God, it had been a long Monday.

Mac rolled her shoulders to try and release some of the tension as she pushed open her apartment door. She crossed the threshold, closing the door quietly behind her. She took a deep breath. She left the lights off for a moment, to enjoy the peace.

And then unexpectedly she felt a great big grin come across her face. She was free! She would be on a plane to Vancouver in the morning, and then when the conference was over, a long weekend of vacation. She would be away from the office for a whole week!

Mac hadn't been on vacation for ages, and she was REALLY looking forward to a break. No cases. No e-mail. She wasn't even planning on answering her cell phone. And she was definitely looking forward to a break from the awful tension and daily frustrating difficulties with one certain Commander.

The thought of him wiped the grin off of her face instantly. As usual when thinking about Harm, she wanted to pout, to cry, to hit something...

She sighed, wishing so hard that things were different. She loved him. She knew that. And maybe he loved her back, and maybe he didn't. But somehow they just kept hurting each other.

Why couldn't they work it out like adults?

Wow, she thought, coming back to herself...I think I was happy and relaxed for almost three seconds, there. Whoa, Sarah. She rolled her eyes at herself. Don't have too much fun all at once.

She shook her head as if that would help her get rid of the image of him, laughing at her drama, staring at her in that cocky way of his...and that uniform...

She screwed her face up in frustration. Damn that arrogant, gorgeous, confusing man. Damn him to hell. 7, no, 8 years and we still can't figure this out?

She sighed again, and tried to push him out of her thoughts. Dinner. Let's concentrate on dinner. There was hamburger in the fridge that she could -

That was when the crowbar hit her in the back of the head.

Mac was knocked prone. The blow should have knocked her out, but she was a marine - and her attacker had been sloppy and maybe not quite hit her as solidly as he could. So she had a shred of consciousness to cling to, and cling she did. Her adrenaline roared in her ears even as she felt hot, wet blood coursing over her face.

Then they were on top of her. There were two of them - two shadowy figures pinning her down, bashing her in the face and ribs and chest and stomach and...everywhere. Instantly, without thinking, she drew on all of her training. Fought her way on to her back. Got her feet up. Hooked a neck. Managed to flip one of the men over her head, throwing him against the wall.

But that was her only victory. The other man held her tight, and the blows kept coming.

Mac's head was spinning. It had only been a few seconds but they had beat her soundly. Her ribs were broken, and maybe her nose. Her attackers outweighed her by a factor if two.

Soon she was pinned against the floor, gasping against large, heavy hands on her throat, her hair sticky with her own blood. A man had his face in hers and his breath stank. It was too dark in her apartment to see his face. He twisted her hand back to an impossible angle and she felt a bone snap. She had no air to scream in pain.

Was this it, then? Was she going to die in her own living room, helplessly jumped like an extra in a horror film? This wasn't how I wanted to go, she thought stupidly. Where's my Butch Cassidy?

Oh, Harm, she thought, I'm so sorry...

Unexpectedly she felt a mouth pressed to her ear. His spit smeared with her blood. A voice hissed, "This is payback, bitch. And your pilot friend is next."

Harm was next.

Oh god, she thought. No! Not Harm. Not Harm! I have to get free. I have to warn him! She renewed her struggles with a desperation that she hadn't found before when fighting only for her own life. But her head was so heavy, and her arms were so tired, and the men were so strong...

Something hard hit her in the temple - and she spun into the dark.