Okie dokie, after the hustle and bustle and the end of new JAG eppies, I've finally gotten around to posting again! Yay! I should have more by weds or Thursday, been really busy to really put my head into this baby, but it's coming along nicely.

Note 1: The Dive Shaft – Nooooooo clue if it exists, I made it up. ;)

This chapter is pretty intense in some senses, you'll see what I mean. J

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, echorage, aserene, chantelmac, Ink, Wuchel, CarbyGurl, Cristina, Inkand,Feverish Dream, anyone else I missed for the feedback :) - If you left feedback and are not in this list, lemme know please

Part 12 – The Devil You Know

September 17, 2005
2100 Zulu
Mac's Apartment
Georgetown

There was something strange about walking down the familiar hallway. Something odd about using the key that rested next to his own. In a way, her apartment was his, just as his apartment was part hers. That was the point of being a couple, wasn't it? - The fact that things weren't 'mine' anymore, they were now 'ours.' Still, as Harm used his key to enter the familiar apartment, he felt like he shouldn't be there, like he was walking in on her private space. He poked his head in, taking a glance around to make sure there weren't any 'surprises' before stepping in fully.

NCIS had done a good job of cleaning up any chemicals, at least, that is what Gibbs had told him when they spoke the day before. Gibbs had also said that whatever was in the flowers, was some sort of special agent, unlike something they've ever seen before. It was non lethal, but packed enough of a punch to incapacitate a person for quite sometime. The chemical would shut down your body and send you into a deep sleep not unlike some form of mild comatose.

To say that Harm felt like hell, was an understatement. His body ached from the night of restless sleep, his muscles were protesting the hour he'd lightly dozed off on his couch in some unnatural position. If it wasn't for the godsends called ibuprofen and coffee, he probably wouldn't be moving at all. Frowning, he moved to the dinning table, finding the dirty plate still there. He took it and headed into the kitchen, cleaning it and anything Mac had left in the sink. NCIS had taken samples from the plates, they'd even taken the glass on the off chance someone else was dinning with her. Not that it mattered, they knew who had her, but, after finding the pictures, they also knew that Palmer had an accomplice.

As he turned to move out of the kitchen, he found a picture little AJ had drawn the day they'd been at the Roberts home for the barbeque. They were stick figures - wearing oversized clothing - a tall one with spiked black hair and a shorter one with long brown hair. It was him and Mac, or so little AJ had told them. "Mac, just hang on, please just hang on." He ran his hand slowly over stick figure Mac and frowned as a tear ran down his cheek. Harm heard someone coming up behind him, so he wasn't too surprised to hear his voice.

"She will, Harm." Behind him stood Clayton Webb, uncharacteristically dressed in jeans, a polo shirt and tennis shoes.

Harm turned slowly, making sure the other man didn't see him wipe the lone tear that had slid down his cheek. "I hope so. . .How are you Clay?" He shook the other man's hand and offered a half smile.

Clay shrugged, "I've been better." The truth was that he hated this, knowing he was helping the 'other man' search for the woman he was in love with. But, Clay wasn't stupid, he knew, even when he and Mac were together, that she'd always harbor some sort of feeling for the pilot turned lawyer. He could have lived with that, because, he'd known what it was like to love and lose and forget. And eventually, he was sure she'd forget. - How wrong he was.

"I know you don't want her with me, Webb." Harm said as he walked out of the kitchen and towards the living room. He'd been saving himself from this conversation, figuring that some merciful soul in Heaven would prevent them from going toe to toe over Mac. "You think I am a fool for being oblivious all of these years and I agree, I have been. . .But, she chose me over you."

This wasn't exactly a conversation he was hoping to have with Harm. Sure, he was going to help find Mac because he owed them, specifically her, for putting themin danger, but conversation over who won and why, well it wasn't something high up on his list. "Just what's your point, Rabb?"

Harm's larger frame towered over the CIA agent. "That you stay away from her." He said, giving no indications that he was nothing but serious. "I know you lost something good with her, but that was your fault for putting your job over her needs."

"Sarah's a strong woman, she could have handled it." Clay said matter-of-factly, not backing down from the confrontation he knew would eventually come.

"I have no doubts to Mac's strength." He couldn't help but cringe every time Clay called her 'Sarah.' It irritated Harm beyond belief to know that she'd had some sort of intimacy with the spook. He could forgive and forget, because he knew how much of a fool he'd been with her by passing up every single chance she'd given him, but he would be damned if he'd let spookboy just walk into his territory. In Paraguay he should have just taken her into his arms and kissed her senseless, but he didn't because he loved her too much to let his guard down and put her in danger. Simply put, he wasn't going to play the same game Clay had with her life, even if it meant losing her. "It's obvious you have, absolutely, no clue as to who she is."

Clay grinned. "Maybe it's you that doesn't know who she is. . .I mean, that is the only way that one could figure out why you two went nine years with nothing to show for it." He saw the angry look Harm was giving him, but apparently, Clay wanted to play with fire, to push buttons that really shouldn't be pushed. Even after everything that had happened, he wasn't willing to let go of Mac without a fight. In fact, he was sitting back and waiting for Rabb to screw up, to do something Rabb-like and stupid, so that Mac would come running into his arms. "You went after her when she was vulnerable. When you knew she wouldn't back away because she'd been so hurt thinking that you were dead. . . You used her, like you always do."

Harm couldn't have told you how it happened, how his fist wound up because his brain didn't even get a chance to formulate the punch. The only thing he knew was that his right fist connected with the side of the agent's face and that Clay was now lying on the floor with a bloody nose. "You're a bastard, Clay. . . I can't believe I even felt guilty for you. . . You're a bastard."

"Oh, you just don't know, do you Harmy?" Harm turned around swiftly, his gaze leveling towards the doorway. Clay, who was on the floor came up to his feet quickly, automatically reaching for the gun he didn't have on him. Clark Palmer stood in the doorway, walking in slowly, but keeping his distance from the two men. "You two look surprised."

"Son of a bitch!" Harm lunged forward, his fist winding up to strike when Palmer stepped back, opening up a small television. The image stopped Harm dead in his tracks. Now he was the one that felt sucker punched. The air rushed out of his lungs as he saw a live feed of Mac laying on a bed, clutching a pillow as she slept. "She's beautiful, isn't she?" He walked casually to the coffee table, placing the TV on its top. He stepped back gauging both men's shocked reactions. Harm, seeming to be in some trance, couldn't pull his eyes off of the screen. Clay's gaze was leveled on Palmer, he'd even ignored the blood running out of his left nostril and down the front of his shirt. "You think if we spend enough time together, she'll give me a chance?"

Harm stood rooted in place, but this time his gaze traveled to the former DSD agent. "If you touch her I'll. . ."

"You'll what, Harm?" He grabbed the miniTV and stuffed it into his pocket. With a grin, he slowly walked his way to Mac's sofa and sat down with a heavy sigh. "If you try anything, you'll never find her, ever. . . And, she needs me." He crossed his leg and placed his hands on the back of the sofa, comfortably stretching himself out. "No food, no water. . .She'd die slow and miserably and you'll never find her, I'll guarantee that." And there was no reason for the two other men not to believe him. "It will be your fault for being as stupid as you are."

From the doorway, there was the sound of a gun being cocked. When the three men turned to the sound, they found Gibbs with his pistol pointed at Palmer. "What the hell is going on here?"

Harm traded his glance between Palmer and Gibbs. Pointing at the gun he walked towards the NCIS agent. "Put it down."

"I don't think so, Rabb." Put it down? The man they were looking for was there, sitting on the Colonel's sofa like a sitting duck.

"Agent Gibbs, please put it down." Palmer said with a saccharine sweet voice. "Sarah's in danger and shooting me won't help one bit. So, I suggest you put the pistol away and relax." Standing, he moved closer to the men, mainly towards Harm. "You've got yourself one hell of a boys club here, Harmy." With a grin, he stood just in front of Harm knowing the other man wouldn't do anything. God, this was perfect. Why hadn't he thought of this before?

Harm grinded his teeth. "Don't be flattered." He was barely breathing and the lack of oxygen was making him waver slightly, but he managed not to falter. "What do you want from me?"

"For you to play the game." He took out an envelope and held it in front of the naval officer, taunting him when Harm reached out to grab it. "In two hours you will open this and don't think of doing it sooner, I have everything timed. . . I know how long it will take you to get there so I'll know you didn't open it when I told you to. . .If you leave this building before the two hours are up, I'll know." He placed the envelope in Harm's hand. "Every game has to have rules. . . I might just let her go. To be honest," He continued with a chuckle, "I don't have anything against the Colonel, it's just you that I have a problem with." He patted his nemesis on the arm and grinned. "Don't you feel special?"

Mustering some sort of sick smile of his own, Harm moved his arms across his chest and nodded. "Oh yea, feels great to deal with a psycho like you, Palmer."

"Oh, I am not psychotic, I am just in the mood to have a little fun . . .at your expense." He turned around and said his goodbyes to the two other men. "Thank you for your time fellas. Oh, and don't try to follow me. I don't mean to threaten you but, I will hurt her and Harmy, you know I like to invent special ways to hurt people." With that, he turned and headed out of the apartment knowing full well that the other three would oblige, Harm would force them to. It was a gamble showing up at her apartment, but when he saw the opportunity to personally torture Harm, he had to take it and it was enjoyable.

Gibbs was the first one to talk, well, actually, he was the first one to yell. "How in the HELL could you let him get away like that, Rabb? Don't you want to find your girlfriend?" He didn't get it, if he was in a similar situation, he would have gone after Palmer and killed him right on the spot.

But, Harm knew Palmer much better than the other two men. He'd been his victim several times and things with the former DSD agent weren't black or white, they were in Technicolor. And with all of the time Palmer had on his hands to fabricate this 'game', as he called it, it wasn't the time to play Superman, especially with Mac's life. "Gibbs, you don't know him like I know him. Not even Clay does."

"He's not superhuman, Rabb. . . He's a man who bleeds if we shoot him." Gibbs was confident in his people and their abilities to find the Colonel. They'd never let him down before in the past, why doubt them now? "We have people on this, so does Webb here, last night we put together a joint force to find her. And you just blew a major chance to get this lunatic off the streets!"

Harm stood steadfast, knowing, full well, that Palmer's tricks could bring shame to the joint operation. "I know him and I won't gamble with Mac's life, not this way."

"So, you're just going to sit and wait for two hours to play his game?" Clay, said, heading towards the kitchen in order to get ice and clean up his bloody nose.

"Yes." With a huff, Harm took a seat on Mac's arm chair and placed the note on coffee table.

Gibbs sat on the sofa and sighed. "I hope you know what you're doing Rabb."

Harm didn't, but he felt it in his gut that this was the right choice. Palmer had been out too long for him to go around gambling with Mac's life. He knew, too well, what the other man was capable of and hiding Mac away in a place no one could find, wasn't that far fetched. His thoughts traveled to the night he spent trying to use her own 'powers' on the road map. Perhaps it would have been better if he knew what Mac felt when she had those sensations. Maybe he just didn't have that sort of gift, but there is one thing that he felt in his bones, "She's here." It was something he'd known deep inside. He knew Mac was near. "Mac's somewhere near, either still in DC, or Virginia or Maryland, but she is near."

"Or maybe even New York, Florida, California, South America." Clay's voice sounded nasally as he came out holding ice to the bridge of his nose. He sat down on the other chair, eyeing the note with curiosity. He would have ripped it open now and just taken off. This whole fear that Harm had towards Palmer was unnerving.

Shaking his head, Harm insisted. "She's here. It's part of the game." Which made perfect sense for Palmer to hold Mac close to Harm. Close enough for him to find, but in a place that they couldn't look, adding to the torture. "Palmer wants me to go mad knowing she is close enough for us to find." He shifted his gaze between the two men and sighed. "I know I sound crazy, but, Clay, you know how I operate. You know I wouldn't do something like this if I wasn't sure." And the more his mind thought about it, the surer he was. "Gibbs, have your people start searching for her. I'll play his game, try to wear him down, make him think it's working."

Gibbs was starting to be won over by Harm's plan. "Alright, I'll keep my people searching, borrow a few agents from the FBI if I need to."

"I'll give you a few agents as well." Clay offered, stunned at himself for giving into Harm's plan. But, seeing as he was the other man in love with Mac, he was starting to see something right about Harm's logic. Perhaps he was just shocked that Harm could use any sort of logic unlike him who took her with him to Paraguay because, one day, he realized he had a crush on the lady Marine. He admired the Commander's restraint.

Harm furled his brow. "I understand why Webb would help, he has an agenda, but why are you being so complacent, Gibbs?"

"Guilt." The agent admitted with a sheepish grin. "I was wrong about you and I know I made your life hell and shook some things up at JAG that, maybe, I shouldn't have shaken up. But, you have to admit, the evidence was against you."

"And I didn't exactly make it easy for you." He knew he tended to act guilty during the case, especially when being interviewed. With his cocky lawyering skills, Harm honestly believed he could play the interviewers and talk his way out of it, it didn't work. Men like Gibbs weren't fazed easily. It was something that he'd respected, secretly.

"No, you didn't." Gibbs said with a grin. "But, I am man enough to admit when I am wrong and I was." He stared at the Commander for a moment, noting the far away gaze that he suddenly got. "You know, it was difficult to interview her during your case. . .She's quite loyal."

Harm nodded. Loyal, yea, she was and so was he, despite problems in their relationship. Sighing, he leaned back into the chair, his eyes moving back to the letter. "I'm going to open it." He decided, thinking that it might give them an advantage to figuring out anything about Mac's whereabouts. But, the other two men stopped him. Glancing up, he furled his brow once again, but then conceded. Two hours, they had to wait two hours and he wasn't about to break the rules of the game.

2130 Zulu
Location Unknown
Virginia

Yep, she was right, having the stupid screen, or HarmTV, as Palmer had dubbed it when he caught her watching earlier that day, was going to be her undoing. "Where the hell are you?" Mac asked the screen, noting that she couldn't see Harm anywhere in his apartment. She was, literally, scared for him and had been since Palmer appeared in her room with the news that he'd be visiting Harm today. "God, please, please let him be alright, please."

Nikki had been watching the woman, standing at the doorway with a mild enthusiasm. It was amusing, the other woman was a trained Marine, yet she was too entranced with the screen to notice she'd been standing there watching. Palmer had told her to leave Mac alone, but she just couldn't. There was this morbid curiosity that couldn't be contained, kind of like watching an animal in a cage. "Clark won't kill him, Colonel." She said, chuckling when Mac jumped slightly. "It would be too easy to just pull the trigger." Who would have thought that she could speak this way with such coldness? She was always such a nice person, cheery, caring. And she still was, only now, she was loyal to her man.

"I know you're toying with me." Mac said, calmly closing the case and leaning back into the chair. "STOP IT!" She yelled, using her best DI voice. Mac would have laughed at how Nikki jumped, it was quite amusing, but, instead, she used her stoic demeanor to keep her attitude of strength. "I am not a toy and if it weren't for the circumstances, I'd have snapped your and Palmer's necks like twigs."

The other woman took a seat on the bed, keeping her distance from the Marine. "You love him don't you?" She said motioning towards the case.

"Yes." Maybe she shouldn't have answered, it was of normal custom for captives to remain silent, but she needed to forge some sort of bond with the woman. "And you love Clark."

Nikki smiled, her eyes taking that love struck look which made Mac slightly nauseated. "He saved me, I guess you could say. Right when I thought I couldn't love again, he melted my heart."

Oh yea, it was definitely nauseating to hear anyone speak this way about a man as odious as Clark Palmer. Still, she managed a sweet smile and swallowed down her pride. "It's amazing how they can do that, isn't it? . . Just. .sweep you off your feet."

Nikki chuckled. "Don't try to become my friend, Colonel, it won't work. . .I am used to getting heads shrunk."

"And yet Palmer shrunk your head?" She immediately dropped her sweet routine noting that there wasn't a point if she was had.

"Don't presume that you know about us, Colonel." Nikki shot off, standing up and moving dangerously close to Mac. "We've been together for a while, unlike you and the Commander who have no clue what it's like to have a long standing relationship."

Mac had to laugh at that. Sure, she and Harm had taken their sweet time to finally 'connect.' But, the woman was manic if she thought what Palmer wanted from her was nothing but a relationship. "You must be a really lousy shrink if you let Palmer wrap you around his little finger. Doctor, whatever your name is."

"Halloren." Nikki spat out automatically and then suddenly relented at her slip. Angrily, she lunged at Mac, slapping the Marine with a brutal force. Stepping back, she saw Mac's bloody lip and the amused grin that seemed to only widen. "You're just as bad as Clark says you are."

Wiping her lip, Mac laughed more, this woman was really being played. "Dr. Halloren, I might not be a shrink, but I suggest that you figure out your place in Palmer's life. . .You aren't as important as you think you are."

Nikki was seething, taking sharp breaths in order to calm herself. What had happened to that normally cool and collected woman? She wasn't totally gone was she? "I have a few things for you." Knowing this was just going to end up badly as did her last confrontation with Mac, Nikki stepped outside and came back in with grocery bags. "We need you alive and well. . .so here are things for you to keep up your nourishment." She set the bags on the floor next to the door then made to leave when Mac suddenly stood up.

"Look, please, let me go. . .You have no use for me. . .He wanted to taunt us and he has." She moved close to the woman, keeping enough of a distance for Nikki not to feel threatened. "Please."

There was a time, specifically the night before, when she lay in Palmer's arms contemplating just letting the Marine go and ending this little game of his. She was starting to spend less and less time with him and knew he had a fondness for the Colonel, so it would have been better to let 'the bird out of the cage' so to speak. But, there was also this want of revenge for Mac hurting Palmer, for Harm having him put away – and she had to help avenge that. "No."

Nikki stepped out so quickly, Mac didn't have a chance to get another word in. Instead, she stood in the center of the room head hung low. She hadn't given them the satisfaction of crying, but, now, as she stood there unknowing as to what Palmer was going to do with Harm today, she felt herself start to break. Her body collapsed into the bed and she curled up in fetal position. Mac's sobs racked her whole body, taking her very breath away. Thinking about Harm hurt too much, more than when they were trying to make her believe he was dead because, back then, she'd had hopes. Right now, there was nothing worse than knowing he was out there, within reach but they couldn't get to each other.

2430 Zulu
The Dive Shaft Bar
Virginia

Five men sat inside a long, black van which was parked just across the street from a bar located in the worst part of town. People just didn't venture into this area unless they were looking to pick up a prostitute, wanted to find a loan shark or buy narcotics from the friendly neighborhood drug dealer. Hell, the cops wouldn't even be seen in that part of town. Harm sat behind the wheel, nervously tapping his fingers. In his pocket rested the letter he'd opened more than two hours ago. With a sigh he pulled it out, checking, for the tenth time, the instructions he knew by heart. – 'Two hours after receiving this letter, you may drive to a place called The Dive Shaft. There you will wait for instructions. PS: Bring your friends.' And that was it. All that drama and all of that waiting for a simple, stupid note.

Of course, they had to first figure out what the hell The Dive Shaft which is why there were, now, four people other than Webb and Gibbs with him. In fact, they weren't even in the same vehicle, the two were sitting about two blocks down in an unmarked car waiting. No, in Harm's vehicle sat Bud, the first person he'd called and the one person he really hoped had stayed home. The Lt. Commander had a family, a wife and kids, but still, he insisted on joining in, that his assets in technology might be of use. Then there was Sturgis and Creswell who were both sitting at ops going through more pictures that the security team had managed to disclose. And, finally, there was AJ Chegwidden. Webb had called him simply because he knew, other than Mac, that AJ was able to keep Harm cool and collected. Out of all of them AJ was also the one that had a clue what the Dive Shaft was, in fact, since he started his PI service, he had been casing the place for at least two weeks.

A buzzing of Harm's phone, had the five of them jumping slightly from the tension. "Rabb." He barked into the receiver, pulling the device away from his ear as Webb screamed on the other line. "Webb, lower your damned voice!"

('How the hell were you able to amass four million dollars on a lowly Commander's pay, Rabb?' Webb yelled into the phone. His staff had been looking for anomaly's that occurred on the same day of Palmer's disappearance. The one that struck them as odd was the four million dollar transfer from Europe to Kansas by one Harmon Rabb. 'I know your stepfather is the VP of Chrysler, but what the hell have you been doing? Saving every check the man's ever given you?')

Harm glared at the phone and shook his head. Four million dollars? What the hell? "Not that it's any of your damned business, Webb, but the only time my stepfather has given me a large sum of cash was when I needed to buy a ride on a MIG." He was referring to that little trip he and Mac took to Russia in search of his father and the money Frank had wired in order for him to steal a MIG. "If I have four million dollars then I am the last one to know. . . and why are my finances so important anyway?" What the hell did this have to do with Mac?

(Webb sighed and took a look at the file that was sent to printer onboard the unmarked car. 'According to the file I have in front of me, a Harmon Rabb had the money transferred from his account in Europe to his account in Kansas.')

"What!" Harm yelled into the phone. "Webb, there has to be a logical expli-nat-ion. . ." He trailed off slightly, his mind suddenly bombarding him with images of Clark Palmer taking credit card orders in some sort of program Leavenworth had for prisoners that behaved. That had been years ago, hadn't it? "Son of a. . Webb, check with Leavenworth, Palmer's job was taking orders. . .credit card orders, I wouldn't be surprised if he stole money from the accounts." Time and money, two deadly combinations when used for the wrong purposes, and, at the moment, Palmer had them both. . . . . . . . . . .

Xblue - Oh, you just don't know how bad he is. ;) Time and money, imagine him with both, scary:P Oh yea, they could have SO done a GREAT story arc with Palmer coming back. Would have rocked too.

NK - Creepy, yep, I agree, it's a dark series, I am surprised people are reading, thanks though:)

Alix - Harm's connection might not work the way he wishes it to, but he has one, he just hasn't figured it out yet. In a future chapter someone will help him figure it out.

FeverishDream - Hello Liz! FF is a wonderful world to hide in. Harm Clones, you place the orders through me. I need to kow what clothing you want on him (you ge ta choice of three) and what hairstyle. ;) He also comes with either the Vette or the Lexus, gotta pick one or the other. ;)

Brittany - Yea I know I was surprised that DPB gave that much, but, I have to say, it was a bit anticlimatic for me. :shrugs: Oh well, those touchy feely moments were nice. :)

carbygurl- It's been brought! ;)

Lurkz - Loving your story too btw, it's kicking ass and I am waiting for Vic's ass kicking. ;) I had to put that MacGuyver comment, I mean you know the man would have been out of there with a peice of lint and a shower curtain or soemthing. ;)

aserene - He'll figure it out eventually, how the gift works, it might be a bit too late but not completely too late. :)

LtJGMeg - Oh, kill away, just, please, during his scenes here, I need him scuff free, save for that Marine corp bashing Mac gave him over his eye. ;)

cbw - Ah, so you like de creepy stuff! I knew you were as nutty as me! ;)

jtbwriter - LOL Now what? ;) Main probelm with Mac is that she hasn't got a place to go and, even if she did, they are both in the same game of - if you do something - I'll hurt the other - after just finding eachother neither is willing to bend and risk doing something stupid.

dansingwolf - about the pictures - The pictures could be interpreted that way, it's just a little more 'things' to screw with Harm's mind is all. But, no, he hasn't touched Mac.