Mac leaned her head against the headrest, watching the trees glide by in a mesh of green and concrete.

'So what's the deal between you and Navy?' Mac had been expecting Tony to start this line of questioning the minute they had left JAG. Instead, he had remained quiet on the subject as he had driven her to her apartment. Now, on the way to Norfolk, Mac couldn't help feeling the butterflies in her stomach start to slowly take flight.

'There isn't a deal,' Mac told him patiently. And, no matter how much it pained her to say it, it was the truth. After Sydney and seeing him with Renee, Mac was quite frankly sick of how she had managed to become one of those weepy women who spent their time obsessing over a man who just wasn't that into her. She was a Colonel in the United States Marine Corp, dammit, and one of the best prosecutors to have graced the hallways of JAG in years. Sarah MacKenzie mooned over no man, least of all a cocky flyboy who just so happened to look good in his dress whites.

'Oh c'mon,' Tony drawled, peering at her over his sunglasses. 'You could have cut the tension between you with a chainsaw.'

'Harm's a friend Tony, okay?'

'He's the one from Sydney isn't he? The one that gave you that flowery speech on the ship, complete with a full orchestral soundtrack?'

Mac stared at him. 'I never told you that.'

'I'm aware of that. For future reference, friends share by the way.'

'Yeah well, see if Ziva and Abby get anything out of me again,' Mac muttered, feeling betrayed.

Tony gave her a quick look. 'Look Sarah, they weren't selling you out. They were just worried. You were all mopey-'

'I was not mopey. Marines do not get mopey,' Mac repeated the word with disgust.

'Suffering from a temporary state of pessimism then,' Tony hastened to assure her. 'Why didn't you tell me?' Mac heard the hurt in Tony's voice.

'I just…I didn't want you, Gibbs and McGee storming in there and kicking Harm's ass,' Mac muttered. 'Besides, it doesn't matter anyway.'

This is what you get when you let your heart win – the man who promised you forever shacking up with some busty TV exec.

Tony's grip on the steering wheel tightened. 'I'm going to kill him. Hell, McPacifist will clobber him.'

'No Tony,' Mac said firmly, ignoring the exasperated look he sent her way. 'It's all in the past. I've gotten over it. It doesn't matter.'

Quit fooling yourself MacKenzie, you know it still does.

Tony seemed to share her sentiments because his grip still left the blood rushing out of his knuckles.

'So what happened with Gibbs?' Mac asked, more to detract Tony's attention away from her situation with Harm. She didn't like analyzing her feelings at the best of times. She sure as hell didn't feel like dissecting her emotions right now.

'After the explosion, the boss got a case of amnesia like I told you before.' Mac could still recall the day a distraught Tony had called to inform her that Gibbs was in the hospital. She remembered the blank look he had given her when she had visited him, his blue eyes looking at her without a hint of recognition. 'Bits and pieces came back, you know? After we caught the guy, Gibbs just decided that he'd had enough. Handed in his badge and gun and jetted off to Mexico with Franks. Doesn't call, doesn't write.'

Mac caught the faint edge of bitterness in Tony's words. 'You got promoted.' When Mac had heard from Ziva that Tony had been appointed lead agent on the Major Case Team, a part of her had already expected it. Despite outward appearances, Tony exuded a kind of authority that made you want to listen whenever he brought it out. Ziva had marveled at that, Mac mused, so used to seeing the federal agent joking around and fixing his usually meticulous hair and suits.

Tony's laugh was definitely bitter when it came out this time. 'Yeah I got promoted. Doesn't mean anyone's taken me seriously. Probie looks at me like I'm insane whenever I ask him to do something and Ziva just sits there with this look on her face, like she can't decide whether to follow or stab me with that hunting knife she lugs around like a security blanket.'

'Gibbs wouldn't have left if he didn't know you could do this. Jenny sure as hell wouldn't have left you in charge if she didn't think you could handle it,' Mac told him earnestly.

There was a lull as Tony flashed his badge to the guard at the gate and pulled into the NCIS parking lot.

'It's just hard when everyone keeps reminding me that I'm not Gibbs.' A dark chuckle. 'I'm the last person in the world that'd try to replace Gibbs, you know? But he left and no one seems to realize that. And guess who gets to be the one who picks up the damn pieces?'

Mac heard Tony let out a deep sigh, saw the tense set of his shoulders. This was a side of Tony that not many were allowed to see. Tony was always cocky, arrogant, so sure of himself. Anthony, on the other hand, often spent most of his time seeking absolution. From what Tony had let slip about his childhood, his old man had often neglected him. If anyone understood what it was like to be ignored, it was Mac. Her mother had tried but after a while the older woman had simply given in to the booze. It wasn't long before her daughter did the same, seeing the long dark road ahead of her without that shining light at the end.

'Look Tony, it's going to take time. I know you miss him, just like I do. But this isn't the time to feel sorry for yourself or get mad at Gibbs for leaving you in the lurch like that. Right now, you've got to put your ass into gear and try and get Ziva back, alright?'

A long moment passed as Mac kept her gaze locked with Tony's. Finally, the NCIS agent gave her a decent half-smile.

'God, I've missed these little moments Wildcat,' Tony told her. Usually there was a leering look to accompany that, but this time, Mac could see the sincerity in Tony's eyes.

'Yeah well, don't get all sappy on me DiNozzo. I have a reputation to protect,' Mac teased, unbuckling her seatbelt.

Harm saw the Dodge and pulled up a few spaces away from it. His cherry red convertible stuck out like a sore thumb amidst the regulation black. Mac and Tony exchanged a few words as they got out of the car, indecipherable to Harm's ear as he locked his own vehicle.

'Hey,' he called out casually. He tried to ignore how it felt when Mac's smile became somewhat stilted upon seeing him and how the sweater she was using gave a more than appealing view of her chest. It always made him uncomfortable to be out of uniform. Whenever he was in his dress whites or mess, it made him feel like part of a unit, a chain in a brotherhood of men who had undertaken to serve their country to the best of their abilities. In uniform, Mac was another member of that fraternity. In their civvies, she became a woman.

'Navy,' Tony said, using the nickname Harm had been graced with over at JAG. 'Nice car,' the agent said, gesturing behind Harm, the compliment sounding forced. Mac shot Tony a look and elbowed him covertly in the ribs. Harm wondered why, seeing Tony look slightly chastised.

'Let's go in so the Director and I can brief you guys,' Tony told them both, taking the lead. Mac stayed by his side, Harm following behind them.

As they got in the elevator, Harm knew the reason why he had accepted Director Shepherd's request.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mac reach out and squeeze Tony's hand.

She didn't let go until the doors opened.