Title: Second Degree          Chapters 1-6     Chapters 7-13      Chapters 14-20      Chapters 21-27      Chapters 28-31 Chapter 28 Mac’s apartment Wednesday evening Relaxing back onto the sofa, Mac slowly began to unwind after another physical therapy session. She was scheduled for three sessions a week and had been given an exercise band to do daily strengthening at home.  After only three days she could already feel the difference.  Still a little sore, she was rearranging the ice pack on her shoulder when the phone rang. “MacKenzie.” “How was PT?” Harm’s low, sexy voice was hot enough to melt the ice on her shoulder, and probably all the ice in Alaska if she really thought about it. “Good, but it’s almost two o’clock in the morning for you.  What are you doing up?” “Couldn’t sleep.” “Benson hasn’t regained consciousness yet?” “No. If there’s no improvement by Friday, they’re shipping him home.” Mac could hear the disappointment in his voice.  “Does the doctor have any idea why he hasn’t woken up yet?” “None, he said there was no indication of serious head trauma. Some people just take longer to wake up, but I can tell he’s starting to worry too.” “Have they at least let you fly one of the babies?” Mac practically cooed over the phone, teasing him. “Well…” “I thought so,” she chuckled. “Captain Johnson took pity on me.  I think he got tired of watching me pace the….” Harm noticed a corpsman from sickbay stop suddenly beside him and clear his throat.  “May I help you?” Harm asked, a tad annoyed at the intrusion. “Sorry, sir, I’ve been looking everywhere for you.  The Doc says Lt. Benson is stirring, he thought you’d want to be there when he comes to.” Harm’s face sprang to life. “I’m on my way!” he told the young man, and then returned to his phone call. “Did you hear that, Mac?” “Sure did. Let me know how it turns out.” “Sure will!  Gotta run.  Love you.” Harm hung up the phone and bolted down the passageway, suddenly stopping dead in his tracks.  Raising his hands to his face, what had he just done?  He hadn’t meant to spit out he loved her so casually over the phone, an ocean away, and then not even stick around long enough to hear what she might say back.  “Damn.” He couldn’t worry about it now.  He had a job to do. Mac sat staring at the phone in her hands.  Well, if she’d had any doubt about how he felt, she shouldn’t now.  Hanging up the receiver, she continued to stare at it.  Could things really, finally be going her way?  She knew she wanted to talk to Harm about making some changes in their relationship, maybe this would make that conversation a little easier.  Oh, she prayed he’d meant that the way it had sounded. Harm came barreling down the hall and turned into sickbay.  He stopped short at the sight of Lt. Benson sitting up in bed, wide-awake and flirting with one of the nurses.  This couldn’t possibly be the same man who had been completely unconscious for the last five days.  Harm shook his head and laughed softly to himself. Was there no limit to the ego of a Naval aviator?  The doctor grabbed Harm by the arm before he could approach Benson. “He’s been talking with Lt. Kraus since he opened his eyes.  He doesn’t know about Gatling yet.” Harm’s face turned instantly somber. “Understood.” Benson stiffened noticeably when Harm approached his bed. “At ease Lieutenant,” Harm swallowed a smirk. Benson’s eyes scanned Harm’s uniform, lingering on the wings. “I suspect it’s probably in your best interest to put yours away for a while, at least until you’re out of sickbay.”  Harm glanced over at Lt. Kraus, remembering all too clearly what it was like to be young with a ‘gold wings and dress whites’ attitude. “Yes, sir.” “I’m Commander Rabb, from JAG. Are you up to a few questions?” “Yes, sir.” It may have been after two in the morning but Benson was wide-awake and full of energy. Hungry, too. “I need you to tell me everything about your last flight.” “Have you already spoken to Hooker, sir?” Harm shook his head, no. “I’m sorry.”  “Damn,” Benson mumbled under his breath.  “His oldest daughter just graduated from Annapolis.  Katie’s got this new guy she wanted Hooker to meet.” Then Benson started to chuckle. “Apparently, he’s not military. Hooker wondered how he’d react to an M16.” Taking a deep breath, he looked at Harm. “He was looking forward to going home, sir.  Said it was time to hang up the helmet.  Wanted to be around before the grandchildren started coming.” “Would you like to continue this tomorrow instead?” “No, sir.  You said everything?” “From the moment you took off.” “Aye, sir.”  Benson began recounting the flight.  Everything had been pretty much a typical run until they began taking fire.  As Harm had suspected, the plane was in worse shape than either had initially calculated.  The wingman’s plane hadn’t been hit, so his plane landed first to avoid fouling the deck. “We could see the ship, Hooker insisted he was okay.  I couldn’t tell where he’d been hit. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I noticed him starting to slur. Hell, I didn’t even realize *I’d* been hit until I saw the blood.” Harm listened carefully. Without Benson’s story, there would have been no way for him to know for sure if Gatling had been injured as well.  “We’d been struggling to stay in the air.  By the time we reached the ship we knew there had to be more damage than our wingman could see. Everything was flashing, the boards were practically useless, but Hooker seemed to have her under control.  He’s the best damn pilot I’ve ever flown backseat with.” Benson looked up at Harm, wanting to make sure that much was understood. He wouldn’t allow them to make any of this out as Hooker’s fault. “We had no way of confirming if the hook was even down, let alone locked.  The plan was to call in for a visual but as we got close enough to call it in, the radio fried out permanently.  It was hard enough with the radio cutting on and off.  Once we lost the radio completely, everything went black.  I have no idea why we could still talk with each other. The communication system between us seemed to be the only thing in that cockpit that DID work. By that point I could hardly understand him, so I knew he was hurt bad. He said he was going to fly around and flash a mayday.  By the time we’d gone over the deck, he was shouting at me to eject.  The bird was shaking badly.”  Benson could still hear Gatling’s voice as clearly as if he were standing next to him. ‘I can’t keep her in the air. We can’t do another go-around.  You’ve got to punch out. Now! Eject, eject!’ “He veered left away from the ship, the next thing I know, I’m hitting the water and waking up here.”  Benson let out a heavy sigh and dropped his head back against his pillow. “That’s pretty much what I’d thought.” Harm sighed.  “I just wasn’t sure if Gatling had been hit too. Thank you for your time, Lieutenant. I know this wasn’t easy.” Getting up from his chair, Harm signaled for the nurse. He was fairly sure that Benson would be needing a friendly ear right about now.  Before heading back to his room, he stopped to make another phone call. “MacKenzie.” “It’s me.” Harm sounded terribly drained. “Everything go okay?” “Yeah, it’s pretty much what I had thought.  Turns out the pilot had been shot too.  The plane had lost most of its instrumentation. There was probably no way a healthy pilot could have done anything else but ditch her in the water.  If he hadn’t been hurt, maybe he could have ejected too. I guess that’s one we’ll never know.  At least his family will have the knowledge he probably saved the lives of half the men on the deck by not trying for a landing.” “I’m sure that will be some consolation.” “I hope so, Mac. I really do.” “So does this mean your job is finished there?” she redirected. “Yes, ma’am.  I’m going back to my quarters to work on the final report and will be catching the morning COD out of here.” “Not flying home yourself?” Mac thought Harm sounded like he needed a little cheering up. “Nope, but I shouldn’t be home too late.  Do you want me to … uh… call? That is…call you when I get home?” “Oh, uh…” All right, Mackenzie, don’t chicken out now, she thought to herself.  Don’t repeat past mistakes.  Open mouth… you can do it. “Do you think you’ll be too tired to come over?” Harm’s heart stuttered, skipping several beats. “No, I think that would be…nice.” “Okay.” Mac tried not to squeal with delight. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow night sometime.” “Yeah, see you then.” Harm hung the phone up slowly. Neither had mentioned his brisk closing comment at the end of their previous conversation.  Next time he saw her, he was going to tell her what she deserved to hear, and he planned to do it properly. Chapter 29 JAG headquarters Thursday afternoon As she had suspected would happen after hanging up with Harm, Mac hadn’t gotten much sleep.  She found herself tossing and turning. Different scenarios of how tonight might turn out ran over and over in her dreams.  Her worst fear was that Harm would take one look at her, scars and all, tell her he couldn’t do this, and walk away forever. It was all nonsense, she knew it was nonsense.  He’d seen her at her worst and still wanted her. He hadn’t lied about that, she was sure of that much. “Colonel.” General Cresswell knocked on Mac’s doorframe. “Yes, sir.” Mac stood quickly. Cresswell closed the door behind him and took a seat in front of her desk. Mac paused for a moment.  This was probably the first time the General had actually sat down in her office and she had no idea what to make of it. “I suggest you sit down, too. You’ll probably be more comfortable.” He’d chosen to have this conversation in her office instead of his, hoping she’d be more at ease on her own turf. “Yes, sir.” Mac sat, thankful she was moving with much more agility these days. “How are you feeling?” “Much better, sir, thank you.” Mac’s shoulders visibly relaxed.  This visit was about her health. “I understand your doctor thinks you can return to a full time schedule earlier than originally expected.” “Yes, sir.  I saw him this morning and he sees no reason I can’t return to full duty starting Monday.” Although she still had several weeks of therapy ahead of her, Mac was especially proud of how far she’d progressed in a short time.  It was nice not needing to report to the office until 1300, leaving her mornings free, but she was ready for a real day’s work again. “You realize the release is only for courtroom duty?  You won’t be allowed on outside investigations, yet.” “Yes, sir. I understand.” There was still some concern about her ability to maneuver if she were placed in an unexpectedly dangerous situation.  In the past she’d certainly had enough seemingly benign investigations turn into complicated situations.  After all, how many people start out investigating three retired SEALs and wind up wrestling with Colombian drug lords? “Your doctor must think you’re ready to handle ‘normal’ day-to-day activities again.” The General placed especially careful emphasis on the word ‘normal.’ “It would seem so, sir.” What the heck was he trying to get at? “I understand Commander Rabb is returning this evening?” Cresswell was immediately thankful for the self-control he’d learned through his years with the Marines. Otherwise, he would have burst out laughing at the look on Mac’s face.  Although her Marine Corps training was probably the only thing that stopped her from passing out, it couldn’t prevent all the color from draining out of her face, or her eyebrows from scratching her hairline. Oh, God!  This was the ‘not in those exact words,’ not having ‘slept together in the biblical sense,’ conversation that Harm had told her about.  She and the General were about to have a non-conversation about her relationship with Harm, or worse, sex life.  Oh, God! This was exactly what she’d been dreading all week. “Yes, sir.”  This would be a great time to be as brief as possible and plead the fifth whenever necessary. “You most likely will not be needing the Commander’s assistance anymore?” “No, sir.  I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.” Maybe this conversation wasn’t going to be as bad as she thought. Then again, watching the General purse his lips in thought, his chin bobbing slightly as he watched Mac try not to squirm, she accepted she had probably been right in her initial assessment: Oh, God. “Colonel, have you ever given any thought to why squids don’t storm the beaches?” “Excuse me, sir?” Now, Mac was really confused. “Squids provide the transport, but it’s the marines who take the ground. We’re the ones who take the risks of hand-to-hand combat. Advance the troops.” He could tell by the expression on her face, this wasn’t going the way he wanted. “I’m afraid I’m not following you, sir.” “Colonel, if you really want to advance your position and experience new territory, the marine in you is going to have to storm that beach.”  The General gave her a pointed look, glancing casually in the direction of Rabb’s office and back to her again. Judging by the way her eyebrows were practically kissing the ceiling, he was fairly sure she’d gotten the message this time. “Yes, sir.” There was no way she was going to inquire further to see if he meant what she thought he meant. “Very well.  It’s a long flight, and an exhausting time difference.  Tell Rabb not to report until after lunch tomorrow.” Cresswell pressed his lips together in a partial smile, and returned to his office.  If her shocked expression was any indication, he doubted anyone had ever dared approach MacKenzie about her relationship with Rabb. He had every confidence the marines could get the job done.  Mac wasn’t completely sure what had just happened, but it certainly looked like the General had just told her to storm Harm’s beach, and then given him the morning off to recover.  Oh, God. Mac’s apartment building 2130 hours Harm had spent the entire plane ride thinking about what he was going to do and say, and now he’d spent another twenty minutes sitting in front of Mac’s building still unsure of the perfect words. Leaving his cover on the seat beside him, he grabbed the flowers he’d picked up for the occasion, and forced himself to open the car door.  One foot at a time, he made his way to Mac’s apartment.  Taking a deep breath for courage, he reached up with his free hand and knocked loudly on the door. The sound of Harm knocking startled Mac out of her thoughts.  She’d been expecting him to let himself in.  Springing up from the sofa, much more adeptly than she could the week before, Mac tightened her robe, took a deep breath for courage, and opened the front door. “Why didn’t you use your key?” she asked casually. “I… I didn’t think I should.” Harm was momentarily lost in that beautiful smile.  It took him a few seconds to realize that beautiful smile was wearing a satin bathrobe. “Is it too late? Maybe I should have waited until tomorrow to stop by?” “No, not at all. I’m glad you came.  Are those for me?” Mac looked down at the flowers, feeling a little uncomfortable with the way Harm was watching her.  She wasn’t sure what he was thinking, and she was starting to lose her nerve. Maybe the robe was overkill. “Yes.” Snapped back from his curiosity about her robe, Harm handed her the flowers and smiled. “Thank you.  Make yourself comfortable.  Would you like something to drink?  Have you eaten?” Mac turned into the kitchen to put the flowers in water. “Something to drink would be nice.  It’s the middle of the night for me, I’m not really hungry.” Harm placed his coat on the chair and followed Mac into the kitchen.  “You’re moving much better.  I guess PT’s been good for you.” “That and time.” Mac handed Harm the flower vase. “Would you put those on the table for me please?” “Sure.” “What can I get you to drink?” “Water’s fine.” “One glass of water coming up.” Mac pulled a glass from the cabinet, filled it with water and ice, and headed for her beach.  “Here you go.” “Thanks,” Harm took a long gulp, then sat down on the sofa. Setting the glass on the table, he looked up at Mac. “Why don’t you come sit down? I’d like to talk to you about something.” Debating just how close to Harm she should sit, Mac hesitated before sitting about a foot away from him. “Before I had to leave town, we were planning on having a conversation,” Harm started. “Why don’t you take your jacket off? You must be exhausted.” Mac reached forward to help him. “You should probably take your tie off, too,” she added hastily. “Huh? Oh, sure.” Not really wanting to be distracted, Harm did as Mac asked, and placed his jacket and tie neatly on the chair by his overcoat.  “As I was saying…” “You should take your shoes off, too,” Mac interrupted again. Harm didn’t bother answering, he just kicked his shoes off quickly. “Mac, are you trying to tell me you don’t want to have this discussion?” Harm took her hesitation to sit next to him and her continued interruptions over his clothing, as a signal she was stalling. “Not exactly.” Mac bit her lip.  She was a full-grown, adult woman.  Why did she feel like an inexperienced teenager who was about to make a fool of herself with the captain of the football team? Chapter 30 “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since you left for the Seahawk and I’ve got a few things I need to tell you.” Mac bit her lower lip. She hadn’t expected to be this nervous.  “Is this about what we agreed to talk about before I left, or something else?” Harm’s stomach was turning negative Gs.  He had no idea what was coming, but if the expression on Mac’s face was any indication, it wasn’t anything good. “The same thing. I think… I hope.” Mac was starting to stutter awkwardly.  “Mac, what is it?” Harm reached for her hand. It was as cold as ice.  He thought she seemed uncomfortable, nervous, even edgy, but now he was worried about her. What was so difficult for her to tell him? She had to know there wasn’t anything in this world she couldn’t confide in him. “Talk to me, hon.” His other hand gently reached for the side of her face. Mac’s heart melted to her toes at his loving tone and tender gesture. When his fingers gently stroked her cheek, she thought for sure she was going to melt into one large puddle. This was the right thing to do.  She should have done this years ago, she scolded herself. “Have I done something?” Harm tried to hide the fear in his voice.  He wasn’t sure what had her so nervous, but he didn’t like it.  He couldn’t imagine what could be so serious to have her so unsettled. This was definitely not the way he had envisioned the evening playing out. “No. It’s me. As I started to say, I’ve been doing some thinking.” The minute her words left her mouth she could see Harm stiffen fearfully. She knew he must be thinking of the old cliché, ‘It’s not you, it’s me,’ and that was NOT what she was trying to say.  None of this was going the way she wanted. She was making such a mess of this.  “Did you mean what you said that morning before you left? About liking it here?” she quickly added. Harm could see the nervousness in her eyes growing exponentially as she waited with bated breath for his response.  Suddenly he was filled with a ray of hope.  Maybe this wasn’t going to be bad news for him after all. Maybe they were both wanting the same thing and too scared to find out. “Very much so.” The hand that had caressed her cheek now rested on her lap, his fingers drawing lazy swirling motions on her robe. Anxiously, he waited to hear what else she wanted to say, to hear if his life and dreams were about to begin or end. “Well, I liked having you here, too.” Mac paused taking a deep breath. She couldn’t remember ever being as nervous as she was right now. “I also… I missed you. A lot.” She found the courage to look up into the eyes she had been avoiding.  “I was hoping you would consider…staying.” Harm couldn’t help letting his jaw drop before finding his tongue. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” “Stay?” Her voice was barely above a whisper, a very sexy whisper. It was time to storm the beach. Harm swallowed hard.  The low raspy tone of her voice just sent most of the blood in his brain flowing south.  He wasn’t completely sure what had just happened, and he had no idea if there was enough blood left in his brain to form a coherent thought. “I hate to sound like a total nitwit, but exactly what are you suggesting?”  Harm’s palms were beginning to sweat as Mac moved closer still.  With her knee peeking out from under the robe, he was slowly coming to the realization that she didn’t appear to have much on underneath.  “I’m asking you to please come and share my life.  You did say you wanted to be a part of my life.” Closing the short distance between them, Mac leaned in and nibbled gently on the side of Harm’s chin. Her tongue delicately blazed a moist trail to the edge of his lips. “That you wanted me.”  She practically breathed the words into his mouth, teasing his lower lip playfully with her own. She was a marine. She could do this, she reminded herself. Lord help him, he really wanted to discuss this with her. Did she just ask him stay for the night, or to live with her? Was this about commitment? She couldn’t be talking about just sex. Though, at this moment, if all she wanted was one night, he doubted he could say no even if for some insane reason he’d want to. His brain was fighting to process her words, but the rest of him was fighting to control the fire her teasing tongue had ignited deep in his soul. When her lips descended fully on his, all thoughts were lost. His arms instinctively wrapped around her, his hands gliding over the soft fabric of the shiny robe.  Their mouths began a desperate dance of tangled tongues and caressing lips.  One by one, Mac undid the tiny white buttons of his shirt, her fingers dipping inside and lightly twirling the short hair, then scratching his hard chest before continuing onto the next button. Her touch was sending shooting flames to every region of his body.  When he pushed the robe off one shoulder and felt nothing but bare skin, Harm was done. Pulling his mouth away frantically, he struggled to catch his breath. “Oh, God, Mac…are you okay?” He suddenly wasn’t sure if she was physically up to what he had in mind. “Uh huh,” she mumbled, shoving his now unbuttoned shirt away from his strong muscular chest.  “No, Mac, really?” Harm pulled back far enough to look into her eyes. Her dark, steamy eyes. Eyes so filled with desire and longing, he could feel them caressing his senses, igniting a fire he couldn’t possibly control. Yet, he had to.  He had to be sure. “You have to know what you’re doing to me. I don’t want you hurting.  Are you sure?” Even though the things she was doing to him were driving him absolutely crazy with desire, he would be mortified if his hormones won out over common sense and he did anything to somehow reverse her recovery.  Running her fingers delicately across his cheek, her hand slid slowly past his chin to his shoulder and down his arm, grabbing his hand snugly in hers. She stood up from the sofa, and tugged lightly, her eyes smoldering with a heat of their own. “I’m really fine, and this is really what I want.” Without waiting for him to respond, Mac turned and walked to her room, her robe still hanging loosely off one shoulder.  Harm followed her blindly.  His heart was beating frantically, not just from the physical arousal, but from the depth of passion and love he thought he could read in her eyes. He wasn’t sure what had just happened.  When he’d left the carrier, he had every intention of telling her how much he wanted to share her life, how much he had treasured being able to wake up with her every morning the previous week.  He wanted to somehow find the perfect words to ask her to make that living situation more permanent, but nowhere in his plans had he expected anything like this. Chapter 31 It took tremendous effort for Harm to open his eyes.  He was definitely going to have to take more vitamins if he was going to keep this up.  Why hadn’t he and Mac gotten together ten years ago?  He found himself barely able to open his eyes, and already his body was reacting to the realization that Mac was unceremoniously draped across his chest, her one hand leaning against his face, her other hand… well… someplace else. Brushing her hair away from her face, Harm couldn’t resist smiling at the memory of last night. He didn’t know what had gotten into her, but he would be forever grateful that it had, whatever it was. Gently shifting Mac’s weight to one side so he could see her face, he was delighted when he was rewarded with a bright smile. “Good morning,” Mac grinned more brightly. “Back at you, beautiful.” Harm leaned forward and kissed the top of her head.  “Do you want help packing?” Mac shifted further into the crook of his arm. “Packing?” Harm wasn’t completely awake yet. Well, at least not all of him. “To stay.” Mac pulled away and sat up to look Harm in the face more completely. When he didn’t say a word, she unconsciously reached down and pulled the sheet up against her chest. “You want me to stay?” Harm repeated softly. “I thought we already covered this last night,” Mac shrugged. “No, last night you mentioned you wanted me in your life. Then you proceeded to seduce me with such military precision that if I were Napoleon, you’d be running my empire this morning.” Harm picked up her hand and kissed it loudly. “Harm, this is serious.  I thought you understood. You said last week you didn’t want to leave. I said last night I didn’t want you to leave either.  I thought it was settled.” Mac was getting a little worried.  Not that she would change anything about last night, but she had built up this whole new little world in her mind, and in it Harm was most definitely NOT merely an occasional bedmate. “You’re saying you want me to move in here? With you?” The magnitude of this conversation was suddenly becoming clear to him. Biting her lower lip again, all Mac could do was nod her head yes. Harm reached out and pulled Mac into his arms with such force he almost knocked the wind out of her.  Before she could gasp for air, his lips had crashed down on hers, another tangle of emotions erupting in the morning light. Her arms dropped the sheet she’d been holding between them and snaked around his neck, giving fully into this wonderful embrace. No longer craving air, but every inch of his body on hers, she slid her leg over his hips and straddled him.  Pulling away from his lips, she began nibbling a fiery trail along his neck, somehow managing to mumble between kisses, “Does this mean yes?” Pushing her away from his neck, Harm flipped Mac over onto her back.  Leaning over her soft body, his face only inches away from hers,  “No.” Mac’s heart slammed to her stomach. “No?” “No, it’s not settled.” Recognizing the fear in her eyes, Harm quickly continued. “What I mean is: will you marry me?”  The words said, he held his breath.  This wasn’t the romantic setting in which he had always envisioned someday asking a woman, especially this woman, to marry him, but he was tired of being afraid to push.  He didn’t want to just live with Mac. He wanted her to be his wife, and to be her husband. He wanted it all, the entire package, with or without kids. Mac stared at him incredulously.  She had felt confident that she had read his signals correctly and he would want to move in, but she had never allowed herself to dream that all these years of dancing around their feelings would come to a head so quickly. Nodding her head frantically, Mac struggled to make sound come out of her mouth.  Batting away the tears of joy, a small voice whispered, “Yes.” She was unable to say anything more before he took her into his arms again, and as he had done so well the night before, showed her slowly and gently just how much he loved her.  All of her: the scars, the burns… all of her. When they were finally forced out of bed by an appetite for something more than each other, Harm found it almost impossible to keep his hands off of her. Standing by the edge of the bed in nothing but his birthday suit, Harm helped Mac into her robe.  Spinning her around, he kissed her nose. “I love you,” he whispered as he dragged one finger from her chin down her throat, past the swell between her breasts and stopping along the edge of her scar.  Spreading his hand flat across the expanse of the markedly pink flesh, he rubbed lightly and whispered again, “I love you.” Blushing from head to toe, Mac pulled back and tied her robe. “If you don’t get some food in me soon, there’s going to be a lot less of me to love,” she teased. In reality she was incredibly relieved that all her scars hadn’t mattered.  She had pushed her fears to the back of her mind as she followed her battle plan, but still, the inevitable doubts had nibbled away, threatening to dissolve her resolve.  His gentle attention to every inch of her body had convinced her completely of the veracity of his proclamations to her weeks ago. He really had wanted her in ‘that’ way. Pulling on his boxers, Harm looked around. “We probably will want to consider getting a bigger place. I’m not sure much of my stuff will fit here.” “Sure it will!” Mac stepped around him and began opening empty drawers, then turned to her closet and flung the doors open.  Half the closet was completely empty. “I made room for you,” she grinned proudly. “Pretty sure of yourself, weren’t you?” Harm stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her stomach, nibbling at the base of her neck. “I’d hoped,” she admitted, her head dropping back against him. Kissing her cheek soundly,  “I’m glad,” he smiled. Anxious to start moving him in, Harm and Mac hurried through breakfast. Harm’s apartment Later that morning “I think you’re right. There’s no way I can get enough of this stuff into my place for you to feel at home.” Mac sighed, tossing some of Harm’s photos into a box. “As long as we’re together, I don’t care about things.” Harm had put down the clothes he was packing and walked over to Mac. “I love you, soon-to-be Mrs. Rabb.  I don’t care where we live, or what we have, so long as I have you.” Mac stared blankly at this man before her. “I can’t believe we wasted so many years.” With a heavy sigh, she dropped her head on his shoulder. “I pretty much came to that same conclusion on the carrier. I had intended to bring up what I wanted for the rest of our lives, but I wasn’t exactly planning for things to turn out quite the way they did.” Placing a short kiss on Mac’s head, Harm grinned impishly at the memory of last night.   “I’m not sure what came over you, but I’m very glad it did.” Mac lifted her head and stepped back. “You mean who.” “Excuse me?”  Harm wasn’t too sure he was going to like the sound of this. “Who got into me,” Mac chuckled,  “You owe last night to the General.” Harm’s eyes opened wider than the moon. “At the risk of repeating myself… excuse me?” Mac chuckled again, amused by the borderline horrified look on Harm’s face. “In a nutshell, he told me if I wanted to get anywhere in our relationship, I was going to have to behave like a marine and ‘storm the beach’. Your beach.  That’s why he gave you this morning off.” Mac closed the lid on the box she’d been packing and reached for the tape. “The General actually told you to storm my beach?” “Yeah, that pretty much covers it.” Mac smiled at him.  “You’d better put this in the car.  We’ve got to report to the office in less than two hours.” “He really said ‘storm my beach?’” Harm was still somewhat dumbfounded. “Yes.” Mac was starting to lose patience. “Is something wrong?” “Well, other than I’m not so sure how I feel about my CO being involved in the strategical planning of my seduction, I really do have to remember to thank that man.” Harm pushed the box aside and pulled Mac into his arms. “How much time did you say we have before we need to report?” he whispered into her lips. “Enough.” With that, the two new lovers christened Harm’s apartment for the first, and last, time before moving into their own new world. 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