Harm was the only one in the room. He carefully held her hand in his, mindful of the cracks in her skin. It has been twelve hours since Webb brought them into the room. One month and four weeks since Mac, left them all. He didn't know what was appropriate to feel. Her hand in marriage at the time of her departure belonged to someone else, they were hardly talking to each other, but now his heart ached with the pain of loosing a spouse of many years.
"Listen Marine, you wake up and we will have that long put off talk about overrated dress whites and gold wings. I think all this worrying is causing the Admiral too lose more hair, you wouldn't want to be held responsible for that now would you?"
He didn't know what to say. She needed to wake up and come back to them all; she wasn't an easily replaced piece in all their lives.
"Come on Juliet, Romeo's waiting, wake up for him."
He laid his head down on her bed beside their hands.
The mission was to steal back nuclear weapon plans from a lab in Tokyo. The whole project had Mac at attention. There is something involved in this that she couldn't figure out. Before she went out on this case she left her bag of personal items with her CO. He would most definitely look through it all to make sure no communication was made. Her last message to Harm was made inside of a book. It wasn't right for him to obsess over whatever happened to her, when she was always telling him not to let his obsessions live his life. If she returned or not she new he would be ok, and he would take care of everyone else for her. It wasn't like they were romantically involved, but he was the closest friend she has had since Eddie.
"Mackenzie you ready?"
"Yeah."
"Then lets do this." Replied her friend
It was a success. They had breached and retrieved the plans without a peep from security. It was almost too easy. After they were finished they all went out to celebrate. Things were getting back to the old days, until a month later when approached by their CO.
They were told to leave the US and to stay in Chechnya until they were retrieved. Not long after they arrived and settled in new identities, they were attacked. Taking one look at them and seeing the way they worked, she knew it was a set up. Her own people had set her up. A report must have been "anonymously" received telling them about American spies in the area. BY the time they captured her she could not warn the others. They were beaten over a period of time and tortured for information. No one spoke, it is what they were trained to do. "Either dye being silent at the hands of the enemy, or dye a traitors death when they returned." That was the way things were done. She wasn't sure when she started to black out from the pain, or loose strength from the loss of blood, but one of the last things she thought she saw was Harms brother.
"God what are you doing here Mac?"
He carried her or helped her walk as far as he could. His people were coming to get him tonight, and he was planing on one more passenger. After returning safely to his land he was forced to hand Mac over to Two American officials who thanked him for his kindness to the American. He felt he could not tell them he knew who she was. They loaded her onto a jet and took off. It would be weeks before he could get word to his American brother.
"Have the others been recovered?" Asked the man not in uniform, smoking a cigarette. He was out of place in the room of Marine and Navy officials.
"We have recovered three dead, five alive, and the one who was recovered by the Russians. We are not sure if she will survive. A clean up crew has made sure no traces of them will be found were they were stationed. We have left the Russian boy alone because we would not want to start an unnecessary war with them. What I would like to know is why you felt this was necessary. They are great operatives."
The man with his cigarette smiled.
"Think of it as a test. Survival of the fittest."
"You have my best op on her death bed." Replied a man sitting at the end of the table.
"If she is your best, then she will recover, if not she was not."
"She will be placed in a Pennsylvania Hospital. She has friends looking for her, one who is with the CIA, they will find her."
"Should we allow that?"
The man with the cigarette exhaled
"Yes, she is of no use to us at the moment. If she survives and we need her, we will find her. We have our new recruits, now they need to be tested. Trust me I have dealt with men and their endless searches before. They aren't a problem, just an annoyance and I really wouldn't want to deal with that here, so let the people at JAG have their friend. Besides maybe we'll get lucky and she'll breed with the right kind of man."
Everything was a wonderful daze. The pain was gone and her body was full of a childlike spirit. Mac was sitting on a bench in the middle of a park on a day when the sun was amazingly bright. She was watching a young boy with dark mousy hair playing on the swings. He was waiting for someone. He swung and swung with all his energy trying to see how hi he could reach when another child ran from behind him tagging his shoulder.
"Your it Harm."
She laughed as he tried to catch her around the set.
"What took you so long Sarah. You promised you'd be back right after lunch."
The little girl looked at her friend and smiled.
"I'm sorry Harm. I promise to be on time next time, K? Truce?"
She held out her hand to her young friend.
He smiled a big bright smile and tagged her on her shoulder.
"Your it."
Mac watched them laugh and play. They looked so happy in their own world. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was somewhere she had to be, something else she had to do.
"Any change Harriet?" Harm had to leave the building for awhile to check in at work and his apartment to got new clothes. Harriet sat with her all day and prayed for her friends health. There was a time not in the distant past that they were both happy.
"OK Harriet one more shot and you tell all."
They were playing a game of darts one night after work at the Irish Pub they hung out at. They weren't really playing the traditional way, but a way that was just so much more exciting. If Mac hit the center, Harriet had to give a secret, If Harriet hit the center Mac had to spill it all out to her.
"Colonel I do not believe you have seen me play darts. I will have you talking so much ma'am that you will not know what happened. Have you ever tried playing this with Bud or the Commander, when they have had a few drinks? I heard the most interesting things from them. Since this game is a game of secrecy I could never reveal what was sad, unless of course I was forced to reveal them." She said with a knowing smile to the Colonel
"Well lets just see if it is my lucky day." Mac concentrated on hitting the center of the board. When she hit the center she turned around and smiled at Harriet.
"I do believe you are in dept to me. The price is one of Harms secrets."
They were laughing so hard as Harriet told her some of the stories Harm had revealed to her in his drunken daze.
"He said his head was stuck in through the railing until his mom came home. Then Frank had to cut it to get him out. The girls were teasing him at school about having a big head He actually thought his head would shrink if he tried squeezing it through. I swear Ma'am I thought he was going to cry when he talked about them teasing him."
They went on all night trading stories about Harm and Bud. God those two could be a handful. When Harm and Bud walked up to them at the end of the night Mac and Harriet just took one look and cracked up. The men had no idea what was going on with the two women.
"No. The doctors were in earlier to check her out. They said that when she was found at the other hospital her major injuries had already been attended to. They think it was the shock to her body that has placed her in a coma, that and the body needs to heal itself. But there has been no change from her."
Harm had already heard it all from the doctor. He decided to change the subject to something happier for Harriet.
"Things were a little more up beat at work then they have been. I think after AJ's party Tiner and Gunny have some idea of what is going on, but Lt. Singer is still clueless. I even had to keep her from cleaning out Mac's office today. When she asked the Adimiral about it, he smiled Harriet. Just smiled and told her he had plans for that office and not to touch it. She walked away mumbling something about competing with a ghost, but he just let it pass and walked back in his office. We really do work in a wonderful place don't we?"
Harriet was glad things were getting back to normal. JAG was a wonderful place when everyone was being their usual selves.
"Yes Commander it is a great place to work. Lots of friends. Now you know how we all felt when you returned to go flying. Now I am not saying it was a bad choice, we should all follow our hearts and live our dreams no matter what we have to do to get there. All I meant was that you were missed. We all loved having you around and missed you when you weren't."
Harriet really was a beautifully caring woman. Bud deserved her and she him.
"Thank You Harriet. I don't think I will be going anywhere for a long time. I left a lot of people behind last time."
She smiled at Mac lying on the bed.
"Well I should be heading home now. Is there anything you want Bud to bring you later on."
"No thanks Harriet. I will be fine. Goodnight."
"Goodnight Sir."
Harm looked over to Mac and smiled.
"See Mac. We all want you to wake up."
"Come on Sarah it is time to go home."
The young boy was obviously becoming upset that his young female friend would not return home with him.
"Harm it's so nice here. I don't want to go home."
"Sarah you have too. Your family will be looking for you."
"No Harm I am not going."
The little girl turned in the opposite direction and faded away in the now coming fog.
Mac looked around her. The sun was gone, the children were gone and she didn't know where she was to go.
Three weeks passed before there was any change from Mac. The doctors took her off the respirator and moved her to another room. Harm and Harriet continued to come everyday, Bud and the Admiral when they were away from work and Webb when he was in town. Harriet was sitting with her telling her about little AJ when Mac's eyes started to flutter open. She noticed this and stood up.
"Ma'am?" Harriet wasn't sure of what to do. She pressed the call button for the doctor. "Mac can you here me?"
They were all standing around the office. Bud laughing with Harriet, Tiner trying to tell Gunny about his alien interests and Harm was watching the tv screens with the Admiral. Lt. Singer was watching in the background, staring at Mac's office. Mac emerged from the elevators with a smile on her face. She was glad to be back here. She walked into the bullpen and they all turned to salute her. Lt. Singer came out from where she was standing and stood directly infront of Mac.
"I don't believe you are ready to come back ma'am. I don't think this will ever be your place again. Did you really think they would all forgive you for lieing and leaving, act like nothing happened. I thought you were self- centered before but now I just think you are stupid."
All Mac could do was stand there speechless. What was there to say? Then she felt a pain in her side.
"What's wrong ma'am. You look ill. Uh oh ma'am you are out of uniform. The one you are wearing is no good."
Mac looked down to see blood staining through her uniform jacket. Singer was holding a bloody knife in her hands. When she looked up to the others they were all watching her.
"Harm?"
He shook his head and turned away from her. Harriet, Bud, The Admiral, Tiner, and the Gunny all turned away.
"See told you they wouldn't forgive you. They don't care what happens to you now. Looks like I might win."
Mac looked around and she was alone. The pain was becoming too much to bear when she collapsed to the ground.
"Harm! No!"
Since Harriet reported Mac's movement earlier that day, Harm and Bud have been sitting around her waiting for her to wake up. Her doctors said it could have been a body reflex or it could be a sign that she is dreaming. If dreaming was the case they expected her to wake sometime in the next few hours. When she did it scared them all out of their thoughts. Everything was silent until the quiet woman on the bed woke up screaming.
"No!" Her breathing was out of control and they all tried to calm her down before she re-injured herself.
"Mac calm down. Mac?"
She didn't seem responsive to anything that was happening around her.
Mac couldn't see very well. Everything was blurry and the sounds were mixed. There were people in the room, that she could feel, but she didn't know who they were. That was until she felt his hand on her face. Her vision was clearing and she could see Harm thousand dollar smile."
"That's a real nice smile commander. I am sure it gets you what you want." Her voice was scratchy and she could hear the sound of Bud and Harriet laughing at her joke.
"Well at least you're here to see it." Harriet handed him a cup ice for the Colonel.
"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?"
The last thing she remembered was being captured in Chechnya, and the horrible beatings that followed. Tears started coming to her eyes at the memory of her friends dying around her.
"You were found in a hospital in Pennsylvania. Webb brought you here. Apparently you ended up captured with the same people who had my brother. When he was recovered he brought you with him. Webb received a notice from someone telling him that you were safe now with and not to worry about the agency?"
She nodded for him to continue.
"You were severely injured when you were found. You've been in a coma a couple of weeks. We didn't know if you would wake up. Harriet and I have been here with you, Bud and the Admiral when they could get away from the extra work. Not everyone knows you are alive Mac. We weren't sure what was going to happen when you woke up. Didn't know where you would return too. It has been interesting watching Lt. Singer pace by your office everyday." He watched her cringed as he spoke.
"What is it?"
She couldn't get the dream with Lt. Singer out of her head.
"I am sorry. So sorry that I did what I did. I never should have let you all get close to me." She was fighting tears. Mac felt so tired.
"It wasn't your fault Mac. We all have been worried for you since this all started. You did what you had to do. No one blames you for anything. I for one am more interested in your story."
"There isn't much I can tell you at the moment. I wouldn't even know where to start. Everything has changed so fast and I don't know what to do. If Webb received notice that I am out, then I am out. But what I will never no is for how long and why? We were set up Harm. It was so obvious but I couldn't see it until it was too late." She started to close her eyes in exhaustion.
"It's ok Mac. Go to sleep. We will figure out what to do when you wake up. Go to sleep."
"Thank you." Was all Mac could say before sleep overcame.
Harm looked to Bud and Harriet but they were all at a loss at what to do next. Bring her back from the dead or keep her in a safe place until Webb could find out if it was really over.