I haven't done this in either of my stories yet, but I feel I should thank everyone who's taken the time to read and review this for me.
NAVY-Court: So many ways, yes...
P.Z.: Yay, PZ! My brand-new beta reader!
Mary kate: My goodness, if people keep calling me mean... At least she said 'please'!
Daniella: Thank you, I'm trying to come up with more than the regular romance dime novel type of story.
steveperrysgirl: I'm actually very surprised that everyone responded the way they did. I didn't really think I'd continue, but it's nice folks like you that made me change my mind.
shorty32539: I've heard that often...
Browneyeez: ...Alright, you talked me into it!
Pissed Off Poet: Thanks a lot, I'm really trying to keep it up.
anonymous: I'm glad you took the time to read it. I'm working on what I can come up with.
Bekki: More is here, more is now...
Sarah: Thanks very much for the encouragement. I need that kind of stuff. I live and breathe reviews...
xXsmashing-pumpkins-grlXx: I didn't know I was able to spark that kind of emotion!
lizzy14: I'm glad you liked it. I just hope I can get enough inspiration to finish it!
RoleModel: Hmm... I s'pose you enjoyed it, huh?
cblotnicky: HOLY CRAP, CHILD! I'l get on that right away, Ma'am!
And, I caution you, watch out, the point of view changes often and without forewarning...
Finally, back by popular demand, the story!
* * *
He had called her Sarah. With all her emotions under pressure, this was the one thing that could ever let it all out. She still hadn't looked at him. She was staring at her lap, watching tears hit her knee.
"Sarah?"
Oh my god, he did it again. She needed to gasp for air, but continued to suppress hyperventilation, trying not to make any noise that would show how she felt.
Finally, she gathered the courage to look at him. But before she could focus, he kissed her.
'He's kissing me' was all she could think. Everything else fell away like sand to expose this one moment of time. 'He's kissing me.'
She was caught very much off her guard. 'His lips are on mine.' Her brain didn't know how to function. But very soon, she figured it out. She began kissing him back. She laid back on her bed, the kiss yet unbroken, as he leaned forward to keep it intact. This was all she'd wanted to do for the longest time. Not a needy, goodbye kiss like at the engagement party, nor a longing, playful kiss like under the mistletoe. This was more of a waking up, a window opening to what they'd been missing, what they've been wanting. And nothing was in the way to stop it this time.
Except for his deployment. He thought it at the exact same time she did. He pulled away and lifted himself a bit. He waited for her reaction to their simultaneous thought.
But that was just a technical difficulty. Her thinking was through. She knew what she wanted. She raised herself up to meet his lips again. She wanted Harm, and nothing was going to keep her from him now. His shoes fell to the floor at the foot of the bed as he slid them off his heels.
[Sorry to disappoint you, but this is a good, clean family fanfic...]
* * *
She was asleep. They were hardly touching, except for her arm laying on his side. He moved to get up. He had already done his damage, he thought as her arm slid limply off him. She didn't really want him, did she? Why would she? This had only happened because he was leaving.
Before he could even sit up, he was stopped in his tracks. She had rolled over toward him, her little arm now locked around his waist and her head resting on his chest. "Don't ever leave me again," she whispered.
He knew what she meant.
"I won't."
* * *
The first thing Mac noticed when she woke up wasn't the time, or the sunshine on the floor, but the unfamiliar yet wonderfully appreciated warmth lying next to her. Her head still lay on his chest. She could lay like this forever, screw work and the military and the thickheadedness of them both - she had finally acquired what she'd been longing for through all the years she'd known him.
The phone rang. It went off two times.
"Are you going to get that?" From the even tone in his voice, he had apparently been awake a while longer than she had.
"Just let the machine pick it up." Screw phones, too, leave us alone, she thought.
- - -
It rang twice more before Mac's answering machine clicked on. "You've reached the residence of Sarah Mackenzie, leave a message after the tone." When it beeped, Harm watched Mac for her potential reaction.
A loud, angry, commanding voice bellowed through the phone. "Mac, it's Chegwidden!" Harm had to hold back his laughter as Mac's eyes widened in attention. "You'd better answer, Colonel, I know you're there!"
She nearly dislocated her shoulder to reach over him to grab the phone.
"Admiral?"
Harm heard some yelling that sounded suspiciously like 'what the hell took you so long.'
"I - I was making breakfast." Already making up lies.
More yelling. "Uh - Oh, hold on," Mac said urgently, seemingly holding her breath.
Harm propped his head up on his hands and observed her as she held the phone in front of her and sneezed for no apparent reason. He could get used to this - waking up with her wrapped around him, watching her do normal, odd little everyday things... Her sneezing somehow made him love her more, if at all possible.
When she came back up, she put the phone's mic to her shoulder. "Have I seen you?"
What is she talking about, she's looking right at me...? She threw jabbing glances at the phone.
Oh, damn, Chegwidden's asking where I am, he thought. Ah, god -
"Gimme the phone."
She leered at him. "...Are you suicidal?"
He sighed and took the phone from her grasp. "Yes, Admiral?"
"Is she making breakfast?" He must have said this loud enough for Mac to hear because she began nodding fervently.
"Yeah, she is," he answered, quickly enough that it didn't sound like he'd had help.
"Rabb, what the hell are you doing over at the Colonel's?"
"Sir, I told her about -" He paused to rephrase. "I told her last night, and she-"
"Did you stay there all night?" Mac was now watching Harm with great interest like this was a soap opera.
"Yes, s-"
"God, Commander, did you sleep with her?!"
Harm tried to sound appalled at his accusation. "No Sir, I slept on the couch."
"You slept with her, didn't you?" Chegwidden asked again, bewildered.
Mac, oblivious to what was being said, was presently dragging her fingertips back and forth lightly across his stomach. "Stop," Harm said quietly, flitting his hand in her direction. She was distracting him from a borderline scary predicament. He could tell by the look on her face that she was trying to make things plunge into a fifty-foot gorge off track on purpose.
Harm tried to shrug off the Admiral's persistent question. "With all due respect, Sir, what did you need?"
"People have been asking for you up and down this place, they want to see you before you depart." He made it sound like he was dying.
Harm grimaced. He sighed into the phone. "Alright, I'll come in around 10:30." Mac's head snapped up, her brows furrowed. He almost smiled as her mouth made an 'o' shape out of anger. But he restrained himself, given the severity of the situations at hand.
"I know, Commander, you will." The Admiral left him with that.
He replaced the phone on the hook and sighed.
"What do you mean you'll be in around 10:30?"
"The Admiral told me," he explained, "that everyone wants to talk to m-"
But he was cut short as Mac had lost interest in his answer and sneaked up to place a long, affectionate kiss on his lips. Aah, he thought, the explanation can wait.
* * *
Mac finally uncoiled her arms from around him long enough to allow him up. But as soon as they withdrew from each other, there was a strangeness between them again. Both of them felt it. Neither of them were ready to admit to the night before.
They both dressed and readied themselves without a word, a smile, or even a glance. An invisible force kept them apart like the north ends of two magnets. How are we going to survive the next few days, Harm wondered, if we can't even look at each other now?
A/N: I want your opinion - should she go into JAG with him or not? The whole of the story could depend on what you people say!
NAVY-Court: So many ways, yes...
P.Z.: Yay, PZ! My brand-new beta reader!
Mary kate: My goodness, if people keep calling me mean... At least she said 'please'!
Daniella: Thank you, I'm trying to come up with more than the regular romance dime novel type of story.
steveperrysgirl: I'm actually very surprised that everyone responded the way they did. I didn't really think I'd continue, but it's nice folks like you that made me change my mind.
shorty32539: I've heard that often...
Browneyeez: ...Alright, you talked me into it!
Pissed Off Poet: Thanks a lot, I'm really trying to keep it up.
anonymous: I'm glad you took the time to read it. I'm working on what I can come up with.
Bekki: More is here, more is now...
Sarah: Thanks very much for the encouragement. I need that kind of stuff. I live and breathe reviews...
xXsmashing-pumpkins-grlXx: I didn't know I was able to spark that kind of emotion!
lizzy14: I'm glad you liked it. I just hope I can get enough inspiration to finish it!
RoleModel: Hmm... I s'pose you enjoyed it, huh?
cblotnicky: HOLY CRAP, CHILD! I'l get on that right away, Ma'am!
And, I caution you, watch out, the point of view changes often and without forewarning...
Finally, back by popular demand, the story!
* * *
He had called her Sarah. With all her emotions under pressure, this was the one thing that could ever let it all out. She still hadn't looked at him. She was staring at her lap, watching tears hit her knee.
"Sarah?"
Oh my god, he did it again. She needed to gasp for air, but continued to suppress hyperventilation, trying not to make any noise that would show how she felt.
Finally, she gathered the courage to look at him. But before she could focus, he kissed her.
'He's kissing me' was all she could think. Everything else fell away like sand to expose this one moment of time. 'He's kissing me.'
She was caught very much off her guard. 'His lips are on mine.' Her brain didn't know how to function. But very soon, she figured it out. She began kissing him back. She laid back on her bed, the kiss yet unbroken, as he leaned forward to keep it intact. This was all she'd wanted to do for the longest time. Not a needy, goodbye kiss like at the engagement party, nor a longing, playful kiss like under the mistletoe. This was more of a waking up, a window opening to what they'd been missing, what they've been wanting. And nothing was in the way to stop it this time.
Except for his deployment. He thought it at the exact same time she did. He pulled away and lifted himself a bit. He waited for her reaction to their simultaneous thought.
But that was just a technical difficulty. Her thinking was through. She knew what she wanted. She raised herself up to meet his lips again. She wanted Harm, and nothing was going to keep her from him now. His shoes fell to the floor at the foot of the bed as he slid them off his heels.
[Sorry to disappoint you, but this is a good, clean family fanfic...]
* * *
She was asleep. They were hardly touching, except for her arm laying on his side. He moved to get up. He had already done his damage, he thought as her arm slid limply off him. She didn't really want him, did she? Why would she? This had only happened because he was leaving.
Before he could even sit up, he was stopped in his tracks. She had rolled over toward him, her little arm now locked around his waist and her head resting on his chest. "Don't ever leave me again," she whispered.
He knew what she meant.
"I won't."
* * *
The first thing Mac noticed when she woke up wasn't the time, or the sunshine on the floor, but the unfamiliar yet wonderfully appreciated warmth lying next to her. Her head still lay on his chest. She could lay like this forever, screw work and the military and the thickheadedness of them both - she had finally acquired what she'd been longing for through all the years she'd known him.
The phone rang. It went off two times.
"Are you going to get that?" From the even tone in his voice, he had apparently been awake a while longer than she had.
"Just let the machine pick it up." Screw phones, too, leave us alone, she thought.
- - -
It rang twice more before Mac's answering machine clicked on. "You've reached the residence of Sarah Mackenzie, leave a message after the tone." When it beeped, Harm watched Mac for her potential reaction.
A loud, angry, commanding voice bellowed through the phone. "Mac, it's Chegwidden!" Harm had to hold back his laughter as Mac's eyes widened in attention. "You'd better answer, Colonel, I know you're there!"
She nearly dislocated her shoulder to reach over him to grab the phone.
"Admiral?"
Harm heard some yelling that sounded suspiciously like 'what the hell took you so long.'
"I - I was making breakfast." Already making up lies.
More yelling. "Uh - Oh, hold on," Mac said urgently, seemingly holding her breath.
Harm propped his head up on his hands and observed her as she held the phone in front of her and sneezed for no apparent reason. He could get used to this - waking up with her wrapped around him, watching her do normal, odd little everyday things... Her sneezing somehow made him love her more, if at all possible.
When she came back up, she put the phone's mic to her shoulder. "Have I seen you?"
What is she talking about, she's looking right at me...? She threw jabbing glances at the phone.
Oh, damn, Chegwidden's asking where I am, he thought. Ah, god -
"Gimme the phone."
She leered at him. "...Are you suicidal?"
He sighed and took the phone from her grasp. "Yes, Admiral?"
"Is she making breakfast?" He must have said this loud enough for Mac to hear because she began nodding fervently.
"Yeah, she is," he answered, quickly enough that it didn't sound like he'd had help.
"Rabb, what the hell are you doing over at the Colonel's?"
"Sir, I told her about -" He paused to rephrase. "I told her last night, and she-"
"Did you stay there all night?" Mac was now watching Harm with great interest like this was a soap opera.
"Yes, s-"
"God, Commander, did you sleep with her?!"
Harm tried to sound appalled at his accusation. "No Sir, I slept on the couch."
"You slept with her, didn't you?" Chegwidden asked again, bewildered.
Mac, oblivious to what was being said, was presently dragging her fingertips back and forth lightly across his stomach. "Stop," Harm said quietly, flitting his hand in her direction. She was distracting him from a borderline scary predicament. He could tell by the look on her face that she was trying to make things plunge into a fifty-foot gorge off track on purpose.
Harm tried to shrug off the Admiral's persistent question. "With all due respect, Sir, what did you need?"
"People have been asking for you up and down this place, they want to see you before you depart." He made it sound like he was dying.
Harm grimaced. He sighed into the phone. "Alright, I'll come in around 10:30." Mac's head snapped up, her brows furrowed. He almost smiled as her mouth made an 'o' shape out of anger. But he restrained himself, given the severity of the situations at hand.
"I know, Commander, you will." The Admiral left him with that.
He replaced the phone on the hook and sighed.
"What do you mean you'll be in around 10:30?"
"The Admiral told me," he explained, "that everyone wants to talk to m-"
But he was cut short as Mac had lost interest in his answer and sneaked up to place a long, affectionate kiss on his lips. Aah, he thought, the explanation can wait.
* * *
Mac finally uncoiled her arms from around him long enough to allow him up. But as soon as they withdrew from each other, there was a strangeness between them again. Both of them felt it. Neither of them were ready to admit to the night before.
They both dressed and readied themselves without a word, a smile, or even a glance. An invisible force kept them apart like the north ends of two magnets. How are we going to survive the next few days, Harm wondered, if we can't even look at each other now?
A/N: I want your opinion - should she go into JAG with him or not? The whole of the story could depend on what you people say!