Spoilers: "A Tangled Webb," "Back in the Saddle" Summary: Harm and Mac can never get themselves on the same page where the subject of 'us' is concerned. Note: This comes after "Following," "Resisting," "Treading," "Manipulating," and "Contemplating the Shifting Sands." I've given up trying to conform completely with season 9, so you will see a few discrepancies between my stories and the current season. And we're back to the confrontations. I seem to like Harm and Mac best when they're fighting- it must be all that UST.

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1959 EST Harm's Apartment North of Union Station

Mac wasn't exactly sure why she chose to wait in her car across the street from Harm's apartment for Catherine Gayle to leave. She wanted to try to talk to Harm, to smooth things out between them, but she hadn't wanted to intrude on him and his purported wife.

Mac didn't really keep track of time as she waited, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel while rehearsing what she would say to Harm when he found her back on his doorstep. Her mind was wandering when she saw movement in the doorway. She froze when she saw the two figures exiting. Catherine didn't have her coat closed as she had when she arrived, and she was obviously pregnant. Harm was right behind her, walking her to her car. Mac watched him open the door for her and make sure she was safely inside her car before flashing a winning smile and shutting the door behind her.

He tossed Catherine a cheery wave as she pulled out and watched as she drove away. The car had long since disappeared, and he was still standing there with a frown now on his face and his hands in the pockets of his leather aviator's jacket. It took Mac another moment to realize that he knew she was there and was waiting for her to make her move.

This wasn't going according to the scenario she'd worked out in her head already. Mac sighed as she realized she'd have to go with what little she was going to get out of the inaccessible Harmon Rabb. Slamming the door to her corvette behind her, she looked both ways before crossing the street to where Harm was still staring off in the direction that Catherine's car had gone.

Mac waited for him to say something, but when her internal clock told her they'd been standing there in the cold for five minutes, she decided to break the ice. "Your wife going undercover?"

"Nah, they don't want to send CIA lawyers undercover. Especially when their five months pregnant." His eyes were still fixed on a point in the distance as he casually responded.

"Is it yours?"

He turned and glowered at her as he pulled his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms across his chest. "That is none of your business."

"I'd like the record to state that I perceive that hostile answer as a 'no,' Your Honor," she mocked. He was really starting to irritate her with this new attitude. He had obviously changed a great deal from the man she used to know in the few short months they'd been apart. Mac frowned back at him for a moment before she casually noted, "You're not wearing your wedding ring."

"I must have left it upstairs," he replied without even batting an eye. "Why are you still here anyway? Car die and your cell phone isn't getting a strong enough signal so you can call Webb to pick you up?"

Yes, she'd essentially blown Harm off, but didn't their years of friendship previous to that incident warrant a little more civility form him? She brushed that thought away as she began to recite part of the script she'd rehearsed while waiting in the car. "I wanted to talk to you."

"You could have stayed upstairs to do that, but you turned tail when Catherine showed up," Harm pointed out.

"Yes, I did. But I'm here now," she replied just as stubbornly. They glared at each other, neither speaking a word as she confronted his new attitude and he challenged her mere presence. In the end, she was the one who gave in. After all, she had prepared a little speech to perform for him.

"Clay and I aren't together anymore. I told him that I just wanted to be friends. Right after your last mission."

"Poor Webb." Harm didn't sound the least bit sympathetic. They both stood there for a while longer as the wind picked up. Mac's teeth involuntarily started to chatter-she should have worn a heavier coat.

In the past, Harm would have offered her his coat at the very least, or more likely would have invited her up for a warm cup of coffee. Now he just stared at her and simply asked, "Did you stay out here all this time just to set me straight on that point?"

She rubbed her arms and brought her chattering teeth under control. This was definitely not how she had pictured this going while she was waiting for Catherine to leave. "I wanted to apologize. in case it may have somehow played a part, however minor, in your getting fired."

"If Clay thinks I'm still a threat, he's not very observant. We haven't seen each other in what-five months now? It's not like we're working together on a daily basis. Based on that fact alone, he should have felt more secure about his position with you than anything, especially with me constantly away on missions."

That hurt, but she wasn't going to let his callous words prevent her from finishing this conversation. "Not when I keep asking about you to make sure you haven't killed yourself yet. I couldn't help but worry about you when I know you're out there somewhere playing hero."

She smiled inwardly as she finally seemed to penetrate through the new Rabb defenses. He took a moment and really looked at her. Then the moment was over, the barriers were back in place, and he parroted back to her words she'd said to him months earlier. "Why is it that you only show interest when I've got one foot out the door. Your interest fades when I might actually be in a position to return it."

"What is that supposed to mean?" she returned hotly. Maybe there was no getting through to him anymore.

"You're the one who originally said it, so why don't you tell me?" he immediately shot back.

"You know exactly what I meant," she said dangerously. Harm ignored her and looked back in the direction where Catherine's car had disappeared. Mac waited for him to say something. Or to leave. She tried to think warm thoughts to fight the rapidly chilling temperature as she waited for his next move.

He turned away from her and walked across the street to her Corvette. He opened the door and waited for her to follow. She obligingly sat down in her car, looking up at him expectantly. If he wanted her gone, at least he was being a gentleman about it.

"Catherine and I aren't really married," he finally said quietly. He avoided looking directly at her as he stood there holding the door open. "And she isn't carrying my child. But she has been there for me these past five months when I've needed a friendly ear."

She saw exactly where he was going with this. "So now that you discovered that you like playing house with CIA Barbie, you want to make it a permanent situation?" she couldn't help but retort.

That had been the wrong move on her part. Harm's reaction was positively hostile. "Excuse me, little Miss Sanctimonious. You waltz in here, tell me that you're available again, hint that you've changed your mind about me, and you expect me to drop everything for you? I tried giving up everything for you once already, and you threw it back in my face. I'll tell you why we'll never work, Mac-you never compromise. It's your way, or the highway, and I pity any man who has to conform to your standards. My life may be falling apart around me, but at least I know which friends I can depend on, and you're not one of them anymore." With that, he slammed the door in her face and walked away without looking back.

At one time in his life, he would have rather given his life than intentionally hurt Sarah MacKenzie. Obviously, that time was now in the past.

In her car, Mac gripped the steering wheel till her knuckles turned white, and she made no move to wipe away the stream of tears flowing down her face.

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Written 1 November 2003