Well, a few of you requested this, so here it goes. 'Part 2' of 'winged me'. Mac and Jack meet up for the first time after Jack shot Mac…

Jack immediately felt sick as he realized who was outside his door. Like, really… He got the shakes from it…

"Mac…?" he asked in a whisper, almost afraid of mentioning his friend's name.

"Hey-a Jack…" Mac grinned back, adjusting the sling around his neck. "How're you doing?"

Jack was left staring at the blond in front of him, his mouth was hanging agape. He couldn't speak, couldn't really move. He was left there, staring at Mac.

And Mac… Mac had an unabashed grin on his face, not one easily related to being shot by your best friend less than 72 hours ago.

"May I come in?" Mac finally asked when Jack didn't make a move for almost a minute.

Jack moved to let Mac in, his mouth still hanging open in shock.

"I guess coffee is in the pot?" Mac assumed as he made his way to the kitchen.

"Uhuh…" Jack nodded, following Mac into the kitchen. Looking at Mac like he would catch fire at any moment.

Mac poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table. Waiting for Jack to follow suit.

"How's the… eh…" Jack gestured towards his own right shoulder. Guilt was etched into his face, as he moved towards the coffee pot.

"Not bad…" Mac answered and took a sip of his coffee. "But I started worrying for you…"

"Why?" Jack asked rubbing his own neck.

"When was the last time you went two days without texting or calling me?" Mac reasoned, "Or without showing up at my door?"

Jack shrugged, looking down at his boots.

"Well, the answer is next to never…" Mac answered for him, sitting back in his chair. "Well, unless I count the times you've been hospitalized with some kind of serious injury…"

"So?"

"So I know you're dealing with some shit…"

A nervous laugh escaped Jack's lips, as he started to knead the area around his right wrist. Just like it was bugging him.

"Nah, Mac… I'm all good…" Jack lied, still massaging his wrist.

Mac's eyes fell on the leather cuff on Jack's wrist. The fact that his friend was working his bad wrist worried him. But he wasn't quite sure what the reason was. It could be that Jack's wrist acted up, but it could also be one of those rare nervous ticks of his.

"Wrist acting up?"

Jack stopped what he was doing and crossed his arms in front of his chest instead. Then he shook his head.

"No, it's fine…" Jack bit his lower lip as he pushed off the counter, and walked over to the table himself. He picked his usual spot at the end of the table. The seat gave him a great view of the door from the hallway and the entrance area through the window. Jack liked having an overview, old habit from all his years as an active agent. "How are you, kid?"

"Not all bad," Mac looked down at his own arm, "Wrist hurts a bit though…"

"Shoulder? I feel so bad about that…" Jack's brown eyes were locked on Mac's shoulder. There were no trace of a smile on his face or in his eyes, his expression bordering on despair.

"Well, I'm not dead…" Mac shrugged his good shoulder, "We're both alive… That guy didn't get a chance to blow up the entire building… That's what matters."

"I feel awful… I shouldn't have… I should…" Jack blinked wildly, and a tear ran down one of his cheeks. "I should have looked better after you, I shouldn't have let Krill get so close to you. He should never have been able to grab you in the first place."

"Jack, that one was on me…"

"NO, it wasn't!"

"Yeah, it was…" Mac sighed, "I shouldn't have put you in a position where you had to shoot me. I know that was hard for you…"

"Hard for me?" Jack's voice cracked, "Kid, I swear it almost killed me! What if I missed? What if I hit an artery? What if you bled out before medics got there? What if…"

"Jack, you're an expert shot… I trusted you…"

"I might be great at hitting targets, kid, but I'm not a surgeon!" Jack broke down crying, folding in over the table. "I could accidentally have hit something major in you kid, I could have killed you!"

"But you didn't. And I know you wouldn't…"

"How the hell did you know that?" Jack called out, "I didn't even know that!"

"I'm okay. Okay?" Mac leveled his eyes with Jack. "I only have one thing to ask of you…"

"What?"

"Next time I ask you to shoot me in a situation like that…" Mac held Jack's eyes for a couple of seconds, "Please hurry up and do it… Waiting was the worst part…"

"Not funny Mac…" Jack deadpanned, "And you're lying… Getting shot hurts like hell."

"Well, one way or another… You've got to stop beating yourself up about it. It was my idea, I gave the order. I'm a little pissed that Thornton had to give you a direct order, but…"

"Mac. The order was to shoot my best friend. I didn't know if I could make the shot without killing ya…" Jack wiped away the tears running down his cheeks. "And you know I'll be beating myself up over this until you're fully healed and back in the field. Probably longer too…"

"Yeah, I know…" Mac grimaced, "But you shouldn't. You were following orders…"

"Orders or not, that doesn't make me feel any better. I shot you, you're hurt because of me…"

"Technically, I was hurt before you shot me…"

"Yeah, your hand. But I hurt your shoulder too…"

"Well, if it's any consolation at all… The wrist hurts worse than the shoulder…"

Jack just glared at Mac.

"Okay, enough about this whole thing. I told you to shoot me. After an eternity, you did… You saved me and over a thousand other people." Mac leaned on the table with his uninjured arm. "That's the cold, hard, facts. Focus on that…"

Jack sighed, and was about to argue when Mac cut him off.

"Now, I know how you get when your head is in the wrong place. Because it's the only time when you stop eating… And I also know that your body demands a little more food than mine, because you remember to eat regularly… Mostly…" Mac fished his phone out of his back pocket, "How 'bout we order some pizza and focus on something else entirely."

"Like what?"

"That hot news reporter? I don't know… Just, something else…"

"You trying to make me deal with my emotions the real Jack Dalton way again?"

"Uhuh…" Mac grinned back, "Figured I'm your soft-spot, and that you couldn't just sweep all of this under the rug on your own…"

"Riley ratted me out?"

"Yeah, she did…" Mac nodded, "Now, what do you say… Order pizza, forget that Monday ever happened, at least until it's just another story to tell the new guy?"

Jack couldn't help but chuckle.

"Okay, you've got yourself a deal…"

"I mean, even Cairo will soon be one of those stories."

"Hey, we STILL don't talk about Cairo. Okay?"

"You've got to let that one go soon… It's been years."

"Yeah, well… I've still got an unflattering scar, in the middle of…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know… I was there, remember?" Mac grossed as he squeezed his eyes shut, "Don't need to paint me a picture of how it looks now. I've seen my share of old GSW scars."

"Kid, you do have a couple of them yourself…"

"Yeah… I know…"

"So, when are you starting to wear shorts again? It's what, five years since Cairo?"

Mac didn't answer, just looked towards his right thigh.

"Huh, kid?"

"Okay, fair point…" Mac answered shaking his head from side to side, "But now. Pizza!"

"Pizza, my favorite emotional band aid…" Jack almost smirked as he pushed himself off the chair, "But seriously, bud… You gonna be alright?"

Again, he gestured to his own shoulder area, making sure Mac knew what he meant.

"Yeah, Jack. I'm gonna be just fine…"

Okay… So I know that they both might be a little OOC here. Sorry for that…

I know this was probably not what those of you who requested this one-shot had in mind…
But I hope you had fun reading it anyway…