Chapter 25 - Come Alone

Admiral Chegwidden's Office

JAG Headquarters

Falls Church, Virginia

"Umm, sir?" Chegwidden already had a headache when he walked into the building an hour earlier. It seemed like the universe was conspiring against him and this, being the fifth time Coates had hailed him since their morning meeting, would be his breaking point.

"What the hell do you want now Petty Officer?" He yelled into the intercom and immediately winced. The young woman was simply doing her job and he'd been an ogre to her since Coate's, with her cheery demeanor, brought him coffee that morning.

"There's two men here to see you, sir."

Two men? Chegwidden thought as he jammed his finger into the button so hard it actually hurt. "Send them away, Petty Officer. When I said no interuptions, I meant it!"

"Uh, sir...You may want to let them in."

Even if he didn't provide an invitation, the two men barged into his office without warning and stood at attention before his desk. One was tall with striking blue eyes and the other was shorter with brown eyes and hues of amber.

The taller gentleman looked to be about eighty plus years old, his face puffy, red and marked with liver spots across his chin and cheeks. The younger man wore baggy clothes that were at least one size too big and a baseball cap. He had a pimply face and looked to be in his late teens to early twenties. "I'm sorry, you can't just-"

"Shhh." The younger one brought a finger to his lips, requesting that everyone be quiet as the old man closed the door and produced a wand-like device from inside a pocket. He proceeded to map out every corner of the office, checking all nooks and crannies along with the private bathroom. He only stopped once he realized that listening devices were not present and then reached for the TV remote atop the Admiral's desk and cranked up the volume so that any outside listening devices could not catch their conversation. "We're sorry to come in unannounced but we need your help."

Chegwidden knew that voice and as he glanced between the pair, everything clicked. "Harm? Mac?"

The masks Harm and Mac wore sat on the desk and the pair sat side by side on the sofa at the rear of Chegwidden's office. Coates was tasked to pull a bag out of the Colonel's wall safe and then wait for lunch time when the office was mostly dormant to request Bud, Harriet and Sturgis remain behind.

The former submariner's face fell when he saw one of his oldest friends standing by the woman he once intended to hurt. All that crossed Sturgis' thoughts was ripping Harm off of Mac when he attacked in the middle of the bullpen a year and a half ago. The two men tousled hard and he hadn't realized how strong the former pilot was until it took three guards to take him into custody.

"You son of a bitch." The words fell easily from his lips and as Sturgis surged forward in a blind rage, it was Chegwidden that got in the way and held him back. "I knew you didn't die! My gut told me you'd been lying all along!"

"Sturgis, it's not what you think." Harm raised his hand in surrender and even took a few steps back.

"Why is he here? Why is he back?" He looked around the office in a state of confusion mostly directed towards the woman he protected. After the attack he followed up with Mac constantly until he was told to back down. While he disapproved of her choice to spend time with Webb, he couldn't fault her for moving on. And now, his blood boiled like it never had, he would have killed Harm if allowed to. "How could you go to him after what he did to you?"

"Because it was a lie." Mac said plainly and watched her co-worker's expression change as if a bucket of ice cold water had been thrown over his head. "We never broke up. We've been together all this time. The fight? It was fake. It was all a lie."

Behind Sturgis, Bud stood holding his wife's shoulders, her face a mask of anger that he didn't share. "Why fake that?"

"Because we needed the split to be public and believable." Harm explained. "Mac was in danger, it made sense at the time to make it look like it was real."

It took several long minutes for the questions to settle and the feelings that were raw and exposed to be set aside. Harm felt the weight he carried ease as he told his friends the truth.

"It began with Catherine Gail." He recalled walking outside of his loft to speak with the woman, her pregnant belly protruding through her outfit. She came with a bag of diamonds, the stones shining brightly in the daylight as he studied them. It was then that he realized the danger that Webb posed and an alliance with Sadik Fahd that wasn't expected.

"Clay and Catherine had an elicit relationship but, when she became pregnant, she left him." The former CIA lawyer had found information, a dangerous kind she'd once seen in Webb's home office. There were the diamonds and an encrypted message from when he'd forgotten to close his laptop. "She claimed that Webb was working with a known terrorist and was using diamonds as currency. To hide his affiliation, he allowed himself to be tortured."

The rough way Sadik's men had treated him would leave permanent scars with nerve damage that forced Webb to use a cane. And, from the images they pulled from the laptop, it was clear that Clay had also entered the drug trade although information was inconclusive.

"Why opium?"

"Why not?" Mac said, "It's easier to sell, trade and transport. Less conspicous than military weapons. They can do widespread damage just as well." She'd heard of drug dealers lacing certain stashes to either off the competition or gain more sales, both thoughts that we sickening.

"My death was faked so that I could spy on Webb but it isn't enough. The information we have could be easily refuted as an assignment. We need more."

"We'll help." Bud said as he glwnced between Harm and Mac. "We'll all help."

Harm kept his employment status out of the picture, not ready to tell his friends about the work done for MI6. They forgave him but he wasn't sure how sincere most of them were. He'd lied, so had Mac but he'd made the grave mistake of putting her in a kind of danger that was hard to get out of.

He needed their help, the expertise Bud could offer from computer skills and Chegwidden's former SEAL mates that now worked for the government.

Mac brought the USB with information stolen from Kershaw's computer and toiled over the data alongside Bud who was fascinated by all of the encryption.

"Commander, uh Harm?" Coates had come up to him discreetly slipping a note into the palm of his hand. "A gentleman called ten minutes ago, he said to pass this along to you. The voice was encrypted but there was an accent, sounded British."

Fuck. Harm thought as he opened his palm and quickly read the three lines of text. He closed his eyes and let his breath out in one quick exhale. They'd been careful, no one had followed and yet someone knew where he was. "Thanks Jen."

"Will you be okay, sir?"

"Probably not." He admitted, as he looked up and glanced at Mac who was having an animated conversation with Bud over the information they found. "Don't worry about me, Jen. I'll take care of myself."

Harm walked away from the young yeoman and stood off to the side, his eyes scanned the note again, the thin paper feeling like it burned a hole in his palm. The thought of grabbing his disguise and running off like a superhero coursed through his veins. The want for action, to get something, anything done had him reaching for the door - someone blocked his path.

Sturgis approached and his body went rigid, preparing for some sort of fight he didn't want to have. Instead the man brought him a cup of coffee and stood by his side. "The Commandant would've skinned you alive if you wore your hair that long in the Academy."

It was indeed much longer, definitely not the tight cut Naval grooming standards required. "He wouldn't care for the beard either." Harm snorted as he scrubbed a hand across his face. "Remember when we tried to grow a mustache?"

Sturgis laughed heartily at a memory he'd long since forgotten. It was one of those silly things boys did to find a sense of camaraderie, betting on who could grow a mustache the fastest during Winter break. Keeter had been the clear winner with Harm far behind and Sturgis couldn't even contend.

"Peach fuzz was all I grew. Even now, I barely get facial hair… The beard looks good on you though." He didn't mention the scar nor the obvious way Harm tried to hide it.

"Mac hates it. She's asked me to shave at least six times now."

"Are you ready to do that?"

Harm took a sip of the coffee and sighed. "No. I know how bad the scar looks and I don't want to see it…I don't want her seeing it either." He sensed Sturgis' questioning stare and opted to divulge some information. "Classified assignment and this was my parting gift."

"I'm sorry."

"I am too." Harm glanced towards Mac again and then leaned towards his friend. "I need you to watch her for me, take care of her."

"Mac's stubborn there's no way in hell she'll sit back while you try to save the World on your own if that's what you're thinking."

The paper was still in his hand, a message from Kitcher who was clearly able to track Harm's moves. That knowledge terrified him especially given the toxicity Will had spewed and the results that came from it. "I'm working for the other side now, Sturg. I'm working for MI6 and have been for a while."

"MI6? How? Why?"

He pointed at the scar on his face, tracing a finger down the cicatrix. "It felt like the right thing, a way to go after Webb and now I'm not sure." When Harm got tapped by MI6 it was about investigations, research, information of why Webb had rumored contacts with dangerous connections. " I was working both sides at one point. Clay kept sending me on these crazed assignments and then one day it stopped. He sent me to Canada to fly and MI6 saw that as an opening to fake my death so, we did. I never wanted to hurt anyone."

"You could have told us. You could have told me, you know I wouldn't have said a damned thing."

"I didn't want any of you involved."

"What about Mac?"

Harm's eyes went back to her and a terribly melancholic feeling settled over him. "I love her, Sturgis. I love her so much…I want to have a life with her but I don't think that will happen. They're never gonna let me go."

The two men had left Chegwidden's office without incident and the journey to the hangar had been an uneventful one. Harm took care not to be followed, taking different roads, different exits, and stopping a time or two to see if there was a tail. The ride had taken close to forever but until he was confident that no one would find his secret hiding spot, he wouldn't risk it.

They each showered and Harm sat at the edge of the bed so that Mac could patch his wound. It was healing well and barely hurt unless he sneezed or coughed too hard.

"You heal fast." She commented between her teeth that bit the end of a package of gauze. The woven cloth was smoothed over his skin and held in place with surgical tape. "Barely any seepage today."

"I have a good nurse."

"Hah, funny. I know we learn some of this stuff for emergencies but, never thought I'd have to use it on my fiance." Mac smoothed the tape again although it was unnecessary to do so. She needed something to do and keep Harm from bringing up whatever settled this tension between them on the ride to the hangar.

She figured it was the stress from the drive but, upon arrival, the intensity didn't abate. As she patched him, Harm held a piece of paper in his hand with an iron grip, one that she'd seen Coates hand over but didn't think to question until now. "Mac, we need to talk."

"Nothing good ever comes from those words." She said quietly and sat on the bed next to him. Mac knew something was brewing, she knew him too damned well and his change in mood was definitely concerning. What she didn't expect was for Harm to place the note in her hand, a now crumpled piece of paper written in ink.

'2300 Tonight. The warehouse. Come alone.' Mac didn't have to guess who the sender was and while Harm hadn't given her directions to the warehouse, he'd mentioned the spot near Union Station where he'd first met Will. "You're going aren't you?"

"I have to."

"No. No you don't. We can go to the SECNAV, NSA, FBI…hell, we can call the President if-"

"No. This is my mess and I need to fix it."

She stared at him pointedly. At one point this had been their mess with shared responsibilities and a promise he'd swear he'd never break. "You're not going alone, Harm. I don't trust him."

"Mac-"

Suddenly, she pushed off the bed and stood before him as if her stature would influence Harm's train of thought. "Together, remember? You swore, you promised!"

It was his turn to stand and Mac was reminded of how tall and strong he was once Harm's hands wrapped her arms. "This isn't about pinky swears and empty promises. This is real, real life."

"Goddamn you! You're the only thing I have and if something happens to you…Dammit, Harm."

Mac rarely cried, he could count with less than two hands how many times he'd seen her cry like this. It wasn't just tears, he'd spilled his fair share over this situation as well, they were sobs and it was all he could do but hold her close. "Mac I'm scared he'll take you or hurt you. Will's not fond of you."

"Feeling is mutual." She muttered while his head rested on his chest. There was a deep breath, one meant to push away this moment of weakness, the only one she'd allow herself until the dust settled. "I'm going."

The warehouse had seen better days. Even when precipitation had failed to fall across the city, there was always water leaking from the cracked ceiling. Mac cringed once the acrid smell hit her and she used the back of her hand to keep the scent from being worse.

They silently moved across the abandoned space, passing machinery that now lay rusted and dormant, never to be used again. She followed him into an office, past rows of cubicles and eventually another office with a closet. The smell of mold and humidity was worse there and she held her breath while Harm located a hidden lever which opened a panel that led to hidden stairs.

At the bottom Harm used a keypad to enter a series of numbers until another door opened with a whoosh of a hyperbaric chamber being cracked open. It led to a stark white hallway not unlike the hallowed halls of Langley and then, much of the same scenery played out.

Rows of desks with computers in a bullpen setting. Offices with well dressed men and women sitting inside. There was a 'war room' as well with a massive screen and banks of computers that looked like something out of NASA.

They didn't get much farther for a second later a security detail came at them from all sides, Will Kitcher stood amongst them. "I told you to come alone and why come in through there?"

"I wanted to surprise you." Harm's hand reached for Mac's, their fingers twinning as he gave her a reassuring squeeze. "Whatever you think of her isn't true."

Will told the men to lower their weapons as he approached the pair. "So she's not CIA?"

"I am but, I wasn't investigating him or you."

Kitcher made a slow circle around them, stopping just behind Mac. "Why should I believe you?"

Carefully, she reached into the front pocket of her jeans and pulled out a memory stick which she held up. "Because I broke the code. We know what Webb is up to."

They sat in Kitcher's office on a leather sofa that flanked the rear wall. Will was on the phone while clicking frantically through all of the files that Mac and Bud had decoded. Once done with the call, he slammed the cellphone down onto the desk. "We missed this, the drugs."

"We were looking for military equipment at the time, not a field of poppies." Harm said and shook his head slowly. "Other than portability, why opium?"

Kitcher stared at the pair and frowned, America had long since held their cowboy attitude during assignments without considering the bigger picture. "For years Afghanistan would send heroin to Russia in effort to make those soldiers ineffective. MI6 has been trying to stop it but one of your leaders keeps pushing the agenda. It's a weapon of mass destruction that is easy to move. And if someone takes your stash, you grow more."

"Harrison Kershaw had most of that information on his computer. I used the USB to sneak it out and pair it with what Harm had."

"And it still isn't it enough. Webb could turn around and say this was still part of a mission to bring down Sadik Fahd."

Mac nodded. "Kershaw knows what's going on. He asked me to get closer to Webb, at all costs."

"Over my dead body." Harm said between gritted teeth only to be shut down by Will who stood and made his way to the pair. "What?"

"That may work."

Will studied Mac for a moment, his mind still not made up as to her allegiance. This would be the perfect way to prove where her chips lay. "Go to him and take the laptop. Tell Webb that Rabb took you and that he was so badly injured you were able to escape. Give him the laptop once he tries to break the encryption, my men will be logged in as well. We'll catch him and expose him."

Mac glanced at Harm and then back at Will. This asdignment was likely suicide but she couldn't accept without reassurances. "Okay but after this I'm out and so is Harm."

"Okay."

"I mean it. No more assignments, no more missions…out means out." She stood and crossed the distance to Will who held his hand up to shake hers. Mac's hand stopped short and she motioned to the USB drive still in his computer. " That USB has a failsafe. The information on it will destroy itself."

"That's interesting."

"Call it an insurance policy. If something happens to me or Harm, there isn't a rock you could crawl under. I'm sure the US government won't take kindly to having another intelligence agency keeping a clandestine office in the bowels of DC."

Will kept a cool exterior but inside he was seething. "Interesting woman you have there, Rabb."

Harm shrugged. "You don't know half of it. And I'd be scared of her if I were you, she doesn't break promises." Maybe, just maybe they could make it out of this one.