Title: Meeting in a Rose Garden

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

Note: I'm sure I'm reaching pretty hard with the case that comes up at the end of this part. But every time I watch that episode of West Wing and they start talking about Vickie Hilton, I keep thinking of the folks at JAG prosecuting her. Anyway. Like I said, I know I'm reaching a little bit here, but hopefully you can just suspend your disbelief and go with it.

Also. Someone in the comments last time mentioned a Harm-centric sequel. There actually is going to be one, only it's going to be set in roughly this same time period. It'll start when he meets Julia, and go on until he gets his happy ending – because he definitely deserves one too. I've started outlining that one, but I won't start writing it until I'm finished here. Hopefully you'll enjoy it when it eventually happens.

Part Twenty-Eight

"Your phone is ringing." Sam's voice was muffled and he opened one eye. It was too early, the sun was too bright, and her phone was too loud.

Mac blindly felt around the nightstand, and finally closed her fingers around it. She lifted it over her head and squinted at the caller ID. It was Harm. She closed her eyes for a moment and then crawled out of bed. She grabbed Sam's discarded tuxedo shirt from the night before, and made her way into the living room. Harm had already hung up, but she hit redial and curled up on the sofa.

"Hey, where are you?"

"California. I'm visiting Sam for the weekend." She rubbed the heel of her hand over her bleary eyes. "What's up?"

"Ah, Mac. I'm sorry. It's so early there. Want to call me back later?"

"It's fine; I'm awake. What's going on?"

He took a deep breath. "It's good news. I managed to get ahold of Sergei last night. He isn't the father of Singer's baby. He told me that they never even slept together. And he's moved on from the little crush he had on her."

She felt a momentary twinge thinking of Singer's growing belly. "That has to be a huge relief."

"You have absolutely no idea. The idea of being linked to her for the rest of my life is downright terrifying. Julia and I are going to take Sarah up this afternoon to celebrate." They both fell quiet for a moment. "So, California, huh? I knew you had a few days off, but the Admiral didn't say where you were going. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

She smiled softly. So much had happened between them over the past couple of years, but she was finally feeling as if she had her friend back. Talking to him this early on a Saturday morning felt almost natural and she briefly wondered if he'd like to start running with her in the mornings again. "You're not. We went to a black-tie fundraiser last night and stayed out way past my bedtime."

"Was it fun?"

She thought of the beautiful house and the incredible gown the had purchased yesterday. The host and his family were wonderful, even if the rest of the guests had been a little over the top. "It was more fun than I thought it would be."

She stifled a yawn and attempted an apology, but he laughed. "Go back to sleep. I'll see you in the office next week."

Mac didn't argue, and they ended the call. She turned her phone off and headed back to the bedroom, slipping out of the shirt before climbing back into bed.

Sam nestled closer to her and draped an arm over her waist. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. I'll tell you later when we're properly awake." He tightened his arm around her and she closed her eyes. "I've missed this." She whispered.

"I have too." His voice was low and sent shivers through her. "I'm so glad you're here."

It was a few more hours before they made their way out of bed. CJ and Toby had flown out for the fundraiser last night, and the four of them were meeting for brunch before the flight back to Washington.

The restaurant wasn't far from the apartment, and they decided to walk, instead of fighting the Saturday morning crowds for a parking spot. There was a short wait when they arrived, so she gave her name and cell phone number to the hostess and they walked down the boardwalk a bit.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day. The sun was shining, the sky was the perfect shade of blue, and the beach was full of activity. Mac turned to Sam and smiled. "It must have been nice growing up here."

He nodded. "It was okay. I haven't spent much time here since I graduated high school." He watched two little kids squeal and laugh as their dog shook off, spraying them with sand and salt water. "I went east for school and never looked back."

"Why? Your parents?"

He shrugged. "I don't really know. I guess I just always felt like an outsider here. I wasn't exactly laid back. I wanted to go an ivy league school, and to a good law school and then work for a big firm." He shrugged again. "I guess I spent too much time with school and school related activities to make sure those things happened, and missed out on enjoying this place."

She frowned. The Sam she knew worked hard of course, but he loved going to Kiawah and loved their day trips to the Chesapeake Bay. "That's surprising."

"I know." He turned to her and smiled. "There have been times where I wish I would have done things differently. You know. I wish I would have gone to more beach bonfires with friends and spent less time in the library." He leaned in and kissed her gently. "But every decision I've made has led me to you, so I can't say that I have any regrets."

She beamed, and then looked around the beach. She could see remnants of fires, and her eyes widened. "Can we have a fire on the beach? I've never done that."

"Yeah, if you want. There's a spot near my parent's place that's pretty secluded. It's a perfect spot." Her smile widened, and he felt a rush of love for this woman. Making her smile like that made him feel invincible.

"Princeton!"

Sam turned at the familiar voice and grinned. CJ and Toby were nearing them, and he moved away from Mac to greet them.

"Hey Flamingo." He felt Mac's eyes on him, and shrugged. "Our old Secret Service code names." He turned back to his friends and gave CJ a quick kiss on the cheek and nodded at Toby.

"How is Will Bailey working out?"

Toby shrugged, and stabbed at a piece of waffle with his fork. "He's fine. He'll do."

CJ grinned. "He'd probably be more comfortable if the junior staffers would stop filling the office he's using with their bicycles and covering the windows with your campaign posters." Sam and Mac both laughed and CJ continued. "And the goat that Toby and Josh left in there. He's taking the hazing like a champ, though."

"Good." Sam said, and popped a berry into his mouth. He looked at his fiancée and smiled. "I forgot to tell you who his dad is – General Tom Bailey."

Her eyes widened and she sat down her fork. "As in NATO Supreme Commander of Allied Forces General Tom Bailey?" The other three nodded and she let out a breath. "Wow. That's pretty cool."

"Will's a good guy. And an amazing writer."

Toby rolled his eyes, moderately annoyed at the mention of Will. "Yeah, he's fine. But he got you into this mess. If you were in Washington where you're supposed to be I wouldn't have to spend so much time trying to talk him into going into the Oval, or trying to get the staffers to stop screwing with him. He knows his assignment is temporary, so he's trying too had to make sure he doesn't cross any lines." Sam made a non-committal noise, and Mac glanced at him. Toby pushed back from the table and crossed his arms over his chest. "What?"

Sam shrugged. "If I win, maybe his assignment won't be temporary. He'd be a good fit for my job."

Toby scoffed. "Sam, you're down by eight points. I wouldn't give your job away yet."

He shrugged. "I was down by ten." He blushed and looked at his plate. "It could happen. There's still two months till the election. And I'm just putting it out there – Will would make a good deputy."

Toby shook his head. "We're not getting into this now." He glanced at his watch and looked at CJ. "We need to get going soon."

She looked wistfully at the ocean view from the huge windows and sighed. "It's 30 degrees back in DC."

Mac winced. "Don't remind me. I'm heading back Monday." Sam groaned and draped an arm over the back of her chair, and she smiled at him.

CJ caught the waitress's eye, and gestured for the check, before turning her attention back to Sam. "Something tells me you're going to miss Sarah more than you'll miss us."

"Well, yeah. Obviously."

They fell silent as the waitress dropped off their checks, and they handed them back to her with credit cards. A few minutes later they were standing on the curb, saying their goodbyes. Sam shook Toby's hand and gave CJ a warm hug, and then they were gone, leaving Mac and Sam standing alone on the curb. She reached for his hand, and they began walking back to his apartment.

"So, Will Bailey would be a good fit for your job?" He nodded and she sighed. "I thought you just wanted these few months to be over and done with. Do you actually want to win this thing?"

He gestured to a bench on the boardwalk. "Let's sit." He sat down and stared at the ocean for a moment and then looked at her. "I do want to win." He shrugged. "I don't half-ass things, Sarah. I've committed to this, and I'm doing my best. Will it be good enough? Probably not. But If I'm putting my life on hold for ninety days, I'd like for something good to come from it."

"What if you don't win?"

"I come back to DC."

She raised an eyebrow. "And will you go back to your job at the White House?"

"I don't know." He studied her face, looking for a reaction, but her face remained impassive and he felt a jolt of anxiety. He remembered the conversation they had had on the Fourth of July about how he was convinced some women were only interested in him because he had an interesting job. Would she be less interested in him if the words 'White House' weren't in his job title? "Would that bother you? If I didn't go back to the White House?"

She frowned and shook her head. "No, of course not." He visibly relaxed and she shifted so her whole body was facing him. "What would you do instead?"

"I did go to law school…" He grinned and bumped her shoulder with his.

Mac smiled, "I remember. But I also know that you love the President. Could you walk away from that?"

"I think so. The thing about working in the White House – a single year is like a dog year. And I've been doing this for four years. Add in about eight months for the first campaign, and the insanity of the past year." He shook his head. "There's a reason that most people don't stay in their White House jobs for very long. It takes a toll, and I'm just so tired."

"I get it." Her voice was soft, and her eyes met his. "But you'll absolutely come back to DC?"

He picked up her left hand and placed a soft kiss right above her engagement ring. "I'll be wherever you are."

"Are you sure you're up for this?"

Mac rolled her eyes and opened the car door. "I'm fine. It's not like we're hiking Everest."

He shrugged. "It's still a pretty strenuous hike." She opened her mouth and he hurried on. "I know you've been cleared to return to physical activity, but running in the city is different than climbing a pretty steep hill." She glared at him and he raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay."

She hopped out of the car and shut the door behind her. The trailhead was in a residential neighborhood, and she curiously looked around. These houses were much more modest than the mansion the party had been at last night, and the house Sam had grown up in. But the area was beautiful. It was lush and green, with tons of trees and interesting plants.

"This is pretty."

He nodded. "I like this area. And wait till you see the view from the top." He slid a backpack over his shoulders. "Ready?"

"Yep." She fell in step behind him and they began their trek. Neither said much while they made their way to the top, but she didn't mind the silence. It felt so good just to do something physical. During her time on the Seahawk, she had been limited to gym equipment, and while she was thankful she had that, she preferred to exercise outside.

"Who called this morning?"

"Hmm?" It took her a minute to clear her thoughts and register what he had asked. "Oh, it was Harm."

"Ah." He fell silent again for a moment. "Is everything okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah. He finally got ahold of his brother and asked him about Singer's pregnancy. Sergei assured him that there was no way he was the father."

Sam frowned, unsure why Harm had deemed that important enough to call about on a Saturday morning, but let it go. Their friendship was something he would never truly understand, and he had come to accept that. "If she's as terrible as she seems, I'm sure that's a huge relief."

They walked in silence for a few more minutes while she tried to organize her thoughts. "I'm relieved for Harm, more than I am for Sergei. Harm lost his dad when he was so young, and always tries to step in to be a father figure whenever there is a child in need of one. I imagine he'd feel an even stronger level of responsibility for any child that shares his DNA."

"Do you think he'll ever have a family of his own?" Mac blushed, thinking of their baby deal, and he raised an eyebrow. "Do I want to know?"

She let out a breath and shrugged. She stopped walking and took a sip from her water bottle. "Have you ever had a back-up?"

He frowned. "A back-up?"

"Yeah. You know; a good friend you make a pact with. Like, if you're not married by the age of 40, you'll marry each other."

"I thought that was the kind of thing that only happened on TV shows." She snorted, and he shook his head. "No, not really. I'd rather be alone than be with someone just to be with someone." She looked away and took another sip of her water. "I'm guessing Harm was your back-up?"

"He was…" She trailed off. He wasn't a true back-up. Not really. There had never been anything promised beyond fathering a child with her. "On the day that AJ Roberts was born, we were talking about how everything was changing, and I mentioned that my biological clock kept going off and I kept hitting the snooze button." That conversation was painful to remember these days. She wondered if she would have had a better chance of getting pregnant two years ago. "So, we agreed that in five years, if neither of us were involved with anyone, we'd have a baby together."

His eyebrows shot up again, this time nearly disappearing into his hairline. "Wow." He took a sip of his own water. "Would you have actually gone through with it?"

Mac shrugged. "I don't really know. For a while I thought I would have. But then…" She trailed off, feeling oddly emotional. "Then I met you. And I realized that what I felt for Harm wasn't love. Not really. If it had been, how could I have come so close to marrying someone else? Anyway. I realized that I want to have a baby with someone I love, and who loves me. And that isn't him." Sam didn't say anything, and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Are we going to fight about Harm now?"

He laughed lightly, and shook his head. "I know this is shocking, but I don't feel as intimidated by him, or your relationship with him as I used to." She beamed, and he moved in to kiss her. "Come on," he said, "let's finish this."

She nodded and they continued making their way to the top. Thanks to the incline, her thighs were burning by the time they reached the top, and they were both struggling to catch their breath. Then they stepped out of the brush and into the clearing at the top, and the view made her gasp.

"Wow." She tentatively walked to the edge and took it all in. It was a perfect clear day and the panoramic view of the Pacific was breath taking. She felt Sam walk up beside her and he pointed at something.

"That's Catalina Island." She nodded, but didn't say anything. "And that's Mount Baldy."

"Thanks for bringing me here." He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head, and she let out a contented sigh.

Going back to work Tuesday morning was beyond difficult. She missed Sam, she missed the warmth of California, and she was dreading seeing Singer again. She didn't know if she had gone through with the abortion, and wasn't sure which would be more painful – knowing she had gone through with it, or having to watch her belly continue to grow.

"Excuse me, ma'am."

She turned away from the coffee pot and smiled at the young petty officer. "Good morning, Tiner."

"Good morning, ma'am. The Admiral would like to see you as soon as you're settled."

She nodded. "I'll be right there." She hurriedly finished making her coffee, and then dropped her briefcase and purse off in her office before heading to see the Admiral.

"Go on in, ma'am." She opened the door, and took her usual seat in front of his desk.

"Colonel." He smiled, but it was tight and she felt uneasy. "Did you have a good weekend?"

She nodded. "Yes, sir. Thank you for insisting. It was just what I needed."

"Good. Listen, Mac." He took a deep breath. "Have you heard of Vickie Hilton?"

"No sir."

"Commander Vickie Hilton is an F-14 pilot who is facing disciplinary action for failure to end an inappropriate relationship. She was seeing a subordinate, was ordered to end the relationship and didn't. Now she's looking at a dishonorable discharge."

She nodded, unsure of where he was heading with this. "Are we taking her case?"

"We are. Commander Rabb and Commander Manetti are prosecuting. But Commander Hilton has opted for a civilian defense. She's spoken to the press, and is now working with a women's advocacy group that's willing to champion her cause." He leaned forward, and his demeanor became a little more informal. "Part of her defense is that the fraternization wouldn't have been an issue in the first place if she were a man. I received a preliminary copy of the witness list last night, and Colonel Farrow is on it."

She felt all of the color drain from her face and sat up straighter. "Sir, Colonel Farrow and I…" She took a breath and moistened her lips. "Sir, no one knew about us. He wasn't ordered to end the relationship. I don't understand this."

"I know. And I agree that they're reaching. Once they interview him, he may not even make it to the stand." She closed her eyes, and he felt absolutely horrible – for having to tell her this in the first place, and for their near kiss all those years ago. Even if the feelings were reciprocated, he knew better and should have never put her in that type of predicament. His career would have taken the bigger hit, but the scandal truly would have had much more of an impact on her. "I'm sorry, Mac."

She didn't say anything and simply nodded. "Is that all, sir?"

"Yes. You can go." He watched as she took a few seconds to compose herself, and then stood and exited the office.

"Are you okay?"

Mac looked up and found Harm standing in the door frame. "Yeah. Congrats on the very high-profile case. From what I've been reading, her defense is even pressuring the White House for a statement."

He rolled his eyes and came into her office. "Yeah, that's just what we need." He sat down on the edge of her desk. "I saw the witness list. If it makes you feel better, calling in people like Farrow might hurt her case." She narrowed her eyes and he shrugged. "He was discrete, and nothing happened. If she had shown more discretion, she may have gotten away with it too."

"I don't care about her case." She stood and walked around her office. "I care that a good man's name is going to be pulled through the mud because of me. Again." She took a breath. "And I worry that this will hurt Sam's campaign. Hilton has made sure this case is as publicized as it can possibly be. When they question John, will all of those gossip shows start talking about my hairstyle and showing that photo of me in a bikini again? Or this time will they run a photo of Sam and I from the President's birthday party, or the fundraiser this past weekend?"

"Have you told him yet?"

Harm's voice was gentle, and it calmed her just a bit. "No, not yet. I'll call him when I get home from work.

He reached over and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Maybe it won't be as bad as you think."

She gave him a sad smile and shrugged. "Maybe. Who knows?" She moved back behind her desk and let out a breath. "Thanks for checking on me."

He grinned. "Anytime.

For the rest of the day, Mac kept her head down and stayed busy. She left on time, and once home immediately changed into her coziest clothes. She called the Indian restaurant down the street and placed an order for lamb vindaloo and garlic naan, and then called Sam. He answered quickly, and she closed her eyes when she heard the smile in his voice.

"Hey. Am I interrupting?"

"Not really. We're sitting here arguing over a speech I'm giving tonight, so you are a very welcome distraction. What's up?"

She could still hear others voices and swallowed. "Any way you can go somewhere a little more private? I need to talk about something a little serious."

"Yeah, of course." She heard chair legs scratching the floor, and his voice was muffled as he excused himself. "Okay, I'm in the conference room. Are you okay?"

"No." She let out a breath, and was humiliated to find herself crying.

"Sarah, sweetheart. Talk to me."

She cried softly for another moment and then wiped her eyes and cleared her throat. "Have you heard about Vickie Hilton?" He hadn't heard about the case, so she filled him in, and told him that they were calling John Farrow as a witness. "This may hurt your campaign, Sam."

"If it does, it does." He made a note to call Josh and find out what the hell was going on. "Sarah, I slept with a call girl."

"I really hope you're referring to the thing with Laurie a few years ago. You didn't know she was a call girl." She said, sniffling.

He smiled. "Yeah, but do you think my political enemies believe that? Some people will probably be bothered by you having the audacity to have a past. I'm not going to pretend otherwise. But those people probably weren't going to vote for me anyway. Don't worry about me, okay?"

"Okay." She heard someone call his name, and a low groan from him. "Do you need to go?"

"Probably. It sounds like Scott and one of the speechwriters are about to come to blows. I'll call you tonight when I get in, okay?"

She nodded and then swallowed. "Okay."

"I love you. And don't worry about me. I promise I'll be fine."

"Okay. And I love you too." She hung up the phone and stared at the receiver for a few minutes, and then picked it up and dialed a number she had memorized a very long time ago, and let out a breath when a familiar voice answered.

"John? It's Sarah."

End Part 28