A/N: As promised here is the next part. Reviews feed the muse.

Mac nods her head, and stands up to stretch her muscles. She needs a break also, both emotional and physical. How she let this nurse get her started on this little trip down memory lane in the first place is beyond her. She rarely opens up to anyone, let alone complete strangers. Hell, she didn't even open up to Harm at first, he had to earn her trust. Mac couldn't quite pinpoint exactly what it was, but something about this woman just struck her as someone she could confide in. Perhaps she was a kindred soul that had been through something similar.

They reach the nurses' station, and Petty Officer Charles asks, "What's your poison? I've got Original & Dark Roast."

The nurse and Mac simultaneously answer, "Dark Roast" and then share a chuckle at their jinx.

Mac tells her, "I don't meet too many women who prefer a bold brew. Most are wussies and drink that breakfast blend. In fact, most of the men in my office can't handle a good cup of joe either, except my CO, but he's a former Seal."

The nurse smiles, and replies, "I like my coffee the same way I like my men, the darker the better. I don't need any of that fluffy stuff to make it taste better."

Mac smiles, "Well, I can't say I agree with that sentiment. But I will say that in the cases of both men and coffee, the richer the better!"

Petty Officer Charles hands them two steaming cups of Dark Roast, trying not to laugh at their banter. He inquires, "I also have a few flavor shots and creamers if you would like. I know Jada here won't take any, but what about you, Miss?"

Mac replies, "No thanks, no shots of any kind for me. This is fine just the way it is."

The nurse looks at her quizzically, "One day at a time?"

Mac just smiles, understanding completely now why she felt so comfortable with this woman. A fellow sister indeed.

The Petty Officer starts filling a few more cups for various other personnel needing something to keep them awake for the night. When he turns around, he notices that the nurse has picked up the box of Dark Roast, and has begun walking back to the lounge with Mac stepping in perfect sync with her. The Petty Officer yells, "Hey Jada, where are you going with my coffee?"

The nurse yells over her shoulder, grinning, "I paid for it, I can drink as much as I want. Get back to work. I'll be in the lounge if you need me."

When they reach the lounge, Mac sits back in her original chair, and Jada takes a seat across the table from her. "Ok, Mac, so we left off with you having an engagement ring on the wrong hand. What did Harm say when he saw it?"

Mac sighs, "Actually, our Commanding Officer was the first to notice it, at the airport for our flight back to the States. He wanted to know if he should be congratulating me. Harm merely asked if it was a friendship ring. I didn't even get a chance to respond before Mic answered for both of us, saying 'for now.' It was not the only time that Mic bulldozed right over me during the course of our relationship, but I had no idea how controlling he would become. I thought that with me being back in the States, and Mic staying in Australia, that I would have time to sort out the details of my crazy life. I thought that Harm and I would be able to get our friendship back on track, but instead he withdrew further into his shell. And the presence of my ring served to steer his ship straight towards Renee. And then of course, Mic surprised me, AGAIN, by reserving his commission, and moving to the States. This was completely unannounced, I might add."

Jada nods, understanding dawning on her, "Ok that makes sense to me now. I wondered what a man like Harm was doing with a woman like Renee, but you just explained it perfectly. She was a distraction."

Mac huffs, "He was with the woman for a year and a half. It had to have been more than that. Distractions are short lived, like one-night stands."

Jada chuckles, "Ok, she was a substitute then. If you think it was something more, then answer me this: When did Harm and Renee split?"

Mac thinks back, realizing where the nurse is going with this, and her hand flies to her mouth. She gasps, "They split shortly after Mic and I did. But before you imply that Harm was with her because I was otherwise occupied, let me be clear that she broke up with him, not the other way around. Hell, I didn't even know they had split until several weeks after it was done and over with." Mac chooses not to add the little bit about her standing in the pouring rain, looking up dejectedly as Harm comforted Renee.

Jada ponders Mac's comments for a moment before she adds, "A man like Harm is not going to pursue a woman who is considering engagement to another man. He prides himself on being too much of a gentleman to pounce on someone else's territory. Any ring on her hand, friendship or otherwise, would signal him to stay away. So, was Australia the only time that you two ever discussed pursuing a relationship?"

Mac relents, "Not exactly…."

Jada waves her hand in a circle,,gesturing for Mac to continue.

Mac wistfully replies, "I think that Harm tried once too, but again it was timing. In fact, in his case, it was probably almost the worst timing ever. He didn't come right out and say anything specific that would lead me to believe that he wanted me to leave Mic for him, but he sure did drop plenty of hints."

Jada asks, "When did he say something?"

Mac smiles softly at the irony, "At my engagement party."

Jada inhales sharply. Maybe she didn't have Harm pegged correctly, or maybe she did and he was making an impassioned plea, helpless as he realized that what he truly wanted was about to slip away from him forever. Desperate times often call for desperate measure. She asks, "So, you did up engaged to the guy from Australia? What made you move the ring over?"

Mac gets quiet for a few minutes. She had realized in Indonesia, when she had time to reflect on the past couple years of her life that she had let Mic manipulate her into agreeing to marry him. She had lost touch with herself. She had become the scared little girl in the closet again, desperate to have someone to love her, and afraid she would grow old completely and utterly alone. Her Marine shell had been absent, and the only thing left was that of a very vulnerable woman, easily swayed. Once she collects her thoughts, she admits, "Fear. Pure, plain, and simple fear."

Jada surmises, "You didn't want to be alone again. Harm was still with Renee, so you needed someone there too."

Mac thinks to herself, 'You just met me, how is it that you can read me like an open book? Perhaps they had more in common after all than just being alcoholics.' She acquiesces, "It was so much more than that. Harm was going to resign his commission to go look for his brother in Russia after he was declared MIA. Harm spent too many years chasing after his father's ghost when he had been listed that way after being shot down in Vietnam. He wasn't going to let another generation of Rabb's go through the same fate if he had anything to say about it. I didn't even know he was planning on leaving until Renee sent me to go look for him after she couldn't talk any sense into him. Unfortunately, I didn't have any better success. It was only the luck of a CIA agent stepping in at the last minute, announcing that his brother had been found, and was being kept as a POW, that prevented him from going. Additionally, Mic couldn't find work in the States, and I hadn't made a decision regarding the ring after several months, so he was going to go back to Australia to rejoin the Royal Australian Navy. Just when I thought I had all the pieces of my life put together, someone came and jumbled all of them up. I couldn't lose my boyfriend and my best friend again. I wasn't strong enough to handle it at that time."

Jada sighs, "Do you realize that you continue to mention Harm before your former fiancée when you talk about them?"

Mac chuckles, "Yes, it's habit. I haven't thought about Mic in forever, and Harm….well he's around almost every day. In fact, it was only a couple of weeks after my engagement party that Harm crashed his Tomcat into the Atlantic, which is when you would have met him. The night he crashed was the night of my rehearsal dinner, the wedding scheduled for the following morning. Unfortunately, my fiancée noticed that I was a bit more upset when they couldn't find Harm than a best friend should be. I know that he was right, but I had so many regrets regarding the last conversation that Harm and I had before he left for the carrier. I was mad at him, afraid that he might not make it back in time for the wedding. I didn't even wish him good luck. Between my reactions the night of the crash, and my reluctance to have a rescheduled wedding while Harm was still in the hospital recovering, my fiancée ended up leaving."

Jada asks, "So it's been what, almost a year since your respective partners departed?"

Mac warily replies, "Yes.."

The nurse sighs, completely exasperated. She prods, "And the two of you still haven't attempted anything with each other?"

Mac audibly groans. She admits, "I've wanted to a few times, and I think he has wanted to a few times, but after being rejected before, I'm reluctant to put it all out there again. Maybe he is too. The last thing I want to do is alienate my best friend. I'd rather have him as that than nothing at all."

Jada raises her eyebrows clear to her hairline, smiles widely, and suggests, "Well, you could always try the less subtle approach."

Mac cautiously asks, "What's that?"

Jada exclaims, "Just throw him on the bed, pounce him, and do it like they do on the Discovery Channel."