A/N: I'm thinking this is the last chapter of this one. Unless someone can come up with more that can be added in. I'm on my way to a different fic that has Harm striking a bargain with Mac that may or may not work out to everyone's advantage.

2346 ZULU

North of Union Station

When I woke up, I could feel his arms still wrapped around me, just like how we fell asleep last night. He hadn't moved, hadn't lessened his grip, stayed strong.

"Did you sleep?" he asks, somehow knowing that I had woken up.

"Surprisingly well actually." I say, turning in his arms so I can see his face.

He's looking down at me and I finally hear our conversation flooding back to me, including all the confessions we made, including my own. I didn't say it outright, but it came out just the same. He knows that this is what I'm thinking, because I can see it register on his face before he speaks.

"So… last night."

"Harm, let's not…"

"I meant it, Sarah. You are the love of my life, I do love you."

"But are we really ready to be saying this to each other?"

"Yes."

I can honestly say that in that moment, I felt everything shift. I had said the words before, made the declaration, but never meant it… not really.

"So we're throwing slow out the window, then?" I ask with a quirk of my eyebrow that he meets with the raising of his own.

"I still think that slow is a good idea with everything else, mainly because you deserve it all…"

"And what is that?"

"The dating, the moving in together, the long engagement, the perfect wedding…"

"I've never had that, you know?"

When I realize that, it makes me turn back away from him, remembering all of the relationships I've had that have gone south. None followed any kind of normal timeline.

"We can skip the dating phase though, since that is all about getting to know each other, and I feel like I know everything that I could want to know about you."

"Won't stop me from taking you out on the town for dancing, dinner, and a stroll around downtown."

"I like that it won't stop you."

"So, if we're skipping the dating, does that mean that we're right into moving in with each other?" he asks, and I admit that my heart skips yet another beat.

"I don't…"

"I'm ready and willing if you are…"

"Are you leaving the CIA?" I ask, waiting for a response in the negative.

"I'll see what I can do. I have a feeling that it isn't going to work so easily. I want out though… I'm not Webb, I can't let myself be carless anymore."

"You say you loved me then, but you were still careless." I raise an eyebrow in response to his offer to quit.

"I didn't think that I would ever have this with you… at least not so soon." He says, laying back down and taking me in his arms so I can rest my head on his chest.

"Seven years is soon?" I say and feel the chuckle vibrate under my cheek.

"Mac, I was flying by the seat of my pants because if I had really stopped to think about never, I don't know what I would have done to myself."

"Harm, you had to know that no matter what I loved you… if not in the way we really wanted, I still cared about you a great deal."

"It wasn't enough anymore though, Mac. And now, it's everything."

We're interrupted by Harm's phone ringing on his bedside table. I of course can only hear Harm's end of the conversation, and in just a minute figure out that it is Webb he is talking to.

"I'm not leaving again. At least not so soon."

"That's none of your business."

"She's fine."

"I want out, Webb. You tell the powers that be that I want out as soon as they can get me out. And if they can put in a good word to the Navy, that would be great."

"I can't live like that anymore."

After that, it seems like a few minutes before I hear him speak again.

"Everything."

"Yes."

"I know."

Then he hangs up and resumes running his fingers through my hair as we lay there together in the morning sun. My curiosity gets the best of me though, and I have to ask.

"What was that last part? It seemed like Webb was giving you an earful."

"After telling me that he would do whatever he could to make sure I could get back in, he said that he knew how much you meant to me and he asked me if I loved you."

"And?"

"And what?"

"There was more, because at the end you said 'I know'."

"He also informed me that if I treated you wrong in any way, he knew how to make any death look like an accident and get away with it."

It's my turn to laugh then, knowing that Webb still had a bit of a flame towards me even after what had happened between us.

"Hey, you aren't allowed to laugh about this, cause Webb isn't the only one that would have my hide if anything were to ever happen to you by my hand."

"You think?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure that there is an ex Navy Seal who wears Admiral's stars that would find someway to kill me as well."

"You're probably right, so I guess you have to treat me well, sailor." I say, looking up into his eyes when I say it, not knowing what I'm going to see there when I do.

"I will." He finally says, and leans down to meet my lips with his in perhaps the sweetest kiss I've ever known.

When we separate all we can do is stare at each other, not knowing what to do with the situation. Two grown adults, both having been in serious relationships, certainly not blushing virgins, and we have no clue as to what to do after a kiss.

"Okay, was that weird for you?" he asks.

"No, but I have no clue what to do now…" I say, which earns me a full on flyboy grin from the man I'm in love with.

"This is the first time that we've kissed when we were allowed to… no body to hurt but ourselves, and no reason to stop."

"Hmm… you're right, so why did you stop?"

"Slow?"

"We've still got our clothes on, I think we're okay."

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure that if we do that again, we won't stop."

I let out a frustrated sigh, and start getting out of the bed, "well, if you don't want to kiss me again, then I'm getting out of bed, taking a shower, and getting on with the day."

He pulls me to him immediately, and this time it isn't sweet, but passionate. All those years pulled into a kiss that lasts longer that my brain can actually count. It had all the newness of a first kiss, all the love of a dying last breath, and all the feverishness of that moment where you know you can't turn back.

"I want to kiss you for the rest of my life for every second of every day, if you'll let me."

"I'll let you."

"Was that a yes to my proposal?" He asks, which shocks me to no end.

"Was that a proposal?" I ask, which I think shocks him just as much.

"Yes" we both say at the same time and it feels like everything isn't as bad as it was a day or a week ago, and the future looks a lot brighter than it did before.