This was something that dawned on me yesterday, and it's been playing in my head ever since. It's been written in an hour, I've globally spell checked it, but any left mistakes are my own.

A Tangled Webb II gone different. One shot.

Harm heared her sigh beside him. They'd been lying in the same bed for at least two hours, both tossing and turning and not getting any sleep. This was not how he had planned to rescue her. But the whole Op was messed up, and even though they had destroyed the missiles, the whole thing left a bad taste in his mouth.

They had been throwing insults at each other, not saying what they wanted to say at all. At least, he wasn't. He couldn't speak for Mac, but he was pretty sure this wasn't what she'd had in mind either. Maybe they should table this whole discussion until at least one of them was of sound mind to do so.

He heard her sigh again. Maybe not. "What is it?"

"Nothing." She wasn't budging. But he knew her too well to know she was pissed. Furious.

"Clearly, there was something on your mind."

"Oh, I have a lot to say." She glared at him.

"Well, spit it out." He was done with the riddles. If she wanted to have a go at him, he wasn't backing down now. Honestly, they were long overdue to have this conversation. If he couldn't make her believe now, he never would. There was nothing left to lose, anyway.

"Okay." She turned to him, propping her head up on her hand. "I have a question for you. You resign your commission, and you travel 5,000 miles to find me and damn near get killed. Well, riddle me this, Flyboy, why?"

He looked her squarely in the eye. "I think you know why."

"Do I?" Damn this man. Mac was tired of this push and pull. For once she'd like to have a straight up answer. Couldn't he at least give her that? She studied his face, the look in his eyes and suddenly it clicked. She was transported back to a conversation they, well, she mostly, had a few years before.

"What are you willing to give up to have me? Mic gave up the navy and his country. Would you sacrifice your girlfriend?"

Somewhere deep down Mac knew she had no right to ask that question. Hell, she threw it in his face and didn't even stick around long enough for him to gather his thoughts and hear his answer. Yet, two years later, here he was. Hadn't she told him earlier that that job was his life?

Harm's gaze didn't even waver. If she wasn't going to get it now, she never would. He was afraid she never would. He was done chasing her. If she didn't understand, he wasn't going to make her. This was it. "You do, Mac. You do know," he whispered.

He watched as realization dawned on her. It lit up her eyes in a way nothing had ever done before. She swallowed. She knew this man. She knew that as eloquent Harm was in the courtroom, he would never let only words do the talking in his personal life. He would let his actions speak. And he was here. And he had resigned his commission to come and find her. He had nothing left to lose. Except for her. Always her.

"This is your answer, isn't it? You'd throw away the career you have worked so hard for, for a country that you love, to come and find me?" Tears welled up, and she used all the willpower she possessed not to let them spill. "There are only two other people you've done this for…" Tears spilled anyway. "You love me." It came out hesitant. Soft. Full of awe and question.

Harm let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Thank God. She did get it. "I love you," he confirmed quietly.

"That much?"

Carefully, he wiped tears from her face. "Much, much more than that. So much more, Mac."

Still, she wasn't convinced he had done the right thing. "But resigning your commission, not knowing if I was still alive or not…"

He didn't care. "It's a job. Sure, it was an important job. There will be others. There's only one you, Mac. I just had to get you back."

"Or die trying," she echoed words from years before.

His lips pulled up. "Or die trying."

Without words, she flung herself at him, searching for a physical confirmation that he was here, that they were alive, that he loved her. Her move burst a dam that they'd been building for years. No holding back now. Tongues dueled, clothes were thrown and no words were spoken for a long, long time.

Later, as they both laid spent in tangled sheets, she pressed a kiss just below his cheek. "Just for the record, I do love you, too."

His hold on her tightened as he smoothed his hand down her back. "Good. Does that mean that you're going to provide for us when we get back?"

A low chuckle escaped her throat. Then she grew serious as she lifted her head to rest her chin on his shoulder. "It means that we'll figure everything out together."

He nodded. This mess would have a huge falling out, he knew that. And he wasn't sure the Admiral was going to take him back. But he had her. And he had done everything he could to keep her. "Together," he repeated. "You and me."

Mac nodded, brushing her lips across his. "You and me. Us. Together."