#day 1 jack lives
Written for @macgyvercairo Cairo Week Day 1 for the image prompt.
Set in my Mac has Magic universe during the Sandbox era but this stands alone, all you need to know is that Mac has magic, Jack knows, and magic users are banned from military service so Mac has to keep the magic secret.
Also on AO3
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“Are you going to tell me why we’re here, now?” Mac asked as Jack cut the engine after going off-road and driving to this secluded area with nothing but a cryptic ‘you’ll see.”
“How many of those things have you made this last week?” Jack replied with his own question, shifting in his seat and nodding at the paper clip sculpture starting to take shape in Mac’s hands.
Mac bit his lip, closing his fist self-consciously over the metal. Jack had never acted like it bothered him before. “I dunno.” He replied with a shrug. Except he did know, he’d gone through two large boxes in as many days, he just didn’t want to admit it.
“Well, I do, a lot. And I know you use your magic to help bend the things into impossible shapes and I also know you do that partly because you need to bleed off your excess magic when you haven’t been able to use it in a while.” Jack paused, his voice softening. “I know that’s gotta suck, having to keep it hidden all the time.”
“Yeah.” It was all Mac could manage past the lump in his throat. He knew Jack was observant, scarily so sometimes, but he’d never realised Jack paid so much attention to him. That he even cared that much. No one had ever noticed before how he used his magic to complete some of the more trickier designs and how he used it to siphon off his magic, to stop it from boiling over and slipping out accidentally.
“So,” Jack gestured to the empty view out the windscreen, “ain’t nobody gonna see you here, have at it, do your thing.” Jack finished, wiggling his fingers, his own shorthand for Mac’s magic.
Mac stared, barely moving, still trying to process that a man who’d had him in a headlock when they’d first met just a few months ago, now cared enough to find a space free from prying eyes, safe for Mac’s magic to be let loose.
“What?” Jack asked, his self confidence at his surprise for Mac fading from his eyes.
“Nothing man, just… no one’s ever noticed before, I, uh… thanks.” Mac slipped the paper clip he was still holding into a pocket.
“You’re welcome.” Jack said sincerely, as if he knew how much this meant to Mac.
Mac stepped out and walked to the front of the humvee, barely holding back an eager smile as he dropped to a crouch and placed his hands on the ground, his fingertips digging into the sandy soil. He closed his eyes, trusting Jack to watch his back and dropped the barriers around his magic on a long exhale. Like a coiled spring finally allowed to stretch, his magic burst free and although Mac channelled it into the ground, the air still tingled with a static charge.
Standing, he opened his eyes, lifting a layer of dust as he rose that he sent spiralling into a whirl. With a twist of his hands, the dust settled into a shape of a horse, complete with the form of a cowboy twirling a lasso, eliciting a chuckle from behind him. The horse did a lap around them before rearing up on his back legs, triumphant and blowing away on the wind. Reaching out again, he focused on the ground, on every seed lying dormant and poured energy into them until bright bushy green foliage erupted all around them, turning the area lush and filling the air with the smell of cut grass.
“Damn, kid.” Jack sounded proud and Mac glanced back to see awe in his eyes.
Smiling, Mac’s eyes glistened gold and flowers burst into bloom all around as he summoned colourful sparklers in the air. Popping off tiny bangs of colour, and showering them both with sparks. It was beautiful and fun and a thousand miles from the destruction and pain they saw every day. But it was also a risky thing to do, even in the middle of nowhere and Mac reluctantly stopped the mini explosions with a satisfied sigh and a roll of his shoulders. That had felt good. His magic felt settled now, no longer a swollen river threatening to break the banks.
“You done?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, I’m done.” Mac said, turning to return to the humvee.
“You gonna clear that up then?” Jack gestured around them with amusement, it was more than a little suspicious, the little oasis Mac had created.
With a fond eye roll, Mac casually glanced back, the plants disappearing in a puff of fire and smoke. And as he walked past Jack he fished out his paper clip from his pocket, his magic quickly extending and manipulating the length of silver metal into a cowboy on a horse before handing it over.
“Thanks, Jack.”
