So peeps have commented "If it's all done, post the whole thing."
Well, I don't wanna. :P

CHAPTER 2 - NEW LIFE

Complicating, circulating

New life, New Life

Operating, Generating

New Life, New Life

"New Life." By: Depeche Mode

2033 Zulu

Undisclosed Location

Virginia

Zachary and Mackenzie Taylor were re-born. The plan was simple in theory but would be hell in execution. Harm and Mac had to become friends with Alec Alvarez and hopefully find what he was up to. Alec had heard of the real Zack and Mac from a friend of his that had hired them once to handle an inside job. Not only did the pair know their weaponry, they both were pretty good at other tools of the trade, murder being one of their favorites. According to Intel, they were both feisty, sexy and completely enthralled with one another. Which posed the problem of having to pretend to be intimate when the two of them had spent a good amount of time avoiding their feelings for one another.

The other hellish problem was in regards to training. Though Harm and Mac had their fair share of training, neither of them had experienced anything as bad as Master Chief Mike Daverly. The training was literally like the last of hell week in a SEAL training course. It was designed to help train operatives with as little time as possible. The hours were long and painful, but, at least Harm and Mac now knew how to handle certain things.

"Don't forget, you need to learn to come out of the water quietly. . ." Master Chief Daverly yelled at Harm, Mac and two other teams who were in the Olympic sized pool. "Colonel, Commander. . . good job." He said, giving the thumbs up to Harm and Mac. "Time's up for today." Swiftly he walked away from the pool area and back to his office.

Mac smiled at Harm who returned the smile of his own. "Can we stay a bit longer until we get this perfect?" Mac asked, slipping on her mask and testing the SCUBA gear.

"Yep." Harm dove underwater with Mac and then practiced the hand signals that would be needed should they have to communicate under water. The Master Chief was surprised that two legal weenies with little previous training would be such a quick study. He watched him from the office window and grinned.

"They're over doing it don't you think, Chief?" Asked Max, who was closely monitoring Harm and Mac's progress.

Mac's and Harm's laughter echoed over the area as they came up and removed the gear. "C'mon MacKenzie, let's do a few laps before we head off."

"You challenging me, flyboy?" Mac raised her eyebrows, splashed Harm and started swimming off.

Master Chief shook his head and grinned once again. "They are dedicated, which is something I can't say about most of your people."

Max rolled his eyes and watched Harm and Mac.

Harm swam after Mac, letting her take the lead. He had to admit that she was a strong swimmer, much stronger than he thought she would be. Finally, when he caught up to her, Harm grabbed a foot and pulled her close to him. "So, since when were you such a good swimmer?"

"Since I used to swim anchor in the high school swim team." She confessed with a sly grin. "It was one of the few things I was sober for."

Harm raised his eyebrows and smiled. "Well, it shows that you were good."

Mac shrugged and treaded water, moving her hands slightly so that she would spin in the water. "We'll be okay, right?"

"Yea, we're a good team, Mac. . . I trust you implicitly." Harm had pulled himself out of the pool and was sitting on the edge watching her.

Mac sighed and with Harm's help came out of the water and sat next to him. "Good, because I am having one of those. . . FEELINGS I have."

"Uh oh. . .What kind of feeling?" Where sometimes he would joke with her about those metaphysical moments, truth was that he did take them seriously, Mac was usually right on. A woman who could find you in the middle of the ocean, during the storm of the century, could definitely be trusted with her metaphysical nuances.

Mac shrugged. "I don't know. . .That's the shitty part of my feelings. . ."

"Well, we'll be extra careful." Harm promised, standing up and offering her his hands to help her up. "Besides we're Batman and Robin, Butch and Sundance. . ."

"Yea, yea, yea. . . " Mac chuckled as she followed him away from the pool area and towards the lockers/showers.

After showering, Harm sat on one of the benches of the locker room waiting on Mac who was putting on some light makeup. "You really don't need any of that, sweetie pie, you look good without it."

Mac immediately froze and turned to face him. "Sweetie pie?" She looked as thou about to stab him with the eyeliner pencil.

Harm shrugged. "Yea, well, if we are going to be 'married' then some terms of endearment are in order." He said sheepishly.

"Sweetie pie?" Mac snorted and turned around to finish applying her lipstick. "How about, no."

"Well, what else would you like me to call you? Let's see." Harm said thoughtfully and turned away for a moment, when he looked back up at her, he tried to remain as sincere as possible. "We have. . . Buttercup, schnookums, honey muffin, sexy lips, hot stuff, sexy thang, lamb chop, love cup, sweet pea, kitten. . ." The list would have kept on, but he wanted to give Mac a chance to interject a few.

Mac rolled her eyes, trying so hard to not laugh out loud and failing miserably. Where did he get some of those terms? "Kitten? Not unless you want me to rip your arm out of it's socket. . . Better yet, I'll just scratch your eyes out." She playfully moved her hands as if a cat was attempting to scratch at him. Then she remembered something that would make him squirm, so, she used it. "How about. . .Sweet thing. . ."

Harm nearly fell off of the bench. 'Oh God, she remembered!' He tried to clear his throat, but his voice still came out strained. "Yea, I ah. .. guess I could call you that."

"Good, then it's settled." She rubbed her lips together, spreading the lipstick evenly and then turned to face Harm. With a sweet smile, she walked over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Harm sat, wild-eyed as if he was a pre-teen getting his first kiss. "You know, HONEY, you can't be so squeamish if we are pretending to be husband and wife."

Harm nodded stupidly, a smug look replacing his frightened one. "Right. . . Um, could we go now?" Before she had a chance to answer, Harm picked up his bag and headed out of the locker room. Mac smirked, she was definitely going to enjoy making him squirm.

They were back to business as they walked out of the locker room. Unfortunately, they ran into non-other than Clayton Webb. "So, you are the two new recruits."

"Hey there, Clay." Harm regarded the agent politely for Mac's sake. The child inside felt like running around Webb chanting some sort of break up song. Instead, Harm just opted for a silly smile as they passed the agent.

But an annoyed Webb wouldn't let bygones be bygones, he grabbed Harm's arm and glared at him. "You'd better make sure Sarah doesn't get hurt!"

Well, so much for pleasantries. "Unlike some OTHER MEN that I know, Harm doesn't let HIS partners get hurt. Now Clayton, if you don't mind." Mac glared him down, dismissing him. "Harm and I need to get some rest. . . Let's go Harm."

"Yes ma'am." Harm said, adding a satisfied grin for good measure.

Webb just watched them walk away. Bitterly he ground his teeth. "Damn you, Rabb."

Two Weeks Later

2130 Zulu

Shops At Sunset Place

Miami, Florida

"What do you think?" Mac walked out of the dressing room and stood in front of Harm who was sitting in an over sized chair, waiting for her to try a 'few things' on. The few things turned in to several things, but Harm didn't mind. He didn't mind at all, especially with the 'things' she was trying on. God apparently thought he had done something right in his life to allow him to witness Mac try on some of the hottest things he'd ever see on her, even if it was all for show.

It was a bit easier on him now, which was only because he'd seen her with less clothing when Mac decided they go to the beach. Harm nearly hyperventilated, when Mac stood wearing a barely there pink bikini. The real test came, of course, when he was asked to rub her down with sun block. Harm found himself confused as to whether or not he should enjoy his hands on Mac's body. He'd never touched the naked flesh of her back or shoulders. So, he timidly rubbed the lotion on. The surprise came later, when they came out of the water. Mac asked Harm to take the sun block out of the bag to reapply some and when he turned around, Harm's mouth went dry. He stood motionless. Mac was, well. . . topless. Okay, so she was laying face down in a towel, but she was still topless! It took him a few tries to get his brain working again. He effectively pushed all of his, not so PG-13 thoughts out of his head and tried not to enjoy it too much.

Mac too felt all of it to be. . .well, strange. For years, military code taught them how to present themselves in public. Usually, when on business, they would stand a regulatory distance from each other and use their ranks as names. Now, it was odd to be allowed to touch. She'd noticed Harm's hesitation when she was laying on the sand with the straps of her bra loose. Frowning, Mac only wondered what he thought about her. Could he, would he ever love her as much as she loved him? If he was having THAT much trouble just putting on some stupid lotion, apparently not. So, she decided that she was going to enjoy the false attention, it was better than non at all. Later, she could throw a pity party for herself.

According to their contacts within the CIA, Alec Alvarez's goons were watching and waiting. So, Harm and Mac had to pretend to be a newlywed couple. So far, things were fine except for the minor public display of affection which both of them tensed at. You would figure that after eight years of dancing around the subject, things would be easier, but it wasn't.

Harm looked Mac up and down, not able to stop the grin from spreading. "Wow. . .I am. . ." He cleared his throat and sat up comfortably on the chair. "IF I were your husband I'd die of pride."

Playfully, Mac walked over to Harm and ran a finger down his chest. "You ARE my husband." But, where it would look like she was being playful with him, Mac had shot him a look that could kill over his screw up. Turning back to the changing room, she though about Harm, again. She loved him. If she thought about it properly, there wasn't at time when she didn't love him. So, why was this mission so difficult?

Harm sighed as he watched Mac walk away. This mission was going to be the death of him. They'd been playing husband and wife for two days and he already kept a nice tab on how many kisses they shared. Kisses that felt nothing like the ones they had shared before. They were practiced, controlled, impersonal and it wasn't that he didn't want to change them, but would Mac? Harm rubbed at his eyes. He hated the contact lenses, they were so uncomfortable and such a pain in the ass to put on. Mac had to help each and every time. He blinked a few times and the lenses finally fell into place. "Zack? Zack? Let's go."

Harm barely caught his alias, until Mac tugged him up. His arm went around her waist and he was happy she didn't tense away, they needed to act like a very happy, very physically intimate couple. Parts of the whole gig blew them both away, and according to the information that the CIA had dug up, Alec Alvarez was a pervert. They were hoping Mac could distract him enough for Harm to be able to check things out at the house.

Later that day, Harm and Mac went back to the hotel that they were staying at. Mac was on her laptop while Harm was laying in bed, flipping through channels. "Since when are you such a computer junkie? You've been on that thing for. . ."

"Twenty two minutes and thirty seconds." She said courtly, offering Harm a sideways glance and then a grin. Shrugging, she continued scrolling through the web page. "Ever since I discovered eBay. . . Do you know how much stuff you can find on there?"

Harm sighed dramatically. "I have a teenager, who made me create a account which makes my VISA card PAINFULLY aware of how much stuff you can find on eBay."

Mac chuckled. "You're spoiling her, you know?"

"Yep." He said shamelessly. Giving up on the TV, he turned it off and placed his hands behind his head. Harm studied Mac for a moment, she certainly did look like a kid on a computer. Eventually, she noticed him watching, shut off the laptop and joined him on the bed. He couldn't help but smile, when she laid next to him and propped up on her elbow. There was something sooo familiar about that, yet it was so long ago. If he closed his eyes, he knew that the good memories from Paraguay would surface and it wasn't a place he wanted to go back to. Clearing his throat he just watched as Mac raised both her eyebrows, a silent way of asking what was up with him. "I am beginning to hate this waiting game."

"Why, do you have somewhere else you'd rather be?" She was a little off put that sometimes it seemed like Harm would rather be anywhere than with her. It was far from the truth.

Harm shook his head. "No, but it bugs me that Max told us to pretend we are on vacation."

"It's been somewhat a vacation though." Mac pointed out since they had gone shopping and even to the beach a couple of times. Then she frowned and flipped onto her back. "Except for that impending notion over our heads that any moment we could be snatched or something."

"Webb looked jealous." He pointed out not so smoothly, but it had been bugging him since they saw the spook nearly two weeks ago. 'Ooops. . . Open mouth, insert several feet.'

Mac grabbed a pillow and whacked Harm over the head. "Do not start. . . Because you know it is over between he and I."

Harm winced at her tone. Yep, he definitely needed to start thinking before opening his mouth. "Sorry, I didn't want to bring up anything painful for you."

Flipping back to her side, she grinned at him. "The only painful thing is when I am reminded of the time I wasted." Frowning, she sighed again and looked thoughtful.

"It's non of my business, but what DID happen between you two?" Harm knew it was a deadly question and any moment she would likely jump all over him. He was surprised to get an answer.

"I found him with another woman. . ." She said with a shrug. It hurt her to make the discovery, but she expected it, seeing as she and Webb's relationship was less than healthy. "He promised so much in Paraguay and when he was recovering. The bottom line, I used him to figure out how you were doing in the agency. . .He used me as his latest trophy girl. . . And I let him."

Harm too flipped to his side, he wasn't going to press her more on the other woman business. Unconsciously, he moved his hand up to her face and down her cheek. "It's past and he does have much to do with this op. . . We'll be fine."

Mac looked at him for a moment, the same confidence in his voice reached his eyes, she was surprised about that. "How can you be so confident?"

"Because I trust my partner." His voice was so soft and tender, she swore that the man across from her wasn't the same anymore. Harm had changed since Christmas and she liked it. Though they still had their arguments, he seemed to be more in tune with things that she needed and she was liking that aspect. They started at the beginning once before, they certainly could do that again and hopefully for the last time.

Mac looked deep into his eyes, missing the sea green orbs that were hidden behind the contact lenses. Without hesitation, she moved forward and kissed his lips. It was soft at first, but quickly progressed when Harm was covering her body with his own. The shrill of their hotel phone brought them back to reality.

"Shit." They both said at the same time and started laughing over the interruption. Harm quickly moved off Mac and picked up the phone. "Taylor." He snapped his fingers a couple times and got Mac's attention. 'It's him.' He mouthed. "Yes. Star Island." Grabbing a paper and a pen from the drawer, Harm jotted down the information and then turned back to Mac. "Got it, thank you."

"Well?" Mac asked, expectantly.

Harm grinned and tossed the information on the bed. "We're in."