2

September 12, 1996

"Please don't take any notice of the mess, but I've just moved in here with her and I'm still trying to figure out what to do with most of the stuff," Harm said as he pushed the door open.

Mac smiled. "That's all right." Glancing around the room, she stopped dead in her tracks as she spotted a wedding picture of Harm and his wife, which was standing on the dresser next to the door. She didn't even know her name. What Mac did get was that she indeed had a twin. "Well, that explains a lot," she murmured.

Harm stopped and followed her gaze. "Diane. Her name was Diane."

Mac nodded, reaching for the photograph. "It sure explains the look this morning, and why your daughter thinks that I'm her mother. This could've been me."

Harm swallowed. "Tally only knows her mother from the pictures I keep around the house. She was too young to remember Diane when she died."

Mac's eyes scanned the rest of the room. He'd done a great job on the place, she could tell. There were two more pictures of him and Diane on the mantelpiece, but the place was mostly filled with pictures of him and Tally or Tally by herself.

"Tally?"

"Talitha. Tally rolls off your tongue just that tiny bit easier." Diane had invented the nickname, but that wasn't information he was willing to share just yet.

Mac slowly wandered around the apartment. Sure, it was still a mess. But who cared about that right now? Moving house could be such a pain. Mac had to admit that so far, she liked Tally. She was all fun and happy, probably because of her father's efforts to keep her the little girl.

Harm, on the other hand, still had an air of grief surrounding him. She'd seen the struggle in his eyes when she volunteered to take Tally. And she was sure his mother was struggling with this, as well. Trish had lost her beloved daughter-in-law and Mac knew now that she was the spitting image of Diane. That would make it difficult for Trish to accept her as Harm's new partner at work.

Harm emerged from his bedroom, sea bag in hand, and stopped to look at her. He wished he could stop seeing through her Marine green uniform, but right now, all the memories surfaced. Their first date, their wedding day, the pregnancy… everything. He swallowed hard and started to walk to his desk.

Mac had seen it. "I understand, Harm. I can't even imagine what it must feel like to…"

He closed his briefcase with a hard bang. "I… I don't really feel comfortable discussing this with you, Major."

She understood. "Let's focus on the case ahead?"

Harm let his breath out, thankful for the redirection. "Thank you." He blinked. There he went again. Although her voice was half an octave higher, hearing her talk made this difficult. Hell, she couldn't even help it that she looked like Di. And he was trying so very hard not to hold it against her. Because she simply couldn't be.

The door to Harm's apartment opened and Mac immediately felt a little figure cling onto her legs, hugging tight. Instinctively, she caressed Tally's head and then looked up. The look in Trish's eyes was hard and cold.

"Major."

"Mrs. Rabb."

Trish turned around. "That's Mrs. Burnett, Major."

Mac felt her head go up and down. "I apologize, ma'am. It was not my intention to insult you."

"You already did that by picking my granddaughter up this morning, Major." She waved dismissively. "What are you doing here?"

"Mom, quit it," Harm shot his mother a warning look. "We're going away for a couple of days. I'll call Andrea so she can take Tally when you go back to California. A case has come up and duty calls. I'm sorry."

Tally reached up to Mac and Mac picked her up. "You heard that, Tally?"

"Mommy and Daddy go away," the toddler said.

Harm nodded. "Yes, honey. But I promise to be back as soon as I can, all right?" He kissed the top of her head. "Let's go."

Mac set Tally down on her feet and waved at the little girl.

"Mommy kiss!"

Mac bit her lip, looking from Tally to Harm. "Um…"

"It's okay. It's too early to change her mind about it yet. Play along with her, if you don't mind. I'll find a way to make it clear to her when we get back."

"I don't mind." Mac bent down to kiss Tally on her cheek. "Bye, little girl." She smiled and followed Harm outside.

Frank looked at his wife and shook his head. "I know this is a shock, but you can't dictate the way he lives his life. Imagine if it was you, and Harmon's doppelgänger showed up four years later. Harm has had less than a few minutes to figure out how to deal with this before we showed up with Tally."

"That doesn't make it easier," Trish spat back.

He shook his head and softly squeezed her shoulder. "Do you honestly think that it's easy for him? He used to see her every day, talk to her, hold her… He's trying to hold it together for Tally, but I'm pretty sure it's eating him alive right now. Don't you think?"

Trish nodded. "Yes," she whispered. "It must be."

Frank wasn't that far off in his assessment of Harm's inner struggle. It wasn't easy to see the image of his late wife every time he turned. Hell, he didn't even have to turn. Knowing that she was sitting next to him, made him want to hold her hand. The few times he'd started to reach for her slender fingers, he had to remind himself that it wasn't Di sitting next to him.

Mac was leaning against the truck when he emerged from the toilets. All it took for the man was a pair of faded jeans and a black shirt. It made his eyes stand out, even though he still looked tired. She'd seen his hand moving sometimes and knew that his mind still hadn't completely registered that she wasn't Diane. Not that she minded. How could he when it had only been mere hours?

Billie turned to look at the sky. "There's a storm coming up. I don't know how far you guys want to go?"

Harm looked up to Mac, the ghost of a smile playing around his lips. "She's taking me this time. She's driving."

She gave him a wide grin in return. "It's still another fifty miles or so. We'll manage."

Harm wrote a check and they got into the car. The first few minutes were spent in silence.

"Can I ask you something?" Mac asked.

"What?" His head snapped up and he smiled apologetically. "Yes, of course, I'm sorry."

"How long were you married?"

He took a deep breath. "Almost five years. We'd been together for longer than that, though."

Mac nodded her head. "Tally is a very bright girl."

Harm grinned. "Of course she is, hon. She's a mix of you and me…" He sucked his breath in and groaned, realizing what he'd said. "I'm sorry, Mac, that was completely…"

"Don't apologize to me," she cut him short. "I can't blame you. I've seen her, remember. I know it could've been me. It's fine." She took a hand of the steering wheel and gave his arm a quick squeeze.

He rested his head against the headrest and closed his eyes. "It's not fine, Mac. She's gone, she won't be back, and the fact that you look an awful lot like her doesn't mean I get to make a comment like that."

Mac tried to focus on the road, but it was hard not to look at him. She understood that he was all frantic about making a mistake in her presence, but she didn't mind. She couldn't. "Don't worry about it, okay? It's been hours since the universe dropped a bombshell on you and who knows how many times it already crossed your mind? I don't blame you!"

He nodded. "I get that!"

She gave him a smile. "Right. Sorry."

Harm was staring at her lips. She even had the same smile. A lot about her was the same. How was he ever going to get used to working with her? How in the hell was he going to cope with seeing her every day?