Hello my friends, I am back! Lol though maybe some of you were hoping I was gone for good? ;) So like it says in the plot, this was inspired by one of the original episodes of MacGyver, which is why I called it a retelling and took the name. It's obviously going to be different, but that's what a retelling is for, right? ;)
I own nothing about these wonderful characters, though the OCs are mine.
Riley walked into her apartment building with her backpack slung over her shoulder. Her landlord, who was sitting in his office right by the front door, called out to her as she walked past.
"Hey Riley," he greeted.
"Hey Frank," she replied with a smile, continuing to walk towards the stairs to get to her apartment.
"Hey, uh, there was someone here for you earlier today," he informed her. That stopped her in her tracks, confusion crossing her face.
"Who was it?" she asked, coming back to the front of the office to face her landlord.
"Don't know," Frank replied. "Never seen him before. He seemed pretty anxious to see you though," he added.
"Is he still here?" she asked, trying to figure out the uncomfortable feeling she was getting in the pit of her stomach. She relaxed slightly when Frank shook his head.
"No, this was a few hours ago. I told him I didn't know when you'd be back, and that he'd be better off trying to come see you some other time," he replied. She nodded at him gratefully.
"Thanks, Frank," she said. She turned and walked towards the stairs, her brain racing, trying to come up with anyone who could have wanted to see her. She hadn't been expecting any visitors; she really had no ties to anyone outside the Phoenix anymore, and she knew where all of her friends from there were. Her mom might have stopped by, but Frank had said it was a guy. Suddenly it clicked.
"It was probably just my PO," she thought to herself, relaxing a little more as she ascended the stairs. "He's never come by before, and he's probably just wanting to make sure that I'm being a good parolee. Good thing I have all my electronics with me, otherwise that could have ended badly," she thought with a smirk.
She jogged up the stairs, taking them two at a time. She got to her apartment and unlocked the door. As she stepped inside, she felt a small shudder run through her; she glanced around the apartment, but nothing was out of place, at least not that she could tell. She set her backpack on the floor and put her keys on the counter and walked into the kitchen, grabbing a cup and pouring herself a glass of juice. She couldn't place why she was feeling so uncomfortable, but her phone rang, distracting her from those feelings for the moment. It was Jack, and she couldn't decide whether to deny the call or not, unsure if he was about to call her in for another mission. She finally accepted the call, albeit slightly warily.
"Hello?"
"Riley," Jack's voice came over the phone. "What are your plans tonight?"
Riley looked around her apartment, still trying to shake the uncomfortable feeling that had plagued her since she entered. "Uh, nothing really," she said. "I was just planning on having a relaxing evening at home after that mission," she explained, referring to the mission they had just gotten back from and placing emphasis on the word 'relaxing.' They'd been going to meet one of their contacts who had information to share with them, but right after they got the information from him, he had been shot. Thankfully the wound wasn't fatal, but that meant that the next day and a half consisted of Mac, Jack, and Riley chasing after the shooter. There had been several close calls, but once again, they made it through the day, and they got the shooter, who was now willing to talk in order to save his own skin.
"Well, come have a relaxing evening with us," Jack offered. "We got tickets to go see that new movie," he added. "I know you've been wanting to see it," he prodded when she didn't answer. She considered his offer as she took another drink of her juice, then she finally responded.
"Okay, I'm in," she said. "What time?"
She kept telling herself that she was just being paranoid, but she really didn't like the feeling she was getting in her apartment, and she figured a night out was probably exactly what she needed to get her mind off of things.
"Meet at Mac's place in thirty minutes," Jack instructed. The call ended, and Riley finished her juice as she looked around her apartment. She gave an involuntary shudder as she thought about whoever had come to her apartment, even though she was sure that nothing sinister was meant by the visit.
"You need to take a chill pill, Ri," she muttered to herself as she set the empty cup in her sink. She went to the bathroom and freshened up quickly before the movie. Once she was ready, she grabbed her keys and headed out the door.
0-0-0
"Come on dude, we're gonna be late!" Jack griped at his partner as Mac pulled into the parking lot of the Phoenix Foundation.
"Sorry," Mac apologized as he put the car into park and opened his door to get out. "Things were kind of crazy at work, and I forgot I had left the tickets here," he defended. "It's gonna take five minutes to get in, grab the tickets, and get back out."
"We're starting the clock as soon as you get outta the car," Bozer warned in a semi-joking voice, pulling out his phone and showing Mac the timer with five minutes on it.
"Would you guys relax?" Mac said in exasperation. "The movie doesn't start for another hour! We have plenty of time to get there." They had all been in the car and driving down the road when Mac had reached in his pocket and realized that he didn't have the tickets on him. Several minutes went by with him trying to remember everywhere he'd gone that day before he remembered that he had taken the tickets out of his wallet to grab something for Thornton when they got back from their mission.
"I swear, give me five minutes," Mac assured them.
"I'm comin' with you," Jack informed his partner.
"I can go in and find some tickets without a babysitter," Mac drawled.
"Oh, I don't doubt your ability to find the tickets. But I also don't doubt your ability to get distracted by the shiny things the Foundation is creating," Jack shot back. Bozer and Riley laughed as Jack got out of the car as well, and Bozer put his phone up to the window, showing that he had started the timer, which was indeed set to five minutes and counting. Mac shook his head in pretend annoyance and walked towards the front doors of the building. Jack jogged to catch up with his partner, and as the two of them walked towards the entrance, Mac noticed a van parked just outside the gates. He got a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach, but he dismissed it as he swiped his ID card to get into the building.
They walked in and passed the guard desk, where Mac saw someone unfamiliar sitting. "Where's Derek?" he asked as he stopped off to talk for a minute.
"He called in sick tonight," the new guy replied with a shrug. "Something about a nasty bug."
"Huh. Don't think I've seen you around before," Jack observed as he stared at the man.
"I've only been here a few days, and they've only had me working the night shift," the man explained with a shrug. "I'm Carl," he added, holding out his hand for a handshake, which Jack took, then Mac.
"Nice to meet you, Carl," Mac said. "We just left something upstairs. We'll only be five minutes," he promised.
"Okay," Carl said with a smile. "See ya in a few minutes then."
As they walked away, Mac had a nagging suspicion that something was wrong, but he couldn't put a finger on it, and the idea went to the back of his brain as Jack started talking.
"So where'd you leave the tickets?" Jack asked as they made their way towards the elevators.
"I think they're in Thornton's office," Mac replied as he hit the call elevator button.
"Good, so it's not going to take very long?"
"I told you it wouldn't, didn't I?" Mac asked in slight exasperation as the two of them watched for the elevator doors to open.
0-0-0
Tanner was busy working at getting the case door open so that he could grab the container inside, but he was interrupted as one of his team ran up to him.
"Tanner," Allan said, jerking his thumb towards the monitoring post he had set up to watch and make sure everything was going smoothly.
"What?" Tanner asked snappishly; he was so close to figuring out the encryption for the case.
"We've got a bit more company."
Tanner sighed and walked over to the screens, watching as two men walked into the building and tarried by the guard desk where Carl was sitting before walking over to the elevators. "Do we know who they are?"
"The blond kid scanned an ID card and it popped up as Angus MacGyver," Allan replied. "A little bit of research into him, and it looks like his partner there is Jack Dalton."
"Okay, just grab them and tie them up like we did the rest of the guards and staff who were here," Tanner instructed, turning to go back to the case.
"Wait," Allan said, making Tanner stop. Tanner sighed through his nose, doing his best to stay calm as he turned back to Allan.
"What?"
"There was another person who popped up on this 'MacGyver's' known associates here," Allan said, sounding slightly hesitant. Tanner looked expectantly at his teammate, but Allan almost looked scared.
"Allan, who is it?" Tanner finally asked impatiently. Allan clicked on a few tabs and another picture was brought up. Tanner stared at the new face on the screen, a mix of feelings going through him that were hard to distinguish one from the next. "Where does it say MacGyver and Dalton are going?" he finally asked, looking at the security feed of the two men as they got on the elevator.
"They just pushed the button for this floor," Allan informed him.
"Get over to the elevators now, and bring them here," Tanner instructed. "We need to make sure they don't go anywhere."
0-0-0
The elevator moved up, and Mac glanced at his watch. Jack didn't miss the gesture, and he chuckled. "What?" Mac asked.
"You're worried we aren't gonna make it in time, aren't you?" he taunted.
"What? No," Mac said, not convincing Jack at all.
"Don't worry," Jack said, clapping a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'll make sure Riley doesn't do anything drastic."
MacGyver shook his head with a small sigh while a smile ghosted across his face. The elevator finally came to a stop and the doors dinged open. As Mac stepped off the elevator, he heard a sound off to the side of him, and he began to turn his head. He didn't get very far though before a splitting pain erupted above his ear, spinning him around and knocking him to the ground.
"Whoa, Mac!" Jack said before letting out his own grunt as he was attacked from the side as well. Mac shook his head to try and clear it as he glanced over at his partner. Jack was struggling, but the blow to the man's head seemed to have stunned him, because there was a man who was quickly pulling Jack's hands behind his back and securing his hands with zipties, tightening them so tight that Mac could already see the circulation being cut off from his partner's wrists.
Mac tried to get up, but someone else grabbed his arms and wrestled them behind his back, and he felt the restraints being tied around his own wrists. He struggled and bucked under the weight of the other man, but the man simply grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled Mac to his feet. The blond let out a small groan as his head protested all the jerky movements, and he heard Jack shouting things that would have made a sailor impressed.
"Move," the man who had grabbed Mac grunted, shoving the blond forward. Mac tried to figure out if he knew any of the guys surrounding them, but no matter how hard he tried, he didn't recognize any of them. He and Jack made eye contact, and they shared a look that conveyed the same thought: Someone seriously powerful had to be in charge of this break-in in order to have gotten past the Phoenix's security system.
0-0-0
"Tanner," said one of the men dragging Mac and Jack forward, grabbing the attention of the man trying to get into one of the secure Phoenix cases. Tanner turned to look at who had called his name, and when he saw the prisoners, he abandoned the case for a minute.
"Thanks Freddy," Tanner said as he turned and walked towards MacGyver and Jack.
"Where are the rest of the Phoenix employees?" Mac asked, worried that these men had seriously harmed the guards and few lab technicians that worked this late.
"They're fine, don't worry," Tanner said, waving his hand nonchalantly. "The worst that'll probably happen to them as long as they stay in line will be a monster headache in the morning," he added, as if that was supposed to make the two agents feel any better. Tanner looked at one of the men that had brought them in. "Did you get their phones?" he asked. The man who had grabbed Mac pulled the two phones out of his pocket and handed them over. "I'll add these to the pile," Tanner said. It was then that Mac noticed a small pile of confiscated cell phones. While they had taken his phone, they hadn't searched him further once they found the device, and it was Mac's goal to make sure that whoever these people were didn't notice the small knife-shaped item in his other pocket.
"The jammers are almost all in place," Freddy added. "Todd and Carlos are just setting the last ones, and they said they should be done in two minutes."
"Good," Tanner said, staring at MacGyver and Jack with a curious expression. Mac glanced around, trying to see where the rest of the Phoenix agents were, but suddenly Mac's phone began ringing. Everyone jumped slightly, and Tanner looked down at the contact picture that appeared on the screen. Tanner's eyes widened slightly, and he held it out to show Mac who was on the screen.
"Just the person I was wanting to talk to," he stated before answering the phone.
0-0-0
"Five, four, three, two, one," Riley said, counting down with the timer on Bozer's phone. They had actually started it when the boys had left, just to be funny. She looked at Bozer. "What do you think?" she asked. "Should we call them and see what's taking them so long?"
"Definitely," Bozer said with a smirk. "Tell them that if they're not back out here in three minutes, they owe both of us popcorn and drinks for the movie," he added as Riley dialed Mac's number. Riley smiled and nodded her head as the phone began ringing. It rang for a few moments, then she heard the click as the call was answered. She waited for Mac's greeting, or maybe his sarcastic remark about how they were literally about to leave the building, but no one spoke.
"Mac?" Riley said, trying to get the blond to answer.
"Hey Ri," a voice finally replied, though it definitely wasn't the young Phoenix agent. It was a voice that sent shivers down Riley's spine, and her mouth dropped open as the man continued talking. "It's been a while."
Who is Tanner? What is he trying to steal? Why is he trying to steal it? What are your thoughts?
Also, I'm going to try to keep with my regular posting schedule of two days once I start a story, but since it is summer, I'm back to working 40 hours a week, so the updates will more than likely come in the evening (for me, anyway), and it might be three days between updates sometimes.
Let me know what you think!