AN: I really, really loved Cigar Cutter! It wasn't exactly the season finale I was hoping for, but it was definitely close and very, very, very good! It fills me with hope for season 2! (My bet as to why there are only 21 episodes this season is that the original Episode 22, which I presume they wrote/filmed before they knew they'd be renewed, tied up all the loose ends and would have left them with nowhere to go for next season.)
Anyway, this is the first episode/chapter (22 episodes/chapters in total are planned) of my take on Season 2 of MacGyver. I already have the other 21 episodes planned out in a fair amount of detail (though I'm still coming up with missions for the team – suggestions are welcomed, no promises they'll be used, but of course if they are, I'll give full credit), but 'airdates'/publishing dates are a bit up in the air right now. (I'm currently on my one-week Easter break, so had some time to do this.) I will keep chipping away at this, and I am very determined to continue and finish the entire season I have planned out, and the absolute, absolute latest 'airdate' of Episode 2 will be June 29th.
This is completely canon-compliant with the first season with three exceptions: 1. How old Mac is - I'm contradicting Flashlight, which implies that his most recent birthday is his 27th, and running with his earlier statement about being born after the disbanding of the KGB, and making him 25 instead. 2. When Mac's dad left – I'm going with when he was 12, instead of when he was 10 (running with what was said in Awl by Jack rather than what Bozer said in Flashlight). 3. The actual timeline of the show – I'm playing fast and loose with the number of months it has been since Lake Como – they all said it was 8 months, but I'm pretty sure Mac took 3 months off work after he got shot, which means that pretty much the entire run of the show has taken place in 5 months, which I think is just ridiculous, particularly since Riley says she's been working with Mac for a 'couple of months' in Pliers, and it's already been a 'few months' since Thornton was revealed as Chrysalis. I'm just not really going to be all that concrete with the timeline.
JACK'S CAR
OUTSKIRTS OF LA
'…Riley's tough as nails. She's gonna be okay. First time's the hardest...'
Jack, though he sounded resolute, also somehow managed to sound like he was convincing himself.
Mac glanced at the road for a moment, then back at his partner.
'Every time's hard.'
I am not a killer. I hate killing. I do everything I can to avoid it. But with the line of work I'm in…sometimes…it happens.
Not often, but more often than I'd like.
Far more often.
Jack nodded.
'Amen to that, brother.' The older man looked very lost in thought for a moment. 'I don't know if she's got it in her.'
Only some people had it in them to kill, and to varying degrees. Jack strove to never shoot to kill bad guys, but he could do it and still sleep at night. Mac would never shoot anyone, and would stay (and had stayed) up all night the handful of times he'd taken life. Jack wasn't sure yet where Riley would fall on that spectrum, but he suspected closer to Mac than him, given how shaken she'd been when she'd shot Horn, and she'd been fighting desperately for her life then.
That suited him just fine. He'd rather he bear these burdens than Riley, or Mac, or Bozer.
Mac just nodded at him in response, and swallowed.
'Thornton taught her well.'
The despite being a traitor was implicit.
Jack shook his head with a sigh.
'You know, given they managed to turn her, the Organization did a surprisingly terrible job of using her and what she knew. She knew the Phoenix like the back of her hand; they sure didn't act like they did.'
Mac took a paperclip out of his pocket, and quickly, a maze took shape.
'They knew enough. More than enough.'
We all thought the Phoenix was safe. But yet again, enemies snuck in right under our noses.
Of course, we've made it safe again…but it's going to take time for it to feel safe again.
Jack nodded, rubbing his chin for a moment with his left hand.
'I know, brother.' The brunette shrugged. 'Still, my Spidey-senses are tingling. Doesn't feel like it's all over.'
'You don't have Spidey-senses.'
'That you know of! Maybe I got bitten by a radioactive spider in that dodgy motel! And we need to talk about your set choices when you're undercover, Mac. You seriously couldn't have picked a more stereotypical setting…'
Murdoc warned me.
Or maybe threatened me.
He said it wasn't over.
Maybe he was referring to Horn and the attack on the Phoenix.
Or maybe…
Mac shook his head, trying to clear those thoughts. He grabbed another paperclip from his pocket and started unwinding it.
BOZER'S HOSPITAL ROOM
SECURE MEDICAL FACILITY
SOMEWHERE IN LA
'You know, Dr Farnham has terrible timing. Going on vacation the day I got stabbed? Seriously, man? I'm totally filing a complaint with HR.'
Riley, wrapped in Jack's football snuggie, shook her head and laughed.
The Phoenix's on-site doctor really did have terrible timing. Mac was a seriously good field medic, but he was no doctor. Dr Farnham would have been very, very helpful to have around.
'Yeah, don't think you can file a complaint based off bad timing, Bozer. Besides, he rushed back as soon as heard.'
Dr Farnham hadn't taken a vacation of any sort for well over a year; he was very dedicated, and he had, indeed, rushed back the moment Matty had managed to get word out to him, and worked with the medics (all Phoenix agents had some medical training, and several were former Pararescue and the like) to patch up the agents with minor injuries, Mac and Jack among them.
The young man snorted.
'Yeah, well, then I'm going to get Mac onto a time machine, so future-Bozer can tell current-Bozer what's going to go down, so I can be prepared and all. You know, wear a bullet-proof vest today, someone's going to sneak in to your super-secret workplace and stab you and try and kill all your friends.' His brow furrowed. 'Or would that be future-Bozer telling past-Bozer? Or current-Bozer telling past-Bozer?'
Bozer trailed off when he realized that Riley had gone very silent and very still, and was staring at the floor.
'Riley? You there?' Very hesitantly, he reached out for her hand. 'You okay?'
The young woman took a deep breath and looked up at him.
'It's…it's nothing like in a FPS.'
Just a couple of weeks ago, they'd been happily shooting Molded in Resident Evil 7.
Now, Riley wasn't sure if she ever wanted to do that again.
Bozer squeezed her hand gently.
'I'm pretty sure that nothing in the spy life is anything like I thought it'd be.'
Riley just swallowed and nodded.
'Yeah. You can say that again.' She paused as Bozer opened his mouth. 'Don't actually say it again.'
He nodded, then paused, silent for a moment as he thought before speaking.
'Way I see it, you've got two options. Well, three, technically, but I really don't think you're going to give up field work, so you've kinda got two. You can go down the Jack path, or the Mac path.'
Riley considered for a moment.
'Does Mac actually know how to shoot?'
Bozer shrugged, then winced. He shook his head at Riley when the young woman shot him a concerned look.
'I'm fine.' He paused for a moment. 'I actually don't know. Like, I assume he does, since he was in the Army and all, and he's Mac and he can do pretty much everything, but…'
Riley nodded slowly, letting herself get lost in her thoughts for a few beats.
'Maybe…I don't want to carry, but…maybe I'll get Jack to teach me how to shoot properly. Just in case.' She paused and sounded uncharacteristically hesitant. Shaken and unsure. 'Do…do you think that's a good idea?'
Bozer squeezed her hand comfortingly again.
'Hey, you don't need to decide right away.' He squeezed her hand again. 'And me and Jack and Mac? We're in your corner, whatever you decide.'
Riley gave him a small smile, squeezing his hand again, before letting go and wrapping the snuggie around her shoulders a little tighter.
'Thanks, Bozer.'
He smiled back at her.
'Anytime, Riley, anytime.'
PHOENIX FOUNDATION CAR
ON-ROUTE BACK TO HEADQUARTERS
Matty's phone rang.
With a sense of unease that she'd held ever since she'd discovered the pages torn out of the middle of Paradise Lost, Matty answered.
The voice on the other side of the line confirmed her worst fears.
She hung up, then immediately placed another call.
JACK'S CAR
GAS STATION JUST OUTSIDE LA
'Hey, boss. Is this about stealing Sparky? 'Cause I swear I didn't steal him, I'm just babysitting him for Bozer…yeah, of course I'm with him…okay, I'll put you on speaker…'
Mac leaned closer, brow furrowed, as Jack put the pump back into the bowser.
'Mac, Jack, Murdoc's escaped.'
Mac didn't hear a single word that his boss said after that.
He warned me.
He threatened me.
He said it wasn't over.
He threatened my dad.
He's going to-
Mac immediately reached out and grabbed Jack's arm as the older man hung up, face grim.
'Jack, we've got to find my dad before Murdoc does. He's going to-'
Jack reached out and put his hands on Mac's shoulders.
'Woah, take a deep breath, brother!' After Mac had taken a breath, shooting Jack a look as he did so, the older man continued. 'I know. We all know he's going to go after your dad. But we're heading back to the Phoenix, and we're going to check in with Matty and pick up Riley and get all the intel that the Phoenix techs are scrubbing his cell for right now.' Mac looked like he was going to open his mouth and argue that they had to go now, but Jack continued before he could say anything. 'Mac, we can find him faster and protect him better with help.' He paused for a moment. 'Yeah, he's your dad, and your responsibility, but we're family, man. Any problem of yours is a problem of ours.'
After a moment, Mac nodded, and sat back down, putting on his seatbelt as Sparky started reminding him yet again. Jack got into the driver's seat, and as he did, his partner spoke.
'You stole my line.'
Despite the grimness of the situation, Jack cracked a very small smile.
Sometimes, Mac really did sound like a snarky teen.
BOZER'S HOSPITAL ROOM
SECURE MEDICAL FACILITY
SOMEWHERE IN LA
As Matty hung up, Bozer and Riley exchanged a shocked, horrified glance. Without a word, Riley discarded Jack's snuggie, hanging it on the back of the chair that she'd more or less been living in for the last few days, and picked up her bag to head for the Phoenix.
As she stood, she locked eyes with Bozer, biting her lip.
'You gonna be okay?'
Bozer just nodded.
'I'm in a secure government medical facility; I'm in good hands.' He gestured with his head towards the door. 'Go do your magic and help Mac.'
Riley nodded, reached down and squeezed his hand one last time, and hurried out.
Bozer, after his goofy little smile faded (Riley was worried about him! She'd taken his hand again!), slumped back onto his pillows with a groan.
He totally understood why Mac hated being sick or injured now, and was so resistant to medical care.
Being hurt, and being unable to help his team, his friends, being stuck on the side-lines, was the worst.
PHOENIX FOUNDATION HEADQUARTERS
SOMEWHERE IN LA
When Mac and Jack arrived at the war room, Matty and Riley were already waiting for them.
Matty turned to them with a rather exasperated look in her eyes.
'Mac, why does your personal business always become Phoenix business?'
Mac didn't even start some kind of response about the reasons why that might be the case, he just seized a couple of paperclips from the bowl and started playing with them.
Matty, Jack and Riley exchanged a concerned look, and then Matty tapped the screen to start briefing them.
Jack and Riley exchanged another concerned look as they and Mac piled into one of the Phoenix's Jeeps.
Mac had, as usual, spoken during the briefing, shared all the information he had, and conducted his usual analysis.
But they knew him well enough to know that he was still off.
Worried. Concerned. Lost in that great mind of his.
Jack and Riley exchanged a resolute nod as Jack started up the car and Riley started up her laptop, plugging in the mobile Wi-Fi modem she used from time to time.
They had to help Mac keep his dad safe.
Sitting in the back, Mac stared down at the paperclips he'd reshaped. They had taken the shape of a fish and a fishing rod.
MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON
SOMEWHERE IN LA
Matty nodded in acknowledgement as the guard opened the door for her.
The Organization's foot soldiers were just that: foot soldiers. They knew nothing useful. Murdoc's former neighbour had been played and used by the assassin and really didn't know anything useful either.
So, without any useful intel and with her team, her friends, heading into a very dangerous situation, Matty had only one option left available to her.
Inside the cell, shackled to a table, was Patricia Thornton.
The tall, slender woman somehow managed to make a prison jumpsuit look elegant.
She just stared at Matty, face impassive and eyes hard and distant.
Thornton had been in prison for months. She had refused to talk, no matter how they'd tried to break her.
Even Matty admitted to some level of grudging admiration for her predecessor.
But now, she had an idea. An idea as to how to get Thornton to talk, at last.
As calm and tough as ever, Matty walked over to the other woman, took a seat opposite her.
'I'd like to say it's lovely to meet your acquaintance, but that'd be lying.' Thornton didn't react. 'Now, I know you haven't said anything. If you believe the gossip in the intelligence community, you're never going to talk. You're never going to break.' Matty leaned a little closer. 'But I think I know how to break you.' She leaned a little closer. 'I had all the cameras and recording devices switched off. It's just us.' That was true. Matty was prepared to resort to absolutely anything, if necessary, to break Thornton and get the intel that would stop her team from getting killed. She wouldn't start with that, of course, but she was prepared to go to her last resort if necessary. Thornton didn't flinch, didn't make any moves. Of course, she wasn't scared. The two women watched each other for a moment, neither blinking, neither flinching, before Matty smirked. 'You see, I think I've found your weakness.' She pulled a file out from her bag. 'You cared about your agents. You cared about your team. They were the closest thing you had to friends. Maybe they were even family.'
Matty started pulling photos out of the bag, stills that had been pulled from various security cameras.
Bozer, lying on Mac's makeshift gurney in the war room, almost bleeding out.
Riley covered in blood and in shock after shooting Horn.
Mac cutting the coolant line, then desperately trying to escape the flames as he tried to stop the theft of the bioweapon.
Mac returning to the Phoenix after going undercover as Murdoc, looking not quite right, Jack's arm around his shoulders and concern on the older man's face.
Bozer and Jack held at gun-point in Amsterdam.
'Stop.' Matty looked up, seeing emotion, seeing a reaction, on Thornton's face for the first time. As she watched, the other woman closed her eyes for a moment with a slight shake of her head, then opened them again. Thornton was the best spy in the business, supposedly, but Matty was quite sure there was genuine horror in her dark eyes. 'Stop, please.'
Matty nodded, face growing set and firm.
'So you do care about them.' She leaned closer. 'Then why the hell did you betray them?'
There was a moment of silence, of stillness. Thornton breathed in, then out, then looked Matty square in the eye, an almost-imploring look in her eyes. A desperate look.
'I didn't.'
Matty had to draw on years of experience to keep her face passive, as Thornton continued, resting her head in her hands for a moment, before making eye contact with Matty again.
'I'm not Chrysalis. I was set up.'
Matty snorted.
'And why should I believe you? You haven't said anything for months. You didn't say anything to your team when you were arrested. Why should I believe you now?'
Thornton swallowed and nodded.
'You shouldn't.' She swallowed again. 'I wouldn't, but this is the truth.'
Matty suspected, lifelong master spy that she was, that telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, was a very hard thing for Thornton to do. The other woman had put a lot of weight on that one word in particular.
The two woman stared at each other, eyes searching one another's, for a long, long moment, before Matty broke the silence.
'Say I believe you. Say that you're innocent. Then who is Chrysalis?'
Thornton shook her head.
'I don't know. It has to be someone with connections to oversight, or someone in oversight, to be able to pull off setting me up like that. But I don't know, and I have no idea how far this stretches.'
Matty considered her for another long moment. That would explain why she'd never said anything to all the people oversight had sent to interrogate her. That would explain why it was only now that she was talking, to Matty, who hadn't been sent by oversight, when the cameras were all off. That would explain why she'd not said a word when she'd been arrested, not tried to alert her team in any way, shape or form, to her claim of innocence. That would explain why the team that had attacked the Phoenix had seemed just a little underprepared, for a team that had been sent by an organization that had turned the Phoenix's own Director. That would explain why a woman who'd spent her whole life in service of her country, in the service of good, had supposedly turned, and why a woman who so clearly seemed to care for her agents had apparently betrayed the very agents that she really had considered friends.
Without a word, without giving anything away, Matty packed up the photos, and left the room.
DINER
OUTSKIRTS OF LA
As Mac and Riley pored over Riley's laptop, Jack felt his phone vibrate, and pulled it out.
There was a text message from an unknown number.
Longhorn – take your packages from Lima to Sao Paulo.
The number was unknown, but the message was something that only one person could have possibly sent him.
The combination of his old CIA codename, and the reference to Lima (where he'd had to protect the two children, a boy and a girl, of a local drug lord turned CIA asset) and Sao Paulo (where he'd once gone dark and earned himself a blistering reprimand from her) meant that the message had to be from Matty.
And she was telling him to go dark with Mac and Riley.
'Riley, get off the Phoenix network now.' As he spoke, Jack slipped his phone into the seat of the diner, and gestured for Mac and Riley to do the same. 'Matty's ordering us to go dark.' The three agents shared a look, Riley biting her lip, Mac's face set, Jack without a trace of his usual humour. 'We're on our own.'
As they pulled away from the diner in a car that they had 'borrowed', Jack muttered under his breath.
'Forget Cairo Day, this entire week's got to be cursed.'
MATTY'S RESIDENCE
LA
Matty, as soon as she'd sent that text to Jack on a burner that she kept specifically in case of a situation like this, punched in another number that she had memorized long ago.
She had to get to the bottom of the question of Thornton's innocence. The question of whether she was really Chrysalis. Whether that part, at least, of this Organization's plot was really over.
Luckily, she did have a few contacts, a few friends that she knew she could trust.
'Oh, Miss Webber! Long time, no speak.'
'Hello, Hetty. This isn't a social call, I'm afraid.'
'Oh, it never is in our line of work…'
TRUCKSTOP
OFF I-5
'It's…it's like he disappeared completely off the face of the Earth. Like someone deleted him off the internet.'
Jack's brow furrowed.
'I thought that was impossible? You know, once it's online, it's online forever, and you can't get rid of it…'
Riley shook her head in frustration.
'Well, yeah, he can't have been completely deleted, but I can't find anything.' She glanced over at Mac, who was staring at his letter to his dad, which had literally travelled halfway around the world (it had somehow made it to Perth, Australia at one point), as if he was hoping to find a clue that he'd somehow missed earlier. 'This didn't happen by accident, and unless your dad went completely, completely off the grid and has some serious tech skills…'
Mac seemed to come back to himself and shook his head.
'No, that's very unlikely.'
Riley nodded.
'Then someone really didn't want him to get your letter, and really doesn't want you to find him.'
Mac ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.
He'd told Jack to drive towards Tahoe after they'd gone dark, based solely off the fact that Murdoc had mentioned that his dad had a fishing day, and when he was a kid, he, his dad and his grandfather had sometimes gone up there to fish.
It was a ridiculous long shot at best.
You could go fishing just about anywhere, and he knew Murdoc was a liar. The assassin may well have just made it up to provoke him.
'Excuse me, you're Mr MacGyver, right?' The waitress, a girl who couldn't be much older than sixteen, walked up to their table and addressed Mac, holding out a burner phone, which Mac took warily. 'Your friend left it for you.'
As the waitress walked away, Mac turned the phone on.
There was a single text message on it, which he opened.
Last night I dreamed that I was a child out where the pines grow wild and tall. I was trying to make it home through the forest before the darkness falls.
He turned to Jack and Riley.
'Or, someone wants to me to have to play his game to find him.'
Jack had a hand on Riley's laptop, which the hacker had wrapped her arms around protectively.
'Riley, he knows we're here, he's got to be tracking us-'
'-I'm the only one who gets to destroy my rig!'
Mac shook his head.
'He's not tracking us. He knew we'd come here.' He sighed. 'He played me. He got me to send us towards Tahoe, and this is the only place for a hundred miles with free Wi-Fi.' He shook his head again. 'And he's playing his usual games.'
He held out the phone so that Jack and Riley could read the message. Both of them looked up at Mac with furrowed brows.
The blonde agent gave a very wry little smile.
'They're song lyrics. My Father's House, Bruce Springsteen. It seems Murdoc's a fan of music.'
Jack snorted.
'So he's telling you how to find your dad and presumably him using lyrics?' He read the text again. 'So your dad's living somewhere next to a pine forest.'
Mac, who had returned to a state of being lost in thought, simply got up and started walking out towards the car again, Jack and Riley following behind him with a concerned glance at one another.
Jack got in and turned the key in the ignition.
'So, where to, brother?'
Mac snapped out of it momentarily, and looked up at his partner.
'Tahoe. Might not be a long shot after all.' He turned to Riley. 'If I give you an address, can you do some digging on who lives there?'
The young woman nodded.
'Child's play if I can get Wi-Fi on my laptop, it's gonna be a pain if I have to use data on a burner though.'
Mac nodded.
'Give me five minutes, and I can get you Wi-Fi on your laptop.'
'BORROWED' CAR
ON-ROUTE TO TAHOE
Mac stared at Murdoc's latest message, which he was sure was nothing more than a taunt.
I awoke and I imagined the hard things that pulled us apart, will never again, sir, tear us from each other's hearts.
He leaned forwards and showed the message to Jack and Riley. The hacker's typing grew more frantic, while Jack pushed his foot down on the gas a little harder.
'Okay, you were right, Mac. Took a lot of digging, but there's a James MacGyver living at that address.'
Mac just nodded, and Jack glanced back at him in the rear-view mirror.
'Look, I know that brain of yours doesn't work like anyone else's and you know the whole contents of Encyclopaedia Britannica and all, but how'd you know that, brother?'
Mac stared out the window for a moment, silent, then turned back, sighed and replied.
'When I was twelve, my grandfather told me about this promise that my dad made my mom when they got engaged. My grandfather used to own this little house in Tahoe, which had been in the family for three generations, but he sold it to send my mom to college. Now, my mom had really good memories there from when she was a kid, and she really wanted my grandfather to get his beloved house back, so my dad promised that one day, he'd buy it back for her.' Mac's voice grew softer, quieter. 'He…he never got to fulfil that promise…but I guess he did go and buy the house.'
From the front, Riley reached out to bump fists with Mac in the best gesture of comfort she could offer, given their respective positions in the car. Jack shook his head, shot Mac a look of sympathy, and then muttered something about MacGyver men being sentimental romantics, which at least earned an eye-roll from the blonde.
Murdoc, and the Organization, could have set this all up with some very thorough research and a couple of lucky guesses.
But it's not exactly common knowledge that my dad and my grandfather and me used to go fishing up at Tahoe. And it's not at all common knowledge exactly how much those trips meant.
Maybe he made a lucky guess…
Or maybe…
The list of people who knew the whole story about his father and the fishing trips and the little house in Tahoe was a very, very short list.
Mac toyed with a paperclip that was taking the shape of a key. A very particular key.
He warned me.
Or maybe he threatened me.
People believe what they want to believe.
MATTY'S RESIDENCE
LA
Matty's burner phone rang, and she picked up.
'Tell me you got something, Lil.'
She'd diverted all the work regarding Murdoc to Phoenix agents and analysts that she was sure could be trusted.
Lil was on that list.
'I've been analysing Murdoc's copy of Paradise Lost, and I'm not Miss Davis, I'd really love to get her opinion on it, or MacGyver's…' Matty shook her head. Bozer could not have picked a worse woman to try and ask out in an attempt to take the whole move-on-from-Riley thing to heart (which he was clearly doing a terrible job of), since Matty knew quite well Lil was not interested in him and was also very intimidated by Riley, for reasons unknown. 'But there's a code it in. Certain letters have been marked, very lightly, in certain ways, and I'm still trying to break it, but so far, I've got: the pawns are moving into place, the Queen will fall.'
Matty nodded. It made sense, now, why Murdoc had been so, so specific in his demand for a copy of Paradise Lost.
He'd needed that particular copy to get a message from the Organization, and they'd known that Bozer and Riley would not have many options on such a short timescale, not for such a rare book.
'Thanks, Lil. Keep at it, contact me as soon as you have more.'
'Will do, Director Webber.'
'Matty, please. Call me Matty.'
There was a pause for a moment.
'Oh, sorry, of course Director…Matty.'
As she hung up, there was the beep of a text message coming in.
Hermia – cocktails in Phnom Penh. Yenta.
Matty nodded grimly as Hetty confirmed her suspicions. Someone in oversight, or with access to what oversight did, had indeed tampered with the orders that Thornton supposedly gave when she'd supposedly betrayed the Phoenix. (She and Hetty had once worked together in Phnom Penh, taking down some very corrupt Internal Affairs people. Taking down corrupt oversight. Cocktails had been involved.)
Thornton, it seemed, really had been telling the truth.
Though, Matty wasn't quite ready to believe her. Not yet.
If it turned out that Thornton really was innocent (honestly, even if she wasn't, and this was all a set-up upon a set-up upon a set-up), she wouldn't sleep well tonight (probably wouldn't for quite a few nights), but she had to be sure.
She sent Jack another message.
Longhorn – you're heading to Chechnya next.
Chechnya had been a trap.
Jack would know what it meant.
She got a reply a moment later.
We know.
Of course they did, but it at least made her feel a little better to have clear confirmation that they were very aware of what they were getting into.
With a sigh, Matty got up.
She had yet another trip to the prison to make.
MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON
SOMEWHERE IN LA
Patricia Thornton's ears perked as she heard footsteps outside her cell, then the quiet whispers of the guards.
Once a spy, always a spy.
Even in prison.
'…Murdoc killed another three…'
'…That blonde kid who was here about a week and a half ago, that older guy with the ridiculous haircut who came with him, and the young lady with the book from when Thornton got found out…'
The former Director of the Phoenix Foundation's face turned very, very pale. She closed her eyes, and opened them again, repeating the action twice, glanced around at the cameras in her cell, as if hoping someone would tell her that this was all some very cruel trick, or maybe even a nightmare. Then, her shoulders started to shake and tears started to roll down her cheeks, as if the truth of it all had finally hit her.
In the control room, Matty turned to the tech controlling the cameras.
'I've seen enough. Turn off the cameras.'
She got up and left the room.
Thornton had been the world's most successful covert operative.
She could probably fake such grief, but from everything that Matty knew of her, and everything Matty knew about spying (which was not exactly just a couple of trifles), Thornton had never been the kind of spy who faked any and all emotions. In fact, she'd been just the opposite; she was the kind of operative who preferred to largely keep all emotions hidden.
Matty believed her grief was real, and combined with the verifications of Thornton's claim of innocence that she'd gotten so far…well, she wouldn't be sleeping tonight, and she was going to abuse her power to get a woman who'd been declared a traitor to their country released from prison.
Matty believed her.
Matty, followed by the two guards who'd been outside Thornton's cell (again, people she definitely trusted, had handpicked for this particular shift and that particular task herself), entered the cell.
She walked up to Thornton, who'd looked up as soon as she'd entered.
Matty gave the other woman a very small, somewhat apologetic smile (somewhat, because she thought Thornton would probably have done the same thing in her place).
Thornton hadn't lost her touch, because the grief vanished from her face, replaced by an inscrutable, confusing look; part-hope, part-understanding, a little anger, and gratefulness, Matty thought.
'You believe me. They're not dead.'
It was really more a statement than question.
'I'm sorry.'
Thornton eyed her for a moment, and an understanding passed between them.
'You did what you had to do.'
Matty nodded.
'It's past time you got out of here. We've got a job to do.'
The or they might really die was something that neither woman had to say out loud, or wanted to.
THE BELLAGIO
LAS VEGAS
Nikki, a week into her first vacation since her and Mac's interrupted trip to Rome, answered her phone as she put down a pair of very expensive high heels.
She smiled and laughed as she listened to the voice on the other end of the line, as if the caller was a friend, or a boyfriend, perhaps.
Then, after browsing another two pairs of shoes and smiling at the shop assistant, she left calmly.
Ten minutes later, a small fire broke out on the roof of The Bellagio.
Twelve minutes later, at the behest of Sarah Adler, one of her co-workers on the CIA taskforce assigned to take down Chrysalis' mysterious organization (which honestly had been struggling these last few months to get anywhere), Agent Matthews, tried to call her. Four times.
She didn't answer.
BOZER'S HOSPITAL ROOM
SECURE MEDICAL FACILITY
SOMEWHERE IN LA
The moment that Thornton and Matty stepped into Bozer's hospital room, the young man pointed at his former boss in shock. His heart-rate monitor showed an immense spike in heart-rate.
'What…what's she doing here? She's evil! She got us disavowed, and tried to kill Mac and Riley and Jack and me!'
Thornton actually winced. Matty shot her a quick sympathetic look, then turned to Bozer.
'Would I really have brought her into your hospital room, personally vouching for her, if she was evil, Bozer?'
Bozer seemed to return to his senses, because he paused in his freaking-out and his heart-rate slowed.
Thornton, looking more and more uncomfortable by the minute, glanced over at the chair that Riley had occupied, which still had the snuggie on it. A look, soft and not unlike the one she'd worn at Christmas, just before their world had been turned upside down, passed across her face.
After a moment, she sat down in a second chair on Bozer's other side.
'I was set up, Bozer.'
Bozer looked very much like he wanted to believe her. He glanced at Matty, who just nodded at him, and then he, too, nodded.
'Who set you up? I mean, Chrysalis is real, right? Someone who's in the know-how had to have…I mean, I know what I saw in those files. I didn't go to Stanford, but I know my accounting-'
Matty interrupted him.
'Bozer, we know you know your accounting.' She pulled out a large file. 'That's why I brought this. I…we…need you to go over the files again, see if you or the Phoenix or CIA or Homeland analysts missed something, because we have no idea who set her up.' She held the file out to Bozer, who immediately started poring over them. 'We think, however, that it might have been someone in oversight, or with influence on or connections to oversight.'
Thornton sat in her chair, while Matty paced in front of the door.
Bozer looked up from the file.
'I can practically feel the tense, hurry-up vibes coming from you, boss…uh, bosses…seriously, you can't rush this, it's an art!'
Matty looked disbelievingly at him.
'It's accounting, Bozer.'
He looked affronted.
'And accounting is an art.'
Thornton just quirked an eyebrow at him, though, Bozer swore he could detect a very slight hint of amusement on her face, maybe with a tiny little bit of sadness. Perhaps he was projecting.
'Bozer…'
'Right, right, focus. Got it, boss.' He looked back down, shaking his head. 'Nobody ever appreciates the lackeys and the little people…' He trailed off and looked up again, an I've got an idea look on his face.
Matty and Thornton exchanged a look of their own. Apparently, Mac's I've got an idea face was contagious.
'Lackeys. Nobody ever appreciates the lackeys. Nobody ever pays much attention to them either, but I swear, they know everything. Like, my manager was embezzling money and thought I didn't know, and one of the partners at my aunt's accounting firm…' Bozer caught himself, shaking his head. 'You said you thought it was someone in oversight. What if it isn't? I mean, if you're the big boss and have spent your whole life serving your country and all, why'd you want to betray it? But if you're some downtrodden minion…'
Matty and Thornton exchanged another glance.
Bozer was right.
People rarely gave him enough credit.
Similar feelings would be easy to twist in, say, one of the secretaries to someone in oversight, and they did have the necessary access, and it was a lot easier to get away with selling secrets and the like when you were just a lowly secretary or assistant…
Matty pulled out her phone, and started typing out a new message. They only had a very limited amount of time; it was time to take a gamble and focus their search.
JAMES MACGYVER'S RESIDENCE
TAHOE
The moment the pulled into view of Mac's dad's house, the burner Murdoc had given Mac rang. Riley immediately started trying to trace the call.
'Murdoc.'
'MacGyver, you took your time. I was beginning to think that I'd out-witted you, and you know how I hate it when you disappoint me.'
'Cut to the chase, Murdoc.'
'Oh, how impatient the young are. Don't you appreciate artistry and drama, MacGyver?'
Jack, his eyes focused on Mac's father's house, tapped the blonde on the shoulder, pointing out the tell-tale red dot that had appeared on one of the front window panes. As they watched, the figure of a man came into view of the window, and sat down on the couch, still in view, completely and utterly oblivious.
Mac swallowed.
'What do you want, Murdoc? What's your game here?'
The assassin laughed.
'Oh, you are so adorable, MacGyver. Sticking to a lovely little script, so I can go ahead and play the bad guy to the hilt. We both know what I want, MacGyver.' He paused, almost certainly for dramatic effect. The red light on Mac's father's window disappeared, then reappeared. 'He left you, MacGyver. Walked out and vanished from your life. You haven't spoken to him in thirteen years. How much do you love daddy dearest? Enough to take a hike and make a trade? I have to warn you, no take-backs.' Murdoc's voice grew more business-like. 'You'll receive your first set of directions in a moment. Come alone, and tell your friends no funny business, or you know the consequences. For daddy and for them.' His voice grew creepier again. 'I'll be expecting you.'
He promptly hung up, and Mac glanced over at Riley, who shook her head.
'He's jamming me.'
Mac nodded, having expected that, as they all had. He glanced over at the figure in the window for a long moment, then back at Jack and Riley. The phone chimed. His first set of instructions from Murdoc.
With a resolute nod, Mac pocketed the phone, then walked over to the open door of the car, grabbing the reel of fishing line and packet of chips that they'd found in it, concealing the items from view as best as he could. Murdoc was certainly watching.
As he straightened up again, Jack reached out and clasped his arm. When he spoke after a moment, his voice was hoarse and rough.
'Brother, if you go-'
'I know, Jack.' Mac glanced into the window again. The red dot had reappeared. 'I don't have a choice.'
He and Jack stood there for a couple of beats, staring into each other's eyes, before Jack looked away for a moment and nodded, squeezing Mac's arm.
'You owe me beers for a month and a steak dinner for all the grey hairs I'm going to get because of this stunt, Mac.'
Riley, too, locked eyes with him.
'That goes for me too, Mac.'
Jack glanced at her, trying for incredulity and failing as he glanced back at the blonde. There was only the barest hint of a joke in his voice when he spoke.
'You're too young for grey hairs, kiddo.'
Mac gave the two of them a very, very wan little smile.
'I'll buy you both eye fillets and a six-pack a week for the next month, no more, no less.' He paused for a moment. 'Can you tell Bozer I'm sorry? I forgot to buy the Honey-Nut Cheerios again.' Jack and Riley nodded, and Mac glanced at his father one last time. 'And…and make sure my dad finally gets my letter?' Another nod. Mac nodded too, and started walking north, as Murdoc had told him to. After about ten steps, he turned back again. 'I love you guys.'
Both Jack and Riley stared at him for a breath, and in the end, it was Riley who spoke, because Jack's voice had deserted him.
'We love you too, Mac.'
With another little smile, the blonde turned away and started walking again.
Jack and Riley watched him go up the road, until they couldn't see him anymore. Then, they turned to one another, and without a sound, Riley reached out and threw her arms around Jack, both giving and seeking comfort.
Jack hugged her back just as tightly, rubbing her back in soothing circles.
'He's Angus MacGyver. Impossible isn't in his vocabulary. He'll be fine.'
Jack had absolute faith in his partner. He wished he could have absolute faith in his words.
BOZER'S HOSPITAL ROOM
SECURE MEDICAL FACILITY
SOMEWHERE IN LA
Matty's phone rang, and she immediately answered.
'Matty…' She instantly recognized Sarah Adler's voice. Jack's former partner was one of her trusted CIA contacts. 'Nikki Carpenter went on vacation to Vegas a week ago. Her taskforce can't reach her; there was a fire at The Bellagio, where she was staying, and there's a lot of chaos in the area right now, she might have just not heard her phone…but they've called five times now, and they can't find her or track her phone. She's disappeared.'
Matty turned instantly back to Bozer and Thornton and gave them a very short summary.
'Nikki Carpenter's disappeared, her last known location was Vegas.'
They all knew that Mac and Jack and Riley were in Tahoe, which wasn't far from Vegas at all. They all knew how fishy this looked, especially from a woman who'd lied to and deceived quite literally everyone (both good and bad guys, supposedly) for months, and was very, very tied up in everything that had happened.
Both Bozer and Thornton's eyes hardened.
Matty turned her attention back to Sarah.
'I'm going to have to put you on hold, I have a call to make.' She paused for a moment. 'Don't you dare desert your post, Adler.'
Matty wouldn't put it past Sarah to leave New Mexico, where she currently was, probably stealing some kind of government transport along the way (she would not put it past Sarah to 'borrow' a plane) to try and help her friends.
Matty hung up before the other woman could respond, and immediately punched in Jack's number.
CLEARING NEAR A WATERFALL
TAHOE
The glint of the last vestiges of sunlight reflecting off a shiny surface caught Murdoc's eye, and he moved towards it, gun in hand.
As he reached the edge of the woods, he laughed when he saw the empty chip packet.
'Oh, cute, MacGyver. But you'll have to do better than that-'
He was cut off by Mac jumping down from a nearby tree (no-one ever looked up), pulling a makeshift constrictor knot, tied from fishing line, around the assassin's neck.
Murdoc went limp, recognizing the knot for what it was, and laughed again.
'Oh, this is much better.' He gestured to the waterfall. 'Welcome to our own personal Reichenbach, MacGyver. Isn't it-'
Without warning, he stopped speaking and drove his heel hard into Mac's knee.
JAMES MACGYVER'S RESIDENCE
TAHOE
As soon as they'd shaken themselves out of their shock as Matty told them the latest news, Jack and Riley exchanged a glance, and made for the car, Jack muttering under his breath as they did so.
'I knew she was kryptonite. Kryptonite always brings trouble for Superman!'
At the moment, neither of them were touching the fact that Thornton wasn't actually a traitor (though they'd believed she was) with a ten-foot pole. They didn't have the time or the brainpower to get into that mess right now.
As they reached the doors, they both suddenly stopped, and glanced towards the window. The red dot was gone, had been for a couple of minutes now, but if Murdoc saw them leave (if Mac wasn't succeeding), then…
'James MacGyver is about to get a phone call from his power company telling him that they've got some weird readings and asking him to go into the basement and check the fuse box. I've got some people I trust on their way, ETA fifteen minutes, to keep him safe. Go!'
At Matty's reassurance, and with faith that Mac was keeping the assassin occupied, Jack and Riley practically leapt into the car, and Jack started breaking just about every traffic law in the book, as Riley frantically did her best to track down Mac.
CLEARING NEAR A WATERFALL
TAHOE
Murdoc had managed to wrench the ends of the fishing line out of Mac's hands, though the constrictor knot was still firmly affixed around his neck.
Mac had, in turn, managed to knock Murdoc's gun out of his hands, and it was now lying several feet away from them in the grass.
The assassin just smirked at the agent, then lunged for the gun as Mac lunged for him.
'BORROWED' CAR
TAHOE
Jack and Riley reached the spot where they'd last seen Mac, which also happened to be a fork in the road. Even assuming that Mac had followed a road, which might well be wrong, they had, at best, a 50/50 chance, if they couldn't better the odds.
Jack glanced over at the young hacker, who shook her head.
'Nothing.'
Jack got out of the car.
'We're doing this the old-school way, then.'
He never expected to be tracking Mac through the woods like how you'd track a hostile, but you really never knew what to expect in this job, as the events of even the last ten minutes indicated.
Fortunately, either Mac had hedged his bets and assumed that they might have to follow him, or he saw no need to try and conceal his tracks, because they weren't hard to locate at all.
He got back into the car, and took the left fork.
CLEARING NEAR A WATERFALL
TAHOE
Pinned against a tree, a gun pointed at his head, Murdoc smirking darkly at him, Mac struggled frantically, scrabbling at the tree trunk with his left hand, trying to find something, anything (his Swiss Army knife was several feet away, far out of his reach) to get him out of this situation, while he just-as-hurriedly tried to make a paperclip into a serviceable weapon using just his right hand, which was trapped in his pocket.
Murdoc seemed to find his struggles amusing, because he just smirked wider (and hadn't shot him yet).
'Give up, MacGyver?'
'Never!'
His response was punctuated with a particularly spirited bout of struggling.
Murdoc's eyes darkened, and he put the gun to Mac's forehead.
A shot rang out.
Murdoc dropped to the ground, clutching his knee, dropping his gun, looking around to see just who had shot him, wincing in pain.
Mac had the sense to kick the gun away, as he looked around for his saviour.
(It had grown dark as he struggled with Murdoc, and visibility had decreased significantly.)
Footsteps sounded out.
Mac was instantly on alert.
There were many sets of footsteps, and Jack would have made some kind of joke by now.
Instead, it was a woman's figure that emerged from the darkness.
A figure that he was intimately familiar with.
Who was pointing a gun at him, and flanked by six men dressed just like the Organization agents who'd attacked the Phoenix just days ago.
'Sorry, Murdoc, but we need him alive.'
Murdoc started laughing.
'Oh, I must commend your taste in women, MacGyver. I like her!'
Mac could only stare at Nikki in shock, as two of the Organization agents grabbed Murdoc and dragged him away, one of them delivering a sharp blow to the assassin's head with the butt of his gun.
A niggling doubt had been growing in the back of his mind since he'd realized that his dad had moved to his grandfather's old house in Tahoe, and that Murdoc had tracked him there before he could.
Since he'd realized that the list of living people who'd known all about that house, who'd known all about that promise, was a very, very, very short list indeed.
And that his ex-girlfriend happened to be one of those people.
Still, this is a shock.
Nikki just smirked at him.
'Hi, Mac. It's been a while. Why haven't you called?'
She stepped closer to him as a couple of the men with her cuffed the still-shocked Phoenix agent's hands behind the tree. Mac gritted his teeth a little as his shoulders wrenched, because the tree's girth was just slightly too large for his arm span. Two of the agents remained behind the tree, presumably to keep an eye on his hands, while the other four stood before him, each pointing a gun at his head.
I seriously have terrible luck with women.
After a moment, he regained his wits and opened his mouth.
'You were Chrysalis, not Thornton.' His eyes widened. 'You set her up to take the fall. You had her sent to prison, you made us all believe…' Mac looked like he might be sick. 'You made me think that you…we…that night…'
Nikki just smirked a little wider, holstering her gun.
'Oh, Mac. It's so flattering to know that I really can switch off that big brain of yours. And it's so flattering that you think I pulled that all off on my own. You always were so much better with women than everyone gave you credit for being.' She leaned a little closer to him. 'As for that night? Well, I recall you enjoying it very, very much. Worth it, right?'
Mac turned his head as far away from her as he could.
'Absolutely not.'
Her eyes flashed hard for a moment. She stepped away from him again, and they stared at each other for a moment.
'Why?'
There was hurt and bewilderment and confusion and sadness and just that tiny hint of genuine curiosity in his voice.
'We weren't on the right side, Mac.' He scoffed. He'd heard this argument before. 'Think about it, Mac. Everything we did, everything you did, to supposedly save the world…and yet, we never got a word of thanks. You never got a word of thanks. The world never knew you were there, even though you'd have given them everything.' She paused for a moment. 'Nearly did give them everything.' He opened his mouth to protest, to say that that was the nature of the job, and that was the way he liked it. He didn't need thanks to save the world, just saving it was plenty, but Nikki cut him off with a shake of her head. 'Oh, no, listen, Mac. We worked for people who'd send us into danger, laud us as brave and good and heroes, and then toss us aside without a thought a moment later. And they justified all of this, by saying it was for the greater good, that we were protecting the world and saving innocent lives…and those same people are responsible for just as many atrocities as those they call the bad guys. At least the bad guys are honest. And at least they give proper compensation.'
So, she wasn't completely lying when she said she did it for the money.
Mac shook his head.
'Nikki…I know it's not perfect. I know the world's not black and white. But what we did, who we worked for…they're still better than the Organization.'
As he spoke, something sparked in his mind, and he started speaking even as the thoughts joined together in his head.
'Cairo. This all started in Cairo. You made a mistake, didn't jam our signal well enough, and then it all went south, and…'
They'd almost been disavowed. If Thornton hadn't stuck her neck out to protect them, hadn't pulled in every favour she could, they almost certainly would have been.
Internally, Mac cursed himself for ever believing that Thornton could have been a traitor.
Nikki smiled at him.
'You really are the smartest man I've ever known.' Her face turned a little darker. 'It started with doubts. Guilt. If I'd not messed up, if I'd just been that little bit better…and then, I was shown the truth. It wasn't my fault. It was the fault of those who put us into that situation in the first place, where just a tiny little mistake would get us all killed.'
'And you think that your Organization is any better? They'll abandon you. The moment you screw up, they'll toss you aside-'
Nikki stepped closer to him again.
'But at least they offer proper acknowledgement and compensation. At least they don't hide behind some noble greater-good façade.'
She stepped closer to him again, put her left hand on his chest, and her right pointer finger on his lips as he opened his mouth to retort.
'Come with me, Mac. Join us. Join me.' She smirked. 'We're very, very good together.'
He pulled away from her as best as he could, ignoring the wrenching pain in his shoulders, eyes hard.
'No, we'd be very, very bad together.' Nikki recoiled as if he'd slapped her, and stepped away from him. 'I'll join you when hell freezes over.'
She took another step away, pulled out her gun and pointed it at him.
'You know how I feel about puns, Mac.'
A shot rang out.
Nikki dropped to the ground, clutching her right shoulder. Mac kicked at the soil around him, sending dirt into the faces of the two Organization agents closest to him, as they frantically tried to pinpoint where the gunshot had come from.
The two Organization agents who'd been behind him dropped too, as another two gunshots rang out, and then, as the remaining four agents moved away, chasing a figure who took another shot at one of them as he ran, someone came up behind Mac and started picking the cuffs.
'It's me.'
Mac couldn't help but give a small smile as Riley freed him, sagging with relief against the tree for a moment. The hacker's face had that same relief written across it.
'You owe us two steak dinners now.'
'I will happily buy you and Jack a week's worth of steak dinners.'
As he spoke, Mac quickly field-dressed Nikki's shoulder, pointedly refusing to look at her face, and then pulled out his belt, using it to secure her wrists behind a thinner tree than the one he'd been bound to, so as not to hurt her any more than she already was (he was not taking any chances; she'd escaped FBI custody once before, but he was also a better person than she was and determined to show it), while Riley cuffed one of the fallen Organization agents, using the cuffs they'd used on Mac, and tied a strip of his pants around his bleeding calf. As he finished securing Nikki, he turned to Riley, nodded approvingly at her field dressing, and gestured with his head to her shoes.
'Can I borrow your shoelaces?'
Riley rolled her eyes, but the relief that he was alive and sounding like himself was quite clear on her face.
'I'm not going to get them back, am I?'
'Uh, probably not. Sorry.'
Mac tied the last Organization agent's wrists together with the shoelaces, then tore a strip off the man's shirt to bandage his wound.
Then, he and Riley glanced at one another.
There were still four Organization agents unaccounted for, as well as Murdoc. Jack was also out there, drawing their fire.
They were both unarmed, and neither had any inclination to use any of the guns they'd confiscated off Nikki and the fallen Organization agents.
Well, not for their intended use anyway.
Mac grabbed the guns, took out the bullets (dumping the guns), and, his Swiss Army knife in hand, took off in the vague general direction that Jack had run off in, with a nod at Riley.
Riley nodded back and turned to watch the prisoners.
Ducking behind a tree in an attempt to evade the two Organization agents pursuing him (he'd taken down one, and one had run off towards the still-unconscious Murdoc; Jack hadn't been able to do anything about that before he'd been forced to run himself by the man's three colleagues), Jack took a moment to catch his breath and check how much ammo he had left.
The answer was only two bullets.
Well, he'd have to make them count.
There was a loud bang that sounded an awful lot like a gunshot. Then another. Then another.
From the sound of their footsteps, Jack's pursuers stopped and changed direction instantly, searching for the people whom they thought were shooting at them.
Jack, still hidden behind his tree, grinned.
Mac did have impeccable timing.
He ducked out from behind the tree, and followed the two as quietly as he could.
About thirty seconds later, Jack jumped out from behind cover and grabbed one of the men around the neck, cutting off his air supply until he dropped, unconscious, to the ground. His colleague barely had time to react before he was knocked to the ground by Mac, who'd quite literally come swinging down from a tree, holding onto a branch, and kicked the man firmly with both feet, sending him flying at least a yard and a half.
As they each secured one of the agents, using Jack's belt and his leather wristband, Jack quirked an eyebrow at his partner.
'So, the Renaissance Man's also George of the Jungle, now?'
Mac shook his head, his usual exasperated expression on his face.
'No-one ever looks up. I thought I'd use that to my advantage.'
Jack nodded, then jabbed a finger at him.
'You take up wearing a loincloth, and we're no longer friends.'
'I take up wearing a loincloth and you better get whoever's impersonating me.'
They let themselves get lost in their familiar, comforting banter for another moment more, then each hefted one of their prisoners to their feet, and started half-carrying the very dazed, half-conscious men back towards the clearing they'd been in.
'Now we just got one more.'
'And Murdoc.'
Back in the clearing, they were greeted by a very welcome sight.
Nikki, the other four Organization agents and Murdoc were being properly cuffed and put into two secure-looking vans, supervised by Thornton, Matty and Riley.
'Matty, Patty, you couldn't get here like twenty minutes ago?'
Thornton and Matty just exchanged a look. Jack gulped, and then Matty turned to him.
'Well, traffic was murder. And thank you would have done just fine, Jack.'
Thornton just regarded him with one of her stares.
Jack had the good sense not to retort.
Mac and Riley exchanged a smirk at the look on the older man's face.
MACGYVER'S RESIDENCE
LA
Mac and Jack watched from the couch as Riley handed Bozer a cup of hot chocolate with a rather proud grin (Riley was a terrible cook, but she'd managed to make the drink without setting off the fire alarm, unlike the last time she'd tried to make something more complicated than a boiled egg). Bozer, who had just been discharged from hospital, grinned back at her, and took a large sip as Riley turned away to deal with the slightly-smoking pot on the stove. Bozer made a face of disgust (apparently, Riley's hot chocolate was absolutely nowhere near as good as his), but grinned at Riley and shot her a thumbs up when she turned back to him.
As Bozer drank the rest of the hot chocolate, Mac and Jack exchanged a look, both making a mental note to refuse the hot chocolate (since it'd been specially made for Bozer and all) if the young woman offered them any.
Mac noted the soft look in Jack's eyes as he watched the two.
'I thought you told Bozer if he didn't start taking no for an answer, you'd go all Wookie on him? And you did say she was off-limits…'
Jack shook his head.
'That ain't up to me, Mac. It's up to her. Always been up to her, and just her.' He shrugged. 'Bozer was crossing a line, I had to call him out. He apologized, he's backed off, and I know he understands that even being friends with Riley's a gift.' Jack shrugged again. 'She needed some time and space to make up her mind about him, I just tried to get it for her.'
Mac glanced back at his friends for a moment, as Bozer made his way through a second mug of Riley's hot chocolate.
'Looks like she might have made up her mind.'
Jack nodded, that same soft look returning to his eyes.
'Yeah, I think she has.' He was silent, then his brow furrowed. 'Reckon he's playing it up a bit for some Florence Nightingale treatment?'
Mac snorted.
'A, I dare you to mention the Florence Nightingale comparison to Riley.' Jack winced. 'B, probably.'
Jack shrugged, and clinked his beer bottle to Mac's.
'He probably deserves a little fussing, given how well he's held up and what he's done these last few days.'
Mac just nodded absent-mindedly.
Jack sighed internally. Mac had, understandably, been lost in his own mind pretty much since they'd started their trip back from Tahoe, apart from a moment or two like the one just then or when he'd greeted Bozer. He reached out and jogged Mac lightly with his elbow.
'What's eating you, brother?'
The blonde sighed.
'I…I'm still shocked, and confused, and I don't know what to think…'
Jack dropped his nonchalance for a moment.
'You and me both, Mac. All of us. Like, this plot twist was the mother of all plot twists, man.'
Mac snorted with a very tiny little smile.
'You sound like Bozer.'
That had been Jack's intention, and he was very glad that it had elicited even the tiniest of positive reactions from his partner.
Mac's face grew more serious again, and he pulled out a paperclip from his pocket. The letters TBC started to take shape.
'Murdoc warned me that it wasn't over. I don't think he was just referring to the attack on the Phoenix, or even his escape. Nikki told me that she didn't do it alone. Jack, I don't think this is over.'
At that moment, there was a knock on the door, then the door opened, to reveal Matty (who had a key) and Thornton.
It was Matty who spoke first.
'That's because it isn't, Mac.'
Wordlessly and seriously, Riley, Bozer, Jack, Mac, Matty and Thornton all gathered around the kitchen bench.
Thornton pulled out a file. Mac reached out and opened it, to reveal a profile on a thirty-something man who'd been the assistant to someone very high up in oversight until just a couple of hours ago, when he'd been revealed to be a mole for the Organization.
He'd helped set up Thornton, setting up the orders to go after Mac, Jack, Sarah and Nikki and those faked encrypted transmissions, and making them look like they'd come from Thornton.
As they finished reading the file, Mac, then Riley, then Bozer and Jack, looked up at Thornton and Matty, and this time, it was Thornton who spoke, a hardness, a finely-restrained anger, in her dark eyes.
'Nikki was Chrysalis. So was this man. We know there's more than two out there. Chrysalis isn't one person, but many.'
Jack, Riley, Mac and Bozer exchanged worried, horrified looks.
The various intelligence and covert operations agencies of the USA were infested with moles.
And they had no idea who they were.
Matty nodded with a grim smirk.
'I'm going mole-hunting, with a hand-picked team of people I trust completely.' She sighed. 'Nikki was on the CIA taskforce chasing the Organization. We have to assume that they're completely compromised and start again.' Matty glanced at Jack. 'I'm tapping Sarah to be my second in command.'
Mac, Riley and Bozer shot their friend a concerned look, but Jack just nodded, seemingly unfazed.
'She's a damn good agent, and we all trust her.'
Matty nodded with a small smile.
'And I'm borrowing Lil from the Phoenix, and there's a couple of other people I've got my eye on.' She turned to Mac. 'I think it's best to have an EOD specialist, since we know the Organization really did want to set off that bioweapon. Unfortunately, I'm thin on the ground on EODs that I trust, so if you've got a recommendation, Mac?'
Mac nodded.
'Charlie Robinson, FBI in New York.'
Matty smiled at him.
'I'll get in touch with him.'
Mac, Riley, Jack and Bozer slowly turned to Thornton, and it was Bozer who articulated what they were all thinking.
'So, if current-boss is going off mole-hunting, does that mean you're coming back, old-boss?'
Looking, uncharacteristically, a little uncomfortable, Thornton nodded.
'Formally clearing my name and sorting out the mess we've been left with and handling the change-over will take a couple of weeks, but yes. I'm returning to the role of Director of Operations at the Phoenix.'
Mac, Jack, Riley and Bozer all exchanged another look, and Matty stood and gave a very exaggerated yawn.
'Well, it's been a long, long day, and I really need my beauty sleep, so goodnight to all of you.'
And she walked straight out the door.
The rest of them watched her go. It was Jack who broke the silence.
'Matty the Hun's a lot of things, but subtle sure ain't one of them.'
Bozer actually let out a slightly-looney-sounding giggle (he was still on some pain meds), while Riley snorted and Mac shook his head with a grin. Even Thornton cracked a tiny smile.
Then, she looked up and made eye contact with each of them in turn, looking distinctly uncomfortable and awkward.
'I'm sorry.' She paused, again rather awkwardly. 'I know…I know it'll take a long time for you to trust me like you used to again, but I will do everything I can to earn it back.' There was no hesitation, only resolve, in her voice, before she looked down for a moment, then back up at them, something that could only be described as openness in her eyes. 'And…and from now on, no more secrets if I can help it. I will always have to keep secrets, including from all of you. That's part of my job. But no more unnecessary secrets, no more keeping secrets for longer than they have to be kept.'
It didn't have to be said that maybe, just maybe, if she hadn't always held so much back, if she hadn't always kept some kind of distance, if she'd really, truly let them in like friends (like family, real family) did, maybe they'd have trusted her like they did each other. Maybe, just maybe, then they'd have never, ever believed that she could truly have betrayed them.
It was a big maybe. They'd believed Nikki's betrayal (and rightly so, it turned out) after all. But it was still a maybe.
Maybe then they'd have believed her, like they'd believed Nikki, if she'd protested her innocence.
We'll never really know.
Contrary to what Bozer believes, I can't actually build a machine to let us visit alternate dimensions.
In the end, it was Jack who broke the heavy silence.
'I'm sorry we never even considered you being innocent, Patty. Friends…friends shouldn't believe one another to be traitors, not that easily.'
Thornton shook her head, but there was a grateful look in her eyes as she locked eyes with Jack.
'You had what looked like irrevocable proof, proof that you found yourself.' She shrugged and looked a little uncomfortable again. 'I'd have done the same thing, in your place.'
Jack gave a little smirk.
'Well, guess even you have to make mistakes sometimes.'
Thornton just quirked an eyebrow at him, and the heaviness of the moment passed.
'Is there a socially acceptable way to tell your boss that you're happy she's not evil and all?'
Jack, Mac and Riley all snorted at Bozer's remark. Thornton just looked around at them all again, and took a deep breath.
'Patricia. Outside of work, call me Patricia.'
They all stared at her for a moment. Patricia paid particular attention to Mac, who'd suffered through the most betrayal of all, and honestly, had the greatest reason to be wary and distrustful. There was more reserve in his eyes than Bozer's and Jack's and Riley's, but Patricia's heavy heart lightened a little when the blonde gave her a little smile and a nod.
After a moment, Riley reached out and pulled the older woman into a hug. Patricia froze for a moment in shock, then hesitantly, uncomfortably and awkwardly returned the hug.
'Thank you, for teaching me how to fight.'
Over Riley's shoulder, Patricia made eye contact with Jack, and the two of them shared a sad look, quietly grieving what the young hacker had lost.
Much, much later that night (or maybe, more accurately, very early the next morning), Mac and Jack sat out on the deck, beers in hand.
Patricia had gone back to her home (which had been confiscated as evidence), to make a start on rebuilding her life.
Riley and Bozer were parked in front of the television playing Mario Kart and doing their best to beat one another around Rainbow Road.
Mac broke their comfortable silence.
'I should have listened to you, Jack. About Nikki.' He shook his head. 'You were right. About her, about her playing us, about her playing me, about her being my kryptonite, about her turning my brain to mush. I…I should have listened to you, and then none of this would have ever happened-'
'You should always listen to me, man. Didn't your grandfather ever tell you to listen to your elders?' Mac quirked an eyebrow at Jack half-heartedly, who then turned serious. 'Brother, if you're waiting for me to say I told you so, you're going to be waiting till you're old and grey.' Jack reached out and clasped the younger man's shoulder. 'She played us all, Mac. Played us all. We all drank the Kool-Aid, man. Maybe she got you first, but hey, you loved her. We're all a little blind when it comes to those we love, and you know, I reckon that might be a good thing, because when you stop thinking the best of the people who really matter…then you've really got a problem, man.'
After a moment of consideration, Mac nodded, and reached out to tap his beer bottle with Jack's, then to pull the older man into a side hug.
'Thanks, Jack. Thanks.'
Jack just smiled back at him.
'That's what family's for, Mac.' He took a swig of his beer. 'And speaking of family, how's that letter coming?'
Mac shook his head with a smile.
'Nice segue, very subtle.' He pulled out an envelope from his jacket pocket, clean, white and with one neatly-printed address in Tahoe on it. 'New envelope, new stamp, new address. I'll post it in the morning.'
Jack smiled at him.
'I'm real proud of you, Mac.' He gestured to the letter with his beer bottle. 'And even if your old man can't know about the whole walking-off-to-near-certain-death-to-save-him-despite-the-fact-you-haven't-talked-for-thirteen-years-because-he-walked-out-on-you thing, I reckon he's going to be too. You grew into a man any father would be proud to have as a son, Mac.'
Mac just smiled back at him.
James MacGyver could never, ever know about his brush with death.
He could never, ever know about Murdoc and Nikki's betrayal and Thornton being set up and what his son really did for a living.
But he would get Mac's letter.
And he had the chance to get to know the man his little boy had grown into.
And, Jack truly believed, he would be proud of his son.
(Jack was.)
Murdoc is a liar.
But I think he sometimes tells the truth.
Like when he said people believe what they want to believe.
I now know that for sure, empirically.
Right now, as my grandfather would put it, my compass is on the fritz and I haven't got a clue which way is North.
Honestly, I'm a little lost.
I don't know if I can or should trust my judgement anymore. I mean, it's gotten me this far, and I'm still alive and healthy, which is honestly saying something, given what I do for a living.
But, look, I've been very, very wrong at very, very important moments.
There are, however, still a few things that I know for sure.
A few things that aren't the Second Law of Thermodynamics or the twenty-eighth element of the Periodic Table or the square root of 256.
I trust Jack.
I trust Bozer.
I trust Riley.
I trust Matty.
And, with time, with cold, hard evidence, experience, I think I'll trust Thornton again too.
Maybe that's enough of a North point for my compass.
At least for now.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
AN: In other news, I'm so glad they had another Mac voice-over, for the first time in ages, in Cigar Cutter! I've missed them! (Which I bet is pretty obvious…)
Anyway, what did you all think?