EPISODE 4: X-ray + Penny
Mac stared at the cork impaled with the corkscrew from his vintage Swiss army knife. It was the perfect metaphor for his search for his father. He remembered the day his grandfather had given it to him.
"If you ever feel alone or in trouble there's a tool in there to help you."
"Will it help me find him?"
Mac had never gotten an answer then, and he didn't have one now. He stifled a cough and pulled his coat closer together. Paris was cool, almost half the temperature of LA, and Mac still couldn't shake the bout of pneumonia he'd brought back from Siberia. In fact, he was supposed to be home resting. Mac felt a pang of guilt. He'd ditched Jack. He knew the lecture he'd get from his partner almost word for word. Mac didn't need Jack to tell him he was obsessed and following tiny leads that will produce nothing. Mac set the cork down. The mission to find his father...well, he felt screwed just like the cork.
"You know, I remember a children's rhyme once 'There once was a place in France…' Was it in France?" Mac's heart jumped as Jack seemed to appear out of nowhere as only Jack could. Mac shot him a glare.
"What are you doing here?" Mac couldn't keep the annoyance out of his voice. Just once he wanted to do something without Jack holding his hand, or hovering like a helicopter ready to hop in with any move he made. Besides, Mac told himself, Riley needed Jack more than he did.
"Moi? Me?"
"Seriously what are you doing here?" Mac didn't do anything to warm his cold tone. Jack shot back his words sharp with bitterness and sarcasm. Jack chases him halfway around the world, and he's irritated? Mac was surprised Jack let him go in the bathroom alone. And Jack was just getting started. Mac tried to explain to him that he wanted to be alone. Mac thought he'd put as nicely and tactfully as he could. Jack exploded and told him about the man who'd trailed him.
Rookie, he had acted like a rookie. Jack's continuing sarcastic attack pissed him off.
"Maybe I should just fly home."
"Maybe you should." Mac regretted it the second it left his mouth. Jack had gone around the world more than once to help Mac on this quest. Mac was more grateful than he ever could voice, but at some point he had to fly on his own, right? It was his father, his search, his problem. It was something he had to do to prove he wasn't that lost 12 year old crying over a birthday gift he never got or the father-sized wound that never healed.
Jack laughed and hit the table. Mac frowned at the cold chuckle of pain Jack gave as he stood up and backed away.
"I know when I'm not wanted." Mac's heart seized up as Jack strode off his spine stiff. Mac wanted to call him back, apologize...but, he told himself it's not like he'd asked Jack to come all this way. Mac watched Jack turn the corner and instantly missed his presence. Mac sighed and threw money on the table walking the other way. He pulled his coat even closer, chilled by a cold wind that had nothing to do with the weather.
As predicted, the professor didn't remember his father or any of their collaborations. Mac made it to Charles De Gaulle in time to hop on the plane. He was one of the last passengers aboard. He barely noticed the other passengers. He crawled to his window seat and curled his hands over his chest staring out at the bustling workers in bright orange. It could have been one of a billion airports. Mac half-listened to the safety instructions and turned away eyes closed as the plane scaled the sky.
Mac hated take-off and landings. Most accidents happen at one or the other. It was as if he were relinquishing his hold on the earth. Mac glanced at the passengers beside him. A furry man in a striped shirt talked to a baby on his lap as a wrinkled woman with a shrill Jersey accent told him what a terrible father he was. Mac turned away his eyes burning. Had anyone ever told his father that? Had anyone ever stuck up for him? Mac swallowed, his throat dry. Jack always had. Mac leaned his head against the window. The plane's grinding engine rattled his skull but couldn't shake the replays of their conversation from his head.
Mac didn't sleep, eat or take in the movies played before him. He got up and paced the plane for half an hour before the flight attendant shooed him back to his seat. Mac barely took in the wild turbulence they flew through over the Atlantic. Only the thought of Jack leaving and anger at himself for being an asshole to the one person who'd never let him down rolled through his brain.
Mac almost laughed at the note from Bozer. Well, Bozer had tried.
"Almost Boze, almost." Mac pulled out the fridge and sighed. He put the phone on speaker.
"This is message six, I know you're just putting me to voicemail. I'll be home fixing the refrigerator. I have some warm beer and an apology waiting." Mac wished Jack would just answer. He knew the older man was waiting for him to get desperate and beg. Mac though six messages during the ride home was begging, but he knew how petulant his partner could be. Mac just wanted to make it right with his partner.
Mac smiled when the doorbell rang. Finally! He crossed to the door pausing only to wipe water off his boots. He threw open the door. His brain stuttered to a stop. Instead of Jack, three men in generic white masks and black hoodies. Before his brain could start again, the first one thrust forward a stun gun and zapped him. Mac dropped his muscles seizing with pain that sucked his breath away. The three circled him and laughed at each other. Mac was sure they said something to each other but in his brain it sounded like distant static.
One bent over him and zapped him two more times laughing as Mac's body writhed helplessly. Another crouched behind him. Mac felt a jab in his neck. Everything was falling into a deep tunnel, but he still felt the pain of kicks in his side and one against the side of his head. Jack, where are you? Blackness.
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Jack watched Mac enter the 777 and the walkway door close before he turned away. He still mumbled under his breath. He'd woken up this morning thinking he and the team could sit around watch the game, sip beer...but no he was greeted with the news that Mac wasn't home and no one knew where he was. Jack had Riley ping him and felt anger war with worry. Paris? What the freaking hell was he doing in Paris? Riley pulled up his computer's search record and they found out about the professor. Jack had rolled through LAX like a thunderball people fleeing before the furious red-faced Delta. Jack thought about the myriad of ways he was going to kill his partner if he wasn't already murdered. The plane couldn't have gone slower if he got out and pushed.
A sweet old lady sat beside him and tried to talk to him but he growled at her. She moved as far away from him as she could and darted nervous looks at him. See, now the brat had him growling at little old ladies! That set out another ring of frustration, anger, and worry. When he found the enemy agent trailing Mac, Jack's anger reached a boiling point. So what if the guy ended up with a face that would need to be reassembled like a puzzle? Jack didn't care.
Mac was so obsessed he didn't take the precautions a ten-year old would know to take. Jack paused and stared at Mac as he sat across the street at the typical Parisian cafe sipping wine. He could tell the kid's mind was a million miles away. Jack paced trying to rein in his fury. It didn't work. He stormed across the road yells and horns following in his wake. Mac didn't notice just stared at that damned cork. Jack sat down and tried to pull back his anger. He knew it came out as hostile sarcasm, but he didn't care. Mac's face was stony against the attack. He did see brief flashes of guilt and Mac tried to explain that he wanted to do this by himself. Then his partner got downright hurtful. Jack felt gut-punched when Mac told him he didn't need a 'helicopter dad.' He called Jack stupid. Jack snapped back that maybe he should go home. His heart collapsed when Mac told him he should.
Jack stormed off after snapping over his shoulder words he hoped would communicate his hurt and anger while hurting Mac, just a little. Jack didn't leave, of course. He followed the kid to the professor's office, a trip that took less than ten minutes. This is what Mac was an asshole for? Jack watched as the hatch closed and Mac's plane took off. He had an hour before his own flight left. He prowled the airport wishing there was a couple more agents he could break.
The woman who sat beside him was a hottie from Spain. Jack managed not to growl at her, but ignored her enough that it would always be one of his greatest regrets. Jack dozed off as they were flying over the east coast.
Jack wiped his bleary eyes as he inched the GTO home. His phone rang again and he smiled as he sent it to voicemail. Let the kid stew awhile. Jack got home took a shower and napped for a couple hours. He woke up in a much better mood. Glancing at his phone, he saw that Mac had called him six times. Jack felt a pang of guilt. He decided that this needed a face to face hashing so Mac could see how much he'd hurt Jack.
Jack grinned as he pulled into Mac's drive. He hated it when they were at odds and he thought Mac would have learned his lesson by now. Jack felt a small pang of guilt. He knew it would trigger the blonde's insecurities. Well, they'd make up and there was another game on tonight. Everything would right itself.
"Mac? Mac, you here? I want a good apology, one with some groveling…" Jack trailed off; the house was quiet, too quiet. He saw the puddle from the fridge and Mac's phone left on the table.
"Mac? Mac?" Jack yelled, a note of worry seeping into his voice, "Yo, Mac!" The worry became full on panic as he searched every room. Too neat, too quiet. Jack faltered as he stepped up to the deck.
He saw Mac's knife, a bottle of Bozer's cheap wine and the latex mask that had put Jack off Washington permanently. Jack scanned the deck and grounds only partially relieved when he didn't see Mac's corpse.
"Murdoc." He growled. Jack pulled out his phone, "Matty, Mac's gone!"
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Mac moaned and slowly opened his eyes. He hurt everywhere and everything around him had wobbly edges to it. His stomach churned. He lifted his head slowly. Everything blurred. He blinked. What the hell was going on? Mac moved to stand only to find his hands cuffed to a heavy metal chair. Mac blinked and shook his head regretting it immediately.
Mac looked at his left arm. The biggest needle Mac had ever seen ran into his veins. He followed the tubing to a half empty IV bag. Mac's head dropped. He wanted to fall into darkness...he was tired…
"HELLO?" He yelled. He knew it would bring his captors, but the longer he waited, the more drug he'd get. They obviously wanted him alive, so...
Then he heard the whistle. He snapped his head up the stairs. Mac blinked he hadn't noticed the stairs. He glanced around the room chiding himself for not being more alert to his surroundings. Everything was so damn fuzzy...he craned his neck up and blinked until the familiar figure in black slowly oozed toward him. Mac could feel sweat pour from his entire body. Partly from the drug, partly...no Mac admitted his gut sinking...mostly because of the assassin standing above him like a rabid crow.
"Oh, MacGyver how I've missed you." Murdoc, shit.
Murdoc droned on, his soft monotone almost unintelligible to Mac's blurry brain. The man grabbed Mac's forearm and pushed hard on the needle in his arm. Mac cried out feeling the grind of needle against bone. It woke him up enough that he could focus on every few words Murdoc muttered.
Cassian...fathers...Mac mumbled answers to Murdoc's taunts, his words taking a long time to dribble out of his mouth. Then the son of a bitch shoved a verbal knife into Mac's most tender spot. His father didn't want him. It was one thing to fret about it, another to hear it through the cold lips of a hated enemy. Mac lunged at him. The pain in his wrists and flare of agony in his ribs sat him down. Mac gasped. At least it woke him up a little.
"...that's my job." Mac glared at the man angry he'd gotten a rise out of Mac.
"Then just get on with it!" Mac wanted it over. Even being tortured would be better than this groggy verbal fencing. Murdoc compared himself to DaVinci. If it wouldn't make the world careen wildly, Mac would have rolled his eyes. Even mostly out of it, he knew the gist of megalomania the assassin would spout. The more contact he had with Mac, the more out-there his world became. Murdoc never worked with a full deck, but now...the man was crazy. Creepy and dangerous, but definitely certifiable. If he was more with it, Mac would have found this more frightening.
He did try to follow Murdoc's story of Cassian's mother's death. His stomach roiled and he could taste bile on the back of his throat. Mac's brain couldn't fit around the matter-of-fact cruelty that passed as Murdoc's sense of awe about a murder of a woman who had just born his son. Mac felt a whole new wave of pity for Cassian.
Mac's head dropped and eyes closed. The room was quiet. Mac felt like he could breathe again without the blackness of Murdoc in his face. Mac's eyes fell on his arm and he forced himself to keep going. He tugged out the needle. The pain in his arm was a distant thing. Mac's hands shook as he shaped the bloody needle into a lockpick. It took him twice as long as normal to pick the cuffs. He staggered in a circle in the center of the room. What did he...oh, right! Escape. Mac shook his head and managed to rig a bargain basement hydraulic jackhammer.
Mac's world became a blurring of falling water and rusted spinning tunnels. Metal, sounds echoed and he had no idea which direction they came from. He staggered and fell into the shallow running water. It was warm and brackish.
"Macgyver." Murdoc's voice slithered through the echoing tunnels. Mac remembered the maniac had told him he was going to get his "toys." Mac's heart pounded with terror. He turned and ran the other direction. He fell against the rusted ribbed walls of the rat's maze and sank to his knees. Mac almost sobbed. His body wanted to turn off, his thoughts were clouds he couldn't capture. He bit his lip and pushed to his feet. He turned a corner and hit a dead end.
Mac turned to go back the way he'd come when his tired head realized there was a ladder. It took Mac three tries to climb the rusted rungs and he almost passed out as he heaved the manhole cover aside. He was out. Mac staggered to his feet, his legs out trying to stop the damn world from moving under him. It didn't help that noisy cars whipped around him almost turning him in a circle.
He saw a group of people standing on the sidewalk gaping at him and pointing in his direction. Mac forced his stiff legs to stagger forward.
"H...help." He managed before everything skittered away and he landed on the raised curb and curled up in pain. Everything swirled around him. He felt himself dragged out of the road to the cold cement.
A dark figure hovered over him.
"What did you take?" The words dribbled through his brain without meaning. He tried to talk and push away. Murdoc went to get his toys, torture! Mac rolled over and tried to crawl away.
"Hey? Hey!" Hand grabbed his sore arm. Digging into it, have to make sure you're slowed down but can still feel pain. Mac cried out in panic. He kicked the shadow above him and twisted out of the firm grasp. Mac's breathing came in harsh wheezes as he elbowed a face hovering over him. Mac yelled and shimmied out from under the hard grips that seemed to dig into every painful place he had.
"Stop!"
"No...don't…" Mac gasped. Then there were more hands than he could fight. His arms were roughly pulled behind his back and he was dragged to his feet and slammed against a car hard. Where was Murdoc taking him? What was he going to do? Mac's brain was a whiz of fragmented fears.
"No...don't…" He managed to choke out as he was bent and shoved inside a hot car. Cage! He was in a cage! Mac screamed and threw himself against the metal over and over. His chest heaved and he could feel bruises and blood. Sweat stuck his clothes to him.
"No, NO!" Mac yelled over and over.
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Jack could feel Bozer and Cage's worried looks. He ignored them. He was pissed-pissed at Mac, pissed at Murdoc, but mostly pissed at himself. Acting like a child, he'd failed his job. Mac in Murdoc's hands was one of the terrors that kept him up most nights. He might just as well have wrapped the kid up and drove him to Murdoc's door. Jack gritted his teeth picturing what Murdoc could be doing to his best friend right at that second. Jack growled and squealed past a row of cars ignoring the shouts and horns.
"Jack-" Cage trailed off when Jack glared at her. They'd found two of the gang that had kidnapped Mac. Why would anyone ever trust Murdoc enough to work with him? Jack's molars ground with strain. He had no words for the depth of hatred he had for Murdoc. If he could just have him for ten minutes…
"Hello, Matty." Jack glanced over surprised. He hadn't heard Cage's phone ring. Cage put it on speaker.
"What do ya got?" Jack snapped.
"A man fitting Mac's description crawled out of manhole…" Jack spun the GTO his brain already mapping the quickest route. They had only been two miles away. Thankfully, they were on surface streets not the freeway. Jack skidded to a halt and was out of the car before Cage could yell at him. He blew through the lookie-lous and froze a second.
Mac was freaking out in the back of a cop car. The cops were sitting outside laughing like they were at a donut shop. Jack bullied through them tossing them aside as he reached the door. One of the cops moved to pull his gun. Jack's was out pointing at the man's face. Everything went silent except Mac's screams.
"Back the fuck off." Jack snarled. Cage managed to worm her way between them and started talking to the cops fast. Jack ignored them and crouched in the open doorway of the car. Mac was in full panic mode.
"Mac, MAC! Hey, HEY!" Mac flinched and jumped back his breathing wild gasps, "Hey, kiddo, it's me." Mac froze and eyed Jack. His pupils were huge. Drugged. Jack turned eyes narrowed.
"Keys." One of the cops tossed Jack a small keyring. Jack climbed into the car beside Mac. Mac shrunk against the passenger's door.
"Hey, hey. Easy, Angus. It's me. Nobody's gonna hurt you, I promise." Mac quieted.
"J...J…" Mac shook and couldn't form words. Jack nodded and murmured softly. Mac leaned forward and Jack unclamped his hands. Before he could sit back, Mac grabbed Jack around the shoulders. The kid quaked. Jack could feel Mac's breath, quick hot puffs, against his neck. Jack pulled him in letting out a deep breath of relief. Nope, Mac was never leaving his side again.
It was a good ten minutes before Mac was calm enough to climb out of the cop car. His head kept dipping as he slurred gibberish at Jack.
"An ambulance is coming." Bozer said startling Mac on his other side. Bozer gently put Mac's arm over his shoulders. Mac's head dropped and his knees wobbled. Jack could still feel the tight anxiety coiled in Mac's body. The crowd around them had doubled in size.
"No, I'm gonna take him back to Phoenix this place is too-" Jack gritted. Bozer nodded.
"I got everything sorted." Cage said opening the back door. Jack nodded and eased Mac into the back seat following his partner in. Cage drove and Bozer talked to Matty in the shotgun seat. Jack ignored it all. He wrapped Mac in a scratchy woolen blanket someone had thrust at him. Mac pulled it tight and hunched into Jack's side. Jack put an arm around his partner. Mac's eyes closed and his body slowly relaxed. Jack fought the urge to check the kid over until they got to Phoenix. That wasn't what the blonde needed right then.
Jack tucked Mac's sweaty hair under his chin and rubbed Mac's back. Mac relaxed until an idiot honked a horn. Mac jolted awake knocking his head solidly into Jack's chin. His eyes were wild.
"Hey, easy kiddo. I got you." Mac's head drooped and he slipped into sleep. The entire trip to Phoenix was a mixture of tight panic followed by lengthening periods of sleep. Mac was barely aware of his surroundings when they got to Phoenix medical. When someone asked him a question he stared at them blankly. Mac was also jumpy. Any loud noise sent him into the air, jumping off the exam bed. After much coaxing from Jack he'd sink back to laying down and drift asleep.
Mac slept soundly for three hours before he woke up and was mostly coherent. He rubbed his eyes and glanced around him.
"Phoenix?" Mac asked around a yawn. Jack let out a pent up breath glad his partner was back to the normal world.
"Of course, how do you feel?" Mac blinked slowly then smiled.
"Like I was kidnapped and drugged." Jack rolled his eyes. He'd seen the bruises along Mac's jaw and chest. Murdoc was racking up a bill Jack meant to make him pay. Mac rubbed his eyes and shook his head. He glanced at the clock surprised at the time.
"How'd I get here?" He mumbled. Jack scowled.
"What do you remember?" Before the kid could answer Matty, Bozer, Riley and Cage breezed into the exam area.
Mac nodded and smiled as each one gave him a hug. He blinked at Matty. Of course they took blood samples, he told himself. He was beginning to think normally, but Mac still felt like he was held in a wall of molasses. The others all started talking. Mac rubbed his forehead. His headache seemed to steal what little coherent thought he managed.
"Mac, do you remember anything before almost being run over by a car?" Mac squinted at Bozer. He remembered cars hurtling past him.
"Cars, there were definitely more than one." Everyone started talking at once, Mac rubbed his forehead. The world still wobbled too much.
"Wait! Stop, stop. I need a moment alone with Mac and Riley." Mac squinted at her confused. She rambled about some study and shooed everyone into a side room. Mac licked his lips and closed his eyes trying to follow Cage's suggestions, but his brain short circuited. Did he really want to remember?
Then he started to see the room, feel the pain…
"I don't like this." Jack murmured watching his partner close his eyes and start reliving the nightmare he'd endured.
"I know, Jack. But it might be our only chance of getting Murdoc." Matty hissed. Jack saw Mac's face pale as he described the room, the chair...Mac sat up hissing in panic. Jack was almost at the door before he realized he'd moved. Matty grabbed his shirt and Riley waved him back. Jack clenched his jaw. Mac looked around him breathing fast. When he saw Murdoc wasn't there he rolled his neck and started again.
"That's my boy." Jack whispered to himself. Mac had no shortage of courage. That was certain. Mac sat up, a familiar shine to his eyes. Jack watched as Mac drew lines and curves and numbers on the glass as he talked to himself. Five minutes later, they were on the road heading back to the torture room Mac had escaped from.
Jack glanced over at Mac who squirmed in his seat. Mac tugged at the seat belt, and searching the inside of the car, before shifting his butt around then stared out the window before turning looking a little green.
"Hey, kid, you ok? Be honest." Mac blinked at Jack his blue-eyes clear.
"Yeah" Mac tried for off hand confidence but his voice broke. Mac cleared his throat and looked out the window, "Yeah." He said softer. Jack reached out a hand and patted Mac on the arm.
"It's been a long day." Mac smiled and nodded.
"You got that right." Jack wanted to push for details; wanted to take Mac home and put him to bed, but he knew a)Mac wouldn't go for it, b)Jack meant it when he wasn't going to let the kid out of his sight, and c) Mac was holding it together by his fingernails. Jack kept it light and ribbed Mac like normal. Mac responded gratefully. Jack's phone rang. He nodded and looked at Mac. Mac met his eyes. Jack could see the blonde's Adam's apple bob. Mac nodded.
"Yeah, we'll be there in five."
Mac stared at the dingy room he'd escaped from. His heart fluttered and he felt sick. Mac turned away trying to hide his tremors. His adrenaline was normalizing and he felt as if he'd been screaming for a year. Mac walked out to the open warehouse floor and stared at the floor, his arms crossed. He forced his legs to keep moving. Jack stood in front of a tool box then shot Jack a protective look. Mac couldn't meet his eyes.
Mac glanced at Murdoc's toys taking in the drill, the blowtorch...his eyes fell to the floor, the walls, the ceiling. Anywhere but at the tool box on the table. Mac managed to tamp down his trembling.
"I think he left a message for Mac." Mac jumped as he realized all eyes were on him. He tried to look casual as he ambled to the others. I'll be seeing you in blood red, of course. Mac rubbed his forehead. Hardly original. Mac was too overloaded to take in the menace behind the words.
"Blondie, I need you to take a look at this." Mac took in the photo. He smiled at Matty's sharp tone with the agents milling around her. He had no doubt the tiny woman would rip out Murdoc's nuts and feed them to him if she had the chance.
Mac's hands shook as he gathered the lights he'd need. He paused his heart flip-flopping at the idea of going back into that room.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm going to be going back into the room Murdoc tried to kill me in." He said it drolly as he turned and headed to the room. His sarcastic tone hid his fear, a little. It took a second but Mac was relieved Matty, Bozer and Riley accompanied him to the torture room. Mac kept his eyes on the stairs, refusing to look up, to see the chair, the IV bag still hanging...He set up at the bottom of the stairs. It was as far as he could go. He explained everything he was doing more to keep his brain busy than showing the others what he was doing. When the lights went out, Mac closed his eyes, the x-ray machine shook in his hand. He felt Riley's warm hand on his shoulder. Mac breathed out when the lights returned.
Mac was exhausted when they got to the school teacher's house. The unexpected shootout nudged his body into survival mode and snapped him fully awake. It wasn't until their prisoner was in the cage of the APC that Mac began to come down from crisis mode. He eased up to his partner.
"I...didn't get the chance to say this before but I'm sorry, man." Jack took it as gracefully as Mac expected. Mac felt his body relax a little when there was no anger or hurt in Jack's teasing. Mac wanted to wrap the older man in a clinging hug and sob. Instead they bumped knuckles and thumped their shoulders together in a bro hug.
Mac couldn't get comfortable as he attached the harness and tugged at it. The cage brought back the panic of being in the cop's car. Mac forced himself to breath slowly. Jack was about to ask him if he was alright when their world exploded.
Mac opened his eyes with a groan. For a second he was back in Afghanistan and their Humvee had just run into an IED. Mac blinked and the scrapped metal came into focus as did the face he was trapped. He pushed against the bar across his chest and tried to move his feet. Mac moaned.
"Jack?" He barely managed to whisper it. He heard Jack moan and Cage softly swear. Before Mac could say a word he heard it again-home on the range. NO, NO, NO…
The steps were slow. Mac closed his eyes and tried to pull his feet free. Pain stopped him. Mac's world became a black tunnel and his breathing sped up as he desperately pushed at the bar. He heard Murdoc drag away Henry then cross to Mac's door. Mac closed his eyes and braced himself. Get it over with. He silently growled instead of screaming. He stared up into the black eyes but was unable to form a word.
"Thank you, MacGyver. I'll be seeing you." Mac closed his eyes straining to hear the steps retreat and the slithering monotone finally vanish with distance. Mac began to shake. Tears leaked out the corner of his eyes as the storm of stress and adrenaline rolled over him. He dimly heard voices and the roar of a machine then he was pulled free. He was carried over to an ambulance cart and shoved people aside. He had to get away, had to run...His breathing hurt now. He couldn't get enough air. Hands tried to assess him, Mac almost screamed.
Then Jack was there. Jack held Mac's shoulders and ducked to catch Mac's eye line. It took a second for Mac to realize Jack was in front of him, speaking and alive. Mac lunged forward and pulled Jack into a strangling hug. Mac gave into the stress and let his body shake and tears ooze. He closed his eyes everything whirling around him crazily except the one immovable in his life-Jack. Jack tried pulling away, but Mac was literally incapable of letting him go.
Jack talked to someone over Mac's shoulder and Mac flinched as the medics checked him over working around Jack. Jack's soothing murmurs and reassuring hand rubbing Mac's back allowed Mac to tolerate it. Mac ducked against Jack's shoulder ignoring everything except the solid warmth of his partner.
Mac must have blacked out or fainted or something because the next thing he knew he was sprawled across the GTO's back seat his head on Jack's lap as the older man gently brushed his fingers through Mac's hair. Mac closed his eyes feeling his body relax for the first time all day-or week? It felt like a week or a year since they had argued in Paris. Mac's eyes filled with tears he couldn't control. Mac wasn't sure he was in control of much at that particular moment. Emotions swirled around him and washed him away.
"Hey, hey...easy brother, you're ok." Mac knew he should sit up, get a grip on himself, but he was too...hell he had no idea. Tired? Washed out? Pulled tight? Mac sucked in air and tried to slow his rabbiting heart. Jack talked to Bozer who was driving. Mac didn't follow the conversation closely. Something about food. Mac closed his eyes and dozed off again.
Mac jumped yelping as Bozer's door slammed shut. Mac looked around him panicked. Jack touched his shoulder. Mac jumped, then managed a smile.
"You ok?" Jack asked; his head tilted to the side. Mac swallowed the brick in his throat and nodded. Mac forced himself away from his partner and out the door on his side where Bozer waited. It took both Bozer and Jack to get Mac inside. The pain of his ankles distracted him from the pounding in his chest. He closed his eyes, but couldn't hide the shudder as they crossed the doorway, walked across the rug, splashed through the water.
Mac sank into his couch and squirmed. His house was comfortable and familiar and completely strange and scary. Mac leaned forward and rubbed his temples. He knew his system was coming down from the highs and lows of this horrible day, but it was still frustrating.
"Here, bud." Mac jumped and looked up as Jack set down a sandwich and bottle of warm beer. Mac nodded. He managed half the sandwich and sips of beer. Mac shoved the food away before he'd puke.
"The shower's all set up for you." Boze said. Mac nodded giving his best friend a grateful smile. Jack and Bozer helped him to his feet. Mac managed to stumble to the bathroom by himself. The shower was running and the room was full of warm steam.
"Do you need-"
"I'm fine." Mac snapped. He paused and looked at Jack's face with anxiety, "I'm sorry, Jack...I did-"
"It's ok, kiddo. We're fine. Boze is getting your bedroom set up so you can sleep when you get out. Mac's eyes widened at the thought of sleeping. Jack put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.
"I am not leaving, got that." Mac nodded and hobbled into the bathroom. Jack shut the door but didn't lock it. He waited beside the door leaning his head back. He finally felt like he could breathe again. Bozer walked down the hall and stood beside him.
"I really thought…" Bozer's hand shook as he wiped tears out of his eyes. Jack nodded.
"Me too. But we got him back. We'll get Murdoc, I swear-"
"Yeah." Bozer agreed. Jack smiled at the hard edge in Bozer's voice. He reached an arm over and gave Bozer's shoulder a squeeze. Twenty minutes later they heard the shower turn off. They gave Mac five minutes before they trooped in to find the blonde in his boxers sitting on the toilet.
"C'mon, Mac. Let's get you to bed." Mac slowly raised his head and nodded, but he didn't't move. Jack shook his head and pointed at Mac's T Shirt. Mac didn't move as they put on the T then walked him to bed. Mac was out before he hit the mattress. Bozer and Jack both paced the room, straightening the blankets, picking up clothes...they stopped and looked at each other. They stared at Mac. Bozer smiled and waved Jack into the chair beside Mac's bed. Bozer dragged in another chair and sat on the other side of Mac's bed. They leaned back watching Mac sleep. Both of Mac's best friends weren't going to let him out of their sight for a long time.