Rating: PG (Angst)
Summary: Tragedy strikes on the eve of Mac's wedding to Mic....or does it?

Spoilers: Through Adrift Part 1

Disclaimers: I don't own JAG, never did! Instead it belongs to Mr. Bellisario and CBS...No copyright infringement is intended by the writing or publishing of this story! Please DON'T sue me!!!

***
On what was supposed to be the happiest day of her life, turned out to be the worst and saddest day Mac had ever known. Hardly anyone at the rehearsal dinner had been willing to leave without knowing that Harm was safe and sound and on his way home to them. However, it was decided finally that they'd relocate the vigil to the Admiral's house, as the restaurant workers wanted to close everything down for the night.

As they got ready to leave, Mac asked Harriet if they'd mind taking Chloe with them since they were going on home to tend to little AJ. Chloe protested when Harriet said yes, saying that she wanted to know if Harm was all right as much as anyone in the room.

"Chloe, I'll make a promise to you just like I did with Lieutenant Roberts, that the moment we hear anything about Commander Rabb at my house, then we'll call you," the Admiral said.

Chloe looked at her "big" sister. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay, Chloe. You go with Bud and Harriet and get some sleep," Mac replied. The girl nodded, and after a few more minutes departed with the Roberts towards their home. Mac agreed to ride over to the Admiral's house with Renee while Mic rode with A.J.

After a silent ride over to his house, A.J. set about making sure everyone one is as comfortable as they possibly could be while they waited for news of Harm. He offered the ladies the use of his bed, as he didn't think he'd be getting much sleep that night anyway. He, along with Mic, had relocated to the living room to await the news about Harm, and as they waited he made sure that plenty of coffee was on hand.

Twenty minutes after the insistence of the men that they both go to bed to get some sleep, Mac reappeared in the living room, dressed in shorts and USMC T-shirt. She was clearly exhausted but told them that she couldn't sleep at all.

"Where's Renee?" Mic has asked.

"She's asleep," Mac replied. It seemed strange to hear that Harm's girlfriend had fallen asleep while his fiancée was wide-awake with worry.

"Mac, why don't you get some sleep as well?" A.J. asked.

"I don't think I'll be to sleep much tonight, sir," Mac replied, reaching for the coffee he had just set down on an end table.

A.J. smiled at her. "There's nothing you can do for Harm right now and I don't think he'd want you to exhaust yourself with worry. Go to bed, Colonel."

Mac stared at him, opening her mouth to protest further when Mic spoke up, "He's right, love. Harm wouldn't want you exhausted, especially on today of all days." The look she turned on him was one of unbelief.

"You do realize that we can't get married today, not while Harm is still lost at sea?" she asked.

"I know that you're worried about Harm, Sarah, but I'm sure that he wouldn't want us to cancel our plans," Mic replied.

//Uh oh, son... // A.J. thought //You've just stepped in it up to your eyeballs! // He was about to excuse himself from the room, knowing that Mac was going to want some privacy to discuss it out with him when the phone rang. //Lucky, dingo! Saved by the bell... //

"Chegwidden."

[Admiral, this is the skipper aboard the PATRICK HENRY.]

"Yes, Captain?" A.J. looked at Mac and Brumby, noting that they had quieted their discussion immediately but Mac was still shooting the Aussie a look that told him that the Marine was someone you didn't want to mess with at the moment.

 [Admiral, the storm has passed and the seas are calm enough for us to resume our search for Commander Rabb. I've ordered the research to resume ASAP.]

 It was nearly an hour later when the chopper located him. Mac held her breath as she listened to the diver entering the water, reaching Harm within seconds.

[Commander Rabb? Sir?]

[Lieutenant, what's going on out there?]

[Sir, Commander Rabb is unconscious. I am securing the harness around him now...]

A few more seconds passed as the harness was pulled back up with Harm in it. Mac began to pray, as she never had before, hoping that somehow he was okay. // He's my best friend in the entire world. Please God let him be okay...//

[No pulse...He's not breathing either. Beginning CPR...]

At this point, Mac heard someone choke back a sob, even as she herself was fighting back tears and she saw Renee enter the room. . .

"Come on, commander," she heard the Admiral murmur. "Fight this!"

Five minutes lapsed, then ten, then 20....

[Sir, I'm sorry but Commander Rabb is gone...]

Mac heard very little after that. A.J. pushed back his own grief long enough to relocate to another room with the phone and to begin making arrangements for the return of Harm's body, leaving Mic alone to comfort two very distraught women. Renee openly let her cries of anguish out while Mac just wept quietly, trying hard to believe that this was all just some horrible nightmare that she'd awaken from it at any moment.

But that moment never came. . .

Instead of the nightmare ending, it only got worse as the hours wore on. Mac fell into a restless sleep after nearly fighting with the Admiral for permission to be the one sent to the PATRICK HNERY to escort Harm's body back Stateside. A.J. denied her permission, telling her that he was sending Bud and Harriet instead to fulfill that duty while one of them watched after little A.J. It was nearly 0600 when they came to drop off the baby and Chloe. Thankfully by then Mac had fallen asleep while Mic had volunteered to drive Renee home so that she could get some rest.

"How is the colonel, sir?" Harriet asked.

A.J. shook his head. "She's not taking it well at all, bottling everything up inside, though she did cry when we first heard the news." He watched as Harriet laid the baby down in the playpen that Bud had quickly set up.

After getting everything settled for their son's care while they were gone, Bud and Harriet left to fly out to the USS PATRICK HENRY.

The next few days would be a blur as the funeral arrangements would have to start to be made and all of Harm's family would have to called. Unless there were objections by his family, the Admiral intended on seeing to it that Harm would be laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery.