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Published:
2022-07-24
Completed:
2022-07-31
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7/7
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Voicemails for Jack

Summary:

Mac leaves voicemails for Jack after he leaves the team in S03E14.

Written for the Cold Open Challenge 2022. Every chapter is a different voicemail that Mac leaves for Jack after a cold open.

Notes:

Mac will leave voicemails even after Jack "dies". I see those as being similar to how Jack used talk to his dad's gravestone, and I totally think Matty keeps paying for Jack's cell phone number because she knows Mac does this.

Chapter 1: Escape: S3E17 – Seeds + Permafrost + Feather

Chapter Text

"You've reached the one and only Jack Dalton, but I can't answer the phone. Leave a message after the beep."

"Hey, man, I hope everything's okay with you. Haven't heard from you in a little while. Give me a call back; we need to talk about Desi.

"She's... I see why you asked her to watch our backs. She's tough, she's intense, and she doesn't take any crap from anyone, especially not me. Or Bozer, which is pretty funny.

"The problem is that she doesn't want to be part of the team. I invited her to the house after our first successful mission. Maria says hi, by the way. She came, she brought chips, and she left immediately. Said you made her promise to come to one. I don't know what to do. You know we work better as a team when we're all on the same page. She' s in a different book.

"Anyway, this latest op in Paris was a rough one. She kicked ass, as I'm sure you know she does. But it was weird too. Long story short, we got in bed together to try and fool the guys chasing us, and it worked for a couple of minutes, but... It was just weird. Call me back. Please."

Chapter 2: On the Run: S03E20 – No-Go + High Voltage + Rescue

Chapter Text

"You've reached the one and only Jack Dalton, but I can't answer the phone. Leave a message after the beep."

"I hope you got my last message because we really need to talk about Desi. She is crazy, man. And I don't use that term lightly. We just got back from Paris, where she, and I kid you not, stole the French president's limo. Who does that?

"She doesn't understand me. Not like you do. I thought I told her to steal a car. Apparently, I said vehicle. Riley showed me the official transcript. Anyway, she drove up behind the palace in the limo, and then half the Garde républicaine was after us.

"They had us on the run; we almost didn't get out of there. I rigged up some gas masks with oxygen tanks from inside the limo and released a couple of tear gas grenades so we could duck into the sewer system. It wasn't my best work, but it did the job.

"I miss you, Jack. When I told you to steal a vehicle, you'd show up in a minivan or a Peugeot or maybe even a Vespa. Something inconspicuous, at least. I gotta go; Bozer's pulling the burgers off the grill. Call me back when you get a chance."

Chapter 3: Fight or Flight: S05E04 - Banh Bao + Sterno + Drill + Burner + Mason

Notes:

We're going to have to jump back and forth in time a bit to make the prompts work out here, but I always put the episode in the chapter title :)

Chapter Text

"You've reached the one and only Jack Dalton, but I can't answer the phone. Leave a message after the beep."

"Sorry I missed your call. We just got back from Serbia, where my phone got smashed after jumping out a window. You know that fight or flight moment you get when the guys with the guns start shooting at you. Well, we chose flight.

"Luckily, there were a couple of dumpsters underneath the window to break our falls. Everyone's okay. Little banged up. You know how it goes.

"Have you talked to Desi lately? She wants me to meet her parents. I know you remember when I met Nikki's parents. It was right after Bogotá, so I had a black eye and a sling and was bruised everywhere. They were not impressed.

"I'm pretty sure they thought I was an adrenaline junkie and an idiot after that cover story. No one in their right mind would skateboard into traffic, Jack. That's why you weren't allowed to make the cover stories for a while.

"Nikki didn't talk to me for three days after we got back. You hated it when we fought, and you were usually on my side. So, help me out here. Tell Desi it's okay if I don't meet her parents right now. Thanks, man. Talk soon."

Chapter 4: Under Fire: S05E13 - Barn Find + Engine Oil + La Punzonatura + Lab Rats + Tachometer

Chapter Text

"You've reached the one and only Jack Dalton, but I can't answer the phone. Leave a message after the beep."

"Something's wrong. I don't know what, but something is definitely wrong.

"Riley, Bozer, and I were on a sinking cruise ship today. The water pressure kept blowing out rivets, so I made a putty to plug the holes. But something went wrong. Water blew through the putty, but it shouldn't have been able to do that. The putty should have held for more than two seconds.

"I'll figure out what went wrong. No one's put me under fire on this one, but I can't let it go. There were 3,000 people on that ship, and it was up to me to give them time to get in the lifeboats. I almost blew it; no pun intended. The putty should have worked, though.

"I wish you were here to talk to about this. I can't sleep. I just want to know what went wro-"

BEEP

"You've reached the one and only Jack Dalton, but I can't answer the phone. Leave a message after the beep."

"Voicemail cut me off. I guess that means I should talk about something else. I asked Desi to move in with me. I'm not sure if that was the right decision.

"You see, Riley had feelings for me. I didn't know, and now that I do, I don't know what to do about it. I love Riley. We've been working together for years, and I don't want to see her hurt. I don't want to hurt her. But I also love Desi. In a different way. I don't know if I'm in love with either of them. It's... it's complicated.

"I think that I need to see this through with Desi. I need to know if we can live together, if we can work together as a couple.

"I almost asked her to marry me. I made a diamond in my kitchen. It was pretty cool. You would have loved it. But then there was a whole Murdoc situation, and we almost died, and I...

"I miss you. I wish you were here to give me some of that Jack Dalton school of infinite wisdom advice. I hate to admit it, but I could use it right now."

Chapter 5: Survival: S05E09 - Rails + Pitons + Pulley + Pipe + Salt

Chapter Text

"You've reached the one and only Jack Dalton, but I can't answer the phone. Leave a message after the beep."

"Hey, it's me. I don't know where to start, but... Desi almost died today. She tripped a biohazard alarm, the room sealed shut, and the air was sucked out. It was a close one. I almost didn't get her out.

"I know what you're thinking. We were in that exact same situation a time or two, and I always got us out. It's different with her, though. I panicked, and my mind went blank. It was just for a few seconds, but they were seconds that could have meant life or death for Desi.

"I miss you, Jack. I don't know if I can do this without you. Everyone keeps dying on me, and I just...

"I don't know what I'll do if someone else...

"I can't lose anyone else...

"I wish you were here."

Chapter 6: In Transit: S05E06 - Quarantine + N95 + Landline + Telescope + Social Distance

Chapter Text

"You've reached the one and only Jack Dalton, but I can't answer the phone. Leave a message after the beep."

"Man, you should have seen it. Russ got caught in the garbage truck's side loader claw, which was not my fault, by the way. I don't care what Desi says. And then we were in a high speed chase on the freeway with said garbage truck.

"You would have loved it. Desi and I jumped from my truck to the garbage truck, and I punctured a hole in the hydraulic line for the claw while a guy was shooting at us. Desi distracted him and got ahold of Russ. You would have been so proud of her.

"And Riley was our driver during all that. She handles that well. I've always assumed that you taught her how to drive. You know, I should ask her about it. She's been struggling with your... with you not... with everything.

"Uh, I'm getting a call from Matty, so I should get that. Miss you, Jack."

Chapter 7: Greatest Hacks: S04E07 - Mac + Desi + Riley + Aubrey

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

"You've reached the one and only Jack Dalton, but I can't answer the phone. Leave a message after the beep."

"So, I know you told me to stay out of trouble when I told you that Desi and I were going to Thailand, but... we might need some bail money. Just kidding. You trained us better than that.

"However, we did have to free a Karenni activist named Pinapa Chaiveera from being thrown in a Thai prison for the rest of her life. I'm not saying it was my best work, but I did use Desi's bra underwire to short out the power to the throne hall so we could make a run for it.

"Underwires are usually made from a nickel-titanium alloy, so they're very useful, particularly as actuators. But you probably don't want to hear about that.

"Hope things are okay wherever you are. We haven't heard from you in a couple of weeks, so give me a call when you can. Please. I had a dream about you last night... I just need to know that you're safe, that you're okay."

Notes:

This has been a lot of fun! Not going to lie though - this last one was hard. The timeline doesn't make a lot of sense, so figuring out what Mac would talk about was difficult. I just stuck to what we saw and hoped for the best.

Thank you all for reading, leaving kudos and comments, and for going on this journey with me. I appreciate you all so much!