Mac's feet pounded over the dusty trail, kicking up a cloud as he dug into his last push to reach the top. It had been a while since he'd been able to run this hard or this long, say nothing about actually taking his workout into the Hills like he had today.

His lungs were burning and he was absolutely drenched in sweat. His leg was starting to protest the hard workout, too, but he had to make it to the top. It had been a few months since the incident at the warehouse and he'd babied the leg a little, due more to urging to "be careful" from Boze and Jack than actually being told he needed to.

Elliot was the one who shook him out of that funk. Mac had pushed harder than he had tried yet in the gym about a week ago (admittedly because Nikki was there and he was maybe showing off a little) and his leg had squawked about it. Jack had gone full Sargeant Dad and insisted he get it looked at again.

Mac rolled his eyes, but he'd given Elliot a call. It would make Jack feel better, and honestly, Mac did want to take care of it properly. He was an athletic guy and he'd hate for poor judgement now to screw up his ability to be active when he was Jack's age.

Elliot said if it weren't for the fact that his pasty pale legs that clearly never saw the light of day showed the scar so readily, he'd never know Mac had been wounded a few months ago. Mac had laughed. His legs weren't that pale.

The scar was still a deep, angry, shiny red. But it didn't often hurt anymore, he said. Elliot nodded. "I imagine most of why it hurt in the gym is you've been taking it too easy. It's healed up. You want to be in the shape you were in before your injury, you're going to have to cowboy up and power through a little. It was just a graze, Mac."

Mac laughed again and said he'd feel sorry for Elliot's other patients if they weren't already dead.

But it had gotten him back out on the trail.

He wondered how Jack was fairing. The DXS doctor told Jack he'd been pushing too hard, too fast, but Thornton had disagreed, calling Jack in on Wednesday for actual field work. Knowing what the back specialist had told Jack about the expected length of his recovery, he'd had the strong urge to go tell Thornton off on Jack's behalf. But Jack had assured him it wasn't for a physically demanding mission. Surveillance, he'd said. Which Mac took to mean she needed a sniper.

He supposed his worry about Jack was some of what sent him out on a real punishing run. Boredom was also a factor. Mac's part time boss had been on vacation, so there was no work for him until Thursday either. He crested the top of the hill with a feeling of triumph he'd almost forgotten.

Damn it felt good to conquer something. He stood savoring the feeling, and the view, for a few minutes. As the rush of endorphins started to level off, Mac got a weird feeling. Like he wasn't alone. He knew he was. It was too hot for most sensible people up here and he'd passed a bunch of runners and hikers giving up.

Still he turned around, looking for signs that someone else had made the top. Huh. Nothing. He shook his head. Maybe he should think about a second job that was a little more social. Even the garage was a lot of time alone. Jack and Boze both said it was going to make him crazy.

He stretched out a little. Downed a hydration packet, and started the descent at a light jog. Heading home would be more of a cool down than a workout. By the time he got back to his Jeep, he'd managed to shake the feeling he'd had up top.

He glanced at his watch. If he headed over to X-Com, he could make the Krav Maga class and maybe run into Nikki. He'd shower at the gym, nose around and see if there was any word on Jack, and maybe see if Barry and Jay wanted to grab a beer after work.

He towelled some of the sweat off and pulled off his soaked t shirt in favor of a dry one from his bag in the back. Then he grabbed a water bottle out of his cooler and climbed behind the wheel to head to the X-Com facility.

If he'd had the training Thornton had wanted to give him, he'd have noticed the late model van weaving in and out of traffic several car lengths behind him. But all he had was the returning sense of vague unease. He hoped a hard workout and the opportunity to throw some people to the mat, along with some low key socializing, would dispel it.

0-0-0

Mac was sort of disappointed that Nikki wasn't around, but Jay decided to join him at Krav Maga and both Jay and Barry thought after work beer was a great idea. Jack was apparently expected at the office just about any minute after a reportedly smooth mission. Mac forgot all about his strange sense of being watched.

He was just coming out of the locker room, freshly showered and ready to go meet the guys to head out for dinner and a drink, when he ran into Jack. "Hey, man!" Mac greeted with a grin. "How's it feel to be back off desk duty?"

Jack grinned in return. "Pretty damn good, kid. What're you doin' here?"

"Ah, I just came to work out. You know, Krav Maga sounded like a good idea."

Jack's expression shifted into a knowing smile. "Lookin' for a particular sparring partner, were ya?"

Mac blushed and ducked his head for a second. "Maybe. She wasn't around though."

Jack chuckled. "That's cuz she was out in the field with yours truly. She's alright, really knows her stuff."

"Is that your way of telling me you approve, old man."

Jack shook his head. He knew Mac sensed his reserve about this current crush. "I disapprove slightly less," he allowed with a smirk. "She practically coulda babysat you."

"She's only like four or five years older than me," Mac scoffed. "Is she back, too?" he asked, sounding a little over eager. In response to Jack's eyebrow raise, he went on. "I'm heading out for dinner and drinks with a couple of the guys from the lab. I was gonna ask you if you wanted to come if you were around. And, they were gonna ask a couple other techs … Since it's a whole group of us going I figured she might …"

"Low risk, high reward. I gotcha, kid. She's back. But she's meeting with Thornton. Could be a while."

"I could text her and see."

"So, you've gotten as far as phone numbers," Jack observed with amusement.

Mac blushed, but just shrugged as he got out his phone.

When Jack came back from the very necessary and welcome shower, shave, and fresh clothes he'd headed to the locker room for, Mac was leaning against the wall in the lobby with his hands in his pockets. Jack didn't know what to make of his expression, but it didn't look exactly happy. "Hey, Mac, what's up?" he asked, striding up to him.

Mac half smiled at Jack when he saw the pace he'd set coming across the room. Jack was finally moving like his old self again. Maybe Thornton hadn't called him back to duty too early. "Hey, um, I know I said beer, but … I think I'm gonna flake and head home."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "The lovely Ms. Carpenter unavailable this evening?"

"Huh? Oh, Nikki, um, no … she's available … just … Thornton called me, said she knew I was in the building wanted to see me about 'the incident'."

Jack's forehead immediately creased into a line that Mac recognized as the symbol of his protective streak. "You don't work here anymore, Mac. You don't have to blow off plans just because she calls you."

Mac smiled slightly with a tilt to his chin that said he was a little proud of himself even if part of him didn't feel he should be. "That's what I told her actually."

Jack patted him on the shoulder. Mac could be the strangest combination of defferential to authority figures and insubordinate to anybody up to and including God Himself that Jack had ever met. "Good for you, kid."

Mac shook his head. "Then she said, 'Fine,' you know in that tone she has ... and just told me over the phone that based on the information I provided and the evidence from the warehouse and vans, they think they tracked down O'Neill or whatever his real name is, and there's a joint organizational strike team taking out their facility like right now. She said she thought I'd want to know and then she hung up."

"That's good," Jack said, but he thought he knew what the kid was thinking. "They're the bad guys, Mac. They asked for whatever is happening right now. You know that, right, kid?"

Mac nodded. "Yeah, I mean, I do, but …"

"But part of your brain only remembers that you guys once wore the same uniform, and that you spent the last few years feeling responsible for either his death or him being a prisoner of war because people didn't listen to you, maybe."

Mac shrugged again. "Yeah and … when you say whatever's happening … I know what that means, what that looks like … And I don't like being responsible for a bunch of guys with guns, even if they're the good guys, doing that, and I don't like that there are good guys on the line tonight. So anyway, not feeling beer and making conversation."

"What're you still doin' here then, kid? You've got that 'if I don't get some peace and quiet I'm gonna take something important of somebody else's apart' look aboutcha."

Mac grinned sheepishly. "I texted everybody else, but I figured if I just texted you and bailed and then you found out what Thornton told me, you'd come looking for me anyway. Hanging around to tell you in person saves us both time."

Jack chuckled. "I always said you were the brains of the outfit, kid."

"Anyway, I'm gonna take off."

Mac turned without waiting for an answer and started for the stairs that would take him down to the parking garage level. "Is Boze home?" Jack asked, catching up with him as he opened the door to the stairwell.

Mac glanced back at him, unsurprised that Jack was following. "Um … he was working tonight … But he'll be around later, after the place closes."

"How much later?"

Mac forced a laugh as they stepped into the parking garage. "Like usual later."

"So like two or three tomorrow morning."

"Probably. They've been really busy and I think when Boze says he's the best cook, it's not just Boze talking like he does sometimes … He gets called in a lot."

"Alright then, I'm gonna come keep you company. And I'll see if I can get Thornton to cough up details so you at least know when it's all over with, kid."

Mac got out his keys. "Okay, man. I won't say no to the company, but I'm stopped on my way home to pick up some pizza … and if it's just going to be us hanging around, maybe some beer, too. I could use the tension breaker."

"Oh no ya don't, ya silly hamburger kid. You keep running your hands through your hair and your eyes are all over the place, so not only do you look like you just rolled outta bed, but you're imitating a squirrel pretty well at the moment. Jack's drivin'."

Mac laughed. "I need my car tomorrow, Jack. I'm working at Ainsely's in the afternoon." He shook his head. "Also, don't start talking about yourself in the third person again. Seriously."

Jack took out his own keys and jangled them. "I'll bring you over to pick it up tomorrow, kid. I'm off because we just got back, and either I'll crash on your godawful couch anyway, or I'll pick up in the morning and we'll go bug Patty to cough up how things went."

Mac's eyes widened and he cleared his throat. "Um, did you hurt your back again or something while you were gone?"

"No, why?"

"So, you're not offering to drive me home while you're full of pain killers?"

"No," Jack repeated. "Why?"

Mac slipped his keys into his coat pocket and climbed into the passenger seat of Jack's car. "Because you just called your boss Patty."

Jack grinned as he climbed in. "Yeah, well I been tryin' it out to see if she says anything."

"You really think poking that particular bear is a good idea, Jack?"

"I dunno kid, but seen' how many times I can get away with it before she calls me out is kinda fun."

"Like when you used to insert 'meow' into random sentences with Captain Michaels all the time."

Jack started the car and started maneuvering it out of the parking spot. "Kinda, yeah," he laughed, pleased that his attempt to make sure Mac didn't get in his own head too much over Patty's phone call already seemed to be working.

"What's the highest you ever got?" Mac asked, grinning now and picturing Jack's face on the occasion Michaels had finally caught him in the act.

"Forty-two in one day," Jack answered proudly, pulling out of the parking garage with the light.

"Was it worth all those push-ups, Jack? Be honest."

"It'd been worth twice as many, kid," Jack replied.

They laughed and then Jack brought up the story of yet another occasion when Mac just couldn't keep his science to himself and got in trouble for that. It seemed Jack sought it out and Mac couldn't keep out of it even if he tried. They took the turn to head to Mac's place, still laughing and telling competing stories of how much worse the other was about getting themselves into hot water.

Jack was happy to see Mac coping with his stress over the Thornton call in a reasonable way. Mac was glad to have the company and found he actually enjoyed the slightly competitive storytelling, even if he would admit to himself that if he'd hung around in the ranks as long as Jack eventually his mouth probably would have gotten him in a lot more trouble than Jack's innocent game playing ever had.

Neither of them saw the van parked across from the X-Com parking garage.

Fortunately for them, they were looking for an orange Jeep that currently had a very bright green surfboard strapped to the top.

So the occupants of the van didn't notice them either.