AN: This is the thirty-third installment of my personal challenge to write a tag for every episode. This is a tag to 2x12, Mac + Jack. It takes place both after the ep ends and pre-series. It's a bit more of a character study than a plot fic, but I still really like it. I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review!
Mac wasn't sure how it happened, or when it happened, only that it did. He was actually upset to see Dalton go. Despite their differences and initial extreme distaste for each other, they had actually become good friends. Mac would never admit it to the man, never in a thousand years, in fact he would barely even admit it to himself, but he found himself beginning to see Dalton as a big brother, or even a father figure. Those sixty four days they spent together, in life or death situations every day, had turned Mac from finding Dalton obnoxious and annoying, to seeing him as lighthearted and caring. The man loved Texas, and his grandparents' ranch, and the good ol' US of A. Yeah, he was loud, and he said really stupid things, but if Mac was being honest, it was kind of funny, and it kept him grounded when he worked himself up too much. The man wasn't Peña, but Mac could've sworn that Dalton had grown to care just as much, if not more, than Peña had.
Mac couldn't believe he was actually upset about this. The man had said goodbye to him that morning, and Mac had only realized how much he was going to miss him once he was already out of sight. He didn't want to admit to himself, but Dalton meant a lot to him, and now the man was leaving, just like everyone else. Mac knew he was being too dramatic, but he couldn't help it. Bozer was the only one who had never left him. Everyone else always did, eventually. Once he noticed he didn't hate Dalton anymore, that he actually was starting to really enjoy being around him, he had tried to keep himself from getting attached, he really did try, because he knew the sergeant would be leaving, and he'd likely never see him again. Besides, it was war. War was not a time to form attachments. He had been almost killed enough times to know that, the same as Dalton. But still, he did become attached, just like he always did, and Dalton still left, just like they always did. Mac didn't even know who his new overwatch was going to be, but he did know that he would build his walls even higher this time, he wouldn't let the new soldier in at all. Of course, that's what he had said when Peña was killed, and it didn't work. Within those sixty four days, Dalton had succeeded in breaking down Mac's walls and getting the boy to care about him far too much.
That was why Mac was so surprised when Sergeant Dalton came back, getting into the Humvee beside him with a smile. The man had signed on for another tour under the condition that he would continue to be Mac's overwatch, his protector, and that nothing could change that. The man had come back because he didn't trust anyone else to protect Mac. He had come back because he thought that Mac was so incredible and irreplaceable and that America needed him. He came back. Dalton, no, Jack, came back. He wasn't leaving him. He wasn't going anywhere.
Mac's thoughts drifted back to the present, and to the man, who he now openly considered his big brother, beside him. Jack had been his protector for years now, and there's nothing about that he would change. How on earth had he ever managed to get so lucky to have Jack in his life? The man was everything to him. It may have been Jack who said it first, but Mac agreed: there's no one he would rather die with.
"Thanks for everything, Jack," Mac said to the man who was making himself comfortable on Mac's couch. They'd both been up for over forty eight hours straight, between Mac's day in police custody, waiting in the hospital for Cage that night, hanging out with the Ghost's bomb all day, and defusing the bomb all night. To say that they were both tired was an understatement. After the hype had died down, and most everyone had left. Mac and Jack had gone back into the house for some well deserved shut eye. Everyone else had gone back to their own houses to sleep, but Jack had said he wasn't feeling up to the drive home, and would rather just crash on Mac's couch for a few hours. Mac was more than happy to let him.
"What for? You're the one who figured everything out and defused the bomb. All I did was give moral support," Jack replied, settling into the couch and pulling the blanket around him.
"But you were there for me. You've always been there for me. You gave up going back to Texas just so you could be there for me back in Afghanistan. And you were there for me throughout these past two days, and I just can't thank you enough for all of that, for always being there." Mac paused, looking away. "For never leaving," he finished in a whisper.
"Mac," Jack said, trying to catch the blond's gaze again. He propped his head up on his fist from where he was laying on the couch. "I signed on for another tour because I realized that you are a gift to this world and you need to be protected, and that's been my job ever since. I may not have been happy about that when I first met you, but in those sixty four days I realized how great of a job it is, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. So you're welcome, because I am never leaving you, ever. I hope you're used to it by now because that ain't about to change," Jack said with a smile. Mac nodded, smiling in spite of himself. "Now go to bed, kid. You look like hell," Jack added, closing his eyes, a smile still on his face.
Mac laughed. "Love you too, old man," he said, walking down the hall towards his room. He pulled all the curtains shut to block out the sunlight, quickly stripping and getting into bed. Despite how terrible the last two days had been, Mac still had Jack, and that was never going to change. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.
Jack wasn't sure how or when it happened, only that it did. He was actually upset to be leaving the kid in the desert. Not only was he upset, but he was worried too. With him gone, who would be the kid's new overwatch? Who would protect him from all the terrorists who would kill him or torture him at the first chance they got? Who would protect him from random jerks who made fun of him? Of course, Jack knew that MacGyver could protect himself, but still. He needed an overwatch. Jack found that his stress levels had skyrocketed after saying goodbye to the boy that morning - because he really was only a boy, not quite a man yet, and shouldn't even be out here putting his young life on the line for his country, he couldn't possibly be old enough to do that yet. All of Jack's thoughts were consumed with the question of who would be keeping that child genius safe.
By the time Jack reached his CO, he already knew what he was about to do, and he couldn't believe it. He wasn't one to typically make these huge impulsive decisions, and yet here he was, signing on for another tour under the condition that he be assigned to that kid for every single day of it. The kid may have been obnoxious and annoying, but was also too kind for his own good, braver than anyone Jack knew, and had a gut to rival Jack's own. Somehow, in those sixty four days, that stupid genius with the dumb hamburger name had become almost the most important thing in Jack's world, and he couldn't put his finger on why, or even how. He just was. Jack couldn't explain the urge he had to protect the kid, but he trusted his gut enough to go with it, to sign on for another tour, and protect that kid with his life. What was he going to tell the kid without making himself sound like a softie? His grandparents were going to be pissed.
Jack closed his eyes and smiled as Mac walked away. He still didn't know how or why it happened, but he couldn't have been more thankful that it did. He was telling the truth when he said that there was no one he'd rather die with, and while it was true that he would rather die than have Mac die, if it had to happen, it would have to happen together. They go together or they don't go down at all. The boy genius still needed to be protected, and Jack would do that until his dying day.
That kid meant everything to him, and there was nothing Jack wouldn't do for him. From the time he signed on for another tour to present day, Mac had secured his permanent place in Jack's heart as the most important thing in the universe. The urge to protect him had never gone away, it had only gotten stronger as the two grew closer. He knew that Mac always had his doubts due to his abandonment issues, but Jack would work with every breath to make that kid see that he was never leaving him. If he had wanted to, he would have back in Afghanistan, but he didn't. He didn't want to leave him. He wanted to protect him and keep him safe, and that was exactly what his job was to do.