A/N Alright. I sat down today and plotted out where the rest of the story is going so I can wrap up all the lose ends and I've decided I'm going to end it on a nice round number. I'm shooting for Chapter 30 as the last chapter, but we'll see how that works out.

A/N 2: I'm going to start the second part of this story (the storyline from Mac's perspective) probably a few days after I finish this part…and in between I'm hoping to have the short written about Harm's dream.

Chapter 26

KLM Royal Dutch Airline Flight 652
Enroute to Al Dammam
Sunday August 15

Harm tossed the magazine he'd been trying to read into the pouch on the back of the seat in front of him. Turning to his right he looked at the woman sitting next to him. He'd let her have the window seat; no matter how much he loved looking out at the clouds, he loved looking at her more. However she hadn't spoken to him in…almost two hours he thought as he looked at his watch.

"Its been one hours and forty seven minutes." The woman beside him said quietly. Well that was something, at least she'd said something.

"You ready to talk to me?" Harm asked softly.

Biting her lip Mac looked over at him and he could tell she was trying to find reasons to stay angry with him. For almost nine years Mac had been his friend, his partner. For the better part of that he'd been fighting a losing battle against himself about how he felt about her. What started as a wary friendship had blossomed into a close and personal friendship…he'd allowed her to see things he tried to keep from everyone else…she'd seen him at his worst, and she'd seen him at his best. And he liked to think that she'd allowed him to see into her soul the way she'd never let anyone else. He was finally able to admit to himself that he loved her…hell he'd admitted it to himself the year before…but things had never allowed him to explore that admission. And now more than ever he was afraid to let himself go around her…he'd just found out that his superior officer Captain Allison Krennick had hired private detectives to follow him and Mac looking for evidence they were more than just friends and partners. He couldn't allow himself to jeopardize everything Mac had strived for in her life. This thought brought him back to the angry marine sitting next to him. After they'd boarded the flight to Saudi Arabia he'd finally told her what he'd found out at the detective agency.

"I can't believe you waited to tell me." Mac said bitterly.

"Mac…I knew you'd be upset about it, and I didn't want you going off half cocked." Harm said trying to be reasonable. He knew why she was angry, but the last thing he needed was his partner in the brig for assaulting a superior officer. "What good would you be to me locked in the brig for assault?"

"What are you talking about?" Mac said with a sigh.

"Oh come on. You can't tell me that you didn't want to go teach Krennick some patented Marine hand-to-hand techniques. I saw the look in your eyes. I just figured it'd be safer if you couldn't leave for awhile after I told you." Harm said with a shrug, trying to keep the situation light and casual. The flight attendants had already admonished them when Mac started yelling at him when he did tell her that the guy at the detective agency had confirmed an A. Krennick had hired him.

"Well…maybe just a few." Mac said with what Harm could only describe as a vicious grin. "You have to admit it would be well deserved. That woman has gone too far!"

"I agree with you completely Mac…and I told you I would handle it." Harm said gently reminding her of the discussion that had taken place the day before.

"That was before you told me that bitch was trying to dig up dirt on us." Mac said viciously.

With a sigh Harm put his hand on Mac's knee. "Mac…as much as I would like to watch while you pummeled her into…something…that's not going to solve the issue."

"Harm, she can ruin our careers!"

"No she can't Mac…think about it for a minute. Number one, we haven't actually done anything that she can use to ruin our careers." Harm said thinking about how much he regretted that at times. He'd come to the realization the summer before that she meant more than his career, and had been willing to throw it all away for her. Too bad she didn't feel the same way. "And number two, if she was going to use it against us she would not be using a civilian detective agency, you know that."

"You've got a point." Mac admitted. "But what the hell is she thinking?"

"She's probably just trying to get some insurance in case you follow through on your threat to reveal her…indiscretions. If she was serious about trying to prove we've gone over the line she'd be using NCIS or someone from JAG."

With a sigh Mac nodded slowly. "I suppose you're right Harm."

"I know I am." Harm said with his biggest grin. He knew it annoyed her when he did that.

Rolling her eyes Mac threw up her hands. "Alright. I'm not mad at you anymore…you win."

"Good. I like winning."

"Tell me again what happened when you boys went to that detective agency." Mac prompted.

With a sigh Harm launched into another recounting of how he, Sturgis and Bud had gone to the Bleaker Street Detective Agency the previous afternoon to see if they could find out who exactly had hired them to tail Harm and Mac. At first the head detective had been uncooperative; refusing to even admit that one of his detectives had been following them. Once Harm tossed the detective's wallet onto the desk the man had become a little more forthcoming. It hadn't hurt when Bud started quoting statute and law regarding illegal surveillance of private citizens, as well as those regarding treason. When Bud had pulled out that big gun the man had almost bolted. Bud went on calmly to explain how the surveillance of two senior military officers by an unknown agency could be considered as a lead to terrorism. Harm had almost started laughing at that…but he had to admit Bud was doing a good job of playing bad cop; hell he looked so happy and down to earth most of the time you couldn't help but believe him. Half an hour later they had all the information they needed including the files the detective had started on the case. After ensuring all the photos were erased from the memory card Harm had returned the detective's digital camera…he wasn't a thief after all.

"So what are we going to do?" Mac asked when Harm finished his account of the events.

"We are going to do nothing, I told you that. I'm going to handle it when we get back. I think its time Allison and I had a little chat." Harm said with a frown. He knew Mac could handle herself in any number of situations…lord knew he'd seen her in action enough times. But he was not going to expose her to something that could come back to ruin her career.

"Harm…" Mac said with a warning tone.

"Mac…please let me handle it? I promise, as soon as we get back I'm going to make sure it never happens again."

"If you don't…" Mac said slowly.

"Trust me." Harm said with a grin.

Muttering to herself Mac threw Harm one of her 'Don't piss me off' looks and then glanced out the window to see if she could see the ocean.

"So…what do you think should be our plan of action when we get out to the Henry?" Harm asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"Mr. I always have a plan is asking for my input?" Mac said sarcastically. He knew she wasn't thrilled with his 'John Wayne I'll Handle it Myself' take on the Krennick situation, but he also knew she'd get over her anger eventually. As much as he knew it annoyed her, he just couldn't help trying to protect her. He always would, no matter how much she told him he didn't have to; he couldn't do anything else.

"Yes, I'm asking for your input. We're partners right?" Harm said patiently.

"Well I think we should talk to the Hawkeye crews…maybe one of them will remember something. We should also talk to the flight crews…if anyone tampered with the Hawkeye before Riley took off for that mission they might have seen something. Oh, and we should talk to the machinists in the shop where they found his body." Mac said after a long pause.

"That's what I'm thinking." Harm agreed. "I'll also talk to the Skipper and some of the 'cat pilots as well. Somebody had to see something. We both know that no matter how big the carrier, there's people everywhere."

"Speaking of interviews, any luck getting ahold of Meg? We should probably talk to her again."

"I left a couple messages at the number that Bud dug up for me, but I haven't heard back from her yet." Harm said with a shrug. He smiled when he saw Mac try unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn.

"Mac, I'm sorry for boring you with case details. Why don't you try and sleep for awhile. We won't be landing for a few hours at least. We can talk about it more later."

"I'm sorry…Jen and Mattie kept me up later than I expected last night." Mac said apologetically. She'd taken Mattie and Jen home after dinner at Bud and Harriet's and then had spent some time indulging in girl-talk with his daughter and her roommate. He'd gone over the remind her they had an early flight and had been chased out for his efforts.

Taking Mac's hand in his he gave it a gentle squeeze and smiled at her. "Mac…never apologize for spending time with Mattie. You have no idea how much I love it when you spend time with her. She needs a few good female role models in her life, and I can't think of two better than you and Jen."

Smiling at Harm's words Mac nodded slowly. "Well maybe I am a little tired and should take that nap."

"Good idea." Harm said as she put her seat back and closed her eyes. He noticed she hadn't let go of his hand, and he wasn't going to break the contact if he didn't have to.

"Good night Sarah." Harm said softly after a couple minutes. "Sweet dreams."

He wasn't really expecting her to reply but he couldn't help but smile when she tried to mumble a reply.

For two and a half hours Harm had been going over the information he had on his laptop pertinent to the case and was still just as confused as he had been when the murder first happened. Other than the blown cover angle, Harm couldn't figure out why anyone would kill Riley. From the few times he'd spent any time with him, Harm knew Riley was a nice guy…funny, cocky like any other pilot, but a good guy. Feeling a gentle squeeze of his hand he looked over to Mac expecting to see her waking up, but instead her eyes were still firmly closed, and she still seemed to be sound asleep. As he watched a smile grew on her face and he was almost sure she was having some fun at his expense, but then she licked her lips and started to mumble something. He strained to hear what she was saying, interested to find out what she would be saying in a dream that made her smile like that. Interestingly the only word he could make out clearly was his name. Well, any dream that made her smile like that while saying his name couldn't be anything but good. Chuckling Harm turned to go back to the case file just as the soft bell toned to alert passengers to an announcement.

"We are making our final approach to Al Dammam and will be landing in approximately twenty minutes. Please ensure that your seats are in their proper upright position and your tray tables are stowed. Thank you for flying KLM Airlines."

Giving Mac's hand a gentle squeeze Harm leaned over and whispered in her ear "Hey there sleepy head. Wake up."

With a soft intake of breath Mac blinked her eyes a few times and looked up at him. Smiling when she saw him she said "Hey honey. What's going on?"

Biting his tongue to keep from saying anything that could be taken the wrong way Harm simply said "The Captain has announced final approach…we're going to land in Al Dammaam soon."

"Al Dammaam?" Mac asked with confusion evident on her face. Slowly a slow blush that rose to her cheeks replaced the confusion. Quickly she released his hand, hit the button and raised her seat back up straight and then looked out the window at the approaching airport. "Harm…" she said hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"Did I…say anything in my sleep?"

Pushing down his first impulse to have some fun at Mac's expense he just shook his head. "Not really…you mumbled a bit, but no…didn't really say anything. Why do you ask?" He'd noticed recently that he was a bit more willing to forego baiting Mac than he had been in the past. Sometimes he did it to keep her on her toes, but he didn't really have it in him to fight her day and night. Maybe it was that raising Mattie was doing more than its share of tiring him out, or maybe he was getting soft.

"Ah…just the dream I was having."

"Bad dream?" Harm asked curiously. The smile on her face while she was dreaming didn't scream nightmare to him.

"Ah…no…not a bad dream. Just…a dream. I've actually been having it a lot lately." Mac said evasively. Well now he thought to himself. What he wouldn't give to find out what was in her 'just a dream'. "We're landing?" Mac asked.

Nodding Harm slid his laptop into the carrying case and placed it back in the overhead baggage compartment.

An hour later they had claimed their baggage from the check and were making their way to the arrival lounge. Someone from the carrier was supposed to meet them and get them to the Cod. Both them were traveling in civilian clothes in order to avoid attention and Harm was guessing whoever was meeting them would be out of uniform as well so he was assuming he'd need to look for a placard with their names on it. Instead he saw the slender woman with the brown ponytail almost right away. A big smile broke out on his face as he moved towards her.

"Skates! What are you doing here? Don't tell me that they've assigned you to greeting new arrivals." Harm said happily.

"No sir…ooph." Skates said as Harm caught her up in a big hug. "Damn it CAG, put me down."

"Not your CAG anymore Skates." Harm said putting her down with a smile.

"You'll always be my CAG Hammer." Skates said. Looking over Harm's shoulder she smiled when she saw Mac. "Colonel MacKenzie. Good to see you again."

"Is it Skates? The last time we saw each other I was trying to prove you shot down a civilian aircraft."

"Ma'am, with all do respect, if the CAG doesn't hold it against you, I won't either." Skates said with a smile and a shrug. "Besides, we all know you're good people ma'am. You were just doing your job."

"Thank you for that Skates." Mac said gratefully.

"Well ma'am, the CAG sees something special in you, and we figure he can't be wrong about this." Skates said with a wink.

"Skates!" Harm said scandalized.

"Really?" Mac asked intrigued.

"Yes ma'am. You should have seen how he stared at that picture of you and him he kept in his locker…not to mention the picture of you he keeps in his flight suit." Skates said ignoring Harm's protest.

"Damn it Lieutenant Commander!" Harm said, resorting to using her rank to show she'd stepped over the line.

"Sorry sir." Skates said, but she didn't sound sorry.

"In his flight suit?" Mac asked Skates.

"Well ma'am…maybe we should talk about this later." Skates said with a look at Harm.

"I don't think you should talk about it at all Lieutenant Commander."

"I'm sure you do sir. We should get going though, the Cod is waiting and the Skipper wants to talk to you." Skates said with a nod towards the doors out of the lounge.

Two and a half hours later the Cod trapped on the deck of the Patrick Henry and the three of them left the aircraft to cross the deck to enter the superstructure. Pulling off the white vest and helmet they had worn on the trip out Harm looked around and smiled.

"You miss it?" Mac asked quietly as she handed her vest and goggles to the crewman collecting them.

"Sometimes; some of it." Harm said with a shrug.

"Sometimes we miss you too sir." Skates said with a smile.

"Only when Keeter's showing his crankiness I bet." Harm said with a smile at Mac.

"Excuse me sir, the Captain would like you to join him on the bridge." A young ensign said coming to attention.

"Thank you Ensign." Harm said with a crisp nod. "Guess we have a date on the bridge."

As they were making their way to the bridge Harm felt Mac put her hand on his shoulder.

"Harm?"

"Mac."

"What was Skates talking about?"

With a sigh Harm stopped and turn to face Mac. "Mac…you and I have a lot to talk about, and I guess you could say this is part of that conversation."

"So you're saying we're going to talk about it later, like usual." Mac said with a sigh.

"Mac…I know we've said we would talk about things later a lot in our time. Trust me when I say that everything I've ever said I've kicked myself for not saying, and I'm planning on saying everything, we just need to hold on until we get home. Please?"

"What else can I do Harm? Make you tell me here?"

"You could…but I was thinking somewhere a little more private. Its going to take awhile for us to say everything." Harm said with a smile.

"Remember what I told you when we first met?"

"Uhh…that your name was Mac?"

"Very funny. I told you that you had a very nice smile and I was sure it normally got you wanted. I'll wait until we get back." Mac said with a smile and a sigh.

"Thank you Sarah." Harm said gently. Giving her arm a squeeze he and Mac started making their way back towards the bridge. When they arrived at the hatch they saw Skates waiting for them.

"Thought you got lost Hammer."

"Now why would you think that?"

"Might have something to do with your advancing years sir…but I wouldn't presume to say that."

"Well that's good Skates. Thank heavens for small favours. Open the hatch."

"Aye aye Commander."

"JAG on the bridge" the marine guard called when they entered the bridge.

"Welcome back Commander, Lieutenant Colonel." Captain Ingles said coming over to join them.

"Thank you Skipper." Harm said with a salute

"Just couldn't stay away, could you Hammer?"

"Just back for a visit sir." Harm said.

"What can I do for you?" Ingles asked curiously.

"Could we speak privately sir?" Harm asked.

Nodding crisply the Captain gestured towards the hatch.

"My wardroom."

"Aye aye sir." Harm said.

"Now then…what can we do for you Commander? Lieutenant Colonel?" the Captain asked once they were in his office.

"We've been asked to reopen the Riley murder investigation sir." Mac said in her all business tone.

"NCIS and our JAG talked to everyone on board…they went over this carrier with fine toothed combs and didn't find anything."

"Yes sir." Harm said respectfully. "However sir, the SecNav felt that the Lieutenant Colonel and I could perhaps discover something previously missed."

"And you thought the crew would look upon your questions differently because they know you." Captain Ingles said with an arched eyebrow.

"I always said you were a smart man Skipper." Harm said with a smile.

"You damn better have Commander." Captain Ingles said with a smile. "Fine. I'll have you both given berths and assign an office for your use. How long will be with us?"

"No more than a week Skipper." Harm guessed.

"Get it done. And damn it, find out what happened. I don't like unexplained killings on my ship."

"Aye aye Skipper." Harm said with a salute. "Come on Mac, we have us a murderer to find."