Author's note: Next installment. I greatly appreciate the reviews. As always, let me know what you think!

All mistakes are mine… I own nothing and no infringement is intended.

Part 4

"Tell me," he took a few more steps and used his outreached hands to cup her jaw once close, "Mac?" She looked up. "You do realize that if you would have told me you wanted the timetable moved up, we would have been married for a few years by now, right?" She gave him a slight nod. "And we'd have found out about your endometriosis after said marriage." Again, she nodded. "So what do you think I would have done?" She just looked away. "Mac?" When her eyes met his, he found nothing in them but uncertainty and sorrow.

"You," she said quietly, "would have been miserable... aggrieved..." She dropped her eyes and when they returned to his face, a glistening sheen covered them. "But mostly," she cleared her throat, "resentful."

"Mac..." The pad of his thumb wiped away the few escaped tears. "I would never..."

"As for what you'd do," she continued over him and bit her bottom lip, taking a deep breath, "I dunno." He searched her face and finally he drew his own conclusion on her thoughts and dropped his hand and gaze.

"You think I'd leave." he took a few steps back and the look on his face flashed through emotions until finally settling on shocked incredulity, "You actually think I'd leave you?"

"Harm, I never...". He ignored her.

"Of course you do." He turned his back to her and after dragging a hand over his face, his head bowed and his hand went to his waist. "Hell, I've already left you once and abandoned you once." She sighed and shook her head at the broad back that faced her.

"You know," she looked toward the ceiling, "I was asked recently - yesterday actually - if I thought you'd ever abandon me." He turned slowly to face her and raised an eyebrow.

"Who would ask you that?". She shifted uncomfortably.

"Psychologist... Therapist. Whatever you want to call her." Surprise joined the confusion on his face.

"Therapy? I don't remember you saying anything. When did that happen?" She offered a self conscious laugh.

"Yesterday. Apparently."

"I drove you to therapy?" He asked in a voice layer with bewilderment and apprehension.

"Well, Wednesday definitely didn't help matters but it, alone, wasn't the catalyst. Honestly, I probably should have gone years ago... Or at least around the time you told me to deal with my father issues or I would continue to walk away from every man who told me I was worth something." He grimaced.

"I really need to work on my wording and delivery."

"Maybe. But you tend to dish out the truth, even when the truth is... Ugly.

She shrugged. "I do, however, appreciate that the first words out of your mouth weren't 'I told you so' or 'about damn time'." He merely shook his head at her. "Anyways, she asked and I said.." He sighed and again turned away from her.

"You listed off my return to carrier duty and life post Paraguay as proof that I would." She stared at his back simply shaking her head and then with a deep breath closed the distance. She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his back. The sudden, unexpected contact caused him to tense.

"I said you never would." He started to reply but the shake of her head against his back halted his words. "You didn't leave me to fly. I won't argue that at the time it sure felt like you were leaving me. If forced to discuss it, and I was on many occasions, I defended your choice and said that we'd see you once your 6 month tour was up... We just wouldn't hear from you much until then. And that you had to willingly end that chapter of your life." He slowly turned allowing her arms to slide freely around his waist. She looked up with a raised eyebrow when they were finally face to face. "Didn't like it. Felt left behind. But that wasn't your intent. And at that time, I guess I wasn't really yours to leave."

"You defended me?" He raised both eyebrows. She rolled her eyes.

"I'll always defend you in public."

"And face to face, behind closed doors?"

"I try to make you see reason. Rarely works." He gave a light laugh. "As for," she paused as if looking for the right words. "As for the aftermath of our South American vacation," she shook her head and dropped her eyes to his chest, "we had a shitty conversation mostly driven by frustration, poor communication and horrible circumstances. We... I reached a conclusion that even I at the time knew was false... wrong... But when you didn't fight me on it... I quit trying to tell myself I was wrong. And for the first time since the rose garden, we attempted to let each other go." As she sought his gaze, he looked away.

"So that's why you ended up with Webb?"