Thursday 1400 Eastern

JAG HQ

Falls Church, VA

Harm strode confidently across the Bullpen feeling on top of the world. In the four months since their Christmas charade in London, he and Mac had been in a whirlwind romance. After they had finally declared how much the meant to each other that night in the ICU, they'd been doing everything they could to prove it to each other. They did everything they could together, without giving the impression to their friends that something more than friendship was going on between them. Or, so they thought.

Harriet, who was now eight months pregnant, sat at her desk watching, as Harm seemed to sachet around the people and desks in the bullpen on his way to the break room. She had to smile to herself, as she though, 'They may think they can hide it, but they're so obvious.'

"What was that, Lieutenant?" a gruff voiced asked from above her.

Harriet looked up wide-eyed, and was stunned to see Admiral Chegwidden standing over her desk. She rose to feet. "Sorry, sir," she said, praying that she hadn't voiced her thoughts.

AJ gave her a stern look. "Keep your musings to yourself, Lieutenant," he said, and Harriet's eyes widened even more, "But as long as you keep your eyes on your work from now on, I'll overlook it."

Harriet let out the breath she was holding. "Thank you, sir," she said wholeheartedly.

"Carry on," AJ said, and he walked off toward the break room.

Harriet watched him walk away, and then she sat down and chastised herself for not being more careful. In the end, she chalked it up to being pregnant.

AJ knew that he shouldn't have let Lt. Simms off the hook so easily, but under the circumstances he really didn't want to pry. The love affair between two of his senior attorneys was just as obvious to him as it was to everyone else. He was just choosing to ignore it. As long as there was no verifiable evidence that they were in fact fraternizing with each other, he would continue to act dumb.

Mac grinned as she sat at her desk and watched the Admiral walk away from Harriet's desk. Judging from the look on face, Harriet had let her tongue slip. Mac tried to turn her attention back to the file that lay on her desk, but then, a knock at her door forced her to look up. Standing in the doorway she saw Harm, holding a dozen red roses in a crystal vase.

"Harm, you shouldn't have," she said smiling, but also knowing that he really shouldn't have brought her roses to work.

Harm smiled broadly at her, as he pushed a stack of papers out of the way so he could place the bouquet on her desk. "I know, but I thought it might be nice," he said quietly as Mac pulled the card out of the bouquet.

"'Thank you for risking it all'," Mac read aloud softly, and her eyes misted as she remembered the moment he'd said it in London. "I don't know what to say, Harm."

"You don't have to say anything, Sarah," he assured her. He looked down into her misty eyes, and bent his head, but he stopped himself suddenly. Instead, of kissing they held each other with their eyes.

Their intimate moment was broken when Sturgis poked his around the door. "Harm, the Mason case? Sometime today would be good." And he left, just as quickly as he had shone up.

After a moment, Harm smiled guilty and said regrettably to Mac, "I have to get going."

"Well, you owe me dinner then," Mac said, longing evident in her eyes.

"I'll see you then, I promise."

"You better," she warned. He paused at the threshold and looked back at her. He flashed his brilliant smile and then Mac watched as he walked across the bullpen and stepped into his office. She sat back in her chair and looked again at the roses. Her thoughts began to drift back over the last four months.

In fact it had been four months and two weeks since Harm had taken her to meet his mother, stepfather and grandmother on Christmas Eve. That night had been the most magical of her life. She was surrounded by the loving family that she'd never had; and the next morning, Christmas morning, there were presents waiting for her under the tree.

While her thoughts drifted, she got the sudden impulse to call Kate, Catherine Grey. While they had been in London, Kate had been their diplomatic aid, until they discovered that she was in fact an undercover CIA agent. Kate had become a very good friend of Mac's over the last few months because she too was involved in a forbidden relationship.

However, it had been nearly two weeks since they had spoken. At first, Mac hadn't worried because she figured Kate was in the field somewhere and was unable to contact her. But, a few days ago, Mac had gotten that sinking feeling that told her something was wrong, and the only person she cared about who was unaccounted for was Kate.

Mac picked up the phone and dialed Kate's office number. The phone rang four times before her voicemail picked up. Mac frowned as she listened.

"This is the voice mail of Catherine Grey. Please leave your name and contact information, and I will try to get in touch with you."

Kate's recording was different from the last time Mac had called her. This new one was cold and impersonal, much unlike Kate. Mac shook herself from her thoughts, and said, "Hi, Kate, it's Mac. You have my number. Please call me, I haven't heard from you in a while, and I just wanted to touch base."

Mac replaced the phone in the cradle, but she didn't remove her hand. Instead, she stared at it while she tapped it with her fingernails pensively for a moment. Eventually, she decided to put her worried thoughts aside, and think about the night ahead of her instead.