MacGyver exhaled slowly as Jack parked the car in the driveway. He was happy to be home, but the trip inside was not going to be pleasant. Which was why he was going to take a moment to gear himself up for it.
Jack noticed. "You doing okay over there, bud?"
"I'm doing swell," Mac drawled, sarcasm oozing from every pore. He knew Jack meant well, but the man hadn't stopped lecturing him since they left the Foundation.
"Next time, don't let the bad guy knock you down a flight of stairs," Jack countered, his tone light but the expression on his face was grim. "The landing is a bitch."
Grinding his teeth as he willed himself to keep his cool, MacGyver quietly replied, "You know I didn't let him knock me down the stairs. We fell down them after I hauled him off of you before he could crush you to death." The guy had been a giant, at least twice Jack's size, with muscle-bulging arms that had been about to wrap around his friend in a life-ending bear hug. "Besides which, he cushioned my fall." Which was as much of a win as he was going to get.
Jack glared at Mac. "Good thing, bud, because if he had fallen on you, you would have been a MacGyver pancake." He got out of the car, resisting the urge to slam the door. He wasn't angry with Mac, he was pissed that his friend had gotten hurt on his watch. Moving to the passenger side, he opened that door and watched as the kid painfully stepped out of the car. "You should have let medical look you over." Jack knew he was beating a dead horse, but he was worried about his partner.
"I'm fine, just a bit banged up," Mac insisted, for what had to be the fiftieth time or so. At least it felt that way. He took a moment to steady himself against the car roof, wincing at the twinge in his neck and shoulder. Pulled muscles sucked, but he'd take that over a cracked skull or broken bones.
"At the very least you should have let me pick up some crutches for you." Jack winced in sympathy as he watched MacGyver limp his way over to the front door.
Refusing to turn his head, because it would hurt like hell, Mac called over his shoulder, "First off, I have crutches. Second, using them would aggravate my neck and shoulder. Third...I'm fine, stop worrying." With that he continued to hobble along, knowing that in a few minutes he would be able to ice his knee and put heat on his neck and shoulders. That would offer him some relief.
Jack was quick to catch up, hovering nearby in case Mac needed his help. Right on cue the kid stumbled but, typical Mac, he bit back a cry of pain as he caught himself. Jack reached out to steady him, and he could feel the kid trembling. He was hurting way more than he was ever going to let on. So Jack made a decision. "You good?" he asked Mac.
"I'm fine," MacGyver ground out, doggedly putting one foot in front of the other. He was almost to the house.
"Good." Reluctantly letting Mac go, Jack ran to the door, unlocked it with the key the kid had given him a while ago, then he turned to see that MacGyver was just two steps away.
Two more steps and he would be to the door. MacGyver felt almost dizzy with relief. He reached Jack and was about to step past him when he felt the other man slip an arm around his back. Before Mac could ask what Jack was doing, he felt himself lifted off his feet, bridal style. "Whoa...hey!" MacGyver protested. "Put me down!"
Jack didn't even break stride as he carried MacGyver over to the couch, where he set him down as carefully as he could. "Glare at me all you like," he said, almost grinning at the scowl the kid's face. "But I'm tired too and I didn't feel like waiting another twenty minutes to sit down." Striding back over to the door, Jack pushed it closed with his foot. "Now, what can I get you besides water and ibuprofen?" He wasn't going to let Mac argue on that point. The kid would take the painkillers if Jack had to make him swallow them. It wouldn't be the first time.
"I need an ice pack, a heat pack and an ace bandage," Mac replied, not even about to argue about the pills. He knew Jack would make him take them anyway, so he'd just swallow them on his own. Shifting on the couch, he made to get up, but Jack was there, pressing him back with a hand against his chest.
"Where do you think you're going?" Jack demanded.
MacGyver frowned. "To get the ice pack and stuff." He thought it was obvious.
Jack shook a finger at him. "Don't you dare move off this couch," he warned Mac. "I'll get everything you need. Starting with the pain killers." To that end Jack raided the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, returning with the pill bottle a heat pack and the ace bandage." He handed them over to Mac, before heading for the fridge for a water bottle, then snagging an ice pack out of the freezer. "Done and done," he stated, handing the water bottle over first. He watched MacGyver toss back three tablets with a water chaser. "When you're feeling up to it, we'll get you settled into bed."
"I'm going to shower first," Mac replied, before reaching for the bandage. He unrolled it then began wrapping it around his knee, right over his pant leg. After his shower he would do it properly, but this would do for now. Holding out the heat pack he asked, "Could you put this in the microwave for two minutes?"
"I can do that." Jack did so, keeping an eye on Mac as he waited for the microwave to beep. He watched as the kid shifted around until he was half reclined, both legs on the couch but still mostly sitting up. He pressed the ice pack over his knee.
The moment Jack brought him the heat pack, MacGyver laid it against his neck and shoulder and almost sighed in relief. "Thanks, Jack."
Dropping into the chair next to him, Jack replied, "No problem." The kid was nothing if not low maintenance when it came to being hurt or injured. Or sick, for that matter. Jack still remembered the time the DXS office had been hit with a flu bug that made the rounds. MacGyver had taken it upon himself to tend to Jack who was, admittedly, a bit needy and whiny when it came to being sick with a cold or the flu. He had been so self-absorbed in his own misery that he hadn't even noticed that the kid was sick too, not until MacGyver had nearly passed out at his feet. "Can I get you anything else?" Jack asked. "A blanket? Something to eat?"
"I'm good," Mac replied, but he frowned at his friend. "However, if you ever try something like that again...I will make you regret it."
"What...you mean swooping you up in my arms like a damsel in distress?" Jack countered, knowing that was exactly what the kid meant. He couldn't help but smirk at him.
MacGyver arched an eye brow at him. "I hope you pulled something." Suddenly, it didn't seem fair that he was the only one suffering.
Jack snorted. "You're joking, right? Lightweight like you?" You've got to come up with better threats than that."
"Is that a challenge?" Mac countered, as a few ideas started churning. "If so, I accept."
"It wasn't a challenge," Jack was quick to change his tune, because he knew just how creative his friend could be. That ginormous brain of his could come up with ways to make Jack pay for years to come, and he would never see it coming. "How about we call a truce? And a compromise."
Mac frowned at him. "Compromise?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah. I promise not to pick you up and carry you like a damsel in distress again, if you promise not to get hurt again." It was a promise he knew the kid couldn't make or keep.
"You're lucky I'm too tired to throw something at you," MacGyver countered, because he knew Jack was basically reminding him that *shit happened* so deal with it. Which he would do, but that didn't mean he was going to let Jack off the hook.
"Feel up to some gin rummy?" Jack got up and went in search of a deck of cards.
MacGyver pointed to the book shelf in the corner. "So long as we don't bet on any games."
Jack found the deck and sat back down, shuffling the cards. "What's the matter, bud? Not feeling so lucky tonight?"
"Not feeling up to coming up with things to make you do when you lose," MacGyver shot back, shifting a bit to ease the ache in his shoulder. The heat was helping and he was starting to feel the pills kick in, but he knew he was going to be sore as hell come morning.
"Fine, no bets," Jack groused, as he dealt them each a hand. "But in lieu of betting, I get to impart to you a nugget of Jack wisdom."
MacGyver resisted the urge to roll his eyes, figuring it would hurt like the rest of him did. Instead he studied his cards as he drawled, "Fine, lay it on me."
Jack clung to his poker face as he stated, "Next time you find yourself wrestling with a grizzly-sized bad guy, bypass the stairs...take the elevator." He was laughing too hard to duck the half full water bottle that hit him smack dab in the forehead. Rubbing at the sore spot, Jack mock-glared at Mac. "That hurt," he complained, but he was smiling. Even with a sore neck and bad shoulder, the kid had good aim.
"You're lucky I like you," MacGyver commented.
"Don't I know it," Jack agreed, feeling some of the tension he'd been carrying lifting. Mac was participating in their usual snark and banter, which meant he was going to be all right after all.
MacGyver watched his friend visibly relax, and he felt relieved. He knew Jack worried about him and he appreciated the concern, but sometimes it made him feel guilty.
Jack threw a card at Mac. "Stop thinking so hard, I can hear the wheels grinding from over here."
"Sorry." Mac wasn't. "It's what I do."
"Too bad you can't make yourself an off- switch," Jack stated, bending to retrieve the card that had fallen on the floor when he'd tossed it at the kid.
Starting the game by laying down a card, Mac sighed. "I'd do it in a hearbeat if I could." He grinned. "I'd make you one too."
Jack frowned, not even trying to hide his confusion. "I know how to shut my brain off." The moment he said it, Jack knew he was setting the kid up for a zinger.
"Not where I was going with that," Mac said, letting that one slide by him. "I'd make an off-switch for your snoring. I have a theory that when you hit the REM cycle, if I amplified it, you could actually wake the dead."
"Funny." Jack threw darn a card, then got up to snag a beer. "Should I call for pizza?
MacGyver nodded, hissed at the pain the movement caused, then sighed. "Pizza sounds good." He wasn't hungry now, but he would be later. "My treat."
Jack pulled out his phone. "Works for me. What are you hankering for?"
"Surprise me, just no anchovies." Mac wasn't all that particular about pizza.
"Meat lovers it is," Jack replied, dialing and placing the order. Then he sat back down and played his card. Then it hit him. "Where's Bozer?"
Mac had to think about it for a moment. "Yoga night. He should be home soon."
Jack made a face. "I don't get that yoga thing. Why would you want to fold your body into a pretzel? How is that even remotely relaxing or peaceful?"
"You're just sore because you lost that bet with Thornton and she made you take a class," MacGyver countered, chuckling. He still had the pictures and video on his phone. They were going to come in handy some day.
"Remind me never to piss that woman off." Jack shuddered. "She truly believes that making me do that Yoga class was taking it easy on me."
MacGyver wasn't going to deny that Thornton was scary, when she wanted to be. "Can we put the game on hold until the pizza comes?" he asked, setting his cards down and slowly sitting up.
Jack watched him with growing concern. "What are you doing?"
"The pills are kicking in, so I'm going to shower and get comfortable now," Mac explained as he laid the ice pack and hot pack aside and carefully stood up. He waved a hand when Jack started to help him. "I can do it."
"Call me if you need me," Jack countered, unable to hide a grin. "I can carry you back out," he teased.
MacGyver smirked. "You could," he allowed. "But keep in mind they would never find your body afterwards."
Jack held up a hand in surrender. "I know you say that with love."
"I do," Mac confirmed. "But they really never would find your body," he stated, before slowly hobbling into his room. He smiled at the sound of Jack laughing.
Truth be told, MacGyver was the lucky one. And he knew it.
THE END.