Disclaimer: Not mine…just borrowing…

A/N: Sorry about the delay, but I'm suffering from severe laziness and lack of motivation regarding schoolwork and fan fic. But do not fear because I am bound to get passed it soon, because if I don't, I will fail out of life (figuratively speaking). Luckily, I have no plans of doing so, which means, I should get my butt in gear this weekend, which means good things for my academic future and my faithful readers. Did that make sense? Did I mention that I was overtired? Anyway, happy reading!

Chapter 16:

Harriet had left before noon to take the kids to lunch, leaving Mac to eat alone in her room. She had graduated from clear liquids to the regular food, but her turkey sandwich remained only marginally appealing. The television had actually improved from the morning talk shows to soap operas. Although Mac generally did not watch the trashy dramas, she used to watch General Hospitalwith her mother in her early teens and the familiar storylines provided perfect entertainment for the time being. She was wrapped up in a storyline involving Luke Spencer, one of the characters who was still on the show after all these years, and was startled by a knock at her door.

"Enter," she quickly muted the television and looked up to see the admiral, "Hello, sir—A.J."

"How are you feeling?" he asked sitting down in the chairs Harriet had left at the bedside.

"Bored, but otherwise better."

"At least you've found something to keep you occupied," he glanced at the television.

"Oh, I don't normally watch these," she answered quickly, "Although I have to say that these are much better than their Australian counterparts."

"Is that so," he smirked and they settled into silence. The admiral sat with his cover in his lap patiently waiting for Mac to start talking, but all she did was clear her throat, "I'm not going to order you to talk, Mac, I'm not your CO anymore."

"I wish you were," she muttered softly.

"Hm?"

"Things were so much simpler then," she sighed, "I'd give anything to go back to then."

"Would you give up your children?"

"Never."

"Then the present cannot be that bad."

"Right," she snorted, "Is it safe to assume Harm filled you in?"

"Yes."

"How much did he tell you?"

"Enough for me to regret ever allowing Brumby to be assigned TAD to JAG," and to want to personally see the man dead, he added mentally, leaving the last part off so as not to irritate Mac.

"Yeah, me too," she sighed, "I was just so stupid."

"No, Mac, you weren't."

"Yes, I was," she clenched her jaw and stared straight ahead, "I let him convince me to stay in Australia. I let him keep me like a prisoner in our own home. I let him make me believe that everyone had moved on. I let him move back home after the first time."

"You didn't 'let' anything happen. Brumby made those things happen," he tried to catch her eye, but she remained focused on the wall, "He is the guilty party in all of this."

"Don't you think I know that sir?" her eyes quickly snapped to him, "I am NOT my mother and I have never once justified his actions. He had no right to touch me, and I never blamed myself for that. So please do not assume that I fit the standard profile of a battered woman, because I am not that."

"That is what you are," he held her gaze and allowed it to sink in.

"I…" she looked down at her hands.

"You are one of the strongest women I have ever met, Mac, but you are only human. Yes, you are a Marine and are trained to handle the physical, but that cannot prepare you for betrayal by someone you trust, by someone you love."

"I did love him," she whispered, looking up at the ceiling and trying to keep her tears at bay, "But I still should have been able to see it."

"You couldn't see it because he didn't want you to. This is what I'm talking about. You are the victim here, Mac, and as hard as it may seem, you aren't going to get past this until you recognize that."

"Okay," she took a steadying breath.

"It's not going to happen overnight."

"All right," she had officially calmed herself enough to be back in work mode, "But what do I do in the present?"

"You fight until the enemy's defeated," he pulled out a couple of files from his briefcase.

"Are those mine?" Mac recognized the labels as her own.

"Harm passed them along to me," he had read over everything Mac had researched and was reminded of why she used to be his unofficial chief of staff, "You did a good job."

"Thank you."

"I mean it. With the research you did on international custody and the Hague Convention's rulings on international child abduction, we should be able to draw up and file the motions by tomorrow afternoon."

"And Mic will just go along with whatever we decide?" she asked, her voice laced with skepticism, "He's not going to give in that easily. Believe me."

"But the threat of assault charges from you combined with the end to his naval career may change his mind."

"Can you do that? End his career?"

"I can come damn well close."

"Works for me," she smiled, relieved to have him in her corner.

"Good," he stood up and handed her the files, "Now all you have to do is come up with an agreement that you deem satisfactory."

"Yes sir," she answered out of habit, "I mean, I will and thank you."

"You're welcome," he smiled, "But can I offer you one more piece of advice?"

"Of course."

"Don't keep it bottled up, Mac. Talk to Harm."

He was out of the room before Mac could respond. Sighing, she looked down at the files in her lap and began to work.

Harm walked into Mac's hospital room that afternoon and was surprised to find her fully dressed and sitting in a chair in the corner of the room reading some notes. Her skirt was casual and her hair was air drying, but she looked more refreshed than she had in the past couple of days. Of course the frazzled late night arrival at his apartment and a hospital gown were really not the best examples for comparison. Either way, she looked good.

"Are you going to come in or just stand in the doorway?" Mac asked without looking up.

"Sorry."

"So can I tell little A.J. and Nat that you approve of their clothing choices?" she looked up at him with a smile.

"Give them my compliments," he hid his embarrassment over being caught staring, "Have you come to a decision."

"Yeah, I think so," she handed him the draft she had written. In a nutshell, the document called for a full divorce and Mic signing away his custody rights to both of their children. Mic was guaranteed supervised visitation at Christmas and Easter as well as birthday phone calls. Any additional visitation would be permitted at Mac's discretion, but Mic was free to contact his children via letter at anytime, "What do you think?"

"It's much more generous than I would have been."

"It's not too generous, is it?" she asked with concern.

"No, it's fair," he handed it back to her, "I'm just biased."

"That's an understatement," she rolled her eyes thinking about just what Harm would like to do to Brumby, "You ready to leave?"

"Are you cleared?"

"I passed my last CT scan with flying colors," she stood up and was hit with a wave of dizziness.

"You sure about that?" he steadied her with his arm.

"I just stood up to fast. Only a momentary setback," she walked over to the bed and hit the nurse call button, "Once the nurse gets here, you're taking me home."

"You want to go to your place?"

"Yes," she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Because you can stay at my apartment again if you want?"

"Thanks, Harm, but I think Nat and Talia deserve their own beds."

"Okay, but I'm spending the night," he held up a finger, "And no arguments."

Nix707 – I'm honored although secretly angry that you put your own writing on hold to read my stuff…although I do the same with yours so I shouldn't have issues. My Mac/Harriet scenes were inspired by TLWL…I love how you do their friendship, and I wanted to work it into mine. And I love that you like the kids' names…it was honestly one of the hardest parts about first starting the story. I settled on Nat pretty quickly, but Talia went through a few others before I settled on one.

KittyDoggyLover – Thanks! And as for the law, my mother went through a brief state of concern that I chose the field because of my interest in legal dramas…actually, that's still a concern…hehehe!

TV Angel 711 – Only because you asked nicely, although I'll admit that this was a bit short, but I wanted Mac to chat with the admiral. Anyway, I don't like Brumby and he'll be back in Oz before you know it.

JamieAKAaclassyone – Yay, you like the kids! I love writing them.

Jaggurl – You're welcome…thank you for reading.

MiDushiNoSushi – I love that I made you laugh, even if it disrupted your workplace. I felt that was totally something Harriet would say because she does have the experience as the mother of mischievous boys.

Dansingwolf – I love little AJ and I wish there could have been more of him on the show…although he was really too young to have a storyline of his own…but still!

Prinnie – Mmm…Mac 'n' Cheese…maybe I'll work that in…or just go buy some…either way, I hope that this chapter hit the spot…or at least tempted your tastebuds?

Mxfan214 – Mic's getting closer to bing out the picture…now he's like in the corner of the picture.

Cbw – Thanks…I love the friendship they share. I'm all about the Harm/Mac goodness, but they aren't the only two people in the world. Both of them have great friends who deserve to be recognized.

Shelly – Thanks…I had fun writing it!

Starryeyes10 – Thanks a bunch!

Radiorox – You're right, that's not a pleasant image…I promise no more ear-biting allusions!