Aftermath
Chapter 3
- Where does the screaming come from?
She turns, and a face comes into view. Sadik Fahd's mouth is moving, but she can't make out what he's saying. The screaming starts again, but come to an abrupt halt.
She notices the knife in Sadik Fahd's hand. He stabs her fake pregnancy belly with force, as he laugh out loud.
"You're next."
She sees two men carry out Clayton Webb from the shed and she starts to run towards them. They dump Clayton Webb's body on the ground.
"It's over for him!" Sadik yells after her.
"No!" She get on her knees in front of Webb. "Clay?" -
"Mac!"
Someone was shaking her. "Harm?"
"Mac, wake up."
"Harm!" She said as she sat up in bed. She looked around the room and saw Harm staring at her with worry.
"Are you okay?" He reached out a hand and moved some of her hair behind her ear. "You were calling Clay's name."
"I'm sorry. It was the dream again." She rubbed her hands over her face. "You go back to sleep again, I just need some water." She said as she got out of bed.
"I can get that for you." He got out of bed as well, and followed her. "You should go back to bed."
"I wouldn't be able to sleep." She turned on the water and found a glass. She drank two full glasses before turning the water off and putting the glass down. "Sorry I woke you up."
"That's okay. Come back to bed with me, and we'll talk about this dream." He reached for her hand and led her back to the bedroom.
They got comfortable, before Mac started talking. "As I told you before, I keep re-living what happens, but in the dream you don't come after me. I know I'm going to die, and then I wake up."
"Have you talked to someone about this?" Harm asked carefully, knowing how Mac felt about psychiatrists.
"Are you and Mrs Webb comparing notes on me?" She asked teasingly and explained; "Mrs Webb asked me the same thing."
"I haven't talked to Mrs Webb since Clay's funeral. But Mac, asking for help isn't a sign of weakness." He put his arm around her and pulled her close.
"I'm talking to you, and that's all I need." She said stubbornly. "Can we just go back to sleep now?"
He nodded. "Sure, let's get some sleep. We'll continue this in the morning."
They snuggled together under the covers and Harm soon fell asleep. Mac however lay awake thinking.
The next morning Harm got up first and started preparing breakfast. He wanted to make sure that Mac got enough sleep and food while they were away. He had been wondering if he maybe could persuade her to take some leave and stay with him at the cabin for the next week. Maybe then he'd be able to help her through what she was dealing with.
"Morning." Mac stretched and yawned as she walked out of the bedroom.
"Morning beautiful." He walked over to meet her with a kiss. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah, when I finally fell asleep again I did." She walked over to the fridge and opened it. She reached for a water bottle. "I've been thinking." She said as she closed the fridge door. "The Admiral has offered me some leave..."
"Take it. We'll stay here this week." He hurried to say.
"Are you serious?" She smiled. "That would be great."
His smile matched hers. "Great."
"And an other thing. Thanks for last night. It was comforting to wake up and know that you were right next to me." She put the bottle on the bench and stepped closer to him.
He reached for her hand. "If we're doing this relationship thing, you should get used to having me next to you."
She nodded, her eyes sparkling. "I think I could get used to that."
"Good." He leaned in and kissed her.
"Breakfast?" Mac asked when the kiss ended.
"Yes, and coffee." He released her and reached for two mugs. Without asking her himself, he'd gotten what he wanted; more time with her away from everyday tasks. It made him feel all happy inside.
Later that night they were on the couch, both of them with a novel to read. They'd been hiking most of the day, and after a shower and dinner they'd decided to relax the rest of the night.
"What are you reading?" Harm asked.
She closed the book and focused on him. "The great Gatsby. You?"
"A Patricia Cornwell book." He held the book up so she could see. "It's the first one in the Scarpetta series. I remember you talking about it and I figured that I'd try it. It's pretty good."
"Yeah, I like them." Mac put the book down on the table. "I'm getting tired."
"Yeah, me too. Maybe we should call it a night." He put his own book on the table and prepared to stand. "You want to have the bathroom first?"
"Yeah, sure." She stood and walked toward the bathroom door. She stopped and turned back to him when she remembered something. "Hey, Harm."
He'd walked to the kitchen but when he heard her call he stepped into the living room again. "Yeah?"
"If we're staying next week, I need more clothes."
"Yeah, I know, me too. I have to drive back to the city Monday morning for my meeting at Langley, so I can pick up some stuff for you too? Or, if you want to, you could come with me?"
She thought about it. "If you don't mind, I'll stay here?"
"Do you trust me to go through your underwear?" He asked teasingly.
She chuckled softly. "Sure, just don't open the third drawer in the closet, that's were I keep my... You don't have to know about that." She turned around to walk into the bathroom.
"Where you keep what?" He was intrigued now.
"Oh, you know..." She let it hand and she turned to send him a sexy look. "My socks..."
"Your so..." Then he smiled. "Very funny, Mac."
"I'm a funny girl." She opened the bathroom door and slipped inside.
Harm let out a slow breath and shook his head. "Get your mind out of the gutter, harm." He said quietly to himself.
Mac was already in bed when Harm had finished up in the bathroom a little later. She was sitting up, her back against a pillow staring at her hands.
"You okay?"
She didn't look at him. "They separated us. Clay was taken to the shed where Sadik tortured him right away, while I was kept in another shed with a captured missionary couple."
He got into bed as quiet as possible, scared that any move would scare her, and she'd stop talking.
"They were nice, but they figured out that I wasn't really pregnant and they told on me. Sadik came into the shed and stabbed my fake stomach, he was so angry. He took the couple outside and then he made me watch as he executed them both."
Harm saw that Mac was far away from the cabin, staring at the wall in front of her. He didn't speak, he just waited for her to continue.
"I asked Sadik why he'd shot them, and he told me that their church didn't pay the ransom money he'd demanded. Then he grabbed my arm and told me that there were Jesus and Judas, and that the couple had followed the wrong example. He dragged me back to the shed and told one of his men to make sure I behaved. I spent three hours and twenty four minutes listening to Clay's screaming, having my guard tell me over and over again in Farsi that I'd be next. Of course I pretended that I didn't understand him. I'd promised Clay that no matter what happened I wouldn't blow our cover."
She was quiet for a moment, and Harm wondered if she was done talking.
"At some point, just after Clay stopped screaming and I was sure he was dead, my guard started behaving differently. He called me a whore, and grabbed my arm. He put down his rifle and pushed me down on an old mattress on the floor."
Harm forgot how to breath, and he wasn't sure he wanted her to go on.
"I got him killed."
Harm was confused. "What do you mean?"
For the first time since she'd started talking she looked at him. "Sadik shot him."
"Did he..." He couldn't finish the question.
"I kicked him in the face, broke his nose, then I took his rifle and I think I would have killed him if Sadik and three armed men hadn't come. I had four guns pointing at my head and I threw the weapon on the floor. I told Sadik that I was just defending myself against a rapist, and he shifted his gun so that he was pointing it at the guards head and fired."
"Honor among thieves." Harm mumbled.
"Something like that." She stared at the wall. "That was when Sadik told me that Clay hadn't been willing to talk, so it was my turn. I felt so stupid. Why didn't I just let them shoot me?" She faced him again. "I was already sure that Clay was dead and that I would be the next to face the torture shed, so why didn't I just let them shoot me?"
"I'm glad you didn't." Was all Harm could say.
"I guess." She turned away from him again. "I'm glad you came when you did, Harm."
He reached for her hand. "If I'd come there too late, I don't think I could have lived on."
She started playing with his hand, tracing a scar he'd gotten falling off his bike as a kid. "You've lost people before, Harm. Why am I so different?"
He took better hold of her hand and pulled her close to him. "I just can't picture my life without you in it. And I know it sounds like a cliché, but it's the truth." He embraced her softly.
She relaxed against him, feeling safe and loved. "You know, despite all the horrible memories from Paraguay, I'm grateful to be alive. I don't want to waste another moment."
"What do you mean?"
She turned her head to look at him. "Life is too short. I'm going to embrace the opportunity to create something great out of life."
He knew it wasn't the time to joke, but he just couldn't help himself. "Are you going to break into a song next, or..?"
Her mouth found his, she kissed him with everything she had. He was surprised for a second, remembering they're talk the night before. They'd agreed not to rush into anything too soon.
Noticing his hesitation she pulled away a little. "Make love to me, Harm."
He didn't need more convincing than that, so he leaned in to kiss her.
To Be Continued...