THE SHORT VERSION
 
 
Author: LeE
 
e-mail: lee_81881@yahoo.com
 
 Classification: Romance H/M 
 
  Disclaimers: JAG doesn't belong to me. It belongs to DPB and CBS. I'm 
just having some fun while procrastinating on work... 
 
Summary:  The Harm and Mac story through the eyes of an unexpected 
observer.
 
 Author's Note: Well, I thought of this while watching TV. It's a short 
piece of fluff. Hope you like it... And as always, thanks to my amazing 
beta readers for their help with this!! Enjoy! LeE
 
 
Just another day at the office; another day like the past seven years. 
Being in my line of work, one always grows to like certain things, 
certain people. My wife always says I could get good money for the stories 
I could tell. Women. Always thinking of money. I adore my wife, but 
really...A tall, well built man, clad in his Navy uniform comes through 
the door. He's a full Commander now. I know my Navy insignias. One look 
at his face and I know why he's here. A woman. The Marine. Let's make 
the long story short, shall we?
 
I remember the first time he came in here. Almost seven years ago. I 
assumed he was new in town, so I introduced myself as he sat down and 
ordered his beer, which has been his preference since then. Well, he only 
drinks when she's not with him. But I'm getting ahead of my story here. 
 
"I'm new in town. What's the best you got?" he asked me and I answered 
with a smile. 
 
Time went by. One day he came in. I noticed his insignias were now 
those of a Lt. Commander, but his face quickly caught my eye. He was pale, 
almost like he'd seen a ghost. I told him that same thing and he only 
said 'You don't know the half of it'. Maybe he believed in ghosts, so I 
didn't push it any further. Old man like me can't afford getting a tall 
Sailor riled up at a bar, if you know what I mean. So, he spent about 
an hour there, drank a few more beers, and left. 
 
A half hour later, this young lady comes in, and asks me the same 
thing. Just as I'm about to give her the same answer I gave the tall Navy 
man before, she stops me with a hand and shakes her head. "No, that's 
okay. I'll just have tonic water with a twist of lime." To go from a beer 
to what she ordered, well, there had to be a story there, but I didn't 
push it. Once again, old man can't afford to get a Marine on his bad 
side, especially a woman, so I let it go and went about preparing her 
drink.  
 
The next year and a half, the tall Navy man, and the pretty Marine 
usually came in, sometimes together, sometimes alone. On occasions, they'd 
come in with their friends from work, leave, and come back later... 
alone. They always missed each other, though. The tall Navy man used to 
come in and leave around 11 or so. The pretty Marine came in way later 
than that. I always wondered what a nice looking woman like herself was 
doing out alone so late. Guess she didn't do well with sleeping. 'I used 
to have that problem, too' I told her once, after she related how she 
wasn't much of a sleeper. 'Problem went away the day I married my 
Daisy...' She looked at me and laughed. I don't know what she was laughing 
at. It was the truth, but she never seemed like one to believe much in 
anything. 
 
I remember, the first and only day I've ever seen her drink. It seemed 
like such an odd time of day for a working girl like her to be 
drinking, especially since I'd never seen her drink before. I shrugged and 
served it. I noticed the tall Navy man wasn't with her and my curiosity was 
sparked. 
 
"Is you friend coming in as well?" I asked her good-naturedly, avoiding 
at all costs sounding like I was snooping around. 'Only women do that' 
I thought and smiled as I pictured the look on my Daisy's face if I 
told her that.
 
"Harm?" she sneered. Why anyone would let people call him "Harm" was 
beyond me, not that her nickname sounded any better. I mean, what woman 
would like to be called Mac? Marines. Tearing away from my thoughts the 
tone in her voice really caught me off guard. I'd seen them argue, even 
mad at each other. The tall Navy man had a loose mouth when his brain 
was swamped with alcohol, he'd never talked about her in that derisive 
tone she had just used. 
 
"Nah... he's got more important things to do than taking care of me" 
Those two drinks she had must've gotten to her a lot more than I 
expected. Besides, why would the tall Navy man not have time for her? He'd just 
been at the bar a week ago, and in his drunken haze told me a long 
convoluted story about his partner dating some clown, having a tattoo, 
leaving JAG, and coming back. It seemed to me he cared tons for her.Why 
would a Marine date someone who worked as a clown? Kids. They make it so 
complicated these days, so I didn't respond to her accusation and went 
on with my routine at the bar.
 
Time kept going by. One night, the tall Navy man came in, sat down, and 
ordered four beers. "Drowning sorrows today, aren't you son?" I said 
and he simply looked and sighed. So we weren't best friends, but I could 
tell the poor man had no one else to talk to. That was the first day I 
heard him curse Australia, and a few days later I understood why. That 
Aussie irritated the crap out of me, and he never said a word in my 
direction. 
 
A long time went by. Almost six months and the tall Navy man stopped 
showing his face around. The pretty Marine still made her routine 
appearances around 1 or 2 am. Never drank, but she sure struggled with it. 
Some nights, it almost seemed like she'd come to watch other people drink 
as a punishment of some sort. Why would a recovering alcoholic want to 
stick around a place where everyone present at 2 am was either drunk or 
well under way? I'd found out a few months before that she'd had a 
problem with alcohol. Not that the tall Navy man had told me in a spurt of 
drunken dialogue. He'd never talk about her personal life when he was 
drunk. Guess he respected her that much, even in his inebriated state. 
But I figured it out. Working at a bar all these years, well, I've 
learned to recognize the signs. Besides, he always drank soda when she was 
around, and the grateful glances she shot his way every time he did it 
was more than enough for me to put the pieces together. 
 
Eventually, the tall Navy man started showing up again, and I found out 
he'd been at sea, flying some airplane. That surely explained the 
pretty Marine's mood the past six months. Some time went by, and the day the 
nice military people got together to say goodbye to the Australian I 
saw the brightest smile on the tall Navy man's face. When the Aussie 
walked out the door the tall Navy man and I made eye contact. He gave me a 
lopsided grin and went on to talk to the pretty Marine, dressed in red.  
 
More time went by. After the tall Navy man's six-month abscence, the 
pretty Marine was never the same. It was a cold, gloomy, winter night the 
first time I spotted the ring on her hand. The tall Navy man had been 
there a few hours before, got half way drunk before I realized he was 
over doing it and stopped him. He took a few more beers to go and left. 
The minute I saw the ring on her finger I knew. The tall Navy man was 
broken-hearted. I took a long look at her face. And then I finally 
realized the pretty Marine, the one wearing the brand new ring, was 
broken-hearted too. Whatever the story was behind that ring, I was sure it'd 
make an awesome script for a movie.
 
Ten months went by. "I lost her" was all the tall Navy man said that 
night. I sure hoped that didn't mean the pretty Marine was dead, but I 
could see in his eyes it was worse than that. The look in his eyes was 
the one of a man who had lost something he'd never had. Regrets. 
 
"She's getting married on Saturday" the tall Navy man announced to me 
that night. He looked like hell. His voice was quiet, as always, like 
telling a big secret the CIA would kill to know. I always knew, the way 
he looked at her, the way he spoke of her, the way his eyes shone when 
she was around, the pretty Marine had his number from the start. "So, 
what are you gonna do?" I asked him, knowing by experience, that even 
tough he seemed out of it, my words could still get through. The tall Navy 
man shrugged. "Run" 
 
Two weeks later. "She's the one running now" the tall Navy man 
whispered, and I was just within hearing distance and turned around. Is running 
all they teach these military kids at boot camp? Whatever happened to 
"be all you can be", "accelerate your life" "the few, the proud." All 
that talk sure as hell wasn't helping either of them. Tall Navy man 
smiled sadly, stood up and left, limping away towards the door. At first I 
thought he'd gotten in a fight with the pretty Marine's fiancé. Then I 
remembered the story in the news. Yep, that was the tall Navy man in 
that picture all right. What was he doing flying a plane into a storm 
anyway? Mysteries.
 
Two months later. "She could've died tonight" the tall Navy man said 
and sat down at his usual place in the corner of the bar. As always, I 
made sure my work took me closer to his corner. His eyes fixed on mine 
and I smiled. I'd seen the news reports on ZNN. Call me crazy, but 
hanging around military people makes you appreciate international conflict 
all the more. That Embassy overseas had been under attack, and her 
picture was there on the news report as well. These two sure made quite a 
pair.
 
Six months later. "Merry Christmas, Joe" the tall Navy man said 
cheerfully. If I didn't know better, I'd say he finally got his head out of 
his six and kissed the daylights out of the pretty Marine, but after 
watching them six years stuck in the same place, well, you kinda start 
losing hope. "Merry Christmas to you, Harm" I said matching his tone. So, 
okay... I got over it and started calling him Harm as well. It's better 
than the alternative. Harm smiled at me, ordered a soda, and left. 
Haven't seen him drink since that night. Guess he has more important things 
to do, or a more important someone maybe. 
 
Six more months have gone by. Today the familiar figure walks through 
the door, at a much decent hour. "I got her, Joe" the tall Navy man... 
Harm says as he sits down on his favorite place once again, and smiles 
broadly. I smile back as he orders a soda and a tonic water with a twist 
of lime. I go about preparing the drinks, and my smile grows wider as I 
listen to him. My eyes dart towards the door when the pretty Marine... 
Mac walks in. Quickly, she strolls over towards Harm, and her left hand 
goes instinctively around his arm, her hand entwining with his. A 
bright flash of light catches my attention. I quickly look down and behold 
there it is. A ring. I look back at her and immediately acknowledge the 
glow in her eyes as Harm places as tender kiss on her cheek. Yes, 
that's love. She looks the complete opposite of the way she looked when she 
wore the other ring. Well, I bet Navy boy could've bought her a bigger 
one with all the money he's spent on beer the past six years. Man, that 
piece of jewelry will sure bring some losses to McMurphy's.
 
"Thanks, Joe" he whispers as I'm still smiling from the sight they 
make. "For listening" he finishes and my smile broadens. Their friends from 
work start coming in. It's been a while since they've had one of those 
get-togethers where they end up singing their throats out at the end of 
the night. It sure looks like it will happen tonight, and I can't be 
happier for them. 
 
"If I could have your attention, please" the tall, distinguished man 
they all call "Sir" speaks, and the place is silent immediately.  "We're 
here tonight to celebrate the engagement of Harm and Mac..."
 
The party goes on, the happy couple dances, plays pool and darts, eats, 
talks, kisses, hugs... I guess I don't really know them, and I'm sure 
there are many symbolic things I've missed throughout their long 
journey. But details are not really necessary to understand love when it so 
bluntly stares you in the face. I've seen them almost every week, for the 
past six years, and tonight I'm finally seeing who they really are. 
They're each other's everything. Their love doesn't need explanation, 
reasons, or justification. No need for long stories, countless pages of 
rhymes, or endless beautiful songs. It's just good 'ole fashioned 
fairytale love.
 
More time will go by. It always does. And there's a time for 
everything, as my sweet Daisy always reminds me. Tonight is time to celebrate. 
 
END