Fair Winds and Following Seas - 227

Everyone (nearly) vies for selection by either H or M who are supposed to choose their own staff - and all JAG employees are fair game! M "psychically" said they will be 5489 miles and 10.5 hrs flying time apart. Co wanted to "stay the same" until coaxed by V to be "adventuresome." T congratulated H on making captain & his appointment. Surprised, H said "It sounds like you mean it"; then "you were qualified too." T replied "the captains board didn't think so. But perhaps I'll be JAG after you." M sublet her apt to Vereese, who was moving to DC to see how it worked out with T. B commented that the Hs new position is a "straight shot into JAG" then fumbled when Cr advised he "didn't plan on retiring anytime soon." H told Mattie he "wouldn't go anywhere without her" & Tom isn't contesting custody.

H asked B to go to London with him as "Assistant Force Judge Advocate!" (wow). He excitedly accepted saying Ht would be fine w/ it. Then M asked B to come w/ her as a "Blue Suit XO" & he said that he had already accepted Hs offer. BUT- Ht was NOT happy at all! She jumped on B then wangled him to back down! Then B told H that it was HIS decision to "stay put." Ht had lunch w/ M & explained ("Bs not to know") that he "still needs monitoring" (just like her controlling mother!) H observed "once Ht makes up Bs mind for him then that's pretty much it!" Cr asked Mikey what the "set to" was that he had with his daughter Cammie. Mk said he was in the right but they worked out their differences & she would make a great lawyer - "She has a way of interpreting the rules to her advantage, bending the facts." Cr told him that when it came to his daughter he had "rules of engagement, do you get my meaning?" Mk tried to talk to B about loving Cammie but he said "you can't!" "You crazy?" - "fall OUT of love!" - then refused to talk to him about it. Mk then asked H who said "are you crazy?" then: "talk to Cammie, & explain your feelings openly and honestly" (interesting coming from H).

V asked M for San Diego as well but was turned down flatly. "You are not the kind of lawyer that I want on my staff - period." He argued with her throwing up her mistake w/ Farrow so M threw him out of her office. Then Cr assigned V to marine corps recruiting depot at Paris Island to handle a recruit twice found muddy outside barracks having been in swamp to "kill the enemy." V questioned why he had to go & Cr bristled "The general asked me and I agreed!" Recruit Walter Evans, 16 y/o, falsified a birth certificate, HS diploma & mothers signature to join Marines. His mother told V that "she was loosing him." After his father was killed in Afghanistan Walter withdrew, became obsessed & ran away. She put out an amber alert. He refused to go home w/ her. V called Cr for advice who said "think out of the box, that's your specialty" & hung up on him! The Gen held an award ceremony (not Vs idea) for Walter stating he "knew his father Sgt Maj Silers Evans, how proud he was, etc." then made Walter an "honorary marine" & ordered him to go home w/ mother & "come back when ready." V didn't know that Gen knew Siler; "didn't want it known, that's why I asked for JAG." V counseled mrs Evans to seek "stress help" & told of his childhood: Father died when 15 y/o. tried church, street gangs, booze, girls. Too much for mom so sent to live w/ uncle. "He told me things I didn't know about my dad - things mom didn't want to talk about him. That got me better."

AND M & H FINALLY, ACTUALLY TALKED! Through many 'flashbacks' they gave insight to their unusual emotional dillema.
H- "I forgot how beautiful you are." M- "You resigned your commission, came 5,000 miles to find me and were nearly killed. Why?
H- "I think you know why."
H- "Five years from this moment, if neither are in a relationship we'll go halves on a kid." Then it showed them kissing @ M & Brum's engagement party!
M- "Eternity, is that how long we're going to wait? You still can't let go can you? H- "not yet" M- "you're just this way with me aren't you?" H- "Yes, just you"
H- "If you want to have a baby in the future, the offer still holds. We could do it together like we planned."
M- "Cmdr Rabb is the kind of man I would want for my child."
M- "So much more to talk about than just W" H- "then when you're ready let me know."

FINALLY M came to Hs apartment the very night before their departure!
M- "Lets talk about you and me, neither of us wants to be the first to say goodbye."
H- "I don't think that I'll ever feel about anyone else the way I feel about you."
M- "That's flattering, but don't tell that to your future wife, whoever she may be, she won't understand."
H- "Do YOU understand?" M- "No, I don't understand why we can't make it work, why we've let FATE decide our futures."
H- asked Mac what it was of all men that attracted her?
M- "They wanted me & they let me know it."
H- "I wanted you & you knew it."
M- "No woman wants to be a mind reader. With you there are always complications, another woman, work, searching for your father."
H- "That's all past. We've got 12 hours."
M- "Is it, we've had 9 years."
H- "I guess maybe I've just needed a deadline."
M- "Well you've got one now sailor boy!" After kissing, M- "Are you proposing?"
H- "Yes, I’m proposing. Let's get married."
M- "This has always been the 500# gorilla in the room. If we get married, one of us has to give up our navy career."
H- "I love you. I don't want to give up my navy career & you don't want to give up the Marine Corps.
H- "Do you believe in fate?"
M- "Fate put us together, sort of."
H- "Fate could keep us together forever."

They invited T, Co, Ht, B, & Cr to McMurphy's Tavern (where all important events have taken place) to announce their engagement. Co felt she needed to lie to Cr to get him there. They explained their impending marriage and their dilemma about neither wanting to give up their career. Then H said "We've decided to let fate decide." B showed the "JAG coin" that Adm Chegwidden gave him when he retired. The "future bride" called - "tails" (the same as she always has in the past & lost). B flipped the coin into the air and it turned into slow motion. The scene froze w/ everyone looking up at the coin which showed "JAG - Judge Advocate General 1995 - 2005" (on the "tails" side.)