Title : After Effects

Author : Jaggie 107

Disclaimer : JAG characters belong to DPB, CBS and Paramount. I hope all parties will allow me to have fun for a little while, and replace them all when I'm done. Thank you.

Rating : T (I think!)

Summary : Set after the end of Code Blue. Just a little fluffier ending.

Harm was stretched out on the couch, resting his knee on a pillow. Mac was perched on the side of the coffee table, smiling at him. Once the hospital had returned to normal service Harm had discharged himself, with a prescription of painkillers and the telephone number of the doctor on the discharge sheet, and Mac had driven him home. Using his keys, and waving off his protests, she had returned to the park to pick up his car too. Now they were settled with a mug of coffee each, going over the events of the day, and especially the birth of the baby boy, now named Mac…

"How about Mac?" Harm mimicked, grinning at his partner. "I do all the hard work, and you get the credit, huh?"

"What hard work? The women do all the carrying, the pushing, take the pain…" Mac started, but faltered when she saw the expression on Harm's face. "What?" she asked.

"My hand is just recovering from when it was squashed to a pulp, and as for what I had to check out…" Harm paused, and Mac grinned as she realised he was blushing a little.

"Harm?"

"Never mind…" he answered, thinking of something else to change the subject, but Mac was too fast for him.

"No way, Harm. You started to say something. What did you have to check out?"

"How far along she was…" he muttered, and hoped Mac would leave it at that. No such luck!

"How far…you mean, you had to look?" Mac's face was starting to pink up too, and now it was Harm's turn to grin.

"Sort of…" he answered, and Mac stared at him, speechless. "Mac?"

"Oh…" was all she could manage, trying to picture Harm undertaking such an intimate task. It was one thing for a doctor to examine a patient, but for a man such as Harm, and especially as it was another man's wife… "Oh," she said again, and Harm looked puzzled.

"Mac? What is it?"

"I was just…wondering…how…what…"

"You're babbling, Mac."

"I'm not! It's just not the sort of thing I would imagine you doing…to a stranger…"

"Oh, believe me, it's not what I imagined myself doing either!" Harm retorted, and then smiled. "I guess you could say we're not exactly strangers anymore," he added, referring to the woman at the hospital.

Mac picked up one of the couch cushions and batted Harm with it.

"Jerk!"

"Ow, Mac! Injured sailor here!" Harm protested, putting his arm up to grab the cushion, and as he pulled at the material Mac was taken off balance and came forward off the coffee table. To avoid landing on Harm she put her hands out, one either side of him on the couch, letting go of the cushion in the process. As Harm lowered the cushion to his chest, he met Mac's surprised gaze above him.

"Hey," he murmured softly, and she answered in return. Before he could think of why it wasn't a good idea to do what he was about to, he lowered his gaze to Mac's mouth and pushed himself up on his elbows to touch his lips to hers.

Mac, for her part, was as surprised as Harm to find their touch created a reaction. Both jumped back slightly, and Harm waited for Mac to make a move off him; protest at his actions; deck him, even – although he was already technically down! Mac did none of those things. As Harm lowered himself down so he was laying back on the couch cushions she had put for him, she followed his movement with her own body, so that they were almost, but not quite, touching along their lengths.

"Why did you ask for the doctor's number?" Mac asked, softly, and Harm's eyebrows rose in surprise. That wasn't what he'd been expecting her to say, but his answer was immediate.

"I didn't! It was on the top of the discharge sheet when I picked it up."

Mac smiled, knowing from the urgent response that Harm was being honest. If he'd asked for the number, he would have hedged, taking time to answer. Harm waited for her to speak again, but instead she did something even more telling. She kissed him.

Harm didn't move. He dared not! Mac hadn't lowered her body to his, just her mouth. But what a mouth! It should be classified as a lethal weapon, he thought vaguely. Opening his eyes again he looked up into hers, the brown in them looking suspiciously like warmed chocolate. He loved warm chocolate!

"Erm…Harm…would you…could I… take a shower? Please?"

"Sure…sure," Harm nodded, surprised again at the sudden change in direction. He tried to get up as Mac rose above him, but he was faster than she, and their bodies came into contact. Mac's eyes widened noticeably, and Harm reddened again. His body hadn't been immune to Mac's closeness, but he had tried his hardest to keep her from being aware of the fact for as long as they remained apart. Now she knew exactly what sort of reaction she was provoking in him. Seeking distraction he dropped back down on the couch, grimaced at the pain in his knee, and managed to ask if she needed to borrow any clothes.

"No," Mac answered, on her feet now and looking down at him. "I've got my bag in the car. How about you get up and have a shower first while I go downstairs, and then I can help strap up your knee after?"

"Good…sounds good…yeah," Harm responded, closed his eyes and then opened them again. "Mac?"

"Yes?"

"We need to talk about this…what just happened…after."

"Sure." Mac turned away before he could see the tears form in her eyes. It took all her willpower, but she wouldn't let them fall. "I'll be right back," she managed to say, before leaving the apartment and heading to her car. As she walked down the stairs she contemplated just getting into her car and driving home, but then she shook her head. That was just running away from what was happening, and she didn't run away. Not any more. Besides, she'd said she would help Harm, and he had been injured saving her life! But gratitude wasn't what was making her feel the way she did. Whatever had happened just now on his couch, and was leading to something else – no matter how hard either of them tried to fight it, it had nothing to do with gratitude!

For his part, Harm was contemplating too, even as he got to his feet and hobbled up to his bedroom. Stripping off the hospital scrubs he'd obtained during his time there, he stepped down into the shower cubicle in the bathroom and turned on the water. At first he was hit with a splash of cold water, and then the heat came through, warming him again. With his eyes closed he leaned back against the shower wall and pictured warm brown eyes, and a sinful mouth. Mac's warm brown eyes. And Mac's sinful mouth.

A thought crept into his mind that she had seemed a little quiet when she had left the apartment, like maybe she was regretting what they had done. He wanted to ask her to stay with him; grab a takeaway…forget the takeaway …just be with him.

Harm groaned.

"You okay?" Mac's voice carried over the sound of the shower, and Harm opened his eyes.

"Yeah! I'll…er…I'll be out in a minute, then it's all yours."

Mac was convinced she was hearing things. 'It's all yours.' Then she realised, he was talking about taking a shower. He would be out soon, and it would be her turn. Berating herself for other thoughts, Mac dropped her bag on the end of Harm's bed and returned to the lounge to wait for him. It wasn't too long when she heard her name being called. Harm stood at the top of the stairs, dressed in a clean tank and boxers.

"Mac? I'm done. Would you mind strapping up my knee first?"

"Of course not. Do you have a fresh bandage, or shall I use the one from the hospital?"

"There's a new one in the bathroom cabinet. I'll get …" he began, but Mac shook her head.

"Get comfy on the couch with your leg up on the table and I'll come get the bandage."

"Okay. Thanks."

Mac gave him a small smile as she passed him on her way to the bathroom. Harm had noticed her kit bag on his bed, and surmised that she had been in the room when he had been in the shower. He smiled in return as he went back into the lounge. Mac, for her part, managed to remain calm as her mind went immediately to the same thought as his. Yes, she had seen him in the shower – or at least, she'd seen his outline in the glass…

Mac came out of the bedroom with a pair of shorts and a USMC t-shirt on, and her hair wrapped up in a towel turban while it dried a little. Her cheeks were glowing with the combined heat of the shower and the rub down after. As she approached the couch Harm smiled, patting the seat beside him. With no obvious objection, Mac curled up into the corner of the couch, facing him.

"Feel better?" they both said at the same time, and laughed. Harm nodded at her to speak first.

"I feel much better, thank you. I don't usually wait this long to take a shower after a run!"

"Me either. And thank you for doing the bandage."

There was a pause that lingered a little too long, becoming strained slightly, and then Harm asked a question.

"Would you like to stay here? I mean…eat here…stay, and eat…?" Mac's eyebrows rose in amusement as Harm stumbled over his words. For a man who could defend and prosecute in a courtroom with the power of words, Harm seemed unusually inept at the moment.

"I'd like that, thank you."

"What would you like?" Harm began again, and then added quickly, "…to eat?"

"Italian? There's the place just around the corner, and I know you'll eat from there. You'd be a bit more reluctant if I asked for a burger and fries."

"True…but if that's what you want?"

"Italian is fine. What I want, however, is to have that talk you mentioned."

"Okay. Order first and talk while we're waiting?"

Mac nodded, and got up to locate the menu. They settled on an a selection and Mac called in the order. Settling back on the couch she faced Harm with a serious look on her face.

"You're scaring me here, Mac. You look so serious."

"I think what we did was serious, Harm. At least, it was for me."

"Me too," he admitted, and smiled to take the edge off the tension. "Mac, when I said we needed to talk, I didn't mean it as a bad thing…"

"You didn't?" Mac's immediate response reminded Harm of the pain she had gone through in her life to get to this point. Of the men that had used and abused her, from the little she had told him of them. Of the mistrust she was trying so hard to overcome. For her to initiate the kiss as she had given him, Harm knew it had to have meant something to her to be there with him. Kissing him as she did.

Bringing himself back to earth and away from the thought of her mouth kissing him, again, Harm answered Mac softly.

"No, I didn't. I just meant that I need to know if you want this as much as I do…"

"This?"

"This feeling, of being so happy, and yet so out of control…"

"You feel it too, huh?" Mac smiled, and slid forward across the length of the seat until she was nearer to Harm, but not touching him. "Earlier, when we kissed, you were…" Mac paused, trying to find the words.

"Aroused." Harm's single word brought Mac's eyes straight to his in surprise, and then she nodded. Harm spoke again. "You make me feel that way, Mac; not just today…" Suddenly Harm sat up, and his eyes widened.

"What is it? Are you in pain?" Mac's voice bit into his conscious, and Harm turned to look at her, lifting his hand to touch her cheek gently.

"My God, Mac! In all this, I never asked how you were…you went through all the stuff at the hospital too…"

"It's okay, Harm. I'm fine! Honestly. Besides, you were the one who was injured, taking care of me!"

"This isn't…isn't just gratitude…is it? I mean, your being here?"

Mac shook her head gently, knowing how Harm might see it that way, just as she had thought it herself.

"No, it isn't gratitude, Harm. I'm right where I want to be. Actually, that's not quite true…"

"Oh?"

"Where I want to be is in your arms, but I don't want to hurt you…"

"Oh, Mac…the only thing that would hurt right now is if you don't get in my arms…" Harm answered, his voice low, and Mac grinned as she positioned herself across his lap, her backside just to the side of his leg, with her legs over his thighs. "Comfy?" he asked, and Mac nodded, before lowering her mouth to his once more, and giving him another taste of herself.

They broke the position once, to pay the delivery man.

The food went cold.

It tasted just as good reheated, hours later!

The End.