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Jack looked over at the hospital bed where Mac was currently hooked up to a heart monitor, oxygen mask, and an IV drip of fluids. The hospital wanted to keep the younger man over night just as a precaution since the younger man had been forced to inhale pure nitrogen by El Noche and his henchmen. Jack was just glad he’d gotten there when he did; not wanting to think of what could have been had he gotten there later. Shaking his head to clear that thought, Jack reached over and gently took Mac’s left hand in his since it didn’t have the IV in it. Leaning back in his chair and looking at his lover, he smiled as he remembered the first time he’d met Mac.
*Flash back 8 years ago*
Jack was state side and he’d just signed up with The Department of External Services. His record as an ex-CIA agent making it easy for him to get a job in this new agency. He knew he had a partner and had yet to meet the guy, but he’d been told he’d be meeting his partner today since they were suppose to go on their first mission.
Sighing softly, Jack stared at his watch and saw that his partner, whoever he was, was ten minutes late. He could tell that Thornton was none too happy about. He used his foot to spin his chair and after another minute passed, the door of the conference room slammed open. Looking up, Jack frowned when he saw a blonde kid run into the room. He couldn’t be more than eighteen. ‘What in the world is this kid doing here?’ he thought, bemused.
“Sorry I’m late, director! The traffic was horrible!”
Shaking her head, Thornton looked at the young blonde. “Next time leave your house earlier, Mr. MacGyver,” she chided before waving her hand between MacGyver and Dalton. “Angus MacGyver, meet your partner Jack Dalton,” she said, introducing the two men.
Jack’s mouth dropped open in disbelief and he looked back and forth between Thornton and MacGyver. Standing up, he pointed at the blonde. “Wait, this kid is my partner?! Are you serious? He barely looks like he’s out of school!” he exclaimed.
MacGyver glared at the older man. “I’m not a kid! I just turned eighteen, which makes me an adult,” he argued. “Also, I graduated from high school two years ago,” he added.
Jack stared at the blonde and then at Thornton. He opened his mouth to argue, but stopped when Thornton raised her hand.
“You two are just going to have to learn to suck it up because from this point forward the two of you will be working together,” Thornton said with an authoritative tone, ending the petty arguing and causing both men to huff in annoyance. “Now than, your mission...” she said and began to explain it.
An hour later, Jack and MacGyver were on a private plan on their way to Mexico to break up a drug cartel. Jack looked over at the blonde, who was sitting in the seat across from him and decided that he’d be the better man and try to get to know the kid because if this was going to work, there needed to be trust between them. Clearing his throat to get the kid’s attention, Jack began to speak, “So, Angus-“ he began, but was cut off by blonde.
“Mac. I prefer to be called Mac,” Mac cut in. He wasn’t all that fond of his first name.
Smiling slightly, Jack nodded and started over. “So, Mac, I gotta know, what made you join the agency?” he asked. “A young kid like you should be out chasing girls and partying, not saving the world.”
Mac rolled his eyes at the older man. “First off, I’m not a kid. Secondly, chasing girls and partying aren’t really my thing. I would rather use the talent I have to help people than not use it and waste my life doing something pointless,” he explained.
Jack’s eyebrows rose when he heard the kid’s reasoning. “Good for you. Too bad more people your age aren’t like that,” he complimented.
“What about you? What’s an old guy like you doing working for the agency?” Mac asked, a slight smirk on his face.
Jack couldn’t help but laugh when the kid called him an old man. “Ok, I deserved that old man quip for calling you a kid,” he said smiling, the tension from earlier dissipating. “I’m working here cause I don’t really know how to do anything else. Can’t really see myself doing a civilian job. I’d get too restless,” he shrugged.
Mac nodded and leaned back against the seat. The rest of the plane ride was a comfortable silence and when they landed, they went straight to work.
After a few days of surveillance, the two men infiltrated the cartel. While Jack had managed to take out the leader and Mac had managed to copy everything from the cartel leaders computer before wiping said computer, they’d been found out and were now hiding behind a stack of wooden crates, bullets hitting the wood.
“There are too many of them too shoot our way through!” Jack screamed over the gun fire to his partner. He’d already used up all of his ammo and the ammo that had been in the gun he’d picked up from one of the dead cartel members. It didn’t help that the kid refused to use a gun.
Mac heard his partner’s words, but instead of replying, he was looking around at their surroundings and quickly mapped out items he could use to get them out of this. “Jack! I need you to go and get those empty glass bottles!” he yelled, pointing to the bottles a few feet in front of them.
Jack looked over at the kid like he was crazy for asking, but at this point he was willing to do whatever he was told if it somehow got them out of here. Ducking, he ran over to the bottles and grabbed all of them before running back to his partner who had gathered other things. “What’s this all for?” he asked loudly.
Mac looked at Jack as he began constructing his improvised bombs. “You’ll see!” he yelled. When all the bottles were filled and had cloth rags sticking out of the openings, he picked one up and lit the cloth. Standing up, he quickly picked out a group of guys and threw the bottle towards them. When it hit the ground, it exploded.
Jack had watched to bottle explode and he smiled widely when he looked over at Mac. “You created improvised bombs!” he exclaimed.
Smiling back at the older man, Mac handed him one of the bottles. “You can thank me when we’re on the plane home!” he yelled.
Three hours later, the two agents were on a plane back to LA, the mission complete. To celebrate, Jack decided to have a beer and he would have offered one to Mac, but the kid was underage and Jack didn’t approve of underage drinking. Instead, Mac got sparkling apple cider.
“Where’d you learn to make those glass bottle bombs?” Jack asked after taking a swig of his beer.
Mac shrugged. “I was always a curious kid and I liked to read. I also aced chemistry,” he explained.
Jack smiled. “I’ll be honest, I was skeptical about you kid, but after today, I think I can safely say that I was wrong,” he admitted.
Mac smiled back. “Thanks. To be fair, I was skeptical about you as well, old man,” he said teasingly.
Jack just laughed and shook his head. “I think you and I are going to make a good team. Partner,” he said warmly.
Mac’s smile widened when Jack called him partner. “I agree. Partner,” he said back.
*present time*
Jack smiled at the memory and quickly sat up when a soft groan left Mac’s lips. Scooting to the edge of his chair, he looked down at Mac’s face and watched as the younger man opened his eyes. Sighing in relief, he squeezed Mac’s hand and looked into the slightly dazed eyes of his lover. “Hey, how’re you feeling?” he asked softly.
Seeing his lover beside him and feeling his hand in his, Mac blinked sleepily and managed to get the oxygen mask off. “Sore. Water?” he asked, his voice raspy.
Nodding quickly, Jack let go of Mac’s hand and pulled the rolling table towards them. He poured the younger man a cup of water and stuck a straw in it. He brought the cup close to Mac and pressed the straw gently against his lips.
Mac took the straw between his lips and took small, slow sips. When he was done, he leaned back against the bed and turned to look at Jack. “How long have I been here?” he asked.
Jack set the cup on the table and retook Mac’s hand in his. “About three hours,” he said smiling softly. “Doctor said you can leave in the morning. They want to keep you over night for observation.”
Mac squeezed Jack’s hand and sighed softly in relief hearing that he could go home in the morning. He could sort of remember Jack rescuing him, but it was kinda fuzzy. He did remember one thing clearly though. “Did I really spell your name wrong?” he asked, which earned him a booming laugh from his lover.
“Of course that’s what you remember from me rescuing your skinny ass,” Jack said amusingly and shook his head. “Yes, you spelled it wrong. Watching the video, instead of Dalton, you spelled out Walton.”
Mac groaned at Jack’s words and closed his eyes. “I’ll determine whether or not I spelled it wrong. Maybe you’re the one who needs to brush up on their morse code, old man,” he said, the last part said jokingly.
Smiling widely, Jack leaned down and pressed his forehead against Mac’s, the fond memory of their first meeting coming back to him when the blonde called him an old man. “Nah, I think my morse code is on point. A kid like you, though, could use a bit of brushing up on it,” he replied.
Mac smiled and looked into Jack’s brown eyes. “Thanks for coming after me,” he said softly.
Jack leaned down the rest of the way and gently kissed Mac on the lips before pulling away and looking at the younger affectionately. “Of course. Like I’ve said before, it’s my job to keep you safe and if I you manage to get yourself kidnapped, I’ll always come and get you,” he said lovingly.
Mac felt butterflies flutter in his stomach when Jack kissed him and at the older man’s words. He wasn’t sure what he’d done to deserve someone as caring as Jack Dalton. “I love you,” he whispered, a small smile on his face
Jack smiled back, the corners of his eyes and mouth crinkling slightly. “Love you too, Mac,” he said and kissed the younger man again.