Author: NYWCgirl
Fandom: Macgyver 2016
Pairing: none
Characters: Angus Macgyver, Jack Dalton, Riley Davis, Wilt Bozer
Warning/genre: Friendship, Team as family, mistake, bet, minor injuries, food, hurt/comfort
Spoilers: none
Rating: Gen
Author's Notes: This fic fills the food poisoning square on my H/C Bingo. I have written a couple of these prompt so I thought I would try something new, and not go with the standard food poisoning.
Word Count: ~740
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine…
Summary: Remember Desi and Mac are telling each other what stupid things they have done in S03E20 No-Go + High-Voltage + Rescue. Mac mentions he once took a full bite out of a Carolina Reaper and swallowed it. He couldn´t see for two days. This is that story.
This fic can be found on
AO3 They are all sitting in the fire pit after a successful mission. They had pizza and beers and now they are playing a game of truth or dare.
‘Jack! Truth or dare?’
‘Truth, one bottle of hot sauce a night is more than enough.’
‘OK, what color underwear are you wearing right now?’
Jack gives them a big smirk, standing up , reaching for his fly, ‘that is an easy one, commando.’
‘Uh,’ Riley claps her hands in front of her eyes, ‘keep it closes, jzs, Jack.’
‘Hey, you asked.’ He sits down again.
‘Bozer?
‘Truth! Defintely truth! I am not giving you my phone anymore. How am I going to explain that text to Maddy?’
They all laugh.
‘What is the weirdest thing you have done as a result of social anxiety?
Mac starts laughing, so he must now more about this story.
‘Come on, tell us.’
‘One time when I was a kid, I was calling up a girl I liked to ask her if she wanted to hang out. Her mom answered the phone and in my awkward teenage bumbling I asked her mom if SHE wanted to hang out.’
‘He is still not over that one,’ Mac laughs.
‘OK, Mac, you’re next, truth or dare?’
‘Dare.’
‘Jack always has to drink the hot sauce, so we bought one of these.’
Bozer pulls out a clear plastic container. Inside is a red shriveled pepper. He pulls open the packaging and Mac is surprised to see Bozer even has a special holder so he doesn´t have to touch the pepper. He immediately has serious doubts, but he chose dare, so he needs to cowboy up, mike Jack would say. Jack drank a whole bottle of hot sauce and he is not worse for wear.
‘Come on, Mac, the jug of milk is still standing next to Jack.’
Mac takes a deep breath and gives Bozer a sign to hand it over. He knows he has to do this before he loses his nerve. So he doesn´t hesitate and takes a bite. It is sweet, floral and innocent. But as his teeth tear through the pepper, the burn starts.
It is OK, it is the capsaicin binding to your TRPV-1 receptors. They ensure that your body can detect heat.
His brain keeps feeding him information that by now, he doesn´t want to know.
The TRPV-1 receptors are typically activated by temperatures in excess of about one hundred and ten degrees, but once the capsaicin latches on, the activation temperature drops to about ninety three degrees, which is lower than his body temperature.
It does only take seconds for him to swallow the bite. His throat almost immediately tightens and he starts to swallow profusely to get rid of all the saliva that builds. He can feel his face flush red and hears his friends laugh. This is much worse than he expected.
‘Mac, are you alright?’
Riley sounds worried, Mac wants to answer her, but his forehead, cheeks and neck begin to sweat. His throat is now on fire.
Mac reaches for the jug , which is pushed in his hand by Jack. He chucks the milk down. His nose begins to run and sounds seems to go. He feels like is under water. The pain is still building and his face starts to tingle, he can´t feel his hands anymore and panic suddenly takes hold and he knows he is hyperventilating. His legs start to shake and his vision narrows.
* * *
Jack jumps up the moment Mac gets up and wavers? It was funny to see Mac swallowing convulsively and break a sweat, but it is clear Mac is reacting poorly to the reaper.
Riley, Bozer and himself called out to Mac, but he appears not to hear them and it is also clear he is hyperventilating. If they don´t get his breathing to a more normal level, he is going to pass out.
He sees it happen but is too late to prevent it. Mac tries to clear his vision by rubbing in his eyes.
‘Don´t!’
Too late, the hiss that escapes Mac when the capsaicin comes in contact with the soft tissue of his eyes clearly tells Mac is in serious pain.
‘Bozer, get a shot glass!’
Bozer runs over to the kitchen, coming back with the glass, Jack fills it with milk, grabs Mac´s head from the back and tilts Mac´s head backwards.
‘Blink, Mac! Bozer takes another glass for the other eye.’
Jack flips Mac back forward and now the both of them do the same. He can hear Bozer mumbling apologies. Riley holds Mac hands by the wrists in his lap, taking soothingly. Mac doesn´t fight them, it is clear he realizes that he trust them to know what they are doing. After a couple of minutes, when Mac stopped struggling and gets control over his breathing, he tells Riley to soak a towel in milk. He picks Mac up and places him in one of the deck chairs, draping the towel over his eyes.
‘Mac, do you hear me?’
‘Yeah’ he croaks.
‘Good, take deep breaths, you are going to be OK. Well, eventually.’
Mac´s face contracts in pain, now that the pepper has reached his stomach. This is going to be a long night. Next time he will stay with the truth questions.