Okay, so this is a mix of 2 prompts, or nudges? IDK…
One is from Gib, and I should have done something about that a long time ago… I mean it was posted in a review on the 23rd of December… It was for me to do something about Jack's choice of wardrobe. Dark colors, tactical… You know… Jack's style…
The other one, from someone who would like to stay anonymous is…
Hey, I was wondering if you could do a story where Jack and Mac are trapped somewhere where they can't get help, and Jack gets injured trying to escape from where they are at (your choice) by tells Mac he's fine. Then later Mac finds out that Jack was really injured and surprised that he managed to keep it a secret/ not tell him. You can decide how it ends. Sorry if it's not that much information, but it would mean a lot to me if you could write this. :)
Okay, now… I hope you enjoy!
MIDDLE OF FREAKING NOWHERE, NEW ZEALAND
Jack knew they were trapped, they had enemies circling all around them.
"Good news is, we can attack in all directions…" Jack drawled as he tried to climb down the cliff towards Mac and his backpack.
"We're encircled Jack, there is NOTHING good about that!" Mac growled back, "We're screwed!"
"Heyheyhey…" Jack warned, "It's not all bad!"
"Tell me ONE THING that's not BAD about this situation!" Mac challenged.
"I can give you two."
"Okay?"
"One; We haven't been shot at, yet…
And two; We're not in an office, pushing pencils…"
Mac couldn't help but laugh at his partner's honest reply. "Just watch out so you don't jinx us…"
Just then, someone to their left started firing at them.
"YOU HAD TO?" Mac yelled as Jack let himself drop down the last ten feet.
"Sorry…" Jack replied with a slight grimace, "Didn't mean to…"
"You good?"
"Yeah, let's get going!" Jack said and shrugged on his shirt and backpack again. Hoping that Mac hadn't noticed the real reason he had let himself drop the last stretch of climb down.
"You cold?"
"No, but we'll be running through thick bush. Don't want my arms all scratched up…"
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Jack wanted to scream so badly. His left shoulder was on fire. He lifted a few fingers to his shoulder and grimaced when they came back red and slick with blood. He offered a glance down at the bleeding area, noting that his sweaty black shirt covered all traces of the injury.
He clipped the backpack in front of his chest, hoping to take some of the pressure off of his shoulder. The bullet had hit right by his collarbone, and he was willing to bet good money that it was shattered. Or at least had a couple of good cracks in it.
"Hurry up Jack!" Mac called over his shoulder, "We've got to gain some distance!"
"Comin'" Jack called back as he dashed through the thick bush. Gritting his teeth against the pain in his shoulder. It didn't take long before he figured that hooking his wrist in the sternum strap helped a little.
"You're falling behind!"
"Said I was coming!" Jack growled back, "Just focus on finding a way outta here!"
"You said it yourself! We're surrounded!"
"I know, I know…" Jack strained to keep his voice even and without traces of pain. "Just keep moving! Or find a hiding spot!"
"Considering that th…" that was all Mac managed to say before Jack cut him off.
"Yeah I know! They're almost as good as me at tracking! I KNOW!" Jack rumbled, still running as fast as the vegetation and his injury would allow him.
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Mac came to another cliff, this one was just as steep, and maybe a few feet longer.
He tossed his backpack off his shoulders, and fished out the rope. He looped it around the tree trunk, and tossed his backpack down in front of him.
Even though he didn't enjoy heights, he was a skilled climber, and the decent took him no time at all.
"Okay, now it's your turn!" Mac called up to Jack, waiting for his partner to follow him.
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Jack looked at the hill. It was just short of vertical. And the wound to his left shoulder rendered his left arm pretty much useless.
With a harness, this would have been easy. Well, at least as easy as anything ever got for him. But without… Jack wasn't sure if he would make it down the cliff without injuring himself further.
Or wait?
IMPROVISE.
Instead of shrugging out of his backpack, Jack clicked open the buckle at his hips. He stepped over the rope, so that he had one leg on each side. Then he picked up the rope both in front and behind him, and secured it with his waist strap. He let the tail end hand out on his right side, that way he would be able to use his right hand to break. Then he secured the rope in front of him with his chest strap. That would work as his left hand keeping the upper part of the rope close to him.
Then he set off of the cliff.
It was just as difficult and painful as he expected. At one moment he feared coughing up chunks, given the pain he was in, it was a very real possibility. That, and blacking out… Also a thing he wanted to avoid, if possible.
"Why didn't you throw the pack down first?" Mac asked as Jack quickly freed himself from his makeshift harness.
"Errr…" Jack hesitated, "I forgot…"
"I thought it was impossible for you to forget to make yourself lighter when you did anything like climbing or rappelling!" Mac shot back as he gathered up the rope. "Thought that was second nature to you!"
"Guess I suddenly thought it was too far to toss the backpack…" Jack suggested and scratched his chin, "Honestly, Mac, I have no valid explanation for it…"
Mac shrugged, "Anyway… Those guys won't be far behind. Better get going…"
Jack didn't argue, and as soon as Mac had his own backpack on his back and started jogging ahead of him, Jack strapped his left wrist against his chest again.
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"Hey, man…" Mac put one hand on Jack's right shoulder as they stopped to take a sip of water "You're pale…"
"Probably low blood sugar…" Jack answered and rolled his eyes, "We haven't eaten today… At all… You know how I get…"
Mac frowned, but nodded. Usually Jack plus low blood sugar equaled a grumpy Jack, but the man could also lose a bit of color. But now it was different, Jack wasn't grumpy. He was just pale.
"You sure you're okay?"
"Mhmm!" Jack nodded as he took a sip from his canteen, which he in some miraculous way had managed to open on his own.
They heard someone not too far behind them, and shared a look.
"Guess we better get going…" Mac said, putting the lid back on his canteen. "That or we're going to have some major problems."
Jack nodded, and tightened the lid on his canteen too.
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They were at the bottom of a waterfall when it happened.
Mac heard a thud behind him, he turned around and saw Jack face down in the mud.
"Ay! Jack?!" Mac called as he ran over to check on his friend. His mind was racing as he tried figuring out the reason why Jack had just collapsed. "Jack! Are you alright?"
He rolled his older friend over, and checked his eyes. Okay, no concussion… Not that Mac knew where his friend would have managed to get a concussion on this mission… Then he studied the man's breathing pattern. Strained, but fairly normal. He could work with that…
Mac started patting the man down, checking his hands for traces of whatever every now and then. Head, neck, right arm and side, left.
"DAMMIT! JACK!" Mac cussed as he saw the blood that had transferred to his hand. "You're hurt! And you didn't tell me?"
He wasn't really expecting an answer, but it would have been comforting.
Mac tore away the layers of clothes and exposed the wound.
"Really! YOU GOT SHOT!" Mac yelled down at his unconscious partner, still not expecting any answers. "YOU GOT SHOT, AND YOU ACTED LIKE NOTHING!"
He head someone speaking at the top of the hill.
"Shitty timing, old man!" He sighed, and looked around. There was nowhere to go.
Or maybe? Mac looked at the waterfall. It was worth a shot… Nothing to lose except their lives.
He grabbed Jack in a fireman's carry, and made their way over to the falling water. He ducked them under just in time to avoid getting caught by the crew following them.
The cold water was enough to bring Jack back to the land of the conscious again. He was thrashing around against Mac's grip under water. It took the man a couple of seconds after they hit the air pocket behind the waterfall, before he stopped.
"You got fucking SHOT!" Mac whispered threatening into Jack's ear. "You're supposed to tell me stuff like that!"
"Hey, go wash your mouth with soap, kid…"
"Shot, Jack!" Mac repeated, pressing his palm against the wound inflicting pain to prove his point. "You're incredibly stupid, YOU KNOW THAT? You actually amaze me sometimes!"
"Sorry?" Jack offered, pain seeping through to his voice.
"You better be!" Mac released Jack's shoulder. "Now, sit up and let me take a look at it! You know if it's a through and through?"
Jack shook his head, "Nope, no clue…"
"You know that rule? That I have to tell you when I get hurt?"
Jack frowned, and nodded reluctantly. He knew where this was headed.
"You do know that it goes both ways too? You also have to tell me! Just because your name is Jack, doesn't give you the right to be a complete jackass!" Mac whispered.
"Dude, you're scary when you're angry…" Jack groaned.
"You bet." Mac stared hard at Jack, before his expression softened. "How bad is it?"
"Don't think I've got a collarbone there anymore…" Jack winced, holding onto his left arm to offer the shoulder some support.
Mac pried back the shoulder strap and the fabric to get a better view of Jack's shoulder.
"Not gonna lie to you…" Mac sighed, "It looks awful…"
Jack nodded, "Feels awful…"
"Then WHY didn't you tell me?"
Jack looked over at Mac with an expression best described as puppy dog eyes.
"Jack…"
"I'm sorry, I thought I could power through it… Didn't want to make us have to stop…" Jack answered biting his lip.
"So you decided to go until you passed out and scared the crap outta me?" Mac challenged, "I need to remove your backpack to do something about that shoulder of yours. Actually, you shouldn't even be carrying a backpack…"
Jack smiled a crooked grin, "Guess I shouldn't…"
Mac rolled his eyes. "You think we can get it off without you making too much noise?"
Jack shook his head, "Not a chance…"
"Then we better wait…" Mac whispered back, keeping half an eye on the heavily armed crew walking around outside.
Okay, I'm going to have to break this up here… Because… Reasons…
Hope you enjoyed!