The Next Conflicting Phase

Part Four

November 21, 2003
JAG Headquarters
1430 EST

Harm and Mac sat silently in the Admiral's office while he looked over the report on the Tunney case. Although they hid it well, they were both nervous. From the moment he handed them the case, they had both known it was a test, to see if they could still work together now that they were in a relationship. If they couldn't, chances were that one of them would get transferred out of JAG before you could say `fraternization'.

It seemed like forever, but eventually the Admiral looked up from the report, setting it on his desk and placing his reading glasses atop of it. He leaned back in his chair and placed his hands across his stomach.

"Well," he finally said, "It would appear that the two of you managed to get through this case without too much trouble."

"Of course, sir," Harm replied calmly, while breathing an inward sigh of relief. "The Colonel and I are professionals."

"Really?" AJ asked skeptically. "And you behaved professionally the entire time you were in Arizona, did you?"

"Yes, sir," They chorused, knowing what he was implying. Although he hadn't said anything directly, he had made sure that they understood that they were assigned two rooms for a reason, and that they were to use both of them.

"That must have been frustrating," he muttered half under his breath, and Harm snorted inwardly. AJ had no idea. Harm didn't think he'd ever been so frustrated in his life. He had thought it was bad when he was on assignment for the CIA, but it was much worse knowing she was close enough to touch and not being able to touch her. He would be lucky if he made it through the rest of the day without ravishing her in the middle of the bullpen.

Harm was drawn out of his lustful thoughts by the Admiral's next question. "And you're both satisfied with outcome of the case?"

"Yes, sir," Mac replied. Well, she still thought she should have won the case, but she rested easier knowing that Tunney would almost certainly lose his wings. Unlike Harm, who felt bad about it, Mac was just grateful that he wouldn't endanger any more lives with his recklessness.

AJ nodded thoughtfully. "Good." He looked back and forth at them and said, "Well, I imagine the last week has left you both a little tense, so once you've finished up your paperwork, you can take the rest of the day to�unwind."

"Thank you, sir," Harm responded gratefully. Realizing that he probably sounded a little too appreciative, he added, "We have a lot of things to do. Packing and stuff."

"I'm sure you do," AJ responded seriously, but there was a twinkle in his eye. He fought back a grin as he watched matching blushes creep over their faces. Packing, my ass he thought. Deciding he'd tortured them enough, he quickly dismissed them.

"Aye, aye, sir," they chorused, coming to attention before hurriedly turning and making their way out of AJ's office. Once they had passed out of the Admiral's hearing, Harm stopped and grabbed hold of Mac's arm. "How long will it take you to finish your paperwork?"

"About an hour," she said after a moment's thought. "You?"

"Probably a little less," he replied. "I worked on it on the plane while you were asleep."

"Good," she nodded. "Then why don't you use the extra time to call Mattie and let her know we'll definitely be up tomorrow morning?"

Harm smiled at the thought of visiting Mattie. He had missed her. They both had. "Good idea. One less thing to do when we get home."

"Mm," Mac smiled seductively, and her voice was almost a purr. Lowering her voice, she whispered, "There's only one thing I'm going to do when I get home."

"You are bad, Marine," Harm scolded as all of the blood rushed to a spot somewhere south of his belt.

Mac arched a brow and asked, "Are you complaining?"

"Not on your life," he grinned wolfishly. "Now hurry up and finish your paperwork so we can hurry up and get out of here."

"Yes, sir," she responded with an impish smile as she turned and headed towards her office. She walked briskly, trying to focus on the paperwork on her desk and not how very aroused she was, so she didn't notice when Sturgis came storming out of Bud's office until they collided in the middle of the bullpen. Mac grabbed hold of his arm to steady herself, but she had barely regained her balance when he shrugged out of her grip.

"Excuse me," he muttered curtly, stepping around her and making a beeline for his own office. Startled by his abruptness, Mac didn't find her voice until he opened his office door.

"Sturgis?" she called after him in concern.

"Later," he snapped without looking at her, slamming his office door behind him. Mac flinched, both at the sound and at her friend's harshness. Although she knew that she wasn't the cause of his bad temper, it was hard not to take it personally. Taking a deep breath, she debated whether to follow him and see if she could get him to talk, or to take him at his word and give him time alone.

Before she had a chance to make up her mind, she felt Harm step up beside her. "You okay?" he asked quietly.

"I'm worried about him," Mac admitted softly, still staring at his closed office door. Then, realizing they were still standing in the middle of the bullpen, she gestured towards her own office door. "Why don't we talk in my office?"

"Sure." Harm followed her inside, shutting the door behind him. Sliding into one of the chairs in front of her desk, he watched her move to stand in front of the window. After a couple minutes of silence, Mac sighed and turned to sit behind her desk.

"I thought things would get better once you came back," she told Harm. "But he just seems to be getting worse."

"Well, with what happened on that sub, and then this last case, I can see why he'd be upset," Harm said. "From what Bud said, Sturgis worked hard to help Commander Bentley out. He even got his father to testify. And then to find out it was all a lie�"

"That's my point," she answered when he trailed off, "He's hurting, Harm. And I don't know how to help him."

"All you can do, all either of us can do," he corrected himself, "is be there for him. He's got to work this out on his own, Mac. We can't do it for him."

"I know," she said with a frustrated sigh. "It's just that after everything he's done for me, I feel like I'm letting him down."

"Well, you're not," Harm said firmly. "Mac, everything that he did was because you let him in and gave him the chance to help you. Until he does the same, there's nothing more you can do."

"I know. And that just sucks," she complained helplessly. She glared at Harm as he began to laugh. "It's not funny."

"I'm sorry," he chuckled, holding up his hands in defense, "but you're just too cute when you pout."

"I'm not pouting," she pouted.

"Whatever you say, Mac," he humored her. He reached across the desk and patted her hand, "But you're still cute."

"Don't you have paperwork to finish, and a phone call to make?" she asked pointedly, snatching her hand out from under his.

"Yes ma'am," he said with an impudent grin. He stood up and headed to the door. Putting his hand on the doorknob, he turned and said, "Don't forget to take care of your own paperwork, Marine. I, for one, am anxious to get out of here and go home." He raked his eyes up and down her frame, and added huskily, "I have something very important to do, and I'm going to need plenty of time to do it properly."

Mac stared at him wide-eyed, a heated flush sweeping over her. She tried to answer him, to regain her composure, and cursed inwardly when all she could manage was a very breathy, "okay."

Satisfied that he had aroused her into incoherence, he gave her a smug little wave and headed towards his office, whistling `Anchor's Aweigh' as he went.

Saturday, November 22, 2003
Grace Aviation
1000 EST

Mac pulled her `vette into its usual spot next to the hangar. Stepping out, she quickly pulled her coat more tightly around her and headed for the warmth of Mattie's office. It was freezing out this morning, and Mac hoped that it would warm up enough for Harm and Mattie to fly today. He had promised her that they could go up last weekend, but hadn't been able to because of the Tunney case. He was really looking forward to being able to take her up today, probably for the last time until spring.

Mac walked into Mattie's office and found her hunched over the desk, scribbling in a notebook.

"Dare I hope that that's homework you're working so hard on?" Mac asked lightly as she unbuttoned her coat. Mattie turned around in her chair and watched silently as Mac laid her coat on the filing cabinet.

"Where's Harm?" she asked when Mac was facing her again.

"He'll be here in an hour or two," Mac answered, a little startled by the sullen note in the young girl's voice, but not paying too much attention to it. Mattie was, after all, a teenager; and if there was one thing Mac had learned from her relationship with Chloe, it was that teenagers were known for their mood swings.

"The real estate agent called this morning and needed to see one of us," Mac continued her explanation, coming over and leaning against the desk. "Harm offered to go so that you and I could spend some time together before you two go flying." She smiled and pulled out a handful of paint samples that she'd picked up at the hardware store the day before. "So I brought these samples with me. Hopefully we'll find one that you like for your room."

"Why bother?" Mattie muttered, just loud enough for Mac to hear. "It's not like it matters."

Mac frowned; there was something more than normal teenage mood swings upsetting Mattie. She reached out and placed her hand on Mattie's shoulder, only to have Mattie jerk away. Pushing her chair back, she stalked over to the other side of the room, ignoring Mac's concerned stare.

"You want to tell me what's going on?" Mac asked quietly.

Mattie whirled around and met Mac's gaze for the first time since she'd come into the office. "I heard Mrs. Patterson on the phone yesterday," she spat out angrily. "She told me to come over for dinner, and I got there early, and I heard her on the phone. She was saying that she would be happy to have me come live with her. I know she was talking to you."

"Actually, she was talking to Harm," Mac corrected. Mattie just continued to glare at her. She sighed. "Mattie, sweetie, we talked about this. There's a chance that the judge won't let Harm and I have guardianship, because of our jobs and other things."

"So you just decided to give up and pass me off to somebody else?" Mattie shot back, hurt and anger warring in her voice.

"Nobody's giving up, Mattie," Mac responded firmly, walking over and placing her hands on Mattie's shoulders. She lifted Mattie's chin until the girl was looking her in the eye before explaining. "Harm and I are going to do everything we can to make this work, and I really think that we will. But as much as we'd like to, we can't make any guarantees. And if for some reason things don't go the way we want them to, we're not going to just abandon you. That's why we talked to Mrs. Patterson. So that no matter what happens with our petition, you won't have to go live with strangers."

"What makes you think they'll let me stay with her and Mr. Patterson if they won't let me stay with you?" Mattie countered sulkily, not ready to let go of her anger.

"The Patterson's have had other foster children over the years, plus two of their own," Mac explained calmly. "And staying with them would mean your life wouldn't be disrupted as much. Mattie, you said that they were nice people and you liked them, so we thought it was better to ask them than to risk you being sent to live with strangers. But if you really don't want to stay with them, we'll figure something else out."

Mattie sighed. Everything Mac was saying was making sense but�"It's not that I don't want to stay with them," she said quietly, "It's just that I don't want to stay with anyone but you and Harm."

"I know, sweetie," Mac answered her, running a hand soothingly along her cheek. "That's what we want, too. And we're trying, Mattie," she tried to reassure the girl. "We're doing everything we can. And I think we have a really good chance, but we still need to be prepared. You ever heard that old saying, `Hope for the best, prepare for the worst�? That's all Harm and I are trying to do."

Mattie bit her lip and forced back the tears springing to her eyes. "Okay," she said with a sniffle, resting her cheek against Mac's palm.

"Okay," Mac echoed. She brought her other hand up and ran it through Mattie's thick curls. "Do you want me to tell the Pattersons that we're going to try something else?"

"No," she shook her head. "If-if I can't live with you guys, then I'd rather stay with them than a bunch of strangers. I just-"her voice trailed off, choked with tears.

"I know, sweetie," Mac said understandingly. She pressed a kiss to Mattie's forehead. "Try not to worry too much, okay? We'll work it out, you'll see."

"Yeah." Mattie took a deep breath, and pushed away the last of her fear and doubt. When she met Mac's gaze, she was once again wearing her traditional teenage smirk. "So, what color are those paint samples?" She looked at Mac in mock horror. "You didn't bring anything pink, did you?"

Mac laughed and drew Mattie in for a long hug, glad that they had been able to move past this. When Mattie finally pulled away; Mac smiled and handed her over two dozen samples. Then they spread all of them, none of which were pink, onto the floor and sat down to try and find the perfect color for Mattie's bedroom. It was a pretty slow process, since they were spending as much time laughing and throwing the samples back and forth as they were trying to pick a color. However, two hours later they had narrowed the choices to four, and were waiting for Harm to arrive to give his opinion. In the meantime, Mattie had dug out a deck of cards and they began a cutthroat game of gin rummy.

"So," Mattie said as she picked a card from the stack, "Harm said that the case in Arizona was probably the last one you guys would be doing together now that you are moving in with each other."

"Probably," Mac responded, her attention still fixed on her cards. She didn't like thinking about never working with Harm again. But Mattie didn't let it go.

"Will you miss it?" she asked curiously. Mac sighed, and resigned herself to the conversation.

"Yes," she answered honestly. "I mean, we haven't worked together all that much the past year or two, but still�yeah, I'll miss it."

"Even though you guys fight a lot on cases?" At Mac's questioning look, she explained, "Harm told me about your case when he called yesterday. He said you `didn't always see eye to eye'."

"That would be an understatement," Mac grinned. Her smile grew wistful as she added, "But that's part of what makes us good partners, the way we come at things from different angles. And when we're opposing�it makes thinks interesting."

"Do you really think that guy�Tunney?" Mattie asked, trying to remember the name Harm had told her. When Mac nodded, she continued, "Do you really think what he did was wrong?"

"Yes, I do," Mac answered without hesitation. "He was reckless. And because of his recklessness, people got hurt."

"Harm thinks you were too hard on him," Mattie told her.

"Harm would," Mac said with a snort. Mattie looked a little confused, so she explained, "He sometimes has a bit of a blind spot when it comes to his fellow aviators."

"That figures, I guess," Mattie said. She hesitated for a moment, "Mac, if Harm had done what that guy did, would you have prosecuted him the same?"

"Harm would never do what Major Tunney did," Mac answered confidently, not a doubt in her mind. "He does dangerous things sometimes, but he's never reckless."

"So what?" Mattie asked, "If Harm wouldn't do it, then you think it's wrong?"

Mac started to laugh off Mattie's question, until she thought about it for a second. She was shocked to realize that Mattie was probably right. Subconsciously, she tended to compare every pilot she met to Harm, and judge them accordingly. If they did something that Harm wouldn't, then her instinct was to say that it was the wrong thing to do.

"Yeah, I guess I do," she told Mattie, her voice full of wonder at her revelation. Realizing what she'd just admitted, she looked at Mattie and told her only half-jokingly, "But don't tell him I said that. His ego's big enough."

"Too late," came a familiar voice from the doorway. Startled, they both dropped their cards and turned to see Harm leaning against the doorframe, a smug look on his face.

"Harm!" Mattie squealed, jumping up and nearly knocking him down with the force of her hug.

"Hey, Mattie," he said with a laugh as he tried to keep his balance. He returned her hug, planting a quick kiss on top of her head. Then he looked over her head and flashed his best flyboy grin. "Hey, marine."

Mac glared at him as she stood up and walked over to him. "You shouldn't eavesdrop on private conversations," she accused, poking him in the arm.

"You should close the door if you want the conversation to be private," he countered, still grinning. He reached out as Mattie shifted out of his arms, and Mac soon found herself pressed tightly against his chest.

Trying to ignore the rush of arousal his touch always triggered, Mac looked up with a frown. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough," he was still smiling, but she could see the vulnerability in his eyes when he asked, "Did you mean it?"

"Yes," she responded sincerely, recognizing his insecurity and wanting to ease it. She leaned up and pressed her lips to his, ignoring Mattie's exaggerated groan of disgust. "Do me a favor, though?" she added, running her hand affectionately down the side of his face. "Try not to let it go to your head too much, okay?"

"I'll do my best," Harm laughed, bringing her palm to his lips and kissing it. He laughed again when he heard Mattie stalk over to the other side of the room, muttering something about old people and public displays of affection.

"Get used to it, squirt," he called after her unrepentantly, giving Mac a mischievous wink. "You'll be seeing even more PDA's after you move in with us." When Mac looked over his shoulder and giggled, he turned around just in time to Mattie sticking her tongue out at him before she whirled around and pretended to work on paperwork.

"So what did the real estate agent want?" Mac asked when she had calmed down, finally remembering the reason Harm was late.

"Oh, just a couple of i's to dot and t's to cross, nothing major," Harm said with a shrug. There had been so many last minute details at this point, that neither one of them bothered to get worked up about it unless it was something major.

"So we're still set for December 1st?" Mac confirmed.

"Yep," he grinned. "One week and we will officially be homeowners."

"Actually, it's nine days, s-"Mac started, only to be cut off by another long kiss.

"I get the picture," Harm replied after they came up for air. Without turning around, he called out to Mattie, "So, you ready to go up?"

"Always!" Mattie responded enthusiastically, forgetting her disgust in the face of an opportunity to fly.

"Well then, Ms. Grace," Harm said, looking over his shoulder, "I suggest you grab your coat and gear so that we can get going. It's warmed up quite a bit since this morning, but it's still pretty chilly. We need to get a move on before the temperature starts dropping again."

"No problem." She had squeezed past them and was halfway out the door as she said, "I'm just gonna go grab my coat."

Harm and Mac watched in amusement as she disappeared around the corner. "Think she's excited?" Mac asked sarcastically.

"Well, it is the last chance we'll get to fly for a while," Harm pointed out. He glanced down. "Try not to look so relieved, would you?"

"Hey," she responded unrepentantly, "just because I have faith in your flying skills doesn't mean I don't get to worry. Your luck isn't always the greatest."

"True. But that's only when you're with me. So you don't have to worry too much today," he pointed out with a grin, earning him an elbow in the side.

"Funny," she said with a roll of her eyes. Changing the subject, she said seriously, "Harm, Mattie overheard you and Mrs. Patterson on the phone yesterday. I explained to her what was going on, but I think it would help if you reassured her that we aren't giving up on her."

"Of course I will," Harm answered. "I was planning on talking to her about it anyway. Now I just have an excuse," he added. He looked down at her, "You going to be okay here by yourself for a little while?"

"I'll be fine," she said. She gestured to the stacks of paperwork scattered around the office. "I'm going to spend a little time going over the books and making sure everything's in order. Then I'm going to make a list of things we need for the house. I thought that since we're up here and we have both cars, we could take Mattie and get some shopping done when you get back."

"Sure," he responded easily, and then added with mock severity, "But no shoe shopping."

"No shoe shopping," she agreed solemnly. He smiled and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Mac waited until she saw Mattie come along beside him before calling out, "But we are going to take Mattie to Victoria's Secret for some new underwear."

Mattie shrieked with laughter as Harm stumbled in shock, nearly tripping over his own feet. Mac watched, giggling helplessly, until he turned around and started to run back to the office. Moving quickly, Mac just managed to get the door shut and locked by the time Harm got back. He glared at her through the window, but she just stuck her tongue out impishly, which made Mattie laugh even harder. Deciding to go after an easier target, he turned and charged towards Mattie, who let out a shriek and ran. Mac watched as he caught her just as she reached the hangar doors, and started to tickle her mercilessly. Waiting until they had passed out of sight, she moved away from the door and picked up the nearest stack of paper, a broad smile on her face. Life is good, she thought to herself.

Continue to Part Five