JAG Continues Book II: Volatile Matters
Ch. 4 - Visions of the Dynamic Duo
Part B
Harm carried Toby, and Mac toted the dog up the slope and out of the woods, while Andy and Catherine hiked along at their sides. The boys’ parents were called, and they promptly showed up, thanked Harm and Mac, and left to get their son to a hospital and Rocky to a vet.
It was not until the family’s car pulled away that Mac addressed her fiancé. “Harm, do you have any idea how worried I was when you disappeared?!? … Only finding your cell phone dropped in the yard?”
Harm immediately became very apologetic. “I’m sorry.” He tried to explain, “The boy … Andy, … he came running out of the woods yelling that his brother and dog were hurt and trapped. … It sounded like an emergency, so I followed after him.” He added guiltily, “… I’m not sure how I lost my phone.”
“Damn your hero complex.” Mac suddenly pulled Harm into a big hug. With the side of her face still pressed to his chest, she noted, “There were other ways to handle that, which didn’t involve running off on your own without telling me.”
She knew that sounded ridiculously overprotective given that Harm was a grown man, and that he had experience handling far worse situations was a vast understatement. But, damn it, someone was out to kill him right now! She had reason to worry.
Harm, in typical form, deflected the scolding with humor. “Hey, if getting you to grab onto me and hold me like this is the consequence for running off, I might just consider doing it more often.”
Mac loosened her hold enough to look at him with a ‘don’t you dare’ glare. But then her expression softened, as she replied, “There are other ways of going about that, too.”
Harm gave her a gentle smile at that pleasant thought.
When Mac released him, he noticed that her arms were slightly cut up. “Hey, what’s this?” he asked.
“Oh, … I guess I scratched myself up running through the woods.”
“We should get that cleaned up. Catherine, do you have any antiseptic?”
“Harm, I’m fine,” protested Mac, “I don’t need anything.”
Catherine answered Harm anyhow. “I’ll see. Come inside.”
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Despite Mac’s continued objections, Harm cleaned her scrapes up and bandaged a few of the cuts. Meanwhile, Catherine filled her mother in on what had happened. “It was pretty impressive watching the ‘dynamic duo’ in action,” she told her Mom at the end.
“The ‘dynamic duo’ - I like that,” laughed Harm. “Remember when you once referred to us as Batman and Robin?” he asked Mac. She made a face. “What?” he asked. “You don’t like us being referred to as the dynamic duo?”
“I love the term. Actually, I think it describes us pretty well sometimes. But … I think I changed my mind about Batman and Robin.”
“What’s wrong with them? I kind of like being Batman.”
“See! Why do you get to be Batman?”
“Because it’s Bat-man, not Bat-woman.” Harm looked at her as if that answer should have been obvious.
“Robin isn’t a woman either,” Mac pointed out.
Harm paused for just a second to consider that. “… But Robin is shorter than Batman. And you’re shorter than me. … Plus, Robin can be a woman’s name.” He cocked his head at her. “… Since when do you want to be Batman anyhow?”
“I don’t. But why do I have to be Robin? I’m your partner, not your sidekick.”
“Because you’d look better in tights?” he offered.
“Doesn’t Batman wear tights too?” interjected Mrs. Gale, who was deeply enjoying the interchange between the two.
“Not in the modern versions,” Harm said very seriously. Excitedly, he added, “He’s got cool body armor now.”
Obviously, he’d been hanging around Bud too much, thought Mac. “You are going to need body armor, if you keep this conversation up,” she teased.
“Mac,” said Catherine, offering the change of subject. “Before I head out of here, I have to know, … how did you find where Harm was? … I didn’t see any tracks.”
Mac took a deep breath. “There weren’t any.”
Before now, Harm hadn’t stopped long enough to think about how Mac had found him. After all, he hadn’t considered himself missing.
“What, -” Catherine asked, “do you have a built-in ‘Harm-tracking device’ or something?”
“… Or something,” said Mac quietly.
Looking at Mac, Harm now realized that she had been in such a state of panic when he disappeared that she had somehow employed her ‘visions’ to locate him. The whole scenario was taking on a new level of gravity for him.
“I think you could say she does have a built-in tracking device for me,” answered Harm, as he finished taking care of the last of Mac’s scratches.
“You’re kidding,” said Catherine in amazement.
“No,” said Harm. “Mac’s been able to locate me before when I was in trouble.”
“Aren’t you the one who once said you always knew where I was?” Mac asked, trying to steer away from her extra sensory abilities.
“Yeah, but my powers don’t compare. For instance, I never pinpointed your exact location when you were near death in the middle of the freezing Atlantic on a dark, stormy night, when the SAR crew didn’t know where to look and were about to give up.”
“Oh my goodness!” gasped Mrs. Gale.
“Well, I’ve been fortunate enough to never have to eject into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean,” quipped Mac. “… And you’ve been able to find me in obscure places,” she pointed out.
“With the help of other people or actual tracking devices,” he clarified.
“I can’t believe you have a special ability to locate him,” said Catherine, in awe.
“Well, I don’t know that I can always count on it,” said Mac. “And even if I could, it doesn’t mean I can find him before he gets into trouble.” Mac then pointed at Harm. “So, Harm, I’m not letting you out of my sight the rest of the day.”
“Uh … actually, you’re going to have to, Mac.”
“No.” Mac crisply disagreed. “After what you already put me through by disappearing? No way.”
“… Let’s talk about this on our way to my apartment,” Harm started to edge Mac towards the door.
Catherine stated, “I’m going to the office now. If I find out anything, I’ll give you a call.”
“Great. If you can’t get me, call Mac’s cell phone. … She’s in charge of this operation.”
Mac gave Harm an odd look, expressing her confusion as to whether that was a sarcastic remark or not, as well as her frustration at not even being up to speed on the latest information.
“Thanks so much, Catherine,” said Harm as they headed out.
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To be continued in Visions of the Dynamic Duo, Part C