A/N: I absolutely hate it when your mind is trying to focus on something, and another idea won't get out of your head. Most times, I just stick it in a file to work on later, but the one today wasn't letting go, so I had to write some of it out.
The plane hits a little turbulence, jarring Mac away from her peaceful slumber. When she fell asleep, she was upright, with her head resting against the side of the plane. Apparently, her subconscious thoughts kicked in during her rest, because her head was now attached to the perfect spot of Harm's chiseled shoulder. She tries to clear the cobwebs from her eyes as she looks around, hoping no one, especially the SecNav, noticed her preferred pillow.
Happy that no one seems to have seen her precarious position, she turns her eyes to study her partner. Harm still appears to blissfully asleep, worry lines evident on his forehead, but a faint smile on his lips. She idly wonders what he is thinking about that would be causing such diverse emotions. She should have realized that he is probably used to being knocked around in flight, so a little turbulence wouldn't phase him in the least. Another jolt, this one more forceful, finally jars him awake. Simultaneously, they hear the co-pilot yell back, "You folks might want to make sure you are strapped in tight back there. We are coming up on some ugly weather. We are trying to divert around the storm cells, but it could get bumpy for a little while."
Mac's slight shiver from before is nothing compared to icy feeling that runs straight down to her toes at the mere mention of flying in a storm. Her normally sun-kissed skin turns ashen. She will never forget the night that Harm was lost in the middle of the frigid Atlantic. She could feel how hypothermic he was that night, even before that official diagnosis came when they fished him out of the water. Although she never wanted to be that cold again, EVER, she blessed that their connection made it possible for her to locate him. Lord knows that the search crews weren't having any luck.
Harm wraps his hand around hers, and gives a gentle squeeze. Even in the dimly lit area, he intimately knows where her thoughts have gone. He would have been warmer in an igloo in Iceland that terrible night. However, he is thankful that Skates hadn't been subjected to the freezing water as long as he had. She might not have survived, he barely made it himself. If it wasn't for his guardian angel and their special connection, and the willingness of Captain Ingalls to go on faith and listen to the unconventional, he wouldn't have. He quietly tells Mac, "It will be okay this time, we will never have to relive that night again."
Mac mutely nods, accepting Harm's reassuring words at face value, but knowing that neither one of them will ever forget that night, regardless of the fate of this flight.
She decides to try and focus her thoughts on something else, and inquires, "Harm, how do you think we should handle this investigation?"
Harm inhales deeply, thankful for the change of subject, but at the same time knowing that his thoughts on this might upset her. He replies, "Well Marine, due to the sensitive nature of the subject, we may want to investigate this along gender lines. It's not usually my preference, but in this case I'm not sure that we have much of a choice."
She stares at him for a moment, not ready to agree with this thought process, but not ready to dismiss it out of hand yet either. She almost wanted to joke about her plan of inviting every member of the squadron to her quarters for tea while she interrogated them, but the haunted look in his eyes made the words die on her lips.
Before she can respond, he continues, "I don't want to be accused in any way, shape, or form of being a part of this so-called "Boy's Network". Further, I don't want to even fathom the idea of one of those guys coming after you. If that were to happen, the only way you would be able to see me would be in Leavenworth, because I would be up on murder charges."
She wants to be angry with him for implying that she is incapable of taking care of herself, but at the same time her heart swoons that he would do anything to keep her safe. This is one of those scenarios where his tendencies to be over-protective would normally bug the crap out of her, but she knows he is right. There aren't too many places to hide on a ship if someone is really after you, and she doesn't want to fall victim either. Even if she can probably rival eighty-three percent of the personnel on the ship in hand to hand combat skills. She surmises that sometimes having a 6'4" partner, not to mention a cocky pilot, looking out for your best interests isn't a bad thing.
Another terrible feeling runs through her at the mere notion of seeing him in an orange jumpsuit. She can't picture Harm in the brig, let alone Leavenworth. And with all the people he has been personally responsible for putting in there, he would be dead himself within a week. She brushes it off, "You wouldn't go that far Harm."
Harm looks her directly in the eye, with his jaw set, and emphatically states, "Mac, if a guy physically caused you any pain, especially of a sexual assault nature, you can bet your green marine butt that I would go that far! Hell, I'd probably kill him twice, just to make sure he was dead!"
Although she has seen firsthand what can happen when he allows his anger to take over, she can't see him doing it on her behalf. He usually has such a tight rein on his emotions, that she rarely sees an overt display of any emotion. The docks at Norfolk appearing foremost in her mind of one of the few times she has seen him lose control. The rational side of her brain tells her that he acted that way because he loved Diane with every fiber in his being, and wanted her killer brought to justice. Even with how close they were earlier this evening; she isn't quite ready to believe that he loves her.
As the plane bucks again, her memories are jolted to another time that his emotions ran away from him, in a split second in Australia, when he went to punch Mic and ended up breaking Bud's jaw. Bud swore that it was an accident, and that they were fighting over her, but she had dismissed that idea out of hand, thinking that back then Harm didn't have those types of feelings for her. In fact, he had flat out resisted her advances on the ferry shortly before that fight. However, now that she remembers those things with the gift of hindsight, in additional to his current words, it is definitely making her wonder now if he does in fact love her, and has for a long time.