Mac sat watching as Jack drove. The silence in the car was thick with the older man's anger, it seemed to come off him in waves. Mac sighed wondering how to brooch the subject.
"You know-" he began. Jack lifted a hand with a finger pointing at Mac.
"No..uh-uh, you failed me, man. Just don't talk. You blew the mission."
"Jack, look-"
"Mac, I said no!" Jack leaned down and snapped on the radio. Mac let out a frustrated sigh and sat back. Jack's mouth moved and Mac knew he was swearing and ranting, but in his anger he had turned up Willie Nelson loud enough that Mac couldn't hear what he was saying. Mac gazed out the window for once glad to listen to the music icon. Mac frowned. Jack's hands on the wheel of the car pulsated as he gripped and released the steering wheel in time with his muttering. Mac swallowed. That usually indicated Jack would rather be punching someone. Mac suspected that at this moment he was that someone.
As they sat stopped in traffic, Mac decided enough was enough. He snapped off the radio and met Jack's hard glare with a calm even gaze.
"Jack, let's talk about this."
"Fine! You want to talk, let's talk...I was counting on you and you failed me, you let me down."
"I know, Jack, I know, but-"
"No buts, bud. We have been getting our asses kicked over and over for the past seven years-"
"I know, Jack, but-" Jack reached out and grabbed a handful of Mac's blue shirt.
"No you don't know. Seven years! Finally I get you to help me and you...you…!" Jack ended in a splutter unable to even describe the horror of what Mac had done. Mac sighed and leaned his head back.
"Jack, this is ridiculous-"
"Ridiculous to you!" Jack said slapping his hands against the steering wheel. "Seven years! Do you know how much was riding on this?" Mac raised an eyebrow.
"Tell me you didn't bet money?" Jack's silent glare out the windshield answered Mac's question. "I told you I wasn't good at this sort of thing."
"You can build an atomic bomb out of a spud and toilet paper!" Jack roared.
"Jack, that's ridiculous you couldn't use toilet paper it couldn't withstand…" Mac stopped at the glare Jack sent him. "My point is everything has their own area of expertise-"
"You're a freaking genius! How could you not know who Daisy Duke is?"
"Jack, Dukes of Hazzard was cancelled years before I was born-" Jack rubbed his forehead with his right hand.
"How many times have you been to my house?"
"A lot." Mac admitted with a sigh.
"How many times did we drink beer as we worked on my Shelby?"
"A lot."
"What hangs over my toolbox in the garage?"
"A poster."
"A poster of whom?" Mac's mouth quirked at Jack's proper use of the word.
"Daisy Duck." Jack gritted his teeth and Mac could hear him growl. Mac looked out the window and pressed his lips together.
"Duke." Jack said very softly, very pointedly. "It's Daisy. Duke. She is a cultural icon, man. You've heard what Daisy Duke shorts are, right?" Mac met Jack's glare with a blank look. Jack looked up to heavens. Mac chuckled. He could actually feel Jack's glare get hotter. Mac held up a placating hand.
"You're right, Jack. I totally should have got that question right. I forgot. What's it going to cost me?"
"What makes you think my justified anger can be bought off?" Jack sniffed and inched the car forward. Mac rolled his eyes.
'How much?"
"It was payroll, man!" Jack whined.
"Payroll?"
"We lost to payroll! That's worse than motor pool or accounting."
"Why is payroll worse than accounting?" Mac asked frowning.
"Have you seen your checks, dude?" Jack said. Mac didn't answer trying to untie the snarls in Jack's logic. He shook his head giving up.
"Fine, what is it going to cost me? Steak? Beer?"
"Oh this is so far past steak or beer." Jack drawled. Mac fought the urge to roll his eyes again.
"Then what?"
"The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders." Jack said with a firm nod. Mac's eyes went wide.
"What? Like all of them?"
"Absolutely." Mac stared at his partner a long minute.
"No can do, amigo-" Mac began. Jack looked at him pouting.
"It was payroll, man! Fricking Payroll!" Mac threw up his hands.
"Fine! Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders! You got it!"
"All of them?"
"Yes, Fine." Mac said looking out the passenger's side window. Jack smiled and eased back in his seat. Mac shot him a glare.
"A poster." He said. Jack considered and nodded. Mac sighed. "It'll keep Daisy Duck happy."
"Duke, Daisy Duke. Daisy Duck is Donald Duck's girl." Jack corrected.
"Whatever." Mac said sulking.
"Seriously? You didn't know that either?" Jack said staring at Mac surprised. Mac did roll his eyes.
"So? I had better things to do than sit around and watch cartoons-" Mac began. Jack looked at him in genuine pity.
"Cartoons are an integral part of developing cultural awareness in children my friend." Jack said waggling a finger. Mac began to rub his forehead feeling a headache coming on. He looked over at Jack.
"Oprah?"
"Dr. Phil, Oprah's not on anymore."
"Not on? The woman has her own channel!"
"That's beside the point and stop my trying to educate you on the finer things in life."
"Finer things?" Mac laughed.
"Absolutely!" Jack tilted his chin up feeling Mac's eyes bore into his ear.
"Daisy Duck...Duke...whatever...is a finer thing in life?"
"Cultural icon, amigo, cultural i-con."
"I don't think you even know what that means." Mac said.
"Of course I do." Jack said. Mac smiled.
"Oh yeah?"
"Sure. It means I know things you don't." Mac frowned again lost in the tangle of Jack's logic.
"That's not what a cultural icon is, Jack." Jack chuckled.
"Sure it is." They sat in silence a long minute.
"I want them in their cheering uniforms...you know pom poms…"
"I figured." Mac shook his head. The car moved forward an inch.
"And all of them."
"I know."
"From this season."
"I know!" Mac said frustration coming through.
"And a good size too, none of this 11 x 17 bull crap."
"ALRIGHT, Jeez!" They were quiet again.
"It was payroll, man." Mac gave up, he reached over and turned Willie Nelson on again. Jack smiled smugly. Mac laughed and shook his head glad that the air was clear. He sat back wondering where the hell to find a Dallas Cheerleader poster.