Sins Of The Father

Jack grabbed a kitchen towel and ran it under some cold water, then he placed it on Mac's face and neck in an effort to calm him down; the kid was flushed and unresponsive, his breathing was erratic, Mac was having a full-fledged panic attack. "Mac, come on my boy, you have to calm down, we've had this discussion before...breathe kiddo" Jack said softly as he continued to run the wet cloth on the kid's face with one hand while keeping a strong hold on Mac's houlder which honestly was the only reason Mac had not fully collapsed on the floor yet. "Damn it!" Jack muttered when he still got no response from the blonde genius. He looked over at the box and raised on eyebrow at the content, why would that elicit such a viceral response from Mac?..."J'a..ck" he heard coming from the his partner so he returned his attention to the kid, tossing the wet cloth aside he grabbed Mac's chin with his right hand lifting his head up to his eye level..."I'm here kid, I'm right here.." Jack replied with concern.

Mac's world shattered into tiny pieces when he opened that box and looked inside. Try as he did, he could not help the response that was elicited by the enourmous adrenaline dump that hit him like a ton of bricks. He was aware of Jack running a cool wet cloth on his face and neck, for which he was grateful, as well as for Jack's strong hold on his shoulder, like an anchor in a storm. He closed his eyes and focused on getting control of his emotions and his body again, one breath in, one breath ou, one breath in, one breath out...finally, after what seemed like forever, he was able to utter one word, "Jack" he said. Jack turned to him, grabbed his chin and made him look at him; Mac saw concern, confusion and love in his friend's eyes. At Jack's "I'm here" reminder, Mac took a deep breath and straightend himself out, one hand reaching out behind him to grab on to the kitchen counter, one hand on Jack's shodulder. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath, then opened them to face his friend, to face reality.

"I'm sorry Jack, I did not mean to freak out like that..." Mac said, walking shakily towards the box. He picked it up and walked over to the couch, suddenly feeling very, very tired. He was hugging the box against his chest like a precious possession. He was aware of Jack walking right behind him, close enough to feel the scent of the man's cologne which oddly always made Mac feel calm and secure. Mac made it to the couch and esconded himself in the corner, knees drawned up to his chest, the box in the space created by his lap and his abdomen, his arms encircleling his knees and his head on his arms, making himself as small as possible; part of him hoping that Jack would not ask the innevitable questions he knew he would ask. He could not help himself, he started to sob.

Jack followed Mac to the couch, staying very close, in case the kid faltered. He needed to figure out what the hell was going on, but right now his first priority was Mac's well being, he needed to make sure his boy, the hell with it he thought, HIS BOY! was OK. Once Mac reached the couch the kid went right to the corner, wrapped himself up in his own cocoon, holding the box close to him like his life dependend on it; then Jack heard it, Mac's walls came crashing down, the flood gates opened and the kid started to sob uncontrollably. Jack ran a hand through his hair, thought OK, here we go! He sat on the edge of the couch, grabbed Mac by the shoulders and pulled him close, letting the kid just sob, get whatever this was out. It broke Jack's heart to see this, to allow Mac to hurt like this, but it was necessary.

"Mac" Jack said to the blond blob in his arms, "kiddo, you need to tell me what the hell is going on?" The boy's sobs had abatted enough to where Jack knew, or at least hoped, the kid could hear him. "You're scaring me son" "I am right here, I am not going anywhere, I can help, but you need to let me in; I can't help you if you don't explain things to me so I know HOW to help you" Finally the kid pulled away and looked at him with blood shot eyes, sniffling and Jack took the opportunity to ask: "Why did that, pointing to the box, make you so upset kid? "What is that?"

Mac pulled away from Jack and looked at him, then he looked down at the box and carefully took out the little doll inside, it was an old cloth doll, dressed in a red dress with a big red bow on its head. The doll was missing an eye, and had lost a shoe somewhere in the process. He absently ran his hand down the doll's hair, petting it. He brought the doll up to his nose and he sniffed it, it still smelled of baby powder and daisies; that made his mouth turn upward in a faint smile. He looked at Jack again, aware of the man's gaze on him and sighed. He held the doll out towards Jack.

Jack watched Mac with the old doll. The thing looked to be a couple of decades old; it was missing an eye from what he could tell, and it certaintly looked like it had seen better days. He found it very strange the way Mac was holding it like it was a precious breakable thing, and when he sniffed it and smiled at it, he was very intrigued; when the kid held the doll out towards him for the taking, Jack was downright confused, but he took the doll from his partner's hands and looked at Mac's eyes... "Mac..who's is this?" he asked.

Mac looked right at his friend, took a deep breath and said, "My sister's..." Jack's face fell...

Not what you were expecting I bet? LOL...

Thanks everyone for the reviews; I appreciate them!

To be continued...