Title: Strangers

Summary: Mac and Harm meet in a bar the night before the Rose Garden Ceremony in 'We the People'

Notes: Takes place the night before 'We the People'. A few things are different though: 1) Diane's resemblance to Mac is non-existent in this, or she never existed. Take your pick. 2) Let's pretend that Season 2 Catherine Bell had season 9-10 hair.

More Notes: This part is smutty.

Part Two

He whistles as we step into the fancy room and looks down at my feet. "And how much were those shoes?"

I snort, and look around the luxurious room. "My employer put me up in a business hotel in Falls Church. But I felt like upgrading myself." I slip off my jacket and set it and my purse on a chair. "Make yourself at home." I watch as he sets his jacket next to mine and walks across the room to the balcony. The view is incredible, and he opens the doors and steps outside. I follow him, and we stand quietly together against the railing.

"Is everything okay?"

I look up at him, suddenly nervous about being alone with him. "I'm… This…" I take a breath and let it out slowly. "I don't typically do this," I say. "And I'm sure that's what everyone says, but it's true. I don't – I don't go home with men I've just met."

"I know," he says, and I feel like he does. He turns to me, and puts his hands on my shoulders. "There's a restaurant downstairs. We can go actually have dinner, if you want."

I shake my head. "Is that what you want?"

He swallows. "No."

"What do you want?"

He runs his hands down my arms, and then settles them on my waist. "I want to kiss you."

I let out a breath and a shaky laugh. "Is that all?"

"No," he says. He's quiet, but there's an intensity to his voice that wasn't there before. "But it's where I want to start."

And then he does kiss me. My first thought is that I'm relieved I didn't slip off my heels when we walked in, otherwise this moment would be more challenging. My second thought is that this feels so damned good. His lips are soft and his mouth is warm and I'm already aching for more. I pull away from him, breaking the kiss, but reaching up to run a hand through his hair. "Let's go inside."

He nods, and we move back into the living area of my room. He pushes the door shut and tugs the curtains closed, and then he's kissing me again. But this time his hands aren't casually resting on my waist. This time he's pulling the black silk blouse out of the waistband of my wide legged dark jeans, and he begins to work the buttons. He pulls away from me when he reaches the top, and hurriedly undoes the final button and the shirt slides from my shoulders to the floor.

His eyes are hungry as he takes in the sheer black bra, and he traces a finger over the edge of a cup. "God, you're beautiful."

I swallow, and feel my face warm. I can't remember the last time I just stood in front of a man in my underwear, just letting him take me in. I don't think I've ever done that, actually. I don't think a man has ever looked at me the way he currently is - his eyes full of want and affection; and I want to bottle this memory up and keep it forever. His hands move to the button on my pants, and he looks at me, a question in his beautiful eyes. I nod, and he undoes the button and zipper, and then pushes the pants past my hips. I kick off my black heels, and then step out of the pants. His eyes move over me, and I even though he's fully dressed, I can see that he's hard – thin suit pants are no match for an erection like that. But before I can reach out for him, he's touching me. His palm slides between my legs, cupping me over the lace panties, and I close my eyes.

"How wet are you?"

I open my eyes and look up for him. "You should find out for yourself."

He swallows, and slides his hand into my panties, and slowly slips a long finger inside me, as I let out a strangled cry. "God, Sarah...," he whispers, and I nod. I've been wet for most of the night, but now I'm drenched. His finger begins to moves inside me, his thumb grazes my clit, and I gasp and clutch his shoulders. His eyes never leave mine as he makes me come. It takes me a few minutes to come down, and I should be embarrassed that he got me off so fast, but I'm too turned on to feel much of anything else right now.

"Was that okay?"

"God, yes." He smiles and lowers his head to kiss me again. This time, I tug at his clothes, pulling the crisp white shirt out of his navy pants, and we break apart so that I can undo the buttons, and pull the shirt, and then his undershirt off. The white cotton looks stark on the floor next to my black silk, and I swallow hard before moving to his belt, and then the button on his pants. I ease the zipper down gently, and step back while he toes off his shoes and steps out of the pants.

He's wearing form fitting black boxer-briefs, and it takes all I have not to lick my lips at the sight of him. I place my fingers in the waistband of his underwear and pull them down, and then I wrap my hand around him. He's huge and hard, and I'm now throbbing in anticipation of what's to come. I lower myself to my knees and take him in my mouth. His moan fills the room and his hands fist in my hair. I suck, and swirl my tongue around him, enjoying the sounds coming from him, and the way his hands are grabbing at my hair.

"Sarah, you have to stop," he gasps out. "I'm so close."

I look up at him, and then let him go. He groans, and then pulls me to my feet. He starts to touch me again, but then stops and looks around the room. "What's wrong?"

"My jacket… my wallet… Condom."

I nod, understanding, and point at a chair on the other side of the room. He hurries to it, and is back within seconds with foil wrapper in his hand. His lips find mine, and I start walking us toward the bedroom.

The room is dark, and I flail at the wall looking for the light switch and lead him to the bed. He drops the condom – condoms, apparently, on the nightstand, and then his attention is back on me. He unhooks my bra, and tosses it aside, and then his mouth is on me. He sucks and nips and kneads; leaving me writhing on the white duvet, pleading for more.

"Harm, please. Please."

He looks up from my breast, and then moves his hands to the waistband of my panties. He eases them past my hips, and down my legs. He tosses them aside, and then moves his hands over one of my legs. "You have great legs."

I want to laugh at the compliment. "Thank you."

He smiles at me, and then gently pushes my thighs apart and settles between my legs. "Wait," I say.

He looks up at me and then sits up. "What's wrong?"

I shake my head. "Nothing is wrong" And then I grab one of the condoms and rip the package open. "But I need this first." His eyes flash, and then he closes them as I roll the condom over him.

"You sure?"

"Yes." He kisses me again before moving to cover my body with his, and then he pushes inside of me. The first thrust makes us both gasp, and we both go still.

"You feel so good."

"God, so do you." My voice is raspy, and I dig my nails into his back. He kisses me then; a slow, deep kiss that makes my heart ache, and then he begins to move. His movements are so controlled, and it's both hot, and mildly infuriating. How does he have this kind of self-control?

"More, Harm. Harder. Please."

"Fuck."

If every single one of my senses hadn't been heightened at that moment, I may have missed the tiny, whispered word. But I didn't, and his eyes meet mine for one moment before he lets go and gives me what I want, and I cry out his name when I come.

He slows his movements while I ride out my orgasm, and then brushes the damp hair off of my face. "Do you need me to stop?" I shake my head and move my hips, letting him know he can keep going.

I can tell when he's close – his body goes rigid and I hold him tight. He empties into me, and moves slightly to the side before collapsing on the mattress beside me. "God, Sarah." I don't say anything. I don't need to. I have a hell of a vocabulary, and there aren't adequate words to describe what just happened between us.

When we're finally able to move, he joins me for a shower. But after about ten seconds of rubbing me down with a loofah, he hangs it back on the little hook and drops to his knees in front of me. This time I don't stop him, and the water in the historic building has begun to run cool when we finally emerge. We slip into the robes and head back to bed.

I reach for the hotel binder and flip to the room service section and run my finger down the list. "Hungry?" He grins, and I role my eyes. "For food."

His laughter makes me smile, and I lean closer to him so he can see the menu. He decides on a tofu salad, which makes me wrinkle my nose, and he turns a little green when I decide on a medium-rare steak and fries. The food will be half an hour, and as soon as I've hung up the phone and tossed the binder aside, we're touching and kissing again. I straddle his lap, he pushes the robe off my shoulders, and he's sucking gently on my neck. I reach between us, and begin to stroke him, until he covers my hand with his.

"Wait," he says. I stop, and he lets out a slow breath. "Food will be here soon."

"We have half an hour," I argue.

He gives me a look that I'm positive liquefies my insides. "Half an hour isn't nearly enough time for what I want to do to you." I wriggle in his lap, and grin when he groans. "Sarah…"

I sigh, and climb off of him. "Fine. I'll be patient. But we should probably get out of this bed."

He agrees, and we straighten our robes and head to the living area. Harm gathers our clothes and takes them to the bedroom, and I pour us both a glass of water. We settle on the couch, retreating to opposite ends, and we stare at one another. There's a tension between us that wasn't there minutes ago, and I'm beginning to think that this was a really terrible idea. Dating has always been a hassle for me, but it's something I do because I want to get married and have a family someday. But how am I supposed to go back home after this investigation, and resume going on crappy dates with mediocre men after a night like this one.

"So, what are your plans while you're here," he asks.

I look up, surprised at the question. "I, um… I'm not sure." I swallow and shrug. "I'm not sure how much time work is going to take, but if I get a chance, I'd like to check out the Natural History Museum."

He smiles, and I relax. He's got such an incredible smile. "Really?" I nod. "Why that one?"

"I've always been into that kind of thing. My uncle and I used to hunt for fossils when I was a kid." He looks surprised and a little delighted by that, and I melt a little more. "Which of the museums is your favorite?"

"Oh, the Air and Space Museum," he says without thinking.

"Why that one?" I repeat his question and he smiles, but the smile is a little sad. "My dad and grandfather were both pilots."

"Oh wow." He nods, but I can tell he doesn't want to talk about it. It hits me, that despite the incredible sex, we don't really know one another. At least not enough to talk about our families.

He reaches for me, and pulls me against him. "If you have the time, I really would love to show you around while you're here." He shifts so that he's laying down, and I settle on top of him.

I kiss him instead of responding, since I'm not sure how to respond. I don't know what my schedule will be like while we're here, but whether I end up staying for a day or a week, either way I'm going home when my work is done, and he'll still be here. There isn't a future for us, so I don't see why we should make this any harder than it needs to be. We have this night – this one perfect night. And I don't want to waste any of it planning things that we'll never be able to do.

"Sarah. Sarah."

"Hmm?"

"Sarah, wake up."

I reluctantly open my eyes, and frown as I take Harm in. He's back in his suit from the night before – the pants and the shirt anyway. "You're dressed," I say, more than a little disappointed.

"We overslept," he says. "I have to be at my event in an hour."

"Oh my god," I say, and sit straight up, clutching the sheet to my naked body. "I'm sorry. I can't believe we forgot to set the alarm."

"It's fine," he says. "I don't live far from here. I'm just sorry you don't get to buy me breakfast." I blush thinking of the stakes of our darts game, and he smiles. "Do you still have my number?" I nod, thinking of the napkin I shoved in my purse last night before leaving the bar. "Use it, okay?"

"Okay," I say.

His smile widens and he leans in to kiss me. "I had an incredible time last night." His cheeks turn the most perfect shade of pink and I bite back a smile. "I don't just mean this," he says gesturing at the disheveled bed.

"I know," I say. "I had a great time too." He beams and I take a breath. "You need to go," I remind him.

"I know." He kisses me again and stands to leave. "Use that number," he calls out, and then I hear the front door shut behind him.

I fall back against the pillows and close my eyes. Last night was a colossal mistake. How the hell am I supposed to get over him? I count to ten and then stand up.

I think about him while I shower, and while I blow dry my hair, braid it, and twist it into a neat bun. I think about him while I pull on a pair of panty hose and my uniform, and dab a tiny bid of concealer over the mark he left of the base of my throat.

I think about him while I tidy up the bedroom, and repack my bags. I'm not sure how long I'll be in town, but I know that I can't afford to continue playing for this room. I think about the massive tub in the bathroom and feel a pang of regret that I didn't get to use it last night. I take a slow spin around the room, making sure I didn't leave anything. When I'm satisfied that I have everything, I grab my suitcase and make my way out of the hotel.

I find myself pacing outside of the White House while I wait. There was an even there this morning, and I'm supposed to meet Admiral Chegwidden to find out the specifics of my assignment immediately after the event, and I'm eager to get on with it. I need a distraction. I need something that will get my mind off of Harm.

The gates open, and people start to file out, but even though I looked Admiral Chegwidden up, I find I'm at a loss to pick him out of the crowd – there are an awful lot of tall, lean men in uniform. I turn my back to them and take in my surroundings. It's a beautiful day; a perfect day for a Rose Garden ceremony.

"Major MacKenzie?"

I force a smile and turn at the sound of my name. I raise my hand to salute the Admiral, and then I relax and take in the two men standing with him. The younger one is shorter and stockier, with a kind face and a friendly smile. But the other one… The other one makes me weak in the knees.

Oh my god. It's Harm.

My smile falters, and he looks like he's been struck by lightning; but I'm aware of the other two watching us, and I hold out my hand to him. "Mac," I say quietly. I feel like such a fraud introducing myself with the nickname my colleagues have always called me when he knows me as Sarah.

He hesitates long enough that my cheeks burn and I start to pull my hand back, but he reaches for it and shakes. "Harm." It's a simple touch, but it makes me long for last night when his hands and lips covered every inch of me. He lets go, but we don't break eye contact.

The Admiral looks at the two of us and frowns. "You two know each other?"

"No sir," I lie.

"Yes sir." He doesn't lie, and I'm filled with shame. We stare at each other, and he swallows hard. "Oh, I'm sorry, Major. Of course, I don't know you." His comment hurts and I wish the ground would just open up and swallow me whole. "I just had a moment of déjà vu," he says softly.

"Don't get too familiar," Chegwidden says, "you're going to work together."

End Part 2