#lailuh writes

[lailuhhh]

Surprise + Bozer

Jack can see Mac needs a little pick-me-up. It would've gone fine if Mac didn't see and assume the worst

Read it here!

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[lailuhhh]

Desertion + Jack + Death

People never stayed for long in Mac’s life. He didn’t know why he thought Jack would be any different

Or

What if Jack left for the Kovac’s mission before the show started?

Read it here!

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[lailuhhh]

Happy Wednesday have some wip

They were all unprepared.

Mac and Jack hadn’t spoke to each other, no more than asking simple questions— you okay?— and getting simple answers— yeah, thanks.

The ride to the airport was— tense? Or awkward. They had been sitting nearly an arms length apart, with nothing but air between them, yet it felt like there was a wall, or like a layer of water that made everything just look wrong. They were there; same two people just like always, but they were changed in every way thinkable.

Actually getting on to the jet was worse. Jack was hovering, making sure Mac got up the steps alright and was comfortable in the seat he picked, and Jack didn’t know where to go from there. Normally he would’ve sat right across from him, or diagonal so they could chat or help each other decompress from the recent mission. Jack didn’t know where he belonged anymore.

“You can sit there.” Mac’s own voice still had a heavy sedated tone. The doctor had sent him on his way with the strongest painkillers he could for the trip home.

[lailuhhh]

Hi I’m excited about this

Shoutout @bold-and-nosy because this owns my soul

“Mac, even if you’d’ve gone with, there’s no guarantee… you could be the one that died, or both of you.”

“That would be better than this.”

Mac regretted the words as soon as they exited his mouth. He didn’t feel like that, did he…? The thought of dying wasn’t really new to him, as sad as that was. That was just the first time he said it out loud. He recalled times when they were both younger and just talked about life; Bozer having plans to be a big time director, but— Mac never really had plans. He never dreamed big or thought was his life would be like in the future.

He never thought his life would have a future.

There was a single time in the sandbox where Mac accidentally let it slip, when he and Jack were arguing about keeping him safe.

“What the fuck have I told you ‘bout runnin’ off to where I can’t see ya? You want a bullet in yet head? Got a fuckin’ death wish?”

“Not like you could do anything if I did.”

It was tense between then for a long while after that. After a few days, Jack had managed to corner him

“You… dude, I need you to talk to me if you feel like that, hell, talk to anyone if you feel like that. Doin’ what we do fucks with yer head, and that fucks with us tryin’ to do our job. Don’t say anythin’ ‘bout me tryin’ to keep my perfect streak goin’. Hell with that. Yer life is more important than any stupid statistic. Believe it or not, I kinda like and enjoy havin’ you around, so if there’s somethin’ I can do to help with her inner turmoil, tell me. I know I can jabber on and on ‘bout pretty much anythin’, but I do know when to shut up and listen.”

He started noticing Jack just— being more. Whenever he was in a bad mood, Jack would trail on about something nonsensical, or when he went for a run to blow off steam, Jack would be right beside him, or when he just overall didn’t feel right, Jack would sit there and place a comforting hand on the back of his neck.

Jack was always there to stave off the feeling. Now that he was gone, it had come back in full force.

“You can’t say that, man.” Bozer’s voice cracked. “I know, I know it hurts, but you can’t think like that. I swear to you, it’s gonna hurt for a long time, but it will get better.”

He’s been hearing that line his entire life. When his mom died. When his dad left. When his grandfather died. Even his classmates at MIT when his grades slipped. But every instance, it just sent him further into a pit in which he couldn’t get out of. He knew he hit the bottom when he joined the army, subconsciously hoping that put would become his grave. He was so tired of trying to get out of it every single day.

Then a rope was thrown over the side.

Mac didn’t believe what it was, ignored it for a very long time because he didn’t trust it. Then one day it disappeared, slowly pulled back up, never to be seen again. Until— it was around his torso, in the way of a lasso, pulling him up. Of course there were snags and times he resisted, but he eventually got pulled to the top.

And Jack was standing there. Pulling the rope up like Mac weighed nothing at all.

It stayed around his chest for a while, keeping him close when he got near the pit’s edge, always pulling him back before getting dragged back in. Before he knew it, he’d walked away from it, side by side with Jack. The rope had come off, sitting attached to Jack’s belt. When Mac did venture closer to the pit, or step and get stuck in smaller ones, the thing that pulled him out was Jack’s hand, clasped in his.

Then Jack had to leave.

Mac got stuck in a small hole, one he could easily get out of himself, and did eventually, and kept walking along.

Then Jack died.

And a hole into the earth opened up, and he fell right into it.

“When?”

[lailuhhh]

Been a while have some wip

“Hey! We gotta get outta here!”

Mac wouldn’t be able to outrun the water to the end and cross, nor would be be able to just cross it normally. Not only was a river formed in mere seconds, the debris it was carrying was definitely a problem. Not to mention rain starting one more time as he was thinking it. It was like Mother Nature just giving him the finger.

And on top of everything else, the fact he was able to literally go under one of the buildings to look for the IED heavily implied it wasn’t all too stable in the first place and, if the water kept rising, it was likely it would fall— and the others would most likely follow.

Mac didn’t have anything on his person that would help, nor did he think there was anything in the humvee he could ask for. From the sweep he and Jack did of a few buildings, it was highly unlikely there would be anything in any of them he could use either.

For all intents and purposes, Mac was stuck.

“There’s no way for me to get over to you! I’d be swept away if I took two steps in!”

The only reasonable thing that seemed somewhat doable was to just wait until something cleared up a bit. Or—

“You can try and get in contact with the base. They should have a bird that could prove helpful.”

“Can’t hurt to try. You stay right there! Imma grab the satellite phone from the ‘vee.”

Not like he could go anywhere else. The only real direction was backwards.

Just as Jack left to get it, the thought of a bird being able to fly in that weather was most likely slim. It wasn’t the most horrible weather, but birds outfitted to travel in the desert wouldn’t do the greatest in the opposite. Not to mention the pilot and their skills.

A few minutes had passed before Jack reappeared, annoyed frown marring his face. “They said their bird can’t fly right now! The weather’s too janked. They said the best they could do was for a quick dry spell and fly out, or have someone drive to meet us with the equipment to get you over here. Either of those would take hours, and we might not even need them anymore.”

It was frustrating. Many aspects of the job were. Then there was a boom. It was a sound Mac was used to hearing, along with a few others. There was the initial shock, the scare of something unexpected happening. The building Mac was first at dealing with the IED had collapsed, chunks and pieces of it’s walls flying in any direction from a would’ve explosion that was the IED he didn’t get to dismantle.

The water was displaced for seconds before it went right back to it’s flow, only increasing greatly from the new found destruction.

At least the IED was taken care of.

Or—

At least that IED was taken care of.

[lailuhhh]

This is for @lupinescribbler 👉🏻👈🏻🫣🫣

Jack was panicking.

All the years they worked together, all the missions, all the close and extremely close calls they had, they didn’t hold a candle to that moment.

There were procedures to help with those situations, other teams that would be sent in to finish the job, or be there as backup at least.

Jack knew of the procedures, was used to them and had been apart of them for other teams. He knew the steps that were being taken, and with how important that mission was, he knew that they would choose to prioritize finishing it and not deal with what was happening.

That’s why Jack was panicking. They didn’t deem the situation dire.

They didn’t deem Mac being MIA dire.

That wasn’t something Jack wouldn’t be able to stand. There’d been too many people in Mac’s life that pawned him off, saying he wasn’t worth the trouble or that he was too much effort. Too many people that just road him off as just another person who would die in the line of duty, someone who would become another statistic and a name on a plaque somewhere.

Mac had been through too much to be written off and forgotten. He was too important.

Which is why Jack as willing to risk everything to make sure he found Mac and brought him back. He didn’t care about any consequences that were in his future. The only thing that mattered in his life from that moment on was finding Mac, alive, and bringing him back.

So Jack packed up everything he needed and slipped away, a single goal in mind, and he wouldn’t be back until he completed it.

[lailuhhh]

Mac + Panic + Jack

It was the same thing day in and day out; watch for enemies. Jack thought he was always on alert, always had his guard up, so in reality it was his fault it happened, but that didn’t stop Mac from placing the guilt on himself

Or

Jack get stabbed

Read it here!

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[lailuhhh]

Paint + Training + Ball

In field training was a sort of regular occurrence to get newer deployed soldiers acclimated to what the real thing was like, minus the actual danger of losing a life. Too bad Mac didn’t get the memo

Or

Mac gets… shot?

Read it here!

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works