Chapter 43

Two officers stood in a waiting area, each the epitome of strength and stoism. There was no air of impropriety or any show of familiarity except for the matching wedding rings the Marine and the Sailor wore. "You're sure, Colonel?"

"I am, Captain." And with a nod, Mac was escorted towards a metal door with a small window where interrogations between lawyers and their clients were conducted. The back of her hand brushed his and she was never so content to wear the drab green uniform which hid the sweat rolling down her spine.

She didn't fear the man himself, only the seeds he planted in her lover's mind and the anger Harm couldn't seem to shake because of Vukovic's mental illness. Anything the former officer could do to her felt insignificant.

Vukovic sat at an end of a metal table wearing an all blue jumpsuit with a white name tag. Despite being locked up for the past few months, he looked relatively well. The crazed look in his eyes was gone, the only physical change came from the bridge of his nose which never healed properly after Harm's attack. "Sarah."

"Colonel MacKenzie."

"Right…Colonel Sarah." When he smiled a little bit of that lascivious look came alive and it took all of Mac's power to not slap it off his face. "How are you, ma'am? Did you get my letters?"

When he tried to reach for her hand, Mac sat back. "I did and every single one went into the trash. Unread." She put emphasis on the last word as she sat across from Vukovic. Mac noted he wasn't wearing cuffs nor was he tethered to the table in any way which made her sense of self preservation tick up a notch.

"I see." Vic's face fell and as he tilted his head to try and read her better, he found that the pretty Colonel was telling the truth. It made his gut churn, his brow break out in a bead of sweat. She'd never know how much of his heart was poured into each word he wrote.

She'll never read how he begged to be forgiven and, in the same letter, still detailed his most extravagant sexual fantasies. She wouldn't know the sins that Harm had committed, each word a far fetched lie he prayed would work. She would never know. "Is that why my last two letters were returned?"

"Yes and I'm going to ask you to stop trying to contact me…"

"But, Sarah I lov-"

"And since you won't, I put in a request with the warden that you are never to write to me or call me for any reason unless it's some sort of communication from your lawyer about the rape cases."

Vic winced. One of the victim's legal team had shown him the video, his trophy and he might have actually felt a little remorse for his acts. Still, he leaned in as far as he could, his expression like that of a small boy who had a toy taken away. "Weren't you even slightly curious…what I had to say in those letters?"

"No." She lied but wouldn't allow herself to open a single one. Part of healing meant letting go and he was easy to eradicate from her life.

"But, you're here now."

"On my terms, not yours. This was a trip I had in mind for a while in hopes prison may have forced you to atone for everyone you've hurt."

He sat back and took a deep breath. Prison had forced him to atone but some women had wanted him - good or bad. Some of those rape charges were bogus in his opinion. "I have. I know I made mistakes and I know…I know I'm sick. My mind is sick but-"

"But?"

"I don't hate women. They are trying to say I hate women when I don't….I just, I can't control the impulse to fully possess the girl I'm interested in. That's led me to do things I shouldn't have and I can't take it back. There are no do-overs but… I'll plead guilty if you want, Sarah but I need you to see me as a good man."

As far as Mac knew, Vukovic was taking several types of medication which may have eased the bipolarism but couldn't cure his sick desires. She knew, without a shadow of a doubt that the moment he stepped foot outside that jail, he'd find someone to fixate on. That someone would be her.

Vic never had or "possessed" her which meant he never fulfilled whatever deeds his mind imagined for them. It made her a little sick to think of herself as his plaything, drugged and violated until he let her go. Maybe Harm's anger wasn't so misplaced, she thought as Vic continued some monologue about infatuation vs. true love.

"Some of those girls actually wanted it. They wanted me and now it's like some sort of Witch Trial."

"What?" Mac stared at him like he lost his mind. "It isn't a Witch Trial, Vukovic, it's lives you destroyed. You really don't feel any remorse for the women you've hurt, do you?"

Did he? No. Not really. His Aunt Addie may have taught Vic to respect women but when they acted so slutty around him, the fault was their own. "I do hate what happened between us. I never should have taken you. I just thought you'd eventually come to love me…Could you love me? Even a little?"

"Love you? You could have taken me to the end of the Earth and threatened to torture me day in, day out and I would never have said those words to you. I don't have feelings for you and I never will."

Vic grunted and settled his eyes on the wedding ring occupying Mac's left hand. He would have figured that mistake would have ended by now. "Still can't believe you married that neanderthal to avoid prosecuting."

She ran her thumb over the ring and shrugged. "Guess I love him that much."

"Lucky man, I guess."

Mac sighed heavily. "Vukovic, I have pressing business back home. Why did you want to see me?"

He had things to tell her but the second Vukovic noticed Harm peering through the small window his resolve failed. "I'm on my meds again, taking them like a good boy and as such when I say what I say, you have to know that I mean it."

"Okay."

"I'm sorry. And I doubt you'll ever forgive what I did to you but, I-"

"I can forgive you for what you did to me." Mac interrupted, she hadn't even lost sleep on the matter but, the one thing she couldn't forgive was how it changed the man on the other side of the door. "But I'll never forgive you for trying to have Harm killed. If you wanted me, really wanted me, that wasn't the way to go about it."

"He was in the way of what I wanted most. You can understand that can't you? Can you blame me? It was also payback for rearranging my face, retribution…If it means mending our friendship, I'll apologize for that too."

"Friendship?"

"Weren't we friends once?" He seemed hurt and a little desperate and that was when Mac realized his mental troubles would never be appeased by medication. "Tell me we were. That you, the Captain, all the others in London and HQ, we were friends."

"We could have been if you were different." She lied and then made a sign with her hand that the conversation was over. "Take care of yourself, Gregory. We'll see you during the trial."

"No." He stood suddenly and when Vic took a step too many towards Mac, the wall of Harm's chest blocked the path. "Harm, my name isn't Gregory, it's Vic…Tell them it's Vic."

Harm glanced down at the shell of the headstrong, cocky offer he once thought he could mold. Vukovic was practically crying, shaking with a hand outstretched to reach Mac who stood outside. "Okay, buddy. I'll tell them your name is Vic."

"Do you promise?"

"Yeah, Commander, I promise… Corporal, take him will you?" Harm stepped out of the way as two Marines took a now blubbering Vukovic back to his cell. At that moment, when Mac's eyes locked onto his own, he realized the anger he felt was completely gone.

The trip back was taking far longer than necessary. A weather delay forced the Colonel and the Captain to seek shelter for the night at a lodge in Colorado Springs.

Harm sat on their balcony watching the electrical storm dance in the distance. Ever since ejecting over the open sea lightning scared him a little, a fact he never admitted to anyone even Mac. It was the one scar that remained most prominent since that fateful night and he always thanked the Lord he was still alive.

"Shower's free." He felt more than heard her presence. When Mac sat on the chair next to his Harm noticed she was wearing a fluffy white robe with its matching slippers. Her hair was slicked back and she looked so damned cute that his breath caught. "You okay? You'vr been staring at the storm for a while."

"Mostly okay." He reached a hand out to her and smiled as Mac's palm slipped into his. "What scares you the most?"

"Losing you." She stated simply.

"No, is there something? I don't know…tangible that scares you? I know you don't like flying-"

"Tangible?" Mac bit her lower lip and shrugged. "Not a big fan of planes but they don't scare me. I used to be scared of being alone but the Corps beat that out of me. Failure? Is that tangible? Because I'm terrified of failing so bad everything Juanita Ressler said about me is true."

Harm kissed the back of her hand, his fingers squeezing hers a little tighter when another bolt of lightning jumped into another cloud. "Lightning scares me and it never did until the night before your wedding."

Her wedding, Mac cringed a little. Funny, for those two years with Mic, he was barely an afterthought while Harm ran through her mind more often than she would have liked. "The storm was bad, even in DC. I don't want to imagine out there. I'm sorry, Harm, I really am."

"Still can't believe how you found me."

"I can't either." She stood and sat on his lap, her body cradled by Harm's strong embrace. She kissed him slowly, rubbed her nose against his and laughed once his fingers found the one spot she was ticklish at. "You're bad."

"Oh, I know."

Mac sighed, "Vic's not well, Harm. I'm not sure how much of that conversation you heard but…I'm.scared of him taking me again, finishing what he started."

"I won't let that happen. He got the drop on me once-"

"And he can find some muscle to do it again. I'm scared he'll hurt you because of me."

"We take it one day at a time, babe. First the rape trial which will extend his sentence, I'm sure of it. And if, one day he's let out, we'll find a remote corner of the World to call home."

It was so casual, his plan which mad it clear to her that Harm had already drafted, at least mentally, a back up plan. It made her smile and his confidence helped ease some of her fear. "Do you think DeLong will come after us?"

"About her, I forgot to mention. She's done. The FBI had been investigating a government embezzlement scheme that has gone on for years. It was traced back to her and no matter what dirt she has on anyone, this trumps it all."

"Embezzlement?"

"Billions. Embezzlement, unlawful foreign influence and money laundering."

"She'll never see the inside of a jail cell, you know that right?"

Of course Adele wouldn't, he knew but, at least her reign was over. "She'll likely take a deal, rat out the rest of the network and never be allowed in politics again."

"I think that's worse than jail for her."

"I think so too." The mood changed some, it was a little lighter and much more peaceful. With his head Harm motioned to the sliding glass doors. "You know, we have a very big, very comfy bed in there."

"Yes, we do. And a mid-day flight back to San Diego." Several hours before she returned back to meetings and schmoozing with dignitaries. Several days before Harm flew back to London and they'd both be alone again. Mac stood and pulled him up, wordlessly leading him into the room when she pushed him onto the bed.

In the morning there would be news from Florence of an attempted prison escape where six inmates were killed. One of them was Gregory Vukovic.