AN: Short note for now - hot off the press, so forgive me for mistakes. I don't have a beta reader...but now, drumroll please (drumroll) enjoy the show!

Harm grimaced and turned away, grumbling and swinging around the pack, rummaging for something. Mac was still looking rather stupidly out to 'sea'. Harm, looking back, slipped his arm about her waist and lifted her bodily, ignoring first her surprised gasp and then shouts of protest. When they'd gone to a lesser used walkway and were out of LeBlanc's view he set her down, but not before apologizing for the abrupt...er, ride. Taking a deep breath, she decided against a death glare; it wouldn't do them any good.

"So what are we gonna do? You dragged me over here, great. What's next?"

"There are too many civilians aboard. If we set of an alarm and they panic, someone could get hurt."

"We can't do anything about that Harm!"

"Yes, we can. C'mon, help me untie this." He rushed to the side of the boat and began tugging at expertly tied knots.

"A LIFEBOAT?" Harm was trying to untie one of the emergency rafts lashed to the side.

"Yes, Mac. We can take this and keep the terrorists away from the innocents."

"How the hell are we supposed to get from here to Orleans on this river if we take this dinghy?" She voiced her skeptical opinion, but still helped him start to pull off the tarp covering the tiny boat.

"Uh..."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Even with this small engine we'll never catch this tour boat." Harm spied a large bit of coiled rope and dragged it over.

"Ok, look. We'll tie ourselves to the back, take care of the terrorists and climb back aboard. If we avoid using guns, I think we can get out of this with no one noticing."

"In broad daylight with some 150 odd tourists plus the crew? Of course," she said while still helping him loop the rope securely around their motorboat. "Not to mention anyone on the banks..." She mumbled on about how crazy his plan was and things like: "Stupid," "Holy hell," "Why did this have to happen to me?" and "I shouldn't have to put up with this crazy crap!" before carefully climbing in and letting Harm put the boat in the water. After double checking their long 'lifeline', he clambered down a rickety rope ladder and joined her. She smacked him in the face with a life jacket and he raised an eyebrow at her, who'd already donned one.

"What? I'm not taking any chances that this stupid plan won't work and we end up in the water." A grim countenance told him she was dead serious and he silently pulled on the neon orange vest without further argument.

1207 Local
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia

He looked at his bustling workplace, but saw a pause in activity. Seeing all eyes were turned upwards, he turned to watch the TV screen as an anchor on one of the many screens gave the report.

"A train was found de-railed and in pieces in the French Alps today. No survivors were found. There is evidence to support terrorist involvement in this incident. Unfortunately, there is no other information being released at this time." After that the woman switched to the next topic, but everyone in the bullpen was buzzing.

"Who could it be?"
"It must be terrorists if they won't say anything else."
"Only the CIA can keep information like that under wraps, they have to be in on it."

The scuttlebutt flew faster than the speed of light around the office, Harriet of course being the first source of it all. Meanwhile, the Admiral, deep in thought, returned to his office. It was about time for a progress report, so the head of JAG sat down in his big leather chair and picked up the phone, intent on using all the power he had (and any means necessary) toreceive the current whereabouts of his two senior officers from SOMEONE at the CIA headquarters.

"Hello? Yes, this is Admiral AJ Chegwidden. I'd like to speak to the director, Kershaw..."

1716 Local (France local time)
On the Loire River
France

"I think they're coming towards us, sir." A dry chuckle came from the thin lips of a man clad in a crisp and tailored suit. He ran a hand over his lapels, then his finely gelled hair; not a strand out of place.

"I don't know who these people are: they're most certainly not CIA, too messy. Yet they have evaded my capture, I must give them some credit for that."

"They don't deserve credit. They killed my friends..." A fist the size of a small ham clenched tightly, the burly man it belonged to nearly shaking with rage. Pierre laid a hand on the stocky bodyguard's arm, patting lightly.

"Relax my friend. They will pay with their lives the inconvenieneces of the past few days."

"Only an inconvenience! They killed half the men in your complex, your own personal protectors, and they probably have enough information to ruin a decade's work (totally inaccurate, but still, it's what the man thought) but they're only an inconvenience to YOU?" The man was losing it, and LeBlanc shook his gray head sadly, raising his old school Colt .45 to his temple. Point blank, one shot. He shoved the 300 pounds of muscle overboard and dabbed at the flecks of blood on his suit with a crimson handkerchief.

"Anyone else want to complain?" All 11 men on the motorboat were silent and staring straight ahead; not even daring to meet their boss's steely gaze. "That's what I thought. Now get your stupid asses in gear: we'll be meeting them in less than three minutes. You can slow down now since they're coming to us." The aged silver hues looked upon his newest enemy with a hatred not seen by his crew.

Meanwhile Mac saw the death of the brute and the only emotion she expressed was a rage to rival LeBlanc's at the senseless killing. Harm wouldn't even look up from his work which consisted of lashing down already secure supplies and readying their guns (despite his previous statement about disposing of the men without them. So much for THAT plan). Mac sighed, cocking the standard issue in her hand.

/This gun has seen so much more action than it should. Bullets have shot and killed so many people. But.../ she wiped the butt of the gun with a rag before tossing it aside and standing up, the deadly weapon hanging in one hand. /I think I can live with just one more death on my hands./ Harm's voice shattered her thoughts -and her resolve- momentarily.

"There are twelve of them, two of us. The odds..."

"Are against us, 6 to 1, I know."

"Alright, Mac. Do you want to board the ship?"

"No, I don't really feel like waiting that long, and frankly, I don't want to see that scum's face up close again." With that she raised her firearm and aimed with superb marksmanship. 3 down, 9 to go.

They'd caught on now, and most had hit the deck after she'd fired her first shot, scrambling for their own weapons. Harm remained at the back of the ship, steering their light craft. Mac crouched down below thestrategically stacked supplies, firing another shot at the hull of the larger boat. The closest crew member under Pierre's command had dived for the controls and began diversionary tactics, gunning the larger engine and steering towards our favorite couple.

"Don't run into them you fool! You'll sink us with them!" LeBlanc swatted at the idiot and took control himself, following Harm as he put the emergency craft through moves it had never been intended for or designed to do. Now the terrorist's crewwas back on their feet, armed to the teeth with handguns to AK-47's. A smattering of bullets peppered the water to their left when Harm swerved, and Mac returned fire after the near miss, wishing for their confiscated semi-automatic.

"Harm, they're closing in!" Mac yelled after crawling to the end of the boat herself. Harm was slouched next to the engine he controlled, using a hand mirror as his only guide of their pursuer's location.

"I know," he muttered through clenched teeth, wincing as they rolled off a wave in the other boat's wake and landed hard. (Harm had executed a sharp 270 degree turn and fell in behind LeBlanc.) This time it was Harm's Baretta that rang out, her sharp retorts sounding the death of two more crew members. "Get back to the front while we're behind them." Nodding, Mac wriggled back into position on her belly, keeping her head down as the air above her was sprayed with bullets.

Pierre shouted orders at his remaining henchmen, all six no, wait, make that five of them. The man expressed his rage at being outdone by two tourists by reversing the roles once more and putting them in the role of the pursued again. Harm and Mac switched places, her hand guiding them roughly over the water. Harm steadied his hand and shot another two of Pierre's men, not even watching them fall overboard with large splashes before focusing his attention on their stubborn foes. Harm's blue hues glanced at the disturbed waters to see the rope keeping them near their tour. Mac made a sharp turn towards the other boat, hoping to run them into a stray log when he saw they would tangle in their 'lifeline'.

"Mac, don't!" He stood to lunge for control, pull them away from the danger, but two noises sounded off simultaneously. One was the sound of an already weary engine sputtering and choking out. The other was the sharp crack of a rifle. Harm was taken by surprise with the hit and fell forward, the impact to the cold floor of the dinghy knocking him out.

"Harm, NO!" Mac screamed, leaving the engine and turning him over, blood already soaking through his shirt. Biting back tears she hastily ripped his jacket to reveal the bullet wound. With a stoic face she tied a piece of cloth as tightly as she could around his bicep, whispering an apology for the pain to him at the same time. She reloaded both their guns and took one in each hand, preparing to take the rest of those bastards out.

Pierre saw the dark-haired gentleman go down and smirked, already thinking himself victorious. Then he made the mistake of pulling up next to the tangled raft. The emotional Marine rose up from the battered emergency craft like something out of a dream - or in this case, a nightmare for the last three bullies whose lives were snuffed out. She'd emptied both chambers of the guns into the bodyguards, but LeBlanc was still there.

She leaped aboard, facing her adversary, seething with fury. He grinned at her, and then she lost it, charging so quickly he hadn't the time to draw his gun against her before he was sacked like a quarterback. Mac was punching and kicking before they'd even rolled over, and LeBlanc found his gun ripped away and an angry Marine kicking his ass. The older man finally scored a low blow, kicking her in the stomach and throwing her off of him into a wall of the ship hard. Mac scrambled to her knees, but not fast enough as she heard the Colt .45 cock slowly. She was breathing heavily, her clothes were torn and dirty, the lifejacket beaten up beyond repair. Her brown hair covered her eyes as she slowly raised her hands, her head still hung low. When she raised her eyes LeBlanc almost took a step back, so repelled by the fire in her eyes. He still took the time to fix his suit and check his hair before addressing her.

"You put up a good fight, madame. I wish there had been more time for me to teach you a lesson and put your in your place," he paused to give Mac the look of contempt she loathed, "but as it were, I'll still enjoy your death, mon cherie." He raised the sidearm and Mac closed her eyes, praying that Harm would somehow get away. She waited for the shot...but it never fired.

Chocolate hues fluttered open to see Pierre LeBlanc lying on the floor, a pool of blood forming, and Harm standing over him, a knife in hand. He looked up with those sweet blue eyes of his and managed a little smile, the injured arm holding the knife and the non-injured arm holding the one that blood continued to seep from.

"Je suis desole, monsieur, mais elle va avec moi." (I'm sorry, sir, but she is going with me.) His vision doubled momentarily and he staggered left, Mac rushing to his side and supporting him before his legs gave out and he collapsed.

"Oh Harm..." she began as they climbed down off the boat and fell into the water awkwardly.

"Shh, Mac, don't even start. I just want to go to sleep right now..." Her eyes widened in concern.

"No, don't sleep, you might have a concussion." She patted his cheek gently when his eyes began to droop. "Stay with me, Sailor." He still was slipping away. On an impulse, she kissed him fiercely, biting his bottom lip passionately. His crystal orbs had been sliding closed, but now they snapped open as the two of them bobbed in the icy Loire River, dusk settling over them.

"Mmpth! Mac, I'm awake! I promise!"

"Okay. Let's get back to the ship then." She turned away quickly, pulling herself hand over hand towards the still moving boat by the rope. Harm smiled, his lips still tingling from her kiss. He severed the 'lifeline' after following behind her a minute, letting the wrecked lifeboat float behind them.

They found a crowd awaiting them when they hauled themselves aboard, sopping wet and exhausted. The tourists thought it was a show, and after recieving towels to wrap in they retreated to their room as fast as they could, promptly falling asleep. Another similar looking couple was happy to take the credit and recounted the dogfight over and over again to the expectant people (though they hadn't even witnessed the shootout firsthand), so Harm and Mac were off the hook.

The next few days were spent finishing their boat trip and getting a bus ride to Paris. (No more trains for them!) They arrived mid-day on the 23rd, and spent a good hour trying to find the specified location on the now blurry, water-marked, battle-worn and heavily-depended upon map that had stayed in Mac's breast pocket the entire trip. They had no new change of clothes, and all their money was gone; the last of it handed over to the taxi driver who dropped them off at what was hopefully their hotel. Stepping inside, they recieved odd looks from the rather prim crowd; Harm's jacket sleeve was torn and stained with blood and his face was in desperate need of a shave. Mac was hardly better; limping in with her jeans sweat-stained and her hair unbrushed for days. Just when they were about to sigh and admit defeat, a familiar voice came from behind them.

"Oh, finally! What took you so long? I've been here for a week."

AN: TADAA! FINALLY IT IS DONE! This SOB is what kept me from posting for three months. I'm sooooo sorry for the delay, but now it's only a FLUFF chapter left! So it shall finally be complete in a couple days. Promise. So, now is the time that you can yell at me, but only in reviews! Please:D