Wow! Didn't expect to many people to review this story.  Thanks to everyone! Me be soooo sweet and nice, decided to update very early. I am sure you guys just HATE early updates so I won't make that a habit :snickers: ;)

Enjoy! - Jackie

Thanks to: joanoa, smithknk, mariarita, xobabygurlxo, Brittany4445, starryeyes10, jnp, dansingwolf, LiseGirardi, Martini, JadeAlmasy, Dessler, BiteBeccy, aserene, LtjgMegAustin, cbw, southernqt, froggy, harmfan, Judy, jtbwriter, Abigaile, XBlueShadowX, jaggurl, Lurkz, alix33, Nix707 and anyone else I missed for the feedback:)

Part 2 – Promises

2315 Local
La Jolla, California

The night was exquisite for just laying on the beach and watching the stars above. "Done this before, sailor?" Mac teased laying on a blanket that they'd brought from the house.

"Yes, but never with such intriguing company." Harm responded, turning to his side so he could look at her. "And we're at my personal spot."

Mac held her upper body up with her elbows and stared into the dark ocean. In the distance, there were a few dots of lights, some of buoys, other of boats passing through the channels. There was also lightening on the horizon, a storm off shore. "Personal spot?"

"Yea, when I was younger, I would come out here to think." The dunes and vegetation had shaded him from Trish and Frank's prying eyes. Not that Harm would do anything bad, per se, but there was something nice about having a place to just get away. Reaching out, he wrapped his hand around Mac's arm and tugged her close to him. "C'mere, Mac."

She slid up next to him and laughed at the mischievous look in his eyes. "I can guess what's on your mind, flyboy."

Harm chuckled. "I bet we have two very different things on our minds."

"Oh yea?" She raised her trademark eyebrow in challenge and was surprised when a silver chain caught her eye.

"Oh yea." Dog tags were dangling from a chain on his fingers. He would have given them back to her sooner, but was waiting for the right time. "See, I found these somewhere and ironically, your name happens to be on them."

Slowly she reached out and palmed the tags searching for the ring. Sure enough, next to her two dog tags, sparkling in the moonlight, it rested. "I thought I'd lost this forever."

Harm unclasped the chain slid the ring out, then rested the tags between himself and Mac. "You said you wanted me to put the band on your finger. I am hoping that's still an option."

Her eyes remained on his fingers and the band that appeared to be shining brighter than ever. Mac's voice caught in her throat, this whole moment was so full of emotion that she didn't have anything to say. She nodded, her eyes locking on his which were dancing in amusement. "Yes. ." She squeaked out.

His hand wrapped around hers as the cool metal slid up her ring finger. "In my family it was used as a promise ring. A symbol of good things to come."

"A good luck charm." She said softly, smiling when Harm kissed her finger where the ring now was. "I love you, Harmon Rabb Junior."

He kissed her gently, then rolled slightly until he was laying over her. Mac deepened the kiss. His hands were already wandering and as Harm tried to move closer she placed a hand on his chest and backed him up just a bit. "Just what are you trying to do?" She took a playful, reprimanding tone.

Clearing his throat, Harm rolled onto his back, brining her to lay over him and placing a hand on her hip. "Well, just showing you some of the finer points of La Jolla. . ." He glanced around and grinned. Though the beach was empty, it was still a public place. "I say we head back and. . ."

"Oh no." Mac said with a giggle. "I am not going to sleep with you with your parents just down the hall, Harm."

"We're not kids, Mac. . .I should hope my mother knows I am not a virgin." Harm pulled her to him again, but she evaded his advances and slid off of him. "Besides, isn't making love what people in love are supposed to do?"

Okay, so he got her on that one. "Yes. . ." It had been too long since their first time. "But, if your folks give me an odd look in the morning, I am holding you solely responsible."

Harm stood and reached out a hand to her. He then bent over, picked up the blanket and started back to the house.. "Oh, I don't think mom will mind one bit. In fact, she already told me that she knew we were. . . uh. . intimate."

It was a conversation they'd had when Mac excused herself and headed off to the restroom during dinner. Apparently Frank and Trish were on the same wavelength when it came to their son. . . .

Trish waited for Mac to disappear up the stairs, then turned to Harm. "So, how serious are you two, Harmon?"

Immediately Harm started choking on the corn he was trying to swallow. Frank stood, and whacked him on the back until Harm was able to control himself. He swallowed some water and stared up at his mother who was glancing at him in amusement. "Is there anyone who is NOT going to ask me that?"

"Fraid not, it's just too interesting. . ." Trish took a bite of steak and chewed it thoughtfully. He still hadn't answered her, so soon after swallowing and having a sip of wine she glanced at Harm again. "So?"

Sighing, Harm glanced up towards the stairs and then back to Trish. "I don't know. . ."

"You don't know?" She was somewhat expecting something different from her son. A declaration of love, something that could ensure his happiness. But, this. . .unsureness bothered her greatly. "Harm, if you are trying to pull the wool over my eyes, it's not working." With a grin, she took another sip of wine then said simply, "I already know you and Sarah have been. . .intimate."

Harm suddenly felt like he was a teenager again, getting reprimanded. "What? How'd you?"

"Oh, c'mon, dear." She interrupted. "There's a look you two share that could light things on fire. . .it's obvious." Calmly, she stood, walked around the table and stood behind her son. "So? How serious is it?"

Part of him felt this was some sort of joke the universe was playing on him. Why did people need to know how serious he was with Mac? That was something they needed to find out on their own, right? "I don't know. . ." Mac and him never talked about the seriousness of their new relationship. He knew she wanted to be with him and he knew he wanted to be with her, but there were no future plans, past getting things back to normal. "I know what I want but I also know I don't want to rush her. . .Besides, we need to go home, settle back into the day to day. . ." But, there was something else, a fear he didn't really want to think about too much. Sure, they've gone through the ups and downs. . .Well, more downs than ups. Both he and Mac were known for backing off from things, what if the pressure of it all crushed them? "I don't know how strong this is. . ."

Trish tightened her jaw as her hand lightly slapped him on the shoulder. "How can you say that? God, Harm I knew you loved her before you did."

"I love her and I know she loves me, but . . .We just lived through a harrowing experience. . .I don't want to. . .I don't want to believe that normal life with destroy what we created, but it just might. . .and I am scared to death to lose her because of it."

"She's not going to leave you, Harm. . ." Trish said with a conviction she felt deep inside. She turned his head, making him look at her and saw this disbelief in his eyes. "Harmon, I've seen you go through one girl, to another and Mac's the only one I've actually liked."

Harm raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You never liked any of my girlfriends?"

"No"

Now he was amused. "So, what's so special about Mac?" Not that he had to ask, there were plenty of things special about his Marine. But, he was curious as to what his mother had to say.

"What's so special? Harmon, would you get your head out of your. . .well, six, as you call it? . . .The woman actually puts up with your crazy ideas, she followed you through war zones. . .She believed you'd come back to her. Do you know how difficult it was for ME to believe? And I am your mother."

Harm smiled, it was quite unbelievable the lengths they went through for each other. "I know she's special, mom. . .She's always been special to me." . . . .

. . . Harm lay in bed waiting for Mac who said she had a 'surprise' for him. It was rather odd being in his bedroom after so many years. Even odder that, this time, he was going to be sharing his oversized bed with one very attractive woman. "I have an idea." He said, getting up quickly. He leaned up against the door, noticing the shower was still on. Good, that gave him some time to set the atmosphere.

He practically ran down the stairs, across the living room and towards the kitchen. Rummaging through the fridge, he pulled out apple juice. In the cabinets he found two champagne flutes. Passing back through the living room, he carefully took a couple of candles from the coffee table and slowly made his way back up the stairs, careful not to drop anything. He set the candles on either side of the bed, on each nightstand then whipped out a lighter from the drawers to light them. A pleasant smell of sandalwood soon enveloped his room. Harm then made his way to his radio, flipping through stations until he found one that played slow, jazz numbers. Satisfied, he climbed back in bed and poured the apple juice into each flute.

When Mac emerged from the bathroom, she was surprised at all the 'trouble' he went through. "Hmm, and here I thought I couldn't ever make a romantic out of you." She grinned as his eyes scanned her body clad only in a rather see-thru nightgown. He gulped a few times, sure this wasn't the first time he'd seen a woman dressed like that. It sure wasn't the first time he'd seen her naked, but, this was Mac. The woman that he just couldn't seem to grab a hold of. And now. . .this was just too good to be true.

Harm slid off the bed and walked slowly over to Mac handing her the apple juice. "You know, a guy can get used to you coming out of his bathroom looking like this."

Raising an eyebrow she teased. "Looking like what?" She ran a hand down the fabric of the gown and fingered the material. "Oh this old thing. . .I just found it." With a wink, she walked away from him and towards the sliding glass doors that led to Harm's private balcony.

"I really hope you have a few more of those 'old things', Mac." He drank down all of the juice, placed the flute on the nightstand and walked over to Mac. He stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pinning her back to his chest. She leaned her head back, allowing for him to kiss her neck. "I thought you were embarrassed about doing this under my parent's roof."

"I got over it." She said with a wispy breath, then turned fully in his arms. "Promise me things won't change when he head back home." Mac didn't like feeling this desperate or needy, but she was desperate and needy. She also wanted him so much that she knew that a part of her would die if they separated.

But, Harm couldn't promise what he was so unsure about himself. "I can't promise that, Mac. . .but I'll promise to try. . .We've come to far to just throw this away."

"This is real, right?" She asked, her voice hitching slightly as his hands traveled up and down her spine. "We're real?"

"This is real." He knew it was, because he felt it so deep inside. Harm had never felt so strongly for a woman before, not even Diane. Mac was his everything and after giving into her back at the cabin, he was unsure he'd ever be able to do anything else but give in. Having the reassurance that she needed, Mac stepped forward, backing Harm into the bed where he fell, bringing her atop him. "Sneaky, MacKenzie."

"Yea, well, if I remember correctly, it's my turn to be on top." She kissed his neck slowly, stopping to caress her tongue over his Adam's apple as she moved down his chest.

0250 Local
Outside of the Burnette Residence
La Jolla, California

Cigarette smoke rose up into the air in tiny puffy clouds that reflected the light from the houses. It was fairly dark among the beach as the moon had been covered up from the impending thunderstorm. There, wrapped up in blankets, a man and a woman lay together enjoying the afterglow of passion. Reaching over to a small radio, the woman, flipped the switch to 'off.' Which earned her an angry look from her lover. "Well, they've been done for almost twenty minutes. . . I don't think they could just start up again, do you?"

Taking the radio from the woman, he turned it back to 'on' and raised the volume a bit. "You never know. . ."

She thought it was a bit weird, listening to another couple's intimate encounter, but she had to admit, it seemed to spice up their sex life. "You said there was a point to all of this. But I don't see how listening in on a couple could help extract revenge on the things they did to you." She frowned, the story he'd told her had been shocking and terrible. She couldn't understand how people would just put a person in prison without finding out all of the if ands or buts about the case. The amount of lies that were fabricated to keep him locked up were astonishing. Yet, she never once thought about her lover and how many lies he fabricated to get him locked up. No, in this case, love was truly blind, deaf and mute.

It had been fairly easy to put a bug inside the house. When Harm and Mac had headed up the beach and the older couple to sleep, he'd been able to put several self destroying bugs. They were good enough to last 24 hours and then, they'd eventually consume themselves, leaving no traces. man reached across to their pile of clothing and tossed her the outfit she'd been wearing. "Get dressed and keep your mouth shut."

"I hate it when you talk to me like that."

With a sigh, he reached over and touched her cheek gently. "I'm sorry, baby, but I am just very frustrated. . .You know I don't mean it." She knew that, of course she did. Because she was too smitten to really care much for anything. He'd been the first man to ever really want her this way, with all of her problems and lack of self-confidence that she kept hidden away from clients. No, he wasn't her first, she'd been with others, but this was the first time she'd ever felt like she finally had someone to talk to, not the other way around. They remained lying near the sand dune, listening to absolutely nothing for about half an hour more. Then, when he was convinced that it was all over, the sight of someone leaning against the balcony brought back his attention.

It had taken him a minute or two, but Harm finally managed to slide himself out from under Mac. He slid his boxers on and quietly stepped out past the sliding doors. He could no longer see the moon and knew a storm was impending. Only, he didn't know just how much of a storm and what type of an impact it would have on them. He glanced down and swore he saw two people laying by one of the dunes. This was supposed to be a private beach area, which was the reason why many teens found their way over, searching for the privacy that they wouldn't receive on public beaches. No matter, he doubted they knew he was out there anyway. Looking out into the ocean, he saw the bits of lightening coming closer and illuminating the skies. The air was rich with the smell of atmosphere.

He felt more than heard Mac step up behind him. "You okay?" She asked, pressing her warm body, wrapped up in bed sheets, against his. Her arms wrapped around his torso as her lips kissed the center of his back. He felt her head rest against him.

"Nightmare." He said quietly, still scanning the ocean. There was something off, something odd and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. With a shrug he turned around and took Mac into his arms. "It's nothing." But it wasn't 'nothing' the nightmares were the ones he was fearing, the ones that ended up with things going badly. Temir was there as was Frank Coster, Sadik Fahd, Chris Ragle and Simon Tanveer. He was being held back by two goons, unable to do anything while the five men described a way they would torture Mac. 'No!' He cried out as hot, burning tears slid down his cheek. 'Take me! Take me!' He yelled, but they didn't listen. Then another man walked out, this one with a face that looked like his own. Harm stood there looking at himself, but it wasn't him. The vision of him was a monster who walked towards Mac with a dagger in hand. 'I'm going to do to her, what they couldn't do.' He said with a grin and, mercifully, that was when he woke up.

"Harm?" Mac ran her hand over his cheek, stopping to wipe away a stray tear. She didn't like this at all, it was almost as if he were in a trance. Maybe everything had finally culminated? Maybe now that he was safe and sound he was being attacked by other demons, ones that were projected from his own mind. She knew the way the game was played and as much as she hated to admit it, he needed help. Maybe they both did. He breathed deeply, then leaned back against the railing seemingly ashamed of breaking down in front of her. "Maybe. . .Maybe you should see a therapist?"

"A therapist?" He shook his head. "What the hell good is that going to do for the nightmares?"

She would have asked the same had she not had the pleasure of dealing with Dr. McCool. As much as she hated having her head shrunk, she had to admit, it did to her some good. "I hate to admit it, but sometimes, talking to someone who is neutral in the situation can help. . . Dr. McCool is pretty good." She bit her lower lip. Would it be a problem that McCool knew about him? Wouldn't that breech some sort of doctor-patient confidence of she already knew something about Harm. "Maybe going to Dr. McCool is a bad idea, she knows too much about you. But, I am sure she can recommend someone."

Harm glanced down at Mac unsure if whether to feel flattered or betrayed that she was speaking to someone about him. "You told her about me?"

"No! Yes. . .I mean. . .Well, yes in relation to me. . .I. . .When you went missing, I needed someone impartial to talk to. . .It' helped a bit. Well, it sort of helped, half of the time I was just hurt or angry." She sighed and stepped back away from him. "Look I wouldn't suggest it if I thought it wouldn't help."

Thing is, he'd had his head shrunk various times in his life. When his father went MIA, Navy psychiatrists had spoken to him, when he was in school, the high school guidance counselor had tried to 'fix' him. After he came back from Laos, his mother had all but ordered him to see a shrink. His ramp strike, return to flight status, the CIA missions, his ejection over the Atlantic. And non of those sessions helped. "Or maybe I could talk to you?" But, that was a lie because he knew he couldn't tell her what he saw behind his eyes. He couldn't tell her that, this time, he wouldn't be able to save her.

"You can always talk to me, Harm. About anything. . .But I think you need to get help. Please." Something told her she couldn't help him this time, that he was beyond that as she'd been beyond just normal conversation during her stint with Sadik.

"I promise." Smiling, he brought her back to him and wrapped his arms around her. "How about we get some sleep? I am sure mom's just going to drag you off tomorrow."

Mac kissed him gently, then with more fervor as he came back for another. "But, I'm not sleepy." She said in a sexy voice and led him back towards the bed.

Down bellow the couple had heard it all. "Ah, so the Commander needs to have his head shrunk."

"You could use that, couldn't you? Damage his career?" The woman asked. Hopefully things wouldn't have to move farther along. They wouldn't have to be too drastic.

The man shrugged, stood up and offered his hand down to her. "Yes, but, now I have a better idea. . .The best weapon for revenge." He wrapped his arms around the woman, glancing up a final time as he headed out of the beach.

Joanoa - It'll be here if not, e-mail me! I'll probably have about two more after this one to post for sure. :) Not sequels, stand alones though :)

smithknk - Yea, I thought it was a refreshing way to start. A little fluff, family moment. Cos you know I'll go nuts eventually. ;)

Jnp - It would bea trilogy, noooo ideas for a fourth. Course that could change. I keep saying I won't write a series anymore and suddenly poof! It happens. This is my third series. Shoot me now please ;) - But there are more stories coming. As long as I have people to write for, I won't stop!

dansingwolf - Well you know me, comfortable won't last long LOL!

Dessler - Something For the Pain Universe, huh? Hmmm... The series needs a name. ;) That might be a good one. ;)

Beccy - Wow, that was scary LOL! At least you spelled it right. My friend and I were drunk and trying to cheerlead at our friend's softball game, boy did we screw up. WE couldn't spell HomeRun. Sad but true LOL! ;)

Ltjgmeg - Now why would I tell you who the bad guy is! I am not that nice! SHeesh! and No Meg. I am not too familiar with her character to write with her. I'll leave the Megness to you ;)

CBW - WEll, you know, jsut have the seatbelt handy. ;) i am not sure anyone will figure out what's supposed to happen until it does. WEll, no I take that back, some of you guys are waaaay too savvy for your own good:P

jtbwriter - Yea, I was like.. Hmmm, let's blame Frank for Harm being a practical vegitarian! ;)

Abigaile - Isn't is sad how like Harm doesn't have parents on the show. we haven't seen Trish since season what? 7? 6 maybe:shakes finger at TPTB: Jerks!

XBlue - Could you get the crowd to do the wave? I mean, since baseball season is starting and all, I think it might be fun. :) ;) - Jeez if the chapters exceed 30, shoot me. Course I could write two page chappies and this story will come about 50 chapies or so LOL!

jaggurl - Yes I was bored, decided to post. ;) Ths will fit the series, but it'll be weird. Cos I am like weird ;P

Alix - Yea, blame frank, why not? Oh I could go through my list of weirdness with food. occasionally mom is like - "You pregnant" HELL NO.

Okie dokie.. . .So that's that. If I can work a bit more on it (need to iron the kinks out and lord knows I can kink up stories - GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF THE GUTTER!) And we might have another one on monday. :) My hopes is to post this FAST because I have another story in the workds that I am DYING to post when the season ender happens. Whether this one is finished or not it is going to post though. See, apparently there is a good thing to not sleeping - you get bored and write more. WEee! ;)