Disclaimer: I do not own any characters in this story. CBS has all rights.

This is a Mature piece.

Summary: Mac decides to take matters into her own hands with the help of some friends. Little does she know that once the ball gets moving Harm decides to turn the tide!

Wobbly Knees

"Tiner, get Lt. Simms in here." AJ thought to himself, 'those men are out of their minds, This is almost an impossible feat.'

"Aye, Aye, Sir" Tiner looks out into the bullpen but doesn't see Lt. Simms at her desk. He makes his way to the break room with no luck. On his return trip to his desk he spots her sitting in Colonel Mackenzie's office with the door closed.

"Harriet, I just don't know what to do anymore. I mean the flirting is getting to the point where my knees are wobbling when he looks at me with that bedroom look. You know the one I'm talking about right?"

"Mac, I think my knees wobbled and that look wasn't even directed at me...it was...INTENSE. I swear the color of his eyes even looked different...I don't know...more…"

Mac interrupts, "Stormy"

"Exactly" Harriet says as she remembered the almost visible electricity she felt as she witnessed the two senior officers in the office just moments ago. "Well, I say take matters into your own hands, his feelings are obvious to anyone who spends any time around the two of you. He gets so jealous when any man pays any bit of attention to you." Mac shares a questioning look. "That's what I did with Bud. He was so skittish around me I could hardly get him to stay still enough for me to grab a hold of his hand much less anything else." The two friends laughed.

"I don't know Harriet" Mac looks apprehensive, "I tried being the one to start this before and I can still remember the way I felt after he rejected my advances." Harriet's jaw dropped… "You're telling me that Mr. Stay away from my marine turned you down? I don't believe it,,When?"

"When we were in Sydney right before the Mic fiasco began." Mac frowned and dropped her head in her hands.

"Oh, that makes the puzzle pieces fit a little better for me, I always wondered how you went from 0 to 60 with regards to Mic. I understand now, you just didn't want to…" Mac looked up at her friend and noticed Tiner about to knock. She raised her finger for him to wait just a moment. Mac looked into her hands and quietly said "...feel unwanted."

"Enter" Mac spoke, allowing Tiner in.

"Excuse me Ma'am's, Lt. Simms, the Admiral would like to see you in his office."

Harriet jumped up and looked at Mac. "Think about what I said. I still think it would be received differently and the outcome could be life changing. I would be excited to assist you with this case in any way." She winked at Mac and followed Tiner through the bullpen.

Lt. Simms walked up to the Admirals door and knocked as she waited for the customary Enter form her commanding officer. She wondered about what Mac had just told her. She couldn't believe what an idiot Harm was. "Enter" Bellowed A.J. Chegwidden. Harriet shoved her thoughts into the folder in her brain labeled Harm & Mac.

"Lt. Simms reporting as ordered, Sir."

"At ease Lt., take a seat." Chegwidden said with a smile on his face.

"Lt., I have a rather unorthodox request for you. I have noticed as of late that you and the Colonel have been spending your lunch time together. I assume that this is with regards to your friendship and not something work related, am I correct?" He peered out over his glasses at Harriet who was starting to look a little nervous.

"Uummm...yes sir...I'm sorry if that has given you any reservations about our ability to function with good order and discipline."

"No, no absolutely not, I only bring it up because I have been given a task by the CNO, SECNAV, and the Commandant of the Marine Corps with regards to Mac and I think,...no I know she will need to be gently persuaded by, shall we say a friend." AJ smiled a little mischievously.

"Well Sir, let's get down to the nitty gritty and I'll see what I can do to help you out."

"Excellent, Lt. I knew having you as my ally in this endeavor was the key to its success." AJ began to think I just might be able to pull this off.

Harm sat at his desk trying to focus on the case file in front of him but his thoughts were drifting back to Mac. It was getting harder and harder to focus on just about everything. The more time he spent with her only increased the intensity of his dreams with regards to the little touches, glances and mesmerizing stares they shared. Not to mention the fantasies that now began invading not only his dreams but his daydreams as well. Yep, it was official. His brain had staged a revolution. The ultimatum had been issued, the challenge thrown down. It was not going to relinquish normal brain function until he stepped up and did something about how he felt. Gone are the days of hiding my feelings for the only woman in the world that completes me so fully. "Easier said than done." Harm said out loud to what he thought was an empty office.

"What is Sir?" Tiner said.

"Geez, Tiner. Don't you knock?" Harm gave a slight startle at the question.

"Sir, yes Sir. I knocked but you didn't answer."

"Oh, Uhh, sorry about that, What did you need Tiner?" Harm tried to make himself look busy by looking at the file on his desk once again.

"Well Sir, I was just wondering what case you and the Colonel are working on? I overheard Lt. Simms offering her assistance to the Colonel and I wanted to extend the same offer to you sir. I am looking for any experiences I can get now that I have started taking my law classes." Harm looked a little baffled at the Perry officer because this case isn't really anything that would require extra help for Mac or himself.

"Well Tiner, I like the initiative you've shown here today and I will definitely let you know if I need anything. Dismissed."

"Aye, Aye, Sir" Tiner swiveled on his heel and just like that he was on his way back to his desk.

Harm turned in his chair to face the window and began to wonder about what Mac would do if he just walked up to her, grabbed her, turned her around and shoved her against the back wall of the law library. Staring deeply into her eyes slowly, sliding my hands from just under her skirt to her hips and gently brushing along the outside of her ample breast only to stop right under her chin. Only then would I break eye contact to look at her lips and lean into finally quenching this need my brain is demanding. Maybe then I could focus enough to get through the day before begging her to allow me to do it all over again. Who am I kidding? If I give in I may lose all control to that fire hiding within me. It would consume me, us! Is that why I am holding back. Am I really that afraid of change that I would risk a lifetime of happiness. "Oh, Mac, I am pretty sure I am heading towards your corner. I just hope you're there to catch me." Harm said as he turned back towards his desk to find a smiling Lt. Simms.

Mac turned in her chair to face the window as she began thinking. 'I'm hopelessly in love with him and he is stuck in this holding pattern. She absolutely loved all the time they were spending together away from work. It's like dating but not admitting it to each other. I mean seriously who else has a best friend who will make you a candlelit dinner with romantic music playing softly in the background. Not to mention that amazing foot massage he finished up with on the couch. I couldn't help but wonder what those hands could do to me while exploring other sensitive areas of my body. Maybe Harriet's right...Maybe I should take the first steps...stage a hostile take-over...Maybe then I could gently nudge him out of that holding pattern. If I could just get him to kiss me again, maybe relieve some tension and give us an opportunity to walk through the door we have so clearly unlocked since the Jag-a-thon last year…I mean I am a marine right? I can handle a frontal assault on a Squid anyday.' Mac begins to stand up and pace inside her office. Jumping up and down, shaking her arms out, and stretching her neck side to side. "Ok, I've got this! This is happening, staged take-over to commence in T-30 minutes." She heads out of office looking for reinforcements.

"Hey Sturgis, You have a minute?" Mac waited at the open door. Ever since Mac's little slip up a few months ago where she inadvertently let the proverbial cat out of the bag in reference to her secret love for Harm , the two have become pretty close. She can go to him with pretty much anything and he has become a great comfort to her.

"For you Mac, of course, what's up?" He looked up at her and immediately realized that she was a marine on a mission.

"Ok, I need to convince Harm of something, so as one of his oldest friends i ask you,

Option a: neutral territory, slow and steady approach

Option b: his territory, catch him off guard

Option c: my territory, playing the 'I need your help card'

Sturgis laughed…"Do I get any other details?" Mac lifted a finger to her lips and sshhed while saying.

"Staging a hostile take-over in T-26 minutes" Sturgis' eyebrows raised as he grinned evilly.

"Need any help?"

"Yes, absolutely! Harriet is on board as well. Now, what's the verdict? I'm thinking, option c."

"I concur, option c plays to his saviour complex. A, allows him to play into his fears and B gives him too much of an advantage. However, C is going to require a little acting on your part. You think you can pull it off?" He watched as she looked around to make sure there were no other colleagues around. She leaned in and said.

"He won't even know what smacked him over the head until it's too late." Mac was starting to get a tingling sensation all over her body, she almost felt as though she was being pulled by an outside power to take this situation head on. It felt exhilarating. 'T-15 minutes…' "Here's what I need…"

Sturgis quietly and nonchalantly enters into Mac's empty office to draw the shades closed and leaves heading into Harm's office for the second part of his objective. Distraction and manipulation! Meanwhile...

Lt. Simms is in the restroom giving Mac a pep talk. "Allright, you are a kick ass marine who is strong in spirit, mind, body and heart. You WILL take your life into your own hands, you WILL use all that you are to stay strong and let your sexy out" Mac looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Sexy Out? Really Harriet you act like I'm going to ravish him on my desk."

Harriet smiled imagining what kid of excitement that would bring to the bullpen. "Look, all I'm saying is I can 100% guarantee that he is just as ready for this next step as you are, so be prepared for the match you are trying to light to turn into a raging blaze."

"I'll believe that when I see it. Wait, what do you mean you can guarantee? What do you know about Harriet?" Harriet gives a devilish grin.

"Well let's just say that I may or may not have walked in on him daydreaming about you and he actually was talking to you."

"What did you hear?"

"Don't worry about that, just get your head in the game and you may not believe it but you will feel it in about…" Harriet looks at her watch and hears Mac say.

"5 minutes"