AN: This is the thirty-seventh installment of my personal challenge to write a tag for every episode. This is a tag to 2x16, Hammock + Balcony. It picks up right where the episode ends. It's not the best tag I've every written, and it's more of a drabble than anything else, but it addresses something that was probably just an error in the ep, but oh well. I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review!
Mac looked at Jack with heartbreak in his eyes. He'd been lied to, again. Matty really did know his father, and time after time she still denied it. The woman had become a bit of a mother figure to Mac, yet she was still lying to him. He set Jack's phone on the railing and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, letting out a groan.
"Why won't she just tell me the truth?" he asked to no one in the particular. He knew Jack couldn't answer the question. No one but Matty could. "I just want to know why my dad left, is that too much to ask?" Mac let his hands fall back down to his sides as he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. Getting worked up and emotional wouldn't help anything, but it was kind of hard not to at this point.
"I don't know, kid, and I'm so sorry this has turned out so terribly. You deserve better than this." Jack paused, then hesitantly continued, "you deserve a father who stuck around in the first place." Jack reached up and put his hand on Mac's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
Mac sighed. "I wish I'd never even sent him that letter and that none of this had ever come up. I'd rather live in blissful ignorance and have some unanswered questions than have to doubt someone I trust and have even more unanswered questions." He was just so frustrated and done with it all. He didn't know what to do. It was all so convoluted and messy, and he only ended up getting more and more hurt as his search went on. Maybe it was time to stop, time to give up. Why would his father break into his house to leave some cryptic gift under the tree when he could just as easily physically walk up and say hello? None of it made any sense. Jack didn't respond, but he did squeeze Mac's shoulder just a little bit tighter. That was okay. Mac knew Jack didn't have any answers anyway. He was only there to help him get through it and support him in any way he could, and Mac couldn't thank the man enough for that.
Shaking his head, Mac picked up Jack's phone off the railing and began to read through the dossier. He stopped after reading the first sentence.
"Jack, this says 'A. MacGyver'. My dad's first name is James," he said with a confused look on his face. The dossier couldn't be about him, could it? That didn't make any sense.
"What? Let me see that," Jack muttered in response, gently taking the phone from Mac's hands. The two looked at the dossier together, and confirmed that it did in fact say 'A' and not 'J', like it should have. "What are the chances it's just a typo?" Jack asked, but there was no hope in his voice.
"This is an official CIA file. I don't think they would let a typo onto it. But, technically the possibility does still exist, albeit small. But why would the CIA be investigating me back in 2000? I would've been like eight years old. That doesn't make any sense," Mac said. He stepped away from Jack and groaned in frustration, running his hands through his hair again. Why couldn't something just be simple or straightforward for once? Was that really too much to ask?
"I don't know, man. I really don't, and I wish I did. But we're gonna get to the bottom of this, you and me. I promised you I'd help you find your father, and I'm not givin' up now. This is only a roadblock, not a dead end. We can do this," Jack reassured, stepping closer to Mac to close the distance between them. "So how about we get some takeout from that little Chinese place, then spend some quality time going over the dossier together, huh?" he asked, clapping Mac on the back again.
Mac sighed again, but nodded when he looked at Jack. The man was right. Yeah, it was all totally confusing and none of it made any sense at all, but Mac was good with a challenge, especially when he had Jack by his side. This would be no different. As long as Jack was with him, he would find his father. Of that he was sure.