Well. I am certainly glad you all seem so excited about this story! I was excited when I started it! And for all of you saying you're glad I'm back writing Mac again, thank you *Hugs* I'm glad to be back too! Feels like home writing for this fandom, is that weird? XD

Thanks for all the favs, follows, and reviews! You're all amazing and I love you.

It was a good thing MacGyver had wound his hand so tightly in the ropes, because when he and Jill smacked against the side of the cliff, Jill lost her grip on what she had grabbed. If he hadn't been holding onto her backpack, she would have plummeted, most likely to her death. Unfortunately, his weight, plus the added pressure of Jill's sudden stop was all caught in his hand that he'd entangled in the ropes, and he had to bite his cheek in order to stop his shout of pain. He couldn't help the strangled noise from his throat though. He shook his head, trying to clear the stars from his vision.

"Mac!"

Jack's shout hurt MacGyver's head, but he looked up anyway, squinting as the bright sun shone directly in his eyes. "Hold on, I'm gonna pull you guys up!"

Mac would have given his partner a thumbs up, but since both of his hands were currently occupied, he simply went for the nod. Unfortunately, the nod meant he looked down, and the rushing river below didn't do wonders for his already-queasy stomach.

He could worry about himself later though. Jill was clearly having a rough time handling the situation, and Mac knew if he didn't stop her from jerking around, one or both of them could end up falling before Jack could get them up. "Jill," he called out. "Jill, you've gotta stop moving. We're gonna be fine, but it's hard to hold on when you're thrashing around like that."

The girl was struggling to take in deep breaths, but Mac's call reached her ears, and she tried to stop moving. It wasn't a complete halt, but it was better for the blond, who tightened his grip on the backpack even more.

Jill's bag was one of the ones that could clip around your front, and earlier on in the hike she had done so to help take some of the pressure off her shoulders. That would prevent her from slipping out of the straps, at least for a few minutes. If they weren't pulled up soon though, Mac wasn't sure what he was going to do.

Thankfully, Jack began pulling on the bridge, and though the motions caused Jill to shriek slightly and burrow her head even further into her shoulder, both of them remained still.

MacGyver looked back up and saw all Jack, Bozer, and Riley all pulling on the ropes, and they were getting closer to the top with each passing second.

"Hold on, Jill," Mac said, clenching his teeth as his fingers started to cramp. The cramp spread up his forearm, but he pushed through the pain and held on, not willing to let go of the girl's backpack.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Mac felt hands grabbing at him. He couldn't do much of anything in the way of helping them pull him up, but he did plant his feet against the boards on the bridge, intending to help walk him and Jill back up the cliff.

"Jill," he puffed, his arm beginning to tremble with the exertion. "Gonna need a little help."

Jill didn't say anything, but she did very slowly reach her hands up, giving Bozer and Riley a good opportunity to grab her and start to pull her to safety. Jack took care of Mac.

Thanks to the stress of the situation, Jill's hands were sweating, and Riley and Bozer almost lost hold of her once, but they dug deep and gripped her even tighter. Finally, Mac and Jill were hoisted over the top of the cliff.

Once they were on solid ground again, Mac scooched over to Jill, who was sitting straight as a pole, staring at the chasm that almost engulfed her and Mac, not blinking. Mac knew that feeling all too well. She just needed something to ground her (pun not intended, though Jack would have loved that, Mac thought to himself) back with them.

"Jill, it's over," he assured her. He gently grabbed her shoulder, his hand trembling slightly from the fear and adrenaline combination. When he touched her, she felt the shakiness in his hand, and she looked back at him. After a few moments, she took in a shaky breath and gave Mac a grateful smile.

"You guys okay?" Jack asked. Jill stared at Mac for another minute, but after his reassuring smile, she looked up at Jack.

"A … a little rattled, but I think I'll survive."

Jack nodded, then turned to his partner. "Mac?"

"I'll be good," Mac answered.

"Hold on," Jack said as he noticed the blond cradling his hands slightly as he got to his feet. Mac took a few steps away from Jill, not wanting to draw attention to himself.

"It's fine," he muttered, trying to jerk away from Jack before his friend could see the extent of the damage. Unfortunately for him, he was facing off against Jack Dalton, and while Mac was strong and quick on his feet, he'd just been dangled over the side of a cliff for nearly five minutes, and his energy was gone. Jack easily caught ahold of his friend and gently pried Mac's other arm away, exposing the swollen, discolored, rug-burned hand.

"It's fine," Mac repeated softly but firmly, pulling his hand away from Jack, though he winced as the movement made his hand throb. Jack opened his mouth and was preparing a compelling argument when he caught where the blond was staring. Jill was finally getting to her feet with Bozer's help, and she glanced briefly over at MacGyver and Jack. Her eyes were rimmed red with barely controlled tears.

"You guys okay?" Riley asked as she picked up her pack again.

"Yeah, we're good," Mac replied, looking at Jack, silently begging him not to make a huge deal out of his hand. Jill wouldn't be able to handle it if she knew. Through his own silent form of communication, Jack let Mac know their conversation wasn't over, but that he wouldn't push it here.

"Yep, everything's good. Just brushing some of the dirt off," Jack confirmed. With his good hand, Mac clapped Jack on the shoulder briefly, thanking him. The blond made sure to keep his injured side turned away from Jill so that she couldn't see his hand.

"We need to call Matty," Mac said. He pulled out his phone, only to reveal a broken screen. He looked at the others. Jill was holding her phone, which was in even worse shape than Mac's, and she shook her head.

"For once, this is a time when I'm happy to volunteer my phone as tribute," Jack said, not trying especially hard to hide his smugness. He stepped forward and pulled out his phone with a flourish. He froze slightly when he tried to turn it on, but nothing happened. The screen remained stubbornly dark. The results were the same no matter what he tried.

"I don't … I dunno what's goin' on," Jack said sheepishly, trying once again to turn his phone on. He looked at Mac incredulously. "Dude, did it break because it heard you saying we needed a phone? Are you able to psychically break my phones now?"

Mac was about to tell his friend that that was impossible, but Riley beat him to it.

"Jack, when was the last time you charged your phone?"

"I dunno, yesterday mornin' or somethin' like that."

"It probably just died. Don't think I didn't see you playing Temple Run. That drains a battery faster than anything." She pulled out her own phone, ignoring Jack's insistence that the game helped him visualize escape tactics, and that was the only reason he played it. Riley called Matty and put the phone on speaker.

"Riley?"

"Hey Matty, you got all of us here."

"Are you guys okay?"

"Uh, we've been better. We were coming back, but we ran into Baude."

"When you say 'ran into' …?"

"He cut the rope to a bridge we were crossing. Everyone's okay, but a little shaken up."

Jack looked over at Mac with an accusatory stare, but Mac knew his partner and intentionally avoided looking at him, still keeping his hand hidden from sight.

"Matty, listen," Mac added. "I think … I think we should stay up here, help them catch Baude. It's gonna be another hour before the search team makes it up our way, and I know this area. There are a couple places we could set a trap for him."

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Jack asked through his teeth as he smiled tightly at his friend. He pulled Mac to the side and lowered his voice. "Dude, that hand needs to be looked at. We cannot stay up here with a murderer. The rest of us might be field-prepped, but Jill isn't."

That was a fair point. Mac looked over at Jill, who was watching him and Jack with interest. The blond sighed. "My hand is fine. It's got circulation going again, I'll survive until we can get home. As for Jill, you're right. So what if we sent her, Bozer, and Riley home?"

"No way," a new voice interrupted. Mac looked up, surprised. Jill had come over and overheard the last part of their conversation, followed by Bozer and Riley.

"Jill? How much of that did you hear?"

"I know I haven't been in the field before, but that doesn't mean I haven't been trained for it," she insisted. Mac was hoping that since she hadn't mentioned anything about his hand that she hadn't heard that part. "If you guys are staying out here …" She took in a deep breath. "Then I am too."

"Jill, I just don't think-"

"I agree with Jill, blondie," Matty interrupted. "Either you all stay out there and help bring Baude in, or you all come home. I'm not having the group split up like that. So the question is: Do you really think you can catch him?"

Mac looked at his friends. "I do," he finally replied.

"Then do it. We can't let him get away."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Keep me in the loop."

"Will do," Jack assured her.

With that the phone call was over, and Jack looked at his friend. "'Kay Mac. What's the plan?"

Unfortunately for them, while Mac was explaining some of his ideas, none of them noticed the man staring at them through the thick foliage, watching their every move.

Okay! So thoughts?

Also, really bummed that there's no new episode this week :( Also ... last week's episode ... I have mixed feelings about it. I had my own theory about the ghost that I actually wrote a script for a contest for that dealt with him, and I think I like my version of events better XD What can I say though? it wasn't a terrible episode, I just ... had different ideas on where they could have gone with that particular villain *shrugs*

Anyway. Let me know what you think of the chapter!