(For the purposes of my fanfic plot, Mattie is within an hour's drive of Harm's place...can't remember how far away she actually was at the end of season 10!) Big thanks again to everyone who left reviews! You're so encouraging! Andsowego

Fair Winds and Following Fate

Chapter III


Harm's Apartment
08:00

Harm had jumped into the shower as Mac started the morning coffee. Sounds of the shower on full-blast resonated throughout the apartment, as she padded barefoot into Harm's kitchen. Well, it certainly wouldn't be a bacon-morning, unless Harm had a secret stash in the freezer. After several minutes of unsuccessful rummaging in the nearly-empty fridge, she spied the loaf of bread on the counter. Since the apartment was still packed up, options were limited. Toast would have to do.

"Do you want toast?" she called. "Harm?"

No reply was the reply. The shower was effectively drowning out any attempts at communication.

'Oh well, might as well get some sort of breakfast together before the squid's done in the shower.' Abandoning the dream of bacon and eggs, she popped some bread in the toaster. It would have to do. Oat-nut-one-hundred-percent-whole-grain-whatever-it-was that Harm kept in the cupboard. There was definitely a lot of negotiating left to do, and they'd have to start with his choice in breakfast foods. She may have agreed to marry him, but the bacon would have to be written into their marriage vows if he wanted to ever walk down the aisle.

The shower continued to run as Mac retrieved a couple of coffee mugs from a box. Just as she was re-thinking his invitation to join him, the phone rang.

"Harm, do you want me to answer that?" Mac called.

"What?" came the water-logged reply.

Whatever. All of their close friends had been told the night before of the change in their relationship, and anyone else who might have something to say about it definitely wouldn't be calling Harm's place at 8 o'clock in the morning.

Praying it wasn't Harm's mother... that was a conversation best reserved for her and Harm together... she picked up the phone in the living room and turned off the answering machine.

"Hello?... no, he's busy at the moment... can I take a... what? Who is this? ... how did you know I'd be here?... no, he's in the shower... trust me, he's well out of ear-shot... I certainly don't want to discuss this over the phone... yeah, I'll meet with you... Okay. See you then. Bye."

After Mac hung up the phone, she spun around only to find Harm standing about two inches away.

"Whoa! You scared me Harm!"

"Who was on the phone? I heard it ringing from the shower. Did you take a message?"

"Actually flyboy, it was a wrong number. Nothing to worry about."

She lied. She actually lied right to his face. There was no way in hell she was going to have this conversation with him now. He wouldn't understand. As much as she loved him, she just couldn't talk to him about this. Not now. Not now that their lives were finally being turned right-side-up, and everything they'd ever wanted was becoming a reality. What was she thinking… agreeing to meet? Had she lost her mind? Harm would know something was up, she was sure of it.

Surprisingly, he didn't pursue the conversation.

"I'm going to get dried off... the shower's all yours Mac. I'm gonna call Mattie back and let her know that we'll be there in about an hour, okay?"

"Sure Harm, whatever."

He was sure there had been a change in her demeanour since he'd heard the last bit of that phone call. Maybe he'd misunderstood, but it sounded like she'd said "see you then". Well, the shower was still running after all. Maybe it really had been a wrong number. It's not like he couldn't trust her! Shaking his head at his own suspicion, Harm headed back into the bedroom to get dressed and call Mattie.

Best Western Lodge
Washington, DC
08:00

Sitting on the sofa in the hotel room, Mic glanced at her name scrawled across the yellow-lined notepad. Well, there really was no easy way to go about doing this. He'd just have to bite the bullet and take the direct approach. She was a marine, she could handle it. It's what he'd always loved about her. That no-nonsense marine attitude was probably what cursed their relationship at the end of the day, but at least he knew who he was and wouldn't compromise.

"Damn her for being so... right!" he growled at the paper.

Taking a deep breath, Mic picked up the phone and dialed for the second time. Since she wasn't at home the first time he'd dialed, he had a pretty good idea of where to find her. Although he'd expected it, he was still surprised to hear her voice answering the phone.

"… Hi... Is he there?... good, it's you I'd rather talk to anyway... jeepers, I thought you'd at least remember what I sound like on the phone... I took a wild guess... can he hear you?... I'm in town for a few days... can we meet to talk in person?... really?... okay, how about noon for lunch at Sydney's?... I'm looking forward to it... goodbye my love."

As Mic hung up the phone he smiled to himself.

"Still got the charm" he gloated out load. She wouldn't know what hit her.

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Chapter IV coming soon. Please take a minute and leave a review! It's encouraging to know that people actually read this stuff! Cheers, Andsowego