AN: Annnnnd we're back! Whoo! I did warn y'all I was about to get very busy and I did. Merry Belated Christmas and Happy Belated New Years! I hope y'all had a good and safe holiday and all your wishes came true! If you celebrate Christmas today, Merry Christmas! I hope all your wishes came true. Moving forward, as you know my mug is full, so submissions are closed! Repeat: SUBMISSIONS ARE CLOSED! Once my mug is empty (and my mug is pretty small, it's more like a teacup but I love it) I'll reopen submissions. So if you wish to submit a prompt, keep it! Write it down and save it for when submissions reopen :) All good? Let's go!

Prompt Summary: For Nocx (Guest): Mac is injured and on his own. While the others are working to find him, he believes they aren't coming and tries to "MacGyver" his way out in his poor condition.

Mistakes? I'm trash I guess. Flames? Ahhh...warm...

Enjoy my loves!

What Would MacGyver Do?

Mac lays down on the raft he made and let the current pull him forward, he was too tired to continue paddling. He needed to conserve what was left of his energy and try to make it further down the river where his team's base is. Mac coughed then closed his eyes for just a moment to relieve some of the dizziness and pain then his mind wandered back to how he got into this mess.

Earlier-Probably about three hours-Give or take.

Mac and Jack once again ran into some trouble. The baddies they had been chasing had gotten the drop on them and now were now walking alongside their captors in the dense part of the forest. Their hands were tied tightly behind their backs with some coarse rope.

Mac stumbled and was roughly grabbed by the back of his shirt and shoved forward. Mac regained his balance and looked at Jack when the man growled behind his gag. Mac gave him a look that told Jack he was fine. Jack gave him one of the dad looks that told him they would talk later about that. Mac was about to give him a look when the two were shoved forward again and they were walking.

Mac stumbled again and tripped over a root twisting his ankle. He yelped behind his gag and tried to take in deep breaths. Mac was then hauled over one of the men's shoulders with them complaining in their language. Jack all but snarled and grumbled as he struggled against one his captors. The men ignored them and kept onward until they came to an abandoned cabin. Mac and Jack were taken to the basement. Mac was dumped to the floor and then forced to sit against a support beam. Jack who was struggling again and no doubt swearing under his gag as he was forced to sit against the beam behind Mac and the two were secured to it then left to their own devices.

The two heard the leader speaking English saying he was going to sell the older man to the highest bidder and keep the blonde boy with him. They heard him say Mac would be useful to him after some time and harsh training. Mac and Jack had no doubt that the leader had called Matty to tell her of their fates. The two winced when arguing broke out and then silence.

The silence didn't last long as crackling could be heard upstairs. The two struggled as they recognized the sound and smelled a scent they were all too familiar with. Fire. The men had set the place ablaze!

Mac rubbed his wrists against one corner of the beam until he was free. He reached for his boot and dug out his trusty pocket knife! He had gotten smarter and better at concealing it while on missions. He sawed through the ropes binding him and Jack to the beam then got Jack free. The two untied their gags that had been covering the lower half of their face and pulled out the clothes that had been shoved into their mouths. They used their gags as filters from the smoke as they looked for a way out. Seeing nothing they had no choice but to try the stairs. The floor above collapsed and removed a chunk of the stairs while also bringing some of the fire down with it and setting the basement ablaze.

Somehow Mac got Jack to the stairs and had leap over to the door that wasn't there, hence why they were secured to the beam, and through it. Mac yelled to Jack that he was right behind him and to get out quickly. Jack hesitated but Mac kept up his reassurances. More of the floor collapsed and Mac was trapped.

Mac looked around and noticed another room in the basement and headed for it when something fell on top of him. It was heavy and really hot. It was burning his back. He struggled to get free but whatever was on him wasn't budging. He stopped panting and hacking up his lungs. Even with the cloth he had been gagged with acting as a filter, he needed to get out and fast! He heard something more collapse knocked the heavy thing off. He got up and limped to the room. He sighed in relief when he spotted a window.

He broke the window and climbed through. He bolted and ran as far as his ankle could take him. He collapsed in front of the river and laid there for a moment, catching his breath. At least, he was trying to. He was wheezing and coughing. He yanked the cloth off his face and hacked up his lungs. He finally managed to take some deep breaths but was still having some trouble breathing and his throat really hurt. His ankle was throbbing something fierce and his back and legs were on fire.

He tried calling out for Jack but his throat was just too sore and his chest hurt. He prayed that Jack made it out and was now back at base helping to look for him. He laid back down and let himself drift. He just needed to rest for a little bit. Just a little.

Mac jerked awake and bolted up! He looked around and remembered what had happened. He was still here and not back with his family. He thought for sure they would've found him already. It seems like he was on his own this time. He slowly sat up and looked around. He noticed the river and saw it was flowing south. The direction they came from and were snatched. He needed to go that way but he knew he wouldn't make it in his current condition. He closed his eyes and summoned whatever reserve strength he had and stood. He was going to make a raft. He painstakingly made his vessel and was ready to set sail when laughing came sounded from behind.

He turned and inwardly cursed. The man that snatch him and Jack found him!

The man smiled cruelly and praised Mac for his escape, saying he knew he would've gotten out with his brilliant mind. The man ordered one of his lackeys to push the raft into the river so Mac couldn't escape. Mac created a diversion and ran after his raft. He caught up and jumped into the water swimming to his craft. He pushed himself onto it and grabbed the paddle he made and rowed for a bit.

His adrenaline had worn off now, his once twisted ankle probably sprained or even broken was hurting him badly, his back and legs were screaming at him, and his breathing had taken on a wheeze and was labored. He was in bad shape.

Present Time-Sadly

Mac opened his eyes when he heard shouting. He was still floating on his raft and the men were trying to chase after him. Mac groaned. He was too tired and weak to fight and he didn't feel good. Mac winced when the raft bumped into a boulder. He grabbed his paddle and rowed. He saw the rapids and prayed the men were dumb enough to jump in and fight the current.

They were. The men have been swept away and thrown about as the rapids pounded downstream. Mac held onto his raft as best as he could but he couldn't hold up much longer.

He winced and closed his as the sounds of gunshots mixed with the sounds of the rapids carrying him away. The raft hit a huge bump knocking Mac and his poor battered body through a loop and he blacked out into sweet oblivion.

The next time Mac woke up, there was a beeping noise and he felt something on his face. He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling, dazed and confused for a moment then weakly reached up to take whatever was on his face off, but something stopped him.

"Leave it bud. It's helpin' ya." A familiar voice said.

Mac looked over to his left and there was Jack. Mac reached out and Jack took his hand. He tried to speak but his throat burned.

"Don't speak Mackie. Just rest." Jack soothed. "We have got to talk about you shaving years off my life."

Mac smiled under the oxygen mask. He then remembered what had happened and began squirming.

"Whoa. Hey, easy kiddo. Easy." Jack said. "It's all good my man. It's all good."

Mac settled and squeezed Jack's hand asking him what had happened and where are they now?

Jack explained everything. How he knew he couldn't go back into the burning cabin to get him out so he made the hard decision to go back to base and get help. By the time he had gotten back, the cabin was done burning and had collapsed fully. The team and medics dug through the ashes but couldn't find him. Jack argued and insisted that Mac was still alive and had to be around somewhere. The group had broken off into teams and began their search.

Jack's team found him first and captured the men in the Mansons small army. Manson had been captured by Matty's team and was made to surrender. Jack had fished Mac out of the rive after he had been flung off of it and was rushed straight to the hospital where he spent the last two weeks asleep. His injuries consisted of a broken ankle caused by him running on it when it had been twisted, his back and legs were badly bruised and somehow escaped burns from whatever fell on him, his lungs are weak and his throat wrecked by the smoke. He had been on a ventilator at first then taken off two nights ago. He still needed oxygen and probably would for a bit.

"You scared me to death brother. You looked dead and you came close to dying. We almost you a few times." Jack said softly.

Mac squeezed Jacks hand to tell him he was still here and not going anywhere.

Jack brushed Mac's bangs back and let Mac keep his hand for now.

"Go back to sleep bud. I'll be right here." Jack said.

Mac drifted off, letting the medicine do its job. His hand still in Jacks.

Jack sat back and sighed. He and Mac were taking a nice long vacation after this.

Whoo! There we go! Nice and long for y'all ;) I think I might save this prompt and explore it further. There's something I love about it. What do y'all think?

Until Next Time! Merry Christmas to those celebrating today and Happy Belated Holidays everyone!