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“Bit chilly today. Ya think it’ll carry on for a while? I’m kinda diggin it.”
“It’s ninety degrees out, not exactly what I’d call chilly.”
“Yeah but compared to the hundred plus we’ve been havin, ninety’s soundin pretty chill right now. I mean hey, at least ya got some shade today.”
Mac only graced Jack with a non-comical grunt. In truth, Mac was grateful for any shade he was allotted. It definitely beat having the sun directly on his back for hours at a time. Not to mention, he felt relatively more safe under the cover he had; a one way alley. Walls on three sides and Jack watching the opening. Safe as safe could be in that god forsaken desert.
The day had been kind to them. They’d been out on regular patrol for hours, and that was the first IED they had found. Neither spoke of the simplicity of it; Jack because of his affinity to believe in every kind of curse there was, and Mac because of Jack’s affinity to believe in every kind of curse there was. He tried to explain Murphy’s Law to Jack several times, but it always just ended with Jack saying it helped prove his theory of curses and jinxes.
The IED itself was a run-of-the-mill one Mac could most likely disarm with his eyes closed. A cell they’d been close to getting for several weeks had finally been taken out, and they had been tasked to run cleanup with a few other teams. Most of the places were rundown towns and the open road, a few located in bustling cities, and others reported just straight up gone, or not yet placed.
Mac didn’t mind the abandoned towns, in fact he preferred them. It took just a bit more stress off his shoulders if the bomb happened to go off. He didn’t have to think about anyone else getting hurt if he made sure he would be the only casualty.
“Ya think it’ll snow?”
Mac smiled and shook his head. “I know the wind chill and rain is getting your hopes up, but, no Jack, I don’t think it’ll snow.”
“Just stomp on my dreams why dontcha?”
“You know I’ve never actually seen snow fall?”
“No kiddin? I mean you bein a SoCal boy, but really?”
“I’ve been in the snow before, but no, never been there to actually experience snow falling.”
“Well we gotta fix that don’t we?”
It was a normal thing that always happened, no matter how long or short the day was. A conversation about something Mac’s life had been lacking up until that point, and Jack more or less telling him he was going to do everything in his power to make sure Mac got to experience it.
“I remember my first snow fall. Tiny little Jackie had to go out and make sure all the water basins hadn’t froze overnight for all the animals. They hadn’t, mind you, cuz it had only been snowin for a few hours and there were still clear patches out in the fields.”
Mac would never admit it, but he knew he harbored jealousy towards Jack. All the stories about his family and how happy they always were, while Mac himself could think of a handful he had with his father and grandfather. Of course there were wonderful memories with Bozer and his family, but they weren’t the same. He knew Milton and Loretta thought of him as their own son, but he still felt guilt like he’d burdened them.
And he would never tell Jack how he felt. It wasn’t his fault Mac felt the way he did. Jack was just lucky enough to be born into a large, loving family that always seemed to be having one adventure or another. On days where Mac did make any sort of comment on Jack’s stories, Jack always made sure, directly or indirectly, to tell Mac he was more than welcome to visit the ranch.
Told mama how skinny you were, she said she’d have a whole table of food just for us.
Nah when we get to Texas, I’ll show ya a real barbecue.
Okay, we’ll head to home for a while then head out to LA to compare heat index. Can’t say either will beat what we got goin right now though.
My house is yer house man.
“— remember when I actually did have to walk to school through the snow, not me exactly, but my boy Juicy didn’t mind too much. School had a barn and everythin.”
“Do I want to know why you had a horse named Juicy?”
“Nah, I’ll leave that to yer imagination.”
“Gross.” Mac undid the bolts at the top of the IED before stopping suddenly. He heard a noise coming from it, but it wasn’t like anything he’d heard from an IED before.
“Yer doin that thing you do before ya tell me somethin’s wrong. What’s wrong bud?”
“Uh, it’s making a noise.”
“Like a noise you can take care of or a noise that means you need to get away from it thirty seconds ago?
“It’s— it doesn’t sound electronic at all. Like it’s not coming from the IED at all.”
“Okay but is it or not, cuz that’s a pretty important thing right now.”
Mac didn’t answer, instead choosing to carefully lift the top to try to identify the source of the noise. Doing so made him regret it immediately.
“Uh, Jack? I, uh, I’m kinda at an impasse here.”
“Don’t like the sound of that. If that bomb’s fixin to blow then you hightail it outta there, no excuses.”
“No, the bomb’s fine for now, but I can’t exactly move anymore.”
“You wanna tell me why instead of bein so cryptic? I can’t see whatcha got in front of ya.”
He sighed. “Remember when I got stung by that scorpion a while ago?”
“Yeah, not a fun time for ya. There another one down there? Need me to come deal with it since ya got all traumatized from the first one?” A hint of teasing laced his tone.
“Afraid it’s a little more complicated than that.” He gave a humorless laugh. “Did you know there’s thirteen native venomous snakes in Afghanistan?”
“Shit. Okay. I have a bit of experience with them from back on the ranch. Be there in one.”
Mac held his breath and stayed as still as he could. It was kind of funny, how long he was able to get away without running into a snake. Matter of fact he didn’t know of anyone that had gotten any snake related injury. He didn’t even recall any guys even talking about seeing snakes anywhere, only scorpions and bugs that occasionally hid in their boots.
“Okay man, talk to me. What’re we lookin at?” Jack called from the mouth of the alley. “First thing’s first, that IED is still live ain’t it?”
“Yeah.” Mac answered, seeing Jack’s shadow coming over his shoulder. “There’s no timer or mercury leaver, so we don’t need to worry about that.”
“Nah, only the little guy that’s fixin to get ya the moment ya move. Commit him to memory so we can tell doc what kinda antivenom to get, just in case.”
“Thanks for assuming I’m going to get bit.”
“Hey, yer the dude that keeps goin on bout Bill Murray or whatever. So in the scenario ya get bit, we’ll know how to treat ya real fast.”
“Murphy, not Murray.” He huffed. “But fair point.”
“I know what I’m about when it comes to snakes. Based on size, it could just be a baby, and they’re more dangerous than the adults; they’ll just keep bitin, exhaust all their venom cuz they can’t control the output.”
“I know. Can we just— do something about it? I still have a bomb to deal with.”
“Can’t ya just put the lid back on it? Back up and let him get out himself?”
“I mean, yeah, but if this thing has the same mentality as any other snake, the noise it’s making means it’s gonna strike. Moving in any capacity probably isn’t a good idea. I don’t even know if I should be talking right now.”
“Okay, okay, you just be quiet then, let old Jack—”
A noise. A quick burst of static from Jack’s radio before a voice came through.
Jack jumped.
Mac jumped.
The snake jumped; quickly, efficiently, fangs going right into the exposed skin on Mac’s arm.
Mac startled more, flinging his arm out in an automatic reaction, and in turn releasing the snake. It landed next to the wall and slithered away almost immediately, wanting to get away from them nearly as fast as they wanted to be away from it.
Mac looked at his arm, tiny rivulets of blood popping up in four different spots. “Well, that’s not good.”
Jack pulled Mac up, taking a look at his arm. “Maybe this’ll be the time ya get lucky and it was a dry bite.”
“Yeah, because that sounds like something that would happen to me.” He snorted humorlessly before pointing to Jack’s radio. “You should answer them before they send someone out.”
“They’ll be sendin someone out anyways.” He looked at Mac. “Because if you think yer not goin back to get antivenom right now, yer outta yer gourd.”
“I’m not stupid enough to deny getting treatment for a snake bite, Jack.”
“Yer stupid enough to deny gettin treatment for a scorpion sting though.”
Mac rolled his eyes, not willing to satisfy Jack with an answer. He only pointed to the radio as it went off again.
“Come back Snakebite one one, how copy?”
Jack couldn’t help the dumb grim that found its way to his face, gesturing to Mac’s arm then the radio. “Good copy base. Repeat last transmission.”
“You missed your check in, Dalton. Brass was starting to get worried they have to send people out for you.”
“I knew Uncle Sam cared. But be advised, we will be returning to base immediately. My tech got himself bit by a snake.”
“Hey—!”
“Really living up to your designation there, one one. What’s the status on the device you were assigned?”
“Still live; damn snake was inside it.”
“Roger that. Return to base. Another team will be sent out to finish the job.”
***
“Only you, Macgyver. If you want to spend time with me all you have to do is come down for a social call.” Doc Roe said, fitting Mac with a blood pressure cuff. “It’s like you’re trying to injure yourself as an excuse.”
“Believe me doc, if ya let him have his way with all the fun doodads, he’d never leave.” Jack said, sitting on a cot across from him.
“I can only hope. Dunno if my wife would appreciate it if she found out though.”
“I didn’t know you were married.”
“Yep, just before I shipped out. Maybe you would know that if you paid attention and stopped using me for my specific skill set.” That got a laugh from both Mac and Jack. “Okay Mac, you know the deal. You truthfully tell me all your symptoms and I won’t set Martin on you.”
“I’m starting to remember why I don’t do social visits.” Mac said. “But uh, I know you won’t believe me but I feel fine. I mean the bite itself stings, but I don’t feel anything explicitly wrong.”
“The snake you described sounds like a Saw Scaled Viper, and that’s considered one of the big four. We got you the antivenom relatively quick, but that doesn’t mean there’s not going to be repercussions.”
“What repercussions we talkin bout?”
“Blistering, necrosis, incoagulable blood, spontaneous systemic bleeding— you know, the normal stuff.” Roe snorted at the paling on both faces. “Blistering and necrosis were in less than fifteen percent of patients that were included in the study. Both instances with the blood had a much higher percentile of patients that showed signs, so if you were envenomed, that’s what we’d be looking for.”
“How long until symptoms show up?”
“For this snake specifically, could be a few hours, could be a few days. So as of right now Mac, you’re off duty. Doctor’s orders. I want you to down fluids and take it easy for a week. If you’re good, I’ll let you do lite duty after a day or two. Keep an eye on the entry wounds for any signs or symptoms, and check in with me after a few hours.”
Mac hung his head, resigned. “You’re the boss, Doc.”
“You ain’t gonna keep him locked up here?” Jack raised a brow.
“As much as I’d love some quality time with him, no. It’s not needed at the moment.”
“Alright then.” Jack stood up and clapped mac on the shoulder. “I’ll get him all tucked up in bed, make sure he rests and doesn’t start bleedin from his eyes.”
“If there’s any changes, get him back here. God knows brass breathes down my neck enough, always doubled when it involves either of you.”
***
“How you doing up there Snakebite?”
“I do not want this to become a thing.” Mac placed the book he was reading on his lap. “How do you even know about it? You like just got back.”
Patrick shrugged. “Word travels fast, especially if it’s about you. Honestly Hollywood, think you would’ve know that by now. You’re a bit of a celebrity around here.”
“It’s not like I do anything different from anyone else.”
“Dude, everything you do is different from everyone else.” Joe laughed out. “I mean, batteries and gum? Who other than you would think of that?”
Mac rolled his eyes, picking his book back up and adjusting the ice pack on his arm. “It’s simple science.”
“Yeah, but you aren’t a simple dude.”
“Don’t forget, he disarmed over a hundred IEDs in a single day. Shit, I mean, I don’t think anyone’s ever gonna come close to that.”
“And to think guys still wonder why he was paired with Dalton. Probably one of the only things all the guys here agree on is that you two are the best team there is; got the numbers to back it.”
“Where is he anyways? Woulda figured he’d go all mama bear on you.”
“You hear about me being bitten by a snake but somehow you completely miss Jack still having to be on duty.” Mac snorted. “Since Doc only granted me a week, and Jack’s got his condition, he’s got lite work and is going to instruct training drills until I’m all good.”
“And… he didn’t fight that at all?”
“Oh no, he did; it was either go watch other guys in the field, or stay here and do that.”
“Bet it killed him too.”
“Yeah, looked like he kicked a puppy when he left.” He squeezed the bridge of his nose and rubbed his eyes.
Patrick gestured to Mac. “You good?”
“Yeah. Eyes are just a bit tired. Been a sec since I’ve been able to just sit me read.”
“How long’s it been since you got looked at by Doc?”
“Couple hours.”
“And how long until symptoms were supposed to show up?”
“A couple hours…” Mac rubbed his hand down his face. “Guess I should go check in; promised Jack I’d try my best not to bleed out of my eyes while he was gone. Ice pack’s all melted too.” He put his book on his bunk and raised a brow at Patrick and Joe staring at him. “What?”
Joe pointed to his own nose. “It’s not your eyes, but I don’t think that’s any less bad.”
Mac’s hand went to his nose, feeling a warm wet coming from it. Pulling it back, his hand was smeared with blood.
“Come on. If Dalton finds out we left you to med yourself, he’d have us throttled.”
***
“Two times in one day? You’re spoiling me, Macgyver.”
“We didn’t even have to force him, Doc. He finally put on his big boy pants and was going to come see you all by himself, but for the sake of our own skin, we tagged along.”
“I think for the sake of all of us, someone should go tell Dalton.”
Mac had a small smile on his lips, leaning forward on the cot slightly with a cloth to his nose. He never thought his and Jack’s relationship was anything special; just another pair of guys in a war zone. Of course they’d formed a bond, but apparently it was so much more different than any other.
He’d always compared it to his and Bozer’s friendship, but realized that it wasn’t exactly the same thing. He’d known Bozer for eleven years; Jack barely eleven months. Maybe it was because Jack was the person he’d been with the longest in that damned desert, actually giving him time to build up to whatever their friendship was.
And it was always funny and perplexing, seeing how the other guys reacted to any sort news pertaining to either one of them.
“I’ll do it.” Patrick said. “It’s like earning gold stars in school; ratting you out, Hollywood.”
Mac raised a brow at him.
“Giving away all the guys’ secrets.” Joe said, elbowing his partner. “What he means is—” Instead of answering, he pushed them both out of the med tent.
Doc Roe shook his head. “I swear it’s like working with children sometimes.” He handed Mac another cloth for his nose. “Any other symptoms? Fatigue? Dizziness? Nausea? Sudden phobia of water?”
“Snakes can’t give you rabies, Doc, only mammals can contract it. But no, nothing else. I don’t think I would’ve even noticed this if Joe didn’t point it out.”
“So there is a chance there’s something, you just haven’t realized it yet.” Mac gave a shrug. “I want you to stay here, only until the bleeding stops. Once that happens, I’ll set you back into your enclosure.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Have you eaten anything since you got back?”
“Haven’t really been hungry.” Doc Roe raised a brow. “In all fairness, you said push fluids.”
“You know, for a genius, you really are lacking in common sense. You’re going to eat something and maybe your body will stop betraying you.”
Mac didn’t bother arguing. He knew Roe was right, and he did have to admit he had a bad habit of forgoing meals, especially when they were busy. Normally Jack always manages to slip a few extra protein bars in to both their packs, or an MRE that Mac hated the least. It was a habit he’d had since just before high school.
“Looks like the swelling hasn’t really gone down at all, nor have the punctures actually stopped bleeding.” Doc said, prodding his arm. “You keep the ice pack on it?”
“Yeah, all the way until it melted. I haven’t checked the bandages though, figured it was a waste since I was coming back anyways.”
“I’ll give you that, sure. Looks like you got caught with both instances of symptoms pertaining to blood though, but I expected it. You’re not lucky enough to have not gotten envenomed.”
“You sound a little too happy about this, Doc.”
“I’ve always been fascinated with snakes so excuse my child-like wonder. I’m going to rewrap the puncture sight and get you another ice pack and have someone get you something to eat from mess. Want anything in particular? I can have it done if I say it’s needed for you to get back in the field faster.”
“Are you saying you’ll buy me dinner first?” Mac smirked.
“Hey, we both need to put in something to make this relationship work.”
***
Jack didn’t like being away from Mac. Especially when Mac was injured. Everyone knew it, and no one really paid it any mind. A lot of the guys were like that with their own partners, but there was just something more about them.
Mac and Jack.
A few of his buddies from before Mac was there had pointed it out to him on a few separate occasions.
“You’re a damn good sniper, Tex, one of the best. We all know you do everything you can to bring your techs back; haven’t failed yet, but there’s something about Macgyver.”
“I watched you try to beat him down the second you laid eyes on him, now you can’t go three minutes without wondering where he is.”
“Wormed his way through yer tough guy exterior like a weed growing through the sidewalk.”
Practically the whole base knew Mac had been bitten by a snake by the time they got back; a never ending game of telephone where both of them were the subjects all the time. It was endearing, and annoying, but it made it a whole lot easier for Jack to push the guys he was training and supervising to go harder and faster.
“Y’all’r slower than my mama’s mama, and she’s been in the ground for the past few years.”
“We’re fine, Houston. We know you just wanna check on your boy.”
His boy.
That was a nickname Jack didn’t think Mac was aware of, because it was said outside of his presence by others.
Or Jack was just reading too much into it, and it was just a nickname.
But all in all, the guys knew when Jack was in a mood, or anxious, or angry— only specifically when it applied to Mac, so no one pushed the fact that Jack had been pushing them to go faster and finish everything. Plus, that normally gave them a few minutes of time to themselves before having to do anything again.
“Dalton.” And having guys like Pat and Joe to snitch on Mac in case anything happened let Jack relax just a bit. “We beat rundown?”
“Barely.” Jack told his group to run. “So? He start speakin that snake language from Harry Potter yet?”
“Ah, not yet. We’re holding out for it though; hoping he’ll teach us when he gets it.” Patrick shrugged. “Just so you don’t have a heart attack, Hollywood’s with Doc.”
“Willingly?”
“Yeah. He was gonna go on his own accord to get checked.”
“But…?”
“Got a nose bleed right as he was getting ready.” Joe said. “Could be random coincidence, but Doc said he’s gonna keep him there until it stops just as a precaution.”
“Ain’t nothin a random coincidence when it comes to Mac.” Jack shook his head but smiled. “Alright, thanks.”
“You want us to take over?”
“Nah, we’re almost done and he’s with Doc. I’ll go see him then.” Patrick and Joe looked at him, slight surprise on their faces. “What?”
“Nothing, just figured you’d jump at the chance to go see him; papa bear and all that.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Ain’t nothin I can do that doc’s not already doin.”
“Wow. Didn’t know you had any common sense when it came to Hollywood.”
“I got more common sense on a bad day than he does any other day.” Jack snorted. “Now get before I make you two join the next round.”
Patrick and Joe left Jack to his squad, and it was only about ten more minutes until everything was done. He sent them all on their way and signed off on the paperwork, then headed towards the bunks. Surprisingly, the bunks had been devoid of Mac. All there was, was the book Jack knew he liked to read, sitting on his bunk. Doc Roe was probably holding him. So Jack picked up the book and headed for the med tent.
Though stepping into med, Jack wasn’t met with a pleasant sight.
“Whoa doc, the hell’s goin on here?”
Mac had been hunched over on a cot, several bloody rags next to him, and a bucket by his feet. Doc Roe was by his side, setting up an IV with what Jack could assume was saline. .
“Pretty sure you’re at least half an hour early.” Doc Roe said, not stopping his movements. “You better not have pushed any of the boys too far. I don’t need someone coming in and complaining of heat stroke or exhaustion when I’ve got this to deal with.”
“What is this, Doc? I thought he was okay.”
“Delayed symptoms from the venom, or from the antivenom itself.”
“The hell ya talkin about?”
Roe huffed. “We didn’t do any official tests for venom in his system and just gave him the antivenom as a precaution. Since it was one of the big four venomous snakes and because of its aggressive nature, it was safe to assume it wasn’t a dry bite. On the fact that it was a dry bite, his body is going to treat the antivenom in his system as a toxin and try to flush it out, while still, unfortunately, experiencing side effects.”
“What side effects as of right this second?”
“Nausea, slight dizziness, incoagulable blood— I mean hell, his nose has been bleeding for the past twenty minutes. I’ve got a blood bag on standby just in case.”
“Why haven’t ya stopped anythin?”
“As of right now, whether it’s the toxin or the antivenom, the best choice in this scenario is to keep letting him bleed. It’s removing it faster than it would normally in his system. The coagulability should reappear within the next six hours, but if the bleeding doesn’t stop in another ten minutes then I’m going to have to make a few calls.”
Jack nodded, looking at Mac. “How you doin, bud?”
“Scorpion sting is preferable right now.” Mac groaned. “Swallowed some blood and it made me sick.”
“I’m sorry man. Anythin I can do?”
“Can you knock me out so I can sleep until this whole thing is done with?”
“I told you, when the bleeding stops, I’ll give you a sedative.” Doc Roe said. “Until then, I need you to just tough through the unpleasantness of it.”
***
“How ya doing, Woody?”
“Get cottonmouth at all?”
“Want us to turn on some Monty Python?”
Jack smirked at all the guys who chose to pay Mac a visit in med.
It had been a long night for both of them. Mac’s nose hadn’t stopped bleeding for another hour after he initially went in, and Roe had started him on a slow blood drip to attempt to counteract it.
“Snake venom is used in a lot of different medications, mainly blood thinners. That’s why is coming out so quick. I’m hoping some fresh stuff will help counteract it and help clotting start up again.”
The whole thing left Mac exhausted. The nausea and dizziness had kept him from eating, and he couldn’t exactly sleep while his face was freely bleeding. The only thing that kept him the least bit sane in the bout of having to lay on his stomach for hours until the bleeding stopped, was Jack.
“Ya know, I got a buddy back home, swears up and down he’s tied a rattler into a bow; says he’s got some pictures but they’re always conveniently lost when we ask to see them.”
When the bleeding had stopped, both from his nose and the bite, Mac more or less told Doc Roe he was going to pass out, which said doctor had no issue with.
The only problem at the moment, was Mac was currently awake, pillow over his head, trying to drown out everything the guys were saying. “I hate you guys. It wasn’t even my fault.”
Jack knocked Mac’s foot with his own. “Come on man, ya don’t find it the least hissterical?”
He took the pillow away, looking to wherever Doc Roe was. “Don’t you care that they’re disturbing the patients?”
Roe shrugged, but didn’t stop the task he was doing. “You’re fine.”
“Okay, then let me go lay in the bunks.”
“Not that fine.”
Jack took pity on him and shooed the others out. “Alright, y’all’ll have some time to tease him bout this later when he’s got his brain right to be able to defend himself.”
“That’s why we gotta do it now.”
Jack merely motioned with his head for them to head out before putting his focus on Mac. “How ya feelin, for real?”
“You ever have a hangover where you think throwing up will fix everything, but it just kinda makes everything worse? Kinda feels like that.”
“You shouldn’t even know what a hangover is. You became of age out here.”
“I did go to college, Jack.”
“Yeah, but you went to super nerd college, so excuse me if I don’t believe ya went out partyin. Weren’t you like a goody two shoes student?”
“Dalton, you’ve been his partner for what?— nearly a year. You should know best out of everyone that following rules isn’t his strong suit.” Doc Roe said.
“Touché.”
“But, Macgyver, if you can finish the meal I’m going to have someone bring you, I’ll discharge you.”
“Come on, doc.” Mac huffed. “I don’t even finish meals normally.”
He shrugged. “Oh well.”
Jack laughed softly at the whole thing. “Don’t worry man, I’ll eat all yer veggies under the table.”
Mac put the pillow back over his head. It was going to be a long recovery.