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Mac was restless. This is why he hated flying commercial. Crying babies, people who didn’t know what deodorant was, a complete lack of personal space, and so many other things made it obnoxious. He couldn’t relax, and his mind was running too much to watch a movie or something with the inflight entertainment program. Mac couldn’t stop thinking about what Jack had said, that maybe Mac should stay in Boston. Did Jack really mean that? Did Jack really think that Mac should stay? At first, Mac had thought that Jack was being insecure about their partnership, but now he realized that maybe Jack was trying to tell him that he didn’t want to be his partner anymore. Maybe Jack really did blame him for what happened to his arm, and that was the final straw. Maybe his arm was just enough to push Jack over the edge to not want Mac around anymore.
All these thoughts and more kept swirling around in his head as he twisted and turned, trying to make himself comfortable. Matty had even said that maybe the two of them weren’t a good fit as partners. That was the second time she had insinuated that maybe their skills could be better used somewhere else, and it freaked Mac out. What would he do if he didn’t have Jack with him? He had always been able to count on Jack even more than he could count on Newton’s laws of physics, but if Jack was feeling too fed up with him, maybe he was wrong. If Jack was gone for even a day, Mac wouldn’t know which way to turn. He was lost without him. Maybe that was unhealthy but Mac didn’t really care. He just hoped that Jack wasn’t being serious, that he didn’t actually think that Mac should stay in Boston. Because if he did, Mac didn’t know what he’d do.
“Dude, stop twisting all around. I’m tryin’ to sleep,” Jack said, interrupting his musings. Mac sighed.
“Sorry, I’ve just got a lot on my mind,” Mac replied in a quiet tone. He fiddled with his hands as if he were searching them for a paper clip, his head down. Jack straightened up and opened his eyes, ready to give his partner his full attention.
“You okay, man?” he asked, his eyes full of concern. That just confused Mac even more. If Jack really was concerned about him, why would he want him gone? None of it made sense to Mac.
“I just can’t stop thinking about a couple things. What you said being one of them...” he trailed off, taking only a quick glance at Jack. He didn’t want the man to think he was doubting him, because really, he was doubting himself. He was doubting his ability to not make people want to leave him. Everyone seemed to leave him eventually. He guessed it was just part of himself that eventually repelled everyone.
“What do you mean what I said? What did I say?” Jack asked, his concern clearing rising, along with Mac’s confusion.
“What you said about me staying in Boston. Were you trying to say that-“ he stopped, looking away for a moment to keep his emotions in check. It had been a long few days, and he hadn’t let himself get emotional about any of it, but he knew that eventually he wouldn’t be able to hold it back anymore. “Were you trying to say you want me to stay in Boston? That you don’t want to be my partner anymore?” He stopped again for a brief moment when Jack’s eyes widen, but didn’t give the man a chance to respond. “Because I’m so so sorry about your arm, I didn’t mean for that to happen. I’m so sorry about everything. If I could go back in time-“
“Stop, you stop right there,” Jack interrupted, his voice firm. Mac stared up at him with his own wide eyes. He knew his eyes were betraying every emotion he was trained to hide, but he never could hide anything from Jack. “Now you listen to me, kid, and you listen well. I have never and I will never not want to be your partner. I don’t know where you got that crazy notion that I don’t want you around anymore, but I can guarantee you that you haven’t ever been more wrong about anything in your life. I could never leave your side, no matter what I say. If I wanted to leave I would be gone by now. Why would I have come all the way out to Boston to be there for you if I didn’t want to be your partner? Why would I risk life and limb to keep you safe if I didn’t care about you? Mac, listen to me. You are the only thing in this world I would die without. Do you not get how important you are to me? I have been watchin’ your back for a long time now, and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon. When I said that maybe you should stay, I was only trying to think about what’s best for you, not what I want.”
“But what’s best for me is to work at Phoenix with you,” Mac quickly replied. He had blushed at Jack’s rare fully emotional admission of his love for Mac, and had once more reminded him of the occasional quips he heard from others that they were codependent, but he tried to push it out of his mind with the rest of his swirling emotions.
“And that’s all I want. As long as I get to protect your scrawny butt, I’ll be a happy man, and don’t you ever forget it. We’ve been over this before and we’ll go over it again, but I’m not leavin’ you, ever. That’s a promise, Mac. A promise.”
Jack’s eyes searched deep into his, showing only the truth. He would never lie to Mac.
“Even if Matty makes you?” he whispered, just barely audible over all the other sounds of the plane.
“What do you mean? Is she planning something and didn’t tell me?” Jack asked, his voice rising.
“Well,” Mac started, his voice hesitant. “When you were in medical, Matty said that maybe we weren’t meant to be partners, that maybe I need a partner who understood more science and maybe you need one that’s a more typical agent. We didn’t finish the conversation because then I got the phone call about Frankie,” he finished. That was just another thing that made this one of the crappiest weeks he’d had in a while.
“And is that what you think we need?” Jack replied.
“No!” Mac shot back, suddenly turning straight towards his partner, a fire in his eyes. “Working with you is all I want, that’s all I need.”
Jack smiled, saying, “then consider it done. When we get back to LA, I’ll have a little chat with our dear director and let her know that that’s never gonna happen. Haven’t we had this conversation before? I’d rather move to North Korea than stop being your partner.”
“Well you couldn’t very well be my partner from a communist dictatorship,” Mac mumbled, a small grin on his face.
“You’re missing the point, brother,” Jack said, taking his good arm to give Mac a light swat.
“No. No I think I’ve got it. Thanks Jack.” Mac turned to face his partner again. “For everything.”
“Always, kiddo. Always.” Jack ruffled Mac’s hair, earning him a small swat and a weak glare in return, along with a smile.
His mind calmed, Mac was finally able to relax, and get some sleep. And if in a few hours time when the plane landed, his head was found resting against Jack’s shoulder, who was to know?
...
Jack gripped the steering wheel as hard as he could with one hand. He may have been acting fine with Mac on the plane, but what the kid said had set his veins on fire. Matty just didn’t get it. He and Mac were partners, and nothing short of God Himself could change that. So the first thing he did after Mac dropped him off at his car by the airstrip Phoenix used for their jets, was drive straight back to HQ. He knew Matty would still be there.
People moved out of Jack’s way at the sight of his glare. Normally, most everyone loved Jack. He was generally pretty happy go lucky, but his eyes could kill. Jack’s whole body was tense as he stormed into Matty’s office. He didn’t care that her aid had told him he couldn’t just walk in. He didn’t care that he was interrupting the director. All he cared about was his kid and if Matty went through with her threat to split them up, he wouldn’t be able to protect him.
“Agent Dalton!” Matty scolded as Jack walked up to her desk in long strides, a scowl firmly fixed on his face. At least she hadn’t been in the middle of a phone conversation or anything.
“We need to talk. Now,” he said, deadly serious. Matty returned his glare.
“Clearly, because manners are lost on you. You’re supposed to knock before you open a door, Dalton,” she sneered.
“I’m not in the mood, Matilda. There’s something you don’t seem to understand, and that’s gonna change tonight,” Jack said, tapping his finger to her desk in emphasis. Matty continued to glare at him, but didn’t move from her position behind her desk.
“Then enlighten me, because clearly you think you know more than I do.”
Jack took a deep breath before he started. “You will never split me and Mac apart. I may not understand all of his science jargon, but I understand him. I know that kid better than anyone in the world, I know him better than I know myself, and you are never gonna find someone that can be as good of a partner to him as I can. I know I’m far from perfect and I’ve failed that kid more than he deserves, but I have spends years, years, breakin’ down that kid’s walls and gettin’ him to trust me. If you reassign us, all of that is wasted. He won’t trust whoever you pair with him the way he trusts me. He trusts me more than I deserve, but I’ll be damned before I do anything to break that trust. If you reassign us, that forces me to leave him, which breaks everything. I am never leaving him. I promised him that, and I promised myself that. No matter what happens, I am never leaving that kid. Ever,” he finished, pleading with his eyes for Matty to just understand and leave well enough alone. He took another deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. It wouldn’t help anyone if he couldn’t control his emotions.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Jack,” she replied softly. At the rising anger in Jack’s eyes, she quickly continued, “that’s not to say that I plan on splitting you two apart in the immediate future, because I don’t. But I do think that this most recent incident with your arm does show that there’s room for improvement.” Matty relaxed back into her chair, seemingly calm, despite the anger still radiating off Jack in waves.
“You are never gonna find someone who loves that kid as much as I do, and you’ll never find something I love more than that kid.” Jack didn’t know what else to say. He had bared his heart to the woman, and could only hope that she wouldn’t do something stupid and lose two agents for it.
“I know,” she said, almost sympathetically. “Go home, rest. I’m not moving anyone around today.”
Jack only nodded in response, still hesitant to believe the woman’s response. That had seemed too easy, but then again, maybe it was all only an empty threat in the first place. Jack turned to leave. He guessed it didn’t really matter much anyway. As much as he and Mac adored their job, they would rather be together than apart, which meant that they would be seeking new employment if Matty reassigned them. No matter what they did, they did it together.
And that was a promise Jack intended on keeping.