A/N: And now this saga continues.

We the People Revisited

Chapter 4: Retaliatory Actions

"Commander Rabb!"

Harm turned to see a furious Mac walking toward him. He'd expected this; he knew she wouldn't take kindly to being embarrassed in court, but what else could he do? This crap magnet of case needed to go to court martial, and it was his job to see that it did.

"You sandbagged me with that ricocheting bullets line."

"Mac, I'm just doing my job." Harm reached out to rest his hand on her upper arm. She glanced at it, a look of disgust on her face, and he withdrew it, but he figured he should still try to make a peace offering. "Come on, I'll buy you lunch."

That comment only served to incense Mac more. "Buy me lunch? You make a fool out of me in there, but out here we're still supposed to be friends?"

"Yes."

"No." She glared at him, but Harm could see the hurt behind the hardness of her eyes. He hated that he could see that; it reminded him once again about the connection they'd had since the beginning—a connection that she'd broken. He steeled himself against the guilt that had been welling up in him and waited for Mac to continue. Clearly, she wasn't done with him yet.

"Maybe you can turn it on and off like a bilge switch, but I can't."

"Mac, you're taking this far to personally."

"You're damn right I am, Commander!"

With that, Mac turned on her heel and stalked off, and Harm had a feeling he knew why she was taking his antics in the courtroom so hard.

Well, she was the one who ruined things between them.

Yeah, but you could have fought her on it.

But if she really wanted me, she wouldn't have done what she did.

You could have at least asked her.

Harm mentally shook himself. It was stupid to stand here and argue with himself about this. He'd done what needed to be done for this case, and she could just go to hell.

"The major seems pretty mad, sir."

The sound of Bud's voice startled Harm, though he hid it well. He had forgotten that Bud had been standing there beside him, hearing everything that had just gone on between him and Mac, and he wondered whose side Bud would be on. Of course, since the younger man was assisting him on this case, he'd have to be on his side, but on the other hand, Bud was a compassionate, ethical soul, and what Harm had done wasn't exactly—

Stop it! Your job is to get this to court martial! Not coddle your opposing counsel! If Mac wanted to play in the big leagues, she would have to get used to this sort of behavior from anyone who opposed her.

"Sir?" Bud was speaking again. "Is something—"

"No, and yeah, I think I pissed the major off, but you do what you gotta do, Bud." He clapped Bud on the shoulder and then began walking away. He needed lunch, and time was running short. He ignored Bud when the lieutenant called after him, but he certainly heard him, and the guilt over his actions rose again.

"But did you have to do that?"

It was clear that Bud was not on his side here.

Court had adjourned for the day, and though Harm had tried to get her attention, Mac had left before he could say anything to her. He had never been one for apologizing, but Mac was different, and boy, did that bother him. It told him he still felt something for her, and his focus needed to be on Annie now. He and Annie had been talking nightly and he felt them growing closer and closer. She'd be in Baltimore by the first of next month, and he really couldn't wait to see her and Josh again…if only thoughts of Mac didn't keep intruding on his thoughts about Annie.

Dammit. Why did everything have to be so complicated. It had never been this complicated when he was flying. With a sigh, Harm went to his office, signed off on a few things, and thought about calling Mac. No, Annie. No, Mac.

Fuck.

Harm debated with himself more than an hour about whom to call, but in the end, he called no one, and with one last look at his phone, he finally got up from behind his computer, gathered his things, and left.

The sun had completely set by the time Harm left the building, with only the soft glow of the few lights lining the sidewalk leading to the parking lot and the lights from the guard shack to illuminate things. Harm didn't expect to see anyone out there, but as he passed the courtyard, the silhouette of a female form caught his eye.

"Mac?" Harm changed directions and walked over to where she sat at one of the wrought-iron tables that adorned the small area. She had to be at least a little chilled. It had been a fairly mild day, weather-wise, but still, sitting in one spot for who knows how long…

"Mac, what are you doing out here?" He pulled out the chair across from her then flipped it around to straddle it. He crossed his arms over the back of it and waited for her to speak.

"I was…I guess I was waiting for you."

"Oh? Mac, is this about today in court?"

"In a way."

"Yeah? In what way?"

She didn't speak for long seconds, and Harm was about to get up and leave when she finally asked the question he didn't want to hear.

"Harm? Are you still mad at me? Is that why you did what you did today?" To his chagrin, she sounded near tears, and he wished the earth would open and swallow him up."

"No. I don't think so." Good comeback, Rabb.

"You don't think so…well, that answers that, I guess."

"Answers what, Mac?"

"Harm, if your feelings toward me hadn't had anything to do with why you felt the need to make me look like an idiot today, you would have just said so."

She's right, you know, his inner voice admonished, and suddenly he felt like the lowest human in all of creation.

"Mac, I'm sorry."

"So, you are mad at me. I thought being with Annie would change that." He watched her drop her head and worry her hands together.

"Annie and I aren't really together."

Her head snapped up at that. "But I thought—"

"We're working toward it. She'll be moving here soon."

"Oh. Well, good."

"Mac, does it bother you that—"

"No! No, it doesn't. I'm glad actually. It makes me feel less…guilty."

"Mac, you don't have to feel guilty." Well, maybe she did a little.

She shrugged. "Maybe." He followed her eyes as she lifted her gaze to the stars. "But you didn't answer my question, at least not completely." Her eyes now looked directly into his. "Did you sandbag me for the case, or because you wanted to get back at me?"

"Mac…I, I…"

Mac suddenly stood. "It's okay, Harm. I know. You don't need to say anything. For what it's worth, I'm sorry about everything. Good luck with Annie." She turned on her heel and started walking away, back straight but with an aura of sadness about her.

"Wait, Mac," he called after her, but her movements never faltered, and she disappeared into the night.

Harm had gone insane. Utterly insane. That was the only explanation for what just happened. Harm had shot off a gun. In the courtroom. Dust from the new holes in the ceiling drifted downward as Mac slowly peaked her head over the table. The look on Admiral Morris's face nearly made her duck down, er, take cover, again.

This was not going to end well. Sure enough, counsel was called into the admiral's chambers, and then Admiral Morris lit into Harm. To his credit, Harm never flinched, but what the hell was he thinking? Did he want to get his ass drummed out of the navy? When it was finally over and they were dismissed, Harm walked out ahead of her, and then his speed picked up until she had to nearly run to keep up with him.

"Harm! Harm! Stop!" He kept walking, but to her relief, the elevator took its time to get to their floor. She caught up with him there and tugged on his sleeve. "Harm, what were you thinking? And don't give me the crap you gave Admiral Morris or the crap you'll be giving Admiral Chegwidden. Do you want to get court martialed yourself?"

"Mac, not now. I fu—screwed up. But I proved my point, didn't I?"

"Proved your point? You really are insane!"

"Mac, don't you mean crazy? Insanity is a legal term you know, or didn't you learn that at Duke?"

Mac rolled her eyes. "Fine. Yes. Yes, I think you are crazy, or at least you were in that courtroom. What the hell, Harm!"

The elevator finally arrived and they stepped inside. Mac, glad they were alone, hit the emergency stop button and turned on her colleague. "Answer me, Harm. Why?"

Harm's blue eyes flashed and turned dark. "Why do you even care, Mac?"

Mac took a step back. "Why do I care, Harm? How can you ask me that? After what—"

"Are we back to that? For fuck's sake, Mac. Let it go."

Mac glared at him for the longest time, but then she sighed and looked down in defeat. She did need to let it go. After all, she still believed she'd done the right thing—bit she certainly didn't want him to leave or be discharged. "Yeah, you're right. I-I'm sorry, Harm." She started the elevator again, but then Harm reached around and stopped it once more.

"Harm—"

"Look, Mac. Yes, it still hurts that you didn't want to pursue anything with me, but—"

"But you have Annie—"

"Leave Annie out of this. No man wants to be rejected, and I really thought we had potential, but you didn't feel the same. Forgive me if it's hard to believe you care."

"But I do, Harm. I do. I don't get it…I thought we were okay. That night you came to my apartment to tell me you realized you had strong feelings for—I mean—" Mac threw up her hands. "I don't know what I mean. I came in to talk to you about your actions in court, and yet here we are, talking about this."

"Yeah, well, maybe we need closure or something."

"Yeah, closure. I would like that, Harm. I admire you, and I want to be your friend, but maybe I should go back to Quantico. Maybe that's the kind of closure we need."

Harm's eyes widened, and for a moment, Mac thought he looked shocked, but then his expression went neutral, and she wondered if she'd imagined everything.

"Mac, don't. Don't even consider it. You know what a great opportunity this posting is. You told me yourself. Look, let's just call a truce. I'm fine, you're fine, let's hug it out and forget about everything that's happened."

Mac raised an eyebrow at him. "Hug it out?"

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah. Okay, Harm. Let's start fresh." She held out her hand to him, and after a slight hesitation, he took it. They shook hands firmly, and then he started the elevator again.

"Harm?" Mac said after a few heartbeats. "I still want to know why you fired that gun off in there."

"Shut up, Mac." But his words were followed with a smile. "I guess I really did just want to prove a point."

"Well, you did that. But which one…"

"Yeah," Harm said with a resigned sigh. "Goodnight, Mac."

"Goodnight, Harm."

Harm drove off, ruminating over his elevator conversation with Mac. Why in God's name did he fire off that gun in court? What was he trying to accomplish? It was a reckless move. Of late he had been feeling rather reckless. He took more chances in Sarah, flying later in the afternoon than he should, given his night vision issues. He sped in his 'vette, taking it out of the city and onto the country roads where he could really open her up. He took curves like a stock car racer, and there had been a couple of times where he could feel his control slipping. What the hell was his problem?

Mac. Mac was his problem. Every time he saw her, his warm conversations with Annie faded away. He resented her actions, and that made it easy to 'sandbag' her in court. She was right, he did do it on purpose. He wanted to win, but there were other ways to accomplish it. If he didn't need to keep his eyes on the road, he would have hung his head. He really was a bastard.

It was over. Case closed. The truth had come out, at least to those who mattered, Conners was free, and a young navy seal would be honored. Everything had been tied up like a perfect little bow, but Harm still paced apartment restlessly. He'd already talked to Annie and Josh, he'd even talked to his grandmother, his mother, and his stepfather. Now, he had some annoying jazz playing and for the life of him, he wondered why he didn't shut it off because it was so grating. It was also loud, so he almost missed the knock on his door. He didn't have to look through the peephole to know it was Mac. He pulled open the door, and sure enough, there she was, bags of food in her hand. She called it a peace offering, and he let her in.

For a moment, he thought she'd actually brought him a beltway burger too, but she surprised him with a salad from one of his favorite cafés. He let her turn off the music and then he led her to his bedroom. It was the only place to sit given the rest of his apartment was still an unholy mess. They sat side by side, while she ribbed him about his impulsive antics, and he ribbed her about ducking. She countered that with the assertion that marines never duck, they take cover. He had to laugh, a little surprised they were now talking about these subjects easily, and in a moment of mirth, he noticed a bit of ketchup at the corner of her mouth. Unable to stop himself, he cupped her cheek and wiped the ketchup away with this thumb, smiling when she blushed.

"You, ah, had ketchup on your face."

"Oh."

Several seconds went by, and Harm suddenly realized his hand was still touching her face. His eyes searched hers as he leaned down toward her, and when she didn't move away, he brushed his lips across hers. That simple touch was enough to fuel the desires they had each been suppressing, and the next thing he knew, they were kissing fulling. Her tongue brushed across his lip, and he opened for her, letting her tongue slip inside and tangle with his. His mouth moved from hers to her jaw and down to her neck, and then he gently pushed her down on the bed. He covered her body with his own, their lips finding each other again, as her hands roamed over his back and his slid over her hip to just under her breast. She whimpered into his mouth, and then he grew bolder, letting his thumb caress her nipple through her sweater.

Unfortunately, it was that touch that broke Mac out of the heat of the moment. The proverbial bucket of water had been thrown over them, and Mac pushed Harm away.

"Harm, stop. Stop. We can't."

"Why not?" he whispered as he nuzzled her cheek.

"You know why not. Please, Harm."

Harm, always one to stop if the woman asked, rolled off of Mac, his chest heaving and his pants tight with his desire. He sat up, flushed, and Mac did the same. Her lips were swollen from his kisses, her cheeks as flushed as his. "I'm sorry, Harm. This isn't, we shouldn't…"

"I know, Mac. You're right." Neither of them moved, and he knew it would just take a touch to fuel the passion burning inside them. He held back, dismayed when he saw her eyes had filled with tears. Gently he reached out and brushed a tear aside. He quickly drew his hand back as she whispered another apology.

"No, Mac. I'm sorry. Please don't cry. We'll be okay."

"Harm, I want to be your friend, but I don't know if I can."

It was in that moment Harm knew he'd never find a friend like Mac. Sure, thus far their relationship had been rocky, but if he could let her in, just a little, they'd be the best of friends. If he couldn't be her lover, he'd be her friend. He never wanted to lose her.

"Mac, we can. We can be friends. Best friends even. I can live without this—" he motioned toward the bed. "But now that we've met, I don't think I can handle losing our friendship."

"Do we have a friendship, Harm?"

Harm grinned. "We do. We will. I know it. You just need to trust me."

Mac's gaze softened. "I do trust you, Harm. With my life."

"So, friends?"

"Friends." They shook on it, and both were a lot happier than they were the last time they declared each other friends.

And that was the moment they started lying to themselves.

End Chapter 4

Next episode: Crossing the Line