*Public service announcement. I'M SORRY. The last couple of weeks, I've been super busy with life and then the World Series was on and I'm a DIE HARD Astros fan and HOLY CRAP WE WON! So Wednesday night the 1st of Nov, I went and stood in line to get WSC apparel till 4 A.M the next day, then I saw Thor Thursday night, (amazing btw), then work on Friday, and Saturday, Sunday is my day off but I finished my Murdoc story that I posted under Murdoc One-Shots, and now I'm determined to finish this one. Hopefully I'll be able to fit in time to write but most of the time I just write in long spurts so yeah. I was also moving into a rental house and we didn't have wifi for 2 weeks so… I've had this done for a while just, unable to upload it cause I don't have time to go to a internet cafe and use the wifi cause, ya know, work. Life. It's annoying. None of this makes actual sense does it? Oh well. This quote hit me right in my gut and seemed appropriate.

Words on a Turkish War Memorial to ANZAC troops at Gallipoli

"Those heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives, you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.

Therefore rest in peace.

There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side in this country of ours.

You, the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears, your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace.

After having lost their lives on this land they become our sons as well." - Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, 1934.

"He's not coming back son."

"You have feelings about the bomb. The bomb doesn't have feelings about you."

"You're so focused on what you think the problem is, you don't see what's hidden underneath."

"Come on Mac. Use that big brain of yours and help me get us out of this mess."

Mac woke up when Jack slapped him. He sluggishly brought his hand up to his cheek. "What the hell Jack?" He mumbled, having a hard time opening his eyes even though he was awake and alert. His left cheek was stinging, so he started rubbing it.

"Mac. Hey, you gotta wake up man. Medics'll kill me if I don't keep you conscious." Mac could see Jack's form. Well, part of it, and there were two of him.

"Jack. I'm, awake." Mac was getting frustrated at his lack of control over his body, and the slowness of his words.

"You wanna open those baby blues for me man?"

"Can't."

Jack paused, taking a long look at his friend. He grabbed his wrist and felt his quick pulse. "You can't open your eyes anymore?"

Mac slowly shook his head. His mind started whirling through what his problem could be, document all of his limitations. Droopy eyelids, muscle weakness starting from the top of his body, nausea, but fully conscious. His stomach dropped with dread when he figured it out. He immediately started going over his actions the last twenty-four hours, trying to figure out when he could have gotten the poison.

Jack, who had been staring at his friend intently for the past few minutes watching the wheels turn in Mac's head, noticed the already pale face go even whiter and grabbed his wrist again. "Mac?" He said in a small voice. "What's going through that big head of yours?"

Mac tried to speak but it came out as a croak. Another one of the signs. A decreased production of saliva causing dry mouth and throat. He slowly grasped Jack's hand weakly, needing some kind of lifeline to hold on to, to make sure he could still feel things, and that he wasn't alone. "Water." His voice was slurred. His tongue felt like it was slowly becoming numb.

"Hey, Box, can you find somethin' for Mac to drink?" Jack turned to the tall man in jeans and an army green t-shirt.

"Sure Jack. Anything for Hollywood." The man said with a smile, using Mac's army nickname.

Mac was confused. "Boxer's here?"

Jack turned to look at his friend, smiling even though Mac couldn't see it. "Yeah man. Who do you think secured the place till the cops got here? I got the whole gang together. I was gonna surprise you later for dinner. I know you've been having a rough time after coming back home, and I thought maybe seeing the guys might help a little. In hindsight that really may have not been the best idea, but it sure came in handy today."

Jack watched as Mac started laughing one second, then gasping, wrapping an arm around his middle the next. He watched in horrified fascination as Mac's face developed a strange look, almost like a cringe but he was unable to move his face, as he cried out softly in pain. "What's wrong?" Mac could barely hear Jack over the loud ringing in his ears. "Mac. Talk to me man."

Mac leaned back, suddenly aware of the bandage circling his bicep where his GSW was, and trying to take deep breaths. "Check on Bozer." Mac slurred out once again. "Think.. poisoned."

Jack felt the blood drain from his face. "With what Mac? What were you poisoned with?" Jack got a firm grip on his emotions and went full Delta operator on Mac when he failed to answer him. "MacGyver! Report. What were you poisoned with?"

Mac's military training kicked in when he heard Jack's command, reverting back to military speech. "Botulism sir. Possibly ingested at 0800 today." Mac tried to speak clearly, but it came out more like, "Btulsm sr. Posbly ingstd at 0800 tday." His tongue was beginning to feel like lead, and the urge to throw up once again was slowly growing. He tried to take another deep breath, but the air dried his throat even more, causing a coughing fit.

He hunched over, the hacking noises he was making worrying himself and Jack who had stood up to grab the bottle of water Box was handing to him, rapidly turning the cap to open it and kneeling back down in front of him. He gently eased Mac back to lean against the glass counter, putting the bottle to his lips. "Alright Mac. Drink up. But slowly." Mac obeyed, slowly sipping the water, but quickly realizing that his throat had swelled a little from his breakfasts second appearance.

The water calmed the coughing attack, making it easier for Mac to breathe. Jack pulled the bottle away from Mac's mouth, putting the cap back on and watching Mac's chest rise up and down harshly. "Jack."

"Yeah pal. I'm right here."

"Botulism. I won't be able to talk soon. When are the medics gonna get here?"

"Any minute, Mac. I'll call and see." Jack pulled out his phone and was about to call the ambulance when someone came bursting through the doors. Jack scrambled to his feet, grabbing his gun out of its sheath an aiming towards the noise. Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, he re-sheathed his gun and waved at the two paramedics. "Over here." He squatted down to Mac's eye level and gripped his knee. "The EMT's are here pal."

Jack moved over to the left to make room for them as the man rolled a stretcher with bag on it near Mac, set the bag down and started looking for something, and the woman knelt in front of Mac. "Alright. My name is Sally, this is Zach. Can you tell me what happened?"

Mac groaned when Sally gently took the bandage covering his wound off to get a better look at it. "He was shot roughly ten minutes ago, and he said he thinks he was poisoned with Botulism. I don't know when though." Jack answered. She nodded, motioning for the Zach to come over. "We need to get this shoulder wrapped and check for other injuries. Probable clostridium botulinum bacteria poisoning. Pulse is 98, eyelids drooping, have you experienced abdominal pain? Nausea or vomiting?"

"All of the above." Mac slurred yet again.

"Okay. We're gonna get you on a stretcher and strap you down. Is that alright?"

Mac tried to nod but found that moving his head made it throb, so he just hummed his agreement. While Sally got MacGyver on the ground, back down, Zach grabbed the hard plastic piece from the top of the stretcher and spread it open above Mac's head so the two halves were on either side of him. He moved the right, Sally moving to the left, and they carefully pushed the halves together underneath Mac. "We're going to lift you up and put you on the gurney, okay?" Sally said, placing a hand on Mac's calf in reassurance.

"Yeah. Jack." Mac mumbled out, trying to move his hand towards the man he was calling out for. Jack all but rocketed from his spot behind the paramedics over to Mac's side as Sally and Zach lifted up on either end of the board underneath him. "Hey pal. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." Jack watched as they laid the board on top of the gurney and spread it apart, gently letting Mac fall onto the plush part, never releasing his grip on Mac's hand.

Jack was having a hard time remembering that Mac was fully conscious and not about to pass out. As they were rolling Mac out, Bozer ran out from the blockade of bodies, seeing his friend being wheeled out on a gurney. "Mac! Jack what's wrong with Mac?" Bozer was shouting as he dashed from one side of the store to the other.

"I'm right behind you Mac okay? I gotta go talk to Bozer." He squeezed Mac's hand before releasing it. "You don't leave without me, got it? You don't go anywhere with him without me." He said to Zach who nodded as they went out the sliding glass doors. Jack caught Bozer at a full run by the shoulders, causing both Jack to stumble backwards a few steps.

"Jack! What're you doing? I need to go with Mac!" Bozer said, trying to push Jack out of the way.

"Hey hey hey. Boze. You can come with us, alright?" Bozer stopped struggling in Jack's grasp, finally stopping to listen to what Jack was saying. "But only on one condition okay? You have to do exactly what I say, even if it seems like strange. Alright?" Bozer gave Jack a wary glance.

"Fine, but why?"

Jack sighed, releasing his grip on Bozer's shoulders, and letting his own slump down. "The last time Mac was in a hospital was after a mission gone wrong. It wasn't pretty, and Mac barely made it out. The hospital stay was rough on Mac, and if he's fully awake, but can't actually communicate with us for a while. It might bring back some bad memories. If I say get out, then you get out of that room, got it?"

Bozer looked wary, but agreed. "Alright Jack. I'll 'follow orders'. I'll meet you at the hospital. I'm gonna drive my car over. I don't want to leave it here."

Jack gave Bozer's shoulder a squeeze before following him out the door and hopping in the back of the ambulance. "Alright Mac. Did these evil elf people annoy you to death with their nursing mumbo jumbo?" Jack heard Mac's sad attempt at laughter, before gasping for air. Sally turned and grabbed an oxygen mask, gently placing it over MacGyver's face. After a few deep breaths, Mac's body started relaxing and his breathing got easier.

"So. Botulism huh? You think you got it by accident? Or do you think someone poisoned you on purpose?"

Mac's tongue felt like it was made of lead, but managed to get out a 'second one' somewhat coherently. Jack looked at him with a small amount of fear in his eyes. "Do you know who?" Mac shook his head. No. He didn't know. But he figured the guy who shot him had something to do with it.

"Well, we'll figure it out once you can actually move your face again." Jack laughed a little and noticed the sides of Mac's mouth go up just a little. Jack kept rambling on, refusing to let Mac get lost in his big head, and didn't shut up until he was forced to wait outside Mac's room at the hospital. Jack grabbed a chair and sat right outside Mac's room, looking up over his shoulder at the smallest noise.

Thirty minutes later, the doctor came out of Mac's room. Jack quickly stood up, shoving his phone in his pocket and began asking about Mac. The doctor held up his hand. "He'll be alright. It will take a few days for the antidote to fully make its way through his system but we caught it early enough. We're going to sedate him and stitch up his arm, but nothing so far requires surgery."

Jack let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Sedatives work funny with him. You should up your normal dose. He won't stay out nearly as long as you think." Jack paused for a second. "Can, can I see him?"

"Sure. He's on oxygen, and the medication may make him tired, or it may make him hyper. It's different with everyone."

Jack rolled his eyes. "With his luck it'll make him hyper and he'll get stuck in his own head." He was about to push the door open when he paused. "Wait. When will the droopy face stuff go away?"

"Hopefully within the next couple of hours."

Glad to hear the good news, Jack nodded and opened the door to his partner's room. Mac was reclined up on the hospital bed, and IV in his left arm, a nasal canal on his face, his bicep freshly bandaged, and several wires poking out of the top of his hideous blue and white hospital gown. "Hey pal! How ya doin?"

If Mac could move, he would have rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah yeah. I know. You can't talk right now. You know, this is gonna be a very one-sided conversation, and you can't respond so that means, I can talk about whatever I want!" Jack flopped down on the chair next to Mac's bed. "And you can't stop me either." Jack grinned even though he knew Mac couldn't see. "So. I know you're not secret about your nerdyness, so I'm gonna assume you like Star Wars? Yes?" He looked at Mac for a few seconds. "I'm not hearing a no so I'm gonna take that as a yes. Alright. Let's get a few things straight. The original trilogy is a hundred times better than the prequels, Greedo shot first, and Star Wars is better than Star Trek. Also, just so we're clear, Die Hard and my man Bruce Willis is still my favorite. Personally, my favorite is A New Hope. Everyone is totally badass, and Vader, gah! Man. He is awesome." Jack paused, looking at his friend for a minute in silence. The monitor connected to Mac's chest started to beep faster, alerting Jack to his friends dislike of the lack sound.

"Hey. I'm still here buddy. What'da think. Should we watch Star Wars? I'm gonna see if they have it on this fancy TV." He reached for the remote which was on the tray on the other side of Mac's bed. Turning the TV on, he flipped through the list of movies they had. "Ah ha! They have episode 4! You good with that?" He looked over at Mac, who was starting to get annoyed with the one-sidedness of the conversation. "Didn't hear a no, so imma take that was a yes!" Pressing a few buttons, he finally got the movie to start.

Mac appreciated Jack's constant banter about stuff. It kept him grounded, even if he couldn't reply back. If he's being honest, Jack's jokes about Mac not being able to respond were kind of funny, if not annoying. He heard the opening scene, and pictured the yellow words scrolling on the screen as Jack read them out loud to him. As he listened to the movie, his other senses started working overtime. He could feel Jack's body heat sitting next to him, he could feel and hear the cool air blowing in through the ducts on the right wall, the pinch of the IV, the small weight of the sensors on his chest, and the gentle stream of oxygen coming in through the nasal canal that was pinching his nose.

Jack, noticing his partners heart rate and breathing going up, rested his arm next to Mac's on the bed as Darth Vader ordered his troops around the Tantive IV*. The presence of Jack's arm seemed to be calming Mac down, so Jack moved his hand over Mac's and curled his fingers around his palm, giving it a small reassuring squeeze.

They watched the remainder of the movie in silence, Jack often giving Mac's hand a squeeze to remind him that he was there, and Mac just let his brain get lost in the movie. He forgot about his lack of mobility, forgot someone had purposely drugged him earlier that day or the day before and he didn't have the smallest clue why, and just got lost in the world of Star Wars. He felt safe enough to relax with the familiar presence of Jack by his side.

Mac didn't even realize he had control over his eyelids when they started to close all the way as the adrenaline crash and the exhaustion of the day caught up with him, till he heard the loud crash of a metal tray falling onto the tile floor. His eyes flew open and he pulled his hands to his sides and sat up, breathing heavily.

The first thing he noticed was Jack's surprised expression, and Bozer, now sitting next to Jack. Jack stood up and grabbed Mac's good forearm. "Mac? Ha! Mac!" Jack pulled Mac's arm to him, and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, swaying back and forth, his laughter stemming from the release of nervous tension that had been filling the room since they had gotten there.

Mac returned the hug with fervor, burying his head in Jack's chest as he let loose the tears of fear that wouldn't come earlier. After a few moments, they released each other and Mac wiped his damp face, taking a deep breath and reigning in his emotions as Jack stepped back to let Bozer look at his friend. Mac smiled when he saw the huge goofy grin on his best friends face. "Hey Boze." Out of the blue Mac remembered leaving his friend in the clothing racks to go fight the gunman. "Are you okay?" Mac asked, giving his friend a worried once over. Bozer let out a short laugh. "Shouldn't I be asking you that question? You were just poisoned, and shot!" Mac gave him a sheepish look.

"I left you behind."

Bozer gave him a smiling glare. "Dude. If you hadn't left me behind I'd probably be dead! I'm just glad you're moving around again, and not stuck in some weird state of conscious unconsciousness." Bozer leaned down to hug Mac. Mac returned the hug, but corrected Bozer on his inaccurate description of Mac's symptoms. Bozer and Jack rolled their eyes in sync, making Mac smile, before a nurse walked in with a clipboard and a syringe.

Mac's smile vanished when he noticed the syringe and the nurse getting closer. "So, I see you have mobility now. Is there any limitations that you notice? Any pain?" Mac shook his head to both, looking at her with distain and a small touch of fear. Jack laid a hand on Mac's shoulder in a calming gesture. The nurse marked something on her chart and set it down on the table next to Mac's bed.

"This is a sedative to help you sleep." She said, taking the syringe and putting the end into Mac's IV drip port.

"I don't need a sedative!" Mac said, moving over to the side of the bed with the IV pole as if to stop her. Jack held his shoulder back, preventing Mac from moving too far. The nurse gave him a sideways glance and a smile as she pulled the syringe out and disposed of it. She came to the side of the bed and looked at Mac in the eyes. "Yes. You do. You were just poisoned with botulism, and your body needs time to recover and heal." She put a hand on top of his and looked him in the eyes. "Get some rest. The better you're doing the sooner you can leave." She smiled and left the room with the clipboard and a smile.

Jack looked back at Mac who was trying to fight the urge to lay down and sleep for a week. His eyelids were dropping closed, but in a good way this time. Mac felt his limbs go limp and he would have crashed into the back of the bed, but Jack caught him and slowly laid him down, being careful not to hit his injured bicep or the IV.

"I'm gonna go grab something from the cafeteria. You want something?" Bozer asked, sensing Jack needed a minute alone with Mac. "Sure. Just get me something with meat." Bozer gave a small smile before exiting the room.

Jack looked down at the sleeping form of his brother. He ran a hand though the blonde locks and moved them out of Mac's face. "You're going to be the death of me one day." Jack grinned, the realization of the horrible situation being over and sat down next to Mac's bed, hoping to get a few moments of peace before being barraged with questions by his former team.

When Bozer walked back in the room with a burger for Jack, he found them both asleep. Not wanting to disturb them, he quietly placed the burger on the tray near Mac's bed and exited the room with a smile and a shake of his head.

*Tantive IV is the name of the ship at the beginning of the A New Hope. Star Wars nerd.

Okay. You guys had better appreciate this chapter. Do you know how many hours I spent researching EMT and hospital protocols, like 3 hours alone just on Botulism, and picking my family and friends brains on procedures inside a ambulance and emergency rooms, and I'm sure I screwed something up anyways. Seriously. My brain is gonna explode, and my F&F aren't gonna talk to me for a while cause I annoyed them to no end question after question. And by the way, Botulism used to be fatal around 90% percent of the time, but with advanced technology the death rate is only 6%.