Title: Taking a Chance
Author: Tempus Meum
Rating:
Disclaimer: The characters and premise used in this story are unfortunately not owned by me. If JAG was mine…the possibilities.
Summary: Mic has moved out of Mac's apartment, and her first thought is to go to Harm.
Opening the door, Harm found a dejected looking Sarah MacKenzie on the other side, leaning against the door frame.
"Welcome back." Her eyes rose from the floor to meet his.
"Wow, you look miserable..." Mac rolled her eyes, "Come on in!"
"Maybe not!" She really didn't want to leave, but wasn't entirely sure that she should stay.
"Mac, come on in!"
Her hesitation gone, she stepped inside, her words immediately explaining her mood.
"He moved out."
"He did…why?" Taking his time closing the door, he tried not to sound surprised.
"I don't think he believes I love him." She replied turning around to face him.
"Do you?" Closing the door he limped towards her.
"Yes!" She tried to make her reply sound convincing.
"Well…tell him." As Harm limped closer Mac looked to the floor.
"It's complicated!"
"Talk to me." Harm's eyes never left hers as she hesitated and shook her head.
"This is a mistake; I don't know why I'm here." Before she could finish the phone on the coffee table started to ring.
"Hang on…hang on…alright?" Harm turned to answer the phone but not before signaling to Mac that he wanted her to wait, when she nodded and turned to sit down he picked up the receiver.
"Hello!" Harm answered the phone. Covering the received he quickly whispered, "It's Mic!" Then uncovering the phone he spoke, "What can I do for you Brumby?" In the mean time Mac was signaling to herself and shaking her head, indicating to Harm that she wanted him to tell Mic that she wasn't there.
…
"No, I'm sorry she's not here, should I be expecting her?"
…
"Oh…I'm sorry to here that."
…
"Yes Brumby, I am sorry because I could see how happy Mac was with you and I do not enjoy seeing her hurting." Throughout the conversation Harm was staring straight at Mac whether or not she was looking at him.
…
"Mac is my best friend and whether or not she marries you, will not change that."
…
"If you couldn't handle that Brumby you should have worked it out a long time ago."
…
"What…did you honestly think that after you got married, Mac would follow you back to Australia no questions asked?"
…
"She may well love you but she isn't going to leave her family and friends."
…
"No family? Have you had this conversation with her?"
…
"Well if you did she would probably tell you that, Bud, Harriet, little AJ, the Admiral, they are all family."
…
"Yes…and me too!"
…
"You don't work with people for five years and feel nothing for them. I see them as my family too!"
…
"Well…you didn't see it Brumby because you didn't want to."
…
"Look…what goes on between you and Mac has nothing to do with me, it sounds like you should be having this conversation with her?"
…
"How's that Brumby?" Harm's eyes were focused on Mac's, like he was searching her soul, she couldn't look away.
…
"If you have always believed that then why did you ever think that she would marry you?"
…
"Well if I see her I will tell her you called." Harm slammed the phone down and walked into the kitchen.
"Harm? Harm what did he say?" Mac had followed him and was now leaning against the bench across from him.
"Well…the general gist of it was that he cannot handle us being friends and that if you and him are to get married he plans on taking you back to Australia so he doesn't have to worry about us getting…too close."
Mac's eyes grew wide. "He said that?"
"Well…pretty much."
Mac turned and headed back to the couch where she sat down and placed her head in her hands, "I thought he was the one Harm…the one who could give me what I wanted…how could I have been so wrong?"
"Don't be so hard on yourself Mac, it could have been worse." Harm replied as he sat down next to her.
"I don't know why I didn't listen to you, you never liked him."
"You needed to come to your own conclusions about him. I know I tried to turn you off for a while, but in the end I accepted the person that you are, you knew what would make you happy and if it happened to be him, so be it. I realised that as your best friend it was my duty to stand by you and support you in whatever decision you made."
"Even if you thought it was the wrong one?"
"It made you happy, so I had to be happy for you."
"Oh…and now…you don't feel like telling me I told you so."
"I'll still be here for you in whatever decision you make."
"I need to call him." Pulling her phone out of her pocket she turned it on and almost immediately it beeped indicating that she had a missed call. "Mic!"
"I'll go into the bedroom, to…
"No…stay…please?" Harm nodded as she punched in his number.
"Hi Mic…it's me."
…
"What…I just turned my phone back on."
…
"Mic?"
…
"Mic…just listen to me alright…I want to say something and it would be so much easier if you didn't interrupt."
…
"Thankyou…we've known each other for only a few months. Saying it out loud makes me realise how little time it actually is. When you proposed to me, I thought that even though we didn't know each other that well, and that even though I didn't truly love you, we would get to know each other and through that I would learn to love you. We haven't spent very much time together lately and even though I think I know you a lot better now than I did before…I do not know you half as well as I should were we to get married."
…
"Please…let me finish."
…
"I love you Mic, I truly do…but I don't think I can ever love you the way that I should, if I am to spend the rest of my life with you." Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she spoke, and she was trying her hardest not to let it come through in her voice. "I think it would be best, if we went our separate ways, there is someone out there for you, who will love you in a way that I…never could, she will make you happy. I hope we can keep in touch, a letter every so often just to let me know how you are."
…
"Goodbye Mic!"
…
"Bye!" Mac put the phone down and let out a sigh.
"He's going back to Australia." They sat there for a long time, side by side and in silence. It was Mac that finally spoke.
"It broke my heart to say those things to him."
"But you told him the truth?"
"Yeah…I had to tell him the truth."
"Are you going to be okay?"
"Umm…yeah…I think I will." Mac lifted up her left hand and looked at the engagement ring. "I'm going to miss this." She carefully slipped it off her finger and placed it on the table next to the phone. "It made me feel…wanted…"
"Don't think for a second that there aren't people who love you and care for you Mac."
"I know there is Harm, but I thought Mic was going to be able to give me what I've always wanted. I'm getting older and it isn't always going to be easy for me to have children."
"Hey…stop talking like that, you'll get your family Mac, I promise you!"
"How can you make a promise like that?" Mac sat back with her head on the back of the couch and closed her eyes.
"Because…because…I…"
"Harm?" She sat up again and turned her body to face him.
"I…know this really is extremely bad timing…so you don't have to reply if you don't want to…but…if I don't say this now…I'm afraid I never will. Getting thrown around in the ocean, nearly drowning…and a little advice from a friend…has made me take a second look at my life…at the choices I've made…and the people in my life. I've held onto things…and I've let things go…one of those things is…you." His eyes were locked on hers.
"What are you saying?"
"I…the way I…ever since Sydney…I know you've just…Mic…and I understand if…you don't feel the same way…but…"
"Harm please…"
"I love you Mac…I have since…since you pulled me into the helicopter over Red Rock. I can't hide it anymore…and I don't want to…I need you to know." He breathed a heavy sigh of relief, finally free of the weight he had been carrying on his chest. He didn't look at her expecting her to reply, she didn't have to, he could wait.
She seemed to sense that, but the tears continued to flow down her cheeks. Slowly raising a hand to her cheek, he brushed the tears away. She leaned into his palm, bringing her own hand up to cover his.
"Hey…come here!" She willingly allowed him to pull her against his chest and envelop her in his arms.
"I don't know what I'd do without you Harm!" She whispered into his shoulder.
"Same here!"
The rain beating down outside and the slight chill in the air went unnoticed, the warmth of their entwined bodies, providing all the heat that they needed.