Gratitude
Part Twenty-Two
Neither one of them had any clue what had made Mac run. She had seemed fine when she was walking over to them and then she suddenly panicked and ran. Harm figured that meant that either the panic attack had gotten worse, or she had gotten another one of those flashes. He was betting on the latter. She�d gotten control over her panic attacks enough that they wouldn�t make her take off like that. But he couldn�t think of anything that would have set off one of the flashes, either. He wanted to run after her, but he thought it best to give Sturgis a chance to calm her down. She didn�t tend to appreciate when the two of them hovered over her at the same time. They usually went for the tag team approach; Sturgis went first to try and wear down any resistance before Harm took over and dealt with the worst of it. It worked more often than not, so Harm was willing to give it a chance now. For a couple of minutes, anyway, if they didn�t come back soon then he�d go after them. Until then, he�d watch from a distance and be ready for anything.
Harm thought about everything she�d said since she�d arrived at the club. He agreed with Chaplain Turner, she didn�t have PTSD. He wasn�t sure he ever thought she did. Too many things just didn�t fit. But he wasn�t a professional so he hadn�t said anything. Besides, he didn�t have any theories to replace it. He did now, at least for the panic attacks. Bud�s theory made sense; his comment about Saddiq trying to kill them had stuck with her since Paraguay and made her afraid she was being stalked. He felt like kicking himself for not thinking before he spoke. After everything she�d just been through, not to mention the fact that she HAD actually been stalked before, he should have known better than to say something like that.
And yet, it had needed to be said. Saddiq was in all probability going to try and kill them at some point. They had done too much damage to him to think otherwise. So they needed to be prepared for the possibility. He just wished he could have found a better way to broach the subject; it was just another regret about the whole thing to add to the ever-expanding list.
The sight of Mac crashing into the man behind her caused Harm to stop berating himself and pay closer attention to her. Pushing away from the table, he started to head over. Sturgis saw him, and shook his head. Harm waited while Sturgis got her to her feet and started to lead her back to the table. He hadn�t gotten more than a couple of steps when Mac realized what he was doing and pulled away again. She quickly disappeared into the crowd.
�Damn it!� he swore as he started to scan the room. That was the last straw. Harm was going to go over there and figure out exactly what was wrong. Just as soon as he figured out where Mac was in that mass of people. He concentrated his attention towards the exit. Sure enough, an opening appeared in the crowd and Harm caught sight of Sturgis talking urgently into his cell phone. Harm immediately made the leap from anxiety and frustration to full-blown terror. Sturgis wouldn�t bother with his phone unless it was an emergency. Deciding he couldn�t just stand there helplessly trying to see Mac, he pushed himself away from the table and headed to the place he had last seen her. He was halfway there when he spotted her. She was circling the main floor, avoiding the couples dancing and small groups of people engaged in conversation. He quickened his steps, determined not to lose sight of her again. He�d only taken a few steps when she spotted him. She hesitated for a moment before motioning him to stop.
�No way,� he thought as he continued forward, �I�m not stopping now.� She gestured again, more violently this time. The message was clear; he was to stay put. He didn�t understand, but something about her actions convinced him to follow her lead. She began rapidly scanning the club again, like she always did when this happened. But it was different this time, he noticed. There was a purpose, a deadly determination in her stance as her eyes picked apart the scene around her. As if this time, she knew exactly what she was looking for. And she had just found it. She stiffened and he could see her eyes lock on her target. He watched her entire body tense and her face take on an expression of pure horror. Harm slowly turned to follow her gaze, fearful of what he was going to find. Bud�s words were a mocking voice in his head as he found what Mac was looking at. Or rather, WHO she was looking at.
It�s not paranoia if they really are out to get you.
Bud had been more right than he could have ever guessed. Standing only a few feet away from him, eyes full of hatred, was Saddiq Faad. Before Harm could come up with a plan, before he could do more than register the face of the man who had traveled thousands of miles and risked his life and his freedom just for a chance at revenge, Saddiq had reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun. �At least he�s not aiming for Mac,� was the last thought he had before Saddiq pulled the trigger and he was slammed to the ground.
A.J. had come here tonight for the sole purpose of finding out what was wrong with Mac. He hadn�t expected it to be simple, there were too many bad feelings and unresolved issues for that. But he had been determined to fight his way through the hostility and resentment and get the answers he was looking for. And in focusing so hard on achieving his goals, he forgot to prepare himself for the answers. A.J. hated being unprepared. Yet here he was, sitting at a table with Bud while Harm and Turner went off to find Mac and calm her down. He would have joined them if he didn�t think he�d make the situation worse.
He�d had no idea how much pain she�d been carrying. He should have, he should have been paying attention more closely. But she had been so angry with him when Harm had left, and he�d gotten angry with her in return. He hadn�t wanted to process Harm�s resignation, but he hadn�t had a choice. It didn�t mean that he didn�t care. He cared too much, that was the problem. People came and people went; that was the way the military worked. He knew it and accepted it. But he had let these people become his family, especially Harm and Mac. They were as much his children as Francesca, and he was just as bad at dealing with them as he was dealing with her. It was just not healthy for a C.O. to become so close to his people, so he had tried to step back and deal with them as he would any other officers under his command. He thought he had succeeded pretty well, until Mac had quietly announced that she was considering turning in her own resignation. The way she had spoken so calmly and then lifted her arm to show him how badly her hand was shaking had been painful to watch. He knew he had to do something to help, but he didn�t know what.
As he mulled over the situation, he noticed that Harm had stopped moving. He couldn�t see very well from where he was sitting, so he stood up and turned to face them. He could see Mac farther away. She had just held up her arm to stop Harm from coming closer, and now she was looking around as if searching for someone. Turner, maybe? Or was it an extension of her earlier episode? He was still trying to figure it out when she froze and her entire body tensed. He was too far away to see her face, or even what she was staring at, so he looked to Harm to see if he could make out what was happening.
Harm had become as tense as she was. A.J. watched him stare at her for a moment, before turning slowly around. As Harm�s gaze locked on whatever it was Mac was looking at, A.J. got a good look at his face. Terror was written plainly on every feature. He didn�t think he�d ever seen Harm look that afraid. Alarmed, A.J. tried to follow Harm�s gaze even as he took an instinctive step forward. A man was standing in between him and his people. A.J. could only see the man�s profile. He was an ordinary enough looking man; what little A.J. could see of his features made him think the man was from somewhere in the Mediterranean; or maybe South America, somewhere. He thought he was looking at the wrong person and started to look away when his last thought registered. South America.
�Oh, God. It couldn�t be,� he muttered, stepping to the side to get a better glimpse. The man raised his arm, and A.J. caught the slightest glimpse of black metal.
That slight glimpse was all he needed to recognize a gun. And that gun was aimed directly at Harm. Reacting on instinct, he rushed the man from behind, even as Mac took off towards Harm. Her reaction, and Harm�s, confirmed his suspicions, this man had something to do with Paraguay. It had to be Saddiq, he was the only one the two of them had left alive. He reached the terrorist just as Mac reached Harm. A.J. moved to push the other man�s arm down as Mac slammed into Harm. They went down just as A.J. felt the recoil indicating that the gun had been fired. When A.J. tried to see if either of them had been hit, Saddiq took advantage of his distraction and escaped from his grip.
The terrorist whirled around, catching A.J. in the face with the side of the gun. A.J. stumbled back a little, giving Saddiq the chance to make a run for it. He only managed two steps before another set of arms grabbed hold of him from behind. A.J. saw Turner struggling to get a good enough hold on Saddiq to pin his arms down. Rushing over, he reached out and tried again to push down the arm holding the gun, this time with the added help from Sturgis. But despite his unassuming appearance, Saddiq was a strong man and a vicious fighter. He managed to keep his arm raised and his finger on the trigger. As Sturgis worked to get his arm down and A.J. tried to wrestle the gun from his grasp, Saddiq pressed the trigger. A.J. felt another recoil as the gun went off again.
Harm�s POV
Harm had watched Mac approach the table from his spot near the bar. And he had watched her stop in her tracks, stare in horror at the three men sitting there and then bolt. Before he had a chance to go after her, Sturgis was already up and following her towards the door. He had quickly lost sight of them in the crowd of people milling around. Harm strode over to the table to ask Bud and the Admiral what had happened.
A.J.�s POV
A.J. had been sitting at the table with Bud, trying to see where Mac and Sturgis went when Harm suddenly pushed his way off the table and headed off. A.J. assumed he had spotted Mac and gone to get her, but he wasn�t sure. He wasn�t sure about anything.