A/N. Hey guys, so here's the third and final part. I am sorry about where I left off the last chapter but there was a reason (which I will explain at the end of this chap lol). Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chap!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Chapter Three

Mac looked from Harm to Mic before Mic responded to her question. The two faces before her couldn't be more different. Mic was nervously smiling at her whilst Harm had reverted back to his poker face, the kind of face he had when she left JAG and the marine corps to join the civilian firm and the kind he had when she had accepted Mic's ring to wear on her right hand before finally moving it to her left. Damn Mic, they were finally on the same page and now he was closing off to her again. She had to sort this fast.

"I was in town for a case from my superior. Admiral Chegwidden wanted a debriefing as it involved an Australian and an American naval officer. Sarah, can we talk?" he asked. Mac glanced at Harm before gesturing towards her office but when he went to close the door behind them to give them some privacy she stopped him.

"Leave the door open, Mic" she told him as she walked around the other side of her desk. He hesitated but did as she asked, "So what did you want to talk about?" she asked folding her arms across her chest in a classically defensive posture.

"I want to talk about us, I've missed you Sarah, probably more than I should" he smiled at her nervously again, "I was hoping you'd have dinner with me tonight?" he asked.

"Sorry Mic, but I'm busy with Harm tonight" she told him. The change in Mic's expression was frightening to say the least.

"I can't believe you're still hung up on him, he's a wreck Sarah!" he raised his voice angrily. Mac's own temper was raised by this, how dare he talk about Harm like that. She wanted to be understood with what she said next so she put both her hands on her desk and leant forward. She spoke each word with a quiet authority leaving no doubt as to their meaning.

"Harm is the one man who accepts me for exactly who I am, he doesn't try to change me and he doesn't get angry with me when I have made a decision that I believe in. He is TWICE the man YOU will ever be" Mic's face drained of colour as she stared him in the eye almost daring him to challenge the statement. "Now, if you don't have any further requests for me, then I'm going to ask you to leave". She walked around her desk and passed Mic, who was still digesting the conversation, and walked back into the bullpen towards Harm who was talking to Budd.

"Sarah, we haven't finished!" Mic had come to his senses, realised she had dismissed him and had grabbed her arm to turn her back around to face him. Before Mac could even think of an appropriate threat to get him to let go of her arm, Harm took three long strides over to them, drew back his fist and collided it solidly to Mic's jaw causing the Australian to stumble backwards.

"Harm!" Mac exclaimed, and she moved in between the two men before Mic could hit back, she turned to face Mic, "I think you should leave"

"That's a fine idea Colonel" Admiral Chegwidden's voice came from the door to his office, "Thank you for the debriefing on the McCulloch case, Commander Brumby, that will be all"

"Admiral, you can't expect me to leave! I want to file charges against, Rabb, he's assaulted me!" he exclaimed. Admiral Chegwidden walked over to the group and spoke in a very soft, threatening voice.

"In that case I'm sure your superior officer would really want to know about your assault of Colonel Mackenzie. I think it would be a good idea just to leave and not be reduced to car parking tickets for the rest of your career! Don't you think Brumby?" Mic looked around the office disgustedly and then back at the Admiral.

"Like I once said, you're all a little bit in love with her" he spat.

"We take care of our own, Commander, something you always failed to grasp. Lieutenant, Commander, escort the man out" he ordered Budd and Sturgis.

"Aye sir" Budd happily replied as he and Sturgis took one arm each and escorted him from the room.

"As you were people!" the Admiral ordered, "You two, my office, now" Mac looked to Harm who still had his poker face firmly in place. She sighed as she followed the two men into the Admiral's office and then make to attention in front of his desk.

"Just what in the hell happened out there Colonel?" he asked.

"Commander Brumby seemed to think there may have been an opportunity to become romantically involved with me again, when I advised otherwise he became upset and grabbed my arm. Commander Rabb came to my aid as a fellow officer Sir" she stated.

"Is that so? Anything to add Commander?" he asked.

"No Sir, I believe the Colonel has covered the relevant points"

"Is there anything else I should know about at all?" he asked looking from one officer to the other.

"No Sir" they both stated.

"I understand your reaction commander, but I can't have my bullpen turned into a damn boxing ring, next time, curb the impulse or I'll bust you back down to Ensign, do I make myself understood?"

"Yes Sir" Harm responded.

"And Colonel, try to keep your personal life clear of my offices" he ordered.

"Aye Sir, I apologise Sir"

"Dismissed" he ordered and they both turned to leave but as Harm was leaving the Admiral stopped him, "Oh and Commander"

"Yes Sir?" The Admiral waited until Mac had left before he asked,

"How did it feel to hit that schmuck?" Harm smiled and answered.

"Pretty good Sir"

"Very well, dismissed"

"Aye aye Sir".

Mac was waiting for Harm outside the Admirals outer office.

"Harm, what were you thinking?" she whispered as they started walking towards their offices.

"I didn't think Mac, I just ... reacted. I'm sorry" he told her. He fisted his hand and winced.

"Damn Harm, your hand" Mac winced for him and took his hand in hers, "I think we should put ice on this, come on" she lead him to the kitchen, placed some ice in a towel and put it to Harm's knuckles. After a few minutes of silence with Mac holding Harm's hand and applying the ice, Mac spoke. "You must have really hit him hard, this is going to be black and blue tomorrow"

"And I have about 50 depositions to write up too" he smiled down at Mac who stared back at him. Their proximity to each other was making them dizzy, with each knowing that the other was at the same place, it was a dangerous time to be this close.

"Harm we have to talk" Mac told him.

"Yes we do" Harm confirmed.

"I ..." Mac began but was interrupted when Budd came running into the kitchen, "Sir, Ma'am, Commander Lipkins is waiting to be questioned"

"Tell him we'll be right there Budd" Harm ordered without taking his eyes from Mac's.

"Yes Sir but he's already been waiting for 15 minutes and is very concerned about the Commander Brumby incident, he's threatening to ..."

"Budd, we'll be right behind you, go and tell him we'll be right there"

"Aye Sir" he rushed back out of the room.

"We'll finish this later yeah?" Mac asked.

"My apartment, 1900 hours" Harm agreed. Mac placed the ice in the sink, the towel in the basket for laundry services and then followed Harm out of the room and back to work.

Mac couldn't concentrate all day and she kept berating herself for acting like a schoolgirl with a crush. At 1800 she finally gave up and decided to go home to get ready to go to Harm's. As she left the JAG offices and walked to her car, she saw Mic waiting for her there. She sighed and walked over to him, trying not to laugh at the black eye he was sporting.

"I thought the Admiral asked you to leave" she told him as she put her briefcase in the car.

"He asked I leave JAG not the country, Sarah. I want to finish our discussion" he told her.

"Mic, I think I've said everything there is to say, now I'm going home"

"Sarah, please I don't know why you just can't let someone in, I just want to know what happened, things were going great and then Rabb crashed, I got angry and left and you didn't come after me"

"I didn't want to come after you, I felt smothered by you. I knew you wanted to go back to Australia and sometimes it felt like you resented me because you gave up your commission and came here, the accident with Harm just showed me that I felt I was making a mistake, there's nothing more to say, I'm sorry" she told him honestly.

Mic looked like he was about to give an angry retort when she felt two long arms circle her waist and pull her against a hard chest. She couldn't help the smile that grew on her face.

"Hey Flyboy, I thought you had left"

"Just about to ninja girl, you still on for tonight?" he asked. She turned around in his arms and reached up to kiss his cheek.

"Definitely" she smiled.

"You ok here?" he asked with a pointed glare towards Mic's direction. She smiled and placed her hands on his chest.

"I'm fine, I'm a marine remember?" they both smiled at the familiar argument, "Now go, you have to feed me later". He left with one last squeeze and glare in Mic's direction.

"So you two are together now?" he asked dejectedly. Mac hesitated, she didn't want to outright lie to Mic but she hoped that it was true.

"We're working on it" she opened her car door and got in, "Bye Mic, take care". She didn't wait for a response but backed out of the car park and off to her apartment.

At 1857 Mac was nervously climbing the stairs to Harm's apartment as the lift was broken again. She didn't know exactly what was going to happen tonight, she knew what she was hoping for but they had a tendency to get their wires crossed. Approaching his front door, she took a deep breath and knocked. A second later the door opened to show a casually dressed Harm smiling at her holding a kitchen towel.

"Mac" he said, saying her name like a lifeline. He gave her a full blown aviator smile and gestured for her to come in, "You look great ninja girl" he complimented as he took her coat.

"Thanks flyboy, you don't look too bad yourself"

"Did Mic leave ok?" he asked as he walked back into the kitchen.

"Yeah, I think hugging me like that was more effective than punching him" she smiled, "So what are we having?"

"My speciality"

"Not meatless meatloaf" she teased, smirking.

"Hey, that's a good meal!" he defended.

"It's cardboard" she dead panned.

"It's good for you" he retorted. They both smiled again as Harm moved back to the kitchen to get the meal ready. Mac decided that she really needed to just lay it out on the table now so the evening could progress without any awkwardness.

"So, I had an epiphany a few weeks ago" she started as she approached the kitchen island.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, curious as to where this was heading, "About what?"

"You and me"

"And what was the epiphany"

"I don't want to just be your friend anymore Harm" she admitted softly and sat down on one of the stools, "We've both made so many mistakes. With being made partners from the beginning and who we were back then, I think maintaining the professional attitude was more important than how we were feeling, and it was fine for a while, but I think we passed the ok stage after Dalton died, I mean I took your leaving JAG so hard" she remembered. Harm came around the kitchen island and sat down next to her.

"As I recall I didn't take your leaving JAG too well myself" he told her, "I was so angry that you just left like that and so relieved when you came back. There have been so many people over the years that have told me to wake up, that you were the one that I really loved. As far back as Annie, she was convinced I was 'secretly in love with you' and she was right"

"You love me?" Mac questioned, stunned that he had actually said the words out loud so soon. Harm smiled as he realised what he had admitted and took her hand in his.

"Damn right I do" He leant forward and Mac felt herself lean to meet him for a slow tender kiss. As they broke apart Harm started speaking again, "I'm through messing around now Sarah" he whispered against her lips.

"Me too, I don't want to mess this up"

"I think we should make another deal" Harm said suddenly. Mac smiled as she responded.

"I think we still have to honour the first deal, before we make any more" She told him and Harm stared back at her.

"Oh we will, but I think we should make a deal to always be honest with each on how we feel and always make decisions 50/50" he told her, "What do you think?"

"I think we should have made that deal at the same time as the other one" Harm's smile faded,

"We've wasted so much time" he realised.

"We're together now Harm, I love you" she told him. They kissed again and it was much later in the evening when they finally got to eat Harm's speciality. He had made half vege, half meat lasagne. Much later, they were lying in bed with Mac resting her head on Harm's shoulder, cuddled into his side when he spoke up.

"What exactly did you, Harriet and Jen decide on Friday night?" he asked. Mac giggled, sounding unnecessarily like Harriet when she had hatched the plan.

"Well, I was going to talk to you tonight and I needed help on what to say, sort of an outside perspective so we wouldn't end up getting our wires crossed and Harriet came up with this plan where I would basically flirt with you all day to distract you, it worked to up until the point that Budd told you"

"How did you know that Budd had told me?" he asked.

"Oh come on, the kitchen incident!" Mac laughed, "There was no way you didn't know, besides Budd let slip to Harriet and she came and warned me, it was kinda nice knowing we were on the same page for once"

"Get used to it" he whispered in her ear and Mac smiled as she looked up at him and gave him a soft kiss.

"Did you know that Harriet has been trying to set us up since the Holtz murder case!" she told him.

"Well I think we owe the Lieutenant I big thank you, don't you ninja girl?"

"AJ's birthday is coming up next week" she mentioned casually.

"I think it's time to honour our first deal Mac, if you're ready?"

"Are you ready to put up with two Marines?"

"Nah he'll be a sailor"

"SHE'LL be a marine" they both laughed as they remembered the wording of their deal

The next morning, Harm woke up spooning a very warm Mac. He smiled groggily and kissed her neck softly, causing her to turn to face him and smile back.

"Good morning" she said and it was, Harm thought, it was a really good morning. They showered and made it to work just in time for staff call. The Admiral raised his eyebrow as they came running in just before the door closed.

"Sorry we're late Admiral, traffic was terrible, no excuse Sir" Mac stated as she sat down.

"Sorry Admiral" Harm also apologised as he sat down next to her.

"You have lipstick on you cheek Commander" the Admiral noted as he looked back down as his notes. Harm quickly wiped it off and muttered his thanks to the Admiral before glancing at Mac who had found an area of wall just beyond the Admiral's head that was absolutely fascinating and then Harriet who was smirking into her coffee cup.

"Ok people here's you assignments" the Admiral started, "Rabb, Mackenzie, you're going TAD to the Seahawk to investigate the charge of dereliction of duty against the XO, I want a full investigation on this one"

"Aye Sir" Harm acknowledged as he took the file. The rest of the meeting went quickly and efficiently. Mac walked into her office and sighed as she realised how much work she had to do by Friday and was glad she had been ordered to hand of some of her cases to Sturgis as she and Harm had to go to the Seahawk. There was a knock at her door and she looked up to see Harriet waiting expectantly.

"Come in Harriet" she smiled.

"Ma'am, I was just wondering if everything went ok last night" she told her.

"Better than ok lieutenant" she told her cryptically, "Is there anything else?"

"Have you decided what you're going to do about your careers, Ma'am, if its ok for me to ask" she added hurriedly.

"For the time being, nothing is going to change but in the future I wouldn't be surprised of some changes"

"And how do you feel about that?" she asked. Mac thought for a second and saw Harm talking to Budd outside her office. He looked up and saw her watching him, he smiled at her and turned back to Budd. "I couldn't be happier Harriet" she grinned.

The End.

A/N. Ok so I really wanted to write Harm punching Mic ever since the Australia ep, which is why I left it off where I did in the last chap, I really wanted you guys to stew on it before I told you wot happened. Lol. I also didn't want to end it with Harm or Mac resigning which is why I'm letting you draw your own opinions about that and I've always wanted to have the Admiral tell Harm he had lipstick on his cheek! Lol. Anyways I hope this chap lived up to expectations. Let me know what you think. I am so happy with the responses I've had so far, I've never had such a reaction to a story before! Cheers guys, luv Nicki xoxo