A woman, not a marine
AN: Hi, this is just a little bit of nothing actually but alright. I'm still working on my sequel to 'the exchange' but I think I'm about halfway through so it shouldn't take too much longer ;) Anyways, Enjoy and please review.
JAG HQ
Friday 16:37
Mac sat at her desk. 'Good, only 22 minutes and 17 seconds left.' She was desperate to go home. She'd been having a major headache the whole afternoon. Just then Harm popped his head into her office and said: "Hey there ninja girl."
Looking up at him she saw the flyboy smile on his face. They had been going along very well the past couple of months and maybe there was a chance of them becoming more than just best friends somewhere in the near future. She certainly hoped so but she was still not sure if that was what Harm wanted. Hearing Harm talk she realised she hadn't been listening to what he was saying so she said: "I'm sorry, what did you say."
Harm looked at her with a worried look on his face saying: "I noticed that, Where were you marine?"
"Oh. Nothing, just thinking, the Jones' case is giving me a hard time."
"You need some help, I could come over tonight?"
"No, thanks, I'll be alright."
Seeing the disappointed look on his face she felt bad but knowing that she was going to have a crappy weekend she just wanted to be alone.
"So, why did you come in here in the first place?"
"Huh, oh, Yeah, well I got some tickets for the museum and I hoped that you wanted to come with me tomorrow."
"It sounds like fun but can we go some other time?"
"Well we could but they got this exhibition that I'm sure you'd love and it's only until Sunday, but if you're busy…"
Harm was hurt by the thought that she had plans for the weekend and he didn't know about them. 'She's just your friend, she's allowed to have plans with others without you knowing about it.' 'Yeah, but we've been getting along really well and I just hoped …'
His thoughts were interrupted by Mac: "I don't have plans and I would love to go but this weekend is just not a good time, I'm sorry." With that she grabbed her cover and her briefcase and left her office to go home.
All the way home the same thoughts kept going through her head: 'Why did I turn him down?' 'You know why.' 'Why does this always have to bother me so much.'
Dejected Harm walked back to his office. He went back to work, he didn't have anything better to do anyway now she didn't want to see him. 'But why not.' 'I'm her best friend aren't I?' 'I'm supposed to be there for her when she needs me.' With that thought he made a decision. He opened his office door and said: "Lt Sims, could you come here please?"
A few seconds later Harriet entered his office saying: "Lt Sims reporting as ordered sir."
"Have a seat Harriet and please, cut the sir for the moment."
"Yes sir, uh Harm."
Harm wasn't sure how to start so after a few moments of silence Harriet asked: "What is it Harm?"
"Do you know what's wrong with Mac?"
"Sir?" Harm gave Harriet a look, silently telling her to stop calling him sir.
"Well, she acted kind of weird today."
"Oh, uh, that, well, are you sure you want to know?"
"Harriet, she's my friend and obviously something's going on so please tell me what to do for her."
"well, it's a woman's thing Harm."
"So?"
"Well, she's having her period Harm."
At hearing this Harm turned a nice shade of red while quietly muttering: "the things women talk about."
Harriet wasn't supposed to but she'd overheard him anyway so she said: "We don't normally tell each other Harm, we just notice it in little things."
Harm gave her a confused look so she continued: "Like the colonel, she gets kind of cranky and doesn't want to go out with anyone, that kind of thing, when you're around some women long enough you can tell."
"Okay, so why doesn't she want to go out, I mean it's not like every woman stays home all the time when they, you know?" By now Harm was almost as red as a lobster.
"For some woman it's worse than for others Harm."
"So what can I do for her?"
"well you could…"
Mac's appt.
19:00
Mac was curled up on the couch. She was watching telly with a blanket wrapped around her.
Suddenly there was knocking on her door. Not wanting to see anyone she pretended not to be home. After some more knocking and some more ignoring she heard a familiar voice call out: "Come on Mac, I know you're home, please open up."
Knowing Harm he would come in anyway, using his emergency key, so she walked over to the door and unlocked it before walking back to the couch and laying down once again.
When he'd entered she looked over at him saying: "What are you doing here, I told you you didn't need to come over."
"I'm not here to help you with the case."
"Then what ?"
"Just taking care of my best friend."
"Harm, I'm a ma…"
Harm cut her off saying: "I know you're a marine but you're also a woman, now lay down, I'll be right there." Picking up the bag he'd put down on the floor he made his way into the kitchen.
A few minutes later he called out to her: "Did you have dinner yet?"
"No, actually I haven't."
"Good."
10 minutes later Harm exited the kitchen carrying a tray which he put down on table. He brought two cups of tea over to the coffee-table while saying: "Here you go, I got you some chamomile tea."
Mac looked up at him giving him a confused look. There was something going on. Sure, Harm always was protective of her but he never randomly stopped by with tea and making her dinner. Meanwhile Harm had gone back to the table and picked up the hot water bottle which he'd wrapped in a tea-towel.
Walking back over to the couch he said: "Move forward a bit."
"What?"
"Just do it Mac."
Moving forward her back wasn't covered by the couch anymore and it was now that Harm noticed that she was wearing a pair of navy sweatpants and a grey t-shirt with a tomcat on the front. Recognizing both items he said: "So that's where my clothes disappeared to." Harm sat down on the couch, sliding one leg on either side of Mac so they were both laying on the couch before pulling her back against his chest. She said: "I'm sorry, I never got around to returning them, I'll wash them and get them back to you."
He softly kissed the top of her head and said: "Don't worry about it.", while reaching under the blanket that was still covering her front and placed the water bottle on her stomach.
Mac looked up at him with a confused look and said: "How did you know?"
"I asked Harriet about you acting kind of weird today."
"Oh."
They were quite for a few moments before Mac spoke: "Thank you Harm."
"You're welcome Sarah."
Just then they heard beeping coming from the kitchen. Harm gently pushed her forward and got up form the couch. Coming back a few minutes later he was carrying two bowls of chicken soup and two spoons. Settling back on the couch behind Mac they started eating their soup. When they'd finished Harm took both their bowls back into the kitchen and brought a movie out. Asking her: "You up for a movie?"
"Yeah, sure, which one?"
"I brought 'Mona Lisa Smile', 'Freaky Friday' and 'How to lose a guy in 10 days'."
"Those are all girl's movies."
"Yeah, so? You're a girl right?" Mac stared at him so he continued: "Well, you're a woman, so I thought you might like woman movies."
"Harm! Marines don't watch chick-flicks."
"No, but women do, now, pick one or I'll pick one for you."
"Okay, 'Mona Lisa Smile' please." Harm walked over to the dvd-player and missed the smile that spread across Mac's face. Knowing that Harm cared made her feel very happy and loved.
After Harm had turned the telly and dvd-player on he asked Mac: "Hey, do you want some new hot water in there?" Gesturing to the hot water bottle that was now sitting on the floor besides the couch.
"No, that's okay, just come sit with me please?" Mac asked him.
Harm could see the insecurity in her eyes so he said: "I'd love too." With that he turned the lights of and sat down behind her, pulled her back against his chest and resting his chin on the top of her head.
15 minutes into the movie Sarah started moving around, trying to curl up as close as she could without having to leave her closeness to Harm her cramps were starting to become quite bad now and she knew she was in for a sleepless night. Fortunately there was a certain handsome sailor around to distract her for a few more hours.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, just tying to get a bit more comfortable."
"Do you want me to move?"
"No, I'll be alright." After wriggling around some more she got comfortable, almost. Looking up at Harm for a moment she caught his eye before turning back to the movie and picking up his arm that had been laying on the back of the couch and moved it around her to rest on her lower stomach. Sarah could feel the heat of his hand radiate through her shirt. Harm tightened his hold on her for a moment, showing her he was okay with their new position. Just him being here had meant a giant step in their friendship. Harm had let her know that he wanted to be there for her, no matter what and she had accepted.
When the movie had finished Harm looked down to see an almost sleeping Mac in his arms. He didn't really want to get up but he had to turn the telly off and she had to go to bed. Getting out from behind her he turned the lights back on and got the dvd from the player. Turning around to get her to go to bed he finally noticed that she looked actually quite pale.
"Hey, you alright over there Mac?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"You don't look fine. Remember, you're not a marine tonight okay?"
After he'd said that he noticed a small tear sliding down her cheek. Picking her up he carried her into the bedroom. After settling her on the bed he asked: "Can I do anything to make you feel better?"
"Can you get me an aspirin?" she looked up at him, not wanting to fall apart but not sure how to prevent it anymore.
A few minutes later Harm came back into the bedroom and handed her the medicine and a glass of water. After she'd finished the whole glass of water she laid down facing away from him. He knew she was ashamed for letting him see this side of her.
Wanting to reassure her that everything was going to be alright he laid down beside her and cuddled her close with his hand resting on her tummy he said: "Shh, it'll be alright sweetheart, try to get some sleep."
When he said that she tried to get even closer to him. They laid like that for about half an hour when Harm noticed that her breathing still wasn't as even as it would have been, had she been asleep so he whispered as not to scare her: "You still awake?"
"Yeah, I can't sleep."
Harm tightened his hold on her for a moment and then started to softly sing to her
You know our love was meant to be
The kind of love that lasts forever
And I need you here with me
From tonight until the end of time
You should know, everywhere I go
You're always on my mind,
in my heart In my soul
You're the meaning in my life
You're the inspiration
You bring feeling to my life
You're the inspiration
Wanna have you near me
I wanna have you hear me sayin'
No one needs you more than I need you
And I know, yes I know that it's plain to see
We're so in love when we're together
And I know that I need you here with me
From tonight until the end of time
You should know, everywhere I go
You're always on my mind,
in my heart In my soul
You're the meaning in my life
You're the inspiration
You bring feeling to my life
You're the inspiration
Wanna have you near me
I wanna have you hear me sayin'
No one needs you more than I need you
"I need you Sarah, and I love you."
"I love you too Harm." With that she fell asleep and they had the best sleep she had had in ages.
The next morning when Mac woke up the first thing she saw were a pair of beautiful eyes staring at her.
"Good morning." She said.
"Good morning to you too, how do you feel? You look a lot better than last night?"
"I feel better too, I think all the TLC I received last night did the trick. Thank you."
"You're very welcome Sarah." He bend down and slowly brushed her lips with his. After a while they broke apart and Mac smiled up at him saying: "How do you feel about a trip to the museum Flyboy?"
The End
AN: The song was "you're the inspiration" by Chicago. Please R&R.