Hi, everyone! Somehow we've reached the final chapter already! I'm not quite sure what you'll think of the ending, but I hope you'll think it's very JAG-like with a little bit more hope for Harm and Mac. This was a great story to write, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Thank you for all your reviews and comments and thank you again for reading!

"Damn it, Webb, what's happening?"

When the phone call with Mac had turned into static that mimicked the other murder, Harm had slammed on the brakes and whirled his car around. His voice was almost frantic now as he sped home.

"I don't know," Webb admitted over the intercom in Harm's ear. "She's not coming in on her earpiece or the camera in her necklace."

"She was talking to me about Bruce Sanderson, the guy Madison used to work with."

"He's already covered," Webb said. "We have agents on him at the gym. We'll have a team at your house any minute now. Do not go in there without backup...Rabb!" Webb yelled. "Rabb!"

But Harm was no longer listening.

"Damn it!" Webb quickly switched his radio frequency to his armed SWAT team. "Swanson!" he shouted. "Get your team in there! We've got a hostage situation on our hands!"

"We're five minutes out, Mr. Webb," came the voice over the radio.

"She might not have five minutes!" Webb retorted. "And if we don't get to her in time, we're gonna have a homicide situation and one pissed off Navy Commander on our hands!"

~*~o~*~

Mac slowly drifted back into consciousness and found herself lying on the living room floor. Her throat was dry and sore, roughly bruised by the cord around her neck. There was a painful pounding inside her head, and she couldn't move her arms or legs. Her vision was fuzzy and distorted, and she could barely make out the blurry figure towering over her.

"What…did you…do…to me?" she slurred.

"Just a little neutralization technique I learned a long time ago," came the reply.

Mac knew the voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it. She tried to blink her eyes and focus her line of vision, but her lids felt as if they were heavily weighted down. She heard the sound of footsteps coming towards her, and suddenly she caught a whiff of blueberry muffins in the air.

"Maggie," Mac managed to choke out. "Why…are you…doing this?"

"You know why!" Maggie snapped. Her voice suddenly took on a thick Italian accent. "For revenge…to show the United States Navy what it is like to have my love – il mio amore – torn from my life, from my heart, from my soul."

Angrily, she yanked on the rope around Mac's neck, pulling it tight against her windpipe. Mac coughed and tried vainly to loosen the knot that was strangling her, but her arms felt as if they were filled with lead. She couldn't even reach the small heart around her neck, the hidden camera that might have been able to call for help.

"Harm," she gasped, fighting to catch her breath.

"Don't worry, my dear," Maggie assured her. "I haven't done you any harm...yet."

She laughed cruelly as she drew a weapon from her waist and aimed the barrel straight at Mac.

"Arrivederci, mia cara."

Her finger hovered over the trigger, and Mac closed her eyes, bracing herself for impact.

It never came.

The gunshot fired into the ceiling, splintering the wall with a loud crack, and Maggie screamed as she was tackled to the ground.

Harm scrambled to keep her pinned down, grabbing her wrists and wrenching her arms behind her back. Maggie yelped in pain, and she dropped her weapon, letting it clatter loudly to the floor.

Enraged, Maggie managed to twist out of Harm's grasp and land a nasty punch to his jaw that sent him reeling backwards. She followed with another swift punch to his stomach and a pummeling to the side of his head. Leaping to her feet, she picked up her weapon and raised it to fire again, but Harm was too fast for her. He swept his leg backwards, tripping Maggie so that her knees buckled and she landed heavily on her side, striking her head against the ground.

As their attacker lay in semi-consciousness, Harm dropped to the floor beside Mac and scooped her into his arms, whispering her name. Her eyes were closed and her body was limp, but he could still feel a weak pulse against her neck.

"Come on, Marine." He loosened the rope around her neck, tilted her head back and covered her mouth with his, exhaling deeply and willing her to breathe.

At last, Mac sputtered and coughed, gasping loudly for air, and Harm felt like his heart could finally start beating again. He raised her into a sitting position, wrapping his arms around her, and then he heard the sound of a gun cocking directly behind his head.

"Who are you?" Maggie demanded, in English laced with a thick Italian accent.

"Commander Harmon Rabb, Junior," he replied calmly. "United States Navy."

"United States Navy," Maggie spat. "Then I hope you are ready to die tonight."

"Freeze! Drop the weapon and get down on the ground!"

A barrage of gunshots rang out, and Harm flung his body over Mac, shielding her from the smoke and flying debris.

It was over in an instant.

When the smoke finally cleared, Maggie's body was slumped on the floor, riddled with bullets.

Immediately, the room was swarmed with CIA agents, and Harm vaguely heard one of them calling for multiple ambulances. Mac was still wrapped in his arms with her eyes closed, but he could feel her breathing on her own now. He squeezed her just a little tighter and rested his forehead against hers.

Only a few feet away, Maggie lay struggling for breath, her body convulsing in pain as a thin line of blood trickled out of her mouth.

"She's…not really…your wife…is she?" Maggie asked in a raspy voice.

Harm shook his head. "No. She isn't."

"But you're in love with her...the same way a husband would be."

And with those final words, Maggie's eyes slowly closed and she took her very last breath.

"Well, you two are a sight for sore eyes."

Harm and Mac sat together on the back of an ambulance as a paramedic cleaned and bandaged their wounds. They both held multiple ice packs on bruises that were already turning purple, and the paramedic carefully wiped antiseptic on their bloody gashes and the ligature marks around Mac's neck. He gave Webb a rather irritable look when the CIA agent waved him away so he could speak with the two JAG lawyers.

"Her name was Margarita Vinici," Webb explained. "Former Italian military. She married into a U.S. military family, and her husband was killed in a naval air strike. She's been looking for revenge on the U.S. Navy ever since."

Harm grimaced in pain as he shifted his body the wrong way. "Webb, maybe you should just leave the U.S. Navy out of your next undercover operation."

"And the Marine Corps," Mac added.

"Why? You guys actually made a half-decent married couple."

"Why, Clayton Webb, is that a compliment?" Mac teased.

"No, but you can take it as one if you want. Just let me know when you two decide to do the marriage thing for real, okay?"

Without another word, the spook disappeared into the night, and Harm and Mac were left simply shaking their heads. With a heavy sigh, Mac leaned against Harm's shoulder and rubbed a tired hand over her face.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, still a little woozy, I think."

Harm didn't even realize he was reaching for her hand, his thumb rubbing small, comforting circles on her palm. Mac gazed up at him gratefully and offered a weak smile.

"Harm," she said softly.

"Mac."

His voice was low, and the look in his eyes held Mac's gaze so strongly that she couldn't look away. Their lips were barely a breath apart from each other, and it was so very tempting to close the distance…

"I'm with her, Officer. Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie. She's my fiancée."

"Yeah, and I'm with him. Commander Harmon Rabb."

The officer frowned. "I'm sorry, sir, ma'am, but I can't let you through."

"Sarah!" Mic called, waving at her.

A tight knot formed in the pit of Mac's stomach at the sound of the two familiar voices. "It's okay, Officer," she advised quietly. "Let them through."

The officer obediently stepped back, and as soon as Mic and Renee passed through the yellow police tape, Harm and Mac were both swept up in hugs by their significant others.

"I'm glad you're okay, Marine."

"Sailor, I was so worried about you."

As Mic and Renee continued to fuss over them, Harm and Mac shared a sidelong glance that went completely unnoticed by the others. It was almost a longing look for the life they had shared together over the past few days. Maybe they had both caught a glimpse of something they had been looking for all along. And maybe they both wanted to hold onto the memory of waking up in each other's arms for just a little longer.

But it almost seemed like another world now – a world far away from this one that continuously pulled Harm and Mac away from each other, leaving both of their hearts heavy with missed chances and lost moments…as they slowly faded back into reality.