Title:  Ninth Inning
Author:  Lisa Ziniti
E-mail address:  a_jag_fan@yahoo.com
Rating:   PG
Spoilers:  None
Author's Note:   Asterisks are used to denote POV
change, and the Gunny never left. Thanks to Lia for
encouraging me to post.
Feedback:  Nothing long.  Just one line to let me know
you read it would be great.  

Summary:  The JAG team plays in another softball game.

Disclosure: Donald Bellisario owns 'em, not me.

It was the bottom of the ninth.  There were two outs
and a man on first.  JAG was up by two runs.  One more
out, and the game was theirs!  AJ wanted this one, and
his team knew it.  Standing on the pitcher's mound, he
griped the ball tightly, preparing to pitch to the six
batter in the opponent's lineup, Admiral Thomas Boone.
 

AJ was surprised at how good a softball player the
Admiral was.  His fielding was nothing special, but he
was an exceptional base runner.  Twice, when Boone had
hit the ball to the outfield and they had been slow to
throw the ball in, Boone had taken advantage of it and
had gotten an extra base, turning a single into a
double and a double into a triple.  But AJ was
confident in his people.  They wouldn't let him down. 
So far they had played the game of their lives, and he
was going to make damn sure they didn't lose the game
now.  Not that he had much control over the situation.
 All he could do now was pitch the ball, let Boone hit
it, and hope that his team could get the third out. 

Over on third, Bud was razzing the batter.  Gunny was
playing shortstop, Harm second, Mac first, Harriet was
in left, Sturgis center, and Singer was in right.  AJ
went through his wind up and pitched the ball to
Tiner, who was catching.  

The pitch started off good, but ended up being high
and inside.  Boone took a step back to avoid being
hit.  

"Ball!"  yelled Admiral Morris, the umpire for the
game.  They were fortunate he was available.  He was
as fair as they came. 

Tiner threw the ball back to the Admiral and shouted
some encouragement.  AJ caught the ball and sighed. 
It was a warm day, and he was anxious to get this game
over.  

He glanced over at Victor, who was playing shortstop. 
AJ would have to remember to compliment the Marine
later on his playing skills.  He hadn't realized until
now that the Gunny was such a good athlete.  AJ was
happy Victor was on their side.  Returning his
attention back to the plate, AJ prepared to throw the
second pitch.


* * * * *
Standing on the balls of his feet, bent at the knees,
Victor was ready.  He wanted the ball.  When he had
volunteered to play a few weeks ago, he made sure to
get in a few pickup games to get the rust out, and it
had certainly paid off today.  Not a single ball had
gotten by him.  He knew how badly the Admiral wanted
to win, and he was going to do everything in his power
to make that happen.  


* * * * *
Over at second, similar thoughts raced through Harm's
head.  All they needed was one more out, and they
could go have a beer.  When the Admiral had mentioned
in his staff meeting that someone had challenged them
to a game of softball, he just assumed it was the God
Squad.  But it was a different team, the Admiral said,
a team that the SecNav had put together.  Harm was
disappointed to see they didn't have a single woman on
the roster, blonde or brunette.  And where was
Commander Lindsey?  It seemed the SecNav had stacked
the deck in his favor.  Besides for Admiral Boone, he
didn't recognize one person on the team.  


* * * * *
If Mac had known now what she knew then, she might not
have played.  All right, she would have played, but,
like Harm, she would have worn sweats over her shorts.
 At least when she played against the God Squad, every
guy on the team didn't leer at her like this one had. 
Well, almost every guy.  Admiral Boone was all
business.  Did the guy ever smile?  Maybe those
muscles didn't work anymore.  Working for the SecNav,
he probably didn't have much to smile about.

She still couldn't believe the SecNav had put together
a bunch of ringers to play for him.  Or maybe she
could.  He certainly had it in for the Admiral these
days.  To say their relationship was tense would be a
gift for the understatement.  But trying to embarrass
him in a softball game?  Wasn't that a bit. . . 
extreme?  If Gunny hadn't gotten a grand slam in the
seventh inning, they'd never be ahead right now.  It
was a hell of a hit.  Made her proud to be a Marine.

The count was now two balls and one strike.  She
watched as the Admiral threw another pitch.  The man
certainly had great form, both on and off the field. 
It was a nice change to see him out of uniform. 
Especially in shorts.  

The ball had plenty of arc.  It looked like the
perfect pitch.  

Boone swung and you could hear the sound of the ball
hitting the bat.  

The runner on first took off like a rocket.  Mac
didn't bother covering the bag.  The ball was hit to
the outfield and landed halfway between center and
left.  There would be no play at first.  If they were
lucky they'd hold the Admiral to a single and get the
next batter out.


* * * * *
Sturgis ran over from center and easily beat Harriet
to the ball. But he was a runner, not a softball
player and now that he had it, what did he do with it?
 The lead runner was heading for third while Boone was
on first.  Sturgis threw the ball to the Gunny, who
threw it to Bud.  By the time the ball arrived, the
runner was already on the base.  

"Safe!" Admiral Morris yelled out, making the
appropriate hand gesture.


* * * * *
Out of the corner of his eye, Harm saw Boone head for
second, and he yelled for Bud to throw him the ball. 
Bud looked over at Harm, who held up his glove as a
target.  Hiding a grin, Harm was going to make Boone
sorry he hadn't stayed on first.  

Bud threw him the ball, but his aim was off.  Way off.
 Harm reached for it but it sailed by him and wound up
landing in right field. 


* * * * *
Singer stood with her hands on her hips in right
field.  She didn't know why she had to play in right. 
Why couldn't Bud?  She was better than him.  Of
course, she had underestimated him in the JAGathon
race.  Softball was such a stupid game.  La Crosse,
now that was a real sport!  

She rolled her eyes when she saw Bud's throw.   There
was no way Harm was going to catch that!  She ran in
to retrieve the ball, noticing that the other runner
was touching home plate.  Lauren picked up the ball
and threw it to Harm.  


* * * * *
"Nice try, Harm," Boone said before rounding second
and heading for third.  One look at the woman playing
right told him he could easily make it to third.  She
had no arm.  Jones had scored, his run would tie it. 
For all practical purposes, they shouldn't even be in
this position.

The SecNav had gone to great efforts to insure a win,
transferring in some of the best athletes the Navy had
to offer under the guise of TAD assignments.  Hell,
the guy who batted before Tom had just missed out
making the relay team for the '94 Olympics.  But he
wasn't exerting all of this energy for the SecNav. 
No, it was a matter of pride.  He couldn't let a bunch
of lawyers beat him, even if one of 'em was an
ex-fighter pilot. 


* * * * *
From behind home plate, Tiner saw Admiral Boone round
second and head for third.  If they threw the ball to
Bud and it got past him, Jason knew that the ball
would go out of play and the umpire would rule that
Boone would get home.  The game would be tied and the
game would go into overtime.  

Jason's legs were killing him from squatting all day,
and, besides, he had a date tonight.  He took off up
the third base line to back Bud up, keeping his eyes
on Commander Rabb the entire way.

Rabb had gotten the ball from Singer and in one fluid
motion he turned and fired the ball over to third. 
The play was going to be close, but it looked like
they had him.  Boone was two-thirds of the way to
third base.  All Bud had to do was catch the ball, tag
him out and they'd win.


* * * * *
Bud's eyes widen as he saw Boone running at him with a
menacing look on his face.  Then he saw Harm throw the
ball and his heart pounded as he waited to catch it. 
A little too eager to make the tag, Bud brought his
glove down before he had control of the ball and it
bounced off the top of his glove, landing in the grass
behind him.  Both he and Tiner reached down to grab it
and bumped heads.  


* * * * *
Boone witnessed the two men fumbling for the ball,
and, using his reserve tank, he picked it up a notch. 
He rounded third and raced toward home.  Let 'em throw
him out.  That is, if they could.  

He thought it was ironic that Colonel MacKenzie was
the only one standing between him and home plate,
since this wasn't the first time their paths had
crossed. Tom had underestimated her once before, but
this time he was confident his team would prevail.  He
could see why Harm and her were friends.  She didn't
back down. 


* * * * *
AJ couldn't believe his eyes.  He watched as his two
officers, Roberts and Tiner, scramble for the ball. 
Tiner?  If Tiner was backing up third, who was
covering home?  Damn!  Boone was going to score.  The
game would be tied.  

He had a scowl on his face as he looked over at home
plate.  Expecting to only see Admiral Morris,  he was
relieved to see Mac, too.  She was standing just to
the right of the plate, in perfect position to tag
Boone out.  Hoo rah! They were going to win.  

AJ made a mental note to pay Mac back.  This wasn't
the first time she had bailed him out.  If only he
could see the look on the SecNav's face when he found
out the score.

AJ watched with an amused expression as Tiner threw it
to Mac.  


* * * * *
Harm saw Mac catch the ball and started to run in,
smiling.  The game was over.  Finally.


* * * * *
At 7:32PM and fifteen seconds, Mac tagged Admiral
Boone out.  

Only, Boone didn't stop running.  

Instead, he lowered his left shoulder and ran into
her! 

In a matter of seconds, Mac knew she would hit the
ground.  And hard!  It would help to relax her body,
maybe reduce the chance of being hurt. Only, she
didn't want to risk dropping the ball.  The Admiral
was counting on her.  She closed her eyes and squeezed
the glove tightly as she braced for impact.  It
wouldn't have surprised her if Harm later told her
that Admiral Boone had played football at Annapolis. 
The man hit like a truck.  


* * * * *
AJ's mouth dropped open when he saw what Boone was
doing.  That sonofabitch!  He was trying to make her
drop the ball.   


* * * * *
Harm's eyes went wide when he saw Boone collide with
Mac.  He raced toward home, followed by the rest of
the team.  


* * * * *
At the last minute, Mac reached out with her right
hand to try and soften the fall, but it didn't work,
and she landed squarely on her back.  The pain racked
through her body and it took a minute for her to
breathe again.  Up until then she had managed to keep
her chin down, so her head wouldn't hit the ground,
but now she didn't have the strength.  Her head fell
back and bounced against the compressed dirt. Then she
passed out.  


* * * * *
AJ reached Mac first.  Her eyes were closed.  "Mac! 
Mac?  Someone call 911," he hollered.  


* * * * *
Harm watched the Admiral take off his shirt, fold it
up and place it underneath Mac's head.  He had on a
white undershirt beneath it.  The Gunny had gotten his
cell phone from the bench and was making the call. 
Angry, Harm walked over to Boone, who was standing
with the rest of his team, all anxiously watching to
see if Mac was OK. 

"What the hell was that?"  he asked.  

"It's called softball, Harm," the Admiral answered
matter of factly.  He paused before adding, "I'm
sorry, Harm.  I only know how to play the game one
way."  

Harm glared at him before walking back to his team,
who were standing around the Admiral.  "Sir, is there
anything I can do?"

"Get some ice," AJ answered.  Harm took off and
returned quickly with an igloo cooler he had brought. 
He set it down beside AJ and AJ slid the top off,
reached in, and scooped out a handful of ice.  Guiding
the cubes with his hand he ran them over Mac's face,
her neck, her arms.  They quickly melted over her warm
skin.  

* * * * *
The cool sensation against her skin felt good.  Mac
slowly opened her eyes and saw the entire team
standing over her.  Harm was standing to her right,
the Admiral was crouched down on her left.  Her
breathing was short.  

The Admiral was running his cool, wet fingers along
her face and neck and it felt good.  Real good.  But
she tried not to let on.  It almost made getting run
over worth it.  Almost.  In a minute she knew the
Admiral would stop, and then all she would be left
with was the bruises.  Her back was already killing
her.  Tomorrow she would be sore.  

Harm asked if she was OK, and everyone waited for her
to respond. 

"Yeah, I'm fine."  Everyone looked relieved,
especially the Admiral.  

Then Mac lifted her head and glanced down at her mitt.
 She turned it over and looked inside. The ball was
still in it!  She hadn't dropped it!  She tried to sit
up, feeling pleased with herself.  A wave of dizziness
hit, and for a second she thought she might be sick. 
Groaning she fell back down.     

"Easy," AJ said.  Wrapping his arm around her back, he
eased her back down.  "I suggest waiting for the
ambulance, Mac."  

"Yes, sir."  She did feel a little woozy.  "Um, Sir?"

"Hmmm?"

"We won, sir."  Despite feeling like shit, she
couldn't help smiling.

* * * * *
He should have been happy, but instead AJ felt
horrible.  He felt ashamed.  When he had informed his
staff that the team that had issued the challenge was
not the GodSquad, but rather the SecNav's, there was a
silence in the room.  By now it was common knowledge
that the SecNav had hung him out to dry during that
whole spitting incident, and now he wanted them to
play softball?  There was a tacit agreement - it was
payback time!  Everyone eagerly agreed to participate.
 Even Singer.  As to what her motivation was for
volunteering, AJ had no idea, but as long as she could
hit the ball he didn't care.

He had been upset about the way the SecNav had treated
him.   And what better way to get some revenge than to
humiliate the man in a game of softball.  Not that AJ
actually expected the SecNav to play in the game.  But
that was OK.  

AJ had seen the people on the SecNav's staff, Lindsey,
a couple of secretaries.  The only one who looked at
all athletic was Boone.  AJ was confident his team
could win.  What his team lacked in talent they made
up for in heart.  

It was only when AJ saw Mac go down that he realized
how silly he had been acting.  He was playing the
SecNav's game!  This wasn't his style. 

Besides, what difference did it make what the SecNav
thought of him?  He wasn't someone that AJ thought
highly of.  What was important was the respect of his
people, not some clueless political bureaucrat.  And
he knew he had that.  The way they had come to his
support. Both then and now.  It gave AJ a warm feeling
inside.  

As he looked around at the faces before him:  Mac,
Harm, Sturgis, Harriet, Bud, Victor, Tiner. He knew he
couldn't ask for better people under his command.  Of
course, Singer needed some work, but he had time. 

Mac spoke.  "Hey, Harm?" she said.  "Do me a favor? 
Give this to Admiral Boone for me?"  She extended her
glove out to him.  

Harm leaned over and removed the ball.

"Tell him never underestimate a Marine!" she said with
a smile.  

Harm smiled back.  "You got it, Mac."  Then he walked
over to deliver the message.  After Harm spoke to
Boone, AJ noticed him look over at Mac and tip his
head toward her, acknowledging Mac's efforts.  Then
Boone looked back at Harm and both men smiled.  

When the ambulance came a few minutes later, AJ went
with Mac to make sure she was OK.  Later, he'd have to
think of a way to express his gratitude to her, not
only for helping to win the game, but for helping to
remind him about the important things in life.  He had
won this game a long time ago.

The End