Chapter Twelve

Harm's office, JAG HQ, Falls Church, Friday morning, 1155hrs

Harm looked at Mac who was standing there, with an enigmatic stare, "Yeah…thanks…" he muttered. "I hope so too." He put a stop to going down memory lane; forcibly squelching the memory of the lost opportunity on the Hornet down. It had been a tangible item recovered, then Lieutenant Mark Falcon had somehow managed to retrieve that little book from him, quite probably after an engineered fall on that ship, but Harm had kept his suspicions close to his chest.

Mac sighed and then turned to the door. "I guess I'd better go. I've got to get busy with packing up my stuff, since it's my last day too."

"Well…good luck, Mac." Harm replied, knowing that another chapter of his life was closing; wondering if he should be feeling anything. After a bit of introspection, as Mac left the office and shut the door behind her, he realized that there wasn't anything. He turned to grasp the HGU-33/P flight helmet and MBU-14/P oxygen mask that he had worn during his first tour with the Howlers off the shelf that he had it on. A big box of personal items sat on top of his desk as he looked at the rapidly dwindling number of items that he had to pack. How much of that was going to go into his new office at the Pentagon, he wondered. He figured that he'd better considering thinning some of his items and leaving them at home, depending on the size of office he was going to be utilizing. Another knock on the door caused Harm to look over. "Come in…"

"I'm sorry, sir…" Bud said. "I just wanted to say that it was fun serving with you, sir." He extended a hand out and Harm reached out to grasp it, shaking hands.

"You too, Bud." Harm grinned.

"It just hit me that it's not going to be the same here without you two, sir." Bud looked miserable.

"Well, Bud, that's the way the Navy goes. You have to go where you are needed and use these postings to further your career." Harm was sympathetic to the young man's plight. Bud looked up to him as a mentor, but he had to realize that his career path was not hitched to Harm's or Mac's; that Bud had to make his own way through the navy system.

"Understood, sir." Bud looked resigned to the fact that he needed to find a new mentor. "But I have to say that it was good having your guidance, sir."

"I'm glad that I could help. But we have different paths that we need to walk." Harm indicated, gesturing towards the admiral's door. "I'm sure that Admiral Morris will be happy to advise you, if you ask." At that Bud looked like his mood lightened a bit more than he had when he had entered Harm's office.

"Thank you, sir." Bud replied to Harm's suggestion "…and good luck, sir at NAVINSGEN."

"Thanks, Bud. How are the preparations for the wedding going?" Harm asked his subordinate who went off in a rather long explanation of what was going on with Harriet, his mother-in-law-to-be and his father.

It wasn't that much longer after Bud's visit that Harm put his last item in the box and he went off to inform Tiner that he was pretty much all packed up and he would secure early. RDML Morris gruffly agreed that Harm could secure and that was that. Harm returned to his office, grabbed his stuff and headed for the door, the eyes and thoughts of everyone in the bullpen following him. As he stepped onto the elevator and turned, the elevator closing in front of him was like a camera shutter drawing closed on the last image of the entire office staring towards the elevator.

As he walked out to the Corvette, he looked up to see a face at the window. It was Mac, the expression on her face unreadable. He drew in a breath, expelled it slowly, pulled out his keys from his pocket and inserted it into the door-lock of the Corvette. Then he engaged the lever that put the driver's seat forward and placed the box in the cramped space that passed for a back seat. Then without a backward glance, he got into his car, started the engine and engaged the reverse, backing out of the parking space, spinning the wheel left. After engaging drive, he spun the wheel the other way to straighten and move forward towards the gate.

The gate guard noticed the box in the back seat and asked. "Leaving us, sir?"

"New billet, Corporal." Harm replied.

"It was good serving with you, sir." The Marine Corporal stepped back and saluted, Harm returning it, knowing that it marked finality to his time at JAG, but looking forward to the new challenges. The gate lifted and Harm moved his Corvette onto the road turning his nose towards home and the weekend.

Animal's Office, Office of the NAVINSGEN, Pentagon Detachment, 1300hrs

Animal looked up to see LCDR Liandra Gracen in front of his desk. "So, you are all prepared to return to JAG?"

"Yes, sir. For the short time here, it was good serving with you." Lia declared, hating the fact that she was pretty much telling a falsehood and he probably knew it too. They both didn't particularly like each other very much.

"Good, Lieutenant Commander, seeing as how the rest of the day will be taken up by out-processing; you'd better get started on that." Animal replied.

"Aye-aye, sir." Lia braced to attention, then about-faced when Animal said,

"Dismissed." Lia nodded and proceeded to walk out the door, closing it gently behind her. She sighed in relief as she headed back to her office to gather her things.

Meanwhile back in the office, Animal looked over at the clock. 1303hrs - there were times when the clock absolutely dragged interminably long. Looking over a file that some of his other investigators were looking into at other commands, he noted some discrepancies that had come across his purview. He made a note to have Lieutenant Commander Rabb look into them when he came on board. Picking up the phone, he asked. "Yeoman Carran?"

"Yes, sir." YN1 Carran's voice was steady on the other end of the line.

"Would it be OK, if I could get another can of cola?" Animal felt a yawn coming as he tried to restrain himself from yawning in his yeoman's ear. "Every single day after lunch, I feel like my head is going to bounce off my desk." He explained.

"Yes, sir…" YN1 Carran always made sure that the galley stocked up Animal's fridge with Pepsi-Cola. It was Animal's one vice. The captain rarely ever drank coffee even though it was stronger – it was the taste, the captain had said.

Replacing the phone on the cradle, Animal returned to his mind-numbing chore of looking over files. About two minutes later, a knock on the door sounded. "Enter!" he called out and YN1 Carran entered with a cold Pepsi can and a glass on a silver platter. That way she could keep her hands off the can and not inadvertently warm the cola. Animal nodded his thanks, then looked up. "Morna. When are you taking the Chief's exam?" he asked. That caused Morna to stop mid-stride as she turned to look at Animal with a questioning glance.

"Sir?" she asked.

"Your Chief's exam? Are you planning on taking it?" Animal questioned her. "You've been a Yeoman First for how long now?"

"18 months, sir." YN1 Carran replied. "The Chief's exam comes up in another month, sir."

"Good, because I'd like to see you advance." Animal noted perfunctorily… "and when your marks are posted, I presume the Chiefs will convene for a peer review?"

"Yes, sir. I presume that's the way that they select new Chiefs, sir." YN1 Carran replied as she wondered.

"Your advancement is necessary for your career." Animal reiterated. "We need to make sure that your career flourishes in this Navy, unlike certain billets of late – especially the one the SECNAV had to recently remedy. And if you stay at this billet too long, your career will suffer."

"Yes, sir." YN1 Carran enjoyed serving as Animal's yeoman, but she knew deep-down that she had to move onwards and upwards. "Will I be instructing my replacement, sir?" Animal nodded in answer.

CO's Office, VF-41 Black Aces, NAS Lemoore, CA 1320hrs

"Leon, come into my office please." Commander Joseph "Scooter" Willis looked over at his yeoman who got up and strode into his office. YN2 Leon Miguel Trebalos squared off in front of Scooter's desk; a five foot nine fireplug, square-jawed Latino, broad-shouldered, who lettered in wrestling in high-school, he was an impressive figure, even more impressive though was his commanding officer, an Oklahoma native who stood 6'2" and had the figure of a body-builder – necessary to fly jets through the high-g environment where even pulling on the stick required a pull of almost four hundred pounds. "Leon, I hate to lose you, but I just got orders today to send you to DC, signed off by an O-6 no less. He's got eagles, I got silver oak leaves so unfortunately there's no way I can cancel 'em. And anyways, that O-6 asked for you by name and he wants you in town by next week."

"Well, sir, the O-6, sir, is he one of ours?" Leon asked, wondering who this O-6 was.

"I checked up his dossier, he was one of us, served as the CO of the Black Aces before they yanked him because of his blue-button…" Scooter growled, as he saw Leon's face widen into a grin.

"Is that who I think it is, sir?"

"Yep…my old driver." Scooter said. "…and I'm going to staff at NSAWC - Fallon which means the Black Aces are getting a new CO."

"Man, DC is shaking us real bad, sir."

"Naw, I know who the new CO is going to be." Scooter replied as he looked over at the squadron photo. "one of us too…just like always."

"XO?" Leon inquired. Scooter nodded. Irish was going to have her hands full with this squadron. A bunch of new cones signed on last week and she was going to have to chew on them to make them cooperate. Scooter emitted a low chuckle. Well, that was going to be her problem, not his. He was goin' to Topgun to make the students there cry.

"You'd better secure...because you need to hop a plane if you want to be in DC before Monday." Scooter said.

"Aye, aye, sir." Leon nodded. "I'll get right on that, sir."

"One more thing, Leon…" Scooter reached over the table to shake Leon's hand. "It was good serving with you, Yeoman Two. Good luck in DC."

"Thank you, sir."

Animal's Office, Office of the NAVINSGEN, Pentagon Detachment, 1645hrs

Animal looked over at the clock, it was now fifteen minutes to secure and he was just about ready to call it an evening, when the door opened. A slight breeze wafted Maegyn's scent of perfume towards him and he looked up. It was a long moment before she growled, "Are you stealing my yeoman?" she looked at him with a look that indicated that she was yanking his leg, even though her perturbed tone belied that.

"Who…me?" Animal asked innocently.

"Yeah, you…" she grumbled acidly. "I get confirmation that I'm the new CO of VF-41 Black Aces…and I hear from Scooter that you're stealing my yeoman – whom he calls the best damned yeoman in the Navy."

"Well, I found him." Animal said peevishly as he fastened a smug look on his face, "…and I want him back…"

"I'm going to get you back for that…" Maegyn muttered.

"Promises, promises…" Animal stuck out his tongue at Maegyn, "But seriously, he needs to study for his YN1 rate and you guys at the Black Aces keep him hopping. He's been two years in grade and should actually be moving forward to a One rating."

Maegyn muttered again, low in her throat. "I see what you're saying makes a lot of sense, but I hate you for it." She grumbled. "Now I'm going to have to find my own new yeoman."

"Always necessary experience for a new commanding officer…" Animal grinned, making Maegyn wish that she could cave in his head with a frying pan, but then she'd miss him.

"Damn…" she grumbled again.

"You're welcome…"

"Shut up, sir."

Harm's Apartment, North of Union Station 1655hrs

The scent of frying onions permeated Harm's apartment as he listened to some John Coltrane off his 1964 album A Love Supreme. There was something about still having a record player on his stereo system. The warmth of vinyl could never be duplicated off a CD and though Harm had both, it just wasn't the same as pulling out a record, sticking it on the turntable and letting it spin. Throwing on a slight dash of green onion and chive cream cheese, he added some flavoring to the onions. Then adding in some eggs for protein; this was going to form a side dish to his main course of salad and sweet potato casserole. When the onions were done, he grinned as he shut off the burner. Maybe it was time to invite Lia to his apartment for dinner, she'd be getting off her shift at the Pentagon soon and securing for the afternoon.

A knock on the door interrupted his train of thought, as he went to the door. Opening it, he was pleasantly surprised to see Liandra standing there.

"You know, I was just thinking about calling you." Harm ushered her in the apartment door.

"Yeah…I went home to my apartment. Captain Nakamura gave me the afternoon to secure and make ready for my return to JAG. You never told me that you were taking over my position PCS. Dammit!" she muttered. "Jerk!" she shot an epithet in his direction.

"Well, it was need to know until then…" Harm replied as he sniffed the air sensing the potato casserole was just about finished. "Care to stay for dinner?"

Liandra looked at him, measuring him up. "You know my only objective was to chew your ass out for taking over a position that I paved the way for…but yeah, dinner sounds good."

"You're welcome…" Harm's smile widened into that famous flyboy grin of his just vague enough to make Lia wonder if the 'you're welcome' was for offering her dinner or taking over that NAVINSGEN position.

"Jerk…" she muttered.

"Need to freshen up before dinner?" Harm asked solicitously.

Lia replied, "No, I took a shower before I came over…" her smile evil as she watched Harm squirm for a minute noting his sideways shuffle behind the island to mask his physical response to her statement and then walked over to put her jacket on the coat rack and then sat down demurely on his couch planting an innocent smile on her face. "What you're cooking smells good…is it vegetarian stuff again?"

Harm knew she was not a vegetarian. "Of course, if you'd like I could throw in a lasagna with ground beef…" – he always made sure he kept something that had meat in it due to his propensity to have friends who kept eating dead animals.

"Naw, I think I'll eat what you're cooking." Lia grinned at him. "Smells good enough…"

Harm stated, "Why thank you…" somewhat pleased but stung by her perfunctory critique of his cooking. "I'm sure you won't die from it…"

Lia gave as good as she got. "Well…" she smirked. "That's a relief."

"Lia, I was wondering if you were going to Bud's wedding?" he asked. "Because if you are, I was wondering if I could go with you to the wedding…" He hastily asked. "Bud sent me an invite for me plus one, but I don't have anyone that I can go with right now…"

Lia thought for a moment before responding "I wouldn't be averse to it…" she stated as she looked him up and down. "I'd actually enjoy going there…and yes, I've gotten an invitation too. I guess we'll just respond that we're going minus the one…on each invitation and then go together. It'll save them two extra plates."

"Good thinking…" Harm nodded acknowledging the rationale behind that. Thank God, Harriet hadn't gotten her claws into Lia with regards to a relationship with either Animal or Harm. Harm was testing out the waters with Lia and considering Lia's skittishness towards relationships, he wanted to take this slow. And frankly, considering Lia's volatility in regards to those kinds of matters being meddled in, the poor Ensign would have gotten her head gnawed off to the bone. But then he paled. If they went to the wedding together…oh shit…

…but at least Lia didn't look concerned. He retrieved the sweet potato casserole from the oven and it looked nicely browned, then scooped the contents of the frying pan onto each plate, added potato casserole to the plates and a salad bowl for each, along with Italian dressing for him and Ranch dressing for her.

"So…" Lia started as they dug into their food, "Are you looking forward to the position?"

"I'm sure it'll be interesting…" Harm replied as he took a bite of the casserole. It turned out well, he figured, judging from the expression on Lia's face as she took a bite of the same.

When Lia had swallowed her first bite of food, she ventured. "Well, there's going to be a lot of paperwork. I hear there's a big investigation going on with Second Fleet and some discrepancies in accounting. You'll probably be assigned to head that investigation, but it all depends on what Captain Nakamura has to say about that." She continued after swallowing her second bite of food. "Then of course, NSAWC underwent a move to Fallon and Captain Nakamura is going to also investigate that to make sure that everything went smoothly in the transfer of operations over from Miramar to Fallon. You know, typical oversight matters."

Harm was starting to think that there was more to this NAVINSGEN process than was previously intimated at. "Yeah, I'm sure I'm going to be kept busy…" he acknowledged the work that was potentially going to be piled on his desk.

"Also, the Deputy Naval Inspector General is a civilian type and you need to make sure you understand that he's also in the chain of command and is your superior." Lia noted. Harm nodded. There was going to be a chain of command in the Naval Inspector General's office and he noted that he'd need to get briefed so that he didn't tread on the wrong feet while there. "Good." Lia noted that Harm had digested that information. "You'll get briefed by Lieutenant Commander Manetti."

"OK…" Harm replied, noting those things mentally in a checklist of things that he would have to do when he got to the Pentagon Monday morning.

"Thank goodness I'm back at JAG on Monday." Lia said… "NAVINSGEN is now YOUR problem." finishing off with a smirk.

Harm sighed melodramatically "I suppose it is…" he continued to eat his food, then stated. "So what are your plans once you get back to JAG?"

"Oh, I think I'm going to try to get onto judiciary. I'm sure that the replacement Judge Advocate General will require my services as lawyer until I get my O-5. I'm in zone in two years and there is a distinct possibility that I could get deep-selected." Lia sounded confident.

"That sounds like a distinct possibility." Harm opined as he looked over at Lia. "You do know that your career as a judge is assured if you hit O-5, that's when you end up serving on the bench if you choose the judiciary route. I'll miss seeing your face at the office, but you know where to find me."

"Sure…" Lia said shortly. "I'll just wander over in my free time." She smirked. "Not that I'm sure I'll have much when Admiral Morris gets a hold of me; at least until the case load is cleared and we get some more attorneys on staff." Harm knew that she was telling the truth as the case-load had been great and they were short-staffed now with four senior attorneys heading off for different billets. It made things that much more difficult.

"But we'll see each other when we have the chance, right?" Harm suggested.

"Maybe…" was all that Lia would promise.