TITLE: Swept Away

AUTHOR: VIDZ

Pairing: Harm/Skates, Mac/Mic

TIMELINE: AU Adrift II

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.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Due to popular demand I decided to give in and write a sequel where the wedding takes place. Sorry it's taken so long, but I had a major writer's block that in the end forced me to make a two-parter out of this fic instead of a short one-shot.

I at first tried to make this Mac-friendly, but then I made a mistake of going surfing the site Underthecovers and found so many Harm-bashing fics that I'll never go back there and that left me not caring if someone doesn't like Mac being bashed. Nothing I can write and no matter how many fics I write, can ever reach the magnitude and numerity of Harm-bashing fics already existing. So, if you don't like it... *shrug*... I don't care.

SUMMARY: sequel to "Drifting". The day of Mac's wedding has come.

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Harm and Beth watched Mac and Mic go through the ceremony, the two pilots' hands clasping each other's in a warm light embrace.

They'd come far in just over a week, yet Harm's heart still hurt for the one who had gotten hurt in all of this.

Breaking up with Renee had been painful for Harm, who was beating himself up for breaking off with her so soon after he'd scared her to death. On top of that, just a few days after he'd found out from mutual friends she had found out the day after the break up that her father had died... He had never hated himself more than then.

Yet it had had to be done, for he knew neither of them could've continued living a lie.

"Is it just me or is the bride really not looking all that happy to be getting married?" Beth whispered to him.

Harm looked closer at Mac's face and with bemusement he confirmed Beth's analysis "You're right. She really isn't the picture of happiness, is she?"

"Then why is she still getting married?" Beth shook her head in confusion.

"Who knows. It's Mac." Harm said as if it explained everything. And, strangely enough, it did "She probably doesn't know why she's doing this, herself."

"That wasn't very nice, Pappy." she smiled teasingly.

"Oh you..." Harm's grin became lecherous, but fortunately neither of them was in any condition to do anything about it, even if they were at home. Well, one of their homes at least. Both of them were still having trouble breathing from the sea-water they'd breathed into their lungs, their lungs capacities were down, they were battered and Harm's knee made every step a new exercise in pain.

Beth had put in for transfer shore-side before she'd shipped out to Patrick Henry for those fateful quals and, incidentally, her transfer had been approved. To Pentagon, under Admiral Tom Boone.

Thankfully, Beth had managed to find an apartment on such short notice otherwise Harm would've done something unwise, like offer her to bunk with him. It was simply too early in their relationship to just move in together.

While he hated walking around with a cane and in pain and having trouble breathing Harm was thankful for it all, because it insured they wouldn't be moving forward too fast. It would be a while before both of them would be in condition to make their relationship physical and they would use that time to give it firmer foundation.

Besides, it wouldn't hurt to wait a little even if just so no-one could claim they'd been lovers while they'd flown together.

"If there is anyone who thinks these two should not be joined together, then let them speak now, or forever hold their peace." declared the priest and Harm and Beth noticed many people glanced at Harm, together with the bride and the groom. One could see pleading and some kind of desperation on Mac's face, while Mic's was a picture of warning.

Harm's face was impassive, even slightly amused and he just waited silently for the ceremony to continue. Soon the priest took that as a 'no' and continued, while Mic shot Harm a grateful and understanding look and Mac a dirty, angry one.

This was the confirmation of his theory that he needed, the theory that had been given birth long ago and had been given even more flesh with Mac's desperate and angry attempts to insure his presence at the wedding. He'd let this knowledge seep through during their angry goodbyes

Mac: "Harm, you fly maximum 2 or 3 times a year and for that you'd risk missing my wedding?"

Harm: "I didn't consider it a risk."

Mac: "No, the truth is, you didn't consider it important."

Harm: "Hey, slow down, Mac. First off this was arranged long before you even set a date, and frankly, if you need me at your wedding to make it work, maybe you should reconsider who you're marrying."

It was true. Why did she need him at the wedding so bad if she didn't have any hopes for him interrupting it? If she was really sure about Mic all she would need would be Mic and the priest, nobody else, especially not a male colleague she'd been stringing along for years, trying to force love confessions from him while engaged to another man.

But in all her planning and scheming Mac had forgotten one thing: with her actions and behaviour she's pushed him away for good. She'd forced him to move on and move on he had, finding another woman to love, this time a woman truly worthy of his affections and devotion. Which is why he now felt no regrets and, most importantly, no urge to stop this wedding and make a one last try to make Mac his own.

The only thought he had during this wedding was one that did not want to go away and it had nothing to do with fulfilling Mac's plans.

Looking at Beth out of the corner of his eyes he saw a mixture of amusement and a thoughtfulness in her eyes. When she looked back at him he recognized it. Flushing in embarrassement over having had her thoughts read by her new boyfriend and in fear of running him off, she was about to say something when Harm smiled in reassurance. He knew she'd too been imagining them being in Mac and Mic's spot, getting married and while it was way too soon to be thinking about this, he had the same desire.

He was fully aware of getting older and he'd wanted a family of his own ever since he and Diane had started dating. Maybe he was getting soft in his old age, but he couldn't help but dream of having an heir to his name, a boy he would teach how to fly and a little girl her mother would teach how to look out for bogies. Or, even better, perhaps all of their kids would decide to go for high-paying civiilan jobs, stay safe away from wars while making a nice living.

But still, it was waaay too soon to be thinking of such things, they didn't even know how they'd work out as a couple.

Looking back at the M&M's it occured to Harm that while Brumby was not who Mac really wanted, he was someone and something she needed. Harm had no illusions that Brumby would make her happy, for no man could ever live up to Sarah MacKenzie's expectations, much less make her happy. No-one, not even Harm. Especially not Harm. But still, Mic would give her what she subconsciously needed. It was no secret Mac was a failure in civilian life as much as she was generally in her private life, her brief stint out of the military, on top of her pre-military life, proved that. The reason was that Mac needed someone to give her a structure, to delegate what she needed to do, to rule over her, to think instead of her and make decisions in her place. All of that she got from the military and all of that she sought in her romantic partners. It was one of the reasons she and Harm would've never worked out: Harm had never had any interest in running her life and since the only kind of relationships Mac knew were power struggles she had then always tried to take control over him and his life, something Harm would've never conceded to either.

The only man she ever tried to gain advantage and upper hand over was Harm, all of her previous lovers had all been controlling either by nature or because of their jobs or a mixture of both. She'd married a drunk, of the affairs Harm knew of (doubtlessly there were many he didn't know about - if Mac could hide a marriage and one affair for which she had been tried, there was no doubt she could hide other affairs) one man was her CO, which had automatically made her subordinate in their affair and they would've been equal only had Mac wanted - which she hadn't, the other had been an ego-centric lawyer, the third - Brumby, had a controlling personality. Who knew what her other affairs had been like.

Mac had joined the Corps because she needed someone else to tell her how to live her life, what to do, how to behave and how to occupy her time and attention; someone to stop her from making an even bigger screw-up of her life. The lack of this structure made by someone else in civilian life was why she'd failed in her stints as a civilian. Mac had no close acquaintances, not even the people at JAG. From her own choice, since she never let anyone close enough to, she always kept them at a distance. Including Harm.

As her husband, Brumby would give her the structure she needed in her private life and in her civilian one when she retired from the Corps. Besides, there was no doubt the man would stop her from straying, which Harm acknowledged was always a present threat with Mac.

Looking at his former RIO again, he smiled, completely happy with his life for the first time since his father had been shot down.

Putting his arm around the woman possessing his heart he drew her closer to his body, ignoring the fact that they were both in uniform and that the Admiral was frowning heavily at him. Some things were just worth the risk and possible punishment.

And the blinding smile Beth sent him before she snuggled into his side, letting her body melt against him, and put her head on his shoulder, was definitely worth it.

Leaning back in the pew Harm just let himself enjoy the experience of holding in his arms the woman he was in love with.

He was quite surprised how quickly the time to rise and clap for the two newlyweds came. It must be true what they say, the best times pass by quickly. Disengaging himself from Beth was not easy, he didn't want to do it and neither did she, if her murmur of protest was anything to go by.

Beth helped him stand up and, after joining other guests in their clapping, Harm quickly excused himself from his girlfriend, giving her a swift kiss, for he had to take his place in the Arch Of Swords. He was looking forward to slapping Mac on the ass with his sabre and declare "Welcome to the Navy, Mrs Brumby". Normally a RAN member would do that, but after Harm had explained to Brumby's friends that Mac was a Marine and that he'd had to live through 5 years of mocking and jokes on his and Navy's account, they'd quickly given him the permission to do the honors. Even the Aussies were fully aware of the competition and rivarly that existed between US Navy and Marines. A Navy member, even a member of a foreign Navy, will sooner back a up an american sailor than a Jarhead. It's called solidarity and comradery.

Mic was a meathead, but he was still Navy. The opportunity to tease Mac in regards to Corps and her devotion to them by proclaiming her a Navy-wife was simply too much for Harm to resist.

All in all, this day was pretty damn amazing.

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