The Highest Good

By: Ridley C. James

A/N: As if I don't have a story in desperate need of a new chapter (I promise Guard Your Heart is coming) and an ongoing prequel to How Wolves Change Rivers (that is now already up to twenty pages when I just meant for it to be around ten), this little idea had to wedge its way into my brain and would not go away. It is a tag on to Episode 20: Hole Puncher, which I really liked. I just needed a little more Jack in this one, because at points I felt like the boys' 'partnership' got a little lost. There may be a few spoilers so read with caution if you have not seen this one. And as always I love to hear your thoughts. Thanks to my friend Mary, who made this piece much better, but all mistakes are mine.

RCJ

Mac was DEFCON 'walls up'. It was a term Jack applied to those rare moments when Mac shut him completely out. He hated it. Couldn't stand to see the kid all torn up. Yet, the tell-tale signs were there.

Mac was quiet, more than usual, posture rigid, and worst of all his hands were completely still. Despite the damn paperclips Jack had somewhat jokingly pulled from a pocket in his flak jacket, like they were as much of a necessity as the flashlight, knife and extra ammo he carried for emergencies. He'd offered them to his partner as they climbed into the SUV to head back to Phoenix.

Mac had taken the stupid things with a snort and roll of his eyes, as if Jack were giving him a Toy Story Band-Aid to cover an arterial bleed. Their uselessness was mocking Jack now as they remained clutched in Mac's tightly fisted hand, still intact, still mere office supplies, instead of the key that could sometime release Mac from his cerebral prison.

Jack felt powerless and inept-two things he didn't accept well. Mac was staring out the window, watching the dark streets zoom by, only inches away from Jack's grasp. Still Jack couldn't shake the overwhelming sensation that the kid had already veered away from him, heading for a gorge from where Jack might not be able to yank him back to safety. The former Delta was overcome with an urge to reach out and physically shake Mac, or maybe punch him.

On occasion, Jack had ribbed the kid about fiddling the thin metal paper holders into a variety of shapes and figures, despite secretly having a stash of the finished products hidden away at his house. He'd gone so far as to call the nervous habit stupid, annoying and outright bizarre. Right now he'd have given just about anything to have his partner fashion a whole fleet of freaking zoo animals or maybe some complex tetrahedron.

"What's going on in that melon of yours, man?" Jack couldn't take the silence or the stillness any longer. Quiet was his enemy on a good day, the torture not endurable after the night they'd had. He took his eyes off the taillights in front of him for a second, long enough to glance to his partner. "I thought you said you were good? Are you good? We're you lying to me?"

"Jack." Mac met his partner's gaze, a dullness in the blue eyes that set Jack farther on edge, just like the damn whistling had earlier. "I'm fine. Just thinking."

"We both know that's not always a good thing." Especially if those thoughts had anything to do with Murdoc. Jack tried for a grin, although worry stirred, straining the attempt. Something was off. It made Jack even more certain he should have put his foot down on the disastrous plan for Mac to impersonate that sonofabitch sociopath from the get go. "Care to share with your partner, and I use that term loosely considering your solo actions of as late?"

Mac gave him a look that said he'd rather not share and that Jack was being passive aggressive and possibly a bit of a baby, but he obviously knew Jack would not relent and they still had at least a twenty minute drive. For once Jack was grateful for LA traffic.

"If you must know I was thinking about my Summum Bonum."

"Come again?" Jack's concern level ratcheted up a notch. Maybe the kid had taken a blow to the head or Murdoc had somehow done something to him, like brainwashing, one of those Jedi mind tricks, proving Jack should have been allowed to go into the interrogation room with Mac screwing his stubborn partner's protests to needing a damn bodyguard and Mattie's orders otherwise. Sometimes Jack missed Thornton, who despite being a trader yielded to Jack's expertise when it came to all things MacGyver.

"It's a Latin expression meaning "the highest good"." Mac waved a hand as if his answer explained everything. To Jack's relief he did open his palm and take out two of the paperclips, lining the others up on his jean clad leg. "It was introduced by Cicero to parallel the "Idea of the Good" in ancient Greek philosophy. Summum Bonum is typically referred to as the end in itself, the good that encompasses all other goods. That singular, paramount pursuit that all human beings should strive to do."

"Well of course that's what you're thinking about, Bud." Jack shook his head, giving Mac another critical once over. "Because you can't just once be a normal guy and be considering the beers we're going to pick up when we head home or the steak we'll con ol'Boze into making us while we get shit-faced drunk off our asses and you apologize for ditching me and not listening to a damn thing I said during this whole gig."

Mac gave a 'what are going to do' kind of shrug, but he did begin to fiddle with the two paperclips which was at least a start.

Jack sighed, slowing for a traffic light. "So I'm guessing your interactions with the baddest of bads has rekindled this secret passion for philosophy? Last time I checked you were only into the hard sciences."

"That's the thing. Murdoc doesn't think he's doing anything bad." Mac didn't look up as he continued to work on his latest sculpture. "I think he believes he's doing his own kind of good."

"Murdoc is a psychopath and a murderer." Jack, now stopped along with the rest of the cars, shot Mac a hard gaze. He refused to acknowledge that some people might say the same thing of him. Jack had, after all, just killed four men in the matter of a few minutes and didn't feel a damn bit of remorse for doing so because they had every intention of doing the same thing to Mac. If he'd had his way they might not have taken anyone into custody, instead filling a few more body bags. "He does what he does because it feeds his sick sense of power, he likes playing God. It has nothing to do with what he believes is right or wrong, or any code he holds to, because there is nothing good in Murdoc."

"He loves his son." Mac glanced up, his blue gaze revealing a flash of something Jack hoped to hell wasn't what he thought it was. "That means something right?"

"Love is a strong word. One that Murdoc doesn't have the capability to understand. Him protecting his son only means he has a desire to see his progeny survive, a sick, perverse way at having some hope at immortality." Jack couldn't help but to think back to a conversation he had with his partner when he was smarting from Sarah's impending wedding nuptials and he'd talked about wanting to see some little Jack's running around. It had been a selfish, egocentric thought, one that spoke more to Jack needing to leave something significant behind in the world than bringing someone new and vital into it. "Calling Murdoc a father is an abomination to the word."

"Joshua Khan is a dad." Mac said out of left field. "I took him out of his home, away from his wife and daughter. When I was torturing him, he begged for his life because he had another baby on the way."

"You didn't torture him, or go 'full on Murdoc' on his ass as you put it before," Jack snapped, punching the gas a little too hard when the red light changed. Leave it to Mac to paint the worst picture of what he'd been forced to do, some kind of mental punishment no doubt that the kid sure as hell didn't deserve. Mac braced himself on the dash, the paperclips on his lap scattering to the floorboard when Jack had to slam on the breaks to keep from rear-ending the truck in front of them. "Listen to me. You were interrogating Joshua Khan to try and save his life, which you did, and the lives of countless other people by trying to stop Omnis better known as The Organization, also accomplished on your watch."

"You weren't there. You didn't see how afraid he was," Mac returned with some heat. "You didn't see how far I was willing to push to get the answers I wanted. How I considered maybe going just a little bit farther to show Murdoc I could out do him."

"I didn't have to be there, because I know you." Jack so wanted to point out that he would have been there, if Mac hadn't chosen to go solo, but he bit his tongue, remembering all too well the way his partner's voice had sounded when he told Jack how he'd scared himself when he'd questioned the man. "I was however in that alley when you were doing all you could to make sure Joshua Khan got back to his family. I know his life, not yours, was the one you were most concerned about when that death squad showed up. Like I said, I know you, brother."

"Maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do."

"I know you better than anyone." Jack eased on the gas this time, his voice gentling as well. "Damn it, Mac. This, right here, is why I didn't want you to go through with your idiotic plan in the first place. It's why if there's torturing or killing to be done, I do it."

"Because you believe I can't handle it?" There was a hint of hurt, just a bit of self-doubt and Jack wouldn't stand for it.

"No. I believe you can do any damn thing you set that amazing mind to. I worked beside you in the desert. I know what you're capable of, but I also know what it costs you. The price is too high, man. It's not worth it. Being a bad ass killer is not your true calling." Jack swerved around a slow moving vehicle, increasing his speed as he headed for the exit that would provide an off ramp even if it wasn't the one they needed to get back to The Ranch. "I'm pretty sure I could have an outstanding singing career but that doesn't mean I should shuck my fatigues and my gun for some skinny jeans and a microphone."

"I know for a fact you have several pairs of skinny jeans." Mac looked up from his paper clips to smirk at Jack. It sparked a tiny wave of relief but Jack still took the off ramp, bringing the SUV into the lane that would offer them a place to stop for a moment.

"And they look good on me." Jack guided the vehicle to the side of the road, shoved it into park. "Unlike that weird jacket and ball cap that you donned for your brief stint as a psychopath. I might need to work on my aliases' names but you need some fashion help. We'll put Bozer on wardrobe next time around."

"Why are we stopping?" Mac sat up straighter, ignoring the jab about his taste in clothes. He narrowed his gaze at Jack. "We need to get back to Phoenix for debrief. This mission isn't over."

"The damn mission can wait. I think there are some things you and me need to clear up first." Jack gestured a finger between them.

"Damn it, Jack." Mac tossed the paperclips he'd been working onto the dash. "You know I had to convince Omnis that I was Murdoc by ditching you guys. Murdoc works alone, he doesn't have back up. There is no one on the other side of a radio he has to answer to and there isn't a trained Delta operator shadowing his every move."

"Exactly." Jack turned in his seat, facing Mac. Mac was making his point for him, even if he didn't realize it yet. "Murdoc doesn't have a partner. You do."

"I know that." Mac sighed.

"Do you?" Because, my hurt feelings aside, it's a defining point between you and that devious bastard. Your family. Your best friend, Bozer. Me, your partner. It all gives you an advantage he can never have and he knows it. It's why he hates you so much. It's why he wants to kill you so badly." Jack knew Murdoc had tried to screw with Mac's head, make him think that the two of them had something in common. As if they were bizarre flip-sides of the same coin, Boy Scout and Bad Boy; same mission just different perspectives. If he couldn't hurt Mac physically, he could at least twist an emotional knife. "You're nothing like him."

"But what if I am?" Mac offered, swallowing hard. "We're both unusual. Anomalies for a lack of a better word. Outliers. There's a gray area between genius and madness."

"Only if you think it to death, which is exactly what Murdoc knew you would do." Jack locked gazes with his partner. "Just like he knew how to punch your buttons by threatening your old man, picking at one of your most vulnerable spots."

"You heard that?" Mac looked a bit sheepish, the fact he'd lost that tight-fist of control he worked so hard to maintain when he'd lunged across the table to wrap his fingers around Murdoc's throat flushing his pale face.

"Heard and saw, dude." Jack had manned the communications in the interrogation room. He'd not budged when Mattie had tried to balk at his intrusion. If he couldn't physically be with his partner, he was at least going to maintain some form of contact, even if it only gave Jack the illusion of being able to offer Mac some protection. "You didn't think I'd let you go in there without somehow watching your back, now did you?"

"I wanted to kill him." Mac glanced away, unwilling to once again show any vulnerability that might make him look merely human. "For an instant I thought about just putting a stop to him before he could hurt anyone else. Threaten my family again. My grandfather. Bozer. You."

"That doesn't make you a bad man, Mac. In fact, that instinct is probably part of your own summons bonus."

"Summum Bonum," Mac corrected with a brief glance to Jack. He ran both his hands through his hair in a gesture that the older agent knew showed his frustration. "You think murderous rage is my Summum Bonum? Thanks a lot, Man."

"That's not what I mean." Jack reached out and gripped one of Mac's wrists, squeezing until the kid would look at him. "I'm talking about the lengths you'll go to when it comes to saving lives, protecting innocent people. You'd even go against everything you hold important, ignore your moral compass and your personal code to hold life valuable above all else, if it meant protecting someone you love. We're alike in that way. You and me. Only you're my Samsung Bonfire."

Mac cracked a grin at Jack's slaughtering of his Greek term, which had been Jack's intention all along. "I'm you're Summum Bonum? I'm touched, man, but I'm not sure a person can be someone's highest good, Jack."

"I stand behind the spirit of my words. You said it was a guy's priority goal, the thing they strove to accomplish. Right?" Jack waited for Mac to nod. "So making sure you get to do all the good you're meant to is my goal. I happen to think you can change the world. That seems like a paramount pursuit if I ever heard one and I bet old Cicero would agree with me."

"Philosophy is all about one's own version of the universal truth." Mac's mouth twitched. "Sometimes I kind of like the world according to Jack Dalton."

"Of course you do." Jack squeezed Mac's wrist once more before letting him go. "What's not to like about a place where I'm always right and everyone listens to what I say."

Mac's countenance turned serious once more. "Maybe if Murdoc had been someone's highest good, he'd turned out differently."

Jack started the vehicle with a shake of his head. Sometimes he worried the kid's heart would be the death of both of them.

"I doubt it, bud." He put the SUV into drive, pulling them back onto the road. Changing the world was one thing, altering the nature of a beast quite another. "Some people are just born wrong, and no one this side of Heaven can fix what's broken in them."

"We have to try though." Mac reached into the floorboard, picking up the paperclips he'd lost earlier. "At least offer them another path. If not, there's really no point in us being here."

"There's my boy." Jack whipped the SUV around, in an illegal U-turn that would get them headed back the other way. He was glad the Mac he knew and loved was once more in reach. "Men like Murdoc are only concerned with the bottom line. You, my brother, are all about the possibilities."

After a moment of staring at the paper clips in his hand, Mac glanced up at Jack, a familiar and much welcomed gleam back in his blue eyes. "Any possibility we might stop for tacos on the way into Phoenix?"

"What happened to the mission?"

"The mission can wait," Mac conceded. "I'm starving."

"We'll stop if you're buying." Jack grinned, convinced DEFCON 'walls up' was definitely down a few notches. Between Bozer's no doubt dramatic recanting of his and Riley's pursuit to catch a killer and the beer they'd all share on the deck of Mac's place later that night, Jack was sure he could shut it down completely. After all, it was his Summum Bonum.

"Why do I have to pay?" Mac gave a half-hearted complaint, his fingers already deftly shaping the paper clips into some form Jack probably couldn't pronounce.

"Because." Jack took the exit that would put them on the right path once more. "You infamous assassins make all the big bucks."

Then end…for now