After Nikki and after Nasha Mac thought he was done dating for a while, but after Jack left he found himself wanting a distraction. At first, it was just something to fill the void but then he found her. She was an agent in a different team but after Jack left their missions had begun to cross over more and more until she had been fully integrated into his own team.
She was average height, average weight, average appeal, but there was something about her that drew Mac in closer. Her long milky brown hair was like silk to the touch. Her eyes were piercing blue just like his own but fierce with passion. Her pale skin flushed in the right spots. At first, she was just a hookup for Mac but after a few life or death missions, they became more involved.
It was after a mission with Alyssa. It had gone very wrong. Very wrong. She got debriefed and she ran. Mac followed her in concern all the way to a dimly lit bar called "Los Muertos." The red light highlighted every feature that she didn't want to be shown but didn't care to hide. At first, Mac was being considerate and he took a seat next to her.
"Hey," Mac ordered one beer and looked at Alyssa stare down at her own
"What are you doing here?" Alyssa didn't bother to look up at him.
"When you are almost forced to kill a teammate-"
"He's like a little brother to me. Not just a teammate."
"I know how you feel. My old partner and I were kidnapped and given an ultimatum: One lives. One dies. We were close. I still think about how we faked his death and how real it felt."
"Yeah, I heard about that mission. God, MacGyver. I'm sorry. Here I am whining about one mission where I had a whole team to back me up, while you were alone in the desert. I'm so stupid." Alyssa looked up trying to clear the tears from her eyes.
"Hey. No." Mac put a hand on her shoulder. "Did almost shooting him bother you?"
"Of course it did."
"Then you're not stupid. Your human. And what you went through was real. Really scary and really bad. You never get used to it or over it."
"Then how?" Alyssa looked at Mac with a single tear falling for her eye. "How do you deal with it?"
"Talking. Talking always helps." Mac was only starting to realize he was getting into a deep emotional connection, something he rarely allowed himself to do, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He just wanted to make this woman in front of him to stop hurting. "I'm here. We can talk."
She smiled and the pair talked, just talked. About anything and nothing. Mac finished his beer and the pair put the money down on the counter and walked out smiling.
"I'll call us a cab." Mac searched his pocket for his phone. She didn't seem to be paying attention to what he had said. It was cold outside and Alyssa had her arms folded around her chest, hugging out breaths of fog.
"Let's wait inside the car," Alyssa suggested as Mac frowned at his dead phone.
"You have your phone? Mines dead."
"Mines in a pile of rubble because it was a part of your bomb earlier."
"Right. Sorry, I forgot." Mac smirked as they loaded into Alyssa's silver Honda. "To be fair. The batter in your phone had the best-"
Alyssa cupped Mac's faced and planted a kiss firmly across his lips. Her face went red and she plugged the car keys into the Honda and listened to its startup.
"Hey you can't drive, we just came out of a bar," Mac said trying to ignore what just happened due to the fact she looked like she didn't want to talk about it.
"What are you talking about? I didn't touch my drink." Alyssa looked down the street to see if cars were coming. "Where can I drop you off?"
Mac's eyes widened. Here he was, in a car with a pretty woman, who just kissed him but wasn't the slightest bit buzzed and he couldn't stop worrying that she was going to take him home. Mac held his breath for a split moment before acting.
He cupped her face back before she could shift gears to begin driving, he pressed his lips gently against hers to allow her to pull away if she wanted, but instead, she pressed further into the kiss. When they finally stopped to catch their breath Mac laughed. "That was pay back."
"Best revenge ever." She smiled back at him and went to drive again. "Where to now?"
"I-" Mac stopped not really knowing what to say next.
"Cute." Alyssa turned up the heater, not that they needed much more than each other.
"Where will you be?" Mac said hopefully.
"Depends on where you will be." Alyssa teased knowing that Mac was getting flustered. "My place works, if that okay."
"It's perfect." Mac looked out the window as the city lights flew past his eyes for about three minutes until they were there. Alyssa's place was a nice small little apartment...although the building looked familiar. Riley. This was the same apartment building as Riley's. Mac smiled to himself about trying to be sneaky in the morning to avoid Riley as she was coming down the build.
The door closed behind them and Alyssa stood on her tip toes and through her arms around Mac and began to kiss him. Mac kissed back just as passionately, fighting for control of the whole situation. They kissed and only separated for a mutual air break. They made their way to the couch and everything took a whole new turn. Clothes on the ground and body heat radiating from both parties.
"Hey Al, Darrion keeps calling me!" Mac called to the back of his house.
"Well, he wouldn't call you if I still had my phone in one piece!" A soft voice scolded from down the hall slowly getting closer.
"Right." Mac grabbed a piece of toast from the toaster and put it napkin and watched his girlfriend of three months walk down the hall dressed for work. "What should I tell him?"
"That you've kidnapped me and have me locked in a basement somewhere." Alyssa jokes. "What's he saying?"
Mac sighed and began to read from his phone. "'Hey man. What did you do to Allie's phone this time? Why is she not answering my messages? Do you know where she is? Can you have her text me?'"
"Day needs to calm down. Is that the only one?"
"No, I was on my run and missed six of his calls and seven messages. Sounds urgent."
"No, Mac. That was good morning. You have yet to see Darrion urgent texting. He doesn't even manage to type out the full word before pushing send. It's like having to put together a encrypted message."
"So you going to call him back?"
"Can I?" Alyssa motioned to Mac's phone.
"Yeah, next time I sacrifice Bozer's phone. Darrion is worse than Leeanna."
Alyssa smiled and took Mac's phone and dialed Darrion's number. "Hey, it's me. No. I'm with Mac. Okay? Yeah, see you there."
"What was it about this time?"
"Matty wants us in early."
"Really? I didn't get a message from her."
"Just Darrion, Alex, Myka, and I. Something about an old unfinished mission and needing you and the others for some other mission."
"You and Alex okay?"
"Look she can be a bit...much, but we're a team. A family." Alyssa finished with a smile and quoted Jack like Mac often does. "And family sticks together."
"Or dies trying." Mac laughed and finished his toast.
"I probably won't be back for a few days so we might need to take separate vehicles today."
"Yeah, no. It's fine." Mac accepted the light kiss that Alyssa offered before walking out the door.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A few days later Mac was working in the lab and his phone began to freak out. It was Darrion. Of course, it was Darrion. Mac assumed that they were back and that he couldn't get a hold of Alyssa.
Mac took a look at the texts and had a moment of confusion.
The texts read:
AL
IS
FRE
AKING
OUT.
SHE
NEEDS
HEL
P
I DON
T KN
OW WHE
RE SHE
WENT
SHE'S NOT
RESPO
NDING TO ANY
ONE!
ALEX G
OT HURT
AL HAD SOM
E ONE AT
TACK HER
MAC IT IS
WORSE THAN 4
MOTHS AGO.
Mac's eyes widened as he reread part of the mess. "Alex got hurt, Al had someone attack her?"
Mac quickly typed back: "Attacked how? Is Alex okay?"
Instead of a text, Mac's phone rang. "Hello, Darrion...no slow down."
"Mac man. She's gone. We got off the plane she booked it hard. She didn't make it to debriefing. She's gone, man. I tried to look at the diner you guys hang out at. I tried her place, your place. Myka tried the Phoenix. She won't respond."
"How is Alex?"
"A few broken limbs and a concussion."
"Did you check the bar by her place? Los Muertos?"
"She hates that place! Why would she go there?"
Mac stopped he didn't know she hated that bar. "I'll check the bar and you check around the school her sister goes to."
"Yeah, sure okay. Bye Ma-"
"Wait! How was he attacked?"
"You should talk to her about that." Darrion's response to worried Mac more.
"Okay, thanks bye."
Mac got in his jeep and took off. Once he got to the bar it was closed. Mac realized just how early it was. "Damn it, Al. Where are you?"
Mac pulled up the picture of Alyssa and pressed the call buttons and listened to it ring. From across the street, he heard the familiar Imagine Dragons song Believer. He jogged across the street and saw the head of short fluffy hair behind the back of a bench.
Mac was surprised when he saw that that ball of fluff was Alyssa, but he was shocked when he saw the bruises and cuts. "Found you."
"Wasn't aware you were looking."
"I'm always looking for you. Well, that and Darrion gave me a heads up."
"Urgent texting."
"I was a witness to the mess that we call Darrion's Urgent Texting."
"More like the victim." Alyssa laughed but broke off into light sobs.
"Hey, hey." Mac sat on the ground next to her, ignoring the damp grass. "What's the matter?"
"I'm sorry I'm such a mess." She buried her face into the red scarf Mac bought her a few weeks ago because he used hers on a mission.
"It's fine. It happens to all of us." He pulled down the scarf to look at her face and his eyes widened with anger. Two very large hands shaped bruises lined her neck. "Who did that?"
"A merch decided to get a little handsy...get it? Get-" She broke off into larger more abrupt sobs.
"Yeah, I get it." Mac wrapped one arm around her and grimaced when she flinched away from him. Someone hurt her bad and Mac was rethinking his pacifist ideals and thinking about getting a gun and a few clips to unload into the SOB. "Let's go home. Get out of the cold."
"I want to make it feel better. Can we talk?"
"Just as long as we get out of the morning dew of a park across from a bar that you apparently hate. Which we have to talk about as well."
"Yeah sure. As long as we just talk." She said weakly. Mac kissed her forehead and brought her in closer.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
They went back to Mac's place, Alyssa had been spending less and less time at her own apartment and more time with Mac and the others. Alyssa took to her spot the moment they walked in the door. Her spot was the middle seat of the couch and she loved it. She could sit against Mac's chest and let him wrap his arms around her while they talked or drank or just slept.
Mac sat next to her and leaned against the side of the couch and motioned for her to lean in but she just sat rigid not really prepared for the conversation to come. Mac could tell she was worried and scared and just wanted to provide her comfort. "Come here." He opened his arms to her and raised an eyebrow at her.
"Mac, I-"
"Just come here. If not for you, I want to warm up."
With a sigh, she scooted closer to him and let him embrace her. He was warm, and a liar. He lied about needing to warm up and she knew it was just to get her to give up and give in, but she didn't care. She hadn't noticed how cold she was from sitting outside all morning and she loved Mac's warmth.
"Where should I start?"
"Where do you feel comfortable starting?"
"With you."
Mac took a moment to realize what she meant but wasn't 100% he knew what she was talking about. "Okay, let's start with me."
"I have never opened up to anyone. At all. But you? You're different, you're approachable and caring and trusting and I, I love it. I care about you a lot. I'm willing to be open with you but I'm scared."
"Of what?"
"Of this being too good to be true! Of this sweet dream ending! Of you getting tired of me! I am just scared of this-" She waved her arms around in front of her carefully as to not hit Mac. "All disappearing one day...I just… I'm just scared of not being enough. You're smart, creative, quick, strong, cute, and have the best family and friends ever. Your job is to go out and use those skills and traits to save the world. It's exciting and then we come home and it's us. I'm not exciting or even the slightest bit intelligent when I am compared to you!"
"Than don't don't compare yourself to me!" Mac held her for a moment before continuing the thought. "I know that I have the ability and capacity to learn and retain more than others, but you have the same ability just in a different way. I am science smart, but you are medical smart and tactical smart. I would get bored if everything was exciting. I need a break and you are perfect. I have never been good with words or expressing myself or opening up to anyone either. You and I, we talk and it helps us through a lot. You are beautiful. You are fast. You are strong. You are everything to me."
"I wasn't strong. He tried to...I couldn't…" Alyssa broke off into choked sobs. "If Darrion wasn't there, he would have-"
Mac grew angry at what she was trying to get at. "Hey, Al. Alyssa. It's okay." Mac touched the fluff on her head and she jerked away and the anger grew in Mac's heart. Someone, somewhere, tried to hurt Alyssa in unspeakable ways and took away even the most comforting things and turned them into painful memories.
Alyssa took a deep breath and began talking. "We were on a mission and Alex, she fell, well more like was blown off the side of a fifteen-foot cliff. I went down to assist her and Darrion and Myka were covering me and Alex...We got separated in the confusion and a merch attack me from behind. Alex was unconscious and the merch stuffed something in my mouth and began undoing my...my TAC gear and he…"
"Hey if you don't want to talk about this-"
"Anyway, Darrion found us and shot the man. His blood was all over. I tried to ignore it for Alex's sake. So I could help her, but on the plane, Darrion just kept trying to tell me I was going to go straight to medical and they were going to do tests and I was going to have to tell Matty and-I can't not with Darrion."
"Alyssa…" Mac whispered.
"But I could with you." She looked up with sad and yet hopeful eyes.
"Do you want to go to medical?"
"Not really, but I know it is a must." Alyssa dug deeper into Mac's chest and they sat until Darrion began to blow up Mac's phone again.
"Mac we can go now if you want."
"Al, you know you are one tough person to find and I think I could use a nap and you look like you could use one too. Plus Matty will understand." Mac turned off his phone and wrapped further around Alyssa to provide her some comfort as they drifted off into a peaceful state of rest.