I am blown away by the reviews I got! You guys have all been so nice and welcoming. I don't really know what I was expecting when I published the first chapter, but I certainly didn't imagine that I would receive such good feedback. Anyway thank you to all that reviewed, favorited, followed me. It really meant the world to me! I hope you all continue to enjoy this story. Thank you Lifeart for offering to beta this fic for me! all remaining mistakes are my own.
Mac jolted awake.
His head was pounding and his vision a bit fuzzy, he tried to take in his surroundings; wrists and ankles bound, small, cold, windowless, concrete room, and-... "Jack!"
"Jack," he called again. Seeing his friend brought back the last moments he remembered before his involuntary nap.
They had just completed their mission, stealing an incriminating hard drive from a very slippery and connected arms dealer.
They had tracked the arms dealer's right hand man to Turkey, and with the help of Jack's right hook they had easily procured the hard drive.
He and Jack had just arrived at the airport and had been heading into a hangar that housed private planes. He had been bantering with his partner, "All I'm saying is, I don't think it's always necessary to knock the bad guy out, that's all."
"Seriously? Okay, A: punching out assholes is therapeutic and B: That guy works for some psycho that supplies weapons to ISIS! He had it coming, Hoss." Jack replied, Mumbling something about a "punchface" a moment later. Mac just shook his head fondly at his best friend.
Jack had been leading the way and Mac followed a few feet behind him, the young agent had been studying his boots, while his mind wandered.
He had looked up in time to see a steel pipe connect with the back of his friend's skull.
"Jack!" Mac had shouted as his partner had crumpled to the cement floor.
His attention had still been on his partner and the assailant standing above him, he watched Jack turn his head to search out Mac and attempt to push himself up, at the same time, only to immediately fall back to the ground
The last thing Mac remembered was Jack's eyes widening and a shout forming on his lips, at the same moment the man that stood above him brought down the pipe on the back of his head again. Sensing someone behind him, he had turned right into the path of a meaty fist.
Jack was running, trying to find Mac.
Where the hell was his partner?
It was his job to keep him safe. Actually it had become more than a job years ago, the kid was more like a little brother and even a son.
It would kill him if anything happened to the kid, especially on his watch!
Growing more and more panicked the longer he ran, he tried calling out to his friend, "Mac!"
He stopped to listen, desperately trying to hear something. He waited… then faintly he heard it.
He began running in the direction the sound had come from, faster this time. "Jack!" he clearly heard his partner calling for him this time.
Relief along with worry came with hearing his partner's voice, he could tell something was wrong.
Praying that the kid would be okay when he found him, he ran faster.
"Jack, please wake up," Mac pleaded. His friend looked like he'd been used as a punching bag with the bruises he could see starting to form.
Mac cringed at the blood splatter on the wall next to Jack's head. There was dried blood on the back of his head from the steel pipe. Blood had ran down the back of his neck, behind his ear, and disappeared into the neck of his t-shirt
There was a gash above Jack's left eye that had bled all the way down the side of his face, and neck. His left cheek was swollen and split along with his lip. Blood had dried grotesquely on his chin. Mac hoped there weren't more injuries he couldn't see.
"Jack," he tried again. He was rewarded by a moan from his friend.
Jack's eyes slowly fluttered open to reveal soft unfocused chocolate brown eyes.
Pain, that's the first thing Jack felt when he returned to consciousness. His head still pounded viciously.
He tried to raise his hand to his face, feeling the restraints, memories of their current situation came flooding back
His head snapped up to meet the younger man's gaze. "Hey man, it sure is good to see you! How are you feelin' buddy?" Jack asked, relieved to see his partner still mostly okay.
"I was just about to ask you the same thing. You look like you went ten rounds with Muhammad Ali," Mac shook his head fondly at Jack.
"So I clearly missed a few things while I was knocked out, care to fill me in?" Mac said.
Jack proceeded to tell Mac everything that had happened - everything he could recall that is.
"Who's this mysterious Mr. Sinclair and what does he think we stole?" Mac questioned.
"He has to be the arms dealer, that's the only thing that makes sense," Jack answered. "Let's worry about all that after we get out of here, bud," he requested. Mac nodded in agreement.
"Got any idea how we can do that yet?" Jack asked.
Looking around his surroundings, Mac replied, "There's not much to work with in here."
Jack had faith in the kid and he knew Mac would get them out of this mess when the opportunity presented itself. There was no way to tell what time of day it was. It felt like several hours. Was it morning yet? He looked down at the aching stab wound above his right hip bone. It was kinda hard to tell, but it looked like it had stopped bleeding so that was good.
After some time passed, he heard movement behind the large metal door. His body tensed and his muscles bunched, he wasn't quite ready for another round with that psycho. Jack looked at his friend nervously, he couldn't let anything happen to him.
Facing the door again, Jack steeled himself for what was about to happen.