Chapter Eight
Sticking a Fork in It-Not A Knife

NOVEMBER 25TH, 2000
Two Days After Thanksgiving

0900 EST
APARTMENT OF SARAH MACKENZIE
GEORGETOWN

The day Mac had been waiting for had finally arrived in a surprisingly anti climatic fashion. Everyone was calm as suitcases were packed and final cups of coffee were drank. Rich and Louise's plane back to Australia was departing at noon, and Mic was driving them to the airport. That gave Mac plenty of time to set her plan into action.

It wasn't t until the time came for goodbyes that things started to get tense.

"Well...um," Mac wrung her hands, looking at Rich and Louise as they stood in the doorway. Sarah was in her carrier, after being begrudgingly returned to them by Renee the day before. "It was nice getting to meet you."

Louise nodded. "Of course," her pleasant tone was even more forced than Mac's. "It was nice meeting you as well.

Mic grinned, the only one there actually in a good mood. He wrapped his arm around Mac's waist, pulling her close to him. Rich watched this altercation with raised eyebrows, and Mac glanced at him with a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"I guess next time you'll be here for the wedding," Mic said, looking over at Mac. She replaced her grimace with a real smile right in the nick of time.

"We can't wait." I can definitely wait, Mac thought, but I'm not sure he can.

As soon as the door closed and the Brumbies were gone, Mac sprang into action. Jingo was shuffled into the kitchen and ordered to stay there so Mac could execute her plan without any distractions. The straightforward concept would be to clear out Mic's side of the closet and throw everything into his suitcase. If Mac was feeling extra dramatic, she could just dump all of his stuff out into the street below. The possibilities were endless, but there was one idea Mac kept coming back to. One that seemed too perfect to pass up.

Mac put on a red lingerie set that she knew Mic had been itching to see her in. She also stripped the bed, putting on a fresh set of silk sheets and lit several candles around the room. She was going to give Mic Brumby a farewell show he was never going to forget.

When Mic came home, the apartment was eerily silent. Something was different, but Mic couldn't put his finger on what. Mac was nowhere to be found, and Jingo was sprawled out on the living room carpet, watching him with curious eyes and a swishing tail. When Mic placed his car keys on the coffee table, he noticed that the bedroom door was ajar.

"Hi Mic."

Mac appeared in the bedroom doorway, looking like a goddess in the skimpy red lingerie set Mic had been dying to see her wear ever since she bought it. Just the sight of her in it was enough to make his mouth water and pants tighten. He smirked. "What have you been up to?" he asked.

"Hmm...nothing much," Mac shrugged coyly. She looked down at herself. "I just figured I'd try this on for size."

"You look amazing," Mic's eyes went over every inch of her body.

Mac giggled. She slowly began to back up, gesturing for Mic to follow. "Why don't you come here to get a closer look?" she asked, and Mic didn't have to be told twice. He rushed into the bedroom after Mac, catching her by the wrist and turning her around to place an eager kiss on her lips. Mic was so busy kissing and fondling Mac that he was taken completely off guard when Mac spun him around and pushed him down onto the bed.

He looked up at her with wide eyes. "Sarah-"

"What?" Mac asked innocently as she crawled on top of him, straddling his hips. "I figured we could try something new," she reached for something on the bedside table. "You know, since you never let me be on top."

Mic started to respond, but stopped when he noticed his hands were being restrained. He looked up from Mac's breasts to see his wrists being tied to the bed frame with one of his own ties. "What are you doing?" he asked, wincing at how tight the knot was.

Mac smiled. "Just a little game," she kissed him on the cheek. "I have a present for you, too."

"You mean something more than this?" Mic tugged against the tie, frowning when nothing budged.

"Uh-huh," Mac hopped off his lap and walked over to the dresser. She opened the top dresser at a painstakingly slow pace, making a show of drawing out a tiny slip of paper.

"Here you go," she wagged the paper in front of Mic's face. It took him a few tries to actually read what it said.

"It's a plane ticket…" he looked up at Mac with confusion. "My parents left already…" his eyes widened when he realized who the ticket was actually for.

"Sarah-"

"It's a one way ticket too, in case you were wondering," Mac stated promptly. Mic's horrified expression had no effect on her.

"But-but-the wedding!" Mic stammered, struggling against his restraint. It did no good, so he watched with despair as Mac did the unthinkable. Slowly, so she could make sure it hurt Mic as much as possible, Mac held up her left hand and pulled her ring off. She turned around and walked to the closet.

"Sarah-Mac, what are you doing?" Mic demanded, struggling harder against the tie. She reached into the closet and yanked out his suitcase. Unzipping it, she dropped the ring inside.

"Not marrying you," Mac went back to the closet, gathering up an armful of Mic's clothes, hangers and all, and tossing them into the suitcase.

"Look, if this about my parents, I can explain-"

"No, Mic. It's not about your parents," she went to the dresser, rifling through its contents for his boxers. She dropped them into the suitcase on top of the rest of his clothes. She dusted off her hands. "This is about you."

"Me?" Mic looked at her incredulously. "What the hell did I do?"

Mac scoffed. "What haven't you done, Mic?" she folded her arms across her chest. "You manipulated me into accepting your proposal, you make it seem like I asked you to move here-which I didn't. You treat me like I'm some sort of show pony in front of your law firm buddies and then get upset when I say I don't like it. Oh let's see, what else is there?" she paused to think. "Oh wait! I have one! You also lose your goddamn mind if Harm and I are in the same room together!"

"But," Mic frowned. "I love you, Sarah."

"You love this," Mac gestured down at herself. "You love my body, and the idea of me being your arm candy."

"Isn't that enough?"

Mac gawked at him. "What?" Mic groaned, knowing he had misspoke. Without another word, Mac began to drag Mic's suitcase over to the window. Mic squirmed against his bonds, kicking at the bedsheets as he watched Mac head to the window. Out of the fog of his terror, an idea struck him. An idea that might actually be good enough to get him out of this.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Mic begged. "Sarah, please wait!"

His urgent tone made Mac pause halfway through opening the window. She straightened up. "What is it?"

"I have something to tell you," Mic said as he tried to catch his breath.

"Alright," Mac dropped his suitcase, all of the contents spilling out onto the floor. "Plead your case."

Mic smiled. "Could you untie me?"

Mac rolled her eyes and marched over to him. She bent over, purposely positioning herself so her breasts wouldn't be in his line of sight. "Say please."

"What?"

"Say please," Mac repeated. "If you want to be untied, say please."

Mic's mouth dropped open. "Sarah-"

"Say please or you're going to be picking up your boxers off the sidewalk."

"Fine," Mic sighed. "May I please be untied?"

Mac smiled. "Of course you may."

Mic had to hide his smug expression as Mic untied him from the headboard. He knew that if no other tactic would work to win Mac over, pity would.

After untying Mic, Mac threw on a sweatshirt so Mic wouldn't get distracted while he argued for his innocence. She listened intently to Mic as he paced and described to Mac a certain event that happened when he was sixteen. As she listened, Mac kept an ear out for certain phrases one might hear in an apology. Phrases like "I'm sorry," or "Can you please forgive me?" or "There's no excuse for what I did."

She didn't hear any of the phrases. What she did hear was a grown man's deflection and him placing all the blame for his problems onto his mother. She also heard a story about Mic hitting and killing a woman with his car when he was a teenager, which would've been entertaining if it wasn't so disturbing.

"So there," Mic stopped pacing, looking at Mac with a hopeful gleam in his eye. "That's what happened."

Mac leaned back, folding her arms across her chest. She raised an eyebrow and Mic smiled, completely unaware that his ex-fiancé was no fool. Jingo had taken a spot next to Mac on the sofa, purposely stretching out so Mic wouldn't have any room to sit down. He looked up at Mac with big eyes as if he were asking, Do you seriously believe this guy?

"That's an interesting story," Mac said.

"Really?" Mic eyes lit up. "Because I was thinking, if you really wanted to, we could elope for the wedding so my parents wouldn't be involved-"

Mac snorted, and Mic froze. He waited for her to stop laughing, but she didn't. She was laughing so hard that she almost slid off the sofa. "Oh, Mic," she said finally, her cackles subsiding into manageable giggles. "There's not going to be a wedding."

Mic stopped in his tracks. "What?"

"I don't think you get it," Mac pulled herself into a sitting position. "There's absolutely nothing you could say that would make me want to marry you. Especially after this week."

"But-"

"You know what I think you need, Mic?" Mac asked. "Therapy," she stood up. "Lots of it," she started to walk back into the bedroom. "In Australia. Far away from me."

"But-but-" Mic looked around frantically, his eyes landing on Jingo. "We're a family. Jingo loves me," Mic reached out to pet Jingo, who snarled at him. Mic frowned and drew his hand back.

"Don't bring Jingo into this," Mac snapped from the bedroom. She grunted as if she was lifting something heavy. "He's my dog. You don't even like walking him."

"I walked him yesterday morning!"

"For the first time in two months!" Mac reappeared in the bedroom doorway. "But let's ask him anyway, since we're a 'family'," she used air quotes. "Jingo, honey what do you think? Please wag your tail for yes. Keep it still for no. Do you think your mother and father should get married?

Jingo's tail didn't move.

"Do you want your father to remain in DC so we can work out a joint-custody agreement?"

Again, Jingo's tail didn't move.

Mac leaned against the doorframe. "Do you even consider Mic to be a father figure to you in any way, shape, or form?"

Even though Mic was urging him to, Jingo didn't wag his tail. He climbed off the sofa and walked over to Mac, sitting down at her feet. Mac looked down at him, and then looked back up at Mic. "I think you have your answer," she said.

Mic rolled his eyes. "He's a dog, Sarah!"

"So are you!" Mac snapped. She gestured over her shoulder. "You're stuff's out in the street, by the way. You might wanna go get it."

Mic's eyes widened and he rushed out of Mac's apartment, his departure laden with curse words and other exclamations Mac didn't catch.

Mac rushed to the open bedroom window, Jingo at her heels. She watched with the utmost satisfaction at the sight of Mic's shirts, pants, ties, and boxers scattered on the sidewalk and street below. When Mic appeared outside, Mac couldn't help but laugh.

"Once you get your clothes, you can come back up and get your toothbrush," she called. "And your plane ticket, don't forget that!"

She turned to Jingo, grinning down at him, "We're free," she said, scratching him behind both ears. "Jingo, we're free."

The past week of Mac's life might've been pure hell, but the rest of her life was about to be amazing. A life without Mic Brumby was definitely a life worth living.

He's gone! Everyone take a few moments to cheer and do their happy dance! I hope his departure lived up to your expectations. My one problem with Mic and Mac breaking up on the show was that Mic technically broke up with Mac, and I would've preferred it to be the other way around. After all the stuff he put her through, I would've loved to see Mac haul off and kick him to the curb, but alas, that's not what happened. Thank God Fanfiction's here to fix everything, am I right?

There's going to be one more chapter left, a kind of semi-epilogue...You'll see some things coming full circle, that's all I have to say ;)

Thanks for reading!

-Harper