Title: As It Was in the Beginning

Author: rooster dawn

Pairing: Harm and Mac

Disclaimer: The characters of JAG are the property of Donald Bellisario and Bellisarius Production, Inc. Used without permission. No copyright infringement intended.

Summary: What if Harm and Mac met in law school after Harm's ramp strike and Mac's return from Japan? Would their lives be the same?

Good feedback is good for the soul and my happiness.

Author's note: Yeah I know Mac went to Duke, but for the purposes of this story they both went to the same school, Georgetown. Why else would Harm go directly to JAG Headquarters in DC?

Part one Recovery

Thursday

4 July 1991

The family farm

It was the holiday weekend and Harm was still recovering from a ramp strike he had suffered just before the first of the year. He had been severely injured. At one point it was questionable whether or not he would survive.

He had been unconscious for the first week as his body recovered from the severe shock of being ejected and hitting the deck of the ship before his chute had fully deployed.

The doctors had told his mother it was probably better that he was unconscious. He was probably in a great deal of pain. Being unconscious was his body's way of insuring that it got the rest it needed to heal.

When he finally did wake up he was in so much pain. He had several broken vertebrates along with a broken leg, hip, and arm. His head wasn't feeling much better. He had suffered a severe concussion when he hit the deck.

When he tried to make an effort to move he noticed all the tubes and wires coming out from his body. When he tried to shift his weight he couldn't move. His body was in a full body cast. He looked like a mummy.

It had been pure torture with all the itching that he couldn't scratch. It was very tough not to be able to get out of bed. He hated being sedentary. But over time slowly one cast after another had been removed or shortened.

First to go was the one on his arm. What a relief that was. It allowed him to at least move around on the bed. The next cast to go was the one on his leg. It allowed him to get out of bed and move around a little, to stretch his legs.

It had been tough getting his sea legs under him again. It surprised him how weak he felt. He was barely able to stand on his own two feet the first couple of days. Even after two weeks he was barely able to stand on his feet for more than ten minutes.

After ten weeks they finally removed the body cast and replaced it with a back brace for support. He had almost no strength to stand up by himself. With Frank's assistance he was allowed to stay at a rented house with out patient visits for physical therapy.

It took six weeks of intensive physical therapy before he was able to return to doing many of things he took for granted and did before the mishap without too much pain. Harm knew it was going to be a long time before he was close to being a hundred percent again.

Six weeks ago he finally left the care of his mother and went to see his grandmother. He had to get away from his mother she was driving him nuts. He loved her, but she hovered too much and didn't give him any space to breathe.

When he first arrived at the farm he didn't know what to do. He would walk from one end of the farm to the other thinking. His physical recovery was coming along fine, but now it was time to start healing psychologically.

Then one day while he was cleaning up in the barn he came across an old Stearman biplane. It was the plane he and his father were going to restore when he grew up. It had been special to his father because his father had flown one during World War II.

Harm had found what he had been looking for. He felt an instant connection to his father that he hadn't felt in many years. He felt that he could reconnect with his father and healed at the same time as he repaired the biplane.

It would allow him to talk to his father. It would be his therapy to reduce the grief he was still dealing with after he heard that his RIO Lieutenant Mac had died. Mace had been his best friend aboard the Patrick Henry.

He was surprised last week when Diane had shown up at the farm. It had been a pleasant surprise. She had been a very close and dear friend when they were at the academy. They had always had a lot of fun together along with their friends, Jack Keeter and Luke Pendry.

They use to take great pleasure playing jokes on a former company mate named Sturgis Turner, a misplace and lonely cadet looking for a place to fit in and call home. He was a pain in the royal six.

For some unknown reason he seemed to want to hang out with them. Why that was he could never understand. Luke, Jack, and he were going to become aviators. They would be going to flight school. They were going to be top guns.

Turner, on the other hand, was going to be a bubblehead. That was as far as one could be from being an aviator. Besides, the man didn't even drink. He was a teetotaler, the son of a preacher man.

Sturgis would preach that it was a sin against God and they would all meet with damnation. It was a great day when they spiked the punch. Sturgis didn't know what happen as he drank too much.

They stripped him down and dressed him up like Mary of the fairy tale. He even had a baby lamb to follow him around. He shuddered at that thought. Why was he thinking of him when there were many other things and people much more pleasant to think about?

Diane was here now. She would help him recover. Harm was happy to see her. She had a way of cheering him up. She could pull him out of any doldrums he found himself in. But he always wondered if he loved her or did he care about her because he couldn't have Annie who had married Luke.

Annie had met Luke first and had fallen in love with him. There was no way Harm would ever make a move on his friend's girl. One thing was certain though, he was feeling much better since Diane had arrived last week.

For the first time in months he felt hope that his life would be normal again. He felt so alive. They would take long walks everyday to different parts of the farm. Their favorite place was near a small secluded pond on the farm. They would share a picnic lunch or dinner there.

There was one thing he needed to figure out. Did he love Diane or would he always consider her a very close friend? He did know one thing, he had no excuses to not settle down with anyone anymore.

His excuse had always been that he was an aviator, a very high risk occupation. He didn't want to leave behind a wife and child in case anything happen to him like his father. He was ready though to find someone to spend the rest of his life with.

Harm came out onto the porch. Diane was sitting on one of the chair swings. She was looking beautiful as always.

"Have Frank and my mother arrived yet?" asked Harm staring at Diane.

"No, not yet. Your grandmother said they wouldn't be here for another half hour. Harm, can we talk?" asked Diane.

"Of course Diane, what is it that you want to talk about?" replied Harm.

He wondered what was up. He hoped she didn't want to talk about them. He wasn't quite ready for that talk yet. He was still trying to figure that out. Emotionally he was finally waking up from a six month long snooze. Besides they hadn't been together very much over the last five years.

"What are you going to do with yourself now Harm? You can't fly anymore. I know it's the only thing you've ever thought about doing since you were a kid." asked a concerned Diane.

"That's a good question Diane. I'm surprised that you asked that." replied Harm wondering why she wanted to know.

"I was wondering if you were going to stay in the navy or get out. I think I could understand why you would want to leave, but I hope you don't." answered Diane.

"I've been in so much pain for so long I hadn't really thought about it Diane. It's only been since I've been up here on the farm working on the biplane that I've begun to think about what I want to do for the rest of my life.

I finally feel alive again after feeling lost for so long. It's been even better since you've been here. You've always been able to make me feel better about myself and give me hope." explained Harm.

"Thank you Harm. I like being with you too especially here on the farm away from everything. I've always thought you were pretty special." smiled Diane before giving him a kiss.

Harm smiled. "To answer your original question Diane, I think I want to become a lawyer or an investigator. It seems to be an interesting occupation. I like the idea of helping others in their time of need.

It will also give me the opportunity to stay in the navy and once again serve on an aircraft carrier." smiled Harm.

"That sounds great Harm. I know no matter what you do, you will be great at it." smiled Diane. "Have you given a thought about where you might want to go to school?"

"I'm not sure Diane. There are so many good schools out there. I haven't checked them all out yet. Maybe you can help me out while you're here. I'm kind of leaning towards Georgetown University. It's near the nation's capitol. There is so much history there." replied Harm.

"I would love to Harm. Maybe we could visit some of the campuses to help you decide." replied Diane happily.

Sunday

28 July 1991

The family farm

Harm and Diane spent the rest of the month checking out all the different Universities on the East Coast that had law schools. He was looking for several criteria in which school he would decide to attend.

It had to be near a naval base so he could be near the ocean. He needed to get his sea legs back. They needed a program that specialized in Military Law, Maritime Law, and one that worked closely with the government.

As Diane's thirty day leave was coming to a close they talked about the different schools. They both agreed that Georgetown was the best fit that met his requirements, and was readily accessible if she had time off to visit him.

JAG headquarters wasn't very far away. Maybe he could take some field trips there and maybe even do some on the job training too. When the time came for Diane to say goodbye, they agreed to meet back at the farm at Christmas.

"I'm going to miss you Harm. This has been the longest time we've spent together since the academy. It seems like we can never spend enough time together." moaned Diane. She really did love spending time with Harm.

"I'm going to miss you too Diane. Your visit was much too short. Why don't you come back here for Christmas Diane?" pleaded Harm. They seemed to have connected again. He didn't want to lose that feeling.

"I'd like that very much Harm. You can fill me in on how it's going at school. It will give me something to really look forward to while I'm away." sighed Diane. She didn't really want to leave, but she knew she had to.

It wasn't long thereafter that Harm took Diane to the airport. Diane had to get back to her ship. It was leaving on another tour. They hugged and kissed while promising to write to each other over the next few months until they got together again at Christmas.