?" Harm stuttered for a second in response and then shut his mouth as Meg gave him a glare, "The admiral was far more understanding than you gave him credit for."
4 hrs later
Harm pulled his Lexus into the parking lot at Grace Aviation and Meg and Harm both got out. He could see Mattie peering out. Meg retrieved the pizza from the Lexus and brought it with her. Mattie looked at Meg with enquiring eyes. Harm grinned as he looked over at Meg and then back at Mattie. "She's my girlfriend." He said simply.
"Hi, Mattie." Meg said. "I thought you might be hungry so we stopped off to get you something to eat."
That absolutely thawed Mattie's suspicion and she smiled gratefully as she took the pizzas from Meg. "I think I remember you from when you came over here the last time – y'know, the day that Harm had to go pay for the parts. So you're now his girlfriend?"
"Well, it just happened." Meg said, her eyes twinkling with merriment. Mattie put two and two together and a little wicked smile grew on her face.
"Oh, God…I hope I wasn't interrupting anything." Mattie said. Harm turned beet red in embarrassment as Meg and Mattie giggled.
"No…" Meg said "…and anyways, this matter was something that you should interrupt us for anyways."
Mattie looked at her. "You know about this matter." She looked at Harm again with a raised eyebrow.
"Well," Harm said. "She is someone very important to me…as are you."
"…and whatever Harm does – including applying for custody for you – will be something that I will support too. If we intend to be a family…we'll do it together." Meg said with absolute finality on the decision she had come to – so much so she surprised herself. "…and that family involves you, Mattie. Harm made a promise to you and I'll back him and you. Harm and I have been working partners together in the past at the place where we worked."
"At that Navy Lawyer's place?" Mattie asked; not only was she getting a guardian, she would be getting a mother too, if Harm and Meg did exactly what Meg said they were planning to do.
"Yes." Meg said. "He's a really good lawyer." She winked at Harm.
"He's a good pilot too." Mattie said.
"Yep. I've seen him fly too." Meg said as she gave Mattie a beaming smile. Mattie liked Meg already – she was open, friendly and funny. "He made a Tomcat do things that I never knew they could do."
"I learned from the best." Harm said acknowledging his Reserve Air Group mentor. "Animal could make the Tomcat do things I could never do, not even in my wildest dreams."
"…including relocating the dust bunnies from one end of the airfield to the other?" Meg said archly.
"That…too." Harm laughed.
Mattie looked at Harm worriedly. "You just went into your job for the first time today. Don't you need to be at work tomorrow?"
"I've got an understanding boss. He said to do right by you and gave me whatever time I needed to get this straightened up. Tomorrow we're going into Richmond and starting the process. And in the interim, I'm going to get a custody order so that I can take care of you while this mess gets sorted out." Meg levelled a glare at Harm that he noticed as he quickly amended the "I" to "…uh…we…that is…" he gestured indicating Meg.
"She's got you trained already, I see." Animal's voice was apparently droll as he, dressed in civilian casual, cavalierly walked into Grace Aviation's office. "The door was already open." He acknowledged the shock and the question of how did he get in.
"Admiral!" Meg said shocked to see Animal there. "You drove all the way from…Fairfax to here?"
"When Rabb here called me, Meg, I needed to make sure that there wasn't anything you three needed so, I told Lia that I was going to be making a drive down to Blacksburg to see Mattie and make sure she was alright. If there's one government agency that pisses me off to no end, it's the Virginia Department of Child Protection. Rabb, Austin, if you need someone to vouch for you at the custody hearing, I'll do so."
"You mean you'd do that?" Mattie asked incredulously. Here were two people other than Harm who barely knew her from a hole in the ground stating that they'd do whatever they could to ensure that Harm got custody of her.
Animal's look towards her was warm, fatherly even. "Of course, Mattie. Harm would make a good father…and Commander Austin here…if anything, would make a terrific mother." He winked at Meg who blushed. "Oh, before I forget, Lia made you some sandwiches." He handed Mattie the paper bag he was holding in his hand. "You've got everything in hand here, Harm?"
"Thank you, Admiral." Mattie said gratefully, "Tell your wife thank you for me."
"I think we do, sir." Harm said gratefully. "Thanks for the time off."
"Oh, hell, Rabb, you owe me. I got to do the report for Vice-Admiral Hadfield now." Animal gave Harm a mock-glare and patted Mattie on the shoulder. "Stay strong, kiddo, you got all of us in your corner." Giving Meg a jaunty two fingered salute tipping his hand to his forehead. "Since Rabb here has everything in hand now, I'm gonna head back to Fairfax. I bid you adieu and good-night."…and headed for the door.
As the door shut behind him, Mattie turned to Harm and said. "You're right." Harm raised his eyebrow questioningly. "He is a nice guy." Remembering the last visit which was all Mattie had known of the erstwhile admiral where he had come to extort Harm into joining NAS Pax River, he remembered the whole conversation they had.
"Yep, somewhere in his ol' crusty flag officer's torso beats a heart of gold." Harm grinned. Knowing Animal would growl "Watch who you're calling crusty." Meg giggled.
Coming to the decision that they would spend the night at Meg's apartment in Reston, Harm, Meg and Mattie piled into the Lexus.
Next morning
NAS Patuxent River
Vice Admiral Hadfield looked over at Rear Admiral Nakamura who was yawning far enough to split his face. "Hey, Animal, you awake there?"
"Yeah, somewhat, sir." Animal barely restrained another yawn as he poured over the keyboard as he was typing up the report for the Joint Services Acquisition Subcommittee.
"Late night?"
"Yep, courtesy of Rabb…" Animal muttered to himself. "Yes, sir. Had to make sure that a child was safe."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, harassment by Virginia Department of Child Protection."
"Oh…" Vice Admiral Hadfield sounded disgusted hearing that. He had three children himself and was absolutely protective of them. He held pretty much the same opinion as Animal that they were vultures quick to snack on unsuspecting families. "That's understandable – Just so long as the report's done by tomorrow, I should be able to manage. I suspect the child-protection issue is the reason why Rabb isn't here today."
"Not a problem, just have some research to do on the necessary particulars." Animal replied.
"Excuse me, ma'am…the admirals are in a meeting…Ma'am…! Your camera crew needs to wait outside." the Marine Lance-Corporal raised his voice, his hand near his sidearm. "You are on a military base, ma'am. You have no jurisdiction over this base!"
"What the hell?" Vice Admiral Hadfield looked up from his desk as Animal stood up from the counter and swore a long blue streak.
"…Shit, It's Congresswoman Latham!" Animal finished as he proceeded to walk over to the Lance Corporal and enquire as to what was going on. "What's going on Lance-Corporal?" His cold eyes looked over at the congresswoman as if she were a maggot that was infesting a wound. "What can I do for you, Congresswoman Latham."
"Well…admiral…" She made the word sound like the lowliest rank in the Navy, even lower than seaman. "I'm here to find out why Pax River has the highest requisition allocation for Navy funds that Congress provides. It should be of public record."
"Well, ma'am…" If the four-letter female diminutive descriptive noun could be more laden with sarcasm, it would collapse on its own weight. "It just so happens that we have a lot of black projects; which appears to be stuff that we cannot tell the ordinary congressman or congresswoman. So unfortunately, we cannot unless given directive from the Joint Chiefs of Staff divulge any black projects at all. All you are privy to is that they exist – nothing more."
"I can find out." Congresswoman Latham blustered looking at Animal as if he were a pile of excrement on the floor that she somehow had to contend with armed only with paper towels and a Swiffer. "And if I have to, your career will end at the rank of Rear Admiral (upper half)."
"Ma'am. I've had bullets try to end my career." Animal's tone of voice turned icy. That's when Bobbi Latham took a second look at Animal's ribbon rack. On the top of the ribbon rack was a blue ribbon, laden with five white stars arranged in the shape of an M standing out starkly from his khaki uniform. "I welcome you to take your best shot." Animal knew damned well that the Joint Chiefs of Staff would take the word of a Medal of Honor recipient over the words of a United States Congressman/woman. "But the needs of the security of this great nation of ours trump the need of the general public to know about what is being done or isn't being done in the name of national defense. So, ma'am…I would suggest that you turn your camera crew off and retire back to the grand Legislatures of the States of Virginia and Washington DC and let the Joint Chiefs of Staff know just what it is that you wish to request. I'm sure that they will find a way to turn your request down based on National Security." The last two words fairly dripped of ice.
"We'll see about that." Congresswoman Latham pursed her lips firmly, whirled around "We're leaving." The camera crew followed in her wake. As the doors closed the staff stood in a rousing ovation. Vice-Admiral Hadfield grinned as he approached, leading the applause.
"Making new friends, I see, Animal." VADM Hadfield stated with a droll grin on his face.
"Oh, always."
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA
"I see Commander Austin failed to show up for work today." Lieutenant Colonel Mackenzie mentioned to Lieutenant Bud Roberts.
"I'm sure it's a personal matter, ma'am." Lieutenant Roberts replied, nervous as to where this discussion was going.
"I'm glad that she has plenty of time to take off for personal matters, some of us actually have to work here." Mac sniped.
"It just so happened that the personal matter involved the safety of a young child…" a cold voice said behind her back. Mac whirled around to find herself eye to eye with a Budweiser and a Navy Cross. "I'm sure you recognize that takes precedence over her court cases and as her commanding officer, I'm well-aware of that and am fully confident in Commander Austin's ability to clear her case load when she returns, unlike some individuals in this office whose names I will not mention." His eyebrow lift had crawled up practically to the top of his skull which was an amazing feat. His eyes pinned Mac to the wall. "I do not like scuttlebutt crawling around in my office." The disgust in his voice was apparent as he said the word, "There is a place for scuttlebutt and that's in the trash compactor outside of the JAG office. Am I making myself clear, Lieutenant Colonel?"
"Yes, sir." Mac said.
"So…" The erstwhile SEAL raised eyebrow imperceptibly farther up his forehead and said with dripping sarcasm, "Lieutenant Colonel? Then why are you bringing that crap in and allowing it to scuttle around my galley!?"
"No reason, sir." Mac knew she was in deep shit.
"Would you like an Article 133 and a Article 32? Lieutenant Colonel? Because if you persist in maligning Commander Austin to fellow officers, that will be the LEAST of what I will do to you. I will post you so far in the Antarctic to sit out your twenty, you will think Adak, Alaska was a TROPICAL RESORT!" Chegwidden hissed portentously hinting at Mac's doom. "Leave, Roberts."
Bud chose that moment to amscray before he became a target with hasty "By your leave, sir."
Chegwidden acknowledged this with a nod before he turned his malevolent glare back at Mac who felt about two inches tall at this point. "Commander Austin is a capable officer, able to pull her own weight at this office and that of other individuals who spend most of their time nit-picking other people in this office. I don't know what the hell is going on with you, Lieutenant Colonel, but this nitpicking and sniping at Commander Austin will stop or I will crawl so far up your butt that you'll think you have a Navy blue suppository embedded in your ass…and my Budweiser will be poking holes in your COLON! Am I making myself clear? Lieutenant Colonel?"
"Yes, sir. Crystal, sir."
"Then get your ass back to work before I find you in dereliction of duty…and debate whether to throw an Article 92 bombshell in your jacket folder!" Chegwidden snarled. "Dismissed…Lieutenant Colonel!"
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