"Really?" Bozer sighed, nudging Jack. ' - "What are you, five? I don't have time to play Uncle Jack to you Bozer, I need to…" Hahaha! Firstly, that was lovely. Secondly, I was just thinking that - Jack is at the arcade with his team and they're all playing and now he has to play the sweet uncle who makes up for losing the level by buying a soda.
Aww, loving the mini-flashback of Mac's disastrous first solo mission. They really are like little bonus stories.
Much as I love Jack and his relationship with Mac, it's a nice twist to see him needing help and advice from Bozer.
"Because I have to fix it. You get that right? You're my best friend- my brother. We're family so you have to freaking forgive me whether you want to or not." Aww! QuQ I feel bad for poor Jack that it didn't work, but I know that it'll make their patch that much sweeter...
"For now." Ooof. The feels. Dang, poor kid. I am so very fond of how you delve deep into what the show only hints at. You really do add a whole extra dimension and it's amazing.
The armadillo comparison is perfect.
D'aww! I knew it! So sweet. I absolutely loved it! The whole patch conversation and Jack's antics, Mac's not balking at them...all of it. Kinda wanted to see the pinball match, but the rejoining the team was good too. Especially the horse-play between the boys on the way there. Perfect. I just love these two and the dynamic they have.

Dang. Your knack for foreshadowing is eerie. That's twice now you've alluded to something that will take place in season 3...One a humorous coincidence, the other a somewhat hard-to-swallow fact.

Good job on getting Jack and Mac to talk. And make things right. this was better . And as for Cage love what Jack said to her. Make her think she doesn't know Jack all as well as she thinks she does. Just b/c she read files about him.

Great story. :)

Honey, I'm not even halfway though the story and you're making me cry! This is the perfect tag. I absolutely love it!

awesome!

This was the perfect tag for the episode. I love how you used Mac’s first solo mission to explain how emotional Jack was about Riley going in alone. I’m new to the fandom and your amazing fics, so I don’t know if you have a full story of what all happened with Dexter Filmore, but I would love to read that. Thank you so much for sharing and I can’t wait to read more from you!

I really liked Bozer calling Jack out on how he screwed up and gave him ideas to help get Mac communicating. Just love how Jack deals with Cage and the bubblebath and wine was too funny! Also, nice and steady progression of Mac's feelings starting to come around towards Jack. That was so well done. Really enjoyed how you got them back on the same page!
M

You know, this episode bothered me a bit too, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why... until I read this story a few days, and everything became clear! Thank you for this story! :-D

I posted a review a minute ago, thinking ff would ask me to sign in after I clicked 'post review'. My bad. It didn't. lol Anyway, repeat post... Won't be word for word, though. lol You'll get the gist. :-)

I knew there was something that bothered me about this episode, but I couldn't for the life of me put my finger on why... until I read this story a few days ago! Kudos!

PS When did you start reading my mind, anyway? LoL ;-)

Loved the tension. But enjoyed them making up. Can't wait to see the episode

Absolutely loved this. Your portrayal of Mac and Jack is my favorite in the fandom. I started reading your stories years ago with Supernatural, and I'm so thrilled you write about my favorite shows.

Wonderful job! I'm anxiously awaiting your next tag!

As always you did a superb job! I really liked the tense conversation between Mac and Jack and how Jack reacted when Mac compared him to his dad. I understand Mac's feelings and it was so painful when he was purposefuly ignoring Jack when he was playing with Bozer. Every day i like a little less the new character of the show. This Samantha Cage isn't gonna work for me... So i hope she gets put of the show soon on the excuse of finding another kob or getting back with the CIA, whatever works to send her back and leave the original cast untouched. That doesn't mean i'm not enjoying the new season, because i am. Specially if it makes writers like you create such amazing fics.
I'm waiting anxiously for you to update "For Family" and it will be fun to see the game Jack beat to death meake a reappearance.

I actually love ep2, because Jack trully shows how much he loves and cares for Riley. But after reading this, it makes sense! Mac would have felt abandoned by a very important person in his life,who always looks after him, always watch his six. Jack was emotionally compromised. He compromised the mission, Riley and Mac's safety. It would have been how Mac reacted, and I thank you for writing it down beautifully.

About Cage, she appeared in ep01, as the new badass and the cool agent. I really hate it! She can be a backup for Jack or Mac, but she should not work together with them as a team. She spoils the family chemistry.

Enough of that. Thanks for such a great story Ridley! Please write more.

So glad to read your new story! Thanks for writing. I like that Bozer helps Jack understand where things went off track. I don' like Cage at this point and agree she's not overly warm. She feels dropped into the character set and hopefully will 'jell' more with the team. I like that Jack challenges her and comes out well.

Thanks for making some awesome lemonade out of episode 2! You really hit the nail on the head on so many things, it would take me too long to list them. Also, thanks for the great explanation to Jack's OC-ness and for a much better apology scene than what the episode gave us. Loved the little references to your other stories, and LOL at the JP/romance novel comment.

Is it weird that you made me dislike Cage even more with this tag?

Re your PS: The second I read about the CftBL pinball game, I knew we'd be seeing it again. Pinball seems like such the perfect game for Mac!

Thanks again for writing this tag!