TITLE: Home is Where the Heart Is—Chapter I AUTHORS: Anne R. and Pat Steiner SUMMARY: Harm and Mac live together. Platonically. Roommates. Separate bedrooms. For how long? Set during the spring/summer of 2002 however neither Sergei nor the events of Afghanistan are a factor. CLASSIFICATION/RATING: S/R/A PG for language, mild violence SPOILERS: In any of our work, any JAG episode may be referred to. FEEDBACK: If you're so moved. Addy is ssbpmn@aol.com. Please however, we request you respect the work, and the effort that goes into writing it. NOTE: All parts of this story and previous chapters, as well as much of our other works, are available at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AnniePatJAGstories The message archives are open to all registered Yahoo users-no subbing required. Please ignore any notice of adult content you may see-there is no R nor NC17 content there. Other archives containing our stories: http://thearchive.mine.nu:85/exlibris/ or http://www.netroenterprises.com/exlibrisjag or the Harm-Mac shipper archive at http://hmarchive.topcities.com/index2.html [sadly, not always up and running] or BTL- http://www.wtv-zone.com/trgarchive/btl/ http://destined.to/btlarchive - {BTL H/M Fanfiction archive.} ============= "Home is Where the Heart Is"--- "Hey Sailor you are looking at the attorney who just got Marshall Rice sentenced to twenty at Leavenworth," Mac called through Harm's open door. "Mac," he yelped and at once switched the computer to another screen. "You're looking a little guilty there mister," she grinned. "Tell me you're not looking at Barely Legal Teens Bare All." "On my work computer, never," he grinned. "Congratulations by the way. I meant to come in but I got caught up in something here." "It's OK. Sturgis gave me the thumbs up I needed when I was doing closing arguments." "Ouch, sorry," he sighed, "well the least I can do is buy you lunch right." "No problem, but yeah OK I'm not going to turn that down." "Good because. . ." When he did not continue she frowned and looked at him intently. "OK Harm, something's on your mind. Spill." "Lunch. I will. I promise." ============= CAFE LUIGI RESTON, VA "I'm all ears," Mac prompted, twirling some alfredo onto her fork at the same time. "OK if you think you can clog your arteries and listen at the same time." Harm took a bite of his grilled chicken caesar salad and reached into his pocket. "This." "Don't tell me Harriet and Bud have changed their mind in favor of. . .a house Norman Bates wouldn't want." "Don't even mention that to me while I'm eating," he groaned. "I'm trying to stay as far away from that as I can. You said you thought you were presiding over a train wreck in the Port Chicago matter--how do you think I felt." "Counselor is there a point in my future?" "Yeah see this house? The picture does not do it justice. It doesn't look that bad in person." Mac took the picture and looked at it from all angles. "I would hope not. Why the interest?" "I want to buy it." She choked violently on an alfredo noodle. "Excuse me?" "Mac I'm sinking money every month into that place in D.C. I drive an hour to get to JAG, an hour back, to live in a neighborhood where I'm afraid to have you visit." "I don't visit you." "Exactly. Look, this place has enormous tax advantages. Not to mention it's close to JAG, close to my plane, and certainly safer." "Harm I'm not arguing, but I am wondering." "OK bottom line. I've run the figures fifty ways to Sunday and I need help." "You want a loan for the down payment?" "Not exactly. What do you think of your apartment?" "Harm what does. . .?" "Just answer the question please," he begged. "It's cold in the winter, hot in the summer, the hot water gives out before I get the shampoo out of my hair, the garbage disposal wouldn't grind cream of wheat. Now that's that point?" "I'd like you to go halves with me." "Is this like the baby thing?" she gasped. "Not quite. This is a business deal. Something for our mutual benefit. I can't afford the down payment on my own and even if I could, I couldn't handle the monthly payments alone and have any money left to fix it up. Which it needs work." "No sh. . ." she began and shook her head. "What exactly do you have in mind Flyboy? Spit it out in words of one syllable if possible please." "OK, plain language. Room mates. Fix the place up. Share the equity. Someday sell at a profit." Her eyes grew as large as he had ever seen them. "Room mates? You and me, room mates?" "Sure why not?" he shrugged. "I mean we spend more than a third of our day together as it is. And so far you haven't killed me yet." "Yet being the key word" Mac grinned. "Harm I don't know. Working together is one thing. Living together. . .well" "It's not living together like that," he said quickly, though for a moment the vision he'd had of his partner in a towel flashed through his mind and he couldn't help but smile. "Okay where did I lose you?" she laughed. "Earth to Harm." "Uh sorry. But you know what I mean." "So how much work does the Normal Bates motel need?" she asked as she looked at the picture he'd printed off from the Internet. "Well it's far from perfect but it's livable. And it's nothing I can't handle." "Harm you couldn't fix Harriet's fridge" Mac smiled. "In case you forgot I did most of the work myself on my place" he countered. "And you remember what it looked like the first time you saw it." "Vaguely" she nodded. "But if memory serves me correct you also lived like that for a while." "Okay so I'm not the fastest carpenter," he admitted. "But I was working alone. You'd be helping this time." "So you want me to give up my cozy apartment to room with you in a house that needs more work than we'll ever have time for. I mean, its not like we're always at home anymore." "We'll find the time. And I thought you said that cozy apartment was hot in the summer and cold in the winter. And as an added bonus you get me as a room mate." "That's supposed to sway my opinion" Mac teased but deep down inside the idea of rooming with her handsome partner actually sounded very good to her. "At least come look at it with me tonight" Harm begged. "If you really think it's not worth it, then I'll just think of something else. But seeing as how I sunk everything I had into the vette, I don't have many options left." "All right. I'll come look at it. And I'll reserve my opinion until then." "Just tell me one thing. Ignoring the condition of the house and how much work we'll have to do, does the idea of rooming with me sound that bad to you?" "No" she said slowly. "I'm sure we could handle it. There might be some logistical things we'd have to work out." "Such as?" he prodded. "Cooking, cleaning" she started. "I'll do all the cooking. You know I like to anyway. And we'll split the cleaning chores." "Yard work?" she continued as she looked at the picture again. "How big of a lot does it have?" "One acre" Harm said proudly. "Rabb you've lost it. This is way too much land." "Exactly why I want it." "You lost me Flyboy. When did you want a big yard?" "Mac I spent a lot of time on Grams farm in Pennsylvania. I always loved it there. This is my chance to have a small piece something like that. It's only an acre but at least we'd have our own space." "True" Mac nodded. "I'll admit sometimes it feels pretty cramped living in an apartment. No yard to go just go relax in." "And see here you'd have a whole acre to relax in" Harm smiled. "All right. I'll look at with you tonight and if it doesn't look too much like Norman Bates' house I'll do it." "You'll love it" he assured her. "Trust me." *************** Herndon, VA 6 PM EST "There she is" Harm said proudly as he pulled the SUV into the long driveway and up to the house where another car was waiting. "Harm the picture looked better than this" Mac laughed as they reached the home. "It needs a paint job, new steps on the porch." "Cosmetics" he said as he climbed out of the car. "Hi Harm" a bright bubbly blonde greeted him as she stepped out of her Cadillac. "I'm so glad you decided to give this a second look." "Hi Gina" he smiled. "This is my partner Sarah Mackenzie." "Nice to meet you" Gina smiled as she shook Mac's hand before turning her attention back to Harm and leading him towards the door. "So you think you might be wanting to make an offer. You know this isn't going to last much longer. I'm surprised it hasn't been snatched up already." "That's why it's been on the market for almost a year" Mac spoke up from behind them. Gina turned and gave her a long look before turning back to Harm. "It's only been on the market that long because the right person hasn't looked at it. You are the right person for this house." "Persons" Harm corrected. "The only way I'm buying this is if Mac buys it with me." "Oh I see," Gina said slowly. "I didn't realize there was someone. . .I mean you didn't mention that you were. . ." Mac shook her head impatiently. "We're thinking of ditching our D.C. apartments and sharing equity in this place that's all; but I didn't realize the only thing missing is the condemned sign from the door." "Hey you're not giving it a chance now," he scolded. "Come inside and see it before you find it guilty." He put a light hand to her back and guided her inside up the steps, which as Mac had pointed out were one of the first things that needed replacement. "I know where I've seen this house," she declared as she got her first look. "They filmed the opening sequence to Tales From the Crypt here." "Stop that. Just come. It needs a basic cleaning first of all. And I've got that all figured out." "Well by all means enlighten." "We have a barbecue." "OK, you've been breathing dust fumes in here too long Flyboy. How does that get the place cleaned?" "We invite everyone. They bring food and cleaning stuff. I supply the beer and in a day we get the place decently cleaned." "Gina he's not always this delusional thank god," Mac groaned. "Now how old is this place? George Washington slept here?" "Not quite," she smiled. "It's an old farmhouse, when this land was all farms except for the little train depot that was Herndon. Reston of course didn't exist until the late sixties, and Vienna and Oakton were just hamlets then too." "How old is it?" Mac repeated. "Built in 1938," she smiled. "And much of it is still original." "Now that's not hard to believe," she nodded. "Oh but you have to have an eye for these things," Gina gushed. "There's still the original woodwork, and houses aren't made solid like this any more." "Plus all the great gingerbread details," Harm added in from where he was looking out over the large back yard from the kitchen window. "Mac come see the kitchen." "I don't cook remember." "I forgot, sorry, but it's big and I love this old stove. It's the kind you actually light with striker matches." "Pass," she sighed. "No fridge I see. Gina who lived here before and why did they leave? How long as it been empty?" The woman looked slightly startled, covering it quickly. "Uh. . .he got transferred and they had to move quickly, so he signed it over to our reality. Then we've been wanting to fix it, decided we didn't want to commit the time in this volatile market and now we're selling it for basically what we paid for it. Let me show you upstairs. You two would want separate bedrooms?" "Of course," the both answered at once, and once again Harm flashed on Mac coming from the bathroom in a towel. "There's four up here," she pointed out. "A big master suite with a little room off it that would make a great nursery." "That's not an issue right now," Mac sighed. "Well maybe someday," Gina smiled and smiled again when Harm and Mac exchanged a long look. "Anyway the master bath connects the suite to this other large bedroom and there's two others down at the other end of the hall and another bath." Mac walked down with her to see that area and when she came back Harm had cleared some dirt from the window and was staring out over the back yard. "Mac come here," he called softly, stepping aside to make room for her, and when she stepped in front of him placed his hands on her shoulders. "Those are apple trees back there from when this was a working orchard. Picture them in bloom." "I'm having enough trouble picturing the grass being cut. It looks like lion country back there. Like we could sit on the porch and watch them come to the watering hole at sundown." "Well not quite," Gina laughed. "But the place does have deer and foxes I know that. Look I'm going to leave you two alone up here and let you talk." "Thanks Gina," Harm called, pressing firmly on Mac's shoulders. "Hey I'm not going to pressure you. It's something you should sleep on, and something you should do only if you want to. Don't make it a favor it me because I couldn't handle the guilt if it didn't work out." "Harm it's a great house--well it was in its day--no doubt about that," she said slowly. "I guess I don't have the imagination you do. Too much of a pragmatist. I just see the work, and I think of how much we're gone." She turned around within his grasp and shrugged. "Now that I've said that, I can also see how much fun it would be to play with." "And would it also be fun to live here with me?" She flushed at the query and attempted to turn aside, but he held her fast. "Witness will answer the question." "Maybe" "That's a real decisive answer" he scoffed. "Would it or would it not be fun to live here with me?" "On most days yes it probably would" she admitted slowly. "And it is big enough that we'd have our own space if we needed it." "What would we need our own space for?" "Well like if you want to bring your date back or something," Mac said sheepishly as she avoided his gaze. "What date?" he laughed. "In case you haven't noticed Marine, I'm not exactly a hot commodity these days." "Caroline thought you were" Mac reminded him. "And now that you mention it, this has been a pretty long dry spell for you Commander." "Never mind we are not going to delve into my love life or lack there of. That has nothing to do with whether or not you would want to go halves on this place with me." "It sort of does. I mean, if you were dating someone I would probably say no. Just because I think it would be a little awkward don't you?" "I can assure you I'm dating no one" Harm smiled. "My social calendar has been anything but busy the last six months. So if that's bothering you, you can lay those fears to rest." "Well one day you might get involved" she countered. "Or have you given up on there ever being a Mrs. Harmon Rabb Jr." "No" he said slowly, a vision of her in a long white gown flashing through his mind. "I haven't. One day it will happen. But I don't think that's going to be an issue right now." "Fair enough" she nodded. "So we buy this dump together and fix it up. You know there's a lot of work here. It's going to take long hours and hard work to get this place looking like anything." "I think we can do it" he smiled. "We do pretty well when we work together don't you thing?" "Yeah we do" she smiled as well. "And I can't believe I'm saying this but I say we do it." "Thank you" he said happily as he gave her a hug. For a moment they both lingered in each other's arms before he finally stepped back. "I promise you won't regret this." "Just promise me I won't lose what little life savings I have" she grinned. "Otherwise I'll be working the door at Wal-Mart once I retire from the Corps." "That won't happen. We're going to fix this place up so nice that we'll be able to sell it for a nice penny one day." "Can you put that in writing" she teased. "Under the section about how you promise to do all the cooking." "Cute Marine" he groaned. "So we're doing this? We're really going to buy this place?" "Yes" she nodded. "I think this might just be one of the better ideas you've come up with sailor. " "Let's go find Gina. We'll put in the offer and see what they say." "Harm you think they're going to pass up any offer" Mac laughed. "It's been on the market over a year. They're probably so willing to sell they'll take anything you offer." "Not anything. But I'm sure we can negotiate a bit. The more we save on the house the more money we'll have for fixing it up." "Let's go do some negotiating then" Mac smiled. A long three hours later they finally left the Realtor's office, a pile of paperwork in their hands. "You are one tough negotiator" Harm sighed. "Course I should have remembered that from all the times I went up against you in court and tried to make a deal with you." "Saved us a few thousand didn't I?" she grinned. "You'll make the appointment with the mortgage company right?" "Yes ma'am. First thing in the morning. And I think we should keep this to ourselves until it's all finalized." "Good idea" she nodded. "I'm sure we'll have some explaining to do to the Admiral." "We're just sharing a place" Harm shrugged. "It's not a big deal. But we'll just keep it quiet until it's settled." ************* 32 Days Later "Here's your keys" Gina smiled as she handed Harm and Mac the ring of keys. "Don't ask me what all of them go to. I just know which one opens the front door." "It's really ours" Harm smiled as he looked at the old farmhouse. "I can't believe it." "Me neither" Mac laughed. "Did it look this bad when we were here the last time?" At his crestfallen looked, she gave him a play swat. "Just kidding Flyboy. It needs some work but I think we can turn this place into a home." "Shall we go check out our new home?" he smiled as he held out his hand to her. "Lead the way McDuff," she grinned, letting him wrap his hand around hers and take her up the front steps. "OK wait, are you going to carry me over the threshold too?" He paused as if considering. "OK no. Not this time." Before she could ask him what that meant, he had the door open and was pulling her inside. "This time tomorrow after the people from the cleaning service are through, it's going to look like a different place," he predicted, sweeping his arm through the area. "Harm I'm not sure cleaning is such a good idea," she sighed, fingering a loose piece of molding. "Something is holding this place together. What if it's grime?" "You're just a laugh a minute," he growled. "No way to talk about your new home anyway. I'm telling you you won't know the place once all this dust is cleaned." "Do they do mice?" "Excuse me?" "Mice," she said calmly, pointing to the corner where a fat brown and white field mouse sat looking at them. "I guess traps is to be added to a growing list of things we need. Bless that there's a hardware just down the road." "Humane traps Harm. Please." "Whatever," he shrugged. "I just don't want them in my granola." "You heard the man--stay out of his granola," Mac told the mouse. "OK is there anything we can do here tonight before we return to our nice clean apartments." "I'm staying," he said offhandedly. "I beg your pardon Commander. Staying? In case you hadn't noticed there's no furniture. Nor food." "I have some stuff in the car," he admitted. "Air mattress, sleeping bags, and a cooler. I plan to stay." "You are certifiable Rabb," she sighed, following him out and when he opened trunk she was amazed at what he had managed to get in there. "Here I'll give you a hand." Together they brought in the camping gear and she helped him spread it in the living room. The lamp he had brought gave the room a certain coziness and as he spread out the sleeping bag and mattress she noticed it was a double size. "I guess I'm going to start back," she said softly. "OK good night. Drive safe. Call my cell when you get in will you." "Yeah OK," she nodded, looking out at the darkness. He watched her standing at the door for a moment, seeing her uncertainty. "I've got plenty of room," he offered, gesturing to the sleeping bag, leaving it totally up to her. "It is a long drive back and that's a dark road out there." "What's in the cooler?" "Water, some chicken salad, bread and butter, fruit and celery and carrot sticks." "Enough to share?" "More than, and I would love to have you," he smiled, dropping on to the sleeping bag. "We'll even throw a few crumbs to Mickey over there." "You're on," she laughed and lowered herself next to him. For the next two hours on the floor of the living room of their new home the two ate and laughed and talked until she collapsed onto her side of the blanket wiping her eyes. "Don't ever tell that story around the Admiral," she sighed. "I'm turning in. Good night Roomie." "Oh don't call me that," he protested. "Sorry, good night Squid." "Good night Mac. And thanks again for agreeing to this." "So far it's looking like it might not be so bad" she smiled. "Goodnight Harm. Don't hog the covers either." "I won't" he grinned. It was just after midnight that the noise woke her. The creaking of the floor upstairs and a door closing. Figuring it was Harm using the bathroom, she closed her eyes again until she felt him move beside her. At once her eyes flew open and she sat up and looked around. "Harm" she hissed. "Harm wake up." "It's the middle of the night, why would I want to do that?" he murmured as he hugged the blanket closer. "Wake up" she said as she gave him a gentle shake. "I thought I heard someone upstairs." "Just your imagination" he mumbled. "Go back to sleep Mac." She settled back down on the mattress, lasting for all of about thirty seconds when she heard the creaking floor again. "Harm it's not my imagination" she hissed again. "There's someone upstairs. And if you're not going to go with me, I'll go by myself." Those words got through to him and at once he was wake. "No way" he hissed as he sat up. "You'll stay here while I go check it out. This place has been empty long enough that someone might have found a way to get in and has been living here." "Or they broke in" she whispered. "I'm going with you. What if they're armed?" "Exactly why you should stay down here" he countered as he stood up. "So you can call the cops." "I'm going with you and that's all there is to it mister" she said as she stood up as well. "Do we have anything we can use as a weapon?" he whispered as he looked around. "Flashlight" she offered and he took it from her. "At least stay behind me" he sighed. "Because if this person is armed, this flashlight isn't going to do much good." They were half way up across the room when he heard the same creaking and the sound of a door closing above. "Mac I want you to stay down here" he tried again. "Someone is up there and I don't know who or why so you're going to wait right here." "No" she said adamantly. "Move that six mister. We're going up together." With a long sigh they started up the old staircase, Harm leading the way and cursing himself for not making sure it was safe before letting her stay. Once upstairs they moved cautiously down the hallway, Harm holding his breath as he pushed open the first door. "Nothing" he whispered as he looked around the empty room. The wide-open closet door told him no one was hiding in there and they made their way down the hall to the next room. "Okay I don't get it" Harm sighed when they'd gone through all four rooms. "There's no one up here." "But you heard the door close right? That wasn't just my imagination. And you heard the floorboards creak?" "I guess" he slowly. "I mean I thought I did." "You know what that means then" Mac whispered as they stood in the hallway. "Don't even got there Marine" he warned. "I don't want to hear that the place is haunted." "Harm what other explanation is there for what we heard?" "I don't know. Give me time and I'll come up with one. Of course of the top of my head I'd say the place is old and of course it's going to creak a bit." "That doesn't explain the door closing" she countered. "Mac the place is not haunted. It's just going to take some time to get used to the noises here. Every place has it's own noises and I'm sure that's what we heard." "You are way too logical sometimes Rabb" she yawned. "But I'm too tired to argue with you." "Come on Marine, let's get some rest. We have a lot of work ahead of us the next few days." He took her hand and led her back down the stairs. She paused as she reached the bottom, looking up again at the second level. Maybe it was her imagination. Or maybe it wasn't. Not until his arm was jerked backwards did he realize she was not walking with him. "Mac bedtime," he urged. "There is no one up there." "You were concerned yourself," she countered, moving forward with him. "Yeah until I took a look and didn't see anything. Now I'm just tired. . .and on the verge of cranky." "Oh by all means, can't have that," she sighed. He propelled her toward the makeshift bed and dropped down heavily himself, asleep at once. She lie awake a long while, listening for any further noises, and listening to his even breathing, with a slight snore. Finally when dawn lit the big window she was able to sleep and she felt like she had not rested at all when he woke her the next morning, or rather the smell of the coffee he brought did. "Starbucks five minutes away," he explained. "I love you Harmon Rabb," she sighed, half opening one eye and reaching out from the covers with one hand, expecting the hot cup to be placed in it. Harm meanwhile had frozen in place, his hand halfway to hers, the coffee cup shaking slightly. "Harm--coffee," she prompted, shaking her hand. "What did. . ." he began and then thought better of asking as his common sense kicked in and he realized she was talking in terms of the coffee. "Never mind. Here." Her hand closed around the cup and after a few sips she managed to sit up and open her eyes. "You look like hell," he laughed. "Yeah thanks. You better get used to this. Before coffee and shower this is the best I can do. You'll be seeing me stumble around a lot of mornings." "Long as you're wearing the blue silk PJs. Of course the cowgirl flannels are kind of cool too." "Note to self--buy bathrobe." "Hey what good is having a beautiful room mate if I can't oogle," he laughed. "Red light commander. In fact consider it retroactive to before the PJ discussion part." "I thought we were way beyond the traffic lights," he moaned. "Never. Now what's today's plan?" "We have four hours before the cleaning people are meeting us. Then once that's done we can start thinking about collecting our furniture. Your stuff all packed?" "Yeah I've been living out of cartons all week. Have I mentioned how much I hate it?" "If you did I had you tuned out. And I've got the volunteer army lined up for tomorrow. They just have no clue there will be two Uhauls involved. Of course it's the Admiral who's going to be the most flabbergasted when he sees our new addresses. . .uh address on our form ten-ninety. He's coming back Monday afternoon from Pensacola?" "That's the plan." "We should have told him. We should have marched in there and announced we were moving in together," he smiled. "Well you hold that thought until Monday," she giggled and suddenly her facial expression changed. "Harm last night? I didn't dream the noises did I? I mean we really heard something? I'm not letting this old place get to me right?" "Oh we heard something all right," he nodded seriously, "but I'm not ready to call in Mulder and Scully here. This is an old house, and old houses make noise. Especially empty old houses." "I guess," she sighed, not totally convinced. "Come on Marine. We've got a ton of things to do." "Whose idea was this again" Mac groaned as she pushed herself to her feet. "I'd forgotten how much work is involved in moving. And that's when you move into a place that's livable." "You're not regretting this are you?" he asked quietly. "Hey no, don't think that. I think once we find the place underneath all the dirt and gunk, it's going to be fine. And as long as you don't snore so loud that I hear you down the hall, we'll be fine." "I don't snore." "Yes you do. But actually it was pretty comforting hearing you beside me." "Mac you're not going to let last night get to you are you?" It took a moment before she forced a smile. "No I'm not," she said decidedly. "This is our place now and if we've got friends, well they can help with the cleaning." "That's the spirit" he laughed. "Do we dare go look at the bathroom and see if there's any hope of taking a shower here?" "Scary but yeah lets do it" she sighed. Together they made their way upstairs to the main bathroom, both cringing at the bathtub. "Okay nothing a little elbow grease and a lot of scrubbing bubbles can't take care of" Harm declared. "I've got a bucket and some cleaning stuff out in the car. Wait here and I'll be right back." She nodded and looked around the old bathroom as he hurried down the stairs and outside. She started out of the bathroom and was on her way to the bedroom when she heard him call for her. "Mac come quick" "What's wrong?" she asked as she hurried down the steps and out the door. He pointed to the three deer standing in the side yard, quietly munching on the wet grass. "Mommy and her babies" Mac whispered. They suddenly sensed the presence and seconds later hurried off to the back of the property and into the small patch of woods. "See it's not so bad here" he smiled. "And you know if you wanted to get another dog, he'd have plenty of space to roam here. I know you've missed Jingo since you let Chloe have him." "Hey that's a good idea Flyboy. You wouldn't mind a dog?" "As long as you take care of it" he grinned. "But no I wouldn't mind at all." "Once we're settled" she nodded. "We can make a trip to the pound. You can help pick one out." "Sounds good. Now where was I?" "Cleaning my bathroom so I can shower" she smiled. "Your bathroom?" "Well I assume you're taking the master suite that has that little bathroom next to it with the shower thingy. You know I like to take baths." "I do?" he smiled. "I don't remember that ever coming up before." "Okay so maybe you don't" she blushed. "But I do like to soak in the tub for hours. And if memory serves me correctly, your place doesn't have a tub." "You soak in the tub for hours?" he grinned, his mind flashing to Mac in a towel again. "Okay never mind. And that sounds fair enough. But I'm using your bathroom this morning to shower. I haven't even looked at that room to see what its like For the next half-hour they cleaned the bathroom together, Harm scrubbing the large bathtub while Mac cleaned the sink and toilet. "Why do I feel like I’m back in boot camp?" Mac groaned as she looked at the toilet, having finally gotten the sink spotless. "Did you bring your toothbrush to scrub with?" Harm teased as he looked up at her from the tub. "Don't laugh. I had to do that once in boot. Five hours of scrubbing with a toothbrush is not fun." They finally finished and with a long sigh Mac looked at their work. "Not bad sailor" Mac said as she inspected the tub. "I think we'll be able to shower here. You did bring towels with you didn't you?" "Uh sure," he groaned. "No actually. Could we share?" "A towel or the shower?" "Whoa talk about red light," he grinned, blinking several times. Everytime the matter of towels and water came up, his mind was homing in on the vision of her wrapped in the towel which his injured brain had conjured up. And which had never left him. "I do have an extra towel," she nodded. "Go first. Then you'll be ready to greet the cleaning service people. Hope they brought sand blasters." ================= Harm showered quickly, not sure how the hot water would hold up and he was standing in the kitchen when the panel truck of the Clean & Bright service arrived. "Mr. Rabb?" "Yes come in," he called, smiling at the woman who was carefully mounting the steps. "We're going to replace those." "Good plan. I'm Mallory Filopovich. We spoke on the phone I believe. And this is my crew for today--Steve, Jim and Lori. "Nice to meet you." He was still fixated on her, trim in her dark blue jump suit, two inches of blond hair showing below her ball cap. "Uh. . .nice to meet all of you. As I told you, it's a big job." "Well we've seen a lot worse," she promised. "You from around here?" "Living in DC for the past five years, renting, tired of it--you know how it is." "Well I grew up out here, but it's changed a lot in those years. But one thing that hasn't is this house. It still looks pretty much the same. You and I are just about neighbors. My place isn't but a mile from here." Harm was about to reply, not unhappy to learn she was living close by, when they heard Mac on the steps and a look of disappointment flitted across Mallory's pretty features. "You must be Mrs. Rabb." "When pigs fly. Sarah Mackenzie. Co-owner thank you. And very glad to see you. Just be careful. I told Harm here that it was grime holding this place together. Don't prove me right." "We'll take good care of it," she nodded, turning to walk back down the steps to their van, her every movement watched by Harm all the way, a fact not missed by Mac. "Cretin," she mumbled, elbowing his side as she walked away. "What did I do now?" he yelped. "Think about it." Two hours later, leaving Mallory and her people working, Harm and Mac drove to his place where they were meeting Tiner, Harriet and Sturgis who had agreed to help with the moving. The word they had been given was simply that Harm had to find a new apartment and they had been asked to help. "Harm are you going to miss this place?" Mac asked gently, finding him standing almost forlornly in the kitchen. "Oh it's got some memories tied to it," he grinned, stopping there, short of the one about him and Renee and the countertop. "But I'm ready to make some new ones. You and me together." For a moment her heart lurched at what she thought he might be saying and she pressed a hand to his back. "Me too." "Mac I. . ." he began and characteristically for him, stopped before going further. "Sailor you got something on your mind I'm listening," she said softly. "OK break it up you two." Whatever Harm might have been thinking of imparting was gone with the sound of Sturgis's voice, and a second later the small form of AJ Roberts hurtled into the room. "Looks like you're ready to go," Sturgis went on, looking around at the neatly packed apartment. "Mac good morning. You must have helped him. He'd never be this organized. . .what am I saying, I've seen your desk. Never mind. Harm that's a lot more truck parked out there than we're going to need isn't it?" "Not really," he murmured, lifting AJ into his arms and looking to Mac, his eyes trying to convey that he did in fact have something important on his mind. But the moment was lost and she was listening to Harriet. "I'll explain after we get this place loaded. We have some other stuff to pick up so load the front only OK." "Whatever," Sturgis shrugged. "Sooner we get done the sooner we can be having a cold one." Two hours later Harm's apartment was empty and he locked the door for the last time. "I guess we're going to convoy with me driving the truck?" Sturgis asked. "I know better than to ask about driving the Vette." "You got that right, but we're not going to the place first. We have to run by Mac's." Harm pressed the truck keys into Sturgis's hand as he spoke. "OK whatever," he nodded. ================= "Whoa, what the hell is going on here?" Mac had opened the door and stepped aside to admit them, Sturgis being the first one through, and he could not hide his astonishment when he saw Mac's apartment, packed as Harm's was. "I'm also moving," she said quietly. "But don't worry, you won't have to make two drop-offs. Harm and I are moving in together." "You're what" Sturgis exclaimed. "We bought the house together" Mac explained. "I'm not even going to ask" he sighed. "It's none of my business I'm sure." "Hey are you moving too?" Harriet asked as she finally made her way up with little AJ. "Yep. You know that semi handsome sailor at the office. He offered to go halves on a house with me." "You and Harm" Harriet grinned. "I don't believe it. You two have been holding out on us." "It's not like that," Mac said quickly. "We're just room mates. That's all." "Yeah right" Harriet scoffed. "I still can't believe you guys kept this quiet. Does the Admiral know?" "No" Harm said as he walked into the apartment, having heard the last of Harriet's question. "At least not yet he doesn't." "Man is he going to go through the roof" Sturgis whistled. "I can't wait to see the look on his face when he finds this out." "What's the big deal?" Harm shrugged. "Were just sharing a place." "Yeah right" Sturgis scoffed this time. "You two stick to that story. There's others of us who know better." Mac shot him a long look at his words; afraid he was about to spill her secret to Harm. Fortunately Harm didn't seem to pick up on it and moments later everyone was working hard moving boxes. "I didn't mean to slip up" Sturgis whispered when he finally caught a moment alone with Mac, Harm down at the truck organizing. "It's okay. But you promised you'd keep that our secret." "I will. But answer me this. Why are you two really moving in together." "Honestly Sturgis, it's really just a business deal. Harm wanted to a house and you know it's next to impossible to afford anything around here on one salary. So we're doing it together." "That's it?" "That's it Sturgis. Look Harm and I have worked hard to get this point. And I don't want to muck it up with any kind of serious relationship talk." "Not that you wouldn't be open to it if happened?" he smiled. "Enough Commander" Mac ordered as she shoved a box into his arms. "Work, not talk." "Hey what's going on" Harm asked as he walked in. "Am I the only one working around here?" "Just taking five" Sturgis grinned. "Man you are a slave driver. There better be some kind of reward for this when I'm done." "I'm cooking steaks on the grill at the new place" Harm assured him. "And all the beer you want. And the place is big enough you can pass out for the night if you need to." "Can't believe I gave up a day with Bobbi to help you" he teased as he started down the stairs. "You okay?" Harm asked Mac. "You've been a little quiet since we shocked the crowd." "Just wondering what the Admiral is going to say," she said with a small smile. "You think he'll flip." "It's us" Harm grinned. "Nothing we do ever surprises him." "That's you" Mac grinned as she punched his arm playfully. "I just get into trouble following your lead." "You're okay with this right?" Harm asked seriously. "I mean, now that everyone knows you're not regretting doing this are you?" "No way. I'd just forgotten how much it sucked to move. I hope this works out cause I don't want to be moving again for a long long time." "It will" he assured her. "It will." A few hours later the last of Mac's stuff had been loaded and the weary group started out to the house. "You bought this?" Sturgis laughed as he climbed out of the Uhaul. "Tell me you're joking." "Nope" Harm smiled. "This is home sweet home. It needs a little work but nothing Mac and I can't handle." "I didn't know you were a handyman Harm" Sturgis grinned. "Did all the work at my old place" Harm reminded him. "Took me a while but I did it." "It's cute in it's own little way" Harriet said as she climbed out with little AJ. "And you've got a great yard. How big is the lot?" "An acre" Harm said proudly. "After all those years living next to someone, we've finally got our own space." "Who's doing the yard work?" Harriet asked. "Both of us" Mac spoke up. "Harm is in charge of cooking and we're sharing the cleaning." "You are so lucky" Harriet sighed. "To have a man around who cooks like Harm." "Well are you going to show us the place are we just going to stand here?" Sturgis smiled. "Come on in" Harm said as he opened the door, nearly running into Mallory who was coming out. "Mr. Rabb, right on time" she smiled. "We just finished. Took longer than I thought but this place is now free of dirt and grime." "And it's still standing" Mac teased. "It's actually not so bad underneath all that" Mallory continued. "You'll need to do some painting and wood work but otherwise it's solid." "Hang loose, I'll write you a check," Harm told her, "and it looks great. You'll have to come back when it's totally finished. I make a mean chicken marsala." "Why Mr. Rabb are you inviting me to dinner?" she smiled and it was then that Mac could see clearly her dimples. Stifling a groan of disgust, she turned away, only to nearly run into Sturgis, who took her arm and led her aside. "You know what--if you would share with him what you told me, these things wouldn't come up." "Oh get real," she snapped. "Harm is one of those men who attract women right and left. If he knew how I felt or not, that wouldn't change." "If he knew how you felt, he wouldn't encourage it." "Hey you promised," she yelped, sensing he was thinking of meddling. "I did and I won't break your confidence, you should know me better than that," he said softly, watching Harm walk Mallory out. "It was just a little piece of unsolicited advice from someone who cares. You're a good friend Mac, and I don't have that many." "Thanks, I think of you the same," she sighed and gave him a quick hug. Not so quick that Harm, unbeknownst to them, did not see through the window as he stood on the front step with Mallory. "Mr. Rabb something wrong?" "Harm. It's Harm please, and no everything is just fine," he grumbled, surprising himself at how his stomach knotted when he saw them. "Hey if you and your crew want to make some extra money, we could use a hand unloading. And then I've got steaks and beer." "Mr. Rabb . . you are on," she declared. With the extra help, it took but a few hours to unload the truck and by nightfall the place was at least furnished. "Mac I thought maybe you and Harm were. . .well you know," Harriet sighed, setting down yet another carton in Mac's bedroom. "When you said you were fixing up your own area, I couldn't believe it." "Well believe it," she smiled. "Harriet really, Harm and I. . .well it's way too complicated to go into. Right now we're friends again, and it took us a long time to just get to that point. Right now I'm happy with that. There's a connection between us for sure, but if it's just friendship I can bear that. Maybe somewhere out there my Prince is still awaiting." Harriet made a snorting noise. "Your Prince is on the back porch with a beer in one hand and a long handled fork in the other, poking steaks." "And talking to Ms. Dimples." "I rest my case," she said softly as she breezed from the room. =========== Harm in fact was holding court on the porch, telling Mallory and Steve a story of his academy days with Sturgis as a featured player, and Mallory's eyes never left him. Sturgis meanwhile was walking in the yard with Lori, watching the deer they could see off in the trees. "Suck it up Marine," Mac told herself, taking a deep breath and walking onto the porch. "I was wondering where you'd got off to," Harm said at once, interrupting his story to acknowledge her. "Sit down will you. It's all under control and you look tired." Mac's eyes widened as he spoke, hearing the concern in his voice and she did not respond at once. "Mac?" "Huh? What?" He stepped forward toward her, looking at her intently. For the moment forgetting that he had seen her and Sturgis in a private moment, he took her arm and drew her to one of the chairs. "Are you OK?" His soft tender voice made her draw her breath in sharply. "Harm I'm fine really," she insisted, willing back a sudden tearfulness. "Just tired and hungry. I'm fine." "You sure?" he said softly. "Yeah. It's just been a long day." "I know. I'd forgotten how much work this all was. But we're done for today and you can just relax." She nodded and he continued his story telling, his gaze going back to her several times as he did so. The steaks were finally cooked and the group gathered around the old picnic table. "You didn't eat much Marine" Harm said quietly as he cleaned up. "Didn't like my cooking?" "No it was fine. I just wasn't real hungry." "Okay that's it. I'm taking you up to bed. Say goodnight to everyone." "Harm" she protested. "Mac you're so exhausted you're barely conscious" he countered. "I'm taking you to your bed and you're going to get some sleep." "Harm we should get going" Mallory spoke up. "You guys both look beat." "Yes they do" Sturgis agreed. "And we're all out of here." "Hey you don't have to leave because I'm tired" Mac sighed. "I'll just go to bed and you can all hang out. Harm's still got a million stories to tell." "Harm can tell them later" Mallory smiled. "Good night guys. I'll probably see you around since we're practically neighbors." "Great" Mac said with a forced smile. A short time later the last car pulled away and Harm locked the front door before turning back to Mac. "Come on Marine" he said as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "Bed for you. And tomorrow we'll just take it easy." "Harm we have to get some of this stuff unpacked" she sighed. "We'll get what we need unpacked. But we're not going to kill ourselves. We still have to go to work on Monday remember." "And face the Admiral" she murmured. "That too" Harm smiled. "Come on, let's get you in bed." He led her up the stairs and to her bedroom, gently leading her to the bed that had been nicely made by Harriet. "Good thing we have good friends" Mac said tiredly. "Bless Harriet for taking care of the bedrooms." "Yes we do have good friends" he agreed as he sat her down on the bed. "Do you need any help getting undressed?" "Red light Commander." "I'll take that as a no" he smiled. "Just holler if you need anything. I'm just going to make sure everything is locked up and then I'll be hitting the hay myself." She nodded and once she was alone stripped out of her clothes, managing to find a pair of shorts and T-shirt to sleep in before falling back into bed. She was nearly asleep when she heard his footsteps in the room and she pushed weary eyes open to look at him. "Night Mac" he said softly. "Night Harm" she murmured softly as her eyes closed again. ************* His whistling greeting her the next morning as she wandered into the kitchen, the smell of coffee pulling her from her slumber. "Morning" he said happily. "Coffee" she mumbled, ignoring his cheerfulness. "Coming right up" he said as he guided her to the table. "Did you sleep okay?" "I don’t remember anything so I guess so" she replied. "How about you?" "Fine. It's so quiet out here compared to my place. I can't tell you how many times during the night I could hear sirens blaring." "So what's on our schedule today sailor?" she asked as he handed her a cup of coffee. "Just some unpacking" he shrugged. "We'll just settled unpacked what we need to function. Specially since we're going to be doing some work around here." Good point" she nodded. "When do we start that?" "Soon as you're ready. We need to work out a plan of attack and decide what we want to work on first." "And what we can afford" she smiled. "That too" he smiled as well. "On our salary flipping burgers after our C.O. suggests we have no future in the JAG corps." "Stop that," he scolded. "You of all people who can quote chapter and verse of the UCMJ know we are doing nothing wrong. Even if we were doing it, we wouldn't be." "Could you be any more crude," she groaned. "Doing it? Do I look like Renee to you?" He looked so startled that she was at once sorry. "Hey that was uncalled for. It's over and done with. I don't want my past mistakes flung at me and I shouldn't be doing it to you." "How do you know she was a mistake?" A small smile played at the corners of his mouth. "OK fair enough. I don't. Maybe you loved her. Excuse me. I'll get dressed and get busy." It was not going to be easy living in close proximity she was beginning to realize and she rose to take her coffee cup to the sink. "Yeah. I'm going to get the wood I stowed in the garage and tear out those front steps before we face a lawsuit from a guest." "Well we wouldn't want Mallory breaking anything." "No we wouldn't," he returned evenly, refusing to take the bait. Mac was nearly out of the room when Harm called her name. She stopped without turning around, waiting. "She was a mistake. A very big one. Renee I mean. I was a real jerk not telling her it was not going to happen for us. That I kept a woman to warm my bed for over a year is not something I'm real proud of. In my defense let me point out that at first that's how it was with us--fun. In and out of bed. I never was falling in love with her and by the time I realized she had with me, I just had no clue how to back out gracefully." "OK. Thanks," she replied, still not turning around. "I'll come help you with the steps in a few minutes. Just a couple things I want to do upstairs." When she came downstairs an hour later to the sound of the circular saw she stopped to admire the scene. He had stripped off his tee shirt and was standing in the driveway, boards balanced between two sawhorses as he cut it to size for the steps. "You look less like a JAG attorney than I've ever seen you. Bob Vila has nothing on you. So what's it going to be?" "Cute. Real cute," he growled. "If you've got nothing better to do than your Seinfeld imitation, I really could use a hand." "That's what I'm here for. These done?" He nodded and she bent to pick up the boards. "Hey be careful. Those are heavy. You'll hurt yourself." Her look of disdain silenced him as she easily lifted the boards and carried them to the porch. "OK Wonder Woman, no need to show off." He cut the next board and turned off the saw, straightening up, his hands pressing against his sore back. "I'm going to need a massage later," he declared. "You might could see if Mallory's list of skills includes that." "OK that's it. This was bothering you yesterday too. Let's hear it." "You're not going to tell me you didn't notice she was attracted to you now are you Rabb?" He frowned slightly. "Yeah OK she was I guess," he mumbled, not willing to admit he had enjoyed and been flattered by the young woman's attention, and then as he realized what Mac was saying, smiled slightly. "This bothered you?" "Hell no." As soon as the words were out, she knew she had been too vehement in her denial. "No further questions your honor." "I was not bothered" she retorted. "What do I care if Mallory made google eyes at you?" "Stick to that story Colonel" Harm laughed. "You know I think I'm going to go see if there's something I can do inside" she said irritably before stomping off into the house. "Mac I was just kidding" Harm called. "Mac." The slamming of the door was her response and with a long sigh he decided it would be best to leave her alone at the moment. There was going to be an adjustment period, with some rocky moments. This was one of them. Inside the house Mac resisted the urge to throw something. Sometimes he could be the most annoying person. And now she was living with him. "What were you thinking Mackenzie" she groaned to herself. Course deep down she knew the answer to that one. Even if she wasn't willing to admit it to herself. Her eyes caught sight of the door in the kitchen that led to the basement and Mac realized they hadn't been down there since the day they'd toured the house with the realtor. She vaguely remembered it being dark and dreary but she and Harm really hadn't spend much time down there. Deciding it might be a good place to escape to for a while, she headed down the old stairs. She felt around for a light switch, finally finding it and turning on the light. "Okay now I remember why I forgot about this place" she murmured to herself. Dark and dreary had been an understatement. The single light barely provided enough for her to see her way through and she finally located another switch and turned it on. Now she could see the old cans and jars of food lining the walls of the basement and she walked over to the wall. "More garbage" she sighed as she picked up a can and realized it was at least ten years old. The stuff in the jars didn't resemble anything known to man and she looked around the basement, finally spotting a box to throw the stuff in. She'd been working for several minuets when she heard the boards above her creak. Likely Harm had come in wanting to talk and she wasn't in the mood yet. She waited for him to call for her, prepared to say silent as he did so. Several more minutes passed and there was no more noise from above. If he'd come in the house she would have expected him to at least call out to her. Unless it was him that was making the boards above creak. A small chill went down her spine and she slowly looked around the creepy basement. "It's just your imagination" she sighed to herself. Of course the boards would creak a bit. She continued her chore of emptying the cans into the box until she heard movement again, this time followed by the closing of the door and Harm's call of her name. There was a slight bit of panic to his voice and she felt a small sense of pleasure at that. She ignored his calls and it wasn't until she heard him coming down the stairs that she realized she couldn't hide any longer. "Mac are you down here" His voice again, sounding very much un-Harm like and she headed over to the stairs to meet him. "Harm you okay?" she asked, seeing at once the towel that he had wrapped around his wrist. "Just peachy" he sighed. "I cut my wrist on a nail sticking out on one of the of the old boards." "Nice move Flyboy" she said as she hurried over to him. "Let me see that." "It just needs to be cleaned and wrapped." "It needs more than that" she declared after carefully unwrapping the towel and seeing the depth of the cut. "ER time mister." "Mac it's a cut. I don't need the ER for this." "A cut from an old nail does. I don't want to wake up tomorrow morning and find you dead in the next room. We're going to the ER." "Mac" he groaned. "You're over reacting." "Better I over react than you die of Tetanus. It's non negotiable sailor. Now move it." With a long sigh he allowed her to lead him up the stairs and moments later they were on their way to the ER. "This is asinine," he groaned as the hospital in Reston came in sight. "Yeah it's also asinine that you're soaking that towel there Flyboy. That's not kool aid and a nail puncture is nothing to fool around with." "Just for that I hope the doctor is drop dead gorgeous and hits on me." Her look in response to that said more than she could possibly verbalize. ============ URGENT CARE CENTER Vienna VA "Well the doctor was gorgeous and also hit on you," she giggled an hour later, "but you weren't responsive." "Do I look like I'm in the market to date someone named Phillip?" he muttered, flexing his wrist that was finally wrapped. "Just the shot and we're out of here." "If it's a tushy injection no way am I leaving," she giggled again. "You are enjoying this way too much." "Now that I know you're going to be OK, every second." It was a nurse who came in soon after, syringe in hand. "He has to drop trou right," Mac laughed. "They do go better in the backside," she confirmed. "Mr. Rabb lets have you. "Ma'am you should step outside." "I should, but I'd rather not." "Oh please stay," he groaned. "My humiliation is complete." He rose and loosened his belt. "You need a hand with anything?" she teased. "You are one dead Marine." He pushed his jeans down only a little. "Come on Mr. Rabb, I need another couple inches here so I can draw the bulls-eye please." "Oh let me do that. Better yet, let me dart him please," Mac begged. "Don't you dare let her," Harm roared. "She'll kill me." Without further ado, the nurse jabbed Harm, who's resultant howl could be heard a long way Mac was sure. "Take me home, please," he begged. "If you're through with enjoying the floor show that is." "I guess" Mac grinned. "Hey don't be so modest Flyboy. We're living together now remember. And who else is going to help you into your jammies and tuck you into bed." "I don't sleep in jammies" he groaned. "You know that." "I think I'll leave now" the nurse smiled. "Not that I wouldn't like to hear what you sleep in." She walked out to their shocked looks and Mac helped Harm back into his clothes. "You ready?" she asked as she reached out a hand to steady him. "Please" he sighed. "We have so much work to do and sitting around here isn't getting it done." "You think you're going to be working when we get back?" Mac laughed. "The only thing you'll be doing is finding your bed and crashing into it." "We have too much to do" he whined. "Yeah well that just means your trusty Marine is going to work extra hard today to get us some what situated around there. Right now it's all boxes and that isn't going to fly for long." "I don't want you doing all the work alone," he said as they made their way to the car. "There's no reason I can't help you." "We'll see. Let's get you home first and then we'll discuss your duty station for the rest of the day." He nodded and it wasn't until they were pulling into the driveway that he spoke again. "I'm sorry about earlier," he said quietly. "I didn’t mean to upset you. And if you don't like Mallory I won't have her around anymore." "Harm that's silly" Mac sighed. "There's no reason you can't have whoever you want over whenever you want. As long as the same applies for me. It's not like we're committed to each other." "No of course not" Harm nodded. "We're just room mates right." "Just room mates" Mac reminded herself as she climbed out and hurried around to the help him out. As he stood up he wavered slightly and Mac slipped an arm around his waist. "You okay? You don't look so good sailor." "I've felt better," he admitted. "Well let's get you inside and into bed," she said as she carefully led him past his attempted handiwork on the steps. "Sorry" he sighed. "I wanted to get those finished today." "Will you stop worrying about everything" she soothed. "We'll get things done. Rome wasn't built in a day remember. Right now you just need to rest and take it easy." She took him up to his bedroom and gently helped him down on the bed. "She just had to give it in the six didn't she?" Harm groaned as he sat down. "I won't be able to sit for a week." "Well then lay down on your stomach" Mac smiled. "That way you won't hurt your cute little six." "You really think this is funny don't you?" he sighed as he crawled into bed. She reached for the covers and pulled it up to him, stopping long enough to drop a hand to his cheek. "You're warm Flyboy" she frowned. "It's that shot" he complained. "I was fine until she stuck me with that needle. Now I feel like crap." "You look like. . ." she began and realized he was not in the mood to be teased. "Sorry. How about some juice with your aspirin." "Please," he sighed. "And something to read and the remote to the TV and my cell phone, and maybe a granola bar?" "I should be taking notes," she smiled. With his requested items delivered, she touched his cheek with the back of her hand. "Just keep still there Sailor. You're having a reaction to the shot and it will pass." "Did you get an M-D along with your law degree?" he grumped. "I'm working on it at night," she retorted. "Rest mister." An hour and three trips to his room [juice refill, Naval Avionics magazine, DVD of Artificial Intelligence later, the doorbell rang. "Who is it?" he yelled at once. "Hopefully Mark Falcon," she yelled back, "coming to take me to Moscow to have his way with me." "Then he'd better be planning to pony up your share of the mortgage payment while you're gone." Mac groaned and opened the door. "Mallory, hi." "Hi Mac. I brought you guys some food. Figured you'd be wrangling boxes and wouldn't want to bother, and I know Harm doesn't do a lot of fast food." "I didn't realize you and him were well enough acquainted to be discussing food preferences," she frowned, and ignored the look Mallory gave her, choosing instead to take in her short blond curls, and the pink coverall shorts topping a maroon turtleneck. "Well we talked quite a bit that afternoon actually," she replied uncertainly, handing Mac the food basket. "Harm around?" "Yeah he's up in his room," Mac answered, feeling like she was telling a little friend where to find one of her children. "Uh Mallory, he's not feeling real well. He had to get a tetanus shot this afternoon and he's having a reaction to it. So if he bites your head off, you'll have to consider the source." "Oh men make lousy patients I know that. I have a dad and three brothers," she giggled, hurrying up the stairs, giving Mac another view of her trim backside. "Harm will be sorry he missed that one," she muttered, returning to the box she was working on. An hour later she walked upstairs with an armful of Harm's things and stopped in the hallway when she heard Mallory's giggle. "Ms. Dimples," she groused and took another step toward his room when Mallory's voice came to her clearly. "Harm I. . .I wanted to ask you something. Mac doesn't seem real happy to have me here. Is there something between you two? I mean I'm not intruding or causing problems or. . ." Mac held her breath awaiting his answer, and when it came, she could not help but feel a rush of cold water go through her. "You're not at all. Mac and I are friends and room mates. We care a lot about each other, but it stops there." "Then there's no understanding or commitment or. . ." she stammered. "None." "OK." Mac could hear the relief in Mallory's voice, and was about to step forward when she spoke again. "You know what, my brother Wesley would love to meet a woman like her. He's a doctor in private practice in Sterling and swears he never meets anyone decent." There was silence from the room and Mac strained to hear Harm's reply, knowing she was eavesdropping and unable to resist. "Uh. . .yeah sure. . .sometime maybe. But most men don't like Marines." She had to bite her lip as she felt tears stinging. She quickly turned and hurried away, the old boards of the house betraying her. "Mac?" Harm frowned as he heard the creaking boards. "Mac you there?" She'd managed to flee just in time as Mallory stuck her head out Harm's door. "No she's not," she said as walked back into his room. "So what do you think. Maybe we could even double date." "I'll uh have to talk to Mac about that" Harm said slowly. "But you know she's probably not the right type for a doctor." "Wes isn't like most doctors. We grew up out here and he's not some fancy doctor. He loves the outdoors. I think he and Mac might hit it off pretty good." "You can ask her. She might go out with him." "Well that's why I suggested a double date. Might make it easier for all of us." Images of the last double date he'd been on with Mic and Renee ran through his mind and grimaced at the thought of doing it again. "Harm you okay?" Mallory asked as she noticed his grimace. "You look like you're in pain. Can I get you anything?" "Some more juice and another aspirin if you wouldn't mind?" he asked softly. "Mac can tell you where it is." "Of course not" Mallory smiled. "I'll be right back." She bounded down the stairs, looking around for Mac before noticing her outside in the back of the yard. She found the aspirin and juice and returned a few minutes later to Harm's room. "Thank you" he said gratefully after taking a long sip of the cool liquid. "You know you don't have to stay and sit with me. I'm sure Mac could use some help downstairs in the kitchen." "Mac's outside." "Doing what?" Harm asked. "Don't tell me she's working on the steps." "No she's out in the back. Taking a walk I guess. It is pretty nice out there." "And I'm stuck up here sick because some nurse stuck me with a tetanus shot" Harm groaned. "You really are whiny aren't you?" Mallory laughed. "Mac was right about you." "You'd be whining if you're six hurt like this" he pouted. "I don't think so. It's a male thing. And I think I'm going to leave you alone so you can get some rest. You have to go to work tomorrow right?" "Don’t remind me" he sighed. "I'll never be able to sit in court like this." "Poor thing" Mallory soothed as she gently stroked his forehead. "You're really having a rough time aren't you?" "Okay if you're going to make fun of me you can leave too" Harm snapped. "This is not funny." "I'm sorry" Mallory smiled. "I'd better go. I'll call you tomorrow and see how you're doing. Take care Harm." "Bye Mallory" he sighed. She headed downstairs, this time finding Mac outside on the back porch. "Mr. Whiny is all yours" Mallory smiled. "Thanks" Mac sighed. "You know I've got a brother named Wesley who's had a hard time finding the right person. He's a doctor in Sterling and I think you and he might hit it off. I mentioned to Harm that we could all go on a double date sometime. Kind of break the ice for all of us." "Sure it sounds great," Mac said with a forced smile. If there was nothing between her and Harm there was no reason not to go out with Mallory's brother. "Good. I'll mention it to Wes and see what he thinks. I'll stop by later in the week. By then maybe Harm won't be so grumpy." "We can only hope" Mac murmured. She remained on the porch long after Mallory had left, not in the mood to work on anything in the house. She was tired and frustrated a bad combination. And after what she'd heard Harm say, she wasn't sure she wanted to talk to him any time soon. He'd heard Mallory's car pull away an hour ago and there still hadn't been any sound from Mac. He was sure she hadn't come in the house cause he hadn't heard the door. Nor had he heard her downstairs. Images of something happening to her in the yard suddenly ran through his mind and with a groan he pushed himself up from the bed. With a firm hand around the banister, he slowly made his way down the steps. "Mac" he called as he reached the first floor. "Mac are you in here?" He stumbled through the kitchen to the back door, flinging it open as his eyes searched the yard for her. He finally saw her sitting on the side of the porch staring out at the woods. "Mac?" "What the hell are you doing up?" The question was directed to him without her turning around. "I'm up because I was all alone and I didn't know where you were and I was. . ." "Was what? Lonely for Mallory?" "How about concerned for you," he snapped. "I mean I hadn't seen or heard from you for a while." "I was upstairs earlier to check on you but she seemed to have the situation under control. Of course then she couldn't take any more of you. You do seem to have that effect on women." "I'm not a good patient OK. I intended to get a lot done around here this weekend. This is our home. I want to make it right for us." His last words came out with a little boy tone that touched her and she finally turned around to him. "Harm we're here for the duration. Neither of us is going anywhere. There's no rush and you look like hell anyway." At once she hauled herself to her feet, alarmed by his paleness and the fact that he was anything but steady on his feet. "Come on Flyboy, lets get you upstairs." "No please. Maybe I could sit on the swing with you for a few minutes. You think? It's pretty sturdy. Maybe if you bring me a pillow from the sofa." "I can't wait to see you in court tomorrow, with half your six on a pillow," she laughed and shook her head, his pathetic look keeping her from being totally upset with him. "Don't even," he groaned as she hurried to his side and helped him to sit, installing the pillow in its appropriate place a moment later. He tugged her hand wanting her to join him, and to her surprise his arm went across the back of her shoulders as naturally as if they had always done that. "I think I like it here," he said after a few minutes of silence. "I like being out of the city, having our own space." She nodded and without thinking rested her head on his shoulder. For a long minute there was total peace until his words of earlier began to play in her head. 'Most men don't like Marines'. Why would he say that? Was the fact that she was a Marine a turn-off? She had always thought of herself as having a womanly side to her personality. Mic had certainly thought so. It took her another minute to gather her courage to ask. "Harm before earlier when you were talking to Mallory. . ." "Oh that reminds me," he interrupted. "She wants you and me to double with her and her brother. A fix up in other words. I told her she could talk to you about it." "And you and her would be one half of the couple?" "That would be the idea. I've only been on one double date in forever and it was an unmitigated disaster." "Renee and Mic were pretty uncomfortable," she smiled with the memory, "but nothing compared to you. You were the picture of misery." "Well hearing how you were going to marry that Australian bozo on the side of a hill like you were something of a sixties throwback to flower children was about to make me lose my dinner," he growled, making her smile again and he shook his head. Sitting here with him like this, her head resting on his shoulder, she could almost forget what he had said earlier. And the more she mulled it over, the less she wanted to get into it with him. At the same time, she also remembered him saying there was no commitment between them which was certainly true. "I think we should try this double date thing," she announced. He looked startled and then nodded. "OK sure why not. Dinner and a movie during the week could be good." "Yes it could," she agreed, lifting her head and standing up. "I'm going to tackle another box. Let's get you back to bed." "Mac don't do anything else today," he said as she helped him to his feet. "Go relax for a while. There's a big old tub up there that I know you've been dying to soak in for a while." "I won't do too much more" she assured him as they made their way inside. "I just want to get a bit more of the kitchen in order." "Promise me you won't stay up late" he sighed as she tucked him back into bed. "It's been a long weekend for both of us and I know you're exhausted." "Promise. Now rest. Is there anything I can get you?" "No" he sighed as he leaned back into the pillow. He was still trying to figure out why she'd jumped at the chance for a double date with Mallory and her brother. He hadn't really expected her to go along with the idea. At least he'd hoped she wouldn't. "All right. If you need anything holler. You're way too unsteady to be navigating those stairs alone." "Yes ma'am" he sighed. "Night Mac." "Night Harm" she said softly. "I'll see you in the morning." He drifted to sleep almost immediately and it was the late hours of the night when he woke again, the need for a trip to the head forcing him from his bed. He stumbled to the small bathroom off his room and it was on his return trip that he noticed lights still on downstairs. A quick check of the clock told him it was past midnight and with a small groan he started down the hallway to the stairs. "Mac" he called as he wandered into the kitchen. "Mac I thought you weren't staying up late." To his surprise she wasn't there and he looked around. "Harm what are you doing up? And what are you doing down here?" He whirled around at the sound of her voice, surprised to see her coming down the stairs. "I thought you down here" he murmured. "I got up to use the head and I saw the light on down here." "Harm you sure you're not hallucinating" she said as she put a quick hand to his forehead to check for a fever. "I turned off all the lights when I came to bed an hour ago." "I'm not hallucinating. The lights were on down here. That's why I came down. To make sure you weren't still down here working. You sure you turned off the lights." "Harm I think I'd know if I left a light on." "Okay I don't know" he sighed. "I just know the light was on." Both looked slowly around the large kitchen, Mac feeling the same chill she'd felt in the basement again. She couldn't suppress the shiver, a move not unnoticed by Harm. "You okay?" he asked as he walked to her. "Yeah I'm okay," she said after a minute. It was gone as suddenly as it had come and she gave him a forced smile. "Let's get back to bed." "Mac did you really turn off the lights before?" he asked as they slowly made their way up the stairs again. "I know I did" she whispered as she turned to him. "No it's too late and I'm too out of it to go there" he sighed. "I'm sure there's a logical explanation." "Keep believing that," Mac said as she led him to his bed. "Good night Harm." "Good night Sarah." ************** JAG HQ's Next Morning "You didn't say anything to the Admiral did you?" Mac asked Sturgis as she and Harm walked into the break room. "Of course not. You know I don't tell secrets." His gaze fell to Mac and Harm sensed there was another meaning to Sturgis's words. "I know" she nodded. "And we'll tell him as soon as we've had a cup of coffee." "Harm what happened to you? You look like hell." "Good cause I still feel like it" he sighed. "I had a little accident yesterday. Cut my wrist on an old nail while I was taking out the steps." "They gave him a tetanus shot and he had a bit of a reaction to it" Mac said added sympathetically. "I see. Well you know if you need any help with anything, I'm more than happy to help out. I'm not Bob Vila, but I can do a bit around the house." "We may be calling you" Mac smiled and Harm shot her a long look. "I can handle it thank you" he snapped. First she wanted to go out with Mallory's brother and now she was asking for Sturgis's help around the house. Their house. He knew he shouldn't be snapping at his friend but after a night filled with nightmares of double dates, ending with watching Mac walk down the aisle to marry Wesley. Before either could reply, the Admiral's booming voice echoed down to the break room. "Tiner get me Mackenzie and Rabb now" "I think he found out," Mac said quietly. "He must have gotten our change of address paperwork we left on Friday" Harm sighed. "Time to face the music." TO BE CONTINUED The next chapter of "Home is Where the Heart is" will be coming soon.