Title: Reaching Out – Chapter One
Author: Arian
Summary: There was simply no way I could celebrate Halloween without my favorite duo!
Rating: PG for the moment, who knows where it will take me!
Disclaimer: Oh don't I wish they were mine, but alas it is not so.

A/N: This is a Season 10 story, aka post-AWNBG, and any past and potentially future episodes are fair game. Cresswell will have a fairly minor part in the story as I haven't seen enough of him to formulate a response. The story is also not completely finished, though many of the scenes have already played out in my head. However, as today is Halloween I wanted to start posting it. I appreciate feedback, and it really does help me be inspired to put the work necessary into writing, but would prefer truly angry or inappropriately critical comments to be emailed and kept off the board.

Mac's Apartment
Georgetown
0330 EST

"Who's there?" A shiver raced up Mac's spine, momentarily making her want to pull the covers up over her head and cringe back into sleep. Her bedroom felt suspiciously cold, and as she searched her memory and the room she couldn't put a finger on what had awakened her. The little light coming through the blinds cast eerie shadows about the room which before she had thought of as comforting. Now the dark spaces had become places for an intruder to crouch, waiting until her guard was once again down.

Getting a grip on herself, she flicked the bedside light on. Glancing around the room and seeing no one, she laughed at herself. "Okay MacKenzie, no more scary movies before bed!" Just in case, she got out of bed, crossed the room and firmly shut the door. She even went over and closed the door to the bathroom. Now amused with the situation, she decided to even check the closet and under the bed. "See, no monsters, ghosts or stalkers in here!" she declared aloud. Snickering a little at herself, she slipped back into bed and turned out the light.

0417 EST

Mac felt warm and comfortable, with large arms wrapped around her, offering support and love. She was in a park filled with trees in their autumn finery, and the sun shone down through the drifting leaves. She sighed, feeling safe, and knew that there was nothing physical or spiritual that could harm her here. She felt so wonderful she thought maybe even her own self-destructive tendencies wouldn't prevail in this space. This was someplace she could rest. Really rest.

However, after a while she began to feel chilly. The sun was slowly becoming paler, and the leaves, rather than softly drifting down to earth, now dropped swiftly under a strong wind and crackled against the ground. Not wanting to let go of the peaceful place, Mac hugged the arms around her, seeking comfort. They tightened on her, but it didn't make her feel any better. They didn't go so far as to restrain her, but held her in place purposefully. As the wind continued to pick up, her point of view shifted, panning across the once beautiful park and focusing on the street bordering the park.

The sun was now covered by the clouds, and the wind spun leaves into her face. Before her eyes a young petty officer stepped out of an alley along the street. Her face was pale, and there was blood on her uniform. She reached out to Mac, and then disappeared. The arms about Mac were suddenly gone and she began to fall.

Sitting up in bed gasping, Mac shuddered from the dream. Damn nightmares.

Her bedroom was still unusually cold, and she thought about turning on the heat. It was only then she noticed her bedroom window was open, the sheer drapes blowing softly in the wind. Getting up to close the window, she neglected to turn on the light. Just as the window slid closed, the hair on the back of her neck stood up. A sense of dread overcame her, and she slowly turned to once again search the room.

Was that someone in the corner? She heard a whisper of fabric, and saw a glimmer of light just before her seeking hand found the pull cord of the blinds and flashed them open. There was nothing in the corner.

JAG Headquarters
0745 EST

Harm whistled softly as he got off the elevator and made his way through the bullpen. Glancing towards Coats desk he noticed she was not yet in, but there was light under the door of the Admiral's office. Thinking that was odd, he considered checking out and then decided against it. Sturgis was probably just in early polishing his name plate. A snort interrupted his whistling, and then a chuckle at his own version of a joke. Tucking his cover under his arm, he started down the hallway toward his office, until he noticed there was also faint light coming through the blinds to Mac's office. 'Even for Mac this is early.'

He didn't get a response to his first knock, but at the second the door flew open to reveal a startled looking Mac.

"Hi?"

"Harm?" She looked confused. Well maybe it wasn't the norm for him to be at work quite this early, but he didn't consider it shocking by any means.

"Yes. Commander Harmon Rabb Jr. Nice to meet you." He quipped with a smile.

"Oh sorry." Shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts, Mac turned and walked back toward her desk, leaving the door open. He decided to take that as an invitation, and followed her into the space. Something wasn't right here, and while he was trying to be supportive without prying, her behavior was unsettling.

"Uh Mac, you okay?"

"Sure, why?" She still seemed distracted, scanning the room quickly before sitting back down in the chair she had recently vacated.

"Well let's see, because you look like hell." His abrupt comment had the desired effect as Mac snapped out of it and glared at him. "Good morning to you too sunshine."

At that she smirked a little and shook her head. "Good morning. Yeah, I'm fine, just a little tired."

"Anything I should know about?" He constantly worried about her health, mood and general happiness, but kept this under wraps by asking the question with a bland expression. He had learned not to push by her reaction to their last talk about her "condition," but the dark circles under her eyes concerned him.

"Oh, it's nothing about that. Things seem to be fine. I just didn't sleep well last night." After the strange dream about the park, she had been unable to go back to sleep. While normally she would have gone for a run, the idea of going through the park in the dark this morning hadn't particularly appealed to her. God, she was being such a goof. Instead she had come in to work and started going through paperwork. Rumors of the new CO's appearance were swirling thickly, and she wanted to be ready.

"Sorry to hear that. I heard chamomile tea helps with some chemical in your brain that makes sleeping easier. It was on the news or something." Satisfied that she really was only tired, and maybe a bit stressed about the rumor that Cresswell had made it through the formal hearing with his blunt honesty, he smiled. "Why don't we get you some at lunch?"

"So then I can take a nap on my desk?" Mac laughed, comforted by his concern. His smile seemed to warm up the room, and the specters of fear from the previous night slipped away. "Why don't we skip the tea, but keep the lunch?"

Harm pulled his cover from under her arm and pointed it at her. "You're on. See you then." Smiling one last time before pulling the door closed, he was stopped by her voice.

"Harm, you can leave it open. I'm just going to work on paperwork." Smiling back, she proved it by picking up her pencil and pulling a file folder towards her. Harm smiled at the picture, because she already had another pencil tucked into her hair. She had apparently been there for quite a while.

Outside JAG Headquarters
1217 EST

Harm crunched on his Caesar salad while admiring the way the sun caught on her hair. While she had looked tense and drawn that morning, apparently she was feeling better and the color had returned to her face. She leaned back in the wrought iron chair with her eyes closed, face upturned to catch the sun.

"Ahhh, it's such a beautiful day. It seems like such a long time since we've seen the sun." Mac felt wonderfully warm sitting in the bright sunshine on the patio. She pushed away a comparison to the mirrored feeling of her dream, intent on enjoying her time outside. She opened her eyes to find Harm staring at her, but he only smiled softly.

"Yeah, it's nice to get outside. Especially with how stifling the office feels lately. Or maybe I should say stiff necked, uncompromising, and huffy." He grinned at his own joke, and the smile widened at Mac's admonishing look.

"Harm, I know Sturgis's behavior gets to you, but you're being a little childish about all of this. He's just trying to temporarily fill very very big shoes. I'll bet he never thought he'd have to be in charge of you, and that is a little daunting." While she could find amusement in Harms snarky comments about their temporary CO, she didn't want this to ruin the two men's friendship.

"You're probably right. At least he did send us on a real investigation, even though it didn't really need both of us." He had hated the paperwork they had been shuffling for months. And while he was glad for the opportunity to get out of the office, and even more so with Mac, there really hadn't been a need for both of them to travel for the case.

Mac laughed. "Harm, don't you realize what he's doing?" At his confused look, she chuckled again and continued. "Sturgis comes in as CO, immediately puts us all on paperwork duty, and then when he has to send you somewhere, he sends me along with you." She raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to draw his own conclusion.

Harm frowned. "Mac you were there for the investigation, not to be my babysitter."

"I know, but you're right, it didn't really need both of us. I think Sturgis is completely terrified that you'll get yourself into trouble on his watch, so he's keeping you as safe and out of danger as possible." Mac laughed at the chagrin on Harm's face, and watched as his expression changed to one of devilish amusement.

"Apparently he doesn't realize that sending you along with me on ANY investigation tempts trouble." He lightly flirted, remembering her worry that they would be split up by the Admiral's replacement.

"Oh?" Rather than avoiding the flirt, she lifted one eyebrow before taking a bit of her sandwich.

"Of course. Almost every single time I've gotten into any real "trouble" you've been linked somehow. And all of my recent aviation "mishaps" have included you. Apparently he just wasn't thinking." Harm chuckled, and then looked up at her when she didn't respond.

Mac had half risen from her seat, braced on the arms of the chair. She was staring out across the patio in the general direction a nearby street. Her face was completely white.

TBC