Home Chapter 4, a jag fanfic

Ok, I'm back! Sorry about the cliffie, I just couldn't resist!

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Song is 'Your Everything' by Keith Urban

"You." he said simply, placing her hand, and his with it, on his heart. "I think I've fallen in love with you, and I didn't know how to tell you, or if you'd even want to know."

The first time I looked in your eyes I knew
That I would do anything for you
The first time you touched my face I felt
What I'd never felt with anyone else.

There was a shocked silence as Mac stared up at Harm, her eyes rapidly filling with tears. Harm felt ice grip his heart at he looked at her. She obviously didn't feel the same way. He stepped back suddenly, releasing her from his embrace.

"I'm sorry." He muttered, "I understand. We can just forget I ever said anything." He took another step away, a part of him still hoping that she would stop him. She was still staring at him in shock, her brown eyes marred by tears.

"Harm..." she started softly,

"No, it's fine, I'm sorry I said anything. I didn't mean to put you in such an awkward position." Harm said over her, terrified to hear what she was about to say. "Let's just forget it. I don't want to lose your friendship, please, Mac, promise me..."

"Harm!" Mac shouted suddenly, interrupting his apologetic tirade.

I wanna give back what you've given to me
And I wanna witness all of your dreams
Now that you've shown me who I really am
I wanna be more than just your man.

He stopped, and looked at her. She took a step forward,

"Will you let me talk?" Harm opened his mouth as if to reply, but hesitated and settled for nodding his head, not quite trusting his voice.

"I love you too." She said softly. Harm's eyes snapped up to meet hers and she nodded slightly, "The last few weeks have been horrible. It felt like you had left me, that you didn't want anything to do with me." She felt tears run down her face, but made no effort to brush them away. "I missed you like crazy. I hated not talking to you, and I was scared we had missed out chance." She stopped as Harm took a step forward and lifted his hand up to gently brush the tears off her face. He gently pressed a finger to his lips, his eyes crinkling as he smiled at her. Pulling her back into his arms, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

I wanna be the wind that fills your sails
Be the hand that lifts your veil
Be the moon that moves your tides
The sun comin' up in your eyes
Be the wheel that never rusts
Be the spark that lights you up
All that you've been dreamin' of and more
So much more
I wanna be your everything.

"I love you." Harm whispered as they pulled back from their first proper kiss, both grinning foolishly at each other.

"So what do we do now?" Mac asked after a few moments, the reality of their situation bringing them both down to earth with a bump. They were both painfully aware that once Mac left the Patrick Henry, Harm wouldn't be back in port for another 4 months and an aircraft carrier also wasn't exactly the best place to start a personal relationship.

Harm grinned impishly at her, trying to lighten the mood,

"Well I can think of something..." he replied teasingly, reaching up to block her hand as she tried to punch him on the arm.

"I'm serious, Harm." She replied, only to be rewarded with a Flyboy grin,

"So am I!" he answered, sobering quickly as he saw the look on her face. "We'll work something out, Sarah." He added, "I'm going to change my designator again; come back to JAG if the Admiral will have me." Mac stared at him,

"But flying is the most important thing in your life. You said it yourself; you only fell into being a lawyer, being a pilot is all you've ever wanted to do." There was a pause

When you wake up I'll be the first thing you see
and when it gets dark you can reach out to me
I'll cherish your words and I'll finish your thoughts
I'll be your compass baby, when you get lost.

"No." Harm replied, "You're the most important thing in my life; you have been for a long time." Mac felt the tears start to prick at her eyes again. He really could say the sweetest things!

"But what about your..?" Harm chuckled,

"Mac, I love you, and I want to be with you. I can't do that if I'm being shipped off on a carrier for 6 months at a time. I've been thinking about this since I left JAG. You're right, I do love flying. But this tour has made me realise that there are much more important things in life. I had to do this, just to know I could. Now I can leave on my own terms."

"What will we tell the others? Bud? Harriet? The Admiral?"

"Well, it's up to you, but if you don't mind, I'd like to tell them the truth." A smile a mile wide broke out over Mac's face.

"I'd like that." She replied, standing up on tip toe to press a kiss on his lips and went to step away. Harm quickly wrapped his arms firmly around her, pulling her close.

"And where do you think you are going?!" he asked, a teasing smile lighting up his handsome face, before lowering his lips back to hers, giving her a kiss she wouldn't be forgetting in a hurry. "What time is it Mac?" he asked softly when they eventually parted.

"I..uh..11.07" Mac replied after a moment's hesitation. Harm grinned at her, mentally making a note of the fact that she had lost track of time for the first time since he had known her.

"I've got to go I'm afraid. Skates'll be banging the door down looking for me soon." Mac kissed him one more time,

"Ok. I better get on with some of this paperwork anyway. Fly safe sailor" He smiled softly,

"Bye." He replied and headed out of the cabin.

"So Hammer, did you sort things out with Major Mackenzie?" Skates asked casually under her breath as they sat in pre-flight an hour later. Harm didn't really need to reply though, one glance at his smiling face was enough to know what had transpired. "Good on you." she continued, "although I'll miss you when you go. I enjoy flying with you." Harm looked sideways at her.

"I'm going to try and keep my status active; I'll be back for my Quals from time to time." He muttered back, "but Liz?" Skates glanced at him questioningly, he rarely called her by her Christian name, "I like flying with you too." The grinned at each other comfortably.

"Just make sure I get an invite to the wedding!" she retorted.

"I promise." Harm replied simply, much to her shock. He was a man after all, she had expected him to start sputtering and get nervous at the thought of marriage, especially to a woman he had only been with for five minutes!

Be the wheel that never rusts
Be the spark that lights you up
All that you've been dreamin' of and more
So much more

Three weeks later

Harm was sitting in the mess with Tuna and Skates when a young Petty Officer came up to the table.

"Commander Rabb, Major Mackenzie would like to see you in the JAG office right away, Sir." Harm ignored Tuna and Skates as they exchanged a knowing grin.

"Thank you Petty Officer." He replied, getting to his feet and following her out of the mess.

On arriving at the JAG cabin, he knocked on the hatch door and went in at Mac's call of "Enter."

"You wanted to see me?" he asked good-naturedly. Mac looked up from her desk, where she was sitting and smiled warmly at him. They had done a good job at keeping their relationship secret from the rest of the crew. Apart from Tuna and Skates, they were pretty sure no-one else knew. The last two weeks had been hard; their situation could hardly be called ideal, but both were keen to stick to regs as far as possible. Apart from a few stolen kisses in Mac's office, they hadn't had much close contact.

"The Admiral called." She replied as she got to her feet and walked round her desk to give him a quick kiss hello. "He is sending Lt Jamieson out to replace me for the rest of the tour. He'll be here tomorrow." Harm looked at her in surprise. He had known that this day was coming, but he had selfishly hoped that she would be staying on board for a bit longer.

"So you'll be leaving tomorrow?" he asked disappointedly.

"I'm afraid so." She replied, looking at him sadly. He managed a wan grin and pulled her into his arms.

"Well we knew it was going to happen eventually." He said with a sigh. "I just hoped it wasn't going to be so soon."

"Me too."

"Still," Harm added, "My tour is over in 4 months and then I'll be back in Washington for good." Mac nodded.

"I'm going to miss you so much." She said softly, "It's not fair. We finally get things on track and I have to leave." Harm leant down and kissed her gently, trying to convey as much of the emotion he was feeling into that single kiss.

"I'll be back before you know it, Mac." He said, and she nodded as they both lapsed into a comfortable silence, each enjoying the feeling of closeness to the other. "What time does your helo leave?"

"12:30." Mac replied, "Will you be there to say goodbye?"

"I've got the morning patrol of the No-Fly zone." Harm replied with a sigh, "But with any luck, I should be back by then."

"Ok." Mac replied sadly.

I wanna be your everything.

The next day, 12:17

There was a knock at the door.

"Enter." Mac called, hoping it was Harm. The hatch swung open to reveal a nervous looking Petty Officer.

"Ma'am, the Captain told me to tell you the helo has arrived. He'd like to see you on the Bridge before you go."

"Thank you Petty Officer." Mac replied, gathering up her bag and following her out of the cabin. Two minutes later she walked onto the Bridge to the familiar call of "JAG on the Bridge!"

"You wanted to see me Captain?" she asked

"I just wanted to thank you for your hard work these past weeks." Captain Engles replied with a gruff smile.

"Thank you sir." She replied politely, surreptitiously glancing out of the windows of the Bridge to see a Tomcat land on the deck and taxi in with a strange sense of urgency. For a moment Captain Engles looked like he wanted to say something else, but instead he just added,

"Dismissed!" Mac came to attention and smiled at the Captain, before making her way quickly off the Bridge and made her way to the helo pad where the chopper was waiting for her.

"Are you ready to go Ma'am?" the pilot asked as she handed him her bags.

"I thought we weren't due to take off until 12:30. It's only 12:27." She replied, much to the confusion of the pilot.

"Yes, Ma'am." He replied and stood hesitantly at her side, unsure of what to do next. They stood in silence for a while until it was 12:29. Mac sighed.

"We better get going Lt." She said resignedly, taking the headphones he handed her and moving to climb into the chopper. She lifted one foot up when she heard a shout from behind her. She stopped and turned round to see Harm racing up to her, still in his flight suit.

"Did you think you could sneak off without saying goodbye?" he asked with a Flyboy grin.

"Why goodbye and not good luck?" she responded with a grin, as he moved to stand in front of her.

"I'll miss you so much," he said so softly, she barely heard it over the roar of the propellers.

"I'll miss you to Harm." She admitted, "Permission to hug the Commander?" she asked after a pause. Harm grinned.

"Permission granted." She reached for and embraced him briefly, relishing the moment, when the helo pilot tapped her on the shoulder.

"Ma'm, we really have to go now." She pulled back reluctantly. "Bye." She said, before climbing into the helo. Once settled, she looked out to see Harm still standing where she had left him, staring directly at her. "I love you." she mouthed. She just about made out his response as the chopper began to lift. "I love you too."

I wanna be your everything.

Unbeknownst to them, Captain Engles had been standing on Vultures Row with the CAG and had watched their exchange with interest.

"It's a damn shame," he said.

"What's that, Sir?" the CAG replied, following the Captain's gaze to see Rabb standing at the helo pad as the chopper pulled away.

"That we're going to lose a pilot of Rabb's calibre."

"Captain?" the CAG sounded surprised.

"He'll leave us at the end of this tour, mark my words!" Engles replied, "He's got other things on his mind."

"I don't believe that for a moment, Sir." The CAG replied, "Rabb lives to fly, and he's a fantastic pilot. He loves being back flying."

"That may be. But I bet you twenty bucks that he returns to JAG at the end of this tour." The CAG glanced at him to see if he was serious.

"You're on sir." He replied, holding out his hand.

I wanna be your everything...

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