AN: This tag has most of my thoughts on 3x06 included in it. I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review!
He may have looked calm to everyone else, but on the inside, Jack was still freaking out. He couldn't believe that this had happened again. Of course, he shouldn't have been surprised - after all, Murdoc had known where Mac lives for almost two years now. But still, Jack had hoped that the kid would've been safe in his own home from that monster. A part of Jack knew that Mac would never be safe from that psychopath as long as the man still breathed, but he never seemed to stay in prison, and they hadn't managed to kill him yet either. Jack would've loved to put a bullet between the man's eyes, but while he was in custody, that was a crime, and Mac would frown upon it.
Still, despite the fact that Mac was a capable agent and it wasn't the same as it had been a year earlier, Jack couldn't stop the fear that gripped him from the moment his kid had called and it became evident that Murdoc had taken him once again. That madman could do anything he wanted to the boy, and Jack wouldn't be there to stop it. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Murdoc's predatory gaze, saw the way he looked at Mac, saw him hurting his kid the way he did in his worst nightmares with Mac screaming for Jack and Jack being unable to do anything but watch in terror. Jack shook his head in an attempt to get the thoughts to leave. Mac was going to be okay. Murdoc wouldn't do that to him while he needed his help. If he hurt him that badly, then the kid wouldn't be able to help him. But what if it was all a trick? What if Murdoc had fed Mac a lie in an attempt to get him to cooperate more? What if Mac was hurt, and scared, and trapped in another one of Murdoc's torture chambers and Cassian was never in danger in the first place?
But then why would the man have taken Nasha? If that was his ploy, then he would've had no reason to take the woman. He could've easily broken into Mac's house, just like he did, and simply abduct him the way he had before. Mac was fine. Jack would know if something really wasn't right, and yes, he was terrified for his kid, but he didn't have that same gut wrenching fear he always did was something was so wrong. This was a more normal fear. So that meant that Mac had to be fine.
Jack's phone rang, and he immediately picked it up, hoping against hope that it would somehow be his boy telling him that everything was okay and that he would be home soon.
For once in his life, luck was on his side.
"Hey, Jack," came the very tired, but very Mac voice on the other end of the line.
"Please tell me you're okay," Jack immediately replied. He had to be okay.
"Yeah, Jack, I'm fine. How's Nasha?" he asked.
"Shaken, but not too stirred. She's with Bozer at your place."
"Good, good," came Mac's quick reply. "I'm on my way home, with Murdoc and Cassian. They're both coming to Phoenix, it's a long story."
"As long as you're okay," Jack insisted. He knew Mac had a tendency to downplay any injury he may have sustained, so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that he had a gaping wound and was still insisting that he was right as rain. It was usually good for someone to have a high pain tolerance, but for Mac, that just meant that he would always say he was fine, even if he was actively dying.
"I promise I'm fine. See you in a bit," Mac said before hanging up. Jack only hoped that the kid was telling the truth.
Several hours later, Mac was back at Phoenix with Murdoc and Cassian in tow. Murdoc went straight to interrogation, and Cassian was given to a social worker. Jack made a beeline for Mac, pushing past any and all others in his way. He pulled the kid into his arms the moment he could, holding him tight. Jack didn't care about the people watching, or the fact that Mac stumbled back at step when Jack collided with him in surprise. He just held him tight, pulling Mac's head down to his shoulder. A small part of his mind flashed back to almost two years ago, when he did much the same thing while under the influence of truth serum. But this time, he was fully cognizant. He was all there and he was just so glad that Murdoc hadn't hurt his kid too badly. There was a painful looking bruise right by the kid's eye, but that looked to be the extent of the damage. At least, Jack hoped it was.
"I'm so glad you're okay," he muttered, not letting up on his grip on Mac at all. The kid had relaxed into his touch some, but he still seemed hesitant, tense. "Are you okay?" he asked, suddenly releasing Mac and holding him at arm's length, as if maybe he'd hurt the kid by hugging him so tightly. "Did that bastard touch you? Are you hurt? What's wrong?"
"I'm okay, Jack, I promise he didn't hurt me," Mac said, finishing with a sigh. "And that's what concerns me." Jack just stared at him, so Mac continued. "It was too easy. I spent hours upon hours with Murdoc, and this is the extent of what he did to me-" he pointed to the bruise "-aside from the whole blackmail thing. I know as much as anyone how much Murdoc loves to hurt me, so why didn't he? When his ex double crossed him, to say he was pissed off is an understatement. He started shooting at some junk in anger. He shot at the junk, and not at me." Mac paused, his hands on his hips in contemplation. "I'm not complaining, but why didn't he shoot at me? I guess, I don't know..." Mac trailed off with a sigh. "I guess I'm just, I don't know, a little sc- nervous"- Jack didn't comment on the fact that Mac was about to say that he was scared, but he did file it away in his head -"that he's got something else planned. He came here to Phoenix to be locked up so willingly, and it's concerning. I mean, I get that he cares about his son, and maybe he really does want the best for him, but there's no way that Murdoc would be willing to give up his freedom and his passions for him. I don't know, maybe I'm just overthinking everything..."
Jack wanted to tell Mac that he was overthinking everything, that everything was fine and that Murdoc was locked away once and for all, never to hurt him again, but he couldn't. Because everything Mac said made perfect sense. It was bizarre that the psychopath hadn't taken his anger out on the kid, and even more bizarre that he willingly walked into a cell. None of it made sense, and Mac was right. It was very concerning.
"We're gonna figure this out, bud," he finally replied, putting his hand on the kid's shoulder. "No matter what happens, and no matter what his plan is, I will protect you from him with my life, okay?" Jack said. There was no way that he was going to let that psychopath near his kid ever again - once again, a small voice inside of Jack told him that there was nothing he could do about it, that he had sworn that time and time again and had been unable to protect his kid, so why was he even saying it again. Still, Jack loved his boy endlessly and he would rather die than let Murdoc take the boy from him again.
"It's okay, I know we'll figure it out," Mac said, but he couldn't turn his head in time to stop Jack from seeing the blush at the man's words of affection. Jack knew he embarrassed the kid sometimes, but he needed to know how Jack felt about him, especially since his sense of self worth was so messed up. He needed to know how much Jack cared, that Jack would die for him, kill for him, do literally anything for him. He never seemed to get that, never seemed to understand that Jack would move heaven and earth for him. He seemed to think that if he messed up, Jack would stop loving him. Jack was constantly trying to get him to see that he was wrong, that his love for the boy was unconditional, that there was nothing Mac could ever do to make Jack stop loving him. One day, he might understand. One day.
"You know it," Jack replied with a smile, giving a friendly slap on Mac's back. "You should go get cleaned up. You smell a bit, kid." Jack dodged to miss Mac's swat at him, but both were smiling ear to ear. And as long as they had each other, there was never a reason not to smile.