Title: Meeting in a Rose Garden

Summary: Mac reconnects with someone she knew in law school. (West Wing Crossover) (Mac/Other, Mac/Harm friendship)

Part Thirteen

Harm and Sam had barely had time to slide into the booth before Julia wrapped a hand around Harm's forearm and smiled at Mac. "So, tell me about all of these near-death experiences that will make me never want to go near a cockpit."

Mac felt Sam tense beside her, and moved her hand to his thigh. She gave a gentle squeeze, and then let her hand remain there. She imagined this was unpleasant for him. As if spending the evening with Harm wasn't bad enough, now he would have to listen to tales from their early days, and she felt terrible about that. She should have tried harder to refuse Julia's demand that they sit together, but she hadn't wanted to make things more awkward by causing a scene. She felt him shift next to her, and then he draped his arm around her shoulders. She glanced at Harm and shrugged. "You want to tell her, or should I?"

"You tell her. And make it sound really terrifying."

"If I remember correctly, it was pretty terrifying."

Harm winced, thinking about her blood on his hand. "Yeah, it was."

She knew where his mind was and shook her head. "It wasn't your fault, Harm."

"Oh my god, will one of you please tell the story."

Three sets of eyes turned to Julia and she shrugged. "We can talk fault later. Just tell the story." She gestured at the stage. "I mean, the band will start playing soon."

"Fine." Mac took a sip of water and leaned into Sam. "It actually started out as a nice day, and I was really enjoying the flight. But then there was a mechanical failure." She looked at Harm and frowned. "Some kind of hose, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah, a split fuel line."

"Right. Fuel line. So, Harm sets the plane down in a field. I had spotted a cabin while we were in the air, and I convince Harm we should hike to the cabin. But when we get there, we find a game wardens truck and three psychotic poachers. They had killed and buried the game warden-"

"No shit, seriously?"

This time three sets of eyes fall on Sam. He blushed at his outburst, and Mac grinned at him. "Seriously." She squeezed his thigh again, and settled back against him. "So, we're trying to play it cool but one of the poachers realizes we're suspicious and fires at us. So, at that point we're running for our lives because they're chasing us through the woods trying to kill us."

Julia turns to Harm, her eyes wide. "Oh my god. Is that why your pre-flight check is so obsessive?"

"Yes." He takes a swig of his beer and looks at Mac. "One of their shots actually hit her in the leg."

She winces and places her hand on her thigh where the scar remained. "We end up camping in the forest overnight. Harm had stolen a hose from their truck and is able to make it work, and we were able to fly out of there."

"Whoa," Julia said. "What happened to the poachers?"

Harm and Mac exchange another look, and he can tell she doesn't want to bring up the one she stabbed. "All three died."

Sam looked at Mac, unsure what was being left unsaid, but not completely sure he wanted to know. "Well, yeah. That's pretty terrifying."

Julia nodded and looked at Harm. "What's the other story?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You need more? We were shot at and stalked by psychopaths."

She shrugged. "I'm not planning on getting myself in trouble. That story doesn't make my desire to learn to fly go away. But it does make me want to take a self defense class, or something." Her eyes go wide with excitement and she grasps his arm. "Maybe once you've taught me how to fly you an teach me how to shoot a gun."

Harm and Mac exchange a glance, and she smiles. She likes this woman. "Anyway, the next harrowing experience was in Russia." Sam's eyes widened, and he remembered that Harm had spoken about Russia the night he had confronted him about the kiss. "We were looking for…" She trailed off. She wasn't sure how much Harm told Julia about his father.

"We were going to search for my father." Harm finished the sentence and smiled. "It's okay, Mac."

She nodded. "So, we had someone helping us and he was able to get us a ride on a Russian MIG. So, we stole the plane…" she turns to Sam as he chokes on his beer and raises an eyebrow. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

She watches him for a moment and then continues. "They were shooting missiles at us, and we were forced to punch out."

Julia and Sam are both staring at them now, wide eyed and open mouthed.

"Jesus Christ, Harm." Julia drains the rest of her beer and stands. "I still want to fly, maybe I just need to find an instructor who isn't a magnet for danger." She smiles and elbows him. "I'm going to get another drink. Anyone want anything?" They all shake their heads, and he stands so she can slide out of the booth.

Sam felt uncomfortable sitting here alone with them, especially after the stories he had just heard. For the millionth time he felt completely inadequate next to Harmon Rabb Jr. "I'm going to use the bathroom before the show starts. I'll be right back." He slid out of the booth and disappeared into the crowd.

Mac watched him leave and then turned to Harm. "Great idea telling those stories."

Harm winced and looked to the bar. "She's fearless, Mac. I just wanted her to know that she should be a little afraid." He turned to Mac and leaned back. "You haven't told him any of those?"

She shook her head. "No. I'd rather he not be terrified anytime I'm out of the country."

He winced again. "Yeah, good point."

They sat in silence for a moment, neither knowing what to say. She thought of the hundreds of hours they had spent alone together throughout their friendship and felt a pang. Things had gotten better since their return from Saudi Arabia last month, but they were still so far from where they had once been. And it hit her that their friendship would never go back to the way it was. He was no longer the most important person in her life, and she wasn't in his.

The music had started shortly after everyone was back at the table, and once they stopped talking the evening became more pleasant. The band played several slow songs to start, and by the time they finally got to a more upbeat number, Julia was itching to dance.

She turned to Harm and looked up at him, her eyes pleading with him to dance.

Finally, he sighed and stood. "If I dance with you, I don't want to hear one word about how I dance like an old man."

"No promises." She said with a grin, and slid out of the booth. She grabbed his hand and moved with him onto the dance floor.

Mac turned to Sam and smiled. "I know this isn't the night we had planned. I'm sorry about that."

He reached up and tucked behind her ear. "It's not as bad as I thought it would be." He turns to watch them dance for a minute and turns back to her. "Are you really okay with this?" He gestures at them with his chin. "With them?"

She watches them for a moment, and can't help but smile. He really does dance like an old man. She turns to Sam and nods. "I'm more than okay. I'm happy for him." She closes her eyes and shakes her head. "The women he's dated in the past have been horrible. Especially the most recent ex. But I like Julia." She placed a hand on his chest and leans into kiss him. "And I love you. You have nothing to worry about."

At that moment Julia and Harm come back to the table. He slides into the booth and she holds her hand out to Sam. "Come dance with me. I laughed too much at him and now he's refusing to dance again."

Sam smiled and glanced at Mac. "Do you mind?"

She shook her head. "I don't mind. But I do feel the need to tell Julia that you are a horrible dancer."

Julia shrugged. "I am too. Come on." She pulled Sam onto the dance floor, and Mac watched them go.

"Wow, they really are terrible."

She glanced at Harm and grinned. "Yeah, they are. So how long have you two been seeing each other."

"About a week." He watched Julia laugh at something Sam was saying and felt a twinge of jealousy. "After her lesson last weekend, she asked if I wanted to get a drink. I did." He shrugged. "Drinks turned into dinner, which turned into having dinner the next night, and then another dinner two nights later."

"I like her."

He turned to face her and was quiet for a moment. Finally, he nodded. "I get it now." She looked confused and he swallowed. "When you first started dating him you told me that it was easy and uncomplicated. It's like that with her."

Mac smiled and nodded. "I'm glad. You deserve that, Harm."

"What about you? Is it still easy and uncomplicated?"

She thinks about it for a moment and then shrugs. "It's still easy. But it's more complicated than it once was." She chews on her lower lip for a moment and then just blurts out her news. "We're moving in together."

His eyes widen, and she watches as a series of emotions play over his face. Finally, he raises his beer bottle and taps it to her water glass. "Congratulations, Mac. I'm happy for you."

Sam unlocked the door to the apartment and let her go in first. She sat her bag and the keys on the counter, and watched him lock up. She moved to him and smiled as she circled her arms around his waist. "Are you tired?"

He shook his head and ran his fingers over her cheek. "No, but I am ready for bed."

His eyes sparkled and she smiled. "Want to take a shower? I know my hair must reek from the cigarette smoke." She closed her eyes as his hand moved from her face to her hair and tangled in the strands.

"A shower sounds good." He moved around her and gently tugged at the zipper on the back of her dress. He placed a kiss on the back of her neck, and then slid the tiny straps over her shoulders and watched as the dress fell from her body. She turned to face him and raised her eyebrows. She stepped out of the dress, and out of her heels. She moved her fingers to the buttons on his shirt and they locked eyes as she slowly undid each button. As she neared the middle of the shirt, he closed his eyes and groaned. "You're killing me, Sarah."

She grinned and undid the final two buttons. "I know." After what seemed like an eternity, his shirt and undershirt fell to the floor next to her red dress and she moved her fingers to the button on his jeans.

When his clothes were off, and she was left in nothing but sheer white panties he backed her to the couch and gently pushed her onto it. She looked up at him, arousal evident in her huge eyes. "What about a shower," she asked as she lay back against a pillow.

"It can wait. But I don't think I can." He pulled the panties off and then his lips went to her neck while his hands began to roam. He stopped when his fingers grazed a puckered spot on skin on her thigh. He pulled away from her and shifted so that he could see the spot. He had gotten to know her body well over the past seven months. He was familiar with her tattoo and the birthmark on her hip, and knew every scar. But now he knew the story behind this one, and he slowly moved over the scarred skin. "Was this from the crazy poacher?"

She met his gaze and nodded. "Yes."

"You left out part of the story, didn't you?" She nodded, and he flattened his hand against her leg. "Will you tell me?"

She took a deep breath and nodded. "I'll tell you someday; I promise I will. But I don't want to talk about it right now." He opened his mouth, but then changed his mind and nodded. But he didn't pick up where he left off, instead he sat there and stared at the scar. She frowned and pushed herself up. "Hey. Are you okay?"

"Not really." He looked at her and swallowed. "I looked Harm up after that night when he told me I needed to fix your toilet, and I was so insecure. On paper he comes across as this larger than life action hero." He watches her nod and he swallows. "I guess I didn't consider that being larger than life comes with a lot of near-death experiences. And I didn't consider that you've been with him for a lot of those experiences."

"You've been shot at too." She moves her fingers through his hair and over his scalp and smiles as he closes his eyes.

"I know. But just the once. And they weren't really aiming at me." He flattens his hand over the scar again. "Just promise me you'll be careful. I know he's your partner and you two have to have each other's backs, but before you steal any more Russian jets just remember that you have someone at home who loves you and doesn't want to live without you."

"What are you doing?"

Mac pulled a few things out of the fridge and sighed. "You have zero good junk food," she called out to him.

"I have fruity pebbles."

She rolled her eyes, shut the fridge and then opened the freezer. "I don't understand how a man who keeps a jar of jelly beans on his desk doesn't even have a pint of ice cream in the freezer." She heard footsteps and turned to smile at him. He wore only his boxer shorts, and her eyes moved over his body, admiring his firm stomach and perfectly sculpted chest. "On second thought…" She grinned as she trailed off.

It was his turn to roll his eyes, and he wrapped an arm around her waist and nuzzled her neck. "You look so good in my shirt."

"Thank you, but that doesn't help with my current junk food crisis." She smiled at him and moved to the pantry. She rifled around for a moment and finally found something. "Victory!" She turned to face him and held up a bag of chocolate chips. She ripped open the bag and poured some of the chips into her hand.

"Sarah, I have no idea how long that bag has been in there."

She shrugged and ate one. "They taste fine."

"Well, grab the bag and come back to bed." Mac grabbed the bag and closed the pantry door and followed him back to the bedroom. She sat the bag on the nightstand and climbed back into the bed. He watched as she poured more chocolate chips into her hand. "You really want to move in together?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I really want to."

"When? Want to start moving your things over tomorrow?"

She raised an eyebrow, but couldn't help but smile at his eagerness. "Sure. I'll at least get my clothes tomorrow. But we'll need to take some time and figure out who's furniture to use and where." She blushed and lowered her eyes to her hand. The warmth of her skin was beginning to melt the remaining chips. Finally, she looked up and met his eyes. "I don't plan on getting rid of all of my things."

He frowned and shook his head. "Of course not. I wouldn't expect you to. In all honestly, you'll spend more time here than I will. I want you to be comfortable."

She nodded. "Okay." She ate the remaining chocolate chips licked the melted chocolate from her hand before setting the bag back on the nightstand. "I've never moved in with someone before." She was quiet for a moment and then curled up on his chest. "My ex moved in with me."

He ran a hand through her hair and took a deep breath. "I've never lived with anyone ever. These past months with you have been the closest I've gotten to it."

She sat up and looked at him with wide eyes. "Seriously? What about Lisa?"

He winced at a memory of one of the many arguments they had had about their living situation. "Neither of us were willing to give up our place." He smiled as he thought about the tiny apartment on the west side that he has loved. He remembered that the hallway had always smelled like curry, thanks to the Indian family who had lived a few doors down. He had loved the ancient hardwood floors and the working fireplace. Lisa's apartment had been sleek and modern, and he had never felt like he fit there.

The statement, combined with the thought that she was moving in with him, made her anxious and she frowned. "Would you have been willing to give up this place and move in with me?"

"Yes." She raised an eyebrow at the immediate response, and he placed a hand on her knee. "Anything you want. All you have to do is ask."

"All I can think of right now is always having ice cream in the freezer."

He rolled his eyes but smiled. "Well that's easy. We'll go grocery shopping tomorrow after we get some of your stuff. Anything else?" He watched as she grinned and her fingers moved to the buttons on the shirt she was wearing and began to undo them.

"I still need a shower. Care to join me?"

End Part 13