Diners, Dates, and Doing Your Thing:

Missing Scene for Episode 8: Corkscrew

By: Ridley C. James

A/N: Yet another missing scene that I just had to write. I loved this episode but I so needed to see this conversation play out the way I imagined. Supernatural readers, I have not jumped ships, I promise. Feedback is always welcome!

RCJ

"Sorry I'm late." Jack Dalton slid into the booth across from his partner. He'd been held up with making sure Murdoc was delivered safe and sound into custody, then checking in on Thornton. She was the one to give him the heads up that Mac had already left HQ. When Mac finally texted Jack, the invite to meet up had given Jack hope that maybe his best friend wasn't still sore about Jack's earlier decision to leave Mac behind on the hunt for their mysterious hit man, for all the good that brilliant plan had done Jack. It had merely left Mac disappointed and even more vulnerable than he might have been if they had stuck together like Mac wanted. Jack couldn't help but to see the choice of dining establishment which was nowhere near their favorite pizza joint or bar as a bad sign. "What's with the obscure diner, Dude?"

"My grandfather used to bring his dates to a place like this." Mac toyed with a packet of sugar, his expression giving away nothing. "I wanted to check it out for myself."

"This your way of wining and dining me?" Jack feigned dismay. "No wonder you go on so many first dates, Bud. Bozer just may be right about your lack of game. Someone as hot as me should at least rate lobster or steak."

"I didn't ask you to come for dinner." Mac's mouth twitched. "And you hate lobster."

"Still," Jack raised a brow, hopeful that his friend's near grin meant he was actually getting a pass. He slid the coffee cup from in front of Mac to his side of the table, reaching for the cream he knew his partner thought was a sacrilege to good brew. "A greasy spoon kind of makes a guy feel cheap."

"You don't get to play the party scorned, Jack." MacGyver reclaimed his drink, staring at the older agent in a way that quashed any hope Jack had in avoiding a conversation about the Murdoc fiasco. He would also apparently have to get his own damn coffee. "I'm the one who should be pissed."

"Maybe," Jack conceded. He could count on one hand the times that he and Mac had truly been at odds. They might spar like an old married couple, but even in the slightly rocky beginning of their partnership, they'd clicked, their diverse backgrounds and training not the hindrance Jack imagined. In fact, they'd worked better than Jack figured the higher ups had hoped, like one of Mac's off the cuff hacks. Unexpected, and out of the box, but exactly what was called for.

"You sided with Thornton," Mac said.

"Only because I thought her directive would keep you safe." Jack found it hard not to flinch under his partner's scrutiny. It hadn't been easy to pull the seniority card this time, to go solo. In fact, Jack hated it. Especially when Thornton made the call and Mac looked at Jack like he'd just pulled a bloodied knife from his back. Jack had always hung with Mac, both in the field and with the brass. This smelled of betrayal, even if Jack had truly believed he was acting in Mac's best interest.

"You took me out of the game, like I was some wet behind the ears rookie."

There was no real heat behind the words, not like their earlier exchange at the office, but Jack wasn't fooled by Mac's calm and cool front. His partner was the proverbial duck on a pond, all serene and still at first glance, but all whirling dervish beneath the surface of the water. "You know me well enough to know I respect the hell out of you, Mac. But when push comes to shove my priority mission is to keep you alive. I couldn't do …"

"Do your thing, I got it the first time," Mac interrupted, looking just as disillusioned as he had before. Sometimes Jack wondered if it might be easier just to throw some punches. "Your thing is to watch my six, take out the bad guys. That's all well and good, except you didn't exactly consider me and my thing."

"I felt the risk was too high." Jack had been trained to assess threats, to proceed in whatever manner a situation mandated to maintain the success of his mission. Sometimes that meant doing the hard thing over the right thing. Sometimes the two were one in the same, even if Mac might not want to admit it.

"Did you take into account that maybe I was thinking the same thing? That I didn't want Riley and Thornton's deaths on my conscience. Or that losing you might just push me over the edge? Were you even thinking about what that would do to me?"

Jack wouldn't say it, but he had considered all those possibilities. He understood Mac well enough to understand that the kid didn't allow many people to get close to him for a reason, that his biggest fear was losing those he loved. Still, Jack had decided that Mac's immediate safety took precedence over any fallout. That might make him a bit of a selfish bastard but he wouldn't apologize for it. Not when Mac was here, whole and in one piece. Alive. Mission accomplished, even if it didn't go down how Jack planned.

Mac must have taken Jack's silence and pained grimace for an admission of guilt, because his voice gentled and the icy gaze he'd had leveled on Jack the whole time warmed just a little. He even pushed the half full cup of coffee over to Jack as possibly a peace offering.

"I understand why you did what you did, and that you think you were right in doing it. I even appreciate the sentiment. But partnerships don't work when one person calls the shots, Jack. You have to honor that. No matter what your mission states, or what your orders mandate, my life isn't any more valuable than yours."

"I hate to break it to you, Brother, but the government turns out guys like me on an assembly line. You, on the other hand, just like Murdock pointed out, are a novelty." Jack dumped cream in the coffee, and took a drink before Mac could snatch it back. Even lukewarm it tasted a bit like heaven. He gave a contented sigh and leaned back in the booth to study Mac. "And we both know that the reason I value your life has nothing to do with my damn mission or all the great work our country feels you can accomplish. You're my best friend, my family, and most days I can reconcile the fact that our asses are on the line ninety-nine percent of the time. I signed on for that. So did you. It's what we do. You go undercover in a maximum prison where I can't watch your six- okay. You get kidnapped and tortured by a drug lord and I barely get there in time to keep them from liquefying your giant brain- no big deal. But your sociopath of an ex-girlfriend hires a psycho hit man to break into your house, blow up your normal, take away the one safe space that you have and I have no way to stop him, well that I can't reckon with."

"What if Nikki didn't hire Murdoc?"

"What?" If it were possible, Jack's head would have spun. Mac could always keep Jack on his toes in an argument, and honestly there were times Jack didn't understand anything he was saying but a complete random punch out of left field wasn't usually his style.

"Nikki told me she didn't hire Murdoc," Mac restated as if Jack had merely missed a memo.

"Wait." Jack frowned, putting the coffee cup back on the table. "When did you talk to Nikki?"

"About an hour ago. She was sitting right there, where you are now."

"You brought Nikki here on a date?" Jack couldn't quite process what he was hearing. Mac had promised no more hunting down his ex without Jack as back-up. "Now I know Bozer is right about your aptitude with women."

"No, Jack." Mac shook his head, frustration causing his voice to rise. "I was here having coffee, clearing my head and she just showed up with her trusty 9mm and a band of new groupies. It's why I texted you to meet me here so I could fill you in."

"Yet, you chose to lead with the petty argument about me siding with Patty?" For someone so smart, Mac could pull some dumb shit. Worst case scenarios flashed through Jack's mind, promising to show up as nightmares right along with the ones about the night Mac was shot by Nikki's henchman. "Damn. She could have finished you."

"She said she didn't want to hurt me."

"Yeah, well she's a lying bitch." Jack might have slammed his fist on the table a little harder than he meant to. The coffee cup clanked against the Formica top and they received curious looks from the remaining late night patrons. He worked hard to reel in his temper, thoughts of Nikki and her audacity setting every nerve on edge. It was like Murdoc shooting Thornton all over again, only this time Mac was dead on in the bull's eye and Jack was helpless to do a damn thing.

"I get that," Mac lowered his voice, giving Jack a look that he should maybe do the same. "Instead she said she wanted to warn me."

"Warn you about what? Did she give you a heads up on hiring a new hit man to finish what Murdoc started? That was nice of her, considering she didn't' show such courtesy the first few times she tried to take you out."

"I told you she swears she didn't hire Murdock."

"Refer to my earlier point," Jack hissed. He knew how badly his partner had been counting on the day he came face to face with Nikki. Mac needed closure and answers, but Jack hadn't thought through all the logistics of what that meet-up might hold. He imagined he'd be there when it took place. It showed how smart Nikki was, because Jack had a completely different vision for how their reunion might go. It included more bullets, and no chatty heart to hearts. If he had his way, Nikki wouldn't get a chance to open her mouth. "Tell me you didn't buy into any of her bullshit."

"I know she's a ruthless traitor, Jack."

"Let's not forget murderer. She might not have pulled the trigger of the gun that put a bullet in you but she sure as hell knew what could go down. And the people at the research facility who died from the biological weapon. She didn't care about them or the countless millions you kept from suffering the same fate."

"I haven't forgotten any of that."

"I hope to hell not." Jack refrained from bringing up the months Mac mourned for the woman, how the misplaced guilt and deep grief had eaten away at his partner. Jack hadn't been able to help, even Bozer had been at a loss. Mac still wasn't his old self. Jack wasn't naïve enough to believe they'd ever get that person back. Nikki would pay for that, either with long, long years in prison or by being zipped in a body bag. At this point Jack was preferring the latter. "She'll play head games with you if you let her, Dude. Apparently that's her trademark MO."

Mac toyed with the empty sugar packet again. "She did ask me about the key."

"The one you've been wearing around your neck?" Jack pointed to Mac's shirt. The key was hidden, but Jack knew it was there, the same place it had been since Nikki's decoy delivered it to them. "Don't think I hadn't noticed the new jewelry."

"I wasn't trying to hide it," Mac said. "I told you no more lies and I meant it."

"Then tell me what else she said to you."

"She told me there were other factors at play, someone behind the scenes gunning for me, willing to take us all out."

"Did she shed any light on this mysterious big bad?"

Mac shrugged. "No, not really, but she did throw some shade on Thornton."

"Patty? Your girl pointed the smoking gun at our boss?" When Mac only stared at him Jack sighed. "Look, I know you're pissed at Thornton and I'm not always a big fan of the establishment myself, but she has always had our backs, and she's pulled our fat out of the fire at the risk of her own best interests more times than I can count. We have no reason not to trust her. Nikki might as well have tried to shove me under that bus."

"No." Mac's voice hardened, his gaze turning icy once more. "She knows better than to go there."

"Exactly. Accusing me would have been a step too far." Jack nodded. He gave Nikki credit. The woman knew how to set a chessboard. "Which is why she chose Thornton. As much as I hate it, Brother, Nikki's wicked smart, and she knows your buttons like she knows her way around a keyboard."

"Which is why her using the picture of me from the vineyard doesn't make sense, just like Riley said. That weekend was our first one together. Nikki knew what it meant to me."

"Obviously she doesn't care to put her cards on the table. Hell, maybe the sadistic witch enjoys twisting the knife. She hasn't got anything to lose at this point. Showing up here out in the open, even with the new players she's got working her side, demonstrates how unconcerned she is with sticking to the shadows now."

"Then why not just kill me and get it over with?"

Jack ran a hand over his hair. "I'd like to think she knows I'd track her to the ends of the earth and make her death slow and agonizing, but seeing as how she's not shown much concern for self-preservation thus far, I'm guessing she has something better in store. Maybe playing this game is how she gets her jollies. She wants you to join in on some cat and mouse. Her and that sicko Murdoc might be a perfect pair."

"She did tell me I'd need the key soon."

"Wasn't that just very Nancy Drew of her." Jack clenched his fists, hating like hell that Nikki was still leading them on a wild goose chase. He could practically see the wheels in Mac's head turning, looking at every angle, trying to decipher what he should have done differently, how he'd messed up and trusted her in the first place. "Do we look like the Hardy Boys?"

"I can handle whatever she throws at me, I just want her, and whoever she's working with to leave the people I care about out of it. I nearly lost you and Riley. Bozer could have been killed. As it is, he's never going to trust me again, and hell, I can't even blame him."

"Whatever Nikki has in store, we'll handle it, together. Do you understand me? When she makes her next move, we'll be ready. No more going solo, for either of us." Jack waited for Mac to meet his gaze, watched for the imperceptible nod that told Jack they were on the same page again. "And as for Bozer, he'll come around, Dude. He's going to realize that you were only trying to protect him and despite finding out about the whole ultra-secret spy thing, he'll come to see you're still the same geeky, terrible dresser, with poor social skills that you've always been."

"It's not that simple, Jack. I've been lying to him. For years. Just like Nikki did to me."

"Whoa, whoa." Jack understood that some distortion of the truth was called for in their line of work, and yes, technically it was lying, but Mac sticking to protocol with Bozer was nowhere in the same ballpark as what Nikki had pulled on them. "Don't even try and compare you keeping Bozer in the dark about the actual work we do with what Nikki did, Man. That's messed up. You protecting Bozer came from a good place. There's a reason we work in the shadows. As they say, ignorance is bliss. Nikki sold out her team, her country, for freakin' money, for power."

"Motive be damned, Bozer still got hurt."

Jack sighed. "Did you apologize?"

"Yes."

"Did Nikki once even try to tell you she was sorry for getting you shot? For screwing you over?"

"No."

"Then I rest my case." Jack tapped the table. "Apples and oranges. You're sorry for how things went down, you hate like hell that Bozer found out the way he did, so do I, but Bozer will come around. He knows you. He'll see things for how they really are after the shock of near death wears off."

"You're sure about that?"

"Of course I'm sure." Jack recognized the look that flashed through his friend's eyes. It was fear. Mac was scared one more person he loved was about to hit the road. "Bozer will be back to cooking you awesome meals and casting you in his next short film before you know it."

Mac snorted. "Until then, I'm homeless."

Jack laughed. "Bozer kicked you out?"

Mac rolled his eyes. "He's glad I'm not dead, but he still needs some time to process."

"Last time I checked your name was on the mortgage." Jack new for a fact, Mac cut Bozer one hell of a deal on rent. He also knew Mac was too good-hearted to make a clarification on who actually owned the place.

"It wasn't like I was going to tell him to grab a motel after what went down."

"Then it's a good thing you're a guy with two best friends." Jack reached across the table and bumped his fist against Mac's. "Mi casa, es su casa."

"I was hoping you would say that." Mac gave a lop-sided grin. "My next thought was Riley but she still doesn't have any furniture."

"Plus the last thing you need is to give Bozer more reason to hate you. Shacking up with his future girlfriend probably wouldn't be the best plan. No game or not, you've still got junk."

"You sure know how to make a guy feel better, Jack."

"Kareoke and showing the love," Jack downed the last of the coffee, winking at Mac. "Those are my things, Dude."

"Heaven help me if I get in the way of you doing your thing." Mac slid out of the booth and stood. He shot Jack a smirk. "It might kill you."

"Glad you've come around to seeing my side of things." Jack joined him, ready to find something a little stronger to drink and put out an all points for Nikki just in case she tried to track down Mac again. Obviously, Jack would have to keep a closer eye on his partner.

"Don't get me wrong, you're not off the hook." Mac tossed a wad of bills on the table. "Like Bozer, I'm still processing."

"I'll buy you dinner. Pizza at Blaze." Jack raised a brow. Nikki wasn't the only one who knew Mac's weaknesses. "I'll even let you get the weird, gluten-free crust and put nasty sprouts on it."

Mac folded his arms over his chest. "Give me first dibs on the shower, total reign over the remote control, you make coffee in the morning and I'll think about it."

"Damn." Jack tossed his arm around Mac's shoulder with a put upon sigh, secretly pleased with Mac's demands if they scored him some clemency. "You sure do know how to make the most out of any situation."

Mac shrugged."It's kind of my thing."

"That it is, Brother." Jack laughed. "That it is."

The End...for now.