Title: Last Dance

Author: rooster dawn

pairing: Harm and Mac

Spoiler: Surface Warfare

Disclaimer: JAG is property of Belisarius productions, no copyright

infringement intended.

Summary: Anything can happen when a Marine wears a little red dress.

Good feedback is good for one's soul and everyone's happiness.

Author's note: Though it wasn't written as such, and it was written much later, this story could be considered a prequel to the story "Number One Couple in Washington DC"

part 2

1930 hours

Fairwinds Hotel

As Harm and Mac entered the banquet hall arm in arm, they were greeted with what seemed like a thousand flash bulbs going off. It was nearly blinding. They were quite surprise by all the photographers having an interest in them.

"Why are they taking pictures of us Harm? We're not that important." asked Mac.

"Speak for yourself marine." laughed Harm. "Really, I think they just wanted to take a picture of the most beautiful woman here tonight Sarah."

Mac blush at his lovely comment. Surely he was just trying to make her feel good, but he called he Sarah ... again. It had to be more than that she thought.

"Thank you Harm, even if it's not true. Where are you going Harm? Our table is supposed to be over here on the right side of the hall." asked Mac.

"If we go to our table now we will have to deal with the Admiral, Bud and Harriet. We won't be able to get away later." replied Harm.

"Yeah, right Harm, you mean you'll have to deal with Renee. You'll have to answer all her insipid questions that you don't like to deal with." argued Mac.

"Maybe, but I also would like to see some old friends who are suppose to be here tonight. Some of them may even know you." smiled Harm.

"Are you trying to show your friends that you know a woman who isn't a blond bimbo?" asked Mac with a coy smile.

"Despite your fascination of me dating blond women Mac, most of the women I've dated have had brown hair with a redhead thrown in now and again. Renee is the first blond I've dated since ... " teased Harm.

"Since Jordan." Mac filled in the woman's name.

"Sorry I forgot about Jordan. I only dated her because I was angry with you. It was at least ten years before Jordan that I dated a woman with blond hair. Besides Renee isn't a real blond, she dyes it." replied Harm solemnly.

"Okay Harm, if you want to make the rounds before we sit down, it's fine with me. They don't serve dinner for another forty five minutes." smiled Mac in resignation.

She wondered why they had to visit with his friends now. Why couldn't he wait until after dinner? They were supposed to be eating dinner with Jack Keeter, his best friend and two Jag officers he had worked with before she arrived in Washington, a Meg Austin and Caitlin Pike.

They made their way around the banquet hall stopping at a few tables along the way. At some of the table there were pilots that Harm had flown with before, back in the day when he was the king of the greenie board.

Mac was kind of surprise at the affection that former aviators shared with each other. She had always thought of them as adolescent teenagers who never grew up. They belong to a special fraternity that espoused commitment only to one's shipmates and no other.

She was surprise to see that many of them had wives and children as old as Chloe. She began to wonder what was wrong with her flyboy. She wondered why he couldn't commit to a loving and fulfilling relationship like so many of them had.

Of course she knew one of the reasons, his father. Not so much that he had been missing for thirty years, but that he left behind a wife and small son like his friend Luke Pendry.

Still, he had gone eight years before he was stationed on a carrier again flying tomcats. There wasn't any reason to believe he would ever fly again. So why then hadn't he found a woman and settled down?

They also came across some tables that some of his former Naval Academy mates were sitting. If she hadn't seen it she wouldn't have thought it possible, there appeared to be an even stronger bond between them than with the aviators.

They were so happy to see Harm. Somehow it appeared to her that he was their leader. They made special introductions to their wives and told some unbelievable stories, stories that she normally wouldn't have believed to be true except she had heard some of them before from Jack.

She was surprised that many of them gave her hugs as well believing that she had died. Harm had to explain to them that she wasn't Diane and that Diane was indeed dead. That changed the mood for everyone who was present.

That was until he introduced her as Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie, US Marine Corp. That lightened the mood for everyone as everyone laughed realizing that Harm had fallen in combat to a marine.

A concept she really didn't understand because she and Harm weren't together and had never been together. And in fact Harm had never made any attempt to change that fact.

She realized by the power of observation that many of the women were watching the closeness that she and Harm shared. It seemed that Harm was either holding her hand or had a hand on the small of her back. She saw the sighs of wistfulness they had for having Harm by her side.

As they continued to make their way around the room they caught up with some of the Captains and CAGs they had met over the years while doing their investigations. Many of them thank them for taking a positive view when dealing with mishaps.

They thought that they handled the investigations in the proper light. They looked to see what had happen, what went wrong, and how to make sure it didn't happen again instead of immediately trying to place blame on someone.

She had to laugh when many of them made a special effort to point out he had finally thrown away his vision of flying for having a vision by his side. They had all wondered why he had taken so long to be with her.

She wondered why though he didn't said anything to the contrary. She wondered why he didn't say they weren't together and that they were just friends. Wasn't that their shared response for the past four years?

She was interested by the fascination of a few photographers who seemed to be following them around. It seemed like they took a picture of everyone who either shook their hand or gave them a hug. Why?

They stopped at Senator Bobby Laythem's table to say hello. They talk for a few minutes to see what was happening on the hill before moving on. She almost burst out laughing when Bobby gave her a look of finally you got him.

She began to wonder if she was the only one in the room who had been left out of the loop. She wondered if they all knew something that she didn't know and it had something to do with Harm. She began to wonder what he was up to.

Finally they made their way to their table. Mac was stunned to see Mic standing there with his usual punch-drunk look on his face. What the hell was he doing here? He was going to ruin her perfect night.

Ever since she had arrived thirty minutes ago she had felt like Harm's girl. She had been on his arm most of the time. Everyone thought they were together. Now wasn't the time for Mic Brumby and one of his fantasies to screw things up for her.

Fairwinds Hotel

2000 hours

Mic stood up when he saw Mac walking over towards the table. He was so happy to see her. It had been a few months since he had seen her last and he missed her. After all she was his fiancee or so he believed.

Mac on the other hand wasn't as please to see Mic. She was looking forward to a nice evening with Harm and their friends. There would be a nice dinner, pleasant conversation with friends, and a night of dancing with Harm, one of her favorite activities.

She didn't know that Mic was going to be here tonight. He hadn't said anything to her about it the last time they talked. If there was one thing she didn't like, it was surprises, especially if they involved embarrassing her.

How does one get out of a situation without causing a major scene? Deniability had been Harm's mantra for years when he was caught flatfooted about something. One could always claim that they had other plans.

"Colonel, you have a surprise guest here tonight. Mic Brumby has reserved his commission to be here with you tonight." smiled the Admiral.

"Hello Luv." began Mic as he leaned in to give her a kiss.

Unfortunately for Mic, Mac didn't like public displays of affection particularly in front of her CO. She quickly evaded Mic's move and moved closer to Harm.

"What are you doing here Mic? I wasn't expecting to see you here tonight. In fact I haven't heard from you for several weeks." replied Mac with a little attitude.

"I wanted to surprise you Luv. I had some things to work out before I could come here to be with you." whined Mic in a tone that hit a nerve.

"I don't like surprises Mic. I've made other plans for tonight. I'm here with Harm. There are some old friends we plan on socializing with tonight. I'm sure you'll have a good time without me to entertain you Mic, you know everyone here at the table." smiled Mac as she walked over to her chair with Harm.

"But Sarah!" whined Mic.

"Let it go Brumby, it's not prudent to fight with a marine when she's dress to kill." ordered the Admiral as he chuckled to himself. He told Brumby that marines don't like surprises.

It wasn't long before dinner was being served and everyone was busy eating. There were many conversations going on at the table. None seemed important to Mac. The only concern she had was not having one with Mic.

2100 hours

After dinner Harm and Mac excused themselves from the table to do a little dancing. They moved to other side of dance floor so a drunken sailor, namely Brumby, wouldn't interrupt them.

When they first started, the floor was filled with many couples. The music was pleasant to dance to and everyone was having a good time. As the night moved on the music change requiring more skill and stamina.

Fewer and fewer couples remained on the floor, many were standing on the edge of the dance floor admiring the ease and grace that Harm and Mac seemed to demonstrate as they glided along the dance floor.

Bud and Harriet returned to the table after a poor attempt at dancing. Caitlin and Meg were sitting there too. They both had done some dancing, but their dance partners hadn't been nearly as good as Harm and Mac. They danced a few dances before returning to the table.

"Wow! I didn't know Harm was such good a dancer." exclaimed Meg. He never took me dancing when I worked with him."

"We went dancing a few times, but he never dance that well when he was with me." sighed Caitlin.

"They do dance beautifully." sighed Harriet. "It's like two people making love."

"What?" asked Bud and Jack in a state of disbelief.

"I don't think she means the actual act of sex Jack. I think she's referring to acts leading up to making love, you know, the art of foreplay sailor." smiled Meg.

"Look at how he's holding her. It's not too tightly or pinning her to his body. It's more like a gentle caress. Close, but not too close. They're enjoying the physical nearness of each other, their scent, just being together without a care in the world." explained Caitlin.

"I wonder how they became so good. Everybody in the room is watching them. They're special." sighed Harriet wishing that Bud was half as good as the Commander.

"Lessons." replied Bud.

"What?" asked Jack a bit surprised. He had known Harm from his academy days. They never could get Harm to go dancing. Dancing was one of the few things Harm wouldn't do for Diane.

Everyone at the table looked at Bud for some form of clarification. Why was it he only rambled on when no one cared about what he was talking about, but said very few words when the subject was interesting or meaningful?

"Well, when we go on some long investigations we usually stayed at the visitors officers quarters. Many times we would have dinners at the officer's club. Most of the weekends start on Thursday as most of you are well aware. They would have dance lessons and a band." paused Bud.

"Come on Bud, don't stop there!" ordered Meg.

"It didn't seem to help you Lieutenant." chuckled Tom Boone.

"Harm doesn't like to dance. Even Diane couldn't get him to dance." argued Jack.

"Apparently he does now." sighed Caitlin as she wished it she who was in Harm's arms.

"I didn't say I took lessons!" exclaimed Bud looking at Harriet in fear. "I would never do anything like that without Harriet."

"Relax Bud, go on with the story." ordered Meg. No one really cares if you danced with anyone other than your wife she thought.

"Well, they would partake in whatever the dance class that was being offered and then spend a couple of hours that night working on getting the dance steps down. Depending on how many nights we were away ... " smiled Bud.

"By the time they returned to our rooms I would have typed up our notes for the day." finished Bud

"It wasn't your job to type up their notes Lieutenant." bellowed the Admiral.

"I really didn't mind Sir. I would usually call Harriet before I typed up the notes. The main reason I typed up their notes Sir was, it enabled me to follow their line of questioning better. It helped me understand how to conduct an interview thus becoming a better lawyer Sir." replied Bud.

"Good answer Bud." smiled Meg. Bud could always think quickly on his feet.