Disclaimer: Characters are not mine; mistakes are.

Spoilers: This takes place sometime after Boomerang II. Mic is still in Australia.

MAY 3RD 2000

1230 EST

JAG HEADQUARTERS

FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA

"Hey, Mac," Harm said as he walked through the open door of his best friend's office, his eyes on the file in his left hand. "Here's the-" he stopped abruptly at the sight of his girlfriend sitting the visitor chair. "What are you doing here?" confusion evident in his voice.

Rene shrugged, "You weren't in your office. I had to talk to Mac about an opportunity she was offered earlier this week."

"Opportunity?" he said as he raised an eyebrow.

"Rene asked if I would like to be in a calendar," Mac said, looking up at Harm.

"It's for the Semper Fi foundation; they sell a Marine calendar for charity each year. One of our original models pulled out and the photo shoot is this weekend," Rene explained. "The photographer heard that I worked on military campaigns and asked me if I knew any Marines in the area who might fit the bill, so I threw Mac's name into the mix."

"What kind of calendar are we talking about?" Harm smiled, as he glanced between the women, then at the desk where Mac had been flipping through the pages of the previous year's edition. Without warning, his eyes widened, "Mac, you can't possibly be considering posing for something like that!"

The page open in front of him displayed a woman in tiny camo shorts, if you could call them that, holding an MK46 in front of her naked breasts.

"And why is that?" Mac responded, cocking her head to the side, a slight dare in her eyes. Harm glanced at Rene and found the same question in her expression, with a dose of hostility.

His right hand moved to his hip as he turned back to look at Mac, "C'mon, Mac, you're just not that type of…" He gestured with his hand, "You wouldn't-" he let out a breath and thanked God Rene's cell phone rang.

"I have to take this, I'll be right back," Rene said, glancing at Mac and shooting Harm a quick glare as she exited the office.

"I'm just not what, Harm?" Mac challenged, leaning back in her chair, her hands in her lap.

Harm sighed, his eyes moving from Rene's disappearing form to meet Mac's gaze. He moved to her side and pointed at the open page on her desk, "You can't tell me that that is something you would normally do." He breathed out, "Unless-" he stopped himself, realizing a second too late that he was walking into a minefield.

"Unless what, Harm?" Her eyes still baring into him.

He met her gaze with a hardening version of his own, "Unless you really were topless in Australia."

"What does that have to do this?!" the volume of her voice louder than she expected.

Rene had just finished her call and turned back towards the office when Harm's response caused her to pause. "It has everything to do with this! You being topless! God! Do you want every guy in the world to see you like that?"

Mac rolled her eyes, "Harm, the calendar is for charity, and I doubt it will sell more than a hundred copies. Plus, that's the raciest of the photos, the rest of them are pretty tame."

"What does Mic have to say about this?" Harm said, raising his head in a slight nod.

She looked down at her right hand, the ring on her fourth finger feeling heavier by the day. "He thinks it's a great idea," she said, looking up, "says he's going to buy one for each of guys in his office."

Harm scoffed, "Of course he does."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? He's not allowed to have an opinion, but you are? Is there something wrong with him liking the way I look?" At the lack of response, she continued in a quieter albeit angrier tone, "In case you've forgotten, I offered you a private show and you rejected me."

"Mac, that's not what – I didn't…" he said, looking down, cursing himself for letting her think that; for not being able to find the words to explain his actions.

She shook her head at his hesitance, "You don't want me, but you don't want anyone else to see me without my clothes on. That's what this is, isn't it?" She took a breath, "you know what, it's irrelevant. It's my body and I will do what I want." She said with finality.

"Mac-" Harm sighed, realizing just how right she was. He wasn't her boyfriend, and even if he was, he had no right to tell her what to do with her body. Her perfect body. His eyes slowly moved over her. Those legs, hips, her breasts-

"So, have you decided?" Rene pushed into the office, taking advantage of the silence, "Or do you want to give me a call later?" She said with a lightness she didn't feel.

Harm's heated gaze moved up from Mac's lips, locking eyes with her before she turned to Rene, "I'll do it. Just tell me when and where."

Harm was trying to figure out if he had ever had a worse lunch date in his life. Arguing with your insanely beautiful best friend about being topless while your girlfriend stood outside was probably not the best start, he thought.

After Mac agreed to do the calendar, Rene quickly and nonchalantly excused them to his car. After ten minutes of angry silence, Rene couldn't take it. "I don't understand why you're so upset about this."

"Rene, you just asked my best friend to pose nude!"

"Harm, you're overreacting. She is not going to be nude. And if she's just your friend, you shouldn't be worried about what she does with her body." Rene turned to him, daring him to take his eyes off the road.

Harm took a calming breath, recognizing he was on thin ice, "You're right," he said. "She is just a friend, and maybe I am overreacting, but she - " all the frustration he had suppressed came bubbling to the surface, "She's just doing this to make me mad! There's no way she would have agreed to it if I hadn't been against it. Just because I'm the only guy in her life who has ever wanted to protect her – "

"Protect her?! From what?! She's a marine, Harm!" Rene rolled her eyes.

"From her drunk ex-husband, her lying ex-boyfriend, her stalker… Mic! Every guy in her life who has ever only wanted her for her body for Christ's sake!" Harm ranted as he pulled into a parking spot and killed the engine.

Rene thought for a moment before letting out an audible gasp, "I should have known." She said, staring straight ahead. "I mean, I knew she had a thing for you, but who wouldn't? You're – you."

"What are you talking about, Rene?" he finally turned to look at her.

"I always felt like there was something between you two," she shook her head slowly, "I figured maybe you slept together once upon a time, or maybe you got drunk one night and fooled around, but you… you're in love with her." The final words came out as a whisper.

"Rene, that's not… I…"

"That's why you - " she turned to look at him, "what did she say today? You rejected her offer to be topless?"

"Exactly, Rene, why would I say no to that if I was in love with her?" He pointed out.

Rene couldn't help but let out a tiny chuckle. "Because you're Harmon Rabb, the poster boy for moral behavior. You would never take advantage of a woman, especially one you're in love with."

"How would that have been taking advantage of her?! She offered?!" He paused when he realized his voice was getting higher in pitch. "Rene, it's not what you think."

"What exactly did you say to her?"

"Rene, we don't need to be talking about this. I told you, I'm not – it's not what you think."

"Fine. Just take me back to my car, Harm. Nothing you could say can salvage this conversation," Or this relationship, she thought, putting her hand on her forehead to ward off a headache. "I can't be with someone who is in love with another woman."

He let out a long breath and turned the keys.

Harm was sitting at his desk, running over the conversation in his head; wondering how his rejection of Mac's offer meant he was in love with her. How telling another woman he did not want to see her breasts caused his girlfriend dump him.

But you didn't reject her, you didn't say no.

He sighed, accepting the truth that of course he wanted to see them. Mac's uniform did little to hide her curves, and after seeing her at the beach… wondering if she had been topless… he hadn't - couldn't - stop thinking about her breasts… her naked breasts… resting on her ribcage… with cinnamon nipples in sharp peaks… begging for his tongue to lick, his mouth to suck on them…

"Commander?"

The knock on his door snapped him out of his fantasy, and for the second time that afternoon, he sent up a prayer of thanks. This time for the fact that his lower body was safely tucked away under the plane of his desk.

"What can I do for you, Bud?"