In Their Own Words - The Guardian
Lieutenant (j.g.) Bud Roberts
By Sarah Kathryn Roberts (cloudbonnie@webtv.net)
I had just come to the Church of the Angels to ask The Man Upstairs for luck on my law final (because I had sort of procrastinated and didn't study) when I heard choppers outside. Then a man burst through the door; he looked homeless. My heart jumped when I saw that he was armed. When he saw me and noticed my naval uniform, he kept addressing me as Sir and told me of how he "had no other choice but to act." I didn't know what he was talking about at the time. I figured he was either in the military or had been at one time because he saw me as a superior officer or something. I was able to convince him to let me "call my CO at Headquarters," though I was meaning Lieutenant Commander Rabb. I told Harm about our situation, and he and Major MacKenzie hurried over.
For a while, I had been hearing a bunch of hustle and bustle outside, so I decided to take a look. There was everything from local police officers to Emergency Response Teams (ERT) out there. I told the man that he should consider giving up because he was really out-numbered, but when he pointed his gun at me, I quickly shut up.
The church phone rang, but the man wouldn't answer it. After a long, eerie silence, my cell phone rang. After getting no objections from the man, I answered it. It was Commander Rabb. He told me that he was right outside and wanted me to go to the window in the front door. I explained that to the man and cautiously followed the Commander's instructions. Once Harm saw that I was all right, he told me to put the man on the phone. He didn't appear to be in the mood to talk. Harm resorted to speaking loud enough for him to hear him without the phone. Though he wasn't able to get a name out of him yet, we did learn that he was a Navy SEAL. Harm was able to get himself inside to speak with the man face to face. The SEAL started talking about what "he had to do" because "they were shooting". The Commander mentioned something about a store being robbed. After a short time of trying to get him to talk, Harm got a name out of him: Bauwer.
Soon Harm got a call from Major MacKenzie. He then told me that we should both leave because I had to study for my final, or at least that is what he said for Bauwer's benefit. It wasn't until I was safely outside with the ERT guys that I noticed Commander Rabb wasn't with me. He was still inside with Bauwer! Suddenly I realized that he had traded places with me so I'd be safe. If he made it out of there alive, I didn't know how I'd repay him. Thank you, Commander.
I don't know what they talked about after I left, but the ERT guys were getting giddy. The Commander needed to do something soon. Suddenly, I heard a shot and nearly had a heart attack! I thought Bauwer had shot Harm, but I soon realized that the ERT guys had shot Bauwer instead. He was quickly taken to the hospital. The situation didn't end in the way everyone would have liked, but Harm was safe, and hopefully, Bauwer would be, too.
~*~*~*~*~*
It was the day after the hostage situation with Chief Petty Officer Paul Bauwer when Admiral Chegwidden called Harm, Mac, and me into his office. I told the Commander that if the Admiral was assigning blame, I should take the heat since it was sort of my fault that he and Mac were involved since I called Harm in to help. He said that I was a braver man than he was.
I was surprised when the Admiral congratulated us for doing the right thing, protecting a SEAL. He then assigned Harm and Mac as Bauwer's defense counsel since Commander Rabb believed that he was trying to prevent the store from being robbed the day before and hadn't killed the three boys out of insanity or something to that effect. I mentioned that he was sort of a loose cannon, but the Admiral just replied by saying his attorneys were, too.
~*~*~*~*~*
After reviewing the videotapes from the store that was robbed, Commander Rabb found that there was someone playing video games only moments before the robbery. We had a witness; now we had to find him or her or, rather, I did. After making a few phone calls and coming up with nothing, I had a desperate idea. It paid off. I went to my friend
Rodney (an electronics expert) to see if he could enhance the logo on the baseball cap the witness was wearing, but it was nothing but a blur. After a little more enhancing and manipulation, we were able to pull a reflected image off of one of the store's menu boards: Madison Junior High School Patriots.
Harm soon found that the witness was in fact Chief Bauwer's son, who he had left at birth. His son, Marty, had never known his real father, and Bauwer didn't want him to found out because he feared that he wouldn't react well. After Harm promised that Marty wouldn't hear any of this from him or the people in court, Bauwer gave the go-ahead for Commander Rabb to put Marty on the stand. Harm gave a good argument that the Chief was only trying to protect his son because he feared the robbers would hurt him. I pushed through the crowd outside the courtroom doors in time to see the Commander throw his hands up in triumph. Not guilty!
Later, Harm told me that he was able to get Bauwer a job at a parachuting school. I hope he can get his life together... and maybe even introduce himself to his son one day.
~*~*~*~*~*
Disclaimer: While based on the JAG episode, this is for entertainment purposes only and no profit is being made.