A/N:

So, this one is a bit tonally different from the first four. When racking my brain to come up with missions that they had escaped from I remembered the pilot episode where Bozer mentioned that Nikki had died in a car accident. So, I decided to expound on that a bit. I hope you enjoy.

Jack sat beside Mac's hospital bed fiddling with his newest replacement phone, listening to the ventilator's steady hiss. He knew that he needed to call Bozer and let him know what had happened, but he just couldn't bring himself to go through with it yet. Jack rubbed his head wincing when his hand hit the bandage over where he had been whacked in the head. He still felt somewhat dizzy and had a headache from the concussion and that just added to his frustration. The night's events kept replaying in his head.

A few hours earlier

Jack blinked open his eyes, confused as to what had happened and how he got where he was, and where here actually was. The last he remembered he and Mac were approaching the van and… it was hazy at first then the memory hit him and his head gave a throb of pain. Gingerly he stood up, holding his head because it felt like it might fall off at any second, "Mac? Nikki?" He called. Seeing no sign of his friends, he remembered the dude with the accent holding a gun on Nikki, but he didn't see anybody, or any blood around the van. He attempted a step, and the world swung crazily around him. Jack stopped and leaned up against the van and let the tilt-a-whirl settle down. It was then that his ear picked up a muffled sound coming from under the bridge. "Mac?" He stumbled over to the railing and peered over. There on the side of the bank was Mac laying on his side, with a darker stain covering his left shoulder. "Mac!" He exclaimed, halfway between shock and trying to reassure Mac that he was coming. Mac twitched a bit, but that was all the sign of life he gave.

Adrenaline coursed through his body and he started for side of the road to go to his partner's aid, but then he stopped abruptly. He needed to call for help first, but his phone was water logged from his swim in the lake. Jogging over to the open end of the van he spotted Nikki's phone laying there. Snatching it up it took him a second to remember her code, Mac's birthday. It rang twice before Thornton picked it up, "You en route Carpenter?"

"We need an ambulance, Mac's been shot and I don't know what else." As Jack spoke he grabbed the extensive first aid kit from the back of the ransacked van. "I'm headed to him now."

"They'll be there soon, Dalton. Listen," she started to say, but Jack hung up on her slipping the phone in his pocket as he quickly scrambled down the embankment to where his partner lay halfway in the water.

"Mac!" He called to see if he could get a response, but none came. "Don't you be dead on me man! I brought you through a year and a half of war, and you're not going to crap out on me now." Jack landed with a thud next to Mac not caring about his own injuries. As he rolled Mac over Jack saw that he looked pale in the moonlight and his eyes were half-lidded. "Mac?"

"Ja-"

Jack sighed in relief, but Mac's breathing was seriously wrong. "Yeah, it's me buddy." He could see the blood that had stained the left entire shoulder of his shirt. "You hit anywhere else?"

"Ne-ke?" Mac moaned.

"You know where she is?" Jack asked seeing if he could get a coherent response.

"Ne-ke!" He moaned again, getting more agitated.

Jack grabbed the trauma sheers from the first aid kit and sliced through Mac's dress shirt exposing the ugly wound. Every time Mac would exhale bubbles would form in the blood coming out of the wound, "Shit!" Jack exclaimed. He was pretty sure Mac had a sucking chest wound. He tried to remember the treatment from his advanced first aid class, grabbing his wallet he grabbed a plastic card out of it and the ever-present roll of duct tape he held for Mac. "Hey Mac, I'm going to help you with that breathing in just a second. You just hold on!" He slapped the card over the bullet hole and tapped three sides of the card allowing air to escape from the fourth side. "Better?"

Looking up Jack saw that Mac was unconscious, in the background he could hear the sirens, getting louder the closer they got. "Hey Mac I need you to wake up." When no response came he tried again shaking his friend lightly. "Angus, wake up." When that didn't work he did the sternal rub, and that finally elicited a response by Mac's eyes fling open. "There you are." Mac looked so confused. "Just stay awake, I can hear them coming. Do you hear the ambulance?" Mac's head dipped in agreement. "Stay awake, I'm going to go bring them down here." With one last pat Jack scrambled back up the embankment. Greeting the paramedics he asked, "Speak English?"

"Si." The guy in front said.

"He has a chest would in his upper left chest area. He's in his 20's and in excellent shape, his pulse is thready and…" Jack had run out of things to say and the paramedics scrambled down with their backboard to Mac. Jack started to follow.

"Dalton." He turned seeing Thornton standing there beside the van. "What happened?"

"I…" Jack paused trying to gather his thoughts. "I'm not really sure. We got back here with the cannister and the back of the van looked like this, then this big dude had Nikki at gunpoint. Then another dude bonked me on the head before I could do anything and it was lights out for a while. When I woke up Nikki was gone, Mac was bleedin' on the side of the lake, and I have no idea where the canister might be." Jack watched, feeling helpless, as they got Mac ready for transport.

"Go ride with your partner, I'll catch up with you at the hospital." Thornton instructed.

Back to present

Several hours had passed since Thornton had checked in. Mac had come through surgery but was still in serious condition. He was on a ventilator and heavily sedated because even when he was only half awake he kept trying to pull the vent out. As a result, the doctors had decided to fully sedate him to let his lung heal for a bit before weaning him off of the ventilator and waking him up. They had said that they would try in the morning, and sounded optimistic. With a heavy sigh Jack opened the phone and dialed Bozer's number.

"Hello?" Bozer's voice sounded unsure and wary, then Jack realized that he was calling from a new phone and he had no idea what time it was back home at the moment.

"Hey Boze, it's Jack."

"Are ya'll back from your conference early? I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow." The happiness of them possible being home early hurt Jack.

"No…" Jack couldn't get the words out.

"Are you okay Jack? Did something happen to Mac?" Jack could hear the worry creeping into Bozer's voice replacing the earlier joy.

"Yeah." Jack said softly staring at his partner.

On the other end of the phone Bozer drew a deep unsteady breath. "He's not…" Bozer's voice wavered. "He's not?"

"No!" Jack exclaimed, "He's alive. He and Nikki were in a car accident, and-" Jack's voice trailed off as he tried to get his own emotions under control. "Boze, Nikki didn't make it. Mac's lung was punctured, but the doctors are optimistic that he'll heal completely. It just might take a bit."

"But he's alive?" Bozer whispered.

"Yeah, Boze he's alive."

"Ya know, I used to have nightmares of somebody calling to let me know that he had gotten himself blown up when ya'll were overseas." Bozer took a deep breath seemingly on the verge of crying. "Do you have a timetable on when he'll be able to come home?"

"Not yet, but I'll keep you updated. As soon as I know you'll know."

"Thanks man." Bozer paused taking a deep breath. "I know you'll take good care of him."

"Thanks," Jack replied his voice thick with emotion.

"Bye," then the phone went dead, and Jack was left once again with his thoughts.