Jack is finally going home. He is ready to go home to his family at the ranch in Texas, ready to breathe in the sweet Texas air... or is he? Just a one-shot featuring Jack's thoughts leading up to his decision to stay. Btw, if you're re-reading this because it was updated, literally all i did was change the Dallas Mavericks hoodie to a Dallas Cowboys hoodie. I'm not sporty at all and so I then remembered that the Mavericks were a basketball team... total brainfart. ;) So, after I realized that I decided to fix it! *she says while laughing hysterically at her mistake* Read on my friends! *she says while still laughing hysterically at herself*

Jack studied his partner suspiciously. Mac had been quiet while he worked, not rambling like he usually did. It unsettled the delta in ways he didn't quite understand, but he didn't try to. The blond had wormed his way into Jack's iron-clad soldier heart without him even realizing it. The over-watch shook himself out of his silent reflections as he sat quietly on his bunk, his belongings packed in a heap at the foot. He would be leaving tomorrow, headed back home to Texas. Back to his families ranch where he could unwind and breathe in the heavenly fresh air, free of the stench of blood, seat, tears, and death. At the beginning of his assignment with Mac, Jack couldn't wait to get back home to his family, but somewhere along the road his feelings had changed. He had begun dreading the day he had to leave his little Wunderkid in the sandbox alone, without Jack by his side to watch his back. Jack clenched his fist around the edge of the Dallas Cowboys hoodie that Mac had gotten him for his birthday. How the kid had known it was his birthday was uncanny, and kind of scary, but Mac had managed to get his old roommate to send the hoodie to him for Jack. A man who, up until the last month, had hated his guts and wanted to strangle him half the time. Jack sighed as Mac rolled over in his sleep, his young face towards Jack. The ex-delta's ankle was wrapped around Mac's a gesture of comfort that kept Mac's nightmares away. Jack had found that people tended to notice their ankles than they did his hand wrapped around Mac's arm. Mac sighed in his sleep and shifted closer to the edge of his cot, towards Jack.

"What am I gonna do with you, kid?" Jack asked quietly, wishing desperately he could talk to his dad. His dad always knew the right thing to do at the right time. It was a wisdom that Jack had drawn on several times before he'd died. Jack gently reached over and swiped some stray hair off his partner's forehead.

Mac shifted towards Jack's hand, resting his head on it and sighing contentedly, "Ja-ack," he mumbled in his sleep.

The ex-delta smiled gently at his partner, "right here kiddo." for now, he added silently in his head.

Mac's eyes fluttered open as he woke up slowly, they scanned around before settling on his partner, "we have a mission?"

Jack shook his head, it was impossible to miss the slight sadness behind Mac's eyes, "it's close to dinner though. Figured you'd wanna eat something."

Mac shook his head, rolling over and sitting up, disentangling his ankle from Jack's, "I'm not hungry."

A lance of pain shot through Jack's heart as he recognized the guarded tone in Mac's voice. He thought they'd moved past that weeks ago, but Jack guessed that with his leaving Mac was just preparing himself for another partner. Jack had been guilty of doing it too, icing out a partner to prepare for the next one. He just didn't think it would hurt so much coming from the blond.

"You need to eat something, Mac," Jack persisted, "come on, kid, it's my last night here," he ignored the slight tremor that ran through Mac's shoulders at that, "don't make me fight you on this, please."

It seemed that his request made it through Mac's stubborn streak because the younger man sighed and then stood to his feet, "fine. Come on, let's go eat."

Jack smiled in relief, he didn't know how much Mac would eat after he left. The blonde had finally gained some weight in the two months they'd been partners and Jack wasn't about to let that stop while he was still here. He sighed, following slower, watching his partner walk confidently through the camp. His head was high and his blue eyes shone with a barely hidden sadness as he turned to check that Jack was following. Jack sighed, he really didn't want to leave his kid. The wheels in his head began to turn, the two conflicting sides of his head fighting for either sides of his family.

***Line Break***

Neither soldier slept a wink that night. Jack could hear Mac tossing and turning all night, trying to sleep but unable to. As odd as it seemed, they ended up sitting on the floor together between their cots. They sat there in silence, not saying a word. At one point, Mac must have thought he was asleep because Jack could feel the blond's shoulders shaking slightly. He had rested his hand on his partners shoulder, pulling him close and wrapping his other arm around his shoulders. Mac had instantly frozen up, but he had eventually relaxed into Jack's hold, content to sit there in the relative safety of the darkness and Jack.

They sat there in silence, watching as the dreaded sun rose, signalling Jack's time to leave. The delta didn't want to move. He wanted to stay in this moment for as long as possible, relishing in the presence of a partner who had become a member of his family. Unfortunately, Jack's watch decided otherwise. His alarm rang out loudly, warning him that his plane was going to leave without him in about an hour. Mac glanced down at the offending piece, then moved away as the others started to shift in their beds. Jack watched him as he stood to his feet and crossed to his stuff, changing quickly into a different set of fatigues. Jack stood slowly, packing his remaining belongings into his bag and throwing it over his shoulder and looking around one last time. He made it seem like he was double-checking his space, but he was stalling. He didn't want to leave.

Logically, he knew he should be excited to leave. He did want to see his Mama, Nan and Pop, and his sister. But he really didn't want to leave Mac behind, and the kid's tour wasn't over. A plan started forming in his mind before he could stop it. A plan that sounded to damn good to pass up. But should he go through with it. Jack cursed inwardly, wanting desperately to stay but also wanting to see his family again. The conflict inside only increased when he went to say goodbye to Mac.

"I've gotta go, kid," he spoke up, catching Mac's attention, "it's time for me to catch my plane."

Mac's spun and Jack almost missed the fleeting look of panic that crossed the kid's face. Almost. It tore at his heart in a way he hadn't felt for a long time. His heart broke a little more when Mac merely lifted his fist, a ghost of a smile playing across his face as Jack bumped it.

"See ya around," Mac smiled, it didn't reach his eyes.

"Bye, kiddo," Jack fought down the sudden lump in his throat that threatened to make him sound choked up.

He watched Mac as the kid walked off to go eat breakfast, then turned away to go find the unit he was leaving with. It didn't take him long to find the small flock of excited soldiers. A couple of them had a bandage here, or a couple stitches there, but most of them had simply finished their tour and were ready to leave. Jack sighed and dropped his stuff off in the huge stack of bags. He joined the throng but even the usually infectious laughter of other people couldn't raise his spirits.

"Where you headed home to?" one soldier, a captain by his stripes, asked him.

"Huh?" Jack had been jarred out of his thoughts by the man, "oh, um... Texas. I'm goin' home to my families ranch."

The man studied him, "you okay?"

Jack nodded, straightening a bit and trying to shake away all the terrifying possibilities of Mac's new situation out of his mind, "yeah, man. Just missin' my partner already."

The man nodded and smiled his understanding, "your Macgyver's partner, right? Dalton?"

Jack nodded again, checking for Mac at his shoulder out of habit, and then forcing down the pang of disappointment at his not being there, "yeah, he's somethin' else, huh?"

The man nodded, "yeah, I'm one of the lucky ones, most of my guys are all coming home at the same time. Can't imagine leaving one behind."

"It's not fun," Jack found himself staring, almost longingly in the direction the row of Humvees at the other end of the camp, "he's one of a kind too, man. Once disarmed a bomb with just a stick o' gum. He saved my life too, more times than I can count."

"So why are you leaving?" the captain asked, "it's pretty obvious that you'd rather stay here with him than go home."

Jack thought for a moment, "I don't know," he admitted, "my tour would end after his, and that's not fair to him. But I don't want to leave the kid behind. He's had it too rough, both at home and in the army. I don't wanna be another mark of his Left Me list."

"Then don't leave, sign up for a conditional retrun and then stay his partner. You'll both go home at the same time, " the captain suggested, shrugging, "seems like a simple fix to me."

Jack sat for a moment, pondering the man's words. Then they sank in and he was struck to the core with how simple his answer was. Without another word, he spun around and sprinted towards the recruitment station.

He exploded inside the small building, "Captain, I wanna sign up again."

The recruitment officer, Captain Drast, looked up in surprise at Jack's explosive entrance, "Dalton. What-"

"I wanna sign up with one condition," Jack snapped, interrupting the man, "I will resign up as long as I can stay partnered with Private Macgyver and go home when he does. Those are my condtions. I know you guys can use my skills and I'm more than happy to give them as long as-"

"Jack," the man broke in, "I understand," he calmed the man, handing him a slip of paper, "sign this and you can ride out with him today."

Jack's face split into a huge Texas grin, "where do I sign my name, boss?"

He quickly filled out the paperwork as directed then shot out of the small building, grabbing his stuff and dropping it onto his cot. He slipped up along the side of the Humvee, he could see Mac's familiar shock of blonde hair through the window. He grinned in relief, walking up to the window to hear mac talking to someone on the radio. The radio voice faded and Jack snuck up to the window, deciding to announce his presence.

"What kind of a name is Angus?" he grinned, dropping his arm heavily onto the window.

"Jack," a huge smile broke across Mac's face, a shocked expression on his face as he dropped the paperclip in his hand.

"Well, I was almost to the plane and I started wandering, who the hell is gonna take care of that skinny blond kid with a burger name," he grinned, getting into the vehicle next to his partner, "I just don't think anyone can keep up with your skinny ass."

"You're staying?" Mac's grin still hadn't left his face, "for real?"

"Hell, yeah, man," Jack grinned, clapping the kid's shoulder, "I can't just leave you out here all by yourself. Now, let's get goin' kid."

Mac's smile didn't leave the entire day. The young blond was more excited about every bomb that he disarmed, chattering more than Jack had ever heard before. The delta relished in his partners happiness, surprised at how much it meant to him. He listened to every sciency word that exploded out of Mac, noting them in his head and planning to look them up later, and maybe pronounce them wrong later just to rile the kid up a bit.

He glanced over at his, now sleeping, partner. Mac's smile was evident even in his sleep. Jack reached over and brushed the blond hair off of Mac's forehead. There had been plenty of times that he'd made the wrong call, but he was convinced that this time, this time, he had made the right call. He smiled as Mac melted against his hand, sighing contentedly. Yeah, definitely the right call.