Thank you to those who have taken the time to review! You've given me loads of fabulous ideas for the next two stories in the "Unforgettable Friends" series, which I already had started. "Ideas are like popcorn; rather too much than not enough!" Thank you!

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Gibbs stopped the car at an intersection, using the moment to glance over at the passenger seat. Mac slept like one dead, his face pressed into the upholstery of the seat. It had been a decade and a half since he'd seen MacGyver, but Gibbs was amazed at how little the man had changed. He was still as athletic and animated as Gibbs had remembered, still lean and fit and ready for adventure. There weren't as many wrinkles on his face or as much silver in his hair as Gibbs watched appear on his own in the ensuing years, but Gibbs remembered that Mac had always been near-fanatical about his health; he refused to drink or smoke, and rarely did he eat meat or junk food.

Mac was sleeping so soundly that Gibbs hated the thought of waking him when they finally pulled up in front of Gibbs' home. He debated on driving around the block a few times, but then chuckled at the thought of MacGyver grumbling about being coddled like an infant.

"Mac! We're here, buddy. Wake up!"

MacGyver startled awake, gripping the door handle with enough strength to whiten his knuckles. "What? Where… Pete?" he stuttered, but when he realized where he was, he scrubbed a hand over his face. "Why are we at your house?"

"So you can stop drooling into my upholstery!" Gibbs retorted. "You need a break, and if you think I'm letting you stay in a flea-bitten hotel, you're wrong."

"I appreciate the hospitality," Mac yawned. "I feel like I could sleep for a week."

"Y'look like death warmed over," Gibbs informed him. "How is Pete, by the way? I haven't talked to Thornton in quite a while."

For the briefest of moments, MacGyver looked as lost as an orphaned child, but he pulled himself together and faked a smile. "He'd hate to be missing out on a case like this."

Gibbs paused in the middle of pulling the keys out of the ignition. "Pete…?"

"He went out like he lived; upright, honest, and surrounded by friends," Mac said bravely. At Gibbs' shocked expression, Mac's face crumpled. "We lost him in 2005. He wouldn't really say what it was… but he was hurting, Gibbs. Glaucoma blinded him, but he was hurting really bad. He tried to hide it, but I knew him too well. He worked until he couldn't, then we threw him the biggest retirement party in the history of the Phoenix Foundation. He came back to my place for the evening… and that was it. He just didn't wake up the next morning."

"Aww, Mac…"

Mac pushed the door open and clambered out of the car, swiping his sleeve across his face as he stood. "Thanks. You got any tea in your kitchen?"

"Yeah… C'mon." They made their way to the front door, which Gibbs pushed open.

"You still don't lock your door?" Mac remembered. "There are times I wonder why I still bother locking mine."

"Where are you living now?" Gibbs asked as he made his way through to the kitchen. "You move around a lot."

"Yeah, it gets dangerous when too many people know where I live," Mac responded, watching as Gibbs picked the tea pot off of the stove and filled it with water at the sink. "Pete left me a cabin in the woods, and I've got a place closer to the Foundation that I currently call home."

Gibbs put the water on to boil and tossed his cabinets for his tea. "Still jetting around the world? Or have you given up field work?"

Mac rubbed a hand through his hair as he dropped into a chair by the table. "I'm here now, aren't I?" he chuckled, but there was something more than exhaustion making his voice brittle. He refused to meet Gibbs' searching gaze, instead accepting the offered cup of hot water and the looseleaf tea in the infuser without looking.

"Mac?"

Mac watched the water swirl and darken in the mug.

Gibbs waited with unusual patience, but when it was obvious that MacGyver wasn't going to be volunteering any further information, he decided to let the matter drop. He was curious to be sure, but he also trusted MacGyver implicitly. When a guy jumped out of a helicopter over a jungle filled with armed cartel members to rescue an injured soldier, then refused to leave without also providing a safe escape for the six orphaned children who had cared for the injured soldier, one couldn't help but trust the guy…especially if one had been that injured soldier…

"I'll get the guest room ready for you," Gibbs offered, leaving Mac staring into his tea. He took the stairs two at a time, threw sheets on the bed in the spare bedroom, and made sure the bathroom was stocked with all necessary supplies. He also tossed in a pair of sweats for Mac to change into. Satisfied that everything was as prepared as he could make it, he headed back downstairs, to discover MacGyver fast asleep, his cheek resting on the table top.

...

Note: We Miss You, Dana Elcar!