******************************************

Commander Harmon Rabb, Junior stood to survey the damage as the echo of the

last gunshot died away. The area was littered with the remains of six

traitors who would no longer be peddling classified military technology to

the highest bidder.

"I wanted at least one of them alive for questioning!" Clayton Webb

complained.

"It's not like they gave us much choice, Clay," he retorted. "Hey Mac, you

OK?" he called over his shoulder. She didn't respond. "Mac?" He turned

as she stumbled against him. Mac's gun dropped from nerveless fingers and

Harm caught her just as her legs buckled. To his horror, Harm realized

that his hands were slick with blood. "Webb! Mac's been hit! Get an

ambulance! Now!"

Webb ran for the car phone as Harm carefully lowered his partner to the

ground. There was so much blood, he couldn't really tell how many bullets

she'd taken. Her eyes were open, though she didn't really seem to see

anything, and her breath came in shallow gasps. "Mac? C'mon, Mac you

gotta focus and stay with me." He shook her gently. "Don't do this

Marine! You look at me!"

Mac's eyes turned vaguely towards his face. "Hurts…" she whispered.

"I know, but help's on the way. You just have to hang on a little longer.

C'mon, you can do this!"

"Semper fi…Harm…" Then her eyes closed and she slumped in his arms.

"Mac? Mac no!"

"Rabb! The ambulance is on the way!" Webb called. He stopped short at

Harm's dejected pose. "Rabb? How is she?" he asked cautiously. He'd

never seen the commander look so lost and he didn't like it – not one bit.

He knelt beside them and gingerly reached out to touch her throat, thankful

when he found a pulse. "She's still with us, Harm," he said carefully.

"Mac's a fighter, and so are you. She's still alive, so let's keep her

that way, shall we?"

Webb shed his suit jacket and folded it up. "Here – this'll stop the

bleeding better then your bare hand." He placed the jacket over the wound

and Harm shifted his hand out of the way, then added his strength to keep

the pressure steady. Two men who had never particularly seen eye-to-eye

suddenly found themselves focused on a single goal – to keep Mac alive

until help arrived.

******************************************

"Sir, why don't you let Bud help you clean up? You don't want Major

MacKenzie to wake up and see you looking like that."

Harm shook his head. "No, I can't leave."

"It's OK, sir, there's a washroom right across the hall. Harriet can bang

on the door if someone needs us," Bud urged.

Reluctantly, Harm allowed himself to be led away, leaving Harriet to keep

watch outside the surgical unit. Admiral Chegwidden returned to find her

there. "Did you get in touch with Colonel O'Hara, sir?"

"Yes. He'll be arriving at Dulles in about two hours."

"A.J.?"

He turned at the sound of Maggie Taylor's voice. "Maggie, what are you –

Dinner. I'm sorry…"

"Never mind about dinner. I heard on the news that one of your officers

had been shot. Is there something – anything - I can do?"

Seeing that Harriet had judiciously wandered off down the corridor, he

extended his arms to her. "Oh, Maggie I am in serious need of a hug right

about now." He held her tightly for several long moments.

"How bad is your friend?" she finally asked.

"About as bad as it gets," he sighed. He stepped back as the door leading

from the O.R. opened.

"Admiral Chegwidden?" the surgeon inquired.

"Yes."

"We're moving Major MacKenzie to recovery now. We've repaired as much of

the damage as we could." He rubbed his eyes wearily.

"What is her condition?" the admiral asked.

"Critical. It's really too early to say if she'll make a complete

recovery; she's young and strong, that always helps. I can tell you

though, if it wasn't for the actions of the two fellas who came in with

her, she'd never have made it this far." The doctor paused before speaking

again. "Has her family been notified?"

"Yes. You will keep us posted?" It wasn't really an inquiry.

"Yes, of course, sir."

Harriet had returned as the doctor was speaking. "At least you can tell

Colonel O'Hara that she's out of surgery," she said hopefully.

"Yes, Ensign, I'll do that. Where's Commander Rabb?"

"Bud's helping him to get cleaned up."

"Webb had the sense to go home. I don't suppose you'll have any luck

convincing Mister Rabb to do likewise."

"We'll certainly try, sir."

"I have to go meet Colonel O'Hara's plane. Try to get him to go home and

rest."

"Aye, sir."

"Maggie, I have to go meet a flight.

"Could you use some moral support?" she asked.

"That's the best offer I've had all day, but I've already wrecked your

plans enough for one night."

"A.J., I don't run out on my friends when they need me. If you like, you

can consider it payback for the night we spent stranded in the parking lot

with the sixty ten-year-olds waiting for the buses."

He shook his head wearily as he offered her his arm. "I don't know what

I'd do without you," a fond grin tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Ensign, we'll be back shortly."

Harriet watched them leave, smiling speculatively. She'd only met Doctor

Taylor briefly, but she liked her whole-heartedly and was pleased that the

admiral had such a wonderful friend. She had a feeling they were all going

to need all the support they could get to manage the next few days.

******

Admiral Chegwidden nearly collided with Clayton Webb in the doorway of the

hospital. "Well, Mister Webb," he drawled, "I see you've finally proven me

wrong."

"Sir?"

"I was just telling Ensign Sims that you were smart enough to go home and

rest."

"Yeah…well I just wanted to find out how Mac is doing. She's my friend

too."

"Wonders never cease," the admiral said aside to Maggie. Then to Webb,

"they've just moved her to recovery."

******************************************

"C'mon sir, let us take you home. Major MacKenzie won't wake up for a

while and they've promised to call if her condition changes."

"No, Bud, I want to be here when she wakes up. You two should go home,

there's no need for all of us to wait."

"No sir," Harriet answered for both of them, "we don't bail out on our

friends. You should know that by now."

"Yes…yes I do," Harm answered with a slow smile.

"How is she?" Webb asked as he joined them.

"The doctor says-," Harriet began.

"The doctor says," continued the surgeon , who had just come back down the

hall, "that people who have been hanging around this hallway the entire

time that Major MacKenzie was in surgery are going to go get something to

eat. On the double, before I call the M.P.'s. Do I make myself clear?"

"Aye, sir," Bud replied.

"But –," Harm began.

"No 'buts,' Commander. We'll page you if her condition changes."

******************************************

Matthew O'Hara spied the admiral through the crowd and headed straight for

him. "Admiral Chegwidden."

"Colonel O'Hara," the admiral reached out to shake his hand. "This is

Doctor Maggie Taylor, a friend," he added in response to Matt's inquiring

look.

"How's Sarah?" Matt asked tensely as they moved quickly through the crowd.

"She came through the surgery as well as could be expected. The doctors

moved her to recovery before we left."

"The surgeon was very optimistic," Maggie told him.

"Thank you, ma'am. Admiral, what exactly happened?"

"Your niece and Commander Rabb were assisting with a State Department

investigation into the theft of weapons technology. A gun fight broke out

and Major MacKenzie was hit."

"State Department? This wouldn't involve Clayton Webb, would it?" The

Colonel's expression promised unpleasant things for the Special Assistant

to the Undersecretary of State.

"Well, I wouldn't be too hard on Mister Webb. Not this time, anyway. He

helped Commander Rabb administer first aid on the scene."

"The doctor said she wouldn't have made it to the hospital without them,"

Maggie added.

"Was anyone else hurt?"

"Six traitors to the United States of America are in the morgue," the

admiral replied with a trace of pride in his voice. "There's talk of

commendations for the three of them."

"No commendation is worth Sarah's life," Matt replied sadly.

******************************************

A nurse escorted Maggie, Colonel O'Hara and the admiral to Mac's room.

Clayton Webb was waiting there. "Bud and Harriet took Harm home, on the

condition that I stay here and call if she so much as twitches." He

gestured to his cell phone, out on the tabletop where he could easily reach

it.

Matthew O'Hara stepped to his niece's bedside and bent to kiss her

forehead. "Oh, Sarah…" he sighed, while gently stroking Mac's hair back

from her pale face.

"I, ah, don't want to intrude." Webb rose to leave.

"Mister Webb." Matt straightened up and turned to face him. "I've been

told you helped save Sarah's life. You have my gratitude." He shook

Webb's hand warmly.

"I'm glad I could help, sir. Please call me if there's any change."

"We will. Thank you again."

Webb nodded to Maggie and the admiral on his way out.

"Colonel, do you have a place to stay?" Admiral Chegwidden asked.

Matt shook his head. "I want to stay here for a while."

"Of course. Here are my numbers, you need anything – I don't care what

time it is – you call me."

"Thank you, both of you."

*******

Bright sunshine streamed through the windows of Mac's room, waking Matt

from a fitful doze. He gradually realized that Harm was standing in the

doorway, holding a large bouquet of lovely, deep pink carnations. His gaze

was fixed on Mac's face, calm in repose.

"How long have you been standing there, son?" Matt asked.

"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's all right." He studied the younger man carefully, reading all the

emotions that Harm was too exhausted to keep out of his eyes. "You feel

guilty about this, don't you?" he asked shrewdly.

Harm nodded.

"So tell me, where were you when Sarah was shot?"

"Right next to her."

"I see," Matt nodded gravely. "And what were you doing?"

"Returning fire."

"In other words, you were doing your job, the same as Sarah. Then when you

realized that she was hurt, you did everything you could to help her. Is

that about right?"

"Yes sir."

"Then I don't see as you have anything to feel guilty about, do you?"

"Well…I guess, when you put it that way…"

Matt smiled at him. "Why don't you put those right over here, so Sarah

will see them as soon as she wakes up?"

******

Matt O'Hara straightened in his chair as he detected a slight motion from

his slumbering niece. It had been nearly thirty-six hours, but he hadn't

left her side any more than was absolutely necessary. Hardly daring to

breathe, he leaned forward to clasp her hand in both of his as her head

turned on the pillow. Her eyelids fluttered, and finally opened. "Hello,

Sarah," he said with a smile. "Welcome back."

"Uncle Matt?"

"Yes, Sarah, I'm here. You were hurt, but everything's going to be all

right."

She gazed around dazedly at the profusion of bouquets, balloons and stuffed

animals filling the room. "Flowers…" she whispered.

"Yes, baby. Lots and lots of flowers, from all of us who love you," Matt

replied, gently kissing the small hand he held so tightly.

Mac frowned slightly, as though trying to remember something. "Harm?" she

finally asked.

"I'm right here, Mac," Harm's familiar voice replied.

She turned toward him, a contented little smile playing over her face. "I

had a dream…'bout you," she whispered.

"Tell me about it," he prompted gently.

"We were in a rose garden... You…told me…that…" her voice trailed off as

her eyes drifted shut again.

Harm smiled as he kissed her cheek. "It's OK, Mac. You can tell me

later."