Hey y'all! So, here is the next chapter, finally! Sorry it took so freaking long. School and life have been hectic. Also, church has started back up and I've been doing several things there so it's been kind of crazy. This chapter is kind of short just because I wanted to update for y'all! Hope you enjoy!

*Tag onto 1x06*

"Mac, I think I found your missing IED..."

Angus Macgyver exuded an air of forced calm as he walked quietly through the camp, his mind spinning as he thought about his partners terrifying words from earlier. Today had been hard. They had almost lost Jack on a routine patrol when he'd stepped on an IED in an abandoned house. It had been rough to say the least. Today, after several weeks of suffering through Jack's idiotic antics, Mac had finally realized that in all of the snappy back and forth between them they had gone from hating each other to actually caring about each other. It scared him to no end. he wasn't used to relying on people like he now relied on Jack. It unnerved him. He rubbed his arms nervously as his anxiety spiked again.

From a young age, his father had impressed in his head to never ever trust anyone but himself. But now... Now there was Jack, and Mac didn't know what to do. So, he decided he needed his space. He walked the entirety of the camp twice, and he knew he would eventually need to go back to the tent... and Jack. He sighed and slumped to the ground, rubbing a hand over his face. He didn't want to go back, but he knew he needed to. Mac wasn't the only one who had had a bad day, Jack was the one who had almost been blown up.

Finally, Mac sighed and stood to his feet. He silently made his way over to his tent and stood outside in dread. He really didn't want to go inside... He growled quietly to himself and backed away, feeling like a coward. His partner was the one who almost blew up, but it was Mac who couldn't talk about it. His partner almost blew up... Without warning, the amount of stress that had weighed on Mac's mind all day came crashing down and all of the 'what ifs..' converged his mind at once sending him into a downward spiral of panic. His breathing shortened and his head throbbed. His chest hurt and he tried to Take a deep breath but found that he couldn't. He stumbled away from the tent, not wanting to risk Jack hearing him through the canvas. He dragged himself away, found the closest corner, and crawled into it, hiding himself away from the world. He tried to stay silent but found that he could control neither the shaking nor the tears. His mind pounded with a mantra that his father had drilled into him from an early age: It's just a signal. Block the signal. Block the signal. Block the signal. Block the- Mac whimpered in fear, clutching his head tightly. It wasn't working, he couldn't stop this. He couldn't logic or invent his way out of this one. He couldn't get himself out of it. He tried his best to stay quiet but fear overwhelmed his mind as his cognitive thinking shut down. The only thought that could make it's way through the cloud that overwhelmed his mind made itself known through a whimper of terror.

"Jack!"

***Line Break***

Jack searched the camp for his blond counterpart, having been unable to find him for the last hour. He was beginning to grow worried and his searching had grown more fervent. He scanned the camp and frowned, trying to find the young blond in the crowd. He hadn't had a chance to talk to Mac about what had happened, and he knew that Mac needed to talk. If there was one thing that was consistent about Mac it was that, when things went wrong he needed to talk it through or he'd get stuck inside his own head. Jack sighed as he scanned the people passing him from the mess hall. Mac wasn't among anyone in the crowd. Jack frowned, it wasn't unusual for Mac to skip dinner, but the ex-delta also knew that the blond hadn't had lunch. Mac either really wasn't hungry or he wasn't paying any attention to the time; neither option was great.

Jack shook his head, renewing his search for his partner. He passed through the crowd, occasionally asking fellow soldiers if they'd seen him. No one had. Jack's worry began to grow into anxiety which began to turn into dread as a it grew in his stomach. His search became more and more fervent as Mac continued to stay hidden.

"Mac!" he called, his voice breaking in worry, "kid, where are you?"

His walking pace quickly sped up into a run as he frantically searched the camp. Knowing his partner, Jack had the terrifying feeling that Mac had found himself a hole and was curled up giving into his mind. His terrifyingly huge genius brain that could overwhelm him in moments. Jack frantically stopped everyone he saw, asking, no begging, the others if they'd seen his partner. Several men from his unit joined Jack in his search, but no one was able to locate the young blonde-

"Jack!" The delta whirled around at the sound of his name.

A very out of breath young soldier ran up to him and crouched over, trying to catch his breath, "I found... Mac," he wheezed in between gulps of air, "hidden between... humvees... not doing good..."

Without another word, Jack took off in the direction the soldier had come from. He was directed by several others towards his young blond wonderboy. His heart broke once his eyes finally rested on his kid. Mac was curled up as far back as he could be. His long arm were wrapped tightly around his knees, which were drawn up to his chest. His bright blue eyes were full of tears and wide with blind fear. He was shaking and crying silently, only the occasional whimper escaping him. Jack quietly gestured for the others to leave and crawled slowly towards his panicked partner.

"Hey Mac," Jack spoke quietly, although he felt like he knew what the anxiety attack was about, he couldn't be sure whether or not it was okay to touch the kid, "hey buddy, can you look up at me? It's Jack. hey," he had to force himself to not grab Mac's arm, "buddy, it's just Jack. Can you hear me, kiddo?"

Mac's head shot up, his wild blue eyes landing on his partner, "Ja..ck," he gasped out between sobs.

"You're okay kiddo," Jack said gently, trying to force the prickly sensation in his eyes to leave, "look, see, we're both okay. I'm all in one piece, kiddo. Nothin happened, and we're both okay, see."

Mac dropped his head and hid it in the crook of his arm, his shoulders shaking with silent cries. Jack's heart broke into a million pieces at the sight of Mac so vulnerable. He was glad that he'd shooed the others away. It would embarrass Mac to no end if the other boys saw him like this. Slowly and gently, Jack inched his way closer to his panicked partner until it was resting on Mac's boot. He felt Mac stiffen, so he started to pull away. A hand shot out and grabbed his hand before it could move any further. Jack froze, Mac was in control now. Whatever the blonde wanted was what would happen. He allowed Mac to pull his hand into the fold of arms and legs where it eventually settled on the younger man's shoulder. Jack shifted closer and slowly, giving Mac enough time to adjust, wrapped his hand further around to where he was hugging the younger man. He gently squeezed the back of Mac's neck and pulled him close, to where Mac was leaning against Jack's chest.

"Ya hear that?" he murmured gently into the younger man's hair, "that's my heartbeat, kiddo. It's still goin' strong, see? I'm alright," he breathed deep, "do ya think you could match your breathing to mine? It sure would help calm you down."

He could hear Mac trying to breathe deep, he could also hear it failing miserably. He tried to pull away so he could look at the younger man, but Mac's arms shot out and wrapped themselves around him. So, he settled with just talking.

"Let's try this, kiddo," he instructed, "breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth. In through your nose, and out through your mouth," he could hear the difference in Mac's erratic breathing and silently cheered, "there you go, kid. In through your nose, out through your mouth. Easy does it," he gently rubbed circles on Mac's back, "just calm and easy breaths. That's it. You're okay. You're alright. We're both just fine."

***Line Break***

It took several minutes, but Mac finally calmed down enough to breath normally. He took a deep, shuddering breath and pressed up against Jack, relishing in the comforting feeling of his partner's breathing. He fingered the hem of Jack's shirt and breathed in the smell of sweat, coffee, beer, and cotton. Not a very nice scent, but very reassuring. Mac had dubbed it Jack's "dad smell". He stayed like that for several minutes before siting up and resting his head against the Humvee, Jack's arm still around his shoulders. He rested the side of his head against Jack's shoulder and breathed deeply, trying to control the dwindling feeling of panic.

"You okay, kid?" Jack whispered, carding his hand through Mac's light blonde hair.

Mac leaned into the touch, sighing, "yeah... I'm okay."

"You are a horrible liar," Jack smiled, laughing gently, "I'm serious, Mac. Are you okay?"

Mac nodded slowly, "I'll be fine."

Jack pulled away from Mac, just enough to see his face, "you're sure?"

"Yeah," Mac wouldn't look up, his voice quiet, "I'll be okay."

Jack rested his chin on Mac's head, "again. You're a bad liar, kiddo," he said, glancing down at the kid's face.

Mac glanced up at him, "Jack," he dragged out the 'a' in his friend's name, "I'll be fine."

"You wanna tell me what that was about?" Jack asked gently, "you don't ever wig out like that without a reason."

Mac shook his head, wrapping his arm tighter around his knees, "I'm okay."

"Right," Jack nodded along, "okay. So, you're perfectly okay which is why I found you here. Behind a Humvee, in full panic mode, crying," he fixed a disbelieving expression on his friend, "out with it," he ordered, "what's the matter?"

"What do you think?" Mac snapped, turning his head away from his partner.

Jack sighed, "oh, I don't know. Could this have something to do with what happened today?"

Mac shrugged moodily, "I dunno. Maybe."

"Mhmm," Jack hummed quietly, "kid, look at me."

Mac turned his head slowly, his baby blue eyes fixing Jack with the saddest expression the delta had ever seen.

"I'm okay," Jack assured him, "it's not the first time I've had a run-in with an IED," he admitted, "I'm safe. You disarmed the bomb and I'm okay."

"But I almost couldn't," Mac protested, "and then you would have died and I-" he caught himself, his mouth snapped shut and his eyes went from sad to guarded in a nanosecond.

Jack stopped the kid from turning his head away, forcing Mac to look at him, "you what, Mac?"

Mac shook his head, "nothing," he snapped, "You almost died. I almost couldn't do it. We had seconds left before you were gone and I..." he stopped himself again.

Jack could see the wheels turning in his friend's head as a silent war waged in the kid's head. You couldn't physically see the war, but it was just as real as the one they all were fighting. Jack tightened his grip around Mac's shoulders, suddenly aware that this was the first time the two of them had ever talked like this. And Jack relished in the trust that Mac placed in him. This was one partner that Jack would never lose.

"You can tell me kid," he said gently, "I won't judge you, you know that."

"I just..." Mac hesitated, "in the moment all I could think about was how I couldn't do this without you," he admitted, his words rushed and blended together. He ducked his head, not wanting to meet Jack's gaze. Surely the older man was mortified at Mac's admission. It was pure weakness. reliance on another person didn't make a soldier. Besides, Jack was going home in a few days. Mac didn't want to get in the way of his partner going home. It would be wrong. And admitting to weakness was wrong. Mac waited for the harsh words, the pulling away, and even the slap that he knew from experience would come. But it didn't.

"Mac," Jack noted the small flinch, but filed that away for later, "look at me," he waited until Mac had turned his head and met his level gaze with his terrified baby blues, "you know that I care about you, kid. You go kaboom, I go kaboom. Remember?"

Jack watched as confusion warred against denial behind Mac's eyes, "but-"

"But nothing," Jack shook his head, "you're my partner, kiddo. You're stuck with me. Till death do we part, or whatever."

Mac snorted, "Jack, that's a wedding vow."

Jack rolled his eyes, "well, it works for partners too."

Mac mirrored Jack's earlier action and rolled his eyes, "yeah, okay."

"And listen to me," Jack smiled gently, "it's okay to rely on other people, kid," he frowned internally as Mac's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, "you can rely on me just like I rely on you. That's what a partnership is. Please remember that. It's perfectly fine to place trust in other people and rely on them for things. I don't know who told you otherwise but-"

"It was my dad," Mac admitted quietly, not meeting Jack's gaze.

Jack forced himself to remain calm despite his growing feelings of anger towards Mac's father. Mac hadn't said much about the man, but what he had said was enough to make Jack want to smack someone, "well," he sighed, "I don't know what he thought about other things, but on this he was wrong."

Mac's head shot up, "what?"

"He was wrong," Jack repeated firmly, "you have to trust people. Trusting people is what makes people, human," he gently squeezed Mac to him, "I promise that you can trust me. Okay? I'm not bailing, buddy."

"But what if..." Mac trailed off, breathing deeply then continuing, "what if it happens again?"

"What if what happens again?" Jack questioned, knowing exactly what Mac was talking about, but making him say it himself.

Mac pushed himself away, breaking out of Jack's grip, "what if you step on another IED? What if I can't disarm it? What if-"

"Now, I'm gonna stop you right there kiddo," Jack held up a hand, stalling Mac's words as his tone turned frantic, "I may have give you a hard time, but ever since you disarmed a bomb with a bubblegum wrapper I have never doubted your ability to diffuse a bomb. You are the best dang tech this side of the Pacific ocean and I wouldn't want to ride out with anyone else. You hear me?"

Mac nodded hesitantly, clearly trying to fight against the false ideals that his father had ingrained in him from a young age. Jack pulled the younger man to him and waited until Mac relaxed before rubbing his hand along his friend's back. He let Mac stay in the moment as long as he wanted, knowing the blond needed it.

"Jack?" Mac's voice was hesitant, but he was breathing and he was calmer so Jack didn't really care how hesitant he was.

"What's up kiddo?" Jack relied gently, not moving his hand from Mac's back.

"Are you okay?" Mac's question was voiced in a quiet, concerned tone.

"I'm fine, Mac," Jack replied truthfully, "I told you, this ain't my first rodeo. Besides, I knew you could disarm it. You had everything under control so I wasn't worried."

Mac looked up at his partner, "really?"

Jack nodded, "I trust you, kiddo," he smiled, "you know what you're doing and anything I ever say otherwise is either fear or humor talking, you got it?"

Mac nodded, pulling away some and sitting up on his own, "thanks, Jack."

Jack sat back a little, still keeping his hand on the back of Mac's neck, "I mean it kiddo," he met Mac's now steady gaze and smiled, "I know you've got my back, and I hope you know that I've got yours."

Mac nodded, "yeah, I do."

Jack smiled, "good," sensing Mac's desire to turn the conversation, he rubbed his hands together eagerly, "now, how about we go rustle up some food, then hit the hay and get some shut eye?"

The excessive use of southern mannerisms had it's desired effect as Mac laughed, "sounds like a plan, Jack."

The two soldiers climbed out of Mac's spot and headed towards the mess hall, Mac expertly avoiding the gazes of the others and Jack glaring at them if he felt they were staring at the duo for too long. Mac navigating the route, Jack navigating the people. The perfect team.

Mac sighed quietly in contentment as he watched Jack shovel food into his mouth. He was glad to have Jack there. Even if it was only for a few more days.

So there it is y'all! Chapter 4! Hope y'all liked it! Please feel free to leave a review! I absolutely love it when I see that y'all have left a little comment for me! Y'all make my day! Anyways, hope you enjoyed that chapter! Love y'all!