Title: Cabin Pressure Revisited
Author: Susan
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Cabin Pressure
Summary: An alternate ending.
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters,
please don’t sue.
Feedback always appreciated
0622 Zulu USS Suribachi
Atlantic Ocean
Mac paced restlessly around the small
cabin. It had been an emotionally exhausting day, but
she was too wired to even consider sleeping. It
had
taken all of her willpower to keep from tackling Harm and
smothering him with kisses when she had first laid
eyes on him in sick bay.
In spite of the brave front that she had
put up, she had really been afraid that he was
dead. Granted, she hadn’t let it show during
their
questioning of Chief Sturtevant, but it was there. The
unmistakable fear of losing the most important person
in her life without ever having told him how important
he was.
“This is insane,
Mac. He’s your partner. Your best
friend. That’s it. Nothing
more.” Her soft words echoed off of the
walls. “Yeah, right. So
why were you so afraid of losing him. Why is it that
you haven’t been able to get him off of your mind
since you found out that he was alive. Why is
it that every time you close your eyes, you imagine
what it would be like to be held in his arms and to
hear him whisper in your ear that he’s okay?”
Mac stared at the door to her
cabin. Harm was just across the hall. All
she would have to do is open her door and take two steps and she
would be
standing in front of his door. It was that simple.
Simple. Now there was a word
that had never been used to describe her relationship with
Harm. There wasn’t anything simple about
their
relationship. From the moment she had laid eyes on
him, she knew that things would never be simple
between them.
Yet, in a strange sort of way, it really
was simple. It all came down to the simple fact that
she was in love with him. Being forced to face
the
possibility of losing him forever brought those feelings back to
the surface.
it wasn’t that she had never acknowledged her feelings for
him. Heck, she had practically begged him not to
return to flying because of how she felt
about him. No, it wasn’t denial
anymore. It was more a matter of
not knowing how he felt for her as well as not knowing
how they could ever be together while working in the
same chain of command.
Mac sighed as she plopped back down on
the bed. She really needed to see him. She
needed to talk to him without having a crowd of people
watching
their every move. A smile crossed her face as a plan
formed in her head. Before she could change her mind,
she got herself up off of the bed and made her way out
the door.
Meanwhile In Harm’s Cabin...
Harm sat up on the bed and glanced over
at the door. He really wanted to talk to
Mac. He hadn’t been alone with her since before
he’d went down to
the brig to talk to De Mara. He could easily read the
relief in her eyes when he’d seen her in sick
bay, but he hadn’t had the opportunity to talk
to her about it.
A sigh escaped his lips as he ran his
hand across his slightly warmer than usual
face. “Great, just what I need. A
fever on top of everything
else that I’ve been through today.”
Harm flopped back down on his pillow and
stared at the ceiling. He hadn’t been able to get
Mac off of his mind since the Admiral had pulled him
through the hatch. Coming face to face with his own
mortality had made him reevaluate his relationship
with her, and he realized just how important she was
to him.
Harm shivered as he sat back up on the
bed. Pulling the blanket around his shoulders, he
focused his attention on the door. Mac was just across
the
hall outside that door. It would be so easy to just
walk over, knock on her door, pull her into his arms,
and tell her how much he loved her.
Harm couldn’t help but laugh at that
thought. The only thing about his relationship with
Mac had been falling in love with her. In fact, that
had
happened so naturally that even his conscious attempt to prevent
it hadn’t been successful.
As another cold shill shook his body,
Harm got to his feet. He pulled the blanket around his
shoulders as he made his way to the door. He
decided
to see if she had an extra blanket. At least that
would give him an excuse to see her.
0630 Zulu USS Suribachi
Atlantic Ocean
Mac reached up to knock on Harm’s door and was startled when it opened.
“Harm.”
“Mac, what are you doing out here?” Harm questioned as he stared at her.
Mac motioned back over her shoulder at her room. “I was having trouble
getting to sleep and then I remembered that I hadn’t given you Renee’s
message from Bud earlier. In all of the commotion, it slipped my mind, so I
thought I would see if you were still up.” He continued to stare at her, so
she continued, “Why are you still up?”
A slow smile spread across his face. “I was actually on my way over to
see if you had an extra blanket I could borrow.”
As his words registered with her, Mac gave him a quick once over. She
noticed the slight flush to his face, as well as the blanket that was wrapped
securely around his shoulders. “Harm, are you okay?”
Harm shrugged. “Just a little fever, nothing too serious.”
“You should be in the bed.” Mac stated as she gave him a slight shove
back into his room.
“Is that an order, Colonel?” Harm teased as he made his way over to the
bed.
Mac closed the door before following him over to the bed. “Yes, it is.
I think you’ve worried me enough for one day.”
Harm grinned at her. “How about I make you a deal, Mac?”
Mac eyed him suspiciously. “What kind of a deal?”
“I will agree to get back in the bed, if you will agree to stay and talk
to me for a little while.”
Mac returned his smile. “Deal. Now get in the bed.”
Harm obediently crawled into the bed and then patted the side of it for
her to join him. “There’s plenty of room.”
Mac gave him a questioning look as she sat down beside him. “Are you
sure about that?”
Harm grinned at her. “Positive.”
Mac settled herself against his side as she leaned over to brush the hair
off of his forehead. “You’re burning up.”
Harm watched her eyes as she gently ran her hand through his hair. His
voice was barely a whisper as he spoke. “Thank you for not giving up on me
earlier, Mac.”
“I could never give up on you, Harm.”
Harm reached out and gently brushed a strand of hair off of her face.
“You know, I had a lot of time down there to think about all of the things
that I wish I had done.”
Mac forced her eyes up to meet his as she felt her heart rate speed up.
“Like what?”
Harm shrugged slightly as he allowed his finger to trail down her cheek.
“Mostly about showing the people that I care about how important they are to
me.”
Mac gave an involuntary shiver as his finger moved from her face to her
neck. It was hard to concentrate on what he was saying when he was touching
her like that. “And how do you plan to go about that, Commander?”
Harm let his fingers trail around to the back of her head and gently
pulled her face towards his. “Like this.” His lips met hers in a tentative
kiss before he released her.
Mac pulled back to look at him. How had they gotten to this point? More
importantly, why had he stopped?
Harm watched her expression with baited breath. He hoped that he hadn’t
pushed too far. Maybe he could just blame it on delirium associated with
running a fever.
Mac arched an eyebrow at him. “Why did you stop?”
Harm smiled. “I guess I was waiting for a red light.”
Mac leaned closer to him. “Not this time, Sailor.” She then covered his
lips with hers and kissed him with all of the pent up emotion of the last
four years.
Harm returned her kiss with the same passion as he pulled her closer.
When the need for air finally forced them apart, Harm rested his forehead
against hers. “Please tell me that I’m not hallucinating, Mac.”
Mac grinned at him. “Far from it, Flyboy. This is very real.”
“Good.” Harm moved to her lips again. “Because I would hate to wake up
and find out that I had dreamed this.”
“It’s like you said to De Mara earlier, Harm. Life is something.”
Harm couldn’t help but smile at that. Yes, life was definitely something.
The End