Title: Trouble in Paradise

Author:FitzG

Summary: Harm invites Mac to spend a week sailing in the Bahamas to make up for the gunshot wound she received from the poachers when they went flying. Unfortunately not everything goes as Harm plans.

Spoilers: References to first season episode Deja Vu and second season episodes We the People, Full Engagement, The Game of Go, Code Blue and Rendezvous. Takes place between the second season finale Rendezvous and the third season opener Ghost Ship.

Disclaimer: JAG characters are the property of Bellisarius Productions.

A/N: I believe that Harm and Mac probably fell in love with each other almost the moment they met but it wasn't until Full Engagement that they truly began to realize their feelings. This story is a "what if" story in which Harm decides to pursue something more than friendship with Mac. Harm hasn't gotten seriously involved with Annie Pendry and Mac has not yet met Dalton Lowne.

Prologue:

1800 EST

Harm's apartment

North of Union Station Washington, DC

The apartment was quiet except for the sounds of Harm singing and gently strumming a simple tune on his guitar. He was actually playing and singing "Desparado" by the Eagles. At first he didn't know why he chose that song but as he played and sang he realized the words could have described him and his life. Until the past tow years he had been living his life looking for freedom and the need for excitement and adventure. Lately however he began to feel as if his life was missing something.

That something was love. He longed to have a woman in his life, and not just for a few dates, a stolen weekend or a one-night stand. He wanted a long-term relationship with the possibility of a future that might include marriage and children. He admitted to himself that his cocky fighter-jock lifestyle no longer meant as much to him. While he no longer flew Tomcats he had found excitement and action in and out of the courtroom as a JAG lawyer, but somehow that wasn't enough.

Even though Harm finished singing the final verse to the song he continued to play, repeating the tune several times while he continued his thoughts about what his life was like and what he wanted. He tried to decide what had caused him to change his priorities.

First of all there was the death of his friend and former squadron mate Luke Pendry. Luke was killed in a training accident when a new autopilot unit failed. Luke left behind a widow, Annie and a son Josh. While Harm thought about how hard it was for Annie and Josh to be without their husband and father he also thought about the fact that although Luke was gone he had a family that loved and remembered him. Although Harm was no longer a navy pilot some of his investigations had taken him and his partners into danger. Harm began to see that if he was killed only his mom and step-dad would be left to mourn and remember him. Harm didn't want to think about that. He wanted to leave more behind.

Second there was the murder of his academy sweetheart, Diane Schonke. Following Luke's death Harm began to consider more and more the need for a loving long-term relationship. He always cared deeply for Diane and they kept in tough following their time at the academy. Diane was there for him following his ramp-strike. She helped him decide to enter law school and pursue a career in the JAG corps. Harm decided to spend more time with Diane when they were able. He and Diane planned to spend a weekend together when her ship the USS Seahawk was in port. They planned to discuss the possibility of a future together. Unfortunately Diane was murdered before they had a chance to talk.

Harm was devastated by her murder. A woman he believed he loved and wanted a future with was taken away from his life before he could explore a deeper relationship with her. He began to doubt if he would ever have the kind of love he wanted in his life. His father went MIA in Vietnam in 1969. A young Cambodian girl was killed when he went searching for his father at the age of sixteen. Her name was Gym and she was probably the first girl he loved. Then Diane was taken from him.

Harm didn't think he could ever have love because those he loved and cared for the most either died or were lost to him. He didn't think he could ever love again. Then he met someone unexpected, marine Major Sarah 'Mac' MacKenzie.

Harm was stunned when Admiral Chegwidden introduced her to him in the White House rose garden. She was the spitting image of Diane. One look into her soft brown eyes and Harm was smitten. At first it was mostly because she so resembled Diane. However as he began to get to know her on their first case together he stopped seeing her as Diane and instead saw Mac. She was a tough no-nonsense marine who wouldn't put up with his arrogant behavior and flyboy ego.

She didn't trust him at first but somehow he knew he could trust her. Even though she pulled a gun on him, supposed to turn him over to her uncle as her prisoner, he believed she hadn't betrayed him. Mostly that belief was brought on by the fact that she was willing to confide in him that Colonel O'Hara was her uncle and what he meant to her. She shared with him the story of how her uncle helped her dry out from her alcoholism and helped her get into college and join the marines. She didn't have to share such personal information with someone she just met, but the fact that she did gave Harm the confidence that he could trust her.

As Harm and Mac continued to work together after her transfer to JAG headquarters the got to know each other better and became good friends, best friends in fact. They shared things with each other they never told anyone else. Although they had some disagreements, especially on cases where they opposed each other in court they each knew the other cared for them.

Harm began to realize he greatly treasured Mac's friendship. Recently however he began to want more than her friendship. Harm thought back to their adventure in the mountains the day he took Mac flying. Mac was shot by poachers after they were forced to land due to fuel line damage. In addition Mac forced to kill one of the poachers and the resulting stress of her wound and the death she witnessed caused Mac to breakdown. She shared with Harm how the poacher's death brought back memories of the death of her friend Eddie. Mac let down her guard with Harm and shared a part of her past before she became a marine. For one night she wasn't 'Mac' the marine. She was Sarah MacKenzie, a vulnerable woman who's troubled childhood and youth still affected her as an adult.

It was then that Harm began to fall in love with Sarah MacKenzie. Despite the stress and the pain that she felt she got through the harrowing situation. Harm also suspected that Mac began to have similar feelings for him. She seemed almost jealous when he told her that his plane was named 'Sarah' after another Sarah he loved. She wanted to know what happened to the other Sarah in Harm's life. It seemed as if Mac thought she was dead. When Harm told her that she was still alive she asked him if he still loved her. When Harm told her he did Mac was pleasantly surprised that he revealed that 'Sarah' was in fact his grandmother.

On reflection Harm realized that Mac thought that the 'Sarah' Harm named the plane for was her dead look-alike. She seemed concerned that perhaps Harm only thought of her as the ghost of a dead woman. Of course Harm never mentioned his suspicions to Mac. Harm hoped his suspicions were correct because he knew he was falling for Sarah MacKenzie. He hoped she returned his feelings. When he stayed by her bedside at the hospital following her treatment for the gunshot wound he knew his life would never be the same without Sarah MacKenzie in it.

Harm knew he had fallen even more in love with her following their recent court case. Harm had prosecuted and convicted Chief Petty Officer Holst for murder and Mac had defended. Holst was an abusive alcoholic who killed and ensign that he found his with his wife at the beach. The case had been hard on Mac. She had to defend and abusive, manipulative alcoholic man who reminder he too much of her father and the mental and physical abuse he put her and her mother through. Holst used the same kind of tactics on her that her father had used on both her and her mother. Although Mac wanted to see the man punished for the abuse he inflicted on his wife she was able to defend him completely on the murder charge. Only the discovery of some satellite photos by Harm placing the chief's car at the scene of the crime allowed Harm to convince his wife to change her testimony and bring about a conviction.

Harm was proud of Mac and her the strength she showed overcoming her demons in the case. She called on her inner strength and the qualities that made her a good marine to provide a strong defense. When she congratulated Harm on his victory she said he had one the battle. Harm told her he may have won the battle but she had won the war, the war with her own demons surrounding her father. Harm knew he couldn't find a more incredible woman anywhere than Sarah MacKenzie. She was beautiful, strong and tough and at the same time gentle and vulnerable. How could he fail to love her.

All these thoughts went through Harm's mind as he continued to strum his guitar, moving from one tune to another. Harm decided right then that he was going to pursue a something more than friendship with Mac, but he was concerned about the outcome of his efforts. He didn't want to lose Mac as a friend if things didn't work out. At the same time there could be complications because he and Mac worked together at JAG. Since they were held equivalent ranks the navy regs didn't prevent them from having a romantic relationship, however it was sometimes frowned upon. The admiral had almost ordered them to not get too close, but the more Harm thought about Mac and his feelings for her the more he decided that the chance to get closer to her was worth any risk. He knew he didn't want to lose a chance to share his feelings with Mac. He wanter her to know how he really felt about her. If anything bad happened to either one of them on their investigations he might never have the chance to tell her he was in love with her. If he and Mac became romantically involved they could resolve work related issues when they came up.

Now however Harm needed to decide what to do to further his relationship with Mac. He finished the tune he was currently playing and placed the guitar back in its case in the corner next to his desk. He then crossed over to the kitchen and removed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. Opening it and taking a swig he thought about what to do next. He thought back about how Mac was shot when they went flying. Harm thought he owed her a more peaceful and enjoyable outing to make up for the pain she went through, both physical and mental. He could take her flying again but thought it was probably too soon for that. Maybe sailing would be a better activity and there was likely to be less danger involved.

Harm's mom and step-dad owned a vacation home and sailboat in the Bahamas. Harm learned how to sail on this boat and he truly enjoyed sailing. In fact he almost enjoyed it as much as flying in 'Sarah' That was it, some sun and sailing in the Bahamas was just what Mac could use. Harm decided he would invite her for a week in the Bahamas. They could stay it his parents vacation home, do some sailing and snorkeling, spend time on the beach and take in some of the local sites and activities.

First though they would need to time off from work. Harm decided he would ask Admiral Chegwidden for time off for both him and Mac. He couldn't ask right away as both he and Mac still had some cases that needed completed as well as some case files and reports that needed completed. perhaps in a few weeks they could get time off.

In the mean time Harm decided he would ask Mac to spend more time with him. They had started running together on weekends and Harm wanted to continue spending time with her that way. In fact they had gone running that morning followed by a breakfast at Harm's apartment that he prepared. Harm decided to offer to cook for her at least once a week and to invite her out for an evening or two of dining and dancing. In fact Harm had heard of a new dinosaur exhibit opening at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. There was to be a be a grand opening in a couple of weeks with formal dancing and dining. Mac had a great interest in dinosaurs and paleontology and she loved to dance. Harm decided he would do everything he could to get tickets to the event. He would call in any favors he could and then he would invite Mac to attend with him.

Yes, he would start out by doing these kinds of things to spend more time with Mac. Once things settled down more at work and he and Mac had spent more time together outside of JAG he would ask the admiral if they could both have a week off together. Then he would invite Mac to for a week at his parents vacation home in the Bahamas. Harm only hoped that Mac was receptive to his plans.

After a light dinner of pasta salad Harm prepared for bed. Once he lay down on his bed he quickly succumbed to sleep. His thoughts and dreams of one Sarah MacKenzie and how he would do everything he could to bring her further in to his life.