AN: I hope you're still with me. Many thanks to those who sent feedback and to Alex for betaing.

Part 7

Mac looked up when there were a few quick taps on the doorpost of her office.

"Hey Harm," she smiled as she saw who was there.

"Hey. Everything OK?" he asked her.

"Yeah. You?"

"I need to ask you a favor," Harm said and closed the door behind him.

"Sure."

"The general is sending me out to the Seahawk for an investigation," he started. They knew that they had both been extremely lucky lately that they hadn't had to go out of town a lot. In Mac's case it was a lot because the general had buried her in administrative work and so she hadn't gotten a lot of cases. At least Harm had gotten two weeks without being sent away since Mattie had moved into the house.

"You want me and Andy to come over and stay with Mattie?" Mac asked.

"You'd do that?" Harm said surprised that she had guessed so fast what he was going to ask her.

"I'd love to," Mac said affirmatively. "I told you I'd help you out, remember?"

"Yeah, I guess so." He smiled at her "I'll help you back whenever you need it, OK?"

"I know. You're leaving right away?"

"Yeah, I'm just going to call Mattie and tell her about it. Can you pick her up from the hospital after work?"

"Yeah," Mac nodded.

Andy had been thrilled when she found out that they were going to sleep over at Harm's and Mattie's. Mattie was her biggest idol and she was always thrilled when she could spend time with her. Mac had a feeling it helped Mattie too to have the little girl admire every move she made. Mattie was moving along very well with physical therapy and she was making progress even though they were not at a pace that suited her. She was still determined that she'd walk again regardless of what the doctors said. Though on the outside she seemed to be coming to terms with everything that had happened to her, Mac knew from what Harm had told her that a lot of it was just Mattie putting up a brave front when she was around other people. On the inside there was still a lot of anger and hurt.

When Mac and Andy came by the hospital to pick her up Mattie was already waiting outside. Mac could see her barely hiding the disappointment that Harm had been sent away. This had been an issue the first time she had lived with him as well and she still hadn't quite gotten used to it.

Andy however tried her best to cheer Mattie up and by the time they got into the house and Mac was making dinner for the three of them, she could hear the sounds of Mattie and Andy playing and talking like they normally did.

Harm had left a note with some instructions and tips on how everything worked around there, but most of all it was another thank you for the help.

There was one guestroom in the house and it was decided that Andy would stay there while Mac took Harm's bedroom. Andy didn't find any problems falling asleep in the new place and Mattie soon followed and went to bed early as well. Eventually Mac was the only one awake in the quiet house. She sat down by the coffee table in the living room and did some work on a case she would hopefully be able to close tomorrow.

The first minutes in Harm's bed felt a bit weird, like she was invading his privacy even though he had offered it to her, but after lying awake for almost an hour, which was what it usually took for her to fall asleep, she drifted off into dreamland.

The case that Harm had at first thought he'd be able to wrap up quickly ended up being a lot bigger. He worried about how things were going along at home, but there really was no need for him to worry about that. Once Mattie got over the disappointment of him not being there, she enjoyed having Mac and Andy around and Mac didn't feel that living here was burdening her at all. Mattie still needed a lot of help, although not as much as she and Harm had thought Mac realized. Harm could always devote all of his time to her, but Mac also needed to take care of Andy so Mattie ended up doing more things for herself.

On Friday afternoon, Mac took the girls to the video store to rent some movies and then they ordered in pizza that they enjoyed in front of the TV. Though she had already seen the movie four times Andy was at once quite engulfed in the search for Nemo, but once it was over she wasn't far from being asleep and after some encouraging from Mac she agreed to go to bed.

"She's asleep?" Mattie asked when Mac walked into the kitchen. Mattie had started cleaning up in the living room.

"Yeah," Mac nodded. "It took about two seconds."

"Are you still up for watching 'Love, Actually'?" Mattie asked and pointed at the second DVD they had rented.

"Definitely," Mac said.

They went back into the living room and Mac loaded the DVD-player for the second time this evening and then she cuddled up in the couch with a blanket around her. She had seen the movie once before, she realized as it started playing, but this time she definitely had nicer company. When the end credits started rolling she looked over at Mattie and their eyes met in a smile.

"I really liked this one," Mattie concluded.

"Yeah, me too."

"Why is it that you and Harm never got together?" Mattie surprised Mac by asking.

Mac looked at her with raised eyebrows. She wondered how much Mattie knew about the two of them. Telling her the old story about them being just friends crossed her mind, but she realized that it was already too late for that.

Mac sighed before she started "Complications."

"Does Andy and I have anything to do with it?" Mac got the feeling that this was something Mattie had been wondering for a while.

"No, no," Mac said a bit too fast and Mattie just felt more sure about her suspicions.

"You know we wouldn't mind. I mean Andy and I. She already feels like a little sister and stuff."

"I'm really glad she has you. You take the time to talk to her," Mac was grateful for the possibility to change the subject away from her and Harm.

"She reminds me a lot of ... of someone I used to know."

"Yeah, in what way?"

"You know how she's always so excited in meeting new people and she's so trusting despite everything she's been through."

"I couldn't understand that at first. Except for Harm she just embraced everyone from the start."

"But she likes him now."

Mac nodded in agreement. "Was it after your mother died that you didn't feel like you could trust people anymore?"

Mattie just nodded "Yeah," she looked up at Mac "How did you know it was me?"

"I don't think that part of you is completely gone, Mattie."

"I'm not sure I can ever be like that again."

"Of course everything that happens to us change us in some way, but it doesn't change who we are deep down. That stays the same." Mac looked over at Mattie and when she saw the tears, she got up from the couch and went over to wrap her arms around her. "Mattie," she sighed out.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to start crying on you," she apologized, but Mac immediately hushed her silence.

"It's OK, Honey. You shouldn't keep everything inside."

"It's just that I really miss talking to Harm," Mattie said when the tears had stopped falling down her cheeks. Mac just nodded slowly in agreement.

"Are you OK with him being gone now?"

"Yeah. It's his job, it's what he does, I shouldn't be taking it personal. Besides I think this time it was really good for me," Mattie paused for a few seconds "I've been focusing so on being able to walk again and I haven't tried to adjust to life in this," she motioned with her hand at the wheelchair "But I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that it will be a while until I get out of it and I don't want to spend that time as a baby who needs constant supervision. I'm going to learn to take care of myself again."

"That sounds great, Mattie," Mac nodded.

Mattie took another deep breath "I think I better go to bed now."

"Me too," Mac agreed. She went to help Mattie get into bed and then she went out into the kitchen to make a last check that everything was OK. When the phone started ringing her stomach turned itself into a knot. Getting late calls was rarely good news.

"Rabb residence," she answered it.

"Mac," Harm's voice came over the phone and it sounded quite far off.

"Is everything OK?"

"Yeah, now that I'm talking to you they are."

"You've been flying," Mac stated.

"Yeah," he admitted "How'd you know?"

"Your voice," Mac smiled. "Do you know what time it is here?"

"Did I wake you up? I didn't mean to, I just wanted to talk to you ..."

"No, I was still up. Are you sure everything's OK?"

"The case is solved. The only problem is that the JAG here was involved and I have to stay here until the replacement comes."

"So you're not coming on Monday?" Mac said and sighed disappointed.

"No, I'm not. I'm sorry, Mac. I know you must want to get home. I'll call Jen and ..."

"Harm, that's not it. Things are going fine here, don't worry about it. I'm just ... missing you ... a lot."

"I miss you too," Harm sighed in relief "I've been thinking so much lately about you and about ... us."

"Me too," Mac nodded as she played with the cord to the phone. "Sometimes I wonder if we're not making things more complicated simply by trying to avoid the complications."

"I'm thinking the complications will probably be worth it," Harm admitted.

"So exactly what are we thinking?" Mac asked rhetorically. "That we should try this, us, out."

"I know I'd love to."

"So would I," Mac said and Harm could only imagine the smile on her face.

They were silent and listened to each other's breath.

"Mac, I have to go now. They're starting to bug me about the phone here."

"I can't wait for you to get home, Harm."

"Me neither."

"I'll see you then, whenever you get back here."

"Yeah, I'll see you then," Harm sighed "Bye, Mac."

"Bye," Mac said and took a deep breath "Harm," she suddenly said hoping she'd catch him before he hung up "I love you." She was suddenly scared of what his reaction would be and she quickly hung up the phone before he had a chance to react or respond.

TBC