A/N: I'M BBAAACCKK! And for all those that care, I had the best time of my life at summer camp (did I mention it was summer camp, before?) oh well, I spent a week cut off from civilization (okay, I got on the computer once for fifteen minutes). But never mind my rambling, on with the next chapter!

Thanks to all reviewers: Bite Beccy, Bail's Other Daughter, Steelo, Starryeyes10, Kitty X, martini1988, QueenOfAces, froggy0319, alix33, mjag, moonlight, nursejay80, AnMaDeRoNi, snugglebug, jaggurl, Anne, ficchic, dansingwolf, Radiorox, cbw, wishwaters, Rocket Rain, sgcgirl52, tlk29, JJScottishGirl, Blueangel, aj, French-navy girl, Marge, Jane, Tina Frank, highplainswoman, mac AND harm fan, Ali Baba, super ducky, tumblebuttons, AB, Abigiale, macandharmlover, jazzy, vhosek malacath, Britainy, MartiniMac, HighHeel Shoe Lover, Sirus 745, Fan, Pissed off Poet 1, southernqt, BrittanyLS, sugar230, K, Ilovemyselftoday, eggy weg, xobabygurlxo, Reni-Maniac, Cille, ForensicsFreak1988, HMtogether4ever, MaritzaCarmichael, Lara783, janessab, tizy, June, vrbinkaCZ, Cherise, DD2, Bekka, Lani-LoveNPain, Dessler, mommie, daisymh, Laura, confused, basketball babe8, Strawberry Kittens, rainydays502, S, Broesel, ady, Kristie, writingismything, TV Angel 711, TaTe.ArI.Obsessed.Writers, and MiDushiNoSushi!

Note: this chapter starts off in Mac's POV – and with girl names, 'cause I didn't have enough time to do that last chapter.

Team Member 2

2054

Mac and Jake's Apartment

Mac's POV

"So what girls names did you get?" Jake asked, sifting through my collection of baby boy names that laid disorganized upon the living room table. "The boy names are nice, but I still prefer Jake Jr. over all of them."

"Well, you would," I replied, rolling my eyes while propping my (swollen) feet up on a pillow. "You wanna hear the girl's names?"

"Hit me."

I sighed, relaxing against the cushiness of the couch. "There's a lot of them. Ava, Hayley, Emma, Rose, Sophie, Taylor, Lily, Shaniqua, Elizabeth –"

"Whoa," Jake cut me off with a concerned glance. "You're going to get all out of breath reading those." He takes a quick glance at the rather lengthy list. "It seems like there are more girls names than boys."

"I think there are," I replied, moaning while massaging my temples. "God, so much to think about."

"Hey, the baby comes in a month," Jake said soothingly, taking the list from my hands while his eyes roamed up and down it. "And that's all the time in the WORLD." His brows furrow into a frown. "I don't see Jane on this list."

"No one suggested Jane," I replied wearily, stretching out on the couch. My swollen stomach made any sort of general exercise a LOT of work. "But lots of people suggested Rose, Hayley, and Catherine or Katherine – C and K."

"They're nice names," Jake replied, kicking back into the arm chair. "But not as nice as Jane."

I flashed him a discouraging smile. "But I suppose you might be biased."

"Hmm?" Jake murmured, flashing me an inquisitive glance.

I reflected a knowing look at him. God, these past few months, I really HAD gotten to know Jake. And the fundamentals about him were: he never did anything without reason. Everything Jake did, there was always a motive. Which wasn't a bad thing, but it made you hellishly curious about some things. Like this. "Who's Jane?"

Jake's expression wasn't nearly as off-guard as I might have presumed it to be. But nothing seemed to surprise Jake. His exterior was always rather calm and collected. "Someone I . . . used to know."

I cocked one eyebrow up to the sky. "Care to elaborate?"

Jake shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'not really' but I knew he would anyway. Just because I was pressing him with my eyes and because of the fact that Jake was perhaps not as open as I would like him to be, but with the people he trusted, he was not particularly discreet about his past.

"She was . . . a girl," he replied slowly and not looking directly at me. "A girl I used to know."

Damn his reluctance. This had the potential to be the makings of a good story. And considering the fact that my hormones were running rampant, I was having a hard time keeping my emotions under restraint as I asked him to explain himself again.

Jake's hazel eyes seemed to glaze over unwittingly – maybe unwillingly. He shook his head slowly, as though dislodging a memory. "She was my partner . . . my first partner when I entered the agency. She was . . . different."

Now we're getting some where. "What did she look like?"

Jake seemed to warm up to the topic just then. "She was small. Not like REALLY small, but . . . petite. Yeah, that's it. With a wiry frame and long brown hair. She never liked to leave it out, though. She always had it done up or something. She didn't think it looked good out." Jake shook his head argumentatively. "But it did."

"I thought you said she never left it out," I cut in, almost immediately mentally chastising myself for interrupting Jake. Now I would have to work to get him going again.

"She didn't," Jake replied, his voice very predictably withdrawing from the subject. "But I saw it out once."

An opening. "When?"

Jake looked REALLY uncomfortable now. He squirmed a little in his seat. "She was out on a date. I . . . we met by accident. I almost didn't recognize her."

Jake almost seemed . . . hurt. It was strange. I had never seen such a foreign emotion in Jake's eyes. "She must have been something special," I concluded.

"She was different," Jake replied stiffly, memories flying before his eyes. He cleared his throat to feign indifference, but it fell upon deaf ears. He leaned back even further in the arm chair, dead determined not to meet my eyes, leaving me only to question myself. Why hadn't I thought about this before? Jake was in his early thirties, undeniably handsome, with a roguishly attractive grin and not an unappealing personality. Why was he so alone?

"You know you can talk to me," I said softly, keeping my eyes on him though he would not lift his head to meet my stare.

Jake squirmed a little. "I liked her. Jane, I mean. I liked her as a friend. She was . . . my best friend." His voice was dead serious. "I don't think I realized it at the time. She kind of took my life at a storm. You know, at a time when I was really messed up. And . . . she made it better. She had the weird way of being able to fix my problems."

I nodded wordlessly. I knew EXACTLY how he felt.

"She had an attitude." Jake grinned kind of wildly at this. "A flare for temper. There were days when she was sweet as candy and other where it was like coming across Attila The Hun. But she was . . ." Jake finished with gestures. "I don't know. She entered my life and turned it upside down. And maybe I'm not supposed to like that." Jake shrugged. "But . . . she was different."

I noted how careful he was about choosing his words. Different – a perfectly harmless word. Lacking depth, yet incredibly precise. "You loved her."

Jake would neither confirm nor deny. "Nothing ever happened between the two of us."

I would not drop it. "Because you were partners."

"We were friends."

"Jake," I said exasperatedly.

"Mac," he drawled back. I hit him lightly on the arm.

"What happened to her?" I asked softly, almost tenderly. Jake was talking about her in the past tense, and I was eager to know.

Jake looked down to the ground, once again the air between us becoming unaccustomedly uncomfortable. "She's . . . gone." His words hit hard. "A long time ago."

"I'm so sorry," I whispered. Had I known, I wouldn't have ever gotten into it. Jake did not look like the carefree man I'd been living with the past months, the one that couldn't prevent a smile from creeping onto his features, or his sarcastic comments from escaping him. No, this was an entirely different person, someone I wasn't familiar with. But someone I'd like to know. "What happened?"

"She was killed," Jake spat out the words sourly. "I was there. He . . . dammit, he shot her. He looked right at her, their eyes connected, then he drew that gun level and pulled the trigger." Jake seemed to be shaking in anger. "He didn't have to. She was of no threat. She was unarmed and at his damn mercy. And he shot her." Anger seeped into his voice. "Right between the eyes." He let go of a controlled breath. "I couldn't . . . there was nothing I could do."

And I believed him, with all my heart I did. I wrapped a comforting arm around him. "I'm really sorry, Jake. You must have really cared about her."

Jake didn't verbally reply but his silence said it all. He sat stiffly there with my arm around him. "And then Vera came along," Jake grimaced slightly. "She was . . . like Jane. Sort of."

Now this was a side of the story I HADN'T heard.

"She didn't look like her," Jake continued. "Jane was sort of . . . I don't know. She had dark hair but really bright green eyes. They used to glow in the darkness. And Vera . . . well, you know how Vera looks. But she acted the same, like Jane. Kind of fiery . . . very willful." Jake tried to keep the emotion out of his voice but failed dismally. "They both liked to turn my life upside down. I don't think they meant to – it just sort of happened."

"Is that why you loved Vera?" I asked quietly, staring into Jake's deep hazel eyes. "Because she reminded you of Jane?"

Jake shook his head. "I loved Vera for Vera. But . . . she gave me hope. You know, that my one and only shot didn't begin and end with Jane." Jake shook his head forcefully. "I must sound terrible, don't I?"

It's my turn to shake my head. "No, you don't . . ." I meet his eyes. "You just sound like a guy who's had an awful lot of hard luck."

Jake leaned back with a reluctant sigh. "It must be awful hard for you to sit and listen to me complain about my life. Considering the fact that you're . . ." he motioned to my stomach, "you have much bigger problems to deal with."

"Hey," I whispered, smiling at him encouragingly. "Any time you need a shoulder to cry on, I'll always be here."

And I meant it wholly and sincerely from the bottom most part of my heart. Jake was becoming very much like Harm and I had been before my feelings for him had erupted. A genuinely companionable sort of guy that was really very easy to talk to.

"God, life's so complicated." Jake's reply was muffled due to the fact he was holding his face in his hands. "Every path you head down, there's another twist waiting for you. Something unexpected, something that'll grab hold of you and shake. But I guess that's the experience. The ability to hang on and not let go because you'll always believe in the fact that there's something better out there for you. A beam of light in a shadowed path." Jake looked at me and held out his arm in a firm shake. "Shall we hang on together?"

And I grinned at him in return, grasping his hand. "Till death do us part."

Same Time

28 Belleville Drive

Harm's POV

"Alright," I said slowly and wearily, flipping my hand of cards over and reshuffling the deck. "Let's move on. Who do you have for me next?"

I watched as Webb flipped open his briefcase and pulled out another stack of three banded files. "Next one is one of the most important members of the team. The technician." He catches my look of disbelief. "Believe it or not, Rabb," Clay clarifies, "a technician is responsible for all communication between members of the team. And that might not be a big deal before hand, but when it comes down to crunch time – the tech is responsible for everything. Mainly computer work, that's true – but it's still big."

"Alright, alright, I get the point," I replied, waving him off. "So who do you have?"

"Three men," Clay replied, laying out each file for me. "Joe Hull. Thirty-eight, brother Kevin, wife, daughter, FBI man of twelve years –"

"Wait," I hold my hand up. "Rewind. Wife and daughter?"

"Harm –" Clay tries to cut in but I've already stopped listening.

"I told you, Webb, no one with a family." My voice is dead serious and so are my eyes. "I'm not costing these families. Dammit, I've pretty much screwed up any chance I ever had of one."

"Harm," Clay's voice attempts to be soothing but falls dismally flat against the gravity of the situation. "We have to be practical. If we stand any shot we have to pick the very best to assess –"

"No family men or women," I replied with dead finality in my voice. "There are bigger things at play here." I couldn't believe what I'd just said. Nothing, no one was more important than Mac or . . . our child. The reality struck me very hard at that particular moment. "This important to me, Clay. I'm not going to be the one who breaks up a family."

"But, Harm," Clay tries again but I cut him off.

"I said no."

Clay holds my eyes in a stare for a minute before dropping and reluctantly putting away Joe Hull's file. "That leaves us with two – Edward White and Keith Lyndon."

"Let's begin with White." My voice is so commanding I've begin to feel a little of the Chegwidden strength seep into my voice. More than anything this encourages me. I can feel my throat tighten. Do not get emotional I will myself. Don't let it carry you away.

"Edward White, 28, brother David and sister Kathryn. No spouse, no children. Been with Interpol for little over four years. Very bright. Designed several programs himself – he's on the path towards a brilliant career. Never been personally involved with missions, but has provided technology that has aided many."

"And you believe he's capable of being personally involved?" I asked, my eyebrow arched. 28 . . . damn, that was young. And as Webb said, with a bright future ahead of him.

"He's got to start somewhere," Webb concluded, throwing open the next file. "You and me – we could give him some great experience." Clay winked at me. "Besides, we make one hell of a team. It would be good to get him involved with that."

I stared hard at Clay. "You really want him, don't you?"

Clay looks uneasy. "I've been wanting to get him into the CIA for a long time. If he goes along with this, Kovac will break no sweat in letting him into the agency. And then he can be used to the best of his capabilities."

"Damn," I grinned at Clay. "You DO want him."

Clay looked away, but I was pretty sure he was grinning too. "Do you mind?"

"Not if he does his job – and well."

Clay extends his hand and we shake. Not as too men, two colleagues, or whatever the hell else there is. As two friends. We shake hands like we never have before. With a sense of complete honesty and unhesitating trust. And somewhere back down that road there was a Paraguay. But that was then. And this is now.

A little later

Vera's Room

Clay's POV

Knock. Knock.

I withdrew my clenched fist from the door. I hadn't seen Vera all day save the fleeting glance I'd caught when I'd first walked in. She was doing her best to avoid me and dammit, she was succeeding. I knocked again, louder and more powerful this time. Lord, it wasn't even ten o'clock yet, she couldn't be asleep.

My hand went to her door knob. She couldn't be asleep. She couldn't be. "Vera!" I called, willing my voice to sound strong rather than worried. No answer. Just the calm silence of night. I sighed, "I'm coming in."

I opened up the door and walked in slowly. The light was off but instead of darkness surrounding the room, the curtains of Vera's window was open and brilliant soft moonlight shafted in through the bare glass. Vera sat on the edge of her bed, hugging her knees and staring out the window, a far away look shining in her dark eyes.

"Vera," I whispered, walking over to her slowly. Vera turned her head ever so slightly, her eyes stopping to meet mine before almost immediately turning away. There was something different about her. Her skin was paler than it usually was, but her cheeks seemed to be aflame in the dim moonlight, her auburn hair standing out vividly against her skin. She looked . . . scared.

"Vera," I whispered again, more anxiously. Dammit, she was scaring the hell out of me. I sat down beside her and took one of her hands in mine and squeezed it but she didn't squeeze back. She looked possessed. "Dammit, Vera, talk to me," I said louder this time.

Vera turned to me suddenly, as though for the first time actually noting my presence. Her eyes scrutinize every inch of my body as though waiting for recognition. And then suddenly, her eyes light up. She finds it. "Hey."

I feel the shivers that run through my body suddenly cease. She's okay. "Dammit, you were scaring the hell out of me," I said feelingly.

"I'm sorry," Vera whispered almost robotically. I withdrew my hand from hers. Who was she and what had she done with Vera Azhad? Vera was speaking almost dispassionately, as though lost. And dammit, it hurt me that she wasn't speaking to me. It shouldn't have, in fact, it should have had no effect. But everything was working opposite. She was making me crumble.

"Harm, um, picked out our informant just now. Tony Shapiro. It was a good choice – Shapiro will do the job. He's good. And for tech he chose Edward White. I don't know if you remember Teddy . . ." I rambled but Vera cut me off.

"Why not Hull?" she asked.

"Family man," I returned sighing. Joe Hull would have been the best man for the job. Damn Harm and his humble nobility.

"Oh yes," Vera whispered almost to herself. "I almost forgot."

I stared at Vera for a moment, her facial features aglow from the flood of moonlight against her skin. Her eyes were dark and shining, but within the shady pools of her eyes there was the dominating shine of fear. Fear I had never seen upon Vera's face – one of complete and utter helplessness. "Vera, there's nothing to be scared about. Harm's going to be alright."

"Dammit, you don't know that," Vera snapped back vehemently. "It's too big a risk."

"But everything in life is a risk, Vera," I plead with her, turning her head to look at mine. "And all that Harm can see is the gain. The chance to be with his family, to have his old identity back, to be himself. I can't deny him that and I don't think you can either. We've just got to help him. It's all that we can do." Vera looks away but I force her eyes up to mine again. "He's doing a GOOD thing here, Vera. You might not think so but Abbas NEEDS to be caught. We can't have him loose. He's not just a danger to Harm, he's a danger to everyone. You, me, anyone."

My voice is soft and Vera is quiet. For a minute we just sit there, our cone of silence suffocating us and then, "I just can't lose him, Clay."

I turn to her, her dark eyes filled with unshed tears, her skin pale against the assault of the moonlight. She turns away a little and this time I let her, but my eyes don't leave her face for a minute. "You won't lose him."

"Yes, I will, dammit," Vera's voice is suddenly vehement. "I lose everyone that gets close to me. Hell, anyone that comes within a mile radius of my heart is too far gone to be revived." She chokes on her words. "My parents, my uncle – and hell, he raised me, Clay. After their death he brought me up." Her eyes are cast downwards. "Then Khalid. Dammit, do you know how much that hurt?" she shook her head. "I don't know if you even remember him . . ."

"I remember," I cut in quickly, almost stiffly. I had an amazing recollection of Vera's past boyfriends. "Charming fellow."

My sarcasm falls upon deaf ears as Vera continues. "And then Kingsley. We were never that close but he got me started on the CIA, Clay. He got me started on my job, my life . . . me . . . and then there was you, and –" but I cut her off right there.

"Vera, you didn't lose me," my voice is urgent. "I'm right here."

Vera's dark eyes look into my cool grey ones. "You have no idea what you did to me when you left me in Malaysia." I open my mouth but Vera hurries on. "I know it wasn't your fault. You were assigned to Washington and I to Iran and we would have been separated anyway, but dammit, Webb, it DID hurt. When we separated then, we . . . we separated for good."

I can only watch as the tale of our lives, the story of our clashing personalities unfolds before me. And for a reason unbeknownst to me, I'm intrigued. I'm interested beyond belief.

"It wasn't supposed to happen, Clay," Vera's voice pleads. "A phone call, maybe an e-mail, SOMETHING once in a while would have been good. But you left. And we broke off contact. And maybe that WAS for the best. But look at us now. It took a hell of a lot to get us back together. And it'll take another hellish amount to get us back to where we were."

Her words fall upon me, crushing my vision of myself. I stare at Vera. And suddenly, it strikes me how beautiful the glow of the moonlight is upon her skin, how the darkness of her eyes shines in every which way. Her dark auburn hair curls stubbornly around the nape of her neck and I smile to myself. Slowly, my hand removes itself from its resting place on her shoulder and entangles itself in her hair. My eyes sink into hers. "I'm right here. Right now," I whisper.

The bridge our eyes have formed does not break as my lips follow hers hungrily. One of my arms wraps itself around her small waist, drawing her body towards mine while my other hand rests on the back of her head. Her eyes are soft and dark and completely innocent. "Forever," I whispered as our mouths met hungrily. "Forever."

A/N: Okay, hmm, let's see – can I get a chapter of TLWL out today too? Cross your fingers. So . . . I'm back. Let me know what you thought of this chapter.

MiDushiNoSushi: funky name, my friend. Very original. LOL, thanks for the compliments but honestly, there's a lot of good fanfic out there. And isn't it just so awesome saying names backwards? Words too. I do that a lot.

Starryeyes10: thanks

Sugar230: LOL, I'm closing in on the end of the story. I'm so close I can feel it . . . lol, but I suppose chapter-wise I'm pretty far away.

ForensicsFreak1988: LOL, ya – I've got to find a chapter to do the girl's names in. I was going to do both last chapter, but then it became soooo long. And then I tried to do it this chapter, but it wasn't working. Hmm, I'll try for next chapter.

Vrbinkacz: I'll assure you on one thing, if it's a boy – his name will not be Harmon. LOL, as soon as I post this chapter I'll read your chapter. Promise.

TaTe.ArI.Obsessed.Writers: thanks, and how come you changed your name? LOL, I didn't know you wrote for NCIS! Congrats!

Southernqt: lol, ya – not many people know the gender of the baby. Actually . . . yeah, it's only me that knows. I kept switching around right at the beginning but now I've definitely made up my mind. As for the perfect timing thing . . . well, true – Harm has never had that. But read on . . . this story's about to get interesting.

Dessler: LOL, ya – I did do a lot of research last chapter. This one too, though not as much. Baby names are soooo hard to pick out, I find, 'cause the more that I look at, the more that I like. And now I'm just totally swamped with names. LOL, but I have decided on the name for the baby. It took a lot of time and a lot of internal arguing, but I've got it.

Radiorox: thanks, and I did. The only bad part: I spent a grand total of fifteen minutes on a computer all week. You have no clue how cut off from civilization I felt until I returned yesterday.

Xlovexnxpainx: lol, ya – David, Todd, and James are all really good names. There's a lot of names I really like.

Alix33: omg, Smarties are my favorite chocolate ever! I don't know if you get them in the US but I know for sure that you get them in Canada – every convenient store you go to. LOL, but wanna know a little secret? I actually like the ones in Canada better than the ones in England. I don't know why, but I just really like the chocolate a lot more. Maybe it's 'cause I'm used to the Canadian ones . . . lol, I never knew some countries didn't have Smarties! How do the people there survive?

Jamie: hmm, Todd, Quinn, and Hunter, eh? You're right – I can't confirm your suspicions on the gender. I just want to let you know that I know the gender (I have been known to switch back and forth before the actually written birth) and that I know the name (wish I could tell you but you'll find out REALLY soon, and you'd probably like it to be a surprise anyway).

Froggy0319: lol, there's nothing wrong with being sentimental! Don't worry, this story's soon going to get interesting. It'll take a new turn . . . I should stop talking now before I give everything away.

Strawberry Kittens: LOL, the gender's coming! Hold your horses, you'll find out SOON.

Daisymh: lol, well I hope you liked this chapter!

Broesel: lol, it's good that you didn't miss anything. Omg, while I was away I thought up so much new stuff for a new story. Ugh, I gotta control it though. I should finish this story first. LOL

TV Angel 711: well, the whole point is that everyone is supposed to think he's dead. It keeps him safe if as little people as possible know. Of course, going back to his old life does mean enlightening everyone, but I'm sure they won't mind. Considering the fact that they were all severely distraught upon his demise. LOL, but cliffhangers are the best!

Dansingwolf: omg, that was such a short review. How am I supposed to keep with that? LOL, I sooo should have thought of Carolyn Imes! She totally slipped my mind. I was just scrambling around trying to find women that had a connection to JAG. It's such a shame Mac doesn't have sisters or something! Anywho, yes, you're right about the JKR thing. When I was writing that line I was thinking about Mad Eye Moody the entire time. Aren't I bad?

Snugglebug: LOL, now I'm back so you no longer have to miss this story. Yeah, I haven't had Trish in this story much. Thought it would be nice to include her in the last chapter. It went with the setting.