He was a Marine; at one time he was a Recon Marine, the best of the best. Now he was a JAG Marine, he would forever be Recon but with his designator as a JAG that's where he was going to be for a while. He'd been a JAG for a long time, since he was a Captain to be exact. He stood in front of Admiral Chegwidden. Despite the fact that the rivalries between the SEALs and Recon Marines were almost as old as the Corps and the Navy themselves, these two men had a mutual respect.

"Well Colonel, you're fit-reps are top notch, your win-loss record as an attorney is incredibly lopsided in the victory column and you have four full rows of medals on your chest. You'll be a welcomed addition here for the next month before the SECNAV gives you your O-6 and sends you off to the NATO Staff JAG office." Chegwidden reached across the table and shook the man's hand.

"Thank you Admiral, one thing sir. I have a six-year old son and I just would like to know if you know of any organization or babysitters I might be able to utilize while I'm at work." The stoic Marine façade didn't fit him, being the newly single father of a six year-old tended to create that emotional softness that was often completely absent from a Marine.

"I'll have Petty Officer Tiner find something for you Colonel, welcome to JAG. Dismissed." With that the Marine Lieutenant Colonel turned on heel and walked out of the office and the Admiral fell back into his chair. Lieutenant Colonel James Grant was forty-one and a widower. His wife Nikki had died in a car accident about a year ago and while he had taken it hard, no one had taken it harder than his six-year old son David Patrick Grant. Colonel Grant was happy to be in Virginia for awhile, he'd been in the pacific for so long it was hard to remember what the East Coast looked like.

The last year had been a long one, it all started before Nikki's death really, when his daughter Gabby went off to Annapolis. Gabby was going to be a good Marine, like her dad but it wasn't her dad that was her role model. When Nikki died his world had come down around him, but his mentor had been there, it had been rough but he could always count on Matt even when it was tough. Then Matt had gone to jail and that had been it, the year couldn't have been more of an emotional Maelstrom. He had to be strong; his son needed him to be.

David was in his dad's new temporary office right now, he wore a Marine Corps uniform that was made just for him by his mom. Over his left chest were mock-ups of all the ribbons his dad had won in his twenty-three years in the Corps. David had come in early with his dad and was told to sit in his dad's office and play with his Game Boy, which is exactly what he did. He even responded "Yes, Colonel Daddy."

David looked out the door to see his dad coming toward him. His dad was a tall man, about six-foot-three with an iron jaw and broad shoulders. His dad's hair had once been a very light brown, to the point where there was even a little red in it. Now, there was a lot of grey around the ears and at the base of his neck. The once vibrant hazel eyes were dull, like a faded meadow.

Colonel Grant walked through the outer office and past Petty Officer Tiner. From what he'd heard, two JAG officers had just gotten back from an op in Columbia that had something to do with the CIA and a big time drug lord. Office scuttlebutt was often wrong though, never could trust it for anything more than a cookie recipe. When he made it out into the bullpen he saw a familiar face, his face grew into a wide smile that was a relic of a happier time in his life.

"Mac!" He rushed over to her; it had been too long since he'd seen her, Okinawa at least. When Mac heard her nickname and looked toward where it had been called and saw the jogging figure in Marine Class As. She remembered that face a little younger than it now looked but there was no doubt in her mind as to who it was.

"Jim!" As he stood in front of her, she wrapped him in a hug. Mac realized that she was standing next to Harm. "Oh sorry, Harm, this is Lieutenant Colonel Jim Grant. Back in Yuma he was my uncle's protégé, my uncle was the first to call him 'Big Jim' but that seems like years ago." Harm looked sort of smug with a half-smile on his face.

"It has been too long Mac, the last time we saw each other must have been Okinawa. We've got to sit down and catch up. There's a lot to talk about." He had a familial kind of smile on his face.

"It has. Is Gabby around, she used to follow me around like a little sister." Mac searched around the office for what would look like an twenty year-old version of a girl she'd once known.

"No, Gabby didn't come with me. She's off with her Academy friends for the summer. But there is someone here you haven't seen since he was a baby." Jim turned toward his new office and whistled than bellowed "Cadet Grant!" The six-year old wearing Marine green came running at his father's call and out into the bullpen. "Mac, you remember little David?" The Marine Colonel reached down and scooped up his son in his right arm.

"This is little David? He's turning into quite a handsome little jarhead." Mac flicked the young man's nose. Her comment had turned his cheeks a very cherry red with embarrassment.

"Daddy, she's pretty." The young man tucked his embarrassed face into his father's shoulder as he said the words.

"He'll get no argument from me." Harm seemed to blurt out the words before he could contain himself.

"I don't think anyone's going to refute the comment, not if they've seen what Mac can do to them in hand-to-hand combat." Jim and Harm laughed while Mac tried to look offended.

"Just what's that supposed to mean Colonel?" Mac's face was attempting to contain a smile.

"Mac, thanks to some of the moves you taught Gabby she was almost more of a threat to her prospective boyfriends in high school than a Recon Marine Colonel. That takes some doing." Jim's story was funny enough to get a laugh out of everyone.

"How about lunch Colonel, I'd love to hear about the kind of hell-raiser Mac was back in the old days." Harm interjected, he hoped that Mac had forgotten his comment about Mac's looks earlier in the conversation. His hopes were futile.

"Sounds good, how about you Mac? Between you, me and the little Cadet here, we should have the Navy man pretty well outnumbered." Jim lowered his son to the ground.

"Sounds like fun. It'll be kind of nice to see Harm squirm surrounded by Marines." Mac nudged her partner playfully in the ribs. With that, Jim took his son back to the office and Harm followed Mac into her office.

"So you and Colonel Grant?" Harm said largely suggestively but with the smallest trace of jealousy.

"It wasn't like that. When I was living with Uncle Matt, Jim was his protégé. Jim and his wife Nikki were like siblings to me during that time. Jim and Nikki are actually a remarkable story, in love since they were twelve, married at eighteen and when I last saw them a little under six years ago they were still married." Mac was leaning on her desk looking up at Harm who was standing opposite her.

"It's a fairytale story but for some people love just isn't that easy." Harm's voice softened as that last comment escaped his lips.

"I don't buy that, for some people love is right in front of them, they just have to want it bad enough to reach for it." Mac's eyes returned to the paperwork on her desk. This was just the first in a list of little semi-hints that had been going on recently. First her questions about 'Sarah' during their little hooky session in the Appalachians. Then the NATO ball and finally the whole conversation of dress whites in Harm's room at the American Embassy in Columbia.

"So I really have to go to lunch with three jarheads?" Harm smiled at her, her attention was once again lifted from her work.

"Two jarheads and one future one. Though if David's anything like his father, it won't be too long now." Mac's comment was vague, she'd never really gotten to know David but she had an attachment to the entire Grant family so her concern just naturally extended to the young son.

"What's that mean?" Harm was curious, the last time a senior officer had been sprung on him was Allison Krennick and he was hoping for less stress this time around.

"When he was thirteen, he tried to enlist for the first time using a false identification. He made it through boot before he was age was discovered. He tried again at sixteen; his lawyer tied up the discharge until after his seventeenth birthday. When parental consent was obtained he was allowed to join. The Corps thought he was a loose cannon and figured my uncle Matt would be tough enough on him to break his spirit." Mac got up from behind the desk and walked over to the window.

"My Uncle was hard on him, determined to break him down and build him up into the ideal Marine. But Jim was ready for everything my Uncle threw at him. According to what Matt used to tell me, there were times when Jim used to say 'that all you got?' My Uncle said that Jim had the best base for a Recon Marine that he'd ever seen." Until he met you, Mac added silently in her head. "So after my uncle trained him and served alongside him, he recommended Jim for OCS. When I met him the first time, he was 1st Lieutenant James Grant."

"Sounds like a hell of a guy." Harm walked up next to her.

"Loyal as a German Shepherd, lethal as one too. Uncle Matt used to treat him like a son, Jim used to say that made him my big brother, which meant, in his mind, that it was his duty to look out for me. He always did, whether I thought I needed him or not." Tears began to well up in Mac's eyes.

"You glad he's here?" Harm was hesitant about how exactly to comfort her. He pulled a Kleenex off the bookcase and lightly stroked under her eyes drying the tears.

"Thank you." She looked up at him. "Yes I'm glad he's here. I just know that there's something that's made him age like he has. I mean I think I know what it is. Jim once told me that there wasn't a force in the world capable of separating him and Nikki and now he's not wearing his wedding ring." She sobbed; it could only mean one thing in her mind. The woman who was as much a sister as she had ever known was gone.

"I'm sorry, Mac." He was hesitant again, he offered a hug and she accepted and gradually she fell into his arms sobbing into his shoulder. "It's okay Mac." He gently swayed back and forth trying to comfort her.

"No Harm, no it's not! She was one of the few people in my life who've ever given a damn, now she's gone! I never…I never got to say goodbye." Unwittingly her right hand pounded his chest as she tried to contain her tears. He grimaced every time she struck him but he just accepted it.

"You gonna be okay?" He looked into her eyes as she pulled away.

"Yeah I think so, I just can't help but think how alone he must have felt. I mean Gabby at the Academy, then Uncle Matt went to prison and I mean David's too young to understand. I just wish I could have been there for him." She composed herself and dropped back into her chair.

"No matter how many times the we say 'leave no man behind' sometimes there's just nothing we can do." Harm sat down across from her.

"Not him! He's never done anything to have deserved being isolated like that and yet that's exactly what happened. You asked me if I was glad he was here, I'm very glad he's here, I finally have a chance to make up for failing him as a friend." She was self-criticizing, while she was sure that there was something she could do.

"Mac you didn't fail, you didn't know that anything was happening, you can't be of help when you don't know there's a problem." He was trying to be sympathetic.

"That all sounds very nice Harm, but there's a six-year old out there who just lost his mother and who has a father who's probably given himself an ulcer over the course of the last year or so. So my ignorance of what's happening really isn't of much comfort to them and if it isn't going to comfort them, it sure as hell isn't going to comfort me!" Mac lashed out at him, he didn't seem to understand.

"Mac, I wasn't trying to berate you or tell you how to feel I just figured that you didn't need to beat yourself up over something you couldn't control." Harm babbled as he dropped back into his chair.

"Maybe you're right, I don't know I guess I just can't understand why this had to happen to him, all he's even done is help every one else and in the course of the last while he's lost a lot of what he could depend on." Mac's hand extended across the table and he fingers intermeshed with Harm's. "Thanks, Harm."

Across the bullpen, in his office, Colonel Grant had been a witness to the whole scene. He had no idea what they were talking about, it didn't matter, he was simply happy that there was someone who could take care of Mac here at JAG. Mac didn't need anyone to take care of her and he knew that, but somehow he always felt better, just like the protective older brother he'd always been. Harm left Mac's office and made a bee-line for that of his new senior officer. Harm tapped on the open door.

"Come on in Commander, I suppose you want to talk about the Hillier Article 32?" The Marine had made himself right at home. In front of the chair next to the door, David had leapt out of his seat and stood at attention when Harm entered the room. Harm looked down at the young man with a slight chuckle.

"At ease Marine." Harm mussed the young man's hair playfully. David stood at ease than returned to his Game Boy.

"David why don't you go to Auntie Mac's office while I talk to Commander Rabb." The Marine Colonel looked very pleased at his son who snapped to attention before leaving the office.

"How do you get him to do that?" Harm looked inquisitive and confused up at Jim.

"I don't get him to do any of it. He does it all on his own, he just asks me if he's doing it right and I correct him. He asked for that uniform of his for Christmas a while ago, his mother made a bunch of them for him. After he met the Kommandant of the Corps a few years ago that's all he's wanted to be." Jim laughed as he ran his pen across the page.

"He does that all on his own? I shouldn't be surprised I suppose, if I spent the amount of time with Colonel O'Hara that he has I'd probably be doing the same thing." Harm said as he sat in the chair.

"I know you defended Matt when he was up for stealing the Declaration. That took a lot of balls Commander. I think you and I will get along fine, even if you are a Squid. Now as for the Hillier case. I think it's pretty cut and dried Commander, fraternization's not difficult to prove, so if we can agree to just subject him to an Admiral's mast without chance of discharge I think we can save the Navy a lot of time and money prosecuting." Jim didn't even flinch, he just ran through paperwork.

"Why should I bare his throat to an Admiral's mast? All I have to do is prove that there was no alleged misconduct and your case is shot Colonel." Harm smiled as he tapped his pen on the desk.

"Yeah but with the amount of witnesses I can call I can bury your head so deep in the sand you'll be the envy of every scared Ostrich in the continental U.S." Jim leaned back in his chair and tossed a maniacal smile Harm's way.

"I guess I'll see you before Morris tomorrow morning?" Harm got up from the chair. He saw an embroidered piece of material framed on the wall with a few lines of writing on it.

You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind

You don't pull the mask off that Ol' Lone Ranger

And you don't mess around with Jim

Jim Croce

"This is pretty good, who made it?" Harm looked up from the frame.

"Actually Mac and my wife made it for me one night after a rather interesting event." Jim smiled sort of like he had just heard a great song from his childhood.

"That sounds like one hell of a story. Maybe it'll come up at lunch." Harm smiled and turned out of Jim's office. "You going to call that young Cadet of yours back into your office."

"Yeah right, you couldn't tear him away from Mac if you tried, he's got a quite a little crush on her." Jim got up from his chair and pulled a framed picture of his family off the bookshelf.

"The boy's got taste." Harm once again found himself unable to control an opinion.

"You got something on your mind Commander, that's the second time you've made a comment about Mac, this morning?" The inquisitive wise smile on the Colonel's face didn't need to be seen, it was so evident it could be heard.

"You implying something, Colonel?" Harm shot back.

"You play an instrument Harm?" Jim hoped that the use of the Commander's first name would help him familiarize.

"Guitar, why?" Harm liked confused.

"You seem intent to have a conversation with me about Mac and music is a great way to familiarize. You want to jam tonight?" Jim asked honestly.

"Sure."

"I'll bring my guitar. See you around seven?"

"Sure, my place, you can get the directions from Mac I suppose. You're not going to go all Force Recon on me are you?" Harm joked.

"No, I'd like to hear about some of your adventures with Mac. I've heard about terrorists seizing hospitals and even a rendezvous with Captain Koonan." Jim laughed as Harm left the office. Lunch came around faster than anyone in the office had expected, Harm had even managed to slip out early and procure lunch for five, thinking that Bud would likely want to join them as well. When he came back to the office he saw three Marines uniforms in Mac's office and Bud on his way over.

"Sir, I haven't had the chance to talk with Colonel Grant yet do you think Major MacKenzie would mind, I mean if I walked in there and introduced myself. I wouldn't want to be rude or anything." Bud was fumbling as he got out the last few words.

"Bud, I have something better. Why don't you come in and have lunch with us? You can even meet his son David." Harm put his hand on his friends back guided him toward the office. The two men walked toward the office of their colleague where they saw an overjoyed six-year old sitting in a Marine Class A on Mac's lap. When Harm and Bud entered the room, the young man sprung off Mac's lap and came to attention right there on the spot causing the adults to laugh. He even made a small salute which was returned in kind by Harm and Bud who was smiling rather happily.

"I'm not used to people saluting me first around here sir." Bud said as he put the young man at ease. David climbed back into Mac's lap causing a chuckle from his father and Harm.

"Bud, this is Colonel Grant and his son David who seems doomed to joining the dark side." Harm motioned toward the Marine with silver oak leaves. Bud stretched his hand out to his new senior officer.

"Colonel it's a pleasure to meet you…" Bud started to talk but he was cut off.

"Bud, if we're going to work together, please just call me 'Jim'. Colonel is such a mouthful." Jim reached out a shook Bud's hand, his grip causing Bud to wince a little.

"Daddy, what did Commander Rabb mean when he said I was going to join the dark side?" David walked over to his father.

"He was talking about the Marines son; do you remember what I told you to say when a Navy man talks about the Corps like that?" Jim was encouraging his son. David went over and stood in front of Harm.

"Silly Squid, Navy's for kids!" The youngster proceeded to stick his tongue out at the six-foot-four Navy Commander. The action was enough to cause a rather raucous round of laughter. "Did I do good Auntie Mac?" David looked up at her hoping that he had caused the smile on her face.

"You did great David!" She smiled at him, laughing a little as she saw the smile grow on his face.

Harm tossed Mac a Beltway Burger bag and then tossed one to Bud. "I didn't know what our two new arrivals would like but I chanced that jarheads would be dead animal lovers so I got David a Kid's Meal and I got the Colonel the biggest burger they had."

"Smart man Commander." Jim took the bag from him and put the hamburger on the desk in front of him. "Bud, if you want to join us that'd be great you know what they say, the more the merrier." Bud took a seat between Harm and Jim.

"Thank you sir, I hadn't intended on…I mean if there was anything I wasn't supposed to hear…or if the Commander wanted me researching…" Bud was stammering again.

"Lieutenant slow down, or you'll push the warranty on your tongue." Jim took a bite out of his burger. Bud looked confused but sat in the chair silently.

"So anyway." Mac's demeanour seemed to drain of any levity and filled with a degree of seriousness. "When did it happen?"

"Just before that whole fiasco with Matt, I was on my way to Yuma when you guys were investigating. I couldn't bear to be in San Diego any more, too many memories you know." Colonel Grant's focus seemed to be inside himself.

"Excuse me Jim, I don't mean to be rude or imposing, but what happened just before the incident with Colonel O'Hara?" Harm leaned into the conversation.

"Mommy got called to be with God." David was trying to fight tears as he threw himself into his dad's arms. Harm seemed to look as if he's literally just swallowed his foot. He was about to talk when Jim interrupted him.

"It's okay Harm, you never could have known." Jim was the perfect older brother type, he never flew off the handle and he always seemed to make every one feel perfectly at ease.

"I'm sorry Jim." The apologetic sentiment came from both Harm and Mac.

"I'm really sorry sir." Bud voice trailed that of his two mentors.

"It's okay really; it's just been a tough year, that's all." He mussed his son's hair while the young man chomped down on some fries. "You might swallow your hand there Champ." Jim looked down at his son who beamed a smile back up at his father.

"I don't know how you guys can eat that stuff. It's nothing but starch, grease, dead animal and…" Harm was cut off.

"Ketchup, we know mom but it tastes great." Mac was mocking him.

"Are you serious, what kind of man doesn't eat red meat?" Jim had an amused smile on his face as he looked over his shoulder up at Harm.

"So how long have you been in the DC area?" Harm dug into his salad.

"We got in Saturday evening; we're in the process of turning a room at the Holiday Inn into our home for the next month." Jim raised his burger to his lips.

"You can't stay at a Holiday Inn! Not with your son. You're staying with me!" Mac's authoritative voice made everyone in the room weary of arguing.

"I think the UCMJ would have serious issues with that Major." The voice was that of the two-star Admiral that stood in the doorway to Mac's office.

"With all due respect sir, a hotel room is not the greatest environment for a child. A more home-type of environment would be more beneficial. Since neither Commander Rabb or Lieutenant Roberts has the quarters available to sustain three people, it seemed logical for me to suggest this solution." Mac took on a very respectful but serious tone with her Commanding Officer.

"Your concern for the child's welfare is admirable Major but there is still the issue with the UCMJ, I don't think we can forego regulations on this one." The Admiral understood Mac's position and clearly wished that there was something he could do.

"Mac, the Admiral's right but I think there's a solution. David can stay with you and I'll be there every morning to make breakfast for him and you since you're willing to take him in, than take him to the babysitter. After work, I'll be there until he falls asleep than I'll go back to the hotel. If it's not too much of an intrusion, it should accomplish the same end and evade the issue with the UCMJ." Jim seemed rather calm as he suggested his solution.

"Works for me, Admiral any problems sir?" Mac had a smile on her face as she looked up at the Admiral.

"None I can see, carry on people." The Admiral turned and walked back to his office.

"You're actually willing to make breakfast for Mac for the next month, with her appetite?" Harm smiled as he looked over at Jim.

"You know Marines, no task too difficult, though this is one for the books. What about you buddy, you want to live with Auntie Mac for the next little while?" Jim looked down at his son who was playing with the toy that came with his meal.

"Yeah, Auntie Mac's really nice and really pretty. You'll still be there though, right Daddy?" David's face seemed kind of hopeful.

"You bet, Cadet. They couldn't keep me away." Jim reached down and straightened the tie in his son's uniform. "Thanks a lot Mac, I don't know what I could've down for the next month with just a hotel room and no help for this little guy."

"It's no trouble Jim, really. Besides, I could get used to one Marine cooking for me everyday and a soon-to-be Marine calling me 'pretty' all the time." Mac smiled and Harm laughed as the six-year old retreated under his father's chair.

"I have to go over the Hillier case at Harm's tonight Mac, so I won't be able to bring David back to your apartment. Once I'm done at Harm's I'll swing by the hotel and pick up his stuff and bring it over. Just to make up for springing this on you, I'll make dinner, but I can't promise it'll be any good, breakfast is really the only meal Nikki thought I could cook without creating a biohazard." Jim lifted his son into his lap.

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully, a rare event at JAG. At 1700, everyone secured, Mac took David back to her apartment, Harm went back to his apartment and Jim went back to the hotel to pick up his son's bare necessities and his guitar. Than he headed over to Harm's place. The building still wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing but as the elevator doors opened he could hear the sound of an acoustic guitar. After knocking on the door he heard 'it's open.'

"Hey, looks like I found the place alright." Jim looked around the apartment and saw Harm sitting with his guitar on his knee, on the couch.

"I'd say so, beer?" Harm got up from the couch.

"Thanks." Jim unzipped his gig bag and pulled out his guitar than took a seat on the floor. Harm walked over to the fridge and pulled out two beers, tossing one to his guest.

"Got any songs in mind to start out with?" Harm walked back toward the couch.

"Running on Empty? Always been a good acoustic song." Jim popped the cap off the bottle and took a drink.

"Jackson Browne, sounds good to me." Harm picked up his guitar and started strumming the intro to the song. The two men traded off verses and got through as much of the song as they could remember before the conversation started. "So did you and Mac ever…?" Harm's curiosity had gotten the better of him.

"Never, I was madly in love with my wife when she was alive and she'll forever be a part of me now that she's gone." Jim replied solemnly.

"Were you ever tempted?" Harm's cross-examination talents were coming through.

"Tempted is a different story." Jim's focus seemed to drain from the conversation and back into his guitar.

"So you were tempted." Harm took a drink of his beer.

"Once. Mac was having trouble with a guy and Matt, rightly thinking she was in trouble, sent me to bring her home. I saved her from a pretty sticky situation and beat the absolute crap out of the gentleman in question. She was pretty scraped up so I carried her back to the car and she kissed me. It was nothing big, it was more out of gratitude than anything I think." Jim seemed to be trying to convince himself.

"I'm guessing it was after that when Mac and your wife made that thing hanging in your office?" Harm smiled, it was a cute little decoration and incredibly apt for a Recon Marine.

"Yeah well, most of the members of my family thought that was pretty funny even Matt O'Hara, whose the only person who has ever actually messed with me." Jim laughed as the raised the bottle to his lips. "Well you've found out what you wanted to, now it's my turn to ask the questions."

"I'm in trouble huh?" Harm laughed.

"Not if you're honest. What exactly is going on between you and Mac?" Jim started idly plucking the B string on his guitar.

"I don't know, we became friends pretty fast and there was a period where that was it. That period of time just didn't last too long." Harm seemed to have a confused look on his face as he remembered the events of the first year of their partnership.

"Okay so when did you start thinking of her as more than a friend?" Jim raised his bottle to his lips and took another drink. Harm seemed to hesitate for a second a look around his apartment. Jim noticed Harm's gaze lock in on one picture in the room. Jim got up from his spot on the floor and walked over to the picture. "This is a good picture of you and Mac." He picked the picture up from the piece of furniture it was on.

"That's uh….that's not Mac." Harm seemed to wince as he heard the words escape his lips.

"Ah, well that answers about seven of my questions but it does beg several more, provided you don't mind my asking them." Jim was still trying to get a feel for his new friend's moods.

"No, I think we've gone through similar experiences on this one, if anyone can empathize with me, it's probably you." Harm threw himself down on the couch. "Her name was Diane, she was my…to be honest I don't know exactly what she was to me, I guess I could call her my Academy sweetheart."

"I see, when did it happen?" The older man's eyes were suddenly filled with compassion, he knew how tough the last year had been on him, how draining it was to lose someone you held so close.

"Not long before I met Mac actually. It was weird, the first time I saw Mac all I could think about was Diane, her smile good things mostly but also how she looked on the gurney at the scene." Harm's eyes began to well up.

"That's tough but it's never easy trying to deal with death, especially when it's someone you're that close to." He didn't know what to say and he found himself re-iterating the advice Matt O'Hara had given him a year earlier when Nikki had died.

"I don't see Diane any more when I look at Mac, it took a while though. I think it really started the first time the two of us went flying up in my Stearman. There was a stretch there for awhile where it looked like the second I found myself able to shake the spectre of Diane, I wanted to be with Mac but I held back, I guess I thought it wasn't fair to her or to myself, I had to be clear which one of them was stirring these feelings." Harm started pacing the floor as he talked causing a slightly amused smile to cross his friend's face.

"Holding back something implies that there was an opportunity to let it out. What you aren't saying Harm is probably far more important than what you are." Jim gradually got to his feet.

"Well when we were in Columbia she kind of almost kissed me, I mean I had the chance to pull her in and finish it but I didn't." Harm seemed to mentally kick himself as he walked behind the island in the kitchen.

"I see, well the two of you seem to have some kind of weird rapport going on and you both kind of have to work through it. I have no idea how you intend on going through with this but it should be entertaining to watch though." Jim smiled and laughed as he slugged Harm in the arm.

"Thanks a lot. I don't know what I'm going to do though, cause there are times when I think she really cares for me but than she'll do something like agree to go on a date with another guy. Like we just got back from this case on the Hornet, I got hurt a fair bit and she was there for me every time she even cancelled a date with this guy to make sure I was okay." Harm leaned into the island.

"Sounds like she's just trying to keep herself occupied while you work through your own personal stuff, but she's always there when you need her, so she seems to want to keep you around for something." With a less than subtle wink Jim laughed and finished off his beer.

"You wouldn't be condoning, suggesting or promoting fraternization would you Colonel?" Harm's sense of humour was back in full gear.

"Of course not, let me just add one thing Commander, I only ever looked at one woman the way you looked at Mac today in her office." Jim went back to his guitar and his spot on the floor.

"What happened?" Harm's face seemed buggered up in confusion.

"We were happily married for twenty-three years and had two beautiful children." With that Jim picked up his guitar and started strumming a song that he'd only ever heard once, it was on when the San Diego police called his house a year earlier. The intro to It Never Rains in Southern California wasn't immediately recognizable to Harm and it was kind of interesting to hear an acoustic version of the song. When Jim had finished the song he packed up his guitar and after saying goodbye to Harm and sharing a very brotherly handshake, he left the apartment and drove to Georgetown to say goodnight to his son.

When Jim reached Mac's apartment, the lights were off and a shout of 'come in' came from the spare bedroom. Jim walked into the apartment and into the spare bedroom to see Mac singing David's favourite 'goodnight song' and gently stroking his hair as he fell asleep. "Daddy, Auntie Mac sings better than you do, but I like the song with the guitar." The young man gave a heavy yawn as his eyelids collapsed.

"What kind of kid falls asleep to the 'Marine Corps Hymn'?" Mac smiled as she got up from the side of the bed.

"Hey he just liked that one, I tried all the traditional songs, I even tried 'Puff the Magic Dragon' but he just liked that one." Jim was trying to be evangelical with his statement. "So how many times did he tell you that you were pretty tonight?"

"Fourteen." Mac said as the two of them sat down at the kitchen table.

"You're not getting tired of him saying it are you?" Jim laughed as Mac shook her head.

"It would be nice to hear it from a man who could act on it though." Mac's face was incredibly serious and almost sad.

"Shot in the dark, Harm?" Jim came out with it, brutal honestly was one of the great benefits of their friendship.

"For one…" Mac's voice trailed off, she knew her old friend was likely reading more into her face than she was telling him.

"Mac, not the Admiral, you've been down that road before, I almost beat up Farrow for that one, hell if we'd been of equal rank I probably would have hit John." Jim's voice seemed to gain annoyance just remembering it.

"Well the Admiral wouldn't be near the top of my list but even hearing it from him would be something." Mac chuckled a little.

"Going through a bit of a dry spell Mac?" Jim laughed right along with her.

"I get hit-on, there are a few guys who even ask me out, but the year hasn't exactly been a record-breaker." Mac looked down at the coffee cup sitting in front of her. Jim instinctively took the cup and started brewing a fresh pot of coffee.

"You always did reach for the sky, kid." Jim smiled as he brought two fresh cups of coffee over to the table.

"See, that's exactly what I'm talking about. You, you still treat me like I'm the same raucous teenager you met in Arizona all those years ago. I'm not the same woman Jim!" The frustration in Mac's voice was evident.

"I know that Mac, I mean I see the way you are with David and I know that you're gaining that maternal instinct that will make you very good mother some day. I've read about some of your investigations and I'm damn proud to know a tough intelligent Marine like you." Jim sat down across the table from Mac who looked at him as if he hadn't understood.

"Jim, when you look at me, what do you see?" She looked into his eyes.

"Mac the Marine, Mac the mature intelligent woman, Mac one of my oldest and dearest friends." Jim's voice became softer and his tone more understanding.

"Well that's certainly a different answer that you probably would've given when we first met." Mac smiled, her friend still looked at her like she was his little sister, but one that he couldn't be prouder of.

"It certainly is. Now as I recall, I still owe you dinner. Not promising anything spectacular though." Jim smiled as he got up from the table.

"Why do you think David likes hearing the Marine Corps Hymn before he falls asleep?" It was a question that had been nagging at Mac's head.

"The last two lines, I think he likes to believe that Mommy is safe because she's being protected by Marines in heaven the way he thinks I protected her here." A lone tear crept down Jim's cheek as the burden, which he had momentarily been relieved of, came crashing down on his shoulders. He tried to prevent the tears from coming, repeating to himself 'Marines don't cry'. He couldn't help it, a year of being strong of not crying, of maintaining his composure had broken him.

Mac caught him as he collapsed. His firm forearms wrapped themselves around her neck in a hug. He tried hard to compose himself but couldn't he couldn't hold back the tears, withhold the pain it all just came out and she was there to catch him. "I'm here." She whispered into his ear as his arms tensed.

"I know." He whispered back. "Thank you."