Title: Victorian Secrets

Author: Vesja

Genre: Romance

Rating: PG/K+

Pairing: AJ/Mac

Spoilers: Adrift, The Stalker

A/N: I was looking for a story setting, and a friend of mine mentioned England, because she thought that Victorian England was so romantic. I agree. ^^

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AJ sighed. He and Lt. Colonel Mackenzie had been listening to an extremely boring man for about 1.5 hours now. His back was aching. Mac looked like she could fall asleep at any moment.

After another hour the man, General Richardson, had finally finished talking. AJ sighed again.

"Thank God he finished," he whispered to Mac. She smiled a weary smile, but it didn't look very genuine. He was honestly worried about her. Dear Lord, General Richardson was coming towards them.

"Admiral! I hope you liked my presentation!" Oh no…

"Of course!" AJ lied, "It was very…interesting." The General smiled. Then he shifted to Mac.

"Colonel! It's good to have you here in Britain." Mac didn't respond.

"Colonel? Is she alright?" Richardson asked.

"Lt. Colonel Mackenzie? Colonel Mackenzie! Mac?! Sarah!!" AJ shouted.

"What?" Mac managed to ask.

"Admiral, maybe you should take her to your hotel. You may be excused for the rest of the evening," the General said, as he was also worried about the beautiful American marine. AJ nodded.

"C'mon. Let's go." He saluted the General and, his hand on the small of her back, led Mac out of the building.

"Hello sir. Can I help you?" A blonde girl, about 19 years old, with very bouncy hair was sitting behind a counter in the hotel lobby.

"Reservations for Chegwidden and Mackenzie."

"One moment… Ah, yes. One double room." She smiled.

"Excuse me?" AJ asked in disbelief.

"I'm sorry?" the girl asked.

"That was supposed to be two single rooms," AJ said.

"Oh dear. There must've been a mistake. I'll see if there are any other vacant rooms, but I can't promise anything. We're very busy." The girl started searching.

"There are two other single rooms, but they share the same bathroom." Mac was still physically there, but mentally absent.

"I guess that'll be okay." The girl nodded and hander him two keycards.

"Room 205 and 206. Have a nice stay, and goodnight."

As AJ entered room 205, he told Mac: "You take this room, and I'll take the other." Mac nodded.

"You can use the bathroom first," he said. She seemed to be returning to planet Earth. As AJ was making his way through the bathroom to his room, Mac called: "Sir?" AJ re-entered her room.

"Thank you sir." She was silent again. 'She'll tell me what's wrong when she's ready', he thought, and went to his room.

AJ could hear Mac taking a shower. He was still worried about her, but he also knew that if he pushed her, she wouldn't tell him anything. He had certainly learnt that over the past few years. The shower stopped and AJ went back to the crossword he had been doing 5 minutes ago. After a while, Mac stuck her head around the door.

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"Your turn." AJ smiled. He went into the bathroom and locked the doors. He could smell her shampoo. It was an apple scented shampoo. It smelled really nice. 'Come on, AJ' he thought, 'She's your colleague! Get a hold of yourself!' He decided he needed a cold shower. A very cold shower.

AJ knocked at Mac's door.

"Come in," she said, softly. AJ entered her room. She was sitting on her bed, reading a book.

"Do you want to go downstairs to go and eat something, or should we send something up?"

"Can we order room service?"

"Sure. Your room or mine?" AJ asked, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Er, is yours okay?" He nodded.

"Any specific whishes?" he asked.

"Er, something easy. And no intestines please." She smiled. He chuckled, and took the phone to order.

After he had ordered, he went back to his room to finish his crossword. But as he laid down on the bed, Mac entered the room. She didn't say anything, nor did AJ. Her eyes were begging him for permission. He just didn't know for what. So, he just nodded.

Mac made her way towards the bed and laid down next to him, her head on his chest. AJ was uncomfortable at first, but he relaxed and went back to his crossword. Now there was one he didn't know. 12 Horizontal: Musical. He had it coming.

"Chicago."

"Huh? What?" he asked.

"Chicago. That's the answer to 12 Horizontal," she said. He tried it, and it fitted.

"Thanks." She moved her head and closed her eyes, which gave him a perfect view of her beautiful face. Then someone knocked at the door.

"Room service!" AJ gently got off the bed and went to open the door. He took the food and tipped the boy.

"Dinnertime," he told her. She got up from the bed and sat herself down at the table. The quietly ate their dinner together. When they were done, he took their plates away.

When he returned, she was reading her book on his bed. He laid down on the bed. They both laid there for about 10 minutes.

Suddenly, she shouted: "Sometimes, I just feel that no-one cares about me!!" completely startling AJ. He put his arms around her. She was shaking. He soothingly ran one of his hands up and down her back.

"I mean, my dad didn't like me, my mom left me and, for Pete's sake, Harm left me standing in the rain outside of his apartment!" She started crying.

"Mac. Mac. Sarah!" She looked up at him.

"I care."

"Don't say that because you feel sorry for me," she said and slumped down. He moved her so she was facing him again. She was avoiding his eyes.

"Mac, look at me." She lifted her eyes to meet his.

"I'm not lying. I care about you. I love you." Her eyes widened.

"You… what?" she whispered.

"I'm in love with you, Sarah Mackenzie. Ever since our almost-kiss. And I'm not the only one who cares about you. Harriet and Bud too. Mac, you're beautiful and…" He knew he was rambling. But then she pressed her lips to his. Her lips felt extremely soft. She broke away.

"I'm sorry sir." And she was gone before he knew it. But he wasn't going to let her run away from him. Not again. So, he gathered all his courage and opened the door to her room. She was sitting on the loveseat in her room. Mac probably didn't hear him coming. She was sitting with her back towards the door. He quietly made his way towards her. When he reached her, he placed a kiss just below her hairline. She gasped.

"Sir?"

"Mac, I think you can switch to AJ now," he said, smiling. She smiled back at him.

He walked around the loveseat to be facing her. He wanted to kiss her, but she stopped him.

"Wait. AJ. I…can't."

"But…" he stammered.

"AJ, we can't. This is against the regs."

"Yes…" He sat down next to her.

"Mac?"

"Yes?"

"I'm retiring."

"AJ, you don't have to do that just so…"

"No. I requested it a month ago. I'm only working at JAG for two more weeks. You're the first to know." He could see her thinking.

She whispered: "Two weeks. I guess I'll survive two weeks without this." She kissed him softly. When they broke apart, they were both smiling.

They couldn't wait.

-Fin.