HBX Challenge March 2006--Communication

Title: Communication
Author: JAG Junkie (rondayoung@yahoo.com)
Rating: PG
Category: Romance (H/M)
Disclaimer: They are (sadly) not mine. If they were, Harm and Mac would have gotten together way before the last 7 ½ minutes.

Summary: This is set immediately after Jagathon. The evening after the race, Mac comes to Harm’s apartment to talk.

A/N: This is just a little something I scribbled down on my lunch break today. It is my response to Cece’s HBX challenge for March.




Harm’s Apartment
North of Union Station

The sound of the tea kettle singing was music to Harm’s ears. It had been a long and tiring day. He had nearly killed himself to catch up to and tie with Mac in the race today. Crossing the finish line with her seemed like a fitting way to end the race, especially after the way they had been snipping at each other.

Just when he had about given up on ever getting things right with her, she had fixed everything with one phrase: “back at the beginning”. Once they had agreed on that, they were no longer at the end of a lost race. Instead, they were starting fresh, with the renewed hope of finishing together in more ways than one.

The problem was, how do they start the race again? How do they do it and not make the same mistakes again? Harm almost felt defeated already as fear started to rise up within him.

He was about to pour himself some hot tea when he heard someone at the door. He made no effort to hide his surprise when he opened the door and saw her.

“Mac?! I wasn’t expecting you.” He just stood there and didn’t invite her in, his tired mind trying to process why she would be at his apartment after such an exhausting day.

She looked a little hurt at his reaction and he immediately sensed her discomfort.

“Is everything okay? Why are you here?” His face was full of concern.

“Harm, if we spend *all* of our free time alone in our own apartments, we’re going to *stay* ‘back at the beginning’. Besides, do I have to have a reason to be here?”

“Of course not. Forgive me. Come on in.” He smiled and stepped aside for her. “I just made some hot tea. Would you like some?”

“That’s sounds nice. Sure.” She smiled back at him and sat down on the sofa. A few moments later, he brought two steaming mugs of tea and sat down next to her.

“So, we both nearly killed ourselves today and neither one of us won.”

He chuckled. “Tell me about it. I don’t even remember Sturgis sneaking by us. Only a bubblehead could go unnoticed like that. I guess didn’t have my sonar turned on today.”

She laughed in response. Then an awkward silence fell over them, until she tried to bring the conversation closer to where they left off at the race. “So…Renee is gone.”

Harm, slightly embarrassed, looked at the floor. “Yeah.”

Mac’s eyes filled with genuine concern. “What happened?”

“After her dad’s funeral, and after I left, she hooked up with someone she knew before.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Cyrus the mortician.” His voice was dripping with cynicism.

Mac giggled. “A mortician? The video princess is with a mortician?”

Harm let out a sarcastic snort. “Yeah. Interesting, isn’t it? What’s even more amazing is that they’re engaged.”

Mac’s jaw dropped. “Wow.”

“My thoughts exactly. It’s ironic that I sent you away so that I could be there for her, and yet when I leave, she immediately runs to someone else.”

“Ouch. That’s bad.”

“It’s okay. She saved me the trouble of breaking up with her.” Mac raised an eyebrow in curiosity and he continued. “Our relationship wasn’t going anywhere. And it never would have. I didn’t love her.”

At this revelation, Mac looked up at Harm and was startled at what she saw. He was staring at her with darkened, longing eyes, just like he did that day across the conference room. Her throat went dry and she found herself whispering her next words.
“When you look at me that way, what do you see?”

“I see…a desirable woman.”

“And I see…a man who’s so afraid to lose control.”

“In my world, you lose control, you die.”

Mac sighed in frustration. They really were back at the beginning if they were having the same conversation again. But she was determined to change things this time around.

“I’m not a Tomcat, Harm.” She scolded him with her eyes. Then she noticed something flicker in his face, but she wasn’t quite sure how to interpret it.

“No, you’re not. You’re something much scarier. You’re a woman.”

“I’d be offended by that if I didn’t understand exactly how you feel.”

He seemed surprised at her words.

“Harm, I’m scared too. This ‘thing’ between us, whatever it is, is big. It’s huge. It’s threatening to overtake us whether we’re ready or not. We can’t just ignore it anymore.”

“No, we can’t. And I don’t want to ignore it anymore.” He nervously averted his eyes for a moment. “It’s just that every time we try to talk about it, we say all the wrong things and end up worse than we were before. It seems like screwing it up is all we’re good at.”

“You’re wrong.”

She had his complete attention now as she continued. “There *is* one other thing we’re good at.”

“Yeah? What?”

Mac swallowed hard and mustered up her courage. “This.” She leaned forward and firmly planted her lips on his.

He was a little surprised, but only briefly. This was what he had wanted for so long. He drew her closer and deepened the kiss. She snaked her hand up and around his neck and parted her lips. Their lips, tongues, and hands began to explore the previously forbidden territory.

The need for air finally forced them apart a few minutes later.

Harm was the first to find his voice. “Wow.”
“Yeah, wow.” Mac whispered.

“I’d say we’re definitely good at that. And after *that* kiss, you probably already figured out that I love you.”

She smiled. “Yeah, I did. And I love you too, you know.”

“Yeah. I do.”

“Harm, I don’t think we need to say anything else right now. I think we’re communicating just fine like this.” She inched her face closer to his.

“I agree,” he said as he leaned in and closed the distance, capturing her lips once again. The newfound freedom to openly express desire and passion for one another was barely containable. All the issues and complications that had been such stumbling blocks now seemed so unimportant. What was *really* important was right in front of them. It was theirs for the taking and so they took it eagerly.

There were still some things left that needed to be discussed: promises and commitments to be made, logistics to be worked out. But for the time being, they mutually decided that they were right where they wanted to be. And so they continued their discussion in their newly discovered language late into the night. And the next morning, after having reach a mutually satisfying understanding the night before, they found that the words that needed to be said came naturally. All they had needed all this time was to speak the same language: the language of love.

*****