CHANCE MEETINGS

by fananicfan

Disclaimer: JAG and its characters are the property of CBS Television, Paramount Studios and Bellisarius Productions. All rights reserved. No monetary gain will be realized from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.

AN: This piece was inspired by the thread on the HBX where it was speculated about 'what if' Harm hadn't had his ramp strike, allowing him to have a full career as a naval aviator.

Would he have been ready to settle down and marry sooner? Would - if you believe in fate - he'd have met Mac by chance anyway?

For this story, I'm going on character information that we knew from over the course of the show that pertained to Harm and Mac's life BEFORE the ramp strike and their meeting in "We the People". Meaning, in a nutshell, that Harm's father was still shot down, his mother married Frank, he would've gone to the Academy and met Diane, but for the purpose of this story, she and Mac don't look alike. Mac would still be an alcoholic, have an abusive father, her mother left, etc - though in my mind, the forgotten about husband wouldn't exist. Aside from character information about their life prior to meeting, nothing that we saw in the series will apply since this is an AU story.

CHANCE MEETINGS

SEPTEMBER, 1996

MCMURPHY'S

Major Sarah MacKenzie, USMC, had been invited to this quaint establishment by a female lieutenant at her new command, JAG HQ.

The major knew that the invitation was Lt. Austin's way of welcoming her, but given that they were meeting in a bar, she was uncomfortable the moment that she stepped into the place.

She counted her sobriety in years now, but there was just something about the smell of a bar, stale beer and smoke that seem to ooze from the walls. Perhaps it was the clatter of the billiard balls hitting each other in the background that reminded her so much of her youth when she'd indulged in too much booze too often so that her days had run together.

As she scanned the small crowd looking for the tall lieutenant who'd invited her, she wondered how all bars could smell the same.

Sitting with a few others from the office, her new friend waved at her to get her attention, and her stomach clinched at the thought that she'd once again have to decide which way to go - truth, diversion or just plain lie when she was asked what she'd like to drink and she ordered a soda with a twist.

"Hi, Mac," the lieutenant said with a smile as she stood to give the newbie her choice of where to sit.

There weren't many women who she'd come across who were taller than she, but this Texan had a good two or three inches on her. However, Meg was in casual clothes and flats this evening, and in the interest of putting her best foot forward, Mac, as the major preferred her co-workers to call her, had worn nice slacks, a blouse, a jacket for warmth against the chill of the autumn breeze and low-heels, so the height difference wasn't noticeable.

Mac plastered a smile on her face as she approached the table. "Hi, everyone," Mac said to Meg and the two other women present.

These attempts at getting to know one another and settle into a kinship of some kind that would bridge personality issues in the work place were so awkward. They reminded Mac of the first day at a new school.

"Do you shoot pool?" asked the only other woman attorney on staff at HQ at the moment, Carolyn Imes.

"I've been known to knock a few balls around," Mac said coyly, eyeing the other woman at the table whom she hadn't met.

"Pardon my manners. Major Sarah MacKenzie, this is Lt. Caitlin Pike. She's one of us. A JAG lawyer, I mean," Meg said as only she could in her Texas drawl.

Sensing tension from Mac, the attractive, dark-haired woman cleared the air quickly by saying, "I'm leaving. You're my replacement. This is my little going away party."

Now Mac felt a little silly at having gotten her hackles up. It wasn't as if having a third female attorney to compete with for cases caused her any concern, but having to stack up against three of the same gender and being the lone Marine, Mac had had a sense of being out numbered.

Knowing that the odds were more balanced now, Mac's casual demeanor returned, and she jokingly said, "Then you're just the one who I need to talk to. I want the inside scoop. What these two are like in court? Is there anything that I need to know about the CO? You know, the usual," she said as she slipped into the chair that had been empty when she'd arrived at the table.

"I'm leaving you in good hands with these two, so there's nothing to tell there," Caitlin Pike replied before pausing to take a sip of her drink. "As far as the admiral goes, he seems like he's a pretty straight shooter. He hasn't been the CO long, so I don't have a lot of experience with him. However, I've noticed that he can be gruff at times, but don't take it personally. I think it's a leftover from his SEAL days. As for the area, this is one of our favorite watering holes. It's far enough away from headquarters that we don't risk running into anyone who could be hazardous to our career, yet it's close enough that we can come after work when it's been one of those days."

"Don't let her fool you about this place. That's why the rest of us come, but she comes because she got lucky here one night and keeps returning, hoping that she'll get another run at him," Imes said teasingly.

"One for the road wouldn't hurt, but I told you that the guy was out of my system when I got back from the investigation in Naples last year when I ran into a flyer on liberty. I had to have pulled at least three G's that night." Her smile made it evident that she'd had a good time with this guy.

"Was that three G's or O's, Kate?" Imes said with a devilish smile.

"Enough kissing and telling," Meg said to change the direction of the conversation. "Let's get Mac a drink and start this farewell party." Meg looked at Mac. "What'll you have?"

"This round is my treat. Tell me what you all are drinking, and I'll go to the bar and order it," Mac volunteered. This was one way that she'd learned to avoid answering why she wasn't drinking - order away from the rest, and then no one would know what was in her glass.

The crowd was getting bigger inside the small tavern-type joint, and space at the bar was at a minimum. Mac was next to step up to order when the departing customer, attempting to step away with almost more beers than he could carry, bumped into her, knocking her off balance and into the shoulder of a male patron on a stool at the bar.

"Sorry," Mac said as a polite gesture for the incident.

The man turned to acknowledge the woman who'd offered the apology.

Mac's breath caught in her throat the moment that his green eyes met hers.

Locked in an awestruck gaze, the naval aviator's heart skipped a beat, something that had never happened before. Even in a dog fight, a rush of adrenaline made his heart race, but never skip this way, and it had him momentarily disoriented.

His combat mentality had him quickly regaining control, and he responded with, "No problem," in a deep voice that only increased Mac's breathlessness.

"To show that there are no hard feelings, why don't I buy you a drink?" he asked with a cocky flyboy smile in place.

He wasn't the only one who'd been trained to handle stressful situations, and Mac may have taken a second longer to recover her senses, but she was ready to fend him off now.

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm here with some friends. Maybe some other time," she said, smiling sweetly before turning her attention to the bartender to place the order for her table.

Mac returned to her table with the four drinks that she'd ordered for her friends and herself, though is was too soon to tell if 'friends' was a true description.

A gift that single women have is to be able to carry on a conversation in elaborate detail while scanning the room for a person of interest, in other words, a MAN.

Meg Austin had developed the talent as a cover. No military rule meant more to her than "don't ask, don't tell."

Kate Pike liked a strong, confident man, and to her that meant that they had to approach her, though she didn't mind flirting a bit to make sure that they knew that she was interested in them.

Carolyn Imes was a bit more open-minded, or perhaps it was logical. If she needed a man, she had no problem walking up to one and asking them if they'd like to spend the night with her. Her belief was that she had needs the same as any man, and love or a relationship didn't need to be part of the equation.

Mac, on the other hand, was a woman who'd witnessed her mother being beaten by a man, her father, and after several failed relationships, she'd sworn off men. She knew that, whether it was out of need for that feeling of love that one can pretend exists during sex or from the loneliness of too many nights spent alone, she'd seek the company of a man again, but, at the moment, she wasn't interested in finding one.

The women sat, chatting for some time. All of them except Mac, whose back was to him, noticed that the man at the bar kept glancing in their direction every few minutes, but every time one of the women made eye contact with him, he'd turn his attention back to the TV and the game that was on.

Each time that Kate had been able to make eye contact with the good-looking guy at the bar, she'd given him her usual flirtatious eye and waited for him to make his move.

Carolyn had made eye contact with the man several times, but assumed that the reason why he'd quickly looked away each time was because she wasn't the focus of his interest at her table, and she didn't want to waste her time.

After two hours, Kate realized that her last night in town was destined to be spent alone, so though it wasn't really late, she was ready to leave.

"Ladies, it's been fun, but my flight leaves Andrews at 0800, so I'm calling it a night," Kate said before she stood.

After exchanging pleasantries with Carolyn and Meg about it being nice to work with each other, Kate looked at Mac. "It was nice to meet you."

"Same goes here," Mac said half-heartedly. This evening was dragging on, and she didn't want to be rude, but she'd wanted to leave two minutes after she'd arrived here.

Mac waited for several minutes after the guest of honor had left before she decided that, even if she was risking being perceived as unsocial, she'd stayed as long as she could.

"I hate to leave before closing time," Mac joked, "but I have to be in court early in the morning, so I'm going to take a cue from my predecessor and call it a night."

Mac stood and, as she gathered her things, the man at the bar glanced their way once again and noticed that the woman whom he'd been eyeing was preparing to leave. He could wait no longer to make another attempt to at least get her number.

Mac had just said her good nights and was about to step away from the table, unaware that the handsome stranger had stood and intended to approach her.

"It looks as if one of us is going to get the chance for a night cap ... and what a tall drink that one is," Imes said breathlessly as the man reached into his pocket.

Mac turned to see the man who she'd bumped into apparently preparing to leave also.

Heat rose in Carolyn's cheeks until she realized that the man's focus was on one woman, and it wasn't her.

"Lucky you, Mac," Carolyn mumbled disappointedly as it became clear to her that he'd been trying to make eye contact with Mac when he'd glanced over at their table.

"I think that we should walk out with her," Meg said, wondering if the timing of this stranger's departure was simply a man trying to make a hookup or if his motives were something more sinister.

"No, you two stay and enjoy your evening. I'll be fine," Mac said reassuringly. She didn't want to mention it to the two Navy women, but she was a Marine. She could handle herself and, judging from his haircut, he was military, probably Navy given his arrogant vibes, and the threat of calling his CO and reporting him would be enough to scare him off.

"It looks like he's waiting for you to move his way, so if he approaches you and gives you a bad feeling, signal us and we'll come and walk out with you," Meg offered.

"Will do," Mac said before heading for the door.

Halfway to the door, a large form stepped in front of her, blocking her way.

"I'm Harm," he said, extending his hand. "I didn't want to interrupt your girls' night out, but I wanted to know when I could have a rain check on that drink because I'm in town for only another two days."

His smile was more of a cocky grin than a smile, but his eyes ... he had the most gorgeous eyes that she'd ever seen.

"I'm sorry, but I've got to be in court early for the next several days and I won't have time, but have a safe trip," Mac replied, still wanting to be polite since she didn't fault the guy for trying.

"How much time are you looking at getting?" he asked smugly, as if the threat of long-term incarceration might make her more wiling to have sex with him.

"I'm not going to get any. I'm an attorney, not the accused, and just to be perfectly clear ... that's a very nice smile that you have, and I'm sure that it usually gets you what you want, but it isn't going to work with me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I really need to leave," she stated firmly before stepping to the side to go around him.

"If you change your mind ..." His voice trailed off as she quickened her pace as if he was scaring her and she was trying to get away from him, so he moved back towards the bar to ease any fear that he'd try to stop her from leaving or follow her.

It wasn't as if he hadn't been turned down or left a bar alone before, but there was something, something about her that made her rejection sting like never before, and it threw him enough that he returned to the bar and ordered another drink.

A few minutes later, when the other dark-haired woman who'd been at the table approached him and offered to keep him company tonight, no strings attached, he turned her down flat - that was another thing that he'd never done before.

He sat on a stool at the bar until closing time, wondering what this chance meeting had done to him.

After leaving the bar, he climbed into the back of a cab.

The cabby asked, "Where to?"

It was at that moment that his mind, hazy from a combination of needing some sleep and the effects of the alcohol that he'd consumed, realized that he hadn't gotten her name. How was he ever going to be able to find her?

Chance meetings don't happen twice, do they?