A/N: Hey again! As always thanks to my amazing beta, bkworm4life4! I love to hear what you think, even if it's to tell me how cute your dog is or unending praise also works, lol! Hope you enjoy!

A little over two weeks previously

"You know Hoss, I think I might be able to sleep for a week straight." Jack Dalton said as he wearily boarded the Phoenix jet.

Mac huffed an exhausted laugh, "I think that's called a coma Jack, but I have to agree that sounds wonderful right now. I'm looking forward to seeing my own bed." He followed Jack up the steps and, after throwing his knapsack to the side, he laid back on the couch and closed his eyes.

Jack sat across from him. "Did I tell you I ordered some new sheets for my bed? I saw them on that shopping network my Granny likes to watch. They are supposed to be super soft, like sleeping on a cloud, a wet cloud that rains all night and zapps you in the crotch when you're are not paying attention." Jack paused waiting for Mac to reply, when he didn't Jack sighed loudly. "Don't tell me you're already asleep?"

"Fine I won't," Mac muttered. "You know if you close your mouth and eyes you can get some sleep before we get back to LA too."

Jack raised an eyebrow at the level of sass Mac was giving off. "Well I can see my company isn't wanted here, so I might as well get some shut-eye. As I always told you back in the Army days make sure you get sleep whenever and wherever you can."

Mac cracked at eye to look at Jack, "You said that last week to justify your nap on the deck while Bozer and I were putting that bookcase together and you were supposed to be looking after the grill."

Grinning Jack rebutted, "One, the food was delicious, admit it, and two you hate it when I try to help you with putting stuff together."

The man did have a point, Mac thought, but he wasn't going to admit it to Jack. "Are we going to nap or talk, 'cause I vote for napping." With that he closed his eyes again as he felt the familiar motions of the plane taxing down the runway and reaching velocity. Within minutes he was asleep.

Mac blinked his eyes open, and tried to figure out what had awoken him. They were still in the air, and Jack was sacked out in a chair drool escaping from the side of his mouth. As he looked around he realized that they were turning. "Jack, wake up something's up."

"I'm up, I'm up." Jack muttered as he yawned a jaw popping yawn and stretched. "What's up?"

"I'm- " Mac's reply was cut off as both of their phones buzzed. Mac pulled his out, "Matty," he said showing Jack the display. He hit the accept button and Matty's face filled his phone's screen.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Matty started.

"Whatever you're about to say, the answer is a no." Jack interrupted. "We have been run ragged with back to back missions and just need some sleep."

"And I am sorry, but this is important or else I wouldn't have interrupted your little nap there Dalton." Matty said sternly, but Mac could see the concern beneath her tough exterior. She really did look like she hadn't wanted to interrupt them.

"That's fine, what's up?" Mac interjected playing peacemaker.

"I'm diverting your plane. The CIA got wind of a plot to overthrow a King in one of those small Baltic countries. He is very American friendly and the General attempting to overthrow him is anti foreign power, so we need to make sure our friend stays in power, but quietly. You two are our closest assets in the five eyes."

"Okay Boss Lady, what do they need us to do?" Jack asked with a frown.

"There is a CIA man in country, by the name of Owen Price. He's going to meet you at the airport in a neighboring country and will give you a more through briefing once you have arrived. We need this done quietly, so get some rest while you can."

"Yes ma'am," Mac said solemnly.

"Get it done Blondie, and try to keep Dalton in line if you can." With that the screen went blank.

Jack sighed and flopped back into the seat he had been sitting in, "Well I guess we had better see if we can get a bit more sleep, this sounds like it's going to be another long one."

Knowing that Jack was right Mac sat back down on the couch and did breathing exercises until he fell back into the land of sleep.

Present Day, back in prison

A knock came on the interrogation room door and Brutus stepped in just long enough to whisper something in Lazlo's ear before he exited again. A smile appeared across Lazlo's face, "Well it seems that the information that you provided us was indeed correct. You have been most cooperative this past week! For that, I will grant you the rest of the food, and a bottle of water, and if you keep this up, then maybe I'll even graciously add another blanket."

Mac felt disgusted with himself for looking forward to his 'rewards' but right then he didn't care how he had earned them. The half of the food that he had eaten earlier had just awoken his appetite and he had been thinking about the food the whole time he was being interrogated, which he knew was the whole point of the exercise. Lazlo had made a big production of taking the lid off of the food, and presenting him with the water like it was a fine wine. Mac had tried to eat in a civilized manner, well as civilized as one could get with no silverware, but he soon started shoveling it in and even resorted to licking the plate clean, and shaking the bottle of water to make sure he had gotten every last drop. In Mac's head he could hear Jack tell him, 'It's all right Bud. You've got to do what you need to do to survive, plus what have I always said about food? Eat what you can when you can, no shame in that game.' That made Mac feel a little bit better about how quickly he had eaten. Once he was finished eating Brutus again entered and whispered into Lazlo's ear.

Lazlo had a huge grin on his face as Mac finally set the bottle down. "You have once again given us good intel and for that we will reward you. Now you will be escorted back to your cell where an additional blanket will be waiting there for you as a small token of our appreciation. See Angus, isn't this better than us having to beat information out of you. How is your side doing by the way?"

"It's fine." Mac answered through clenched teeth. Lazlo had given him the stab wound himself, and seemed to enjoy every second as he inflicted it, and during earlier torture sessions Lazlo liked to pay special attention to it, in order to keep it from healing. He roughly grabbed Mac's elbow, the same one he had landed on before, and dragged him upright. The world spun wildly and for a second Mac was worried that he might lose the food that he had just consumed, but the world slowly stopped spinning and Mac limped to the door.

Brutus was waiting outside. "Come along my little cow. It's time to put you back in the barn." Brutus laughed at his joke, just like he always did. Mac bit back the urge to throw an insult back and instead thought how much he would prefer to hear Jack call him 'Carl's Jr' right then, and he hated that stupid nickname. After a few steps Mac started feeling sicker than he had before and he wondered if the food or water had been drugged or if it was just too much for his system after only consuming limited food for so long. He had slowed down to the point where he was basically just leaning on the wall. "Hurry up, some of us have places to be." Brutus said before giving him a shove to keep him going, but it had the opposite effect and Mac once again tumbled to the floor.

"Oh come on!" Brutus exclaimed. "I didn't hit you that hard."

Mac just felt so tired, despite having eaten an actual meal for the first time in a while, but he forced himself to get back up and started his slow limping shuffle towards his cell. This time the trip felt like it took hours instead of just a few minutes. When he finally was able to collapse onto his thin mat he saw the thicker blanket folded beside it. It was then that he realized that he wasn't cold anymore, in fact he felt hot. He figured that meant that he most likely had an infection. With a wince he pulled up his shirt and looked at the cut that Lazlo had given him, and sighed. It was red, puffy and he could feel the heat that it was giving off. He gingerly laid down on his good side and wished that time would hurry up.