A/N I'm still alive! And back with a new one-shot! I hope you guys like this!

H is for home invasion

Unlike Mac had hoped, it wasn't the morning sun that woke him up. In fact, it was still dark outside and a quick glance at the alarm clock told him it was only 2:34 AM. A groan left Mac's lips as he collapsed back on the bed. Their latest mission had left him completely wiped out and he needed all the sleep he could get before he had to drag himself to the foundation at eight in the morning for debriefing.

Mac pulled the covers up to his chin to go back to sleep when he was startled by a loud crash coming from the hallway. He sat up, his heartbeat picking up. Bozer was supposed to be staying the night at Leanna's place. There should be no one else in the house.

Mac spent the next minute frozen in place, listening to his surroundings. Maybe he was just overreacting? Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him. After all, he had gotten home from a stressful mission only a couple of hours earlier and was most likely sleep deprived.

Then he heard something again. Footsteps. Mac threw the covers aside and stumbled to his feet, grabbing a pair of sweats from the floor. Adrenaline surged through his veins. He stopped next to the door and leaned to the wall for a moment. He looked around the room before his gaze settled on a pair of dumbbells in the corner of his room. Jack's dumbbells. As he went to grab one of them, Mac made a mental note to finish his catapult project soon. There was no telling how soon Jack would notice his dumbbells were missing.

Clutching the dumbbell tightly, Mac stepped out into the hallway. The hallway was dark but lights were on in the kitchen and possibly in the living room as well. Mac let out a shuddering breath. He tightened his grip on the dumbbell and started sneaking toward the kitchen. His phone was in the living room so unless he got there without being noticed, he had no way of calling help.

As he crept closer, Mac could hear someone moving around in the living room. It became clear to him that whoever was in the house, definitely wasn't Bozer. His roommates footsteps weren't that heavy or aggressive.

Then the footsteps started coming closer. Mac took a few steps back but before he could get any further, someone grabbed him from behind and threw him against a wall. He let out a yelp as he lost his hold on the dumbbell. That didn't stop him from defending himself though, and just moment later he was throwing a punch at the assailant.

His attacker roared in pain as his nose broke with an audible crack. Mac stumbled back, away from the man but he forgot about the man in the living room. He spun around as he heard someone come up behind him but he was too late to dodge the baseball bat aimed at his head. Pain exploded in his head and he was down for the count before he even hit the ground.

- - MacGyver 2016 - -

Mac felt like he was going to throw up. The moment he regained consciousness, he was in a world of pain. He was dizzy and just opening his eyes was pure agony. It was so bright in the room. He tried to bring his hands up to shield his eyes against the lights but found out they were tied with rope.

"What are we going to do? This wasn't supposed to happen! You said this was gonna be an easy job, Leo!" one of the men exclaimed nervously. They were somewhere in the hallway where Mac couldn't see them.

"Calm down, Rick! I'll figure something out," the other man, Leo, hissed. "He's tied up and unconscious. He's not going anywhere. He's just goddamn lucky I couldn't hit him full force because of my hand."

Mac grimaced and leaned his head against the wall behind him. The man had hit him hard enough in his opinion. He closed his eyes as the world spun in his eyes. What the hell was he going to do? He felt like moving only his head would result in him losing consciousness. Even though he was ready to do anything to make the pain stop, he couldn't afford to black out.

"He's seen our faces, Leo!" There was a panicked edge to the Rick's voice. "What if goes to the cops?"

"He won't. I'll make sure of it."

Mac didn't like the sound of that. He forced his eyes open and glanced around the living room. His vision was fuzzy but he spotted his phone on the coffee table a few feet away. He squeezed his eyes shut momentarily and leaned forward. He groaned as the movement sent spikes of pain through his head.

It was just a couple of feet. He could do it. He had to, there was no other option. Then he could call Jack. Jack would come for him. He always did.

Somehow Mac managed to find the willpower to maneuver himself to his knees. The men were still having a heated conversation in the hallway which gave Mac the perfect opportunity to get the phone.

Mac swore that next time he would willingly go and sleep in the medical department. Even if he wasn't injured. There he wouldn't be able to attract too much trouble. At least he hoped so.

By the time the agent reached the coffee table, he was barely able to stay upright. He collapsed against the coffee table and moaned as a wave of nausea washed over him. He knew he needed to get help fast. Even though he had trouble thinking clearly, he knew that he needed medical attention. The headache was only getting worse.

A moment later Mac noticed that the men were no longer loudly arguing in the hallway. Panic welled inside him. He hastily reached for the phone and struggled to keep it in his grasp. The rope was digging into his skin painfully but he paid no attention to it. He didn't know how much time he had left. Relief flooded through Mac as he hit Jack's number. Now he only needed to keep low profile until help arrived.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Mac startled at the enraged yell and dropped the phone which clattered out of his reach. His eyes widened as he lifted his head to look at the man. The man was still holding the baseball bat.

"What did you do?" the man demanded as he strode over to Mac, swinging the bat at the agent.

Mac gasped and tried to dodge the bat unsuccessfully. A scream ripped from his throat when the bat came down on his side. He weakly lifted his tied hands to protect his head from any additional hits. "Don't-...Stop!" Mac could feel himself losing grip on the present as his vision darkened around the edges.

"Leo! Stop! You're going to kill him!" Rick shouted. "Stop! He called someone! We need to leave before the cops get here!"

Mac blinked sluggishly and saw that Rick had managed to snatch the baseball bat away from Leo. The man looked scared, terrified even. Mac lowered his head to the floor, too weak to hold it up anymore. His side hurt. He couldn't breathe.

"He'll tell the cops about us! Is that what you want?" Leo shouted, shoving Rick slightly. "I ain't going back to jail!"

"So what? You're going to kill him?"

"We need to get rid of him!"

"Leo, stop! You said this was gonna be an easy job! He wasn't supposed to be here! I'm not going to let you kill him!" Rick was now pacing back and forth. Then he stopped and walked over to Mac's phone. He glanced at the agent with an unreadable expression before crushing the phone with his foot.

Mac closed his eyes. A little over five minutes. That's how long he needed to hang on. Even though it usually took more than twenty-minutes for Jack to get to his place, Mac knew the older man would break every traffic law there was if it meant he could get to his place faster. If Mac remembered correctly, Jack had once made it to his house in just nine minutes. Although that had ended with Matty having to come to Jack's rescue when the local PD had threatened to arrest him.

Mac yelped as a hand gripped his hair and he was hauled to his knees. His head was wrenched back as he was forced to look into Leo's eyes. "Who did you call? Did you call the cops?"

"No one," Mac gasped. "No cops." His eyes had a hard time focusing on Leo. Where was Jack? What if the call hadn't connected?

Leo released his grip on Mac, causing him to collapse to the floor. "Then who? If you want to make it out alive, you better tell me!" When he didn't get the answer fast enough, he aimed a kick at Mac's midsection.

Mac groaned and pressed his forehead against the cool floor. "I didn't-..."

"Who?!"

"Me," an icy voice from behind stated.

Mac's eyes fluttered open. He knew that voice. "Jack?" He could see a somewhat blurry figure standing in the kitchen. Leo and Rick were standing rigidly, both staring at Jack with wide eyes. Even though Mac couldn't be sure, he knew Jack was most likely in tactical gear and had the men at gunpoint.

"What's up, boys?" Jack asked, sounding almost nonchalant. When neither of the men said anything, he continued, "Not feeling too chatty, I see. In that case, let me do all the talking."

"Who-..."

"Shut up," Jack growled and took a step toward the men. "The only reason I haven't shot you both yet, is because I know that my partner wouldn't like it, even if he's the guy you just beat up."

Anger flashed across Leo's features. "Do you know who you're messing with, old man? You're gonna-..."

"Let's get one thing straight," Jack interrupted him, "I don't care who the fuck you think you are. My patience is running real low right now, so if you don't want to end up in hospital or worse, I suggest you drop the attitude and turn yourselves in to the officers waiting outside." There was not an ounce of warmth in his voice.

Mac braced his hands against the floor as another wave of pain hit him. Jack was there. Everything was going to be okay. He emitted a sharp gasp when he shifted slightly and pain burst in his side. He kept telling himself he was going to be fine. Jack was there, the cops were there. Did Matty and Riley know what was going on?

"I ain't going back to jail!"

Mac's head perked up at the sudden outburst. He raised his head just in time to see Leo lunging at Jack. He flinched when a gunshot rang out and covered his head instinctively. "Jack?" he called out, feeling agitated. When the older man spoke up a moment later, Mac sagged with relief.

"I told you my patience was wearing thin. And what did you do? You charged at the man with the gun! Now was a smart thing to do?" Jack sounded pissed but if Mac was not mistaken, there was a hint of smug satisfaction in his voice. "You're lucky I aimed at your foot and not your head."

Not even a minute later there were police officers everywhere, shouting orders and securing the area. It wasn't helping Mac's headache at all and he found himself gasping for breath as panic constricted his chest. He jerked when someone appeared in front of him.

"Mac! It's okay, bud. You're safe now," Jack drawled. "Just breathe. The EMTs will be here soon. Everything's gonna be fine."

As soon as he felt the ropes around his wrists snap, Mac found himself a fistful of Jack's shirt to clutch. It hurt so much. "J- Jack…" His side hurt so much. He couldn't breathe.

"Easy, kid. You gotta try and calm down."

Mac tried to, he really did, but every time he tried to take a deeper breath, the pain became unbearable. His vision started darkening around the edges. "S- Sorry, Jack," he gasped as he felt himself fading. The last thing he saw was Jack's panicked face above him.

- - MacGyver 2016 - -

Mac blinked blearily at the white ceiling in the dim lighting. He felt like something was wrong. He wasn't at home, the ceiling was different. Where was Jack? Something had happened, he could remember Jack kneeling over him. Pain. He had been in so much pain.

"-ac? How are you feeling?"

Mac was startled by Jack appearing next to him. White hot pain shot through his side, leaving him struggling for air.

"Whoa, Mac! Just breathe, nice and deep," Jack instructed as he placed his hands on the younger man's shoulders. "Sorry, bud, I didn't mean to startle you."

Mac wanted to glare at Jack. 'Deep breaths'. His side felt like it was on fire. He couldn't take deep breaths even if he wanted to. What had happened to him? His memory was a bit hazy. Had someone broken into his house?

"Did the-...Did they catch them?" Mac couldn't recall exactly what had happened but he could remember the baseball bat, the kicks. God, he wasn't looking forward to the nightmares that were going to plague his dreams for days to come.

"Yeah, those guys aren't going to see the light of day in a long time. Matty's gonna make sure of it," Jack assured him. He waited until Mac was breathing properly before removing his hands from his shoulders. "You gave us quite the scare, kid. When I answered the phone and heard those guys…" Jack drew in a deep breath. "I'm glad I got there when I did."

Mac eyed his partner carefully, noticing his tense posture. "I knew you would get there in time, big guy," he stated, "I never doubted it."

Jack shook his head sharply. "I should've gotten there faster. I should have shot those guys. The doc told me what they did to you. They beat you with a goddamn baseball bat! They could have killed you!"

Mac grimaced. He knew what kind of damage being hit with a baseball bat caused. He had been extremely lucky to still be alive and talking. "What did the doctor say?" he asked as he carefully pushed himself into a better position, ignoring the pain the movement caused.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Jack sighed. "Three broken ribs, several more bruised. Grade three concussion. They also had to bandage your wrists and clean the wound on your temple. Luckily you didn't need stitches."

Mac ran a hand through his hair. Broken ribs, a concussion. He hadn't even been on a mission. Why did these things keep happening to him? "How long?"

Jack shrugged. "A few days under observation, three to four weeks on leave."

The young man groaned at that. He was going to go stir crazy. No matter how injured he was, he could never sit still and do nothing. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Nope." Jack smirked. "But don't worry. The rest of the team is on leave as well. Matty doesn't want to leave you unattended in case you somehow manage to attract even more trouble."

Mac rolled his eyes but regretted it as it made his dizzy. He moaned and covered his eyes with his right arm. "Ow, I hate this."

"I know you do. Try to get some sleep, alright, kid? You need to rest," Jack said as he squeezed Mac's shoulder gently. He closed his eyes for a moment. He could have lost Mac. He could have lost him because of two stupid drug addicts. Jack shook his head in disgust. "Riley and Bozer will come here later today. Bozer said he would even bring you actual food."

Mac wanted to argue but the headache was starting to worsen again. He turned to his uninjured side, hissing in pain as his ribs protested. "Jack…" He didn't want to be alone. It was irrational but he was tired and in pain. The thought of waking up alone had him feeling anxious. Jack was the only person he trusted to watch over him.

"I'll be here when you wake up, kid," Jack promised as he sat down in the chair next to the bad. "I'm not going anywhere."

The End!

A/N Thanks for reading! Feedback is always greatly appreciated!