A/N: Chapter 30! This chapter was originally going to have more in it, but it made more sense to end it where I did and put the other stuff in the next chapter.

Gone

Chapter 30: Early in the Morning

January 1st, 2006

0618 Local

Andrews Air Force Base

Camp Springs, MD

It was a weary Harm that stepped off the plane at Andrews. He'd dozed a bit, but thoughts of Mac had so filled his mind that he'd never really slept. As he'd predicted, he was already regretting allowing Sturgis to pick him up this morning; he really just wanted to be by himself and try to contact Mac.

Before he'd boarded the plane here, he'd checked his voicemail for any messages, only to find they'd all been purged save for a message from Admiral Chegwidden that was received yesterday requesting Harm to call him back ASAP. Unfortunately, Harm had had to board his flight before he'd had a chance to do it. Maybe if Sturgis hadn't called first…

As soon as he thought about Sturgis, the man himself appeared before him, his hand held out in front of him. Harm accepted the proffered hand and the two men exchanged a firm handshake.

"Hey, Sturg," Harm said tiredly.

"Welcome back, buddy."

The two men seemed to size each other up for a moment, before Harm finally held up his phone and told him he needed to call the admiral. Sturgis looked like he was about to protest, but then he just nodded in what appeared to be resignation.

Harm turned his back toward Sturgis and quickly dialed the admiral's number, which unfortunately went straight to voicemail. He left a brief message, then faced Sturgis again.

"Ready, Harm?" Sturgis asked, and at Harm's nod, the two men left the building and made for Sturgis' car. Once Harm had loaded his bag in the back, they took their respective seats, and they were on their way.

As soon as they hit the freeway, Sturgis grew noticeably uncomfortable. His fingers drummed on the steering wheel in an uneven rhythm, something totally out of character for him, and every few seconds he'd shift in his seat with a sigh, setting Harm's teeth on edge in his travel-fatigued state. He was about to ask what the hell was wrong with him when Sturgis blurted out a single word:

"Breakfast?"

"What?"

"Have you, uh, had breakfast?"

Harm slowly turned his head to give Sturgis a look of consternation. "I've been on a plane owned and operated by the military for the last five hours, so unless you've managed to slip me an omelet without me realizing it…no, Sturg, I haven't."

"There's a diner over on—"

"Sturgis, I'm not really up for it…I just want to get home and…"

Call Mac.

Well, perhaps he wouldn't call right when he got home; it was only 0430 in Whitefish. He vowed he'd wait until at least five…or maybe not. He had a nagging sense that she needed him. Since he'd gotten of the plane it had grown stronger to the point that it felt like she was right there with him.

"Harm?"

Sturgis' voice pulled Harm away from thoughts of Mac, and it was hard not to snap at his fellow naval commander. "Yeah?"

"Look, buddy, I need to talk to you about something…can we at least grab a coffee?"

It was becoming apparent that Sturgis wasn't going to give up easily, so Harm finally agreed. Sturgis took the next exit, and before long, the two were sitting across from each other in a rather non-descript café, sipping coffee which could be best described as 'hot' and nothing else.

"So, Sturgis…what did you want to discuss with me?" Harm asked after several long minutes of silence. Sturgis still looked so uncharacteristically uncomfortable that Harm wondered if the other man was struggling to make an apology for his treatment of Mac. He had to admit, he really didn't want to hear it—at least not until he had some sleep after a long overdue conversation with Mac. He wondered idly to himself if he could manage to get some leave to go see her and give her the letters he'd written to her while he was TAD. Then again, he was planning to tender his resignation as soon as the ink dried on that letter, so asking for leave could be a mute point. "Sturgis?"

"It's about Mac…"

Here it comes, he thought to himself.

"Buddy…"

The vibrating of his phone next to his elbow interrupted them, causing both men to jump a bit, leaving Harm feeling a bit foolish. After all, as a naval aviator, it was assumed he had nerves of steel. He held up a finger to Sturgis and picked up the phone. Once he saw who it was, he started to stand. "I gotta take this Sturg; it's the admir— "

"She's here." Sturgis broke in, sounding a little desperate. The phone slipped from Harm's hand and hit the table, bouncing a bit before the vibrating stopped and the call went to voicemail.

"What?" he asked, his heart rate increasing exponentially.

"Mac. She's here. In Washington."

Harm's stomach dropped to his feet as he slowly lowered himself down in the booth once again. "Since when? Why?" he questioned, forgetting the admiral for a moment.

"Since just after Christmas. She came to JAG, asked to speak to the admiral, then left shortly thereafter. I—I followed her back to her hotel."

As astounded as he was that Mac had made an appearance here, he was still rather angry that Sturgis would violate her privacy like that. "What the hell did you do that for?" he snapped, and Sturgis looked a bit taken aback.

"Harm, I would have thought you, of all people, would want to know where she's been and why she left." This was said in a rather self-righteous tone, and Harm found himself in the uncomfortable position of wanting to punch one of his oldest friends. His fists clenched underneath the table as he willed himself to calm down, but then he remembered Sturgis' last words.

"You still want to know why she left? I think that has already been well-established." He gave Sturgis a pointed look and the man at least had the good grace to look somewhat ashamed…for a moment, anyway.

"I agree, Harm…we could have done better…but to let us all think she'd killed herself? Come on, Harm…and then to just show up, clearly having moved on…maybe she doesn't owe us an explanation for anything, but it sure would be nice to get one, don't you think?" Sturgis raised an eyebrow at him, and Harm nearly snorted.

As before, though, something Sturgis said triggered something in his brain.

"What do you mean, she's 'clearly' moved on?" Harm's phone vibrated again but this time he completely ignored it as he continued to question his coworker. "Well? Did she say something, or come here with anyone?"

Sturgis thought a moment. "Well, I guess she did, in a manner of speaking…come here with someone, I mean."

Harm blinked at the other man while a bit of dread settled around his heart. Mac wouldn't have fallen for someone else, would she? Did she get back together with that Ethan…Ian guy?

Of course not, Harm.

Mac's voice sounded in his mind, and he was flooded with relief. Something was definitely not right with her, though. He could feel it.

"Well, spit it out, Sturgis! Who was there with her?" Mary? Dan? Nic? Harm nearly shuddered are the thought of Mac's demon cat. Surely, she wouldn't have dragged that animal here. But who could it be? He glared impatiently at his fellow JAG officer. After yet another long hesitation, Sturgis finally answered.

"Harm, buddy, Mac's pregnant."

What?!

"What?!" he said aloud. That was not what he'd expected to hear.

"I'm sorry, Harm."

Harm could have sworn he'd heard an undercurrent of smug satisfaction in Sturgis' voice, and it irked him, nay, infuriated him. Where did Sturgis get off? After the way she'd been treated, Mac had had every right to move on. That had been a difficult pill for Harm to swallow at first; there was no doubt of that, but he'd eventually accepted it, and since she had, at least for a while, chosen to move on with him, all was well. She'd forgiven him for the years of keeping her at arm's length, and he'd forgiven her for running. At the moment, it seemed Sturgis was sending Harm an 'I told you so' message with his attitude. An 'I told you so' that said, "We were right about her. She deserved our contempt and we were completely justified in treating her the way we did. Obviously she didn't appreciate what you'd done for her; or she wouldn't have gone off and gotten herself pregnant. So there!"

"Harm?" Sturgis spoke after a moment of Harm trying to process things. Say something, buddy. I know it's hard to hear that she's— "

To Harm, Sturgis sounded faintly patronizing. It annoyed him, and his fists once again clenched under the cover of the table. He was still trying to come to terms with the news of Mac's pregnancy as well; all the implications of it, all the possibilities roiled around in his brain, and he found he wasn't yet able to form a coherent response to it. He'd just spent several months at sea, hadn't seen her since that miserable day in July when she'd driven away from the farm, taking his heart with her.

Just what had happened in the last six months?

"Harm?" Sturgis spoke again, and Harm wondered why the man couldn't just leave him be for just one goddamn minute.

"What?!" He snapped, further irritated when Sturgis merely sat there unperturbed, then proceeded to speak to him again in a voice seeping with exaggerated calm.

"I'm sure this must be a shock to you, Harm."

You have no idea. "Just give me a minute, will you?"

"Of course."

Harm took a few deep breaths as his phone vibrated yet again. He glanced down, noting that there was another voicemail from Admiral Chegwidden, and he supposed before he did much of anything, he'd better call his CO back. But he had one more question…

"Sturgis? When is Mac due?"

"The end of March, she said."

Harm started to do some quick calculations in his head, growing more and more excited…but first, he needed som confirmation…

"Hey, what's nine months before that?" He held his breath while he awaited Sturgis' answer.

"Um, end of June?"

Oh my god…

Before he could think too much about where they had both been around the end of June, his phone went off again. This time text scrolled across the screen, and his eyes widened in surprise as he read the admiral's message:

[HARM CALL ME BACK NOW GODDAMMIT. THAT'S AN ORDER!]

Harm picked up his phone and stood up. "Look, I need to call the admiral, alright?" Without waiting for a response, he slid from the booth and quickly dialed the admiral's number. When AJ picked up, Harm expected him to unleash another tirade at him, but instead, what he heard shook him to the core. After a few more seconds, Harm hung up and returned to Sturgis.

"I need to go. That was the admiral," he said needlessly. Of course, he'd been talking the admiral. He'd just told Sturgis that.

He took a deep breath while praying he could stay strong.

"I need to get to the hospital." Sturgis rose as well then and slid out of the booth to stand at Harm's side.

"Why? Did something happen to Admiral Chegwidden?"

Harm shook his head as he tried to still his shaking hands. "No, it's about Mac. They think she might be in preterm labor. Come on, I want to get to her. Now!"

Sturgis nodded and pulled his car keys from his pocket. A look of confusion passed over his face, though, and the man hesitated.

"Why, Harm?"

"Why?!" Harm turned his own confused look on his old friend.

"I'm just surprised you want to go to her when the baby's not— "

Harm stared at Sturgis in askance. The man was seriously implying that they shouldn't at least have sympathy for their former friend who could be about to lose her baby? Harm had seen people more concerned about losing a cow or a calf during calving season.

"The baby is mine, Sturgis," he answered coldly. "But that shouldn't matter, should it? You're a pastor's kid; shouldn't you know something about compassion? Now, take me to the hospital, and after that, I don't want to see you for a while, okay?"

Wide-eyed and silent, Sturgis nodded and the two left the café, Harm growing more and more terrified for Mac and his as yet unborn child.

Hang on, Ninja Girl. I'm coming.

End Chapter 30

Sorry I didn't get Harm and Mac together in this chapter. Next chapter! I promise!