Ok, i lied, there's going to another chapter after this...!! but thats it!
thank you to everyone who has reviewed during the course of this story! u guys are my heroes! and thanks again to Mari for beta-ing:o)
hope you like this next chapter!!
Truth be told, Mac was slightly nervous as she walked into Headquarters that morning. It wasn't that she wasn't happy about the developments in her relationship with Harm. Far from it in fact; that part of her life she was over the moon about. What worried her were all of the implications of that relationship in the other aspects of their lives. All of the worries that they had both been fighting against for the better part of 9 years were brought to the foreground of her mind at the sight of the impressive building where they spent a large proportion of their time. No matter how happy they were together, it was obvious to both of them that there were still obstacles in their way; mainly the UCMJ, their new CO and their friends. Their friends weren't an obstacle as such; Mac knew from a many long conversations with Harriet over the years that they would all be happy for the pair. But that didn't make telling them any less daunting.
They had agreed that they would keep their new relationship quiet until they had the chance to talk to the General about it. Mac smiled to herself as she recalled Petty Officer Coates' reaction to them asking her to keep things quiet for a while:
After they had finished watching a couple of episodes of the West Wing on Saturday night, Harm turned to Jen and said, "Jen, we know this is a lot to ask.."
"You want me to keep things quiet for a while?" she had interrupted with a knowing smile. She and Harm had exchanged amused grins at the young woman's perceptiveness.
"We don't want to put you in a difficult position with the General, but we wanted to keep things quiet for a while. Just until we have a chance to discuss our options with him." Harm had continued.
Jen had offered them another grin, "Its not a problem Sir." She replied, before continuing, "but on one condition….. you protect me from Lt Simm's wrath when she finds out I already knew."
They had all laughed at that, and Mac had taken the opportunity to pipe up from her position on Harm's lap. "Consider it a deal Jen."
"Morning Colonel," Harriet called as Mac moved through the bullpen to her office, interrupting her thoughts.
"Morning Harriet," She replied distractedly without stopping, intent on getting to her office without incident. She was worried that everyone would be able to see her feelings written on her face, that she wouldn't be able to keep their secret.
"Ma'am…." Harriet said trailing off as Mac opened the door to her office, took two steps inside, then turned round and looked accusingly at her friend. "Mr Webb is waiting to see you, Ma'am." Harriet added hastily, noting with interest the annoyed look on her friend's face. As far as she knew, Mac and Webb were still dating. I wonder what's brought this on. Harriet thought to herself as she smiled apologetically at Mac.
"Thank you, Lieutenant." Mac replied, turning to place her briefcase on her desk and shutting the door behind her.
"What do you want, Clay?" she asked angrily, the second the door was closed.
"You didn't return my calls." Clay replied weakly, a little unnerved by her anger. "I wanted to apologise, make it up to you?" Her face was unreadable.
"No, Clay, I told you it wasn't working out between us. We are better off as…" she trailed off as Webb moved up to her side, taking her hand in his.
"Sarah…I really am sorry." He repeated, "Forgive me? We were great together."
Her eyes softened slightly, "I'm sorry, Clay…" she started to say, when her door swung open and Harm's grinning face appeared in the doorway.
"Morning Ninja…." He stopped when he saw Clay holding her hand, eyes flashing in annoyance. "Webb" he acknowledged, before turning his attention back to Mac, who was looking at him with a pleading look in her eyes, begging him to understand. "Staff Call in 5, Mac." He said softly, offering her a slight, but unreadable, smile.
"See you in there." She replied quietly, fighting back the tears as she imagined how the scene must have looked to him. Harm nodded at them both and slipped back out the door, turning back on himself to go back to his office.
In Mac's office, the two remaining occupants were stood in silence. As Harm had left the room, Mac had pulled her hand from Webb's grasp and moved round to sit at her desk, putting some distance between them.
"You love him, don't you?" she heard Webb say. Her head snapped up in surprise.
"Don't look so shocked Sarah. I saw your face when he walked in, you thought he was going to be mad."
"I don't know." She replied quietly, lying through her teeth, "But things haven't been working out with us for a while Clay. You know that. We were better off as friends."
Webb sighed, he knew he had lost her. In truth, he wondered if he had ever really had her.
"You don't want to be late for Staff Call," he said with a small smile, "I'll see you around Sarah." He turned to walk out the door, pausing with his hand on the door handle. "And for what its worth. I think you'll find he loves you too, Sarah."
He opened the door but stopped as she spoke again, "Clay? Thanks for everything." He could hear hesitation in her voice, "But call me Mac ok." He felt his heart sink, with those words she had closed off her heart to him forever. He forced a smile on to his face and turned to face her once more.
"See you later, Mac." He said quietly, before turning and leaving for good.
She watched him go regretfully. He had been good to her, and despite her current situation with Harm, she felt bad for hurting him. As she watched him leave, it suddenly struck her just how empty the bullpen was. Realising that she was late for Staff Call, she grabbed a pad of paper and a pen off her desk and rushed to the conference room.
She slipped into her seat opposite Harm, mumbling an apology.
"Nice of you to join us, Colonel." General Cresswell said sternly.
"Sorry Sir, I lost track of time." She said, blushing slightly, and refusing to meet Harm's eyes.
"Don't let it happen again. How are you and Commander Rabb coming with your case?"
"We're still tracking down a couple of witnesses, but we'll be ready for court on Wednesday sir."
"Good." He turned his attention to the other officers around the table, "Commander Turner, Commander Roberts.." Mac looked back down at her hands, trying to work up the courage to look at her partner whose gaze she could feel boring into her. At the General's call of 'dismissed', she got up quietly and followed the others out of the conference room.
She had barely sat at her desk when she heard a voice in the doorway calling her name. Looking up she saw Harriet standing in front of her, looking a little uncomfortable.
"What's wrong Harriet?" she asked, confused. If there was anyone she would have expected to be standing in her doorway with that expression on their face, it would have been Harm. He's probably mad at me because he saw me with Clay, she though to herself sadly. And today started off so well…
She was interrupted from that particular train of thought by Harriet's voice, "Ma'am? Mac? Are you ok, Ma'am?"
Mac blinked a couple of times and refocused on her friend, who was now regarding her with open concern, "Sorry Harriet, what were you saying?"
"Are you ok, Ma'am? You seemed a little out of sorts during Staff Call, and you didn't seem too pleased to see Mr Webb. Did the two of you have a fight?"
"Clay and I broke up over the weekend," Mac admitted, "things weren't really working out, and he was away a lot."
Harriet looked at her sympathetically, "Are you ok Ma'am?"
"It was my idea Harriet," Mac admitted honestly, "He came barging in to my apartment when Harm and I were working on the case. He was rather jealous because I'd already cancelled on him. Well, you can imagine what he said."
"He accused you of cheating?" Harriet said in surprise. Anyone who knew Mac knew she wasn't the sort of person that did that. "With the Commander?" At Mac's nod of acquiescence Harriet couldn't resist testing the waters a little; she had been waiting 9 years for the pair to admit to their feelings after all. "What did he think about that?" That brought a smile to Mac's face,
"He told me Clay was an idiot and I deserved better." Like him, both women thought.
There was another knock at the door and Harm entered, pausing in the doorway, his words dying on his lips for the second time that morning.
"You got a…" He stopped as he saw Harriet and smiled at the women.
"Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt. I'll come back." He turned to leave again.
"Commander, wait, I was just leaving." Harriet said with a smile.
"Thanks for listening, Harriet." Mac called after her retreating figure, before turning her attention to the tall, handsome lawyer still standing in her doorway. They stared at each other for a few seconds in silence, neither knowing what to say.
"Staying or going Harm?" Mac said eventually.
"Huh?"
"Are you going to talk to me or not?!" Mac said, trying to put a teasing grin on her face.
That spurred him into action. He closed the door behind him as he stepped fully into the office and sat down on the other chair.
"So Webb was here," he said casually, forcing himself to meet her eyes with his own, relieved at the flicker of annoyance he saw their.
"I know, I'm sorry, Harm, it wasn't what it looked like.." she started pleadingly, before noticing something odd: He was smirking. He wasn't mad at all, he was just having a little fun with her. She picked up a pen off her desk and threw it at him, "You jerk!" she told him, smiling "I thought you were really mad at me!" To her surprise, and his, she couldn't help the tears that suddenly cascaded down her face, and through her tears she saw his expression turn to one of worry as he jumped to his feet and rushed round the desk, pulling her into a hug.
"Hey, hey, its ok, Sarah." He whispered soothingly, stroking her back gently. "I admit I was surprised to see him there holding your hand like that, but I know you wouldn't do anything like that." She pulled back slightly to look at him, a few tears still making their way down her face.
"I'm sorry" she whispered, "I was just so scared that I might have messed things up." He flashed her a gently smile,
"Mac, I love you, and I trust you. Don't you think its time we moved past the miscommunication and misdirection stage?!"
"OK who are you and what have you done with Harm?!" she asked teasingly, resisting the temptation to lean forward and give him a kiss. They had agreed to keep things professional at work, acting the same way they always had. Harm pouted playfully, and leaned forward to place a quick kiss on the tip of her nose.
"I guess I've finally grown up!" he replied, "Now, I better get back to my office and start on some paperwork before we go and interview those witnesses. I'll see you at 1100? Maybe we could get some lunch after the interviews?"
"Sure, that would be nice." He got to his feet and headed to the door. "And Harm?" she called softly. He turned to face her again, "I love you, you know that right?"
His flyboy grin appeared, "I love you, too." He replied quietly, before striding out of her office and leaving her alone with her thoughts.
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