Monday morning came cloudy and rainy, mirroring Harm's mood perfectly.

Except for the Friday/Saturday night when he slept after he made love to Loren, he couldn't get even a minute of decent sleep during the whole weekend.

His already-bad mood was worsen even more by the bad weather and infinitly so when he arrived at work only to see Mac showing off the fact that she had moved the ring.

He wasn't ready nor willing to deal with that too, he already had too much on his plate, so he just moved past the group without even glancing at them and entered his office.

Once there, he collapsed into his chair and put his head in his hands, exhaling slowly.

He was tired, exhausted, from the stress of the state of things with Mac, what happened with Loren, lack of sleep, concern and some constant, faint buzzing in the back of his mind. It wasn't an uncomfortable feeling, it was somehow comforting, but it was quite distracting when he first noticed it. At first he thought it was due to his hangover, but he had to quickly dismiss the idea. It was soon accompanied by another buzzing at a different frequency. Deciding it were better for his career and his permanent record if he didn't go to Bethesda because of some noise in his head, he decided to ignore it. After that it soon became less noticeable, just a buzzing in the background.

Through his blinds he saw Loren enter the bullpen, eye the scene with distaste and her usual aloofness and proceed into her office.

He gave her a few minutes and then headed there himself.

He knocked and entered. The moment she saw him the fear, this time accompanied by dread, returned to her eyes. This hurt him and guilt flooded him once again.

"Loren, I would like to talk to you."

Loren's guarded eyes penetrated him. "Commander, unless it pertains to work we have nothing to talk about."

Taken aback at her tone and words he took a moment to regroup "But..."

"Please, leave, now, sir." the ice in her tone could've frosted the glass and he swallowed the lump in his throat and the hurt in his heart and nodded once curtly and quickly left her office. 'Another woman who hates me.'

Loren drew in a shuddering breath as she watched him cross the bullpen and enter his own office. She knew she hurt him, doing it hurt her more than him, but she didn't want to hear what he had to say. It would just confirm that she had managed to screw up another thing in her life. She made a big effort to compose herself and take two aspirins for her headache.

Time to get back to work and try to move on with her life.

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Loren started avoiding Harm whenever possible and this went on for another two months until she got the flu.

What was thought to be a 24 hour bug had somehow become a 1 week bug and indicated no chance of stopping. The vomiting, her body aching, the headaches and the constant exhaustion messed with her constantly.

But no-one noticed or cared. No one cared for Lt. Witch. Except for one man.

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Harm watched concerned as he saw Loren dart out of her office towards the ladies room once again.

He had not pressured her during the last two months, but he tried to show that he wasn't forgetting it either. He held back, biding his time. The latest developments confirmed his suspicions.

He was waiting for her when she came out of the toilet.

She stopped and stared at him. He wasted no time launching into the topic.

"Loren, we HAVE to talk."

"No, we don't"

She pushed past him when he went for broke, not caring who would hear.

"You're pregnant."

That stopped her in her tracks, but she didn't turn around. He neared her, slipping his arms around her from behind, cradling her belly with his hands protectively.

"With my baby." he whispered hoarsely into her ear. "Our baby."

"No." she denied. "I can't be. It's not true."

"Yes, it is and deep down in your heart, you know it."

"But how? I've been on the pill for months."

Harm took a breath "Loren, you know those things aren't 100 effective. And in the rush we were in we didn't stop to pick up any condoms. I certainly didn't expect to bring anyone home that night, and especially didn't expect to make love to you."

She turned in his arms, making no attempt to break away from him. "How can you be so certain I'm pregnant? How can you be so sure it's yours? It could've been someone elses."

He smiled at her last ditch attempt. "I know it is mine. I also know you haven't been with anyone else in quite a while, especially not after we made love that night. Just as you know I haven't."

Her silence said it all. He tightened his embrace and she buried her face in his chest, slipping her own arms around his waist tentatively. They stood that way for a few minutes, glad that the corridor was deserted, until Harm heard her say something into his chest with a muffled voice.

"What was that?"

She looked up at him with tears streaming down her pale cheeks and her mascara running and Harm felt his heart skip a beat. Until recently he had never acknowledged to himself that Loren Singer was a very beautiful woman indeed. He was too hung up on Mac to notice. But their one night together had opened his eyes to her beauty, outside and inside. Add to that the fact that she was carrying his... their child, she became impossibly beautiful to him. Age-old male instincts of protecting his mate and their offspring had been awakened in Harm when he found out what the buzzing in his head meant.

Funny thing was, his grandmother Sarah had told him.

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It was during one of their montly talks when he mentioned the constant buzzing to her. For a moment there was silence on the other end before his grandmother asked with a serious tone.

"What kind of buzzing, my boy?"

Harm felt foolish, but he sensed that there was something more to it. "Some faint buzzing feeling at the back of my mind. It's constant, but not annoying, more comforting than anything."

Sarah was excited to hear it. "So you and Mac finally got together? It's about time."

Pain stung his heart at the mention of Mac and he answered quietly. "No, we haven't. She's marrying the australian asshole."

Sarah was puzzled at this revelation. "You are not togther? But you are still hearing the buzzing?"

"Yeah, what does it mean? You sound like you've known about it before."

Sarah's voice was filled with sadness and memory of the love of her life. "David had heard it with me. Your father had heard it with Trish. It's a Rabb thing."

This was new to Harm. "Yeah, but what does it mean? Why haven't I heard it before?"

"What it means, my dear boy, is that you've recently found your soulmate and made love with her."

Stunned Harm could only muster a "Huh?" while his mind worked feverishly 'I've had this only since that one night with... Loren? Loren is my soulmate? I can't believe this.'

"From what David had told me, all Rabb men start hearing that buzzing immediately after making love with 'the one'. The woman will develop that sense only gradually and with time. What happened is that your soul and that of your ladyfriend had melded together. You are now bonded. What that buzzing is, is some kind of... er... awareness of the other. Of the other's life force and it tells you your girl is alive and well. It ends only when she dies. Neither David and I, neither Harmon and Trish had enough time to have it fully develop, but a myth was passed down through generations of Rabbs about this bond. Apparently, with enough time and love, you both will be able to clearly feel each other and even accurately read each other's emotions. David and I had too little time for it to develop and Trish never believed in it."

Harm could just sit there in silence. He thought of the other buzzing. "So if it's for her, why is there another buzzing, but somehow different?"

He heard a sharp intake of breath at that question. Her voice came back full of excitement "Another buzzing? Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Sarah let out a laugh. "You, my boy, will be a father in a few months."

You could've knocked Harm over with a feather after hearing that announcement. "What?"

Sarah suppressed another laugh "That other buzzing is meant for your child. And since I haven't received any birth announcements in the past, I'd say that she is still pregnant. Who is she, btw.?"

Harm was really shaken by the news, but as a lawyer he decided to not believe it until he received some proof. "Uh, she's a co-worker of mine. Loren. Lt. Loren Singer."

Sarah's voice was serious once again. "A co-worker and a junior officer? Harm, you know what that means. Better get it sorted out before you both get in trouble. And when you have everything sorted out, you two should come for a visit. I want to meet her."

"Yeah, sure, no problem. Thanks, Grandma, talk to you soon."

After hearing her goodbye he hung up the phone. He had a lot to think about and many plans to make. His life had changed forever.

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Loren repeated the words she had said into his chest.

"What are we going to do, Harm? We'll be court-martialled."

The vulnerability and fear over their situation in her voice propelled him into action.

Slowly he released her, quickly taking hold of her hand and tugged her behind him.

"First of all, we're going to get you home. We can't talk safely here and it would be better if we'd get you home in case you feel sick again."

He stopped at the double door to the bullpen and turned to her. "Go get your things from the office and meet me at your car. I'll get it cleared with the Admiral and collect my own things. Then we'll go to your place."

"Okay." she nodded and hurried off towards her office while he went to talk to Tiner.

"Tiner, tell the Admiral that Lt. Singer is ill and that I'm taking her home. Since it's near closing time, I won't be back today."

Tiner raised an eyebrow at that, but refrained from commenting. Harm turned around, entered his office and started securing it.

He then grabbed his things, locked the office and left the building.

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