Disclaimer: I own nothing

Thanks for all the reviews and feedback so far, this has been so much fun

Part 1

The van skidded to a halt under Riley's control of the wheel. With her laptop balancing precariously on her lap, she yelled into her coms that she was in position.

Originally, they were to meet at the far side of the village outside a sweet bakery, one that cause Jack to ooh and awe at the selection of confectionaries in the window.

But when does their plan of action, ever go according to how they set out?

Which is how Riley ended up in an alley way that seemed eerily familiar of every horror film that contains a lone girl and a scary man. Condensation built up along the edges of the red brick, which were closed tight along the sides of the van.

Quickly scanning the security footage of the building in question, she saw no sign of the guys. There was two unconscious security men on the lobby floor, and five men tied up, with their heads slung low, in the honeymoon suite of the hotel. They had gotten intel of a stolen virus from the CDC that would eventually cause death if released. Riley didn't catch the details of what the virus could do, preferring to detach herself slightly so she could concentrate.

Tapping into the security footage beside her, she saw a woman dial a number at reception, looking and pointing to her left. She watched as a couple of security men began to walk out in that direction, even in the blurry footage, Riley could see their hands resting lightly on their guns.

Doing some quick geographical math in her head, she realized that she was at the end of the pointed finger.

"Guys I've been spotted, you need to be here now or we need a new meeting point," Riley told them, her voice level but her heart beating a mile a minute.

These guys were shoot first, question later.

"Couple of guys on our tail. 30 seconds Riles," Mac panted, clearing all three of them sprinted around the side of the building. Riley watched as the men walked in a line, their guns now out of the holster and raised slightly in front of them.

They were getting very close to the door that opened to the ally way, where she was currently sitting in an overheating van.

Movement in her wing mirrors made her twitch for her gun. Jacks grin should've relaxed her, but he was high off adrenaline, wide eyed and flushed cheeks. Mac and Bozer sliding back the doors with ease and throwing themselves into the van.

Jack went for the front seat, pulling open the door only for it to whack off the brick wall, not leaving him much room to squeeze in through the open gap.

Everything came to a halt. There was a beat of silence that was only filled with Mac and Bozer's heavy breathing.

Jack look tempted to try and contort his body through the tiny gap and the brick wall.

"Get in the back!" Riley yelled, causing all three men to wince in pain from the loud noise of the coms. Jack opened his mouth to argue but a bullet clicking of a bullet pinging off the van quickly changed his mind. Flinging himself into the back of the van, Mac pushed closed the sliding door as Riley kicked the van into gear and reversed out.

And if she hit any of the bad guys on the way out, so be it.

Her fellow agents' breathing only started to regulate after a few minutes of Riley driving like a lunatic down the street.

Bear in mind, she was dodging bullets.

Every time she swerved, Jack would hit against something, or something would hit him, and he would grumble loud enough for Riley to hear. This was always accommodated by Mac's laugh and Bozer's chanting to go faster.

Somehow, running from bad guys had become Riley's norm.

In two days, being married to Mac would have to be her norm.

They still didn't have all the intel, Maddy had an urgent message of the stolen virus so the meeting had to wait. Riley wasn't sure how long term the mission was, but she tried not to get too anxious about it yet

"Alright Maddy, see you in 10." Jacks voice drew Riley out of her daze.

Checking once again in her mirrors to see if they were being followed, she continued to drive until they arrived at a garage where they would drop the van off for other agents to collect; a safety precaution is what Maddy always called it.

"That was an easy one," Jack confidently drawled as he hoped out out of the van and headed for the other vehicle supplied by a random agent giving Jack the keys. Reaching for her bag to put on her back, Bozer beat her too it, sending her a quick smile before saying, "I got it."

Riley felt her heart sink; could be a friendly gesture or maybe more- either way it was causing her to seize up inside.

She really needed to talk to him tonight, maybe throw it in casually into conversation; "hey Bozer, I'll only ever see you as a friend: sorry man, hope we can still remain as close!"

Yup, seems great.

A message alert went off on Mac's phone, he ignored it once again and got into the car.

Jack of course, didn't let it go, "who in the hell keeps messaging you man?"

Mac shrugged off his question, asking again for Bozer to ensure the deadly toxin was secure.

She should really be more worried about that. Or maybe she should be worried about how she's more afraid of breaking her best friends heart than she is of the poison beside her.

Walking back into the lobby of the Phoenix, Jack was making exaggerated claims about conspiracy theories, Bozer was referencing movies, twisting them around to suit what Jack was talking about and Mac was cutting each theory down with logical answers.

None of it made sense, but Riley found herself laughing at their expense. Still smiling, she could feel Bozer staring at her out of the corner of her eye. Stepping slightly in front of her, he caught her attention with his serious expression.

Suddenly she wasn't laughing anymore.

Riley was completely frozen when suddenly she made eye contact with her now ex-boyfriend. Standing about ten feet behind Bozer, Billy began walking towards her, a sheepish expression on his face with his hands slung in his low pockets.

Well shit.

Bozer seemed to have gain the courage of one hundred men, considering they were in the workplace and late for their meeting with Maddy, but he decided this needed to be done now.

"Riles I've been doing a lot of thinking lately," he began, inching towards her as her feet were locked in place. She could see Billy, only a couple of feet away with that stupid smile. God, she wanted to slap the smile right off his face.

"Now's not the best time Bozer," Riley said, just as Billy reached them.

Pull the fire alarms?

Pretend to be ill?

Just run?

Riley wasn't sure which option was best, but her mind seemed to be running a million miles an hour as everything slowed to an unbearable pace, unfolding into an catastrophic event; one horrific millisecond to the next.

"Hey Riley, how've you been?" Billy asked her, slow and smooth as if his charm could still sway her.

"What is this?" She asked him, hoping her voice didn't sound as shaky as her legs felt.

"Maybe you should go man," Bozer said to him, crossing his arms and morphing into a different person. Riley could feel the irritation grow from the tip of her toes, tingling all over her body as she watched the two men begin to square up against each other.

Billy smiled crookedly and flashing his teeth for a second, a laugh forming at the tip of his tongue, "ah, moved on so quick?" He asked her, attempted to be blasé but Riley could see the hurt in his eyes. Glaring at Bozer, he scanned him from head to toe, silently comparing each other.

"Bozer's my friend. What does it matter now anyway?" Riley's words cut her throat as they left her, punctuating each syllable with the harsh reality.

Bozer deflated slightly, but held his composure, moving in front of Riley as if she needed protection. Frustration boiled over as she watched the two men glare, she couldn't believe the absurdity of the situation.

"We should talk alone Riley," Billy said, somehow only staring at Bozer.

"I don't think Riley should go anywhere with you," Bozer replies, tilting his head as he moved a step closer to Billy.

She could feel the waves of aggression floating around them as it hit Riley with such force, she just felt exhaustion.

"This is a joke right, you're both being ridiculous," she said practically to herself as neither of the men seemed to be listening to her.

Closing her eyes for a second, she waited for a moment of divine intervention, anything to pull her from this absurd wreckage of emotions.

Suddenly, she was given just that.

Out of the corner of her eye, Mac and Jack strolled casually over. Jack making a beeline for the boys, a fake smile on his face an inquisitive look in his eye. Placing a hand each on their shoulder, Riley could see his fingers turn white with the tightness of the grip.

"What's the plan fellas, brawl right here in this nice foyer?" He laughed, confidence oozing from him as a smooth threat worked its way into his words.

"Davis, Maddy's been asking for you. It's urgent," Mac called out to her, not even looking at the guys as he signaled her to follow him.

"Tell your mom I said hello," Riley sarcastically said to Billy as she bumped his boulder marching past him.

Silently thanking Mac and his secret codes.

Riley's heart sank, the apartment was bugged, he was listening but he couldn't see them.

A mission gone wrong resulted in a man hidden somewhere in this house, with a child and a gun. Panicking the man was the worst thing she could do right now.

Mac's back straightened suddenly, and Riley knew he had just come to the same realization as her. Jack prowled the room, demanding they need to find him.

"Place is clean, let's get out of here Angus," Riley said to him, her heart thumping in her chest; hoping he would understand. Placing her gun in her holster carefully, she waited for him to answer. Jack made noises of protest, but sending him a quick death stare he silenced.

Turn around slowly, Mac stared at her in the eyes for a moment before responding, "you're probably right, lead the way Davis."

Jack looked between them, confusion written all over his face, but followed. He watched Mac stroll towards the exit, open and close the door as Riley took off silently, trying to get a better advantage point. Jack was quickly on board as he took cover, gun posed and ready.

Mac waited behind the kitchen wall, as the man walked with the child in the living room, one hand gripped around the hood of her jacket and the other limply held a gun.

After a beat, he dropped her hood; the team flew into action. Mac threw a small can of beans that suddenly exploded into smoke, distracting the man for Jack to jumped out and tackle him. Riley swooped in and picked up the girl, carrying her out of the room and away from the chaos.

They all watched the family reunite, the long nights finally worth it. Mac bumped his shoulder against hers lightly, "quick thinking there Riles," he said with a wink.

The whole scene was quickly wrapped up in a few seconds, but the memory always stood out in her mind.

Mac and Riley both sat in an eerily empty war room. Mac was playing with a paper clip between his fingers, while he strolled around the room casually, completely content in the silence.

She always expected him to enjoy noise; to thrive for the moments that are filled with the loud chatter of people or adrenaline. The comforting presence of his silence, continued to surprise her.

An agent marched into the war room, his leather shoes squeaking against the tiled floor. Gently, he pushed an invisible strand of greasy hair back into place and without looking at either Mac or Riley, he stopped suddenly in the middle of the room. Glancing a peak at Mac out of the corner of her eye, she watched as he crossed his arms and waited patiently for the man to speak.

Riley was never the patient type.

"Whatcha' got there?" she asked him, referencing to the two files in his hands.

The agent didn't say anything, he simply checked the watch on his wrist before taking a pen out of suit pocket, and scribbling a note down on one of the files.

They waited 3 minutes in silence and Riley was just about to get up and exit the awkwardness, before Maddy entered the room.

"Oh, I was about to call you all but I see you're all here, Mac, Riley, this is Agent Thomas Ashby. He was involved with investigating this case from the beginning and is here to fill us in on the details and urgency of this mission," Maddy informed them.

Jack strolled in with Bozer behind them, neither of them making a sound, knowing Matty was in 'Boss Mode'.

"Before we begin, I'd like to put in a request to switch Ms. Davis here with Agent Crosby. With the technological skills to match Ms. Davis' and Crosby's worked numerous undercover operations in Europe, and would be much more… suited to the role," Ashby said, his words clipped and professional, as he looked Riley from head to toe; taking in her scruffy boots and relaxed t-shirt. Riley felt as if she'd been slapped in the face, taking a step towards Ashby ready to take him on, she hadn't need to as both Mac and Maddy beat her to it.

Jack outright laughed at the absurdity of the agent's words, and Mac scoffed before saying, "if you think I'm doing this without Riley you're mistaken. I don't need to know the details of the mission to know that there's no one I trust more in the field," Mac said wanting to leave no room for discussion.

"I agree with MacGyver. Riley has proven herself beyond any measures devised. For this mission to be a success, trusting each other's instincts is vital," Maddy stated, her face completely blank with professionalism as she regarded Ashby.

"Very well," he sniffed and continued, "Before we continue, all of this is completely confidential and on a need-to-know basis. You will not discuss this mission with anyone outside this room. We also have an undercover agent in the field as we speak." Ashby stated, he looked between everyone in the room as if debating with himself who would slip up first.

"Care to fill us in on who this agent is?" Jack asked with an edge to his voice.

"That's classified information, we should little to no interaction with them," Ashby warned, his mouth tight as he spoke, unable to open fully as if to keep himself from divulging any secrets. "Three girls in the past two years, all between the ages of thirteen to sixteen, have disappeared. What's more concerning is they were all living in the same neighborhood. Teresa Halliway, only child, aged fifteen, lived in this apartment building along with her parents," Ashby showed a picture of a young girl with blonde curls Riley envied, and a sleek and modern building on the screen. "Six months later, Laura Simmons was filed as a missing person, she was sixteen and lived in the building across the road from Teresa," he continued, a freckled girl with dark green eyes flashed on the screen. Her eye liner was thick and smeared neatly over her eyelids, reducing the doe eyed look to make her look a lot older. Her red hair hung limply by her shoulders as she held the phone at an angle and smiled widely at the lens.

"Was?" Riley asked, her stomach already heavy with the answer.

Ashby typed a few letters into his laptop before a video popped up on the screen. The grainy black and white footage was difficult to see through, but the time stamp and date indicated last week at quarter past three in the morning. A person walked into the frame, a hood over their head, and their head facing the ground; they sat slowly on the bench.

Ashby had to fast forward until five in the morning, the person hadn't moved during the space in time. Riley watched at the person edged forward, raising from their position slightly. The shadowed figure then paused and sat back down. Not even ten seconds later, they raised more urgently before the screen erupted into images of flames and flying gravel.

"Remains of the detonated bomb confirmed that person to have been Laura Simmons," Ashby said, his tone showing no emotion as he relayed the news.

"That's awful," Bozer whispered quietly, as they watched smoke build on the screen.

MacGyver shifted his weight between each foot, staring down at his shoes before asking, "Laura and Teresa, you said they lived across the street from one another. Were they friends?"

Ashby eyes didn't leave the screen as he answered, "it's quite a big street Mr. MacGyver, they're quite a few apartment buildings along this road. The girls went to the same school, but when we interviewed their parents; neither of the girls knew each other."

"I find that hard to believe, nowadays; everyone knows everyone," Riley chimed him but only earned an exhale from Ashby.

"You said three girls?" Jack asked, rubbing hands roughly across his face.

"Harriet Warbler, thirteen. The morning after Laura Simmons was killed, Harriet went missing."

"And we're sure all three girls are connected?" Mac asked him, his eyebrow slightly raised as he went through the facts in his mind, twisting a paper clip between his fingers.

"We found written letters in each of their rooms. The letters are in the same code, and each of them have received ten. All a secret from their parents. After some time, we were able to translate some of Laura Simmons' letters. It seems to be a mix of a couple of languages."

Ashby showed images of the letters on the screen, Laura's name at this beginning of each letter, English words scrawled over a couple of symbols, while Ashby inserted digital words above the others to show the complete sentences.

"Some are poems, other are essays; most resolve around the idea of a prodigal son."

The note was full of rambling statements, mentioning a queen and declaring their love for her. Hatred poured into the end of the letter, describing the world as hell.

One in particular statement made Riley's hairs raise along her arms.

"Only heaven can be made when the world around us has been purified," Riley read out aloud.

"That statement was in all the letters," Ashby said. "There are also mentions of 'love arriving at your door to save you.'"

"Did the girls respond?" Maddy asked.

"We found an unsent letter in Harriet's room, no address on the envelope so there must've been a drop off point somewhere. We have people scanning security cameras as we speak for footage of all three girls. The unsent letter makes us believe that Harriet may have been taken in a hurry, maybe to replace Laura after her sudden death. There also has been no sighting of Teresa since her disappearance six months ago," Ashby told them, Riley could see the hidden tiredness behind his facade as he stroked his temple lightly. An unusual gesture, that he would repeat every now and then.

Agent Ashby wasn't a particularly good lucking man, the tip of his nose had a very crow like feature, slightly pointing down towards the end. Small teeth and nonexistent lips, and his personality didn't seem to help his case either.

"Explain again why I'm sending in two of my best agents?" Maddy asked him as she tipped her chin up, preparing herself for a debate.

"Two of the girls lived in the same building, another lived across the road. Their parents haven't heard a word but we feel they know more. Not only that, but none of the neighbors have wanted to talk. They could be scared to say Anthony and we need to find out who has been doing the scaring.

"We believe one of the girls could be carrying around a bomb as we speak, and someone in that building knows something. If we had someone on the inside that could track suspicious movements, we could save those girls from making a huge mistake. There's also another family in one of the buildings that matches the description; a girl aged fifteen, she's also an only child. If we send in a nice young couple, it would seem less suspicious and maybe we could gather more intel."

Riley let the information sink in, there was no set finish date and it seemed like a lot of work to befriend everyone enough for them to spill their secrets.

"Of course we understand how valuable Agent MacGyver here is to your agency-" Ashby continued, gesturing towards a frowning Max.

"And Agent Davis," Mac interrupted.

"Yes of course. We feel it fit if there was a mission, one could leave for that mission. The other would stay and continue with mostly surveillance work. As long as the mission wasn't past three days. A work trip is explainable, anything beyond that; would be doubtful."

The room was quiet for a moment, before Riley piped up, "don't we need a handler?"

"Every Saturday morning and Wednesday night, there's a running group on in the park close to the apartment, one of you can go to meet Jack or Bozer. If you fail to show at one, we can presume reasonable doubt but you must find a way to contact us within 12 hours after the meeting time," Maddy filled them in on the protocol set up specifically for this mission.

"So, in conclusion, our theory is that there is a person, or multiple people who have been manipulating these girls to leave their home, and to join whatever crusade to change the world is happening. If those two girls are alive, we need to find them. You were both chosen for this mission because of your specialized skill set. Mac, you have the bomb expertise needed in case of another event and Riley your advanced technology skills will be required to go through everyone in the buildings computers. It also helps that you'll be a young couple who won't be causing any drama or drawing too much attention to them."

Maddy sent them a glare as she finished her speech, ensuring they understand to stay as under the radar at possible, "Right now, I need you both to get some photos done in analytics. I'll fill Jack and Bozer in on the handling security details while you're gone."

"One more with your arm around her Mac," the photographer called. Mac flung his arm around Riley playfully, as she threw her head back against Mac's chest and groaned. The noise seemed to be building for the past hour of wedding photos, Christmas cards and now the dreaded; honey moon pictures.

"Come on Lucile, surely we have enough now?" she asked the photographer, as he waited behind the camera a tripod. Her patience was wearing thin and her cheeks were beginning to ache from the sickening smiles. "No normal couple would have this many photos of them, it would be weird! We need photos with old college roommates, with dear-old-Aunt Bertha, childhood photographs where we graduate kindergarten."

Mac barked with unexpected laughter as he looked down at his scowling friend, "dear-old-aunt Bertha?" he asked her, trying to contain any more giddiness from escaping him.

"Marshall and Riley Williams definitely have an Aunt Bertha. She would pinch your cheeks and criticize my cooking. And would be on your side of the family," she filled him in, feeling slightly less ridiculous in their matching Hawaiian shirts as when she heard Mac's laughter fill the room once more.

"Our very skilled tech gurus will photo-shop all the relative necessary photos okay? I think the last few are as good as I'm going to get. Just wait there for a few minutes while I develop these," Lucile said as he flicked through the photos on his camera.

Jew a few minutes became just a few hours, resulting in Riley in Mac sitting on the floor of the make shift photography studio, waiting for someone to tell them they go leave.

Of course, that didn't stop Riley from sneaking up to the canteen and smuggling in two tubs of ice cream.

Jack would always complain about their flavor choices. Riley loved mint chocolate chip, and Mac loved Mango; which was always a difficult one to find. One of the women working in the kitchen upstairs had a soft spot for Mac, so she always had a stash of mango ice-cream in the freezer for him.

"So why do I get to keep my name, and you have to be called Marshall?" Riley asked him through frozen lips. The mint flavor was beginning to sting her teeth and she tasted more like tooth paste with every bite.

"Well Marshall can be shorted to Mac, that way it's easier for both of us and is less likely to cause us to slip up," he replied patiently.

Before she could respond, Mac's phone binging for the second time since they sat down. Opening her mouth to ask who has been trying to get through to him, Mac asked her the dreaded question.

"So why were Bozer and Billy ready to rip each other's head's off in the lobby this morning?"

Riley gulped, feeling the minty cream swirl around in her stomach, freezing her insides and helping the burning embarrassment that worked its way to her cheeks.

She could have told him the truth. That Bozer had an unrequited love for her, and Billy's mom made him break up with her; but none of it mattered. There was nothing there she wanted, so why even bother hashing the whole thing up?

Riley shrugged a response, "guess they both thought they had good intentions."

Mac's phone binged once more, causing him to sigh and turn his phone of quickly.

"Is it your dad?" Riley asked him, referencing to the multiple messages, all which Mac ignored.

"I only see him once a week, we don't really talk other than that," he told her, "which is… fine I guess. I'll have to tell him I'll be gone for a while."

Riley watched as his face turned solemn, thinking about his unsteady relationship.

"Want some minty goodness?" she asked him, waving the little tub it in front of his face, trying to lighten his mood.

"Riley Davis are you trying to pawn off the rest of your food on me?" he teased her, watched as her smile turned sheepish.

"Actually, I was wondering if you were up for a trade," she confessed, expecting him to decline.

To her surprise, he gently took the container from her hand and replaced it with his own with a laugh, "guess I'm going to have to learn to compromise."

Gleefully she shoved a spoonful of mango ice-cream in her mouth and hummed with happiness.

If this is what married is like, this mission could be fun.