A/N: First of all, I need to say thank you so much for all the reviews I got on Reunion. I only expected a couple, but I've gotten 12 in under a day! You have no idea how happy this has made me. And an additional thank you to everyone who welcomed me to the fandom - I'm glad to be here. I guess you can think of this little one-shot as a thank you for making me so eager to keep writing for this fandom.


Not again. Not again, not again, not again.

His heart raced, thudding painfully against his chest from the moment Mac heard Murdoc's first whistled note. His head throbbed and Murdoc's face slid in and out of focus, only adding another layer of creepiness to the man. Murdoc's voice sent shivers down his spine and he struggled, desperate to not get recaptured and figure out what all those tools were for. But his feet were trapped and his upper body was stuck, one bar below and one above making it impossible to wiggle free quickly.

To his immense relief, Murdoc left him in the transport.

His thumping heart didn't slow down.

"Jack," he mumbled, fumbling with one of the bars. He should've been able to get it loose, but everything was fuzzy and for the second time he couldn't focus, couldn't move, couldn't figure anything out- "Jack!"

At his desperate yell, the older agent jerked awake. "What happened?"

"I'm stuck," Mac rasped, shifting his energies to yanking at his feet. "I can't get out-"

"All right, all right, just breathe, kid," Jack advised. His own path to freedom was far simpler, but he had to take time to get Cage out of the transport, and Mac fought off unconsciousness as he waited for his partner.

"All right, I'm here," Jack finally said, slipping in beside Mac. Before he even started looking at Mac's predicament, he rested a hand on his heaving chest. "I told you to breathe."

Mac batted the hand away. "Just get- get me out."

Jack caught his hand and pinned it against Mac's chest. "I will, but it'll be a lot easier if you're not panicking."

Closing his eyes, Mac nodded, and did his best to follow Jack's "In, out, in, out," coaching. Slowly, his breaths turned from rapid and shaky to manageable and decently steady.

"There, that's better," Jack said, patting his shoulder before moving on.

"Just get on with it," Mac grunted.

Jack gave the bars experimental tugs. "Yup, I'd say you're stuck."

"You're so observant," Mac snapped, scrubbing a hand over his face as his breathing threatened to speed up again.

"Who hit us?" Jack asked, continuing to shuffle around.

He was just trying to distract Mac and he knew it, but he answered anyway. "Murdoc. He took the fake teacher with him, too."

Jack shot a confused look at Mac. "Why?"

Trying to remember what he'd overheard, Mac shut his eyes, but saw only the room he'd been held in and snapped them back open. "Uh… Something about a business venture? Murdoc was recruiting for something."

"Great. A murder tank led by Murdoc. That's just what we need."

Mac's feeble attempt at a laugh was more of a strained groan cut off by a hiss of pain as the bar over his ankles suddenly clamped down harder. "Ow!"

"Sorry," Jack said. "But one end of this is just trapped in the steering wheel, so if I can get it free, it might be easier to get you free."

"Do it," Mac ordered roughly, ironically grabbing on of the bars trapping him for support.

"It's gonna hurt," Jack warned. Before Mac could take a breath to reply, Jack pushed the bar down and he screamed. Then Jack tugged on it, dragging it across Mac's skin, and suddenly the pressure was gone.

Mac jerked his legs up with a gasp, grabbing just above the fiery pain. "Ow," he repeated weakly.

Jack returned to his side, turning his attention to the bar over Mac's stomach. He looked up and pushed against the floor, the corners of his mouth lifting when it gave in a bit. "All right buddy, I'm gonna pull this thing up on the count of three. You won't have much extra room, but with it and your freed legs, you should be able to slide out. Ok?"

Mac nodded, positioning his hands and feet to maneuver himself to freedom.

"Three… two… one!"

With a grunt of effort, Jack heaved upwards, the transport creaking in protest. Mac lifted his head and shoulders clear of the bar beneath them and pulled himself forward, his ankles protesting as he used them to anchor himself. Then he flattened himself, turning his face to the side, and slid beneath the middle bar like a bad game of limbo.

And then he was free.

He rolled onto his stomach, beginning to shake as the adrenaline wore off. Jack guided him out, and when Mac felt warm sunlight on his entire body, he dropped to the pavement.

"Hey! Careful with that head of yours," Jack rebuked, leaning over him to take a look at the back of it. "Yeah, you've definitely got a concussion already."

"At least I'm free," Mac said. Only then did he hear sirens wailing, and he sighed. "Those guys have terrible timing."

"It's all about suspense, my friend," Jack joked, sitting back and resting a hand on Mac's shoulder.

Mac dropped his hand over Jack's, letting that take the place of the hug he was too exhausted to sit up for. "No more tight spaces, ok?"

"Definitely," Jack agreed, squeezing his shoulder. "No more tight spaces."


A/N: I dunno if the show is gonna really deal with this cliffhanger next week, but I couldn't wait to find out, (and even if it does, the emotional impact probably won't be involved) so I wrote this. And I think I'm gonna headcanon that Mac has at least some claustrophobia after a day like this.