AN: Thanks again to all who reviewed. There seems to be nothing like a cliff hanger to provoke reviews! I may have to resort to cliff hangers more often!
Thanks to AnchorsAweighNavy who picked up my mistake in last chapter.
Disclaimer: Disclaimers are boring and you all already know I that I don't own JAG or the lyrics to the songs used in this fic.
Chapter Summary: Enter Ms. Jennifer Gallagher.
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"I will go down with this ship,
And I won't put my hand up and surrender.
There will be no white flag above me door,
I'm in love, I always will be." – White Flag, Dido.
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MONDAY 1920 HRSMcMURPHY'S BAR
Mac sighed heavily as the smoke of the bar hit and filled her lung when Harm and herself entered. She couldn't believe that she had been dragged into this situation. She sighed again, realising that she had actually consented to meeting Mic. Slightly annoyed she shot a glance at Harm who stood scanning the place for Mic and his company.
"See them anywhere?" she asked unhelpfully, glancing down at her shoes.
Harm nodded.
"Uh huh." He added, smiling smartly. "They're sitting at the bar."
Mac sighed and drew her attention towards the bar, where Mic and a beautiful blonde woman sat talking casually and laughing. Harm's smile vanished somewhat when he saw the look on Mac's face. He reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Come on," he said confidently. "I promise only a hour."
Mac nodded grimly, and tightened the hold on her handbag.
"I know." She replied bravely. "But I can think of better things that spending an hour with Mic."
Harm laughed and caught Mic's eye as he glanced around from the bar. Smiling widely, he stood up from his chair and welcomed Harm and Mac over.
"Harm. Mac." He greeted nodding in both their directions. "Thank you for agreeing to meet me here."
Mac forced a smile and met the eye of which she supposed was Jennifer Gallagher. Jennifer was tall, slender and drop dead gorgeous and as Mac noticed from a quick glance – wearing a diamond engagement ring big enough to sink the Titanic. Beside Mac, Harm leered.
"No problem." He said smiling at Jennifer.
Mic took this as a sign to introduce the blonde beside him.
"This is Jennifer Gallagher," he said smiling widely in her direction as Jen rose from her seat, "my fiancé."
Mac noticed the long, perfect legs and flowing blonde hair. Jennifer looked like she had stepped out of a fashion magazine with her pinstriped suit, high heeled black boots, ruby red smile, blue eyes and perfect white teeth. Her skin was flawless and she seemed to be taller than Mic. Keeping the forced smile plastered onto her face, Mac offered her hand out for Jen to shake.
"Nice to meet you Jennifer." She replied happily, as Jen shook Mac's hand.
Jennifer smiled, showing off the beautiful teeth she had in her possession.
"It good to finally meet you too Colonel." She said pleasantly an Australian accent shining through. "Mic has told me so much about you."
Mac returned the exchange with a small smile and found herself wondering what exactly Jennifer did for a living. Fashion Model maybe?
"I'll bet," she said, grimacing at Mic. "And it's Mac by the way."
Jennifer nodded making her long blonde hair bounce.
"Of course Mac."
Mac nodded and took a step back, allowing Harm to reach forward and shake Jennifer's hand.
"You must be Commander Harmon Rabb." Jennifer cooed shaking his hand and allowing a lingering touch. "Mic's attorney."
Harm nodded briskly.
"Harm." He smiled. "And yes, that would be me."
Over Jen's shoulder, Mac noticed Mic's face fall somewhat. She struggled not to smile; obviously Mic's opinion of Harm hadn't exactly changed. Moving forward and breaking Harm and Jen's grasp, Mic nodded towards a table towards the back wall.
"Why don't we go and sit down?" he asked. "We can talk better away from all the clutter."
"We'll meet you there in a moment." Harm replied unfazed. "I'll just get us a couple of drinks."
Mic nodded and led Jennifer towards the table. Once they were out of earshot, Mac let the forced smile drop.
"Well she seems nice." She said sarcastically. "Too nice if you get my drift."
Harm chuckled as the bartender approached. He looked towards Mac, taking in the look in her eye.
"A coke?"
Mac nodded and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"Why not? I'll definitely need something to keep me happy." She replied gloomily.
Harm grimaced in the bartender's direction.
"2 cokes." He said to the bartender before taking a step closer to Mac.
"Too nice?" he repeated. "Seems a little hasty. She's just friendly."
Mac snorted indignantly and shook her head.
"Yeah, and I'm going to learn to fly a tomcat." she retorted. "Like you would have taken any notice. All you saw was blonde hair, a nice pair of legs and -"
Harm faced Mac, eyebrow raised high and amused look cast across his face.
"And?"
"And – blue eyes." She finished lamely, gently giving the bar a kick.
"What exactly does that mean?" Harm chuckled at Mac. "I resent that comment."
Mac smiled.
"Come on, don't tell me you didn't notice." She retorted smartly, leaning up against the bar. "I know she certainly noticed you."
Harm leered as the bartender returned with the two cokes. He handed him a couple of notes and turned back to Mac.
"Mac," Harm warned, the smile still on his face. "Don't tell me your jealous of Ms. Jennifer Gallagher are you?"
Mac raised an eyebrow.
"Jealous. You wish Flyboy. Don't flatter yourself."
Harm grinned and moved forward to whisper in Mac's ear.
"That's good," he replied huskily. "Because you know who I'm going home with tonight."
He sent Mac a suggestive grin and lifted the two glasses of coke from the bar. Turning towards the table where Mic and Jennifer sat her motioned for Mac to go first.
"After you, Colonel."
Mac took her coke from his left hand and returned the grin.
"No way Commander. After you."
**
MONDAY 2135 HRSHARM'S APARTMENT
"I am not eating that."
Harm raised his eyebrow towards Mac and looked down at the vegetarian lasagne sitting between Mac and him on the bench. He cross his hands across his chest, showing some sign of disappointment.
"What does that mean?" he asked. "Its just lasagne. You've had it before."
Mac sighed her eyes sparkling with laughter. She lifted the plate containing her slice of food towards her nose and sniffed it.
"Come on Harm. I don't want to eat a vegetarian lasagne after what I went through tonight." She replied, the hint of whine present in her voice. "I want something juicy, thick, full of meat –"
"And high in cholesterol." He chuckled, picking up his own plate, knife and fork and moving towards his kitchen table.
Mac smiled incredulously and replaced the lasagne on the bench. She laughed and moved towards the table to join Harm.
"What's wrong with cholesterol?" she asked jokingly. "At least I know that I'm not eating something that's been scraped out of the garden."
Harm snorted as he took a bite out of his food. He lowered his fork away from his mouth and peered at Mac across the table.
"Are you criticising my cooking?"
"No I'm criticising your choice of food." She retorted smartly.
Harm peered at Mac quietly watching as the laughter left her eyes and she reached out for her drink. He slowly lowered the fork back onto the plate and pushed the plate away from him.
"What's this really about?" he asked seriously eyeing her. "And don't give me any excuse or whines about me not letting you have a hamburger on the way home."
Mac's mouth twitched and threatened to smile at the comment but she pushed it away. What was it really about? It was about the fact the she would be on the plane to Australia tomorrow accompanied by her partner and her ex fiancé. It was about the fact that suddenly she felt like she'd lost control of where she was going and now was being pushed along by Mic's murder case and Harm's willingness to help his former 'enemy'. Feeling slightly embarrassed, Mac looked away. She placed her drink back on the table and rubbed her eyes absentmindedly.
"Can you excuse me for a second?" she asked dismally getting up from her seat and quickly dashing towards the bathroom.
She flicked on the bathroom light and expertly closed the bathroom door in a flash. Breathing heavily she slumped against the back of the door for comfort. Why was she running? What was happening to her? Why had her usual strong will been thrown out the window since Mic walked through JAG's door early this morning? Angry with herself for loosing her head more than once in one day, Mac thumped her head against the back of the door. Why had getting together with Harm seemed to snowball bad luck?
In the kitchen Harm waited impatiently for Mac's return. He slowly lifted himself from his chair, grabbed hold of his half eaten lasagne and walked back towards the bench. He scooped his slice of lasagne onto Mac's plate and placed the two in the fridge. Listening intently as the sound of running water flooded the quite apartment, Harm leaned up against the kitchen bench. Today had been a long day – one he would rather bury along with bad experiences from the part. He felt guilty for pushing Mac to go meet Brumby and Jennifer tonight and he felt guilty for making her take the case. Although it wasn't directly his fault, Mac had actually admitted to him that she had only take the case so that he wouldn't get to far ahead of her. Furiously he kicked at the bench with his shoe. He was 39-years old for Christ's sake, why couldn't he get his act together?
Mac let the water run through her hands before she turned the tap off. She grabbed for Harm's towel hanging on the towel rack and wiped her face and hands. Harm's strong smell of aftershave wafted across her face. She smiled slighting, wishing she could walk back out to the kitchen and engulf Harm in a embrace, but she knew given that tomorrow they would be back to Lt. Colonel Mackenzie and Commander Rabb on TAD, it wouldn't be right. Besides, if she did, she knew Harm would say something that would make her stay and all she felt like now was curling up in bed in a fluffy pair of pyjamas and getting a good night's sleep. Alone. Mac replaced the towel on the rack, gave herself a quick once over in the mirror, opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom.
Harm jumped out of his trance as the bathroom opened with a quiet squeak. He looked up as Mac walked back into the room. She gave him a reassuring smiled.
"I'm sorry about dinner." She apologised. "But rabbit food is not my thing."
Harm smiled half-heartedly, taking the insult on board.
"It wasn't rabbit food."
Mac laughed quietly and moved toward the couch where her bag was.
"I think I'd better get going." She stated, turned back around to face him. "After all, some of us are on our way to Australia tomorrow."
Harm nodded, a disappointed smile taking position on his face.
"Yeah. Some of us are."
Mac nodded slowly and retrieved her cell phone from her bag.
"I'll get a taxi home." She said softly punching in the number.
Harm shook his head and joined her side in a matter of seconds.
"Don't be silly. I'll drive you." He replied, grabbing his keys and jacket from near the door. "Besides if you caught a taxi you'd ask them to stop at the closest hamburger joint so that you could get some food."
Mac laughed, as Harm opened the door for her and she replaced the cell back into her handbag.
"I'm not that bad you know." She added, stepping out of the apartment and turning back to him as he closed and locked the door.
Harm chuckled and placed a protective arm around her shoulder, drawing her closer as they walked down the corridor.
"I know," he breathed, taking in the strawberry scent of her shampoo. "But I like to think that I'm watching your six."
**
MONDAY 2200 HRSHarm snuck a glance at Mac out of the corner of his eye. She sat quietly in the passengers seat; head perched up against the door window watching the road. He could tell something was on her mind and he knew exactly what it was. Focusing back on the road in front of him, he frowned.
"What do you think about Brumby's innocence plea? Legitimate?"
Mac furrowed her brow and rubbed her eyes thinking.
"I don't know." She relied unsure. "Maybe, but I think there is something he's not telling us."
Harm nodded.
"Considering we don't know much about the case, I think there is a lot he's not telling us."
Mac shifted in her seat and leant back against the headrest. She frowned in Harm's direction.
"Do you think that Jennifer has anything to do with the Major's death? I mean her alibi is a little – shaky." Mac raised a brow. "She was asleep at the time Brumby arrived home and didn't wake until the next morning? Heavy sleeper or just a convenient sleeper?"
Harm nodded.
"What about the fact that Brumby's fingerprints and DNA were found everywhere in the hotel room. What exactly was he doing in the Major's room anyway? She was on R and R and shouldn't have even been working with him." He replied sceptically.
Mac smiled.
"Maybe they were friend or colleagues of some sort. They would have to be pretty close for Brumby to be visiting her on R and R. There's definitely pieces missing to this story."
Harm grunted in agreement.
"A lot of pieces it seems." He added quietly. "I think there is a lot more to this story than anyone dares to tell. We need to get a hold of some information and work out what the hell went wrong for an Australian Army Major to end up dead in her hotel room."
Mac sighed as Harm turned the car down the familiar street to her apartment. He pulled up outside and turned off the ignition.
"Are you going to be alright to make your way to your apartment by yourself or do you need my help?" he asked impishly, a suggestive grin on his face.
Mac rolled her eyes and gathered her bag from the floor at her feet. She un-clicked the seatbelt and leaned forward to give him a quick kiss goodnight.
"No such luck flyboy." She retorted, opening the Lexus' door. "I need to pack and there's no chance of that happening if you come in."
Harm chuckled.
"But there's change of other things."
Mac rolled her eyes again and jumped out.
" 'Night Harm." She replied softly, closing the door gently.
Harm smiled contently as he watched her trek inside.
"Night Mac," he whispered starting the ignition again and turning the car back towards home.
**