Harm and Perez walked along the pathways on the hospital grounds looking for Mac. Tyler's MP had told them where she was headed and that PFC Clifford was staying with her. They spotted her after about five minutes of searching. Harm looked at the young captain, "Why don't you and Clifford head back into the hospital? I need to talk to Mac privately and then we'll meet you at Tyler's room."

Mac had an eerie feeling of deja vu as she looked over her shoulder after hearing her name being called. This time, though, it was Harm and Captain Perez. It didn't surprise her when Perez stopped by PFC Clifford and Harm walked up to her alone. She stood and waited silently. He rarely apologized outright, it was usually implied somehow in the midst of whatever explanations he was offering. She would excuse his over-protectiveness but his apparent lack of respect for her as a Marine officer couldn't be so easily forgiven.

Harm watched Mac carefully as he walked up to her, trying to gauge her mood before he opened his mouth. He had never intended to question her capabilities as an attorney or an officer. On the other hand, he had no intention of going through the anxiety he had suffered the last time she got mixed up with people trying to kill her. Somewhere there had to be a happy medium. Harm cleared his throat and plunged in, "Mac, about what I said earlier... ." He stopped when she shook her head.

"Harm, I'm not angry about the 'being lucky' comment. To a certain extent, it was true."

Harm let out a relieved breath, thank god she didn't take that the wrong way. Then he paused, "But if you weren't mad, why did you walk out?"

"I wasn't mad about what you said, I was mad about why you said it," Mac replied.

Uh-oh. Harm looked at her and said cautiously, "I just don't want anything to happen to you."

"Exactly." At Harm's perplexed look, she said with a touch of asperity in her voice, "Good god Harm, I've said it so many times I feel like it should be tattooed across my forehead! I am an officer in the Marine Corps. It's not your place, or Admiral Chegwidden's for that matter, to 'protect' me. Would you tell Captain Perez not to pursue an investigation because it might be dangerous?"

"That's not what I meant," Harm countered. "I just don't want you getting into something without some sort of back-up."

"And I'd prefer to have back-up. What I don't need is a babysitter, things are tough enough as it is." Mac replied.

"That's not what I'm doing," Harm protested. "You're my best friend and I ... well... Look, you can't expect me to not worry when things get nasty. You'd worry about me. Hell, you followed me to Russia to keep an eye on me. I just want to return the favor." He took a deep breath, "You have no idea how hard it was, when those bastards were trying to kill you and I couldn't be there for you."

"You think it's not hard to watch and wait when you go zooming off into the wild blue?" Mac looked at him in disbelief. "The difference is that I don't go running to the CAG and ask him to have someone keep an eye on you while you're flying."

"Oh for pete's sake, Mac. We're talking about back-up, not babysitting. Besides, I'm a qualified pilot."

"And I'm a qualified Marine officer," Mac said in exasperation. "Look Harm, it's one thing to be there as back-up, but not if your decisions are based on whether or not you think it's too dangerous for me. I don't need the distraction... or the impression it creates."

"You're worried about appearances?" Harm asked in astonishment. He hadn't expected Mac to be concerned about frivolities.

"I have to be," Mac said with surprising vehemence. She paused and visibly composed herself, "You and I view the military differently. You expect, allowing for the usual mix of politics, a level playing field in your military career. Rapid advancement from being an exemplary officer or, at worst, maybe a friend or two in high places. As a woman, I'm struggling just to stay on the field. I have to work with people who think we have no place in the military and people who are convinced that standards have been dangerously lowered just to get us in. Half the senior military men I deal with think I attained my present rank through sexual favors, or that it was handed to me because it was politically expedient. The thought that I might have earned it never occurs to them."

"Then they're idiots." Harm said a little uncomfortably. He'd been ready to flatten Admiral Crowley for insinuating those very things about Mac.

"I've always thought so," Mac smiled briefly and fell silent, her gaze dropping down at the ground.

Harm watched her worriedly, there was that odd note in her voice again."Mac... Sarah, what's wrong?"

Mac looked up at him, her eyebrows still raised in surprise at the use of her given name. He could see her thinking over her answer, finally she said, "I'm tired, I guess. Sometimes... " She shook her head slightly, "It doesn't matter. Don't we have bad guys to catch? Where are we meeting Perez?" With that, Mac started walking back to the hospital.

Harm stood and watched her walk away. He sighed with frustration, then hurried to catch up. Trying to get information out of Mac when she wasn't ready was harder than prying compliments out of the SecNav. He would file away what she had told him until he had time to sit down and put the pieces together. Harm gave Mac a sideways glance as he drew alongside. He knew there were a number of men in the military who still resented the intrusion of women into the 'club'. He just never thought of Mac having to wrestle with the problem. She was an intelligent, talented attorney and a good officer. She had earned his respect so long ago that he took it for granted everyone else would feel the same way.

Together they walked to Tyler's room, Perez and Clifford were waiting in the hallway. "Colonel, Commander," Perez greeted them, "Tyler will be out in a minute. He said he'd prefer to help us rather than sit around and stare at the walls of his quarters." Perez kept his amusement to himself, Tyler had actually said he wanted to help the Colonel. Apparently, the young man was rather taken with the attractive Marine. It would be interesting to watch Rabb's reaction to the ensign's infatuation.

Tyler came out of the room a few moments later and snapped to attention. "As you were, Tyler," Mac said with a smile. She turned to look at Harm and Perez, "Back to the JAG office?"

Harm nodded, "Yeah, Lieutenant Singer's probably already there. We can get her caught up and then decide how to proceed."

JAG office
Memphis NAS
1013 Local

Lauren sat in the conference room sipping her coffee. 'It's a damn good thing at least one of us knows how to concentrate on the matter at hand,' she thought smugly. She'd just finished nailing Commander Brighton's ass to the wall. It had been much easier without Rabb hovering in the background. His constant carping on being 'even-handed' and 'showing restraint' had made her want to scream. As far as she was concerned, if they were stupid enough to commit the crime and get caught - then they deserved everything she could throw at them. At any rate, this ought to impress Chegwidden. She'd handled the whole case from start to finish while the Colonel had gone haring off on some inconsequential UA. All she needed to make the whole thing perfect would be to sit in on MacKenzie getting an official reprimand for ignoring her assignment. Lauren sighed, the sympathy factor from the grenade attack would probably cancel that out. She took another sip of her coffee and frowned thoughtfully, Colonel MacKenzie had more damn lives than a cat. That or the people who were after her were incredibly incompetent. She smirked to herself, it was true - good help was hard to find.

Singer looked up as the door to the conference room opened. Her eyes widened momentarily when she saw Colonel MacKenzie was with Commander Rabb. She put down the mug, climbed to her feet and came to attention. Keeping a wary eye on the Colonel, Lauren noted the arrival of their driver, Ensign Whatever-His-Name-Was and a Marine captain. They were both carrying files. Hearing 'As you were,' dragged her attention back to the two JAG officers. Rabb was watching her, while the Colonel seemed to be ignoring her. Singer's eyes narrowed, something was up.

Mac gestured for Perez and Tyler to join her and Harm. She looked at the three men. "Captain Perez," she said in a formal tone, "I'd appreciate it if you and Ensign Tyler would set up what we'll need to cross-check Supply. Check back in an hour and let me know how it's going."

"Yes ma'am," Perez said crisply. He and Tyler came to attention, waited for her acknowledgment and left the room.

Mac turned her attention to Harm, "Commander Rabb? Would you please locate Lieutenant Barker and advise him of the current status of the Jarvis case?"

"My pleasure, Colonel," Harm replied, equally formally. He too, turned and left the room.

Mac glanced at Singer, "Have a seat." She walked around the conference room, looking at paintings and photographs. Lauren sat down slowly, still keeping careful watch of the Colonel. Mac finally dropped into a chair on the opposite side of the table. Absently she massaged the hand inside the sling as she looked silently at Singer. Her face had the same mildly interested look one might have when contemplating a unusual looking bug.

As the silence lengthened, Lauren kept her face expressionless and stoically returned Mac's gaze. She'd be damned if she'd let MacKenzie see her rattled.

"You've been busy, Lieutenant." Singer jumped inadvertently at the sound of the Colonel's voice. Quickly, she schooled her features into an expression of innocent inquiry. It was probably too much to hope for that MacKenzie had missed her display of nerves.

Mac reached over and pulled Lauren's case file to her side of the table. Opening the folder, she casually scanned the contents. "I see you've wrapped up the internet case all by yourself." The amused tone in her voice told Singer she hadn't missed anything. Lauren opened her mouth to speak and saw the warning look on Mac's face. She subsided into silence.

Mac spoke again, from the tone of her voice and relaxed demeanor, she could have been discussing the weather. "On the whole, you've done pretty well on this assignment... but you've also made some mistakes." She paused, watching the silent Lieutenant. "I ran into Commander Brighton on his way back to confinement. Judging from his demeanor, I'd say you threw the book at him. I don't know how he was in here but now he's angry. He let me know he's changing his plea, he wants to go to court." Mac smiled at Singer, "Kind of blows Admiral Chegwidden's plan of keeping this under the radar right out of the water, doesn't it? We'll call that Mistake Number One."

Singer half-rose out of her chair, sputtering in protest, "You can't blame me... "

Mac was out of her chair and leaning across the table in one fluid motion, "SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP, LIEUTENANT!" Singer dropped into her seat with a thump. She'd heard about the Colonel's temper and had dismissed it as a 'my boss is meaner than your boss' story. But there had been a dangerous glitter in MacKenzie's eyes just now, one that made Lauren swallow the rest of her words and drop back in her chair.

Mac settled back down and continued, her tone so matter-of-fact that Singer stared at her. "By going after Commander Brighton so zealously, you've made it appear that you singled him out for excessive punishment. I imagine a judge would look at it the same way. So you've actually given his defense a leg up. I'd hate to think how the SecNav will react to that. Mistake Number Two."

"There's actually another mistake wrapped up in there, but we can come back to it." She smiled at Lauren, "I suppose I should be flattered that you were so worried about my mental state that you had to inform the Admiral. And judging by the sideways looks and nervous twitches I get from this office staff, I assume you've expressed your concerns here as well. You realize, of course, you've given me a convenient alibi should something... untoward... happen to you. I can't be responsible for your well-being if I'm not in my right mind." Mac's smile turned predatory, "Mistake Number Three."

Singer opened and closed her mouth, she desperately wanted to say something. Mac watched her complacently before giving a slight nod. "You're threatening me, Colonel?!" It came out in rush.

Mac's eyebrows rose in surprise, "Threatening you, Lieutenant? Don't be silly, that was merely an observation. I'm going to reward you for such heartfelt concern. You and I are going to work together until we find whoever it is who's trying to kill me." She smiled at the look on Lauren's face, "We'll be inseparable." She stood up, gesturing to Singer to remain seated, "Stay put, Lieutenant. I'll be back in a couple of minutes." As she reached the door, Mac turned back and said, "Oh, that other mistake you made? These people liked Brighton and liked serving under his command. They may think I'm nuts but they hate you. You might want to get your own coffee from now on." She walked out.

Harm was waiting for her, leaning against a desk with his arms folded. He raised a questioning eyebrow. Mac gestured toward Cmdr. Brighton's office and they walked over together. Harm closed the door behind them and looked at Mac. "Do I need to defend you?" he asked lightly.

"Not yet," Mac said with a small smile, she was pretty sure he wouldn't like this next part. She hadn't gone into specifics beforehand, only saying that she would deal with Singer. "I told her that she and I would be working together until we figure out what's going on." Mac tensed a little, waiting for the inevitable explosion.

Harm stared at her, "You're partnering with her for this?" At Mac's nod, he stood silently for a moment and then turned away, his shoulders hunching.

Mac took a tentative step forward, "Harm?" He turned back towards her and she was a little shocked to realize that he was... laughing. Soundlessly, but still... laughing?

Seeing Mac staring at him, Harm attempted to get himself under control. Wiping his eyes and still chuckling, he looked at her, "I would have paid money to have seen Singer's face. Hell, I'd have given a month's pay to have sat in on the whole conversation." Talk about a rock and a hard place, he could almost feel sorry for the Lieutenant. He'd only heard Mac's voice raised once. While she could be impressive when she yelled, she was far more deadly when she was quiet.

Mac started to grin, Harm's amusement was contagious. "For a month's pay, I might have let you." She looked at him, "You're okay with this?"

He waved a hand at her and said a little more seriously, "I'm not letting you out of my sight. We'll just have to make it a threesome." Harm stopped suddenly, aware of what he had just said, and looked quickly over at Mac. Either she was going to kill him or... oh, damn... she was going to laugh hysterically. Mac had actually sat down, her hand over her mouth, trying to contain her merriment. "Hey," he said, trying to look offended, "It's not that funny."

"Oh no?" Mac leaned back, holding her side. "Pick a worse threesome."

Harm pretended to give it serious consideration, "Ummm... You, me and the SecNav?"

"Oh god," Mac laughed, "How about Krennick, Singer and Tiner?"

"Webb, the Admiral and Krennick?" He dropped into another chair. They kept tossing out more and more outrageous trios until both wound down. Harm and Mac grinned at each other. It had been a while since they had laughed over anything silly, he'd missed it. He pondered his next course of action for a moment and then asked cautiously, "Sarah, what's wrong?"

Mac looked at him, her smile fading. How to explain? She knew he was going to keep after her. "Harm, I don't think that's going to be a short conversation. We need to get back to the conference room, Singer's been on her own for seven minutes and forty-eight seconds."

"Mac, please. I want to know what's going on." Harm said. "How about dinner tonight?" When she nodded slowly, he let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. He stood up and offered her a hand, "Shall we check in on our partner?"

JAG office
Memphis NAS
1052 Local

Lauren sat motionless in amazement and watched the Colonel exit the room. While she would never openly admit any mistakes; privately, she would concede several small miscalculations. One was underestimating the deviousness of Colonel MacKenzie. There had to be some way of getting out of being a human shield. She shifted uncomfortably; and it was definitely not her fault about Brighton. There was no way in hell he would win his case. Who could predict that he'd suddenly turn into Don Quixote? Surely the Admiral wouldn't hold her accountable. It was all MacKenzie and Rabb's fault anyway, she fumed silently. If Rabb hadn't interfered earlier, Brighton wouldn't have felt singled out. She would have nailed the whole lot.

As for prima donna MacKenzie, it was her fault Rabb was here at all. Lauren was so sick and tired of the Colonel. The blind luck of that woman! To accidently stumble into a case as big as 'Archangel' and then turn it into the 'Perils of Pauline'. And she'd milked it for all it was worth. Now the entire office jumped if they thought she had a hangnail. If MacKenzie hadn't perfected the 'poor, brave little me' routine, the Admiral wouldn't have bothered sending Rabb out here in the first place. The Lieutenant snorted in disgust, Rabb and MacKenzie - their exploits were well on their way to becoming office legend. Singer didn't believe a quarter of what she heard. Rabb, that arrogant ex-pilot, was nothing more than a glib used-car salesman. It was the only way to explain some of the cases he won. That was if you discounted the ineptness on the other side. MacKenzie's reputation as a litigator was no doubt as exaggerated as her reputation as a tough, no-nonsense Marine. Lauren chose to ignore the little voice that gleefully pointed out that the Colonel had scared the hell out of her just a few minutes ago.

Singer stood up and turned around when she heard the conference door begin to open. She schooled her expression to casual indifference as she came to attention. Rabb and MacKenzie walked in, obviously continuing their conversation. "So we'll see where we are when Perez and Tyler get back. It should be soon?" Harm said looking at Mac.

"Sixty-three minutes and counting," Mac replied. She looked over at Singer, "As you were. Have you been familiarizing yourself with this case, Lieutenant?"

"I... uhhh... ," Lauren stuttered, furious with herself for showing inadequacy in front of these two.

Mac raised an eyebrow and said calmly, "Then I would suggest you do so, Lieutenant. Quickly." She turned her attention back to Rabb. Lauren glared at her for a moment before picking up a folder and beginning to read.

Fifteen minutes later, Perez and Tyler came in trailed by a corporal carrying a laptop. They came to attention and then relaxed. Harm and Mac both did their best to conceal their surprise. The corporal was easily the biggest, meanest-looking man they had ever seen. Perez gestured to him, "This is Corporal Tom Bell, my computer wizard." The corporal nodded as he set up his computer on the table.

"We found something, sir, ma'am," the Captain said happily. "Or I should say, Tink did." The corporal smiled a little self-consciously, something that looked even more incongruous than the massive fingers moving delicately over the keyboard. Harm glanced at Mac and rolled his eyes, of course, what else would someone nickname a behemoth named Bell?

Mac gave him a look and then stepped towards Bell. "What have you got, Corporal?"

"Well, ma'am," Bell rumbled, his voice reminded Harm of distant thunder, "Initially, I was just checking weapons and ordnance, but then I widened the net. That's when the discrepancies started to show up. It's ordinary stuff that's disappearing."

"What? Things like toilet paper and staples?" Harm asked in disbelief.

"Actually, sir, just about everything. It's been going on for nearly a year and ,of course, never in large enough quantities to arouse suspicion. There's enough stuff missing to supply a small base."

Perez nodded in satisfaction as Harm and Mac shared an alarmed look. "Getting interesting, isn't it?"

"Uh-huh," Mac said slowly, "Where's it going?"

Bell shrugged and then seemed to remember he was talking to senior officers. He said, a little more formally, "All I can tell you from this is dates and quantities, ma'am."

"Can you tell how it's happening?" Harm asked.

"Not yet, sir," Bell replied, "But with a little more time, I think I can figure it out."

Mac gestured for everyone to take a seat. "Okay, why are these supplies being taken?"

Tyler tentatively raised a hand, "Maybe they're selling it?"

Perez shook his head, "I don't think so. Who'd buy? Wal-Mart's just down the road."

"Maybe Bell is right," Mac said thoughtfully. "What if someone is supplying a small base?"

Harm leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table. "Oh hell, not another wacko militia group. Why aren't they stealing weapons? They plan to throw paperclips?"

"Perhaps they're getting them from another source." Mac flashed a small, sympathetic smile at Harm. She wasn't looking forward to dealing with over-zealous, military wanna-bes either.

"If they can't afford to buy their own toilet paper, how're they buying weapons?" Perez pointed out.

"Maybe they're stealing money, too." Singer entered the conversation for the first time.

Mac gave her an approving look and directed her attention to Bell. "Can you tap into the Finance Dept. and look for any anomalies?"

"It will take a while, ma'am, but I think so," Bell said. "Do you want me to start now?"

Mac shook her head, "Not just yet, Corporal." She looked at the group sitting around the table, "We still need to figure out where everything is going. I think Alan Jarvis will be the key."

Perez said, "Unless it's still on base somewhere, they'd need to arrange transportation." He looked at Bell, "Do you have a printout of when these thefts took place?" He took the paper and stood up, "If it's all right with you, Colonel, I'll go check the motor pool logs and see if anything turns up." At Mac's nod, he turned and left the room.

"So what do we know about Jarvis?" Mac asked.

"He's from Philadelphia and he joined up right out of high school," Tyler said promptly.

"His parents were killed in an auto accident, just before he enlisted," Singer added. "And he's been stationed here about two years."

Harm glanced over at Mac, "He's only been married two years. Where's Mrs. Jarvis from?"

Mac frowned slightly and checked some notes, "She's from this area. Little place called Bethel in northern Mississippi."

"Curious," Harm mused. "Either it was love at first sight or... "

"Or a marriage of convenience?" Mac picked up on his line of thought. "It's been going on for almost a year, I can see how they might have planned for it a year in advance. They'd need to recruit support." She grimaced in frustration, "But the timeline doesn't make sense if they didn't know each other beforehand. What did he do? Say 'Marry me and we'll steal the government blind' on their first date?"

"Or it was an arranged marriage," Harm said. "Jarvis may have been a computer genius... " He arched an eyebrow when Bell gave a derisive snort, it sounded like a small explosion.

"Sorry sir," Bell said contritely. It was like listening to a foghorn apologize, Mac smothered a smile.

Harm looked at him a moment longer and then continued, "... but, I get the feeling there's someone else involved on this base who is higher up the food chain. Maybe he got them together for this."

"So we go through his service record for the last two years with a fine tooth comb and see if anyone pops up." Mac concluded.

They all looked when a knock sounded on the conference room door. It opened and Lieutenant Barker stuck his head in. "I'm sorry to interrupt but Admiral Crowley wants to see Colonel MacKenzie in his office - now."

Harm raised both eyebrows slightly when he heard Mac mutter something distinctly unladylike under her breath. She looked at Barker, "Thank you, Lieutenant." Standing up, she gestured to Tyler, "Let's go, Ensign," and headed for the door.

Harm stared at Singer, who looked back perplexed. He gestured to Mac, "Get going, Lieutenant." As much as he would have preferred going with Mac himself, someone had to stay and keep the ball rolling on their investigation.

Singer started to protest, "But the Admiral doesn't expect me... "

Harm cut her off, "The Colonel doesn't go anywhere unaccompanied until we figure this out." He glanced at Mac who was standing at the door. Her face was impassive but he could see a small glint of amusement in her dark eyes.