A/N OK. Brightfeather has picked up on something I feel that I have to admit. Hi, my name is RinkRat and I'm a cliffhanger-a-holic. Its funny…I hate season finales because they end on cliffhanger notes and I have to wait months to see the next part, but when I write I just can't seem to end my chapters on anything but cliffhangers. At least I update quicker than TPTB!

A Man Called Ghost

Chapter 4

Mac was just overcoming her shock at seeing the head of the man holding Webb on the ground explode like an overripe melon. Two more shots rang out and the other two goons dropped. Mac pushed the table over and took cover with Sturgis and the Lieutenant Commander behind it as the sniper watching over them went to work dropping everyone else who came close to them. Looking around the table she had to admit he was good…not one shot was wasted; every time he fired a man dropped dead. Probably a marine in a past life she thought to herself with pride. Everyone knew the Marines turned out the best snipers around.

Just then Webb pulled himself around the table and sat down next to her. He didn't even look at her as he listened to something being said on his radio. "Can you give us some cover?" he asked the person on the other end and then listened to the reply.

Swearing to himself he looked at the three people watching him. "That was Ghost…he says we've got some company coming hard and fast. He's unable to continue to provide support from his perch…sounds like he's on his way down to get us out. Sarah…" Webb started to say as they heard the distinctive sound of a .45 handgun being fired across the street.

Looking over the edge of the table Mac saw a shockingly familiar figure sprinting across the street with a rifle over his shoulder and a .45 he was using to provide his own cover fire. "Harm!" she said in shock.

"Harm?" Sturgis asked as he looked over the table to see his oldest friend making his way towards them under fire.

Stopping near a pillar Harm dropped to one knee and holstered his .45. Unslinging his rifle he slid the last magazine home as he looked over at the table. "Get them the fuck out of here Spider, or I will shoot your ass off this time."

"Where do you suggest we go Ghost?" Webb asked sarcastically. Obviously the street was out.

"There's a door behind you that leads down into the kitchen. Take it and take cover in the kitchen until I can get you out." Harm said as he brought the rifle to his shoulder and started to squeeze off rounds at anyone who showed themselves to him. "If they die Spider, so do you."

Mac felt Sturgis pulling her to her feet and pushing her towards the back of the café. Stopping she looked back at the sight of Harm kneeling by the pillar firing his rifle every couple seconds. She was shocked to see the look of intense concentration on his face as he focused every fibre of his being into killing anyone who walked into his sights.

"Harm?" she asked quietly still not believing he was there…wait! Clay had called him Ghost. Harm was the CIA's best counter terrorism agent? He was the one the SAS had dubbed Ghost?

Without even bothering to look at her Harm just said "I didn't save your ass to let you get it shot off Marine. Get into the kitchen NOW!" and continued to fire his rifle.

Letting Sturgis pull her towards the back of the café Mac looked over her shoulder to see Harm slide behind the table they had been using for cover. He cradled his rifle against his chest like it was a baby and she couldn't help but feel shock at the intense hatred that emanated from his eyes. 'He hates me now' she thought to herself.

"GO MARINE!" he screamed at her as he popped up and squeezed off three quick shots and then dropped back down.

With a final tug Sturgis pulled Mac into the stairway that led down into the kitchen and she could only hear the shots as his rifle rang out above them. Surrendering to Sturgis' insistent tugging Mac followed him down to the kitchen and moved over to where Webb and the Lieutenant Commander, a man named Black, waited.

"Why didn't you tell me Clay?" she asked quietly.

"That Harm was working for the Company? It was need to know Sarah."

"You could have told me…us."

With a sigh Webb looked into her eyes and said softly "He told me not to Sarah. He didn't want anyone to know where he was."

Sturgis looked like he was going to choke on something and then suddenly hauled back and drove a punch into Webb's jaw. "You should have told us."

"Damn it Turner, I wanted to. But he's not the man you remember." Webb said once he'd picked himself up off the ground again.

"What do you mean?" Mac asked sharply.

"Sarah…Harm's…different. He's changed."

"He's Harm." Mac said insistently. "And he hates me…" she sobbed. "I saw it in his eyes."

"Sarah…he always looks like that when he's on an op." Webb said softly. "Its scary how into his work he throws himself…he scares the hell out of me and about half the people at the office. And I've known him as long as you have. Trust me it has nothing to do with you."

Just then they heard the sound of someone making their way stealthily down the stairs. Webb pulled his Sig handgun from inside his suit jacket and Sturgis and Mac looked around for weapons. Expectantly they watched a single tall shadow fill the door. A mocking laugh echoed throughout the large stone kitchen when the shadow came to a stop.

"Put that away Spider. You're going to hurt yourself." Harm said bitterly as he stepped into the kitchen. Mac instantly saw the blood that was flowing down the side of his face. Rushing up to him she put her hand on his cheek and looked into his eyes. She couldn't suppress a shudder as she saw once more how dead they looked.

"You're hurt." She said softly.

"One of them got a lucky shot…just grazed me. I'm fine. Move." Harm said as he gently pushed Mac out of his way and went to the back of the kitchen. Reaching a large wooden shelf unit Harm gripped the edge of it and threw it to the ground. Behind the unit was a darkened arch and more stairs leading down.

"Those lead to the sewers. It's the only way you're going to get out of here. Turn right at the end of this hallway and then keep to the right hand side of the passage. I'll be right behind you." Harm said with a gesture at the stairs.

"How'd you know about that?" Webb asked.

"I've had a couple days to kill waiting for you to pull your shit together."

"Buddy, what are you doing here?" Sturgis asked with the shock still on his face.

"Fixing one of Spider's screw ups."

"Spider?"

"Him." Harm said with a short gesture towards where Webb was rubbing his jaw.

"Damn it Rabb…" Webb started when Harm pointed at him.

"Shut up Spider. I told you this was going to go to hell, but you didn't fucking listen, did you? Now get down those god damned stairs and take your people with you. I said I'll be right behind you."

Silently Webb started herding everyone down the stairs while Harm bustled through the kitchen looking for something. Mac stopped at the bottom of the stairs and called out "Harm?"

"I said I'll be right behind you. What the fuck is with you people? GO!"

With one hand on the wall Mac followed the others down the passageway as she tried to get her mind around what she had witnessed in the last half hour. All of a sudden Harm was there, but he wasn't Harm. He was harsh and cold and brusque. He'd killed countless men and hadn't stopped to blink. Mac knew that in combat you couldn't allow yourself to think about those you were killing, that you just fired your weapon and hoped you made it through everything in one piece. But there was something…cold…about Harm that went beyond not thinking about it.

As the four of them reached the end of the passageway she heard hurried steps down the passage and watched as Harm caught up to them with a ghoulish grin.

"Might want to get out of the way…" he said ominously.

"What did you do?" Webb asked warily.

"Rigged a little surprise for our friends when they break down that door. Should be going off…right…about…now."

As Harm finished the word 'now' an explosion rocked the building above them and they could clearly hear the screams of the dying.

"Hmm. Thought it would be bigger." Harm said with a shrug and then started off down the passageway without a look back.

"Did Amy get out?" Webb asked rushing up to Harm.

"No idea. When your plan went to hell I left her on the roof; she was cleaning up the last I saw. She's a bright girl…she'll be fine."

Mac had no idea who this woman was that they were talking about, but it wasn't like Harm to leave a woman alone when she might be in danger. What had happened to him? A little voice in the back of her head told her she knew exactly what had happened to him. He'd lost just about everything and everyone he'd ever loved and found himself with nothing. All because he'd gone after her and Clay in Paraguay.

Soon Harm had led them through the sewer system and up a small drainage ditch outside town.

"Viper 1, this is Ghost. We need a pickup a half mile west of the city at extraction point three."

Mac watched as Harm listened to the reply for his extraction request and noticed just how thin he'd become, how angular his features were now. She also saw faded scars she didn't recognize on his face. Where had he gotten those? What had he been doing? She knew nothing of his life anymore.

"Your ride will be here in five Spider."

"Where are you going Harm?" Mac asked reaching for his arm when she saw him start to walk up the side of the ditch.

"To take up a cover position and then go catch my own ride."

"You're not extracting with us?" Sturgis asked shocked.

"Don't ride Navy anymore." Harm said simply and then continued his walk up the ditch and took up a position above them with his .45 in his hand watching to make sure they were going to make it out in one piece.

Afterthought: I've intentionally portrayed Mac here a little differently than in the show. As I said in my forward everyone has been changed by Harm's absence, and the shock of seeing him again in Iraq was enough to rock her hard enough that she just shut down and kept asking questions. For the Mac purists out there, this is an alternate universe of JAG. Everyone is different from the show in one degree or another. You will see the courageous tough marine we all know and love again, just not right away.