Disclaimer: They don't belong to me, I'm only borrowing them for a short time & promise to return them as good as new J I'm not making any money from this & no infringement is intended.
Love Has Come
By Melanie-Anne
Part 7 – All Fall Down
"Have I mentioned how much I hate paperwork?" Mac groaned as she handed Harm a file. She'd been back at JAG for just over a week and Harm was thrilled at how beneficial it had been for her. She was almost the same Mac she had been before the abduction.
"Not since you last came in here," Harm said, stretching as he leaned back in his office chair.
"That long? Well, I hate paperwork!" She sat in a vacant chair and closed her eyes.
"Tired?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Do you want to go home?"
"Nope, there's nothing on TV."
Harm chuckled.
"I was actually thinking we could go for lunch."
"Lunch? You mean, like on a date?" He leaned forward.
There was a twinkle in Mac's eyes when she replied. "Well, Sturgis is busy so you're the next best thing."
"I've missed you, Mac."
Mac smiled.
"Uh, excuse me, Commander. Colonel. I'm sorry to interrupt but there's a package for you, sir, and the delivery man is insisting that you sign for it yourself," Harriet said.
"I'll be right back."
Mac nodded, closing her eyes again. She cursed beneath her breath when Harm's phone started ringing.
"Colonel Mackenzie," she answered.
"Hello, Sarah." It was the voice from her nightmares. "Did you miss me?"
She hung up, all the feelings she'd been trying to deal with bubbling up inside her.
When the phone rang again she answered it automatically.
"That wasn't very polite. I've been thinking about you a lot. You left us in such a hurry that we didn't have time to say a proper farewell."
Mac felt light-headed. This couldn't be happening.
"I've been meaning to get together sooner but your boyfriend never lets you have a moment to yourself. That kind of obsession's not healthy, you know. I do think you're blowing everything out of proportion. I mean, seriously now, therapy?"
He's watching me, she realized numbly.
"It's good to see you're back at work. I love the way you look in that uniform."
Harm came back in, took one look at the expression of horror on Mac's face and took the phone from her.
"Who's this?" he demanded.
"Ah, Commander Rabb. I was just chatting about old times. Your girlfriend's quite the hot little number in bed, eh? I never would have pegged her as the tattoo type, but I guess everybody's got their little secrets."
"When I find you, I swear I'll-"
"See you both soon. Bye now."
There was a click and then all Harm heard was the dial tone. He turned to Mac, drawing her into his arms.
"Ahem." AJ coughed in the doorway.
Harm looked up, not releasing Mac. The stricken look on his face was not lost on the other man and AJ stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
"What happened?"
"One of them called. I don't know what he said to Mac but…he told me he'd see us soon."
"Take her home and take the rest of the day off. I'll get hold of Webb."
"Thank you, sir."
"Wait- Your package."
Harm sighed and picked it up. His arm was draped protectively across Mac's shoulders as he led her out. No one in the bullpen batted an eyelid at this blatant affection; they had become used to the two of them. The office pool had changed from when Harm and Mac would get together to when they would get married.
Mac climbed straight into the shower when they returned home. Harm double and triple-checked that all the locks were secure and that both their service pistols were loaded. Satisfied that there was nothing more to do, he collapsed on the couch.
A short while later, Mac curled up next to him. Dressed in flannel pajamas and her hair still damp, the picture she presented made his heart ache.
"He's been watching us," Mac said eventually.
"I won't let him hurt you again."
"I know."
He pulled her onto his lap and crushed her body against his. She smelled like lemon.
"Make it go away," Mac whispered. "Please? I want it to be you I dream about, not them."
"Sarah," he whispered hoarsely, hardly daring to believe that he'd heard correctly.
"Please?" she murmured against his mouth.
"Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to hurt you. It's not too soon?"
"I'm sure."
"I just…"
"You don't want me…in that way." Mac pulled back, hiding her hurt behind a blank expression.
"It's not that. I love you, Sarah. You know that. I just want you to be ready."
Mac smiled and leaned forward, claiming his mouth with hers. They sank back onto the couch and the rest of the world vanished.
A long time later, Harm got up to fetch a blanket to wrap Mac in. She smiled, content.
"Thank you."
"I aim to please," he grinned.
"You up for a repeat performance later?"
He tried, unsuccessfully, to mask his delight. "Your wish is my command." Her giggle, he decided, was the sexiest sound he'd ever heard. "Coffee?"
She nodded and he slipped into his boxers before going to the kitchen.
"Hey, Harm!" she called.
"Yeah?"
"I love you, too."
"It's the view," he teased. "Gets 'em every time."
"Just hurry up with the coffee." Mac realized that she felt truly happy for the first time in a long time. "Hey, you never opened your package."
"You can do the honors."
With the feeling of a child on Christmas morning, Mac opened the box.
And gasped in horror.
"Harm," she managed to choke out. "Harm!"
"What is it? Is something wrong?"
"Harm!" This time it was a panicked cry and Harm rushed over to her.
"Mac?"
She pointed at the box, tears streaming down her cheeks. Harm reached inside and lifted out the blouse Mac had been wearing on the day she'd gone missing.
"Get dressed," Harm said. "I'll call Webb. He can put you in a safe house. Until these guys are caught I'll feel much better if I know they can't get to you."
"No."
"What?!"
"You told me not to run, so I'm not going to run."
"Mac-"
"No 'buts', Harm. I'm not alone anymore."
*
"You look happier since I last saw you," Annelie said, a knowing look in her eyes.
Mac shrugged and stared at the floor.
"How's Harm?"
"Fine."
"Mm-hmm. How have you been? You missed your last appointment."
"I did? Oh…I'm sorry. I got a phone call from one of the men who took me and I was really upset, so Harm took me home and then there was this package with my blouse and-"
"Did you report it to the police?"
"We have a friend in the CIA."
"Still…Sarah, please be careful."
"I am."
"How are the nightmares?"
"Not as frequent as they were before. And I don't relive the, uh, the rapes in them either, which I'm thankful for. I just wish I could see their faces."
"Do you think you'd recognize them?"
"Yeah…I don't know. There's something I'm not remembering and I'm sure everything would make much more sense if I could think of it."
Annelie chewed on the end of her pencil, then made a quick note on her pad of paper. "How many men were there?"
Mac frowned in concentration. "Three…yeah, three."
"I want you to close your eyes. Now, the man on the phone…what do you see when you think of him?"
"I – nothing. I'm sorry. Wait- He's taller than I am. They all are. The others don't say a lot. I think he frightens them."
"What color was his hair?"
Mac opened her eyes. "I don't know…. Would, uh, would it work if you hypnotized me?"
Annelie looked skeptical. "I don't know, Sarah."
"Please?"
"I don't practice it."
"You must know someone who does. Please, I just want this to be over."
Annelie sighed. "I'll ask around."
"Thank you."
"How's work?"
Mac groaned. "Everyone's handling me with kid gloves. They watch what they say around me and they make sure I'm not overworked. It's so frustrating! Even Singer goes out of her way to be nice to me."
"Singer?"
"She's a lieutenant. Not the friendliest person to ever walk the planet."
"Sounds like my mother-in-law!"
Mac laughed lightly.
"Have you been back in court yet?"
"No. They don't think I'm ready to face that yet."
"Who are they?"
"Harm and the admiral."
"Please! In here you can call him AJ. I won't tell if you don't."
Mac smiled. "Harm and AJ."
"What do you think?"
"I think they're right. Don't get me wrong, it's great to be back but…I don't know. There's just so much going on in my head right now, it's hard to think seriously about my career."
"Well, that's what I'm here for."
"Okay…I don't know if I want to stay at JAG or not. I've mentioned the whole chain of command thing to you before-"
"Don't leave because of Harm," Annelie interrupted. "If that's really an issue then you should discuss it with AJ first. As far as I can recall, it's very subjective."
"Yeah, I mean, he doesn't have a problem with us living together so-"
"You're living together!" Annelie shrieked, then clapped her hand over her mouth.
"Er, didn't I mention that? He's been staying at my place since I was abducted and, uh, well it was platonic- I mean, it isn't- Oh, hell…what do you care anyway?" Mac gave up trying to explain the very complicated circumstances and leaned back in her chair. "You're loving this, aren't you?"
Annelie grinned like the Cheshire cat. "I'm afraid our time's up."
"Mmm."
"Say hi to your sailor for me."
"I'll think about it. Thanks, Annelie." Mac hugged the older woman then left the office. Harm was waiting for her in the reception area.
Annelie sat thinking for a while, then picked up her telephone and dialed a number from memory.
"Hi, Lionel? It's Annelie Marx here… hehe! Flattery will get you everywhere… I know… listen, are you busy this time next week?… Great, I have a favor to ask…."
*
Mac stopped at the mailbox to see if there was any mail while Harm locked the car. She pulled out a large manila envelope with Harm's name printed on it in black marker.
"Hey, flyboy, you've got something!"
"As long as it's not a bill, I'm happy," he called back.
Mac handed the envelope to him smiling when he wrapped an arm around her waist.
"Harm, let's go out tonight," she said. "I don't remember when I last went out."
"What do you want to do? See a movie? Eat?"
She shrugged. "Anything. It doesn't matter."
"Okay." He dumped the keys on the table in the hall. "Hey, there's a message on the machine."
"It's probably Chloe wanting to know when she can come see me."
Harm pressed the playback button.
"Hey, Mac, it's me. Chloe. I just wanted to say hi and that I miss you and that it'd be cool if Harm will let me spend some time with you when I come visit instead of hogging you to himself. Anyway, I gotta go. Call me soon, okay?"
Mac smiled at Harm. "What did I tell you? She-"
There was another message. A horribly familiar voice.
"Sarah…beautiful, beautiful Sarah. We're not done yet. Did you really think two months was all the punishment you were going to get for destroying my brother's life? Lucifer was beautiful too, did you know that? He was the most beautiful of all the angels. He caused Eve to tempt Adam just as he caused you to tempt the commander-"
Harm made to switch it off but Mac grabbed his hand, shaking her head. She wanted to hear the rest.
"Commander, I don't blame you. I've seen Sarah, I've been with her and I completely understand how easy it was for you to fall. What I don't understand is how you can remain so completely loyal to her. Has she blinded you to what she really is? Do you really think that she's the best that you can do?"
"Mac-" Harm looked at her hating that she had to go through this.
"Beautiful, lying, tempting Sarah – your penance isn't over yet. You'll never stop paying. Not as long as you're still walking around enjoying your life while my brother has to pay the price. I'll see you soon."
"I'm going to shower," Mac said softly, leaving Harm to stare at the now silent answering machine. When he saw the contents of the envelope, he shuddered, then picked up the phone.
"Webb, this has to stop now."