Heeeeey! I'm back! I said I would be :D
Once again, sorry for going AWOL for so long there. I was working on a contest for an internship at CBS, so basically all my time was devoted to that. *crosses fingers* I hope I got in!
Anyway, here is a multichap that I've been working on, and I'd love to know what you guys think :)
Constructive criticism is always welcome, flames are not :)
I do not own the characters.
MacGyver ran through the large house, ducking as a ninja star impaled the wall next to his head. He clutched the small statuette in his arms like a football. "Jack, any time now would be great!"
There was no answer, but out of nowhere, there was a loud thud and a grunt, and Mac took a chance to look behind him. Jack had come out from around a corner and bowled into the man chasing his young partner. The ninja star-throwing attacker was now on the ground, unmoving. Jack hauled the unconscious man up and dumped him on a nearby couch.
"C'mon," Jack said cockily as he walked over to Mac. "Let's get outta here before his other ninja buddies can find out you took that." Jack nodded to the small statuette in Mac's arms. The two of them made their way out to the front of the building, where their car was waiting.
"Matty, we're on our way to exfil, and the package is secure," Jack announced.
"Can't wait to change," Mac muttered as he pulled off his tux jacket and wrapped the statue with it.
"Don't ditch the outfit just yet, Mac," Matty replied. "You're not quite done with it."
"Wh—is there another part of the mission we missed?" The hint of desperation didn't go unnoticed by Matty.
"Don't worry Blondie, you don't have to be male model anymore," she assured him. "But you still need the tux. We've got another mission."
"We haven't even finished this one technically," Jack complained.
"Oh, I'm sorry that the world doesn't stop needing you to do your jobs just because you're tired or slow," Matty shot back sarcastically. "Now, if you want to keep your jobs, get your butts back here so I can brief you on the new mission. This is a favor being called in by the director of Homeland Security," she added.
Mac and Jack shared a look and a silent sigh. If the director of Homeland Security was calling in a favor from Matty, it had to be important.
"We'll be there as soon as we can," Mac promised.
0-0-0
"A few hours ago, the plans and codes to one of the country's stealth satellites was stolen. A friend of mine back at Homeland Security has asked that I send in my best team."
"Aw, I'm honored you think we're your best team, Matty," Jack said, placing his hand over his heart.
"Who said you guys were my first choice?"
Jack was ninety-nine percent sure that Matty was kidding, but he knew you could never be a hundred percent sure when it came to her, so he shut his mouth.
Mac chuckled at the confused look on his partner's face. Matty notice it as well.
"Oh, calm down Dalton," she said in exasperation. "Can I continue with the briefing, or do we need to nurse your ego a little more?"
"No ma'am," Jack replied, shaking his head. "We are clear to go."
"As I was saying," Matty continued, turning away from Jack. "We need to get those satellite codes back. Fortunately, our man doesn't seem to be that patient; the codes have already gone up on the deep web. We identified the buyers, and HomeSec is picking them up as we speak."
"So we got the buyers, but not the seller?" Mac confirmed.
"Correct. However, our buyers are willing to talk if they can get a deal. Homeland is willing to make that deal, as is Phoenix."
"So why can't Homeland handle this?" Jack asked.
"Our satellite codes were just stolen. That's not something people want leaking out. We operate more in the shadows, and Robert knows that. So he called in a favor."
The group was content with the answer, and they moved on.
"So what do we have to do?" Riley asked.
"We're going to go in, talk with the prisoners, and see what they can tell us. They know their deal depends completely on the information they give us, so I'm thinking they'll give us good intel. Mac, Riley, you two are going to go undercover on this mission as the buyers, so pay attention when we go in."
With that, Matty turned and walked out of the war room, followed by the group. They made their way to interrogation, and when Matty opened the door, there was a man and a woman sitting behind a table. They were both secured down with a pair of cuffs, and while the guy looked nervous, the woman looked confidant.
"Guys, meet Vadim and Veronika Borchek," Matty introduced. "Why don't you two go ahead and tell us what you know." It wasn't a question.
"What do we get if we help?" Veronika asked smoothly. Mac was slightly surprised to hear a thick Russian accent coming from her mouth.
"That depends entirely on the information you give us, as we told you earlier."
The Russians looked at each other, and Vadim nodded. "Okay," he said. "We were to meet at the Russian embassy masquerade in two nights to make the deal."
"Okay, so we have a location," Matty said in approval. "What else have you got? That's not enough to get you a deal as good as you're hoping for."
"We do not know the seller's name," Vadim insisted.
"Maybe not, but you know enough that you were going to be able to make the trade," Matty reminded him.
"Since it is masque, we were to wear specific mask and outfits, as was he," Veronika spoke up.
"Better," Matty said with a nod. "How were you supposed to pay?"
"It was fairly simple. Someone would come up to me, call me 'Sparrow,' and we would make our way out. We would pay via electronic transfer once we had confirmation of codes. Five million dollars," Vadim explained.
Matty nodded. "Good. Is there anything else you can tell us?"
The two of them looked at each other. "The only other thing I can think of is the name. He would refer to us as Sparrow. We were to call him Scorpion."
Riley shifted uncomfortably in her seat, which didn't go unnoticed by her friends. "Uh...can I talk to you guys outside?" she asked. Looking confused, Matty, Jack, and Mac followed the hacker out of the room to where Bozer was waiting.
"What's going on, Ri?" Jack asked. Riley folded her arms.
"I can't go undercover for this mission," she stated. "I … I know Scorpion."
"You know him?" Matty asked, raising an eyebrow. Riley nodded.
"We ended up...crossing paths briefly a few years ago," she explained. "We didn't make very good impressions on each other, and there's too much of a chance he'd recognize me, even with a mask on."
"Is there any way you could lead us to him without having to go undercover at all?" Matty asked. Riley shook her head.
"He's constantly on the move, and he stole an algorithm that scrambles his IP address, so it'd be almost impossible to pin down a location before the meet."
"So what are we gonna do?" Jack asked, crossing his arms. "We can't not go get the plans. Matty, do you think Veronika would be willing to go undercover as herself with the right incentives?"
"She wouldn't be undercover if she were going as herself, Jack," Matty said. "And I don't want to do that. I don't trust them not to double cross us, and then we'd lose those codes for good."
"Hold on," Mac said, his eyes lighting up as he got an idea. Everyone looked at the blond.
"That's a look that usually means you've got a crazy plan," Matty said.
"It's actually not that crazy," Mac said, looking at Jack. "Who do we know that's Russian and works with us occasionally?"
Jack's eyebrows raised and he understood what Mac was thinking. "Y'think she'd do it?" he asked. MacGyver shrugged.
"She might. It's worth a shot to ask, and she'd be working with us, which is one of her stipulations."
"Hold on, can someone explain what's goin' on?" Bozer asked.
"Yeah, I second that," Riley said, looking between Jack and Mac in confusion. Jack grinned.
"How would you guys feel about meeting Anja?"
Yay! Chapter 1 is out! And Anja! Are you guys excited to see her come back? (I don't think it's critical to know her backstory to read this, but if you don't know who she is and are interested in finding out, you can either read my story "There Can Be No Witnesses" or "Jellybean." If you want.)
What do you guys think? This first chapter is really rough I feel, but I think it gets better as the story goes on... I started writing this while I was in Disney World and couldn't work on my contest submission, so a lot of it was really rushed, though I tried to fix it up. Sorry, rambling XD What did you think?