Title: The Predator.
Summary: A series of events forces Harm to look at his feelings for Mac.
Author: JulieM
Disclaimer: I don't own JAG or any of its characters, but just borrow them for a while to exercise my overactive imagination!
Spoilers: Anything around the last half of season 9, leading up to up to 'Hail and Farewell.' Set after H & F.
Rating: PG-13. A few graphic ideas, rather than actual images. ( T. )
Category: H/M shipper.
Feedback is always very welcome! (Hint, hint!)
Harm whistled in a carefree manner as he made his way back into the bullpen after his long afternoon in court.
"I guess that means that you won your case, huh, Commander?" Mac spoke up from the doorway of her office, as he passed, en route to his.
"That's right, Colonel," Harm confirmed, "Which means that this puts us neck and neck in our monthly stakes."
Ever since the death of Clayton Webb, Harm and Mac's friendship had gone from strength to strength. Both of them had lost a dear friend. To Mac, of course, he had also been something more, though she could not say with certainty just what that had been.
They had been heading towards some kind of semi-relationship. Whether that could have ever worked out in the long-run, what with Webb's job, remained to be seen. Still, Mac had long since stopped contemplating it, as she knew that it would only serve to torture her further. She had now moved on with her life. Even though Harm could not at the time remember actually, consciously liking the spook, he now realised that he had done so. There had been more good times than bad times involving Clayton Webb and that was all that was to be remembered now. So after eight months, Harm and Mac had established this monthly routine of charting up all of their courtroom successes, failures and draws, since they were now the only long-term senior attorneys around and were usually assigned to deal with high profile cases. Bud was still adjusting to the new lieutenant commander status and was also kept quite busy caring for Harriet and the kids, Harriet being on maternity leave and looking about ready to pop. Sturgis had been spending some time up on Capitol Hill, since the new Admiral had wanted to forge some stronger ties with the SECNAV than Admiral Chegwidden had. This, however proved not to last long, because with the crazy work schedule in the office and the lack of experienced officers to deal with it, the one-star Admiral had handed in his transfer papers in within six-months. It was to much relief that Admiral AJ Chegwidden had returned to his post, declaring that retirement had been driving him stir-crazy and was just was not for him. With the bullpen back to it's usual self, Harm and Mac found themselves settling back into the life that they had been missing with a passion.
"I do believe you are right, Commander," Mac acknowledged Harm, gesturing for him to enter her office, "Shall we consult the records and see what the Admiral has set up for us next?"
Harm dutifully stepped into Mac's office and consulted the table that they had drawn up, at the beginning of the month. As far as Harm could see, Mac had won five out of her ten major cases during the last few weeks. She had won a further nine petty cases and had settled on another two which they had opposed each other on. That meant three points for each major case, two for the petty ones and one for each of the settlements; 35 points for Mac. Harm had won seven major cases, settled on two and with this morning's success, won six petty cases. Yep, they were both tied with 35 points respectively. Mac hid her disappointment, she had been sure that Harm would not be able to grab that one out of the fire; Leave it to the boy wonder to turn water into wine!
"Looks like this capital case is going to be make or break for one of us," Harm commented, not seeming to be fazed at all.
They had already decided that on the case where Harm was prosecuting and Mac was defending, a win would constitute nothing less than either life imprisonment/execution or total acquittal on the part of Harm and Mac, respectively.
Mac just gave Harm a determined look and replied, "Well, you'd better get going and find a way of proving it was my client who committed these attacks and murders, Commander."
"Come on, Mac," Harm set about convincing her, "You know it had to be your client.
There hasn't been a single attack or murder since your client was arrested 400 metres from the last murder scene, with the victim's blood on his clothes."
"My client maintains that he found that jacket in a dumpster," Mac reminded him, "He is a homeless military veteran who needed something to keep him warm on a cold night. He didn't even notice the blood on the jacket until after he had been arrested. He was as horrified as the arresting officers."
"Yeah, yeah," Harm teased her, "That's what they all say. When I'm finished presenting my case there's not going to be a juror in that courtroom who'll believe that story."
"Good luck with that task," Mac just mumbled, sinking back into her chair and pulling a case file towards her, "You're gonna need all the luck you can get."
The opening day of trial was an eventful one and after both Harm and Mac had given their opening statements, the court was adjourned for the day, on account of the delay they had suffered, as the prison vehicle transporting the defendant had broken down. By the time that the preliminaries had been dispensed with, it was six-thirty and time to go home for the day.
"You got any plans for tonight?" Harm asked Mac, as they exited the courtroom and headed for their cars.
"Not much," Mac told him, "I'm not sure whether I have the energy to get in a run tonight, before it gets dark. I might just get an early dinner and have a night in with the TV."
"You're probably better doing that," Harm concluded, "Despite the streets being a little bit safer with your client being behind bars, I'd still not like the thought of you going out jogging at that time of night."
Mac just shot him a sour look then enquired as to his plans.
"Much the same as yours," he told her, "Nothing concrete, was just thinking about getting a pizza tonight, maybe playing my guitar for a while. I've been neglecting it lately, what with our crazy schedule. First, I'm going to have to drop by the office for a bit. I forgot to get the Admiral to sign some forms that I have to submit by tomorrow…"
"Okay, well I'll see you tomorrow, I guess," Mac bid him goodbye.
He watched her until she got into her car and started the engine then climbed into his own car.
Hours later, Harm was on his way home from Falls Church, when the sudden compulsion to take a right off the beltway at the Georgetown junction overcame him. After that, he pondered over such a thought, when he knew he was tired and hungry and in a rush to get home. Still, if neither of them had plans, why not spend the next few hours together, instead of in solitude?
Harm got the shock of his life when the ambulance with it's lights flashing and it's siren sounding passed him on the road leading to Mac's apartment. He'd been too caught up in his thoughts and fatigued to notice it coming. He didn't know why, but his heartbeat stepped up a pace, after that. When he pulled up to Mac's apartment, it sped up again, when he noticed the police patrol car stopped outside the building. Without thinking, Harm slammed his breaks on and, turning off the engine, bolted from the car. He picked out the police officers in the darkness, just rounding the corner of the building alongside the building supervisor.
"Officer? Is there something wrong? A friend of mine lives in this building…" Harm started.
"Does this friend of yours happen to live on the fourth floor, Mr…" One of the officer's asked him, gently.
"Mr Rabb…Yes, she does…Sarah Mackenzie," Harm replied somehow, with his heart seemingly in his mouth.
"We don't have any idea of the identity of the young woman involved," the officers told him, "But approximately an hour ago, a young woman out jogging was assaulted. We found a set of keys for this building on her person, along with a key for the fuse box on the fourth floor…We have been told that only five or so individuals have access to this box, of them only three women."
Harm didn't listen to what the police officers were telling him after this. He looked up the Mac's apartment window, which faced onto the street. The lights were out.
"God, please let her be safe in her apartment," Harm prayed fervently.
Without thought for the officers standing in front of him Harm took off, taking the building steps three at a time. Mac had often complained about how dangerous these steps were, she'd turned her ankle on them many times, but at this moment, Harm couldn't care less about his own safety. Finally he got to her apartment door, took a deep breath and hammered on it. Tense moments passed and he hammered again. Tears had began to well in his eyes and his heart felt as if it was breaking when Mac suddenly yanked open the door, in her pyjamas, looking furious at whoever was making this noise against her door, at this time of night.
"Harm…" she frowned as she took the sight of him in, "What on earth…"
She never got to finish her sentence as Harm had yanked her into his arms, hugging her as if his life depended on it.
"Oh, thank God," he breathed, unable to form any other words, "Thank God!"
"Harm?" Mac asked, half concerned, half caught off-guard by this unusual show of emotion. She was even more shocked by what he did next. Stepping back to look at her for a second, he then suddenly cupped each side of her face and crashed his lips down onto hers. In total shock, Mac just kissed him back for a second, then came to her senses and pulled away.
"Harmon Rabb Jr! What on earth are you doing? What's wrong?" she exclaimed.
Harm just looked at her, trying to find the words. The ones that came out of his mouth were the last ones that Mac ever expected to hear.
"By God, Sarah Mackenzie…I love you with all my heart…"
Mac's jaw dropped open and she stared at Harm in shocked silence. They were interrupted at that moment by the two police officers from downstairs.
"I'm glad to see you've found your, um, friend unharmed, Mr Rabb," one commented, quietly, "Ms. Mackenzie, is it, Ma'am?"
"Uh…yes, that's right, officer?" Mac stumbled, "Is there something wrong?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so," the man continued, "We've been told by your landlord that this is the key to the fuse box on this floor and that only three women on this floor have access to it."
Mac took a close look at the key that he held up in a clear evidence bag.
"Yes, that's right. I'm one and the other two are Ms. Jenkins in 4C and Miss Heinrich in 4E…But Gwen Heinrich is away on holiday right now…What is this about?"
The police officer paused for a second before he continued, obviously searching for the words.
"This Ms. Jenkins, does she live with anyone or have family nearby?"
"No," Mac told him, "Her family all live out of state…Why, what's happened to Natasha…?"
"I'm afraid that Ms. Jenkins was accosted on her way home from a late night jog, Ms. Mackenzie…She was discovered by a passerby with extensive head injuries…"
Mac's hand flew to her mouth.
"My God…Is she going to be okay?" She exclaimed.
"We have no way of knowing that, just now, but I'm afraid her condition is very serious," the policeman shook his head, "We'd appreciate it if you could make yourself available for questioning in the next few days…"
"That'll be no problem…" Mac replied quietly and the officers turned to go.
She and Harm just stood in silence for a minute, before Harm took her into his arms again.
"Oh, Mac," he expressed in a whisper, his voice still shaking a bit, "I thought I'd lost you…"
Mac thought back to the time when he'd told her about turning up at a crime scene to find that his girlfriend Dianne was the victim. The way that Harm was holding her so tight and shivering slightly, this whole episode must have given him such a fright!
"It's okay," she comforted him softly, "I'm still here, you've still got me…"
"When they said it was a woman who had been out jogging…I…I thought…"
"It's okay…after what you said, I decided not to," Mac continued to assure him, "I was asleep when you knocked on my door…C'mon, lets go inside and get some coffee…"
Almost a week later Harm and Mac stood in court to await the decision of the judge.
"Due to the present evidence submitted by the defence I have no choice but to suspend the case pending further investigation on the part of the DCPD."
Natasha Jenkins was still in hospital in a coma with no sign of whether she would wake up or not. Two witnesses in the area had given their descriptions of the possible assailant to the police. The police had ruled that the attacks over the past months were linked and therefore Mac's client was likely not involved, as he had been in police custody at the time of the attack on Natasha.
On the way back to the office in Harm's car, Mac looked over to the quiet man beside her.
"You okay?" she asked, taking his hand in hers and giving it a quick squeeze.
He looked up and gave her a smile that Mac could tell was staged only to mask his concern. Since the attack, he had taken to staying at Mac's 24/7, which both of them were far from minding.
"Yeah…" Harm replied quietly, "Just thinking about how you've won this month's stakes. Guess that means that dinner's going to be on me…"
Mac gave him a smile that served to comfort him to no end.
"I'm sure we could come up with something, together…"
"Sounds great," Harm smiled back, relaxing a bit more than he'd believed himself able to.
When things were uncertain in life, it felt good when he and Mac were able to reach a comfortable compromise.
The End