Decisions

by DreamWvr73

MacGyver, Gillian and Pete are affected by changes that are happening at the Phoenix Foundation.

Pete Thornton was working on his computer, his office door opened and he saw his best friend come in.

"Hey! When did you guys get back?"

MacGyver strolled in and sat down in the chair in front of Pete's desk and put his booted feet up on top of it. "Saturday."

Pete saw how happy he looked. "Have a good time?"

Mac nodded, a grin breaking out on his lips. "Oh yeah."

Pete noticed his brand new black leather jacket. "Nice jacket."

"Thanks, one of my birthday presents." He lifted his wrist and showed Pete his watch. "This is the other."

Pete opened the top drawer of his desk and took out a paper; he crumbled it up and tossed it to his friend. "Here's a birthday present from the board."

The paper landed in Mac's lap and he took the ball and opened it back up, smoothing it against his khaki panted legs. He read it, it was the board's approval for his raise. "They approved it?"

"Yeah they sure did, read the bottom and check out how much."

MacGyver scanned the paper and got to the bottom, his dark eyes grew wide. "That much?"

Pete nodded. "Yeah, nice isn't it?"

"But Pete, this is a 10% raise! That's 7 thousand dollars!"

"I know how much it is. You are now the second highest paid person that works here."

"Who's the first?"

Pete looked at his friend sideways. "I'll give you one guess."

Mac smiled. "So its you huh?"

"Who else?"

MacGyver folded the paper up and tucked it into his jacket pocket; he was going to show Gillian the first chance he got. "What are you going over?"

Pete was casually looking at his computer screen. "Department Proposals."

"Oh how terribly exciting Pete."

Pete was facing the screen; he turned his chair around towards his friend. "Yeah I know, but someone has to do it."

Mac got up from his chair. "Well I think I'll go bug my wife."

Pete turned back around. "I thought you did plenty of that on your vacation." He looked at his friend and smiled.

MacGyver raised an eyebrow. "One can never bug one's wife enough, see you at lunch." He gave his friend a wink and left.

Gillian was in her office. She had come to work that day in a light yellow sundress that went to her knees and had put her hair up in a French twist. She was facing away from the door and working on her computer, she suddenly felt a pair of hands grab her shoulders. Gillian gasped and touched the hands.

"If these don't belong to my husband the person that is touching me is going to be minus some body parts."

Someone laughed and she recognized who it was, she spun around in her chair and looked at her husband. "You're lucky. I was going to kick the butt of whoever it was that was touching me."

Mac crouched down so he was eyelevel with his wife. "Boy you're mean."

"I am not! But this is my body and I only let one other person besides me touch it."

He leaned forward and touched his nose to hers. "I hope you mean me."

"Who else? Is that why you came by my office? To grope me in the middle of the day?"

MacGyver pulled back and looked at his wife. "I never grope, I appreciate."

Gillian laughed. "Okay so you came by my office to appreciate me?"

He shook his head. "No, I came to tell you a couple of things; first off Pete is taking us to lunch for my birthday."

"And the other thing?"

Mac smiled at his wife. "I just got word, the board approved my raise."

Gillian gave him a smile. "You got your raise?"

Her husband nodded and took the paper out of his pocket and handed it to her. "You better take a deep breath before you read that Gill."

"Why?"

"Trust me, take a nice deep breath and then read it."

Gillian did as her husband asked, she carefully unfolded the paper and looked at it, she gasped. "Holy Cow Mac! They gave you 10%?"

Mac leaned forward and rested his head on her chest. "Yeah, Pete said I'm the second highest paid person here now."

"Besides him?"

"Right."

Gillian set the paper down on the desk and stroked her husband's face. "Congratulations Honey."

"Thanks, this is the first raise I've gotten in about 4 years."

"10%, that's an awful lot; I mean that's 7 thousand dollars."

MacGyver lifted his head. "Yeah I know but the board didn't have a problem giving it to me, at least that's what Pete said." He saw how skeptical his wife looked. "Do you think there's a problem?"

"Oh no Honey I'm sure there isn't it's just a lot you know? Makes me wonder if they don't have an ulterior motive for giving it to you."

"Not that I know of and Pete didn't mention anything about another reason."

Gillian shrugged. "Then I'm sure everything is fine, if there was some sort of problem Pete would have said something to you."

"Yeah he would have, Pete doesn't keep things from me." He gave his wife a kiss. "So don't worry about it, okay?"

Gillian gave her husband a nod. "Okay."

Pete decided to take his best friend to lunch to celebrate his birthday; he took the couple to an Italian restaurant and told them they could order whatever they wanted.  The restaurant was called Little Italy and that was how it looked on the inside, like a small café you might find in an authentic Italian village. There were even a few gondolas, but MacGyver refused to sit in one. Gillian was looking over her menu, she decided what she wanted and closed it.

"Nice place Pete, the painted scenes of the Italian countryside make you feel like you are really there."

Pete closed his menu. "Yeah, too bad the party pooper wouldn't sit in a gondola, that would have really made you feel like you were in Italy."

MacGyver shook his head. "Sorry the only time I sit in a boat if when I fish and since I see no water, guess what? I'm not sitting in a boat."

Gillian laughed at her husband, he definitely had a way of thinking that was all his own. "Can't say I blame you there Mac, they definitely don't look too sturdy."

The belated birthday boy closed his menu and put some sugar in his tea. "Anything exciting happen while we were gone?"

Pete shook his head. "Nah, not really, things were pretty quiet actually."

Gillian smiled. "Of course they were, the two noisiest employees were out of town."

MacGyver looked at his wife. "I am not noisy."

Pete sighed. "I really missed you guys." He reached into his dark blue coat pocket and took out a wrapped gift. "And speaking of missing things, I missed your birthday Mac since you were out of town, so here."

Mac shook his head at his friend. "How many times have I told you Pete, you don't have to get me anything."

Pete put his hand up. "Just be quiet and open it will ya?"

"Yes Sir." The gift was square, wrapped in light blue paper. Mac tore it off, it was a movie.

"Hey Clint Eastwood!"

It was a Clint Eastwood movie called Escape From Alcatraz, one of the few movies that MacGyver liked of Clint Eastwood's that wasn't a western.

"All right I love this movie!" He handed it to his wife. "Take a look Gill."

She took the movie from him and nodded. "This is a good one; I think I'll confiscate it."

"Ha! Think again!" He took it back from her. "This is mine." He smiled at his friend. "Thank you Pete, I guarantee I'll probably watch this until the tape breaks."

Pete smiled. "You are very welcome, enjoy it."

"Don't worry I will."

"You mean we will." Gillian looked at her husband and crossed her arms. "Right? Or are you going to deny me a good movie?"

MacGyver sighed. "Oh all right, I'll let you watch it too."

Gillian gave her husband a slight bow of her head. "Thank you ever so much for your kindness."

The bright green digital display on MacGyver's alarm clock read that it was 12 30; he was still awake.  Gillian was curled up beside him; she was close, so close he could hear her breathing. He turned towards her and looked at her peaceful face; he wished he felt that way. He had been staring up at the ceiling for the past two hours, that was how long he and his wife had been in bed.

Gillian had tried to entice him into fooling around with her but he asked her for a rain check. She had no problems with that, she simply kissed him and held him against her. Mac was too upset to do much else but what he had been ever since they had gone to bed, lay on his back and think about things. He had no answers; he knew that he should wake his wife up and try to unload what was on his chest. He kept looking at her trying to do that but he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

Gillian was sleeping deeply and he didn't want to wake her, not even to just talk. The room felt stuffy, he flung the covers back gently and carefully got up. He walked over to his dresser and opened the middle drawer, he got out a pair of dark sweat pants and slipped them over his shorts. He opened the bedroom door and checked to make sure his wife was still asleep before quietly closing it behind him.

Gillian rolled over, she put her hand out expecting to feel her husband's body, she got nothing but air. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the empty bed where her husband was supposed to be. The time on his clock read that it was 12 55. Gillian got up and opened the bedroom door; she looked towards the kitchen but saw no lights were on. Sometimes if her husband couldn't sleep he would sit at the kitchen table and build little things to make himself relaxed and tired enough to go back to bed; but no, everything was dark and quiet. She sighed, wondering where he could be; she got an idea suddenly and walked down the hall to the garage. She opened the side door and flipped on the light, sure enough their big silver ladder that usually leaned against the far wall was gone.

Gillian had on her teal green tank top pajamas with matching short shorts; she got a light blanket out of the spare room and opened the front door. The cool night air had a bite to it, there was a slight damp smell to the late night air as she walked around the side of the house and saw the ladder. She put the blanket over her shoulder and started to climb it. She was in her bare feet as she stepped out on the roof, the paper up there was a little rough, like walking on sand paper. She spotted a figure in the moonlight, sitting in the middle of the roof; it had to be her husband.

MacGyver had his legs drawn up, his arms were around them and he had his chin against his knee. He felt someone put a blanket over his shoulders; he looked up and saw his wife. He was glad to have that blanket, it was a little chilly. He tried to smile at her.

"Hi."

Gillian rubbed his shoulders a little as she sat down beside him. "Hi, what are you doing up here?"

"Nothing, just couldn't sleep."

She gave him a small smile. "See you shouldn't have turned me down, you would be unconscious by now."

He was facing forward, he wasn't looking at her, his wife had the remarkable ability to see through him as easily as a pane of window glass. "I'm just tired Gill nothing is fun when you're tired, not even that."

Gillian shook her head and touched his chin, she turned it towards her. "No Mac, if you were tired you wouldn't be up here on the roof, you would be sleeping." She stroked his cheek with the back of her hand. "Want to tell me what's on your mind?"

MacGyver shook his head. "Nothing's on my mind."

Gillian sighed. "Hey, remember the deal we made? No secrets, I know you better than that Mac. You wouldn't be on the roof at 1 o'clock in the morning for nothing; you only come up here when something has you worried or upset."

Mac rubbed his hands over his face; they had made that pact to never keep anything from one another. He covered his mouth with his hands and exhaled through them. "All right, I'll tell you."

He put his legs down and turned towards her; he licked his lips and pressed them together.

"Pete called me into his office today after lunch; he told me that the board is going to promote me."

His wife creased her brow. "You're up here because they want to promote you? To what?"

"Assistant Director of Operations."

Gillian's face brightened and her mouth dropped open. "They do? Honey that's great!"

MacGyver shook his head. "No, it isn't."

"Of course it is!"

"No! It isn't!" He took the blanket from his shoulders and got up; he turned around and faced her. "Me? Assistant Director? Can you honestly see me doing that?"

Gillian also got to her feet. "Yes I can Mac, why is this so terrible? You deserve it!"

His face was angry and pained. "No I don't, not like this!"

He turned his back to her and tilted his head back. He had his hands on his hips; he was acting way too upset over a simple promotion. Gillian realized this; she walked up to him and touched his shoulder. "Mac, like what? What aren't you telling me?"

MacGyver shook his head. "I can't tell you Gill, please don't make me. I don't want to say it; I don't even want to think it."

Gillian walked around him and touched his chin, bringing his head down, she looked at his face. "Do you want me to find out for myself?"

He lifted his eyes to look into hers, he nodded his head. Gillian touched his face gently, whatever it was, it was eating away at her husband. She put both hands on either side of his face.

"Close your eyes."

Mac did as she asked, he closed his eyes. Gillian covered his eyes with both of her hands. "Just relax." Gillian took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Mac felt as if a bucket of warm water was being poured down his face, it was soothing and he sighed at how relaxed it made him. Gillian closed her eyes and let the images start to take shape in her mind...

MacGyver walked into his best friend's office. The Director of Operations was at his computer working on something; he turned toward his friend and smiled. "Hi Mac."

"Hi, you wanted to see me about something?"

"Yeah, have a seat."

Mac sat down and folded his hands in his lap. "What's on your mind Pete?"

Pete leaned back in his chair. "I wanted to talk to you about something Mac, something very important."

"Well I'm here."

"Yeah you are." He sighed. "I guess I'll get right to the point. MacGyver, I asked the board to promote you to Assistant Director of Operations."

Both of MacGyver's eyebrows went up, he touched his hand to his chest. "Me? Why me?"

Pete got up from his chair and sat down on the edge of the desk. "Come on Mac, you know why. I've been telling the board for years to make you Assistant Director, when I approached them about your raise; they finally wised up and agreed to give it to you."

MacGyver sighed and shook his head; he didn't like this idea, not one bit. Pete saw him do this and leaned forward, he put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Mac, now I'm not saying you have to go out and buy some suits and ties."

His friend made a face. "You did say no to the suits, right?"

"Yeah I said no." He got up and slung an arm over both of his friend's shoulders. "Listen Mac, you have been an Operative long before we both came to Phoenix. You have been doing Assistant Director work for years, I mean look how much you help me get stuff done around here. We both know you have a lot of experience in matters that do not necessarily pertain to just Operative work. The board finally agreed with me, you should have been made Assistant Director 5 or 6 years ago."

Mac sighed loudly and rubbed his hands over his face; he turned to look at his friend. "You want me to just take the title and the raise and shut my mouth, right?"

Pete nodded. "Yeah I do, you deserve it Mac and it's long over due. What do you say?"

He stood in front of his friend and stuck out his hand.

MacGyver looked at his boss; he shook his finger at him. "I am not getting a haircut and no one better even try to call me Sir."

Pete laughed. "You got yourself a deal."

The two men shook hands and Pete pulled his friend to his feet, he reached into his dark blue suit pocket and took out a set of keys. "Come on I want to show you something."

They walked down the hall to the next office; the one that was between Pete's and Gillian's. Pete unlocked the door and they both walked into it.

"This is your office now."

"I get an office too?"

Pete nodded. "Yeah I told you I was going to get you one."

MacGyver looked around; the office was identical to his wife's except that it had the same black leather couch and chair that Pete had in his office. "What am I going to do in here besides sleep on the couch?"

"Anything you want, I'm sure you'll find something to put in here."

MacGyver sat down on the couch and put his feet up on the dark oak coffee table. "Great, I've never had an office in my life. Why should I start now?"

Pete shook his head. "Must you fight everything tooth and nail? This is now your office Mac, it comes with the job and the raise so just deal with it, okay?"

Mac looked at his friend. "You never took a class on motivated speaking did you?"

"No."

"I can tell, shut up and take it is hardly motivational Pete."

Pete's face suddenly grew sad and he looked down at the ground. "Yeah well, maybe I know of something else that will motivate you."

MacGyver saw the way his best friend's face crumbled. "Hey now Pete, I was just yanking your chain. I didn't mean anything by that."

Pete put his hand up. "Mac we've been friends for a long time, I know you were only teasing me."

Mac licked his lips and pressed them together. "Then what is it?"

Pete walked over to the chair that was beside the couch and sat down in it. "What I'm about to tell you I want to go no further than this room. I want you to just keep it to yourself."

"Gill?"
He nodded. "You can tell her, I trust her."

MacGyver nodded his head; he leaned forward towards his friend and put his hand on his right shoulder. "Whatever you have to tell me Pete won't leave this room, you've got my word."

Pete sighed and patted Mac's hand. "Good." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "The reason I pushed the board into giving you the Assistant Director's job is not only because you deserve it. There was another reason behind it too, one that I probably should have told you about a long time ago."

MacGyver was giving his friend his undivided attention. "What reason Pete?"

Pete looked his friend straight in his eyes. "This time next year Mac, you're probably going to be Director of Operations."

He backed away from his friend and shook his head. "What? Why?"

Pete swallowed hard. "I'm going to show you what to do so you can take my place."

MacGyver shook his head and got up from the couch. "That's crazy Pete, me replace you? Why would you leave the Foundation?"

"Do you think I want to? I may have no other choice!"

Mac sat back down on the couch. "I'm in the dark here Pete, what are you talking about? Why would you have no other choice?"

Pete pressed his lips together; he reached out and put his hand on his friend's arm. "I'm going blind Mac."

MacGyver's face dropped like a brick, his eyes reflected pure disbelief. "What?" His voice came out slightly above a whisper; he thought he hadn't heard his friend correctly.

Pete nodded. "I'm not kidding Mac. I've got glaucoma, I had it for years but there was never enough time or inclination for me to do something about it. I put it off too long and now it may be too late to save my sight."

MacGyver swallowed hard, his throat felt like it was filled with sand; his mouth suddenly felt like it was filled with cotton. "And there is nothing that can be done?"

"No, there is a surgery, if it works I'll have some sight left, but maybe not enough to do my job. That's why I decided while you and Gillian were on vacation that if that happens I'm going to resign."

Pete got up from the chair, he was through talking. "I'll give maintenance a call and have them come set your phone and computer up." He headed for the door, but before he left he turned around. "I know that Phoenix will be in the best of hands when I leave Mac, that gives me a lot of comfort and peace of mind about this decision."

Pete left the office before MacGyver could say another word; he sat there not believing the conversation that had just taken place. He covered his face with his hands, he stayed sitting on that couch for a long time.

Gillian watched her husband with his face covered, the image slowly faded. She uncovered his eyes, breaking the connection between them. Mac opened his eyes and looked at her.  She didn't know what to say, what could she possibly say that could give him comfort? She felt her own tears threaten and she shook her head and hugged her husband hard. Mac put his forehead against her shoulder; he held his wife and didn't say a word.

Gillian was quietly crying against his shoulder. When she felt tears start to subside, she pulled back and wiped her face.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner Mac? Why did you keep this to yourself all day and most of the night?"

MacGyver shook his head and sighed. "How could I tell you Gill when I can't even tell myself?"

"Come on, let's sit down."

They both sat down and she touched his hands. "All right, let's sort this out."

"There's nothing to sort out, I can't take that job if it means that Pete is going to leave Gillian; I don't want him to."

"Neither do I, but that isn't the main issue here."

"Then what is?"

Gillian squeezed his hands. "Pete is a fighter Mac. He's strong; I don't think he should just give up and roll over just because he may end up being partially blind. I know I haven't known him as long as you have but tell me I'm wrong about that."

"No, you aren't wrong; he and I have both been in tougher situations then the one he is facing now."

"Exactly."

He swallowed hard. "How Gillian? How do I help him? I've never felt so helpless in my life."

She reached out and touched his face. "First thing you have to do is take that job, but not to replace Pete but to help him. Then you have got to sit him down and convince him that he can still do his job despite this."

MacGyver lowered his head. "He was sitting there telling me that he was going blind and the whole time I kept thinking to myself that this was all some terrible joke he was playing on me." He lifted his head and looked at her. "How can I face him without thinking about what he told me?"

Gillian put both hands on his face. "You are strong Mac; I've seen you endure a lot."

He shook his head. "Not like this Gill, I can endure anything as long as it doesn't involve the people that are closest to me."

"I know, you and Pete aren't just friends, you're brothers. The two of you have always depended on each other Mac, this is no different. He's going to need you more than ever now to be his friend and support him; you don't want to see him leave right?"

"No, I don't. The Phoenix Foundation wouldn't be where it is today if it wasn't for Pete."

Gillian nodded. "You're right, it wouldn't be. Why don't you go in tomorrow and tell him that, tell him you are going to take the job to be his right hand man; just like you've always been, not his replacement."

MacGyver felt a lot better, telling his wife about this had been the right choice; the things she said made a lot of sense. He gave her a genuine smile; he leaned forward and touched his forehead to hers. "Thanks Gill, I know Pete has a lot of fight left in him. I'm not going to let him give up."

"Good." She leaned back and kissed him. "Congratulations Mr. Assistant Director of Operations, sir."

He narrowed his eyes at his wife. "Don't start."

She gave him a smile and smoothed his hair away from his forehead. "What do you say we get down off this hard roof and climb into our nice soft bed and try to get some sleep?"

MacGyver nodded his head and yawned. He was starting to feel the late hour catch up with him. "Sounds like a good idea."

Gillian stood up and extended her hand to her husband. He took it and she pulled him up, she put her arm around his waist as they walked across the roof.

MacGyver knocked on Pete's door, he heard his friend give him permission to come in. He opened the door and walked into his friend's office. Pete saw who it was and smiled.

"Hi, haven't seen you since yesterday afternoon."

Mac nodded his head. "Yeah well, you gave me a lot to think about."

"Want to sit down?"

"Yeah." Mac sat down and folded his hands in his lap. "Pete I think we need to talk."

Pete was doing paperwork. "Sure about what?"

"I think you know about what."

MacGyver's face was serious, his friend turned towards him. "I don't think there is anything to discuss."

"That's where you're wrong; there is a lot we need to discuss."

Pete finally faced him. "No there isn't, I said everything I wanted to say yesterday."

"Yeah you did all the talking and then you left before I could tell you what I thought."

"I don't want to talk about it anymore Mac, talking won't change what is going to happen and I'd rather not dwell on it."

MacGyver nodded his head and stood up; he reached into his black leather jacket and pulled out a long white envelope. "Okay, that's fine." He tossed the white envelope on his friend's desk. "That's for you then."

Pete picked it up and looked at it. "What's this?"

"My letter of resignation." He turned around and started to walk out of the office.

Pete stood up. "What? Are you nuts? You can't resign!" Mac was still walking and Pete came out from behind his desk. "MacGyver stop!"

Mac stopped before he could reach the door, he turned around. "What? Don't approve?"

Pete's face was stunned and there was a trace of anger in it. "No I don't approve! Why are you doing this?"

"You are going to leave and walk away from the Foundation. You're quitting Pete, so why shouldn't I quit too?"

"I told you I don't want to talk anymore about yesterday."

"Oh I see, you are done talking so there is nothing more to say is that it?" Pete didn't say a word and his silence angered him.

MacGyver walked back up to his friend. "Do you have any idea what you did to me yesterday? You drop this enormous bomb on me about the promotion and then you take me into my new office and then you jerk the rug out from under me!" Mac rubbed his hands over his face. "I sat on that couch for the rest of the day just thinking about what you said. Then last night I was up half the night, Gillian finally had to drag it out of me at 1 o'clock in the morning. I tried to hide it from her but she knows me too well." He shook his head.  "I didn't even get a chance to blink, you said your peace and you were gone but what about mine? This decision of yours involves me too, don't you think I have a right to tell you what I feel and think about all this?"

The stout man sighed; his friend was right, he had dropped two big bombs on him and then simply walked away. "Yeah Mac, you do have a right. I guess maybe I didn't give you a chance to express your feelings because I was afraid of what you are going to say."

"What do you think I'm going to say?"

"That I should quit, hang it up and retire."

Mac creased his brow. "If you really think that is what I would say to you then I guess I haven't been a very good friend after all."

"No, you have been the best friend to me that I have ever had."

MacGyver walked up to his friend and put his hands on his shoulders; his anger was gone and he spoke to Pete in a calm voice. "Then don't leave."

Pete sighed and leaned against his desk. "Do you think I want to Mac? Do you really think I want to leave this place? The Foundation has been my whole life, it's like my child. But I don't know what's going to happen, what if I have that surgery and it doesn't work? How will I do my job?"

MacGyver swallowed hard. "I'll help you Pete. I'll be your Assistant Director, not your replacement. I couldn't replace you, not ever. That is what I came in here to tell you; my opinion is that you can still do your job whether you can see partially or not at all. It's what in your head that makes you a great Director."

Pete looked down at the ground. "Do you really think I can do this even if I have to carry a white cane?"

Mac gave him a small smile. "Sure I do. You're tough Pete, you've got guts. There isn't anything you can't handle."

"Yeah but this isn't a tough situation that is over and done with fast, this is something that I'll have to deal with everyday."

"I know but I still think you can handle it."

Pete raised his head and looked at his friend. "You sure do have a lot of confidence in me."

Mac nodded. "I know, but the question here is. Do you have any in yourself?"

Pete took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I know I can do my job Mac, blind or not."

"Then that's all you need, the rest we'll deal with together. You got me and you got Gill too, okay?"

The Director of Operations slowly nodded his head. "Okay, no matter what happens. I won't leave."

MacGyver breathed a sigh of relief. "I think you made the right decision Pete." He gave his friend a pat on the shoulders and started to leave.

Pete felt a lot better and he was grateful to MacGyver, with him on his side he had hope for the both the surgery and his future. He looked down and saw the envelope was still in his hand. "Wait Mac, your letter?"

MacGyver gave his friend a nod. "Go ahead and open it."

Pete tore open the envelope, to his astonishment; it was empty.

The new Assistant Director of Operations gave his friend a wide grin and closed the door behind him.

MacGyver's office was coming along nicely; he brought a lot of stuff from home to decorate it with. He had posters of some of his favorite hockey teams on the walls along with some pictures of some of the neat places he had seen. There were pictures of Budapest, Romania and Germany. There was also a poster or two of sports cars. He had bought a TV/VCR combo and put it in the middle of his oak coffee table. The shelves that lined one of the walls were filled with his favorite movies, books, and a wide variety of photos. He had frames with photos of his parents; Harry and his grandmother Celia, one of him and Jack Dalton and of course one of Gillian in her wedding dress.

The maintenance people had set up his phone and his computer; those were the only two things on his desk other than his name plate that read the same thing as the brass plate on his door. MacGyver, Assistant Director of Operations.

MacGyver had come to work wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of blue shorts; he had a white baseball cap turned backwards on his head. He had spent most of the day moving stuff into his office. It was time to take a break; he sat down in his chair and put his feet up on his desk. He leaned back and tucked his arms behind his head; maybe having an office wasn't so bad after all.

MacGyver was typing on his computer; he was doing some work that was part of his new job. He had been on it the whole week, it was a little strange but he was getting used to it. The door was open and Pete walked into his friend's office, he looked around at how it was decorated. "Hey not bad, I thought for sure you would have pictures of girls in bikinis."

Mac scoffed. "Yeah right like Gillian would go for that? Besides, those days are over Pete."

He looked up from his keyboard; Pete had a look of disbelief on his face. "What?"

"Somehow, I don't believe you mean that."

MacGyver stopped his typing. "You don't? Some friend you are."

Pete shook his head. "Sorry Mac I just never thought I would ever hear you say that."

"Why? Gillian and I have been married a whole year."

"Oh I know that I guess I'm just surprised. I mean most people say that just because they are married doesn't mean they're blind."

"You've seen Gillian in a bikini, why should I be looking when she looks better than any of those girls on those posters and I get to go home to her every night?"

Pete nodded. "Good point."

"Good answer."

MacGyver looked up and saw his wife standing in the doorway; she had been listening to the whole conversation. She walked into the office and looked at Pete.

"Don't you be telling him to get posters of girls in bikinis."

Pete's face flushed. "Gillian I wasn't."

"Uh huh."

"Honest I wasn't! I said I was surprised he didn't have any is all."

Gillian pulled her husband's chair back and sat down in his lap. She was wearing a short beige skirt and she crossed her legs. "Why are you surprised?"

Mac put his arms around his wife. "That's what I asked."

Pete sighed. "Well let's just say I've known Mac a lot longer than you. There was a time when he had a different pretty girl on his arm every other week."

"Ohhh now I see what you mean. You're saying my husband has an appreciation for the female form is that it?"

"Something like that yeah."

Gillian nodded and turned towards her husband. "Is this true Mac?" She gave him a wink.

MacGyver sighed and nodded. "I'm afraid so, but in my own defense that was a long time ago."

"So you are admitting the female form was something you studied quite extensively?"

"Yeah but don't worry Sweets." He tapped her on the nose. "Yours is the only form I want to study now."

Gillian looked at Pete. "He's just full of the right answers today isn't he?"

Pete laughed. "Yeah he is, I got some work to do." He started to walk away but then turned around, his two friends were kissing. "Do me a favor and don't set off the smoke alarms."

Mac cleared his throat and looked at his friend. "Sorry Pete, can't promise that."

Pete shook his head as he closed the door.

Gillian sighed and touched her husband's face. "I know I put you on the spot Mac, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it; you knew all about what Pete was talking about. We don't keep any secrets from each other."

"Oh I know that and we also said it we would never hold our pasts against each other, but I just have one little question."

MacGyver nodded. "Okay, you want to ask me something about the past, go ahead."

Gillian cleared her throat. "I just wanted to know if you had any regrets."

"Do you?"

"I asked you first."

MacGyver licked his lips and pressed them together. "No, I don't live that way Gillian, the things I did were choices I made, no one but me made them. Were there some things I might have done differently? Maybe, but I look at it this way, what if I had taken that different road? Would I be here? With you? At the Foundation? Probably not, the things I have done led me here, to you."

Gillian touched her forehead to his. "Good answer, very good answer."

"Thanks." He pulled back and looked at his wife. "Your turn, do you have any regrets?"

The young woman sighed. "Actually yes, just one, but at the same time I feel like you do."

"What do you possibly regret?"

She looked him right in his eyes. "My one possible regret is that I never should have slept with Michael Pershing. I gave him something I wish I hadn't." She touched his face. "But then again, if I hadn't done that then I never would have found out what kind of a man he really was. So you see, it was worth it, I lost something precious to find something even more precious to me, you. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

MacGyver put both hands on either side of her face. "Now who has the right answers?"

Gillian laughed and kissed her husband gently.

MacGyver was sitting on his bed; he had on a white t-shirt and a pair of blue shorts. His back was leaning against the headboard, a big bowl of popcorn in his lap. He had just put his birthday present from Pete into the VCR and was waiting for his wife to come in from the kitchen; she was going to make some snacks.

"Hey Gill, are you going to come watch this with me or not?"

"Will you be patient Mac? I'll be right there!"

She came into the bedroom with a plate of snack foods. "I know what are you are getting for Christmas this year, some patience."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Well I want to see this; I haven't had a chance to since Pete gave it to me." He looked at the plate she had in her hands. "What have you got?"

"Some egg rolls, chicken wings, carrot sticks and celery sticks, how does that sound?"

"Good." He took the plate from her so she could climb up on the bed; she had taken off her work clothes and now had on just her grey sports bra and a pair of short grey shorts. She sat down beside her husband and took the plate from him.

"Okay, start the movie."

Mac picked up the remote from his nightstand and pressed the play button.

The movie started and Gillian picked up an egg roll and had a bite. She offered it to her husband and he had a bite of it to.

"Ever been to San Francisco?"

MacGyver shook his head. "No, always wanted to though."

"Yeah me too, I heard it's a nice place." She leaned her head against his shoulder. "How is Pete doing since you had that talk with him?"

"He seems to be doing better, he wants to announce to the whole building I'm Assistant Director of Operations now. I told him if he did I'd booby trap his office."

Gillian started laughing. "Would you?"

"I'd give it some serious thought." He picked up the big clear bowl of popcorn and offered it to his wife. "Popcorn?"

Gillian took a handful and started laughing; her husband turned his head towards her. "What?"

"I just got this image of Pete walking into his office and things suddenly start flying at him."

MacGyver thought about that and he too started to laugh. "That is a pretty funny image."

Gillian was watching the movie. "You know you can take a tour of Alcatraz, but I don't know if I would want to. I bet that place has some bad vibes in it."

"They say it's haunted."

Gillian turned and looked at her husband. "Really?"

Mac nodded. "Yeah, there have been people looking into that for a long time."

The idea made Gillian shudder. "Remind me not to go there for sure then."

MacGyver lifted his arm so she could lean against him; she did and he put his arm across her shoulders. "Don't worry I'll protect you." He rubbed his hand down her left arm.

Gillian stuck her hand in the popcorn bowl and fed some to her husband. "I know you would."

She ate some popcorn herself and turned towards the television. "This movie is based on the three guys that really did escape from there."

"Yeah, it closed not too long after." He looked at his wife. "Did I ever tell you about the time I escaped out of a North African prison?"

Gillian nodded. "Yeah, that blond Russian that tricked you."

Mac sighed. "She sure did, and I fell for it; never felt so dumb in my whole life."

She shook her head at him. "No Mac, you weren't dumb. You're just too trusting sometimes, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing."

"It almost got me killed."

Gillian picked up the remote and turned off the movie. She set his bowl of popcorn aside and climbed into his lap, facing him, she gave him a couple of kisses. "That time yeah but it's that trusting quality about you that makes you a good Operative. You give people the benefit of the doubt and that is a very good thing Mac; don't ever think that it isn't." She gave him a couple more small kisses.

"I thought we were going to watch the movie." He put his arms around her waist; he started kissing his wife back.

"One of the nice things about a VCR is you can always stop the movie and get back to it later." She put her legs around her husband.

MacGyver stopped kissing his wife. "I think I'm trapped."

"Yeah, you are, you're mine now."

He looked at her and gave her another small kiss. "Does this have anything to do with the fact I haven't redeemed that rain check?"

Gillian shrugged. "Maybe, you haven't redeemed it all week."

"I know but when did I have the time to? It took me the whole week to get used to my new job."

"And what do you think of it?"

"It's more work then I've ever had before but I like it a lot."

"Good, I'm glad." Gillian put her arms around her husband's neck, her sweet little kisses turned into deep ones.

Mac had his hands on her back and he rubbed it. "You're driving me crazy you know that?"

"Oh I know, so I take it you are now interested in redeeming that rain check?"

"Yeah as matter of fact I am."

Gillian started to climb off of him but he wouldn't let her. "Where are you going?"

"Well I thought that..."

He shook his head at her and gave her a small smile. "You don't have to go anywhere."

Mac put his arms around her neck and started kissing her.

MacGyver was whistling as he walked into his friend's office and jumped over the couch; he sighed and stretched out on it.

"Good Morning." Pete was watching him. "Make yourself comfortable why don't you?"

"Thanks, I'm very comfortable." He closed his eyes.

Pete shook his head. "So what's with the good mood? Got a good night's sleep last night?"

Mac lifted his head and looked at his friend. "Actually no."

"Then why are you so happy if you didn't sleep good."

He put his head back down and closed his eyes. "Oh there are lots of good reasons to be happy and a good night's sleep isn't necessarily one of them."

Pete turned his chair towards his friend. "Let me take a shot in the dark here Mac. Does one of those good reasons happen to have long red hair?"

MacGyver smiled widely. "As a matter of fact, yeah."

"I see, well I got something that just might change your mood."

"Oh yeah, what?"

Pete cleared his throat. "The board is coming this afternoon to make a presentation to you."

MacGyver sat up. "Tell me you're kidding about that?"

"I'm afraid not." He got up and took a paper to his friend; Mac read it and covered his face with his hands. "Oh great." He looked at his friend and narrowed his eyes at him. "You did this on purpose didn't you because I threatened to booby trap your office."

Pete sat back down and put his hands up. "I swear I had nothing to do with this, it was Lance's idea."

"Great, they'll be here at 1 o'clock." He looked down at himself; he had on a olive green t-shirt and his blue jeans. "That means I'm going to have to go home and change."

"Not necessarily." Pete's door was open and Gillian had her head popped in; she opened the door all the way and had a black garment bag in her hands. "I think I got that covered." She smiled at her boss. "Good Morning Pete." She walked over to his desk and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Pete looked up at her; he could tell by her eyes why she had done that. He gave her a smile, he had come to see MacGyver's wife as a very good friend in the little over 2 years he had known her.

Gillian reached down and took his hand. "You know you've got me don't you? Anything you need, don't hesitate to ask."

Pete squeezed her hand. "Yeah I know, and I'm grateful." She gave him a wink and turned back towards her husband, she walked over to him and handed him the garment bag.

"Here, take a look and tell me what you think."

MacGyver unzipped the garment bag, it contained a brand new blue grey shirt and a pair of black dress pants, both of them looked new. "Where did you get these?"

"I picked them up last night; remember I told you I had an errand to run after work?"

Pete shook his head. "But we just found out about the board coming this morning."

Gillian turned around and looked at him. "You should have asked me, I would have told you."

"Yeah but how do you know?"

She smiled at her friend. "Natural born talent."

"These are nice Gill, thanks; you saved me a trip home to change."

Gillian turned back around and faced her husband. "I thought you might like them."

Mac took the clothes all the way out the garment bag, the shirt had long sleeves. "You are going to be there right?"

Gillian looked at her husband sideways. "No, I'm going to miss my husband's big moment."

She beeped him on the end of his nose. "Don't be silly Mac of course I'm going to be there. I can't let you face all those bureaucrats alone."

The meeting room of the Phoenix Foundation was on the ground floor, it was right beside the lunch room. There were a lot of people hanging around curious as to exactly what was going on. The room was as big as the lunch room; it had a long, wide cherry wood table with black roll away chairs all around it. The board members were sitting at the lower half of the table, there were 12 members and Lance Covington sat at the head of the table.

Pete, MacGyver and Gillian were sitting at the other end. She had come to work in pants but she went home and changed into a nice black skirt and a white silk shirt, she wanted to look her best for her husband's big moment. She had left her hair loose and was holding her husband's hand under the table. MacGyver looked very handsome in his new clothes; his wife had chosen the perfect color of blue for him. Mac was a little nervous, he leaned towards his wife.

"I feel like I'm about to face a firing squad." He was looking at all of the board members; there were 10 men and two women that made up the Phoenix board, all of them dressed extremely professional.

Gillian squeezed his hand. "Don't worry I'm pretty sure they're unarmed."

It was exactly 1 o'clock and Pete stood up, he buttoned his blue pine strip coat and cleared his throat. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to welcome all of you to the Phoenix Foundation meeting room; it is a pleasure as always to see all of you again." He looked at Lance. "Mr. Chairman, if you please."

Pete sat back down and Lance stood up. "Thank you Mr. Thornton."

The salt and peppered hair man was dressed in a dark grey suit, he cleared his throat. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the board, we are all here today to make a presentation." Lance looked towards the other end of the table. "Mr. MacGyver, can you join me please?"

Gillian turned towards her husband; she gave his hand a squeeze. "Go on you'll be fine."

"That's what you think." He got up and Pete gave him a nod as he pushed in his chair and walked around the large table. He stood beside Lance and the older man smiled.

"MacGyver, Phoenix hasn't been around very long, in fact we are still considered to be fairly new despite the fact this is our 8th year of operation. You and Mr. Thornton have been here from pretty much the beginning, when we were the new kids on the block, fighting to keep our heads above water. It was both of you that have made us grow into what we are today and this board and I are grateful for that. But before I continue I have to ask for your forgiveness, this was something that should have been done right from the start." Lance stuck his hand in his coat pocket. "Can I have your IDs please?"

MacGyver touched his pockets; he took his badge out of his breast pocket. He took his wallet out of his back pocket; he opened it and took out his other ID card. He handed them to Lance, the older man nodded and took out a pair of scissors; he started cutting them up. He set the plastic strips down on the table. Mac only watched him; it felt to him like he was being fired.

"There, that is taken care of." He reached into his inner jacket pocket and took out a new set of ID cards. "Here is your new badge; it states that you are now Assistant Director of Operations, Operative Level 5. And here is the one for your wallet." Lance handed them both to him, MacGyver took them, he pinned the badge to his breast pocket and tucked the other card in his pocket.

Lance stuck out his hand. "Congratulations."

MacGyver shook his hand. "Thank you Mr. Covington." He turned to the board. "And my thanks to the members of the board and to Mr. Thornton, but I would like to say that there is no need to apologize. I didn't come to Phoenix to get recognition or promotions. I came here to help make a difference, and I will continue to do just that."

The chairman of the board nodded. "We know you will MacGyver, you have our complete confidence."

The board members started clapping and so did everyone in the room. Gillian was smiling from ear to ear, she was very proud of her husband, MacGyver looked at her; she gave him a wink.

When the applause finally stopped, Mac sat back down.

Lance nodded. "Now that we have taken care of business, this meeting is adjourned, thank you all for coming, good day." Everyone got up and left, they all gave their congratulations and best wishes to Mac as they left the room. Mac thanked them as they left, when the room was empty except for him, his wife and Pete, he put his head down on the table.

"Thank God that's over."

Gillian patted his back. "There there, you poor thing, not used to such much attention are you?"

"No." He lifted his head up. "And frankly I liked it that way."

Pete patted his friend on the arm. "Well it's over now, and you survived."

Gillian unclipped his badge and looked at it. "Wow, nice badge, but I think I might be in trouble now."

Both of the men looked at her. "Why?"

Gillian sighed and shook her head. "Because I'm sleeping with a boss. How is that going to look?"

Pete started laughing. "Well that might be a problem if you weren't married to him but since you are, sleep with him all you want."

Gillian smiled widely. "Wow thanks Pete!" She took her husband by the hand. "Come on Mac you heard the boss, let's go."

MacGyver stood up. "Gill you are nuts, he didn't mean it literally."

She shook her head. "No you heard him Mac; we have to do as he says."

Pete was still laughing. "Why don't you two go home and sort this out, enjoy the rest of the day off and the weekend."

Gillian kissed Pete on the forehead. "Thanks Bossman, we will."

MacGyver patted his friend on the back. "Thanks Pete, see you later."

The couple left the room and headed for the elevator.

The couple went home and Mac threw himself down on the bed. "I think I'll take a nap."

Gillian unzipped her black shirt and took it off. "Why are you tired?"

MacGyver rolled over onto his side. "A little, we didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

Gillian took off her silk shirt and hung it back up in the closet; she climbed up onto the bed. "No we didn't, but it was worth it, don't you think?"

Mac gave her a big smile. "Yeah it was."

Gillian had on a white camisole on, it had spaghetti straps and he was fingering them. "But we don't have to worry about getting up early in the morning."

"True we don't." She reached out and touched his face. "You did great today Mac. You don't like a lot of attention but you handled the board really well. I'm very proud of you."

Gillian gave him a kiss, he smiled at her. "Thanks, that means a lot to me."

"You're going to be a great Assistant Director of Operations."

Mac laid back on the bed and stretched. "I'm sure going to try my best."

Gillian laid beside him. "I got an idea. Why don't we go to sleep for a while, have dinner and watch your birthday present? I'll make whatever you want for dinner."

"Really?"

"Sure."

MacGyver thought about it for a minute. "Actually what I want is something you don't have to make."

"Let me guess, Super Veggie with extra sauce?"

He turned towards her. "Good guess."

Gillian moved closer to her husband and put her arm across his waist, she yawned. "Let's go to sleep Mac."

"Okay."

MacGyver turned towards his wife and put his arms around her; he gave her a hug and closed his eyes. It took no time at all for the couple to fall asleep.