AN: I am super excited that you guys enjoyed the last chapter, so excited I couldn't wait to post this. Can't tell you what it means to know that people appreciate your work. I only hope this chapter lives up to the last. Also, I am not a military, medical or any kind of real professional so I am taking some liberties here and hope it doesn't detract from the story.

Fibs versus Lies 2

"Mac, buddy, I need you to answer me."

…no answer.

"Bro?"

…silence.

Shifting his weight, Jack tried to peer into the darkness to get a better view of the wood currently impaling his friend. "I wonder if this is what vampires fear in those movies…"

"Vamp…'re…ss? R'al..y..ac.k?"

"Mac! Oh, bro it is good to hear your voice. I thought you were ignoring me."

"Tr'e..d…too annoy'ng."

"Now, that is not very nice of you. I expected better."

"S'ry…"

"I bet you would look good in glitter."

"Wh…at?"

"Y'know, from that popular vampire movie. They twinkled in the sun."

"I don' w..a..nna twi'kle…"

"Not your choice bro. Should have thought of that before you kicked me out of doing the stupid stuff. That's my favorite stuff. You know that."

"I won't..lose…you too."

"Everyone has to go at some point, bud. I hate to break it to you but you can't stop death. No one can."

"Ma..yb..e this is m'ine."

"NO. No, kid. That is NOT happening."

"Can't st..p d..ea..th."

"The hell I can't. Watch me."

Jack was gratified to hear Mac cough-laugh.

"Ok, we need to stabilize that piece of wood. If it moves even an inch it could sever the artery and that is not an option."

The floor grumbled under their bodies, causing Jack to reach a hand out to steady himself. A flurry of dust rained down on the couple sending them into coughing fits.

"Th..ere..s your glit..ter…" Mac shot back weakly.

"That was supposed to be for you, not me."

"Think…it ma'es oo dis..t..inguish…ed"

"Why, thank you Mac."

"L..ike Sean..Con'ery."

"I am touched, Mac that you compare me to that stud."

"Well, y..ou're bo..th…older.."

"You—-!"

Jack broke off his words when he heard Mac succumb to a coughing fit, that ended sounding wet. Taking care, he gently lifted Mac head and swore. Blood dribbled down his lips, a sure sign of internal bleeding. Probably a punctured lung. If I don't get him out of here soon…

A quick glance in the immediate area revealed something familiar laying on the ground not too far away. Snatching the material up, Jack immediately started shredding his shirt that he had used for cover into strips. Sliding back over to Mac, who was only semi-conscious now, he quickly but carefully wrapped the material around the thin wood and tied it off, wincing as he heard Mac groan. With light fingers, Jack probed the piece of wood, he barely noticed as several slivers found new homes in his hands. About a foot from Mac back, the wood appeared to be broken, a piece hanging off. Probing that piece, Jack realized it was actually a significantly heavy piece hanging off, probably causing the wood to shift under the weight.

Wincing at the pain he knew was going to his already injured friend, Jack seized the hanging piece of wood and moved it back and forth as steadily as he could; attempting to wear the last piece down to where it would snap off. Back and forth, this way then that. Easy does it. Come on, you piece of—

With a nearly inaudible snap, the wood released its hold from the mother stick. Without a thought, Jack tossed it over his shoulder.

"Mac? Mac!"

It had been awhile since he had last heard from his friend and that typically didn't bode well. Jack moved his fingers to his friend's neck and checked for a pulse. He waited. There. A faint but stead beat thrummed under his fingers. Breathing out, Jack re-evaluated his surrounding now that the greatest threat seems to be under control, namely Mac's injury. With the fire creeping ever closer, he could feel the heat rising but he could also see a little better.

What he saw, he didn't appreciate. Lining the walls of the basement were large containers. On the opposite wall was a table stacked with tubes, wire, and material similar to that of the bomb that had gone off. Great. we found the bomb maker's lair (love that word…lair). Which means, if that fire reaches us, there is a very good chance that it will light this place up with a bigger explosion than before.

"Mac, had to wake you but we have a problem, well, another problem."

"..ack?"

"Yeah, buddy, it's me. You seem to have found the bomber's lair—-"

"Lair, real'y Jack?"

"Yes, which means if we don't get out. It's gonna blow. Again."

"Tha' no' b' gud."

"No, buddy. Not good at all. Any ideas?"

"Chem'cal mix-ture t'xic…needs—venti'ation."

"Ventilation? Oh, you mean he had to have away to vent the basement. Gotcha."

Spinning around, Jack surveyed the wall, look for a vent, window, anything the bomber could have used. It was solid concrete. No joy. Come on, give me a sign. Smoke was starting to take up space now, casting a haze throughout the room.

"Foll'w the…sm…smok..e."

Jack glanced back at the prone form, follow the smoke? What am I some sort of smoke whisperer? Nonetheless, Jack allowed his eyes to track the smoke. "I don't understand Mac, what am I supposed to see?"

A movement caught Jack's eye. Straining his eyes, he focused on that part of the ceiling, the smoke was wafting up, through the ceiling which should have been impossible as there was no hole there. Walking until he was standing just under the section, he covered his mouth and nose as best he could to protect it from the onslaught of smoke. There was no doubt that the smoke was escaping somehow.

The house gave an ominous groan. Jack's head whipped toward where Mac was still laying, more debris was starting to rain down on the kid, little things that weren't much to worry about but Jack wasn't sure for how long. Hurrying back over, he crouched down, "Mac, I have to move you. It's going to hurt like hell, but it's better than the alternative."

He received a grunt in response. As carefully as he could, he took the kid by his ankles and slowly pulled him over towards the area where the smoke was escaping, he winced as the agonized scream that reverberated the basement. Oh, I forgot about his leg. Crap! The house shuddered violently. Without a thought, Jack crouched over the kid, keeping his body between the debris falling down on them and the wood piece still protruding from Mac.

Once the dust settled, Jack shifted so that the dust and pieces of wood and tile bounced harmlessly to the floor. Holding his index finger under Mac's nose, he was relieved to feel the faint puffs of air hitting it; verifying he was still breathing.

"Ok, how to get through now?"

"How about you use the stick?"

Jack yelped and jumped backwards, tripping over some conveniently placed debris causing him to land on his rear end.

"MAC, give a guy some warning?!"

"Sorry…no, not sorry. Nope."

"Geez, almost gave me a heart attack, and I am too young for a heart attack."

"That you are Jack…That you..are. Now, about that stick."

Grumbling about bossy younger agents, Jack snatched the aforementioned long piece of splintered wood and glanced up through the descending smoke. Gripping the wood tightly, Jack thrust it up as far as he could.

THUK THUNK

"That's wood! That's wood! Maybe some kind of door? Mac, Mac! We just need to get this open!"

"…Yup."

Jack hit it several more times.

0-0-0-0-0

Riley paced up and down the length of the house, trying to ignore the heat that pulsated from the fire currently engulfing the upper floors. The far right of the house's roof collapsed, sending embers into the air. The distant wailing of truck engines were a welcome sound. She took off towards the road, waving her arms around frantically. The engines followed the sight of the smoke to the house, screeching to a stop.

"Get those hoses out—"

"Sir! Sir! I have two guys trapped inside. Please!"

The man in uniform glanced from the house to the young woman, his eyes doubtful.

"We'll do what we can, please stand back. Men on the double. GO, GO, GO!"

Activity exploded around Riley as men jumped from trucks, pulling hoses out, and axes. She could only watch as they sprang into action and prayed they weren't too late. Water cascaded from the hoses, mixing with the fire in tenacious dance. Steam hissed and smoke lightened in color as their assault began.

0-0-0-0-0-0

The crackling of fire grew louder despite the mist of water that joined it. The fire was creeping closer and that was not a good thing with them being surrounded by all those chemicals. It was already a miracle that it hadn't exploded already. That thought gave Jack an idea. Now he wasn't an EOD specialist but he has been around the business to have picked up a thing or two about explosions. Hurrying the table, he glanced at the bottles, jars and various items. Most of them he had no idea what to do with, but a few of them were familiar. Dumping one jar over, he emptied it enough, then filled it with another liquid, ripped a strip of his shirt stuck it into the jar, knotted it at the end with still some sticking out; he then doused the strip sticking out.

Taking a quick breath, he ran to where some debris was on fire, lit the strip and ran back towards the desire area and threw it up at the ceiling. The glass shattered on impact. The liquid from the jar splattered on the ceiling and the fire from the makeshift wick lit the liquid. Fire spread quickly on the fuel. Within moments the fire was spreading. Waiting a few moments, Jack started to renew his efforts of banging on the now flaming ceiling with his broken stick. Embers rained down on Jack, but despite that he kept banging, even as he grew weaker from the exertion and smoke inhalation.

Creeaaakkkkkk CRASHHH!

The fire had successfully eaten away at the wood that Jack's efforts were rewarded with flaming wood crashing over top of him. Shaking it off, he peered up and was never so glad to see the smoke-covered sky as he was.

0-0—0-0-

Riley knew that the chances of finding them were dwindling with every passing minute. She gnawed on her lower lip until she tasted blood before switching to attacking her thumb nail. Another section of the house crashed down, and with it her hopes. Knees trembling, Riley could only watch as the firefighters started to pull back their focus and instead start to keep the fire from spreading. They weren't trying to save the house any longer. A new flare of fire caught her attention, it was on the side of the house, some sort of connected cellar. It burned for a few moments before that section also collapsed.

"Help!"

Riley blinked.

"HELP!"

Riley reacted.

She pushed past the firefighters, ignoring the waves of heat and the constantly falling debris. Skidding to a stop, she tried to peer down into the smoke. Coughing, she tried to call out.

"J..ack? Ma..c?"

"Riley? That you?!"

"JACK!"

Spinning around, she waved her arms frantically while calling out to the firefighters. The nearest one saw her and rushed over to where she was pointing. With a brief glance, he too called over the others in his command.

They tried to called through to the trapped occupants but the raging fire made that nearly impossible. Riley grabbed a walkie-talkie from the belt of one of the fire guys, wrapping a strip of cloth around it, she lowered it into the hole.

"OUCH! RILEY!"

Riley then grabbed another radio from another fighter and keyed it up.

"JACK! JACK! Is Mac there? Is Mac with you? JACK?"

"I hear you Riley, yes, he is here. He's hurt. I can't move him. I need a back board, and some rope and something to stabilize him with."

"Understood, well get you what you need."

Without waiting for directions, a firefighter near the back took off towards their truck and a recently arrive ambulance. The paramedics trailed after the fire fighters, gear in hand. Laying the back board down, they tied ropes to the ends and lowered it down. More firefighters raced over, a ladder over their shoulders.

Communicating over the radio, they instructed Jack to make room before they lowered the ladder in place. Securing it, one firefighter went down and then a paramedic. Riley waited in tense silence. The squawking of the radio caused her to jump.

"Alright, we have the patient secured, we need you to bring him up slowly and evenly. Do NOT tip it."

"Roger that."

With steady hands, the firefighters moved in practiced precision to bring up their patient was level as possible. Riley gasped when Mac's body came into view with a semi-long stick pierced through him. Her stomach dropped at his completely still body. Her mind didn't register if his chest was rising or falling with breath. All she saw was blood and her larger than life friend impaled.

Quickly the firefighters reached out to get more hands on the backboard and carry it off to the ambulance. They filed off two by two, like pall bearers. Riley hated that her mind made that connection. She hated herself. Not Mac. Please, not Mac!

AN: I swear I was going to wrap it all up in this one but it felt like an appropriate stopping place.

So, what did you think, did it live up to the last chapter?

3/21/17 R.S