Simplify

Spoilers: None, though timeline wise it happens anywhere at Season 2, 4-5, 7-8.

Disclaimer: Wealthy prince Donald P. Bellisario wrote me a nice email. He offered me the chance to own them. All he needed was my bank account details and credit card numbers. He was very nice about it. I'm waiting 6-8 weeks for delivery.

Author's Note:
I woke up this morning with this story pinging in my head. And it's one of those which sits on your brain stopping you from pursuing anything else until you write it out. I hope you guys like it.

Chapter 1 - The First Step

1400 ZULU
FARMERS MARKET
WASHINGTON, D.C.

Sarah 'Mac' MacKenzie couldn't believe what she was doing right now. Today was Saturday - the day where she could stop waking up at the crack of dawn, sleep in and do what she truly wanted to do - watch Saturday cartoons while playing with the new dinosaur tracks she just had shipped in from Utah.

Instead, she was standing in front of fresh produce of every color with names that sounded suggestive to her Marine brain. (Mysore Raspberry anyone?) The reason why she was here was currently hemming and hawing at the selection. Mac turned to her companion.

Katerina Romero was a diminutive middle-aged Hispanic woman, whose red highlights may have come from a bottle but only served to make her more attractive as it hung in loose curls that framed her cute face. Her voice was smooth as silk and she could charm the devil himself to find religion if she tried.

And despite appearances, Kate was an internet multi-millionaire. She may have started out as a housekeeper almost two decades ago, but through a mixture of natural intelligence as well as tenacity, she had a brain wave that turned into an empire.

She discovered the problem with the modern lifestyle of so many people was that they didn't know how to declutter their lives. People were natural collectors - and it wasn't limited to just physical collections. They collected emotions as well, baggage, and usually collected bad and negative feelings far more frequently than the good.

So she started her 'uncomplikate' website to simplify people's lives - first by organizing their houses, then working on their lives. She discovered that people didn't need help organizing their physical belongings. People needed far more help recognizing the void they tried to fill within their lives. And Kate helped them find those answers, with drill sergeant methods.

Tell them to pick up their own garbage. Tell them to clean their house. Help them by prodding them along, with a big stick if necessary. By helping these people do something for a change - whether it was fixing that washing machine hidden in the corner, or complete that 5k run they promised to run for charity, helping these people allowed them to stop trying to fill their unfulfilled lives with worthless junk, and helped them start to find what was truly valuable to them.

Maybe then they would stop with the 14-hour workdays. Maybe then they wouldn't take up every gym class when all they wanted to do was lose 3 pounds. And they wouldn't sign up for Salsa dance classes and then spend the rest of the year hiding at home with the sauce instead.

After she made her first million, then five, then fifteen - Kate finally realized that as many as she helped, there were far more people who needed her but didn't necessarily recognize it. So while she rarely took on the work of 'simplifying' by herself nowadays, there were times when she saw a soul in need of mending and occasionally a prod with a sharp stick.

She had met Sarah MacKenzie at church, and much to Kate's amusement had instantly noticed how suddenly all the men in the congregation had started dressing better come mass day. The beautiful woman definitely inspired men to better themselves, and Kate only wished that the men could look beyond the obvious charms and see the real woman Sarah was.

It hadn't taken many conversations for Kate to recognize that Sarah was unfulfilled. She who could have the world at her feet instead carried it on her shoulders. She who should fill the world with her smiles instead held sadness in her eyes.

That was when Kate decided that Sarah MacKenzie's life needed a little 'uncomplikating'.

"We've been here for an hour and 35 minutes, Kate." Mac said once again without looking at her watch. Kate had found that trick amazing the first hour she had done it, but as it became an update every five minutes since, she was starting to wonder if it was time to hit Sarah MacKenzie with a stick.

"The purpose of shopping here is to enjoy the experience, Sarah. Take in the colors, the smells."

Mac humored the woman she had started to consider a friend one more time. She looked around and took a deep breath. She felt no better this time than the sixty-four previous times she had done exactly the same thing.

Mac sighed, "I don't even know how to cook half the things... all the things here anyway."

"I know, I've seen your fridge." Kate replied, surprised that such a beautiful girl ate like a primitive caveman... if primitive caveman also had access to MSG, instant ramen and potato chips.

Sensing that she was losing the younger woman's attention, Kate decided that she better wrap this up. "Oh fine. We've got what I needed anyway."

'Finally!' Mac's mind screamed, and the look of relief on her face must have been so apparent for Kate stared at her not amused. Mac quickly masked her joy before following the older woman out to the parking lot.

Kate's black sedan was modest for someone who pulled in 7 figures a year. Mac found Katerina Romero's life philosophy applied to just about everything. She could have afforded a car that befitted her social status, but instead she didn't believe that her possessions defined who she was.

'We aren't defined by what we buy or own, the clothes we wear or the shampoo that we use. We are only defined by how happy we make ourselves with as little as we need. Having more is just more. It does not make you better, but it will make you fat.'

As Mac started loading the big bags of fresh produce into Kate's car, her eye caught sight of the last person she expected to see here. Until she realized she was buying vegetables, of course HE would be here.

Kate saw Mac stop loading, suddenly distracted by something. So the older woman looked up and saw what had caught her young ward's eye.

"Oh wow." Kate said as her eyes roamed over the tall hunk loading his shopping. He was 6'4" of rich creamy sin in a white Navy uniform and she couldn't blame Sarah MacKenzie for feasting her eyes on him. A look at the young woman brought a smile to Kate's face - the young woman's eyes weren't merely feasting, they were devouring him as if she was a starving woman and he was the only meal left on Earth.

And let the 'uncomplikating' begin. Kate walked up to the Naval Officer.

Mac noticed her companion approach the dreamy sailor and hissed, "Kate, what are you doing?"

Kate chose to ignore her and stood in front of the Navy man to introduce herself.

"Hi, I'm Kate Romero and this is my friend Sarah MacKenzie." she held out her hand to shake his.

The man heard the familiar name and looked up from his shopping. He stared at the cute Hispanic woman first and then at the statuesque brunette next to her. A slow smile crept across his face as he took in the attractive sight of Sarah MacKenzie, even as he took Kate's proffered hand and shook it.

"Harmon Rabb Jr. Friends call me Harm."

"Really? Well, friends call Sarah, Mac, after MacKenzie, and me, 'in need of help' because I do need some. You wouldn't mind assisting us with our groceries would you?"

He flashed both of them his infamous flyboy grin, the one that Mac was sure was banned by the Geneva Convention, or should be because of what it did to her. "Of course. How could I refuse in your hour of need?"

Mac wanted to hide. She literally wanted to crawl behind the bushes and hide. She didn't know why, she saw him at work everyday but that was behind her olive green armor, the Marine Corps uniform. Now seeing how his eyes inched across her frame, taking in her casual attire, she became extremely self conscious. Did her outfit color coordinate? Did the sweater make her boobs look weird? Did that candy bar she had two Christmases ago add five pounds in a place she couldn't see?

Harm quickly loaded the rest of Kate's groceries in her car. "There we go." Harm said, again flashing his smile at both women. Mac didn't know how Kate was holding up, but she was already melting under the warmth of his smile.

"Anything else I could help with?" Harm asked.

Kate motioned at her entirely filled car, "Well... it seems there might not be enough place for Mac to ride in. And I wouldn't want to let the poor girl take a cab home."

Mac wanted to protest but she discovered that in addition to being melted, she had also lost all ability to speak. She heard the handsome sailor in front of her offer, "Well, I wouldn't mind giving her a ride home, Ms. Romero."

"Really? What do you think Sarah?" Kate turned to Mac, leaving her the option to back out if for whatever reason the Marine wasn't ready to move forward. Mac nodded her acceptance of the plan and Kate couldn't help but feel a major breakthrough had just been made.

"Great. I must warn you though, Harm, while she might not look it, she's a Marine, so you better treat her with respect or she'll kick your ass... and I'll come over to help."

"Don't worry Ms. Romero." Harm said unable to tear his eyes away from the Marine that had started to dominate his thoughts of late. "I'll make sure Mac gets home safe and sound."

Mac didn't realize she was moving until she felt Kate's hand push her towards Harm's car. Mac recovered some semblance of her consciousness then and turned to the diminutive bottle redhead. "Kate?"

"Time to move forward, Sarah. Now, I don't expect you to find the guy of your dreams right away, but you aren't going to win a prize if you don't even enter the race. Enjoy the opportunities that life throws your way, and yes, that includes the odd handsome sailor, and maybe you'll see that life has a lot more to offer than just a career and lots of shoes."

Mac had no idea how to respond to that. She found herself standing in front of Harm who held the door open for her. Casting a last glance back at Kate, Mac gave her a smile and got in Harmon Rabb Jr.'s car.

Next Chapter: 02 - The Next Step