Jack tried to adjust to the bright light that flushed through the interior of the medical tent. Afternoon. It would take a few more hours until Mac came back from his mission. Hopefully he could join his partner then. He sat up a bit and took a sip from the water bottle placed on his bedstand. The i.V. was still running but his mouth felt dry and nurse Caren encouraged him to drink.

Movement at the entrance forced him to look there. Two men went into the tent and Caren showed them Jack's place.
Even though Jack wasn't introduced to Captain Morrows until now he could clearly see the insignia at the uniform from the distance. Jack was getting hot and cold at the same time. He felt all of his color leaving his face and when the Captain stopped next to his bed his heart seemed to stop equally.

"No." It was a husky, very quiet whisper.
The commander of the base ignored his comment. His voice was calm but neutral.
"I am Captain Thomas Morrows. Sergeant Dalton I have to inform you unfortunately that your EOD tech was captured and displaced by a Taliban group while working. Last time Sergeant Lewis saw him, he was uninjured. There are two teams at the area searching for hints. I can't promise you that we will bring back Specialist MacGyver unharmed but we will do all we can to find him."
Jack shook his head in disbelief. He knew the words, he knew the situation but he wouldn't accept it. Not his boy! Not Mac! Jack wanted to stand up but a hand laid down with a soft pressure on his shoulder stopped him.

"Sergeant, listen. I know what you want to do, but that doesn't make sense. When you start right now to search for him you come to his last known place when it's dark. Two teams are out there and they can get to his last position with daylight for some hours."
Jack looked at the Captain without speaking. He seemed to be honest, friendly and really concerned. Luckily he didn't expect Jack to lay in his bed without doing anything.
"Go to nurse Caren, get checked over and medically cleared. Then you can freshen up and come to my tent. We have contact to the rescue teams. Tomorrow before sunrise you go out with the first group heading there. Understood?"
Still Jack wasn't able to say a single word. He didn't trust his own voice and just nodded instead.
"Good, Sergeant. I await you at the commanding tent."
Captain Morrows saluted turned around and left the military hospital.

Jack couldn't think clear. He was paralyzed. Too late he recognized that his breathing sped up, going right into hyperventilating. Suddenly Caren was next to him, took his hands in hers and spoke loud and accentuated to him.
"Breathe in, Jack! Hold the air. Very good and now slowly breathe out."
She demonstrated it and after a few moments Jack followed her instructions. He calmed down. When she was confessed that he could think straight, she pulled out the i.V. needle, checked him for signs of his concussion and explained to him what he had to care for. Then Jack was dismissed.

At the exit a young soldier came to him to show him his regular sleeping place. There were the usual bunk beds. Jack saw the staff of his partner lying on the upper one. The kid didn't unpack. No wonder here, after their arrival he had to report what happened on their drive and then he kept watch next to Jack's bed in the medical tent. Now he was gone. Captured by Taliban.
Softly he touched with his fingertips the printed name on the rucksack:
A. MacGyver.
Again Jack nearly collapsed when imagining what happened to his partner right now. He started again to hyperventilate. This time he forced himself to calm down and go back to a normal breathing. He swore to watch over Mac, to bring him back home alive, to not leave him behind. He needed to find Mac! For one moment he put his hands on the bunk, closed his eyes and tried to relax. He straightened, put a mask on and went to the commanding tent.

The first thing he saw when he entered was the big screen that showed nothing at the moment. The connection to the rescue teams was understandable but broke off sometimes. Captian Morrows stood behind the wireless operators, his arms crossed over his chest. His stress was clearly to be seen. He nodded short to Jack who took his place next to him.
"We're getting to the point where we could locate his last signal." The voice was a bit blurred. "The road is getting worse we're much deeper into the mountains than ever before. This area isn't cleared at all. We have to go back for the night to be safe but until then we have a few hours for searching. On the right side there are some houses hillside. They seem to be vacated, we're going nearer."

For a few minutes they could only hear the regular breathing of the man, the gravel under the tires and soft noises of the other team members.
"Stop here, Tom, we go out. I think the buildings a used by the Taliban only temporarily as a hideout or storage. There's no one now."
"Lieutenant Myers, could you switch the camera on?" The Captain ordered over the comms.
"Will do, sir." The speaker of the searching teams answered instantly. „At least, I'll try but I don't know if the connection's good enough."

One of the operators switched the screen on and short after that a fuzzy and unsteady picture appeared. It lasted some seconds until the video screen showed a better quality. The people in the commanding tent saw the empty buildings. Some of the team went there to get a look inside. The Lieutenant turned to the other side. Jack saw the underground plunge down. Some Yards ahead one of the soldiers waved his hand.
"Lieutenant! I found something!"
Myers hurried to him. Jack's heart seemed to stop again when he saw a destroyed earwig and a very well known patch 'EOD'. The Lieutenant went down on one knee and swept with his fingers above the surface.
"Here's some blood. Not much so."
He stood up and turned to the scree slope. Even on the screen the watchers saw it. At this place someone slid down. While Jack was looking at the wide screen for some more hints, Myers ordered two of his men to go down at the sides and look for something beneath avoiding an avalanche that would destroy everything. It took some time for the soldiers to go down, searching the area and coming up again. Every now and then the connection broke and the screen went black but finally the men were back on the road. They found the SAK with one blade pointing up at the road.
Mac tried to escape. Jack was proud of the boy. The feeling didn't last long before the thought that his attempt failed was overwhelming. Hopefully the Taliban wouldn't let him pay for that too much.
The rescue teams followed the skid marks until nightfall. They had to go back to a safe area and would come back again next day.

Jack went to his bunk but couldn't get much sleep. Long before dawn he joined another team that was sent out for the Taliban.