AN: This is the thirty-eighth installment of my personal challenge to write a tag to every episode. This is a tag to 2x17, Bear Trap + Mob Boss. It's an episode AU, and I'm guessing that you can already figure out what I had happen instead. It picks up while Mac, Jack, and Riley are chasing Sergei. There's something about this tag that I know can be better, but I don't know what it is. Regardless, I hope you still like it, and please leave a review!

In hindsight, they were stupid to think there was only one bear trap.

Mac and Jack were running through the woods, chasing after Sergei, and heard it when the first bear trap was found unintentionally by Sergei's foot. After going about half a mile further, they found another one. Mac was trying to explain to Jack exactly why neither one of them would be getting super powers when it happened.

The blond let out a bloodcurdling scream and fell to the ground. Both Jack and Riley jumped in surprise, but Jack quickly recovered and knelt down by his partner, who was still crying out in pain. Mac reached out towards Jack and gripped the man's arm like a lifeline.

"Mac, oh my gosh," Riley said, covering her mouth in horror. No one needed to say it. This was bad. Mac's leg was caught in a bear trap, a few inches above the ankle. "What do we do?" she asked, her voice getting higher in panic. Jack looked from her to Mac with that same panic in his eyes.

Mac was working hard to slow his breathing down enough to answer, barely managing to get out, "the springs." He quickly put his head down, but Jack could see his tears of pain. One look at the trap caught on the kid's leg showed him why. There was blood covering his leg, and the teeth of the trap had deeply punctured. More modern bear traps had teeth that were designed to keep a bear in place without breaking the skin, but this one had likely been there since the accident at Chernobyl.

"The springs? What do we do about the springs? I'm gonna get you out of this, I promise," Jack said, taking a hold of Mac's hand and squeezing. He took a glance up at Riley, who was furiously typing into her rig, likely looking for a way they could get the trap off. Jack's heart broke as Mac let out another cry of pain. He couldn't imagine how much pain the kid must be in. Mac had never reacted this way to any pain Jack had ever seen him in, and it was terrifying. The kid was also so composed, even when he had been shot or stabbed, but this was different. He was holding onto Jack with everything he had, freely letting out his cries of pain as well as a few tears. It was a moment that would be forever burned into Jack's memory and would likely be played on repeat in his dreams.

"Uhm, it looks like we have to compress the springs in order to get the teeth to unlatch, but it's gonna be hard. It usually takes two really strong men to do it by hand," Riley said, panic still in her eyes. Jack didn't know if he would be able to do it with only Riley's help, but he would have to try. Mac didn't have any other options.

"Jack, please," Mac pleaded through his pain. "It hurts Jack, please get it off, get it off me please," he whimpered, pushing his head into the side of Jack's leg.

"I'm gonna get you out of this, buddy. It's gonna be okay, I promise," Jack said, his voice breaking at the end. He had never seen Mac in this much pain before, and he never wanted to see it again. "Riley, I know it's gonna be hard, but you're gonna have to help me, okay? I can't do it by myself."

Riley nodded, albeit shakily, and put her laptop back in her backpack, setting it on the ground. Jack slowly peeled Mac off him, apologizing at having to lose that contact. Mac's cries had quieted to soft groans and whimpers, and his grip on Jack's arm had to change to the ground.

"Alright, on three, Riley and I are gonna push as hard as we can, and you're gonna have to move your leg out the moment you can, because we're not gonna be able to hold this thing long, okay buddy?" Jack asked, and steeled himself after Mac's nod to push with all of his might. Jack and Riley settled themselves on the ground next to the trap in the best position to push, and each took in a deep breath. "One, two, three." The two began groaning at the effort they exerted to compress the springs. The adrenaline had definitely helped, but Jack still wasn't sure they were going to be able to compress the springs enough to unlatch the teeth from Mac's leg. The kid let out another loud cry as the teeth moved ever so slightly. "I know it hurts, buddy, but you have to pull your leg out," Jack said, straining to get the words out under the force he was pushing with. The two continued to push with all they had while Mac let out another scream as he pulled his leg free. Jack and Riley both let go of the trap as soon as Mac's leg was clear, watching as the bloody teeth snapped back closed, bits of Mac's pants stuck with the blood.

Jack moved immediately back to Mac, pulling the kid up against him as he cried out. Mac pushed the side of his head into Jack's shoulder as he gripped the man's arm with white knuckles. Jack wrapped his arms around the kid, whispering calming things into his ear as he carded his fingers through his blond hair.

"Get Matty back on comms and tell her to send exfil ASAP, and another team to find Sergei. Mac needs medical attention, now," Jack said. Riley quickly nodded and worked to get ahold of Matty, happy to have something to do. "You're gonna be okay, buddy," he said quietly to Mac, giving the kid his full attention. "It's gonna be alright." Jack continued his string of reassurances to Mac as he haphazardly listened in on Riley's half of the conversation. That was a wise move on her part to keep Mac's comms out of it. Jack would have to let her know how proud of her he was. She was handling this remarkably well. From what he could hear, as soon as Riley had explained why they needed exfil, their request had been granted without further question.

"Exfil will be here in two hours, and another team will be here to finish the mission in one. They're coming from closer than exfil is," Riley said after Matty had disconnected. She looked hesitantly at Mac's messed up leg before continuing in a low voice, "I need to wrap his leg." Mac pushed himself even closer to Jack at her words, but didn't deny that it needed to happen. The kid was smart, so Jack knew he knew it was the right thing to do. They couldn't let it get infected, especially in a place with radiation. If they weren't going to get superpowers from it, then Jack didn't want radiation anywhere near his boy.

Riley took an extra flannel from her backpack and took a deep breath before saying, "Jack, I need you to hold him still. This is really gonna hurt." Jack nodded, fixing his grip on Mac as they kid tensed in his arms. "I'm sorry, Mac," Riley said, her voice breaking. The moment she finished, she tightly wrapped Mac's leg with the flannel. The kid tried to move in Jack's arms as he let out another loud cry, but Jack held him tight, not letting him move. "I'm sorry, Mac. I'm so sorry," Riley repeated when she was done, moving to Jack's side in order to take a grip on Mac's hand. The blond took her hand with the full force he had been holding onto Jack with. "We're gonna get you home, okay?" she said, rubbing Mac's hand with her thumb in a calming motion.

The next step, both Jack and Riley knew, was too keep Mac warm. They had to wait for almost two hours for exfil to get to them, which meant that infection had two hours to set in. After spending so long with Mac, they both knew a thing or two about staving off infection. Keeping warm was a priority. The two pressed as close to Mac as they could to keep him warm, with Riley even shedding her jacket to lay over Mac's legs. Jack would have done the same, but that would've meant prying Mac off him, which was not an option.

The waiting game had begun. Holding Mac close to them, both Jack and Riley whispered reassurances to the kid, and also to themselves. There was nothing else they could do for Mac until exfil got there. The blond lay in their arms, mostly quiet, aside from the occasional whimper. They were trying to keep him from falling asleep, but to no avail. Trying to get him to talk wasn't working, and he was in too much pain to really be able to listen. Besides, Jack knew that being in that much pain made someone want to fall asleep, if only to escape the pain for a little while. Mac eventually succumbed, despite Jack and Riley's best efforts to keep him awake, leaving the two of them alone.

After a few minutes, Jack took a glance at Riley. She had handled herself so well, and still seemed mostly put together. The girl had only shed one tear during the ordeal, and done everything she could to try to help Mac.

"He's gonna be okay, right?" she asked, taking her gaze off Mac for a moment to look at Jack. "Mac's like the little brother I never wanted, and I hate seeing him like this. It scares me, Jack." She looked back at Mac and returned to carding her fingers through his hair like Jack had been doing.

"It's okay, and so is he," Jack replied. "I'll admit that this is a little extreme, but it's only because of how much pain he's in. Bear traps aren't fun, but he won't lose his leg or anything. Our boy is strong. He's gonna be okay." Riley nodded, but didn't say anything in response, so Jack continued. "I'm proud of you, Riley."

"What for?" she asked, turning again to Jack, her face finally one of confusion instead of sympathy.

"You've handled yourself so well today, and I know Mac and Matty would be proud of you too. You kept your cool and you helped me to get Mac out of that thing, and even wrapped his leg. I have every reason to be proud of you," Jack said with a fond smile. Riley looked away, but smiled back.

"Thanks, Jack," she said. "That means a lot to me. It really does."

Riley meant so much to Jack. She had since she was twelve, and Jack couldn't possibly have been more proud of the incredible young woman she had become. She had far surpassed all his expectations, and continued to impress him every day. She was an amazing sister to Mac, and an irreplaceable part of their dysfunctional family. Jack wouldn't trade her for anything.

The two waited mostly in silence from there on out. Aside from the occasional whimper from Mac, he seemed mostly pain free in his sleep. His face still showed his pain, but his lack of pained cries were a gift. Jack would never get those heartbreaking sounds out of his head for as long as he lived. They would become the soundtrack to his nightmares.

Exfil finally arrived in a clearing a short walk away, several members running over to them from the chopper. Mac still hadn't awoken, which Jack was sad for. The kid would surely wake up once Jack moved, and it would be a painful awakening. There was no stretcher to put Mac on, so Jack would carry him to the chopper. Jack carefully maneuvered himself so that he could lift Mac up by his knees and shoulders, and slowly stood. Mac shot up with a gasp of pain, nearly falling out of Jack's grasp.

"Woah there, buddy. It's okay, I'm just moving you to the chopper so we can go home and get you to a good ol' American hospital. It's gonna be okay," Jack assured. Mac wrapped his arms around Jack's neck in an attempt to make it easier for the man to carry him, burying his face in Jack's shoulder in the process. Jack didn't mind. All he cared about was making Mac as comfortable as possible.

Once they got to the chopper, Jack set Mac down across his and Riley's laps in order to keep the kid's leg at least slightly elevated. The blond snuggled into the two of them, and soon passed out again due to the pain. Jack and Riley started to continue their ministrations of carding their fingers through the kid's hair and gently rubbing his arm, for the benefit of all three of them, until they had managed to convince themselves that Mac really would be okay. They knew he would, because he was Mac, but still.

"Let's not go back to the woods for a while," Jack said with a small smile, trying to lighten the mood just a little bit. Mac wouldn't want them to be so stressed the entire flight back.

Riley laughed. "That sounds like a good idea to me, and I'd bet you anything that Mac'll be on board too."

"That he will."

It certainly wasn't an experience Jack ever wanted to repeat, but he knew that Mac would get through it. Not only would he be there, but he knew Riley would too. She had really stepped it up, and Jack wasn't lying when he said how proud of her he was. He knew that Mac would be really proud of her too. Their sibling bond was something that always made Jack smile. Blood or not, they were family, and that's all that mattered.