A/N: Alas, another Soundtrack. This one features one of Harm's crazy girlfriends. Radiorox did a story involving Jordan as the crazy. I tried to put Neurotic Annie or René in it, but it just didn't work. I do believe that while Annie was neurotic and had crazy eyes, and René was René, Jordan had the higher crazy potential so here she is. The song that inspired it is a relatively dark yet entertaining tune by Norah Jones.
Soundtracks
Track 16: Miriam Norah Jones
Such a Pretty Name
"Wake up, Sarah. Rise and shine! Come on, now."
Mac groaned, wanting to slap away the feminine hand that patted her cheek. Her head pounded, her mind was foggy, and she wanted to vomit. She started to gag.
The hand that had been lightly patting her cheek suddenly slapped her.
"Stop it, Sarah. Stop being so dramatic, and for god's sake, open your eyes."
Mac most certainly didn't want to open her eyes, though a least her urge to vomit had left her. Her cheek stung from the slap that had distracted her from losing what little she still had in her stomach.
She was hungry. It had been a long day, and all she wanted to do was eat, bathe, and retire to her bed. She slid her key in the lock and turned it. She pushed open the door, and then…nothing.
Someone or something had hit her on the head as soon as she'd come home. They must have drugged her too to keep her under. Her time sense was scrambled, and everything was fuzzy.
As Mac became more aware, she realized her arms hurt and her shoulders felt like they had been wrenched out of their sockets.
God, what just happened? Somebody hit her. She could feel blood trickling down her neck. Now somebody was pulling her, dragging her down a long hall.
"Come on, Sarah, wake up!"
The voice shouting in her ear was familiar, but who was it? She was suddenly yanked up into a sitting position.
"I thought you were a marine, Sarah. Snap to!" At that moment, Mac finally opened her eyes, and at the same time she identified the voice of her captor. Her mouth was horribly dry, her tongue even sticking to the roof of her mouth, but she still managed to get out one word.
"Jordan?"
"Here, drink this," Jordan demanded as she shoved a glass of water against her lips. Mac was loathe to drink it, fearing it was laced with more drugs or perhaps even poison. Mac shook her head.
"Oh, for goodness' sake, Sarah. It's fine!" Jordan took a few long swallows of the water and as she seemed fine afterward, Mac allowed herself a couple of sips. At least she would be able to speak, or maybe yell for help.
"It won't work, Sarah. No one will ever hear you here," Jordan said as if reading her mind.
"Where is here?" Mac asked, trying to sound neutral. Inside, her heart was pounding and her stomach churned. Her arms were painfully bound behind her, and she noticed her ankles were tied together as well. The ropes dug into her skin and her feet felt numb.
"Just an old warehouse. Isn't that where people always bring their victims?"
"So, I'm a victim?" Mac questioned, and Jordan smiled.
"Not yet, Sarah, but you will be." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Sarah…that's such a pretty name. Sarah. It means princess, you know." Jordan's expression turned dark. "He thinks you're a princess."
"Who thinks that, Jordan?" Mac asked calmly, though she felt anything but.
"Harm. He loves you," she murmured forlornly, then stood up with her back toward Mac.
"No, he doesn't. He's with you, Jordie."
Suddenly Jordan whirled around. "Don't call me that!" she shouted, then leaned down to slap Mac again. Mac's head jerked back and hit the wall behind her, and stars exploded in her mind. She closed her eyes to regain her bearings, then faced Jordan again.
"Why not?"
"Because that's what Harm calls me! Only him, Sarah!"
Mac frowned at the obviously crazed woman in front of her. "Why do you keep calling me Sarah?" Jordan had only ever called her Mac in their few interactions.
"It's your name. It's such a pretty name," she repeated, and Mac stared at her, utterly bewildered as to how she'd ended up here with Harm's girlfriend.
"But I prefer Ma—"
"Shut up! Shut up!" Jordan covered her ears. Mac watched as tears slid in torrents down her captor's cheeks. The woman's chest was heaving as she cried, and while she was otherwise distracted, Mac tried to evaluate her situation. She pulled at her bindings, but they held fast, and the small effort she'd made caused her headache to come roaring back. It looked like getting out of here was going to be more difficult than she thought. She turned her attention to a now muttering Jordan.
"How could he do this. How could he? I loved him. How could he? With her? And why does he call her Mac? Why did he say that when—"
"Jordan?" Mac risked calling out to the other woman. Obviously, this had something to do with Harm, which was certainly not a surprise to her. After Jordan embarrassed her by asking how Mac thought Harm was in bed, and then grilling her about her feelings for her tall, handsome partner, Mac knew something was 'off' about Jordan. It was just nothing she could pinpoint so bringing it up to Harm would have been foolish. "I'm still no threat to you."
It was the wrong thing to say. Jordan flew at Mac and grabbed a hunk of Mac's hair in her fist. Mac's neck head was wrenched back, exposing the tender flesh of her neck. A knife had appeared seemingly out of nowhere and was now pressed against her skin.
"Aren't you? He said your name, Mac, when we were in bed. He wants you, not me!" The tip of the knife dug into Mac's neck, and she felt a tiny bead of blood well up.
"Jordan, I-I'm sorry."
"How long has it been going on?" Jordan spat, ignoring Mac's apology. "How long?"
"There's nothing going on. There never has been, I swear!" Mac didn't want to be frightened of lithe navy psychiatrist, but she was currently at quite the disadvantage.
"Hmmm," Jordan murmured, her face relaxing into a neutral expression. She took the knife away from Mac's neck, and Mac breathed a sigh of relief. Jordan stood up and started pacing.
"Oh, Sarah. Such a pretty name, you know. It means princess. I'm going to say it when I make you cry, Sarah." Jordan giggled, and her laugh scared Mac more than anything else had on this night. The woman was unhinged.
"You know you did it, Sarah. It was wrong. How you treated me, it was wrong! Tonight, when you say goodbye, I'll be smiling!" Jordan now spoke in a sing-songy voice, following her words with another burst of maniacal laughter.
"Sarah, Sarah, Sarah…I've never been the jealous type. Really, Sarah, don't look at me that way. I'm not jealous, and I'm really not a killer. But what you did…don't bother to put up a fight, princess. You aren't getting out of this one."
"Jordan!" Mac cried "Harm and I are not together! We've never been together, and we won't be together! Just stop this. You aren't a killer! I know it!" Mac had to hold back her own hysterical laughter. Clearly, Harm's latest girlfriend was nuttier than a fruitcake, and was obviously not above slaughtering someone out of jealousy. Mac decided she had quite the bone to pick with Harm. If the fool had uttered her name while romancing the crazed Dr. Parker…well, he deserved some punishment.
"Jordan," Mac started again. "Harm and I have never been together!" she repeated.
"And you never will be! Not now."
"I know, I know. Because you're going to kill me."
Jordan's lips stretched out into a semblance of a smile. "Not just because of that."
Mac's stomach dropped and she was sure this time she was going to vomit. "What did you do to Harm? Jordan?!"
"It was just a game to you two, wasn't it. I was just a game. Did you and Harm even think twice about me?"
"Jordan, Harm cares for you. He would never cheat on you."
"Don't lie to me!" Jordan screeched.
"I'm not lying. He and I have never done anything, and I would never do anything to come between you two!"
"Oh, yes, it's never the princess's fault. Well, at least there's no way to come between Harm and me anymore."
There it was again. The implication that Jordan had done something to Harm. Please, don't let it be true!
"Jordan," Mac said, speaking slowly and carefully. "Where is Harm? Did you do anything to him?"
Jorden stepped over and patted Mac on the cheek. "Oh, don't you worry about him, Sarah. I've punished him already."
Mac instantly paled as she felt all the blood leaving her face. "H-how…"
"Oh, from ear to ear." Jordan slid her finger across her throat, starting just under one delicate ear and going all the way to the necks.
Oh, God, please, no. Please! Mac prayed to herself.
"Now, let's not talk about Harm anymore. It's time to talk about you, Sarah. You know, I never wanted to hurt you, but somehow, I knew it would always come down to this. You really aren't that bad, Sarah, but I guess we all have a threshold before we get so angry we go mad. Oh, Sarah…"
"Stop calling me that," Mac demanded angrily. The sound of her given name on Jordan's crazy lips made her ears literally hurt. She was tired of hearing it. Her name was Mac. That was what she liked to be called. Mac, and Mac only. Oh, before this, she rather liked how Harm said Sarah the extremely few times he'd called her that. But now…no more Sarah. Ever.
"But it's your name, Sarah! And such a pretty name, Sarah. I'm going to keep saying it, Sarah, until you die. Until I take your life, Sarah, and oh, how I'm going to smile. "
Mac closed her eyes, swallowing the bile that had risen in her throat. "Did you smile when you hurt Harm?" she whispered.
Jordan started to answer, but then a commotion from somewhere below them interrupted her.
"Ah, right on time." Jordan pulled out her knife again and slashed at the bindings around Mac's wrists and ankles. She was now for all intents and purposes free, but the combination of drugs and being confined in one position, her legs and arms numb, allowed Jordan to drag her onto a nearby catwalk. Mac struggled a bit but was ineffectual at best. "Oh, knock it off, Sarah. You aren't helping yourself," Jordan sneered as she continued to jerk Mac along.
"What are you doing, Jordan?"
Jordan grinned. "You'll see. I've saved the best for you!" The crazed woman winked at her captive, and Mac shuddered. Suddenly, though, she heard Harm's voice shouting.
Am I hallucinating? No, that is Harm! Mac opened her mouth to shout to him, but Jordan beat her to it.
"Harm! Harm! I'm here! Hurry! It was Mac!"
What?
"What the hell are you saying, you crazy bitch?" Mac was feeling a little stronger now and pulled herself away from Jordan.
"I'm not crazy!" Jordan contradicted herself by shouting out to Harm again. "Harm, help me! She's going to push me! I'm going to fall!"
Mac looked around her, noting how narrow the catwalk was. She may not be wrong. Mac found the thought of pushing Jordan off the catwalk appealing after everything that had happened tonight. When Jordan grabbed for her again, Mac was ready, and the two struggled to gain the upper hand.
Harm was shouting now, and his footsteps could be heard on metal stairs. Mac caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye but couldn't make out what he was saying. She was too busy trying to keep Jordan from pushing her off, and if that meant pushing Jordan off…well…she had to do what she had to do. There was no room here for any fancy maneuvers. Mac twisted her body, but somehow Jordan managed to push both of them over the side. Both women managed to grab hold of metal supports of the catwalk, but their holds were perilous at best.
In the best of circumstances, Harm would only be able to save one of them. Mac closed her eyes and prayed, sending a silent goodbye to Harm and all their friends. Jordan had won, for Harm surely would save his girlfriend first.
"Oh, thank god, Harm. It was Mac. She did this. It was her idea. She had them bring me here to kill me!"
Mac felt her fingers slip. There was no reason to beg. She was resigned to her fate.
"Harm, please!" Jordan begged. Mac's left hand lost its hold, and she could feel the fingers on her right start to give way. She finally opened her eyes, noting that Jordan, too, was hanging on by only one arm, and Harm was now standing above them. Jordan never ceased her begging, and Mac saw Harm reach for his girlfriend. She closed her eyes again, telling herself she wouldn't scream her way down. She'd go with dignity. Her last finger slipped…
So much for not screaming. Mac admonished herself when she heard her high-pitched cry. This was not how she wanted to go out, and she steeled herself for the sudden stop at the bottom. She was surprised her arm still felt like something was pulling at it, and she couldn't believe it was taking this long to reach the ground.
I can't even fall to my death right!
Mac jerked to a stop. At last, she thought. At last, it's over.
Mac felt herself being dragged across metal and then she was enfolded in someone's arms. A gentle voice spoke in her ear, telling her to open her eyes, that she was okay, and the voice was familiar. Apparently, God sounded like Harm.
"Come on, Mac. You're safe. You're okay, baby. I've got you. Open your eyes for me."
Finally, Mac did, and found herself looking directly into Harm's eyes.
"Harm?"
"It's me," he said as he kissed her forehead. He stroked his hand over her tangled hair, then adjusted her so she was more comfortably settled in his lap.
"How?" Mac muttered, burying her face into Harm's neck.
"There was a note…a note from Palmer saying he had both of you."
"Oh my god, Palmer's out?" Mac trembled in fear.
"No, no, he isn't. Webb verified it with Leavenworth. Went there himself, actually. For once I'm actually sure this had nothing to do with Palmer.
"Oh…oh, god, Harm. Jordan…I swear, I didn't do this. I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry she fell before you could get to her."
Harm looked pained, and a profound sense of guilt settled on Mac. "I'm so sorry, Harm."
"Don't be, honey. It's okay."
"But you couldn't save her."
"I know, Mac. Because I saved you instead."
"Oh…oh no…"
"Mac, baby, it's okay. It's okay." Harm started to rock Mac back and forth while she sobbed in his arms until the paramedics took her away to the hospital.
Two months later…
"Hey, you're back." Mac grinned as she let Harm into her apartment. Harm had spent the last nearly two months on a carrier. Harm flashed her a sad version of his half smile.
"I am. Mac, can I come in?"
"Sure, Harm." She stepped back to allow him to pass by her. He sat down on the couch, and she took the chair next to it.
"How was the Seahawk?" Mac asked tentatively when Harm didn't say anything after several seconds.
"It was…Mac, we haven't talked about it."
Mac hung her head. "There's nothing really to talk about."
"She kidnapped you, Mac."
"Yes, she did, but it's all over now." Mac felt a prick of tears.
"Is it?"
"Yes, it is. There's really nothing more to say." There really wasn't. Harm saved her instead of Jordan, but he couldn't have known Jordan was the perpetrator in that drama. Mac had been crushed with guilt since, though she was entirely without fault. The moisture in Mac's eyes increased.
Harm reached over and covered her hand with his. "Come on, Sarah."
Mac jerked her hand away. "Don't say that."
"Don't say what? Don't say Sarah?"
"Yes. Don't call me that."
"Okay, I won't, but can I ask why?"
"Be-because she called me that."
"Jordan?"
Mac nodded. "She kept saying it over and over. She said it was such a pretty name…"
"Oh." Harm tried to reach for her hand again, but she pulled it away immediately.
Mac clenched her fists in her lap. Her tears still slid down her cheeks, but she couldn't let Harm touch her until she asked the question she hadn't been able to bring herself to ask before Harm left on assignment.
"H-Harm?"
"Yeah, sweetheart?"
"Why? Why did you save me instead of her? You didn't know she was responsible yet, and there was no way for you to save both of us."
"Mac…"
"Please. Tell me."
Harm closed his eyes for a moment.
"Because I knew. As soon as I looked into her eyes, I knew she had set the whole thing up."
"Okay."
"But I think…I think I would have saved you anyway."
Mac gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. "Why?!"
"Because…because I love you, Mac, and as soon as I saw you both hanging there, I knew I wouldn't let you fall. I'd never let you fall. I love you."
"No…"
"I do love you, but I know this isn't the right time. I know we both have to deal with things now. I'm sorry I ran out on you. I-I couldn't look you in the eye knowing it was my actions and my relationship with Jordan that put you in danger. I felt so guilty."
"Oh…Harm…no, don't feel guilty. You didn't know she would…and you didn't mean to…"
"No, I didn't, but I still feel guilty."
"So do I." She held up her hand when he started to speak. "I feel guilty that you even had to choose, and I feel guilty that I'm so-so happy that she's the one that ended up broken on the ground."
"Oh, Mac…" Harm stood up and plucked Mac from her seat, then sat down with her in his lap. She didn't fight him; instead, she clung to him while she cried. It was the first time she'd actually cried over what happened, and it was cathartic.
Mac was growing sleepy by the time she was all cried out, but she needed to tell Harm something before she drifted off.
"Harm?"
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"I love you too."
She felt Harm's lips on her hair.
"I need…I have a few things to work out first, before we…"
"I understand, Mac. So do I, but can we work out some of it together? I'm going to need my best friend."
Mac smiled through a new rush of tears as she nodded. "Of course. I'm gonna need my best friend too." She drew her head back to place a light kiss on his lips.
"Good. I love you, Mac."
"I love you too, Harm."
Mac fell asleep in Harm's arms then, and when she woke up in the morning, Harm stretched out beside her, she knew everything was going to work out between them.
End Track 16