Chapter 2

"I'm okay ... Dad." But he wasn't okay at all. It was patently clear that Mac was in a great deal of pain. His fist rested over his chest, his eyes closed and jaw clenched, and Keith could see even in the dim lights of the parking lot that there was some bleeding. Maybe the Marines had been justified in releasing Mac.

Keith shifted so that his side and back were against the hood of the car. This way he could at least touch Mac's leg. It wasn't enough but for now it would have to be.

"Shannon, it's okay." He stroked the young girl's hair, feeling just as protective over her as he had for Jethro when they had first met. "Just let me in and tell me what you're thinking."

Shannon looked down at Mac so still, curled up to try and protect himself, and felt awful. "Oh goodness, what did I do? I didn't mean to do that. It wasn't him; it shouldn't have been him. I don't wanna hurt anyone; I'm just angry and scared. Jethro, he's supposed to be mine. He takes care of me, I need him and I don't want him to send me away."

"It's okay, honey. You reacted. You didn't mean it. I just hope you haven't done my boy any major damage. He was badly hurt, you know." Keith continued to stroke the young woman's hair. "You don't need to be frightened. Jethro may not be yours but he is a man of honor and will take care of you. But Shannon, know this. In my family you are not allowed to strike out at anyone. You will make this up to Mac when things are calmer."

Keith led her over to his own rental and sat her on the hood. "Start thinking about your apology to Mac, Shannon. He deserves it. I'm going to go over there to check on my wife and son."

He took off his coat and wrapped it around her. "You stay here, young woman. We have a lot of talking to do."

Shannon pulled the coat around her tight. She had to make all of this up to Mac and her family, she just didn't know how she was going to do it yet.

Jethro knelt down next to Emily, helping her up. "Mom, are you okay? I'm so sorry, should have done this differently. This is all my fault, I screwed it up big time."

"Jethro, you can't take responsibility for everything. You aren't at fault, Shannon needs to know what she did was wrong and she's the one who needs to be apologizing. She and I will be talking about manners and I can promise you she won't be doing something like that again."

Taking the offered assistance, Emily brushed her pants off. "Go to Mackai, he needs you more than I do. Be careful with him Jethro. He's not healthy, we're going to need to get him to the hospital. We can't take any chance, because I'm not going to lose him tonight."

"Lose him?" Keith spoke in an undertone, checking his wife over carefully. "Are you hurt? What do you mean? He's not healthy? Is there something I should know? He's healing..."

"He was hurt worse than he was letting on, Keith. Seems our boy didn't want to upset us. We need to get him to a hospital and get him checked out. There are more problems with his heart, still shrapnel in there that could kill him." Keith would take care of this, he was so good under pressure, and she could go back to being the concerned mother. "It's going to take him a long time to heal, and a lot of surgeries to get to a point where he can even start healing. We have a long road ahead of us."

Keith closed his eyes and swallowed hard. "Good lord, Emily." He knew the Marines didn't kick able bodied and talented leaders out without damn good reason. When he'd seen the note, trepidation had started growing.

He looked over at Shannon sitting on the car. "Go inside the room, Em. Have her call someone, a friend, someone older, who can be with her. But hurry. I'll drive the boys; you follow. Shannon will have directions to the closest ER. I'll leave instructions for you to be let in as soon as you get there."

He brushed a hand over Emily's cheek. "We are not losing him, Emily. I swear that to you."

"You and Jethro take care of my boy." Emily knew that Keith was good to his word, and had never lied to her once in all the years they were together. He would care for both boys, and get Mac the help he needed. "We'll meet you there. Don't you worry about me. I want all of your attention on driving safe. Let Jethro take care of our boy. He'll do right by him."

Keith nodded, leaning in and kissing Emily deeply. "He'll be okay, Honey. Neither of us will accept any less."

"I know. It's why I'm letting you leave with him. Now go, get him the help he needs."

Mac kept graying out, coming close to passing out before something would jolt him back to awareness. He was bleeding pretty badly and there was grit there, sharp metallic grit he picked out slowly, gathering in his fist. At some point, he'd slumped over on his right side and he was slowly slipping off the slick metal of his car.

He forced himself into a near sitting position through sheer will before groaning. He wanted to ask for help but his mouth wasn't working right. His eyes slammed shut and he pitched forward, only vaguely aware of someone's arms tight around him, catching him before he could hurt himself even worse. Cast ... Jethro. "J ... Jet."

"I got you, Babe. Is this all from Shannon?" The girl had gotten in a couple of good shots, but it shouldn't have been this bad. "You got to stick with me, Mac. We'll get someone to look at you. Can't lose you now, not when I just got you back."

"Yeah," Mac nodded slightly. "Stay ... don't go. Neither of us ... going."

"Jethro?" Keith spoke in an undertone. "We need to get him to the emergency room, now. Mac's a lot worse off than he told Mom or me. Can't imagine he told you the whole story either. Mom said he's got shrapnel there that could kill him and he needs a lot more medical attention. Don't know about you, but I'm not ready to lose this stubborn mule. Get him in the back seat, son, and give me directions." He softened his voice. "And you, Mac. We know; we love you. Just try to stay calm and strong right now."

"Don't worry..."

"Don't give us reason to. Jethro? Come on, son. Snap out of it. I know this must be bringing back bad memories for you but I need you in the here and now with me."

"Yes sir, sorry sir." Jet snapped out of it, knowing he had to get Mac into the car and to the hospital. "Knew it was bad, Dad. Didn't know it was that bad. And Shannon didn't help, going off the deep end the way she did. She's not normally like that, Sir; she's a good girl. Just scared."

Keith's hands came up and he smoothed Jethro's hair down. "Don't worry, Son. Don't worry, it's okay. Don't need any of that sir stuff, my boy. Dad will do." It dismayed him to see how Jethro had reverted to his military bearing, but he understood.

"Shannon will be with Mom; she'll be just fine." Keith reached for Mac and helped Jethro get him into the car. Mac grabbed him, pressing something into his hand. As Jethro gently settled Mac in, Keith examined what his son had handed him. Small bits of twisted metal lay in his hand.

"Jethro?" Keith said softly, showing him. "Check and see if anything else is working its way out."

"Sorry ... such a weakling..."

Pulling Mac's shirt open, he could see where the bandage had lifted, and blood was seeping from the wound. The ragged skin and angry red marks didn't faze him any longer, as he had spent the last few weeks doing the bandaging for Mac. "This is going to hurt, but I need to check for anything new. I'll be as gentle as I can. Your dad will drive while I play doctor. Not so much fun when it's not a sex game, but when you're feeling better we'll have to play, to make up for it. I'll show you mine any time after this that you ask."

"Okay," Mac whispered, groaning when Jethro ran a gentle hand over his chest. "Any more souvenirs?" Mac hadn't made a big deal out of it but every week or so a small bit of metal would come to the surface, usually responsible for the bleeding and tearing of flesh. They had told him it would happen but it was still a bit strange, and a lot unsettling.

"Nothing I can find. Hope we don't have to go through a metal detector going into the hospital though. Can't be held up by some overzealous rent-a-cop who thinks he's stopping a criminal."

Mac tried to laugh but ended up coughing instead, pressing his head against Jet's shoulder. "Gotta work on your technique. Told ya woman scorned..."

"And you'll never let me forget it either. I'm so sorry, should have been faster. I should have known she'd do something like this. Just didn't believe she had any sort of violent tendencies in her. She's always been quiet, couldn't even kill a bug. So to see her like that. I've handled this badly from top to bottom."

"Gonna make you pay. On your back. Side. Whatever. You'll pay, beautiful boy." Mac snuggled in closer, his eyes drifting shut. "We gonna make it, you and me?"

"I've got no intention of failing. We've come a long way in a short period of time, and I'm not giving up on us." They'd have plenty of rough roads in the future, but after everything they'd lived through they had a good chance of making it. "Don't go buying jewelry for just every person I get involved with. Makes you special."

Mac was trying so hard to relax and Jethro's warmth represented comfort. "Who swept who off his feet, Jet?" His hands relaxed and he moved to Jethro's shoulder, above the cast, rubbing the tense muscles. "Don't lock up on me. How ya gonna carry me inside otherwise?"

"I'm fine, not the one you should be worried about. You don't weigh enough to stop me from carrying you in, but you may want to let your dad and I both help you in. Might not hurt so bad as me jostling you around. But if you want to get carried over the threshold, who am I to say no."

"Okay, Dad can help, if you insist." Mac nuzzled close. "You mean so much. We're gonna make it, Jet. If I have anything to say about it. Not gonna check out, so don't any of you think so. You guys worry too much."

"Just being cautious. You had major surgery, and should have known you weren't ready for anything too strenuous. I'll make it up to you, promise."

"First of a few, Jet. How're you gonna make what up to me? What did you do that was so wrong? Outside of sleeping with the kid? But I'm not talking about that now. Just ... just wanna be with you."

"Drove you around the country, pushed you to meet Shannon. Lots of things that could have waited." They'd deal with the big Shannon issue once Mac was checked out and they knew he would be okay. "Just wasn't being a very considerate person, making you do all the stuff that I did."

"Mom and Dad sent us to Florida, I didn't say no. And I needed you to meet Mom and Dad in case..." Mac coughed again, he was so exhausted. "You better think about making it up. I'm unemployed. You're a big strong tough Marine. I'm at your mercy, you'd better treat me right, Gibbs."

Mac pressed even tighter to Jethro. "I need you by my side. Felt so damn lost."

Jethro stroked Mac's hair with his good arm, silently wishing him to settle down. Last thing they needed was a coughing attack. "I have every intention of treating you right. You should be getting some sort of settlement package, so you might be unemployed but hardly helpless. Once we get you back on your feet, the two of us can sit down and start thinking about what's next. We're going to need a place to live, and eventually you'll need a job. I could talk to the landlord in Shannon's building; he might cut us a break on multiple apartments. I'm pretty sure they have another two bedroom open." The look on Mac's face was heartbreaking, when Jethro mentioned the two bedroom, and Jet realized why real quick and quickly tried to make his lover understand, arm tightening around Mac's too thin shoulder. But before he could explain, Mac spoke again, his muscles tightening under Jethro's hand.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Jethro. If you feel you need to be that close with her ... do it. But I gotta look out for me. I'm not sure moving in together is a good thing right now. Maybe I should stay with Mom and Dad and figure stuff out and that gives you and her time to work things out without me intruding."

"You don't want to stay with me?" Maybe suggesting that they move close to Shannon had been insensitive, but paying for two apartments, when neither Mac nor Shannon would be bringing in enough for rent was going to be difficult to swing on his pay check. If the landlord would let him have two apartments at a decent price, it could be doable. "I'm coming back to Chicago with you, at least until I need to report back. I'm going to try to get temporarily re-stationed to Chicago, while you're healing. I figure we can work out what happens next after you're better. But if you don't want me around..."

Mac coughed again, a racking, weak sound that sent terror through Jethro.

"Of course I want to stay with you and I want you around, but ... Shannon is another story, beautiful boy. I don't know if I can shoulder that stress. I know finances are an issue, though I have savings. Six years of summer jobs all saved up, and my salary. They pay officers pretty well, ya know." Mac paused catching his breath. You want to stay ... in Chicago? But ... West Virginia is your home, Jet."

"You don't need to stress about Shannon. She knows we won't be together, but I can't just desert her either. I'm the one who brought her here and I need to make sure she's taken care of. I owe it to both of our mothers to take care of her. I can keep you two separate though, I wouldn't force you to deal with her, not after this."

It would take some doing, but he could adjust to life in Chicago if he had to. He was a country boy at heart, but that didn't mean he wouldn't make it work. "My home is where you are, not any place specific. I can make Chicago or where ever you want to be home. Just need you to be there."

He wished like hell he could shut Mac up, but despite the coughing and pain in his voice, he seemed focused and Jethro needed Mac to stay with it.

"I'm not asking you to abandon her, wouldn't do that to you, Jet. All I'm saying is that I don't want to live next door to her. Too many opportunities for conflict." Mac nudged Jet's head up, staring into the other man's eyes. "But you'd rather be closer to the mountains, right? In your heart, you'd rather be closer to home. You can tell me."

But he didn't have to. Mac knew the Midwest wasn't a place Jethro would ever truly call home. "Let me heal and get through surgery and then maybe we can come back to Virginia. We'll find a way for her to keep her place and job, Jet. I'm not going to abandon her either."

"I like it here, but it's as good as Chicago would be, Mac. I can go wherever we need to be, I'm not picky. I enjoyed my time in Chicago, it was a nice change of pace. After being up at the cabin for those couple weeks, it was kinda nice to see how the other side lives." He'd do what ever he had to, and Chicago would be as good as any place. Virginia would be fine too. He still had a couple of years and probably a couple of bases to serve at, but where ever he landed would be fine if he had Mac with him. "This part of the world isn't bad either, a little ways out from the city, and you can land almost in the country, but still be close to what ever you need."

"We won't worry about the details right now then. You know I'm not too fussy. I just need you ... so damn much, sweet boy. I promise, we'll find a way to compromise."

"We're going to need two rooms where ever we end up, in case any of the guys come over, Mac. A place that looks like where you sleep, not where you will sleep. You and me- once you're better, we're not going to be separated. But if I'm going to survive my enlistment, we're going to have to make it look like we're nothing more than housemates."

Mac understood, but it was a little hard to take, the adjustment that they'd have to spend their lives hiding. "It's going to be hard, Jet. Sure you want this? You could be a lifer, the Marines need guys like you."

"And I need a guy like you. Let's see how it goes, Mac. The Marines let go one of the best men for the job. I don't know that I need them if they don't need you. I'll see what happens. If I get a better offer, I'll take it. I don't want to live life hiding if we don't have to."

"They let me go for good reason. They knew I was in bad shape, Jet. Hell, I knew. It was just easier to pretend to be okay." Mac swallowed hard, considering their future—really considering it. "If we don't have to, I don't want to hide either, but I won't have you in any danger. Just please don't give up your future, sweet boy. We'll work it out. I can probably get a teaching certification right now ... I'm not helpless and I have a degree."

"Your dad mentioned you maybe going back to school. That might not be a bad idea. I think you'd still qualify for the GI Bill, so you don't have to work crazy hours and do school on top of it. Something to think about, although you don't have to if you don't want to. You get to totally reinvent yourself, and you can do what ever you want. No one can tell you, so just think about it."

Mac gave Jet a shy, tired, completely sad smile. "Follow my dreams? But they were always to serve. I imagined I'd stay in for ten years or so and then maybe go law enforcement. Not an option now, sweet boy. I don't know what I want to do beyond that. I could teach, but I don't think it's my passion. Not like the Corps are ... were. My whole reality just shifted. I have to think it through."

"You'll figure it out, Mac. I know this isn't your dream or your ideal life, but it's what you've got and I'm thankful that you have it." Jet would do whatever it took to get Mac doing something outside of the Corps. He'd be a great teacher, or he could probably write about his experiences and make a decent amount of money until he figured out what he wanted to be when he grew up. "We'll figure it out together. I'm going to have to find something else to do eventually. Maybe we can both figure out what we want to be when we grow up."

"You'd be a hell of a cop or investigator. Jethro Gibbs, Private Dick." Mac smirked. "Then again, that is completely for me and me alone."

"Boys ... boys. I'm open-minded, but I have no desire to hear about your sex games. Nor, do I imagine you'd want to picture your mother in a maid's costume with a feather duster." Keith was relieved to hear Jethro bantering with Mac. He watched silently as Jethro touched Mac gently, his cast all but forgotten. He was a great man and Keith was so happy he and Mac had found each other. "Don't overdo back thedre, Mackai."