So Tamuril2 requested an epilogue for this story. The full prompt is at the bottom.

Not sure how well people stayed IC, so I'm so sorry. I've been having writer's whiplash, where I love my writing one minute, then hate it the next, so I'm just trying to write like I always do, but I'm not sure if it comes out ok...

Also! For those of you who are following Faith, Hope, and Charity, I posted a new chapter yesterday morning like I said I would, but for some reason, it didn't show as updated in the list. If you click on the link, it'll show you there's a new chapter, but it didn't go to the top of the list when it was updated. I'm not sure why...

Anyway! Lemme know what you think!

Epilogue

A Few Weeks Later

Jack cleared the last of the civilians out of the danger zone, getting them on a truck and slapping the side of the vehicle to let the driver know he could take off.

As he stepped out of the way of the moving truck, Jack glanced off towards the area where the explosive device had been found, watching the swarm of men in large protective suits converge on the device. Once they had secured the device, some of the men broke off, and Jack saw one of them begin walking towards him. A grin flitted across his face as the soldier pulled off his mask, revealing MacGyver underneath.

"And that's how you actually dispose of a bomb," MacGyver said with a grin as he put his helmet on the ground when he reached the Delta soldier.

"I dunno man, I thought that the way you did it last time was pretty cool," Jack said. The two of them grasped hands and pulled each other into a quick one-armed hug, clapping each other on the back before pulling apart.

"Well, let's hope I don't have to do anything like that again," MacGyver said with a laugh.

"Yeah, well we wouldn't need to be diffusing as many bombs if MacGyver here didn't go around showing the enemy how to build them," one of Mac's teammates sneered. MacGyver's cheeks reddened a little bit, but before he could say anything, the man turned and walked away, leaving MacGyver and Jack alone. Jack's mouth hung open in shock.

"Guy doesn't know what he's talking about," Jack tried assuring his friend.

"He just got here last week. He doesn't know the full story of what happened. All he heard was that when I was captured I rebuilt a bomb," Mac explained.

"So why don't you tell him the truth?" Jack asked. Mac simply shrugged.

"He refuses to talk to me, and honestly I've just decided I'm not to let it bug me," Mac said unconvincingly. "Besides, it'll all probably blow over soon. I'll be fine."

"Uh huh," Jack said, giving the young man a skeptical look.

"Look, it's fine," Mac repeated. "I'm used to it," he added. "Anyway," MacGyver said, trying to distract Jack from the comment made by Mac's teammate. "Wanna run grab a drink?"

"Uh yeah," Jack said, looking around them while he replied, subtly trying to see where the newcomer had gone. "Gimme like ten minutes?"

"Jack, what are you going to do?" MacGyver asked suspiciously. Jack looked at his friend innocently.

"What?" he asked.

"I wasn't born yesterday, Jack," MacGyver said, giving him a deadpanned stare. "Don't talk to Jackson," he implored.

"Jackson? That's his name?" Jack asked, jerking his thumb towards the new guy.

"Jack," Mac warned. "Don't do anything you're going to regret later," he pleaded.

"Okay, okay," Jack agreed, holding his hands up. "Whatever you say, bud."

"Thank you," MacGyver said gratefully. With that, the two of them turned and walked away, ready to forget about life for a short time and catch up with each other.

0-0-0

Jack had just said adios to MacGyver, and was walking towards a truck that would take him back to his crew when he heard someone call out to him.

"Hey!"

Jack turned around to see who the person hailing him was, and his blood boiled a bit when he saw it was Mac's new teammate, Jackson.

"Hey," he greeted, somewhat cooly. Jackson walked over to the Delta soldier before he began speaking again.

"You're the guy that was with MacGyver, right?" he asked in a scathing tone as he recognized Jack from before. "I'm just gonna give you a warning right now to stay away from him," he cautioned.

"Is that so?" Jack asked, eyes narrowing.

"Yeah," Jackson replied, not noticing the reaction of the other soldier. "You heard what he did, right? Rebuilt a bomb for the enemy, but got it back before they were able to use it. Gotta say, I've always said that I don't think they should let people under the age of twenty-three join the army," Jackson informed Jack. "They're just not mature enough to handle the stress this job can place on you."

The Delta Force agent's eyes narrowed slightly. "What's your problem?" Jack asked angrily.

"Sorry?" Jackson asked, sounding confused and bemused.

"I'm sorry, you must be deaf. Maybe that's why you're so rude, because you could never hear anybody teaching you how to be polite," Jack seethed.

"How dare-" Jackson began, but Jack cut him off.

"How dare I? How dare YOU," he said, pushing his finger into the new arrival's chest. "You come in here, hear one tiny bit of a larger story and immediately pass judgement on a kid who was just trying to do his best in the impossible situation he was thrown in," Jack raged.

Jackson's face had taken on a color closely resembling that of a purple onion, but every time he opened his mouth to respond, Jack steamrolled over him. "I would like to see you captured with your team, beaten into submission, then be told that your team would be killed in front of you if you didn't do what you were told to do. Did you know that MacGyver didn't actually make the bomb operational?"

Jackson's face turned to one of slight confusion, and Jack took that as a 'no.' "Yeah, if you'd have bothered to take a little bit of time to learn the whole story, you'd have heard how ingenious that kid was by switching the coverings on the wires to make them look like they were inserted into the correct slots, or whatever it is you call it," he said, his voice getting dangerously close to shouting level.

"What is going on?" a new voice asked loudly. Jack and Jackson both turned to see Pena coming towards them.

"Nothing," Jack muttered darkly, turning and walking away from the new EOD soldier before the urge to punch him in the face became too overwhelming.

"Hey," he heard a voice come from behind him. Jack turned to see Pena catching up to him. "It's Dalton, right?"

"Yessir," Jack confirmed.

"You wanna tell me what was going down between you and Jackson over there?" he asked, fixing Jack with a stare that wouldn't allow the Delta man to move.

"Just clarifying something with him, that's all," Jack said. He tried to move past him, but Pena put a hand on his shoulder.

"Nuh-uh, that doesn't cut it, soldier," he stated. Jack huffed.

"MacGyver's a bright kid," Jack said. Pena nodded, a subtle look of pride coming across his face.

"I know. Best mind I think I've ever seen, but not only that, he's got the biggest heart too."

"So it should come as no surprise to you that the kid feels terrible about what happened a few weeks ago when he was captured, right?"

Pena's eyebrow quirked a little at the soldier's tone of voice, which Jack immediately toned down.

"Sorry," Jack apologized, calming down a little. "It's just hard for me to see people from MacGyver's own team, who should be like family, treat him like he's a traitor," he explained in a much calmer voice. Pena's face darkened a little at Jack's statement.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that your new guy, Jackson? He heard about Mac's imprisonment, but he only listened, or maybe someone only told him the part about Mac rebuilding the bomb. Not that he didn't make it operational, or that Mac's team was at stake, no. He only knew about the fact that the kid did rebuild the bomb, and he's been giving him crap about it ever since," Dalton said. "Permission to speak freely, sir?" Jack asked finally, looking at MacGyver's CO.

"That's not what you've been doing?" Pena asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry," Jack apologized again.

"Apology accepted, and permission granted," Pena said, inclining his head.

"I don't know if it's that Jackson just didn't listen to the full story, or if whoever he heard the story from didn't give him the whole story, or just what, but something's gotta change," Jack said. "MacGyver counts on these men, and they count on him. If these guys don't think they can trust Mac because he 'built a bomb for the enemies,' how on earth are they going to trust him when their lives are on the line out there in the field?" Jack asked bluntly. "Also, how can MacGyver operate at his best if he doesn't have the full support of his team behind him?"

Pena was silent for a moment, taking in everything Jack had said. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention," he finally said. "I was unaware the animosity had spread so far."

"You mean you'd heard about this before?" Jack asked incredulously.

"Son, there isn't much that goes on in my squad that I don't know about. I had heard whispers here and there, but only from one or two people, and only just within the past day or two. I was planning on talking with the men soon, but now I know that it needs to happen now."

"Just," Jack said, thinking of his friend and how mortified and upset he would be if he found out this was happening because of him. "Don't make it obvious that it's about what Mac did?" he requested. Pena shook his head.

"I wish I could, but that's been the hot topic since it happened, and while I will keep names out of this, and keep it as generalized as I can, I can't guarantee that people won't know exactly what I'm talking about," he informed Jack. The soldier sighed; he knew the CO was right, but he just hoped it didn't come back to bite the kid in the butt.

"Listen," Pena said, seeming to sense Jack's worry. "MacGyver's a good kid. He's smart, he's caring, and he's good at what he does. I think he's stronger than both of us give him credit for," he admitted. Jack inclined his head; he knew Pena was right, he just didn't want to see the kid get taken advantage of or made fun of just because of his big brain.

"Thanks," Jack said.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention," Pena repeated, shaking Jack's hand. "Don't worry. I'll watch out for the kid," he promised.

"Just don't make it too obvious?" Jack asked. Pena raised his eyebrows again.

"Are you trying to tell me what to do?" he asked with a light, yet serious tone.

"Not so much telling you as I am asking for a friend," Jack replied.

"Deal," Pena said. The two finished their handshake, then Jack turned and walked away.

0-0-0

A Few Days Later

"You know, something really weird happened the other day," MacGyver said as he sat next to Jack, making the older man jump slightly.

"Golly kid, make a noise next time, will ya?" he complained as he set his drink down.

"I just did," Mac pointed out with a smirk. Jack rolled his eyes, but decided to see what Mac was talking about.

"Well, what happened?" Jack asked, taking a long drink.

"You remember my CO, Alfred Pena, right?"

"Sure. Kinda intimidating guy, but he seems like he genuinely cares about the wellbeing of his team," Jack observed, knowing where the kid was headed with this conversation.

"Yeah," Mac agreed. "And the other day, everyone got a tongue-lashing about support in the field," the blond explained. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

Jack shrugged. "You got me, man," he said. "What'd he have you do next?" he asked in a teasing tone. "Trust fall? Team-building exercises?"

"No," Mac said. "He had us defuse a bomb."

"Well that doesn't sound too hard," Jack pointed out.

"Blindfolded," Mac added. Jack's eyes widened slightly.

"Oh," he said. "So...team-building exercises!" he added in a bright tone. MacGyver chuckled and shook his head.

"You're saying you didn't know anything about this?"

"Nah man," Jack insisted. MacGyver stared at him with a gaze that clearly conveyed that he didn't believe his friend.

"I can make you talk," Mac threatened jokingly.

"Uh-huh, I'd like to see you try," Jack laughed, polishing off his drink and turning to face his friend.

"Didn't say I'd do it by sheer force," Mac pointed out. "I can think of plenty of ways to make you talk that include things like fishing wire, a piece of gum, and tin foil."

"Tin foil? Really?" Jack asked skeptically.

"I never joke about my tin foil," Mac stated with a serious expression.

"Sure. How about we test that theory of yours out after you have a few drinks?" Jack offered, waving at the bartender to bring them more drinks.

"Are you trying to distract me?"

Jack pretended to think for a moment. "Yes. Yes I am," he decided. MacGyver chuckled, but he accepted the drink that was offered to him.

"I don't know what you did, but thank you," he said quietly. "I've never had anyone stand up for me like that, except for my best friend Bozer," he explained. Jack clapped a hand on the kid's shoulder.

"That's what friends are for, kid," he said. "That's what friends are for."

Full Prompt:

I was thinking you could do a little extra epilogue for the story. Maybe Jack catching up with Mac. Maybe him seeing someone who makes fun of Mac? I dunno.

So Tam, I hope it lived up to expectations? Sorry it took a while to get out! Faith, Hope, and Charity ran away with me, and I'm still trying to catch up with it XD Friends still?

Also, helloyesimhere, your request is going to be the next thing that goes up after FHC is done! I've been working on it, I promise!

So what did you all think?