CHAPTER 2

HARM'S APARTMENT
1648 ZULU
Harm sat in the kitchen on one of the stools, tuning up his guitar. A few sheets of music were sitting on a stand in front of him. This case was weighing so heavily on his mind that it completely slipped his mind that he needed to order a pizza. He began playing; sometimes reading the music, sometimes improvising the notes, sending a sweet and melodic sound throughout his loft. He rarely had a chance to play anymore but needed to do something to relieve the stress and tension that was building.

He had read through the file, several times in fact. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before. Too many important details were missing, none of it made sense. It seems like the whole case had half-hazardly been thrown together. He was worried about it, more so than usual.

HALLWAY OUTSIDE OF HARM'S APARTMENT
1659 ZULU
Mac lugged the box down the hall and came to rest in front of Harm's doorway, needing a moment to catch her breath. She had yet to be told that Harm wouldn't be able to work on any of the cases. She could hear him playing his guitar and a smile crept across her face. His playing was filled with such a passion and devotion that she couldn't help but be mesmerized by its sound.

She stood there listening for a few minutes, not wanting to disturb his playing before she finally pulled out the spare key he'd given her years ago and quietly opened the door. She carefully carried the box inside, trying to be quiet but when she turned around to look at him, he was watching her. Harm continued to play as Mac came to take a seat next to him. He finished up the song and gently set his guitar on the counter.

"That was beautiful," she complimented.

"Thanks," he said, flashing Mac his flyboy grin. But then it faded and he let out a groan. "I forgot to order the pizza."

"That's okay, I'll order it," Mac offered.

Harm went to sit on the couch while Mac called the nearby pizza place and ordered an extra large pizza, half meat lovers, half vegetarian. He slouched back and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the pounding in his head.

"It'll be here in half an hour," Mac told him.

"I'm sorry I forgot," he apologized, still not opening his eyes.

"You okay?"

"No."

"And?" She waited for a response.

"Headache."

"Do you want me to leave?"

"No," he quickly answered. "Please stay, I want you to stay."

She got up from the couch and went in search of some aspirin. He listened to her rummaging around in the kitchen cabinets and then in the bathroom.

"Top shelf, above the sink," he called out.

"Thanks." She found what she was looking for and returned with two aspirin and a glass of water. "Here."

He opened his eyes to take them from her. He put the pills in his mouth and gulped down the glass of water. He handed her back the glass and slouched back again, eyes closing.

"Harm, I've never seen you so stressed. What's going on?" she asked, sitting down next to him again.

"I have to go away on a case," he announced.

"About what?"

"Classified."

"Where to?"

"Classified."

"For how long?"

"I don't know."

"This has Webb and CIA written all over it," she told him, immediately worried.

"That I can tell you. You know how Webb was in the office today?" he started. She nodded. "Well, somehow there's some undercover op that he wants me for and the SECNAV already approved it. Chegwidden tried to get me out of it but Webb went over his head on this one. Again."

"Is it complicated? Wait, what am I saying? It involves Webb, of course it's complicated," Mac asked.

"I'd let you read the case file but unfortunately, it's classified. But I've read through it at least a dozen times and it just doesn't make sense."

"Why not?"

"There's hardly any information, any facts. Usually they give us pages and pages of information, but this time there's practically nothing."

"When do you leave?"

"I fly out early Monday morning," he told her, finally opening his blue- green eyes to look at her. He could see that she was worried and he wished that he could tell her that everything would be okay and that she didn't need to worry but even he was worried about this one.

She sighed. "That means that all your work gets to be dispersed out, probably all to me. And it means that going over these files with you is pointless."

"No, it's not. There's a few briefs and depositions in there that we need to finish."

Someone knocked on his door at that moment and he got up to answer it. He paid the delivery boy and took the pizza inside, setting it on the coffee table.

They spent the rest of the night devouring the pizza and finishing up case briefs and working on other files. It was nearly 0230 when Harm set down the last file and looked over at Mac. She had fallen asleep at the other end of his couch. He smiled at the sight. There was no way he was waking her up so she could drive home.

He carefully picked her up and carried her to his bed. He gently lay her down and covered her with a few blankets. Harm looked back at his couch, now seemingly small, and then at his bed. If he slept on the couch, he would wake up with a sore back and a stiff neck. But if he took the bed, he might incur the wrath of a marine. On the other hand, waking up to her in the morning would definitely be worth whatever she would dish out at him. Bed, it was, he decided.

But as soon as he had changed and settled down into bed next to her, she stirred and awoke slightly.

"Harm?" she said softly.

"Yes, honey?" Oops, the endearment had just slipped out of his mouth. Not that he didn't mean it.

"Are you sure my staying here is okay?" she was still half-asleep and he could barely make out the words in her mumbling.

"It's fine, Sarah, just get some sleep," he assured her. He leaned over to gently brush a kiss on her cheek. "Good night."

"Night," she murmured.

When Harm awoke in the morning, she was gone. She knew that he didn't have to go into work and that it would be best to let him sleep in. Unfortunately, she had court at 9:00 otherwise she would have called in and taken a sick day. Mac would have given anything to have spent a few more hours being held by her sailor. Instead, she forced herself to wake, shower, dress, and leave him. That man could sleep through anything. She had written him a note, placing it on the pillow next to him. She gently kissed his forehead, whispered good-bye and left for work.

Harm finally woke up around 9:30, late for him. He rolled over, stretched out and found the note waiting for him.

Morning sleepyhead!

Sorry I left without saying goodbye, I'm due in court early this morning. Call me before you go undercover, I'd like to be with my best friend before he disappears into the unknown. Thanks for helping me finish that work last night and I'm sorry I fell asleep on you.

Mac

He wished that he could have wakened earlier to have seen her off instead of sleeping right through it all. She was beautiful in the morning, that much he knew. She was even beautiful while she slept too. Darn it.

JAG HEADQUARTERS
1700 ZULU
MAC'S OFFICE
Mac sighed, frustrated at her performance in court. Things could not have gone worse. Sturgis had completely snuck up and taken her by surprise with his tactic and Mac was left floundering around for the rest of the afternoon. The case should have been a slam dunk but now she would have to spend Monday in court doing damage control and cleanup on what had taken place today. It was not a good way to end her week.

And to top it all off, she was missing several important papers that she was supposed to have turned in to the Admiral before lunch. Luckily, he had heard about her awful day in the courtroom and had granted her an extension. Of course that had come with a reprimand on the importance of completing paperwork and doing her duty, one that she had suffered through.

Frowning as she searched through the mountain of files on her desk and then through the piles on the floor spread about her office, she was unsuccessful.

"Maybe I left them at Harm's," she mused. Knowing that she would get no other work done until the papers were found, she gathered up her stuff and headed out to her car.