AN: Set between 2.03, Lipstick, and 2.04, Jack, and written because Mac-and-Jack bromance feels are amazing.

To the Guest who asked for Mac hurt on a mission and Beth looking after him as a girlfriend, didthatreallyhappen has asked for more-or-less the same thing, so I'll be combining the two requests. You'll have to wait a while for it to post; I've got quite a buffer built up on this story!

In the middle of the night, after a long, but thankfully not terribly eventful, mission with just the two of them in Nigeria (certainly very different from their last mission in Cleveland, to say the least), Jack, half-asleep, heard his partner's voice in the darkness.

Mac's voice sounded very young, plaintive and vulnerable and a little scared.

'Jack? Are you awake?'

Jack did his best to put some grumpy grumbling into his voice when he responded.

'Well, I am now.'

Mac huffed out a weak breath that was probably an attempt at a laugh, then continued.

'Am…am I ever going to be able to fall in love again?'

And just like that, Jack's heart broke a little for the younger man, yet again.

He sat up, and reached for the light switch for the reading light above him. The dim light came on, and Jack could see his partner, who was sitting up with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and staring at yet another broken-heart paperclip.

Jack got up from his seat and went and sat on the couch beside Mac, putting an arm around the younger man's shoulders, squeezing for a second before speaking.

'Yeah, you will, brother, you will. One day, you're gonna meet a pretty, smart woman who loves that mad science stuff you do and your paperclip thing and horrible dress sense and crazy, brilliant brain, and then you're gonna get married and walk down the aisle to that She Blinded Me With Science song and have a mini-genius or two and get a dog called Archimedes the Second.' Mac gave a weak snort that sounded like it might have been a half-laugh, as Jack continued, squeezing Mac's shoulders a little tighter. 'And I know you're gonna, because you're Angus MacGyver, and you can do impossible things and you're one of the strongest people I've ever met and you can survive hell and come out even better on the other side. I know that, brother, 'cause I've seen you do it.' Jack paused for a moment. 'And we're gonna be with you every step of the way. We're gonna do everything we can to help you get there.' He paused again, and when he spoke, his voice was a little rough with emotion. 'I'm gonna be there for you, brother. Always.'

Mac was silent for a moment, processing. Jack wasn't convinced that the younger man completely believed him, but he'd done everything he could, for now, and he'd meant every word he'd said.

He believed Mac would manage to get through this.

He believed that Mac would work through what Nikki had left him with, and that one day, he'd find love again, despite the huge number of obstacles in his way.

Obstacles of any sort really didn't stand much of a chance against Mac, after all.

And, well, he also had Jack. He had Jack's life experience to draw on, would learn from Jack's mistakes, and thus, Jack fervently believed (hoped) would never make them himself.

(One day, if it came down to it, if Mac found himself with a Diane and a Riley, knowing everything he did now, knowing how much Mac wanted that white-picket-fence happy ending, knowing how much Mac had sacrificed – and would sacrifice – for the world, Jack would do everything he could to convince Mac to give up his job, to leave the Phoenix and the world of spies and secret agents.)

(To be a little selfish, because he'd earned it. More than earned it. Paid in sweat, tears and blood and a thrice-broken heart. Nearly paid with his life far too many times.)

(And because love and family were worth everything.)

Jack believed in his partner. Jack believed that Mac could put himself back together and heal, and find love again and everything else he wanted, everything else he dreamed of.

Mac didn't believe that right now, didn't have that hope, not with the faith that Jack did, so Jack would believe for him, for now.

Then, after a moment, Mac put his own arm around Jack's shoulders, and gave a little smile.

'Thanks, Jack.'

As always, the for everything went unsaid.

It didn't need to be said, after all.

AN: No idea where this came from, but did you like it?

I'm not sure if Jack convincing Mac to leave the Phoenix one day and go and be a 'normal' person for the sake of love and family is an unpopular opinion or not, but I feel that Jack would try and do that. I mean, he loves Mac dearly, he wants Mac to be happy and he wants Mac to have what he didn't get (at least in the conventional way) and to not make his mistakes. I think if you asked Jack if he'd go back in time and leave the DXS for Diane and Riley, he would probably say no (given that then he'd probably never have met Mac), but at the same time, I imagine it to be one of his greatest regrets. So, I think if Mac were ever in the same scenario, Jack would encourage him to leave, probably with a mixture of personal anecdotes and the argument that Mac has given up far too much for the sake of the greater good. (And honestly, I headcanon that Jack, Bozer and Riley would leave with him, with Jack retiring, taking up fixing cars and teaching part-time at some military college and maybe getting back together with Diane, Bozer becoming a stay-at-home dad who makes movies in his spare time, and Riley joining the FBI and becoming really senior in the Cybercrime division. And Matty – or Thornton, if she turns out to be not-evil – would pull some strings and get Mac a job at DARPA, despite his lack of a college degree…this might one day turn into a story, I can feel the plot bunnies approaching…)

She Blinded Me With Science is the song that McGee and Delilah of NCIS had played at their wedding. It seemed like the sort of thing that Jack would suggest that Mac have played at his!

The next chapter will be up on Sunday night my time (Sunday morning for Americans). The summary is as follows: (Not) the Reason Why Girls Never Go to the Bathroom Alone, set during 2.22, Bobby Pin. Riley and Beth's bathroom conversation.