Disclaimer: None of the JAG characters are mine, they belong ot Donald Bellisario and CBS and whatnot.

First real attempt at writing a pure JAG fan fic. Used a little bit of creative license/author's privelage to massage the timelines to my liking. Basically Harm was diverted from FL to the middle east, and now Mac, Harm, and Vukovic are all together out there. Story starts basically in the middle, I promise I'll be explaining how they got to where they are, just bear with me. Read, review, constructive criticism is welcome, flames will be summarily ignored. Enjoy.

"Harm… Harm!" He stirred, groaning, his mind fragmenting. The voice whispered again, "Harm!" Was that his name? He wasn't entirely positive, though the voice seemed familiar. Groaning again he tried to move away from the insidious whispering, only to fail miserably as the wall made its presence known. "Commander Rabb! Get your ass up, sailor!"

Harm struggled to raise his head, peering blearily towards the door. Slowly his mind cleared, he recognized the voice, "Sarah?" His voice was scarcely louder than a whisper. Shaking his head slightly to clear the cobwebs he managed to make it to a sitting position. Clearing his throat he tried again, "Sarah?"

"Harm! Can you stand?"

"I… I think so, give me a second." Taking a deep breath Harm climbed to his feet, leaning heavily against the wall for support. Finally his surroundings sank in; the room was barely six by six. Dim and dank the only light came from a single bare bulb in the ceiling, though he was certain the wattage was only about 40. It wasn't even large enough for him to lie down full length. A sturdy door was in one wall, the only access to anything outside the room. It was from the other side of the door that Mac's voice was coming from. "Ok, I'm up."

"I'm going to get you out of there; your lock's really rusty so it's going to take a little time."

"Wait," a thought occurred to him as his thoughts shuffled back into place. "Where's the lieutenant?" There was a pause. On the other side of the door Mac sighed, resting her forehead briefly against the door. She'd nearly forgotten about Lt. Vukovic. Finally she answered, her voice a bit strained, "The next room. I'll get him next."

"Mac… do you have time to save us both? Speaking of which, how'd you get out anyways?"

Mac smiled faintly, though her heart twisted, "Knocked out my guard, he underestimated Marines."

"Heh," Harm laughed shortly. "You still didn't answer the first question, Mac."

"Harm…"

Harm sighed, his gut clenching. Leaning against the door he closed his eyes tightly for a moment, he knew the answer. He heard a muffled sound from outside, his head jerked up, time was running out. Slowly he spoke, the words falling heavily on his own ears, "Save the lieutenant, Mac."

"Harm!" Mac's voice was edging towards panic. She glanced around quickly, hearing the noise but no one was in sight, yet. She knew what Harm was doing and she felt sick over it.

"You and I both know only two of us can get out, Mac. Save the lieutenant."

"No, Harm, I'm not leaving you."

"Do it, Mac. He has more life ahead of him than I do, save him."

"Harm… I am not leaving you," her voice broke. Tears lurked just behind her eyes, fiercely she blinked them back. She refused to break down; she couldn't afford to break down. Through misty eyes Mac stared down at the lock which had refused to budge, though she'd been working at it the whole time. A voice in the back of her mind told her it wasn't going to open; she knew it wouldn't budge but something in her wouldn't allow her to stop trying.

"Mac… you can't even get the lock open can you?" Harm asked softly, his voice barely carrying through the door. Mac blinked again, angrily dashing away a tear that managed to escape. Furious with herself she hit the door with the heel of her hand. She didn't answer him, knowing he'd be able to figure out the answer whether she spoke or not. Mac leaned against the door and sighed. "Sarah…" Harm murmured her name, just loud enough to be heard, "save Lt. Vukovic." His voice was steady, hiding his own inner turmoil.

She closed her eyes against the feelings his use of her first name evoked. Slowly she nodded, even though he couldn't see her. Quietly she answered, "I'll come back for you, Harm. Don't you dare die."

"I'll try."

"Promise me," Mac's voice broke, "promise me you won't die, Harm."

Harm fought back his own tears; gently he laid his hand against the door as if he could reach through and touch her on the other side. His heart was breaking inside; his voice thick with unshed tears, "I promise." And he vowed to himself that whatever it took he would do everything in his power to stay alive. He had to.

Mac didn't feel much better, she knew Harm always kept his promises but she couldn't help the feeling that this might be one promise he couldn't keep. Silently she stood there, leaning against the door. Though she knew she needed to leave quickly she couldn't quite drag herself away just yet. Her best friend was on the other side of that door, about to be left behind for an indeterminate time. And if she was honest with herself, he could quite probably be more. "Harm?" she murmured, she wasn't even sure he'd hear her.

"Yeah?"

"I… uh…" she brushed away another tear, the words lodging in her throat.

"Mac… there's no time left, go."

"I…"

"Go. I'll be waiting when you come to save my six," Harm forced a weak smile through his own tears, hoping it would imbue his words with more reassurance then he could actually muster. He was feeling weaker by the second; his entire body ached though he couldn't quite remember why. He waited for an answer, when he received none he insisted again, "Mac, go, get yourself and…" he hesitated, "and the lieutenant out of here."

Mac nodded to herself and finally murmured, "I love you."

Harm froze, he wasn't positive he'd heard what he thought. He'd waited so long to hear those words from her and now he couldn't be sure he wasn't hallucinating. She'd barely spoken loud enough for him to hear, hell he wasn't even sure she had spoken. And if she had, he didn't know if she'd actually wanted him to hear, if she'd even said them consciously. "Mac, I…"

"I'll be back for you," she stated clearly, switching fully into Marine-mode as he thought of it. Then he heard her footsteps moving away and she was gone. Turning, he slowly slid down the wall, head dropping slowly into his hands, elbows propped against his knees. He could feel the tears slowly running down his face as he whispered brokenly to the empty air, "I love you, Sarah."

Mac discovered that the lock on Vukovic's door was newer than the one on Harm's, opening without much effort. She'd cleared the tears; her jaw was set, eyes flinty and cold as she shoved open the door. Mac didn't blink or flinch as she straight armed the lieutenant who'd tried to jump her. Glancing down at him she snapped, "Let's go."

Vukovic blinked up at her from where he sprawled on the ground, "Nice one."

"Don't mess with a marine, now get up, and let's go." Mac turned and peered into the hallway, tugging the pistol she'd confiscated from her guard from the back of her BDU pants. She looked over her shoulder as Vukovic managed to stand and come up behind her.

"Maybe I should take the gun."

Mac arched an eyebrow, the only indication of a reaction, "I'll shoot you first, lieutenant." Dismissing him from her mind she moved out into the hallway, gun at the ready. Reaching the corner she double checked that the safety was off and that a round was chambered. Vukovic followed closely, studying her intently.

She could feel his gaze boring into her back but she ignored it, her mind raced, planning the best way out for herself and the lieutenant. But her heart was back in the one remaining locked room, Harm's cell. She felt empty; the only thing that mattered was getting out of here alive so that she could return for him.

Without speaking she went right, creeping through the building. Vukovic crept up behind her, whispering quietly, so close she could feel his breath on her neck, "Do you know where we're going?"

Subtly she moved away from him, having no desire to be anywhere near him, in fact if it hadn't been for Harm's insistence she'd been close to just leaving him in his cell. The small voice in her head told her she wouldn't have done that, and she knew it was true, but a large part of her wished she could. If it hadn't been for Lt. Hotshot they wouldn't be in this situation to begin with. And Harm wouldn't be a prisoner, wouldn't be being left behind in an Iraqi prison.

"Come on!" Vukovic dashed after the fleeing insurgents, service weapon in hand.

"Vukovic! No!" Mac screamed after him. Harm spun around, looking frantically for the reason for her scream.

Seeing the lieutenant sprinting off he cursed, "Shit! Mac, we gotta stop him!"

Mac nodded and started after Vukovic, Harm hot on her heels. They had just rounded an outcropping when they were confronted with a veritable wall of weapons. Vukovic lay on the ground nearby, trussed up with rope, unconscious. Harm and Mac skidded to a halt. Glancing at each other they dropped their own weapons and raised their hands…

Shaking off the memory, Mac glanced around the next corner. Vukovic was still right behind her but she couldn't move further away without stepping out into the hall and she didn't particularly want to do that. She could see two guards standing at the end of the intersecting hall, apparently chatting about something or other. They were too far away for her to make out the words, but both were heavily armed. Breathing a curse she pulled back and leaned against the wall to think.

Closing her eyes briefly, she pictured Harm's face, not as it was after the beatings but before, when they'd been on the carrier. Shaking off the sorrow the thought caused she opened her eyes again, arching a curious eyebrow at Lt. Vukovic who had leaned closer to peer at her face. Though she didn't speak verbally her eyes spoke volumes, silent warning him to back off. Vukovic quirked a slight smile and leaned around her to peer down the corridor. Sighing softly Mac edged back away from him as much as possible.

Vukovic didn't look at her but whispered softly, "We can take them, ma'am."

Mac looked at him sharply and whispered back, her voice reflecting her annoyance at his assumption, "In case you haven't noticed they are both armed and at least 50 feet away, they see us, they shoot us and we're both screwed."

Vukovic flinched slightly and shot back, "So what are we supposed to do?"

Mac sighed again and glanced back at the two men, they were still there and apparently oblivious to the two JAG officer's presence. She thought for a moment, mentally reviewing what she had learned about the building. Gunshots would definitely be heard through much of the area. She bit back a curse; she would be able to take them both out but not without alerting everyone else. But they needed to get down that corridor, and soon.

But apparently soon was going to be immediately as an alarm sounded; their disappearance had been discovered. Shoving down her flash of fear for Harm she acted swiftly. Shoving Vukovic out of the way she stepped out slightly from the wall, gun steady in a two handed grip. Smoothly she fired two shots, taking out both guards. "Come on." She headed down the hall, scanning the surroundings intently, pistol at the ready. Reaching the bodies she bent down for a brief second; grabbing extra clips from one, grateful that they were carrying the same model pistol as her guard had been.

Glancing at Vukovic she signaled for him to arm himself then follow her. He nodded slightly, grabbing pistol and clips from the other man. They could hear a commotion not too far away, and some yelling from the way they had come. Mac jogged forward, glancing around the next corner. Finally, though it had been maybe five minutes since their escape it felt like a lifetime, but the door to the outside was just ahead. Of course then they had to get away, she refused to think that far ahead. Shooting another glance at Vukovic she could tell he was watching her almost as intently as he was watching the hallway.

Rolling her eyes she sprinted for the door, Vukovic a couple of steps behind. Two men burst out of a door along the hall, just in front of her. Without thinking she dove, cursing vehemently as she rolled up against the wall. Her ribs hurt like hell, a sharp reminder that she wasn't in nearly as good of shape as she needed to be. Spinning she shot the nearest man in the leg, watching as he crumpled to the ground with a shout. The other spun around, bringing up his weapon to take her out. She jerked out of the way, biting back a scream as the bullet grazed her arm.

Distantly she wondered where the hell Vukovic was. Another shot rang out and she flinched, bracing herself for the impact that never came. Instead she watched as the man was spun around when a bullet clipped his shoulder. Snarling he shot blindly behind him. Mac pulled up her pistol one handed and shot him in the back. Staggering to her feet she shot him again, ensuring he'd stay down.

Slowly she dragged her gaze up, to find Vukovic staring at her, his pistol out. Leaning heavily against the wall she ejected the spent clip. Slamming another into place she flipped the slide release. Noticing Vukovic still staring in stunned silence she snapped out, "Let's go." Without waiting for an answer she turned, pushing away thoughts of the pain in her ribs and arm. She had a feeling there were other injuries to be concerned about but she refused to think of that.

Moving towards the door once more she kept a wary eye out for more people to appear. The yelling in the rear of the building had gotten louder, and some commotion was heading their way. She closed her eyes briefly against the tears that threatened as she realized the screaming was probably directed at Harm, the sole remaining captive. Refusing to think of what they would do to him she moved resolutely forward, gun held in one hand as she wasn't sure her other arm was up to bracing it. Vukovic wasn't far behind as they jogged down the corridor. Reaching the door, she waved Vukovic to get on the other side of it before kicking it open.