Not by blood, but by fire and water

Chapter 17

Every breath hurt. The only thing Jack was aware of was pain.

Mac's partner gently shook beneath his outstretched arms. Every moan and groan from Jack felt like a physical blow. Even though he knew that putting pressure on the wound was helping to stop the bleeding, he would never forgive himself for the pain he was causing his friend.

Jack thought he heard his friends voice, but he couldn't be sure, due to the roaring in his ears. He forced his eyes open, only managing to raise them halfway, blinking slowly to clear the haze and recognized the look on his partners face immediately. He knew it well, he had seen it many times. Guilt was clearly written on the younger agent's face.

The kid quickly bent his head and swiped the side of his face along his sleeve to remove the evidence of tears. He couldn't hide the tell tale red puffy appearance of his eyes though. Mac had been crying. 'Shit...I must've really scared him.'

He heard the soft humming then and forced himself to focus on his best friend.

The tune gave him something else to hone in on instead of the raging monster of pain that threatened to consume him.

"Ha… real funny… Lean On Me… Bill Withers," Jack forced out, his voice shaky. He tried to smile, but it came across more like a grimace. Every pause contained more grunts and gasps for air.

"I thought you would appreciate the twisted humor in my choice," Mac smiled wryly.

"Alright… I've got one…" Jack had heard the song Brother, by the band NeedToBreathe, awhile back and had instantly thought of Mac.

Jack's pained grunts and gasps made it hard to listen to his friend struggle through the first few verses.

It seemed as though it was becoming harder and harder for him to get enough air. The frequent shallow breaths told Mac that his friend was running out of time.

"You win, I definitely have never heard that song before," Mac admitted in defeat. He cut him off before he finished the song partly because he didn't want Jack to have to struggle so much for air and also because he knew he had never heard it before. "Who is it by?" Mac asked, genuinely curious.

"Needtobreath" Jack answered.

"Oh, I'm sorry, man. You're right, you should take a break for awhile and catch your breath." Mac apologized.

"No no..." Jack said flashing a smile. "That's the name... of the band... The song was Brother... by… by Needtobreathe."

"Oh…" Mac replied sheepishly. "I think it's time I check on the wound, okay?"

Jack answered with a nod.

Mac let off some pressure, Jack reached out simultaneously to grasp his partners wrist, albeit somewhat weakly, and locked pleading eyes with his partner. "Hurts," Jack uttered, desperate for Mac to help him.

Macs heart clenched at the admission. Jack wasn't the type to admit he was hurting.

It was as if the steady weight applied to the wound had somewhat numbed the injured nerves, so when Mac had begun removing said weight, those nerves woke back up again, with vengeance. Even though he knew his best friend wasn't actually ripping off his skin, his pain receptors were convinced otherwise.

"I'm sorry big guy, I'll slow it down a bit."

Jack's gaze was that of complete trust, a trust that Mac didn't necessarily feel like he deserved at the moment.

Another long drawn out pained growl ripped from Jack's throat, and he was left panting in its wake. His eyes were unfocused and his head rolled from side to side listlessly.

The fresh misery sucked the air from his lungs. He couldn't pull it back in fast enough. Burgeoning panic sprouted in his chest as his vision started to blur.

"Jack, hey buddy, I need you to try to slow down your breathing. Take a few deep breaths for me, okay?" Jack, still oblivious to his requests, didn't respond.

Mac cupped the sides of his friends bruised and bloodied face. "Dammit Jack listen to me!"

His partners plea seeped into his conscious and deep brown eyes locked onto bright blue ones. He felt Jack's grip tighten on his wrist and watched as he worked to gain control over his breathing again.

"That's it big guy, slow and easy." His partners respirations were nowhere near slow and easy, but they were better and that's the best he could hope for until his friend received medical attention.

Mac carefully lifted the blood soaked cloth that served as a bandage. Relief flooded through him. "Thank God! It's stopped bleeding." Mac exhaled a breath he had been holding and smiled down at his friend.

Jack could feel his life fading. He knew if their ride didn't show soon it would be too late. He let go of his friend's wrist and reached for his hand and Mac took it without hesitation.

"Thanks kid," Jack rasped.

"For what?" Mac asked, furrowing his brow.

"For ev-... everything," His expression was serious.

"You would do the same for me. Hell, you have done the same for me."

"I thank the man upstairs everyday... that he gave me you. I love you brother," A tear slipped out of the corner of his eye and disappeared into the salt and pepper hair at his temple. Jack's voice broke at the wounded look in his best friends eyes.

White hot anger flared when Mac realized what the older agent was doing.

"Don't you dare say goodbye to me!" Mac responded vehemently.

He could feel the fear of losing Jack wrapping its tendrils through his chest and around his throat, strangling him. "A long time ago you promised me you wouldn't leave me like everyone else important in my life - you promised me Jack!"

His voice had started out just above a whisper, softened by the stricken expression on his friends face, then rose in volume to get the point across. His vision blurred, he hadn't even realized he had been crying until then.

He knew he was being irrational, that Jack wasn't purposefully trying to leave him, but he didn't care. He felt like that scared little five year old boy again. If Jack died his heart wouldn't just break, it would shatter.

"I know kid... and there is no way… I would leave you… not as long as I have a say. You know that," Jack gave the kids hand a little squeeze.

"I know," Mac said softly, dropping his head down. He knew Jack wouldn't ever leave him if he had a choice. His mom didn't have a choice either and he missed her fiercely.

The ringing in his pocket snapped his attention back to the present situation.

"Riley how much longer to exfil?"

"It's about ten minutes out Mac, but there's a problem. I've got eyes on your location and I see four trucks headed your way."

"How long until they get here?" Mac questioned, his nerves on edge.

"They are about five minutes out Mac."

To be continued...