Takes place two years pre-canon.
The thing is, Jack decides over many years of working a high-stress job that is otherwise known as spying and which gives him too many gray hairs, sometimes people don't know when to give up and make things easier.
He doesn't necessarily mean easier for themselves, mind you, but easier for him.
(He spends his days chasing after a blond kid genius that builds things out of kitchen appliances and mops. Let him have this one thing easy, please.)
Anyway, this belief is firmly cemented in Jack's mind by the time of the Incident, as it would later be referred to as. Capital letters included.
The Incident starts when he and said blond kid genius are given orders to bring in a man that's been at the top of the DXS' most wanted list for years: Dean Thompson.
Mr. Thompson is wanted on six continents for violent robbery, terrorism, and murder. All around, Jack's pretty excited to go after the guy. Mac is too, even if he's looking a little tired.
Jack knows that it isn't the missions that are taking their toll on his friend, but rather the recent anniversary of both his mother and grandfather's death.
(Hopefully this'll take his mind off of things.)
They go through the briefing quickly, both agents being pretty well informed on the situation already. Thompson is one of the few people that the agency requires its agents to know about whether or not they were assigned to him.
The start of the mission goes well- so well, in fact, that Jack can't shake the feeling that something's about to go horribly wrong.
(He shakes the feeling off, though, even though he knows better.)
They arrive at the hotel that they're staying at, unload their things, and start walking to the rental car to get lunch when it happens.
The car explodes and Jack and Mac are thrown backwards. Jack rolls a few feet on the ground, scraped and bruised but ultimately fine. Mac, on the other hand, must've hit the ground awkwardly, because he's lying in the gravel, face pale and a trickle of blood running down his cheek from a scrape on his forehead, and unmoving.
Jack tries to push himself to his feet, but he can't quite make his limbs cooperate. He slumps back to the ground as darkness encroaches on his vision, but he fights against the spots swimming through his gaze as he notices a few pairs of feet starting to walk towards him.
He can't keep himself awake, though, and he only just manages to let out a groan of protest when he sees hands grab Mac before he passes out.
When he comes to, he's staring up at a hospital ceiling. Beside his bed is his boss, one Patricia Thornton. The woman's face is twisted in a stern, worried expression, but a few of the wrinkles in her forehead smooth out when Jack raises a hand to his forehead. "What happened?" he groans, head throbbing in time to his heartbeat.
Patty answers immediately. "Thompson somehow knew we were coming. Our techs think he was able to find our signal and listen in to the radio chatter. He set a trap for you in Mac in your rental car and set it off, but when we arrived at the scene, only you were there.
"A few hours later, we got a call from Thompson. He said that he's holding Mac hostage, and if he doesn't get what he wants, he's going to use Mac for his own purposes."
Jack frowns. "Mac would never go along with that."
Patty's face is troubled. "Thompson also mentioned that Mac doesn't remember anything about the DXS, and thinks that he's allied with Thompson. We both know that doing anything for that man would destroy Mac far more than anything Thompson could do to him."
Jack nods. "We have to get him out of there."
Patty finally gives a small smile. "We were able to keep him on the phone long enough to get a location lock on him."
Jack blinks in surprise. "You're kidding. That never works."
The woman across from him shrugs. "I know. He underestimated us. The doctor is going to give you a quick examination, and if you're good to go, the plane's leaving in twenty."
With that, Patty sweeps out the door, and the doctor walks in. He looks at Jack, then down at his clipboard. "Let's get started."
Jack's sitting on the plane,surrounded by the chatter of other agents, but the only thing he can hear is the thump of his own heart mixed in with the words running through his head.
It's his fault. All his fault. He should've stopped Thompson, done something, anything-
The plane touches down with a small jolt. They've arrived.
They split up into groups of two to case the facility where Thompson and his men have their base of operations. Jack and his partner make their way carefully through the compound, and it's not long before they hear sounds coming from the end of one hallway.
Jack whispers, "I'll distract them. You call for reinforcements."
His partner nods and heads down the hall. Jack takes a moment to prepare himself, and then steps around the corner. He sees a group of men at the end of the corridor, Thompson and Mac in the middle, and he realizes that the team leader must've been able to put the compound in some sort of lockdown without all the normal blaring alarms and glaring red lights, because Thompson and his men are watching Mac do something to the electronic lock on the door.
Jack puts his hands up, very, very aware of the fact that the men at the other end of the hall have guns in or by their hands. He calls out, "What's going on here?"
Thompson's head jerks up from where he's watching Mac work, and Jack bristles at the obvious hostility in the other man's gaze. "I see you're having Mac here do your dirty work for you."
Thompson shrugs, but Jack ignores him and says in the voice that he always uses when he needs Mac to do something right away. "Mac, look at me."
Mac looks up at Jack from where he's crouched behind the other men, his hands stilling in their work for a second. He blinks, shakes his head, looks dazed for a second before snapping his gaze up to Thompson. "Sir?"
His tone is shaky, and Jack has to stop himself from clenching his hands into fists at the comforting hand that Thompson places on Mac's shoulder. "He's just trying to distract you. Come on, get us out of here before reinforcements arrive."
Mac nods, then goes back to work. Every once in awhile, though, his gaze flicks over to Jack for a second before returning to his work. Jack notices this, tries to build on the doubt that must be starting to take root in the kid's mind. "Hey, you remember me, right? Jack? You responded when I said your name, so you must remember something-"
A bullet fired into the wall behind him shuts him up. Thompson growls, "Stop talking unless you want a hole in your head."
Jack stops talking. He's no use to Mac if he's dead. Honestly, he's not sure why he's not dead yet, but the fact that Thompson's gaze holds a bit of a sadistic gleam gives him a clue. The man's probably finding some sick entertainment in Jack's predicament.
Jack suddenly wants to punch the man even more now.
He can only watch as Mac finally opens the door and is turns to tell Thompson that he's succeeded. As he stands, though, Jack sees, out of the corner of his eye, a flash of light from behind a corner to the side of Thompson. The man flashes a grin, taking a fierce pleasure in how Thompson's face morphs into a mass of confusion,and then-
Jack hits the ground like a sack of flour as a few bullets whistle overhead, one of them knocking Thompson's gun from his hand. A fluke shot, but a useful one.
Agents come spilling out from around the corner, guns cocked, prepared to open fire. They're too close range, however, and they don't want to risk hitting Jack or Mac. Instead, they rush Thompson and his men and the scene quickly dissolves into an all-out brawl.
Jack makes his way through the fight, dispatching enemies quickly and without nonsense as they attack him, looking for Mac. He sees him fighting an agent by the name of Arthur Edwards, a good friend of both Mac and Jack. The huge man is obviously trying not to hurt the smaller, but he's also defending himself.
Artie lands a blow on Mac that sends the blond staggering several steps backwards, and Edwards' face twists in regret. However, the momentary distraction of the young man gives Jack time to slip between Edwards and Mac and nod to the larger man. Edwards nods back, then turns back to the fight, leaving Jack to take care of Mac.
Mac straightens up, and Jack can see a bruise forming on his cheekbone from Artie's hit. Blue eyes narrow, taking in Jack's fighting stance. The young man raises an eyebrow. "You again?"
Jack flashes a quick smile. "Same old, same old."
Mac's brows come crashing together. "Why are you so obsessed with me?"
Jack shrugs, then rushes the younger man, knowing that he's going to need the element of surprise. He tackles the kid, bringing him to the ground. When Mac speaks again, he's winded. He shoves at Jack, trying to get him off of him. "Let- me- go!"
Jack shakes his head, keeping his voice light and trying not to let on how much this hurts him, having to fight his best friend, his brother. "Not gonna happen, man."
Mac shoves at him even harder. "I don't know you. I don't. You- you're lying."
Jack's heart breaks as Mac's voice gains a desperate edge as the blond tries to convince himself of- what? That Jack is lying?
At least this turmoil means that his mind is starting to recover. Jack feels a sudden surge of hope bubble in his chest, but it disappears when Mac's voice goes hard and cold, all sharp edges and fierce, ragged determination, and he says, "This is a lie."
Jack's managed to keep Mac down for this long by dint of his fighting skill and the fact that he outweighs Mac by a significant amount, but the younger man isn't showing any sign of tiring, and Jack doesn't want to give him a chance to disappear into the wind, because he knows that if Mac does, he won't be found again for a long, long time.
Jack does the only thing he can think of. He mutters, "Sorry, Mac," and then he jabs his fingers into a pair of pressure points on the blond's neck hard enough to make him pass out.
Once he's sure that Mac is completely unconscious, Jack stands. He looks around the hallway to find that the other agents have subdued Thompson and his men, and are restraining them. The brunet hesitates for a moment, then walks over to where Artie's talking to one of the other agents. Jack waits until he's finished then says, "Can you give me a hand with Mac? I need to get him to medical."
Artie nods sympathetically, his gaze flickering over Mac's still form and then back up to Jack's face, lined with pain.
The two men hoist the younger between them, and Jack doesn't think about the way Mac's head droops, the way he's limp and unresisting.
They don't reach the infirmary fast enough, in Jack's opinion. When they do, though, the doctor takes one look at Mac and then motions the trio over to a secluded room at the end of the hall. Jack places him on the bed, then- reluctantly- leaves Artie to stay with the kid as he gives the doctor a quick rundown on the situation.
It doesn't take him long, and within five minutes he's back beside Mac. He notices, out of the corner of his eye, Artie slipping out of the room, but he doesn't think much of it. His mind is a storm of worry and guilt.
He's the one that's responsible for Mac lying still and pale and looking oh so small on the hospital bed. He's the one that did this to the kid.
After a moment of hesitation, Jack moves to put the restraints that are in the cabinets on the kid. They're soft, padded, with one end attaching to the bed, but Jack hates having to cuff his friend like this, hates the situation that did this to his friend.
It's a necessary precaution, though, and Jack tries to console himself with the thought that this will at least prevent Mac from attacking Jack again.
(It doesn't work.)
It takes Mac two hours to wake up. In that time, Patty comes in, takes one look at Mac, talks to Jack about the mission for five minutes before telling him that they'll do the debrief in five hours, then leaves to talk to the doctor.
Jack waits.
When Mac does wake up, it's not gradually. His eyes snap open, he draws in a hoarse, ragged breath, and he tries to sit up. He's stopped, though, by the restraints around his arms, chest, and legs.
Jack shoots to his feet and stands where Mac can see him, gently pushing the young man back down onto the bed as he talks. "Mac? You with me?"
Mac's eyes turn to his face, blue and dazed and blown wide with fear and panic. "Jack? Where are we? What happened?"
Jack leans against the bed, relief filling him. He knows Mac better than the back of his own hand, and the kid's obviously gotten his memory back. Well, most of it, if his panic is any indication. "How much do you remember?"
Mac frowns, cataloging his thoughts with careful precision, fear dying down as he realizes that he's safe. "We were walking out to the car, and there was an explosion?"
Jack nods. "Yeah, Thompson got his hands on you after that. You had temporary amnesia, I guess, and Thompson was able to twist your mind around so that you thought he was your leader and me and the DXS were your enemies." Jack hesitates, then forces himself to add, "There was a fight when we got you back. I knocked you out."
There's a moment of silence as Mac digests all this, and then he says, "Thanks."
Jack's eyes snap over to meet Mac's, and he forces out an incredulous laugh. "Thanks? For what? It's my fault you got into this mess. I should've been able to do something other than cause you more pain."
Mac's gaze is steady as he says, "It's not your fault, Jack."
Jack shrugs and turns his eyes to the floor. "I mean, it kinda is."
The younger man's voice is surprisingly strong as he replies, "No. It isn't. You couldn't have known that Thompson was going to do this, or that I would get amnesia. You were the one that saved me."
Mac lets those words sink in, knowing that, with Jack, less is sometimes better.
The older man doesn't speak for a moment, but when he raises his head, the lines of worry and stress around his eyes have smoothed. He stands up straight and says, "Let's get these things off of you, brother."
Mac lies back as Jack undoes the restraints, feeling safe for the first time in what seems like forever.
This was a prompt fill for TinkerBella.
Prompt: I would love to see a story where Mac loses his memory and thinks Jack and the others are his enemy. So he's hurt and confused and the only people he can trust are the one's he thinks are his enemies.