Because that ep was potentially pure hurt/comfort gold, I just had to take a break from the three works in progress I have going and write these little tags. The first one is about Mac's admittedly awesome but crazy dangerous rappel through the window and down the wall. I mean, the first real time we see Jack concerned about Mac being hurt and they blow it off?! No way was I gonna let that stand. The second is a little Mac/Bozer bromance (this fic is my first time attempting to write Bozer so I'm super nervous about how he turned out, but I tried). And the last is some Bozer/Riley fluff. They're all just short little missing scenes with various degrees of hurt and comfort, but I think the episode (which don't get me wrong, was really amazing) needed them. Enjoy!
Part One: Of Free Falls and Overprotective Partners
"Alright." Mac said, walking back into the apartment's living room. "He's not going anywhere any time soon."
"You get him secured?" Jack asked, pocketing his cell.
"Yup. What'd Matty say?" Mac asked.
"To leave him and let her question him personally. And for us to, and I quote, 'keep our grubby little paws away from any evidence.' Which, I take it, is her super friendly way of telling us to not touch the crime scene till SF CSI gets here." Jack explained.
"So we wait." Mac said with a sigh. He didn't do waiting well.
"We wait." Jack agreed, not wanting the wrath of Matty the Hun coming down on them. "Gives me more time to check you over."
"For what?" Mac asked.
"Don't play dumb with me." Jack ordered. "I know I look young, but I wasn't born yesterday." Mac stayed silent. "Dude, you crashed through a window and took down a guy three floors below you."
"I had a cable." Mac reminded his partner.
"And you're terrified of heights." Jack pointed out. "Pain of the fall aside, that couldn't have been fun for you."
"I wasn't exactly thinking about the height aspect of it." Mac admitted. "Something about the possibility of catching a serial killer puts things in perspective."
"Come on, kid. Humor me?" Jack asked. "It's not like there's anything else we can be doin'."
"Alright." Mac agreed with a huff. "But I'm fine."
"Yeah well you just let me be the judge of that." Jack countered back easily as he moved to stand in front of his partner. "Any cuts from that glass?"
Mac shook his head no. "Jacket." He reminded the older man, tugging on the trusty leather jacket's collar.
"Good." Jack said, internally sighing in relief. "That would have warranted you a hospital trip, my friend. Those windows are nasty."
"I don't need a trip to the hospital." Mac insisted.
"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya." Jack drawled, his tone making it obvious that he was doing anything but listening to his partner.
Mac rolled his eyes but let Jack continue.
"Wrist, arm, hand, or all of the above?" Jack asked. "You hurt somethin' around there, I saw you tryin' to shake it off."
"Wrist." Mac admitted, knowing from experience that hiding an injury from his partner was a very bad idea. He held his hand out for Jack to examine. "It's not bad. Definitely not broken." He demonstrated by slowly rotating the joint in Jack's gentle hold, biting back a wince.
"It's starting to bruise." Jack said, tracing a light finger across the darkening skin.
"Doesn't even hurt." Mac assured him, which wasn't necessary a lie, aching and hurting were two different things.
"Mmhmm." Jack said with a grin, not believing his partner for a second.
"Okay, it's not bad though." Mac promised. "Maybe just a slight sprain if anything."
"You sure?" Jack asked, concerned brown eyes searched Mac's blue.
"I swear." Mac assured.
"You tell me if it gets worse." Jack ordered. "Yeah, of course." The younger man agreed, nodding his head.
Mac sighed in relief and turned away, thinking his partner's overprotective check-up was over, before Jack stopped him with a firm hand on his shoulder. "Shirt off. No way you took a fall like that and didn't bust some ribs."
"Yeah that's not gonna happen." Mac assured. There was no way his new boss, who he was pretty sure didn't even like him anyway, was going to walk in to find him half naked in a crime scene.
"Mac." Jack's voice left no room for argument.
"Jack I'm fine." Mac insisted. "I would tell you if something was seriously wrong, you know I would. Yeah, I'm a little banged up, like I said earlier that wasn't my best landing, but I've survived a lot worse than a few bruises."
"You dove three stories out a window, pal." Jack reminded him.
"I had a cable!" Mac repeated. "My ribs are fine. I know broken ribs first hand. Do you know how many times I have walked away from a job with broken ribs? This isn't one of them."
"Six." Jack said quietly, never taking his eyes away from Mac's. "Six times, on my watch, Mac, I've let you walk away from a job with broken ribs. And you know how many of those times you have told me about 'em? Not a one."
"Because you can always tell!" Mac argued. "You know the second I get hurt. I don't have to tell you, you just know."
"Well somethin's up with you." Jack shot back. "I don't know if you're hurtin' or if it's just this case or maybe it's Matty, I don't know man. But you're not right. So until you tell me what it is, I'm assuming you're hurt. Shirt off. Or I take it off for you."
"Nothing's broken, Jack." He tried one last time.
Jack shrugged. "Prove it."
Mac glared at his partner but shook his jacket off anyway and began tugging the hem of his shirt from his pants. Glancing at Jack's expectant gaze, he gave in with a sigh, lifting his shirt up part way. "That's as good as your getting."
"Good enough for me." Jack said, moving closer and curving a hand carefully around Mac's waist. He let out a low whistle. "Pretty colors." Jack declared, looking at the array of bruises already forming.
"Hurry up, Jack." Mac said, he flinched and let out hiss between his teeth a second later, not expecting Jack's big hand to reach up and press on the tender skin as soon as the words were out of his mouth.
"Sorry, kid. You said to hurry." Jack said with a wink.
"You done now?" Mac asked.
"Yeah, I don't think they're broken." Jack admitted, carefully lining his fingers up with each bone and tracing their length. "You're gonna be hurtin' for a while though, that's for sure."
"I'll be fine, Jack." Mac insisted, pushing Jack's hand away and pulling down his shirt.
"Alright." Jack conceded, reaching down and picking up his partner's jacket. "Just be careful."
Mac nodded as he slipped his arms into the familiar leather sleeves. "I'm gonna go check on our guy." Mac said, tossing a thumb in the direction of the room he had tied the man up in.
"You got it, I'll wait here for Matty and the rest of the team." Jack said, heading towards the window to look for any suspicious cars.
"Hey Mac!" He called as the younger man went out of view.
"Yeah?" Mac called, peeking his head around the doorframe.
"That move with the cable and the window? That was pretty badass man." Jack grinned.
"Thanks." Mac took the compliment with a roll of his eyes.
"That being said, if you ever do something that stupid again and live through it, I'll kill ya myself." Jack promised.
Mac smiled, hearing the real words behind the threat. "Yeah man, love you too."
Part Two: Of Panic Attacks and Roommates
"He took Riley."
That was how Bozer began the phone call. Those three words that sent a chill down Mac's spine and took his breath for a moment. It wasn't until he heard Bozer's own labored breathing on the line that he was able to speak.
"Bozer, calm down. What do you mean he took Riley?" He asked, hoping with all his might that his friend was wrong.
"Riley?" Jack asked, with a look of sheer panic in his brown eyes that was usually only reserved for Mac. "My, I mean, OUR Riley?"
"She's gone Mac. I came back and she's not here. I saw the cigarette butts on the ground and ran up as fast as I could but she was already gone." Bozer's voice shifted from fear to absolute terror as he grated out the words, barely above a whisper, "He took her."
"You're at the hotel?" Mac asked, glancing over at Jack who had his own cell phone pressed against his ear.
"Yeah." Bozer answered shakily.
"And you're sure it was him? She didn't just step out to get dinner or something?" Mac asked, even though his instincts were telling him something was wrong.
"He left a note." Bozer replied.
"We're on our way. Don't touch anything, alright? I'll be right there." Mac promised.
"Matty and the SF PD team are meeting us there." Jack announced, sliding his phone into his pocket and running from the room towards the car, Mac just steps behind.
Mac wasn't sure exactly how long it took them to get to Bozer, only that it was a much shorter drive than it should have been. He stopped glancing over at the clock on the dash a few minutes into the ride when he saw that the speedometer was pushing 95. Jack was a man on a mission and Mac felt sorry for anyone who tried to get in his way.
Once the car was parked (if you consider being slammed to a stop in the middle of the green lawn in front of the hotel steps parked) both men took off running, Jack not even bothering to shut his door. "Go check on Bozer." Jack yelled over his shoulder. "I'm gonna go put this place on lockdown and get the security footage." Mac nodded and took off for the stairs, not wanting to wait on an elevator.
"Bozer!" Mac yelled as he pushed through the still-open door. He found his friend sitting in the floor at the foot of the bed, chest heaving, eyes staring blankly at the letter leaning against Riley's abandoned computer, her headphones gripped tightly in his trembling hands.
"Boze." Mac said in relief. He had been partially convinced that he was going to run into the room to find Bozer missing too. Or worse.
"Hey." Mac said quietly as he crouched down in front of him, recognizing the signs of an oncoming panic attack. "Hey, you gotta breathe, man."
Bozer just shook his head no, never meeting Mac's eyes.
"Yes you can." Mac insisted. He reached out and put his hand on Bozer's shoulder, causing his friend to flinch. "In and out, nice and slow." Mac coached.
Bozer continued shaking his head but attempted to pull in a shaky breath. "That's it." Mac praised, the tightness in his own chest loosening. "Now again."
It took a few moments but Bozer's breath finally returned to normal. The fear in his eyes, though, stayed the same.
"It's gonna be okay. We'll find her." Mac told him.
"Don't promise me something you can't guarantee, Mac." Bozer said hoarsely.
Mac didn't know what to say to that, so he moved closer to his friend, sitting down on the floor beside him with his back against the bed, his shoulder pressed against Bozer's. Offering a silent comfort.
"Nobody's ever gotten away from this psycho," Bozer continued. "We might never get her back."
"Oh, we're gettin' her back." Jack assured as he came striding into the room. "Or were goin' down tryin'."
Part Three: Of Well-Meaning Lies and Movie Nights
Bozer had never been as grateful for LA traffic as he was that night driving home from San Fransisco, with Riley in the passenger's seat. Normally they would have flown there and back but since it hadn't been an official Phoenix mission they weren't given access to the Foundation's private jets. He didn't mind though. Driving for almost six hours alone with Riley, (Mac and Jack had taken a separate car, something about falling from a window and stopping at a hospital to get Mac's wrist checked out. Bozer wasn't sure he wanted to know the full story.) playfully arguing about everything from the songs on the radio to the choices made when they stopped for snacks, it felt right. Safe. Normal. Like maybe the past forty eight hours had just been a bad dream.
It hadn't been, of course, it had been all too real. But Riley was safe now. Safe with him, with her hair spilling down past her shoulders as if each curl had a mind of it's own and the headlights from the highway reflecting back in her eyes every time she looked over at him. They hadn't talked about what had happened, it was still too fresh in both their minds, but that didn't matter. They never had to speak about it, as far as Bozer was concerned. She was safe and that was all that mattered.
Unfortunately, the traffic cleared up once they got closer to the more residential part of town and he found himself pulling into the parking garage of Riley's apartment building. He glanced over and saw the nervousness in her eyes returning as she scanned the garage. He couldn't imagine going through what she had survived, let alone coming home to an empty house afterwards. He knew Riley though, a lot better that she even thought he did, and he knew that she was too proud, strong, and stubborn to ask for help. So he came up with a plan.
"Come on." He said as he shut the car off.
"What are you doing?" She asked, seeing him pocket the keys and reach for his door.
"A gentleman always walks a lady to her door." He reminded her. "And I'm nothing if not a gentleman."
She shook her head, pretending to be exasperated, but couldn't quite hide her smile as she opened her own door and followed him across the parking lot.
Once they made their way to her floor and started down the hallway he pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and pretended to read a text message. "Crap." He said quietly.
"What's wrong?" Riley asked.
"That was Mac." Bozer lied. "Said the ER is packed and they want them to stick around to take some X-rays of his wrist. If he gets out of there before morning he's just gonna crash with Jack since it will be so late."
"And that's a problem because…?" Riley questioned, digging through her bag for her keys.
"It's not, I don't guess." He said, scuffing the toe of his shoe against the floor. "It's just been a crazy few days. Was kinda counting on not coming home to an empty house, ya know?"
"Yeah." Riley said quietly, staring at her door blankly.
"It's probably just where I'm new to this whole, super-spy business." Bozer continued. "I'm sure it'll get easier." He said, feigning fake assurance.
"Yeah." She repeated, her keys now in her hand, but not making any move to unlock the door.
"And besides, one night of nightmares is hardly nothing, right?" He joked.
Riley nodded and Bozer held his breath. He had tossed her a line, all she had to do was take it.
"You know," She started. "We had like, eight cups of coffee on the way home. There's no way I'm gonna sleep any time soon. I could go back to your place if you wanted. Stay there till the guys get home? I'm kinda dying to hear the story about Mac jumping out of that window anyway."
"Wait, he JUMPED out of a window?!" Bozer exclaimed. "He told me he fell!"
"I think it was more of an, um, intentional, fall." Riley answered.
Bozer shook his head at his best friend's recklessness and made a mental note to withhold making waffles for a week as punishment. Then it hit him what Riley had said.
"Oh! Yeah, sure, that'd be fine." He assured. "But I mean, you don't have to…"
"What? You're not man enough to let a girl help you out when you're scared?" She teased, hands on her hips.
"Hey now, I never used the word scared." He smiled. "Let's go then." He said as he held out his arm to escort her back to the car. She rolled her eyes but played along. "Movies and popcorn till our boys come home?"
"It's a date." She agreed. "But as long as they aren't serial killer movies." She added with a shudder.
"Yeah I think we've had our fair share of those for a long, long time." He agreed.
Dawn was breaking, the first rays of sunlight just peaking through the darkness and falling through the living room window as Mac and Jack finally made it home. They were arguing about how long the doctor had recommended Mac keep the now-present brace on his wrist as they entered the room, quieting instantly as they saw the young couple asleep on the couch, Riley's head on Bozer's shoulder, a bowl with a few popcorn kernels left in the bottom on the floor between them.
"See?" Mac said, bumping his shoulder into Jack's. "I told you not to worry, Boze would take care of her."
Thanks for reading! As always, I'd love to know your thoughts!