Again, this is an OOOOLD story. I'm trying to fix some aspects of it and then paste it so the updates are going to come faster because it's all written up.
From what I gathered - I think I started this between Season 9 and 10 when we speculated that Mac had endometriosis and Webb was still dead. (Thank God. ;))

PART 2 - Be With You
-

What you gonna do?
I think I should be with you
A love that's over do
I think I should be with you.
"Be With You" By: Bangles.

Friday
July 16th, 2004
2345 Local
Washington, DC

"To the Admiral." Commander Harmon Rabb Jr. along with his colleagues all raised their glasses to toast the return of Admiral AJ Chegwidden. "We sure as hell missed you, sir." The months without their commanding officer were nothing short of a headache. The new JAG, Admiral Scott J. Meyers, was a total head case. No one quite understood how he had moved up the ranks, less of all Harm and Mac who seemed to be stricken by the Admiral Meyers' wrath whenever and however he could dish it out to them. It was finally the SECNAV that got fed up with Meyers and pleaded, yes, pleaded for AJ to come back to JAG.

The Chinese restaurant was the same where the crew had celebrated Petty Officer Coates' promotion. Lt. Commander Bud Roberts and his very pregnant wife, Lt. Harriet Sims, sat next to Petty Officer Jennifer Coates. Commander Sturgis Turner sat next to the Robert's along with his girlfriend Varese Chestnut. Next to them sat Harm and Lt. Colonel Sarah 'Mac' MacKenzie. Yes indeed, the crew was all there. The evening was spent telling jokes about life at JAG without AJ. It continued with AJ's stories from his few months away from the throne. Close to midnight, the crew headed out of the restaurant. Before they each headed towards their respective vehicles, one of them was in for a surprise.

Two men dressed in shabby suits moved swiftly and stopped in front of Harm. "Commander Harmon Rabb?"

Harm shifted into defensive mode. "Yes, and you are?"

"I am detective Mark Nivens, this is detective Carl Graves you are a suspect in a case involving drug trafficking and murder." One of the detectives moved forward to try and persuade Harm to join them. "You need to come with us, sir."

Harm looked around to his friends and then back to the detectives. To him, it had to be a joke. "Funny, how about you guys go and pick on someone else?"

AJ stepped out from behind the group and moved forward, brining his arms across his chest. "What is this about?"

Nivens looked between the two men and went into his run down of what Harm was supposedly being brought in for. "We have reason to believe that the Commander was involved in a drug trade that went south."

AJ practically laughed in the detective's face. The idea of Harm involved in something so low, could not be fathomed. Sure, he was a loose canon, but not one to be so stupid to toss away his career. "When exactly was this?"

"Last night." Detective Graves said, finally choosing to do more than nod at Nivens' explanation.

"I find it extremely impossible to believe that Commander Rabb was wrapped up in any narcotics related incident." AJ offered in a stern voice that would have made military personal run for cover. He was trying to intimidate the detectives, unfortunately, it wasn't working. "He was also working late last night."

"You were there?" Nivens asked.

"And so was I." Bud added.

Nivens just shrugged, he still wasn't too convinced that Harm had nothing to do about anything. "Until what time?"

"About ten, ten-thirty." Bud offered.

Nivens smirked as a loophole was presented to him. He took it and ran, hoping nothing else would show up, hoping he could nail his man. "The transaction occurred closer to midnight, which gives the Commander here plenty of time to. . ."

Mac chose this time to jump in. "The Commander left JAG ops and was with me. . . all night." Her last words were dripping with innuendo, leaving no one, not even Harm himself to dispute the validity of her story. Everyone stared wordlessly at the pair. Having a loss of words, Harm looked down at Mac as if she had grown two heads. Last night, as far as he recalled, he was at his apartment, all night. However, he chose to keep that bit to himself. Smiling, Mac wrapped her arm around Harm's.

Nivens along with every other hard working detective hated defeat. He realized right away, there was nothing to do. But that didn't mean that he couldn't keep a watch on Harm.. "You're under investigation commander, so I suggest you not leave the city."

"See you soon." Graves added, patting Harm on the back as he followed Nivens back to their unmarked car.

Silence struck the group and as the minutes elapsed, no one said a thing, until AJ regarded Harm and Mac. "All night, huh? Well, nice that the two of you FINALLY got your head out of your sixes. . . Even nicer that you managed to keep it out of the office." With a grin, AJ slapped Harm on the shoulder and then smiled at Mac. "Enjoy your evening."

Bud tuned over to Mac and smiled sheepishly. Well, if the Colonel and the Commander were indeed an item, she wouldn't need a ride home after all. (Her Vette was in the shop.) "Colonel, you still need a ride home?"

Harm, not missing a beat, quickly jumped in. "No I'll take her."

The drive home was quite silent, until they hit the first stop light. Harm had been chewing on his inner cheek, Mac's innuendo was making him wonder. "Why did you lie?" He said, cutting through the silence.

Mac looked over him and smiled. "Because you didn't do it."

"You're sure of that?" It was a statement more than a question.

Mac responded with one word. "Positive."

So stunned was Harm that he basically didn't even notice the light has turned green. Luckily, at that time of night, there was no one on the road. "You're kidding me?"

"Do you want me to think you are guilty?" Is it that he wanted to be the martyr for something he didn't do. . . again? To Mac's horror, mental images of the Singer fiasco came to mind. A time where he kept to himself to try and protect his brother. Was he trying to protect someone now?

Harm didn't know how to answer that. Simply put, he didn't give a rat's ass about the police, he was too busy trying to decipher what exactly Mac meant by the 'all night' comment. Was she just trying to protect him, or was it something that she wanted just as badly as he did? "No, just wondering what popped into your head to have you tell everyone we're . . .umm involved." The light changed back to red, but neither of them noticed.

"I didn't tell anyone that we were involved. . .they led themselves to believe that." Mac was amused, so amused at how her friends received the possibility of a romantic involvement between her and Harm. The Admiral was the most surprising; she figured he'd be the first one giving them lectures as to why having a relationship with someone in the word place was a no no. Then again, if Bud and Harriet could do it. . . Well, Harm and Mac weren't Bud and Harriet. Simply put, Harm and Mac put the 'fun' in dysfunctional.

The word flew out of his mouth before Harm had a chance to sensor them. "Whatever, Mac. . ." He was about to start driving, as he noticed that the light was green again. Mac stopped him completely, by putting a hand on his arm.

The instant that his eyes locked back onto hers, he saw pain, the same pain that he noticed in her eyes back in Sydney. Only, back then, he didn't realize that it was pain. "You don't sound all that thrilled." Though her voice was hushed, there was a catch to it, one that Harm didn't miss. She looked away from him and stared out the passenger window. Her voice found the determination that she really didn't feel, but 'what the hell,' She thought, 'no need to mask anymore the hurt he's put me through.' So, she turned back to him and didn't mean for her voice to sound so authoritarian, but it did. "Is it that you don't want to be involved with me?"

Harm looked away; he didn't want to talk about that. Not now, if possible, not ever. He'd given up the fantasy of being with Mac, because it was just that, a fantasy. It was clear to him that they were supposed to be in each other's lives, but as nothing more than friends and working partners. Intimate life outside of that was not to be dwelled upon, it would only bring a heart break. Not to mention Clay was gone and it had deeply affected her; so much that she was going back to the therapist at Bethesda. "Maaac. . . let's not talk about this." He was trying his best to dismiss her, to stop before he gave in so much that he had to push her away again. It was best, he decided, to take what he could get from her and if it was just friendship, then so be it.

But, Mac wouldn't be dismissed. Not now, not when she was on her way back to life that had been lost for over a year. Not since before Paraguay, the Singer trial and their time – read: nightmare, on the bench, had she felt so alive. So, no, she wouldn't be dismissed, she would NOT let him. "No, let's do. . . Let's talk about it."

Sighing, Harm put the car in gear and moved them to the side of the road. She waited for him, waited patiently for him to respond. "What is it?" He didn't mean for his voice to come out so. . . angry. But, he wasn't ready for it. If he stopped lying to himself, Sarah MacKenzie SCARED him.

"Well, what is with you?" Mac said just as sharply. He was going to interject something else, but she decided to cut him off completely, she had a point to make. Especially since during the spring and into the summer they seemed to be moving somewhere. Or was she the one moving and him standing still? It didn't matter because, after the first therapy session since Clay's death, she realized, she was still and would always be in love with Harm. It was as simple as that.

On the complicated side, she wanted to feel whole again before she pursued something with him. And whole she was feeling again now, after her health condition had been treated effectively, after she felt like a woman - a whole woman, again. Mac, the Marine was still there and now Sarah, the woman, was to be given another chance, one that she was defiant in not screwing up. "After Clay died you promised to be there for me and you were, even though that whole health scare when we decided to give the baby deal another year to make sure I was healthy. . ." Mac paused for a moment and she watched him. The conversation about the baby deal was rehashed the night the Admiral retired. She didn't say 'no' to the idea, she just said 'not yet.' Of course, Harm heard 'no.' "Well I am healthy, I am fine, and it wasn't serious. . ."

This time, Harm jumped in quickly before she could shut him down again. "And I am glad for it. . . you had me worried." On cue, he reached for her hand and squeezed gently. It wasn't meant to be a gesture for pity, but it was a gesture that they had, once again, survived.

Mac slipped her hand out of his and frowned. Through the time that she dealt with the endometriosis, he was, well. . . NOT HARM. Oh, he looked like Harm, talked like Harm, but it wasn't Harm. The arrogant, self-centered, flyboy was replaced by a considerate, concerned and rational adult. Mac liked it. She liked it a lot, but along the way sometimes she felt that he pitied her.

He pitied her for her past, her battle with alcohol, her numerous mistakes with men, her health scare, the family that she wanted but never could quite attain. And at this very moment, as she sat across from him, she was tired of being pitied. "Okay, so is it that you were with me through it all because you pitied me? Because the moment I was fine you stepped away. . . again." The hurt was painfully evident. And for a moment, he had nothing to say.

Harm just stared out the window, trying to formulate something that would not bring on World War whatever between the two of them. Did he pity her, at times? Yes, he did. He felt sorry that her life, just as his, went sometimes out of control. If he was truthful with himself, what Harm was most sorry about was that he COULD NOT help her this time. All he could do was be there, and that was simply not enough for a man that had a compelling need to be a hero. He couldn't save her, just watch it all unfold. Yes, she was healthy and he was happy about that, so happy that, again he distanced himself. Why? Because he wasn't sure what she wanted from him. He'd tried pushing their relationship along when Webb had died and Mac didn't seem interested. "What do you want from me?"

"You, damnit!" Mac didn't hesitate, she didn't even breathe. She just said the two words with conviction. And just in case he didn't get it, she decided to clarify the specifications. "Harm, I want a relationship with you. . .I want to be with you." But, he didn't say a damned thing, he just sat there with that lost little boy look that only Harm could pull off. "If you don't want one with me, then let me know so that I can try to go on with life and try, for once, to let you go."

That was something that Harm wasn't expecting; an ultimatum that would effectively put someone else in her life again. How many men would have to pass between them before he finally let go? "I want one with you." He said almost frantically. Harm couldn't go through the pain of seeing her with someone else.

"Then what is the problem?"

How should he respond? Did he want to let her know how insecure he really was? No, but he didn't have much of a choice, because he never really thought it would come to this, a direct conversation. "I thought you didn't want one with me. . ."

Mac placed her hand over his. She didn't meant to chuckle, but the whole thing was so absurd. How did a man that had so many women throwing themselves at him, not get that she was so attracted to him. "Okay, let's start with step one. .. . Communication, when you aren't sure ASK."

Harm breathed a sigh of relief and the two of them chuckled at their predicament. "We're quite the pair, huh?"

"You can say that again." The smile reached her eyes. Mac understood that the missing aspect of their relationship was communication.

"How about we move to step two." He added with a sheepish grin which only made her eye brows reach her hairline in confusion.

Mac's trademark eyebrow rose. She saw the mischief in his eyes. "Step two?"

Nodding, Harm leaned in across the center console and brought his head close to hers. His voice was low and seductive, "Kiss me Mac."

1840 Local
ZNN Headquarters
Virginia

Images of a drug deal were running through a small screen. A Naval Commander had just put a bullet into one of the vagrants that used to inhabit Washington. Stuart Dunston sat, alone, in the editing room. Nervously, he moved over to a small table and fixed himself a drink. "That couldn't be Rabb," He thought the same thing he thought over and over again. Still, the camera didn't lie, the footage didn't lie and Harm's face was plastered all over the last few frames.

Sighing, he stood and shot off the footage and after slipping the tape back inside it's case, he headed out of there. He knew that he should have probably contacted the proper authorities, but it did occur to him that it was possibly a JAG investigation. He knew Harm and knew that men like him did not and would not get into messes like that. Then again, he thought about the murder that Harm was suspected for. Though he didn't exactly cover that case, it was all over the news.

Still, he knew Rabb wasn't the type to get caught up in messes like those. Not to mention, he wasn't willing to get on Harm's bad side because that would mean, no more rides in supersonic aircrafts. Grinning to himself, Dunston slipped the tape into the pocket of his jacket and headed out of ZNN. He would keep the footage to himself. . . for now.