AN: It's been a very tough few days in the lab – so many things have gone wrong (some are freak accidents, some are mistakes on my part – I really, really wish I had Mac's brains and luck, but seriously, one day, I'm going to write a story in which he screws up his stoichiometry, or forgets to add a reagent or forgets to account for the dilution factor…with serious consequences, solely out of my annoyance and frustration!). Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this!
MACGYVER'S FAVOURITE APPLIANCES STORE
(YES, HE HAS A FAVOURITE)
LA
Mac walked into the toaster aisle. He had no need for a new toaster (there was one toast-making toaster at his and Bozer's – Bozer insisted that there was always one – as well as his pancake-making toaster, and two spares), but he always liked to pop by if he was in the area and see if there were any specials.
(After all, he could always do with another spare toaster.)
(Or a DVD player. Or a blender. Or a vacuum cleaner. Or a rice cooker.)
(And he and the owner had a mutually beneficial arrangement – any appliances that came in under warranty that they couldn't repair, Mac bought for absurdly low prices.)
(Sure, about 50% of the time, he couldn't fix them, but they were great sources of parts.)
There was only one other person in the toaster aisle, a petite woman with long, light-brown hair in a braid, wearing a navy Henley and grey jeans. The woman reached up to grab a boxed toaster, and Mac spoke without thinking.
'Don't get that one; the heating elements deteriorate rapidly; heat output quickly decreases and becomes inconsistent and unpredictable, and the toast ejection mechanism is barely adequate and prone to jamming.'
He realized as he finished speaking exactly what he'd just done and cringed and kicked himself internally.
Jack, Bozer and Riley loved him dearly, he knew that as well and as surely as he knew the Laws of Thermodynamics, but even they didn't always have the patience to put up with the things his crazy brain spat out, and were still weirded out by said things from time to time.
Great job, MacGyver, you've just weirded-out a stranger.
The woman turned around, and Mac realized two things.
Firstly, she was really, really, really pretty.
Secondly, he recognized her.
'Dr Taylor?'
The doctor (she really was beautiful; his brain had registered that, dimly, at the hospital that terrible night, but it'd been so far down in his priorities that he hadn't consciously realized) blinked up at him twice in surprise, then gave a little laugh and smiled.
'Hi, Mr MacGyver. And Beth, please; I'm not at work.'
He smiled back.
'Call me Mac, Mr MacGyver was my dad.'
She shifted the toaster box she was holding in her arms into a more comfortable position, smile widening.
'How is Mr Bozer?'
'Back to his best.'
'Good!' There was a slightly-awkward silence for a moment, the two of them just standing there looking at each other, before she reached up to put the poor-quality toaster back. Because of her height (she couldn't have been more than 5'2''), it was a little tricky for her, so he reached out to give her a hand, earning a grateful smile in return. When the box was returned to its proper place, she turned back to him. 'You're very informed about toasters.'
He'd heard words along those lines spoken mockingly, even cruelly, but she said it as if it was a simple observation, with more than a hint of curiosity, even a hint of something impressed.
His smile took on a touch of a smirk.
'They're my second-favourite household appliance.'
She tilted her head slightly to the left.
'What's your favourite, then?'
'DVD players. Vacuum cleaners are my third-favourite; they're not as versatile as DVD players or toasters, but you can do some pretty awesome things with one.' He shrugged, a little more smirk working its way into his expression. 'Like combining one with a kiddie pool to make a hot tub.'
'On one hand, that does sound awesome…' She sounded like she really, really meant it. Then, she narrowed her eyes at him, putting her hands on her hips. 'On the other hand, I really hope that it's not an electrocution risk…I don't ever want to see Mr Bozer, or you, in my ER ever again.'
Mac chuckled and held up his hands in supplication.
'Hey, I'm an engineer at JPL, I know what I'm doing.'
She raised an eyebrow at him, expression wry.
'I know that should reassure me, but just last week, one of your co-workers wound up in my ER because a weekend science project went wrong…' All Mac could really do in response was give a sheepish little grin, as Beth gestured to the toasters with a hand after shaking her head and muttering something about JPL engineers being terrible patients. 'Do you have a recommendation for me?'
'Do you live alone?' He paused. 'Uh, I'm not a serial killer, and I'm not trying to be creepy, just…'
'You need to know how many pieces of toast I need to be able to make in one go.' Her expression grew wry again. 'And you know, I think I need to point out that a serial killer would probably also say that…'
BOZER'S HOTEL
SAN FRANCISCO
Two weeks after Bozer had arrived in San Francisco, Leanna dropped him off at his hotel after another long and highly productive day of work.
They'd had a breakthrough in the case today. Leanna had followed a lead that Bozer's searching through a money trail had gotten them, and with a little help from interrogation expert Samantha Cage, they'd gotten that key intel and evidence on The Organization that they were trying to take down.
(The way Bozer said it made it obvious that it was capitalized.)
'…You were awesome today.'
Leanna put the handbrake on, then turned to him with a little grin.
'So were you.'
Bozer preened exaggeratedly, and Leanna gave a snort of laughter, shaking her head with fond, exasperated amusement.
There was silence for a moment, a not-altogether happy or even comfortable silence, as they both parsed the inevitable.
The elephant in the room.
(Or, more accurately, the car.)
Bozer didn't live in San Fran. He didn't work in San Fran.
He was from LA.
Over 350 miles away.
Eventually, Bozer broke it, saying what neither of them wanted to say.
'Case should be wrapped in a week, a week and a half tops.' He shifted his shoulders. 'Bad guys'll go to jail, and I'll go back to LA…'
He did not sound nearly as happy about that as he should.
Leanna looked into his eyes, her own expression showing that she felt very much the same.
Then, after a moment, she spoke, voice quiet.
'I don't want you to go.'
Leanna was far from shy, and it wasn't, precisely, a shy statement, but there was something soft, vulnerable, maybe confessional there.
Bozer stared at her for a moment, his own eyes soft, emotional, before he gave a slightly-sad-tinged grin.
'Then let's make the most of the time we have.'
He leaned forward, over the centre console, and with a little smirk, Leanna met him in the middle, a hand coming up to cup the back of his head.
BOZER'S HOTEL ROOM
SAN FRANCISCO
Bozer broke the kiss to open his hotel room door, then stepped inside. Leanna followed him over the threshold, grabbed the 'Do Not Disturb' sign, put it on the door, and closed it firmly, before pulling him towards her again, so that he was pinning her to the door.
When they broke for air, Bozer pulled away a tiny bit so he had a better view of her face.
'You sure?'
Leanna just smiled, soft and affectionate with a touch of a smirk, with a tiny bit of sadness to it too.
'Yeah. Making the most of what we have, remember?'
LATER…
They lay in bed, Leanna's head pillowed on his chest.
Bozer gave a grin-smirk as his breathing calmed again.
'Oh, that was way better than my high school graduation.'
She laughed softly and leaned up to kiss him lightly.
JACK (AND RILEY'S – EVEN IF SHE WON'T ADMIT IT) FAVOURITE SKEEBALL PLACE
(ALSO JACK'S FAVOURITE PIZZA PLACE)
(HE HAS…INTERESTING…TASTE IN PIZZA)
LA
'Skeeball?'
Diane elegantly arched an eyebrow at Jack as they walked into the arcade, hand in hand.
He held up his free hand with one of those trademarked (or should be trademarked) Jack Dalton grins.
'Hey, Skeeball's the best!'
That was said completely genuinely.
Diane gave a fond little head-shake, then looked around the place, remembering the times that she, Jack and Riley had shared here.
(Remembering the absurdly wide grin on Jack's face as he held up reams and reams of tickets, which Diane had a sneaking suspicion he hadn't won entirely by skill; Jack's earnest and frankly ridiculous enthusiasm for what Riley had derided as a kids' game had made her daughter give soft little grins when she'd thought no-one was looking, and Diane knew how clever and talented her baby girl had always been, remembering the laughter and the smiles and the quiet – and not-so-quiet – moments that they'd all shared.)
(Remembering how they'd been a family.)
(Sure, this was only her and Jack's second fourth date, if the interrupted attempt the night Bozer had been drugged wasn't counted, but Diane had a sneaking suspicion that they were going to be a family again.)
(Jack and Riley already were, and she felt that connection blooming between her and Jack again, almost as if it'd never completely closed.)
(Which, given how her thoughts had turned to Jack Wyatt Dalton a little too much for her peace of mind over their years apart, she thought was probably true.)
Jack led her over to one of the machines, and grabbed a ball, throwing it backwards, landing it in the 50 points hole.
He whooped, as she smiled, and then, he handed her the next ball, clearly expecting her to play.
'I'll buy you ice-cream at that place you loved after…' He waggled the ball in his hand. 'A nice double scoop, tiramisu and toffee…'
Diane shook her head with a soft little smile, then reached out and plucked the ball from his hand.
'You drive a hard bargain, Jack Dalton.'
She tossed the ball and landed it in the 50 points hole too, causing Jack to cheer.
'Oh, yeah! That's my girl!'
NICE (BUT NOT FANCY) RESTAURANT
SAN FRANCISCO
On Friday night, three weeks after Bozer had arrived in San Francisco, Bozer and Leanna laughed over dessert. Leanna stole the last bite of chocolate cheesecake, and just gave a little grin when Bozer shot her a look.
As they strolled back to Bozer's hotel, hand in hand, Leanna glanced at him as he told her all about the massive case he'd cracked (practically single-handedly) two months ago, complete with a couple of amusing-but-totally-heroic-and-awesome anecdotes. She hesitated for a single beat, then spoke, something soft and a little vulnerable in her voice.
'I know this is really fast, but…' Her smile widened and softened simultaneously. '…I've never felt like this about anyone before.'
It sounded (almost) like a confession. Like three little words. Those three little words.
Almost.
Bozer smiled back, equally softly, affectionately.
'Me neither.'
MACGYVER'S RESIDENCE
LA
'I can't believe they've cancelled it.' Charlie Robinson, one of Mac's JPL co-workers and a good friend (he and Charlie went way back, to when they'd been EOD techs in Afghanistan and had set a record for most explosives disarmed in a three-month period), gestured with the hand holding his beer as he, Mac, Riley and several of their JPL friends sat around the fire-pit. He took a swig of beer. 'The Korman Challenge was special.'
The Army ran the Korman Challenge, a challenge to create an autonomous military vehicle, every year, had for a decade. JPL always had a team, as did agencies like DARPA and the CIA.
Riley gave a snort.
'I think that's what happens when the creator goes psycho and tries to attack the Pentagon.'
Charlie, Mac and the rest of the rather disappointed engineers (Riley got it; the Korman Challenge was fun, and allowed them to show off and be among people like them for a week, and tapped into their healthy competitive spirits, but she didn't quite share that same disappointment) all nodded in agreement, seeing the obvious logic.
An Asian man a couple of years older than Charlie named Bruce adjusted his glasses, glanced around at a couple of the others, then shot Mac a teasing look.
'Bet you're disappointed, Mac. You're on the team for the first time in five years, and they cancel.'
Another co-worker, Tim, piped up.
'Now you're gonna have to wait for whatever they dream up to replace it to see Allie Winthrop again.'
You know, neither Bruce nor Tim was at the Korman Challenge that year.
But even engineering nerds like to gossip.
Surprisingly more than you'd think, actually.
Mac wasn't completely able to conceal his reaction to the mention of her name, something flickering across his face, a little too complex for Riley to read in that very brief instant that it was there, shifting a little in his seat.
Charlie downed the last of his beer, quite subtly shooting Riley a look, as everyone else seemed oblivious to that something that had crossed Mac's face.
'Hey, I could really go for a refill. Mac, Riley, could you…?'
They were, conveniently, sitting closest to the door, but Riley knew that that wasn't why Charlie had asked the two of them specifically.
With a little nod to Mac's former EOD partner, Riley got up, and Mac followed her into the kitchen, picking up the empty beer bottles.
Riley headed over to the fridge, as Mac put the bottles in the recycling, but didn't open it, instead crossing her arms and cocking her hip.
'Okay, when did you and this Allie Winthrop hook up?'
'What?' Mac's response was too fast, too loud and altogether far too shocked. Riley just raised an eyebrow at him, and after a beat, he sighed. 'Yeah, fine. That happened.' He ran a hand through his hair. 'But it wasn't like that.' There was definitely something pained in his voice now. 'It was a few years ago. It was my first time at the Challenge, my first year back stateside for good. I really liked her. I thought she really liked me.' He sighed. 'Right up until I saw her going through my drone's design specs on my laptop.'
Riley's brows rose again, a hint of righteous, protective anger appearing in her voice and posture.
'She took advantage of your feelings to snoop on your laptop and cheat?'
Mac nodded sadly, running a hand through his hair again.
'Yeah, well, I guess for some people, winning is the only thing that matters.'
Riley reached out and patted his shoulder comfortingly, something sympathetic and sorry in her expression.
Mac's love life was officially terrible.
He'd been shot down cold by Darlene Martin, he and Penny's high school relationship had lasted a grand total of twenty-six days (though they were still very much friends and there were no hard feelings – or awkward lingering feelings - in the slightest), he'd spent two years pining for an older student called Frankie at MIT (whom he still insisted was out of his league; Jack, who'd actually met her – it was a really long story – had told Riley and Bozer that that was really not the case, but they all knew that changing Mac's mind when he'd so stubbornly made it up was nigh impossible), and then, Riley now knew that Allie had happened, which really made the end of Mac's next relationship with Google software engineer Nikki Carpenter far, far worse (she'd cheated on him and lied to him about it for months). After that, there'd been a handful of first and second dates (and one third) with several women he'd met online (Riley only recalled the name of the woman whom Mac had gone on three dates with, Cindy), which hadn't led to him finding a special connection, finding the right one, which they all knew Mac really, really wanted. (There'd also been some sort of incident on a 'boys' night out' involving a woman whom Jack and Bozer had described as a damsel-in-distress – or Fraulein-in-distress, given that she was German – who'd been totally into Mac, though Mac insisted that Katarina simply had Damsel Syndrome.) And then, just last year, there'd been the tragedy with Zoe Kiruma, beautiful, brilliant glaciologist and PhD student, who'd been trapped on the crippled R.V. Bancroft with thirty-one of her students, help hours away. Mac, as their best hope for survival, had been called upon to do everything he could to keep them alive until the Coast Guard got there, using Zoe as his hands.
He had almost succeeded at his impossible task.
They'd almost succeeded at their impossible task.
Zoe's thirty-one students had made it home alive, safe and sound.
Zoe herself hadn't.
(Riley knew there was absolutely no way one could fall in love in a matter of hours, but she also knew that Mac and Zoe had really, really connected.)
(That if she'd lived, maybe she'd have been Mac's right one.)
She let her hand linger on his shoulder for a moment, in a simple gesture of comfort, which made Mac give a little smile.
Then, Riley opened the fridge.
'Seriously, Mac, you gotta get a move-on with your self-opening, walking Esky project…'
SHOPPING MALL
SAN FRANCISCO
The day after the dramatic arrests of The Organization's ringleaders, Bozer found his eye caught by something in the window of the jewellery store as he walked past.
A display of shiny, beautiful diamond rings.
Engagement rings.
He found his feet walking him to the display, found himself looking at them, really, really looking, imagining what they might look like on Leanna's finger, which ones she'd like.
He knew this was fast. Really fast.
He knew it sounded crazy. Probably was crazy.
But in movies, people always seemed to just know when they'd found the right one.
This sort of thing happened in movies all the time, and it always seemed to lead to happily ever after, and he knew very well that life wasn't a movie, but that didn't mean that it wasn't impossible.
His BFF insisted that impossible wasn't a scientific term, after all. He also liked to say that just because something was (supposedly) impossible, didn't mean you shouldn't try.
Bozer walked into the store.
BOZER'S HOTEL ROOM
SAN FRANCISCO
Leanna shifted a little in bed, and Bozer lifted his head.
'What's wrong?'
She gave a sad little smile.
'It's almost midnight. Two minutes until today becomes tomorrow and you have to go home.'
The case was closed, all the loose ends tied up. Bozer had been summoned back to LA, and his flight was tomorrow.
'Yeah. I've been thinking about that.'
'Me too.'
He gave a small shake of his head, and sat up, leaning over to grab something from his bedside table's drawer, as Leanna's brow furrowed in confusion.
He turned back to face her, holding a small velvet-covered box. Leanna's eyes widened, as he opened the box to reveal the diamond ring inside.
'I know it's too soon, and this is too fast, but if there's anything working for the FBI has taught me, it's to always trust your instincts. And every instinct I've got is telling me I can't let you go. I love you, Leanna. Will you marry me?'
Leanna removed her hands from over her mouth and nodded, slowly at first, the more certainly, surely, enthusiastically.
'Yes, Bozer. Yes.'
AN: And the plot thickens! Yes, Bozer and Leanna's decisions in this chapter were probably a bit OOC – but I'm paralleling 'getting engaged' with 'risk everything – including my career and possible jail time – in order to continue our relationship'. Given that they live more 'ordinary' lives in this AU, I wanted to go for something that had proportionate risk/sounded about as crazy. Also, I'm not going to lie, it's mostly for plot purposes…
Anyone catch my little The Martian meta joke? (And yes, the book also exists in this AU – it'll be mentioned later, anyone got a guess as to in what context? - but let's just pretend that no-one's noticed, okay? Like how Lucas Till and Mac somehow co-exist in the AU…)