AN: Eekk! Many months have passed since my last update. To make up for it, this chapter is very shippery and fluffy. Lol. I couldn't help myself.
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"Oh here we go again I'm so spent,
My head is spinning,
Oh can you bail me out of this rut,
I've got myself in once again," Bail Me Out, Pete Murray.
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Mac absentmindedly pulled her suitcase open and began tipping her clothes out across her bed. The day had been long and exhausting and seeking solace she had retreated to the guest bedroom of Brumby's two-storey residence to unpack her things. Mic and Harm as far as she knew, were spread out in the hammocks adoring Mic's back veranda, chatting like long lost friends. She concluded gloomily, that Harm had made an ally. She slowly sifted through the mess she had made, engrossing herself with the task. Maybe, just maybe, if she focused on something boring like her washing, she could get rid of the though of the aviator that was residing down stairs. It didn't work and before long she was throwing the clothing around in irate frustration.
Harm stepped onto the threshold of the second floor and stopped momentarily. From where he stood he could see straight through the open door way of Mac's bedroom and could see her moving heatedly around the room. A wave of guilt flooded thorough him and solemnly he ventured towards the open door of her room.
Mac hadn't noticed Harm in her door way and she continued throwing her clothes across the room like an infuriated child throwing a tantrum. It wasn't doing much for her clean clothes but it was sure helping her to express her emotions. After everything had successfully been thrown on the floor she sighed and breathed in a content breath of fresh air. "There," she muttered to herself. "Mission completed. Doesn't that feel better?"
Harm laugh quietly causing Mac to look his way. She diverted her eyes awkwardly when she noticed who it was. Seeing Mac's displeasure, Harm smiled grimly. "Can I come in?"
Mac's eyes darted around the room looking for an exit. There were two options. Through the door way that Harm was occupying or out through the sliding glass doorway that led out to the second storey veranda. She decided against both options (moving towards Harm would make things too close and moving out on the veranda would trap her even further) and despondently shrugged. "Only if you help me clean up the room I very maturely trashed."
Harm nodded and joined her in picking up the clothing. When the floor was clear of any signs of fabric he moved to the opposite side of the room and took a seat in the armchair to create some distance between them. He opened his mouth to make his apology, but found it was caught in the back of his throat. Closing his mouth, he lowered his attention to the polished wood floor and became engrossed in starring at the grooves the wood made.
Mac watched him over the top of the t-shirt she had been folding. She placed it neatly on the bed and folded her arms across her chest. "Why are you here?" She asked more bluntly than she had intended.
Harm studied her intently wondering if she was still angry with him. The expression on her face said it all. "In Australia?" he asked dully.
"In my room." Mac rolled her eyes. She wasn't in the mood for games.
Harm chewed his lip. "Is it a problem?"
"Are you here to throw further criticism at me?" she asked earnestly. It was a lingering question.
After a while Harm shook his head sincerely. "Mac," he began.
Mac shook her own head. "Don't do that whiny 'Mac' thing Harm. Why are you here?"
Sighing Harm got up from the seat. "You're still angry with me?" It was basically rhetorical. He knew she was.
Mac swallowed hard. "I'm just angry, Harm," she replied vaguely, rubbing her brow in frustration. She was more frustrated with herself than him and she knew it wasn't surfacing well.
Harm frowned; he too was becoming quickly frustrated. "You didn't answer my question."
"And you didn't answer mine!" Mac snapped back before she could stop herself. She sucked in a deep breath and dropped one hand to rest on her hip while the other remained rubbing her brow.
Harm breathed. He couldn't take this anymore. It had tortured him for most of the day. Fighting or rather sparring with Mac used to be a frequent occurrence that they both secretly enjoyed. Now it felt like hell. "I'm sorry Mac. I know it doesn't sound like much but it's all I've got right now."
Mac frowned and moved away from him. "Jesus Harm, can't you ever actually say how you feel or what you're thinking?" Uncontrollable tears pricked at her eyes and she wanted to push him away before he noticed. She heard a tapping on the doorframe, and turned to notice Mic lingering uncomfortable at the door.
"Sorry," he apologise profusely. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"
Mac exchanged glances with Harm, waiting for him to answer. Harm took the chance to back down and leave. "No," he said, moving out of the room. "There's nothing more to interrupt," and with that, he trudged down the hallway to his room and slammed the door.
Mic listened as the photograph on the wall of the hallway rattled and dropped to the ground. The glass shattered, spreading thin jagged pieces across the polished wood floor. He grimaced sadly. "I'm guessing this wasn't a good time."
Mac offered him a reassuring smile. "It never is with Harm at the moment. He's dealing with some personal stuff."
Mic raised an eyebrow. He gestured to the tears still on her cheeks. "And you? Is it related?" he pried.
"It could be," Mac replied vaguely. She grimaced. "Sorry, Mic, It's really is-"
"None of my business." He nodded and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I understand. Message received loud and clear."
Mac shakily, rubbed her eyes again. "I didn't mean it like that Mic. I'm sorry." She sighed. "This is really uncomfortable isn't it?"
"It's only going to get worse." He said sympathetically. "If anything I've put you in an uncomfortable situation. I just- just needed some good help. I realise how screwed I am. My defence isn't looking good is it? I don't even need you to answer that, I know for myself. I was recommended a good military lawyer in Canberra but I couldn't have some hotshot I didn't know taking this on." Mic's gaze shifted towards the balcony glass doors. The curtains were open, and from where he stood he could see the rough waves of the ocean rolling in. "I figured if I was going to go down for something I didn't commit, I was going to go down fighting and with a defence I knew and could trust."
Mac took everything in slowly, and sat down on the edge of her bed. "You feel you can trust me? Trust us?" She asked, quietly.
Mic chuckled sadly. "There's a lot of water under the bridge, I'll admit but there is no reason for me not to trust you." He smiled unhappily. "Professionally anyway. I've seen you two work with and against each other. You both know how good you are; you're quite the duo. I need a defence like you on my side."
Mac smiled thankfully. "That's sweet. But you overestimate the teamwork within the 'duo'." She looked at him earnestly. "I'm going to work as hard as I possibly can to uncover this Mic, but there are no promises. I hope you can understand."
"I can," he nodded. "I will. Actually obliging to come Mac, gave me some hope."
"I can't believe you actually asked," she smiled.
Mic laughed. "It was hard, I'll admit. I think AJ nearly died when he heard my voice on the other line."
"You almost gave me a heart attack. Rabb was speechless." She laughed. "You certainly gave us all a shock."
"You should have seen Lieutenant Sims' face as I walked through the bullpen," he reminisced. "Priceless."
Mac suddenly jumped up from her place. "Like your photograph," she gushed, moving swiftly out of the room and into the hallway. Mic followed. They studied the broken glass on the floor and winced as it crunched underneath their feet. "Oh, Mic, I am so sorry."
Mic crouched to pick the frame up off the ground. The photograph was one of him and Jennifer taken at their engagement party. He smiled dejectedly. "Not you're fault, Mac. The frame's replaceable."
Mac crouched at his side. "We'll replace it before we leave."
"We?" he cocked an eyebrow at her.
Mac nodded. "Yeah, we." She smiled.
Mic nodded a smiled on his face. "Well in that case," He gave her a wink. "Everything is explained. Why didn't you say anything? If you're more comfortable in one room-"
"Because," Mac cut off, "It's complicated." She brushed a couple of piece of glass away with her hand and sat down on the floor. "We've been fighting all day. As I'm sure you've noticed." Mac shrugged. "We'll sort it out, it's just-"
"Complicated?" Mic offered.
Mac smiled. "Yeah." She picked up the photograph that had fallen out of the frame. "Are you happy?" she asked candidly. "Are you really truly happy?"
Mic studied the photograph for a long while before replying softly, "At least she loves me."
THURSDAY 2200 HRS
BRUMBY RESIDENCE, CALLAHAN – QUEENSLAND.
The light from the kitchen danced across the wood decking of the veranda, sending shivers up Mac's spine as she watched it. Mic had gone to bed a while ago, deciding to give Mac some space. They had talked for an hour about things in their lives and what had happened after the night he had left. It was refreshing, that was the only way Mac could describe it. If anything, their tête-à-tête had cleared up some lingering question about Mic's request for help. Mac concluded that it had given light to her situation and given her some motivation to commit to the case as much as she could. She couldn't promise anything with the outcome, but she was as sure as hell going to try.
From the kitchen, Harm idly watched Mac on the veranda sitting in solace and sipping at her coffee. He wanted to join her, pull her into his arms and sit with her as they listened to the waves roll in. He wanted to take the chance to appreciate everything he had but the arrogance in him wouldn't follow his heart. Harm stood watching Mac for a long time. After a while, Mac moved from her chair on the veranda, grabbed her coffee cup and walked back into the kitchen. She smiled warmly at him.
"Hey."
Harm nodded. "Hey yourself, Marine."
Silently. Mac placed the coffee cup in the sink and moved towards Harm. "Can I have a word?"
Harm grimaced. "That's code for 'I'm going to kick your six' isn't it?"
Mac laughed gently at his comment. "No, its more like, 'I'm sorry I hurt you this morning and ignored you for the day, causing you to blow up at me tonight'." She took a deep breath. "I'm pretty good at code huh?"
Harm laughed. "You may be good at it, but you got the wrong one this time. What I think you were looking for was, 'this is all your fault flyboy but I'm going to forgive you and let you make it up to me'."
"I like the 'let you make it up to me' part. What did you have in mind?" she asked impudently.
Harm grinned. "There are a few things," he replied, as Mac moved ever so slowly closer.
"And they are?"
"You're killing me," he breathed, still watching her.
"Really?" There was a good metre separating them.
"Mac," he breathed. There were only a few inches separating them.
"What have I told you about that whiny 'Mac' thing?" she whispered softly.
Harm shrugged and pulled her closer. "At the moment, everything that happened today had left my mind," he whispered on her lips.
Mac grinned. "Good." She replied, finally leaning in and kissing him passionately. "I need you to concentrate on only me."
Harm reached up to caress her cheek. "That's not difficult MacKenzie, Not difficult at all."
THURSDAY 0400 HRS
WASHINGTON, DC.
Jennifer Gallagher awoke with a start and sweat dripping from her forehead. She glanced around disorientated, trying to work out where she was. She sucked down a mouthful of air, trying to stop the bile from rising in the back of her throat. Reaching out towards the bedside table of her room, she grabbed hold of her glass of water and gulped it down. Her breathing slowed to normal and she closed her eyes, recalling the nightmare. It had been about Megan O'Neil. Not wanting to go through it again by herself, Jen decided to call the one person she could trust with the nightmares. She sucked in another mouthful of air and dried her eyes. She pushed the covers of her bed back and grabbed her cell phone, making her way towards the living area of her room. Hesitantly she turned it on, and checked the address book for her psychologist. Closing her eyes she made the call. The call rang out and was diverted to an answering machine.
"Hi. This is the office of Doctor Lauren Bradshaw. I'm unable to take you're call right now, but please leave a message and I'll get right back to you."
Jennifer signed distraughtly. "Dr. Bradshaw, It's-" she hesitated. "It's Jen Gallagher. You said if I thought of anything else to give you a call." She drew in another shaky breath. "I have and I think that you should know about it."
FRIDAY 0800HRS
BRUMBY RESIDENCE, CALLAHAN - QUEENSLAND
"Sleep well?" Brumby greeted Mac, walking to the kitchen the following morning.
Mac choked on her orange juice and spat the mouthful down the sink. She wiped her mouth coolly and placed the glass on the bench. "Why?"
Mic shrugged. He studied her intently. "Should there be a reason for me to not be a considerate host?" he asked suspiciously, beginning to fix himself breakfast.
Mac rolled her eyes. "Moving on – I received a phone call from Admiral McManus while you were in the shower. He's asked Harm and I to meet with him this morning. Does that mean anything to you?"
Mic shrugged as he filled his bowl of cereal with milk. "Not particular. Probably wondering what to what cause his well earned money is paying for."
"If you don't mind me asking, what's the story behind that?"
Mic grimaced. "He's looking after his darling stepdaughters best interests. I have no problems in admitting that whatever Jennifer wants, McManus provides." He shoved a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. "Hell, this house was our wedding gift."
Mac glanced around. "Impressive. Was he your CO before you met Jennifer?"
"Yes. Now that's an interesting story," he replied, through yet another mouthful of fruit loops.
Mac chuckled. "One we can save for another day."
"What did the Admiral say when he contacted you?"
"That he was expecting us to oblige to a meeting at 0845. That's about it. I was just curious."
"Curious about what?" Harm asked joining the conversation as he stepped into the kitchen.
"We have a meeting with Admiral McManus in 45 minutes."
Harm nodded. "Good, while we're there we can drop in on Lieutenant Colonel Williams."
This time Mic choked on his breakfast. "You're interviewing Williams?"
Harm looked at him blankly. "To a degree yes. Is there a problem with that?"
Mic stirred his cereal vaguely. "Well he's not going to actually help with my defence."
Mac studied him questionably tilting her head at him. "How so?"
Mic sighed. "Long story. To get to the point, Williams believes that I was having an affair with his wife."
Harm rubbed his eyes and grabbed a seat on the stool at the breakfast bar. "Is there any reason for him to suspect that you were?"
Mic frowned at him. "Are you trying to ask me if I was having an affair with Megan?"
Harm shrugged. "Not trying. I am asking."
Mac rolled her eyes and shifted her feet restlessly. If possible, their attitudes towards each other were getting worse. "I believe we've been through this Harm."
"I'm asking for the sake of Mic's defence Mac," he replied seriously.
Mac threw her hands up in her air and moved away from the firing line.
"I'm with Mac, you asked me this in Sydney Rabb. You think my answer has changed in a day?" Mic fought.
Harm breathed in a deep breath. He stared at Mic seriously as a reply.
Mic frowned. "No. For the record, I was not involved with Megan O'Neil, ever during the period of our friendship."
"Did Major O'Neil want that to change? Is that why you were in her hotel room on the night of her murder?" Harm asked diplomatically.
Mac watched intently, waiting for the answer. Mic once again, drew in a deep breath. He placed his bowl on the counter and folded his arms against his chest. "Rabb, you sure as hell can get under my skin."
Harm frowned. "I'm being completely serious, Mic."
"I don't doubt that," Mic fired back. "Yes. Megan made certain advancements that night in her hotel room. We were both intoxicated but I was sensible enough to make it clear that nothing was going to happen. She started yelling at me, I can't remember what was said but she got quite abusive. Something about leaving her husband for me." Mic shook his head exasperated. "I knew she was lying. Williams had left her. I couldn't take it anymore so I left. That was the last time I saw here. She told me to go to hell."
Mac gulped. She was put off by the same words she had used to push Harm away the previous morning. "Why didn't you mention this earlier?"
Mic frowned. "Would you believe me if I said that it never came up?"
"No," was Harm's direct answer.
Mic looked directly at Mac. "It was complicated."
FRIDAY 0830 HRS
CALLAHAN MILITARY BASE – CALLAHAN, QUEENSLAND.
Harm drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he pulled to a stop in front of the security gates at the base. He looked over at Mac in the passenger seat.
"You've sure made an ally for yourself. What's the story behind that?" He asked.
Mac grinned. "Why, you getting a little jealous?"
Harm shrugged. "About you and Mic getting along so well? Just a little. I don't think you would be impressed if Renee suddenly turned up and her and I struck up a great friendship."
Mac laughed. "I can't believe after everything we talked about you are getting jealous of Mic Brumby. You're so-"
Harm breathed. "Here we go-"
"Cute." Mac laughed.
Harm looked at her unimpressed. "I'll pretend you just said handsome and damn sexy. That way I can still maintain my dignity," he replied, winding down his window and easing Brumby's red Ford Escape towards the security booth. Mac continued to laugh at him.
A Private greeted them at the booth. "Morning, sir, can I help you?"
Harm nodded. "We have a meeting with Admiral McManus for 0845."
The Private quickly ran his eyes down the security schedule for the day. "Commander Rabb and Colonel Mackenzie?"
Harm nodded. The Private quickly made a note next to their name. "Can I see some I.D sir?"
Harm pulled it from his wallet. The Private nodded. "JAG Corp." He said, smiling. "Impressive."
"How so?" Harm asked, handing over Mac's I.D.
The Private smiled sheepishly. "This is a training base Sir. It's not everyday that the likes of JAG walk on site." He handed Mac's I.D back and turned to his accompanying officer. "Let them through." The security barrier went up and the private motioned them through. "Parking is to the right, administration to the left. Good day Commander, Colonel."
Harm nodded a thank you to the Private; handed Mac's I.D back to her and wound up his window. "That would have to be one of the first times someone's been impressed to see us," he comment, eyebrow raised.
Mac smiled. "No arguments here," she replied as Harm swung the SUV into a parking space. They got out of the car, locked it and made their way towards the administration. Harm and Mac waited a good 10 minutes in the foyer before they were greeted by Sergent McRae who bustled in from the corridor of offices adjoining the building. She smiled at them as she placed a large pile of paperwork on her desk.
"Sir, Ma'am. What can I do for you?"
Mac smiled kindly. "We have an appointment with Admiral McManus."
Sergent McRae nodded. "Commander Rabb and Colonel MacKenzie?" She asked happily. "Admiral McManus has been expecting you. Excuse me for a second," she finished, bustling off back up the corridor. A couple of minutes later she returned. "Follow me, Sir, Ma'am."
Harm and Mac followed her down the long corridor before coming to a stop in front of dark mahogany door. Sergent McRae knocked and opened the door. "Admiral McManus, Commander Rabb and Colonel MacKenzie to see you sir."
Admiral McManus, a dark hair man in his mid-fifties, looked up from a book he was reading. He nodded. "Send them in McRae."
McRae nodded respectfully and moved out of the way for Harm and Mac to enter. She closed the door behind them and returned to her desk in the front office. McManus rose from his chair as Harm and Mac entered. They made their way towards their desk and routinely stood at attention. McManus waved then down. He turned to Mac. "Colonel Mackenzie," he said shaking her hand. Smiling he turned to Harm and shook his hand also. "And Commander Rabb. I've heard a lot about you," he said motioning for them to take a seat. "You're quite a legendary duo. I've heard many stories from Commander Brumby."
Mac laughed nervously. "All good I hope."
McManus smiled and nodded. "Of course." He faced both of them. 'I'm guessing you're wondering why I've asked you to meet me."
"Something along those lines, Sir." Harm admitted.
"To be frank, Commander, Colonel, it's for an entirely self-serving reason. I want you to know that the interests of Commander Michael Brumby are high on my priority list right now. Whatever you need to ensure that you find the person who murdered Major O'Neil is at your disposal."
Mac nodded. "Thank you sir. We will be taking you up on that offer."
McManus smiled. "Oh?"
"We were hoping for your full co-operation sir."
"Whatever you need. No cost will be spared." He sighed. "Is there anything you need to be organised straight away?"
Harm and Mac looked at each other. "We were wondering if you could pin point the whereabouts of Lieutenant Colonel Adam Williams, sir. He's the first cab off the rank so to speak."
McManus nodded. "Colonel Williams is widely known for dedicating his time to the mechanics department. That's located on the west side of the base. I take it you wish to talk to him while you are here now?"
Harm nodded. "Yes, Sir."
McManus nodded approval. "Granted. I'll have a private escort you over there on your way out."
"Thank you sir."
McManus nodded. "Dismissed."