AN: This is my tenth installment in my personal challenge to write a tag for every episode. This is a tag to 1x10, Pliers. I would love it if you read my tags to the other episodes too! In general, I'm really happy with how this one turned out. I had a really fun time writing it :) I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review!
The ride back to the sheriff's station was uncomfortable to say the least. Sandoz had chosen to separate Mac and Jack - much to their displeasure and Jack's concern - and proceeded to regale Mac with tales of their childhood together.
"Remember that time I dragged you behind the bleachers by your stupid hair and reminded you why you should never humiliate me in science class? Or the time I locked you in your locker because you were just so freaking annoying? Or the time I shoved your face into the pavement just because it was fun? We had some good times, didn't we, Angus?" the man said with a sadistic smile.
Mac rolled his eyes, but didn't respond. He was pretty sure that would only make things worse.
"How about we do it again, just for old time's sake?" he proposed, a wild glint in his eye as he took a corner the other cop car had not, and drove just far enough not to be visible from the intersection.
Mac knew exactly where this was going, and tried to work his cuffs underneath him to try to get his arms to the front of his body so he would at least have a fighting chance against the larger man. The fact that the man hadn't buckled Mac's seatbelt helped, but Mac still wasn't able to get enough give on the cuffs to get them under him before Sandoz was opening the door and tossing him to the ground. Being unable to brace himself with his hands, the fall knocked the wind out of Mac for a moment.
"Come on, Donny, we're adults. You're a police officer, do you really think this is necessary?" Mac reasoned once he regained his breath, but to no avail. The man had only become a cop because of his love of holding power over others. He was a disgrace to the blue line, and to the millions of cops who only want to keep people safe. Mac knew that there were far more psychopaths in the world than most people thought - most people actually know five or six of them, and will never know that they really are psychopaths. Due to his line of work, the number that Mac had met was skewed significantly higher. Sandoz just happened to be one of the run of the mill ones.
"Oh Angus. Oh stupid, stupid Angus. We're never too old for fun like this," he said with a crazed smile. The man went to kick Mac in the ribs, but the blond was able to quickly roll away and use his momentum to stand. "You actually think you can fight back?" he asked with a laugh. "Nothing's changed Angus. You'll always be that weak little boy who, despite his grades, could never figure out why dear ol' daddy left you in his dust. Did you ever figure it out yet? It was because you were an obnoxious little brat," the man taunted. He took a swing at Mac, but the blond was able to dodge.
The terrain was rough, which eventually proved to be Mac's downfall. After successfully maneuvering away from several possible blows, Sandoz took another swing at Mac with his arm while reaching around to hook Mac's ankle with his leg. The combination of the pull from Sandoz and the loose gravel under his feet caused Mac to fall back, right onto his still cuffed hands. Sandoz took advantage of the fall and began raining blow after blow onto Mac's torso, his stomach and ribs taking a heavy beating from the man's large feet. A particularly rough kick to the side left him gasping in pain at the familiar sensation of a cracked rib. Mac tried to curl in on himself for a modicum of protection, only to have Sandoz grab him by the hair and force him to straighten out. The large man straddled him, making it impossible for Mac to do anything to protect himself.
"As much as I would love to, I know I can't really mess up that ugly mug of yours that much, since I do need a convincing story to stick too. But that doesn't mean I can't have one more bit of fun," the man said, sneering down at Mac, who had squeezed his eyes shut against the pain.
Sandoz quickly got off Mac and pulled him up by his hair, and smashed the blond's head into the side of the car with a sick smile. Mac fell back to the ground, barely holding onto consciousness. He felt mostly unaware of it, but the next thing he knew, he was back inside the car, and they were driving again.
"Now wasn't that fun, Angus? Just like old times," Sandoz said with a chuckle. "And of course, just like back in school, no one is gonna believe you, except maybe your pal Bozer, but he was never as much fun to mess with as you anyway."
Mac didn't respond, he only focused on slowing his breathing against the pain in his ribs, his gut, his hands, his head - everywhere really. The side of his head was pounding, but he couldn't feel any blood. Normally that would be a good thing, but in this case it meant that Mac couldn't prove that Sandoz had done this to him. Surely the dirty cop would say that this was the condition he had put him in the car in, and the only one who could really say anything otherwise was Jack. It would be their word against Sandoz', and knowing how the town of Mission City felt about Mac, he was pretty sure he knew who they would believe.
Mac was taking too long. Jack had been waiting in the holding cell for near ten minutes, and Mac still hadn't joined him. The moment that Sandoz had decided to separate the two of them, Jack had gotten a bad feeling, and his partner's absence was making things worse. The other car had been following the one Jack was in for the first half of the drive, then Jack lost sight of it. Now all Jack could do was pray that Mac was okay, and hope that Patty got around to getting them released. He knew the local LEOs couldn't hold them for very long - they hadn't even booked them, knowing that they didn't actually have anything on them yet - but still, he would rather be out trying what Mac and Bozer promised to be the best burgers ever at Burger Nirvana than sitting in a holding cell in a small jail.
No sooner had Jack's thoughts turned towards the possibility of delicious burgers than the door to his cell opened, and his partner was roughly pushed through, stifling a gasp. Jack stood and made to move on instinct, but the rough grip Sandoz took on Mac's arm stopped him. The brute undid Mac's cuffs and roughly pushed the kid forward, causing him to fall straight into Jack, who caught him in his arms.
"Have fun with your sugar daddy," Sandoz sneered as he turned and left, locking the door behind him. Jack just stared after him in confusion and disbelief for a brief moment, until his attention was once again taken up by his partner's gasp of pain.
"Mac? What's wrong?" he asked as he gently lowered his partner onto the bench.
Mac took several slow breaths, his eyes squeezed shut, his arm holding his gut, but eventually responded, "I'm fine."
"In a pig's eye you are!"
Mac opened his eyes to give Jack his own disbelieving look.
"Okay Bones, it's just some bruises. Nothing that won't heal," he responded, still clutching his side.
"Let me see," Jack said, motioning to Mac to pull up his shirt.
"It's not a big deal," the kid grumbled, refusing to meet Jack's eye.
"Fine I'll do it myself," Jack grumbled right back at him, gently pulling Mac's arm away and lifting up the kid's shirt. The sight that greeted him left him speechless. The kid's torso was mottled with purple and red bruises, a particularly nasty one on one of his lower left ribs. "He did this to you didn't he?" Jack asked, his voice low and deadly serious. "That bastard did this to you," he repeated.
"Jack, there's nothing we can do about it. He was right, no one is gonna believe us."
Jack sighed. He knew the kid was right. It was their word against the word of a dirty cop in a small town. The man turned Jack's stomach, disrespecting the uniform and the blue line like that. It was men like Sandoz who the media latched onto and made out all cops to be like.
"Patty'll make sure this never happens again. Not to you, or to anyone else. I personally guarantee that. She will make Sandoz pay for this, I promise," Jack swore to his partner. No one was ever allowed to hurt his kid like this and not face any consequences. Jack gently prodded the bruises, checking for internal bleeding or broken bones. He let out a string of soft apologies and reassurances each time Mac whimpered in pain. Luckily, only the one rib seemed to be cracked.
Jack carefully pulled the kid's shirt back down, apologizing yet again for causing him discomfort. Usually the two were able to sit in comfortable silence, but not this time. This time, Jack felt awkward. He had no idea to what to say Mac. Being a popular kid throughout most of school, he had zero experience with the bullying that Mac had seemed to experience on a regular basis. It was amazing that the kid had any happy memories of the town at all. There was nothing Jack could say to Mac that his partner didn't already know. Mac understood why Sandoz was the way he was. He was a psychopath and a sadist, plain and simple. Jack settled for just sitting next to Mac on the bench, and resting his hand on the kid's back, gently rubbing in what he hoped was a comforting manner.
"Alright bud, you should get some sleep. We're probably gonna be here all night, so there's no use in staying awake," Jack said, squeezing the back of Mac's neck.
The blond sighed. "Only if you do too."
"I'm a man of my word," Jack replied with a forced smile. He was still inwardly seething about what that dirty cop had done to his kid, but he wanted Mac to feel as relaxed as possible. "Now come on," he continued, patting his lap.
Mac looked at him like he'd just cited the quadratic equation.
"I am not sleeping with my head on your lap in a jail cell," he said adamantly. "Especially not after Sandoz' 'sugar daddy' comment," he added with a roll of his eyes.
Jack just laughed at him.
"Kid, you're the one who's all banged up, which means that you're the one who gets the best surface to sleep on. We don't need to add a sore neck to your list of injuries," Jack replied, patting his legs once again.
"You know, Jack," Mac started, with that look in his eyes he always got when he was about to go on a science lecture. "You're actually supposed to sleep with your spine correctly aligned, which means that if you sleep on your back or your front you should have a much smaller pillow in order to keep your spine at the right angle, which means-"
"Alright enough I get it," Jack gave in. "Just close your eyes and go to sleep then," he finished, doing just as he told Mac to do.
Mac grumbled, but did the same, relaxing against the wall of the jail cell. The kid's body had taken a toll, so he was out in only a minute. Within five minutes, his head had already found its way to Jack's shoulder. Maybe he would wake up with a sore neck, but at least the kid was comfortable now. Jack smiled, and fell asleep himself.
A few hours after Mac and Jack were released, Sandoz found himself being given custodial duty for the foreseeable future, as well as weekly mandatory meetings with HR about protocol, and just being nice to people. He was followed around like a hawk, was never allowed to be alone with a suspect. His assigned partner was so obnoxious about following protocol to the letter that Sandoz never had the chance to hurt an innocent ever again.