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!)


To all the readers/reviewers shown – thanks for the support, and please keep reading! It's nice to see from the reviews given that the 'format' for the story is still working out!

cbw; cool cat; froggy0319; Lisa Brown; ryne'smom; anna7; harmsgirl-03; dana; suz573; Grace; jaggurl; Nikki; Kirsty; kirsten; ss; Arian04; GuitarVixen; iammusic; JennaTripped; JagFan; starryeyes10; Kavi Leighanna; SarahRabb705; BrokenSkye; NavyCB; SailorGirl; moe; katydid13; serendipity112233; Dreamer20715; jtbwriter; joanoa; FoxyWombat; chawkchic; maidenpride21; r; heartandy112; General Mac; jagaddict; ducktapedmoose; lehcar412; laura carr; bluejay742; dansingwolf; Tina Frank; snugglebug; Jackia; The Fiction Spider; Maria; Lisa; aserene; JAGJenni; martini1988; skyefire; MaritzaCarmicheal; Manda

jtbwriter – Hiya! Glad to hear it worked for you, and for others, judging from reviews. I really wasn't sure, and re-read it for a while before posting. I have a few words of my own, too! I was so pleased to hear Harm call Sturgis a 'sanctimonious prig' that I used it in the next chapter – watch out for it! Sorry to hear you're a little isolated, but I'm green with envy that you're near some 'hit' sites! Pinky luck for other jobs, hope you like the new chapter, and please keep reading! froggy0319 –Thanks for your review. I hope this new chapter gives your imagination something more to work on too! Please keep reading! snugglebug – Thanks for your review. I love that we 'fanfic' writers can turn the episodes the way we would want them to go! Pity that TPTB don't think the same way! C'est la vie! Hope you like the new chapter, and please keep reading! MaritzaCarmicheal – Hello and welcome to the story! Thanks for your review, and I hope you enjoy the new chapter. Please keep reading! Manda – Hello and welcome to the story! Thank you for your review, and I hope you like the new chapter. Please keep reading! joanoa – Thanks for your review, and your big imagination! Hope you like this new chapter, and please keep reading! Dana – Hello! Thanks for your review, and I promise that although I will need to vacation again (oops!) I will make sure I have chapters ready and access to the internet somewhere so I can keep you happy! Will that do? In the meantime, I hope you like this new chapter, and please keep reading! aserene – Thanks for your review. I wish this was the way it ended too, but at least we get the pleasure of reading and writing fanfics instead! I hope you like this new chapter, and please keep reading! Radiorox – Thanks for your review. I just couldn't have Harm and Mac separated, especially after a disagreement. Something I read or heard somewhere – you should never go to bed angry. I hope you like the new chapter, and please keep reading! PS – Have you changed your ID recently? I'm a little confused – your name is new, but in place of 'GuitarVixen' I now have your name. If it's wrong, welcome to the story!


What could have happened after the end of Bridging The Gulf…

Harm's Apartment

Mac opened the door to the apartment as Harm stepped off the elevator. Without a word she went to him and wrapped her arms around his neck as his arms came around her waist. Burying her head under his chin he could feel the tremors in her body and waited until she eased back before speaking.

"Well, that's a welcome I wasn't expecting. How did you know when I'd be back?"

"I didn't. I just decided to camp out here and wait."

Harm bent his head and brushed his lips over Mac's before speaking.

"I'm glad you're here…"

"So'm I," Mac murmured in response. Harm lifted Mac up and her legs went automatically to wrap around his back, her ankles crossed to support her, as he walked them both back into the apartment. As the door closed behind them, Harm turned, dropped the bag off his shoulder and held Mac up against the door, leaning into her gently. Their mouths came together with unerring accuracy, and for a few minutes they were lost in each other.

Harm pulled back first, resting his forehead against Mac's as he spoke.

"As much as I would love to take this further, I'm really beat and there's so much going around in my head. I need to unwind a little."

"No problem, Harm…" Mac unhooked her ankles and slid her legs down, her body dropping down the front of Harm's slowly. He kept his grip on her waist, and even though her feet were now on the floor, they didn't move right away. "Come with me, sailor," murmured Mac, pushing forward slightly so Harm stepped back and then turning in his embrace to head toward the couch. Still with his hands on her body, now placed at either side of her waist, Harm followed Mac and waited while she settled herself on the couch, and then lay down so that his head was in her lap, and she could begin to massage his shoulders and his head, hoping to ease some of the tension she felt in him. "Want to talk about it?"

"Not much to say. My friendship with Sturgis is finally screwed, and I was on a murder charge."

"Which was proved otherwise, and friendships can be repaired. Ours was…" Mac added, and paused in her ministrations. Harm opened his eyes and looked up at her, seeing her uncertain expression. He gave her a half smile, and squeezed her hands in his.

"Yeah, it was…but I don't think it's going to be so easy to fix mine with Sturgis, and quite honestly, I don't know if I want a friendship where the other party believed me guilty without going after all the facts."

"Sturgis did that?" Mac sounded shocked, and she felt Harm nod his head in silence. Just as Mac was about say something more, Harm spoke.

"You know the thing that really hurts about losing his friendship?" Harm paused but before Mac could say anything, Harm continued. "He never even tried to find out whether I was guilty or not. I mean, I agreed with his findings, based on what he had in hand. If it had been him in the same situation, I'd have come to the same conclusion, but I would have looked further before requesting an Article 32 hearing, simply because I know there is more to Sturgis, and I believe he wouldn't do something like that. It's like he didn't care about the truth – just went with the paper version of events."

"Harm, I'm sorry he did that. For all the years you've known each other, I'd have thought he'd give you the benefit of the doubt and go looking, too. You have always tried to go after the truth and even if it meant losing your case, at least justice was served."

Harm gave a half-laugh, and then looked up at Mac.

"I did call him a pompous, sanctimonious prig, too."

"You did?" Mac stared down at Harm, and then smiled, to which Harm cocked an enquiring eyebrow.

"What's so funny?"

"When you were…away…Sturgis called me the same thing." Mac's hesitation told Harm that she was talking about his time away from JAG, and he didn't question her about the lapse. Instead he lifted a hand and brushed Mac's cheek.

"Seems I got even for both of us, sort of…"

"I guess…but it doesn't help you and him."

"No, it doesn't. A lot was said, Mac, and it wasn't nice. He accused me of being jealous, which I admitted, but the thing that really hurts is the lack of belief. I thought I knew him better than that."

"Maybe someday, huh?"

"Enough about Sturgis. What was your week like?"

"Oh, well, where to start?" Mac laughed softly, and then her brow creased a little.

"What is it?" Harm turned and sat up, pulling Mac so that she sat across his lap.

"We have a new officer, a Lieutenant Vukovic. He's already rubbed me up the wrong way, though."

"How so?" Harm bit down on the thought of the as-yet-unseen younger officer hitting on Mac.

"We had a case the last couple of days, about misappropriation of civilian property, and Vukovic turned the outcome in our favor, but he used unsavory tactics to achieve it. He had an actor portray a parent to sway the prosecution."

"Mac! That's tampering, or worse!"

"I know. I've already told him that I'm considering writing him up for unethical behavior. He had the cheek to turn around and say that I wouldn't write him up, because I knew what he had done was right!"

"Jeez!" Mac looked at Harm when he uttered the word, and she could see the wheels turning in his head. The protective guise coming into force.

"Harm, I'll deal with it, okay? You haven't met the guy yet, and I shouldn't have given you any cause to form an opinion before you do meet him."

"Still, he shouldn't have done something like that. If he's doing it now, what's he going to be like further down the line? If no-one reprimands him, he'll believe he can get away with anything, anytime!"

"I know. That's what worries me. I know that for all the things you've done over the years, you've never falsified anything to get your verdicts. Whether in your favor or not, you've always gone after the truth fair and square, no lies."

"You know me too well," Harm murmured, and Mac grinned, leaning in for a brief kiss.

"You hungry? There's some stir-fry."

"Sounds good. Let me go put my stuff away and I'll be right back."

"Okay, then you can tell me about your quals."

"How did you…?" Harm began, knowing Mac had already left the office when the General had called him back to tell him about completing his qualifying traps while onboard the carrier.

"Harm, you were due, remember? I've never known you be on a carrier around the time of your quals, and not get them done even when you were on a case."

"This is getting scary," Harm laughed, and as he passed Mac on his way to pick up his sea bag he gave her a brief kiss, but for all its brevity, Mac was left standing in surprised silence, one hand holding the pasta scoop, the other raised to her lips, still feeling the imprint of his lips on hers. As Harm walked back toward the bedroom he grinned at her. "Later…" he murmured, and Mac could only manage a nod in response.

When their meal was over, they remained at the kitchen island, holding hands and talking, finishing the drinks in their glasses as Harm recalled his quals for her, and Mac told him a little more about the 'new kid on the block'. When Harm looked a little dubious, Mac gave him a stern look.

"Harm, you will not do or say anything based on what I've said."

"Of course not."

"But you're still going to give him the 'I'm the Top Gun' routine, huh?" This was said with a laugh, and Harm grinned, easing the slight tension that Mac was feeling about the man she had been assigned to mentor.

"I'll be my usual, efficient, senior officer-self."

"Oh, yeah? I know that look, sailor."

"What look?" Harm sounded so innocent that Mac actually did a double take, and then she grinned in return.

"You are so bad, Harmon Rabb."

"Only with you, I promise," Harm responded, and Mac's grin faltered slightly as she recognized the changing colors in his eyes. Her own eyes widened, and the pupils expanded until her eyes seemed completely black. Harm leaned forward, drawn to her, and just before his lips met hers, he whispered in her ear. After the kiss, which just happened to be an act of joining almost as intimate as the act itself, Mac opened her eyes slowly as she pulled back to look at Harm.

Without a word he stepped down from his stool, helped her down from hers, and walked hand in hand with her to the bedroom.


To be continued