Title: Gift of Fate
Author:
Tante Kiki
Rating: PG-13
Classification: H/M
- Romance
Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters nor
am I profiting from my use of them for entertainment and
enjoyment.
Prompt: What if: During “The Mission”
when Harm was talking about best RIO being a woman, and Mac mentioned
Skates, Harm turned to her and said, “I wasn’t talking
about Skates.” As we remember, Mac was his RIO during “To
Russia With Love”.
Summary: An AU tag for the
episode. I think it meets the spirit of the prompt if not the timing
details.
**********
“You can
celebrate, gifts are never late,
You just learn to wait for sudden
gifts of fate.
And so this has to be, a sudden gift of
fate,
You’re nothing less to me, than a sudden gift of
fate.” *
**********
On the Seahawk
observation deck, Mac finds Harm watching the planes.
“How
did you know where I was?”
“Where else would you
be on a carrier during ops?”
Harm turns and grins at
her, “In the front seat of an F-14.”
Mac returns
his smile. “Only one ride per customer. Don’t be greedy,
Flyboy.”
He shakes his head, “I guess that’s
the end of our déjà vu moment.”
“Probably
for the best.” Her tone turns slightly somber and she looks
away. “Our track record with those isn’t the
greatest.”
“I’m still glad you’re
here.”
Mac thinks she hears a depth to his words and she
turns to look at him. Even though doubt quickly surfaces, she answers
with depth of her own, tinged with humor. “I think that should
be my line this time.”
His teasing response is
automatic. “I thought you said you weren’t worried.”
She
smiles back. “I said I wasn’t worried for a minute. And I
wasn’t.” She pauses for a moment and he waits for the
punch line but instead she offers this bombshell. “I was
worried during the entire flight.”
“Oh.”
That isn’t the flippant reply he had been expecting, but then
her next comment is even more of a surprise.
She turns away
from him and looks out to sea and seems to be talking quietly to
herself, “Just like I am every time I know you’re in the
air.”
Harm is studying her profile and trying to
process this information, “I didn’t know.”
“I
didn’t want you to know.”
“Why not?”
“Worry
is a sign of weakness and you know how I feel about that.” An
incipient smile forms on Mac’s face, but she continues to avoid
looking at Harm.
“I suppose I do. So why tell me
now?”
“Because I … because I’m glad
you’re here.”
He is certain that’s not the
whole reason and he also thinks he hears a slight catch in her voice.
The wheels in his brain try to turn, but he’s not sure if he’s
reading correctly between Mac’s lines or just engaging in
wishful thinking. Instead of pressing her, Harm decides to offer a
confession of his own in return. “I sort of lied too.”
Her
back stiffens and Mac turns to face him. “I didn’t
lie.”
“Okay. What would you call it?” His
smile at her defensiveness only aggravates her further.
“Obfuscating the truth for the greater good.” Her
tone is full of courtroom conviction.
“So that’s
what we’re calling it these days?” His eyebrows rise in
challenge.
“Yes.” And with that Mac dismisses the
topic. Tired of being the focus of attention, she shifts back to his
admission. “What was your lie?”
His teasing grin
returns. “Maybe it was just an obfuscation.”
“Try
to be a little more original with your rationalizations.”
“I
know a good line when I hear one.”
“Harm …”
Her tone warns him that she’s done with the banter.
“I
wasn’t talking about Skates.”
Mac looks at him
blankly for several moments before she can begin to follow the leap
of his thoughts.
He saves her the trouble and continues,
“Before my flight, when we were talking about the best RIO I
ever had. I wasn’t talking about Skates, though she is pretty
terrific.”
“She has to be, to put up with both you
and Tom Boone.” A small smile returns.
“Funny,
Marine.” He scowls a bit for effect.
“I call them
as I see them, but I didn’t realize that you had had another
female RIO besides Skates. I guess there’s still a lot we don’t
know about each other, even after six years.”
“Well
I never had another naval female RIO, but there was this kickass
jarhead who rode in my backseat …”
“You
must be joking.”
“I’ve never been more
serious.” He tries to hold her eyes with his, to convince
her.
“Harm, I could barely hold my lunch up there. How
could you possibly consider me your best RIO?”
“To
hell and back, that’s what a good RIO says and does. I’ve
never had another RIO, even Skates, who has personified that
philosophy better than you have, Mac.”
“That’s
pretty high praise for a marine from a squid. What would your fellow
naval aviators say if they heard?”
“I’m
trying to be serious and you’re making jokes.”
“Since
when are serious about this sort of thing?”
“Since
never. Since now. Don’t you think it’s time we
started?”
“We’re not talking about RIOs
anymore, are we?”
“No.”
“I’ve
thought it was way past time, but I couldn’t trust that you
felt the same way.” Mac looks away again.
“Past
time?” Harm’s brow starts to furrow. “Does that
mean it’s too late?”
“Too late for what?”
She turns back.
“I was afraid I’d chased you
away.”
“You’ve tried, almost as much as I’ve
tried to chase you away, but we’re like bad pennies to each
other. I’m really glad you came back.”
Without
thinking or obsessing, Harm decides to press his luck and hopes
she’ll follow his lead, and his heart. “The hard part’s
over, Mac. We’re already good friends.”
She pauses
for a beat, but then picks up his reference. “Does that mean I
don’t get to see you in a dress?”
In for a penny,
in for a pound. “Only dress whites or mess dress, but since
those don’t seem to have the desired effect on you, perhaps
you’ll prefer me undressed.”
Mac can’t
believe the turn this conversation is taking. She’s not sure if
he’s serious, but she takes what he offers and ups the ante.
“Maybe you’re not such a prude after all. I also hope
you’re not thinking what I’m thinking right now.”
“Why’s
that?”
She shivers a bit at his husky tone. “Because
I’m not sure there’s enough cold water on this boat to
last us both until we get off.” The grin on Harm’s face
makes Mac realize her unintended double entendre, or maybe it was a
Freudian slip. “Off the boat, I mean.”
“Of
course.” He nods solemnly. “That’s what I thought
you meant. So do we have a date?”
“A date?”
Suddenly, she’s lost her way in this maze of banter.
“Yes,
after we get back to D.C. Wasn’t that what we were discussing?
Dressing, undressing, hot showers, not cold. Ring any bells?”
“Are
you serious?”
“As serious as I was about the
identity of my best RIO.”
“Okay.”
It
couldn’t be this easy, could it? They both turn to the rail and
face the sea, at a loss as to how to continue this whiplash inducing
conversation, still not sure if they have merely been flirting or if
they have been settling their future plans.
Then Mac whispers
to herself, “to the altar and beyond.”
“To
the altar and beyond?” Harm turns to look at her.
She
also turns, to face him. “Did I say that out loud?”
“Is
that a proposal?”
“Are we on some game show, where
we can only speak in questions?”
“Don’t
change the subject.” His mouth smiles, but he eyes are serious
and questioning.
She pauses and then nods, “Yes, I guess
it was a proposal, but it wasn’t an easy decision.”
“I
know, but it was right, I promise you.”
“Is that a
yes?” Her tone morphs from tense to teasing.
His follows
suit. “What happened to the romantic setting, getting down on
one knee, the ring?”
Mac takes a quick look to make sure
they aren’t being closely observed. “What could be more
romantic for you than the sight of planes taking off and the smell of
jet fuel?” she offers as she kneels down and pulls off her OCS
ring. “Harmon Rabb, Jr., will you marry me?” She
partially succeeds in sliding the ring onto his pinky.
“Yes.”
He takes her hands and lifts her up. They stand too close to each
other for too many heartbeats. They strain not to move into the
embrace they crave before they each pull away slightly. “But
the celebration will have to wait.”
“But not for
eternity.”
“No, that’s how long it will
last.”
They smile and nod and turn to look at the ocean
once again. They both lean forward, hands grasping the rail, and
slowly her right hand and his left hand slide together, so that they
are just barely touching, and sunlight reflects from a most unusual
engagement ring.
Finis.
* Mary-Chapin
Carpenter
Also a line from the movie, Tootsie