She had almost talked herself into turning around and leaving when the door opened. "Hi. I'm Lieutenant Colonel Mackenzie; I'm a friend of Clay's. Is he up to receiving visitors?" she asked nervously.

"I believe so, ma'am. One moment," the man who'd opened the door replied, indicating she should come in and wait in the foyer. He returned quickly, showing her into an elegantly-furnished room. Webb lay on the couch, looking significantly better than the last time she'd seen him. As she entered, the servant announced her name; Webb's mother rose from a chair by his side and came to greet her.

"It's so nice to see you again, Colonel Mackenzie," she began, offering her hand. Mac shook it, and apologized for intruding. "Nonsense. Any friend of Clayton's is more than welcome."

Over her shoulder, Mac could see Webb roll his eyes; she managed to stifle her amusement. A few pleasantries were exchanged, then Mrs. Webb excused herself, shutting the door behind her.

Feeling a little awkward, Mac sat in a chair that was a comfortable distance from Webb's couch; they could converse easily, but it wasn't as intimately close as his mother had been sitting. She apologized again, for not having visited while he was in the hospital, and asked how he was doing. They chatted on neutral subjects for a while, but when she could see that he was starting to wonder why she'd come, she decided it was time.

She could do this. Really. How many times had she had this same conversation with Harm? It was best to just get it over with, and know for sure.

"So, uh, Webb...there's something I've been wondering about."

Was it her imagination, or did he look a little nervous?

"What's that?"

"Well...remember in the truck, in Paraguay, just before we split up so Gunny could get you to a doctor?" From the look on his face, it was clear he did. She pressed on before she could chicken out. "You started to say something, but I--cut you off. And I've been wondering: what is it you were going to say?"

Was he blushing? "Um...to be honest, I was a little distracted at the time. I honestly don't remember what we were talking about."

"I believe it was something about 'when we get back'?"

"Ah. Yes. I think I was going to ask if, assuming you didn't hate me for getting us caught in that mess, we could try that friendship thing I've heard about," he said with an uneasy laugh, not quite looking at her.

"Oh." Could she have been wrong about him? Was he like Harm after all? She'd thought, when he'd told her he needed her even though they were no longer in imminent danger, that just maybe she'd found a man who was willing to own up to having feelings for her that weren't dependent on being in crazy circumstances. But now it appeared that it had just been the pain talking.... "Is that what you want? Friends?"

He must have sensed some of her disappointment in her voice; his eyes flew to hers, and suddenly he seemed very...intense. "It's not what I want. But it's what I'll settle for."

Hmm. Not quite what she was hoping to hear, but promising nonetheless. She supposed she could understand some reticence on his part; he had, after all, said rather more than he'd probably intended back in Paraguay. Mac decided it was her turn to share.

"You know, it's ironic. That first night in Ciudad del Este, you were telling me Harm and I would be good together, when just the night before I'd pretty much told him it was too late for us."

That piqued Webb's interest. "Before? Really? You said that?"

"Well, not in so many words, perhaps. But I'd gone to see how he was doing after the Singer mess--I swear, sometimes it seems like he's been up on murder charges almost as often as he's crashed planes--and to let him know I'd be out of reach for a few days. When I confirmed that I'd be on a mission with you, he told me not to go and made his usual vague implications that he might have feelings for me, and I decided I'd had enough. I basically pointed out that his "feelings" only surface when there's some reason he can't act on them, and left. For the first time, I just had no interest in even beginning the conversation; not because I was upset or angry, but because I simply didn't care anymore. It was very...liberating."

"Interesting." He considered what she'd told him for a moment. "And good for you, if that's what he's been doing. I didn't realize. I'm sorry, though, if it's causing problems between you," he offered.

Mac shrugged. "There's no reason to be. I'm sure our friendship will be fine once everything else settles down. Assuming, of course, that he doesn't resent having resigned his commission to come find us.... But as long as he and I both manage to avoid putting our lives in danger, whatever Harm thinks he feels will disappear and we'll be back to normal."

Silence fell, and it grew to the point where she was about to give up and leave before he spoke again. "Sarah," he began tentatively--and how could she have missed that, in Paraguay? Shouldn't she have noticed that he'd been calling her Sarah, and figured out why?--"in a few weeks, when I'm a bit stronger, would you, perhaps, care to go out with me sometime?"

Relieved that she hadn't been wrong about Webb after all, Mac kept her voice calm as she replied. "I'd like that."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." The smile she felt creep across her face was nothing compared to the one that lit up his, she knew, but that was all right. She had no intentions of pretending to return his feelings already, but she was definitely interested in finding out if she could.