AN: Please read The Measure of Our Lives first, or this will not make sense.
A HOSPITAL
HOME SWEET LA
Jack was just making a face at his lunch (or what passed for lunch at this place) when the door to his hospital room opened, and in strode Desi, who dropped a sandwich on his lunch tray.
Eagerly, Jack unwrapped it, savouring the smell of steak, onion jam, cheese, and, of course, bacon.
He took a large bite of the sandwich, then raised it in a pseudo-toast to the woman in thanks.
Desi just smiled at him, a true, unguarded smile that was almost too wide for her, and plopped down into the chair by his bed, glancing at her phone for the time.
'They should be here in an hour or two.'
Mac, Bozer and Riley were back at the Phoenix for debrief and mission reports. Matty had held it off for as long as she could, but it did need to be done.
Desi, on the other hand, had already debriefed and written up her mission report promptly, while the others had been at the hospital with Jack, so she was free to spend some time with the older man.
Jack scarfed down the last of his sandwich in one giant bite, chewed and swallowed, then spoke, a wry, teasing tone in his voice and matching grin on his face.
'Well, gives us time to have a heart-to-heart, Dez, and you know how I missed your sparkling personality.' Desi snorted and shook her head affectionately. Jack had regularly called her pricklier than a porcupine on a cactus. His expression grew more serious, but it remained fond, affectionate. 'I really do owe you one now, Dez, Wookie life debt, you know, and…' Something a touch sad crossed Jack's face. '…for watching their backs, keeping 'em safe, when I couldn't.'
Desi smiled back at him, in a way that was as warm as she ever was.
'No problem, Jack. Anytime.' The for you didn't need to be said. She shrugged, in a way that just about everyone would read as nonchalant. 'They weren't too much of a pain.'
Jack stared at her for a moment (he was one of those who wouldn't read it that way), then nodded slowly.
'They do tend to get under your skin, don't they? 'Specially Mac, can't keep that boy out of anything…'
That made Desi get a weird look in her eyes. Mac had been weirder than he normally was about the origins of those spicy ranch chips the day before, in a way that Jack recognized from years and years ago, when Mac was a green agent, when the DXS was still a thing, and when Thornton ran the joint…and Jack had done as he'd said he would in Indonesia and introduced Mac to a brilliant blonde analyst called Nikki Carpenter.
Dez was hard to read, even for him, but Jack was 99% sure now that worrying that Mac and Dez would kill each other was the wrong thing to worry about.
Yeah, he thought, definitely the wrong thing to worry about, as that weird look disappeared from Desi's eyes and she false-nonchalantly (convincing, but not enough to fool him) crossed her arms, leaned back and put her booted feet up on a second chair. Jack could see the metaphorical shutters closing over her eyes as her walls went back up.
(Dez's moods could turn on a penny; one moment, she was being all soft and sharing with you, next moment, she was hard and prickly and brusque again, striding off and leaving you in her dust with a case of whiplash.)
'Well, Dalton, if you're looking to pay me back, I'll take a rib eye and some single malt…'
A CEMETERY
LA
Jack reached out and put a hand on Mac's shoulder as they stood in front of Charlie's grave.
'I'm sorry, son.'
For not being there to help, even if it seemed that it'd have been futile.
(He could at least have punched Mason, hard, once or twice. Wouldn't have done anything for Charlie, wouldn't have prevented that hero's sacrifice that'd kept Mac from having to actually make that terrible choice – Jack was forever grateful to Charlie for that, would never have been able to repay him even if he'd miraculously survived – wouldn't have prevented Mac from being wracked with guilt, but it'd have made Jack feel a hell of a lot better, and it wasn't as if Mason wouldn't be getting anything he didn't deserve.)
For not being there to comfort him, to try and help prevent him being lost in his head and falling into the abyss and becoming consumed with guilt.
For not being there to deal with the fallout from his dad's revelation.
For not being there.
Mac turned his head, and smiled at Jack in a way that said, clearly, there's nothing to forgive.
'You're here now.'
Jack smiled, soft and broad and oh, so fond, and Mac reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of dog tags. Very familiar dog tags. He held them out to Jack, who reached out and fingered the metal with his father's name, rank, religion and blood type on it, but didn't take it.
'Maybe you should hang on to 'em, they're gonna be yours one day-'
Jack would make sure Mac outlived him, no matter what it took, considering Mac's sense of self-preservation (or lack thereof).
Mac shook his head firmly, even vehemently, and mirroring what Jack had done months ago, that night they'd said goodbye, spoken all the words they needed to say so that none were needed when the time really came, he put the dog tags in Jack's hand, closed his fingers around them.
'That's a long time in the future.'
That was insistent, said as if something happened to Jack, Mac would go all Frankenstein and bring him back…which, honestly, Jack would not put past his boy.
His smile widened, and Jack raised the tags in his fist, before stowing them securely in his pocket.
'Cheers, man.' He pulled out his phone to check the time. 'Now, we're meeting Boze for some grub right 'bout now, ain't we, 'cause I'm starving, and I could really do with a couple of those double bacon cheeseburgers…'
KILLER BURGERS
LA
'…thanks, Tommy, how's it going? You get promoted to fries yet?' Jack's neighbour's kid dropped off a large order of food, and Bozer grinned and waved as Mac and Jack walked through the door, and as they approached, he pointed at the Texan. 'I got your video collection in my car, safe and sound…and…' Bozer spread his arms wide like a showman. 'Fully digitized and restored, with the help of our favourite queen of computers!'
Jack chuckled and stole some of Mac's fries unapologetically, before picking up the first of his bacon-loaded cheeseburgers.
'Much appreciated, Boze.'
THE GANG'S FAVOURITE SKEEBALL PLACE
(THE ONE WITH THE REALLY GREASY PIZZA THAT ONLY JACK LIKES)
LA
'…so, how many tickets we got now, Ri? Reckon we can get one of those giant teddy bears?'
Riley arched an eyebrow sceptically at Jack as they stood in front of two adjacent skeeball machines, a ball already in her hand.
'Why do you even want a giant teddy bear?'
Jack looked back at her, astounded.
'Who doesn't want a giant teddy bear?'
As the game finished and their tickets were printed out, Jack reached out and pulled Riley into a side-hug, pressing a kiss to the side of her forehead.
'I'm real proud of you, kiddo.'
He wasn't talking about the fact that she'd just set a personal skeeball best, getting them closer to that giant teddy bear.
Riley had dealt with so much while he'd been gone. She and her dad getting doxed, getting consumed by hunting down who'd done it, that bounty hunter scum stomping all over her heart (Jack still really wanted to go stomp on him), Charlie dying in front of her eyes, and another attack on the Phoenix, plus thinking he'd died too…
Riley smiled and shifted to hug him properly, very, very tightly.
Jack smiled wider and held her back.
Jack cheered loudly as he landed a behind-the-back skeeball trick shot, turning to Matty and Diane, who were watching, with a look on his face that clearly said, was that impressive or what?
Matty had an eyebrow arched and her hands on her hips. Diane simultaneously looked impressed and unimpressed, which was in itself impressive.
The two women exchanged a look that was very much, why do we love this idiot again? Jack grinned as if he could read that on their faces, eyes lingering on Diane, in a way that was somehow smug and somehow like a schoolboy at the same time. He held a ball out to her, gestured in invitation. Diane shook her head, but took the ball with a sparkle in her eye and a little smile on her face, passing very, very close to Jack as she walked past him to aim at the skeeball machine.
As Bozer recorded Jack's first skeeball trip after for posterity's sake (and also because Jack/Diane was totally going to be endgame in the movie he was going to make about their adventures – he called it first!), Mac came up to Riley, who was watching her mom and Jack play skeeball against each other with a hopeful little smile on her face.
'Riley, uh, where's Desi?' The young woman shot Mac a knowing look, which made his ears redden under his hair, even as he protested. 'Just, um, curious, you know me, and well, she's gotten into the habit of hanging out with us…'
She drank a beer or two with them at his place after missions, anyway, and usually stayed for one of Bozer's amazing burgers.
Riley nodded in a way that was definitely uh huh, sure, Mac, sure…but shrugged.
'We invited her, but she said she had other plans already.'
'Oh.'
That was a disappointed sound. It was also a very confused sound, and a little worried. Riley knew Mac's brain was moving to all sorts of conclusions, deductions, the kind that weren't so good for his wellbeing, and was just about to distract him and pull him out of it when Jack called out to his partner.
'Hey, brother, you owe me a rematch! Come on up here and prepare to get your skinny butt kicked!'
Riley smiled behind Mac's back as the blonde strode over to the older man, a teasing smirk on his face as he caught the ball Jack tossed him.
Jack was the master at keeping Mac out of the labyrinth of his mind when needed, after all.
'I think you mean prepare to get your butt kicked, Jack, though I suppose yours isn't exactly skinny…'
As Mac and Jack bickered and Matty and Diane exchanged more why do we love these idiots looks, Bozer came over to Riley and grinned, wide and loving and oh-so-happy.
'And there's finally balance in the Force! Everything's right in the universe, Ri!'
Riley snorted (Bozer was never not ridiculous), but smiled back at him, nodding in agreement, before reaching out and socking him lightly in the arm, expression growing faux-serious.
'If you've hired a bunch of people dressed as Ewoks to dance around the fire-pit at Mac's tonight, Boze…we really need to talk.'
AN: Mostly fluff, lots of Team as Family, a bit of character and relationship development and some foreshadowing…that's probably going to be par for the course for the episode tags. I'm going to use them to further develop on-screen events and relationships, and to tell 'side-stories' that don't quite fit into the eps themselves. Hope you guys enjoyed!
