Title: Reaching Out – Chapter 6
Author: Arian
Rating: PG
Disclaimers: See chapter one or just accept that I don't own them. I just borrowed them to play dress up with.

A/N: Thank you so much everyone for the wonderful feedback. It's better for the soul than chicken soup. Special thanks to Maria, Mari, Little Eirtae, froggy0319, guitarvixen, aserene, lumosgirl03, SarahRabb705, maidenpride21,  and Navy Babe. Sorry ladies, you won't get everything you want in this chapter, but suspense is good for you. I am working to encorporate some of your great ideas into the next chapter, which is now on it's way to beta.

A/N2: I'll amend my previous statement. Miss Elaine and her house come completely from my own imagination. I have a feeling she is a future me, come back to play with JAG in her own unique way. As one of my other jobs is as a costumer, it's entirely possible.

October 29th, 2004
Miss Elaine's Movie Recreations
Rosslyn, VA
1335 EST

Harm looked at the Victorian house in front of him suspiciously. He had been swamped in paperwork all morning, and this was the first chance he and Mac had gotten to search for costumes for the upcoming masquerade. Harriet had highly recommended Miss Elaine to them, mentioning that she only rented out her costumes to those with personal recommendations from other clients. "Well, the house fits the season."

Mac grinned at him. "Don't be such a party pooper. If we have to go to this damn thing, we might as well enjoy it."

"What, no concerns that the Major General will ship us off to the Aleutians for being out of uniform?" Harm smirked.

"Hey, at least we could keep each other warm." She shot back, returning the favor for his earlier comment. She got the reaction she was looking for; Harm's jaw dropped like a stone. "Besides, it's an official masquerade, which means the uniform is a costume. Oh come on!" With that she dragged him up the front porch of the old house and rang the bell.

Harm almost lost it when the door was opened by an elderly woman in an intricate witch costume. He managed to smother his burst of laughter with a strangled sounding snort, at which Mac raised an eyebrow. The twinkle of mischief in her eyes made him bite his lips to keep from exploding.

"Nice to meet you Colonel MacKenzie. I assume that the rather purple looking fellow here is Commander Rabb?" Miss Elaine had an almost identical twinkle in her eye, and Harm quickly realized he was incredibly outmatched.

"Miss Elaine, you come very highly recommended by a dear friend of ours. I just hope you have something we can rent on such a short notice."

After giving them both a very frank once over, the older woman beamed. "I have just the thing. Please come inside."

Stepping inside the house, Harm was expecting cobwebs and flickering candles. And he got it. But what he wasn't anticipating was the sense of happiness and mischief that pervaded the house. Miss Elaine apparently took Halloween very seriously, but it was with a festive air lacking in most modern day spook movies. Directly in front of the door was a long winding staircase; exactly where it should be. The candle holders on the wall presumably burned real candle during the dark hours of the night, and there were heave drapes hanging from all of the doorways. However, he didn't see a single plastic pumpkin, nor any glow-in-the-dark skeletons.

"Hey Harm, were you planning on joining us at some point?" Mac poked him in the side. She was impressed with the house, and a bit surprised at its welcoming feel, being an old rickety place inhabited by a witch.

"That's alright Colonel, I'm going to take the Commander into the side salon and get him into something " Miss Elaine batted her eyelashes outrageously, and then broke out laughing. "I always like to surprise, coup-, umm, coworkers with their costumes. If you'll just wait here a bit Colonel, I'll go pull what I think will work for the Commander and then come back for you. Please feel free to make yourself at home. Now you come along with me young man." With a wink over her shoulder she swept through the curtains into another room.

"Well Harm, you better get moving. That uniform must be sooooo uncomfortable," Mac laughed.

"I'll get you for this." Harm smiled and then did exactly as he was told.

Mac was only waiting in the foyer for about five minutes before Miss Elaine reentered the room. "Well now that I have your Commander taken care of, why don't we do the same for you?"

"Miss Elaine, I think you have the wrong idea about the Commander and me. He is in no way mine by any means."

Miss Elaine looked at her in flat disbelief. That was definitely not what dear Harriet had told her. She had set up the beautifully pregnant woman with a costume only the day before, at which time she had gotten the entire scoop on her two newest customers. "Well then what the hell is wrong with you?" She asked with a brilliant smile. "It's neither here nor there; I know exactly which of my costumes was made for you."

Mac could only silently laugh. Walking through the doorway, she gasped at the beautiful costumes lining the walls. Several she recognized; Scarlet O'Hara's green curtain dress was standing over in one corner, and Mac thought she saw a red dress reminiscent of the movie Titanic peeking out from behind a cloak. "Oh my. Miss Elaine, it's two days before Halloween, how do you still have these available?"

The elderly woman crossed the room to lovingly run her hand down a satin flapper costume. "I only rent to the right people. I have spent most of my life creating these; they're rather like children to me."

"They're incredible." Mac slowly walked around the room taking it all in. "How can you give them up at all, even only for one night?"

"Because my talent can give others a bit of magic, even if it's only for one night." She wrinkled her nose up with a wicked little smile, and the walked to the back of the room. "And this one is your magic."

Harm looked in the mirror at himself. He had to admit, this was an amazing costume. He tipped the hat a little lower and rakishly downcast over his eyes. It was a costume that made him feel dark, dangerous, and even a little sexy. The cape like jacket fit his broad shoulders perfectly, the pants were exactly the right length, and even the dark boots were the right size. He heard a rustle behind him and turned to look at an incredibly pleased Miss Elaine.

"I told you it was perfect."

Harm answered her by treating her to a full-blown flyboy grin, heavy on the charm.

Mac had almost exactly the same reaction Harm had upon seeing herself in the mirror. The gown hugged her in all the right places and the color made her skin glow. The full length gloves encased her arms in sensual satin and she had already come up with several ways to do her hair. For the first time since she spoke with the doctor in May, she felt completely like a woman.

Her stomach gave a little quiver as she thought about Harm in the next room. What would he be wearing? What would he think of her in this? Anticipation ran up her spine, and she grinned like the Cheshire cat. Turning slowly in the three-way mirror, she blessed the tiny woman in the next room. She actually had a reason to look forward to the party now.

Harm watched Mac come through the curtains with a smug look on her face and a garment bag over her arm. She must be just as happy with her selection as he was. "All set Mac?"

"Absolutely." Her smile reached all the way to her deep chocolate eyes, and he felt trapped in them.

"Almost." Miss Elaine interrupted, holding out two smaller bags. "A little birdie told me this was all for a masquerade ball. I do believe that means you'll be needing masks, yes?"

Mac peeked into her bag and then beamed at the woman in front of her. "Miss Elaine, you have an incredible talent. Thank you for the magic." With that she leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, a gesture that surprised Harm a little.

"You can reward me with a few pictures; I love to see my creations come to life. Now get along you two, and have a wonderful time this weekend." She shooed them out the door and once on the porch both officers broke into laughter.

"Did she tell you that she makes all of these herself?" Mac still couldn't believe the woman would loan out her creations. "The witch costume she wore was a disguise; she's really more like a fairy godmother."

"Well Cinderella, we should probably get back before Sturgis turns into a pumpkin, hmm?" Beckoning with the arm carrying his own costume, Harm led Mac away from the house and back to reality.

JAG Headquarters
1849 EST

Mac sighed as she once again straightened a stack of folders on her desk. She really should have left work long ago, but this was the last time she would be in her office until the new CO took over. The obsessive part of her personality wanted at least her office to look perfect, maybe in some effort to balance the mess Creswell could make out of her career. The happiness she had felt at Miss Elaine's had followed her well into the afternoon, but had been slowly replaced by apprehension. At this point she was wound so tight all of the chamomile tea in the world wouldn't help her sleep.

The phone rang sharply and Mac jumped. What was it with her? Every little noise had her going through the roof. "Colonel MacKenzie?"

"Hi ma'am, I just wanted to call and see if you had met Miss Elaine yet?" Harriet had been so excited when Bud asked her to refer Mac and Harm somewhere to get costumes. Elaine had managed to find her something that made her feel beautiful instead of awkward, and with the twin playing soccer with most of her internal organs, it wasn't an easy task. Most of all she had enjoyed the easy going, blunt nature of the woman, and knew in her gut that she could help her two friends.

"Yes, Harm and I went over this afternoon. She's an incredible woman." Mac smiled at the thrill her costume still gave her.

"Yes ma'am, she certainly is. So are you going to tell me about your costume?" Harriet couldn't wait to see what Miss Elaine had fixed the two of them up as. She was notorious for creating couples right out of the movies, and Harriet had made sure the elderly woman understood that the Commander and Colonel should go as a pair. Sure, it was meddling, but at this point she didn't particularly care. She almost giggled at the thought.

"Sorry Harriet, I kind of like the idea of keeping it a secret until my grand entrance." Mac was keeping this bit of magic to herself as long as possible.

"But ma'am, that's not fair. The Commander will get to see you before everyone else!" Harriet almost pouted and then realized that Mac couldn't see her over the phone.

"Oh no he won't Harriet, don't worry. I have a very long cloak to wear over top of the entire thing. I'm not giving anything away." Mac grinned.

"Well I'm glad you're happy with it ma'am. I probably better get off the phone, I hear AJ talking to his brother and that usually means trouble. We'll see you tomorrow!"

"Absolutely Harriet, looking forward to it." Mac put down the phone with a smile. Looking around the office, she decided it was as straight as it was going to get and it was time to call it a night.

Mac's Apartment
Georgetown
2129 EST

Mac snuggled down into her lavender colored flannel pajamas. The wind was still blowing fiercely outside, and every once in a while the lights would flicker ominously. She had immediately hung up her costume upon returning home, and would steam it the next day to take out any wrinkles it had picked up. Now she sat quietly, sipping her tea and just enjoying the quiet.

She wasn't thinking about anything in particular really. Yes, she was nervous about meeting Creswell the next night, and wondering if he would say anything right there or wait until Monday morning. She was also worried about being moved away from the only real family she had ever known, but somehow she had realized there was nothing she could really do about it right now. She was just starting to get drowsy when her phone rang.

"MacKenzie."

"Hey Mac." Harm's warm voice flowed over the phone line like honey.

"Hi Harm. What are you up to?"

"Nothing really, just sitting here and playing a little guitar. I didn't get to see much of you after we got back, so I thought I would call and see how you were doing." He knew she had been getting more and more tense throughout the day, and knowing her as well as he did, he expected the newly appointed Major General Creswell was the source of it. They had such a good time during their visit to the costumers that he was sorry to see her be pulled down.

"I'm good. Just sitting here drinking my tea." She smiled at his thoughtfulness, and also at his honesty. He didn't try to come up with some lame excuse for calling, just admitted he had been thinking about her. 'How refreshing.'

"Well by all means, don't let me interrupt your quality time." He could almost see her sitting there in her 'comfy clothes.' The vision in his head had her hair up in a ponytail, fuzzy slippers on her feet, and one of her beat up afghans on her lap. He had no way of knowing that was exactly the scene in her apartment.

"You're not. It's kinda creepy outside tonight, huh?" Just as she finished the sentence there was a beep on her end of the line. "Hey Harm, I've got another call, hang on a sec okay?"

"Sure Mac." His glance wandered around the inside of his apartment while he waited. He noticed one of her neckties underneath the coffee table, and realized she must have left it there the other night. Just as he bent down to pick it up she came back on the line.

"Harm?"

"Hey Mac, I just found some of your clothes under my coffee table. How do you suppose they got there?" he purred in what he hoped was a sexy tone.

"I must have left them there the other morning." She said distractedly. "Listen Harm that was Agent McGee. They found her." Harm didn't even need to ask who she was talking about. He just sighed and crossed the room to put his shoes on.

TBC

Next Chapter, On JAG...

There was a body bag lying on a gurney near the back end, and as they walked over Mac realized she was colder than hell. This could be it. The woman from her dreams, the one to start this crazy search, and possibly the very first victim, could be behind that zipper.

Gibbs was not happy that Rabb and his partner were there, not at all. "Commander, Colonel. Can I ask why you are at my crime scene?"

Harm quickly focused on the man who had put him behind bars. The roaring in his ears that started with DiNozzo's comment slowly faded, but his blood pressure had to be up to a dangerous level. In a very flat tone he answered the veteran agent. "We have been involved in the case from almost the beginning Agent Gibbs. It's more of a courtesy call than anything else. This may be coming up to us if the killer turns out to be military. Or if you just assume he is and send him our way anyway."

"The murders keep moving northeast. Does that mean something?" Harm was puzzled by the pattern on the map in front of him. It was very unusual to find a completely clean murder scene, let alone three of them.