1804 (6:04 p.m.)
Mac’s Apartment
Georgetown

Mac made it up the stairs and to Chloe’s side in 12 seconds flat. “What is it?!”

Chloe simply pointed to Mac’s apartment door, which was ajar. “Somebody’s in there!” she exclaimed, her eyes round as saucers.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, there’s someone in the apartment! The lights are on!”

The situation finally began to register in Mac’s mind: there was someone in her apartment, possibly taking her things, in the light of day. And what was she doing? Standing around like an idiot. “Stay here,” she ordered, and quietly crept forward.

“But, Mac -” Chloe began, and Mac promptly reached back to clamp a hand over the young girl’s mouth. “Put a lid on it, Chloe.”

Chloe nodded, mumbling a muffled “OK”.

Mac returned her attention to the door and silently walked up to it. It was opened just wide enough for her to stick her head through. Cautiously, she peeked inside. As Chloe had told her, the lights were on, but besides that, everything looked normal – nothing was missing or out of place. She pushed the door open a little farther and slipped into the apartment. Her brain reminded her that what she was doing was crazy- she wasn’t even armed. You could always call the cops, a little voice told her. And then what? Say that the lights in your apartment are on and you’re afraid to go inside? another voice retorted. Yeah, right, MacKenzie.

On tiptoe, she started for the kitchen. It was only a matter of seconds until she felt a presence behind her. She froze, her heart pounding in her chest. The intruder walked closer, and Mac could tell from the heavy footsteps that it was a man, and probably a large one at that. Resisting the impulse to run, she waited until the burglar was nearly on top of her before whirling around to face him, her fist raised. “Don’t move!” she hollered.

“Hey, don’t shoot!” an alarmed, very familiar voice yelped.

Mac dropped her hand, her eyes widening in disbelief. “Sturgis?! What the -”

“Don’t take it out on him - it was my idea.” Mac turned to see Harm emerge from the kitchen, casually wiping his hands on a dishtowel.

“Harm? What on earth… you could’ve gotten Sturgis killed!”

Harm glanced wryly at her empty hands. “Oh, really?”

Mac crossed her arms, fixing him with a look. “Now, which idea was yours? Breaking into my apartment, or scaring the crap out of me?”

“Both.” Harm’s triumphant, mischievous grin was infuriatingly priceless.

“What are you guys doing here?” came Chloe’s voice from the doorway as she entered the apartment. “You scared me to death!”

“So we heard,” Harm commented dryly, pointing at his ears before gesturing towards the table. “We made you dinner.”

It was only then that Mac noticed the table for the first time. An entire meal was set: lasagna, green beans, mashed potatoes, and even iced tea. She looked back up in disbelief at the two men, who had moved to stand next to each other. “You guys -” she pointed to them, “did this?” She jerked her thumb at the food.

“Yup,” Sturgis replied, and Harm nodded. They both looked proud as peacocks.

“We figured you wouldn’t be feeling up to cooking tonight,” Harm explained, “and I decided you probably wouldn’t want takeout.”

Mac shook her head, a huge smile covering her features as she walked up to give them each a hug. “Thanks, guys. You’re the best.”

“Yeah, we know.” Harm flashed her one of his 1,000-watt grins. “Now hurry up and eat before it gets cold.” He slapped a friendly hand on Sturgis’ back. “Come on, Sturg, we’ve got some unloading to do.”

“Oh, you don’t have to -”

Harm pointed at the chairs. “Eat.”

Mac and Chloe were only too happy to do so.

*~*~*~*~

2341 (11:41 p.m.)

“Have I thanked you yet?” Mac asked as she and Harm dropped Chloe’s mattress onto the bed frame with a THUNK.

“Only about four times – but then again, it’s always nice to hear.” Harm grinned at her as he straightened up.

It was close to midnight, and Sturgis had long since gone home. Chloe had fallen asleep about an hour before on Mac’s bed, exhausted from the trip. Harm and Mac had been working for the past two hours unpacking boxes and installing Chloe’s bedroom furniture in the guestroom, which the young girl had claimed as her own.

Mac walked over to the bedroom door and gave the room a critical look. “We did it,” she announced in a satisfied tone. “Chloe can redecorate in the morning if she wants to.” Her gaze fell on the bare mattress. “Only one more thing to do, then I’m calling it a night.” She headed back over to the bed and picked up the linens that had been sitting in a neat stack next to the closet.

“Here, let me help,” Harm told her, and Mac tossed him the two pillowcases. They worked in comfortable silence for a few minutes before he asked, “So how’s Chloe been?”

“Really great, actually.” Mac bent over to tuck in the edges of the bedsheets. “I talked to her a little bit this afternoon; I was afraid that she didn’t really want to come back here. But she told me that she did.”

“I can’t imagine why she wouldn’t,” Harm commented, focusing on getting a particularly stubborn pillow into its case. It was only after he’d accomplished his task that he noticed the silence that had fallen over the room. He glanced up to see Mac adjusting the quilt on Chloe’s bed, a grim expression on her face. He could see tiny green flecks beginning to appear around the edges of her chocolate brown eyes, and knew instantly that something was wrong; her eye color only changed when she was upset. Concerned, he began, “Mac? What -”

“There!” Mac said in triumph, cutting him off in mid-sentence. She gestured for him to hand her the pillows, which he did. She set them at the head of the bed, then stepped back to admire their work. She smiled slightly, but Harm could tell that it was forced. He moved to stand next to her, but before he could speak, she asked, “Want something to drink?”

Harm shook his head. “Thanks, but I think I’ll just head home. I’ve got some paperwork to finish up.”

“OK.” Mac turned and led him out of the bedroom, through the living room, and to the front door. Before reaching for the doorknob, she turned to him. “I don’t care how many times I’ve said it already – thank you.”

“My pleasure.” Harm opened his arms to her, and she hugged him gratefully. He planted a kiss on her temple before pulling away. He briefly contemplated asking her what had happened in the guestroom, but the dark circles under her eyes persuaded him to wait until another time. She was worn out. “’Night, Mac.”

“Good night.” Mac opened the door, and he left. Heaving a huge sigh, Mac turned out the living room lights and headed to bed.

*~*~*~*~

2359 (11:59 p.m.)

Harm drove home on autopilot, his thoughts still on the events of a few minutes before. He just couldn’t figure out what had caused Mac to clam up so quickly. As far as he could remember, he hadn’t said anything wrong, only that he couldn’t imagine why Chloe wouldn’t want to stay with her. It had been a compliment. He shook his head and let out a sigh of frustration. He’d just have to ask her when he saw her next. There was no use dwelling on it.

*~*~*~*~

Two Days Later
0708 (7:08 a.m.)
Mac’s Apartment
Georgetown, Virginia

Mac was watching the morning news on ZNN when she heard a knock on the door. Who on earth? she wondered, checking her internal clock. She rose from the couch and walked over to the door. Glancing through the peephole, she saw a tall, very familiar figure standing in the hallway. Unable to resist a grin, she opened the door and came face to face with her partner, who was dressed in sweatpants and a blue windbreaker.

“Go get dressed, Marine, we’re goin’ on a run.”

“But what about Chl -” Mac began, but Harm cut her off by reaching around the corner and pulling Sergei to his side. “A voluntary babysitter,” he announced.

“Good morning, Colonel,” Sergei told her in this thick Russian accent, an almost sheepish expression on his face.

“’Morning to you, too.” Mac stepped back to let the two men inside the apartment. “Chloe’ll get a nice surprise when she wakes up,” she whispered to Harm as he passed. Both of them knew how well the young girl and Sergei got along.

“If she’s even awake before we get back,” Harm replied. Chloe was not a morning person - she’d been known to sleep in until almost noon on occasion.

“True.” Mac shut the door and started toward her bedroom. “Make yourself at home, Sergei. There’s fresh coffee in the kitchen if you want some. Be back in a minute, Squid.”

~*~*~*~*

Ten Minutes Later

Harm and Mac spent the first few minutes of their run in silence as they headed toward the park, keeping to a jog to warm up. They had the sidewalk to themselves, save for one or two bicyclists, and the air was cool and crisp. Harm hadn’t realized until then how much he’d missed their runs. Their respective schedules had gotten so busy over the past few months that they hadn’t been able to spend much time together, except for their frequent working dinners. Hopefully, that would change in the near future.

They arrived at the entrance to the park and instinctively turned onto their usual path. Mac automatically extended her stride into a run, and Harm easily copied her actions. “Hey, did you ever get a list of the middle schools?” Mac asked, jumping aside to avoid an older man walking his boxer.

“Yup, I’ve already e-mailed it to you: two privates and three publics.” Harm purposefully failed to mention the fact that he’d been online half the night researching the information.

“That sounds great – thanks.”

“No problem.”

Silence then took over, giving Harm some time to once again ponder over Mac’s strange behavior of a few nights before. He still couldn’t figure out what he’d said wrong. Couldn’t hurt to ask, could it? asked a little voice inside his head. He took a deep breath and decided to use the roundabout approach. Here goes nothing. “You know, Mac, Chloe’s told me her side of all this, but I still haven’t heard your feelings about it.”

Mac shrugged. “It’s fine.”

He persisted. “No, really. Are you happy? Excited? Nervous?”

“Why would I be nervous?”

He instantly backpedaled. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I was just wondering.” And then, for the first time since the conversation had started, he looked over at her. Immediately, he saw the same expression she’d had Friday night: her lips were pressed tightly together, her complexion turned grim as she furrowed her brow. Sensing that she needed to talk, he slowed down to a jog, and then a walk. Mac did the same, so lost in thought that she didn’t even seem to notice the change of pace. They approached a bench along the side of the path, and Harm stopped to lean a hip against the back of it. Crossing his arms over his chest and keeping both eyes on his partner, he waited.

Mac continued to walk, beginning to pace back and forth in front of the bench. One fist rested on her hip, and she rubbed her temple with the other hand, as if she had a headache. After about 90 seconds, she finally turned to him, throwing both hands in the air in a gesture of exasperation. “Frankly, Harm, I’m terrified.”

“What?” he asked, completely taken aback. “Why?”

Mac resumed her pacing, pinching the bridge of her nose. When she didn’t answer him, Harm pressed on.

“Mac, you and Chloe have known each other for years. You get along so well together… are you afraid that’s going to change? Because -” He stopped abruptly when she glanced at him; the look on her face told him that his guess hadn’t been correct. “What is it, Mac?” he asked softly.

She then halted and bent over to rest her hands on her knees. She stared at the ground for a moment, then slowly raised her eyes to meet his. They were full of anxiety and tinged with fear. “What if I do something wrong?” she blurted out. Her breathing was still heavy due to the run they’d just taken, but it didn’t hide the desperation in her voice. She returned her gaze to the dirt. “Harm, I don’t want to turn into my parents,” she whispered.

Harm’s heart was instantly filled with compassion, and at that moment, he’d have given anything for her to be able to see herself as he saw her in his heart. He closed the short distance between them and reached down to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Mac, you could never be like your parents.”

“How can you know that?” she demanded. “What if I’m too harsh? What -”

“Because I know you,” Harm interrupted, answering her first question. “And I know how much you love Chloe. Trust me, Sarah, it’s going to be all right.”

“What if I’m not good enough for her?” Mac asked, sounding miserable.

“Mac, no one expects you to be perfect. Everyone makes mistakes, you know that. All you can do is learn as you go. All right?” He took her head in both his hands, gently forcing her to meet his gaze. “All right?” he repeated.

Mac swallowed hard and nodded. Rising to her full height, she stretched out her arms to him. He gladly took her into his embrace, and they stood there together next to the path, oblivious to everything around them.