Dirty In Iraq

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Title: Dirty in Iraq
Author: Shannon S. shannon.sieck@us.army.mil
Spoilers: Anything through season 8.
Disclaimers: I don’t own JAG or its characters. I’m just borrowing them, I promise to put them back after I’m done.
Summary: Showering in Iraq never was this much fun.
Author’s Notes #1: In my world Singer was never pregnant and stayed at sea never to be heard from again. Unfortunately Webb was also killed in South America shortly after being stationed there. As a result H/M kept the same relationship they had at the beginning of season 8.
#2: I got this idea when I was in deployed in Baghdad this summer. Showers where limited so it was co-ed. We had curtains, but I’m 5’4 and it only came up to my shoulders. I think half the men in the unit saw my breasts at one point or another. I know a lot of the women are saying you would never shower with a strange man….yes you would trust me. But it got me thinking what would H/M do if put in a similar situation.
Feedback: I’ll take flames and all. This is my first fanfic, so I welcome anything to make me a better writer.


Western Iraq
June 2003

They had an unbelievable day. It was spent trying to validate a Sergeant’s claim of terrorist activity within the 2nd Marine Battalion. There had been some leaks in Intelligence between the marine battalion and the Seahawk. Harm and Mac were there to investigate. There were two problems with this assignment, the first being the 2nd alioalion was currently located in a remote area of Iraq, and the second being they were spread out over a 50 mile radius.

Mac and Harm arrived the day before on a helo and not scheduled to leave until tomorrow afternoon, giving them plenty of time to ask their questions and go back to the Seahawk. They spent yesterday and today driving from camp to camp questioning people with no luck. They were both exhausted, sweaty, and dirty.

It was mid June with a low of 105° on a gday,day, which today was not. Regardless of the heat however, it was required that all personnel wear their flax vest and Kevlar for protection when not on camp grounds. Finally to make matters worse, all the roads were dirt causing the lawyers to feel grimy and dirty.

“Uhhhh!!! I can’t believe this, I can’t even run my fingers threw my hair there’s so much dirt caked in it!” Mac complained when they finally made it back to their tent on the main base camp.

Harm laughed, “Gezz, do all Marines complain this much when they get a little dirty?”

Mac shot him a dirt look, 'why does he have to appear so cheerful'.

He couldn’t help himself; she looked so cute trying to untangle her hair with her fingers. He stopped laughing however when she gave up on her hair, and instead took off her DCU top. It was soon followed by her sweat soaked marine green tee-shirt leaving her only in her sports bra and DCU pants, with her dog tags dangling between her breasts.

‘God does anyone have the right to make that look so sexy.’ For some reason he couldn’t take his eyes off of her dog tags…the fact that they where in such close proximity to another part of her body was purely a coincidence.

“It’s easy for you to laugh, you don’t have that much hair to worry about.” When he didn’t respond she looked up at him and saw where he was staring.

‘We must be making progress he doesn’t even try to hide it anymore.’ Mac took a breath and drawled out, “Harm…”

“Yeah.” He still didn’t take his eyes off of his target.

“If it’s not too much trouble could you take your eyes off my breasts long enough to hand me my bag?”

He looked up and saw she actually had a small grin on her face. ‘We must be making progress she didn’t even throw anything at me.’ He turned around to grab her bag and when he handed it to her he said almost like a schoolboy, “I wasn’t looking at your breasts.”

She actually laughed out, “Right, and what exactly had you so captivated that you had a little drool coming out of your mouth.”

“I was not drooling!” But even as he said the words he subconsciously brought his thumb and forefinger to the corners of his mouth.

As she retrieved her hairbrush from her bag she replied, “So, tell me what you were staring at so intently then.”

“If you must know I was looking at your dog tags.”

That sounded weak, even to him. He knew there was no way she was going buy that. Mac stopped what she was doing and just stared at him for a minute, giving him her ‘yeah right’ look, but it was soon replaced by a mischievous grin.

‘If he is going to play innocent then I am going to have a little fun and see how far I can push him.’ She slowly sauntered her way over to him till she was as close to him as possible without touching. She slowly brought her hand up to her neck and trailed her fingertips down the chain till she reached the tags. She lightly wrapped her fingers around them and drew lazy patterns in the valley between her breasts. She looked up at Harm and confirmed her suspicions; his eyes were glued to where her fingers moved with his mouth hanging open.

In a husky tone she said, “You know Harm; if you’re that fascinated with ‘them’… feel free to take a closer look anytime you want.”

‘Did I just hear her right? She said I could take a closer look….oh how I really, really, really want to take a closer look. I wonder what she would do if I took her up on the offer?’

Mac could see him arguing withselfself on what he wanted to do and what he thought he should do. He clenched and unclenched his fist and just when she thought he was about to give in, there was a knock at the door of their tent.

‘Crap!’

‘Shit!’

“Sir, Ma’am, Colonel Smith would like to see you ASAP!” a young infantryman said through the door.

“Tell him we’re on our way Lance Corporal!” Mac couldn’t help but let a little of her annoyance show to the man who had no idea what he just interrupted. With the speed only a Marine would possess Mac put on a fresh shirt along with her top. She was half way through brushing her hair when she noticed Harm was still in the same spot with a look of total concentration on his face.

“Penny for your thoughts Sailor?”

Harm looked up at Mac, ‘I was actually going to do it; I was actually going to make a move on my partner, best friend, and secret love. What would have happened if we weren’t interrupted?’ He’d never been that close to letting go before and the truth of the matter was it scared him, but for the first time the disappointment out weighted the fear.

They where finally in a place where their only obstacle was JAG, but even that wasn’t a major issue. Harm would transfer out; hell he’d even resign his commission if it meant he could be with her. He doubted it would come to that but he finally realized what he would give up to have her…everything.

They where in a great place as far as their friendship was concerned. They shared dinner at least 2 times during the week, assuming work permitted, went running together Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday mornings which was always followed by showering at one of their places and breakfast. On Saturdays they always went to Mac’s place so they could watch morning cartoons with their breakfast. Usually they ended up spending most of the day together just hanging out, cause secretly neither of them wanted to be apart from the other. They where free of significant others, in fact it seemed they had an unspoken agreement that put them off limits to anyone but themselves.

Their playful banter had returned with many more flirtatious remarks. Challenges, much like the one she just issued, where a common occurrence, they just never called each other on them. However they knew it was only a matter of time before one of them caved so the remarks were unconsciously becoming br anr and bolder.

He was finally tired of fighting it and told himself the next time it happened he wouldn’t let the chance pass him by. Mac was still staring at him waiting for an answer so he decided to throw her off balance a little. “When we get back to Washington would you like to have dinner with me?”

“Harm, we have dinner all the time.” Okay, so she wasn’t going to make this easy on him.

“I mean….” He stepped closer to her till they were as close as they were before. He raised one hand to her neck and followed the same path her own fingers took only moments before. This time over her clothes till they reached the valley between her breasts, “….when we get back to Washington, would you like to have ‘dinner’ with me?”

‘I can’t breathe... oh God, why can’t I breathe? Because genius, Harmon Rabb Jr. just asked you out on a real date,’ said the little voice in her head.

‘Great now I’m having conversations with myself. Okay Marine this is the moment you’ve waited for since the JAG-a-thon, but you don’t have time for this right now, the Colonel is waiting, and he is not a patient man. Just give him an answer so you can leave.’

“I’ve wanted to have ‘dinner’ with you for years Harm.” With that she turned away and headed for the door.

“Is that a yes?” ‘Please tell me that didn’t sound as anxious as a teenager asking the most popular girl to the school da’ M’ Mac turned around to look at him. ‘God, it must have, I can see amusement on her face.’

“That’s a 'Hell Yes!' Flyboy, now lets go the Colonel is waiting,” and with that she was out the door.

He couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off his face even as he ran to catch up with her. She looked up at him and started laughing. ‘He looks like he just caught the winning touchdown pass at the championship football game.’ “Harm you might want to wipe that stupid grin off your face, Colonel S isn isn’t known for his sense of humor.” Just as she reached the entrance to the TOC (Tactical Operation Command), she turned and added, “Besides it’s not like you’ve scored….yet.”

He watched as she disappeared into the tent with his mouth hanging open, yet again. ‘She’s feeling awfully feisty today, probably because she knows it would be damn near impossible to act on anything here.’ “The key word is ‘yet’ marine.” He said to no one in particular as he entered the tent behind his partner.

They both came to attention in front of Colonel Smith.

“Colonel Mackenzie and Commander Rabb reporting as ordered Sir!” Mac announced them since she was the head investigator. It was a fact which annoyed the hell out of Harm. Not because she was a woman, but for the simple fact he didn’t like taking second chair to anyone. It was just in his nature; Mac knew this and took every opportunity she had to rib him about it.

“At ease.” Colonel Smith looked up at both of them for the first time. “You two look like hell.”

Harm looked at Mac through the corner of his eye, ‘If that’s what hell looks like I need to be sinning a lot more, I know one particular sin I could start off with.’ Harm brought his focus back on the Colonel only to find him staring at him, ‘Oh God, I didn’t say that out loud did I!?’

‘I wonder if they know how transparent they are. They act nothing other than professional, but they give off a vibe even a blind man could see.’ Colonel Smith thought to himself as he focused his attention back on Harm. ‘And if he thinks I don’t know what he was just thinking he has another thing coming. However by the panicked look on his face I’d say he knows I’m on to him.’ “What have you got for me, if I have a security leak in my unit I want to know about it NOW!”

Harm relaxed; relieved he hadn’t made a complete ass of himself. “As of right now Sir, we have found no evidence of any terrorist activity other than what was discovered before.”

Mac picked up right behind him. “Which leads us to believe that the Sergeant is either lying to cover for someone or he is responsible for the leaks himself. As soon as we reach Washington and finalize our report we’ll send you a copy detailing all that we’ve found, Sir.”

“Well that maybe sooner than either of you thought, your helo will pick you up in one hour, instead of tomorrow like planned.”

“May I ask why, Sir?” Mac asked for both of them.

“One of the Seahawk’s birds took heavy fire yesterday while re-supplying a ground unit and as a result they are now short one aircraft. Luckily the pilot was able to make it back to the Seahawk in one piece but there is no way they will be able to pick you up tomorrow as originally planned. If you don’t leave today you’re both stuck here for at least a week.” The Colonel looked up at both of them. “As for your investigation, I can’t say I’m sorry you didn’t find anything. It doesn’t sit well with me to know I have a traitor under my command.” He focused his attention on Mac. “But on the upside, you must have been glad to get out of the office Colonel Mackenzie and back in the field.” At her slightly confused look he continued, “I never forget a face Colonel, I remember you from Bosnia, you served under Colonel Farrow.”

Harm couldn’t help but flinch at that name, something which did not go unnoticed by Mac.

“I remember Sir, but I was only a first lieutenant at the time, I’m surprised you remember me.” Replied Mac truly surprised.

Harm in the mean time would never get over how someone like Sarah Mackenzie could be so oblivious to the affect she had over people, men in particular. It wasn’t that she was just beautiful, she had this aura around her that made people take notice. Whether it was a one-time meeting, in the courtroom, or on an investigation, people where drawn to her. She was unbelievably generous, smart as hell, a quick thinker, had a spitfire attitude, and could be tough as nails one minute but vulnerable as a little girl the next. She brings out the protective side in almost anyone who gets to know her. A fact that Harm had noticed Sturgis was not immune to either.

All of her previous lovers had boarder line obsessions with her. Chris couldn’t forget her after 10 years. Farrow paid her husband to leave town and instantly ended his career to protect her. Dalton’s persistence was probably what got him killed by her stalker who only met her once. While Mic kept after her for over a year and gave up his Navy and Country just for a shot with her. He could see how she might think she was cursed, but he saw it more as a gift. She was not responsible for other people’s actions, no matter what she thought.

“Don’t sell yourself short Colonel, we all knew the work you were doing with the refugees. A lot of the Intel you gathered from them saved quite a few lives. Smartest thing John ever did recommending you for law school.”

She shouldn’t have needed that validation, she knew she was a great lawyer but she did need it. The fact that her recommendation for law school came from a man she was romantically involved with, no matter how briefly never sat well with her. She’d never said anything but that comment Harm made in the hanger about her sleeping with a man who excelled her career hit a raw nerve. She was glad Harm heard that, she wanted him to know she didn’t use sex to get what she wanted. She worked hard and earned everything given to her. She wanted him to be proud of her.

Harm on the other hand was thinking along the same lines, and was feeling guilty about what he said in the hanger. He didn’t mean it like it sounded; he was just trying to prove a point at the time. It was just another thing in a long list of things he wished he’d never said.

“Thank You Sir, and to answer your question I’ve enjoyed being back in the field. It’s good to get dirty every now and then.” She didn’t have to look at Harm to know he was staring at her unbelievably. She would never complain to a superior officer of such trivial things as being dirty or uncomfortable. As a female in the Marines she has to be tougher and give up more comfort items than men so as not to appear weak. She would never complain of discomfort in the field unless it was someone she trusted.

Colonel Smith actually laughed, “I wish I had more men out here like you Mackenzie, they complain more about shower time than they do the food. This is saying a lot believe me. As of right now all I can offer you are my thanks for a job well done and a quick shower before your ride home.” He looked apolitically at Mac. “You’ll have to forgive us Colonel, we’re not used to having females up here so it’s a little rough, pretty much just four walls with a couple of hoses attached to the water buffalo. I hope neither of you are modest, cause you only have,” he glanced at his watch. “30 minutes till your ride arrives.”

Mac couldn’t stop a small grin, “We’ll take what we can get Sir, Thank You.”

He looked at Harm one last time. ‘I hope he realizes how lucky he is. Almost every man in this camp would take a bullet to be in his shoes right now.’
“Dismissed.”

They both came to attention and turned to exit the tent. Mac was in a very good mood. “Oh, I can’t believe we get a shower. For a minute there I had visions of a four hour ride trying to decide who smelled worse, you or me.”

Harm, however had trouble sharing in her good mood.

“What’s the matter Flyboy, you finally get to wash that two day funk off of you.”

“What did he mean by not being modest?” He sounded a little panicked, because he already had an idea of the answer.

Mac laughed at his discomfort. “Oh that’s right I forgot what a prude you are. You know very well he meant we don’t have time to take turns and it doesn’t sound like it offers much privacy. What’s the big deal, we’ve seen each other emotionally naked, physically should be a piece of cake.”

Harm however knew seeing Sarah Mackenzie naked would be his downfall. “Ahhh….how about you take the shower and I’ll meet you at the pick-up point.”

She stopped and turned to face him. “Harmon Rabb Jr. you will shower, because to tell you the truth the only reason I can stand to be around you now is I’m not much better off! Besides,” she said as she resumed walking, “we’ve been best-friends for seven years, I trust you not to take advantage of the situation.”

As she opened the door to their tent, she heard him mumble, “I’m one one of us does.”

Without turning around she replied. “Watch it Sailor, or I won’t wash your back.”
She disappeared into their tent before he could reply.

‘Okay Rabb, you can do this, just don’t look at her. Yeah, I’ll just keep my back turned the whole time.’ He repeated this in his head as they threw the rest of their stuff in their sea bags and proceeded to the showers. They now only had 20 minutes till their flight arrived.

Colonel Smith wasn’t kidding about the shower. It literally was just pieces of plywood reinforced with fence pickets. The whole structure was 36 sq ft; big enough to squeeze four people in, and was a good 6-½ ft tall, affording some privacy. When they entered, the floor was lined with wooden pallets, and there were actually golden hooks to hang your stuff on to keep dry.

‘Probably taken from a local building after it was bombed.’ Harm thought as he continued to look at the structure.

Four water hoses were run threw holes in the wall with a spray head attached. It was actually pretty nice considering what the marines had to work with out here. One thing it was missing was shower curtains. Which really wasn’t much of a shock, the camp was all male soldiers, but still Harm was holding out some hope.

“Uhhhh….Mac are you sure that this is okay, I mean it’s pretty open. I could just wait outside and use my baby wipes or something.”

“Harm, what’s the big deal? It’s not like you haven’t seen a naked woman before and besides I already told you, I trust you.” She started hanging up her towel and took her shampoo and soap out of her bag.

Harm for his part followed her lead and took the hose directly across from her so he could keep his back turned and not have to worry about seeing anything out of the corner of his eye. 'Well, they say that the best defense is offense...here goes nothing.'

“Who said I was worried about your modesty, I just don’t want you to lose control when you see what a magnificent male specimen I am.” By this time they had started taking off their boots and outer garments.

To her credit Mac didn’t laugh, she just looked at him with a glint in her eye. “Oh please Harm, could your ego get any bigger?”

“You’d be surprised just how ‘big’ it can get Mac.”

‘Okay, I walked right into that one, I should have known better.’ But she cursed the blush that rose to her cheeks just the same time.

“Harm, there is only one part of your anatomy I haven’t seen,” she purposely let her eyes travel down his now bare chest to rest on his groin where he was unbuckling his belt. “And I doubt you have anything I haven’t seen before.” With that she took off her shirt and started on her pants. They where still looking at each other to see who would turn around first. Mac was now down to her panties and sports bra, while Harm only had his boxers on.

‘I’ll be dammed if I turn away first, let him see what he’s been missing all these years. Besides I’m tired of being the best buddy, I want him to see the woman that goes with the marine.’

‘Dame she’s calling my bluff, I was hoping going on the offensive would throw her off a little. She knows your playbook too well Rabb, time to get some new moves.’

Just as she was pulling her bra off Harm cracked and quickly turned around. Mac chuckled to herself knowing she had won this round. Harm took off his boxers not caring if Mac was still staring at him.

‘She was so dead set on seeing this through, let her see what she’s been missing all these years.’ Not that it was really her holding them back. He knew she wasn’t the “chase after a man” type; she had an amazing amount of self-confidence, except when it came to men. That was the only time she was unsure of herself. He couldn’t blame her, practically every guy she’s been close too has hurt her, including him. ‘After Dalton I must admit she got better at picking men. Brumby was actually a good guy, which was the real reason I never liked him. Mic said and did all the things I never had the balls to do.’

Mac for her part just stared at his naked six for a few seconds before she realized what she was doing and where her thought were going. She quickly turned around and took off the rest of her clothes and started the water.

Harm heard her water turn on and knew Sarah Mackenzie was standing a couple feet away from him completely naked. The water wasn’t cold enough to help his little problem that revelation caused.

‘The only time Mac tried to move our relationship to next level was Sydney,’ Harm thought. He knew what turning her down did to her, she would never again make the first move, it would be up to him. ‘When was just kissing a woman so much trouble. I’ve never had this problem before.’ For some reason Mac through him all out of whack. She wasn’t just a woman he found attractive and wanted to date, she was the woman he was in love with and wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

Harm couldn’t help himself; he stole a quick glance behind him. What he saw made his little problem a big problem. She was rinsing the shampoo out of her hair. He turned back around to her for a longer glance and watched the path the water and soap took down her perfect body, defining every curve. ‘They always say that the first step is the hardest.’

“Hey Mac, I thought you said you where going to wash my back.”

Mac slowly turned halfway around to look at him; she had her hand in her hair so her arm blocked the view of her breast. He was turned much in the same fashion to hide the erection he was sporting.

‘What the hell is he up too, just a few moments ago he was freaking out over seeing a little skin, and now he wants me to touch him when we are completely naked! Okay, just calm down. I’ll play his game,’ with that she dropped her arm, grabbed her soap and turned completely towards him, giving him a full view.

Harm let his gaze slowly move down her body trying to memorize every contour and shape. ‘She really is perfect.’ Every part of her body was toned from her arms to her abs to her thighs. She had strong, long legs that could only come from running. He’d be hard pressed to find any fat on her at all, but God he’d be willing to try. Her breasts where big and full, with hard cinnamon nipples….wait a minute why were her nipples hard? The water was luke-warm at best, could it be that she was as affected by this as he was. ‘She has to wax because there isn’t a hair on her.’ Her mound was neatly trimmed and even from this angle he could tell she shaved her outer lips. Harm was dying to first run his fingers then his tongue through the slick smooth folds which currently held his attention. ‘After all no one likes hair in their mouth.’ He thought as he started back up her body and looked her in the eye.

She looked directly at him waiting for him to finish ogling her. Mac took a deep breath and tried to slow her heart rate. She looked into his lust-filled eyes and felt a small amount of pride that she was the cause. She’d never been this turned-on just by having a guy look at her before.

‘Let’s see how far he’s willing to take this.’ “I can’t wash your back if you don’t turn around Harm.” Her voice sounded husky even to her.

‘This was very dangerous territory; just wash his back as quickly as possible before you do something stupid like jump him!’ He turned around as she was lathering up her hands with the soap. She just couldn’t waste this opportunity to touch him so she decided against using a washcloth. Mac started at his shoulders and worked her way down, trying not to notice the way his muscles felt underneath her hands. She’d given him back massages before, but his shirt was always on. This was the first time there was no layers between them. When she reached his lower back she couldn’t help herself, who knew if and when she would ever get this opportunity again. She went lower to his perfect ass.

Harm couldn’t help his sharp intake of breath and what strangely sounded like a whimper when her hands made contact with his ass. He felt her fingernails rake down his six and back up.

‘She has no way of knowing how sensitive I am there,’ Harm thought. ‘There’s just something about pounding into a woman and having her dig her fingernails in my ass as she comes that usually sent me over the edge as well.’

He didn’t know how he was controlling himself at the moment. All he wanted to do was turn around and claim her as his own. He almost snapped when he felt her hard nipples brush up against his back, but instead he just let out a low groan.

‘Whoa, totally didn’t mean to do that, but God did it feel good.’ Mac moaned in her head as the feeling sent a bolt of electricity right down to her grown. ‘I have to stop now or not at all.’ She reluctantly pulled away and smoothed her voice. “Anything else you need help washing?”

“No, that about covers it. Thanks.” Harm quickly said feeling slightly breathless as he took a few seconds to try and calm down. Mac turned around, walked the three feet back to her shower head and continued washing.

‘That was not fair Marine, but paybacks a bitch.’ He grabbed his own soap and lathered up his hands and turned fully towards her. Her back was to him so she didn’t notice when he stepped closer to her. ‘You’re in so much trouble Ninja-Girl.’

She jumped when his hands made contact with her shoulders. “Just returning the favor Mac,” Harm roughly whispered behind her.

She was in so much trouble, she didn’t know if she could handle having Harm touch her right now. ‘Okay marine you can do this, just control your breathing. Good now, just pretend that this an everyday occurrence….having your sexy as hell partner standing behind you totally naked and running his hands over your sexually deprived body…..God didn’t make will power that strong.’

Much like her washing he started at the top, but he took his time. Soon the washing changed into a slow seductive caressing. Mac couldn’t help but let her eyes drift close at the sensations he was creating. It had been way too long since she had felt a man’s touch. She could feel her heart pounding out of her chest.

Harm bent over to her ear and said in deep gravel voice, “You know Sarah, since we’re such good-friends and we trust each other so much, we should make this a regular practice after our runs. You know conserve water and all that.”

‘Okay now he’s mocking my earlier words, I should really be annoyed and say something to put him in his place.’

Then Harm let his lips brush against her ear as he brought his hands to rest on her waist. His long fingers going down to lightly massage for pelvic region, teasing her.

“Uh huh,” was the only thing she could get past her throat. He moved his lips from her ear down to her neck alternating between small kisses and light nibbling. Mac was really trying to keep herself in check by biting her lower lip, and not moving at all. She couldn’t hide her rapid breathing and the goose bumps that spread down her arms though. Seeing and feeling her reaction he pushed the envelope. Harm pulled her gently against him, bringing her back flush against his impressive erection. He wanted her to know exactly what she did to him.

Mac moaned before she could catch herself. The fact he had an erection really didn’t surprise her, what did surprise her was he was letting her know about it. Combine that with him still nibbling on her neck…. ‘Might as well give him better access if he’s so intent on that,’ Macugh ugh as she arched her neck …. and his hands moving around to her stomach, she was fast turning into a pool of Jell-O.

‘I feel like I have a hundred butterflies in my stomach right now.’ She brought one of her hands up to his neck anchoring him in place, while the other one went to join his hands at her stomach.

‘God she tastes good. She feels good for that matter too.’ She relaxed completely against him and started moving against his erection. His response was a groan and he moved his free hand up to cup her breast, which made her groan as well. She tossed her head against his body and arched her back giving him a bigger handful of her breast. He would have moved his other hand down between her legs, but she was griping his hand so tight, he wasn’t sure he could get it free right now. They where both completely out of control, their breathing was labored and neither of them had it in them to stop this.

Harm rolled her nipple between his fingers and Mac snapped. ‘Okay that’s it, I put up a good fight, but I can’t stand this. I have to kiss him!’

She turned her head towards his face; almost sensing what she wanted and needing the same thing himself, he met her halfway. Immediately there lips parted and they started exploring each others mouths with their tongues. The kiss was hot, demanding and passionately rough; both Harm and Mac felt it all the way to their toes.

Mac turned completely around and grasps his erection in her hand, while the other one was still in his hair making sure he went nowhere. Not that he wanted to be anywhere else at the moment. She started pumping his shaft immediately, measuring what her closed eyes couldn’t see at the moment. Harm let go of any control he might have had and crushed her against the thin wood wall, never breaking the kiss which had taken on a life of its own. He vaguely hoped that the wall wouldn’t collapse under the strain.

With one hand he reached behind her thigh bringing her leg up to his waist, and with the other he reach behind her bringing his hand down past her ass so he could reach her core. She was dripping wet and it had nothing to do with the water around them. He stroked her a few times brushing her clit before he dived two fingers in her hot, tight center. ‘God she was tight, course she hasn’t been with anyone in almost 2 years,’ thought Harm as he felt her inner muscles squeeze around him.

Mac for her part was at the point of no return. ‘I need him inside me NOW!’ Without thought she wrapped her other leg around his waist and he immediately took on the extra weight. He left her center to keep her weight balanced in the place where he needed her most. Going on pure physical need and thinking of nothing other than the pleasure they where causing each other, they both adjusted the angle and before they knew it he was inside her. They finally broke their kiss for some much needed air.

“Oh God, Harm.”

“You feel so good, Sarah.”

Neither had ever experienced anything this intense before, but neither had ever engaged in 7 years of foreplay for that matter. This was anything but slow love making; it was animalistic and driven by need and desire. They were claiming the other as their own, making sure they forgot any and all previous lovers. The only sounds in the small enclosed shower room were moans of pleasure and words of encouragement.

“Harder Harm.” And he did, for the first time he completely let go and didn’t do anything but feel. He knew she was close when she dug her nails in his back. He knew he wasn’t going to last for very much longer either. He reached between them to grab her breast and rolled her nipple between his fingers.

‘She seemed to really like that the last time I did it.’ Harm thought as a moan rolled from the back of Mac’s throat.

She’d never been this high, this fast before. It was enough to make one dizzy. She could already feel herself climbing higher and higher, it wouldn’t be long before she fell. Mac couldn’t help digging her nails into Harms back as the sensations grew stronger and more powerful. Vaguely in the one part of her brain that wasn’t wrapped around Harm she hoped she didn’t draw blood. When he touched her nipple it was her downfall, she began to come hard. She knew he could feel it too. Harm bit down on her shoulder to smoother the loud groans that he couldn’t hold back as his movement became more erratic and then after a few blissful moments he was coming with her. He'd never come this hard before, it was almost painful...almost.

It took a minute for both of them to get their breathing u con control and to realize what they had just done. They both drew back slowly to look at each other, each with a look of shock and awe at what just transpired.

Mac was the first to speak. “I can’t believe we just did that,” she said still a little out of breath.

Harm just stood there looking at her with amazement. He was still inside her with her legs and arms still wrapped around him. He was surrounded by Sarah Mackenzie and he decided he never wanted to be anywhere else.

“Want to do it again?” He smugly replied as he tightened his grip around her.

She couldn’t help but smile from the feeling of pure joy Harm gave her from that one statement. Her intoxicating smiled caused him to smile also. She leaned into him for another kiss as there was a knock at the door.

“Sir, Ma’am, Colonel Smith wanted me to tell you your bird’s ETA is in five minutes.” It was the same Lance Corporal from earlier with the same bad timing. They heard him walk away before either could respond. They both had forgotten where they were.

“SHIT!” Mac proclaimed finding herself more upset with this fact than Harm. She tended to stick more to protocol than he did. He on the other hand was actually proud of himself that he made her lose her military bearing.

She pushed him away after crawling off his body. “Hurry up we have to get out of here.” With the mood broken, he gave her a quick kiss and stated rinsing off. She turned away from him and started cleaning up. She went to rinse between her legs when her hand came in contact with his semen running down her thigh. “Oh fuck,” she softly swore to herself but unfortunately loud enough for Harm to hear.

He turns quickly and asked with concern. “Are you alright Mac?” ‘Maybe I hurt her. I wasn’t exactly gentle, of course neither was she.’

She turned toward him. “Yeah I’m fine,” at his slightly disbelieving look she continued. “I’ll tell you later, I promise it’s nothing serious.”

They both knew that this was more than just a roll in the hay, but the last thing they needed was another misunderstanding between them. She was halfway through drying off as he stood there completely soaked looking at her with mild worry, and maybe a little panic. Seeing that he wasn’t moving she looked up at him ready to start yelling, but stopped when she saw the look in his eyes.

She walked over to him and gave him a slow, meaningful kiss. “Get the lead out Sailor. The sooner we get home, the sooner we can have that dinner you promised me.” He smiled at her which she returned.

They finished dressing with two minutes to spare. As they walked to the landing zone both were lost in their own separate thoughts as the helo was inbound.

‘You are such a liar Mackenzie, what where you thinking telling him it wasn’t anything serious. You were thinking you didn’t have time for the discussion that would follow after he realized they didn’t use a condom and you aren’t on the pill.’ She wasn’t worried about a commitment from Harm. She knew he loved her even if he hasn’t said the words. They had to sort out JAG first, and besides she would really like to be married before they had kids. She wanted to do this the right way. Not have some shotgun wedding were it was blatantly obvious the bride was pregnant. Now was not the time to bring a baby into the equation when so much was left unsettled.

She looked up at him and couldn’t help but giggle at the expression on his face. He was on cloud nine and was not hiding it. Regardless of the consequences she wouldn’t take the last 20 minutes back for nothing.

Harm was ecstatic nothing could ruin the mood he was in. He just made love to Sarah Mackenzie and he couldn’t wait to get home so he could do it again. He had to plan something romantic. His next step was to tell her he loved her and it didn’t seem like Iraq in the middle of a war zone was the place to do this.

‘Was that a giggle I just heard?’ He looked down at her and meets her eyes. “Was that a giggle Marine?”

“No.” She replied through a smile.

“Oh I think it was.” Harm egged her on knowing this was too good to pass up.

“Good luck proving that in court Flyboy.” By now the helicopter had landed and she jumped on board; leaving Harm to shake his head at her unable to give her a verbal response.

The ride back to the Seahawk was uneventful, unless you count the little glances and smiles exchanged between the pair. When they landed the Skipper wanted to be debriefed which took an hour, then they had to interrogate the Sergeant who started this whole mess. It took the bad cop, good cop routine but they finally got the soldier to confess who he was covering for.

After the interrogation they retired to their separate cabins to write their report. Mac was assigned to room with Skates since her roommate was on emergency leave, while Harm was with his old roommate Tuna.

Mac sat down on her bunk totally exhausted by the day’s events. With the slight time change and trying to wrap everything up she had been going strong for 24 hours. All she wanted to do was crash, but she had to write her report first.

“You look like hell Ma’am.” Skates stated the obvious.

Mac started laughing. “That’s the second time I’ve been told that today and as long as I’m your roommate, it’s Mac.”

Skates smiled at the woman, she may have been her prosecutor at one point but she truly liked her. Skates knew Mac didn’t have a choice and she was just doing her job at the time. “Why don’t you get a few hours sleep? I’ll be back in 3 hours I could always wake you up then.”

“Thank you Skates, I think I’ll take you up on that.” She stood and started to undress.

“You should take a shower too. It will help refresh you.”

Mac stopped short of taking her shirt off as she was flooded with memories of her partner and the shower they shared; how he felt inside her. It had been almost two years since she was with someone; she was actually a little sore. A good sore, but non-the-less sore. “Uh…actually Harm and I showered before our helo picked us up so I’ll just wait till tomorrow.” She replied a bit too quickly. ‘Why did I have to mention Harm’s name? Please tell me I’m not blushing.’

Skates looked at Mac curious at her reaction to a simple suggestion. ‘Why is she blushing?’ Mac already had her sleeping shorts on. She took her tee-shirt off and was in the process of taking her bra off and throwing on a spaghetti strap shirt. That was when Skates saw it, “Exactly what did this shower entail and how was Harm involved?”

‘How the hell did she figure that out so fast!?’ “What do you mean, it was a shower, it entailed washing, and Harm….well…Harm….had nothing to do with it.” This last part was said quickly and softly, as Mac busied herself with organizing the papers on her desk.

Skates, to her credit was doing her best not to laugh. It was obvious there was always something between them. But now it looked like they had finally acted on their feelings. “Well Mac, I just don’t know how else to get a hickey with teeth marks. You know other than the obvious way of course.”

“WHAT!!” Mac went straight to the mirror and sure enough she had a huge hickey on her shoulder with what looked suspiciously like teeth marks. She vaguely remembered Harm biting her as they both came, but she didn’t think is ths this bad. Thank god her uniform would hide it. She was going to kill him, for what she wasn’t sure, she just knew she was going to kill him.

Mac turned back around to find Skates utterly pleased with herself. “You’re loving this aren’t you?” There was no way to deny it now.

Skates just shook her head. “Yes, as a matter of fact I am.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Mac threw her pajama blouse over her spaghetti-strap shirt to hide the hickey but left it unbuttoned. Skates opened the door to reveal none other than Harm on the other side.

30 Minutes Earlier

“HAMMER! It’s good to have you back, even if it is just for a few days.”

“Thanks Tuna, it’s good to be back.” ‘Not as good as it’s going to be when we get home, but for now it was still good to be on a carrier.’ Harm thought as he settled into the small cabin.

“So what have you and that gorgeous partner of yours been up too lately, anything exciting?”

At the mention of Mac’s name Harm couldn’t help the glazed look that crossed over his eyes. He couldn’t help but think about what it was like to have her legs wrapped around his waist as he pounded into her. What it felt like when she came and the way she clung to him. She was a very passionate lover and he couldn’t wait to explore that side of her again.

“Hammer…..Hammer….HAMMER!!!” Tuna practically shouted to get his attention. “What’s with the far off look got a new girlfriend?” Tuna joked not knowing how close he was to the truth.

Harm was able to hide his embarrassment at being caught daydreaming. It would only set Tuna off more if he evaded or worse blushed. So instead he just said, “Maybe. Look Tuna, I’ve been up for the past 24 hours and all I want right now is to get a few hours of sleep before I write my report.” It was the truth after all.

Harm started to change as Tuna replied. “Yeah I understand,” he took a drink of his coke and proceeded to spit it out when he saw Harm’s back, “Holy shit, what the hell happened to your back Hammer!?”

‘Oh God I completely forgotten about the scratch marks Mac was so kind to give me.’ “Ahhh….it’s not what you think Tuna...” Harm stammered.

“The hell it’s not. Those are scratch marks and very recent scratch marks at that. You’ve been holding out on me. Who is she?”

“Look, I’m not going to kiss and tell alright, so just drop it. Now if you don’t mind Mac will kill me if my rt…..t…..”

He never got to finish his sentence as Tuna exclaimed. “MAC!! You finally got the balls to make a move on Mac. I don’t believe it. And in Iraq no less, you little devil. Wait till the guys hear…” This time it was Tuna who never got to finish, probably because he found himself pinned to the wall by a very angry Harmon Rabb Jr.

“You will tell no one, do I make myself clear! The last thing Mac needs is for the whole ship to know what happened!” He released Tuna from his grip before he turned away and ran his hand through his hair. “Christ Tuna, you know how these things work. I’ll come off as the macho guy who nailed the impossible chick and she’ll come off as the weak female who can’t control herself around a man. I won’t be the cause of anymore pain in her life.” Harm was no longer angry, just scared. Mac worked hard to gain the respect of the people around her. If this got out it would blow her respect straight to hell.

“You really love her don’t you Hammer.” Harm just stared at Tuna for a few seconds.

“Yeah I do.” Harm replied finally admitting it out loud for the first time.

“Look I’m sorry Hammer. I’ll take it to the grave…..or at least until your wedding reception.” He said with a grin.

Harm couldn’t help but laugh, he knew he could trust Tuna. “Thanks buddy. Look I’m too wired to sleep right now; I think I’ll go take a walk to calm my nerves.”

“Ok.. t.. tell Mac I said Hi.” Tuna grinned. Harm just looked at him before he redressed and walked out the door. He hoped Mac wasn’t sleeping.

Present

“Hey Hammer.” Skates gave him a quick hug.

“Hey Skates, I just had a question to ask Mac about the case.” Skates looked back at Mac with a grin on her face before she turned back to him.

“Sure you did Harm. Well I was just on my way out. Remember Mac I’ll be gone for at least 3 hours.” She purposely said as she gave her a knowing look. Mac blushed and a sta started to organize her desk. Skates walked around Harm and left the couple alone.

“What was that all about Mac?” He asked as he entered and closed the hatch.

“She’s on to us Harm. Didn’t you notice?” Mac stopped organizing and looked him in the eye.

“How the hell did she find out? We’ve only been back for a few hours.”

“Well it was kind of hard to deny after she saw the little present you gave me.” Mac pulled her blouse to the side so he could view his handy work. Harms eyes got as big as the bruise on her shoulder. He couldn’t bring himself to be really sorry about it. He was willing to bet Mac wasn’t sorry for it either, except for the fact that Skates had also seen it.

“Well while we’re playing show and tell. You might as well know that Tuna knows about us too.” Harm pulled his shirt off and turned around so she could view his back.

Mac walked over to him and ran her fingertips lightly over the scratch marks. Then her lips replaced her fingertips. “Oh Baby I’m sorry.”

Harm noted she didn’t sound sorry at all in fact she sounded amused more than anything else. At the moment he really didn’t care because her kisses were slowly stroking the fire which hadn’t quite died yet.

“Oh now I know it’s meant to be.” Harm grinned knowingly as he turned around. He kissed down her neck and removed her blouse as he went.

Mac ran one hand up his bare chest and entangled it in his hair as she closed her eyes enjoying everything this man did to her. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of him.’ “How’s that Flyboy?” She let out a low moan as he hit a sensitive spot.

Harm already had her blouse off and was working his hands underneath her shirt, if that’s what you wanted to call the thin piece of material covering her upper body. Harm would prefer to call it an annoyance because it covered one of the spots where he wanted to be and one of the spots of Mac he wants to gaze at. “Cause you just called me ‘baby’ and I didn’t mind at all.” God how he just wanted to spend hours exploring her body and finding out every way to drive her crazy with desire.

She let out a low chuckle. “Oh right, I forgot how you cringed every time one of your girlfriends called you ‘sweetheart’.” She started kissing across his chest and took one of his nipples into her mouth. He tightened his grip around her waist and pulled her flush against his body.

“I couldn’t help it; it always reminded me of my mother.” Harm admitted as he began to breathe heavier. His mind was attempting to devise a plan to get Mac out of her clothes as quickly as possible.

Mac could feel his erection pressing into her. ‘God I want to touch him so bad, but I can’t because it won’t end there.’ She didn’t know how she did it, but very reluctantly she pulled out of him embrace. “Harm we can’t do this right now.”

“Whhaat…” His higher brain hadn’t quite kicked in yet as he looked at her through passion clouded eyes. “Why not?”

‘Here we go, time for that little discussion,’ Mac thought to herself before she took a deep breath. “Harm……we didn’t use a condom when we…well….you know…when we….in the shower.” ‘God I’m an intelligent women in my 30’s, a lawyer, and I can’t say “when we had the best sex of my life”.’ She was pacing the small room and finally stopped to look up at him. He had a slightly confused look on his face as he was connecting the dot.

“Well there’s a first time for everything I guess.” Harm still hadn’t quite recovered from their earlier activity.

Mac had a look of shock on her face. “Are you telling me you’ve never had sex without a condom?”

“Well, yeah.” Harm was starting to get a little uncomfortable with this conversation, but figured he better explain, “When I was younger I was so dead set on becoming a pilot, I wasn’t about to risk it by doing something stupid like get a girl pregnant. And when I finally got my wings I didn’t want to be tied down by anything, or anyone, so I just never took a chance. Even with Diane I wasn’t sure I could commit 100%, so I didn’t want to put us in the situation. After all that it was just sort of normal. I never thought it should be completely the woman’s responsibility anyway, especially if it was something I really didn’t want with her.” He looked at Mac. “I’m not the weekend dad type, and I was never with anyone I was willing to spend the rest of my life with.” ‘Until now,’ he added silently.

“Well Harm you picked a hell of a time to throw caution to the wind…I’m not on anything.” As she waited for this to sink in she added, “It didn’t even cross my mind till afterwards when I was cleaning up….I’m usually pretty anal about that sort of thing, it’s not like me to get carried away….” she had a slight grin on her face. “You always did have a way of making me forget the Rules of Engagement.” He smiled at her choice of words.

“So you’re saying you could be pregnant,” he stated calmly.

His expression was hard to read. “Yes.”

“So what’s the problem?” Mac’s eyes got round in shock at what he just said. Harm walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. “So we fulfill our baby promise a little early, what’s wrong with that?” He looked down a little unsure of himself, “Unless you don’t want…”

He never got to finish, because he found Mac’s lips pressed against his own. She pulled back and looked him directly in the eyes. “Nothing would make me happier Harm than to be the mother of your children.”

“But….” He knew her too well to think this was the only obstacle in their way of being together and truly happy.

“But… I just always wanted to be married before I had kids and we’re not exactly in a stable position right now. We still have JAG to deal with as well as some other underlying issues.”

She didn’t have to go into detail, he knew too well what those underlying issues where. They had seven years of miscommunications to clear up. He was still holding her. He couldn’t help but think how right this felt talking about their future children.

“Alright, so we wait till we get home and you make a doctors appointment. If you’re not pregnant, then get the pill, or the shot, or whatever it is women are on these days. And if you are pregnant we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Either way I don’t want to use condoms with you Mac. I don’t want anything to be between us when we make love.” Mac for her part tried her best not to let the tears, which were quickly forming, fall. ‘When he let’s go, he really lets go.’

"God I love you." It was out her mouth before she realized what she was saying, but she couldn't help how right it felt to finally say it to him.

Harm for his part was completely shocked and speechless. 'I have to say something before she thinks I'm getting scared again. Why are words not coming out of my mouth?' Starting to panic he took action instead. He swooped down and captured her lips in the sweetest, most loving kiss he knew how to give. When he pulled back to look at her it was the most naturally thing in the world to say, "I love you too."

They both had silly grins on their faces and laughed a little at their new found freedom. This time it was Mac that kissed Harm. As it ended she pushed him away. "Good, now get the hell out of here while I still have control over myself."

They were both still smiling as he moved toward the door. "I told you, you wouldn't be able to control yourself when you saw what a magnificent male specimen I am." He smugly replied.

She opened the hatch for him and he walked out turning one last time to look at her. "You're right Harm, in fact I'll probably have to take matters into my own hands tonight and go through every single fantasy involving the two of us...minus the ‘we're forced to shower together’ fantasy of course."

Harm was speechless, not only did she say she was going to masturbate tonight while thinking about him, but she had done it in the past as well. Before he could reply she had already shut the door with a smug grin on her face. 'Damn, I can't wait to get home.'


TBC