"Hammock + Balcony" was such a great episode. As much as I enjoyed the undercover wedding (and didn't they all look fantastic?), I really loved Jack's side story. Even though it was all done with a air of lightness, I thought it showcased once again the lengths that Jack is willing to go for Mac. I can not wait to see what the fall out is going to be for Jack for what he did (because we all know that Matty will find out) and where exactly the writer's are going with this.

This idea came to me as soon as I watched the teaser promo of Jack, Jill, & Elwood in Jack's apartment, and I ended up writing the entire thing in an afternoon, quickest story I've written in a very long time. I wish they all came together this easily, lol.

I thought that after being around Jack for a while now, watching him fight, seeing him with his gun, and now asking for his help (with a "need to know" explanation) to break into Matty's safe, Elwood would start to get a little suspicious and doubt that Jack was actually what he said he was. Also, I couldn't let the "we're expendable" comment that Elwood made go. I don't believe for a second that Jack would throw either of them under the bus if any of this goes sideways. And that's not only because he's Riley's biological dad, Jack just isn't that type of guy. So... I had to write this. Plus expand a bit on the anger that we saw briefly from Jack at the end.

Big, huge, gigantic THANKS goes out to my beta and best friend who I'd be lost without, RiatheMai, who found the time in her crazy busy schedule to fix this for me.

"That's not a Think Tank that you and Just Jill work for is it? Riley, too," Elwood says without turning around. He's not asking; his quiet, gravelly voice cuts through the darkness, equal parts curious and accusatory. "And you were never a bathroom tile salesman. You're ex-military...Special Forces if I had to wager a guess. I'm not wrong, am I, Jack?"

They're the first words either of them spoke since they hightailed it away from Matty's house almost an hour before. The entire ride back to his apartment was silent and filled with a tension he could've cut with his combat knife.

Or maybe the tension is just his.

Nicky's betrayal pissed him off. She wrapped her explanation and cover story up with a bow a little too neatly for his liking; he would never trust her again. And, if he has a say, he will never, ever let her near Mac.

Finding out that Thornton was actually Chrysalis left him stunned, questioning his skills and his ability to keep his team—the people he holds most dear—safe, and he vowed he would never let it happen again.

Never again would he let any one of them be that vulnerable.

But this? What he found tonight? What Matty's done?

This hurts.

He has known Matty for years, for years. He's worked for her, with her, has fought side by side with her during some of his most harrowing cases. He considered her a friend, part of their family and the little wolf pack they have become.

But more than that, he trusted her. Trusted her with Mac.

Jack has been in this business for a long time, knows the ins and outs, and accepts the need to know hierarchy that comes with it.

But this different. This is personal.

Matty willingly kept this from them. Kept this from Mac.

The truth.

Mac's past. His father's fate. Her part in all of it.

Stayed silent and let the charade continue.

Kept her game in play fully knowing the answers that Mac sought; fully aware how stubborn, how laser focused he becomes when he's on a mission.

Fully knowing that he won't stop, and the crosshairs of danger that was possibly going to put him in.

Danger that no matter what it takes, what Jack has to do, he will protect Mac from.

Jack's angrier than he's been in a very, very long time, his body practically vibrating with the need to lash out, to do something.

As angry as he is, though, he knows the surprised shock that's going to greet him when he finally tells his partner. The seeming acceptance of this new piece of information, another puzzle piece he can fit with the others towards the resolution he seeks masking the deep hurt Jack knows he going to feel at the betrayal of yet another person he's trusted, lied to him, another person that's abandoned him. Those feelings simmering just below the 'I'm fine, Jack' until he explodes like one of the IEDs he defuses leaving Jack scrambling to keep up with him, to pick up the pieces and have his back.

Jack wishes he didn't have to tell him. That he could keep this all to himself and take care of it like he wants… Protect Mac from the fall out this is inevitably going to cause.

As much as he wants to do that, Jack knows that he can't.

He won't.

Refuses to ever be the person that lets Mac down.

Jack lets go of the steering wheel, the leather binding creaking back into place as the pressure from his grip is released. He fists his right hand a couple of times to loosen it up as he gently rolls his left shoulder to relieve some of the tightness and pain. The self-inflicted injury—or Jill inflicted injury he should say—may have been worth it to get the time off he needed, and he'd do it again if it means helping Mac, but that doesn't mean the dislocated shoulder hurt any less.

He leaves the car running; he has no intention of staying after he drops Elwood off at his own car, going straight to Mac's instead. To pace and worry and pace some more, try to find some calm before Mac returns from France and he has to share with him what he found.

But first, there are some other people he needs to protect.

He makes a mental note to call Jill on his drive to Mac's house and check in on her. Her sudden departure from their conversation along with the phone connection going dead has him a little worried and he wants to makes sure she's okay.

She's got a lot of spunk, isn't afraid to speak her mind and Jack likes her a lot. He enjoys riling her up like he does with Mac, calling her by the wrong name continually, though she hasn't quite caught on to the game yet, and he knows once she does she's going to be a worthy opponent for him. She took a lot of risks, accepted his non-explanation to the why and what he was doing without question. She's not a field agent, hasn't been with Phoenix very long but she really came through for him, and he plans to do the same for her.

"Elwood…" He's not even sure where he's going after he says the other man's name, and he runs his right hand roughly down his face. He knows that he can't tell him the truth, but he also knows that this was his idea, and his idea only, and he's not going to let him take the fall for any of it.

That's not only for Riley's sake, though that was a major thought in his decision to involve her father in this. He genuinely likes the guy, and that's something that he never in a million years thought that he would ever say.

Jack knows he runs the real possibility of Riley being furious with him if she ever finds out that Jack has used him this way, but he'd needed Elwood's skill set to help Mac.

Jack feels like he's walking a tightrope with the decisions he making. One wrong move and he's going to lose everything.

"Don't bother, Jack. Your silence speaks volumes," Elwood tells him, finally turning his head and looking at him. "I may be new to this whole spy thing, or whatever the hell you two are, but I know enough that you can't tell me anything even if wanted to."

"It's for your own safety, man," Jack says, and he's not only referring to the truth of what he actually does for a living. The less the man knows, the less lies he'll get caught telling if he's ever questioned, the safer he stays.

One eyebrow raised, Elwood just looks at him for a moment. "I just helped you commit B & E on your boss's house, Jack. A woman who even in just the few minutes I have talked to her I'm not too proud to say scares the crap out of me, and who really seems like the type whose bad side you never want to see or have directed at you. An act, may I remind you, which could send a guy like me away for a very long time."

"Yeah… you kinda hit the nail right on the head with that one," Jack admits. "Mathilda Webber is not a lady you ever want see angry, much less have it directed at you."

He may have upset his boss a time or two, may be continually in her proverbial dog house, but he can honestly say that he has luckily never been the center of her wrath. He can't say the same for a couple of his former fellow CIA agents who have made the mistake of crossing her, though. He personally bore witness to her fury, and the destruction of its aftermath.

But if it comes to that, he'll go toe to toe with her. As far and as hard as he needs to go in order to protect Mac and keep him safe.

"If you're trying to make me feel better or reassure me, you're doing a crappy job of it, you know."

"Elwood, I know you and I had a bit of a rocky start—"

"That's the understatement of the year, Jack."

"Yeah, well… My point is, that's all in the past, man. You've really cleaned up your act, come a long way, and I'm proud of you for that. You're a part of Riley's life now and I'm not going to let anything screw that up. You have my word on that." Jack tells him, sincerity lacing his words and he makes sure he has the other man's full attention before continuing, needing to make this one point and having him understand.

"But you were wrong about one thing tonight. Neither of you are expendable, and I'm going to tell Jill that first opportunity I have. I should have nipped that right in the bud when you first said it earlier, I'm sorry. And I'm sorry that I made you feel that way, I couldn't have accomplished any of this without you guys. And I don't want you to worry; none of this will ever come back on you. If this goes sideways in any way, you won't take the fall for anything that happened tonight, you weren't even here. You have my word."

"It's really that important? Whatever it is you took a picture of in her safe?" Elwood asks with a nod toward his phone that's tucked in the sling that's secured around his chest. "What is it anyway?"

"Yeah… It is," Jack answers lowly, and he feels his anger, the betrayal and hurt start to sharpen and swirl inside him. "It changes the whole game. And no, I'm not telling you what it is. I was serious when I said it was safer. The less you know, the better off you are… The safer you'll be."

"Alright then," Elwood agrees. He reaches for the door handle and then stops and turns once again toward Jack and locks eyes with him. "I do have one other question that I'm hoping you'll answer for me."

"Okay, I will if I can. Shoot."

"Whatever it is that you actually do for a living…Is Riley safe?"

It's the question that he'd hoped Elwood was going to ask after suspecting what the Phoenix actually was, and something settles further in his chest at the active, concerned role that he is playing in Riley's life. Jack feels the corner of his mouth curl up into a smile. He'd just had the same exact conversation with Diane just a few days ago. That's another talk that he and Elwood will be having, the fact that he and Diane are back together and trying to make a go of it a second time. But that's for another time.

"Yes, she's safe. Your daughter is tough as nails and badass, Elwood. I love that little girl like she's my own and I will never let anything happen to her. I taught her everything she needs to know," he tells Elwood seriously. "But it's my job to keep her safe, to keep them all safe. And I'll do whatever it is I have to do to ensure that they stay that way… No matter who it is that is a threat."

"I believe you will, Jack. I believe you will." Elwood reaches for the handle again and pushes the door open. He steps out of the vehicle and then leans back down, glancing once again at the tucked away phone and then looks at Jack. "Let's just hope it never comes to a point where you have to do that."

Jack nods his head and then Elwood is gone, back to his car and driving away. He hopes Elwood is right, that this is all going to be okay and work out easily for the best.

But Jack knows better. He knows that they are in for one hell of a fight before it all ends. He can sense the trouble on the horizon that's headed straight for them…

With Mac right in its path.

But Jack is ready.

Whatever it is, they'll have to get through him first.