Title: Three Ladies for Harmon
Rating: PG
Summary: just a pointless bit of mild shipper fluff. I needed a break.

****************************
JAG HQ
1120 local

Mac sat in her office, unable to concentrate on her work. She just couldn't believe it. She and Harm had been working so hard at finding their way back to each other. She'd thought that maybe, just maybe, they might be ready to move things along a bit. Then came last night.

She brought along a pizza, hoping to surprise Harm and just share a quiet evening together. She had just reached his door when she heard his voice. "Nikki, stop. That tickles....I said stop it.....Madchen, I'll get to you in a minute!.... Lucy? LUCY, LEAVE MY UNDERWEAR ALONE!"

Mac couldn't believe her ears. Three women?!? Angry and upset, she turned and left, throwing away the pizza on the way out.

Back in the present, she sighed. Harm had called in sick this morning, probably too worn out, she thought derisively. Apparently the last thing Harmon Rabb needed was another woman, and she was not about to stand in line.



Next Day
1847 local


"Colonel, is there some reason you're still here at this hour on a
Friday evening?"

Mac looked up at the sound of her CO's voice. "Just finishing up some paperwork, sir," she answered evenly. She'd buried herself in it today, trying to ignore the fact that Harm was once again absent from work.

AJ, however, wasn't fooled. "I see. By the way, you haven't heard from Commander Rabb, have you? I wonder if he's feeling any better."

"Oh, I'm sure he's just peachy," Mac muttered, then turned red as she realized she'd said that out loud.

AJ looked at her speculatively. "Is there something I should know
about the Commander, Mac?" he inquired.

"Ah, no sir."

AJ sighed. "Go home, Mac."

She sighed as well. "Yes sir. Good night, Admiral."



**********
Harm's Apartment
North of Union Station
1937 local


Mac cursed under her breath as she pounded on Harm's door for the third time. She didn't know why she was here, other than on the way home, she'd found herself wanting to rip a strip off Harm's hide. Hey, no time like the present.

His car was there, she'd seen there were lights on in the apartment, but no one answered.

"Problems, Colonel?"

Mac spun around to find herself facing her CO for the second time in as many hours. "Sir! I didn't... I mean, I--"

AJ waved off her protests. "Relax, Mac. I'm here as a friend. Decided to come see how Rabb's screwed up this time."

"Sir?"

"No answer?" he asked. She shook her head. "Well, I do believe you have a key, Mac. Any concerned friend would be justified in using it at this point," he commented.

Mac raised an eyebrow at his suggestion, but nonetheless, dug Harm's key out of her purse and unlocked the door. "I suggest you go in first, sir."

AJ sighed, turning the handle and opening the door. They both walked in slowly, surprised by what they found. Harm's normally immaculate apartment looked like it'd been hit by a hurricane. Stuff was everywhere.

AJ and Mac were gazing around in shock when AJ caught movement from the bedroom....and found himself fighting the urge to laugh.

A tiny black and white kitten trotted over to sit in front of him staring at him with wide-eyed curiosity. His eyebrows rose in surprise, and the kitten cocked its head to side. "Um, Mac," he said, bending down to scoop up the kitten in one hand, "I think I may have an answer to the mystery."

Mac turned around from where she had been inspecting some odd tears on Harm's sofa. "Sir, what do you--" she said, stopping short as she saw the kitten.

AJ inspected the name tag on the kitten's collar, at the same time trying to keep her from batting at his SeAL insignia. "Mac, meet Lucy."

Mac walked over to AJ, looking down at the kitten. "Lucy?" she asked, confused. "Then Nikki and Madchen...." she trailed off, glancing toward Harm's bedroom, then back at her CO.

Quietly, they made their way to the bedroom. Sure enough, an exhausted, fully clothed Harm was asleep on top of the sheets. As expected, another black and white cat, this one a fully grown 'tuxedo', was curled up by his feet, and a plump, very spotted calico held court perched primly on top of his chest. Mac moved to check the tuxedo's collar. "Madchen," she announced, glancing back at AJ with a gleam in her eye. "And that must be Nikki," she added gesturing to the calico.

The calico slowly closed and opened her eyes, and began swishing her tail back and forth at the sound of her name. Unfortunately for Harm, said tail ended up alternately tickling his nose and whapping him the face. Grumbling, he slowly came awake.

The scene was just too much for Mac and AJ. What started as a few snickers and giggles soon became outright laughter.

Harm was just beginning to realize he had company...well, human company, that is. Displacing a disgruntled Nikki, He blinked a few times before realizing exactly who was there. "Sir! Mac! What..."

AJ waved him off. "I was just stopping by to check on you, and ran into the Colonel. Please try to make it in to work on Monday, Commander," He said, then departed, leaving Harm and Mac alone...well, sort of.

Mac finally quit laughing, and looked around. "I thought you were a dog person, Harm," she said, snickering a bit.

He sat up, raking a hand through his rumpled hair. "I am," he replied, as Nikki decided to try out Mac's lap. She gave the cat an affectionate scratch under her collar, and immediately a loud baritone rumble filled the small space. Mac's eyebrows rose in surprise as she looked at Harm, who was grinning. "That's Nikita, the affection sponge," he commented.

"Nikki for short?" she asked, returning his grin.

"Yeah. The other two are Madchen and Lucy," he said, pointing to the other cats who had assumed spots on the bed next to Harm.

"I see. And they're your new roommates?"

"For a few months. An old friend from law school got accepted to the FBI, and needed someone to keep them while she was in training."

"Right. So what *was* Lucy doing with your underwear the other night?"

"Oh, man, it was a mess. I had a bunch of it piled in a laundry basket to wash, and she started playing with the corner of shirt that was sticking out and dumped the whole thing over on top of her. It was like chasing a five-inch tall ghost around the place....Wait, how do you know about that?" he asked, confused.

She told him what all she'd heard through the door, and a pained look crossed his face. "Aw, Mac, I'm sorry. If I'd known...but, c'mon, Mac, you didn't really think I had three women in here doing...whatever."

She smiled. "Well, you're the one who's always taking about dress
whites and gold wings."

"No way. I'm only after one lady these days, and I intend to keep it that way."

She smiled one of those dazzling, luminous smiles he loved so much. "Really? Tell me about her."

"Well, for one thing, she's a tattooed jarhead of a Marine..."



FIN


(AN: Nikita, Lucy, and Madchen are quite real...and probably wreaking havoc on my apartment at this very moment.)