Disclaimer: I don't own MacGyver.

A/N: I decided to dive into the realm of MacGyver fan fiction. This is my first time writing for this fandom so please be gentle. This is a re-do of 2.11, so be warned this story will contain spoilers. Be warned there is violence in this chapter.

A Not So Merry Christmas-Chapter 1

"Deck the halls with bows of holly. Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la. 'Tis the season to be jolly," Mac hums softly as he quietly enters Cage's place with his large duffle bag of Christmas necessities over his shoulder. Fa-la-la-la-la-" This is going to be great. Cage is going to love her place once he's through. Mayne it will make being far from home a little easier on Cage. Mac's humming instantly stops when he sees someone standing by the small Christmas tree in the darkened living room.

"Cage? I didn't think you would be here," Mac laughs nervously. There goes his surprise. So much for surprising the newest member of the team by turning Cage's place into a spectacular Christmas Wonderland.

"Cage?" Mac asks again as he walks further into the darkened room. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fantastic," the figure says as he turns around to face the young blonde.

All holiday cheer that was cursing through Mac's veins mere seconds ago vanishes instantly when he sees Murdoc smiling menacingly mere feet from him.

"Murdoc," Mac utters as he drops his duffle back onto the floor.

"That's me!" Murdoc sing songs gleefully.

"What are you doing here?"

Murdoc makes a tisking noise. "I can same the same thing about you. Doing a little breaking and entering on Christmas Eve?"

Murdoc's eyes then drift to the duffle bag on the floor that Mac just dropped. "Or let me guess. You're one of Santa's little helpers. Well, like you I came here to give Cage a little Christmas present."

"And what present would that be?" Mac asks.

"This," Murdoc says as he pulls a gun from his jacket pocket.

A fiery pain slams into Mac gut before his genius mind can formulate a plan. The pain is all encompassing. He's trying not to focus all his attention on the pain and remind his body to keep breathing. He's so busy on those simple tasks that he doesn't notice Murfoc's bending over him until he can feel the murderer's hot breath tickling his cheek.

"Merry Christmas, MacGyver."

The agony in his gut grows as pain tears through Mac's abdomen when he feels pressure pushing down on the epicenter of his agony. Mac feels a gloved hand on his as it places his right hand over the makeshift bandage.

"Here you go." He feels a not so gentle slap on his cheek. "We don't want you to bleed out before your team gets here."

Mac's mind is too muddled to make sense of anything. Murdoc just shot him and now he's tending to his wounds? What's Murdoc's plan? Where's Jack? He needs Jack. His body is too overwhelmed with confusion and anguish that his body welcomes the blessed unconsciousness when it beckons him.

XXXXX

Mac's eyes slowly open. There's a low buzzing noise. He looks up at the ceiling. Wait. This isn't the ceiling at his and Bozer's place. Where is he? What's going on? Where's Jack? His panicked eyes take in the unfamiliar scene before trying to make sense of why he's on someone's floor. It doesn't take long for his mind to put the pieces together. He's in Cage's place. He was going to deck it all out to make her feel like she's home. But-. A wave of agony rolls through his gut. He looks down at the bloodied, wet mess of his stomach. Murdoc! Murdoc shot him! "Need Jack." Mac says as another spike of agony spreads through his body just before his body once again gives into unconsciousness.

XXXXX

"No answer?" Riley asks.

Jack shakes his head. "Maybe Cage caught him in her apartment and went all CIA-ey on him." Jack says with a glint of mischief in his eyes.

Riley chuckles. "He probably has her singing Christmas carols and hanging yards of garland by now."

"You're probably right. Mac is like Santa's happiest little elf."

"He's fine," Riley says as she tries to reassure Jack. This is the second time he's tried calling Mac in the last fifteen minutes and hasn't gotten an answer.

"Ri, I know he's fine. I'm just calling him to tell him to get his genius ass back here to save me from hearing Bozer's Christmas pastrami story...again"

Riley rolls her eyes. She laughs at Jack's joke. He's joking around about Mac being MIA. But, there's something in the man's eyes that tells her he's worried. He's not fooling anyone. She quickly excuses herself from the scene of Christmas songs playing and Bozer's enthusiastic voice retelling the story of Christmas pastrami, to fetch her laptop from her car just in case. She won't need it though. Nothing could go wrong. It's Christmas Eve.

XXXXX

It's the cold that wakes Mac next. A deep chill throughout his whole body. His teeth are chattering. His body is trying desperately to warm up. His genius mind tells him that the slight movement should be causing him intense pain. But it's not. This is not good. He's not feeling pain. He's going into shock. His body is shutting down. He needs his team. He needs Jack. His right hand is still resting on his wound, but his left hand is free. He clumsily feels around and after several failed attempts he has finally gotten his phone out of his pocket. But now, he has used all of his energy reserves and he needs to rest. He tries to fight the fatigue. He needs to call Jack. But he can't do it. It'll be okay. He just needs to rest his eyes for a second.

XXXXX

"Merry Christmas!" Cage calls out merrily as she enters Mac and Bozer's place.

"Mac's not with you?" Jack asks.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Jack." Cage says with a roll of her eyes.

Jack walks towards her. "Have you seen him?"

"Mac?" Cage asks, confused.

"Yes, Mac!" Jack yells throwing his hands in the air.

Cage looks at Riley.

"Don't mind him. He's been trying to call Mac and he hasn't picked up."

"Mac is a big boy. He can take care of himself. Besides, why did you think he was with me?" Cage replies.

"Because he was supposed to be decking your place out in all Christmas grandeur," Bozer says as he brings in a tray of appetizers. "He left to do that over an hour ago."

"I didn't go back to my place. Traffic was awful, so I just came right here." Cage explains.

"I don't like this," Jack says as he calls Mac again. "Something's not right."

"As much as it kills me to say this, but Jack is right." Matty says as she bustles in from the patio. "I just got a call from the office. A 911 call just went in requesting an ambulance to be dispatched to Cage's place."

"Do we know who was hurt?" Riley asks.

Jack is already heading for the door.

Matty shakes her head. "It was an anonymous cal. No names, no other information except that an ambulance was needed." Matty replies.

"Mac would have given more information than that," Bozer says. As he rushes to the kitchen to turn off the oven. Christmas pastrami is going to have to wait.

"Exactly," Jack says as he yells into the phone. "Come on, brother. Pick up. Pick up."

The five of them rush out the house as "Run, Run Rudolf" continues to play undisturbed in the now empty house.

XXXXX

It's the sound of his phone that welcomes Mac to the land of the living this time. His motions are clumsy. It takes him a couple of agonizing tries but finally he answers his phone. He hears Jack's booming voice. "Mac! Mac!" He can hear Jack yelling. He thinks Jack is asking questions But, there's something wrong. For the life of him his mind can't think of the answers to the questions Jack is asking him. It's too much. He hopes Jack's not mad at him for not answering at him. He just can't. It's taking all his energy to just hang on. Mac can't help but smile. When he hears Matty's no-nonsense tone. No doubt telling Jack to chill out. He thinks he says his partner's name, but it sounds like a slurred mess to his fogged ears. He can hear a rustling of voices over the phone. His team.

"Guys," Mac says as he closes his eyes.

"Mac?! We're coming!"

His team is coming. He can rest now.

XXXXX

The phone is ringing again. Jack is sick of hearing endless ringing. He needs to speak to Mac. He needs to know he's okay. "Come on, kiddo. Answer the damn phone." Once again it goes to voicemail. He ends the call and quickly redials. He's about to yell out in frustration when the ringing stops. "Mac! Mac!" No one answer, but he hears a gurgling sound. Shit.

"Put it on speaker!" Bozer hisses as he jabs the older man in the back.

"Hold the hell on," Jack says as he places the phone on speaker. An echo of Mac's and other encouragements to hang on are echoed are spoken into the phone.

Mac doesn't say anything. Or at least nothing lucid. Just gasping and gurgling can be heard over the phone.

"Mac! What happened?!" Matty asks.

"Who did this?" Jack adds.

But Mac doesn't answer. All they team can hear is his erratic, gasping breaths.

"Jesus, Cage! Can you dive any faster?!" Jack yells.

"Cage wrapping the car around a tree is not going to help Mac. Calm down, Jack. You acting like this is not going to help Mac." Matty's voice commands.

Jack reluctantly agrees. Matty's right. He needs to calm down. Mac is going to need him. He's going to need all of them.

As if to reiterate their boss' sentiment, Mac lets out another painful gasp.

"Mac?! We're coming." Jack yells to his partner. "Just hang on, we're coming."