Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Everything was getting out of control. Running down the corridors of the hospital, Mac couldn’t stop the cold, frustrating thought that the more he tried to fix the situation, it worse it got.

Riley got injured, and, despite how he didn’t want to, he had to ask Bozer to take her away.

Splitting up was a terrible idea, even Riley told him that while fighting the pain coming from her fractured leg, but Jack was still somewhere inside the building with a prototype explosive ready to be set off and destroy half of the city, and there was no way the soldier would have been able to do anything about it.

“I’ll find him and take care of the explosive. You two get as far away as possible from the hospital,” he told Bozer and Riley and they both started complaining at the same time, about not wanting to leave, and how stupid it was to split up, and all Mac could do was look at Riley’s injured leg and yell at them, “JUST DO AS I SAY, GO!” before running away, looking for his friend.

And he was still looking, hearing gunshots from all around.

As fear started to get a hold of him, he turned a corner and bumped into someone who instantly grabbed the collar of his shirt and smashed him against the wall. Mac grabbed the arm, ready to fight back, just to recognize Jack a second later, both of them slightly relaxing. “Where’s the prototype?”

Jack took a deep breath and let him go, “They took it.”

“What? How?” Mac asked and then noticed blood under Jack’s leather jacket.

“That’s how,” Jack nodded, covering the wound.

“You got shot?”

“We have to leave.”

“Let me see–”

“Are you listening to me?” Jack angrily pushed him away, against the wall again, “We have to leave.”

“I’m not leaving without the prototype,” Mac said, walking past him.

Jack sighed nervously, “Damn it… Mac!” he barked, following.

“We both know how dangerous that thing is. We can’t let them have it,” he said without stopping.

“There’s no time! Rile’s–”

“I sent her and Bozer away. They’ll be fine.”

“We’ll get that bomb back, but now there’s nothing we can do.”

“We can catch up to them. If they’re not coming downstairs it means there’s a plane– a helicopter waiting for them on the roof? Maybe it’ll get here to–”

A gunshot echoed in the corridor, and Mac flinched at the sound, but also because something hit him in the back.

Confused, he stumbled another step forward before vaguely moving an arm towards his back, his breathing stopping for a second as pain started spreading all over his upper body.

He turned around only halfway, watching Jack’s cold expression as he lowered his gun. He’s not hurt…Where are they? Mac’s thoughts started spiraling, Did he- shoot me? A second later, he crashed on the floor.

As it was getting hard to breathe, Mac tried to call for Jack, but the soldier just looked at him for another moment before turning around and walking away.

Blinking fast, Mac groaned, feeling the fabric of his shirt getting wet with blood– his own blood. I got shot… Jack shot me in the back..? He… Why…?

Gasping for air, Mac felt confusion mixing with anger. Why did Jack shoot him? Why did he leave without a word? What was going on?

Mac slowly turned around, lying on his stomach, dragging himself on the floor to follow his friend– because Jack was his friend… Right? Then why…?

“J-Jack…” Mac called, barely seeing the soldier’s silhouette down the corridor before he was gone, turning a corner. It was then that Mac stopped, feeling tears burning in his eyes.

Why? he kept screaming inside his mind– all that came out from his mouth was a cough and a ragged, fast breathing that hurt more and more with every breath he took.

Furious, he dragged himself for another while before his body started shutting down, the world becoming a blurry mess of cold colors before turning to black, and he felt himself sinking into that darkness, unable to escape.

Chapter Text

When Mac opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Bozer sleeping on a small sofa in front of his hospital bed.

Mac stared quietly for a moment, as his memory started working again: they had flown to Spain to retrieve a new, extremely dangerous explosive prototype; they reached the location where it was kept, and it was then that everything went to hell. Someone else was there for the same reason, someone not even Matty knew about; taken by surprise, Riley got hurt, and Mac ordered her and Bozer to leave while he and Jack--

He shot me

Mac tried to sit up, instantly groaning in pain and grabbing his left shoulder. It was the same pain he felt before passing out- maybe worse.

Taking deep breaths, he then checked on Bozer, still asleep.

Why did he shot me?

Angry, Mac moved out of bed, still wearing his clothes. He could feel bandages around his left shoulder and torso-- giving them a look, they seemed new, meaning they probably arrived at the hospital not long ago.

Mac kept focusing on his breathing for another moment before standing up. Pain aside, his body worked just fine.

Walking towards the open door, he almost crashed into Cage.

"Why are you up?" she asked, surprised.

"Where's Jack?"

"Mac, you need to-"

"Where is he?!" It took him a second to realize he was screaming, and multiple heads down the corridor turned to look at them.

Unbothered by them, Cage kept staring at him. "He's a few rooms back- wait!"

Mac ignored her calls, turning around and checking every room he passed.

WHY?

The mission wasn't going as planned, but Mac couldn't find a reason that would've forced Jack to shoot at him. There was still time, and Riley's wound wasn't fatal in any way, Mac made sure of it before sending her and Bozer back, so why?

As Mac passed another room, he froze and turned around. Cage had stopped by the previous door, with a tense, sad look on her face. Mac frowned.

She shook her head, unsure of what to say.

Mac walked back and took a step into the room: Jack was lying in bed, a machine helping him breathe; there were two dark bruises on his face, one on his right cheek and one on his forehead; his upper lip was cut, and his left hand was secured into a cast... Still, what scared Mac the most was the bandage around Jack's head, holding a bloodied cloth over the side of his head.

Mac blinked fast, feeling like it was too much to see-- too much damage to consider. He then felt Cage standing next to him and tried to focus. "What the hell happened?"

"We don't know," she said, voice low but crystal clear. "We found you unconscious in a corridor, and then we found Jack on the upper floor." Cage took a deep breath. "I thought he was already gone." She shook her head, looking down.

"He--" Mac stopped and then tried again, "Is he-?"

"He's in a coma." Cage turned to look at him. "Mac, I need you to tell me what happened."

Mac was still repeating that word into his brain, coma, over and over again...

"Mac."

He blinked and slowly looked at her.

"Tell me what happened," she said, her voice calm, but there was anger into her eyes.

"I... I found Jack after sending Bozer and Riley away. We needed to find the prototype, but he--"

"He what?"

Mac considered lying, and maybe he would have, if Jack wasn't lying in a hospital bed, in a coma. "He shot me."

Cage frowned. "Why would he-?"

"I don't know! We were talking and a second later he..." Mac made a face. The angrier he got, the more pain he would feel radiating from the wound. "I don't know why. He shot me and left me there."

"Did he say something? Anything?"

"Not a damn word." Mac moved closer to the bed, staring at Jack, feeling angry, scared, and frustrated, all at the same time.

Cage thought for a moment. "There must have been a reason. He would never hurt you otherwise."

Mac kept quiet. He wanted to yell at Jack, ask for an explanation, because clearly they had different plans in mind regarding that bomb-- and now he couldn't do any of that. Mac couldn't ask him anything, because Jack was busy fighting to stay alive. He noticed Cage moving closer and quickly passed a hand over his eyes. "Where's Riley?"

"They're still visiting her."

"Does she know...?"

"Yes. She already knows."

Mac couldn't deal with that too, not now. He forced himself to focus on the mission-- on the mistakes he could have made. "Do we have any video recording from Jack's side? Any call? Anything?"

Cage shook her head. "You all disconnected the moment you entered the hospital. Jack didn't call anyone, and we have people working on the hospital cameras, but I don't expect much from those."

"Why?"

"Because most of them are on the first floor and outside the building."

"I only saw him going down the corridor..." Mac said, replaying those last moments in his mind. The more he tried, the more his head would hurt-- and then his body decided it was all too much: he would have fallen over Jack's body if Cage wasn't there to catch him.

"You need to rest," she reminded him.

"I need to know what happened--"

"We will, but you got shot just a few hours ago. You need to rest."

Mac sighed, looking around, "I can do that here."

Cage gave him a patient look and helped him to the chair nearby. Then, her phone started ringing. "Wait here. Don't move."

Mac watched her leave the room, and then there were only the machines to break the silence.

He looked at Jack, lying there, eyes closed, barely able to breathe on his own-- and Mac felt guilty, because whatever happened to Jack, he wasn't there to prevent it.

"What did you do, Jack?" Mac murmured, holding his wounded shoulders, feeling more tears forming in his eyes. "What the hell did you do?"

Chapter Text

Mac woke up from a nightmare just when his head was about to fall from the couch's armrest.

Blinking fast, he sat up and looked around the small waiting room: it was dark outside the windows, and most of the light was coming from the hospital corridor and the vending machines nearby— that's where he saw Bozer, standing in front of the drinks.

"Hey…" Mac called weakly, trying to fully wake up. He groaned as the pain from his shoulder hit him like a punch in the stomach.

Bozer turned around, "Hey," and moved closer. "How's your shoulder?"

"Better. At least I didn't fall asleep on it," Mac sighed, gently massaging around the wound. It would have taken a while to heal.

"I thought about waking you up, but Riley said to let you rest."

Mac nodded. "How is she?"

"Worried for Jack, like all of us." Bozer sat next to him. "She's with him now."

Mac took a deep breath, leaning back against the couch. "Does she know about…?"

"Cage told us," he nodded. "I still can't believe Jack shot you. There must have been a reason, right?"

"That's what I believe."

"Did he say anything before— shooting?"

Mac shook his head. "We were talking about the mission. He insisted we had to leave. I wasn't going to— not without the prototype, and then he shot me." It was painful to remember how cold Jack was in that moment— how he didn't look like himself at all. "I just saw him leaving before passing out."

Bozer thought for a moment. "There must be something more to it."

Mac nodded, "Maybe the doctor has some news…" He moved to stand up, accepting Bozer's hand, since only one of his arms was functional at that moment. "Where's Cage?"

"She was still on the phone last time I saw her. Matty must be furious all our devices got fried during the attack…"

"I'm more worried about Cage, since she's the only one able to contact her," Mac commented.

"Well, I did suggest she could accidentally drop her phone…"

"Matty would be here in person if that happened."

Bozer nodded. "Probably, yeah."

As they reached Jack's room, both of them stopped at the sight of their friend lying in bed, still needing a machine to help him breathe.

Mac slowly walked inside, finding Riley sitting on a chair against the wall, with a crutch next to her. She saw and hugged him before he could say anything. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" She frowned at him. "I'm the one who should apologize. If I didn't get hurt—"

"No one needs to apologize," Bozer said. "I'm sure none of us were expecting Jack to go rogue."

"But did he, really?" Riley asked, looking at Mac's shoulder before meeting his gaze.

Mac shook his head. "I don't think so, but I can't think of a reason he would shoot me either. Not in that moment. We just needed to recover the prototype…" He looked at Jack, wishing to have all the answers already.

"I can think only of one reason Jack would hurt any of us," Riley said, following his gaze.

"To protect us." Mac had considered that… "But, from what? You two were safe, and we're used to being outnumbered and still finding a way out. Jack knows that."

"Something must have happened," Bozer said. "Something we missed, somehow?"

"I need my laptop," Riley then said. "Cage said there were cameras. I need to check those…"

"I thought your computer got destroyed during the attack?" Mac asked.

"That was the one I used during our missions. I never bring my baby around, it's too risky, so I left it at the hotel."

"Smart," Bozer nodded with a grin.

"Ok, then we can grab it—"

"Bozer and I can go. You should stay here with Jack," Riley said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it'll take me a bit more time to move with this," she said, grabbing her crutch. "Wait for Cage to come back. And don't overdo it with that shoulder, ok?"

Mac nodded.

"We'll be back in no time," Bozer said as the two walked out of the room.

Mac took a deep breath and turned to Jack, moving closer to his bed. "You couldn't just talk to me, couldn't you?" he said, and then, unsure, "Maybe you couldn't…?"

"MacGyver?"

Turning to the door, he was surprised to see their contact in the city. "David. How did you find us?"

"You all made a bit of a mess, downtown. It was hard to miss," he said, looking at Jack. "What happened? Did you guys find the bomb?"

"Not yet." Mac followed his gaze, "We will. Once we—" he made a face and hissed in pain, holding his shoulder with a hand; he saw little bloodstains on his shirt.

"You're hurt?"

"It's nothing."

"Look, go get your shoulder checked. I'll stay with him," David offered.

"You sure?"

"Of course. Go. I'll wait here."

Mac nodded, looking at Jack one last time before leaving the room to find a nurse. The painkillers were losing their effect, and he could feel the pain growing already.

A while later, Mac was sitting on his bed with new bandages covering his wound and upper chest.

He was carefully buttoning his shirt when he heard a familiar ringtone nearby. Looking around, he spotted Bozer's phone on the couch.

He stood up, reading Riley's name on the screen. He answered, "Boze, you left your phone—"

"I saw the recordings," Riley told him urgently, "Mac, someone was going to kill you, that's why Jack shot you."

Mac blinked, trying to catch up. "He— what?"

"There are a few cameras around the building, and we can clearly see a laser pointing at your chest before Jack shot you. He did it to, well, to save you."

Mac took a deep breath, shaking his head, "Ok, but that doesn't explain why—"

"I saw him meeting with a group of people after he left you," Riley continued. "I think he gave them the prototype."

"That's ridiculous," Bozer's voice came from not too far. "If he found it, why would he give it to them?"

Mac's mind was spiraling. "He wanted us to leave… Or he wanted me to leave," he said, mostly to himself. "Maybe me being there changed his plan?"

"But plan for what? Betraying the Phoenix?" Bozer asked.

"Oh no…"

"What?" Both Mac and Bozer asked as Riley gasped.

"Is that David?" Riley asked, probably checking on her laptop. "David was there…? He's with the people who wanted the prototype!"

Mac's blood ran cold. "He's here!" he said, running to Jack's room.

"He's at the hospital?!" the two asked.

"I left him with—" as Mac entered the room, his eyes widened: Jack was gone, an empty space where his bed was supposed to be. No no no…

"Mac? What's going on?!"

"Tell Cage to come back here. I need to find him."

"Mac, no! If he's working with those people—"

"He took Jack!" Mac cut her off, walking into the corridor, looking left and right, "It's not been even thirty minutes, he can't be too far…"

"Mac—"

"I have to stop him!" Mac ended the call and started running down the corridor, thinking: there was no way David would have been able to move Jack fast enough to be already outside the hospital, not while having to drag along part of the equipment keeping Jack alive…

They were on the second floor, and going up would have only attracted more attention…

Mac rushed down the staircase.

He quickly scanned the laboratories and the entrances to the operations rooms, trying to find the easiest path to follow for a man kidnapping a person lying in a hospital bed.

Passing by the morgue, he started hearing a beeping.

Slamming the doors open, a cold air hit him, and then he saw them: Jack's body was now lying on one of the cabinets, the metal stretcher pulled out completely to carry him— while David was standing next to him with a knife in his hand.

Mac only then noticed Jack's hospital gown was ripped over his torso.

As their eyes met, Mac angrily moved forward.

"Ah-ah," David stopped him, pointing a gun at him. "Stay where you are. This won't take me too long."

Mac froze, his eyes moving to the machine next to Jack, letting him know he was still alive. "Let him go."

"We both know I can't do that."

"He gave you the prototype already! What else do you want from him?!"

David scoffed. "He didn't. That's why I had to come all the way here to cut him open."

"What—? Why? He doesn't have the bomb!" Mac saw him moving the knife closer to Jack's side. Frantically looking around, he noticed a few cables on the wall next to him and quickly pulled them.

The emergency lights went on, turning the entire room a dark shade of red while a steady alarm echoed through the building.

David stopped and looked angrily at him, "Son of a—"

Mac jumped behind a table to avoid getting shot again, the blasts echoing painfully all around him. He prayed that one wouldn't rebound and hit Jack.

"Why you Phoenix agents have to make things so difficult?" David yelled.

"Let Jack go! We don't have the prototype!" Mac insisted.

"Oh really? Then I don't need him anyway."

Mac frowned, and then heard an alarmingly fast beeping— Jack's vitals going down.

As he jumped up to reach for him, David hit him in the head with his gun.

Mac fell on the ground with a grunt and then cried in pain as his wounded shoulder collided with the cold floor. Looking up, he saw the oxygen mask lying to the side of Jack's face, his body jerking a bit, begging for air.

"Don't move," David pointed the gun at him again.

"He can't breathe!"

"Do I look like I care?"

Mac moved to reach for his friend, and David kicked him in the stomach, forcing him to stay down.

"You think I'd be here if he gave us the prototype already?" David yelled. "He made a deal with us, and then thought he could get away with betraying us!"

Mac slowly sat up, holding his stomach. "What deal?"

"To save you and your friends. We were going to destroy the entire building with you all inside when he found us," he said, gesturing at Jack. "I would have left him to die there, but my boss believed him when he offered us the prototype in exchange for letting you all go." David shook his head, "And now I have to fix his mistake."

Mac was growing worried by the second as Jack's machine kept beeping furiously— even more when David moved towards his body with the knife. "Then why do you have to kill him?" He asked, "You need him to get the prototype, don't you?!"

David almost growled, "He fucking ate that thing in front of us!"

Mac almost lost his balance. "He— he what?"

"He did found the prototype, but instead of giving it to us, this asshole ate it! No matter how much we beat him up, he wouldn't spit it out!"

Mac wanted to call bullshit on that, but— he could see Jack doing something that stupid, as last resort. Damn it, Jack…

"So, you know what? I'll just let him die here and work on him later," David angrily looked at Jack's body. "Not even worth the hassle." He quickly aimed at Mac's head when the blonde stood up and moved closer. "Last warning, kid."

"You'll have to kill me too if you want to stop me," Mac said, holding his gaze.

David smiled, and a second before he could pull the trigger, he was shot, crashing to the floor with a yell of pain.

Mac jumped and then looked at the door.

Cage stepped inside, gun in hands. She nodded at him. "I got it."

Mac ran to Jack and quickly put the oxygen mask back on his face. It took him a while but, slowly, his vitals stabilized and his breathing went back to normal.

Mac took a deep breath, watching David contorting on the floor.

Cage kept her gun on him, moving next to Mac, "So, Jack have the prototype?" she asked, confused.

Mac sighed. "He ate it."

They stared at each other, and then down at Jack. "We should evacuate the hospital."

"We definitely should," Mac nodded.

*

A week later, Riley was yawning when she heard knocking on the door. She turned and smiled, "'Morning."

"'Morning," Mac said, showing two coffee cups. "I thought you might need it?"

"I'll keep it for later, thank you." She took one.

Mac looked in front of them, where Jack was lying in his hospital bed: he didn't need an oxygen mask anymore, and his medications had been reduced to get him out of the induced coma… It had been a few days, but he still didn't wake up.

"Doctor said his conditions are getting better," Riley said. "We only have to wait."

Mac sat next to her. "That's the worst part."

"It is." She sighed, then shook his head. "I still can't believe he ate a bomb."

They both nodded in silence, and then laughed. "Me either, but if someone would do it, it would be Jack," Mac said.

"He just likes to make us worry…" she said.

Mac stared at Jack, wondering if he really saw no other way to keep them safe that day. If keeping his plan a secret was worth it… Risking his life like that, eating a bomb just to not let the enemy win…

"Still, I wasn't expecting that bomb to be as big as a tictac," Riley commented.

"I did not see that coming either," Mac nodded. "Good for Jack, though."

"Good for him that it didn't work," Riley said, shaking her head.

Mac couldn't even think about that. He looked at her, "You can take a break, if you ant. I'll keep watch."

"Alright…" She let a moment pass and then grabbed her crutch, standing up, and kissing Jack's head before turning to Mac with a tired smile on her face, "See you in a few hours?"

"I'll be right here." He nodded. "More coffee would be nice."

She laughed, "I'll bring enough to keep us awake all night."

Mac watched her leave, and the door closed behind her. He then looked at Jack and stood up to sit on the chair next to him.

"We're all good, now. You can wake up." Mac told him. Alone, he could still feel the tension of the last mission, the pain from his shoulder a clear reminder of how things can go south in a second…

How easily he could have lost a friend, without any way of preventing it.

Mac grabbed Jack's hand, trying to calm down. "I'm fine," he told him, smiling, "You didn't kill me, you know?"

And then, Jack's fingers flinched.

Mac looked at them, barely moving to squeeze his hand. As he looked up, he saw Jack's eyes slightly open.

Mac took a deep, relieved breath. "Hey," he called gently, and Jack's eyes slowly moved on him.

Jack squeezed his hand a bit more, and Mac did the same, smiling. "Welcome back."