Tag to S02xE09 - CD-ROM + Hoagie Foil

Tiny A/N: I'm always late to the party when it comes to cool shows, it seems. So please forgive me that I'm only at season 2 yet.

Mac was pretty quickly released from the hospital after breathing in toxic gas and sticking scissors in his leg, considering he was watching the roll of film on his father not long after the hospital scene. Perhaps a bit too quickly?

Jack was still thinking about the man in his car, threatening him and Riley's dad, when he pulled up at Mac's house. He had so many questions, and there wasn't a doubt in his mind that he was going to get answers, even if he had to beat it out of Elwood. That guy was nothing but trouble, and even though he really wanted to keep things good between him and Riley, Jack wouldn't hesitate to get rid of Elwood if he posed a threat.

He shook his head and got out of the car. Right now, there was something else he had to deal with. He had swung by the hospital and found Mac had already checked himself out. When he spoke to the doctor, the man had told him that Mac had said him there would be someone at home looking after him. But with Bozer away, there was no one else home. Hopefully, Jack wouldn't find his stubborn ass on the floor of the living room. He planned to stop by Elwood's place later tonight.

The thought of Mac passed out somewhere made Jack speed up a little as he entered the house.

'Mac?'

He heard some faint stumbling outside and as he made his way over to the balcony, he smelled traces of smoke. Immediately on high alert, Jack took two steps at a time up the stairs. He found Mac sitting, head in his hand. On the side of the balcony hung a white screen and next to the table in front of Mac lay pieces of cardboard, a drill and some smaller pieces he couldn't really see, where the small trail of smoke originated from. Normally, he wouldn't understand half of the things Mac made, but this was obviously a makeshift projector.

'Hey man, you okay?' Jack asked, as he carefully approached the young blonde. Mac sighed and visibly winced, then looked up. Jack tried to read the emotions on his face, and there were traces of pain, confusion, anger. 'What's wrong?'

Mac just shook his head and started picking up the pieces of the projector. Judging by the force he put it back on the table with, Jack guessed he was still slightly angry, although he had no idea why.

Jack quietly helped him and looked the kid over. He was still a bit pale and limped as he walked. The blue shirt he was wearing was showing stains of sweat, although it wasn't that warm outside anymore. Jack fought off the urge to put his hand to Mac's forehead.

'I heard you checked yourself out of the hospital? Couldn't you wait to watch whatever movie can be played with a drill?'

Mac grimaced. He moved the stool out of the way and sat down inside the pit. 'I'm fine, Jack.'

Something inside the man spasmed though because his face suddenly twisted in pain. It lasted only a second, but Jack had seen.

'Clearly. Want me to make you some tea or something?'

When Mac shook his head, Jack sat down beside him. Mac subconsciously rubbed the painful spot on his leg and stared ahead, not really looking at anything. Jack could tell the guy was thinking, and it wasn't about something fun. He knew pressuring Mac into talking didn't often help, so he figured he might as well tell his own story.

'I just had a delightful chat with a man pointing a gun at me,' he said, immediately getting Mac's attention. His friend's eyebrows rose in a surprised frown.

'What?'

'I was watching Elwood-' Mac gave him a look and Jack waved it off. 'Yeah, yeah, I know, whatever. Anyway, some guy gets in my car, says something about getting in line if I wanted Elwood dead.'

'Someone wants him dead?'

Jack smirked. 'More than one person, but as for the mystery man, I have no idea why.'

Mac rolled his eyes at the first part but looked pensive at the last.

'How are you going to tell Elwood?'

Jack shrugged. 'Still debating if I even will.'

Mac smirked and shook his head. 'Why were you watching him in the first place?'

'Ah, well,' Jack began, averting his eyes as he tried to come up with the best way to put it. 'I just don't trust him, and I don't want Riley to get hurt again.'

'She's a grown woman, Jack.' Mac disapproved and Jack kind of understood him. She was an adult, but she was also so fragile.

'I know, but-'

Before Jack could finish his sentence, Mac clenched his jaw shut, closed his eyes, and bent over. The wave of pain had surprised the both of them. Jack put his hand on Mac's arm, noticing the slight tremble as Mac rode it out. Mac's jaw was still tense as he sat back up, forcing himself to breathe in deep through his nose.

'How did they let you walk out of the hospital?' Jack exclaimed in shock. Mac grimaced.

'I told them I was fine.'

'No, you told them you had someone who could look after you.' Jack saw in Mac's eyes that he had been caught in the lie. Mac looked away, down at his feet instead.

'They gave me the antidote, I'm not going to die,' he said. Jack saw a bead of sweat roll down his neck and add to the growing stain on the back of his shirt.

'Then why do you look like you could drop any moment?'

'Because-' Another wave of pain hit him and again he doubled over, grabbing the bench beside him, his knuckles turning white from the firm grip. He had his eyes closed again, but wasn't quick enough to stop a soft groan.

Jack's stomach flipped, seeing his friend in pain that lasted longer than the last wave. When Cage and he had driven him to the hospital hours ago, Mac had been in considerable pain too, but for the first part of the trip, the adrenaline had kept him up. After that, he had squirmed away from the hand pressing down on his leg, and had soon start to develop a painful cough. Jack had been more than worried back then too. He knew Mac was going to be okay now, but he still couldn't completely relax until he was sure Mac was absolutely fine.

The wave passed and Mac sat up again. His breathing was shallow and fast, and he worked his jaw to hide his discomfort, but at least he let go of the bench.

'Antidotes don't work that way,' he continued his sentence in between breaths, as if the moment of pain hadn't really happened. 'They don't magically fix you, just make sure you don't die.'

'Well, that just sucks.'

Mac nodded and ran a hand through his hair as he focused on calming down his breathing. Jack glanced backwards at the white sheet Mac had hung up as a screen.

'So what's up with that?' he asked, nodding towards it. Mac followed his look and seemed to hesitate. The fact that he didn't immediately dismiss talking about it gave Jack hope.

'I was watching something. From my dad.'

Jack frowned. 'You had a film on your dad?'

'It's… uhoh.' Mac held up his right hand that had been gently rubbing his leg. His fingers were wet with a red substance. Jack sighed.

'Let's go inside. Don't think this will get you out of talking about that film, though. You can talk on the way,' Jack said, pulling the kid up by his arm. Mac limped slowly, leaning against Jack's hand on his arm.

'It's complicated,' he mumbled through gritted teeth.

'Isn't everything with your dad?'

By the look on his face, Mac agreed.

'But this time even more.'

The last step on the stairs was the hardest, and they paused for a moment. It gave Jack a chance to really look at Mac now that they were in brighter light. His eyes showed he was both physically as well as mentally hurting, and seemed conflicted about something. Jack had put two and two together, in this case the smoke and the film, and knew he was never going to be able to see it for himself. But whatever had been on there was bad enough for Mac to be in this state.

'This dad of yours really is a handful, isn't he? He has-'

For the third time Jack had seen this evening, Mac's face twisted. His right hand reached for his chest, and he bowed forward as something in his chest spasmed. Jack could see Mac tense up, heard his breathing hitch. The young man started gasping and groaned. In reflex, his left hand grabbed Jack's shirt and clawed his fingers in so hard Jack could hear the fabric stretch.

'Oh yes, you're totally fine,' Jack sarcastically said. Mac didn't respond, just bent further down, but this made it harder to breathe through the pain. Jack tried to pull him along for another few steps towards the couch, but this wave was a bad one and Mac just resisted.

Weighing his options, Jack chose the one that Mac would hate the most, but was best for his well-being. He put one arm around his back, feeling the muscles contract beneath him, and put the other arm underneath his knees. Before Mac could realize what was happening, Jack picked him up. Mac struggled at first, but the pain won from the embarrassment for now.

It didn't take long anyway, because within several big steps Jack had reached the couch and put Mac down. Immediately, Mac let go of Jack's shirt, curled onto his side, thankfully his good side, and hugged his chest. His painful gasps tugged at Jack's heart. Softly sighing with empathy, Jack sat down on the coffee table and waited until it was over, keeping close in case the kid needed him.

It took about five more seconds before Mac let his body relax and was able to take in deep breaths again. He had his eyes closed as he ran a shaky hand over his sweaty face. He let out a shuddering sigh and wiped his clammy palms on his knees, careful of the wet stain on his upper leg. Still, Jack waited quietly and patiently until Mac looked his way.

'I'm taking you back to the hospital.'

Mac's eyes went wide and he shook his head. 'I'm fine.'

Jack grabbed his leg just below the cut and squeezed it, receiving a wince and a glare.

'You probably tore your stitches.'

'You can fix that.'

Jack frowned. 'Remember that one time I tried to sew up my calve? It doesn't look pretty now.'

Mac grimaced, remembering, but he still shook his head. 'No hospital.'

Jack pursed his lips as he considered Mac's proposition. With a big sigh he decided to give in this time.

'Fine. Take off your pants, I'll get the kit.' With that, Jack got up and made his way over to the bathroom. As he found the first aid kit, he shook his head and sighed again. The smart thing was to take Mac back, but he also knew Mac would do everything in his power to struggle and resist, possibly causing more harm than good.

When he returned, he found Mac sitting in his underwear, resting his head on the back of the couch, his eyes closed. He looked tired. Only when Jack sat down in front of him again did he look up.

'It all just got more complicated,' he quietly said. Jack unwrapped the red stained bandage on his leg, took off the gauze and found that one stitch had indeed come loose. He put on gloves and got everything ready.

'What do you mean?'

Mac hissed when Jack sliced the needle through his skin. 'I think Matty's involved.'

Jack's hand froze, the thread only halfway through. 'Matty has something to do with your dad's disappearance?'

Mac's glance at his leg made Jack continue.

'I think so, yes.'

Jack thought long and hard, then shook his head as he tied off the thread. It wasn't his best work but it would do.

'I've known Matty for a long time-'

'I know. But she-' Mac took a deep breath and held it, riding through a low level wave of pain this time. '-was in the video.'

Jack rolled a new, clean bandage tight around Mac's upper leg and taped it off. He hadn't come here tonight to stitch up his friend and hear about conspiracy theories that made his head fill with even more questions than he'd had before. But nothing was ever easy with a MacGyver, it seemed.

'Look Jack, I know you have many questions-'

'That I do.'

'-but I can't really talk about it yet. I need some time to think.'

Jack pulled off the gloves and tossed them on the table. He waited a beat before he said: 'You know you can talk to me about anything, right?'

Mac smiled and nodded. Jack sighed.

'Alright then. But don't wait too long to tell me, you know I'm too curious for that.'

Mac snickered and nodded. His grin faded into a small smile as his eyelids started to droop. Jack noticed and rose to his feet, extending his hand.

'Now, it's time for you to rest.'

Mac opened his mouth to protest, but caught Jack's warning look and closed it again. He took Jack's hand and let himself be pulled up. As a precaution, Jack slung Mac's around over his shoulder and was glad the kid didn't resist. Slowly, Jack steered him towards his bedroom, letting Mac set the pace. He waited as Mac changed into something comfortable for the night and sat down on his bed. He gave Jack an awkward smile.

'Are you going to stand there all night?'

Jack grinned. 'No, I'll be on your couch.' Before Mac could protest to this as well, Jack continued: 'The doctors let you go home if someone looked after you, so, unless you want to go back, you'll have no choice but to let me stay and fuss over you.'

Mac fell back onto his pillow with a groan, but also a smile on his face.

'I'll accept the staying part, but I really am fine.' He winced, muscles in his neck tensing up, jaw clenched shut for a second. 'Okay, that was just bad timing. Now I'm fine.'

Jack grinned.

'I know you'll be, brother. And I'll always have your back, also when you're not.'

Mac was already dozing off, eyes closed, but he had heard. 'Thanks Jack.'

As Jack turned off the lights and closed the door, he knew three things: one, he was going to have to postpone messing up Elwood's life for a bit, but he was fine with that. Two, there weren't going to be any answers to his questions today, so he might as well let it go for now. And three, he could rewatch Die Hard again tonight because he had left them here last time. Looking after his friend for the night wasn't going to be so bad.

With a grin on his face, Jack walked back to the living room, leaving the soft snores of his friend behind.