"Thought you were never coming back," Harm greeted her cheerfully as she made it back to her office.

"Didn't realise you were here. I wasn't expecting you back for at least another hour," Mac replied, dragging up a smile to hide the feeling of guilt she was sure was etched all over her face. Talking about Harm behind his back wasn't something she felt comfortable with, no matter how many times she'd told herself it was for all the right reasons.

"Got in a minute ago," he explained, waving the files in his hand enthusiastically. Apparently oblivious to her mood he carried on, filling her in on what he'd found out as she sat down behind her desk. "Got us two more witnesses who can place our guy one block away from the store when the place was ransacked."

"And they're sure about the time?"

"Yeah." Hooking himself a chair from the other side of the room, Harm dragged it across the floor and took a seat across the desk from her. "Their shifts finished at 22:00. Five, maybe ten minutes to walk one block..."

"Which means our client can't have been at the store at 22:15."

"Got it."

Harm flashed her a big grin and automatically she smiled back. It was, she thought, difficult to do anything else in the face of such enthusiasm. And this was enthusiasm he was displaying this morning, so different to the desperation he'd shown the night before. Another mood swing, another U-turn. But at least this one was an improvement.

"And the witnesses can make a positive ID?"

"No problem. They saw him walking down the middle of the road serenading passing motorists with 'You've lost that loving feeling."

Mac couldn't resist a chuckle. "So we might have a hard time proving he wasn't drunk and disorderly."

Harm shrugged, his eyebrows quirking skywards. "We can but try..."

"True." Leaning back in her chair, she flicked through the files Harm had given her. Everything looked great but she'd expected no less. Perhaps she'd been premature in going to see the Admiral so early on in the case. It was bound to take Harm time to get back into the swing of things.

"Everything okay, Mac?" Harm broke in softly, his concerned tone racking up her feeling of guilt another notch. "Admiral giving you a hard time?"

"No, everything's fine," she reassured him quickly, turning her attention back to the files in front of her. "Good work," she congratulated him, backing her words up with another smile.

To her relief he didn't seem to notice her diversionary tactic. "Thanks."

They shared another a smile, a companionable silence falling between them. Taking the opportunity to study the man across from her, Mac was pleased to see that he didn't look as tired as he had the day before. His cheekbones still seemed more pronounced than before the shooting but that only added character to his face, not that he needed any more character she decided, chuckling wryly to herself.

"What?"

Mortified, she met Harm's gaze. Had she really laughed out loud? Apparently so, if Harm's amused expression was anything to go by.

"It's nothing," she stuttered, embarrassment making her cheeks glow as she spoke. "Just thinking you don't look so tired today."

The warm smile he bestowed her with in reply made her glow even more. "Must be something to do with the TLC I received from a certain Marine last night."

Taking a deep breath, Mac forced herself not to stutter again. "Me? I didn't do anything."

"Whatever."

With a nonchalant shrug he dismissed her denial but she wasn't fooled. His eyes spoke volumes, the colour of them changing depending on his mood. As she looked into them now they were a deep blue, an intense colour that heightened the warm glow in her cheeks.

Emboldened, she leaned across the desk to lay her hand lightly across his. "I know you don't like talking but..."

"I know, Mac."

The sincerity in his voice, and the way his index finger reached out to stroke her hand as he spoke, emboldened her even more. The questions that had been bugging her since the day before were still demanding to be answered. "The last month can't have been easy for you, Harm. If you want to talk about it..."

Instantly his finger stilled and she knew she'd pushed too far. He was still smiling, his demeanour relaxed but he was refusing to meet her gaze. Struggling to find something to say, she tried not to look as his hand unconsciously drifted upwards to massage his injured shoulder, a disturbing replay of his reaction from the night before.

"Ma'am, I think there's something you might want to see -" Bursting through the door, Bud came to a halt as he took in the scene in front of him. "Sorry, ma'am, sir, I'll come back later."

"No, that's fine, Bud," Harm cut in before Mac could answer. "We're about finished here aren't we?" he asked her, not waiting for her reply before getting to his feet.

"Yeah," she replied, grateful to him for taking the lead. "What is it, Lieutenant?"

Still standing in the doorway Bud faltered, his gaze switching nervously between the two senior officers in the room. "It doesn't matter, Ma'am, I'll come back later..."

Taking the hint, Harm headed for the door. "Don't worry, Lieutenant, I'm going."

Suddenly feeling annoyed with the whole situation - her inability to talk to Harm; Harm's apparent inability to trust her enough to open up - she stepped around the desk and before Bud could protest, took the piece of paper he was holding.

"Ma'am, that might not be -"

A good idea, her mind finished for her as two names jumped out at her from the page: Petty Officer Robinson and Chief Petty Officer Shayler. Unfortunately there was one major disadvantage to her partner being seven inches taller than her she discovered a second later: he could look over her shoulder.

"What the..."

Damn. "Harm, it's nothing to -" Too late to mount a rearguard action she saw his hand snaking over her shoulder to grab the paper. "Harm, don't!" Twisting around she tried to grab it back but he stepped away, pulling it out of her reach.

She could tell the exact moment he read the paragraph she'd just read: the one she hadn't wanted him to see. His eyebrows drew together in a deep frown, his mental shields slamming down so hard that she almost imagined she could feel the sound reverberating inside her head.

"They're holding Shayler for a mental evaluation? What the hell is that about?"

"Apparently there's some doubt about Petty Officer Shayler's mental state at the time of the shooting, sir," Bud offered from his place at the doorway.

Eyes widening with disbelief, Harm stared back at the junior officer. "Doubt?"

"Yes, sir. They had to wait for his injuries to heal before the doctors would clear him which is why it's taken so long but..." Finally registering the waves of anger that were emanating from Harm, Bud desperately looked over at Mac for help.

"It's a formality, Harm," she jumped in, willing him to understand. "They have to be sure there's no doubt before they can decide what to charge him with."

Harm dismissed her statement with a snort of derision. "Doubt? Trust me, Mac, there's no doubt. He knew exactly what he was doing. I was there. I saw him."

Mac felt her heart clench at the unspoken emotion behind his words. His mental shields were wavering, anguish and guilt warring in his eyes. 'Haunted' was the word that sprung to mind. Instinctively she reached out, needing to touch him, to offer comfort. "Harm, I can't even begin to imagine what you went through -"

"You're right, Mac," he shot back, wrenching away from her hand, "You've got no idea." Pushing past her he headed for the door, making Bud step out of the way as he showed no sign of slowing down. Disappearing out of sight, the sound of his office door slamming shut brought the activity in the bullpen to a halt.

"Should I go and see if he's alright, Colonel?" Bud asked a moment later, nervously looking over his shoulder at the curious faces outside.

Angrily blinking back the tears of tiredness and frustration that were threatening to fall, Mac shook her head. "Leave him alone for a while, Bud. If he needs us he knows where to find us."

As the Lieutenant disappeared back to his desk, leaving the office door open behind him, Mac found herself the centre of the bullpen staff's attention. Straightening her shoulders she met their curious stares. Unnerved, one by one they returned back to work. Holding the pose for a moment longer she finally stepped back into her office, closing the door behind her and pulling the blinds shut.

A glance to her left told her that Harm had done the same, the closed blinds between their two offices effectively blocking him off from the outside world. With a heavy sigh she sat back down at her desk, flicking open the files Harm had left her. Her heart wasn't in it though. No matter how hard she tried to concentrate on the words in front of her, her attention kept wandering back to her friend in the office next door.

**********