TITLE: After All This Time

AUTHOR: Vid Z.

PAIRING: Harm/Mac UST, Harm/Meg

TIMELINE: AU elements from People vs Mac onward, total AU from Goodbyes onward

DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc of the TV show JAG are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this fic. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

WARNINGS: Mac is not evil in this fic, actually quite nice (yes, I can write that too...), but in this AU Mac's perjury had been handled realistically and professionally and the court had not allowed it to be swept under the rug by her CO who had the hots for her. I have not crucified her, but have also not let her get away with murder, so expect her to carry consequences for her actions, something she never did on the show. For anything she did after joining up.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: is it true what I hear about DPB having problems with NCIS? Have heard about him being fired, but since when do producers get fired from their own shows?

SUMMARY: Mac meets someone from her past at a Ball and comes to a few startling realizations. Sorry for the crappy summary, but I'm really running out of ideas here.

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She'd known she'd see him, but it still shook her up.

They were at some Ball, that was just a fancy wrapping of political machinations and power plays. This is where the real deals were actually made.

She neared him, not sure what to say or how he'd react.

"Hi!"

He whirled around at her voice and smiled when he saw her. "Mac! How you're doing?"

"I'm good. How're you? Belated congratulations on the new stripe." she looked at the three full stripes on his sleeve.

"Thanks." he wished he could've said the same, but after her perjury had been discovered any chance for promotion had gone out the window for her.

She was lucky they'd let her serve out the rest of her 20 instead of throwing her in Leavenworth (which is what would've happened to any other service(wo)man) or just out of the Corps on her ass. Instead, she'd lost her license to practice law, when her case had been investigated by The Office of the Bar Counsel and brought before the Board of Bar Overseers, and was transferred to Camp Le Jeune, where she went back to her first job at the Corps by becoming an administrator again. She'd been lucky. Normally people go to jail for lying in court, what had probably saved her was the fact that she wouldn't have survived long in Leavenworth, among those she'd put there herself.

"So, how long have you been here in Washington?" she asked.

He grew serious. "For about 3 years now. It happened about 6 months after I left for flying. Ran out of air, not enough hours clocked, too old, same old story. Became Admiral Boone's legal advisor, then when Boone retired last year, Commander Naval Air Forces (CNAF) requested me as his legal advisor."

He was sketchy with details and she appreciated it. She didn't need more reminders about how she'd managed to destroy her own career. She'd been a lawyer, she should've known better, but had still done it. And regretted it ever since. Still, one good thing had come from it. With nothing else to do, no professional prospects and with the knowledge that with 20 she'd be out, she'd returned to her first love, paleontology. Was already researching which nearby College had that programme, so she would join. Just like a cat she always landed on her feet, but even cat's feet get old and fragile, the recoverable falls shorter, recovery times longer and ability to avoid injury smaller.

In the back of her mind Mac knew that with her alcoholism, fraternization, adultery, perjury, and other smaller offenses she had already used up 8 of her lives and was on her last one. She'd have to be very careful not to screw up again, cause this time she wouldn't be getting another chance.

As she watched Harm's eyes dart around, trying to think of something to talk about, she marvelled at just how much of the bond they'd once shared had been lost and how much of it had been due to their jobs. Had they even had that much in common even while they'd been friends?

Had they even had anything except their work and cases to talk about while they'd been partners?

She couldn't remember any talk that wasn't somehow connected to their jobs, except for the search for his father and about his life before he'd met her and what little of her past she'd shared with him.

She had to acknowledge ruefully that what she hadn't wanted to share had come back later to bite her in the ass, in the form of husbands, ex-lovers/COs, court martials, her past transgressions and black marks on her record; making her realize she should've told him about it herself and much earlier, because that way she would've avoided seeing the hurt and betrayed look in his eyes when he'd realized that she'd held so many things back from him, important things.

Especially important things seeing as they'd been getting pretty close then, looking as if they'd finally cross that line and become lovers. It had hurt him as a friend that she'd never told him such an important fact of her life like that she was married and he felt betrayed as an almost-lover that she had almost made him into an accomplice in an adultery and had almost made him into "the other man", the last thing he ever wanted to be. It also upset him that he'd hit on and flirted with a married woman, something he had long ago sworn never to do. Harm was a man of honor and poaching on another guy's territory is something he despised.

Harm had often wondered how Dalton would've reacted had he found out about Mac's marriage and criminal record in the same way that Harm himself had found out, but especially about the fact that he was "the other man" to a married woman, which would've been undoubtebly a huge blow to his ego. The guy had after all gotten so much pleasure from showing her off in front of his peers and from knowing she'd made him look good when walking on his arm, she was a very beautiful woman after all, that it probably would've hit him hard knowing that she had a record. Being involved with someone who had a criminal record would've also hit his reputation very hard and he would've lost his reputation and respect from his peers in his circles. The pathetic fact of life is that society judges and evaluates us many times based on who and what our partners are, especially in the higher classes and exclusive circles, in which Dalton had liked to move so much.

Mac recognized the second Harm'd given up on finding that interesting topic, going over to the second most used one after talking about the weather.

"So..." he waved with his hand in the air, the sound of his voice making her heart beat faster. He had a smoother and silkier voice than she'd last heard him and guessed he must've quit smoking. She wondered what had finally convinced him to give up the bad habit. "... you here with anyone I know?"

The fact that Harm considered that topic a safe one hurt slightly, but she knew he hadn't done it intentionally. It meant that whatever they'd once had was over by now. Well, who would've expected anything else, after 3 years of no contact? She didn't blame him for getting on with his life, because she definitely had. "Yeah, but it's nothing serious." Meaning, they were occasional sex partners, but had no commitment nor exclusiveness. She was a healthy, virile, adult, single woman in her sexual peak, had primal needs to be fulfilled, but didn't want the commitment, risks and mess that a relationship brings.

He caught the meaning, but thought nothing of it. After all who was he to judge, he'd had a relationship like that in the past himself. Maria Elena Carmelita Moreno Gutierrez. However it was the only relationship like that in his past, Harm having grown up long ago. Every relationship of his for the past 6 years had been a serious one, committed and intended as long-term, even though some of them hadn't worked out.

"And you?" smiled Mac.

He was prevented from answering by two slim arms suddenly winding themselves around his neck and a kiss being pressed to his cheek.

Baffled, Mac turned her eyes onto the newcomer, wanting to see who had prompted such a blinding, toothy smile in the normally-reserved Harm.

The newcomer was a very tall stunningly beautiful blonde, so tall in fact that in her heels she was only an inch shorter than Harm. She was dressed in an electric blue dress, matching her captivating blue eyes, with shoulders and arms bare, but still modest around her full chest. The dress was conservative in it's design, more hiding than showing or hinting at, but it was still clear that the wearer had a fantastic figure and even Mac had to agree that the two looked amazing together, both being so tall and good looking. She guessed that the newcomer had to be her age.

Mac turned her eyes away as the two kissed hello, hating the feeling of being the third wheel around Harm.

Finally they turned around and Harm smiled at Mac, his arm around the woman's waist and for the first time in her life Mac saw the look of complete happiness, contentment and peace on his face and in his eyes. This woman must've been the reason for the changes Mac'd noticed in Harm, starting with the fact that he'd quit smoking. As jealous as she suddenly felt, even though she'd moved on from Harm she was still aware he was a very desirable man, Mac couldn't help feeling thankful to this woman for making Harm happy.

"Mac, meet LCDR Meg Rabb, my wife and my partner before you. Honey, meet Major Sarah MacKenzie, my former partner."

The women greeted each other politely.

"Former LTJG Meg Austin? Have heard... barely anything about you from Harm while we were still partners..." the two women glanced at Harm who had the good grace to look embarrassed, but for a long time after Meg had left JAG he hadn't been able to talk about her nor hear her name because it had just hurt too much. "... but I have heard a lot about you from others in the staff."

"Don't believe half the things Bud said about me, they were over-exaggerated, I'm not perfect. But I have heard many good thing about you, Major."

Harm noticed the slight tension in the air and immediately stepped in to lighten the atmosphere. "Now aren't you two ladies lucky to have something in common..." he said, smiling mischeviously.

Meg looked at him with narrowed yes, after 7 years of knowing him and 2 years of marriage she knew him quite well and knew that something was coming. Mac looked just curious, not knowing what they could have in common. They were completely different, body wise, and were serving in two different, confrontational branches of service.

"What?" they echoed.

"Me!" he exclaimed, arms stretched out wide.

The two ladies groaned, Meg rolling her eyes and smiling the long-suffering smile of a wife who's husband had just said or done something stupid or exasperating, but she loved him nonetheless and couldn't help but love him more for his mistake, because it had been meant well. Mac, meanwhile, just shook her head and chuckled. 'Only Harm...'

But it served Harm's purpose and the atmosphere was now lighter.

The three spent a delightful half hour together, talking and laughing until it was time for Mac to leave. She made her farewells and headed towards the entrance where her lover was waiting for her.

As she glanced behind her before leaving the hall she had to admit that Harm and Meg were perfect for each other. With other people each of them would've been a good partner at best, but with each other they fitted like two pieces of a two-piece puzzle. Neither of them was perfect, which they were fully aware of, but they were perfect for each other and complimented each other beautifully.

Looking at them, it being plainly obvious how much they loved each other, how good they fit together, completely forgetting about the rest of the world when talking to each other, smiles constantly on their faces, how they moved and behaved and thought and felt as one person in two bodies,... Mac had to admit that it had worked out for the best.

She had to admit that she and Harm would've been a complete and utter disaster had they gotten together, they had always been too different, too confrontational and competitive, too ill-fitting to succeed in an intimate, romantical and physical relationship. While on the other hand Harm and Meg literally personified soulmates, perfect other, devotion, friendship,... all those sappy and corny cliches.

It was poetry in living technicolor.

It was true, eternal love.

THE END

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