Hello, all! This is my first story I've written, so please have some understanding if there are egregious mistakes or whatnot. I've lurked for years on , AO3, and LiveJournal, but didn't have the courage to write/post a story until I got to college and found myself a lonely freshman. I would love any advice or encouragement, if you have any to offer! Thanks again for giving this a read. I intend this to be a multi-chapter fic, so I'll try to maintain a regular upload schedule, if anyone actually reads this. Additionally, in this story Oversight was revealed to be Mac's Dad as seen in the season two finale, but Macgyver didn't quit. Instead, James decided to return to his secret management position as Oversight and only have a professional relationship with Mac. Mac resents this, and tension exists between the two. Hopefully this is clear, and that I didn't mix up any canon information. Again, thank you, and I hope you have an absolutely wonderful day! Disclaimer: I don't own Macgyver, merely borrowing the characters.

Family Blood

When life changing information about Mac's personal life comes to light, how will this change his dynamic with his family at the Phoenix Foundation, and his already tense relationship with his father? Will his life be irrevocably changed by these revelations? Can Jack and the team save Mac from himself? Read and find out.

"Hey, Mac, you've got three minutes before they breach the holding room!" Riley spoke frantically into her comm, worried for her teammates.

"Thanks Riley, just waiting on Jack here…" Mac anxiously sighed. "C'mon Jack, we need to go!"

Jack fiddled with his gun and swore. "Mac, I am not letting you turn the corner without backup!"

He furiously shook his weapon, as if the force of his swinging would magically fix the malfunctioning gun. "Damn thing won't unjam!"

Mac sighed. Again. "Jack, I'll be perfectly fine," he whispered as he peered around the corner. "The Chinese cannot get their hands on this sensitive financial information! You know what is at stake here, don't you? Besides - I've got this flash grenade."

In his hands was a makeshift strobe-light-esque flash grenade, fashioned from high-intensity light bulbs, wiring, and of course, pieces of Jack's cell phone.

"When in the hell did you make that, kid?" Jack said, temporarily distracted. "Wait a minute… where's my cell phone? Mac!"

Mac sheepishly hung his head. "You turned your head, and I, well.. I saw my opportunity. Don't worry. I'll buy you a new one."

"You'd better, or I'll be keeping the next cell phone in a place where the sun don't shine, if you catch my drift."

Shooting him a disgusted look, Mac capitulated. "Fine. I'll ask next time."

"You will?" Jack sarcastically stated. "You mean to say you'll use your manners? Or did your parents not teach you those, Angus?"

The minute those words left his mouth Jack regretted them. Immediately the kid stiffened up, and the light of humor left his eyes, any shared joviality gone. Mac quickly switched right back into a purely mission mindset, his voice becoming serious.

"I'll throw this, blind them temporarily, and while they are distracted, I'll trip the electrical wiring we placed in the ceiling before to knock them unconscious with the shock."

Jack snorted. "You know, Mac, I'm not doubting your insane genius, but how in God's green earth is a mini disco ball going to protect you from actual BULLETS? Have you gone insane, amigo? They'll still be shooting! Imagine the ricochets in the goddamn metal tin of a hallway! And yes, while I am admittedly bad with money -"

"Jack, spending a thousand dollars on Die Hard collectibles is not just being 'bad with money'-"

"Hang on there, that was an investment, and one that will pay off someday -"

"Excuse me, boys, but can we save the marital dispute for when the U.S is not about to be robbed by bumbling Chinese strongmen? This extended mission needs to have a happy ending, or Mac's Daddy Dearest is going to be breathing down our necks! I don't think I need to remind you all how much we do not want that to happen! " Though Matty's critical tone halted the good-natured argument, Jack was glad for the return of a light-hearted normalcy.

Sent to the United States Mint facility in Fort Worth, Texas, the team was tasked with preventing Chinese special agents from stealing important documents regarding the production of U.S currency. The plan had been simple. Fortify and secure the building, trap the Chinese agents, and wait for a Phoenix SWAT team to arrest the culprits.

Flawlessly simple, right?

It wouldn't be a normal mission for the Phoenix Foundation's best team if it actually was.

No, the plan had failed, and now their only hope of not being a national embarrassment rested on the shoulders of Mac's innovation. Mac took a breath, grateful for the shadowed hallway. A light device would be ineffective if used in a fully lit space.

"Alright, on three: one, two…"

"Can we go on four?" Jack interjected. "You know how I feel about odd numbers, man."

Mac rolled his eyes. "Fine. On four: one, two, three, four!"

Shouts arose from the Chinese agents as their careful pick-locking of the facility's door security was halted by Mac, stepping around the corner and throwing his now nausea inducing strobe light. Jack expertly swept around Mac and knocked an enemy agent, attempting to crawl for the door, unconscious. Good lord, it was like fending off zombies - grabby fingers and twitching appendages were trying to grab at his legs, unsuccessfully.

"Jack, pull the switch next to you!" shouted Macgyver.

Jack nodded his acknowledgement and reached for the switch in the panel of the wall prearranged to trigger a chain reaction in the ceiling, and drop the electrical apparatus. He shook away another hand wrapped at his ankle. Thanks to their military and Phoenix training, Mac and him had been conditioned to the disorienting effects of strobe lights, and were luckily unaffected. Jack's finger had reached the switch when he heard a low voice among the commotion.

"If you touch that switch I'll blow his brains out."

Jack swung around. A lone Chinese agent had his arm wrapped around Mac's neck and a gun to his head. Apparently, Mac and him weren't the only ones who had received such strobe light conditioning - odd. A more pressing thought, though, was Mac. A deepening bruise decorated Mac's temple, and his eyes held the glimmering disorientation of a head injury.

Shit.

"Alright, man, I'm stepping away - you can let him go." Jack spoke calmly. Inside, he was worried - he didn't like the way Mac's head was lolling.

With a cynical laugh, the Chinese agent cocked the gun in response.

Mac's voice broke the tension. "Jack, don't," he slurred, "the documents…"

Jack ignored him. "Okay, okay, okay, Mr. Chinese Secret Agent Man - just put the gun down, no need to get violent here. You can have the documents, just let my friend here go."

The agent laughed even louder. "You think I want the documents, now? Mr. American Secret Agent Man," he sneered mockingly, "I've got the real prize right in my arms. Who would have guessed I'd find it in Texas?"

Perfect English, Jack thought. Who was this guy, what did he want with Mac?

"The real prize? Brotha, the only prize that my friend here can offer is the ability to disassemble his friends' electronics. Quite rudely, too, I might add. You've got the wrong man."

Matty's voice (with a hint of concern?) filtered in through his ear. "Jack, keep him talking. SWAT is three minutes away. Don't let Boy Wonder get shot in the head."

Jack muttered back an affirmation. He was starting to get a headache from the still-flashing light. He had thought that a homecoming trip to Texas would be relaxing….

Fine. He'd stall, despite his instincts to just shoot the bastard through the eyes. Letting out a breath, he said, "I'll bite. What's so special about Mac? Besides his Ken-doll blonde hair."

"It's not what 'so special' about Macgyver, but who he's special to." The fake Jackie Chan tightened his grip on Mac, almost as if he was scared of losing him. "You have no idea how much his pretty little head is worth."

Mac finally peeped up. "I've no idea what you're talking about. I'm not special to anyone"

Jack's heart bled a little at that statement. Fuck Macgyver Sr. and the psychological near-abuse he had inflicted on his son.

"You'll learn soon enough, both of you. Dalton, there's a pretty prize on your head, too," Jackie growled. "Either you both come with me, or like I said, I'll blow Macgyver's brains out. He's still worth millions -"

Jackie Chan hadn't quite finished his sentence when Mac, apparently not as disabled as Jack had thought, thrust his pointy elbow into his captor's stomach. The enemy stumbled back in shock, and Jack took the opportunity to push Mac aside, and proceed to beat the crap out of the now cowering foreigner.

"Nobody -" Punch.

"Touches -" Punch.

"My friends -" Punch.

"Without my permission." Kick.

Jack grabbed the beaten man by the scruff of his shirt and threw him against the wall. "Now, you are going to tell me the truth. What. Do you want. With Macgyver."

"I'll never tell," a bloodied grin met Jack's fury. "And I'll never give you an opportunity to torture the information out of me either." With that, the Chinese agent bit down on a hidden cyanide capsule. Wonderfully convenient. Almost as if an author had written in a plot device for this investigation. Kill the enemy, continue the mystery. This was no fiction novel, though. This was reality. Foaming at the mouth, the inscrutable Chinese agent slid down the wall and convulsed until he was dead. Unseeing eyes stared out at the room.

"Goddamnit!" Jack yelled. He turned to Macgyver, who was leaning against the wall, eyes closed. "You okay, kid?" Panic filled his tone.

"Fine Jack, just a little dizzy." Mac smiled tiredly and patted Jack on the shoulder. "Nothing a little aspirin won't fix."

"Nah man, lets get you checked by some doctors -"

Mac started to protest when a commotion disrupted their burgeoning disagreement. SWAT burst through the door, bypassed the pair and efficiently cuffed the remaining (alive) Chinese agents on the ground. They disarmed the strobe light (read: smashed it to bits), swiftly secured the scene, and called the proper authorities. The captain of the squad turned his attention to Jack.

"Agent Dalton, do we need paramedics? Director Webber alerted us to a possible medical emergency."

"Why, yes, we do need medical attention -" Jack was cut off by Mac.

"Jack, I am fine, let's just go back to the Phoenix -"

Jack crossed his arms, and stood resolutely in front of Mac.

"Angus Macgyver -"

Mac copied his stance, albeit with some worrying wavering.

"Jack Dalton" Mac sarcastically parroted.

Jack merely raised an eyebrow. Mac continued.

"I am not going to medical, no matter what you say…"

Three Hours Later (in Phoenix Medical)

"Well, Mr. Macgyver, I'd say you got off relatively unscathed. Just a minor concussion. Keep these abrasions clean, and don't do anything too strenuous the next couple of days, clear?" the Phoenix doctor instructed Mac.

Mac glowered from the examination table. "Crystal."

"You happy, Jack? Can we go get debriefed now?"

"I'm as happy as Bruce Willis with a gun in a Die Hard movie, Mac. Let's go" Jack helped Mac off the table and wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

"I'm ninety-nine percent sure that my headache is in large part due to your incessant Die Hard references, not the concussion, Jack." Mac grumbled. This day had been a struggle. All he wanted to do was debrief, go home, and sleep for three days.

Jack just chuckled in response. Though the whole interaction with the Chinese agent was still bothering him, he chose to ignore his uncomfortable feelings in lieu of the relief he felt at Mac's nearly clean bill of pair quietly made their way to the war room, where Mac was hoping for a quick debrief. As they drew closer to the central hub of the Phoenix Foundation, they noticed the blinds of the windows were drawn.

"Weird." Jack puzzled. "It's a debrief - why would the windows be closed?"

"Don't know, and don't care, Jack. Let's get this over with." Mac's annoyance at the day usurped any curiosity he might have had.

Opening the door, Jack burst into the war room teeming with energy. "Another mission success Matty! What's my prize…" His voice trailed off when he saw another occupant in the room, standing by a fed-up looking Matty and a perturbed Bozer. Riley was sitting in the corner, slamming her fingers into her laptop.

Jack immediately grew angry. "What's he doing here, Matty? The mission was a success."

"Who's doing what here, Jack?" Mac's voice came from behind him, still from the hallway. "Come on, go in."

Jack turned around and placed his hands on Mac's shoulders. "Maybe you should wait in the hallway a second, bud."

Frustration creased Mac's brow. "No, stop. Just let me in. What's the matter, anyway? Is Elwood Davis here? You know I fully support you knocking some sense into him. Verbally, of course."

With that, Mac shoved past Jack and upon entering the room, saw the man that was the source of so much anger in his life.

"Dad?" Aggravation crept into Mac's voice. "What are you doing here? I was under the impression you were going back to your 'spy on my son but don't actually interact with him' routine." His voice dropped.

"Haven't heard from you since Mexico City."

"Apparently it's slipped your memory that I am still your boss, Angus - and sometimes, a boss needs to speak to his employees." James Macgyver said factually.

Mac snorted. "So when the 'job' requires it, you'll speak to me, but god-forbid you actually ask me about my day. Or want to know more about my life."

Oversight rolled his eyes, patronizingly. "You know that a personal relationship is a danger - I'm just protecting you, son. Think about the greater cause, the welfare of the world. Don't you think that the lives of millions is more important than a father-son relationship? We've had this conversation before, Angus. I know your memory is better than that."

The room grew even quieter at that statement, something that Jack didn't think was possible. Mac stood next to Jack, frozen in the doorway. Resignation crossed his features, and he muttered, "My memory is fine, Dad. I remember the day you left down to the exact detail. I'm sure you do too - there's nothing like orphaning your child, is there?"

Shit. Jack had hoped to avoid this confrontation. Close, but no cigar. He felt deeply angry for his friend. Hell, he had been a better father to Mac than "Mr. Oversight" had.

Bozer, from across the room, stood up in his seat and moved to stand by Mac. Riley followed, and the four of them stood in solidarity facing Matty and Mr. Oversight. In the wake of Nikki's death (and subsequent reappearance), Mac's search for his father, Riley's paternal issues, and a whole slew of other traumatic experiences, the small Phoenix Foundation team had grown into a family. And this family was fiercely protective of each other.

The metaphorical "no man's land" in the room was broken by Matty striding confidently to the center.

"Macgyver, Mr. Oversight is here regarding some information you will want to know. Now, this information is on a top-secret, need-to-know basis only, so what is said today doesn't go beyond this room. Am I making myself heard, Dalton?"

Jack swallowed. "Yes Ma'am."

"Good. Mac, you may want to sit down for this." Her tone grew scarily furious. "The information that Oversight is presenting is directly related to you."

The team hesitantly took a seat. Mac sat on the edge of his chair, and stiffened when his father clapped a hand on his shoulder before walking to the large computer screen.

"Angus, I had hoped to keep this information from you, but this recent completed mission of yours has shown me I am no longer able to do so."

A picture of the Chinese agent who had threatened Mac's life appeared on the screen.

"This man is named Leonard Wang, an Chinese American ex- army defector. While stationed overseas in China, Wang deserted his post and was presumed dead, until two months ago. Two months ago, the intelligence community received information that Wang was selling American secrets to an overseas crime syndicate, the White Ring. In exchange for this information, Wang was offered protection and a job with this highly trained, highly skilled criminal agency."

Riley interrupted. "You know, this rings a bell…. I occasionally check in with some of my old contacts from my hacking days, and apparently this organization is recruiting hackers to engineer some cyber attacks. They had even asked about Artemis37...I didn't even think about it twice - recruitments like these are nearly constant…." Riley shook her head in shame.

"No need to be ashamed, Ms. Davis. However, from this point forward, I'd like any incidents like those to be reported." Oversight responded.

Riley nodded her assent.

"Continuing on, further investigation of this organization revealed a worldwide network of agents, all instigating apparently random acts of criminal activity. Take the mission you just completed - a single man team, breaking into a U.S financial facility. The Chinese intelligence agencies sanctioned no such mission, leading us to believe this was a maverick team commanded by a separate entity."

Bozer shook his head in confusion. "What's the point of all this, then? What does this have anything to do with Mac, or us?"

"I'm getting there, Mr. Bozer. Yesterday afternoon, the identity of the leader of the White Ring was uncovered by the South Korean National Intelligence Agency. This identity has now been verified by multiple sources, and registers with facial recognition software." He indicated to Matty. "Director Webber has additionally personally corroborated this identity with her own contacts in the criminal underworld."

"Please, please, do not tell me that Murdoc is involved," an exasperated Jack said. "A person can only handle so much evil until they explode. I'm surprised that his body hasn't shattered into itty, bitty, tiny pieces of black goo that chemically burn anything that they touch -"

"Dalton." Matty cut Jack off. "Really?"

Oversight cleared his throat. "As I was saying, we have confirmed this identity, and I am prepared to disclose this information to you now."

Moving closer to the screen, he tapped the lower right hand corner. A picture of a woman popped up. Blond hair, blue eyes, middle-aged. Jack looked closer. Those eyes… they reminded him of someone… Mac?

Smash

The sound of shattering glass echoed through the room. All eyes turned to the sound of the disruption. What Jack saw next, he would never forget.

Mac had shot to his feet and the remnants of the glass water he had held lay scattered across the floor. All the color had been leached from his face, and his breathing was erratic. He bumped into the edge of the chair as he frantically tried to move backwards and away from the group sitting down. Already unsteady on his feet, he was starting to shake. Riley, Matty, Bozer and Jack rose to their feet and tried to comfort him, but Mac scooted back and out of touch.

"Mac?" Holding out his hands in a placating manner, Jack approached Mac as if greeting a terrified animal. "What's wrong, bud?"

"Whatever it is, man, we can help," chimed in Bozer, looking incredibly distressed at the state of his best friend.

"No, no, no…. This can't be….she can't be…" Mac muttered under his breath, starting to tailspin. He was starting to hyperventilate when Jack intervened. He rushed forward and grabbed Mac, forcing him to look into his eyes. "Mac. Calm down. What's got you going like this? Who's that woman?" No response. He motioned to Riley, who understood his gesture and brought over a chair. He forced Mac into the seat (damn, the kid was skinny) and put his head between his legs. The normally obstinate Mac was disturbingly pliable under his touch, and that worried Jack.

"Matty, who's that woman?" He practically shouted at the Director of the Phoenix Foundation. From Mac's side, she merely pursed her lips and gave a pointed glare in the direction of Oversight. Riley and Bozer gave Jack equally confused looks.

Oversight stood passively in his place near the screen, not an ounce of concern on his face

Jack strode up to Oversight and got right in his face. "Who the hell is that, sir, that's got my partner having a panic attack?"

"Agent Dalton, I'd advise you to take a step back -"

"The hell I will! Look at your son, you heartless bastard!"

"I'm afraid I am unable to answer your question, then, Agent -"

A weak voice, Mac's voice, low and shaky entered the fray.

"That woman… that woman is my mother." Mac, now looking up, looked devastated. He shakily got to his feet and shook off the hands steadying him. Jack met Mac halfway to his father. "Your mom? I thought she was dead."

"So did all of us, Jack." Matty chimed in. "The majority of the intelligence community did."

Mac reached his father. "The majority?...Dad… Dad, did you know about this? Did you know that Mom was alive?"

Macgyver Sr. looked at his son, and seemed to hesitate, before delivering some of the four worst words Mac had ever heard.

"Yes. Yes, I did."

Mac reeled back from his father, as if they words had physically burned him. Without missing a beat, Oversight continued.

"And I can explain."