TITLE: When The Time Comes...

AUTHOR: Vid z.

PAIRING: Harm/Jen

TIMELINE. April 2004, a week or two before AJ's fifth birthday

DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc of the TV show JAG are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this fic. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: this will be my last fic. I'm leaving for Aubagne (France, obviously) in two weeks to join the French Foreign Legion. Originally this fic was meant as a one-shot, but got too big as I wrote it and had to cut it down to several chapters.

SUMMARY: a completely unexpected and potentially tragic event just a week or two before little AJ's fifth birthday puts a new spin on the world of the JAG HQ

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Jen frowned as she rubbed her lower back, it had been hurting her all morning, ever since she'd woken up. She didn't know what was wrong, but she sincerely hoped it would go away soon. Back pain is not as painful as some others can be, for example stomach pain or headaches, but can be more irritating and annoying, not to mention persistent.

She felt her stomach twitch at the lack of food and she subtly ran a hand down her flat, muscular abdomen, as if that would sooth the empty organ. It had been more than 17 hours since she'd last eaten and it was catching up to her.

She never ate after 2000 hours, the fact half (the other half being regular exercise) responsible for her lovely hourglass figure and washboard flat stomach, not to mention her tiny waist, long strong legs and the fact that she was always clinging to the lower edge of her window of the Navy's weight-to-height requirements, being almost too light.

Her full bladder was beginning to hurt from being over-filled and she promised herself to immediately go to the bathroom as soon as she did that last one errand.

She was on her way to LtCol Mackenzie's office to deliver a case file when she felt something tear inside her body. She froze in fear, hundreds of horrible causes going through her mind as to what might've gone wrong inside her body.

The next second she felt something warm and wet flow down her legs and, her face flaming in embarrassement, she looked downwards past her flat belly at the growing puddle beneath her feet.

' Oh, God, I can't believe this. How could this happen!? And in the middle of the bullpen! ' she thought with mortification over losing control over her bladder, at her young age, and that in the middle of the bullpen.

That thought was however forgotten when a blinding pain rolled through her body.

Unprepared for it, her knees buckled from the agony and she cried out sharply, grabbing at her abdomen, scattering the documents she'd held all over the floor and bringing the attention of others to herself.

She managed to crawl out of the wet spot before curling into fetal position on her side and just whimpering through the pain.

The staff surrounded her, not knowing what to do. She heard office door slam as they were opened violently and then running, heavy footsteps, heavy enough for only a man to be capable of producing, hurrying towards her.

The next second Harm's face popped into view among the tears filling her eyes from the pain as he knelt down next to her, just as the Admiral came rushing out of his office. "What's wrong?"

Harm propped Jen up against his body tenderly and she looked up at him, eyes cloudy through the jack-knives stabbing at her. "Hurts." she whimpered. "Think... my bladder... ruptured... Felt it tear... before..." she couldn't finish and tears of humiliation joined the tears of pain as she looked away.

"Her bladder rupture for some reason, sir." Harm said wild-eyed in anxiety, already standing up, gently lifting her into his arms. "I'm taking her to Bethesda."

"I'll call the ambulance." suggested the Admiral, turning towards the nearest phone, but was rudely interrupted by Harm before he could do so.

"Screw the ambulance, I'll be there faster taking my car." then, noticing just what he'd said and to whom, he was horrified. "Sorry, sir."

"It's okay, CDR, just go!"

"Yes, sir." Harm nodded and carried Jen off easily, as if she was weighing nothing, ignoring the looks and whispers of others.

Bypassing the elevator knowing it would take too long he took the stairs, helpless of doing anything more than murmur soothing words to Jen when the pain gripped her again.

He was terrified. He didn't know of anyone surviving a ruptured bladder and the reality of the situation was revealing itself to him with frightening implications.

He just hoped he wouldn't be getting Jen to Bethesda just to deliver her to the morgue.

He honestly didn't know if he would survive it emotionally and mentally if she died. The young woman had done so much good for him, was his only remaining friend and support, emotionally and mentally, he had gotten so attached to her that he knew her possible death would have long-lasting, acute consequences for him, his sanity and well-being, if not breaking him outright. After having lost so many people he'd loved during his life, from lovers to friends and family, and having had to recover and start again so many times from those losses, he was not sure he'd be able to recover from this loss as well.

He just didn't have the strength and the fortitude anymore, all having been used up for those previous recoveries.

And in that moment he was getting the idea of what someone had meant when they'd said they would rather die than live without someone.

He just hoped he wouldn't have to find out for real.

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