Title: The Mark of Time

Author: Nicole Carter

Category: R [Harm/Mac] (what else is there?)

Rating: G? PG? One of those.

Spoilers: Um… anything about Mac’s childhood.

Disclaimer: I don’t own them, but, Donald, can I buy
Harm off you?

Summary: What if Harm and Mac had met when they were
younger?

Author’s Notes: Feedback is desired. Also, Mac is not
an alcoholic.

Author’s Thanks: to my betas, Becky, Jessica and Jen.
I didn’t go over the story with your suggestions, but
I felt that I should think you anyway. 



Summer 1974

Somewhere in Arizona 



Ten-year-old Harm sighed listlessly as he stared out
the window. Miles of dry dirt and dust. This was a
vacation?

“Harmon, we’re stopping for gas, do you want
anything?”

“To go home.” Harm grumbled.

“Harmon, stop that!” Trish exclaimed sharply. “This is
a family vacation and we’re not going home yet! We
just got here!”

“I’m gonna stretch my legs. Get me a bottle of water?”
Harm didn’t wait for his mother’s answer, instead he
just left the truck.

Harm walked down the road, coming to a lone trailer. A
young girl sat out front, staring into the distance.
“Hi.”

The girl looked up. “Hi.” She said quietly.

“What’s your name?”

The girl’s previously lonely eyes filled with
suspicion. “Who wants to know?” She asked, her small
body tense.

“Harmon Rabb Jr.” Harm said his name with a voice full
of pride.

The girl smirked. “Harmon? What kind of name is
Harmon?”

Harm glared at her. “It was my fathers name.”

“You said ‘was’ not ‘is.’ Your father dead or
something?”

Harm nodded. “Yeah.”

The girl snorted. “Lucky.”

Harm’s eyes grew wide. “What? Lucky that I lost my
dad?”

Just then there was a loud crash inside the trailer,
followed closely by a scream and the sound of glass
shattering. The girl nodded. “Yeah. Lucky. My name is
Sarah. Sarah MacKenzie.”

“Harmon! Come on, we’re leaving now!”

Harm and Sarah looked up to see Trish standing by the
truck.

“I gotta go.” Harm whispered.

“Yeah.”

“I wish I could stay. To help you.”

Sarah smiled. “Nothing can help me, Harmon. This is
just the way it is.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

“HARMON!”

“Goodbye, Sarah MacKenzie. Maybe I’ll see you again
some time.”

“Maybe. Goodbye, Harmon Rabb Jr.”

With that, Harm turned to leave, glancing over his
shoulder at Sarah and seeing her wince at the sound of
another scream.

As the truck pulled away from the gas station, Harm
looked back at Sarah to see her watching the truck. As
she moved her head, the sun glistened off of a tear
making its way down her cheek. 



1983

Washington D.C. 



Sarah let her eyes wander lazily up to the top of the
Washington Monument. What meant so much to some people
meant nothing to her. How could that be?

Sarah turned to leave, disappointed, and bumped
headlong into a young man. “Sorry.” Sarah muttered,
keeping her head down.

“No, I’m the one who should be sorry. I wasn’t
watching where I was going. It’s all my fault. Can you
forgive me?”

Sarah glanced up at the young man just in time to see
him flash a knees-turn-to-jelly smile at her. She
brought her head fully up. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Been here before?”

“No. Why?”

“You just don’t seem as awestruck as most first-timers
are. That’s all.”

Sarah shrugged. “It just doesn’t mean anything to me.
This is just the way it is.”

The man’s eyes grew wide as his mind flashed back to a
young girl in the Arizona desert. “Sarah?” He
whispered.

Sarah’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you and how do you
know who I am.” She demanded.

“Harmon Rabb Jr.” The man whispered.

Comprehension dawned on Sarah as her mind transported
her back to the summer so long ago when a complete
stranger wanted to change the world for her. “I guess
its some time.” Sarah whispered.

“I guess so. Um… you wanna go for coffee or something?
I’d really like to talk with you.”

Sarah looked hesitant, but agreed anyway. “Sure.
Where?”

“There’s a little restaurant at the south edge of the
city. Keyne’s, I think it’s called. Tomorrow at 3?”

Sarah smiled slightly. “Sure.” 



The next day

3 o’clock

Keyne’s Diner 



Harm smiled as he saw Sarah sitting alone at a table,
sipping at a glass of clear, fizzy liquid. “Hi.” Harm
said once he sat down.

Sarah smiled back at him. “Hi.”

“Whatcha drinkin’?”

“Sprite.”

“Thought we were having coffee together, not Sprite.”
Harm teased with a smirk.

Sarah smirked back. “You got a problem with my
beverage of choice, flyboy?”

Harm shook his head. “How did you know I’m a flyboy?”

Sarah leaned over and tapped Harm’s chest. Harm looked
down and saw ‘Annapolis’ upside down and backwards. He
looked back up and grinned sheepishly. “Oh, yeah.” 



5 hours later

Sarah MacKenzie’s motel room 



“Come in?” Sarah asked almost shyly.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” 



The next day 



“Sarah, I’m gonna give you my cell number. Don’t
hesitate to call, okay?” Sarah nodded and Harm grabbed
a piece of paper, scribbling a number on it. When he
finished, Harm looked back at Sarah. “I gotta go.” He
whispered.

“I know.” Sarah whispered back, her eyes filling with
tears.

Harm placed his hand on Sarah’s cheek and slowly
leaned in to kiss her.

Sarah’s eyelids fluttered closed as Harm’s lips
pressed against hers. She felt an overwhelming desire
to open her mouth under his, but she knew that if she
did, they would end up back in the bedroom and Harm
would never be able to leave.

Slowly Harm broke off the kiss and leaned back. “I
think I love you, Sarah MacKenzie.”

A tear slipped down Sarah’s cheek at this declaration.
“I think I love you, too, Harmon Rabb Jr.”

“I better go.”

“I know.”

“It’s so hard to leave you.”

“It’s so hard to let you leave.”

“I’ve never been with anyone like you.”

“Neither have I.”

Harm kissed Sarah one last time and then walked to the
door, leaving her in the middle of the main room,
wrapped in a sheet, tears slipping down her cheeks as
the scent of their love-making still hung in the air. 



1995

White House Rose Garden 



Admiral Cheggwidden, Harm and Lieutenant Roberts
approached and lone Marine standing in the Rose
Garden. As the three men neared her, she turned and
her eyes caught Harm’s.

Harm’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as
Sarah whispered, “Oh, my god.”

“Sarah/Harm.” They each spoke the others name at the
same time, their eyes greedily taking the other in.

Admiral Cheggwidden looked suspiciously at the two of
them. “You two know each other?”

They dragged their eyes away from each other and
turned to face the Admiral. “Yes, Sir.” They both
responded quietly.

“Don’t get too familiar, you have to work together.”

The Admiral raised an eyebrow as both officers
blushed. In all the time he worked with Harm,
Cheggwidden had never seen the man blush. 



Gas station on the way to Red Rock Mesa 



“Do you have a phone?” Sarah demanded as soon as she
saw the owner of the small gas station.

The man nodded and pointed toward the store. “In
there.”

Harm followed Sarah into the store and watched as she
picked up the phone and dialed. About ten minutes ago,
Sarah had suddenly started mumbling profanities under
her breath and hadn’t stopped until she got to the
phone.

“Hi, Amanda? It’s Sarah… I have a slight problem…
Uh-huh… I’m not going to be back tonight… Arizona…
Work. What else?… Oh, God, Amanda, you’re not supposed
to tell me that!… Yeah… I’ll try to be back by
tomorrow morning, but no promises… Okay, thanks. Bye.”

“Who’s Amanda?” Harm asked, pushing himself up from
against the wall.

“I’ll tell you when we get back.”

Harm frowned, but didn’t say anything. 



Sarah MacKenzie’s apartment 



Sarah unlocked and door and stepped inside. “Amanda?”

A teenage girl walked out of a bedroom into the main
room where Harm and Sarah stood. “Hi, Sarah. Trey’s
taking a nap. He was up late last night, mainly
worrying about you, so he just went to bed.”

Sarah smiled. “Thanks, Amanda.” She got a fifty out of
her purse and handed it to Amanda and Amanda walked
out the door. Sarah smiled at Harm. “Come on. I want
to introduce you to some one.” She took his hand and
led him into the bedroom that Amanda had come out of.
Sprawled across the bed was an 11-year-old boy.

Sarah sat on the bed, running her fingers through the
boy’s already tousled hair. “Trey? Trey, wake up.”

Trey moaned and blinked a couple times before focusing
on Sarah. “Mom!” Trey exclaimed. “You’re back!” Trey
wrapped his arms around Sarah’s waist and gave her a
tight hug.

“Yeah, honey, I’m back.”

“Um… Sarah?” Harm interrupted. “Are you going to
introduce me?”

Sarah looked up at Harm, then back to Trey. “Why don’t
we all go into the living room, okay?” 



Sarah took a deep breath. “Harm, this is our son,
Harmon Rabb the Third. Trey for short. Trey, this is
your father.”

Harm sat staring at Sarah. “Wha…?” Was all he managed
to croak out.

Sarah smiled. “That night in D.C.” she said as an
answer to Harm’s unspoken question.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Sarah?” Harm whispered.

Sarah looked down to her lap. “I don’t know.”

“So…” Trey started, looking at Harm. “You’re my dad?”

“I guess so. I didn’t know about you.”

“So I guess you don’t know about Catherine?” Sarah’s
head shot up at that comment.

“Catherine?” Harm questioned.

Both Trey and Sarah were silent. “I’m goin’ for a
walk, ‘kay, Mom?”

Sarah nodded. “Yeah. Be careful.” Trey nodded, put his
sneakers on and headed out the door.

“Sarah? Who is Catherine?”

“Was.” Sarah whispered. “Catherine was Trey’s twin.
She was stillborn. They did everything to save her,
but… it was too late.”

“I’m sorry.”

Sarah shook her head. “There was nothing you could
have done.”

“You’re wrong.” Harm said softly. Sarah looked up at
him questioningly. “I could have been there for you.”

Sarah’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m so sorry, Harm. I
should have called you when I found out I was
pregnant.”

Harm nodded. “Yes, you should have. But I think I can
understand why you didn’t. Sarah, you were only
sixteen. You had to have been scared.”

“I was. I was so scared that I’d end up like my mother
and just abandon my child. Or that I would end up like
my father and spend my days and nights in a drunken
haze and beat my child. I was scared that if I did end
up like that and you knew I had your baby that you
would take the baby away from me. I was scared that if
I ended up an alcoholic that you would think less of
me and not love me anymore.”

“I’ve always loved you, Sarah. And I always will.”
Harm reached out for Sarah and she willingly sank into
his embrace.

“I love you, too, Harm.” Sarah murmured into Harm’s
neck.

Harm held Sarah tighter. “It’ll be okay, Sarah. We’ll
get through everything together. As a family.”

Harm and Sarah felt another pair of arms encircle them
and they opened their embrace to Trey as well.

“As a family.” Trey stated softly.

“Family.” Sarah whispered. 



The End