No Harm, No Foul
Ten years of duty, ten years of loyalty, ten years of searching for the truth fit into two cardboard boxes with a small, yellow Stearman balanced on top. Harmon Rabb steadied those boxes against his chest as he leaned forward to shut the door to his former office.
"You waited until everyone else had left. Trying to sneak out without saying goodbye, squid? "
Startled, Rabb turned to face his questioner. "Nope. Figured I'd catch up with you later, Mac." He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes, and it didn't fool either of them.
"London?" Not for the first time, Colonel MacKenzie questioned him. "Why London, Harm? Couldn't you find something further away from me?"
"Look, Mac. We've been over this before. It's not about you. For the first time in nine years, I'm making a decision that's not in the smallest detail about you. You don't have to believe it, but it's true. I'm taking myself out of the game, Mac. We both get to start fresh and hopefully move on."
"What if I don't want to move on, Harm? How can you make this choice for the two of us." The Colonel's voice started to rise. Harm lowered his boxes to the floor and gently put his hand on her arm.
"I'm sorry, Mac. I just can't do this anymore. We've circled around each other for years, one moving forward, the other backing off. I've finally realized that if one of us doesn't change our pattern we'll be dancing like this forever. A long time ago, Mac, you told me that you were tired of this dance. You were right. We should have sat down years ago."
Mac looked at him, her eyes pooling with unshed tears. "I can't stand the thought of never seeing you again."
"You still haven't learned not to use that word."
"What word, Harm? What are you talking about?"
"Never, Mac. Never is an ugly word." He closed his eyes for a moment to shut out the rush of pain that still rippled through him when he thought back to that disastrous time in both their lives. A time they never seemed to be able to move past.
"I'll see you later at McMurphy's, and hopefully we'll see each other sometime. I do have family in La Jolla, you know. I just might find a reason to visit."
"Really, Harm?"
Harm looked at his partner of nine years. He could not push away the thought of all the anguish that they had inflicted on each other. Softly, he lifted his hand from her arm.
"No, Mac."
Harm bent down, retrieved the boxes that contained both so much and so little, and walked out the door without looking back.