Title : When You're Ready...

Author : Jaggie 107

Disclaimer : JAG characters belong to DPB, CBS and Paramount. I hope all parties will allow me to have fun for a little while, and replace them all when I'm done. Thank you.

Rating : G to PG-13 (Just in case!)

What could have happened after the end of Hail and Farewell II...

Manderley

Mac sighed deeply, took one last look up and down the beach, and got to her feet. Harm had left her to her thoughts a while back, but her innate sense of timing seemed to have failed her for once, as she had no idea how long she had been sitting on the beach alone. Walking back in the direction of the house, she skirted the main building and headed for the driveway. Her initial groan of frustration as she realized she had no means of transportation back to DC turned to a grin of thanks as she saw Harm sitting on the running board of his SUV, waiting for her.

"Hi," she murmured, closing the gap between them. "How long have you been waiting here?"

"A while, but no problem. I figured you'd need a ride back to town."

"Webb?" Mac voiced the name, but there was nothing in her tone to indicate her feelings.

"Left with Kershaw. He and his team cleaned up inside. Tanvir's gone."

"His mother?"

"Came by herself, left by herself. Almost like a spook herself."

"Comes from living with one, I guess," Mac returned, knowing that Porter Webb had married not only her husband, but his job too. "Why did you wait?"

"Like I said..." Harm began, but Mac looked at him. Really looked at him. Giving his shoulders a shrug, he smiled at her. "My mother taught me to be a gentleman, Mac, and if I took a girl out I always made sure she got back safe and sound."

"Yeah," Mac laughed. "Thanks, Harm." Turning to the passenger door, Mac opened it and made a move to climb into the seat. The height of the vehicle meant that she had to stretch up to get in, and that pulled on her side, causing her to wince. Harm didn't miss the expression on her face.

"What happened?"

"Tanvir. He hit me on my side. The bastard knew I was sore there already, and so he went for the weak spot."

Harm's first instinct was to insist on getting her to a hospital for a check-up, but he managed to restrain his first instinct and asked her if she needed to be checked out instead. Mac realized the small battle going on inside his mind, and acknowledged that he was trying not to push her. Smiling at him from her position in the passenger seat, she shook her head.

"I just need an ice-pack and a couple of Tylenol. I'll be okay, honest."

"All right. Let's get you home then." Closing the passenger door and walking around the Lexus to the driver's door, Harm got into the vehicle and started the engine, driving off in one fluid motion.

The drive back into the city was completed in silence, and it was only as they reached Georgetown that Mac spoke.

Outside Mac's Apartment - Georgetown

"Harm, are you hungry?"

"A little. Don't worry, I'll eat when I get back to the apartment. What about you? Do you want to order something?"

"No...I mean yes, I want to eat, but I'd like you to join me...if you want to..." Mac hesitated, dropping her head to hide her expression, then lifting it again to look straight at Harm. "You said to let you know...when I was ready. I am. Now. Ready, that is..."

Harm's mouth lifted a little at one corner, but his eyes expressed so much more. However, he held his silence, and simply nodded.

"Will you come up?" Mac asked tentatively, and let out the breath she had been unconsciously holding when he nodded and climbed out of the SUV. Coming around to the passenger side, Harm put a hand out to help Mac down, and she took it, accepting the gesture of concern as just that, and nothing more. Harm had said he would be there for her, and he was. After all the years spent together, their actions often spoke louder than words. Except now, maybe those words would be spoken too.

Inside Mac's Apartment – Georgetown

The food had been ordered, the Tylenol taken, and Mac was resting on her couch, an ice-pack pressed to her side, helping ease the pain, but doing nothing to hide the bruise forming underneath the skin. Harm had run gentle fingers around the area before handing Mac the cold pack, and Mac had felt a sudden flare of heat at his touch. Deciding to talk, hoping to hide her reaction to him, Mac asked him about the information he had collected on her condition.

Harm glanced across at Mac, realizing that she was genuinely interested in listening to him. That she really was ready to hear what he had to say.

"If I'm repeating what your doctor has already told you, you can tell me to shut up, but I wasn't there for the start of all this, Mac, so I just wanted to know what it might be like for you."

Mac grinned softly. "How about you tell me first, and I'll nod if I've heard it before."

"I can do that. Okay, here goes..." and Harm began to recite the information he had read, almost verbatim. Mac did acknowledge certain areas she had already been told about, but she also raised her eyebrows at information she hadn't heard of, that piqued her interest. Especially the parts about the psychological aspects of the condition – how it affected the person mentally, as well as physically.

That Harm had taken the time to read up on Endometriosis in the first place made her love him that little bit more, and that he had explored not only the physical causes of the condition but the mental aspects also went beyond her understanding of him. So much had happened in their lives, together and apart, but Mac knew that when he said he would always be there for her, he honestly meant it. To know that Webb had come back into her life – their lives – albeit briefly, Mac knew had to be as hard on Harm as it was on her. She wasn't naïve enough to believe Harm wasn't considering the long-term possibility that she might go back to Webb, but that part of her life was over, and she had to convince Harm of that, somehow. If she could do that, then perhaps they could finally start to build a life for themselves. He had already offered to father her child still, and if it was at all possible, in spite of her condition, it was high on her list of priorities, but there was one thing that still sat at the top of her list. The only thing was, she had to find out once and for all if the other party to the project was interested.

'Here goes nothing...' she thought. "Harm?"

The end...or the beginning?

Thanks for reading!