They intubated Mac on that dusty ground, and loaded him onto a back board and stretcher.

It was a blur of motion and screamed words that Jack didn't understand. He wasn't allowed in the ambulance with him. Jack couldn't move from his spot on the ground, he just sat and stared at the pool of blood on the ground while his hands shook in his lap.

The medics left with his partner but someone knelt beside Jack and gently took his arm.

"Hey, Dalton we need to clean up this area. Are you okay? How about we take you to the hospital with your boy huh?"

Jack shook himself from his stupor and nodded, accepting the help up and the ride to the hospital. Riley had turned off the coms to meet them there but he could still hear her crying. He hadn't just let down Mac he'd let her down too.

He felt numb almost, as if he couldn't hear anything and couldn't concentrate on anything but the memory of Mac's wet, laboured breathing and the way the medics had pulled him away. That kid was the most important thing Jack had in his life, and he let him down.

He looked down at his blood-stained hands and realized he was no longer in a car. He was in a hospital waiting room and someone was offering him a clean shirt and something to wipe his hands on. He hadn't noticed the stains over his clothes but he'd have to change if Riley was going to see him.

That poor girl had been through enough.

Jack took a deep breath as he washed his hands, watching the red turn to pink on the white cloth he'd been given. Riley was still just a kid, he needed to be strong for her. He'd been trained to be calm, to be a leader and that's what he would be for those kids.

He waited in the hall for a few more minutes until a shout came, and he turned in time to catch Riley in his arms. She sprinted towards him and slammed into his chest, crying into his new shirt.

"Jack! Is he okay? Is he alive?"

Jack hugged her and rubbed his hand over her shaking back. He honestly didn't know if their friend was alive, he certainly hadn't looked it when he'd been wheeled away, pale and unresponsive with a tube down his throat. But Riley didn't need to know that.

"He'll be okay Ri. They'll take good care of him, you'll see. Come here."

She hugged him so tight he thought she may break one of his ribs, as her shaking arms and small sobs broke his heart. He pressed a kiss to her temple and just kept hugging her until she calmed down, feeling better for being able to hold someone too.

Once she let go he sat her in a chair and wrapped an arm around her shoulders so that they could wait for news together.

It took a while, a few hours to be exact, but a doctor finally came out and called for them. Jack carefully eased Riley off his shoulder, where she was beginning to wake up after her impromptu nap.

"Hey kiddo, I'm gonna talk to the doctor okay? You just wait here."

The girl nodded and rubbed her eyes as Jack stepped away with the doctor. He was restless and worried and skipped the pleasantries for what he needed to know.

"How is he?"

The doctor looked down at her notes, face serious and definitely not making Jack feel any better.

"He lost a lot of blood, I'm talking almost half his blood volume, so it was touch and go for a while. The bullet broke up inside, after hitting and breaking one of his ribs. One of the pieces did nick his right lung which is why we had to intubate and probably why he bled out so quickly. We've taken out the pieces of the bullet and stabilized him but he still isn't breathing on his own."

Jack nodded and wiped a hand over his face, trying to take everything in.

"Is he going to be okay?"

The doctor nodded, somewhat reluctantly. "He does stand the risk of infection, given what he used for bandages but we already have him on a round of antibiotics. We will most likely be keeping him under for a little bit, to give him a chance to get a little stronger and for his lung to heal but yes, he should heal just fine."

Jack let out a sigh of relief as the doctor continued.

"However he will remain in intensive care for a little while, and this is a serious injury so you may want to call any family to come in."

Jack shook his head, looking back at Riley, to see her eager and worried face, before turning back to the doctor, begging for good news.

"I thought you said he was going to be fine."

She nodded but still looked so serious that Jack's chest felt heavy with worry again.

"He has a good chance of pulling through, but this is serious and complications can arise. We lost him twice on the operating table, Agent Dalton. So, if he has any family, you should call them."

She patted his arm and left, and Jack had so much information to sort through he could only concentrate on breathing.

'Be strong Dalton, that kid is tough. He'll be fine, now look after the other kid.'

Jack took a breath and straightened his shoulders before going back to the hacker waiting. She leant forward, on the edge of her seat, and twisted her fingers in worry.

"What did she say? Is he okay?"

Jack knelt down and took her hands in his, looking up at her with dread. He couldn't decide between giving her the truth or blind faith. Her huge brown eyes were so scared and he hated to worry her more, but he also knew how strong she was and how much she would hate being lied to. He sighed.

"He's alive but it was pretty bad so they're keeping an eye on him. That bullet messed him up pretty good."

Riley bit her lip and nodded before asking the question she'd been wanting to ask all night.

"Can we see him?"

Jack didn't think that would be a good idea. "He's pretty messed up right now Ri, I don't think you want to see that."

"I can handle it."

"He's got a breathing tube in and they're keeping him under until he gets stronger. I don't want you seeing him like that, and he wouldn't either."

Riley's eyes were so big and growing wet once more and Jack couldn't say no to her.

"Please, Jack. I just want to see if he's okay."

The agent sighed, admitting defeat. "Just let me go in first and see how bad it is and then I'll come out to get ya, okay?"

Riley leant forward and pulled Jack into a hug.

"Thank you. And for saving him."

Jack hugged the girl back before nodding and walking to Mac's room.

He had seen MacGyver bleed, and pass out as he was saying goodbye, so he'd seen bad, but this was different. Angus MacGyver was always moving and always thinking about something, and that smile of his could light up a room in even the wort of situations. But there he was, laying cold and unresponsive, covered in wires and bruises.

Jack bit his shaking lip at the tube down the kids throat, and he could barely move an inch closer, except he'd promised he would never leave him. So, with shuddering breath, he approached the bed and took those lax fingers in his hand, rubbing Mac's skin to try and warm him a little.

"I'm sorry I didn't protect you today. I didn't do my job and you got hurt. But I promise, I'll do everything I can to make sure it never happens again. And I know how strong you are so you just keep fighting and come back to us okay?" Jack sighed and sat in the chair beside the bed. He was so exhausted and his voice came quiet in the still room.

"You really scared us, Mac."

He knew that he wouldn't get a response, but it still made his chest ache a little bit. They'd saved him but they didn't have him back yet, and Jack hated waiting. Despite what his partner said about it not being his fault, Jack would, no doubt, blame himself for what happened. He should have been keeping a closer eye on him, should have called for backup sooner, should have never taken this job and got his heart torn out by this genius kid with the puppy eyes.

No, like Mac said, Jack would never trade a second with them for anything in the world. Even if he did look and feel about a year older after each mission. Although this time it felt like about ten.

He let out a tired breath as Mac's own chest rose and fell with the evenness of machinery, the pumps letting out a hiss of air as it breathed for him. Jack really didn't want Riley to see it.

Jack wished he could protect her from all of this. He'd had to come to terms with his own and Mac mortality a long time ago, but Riley had only ever seen the Mac that always had a plan and always got out alive. To her, Mac was indestructible and always came home no matter how bad the mission. Now she was faced with the reality that, every time the team went out on a mission, they ran the risk of never coming back. And he didn't want to do that to her.

He stalled for a just a little before patting his partners hand and promising to be back soon. Riley was still sitting in the waiting area but sprang to her feet when Jack came out. He waved her over and paused as they came to Mac's door.

"I need you to prepare yourself okay? There's a lot of equipment in there and it looks a little scary but it's there to help him."

Riley paused, seeing the genuine fear and concern in Jack's eyes. He was scared of what was in there, and there wasn't much that Jack was afraid of. But Jack was here with her and Mac needed them. She nodded, and Jack opened the door.

She sucked in a breath as soon as she saw him; he didn't look like Mac at all. The Mac she knew was smiley and protective, always moving and full of life. He was like a big brother to her, and now he was a shell. It looked as if he was nothing more than the ghost of MacGyver, kept alive with machinery and nothing else.

She stumbled back a little bit in fright at the sight of him and Jack quickly pressed a hand to her back, to keep her from retreating completely.

"Hey, now, everything's okay. I'm right here, nothin's gonna get ya. Say hello to Mackie."

Riley's hand reached behind her to take Jacks and he squeezed in reassurance as he led her to the bed. She had wanted to be strong but Mac looked like the dead bodies she'd had the misfortune of seeing on some of their missions. Her voice was not as stable as she had hoped.

"Hey, Mac."

She pointed to the tube coming from his mouth as her breath came in rapid pants.

"Is that-?"

Jack looked down at their friend and finished her thought.

"He's not breathing on his own just yet Ri. The bullet nicked his lung."

She watched Angus' chest rise in short, mechanical pumps. She knew what it meant.

"So, he's on life support." It wasn't a question but Jack nodded anyway. It meant it was bad.

Riley let out another shaky breath, feeling more panicked by the second. "We should call his family, they should be here."

Jack looked at her as she began backing away from the bed. "He only has us, no one knows where his dad is."

His heart broke once more as tears fell down her cheeks, her big eyes so overwhelmed she looked like a baby dear shaking on its new legs. "Bozer should know."

Jack started shaking his head but Riley kept going. "I know we can't tell him what we really do or what really happened, but Mac could die and Bozer needs to be here, he deserves to be able to say goodbye."

Jack gently took hold of her arms and leant down to look her in the eye before she spiralled anymore. "We can't Riley, it's for his own safety. And I'd give anything to not feel this pain I feel right now, the one you're feeling too. That pain deep in your chest that makes it feel like you're never going to breathe right again until you see that Macs okay. And knowing that it might not happen? I don't want him to feel that."

Riley's shoulders shook as she cried, nodding as she relented. Jack was right, she could barely handle the pain and she didn't want to do that to Bozer. Mac wouldn't want it either, he hated worrying people.

Jack pulled her into his arms and she cried into his shirt for the second time that day.