CHAPTER TWO

ONE WEEK EARLIER

Jack stepped out into the hallway that led to Medical, but realized two seconds later that Mac was still in the elevator. Slapping his hand against the gears to prevent the doors from closing, he raised his eyebrows at Mac in silent question.

"What?"

"You know what," Jack told him.

"I'm fine, Jack. Besides, Bozer's the one who got stabbed!"

"Dude, you just got the crap beat outta ya' by three mercs! You are not fine! Bozer's getting the medical attention he needs at Mount Sinai. Come to think of it, I could drag you there if you'd prefer."

"No!" Mac said a little too quickly. "You took on just as many of them as I did," he added sheepishly. "And, okay, yeah, I got some bumps and bruises, but what's Medical going to do other than give me a bunch of pain pills that I have no intention of taking?"

"First of all," Jack said, taking Mac by the elbow and firmly guiding him out of the elevator and down the hallway, "yes, you will take the pills, even if I gotta force 'em down your throat. Secondly, do you not see me headed to Medical with you? I'm pretty sure I didn't turn into the Invisible Man over the past few minutes."

"Jack – " MacGyver knew full well that Jack was only going along to make sure Mac got checked out.

"And, besides, I had the protection of my Kevlar vest – which is not just good for blockin' bullets, by the way – and so did all the mercs, not to mention their helmets and gloves," he added, pausing their trip down the hall to tilt MacGyver's head to the side so he could get a better look at the cut on his cheekbone.

Two other agents chose that moment to walk past, bandages showing that they likely had just finished up in Medical themselves. They each cast sidelong glances at Jack and MacGyver, earning a blush from Mac as he pushed Jack's hands away. "I'll get checked out by the doctors, Jack."

"Hey, I have emergency field training."

"Yeah, well, this isn't the field. And the crisis – which caused the emergency in the first place – has been averted. So, Doctor Dalton can stand down."

"Fine, fine," Jack said, smirking as he increased his pace to catch up with a blond genius who was suddenly in a rush. Mac was going to willingly allow Medical staff to check him over? Mission accomplished, and Jack hadn't even been trying. "I wouldn't be surprised to find out that you have at least a couple bruised ribs, brother. Possibly even a fracture or two."

"Never denied having bruises, Jack."

The older agent scoffed. "Bruised ribs ain't nothin' like regular, run o' the mill bruises, and you know it."

A couple steps in the lead, MacGyver arrived at the sliding doors leading to Medical before Jack. The place looked like a M.A.S.H. unit; medical staff hustling and bustling around the room like rats in a maze, with each patient playing the part of an injured piece of cheese.

Mac spun around and moved to pass Jack, heading back the way they had come. "Oh well," he said breezily, "they're too busy. I'll just come back at another – "

"Whoa, whoa, hold on there, Hoss!" Jack put out an arm to block his path, inadvertently pressing on Mac's midsection and earning a hiss of pain from his partner. "Sorry, sorry," he said, moving his hand up to place his calloused palm on the back of MacGyver's neck instead – and if his grip helped his friend breathe through the pain, then Jack was good with that.

"I'm okay," Mac told him, but didn't immediately brush off the support.

Jack took that as a win and left his hand where it was, steering MacGyver through the sliding doors and into the midst of the current craziness of Phoenix Medical. "Doc Hawk," he called out.

A man in a white lab coat, presumably 'Doc Hawk' looked up and motioned for them to wait a moment while he finished bandaging a patient's badly burned hand.

Jack feigned offense at MacGyver's look of surprise. "What? I do have friends, you know."

That fact didn't surprise Mac at all. However, out loud, he simply said, "You do tend to grow on people. Not unlike various types of fungi," he added with a smirk.

"Aw, thanks, Mac!" Jack exclaimed, grinning widely. "I have lots of fun with you, too!"

MacGyver huffed a soft laugh, shaking his head fondly. "No, that wasn't what I – "

"Jackie, m'boy! I haven't seen you since the paperwork for my transfer was finalized; thank you for that, by the way!" Doc Hawk accepted Jack's firm handshake, then pulled him in for a rough embrace.

"No thanks necessary," Jack dismissed. "Phoenix Medical needs more men like you! Hawkenbury, I'd like you to meet my partner, MacGyver."

Doc Hawk whipped his attention to MacGyver. "So, you're the boy genius who can do no wrong," he exclaimed.

"I don't know about that," Mac said, cheeks turning a slight shade of pink as he shook the man's hand.

"Well, I do! Jack brags about you all the time," the doctor revealed, seeming to take a tiny bit of joy from Jack's obvious discomfort. He leaned in, placing a hand up as if to whisper a secret to Mac but speaking perfectly loud enough for Jack to hear – "He sounds like a proud papa bear, if you ask me," he added with a wink.

Now, it was Jack's turn to blush. "Okay, okay, no one asked you," he said good naturedly, placing himself between the doctor and MacGyver. "Stop embarrassing the kid," he muttered, canting his head at Doc Hawk beseechingly.

The doctor's responding laugh was kind and playful. "Are you sure it's MacGyver that I'm embarrassing, Jack?"

"Which room, smart ass?" Jack asked, unable to completely hide his grin—Hawkenbury's laugh always had been contagious.

Doc Hawk pointed to the back of the room. "Last door on the right," he told them, still chuckling softly to himself. "I'll be with you in a few minutes."

"Just make sure you switch hats from class-clown to medical doctor," Jack told him. He led MacGyver back to the exam room, and said softly, "Great doctor, but he lies through his teeth."

"Oh, so you don't brag about me to your friends?" Mac asked, pretending his feelings were hurt by the news.

"Aha! So, you admit that I have friends!"

They both shared a knowing smile that only they could decipher as they both stepped into the exam room.

True to his word, Doc Hawk joined them a few minutes later. MacGyver was sitting up on the exam table, with Jack leaning back against a nearby wall.

"So, MacGyver," Hawkenbury began, "where does it hurt."

"Actually, Doc, I'm fine – " he broke off when he felt Jack's warning glare boring into him, and sighed. "Ribs and back," he revealed. "And my head's pounding."

"Hmmm," the doctor murmured, pulling out his pen light and shining it into Mac's left eye, then moving to his right. "Did you take any hits to the head?"

"One or two," Mac said, happy that this part of the exam gave him an excuse to avoid any and all eye contact with his partner after that particular admission. "Maybe three, I'm not really sure."

"You might have a mild concussion," Hawkenbury told him. "Can you take off your shirt for me, please?"

After a brief hesitation, MacGyver did as requested. The gasp from the other side of the room had him chancing a glance at Jack. The other agent didn't need to say a word because the fire in his gaze spoke volumes.

Doc Hawk whistled as he gazed at the colourful bruises across Mac's torso. "And you're not feeling any pain?" he asked disbelievingly.

"MacGyver here is really good at compartmentalizing, Doc," Jack said, although his voice was filled with anything but admiration. "He's feelin' pain all right; he just hides it real well."

"Wow, Jack, you weren't kidding when you said this kid's strong as iron!" Hawkenbury exclaimed, pulling out his notepad to write up a prescription.

Mac's surprised eyes found Jack but before he could say anything, Jack interjected, "That's not meant as a compliment in this instance, bud."

Proving that he was in fact a genius, MacGyver's mouth snapped shut and he averted his gaze, wisely remaining silent for the rest of the examination. He even offered up no protest when Hawkenbury handed him the prescription for pain killers.

Present Day

After a quick lunch, Jack and MacGyver were back on the road, with Mac in the front passenger seat and Sparky in the back. Tin Man offered occasional commentary along the way but was otherwise silent.

Jack, on the other hand, was belting out his favourite country songs like there was no tomorrow. Mac tried to turn up the volume on the stereo, but Jack only sang that much louder. Like he was trying to drive him nuts or something.

With a sigh, MacGyver did his best to tune his friend out as he replayed his nightmare over and over in his mind. It was the same nightmare he'd had when Frankie had been presumed dead. He'd only had it that once… until recently.

Immediately after his jaunt pretending to be a sociopathic serial killer, the dream had begun again. And since then, it had not only increased in frequency, but images of Murdoc had been thrown into the mix.

It just didn't make sense. Frankie was fine; Jack was fine; Murdoc was being moved to solitary confinement. So, why was Mac still having a nightmare about his college crush being burned alive and his best friend being swallowed up by the earth, with Murdoc laughing evilly in the background?

MacGyver didn't notice the sudden quiet in the car until Jack spoke. "What's goin' on in that overachievin' head of yours, compadre?"

"What?"

"Well, clearly your brain is refusin' to go along with our impromptu vacation road trip, so you might as well share what you can't stop thinkin' about."

MacGyver grinned despite himself. Leave it to Jack to put Mac's needs ahead of his own. But Mac couldn't tell him about his nightmare. Not yet, anyway. It just seemed silly at this point. So, he chose a half-truth to share, instead. Because the nightmare wasn't the only thing bothering him, and the other was a much easier topic of conversation.

"I'm just thinking about my dad."

"Yeah? What about him?"

Mac brushed imaginary dust off the GTO's console. So much for easier. "I just… what if I do find him? What do I say?"

"You mean, other than 'why'd you abandon me when I needed you the most'?" Jack asked, not able to pull any punches when it came to MacGyver's old man. His gaze flicked back and forth between Mac and the road, uncertain if he'd just made things worse or not. He was relieved when a soft smile curved his friend's lips.

"Yeah," Mac said. "Other than that. You're the one who told me I should forgive him."

"A little bit," Jack corrected him. "I said, you should forgive him 'a little bit'. And, I said that you should. I never said anything about whether or not I'd be forgivin' him anytime soon."

"What do you have to forgive him for?" Mac laughed. "You've never even met him."

Jack's expression turned incredulous. Shaking his head with disbelief, he reached out to turn the music back on. Just before clicking the dial, he said, "For hurtin' you." Then the music was on, Jack was singing along, and Mac was saved from having to come up with a response to his friend's heartfelt words.

Instead, he slipped his dark sunglasses onto his face like the genius he was, so that he could hide the sudden and unexpected tears in his eyes – which, of course, he blamed on the sand blowing around in the breeze.

TBC