AN: This is the twenty-second installment of my personal challenge to write a tag for every episode. This is a tag for 2x01, DIY or Die. It's shorter than I wanted it to be, but I said everything I wanted to say in it. It takes place right at the end of the episode. I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review!
Seeing the picture of baby Mac inside the watch made Jack's heart ache. Despite what he was saying to Mac, Jack was already holding plenty of reservations about the boy's father. What kind of man abandoned their child without so much as a goodbye? What kind of man never spoke to their child again after walking about of their life? Jack just couldn't understand it. He'd never met a more amazing kid than Mac. Why would anyone want to leave him? Jack couldn't think of a single reason that would be acceptable.
"We're gonna find him, I promise," Jack said, putting his hand on Mac's shoulder. He may be nervous about finding the man, but Mac deserved to know the truth. "And I'm gonna be with you through it all, no matter what your old man's like."
Mac smiled. "I know you will," he replied, putting the watch back together and securing it back on his wrist. "I just wish I knew what happened, why he left. I mean, is it even a good idea to be trying to find him?" He stopped to look at Jack, then continued in a low voice, "he wanted me out of his life for a reason, right? Maybe it's just better that I don't try to bother him." Mac looked away with pain in his eyes. It hurt much to see the kid this way, so in emotional turmoil. He didn't deserve this. He deserved a father who had never abandoned him, who hadn't completely cut him out of his life.
"Mac, like I said, just because he gave up on you doesn't mean you have to give up on him. He's an idiot for sure, but I'm pretty sure I could get him to see the errors of his ways, one way or another," Jack said with a smile, holding up his fist to insinuate his point. It had its desired effect of making Mac let out a light laugh as he shook his head. "If he turns out to still be a total jerk, I'll kick his ass for you."
Mac laughed again, saying, "I don't need you to beat my dad up for me. I don't know, maybe..." he trailed off for a moment, looking at Jack then back to the fire pit. "Maybe it's better not to kick the wasp nest. It's not like I need him in my life anyway." Mac stood up and began to pace on the other side of the flames.
"Dude, everyone needs a father in their life, even you."
"But I already have one." Mac stopped pacing the moment he said it. Jack caught the kid's face turning bright red for a brief moment before he turned away, hiding his face from Jack's view. The man had a pretty good idea who Mac was referring to, but he wanted to press the subject, if only to make Mac actually put his emotions out on the table for once.
"What do you mean, brother?" he asked, feigning ignorance.
"I mean," Mac said, turning back around, but keeping his head down. "I mean you, Jack. You're all I need. You're everything. You know that, come on."
Jack fought hard to keep his emotions in check at the kid's admission. He knew the two of them had an interesting dynamic, always crossing the lines between best friends, brothers, and father and son. He knew Mac felt the same way, but that didn't make it any less powerful to hear it. That kid meant everything to him, and he couldn't be more honored than to be thought of as his father.
"Well you should know that I'm proud of you. I'm more proud of you than anything else in the universe. I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have you in my life, because I get to have you as my kid. Your old man gets the honor of having helped to make you, but he threw away the honor of raising you. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't find him, if only so I can rub it in that I got the once in a lifetime opportunity of being a part of your life, and he didn't take his. So yes, Mac, we're still gonna find him, no matter what, and I'm gonna be with you, no matter what."
Jack could see the emotion swirling around in the kid's eyes after his impassioned speech. Mac nodded a few times, taking a few hesitant steps towards Jack, as if he wanted that closeness but was afraid to ask for it. Luckily for him, Jack could read him like a firearms manual, and quickly stood and crossed the distance between them. Jack stood in front of the blond for a brief moment, then wrapped his arms around him. Mac immediately melted into the touch, gripping the back of Jack's shirt like a lifeline, hiding his face in the crook of Jack's neck.
"Thank you," Mac whispered, not letting up in his grip at all.
"Always, kid. Always." Jack may have not been Mac's biological father, but he did the job of his dad, and he would always take pride in having such an incredible kid. Always.