"Dude! You guys are CRAZY!" I wince as Bozer yells seemingly right in my ear. After getting back, a quick trip to the infirmary (as insisted by Jack), and a not quite as quick debriefing we all decided to go over to Mac and Bozer's house to decompress. We sat on the porch around the fire pit sipping beers. Well, Mac, Riley, Bozer, and Jack were sipping beers. I was sipping a root beer. I risk my life almost every other day for this country with a secret organization that most people don't even know about, doing things even the top military men and women would run screaming from, and I don't even get to try a sip of beer because I'm only 17. That's life for ya. I sit back and watch Bozer flirting with Riley, who just ignores him with a roll of the eyes. Mac, though to most people he would seem cool as a cucumber, is bursting with energy, calming down from the mission by fiddling with a paperclip. Jack is lazing around, letting his hypervigilance from the mission melt away. I bury a stab of guilt as I think about our missing partner, Nikki. When she betrayed us, it almost broke us all. But knowing that she didn't betray us didn't help, because that came along with the biggest backstab: Patricia Thornton. Our old boss turned out to be working against us, and Nikki went undercover and ended up exposing her. Looking at my friends, I can see the remnants of pain from Thornton's betrayal. I'm brought out of my thoughts by our new boss joining us on the porch. Matty seems like a good person, but I'm reluctant to trust her. Honestly, I'm surprised that the others are so quick to trust so soon after being burnt, but there's no reason to doubt Matty. Considering that Jack apparently has an extensive past with her should be enough for me to trust her, but it took me a long time to trust Thornton, and we see how that turned out. Matty shoots me a reassuring smile. During my performance review Matty addressed my trust issue, and to sum it up; she said 'at least one of this team of covert ops is skeptical.' I translated that to: 'I don't mind if it takes a while for you to warm up to me, go ahead and take your time trusting me.'

"How's the shoulder Stilinski?" Matty asks. I grimace at the use of my last name.

"Please, either Kay or Krysti. The shoulder's fine, just a flesh wound. It didn't even need stitches."

"Well, that's good to hear, are you up for another mission?" Matty says, tilting her head slightly. I stare at her, trying to decide whether it was a joke or not.

"Matty, we just got back from one, can't we get a break? Or was that a joke." Jack grumbles. I give a sigh of relief at the fact that I am not the only one who's having a hard time differentiating Matty's serious side and her joking side.

"No, Jack. It wasn't a joke." Matty turns back to me. "So, do you think you're up to it Kay?" I move my shoulder, testing it. There's pain, but I have a high tolerance for pain.

"Heck yeah." I say with a nod. Mac puts his beer down and sits up. Jack stands up, crossing his arms.

"Well, if the kids are up to it, then I'm in."

"Careful grandpa, wouldn't want you to throw out your hip or anything." Riley throws back.

"Well, I'm good for another go." Mac says fiddling some more with a paperclip.

"What was that, blondie?" Matty retorts. I scowl a bit at that. Contrary to what Matty believes, Mac actually pays more attention to what he's hearing when his hands are doing something. Mac drops the paper clip and stands up.

"I'm fit for another mission." He says simply.

"What about you two?" Matty turns to Riley and Bozer. Bozer tenses up.

"Hey, I'm always ready for a bit of excitement." Riley shrugs.

"Um, am I completely necessary for this mission? Because if I am, I'll go, but if you just want me there as extra manpower I'm sure there are people better suited for the job." Bozer said nervously. After the Netherlands, I don't blame him for being nervous about another field op.

"Just giving you a chance, Bozer. There's no need for you to go." Matty tells him softly. "Meet me in the war room in ten minutes for a briefing."


I sat in the soft armchair in the war room, fascinated as Mac's fingers seemed to dance with the paperclip, creating smooth bends in an intricate spiraling design. I'm eager to see what he'll come up with. My head snaps up as Matty walks in the room activating the screens on the wall.

"Your next mission will be to bring down a small group of potential terrorists in a small town in California. This group of people have destroyed multiple buildings, but remain anonymous. They have a habit of either using wild animals, or making the scene look like it was caused by animals." Matty glares at Mac until he puts the paperclips down.

"Uh, why can't the local police, or the FBI deal with this?" Mac says, brows furrowed.

"They've tried. They came up empty handed."

"Then what about animal control? Are we sure this group is making it look like animals have gone mad, or could there be like an outbreak of rabies or something?"

"Well, Jack, unless having the rabies has suddenly allowed wolves to learn how to use crossbows and explosives, I don't think that rabies are to blame." Matty says with a falsely sweet tone.

"Uh, where exactly in California are we talking about?" I ask, hoping to break up the staring contest Jack and Matty have gotten themselves into.

"A small town called Beacon Hills." A jolt of surprise runs through me, but my training takes over, and I don't let any reaction show. Mac, on the other hand, has no such training. I note that his eyes widen ever so slightly at the name of the town and he straightens up. Putting his finished paperclip art on the table he stands up.

"Surely it's just some rowdy teenagers making some trouble, right? I mean, it's a small, quiet town, not crime central."

"Again, I point out that 'rowdy teenagers' don't typically use explosives and crossbows. Or tame wolves." I catch Jack staring pointedly at MacGyver.

"Mac, is something wrong? You've never tried this hard to point out the flaws in a mission before."

"I would have thought it would be Kay over there protesting going to Beacon Hills." Matty says offhandedly. I scowl at her. Mac shoots a wide-eyed glance at me. A theory starts forming in my head about why Mac might be reacting so strongly to Beacon Hills, but I push it to the back of my mind for after the briefing.

"Uh, why is that exactly?" Riley pitches in. Mac jumps, apparently having forgotten all about Riley. I hesitate for a second.

"The current sheriff of Beacon Hills is Sheriff John Stilinski." I pause to take in the shocked looks of my team mates. "My father."