"Jack, no!" Bozer stormed into the living room and went to stand in front of Jack, who was reaching for the remote control that lay on the table just out of his reach. The younger man crossed his arms and gave Jack a glare. "What did I tell you about watching TV?"

Jack glared right back at Bozer but didn't cross his arms like he had wanted since his left hand was in a cast and it was aching. "I'm gonna pry that remote control out of your cold, dead fingers if that's what it takes. You can't stop me from watching TV," he stated, his voice dark.

Bozer didn't look impressed. "Wanna bet? Last time you tried to get up from that sofa without a warning, you ended up half unconscious on the floor," he retorted. "The doctor's orders were clear, you're not going to spend time watching any kind of LCD screen for the next few days while you recover."

The older man huffed and slumped back down onto the sofa. "I have had my fair share of concussions and I do, in fact, know how they're treated. I have watched TV before so what makes this time any different?"

"I would say he's been ignoring the order every other time, too," Riley piped in as she came into the living room. Jack made a face at her but she promptly ignored him. "And, by watching TV, you would only succeed at making your headache worse, and waking Mac up. You know how little sleep he's been getting these past few days."

"Yeah, I know," Jack sighed, the look in his eyes softening as he glanced at the other sofa where a certain blond was buried under what looked like four blankets. "But when I get bored and start makin' your life a living hell, I'm not gonna be held responsible."

"Whatever you say, Jack," Bozer rolled his eyes before turning around and grabbing the remote. "I'm hiding this from you in case you still decide to ignore the doctor's orders. Dinner will be ready in about an hour."

"Great," Jack mumbled as he stared at the ceiling. It wasn't like he was that nauseous or lightheaded anymore. It had been three days since he had tried to foolishly stand up quickly and ended up sprawled on the floor. He had learned from his mistake. He had also taken the prescribed meds as told and could mostly keep his food down. Mac was the one he was more worried about.

"You should rest, too," Riley pointed out as she sat on the sofa at Jack's feet. The older agent could tell she was still worried about Mac and him but he couldn't really blame her. Mac and he had caused the two other members of the team quite the scare just six days prior when their mission had gone a little sideways.


Six days ago

"The perimeter's clear. The guards are all taken care of," Jack informed the rest of the team as he finished tying up the last of the five guards that had been spread around the yard not long ago.

These were the kinds of missions he liked more. He could do what he did best, keep the others safe by making sure the hostiles weren't in any condition to cause trouble while the others dealt with the technical aspect of the job. He wasn't so much about missions that put them out in the open where there were million things to be constantly aware of.

"Okay, the security cameras have been taken care of as well," Riley stated a while after him. She was sitting in a van that they had hidden down the street, away from prying eyes and the house - although the layout of the building suggested it was entirely something else since there were two laboratories in the building. After typing on her laptop for a minute or so, she spoke up again, "Bozer, I'm sending you the lock combination. You'll have exactly ten minutes to get in and out of the lab."

"If they catch me, they won't shoot me, right?" Bozer thought aloud, "Getting shot while retrieving a bioweapon that could be used to destroy half of New York is not on my bucket list."

"So don't get caught or shot," Jack helpfully quipped. "Mac, you ready, bud?"

A moment of silence followed as the three waited for the blond agent's response. The younger man had made his way to a smaller side building where the main office should be."Yeah, just give me a sec. These air vents are definitely smaller that I had been hoping for," Mac's huff sounded through their comm system. He sounded a little out of breath. The three members of the team listened to him shuffling and grunting for another minute before the sounds stopped. "Alright, I'm in position. As soon as you cut the power from the building, I'm gonna find the file and I'll be out in fifteen minutes, tops."

It took a bit longer than Riley had expected but not even a minute later she had shut the power. "You're good to go, Mac."

Bozer had gotten into the lab without any problems and was doing a quick job of safely obtaining the bioweapon. He had been quite nervous of the mission, to be honest. It certainly wasn't his first time in the field with the others but it was the first time he had been given a part this important. It wasn't like he had handled bioweapons or any kinds of mass destruction weapons before.

If anything went wrong, he would be on his own. Jack would probably come to his aid if he really got in trouble but the older man wasn't even close to his position.

"Bozer, you have three minutes," Riley reminded him of the time like she had dutifully done since he had first entered the lab. "I suggest you hurry up because you do not want to be around when the guards find out there's an intruder in their lab."

"Thanks but you don't have to remind me," the young man said as he carefully placed the bioweapon into a small case that had been designed to keep it safe and stable during transport. "It's kind of hard to forget about time when you're handling a dangerous weapon that could kill millions of people."

"Guys, less chatter, more work. We're not out of the woods yet," Jack spoke up, interrupting their conversation. "I see an increase in movements behind the windows so keep your eyes out. We don't wanna be taken by surprise at any point."

"Shutting up now, Jack," Bozer smirked. "I got the weapon and I'll be out of here in a minute."

He stepped out of the lab a moment later like he had said. As he crept along the hallway, he couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he got caught. It seemed like Mac and Jack got themselves in trouble a lot but also got out of tough spots quite easily. Would he be able to make a clean and easy escape if that happened or would the more seasoned agents need to help him get away? Bozer didn't really want to find out but he liked to believe he was more like Mac and Jack.

"Your six minutes are up, Bozer," Riley informed him soon.

The young man hummed. "I'm on my way out. Just a couple of more turns and I'll be at the door," he told her. It had been challenging to memorize the layout of the building in just a few hours but it was paying off.

Suddenly alarms sounded throughout the building.

"Uh oh," Bozer stopped and looked around the hallway to see if there was anything that could have set off the alarm.

"Uh oh?" Jack exclaimed. "What's going on in there, Boze?"

"The alarm system just went off," Riley spoke up before Bozer even got his mouth open. "Bozer didn't do anything, it was triggered from the building Mac's in."

"Mac's building?" Bozer's eyes widened as he started hastily making his way to the door. He could hear footsteps coming toward him and he didn't plan to be around to find out who was after him. "Is Mac in trouble?"

"Riley, do you have eyes on Mac?" Jack demanded a split second later.

"No, the building is still dark," Riley told him, "And I can't get in contact with him. His earpiece might have been damaged."

"That's it, I'm going in!" Jack stated and left no room for arguments. "Bozer, run straight to the van when you get out and get out of here with Riley. I'll contact you when Mac and I are out."


Almost immediately after dropping out of the vents, there was interference in the comms. At first Mac tried to adjust the earpiece and moving further away from the spot he had landed to but when it didn't help, he gave up. He hoped the interference was caused by his location and would clear when he left the room. If not, well, he would just have to rely on his instincts a bit more.

This definitely wasn't the first time something prevented them from communicating with each other and like every time that happened, Mac would deal with it and do his job like always.

Mac set to work soon, knowing Bozer and Riley would be alright with Jack watching over them. The room he had dropped to was a storage room of some sort, which suited him fine. He took a flashlight out of his pocket and started making his way to the door. If their source was right, he was only three doors away from the office that should have the information they were looking for.

Mac pressed his ear against the door in an attempt to hear if there was anyone outside the room in the hallway. When he deemed the hallway safe, he carefully opened the door and slipped out into the hallway. The darkness didn't bother him much because he knew how to take advantage of it during missions but there was one thing he wasn't too comfortable with: the flashlight. Yeah, it was nice not to be bumping into every little obstacle on the way and the light made it easy to find the right room but it also made it easier for the bad guys to spot him.

There was a safe in the far right corner of the room and it was the only thing he was interested in. According to their intel, the safe would contain all the information they needed to put the crew responsible for the theft of the bioweapon behind the bars.

As Mac approached the safe, he dug a cloth covered item from his pocket. Removing the cloth revealed a relatively big rare-earth magnet. It would be his only chance at getting the safe open since it would only take a couple of minutes for the guards to figure out the blackout wasn't a coincidence.

In five minutes he had gotten the information he needed and was on his way out. Mac stepped out of the office and took a deep breath. So far so good. He shone the flashlight toward the direction he had come from but was distracted by the sound of a gun being cocked. He spun around and shone the light toward the sound and saw four men staring at him. A few of them looked quite puzzled to be honest but the agent didn't pay attention to that for long. He turned off the flashlight, which plunged the hallway into complete darkness.

"Get him!" one of the men shouted sharply.

TBC