AN: A day early because I have time tonight but probably won't tomorrow. This one actually probably does make sense even if you haven't read The Path Not Taken, but it's probably better if you have read it, *hint, hint*. Other episode tags I'm planning will not make much sense without having read that story, so the next instalment in this story probably won't make sense if you're not also reading The Path Not Taken.
This chapter: Turnabout, tag to 3.05, Butterfly Bandages to Sutures.
MACGYVER'S RESIDENCE
LA
Mac grabbed a plate of fish tacos off the kitchen bench, along with a bowl of guacamole, shooting Bozer a grin as his roommate finished cooking dinner.
He walked towards the deck, passing Riley, who was laughing as she chatted with Billy on her phone. He caught a snatch of their conversation as he passed.
'…Miss you too, your mama's a hard taskmaster!'
'Who really likes you, so guess who has some vacation time coming up?'
Mac's grin widened as he stepped out onto the deck. Matty was sitting by the lit fire-pit, a beer in hand from Mac's self-opening, walking Esky, which was sitting beside her. Jack and Diane were standing up, leaning on the railing, and completely ignoring the spectacular view in favour of each other.
(Diane was telling Jack a story of some sort, and he was chortling. As Mac set down the tacos and guacamole on the folding table he'd brought out earlier, Diane leaned over and kissed Jack on the cheek, whispering something in his ear.)
Mac and Matty shared a soft, happy smile at that, before Mac headed back into the kitchen to pick up the second batch of Bozer's delicious fish tacos.
'That reminds me of something.'
Jack pointed at Mac as the blonde finished speaking with his half-eaten fish taco, shooting him a look.
'Don't you dare, brother, don't you dare.'
Mac's mischievous smirk only widened.
'Last year, when we were in Kiev-'
Jack appealed to Matty.
'Come on, you gotta stop him, it's classified!'
Jack's boss just snorted and shot him a disbelieving look.
'You two went to Kiev chasing Mac's dad, on your own dime and your own time. It's not classified at all, Dalton.' She put her hands on her hips. 'And since when have you let classified get in the way of a good story?'
(That was true; Jack did tell stories from classified missions, just with the necessary classified details omitted.)
Diane smiled and leaned forward, a mischievous glint in her eyes that was identical to one that they saw so often in Riley's eyes.
'Oh, I have to hear it now…'
Jack groaned and glanced at Riley and Bozer, hoping for some sympathy.
He got none, as Mac's smirk widened even more and he began to tell the story.
'Last year, we were eating pierogis in Kiev when…'
I'm not embellishing this story.
Scout's Honour.
Okay, okay, I know, I was kicked out of the Boy Scouts.
But, at least, unlike many people who use that phrase, I actually was a Boy Scout.
Besides, this story doesn't need any embellishing.
None at all.
Later that evening, Mac, Bozer and Riley did the dishes. Bozer washed, Riley dried, and Mac put the dishes away.
As he scrubbed, Bozer kept craning his neck in an attempt to get a glimpse of Jack and Diane out on the deck, which made Riley and Mac exchange a fond, exasperated glance.
(Neither of them were all that interested in spying on the older couple.)
(They were invested – Riley especially – in Jack and Diane's relationship, and they were very happy for them, but Riley had no desire to see her mom and the closest thing she had ever had to a real dad canoodling or worse, and Mac respected Jack's privacy. Besides, there were some things about his partner that he did not want to know. Or see.)
Whatever Bozer saw (they were decidedly not thinking about it) made him give a little whoop as Mac put a large ceramic platter away.
'Woo hoo! Who's awesome?' He pointed at himself with both hands. 'We are! Our master plan worked!'
Mac and Riley both raised an eyebrow at Bozer.
'Our plan?'
(Riley did not remember Bozer helping out. Sure, he'd been supportive, enthusiastically so, but she was the one who'd invited her mom to Charades Night, and it'd been Mac who'd convinced Jack that even if fairytale endings were nigh-impossible to have in their line of work, it was worth a shot anyway.)
'Our plan?'
(Mac wasn't aware that there'd been a plan.)
(At least, there definitely hadn't been a Parent Trap-esque plan anyway.)
Matty, who'd been in the bathroom but had walked out just in time to hear Bozer's self-congratulations, strode up to the kitchen counter, sat down on a stool so as to be closer to eye level to Bozer, and stared at him, an eyebrow also quirked.
Bozer gulped and gestured to Riley, as if he was presenting her to an adoring crowd.
'Go Riley!'
AN: I know, I know, this seems mostly like pointless Team-as-Family fluff…which it is, but it does serve some purpose for the overall story of The Path Not Taken too! (It is probably just not clear to you guys right now – but tune in sometime over the next couple of weeks for the next episode, in which it becomes slightly clearer why I wrote this!)