Title:  Now And Forever
Author:  Pat Steiner     SSbpMN@aol.com    Comments Much Appreciated
Summary:  Crossover---JAG/Third Watch
            Harm and Mac in New York City plus Kim and Bobby on duty.  Added to a small earthquake equals disaster, and discovery
Disclaimer:  JAG belongs to CBS et al; Third Watch to NBC et al.  No
copyright infringement is intended; the following is for entertainment only
    "If you've got a better idea I'm totally open to it" Mac called to Harm's
back as she hurried to keep up with him, climbing the long broad steps.

    She reached the same step on which he had stopped and looked up into his
face, squinted in the late afternoon sun.  "You have been, short I mean" she
smiled, "but it's OK.  I'm not exactly Miss Congeniality these days either."
She paused and her own eyes fell on the ring.  Looking up quickly she went
on, "come on let's just get this done.  With even a small bit of luck we'll
have what we're looking for and be back at the hotel in time for the all you
can eat prime rib buffet."

    "Uh pass" Harm smiled as well, glad to see a flash of her good humor
showing up.  There had not been a lot of that since his return from flight
duty six months previous, on either of their parts, now complicated by the
events of Australia and the ring which she wore.

    They resumed their walk, side by side this time, and explained to the
information desk who they were and for what they were searching.  "From
1923?" the clerk was incredulous.  "Sorry folks, those old papers have never
been microfiched---no funding, staff or storage for that sort of thing."

    Harm and Mac exchanged looks.  "Dead end" he sighed.

    "No no" the clerk said quickly "I didn't say we didn't have those old
ones, just that they're not on microfiche.  They're all down in the basement
storage in big folders but they're not in much order.  You're welcome to look
though.  I'll take you down there and get you started, after that you're on
your own."

    They were lead down a long corridor and then onto an obviously ancient
elevator.  "We don't use this part of the building hardly at all any more"
she explained.

    "No shi......I mean you're kidding" Harm said with a short smile, which
quickly changed to a grimace as the elevator began to groan and then halted
with a sharp jerk, throwing them all to one side.  Harm instinctively reached
for Mac, grasping her arm to steady her.  "This building must have been here
when Manhattan still belonged to the Indians" he muttered.

    Again following the clerk they were shown into a cavernous room, lined
with shelves of newspaper sized portfolios.  "Remember we close at five" she
told them, her voice echoing in the large room, and left them alone.

    It did not take long for them to find the shelves marked for the 1920s.
"You start at that end and I'll start here.  We can work toward the middle"
Harm suggested.  Mac shot him a dour look but went to do as he suggested.

    She pulled down the first book on the shelf and several moths flew out
plus she could hear the scurrying of little feet, a fact she decided not to
think about.  Seeing Harm at the opposite end, already looking through his
first selection, she gave a long sigh and began.

*******
    "Supply list" Bobby stuffed a crumpled piece of paper into Kim's hand as
she talked on the phone.

    "Thank you Mrs. Hanson" she sighed and hung up.

    "Joey's teacher?" Bobby questioned, giving her a concerned and
sympathetic look.

    "Yes, it seems my son is more at home entertaining the reading group than
learning to sound out words" she sighed again and at the same time a chorus
of laughter went up from the day room as Jimmy's voice could be heard
recounting one of his escapades.  "Not hard to see where he gets it from" she
shook her head and listened for a minute to her ex husband's ramblings.  "Hey
thanks for doing the inventory, I'll pull these up" she turned her attention
to the list he had handed her.

    "Good because I've got to see a man about a pony" Bobby grinned and
pulled the sports page off the table before heading to the men's room.

    The rumble came as Kim was on a step stool, reaching for the top shelf to
pull down a box of syringes.  The stool tilted precariously and she grabbed
for the shelf, trying desperately to keep herself from pitching off the
stool.  The noise increased and the building began to shake.  "No it can't
be" she gasped just before she was dumped to the floor and the shelf crashed
forward into her.  The sharp edge of a metal box struck her across the temple
and the room began to swim before her, finally blackness enveloping her.

    Bobby had been just leaving the bathroom when the quake hit, and he
braced himself in the doorway, praying the building was not caving in around
them.  The lights flickered a few times, but held, a good sign he thought and
he could hear the voices of the rest of the crew.  He was about to tell
himself the worst was over when he remembered Kim and where she was heading.
"Oh god please" he gasped and ran headlong down the back steps, shouting her
name as he reached the basement.

*******

    "What the hell?" Harm demanded, jumping up from the table as the building
began to vibrate around him, and then he realized.  "Quake" he shouted to
Mac, having experienced them in California.  The noise and vibration
increased and he strained to see his partner, now obscured in the cloud of
dust being raised.

    "Harm" she called to him, her voice raised, more confused than alarmed.

    He tried to reach her and it took only a few steps for him to realize he
could not make it across the buckling floor as debris began to rain down.
"Get under the tables Mac" he screamed before diving for cover.

    Mac had already figured out that was a good course of action and began to
move, only to find her jacket snagged on the chair.  She pulled free, but not
in time as a huge section of ceiling fell at her end of the room, covering
her with dirt.  A large pipe followed, pinning her legs firmly between the
shelving and the floor and she gave a small cry of pain.  A giant cloud of
dust rose as the basement was plunged into darkness, only to have light
return as the emergency generators kicked in.

********

    "Kim, Kim where are you?" Bobby screeched, taking the steps two at a time
in his haste.

    "Here" she answered, forcing herself into wakefulness to answer, "over
here by the window."

    Bobby looked in the direction of her voice and was horrified to see the
shelf had fallen there.     "Kim are you OK?" he demanded even as he was
plowing through the fallen objects to get to her.

    "Just get the shelf back off me so I can get out of here" she answered
"no harm done I don't think.  I just need to get out of here, you know we're
going to have a run."

    He reached her and gave a long sigh of relief when he saw her crouched
down, seemingly unhurt, but pinned by the fallen shelf.  "You're not going
anywhere until I know you're OK" he told her sternly as he pulled the shelf
back and then reached for her arms to help her up.

    "I'm fine" she was saying as he turned her toward him and helped her to
stand.

    "Bleeding is not fine" he yelped, spotting the gash across her head as
soon as she faced him and immediately guiding her to sit on a box, tilting
her head back so he could get a better look.  "What happened?" he demanded as
he grabbed up a box of gauze pads and began to clean the wound, following
that with a dousing of antiseptic.  "This is going to need stitches and you
should have a head CT" he fretted.

    "Yeah and I need to do something about Joey and Jimmy and I could stand
to win the ten million in this week's lottery and none of that is going to
happen at least not now" she retorted, "now put a dressing on it and......"
She gripped his arms tightly then, a look of horror across her face.

    "Kim what?" he asked, trying to see if she was in sudden pain.

    "Joey--his school" she gasped, "What if.....oh Bobby I just flashed on a
picture of a school in ruins and all those kids and Joey...oh god."

    Her eyes met his and he shook his head calmly, pressing her to his chest
in a quick hug.  "I don't think so" he said softly "this is not San Francisco
or LA.  A quake here would be small and confined.  Joey's school is a good
mile from here.  Relax a minute and let me take care of you and then we'll go
see what the reports are saying."

    She took a deep breath and nodded, holding still while he bandaged the
cut.

    "I still want you to get this looked at" he admonished her, laying a soft
hand against her cheek.

    "Let me find out about Joey and I will when we have a chance" she
promised, leaning into his hand for a moment before standing on shaky legs
and taking a hesitant step forward.

    "Come on I've got you" he urged, holding her arm tightly as they stepped
through the fallen supplies.

********

    "Mac?" Harm coughed again in the choking dust and tried to see her,
having heard her cry.  "Mac you all right?"

    "Yeah I think so, but I can't get up from here" her shaky voice came back
to him and he sighed in relief.  "You?"

    "Not hurt" he assured her, "I'm coming over to you, stay put."  He pushed
the fallen chairs, the overturned table and the various files out of the way
and hurried to her.  She was coughing hard in the dust and dirt and covered
with it as well.  "Hey Marine" he greeted her, relief evident in his voice
and he took her arm to bring her toward him.

    "No Harm. Stop," she cried at once, her face contorted momentarily in
pain.  "I"m being held down there somewhere, don't pull me."

    "OK, I'm sorry" he said at once, "let me take a look."  The dust was
beginning to settle and the air clearer as he leaned down to see what was
trapping her.  "Looks like that pipe is holding you in" he said after a
minute, looking from the ceiling, "let me try to move it so we can get out of
here."

    He lifted it and other wreckage moved, causing her to scream in pain.
"Harm stop please" she begged, unwanted tears on her cheeks "every time you
move that it causes something to press on me down below there and it hurts
bad."

    "All right, no more" he told her, but his eyes clouded over with worry.
"I need to go find some help but I don't want to leave you here."

    "And I don't want to spend the rest of my career down here" she sighed
"go.  I'm not going anywhere."

    "I'll be back" he said fiercely, brushing his hand across her cheek, and
then pushing his way through the debris toward the exit sign.

*********

    Bobby kept a firm grip on Kim's arm as they climbed the stairs, relieved
to find out that there was little damage to the station above them.

    "Kim there was no damage to the school except a few panes of glass" Jimmy
greeted her at once, "Joey's fine.  The Emergency Center is saying that it
was about a four point five, strange but not unheard of for the part of the
country and the damage is within about a square mile here.  We've been
ordered out to patrol."

    Jimmy's assurance about Joey made her sigh in relief and she leaned back
against Bobby for a moment before allowing him to lead her to the vehicle.

    "For all his faults, Jimmy does love the boy" Bobby said quietly as he
pulled forward into the neighborhood streets.

    "Yeah I know" Kim nodded "but he's not the best dad in terms of attention
or being in tune with Joey's needs."

    They turned the corner and were passing The Times archives building when
a frantic woman waved them down.  "People trapped, two, down in the basement"
she panted, gesturing wildly.

    "You're sure they didn't get out?" Bobby questioned her.

    "No, no way" the clerk shook her head "I would have seen them.  The
elevator is the only way in and out of there right now.  The stairwell has
been blocked off for years.  It's the elevator on the left as you go in, the
only one that goes down there."

    "We'll take a look, thank you" Kim nodded and reached back for the
equipment Bobby was already handing her.

********

   A few shoves to the stairwell door proved to Harm that he was not going
to get out that way.  And he knew before he tried that the elevator was
hopeless as one of the walls had collapsed inward.

    Bobby pried open the elevator doors and shone his light down the shaft.
"Anyone there?"

    "Yes here, two of us" Harm's grateful voice came back, "thank god.  My
partner's trapped down here.  I can't move her."

    "She hurt?"

    "I can't tell, there's something pressing on her and she says it hurts to
move it or her, please we need help bad here" Harm answered, knowing he was
begging at this point and not caring.

    "On our way down, you hang tight" Bobby answered, already dropping a line
down and turning to Kim, about to open his mouth.

    "Don't even think it" she shook her head, "I will let you lower me
though."

    Bobby closed his mouth on the words on the tip of this tongue and helped
secure the rope around his partner.  "Slow and easy" he cautioned and she
merely looked at him.  He helped her down between the doors and watched with
held breath as she reached the top of the elevator car some fifteen feet
below and squatted at the trap door opening, pulling it up with some
difficulty.

    "Mac we got help on the way" Harm shouted, hearing footsteps on the roof
of the elevator and a minute later Kim's face appeared at the trap door
opening.  "Ma'am thank you."

    "Save it for when we can get you out" Kim smiled, "OK Bobby, come on
down."

    Kim watched her partner swing out into space and lower himself on the
rope he had secured, reaching her a few minutes later and she held her arms
up to catch him.  He swung into her and she tried to hold him, not able to as
she staggered back from him and sat down hard on the elevator roof.

    "Kim what?" Bobby demanded at once, his concern immediate and he dropped
to his knees beside her, his arm across her shoulders an instant later.

    She gave him a blank look and then shook her head as awareness came to
her.  "I'm OK" though at that moment she didn't sound all that sure.

    "Yeah and I'm the Pope" Bobby retorted, looking into her eyes and
reaching for his penlight.

    "You get anywhere near me with that thing and I'm going to use it on you
as a rectal thermometer" Kim vowed, "I'm fine, help me up and we'll do what
we came for."

    "OK but you let me know if....." her glare cut him off and he lifted her
to her feet.  For a brief moment their faces were a mere inch apart and each
took a breath.  That night at her apartment had not been spoken of since, nor
had his subsequent relationship with Treva been mentioned more than in
passing.

    "I'm OK" she softened her countenance and for a brief second touched her
fingertips to his cheek.  He smiled and gave her a quick nod.  The easy
understanding they always had between them was returning; whether it could
grown again into more would be left for the present.

    "I'll lower you the rest of the way" he told her "but...."  Before he
could finish the building gave another alarming shake.  "Be careful" he
finished, "aftershock I guess."

    "Yeah I hope that's all it was" she shuddered slightly, "I'd hate to
think it was going to come down around us."

    Bobby caught her arms to help her down and Harm reached up for her from
below.

    "Thank god" Harm sighed.  "My partner's being held down over here by a
pipe or something.  She says it hurts to move her."

    "OK let my partner get down here and we'll have her loose as quick as we
can" Kim smiled as Bobby's feet appeared.  "This is Bobby, I'm Kim,
paramedics" she went on as she caught his legs and guided him the remainder
of the way down.

    "Harm Rabb, and my partner is Sarah Mackenzie, called Mac" he said,
leading them to where Mac remained.

    "Hey how you doing Marine" he greeted her, "this is Kim and Bobby and
they're getting us out of here."

    "Hi" Kim smiled, wrapping a blood pressure cuff around her arm while
Bobby knelt to take a look.  He lifted the pipe experimentally and Mac yelped.

    "No" Harm could not resist protesting "I told you it hurts her."

    "I'm sorry" Bobby said at once, "but I needed to get a look at the
situation here.  It's across her thigh and pressing against her middle,
holding her down against the shelf."

    Mac said nothing, her eyes glazed over with the pain she was feeling.

    Kim frowned at the blood pressure reading she was getting and looked at
Mac, seeing her begin to shiver.

    "Cold?" she asked and Mac nodded, feeling the world growing fuzzy before
her eyes.

    "Try to stay with us" Bobby encouraged her, knowing they were seeing the
beginning signs of shock and Harm's eyes narrowed with worry.

    The building gave another warning shudder and Harm instinctively grabbed
onto Mac, pressing her head against his chest.   The movement knocked Kim
from her feet, sending her to the floor and Bobby tried to reach her,
grabbing onto her as soon as the swaying stopped.  Her eyes met his concerned
look.

    "I'll be all right until we can get out of here" she assured him,
touching her fingertip to his mouth briefly to discourage him from asking.
"We need blankets and the basket, and one more guy to lift his stuff from her
and help us get her."

    "I'll get on the radio" he told her, moving over to the shaft to get a
better chance at getting the signal out.

    Mac leaned back weakly against Harm, grateful for both his physical and
moral support, and closed her eyes.

    "We're going to start an IV on her" Kim told him, and then had another
thought.  She lowered herself under the table, probing where the pipe was
holding Mac, eliciting a low moan from her.

    "Stop" Harm protested again at once.

    "Sorry" Kim responded, "but my guess was right I'm afraid.  Mac you're
having some blood loss under there.  I don't think it's serious, not as long
as we can get you out soon, but you may have to bear up under a little pain.
We don't really have time to be delicate.  In the meantime I'm going to try
to get some bandage in here."

    Mac nodded her understanding and her hand groped for Harm's.  He caught
it quickly, meshing his fingers with hers.

    "Mac?" he questioned, lifting her hand, now missing the ring.

    Following his instinct he reached for her other hand, causing her to
laugh lightly despite her pain.  "Relax, I didn't move it.  I had taken it
off just before I started getting into the books and now I guess it's back
over there somewhere."

    "Mic will understand" Harm squeezed her hand tightly, "his main concern
will be that you're OK, as is mine."  He gave a short laugh and squeezed
again, "now you didn't hear this from me, but he's a good man, and you could
do worse.  He'd never hurt you."

    "I'm not going to marry him" she said suddenly, letting her gaze meet his
to emphasize her sincerity.  "He is a good man, and he would....."  Her words
her cut off by a cry of pain as Kim maneuvered the pipe and her leg.

    Harm wrapped his arm around her head, his fingers across her forehead and
pressed her to him, at the same time his heart soared at what she had been
starting to say.  And at that moment, in that dark basement with debris all
around them, he made a silent vow that as soon as she was safe they would
talk and this time what he had held so long in his heart would be freed.

    "They're spread pretty thin up there" Bobby reported as he returned to
them, "but they're sending us Doherty."  He avoided looking at Kim at the
mention of her ex husband.

    Kim crawled from beneath the table and was just standing when another
tremor shook the building. Harm covered Mac as best he could from the raining
dust and debris, while Bobby struggled to reach Kim who was thrown backwards.
 To his horror, her head sharply contacted part of the shelf and stunned, she
lay still.

********

    "Ki---im" his sharp scream echoed as the tremor lessened and he flung
himself to her, pushing off some stray pieces of falling walls and ceiling.
"Kim?" he questioned gently, putting his hand against her face.
 
"I'm still with you" she panted, closing her eyes against the pain that
now filled her head.

    "Yeah but not for much longer" Bobby declared, "I want you out of here."

    "Soon as we do our job" she retorted, trying to push him away to get to
her feet and she took hold of both his hands.  "Bobby I'm not going up there
with you left down here, please don't ask me to."

    Bobby's head drooped, torn between his desire to see her safe and his
need for her presence.  "Then at least go over by the shaft and wait for
Jimmy" he urged as he pulled her upright, figuring that if the building
should come down around them the shaft would at least afford some passage to
the surface.

    Mac closed her eyes as the pain killer in the IV took effect and she
leaned back against Harm's chest, Harm's hand still tenderly around her head.

    "I think you and I have a lot in common" Bobby whispered, "I overheard
some of what you and she were saying earlier.  Life can get complicated can't
it."

    "Very" Harm nodded grimly, "but that merry go round stops today--as soon
as I get her out of here where she's safe."

    "I hope we both get that chance" Bobby sighed as the building gave
another creak, "come on Doherty."

    "Go see to your partner" Harm told him, "I've got mine."

    Bobby nodded and reached Kim just as Jimmy was lowering himself down,
the basket stretcher for Mac bumping along beside him.

    "Glad to see you" Kim told him, reaching for the basket.

    "You look like hell" Jimmy greeted her, "you OK?"

    "She's fine, but our patient isn't" Bobby interrupted, wanting to get Mac
out so that Kim would also be looked after.

    "Then what are we standing here for" Jimmy grinned, "I've got places to
go, people to see myself."

    "The cavalry has arrived" Jimmy announced, holding his hand to Harm.
"Jimmy Doherty."

    "Harmon Rabb--Harm" he responded, "Sarah Mackenzie, called Mac."  "Who
needs to get out of here now" he added plaintively, "she's pinned under
there."

    Jimmy ducked down to see, experimentally moving the pipe and causing a
groan of pain from Mac, bringing her awake.  "Sorry" he smiled for her
benefit.

    "Dimples" she responded, her speech slightly slurred from the medication,
and she looked up to Harm.  "How come you don't have dimples?"

    Harm gave the first real laugh since all this began.  "I'll requisition a
set.  Now be still and let's let these professionals do their job."

    "Bobby--you and me lift.  Kim you're down below there watching her
injury.  Harm when Kim says it's OK, you pull her out, slow and easy" Jimmy
directed.  He looked around and with no objections took his place as Kim and
Bobby did the same.

    Harm locked his arms around her from behind, impulsively kissing her
forehead as he leaned over her.  "Hang on Marine, it's almost over."

    For all his faults, the man knew his job Bobby admitted to himself for
not the first time, and realized how glad he was that Jimmy was the one they
had sent.

    "On three" Jimmy ordered, "one---two---three."

    Working together they were easily able to lift the pipe.  Kim was ready
with bandage packing for Mac's leg and told Harm to move her.  She came free
easily, the force of the tug collapsing both of them backwards as Kim knelt
and pressed pads over her leg.  Her pants were soaked with blood and Harm
gasped loudly, shocked and frightened.

    "She'll be OK" Kim assured her, "we've gotten to her in time, now we just
need to get her out of here."  She stood up and as she did so a strong wave
of dizziness washed over her, causing her to stagger backwards into Bobby's
arms.

    "That's it, I've had it" he announced, "you are not well and you do not
belong on a call."  At the same time he was holding her tightly, his eyes
dark with concern.

    "OK I'll go up with Mac" Kim conceded, holding her now pounding head.

    "Kim what is it?" Jimmy questioned, ignoring Bobby's glare.

    "I think I have a minor concussion is all" she shook her head in
dismissal.

    "Then Bobby's right, you don't belong on duty" Jimmy exploded.  "Come on
let's move it.  I don't like the way this old place keeps rumbling anyway."

    Harm was still holding tightly to Mac, brushing his knuckles to her
temple.  "Just a few more minutes now" he whispered.  "You'll soon be in a
hospital bed ordering me to get you something decent to eat."

    Mac nodded dazedly, the blood loss and the medication fogging her mind.

    Bobby took firm hold of Kim's arm and looked back to the others.  "Jimmy,
help Harm lift Mac into the basket and get her strapped.  I'm  going to send
Kim back up and then we'll do the basket."

    Leaving them to do that, Bobby walked Kim, now unprotesting, to the
shaft.  "You're hurting a lot aren't you?" he asked gently, sympathy and
concern in his tone.

    "I just need some air and some tylenol" she assured him, "get our patient
out will you.  After all this I don't want to lose her now."

    "Right now you're my first priority" he told her, keeping his voice low,
"and yes I know that violates what we stand for, but I'm not going to
apologize for caring about you."

    "Thank you" she smiled and touched her fingers to his cheek.

    He helped her into her harness, securing it tightly around her.  "Are you
going to be......."

    "I'll be fine, yes" she cut  him off, "see you topside."  She went up a
few feet and looked back to him.  "Oh and Bobby, I care about you too."

    For a long minute their eyes held fast and a silent message was
exchanged, the connection between them reaffirmed.

    Then she was climbing again and he gave a long sigh of relief when she
confirmed she had reached the top and was waiting for the basket.

    Jimmy reached for Mac after he had readying the basket for her and Harm
reluctantly allowed him to help her get settled.  Harm gave her an
encouraging smile and he and Jimmy walked the basket to the shaft.  While
Jimmy worked on rigging the line to it, Harm fussed with tucking the blanket
over it.

    "Harm I don't want to leave you down here" Mac spoke up so suddenly and
vehemently Harm was startled.  She pulled her hand from the blanket, fumbling
for his.

    "Hey I'll be fine" he assured her, pressing her hand between both of his,
"soon as you're up and safe I'll be coming up with these guys.  But you've
got to get to the hospital and get that leg looked it."

    "No" she shouted, growing more agitated and pulling against the
restraining straps.  "I'm not going anywhere until I know you're out too.
Please...."  She turned to Jimmy and Bobby, "promise me you won't try to take
me without him."

    "I'll promise to strip at your batchelorette party if it will calm you"
Jimmy smiled.

    "Of course you can wait a minute so Harm can ride with you" Bobby added,
"I promise we'll have him up by the time you're ready anyway."

    She relaxed at their assurances.  "You take care Sailor" she smiled, her
mind harkening back to a desert in Iran.

    "You too Marine" he responded in kind, and leaning down he slipped his
hands awkwardly behind the restraints and gave her a tight hug.  Their eyes
locked and he took a deep breath to marshal his courage.  "Not enough this
time Marine" he told her and brushed his lips to hers before backing off
hastily.  Her eyes went wide at his action but she said nothing as the
hoisting of the basket began.

    "Not easy to be in love with your partner is it?" Jimmy laughed and
looked sharply at both men.  "Bobby, Kim is long over me.  I'm not what she
needs anyway.  I wasn't seven years ago either but we had Joey on the way and
it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.  Anyway, she's feeling
regrets for how she handled....well......that night.  I think you and her
need some time.  You might have to tie her to a chair to get her to listen,
much less talk, though."

    "Yeah I know" Bobby nodded, "I just haven't been anxious to go there
again after we tried to talk last time.  We've only just gotten back the
closeness we had before that night--before my idiot brother messed things all
up."

    Jimmy laughed again and shook his head, "you two deserve each other--and
I mean that in the best possible way."

    "Doherty get out of my face" Bobby growled, giving him a push.

    "I'll pick up the gear" Jimmy grinned.

    "So you and Mac haven't had a chance to talk about your feelings?" Bobby
asked, sensing Harm may want to talk.

    "Oh to the contrary" Harm scoffed, exasperated with himself at the
memory, "we had the perfect opportunity about two months ago on a ferry boat
in Sydney Harbor.  And one of us, the stubborn, pig headed, ignorant,
cowardly one--that would be me by the way--couldn't get anything more out
than 'not yet'.  But I've promised myself that as soon as she's able we're
going to back up to that day."

    "Kim and I actually had one night, as you heard Jimmy refer to" Bobby
snorted, "and she got scared and I got possessive and demanding about us and
it made her even more so.  Right now we're putting things back right between
us, that friendship we had, but I'm determined that we need to try again for
the rest."

    The return of the rope broke off further conversation and just as Bobby's
hands grasped it, there was another violent tremor and from somewhere behind
them the sound of a steel girder snapping under the pressure of debris.

    "We've got to move before this place comes down around us" Bobby
screeched, "Doherty move your ass--leave that sh...."  Another rumble added
more urgency to his words.  "Don't have time to tie you Harm, you'll have to
climb by hand.  GO."

    "Doherty" Bobby flung once last shout for him over his shoulder and
attached himself to the rope a yard below Harm's feet, looking at nothing but
the man above him climbing.

***********

   "I think I need to get you back away from this shaft" Kim fretted once
she had Sarah with her and the line taken from the stretcher and sent back
down.  "I don't like the noise I'm getting from there."  She dragged the
stretcher across the floor and helped Sarah to sit up as she checked her leg.

    "Harm?" Mac questioned, trying desperately to peer back to the elevator
shaft.

    "They should be on their way back up" Kim assured her.  "He...uh...he
means a lot to you doesn't he?"

    "Sort of like Bobby means to you I think" Mac returned with a smile.

    "It's a confused issue" Kim admitted, "I love him, and sometimes I think
I'm IN love with him, but I have a son who adores his father and sometimes my
feelings get wrapped up in that too.  That would be Jimmy by the way.  I
loved him once, as much as he would allow me to I guess; but I can't go back
to that.  I'm not that much of a glutton for punish..."

    From below again came a roar like no other and smoke and guess belched
from the shaft, along with the acrid smell of natural gas.

    "Bobb---bby."  "Haa--aaarm."  There was a simultaneous cry from both
women for the men they cared about.

    "Kim please, find him for me" Mac begged, her face contorted with anguish.

    Kim was already gone, disappeared into the smoke, only to collide with
Harm as he ran in her direction.

    Kim caught his arms and looked intently into his face.

    "Bobby's right behind me" he assured her, reading her panicked
expression, "Mac?"

    Kim gestured backwards with her head, straining to see through the haze
for her partner.

    Harm ran passed her, in the direction she had indicated, calling his
partner's name.

    "Harm" she shouted, overwhelmed with relief at hearing his voice and a
few seconds later she was being folded into his large embrace.  "I was so
afraid I'd lost you" she gasped, "lost you just as we'd finally...."    A
short sob cut off her last words and he pressed her head to his chest,
putting a dirty finger to her lips.

    "Later" he said softly as her arms went around his back, clinging tightly
as if he could be swallowed up by the hole one again.

**********

    "Here Kim" Bobby gasped, coughing hard at the same time.

    "Oh thank God" Kim's knees went weak with relief as she and Bobby caught
each other in a large hug of relief and physical support.  "I thought I'd
lost you" she breathed into his ear, willing back the hot tears that were
forming behind her eyes.

    "No chance" he choked out, "Jimmy should be behind me".   His breathing
was now in short gasps as a result of the gas and smoke and he leaned on Kim
as he fought for air.

    "First we get you outside and on 0-two" she said firmly, wrapping her arm
around him tightly.  "We've got to get Harm and Mac out too."

    She locked her arm across his back, leading him toward where she had left
the stretcher.

    Harm reluctantly released Mac at the approach of the two paramedics.
Though he was staggering slightly, Bobby was able to help lift the stretcher
and they hurried left the damaged building, out into the fresh air.

    "Thank god" Bobby breathed as they encountered the rest of their engine
company on their way in.  "Jimmy's still inside" he told them urgently,
glaring at Kim who was putting an oxygen mask to his mouth at the same time.

    "OK we'll check for him" Doc nodded, motioning to Carlos to follow him.

    "Breathe Bobby" Kim scolded him, pressing her hand to the back of his
head to keep him still, "breathe slow and deep, you know the drill."  Bobby
continued to glare at her, but took the  mask from her, partaking of deep
whiffs of the lifesaving air and feeling the tightness in his lungs ease.

    Harm sat at Mac's side, his arm around her shoulders, urging her to rest
her head against him as Kim checked her leg.  "We'll be taking you in just a
minute" she assured her and Mac gave her a small smile, indicating that right
now her main concern was that the man holding on to her was alive and with
her.

    Doc and Carlos returned a few minutes later, looking extremely somber.

    "Jimmy?" Kim asked, already reaching for Bobby's hand as she sensed the
answer.

    "I'm sorry" Doc shook his head, laying a hand on her shoulder.

    "What do you mean you're sorry" Bobby screeched, his alarm extreme,
pulling the mask away.  "He was going to come up behind me.  He's right down
that elevator shaft for godsake."

    "Bobby there ain't nothing down that shaft but a couple tons of twisted
steel and sheet rock" Carlos said quietly, "no one's alive down there, not in
that rubble and with the gas."  He turned to Kim and started to speak but
words failed him and he looked away.

    Kim's hand convulsed in Bobby's and she squeezed her eyes closed tightly,
two tears appearing on her cheeks.  "How am I going to tell Joey?" she
murmured, her anguish not so much for herself but for the small boy she would
have to face with the news.

    "We'll tell him together" Bobby promised her, rubbing at a tear with the
back of his hand and then pressing her forehead to his coat.

*********

    Harm sat unmoving at her bedside, made drowsy by the steady dripping
noise of her IV as twenty hours without sleep were now catching up to him.
His fervent prayer had been answered.  Mac was back from surgery, the
prognosis for her leg good.  She would be going home in a few days to recover
fully.  Now foremost on his mind was the vow he had made to himself some
twelve hours before.  His prayer now was that she would soon awaken so he
could make good on that promise to himself.

    When she finally did so, tugging hard on her hand that was sandwiched
between his, he jumped in startlement.  "Hey you" he grinned happily, "I
thought you Marines were always on time.  They told me you'd be awake a good
hour before now."

    "Just enjoying the dream I was having" she murmured sleepily, "but I see
the reality is just as good."  Her eyes dropped to where their hands were
joined and then up to his.  She gave him a small smile and a nod of
encouragement.

    His face broke into a broad grin of relief and happiness at the
confirmation that she still shared the same feelings that he for so long held
inside.  "I'd like to talk about a ferry boat, and a bridge in Sydney Harbor"
he said quietly.   He leaned forward to place a light kiss on her lips,  "and
about letting go."

*******

    The bagpipes lent an eerie sound to the dark damp day and a light rain
fell as the New York Fire Department prepared to lay to rest one of its own.
James Joseph Doherty rode for the last time the engine truck that had been so
much a part of his life.  Behind the truck his former wife walked with the
two men most important to her on either side.  Bobby's hand was firmly
wrapped around hers, their fingers meshed together.  Kim held her head high,
her eyes were clear and only a single lone tear had left its trace on her
cheek.  Her other hand held that of her son as he walked stiffly beside her.
His tears had dried; even at  the age of six he seemed to know that crying
would only serve to upset his mother.

    The procession led to the cemetery and the brief ceremony there.  Bobby's
arm went around her shoulders as the priest said the final prayer over the
casket and Joey clung to her.  As the last notes of Taps split the damp air
the gathering dispersed, leaving the three alone at the casket, staring at
the bronzed finish, fixed with the fire department seal on the top.

     "Time to go.  It's over" Bobby finally urged, knowing nothing more could
be accomplished there.

     "Yes it is" Kim agreed, having come to terms with burying this part of
her past.   "Joey?"  She saw his tears for the first time that day.

     "I'm ready" he sniffled, wiping his face with his sleeve.

    And there on a windswept cemetery hillside, a small boy slipped his hand
into that of the man who would act as his father from now on.  There would be
much to discuss and work out, but for the moment, the was trust as displayed
by the small hand in the larger one spoke volumes as to what would come.  The
rest would take care of it self.

    Kim looked to her son, and then up to the man with whom she would in all
likelihood place her future.  "I'm ready" she smiled.
 
 

The End!

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