Chapter Eight
Five Classic Movies

DECEMBER 2003

2030 EST
APARTMENT OF SARAH MACKENZIE
GEORGETOWN

Mac stepped out of the shower, feeling relaxed and refreshed...for about thirty seconds. As soon as she walked back into her bedroom and saw all the paperwork stacked up on her bed, all tranquility disappeared from her demeanor. Despite the fact that it was already late, Mac hadn't started on any of it. She spent the bulk of her evening straightening up the guest bedroom, which was in a state of disarray after not being used for the past few months. Chloe's school was going on winter break soon, and she would be visiting Mac that weekend.

As excited as Mac was to see Chloe, getting everything ready for her before she got there was something she wasn't excited about. That, combined with everything going on with work and in Mac's personal life, was leaving her in a state of almost-constant stress. However, Mac knew moping and dwelling wasn't going to check off the boxes on her to-do list, so she decided to shove Harm, Webb, Chloe, and even Sadik out of her head long enough to get some papers sorted. Even if it was only a handful that got sorted, that was better than nothing.

Turns out, only a handful of papers would get sorted through that night, because just as Mac was starting to make a dent in going through her files, her phone rang. "Hello," she picked up without looking at who was calling. "This is Colonel Mackenzie speaking."

"Mac?"

She instantly discarded the file she was looking at. "Chloe?"

"Hey."

"Hey, yourself. What's up? Why are you calling so late?" Mac looked at the clock. It was almost 2300. She should be doing her homework, Mac thought, but she decided not to mention it. If Chloe needed to talk to her about something important, Mac didn't want to nag at her.

"I have some news."

"Oh," Mac moved up her bed so her back was propped against the headboard. "Is it good news or bed news?"

"Well…" Chloe paused. "It depends on how you look at it. It's kind of both."

"What's the good part?"

"My dad's coming home early."

Mac smiled. "That's great honey!"

"But…"

Her smile dimmed. She had a feeling she knew where this was headed. "But what?"

Chloe sighed. "I don't think I can come this weekend."

Mac tired her best to ignore her heart sinking. "Oh," she cleared her throat, trying to not let her disappointment show in her voice. She was the adult in the situation; it would be inappropriate for her to make Chloe feel guilty, especially for spending time with her dad.

"I'm sorry-"

"No Chloe, don't be sorry!" Mac said quickly "You haven't seen your dad in months. You should spend as much time with him as you can."

"Are you sure?" Chloe asked. "Because I can probably still come if you really want me to."

"No, you can visit me anytime. I'll be fine."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Mac nodded. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

THAT SAME TIME
APARTMENT OF HARMON RABB
WASHINGTON DC

"So, what are we going to do this weekend?" Mattie asked. Her and Harm were decorating their Christmas tree. Well, Harm was the one actually decorating; Mattie was tasked with handing him the ornaments and telling him where they should go.

"We?" Harm raised an eyebrow as Mattie handed him a tiny biplane ornament. "You're telling me that you don't have some teenager-stuff to do with your teenager friends?"

"Do I look like someone who has teenager-stuff to do with my teenager friends?" Mattie asked. "Who are nonexistent, by the way."

"Touché."

"Plus," Mattie handed him another ornament. "Isn't Christmas time supposed-to be spent with your family?"

Harm paused. "Yeah…" he answered slowly. Dropping that f-bomb reminded Harm of his incoming custody hearing, where he hoped to become Mattie's legal guardian. Even though the hearing was over a week away, it was already giving him knots in his stomach. He was trying to not let Mattie see it was bothering him, though.

"Speaking of which, how do you feel about us being a family?"

"You're worried about the custody hearing, aren't you?"

Despite Harm's attempts he was doing a terrible job of not letting Mattie see he was worried. She saw through him as if he were made of glass.

Harm smirked. "A little," he looked down at her. "Are you worried?"

Mattie smiled. "A little."

"Well, at least we're in the same boat," Harm went to place the next ornament, pausing before placing it on a branch. "Where does this one go again?"

"Right there," Mattie pointed to a completely different place than where Harm had in mind.

"Oh," Harm placed the ornament in its correct spot. "So what did you have in mind for this weekend?"

"I don't know," Mattie shrugged. "Do you just want to watch some movies?"

"Sure, that sounds like a plan."

THE NEXT MORNING

0930 EST
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA

Harm walked into the breakroom, whistling. Mac was in there too, but she wasn't exactly in a whistling mood.

"Hey," he greeted, sidling up next to Mac at the coffee pot. She looked up from the sugar she was stirring into her mug.

"Hi," she replied, giving a smile that didn't fool Harm for a second.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his brow furrowing with concern.

"Oh, nothing," Mac tried to play it off cool with a shrug.

"Doesn't look like nothing."

Mac gave him a look. She wanted to snap at him, but she reeled herself in, knowing he was just trying to help. "Fine," she sighed. "Chloe called last night. She can't come visit this weekend."

"Damn. Really?" Harm frowned. "That sucks."

Harm's wording gave Mac some amusement. "'Sucks'?" she raised an eyebrow. "Has Mattie been teaching you some new vocabulary?"

He chuckled. "I've been picking it up," he said.

Mac bringing up Mattie gave Harm an idea. He would have to run it by Mattie first, but he had a feeling she would be okay with it.

"Hey Mac," he stopped her just as she was about to leave the breakroom.

"Yeah?"

"How do you feel about Christmas movies?"

THAT SATURDAY

1330 EST
APARTMENT OF SARAH MACKENZIE
GEORGETOWN

As luck would have it, Mattie was okay with Mac crashing her and Harm's movie day. It was a good thing she was okay with it too, because now they could use Mac's TV.

Mac and Mattie were already seated comfortably on the sofa when Harm came out of the kitchen with the bowl of popcorn (Mac and Mattie both couldn't cook to save their lives).

"Alright," Harm sat down between them. "So, we have Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Home Alone, Frosty the Snowman, Christmas Vacation, and Die Hard."

Mattie wrinkled her nose. "Die Hard isn't a Christmas movie."

Harm looked at her incredulously. "Yes it is. What are you talking about?"

"How is it a Christmas movie?" she demanded. "Just because it takes place at Christmas doesn't make it a Christmas movie."

"Don't bother trying to argue with him," Mac murmured to her. "I've been trying to explain that to him for years, he doesn't listen."

Mattie ended up dozing off in the middle of Die Hard, much to Harm's dismay. As she softly snored on the sofa, Harm and Mac went into the kitchen to talk.

"How have you been?" Harm asked, sipping at a mug of hot cocoa.

"How have I been?" Mac raised her eyebrows. "You're acting like you haven't seen me for years."

He shrugged. "It feels like years, sometimes."

"What do you mean?"

"We don't talk as much as we used to, Mac," Harm told her, "You know that."

She nodded slowly, taking a sip of her own cocoa. "I guess I'm just tired," she said quietly.

Harm arched an eyebrow. "Tired?"

"Yeah," Mac nodded. "I am."

"Tired of what?"

Mac sat her mug down. They were standing only a few feet apart, but the distance may as well have been miles. "Everything, I think," she answered. "I'm tired of being alone, I'm tired of this...thing between us-"

"Mac-"

"Something's gotta give, Harm," she snapped. "I don't know what is it, but something's gotta give."

"I know," Harm said softly, looking down at his feet, "I get it, Mac."

"Do you-"

Both of them quieted when they heard footsteps approaching. Mattie appeared in the entryway, her curls messy from being pressed against the arm of the sofa. "Hey," she said, her voice slightly groggy. "Are you guys coming back?"

"Yeah," Harm nodded, briefly glancing at Mac for confirmation. She nodded in agreement.

"Yep, we were just talking," she headed back into the living without looking back at Harm. He sighed, following after her.

"I still don't think Die Hard is a Christmas movie," Mattie said as she sat back down on the sofa.

Harm chuckled. Mac looked up at him dryly. "She's right, you know."

"Yeah," he nodded. "I guess she is."

They were able to get through the rest of the movies without Harm and Mac having any more altercations. As a whole, the afternoon ended up being very enjoyable. Towards the end of the evening, Harm took advantage of Mattie leaving the room to use the bathroom to try and talk to Mac again.

"I'm sorry," he said, deciding to ease into things.

"It's okay," Mac told him, her tone clipped. "It's not you, it's just everything."

"What are you talking about?" Harm asked. He wasn't trying to be defensive as much as he was trying to be helpful.

"I don't know. It's nothing-"

"Could you stop being vague? Or at least try?" Harm folded his arms across his chest. "I think we could have a better conversation that way."

Mac snorted. "You're one to talk about vagueness."

Harm decided to ignore the slight. "What's wrong, Mac? You're not acting like yourself, you haven't been for awhile."

"I just-" she paused, clearing her throat to try and get rid of the lump that was forming in it. "I figured I would have myself more together by this point, you know?"

"Yeah," Harm slowly nodded.

"Ten years ago, when I thought about where I'd be by now-I wasn't picturing this," Mac said, gesturing around her. "I thought I'd have more things figured out. I thought I'd have a life outside of the Corps by now. I'd be married probably, have a family…"

"Just because you don't have it now doesn't mean you'll never have it," Harm said. "You'll have everything figured out eventually, Mac. You always figure things out."

Little to Harm and Mac's knowledge, Mattie had overheard everything they said. She wanted to keep it a secret, but couldn't help bringing it up to Harm as they left Mac's apartment.

"I think you and Mac should date," Mattie said as they got into the car.

Harm froze, his eyes widening. "What makes you say that?'

Mattie shrugged slyly. "I don't know."

"You weren't eavesdropping, were you?"

She shrugged again. "I have no idea what you're talking about."