Prior to working at DXS, Mac had only ever flown on military transports or Coach on commercial flights. Even when he'd come back from Afghanistan via the DXS jet after O'Neill had grabbed him when he'd tried to rescue Jack from the hostage situation at DXS, he'd been pretty beat, medicated, and too in his own head to take in the luxurious accommodations. Even on the missions he'd been on outside of their local operating area since graduating from the required clandestine services training, he'd either had to fly commercial or flown on other organization's aircraft.

At the moment though, Mac was appreciating just exactly how interested in providing a comfortable trip Thornton appeared to be. The handful of Advil he'd downed when they boarded was only just taking the edge off having gotten knocked around and tased by a freaking robot back at Terminus.

But the couch was extremely comfortable, the meal the crew served them had been exceptionally fine, and he was exhausted from their last mission. After he finished his third run through of the building schematics and other briefing materials Thornton sent along, he decided it was time to follow some advice Jack had been giving him since their first mission.

He curled up on his side and closed his eyes.

He lay under a soft blanket, dozing pleasantly, listening to the sound of Nikki's fingers flying over the keys of her laptop and the gentle drone of Jack telling amusing (and potentially embarrassing) stories about their Army days since she was a captive audience.

Mac contemplated opening his eyes and calling bullshit on Jack's very one-sided retelling of their first meeting, but decided it wasn't that important. Thornton wasn't 100% sure the estate they were headed toward was where O'Neill was going next. But the private jet that had taken off right after the bastard had been spotted at the small, private airfield that DXS happened to use, too, was headed to the UK, and the flight plans that had been filed with the tower (and confiscated by DXS in a way almost no other government agency could have managed) said it was headed toward a private landing area on a large estate tied to a Lord Carlisle. The British government had investigated the place secretly many times and suspected the current holder of the title was funding some not so good things with the family fortune. And if nothing else, getting a look at any financials or other paper or tech trails would be worth the trip, in and of itself, and in the O'Neill case.

But it had already been kind of a long day. By the time they got clear of Terminus, it had been dinner time on the West Coast, and it would be nearly noon local time by the time they arrived in England. Mac didn't normally sleep in the air. His brain enjoyed reminding him of how far off the ground he was, too much for that. But, frankly, Mac needed some rest. He pulled the blanket up a little further around his head to muffle the noise of conversation and let the drone of the engines and his general exhaustion lull him into a fitful sleep.

When he bolted upright a couple of hours later, Jack was leaning over him, clearly about to try to wake him. His blanket was on the floor, so he knew he'd been thrashing. He was sweaty and flushed, too. Then he realized Nikki was staring at him with wide eyes from across the cabin and the heat in his face increased by at least an order of magnitude. Before he even opened his mouth he vowed silently that he was never going to fall asleep in front of her again as long as he lived.

He was determined to brush off whatever they'd seen. Besides, he was not about to contemplate, say nothing of confess aloud, his dream of stumbling through endless hallways, unbroken by doors or windows, or the sounds of torment in all to recognizable voices that seeped through the cracks. And nothing, not the pain or torture or Jack and Bozer's most relentless hovering, would get him to admit (even to himself) the faces and voices of the monsters that chased him there.

He sat up fully, swinging his feet off the couch, and running his hands over his face and through his hair. Jack casually sat down next to him, blocking the view between him and Nikki, though whether that move was intentional or not, Mac wasn't sure. Jack opened his mouth to say something.

Mac forestalled conversation by bending to retrieve his blanket. Mother Nature cooperated with his efforts to save face by shaking the jet with an epic bout of turbulence. As he was sitting back up, Jack finally spoke, loud enough for Nikki to hear.

"Turbulence almost knocked you off the couch, kid. Figured you wouldn't want that jostling you awake so I was gonna poke you myself. Sorry I didn't move faster. That's no kinda alarm clock. Even if it's just a nap."

Mac flashed him a quick grateful smile. "I appreciate that."

Nikki leaned forward over her laptop. "You don't get airsick, do you? I have some stuff in my bag."

Mac tried to think of something to say that didn't give him away while also acknowledging and declining her offer, but Jack beat him to it. "He's not likely to refund his lunch in here, Nik. Unless he spends too much time lookin' out the window. Mac, you may remember, don't like bein' up this high."

She laughed a little and Mac flushed brighter. "That bothers you even when you're flying?"

She already knew he was afraid of heights, and it wasn't exactly a total lie, so he shrugged. "I mean, I don't love it."

The jet jostled again. Nikki reached for her bag. "I do get a little air sick. Ugh." She went back to work after swallowing some Dramamine.

"Where are we at?" Mac asked smoothly, letting Nikki hear the total lack of concern he'd effortlessly faked.

"Over the Atlantic at the moment, kid." Jack paused, eyeing Mac's almost annoyed expression and dropping his voice so Nikki wouldn't pick it up. "Sorry I brought up the heights thing. I was just gettin' the vibe you didn't want her to know you were havin' one of your nightmares and it was all I could think of."

"It's okay." Mac's face relaxed. "You read me right. Nikki likes to go rock climbing and stuff, so she already knows I really hate it."

"How come you're worried about her knowing about your dreams?" Jack thought he knew, but he also thought it wasn't a good thing and wanted Mac to maybe think about that for a minute.

Mac shrugged. "I mean, she'd ask questions and she's not cleared for…"

Jack's expression called bullshit.

"Fine … I don't want to talk about any of that stuff with her."

"Yeah?" One of Jack's eyebrows went up in a familiar expression. "I don't wanna pry, but…"

"Yes, you do." Mac shook his head with a little smirk. "You always do."

"Well … now … Will you hear me out?"

Mac shrugged.

"You really wanna be sharing a bed with someone who you don't want to know about your life?"

"Just because we've … you know … Doesn't mean I want her to know all my deepest darkest secrets." He glanced around Jack to be sure Nikki wasn't listening to them. "Don't look at me like that. You told your last girlfriend you sell bathroom tile," he scoffed.

Jack shook his head. "Fair enough. Just … I know how you are and…"

"How am I?" Mac asked a little defensively.

"If you've … I'm gonna just say 'been close' like that with her, you're already half in love…"

"What makes you say that?"

Jack grinned. "You're just … Mac. You've got this sense of honor and … you quote your grandad all the time … you sound a little old fashioned. And then there's…"

"What?" Mac asked, cocking an eyebrow, but not quite managing to be annoyed. Everything Jack was saying was true, even if he didn't want to admit it.

"Anytime we ever went on leave … Every chick from babysitters to their grandmas were throwin' themselves at you. You coulda pulled down more ass than a toilet seat at the Super Bowl."

"Jack!"

Jack chuckled at the slightly offended tone and the smack he'd just gotten on the arm. "See, kid, that's kinda what I'm talkin' about. You never did. Barely let any of 'em so much as buy you a drink. You don't take anything about relationships lightly." He paused. This part was serious and he didn't want Mac to dismiss it because he'd been teasing him a little bit. "So if you're holding yourself at a distance from her, Mac, since you know she's read into the life, you maybe wanna slow down and ask yourself why."

Mac frowned at him. "You don't like her." He sounded more like the idea bothered him than that it pissed him off.

Jack shook his head. "I like her fine, bud. I just … Something tells me she might not be real good for you."

"Like what?" he demanded.

"My spidey senses are tingling is all, kid."

"Nope. Not good enough." Mac shook his head firmly. "Specifics. What makes you think we're not gonna be good together."

Jack chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment. "I don't know exactly, Mac," he admitted. "But like … Last week when you invited her over for dinner with all of us so she could get to know Boze and Penny and we all went swimming…"

Mac's frown deepened. What is Jack talking about? That had been a great night. They all got along great and had a nice time and Nikki looked amazing in that bright pink bikini. "What about it?"

Jack sighed. He was probably making something out of nothing. But Mac was different around Nikki. And it worried him. A lot. "When we were all hanging out around the fire pit after, she commented on the scar on your knee."

"So what?" Mac shrugged.

"She said it was gross."

Another shrug. "It is a pretty gross scar. The surgery one isn't so bad, but the permanent road rash is kinda nasty."

"She must really not like the one from that bullet graze."

Mac shrugged again. "So what?" he asked again. But he knew what Jack was going to say.

"So after she said something you went and got dressed. You sat there in jeans and long sleeves while the rest of us hung out in swimsuits and even when we went back in the water."

Mac swallowed. That maybe isn't great. "Maybe I was cold."

"Okay. Maybe you were. All I'm sayin' is, make sure it's good for you, that it's what you want. And not just parts of ya, kid." Jack tipped him a wink and laughed to break the seriousness of the moment.

Mac gave him a shove, laughing.

"What're you two doing over there?" Nikki called, sounding amused.

"Nothin', Nik," Jack said with a charming grin.

"Jack's just reminding me what a gutter brain he has sometimes."

"I don't even want to know," Nikki smirked.

Mac combed his hands through his hair again with a little sigh. He lowered his voice again. "I'll think about what you said."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. If you promise not to bring it up again."

Jack nodded. That was as good as he was gonna get. "Pinkie swear, Carl's Junior." Jack got up to go grab a drink.

Mac gave him a little nod and picked up his work tablet again. "Grab me a coffee while you're up, wouldja? I'm not getting back to sleep with the way this tin can is shaking anyways."

"You bet, kid. Better get caffeinated before we hafta go stop the next zombie apocalypse."

Mac laughed. "We don't know there's any threat of biological stuff at the Carlisle Estate. Thornton thinks this is a money thing."

"After how we spent our morning? Better safe than sorry, kid."