Zip It

Disclaimer: They are not mine…if only they were.

This came to mind when I saw the May HBX Challenge Lines.

Harm: Why didn't you tell me?
Mac: Need to know?
Harm: Well, I guess I needed to know.

A/N: This little scene could have taken place any time after Season 7.

I would just like to say a very special thank you to Nettie for all her help and encouragement.

Tuesday Morning

Mac's Apartment

Mac got out of bed still tired and dazed after another long and restless night. She slowly ambled to the kitchen to prepare her morning jolt of caffeine. She opened the cabinet door, and blindly reached, only to be greeted by empty space. 'Damn, I forgot to buy it,' she thought to herself. 'How the heck could I forget to buy coffee?' she chastised herself before closing the cabinet door and sulking all the way to the shower.

She closed her eyes as the warm water cascaded over her fatigued body, working out the kinks. She reached for her cucumber melon scented shampoo, pouring a generous amount into her palm and applying it to her hair. Scrubbing gently she worked up a considerable lather before moving back under the flow of water…. "Aaahhh!" she screamed jumping back and away from the now frigid water running from the shower nozzle. 'What the heck…?" she wondered, but didn't have time to fuss and fret at that moment. She was just about to turn off the water and step out when she remembered her head was still covered in white, sudsy foam. "Great…just great," she fumed as she held her breath and moved under the cold water to rinse the shampoo from her hair. She balked as the cold water hit her, but sucked it up like a good Marine until the shampoo was rinsed from her now squeaky clean hair. Needless to say she didn't bother to condition. "Well, that certainly woke me up," she scoffed and decided to wait until she got to work to call the landlord.

"What else could possibly go wrong?" she mumbled into the silent room shivering as she wrapped herself in a large towel and proceeded to the sink to brush her teeth. She took a good look at her reflection in the mirror; her lifeless, dull eyes stared back at her. She shook her head dolefully before proceeding to apply make-up, hoping to conceal the dark circles around her eyes. She evaluated the time and decided she needed to up her pace if she was going to stop at Starbucks for coffee before going to Headquarters.

She retrieved her uniform from the closet as well as her bra, underwear and pantyhose from the dresser drawer. She put on her undergarments and then proceeded to tug on her pantyhose. "Damn it…damn it…damn it!" she screeched. She had snagged her hose on the broken fingernail she had forgotten to file last night, leaving her with a huge run in the back of the right leg. She rummaged through her drawer and came up with several pairs, hoping for the best, but doubting she would find a good pair of pantyhose. She was right three pair later and still not a pair that was wearable. "Well, this is the last pair…if these aren't okay, I can forget the coffee because I will need to stop for pantyhose," she groaned into the room. She crossed her fingers and offered up a silent prayer, because she really needed coffee this morning. "Yes!" she exclaimed as the pantyhose appeared to be runless…well, until the little snag on the thigh turned into a tiny run as she pulled them up and over her waist. She looked down at the run which would still be concealed beneath her uniform. She grinned as she headed back into the bathroom to find what she needed…clear nail polish. She applied it to the run to prevent it from spreading further. "Success," she squealed, putting on her shirt and looking at herself in the full-length mirror. She finished dressing, donned her coat and with a heavy sigh, picked up her purse and briefcase and headed out ready for her morning brew.

Tuesday Morning

Harm's Loft

Harm stirred in his sleep, slowly coming awake to the buzzing of his alarm clock. He reached over, with half-opened eyes, to turn off the annoying device. He was about to settle down and relax for a few more minutes when the time on the clock registered. He bolted upright. "What?" he yelled looking at the clock again. He rubbed his hands over his eyes before looking at it yet again. 'How the heck can it be? How did I not hear it? My ass is going to be grass and the Admiral is going to be the lawn mower if I am late for the staff meeting again,' he groused to himself as he crawled out of his nice warm bed, heading for the shower.

He turned on the shower, letting the warm water stream over his half-asleep body. It had been another late night working on his closing arguments for his current case. He and Mac were opposing counsel on this one and she appeared to have a pretty solid case so he needed to be extra diligent in order to impress and win over the jury. As articulate as he could be in the courtroom…this was definitely going to be a tough one.

He had let his mind wander a little too long before pulling himself back to the present and to the fact that he was going to be late if he didn't get the lead out. He raced to his drawer to retrieve his tee shirt and boxers, but stopped short remembering that he hadn't done the laundry and he had no clean boxers. "Great…just freakin' great," he sputtered. 'Now what?' he mused. He opened the drawer anyway on the off chance that he would find something clean tucked away to wear, but his search was in vain. He scratched his head, towel still wrapped around his waist pondering his situation while going to the kitchen in search of something to drink.

He opened the fridge and found to his pleasant surprise that there was still some orange juice left, but his good fortune soon turned sour when on his way to grab a glass, he slipped on a puddle of water and couldn't stop his foot from sliding and slammed it right into one of the bar stools. His toes separated as they came to rest around the stool leg. "Damn!" he screamed, hopping over to the couch to inspect the damage as he wondered where the heck the water had come from. He examined his toes closely and determined that none of them were broken. He rubbed the sore appendage and limped back in to the kitchen to take a look. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that there was a leak in the hose going to his dishwasher. "Great…something else I need to deal with, but not now!" he groused placing a bucket under the leaky hose. Forgetting all about his juice, he headed back up to the bedroom. He dressed quickly, donning his Navy Blues, thanking God he hadn't made the transition into his Summer Whites yet.

JAG Headaquarters

Mac arrived in a huff, coffee in hand and marched straight to her office, removing her coat and turning on her computer before there was a knock on her door. "Enter," she bellowed.

Coates stuck her head in, informing her to be in the Conference Room in ten minutes. "Thanks, Jen. I thought I had already missed it. You would have, ma'am, if the Admiral hadn't gotten a phone call that he needed to take."

Mac let out a deep sigh as she sat at her desk attempting to compose herself. Her day hadn't gotten any better after leaving her apartment. She walked to her car only to find that she had a flat tire and had to spend another twenty minutes changing it. After that she was so frazzled, she no longer cared about being late. 'Consequences be damned,' she had argued. She was stopping at Starbucks for a large strong brew.

Harm sprinted in a few minutes later favoring his sore foot, praying the Admiral hadn't been looking for him. He threw his cover and briefcase on his desk and was on his way to the break room when Jen stopped him to tell him to be in the Conference Room in five minutes. He continued on his mission to grab himself a cup of coffee before making his way back through the bullpen and on to the Conference Room.

As he passed her door, he noticed Mac was still sitting at her desk and knocked. "Come on, Mac, we're going to be late."

"I'm right behind you, Harm."

JAG Conference Room

Harm entered the room and was about to sit when he remembered he had forgotten the file he needed to give Bud. Figuring he still had a minute before the Admiral arrived, he turned quickly and smacked right into Mac's outstretched hand…the hand that was carrying her coffee…that he was now proudly wearing.

"Commander!" You really ought to watch where you're going," Admiral Chegwidden chided freezing everyone in their tracks. "Take that jacket off and see if Coates can get the coffee out before it stains," he ordered.

"Aye, aye, sir," Harm returned, taking off his jacket. He didn't have far to go as Coates happened to be right outside the door.

Jen smiled warmly. "I'll see what I can do, Commander."

"Thanks," Harm replied before going back into the room, closing the door behind him.

"Sorry, Harm," Mac apologized wide-eyed as she took a long, slow deliberate look down the front of him, suppressing a laugh.

'Hmmm…I think my day is about to get a little better,' she mused with a devilish smile.

She was just about to say something when the Admiral called everyone to attention so he could discuss current and new cases with his staff.

When the meeting concluded approximately thirty minutes later, they all stood and came to attention until the Admiral left. A little whispering and cackling ensued as everyone picked up their papers and one by one they began filing out of the room.

"Oh, Harm, you got a minute?" Mac called.

Harm quickly turned around and walked back towards her. "Yeah…I can spare a few. What's on your mind, Mac?"

"Ahem…well…Flyboy…your fly is down," she informed him matter-of-factly pointing to his pants.

Harm froze, remembering his dilemma earlier and what he had done to rectify the situation. He reluctantly and with trepidation looked down and sighed in relief.

Mac never took her eyes off him and smiled as she watched him turn bright red all the way to the tips of his ears. She knew he could be a prude, but his embarrassment seemed a little over the top even for him.

"Harm?" she questioned as she watched him adjust himself and pull up his zipper. His face still flushed a light shade of pink.

"Never mind, Marine," he answered pointing his index finger at her. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It was need to know, Harm, but I didn't think the need to know meant that you would want me to just blurt it out in the middle of the meeting."

"Maybe not, but…well…I guess I needed to know. Couldn't you have slipped me a note or something?"

"Right, and take the chance that the Admiral would catch us passing notes.

"This isn't grammar school, Mac."

"No you're right. It's worse," Mac laughed. "And why did you freeze like that when I told you? It wasn't like it was the end of the world or anything."

"Can we just drop it?"

"No."

"Look Mac I had a really bad morning, okay. I overslept…"

"Yeah…and what else is new?" Mac retorted with a grin.

Harm looked at her with one eyebrow raised. "…And everything went downhill from there. The dishwasher sprung a leak, I stubbed my toe and I forgot to do laundry."

"What does…oh my God!" Mac cackled. "Are you going commando, Commander?" she screeched with a leering grin, sizing him up and down.

"Ssshhhh, for crying out loud Mac. Can you zip it, please? Does the whole office have to know?"

"You are," she laughed heartily.

"I'm glad you think it's funny, Marine."

"Well, I have to admit you're one lucky squid."

"What?" You think I was lucky that my zipper was down and I could have been showing everyone my…well, you know...jewels."

Mac snorted, ignoring his cockiness. "No, you were lucky that your shirt was tucked in properly, hiding all your assets from everyone's view. Although some of us might not have minded the view," she offered coyly.

"Yeah…well maybe I can arrange for a private showing," he offered waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Red light, Commander."

"Don't you think we have gone beyond the traffic signals, Mac?"

Mac shook her head and they both laughed as they made their way out of the Conference Room to their respective offices.

The day may have started out badly for both of them, but just being in each other's company made for a better day.