AN: This was a really great ep, and I had a really great time writing this tag that takes it slightly AU. This is my first time writing Desi, so please tell me how you think I did! I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review :)

Desi wasn't quite sure how it happened. One moment, she and MacGyver were hiding behind their makeshift barricades, and the next, fists were flying and guns were going off. She could only hope that MacGyver didn't get hit. The idiotic genius boy could hide an injury better than most people she'd ever met, but even he was bound to make some kind of sound if a bullet ripped through him. Nevertheless, she took her eyes off her opponent for less than a second to check on the kid, and it nearly cost her everything. Some of the worst pain she'd ever felt in her life ripped through the side of her head, taking her down. Desi laid there, trying to remember how to breathe. She could feel blood pouring down, coating her hair and face. In the back of her mind, she thought she heard MacGyver calling out her name in a panicked voice, and then grunt in pain, but she couldn't bring herself to open her eyes, or do anything other than focusing on not passing out. She knew she had to force her eyes open and get up, because it was literally her job to protect MacGyver, and Jack would kill her if she let anything happen to him, but she couldn't yet, she just couldn't. Getting grazed by a bullet in the side of the head really hurt.

"Boss, they're gone!" one of the men shouted out. "Let's just cut our losses and take the boy. The woman isn't worth it. If she's not dead yet, she soon will be."

Desi could hear a struggle, and what sounded like panicked breaths coming from MacGyver. She had to do something. She couldn't let them take him. Slowly, she managed to get her eyes open to tiny slits. The men were surrounding MacGyver, with at least four of them holding him still. His eyes were wide with barely concealed fear.

"You're right," the lead man said, stepping closer to the kid. "I'm sure a pretty American boy like this could fetch us some good money." The man suddenly reached out and took a hold of MacGyver's chin, turning his head this way and that, as if he were inspecting an animal for purchase. The man reached around and started feeling the kid up, and was clearly satisfied by what he felt. She could see MacGyver breathing harshly, trying to stay calm and not panic. She wanted to call out to him, to tell him that she just needed a minute and then she would take out the men holding him and everything would be fine, but she really did need another minute, and her charge didn't have that. "Let's load him up."

That's when MacGyver couldn't stay quiet anymore, and his panic overtook him. "No! Get off me!" he shouted. MacGyver began fighting like a caged wildcat, and it clearly took the men by surprise. But there was only one of him, and tons of them. MacGyver could fight better than most thanks to the training Jack gave him, but he was on the smaller side - and perhaps getting smaller, since he seemed to be skinnier every time Desi saw him. She would have to pay closer attention and make sure that he was eating like he should be, since Jack had warned her that the kid had a tendency to stop eating and drop a lot of weight when he was in emotional distress - and these men were not. Desi could hear him grunting in pain with every hit they gave him, but he wouldn't stop fighting. Desi knew he was scared, and she knew she had to help him. She couldn't let them take him. They would sell him on the black market to the highest bidder and the rest of his life would be a living hell. She couldn't let that happen to anyone, least of all a sweet kid like MacGyver. Because he really was still a kid, even if he was only a few years younger than her. She needed to save him. She still had her gun, she could do it. She had to get up. She had to get up, she had to get up. She had to get up, she had to get up, shehadtogetup shehad-

Swallowing down her nausea, Desi forced herself to her knees, and ignored the blood still pouring down her face. Using the wall for support, she stood up, and drew her gun. She took a deep breath and forced down another wave of nausea. She could do this. She had to.

Less than a minute later, Desi was standing in the doorway of the clinic from which the men left through. She carefully glanced around the corner, and saw them. They were forcing MacGyver - who was still struggling fiercely, and now had blood down the side of his own face from what was likely a pistol whip - to his knees, and binding his hands and feet with rope, connecting them together behind him. They gagged him and dragged him over to the SUV.

"You better get used to these ropes, boy," one of the men said. "Because you're never going to be free of them again." The man dragged MacGyver up into the back of the SUV, and tied another rope to his bonds, then connected it to something in the back of the car, making it even more impossible for the kid to escape. The man began to take advantage of the fact that his captive was incapable of fighting back, and began to feel him up like their boss had earlier. She could hear MacGyver shouting through his gag, but the man only laughed and kept touching him.

Desi had to make her move now. She was still unsteady on her feet, and her hands shook as she held up her weapon, but she would just have to trust her training and do it. Without even giving the men a warning - because these men didn't deserve that, not for what they were planning on doing to MacGyver - she aimed at the boss, and fired. Her aim was true, and he fell with a thud. The rest of the men started shouting and moving around, looking for where the shot came from. The man who was taking advantage of MacGyver finally stopped and moved back to his bad guy buddies. She shot him next, hitting him square in the chest. Desi quickly fired again, and took out the man standing next to him. By the time the men grabbed their weapons and had figured out where the shots were coming from, there were only three of them left. That was easy.

She stepped out from her hiding place, and smirked at the look of fear in the men's eyes. She supposed she did look rather terrifying, being covered in blood and holding a gun leveled straight at them. They were all dead before even getting off a single shot at her. It was for that reason that Jack picked her to be MacGyver's overwatch. She was good.

With a sigh of relief, Desi holstered her weapon and slowly walked over to the car where they'd put her partner. The back was shut, but hopefully unlocked. Desi took a deep breath before trying to pull it up. Just walking was difficult enough, but the movement of pulling open the back might send her nausea over the edge. But she succeeded in doing it without throwing up, and didn't fail to notice the heavy flinch MacGyver gave when the back was opened. He probably thought she was one of the traffickers. She also noticed that his eyes were filled with tears, but chose not to say anything. It was understandable. He thought she was dead and that he was going to be sold as a slave to someone who would make his life miserable, but only after these men did whatever they wanted to him first. Desi couldn't imagine a worse fear.

"It's okay," she said. "It's over now." Desi put her hand on the edge of the car, and closed her eyes. "Just give me a minute." She needed a moment to steady herself. Bleeding head wounds really took a lot out of a person. After another deep breath, Desi took her knife out and began to cut the ropes. She started with his gag, then moved to the one connecting him the backseat of the car. She moved on to the ones connecting his hands and feet together, and then cut those ones individually too. Carefully, MacGyver straightened out his sore and abused muscles, and sat in the back of the car, his legs hanging out the back. He wouldn't look her in the eyes.

"Thank you," he muttered. "I thought you were dead." He glanced up at her for the smallest of seconds, then looked back down at his hands. His wrists were a little bloody from the ropes, but Desi was more concerned about his head wound.

"It looks worse than it is," she said, pointing up at her own wound. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he muttered. "Yeah, I'm fine." He clearly wasn't, but she wouldn't call him out on the obvious lie. He kept wiping the tears out of his eyes, as if that would keep her from noticing they were there, and Desi could see that he was still shaking.

Jack had warned her about this. Most of the time, MacGyver could compartmentalize anything and be perfectly fine to most people, but every now and then, something in an op would just shake him down to his very core, and it would be a while before he was visibly okay. It was understandable that this would be one of those times.

"I'm gonna go steal one of their phones and call Matty for exfil, because neither one of us are driving out of here," she said. For a moment, it looked like MacGyver was going to protest, but then thought better of it. He likely knew that if he did, then Desi would have to call him out on the fact that he was still shaking, and it was better for them both to just pretend that wasn't the case.

Desi wanted to help him, but she didn't know how. A hug might make things worse, since it hadn't been that long since those men were touching him and feeling him up, and besides, Desi wasn't much of a hugger. That had always been Jack. She sighed. She wished Jack were there. He would know what to do, what to say. What was she supposed to say? Sorry you almost got kidnapped by traffickers who were going to sell you to someone as property to be used as an object? That didn't quite work. There was nothing she could think of to say that would make anyone feel better.

After a quick call to Matty for exfil, leaving out all the details and not giving Matty any time to say anything other than "hello" and "okay", Desi walked back to the back of the SUV and sat down right next to MacGyver. He quickly took off his button up shirt and handed it to her.

"You should really put pressure on that," he said, not even looking at her. He was still looking at the ground. Desi noticed him shivering, despite the heat, and folding his arms to cover his body, as if he were trying to hide himself. She sighed. It was no surprise that he was feeling vulnerable. Still, he was right about her wound. She put the wadded up shirt against her head and put as much pressure on it as she could. It hurt, but it didn't hurt as bad as it would if Jack got to her after letting something terrible happen to MacGyver, so it was worth it. The kid meant the whole freaking world to Jack.

So they sat there in silence until exfil came for them. There was nothing she could say, and MacGyver clearly wasn't in the mood for talking. Desi tried to figure out what to do. She knew the team always hung out at MacGyver's house after an op, and that would probably be the case this time too. Maybe she would actually join them this time, just to make sure that MacGyver was okay. She needed Riley and Bozer to know what had happened, because the two of them would be much better at comforting the kid than she would be. But she did want him to be okay. Desi knew she acted like she didn't care, but it was just an act. Of course she cared. The boy genius was an amazing person, and the world was a better place because of him. She needed to protect him until Jack got back, but she couldn't protect him emotionally like Jack could. That just wasn't her, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to make sure that he got that emotional protection too. Bozer had been there for Mac since the kid was like ten, or eight, or something - Desi wasn't exactly sure - so he would definitely be able to help on that front, and it was just who Riley was as a person to be able to help there too. So MacGyver would be in good hands, that much she knew for sure.

It wasn't much of a hassle to get to MacGyver's house after they landed in LA. Of course, she had been forced to get her head checked out - some stitches later and she would be fine - but then she got over as quickly as she could. They were all surprised to see her there, which brought a smile to her face. She was surprised to see herself there too.

Bozer and Riley were bickering about who was the older sibling, and then she knew exactly how to make sure MacGyver was okay. These people were his family, and they would always protect him. She just had to remind him of that. So when he got up to go see Matty, she made her plan known to Bozer and Riley.

"Hey," she said quietly, as to not let her voice be carried into the house. "When he gets back, start talking about being siblings again." Bozer and Riley had been informed of what happened while they were on the jet back, and they'd both showered MacGyver with hugs and words of how thankful they were that he was okay. Of course, MacGyver had brushed it all off, saying that Bozer was in way more danger than he was in, and somehow, the kid managed to turn the whole situation around so that he was in the wrong for simply not having been there while Bozer was in trouble. The way that MacGyver could manage to paint himself as the one to blame in any given situation was truly mind-boggling to Desi. Why did he always feel like everything was his fault? She would have to talk to Jack more about that. But still, Bozer and Riley had been working to make him feel better, and she wanted to be able to say that she had done the same.

"I'm tellin' you," Bozer said, once MacGyver was walking back out to them. "I'm physically older than you, which makes me the big brother, and you the little sister," he said to Riley.

"Well I'm older than all of you," Desi said with a smirk and a sip of her beer. MacGyver was looking at them all and smiling, which was a good thing. Her plan was working.

"What if I wanna be the oldest?" MacGyver asked innocently.

"No," all three of them deadpanned at exactly the same time.

"I've been takin' care of you since grade school, man," Bozer said. "You are the textbook definition of a little brother."

"Mac," Riley continued. "You are everyone's little brother, okay? We're always gonna protect you. Besides, you are the youngest."

"Ha!" Bozer shouted, pointing at Riley. "You admitted that he's the littlest brother since he's the actual youngest, which means that I have to be the big brother because I'm older than you," he said with a massive grin. Desi couldn't help but grin herself. She didn't feel the need to contribute much to the conversation anymore, now that they were taking it away and her plan was working. MacGyver was smiling and laughing, and he wasn't shaking anymore - the kid had been shaking even hours after she got him free, and she had felt terrible about it, but she just didn't know what to do to make it better. Besides, she wasn't exactly part of their family anyway.

But that didn't matter. Riley and Bozer were play-arguing, and MacGyver was almost doubled over in laughter, despite the toll it was probably taking on his bruised ribs. Desi leaned back and smiled. Her mission had been a success.