Chapter 5

Mac muttered under her breath as she climbed the stairs. The damned elevator was out of commission again. Probably stuck between floors like it was the last time she was here. At that particular thought Mac stopped on the stairs and let her eyes widen a little. Had it really been a month since she'd last come by Harm's apartment in an attempt to talk to him? Of course she'd never actually made it into the building as she thought better of it and had left without getting out of her car. It wasn't like she was afraid to talk to Harm, it was just that she thought it might be best to do it in neutral territory. She'd been calling him for three weeks now and had not gotten an answer. Today when she'd called from the office she'd gotten a pre-recorded voice informing her that the number she was trying to reach was no longer in service which prompted her to come right over as soon as she'd secured for the day. Shaking her head she continued up the stairs until she reached the top floor. What she encountered as she exited the stairwell was not what she had expected to see.

Two burly men in charcoal BDUs were flanking Harm's door while two more were moving boxes from Harm's apartment to the elevator. As the door to the stairwell closed behind her one of the apparent sentries moved away from the door in her direction holding up a hand.

"I'm sorry ma'am, this floor is temporarily off limits to unauthorized personnel."

"What the hell is going on here?" Mac felt her confusion begin to give way to irritation. Who the hell was this man to tell her she couldn't go to Harm's apartment. "Who are you?"

Taking a moment to look over Mac's rank insignia, the man came to attention after a quick glance over his shoulder. "Ma'am, I'm sorry but I am not at liberty to say. All I can tell you is that this area is off limits and I would hate to be forced to escort you from the building."

"This is an apartment building…" Mac paused to glance at the dark insignia stitched to the man's BDUs, noticing that other than his rank, all other badges and insignia had been removed. "Sergeant, not a military base. There is no cause for security unless…oh my god! Harm!"

The sergeant firmly held Mac's shoulders as she tried to push past him. He'd seen pictures of the woman in the Commander's apartment when he'd pulled his turn at packing up and guessed that there was some sort of relationship here. "Ma'am, the Commander is fine, but he's not here at the moment."

"I demand to be told what's going on here!" Mac thundered after taking a moment to compose herself. She was embarrassed that she's panicked at the thought that something had happened to Harm, but she'd be damned if she'd let some unknown sergeant see that.

"Perhaps I can be of some assistance," a carefully modulated voice came from behind the sergeant. Looking over his shoulder Mac saw another man dressed in charcoal BDUs without any markings other than the name "Jackson" stitched across the breast. The tousled hair and round glasses that had slipped down his nose gave the man a boyish look.

"Doctor Jackson, sir," the sergeant said with relief evident in his voice. "The Colonel wishes an explanation about the security regarding the Commander's apartment."

"That's alright Frank. Would you tell Murray that I'm going downstairs with the Colonel and I'll be back to do the final check shortly?"

"Yes, sir," the sergeant said coming to attention again. With an apologetic glance at Mac, he moved into the apartment.

"Colonel…MacKenzie?" Daniel said after glancing at Mac's name tag.

"That's right. And you are?" Mac asked frostily after scanning Daniel's BDUs for rank insignia and failing to find any.

"Daniel Jackson, please call me Daniel," Daniel said with a smile.

"Mr. Jackson," Mac replied, deciding to keep the tone of their conversation professional. Without moving towards the stairs she continued "So what's going on here?"

"Please, Colonel, the SFs are just following Jack's orders to keep Harm's apartment secure while we pack it up. They aren't here to antagonize you or anyone else."

"Jack?"

"General Jack O'Neill. Harm's new commanding officer."

"Harm's new…I think we better start at the beginning."

"There's not much more I can say Colonel. It's not that I think you don't deserve to know more, but I have to follow some orders too. Suffice it to say that Jack convinced Harm to reactivate his commission and to come work with us."

"And that would be doing?"

"Can't say."

"Can't or won't?"

Chuckling, Daniel shook his head before answering, "I suppose I deserved that. Trust me, all the secrecy and deniability and all the other crap that goes with it drives me nuts too."

"So Harm's back in the Navy? Serving under a general? Army, Marine or Air Force?"

For a moment Daniel paused then decided it couldn't hurt anything. He'd also seen all of the pictures Harm had in his apartment with this Colonel in them. "Air Force," he finally said with a shrug.

"Harm's working for a Zoomie? I would pay to see that. But that still doesn't explain the security, Doctor Jackson."

Shrugging, Daniel opened his mouth to reply when Mac saw a very large black man wearing BDUs and a boonie hat step out of Harm's apartment. "Daniel Jackson, our task here is nearly completed. Have you contacted the storage facility that Harmon Rabb told us about?"

"Yes Tea…Murray, I gave them a call about a half hour ago; they're expecting us."

Nodding silently the large man turned and went back into Harm's apartment before Mac could react. She watched the three SFs exit the apartment with three boxes, and the large man close behind them. Stiffly, he turned and locked the door. "The task is completed Daniel Jackson."

"Good to hear, Murray. Why don't you and the boys head downstairs and I'll catch up in a moment?"

Nodding, the large man followed the SFs into the elevator and closed the gate. Well that would explain why the elevator wouldn't work for Mac.

"So I'm not going to find out what's really going on here?" Mac asked. Inwardly she was beginning to seethe. Harm had rejoined the Navy and didn't tell her? And he wasn't going to be at JAG? Sure they'd had their differences over the last year, but why wouldn't he tell her he'd made such a big decision. Maybe the Admiral could find out where he was stationed now. And if not, there couldn't be that many General Jack O'Neills out there.

"Again, Colonel, I apologize," Daniel seemed genuinely sorry he couldn't say anything more to her. Looking thoughtful for a moment he apparently came to a decision and put a hand gently on her shoulder. "Look, Colonel, I'm not trying to step over any boundaries here, but I'm going to be honest. I saw all of the pictures of you and Harm; and I saw how happy you both looked in them. Obviously there is, or was, something between you two…"

"Not like that," Mac protested.

"Nevertheless, would you like me to pass on a message to Harm?" Daniel offered.

For a moment Mac was tempted to take him up on the offer; she was tempted to have him carry her heart to Harm. And then she realized how trite and juvenile that would be. They weren't in junior high school where she could have a friend whisper to a boy that she liked him. "Just…tell him good luck. I hope he finds what he's looking for."

With that Mac shrugged slightly in Daniel's direction and moved back towards the stairs with a slight slump in her shoulders. She wouldn't let anyone see how much this hurt her; she wouldn't let anyone see that it gutted her to know that she really had lost Harm. That he'd proven no better than any of the other men in her life; he'd left her.