Not by blood, but by fire and water

Chapter 4

Thank you to all that have reviewed! I'm still blown away by how nice you all have been and how much you like the story so far. Thank you to Lifeart for being my beta for this story, you are amazing! All remaining mistakes are mine. Here we go...

"Shit," Jack muttered under his breath. He and Mac glanced at each other and shared a look of dread, this was really going to suck.

Sinclair pushed a rolling metal table into the room. The table contained numerous devices of torture, among those items, Jack saw one particular device that made him sick to his stomach. A picana.

The picana was essentially a cattle prod powered by your average car battery. It delivered a very painful non-lethal shock and was made specifically to inflict pain on its victims in order to extract information. Jack hated electric shocks.

His hatred and fear stemming from an incident on his uncle's ranch in northern New Mexico when he was a kid. (Snow had drifted over an electric fence and young Jack had straddled the fence. The snow had acted as a conductor and shocked little Jack in a very sensitive area. His uncle had found the whole thing quite humorous, Jack, however, had not.)

Alex roughly pulled a rag over Jack's face, covering his eyes, mouth, and nose, tying it tightly behind the former Deltas head.

Water boarding isn't the worst kind of torture Jack could imagine, in fact he held a record, set during an interrogation training exercise at "The Farm" for holding his breath for three minutes and fifty seven seconds, but it isn't just about holding your breath. When it came to waterboarding, the trick was to slow your heart rate, slowly pull in air whenever you could, and don't panic. It is easier said than done.

Jack felt hands on his shoulders suddenly shoving him backwards, his metal framed chair slamming against the concrete floor. Jack flexed his neck to keep his head from bouncing off the concrete. He took a few deep breaths to calm his rapid heart rate. Focusing on his breathing, he felt the beats begin to slow.

Ice cold water splashed on his chest, quickly drawing in a breath before the water saturated the rag on his face and made it nearly impossible to breathe. The frigid water felt like hundreds of needles were sticking in his skin, and the shock of the icy water made his heart rate increase. He had to concentrate to get it under control again. Blocking out the sensation of the water trying to force its way up his nostrils, Jack pictured him and Mac relaxing by the fire pit, feet kicked up, and drinking a beer after another successful mission.

Jack gripped the ends of the wooden armrests that were bolted to the chair. He was going to need a breath soon. He jerked his head to the side, trying to suck in air even if it was just a little. The soaked rag over his face made it nearly impossible to get any air without water coming in with it. He sucked in a partial breath greedily while spitting out the water that got in.

"Jack!" He heard his partner calling for him with worry thick in his tone. His heart was pounding in his ears and getting louder. The water, coming in a steady stream from the hose, unrelenting in its assault. Jack tossed his head from side to side trying to escape the stream long enough to pull in more life sustaining air.

"Jack," Mac called, watching helplessly as his partner fought for air, worry for his friend and anger towards their captor growing by the second. He looked at the asshole, who was torturing his best friend. Mac wanted to kill him when he saw the twisted grin and gleam in Sinclair's eyes. Hearing Jack choke, Mac jerked his focus back to his partner. "Jack!" He called out desperately. Jack continued to cough and suck in more water.

Mac unconsciously pulled at his restraints. If he told Sinclair where the hard drive was, the man would have no reason to keep them alive. Mac's brain worked in overdrive, desperately trying to figure out how to help his friend.

Jack's lungs were burning, his brain starting to get fuzzy. His chest was expanding, trying to pull in air, and his head was thrashing from side to side trying to escape the water long enough to get a breath. His need for air overriding his brain, Jack opened his mouth to pull in the much needed oxygen, immediately choking when all he got was water. He tried to force out the water with the small amount of air that was still left in his lungs by flexing his diaphragm for all it was worth. He inhaled again, getting in some much needed air but with more water that he had hoped for. More coughing followed.

"Enough Sinclair, I'll talk," Mac said resolutely.

Distantly Jack heard his friend say something, but the pounding in his ears prevented him from hearing what it was. The light Jack could see through the rag was starting to dim. He fought hard to keep the oblivion at bay and pulled in another breath, this time getting mostly just air. Sputtering and coughing again he noticed distantly that the water had stopped. The rag was yanked from his face. Jack squinted at the brighter light, his chest heaving, trying to pull in more blessed air. Coughing up the last of the water he took in, Alex and Levi grabbed the back of Jack's chair and lifted him upright.

Mac looked at his partner. The water had washed most of the dried blood away, making the bruises and gashes on his face stand out in contrast to Jack's pale skin. "Thanks for the bath, I needed that," Jack said hoarsely, still managing a smirk.

Sinclair walked over to stand in front of Mac. "Okay Mr. MacGyver, you were saying?"

Jack looked over to his friend, confusion written on his face. He had clearly missed something while he was fighting for air a moment ago.

Mac glanced over at Jack, his eyes trying to tell Jack that he was sorry. He looked back at his captor, "I'll tell you where it is, if you let Jack go."

To be continued...