Tuesday night, Harm and Mac's house

Mac slipped out of bed and put her robe over her nightshirt. She headed out of the bedroom and crossed the hall and looked into their home office. The small light by Harm's desk was on, but he wasn't there. She turned the light off, and went across the hall and descended the stairs leading to the first floor. He was on the couch, flipping through channels.

"Couldn't sleep?" she sat down beside him.

"Nope," he shrugged. "What are you doing up?"

"Well, my hubby was missing," she smiled and reached for the remote, turning off the TV. "Honey, I know you better than anyone, I know when you're upset, I know when you're hurting, and I know when something is troubling you," she took his hand. "Talk to me."

He hesitated. "It's just about last week."

"I know that," she tugged on his hand and stood. "Come on, let's go back to bed. We'll snuggle and you can tell me what's bothering you."

He offered a slight smile and reluctantly stood. "It's no sense in both of us being tired tomorrow."

She led him to the stairs and up to the second floor. "Talk to me."

He stopped when they neared their office. "I'm just going to…"

"I already turned off the light," she dragged him into their room. "Come on, tell me what's going on."

He hesitated and watched as she got comfortable in bed. "I'm really not supposed to talk about it."

"I know it's classified, but I won't let you use that as an excuse to avoid talking to me," she patted his side of the bed and smiled. "I can torture it out of you."

He chuckled. "Yeah, how?" he got into bed and pulled her close.

"I know your most ticklish spots," she warned.

"You can be annoying, you know that?" he asked as he put his face close to hers. "But I love you for it."

"And I love you too," she kissed him softly.

"We could make love?" he suggested.

"I won't let you distract me," she warned.

He let out a sigh. "Okay. I've been having these nightmares ever since… I better start at the beginning."

He told and she listened, and when he was done he waited for her to say something.

"I knew it had to be about Lieutenant Coffin being found," Mac said after a little while.

"I was her commanding officer," he ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "I can't help to think that I could have done more when she disappeared."

"You couldn't have. She walked out of base, and she didn't want to be found. There were rumors back then too about her having a brother with Al-Qaida. She was half afghan, spoke at least three different eastern languages. That's why she was sent on the assignment with Bud in the first place, right?"

"Right," Harm nodded. "I just can't help to feel like I should have known what she was up to."

"You said it yourself. She kept to herself, did her work, but wasn't a part of the team. You were considering having her transferred because she wasn't a good fit at the office," Mac reminded him.

"I remember," he entwined his hand with hers. "When I talked to her again, she was so calm, so full of hate. But also regret. She must have felt regret, right? I mean, otherwise she wouldn't have given me so much information."

"She did," Mac was sure. "She did something good in the end."

"For her parent's," he smiled. "She did it for them. They live in D.C you know. I think she wanted them to be safe, and by telling us what she told us, we were able to prevent several attacks here in town," he hesitated. "Sitting there, knowing what I knew, thinking of how far away I was from you and the kids…" he swallowed hard.

"Hey," she smiled. "You did good. We're all safe."

"Safer," he pointed out. "We'll never be totally safe. As long as there is so much hate out there, no one is completely safe."

"That's true, but I don't want to think about that. We can't live our lives being afraid, then we won't truly live, right?" she leaned in and kissed him. "Thank you for telling me this."

"Thank you for listening," he yawned. "Maybe now I can sleep."

She smiled. "I love you."

"I love you too," he kissed her softly, then snuggled down in bed, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm the luckiest man alive."

"Yes, you are," she smiled teasingly. "But you know what? I'm lucky too."

Sun Hill High School

Claire looked over at her friend, slipping a small paper on to her desk as the teacher turned away. Kim had been quiet lately, and Tim had been worried because she hadn't been as invested in their science project as he would have expected from a straight A student.

Kim read the note and nodded. Claire smiled just as the teacher looked at her. "Something funny Miss Rabb?" Mr. Cornwell, their history teacher looked amused. "It can't be what I said, right?"

"Sorry Mr. Cornwell, and no the Crusades are more interesting than funny," Claire sat up straight.

"I agree," Mr. Cornwell continued his class.

Claire waited for the bell to ring before she hurried to gather her books and followed Kim out of the classroom. Tim came up behind her. "What's the hurry?"

"I'm meeting Kim. We're going to the Mall. You?" Claire smiled when he took her hand. She loved everything about Tim; the way he smiled, the way his mind worked. He was the perfect cross between brains and looks, and he was a sincerely nice guy.

"I'm sure you guys need some girlfriend time. I'll see you tomorrow," he kissed her softly, then let her hand go.

"See you," Claire noticed Kim waiting on her. "Hey, ready?"

"Yeah, sure," Kim shrugged. "Hey, what about the party this weekend?"

"Nathan is bringing home his girlfriend, so it's family time. You?" Claire wondered.

"My folks are too busy with their own stuff to care, so yeah I'm totally going," Kim stuffed her books in her locker. "Come on."

Claire put her own book away before following Kim outside.

Thursday, Harm's office

Harm finished with his client, then decided that it was time for lunch. Ever since his talk with Mac about the previous week, he had slept really well. His head felt clearer and he could focus better, both at work and at home. He had gotten permission to go talk to Mr. and Mrs. Coffin, getting instructions on what to say and what not to say. The Lieutenant had been buried the previous day, and Mac and he had appeared, but since Mr. and Mrs. Coffin didn't know that he had been involved after she was found, he had only offered his condolences, nothing more.

"Harm, a Commander Harris is here to see you," Nina said from his doorway.

"Oh? Well, send her in," he said.

Fay appeared soon after. "Sorry to bother you," she said hesitantly.

"No problem. What can I do for you?" Harm wondered and pointed to his visitor's chair. "Please sit down."

"Well," Fay sat down. "I've been wondering about Lieutenant Coffin's parents. I talked to them briefly yesterday at the funeral, but I wasn't sure how much they knew so I didn't offer much information. However, I tried to get a hold of Clayton Webb, just to ask what I could share and not, when I go see the Lieutenant's parents. Mrs. Coffin asked me over for coffee this weekend, and I couldn't say no. I couldn't get a hold of Mr. Webb though, and I wondered if maybe you could?"

Harm nodded. "I'll do you one better. I already got permission to talk to the Lieutenant's parents myself, so why don't I just come along when you go?"

Fay smiled. "I'd like that very much, sir."

"Then that's settled," he looked up when Mac walked through the door. "Hi, honey."

"Sorry, I didn't realize that you had someone in here," Mac apologized.

Fay stood. "I was just leaving, ma'am."

"Commander Harris," Mac offered her hand.

"I was just seeking some advice from the Admiral," Fay shook Mac's hand. "It's nice to see you again, ma'am."

"Yeah, you too," Mac smiled.

"The Commander was Lieutenant Coffin's attorney," Harm explained. "We're going to see the Lieutenant's parents this weekend."

"That's a nice gesture I'm sure they will appreciate," Mac said.

"I hope so, ma'am," Fay hesitated. "Well, I better get back to JAG. Thank you, sir."

"Any time," Harm said and smiled. "Hey, any chance that you'll ever start calling me Harm?"

"Not much, sir," Fay stood at attention. "Sir, ma'am," then she left them.

Mac smiled. "Any chance that you have the time to read through my official statement?"

"Sure," he hesitated. "Any chance that the press will leave you alone after you release it, you think?"

She hesitated. "Probably not, but it's worth a shot. I don't have that much to say anyway. I met the guy for exactly ten minutes and fifteen seconds."

"It's always big news when someone survives a serial killer," he pointed out as he grabbed his wallet from his desk and started clearing his desk and shutting off the computer.

"We were never in any danger," Mac pointed out. "They have been calling Harriet and Cathy too."

"Have they made interviews?" Harm asked as he closed his briefcase.

"Nope," she looked at him with curiosity. "Are you leaving?"

"I have a light schedule, so I figured I'd take you to lunch, then take the rest of the day off," he smiled. "You?"

"It is pretty quiet around here today," she smiled. "Are we playing hooky?"

He chuckled. "It sure looks that way."

"What should we do?" she wondered as she followed him out of his office.

"I have an idea," he followed her into her office. "Let's take Sarah up for a spin?"

She gathered her things. "The weather is perfect for that."

"Great," he took her hand. "Did you decide on our new assistant?"

"I have a couple more coming in for a second interview tomorrow morning, then I'll decide over the weekend," she smiled when they walked past Nina. "We're playing hooky."

"Good for you," Nina smiled. "I'm leaving early today too. And I won't be in tomorrow remember."

"Have a nice weekend with your daughter and grandkids' then," Harm said.

"I will. Thank you," Nina said and watched them leave.

Later in the day, a field north of Virginia

Harm put Sarah down and put her to a halt. He smiled as he took his goggles off and turned to his wife. She was halfway out of the plane, smiling widely as she took their lunch basket with her and jumped to the ground.

"This was a great idea, Harm," she said happily.

"I agree," he smiled teasingly. "I do come up with one occasionally."

She laughed softly and put the blanket down on the ground. "It sure is warm today," she put the basket down and started removing her jacket.

Harm smiled, and enjoying the view as the jacket fell to the ground and left the formfitting top, revealing a slight cleavage.

"What?" Mac asked.

"Just enjoying the view," he moved closer to her and kissed her softly. "You know, this day, twelve years ago, you came to my apartment."

"That's right, that was today," she kissed him again. "I'm glad I did."

"Me too," he agreed.

"And tomorrow, we're meeting our son's first real love," Mac smiled. "And our daughter is getting her first reassignment in the Navy next week."

"In the fall, we'll have a senior high school student," he continued.

"Yeah, she'll be leaving soon too," Mac let out a sigh. "At least we have the other two to keep us busy."

"Well, we did good, partner," he smiled and cupped her cheek.

"Absolutely," she agreed as he leaned in and kissed her deeply.