Chapter Four
Laying Down the Law

WEEK 2
JUNE 18TH, 2001

2145 LOCAL
USS GUADALCANAL
MIDDLE OF THE INDIAN OCEAN

"Okay, so what are we discussing again?"

"How we impulsively decided to have sex."

"Right."

"And whether or not we should continue to have sex, which is somewhat dependent on the outcome of this conversation."

"Should I be writing this down? This sounds official."

"You can if you want."

"Alright, let me get my legal pad."

Mac giggled as she heard rustling on the other end of the line. Her and Harm had talked on the phone everyday since he first called her. The 9-hour time difference proved to be somewhat difficult to navigate at first, but they were able to figure out a method. Harm would call on his lunch break at 1230, which was 2130 in Mac's time.

So, for the past five days, Mac would curl up on her bunk after a long day, and Harm would stay in his office during his lunch break and they would talk for however long they could. Usually their calls would end when either Mac got tired or Harm needed to get back to work. They would talk about whatever; usually work or whatever was on their mind. It was nice.

What was shocking to both of them was how much more relaxed their conversations were now. All the pent-up feelings and sexual tension were no longer barriers between them, so Harm and Mac found themselves talking to each other more freely. They were able to flirt and joke around with each other without the fear of crossing some invisible boundary.

"I'm ready when you are, Marine."

"Just what exactly are we drafting up?"

"I don't know, some sort of relationship contract?"

Mac smirked. "Is it legally binding?"

"Only if you want it to be."

Mac smiled to herself. One of the things she enjoyed about Harm was that he let her take the lead on things. Mic and Dalton hadn't done that. Dalton (God rest his soul) had wanted Mac to be some sort of accessory and Mic wanted her to be a Barbie/June Cleaver hybrid. But Harm was perfectly fine with Mac just being Mac. She'd forgotten how refreshing it was to be with someone who didn't expect some sort of change out of her.

"I don't think we have to make things legally binding," she said. "But um, we could consider this to be...laying down the law, I guess."

Mac could easily picture Harm's smile when she said that. "I like it. What should our first point be?"

"I wanna take things slow."

"Uh-huh."

"But we had sex," Mac added.

Harm chuckled. "Indeed we did."

Mac blushed even though no one else was around to overhear their conversation. It was wrong, she knew it. Harm and her were in the same chain of command. The Marine in her was thinking about how inappropriate their relationship was, but Mac was thinking about how exhilarating it was to finally be with Harm.

"So don't you think it's a little late to take things slow?"

"Look," Harm said. "You just ended an engagement two weeks ago. How stupid would I be if I thought you'd be ready to commit to another relationship this soon after ending an engagement, even if that engagement was to Brumby?"

"But-but we had sex," Mac repeated dumbly.

"So you don't want to take things slow?" Harm asked. "Because I can do 'fast', if you want."

"I know you can," Mac replied dryly. She'd recently become very acquainted with the versatility of Harmon Rabb Jr. "I do wanna take things slow. I just figured that you wouldn't want to wait after I've kept you waiting all this time-"

"Mac, If we could both live that long, I'd wait a century for you."

"Oh," Mac never would've pinned Harm for being so profound when professing his love. "Which Jane Austen novel did you get that line from?'

"I don't read Jane Austen. I'm just romantic."

"Romantic, huh?"

"Yeah. Or at least I try to be," Harm said. "Is it working?"

Mac snorted. "What do you think?"

"I'd like to think it's working, but I don't want to seem too cocky."

"Being cocky's never bothered you before."

"True."

Mac couldn't remember the last time she was this...excited about dating. Here she was, curled up on her bed, her phone cradled against her ear, smiling into the phone like some lovesick teenager. She had a history of being unlucky in love, which left her overly cautious, but there was something about Harm that made her ready and willing to throw caution to the wind. Maybe it was his aviator attitude rubbing off on her.

They'd been talking for twenty-two minutes and thirty-eight seconds. As much as Mac wished they could spend the next hour or so talking, neither of them had the kind of time. Joking and flirting was fun, but they had to get back to the original point of their conversation.

"So, what do you want to do?" she asked, and there was a notable pause on Harm's end.

"What do you wanna do?" Harm countered, causing Mac to roll her eyes. He was definitely charming, but he could be impossible sometimes. A lot of the time, actually, Mac told herself.

Mac paused. What did she want?

"I want to date," she declared suddenly.

"We can date."

"But I want it to be normal."

There was another pause on the other end of the line. "Are we….not normal?" Harm asked slowly.

Mac realized that she should have picked a better word than 'normal' to describe things her and Harm weren't. "That's not what I meant," she clarified. "What I meant is, I don't want us to date like a Marine and Navy Pilot who've been chasing each other in circles for the past five years. I want us to date like two normal people who met and fell in love normally."

"And that means?"

"I want to flirt, I want you to take me out to dinner, I want us to go get coffee before work. That kind of stuff" Mac said. She surprised herself at how quickly she was able to rattle those things off. Maybe it was her subconscious trying to tell her how badly she needed a decent relationship.

"Basically, you want a romantic comedy?"

"Yes," Mac said. "Or at least our version of it."

Harm chuckled. "Well, if that's all you want-"

"That's not all."

"Oh," there was a noticeable drop in Harm's enthusiasm. "What else is there?"

Mac had to bite back a laugh. Harm was going to love this one. "I want us to go the standard three dates before we have sex...again."

"But Mac, we already had sex."

"I know, but I was thinking we could start over. With a clean slate and all of that good stuff."

"Mac," Harm deliberately lowered his tone, probably to keep someone at JAG HQ from overhearing him talk about their sex life. "Sex is the 'good stuff'."

Mac raised an eyebrow. "Harmon Rabb, are you saying I'm only good for sex?"

So much for him being a prude. She'd definitely gotten that wrong in Sydney.

"No!" Harm exclaimed. "No, that's not what I'm saying it's just-I miss you, Mac. I want you."

Those words caused a pool of warmth to ignite in the pit of Mac's stomach. She got the notion that Harm wanted her a long time ago, but to hear it outloud was different than Mac thinking it. It was almost enough to make her forget everything she said about the three-dates rule and promise to pounce on him as soon as she got home.

Almost. Mac wasn't going to give in that easily to a man. Even if that man was Harm.

"Sorry sailor," she said. "Patience is a virtue."

Harm groaned. "Oh alright." he conceded, "but can I have my own stipulations?"

"Sure," Mac said, wondering what her favorite sailor had up the sleeve of his summer whites.

"I want us to talk."

"What?" Mac asked, a little confused. "Harm, we're talking right now."

"That's not what I meant," he said. "Come on Mac, you know how we are. Every time we have a shot at a relationship, one of us gets cold feet and backs out. I don't want that to happen this time."

"It won't," Mac said, and she meant it. She was tired of her and Harm running from each other.

"I just don't want to see you with anyone else, that's all," Harm said, sighing. "Jesus Mac, you're really making me lay it all on the line here."

That's a good thing, Mac thought.

"Better now than later, when it's too late," she said aloud.

"You're just such a catch, Sarah."

"Oh I know I'm a catch. You don't have to tell me."

"What if I want to tell you?"

Mac smiled. "Then that's a different story."

"So uh, does this count as our first date?" Harm asked, not trying to hide the hopefulness in his voice.

Mac laughed and shook her head. Harm would try to find a loophole for anything. "Nice try sailor," she said. "But you're going to have to wait until I get home. Then I'll be all yours."

"I can't wait."

THAT SAME TIME
JAG HQ
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA

AJ was staring in interest at Harm's office. The Commander had his door shut and his blinds drawn. Judging by the occasional laugh, AJ assumed he was on the phone with someone. Either that or Harm was having a very amusing conversation with himself. AJ sincerely hoped he was just talking on the phone with someone.

But who? AJ overheard (his staff would be shocked at how often he overheard their conversations) that Harm was no longer with Renee, so who could he be talking on the phone with?

It wasn't just that day, either. For the past several days, Harm spent his entire lunch break in his office with the door shut and blinds closed, on the phone.

Whoever his new girl is, she sure is keeping him on a schedule, AJ thought. Harm had moved on quick, but AJ wasn't going to judge. It could just be a rebound.

"Bud," AJ said as the Lieutenant walked past, looking over some paperwork.

He looked up. "Sir?"

"Come here."

Bud walked over, following the Admiral's gaze. "Is this about Commander Rabb, sir?" he asked. AJ nodded.

"Do you know who he's been talking on the phone with all this week?"

Bud shook his head. "No, sir. At first I thought it could be Renee, but her and Commander Rabb broke up."

"Do you have any idea of who else it could be?"

Bud's eyes narrowed in thought. "No sir," he answered. "Unless…"

"Unless what, Lieutenant?"

Bud shrugged. "Well, seeing as Colonel Mackenzie's TAD sir, Commander Rabb could be talking to her."

AJ looked at Bud for a moment, then turned back to look at Harm's office. After thinking it over for a few moments, he finally said:

"No, it couldn't be her."

"You're probably right, sir."