Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jay knew this mission was risky, but he didn’t think it would be this bad. 

A serial bomber, targeting cops and veterans, has set off eleven bombs over the last few weeks. Killed dozens of innocent people. 

The whole intelligence unit has been working themselves to the bone to try and stop this monster. Jay most of all. It hits much too close to home. Every bomb and dead vet they find brings back the memories of blood and ash and screams. Dismembered limbs and the smell of burnt flesh. 

Hailey’s been noticing. 

Whenever he snaps out of whatever place his head goes, she’s looking at him with concern. He lets it show too much. The last thing he wants to do is worry her enough that she’s off her game and misses something in the case, or gets hurt because she’s distracted. 

Their current mission was simple, investigate this warehouse where cameras had seen a person matching the description of one of the bomber’s associates go into. Ordinarily, they would’ve called in the whole bomb squad to do a sweep, but they were on a time crunch. It’s been a few days since the last bombing, and every second they waste while this guy is free is one second closer to more innocent people dying. 

They were just sweeping the place, Voight and Adam going around the outside, and Jay and Hailey scoping out the interior. Two rooms in and Jay sees a figuring rushing away. 

“Chicago PD— show me your hands!” Jay commands, pointing his gun at the suspect. The man stops moving, arms up, before turning tail and running the other direction around a corner. Jay huffs.  

Why can’t they ever come easily? Just once. That’s all he’s asking. 

He shoves his gun in its holster to pick up speed and chase after the guy through the large warehouse. As he runs, he pulls out his radio and presses the button on the side, and brings it up to his mouth. 

“I got him, he’s heading on foot towards the south exit— I’m in pursuit!” He shouts in the midst of his exertion. He spots Hailey out of the corner of his eye as they pass the room she was searching. “Go around back and cut him off!” Jay tells her abruptly. 

He can’t let this guy get away. Not again. Too many innocent people have died because of this guy’s boss. Any information they can get from this offender about the bomber’s identity or whereabouts will help immensely, and Jay would be more than happy to squeeze it out of him like the little worm he is. 

His anger fuels his speed, helping him gain on the suspect as they twist and turn through the equipment in the warehouse. The guy makes the mistake of going around a metal table, which Jay easily hops over, shaving off precious seconds in his pursuit.  

Once he gets close enough he takes the chance and leaps forward, tackling the suspect onto the cement floor. It doesn’t take long for him to recover though, because he’s already rolling over and shoving Jay off before jumping back into a defensive position.  

Switching from flight to fight. 

He’s big. Bigger than Jay anyway, and wearing a mask. Jay hops up and goes to grab for his gun, but the man is already charging.  

This time it’s him that tackles Jay, and sends them sprawling on the ground. The gun flies out of his hand from the harsh impact and slides across the smooth floor.  

He swears internally. That tiny mistake just might get him killed. 

The man lands a few heavy punches to Jay’s face before the detective knees the man in the groin and rolls away, hopping back to his feet. His gun is still yards in the other direction, behind the man. Not easy to get to.  

He takes this opportunity while the offender is disoriented to punch him back, but after that he recovers too quickly, pulling out a knife. 

Oh great. Just what he needed. 

“Aw come on, really man?” He huffs in exasperation. 

He gets in a defensive stance, deflects all the jabs the man tries to attempt. He may be strong, but he has sloppy knifework. Jay bats the man’s arm away before charging and shoving the guy against a piece of machinery. He slams the suspect’s outstretched arm back against it, forcing him to drop the knife. 

It clatters against the cement and he punches the man again as hard as he can before grabbing him by the shoulders and swinging the man’s body down hard into his knee. Jay hopes that’s enough to bring him down to a point that he has enough time to cuff him, but his hopes are dashed. 

The man is barely fazed by the assault. He punches Jay roughly in the stomach, hard enough to hurt his ribs through his lightweight Kevlar vest, and it sends him to the floor coughing. As quickly as he can, he gets back up again before the offender can reach either of their weapons and runs up behind, grabbing him in a tight chokehold.  

The suspect scratches at his arms with bruising force but he doesn’t dare let up. 

Until he hears her. 

“Uh… Jay?” Hailey says over the comms. “We have a problem,” she adds. 

While focusing on her voice, his grip inadvertently loosens and the man takes advantage of it, elbowing Jay in the ribs and slipping out of his grasp, and dashing back towards the exit. The still healing bullet wound in his chest pangs sharply from the jab.  

Jay doesn’t even try to go back after him this time. 

He only gives himself a second to gulp in a few gasps of air before responding. 

“What is it? Where are you?” He asks between breaths, still bent over and cradling his ribs. 

“I was going around the east hallway to try and cut the suspect off but got trapped in the control room. The doors won’t-“ There’s a pause and he hears her try the doors. “-budge.” She finishes with a grunt.  

“Alright, I’m coming your way. Sit tight.” He responds, pushing himself off the floor with a grimace and wiping a bit of blood from his nose. Thankfully it’s not broken. He’s had enough broken noses to know exactly what they feel like, so he’s pretty sure some blood vessels just bursted in the fight. 

“Halstead, what’s the status of the suspect?” Voight’s raspy voice cuts in. 

He walks over to his gun and slides it back into the holster, sighing with disappointment. 

“He got away,” Jay informs. 

“Nope. He did not,” Adam cuts in. “Got him right here sneaking out the back. You need to step up your game Halstead, this guy went down easy once he saw a gun in his face.” 

“I loosened him for you.” Jay quips back as if the suspect is a jar of pickles. 

“Suuuure, that’s what they all say.” 

Jay smiles again, walking towards where Hailey got trapped. He contemplates how that even happened, but he supposes some of the doors might be locked from the other side.  

The control room juts out a bit farther out from the east wall and has a glass window that the workers use to survey the machinery. He can see Hailey standing by one of the doors frustratedly. He smiles at her through the window as he walks closer and she gives him an embarrassed grin. 

He’s never gonna let her live this one down. 

“Need help, princess?” He asks through the window.   

“Don’t even.” 

“Aw come on, is that any way to treat your noble savior?” He asks smugly. She gives him a death glare. “Okay okay, fine. I got it.” He concedes, raising his hands in surrender. 

 Jay walks around to one of the industrial doors which has a small wired safety glass window. Hailey meets him on the other side of the door.  

“I don’t get why it won’t open though. It’s not the kind that locks from only one side.” She explains. 

Jay frowns. That is weird. He tries it himself, but it doesn’t budge.  

“Maybe it’s stuck?” He suggests. 

“Both of them?” She questions. She’s right. It wouldn’t be that. “I’ll try hitting it a bit harder.”  

He backs away a few inches just in case and she backs up before shoves herself against the door. Suddenly he hears the quiet whine of an electronic device. 

He knows that sound. 

His body goes cold and his eyes dart quickly, finding wires outlining the door that shouldn’t be there and a sensor. He can see Hailey backing up to hit it again. 

“Hailey stop!” He shouts, his hands out in front of him to gesture at her. She stops just short of the door and looks up at him with surprise and frustration before she sees the look of fear on his face. 

“What is it?” She asks apprehensively. 

“There’s a bomb… and I’m pretty sure you just armed it.”  

Her face drops and she steps back from the door. He cringes a little at the situation. This was a trap. The bomber lured them in here with his partner.  

He can smell the smoke again. 

Hear the screams. 

Feel the desert heat seeping into his bones.  

“Sarge, call the bomb squad. Hailey’s trapped in the control room and the doors are rigged to blow.” He explains into his radio. 

“On it. Do not touch anything else that may go off.” Voight commands, “Hailey, you good?” He asks right after. He may seem tough and hardened to outsiders, but Jay knows he has a soft spot for family. 

“Yeah, I’m good,” Hailey responds. 

“Alright, hang in there.” The Sergeant finishes before going silent, most likely calling in the bomb techs. 

Jay presses his eyes with his thumb and index finger. 

He’s the one who told Hailey to go around and cut the guy off. If he hadn’t done that she would’ve been sweeping the west side still and he could’ve seen it. How could he be so stupid— 

“Hey- it’s not your fault,” Hailey says, reading his mind. Jay scrubs his hand down his face and looks at her. He hates how well she knows him sometimes. Here she is locked in a room rigged to explode, and she’s comforting him. It should be the other way around. 

She’s too good. 

Too good for him. 

No matter what she says to placate him, this is his fault. He knows it is. He knew the building could possibly be rigged and he left Hailey alone because of his anger towards the stupid bomber and his partner. 

It’s always his emotions that get in the way.  

Every. Single. Time. 

It’s always him that screws everything up. It was him who shot that little girl. Who got Marcus killed in prison all because he was trying to push him harder for information. 

The list of deaths he could’ve prevented grows longer every day. 

“It’s fine. I’m gonna get you out of this.” He tells her, running a hand through his hair nervously. “I promise.” 

He looks around the exterior of the control room for any extra triggers or components that could go off. He’s done this too many times.  

If he never sees another bomb again it’ll be too soon. 

oOo 

An hour and a thousand steps of him pacing back and forth and the bomb squad has already set a perimeter and is examining the device. Or, trying to anyway. There are explosive components all in the walls surrounding the control room. Enough the blow the whole east side of the warehouse. 

The actual main device itself is up in a large air duct in the wall of the hallway that connects to a door on the opposite wall from where Jay had originally tried to get to Hailey. He just wishes there was something he could do. Hailey keeps telling him that his being there is enough for her. 

But it’s not enough for him. 

He wants so badly to go back to the station where they have the suspect and beat the information out of him. Anything that he can do to at least try and be helpful instead of standing here doing nothing. 

But then he remembers Hailey. How scared she really is, even if she doesn’t seem like it on the outside.  

This is their thing. She wouldn’t leave him so there’s no way in hell he’s leaving her. 

They already tried getting him to evacuate to the outside of the perimeter once, which would’ve ended with that guy needing to suck soup through a straw for the next month if Voight hadn’t stepped in to convince them to let him stay with Hailey. 

One of the bomb techs comes out of the hallway and walks over to explain the situation. He does not look too cheery. The man sighs, taking off his helmet to talk better. 

“I’ve never seen a bomb this complex before. It seems like there’s a hundred fall-back triggers. You try to disarm it one way and a whole other set of wiring and sensors will set it off.” He explains, at a loss.  

Jay’s heart plummets.  

“The walls are all laced with wires and there are sensors on the doors and windows… I don’t know if there’s anything we can do— I-I can’t think of any way to disarm it without it going off.” The bomb tech finishes sadly.  

He brushes his hands through his hair again before lacing them behind his head.  

No. No, there has to be a way. He promised her that he would get her out. He promised to save her, and he will. There have been too many deaths piling up on his conscience lately and he doesn’t know how much more he’ll be able to handle. 

He… he can’t lose her too. 

After losing his mom, Jules, Terry, Luis, Al, his dad, Marcus… plus all his friends— no… family— overseas. All these deaths he could’ve prevented, not to mention Erin, Mouse, and Antonio leaving… He doesn’t know if he can stomach another loss. It would break him. 

He already hasn’t been doing too great upstairs, he’s not going to deny it.  

He had been going to therapy for a little while after shooting that little girl, and everything that happened with Camilla and Luis, but after a while, it just started feeling weird. He’s always been a private person. Learning from a young age to deal with things on his own. Getting other people involved just makes things worse. Especially when his dad would just make him feel worse for feeling the ways he did.  

Patrick Halstead was never one to show affection. Or emotions, besides anger. Ever since Jay was a little kid he’s just kept things to himself. Better than getting yelled at for acting like a child. 

It felt wrong to just keep unloading all his issues on this person. The things he’s seen… even he doesn’t want to remember them, let alone expose someone else to the horrors of war. He knows it’s her job but… he just can’t shake the feeling that he’s somehow burdening her with his issues. She probably has her own problems to deal with, plus all her other patients.  

Why add to it? 

Since the death of Marcus leading to the incident with Angela, and all the other things that happened the past couple of years, his issues are getting more complex anyway. It’s not the same level of screwed up he started going there for.  

He’s been more subdued and distracted at work, the nightmares are back and only getting worse with each bombing, the PTSD, the flashbacks, the urge to drink until he can’t remember his own name. The feeling that he should just shove a gun in his mouth and get it over with so he doesn’t cause even more death around him. 

“You deserve to die.” Angela’s words come to the forefront of his mind. He can’t seem to stop himself from thinking of them often. He also can’t disagree anymore. 

At this point... 

If Hailey’s going to blow up, so is he. 

Oddly enough, that morbid train of thought actually strikes up an idea.  

It’s crazy. And he’s not even sure if it will work, but he has to try. He just hopes they have enough time. He scratches his beard impulsively before relaying his idea. 

“Wait— before we make any big decisions… I may know a guy.” Jay explains. The bomb expert looks at him skeptically. 

“I’m not sure there’s anything that anyone can—“ He starts before Jay cuts him off. 

“No no, trust me— you haven’t met MacGyver.”  

The tiniest bit of hope stirs within him. It scares him.  

Out in the sandbox, when you're in the middle of nowhere being gunned down by a whole battalion of terrorists, or tortured in a dark room being screamed at in Arabic for intel while your squad members bleed out on the ground in front of you… 

Hope is a dangerous thing.  

He pulls out his phone, dialing a number he regrets to admit he hasn’t touched in a while. It rings twice before a gruff voice answers tersely on the other end. 

“Hey Dalton, you and Mac still in the bomb business?” 

~~~ 

“Charlie no,” Macgyver screams as he shoots up in bed. His arms tremble as he slowly leans back onto them, bracing himself as his chest rises and falls violently. 

If there was one thing that could be said about his nightmares, it was that they were always different and unexpected. Some nights he would think about the job he had now, particularly hard missions, others he would dream about his time overseas. 

Tonight’s dream fixated on Mason, on Charlie... He hadn’t had the nightmare about Charlie in a while, but a part of him was glad it wasn’t about Codex. Which had been the main focus of his dreams as of late. 

Mac takes a few deep breaths as he gathers his composure and recenters himself, trying to get the shaking in his arm to stop. However, the sight of the elevator crashing to the ground, the sound of the impact, It was all still so vivid in his mind. 

Not to mention the other flashbacks Charlie's death and those sounds brought back. Explosions he couldn’t get to in the military in time, the lives lost because he was too late. The family and loved ones crying at the funerals of servicemen. Watching the wife or parents of a soldier be handed a folded flag. 

Then, the more recent deaths he felt responsible for. His father, aunt, Laskey, the names were piling up, and he wasn’t sure how much more he could take on his conscience. A part of him wanted to call it, return to teaching as a professor, and give up the life he had been in for so long. 

Though he couldn’t bring himself to leave the team. Bozer, Riley, Matty, Russ, and even Desi - though she wouldn’t want to admit it - needed him in the long run. The world needed someone who could fix it, and unfortunately, he was the one who had to do it 

His grandfather would always tell him to never take his mind for granted, to use it to do good. Because “not everyone is like you Angus, and you’ve got a lot of solutions to a lot of people’s problems .”  

He shudders a bit at the thought of his grandfather's words before taking another deep breath. It seemed like no matter how much he tried to calm himself down, it didn't work. His nightmares were getting worse, and it was getting harder to come back from them. 

But that’s what happens when you’re isolated and left along with nothing more than your thoughts and occasional conversations with a friend. He should be working right now, working to distract himself, working to fix himself. 

It had been a month since the death of his aunt -and the near end of the word - and that long since Matty had called him into work. He had asked on multiple occasions if he was needed, but she claimed she was good on agents. 

He was too much of a risk - that’s what Desi told him anyway. That his emotional state and ‘instinct for reckless behavior’ was something The Phoenix Foundation couldn’t afford right now. He was a liability, a threat. 

He’d be lying if he said her words hadn’t stung a bit. He and Desi had never been the perfect match, without the action it didn’t seem to work right. For a while needing the intensity and action worked for them. 

But, that can only last so long, and when things got real, it got hard and she bailed. His lying to the team with Codex was the final straw. Right after, she said she forgave him, but it was obvious she didn’t, and probably never would. 

He was more damaged after Codex. 

So, she ended what they had. 

“Try therapy,” a male voice says suddenly in the dark. The sudden words - when he should be alone - prompt Mac to shoot up from the bed. His feet hitting the cold wooden floor of his bedroom as he lets a curse word slip from his lips. 

He reaches out, grabbing at the nearest thing he could grab - which was an empty water bottle on his nightstand - and holds it out in front of him. Sure it wasn’t a perfect weapon but there were at least three things Mac knew he could do with the empty bottle. 

His heart raced as he looked around the room the best he could.  

“Who's there,” Mac snaps. His eyes tried to adjust to the darkness but it wasn’t working all too well. He could only make out a larger figure of a man in front of him, standing on the opposite side of the room.  

“Chill, man,” the voice says, it doesn’t sound threatening but calming. The voice sounds more familiar than it had before, but Mac can’t place where he knows it from. A million scenarios swarming through his mind.  

Murdoc, he may have gotten out. No, that was insane. Maybe it was Mason, he had threatened the psychopath not long ago to come after him since his father died. 

Or… codex... 

Oh gosh… Bozer. 

Bozer was all alone in his room, not knowing someone was in the house, someone who could kill him. He couldn’t lose Bozer too, not after everyone he had lost. 

The intruder flips on the light to the bedroom before cracking a wide grin. Both worried and amused by Mac’s current state. With the lights on Mac sees the man who snuck into his room at 3 in the morning, only to suggest therapy. 

“Jack?” 

Standing there with his leather cuff, and greying hair is Jack Dalton. Mac’s sidekick - though if you ask Jack he would claim Mac was his sidekick- and best friend since he was 19. 

“Hey buddy,” Jack says. Jack seems a bit hesitant to be too excited, likely worried about how Mac was doing since he just woke in a panic. So Mac laughs slightly, shaking his head as he sets down the water bottle. 

“I miss ya,” Jack adds once he sees Mac is relatively okay, clapping his hands together and letting out an amused laugh. Which immediately causes Mac’s smile to grow. Mac makes his way over to 

He made his way over to the as the two embraced, Mac’s arms tightly wrapping around the other man. The man who had spent ten years protecting him and making sure nothing happened to him. 

Saying he missed Jack would be, well, an understatement. Sure the rest of the team was still there, but Jack was his partner. Without him, things felt a lot more dangerous. He felt more raw and exposed than he ever did before. 

Maybe if Jack had been there with Codex, things would have worked out differently. 

Maybe if Jack had been there, innocent people would have still been alive. 

One thing was for certain though, if Jack had been there… Mack would have been okay. 

Maybe they were severely codependent... 

After a moment they let go, and before Mac could ask what he was doing back, Jack spoke up. 

“We caught Kovac, he’s getting locked up for life as we speak,” Jack informs. Already knowing Mac was going to ask about Kovac. “Soon as I got my feet back on American soil I called Matty and you have a new partner,” Jack says. 

“Technically old, and I don’t just mean that because we used to be partners before you left,” Mac jokes. 

“Yeah very funny, Angus ,” Jack responds. 

Mac playfully rolls his eyes before he glances down. "I'm glad, I need a partner who I can trust to have my back," he says. There's an expression on Jack's face that Mac can easily read. His 'I'm going to ask about that comment later' face. 

Jack had sent in Desi as his replacement, and things hadn't entirely worked out. Though Jack was completely clueless as to how much of a disaster that turned out to be. 

“Well, I am sorry to say you may find being my partner to be boring as of late,” he says. “Matty hasn’t put me on an assignment in a month,” he adds. 

He glances back up at Jack, trying not to show his disappointment on his features, but Jack knows him enough to know he's going crazy. 

Jack goes silent for a moment before speaking up. “Yeah, man, I heard what happened with - well, everything,” he says slowly. “Sorry I wasn’t here for you,” he adds and Mac can hear the guilt in his voice. 

“Wouldn’t have made a difference if you were," he lies. Things may have still gone down the drain, but if Jack has been there, it would have made a world of difference. "You being there wouldn’t have changed things, not in the long run anyway. There was nothing you could have done,” Mac finishes.  

He takes in a deep breath, pushing down the memories the best he could. The screeching of the elevator ringing in his ears, the sound of his father begging him to go, how it felt to be embraced in his aunt's arms for the first and last time... He swallows before pressing his lips together. Trying to hide his pain from the other man. 

“Same can be said about you man,” Jack says. "You did what you could. Matty, she's really proud of you," he tells the younger man. He doesn’t wait for Mac’s response before speaking up. “But, saying hi wasn’t the only thing I came here for. We have an assignment,” he says. 

“But Matty…” 

“Matty didn’t order this one,” he cuts in. “Your expertise was directly requested. Even if she wanted to say no, she can’t,” Jack says. “I got the call on my way here, so get clothes on and let’s go,” Jack pauses and looks back at Mac. 

Jack pauses for a moment. "Did I hear Bozer was staying with you?" 

“Yeah, Bozer is still sleeping in his old room, and the mask is in the same place you left it,” Mac says, shaking his head as Jack bounces from the room and makes his way to Bozer’s room, with the intent on scarring him.  

Once he was dressed and ready to go, Mac says goodbye to Bozer -who was still calming himself down from Jack’s surprise visit. 

After grabbing some coffee to wake himself up, Mac and Jack left the airfield. The entire drive there Jack is filling Mac in on everything about finding Kovac. Everything. Even if the intel is likely classified or above Mac’s clearance. 

Jack plays it off as cool, but Mac knows it’s a lot worse than he’s letting on. He knows what being in a war can be like, he knows the after effects it has on a person. No matter how brave or strong someone is, war changes them. 

Once Jack had finished his long story, they were arriving at the airfield. Mac noticed Riley and Matty there as well, standing by the aircraft, waiting for Jack and Mac to arrive. Both saying a quick hello to Jack before he got on the plane. Though, Riley kept eyeing Mac suspiciously. 

“We’re glad your back, Jack,” Riley smiles. 

“Yeah, well I knew I needed to come back, or else who knows the trouble you’d keep getting into,” Jacks says as he gives her one more hug before heading towards the jet. “I’ll see you on the plane,” he calls back. 

“Take care,” Matty says to Mac before she walks in the other direction, leaving Mac alone with Riley. 

“How are you holdin’ up,” she asks, shifting on her feet a bit. Things between the two had been different lately, though Mac assumed that was his own messed up mind. Things hadn’t really changed, just how he viewed it. 

“Alright, I mean, Jack’s back so who knows how long that will last-” he began to joke. 

“I’m being serious,” Riley cuts in. Mac takes a deep breath in, running a hand through his hair before meeting her eyes. 

“I’m gonna be fine, Riles , just keep your phone nearby in case I need to call,” he adds. 

“Always do,” she smiles faintly. She grabs his hand and gives it a firm squeeze before following after Matty, which is Mac’s cue to head to the plane and get information on the assignment from Jack. 

Both men sat down across from each other as the plane got ready to take off. Once in the air, Mac gave Jack a look 

“This assignment isn’t assigned from Phoenix, that much is evident. So where are we going,” he asks. If this was any other person, Mac wouldn’t have gotten on the plane without knowing. But, he knew Jack would have his best interests at heart.  

“Chicago,” Jack says. “Remember Jay Halstead?” 

Mac nodded, it wasn’t like it took him much to remember the other man. Jack had met Jay before Mac had even joined the army. They were on the same team for a few months before Jack was transferred to the bomb squad, where he met Mac. 

After a few months, Jay and Jack were once again on assignment together, which is when Mac met him. Jay had saved Mac’s life more than once.  

On one such occasion, he used his body to block Mac from gunfire while he worked on a bomb. Mac hadn’t even realized Jay had been shot until after the bomb was disabled, the shootout had stopped, and they were almost back to base. 

Jay’s arm was bleeding slightly from being nicked, but his entire leg was covered in blood. The next few days after he had a limp. However, since Mac was able to care for it on the drive back to the infirmary there wasn’t too much lasting damage.  

They planned to stay in touch, but when Jay left he went to the police academy, and Mac, well, he went to DXS, and later Phoenix, so it got hard to keep in touch. Though, Mac would always make sure to send him a birthday, Christmas card, and a letter on veterans day.  

“Yeah, of course, I remember him,” Mac responds. Suddenly becoming more focused on what this mission would be, the last thing he needed was for Jay to be hurt. “Is he… okay?” 

Jack nods, and Mac lets go of a breath he didn’t know he was holding. 

“Yeah, but his partner isn’t so lucky. They were tracking a suspect through a building, and it was a trap. His partner, Hailey, is now stuck inside a room in the building with an explosive. It’s not on a timer, but it’s tied to the doors.” 

Mac could feel his breathing once again constrict. His mind going back to Charlie, his crashing to the ground. The sounds of explosions overseas. His friend being blown up from The Ghost… a bomb meant for him. 

He could see his father laying there, telling him to get out of the building while he held them off. The explosion that killed his father ringing in his ears. 

Then, the same thing happening with his aunt. The last bit of blood family he had left. The worst part about that death was Mac wanted it for himself so bad, but she took it from him . She made him live with the memories. 

He hadn’t told anyone about that... 

“They called in a bomb team but Jay refuses to let anyone touch it, he called me directly and asked for you,” Jack adds. He seems to pick up on Mac’s distance as he continues. “I know you haven’t dealt with a bomb, or even been on an assignment since Codex, but Jay needs you, man,” he says slowly.  

“Yeah, yeah of course,” Mac says as he sucks in a deep breath. “I’ve handled plenty of bombs before, you know that,” he adds, quickly brushing Jack’s worry off. He doesn’t need the concern or pity. 

“See, that’s what he told his team,” Jack says. His voice hints at pride for Mac, and he missed that. He missed Jack being the one person on the team who never questioned him, unless of course, Mac was asking for his phone. 

“So did Jay tell you anything about the bomb,” he asks. Jack nods and pulls his phone from his pocket, reluctantly handing it over to Mac. 

“Just look at the photos alright,” he scolds preemptively. “This was the only image Jay was able to get of the bomb. It’s triggered by opening the doors or windows, there doesn’t seem to be a way in or access point from inside.” 

Mac examined the bomb from the photo for a moment before tossing Jack his phone back. “That image tells me nothing, except it’s dangerous,” he sighs, wishing he had been given a better glimpse at what he would be dealing with. He needed time to prepare, to make a plan. 

“Tell Jay not to go near the door till I get there,” he tells Jack. Who nods and sends Jay a quick message. 

“Now listen man, you know I’d like to catch up, but get some rest,” Jack says once the message is sent. Before Mac can protest Jack continues. “Besides, I want to get some shut-eye and don’t need your scientific mumbo jumbo in my ear, alright.” 

Mac lets out a short laugh before nodding. “Yeah, got it,” he says sarcastically. Though, he is glad that Jack doesn’t want to catch up. Sleep hasn't exactly been easy lately. Not to mention waking up how he did, he could use a few extra minutes to nap. 

He pressed his eyes shut before sending a plea to the universe that he could sleep for the rest of the flight, it would take a few hours to get to Chicago from LA, even with the private jet. Shortly after, Mac feels his body get heavy as he drifts off to sleep. 

Mac sleeps for the entire flight, exhaustion having taken over. Mac woke as the plane was in descent. After stretching, he taps Jack on the arm, waking him up. 

“Are we there already,” the other man groans.  

“Yeah, we are,” Mac mumbled, running his hands through his hair to push it from his face. “Question is do we have a ride from the airport,” he asks. 

“Jay said a team member would be waiting for us,” Jack answers as the plane hits the ground. Once the engine stops, Mac and Jack make their way off the plane and spot a man not far away. “That must be him,” Jack says as they approach. 

“Jack Dalton and Angus Macgyver,” the man asks. When both of them not, the man continues, “Name’s Adam Ruzek.” He takes a step away from the car and offers his hand to shake. Both Jack and Mac shake it firmly before he steps aside.  

“We should get going, Jay’s been waiting for your plane to land, and not patiently,” he tells them. Without waiting Mac heads towards the passenger's seat, opening the door.  

“Dude,” Jack says, giving Mac a ‘what the heck’ look. Without waiting, Mac sits down.  

“What, Jay asked for my help,” he says. To which Jack rolled his eyes and got into the backseat. Adam started the car and began driving to the bomb site. The closer they got, the more worried he grew. 

What if he couldn’t do it? 

“We should get donuts on the way, cops like donuts,” Jack pipes from the back seat. Causing Mac to lose his train of thought. 

“Jack, stop,” Mac says in annoyance. Though Adam let out a slight laugh.  

“We got donuts and coffee there already,” he points out. To which, Jack pats Mac’s arm.  

“Told you,” he says. 

Mac shakes his head once more before looking back out the window. Remaining silent until they arrive at the scene. Crime tape was sectioning off the dangerous area. An area Mac already knew wasn’t wide enough. If the bomb went off… the diameter of the explosion would hit the civilians standing around to see what was happening. 

Without waiting for the car to completely stop, Mac hopes out, immediately addressing the other law enforcement in the area. “We need to extend the blast zone, this is way too close. At least another 50 yards or more,” he tells them, without wasting a moment.  

“Anyone who doesn’t want to risk lung issues in case the bomb does go off needs to be at least 100 yards away,” he tells them. Jack is now outside the car by his side. As they look at the people around them. 

“Go on, do what he says,” Adam says, not questioning his expertise before turning towards another man. “Sarge, this is Macgyver,” he introduces. 

The man who Adam referred to as Sarge nods. “Jay is inside,” he says.  

“I’ll take you to him,” Adam adds before leading Mac and Jack into the building. It was dark and definitely abandoned. It screamed dangerous. “So how do you know Jay? He seems pretty confident in your ability,” Adam says. 

“We were in the army together, did a couple of missions side by side,” Mac says slowly. He swallows as they walk deeper into the building. It was the exact kind of place Murdoc or Mason would hang out. Mac could feel his breathing get tight as he looked around. He had never been this paranoid before. 

“Whoa, there must be some stories there,” Adam adds 

He could have sworn he saw something move in the distance, something that resembled himself. Though, he decided it would be best not to bring that up. 

Maybe Matty was right to keep him from the field. 

“Um- yeah, quite a lot,” Mac responds, not going into any more detail than that. Mac can see Adam nod, but he doesn’t press, realizing Mac isn’t entirely focused on him. 

He could do this, he had done it before, and in a much more dangerous situation. Where bullets were raining down all around him. He could do this.  

Jay’s partner wasn’t Charlie. He could do this. 

He had to do this. 

“Jay,” Jack called when they spotted the other man.  

“Hey, Jay,” Mac adds. Already trying to assess the state of the door in front of him. “I need to know everything you can tell me about the bomb and when it was triggered.” 

~~~ 

Time seems to stretch on forever. 

Jay keeps checking the clock obsessively out of his anxiety. Hailey’s sitting in one of the computer chairs that are stationed at the control panels. She swivels it around, seemingly bored just sitting in the room by herself.  

He doesn’t know how she’s managing to be bored during a situation like this.  

In the army, he learned to keep his emotions locked away when needed. To focus on the mission and not panic. But for some reason, he’s been having trouble keeping to that regimen as of late. He guesses it’s just another sign he’s starting to lose it. 

That’s another thing, if Hailey finds out he hasn’t gone back to therapy after everything that’s happened with his dad and Al and Marcus, she’ll probably kill him. He hopes that it’s been long enough since the incidents that she doesn’t see him as damaged as he was then, but he can’t be too sure. He always feels like he’s crumbling further and further, but he’s been told by people before that they would’ve never noticed he was upset or yelled at that he didn’t open up enough.  

That he was too closed off to be with— too damaged to be with. 

She already said last time that if he didn’t start taking it seriously she would find a new partner. He doesn’t want to lose her, but she doesn't understand. Yeah, she has her issues from childhood just like him, way worse than his, but… the things he’s seen and done as a Ranger… she has no idea.  

She’s been through her own fair share, yes, but he’s never told her all of it. In fact, he’s barely told anyone anything about it. There are some things that have happened that make even the most hardened people he’s met cringe. Things he vows never to talk about anymore.  

Ever. 

He hates it. He hates that there are some things so wrong about him that it makes someone physically grimace at him. Like he’s some poor disgusting person for them to pity to make themselves feel better. 

That’s why he keeps it to himself. No one actually cares. You tell them something bad that happened to you and they get uncomfortable and say they’re sorry. What’s the point in giving them unnecessary pain? 

With Erin, it wasn’t too bad. She had all her issues that she focused on. That he could focus on. Offer up his support so he could ignore his own hurts and focus on helping her heal.  

Then she left.  

She left and it felt like a spotlight was turned on him. Exposing all of his issues to himself whenever he closed his eyes. 

And with Hailey… He’s still determining. It’s much too soon in their relationship for him to be coming to her with all his demons. She’s already heard too much during his... difficult stretch... when he was undercover with Camilla and Luis. 

He knows his restlessness is causing her to be concerned though. It takes all of his willpower to not text Jack every few minutes to ask where they are.  

Breathe. Just breathe. Mac can do this. 

He’s trusted the man with his life more times than he can count and Mac has never let him down. Jay supposes it’s unfair to put so much pressure on him. It’s not Mac’s fault that Jay sent Hailey in there. 

He also knows how hard the guy takes it when he can’t save everyone. If this goes sideways… he needs to make sure that Mac knows it’s not his fault. There might not be much he can do to convince him otherwise, but Jay is going to do everything in his power to lessen the burden. 

He just now realizes that he was thinking about if the bomb still does go off. If he loses yet another partner to this job. No one will forgive him.  

He won’t forgive himself.  

“Surprised you haven’t burned a hole in the floor with all your pacing,” Voight says approaching from the perimeter. 

He stops in his tracks realizing how annoying it probably is. Was he really pacing that entire time? He can’t remember, he wasn’t paying attention. He rubs a hand over his face and blows out a puff of air, Voight guiding him to an area slightly away from the action. 

“You good?” The older man asks, his voice softer than usual. A far cry from how Voight used to treat him after he first joined. His heart swells a little at knowing their relationship has become closer. Voight’s been more of a father to him in his time working here than his own was dad his entire life. 

“Sorry I’m just… just gettin’ a little restless. That’s all.” He responds vaguely. 

“If you believe in this MacGyver guy, then so do I.” Jay nods, looking down. He hopes that his denial isn’t causing him to have any blind faith and put too much pressure on Mac. “Hey,” Voight adds, putting a hand on Jay’s shoulder to get his attention. “We’re all doing everything in our power to get her out of there. This is not how she goes out, you hear me?”  

Jay looks up at the Sergeant through his eyelashes before nodding softly, and Voight claps his shoulder again before walking back to talk to some of the other officers on scene. He wipes the slight wetness from his eyes before heading back over to the window and checking on Hailey. 

“For the thousandth time, I’m still just as fine as I was before, Jay.” She states, not even letting him say anything first. 

“I wasn’t gonna ask, I just… okay yeah I was gonna ask.” He concedes and she smiles smugly at him. 

oOo 

After a long while later, or at least what felt like one to him, Adam drives up in his car, and Jay’s heart speeds up.  

It’s them- 

His breath hitches in his throat. It’s been seven and half hours since he called Jack, and he knows that’s the absolute fastest they could’ve flown here since Jack hadn’t seemed to have been in LA already, but it’s felt like literally forever. Or maybe that’s just because his anxiety was off the charts and he can barely keep his thoughts straight other than drowning in his own guilt. 

He sees Mac get out of the passenger seat and already start ordering people around. 

That makes him smirk a bit. Always ready to get to work and get things in order. A lot of guys overseas would get defensive about Mac’s readiness to tell people what to do, but Jay didn’t mind. The kid knew what he was doing and knew what he needed other people to do. Listening to him saved lives and that’s all that mattered. 

There were more than a few guys Jay had to pull aside and knock some sense into. He would never let Mac know that though, although Jay is sure he had to suspect something when some of the guys that had a previous dislike of him started suddenly treating him normally. 

He snaps out of his reminiscing at the sound of his name from a familiar and welcome voice. Jack Dalton, walking beside Mac as they’re both led in by Adam. 

He just now worries about his appearance. Another thing he hadn’t even thought about. He hasn’t even cleaned all the blood from under his nose. It’s basically pointless trying to get it out of his beard anyway without any water. It’s not like this is the first time they’ve seen him bloody and bruised and tired. 

“Hey, Jay,” Mac greets, and Jay nods in return with a fond smile on his face. The kid looks worn and tired, a little older. But seems ready to help. Mac spares no time for small talk. “I need to know everything you can tell me about the bomb and when it was triggered.” 

Jay nods again, before quickly giving an explanation of the case they’ve been dealing with. 

“He’s bombed eleven buildings, seemingly targeting veterans and cops. Great combo I know,” he adds sarcastically, knowing the other men would feel just as angry about it as he is. “We came in here to chase a suspect we know is working with the bomber and…” He stops and takes a shaky breath, “I sent Hailey through there to cut the guy off and the doors locked when she got in there.” 

He looks over at Hailey for a second in the middle of his explanation. He can feel the guilt oozing off of himself. He continues.  

“She tried to open up the door and I heard the whine of the sensor gets triggered. The techs came in and said it has a bunch of fallback triggers and basically that there was nothing they could do. That’s when I called you.” 

Mac seems to still be scoping out the door while he listens, and Jay can see the gears turning in his head. He tries to avoid the gaze of Jack who Jay knows is giving him a sympathetic look at the explanation of the cause of the case, and probably his apparent guilt towards Hailey. 

“I just… I know your tendency to do the impossible so… I hoped you might be able to help.” 

~~~ 

“He’s bombed eleven buildings,” Jay begins. 

Eleven buildings… how did eleven buildings get bombed and no one called him till now? Why wouldn’t Matty inform him about this, were there people in those buildings?  How many people had died because Mac was stuck on the bench? 

“...seemingly targeting veterans and cops. Great combo I know,” he adds. 

Mac can’t help himself from shuttering a bit. He can’t tell if it’s from the weather in Chicago, which was much colder than he was used to, or the dreaded feeling that was sinking down on him. 

Jay seems to be busy with recounting the events to see it, but Jack notices. 

So Mac quickly averts his attention to the trapped door. Making his way over and examining it, trying to understand the bomb and the bomber. 

“We came in here to chase a suspect we know is working with the bomber and…” Jay pauses for a moment before continuing. He’s rattled, and Mac can see that. “I sent Hailey through there to cut the guy off and the doors locked when she got in here,” he finishes 

While Jay looks at Hailey, Mac steps off to the side, looking at the window and walls - all of which seem to have been tampered with - meaning the wires are complex.  

He had no idea what he was going to do. 

“She tried to open up the door and I heard the whine of the sensor getting triggered. The techs came in and said it has a bunch of fallback triggers and basically that there was nothing they could do. That’s when I called you.” 

Mac keeps his back turned to Jay, he can’t see the hope in the other man’s eyes, and he can’t let the other man see the doubt creeping into Mac’s mind. 

Kneeling down Mac examines the floor, he can faintly see the trigger plate, but it’s on the other side of the door where Hailey is. The trigger was what shut the door, the pressure armed the bomb. 

The good news, there wasn’t any set timer, meaning he could take his time. 

The bad news, anything could trigger it. 

“I just… I know your tendency to do the impossible so… I hoped you might be able to help.” 

Mac can’t help let the sigh escape from his lips as he stands up.  

Hope was dangerous, it got people killed. He got people killed.  

He brushes his hands through his hair as he nods along. He shouldn’t make a promise he can’t keep. But he can’t let Jay tear himself apart. The man is already blaming himself for sending her this way, who knows the guilt he would feel if the bomb actually went off, and she died. Who knows how bad it would tear Jay apart.  Well, Mac knew how bad it would be. 

The faces kept him awake at night.  

“It’s complicated,” Mac admits as he turns around to face Jay. “But I don’t think it’s completely impossible to disable. The actual bomb is inside the room but it isn’t on any sort of timer,” he says. 

Once again, Mac feels Jack eyeing him. It was Jack who told Mac never to promise the family you could do it. But he ignores it. 

“The first thing we need to do is to find a way to open the area, figure out a way to get me inside, and get her out. Once I’m inside I can disable the explosive,” he tells Jay.  

Mac makes his way over towards the window. Behind the glass, he can see Hailey looking back at him. She looks a lot like Nikki, another ghost of his past coming to taunt him. The same blonde hair, even her facial expressions were the same. 

His lack of sleep is getting to him, which wasn’t a good thing. 

“Hey Hailey, my name's Macgyver, I’m a friend of Jay’s. We’re gonna get you outta there,” he promises. 

He promised Charlie that too. 

No, she wasn’t Charlie, this wasn’t what Mason had done. Why would Mason go after random cops and vets in Chicago? Mac had no connections to Chicago, aside from Jay. Then a twinge of pain hits him. What if Jay was the target, what if it was Mason. Targeting someone else Mac cared for. 

Mac let go of the breath he was holding. “But I’m going to need your help. I need you to get your phone out and take photos of every corner, wall, light fixture, or panel of the room,” he says. 

“Thanks, but I’ve been here for hours,” she responds. “Phones completely dead.” 

“Okay,” Mac mumbles. He pauses and bites the inside of his lip, looking around the room, the gears in his mind turning. He spots a taser and gun attached to her and smiles a bit. “Then I need you to build a charger,” he states. 

“Build a- C’mon Jay, who is this guy,” Hailey says looking over at Jay. 

“Just trust him,” Jay responds. She seems somewhat hesitant, but nods, trusting that Jay knows what he’s talking about. 

“Okay, so I’m gonna walk you through how to make a charger,” he tells him. “You're gonna need to get your gun and taser out,” he says. He pauses and looks over at Jack and Jay, “I need you guys to set up a replica of the room, with cardboard or wood, I don’t care, but the measurements and everything need to be the same.” 

Jack nods but looks confused. 

“I’m going to have Riley examine the images of the room Hailey will take. I’ll use the fake room you two set up to make a 3D plan and figure out how we’re gonna disable it. Go on,” he says urging the two. 

Jack immediately gets to work and Mac gives Jay a faint smile. 

oOo 

It took everything Mac had not to open the second bottle. Not to drown himself in a wave of tears and whiskey.

It may not have been the best idea to honor his grandfather's memory by having a drink for the man, because by now he had finished a full bottle of his grandfather’s whiskey collection. A collection he had spent years making.

Though, it’s not like his grandfather was here to do anything about it. 

Mac had thought he had come to accept his grandfather’s passing, but he supposed that being away overseas allowed him to ignore the reality of his grandfather’s death. 

Overseas it was easier to ignore because he didn’t feel the missing presence of the older man. It was hard enough to keep up with letters to the Bozers’, so not contacting his grandpa wasn’t strange. 

But now, he was living alone in his grandfather’s large and empty house. At first, it hadn’t hit him. He’d been busy lately, between getting things unpacked for Bozer moving in, going to Chicago on the 4th, and started training at DXS, he hadn’t been given time to grieve. 

Then Jack got an assignment and Bozer had to go on a two-week college trip to the Atlanta Film festival. Mac didn’t have the heart to ask Bozer to hold off on going because of what dates he’d be gone. Not after his childhood best friend spent an hour rambling about what would happen on the trip.

So instead, Mac had plastered a fake smile on his face and encouraged him to go.

It took two days before the loneliness hit and Mac started reading old MIT textbooks to keep himself busy. By day four, it was just depression hitting. He was exhausted from training and had a huge bruise on his ribs.

Not to mention it was officially the day his grandfather had passed. Making it four years since Mac’s grandfather had died in the hospital bed. 

Standing up, Mac makes his way into the kitchen, setting down the empty bottle and rubbing his forehead. He was already starting to feel that pinch behind his eyes that he got when he started getting a little bit too drunk.

He heard a knock at his door and glanced up, trying to remember if he had any plans with anyone. Maybe it was a food delivery guy, wait- no he hadn’t ordered anything for dinner did he?

“Coming,” Mac mumbles a bit before making his way over to the door and opening it up, trying to appear as sober as he could.

When he opens the door he’s greeted by two familiar faces, Jay Halstead and Jack Dalton. Mac can’t help his expression from twisting into a confused look as he stares at the two of them. Trying to figure out why they were here.

“The conference ended early,” Jack says, clearing up some of the confusion. “So I called Jay and invited him out for the week,” he adds.

“Um- why?” Mac asks. “I mean, it’s good to see you guys, I’m just a bit confused as to why you two are-”

“I know what today is, Mac,” Jack points out. “I also know that Bozer is out of town,” he adds. “I saw his Facebook post,” he says. Jack doesn’t wait for the invite into the house before brushing past Mac and making his way into the room, setting down the bags.

“We didn’t want you to be alone,” Jay says softly. “We get it, both of us do,” he points out. “You know how much of a wreck I was last month. You were there for me, it’s my turn.” 

Mac smiles a bit as he steps aside, letting Jay into the house. Things still felt heavy, but at least he wasn’t forced to stay in his mind the next two weeks. At least he had some relief, people there to pick him back up when he needed it.

oOo 

“I can’t believe that actually worked,” Hailey muses as she watches her phone screen light up. 

Mac wished he could be impressed with himself, but he wasn’t. Getting a phone charged wasn’t anywhere near the amount of work he had to do. But if he could get the images to Riley, she could figure out where the wiring was on the inside.  

Hailey goes to work taking the images as Mac glances at Jack and Jay. 

“Jack, can you get Riley on a video call,” he asks. His shoulders tense as he looks at the fake room layout that Jay and Jack set up for him.  

This had to work. 

If it didn’t he would be back at square one and have wasted everyone's time. Despite the fact, the bomb wasn’t on a timer, that didn’t mean it wasn’t on a different kind of offsetting, one that could make it explode at any moment.  

What if this was all a decoy. Get the cops in one area, set off another bomb killing them all… 

At least if that happened Mac would be taken out as well.  

He wasn’t going to live with the guilt of Hailey dying. Either she got out, or he blew up with her. 

He can feel Jay glancing at him, the other man sensing his worry. He’s tried to hide it, he really has. The only good part of all this was he didn’t have much time to think of anything but the problem. 

Well, the bomb anyway. 

He was the problem, at the heart of it. He should have a fix by now. 

“Hey Mac,” Riley’s voice cuts through his mind and he looks up. A smile immediately spreads across his face. 

“Hey Riles, alright so I’m gonna need your help. Hailey is going to send you images of the room she’s in. I need you to run them through analysis. Find anything that can hint at the location of a wire. Whether it’s wire directly, or a moved item from the blueprints or-” 

“Paint chipping, shifted panels, I got it,” she finishes.  

Mac nods as Riley gets to work on the images. Glancing at Jay, Mac forces a smile on his face. “We’re gonna figure this out, Jay. Riley will be able to find those wires, we’ll use the room to figure out how to get to her, alright,” he tells him. 

“We’ll figure this out,” he mumbles, more like he was convincing himself. 

And he was, he really needed to convince himself.  

~~~ 

While Mac starts getting to work, Jack puts his hand on Jay’s shoulder in greeting. He squeezes lightly and it turns into a small gesture of comfort, effectively snapping him away from his worried thoughts. 

He must look as bad as he thought. 

The older man always had a soft spot for strays, and back in Afghanistan, he was like a second father to Jay and Mac. Lord knows their own left much to be desired.  

Mac never talked too negatively about the man, but Jay knows it when he sees it. Mac has that same look in his eyes when Jack does something a real father would. His need for praise that his dad probably never satiated. Jay understands it all too well. 

He turns his attention to Mac as he explains the bomb might actually be able to be disarmed. He hates the relief that he feels. It’s not over. It’s still not a big chance. 

“The first thing we need to do is to find a way to open the area, just enough to get some food and water into her, after that, we find a way to get her out, and me inside that room. Once I’m inside I can disable it,” the blond explains. 

Jay’s brow furrows a bit at that, and he can see Jack is just as apprehensive. If Mac is stuck inside the room with Hailey and it does go off, Mac will go too, and Jay is not too keen on putting the kid’s life at risk before his own.  

It’s his (and Jack’s) job to keep Mac safe. Overseas or not, they made a pact. And he’s tried his hardest to make sure it was carried out.  

It killed him whenever he failed. 

oOo 

The blast was deafening. 

They couldn’t even get to the bomb in time to disarm it, it was too late. Jack was further off behind them, shooting at some rebels, and Jay was following Mac into the building to watch his back.  

He should’ve gone ahead to sweep the building first. Should’ve made sure it was safe. 

The blast threw him and Mac backward, splinters and pebbles and all sorts of debris and shrapnel flying with them, showering them with the pieces. Jay saw white as he landed roughly on his back, forcing the wind out his lungs. He couldn’t take in any for at least ten seconds before his lungs decided to start working again. 

His ear rang and throbbed, no doubt the eardrums were busted to hell. 

He coughed at the dust in the air, but couldn’t even hear it. 

Mac. Where’s Mac- 

Jay rolled painfully onto his side, still coughing roughly, to see Mac a few yards away, unconscious. 

The Ranger flinched at the muffled sounds of automatic gunfire not far down the road. He needed to get to the kid. Jack would kill him if he let anything happen to the kid. 

He crawled over to the blond soldier, checking him for injuries. The shaking hand he put to the kid’s neck confirmed he’s still alive, causing Jay to sag with relief. Upon further inspection, Mac had a sizable lump on the back of his head that was bleeding substantially. 

D*mn. He knew he should’ve told the kid to put on his helmet. Although at this point he’d learned there’s no stopping MacGyver when he had an idea. 

Jay got behind the kid and grabbed under his arms, dragging him next to a nearby building for at least some cover. He ducked and covered his head as a stray bullet tore a chunk out of the corner of the building. 

This was not an ideal spot for cover but he had to make do. He yanked off his shemagh scarf and pressed it to the back of Mac’s head to try and staunch the bleeding. Jay smacked his hand lightly on the younger man’s cheek, still ducking whenever a gunshot sounds too close for comfort.  

“Mac! C’mon buddy, now is really not the time for a nap.” Jay tried to no avail. He could barely hear his own words over the ringing. “You know Jack will never forgive me if you get hurt and he promised to let me drive his Cobra when we get stateside so I am not letting you ruin this for me.”  

The kid still doesn’t wake up. 

“D*mn it, Angus.” He swore, hoping that maybe the use of the younger man’s first name would cause him to stir. It was no use. He got hit pretty good. Probably had at least a grade two concussion and wouldn't be waking up for a few minutes.  

He hoped Jack was still doing okay. The Saudi rebels were closing in on all sides, boxing them in. He just then realized that he didn’t have his gun. He whipped his head around to look for it while keeping pressure on Mac’s head wound.  

It was a few yards away, having been blown farther back by the blast than he was. And just so happened to be out in the open where the gunfire is happening. No way he was getting that. 

A ricocheting bullet hit the back of his vest and felt like a fist. But a fist is better than dead. 

He pulled his Glock out of its holster and held it near his chest, ready to snap his arm out at any moment and fire. He had to protect Mac at any cost. The kid was too smart to die. The world needed him more than he thought.  

Smartest person Jay ever met, and probably will ever meet. Part of him wished Mac hadn’t gotten mixed up in all this at all.  

He was only nineteen, not even old enough to drink, and was bleeding in Jay’s arms. He couldn’t handle any more kids on his conscience, even if this one was technically an adult. 

He heard hostiles screaming in Pashto, something about ‘killing the American dogs’.

He could hear flashbangs and grenades, and the screams of other soldiers who’ve been hit. His heart pounded loudly but it still wasn’t loud enough to cover the screams.  

He would never forget those screams.  

Debris flew everywhere around them, but all he cared about was shielding Mac. The noises got louder and he curled over the younger man, blocking the blond’s body with his own.  

A rebel came from around the corner, gun raised, and Jay whipped his own gun out, firing three shots center mass until the terrorist fell to the ground, still firing on the way down. One of the stray bullets tore through his side down near the hip and he let out a short grunt at the stab of pain. 

Fear and adrenaline coursed through him like the blood in his veins. 

He prayed to God that they would make it out of this one. 

He also prayed that the bullet was still in his side. As much of a b*tch as it will be to pull it out, he’d rather have it stopped in his body then have gone straight through and hit Mac. He hoped the kid wasn’t more seriously injured than he first thought. 

Another two hostiles approached them, and he lifted his gun again, shooting at them both. One fell, but the other bullet missed. He pulled the trigger again but he was out of bullets. The clip was empty. 

He was sure that was it. That’s how they were gonna die.  

The enemy came closer, realizing Jay was out of ammo, and smiled antagonistically with crooked brown teeth, seeming to be enjoying how incapacitated his prey was. It made Jay’s stomach turn. In a last-ditch effort to protect the unconscious soldier under him, he curled his body over the kid to shield him from the gunfire. It might have been useless, but at least it gave Mac a shot to appear dead so they don’t actually kill him. 

It’s pathetic, he came to think, that in his other unit he probably would’ve already taken out a hundred of these guys in the time he’d been crouched there, but this kid somehow wormed his way into Jay’s orbit, and the Ranger couldn’t help but feel the need to protect him as his family. 

He may have been bent over Mac’s body, but he wasn’t going to look away. Wouldn’t give this bastard the satisfaction of seeing his fear. He held his ground and glared sharply at the rebel as the man raised his weapon up to Jay’s forehead. If he was going to die right here, right now, it would be with dignity and pride knowing he was able to keep Mac alive. 

Then a shot rang out and Jay gasped, blood splattering his already dirt and sweat-covered face.  

The terrorist dropped to the ground dead. 

Jay’s eyes adjusted to focus on a figure not five yards away. 

Jack Dalton, lowering a smoking assault rifle. 

He had never been so happy to see that smug Texan grin than right then in that moment. The older man ran towards them, picking up Jay’s thrown MK-16 on his way over, before stopping to crouch next to him and Mac. 

“Halstead, how ya guys doin’ over here?” Jack asked, looking concerned down at Mac.  

Jay checked the scarf he had pressed to MacGyver’s head wound, to see it had stopped bleeding. He sighs in relief. 

“Never thought I’d say this out loud but, great now that you’re here, Dalton,” he said with a breathy (And slightly hysterical sounding) laugh.  

“Well, I'll be. I never thought I’d see the day where you actually acknowledge my-- obvious -- greatness.”  

“Don’t get used to it,” Jay warned, pointing his finger at the man tiredly and panting heavily from exertion and the heat. He turned his attention back to the kid. “He hit his head in the blast. Pretty sure it’s a grade two since the bleeding stopped already.” 

Jack nodded before shaking Mac’s shoulder. The blond stirred a little, grumbling about leaving him alone, and Jack smiled for a second before he looked up at Jay, eyes turned scrutinizing. Jay thinks he’s seen a similar expression before, from his own father. It looked a lot like disappointment or anger. Like he didn’t do something right. 

Right. He was supposed to keep Mac safe. This definitely isn’t considered safe.  

“I should’ve gone first, I know. I’ll do better from now on, I promise.” 

“Naw kid- That’s not-” Jack stumbled over his words a bit before sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. “I swear you friggin’ kids will be the death of me,” he mutters under his breath before adding, “I was gonna ask if you were alright.” 

Oh. It wasn’t disappointment he had seen, it was concern directed at him. 

“Well I’m not breathing through a hole in my forehead right now so I’d say overall, not too bad,” Jay responds, before moving to stand. “What about you, how are y- AH-” He grunted as the bullet in his side shifted and sent a shock of pain through his whole torso and leg. He grimaced as he slowly returned to his crouched position.  

Jack scanned his eyes over the Ranger’s body for injuries before he saw the red splotch over his lower left abdomen, right below the vest. The Delta operator scoffed and rolled his eyes. 

“Aw hell, Jay, I just asked if you were okay, you liAr.” Jack admonished. Jay huffed a laugh at that, although he wasn’t sure why. Probably the adrenaline crash. “Well it’s a good thing this joker here-” He gestured at the downed terrorist he just shot, “was the last of ‘em then, because you guys are a collectively a hot mess,” Jack tells him before calling into his radio for medical assistance. 

Jay laughed again. He wasn’t wrong there. 

“Wow ‘collectively’ that’s a four-syllable word, Jack. I’m proud, really.” 

“Oh ha-ha Jack only use tiny baby words but now he make big word: so funny. You’re not gonna be laughing when it’s the arms of said small-word-user that’s gonna carry your a** back to med.” The older man griped.  

Jay smiled at him, self-satisfied, before leaning back against the wall of the building they were next to and closing his eyes for a quick rest before the medics got there. He opened his eyes again after feeling Jack’s hand comfortingly on his leg.  

“You did good, kid,” the older man commended. 

Jay didn’t know if he’d really ever heard anyone say that to him before, but after that day, it’s something he never forgot that Jack said to him. 

oOo 

Mac is introducing himself to Hailey but still seems overall standoffish. Jay is realizing that he should’ve reached out sooner to the younger man. He seems to be struggling with something. Jay knows Mac probably won’t talk about it willingly, so he makes a note to ask Jack about it later. 

Mac doesn’t like talking about his issues any more than Jay himself does. 

After he had re-enlisted, after his mom passed, he had a tour worse than he ever thought possible. One of the only positive things about it was that he had met Mouse, but other than that, Jay would be fine just forgetting it ever existed. 

He had been held hostage (not for the first time), lost four of his close friends, shot five times, not to mention other wounds from shrapnel, seen countless women and children slaughtered in front of him. Even a mother using her own child to get them off guard before she suicide bombed them both.  

He can still taste the blood that exploded everywhere. 

He always seems to taste the blood when things like that happen. 

Then there was the mission with the humvee accident from his second tour. The one that got him captured before he was rescued weeks later and he and Mouse were sent home on a medical discharge. The one that had gotten almost everyone killed except them.  

Jay had to pull Mouse out of the upside-down car and into the sand that was already soaked with the blood of their comrades. They were goners. Most were in pieces, some had their faces blown half off, skulls peeking out under mutilated flesh. 

Jay would never forget the sight. He was sure they would die too. 

He shot as many of the hostiles as he could before the enemy swooped in and took him and a few others to a camp. He and the others that had barely survived for a couple extra weeks and narrowly avoided being shot for entertainment had been saved by a rescue convoy, but what was the point? Their whole unit was basically dead. Why did they survive? Why just them? Some had spouses, children, families waiting for them to come back. 

What did Jay have to come back to? His resentful father and dead mother? Sure he has Will, but he was already a doctor at that point. He’s always too busy for Jay anyway. Too busy to be there when their mom was on her deathbed.  

He saw a therapist once and decided it wasn’t really his thing. Talking about things just made it rawer, made the nightmares worse, made him too unstable to work. So he just represses it.  

Mac always seemed to feel the same way. 

Jack always seemed at his wit's end when Mac and Jay refused to open up more. Claimed they compartmentalized too well to be healthy. He might be right, but hey , it works. 

Hailey says something about her phone being dead, but that doesn’t seem to stop Mac in his tracks at all. 

“Okay, then I need you to build a charger,” he states, and Jay smiles. Some things never change. Mac would always fiddle around with random stuff. Could basically build anything out of anything. Jay always admired his improvisational skills. It’s an extremely useful asset when you’re in the middle of the desert, hundreds of miles from civilization. 

Jay couldn’t be more grateful for the kid’s abilities. Or his existence in general. 

“Build a- Jay who is this guy,” Hailey asks, sounding extremely skeptical. He always loved this part. The confusion before being absolutely blown away by his skills.  

“Just trust him,” Jay assures her in response. If there’s anyone he’s going to entrust the life of his partner in, it would be Mac.  

“Okay, so I’m gonna walk you through how to make a charger. Jay, Jack, I need you guys to set up a replica of the room, with cardboard or wood, I don’t care, but the measurements and everything needs to be the same.” 

Jay gets it. Build a replica so he can work out the exact problem without having to be in the actual room itself. He nods tersely in understanding. Jack seems a little lost but he’s got the spirit. 

“I’m going to have Riley examine the images of the room Hailey will take. I’ll use the fake room you two set up to make a 3D plan of the room and figure out how we’re gonna disable it. Go on,” Mac says to nudge them to work. 

“Oh- right,” Jack says quickly before exiting the warehouse, looking only a little out of sorts. Jay missed this. He looks at Mac who’s giving him a smile at Jack’s disorientation. Jay smiles back knowingly and gives a quick two-fingered salute before heading off to make sure Jack hasn’t broken anything yet.   Jay knows a construction guy, Hawkins, in the area who can hook him up with quick and easy materials, so he calls him up to ask for his help in building the simple room. He’d rather do this with actual strong materials like wood rather than cardboard. Keep it as close to the actual room as possible. 

Anything he can do to help Mac make this as smooth as possible. 

oOo 

An hour and lots of sawdust later, and they have the basic layout of the room. They just have cut-outs for the doors and a sheet of plastic for the window.  

A healthy layer of sweat has gathered on Jay’s skin from the literal heavy-lifting, and he wipes it off his forehead with the back of his hand before taking a breath and getting another look at their structure to make sure it’s perfect. 

Mac comes over to check their handiwork as well. The blond asks Jack to get someone named Riley on a video call, before turning to get a good look at the fake room. He seems anxious and tense. At first, Jay was worried it’s because he got something wrong with the measurements, but upon further thought, he realizes it’s apprehension for the start of the actual process. 

Most of the time, Mac is pretty confident in his ability to eventually disable a bomb. He doesn’t always know how at first, but he at least knows that he will think of a surefire solution. 

Now he seems to doubt his abilities. Something big must’ve happened. Something recent that’s causing him to doubt himself. Jay knows that look. That look that you’re the reason someone died and you never want to cause that again. 

Jay feels it every day. 

Then Jack hands Mac his phone, having called through to Riley, and Mac’s face immediately brightens up with a genuine smile. It makes Jay smile a little bit in tandem.  

Jay knows that smile too. Mac probably doesn’t even realize it either, but the Ranger can already tell Riley is more than just a friend. If she and Mac are that close, then Jay trusts her without a doubt. 

Mac explains to Riley what she needs to look for and lets her get to work before turning back to Jay. 

“We’re gonna figure this out, Jay. Riley will be able to find those wires, we’ll use the room to figure out how to get to her, alright,” Mac explains, obviously trying to offer some comfort before adding softly, “We’ll figure this out.” 

He sounds more like he’s convincing himself than Jay, but he’s okay with that. The kid is obviously still shaken about something that happened. He could use the convincing. 

“I know we will.” Jay starts. “Listen I just want you to know that no matter what happens, none of this is on you. Trust me. You know I get it, man.”  

He places his hand on Mac’s shoulder in the same gesture that Jack and Voight have used a thousand times. It’s simple, but Jay knows that when he’s not at his best, the smallest reassurances can pull you back from the ledge at least a little bit. He nods at Mac in affirmation and gives his shoulder a squeeze before Riley says something on the phone and he steps back as Mac returns to talking to her. 

After all this, Jay vows to catch up with Mac and Jack. Find out what he’s missed in this time that he’s completely neglected to keep in touch. Guilt swells again as he remembers all the Christmas and birthday cards he’s received.  

He always messages them on their birthdays and holidays, but when most of the time you’re working eighteen-hour shifts at the precinct by the time he’s alone, he’s just trying to get at least some rest and not to lose his mind at the silence of his apartment. 

He needs to try harder. Get over the stupid nonsense in his head keeping him from being normal and be there for Mac and Jack from now on. 

He never realized until today how much he really missed them. 

~~~ 

Jay knows. 

He knows that Mac isn’t confident in this. He let too much slip. 

He can see it in Jay’s expression, and when he speaks it confirms the theory.  

“I know we will,” Jay tells him. There’s sympathy in his voice. It’s like when they were in the military and soldiers would die. Jay would bottle everything up and ask Mac if he was okay. Back then he appreciated it, but now, it was too much. 

Back in the military, he was a kid, he couldn’t even legally drink. Jay was like a big brother to him, the one with wise advice. His comfort was welcomed, and it seemed like comforting Mac helped Jay cope. 

Now, Mac was an adult. He had years of experience and had lived through more than what Jay would understand. Bombs weren’t the most dangerous thing he faced. Jay didn’t know him, not like he used to. 

Sure, it hurt to think that someone who nearly died for him - and who he would give his life for - didn’t really know him anymore. But, it was the truth, and to say otherwise would be a lie. Jay didn’t really know Mac, and Mac didn’t really know Jay. 

Just another person Mac pushed out of his life. 

“Listen I just want you to know that no matter what happens, none of this is on you.” Jay’s tone is serious. A part of Mac wants to feel relief, sure, he wasn’t close to Jay anymore but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to be. And if he got his partner killed, it was nice to know Jay wouldn’t blame him. 

Then, there was the nagging part of his mind that told him that Jay expected him to fail. That he knew Mac couldn’t do this. That he would fail. He may not know what he had been through, but Jay knew he couldn’t handle it. 

“Trust me. You know I get it, man.”  

Mac nods, but it’s not as easy as that. Trust is hard for anyone to give freely, let alone a spy. Let alone, Mac. He hadn’t even been able to trust his own father. A man who left him and lied to him about everything. 

The thought of his father causes Mac’s jaw to tense up. It’s getting harder to bottle up his thoughts, but he has to, he’s on a mission. For Hailey and Jay’s sake. If he could get inside that room and get Hailey out, then it didn’t matter what happened. 

It wouldn’t matter if he was stuck and the bomb went off. 

It wouldn’t matter. 

Jay places a hand on Mac’s shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze. It’s a gesture Jack’s done multiple times. A code that says ‘I’m proud,’ and ‘It’ll work out, don’t worry.’  

“I know Jay,” Mac says. To which Jay returns one more squeeze before letting his hand drop from Mac’s shoulder.  

“Alright, I got those images for you.” It’s then that Riley’s voice distracts Mac from his own thoughts and Jay’s attempted affection - which he is grateful for. He doesn’t want to slip back into his mind. The more on the track he stayed, the better off this would turn out. 

With Riley’s help, Mac begins to tape off the areas where the wires are. They’re covering the room. The bomb techs had been right when they said it would be risky to get into the room. One wrong move and it could set off the bomb, which Mac was assuming was hidden in the air vent. 

He hangs up with Riley as he stands in the fake room, looking around at the configuration in the room. He can see possible scenarios of how to get in, but every option is risky. Either it could set the bomb off, or it could injure the person in the room. 

He stands there, looking around for what seems like a minute, but he knows it’s longer than that. Ten… fifteen… maybe even thirty minutes passed of him coming up with failure scenarios. When he makes eye contact with Jack again, the man tilts his head. 

He can feel eyes on him, Jack, Jay, Hailey, and Jay’s team. Everyone was watching to figure out what he would do. What was Macgyver’s big plan? 

“Talk to me, man, what’d you come up with,” Jack asks. 

He’s being nice, he’s being Jack. 

But that doesn’t matter. 

It sends irritation through Mac, and his jaw tensed as he rolls his eyes slightly.  

“I don’t know,” he snaps. “If I had a solution I would already be doing it,” he adds before looking down. He pinches the bridge of his nose as he tries to bring his frustration down. “I’m sorry I just-” Mac begins. 

“Mac, don’t worry about it,” Jack says quickly. He takes a step closer to him and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Just, take a break, sit down, focus. You didn’t get a lot of sleep last night and like you said the bomb isn’t on a timer. It’s not like you can walk through the wall, we can figure out how to bust in lat-” 

Something about Jack’s words strikes an idea in his mind. 

“That’s it,” Mac interrupts. 

“That’s what?” 

“How we get in,” Mac says. He pushes past Jack and begins looking at the fake wall Jay had built. Whoever the bomber was couldn’t have gotten wires behind the control panel. There was no sign that they had been removed. 

Meaning if he could get his torso through, he could disable the wires around the window, once the window was removed he could get into the room, get Hailey out, and then he could focus on the bomb. 

Things were always easier when he was the only one in danger. When others were involved, it clouded his mind. Sure, it gave him a reason to make it out alive but it was riskier. 

And after everything that had happened… Mac wasn’t ready to be in a room with a bomb when someone else was there.  

“Hey man, I know I’m great at advice and all but you’re gonna have to tell me what I said that helped,” Jack adds. He glances back at Jay shrugging a bit. 

“The bomber couldn’t have gotten behind the control panel without removing it and putting it back, or cutting into the wall. Neither the control panel nor the outside wall has been messed with,” he tells Jack. 

Jack doesn’t seem to get the significance of that, which doesn’t surprise Mac. Sighing a bit, Mac rubs his forehead. “That means no wiring, meaning that’s my way in,” he tells Jack. “I can break through the wall, then cut the wires connecting the window to the bomb-” 

Jack claps his hand together. “Then we remove the window and you have free reign to the bomb then Mrs. or Ms. -I hope Ms. - Upton can finally get out of that room.” 

“Exactly,” Mac agrees before tilting his head a bit. “And put it back in your pants Jack,” he adds before stepping out of the fake room. He gives Jay a small encouraging nod. “We have a plan to get her out.”  

“Can you get me some lights over by that window,” Jack adds, addressing Jay’s superior officer. Voight nods before gesturing to the other man Adam to follow him. Within minutes they’ve returned with some lighting for Mac. 

The warehouse didn’t exactly provide good lighting for bomb defusing. It was dark and some of the lights flickered. At least with the construction type lights, Mac knew they wouldn’t die out. 

Grabbing some items that were laying around, even requesting Jay’s bulletproof vest, Mac had made a makeshift laser and got to work cutting a hole through the wall and control panel. Without looking at the others, Mac could sense their worry. 

He himself was beyond terrified. If he was wrong about the wiring behind the panel, every one of them would be shot sky-high. It didn’t help that the majority of Jay’s team seemed skeptical. Though, that may be his own thoughts projecting onto them.  

Mac had cut through a majority of the wall, though the hole was rather small before the laser died on him and he set it aside. Running his hands through his hair Mac takes a deep breath. He was never a fan of small spaces. 

Sure, heights were much worse. 

But, being trapped in a small space was never a fun time. Especially a place small enough to cut up your ribs as you slide through… but he didn’t have a choice did he? 

Besides, he had lost enough weight he should be able to fit better. 

Mac shifts his body so he’s laying down, before putting his hands into the hole and getting ready to pull his body through. It’ll hurt, but it didn’t matter. 

“Whoa, you’re not gonna climb through that,” Jack says grabbing his arm. 

“No Jack, I was actually gonna rollerblade through it,” Mac says, staring up at the other man. Who scoffs at his sarcasm. 

“You can’t fit through there, what if you get stuck?” 

“Jack, I’m not a kid, I’ll be fine,” he says before glancing at Jay for a split second. “Besides, if that was Riley or Bozer, I’d do it. This is Jay’s partner, so, I treat her like one of my own…” 

oOo 

He didn’t know how he got here. 

All he knew was that his head ached and there was a faint ringing in his ear.  

Groaning, Mac stirs a bit. He can feel a bandage wrapped around his head, and his body feels scraped up. He tries to recall what happened. There was gunfire, that much he knew. He was going into a building when the explosion went off. 

Jay and Jack were his back-ups.  

Immediately panic sweeps through him. Where are they? What happened to them? He survived the blast but did they? 

Without thinking, he shoots up, and all the scratches across his body and the pounding in his head reminded him it’s a bad idea. He can’t help a weak whisper escaping his lips. 

That’s when he feels a hand on his shoulder. “Hey man, take it easy.” The voice is familiar and makes him relax almost immediately. “Jack,” Mac mutters. He looked over spotting the other man and smiled seeing he was okay. 

The other man gives him one of those cocky grins and nods. “I don’t know how much you remember, but you and Jay were making your way into a building when a bomb went off. You hit your head pretty bad and after a gunfight Jay and I high-tailed you out of there,” he says. 

Jack then laughs, which makes Mac’s eyebrow raise. He lets his hand fall from Mac’s shoulders as he covers his mouth a bit. 

“I just realized…” he says before laughing again. Despite having no idea what he is laughing about, Mac can’t help but chuckle a bit. “Angus Macgyver was almost roast beef,” he says. Wheezing at his own joke. 

Mac lets out a small laugh and shakes his head a bit before he realizes the gesture hurts and he stops. 

“Anyways,” Mac says, glancing around the small infirmary that was set up back at base. “Where is Jay,” he asks. 

Jack opens his mouth to respond. As if he wants to give a detailed account as to where he was, but he stops. As if he promised he wouldn’t say anything.  

“He’s sleeping a few beds over, needed rest as much as you did,” Jack says. As if he decides that’s enough information to share. 

“What happened, Jack,” Mac asks.  

Jack shifts a bit in his chair. He takes in a deep breath and tilts his head a bit. Something about the question makes him uncomfortable. “All I can say is Jay didn’t let anything bad happen to you,” he says. Refusing to give up any other information. 

“You’re one of us, Mac, we protect each other,” he says. “I’ll let one of the docs know you’re up. They’ll probably wanna run a few tests to make sure you’re alright,” Jack says as he stands up. 

oOo 

“...besides, Jay would do it for me,” he says. 

Mac still had no idea what happened, He pressed Jack for answers multiple times. He asked Jay what had happened, neither one explained. Even though Mac had been in the military and had been through all the trauma of war, Jay and Jack still kept some things from him. 

He had been a kid when he signed up, and Jay and Jack took him under their wing. He remembered countless times when Jack or Jay shielded him from the gruesome aspects of war. 

Luckily, Jack doesn’t argue with Mac. He lets his arm go and nods.  

Without wasting time, Mac begins to push himself through the wall and control panel. It feels like he’s sliding through a tube covered in sandpaper. He could get the jagged edges of the wall and metal cutting into the side of his skin. 

Jack may have been right about this being a dumb idea.  

In fact, the only reason he’s able to weasel his way through was the fact he had lost weight the past few months.  

Finally, he reaches the other side. Hailey comes over and helps pull him out before he gets to his feet.  

“Nice to actually meet you,” he says, offering Hailey his hand to shake. She smiles and gratefully shakes his hand.  

“Nice to meet you too,” she says. With that out of the way he turns and looks around the room. His best guess is that the bomb is on the other side of the air vent, but who knows what traps are rigged.  

He steps closer to the wall and pulls back some of the wallpaper that was put up to cover the wires. After doing a quick scan, he locates the one connecting the window to the bomb. Taking out his pocket knife, he cuts the wire before giving her a nod.  

“I’ll be right back,” he tells her. 

Once again, he’s back on the floor pulling himself through the small tunnel. His arms and the side of his body burn as he climbs through. By the time he has made it back to the other side, his arms have cuts and bruises and a bit of blood on his elbows. 

Jack helps Mac stand up before looking at him, the other man notices the scratches but doesn’t say anything. “Now what,” Jack asks. 

“I take off the window, the seal looks pretty shabby,” Mac tells him. “You should go let the rest of them know that soon I’ll be handling the bomb, and if they want out now’s the time.” Mac pats Jack's shoulders as he nods. Walking over to Jay’s team and updating them. 

The problem with hope is it makes you lose focus. In war, as a spy, and as a bomb defuser. Hope wasn’t a tool you would use. You had to rely on knowledge, confidence, and focus. 

And Mac had gotten too hopeful.  

He hadn’t realized just how out of shape the seal of the window was. Instead, he curled his fingers into the seal and began to pull. There was a faint small click sound, and before Mac could register what was happening, he felt a body slamming into his. 

There’s a small pop and a cloud of toxic fumes sprays into his face. They burn Mac’s eyes as he presses them shut. He hadn’t had time to react but whoever had slammed into him did. A hand covers his mouth and nose making it impossible to breathe.  

Sure, he got an initial breath of the stuff, enough to know how toxic it was. But as his body crashes to the floor, the main toxics were guarded against his lungs. He could hear coughing in his ear as another hand covered him. 

Making sure he couldn’t breathe it in. 

But, Mac had registered who it was.  

He didn’t know anyone outside of him that would have noticed the danger of removing the window. 

He didn’t know anyone outside of him who would throw themselves on top of someone without a second thought. 

He didn’t know anyone outside of himself that would use both hands to cover someone else’s face leaving themself completely exposed to the toxins. 

As the cloud of gas disperses, Mac grumbles a curse word under his breath. He pushes away from the hands when it is safe to do so. 

“Halstead what the h*ll were you thinking do you- do you even know what you just inhaled?!”