Wunderkind

1.17-Ruler

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

MIGHT AS WELL BE CAIRO

Jack was beginning to think he was never going to see a time when one of Mac's inventions failed to come through. He guesses he jinxed them. Because when Mac's little makeshift flamethrower ran out of propane, and Jack and Riley ran out of bullets, they didn't stand a chance.

He winces when one of the men interrogating them slams a fist into Riley's ribs. They figured out early on that Jack's weak spot was the people with him. Interrogating him was going to get them nothing, but hurting the people he feels responsible for... I need to be less obvious about it. But he's not sure he could have ever held back the enraged snarl when one of the guys knocked Riley's legs out from under her and then kicked her in the side. Or when they twisted Mac's arm, the one with the still-healing shoulder, behind his back and pulled.

Riley coughs, but straightens up with a glare and a smirk. "You're gonna have to do better than that. Really, you're embarrassing yourself at this point." The next hit is to her jaw, and Jack sees a trickle of blood drip from the corner of her mouth.

They're all trying to keep the focus off Mac, who's cutting the ropes tying him up with the piece of broken glass he grabbed from the floor when he goaded one of the men into hitting him so hard his chair fell backward.

Jack's learned that the more he fights back, the more the other two get punished. So he's been trying not to say a thing. But Riley's learned more than enough from him to keep a running line of insults and goading up. "What, are you pulling your punches cause I'm a girl?" She grins, and there's blood on her teeth. Sometimes it scares Jack how much like him she is. I want to protect her. But she's too much like me to be protected. He has a feeling both of them with end their careers either in a shallow grave or with a hell of a lot of very impressive scars.

But really, he doesn't get to decide what happens to Riley anymore. Matty's upping Riley's status to a Level 6, the same as Jack's. His baby girl is all grown up. She's the youngest Level 6 agent in Phoenix, and she deserves the honor. Really, it should have happened before this, but the whole Como mess was such a setback.

Riley spits a mouthful of blood onto the floor. "Getting tired already?" The man just folds his arms and glares at her. And then he walks deliberately over to Mac.

Hell no. Jack may no longer be directly responsible for Riley in the field, but now he is assigned to training Mac. And if anything, it's only made him feel more protective. Sure, it comes with a ton of paperwork, since Matty's a stickler for doing things by the book, but Jack doesn't mind filling out monthly evaluation reports as much as he claims he will. It's as close to a parent as Jack will ever probably get to be.

"Hey, you big jerk, pick on someone your own size!" Jack shouts. If he did, he'd have to leave the room and go find someone else. The guy looks like a combination of a basketball player and a sumo wrestler. His buddy's a little less intimidating, but he's carrying a cattle prod so that sort of makes up for it. Jack can already feel the electric burns on his ribs.

The big guy glances at Jack, then back at Mac. "No, I think you are not so much fun." He swings a fist at Mac's cheek...and then pulls his hand back with a short, strangled scream of surprise. There's a wicked-looking shard of glass embedded in it. Mac's cut himself free.

The kid jumps up and spins around to grab the chair with a surprising amount of grace for someone Jack watched trip up the stairs to the Phoenix jet twelve hours ago.

Mac swings the chair, hard. It's metal, probably to prevent someone from knocking it over and breaking themselves free, and it's actually a pretty decent weapon. Jack cringes at the sound when it connects with the big man's jaw. He's gonna have some broken teeth to show for that.