NOW

After driving through a maze of dirt roads and pitted one lanes, the battered truck was squealing and wobbling. Jack pulled the truck into an overhang along the forest. It groaned, popped, and smoke billowed around the front of the truck. The engine whirred loudly then died.

"Well that's that." Jack said he ducked and looked in the side mirror. The road was deserted, but he knew they were on borrowed time. He turned in his seat. Mac shook his head and looked up only to drop it again. Jack shot a questioning look over his head to Desi.

"The stab wound needs stitches. I don't know what he was drugged with." Jack let out a breath. He did not want to operate on his friend again. LA was still cleaning up after Typhoon Herata and Jack's brain was far from cleaning out the memories and nightmares. Jack clicked on the over head light and looked inside Mac's arms. He didn't see any tracks. His eyes were still more black than blue. Mac watched him a furrow in his forehead.

"Jack?" Jack smiled at Mac. He put his hands on Mac's cheeks

and tilted Mac to face him. Mac blinked slowly and frowned, trying to focus on Jack's face.

"Mac, do you hear me?" Mac blinked.

"Jack?"

"Yeah, can you say something more than my name?" Mac blinked.

"Hurts." Jack glanced at the others. Bozer and Riley stood in the open doors.

"What hurts?" Mac closed his eyes. Jack almost shook him when his eyes opened.

"Think."

"Hurts to think?" Mac nodded. Jack scowled.

"You just relax, we got ya, right?"

"Cars…" Mac mumbled, "Woods."

"Cars chased you through the woods." Mac blinked and slowly nodded.

"Just relax and breathe, ok?" Mac nodded and leaned back. When Jack let his head go it drooped. Jack huffed then looked at the others.

"Ok, we need a place to lay low and get some new wheels."

"What's thataway?" Bozer asked pointing down the road ahead of them.

"A small town, well, a street with a couple of stores." Riley answered. She gritted her teeth and pounded on the antennae she'd made out of aluminum foil.

"I can't keep contact."

"It would probably lead them right to us." Desi offered. She slapped in a new Magazine and holstered her sig.

"Right. Desi you and Bozer go to town and find-"

"Steal?"

"Find a car, food, something to get Mac stitched up...and something for him to wear, especially shoes and a coat."

"This place is going to have all that?" Bozer asked.

"Get creative." Jack lifted his foot and pulled up his pant leg. Behind his back up gun, he pulled out a wad of cash. He handed it to Desi.

"Don't spend it all."

"Do you always carry that much?" Bozer's eyes were wide as he flipped through the stack of hundreds. Jack rolled his eyes and snatched the pile back. He handed it to Desi.

"It's emergency funds."

"Right."

"We're going to set up a camp."

"Camp? As in the woods?" Bozer looked over his shoulder at the forest. The sun was almost gone for the day. It was turning downright scary. Jack nodded.

"We have to go off grid until we can figure something out. Desi?"

"Don't worry, we'll find you."

"I'll leave sign."

"Don't worry, Sarge, I haven't forgotten everything you taught me."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah-don't spend all of my money."
"Yes, Dad."

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

THEN

"Ok, I'll be the first one to ask, what's a red house?" Bozer asked. Mac took a deep breath and crossed his arms. Jack eyed him concerned. Desi and Riley glanced at each other wondering what was up between the two of them.

"It's a nursing facility for ex-spies." Matty supplied. She glanced at Mac who turned and stared out the window. His back was stiff and his shoulders sagged. Matty shared a worried look with Jack. Riley nodded. Definitely something there.

"We talking a spy nursing home?"

"Not exactly, Boze, it's a...rest home for spies who are a risk for divulging sensitive information." Mac's back flinched as if someone whipped him with a strap. Riley frowned. Whatever it was, it was serious.

"If someone cracks up after a mission," Mac said as he turned. His face was a carefully constructed pale mask. His voice was taut, "Have dementia, are frail or whatever you end up there." The last part was accompanied by a nasty look shot at Matty. Jack rubbed his eyes.

"Are we supposed to ignore all this elephant-in-the-roomyness?" Desi asked pointing to Mac and Matty. Matty narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah, blondie, if you have something to say-"

"No, of course not, my father is dead." Mac's voice was monotone. Matty sighed and nodded her eyes wide with compassion.

"I know this is hard for you, Mac, but we only get one chance at this."
"And my history makes me perfect bait." Mac shook his head and turned back to look out the window.

"What history, Mac?" Bozer asked his eyes wide with compassion, his voice soft. He stepped over to Mac and put a hand on his shoulder. Mac twitched and automatically took half a step away. He looked over at Boze and patted his shoulder.

"Sorry, Boze, it's not easy to talk about."

"I bet."

"We're all here for ya, brother." Mac turned and nodded at Jack.

"Besides, it's not like we didn't always know you were a bit crazy." Riley said jabbing her with his elbow. Mac managed a wan smile then turned to Matty.

"So what's our op?"

"We narrowed the Red House to the one in South Dakota."

"Oh man, Matty! Why can't you people put them in Aruba?" Jack whined.

"Hawaii?" Bozer offered.

"Tahiti." Riley piped in.

"South Congo." Everyone turned to Desi surprised. She grinned, "Love me a hostile jungle!"

"And you think I'm weird." Mac snarked.

"Children! Can we focus, please?"

"Yes, Ma'am. They chorused. Matty rolled her eyes and turned to her tablet.

"This is Red House 42. It has twenty-five beds and fifteen staff. We're lucky the staff rotates every three months, and they're due."

"Rotate?" Boze asked.

"They change most of the staff to prevent...well this." Mac said waving a hand at the screen.

"Works, obviously." Desi said dryly.

"Mac, you're going to be admitted. It's not about anything in the past, Mac, you'll be able to figure out how they're getting secret data."

"He's bait." Jack's tone showed how unhappy with that idea he was. Matty ignored him.

"Jack, you're going to be an orderly, Bozer you're in the kitchen-"

"Of course." Bozer grinned.

"Riley, you're going to be in the office."

"File clerk?"

"Something like that."

"And me?"

"You're going to be on the outside-"

"Nosing around and background." Desi nodded.

"You can rescue us when we all get in the shit."
"Of course, I'll come for you first, Sarge." Desi shot him a mocking smile. Jack gave her one back. Mac smiled.

"Mac…" Mac turned with dread in his gut.

"Now what, Matty?" Jack growled. Matty sighed.

"Some of the patients vanished off the grounds-"

"That's it, Mac's not-"

"Jack, shush!" Riley snapped. Jack looked at her betrayed. She offered a mollifying smile.

"You know I wouldn't leave my bro high and dry, right?" She nudged Mac's arm and they shared a smile.

"Show them what you have, Riley." They gathered around her.

"To prevent illegal transmissions there is a signal damper on the grounds. I've come up with this." Riley opened her hand. In it was a small square chip.

"You're chipping me?" Mac said wide-eyed.

"Finally, I've been wanting this forever!" Jack gushed. Mac shot him a dirty look.

"Can I put it in?" Bozer asked biting his lip, staring at Mac. Mac looked downright hurt.

"Me, please?" Desi asked raising her hand.

"With friends like these…" Mac muttered.

"Alright, enough teasing." Matty said. She walked to Mac, "Sit down, Blondie." Mac looked over at Riley nervously.

"Have you-"

"It's fine, Mac. I worked it out with all your doctors-"

"And you have a lot of them." Desi said nodding. Mac's mouth fell open and he glared at everyone standing around him.

"How long have you all been ganging up on me?" The teasing stopped when they took in Mac's genuine nervousness and hurt. Jack sat beside him.

"Look, bud, we're all teasing here-"

"Mostly." Bozer added. Jack shot him a glare. Bozer nodded and patted Mac's arm, "Seriously, Mac, we can't lose you-"

"And the secrets in your head are invaluable." Matty added. Mac looked down at his hands, then rubbed his forehead. He glanced at Riley and held his arm out. Riley winced.

"Mac, this is not only going to give us your GPS but also a continuous bio reading so we know if you're...under duress." Mac nodded his arm still out.

"We need to put it where they can't find it and where it won't be spotted." Mac dropped his arm. He looked at the group worried.

"Where?"

"Take off your boots, brother." Mac gaped at Jack.

"Wha-?"

"Boots, blondie, now. " Mac closed his eyes, bent and pulled off his boots and socks. Riley bent down. She shot a worried look at Mac.

"This is gonna-"

"Just do it, Riley." Mac huffed with frustration and fatigue. Jack sat beside Mac. Bozer sat on the other side. Mac fought the urge to shove them off the couch. He put his bare foot on the table. Riley swabbed in between his big toe and second toe. Mac winced and his foot twitched. Riley looked up worried.

"Mac, are you-"

"Just do it." Riley nodded. She pulled out a machine that looked like a pricing gun from a retail store. Mac gulped and closed his eyes. Riley pushed the edge between his toes and hit a button. An electric shock buzzed up Mac's leg. He cried out and jumped, automatically fighting to get free. He chugged in air like a locomotive and pulled his foot closer. He closed his eyes and moaned. A familiar callused hand rubbed his back. His foot shook with the shocking pain. It hurt to move his whole foot. Slowly the agony dimmed to a tingly burning. Mac opened his eyes and met the worried eyes of everyone who'd pulled into a circle around him. Mac managed a wan smile.

"Is that what getting an earing feels like?"

"We can always put those in while we're here?" Desi offered cheerfully. Mac gave her a drawn out sour look. He pulled his foot closer and examined it. He could feel heat where the chip was inserted. It was reddened and swollen, but he couldn't see anything that would indicate anything was there. Mac looked up as Matty hit a button and everyone turned to the screen.

"Your heart rate is up a little." Jack noticed.

"So's your breathing."

"That's what happens when you're in pain." Mac growled as he put his sock and shoe back on. He winced when he moved his foot. He also had a noticeable limp. Jack grabbed his arm and tossed it over his shoulders.

"C'mon, gimpy, we got a plane to catch."
"You know I hate all of you, don't you?"

"Yeah, buddy we do."