Disclaimer: usual stuff!! don't sue me, im just a lowly temp!
Thanks to all of you who have been reviewing with so much enthusiasm :-) it makes my day!
AN: I know that most if not all of the films were not actually released if we are following the actualy JAG timeline, but humour me!
I hope you enjoy it!
Mac's Apartment
"Hi Harriet," Mac said into the phone, "Yeah I'm sorry we disappeared off of quickly, I've had a really bad day and just needed to escape. I don't think I would have been very good company in any case!" On the other end of the phone, Harriet smiled at Mac's subconscious use of the word 'we' which quite clearly referred to the Commander since his office was also conspicuously empty.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Harriet asked, concerned. It was so unlike Mac to let anything affect her openly.
"No, I'll be fine thanks," Mac replied, "I'll tell you about it tomorrow!" At that moment, Mac heard a key turn in the door, and Harm walked into her apartment, juggling a huge bag of Chinese food and a pile of 4 or 5 DVDs.
"Hey jarhead, foods up!" he called as he walked into the kitchen.
On the other end of the phone, Harriet smiled as she heard Harm's deep voice in the background.
"Ok!" Mac called, "Harriet, I've got to go." she added, turning her attention back to her phone conversation.
"See you tomorrow!" Harriet replied, adding as an afterthought, "Have a nice evening. Say hi to the Commander for me!" Mac laughed.
"Ok Harriet, will do. Kiss little AJ for me." She hung up the phone, and headed towards the kitchen where Harm was laying out the mountain of food he had bought.
"So where's yours?!" she asked with a cheeky smile, moving to get the plates out of the cupboard. Harm turned and looked at her, flashing his infamous flyboy grin
"Don't you mean, where's mine? Marine? This is all for me, I don't know what you were planning on eating." He teased back, slapping at her hand playfully as she tried to reach in and steal some noodles. "Hands off!" Mac looked around the kitchen, laughing, then grabbed a pair of chopsticks that were sitting on the side, brandished them like a sword and poked him in the stomach.
"U wanna fight me for it Squid?!" she giggled. Harm's face was a picture, he looked surprised. Then he grinned, and grabbed the other pair of chopsticks, aiming a blow at Mac's arm.
"You are so going down ninja girl!" he replied, chasing after her as she ran out of the kitchen and into the lounge. Five minutes later, they were still chasing each other around like children, trying to stab each other with the chopstick. Finally Harm upped the ante, dropping his chopsticks, and, finally catching up to her, started to tickle her mercilessly. She shrieked, giggling in a way reminiscent of Chloe.
"Harm, stop it!" she giggled, squirming around, trying to get free. Pulling away slightly, she made to run away, but Harm was too quick for her, and reached out to grab her. The loss of balance that resulted lead to them collapsing on to the floor, Harm's body covering Mac's, effectively pinning her to the floor. They both froze. Staring into each others eyes, both completely caught and unable, or unwilling, to move. The sounds of the phone ringing interrupted their trance. Smiling shyly and blushing slightly, Harm moved off her, allowing her to get up and answer the phone. She got up, her legs feeling a little bit wobbly, and her stomach doing back flips.
"Colonel Mackenzie." She said into the handset.
"Hi Chloe!" She said, smiling apologetically at Harm, who headed back into the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with the Chinese food, plates and DVDs piled high on a tray.
"I'm just about to sit down and watch a movie with Harm." Mac said into the phone. She rolled her eyes at Chloe's response.
"Chloe" she said, a warning tone in her voice, "How are things with your Grandma?" she continued, doing her best to change the subject from Chloe's request that she give Harm a kiss from her.
"Are you still going to be able to come down in a couple of weeks?" Mac asked after Chloe's lengthy reply.
"That's great, we'll have a fantastic time!" Mac smiled, and motioned to Harm to start eating. 'I won't be a second' she mouthed. Harm nodded and started to dig in to the veggie chow mein.
"Ok Chloe, I love you too! See you soon!" Mac finished, hanging up the phone.
"Chloe alright?" Harm asked, through a mouthful of noodles.
"Yeah, she's fine, she says hi." She replied, joining him on the sofa and reaching for her plate. They settled down comfortably, chatting about their cases, their friends and baby AJ while they ate their dinner, pointedly ignoring the moment that had happened before Chloe rang. After a while, they cleared away the leftover food, and settled down in front of the TV.
"So what films did you get?" she asked, yawning.
"A Few Good Men, (AN: (!)) Sweet Home Alabama, The Interpreter, Finding Nemo, and the fourth Harry Potter one." Harm replied, reaching for the pile of DVDs on the table in front of them.
"A Few Good Men?!" she asked raising her eyebrows, "Really?!" Harm laughed at her scepticism.
"You know you'll appreciate Tom Cruise in dress whites."
"Sure Flyboy," she replied teasingly, "Just as much as you'll enjoy Demi Moore in them!"
"Nah, I prefer women in Marine dress uniform to women in Navy whites, you know that!" he replied, secretly loving the way that his comment brought a blush to her cheeks.
"Anyways," Mac continued, trying to cover her embarrassment at his comment, "lets watch The Interpreter. I haven't seen it yet, and it got really good reviews."
"You wish is my command." Harm replied, getting to his feet and putting the DVD on. Before he sat down, he moved to the door, and dimmed the lights and then went and sat on the sofa next to Mac. About halfway through the film, Harm gently looped his arm around her shoulders and she snuggled into the crook of his shoulder, like they had a thousand times over.
Harm woke with a start, his back felt very stiff, and he wondered why he wasn't in his bed. Looking around to try and find his bearings, he finally registered a slight weight on his chest. Looking down, he saw Mac curled up against him with her head on his chest. He tried in vain to stretch his legs slightly without waking her up. She looked so sweet lying there; he really didn't want to wake her. Unfortunately for Harm, Mac was a light sleeper, and as he stretched his legs out, she stirred, her eyes flickering open.
"Harm?" she mumbled sleepily, looking up at him, her brown eyes searching for his in confusion. "What are you doing here?" Harm looked around, noticing the TV still on with the main menu of the DVD still running on its loop.
"I guess we fell asleep watching the film." He replied. Mac sat up and stretched.
"Well, I suppose I should head back home," Harm said, moving to get up.
"Its 4.30 am Harm," Mac replied, "Just stay here. You have a change of uniform in you car right?"
"Yeah, I suppose I could stay on the sofa." He agreed, not entirely unwillingly. He liked the idea of waking up in the same apartment as Mac.
"What, and have you complain about you back all day?!" she retorted with a sleepy grin, "Its fine Harm, you can have the other half of my bed. Its not like we've never shared a bed before!" Harm yawned hugely, and nodded his agreement. They both got up and he followed her into her room, settling himself down on the left side of her bed.
"Here flyboy," Mac said, throwing one of his old t-shirts that she had managed to acquire at him. "I'm just going to change." She padded softly into the bathroom, changing into another of Harm's old t-shirts and some comfy shorts.
When she came out, Harm had changed into his t-shirt and stripped to his boxers, and had got under the covers, dozing slightly. He opened one eye when she came into the room.
"Just how many t-shirts of mine do you have Jarhead?!" he asked, a trace of amusement in his voice.
"A few." She admitted, turning of the light and climbing into bed beside him. "Night flyboy" she murmured as she drifted back off to sleep.
"Night beautiful" Harm replied in his half awake state, stiffening slightly when he realised what he had said. Luckily she didn't seem to notice.
When Harm woke up a couple of hours later, he couldn't help but smile to himself. In the course of the night, well early morning in any case, he and Mac had moved closer and closer, ending up spooned together. Harm had one arm wrapped securely around her waist and one of her hands was resting on top of his own. It was just so comfortable, he felt like he could stay there forever. He also noted once again how pretty she looked while she slept.
His slight movement, coupled with her internal alarm clock woke Mac up, and she turned over slightly, not overly surprised that they had ended up in this position.
"Time to get up Squid." She smiled, reaching up to ruffle his hair. He looked adorable to her, like a sleepy child and she found herself wondering what he had been like as a kid.
"Yes Ma'am" he responded with a fake salute, before getting out of bed and starting to get ready for the day.
JAG Headquarters, later that morning
Harriet knocked on the door to her husbands office and went in,
"Did you notice how the Colonel and the Commander came into work in the same car?" she asked as she sat down in the chair opposite. Before Bud could respond, there was another knock at the door, which Harriet had left open, and Sturgis walked in.
"Sorry," he smiled, "I couldn't help but overhear what you said Harriet. Is that right? They came in together?" Harriet smiled. It looked like at last she might have found a more willing co-conspirator than her husband.
"Yes." She replied, "I know that he went over to hers for dinner last night, he must have stayed the night."
"But honey, that's not exactly an uncommon occurrence." Bud interjected before his wife could get started. "They often have working dinners and end up staying at each other's apartments, it doesn't mean anything."
"But they left JAG in the same car. The Colonel's car stayed in the car park all night." Harriet replied. Sturgis smiled,
"Well Harriet," he started, "I'll try and get any details out of Harm, if you want to try Mac? And if nothing has happened, please tell me you have a plan or something to push them along a bit!"
"I'm sure we can find a way sir." Harriet replied, her eyes dancing in excitement. "By the way Commander, have you decided which song you are singing in the fundraiser?"
"Not yet Lieutenant" Sturgis replied, "I'll let you know tomorrow if that's ok."
"That's fine sir. If you happen to pass Commander Rabb would you be able to remind him too please?"
"No problem." Sturgis replied, before leaving Bud's office and making a beeline for Harm's. It was time for them to have a little chat.
Loved it? Hated it? Got a bit bored? Let me know!! I'll be updating as often as I can, I'm about to start writing the next chapter. Thank you for reading this far!