Betrayal had wounded him like a double-edged sword after the shocking revelations of the past 36 hours. Resigning from Phoenix was rationally the right thing to do, but right now it had more to do with fleeing the intense fallout of blinding pain.

Mac had planned to leave immediately after confirming his decision to quit and had kept his fragile composure walking out of the Phoenix offices. Now his emotions flooded over him in relentless tsunamis, leaving him gasping for breath. His father had been there all this time, knew everything about him, even directed the steps of his life, and yet had no desire to connect with him. Always hidden by a one-way glass. Separated by a go-between, first Patricia, and now Matty. The more Mac's thoughts whirled about his father's cold, calculated detachment, the faster his world imploded. This was way worse than any situation he had been in before. Even when he was in Murdoc's crazed clutches, at least he had a chance to escape. But there was no way of getting away from this. Finding out that his own flesh and blood had rejected him had detonated a bomb that Mac was unable to defuse, and it had blown a hole in his heart.

His fingers fumbled as he opened the door of his car. He slid in and sped out of the parking garage without a single glance back.

Beep, beep, beep. Jack was already calling. Mac switched off his cell. He felt guilty, but he was incapable of talking to anybody now. One word would have opened the sluice gates and he would wash up an emotional mess. Jack had seen him in emotional situations before, but this was different. Hot tears slipped down his cheeks and he didn't bother to wipe them away. He would call Jack back later and explain.

Instead of going home, Mac turned right, heading towards the beach. There was a cove he used to visit on the odd occasion when he wanted to be alone. Right now, that was the best place he could think of going to start picking up the fragments of his life and piecing them back together.

Mac pulled up into the empty parking lot, relieved to see the beach was deserted. He headed to the solitary spot among the rocks and resignedly sank into a patch of dry sand. The last time he had been there was to mourn Nikki's faked death. Leaning against a giant boulder, he hugged his knees to his chin, the solidity of the rock behind him imparting a comforting sense of stability.

He rubbed his neck, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. If only he had stopped looked for his father, he would not be in this situation. Life would have carried on as normal. He loved his job at Phoenix and he worked with an awesome bunch of people who were, in essence, his family. This was all lost now. He took out his cell, briefly thinking about switching it on, but slipped it back into his pocket. He was not ready to engage with the world just yet.

Staring at the sea had a calming effect and his thoughts turned to the future. His life would be his own now. He would start over and focus on something else. Hopefully something with Jack, like they had discussed, perhaps a security company in Hawaii. It would be far, far away from his biological father. Mac had no intention of ever contacting James Macgyver again.

As Mac tossed a shell into the swirling foam of a retreating wave, he noticed a figure walking across the beach, heading in his direction. A woman, Mac registered, her face hidden by the brim of a bright yellow sun hat. Her beach towel was wrapped around her waist and she carried sneakers in one hand. He absentmindedly watched her and as she approached, Mac stared. Something about her was familiar.

"Hello, Mac," she lifted her head.

"Nikki!" Mac shifted in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Coming to collect you, because we're going to take a little trip," she said, stepping up to him.

"I'm not in the mood to go anywhere."

She reached into her jacket, drew out a gun and aimed it at him, the metal glinting in the sun.

Mac's breath caught. "And I thought you were on the good side now!" He started to get up, trying to mask the tension that had shot through his body.

She raised her brows in warning. "Don't move, Mac."

"What are you going to do? Shoot me?" Mac's eyes narrowed.

"You know I could. Not to kill you, but I could wound you."

"You've done that before and it didn't bother you," he said coolly.

"But that's not what I want to do!" Nikki was getting annoyed. Mac was stalling her, and all she wanted was to make this a quick, clean sweep.

"I'm not here alone," she announced, "So here's the deal, you do exactly what we want, Mac, and you won't get hurt." Three men, dressed in full combat gear, approached from behind the rocks, surrounding Mac, their assault rifles trained on him. Recognising a well-planned operation, Mac felt like kicking himself. With Nikki as a distraction on the beach, he had not been aware of anyone creeping up and there was no better place than this for a kidnapping.

Mac lifted his hands in surrender but kept his focus on Nikki. "I've resigned from Phoenix," he said bitterly. "I don't do government work anymore. I'm out of this business."

"I know you quit. But out of this business?" Nikki laughed dryly, flicking away a strand of blonde hair that had blown into her face. "Don't you know you can never leave? Once an agent, always an agent, Mac. Besides, it would be a shame to lose your talents. Now let's do this the easy way, okay?"

One of Nikki's men lowered his gun, stepped forward and cuffed Mac's right wrist, pulling it sharply behind his back before fixing it to his left. Mac grunted, staring at the gun pointing at his chest. Outnumbered and surrounded by armed men, with no expectation of Jack magically coming to his rescue, Mac knew that to put up a struggle would be reckless. He felt a knot of fear in his stomach and really wished he had let Jack know where he was.

With Mac secured, Nikki slipped her hand into his jacket and removed his cell and keys, then retrieved his pocket knife.

"What do you want with me?" Mac breathed.

"You're smart, Mac. Work it out!"