Two weeks later
It took a while for everyone to get used to being under protection. Matthew and Claire took it surprisingly well, even though Claire felt weird being followed around school. Then there were the thousand questions from everyone that she couldn't really answer because it was secret. Matthew thought it was pretty cool to have an agent follow him everywhere and he didn't really care about the changes in his life. They were both worried about their mother though, and they both wanted to spend their afternoons at the office until they could all go home together. Harm and Mac had agreed that the kids should take a break from some of their activities until everything was resolved, and that they should all be together as much as possible.
"Did you have time to read through my English essay, Mom?" Claire wondered.
Mac looked up from her computer. "I did, and it was good. I'm sure your teacher will be very satisfied with your work, honey."
Claire smiled. "I think so too."
"Sarah, here's the Billings file," Harriet stepped into the office. "He'll be in at 0900 tomorrow."
"Thanks, Harriet," Mac stood and closed her computer. "Did you see Harm around?"
"Not since this morning," Harriet said.
"He had a meeting with a client, but I thought he'd be back by now," Mac reached for her phone.
"Sorry I'm late," Harm stepped into her office. "My car broke down and I had to do some repairs."
Mac looked at his stained shirt and loosened tie. "Did you ever consider driving a newer car?"
"I like my Vette," Harm said and smiled. "Ready to go home?"
"We are," Mac took his hand. "Come on guys."
They each drove off, Harm in his Vette and Mac in the family car, followed by the agents watching them. At home they prepared dinner, and it all seemed normal. Mac let her mind wander to back then, when she was involved with Webb and a terrorist was after her. She had no fears back then, only rational actions to get the job done. She had come so far since then, creating the life she had always longed for, at the same time as she had more to be responsible for. It wasn't just her life in danger, but the people she loved more than anything. Her past had come back to royally bite her in the ass.
"Mom? Did you listen?"
She focused on her daughter. "Sorry, what?"
"Nothing. Where were you?" Claire wondered
Mac hesitated and felt Harm's hand caressing her shoulder. "Just worrying I guess."
Claire was about to respond when she was interrupted by the doorbell. Harm stood. "I'll get it."
He came back followed by Webb. "Hi, Sarah. I come bearing good news. We got him."
"You did?" Mac stood. "Are you sure?"
"We are sure. Our undercover agent identified him. I can't go into details, but the treat has been eliminated," Clay looked as relieved as Mac felt. "You can all go back to normal."
Mac smiled and hugged her husband. "That's great," she turned to Claire and Matthew and hugged them too.
"I'll leave you guys to celebrate," Clay turned to leave.
"Thank you, Clay," Harm said.
Clay turned back. "I owed you that much," then he turned and walked out of there.
That night when they went to bed Harm questioned Mac's behavior since Webb had been by to give them the good news. After the initial relief had passed, she hadn't said much, but he could tell that something was bothering her.
"I don't know, Harm. I should be happy, right?" she said as she got into bed.
He removed his shirt and studied her thoughtful expression. "What's bothering you, Sarah?"
The use of her real name made her look at him. "You never call me that."
He hesitated. "Well, I do sometimes. Tell me what's bothering you," he removed his pants and walked over to the bed and got in.
She let out a sigh. "I still can't shake the feeling that something is off."
He took her hand. "A premonition again?"
She shrugged. "I don't know," she let his hand go and turned off the light by her bedside. "You don't believe in my premonitions anyway."
He moved closer to her and made her look at him. "Hey, you saved my life with those premonitions once. I trust you."
She offered a sweet smile. "It's probably nothing. Let's get some sleep, huh?"
He pulled her close. "I'll call Webb in the morning. It couldn't hurt to double check."
"I'm sure it's okay. Just leave it, okay? Let's just go back to normal," she leaned in and kissed him softly. "I love you."
"I love you too," he said as he wrapped her in an embrace.
Two days later Mac was walking back to the office after lunch when a man walked to meet her. She remembered him as one of Clay's Agent's, he came to the house once to talk to her about the man who was after her, being the one who knew him best from his time undercover.
"Mrs. Rabb, do you remember me? I'm Agent Zaman," he said.
"I remember you," Mac looked confused. "Did Webb send you?"
Agent Zaman smirked and showed that he had a gun pointed at her. "I suggest that you come with me, Sarah."
Mac raised her eyes when it dawned on her. "You went to the dark side."
"I did," Zaman smiled. "Don't make a fuss. I already have your kids so it's up to you if they live or die."
Harm looked surprised when Clayton Webb stormed into his office.
"Rabb, they have her," he said breathlessly.
"What? Who?" Harm stood abruptly.
"My agent who confirmed that we got David, he's gone over to the other side. We just had a member of David's network spill it all a little while ago. Agent Zaman left the office an hour ago, and we believe that he got Sarah."
"Where would he take her, Clay?"
"If I only knew that," Clay said as he watched Harm get his gun from the locked drawer in his desk, then shed his jacket and tie. "I'm going after her."
"My people are tracking Zaman." Clay's phone rang. "Yes? When? Are you absolutely sure? No one goes inside until I get there," he ordered and hung up.
"You know where she is?" Harm questioned.
"When you called me about Sarah not completely trusting that the danger was over, I put a tracker on Agent Zaman. Something felt off," Webb admitted as he turned to the dor. "Come on Rabb."
Harm followed Webb out of his office, through the building while reassuring Harriet that everything would be fine, then into a waiting car and they drove off.
Mac was led into an abandoned building by the docks. She looked around the room and knew that David didn't have a quick death in mind for her. There were car batteries, knifes, leather straps and a few more things Mac had never seen before but knew could cause a lot of damage to a person.
"Welcome Sarah."
She focused on the man in the chair by the window. "David I assume. You look a lot like your father."
"Did anyone follow you here?" David asked Agent Zaman.
"No, no one knows about this yet," Zaman reassured him.
David stood. "Good, because I want to take my time."
"Where are my kids?" Mac asked.
"Relax, they are in school. They are not on David's list," Zaman said as he let go of her arm. "Make yourself comfortable," he pointed to a chair.
Mac remained standing. "So, are you going to torture me? A car battery, that's very much like your Dad."
David smiled. "It's effective. My father thought me everything I know. But when I'm through with you, you'll wish that all I did was attach a car battery to you."
Mac looked around the room. "So, do you bring a lot of people in here?"
"Only when I need them to tell me something," David reached for a knife. "Tell me something Sarah, how did you kill my father?"
"I put a bullet between his eyes," Mac answered calmly.
"I heard the tapes," David said "Zaman was kind enough to give them to me. You fought him first. I never thought a woman could defeat my father, but I guess you're unlike most women. Tell me, why did you tell my father that this is for Harm, and Clayton Webb, before you killed him? Did my father hurt someone you cared about, Sarah?"
Mac didn't respond and David moved closer to her with the knife. "You will answer me, Sarah."
"He tortured Webb in Paraguay, and he hurt Harm in the JAG parking lot," Mac said.
David used the knife to cut open a button on her suit jacket. "My father always respected women. I never saw him beat my Mom, or his other wife. My sisters were treated like little angels until they were old enough to be married."
"You hated that," Mac assumed.
"The first time I raped a girl, I was fifteen. My sister thought I would help her with homework. Can you believe that my mother let her go to school? My mother was a slut, sleeping around behind my father's back, just because he couldn't be in England with us," David cut open another button. "We travelled back to Iran with my father, so that my sisters could be given to the right men. They thought we were going on a vacation. My father never knew what I did to them. When my mother and I got back to England I finished school and got my education. I thank the western world for being naïve enough to let me."
"So your plan is to rape me? What then? You'll kill me once you've used me for your own pleasure?" Mac turned to Zaman. "And you think that's okay?"
"I do what my boss tells me to," Zaman said as he slumped down in the chair Mac wouldn't sit down in.
"My sisters, they cried, and you know what? It only made it so much better," David said as his cellphone rang. He reached for it and barked some things in Farsi.
Mac used the time to look around for something she could reach to use as a weapon.
"Don't get any ideas," Zaman warned and raised his gun. He heard sounds outside the room and his focus shifted for a second. Mac kicked the gun out of his hands and dove to reach it. A split second later she had Zaman on top of her, trying to get the gun.
A door broke open, and she could hear Harm's voice, then a gunshot. She put her knee in Zaman's groin and got a hold of the gun, then she was on her feet in time to see Harm rolling on the floor with David. Webb was on the floor, blood running from a wound in his chest. Zaman came barging at her with a knife, she pulled the trigger and watched him fall on the floor, his brain spread around him.
She turned back to her husband who was trying to get the gun from David. He landed a good punch to David's face and the other man fell to the floor. Harm hurried to his feet. She had a clear shot to David's head and fired. "We need to get Webb an ambulance," he yelled as he found his cellphone.
Mac hurried over to Webb and put her hands over the wound. "Webb?"
Agent's barged in only to find the situation handled. "It's clear. We have two dead, one man down and in need of an ambulance, the other two are okay," one of the agent's reported in.
"Sarah, I let you down again," Clay said weakly.
"Damn it Clay, you're not going to die. The ambulance will be here soon," she looked at her husband who nodded.
Harm made his way over. "Hang on Webb, do you hear?"
"I'll try. Did you get them?" he asked.
"Mac got them," Harm said and cupped his wife's face. "Hi, Ninja girl."
Mac couldn't lift her hands off Clay's chest or she would have hugged him and kissed him, instead she just smiled and whispered; "I love you so much, Harm."
Harm leaned in and kissed her. "You have no idea, Mac."
"As much as I like this hallmark moment, when's the ambulance arriving?" Clay wondered.
They heard the sirens. "It's here."
Soon the paramedics were there to take over. Mac let go of Clay and moved over to her husband. "You're okay," she said and hugged him. "When I heard that gunshot…"
Harm kissed the top of her head. "I know. I'm okay. We're both okay."
She nodded. "I thought they had the kids," Mac whispered.
"Everyone is okay," Harm moved a little to see her face. "I love you, baby."
Mac leaned in and kissed him deeply.