The next night (Sunday)

Harm hurried down the stairs and headed for the door. He opened it and came face to face with a tall brunette, clad in a leather jacket, jeans, and boots. A motorcycle helmet under her arm, an envelope in her hand.

"You must be the husband," she strode past Harm as she belonged. "Mac told me about you and I have a nice shot of you running around in your underwear at night."

"You can't just walk in here," Harm shook his head in wonder and walked after her. "Mac!?" he called.

"Don't worry, the Colonel and I have a deal," the woman headed for the living room.

"What's go… Oh!" Mac smiled. "You met Dani."

"I did," Harm confirmed.

"I got the dude who's stalking you," she handed Mac the envelope. "I've been following you all week."

Mac opened the envelope and took out a bunch of pictures. "That son of a bitch," she burst out.

"Who is it?" Harm reached for the pictures.

"Douglas Westerfield, a lawyer with a small San Diego firm, no social life, a bit of a looser and he does have a thing for fried chicken and your wife," Dani shrugged. "You can give these to the police. They should do a search at his place. Pictures of you all over."

"You were there?" Mac wondered.

"It's better that you leave that from the police," Dani smiled cleverly. "I've got my ways."

"Who the hell is this guy?" Harm wanted to know and handed the pictures back to his wife.

"I don't know him, but I talked to him at a party at Duke Pearce's San Diego house, about four months ago," Mac looked through the pictures. "I think he's related to Duke's wife."

"Duke Pearce as in Director of the FBI Duke Pearce?" Dani was surprised.

"I was with the Joint Terrorism Task Force years back when he was in charge of the San Diego department," Mac explained. "It was during my hiatus from the Marine Corps."

"Impressive" Dani nodded acknowledging.

"I really don't know this guy," Mac let out a sigh. "Anyway, I'll bring these to the police tomorrow."

"If they don't get this guy I will," Harm warned.

"He's a bit of a cowboy your man," Dani smiled. "I like that."

"He is, and don't get any ideas, he's mine," Mac warned teasingly.

"I'm done with men anyway," Dani smirked. "I'll find my way out. Nice to meet you, hubby," she acknowledged Harm. "If there's anything else you need me for, you have my number, Mac."

"Thank you," Mac said and watched her go. "You have to chill, Harm."

Harm ran his hand through his short hair with frustration. "How did this guy end up stalking you anyway? What did you talk to him about?"

Mac let out a frustrated snort. "Harm, I have no idea. I can't even remember the conversation. What do you think? That I did something to set him off?"

Harm took a breath. "It's just frustrating that I haven't been here to deal with this."

"You chose to focus your career away from JAG, knowing that it would put you in a position where you'd end up out at sea," she reminded him. "I'm okay with that, but you can't be angry when you're not here to deal with everything. You can't have it both ways, Harm."

"I know that," he relaxed a little. "I'm just scared, and when I get scared…"

"You lash out," she accused.

"I don't do that," he argued. "I just need you to be safe."

She nodded. "Yeah, and I am. I don't think this guy is dangerous. From what I can remember he seemed awkward and shy. I don't think he's a psychopath."

"Well, that's something at least," Harm said dryly as he turned to head upstairs. "I'm going with you to the police tomorrow. I want to talk to the detective in charge."

Mac let out a sigh. "Sure." She hurried to secure the house for the night then joined him in their bedroom.

"Today was fun," Harm commented as he stepped out of their bathroom only wearing a towel around his waist.

"It was, really fun," Mac closed the door. "How far did you run tonight?"

"Five miles," he reached for her and drew her close. "Hey, sorry about earlier."

"It's okay, I understand how you feel," she reassured. "But we know who the guy is now."

"It's not just about that, it's about me being away a lot," he let out a sigh. "It's strange, but it's okay as long as I'm there, but when I'm here I feel like I missed out."

"You do," she said honestly. "But you do a great job Harm, and with what's going on in the world we need good leaders."

"Thanks," he smiled sheepishly. "I know I am where I'm needed, I just feel torn between two worlds."

"Yeah," she played with his chest hairs, enjoying having him back. The months when he was out at sea she was lonely, despite having the kids and his family and great friend's. It wasn't just that she missed the intimacy, but she missed her best friend.

"Mom and Frank seem healthy," he commented.

"They are doing great, Harm. Age is just a number," she started trailing kisses up his chest.

"Tell me about it," he moved his hands down her sides.

Monday morning

Harm removed the lid of the paint and found the stick to stir it. The garage was screaming for some attention and after dropping the kids off at school he had picked up the paint and was looking forward to spending the day getting the first layer done. They had bought a house with a huge garage so that he could fit his Corvette and a new project in it as well as the family car. They had been driving around in a mini-van when the kids were small, but he had demanded an SUV as soon as they were done with car seats. and strollers. They wouldn't be having more kids anyway so an SUV seemed a better fit. Mac didn't care, she'd drive around in anything as long as it started.

He noticed a car coming up their driveway. The door opened and Agent Hanna and Callen appeared. He put the paintbrush down and walked to meet them.

"I thought you guys were all about LA," he said.

"Yeah, but this is nice," Hanna looked around.

"What are you guys doing here?" Harm wondered tentatively.

"It's about the terror threat against US vessels," Callen started.

"We have reason to believe that it's still very much a threat," Hanna added.

Harm hesitated. "What do you know?"

"We need your help figuring out who in the ship's crew is a terrorist," Hanna said.

Harm raised his eyebrows. "You're saying that someone is looking to smuggle explosives into the Regan?"

Hanna nodded."Pretty much."

"You guys better get me up to speed," Harm suggested. "I think I have paint-brushes for both of you," he motioned for the garage.

The men shared looks then removed their jackets. "Come on," Hanna said.

Lunchtime, Los Angeles

Mac walked into the restaurant and looked around. Hetty was sitting at a corner table across from a man she hadn't seen in years. She waived the waiter off and pointed to the table.

"I'm meeting someone," she offered a smile and headed for the table. "Hetty?"

Hetty smiled and stood. "Well well, isn't it Sarah Rabb," she offered her hand. "Tell me something, am I shrinking or have you gotten taller?"

Mac chuckled. "How are you Hetty?"

"I have few complaints," Hetty smiled. "How are the kids and the husband?"

"They are doing good," Mac reassured.

"That's good," Hetty turned to her company who had risen. "You know Deputy Director Clayton Webb."

"Webb," Mac acknowledged him. The years had been nice to Clayton Webb, he looked good, though a little more grey than she remembered.

"You look beautiful, as always," Webb smiled and motioned for a chair. "Please sit down, I'm afraid time is precious as the moment.

They sat down. "What's going on?" Mac wondered.

"Vladimir Rokov, what can you tell me about him?" Hetty questioned.

Mac hesitated. "Well, he's a Russian diplomat."

"We need to contact him," Webb said.

"We understand that you can do that," Hetty suggested.

"I can do that, but why?" Mac wanted to know.

"We need connections to the Russians," Hetty answered honestly.

Mac nodded. "I take it you want to connect with bad Russians," she hesitated. "The first time I met Rokov I was working a case where Russian terrorists wished to recruit American sailors to their cause. The cause was to blow up American Navy ships. Is that why you need to contact him?"

Webb nodded. "I always liked the way your mind worked, Sarah. It saves time."

The use of her name made her uncomfortable, but she didn't let it show. "What ships are in danger?" she wondered.

"We don't know exactly," Hetty answered. "This is a joint operation between the CIA, FBI, and NCIS. The threat is imminent. We believe the recruiting has happened and that American sailors will try to blow up ships."

"I will talk to some of my contacts and see if I can get the word out to Rokov that I want to talk to him," Mac promised. "He's not so public anymore."

"Good," Hetty turned to Webb. "The sooner the better I'm thinking."

"I understand that Harm is the XO on the Regan. How is Rabb anyway?" Webb wondered.

"He's exactly where he's needed," Mac assured.

"I think Callen and Hana are talking with Captain Rabb as we speak," Hetty focused on Mac. "Can you stay with our team on this Mac?"

"I think I could get away, yeah," Mac reached for her phone. "I'll just call Commander Lunt and let him know that he's in charge for a few day's."

Later

Mac walked into the Los Angeles department NCIS Headquarters and looked around. A young man with fluffy hair looked curiously at her and walked over. He looked like he'd fit better on a beach with a surfboard, she decided.

"May I help you?" the man asked.

"Yeah, I'm Colonel Sarah Rabb, I'm looking for Deeks and Kenzie," she hesitated. "Hetty sent me."

"Oh, you're the Colonel," he offered his hand. "Okay, yeah, sure, because Colonel's in the Marine Corps can look like you. Mostly in a movie, right? Not that hot women can't have dangerous jobs, because they can. And I'm totally cool with that. In fact, I have a thing for powerful women…"

"Deeks, shut up!"

They both turned to the tall, slender brunette approaching them. "I'm sorry about him, Colonel. Really, very sorry," Kenzie offered her hand. "I'm Kenzie, this is Deeks."

Mac shook her hand. "Nice to meet you both."

Deeks offered his own hand. "Hi."

Mac smiled and shook his hand. "So, I managed to get in contact with Rokol through some of my contacts and he would like to meet me. I'm sure Hetty informed you guys about this."

"We're here to watch your backside… back. Have your back," he stuttered and got an annoyed look from Kenzie. "I'm mostly going to keep quiet from now."

Mac was amused. "Is there a place where I can change? Lose the skirt and heels."

"I'll show you," Kenzie said before Deeks could start rambling again.

Mac followed her. "There's a place down at the docs where he would like to meet. I'm not sure he'll love that I'm bringing someone but we'll see how it goes."

"Okay, we'll follow your lead," Kenzie said and pointed to the bathroom. "In here."

"I'll be right back," Mac promised. She changed into jeans and sneakers and put her gun into her pants, making sure her top and jacket hid it. She hadn't had any problems with Rokol in the past but she wasn't sure who's side he was on so she would rather be safe than sorry.