Get your own Free Home Page Disclaimer: JAG and its characters are the property of Belisarius Productions and Paramount. This story is not meant to infringe upon the trademarks or copyrights of Belisarius Productions or Paramount.
Please do not post or distribute this story without the author's permission.
******
Notes:
(1) I had to change the times some of the events aboard the Watertown occurred in order for times in the rest of the story to fit in. Also, for the purposes of this story, the fifteen days that Harm and Mac were to be on board the Watertown occurred during their investigation and they left the submarine shortly after the incident with Hodge. (2) I have been somewhat unfair to the character of Jordan Parker as far as how I have depicted her in this story, but...well...she was in the way!
******
2425 ZULU
AUXILLIARY ENGINE ROOM
USS WATERTOWN
The encompassing darkness was held at bay when the rush of life-giving air reached her lungs. Mac gasped with the effort of drawing in more of the precious oxygen. She felt herself lifted up from the cold deck and though the ammonia still rendered her sightless, she knew instinctively that the arms holding her securely were those of her partner. She didn't need to see to know that she rested in Harm's embrace. She knew the feel of him, the very essence of him.
She reached up and found his cheek with her palm and savoured the touch, the feeling of him being warm and solid and with her. When she had felt him lying motionless on the deck after Hodge's attack and had felt the blood that left her fingers moist when she touched him she had feared the worst. When Hodge's hold on her had become too much and the blackness was invading her mind, her last thoughts had been of Harm and of how much they had missed out on.
Emotion swelled within her as she realized that he was okay, that they were both all right. As her shaking hand caressed him she felt his breath upon her own cheek and his lips alight gently on her face and then again at the corner of her mouth.
It seemed only natural, only right that she should turn her head a fraction so that his lips met her own. She felt his mouth brush against hers and then he drew back, hesitated, but only for a second and then he was pressing his lips firmly to hers.
He had kissed her once before, on the dock at Norfolk. She had come out of the mists looking for all the world like the ghost of Diane Schonke, Harm's former lover whose death had just been avenged that night. When he had kissed her then the gesture had a touch a finality to it, a measure of closure, and Mac had known he was not kissing her but was instead kissing Diane and finally laying her ghost to rest.
This was not anything like that goodbye kiss. This kiss was...charged. Harm's mouth explored hers with a craving and an unmistakable passion. She answered him with equal enthusiasm as feelings that had been pent up inside of her bubbled over at their meeting.
When she sensed she was struggling for breath once more, though this time due to ardor rather than malevolence, she felt Harm break the kiss. He pulled her tightly against him so that her heaving chest rested against his own which she could feel was suffering from the same exertion. She rested her head on his shoulder and relaxed in his embrace as his fingertips traced slowly up and down her spine. For a moment she worried that his laboured breathing had to do with the injury to his larynx until she heard her own echo of his harshly drawn breaths.
Harm relaxed his hold on her when their breathing had steadied and drew away from her slightly. She could not see that he gazed at her with a look of won der in his expression. She did hear him try to speak but his wounded throat would allow for nothing more than a raspy croak.
"Shh...it's okay," Mac whispered. "Don't try to talk." She reached her hand up slowly until it came in contact with his face, and then trailed her fingers along until they found his mouth. She rested her index finger overtop of his lips to further silence him.
He grasped her finger with his hand to remove it from his mouth and placed a kiss in the centre of her palm. Then he replaced her hand on his face.
"I guess we know now how to stop fighting with each other," she said teasingly, her voice still low. She felt Harm's mouth quirk upwards in a smile and she offered him one of her own.
"Harm, what just happened here is something..." Mac began, but was interrupted by the sound of a door opening. She hastily dropped her hands into her lap and turned toward the noise. She felt Harm's arms relax around her but his hands remained at her waist to hold on to her lightly, which comforted her amid in the darkness still surrounding her.
The voice of a crewman coming to investigate the venting of the steam valve came though the doorway. In the flurry of activity which accompanied his discovery of the injured JAG officers and the incapacitated master corpsman, Mac didn't have a chance to finish telling Harm that what had passed between them was something she'd wanted to happen for a long time.
******
There were no further chances for the two to be alone before they left the Watertown. After the rush of a sketchy explanation to the crewman and a not much lengthier one to the skipper, a medic was called in to flush out Mac's eyes and do what could be done within the limits of the sub's sickbay for Harm's throat injury. Once her eyes had been properly attended to Mac first saw blurred images but over the course of a couple of hours regained her sight fully, though her eyes still burned and watered from the harshness of the ammonia.
The first image Mac saw with any clarity was actually the skipper, since she happened to be sitting across his desk from him giving a more detailed report on the events that had transpired with Hodge. Harm was present too and was providing what information he could with the help of a notepad. While Eustis's PDA had certainly saved the day and had likely saved both of their lives, an old fashioned scratch pad was a quicker method for Harm to present his report to the skipper.
When Mac's vision was suddenly restored to her and she could see the skipper distinctly in front of her, she blinked once and then immediately turned to her right, turned to Harm. While she had felt his presence throughout their entire ordeal and its aftermath, to finally see him again was wonderful. She felt that odd but familiar flutter in her chest and couldn't help but smile at him. His eyes were searching hers and she swore her own feelings were mirrored in their depths. Mac reached up to brush away a hint of moisture that was accumulating in her eye. The ammonia must still be irritating it. That must be it.
"Major...?" the skipper asked questioningly when it was apparent that she had paused in her report. "Is everything okay?"
Mac's attention whipped back to the skipper. "Sorry, sir," she said. "Everything's fine. My eyes just cleared up."
"Good, Major. Relieved to hear your little tour on the Watertown won't leave any lasting effects on you."
Mac offered him a polite smile. There was no way the skipper could know just how much of an effect particular experiences aboard the Watertown were having on her.
Their meeting with the skipper drew to a quick close when notification came that a helo was en route and would arrive within the hour. Mac was startled to realize that she had finally become accustomed enough to the movements of the submarine that she had not even noticed they had been resurfacing for the past fifteen minutes. After wrapping up their briefing with the skipper Harm and Mac were rushed to pack up the few belongings they had brought with them and prepare for pickup.
******
1000 ZULU
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA
Mac surveyed the view out the window of the infirmary. It looked frigid and bleak in the darkness outside. The landscape reflected her mood.
She hadn't really expected that she and Harm would have a chance to talk during the helo ride to the base. Not when they were sharing the ride with the pilots, Hodge and the guards sent for Hodge. But she hadn't expected Harm to act quite so withdrawn, either. He had sat staring out the window at the unending vista of sea and snow for the duration of the lengthy ride. As the monotonous scenery had nothing to recommend it, at one point she had nudged him, whispering to ask him if something was wrong.
"I'm fine, Mac," he had croaked back at her, his voice still raspy as he forced the words past his injured throat. Granted, it was still difficult for him to talk, but instead of reassuring her with a smile or a quick touch he had turned back to gaze stoically outside once again.
It had hit Mac then in a realization that had chilled her as much as a sortie out into the tundra below would have. Harm was regretful of what had happened between them on the Watertown. It was Norfolk all over again. He hadn't taken her into his arms and kissed her as a result of shared feelings and a mutual desire. That brief interlude had been as a result of shock and strain and the denouement of a traumatic situation.
Her sudden comprehension that her foolish hopes and dreams had in fact not become reality had left her feeling almost physically ill. She'd felt as though someone had just hollowed her out inside and she had worried her lower lip with her teeth in order to hold back the cry of dismay and anguish that had threatened her composure. Leaning her head against the bulkhead of the helo she had turned slightly away from Harm in order to regard the scenery out the opposite window.
When they'd arrived at Elmendorf they'd been seen by separate doctors in the infirmary. The physician who had examined her eyes had pronounced no permanent damage had been done by the ammonia. She was released from infirmary and asked to report to HQ where she would be assigned quarters for the night until transport was available to take her and Harm to Washington.
She wanted to see Harm first before she did anything else and somehow make right any strain to their relationship that she'd caused. It was her fault, after all. She'd instigated that kiss. Harm had been relieved to see that she was all right, just as he would have been had she been any other colleague of his. The kiss had been precipitated by a stressful situation and the seemingly tender look he had shared with her in the skipper's office had been a result of the increased adrenaline that had still been pumping through their veins.
Mac sighed as she watched the snow outside fall gently to the ground. She leaned her forehead against the cool windowpane and her breath created a small circle of fog on the glass. Everything outside was so quiet and peaceful, yet inside of her head and her heart chaos reigned. She needed to set things right with Harm so that their comfortable working relationship would not be affected by what had passed between them. It had just been a simple kiss, really. Nothing either of them needed to give much thought to. They had been reacting to a frightening, traumatic situation and had each gone a little bit too far in expressing their relief that the other was okay.
It had just been a simple kiss. So why had it felt to her to be so much more?
'Suck it up, Marine,' Mac thought as she backed away from the window. Harm probably hadn't even given it much more thought, but it was still proper for her to make certain he understood that she wasn't reading anything more into it than he had. He'd probably make some wildly flirtatious remark in jest and they'd both laugh the incident off.
And while deep down she couldn't completely lie to herself, in this situation she was more than comfortable in lying to him.
******
She arrived at the door to the exam room he occupied just as the doctor was coming out. He waved her into the room as he walked by. Harm was just getting up off of the bed where the doctor had been treating him.
"So are you going to be back to your argumentative self in no time?" Mac said by way of greeting. "Professionally speaking, of course," she added with a grin.
Harm shot her a dour, but not particularly serious, look. "He said I should rest my voice for about a week but after than I should be fine." His words still came out weakly, though he didn't seem quite as discomforted when trying to speak as he had when his voice first returned before they left the Watertown.
"Well, I came to talk to you but you don't need to respond. You can just listen."
"Mac, I want to talk to you, too."
"No really, Harm, you don't have to say anything." Mac shook her head at him. "Besides," she added, smiling, "how often to I get the chance to tell you to just sit there and shut up?"
Harm frowned at her and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He kept his mouth closed but his entire demeanor cried out, 'I'm waiting!'
Mac hoped he didn't notice her taking a deep breath to steel herself for what she had to say.
"I just wanted to reassure you that I know what happened on the Watertown, what happened between us, was just-"
"Mac..." Harm interrupted, his voice like gravel.
"I thought I told you to be quiet," she admonished. "Now let me finish." She waved a hand at him as if to silence him with the gesture.
Harm caught her by the wrist and held her loosely. "Before you start talking about what happened between us I think you should listen to what I have to say about it."
"That's not necessary," she said adamantly, pulling her wrist from his grip. "I simply wanted to tell you-"
"Excuse me, Commander, Major," a new voice said as the door to the room suddenly burst open. The lieutenant from operations who had met them when their helo landed strode through the door. "We've just found out there's a bit more room on that transport heading to Andrews tonight. But they're just about ready to take off so we have to run if you want the ride."
Mac glanced back at Harm in exasperation. Why was she having such a difficult time trying to provide him with a simple explanation? Harm shrugged in response to her expression and then handed her pack to her as they went racing after the lieutenant.
******
The aircraft began taxiing down the runway as soon as the door had been sealed behind them and Mac fell into the first vacant seat she saw at the front of the plane. Harm had to locate a seat further down the aisle. Although the aircraft was a cargo conversion and therefore didn't accommodate many passengers, he was still seated too far away from her to give her any hope of conversing with him during the flight.
Mac sighed as she fastened her seatbelt.
"You just made it!" A voice from the seat beside her gushed as the plane cleared the ground.
Mac turned to look at her seating companion, a pretty young woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties.
"I'm Ellie Jones," the woman offered. "My husband was transferred to Washington three weeks ago and I'm just going to join him now. His transfer came in quicker than we expected so I had to stay at Elmendorf and get us all packed up. I'm so happy to be moving to Washington. Where are you from, Ms...?"
"Major Sarah MacKenzie," Mac offered with a weak smile at the woman. "I'm with the JAG corps in Falls Church."
"Oh!" Ellie's eyes widened. "So then you know Washington, don't you?" she exclaimed, continuing with her animated chatter. Mac secretly thought that the woman was far too bubbly for that time of night. "Oh, that's so great! I'm so lucky to have you on this flight with me! You can tell me all about Washington. Tell me everything! I'm so eager to hear all about the city."
******
Telling Ellie all about the city consisted mostly of Ellie telling her life story in between her questions about the shopping centres and specialty stores in the DC area. She finally ran out of steam a couple of hours into the flight and fell asleep, much to Mac's relief. She had a lot more on her mind than how best to maximize the use of one's credit card in the nation's capital.
She decided to check on Harm. Maybe his seatmate would be willing to change seats with her, now that Ellie was out of commission, so she could finally talk to her partner.
Mac made her way along the few rows of seats until she came to Harm's seat at the end. He was fast asleep, despite the fact that he looked no more comfortable with his long body stuffed into an aircraft seat than he had trying to sleep on the Watertown. But he was managing to get some rest, and Mac didn't have the heart to disturb him.
She was getting increasingly frustrated, however. She dropped back into her own seat with a scowl on her face. What was the use?! She was certain now that the moment they had shared on the Watertown had meant nothing to him, and bringing the situation up at this point was only going to make it look like it had meant a great deal more to her. She'd be best to just forget the whole incident had ever happened.
She knew that wasn't a possibility. But she'd gotten damn good at pretending.
Wrapping her jacket around her shoulders Mac tried to relax into her seat. Her skin felt clammy all over. Why were these damn planes always so cold?
She eventually managed to fall into a light and completely unrestful sleep.
******
1710 ZULU
ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE
Mac fished around in her pack for her sunglasses as she waited for Harm to disembark from the plane. The noon sunlight was bright and her eyes were still a bit sensitive. Plus she probably looked like hell after their frenetic schedule of the past twenty-four hours and a driver from the office would be coming to get them. The lieutenant at Elmendorf had assured them he'd notify their office of their travel plans so someone could be sent to meet them.
Looking a lot more refreshed than she felt, Harm joined her on the tarmac. She knew it was irrational and that her mood was suffering from a poor sleep, but it annoyed Mac that he looked so well rested. Especially when she couldn't find her sunglasses.
"Let's go," she said abruptly, hoisting her pack to her shoulder. She began marching away from the aircraft.
"Mac, wait," Harm implored, catching her by the elbow. He moved around her as if to block her path. "We have a couple things we need to talk about. What do you say we pick up your car from the office and then head to my place for breakfast, or lunch, or whatever meal it's time for?"
Mac shook her head at him. "I'm tired, and I just want to go home and sleep. We're not expected at the office today so why don't we just leave our problems with our working relationship at work where they belong? We can talk just as well in your office tomorrow morning."
"I'm not talking about our work relationship!" Harm exclaimed. "I'm talking about that kiss we shared aboard the Watertown. Don't you think that's something we need to talk about?"
"Not really." Mac shrugged. "I know as well as you do that it was something that happened due to shock and a stressful situation." Her gaze left his face to look into the distance behind him and Harm saw a peculiar expression suddenly fall across her features.
"It's simple psychology really, Harm. People faced with trauma will react differently than they would in a calm and rational state of mind. I'm sure Jordan could tell you that. In fact, why don't you ask her?"
"I don't want to talk to Jordan. I want to talk to you!"
"Oh well," Mac said loftily. Her lips formed a tight smile. "Too late, because here she is."
Harm whirled around, his hand still gripping Mac's elbow. Just as he turned he heard his name being called.
"Harm!" Jordan's face was wreathed in a smile as she jogged up to them. She threw herself at him which finally broke the hold he had on Mac. Jordan hugged him enthusiastically.
"Welcome home!" she said in delight, planting a kiss directly on his lips.
"Jordan!" Harm exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
Mac had resumed her search for her sunglasses and therefore did not see the awkwardness in Harm's expression and stance as he greeted the woman he had been seeing. He gripped Jordan by the shoulders and backed a step away from her, literally holding her at arm's length.
"I was checking in with your office to see when you were coming back home, and your Lieutenant Roberts told me you were arriving this afternoon. So I volunteered to come pick you up. And since I didn't have any appointments this afternoon I took the rest of the day off so I can take you home and make you something to eat."
"That's great Jordan, and I really appreciate you coming out here to get us, but there were a few things Mac and I still needed to discuss so we were going to have lunch." Harm found himself having to force a smile for Jordan.
"Oh," Jordan said, her vivacity obviously deflated. "Well, if you have plans..."
"Don't be silly," Mac interjected. "As I've already said, Harm, we can talk tomorrow. You go home with Jordan and let her feed you."
Jordan smiled brightly at Mac and Mac gave her a wan smile in return.
"But Mac's car is at the office. She'd given me a ride there before we left on assignment so I wouldn't have to leave my car at the office while we were gone," Harm protested.
"I know!" Jordan cried. She actually clapped her hands together. "We can give Mac a ride home now and then you can pick her up in the morning. That way you'll have the opportunity to discuss your case on the way to work." She beamed at Harm.
"But-" Harm began.
"That's fine," Mac said firmly. "I just want to get home. So let's go, shall we?"
Jordan smiled and slipped her arm through Harm's, leading the way.
******
The ride to her apartment had seemed unending. Jordan had chattered on incessantly and Harm had offered an occasional comment or reply. Mac had sat quietly in the back seat, staring out the window.
As soon as she arrived home she had dropped her pack by the door, turned off the ringer on her phone, stripped off her clothes and jumped into bed.
She was surprised when she awoke to discover that she had slept well into the evening. Usually her internal clock didn't let her do that, but she supposed her jet lag had something to do with it. She wondered if there was such a thing as sub lag and realized she must have gotten a restful sleep when her mouth turned up in slight amusement at the thought.
Unfortunately, she knew that she had slept so well that she didn't have much hope of falling asleep at a decent hour that night. After a long shower, one that was blissfully hot and forceful and that she could actually turn around in, she made herself a hearty dinner and then settled onto the couch to peruse the evening's primetime offerings on the television.
Two sitcoms and a third of the way into a made-for-tv movie later, Mac realized she was no longer paying attention to anything that was happening on the screen. She grabbed the remote and snapped the set off, staring at the blank screen as animatedly as she had when it was on. Her thoughts had been drifting back to Harm all evening and now they were stuck there.
She was beginning to feel a sense of embarrassment as she recalled all the flirtatious remarks and innuendoes she'd thrown his way. Lighthearted bantering was one thing but she'd crossed the line. Now that it was clear to her that he had never and would never think of her as anything more than a close friend and colleague she was becoming mortified at the thought of some of the things she'd said and done in the past.
Like in Russia. That comment about "what pajamas" and her spending the night in the same room with him in her lacy white slip? What had been wrong with the sweats and t-shirt she had sitting in her suitcase?
And just a few weeks ago, when she had stayed over at his place. Granted, she had been terrified at the thought of what Palmer might do, but offering to "strip it down"? With Harm standing there clad in nothing more than a little pair of white boxers, she had not been talking about the gun.
Mac pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them, as if trying to curl up into a little ball and lose herself in the corner of her sofa. After her instigating the kiss on the Watertown, Harm must realize that all those other moments meant that she did have feelings for him that went deeper than friendship. Since he didn't share those emotions he must be feeling rather awkward about them.
On top of the strain they'd been experiencing in their working relationship and the heartache she'd found upon discovering once and for all that Harm did not care about her in the way she wanted him to, they'd now have to contend with him being aware of her feelings toward him.
Their working relationship they would no doubt be able to sort out. Any awkwardness between them would likely pass with time. But the heartache was something with which Mac knew she'd have to live.
She was startled from her introspection by the sound of a knock at her door. A look of puzzlement crossed her features as she rose from the couch. It was quite late at night to be expecting visitors.
Harm was about the last person she expected to see when she looked through the peephole. She opened the door to let him in.
"Is it 0800 tomorrow already?" she wisecracked, shutting the door behind him.
"I was driving around the neighbourhood and I thought I'd pop in."
"And you usually take drives around my neighbourhood?"
"You weren't answering the phone, Mac. I drove over and saw that your lights were on so I came up."
"Oh yeah," Mac replied, feeling a bit foolish. "I turned the ringer on the phone off earlier. Well, as long as you're here can I offer you something? Tea?"
"Tea's fine," Harm answered. He followed along behind Mac as she moved into the kitchen.
Mac stood with her back to him as she busied herself pulling mugs and teabags from the cupboard. She was a bit unsettled by his appearance. She hoped he wasn't here to give her the "I care about you a lot, but not in that way" speech. Please, she prayed silently. Anything but that.
"So where's Jordan?" Mac asked affably, making small talk.
"I sent Jordan home," Harm replied. "For good."
Mac's hand froze on the tap as she prepared to fill the kettle with water. "What do you mean, 'for good'?" she queried.
"I mean that I told Jordan I can't see her anymore," Harm answered quietly.
"Oh," Mac replied softly. She set the kettle on the counter and plugged it into the electrical outlet, then turned to face Harm. "Well, I'm sorry it didn't work out."
"It's okay. It wasn't meant to be. I didn't feel the same way about her that she did about me. Which is why I needed to come over here to talk to you."
"Harm," Mac protested, holding up a hand. "There really isn't anything we need to talk about. I understand, really."
"You really don't think there's anything we need to talk about?" He had taken a step closer to her and his penetrating gaze loomed down at her.
"No, I don't!" Mac said, exasperated.
"You're sure?" he asked. He was now standing toe to toe with her.
"Yes." Her tone was firm.
"Nothing?" Harm persisted. He was now quite literally looming over her. He had leaned into her so far that she was forced to arch her back over the counter. As he pressed further into her space she was forced to grab two fistfuls of the front of his shirt in order to maintain her balance.
"Nothing!" she cried. She looked at him a bit wild-eyed. She wasn't frightened of him but she did not understand what he was doing invading her personal space to such a degree.
"Good," he pronounced firmly. Still leaning over her he ran his hands into her hair, cradling her head in his palms.
Then for the third time in their lives, he was kissing her.
Unlike the simple kiss at Norfolk, or their frenzied exchange on the Watertown, this kiss was soft and slow and an exploration between them. It curled Mac's toes and seared at her soul. She released her hold on Harm's shirt to wind her arms around his shoulders. She gave herself to the kiss fully and it left no room in her head for her earlier anguish or misgivings.
The sound of the tea kettle's piercing whistle finally broke them apart. Not abruptly though. Harm had disentangled a hand from her hair and pulled the kettle's plug from the wall before his mouth at last left hers.
He straightened up so that they were no longer practically laying across the counter but he didn't move away from her. His arms moved down her back to hold her firmly to him. She gazed up at him in wonder and confusion.
"If you don't think there's anything we need to talk about regarding what happened on the Watertown then you must be ready for a change in our relationship," Harm said softly. "Like I am."
"Like you are?" Mac breathed.
"Yes, silly, stubborn, beautiful woman." Harm reached up to caress her cheek with his thumb and when she turned her head into his palm and her eyelashes fluttered closed he had to pause in his words for a moment just to admire her.
"I obviously couldn't tell you after we kissed," Harm continued when Mac opened her eyes to look at him again, "and you weren't able to see how I was looking at you, but I finally realized my feelings for you then. And recognized yours as well. Couldn't you tell?"
Mac smiled a soft, rueful grin. "I think we had a bit of a breakdown in communication."
"We'll have to work on that."
"I like the form your communication took tonight," Mac said happily. Then, in a more serious tone, "but we still have other issues we need to work out between us. Do you think this is going to help?"
"I'm pretty sure it will aid in facilitating negotiations," he whispered before his mouth found hers again.
Suddenly, Harm broke the kiss. "Mac...aren't you going to close your eyes?"
"No," she replied, those same eyes shining up at him. "I don't want to miss out on anything this time."
******
Promptly at 0700, Mac awoke. Despite the fact that she'd had very few hours of sleep, she felt refreshed and content. She turned to give Harm's shoulder a shake.
"Hey, it's 0700," she called out. "Time to wake up!"
He opened his eyes to stare groggily at her for a moment, then as he evidently realized where he was a slow, sensual smile spread across his face. He moved towards Mac and began blazing a trail of kisses up her collarbone, ending with his chin resting on her shoulder.
"How about we each call the office and say we're tired and we need another day to get over our jet lag? Then we can stay here all day."
"Harm!" Mac admonished. Her look of mock indignation was ruined when she burst into a fit of giggles.
"No?" Harm asked, looking at her beseechingly.
"No." Mac laughed as she swatted his arm playfully. "Now you've got just enough time to get home, shower, get dressed and get back over here to pick me up. You have to give me a ride to the office, remember?"
"Yes ma'am." Harm saluted and gave an exaggerated sigh.
"Hey," she said quietly as he got up. She caught his hand in hers. "Just because I'm kicking you out right now doesn't mean I don't want you back tonight," she told him shyly.
His eyes burned into hers with perfect understanding. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be."
******
1350 ZULU
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA
"Commander, Major, welcome back!" They were greeted by Bud Roberts as soon as they walked into the bullpen. Harriet stood at his side waving a hello.
"Thanks Bud," Harm replied. Mac smiled at the young couple.
"I heard there was a bit of trouble before you left the Watertown and your voice sounds a bit funny, sir. Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine," Harm acknowledged. "Great, in fact." Mac bit back a grin but she couldn't keep the smile out of her eyes.
Harriet seemed to be putting Mac under close scrutiny. She tilted her head with a perplexed look on her face. "Did you change your hair or something, Major?" she asked. "Something about you seems different this morning."
Mac smiled. "No, Harriet. It's just the same old me."
"I'm supposed to tell you both to report to the admiral, ASAP," Bud advised.
Harriet was still staring after them long after they'd entered the door to the admiral's office.
"Something is different, Bud," she told her husband. "I can't put my finger on it, but something is definitely different about them today."
******
The briefing was over but Admiral A.J. Chegwidden had one more item on his agenda.
"I take it that in your time on the Watertown you both found a way to work out the difficulties you were having with each other?"
"Yes, sir," they replied in unison. Then Mac glanced over at Harm and they exchanged a quick smile.
"That's good," the admiral pronounced, "I was getting worried that I might have to send you both to counselling."
"No, sir," Harm declared. "We've been working on our problems."
"As you should. You're colleagues. You're friends. I don't need you bickering like an old married couple."
Harm grinned at the admiral's words, remembering his comment to Mac about how their relationship was "not a marriage". It still wasn't, but it had a lot more in common with one now. Mac evidently recalled the same comment, as from the corner of her eye Harm saw her put her hand to her lips as if to hold back her laughter.
"That will be all then," the admiral said. "Dismissed!"
A.J. shuffled some papers on his desk after the door had closed behind his officers. All was right in his world and he was in a fine mood. If he had noticed Rabb looking at his partner in a way that wasn't really called for in a platonic, working relationship, well, it didn't really bear thinking. If he had observed a certain twinkle in Mac's eyes and a new glow in her expression, well, he could ignore it. He was the JAG, after all, and it was his prerogative to not notice these types of things when they involved his two lead attorneys.
The ship A.J. ran was currently sailing smoothly along and he didn't see any reason at all to take her into choppy waters.
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