Post-Measure Of Men (7x03); Harm/Mac (who else?); lyrics from All At Once by The Fray (didn't think they were mine, did you!).
I
own nada: characters who may or may not be mentioned, lyrics, the USS
Guadalcanal - no, sadly, she belongs to the United States Navy -
supposedly, anyway.
With thanks to delgaserasca, once again, for the wonderful beta.
Would
like to be dedicating this one to everyone who felt cheated out of a
real ending in FWFS. Here's to a real resolution, someday.
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All At Once
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There are certain people you just keep coming
Back to, she is right in front of you; you begin to
Wonder, could you find a better one compared
To her now she's in question?
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Damn it, Hammer, you're so far over your head. The SecNav was right when he said you never make things easy. Damn, he was right. And look where taking the messy road got you: God-knows-which carrier in the middle of God-knows-which ocean answering a question you never wanted to even hear, least of all from her lips. Scratch that. You're not answering the question. Damn it, Hammer. You've really gone and done it this time.
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I'm so sick of this dance; she leaves, he's stood in her quarters – his question unanswered, hers about to be. I would give her up.
He follows her out, though he knows it's almost certainly pointless: she'll run, it's her only defence now, he's broken all the others. Whenever he sees Reneé, he wishes she were someone else – he wishes she were Mac, because Mac is his constant; she's always there when his world falls apart, she keeps him grounded, a feat in itself.
She's seen him at his best, she's seen him at his worst; she was there when he fell, when he lost his faith, when no-one else was. And she's always there at the end; when he's back to square one, she's barely a step behind. His constant, his lifeline, and he knows he loves her – more than Diane (God, Diane, he hasn't thought of her in so long – he doesn't see her anymore, he sees Mac), more than Reneé, more than Jordan, definitely more than Neurotic Annie.
He calls after her – to no avail; she's gone, he resigns himself to the fact that he's lost her once again (but, if he's lucky, they'll come back to each other again, because that's what they always do).