AN: This is the third in challenge to write a tag for every episode. I actually like this one a lot, although it's a touch shorter than I thought it would be. At the moment, I'm churning these out at a pretty good pace, and I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep that up, but I will do my best. For this tag, I did change part of what happened in 1x03, but that was the best way I could make a good tag out of it. I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review!
The man had attacked Mac from behind before Jack could stop it, dealing with his own brute. He could hear the kid's choked off cry of "Jack!", but could do nothing about it until the other terrorist was taken care of. Luckily, he was able to make fast work of the towering wall of a man, but Jack could only hope it was fast enough. The terrorist was controlling his own coughs and wheezes due to the gas while he held Mac tightly with his arm across the blonde's throat. Mac was weakening quickly.
Jack tackled both of them to ground, the terrorist cushioning Mac's fall and Jack's own. Although that succeeded in making the big brute hit his head on the ground and pass out, the sudden release of the pressure on Mac's neck caused him to suck in a giant lungful of toxic air. Jack scooped the kid up into his arms as he passed out, and carried him outside as quickly as he could, setting him down right next to Riley.
"What happened?" she asked, eyes wide.
"Just stay with him!" Jack shouted back, running back into the building. As much as he hated it, he had to leave Mac for a moment in order to get Ralph out, who was still wearing the mask that Mac had made. Jack pick him up by his armpits, and dragged him out of the building significantly less gently than he had carried his partner.
"Is he alive?" Riley asked, motioning to Ralph from where she sat crouched next to Mac.
"I don't know Riles, but there's nothing we can do for Ralph either way right now. He's either alive or he isn't." Jack pulled off his own mask and turned his attention back to his partner. "Come on buddy, wake up," he said, feeling for Mac's pulse. It was a little irregular, but it was strong. A few seconds later, Mac came to with a pained groan. "Hey man, you okay?"
Mac slowly sat himself up, and replied, "my head is pounding, but I should be okay."
"Isn't anyone gonna ask if I'm okay?"
The three agents turned towards the voice. Clearly, Ralph was alive and well enough to be complaining again. If Jack was being perfectly honest, he had completely forgotten the man was there. He was so far down on Jack's priority list compared to Mac, who was always number one, no matter what.
Jack was about to make a comment about just how much he could not care less when Mac suddenly turned to the side, and began to retch.
"Hey, hey hey hey, I thought you just said you were okay?" Jack said, reaching out for Mac's shoulder and lightly massaging it.
"Yeah, vomiting is pretty far from okay Mac. You're a genius, you should know that," Riley added with a roll of her eyes.
"That is so nasty, bro. Don't get any of that on me," added Ralph, now sans mask. Jack just ignored him like he had already been doing.
"It's just the effects from the refrigerant poisoning. I'll be fine, really, now come on. We have to get to exfil before the rest of them wake up," Mac replied, still breathing heavily and struggling to stand. Jack assumed the dizziness was also "just the effects" of the toxic air. The moment they got to exfil, he was making the kid put on an oxygen mask, and wear it the entire flight back to LA. He'd make him take some meds to manage his headache and nausea as well.
"Alright, come on bud, let's go. You look pathetic trying to stand on your own," Jack said, trying to force some humor into the situation. It scared him to death whenever Mac got hurt or sick, but he already knew that the only way he could help Mac was to help him get to exfil. Without another thought, Jack pulled one of Mac's arms around his shoulders and put his own arm around Mac's waist. He carefully stood the kid up, but didn't remove his arm. It was likely just because of the dizziness, but Jack would almost swear that Mac was leaning into his touch.
Jack counted his blessings. Ralph was asleep once again. That meant he couldn't talk and be annoying, although his snoring was slowly starting to grate on Jack's nerves, despite the man's assertions that he couldn't even hear it over the sounds of the Phoenix jet. Riley was taking her own cat nap, curled up in one of the recliners, but thankfully, not snoring.
Mac was a different story altogether. After much complaining and grumbling, Jack had finally convinced him that he had no choice in taking the meds or wearing the oxygen mask. They were both required. The kid complained that he couldn't sleep with the mask on, which Jack knew was totally not true, since the blonde had already almost nodded off a few times. That was just his need to be difficult when it came to anything relating at all to anything medical.
Luckily, he'd only thrown up two more times on the ride to exfil, and hadn't been experiencing any other symptoms. With the amount of gas the kid had breathed in, he had gotten very lucky. Not lucky enough to not have to go back to medical once they arrived at Phoenix for the debrief - but that may have just been Jack's own need to ensure that Mac truly was okay, rather than an actual physical need for more treatment - but lucky nonetheless. Jack had checked Mac's pulse several times once he had put the oxygen mask on, much to the blonde's annoyance - "I can check my own pulse, Jack" - and was happy to find that it was slowly but surely returning to normal.
Jack didn't say anything when Mac further relaxed into the couch, but he did let out a small chuckle when the kid started letting out the smallest little snores, barely even audible, proving that he could in fact sleep with the mask on.
"There you go, bud," Jack whispered as he pulled a blanket over his sleeping partner. He then grabbed one for himself, and settled back into his recliner. After taking one more look at Mac, just to make sure he really was okay, he let himself close his eyes, fall asleep, and dream about all of Mac's plans actually working exactly how they were intended to, and never involving the kid getting hurt. Realistic or not, they were good dreams.