A/N As promised, here is the 15th and final chapter of Nightmares Revisited. Thank you all my reviewers, followers, and favourite-ers who stuck with me during this long process, I hope this chapter is worth the wait! Please let me know is I missed anything (plot holes, loose ends, etc) and I will fix it asap. :-) ~Kelcor

"Come over here, son," the man ordered.

Jay started to move on instinct alone but Jack reached out with one arm, pushing the teen to stand behind his protective stance, blocking all access. "He's not goin' anywhere with you."

"My gun says otherwise, friend."

Jack's responding grin was feral. He considered extracting his own gun from the holster at his ankle, knowing he'd be able to outsmart and outmaneuver this guy very easily, but opted to use just his wits and his hands – after all, he'd been itchin' for a while now to show this abusive father and all-around Grade-A jerk a little bit of Dalton-style justice. "Oh, rest assured, I am not your friend," he was happy to inform him. "Because what I'm about to do to you, I would never do to a friend."

Jay's dad glanced at the weapon in his hand, stupidly shocked that its presence wasn't demanding instant compliance from Jack.

"That's not the first gun I've had aimed at me, man," Jack explained, casually stepping closer to the man. "It's not even the first gun I've had aimed at me in the past week."

"Stay where you are!"

"Or what? You'll shoot me? Come on, you an' me both know, you're a yellow-bellied coward," Jack taunted. "My guess is, and be sure to tell me if I got this right – you go to the bars to get drunk, right, then you get other bullies who're larger than you tryin' to pick a fight, but you're too scared to rise up to the occasion. So, instead, you go home and take your anger out on your kids!"

"You don't know anything about me!" The gun hand was trembling now.

"Maybe not, but I do know your type. I've met lots of guys like you. Guys who think women and children are targets instead of treasures."

"Shut up!" Jay's dad made a huge mistake and took a step towards Jack, pressing the barrel of the gun against his chest…

Which is exactly what Jack wanted him to do! He grabbed the guy's arm, twisting it behind his back as he shoved him front first into the nearest brick wall. The gun fell to the ground, clattering to the pavement.

"Go ahead and arrest me! I know people. I'll be out before happy hour!"

Jack laughed. "You think I'm a cop?" He shoved him harder into the wall, pleased to see the new look of fear in the jerk's eyes. "Which, I'm sure you understand, means that I'm not bound by the same rules the fine cops in this city need to adhere to." He glanced back at Jay, the terror clear on the kid's face. Jack wanted so badly to teach this guy a lesson but didn't want to traumatize an already traumatized teen in the process. "But, in the interest of time, because you are not worth mine, I'm gonna make you a deal." He shoved harder, this time leaning in to speak quietly in the guy's ear so that Jay couldn't hear his next words. "You forget you even have children, and I won't break every bone in your slimy, worthless little body."

His offer was met with silence. "Do we have a deal?" he asked, voice lethal.

"Yeah, yeah, we got a deal."

Jack released him, taking a moment to calm down before turning around to see the sleaze ball race down the alleyway. He searched the ground for the gun but the guy must've grabbed it before he left.

Mentally kicking himself for not foreseeing that outcome, Jack turned his attention to Jay. "You okay, kid?"

A muted nod was his only response. He was about to push further because the look in the kid's eyes was almost more than Jack could handle, when Mac and Toby came out to join them. Toby ran the few feet to wrap his arms around Jay's waist. But MacGyver instantly sensed the tension in the air. "What happened?" he asked, turning blazing blue eyes on Jack.

"Dear ol' dad showed up for an impromptu family reunion."

"And?"

"And, what do you think? I taught him a lesson or two about what family really means."

"I wish you hadn't done that," MacGyver muttered between grit teeth, the anger clear in his gaze.

"I know," Jack said on a sigh, scrubbing a hand across his scalp in frustration. "I shouldn't have lost my cool – "

"No, that's not it." MacGyver spun back to face Jack. "I just wish I'd been around to dole out some lessons of my own."

"I'm the Hulk in this relationship," Jack snickered. "We discussed this already, Mac."

Not allowing the altercation with Jay and Toby's dad ruin the day, MacGyver revealed his final surprise to Jack and the boys. He only hoped the kids liked it as much as he knew Jack would.

"Mexican, Mac? Seriously?" Jack asked, smile stretching from ear to ear as he gazed up at the Mexi-Cali Rosa's sign hanging from the top of the small awning.

"Great reviews for the place, too. Our friendly neighbourhood concierge says that a good friend of his loves the beef nachos and deep fried ice cream here."

"Deep fried ice cream? Wouldn't that be soup?"

"That's what I thought but apparently we'll both be pleasantly surprised."

"Jay loves the food here," Toby piped up. "Don't you, Jay?" Even at the tender age of nine, he could tell something was wrong and was determined to fix it – he just didn't know how.

The teen nodded but still looked a little distracted since seeing his dad less than an hour earlier. Mac shared a look with Jack, then turned to Toby. "How about we go up and get a seat?"

Toby cast an uncertain glance at Jay, not wanting to leave his brother behind.

"We'll be right behind you, kiddo," Jack said with a wink.

As soon as Mac and Toby disappeared through the doorway and the door closed behind them, Jack's eyes found Jay. "Look, kid, I owe you an apology. I never should've treated your dad like that. I mean, the guy's a jerk but he's still your dad – "

"He stopped being my dad the night my mom died," Jay said cryptically. Then, before Jack could probe for more details, the teen followed Mac and Toby through the door.

With a sigh, Jack took up the rear of the procession and was happily distracted by the mouth-watering aromas assaulting him as he climbed the stairs into the dimly lit restaurant.

As it turned out, the beef nachos was almost enough to fill all four of them. Although, Jay didn't eat all that much, he did eat some – if for no other reason than to appease Toby. But, on the strong suggestion from Trevor, they saved enough room for dessert and each got their own dish of deep fried ice cream.

Toby asked for chocolate topping; Jay got butterscotch; and MacGyver got raspberry. Unable to decide which one he wanted, Jack opted for a combination of raspberry and butterscotch. All four of them added a generous helping of whipped cream.

Jack was the first to take a bite and moaned with pleasure as soon as the spoon touched his tongue. Mac was instantly able to taste a delectable combination of cinnamon and brown sugar in the crispy coating which covered the still ice cold scoop of vanilla ice cream. Toby ate his so fast he was afflicted with an ice cream headache every 30 seconds or so. Even Jay seemed to be enjoying the treat – he was lost in thought but he continued sliding small bites into his mouth until the dish was empty.

Mac sat back, pleasantly full and locked eyes with Jack who was sitting directly across from him. "I think Trevor deserves a huge tip, Jack. Seriously. And I seriously want to meet this friend of his and offer up my thanks."

"Apparently, she's an ex-girlfriend," Jack promptly revealed, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Don't start, Jack," MacGyver told him in no uncertain terms but his glare was without heat. Maybe it was time he moved on since the debacle with Nikki. The events of the past couple weeks showed more than ever the importance of letting people past his self-erected barriers.

After supper, they went to a re-showing of a Disney movie called Monster Trucks. Jack had never heard of it before but Toby was adamant about seeing it, despite Jay pointing out that he'd already seen it four times the first time it had been in theatres earlier that year.

The lead character of Tripp reminded Jack of someone but he just couldn't put his finger on it. Regardless, it had been a cute flick and a great way to end the evening.

By the time they returned to Cowie Hill, it was quite late and Toby was fast asleep in the backseat. Even Jay appeared to be in a heavy dozing session. Even so, the teen insisted on being the one to carry Toby into the house, following closely behind MacGyver and Jack with his little brother held securely in his arms.

When they got to the door, Jack was surprised to find it standing slightly ajar. Even if a safe neighbourhood, it seemed to be out of place and Jack felt his hackles raise at the implications. A glance over his shoulder at Mac told him that he wasn't the only one whose Spidey-senses were tingling.

It was dark, so MacGyver pulled out his cell phone and aimed the illumination from the screen at the door – the keyhole for the deadbolt had tiny scratch marks etched into it, and the wooden door was splintered around the doorknob. After picking the deadbolt, the lock on the knob would have been simple to bypass with a few solid, well-placed kicks against the door.

Jack signalled everyone to be quiet, then eased the door open the rest of the way. They all stepped inside and closed the door behind them, creating at least one direction from which a possible assailant would not be able to attack.

Using their silent communication again, Jack told Mac to stay with the kids while he checked upstairs. In turn, Mac didn't need to say anything to communicate to Jack to be careful.

Pulling his gun out of his ankle holster, Jack slowly advanced up the steps to check and clear each room. Once he confirmed the upstairs was empty, he returned to Mac and the boys. Toby was awake now, comprehending enough of the situation to have a stark fear in his eyes.

Jack put a finger to his lips for continued silence, then made his way through the living room and down the hall. He cleared the storage room to his left. No one would be able to fit behind the washer or dryer, but there was a little pantry nook behind the stand-up freezer. Not much room to defend himself if he encountered the kids' dad – and, let's face it, there was no doubt he was the culprit.

Jack took a deep breath, then poked his head into the dark area behind the freezer, pulling it back again just as quickly to ward off any attack, but nothing came. He peered around the corner once again to confirm, and sure enough it was empty.

He returned to the hallway and ventured into the kitchen.

There, sprawled on the floor, was Gabriella; the mid-section of her white bathrobe covered in blood. A large butcher knife lay discarded next to her, the blade and handle also red with blood. "Mac!" Jack called out. "Call an ambulance!"

He fell to his knees at Gabriella's side, grabbing a cup towel off the cupboard door as he went down, and pressed the towel against the wound on her stomach. She groaned in pain, arching away from his touch. Jack heard MacGyver skid into the room, followed by Jay and Toby. The youngest of the three cried out in alarm. "Gabby!"

Jack glanced over his shoulder and saw Jay turn Toby away from the carnage, burying the boy's face into his side an holding him close. Jack could see the tiny shoulders shake as the kid sobbed against his brother's chest.

A tea kettle sat on the counter, next to a mug and sugar canister. Mac reached out to touch the kettle. "It's still hot," he said, sharing a knowing look with Jack. Instantly, Jack's gaze moved to the areas he could no longer see on the other side of the wall, knowing that he had cleared the entire house, yet fearful that maybe... "You didn't miss anything, Jack. You're too good at what you do."

"Ambulance?" Jack asked, accepting Mac's faith in his abilities without comment.

"Already called. How's she doing?"

"She's alive. Take my phone and call Brian, will you? I don't want him finding out about this accidentally from 9-1-1 dispatch."

MacGyver leaned down and took Jack's phone out of his back pocket. Jack could see Toby sitting in a chair at the kitchen table, his arms crossed on the table and his face pressed down against them. The poor kid was still sobbing… Wait a minute. Jack's gaze moved about the room urgently. "Where's Jay?"

Jay saw the shine of the tears on his cheeks reflect off the window of the bus when the vehicle drove beneath a street light. He used the sleeve of his shirt to get rid of them. He had no idea why he was crying, he didn't feel sad. Truth be told, he didn't really feel much of anything at all.

Except for the cold pit in his stomach which had burst and started leaking ice cold hatred throughout his entire body as soon as he saw poor Gabby lying on the floor in a house she should have been safe in. And would have been safe in, if Jay and Toby hadn't invaded her life.

His dad had done this. He knew it without a doubt. How ironic would it be to kill him using his father's own gun? This was the only way he and Toby, and everyone else they cared about, would finally be safe.

"You stay with Gabriella and Toby until the ambulance arrives," Jack ordered, heading out of the kitchen.

"Where are you going?"

"To find Jay."

"Jack, you don't even know where to start looking."

The older agent shrugged. "I didn't know where to start looking for you, either – that didn't stop me from tryin'."

Mac couldn't argue that logic. "Just be careful. I'll ask Brian if he has any leads on where," he glanced at Toby, still sitting at the table but oddly silent, "you-know-who could be holed up."

"Good idea. I'll check with Riley. Maybe she found something on the guy." The last he called out over his shoulder as he made his way down the hall to the backdoor. He raced across the back lawn to the Mustang, silently praying that he caught up to Jay before the teen did something stupid.

Placing his phone on speaker, he quickly dialed Riley's number. The computer hacker answered on the first ring. "Jack! How's summer vacation treating you?" she asked, having no idea of the urgency of the call yet.

"Not good, Ri. Did you end up finding anything on Jay and Toby's dad yet?" Jack queried, starting up the engine and tearing out of the parking lot, hugely thankful for the 700 horsepower engine beneath the hood.

"Would've been easier if you'd given me a name, y'know."

"Yeah, the kids haven't been very forthcoming about the guy. They'd probably rather forget he even exists."

"Can't really blame them for that."

"So, you did find something?"

A humourless laugh erupted through the speaker. "Yeah, I found him all right. His name's Harrison Philanges and, Jack, this guy makes my dad seem like Ward Cleaver."

Jack's eyebrows rose at the classic television reference from a girl in her mid-20's but kept his comments to himself. There were more important things to discuss than pop culture. "Okay, give me his address first, then the Cliff's Notes version of everything else you found." Jack took a hard right onto Herring Cove Rd as he made his way back to the traffic circle and the downtown area beyond. Because, even before Riley provided him with the address and directions, something told him that Mr. Philanges was the type to want to be close to as many bars as possible.

Driving down the street Riley had directed him to, Jack felt his heart wrench at the sight of so many homeless people in one place. It was a familiar feeling. Everywhere he went, whether it be overseas, in the United States, or in Canada, there was always an overflowing population of people going through difficult times – each person dealing with their own personal battle to stay afloat in a drowning economy.

A moment later, he pulled up to the curb in front of a group of small apartment buildings located smack dab in the middle of one such low income neighbourhood.

Jack got out of the car and looked up at the front of the closest building, then sighed with barely contained frustration. There were no numbers to tell him for sure that this was the correct address. And remnants of recently demolished buildings lay on either side of the structure, so there was no help there. Jack started to backtrack to one of the other buildings down the street, silently praying the numbers would still be present above the front door so that he wouldn't have to search each one for Philanges' apartment.

He slowed as he passed a woman who was keeping guard over her young daughter curled up next to the wall of the building, fast asleep. Their young dog was also acting as protector, watching Jack carefully. Sensing no danger, the pup made no reaction when Jack couldn't help but stop and pull a twenty dollar bill out of his pocket. He handed the bill over and the woman looked up at him, eyes filled with tears of gratitude. She must have seen something in Jack's eyes, as well.

"You look even more troubled than I am," she said quietly, not wanting to wake her little girl.

Jack offered up a sad smile in response as he squatted down next to the small group, reaching out one hand to softly stroke the sleeping child's cheek, then scratching the dog behind the ears. "I'm actually looking for someone," he admitted, pulling out his phone so he could show her the photo Mac had had the presence of mind to send him after Jack's hasty exit to find Jay. He used his thumb and forefinger to zoom in on the face of the teen and turned the phone so she could see it.

"Yes, I saw him," she said. "He looked very upset. Lost, really."

"And he went into this building," Jack probed, pointing to the building she was resting against.

She nodded.

"Thank you," Jack said sincerely, then turned to go into the building. Her small hand came up to grip his and he turned his attention back to her. "Please, stop him from ruining his life."

Her tone was what set off alarm bells in Jack's mind. "Why would you say that?"

"He is way too young to be carrying a gun, sir. And the look in his eyes told me he's planning to use it."

His sense of urgency ratcheting up tenfold, Jack squeezed her hand reassuringly. "He's a good kid but the man he's going after is not. Maybe you and your family here should move down the street a bit? Put some distance between yourselves and this building."

The lady immediately gathered her daughter into her arms, whispering to the dog to follow. The forlorn look in her eyes as she moved a block up the street told Jack that he had effectively just evicted her from her home. He grabbed her meager belongings and carried them up to the new location for her, then allowed her to see the regret in his eyes. "It's just temporary," he told her before returning to the building at a run.

Once inside the building, Jack found himself wishing that Mac was with him. The kid's smarts and imagination made him the best partner a guy could ask for – but, right now, Toby and Gabriella needed him more than Jack. Didn't mean the ex-Delta Commando didn't notice his absence like he would a missing limb.

The buzzer system at the front door had four buttons with a name next to the first three. Philange was not one of the names listed, so process of elimination left the nameless one as the way to go. Thankfully, the numbers on the inside of the building hadn't fallen off, so Jack didn't need to guess which apartment was which as he silently took the stairs down to the bottom floor and crept along the short hallway to stand at the threshold for apartment 4.

He tried the knob, grateful when it turned easily in his hand, then eased the door open. He could hear someone yelling and recognized the voice as Jay's, disheartened but not surprised to hear the devastation in the young voice.

Jack pulled the gun out of the holster at his ankle and soundlessly slipped into the apartment.

"You killed her," he heard Jay yell. "Why couldn't you just leave us alone?"

"You're my kids," Harrison countered, his voice tinged with contempt instead of love. "You belong to me. You and Toby."

"You leave Toby out of this," Jay exclaimed. "You will never get close to him ever again!"

"Are you forgetting who the real danger in this family is, Jay? You were the one who's to blame for your mother's death, remember? Not me."

"Shut up!"

"If you had just come home from school like you were supposed to, instead of wasting time at the arcade with Toby, you would've been able to save her! Then again, you always have been a useless brat."

Sensing the altercation was reaching a crescendo, Jack followed the sound of the voices through the tiny apartment and stepped into the living room. Across from him, Jay held a gun on Harrison, who was sitting in a Lazy-boy recliner gazing up at his teenage son, too smug and arrogant to recognize the severity of the situation.

"Hey, buddy," Jack said, his own voice a thousand times more calm than he felt. "What's goin' on?"

Jay's gaze flicked to him in surprise, then back to Harrison. But that one glimpse into the kid's eyes revealed an unadulterated view of torment the likes of which a boy his age should never have to feel.

"Wh – what are you doing here?" Jay stammered.

Clearly seeing an opportunity, Harrison conjured up a bogus kind of terror. "Please, you have to help me! This kid is crazy!"

Jack immediately brought his gun up to bear more steadily on Jay's father, giving him a lethal gaze to match the threat of the weapon. "Remember my promise from earlier today," he asked. The now honest terror in the man's eyes told him that he did. "Good. Now, shut up or I'll keep it."

Although his eyes remained on the degenerate, Jack's next words were meant for Jay. "Come on, kid. This isn't the way to handle this."

"Why do you care about him?" Jay demanded, a sense of betrayal in his tone.

"Him?" Jack replied incredulously. "I couldn't care less about him. But I do care about you." That got a steady look from the teen – surprise mixed with disbelief. "That's right, kiddo. I care about you."

"So do I," Mac suddenly joined in from behind.

Jack's Delta Commando training was the only thing that kept him from jumping at the unexpected voice. "See?" he said, keeping his focus on the teen. "And Brian and Gabriella do, too. So, just put down the gun and – "

"He killed Gabriella!" Jay yelled, taking a step closer to his father and firming up his gun arm to stop the shaking. "Brian's gonna hate me now!"

"Gabriella's alive, Jay" MacGyver cut in. "She's at the hospital right now. The doctors told me the knife didn't hit any critical organs. She lost a lot of blood but after a blood transfusion, she's gonna be fine."

"You're lying," Jay insisted, unable to believe that the odds had finally played in his favour.

"Nuh-uh," Jack said. "Mac isn't wired to lie, Jay. Just look at him and you'll see that he's telling the truth."

"Brian wanted to be here with you now but I insisted he remain with Gabriella and Toby because I knew that's what you would want him to do." MacGyver considered his next words carefully. He'd made a promise to Brian, and he hated breaking promises, but he knew Brian would understand given the circumstances. "Brian and Gabriella have set things in motion to adopt you and Toby, Jay. They love you, man. And love doesn't get wiped out by one action, especially when that action was committed by someone else."

Jay did pivot a bit to study MacGyver now and Jack could see the kid's resolve falter. "You don't want to do this, buddy," Jack said softly. "Put the gun down. Not to sound cliché, but he's just not worth it."

Sirens cut through the night, still at a distance but certainly closing fast. Jack did not want Jay to be the one the cops took aim at – they wouldn't know the situation, and protocol dictated that the one with the gun was considered to be the threat and the unarmed, the victim until proven otherwise.

Jack felt his blood boil at that possibility – Jay wasn't a true threat any more than a reprobate like Harrison was a victim. Riley's research had revealed that Harrison had hired a thug needing a fix to kill his wife, likely so that he could collect on her life insurance to cover his gambling debts – the rest of which he had squandered on booze and even more gambling.

The fact that Jay had been blaming himself all this time for his mother's death was unacceptable but Jack knew the knowledge that his father had been complicit in her murder would only escalate the issue. He'd save that revelation for after the teen was not holding a weapon which, if fired at his target, would change his life forever. Jack was not going to allow the murdering scumbag-father to have that kind of control over his son. In fact, any control the guy wielded over Jay was going to end right here, right now.

"You may be this man's son, Jay, but you are nothing like him." The gun lowered even further as Jack's words began to sink in.

"Think about Toby," Mac added. "What will happen to him, if you're in jail?"

"Brian and Gabriella will take care of him," Jay tried.

"That won't be enough, man. He needs his big brother."

Jay's eyes filled with tears he refused to let fall. Jack took the opportunity to step even closer to the kid, reaching out and relinquishing the weapon from the now lax hand. Jack locked eyes with him for a brief moment and saw the blatant anguish in the gaze an instant before the teen turned and ran out of the apartment.

"You can't follow through on anything, can you?" Harrison yelled after him. "Ya' little cry baby!"

Jack took a menacing step towards the creep but felt Mac take hold of his elbow. "Jay needs you," his partner said softly, reminding Jack of who was truly important in this father-son equation.

It wasn't until that moment that Jack noticed the sirens had stopped. "The cops," he muttered, fearing the officers had unknowingly pounced on the already traumatized teen.

MacGyver's responding grin was nothing if not mischievous as he moved over to Harrison, plastic zip tie in hand. "Remember China?"

"What? How did you have time for - ?"

"I didn't," Mac admitted, finishing securing Harrison's wrists with the make-shift cuffs and holding up his phone. "But I did discover that there's an app for that! Who knew?"

Jack's pride in the younger man was plain to see in his own smile. As MacGyver used the phone to really call 9-1-1, Jack turned and ran after Jay.

Jack raced out onto the street, looking left, then right, desperate to find the teen. Then he felt eyes on him and turned to see the homeless woman from earlier. She pointed to the area between the building he'd just exited and the demolished one next to it. He nodded his thanks, then took off in that direction.

It wasn't long before he found Jay. The teen was sitting on the ground with his back pressed into the corner created by the wall of the building and a long fence dividing this property from the one behind it. He was completely curled in on himself and rocking back and forth.

Jack approached carefully. He reached out to him but as soon as his hand made contact with the quaking shoulder, the teen rocketed to his feet, fists raised in a defensive position.

"Easy, kid. Easy."

The teen relaxed somewhat upon seeing Jack but still kept his distance. "I'm fine," he said softly, tone telling Jack the exact opposite.

"Yeah, I know you are," Jack responded. "You and Mac, you're always 'fine', no matter what the situation is."

"Leave me alone, Jack."

"No can do, compadre."

"Yeah, you can. Just put one foot in front of the other and let them take you in the other direction."

This kid reminded him more and more of Mac with every passing minute but he was clearly shaken and Jack couldn't blame him. He took another step forward, only to have the teen charge the couple of feet between them and shove at his chest with both hands.

"Just GO!"

Jack stumbled back a step, surprised at both the aggression and the strength. He considered that maybe he was making the wrong move here. He barely knew this kid. More importantly, the kid barely knew him. Who was he to lead an emotional intervention of this magnitude? But one look at the torment in the teen's eyes reminded Jack that it was him or no one.

Brian loved both Jay and Toby, Jack was certain of that, but he had enough on his plate with Gabriella getting stabbed. Besides, by the time he was able to see past his own understandable grief, Jay will have buried his emotions so deep, no one would be able to get through to him.

Jack's thoughts again shifted to MacGyver, as they always seemed to when the subject of repressed grief came into play. After studying the teen for another moment, the ex-Delta Commando pushed away all doubts of whether or not he was the right man for the job and jumped in with both feet, deciding to cut straight to the quick. "You know, you're not to blame for your mom's death, right?"

"You said it yourself, some bad people make choices that hurt other people," Jay declared angrily. "I made a choice that day and my mom died."

"The key phrase in there is 'bad people', Jay. You are not the bad person in this scenario; or in any scenario, for that matter. You're a lost kid who's got more pain than he knows what to do with."

"I'm not a kid," Jay insisted, voice still shaking.

Jack took a bold step toward him. "I hate to break it to ya' but, yeah, you are. But even if you were a full grown adult, you'd still need someone to take care of you now and then."

Jay eyed Jack with suspicion when he took another step forward. The teen looked behind him, seeking escape, but the building and fence were at his back; there was no room for retreat.

"You saw how I took care of Mac after he was poisoned, right? How I held him in my arms?"

"That – that was different," Jay tried. "He was sick."

"Pain is pain, kiddo. No matter what the cause."

A single tear made it past the long erected barriers and Jay wiped it away angrily.

"And do you know what? Just this morning, I got word that a good friend of mine died and MacGyver held me while I cried." Jack studied him closely. The teen's entire body was visibly quaking now, likely from the effort to keep his interior walls from tumbling down around him. Jack took another step forward, only an arm's reach away now. "Ain't no shame in cryin', kiddo."

Jay shook his head in denial, dislodging yet another tear. "Dad says – "

"Dad? You mean that scumbag in there?" Jack asked, jerking a thumb towards the building behind him without taking his eyes off the teen. "He is not someone you should be listening to, and I think you know that."

Jay tried desperately to stay in control. Never let them see you cry. But it was getting more and more difficult, especially with Jack's close proximity. Movement over Jack's shoulder caught the teen's attention and he saw MacGyver round the corner, then immediately turn back as soon as he recognized the situation. He even stood guard at the corner, blocking all access to the area – granting them a modicum of privacy. Still, the teen couldn't just let go… could he?

He felt Jack's calloused hand suddenly grip the back of his neck, much like earlier that day, but this time the grip was followed by a firm tug and Jay found himself held tightly in the other man's arms. It had been so long since he'd felt someone's arms around him; comforting him. The last time was the night before his mother…

"No! Get off me!" he demanded, not wanting the comfort – not deserving the comfort.

He pushed against the hold, desperate to get free! But Jack was even stronger than he looked and his arms held him like a vise. He squirmed, and kicked, and pushed, and pulled. Until he was panting with the exertion.

"I said this to Mac, and I'll say it to you… You gotta let yourself feel, kid."

"I can't," Jay insisted into his shoulder, energy finally depleted.

"Yeah, you can. Just stand still, and stop trying so hard not to. Just let it happen."

Even as Jack felt the kid's head whip back and forth in denial, the first sob ripped free. Jay made one final effort to push away but Jack held firm. Then a second sob tore out of him; and a third. A moment later, Jay's fists grabbed a hold of Jack's black tee in a death grip, the slim frame shaking with more frequent sobs until the teen's legs gave out on him.

Jack lowered them both to the ground, pulling Jay even more firmly against his chest. He stroked the light brown hair much the same as he'd done for Mac just a few days earlier, and kept doing it until the sobs quieted and the breathing slowed.

A moment later, Jay pulled away from him, face lowered in shame as he rose to his feet. His t-shirt shifted a bit in his movement and light from the nearby security lamp caught onto something on the teen's lower back. Jack narrowed his eyes in concern and suspicion. He grabbed Jay by the elbow, halting him mid-rise, and used his other hand to lift the hem of the blue t-shirt.

The soldier in him warred with his Texas-sized heart as he gazed at the large burn mark on the tender flesh of Jay's back. A burn had a distinct point at one end, rounded at the other, with tiny circles interspersed throughout its centre. Jack instantly recognized the shape as a clothes' iron. He also knew the hot object would have had to been held against Jay's back for several seconds to have that kind of definition.

The ex-Delta Commando, ex-CIA, ex-DXS, and current Phoenix agent and soldier won this particular war as he jumped to his feet and stormed back down the length of the building, ignoring the concerned "Jack?" he heard from MacGyver as he brushed past him, blinded by rage, focused on just one thing – white-hot vengeance.

As Jack stalked into the apartment and across to the radiator Harrison was currently zip-tied to, the soldier emerging from deep down inside was happy to see the fear flicker across the asshole's face at the mere sight of him.

Before Harrison knew what was happening, Jack's fist was connecting with his face with brute force. Harrison collapsed back onto the floor, unconscious after one hit, but Jack didn't care. He raised his fist and pummeled him again. And again. And…

Suddenly, he felt a grip on his arm, holding him back. He fought against the hold for a moment, then Mac's voice broke through the white noise of rage in his head. "Jack!"

Allowing his partner to pull him away from his target, Jack gazed down at the now bloody and swollen face below him. He noticed that MacGyver wasn't looking at Harrison though and he followed the younger man's line of sight to see Jay standing in the threshold to the living room. The teen's still red-rimmed eyes were as wide as saucers, his mouth agape as his gaze moved from Jack to his father, then back to Jack.

Jack prayed that his moment of blind rage hadn't just negated the progress he had achieved just moments before. "Jay, I'm – " what? Sorry? That would be a lie. He wasn't one bit sorry. But he did regret hurting the teen.

He was saved from having to explain himself when Jay covered the distance between them and threw his arms around Jack. Surprised, Jack exchanged glances with MacGyver whose eyebrows had also nearly risen to his hairline. Then, throwing caution to the wind, Jack returned the teen's embrace.

Jay's tears were silent this time, and more to do with relief and thanks than the long suppressed pain of earlier.

The next morning, Jack and MacGyver returned to the hospital, this time as visitors. They spent some time with Brian, Gabriella, Toby and Jay; marvelling at the fact that the foursome seemed like an honest-to-goodness family now. Jay still had a ways to go in his healing after so many months of pent up grief but he had made huge progress the night before thanks to Jack Dalton-esque wisdom – rarely appreciated and oft under estimated.

Jay was a little less eager than Toby with the goodbye hugs but he returned each embrace with Jack and MacGyver, rather than simply enduring them or avoiding them altogether. Jack held onto him a bit longer than Mac, whispering words of encouragement for Jay's ears only. Whatever he said brought a tinge of pink to the teen's cheeks and his eyes shone brighter than they had been previously.

It was Jack and MacGyver's turn to blush, however, when Gabriella insisted on them leaning down so that she could kiss each of them on the cheek. "Thank you so much for taking care of our boys," she said earnestly, meaning every word.

After bidding goodbye to the new family, and promising to visit again soon, MacGyver and Jack left the hospital. As they were leaving, Toby was stretched out on the bed next to Gabriella, curled into her side. Jay sat in the chair next to the bed, his hand resting on the mattress next to her hand, fingers just barely brushing hers. And Brian stood next to Jay, one hand splayed out across the teen's upper back.

With the car already packed with their belongings, Jack figured they were headed straight to the airport. So, he was surprised when Mac took a different route, further into the downtown core instead of in the direction of the highway leading to the airport.

"Where we goin', bud?"

Instead of answering, MacGyver pulled up to the curb in front of a majestic looking stone church – stained glass windows, gigantic steeples, even the doors seemed fit for admitting giants from some of Jack's favourite fairy tales from his childhood.

Mac climbed out of the car first and Jack followed. He waited for Mac to round the car and join him on the sidewalk before asking, "Why are we here?"

MacGyver avoided eye contact, even going so far as to kick a tiny stone with the toe of his shoe… was he embarrassed? The kid finally looked up and the pink-tinged cheeks confirmed Jack's suspicions, but still did nothing to solve the mystery of the choice of locale. "Mac?"

"Well, I mean, I don't know whether I believe in this stuff or not. Like I told Toby, my mom did but after she died, I didn't really have anyone in my life to ask about it."

"Still doesn't answer my question, bud," Jack grinned.

"Well, regardless of my beliefs or lack thereof, I know that you believe. And, well, I thought, if you believe, you might, I don't know, find some kind of… comfort here."

Jack felt his eyes well up with emotion. "Mac – "

Misunderstanding the tears in his friend's eyes, Mac backpedalled a bit. "Was I wrong? I'm sorry, I'm not very good at this stuff – "

His words were cut off as he found himself hauled into Jack's rough embrace. One calloused hand tousled his hair as Jack whispered, "Thank you, brother."

After a moment, Mac pulled away. "Just go in already, will you, please?"

"Did you want to - ?"

MacGyver would have joined him but something told him that this was something Jack had to do on his own. "Nah, I've been kinda craving some peace and quiet," he teased. "I think, I'll stay out here and enjoy the sunshine."

Jack smiled tenderly, always seeming to know what Mac was saying even when he wasn't saying it, and made his way up the long walkway to St. Mary's Basilica.

Finally on the plane and headed home, the two friends enjoyed the trip in relative silence. Then, out of the blue, Mac said, "For the record, I'm more sure now than I ever was… Captain America is a better superhero for you."

Jack chuckled softly from his reclining position on the sofa at the back of the plane. He silently studied the blond who was sitting across from him, staring out through the small window at the blue sky and clouds. "What's goin' through that ginormous brain of yours, bud?"

"I'm just thinking that my dad leaving was probably for the best," he said quietly. "But I still need to know the truth about why he left."

Taking this moment to tell Mac something that had been on his mind since long before this mission, Jack sat forward a bit and waited for the kid to lock eyes with him before saying, "I know that you missed out on having a dad but, really, your dad is the one who missed out the most – because he didn't get to see his genius son grow up into a hero with a huge heart, who saves people's lives on a daily basis."

Mac's grin was soft and sincere. "I said this before but I was doped up and loopy, so I want to say it again now – fully in control and with my facilities completely intact." He maintained earnest eye contact with his friend. "I never really realized it before I had that fever-induced dream but I wish you had been my father, Jack. I wish that dream was how things really happened."

"It would have been an honour to be your dad, Mac. I mean that," Jack told him.

The next few hours of the trip were ensconced in a companionable silence, during which both men fell asleep. Neither had any nightmares – but both dreamt about how it would have been in an alternate reality where they had met years earlier, with Mac's mom alive, and Jack stepping into the role of not only 'Doting Dad' but also 'Loving Husband'.

The End