AN: I've been planning this one shot for a while, so I hope you like reading it as much as I liked writing it! I love that Mac has a fear of heights, and I just wish that they would show that more on the show, so this was born. You should know that I know absolutely nothing about earthquakes, so there is extreme creative license taken with this. I'm from Michigan, so I have never experienced one. I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review!
Jack breathed in the fresh air and closed his eyes. He loved it up here. The San Gabriel mountains had always been a favorite hiking spot of his and Mac's, and today was proving to be just as amazing as all of the other times they'd been there. The warm California sun was beating down on them, but the beautiful breeze was cool against Jack's skin, making it the perfect temperature outside. The air smelled fresh, and much cleaner than it did back downtown. An eagle cried out overhead, and Jack felt completely at peace.
"Eagles are beautiful, man, I love America," Jack said with a contented sigh. He took a few quicker steps to catch up to his young partner, who had taken the lead.
"Not that you're wrong, but why? Do you see an eagle somewhere?" Mac asked, turning around with light in his eyes. He looked up and all around, looking for an eagle somewhere across the mountains or in the trees.
"Didn't you hear it? That majestic call? You hear it on TV and in westerns all the time," Jack said, coming to a stop next to Mac.
The kid laughed. "That wasn't an eagle, Jack. It's a hawk. Real eagles don't make sounds like that, so they use hawks on TV to make them sound more, as you put it, 'majestic'," he said with a smirk. Jack rolled his eyes. That kid did love to rile him up and always let him know when he was incorrect. It was all part of his charm.
"Whatever, nerd," he said, playfully shoving Mac in the shoulder. The blond only laughed again, gazing back out at the beautiful view.
The two of them were standing about fifteen feet out from the ledge of the cliff - the closest Mac would dare to go - on a trail in the mountains. The view was incredible. The mountain range sprawled out around them, looking like something out of a postcard or a travel magazine. No matter how many times Jack went, he was always in awe. And based on the look on the kid's face, so was he.
"That's incredible, ain't it?" Jack said, more as a statement than a question, glancing at Mac before turning his gaze back to the wide open landscape.
"It's amazing," Mac replied, almost breathless. "Come on, we better keep going if we want to break out record," he continued. The two of them had decided to try to hike farther up the mountain than they ever had before, but still be back in time to have dinner with the team.
"Alright, hoss. Let's go," Jack conceded, turning away from the edge and regaining the lead. He liked to be in front when at all possible. Some people might just call him paranoid, but Jack liked to be in front of Mac, just in case there was any danger hiding behind a corner. He needed to be in front of the kid in order to portect him from that.
These were Jack's favorite days. He got to be with his favorite person, laughing and having a good time. He loved seeing Mac's smile, seeing him run around the mountain, pointing out all kinds of crazy scientific stuff about the trees and the rocks and animals and absolutely everything else. Jack might not understand any of it, but it made his kid happy, so it made Jack happy too. He was even able to convince Mac to take selfies with him, especially funny ones when Mac found something he thought was particularly interesting, like a certain kind of leaf, or an oddly placed rock. Jack didn't get it, but he just loved seeing the kid smile and laugh and actually get to act like the kid he was. With their job, Mac didn't often get to act like a kid, so Jack would always treasure the moments when he did, like this.
But then the moment changed.
Suddenly, the ground started shaking beneath their feet. Both Mac and Jack immediately reached out for each other, gripping each other's arms and looking at each other as they braced themselves. They lived in LA, so they knew what to do in the case of an earthquake, even when being outside. Since they were on a mountain, and there wasn't anywhere they could go to get away from the trees, they simply stood still, and paid attention to what happened around them.
About ten seconds later, it was over, and everything seemed to be fine. Mac breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was fun," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Jack chuckled. That wasn't anything close to some of the terrible earthquakes they'd experienced, so they weren't worried about aftershocks or anything like that.
In hindsight, they should have been.
Mac had barely walked fifteen feet when the ground started shaking again, but this time, rocks started falling. Jack's eyes grew wide when he saw Mac stumble and fall to the ground from the force of the shocks.
"Mac!" he called out, ready to rush to his partner.
"I'm okay," Mac called back. "It's just a little loose over-" Mac's voice was cut off by his shout when the very ground he was on fell away.
"Mac!" Jack screamed, running towards the edge of the new cliff, aftershocks be damned. He could've cried in relief when he saw his partner, alive and well, but absolutely terrified. Mac was hanging onto the side of the cliff, gripping the rock with white knuckles.
"Jack!" he cried out. "Oh my gosh, oh no, oh no no no no no," he panicked. Jack could hear Mac begin to hyperventilate as he held on for his life.
"Mac, it's gonna be okay, I'm gonna get you!" Jack called down to him. "I need you to breathe, okay? Just breathe. I'm coming for you." He could still hear Mac absolutely freaking out. Jack threw the backpack he was carrying to the ground and pulled out the rope. He quickly ran to the closest tree and tied one end of the rope around it, and the other end to his ankle. That way, if Jack fell too, he would have a line securing him. Jack then ran back to the edge where Mac was. The kid was still freaking out. "Buddy, I'm gonna reach down for you, okay?"
Mac didn't say anything, he just pressed himself as close to the edge as he could, and squeezed his eyes shut. Jack could see a few tears escape before he did so. He didn't know if he'd ever seen Mac this scared, even in Cairo.
Jack laid down on the ground, and reached down to Mac. The kid was shaking so badly, Jack thought he might fall right off the cliff. He stretched out his arm as far down as he could, but he couldn't quite reach him.
"I need you to reach up, bud," he said. "I can't reach you yet. I need you to grab my hand."
Mac shook his head. "I- I can't- I can't, Jack. I can't," he said, still breathing much to rapidly to say much else. He just kept shaking his head and muttering under his breath about how high up he was.
"Yes you can," Jack sternly replied. "You can do anything, Mac, anything."
"No, I can't. If I move, I'll fall," Mac said, shaking his head more and clutching the side of the cliff even more, if that were possible. But then another aftershock hit, and Mac cried out as his foot slipped off the small hold he had for it.
"Mac!" Jack called out again. He was not about to watch his kid fall to his death. If he did, it was the end for both of them. "You have to reach up, okay? You have to let go, and let me pull you up."
Mac squeezed his eyes shut again as more tears fell down. The poor kid was so scared, and he was shaking so much. Jack's heart was pounding more than it did on most missions when the world was at stake - because this time, his own world was at stake.
"Jack, I can't- I can't- I'm scared, Jack, please," he begged, shaking his head before pressing his forehead against the cliffside.
"I know you're scared, buddy. I know you're scared. I'm scared too, but I'm gonna get you out of this, okay? But you have to trust me. You trust me, right?" Jack asked, praying there wouldn't be another aftershock.
"Yes- yes of course I do," Mac said, risking a quick glance up towards Jack before bringing his head back down to the cliffside.
"Then Mac, grab my hand."
"I- I can't-"
"Yes you can!" Jack shouted. He needed to get the kid up before it was too late. Mac would not be able to hold on to the edge of the cliff with that tenuous grip for too much longer. "You can do anything you set your mind to. So Mac, take my hand."
"I can't fall- I can't-" Mac was cut off once again by his own shout when he lost his grip with his left hand. "Jack!" he screamed, quickly taking another handhold.
"Reach, Mac!" he shouted. "Reach! I swear I've got you. I will never let you go," he said, sincerity dripping with every word. He would never let his kid fall. "Reach!"
Finally, Mac shot his hand up into Jack's, and held it in a firm grip. Jack immediately began pulling him up and over the edge of the cliff, and not a moment too soon. Another aftershock hit, sending more of the loose cliff falling. Jack quickly dragged Mac closer to the side of the trail against the higher edge of the mountain, and pulled the shaking kid into his arms.
"It's okay, I've got you now," he said, letting Mac burrow himself into Jack's chest, clutching at his tee shirt like a lifeline as he let out small cries. "You're safe, you're okay. I've got you." Jack let one hand come around Mac's back, and the other gently ran fingers through Mac's hair in an attempt to calm him down. "It's over, it's okay, kiddo. You're okay."
Jack didn't know how long it was that he sat there, holding Mac tight as the kid calmed down. The only thing he did know was that it wasn't fair. Why did life have to take any fun Mac ever had and ruin it? The two of them were having such an amazing day together, and then a freaking earthquake had to hit and the kid had to go tumbling over the edge. It was a miracle they were both still alive. Jack sighed. He just wanted to have fun with his kid without any danger or life threatening situations for once.
Slowly, slowly, slowly, Mac pulled away. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I don't know what got in to me. I am a trained operative, and that is not how a trained operative behaves in a situation like this. I apologize," he said, not looking Jack in the eye.
"Hey, buddy, it's okay. It's not every day you get tossed over the side of the cliff. It's okay to freak out." Mac looked up at him, but didn't say anything. "And you're not a trained operative today. Today, you're a kid on a hike with his friend who almost died, and you're a kid who has acrophobia. It's okay. I'm not gonna go tellin' everyone," he finished with a chuckle.
"Thanks, Jack," Mac muttered, briefly meeting Jack's eyes. "For saving my life, for- for everything," he said.
"My pleasure, kid," Jack replied, playfully shoving Mac in the shoulder, just to get him to smile again. He loved that smile. "Now what do ya say we get off this big rock and order a pizza? I think we've had enough hiking for one day."
Mac smiled as he stood. "I think that sounds great."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Jack stood and slung an around Mac's shoulder. The two began to walk back the way they came, but stuck as close to the mountain as they could. Things were going well for about ten steps, then, the unthinkable happened.
Jack tripped and almost fell on his face. He had forgotten to untie the rope from his ankle and the tree. (He hadn't really forgotten, he had just wanted to do something stupid make Mac laugh, and he knew that some lighthearted slapstick comedy would do the trick.) Mac began to laugh at him once he noticed why he'd fallen, and after the scare he'd just had, the sound was music to Jack's ears.
THE END