Chapter 26: It's Got Potential

Harm and Mac exit the building, thankful to finally be rid of the SecNav. On the way to the car, walking in perfect sync side by side, Harm inquires, "Hey Mac, now that we have lost the suit, do you mind if we take a walk around for just a little bit before driving to the hotel?"

Mac replies, "No, why?"

Harm states, "I'm just a little stiff, and I would really like to work some of these kinks out before I have to fold myself into a compact car."

Mac stops, and walks in front of him, standing so that she is facing him. She starts staring at his lips, and begins caressing him with her eyes as she slowly works her way down his body.

He begins putting his leather flight jacket on, thinking he needs to cover up whatever spot she is glaring at. He asks, "Did I spill something on me?"

Mac gives him a coy smile, intently studying one spot for a lingering moment, "Not that I can tell."

Her gaze stops a little south of his belt, resisting the urge to reach out with her hand and verify what her eyes are telling her.

Harm, starting to feel a little heated by her scrutiny, inquires, "Then what are you staring at?"

She teases, "I was just trying to see how stiff you really are." She tilts her head to get a different perspective before replying, "However, I don't see any current evidence of that, Flyboy, but it's got potential."

Harm blushes furiously, realizing what she is implying. He groans, "Maaaaaaaccccccccc!"

She chuckles, "Gotcha!"

Harm shakes his head. How he wishes they could go check into their hotel, and just stay there for a few days. Then, she could examine him under closer inspection with her eyes, hands, lips, and every other part of her. Just the mere thought of having her lips caress the most sensitive part of his anatomy is leaving him hot under the collar, despite the brisk temperate outside. He notices her begin to shiver slightly, and says, "C'mon Marine, you are obviously cold. Let's get you in the nice warm car, and go get checked into our rooms."

Mac simply nods in agreement. She can't tell him that her that her shiver is more in anticipation of running her hands up the inside of his thigh, seeing how his member would jerk the closer she got to it. Dang it! She suddenly remembers that she was challenged by those two nitwits back at JAG to see which way it twitches. She has a feeling that she will be too wrapped up in whatever she is doing with Harm at that moment to even consider their challenge. She will just have to find a unique way to figure it out before they become intimate.

Harm insists on driving since he spent enough time in the Bahamas when he was growing up to know how to drive on the opposite side of the road than they do in the states. He chuckles, as he distinctly remembers how much he enjoyed needling Mic about that when they were in Australia. It was by far one of the more enjoyable moments of that blasted trip, not that there were many of them. He doesn't really want to dwell on other parts of it, especially making one of the stupidest mistakes of his life on that ferry. However, if Mac ever offers, "Is that a request?" again, he won't be stupid enough to make the same mistake twice.

He opens her car door, and waits until she is settled, before jogging around to the other side to get in himself.

As he slides into the drivers' seat, and gets himself situated, after fixing the mirrors and the seat, she idly wonders what he would do if she just rested her hand on the upper part of his leg. 'No!' she admonishes herself, 'Harm will have to concentrate on driving, on the wrong side of the street no less, he doesn't need you providing any other distractions.' She leans her head back, and decides they should probably discuss some further aspects of the case, now that it is only the two of them.

Once Harm and Mac have left the base, and are maneuvering the London streets to the hotel, Mac verbalizes a question that has been looming in both their minds since the SecNav mentioned the multiple incidents. She inquires, "Harm, do you think we should tell Captain Johnson about the other incidents across the Navy?"

Harm thinks about this for a moment, "I'm not really sure, Mac. You spent a little more time with the man than I did on our last trip, so you probably have a better read on his personality than I do. Do you really think he could be involved in this mess?"

Mac shakes her head, "I highly doubt it, but even though he doesn't seem like the type, I don't know if we should really lay everything out at the beginning. I think I would like to dig a little further into the investigation before we reveal all our cards." She adds, teasing him a bit, "And you're right, you couldn't be objective on the man. He let you have an unscheduled trip in the front seat of your favorite toy! That automatically gives him a leg up in your mind."

Harm replies to her needling first, "Hey! Just because the guy let me fly a Tomcat, it doesn't give him my automatic seal of approval. I am perfectly capable of being objective!"

Mac simply chuckles, sometimes it is so easy to goad Harm.

Harm rolls his eyes, and gets back to business, "Although I'm not a fan of keeping a superior officer in the dark, there are times when you have to keep your mouth shut because said superior officer would be required to act on the material you provide. I once had a case where I possessed personal knowledge about a person killed in the line of duty that was in line for a medal. The information I had could have caused them not to receive said medal. I declined to pass the data I knew on to my Commanding Officer because they would have been required to report it. I think it's all a judgement call. In that case, I proposed my course of action to my superior as a hypothetical situation so that I could get their read on it, and he relied on my intuition to do what I felt was right. If we get to a point in our investigation where we need to bring the Captain up to speed on the other incidents, we could possibly approach this case the same way."

Mac agrees, "That's not a bad approach to take. I don't remember this other case you are talking about. Where was I? Is that when I was working at Dalton's firm?"

Harm cautiously responds, "No. You were defense counsel in the inquiry, I was prosecution. The case never went to court-martial."

Mac thinks back for a moment, usually she is the one prosecuting and Harm is the one defending when they go up against each other. The case that first comes to mind is the one they were talking about the night of her engagement party. She asks, "The fraternization case?"

Harm replies, "No, much earlier than that."

Mac goes quiet for a few more minutes before exclaiming, "Do you mean the one where you shot up the courtroom?"

Harm cringes, "Of all the things you have to remember! You are never going to let that one go, are you?"

Mac chuckles, "Nope, and neither will anyone else at JAG. It's kind of one of those stories that will go down in history. In fact, I'm sure they have even included it in the curriculum at the Academy AND Naval Justice school as an example of what NOT to do!"

Harm shakes his head, "I think I will have to check on that to make sure they include the part about Marines taking cover, not ducking!"

Mac gives him a cold stare, "They already cover that in basic training at Parris Island, thank you very much! They just don't teach the Navy all of the tricks they teach Marines."

Harm smiles, "That's because the Navy doesn't need tricks, we are inherently smarter."

Mac provides an exasperated, "Hmmph," before asking, "So was that the case?"

Harm answers matter of factly, "I'm sorry, Mac, I can't tell you."

She raises an eyebrow, "You don't remember?"

Harm says, "I remember, I just can't tell you."

Mac gets frustrated, her brows knitting together, before understanding dawns on her, "That's why you dropped the prosecution. You found something that would have disparaged the memory of the Seal that was killed, and that information would have prevented him from receiving the Navy Cross."

Harm glances directly at her for just a moment, and the pain etched in his eyes is the only answer she needs.