MACGYVER'S WORKSHOP

JACKSON TOWER

LA


'You, Angus MacGyver, are ridiculous, and I cannot wait for the day that Bozer makes his tell-all memoir-movie about the two of you!'

The Tuesday afternoon after the Gala (they'd decided that there was no reason for them to stop collaborating, not when they'd had so much success and enjoyed working together and each other's company so much, and when there were so many other ideas in Mac's brain for projects to help people that would only benefit from her assistance and expertise and intelligence, plus he had a few just-for-fun project ideas that he knew she'd love…), Mac looked down at the woman who was jabbing at his chest with her pointer finger, looking up at him and grinning, still pink-cheeked from laughter and teasing him with affection in her eyes, and had a very sudden and very sharp, strong urge to tuck two fingers under her chin or cup her face in his hands and kiss her.

Oh, no.


JACK'S RESIDENCE

JACKSON TOWER

LA


That same Tuesday, Jack was eating his dinner (a chickpea curry with rice and lentil soup – excellent grub, and not just excellent-for-vegetarian), minding his own business in his own apartment when his landlord/boss/primary/dear friend/surrogate son barrelled into his home in a state.

(Mac was frantic and slightly wild-eyed. His hair was mussed, as if he'd been running his hands through it repeatedly, and he immediately started pacing circles around Jack's living room, frantically unwinding a paperclip.)

'I really, really like her. I really, really like her, Jack!' He stopped in front of the older man (who'd dropped his spoon to disguise the finally he'd muttered a little too loudly – not that Mac had noticed – when the blonde had first spoken). 'This was not supposed to happen!'

He started pacing frantic circles again.

Jack, meanwhile, took a moment to just take in what he was seeing.

Angus MacGyver, who'd disarmed bombs that should have blown him (and Jack) to smithereens with steady calm and nerves of steel and even cheesy-sounding words of reassurance that were completely genuinely felt and a witty quip or two, was actually panicking as much as (or maybe even more than) Jack had ever seen him panic.

Jack would be laughing if Mac wasn't doing the aforementioned panicking, and if he didn't know how important, how big, how serious, this was.

Then, he spoke, voice gentle.

'It's called falling in love, son, not walking.'

Mac stopped in his tracks again, and stared at Jack for a long, long moment, processing, before that panic faded from his eyes and he gave a little half-nod, then plonked himself down on a chair and ran a hand through his hair, dropping the re-shaped paperclip he'd been toying with on the table.

(It was in the shape of a heart, which Jack filed away for later, but chose not to point out to the younger man just then.)

'After…after everything…I wasn't looking. I wasn't trying.' He bit his lip, voice confessional and quiet. 'I wasn't going to, ever again.' Mac shook his head, then glanced at Jack with a helpless little shrug and a very affectionate, practically besotted smile on his face. 'It just happened. She just happened.'

(At some point, they'd have to tell Mac – and Beth – how Cage had so cleverly arranged for them to meet. Jack would vote for the wedding – he knew he was jumping really far ahead, but he just had a gut feeling, and you had to trust the gut – it'd make a great anecdote for his and Bozer's Best Men speech.)

Mac sighed.

After everything, I really didn't think I could fall in love again.

I thought it was impossible.

Professor V would not be happy with me. Impossible is not a scientific term, after all.

And I think I'm currently in the process of being proven wrong, empirically.

Jack, his expression soft and gentle, pushed aside his bowl and plate and leaned forward, closer to Mac.

'A good woman, the right woman, tends to do that.' He paused, as Mac gave a little nod, very much an I know that now nod. 'What're you gonna do about it, son?' He pointed at Mac, half-joking, half-serious. 'Please don't ask if she really likes you back, brother…'

Mac, a very wry little smile on his face, shook his head.

(In hindsight, it was clear that his feelings were requited. It was very clear that there was a connection, a special, meaningful connection, developing between them.)

(Denial was a very powerful thing. He now had a lot of empirical evidence for that.)

What am I going to do?

He knew that Beth wouldn't hurt him, not like he'd been hurt before. He supposed that he'd thought that of Allie, and of Nikki…but that was a train of thought that he had to cut off there. By that logic, he should be wary of even Jack and Bozer, which was complete and utter nonsense.

He also knew that she would never, ever make the first move. She knew his romantic history, and she was her (kind and sweet and considerate, maybe a little too much, in this case, and a little shy and awkward - she'd grown up a child prodigy and won nine science fairs before she'd turned sixteen and graduated high school which brought with it negatives to go with the positives, as he knew very well). And then there was the fact that he was the 18th wealthiest man in the country, and he knew that she would not want there to be any possibility that he (or those closest to him) would think that she wanted him for any reason other than the fact that he was him (not that any of them would, he was sure).

He rubbed the back of his neck, a wry, sheepish smile on his face.

'Taking it slow is out of the question, isn't it?'

Jack shot him a you think? look.

'Whaddya think you've been doing, son? You been going so slow, you were almost going in reverse!' His expression grew very serious, and he reached out and put a hand on Mac's arm. 'Don't…don't let her be your Sarah.' Jack paused. 'Well, that ain't a perfect analogy; don't get me wrong, she ain't my biggest regret, not now…' For a while, it had seemed like it. '…'cause I love Diane with every fibre of my being, and she's my right one now, but…' He fixed Mac with a very serious, almost stern look. 'Don't wait around thinking she'll be there forever, son, 'cause she won't.'

Mac looked into Jack's eyes and nodded very seriously.

'I know.' He nodded again, and a smile appeared on his face. 'And I know what I'm going to do.' He patted Jack's arm. 'Thanks, Jack.'

Jack smiled back at him.

'Anytime, son. Anytime.' He got up and gestured with his thumb towards the fridge. 'Now, do you want some chickpea curry? For some reason, Beth seems to like your scrawny butt, but we can't let you get any scrawnier…'


MACGYVER'S WORKSHOP

JACKSON TOWER

LA


The very next time Beth walked into his workshop, as soon as she'd stepped through the doors, Mac, who was standing by the workbench closest to the door, took a deep breath and screwed his courage to the sticking place.

'Hi, Beth.' He sought out her eyes, trying to make it very clear what he was asking. 'Would you like to have dinner with me?'

After a moment of staring at him, her cheeks pinking, a delighted smile spread across her face and she nodded.

'I'd love to.'


MACGYVER'S PENTHOUSE

JACKSON TOWER

LA


On Saturday morning (the day of Mac and Beth's date), Jack and Bozer sat on the couch in Mac's apartment as the blonde sat in the armchair, the three of them supposedly watching a recorded basketball game.

(The ladies – minus Beth, who had work from late morning to late afternoon - had gone off for one of their girls' days after breakfast.)

(The reason why they weren't actually watching it had nothing to do with the game – it was Cavs vs. Warriors, and they all did enjoy watching a good game of basketball, though in Mac's opinion, playing it was better – and far more to do with the fact that Bozer and Jack were enjoying the conversation they'd started way, way too much.)

'So, where're you taking her, brother? Flying her to Paris for a long weekend on your jet?'

'Or to NYC?'

'Nah, New Orleans, Boze. The Big Easy!'

'How about Montauk?' Bozer waggled his eyebrows. 'Quiet and peaceful and romantic, perfect for some private time…'

Mac rolled his eyes.

'If you want to borrow the jet to take Diane or Riley somewhere, be my guest. You can use it whenever Matty or Thornton aren't using it for JI business.' He paused. 'And Beth is terrified of flying. She also only has Sunday off; she's back to work at 7 am on Monday.' Mac gave a wry, yet very affectionate, smile. 'If I take her somewhere by plane that also causes her to have to miss work without notice, trust me, I won't get a second date.'

I'd probably also be subjected to a tox screen, a concussion test and screening for infection by infectious prions.

Jack and Bozer exchanged a glance, the two of them smirking, then the older man pointed at Mac.

'You could get back on her good side, brother. We got faith in you.'

'Yeah, just build and name a hospital in her honour in Yemen, bro.'

Mac sighed and shook his head in response to their teasing, making a face.

'Way too ostentatious, guys.' His brow furrowed. 'Though…we're already funding MSF operations in Yemen, but we probably should talk to them about building hospitals, now that the political situation seems to be stabilizing…' Mac shook his head a little, filing that thought away for later and getting back on topic. 'I am cooking Beth dinner.' He pointed at his kitchen. 'Right here.' Bozer opened his mouth, but Mac held up a hand to stay him. 'Thanks, Boze, but I'm going to do it all by myself.'

Bozer nodded, pointing at him.

'Respect, bro.' He turned to Jack. 'Now that's romantic.'

Mac chipped in, voice wry and pointed.

'And private, and not too much.'

(They couldn't exactly go bowling or to an arcade or to a drive-in or a nice-but-not-fancy restaurant or even Mama Colton's diner – Mac's favourite; Mama treated him like all her other regulars, made great pie and had been known to threaten overzealous paparazzi with the knife she used to cut it – without it being all over the internet the next day.)

(At some point – and he was not jumping ahead of himself; they both knew - as did everyone else – that this was definitely something long-term, that they might just be each other's right ones, and that this 'first date' wasn't really a first date in the sense of getting-to-know-you, but the start of a long-term relationship – they'd have to brave the media, but now wasn't the time.)

Jack nodded, then pointed sternly at Mac.

'You better not be making her steak, brother, since you'll butcher it-'

Mac rolled his eyes again.

'A, Beth also likes her steak medium-rare.' They had had some weird conversations, but how they liked their steak and Mac's steak-cooking algorithm honestly didn't really rate when it came to weirdness. Mac flung his hands in the air exasperatedly as Jack made a face. 'And B, I overcooked your steak once, Jack. Once. Because I neglected to ask you how you like your steak, which I have apologized for eight times! Let it go.'

Jack crossed his arms huffily.

'Never, brother. Never. I can't forgive or forget such a sin against a good ol' slab of meat, man. You practically nuked it! What'd it ever do to you?'

'Just because you like your steak horrifyingly blue-'

Bozer cut in at that point, in an attempt to head off Mac and Jack's bickering (which was amusing, but on the other hand, he'd heard this argument at least ten times), and leaned close to Jack and stage-whispered.

'They even both like their steak medium-rare. Match made in heaven, right, man?'


At 6:57 PM, Mac double-checked that all the preparations had been made. The salad was on the counter, dressing beside it, the salmon fillets had been seasoned and were by the stove, ready to be pan-fried, and the potatoes were roasting in the oven. He had a pumpkin pie in the fridge (prepared according to Bozer's recipe, which had been modified last November, combining the best elements of both Beth and Bozer's pumpkin pie recipes), next to a little bowl of freshly-whipped cream. There was also a bottle of wine chilling, his hair was not a mess, there were no stains on either him or his brown chinos and light-blue button-down that apparently brought out his eyes (that was what Bozer and Riley had told the Cosmopolitan stylist during the Bachelor of the Year photoshoot anyway, and the stylist had agreed).

Just because I'm an on-the-fly guy doesn't mean that I'm not capable of some degree of forward planning, and it also doesn't mean that I can't appreciate it.

This is not the sort of situation when you want to improvise the whole thing.

And maybe Beth and her to-do lists, fully-utilized planner, well-stocked handbag and other 'be prepared' habits are rubbing off on me a bit.

Seriously, apart from the one obvious thing, she'd have been a much better Boy Scout than me.


At 6:59 PM, there was a knock on the door, and Mac immediately hurried over and opened it, to reveal Beth standing on the other side, hair loose, in a very pretty blue-and-white floral sundress and a grey cardigan, smiling widely.

'Hi, Mac.'

He grinned, probably like an idiot, but he couldn't care less.

'Hi, Beth.'


A forkful of pumpkin pie and whipped cream almost to her mouth, Beth, sitting on a stool at the breakfast bar, burst into giggles as Mac, standing up and leaning on the edge of the counter next to his own slice of pie, gave a little smirk as he finished relating the story of the time Jack had gotten himself in trouble by sitting on an original Louis XV at a function being hosted by a very wealthy Belgian art collector.

When she stopped laughing, having put down her forkful of pumpkin pie, there was a little smudge of whipped cream on her chin, and impulsively, Mac reached out and wiped the cream away with his thumb, wiping his thumb in turn on a napkin, not breaking eye contact the whole time.

Yeah, this is definitely one of those romance novel moments…

Or, at least, the start of one.

And yes, of course I intend on following through.

I'm not that crazy.

Slowly, he tucked two fingers under her chin to tilt her face up, then ducked his head to kiss her.


When they broke apart, Beth blinked up at him, cheeks a little pink and looking much like he felt, like the Earth had shifted a couple of feet underneath them.

'You really are good at almost everything.' Her eyes widened and the flush on her cheeks darkened. 'I said that out-loud, didn't I?'

A rush of smugness and affection and amusement shot through him and he chuckled and nodded with a grin.

'Yup.' He paused and leaned forward to press a kiss to her forehead. 'I won't tell anyone if you don't.'


The next morning, at the respectable hour of 8:30 am, Jack and Bozer stood outside Mac's door, their ears pressed to it, while their respective girlfriends stood a little further away, partway down the corridor, their arms crossed and with identical expressions of sometimes, I wonder why I love this idiot on their faces.

A moment later, the door opened, revealing Mac, dressed for the day, hair damp and holding a spatula, rolling his eyes.

'Oh, just come in.' Jack and Bozer immediately stepped inside and started looking for signs that Mac had company, which made the blonde roll his eyes again as he returned to the kitchen to flip the pancakes on the griddle (he'd decided against using his pancake-making toaster; it wasn't as efficient as the griddle when cooking for a crowd). 'We have another date on Tuesday.' He gestured to the still-searching and still-trying-and-failing-to-be-subtle Bozer and Jack, sharing an exasperated glance with Riley and Diane (whom, he noted, were also curious, just more tactful than either of their boyfriends), and decided to answer the unspoken but very obvious question that was being asked, in order to head Jack and Bozer off at the pass. 'And she went home last night. Before midnight.'

Jack stopped in his seemingly-casual attempt to see into Mac's bedroom, turned and pointed at the blonde, as he plated up a stack of pancakes.

'Hey, brother, I've seen you do some of your best work under time pressure-' He shut up as Riley punched him in the arm, none too gently, making a face that clearly said eww, I don't want to think about that. After a moment's pause, during which his own face screwed up a little in agreement with Riley, Jack continued. 'Did you at least kiss her?'

Mac shook his head, pointing at Jack with his spatula.

'That's for me to know and you to never find out.'

As Mac turned away to ladle more pancake batter onto the grill, Bozer leaned over and stage-whispered to Jack, smirking and waggling his eyebrows.

'That means he totally did.'

Jack smirked and nodded in agreement, restraining himself from saying something along the lines of oh yeah, brother! at a raised eyebrow from Diane, who had a knowing little smirk on her face much like the one on her daughter's face.

His back to the four in his living room, Mac shook his head with a little smile.

They're not wrong.

But a gentleman never kisses and tells.

There was another knock on the door, and a moment later, Cage, Matty and even Patricia entered, and Mac shook his head again, smile widening.

Right on cue.

He grabbed the second bowl of pancake batter.


OCTOBER 2019

ANOTHER CHARITY GALA BALL

LA


Mac, dressed in his tux and with all the grease under his nails freshly-removed, got out of the limo with a smile, then helped Beth, who was wearing a pale pink dress this time (unfortunately, when you were the girlfriend of a billionaire, you couldn't exactly repeat outfits for occasions like this – at least not without garnering a lot of press attention), out.

She looked a little nervous, eyes wide, as Jack, Thornton and Matty followed her out of the car, glancing around at all the people and the paparazzi, but Mac squeezed her hand reassuringly and leaned down to whisper something in her ear that made her giggle and relax noticeably. Then, they made their way up the red carpet, hand-in-hand.


Larissa Bellucci, entertainment and celebrity reporter, looked back at the camera and smiled sympathetically.

'…Sorry ladies, but it looks like 2017's Cosmo Bachelor of the Year, Angus MacGyver, is firmly off the market!'


I am very, very glad to now be ineligible for Bachelor of the Year contests.

And not really because of uncomfortable, brain-bleach-worthy photoshoots.

No, I'm very, very glad that I can no longer be described as a bachelor in the slightest.

And I've got a feeling that I won't ever be again.


AN: Anybody catch my (rather subtle) meta joke in the scene when Mac asks Beth out (FINALLY)? Virtual cookies to anyone who does! Are you guys satisfied with that ending?

This story was a relatively tricky one for me to write for some reason; I'd wanted to write it for quite a while, but it took three tries to get to this (the original attempt involved excessive alcohol consumption by Jack, Bozer and Riley, leading to the creation of a contest to win a date with Cosmo's Bachelor of the Year, a disaster that Cage has to fix, while the second attempt had Riley as the Cinderella character, in which a former black hat turned diner waitress and a billionaire become friends, and she uncovers an industrial espionage plot that threatens his life, reconciles with the closest thing she's ever had to a father, who happens to be the billionaire's bodyguard, and begins something with the billionaire's BFF…I would have loved to have written the second attempt, but it just wasn't working out for me!). I am, however, very happy with this attempt, and I hope you are too!

At the moment, I do have something else in the works – a retelling of The Little Mermaid. The working title is Not a Single Word. Here's a very tentative summary:

"You ever gonna tell him, Ri?" "It doesn't matter anymore." Bozer, FBI forensic accountant, falls unbelievably hard and fast for his co-worker Leanna, whom he believes rescued him from a terrible situation. Riley, Mac and Jack, being great friends, are supportive…despite how fast they're moving. "You're getting married?!" How many things is Bozer mistaken about?

I also have a couple of other ideas, such as a MacGyver take on The Frog Prince (mostly for Mac-is-literally-a-Golden-Retriever), and a version of Season 3 a la Every End is a Beginning (which obviously has to wait until this season actually finishes for plot reasons, though I've got ideas for about six or seven eps), but being busy with uni drastically reduces the amount of time I have to write. However, until I finish up Not a Single Word, keep an eye out for episode tags! If you liked this rom-com style story, I think you'll probably also like There's Something About MacGyver, Just My Luck and Today was a Fairytale, if you haven't read those already! If you like Beth and her relationship with Mac, she appears at some point in almost all of my stories, save for the Season 2 episode tags.