The Next Conflicting Phase

Part Eleven

December 14, 2003
Alexandria, VA
1655 EST

As AJ pulled into the driveway of Harm and Mac's new home, he tried to push away the feeling of uneasiness that had been nagging at him all weekend. It had been a long time since any of his officers had asked him to spend time with them outside of the office; well, without the rest of JAG in attendance, at any rate. He wished he could believe that this was a sign that things were returning to normal, that all of the bad feelings of the past year were finally gone, but he couldn't. Because from the moment Coates had come in to tell him Mac had gone home sick, he'd had a bad feeling that something was wrong.

Realizing that he wasn't going to get any answers sitting in his car, AJ got out and hurried up the front porch steps. He rang the doorbell and stepped back, shifting his weight back and forth in an effort to keep warm while he waited for someone to answer.

Inside, Mac was just finishing setting the table when she heard the doorbell ring. Swiftly placing the last of the silverware down, she ducked her head into the kitchen long enough to tell Harm that the Admiral was here before hurrying to let him in. The moment the door opened, she was hit with a blast of cold air, and saw AJ standing there, rubbing his hands together to keep warm.

"Hello, sir," she said, shivering as she opened the door wider, gesturing him inside. "Come on in. Let me take your coat."

"Evening, Mac," he greeted her with a grateful smile as he stepped into the warmth of the house. He pulled off his gloves and shoved them into his pockets, and then shrugged out of his jacket.

"Thanks," he told her as he handed it to her to hang up. While she was doing that, he took the opportunity for a closer look around. "Wow. The place looks great. How did you manage to get everything done in a week?"

"Oh, we didn't get everything done, sir," she tried to brush off his question. Most of the work was the result of sleepless nights spent worrying about test results, and now was not the time to bring that up. "The den and the guest room still need to be painted, and there's a few projects that we need to finish up with."

"Still," AJ countered, "considering what it looked like last week, you've accomplished quite a bit."

"Thank you, sir." Mac decided the best thing to do was to accept the compliment and change the subject. She gestured to her left. "Why don't we go into the living room?" she suggested. "Harm's just finishing up dinner."

"Sounds good." As he followed her into the room, AJ noticed how tense she seemed. He walked over to the fireplace to try and warm his still chilled hands, wondering if the tension was because of whatever she'd asked him over to tell him, or if it was just because he was here in their home. Whatever it was, it was making things pretty damn uncomfortable.

"Can I get you something to drink, sir?" Mac offered quickly. She hoped he would say yes so that she could have an excuse to escape to the kitchen for a minute, but he just shook his head.

"No thanks, Mac. I'll just wait until dinner," AJ said as he moved over to the sofa. "And since we're out of uniform, call me AJ."

"Yes, sir," Mac responded automatically. He laughed and she blushed embarrassedly, "I mean AJ. Sorry."

"That's quite all right, Mac," AJ said with a big grin, and the awkwardness dissipated. He was about to tease her that she had been hanging around Bud too long, when Harm made his way out from the kitchen, wiping his hands on the towel he had tossed over his shoulder. AJ stood up to greet him.

"Evening, Harm."

Harm shook hands firmly with his C.O. "Hello, sir," he said pleasantly. Although he was making an effort to appear relaxed, AJ thought he saw some signs of strain in Harm's demeanor. He didn't think too much of it; things were still awkward between the two of them at times. So he decided to just keep things as friendly as possible.

"Something smells good," he complimented Harm.

"Vegetarian lasagna," Harm informed him, ignoring the small huff of disapproval from Mac. She wasn't exactly taking the doctor's directive to cut down on meat too well. Rolling his eyes at her, he told AJ, "How are you this evening, sir?"

"Just fine. And it's AJ right now," he responded. "How about yourself? Everything going well?"

It was an innocuous question, a pleasantry really, but it brought the reality of the past two weeks crashing back down on him. Suddenly, the room seemed a little too small.

He gave AJ a strained smile. "As well as can be expected," he answered, and began to back out of the room as the need to escape grew. "Excuse me, AJ. I have to get the lasagna out."

AJ watched him go, perplexed at his sudden change in attitude. He turned to Mac, who didn't seem at all surprised by Harm's abrupt departure. "Is everything okay, Mac?" he asked cautiously, "Things seem a little tense."

She just gave him a weary smile. "It's been a long couple of weeks, sir." Something about her tone worried AJ, and he forgot to correct her for not using his name. She gestured to the dining room. "Why don't we go sit down?"

AJ started to protest, but decided to give them a little more time to tell him what was going on before he pushed the issue. So instead he just smiled and held out his arm to her, pleased when she took it without hesitation and walked with him to the dining room.

Thirty minutes later, AJ was almost done, and Harm and Mac were still pushing their food around on their plates. That more than anything convinced him that something was up. He had never seen Mac pick at a meal like this. Every time he watched her take a bite, it seemed to him that she was forcing the food down her throat. He didn't understand it, for as much as she teased Harm about his cooking and his eating habits, Mac had always seemed to enjoy Harm's food. Now she looked like she was going to be sick. Then he remembered what happened Friday, and thought he might have found the answer. What if Mac was pregnant?

It would make sense, AJ thought as he watched her out of the corner of his eye. Her lack of appetite, the queasy look on her face, the way Harm was hovering over her; they could all be because of morning sickness. Despite it's name, he knew that not all women got sick in the morning; Marcella had always thrown up right before bed when she was pregnant with Francesca. And he had reacted the same way to her that Harm was reacting now, nervous and over protective. But even if they were having typical first time parent jitters, it still didn't explain the level of tension permeating the room. And while he imagined that they would be anxious about breaking the news to their C.O., there was no reason to be quite so nervous, either. He ruthlessly shoved aside the niggling thought in the back of his mind that after his behavior this past year, they had more than enough reason to be nervous. No, they had come to an understanding when he had asked Harm back, and things were better now. There had to be another reason for them to look so unhappy, but he wasn't sure what it could be.

They would be happy to have a baby together; he was sure of that. He knew how much Mac wanted children, and after seeing his reaction to Mattie, AJ knew Harm felt the same way. Suddenly, he thought he knew what the problem was. Mattie. What if they'd told her that they were having a baby, and she reacted badly? That would certainly account for their mood. They were very attached to her already, and if she'd put up a fuss, it would certainly have dampened their spirits. He decided to test that theory.

"And how is Mattie doing these days?" he asked casually.

Harm and Mac both froze, and the tension in the room skyrocketed. Mac's gaze shot to Harm, who was sitting rigidly in his chair, his face set in an expression of cold anger. AJ was a little alarmed at the sudden change in his mood. What the hell had happened in the last forty-eight hours? He turned to face Mac, staring at her expectantly.

For her part, Mac didn't know what to say. She hadn't been expecting him to ask about Mattie; they rarely mentioned her to him. And after their disastrous meeting with her yesterday, talking about her now was the last thing she wanted to do. But he had asked the question, and she felt obliged to answer.

"We had a setback," she finally told him quietly. Her gaze darted to Harm momentarily, before refocusing on AJ. She swallowed hard. "We've decided to withdraw our petition and help Mrs. Patterson gain temporary guardianship."

"Why?" AJ asked, utterly confused. Surely a pregnancy wouldn't be that much of a problem for their case. "And who is Mrs. Patterson?"

"She's-"

"Could we talk about this later?" Harm snapped. He saw Mac flinch at his harsh tone, and felt a stab of remorse. What happened yesterday wasn't her fault, none of this was, and he knew he shouldn't take it out on her, no matter how upset he was about what happened. He took a deep breath to calm down, before saying softly, "Let's talk about this after dinner. Please?"

Mac silently nodded her head in agreement, and AJ, although he didn't know what was going on, added, "I think that would be a good idea."

The next few minutes were filled with an awkward silence, so when Mac finally suggested that they adjourn to the living room for coffee, Harm and AJ readily agreed. Mac headed to the kitchen, and the men moved to the living room. As they were sitting, Harm on the sofa and AJ on the chair across from him, Harm asked him about Meredith. AJ told him that she was in Italy for the holidays, and saw a flicker of sympathy in the younger man's eyes. Harm knew all about spending the holidays alone, and how miserable it could be. But he didn't say anything, only asked AJ if he had spoken to her recently. AJ was just about to answer when Mac came back carrying a tray with three steaming cups of coffee. She set it on the table and quickly took her seat next to Harm.

They each picked up their mugs and began to gingerly sip the hot brew, and AJ noticed they were carefully avoiding each other's gaze. He waited for one of them to speak, silently counting to a hundred, first in English and then in Italian. But it soon became clear to him that if he wanted to know what was going on, he was going to have to start the ball rolling himself.

"Would one of you like to tell me what's going on?" he asked. His voice was gruffer than he would have liked, but he was starting to get a little frustrated. Mac and Harm exchanged uneasy glances. Although they had talked about what to tell the Admiral, neither one of them knew exactly where to start.

Finally, just when AJ was about to order them to start talking, Mac turned to him and blurted out, "I have cancer."

That one statement sucked all the air from his lungs, and for one brief moment, AJ honestly thought he might pass out. Cancer. Of all the things he thought she might say; that had never even entered his mind. It just didn't seem possible. He tried to think of something to say, questions to ask, but his mind wouldn't move past that one word. Cancer.

"It's um...I have breast cancer," Mac continued when she realized AJ wasn't going to say anything. "We found out for sure on Friday. It doesn't appear to be too bad. I mean, the initial tests look pretty good," she rushed on, her words tumbling over each other in her haste to get them out. "But I'm going to need surgery, so I'm going to have to take some medical leave. And I have to have some tests first. I've got them scheduled, but if you need me at JAG, I can-"

"I don't give a damn about JAG right now," AJ interjected harshly, startling Mac so much she practically jumped out of her seat. Harm quickly reached over and took her hand, stroking it gently. He shot AJ a reproving glare before leaning over and whispering soft reassurances to her. AJ felt a stab of remorse; he hadn't meant to upset her, but he couldn't help feeling a little angry that she would think his main concern would be how her illness would affect JAG. He had thought they had come farther than that.

He sighed; if they hadn't come as far as he'd thought, he had no one to blame but himself. He had been keeping everyone at a distance for so long, ever since Lindsay's hatchet job, that they didn't know how to react to him. Well, he vowed to himself, that was going to change, starting now.

Standing up, he pushed the tray off to the side and sat down in front of Mac on the edge of the coffee table. Picking up her free hand, he said softly, "Mac, look at me."

When she looked up at him with wide, apprehensive eyes, he felt even worse. He squeezed her hand and tried to reassure her. "JAG's not important right now. Whatever happens, we'll handle it, whether you take a couple of months leave or a couple of years. The only thing you need to focus on right now is getting well. Okay?"

"Yes, sir," she managed to choke out past the lump in her throat. This AJ, gruff on the outside, but gentle and caring on the inside, this was the AJ that she remembered. The one that she trusted; the one that she hadn't been sure she'd ever see again after Paraguay. And now that he was here, she hoped that he would stay. She needed him, and so did Harm.

AJ watched her, looking so small and vulnerable right now, curled in on herself, her hand still clutching tightly to Harm's. Part of him just wanted to draw her into his arms and reassure her that everything would be okay; but he knew she wouldn't appreciate it or believe it. And because he knew that Mac hated showing weakness to anyone, even Harm, he decided the best thing he could do for her now was to treat her like he would normally treat her, like a Marine, capable of fighting any battle set before her.

Mac saw the moment he stopped acting like AJ and started acting like the Admiral. And just as he thought she would be, she was grateful for the change. She was tired of feeling like she was made of glass, about to shatter at any moment, and it was good to know that there was someone who knew she was sick but wasn't going to treat her like she was.

"Let's start at the beginning, okay?" AJ said, getting down to the details. "You said you needed surgery." Mac nodded silently. "Do you know when?"

"It's scheduled for the morning of the twenty-sixth." Mac responded, her voice stronger now, as she took her cue from him. She forced her mind to focus on the things he would need to know to deal with this.

"How much leave will you need to recover from that?"

"A week, sir," she answered firmly, without hesitation. "I can be back by the fifth."

"Mac, that's not enough time."

For the first time since Mac had entered the room, Harm spoke, and his voice matched hers in determination. He hadn't said anything up to this point because he knew that she needed to tell AJ in her own way, but he wasn't about to let her pretend that she was going to be able to bounce back like nothing had happened.

Mac glared at him. "Joe said I could go back to work when I felt ready," she argued.

As AJ listened to them go back and forth, he wondered who Joe was. From the way Mac was talking about him, it sounded like the man was her doctor, but he'd never met a doctor whose patients called him by his first name. He made a mental note to check out this Joe first thing in the morning. He turned his attention back to the conversation in time to hear Mac say; "You don't get to decide how long I take leave for, Harm."

"No, but I do," he interrupted calmly, effectively silencing both of them. He wasn't going to give them the chance to dig in their heels for a long battle. So, when he was satisfied he had both of their attentions, he said, "I'm giving you two weeks leave."

"Sir, I-"

"Let me finish Mac," he interrupted her immediate protest. "I'm going to give you two weeks just to be sure. If you feel up to it, and if your doctor agrees to it, then you can come back sooner." He gave her a stern look. "Likewise, if you don't feel up to it at the end of two weeks, we'll extend the leave." Without giving either of them a chance to argue, he moved on to the next topic. "Now, I assume there will be restrictions of your duties?"

"Yes, sir," Mac sighed, knowing by the tone of his voice that he considered the matter closed. When the time came, she would just have to convince both him and Joe that she was ready to come back. She focused on his last question.

"I have a list that has all the restrictions," she informed him. "I also have one with the dates of the tests I have scheduled before surgery. They're upstairs."

"Would you mind getting them for me?" His tone implied it was more of a demand than a request, and Mac took it as such, nodding and rising to her feet. Before she could step away, he added quickly, "Actually, would you put them on a single sheet so I can keep track of it more easily?"

"Yes, sir." She recognized his question for what it was, a chance to get her out of the way so he could talk to Harm alone. She also recognized that there was nothing she could do about it. "It'll take me a few minutes, so if you'll excuse me."

She slipped out of the room and up the stairs, and AJ waited until her footsteps had faded away before turning his attention back to Harm. Taking his first close look at the man since Mac had told him she was sick, AJ noticed the slump of his shoulders, the shadows underneath his eyes, and began to recognize just how much of a toll this was taking on him as well. But because they still weren't at a place where either one of them felt comfortable talking about personal matters, AJ opted to focus on the one thing they had always had in common-Mac.

"How much time does she really need, Harm?" he questioned bluntly. He knew that Harm would tell him the truth, even if it meant disagreeing with Mac and making her angry. If there was one thing he learned this summer, it was that Mac's health and safety were paramount to Harm.

"I don't know. There are so many variables right now." Harm ran his hands wearily over his face, and AJ wondered when the last time was that either of them had gotten a good night's sleep. "We need to know what the tests say, how the surgery goes, what the biopsy tells us, how she reacts to radiation, whether she'll need chemo-there's no way to see more than a few days ahead of us with any kind of certainty."

AJ nodded understandingly. "Have you told anyone else?" he asked.

"No, and we don't plan on it," Harm told him firmly, "Not until after the holidays when we know for sure what's going on."

"But that will be after Mac's surgery," AJ protested. He didn't understand why they would decide not to say anything; surely they would want the support of their friends right now.

"I know," Harm conceded, "but she doesn't want anyone to know yet." His gaze shifted to the stairs. "She says she just doesn't want them to worry until it's absolutely necessary, but I know it's more," he confided in AJ. "She just..."

Harm's voice trailed off, so AJ finished the sentence for him. "She doesn't trust them."

"No. I mean, yes." Harm broke off, frustrated. Taking a deep breath, he started over. "She does trust them; I think it's more that she doesn't know how they're going to react," he explained. "The way things have been this past year, she doesn't know how they're going to handle it, and she can't handle that not knowing on top of everything else. It's just one too many uncertainties for her to worry about."

"She can't handle their reactions on top of her own?" AJ said understandingly.

"Yeah, exactly," he confirmed, relieved that AJ understood where Mac was coming from. Where they both were coming from, really. He didn't want to deal with it any more than she did. He thought about the reaction of the one other person in their lives that they had told, and his face darkened. "And what happened yesterday certainly helped reinforce that opinion."

"Yesterday? What happened-" he broke off as he realized what Harm was talking about. "Mattie. That's why you gave up on your petition for guardianship. You knew the judge wouldn't let Mattie stay with you under the circumstances."

"Actually, we were still going to try. We knew we didn't have a chance, but we were still going to try. If only so that we could petition again in the future if we needed to, after Mac gets well."

AJ noticed the certainty in Harm's tone when he said Mac was going to recover, and it both pleased and worried him. He couldn't help thinking that Harm might not be allowing himself to consider all the possible outcomes of Mac's illness. But he couldn't blame him for that, and in any case, now wasn't the time to bring it up. Sticking to the matter at hand, he asked, "What made you change your mind?"

"Mattie did," Harm answered, and AJ was shocked at the amount of bitterness in his voice. "She told us she didn't want us to be her guardians anymore. That was sometime after she accused Mac of lying about her illness so that she'd have an excuse to ditch her. And right before she said she wished she'd never met either of us," he revealed, his voice tight with anger and grief as he remembered the awful, hurtful words that the young girl had thrown at them before bursting into tears and running out of the house. "She said that her life was better off without us, and that she hoped Mac did die, because it would serve her right."

AJ listened to Harm's explanation, stunned and angry. The one time he had met the young Miss Grace, she had been insolent and rude, but he couldn't believe that she would actually say something so cruel to the people who had done nothing but try and help her from the moment they met her. No wonder Harm was so angry.

The two men were so caught up in their discussion that neither one of them had noticed when Mac slipped back into the room until she spoke.

"She didn't mean it, Harm," she told him softly as she moved to sit down beside him. She dropped the paper she was holding carelessly on the table and picked up his hand. "You know she didn't mean it. And she apologized for it."

Harm shook his head, unwilling to excuse Mattie's callous remarks. "Only because Mrs. Patterson gave her a twenty minute lecture and threatened to ground her for a month if Mattie didn't say she was sorry."

"She would have apologized eventually on her own, Harm. She just didn't want to admit that she'd said something so hurtful," Mac told him. As much as it had hurt her to hear Mattie say what she did, she knew the teen was just lashing out because she was so angry and afraid. "You know she didn't mean it, Harm. Not about me dying. And as for the rest of it, can you really blame her for feeling like she's better off without us, Harm? But it won't last forever."

"I know that, Mac, but it doesn't mean she had the right to-" Harm broke off, frustrated. He knew Mac was right. Mrs. Patterson had even called this morning to tell them how Mattie had woken up in the middle of the night, crying about how sorry she was. But she had also said that this morning, Mattie had reiterated her desire to have Harm and Mac as far away from her as possible. He shook his head. He couldn't get into this again, couldn't think about it any more.

"I need to get the dishes loaded and the food put away," he blurted out abruptly, grabbing hold of the first excuse he could think of to get out of the room. "Excuse me."

Without another word, he stormed off to the kitchen. AJ watched him go, empathizing with his anger and his pain. It was bad enough that he was facing losing the woman he loved, and now on top of that, he had lost a young woman he was starting to look at it like a daughter. He looked over at Mac, and saw her staring after him with a lost look on her face. He placed a gentle hand on her knee. "Do you want to talk about it?"

For a long moment, she didn't say anything, and AJ wondered if she'd even heard him. But then he heard her say quietly, her eyes still fixed on the same spot, "He's not really angry with me for defending her. He knows she didn't mean it."

She turned and looked sadly at him. "She's angry and she's hurt, but most of all she's afraid. Afraid that I'm going to die, to leave her just like everyone else in her life. He knows that."

"I'm sure he does," AJ agreed, before adding, "So why do you think he's angry with you?"

"Because he's just as afraid as she is," she told him with sad certainty. "When I defended her, he asked me why I agreed to give up the petition if I thought she was going to come around."

"What did you tell him?" he asked, although he thought he already knew the answer, and why it would make Harm angry.

"The truth," she admitted. Unable to meet AJ's penetrating gaze any longer, she looked down at her hands and whispered, "That I don't know if I'll be alive long enough to see it."

"Mac, you're not-"

"Please, AJ," she cut him off before he could finish. "Please don't. Don't tell me it's not going to happen, that I'm not going to die," she pleaded softly, lifting her eyes to meet his. "You don't know that. Neither does Harm, but he refuses to admit it."

"Because he loves you, Mac," he told her. "He's not going to accept it; he's going to fight it."

"So am I," she said, her voice full of conviction. "I love him more than anything, AJ. And I'm going to fight to stay with him with my very last breath," she vowed fiercely, "Whether that's now or in fifty years. But I also know that I can fight as hard as I can, and it still might not be enough. Harm doesn't."

"He knows, Mac," AJ said with complete certainty. "He knows. He just can't face it. He can't face a life without you." Mac looked down again, but not before AJ saw the guilt flooding her eyes. He had a feeling that he knew what she was thinking, and if he was right, it was only adding to Harm's anger. "I think there's another reason he's upset with you."

"What other reason?" she asked quietly, without looking up.

"He knows that Mattie isn't the only one blaming you for being sick." Her face flushed and she bit down on her bottom lip; and AJ knew that he was right. He shook his head with a sigh. This was one area where Harm and Mac were a matched set, both all too ready to hold themselves responsible for things completely out of their control. It was one of their worst traits, and it was one they couldn't afford to have, not now.

AJ reached out and tilted her chin up to face him. "It's not your fault, Mac," he told her firmly. "You need to believe that. You're going to have enough to deal with; you don't need to add misplaced feelings of guilt and responsibility on top of that. You need to let it go. Not just for your sake, but for Harm's, too."

It was exactly the right thing to say to her. She might not be able to let go of the guilt for herself, but she would be able to for Harm, to spare him any further pain. She looked up at AJ with new determination. "I understand, sir."

He smiled approvingly. Giving her one more pat on the knee, he picked up the piece of paper sitting next to him and stood.

"On that note, and because you've reverted to calling me, sir," he told her with a wry smile, "I think it's time I head home." He saw her glance towards the kitchen, trying to figure out how to get Harm to come out with the least amount of fuss. He decided to let them both off the hook. "Tell Harm I said goodnight."

Mac rushed after him as he entered the hallway and pulled his coat off the rack. She watched silently as he buttoned up his jacket and pulled out his gloves. She knew she should say something, but she couldn't find the words. Finally, when he was standing at the door, ready to brave the night air, she stepped forward and placed her hands on his shoulders, leaning up and pressing a quick kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you," she whispered and stepped back, her face flushing a little with embarrassment at her boldness. But he just smiled.

"You're welcome," he said softly, before falling back into his role as her C.O. He held up the paper in his hand. "I'll look this over and see what needs to be done, and then meet with you sometime tomorrow. Good night."

With that, he stepped outside, closing the door behind him before Mac had the chance to say another word. She watched out the window to make sure he made it safely to his car, and waited until he pulled out onto the road before heading off to the kitchen to check on Harm.

He was standing at the sink, washing the last of the dishes. He could have just stuck them in the dishwasher, but doing them by hand gave him an excuse to stay hidden away a little longer. He had managed to get himself pretty much calmed down when he heard Mac's footsteps behind him. He tried not to tense up. He wasn't angry at her, not really, and he didn't want to fight with her anymore.

He forced himself to try and make normal conversation. "Did AJ leave?" he asked as casually as he could manage.

"Yeah." Mac started to take a step towards him, but didn't want to take the chance that he would reject her touch right now. Instead, she leaned against the kitchen table and told him, "He took the paper with him. He's going to look it over and meet with us sometime tomorrow."

"That's good," he said, rinsing off the last of the dishes. He set them in the strainer and picked up a towel to start drying.

Mac watched him for a moment before asking tentatively, "Do you need any help?"

"No, I'm almost done." He reached for another plate and quickly wiped it dry. "Why don't you go on upstairs and relax?"

"I can't," she said, hurt that he still refused to look at her. "I have some work I need to finish up for tomorrow."

At that, he did look at her. Turning and glancing over his shoulder, he gave her a quick but penetrating stare, and Mac knew that he was trying to judge if she was up to working right now. Suddenly resentful of the way he was managing to be both overprotective and indifferent, she glared belligerently at him, daring him to say something.

Harm saw the challenge in her eyes, and immediately backed down. He knew he was being a jerk, but he couldn't seem to help it. That's why he wanted to be left alone, so he didn't end up doing or saying something he'd regret. So he just said, "Okay," and his tone was as close to an apology as he could get at the moment.

Mac recognized this, and her gaze softened a little. "What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I'm going to work out for awhile." He shrugged. "Maybe go for a run."

She wanted to protest that it was too cold, but she knew he wouldn't listen. So she just told him to be careful and left the kitchen. She spent the next two hours and twenty-six minutes holed up in the den, getting as much work done as she could to make up for the time she was going to miss the next two weeks. At some point she heard Harm leave, and then re-enter the house, only to head downstairs to the basement. He was still in there when Mac headed upstairs, so she quickly took her shower and crawled into bed.

Hours passed, and she gave up hoping that he would come to bed and allowed herself to drift off to sleep. But just before she slid completely into unconsciousness, she felt the bed shift and roused herself just long enough to feel his strong arms slip hesitantly around her. She knew that this was his way of telling her he was sorry; it was all the apology she needed. With a relieved sigh, she snuggled back against his chest, covered his hands with hers, and fell asleep, with Harm following soon after.

Continue to Part Twelve