Another chapter that would not leave me alone until I wrote it.

Mac's announcement triggered the type of outcry that he was desperately trying to avoid. He was too tired, too worried about Cory and just generally too drained to try to explain to his friends. He barely even had the energy to lift his head or speak. Standing in the small, close waiting room, he just looked at the three people who were waiting for him.

"Resign...that's a good one," Jack laughed. "Glad to see that you still have your sense of humor."

"I'm not joking, Jack," Mac's voice was flat.

"Dude, you can't," Bozer protested. "Who's going to show me around now that I am the newest Phoenix recruit?" Mac ignored his friend and focused on Riley.

"Aren't you going to comment too?" He bit out harshly. The strength of his anger palpable as a physical force.

Riley actually stepped back from Mac, hurt plainly visible in her dark eyes as if he had struck her.

"Mac," it was Bozer, "Take it easy. We just want to help."

"Help me?," Mac's voice took on a bitter tone with an edge of hysteria. "Really?...how do you suppose you'll do that? Can you help Cory?" Mac's gaze raked his three friends as he pointed vaguely in the direction from which he had come. "I don't need help. She's the one that's in the ICU... with the tube in her throat and attached to machines. Can you...any of you...help her? Can you make her well or even just keep her from ..." Mac stopped and took a breath that sounded like a sob, "...from dying?"

Mac stopped again and visibly fought to gain control. He looked around again, "I guess nobody can help, then." He turned his back and started walking away.

"Mac!" The one word rang out like a gunshot in the enclosed space and the younger agent froze in his tracks. He turned to look at the larger man who had called out his name. .

Jack had been quiet the entire time, watching his friend's distress escalate and spin out of control. Now he approached Mac almost like he would a scared, cornered animal.

Mac's grief was entirely understandable; Jack had seen it too many times with military families when he had to inform them of the death of their loved one. Mac's reaction was the same. As he approached, Mac took a step back, his eyes still focused on the older agent. Jack closed his eyes for a moment, pushing back the painful memories of wives, girlfriends and mothers, begging him to change what he was telling them. Baking away from him as if he himself was the bringer of death.

"Mac," Jack said quietly. "I do know how you feel. I've been where you are. Watching somebody you love in pain...not knowing if they would be OK...if they would even live." Mac wanted to argue, but if anybody could claim they understood, it was Jack. Mac stopped backing up. Jack continued. "You are so angry and scared and sad...and there is no place to put that stuff. You just keep it inside until at some point, you can't anymore." Jack reached out a hand and Mac did not flinch when his partner cupped the back of his neck, pulling gently.

Jack tried to pull Mac in, but to his surprise, Mac resisted. Even after all this time as partners, Jack would sometimes forgot how strong Mac actually was. It was a reminder to Jack that Mac was an adult; an agent in his own right =, even though at the moment there was something of the frightened, lost little boy in his demeanor as he was fighting so hard to control a situation that was completely beyond his control. Suddenly it was as if something snapped, "Oh God, Jack..." Mac's voice was an anguished whisper, "...what if she doesn't make it... what if I lose her...I can't...I...I...," Mac's voice failed him entirely, but, at least he stopped resisting. Jack pulled the younger man to him, putting his arms around Mac, holding him while the younger man's shoulders heaved with silent sobs.

"Take it easy, Brother," Jack whispered. "Easy...itll be OK." Whereas, a lesser man would be embarrassed, Jack continued to hold Mac. "We're all here, buddy. All here for you. It'll be OK. It'll be OK."

Eventually, Mac's shuddering ceased. In another moment, he tried to pull away and this time Jack let him, taking a step back to give the other man his personal space back.

Mac took a deep breath, he ran his hand through his already disheveled blond hair. One look took in all three of the people...his family. "I am so sorry," he said, His voice barely above a whisper. "I...I.."

Riley walked up and put her arms around Mac, silencing him. "Its OK," she said. "Friends don't ever need to apologize." Mac clung to her for another minute.

"Thank you," he whispered in her ear, as he pulled away.

"Now," Jack said in his usual, half-amused drawl. "About that resignation.

Mac became serious again. "I meant that," he said. When he saw the questioning eyes. "Cory is in the ICU because somebody wanted to kill me. They wanted to kill me because I am an agent. She would not have been...," he paused and swallowed, "...she would not have been hurt if not for me. Its my fault." A calming breath. "Lets be real here. Thornton thought I was emotionally compromised when I found out about Nikki...now...Thornton wouldn't let me anywhere near Phoenix" The room grew quiet and that silence stretched as Riley and Bozer searched for something to contradict Mac and Mac searched their faces hoping to find a reason he could stay.

Jack was thinking. His brow furrowed. His CIA training was kicking in and something seemed wrong about the entire scenario. People often underestimated Jack. They saw a large, slow speaking man who liked to solve problems with his fists and his gun. But behind that facade was an intellect that kept him alive during his tours with Delta Force and then made him a top notch CIA agent. He finally managed to catch the idea that has been swimming tantalizingly in front of him. "Son of a Bitch," Jack's exclamation made everybody jump. "How did we miss this?"

"Jack?" Mac looked at his partner. "What are you talking about?" Jack noticed with relief that Mac's eyes were alive again and his naturally ingrained curiosity was providing him new energy.

"What if we've been looking at this all wrong," Jack asked. "We thought somebody wanted to kill Mac."

"Well yes," Riley quipped. "Sending the assassin is a pretty good clue."

Mac was silent. Thinking. "He didn't shoot me when he could. He hesitated. I thought that I was distracting him and buying time, but he would not have shot me." Mac closed his eyes. He did not want to remember that moment. The moment he saw Cory shot. "The bullets that hit Cory...," Mac looked at Jack who seemed to be tracking because he began to nod almost immediately.

"Cory is what, six inches shorter than you, Mac?" Mac nodded standing up and looking in the mirror.

"Those bullets would have hit me somewhere in the midsection. Painful...yes, but given how quickly help was available, not fatal."

"So, somebody wanted to mess with your head by," Bozer paused. He hated to use the words that came to his mind. "By killing your sister?"

Mac's face was bleak as he nodded. "I am a complete wreck and she is still alive. If they had succeeded in...in...," Mac again swallowed hard and his voice started to shake, "...if they had been able to kill Cory...," Mac took a breath and Jack put a steadying hand on his shoulder, "if they had been successful, I would be completely unable to function."

The team may have doubted the truth of that statement – had that awful eventuality occurred, they all knew that Mac would have pursued the killers to the ends of the earth with the inhuman focus that he was capable of. But, his point was well taken.

"What kind of sick, twisted bastard thinks like this," Bozer asked, his own anger flaring.

"I don't know," Mac said simply as he took out his cell phone, talk of resignation at least temporarily forgotten, "But I think I know where I can start looking."

Whew! All of you wonderful writers out there got me thinking about the strength of the friendship between Jack and Mac. I wanted to showcase that here and really also show raw emotion. Not the nicest Mac ever, but grief will do that. If you have thoughts or ideas, please let me know. I have a pretty good idea of where this is going, but love when you all let me know what you think. As always, so grateful for the time you take to read it and any comments and reviews are humbly and gratefully accepted.