Not by blood, but by fire and water

Chapter 9

He was freezing and starting to shiver, unsure if it was from temperature, fever, or blood loss, hell maybe all the above. He tried to hide the involuntary movements as best as he could because his partner was already visibly worried about him.

His job was to protect Mac and sometimes he had to protect him from himself. The kid, when left to his own devices, had a bad habit of replaying everything that happened and finding fault in himself. He had that look on his face now.

"You cold?" Mac asked suddenly looking at Jack intently.

"Not too bad," Jack lied. Mac saw right through it.

"Did that piñata zap any ideas into that big swollen head of yours?" Jack asked in an attempt to deflect the attention off himself.

"It's a picana, Jack and no, sorry." Mac replied, hanging his head. Mac felt guilty for not being able to get them out of their predicament.

"You've got nothing to be sorry about kid, none of this is your fault. Hey, I'm serious man, stop beating yourself up." Jack demanded.

"I don't think we are going to make it out of this one, Jack," Mac said with his head still downcast.

Jack hated the look of defeat on his friends face. "Mac…" Jack paused, not really knowing what to say, when the large metal door swung open with a clang and Sinclair strode in and was closely followed by Alex.

"How delightfully adorable!" The arms dealer declared, gesturing towards Jack's left arm, where Mac's fingers were still resting. Mac jerked his fingers back to grip on the wooden arm rest of his chair, cursing his fuzzy brain for showing weakness.

"My my my... Mr. Dalton, you are not looking well." Sinclair stated with an evil grin.

"At least I have an excuse." Jack shot back.

Sinclair backhanded Jack with a closed fist, opening the split on his lip again.

Even through the pounding of his head, Jack smiled back at their captor. He watched as a switch flipped in Sinclair's eyes, giving way to a maniacal unhinged focus.

Sinclair throttled Jack in the face before stomping over to the table and retrieving the knife. "I've really been looking forward to this, after all, I only need one of you alive." Standing to the side and behind Jack, he grabbed the agents hair and yanked it back, exposing the vulnerable, tender skin under his jaw.

Mac had a front row seat to the worst nightmare his subconscious could conjure. He was going to watch his best friend die right in front of him and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He saw the knife pressing into the soft flesh under Jack's jaw so hard that blood started to trickle down his neck and gather in the hollow of his collarbone. Tears threatened to spill at the overwhelming emotion of what was about to happen.

Jack felt the cold steel against his feverish skin and briefly wondered if he had maybe pushed this guy too far. Jack grimaced and looked down through his lashes and found his friend staring at him with a horrified expression.

Jack's heart broke for the kid. "Don't watch this, brother… Please."

He was always trying to protect Mac even at the end. The tears spilled then and Mac desperately tried to find the words to convey how much Jack meant to him, but he couldn't. Jack seemed to understand though and said, "It's okay bud, me too." A tear streaked down the side of Jack's face and he tried to put on a comforting smile. Mac started to turn away from Jack to honor his friends wishes.

"This is all very touching, but," the door slammed against the wall with a loud bang as Levi came rushing in.

Mac jumped at the sound of the heavy door rebounding off the concrete wall and looked back to see Levi whisper in Sinclair's ear.

Frustration grew on Sinclair's face as he listened to Levi. "Incompetent fools!" Sinclair shouted pulling the knife away from Jack's throat and letting go of his hair. The arms dealer looked down at the knife in his hand and flipped it over so the hilt was pointing up then thrust it down into Jack's arm near the wrist, embedding into the wooden armrest underneath, then he stormed out of the room to the sound of his prisoner's howl of pain.

To be continued…