I figured I'd end this one here. If anyone wants to take some poetic license though and do like a sequel, feel free with my blessing. Cheers!
Jack glanced down at the blond blob that he was still currently holding in his arms, the young blond was sleeping still, Jack had not moved an inch in 3 hours so as not to wake him. After Mac's breakthrough (or breakdown, depending how you see it) it had taken Jack the better part of an hour to calm the boy down enough to make Mac take some water and a couple of pills he had grabbed from his bag (potent pain pills he had left over from one of his last injuries) the combination of the stress, the exhaustion and the strong meds had finally won out in the end and Mac had succumbed to sleep, but not before grabbing on to Jack again, engulfing him in another hug that felt like it could wrap around Jack 3 times over and left the older man breathless. Jack did not care though, he would have sat there, and will sit there, holding his sleeping boy for as long as Mac needed him.
Jack had one arm wrapped around the kid's upper body, the other he was using to card his fingers through the kid's hair, Jack's chin sat on top of the boy's head, he was lost in thought as he sat there with Mac. He was trying to figure out what to do next? How was he going to help the boy (both of them, the one in his arms now, and the 9-year-old in the bank) get through this..this…mess? In a fluid move he reached for his cell and dialed the therapist's number; Jack was going to need some help with this.
Mac started to stir, Jack looked down at the boy, a hand on the kid's left cheek, a soothing tone in his voice as he rubbed his thumb on Mac's cheek "Mac…hey Mac…it's OK, you're safe, it's me, I've got you kid" Jack waited as Mac finished waking up, his thoughts quickly running through what the therapist had told him when they spoke a couple hours ago. The therapist told him that what Mac had done, what he had gone through was a powerful, life-changing event, it would be for an adult, much more for a young boy. Mac, he told Jack, needed to continue talking about it, to face the memories and the feelings that came with them. The young man was going to need an anchor in the storm though, so Jack was going to need to be that for him. It was likely he told Jack, that Mac may try to push Jack away though, mood swings, anger, shame, pain, it was all going to surface; and Mac was probably going to also try to push it all back to whence it came from, the memories, the feelings, he will try to pretend it was OK, that he was OK, that he had compartmentalized these feelings like he often did others, and that there was no need to worry. Jack's role was to push through all this farce and make Mac really deal with this once and for all, at least to start on the path of healing, for it was likely Mac would need some professional help too, but that could not, and would not likely happen until Mac understood that these events that occurred cannot just be swept under the rug again, it was too late for that.
"Good morning sleepy head" Jack said with a tired smile on his lips as he looked down at Mac's blue eyes staring back at him. "How are you feeling bud?"
Mac, realizing the position he was in, literally in Jack's lap, pushed back and away from the older man. "Hi; I'm OK" Mac's voice was raspy, his throat no doubt sore from all the upset earlier.
"There is a water bottle on the nightstand bud" Jack said as he nodded in the direction of the table. Mac looked at it, but he stood and walked out of the bedroom instead.
Here we go thought Jack as he stood to follow the boy; Mac had gone straight through the house and out the back to the deck; Jack found him leaning against the railing, looking at the Ocean.
Jack walked over to him but said nothing, he just stood beside him, grateful to be standing and able to stretch his cramped muscles from holding his boy for so long.
They stood there, in silence for what seemed like forever until Mac spoke first. "Jack…I'm sorry"
Jack raised on eyebrow at the boy as he looked at him. "What on Earth are you sorry for Mac?"
"For laying all this on you, I shouldn't have done that; this is not your fight" Mac said, his voice still raspy and tired.
Jack turned his body around so that his back was against the railing, he looked at Mac with all the love in his eyes he could muster. "Mac, son, you have nothing to be sorry for; you hear me?" Jack waited a second for that to sink in and continued, "There is nothing you can ever do, past, present or future, that would ever cause me to not want to be there for you Mac" Jack paused again, swallowed down his own tempest of feelings and continued, "And for the record Angus MacGyver, any fight you're fighting is mine to fight as well; don't ever forget that kiddo" Jack put a hand on the boy's shoulder and he then walked back inside the house in order to give Mac some space, and himself too.
Mac closed his eyes and breathed slowly and deeply; he felt his hands shaking, the memories of that horrible day were still there, but somehow, they were not as powerful today as they had been yesterday. He knew this was not going to be easy, but he took comfort in the fact that he knew Jack would be there for every step, for every tear, for everything. He opened his eyes and looked out at the open water before him, a glimmer of hope and peace now in his heart…
The end…