TITLE: "Past Present Future XII-Calm Before the Storm" AUTHORS: Anne R. and Pat Steiner SUMMARY: The twelfth chapter of the PPF series, in which the matters of Lt. Harmon Rabb Sr. and Sergei Zhukov are re-visited. All will be Harm-Mac stories of course, with Clayton Webb; and rated PG for mild language and violence. DISCLAIMER: JAG belongs to CBS, Paramount et al. No copyright infringement is intended with this work of fiction. FEEDBACK: Yes, if you're moved to do so, to [SSbpmn@aol.com] and it would be much appreciated by both of us. However, if your intent is only to tell us you are not liking our work, please don't spend the time. While we realize our work does not please everyone, we do ask that the journey be respected. NOTE: All parts of this story, as well as much of our previous efforts, will be available to registered Yahoo users at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AnniePatJAGstories No subbing is required to read from the message archives. Other archives where our work may be found: 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.} Note: For purposes of this story, the events of any episode after Adrift do not play a part. Previously in the PPF series: Held prisoner on the farm of the demented General McNamara, Harm and Mac, aided by Clay, Earl Hardley and AJ, make a desperate attempt at escape. The close of PPF Chapter XI-Captive Hearts-- ********* Harm slowly followed General McNamara, waiting for the moment to make his move. The General seemed to have forgotten about him, Mac's plan obviously working. "You're making this quite a game Colonel" McNamara called. "But I'm still going to find you." "Like hell" Harm muttered under his breath. He just needed the right moment to catch McNamara off guard. A cry from the cornfield caught his attention and he heard McNamara laugh. He strained to see ahead, finally seeing Mac on the ground, grabbing her ankle. "Forgot to warn you about those little holes out there" McNamara called. "I guess this isn't going to be as good of a game as I thought it would be." He raised his gun again and Harm let out a loud cry of "Nooooooo" and at once McNamara whirled around. The simultaneous sound of gunshots filled the air, followed by Mac's scream as both Harm and General McNamara fell to the ground. **************** "Past Present Future XII-Calm Before the Storm" The former soldier may have been aging, but there was nothing wrong with his aim. General McNamara was dead before he hit the ground, a bullet behind his ear. A sniper shot. "Earl you were holding out on us," Clay grinned and clapped his arm before the three sprinted across the field to Harm and Mac. Mac had pushed herself to her feet, now in tears of pain and fear. She had seen Harm fall and not get up. Her ankle throbbed as she stepped, trying to get to him, and she made only three steps before she fell again. AJ gestured for Clay to see to her and motioned Earl to follow him to Harm. If the worst had happened, Mac would need Clay at that moment. "Mac," he called as he came in sight of her, now struggling to rise. "Clay. . .Harm. . ." she gasped, holding her ankle and trying to hold back her sobs. "Clay where is he? I have to get to him. I have to know he's OK." "I know. AJ and Earl went for him and I came for you. How's the ankle? Broken you think?" "Huh? I don't know and I don't care. Harm, Clay. I need him." "I know you do," Clay soothed, pulling one arm over his shoulders and wrapping the other around her waist. "Relax and let me help you. Keep that ankle up." At the same time he looked anxiously over to where AJ and Earl had gone, hoping to get some sense of the situation and instinctively he looked around, calculating if a Lifeflight chopper could land for Harm. =============== "Mac, where is she. Is she OK?" Harm's words were broken by gasps of pain as Earl and AJ reached him. Blood had soaked his shirt between his armpit and his waist and he attempted to get up only to have his feet not want to work properly. "Down now mister," AJ ordered roughly, wanting to see what the situation was. "No Mac. . .I need her," Harm objected, pushing away four restraining hands. "Clay is seeing to Mac I promise," Earl told him. "And you are bleeding pretty bad here Commander." He pushed Harm back to a seated position and lifted up his shirt. AJ let out a low whistle as he saw the gash the bullet had carved in Harm's side. It was just a graze, but it had left a furrow as it passed by. Earl stripped off Harm's shirt and tee shirt to fashion a make-shift bandage and pressed it against his side just as Mac's scream of his name bounced across the dead corn field. "I need to let her know I'm OK. She's scared and upset, not to mention I know her ankle is hurt," Harm protested, again trying to rise. "Commander I swear I'm going to render you unconscious if you don't hold still," AJ threatened, then raised his voice in Mac's direction. "Colonel calm yourself. Your Sailor is OK." "Bleeding to death is not OK," she shrieked a moment later when Clay brought her to their side and she saw the blood covering his shirt and how pale he was. "I'm not going to bleed to death," Harm assured her, reaching awkwardly for her. "Harm," she breathed just before she buried herself against him, trying to be cautious of his side, but at the same time desperately needing the comfort of his arms. Clay took a good look at him for all of two seconds before he pulled out his cell phone. It was not 911 he dialed. "OK ETA on the chopper is six," he said in short clipped tones as he knelt beside Harm and Mac. "Rabb you hang on now." Harm nodded as Mac clung to him, finally raising her head up to look at the others. "How did you know we were here?" she asked. "Clay and Earl weren't buying the part that you were killed in the car crash" AJ answered. "And after some testing by Clay's guys we found out that wasn't the truth. So we came out here since this was the last place you were." "Nice timing" Harm said with a small grimace. "Wish we'd gotten here a few seconds earlier" Clay fretted as he looked down at his friend. "What the hell was he doing out there?" "His idea of a hunt" Mac sighed. "With us as the prey." She choked back a sob and Harm tightened his grip around her as best he could. "It's okay honey" he said softly. "It's all over." "It's not okay" she wailed. "Not when you're sitting here bleeding all over the place." "Mac" he started. "Why did you do that? What part of no heroics did you not understand" she cried. "He would have had a clear shot at you" Harm said quietly. "Do you really think I would let him do that without trying to stop him?" "He could have killed you" she whispered as the tears slid down her face. "And he could have killed you" Harm shouted. "Don't you understand. I love you and I won't ever let anything happen to you." "And I love you. And I hate that you're laying here bleeding all over the place because of me." "I'd do it again in a heartbeat" Harm whispered. "I love you. I'd do anything for you." His voice trailed off at the end and Mac looked over at him anxiously. "Harm, stay with me sailor" she pleaded. "I'm here" he said vaguely as the lightheaded feeling started to take over him. "Clay" Mac wailed as she looked up at him. "Okay, both of you stay calm" he ordered. "The chopper should be here any minute." True to his word, the whirl of the chopper blades could be heard moments later. Mac's hand never left Harm's as he was quickly loaded in, Clay helping to support her along side him. "AJ, can you handle everything here?" Clay asked. "I want to stay with Harm and Mac." "We'll handle it" AJ promised. "Just take care of them. As soon as we get things cleared up here we'll be there." "Charles County Hospital" Clay reminded him as he climbed aboard the chopper. AJ nodded and moments later he and Earl watched the chopper take off. It was a short ride to the hospital and Harm was quickly whisked away from Mac, despite her attempts to stay with him. "Mac, they'll take good care of him" Clay assured him as she stared at the double doors he'd been taken through. "Why don't you let them take a look at your ankle?" "Clay, I can't lose him" Mac whispered, the tears falling again. "I love him." "And he loves you" Clay said softly. "In case you missed that part I heard it loud and clear. Not that there was ever any doubt about how he felt." "You knew?" she sniffled. "I think we all knew" Clay laughed. "Except you two. We've all been waiting for you to figure it out." "Clay, he has to be okay. I don't know what I'd do without him." "And you're not going to have to find out" Clay said gently. "Come on, let's get that ankle checked." He stayed with her while they x-rayed her ankle, determining that it was sprained but not broken. "Clay will you go see if there's any word on Harm" she begged while the nurse wrapped her ankle. "Mac while you were in Xray I had them check," he told her gently, putting his hand on her shoulder. "The blood loss was pretty massive and. . .oh excuse me." He stopped speaking to move out of the nurse's way and that pause was enough for Mac to make exactly the wrong assumption. "Clay no," she shrieked. "No he didn't. . ." It took Clay a few seconds to realize what she was thinking and he reached around the startled nurse who had stepped back, shocked at her patient's reaction. "Mac no stop. It's OK, really it's fine. He's just needing to get a couple of units of blood and they were doing a little repair work on his side that's all." He wrapped his arms around her, concerned at her violent trembling, and looked to the nurse for help. "Ms. Mackenzie you need to calm down before you're in a bed yourself," she said firmly. "Let me ask the Attending to let me give you something mild to relax you and ease the pain. I know that ankle is killing you." "No. No I need to be awake and alert. I don't want anything. Clay take me to Harm. Now. Cla-aaaay." Her last wail brought the doctor on the run as Clay attempted to subdue her. "Mac I want you to let the doctor give you something," he told her firmly, cupping her face with his palm. "You're totally upset here and remember Harm is going to be upset himself seeing you like this." "Ms. Mackenzie they're not going to let you in to sit with him if you're agitated." "I'm fine," she insisted. "Please. Just as soon as I'm holding his hand and seeing that he's going to be OK, I'll be just fine. Clay he could have been killed on my account. He risked his life to save mine." "Yeah big surprise there," he groaned sarcastically. "It's called loving you more than his own life." "Shot or no?" The nurse gave them both an impatient glare. "She's promising to behave," Clay, resting his hand on her shoulder. "Seriously, she'll be fine as soon as she gets Harm's hand in hers." The nurse produced a pair of crutches from the supply closet and measured Mac's height with her eye, then adjusted them. "OK you ever navigated with a pair of these before?" Mac grinned sheepishly. "Actually yes. I broke a bone in my foot in Okinawa and had to use them for a month. Got me out of a lot of PT, and into a good parking spot to boot." With the assistance of both Clay and the nurse, she was soon underway, Clay keeping his hands all but on her lest she fall. "I'm not going to break," she said finally as they neared Harm's room. "Probably not, but if you do you know who's going to get the blame. And I've already still got twinges from the last time your guy decked me." Clay opened the door first, purposely blocking her view, and smiled quietly when he saw his friend. He was halfway propped up in bed, his head lolling to one side as he dozed, obviously under the influence of pain medication. "OK, it's safe," he grinned and kissed Mac's cheek playfully. "I'm going to get some coffee for both of us after I call AJ and make sure the paperwork is going good." A warm hand to his arm stopped him. "Clay we owe you. More than. . ." "It evens out. Who came after me in Russia. Tell Harm I'll be in shortly." "Thanks Clay" she whispered before sitting down in the chair beside Harm's bed. "No problem. I'll be back." He left her alone and she reached for Harm's hand, softly pressing it to lips before wrapping her own hand around it. "I'm right here Harm," she said softly. "And not going anywhere anytime soon." It was another half-hour before he stirred, the soft touch of her hand in his pushing him to wake. "Mac" he murmured as he gently squeezed back on the hand that held his. "None other" she smiled as he finally managed to push open his eyes and look up at her. "Hi sailor. Glad to have you back with me." "You okay?" he asked. "Well I won't be running any marathons this week. And it's just sprained, not broken. I was a little more worried about you and the fact that you left half your blood in McNamara's field. You had me real scared there for a while." "I'm just glad you're okay," he said tiredly. "I was so afraid McNamara was going to hurt you." "Thanks to you he never had a chance" she whispered as her hand gently reached up to smooth the hair back from his forehead. "You saved my life you know." "Couldn't let anything happen to you" he murmured as his eyes drifted closed again. "Love you." "Love you too" she whispered as she leaned forward to drop a soft kiss on his lips. "Rest sailor. I'm not going anywhere." "How's our patient?" Clay asked as he walked in a few minutes later. "He was awake for a minute or so but that was it" Mac said softly. "He seems so weak Clay." "He'll be okay" Clay assured her as he handed her a cup of coffee. "It'll just take some time. How you holding up?" "I'm okay. As long as he's alive that's all that matters." "Well it would take more than a deranged General to take him away from you" Clay smiled. "He loves you more than life itself Mac." "I know. And that's so scary Clay. McNamara almost killed him. If that shot had been a few inches in the other direction, I'd be planning his funeral." "But you're not" Clay reminded her. "And he's going to be fine. As for the rest, you know if the tables were turned you would have done the same thing wouldn't you?" "Of course" she said without a second thought. "So there you have it. Now the big question is now that you've both realized how much you love each other, what are you going to do about it?" "You'll have to talk to Mr. Rabb about that" Mac smiled. "But right now Clay, I'm just happy that we've found us. The us that's been a long time coming." "I'll say" Clay grinned. "You know you don't have to stay here with me," she said quietly. "If you need to take care of stuff, I'll be okay." "I know. But AJ and Earl are handling things out there. In fact they should be here shortly. There's going to be some kind of investigation of course and you and Harm will have to give your statements but seeing as how there's three witnesses to what McNamara was about to do, there's not much to investigate." "Thanks Clay. You're a good friend." "Well I almost found out how it felt to lose my two best friends" Clay said quietly. "You know when the Maryland State Police showed us the car, I wasn't sure at first. I kept hoping there had been some mistake. I guess that's why I had my guys check the car. I didn't want to believe it." "Good think you didn't. Otherwise, Harm probably would be dead." She shuddered at the thought of how easily McNamara could have pumped several shots into Harm if they hadn't arrived when they did. "You'll have to thank Earl for the shot that took out McNamara. That was his shot. You know he didn't believe you two were dead either. Said no way Harm had saved you from drowning just to have both of you die a few weeks later." "Earl's a good man," Mac said with a small smile. "Yes he is" Clay agreed. "And you need to get some rest. After all you've been through today, you should take a little nap. There's a lounge down the hall you can rest in. "What if Harm wakes up" she protested. "I want to be here with him." "I should have known that wouldn't work" Clay smiled. "How about laying your head down on the side of his bed. You can even wrap your arm around him." He helped her scoot the chair forward enough so that her head could rest just to the side of him, her arm able to drape over his chest. "Get some rest" Clay said softly. "You leaving?" she murmured as she closed her eyes. "No, I think I'll stick around" he smiled. "Keep an eye on you two for a while." "I don't think either of us is going anywhere." Her last conscious thought. Clay stood for a long time, his hand resting lightly on her back. "Harm if you didn't already have her, I'd be making a move," he sighed and, satisfied there was nothing more he could do for either, walked out into the hallway. Familiar voices greeted him and he looked to the nurse's station to see AJ and Earl. "Hey," he called softly in greeting. "Clay thank god. I'm not getting much from this. . .uh this nice lady here," AJ groaned. "How are they?" "Why don't we go to the cafeteria. My stomach needs something besides coffee at this point," Clay urged. "They're both sleeping." "But they're OK?" AJ persisted. "Yeah, just in need of some down time." "They'll have that. God Clay the news is full of this. McNamara was well known." "Yeah I know." He guided them to the stairwell and shortly they were seated around a table, sandwiches in front of them and milk for Clay. "Getting an ulcer there Mr. Webb?" Earl teased. "Not getting," he moaned. "Just nursing the one I've got I think." "Clay how are they really?" AJ demanded. "Harm lost more blood than we thought initially," he said slowly. "But he's been transfused and he's going to be fine. Right now he's pretty weak of course. I'm just glad we didn't try to call 911. The bullet nicked an artery and well. . ." "He would have bled to death if you hadn't gotten that chopper in there." "Well I'll have to answer for that I'm sure, but I'm not sorry I did it." "Clay are you in trouble for that?" AJ asked sharply. Clay smiled and shrugged. "Nothing I can't talk my way out of. Or maybe they'll be taking it out of my pay the rest of my life." "You tell them to come see me if there's a problem," he ordered sternly. ============= "Mac?" Harm's voice, trying to break through the fog of her exhaustion. "Mac you OK?" He sat up slowly, the room beginning to spin around him, trying to determine the source of the pressure on his chest and realized it was her arm. She was holding on to him as tightly as she could even in sleep. "Sarah?" The magic word. He seldom called her that, and when he did it broke through every defense she had. "Hey." Groggily she sat up, blinking her eyes to gain some focus. "You hanging in there Flyboy?" "Good thing this room isn't on fire because I couldn't move if my life depended on it," he murmured. "I'm just glad you're here with me." "For the rest of your life if the Sailor wants," she whispered. "The Sailor very much wants," he answered with as much conviction as his weakness would allow. He groped for her hand and she immediately caught his, pressing the back to her lips. "Maybe this is a conversation we should have when they're not dripping a narcotic pain killer into you," she breathed, in total awe of what they were talking about. "It's only my body that can't function at the moment. My mind, and more importantly my heart, knows exactly what it's saying. When we were being held in the room we started to say the words and we said we wanted to wait for a more special time. But I'm not sure I do now." "You didn't." "Excuse me?" "You didn't wait. You already told me," she smiled, remembering the moment of before and knowing she would treasure the words in her heart forever. "I told you I loved you? How could I not remember that?" "Do you want to take it back?" "No" he said with as much conviction as he could muster. "I just wish I remember saying it." "You were pretty out of it both times," she said with a small smile. "Laying there bleeding in my arms in the middle of McNamara's field the first time and then when you woke up a while ago." "Well since I don't remember either time I guess I'm going to have to repeat it" he smiled. "I love you Sarah Catherine Mackenzie." "That came out pretty easy" she teased. "Must be the drugs." "No ma'am. It's not the drugs. It's called realizing that the best thing in my life has been right beside for the last six years. And realizing how I could never survive if I lost you. When I saw you on the ground and McNamara raise his gun to you, all I could think was I had to stop him." "And I almost lost you because of it" she whispered. "If Clay and the others hadn't arrived when they did, McNamara would have killed you. I would have lost the only man I'll love." "You didn't lose me," he said softly, squeezing her hand in his. "I love you and we've still got a lot left to do in the life. Together." "Together" she whispered. "I like the sound of that." "Good because that's the way it's going to be from now on" Harm told her. "And that's a promise." "I'll hold you to it" she said quietly. "Have I ever broken a promise?" "Not yet" "And I never will" he said with a long tired sigh. "You should rest" she urged. "You've had a rough day sailor." "You're not leaving are you?" he asked as his hand reached for hers again. "Not until they throw me out of here. And even then they'll have a fight on their hands." "That's my Marine" Harm murmured, his eyes dropping shut again. "Love you." "Love you too" she whispered, bringing his hand to her lips and kissing it softly. "Well I guess we've got that all figured out now" Earl smiled as he and AJ and Clay walked in. "Earl" Mac smiled at the sight of the man. She attempted to stand and he motioned her to stay, dropping down to give her a hug. "You two sure know how to find trouble don't you?" Earl teased. "I owe you a big thank you," Mac said quietly. "Clay said you were the one who took out McNamara." "Just glad I was there at the right time. And I'm sorry for what that lunatic did to you two. I never imagined he was that far off." "Not your fault" Mac smiled softly. "Mac we're going to head back now" AJ spoke up. "And don't worry about what happened with McNamara. We're going to take care of all of that." "I'm staying AJ" Clay corrected. "I don't think Mac should be alone here." "Clay you don't have to do that. I'll be fine. I'm just going to hang out here at Harm's bedside and hopefully talk them into letting me stay." "Exactly why I need to stay" Clay smiled. "You need to get some food and some rest and I'm going to make sure that you do both." "Okay, you're in good hands Colonel" AJ smiled. "Clay I'm leaving both of them in your care. I trust you'll make sure they do as they should." "Consider it taken care of" Clay assured him. ******************** 10 Days Later "Who did you coerce into letting you come back to work?" Mac fretted as she helped Harm into his coat. "You are not ready for this." "Yes I am. And if I spend another day at home I'd go crazy" he smiled. "Besides this way you can keep an eye on me during the day instead of calling every hour." "Can I help I worry?" "And I love it that you worry" Harm said as he dropped a kiss on her forehead. "And I'm fine. Stop worrying." "Never" she said softly. "Comes with loving you." "Have I mentioned lately how much you mean to me Ms. Mackenzie?" he said softly. "Yes but you can tell me again" she smiled. "Cause I'll never tire of hearing it." "Good. Cause I won't ever let you forget it." "You've gotten sappy on me Rabb" Mac said as she reached for her coat. "I'm not used to this yet." "You want the old Harmon Rabb back?" "No, I think I like this one better" she smiled. His first morning back passed quietly, Mac hovering close by to check on him as often as she could despite his continued insistence that he was fine. It was just before noon when he looked up to see the familiar face of Clayton Webb, along with a young woman he didn't recognize. "Harm you're looking a hell of a lot better" Clay smiled. "I guess Mac is a better nurse than I realized." "She's taken good care of me" Harm assured him. "So what brings you over?" "I have something for you" Clay said quietly. "Thanks to Madison. She did all the translating for me." "You going to introduce us or what?" the petite redhead laughed. "I'm Madison Malone. You must be Harm." "Commander Harmon Rabb" Harm smiled. "Are you working with Clay now?" "She's assisting me with our little project" Clay spoke up. "And we've got some new information." "About Sergei?" Harm questioned. "Oh yeah," Clay nodded. "We've managed a radio intercept and an email trace and never mind the gory details but thanks to Madison here who in addition to being a Russian Linguist is also a cryptographer. . ." "And a beautiful woman, sorry if that came out as a sexist pig remark," Harm grinned. "Hey I'm secure enough in my femininity to appreciate that in the spirit in which it was intended," she smiled softly and Harm caught just the trace of a southern accent. Clay started to speak again and looked around for Mac. "Look we do need to talk. And it would be better if Mac heard this too. Somewhere we can go?" Harm frowned, hearing the sudden seriousness in his tone. "Mac's just down the hall in an opposing counsel meeting but she should be done any time. Come on we can get something to drink and I'll stick my head in and tell her to come see us when she's done." As they were walking down the hall Mac and the attorney with whom she was conferring came out of the room. "Thank you very much Sarah. It was a very productive session and I'll see you next Tuesday," he was saying. "In the meantime you have my number if you'd like to get together for that drink." "Thank you John. We'll talk again," she called, feeling Harm's eyes boring into her. Harm managed to hold his tongue until the gentleman had turned the corner for the elevators. Just barely. "John. . .Sarah? What the hell is all that about? And I won't even touch the part about having a drink." "Not in front of the guests Flyboy," she laughed, ignoring Harm's red face for the moment to give Clay a hug. "Good to see you stranger." "You too," he returned, smiling now at Harm's obvious displeasure. "Mac this is Madison Malone. Things have kicked up a notch in the matter of Sergei and she's working with me." "My pleasure," Mac smiled shaking her hand. "Madison is a Russian linguist," Clay grinned, knowing of course that Mac possessed the same ability. Mac caught his tone and immediately said something in Russian to Madison, who looked surprised but responded at once and both women started to laugh. "I'm really in the mood for not knowing what's being said about me," Harm glowered. "Hey chill," Mac grinned, her hand going to his and taking advantage of there being no one else around she wove their fingers together. "Are you pouting about John?" "Do I have reason to?" "Yes I'm in love with you but I'm going to meet John for a drink anyway," she scoffed, keeping her voice down. "Rabb you are so easy," Clay groaned. "Mac before this exercise in Rabb jealousy, I was saying we needed to talk." "OK it's one of those things," she smiled. "We can go back in here." Clay and Madison walked ahead of her and Harm, who was still frowning. "Hey are you OK?" she asked softly. "I mean feeling OK?" "It's been a long day and I am more than ready to get out of here, for a lot of reasons," he admitted. "I guess I miss lying around but that's to be construed as permission for you to hover." "Yes it is," she retorted. "I love you remember. And I worry about you." "I love you too, and having another man panting after you brings back a lot of unpleasant memories. I'm sorry. I should have known better than to think you would be interested." "Yes you should have," she told him, pushing him inside the room and once the door was closed, pulled his head down to her for a gentle kiss. "Madison you'll get used to them," Clay told her. "I think they're cute," she laughed. "I just wish this stuff was going to be as amusing." "Okay, what is it?" Harm asked after he and Mac parted. "Sergei is on his way here again," Clay said quietly. "Why?" Harm demanded, his arm unconsciously tightening around Mac. "What does he want?" "We believe you" Clay said simply. "The message we intercepted that Madison translated was a direct order for him to finish the job he'd started. And not to come back until it was finished." "Harm" Mac whispered as she moved closer to him. "It's okay honey. I won't let him hurt you." "It's not me I'm worried about" Mac wailed. "They want you dead." "Okay both of you calm" Clay ordered. "I'm not going to let that happen." "We're not going to let that happen" Madison corrected him. "I'll remind you that I've been assigned to work with you Mr. Webb. And that means where ever you go I go." "Madison you don't know Sergei" Harm spoke up. "Actually Harm I do" she replied. "I've done a lot of digging for Clay. Stuff he couldn't do cause he didn't understand the language. And I've found out quite a bit about the man you know as Sergei Zhukov." "He's KGB isn't he?" Mac asked quietly and Madison nodded. "Has been since the day he was born. His father worked for the KGB and was involved in the transporting of American POW's to Russia during the Vietnam War." "You found his birth records?" Harm asked. "It took some major digging but yeah I think I finally found the correct records. And there is no way he is any way connected to your father." "I knew that" Harm said quietly. "The day on the beach when he tried to kill me and Mac I knew there was no way he was a Rabb." "No he's not. Course we still haven't been able to determine who's been behind this whole thing" Clay said quietly. "But right now our main concern is Sergei." "Clay you have to protect Harm" Mac said quietly. "I know and I will" Clay promised. "We will" Madison corrected again. "Geez Clay is this the first time you've ever worked with a partner before." "I've always handled everything solo" Clay admitted. "Well you best get used to me being around because we're partners now. And I'm as well trained as you are. In fact, I do believe I beat your score last year in the target shooting." "Besides being a cryptologist, and Russian Linguist, Madison is also an excellent marksman." "Sounds like the person we need on our team for this" Mac sighed. "And Clay I'm serious about protecting Harm. Can't you arrange some kind of safe house until we can find Sergei?" "Whoa, wait a minute" Harm interrupted. "First off, I'm not going into hiding. Second, you are not going to be involved in finding Sergei. What part of this man is dangerous did you not understand. If anyone helps Clay find Sergei it's going to be me." "Might I remind you Mr. Rabb that ten days ago we didn't even know if you were going to live" Mac retorted. "You're barely recovered from that and now you want to run off and find Sergei." "Harm she's right" Clay spoke up. "You look like hell and I have no idea who you coerced into letting you come back to work but the last thing you need to be doing is chasing after Sergei." "Well I'm sure as hell not going to let Mac go off with you to find him," Harm said irritably. "And as for looking like hell, that's only because I've been standing here too long listening to how my friends are going to risk their lives because of me." "Okay let's get you into a chair right now" Mac ordered as she led him to the chair that Madison quickly pulled out from the table. "I'm okay, just a little dizzy" Harm admitted once he was in the chair. "You need to go home and rest" Mac fretted. "I'm going to find the Admiral and let him know that I'm taking you home." "Mac, I'm okay" Harm said as he grabbed her arm. "Please don't worry." "How do you expect me not to worry?" she whispered. "There's a man who wants you dead. I'm just supposed to stand by and not worry about it. In case you forget, I love you. And I don't want to lose you. Not now, not ever." "Maybe we should give them a few minutes alone" Madison said as she reached for Clay's arm. He nodded and they walked out of the conference room. ============ "Clay, I didn't know you were here," AJ said as the pair exited the room. "Something new with the McNamara mess?" "No that's taken care of" Clay sighed. "Another problem." "Harm's father?" AJ frowned. "Yeah. You got a few minutes. I'll bring you up to speed in case Commander Stubborn neglects to tell you." "Sure but only if you tell me who this nice young lady with you is" AJ smiled. "Madison Malone, this is Admiral AJ Chegwidden, the Judge Advocate General." "Pleased to meet you sir. In case Clay neglects to tell you, I'm working with him on the Sergei Zhukov situation." "Clay doesn't tell me much," AJ smiled. "Certainly he's never mentioned you. Are you partnering with him now?" "Yes I am. Now his exact words when I was brought to him was 'no way in hell' but he got over it pretty quick." "I don't blame him," AJ grinned, looking her up and down. "Now what's up?" "Nothing good AJ," Clay said softly. "We've been doing some decoding and getting some radio intercepts-that kind of thing. Sergei has been tasked with eliminating Commander Rabb. Seems there's a new man in charge, and he's not happy with just letting Harm back away, knowing that he can come back at any time I guess he figures. A loose end as we say so I can understand that." AJ sucked his breath in sharply and pierced Clay with a glare. "But we're not going to let that happen are we Mr. Webb." Clay gave him an easy grin, attempting to reassure. "No we're not. Mac wants him to go to a safe house. But that's not the answer. Sergei has all the time in the world. Unless Harm plans to retire to an ice floe in the arctic." "So what is the answer?" Clay shrugged. "Just taking out Sergei is not, not without exposing the whole operation to the public at the same time. Sergei's superiors are just going to put someone else in charge." "They've put a price on his head haven't they Clay, and yours as well I'm going to venture a guess--for what you know." Clay nodded soberly. "But we're going to handle it AJ. That's a promise." "We're being the operative word here sir," Madison smiled, shooting Clay a warning look. "I believe you." AJ gave a small smile as he looked at the two agents before him. "So did you two just meet?" Madison blushed and Clay looked sheepish as AJ pegged them both with one of his stares. ==================== Harm rested his head on his hands and Mac rubbed the back of his neck as the room stopped spinning for him finally. He grabbed her arm and pulled her down onto the chair next to him. "I'm not going to go into hiding," he whispered. "I won't live like that, hidden away. I'm going to have to somehow lure Sergei out, and once he's gone then I can go to the press and expose the whole story." "You need to listen to yourself here," she sighed. "I'm hearing an awful lot of 'I's' considering how involved I am. And how I won't. . ." His fingers to her lips stopped her. "I don't want you any where near me." His words so shocked her that for a moment she could not speak, fingers or not. Taking advantage of her silence, he plowed ahead. "Mac think here. This man is not going to care who he has to run over to get to me. Worse, he knows the best way to get to me is through you. Please, please be reasonable. For once in your existence, be reasonable. In fact I was thinking you might go up to Grams place until we take care of this. Clay and I." "Harm that's about as likely as the Admiral walking into staff call and announcing he's gay and resigning," she scoffed. "Give it up Flyboy. No way no how no when. I am not leaving your side." "Mac please. This is going to turn ugly." She gave a long sigh. "It already has, and we're going to see it through together." She turned his face to hers, kissing him gently. "You know I realize we haven't talked about particulars for the future so much with this hanging over our heads, except that we said we were going to be together, so know this Squid--I'm not willingly going to leave your life. And as for the mess, know this too--I'm not afraid to die with you. I'm only terrified to live without you." "Sarah," he breathed, her words at once moving him to near-tears and he took her into his arms, their mouths meeting in a long kiss. It was that moment that AJ picked to open the door. "Whoa excuse me," he gasped instinctively as Harm and Mac broke apart and then he yelped, "oh hell no. I'm saying excuse me in my own command? Never mind. Mr. Webb and Ms. Malone have assured me that the situation is under control. I'm holding Webb's six to the fire for that. Meanwhile they were about to tell me how they first met." "You two have a past?" Harm immediately picked up on that. "I was her training agent for about six months a couple of years ago," Clay confessed. "Can we leave it at that." "Mac maybe you can show me the ladies room?" Madison requested, suddenly very uncomfortable. "Uh. . .of course. I could use a break myself." She nodded to Harm who mouthed 'love you' as she parted, out of AJ's line of sight. Mac led her to the empty bathroom and kept quiet, sensing if Madison wanted to talk, she would. "Mac--it's OK to call you that right?" "Please," Mac nodded. "I think we're going to be spending a lot of time together. We should be friends." "Good," Madison sighed in relief. "Look, I don't want to go into a lot of details here, but Clay was my training agent as he said. We got sent to Turkey about three months into the probation period and. . . well we started getting real attached. Nothing ever happened but it was building. You know what I mean?" "More than you know," she replied dryly. "Go on." "Well to make a long story short, our operation went south and I had to be medivac'd back to the states. Clay came to see me at GW a few days later to make sure I was OK, and then that was the last time we saw each other until the boss told me I had this assignment. By the time I knew it was with Clayton Webb it was too late to back out, and truth be known-I really didn't want to." =========== "No we can't leave it at that," AJ sputtered teasingly. "You and her meant something to each other at one time didn't you?" "Yes but that's all I'm saying" Clay growled. "My love life is not up for discussion here." "Love life?" AJ grinned. "Never mind. We have more important issues to discuss than how stupid I was three years ago." "Sounds familiar" Harm sighed. "One day you can tell me the sordid story. But the main question here is how do we keep Mac out of this mess?" "Mac and Madison" Clay corrected and AJ shook his head. "You two can keep kidding yourselves all you want. But there's no way on this earth you're going to keep those two women away from this situation. I may have only met Madison Malone five minutes ago but I can tell she doesn't take no for an answer. So you'd best include them in whatever plans you two hatch." "He's right you know" Clay sighed. "There's no way Mac is going to leave you. She wouldn't in Russia, and she won't now." "So what do we do?" Harm asked. "For the moment we wait. I'm sure Sergei will make the first move. Hopefully when he does, we'll be ready for him. Meanwhile we'll keep digging in Russia and Vietnam to get to the bottom of this." "Thanks Clay. For everything" Harm said quietly. "Don't thank me. I'm the one who got you into this mess" Clay sighed. "No you've helped me find out the truth about Sergei and my father. For that I'll always be thankful. And hopefully we'll find the real truth one day." "Everything okay in here?" Mac asked as she and Madison returned to the conference room. "They were just plotting how to keep you and Madison out of this one" AJ smiled. "And on that note, I'm going to leave you four alone. Just promise me someone will keep me posted on what's going on." He walked out of the conference room, leaving Mac and Madison glaring at Harm and Clay. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear the Admiral say you were trying to keep me out of this" Mac said quietly. "Because we've had this discussion and you know where we always end up." "Why don't we all discuss this over lunch?" Madison suggested. "We'll work out what the game plane is going to be concerning keeping Harm safe from Sergei and then we'll go from there." "You up to lunch out sailor?" Mac asked as she held out her hand to help Harm up from the chair. "Yeah I think so," Harm said as he accepted her hand, feeling a slight twinge of dizziness as he stood. Mac wrapped her arm around his waist to help support him and he gave her a weak smile. "What are you guys in the mood for?" Clay asked as the two couples made their way out of the conference room and down the hall to the elevator. "Mr. Webb" Harriet smiled as she and Bud waited at the elevator. "Nice to see you." "Nice to see you too Lt." Clay smiled. "Madison Malone, this is Lt. Bud Roberts and his lovely wife Lt. Harriet Sims." "Nice to meet you" Madison smiled. "I didn't realize they allowed married folks to work together." "Harriet actually works for the Inspector General" Bud explained. "But she's assigned to this office." "The Admiral pulled a few strings," Harriet said as the elevator doors opened and the three couples managed to huddle in. "Admiral Chegwidden seems like a very nice guy" Madison commented. "Until he punches you" Clay smiled. "You don't want to make him mad." "Why do I get the feeling you have?" Madison said as she looked at Clay. "Is there some stories here I haven't heard?" "Plenty" Mac grinned. "We'll have to fill you in on some of those sometime soon." The elevator doors opened on the first floor and Harm and Mac exited first, Bud and Harriet behind them, while Clay and Madison took the rear. "So what is the old married couple doing for lunch?" Harm asked once they were outside. "Well sir" Bud started as he walked beside Harm. The rest of what he said was cut off as the barrage of gunfire began. Harriet's screams echoed through the parking lot as the six dove for cover. THE END Watch for the next chapter of Past Present Future coming soon.