The Bargain

Part VII

Location: America, California 2017

Lara hesitated in the passenger seat as Rebecca stopped outside Mac's house. Rebecca and her friends were headed out to get drunk and dance. Their idea of fun. Her aunt was also out at dinner with friends and Lara hadn't wanted to be left alone in the house with her uncle.

"You right," Rebecca asked.

"Beats staying at your place, right?" Lara said, more to convince herself.

"Yeah," Rebecca said. "You'll be fine... and if it isn't you can hire a cab, send me a text and you can come and glare disapprovingly at the amount of alcohol I'm going to consume tonight."

Lara rolled her eyes and she climbed out of the car.

"I'd tell you not to do anything stupid but it'd fall on deaf ears. Just promise me you'll take a cab home?" Lara requested closing the door behind her. Rebecca just smiled at her teasingly.

Lara made her way up to the door as Rebecca pulled away. She paused as she brought her hand to the door. Then knocked twice. Mac opened the door and just stared at her.

"Hi,"

"Lara?" Mac asked in undisguised surprise.

"Jack didn't tell you he invited me, did he?"

"No. Must have forgotten to mention it,"

Lara bit her lip. Jack either didn't think she'd show or had planned to surprise Mac with the reunion.

"I don't want to impose," Lara said but Mac had gotten over his shock and smiled comfortingly at her, as if he could feel the nervous energy begin building up in her.

"Don't worry about it," Mac said, stepping aside so she could come in. "Jack running late.

Lara followed him through to the outside entertaining area, where a poker table had been set up. Sitting on the couch around the empty hearth were two people she didn't know and the girl from the cafe.

"Lara, this is Riley, Boyer and our boss Matty," Mac told her.

"Boss?" Lara asked, smiling at the group.

Mac shrugged.

"We're friends, we all work at a think tank together,"

"Jack's employed at a think tank?" Lara asked before she could stem the incredulous tone. The Jack she knew got bored too easily to sit around solving problems. Mac laughed in unspoken agreement. As he and Lara took a seat on the lounge.

"So how do you know Mac and Jack?" Riley asked her.

"We were teamed in Afghanistan. I was an EOD tech like Mac," suddenly her dream resurfaced and Lara added, "Mac was better."

It sounded tight ever to her own ears and the look Mac gave her told him that he had heard it.

"What's that look for?" she challenged, despite knowing the answer.

"Lara! You came," Jack said as he sat down beside her. He had always had impeccable timing.

"You forgot to tell Mac, Dalton," Lara said accusingly, happy to take up the distraction. Jack just shrugged and smiled at her. Lara fought the urge to shake her head at him.

"Can I get anyone drinks," Bozer asked getting up.

"No, thanks," Lara told him as he looked at her.

"Princess here doesn't drink," Jack told Bozer. Lara's elbow found a place between his ribs. "So violent."

"I'd forgotten how much of a pain you are, Dalton," Lara told him. Jack just laughed.

Later that night Lara stood with Mac and Jack looking out at the city lights. Bozer had gone inside with Riley and Matty had left.

"So you're staying with your uncle?" Mac asked.

"I met my cousin at Uni. Freak chance but... I'm working a couple of things out at the moment so she convinced me to come and give her mother a hand in their cafe. Part of the reason I'm here is that I'm avoiding him," Lara emitted, glad Mac had waited until the others were gone. She'd watched the question pass over him when Matty had asked what she was doing in LA. Lara had told him, and eventually, Jack had found out too, about her nonexistent father, her drug addict mother, and the brother who was more of a father. She had also mentioned the uncle who couldn't even be bothered to show up for his only family's funeral. As they stood in silence Lara came up with a hundred things that needed to be said. She'd enjoyed tonight yet, in the absence of guests, she found herself recognising the giant chasm between her and Mac. She's known about his father leaving and she'd know that walking away would hurt Mac but she'd done it anyway. Now, she wasn't sure how to bridge the chasm. Lara's eyes flickered to the clock. It read ten thirty, she'd been here for over four hours.

"I'm going to call a cab, it's late and I should be getting back," Lara said.

"You still don't drive?" Jack asked.

"I don't take passengers and public transport is cheaper than buying a car,"

"Well, then I'll take you," Jack told her with a glare that dared her to argue.

"Thanks for having me, Mac," Lara told the blonde.

"Yeah, I'll see you around," there was a question in the farewell that cut deeper than anything Mac could have said.

Lara and Jack drove in silence for a large part of the drive. Lara wrestled with something ugly inside.

"Why'd you disappear?" Jack asked, breaking the silence. The old man was obviously done dancing around the fact. "I mean, jumpin' off my radar, sure. I'm just the grumpy, old man, who got tasked with making sure you two kids didn't kill yourselves. But Mac's? Come on Lara you know how Mac feels about this kinda stuff. You two were close, what happened?"

Lara was quiet for a long time.

"You want the truth,"

"Yes, Lara, I want the bloody truth or at the very least Mac deserves it,"

"I convinced myself that if I stopped doing things that remind me of Afghanistan then..." Lara petered off. Jack didn't say anything for once, as if he understood what she needed to convey.

"I thought it'd stop the nightmares and... well-"

"That's baloney," Jack said. Anger burst suddenly inside her but it deflated at the look he was giving her.

"I realised that Jack but I didn't know what to say, how to... you know,"

"It's called a phone, Lara,"

She turned her head to look out the window as they passed through the streets near her uncle's house.

Jack didn't unlock the door as they pulled up in front of the building. Instead, he turned and looked at her.

"When was the last one?"

"Last night,"

"Look, Princess," he said, looking her dead in the eye. "They'll come to a point where you're gonna have to stop running from things. You ran from yourself to Afghanistan, you ran from yourself again when you got back. Eventually, you're gonna have to stop because you're just going to hurt those around you, you understand me,"

"I don't mean to hurt anyone,"

"Yeah, I know kiddo,"

Lara flicked the lock and got out of the car.

"Hey, Lara," Jack said as she shut it behind her. "If you ever need it I got a couch."

"Thanks, Jack,"