**The following A/N didn't come through when I uploaded via my tablet the other day; I have since edited the story, but in the interest of full disclosure, I figured I should put it back in**

A/N I don't know about you guys, but I really felt cheated out of a worthy send-off for Jack last night. In terms of my own personal sanity and ability to sleep at night, this could possibly be the most important piece I've ever written. LoL Kidding . . . mostly. Anyway, this is a one-shot I wrote this morning before work. I had no time to read it over and/or edit it, so I apologize for the mistakes you'll likely find. I just had to get this out of my system. I hope it's enjoyable.

PS This is the first time I've titled a story based on my own reasons for writing it . . .

SANITY

Matilda Webber was not one to blatantly meddle in her agents' personal lives. Behind the scenes with a healthy dose of plausible deniability waiting just around the corner? Absolutely. But not out in the open for all to see. She had a reputation to maintain, after all. However, this was an extreme situation that called for drastic measures. The look of distress on Jack's face when he made one final look through the glass wall of her office as he headed toward the elevator sealed the deal.

Time to take a risk.

Mac was on the other side of the room comforting an emotional Riley and Bozer, all while trying desperately to keep his own well-erected walls strong and impenetrable. Typical for the blond genius. She couldn't really blame him, though. Matty knew from personal experience how difficult it was to have any line of defense hold true against the affection one could develop for one Jack Dalton, arguably the most annoyingly adorable agent she had ever had the pleasure to work with—although, she would never be caught saying that in public. Or anywhere else for that matter.

She and Jack had already said their farewells the previous night, several hours before this morning's bittersweet meeting. But he had made it very clear that he was saving his final goodbye to the team, especially Mac, for this morning. Which was why Matty had been so surprised at the firm yet unsatisfying handshake between the two men who had professed to be brothers so often in the time that she'd known them.

Matty was a pro at hiding her feelings, it was a lifesaving technique in this line of business. But she also knew that Jack was heading off for a mission that he may not return from for a very long time . . . if at all. If the worst happened, Mac would never forgive himself for the wishy-washy goodbye she had just witnessed.

Deciding that her best weapon would be one of her best-kept secrets, Matty waited for Mac to look in her direction before shaking her head with a sigh of disappointment. No need to make Riley and Bozer any more upset than they already were, but Mac clearly needed a figurative kick to his scrawny butt to knock his macho I'm fine façade to the wayside.

And if that didn't work? Well, Matty was not above turning the 'figurative kick' into a literal one if the situation called for it.

Just as expected, allowing Mac a peek into her own emotional state had him leaving his teammates in each other's capable hands and striding across the room to check on his boss. She ducked her head a bit more, allowing her long hair to hide the smirk playing at her lips. It truly paid to know your agents inside and out.

"Are you okay, Matty?" Mac asked quietly, crouching to be at eye level with her as she sat down in one of the chairs next to his trusty bowl of paperclips. Boy, did she wish she could twist one or two of those things into a clue for the stubborn kid in front of her.

"Yeah," she said, allowing her voice to sound somewhat wistful. "Just surprised, I guess."

This seemed to catch Mac off-guard. He cocked his head to the side in confusion. "But you knew about this mission even before I did."

"I'm not surprised about the mission, Blondie."

Mac remained silent, waiting for her to elaborate. Again, just as expected. This time she couldn't use her hair to hide her face, so she forced her expression into one of blatant concern—which wasn't really too far from the truth, anyway.

"All this time, I thought Cage's analogy was a load of malarkey."

"Cage?"

"Yeah. I mean, when she equated Jack to being 'the crazy uncle no one wanted at social gatherings' and you all agreed with her, I figured it was just your way of holding your cards close to your chest. Maybe even allowing her to feel like part of the team. But I never for a second thought it was true."

"What are you—"

Not giving him a chance to finish his question, confident he'd remember on his own after just one more nudge in the right direction, Matty continued: "With everything I'd heard about you and Jack before I accepted this job, and everything I witnessed between you two firsthand, I thought you were more like brothers than just colleagues."

"We are," Mac assured her absently, still clearly trying to wrap his huge brain around her previous comment about Cage's analogy while they were on the casino job. "But you weren't with us on that mission, Matty. How did you . . . "

Even as Matty watched she could see the realization form in those baby blues.

"The comms were still on," he whispered softly to himself.

This time, Matilda Webber was the one to hold her tongue. This plan would only work if Mac figured it out on his own. She couldn't let him think—know—he was being played. It was for his own good.

"But if you heard that conversation, that means . . . " Instead of finishing his statement, his gaze snapped to the hallway and towards the elevator Jack had no doubt already taken down to the parking garage.

"What is it?" Matty asked, playing her role to the hilt. "What's wrong, Mac?"

Without another word, the young agent leapt to his feet and bolted out the door and down the hallway, leaving a startled Riley and Bozer in his wake. They each looked to Matty for guidance, wondering if they should follow or not. Matty simply shook her head, signaling them to stand down for the time being. Taking her at her word, they returned to their own mourning for Jack's departure.

Meanwhile, Matty turned on her tablet. She'd much rather use the viewscreen for this, but she didn't feel right dismissing the two remaining agents from the room while they were still reeling from the shock of the news that had just been planted on their shoulders.

MacGyver stood in the elevator, foot tapping with impatience. Why was it whenever he was in a rush the elevator decided to slow to the speed of cold molasses in November? Logically, he knew the elevator hadn't changed speeds. He was just anxious to get to his friend, which made everything seem to switch into slow-motion. But for once, logic had no place in his mind—not when his heart had taken firm control of his entire being!

It was one thing sticking to a handshake when he was certain Jack knew how important he was to him but knowing what he knew now threw that theory right out the window. He'd been certain the comms were off at the casino that night. He remembered the conversation all too clearly in his head, how he had itched to stand up for his friend but figured it would be easier to just go along with the team consensus than to argue.

Truth be told, he had taken Cage aside after the mission and set her straight on the crucial role Jack played on their team. He'd kept to himself the position his long-time friend held in his own life, of course. That was no one's business but his and Jack's. Still, there had been no comms present for that conversation, so no chance Jack might have overheard even a snippet of Mac's true thoughts on the matter—his true feelings—albeit truncated for the benefit of Cage's uncanny ability to get into someone's head, with or without an invitation.

His heart was pounding in his chest when the doors finally opened to reveal Jack's car was gone. No! No-no-no-no-no! If Jack went on this mission doubting his place in Mac's life, and the worst happened . . . Well, that just wasn't an option.

Mac raced to his own car, parked next to the spot Jack's GTO had taken up residence in until just a few short moments earlier. He jumped in behind the wheel and gunned the engine with more force than he typically used, almost breaking the key in the ignition in the process.

The drive to the private airstrip Phoenix used for missions such as the one Jack was about to embark on was long enough for Mac to work himself into a frenzy of what-ifs and worst case scenarios. By the time he leapt out of his jeep and ate up the distance to the Phoenix jet with the long strides which had enabled him to catch many enemies in his days as a US spy, he still hadn't come up with a way to effectively convey to Jack how much he cared about him in the short time window they would have.

Catching sight of the familiar sand-coloured uniform, he hollered "Jack!" without even considering the crowd of men and women surrounding his friend in what was sure to be a final debrief before lift-off. Everyone turned. All eyes were on him. And Mac could only imagine what he looked like what with his current emotional state. He almost didn't care.

'Almost' was accentuated by the blush he could feel tinging his cheeks.

Even from this distance, he could see Jack's eyebrows shoot up to his hairline—which was a feat of its own, to be honest. Mac's realization at what his best friend's reaction would be to that comment made him miss the man even more, and he wasn't even gone yet!

He watched as Jack turned to his new team and mumbled something. They all nodded with what looked like understanding and turned to board the waiting jet, while Jack turned in the opposite direction and made his way over to meet Mac.

"Mac? What in the world are you doin' here, bud? I already told you, people above my pay grade hand-picked the men and women for this mission—"

"I know, I know. That's not why I'm here."

"Okay," Jack said, the one word drawing itself out in the all-too familiar Texas drawl. "What's up?"

Doing his best to keep calm, Mac fought to come up with the right words under the knowing eyes of his best friend. "You're my brother," he finally blurted.

Jack smiled but concern continued to shine in his eyes. "I know that, kid."

"But it's more than that," Mac went on, embarrassed to hear the crack in his voice. "I mean, I know that we found my father, and he's now in my life again, but . . . well . . ." Why couldn't he just say it? He took a deep breath. "You're more like a father to me than he ever was, even before he left, years before you and I met, he paled in comparison to you." The words came out in a steady stream, almost running together to the point of incoherence, but he knew Jack would know what he meant. He always did.

And suddenly Mac realized, he was about to lose the one person who knew him better than anyone else in the world. Even better than Bozer.

Someone who knew when a stupid joke was the only thing that was going to pull him out of his head before he got swallowed up by all the nightmare images swimming around in there—

Something changed in Jack's eyes. He reached forward, gripped the back of Mac's neck in his palm and pulled him into a rough embrace. Mac's breath hitched as the emotions that had been threatening to completely engulf him suddenly settled.

—someone who always knew exactly what Mac needed before he knew it himself. Someone who knew Mac better than he knew himself.

Jack's arms tightened around his back and shoulders, sensing Mac's inner turmoil like he always did. One hand came up and cupped the back of his head, abruptly reminding Mac of when he'd rescued Jack from the terrorist who'd shot him full of sodium pentothal in order to extract top secret information.

This time the truth serum was coursing through Mac's veins, and it was in the form of the one constant in his life leaving him behind.

As he finally calmed down, Jack pulled back but kept his hands on Mac's shoulders. "I thought you said you didn't have a speech prepared? 'Cuz, brother, I gotta tell ya', that was one heck of a speech!"

"I guess I—"

"Improvised," they both said simultaneously, pulling a chuckle from each of them.

"That is your biggest strength," Jack laughed.

"And yours is being an excellent soldier," Mac told him, sobering slightly as his gaze found the jet waiting like a looming omen of disaster behind them. A jet filled with people Mac didn't know and therefore couldn't trust to have his partner's back. He locked eyes with his friend once again, hopefully not for the last time. "Use those skills, Jack. Catch this guy, stay alive, and come home. Got it?"

"I will," Jack told him. "I promise."

This time, Mac was the one to initiate the hug, then released him with a clap on the shoulder and a watery laugh. "I'm gonna hold you to that," he called after him as Jack climbed the steps up to the door of the jet.

When Jack turned back to wave, Mac did his best to not see the scene before him in the slow-motion attributed to final goodbyes in all those cheesy movies Jack loved to force Mac to watch with him.

The drive home gave Mac lots of time to think about the higher-ups Jack told him had hand-picked this team. Why hadn't they picked him? He didn't want to toot his own horn, but he was one of the top agents with Phoenix. That had to count for something, didn't it? His ingenuity on missions? His ability to improvise and make almost any situation work in his favour?

Then it hit him. His father had been one of those higher-ups!

Mac abruptly turned around and headed back to Phoenix instead of home, breaking several traffic laws in the process. A father-son chat was in his near future . . . and his 'father' was not going to like what his son had to say!

THE END or TBC?

A/N As I've been tweaking this, editing out mistakes I had missed the first time around, I started thinking that maybe I should make this an AU series. Only thing is, the chapters would not be updated regularly because of my other writing commitments. Some might be added within a couple days or even hours of each other, while others might be a week or two in between. Let me know in your reviews (or a PM if you prefer) if you'd be cool with that, or if I should just leave this as a one-shot. 3