AN:

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Chapter 2

They heard a commotion from the factory hall. Jack staggered back to his feet and stole a glimpse through the door, that led from the factory hall into the hallway. When he came back into the office he reported. „Bad guys are awake. They are not firing on all cylinders yet, so we need to take them down as soon as possible. You think you can rig something up?"

Mac shook his head. „No explosives, we can't risk to blow up one of the gas cylinders. Another dose of this crap could kill us and if it doesn't, there's still their boss, who's gonna finish us off when he arrives. I searched the other rooms, all empty. I think we'll have to do this the old fashioned way."

„Yippie-Ki-Yay motherfucker!" Jack checked his gun. „I've only got six bullets left." He checked his boot. „At least my knife is still there."

„Ok, Bruce let's do it then. No time for finesse." Mac chuckled. „And honestly not enough working brain cells to get creative on my front."

Jack grinned. „Finally. Now you know how I feel most of the time. Here we go."

The Delta felt Adrenaline rush through his body. He needed it if they wanted to get out of there alive. Jack only hoped it lasted long enough to get at least Mac to safety. With his gun drawn he easied his way to the door. He indicated Mac to take cover behind a stack of crates next to the door.

Silently Jack opened the door. They managed to get out into the hall and hide. The bad guys were indeed awake. While one was still sitting on the floor looking around confused, another threw up. Jack gulped heavily. He was still nauseous and hearing the heaving didn't help his own condition one bit. He looked over to Mac and if his partners pale face was any indication he felt quite as rotten.

Jack sought out the other two mercs. They were in much better shape than their cohorts. Confusion was written on their faces, but also a cold determination, that clearly showed that talking to them would gain nothing. Mac made a few motions with his hands and Jack knew what he wanted to do. Years of working together resulted in understanding each other without words. Jack nodded and gave a count down with his fingers.

Mac and Jack jumped out of their hideout and attacked the bad guys first, who seemed to be the biggest threat. Mac swung his crutch and got his opponent on the side of the head which made him stagger backwards a few steps. The blond threw himself on the guy and they went down hard. Pain shot through his leg and Mac could feel it starting to bleed again. He was on top of the guy and threw a punch, but the other blocked it and got in some heavy hits. The blond heard shots been fired, but he couldn't risk and look for his partner. Mac felt his strength dwindling and spotted a rope lying just behind the head of the merc. He did a somersault over the guy and came back in a fluid motion, the rope already in his hands. His opponent tried to get to his feet, but Mac slung the rope around his neck and brought him down on his knees. The man struggled, but the after effects of the gas had not completely worn off, so it didn't take long until his body went limp.

Mac sighed, but his relief didn't last long. He searched for Jack and saw that the Delta had shot one of the bad guys and was fighting the other two. So far he was holding his own, but right then one of the mercs hit him in the ribs with a crowbar and Jack went down with a cry. Mac pushed to his feet to help his friend, but his leg betrayed him and he found himself on the floor. He needed his crutch but he couldn't find it. From the corner of his eye he saw Jack struggling back to his feet, with his knife drawn.

Mac searched for something he could use to help his partner out. Right beside him was a work bench. Macs face lit up, when he spotted something. He grabbed the buzz saw blade and threw it like a frisbee, not caring that he cut his fingers in the process. Macs aim was true and he hit the merc in the knee, who was about to bring the crowbar down on Jacks neck, the guy went down immediately. The Delta managed to stab the last guy standing. Then he turned and knocked out the man who was clutching his bleeding knee.

A quick look around confirmed that they had taken out all the bad guys. Jack slumped to his knees and then forward on his hands breathing heavily. Mac crawled over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. „Jack, you ok?" A grunt of pain was his only answer. „Jack?" He tried again, squeezing a little harder.

„Yeah, jus' gotta take a m'nute," Jack mumbled and tried to get his breathing under control. Finally he looked up, but Mac didn't like what he saw. The Delta was pale and his face was a mask of pain.

„Are you ok Mac? How's the leg?" Jack observed his partner and noticed the fresh blood on his thigh. He reached out a hand, but Mac stopped him. „No time for that now. We need to tie them up and get the hell out of here." The blond urged.

Jack didn't like it one bit, but his partner was right. The boss of the mercs could be here any minute now. The Delta grabbed ropes and cables and tied the bad guys, that were still alive up while Mac had retrieved his crutch and picked the lock. Macs hands were shaking and it took him twice as long as it would normally have. When it was done he closed his eyes had to lean heavily on the wall.

„Ready to go home hoss?" Jack asked beside him and Mac opened his eyes. „More than ready."

Mac swayed and fought to remain upright. Jack took him by the elbow and together they limped across the parking lot. They had almost reached the tree line, when the first shots were fired. „I guess that means their boss has arrived." Mac said through clenched teeth and flinched when a bullet missed his head by inches.

„We need to go a little faster hoss and find some cover," Jack panted. He saw Mac struggling and flung his partners arm around his shoulder while gripping the blonds waist with his free hand. Dimly he was aware of the pain in his side, but for now he had enough Adrenaline to keep him going. He just hoped it lasted a while longer.

„No Jack, your wound is bleeding again. I'll manage with the crutch." Mac tried to wiggle out of his partners arms, not able to stand it when he was inflicting more pain on his friend.

„We're quicker this way. Now stop squirming and shut up. Save your strength." Jack ordered and concentrated on getting them deeper in the woods. The bad guys had stopped shooting as soon as they had passed the first trees. No use in firing, when you can't see your enemy. But Jack knew they wouldn't give up that easy. He didn't turn around to count their opponents, that would only cost them precious time, as much as he'd like to know the number of mercs that were coming after them.

The forest got more dense and after a while Jack deemed it safe to stop. There was a lot of underbrush and the agents crawled through some thick shrubs. With a sigh Mac leaned back against a tree, raising a shaky hand to wipe the sweat of his brow. Jack had slumped sideways his head hung low, wheezing desperately to get in some oxygen. Mac didn't like the sound of his partners breathing.

„Jack? You ok?" Stupid question, he kicked himself mentally. „What's wrong buddy? Talk to me Jack!" He was getting more and more worried. Jack had lost a lot of blood and the bullet was still logged in his side. What if all that fighting and running had moved it and caused more damage?

The Delta waved a hand and after a minute pushed to sitting up and leaning on the tree beside his partner. He coughed and it sounded painful. After getting his breath back he said.

„I think we should be safe here for a while. Unless they bring dogs …" Jack trailed off.

„How long until exfil gets here?" Mac wanted to know. Jack looked at his watch and answered. „At least an hour hoss. You think you can hang in there for a while longer bud?"

Mac nodded. „It's not me, I'm concerned about. Your breathing sounds terrible Jack."

Jack growled. „I think we can add broken ribs to the list. One of them goons got me good with a crowbar." He started grinning. „Dude, you throwing that saw blade was badass!"

Mac couldn't help but smile himself. „Maybe you should add one to your TAC vest. It surely would surprise the bad guys."

The sound of a breaking branch silenced both agents immediately. Jack was pretty sure they were not visible in their hideout, but if their pursuer got near enough and paid attention he could smell them. Blood mixed with sweat was easy to detect, at least in their line of work. Jack closed his eyes for a moment and concentrated only on his hearing. Right. The merc was on his right side. The guy was good, Jack had to give him credit, but running through the woods was making it really hard to silence your breathing. One more guy, Jacks mind encouraged him, you can take out one more guy. He opened his eyes and scanned the underbrush on his right side. There! A faint movement was all he needed. The Delta shot to his feet and launched himself through the bushes. He barrelled into the middle of the merc. Totally surprised the guys fell back with a yelp, Jack on top of him. The Delta grabbed the rifle of the man and slammed it into his throat crunching his windpipe, just as Mac who had apparently followed him rose a rock to hit the bad guy in the head. „I think he's dead hoss."

Mac slumped back down with a sigh. „Good job, I didn't know where he was exactly until you jumped him." Once more the blond was amazed at his partners skill set.

„Heard him breathing … soon as … I saw movement …" Jack couldn't get his breath back. Now that the Adrenaline started to fade his body told him, it didn't approve of his latest stunt. Mac pulled his partner upright to ease the pressure on his chest. Jack groaned in pain but being upright seemed to help. „Thanks hoss. We need to cover his body." Together they camouflaged the man. Luckily there were enough branches and leaves, so it took no time at all. Once they were finished they crawled back into their hideout. Totally spent they leaned both back on the tree they used before. Jack wanted nothing more than to sleep for a week, but it had to wait. They couldn't risk letting their enemies sneak up on them and there was business to take care of.

Jack said. „We need to redress your leg Mac. You're loosing too much blood and I'm in no shape to drag your lazy butt to exfil later, if you pass out from blood loss."

„Same goes for your side Jack." The blond shimmied out of his button down shirt. One sleeve was already gone, he had used it on Jack earlier. The rest had to be enough to patch them both up. Mac shivered in his thin undershirt and the Delta took of his leather jacket and laid it around the blonds shoulders. „No Jack. You need it yourself." He declined.

„I'm warm enough from all that running and you are the one who's shaking like a leaf, so stop arguing and put it on." Jack used his knife to cut Macs shirt into stripes and took care of the blonds thigh. Mac hissed when Jack tightened the fabric. „Sorry, I'm sorry Mac, but we need to at least slow the bleeding."

„It's fine. You're next so I can get right back at you." Mac tried a weak joke, but it didn't have the desired effect when he couldn't suppress a cry of pain as he moved to approach Jacks side.

„Will you stop crawling around? You're making all my good work for nothing. I can take care of the bullet hole myself." Jack said annoyed.

„Yeah sure big mouth. Because you can easily bend over and moving around with broken ribs on top is so much fun either." Mac came right back at him.

Jack started laughing but it ended in a badly coughing fit, that left him breathless for a few minutes. When he leaned back still panting, Mac took the opportunity and redressed the GSW. With a sigh he slumped back beside his partner.

„What's so funny Jack?" He wanted to know.

„Us. Arguing about who is worse off. Riley would get a kick out of this and Bozer would probably puke." Jack chuckled.

„Ew Jack, stop talking about puking. I just managed to keep everything from coming up again." Mac complained but smiled. „You're right about Riley and Bozer. Damn, you think Matty will have our hides for messing up the mission?"

„Nah, she'll wait until we're back on our feet as we both will end up in Medical, though you'll definitely get more stitches than me." Jack bragged.

„Don't be so sure of that big guy, mine's only a stab wound." Mac countered.

Jack snorted. „It's a pretty big gash. Mine's just a tiny hole. Wanna bet who's getting more stitches?" The Delta challenged his friend.

Mac laughed. „Loser has to clean up the others house."

„Hey that's not fair. Your place is much bigger'n mine." Jack argued.

„Afraid to lose big guy? As much as you're staying over it's long overdue partner." Mac held out a hand.

Jack took it. „Deal, because you lose anyway hoss." He said determined. Another coughing fit wrecked his body and he wiped his mouth afterwards. Jack quickly wiped the blood he found on his hand on his pants leg. Looking over to his partner he was relieved to see that Mac had his eyes closed.

Mac felt like shit. His leg was throbbing mercilessly and he was nauseous. His body was still fighting the after effects of the gas. But what was really getting to him was that he knew Jack was even worse off. The bullet had to come out as soon as possible before it caused even more damage and infection would be setting in soon. On top of that Jacks breathing got even more laboured with every coughing fit. The blond was worried, because he knew they had to make their way to exfil, as the TAC Team had no way to find them here in the underbrush. Jack needed to stay on his feet to get there, because Mac knew he couldn't carry his partner through the woods. The blond trusted on his friends sheer stubbornness and just hoped the bad guys didn't find them first.

Mac must have drifted off. He woke to the familiar thudding of rotor blades. Finally their back up had arrived. He breathed relieved. „Hey Jack, let's get going the cavalry is here. Jack?" Mac leaned forward and checked on his partner. The Delta was unconscious and what sent the blond into panic was the trickle of blood seeping out of Jacks mouth and running down his chin.

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