2 Hours later

Harm woke up reaching for Mac. It took him a minute for the fog to clear before he realized that she wasn't lying beside him. He sat up and looked at the clock. It was still early afternoon. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, took three steps and then froze. Mac was silently racing around the living room searching for something, obviously she had dressed in a hurry, her hair was still mussed, and one of her shoes was untied. The distress on her face was evident. She momentarily stopped racing around the room, propped her foot up on the coffee table, leaned down tied her shoe, before she began racing around again like a mad woman. He heard her mutter, "Damn it."

Before he could prevent it, a cold hand of fear reached into Harm's chest and grabbed on to his heart. He had to swallow twice to get his voice to work.

"Mac?"

She hesitated, but didn't stop. "I was just about to wake you."

Harm's brow furrowed in disbelief, he shook his head, barely stopping himself from bitterly asking why she was running out on him. A moment later the hurt turned into confusion, when she said, "Get some clothes on."

Her tone of voice brought him to full alert. "Why?"

Mac moved to the couch and began pulling up the cushions, to search underneath them. "I got a call on my cell from Admiral Morris. An F-18 crashed into Fenway Park a few hours ago."

Harm blanched. "AJ?"

"Missing."

He flew into action. Heading back toward his bedroom to throw on his uniform as fast as he possibly could. "What do we know so far?"

"Nothing." She stopped, and put her hands on her hips in frustration. "Damn it!"

"What are you looking for?"

"My keys."

Harm walked over to the side of the bed and picked them up off of the floor. "I tripped over these when I got up."

She breathed a sigh of relief, and took them from him. For the first time since he'd gotten out of bed, their eyes met. Mac's lips parted, when she saw a trace of the hurt he had felt in seeing her preparing to leave him. She should have known that's how it would look. She wouldn't feel any different if the situation were reversed. He tried to look away; she wouldn't let him. "Harm…" She moved in close, and put her arms around him. Holding him tight against her. After only a moment's hesitation, he hugged her back in earnest, burying his face in her hair. When she pulled back, her eyes shown with love and apology. "There's very little on earth that would have taken me from your bed," She said softly. "Unfortunately, this is one of them." He nodded. She held his eyes for a moment longer, erasing any doubts he had about where her heart lie.

And then they were back to business. Despite his erratic and often inexplicable behavior of late, AJ Chegwidden was still one of the few people they both considered family. They'd be damned if they didn't do everything they could to ensure his safety. Mac headed for the door. "I need to go home and pack."

"Stay and help me pack, then I'll go with you. It'll be quicker."

Mac nodded and they threw themselves into the task. Harm grabbed his duffel and packed it accordingly with uniforms as Mac got his toiletries and under clothes in order. It took them three minutes flat, according to Mac, to get him packed and ready to go. It took her another 30 seconds to brush her hair, and straighten Harm's tie, before they headed out the door.

TBC...