A/N Right then. First off, I want to apologize for taking so long between chapters. Real life has been hell lately, and as much as I like to escape it by writing, if I don't pay the bills no one will. And now for the news and information part of our program. In appreciation for all your patience, this chapter is a bit longer than normal AND includes a little goodness for the shippers out there.
A/N 2: For this chapter the rating of the story really applies because of the "shippery goodness", but because of the varied audience age I've removed the really naughty bits. Want to read the uncensored version? Send me an email (located in my profile) and I'll send you the chapter with all the naughty bits intact. BUT you'll have to swear to me on your grandmother's favorite pet rock collection that you're 18 years of age or older.
A Man Called Ghost
Chapter 31
The word furious didn't begin to cover how Harm was feeling. Angry didn't have enough edge. For a week he'd been stewing over everything that happened at sea.
He'd known Webb was jealous of him, he'd known that he and Webb had long ago moved past any point of being able to view each other as sometimes friends again. Hell, he'd even suspected that Webb was trying to get Harm's field status revoked to get back at him by leaving him holding the bag for ops gone south. It was the only reason at the time that Harm could come up with for Webb botching so many operations. There was no way anyone could be that bad at planning ops. At least not anyone with as many years of experience as Clayton Webb had. Now, it was all starting to make horrible sense. This was about more than just ops going bad. Clayton Webb was a traitor.
Making matters worse was the wave of resistance to the idea of Webb being a traitor. Apparently Porter Webb was calling in every political favor she could to protect her son. At Langley the investigation was "in progress" and Harm had not been able to get anything out of anyone.
With a sigh, Harm turned towards his kitchen intent on finding a bottle to take the edge off his anger. It wasn't until he was almost to the cupboards that he remembered Hurricane MacKenzie had cleaned out his stash. With a muttered curse he decided a trip to the liquor store was needed to replenish his supply and went off in search of his keys.
As Harm reached the door he heard a strident knock. Great, just what he needed; company. Ripping the door open, Harm found himself face to face with an irate looking marine Lieutenant Colonel still in her uniform.
Without waiting for an invitation, Mac pushed past Harm. Not even glancing in his direction, she began pacing a tight circle inside his apartment.
"Sure, come on in." Harm muttered angrily in her wake.
"I don't believe it." Mac fumed.
"Well that's not exactly news is it?" Harm asked bitterly.
Mac stopped her pacing and looked at him as though he'd grown three extra heads. "What are you talking about?"
"You and your penchant for disbelief. Not exactly news."
"I repeat, what are you talking about?" Mac was obviously exasperated.
"Why don't you tell me what you don't believe this time?" Harm shook his head in his own growing exasperation.
"My report on the Perez shooting. It's been censored!" Mac was almost shouting at this point.
"Well what the hell did you expect? You chose to report a CIA operative murdered an American soldier, and not just any soldier, no, he popped a SEAL. Of course the Company is going to protect its own." Harm answered without realizing how closely her frustration with the CIA matched his own. "Why the hell are you here?"
"What's your problem?" Mac asked coldly.
"Nothing. Everything is just fucking peachy. Oh, and from what I can tell, your boyfriend has been trying to kill me for the better part of a year." Harm tossed off flippantly.
"He's not now, nor was he ever, my boyfriend." Mac shot back in a chilled tone.
"Right. You were just fuck buddies. I forgot." Harm was long beyond caring what damage he was doing. He was angry and he needed to lash out at someone.
"Go to hell!" Mac spat out.
"You first MacKenzie!" Harm returned, his large frame now towering dangerously close to hers.
"What's your problem Rabb?"
"Where should I start?" Harm snarled grabbing Mac's shoulders, pulling her even closer, their faces only inches apart. "With the most recent problem, or with the oldest? Cause you're damn sure a part of most of them."
"That's funny Rabb. Real funny. I could say the same thing about you." Mac ground out between clenched teeth, pulling her arms to break free of Harm's grip she took a short step back. "Don't touch me!"
"Right, you only like it when Webb touches you." Harm mocked.
This time he didn't see her wind up, nor did he see the delivery. The next thing he knew, Mac slapped him full force, and he was blinking his eyes trying to clear his vision.
"Why the hell did I think you'd be a sympathetic friend?" Mac snorted as she turned to leave. Harm was obviously in a mood for punishment, before he could think about it he'd grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to face him.
"You expect me to be sympathetic because they won't let you tell your story about Webb? What the fuck MacKenzie? You wouldn't even believe me when I told you I thought he was guilty. Me! Hell, the man was fucking trying to kill me, and you wouldn't listen to me."
"I know I've said this already tonight, but WHAT are you talking about?" Mac asked, pushing Harm's hands off her again. She could still feel the heat from his earlier touch on her shoulders. She couldn't afford to let herself dwell on the way his hands felt on her.
"Fucking Webb!" Harm stormed. "If it wasn't him taking a shit all over the planning of an op it was him trying to run me off the road!"
"Whoa. Back up Harm. Okay, I know Webb screwed up ops, trust me I know. But what do you mean 'trying to run you off the road'?"
Harm spun away and stalked over to the window staring out at where he'd seen the silver Jaguar parked what seemed like a lifetime ago. "My accident. It wasn't an accident."
"Can you prove it?" Mac asked, her anger slipping away, slowly replaced by exhaustion. Stepping up to stand behind Harm, she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. When she felt him tense under her touch, she gave him a gentle squeeze and closed her eyes.
With a snort Harm shook his head violently; unaware that Mac couldn't see the action. "All I've got for proof is my dreams" he said cryptically."Dreams?"
"Nightmares. You were here for them; some of them anyway."
"Tell me about them?"
Harm paused a moment before continuing in a harsh tone. "I'm in a jungle, being chased by a cat. A big silver hunting cat. Every night is was the same, and every night I couldn't run fast enough to get away. Just as it caught me and I felt the claws tear into me, I'd wake up."
"It was always the same?" Mac asked softly.
"Always. Every night since my accident."
"How is this connected to Webb?"
"I can't prove it...and you heard Tomlinson, the Company suspects, but can't prove anything."
"I...I didn't make the connection." Mac admitted. "Why do you suspect him then?"
"Sort of a moot point now, isn't it? He's gone to ground. But it's his car."
"His car?"
"Silver hunting cat. Silver Jaguar. See the connection?"
"It's thin Harm." Mac said cautiously. She didn't want to set him off again. "But then again if the CIA suspects he had something to do with your accident, then maybe there's something to it."
"That's not all. For weeks I saw a silver Jaguar parked outside the building here. I saw it following me everywhere I went. Every time I turned around there it was. Damn it Mac, he was stalking me, studying me." Harm fumed, feeling his anger rise again to new heights. Suddenly he turned, spinning out from under her hand. Roughly he grabbed her arms and shook her slightly. "He wanted me out of the way...away from..." Instead of anger in her eyes he was shocked to see a softened gaze.
"Away from?" Mac prompted softly.
"You." Harm responded distractedly. "He wanted me away from you. I was competition."
"You were never competition." Mac whispered as she gazed up at Harm, standing so close she could feel his hot breath on her cheek.
"Oh." Harm struggled to not show how crushed he was at her words. He'd fought so hard to forget her, to bury his feelings. To hear her words tore at a heart he'd failed to harden.
As Harm's hands dropped from her arms and he began to turn back to the window Mac reached up and gently placed a hand on his cheek. "You misunderstood me. How could you be competition? How could you compete with a man I never wanted? It was you Harm; it's always been you I wanted."
"Oh." Harm blinked in surprise. Suddenly the banality of his answer struck him as his eyes slowly wandered from her eyes down to her lips. He finally surrendered; he couldn't fight himself, he didn't want to fight himself, anymore. Before his heart could beat once more without her he crushed his lips against hers hungrily. Feeling the passion of her response to his kiss left him breathless and he had to break the kiss briefly. Looking into her eyes again he found the tenderness he'd seen moments ago replaced with a burning passion.
Afraid that Harm was backing away, Mac reached up and pulled his head down to bring his lips back to hers. Leaving her fingers locked at the back of Harm's head Mac moaned slightly when she felt his hand slide around behind her and pull the uniform shirt free from her skirt.
Running his hand over the hot, smooth skin of her back Harm felt his knees weaken slightly and locked them before he could embarrass himself by falling at Sarah Mackenzie's feet. Moaning against her lips he pulled his hand free of her blouse and bent his knees slightly to reach both arms around her lifting her into his arms.
As Mac felt her feet leave the floor she broke off the impassioned kiss with a little "Oh" of surprise. Looking up into Harm's burning eyes though, she smiled and began to trail kisses down the side of his jaw and along his neck.
Striding across his apartment purposefully Harm struggled to keep his mind on where he was going instead of losing himself in the feel of Mac's lips upon his skin. After what seemed like an eternity he gently placed her upon the rumpled sheets of his bed. Gazing down at her as she looked up at him, Harm was struck once more by how beautiful she was.
"Come here." Mac breathed sensually. Harm dropped to the bed beside her as she turned slightly and wrapped her arms around him. Urgently she sought to quell the longing inside her and pulled his lips back to hers.
"Sarah, I don't think I can be gentle." Harm groaned against her lips. "I've wanted you for so long."
"You won't break me." Mac answered without a moment's hesitation. He wasn't the only one who'd wanted this.
With that, they both surrendered to the passions that had been building in them. Later as Mac lay half asleep wrapped in Harm's arms she heard him whisper "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Mac asked with panic gripping her heart. Did he regret what they'd done? Did he think it was a mistake?
"I wanted to be more gentle with you." Harm admitted. He didn't even consider how much that went against the way people looked at him now, he just knew that for Sarah he wanted to give her the perfect night, and instead he'd taken her like an animal in heat.
"And you will be." Mac answered softly. "I'm not going anywhere sailor." Slowly she closed her eyes and reveled in the feeling of his arms around her. "And I'm not letting you go this time either."
Between the passionate sex that they'd just engaged in and the feeling of Harm's arms wrapped around her, Mac let herself drift off to sleep before Harm had a chance to respond to her declaration. Harm would spend another hour wrestling with his fears before he would allow himself to drift off beside her. He was afraid that he would wake up and she would be gone, the night just another hopeless dream chased away by the harsh morning's light.