Greetings guys and gals and non-binary pals! I know it has been a ridiculous amount of time since I updated last! I apologize profusely and attempt to promise that it will never happen again! Of course, life happens so that's not a guarantee but I will try my gosh darned hardest to make sure I update more often! I love y'all and your continued support of this story means that world to me! So, without further ado, Chapter 11! Enjoy!

Had you asked Angus Macgyver exactly when he developed an aversion to touch, he wouldn't have been able to pin down an exact answer. For his whole life, Mac couldn't remember being treated with anything but contempt by his father. The blonde's childhood had been tumultuous at best, and violent at worst. His young life had been ebbing and flowing seasons of his four life truths: grief, pain, loneliness, and abandonment. To him, the world just worked that way. It was the simple, painful pattern of his life.

Mac had come to know grief very quickly in his life, his mother's death being the thing that sent his father into a spiral. Which lead to his first lesson, and all after that, of pain; bruises and cuts serving as a warning against letting people too close. He'd known loneliness too, the looks from other parents and kids, and the rumors about 'the drunk's kid' proving to Mac that he didn't need anyone. Forcing him to tamp down the human longing for affection and human interaction. Soon after that had followed his first lesson in abandonment, brought on by his father's abrupt disappearance from his life. Mac had lived seven months on his own, nobody caring enough to notice the skinny blonde ten year old with a credit card buying food. It had taught him not to trust people, because people don't care. Inevitably, whether they mean to or not, everyone will leave you.

The four lessons had taught Mac all he'd needed to learn about life. The four lessons gave way to five rules:

1) Keep to yourself.

2) Don't trust anyone

3) Don't accept affection from anyone because it always came with a price

4) Never EVER give into any illusions of care from others

5) Never let anyone close enough to touch you

Five was the most important one. It was the one he was never allowed to break.

Abuse and neglect made him cautious of everyone. He'd been bullied his whole life, treated with contempt, and had fallen victim to many of his father's bouts of violent anger. The bruises and scars served as reminders for the young man to never break rule 5.

The only bright spot in his life was Bozer, but even his best friend didn't push. Their friendship was one of mutual understanding and respect, with Bozer learning Mac's boundaries and knowing better than to push them. The same went with his grandfather, Bozer's family, and anyone else that Mac became friends with. Even Pena hadn't ever initiated more than the occasional pat on the back, and even those made Mac skittish and jumpy on the best of days. They didn't talk about the bad days. So, yes, everyone Mac had met and hung around at any point knew to watch his boundaries and not push.

Everyone, that is, except Jack Dalton.

After about a week or two of working together, the bright and boisterous ex-delta commander had come crashing affectionately through every single one of the protective barriers that Mac had built around himself. He had bounded inside Mac's mental walls before the blonde had even realized what was happening. He found himself trusting Jack unquestioningly and relished in the security that the man's presence gave him. Jack defied every rule he'd ever learned and he couldn't understand how the man did it. He trusted everyone, was an open book, and gave out affection like it was cake at a birthday party. It seemed to work in the man's favor, because everyone loved him, but Mac still held him at arm's length.

He'd grown comfortable enough with Jack to allow the man to extend some physical affection. A rare hair ruffle or the occasional arm around shoulders. It had surprised Mac, but what had surprised him more was the fact that when he wasn't having a bad day he didn't feel uncomfortable at the touch. He actually felt extremely comfortable when there was physical contact initiated by Jack. An occasional brush against his arm, a gentle hand dropped on his shoulder during a confrontation with another soldier, and the rare hug after a close call. He also recognized the moments that Jack stepped back, respected his boundaries, and allowed Mac the chance to initiate contact. It comforted Mac in some strange way, letting him know that something about his life was normal. But those five rules still haunted him and sometimes, on his especially bad days, he didn't even want Jack to touch him. And he had one day a year, that led to a bad week. One where no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stand to break his rules. He couldn't.

***Line Break***

Father's day. A day that Mac dreaded every single year as it brought back memory after memory of his crappy early life. Memories that made him question his life now, and everyone involved. Mac sighed as he watched Jack rifle through a small stack of letters from home. He wasn't an actual father, but he'd told Mac about a small group of kids back home that he mentored. Apparently they'd sent him a heap of letters for the holiday, knowing he didn't have a kid of his own and most of them didn't have dads. It was actually super cute watching the big tough delta's face light up as he read the horrible handwriting and confusing sentences that somehow still made sense. Jack laughed quietly at something one of the kids had written him and Mac turned to leave the tent.

"Hey, kid," Jack called to him, "there are lots of these, can you help me look through them?"

Mac sighed quietly, feeling all his old barriers and walls slide back into place, "sure, Jack," he walked slowly over to his partner, "which ones you want me to look through?"

"These ones," Jack handed him a small stack, accidentally brushing his hand in the process. Mac felt himself bristle slightly at the contact, grabbing the stack and pulling away as fast as unrecognizably possible. Jack turned back to his letters, seemingly oblivious to Mac's issue.

***line Break***

Jack was anything but oblivious. He noticed the second Mac started flinching away from physical contact. As a result, he kept the EOD tech closer than usual, remembering that the last time this problem had come up. Mac had been being bullied by some of the other soldiers and had refused to tell him. The delta's solution was to keep the kid in his sights at all times, keeping Mac from being hurt again. He watched the kid pull away from him quickly, noting the fleeting expression of panic that crossed his face when their hands brushed. He frowned to himself, it wasn't unusual for Mac to be against physical contact. In fact, it was one of the things that had peaked Jack's curiosity about the kid in the first place.

While Jack definitely thought they were past all that, he understood occasionally falling back into old habits. He himself was guilty of occasionally using a beer or two to drown things; an old habit from his retired delta days. He knew that something was bothering the kid, but leaving him alone with that big monster sized brain of his was just a bad idea all around. So, Jack's solution was to keep the kid as close as possible without being overly obvious about it. He decided to share some of the love from his old kids with his new kid; bridge his two worlds a little more. He watched Mac out of the corner of his eyes, keeping one eye on his letters and one eye on his kid. He wanted to be patient, and he'd set out to do just that. Let the kid come to him. Unfortunately, Jack was unaccustomed to being patient. He hated waiting when he could do something to help immediately. He had to make sure Mac was okay, or the Texan would literally burst. He just had to be gentle.

"Hey Mac," Jack finally ventured, "what's up with you?" Okay, so much for gentle.

"Huh?" Mac's head jerked up, "what?"

"What's up with you, kiddo?" Jack repeated, watching the kid's reaction to the question carefully, "you've been jumpy for a couple days now. Somethin's eatin' you, and I'm starting to get worried."

"I'm fine, Jack," Mac shook his head dismissively, but Jack didn't miss the way his shoulders tensed; or the way he was perched on the edge of the bed like he was about to run for the hills, "just been a day."

"You mean a week?" Jack persisted, "don't give me that look. You've been getting more and more jumpy in the last five days, kiddo," he explained when Mac raised an eyebrow at him.

Mac frowned and looked away, his movements jerky and hesitant. He clearly didn't want to share and Jack didn't want to break the trust that he had with Mac by pushing. The blonde was extremely reserved, and almost never shared personal aspects of his life with anyone. While it was the total opposite of how Jack was raised, he had to respect the kid's right to privacy so, he sighed resignedly

"Look Mac," he ran a hand over the back of his neck, his only outward stress indicator, "you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he nearly bit his own tongue off when he said those words, every instinct wanting to push for an answer, "I just want to make sure you're okay. Are you?"

Mac lifted his head and his bright blue eyes searched Jack's face for something. The delta wasn't sure what Mac was looking for, but he knew the kid needed to do his own searching so he just settled for keeping his expression as open and honest as possible. Finally, it seemed that Mac found whatever he was searching for because the kid deflated with a heavy sigh, settling against the wall. His expression, a mix of terrified, hurt, and upset, tore at Jack's heart but he waited for the kid to talk.

"Father's Day," Mac nearly whispered, "tomorrow is Father's Day."

And then Jack felt like killing something.

***Line Break***

Mac could see the realization the second it hit Jack exactly what he was saying. The delta's mouth dropped open in a surprised 'o' and Mac instinctively prepared himself for the berating that he logically knew would never come from Jack. He'd searched Jack's eyes hard but had only found genuine concern and fear there, leading to his reveal. He didn't want, or deserve, to have Jack worry about him. So, he'd allowed the words to slip out of his mouth. And now he was regretting it as he watched the delta's eyes darken in anger and frustration.

"Sorry," he apologized automatically, memories of darkening eyes slamming into him as he leapt up off Jack's bed and skittered towards the door, "sorry, Jack, I'll just-"

"Mac," Jack's tense voice stopped him in his tracks and he turned slowly to face the upset delta, "come back here and sit your fool ass down. I'm not mad at you."

Hesitantly, because words could say one thing but Jack's tone told a whole other story, Mac crept back across the room and sat down carefully on the edge of the bed. He knew that he was beyond tense, but he also knew that tense was better than beaten to a bloody pulp. Tense gave you a chance to run before they caught you. Tense was safe.

***Line Break***

Jack watched as Mac slowly settled himself on the edge of the cot that they had been relaxing on. The letters were strewn around, evidence of Mac's abrupt attempt to flee. The kid looked tense enough to break a bone and Jack felt his heart tug at the panicked look that Mac was trying to hide.

"Kid," Jack started, resisting the urge to reach out and hold the kid's hand, "I'm not mad at you, okay? I'm pissed at your dad," he admitted when it looked like Mac wasn't believing him, "he had no right to treat you the way he did and he shouldn't have left you. What he did was so wrong that he makes me angry, okay. But I'm not mad at you for that or anything else, god, kid, I could never be really mad at you for anything, okay? You have to believe me on that," he waited until he saw Mac's hesitant nod and then continued, "I'm sorry that I didn't take into account your feelings about Father's Day while I was over here gushing about it to you. That was wrong of me-"

"No, Jack," Mac shook his head, "I shouldn't be so sensitive about it. I'm glad that you have a good association with the holiday, I just get..." Mac hesitated, unsure of how much to reveal before deciding to throw caution to the wind and go for it, "way too many memories with anything concerning a dad."

"Hey," Jack rested his hand on Mac's shoulder, ignoring the split-second flinch that was quickly reigned in by his friend, "it's okay to be sensitive about those things."

Mac rolled his eyes, frustration and confusion warring in his bright baby blues, "you don't follow the rules, do you? Why can't you? It's so much easier when people just follow the rules. "

And now Jack was confused, he should probably have been used to Mac confusing him but he wasn't, "what rules?"

It took Mac a total of 10 minutes to explain the rules of life to his partner, his tone succinct and matter-of-fact, as if Jack should knows these rules, "...and you don't follow any of them," he finished frustrated, blowing stray hair of out his face.

Jack stared at the young EOD tech for so long that Mac started to squirm uncomfortably. The delta looked so shocked that he started to think he'd said something wrong. His heart rate rose as Jack continued to stare at something, seemingly incapable of speech. Mac squirmed under the man's surprised expression, sure that something bad was about come his way. A slap, or maybe shouting, Jack would probably leave, or make him leave, and then-

"What kind of twisted son of a bitch was your old man?" Jack demanded, his expression turning dark, "cause if I ever see him, I'll shoot him in the leg," the delta shook his head fervently, "no, screw that, I'll shoot that son of a bitch in the head," the delta's voice was just barely not a growl.

It was Mac's turn to be surprised. He'd never heard anyone speak about his father with such malice before. He'd only ever heard 'be patient' and 'he is still your father'. It was shocking to hear someone actually verbally attack him.

"Jack," Mac defended him automatically, "he was just trying to-"

"No," Jack snapped, glaring over Mac's shoulder as if James was standing right behind them, "Mac, what he did... none of that was okay! You don't have to be afraid of people or touch or... or- or anything! Your father was cruel and vile and, and all the other words that your brain can think of that mean he was a terrible fucking human being!"

Mac stared at his partner, his mouth dropped open in shock. He had no words. For all his genius, his brain could supply him with absolutely nothing to say in response to Jack's statements. He hadn't ever heard someone who echoed the sentiments of the quiet voice in the back of his mind. He had only ever heard defense for his father's actions. He couldn't comprehend what Jack was saying. His brain was working on overdrive trying to make sense of the fact that, for once, someone was defending him and not James.

"Has no one ever told you how screwed up what he did was?" Jack asked, his eyes dark, but with concern instead of anger, "did no one ever defend you?"

Mac mutely shook his head before clearing his throat and speaking quietly, "my grandpa tried, but he... James was too... overpowering."

Jack's fists tightened and Mac had to tamp down his automatic flight response, "son of a bitch," Jack swore angrily, "Mac, your father was a bastard. He had no right to call you his son, and no right to treat you the way he did. There's no if, ands, or buts about it. It's plain and simple facts, you like facts?" Mac didn't need to be a genius know that that question was rhetorical, "here's a fact, kid, your daddy was a bastard who has zero rights to you and anything about you. He is no father, he donated sperm, that's it. A father never does to his child what yours did to you. It's not right and it's not okay and if I ever get my hands on him... I will kill him with my bare hands, fuck using a weapon, I will strangle him myself. That's a fact," the Texan's nostrils were flaring as he snapped out his last statement before dropping his arm around Mac's shoulder's, projecting every movement so Mac could see it clearly and reject it if he wanted, "you're mine now, James can't have you. He has no claims on you and I don't give a flying fuck if he ever wants to argue, you're in the Dalton family now. He wants to hurt you anymore then he'll have to make it past me first. That yellow-bellied, fuckwit ain't gettin' anywhere near you."

Mac stared at the pissed off delta, his brain trying to figure out what to focus on; that Jack was so worked up about this, or that he wasn't scared about being touched by Jack while the delta was this mad. He fought down the tears that rose as he sorted out exactly what Jack had said. First off, Jack had defended him. He'd literally called James a bastard... for Mac. Then, after hearing how screwed up in the head Mac was, had claimed him. Jack was either confused or... Nope, Jack had to be confused. There was no way he wanted to keep Mac around after what the blonde had just admitted. That was it, Jack was just confused. he didn't understand the training because Mac was a genius and had needed different raising than most kids-

"You stop that right now," Jack broke in, tousling his hair to break through his thoughts, "I can hear you rationalizing things in that big brain of yours. There's nothing to rationalize, kid. Your dad was a douche, you're mine now. Those are the facts, that is what has happened and the terms we have come to. I'll leave you to sort the rest of that out," he said fondly, though his eyes were still tight, "I'm stayin' right here and sortin' through my mail while you think on what I've said, because I know you need to. But the fact remains that he was an ass, we clear?" At Mac's hesitant nod, Jack maneuvered himself to where he was sitting comfortably up against the wall next to Mac, grabbing his mail and sorting through it.

Mac sat in silence, watching the man relax as he read the words that the kids had written him. Running a quick self-diagnostic, Mac found that he was still ridiculously confused and didn't know how to make heads or tails of Jack's sudden rampage, but that he also didn't feel the overwhelming urge to flee anymore. He settled up against the wall next to his partner and snagged a letter from the pile hesitantly. Seeing no sign of irritation from Jack at his actions, Mac relaxed more, scanning the letter while internally pouring back over what Jack had said. The delta had seemed serious about protecting Mac from his father, and Jack never lied. That was one constant about the man. He hadn't lied to Mac once since the two had been partnered up. Mac felt his insides uncurl at the realization. Jack wasn't his father, wasn't even blood related, but maybe... Maybe that didn't mean he couldn't be Mac's family. Mac pressed his arm against Jack experimentally and found that, when Jack pressed back, he no longer felt the automatic need to flinch.

Mac settled against the wall and Jack, leafing through a few of the letters. Maybe his rules had been wrong. He wasn't wrong often but maybe, just maybe, he was okay with being wrong about life. And maybe Jack could help him learn.

So... tell me what y'all thought! I hope you liked it! This one, for some reason, was a bit of a struggle to write so constructive criticism is always welcomed! Leave suggestions for future chapter either in the reviews or in my PM's. Can't wait to update again! Love y'all!

- Storyspinner16