Murdoc stared down the barrel of the gun at the petite young woman glaring at him with wild and frightened eyes, the expression on her face made up of equal parts determination and fear, standing defiantly in front of him despite being battered and bruised.

It was a look he had seen before. On his own sister, Ashton.

The girl was defending her uncle, just as she had defended him from his father. Suddenly he found himself reliving that moment all over again.

Oh, sweet lord. What has he done?

Murdoc dropped his gun to his side and looked at Becky painfully, caught up in memories.

MacGyver rose to his feet and grabbed at her arm, trying to pull her out of the way. "What in heck do you think you're doin'? You're gonna get yourself killed. Get out of here before anything else happens to you. Don't worry about me."

She shook her head, holding her ground. "I won't leave without you, Unc," she said firmly. "Either we get out of here alive and together, or not at all. And he'll have to get through me to kill you. I can be twice as stubborn as you."

Brave girl. She'll go far, if she has the chance.

"Ashton, he's right. This is our fight, and you should get out of here while you can. You'll only get hurt." The surprised looks on their faces as the words left his lips dragged him back to reality.

Bloody hell, what was he doing? She's not, never has been, or ever will be his little sister. Ashton was safe now, with her own life far away from him. No longer needing his protection.

No way to change the past. Why couldn't he accept that?

For a timeless moment the bloodied faces of both Ashton and Becky flashed before him as memory wavered between past and present. Finally the present won.

He angrily shoved her aside and aimed once more at Mac. "Enough," he snapped. "More than past time to end this. Goodbye."

For the second time the life of the one person she loved most in the world was threatened.

Not again. Not ever again.

Becky dropped to the floor, lunging for one of the manacle sets laying nearby. Throwing one end out, wrapping the chain neatly around Murdoc's legs.

With all the strength that remained in her she gave a mighty yank. The assassin fell backwards, dropping the gun in his surprise.

His head hit the floor, immediately knocking himself unconscious.

Mac shook his head as he helped her up. "Nice work."

"Thanks, Unc."

Suddenly the images on the bank of monitors blacked out, replaced by a huge 30-second countdown display as a programmed timer- connected with detonating cord to C4 explosives placed around the factory- automatically switched on.

Murdoc's prerecorded voice came over the intercom: "Sorry, MacGyver. Guess I won after all. Your time is up, and so is hers."

Not if they could help it.

They hurried through the door at the other side of the room, stopping on a landing platform at the top of a long flight of stairs which led down to the packing and shipping area.

The room was gigantic, easily the length of a football field. From their vantage point the doors were simply too far away to reach in time.

So was there another way out?

Mac pointed to a huge glass panel at the other end, showing a view of the river below. "He probably has all the doors locked. Getting through that's our best bet outta here."

(28, 27...)

"There's no way we're gonna make it down the stairs and across the room in time," she groaned. "We're doomed."

(25, 24...)

"Don't think like that, Becky," he said absently, scanning for anything that could be used to bridge the distance. "Remember what I told you? All you need is a little faith."

Directly above them a length of stout cable stretched all the way across the room at a slant, ending at the top of the glass panel.

He stood on tiptoe and reached up a hand to the cable, fingertips barely grazing against it. "We need to hang on to something to get us down this. Any ideas?"

(21, 20...)

Becky quickly cast her memory back through the past few hours. What was there in the office that could help...?

She snapped her fingers. "Got it."

Dashed back into the office, grabbing at a metal bar and a thick plastic packing strap. A quick glance at Murdoc showed he was starting to regain consciousness, so she wisely locked the door on her way out. "He's almost awake," she said breathlessly.

"Then we don't have much time." Mac smiled at the items in her hands. "That's perfect. Just what I was thinking of myself." He tied one end of the strap to the bar, threw the other end up and over the cable, and tied the dangling end to the metal as well.

An improvised zipline trolley.

Becky swallowed as she looked first up at the cable, then down at the hard concrete floor. A really long way down. "Unc, you know I hate heights as much as you do. Are you sure it'll work?"

"No, I'm not. Don't much like it either but there isn't any other way we can get outside quick enough. Just hang on and trust me, okay?"

(14, 13...)

There was a loud pounding on the door; Murdoc glared at them through the glass. "MacGyver, I'll get you yet! You won't get away from me!"

"He doesn't know when to quit, does he?"

"Nope. C'mon, Becky! Let's go!"

(10, 9...)

Murdoc rammed the door with his shoulder. Wood and glass smashed to pieces around him as he charged through.

Becky yelped, barely skipping out of his way.

Mac grabbed her before she could fall down the stairs and boosted her to reach the trolley. There was just enough room for both of them to hold onto the bar as he kicked them off the railing, hanging on for dear life as the momentum served to propel them down the cable, practically flying across the gigantic room.

Heedless of his own safety, Murdoc leapt for them.

(8, 7...)

And missed. He dove head first from the platform to the concrete floor below, screaming Mac's name on the way.

(6, 5...)

Becky turned her head away from the awful sight, only to hide it against Mac's outstretched arm as they rapidly approached the huge plate glass window, bracing herself for impact.

(4, 3...)

"Now?"

"Now!"

Glass flew as together they released the trolley and landed in the river with a loud splash.

With a loud boom the building promptly burst into flames.

Becky drifted underwater, then strong arms snaked around her as MacGyver hauled her back to the surface. She coughed and clung to him as they treaded water.

"Hang on, Beck," Mac said as fiery debris landed on the water around them. "Just hang on to me. I gotcha. Try to stay awake."

"Can't," she groaned. "So tired. Wanna sleep."

"Me too. But we gotta stay awake or we'll drown. C'mon."

Becky tried staying above water for as long as she could, but the combination of cold water, adrenaline crash and pain from her accumulated injuries made it impossible.

The last thing she heard before the darkness finally claimed her was a growing crescendo of sirens.

Thornton and Dalton watched in horror as the old factory quickly became engulfed in smoke and fire. As the police and fire trucks approached they scanned the area for any signs of their friends but found nothing.

"You think they made it out in time, Pete?"

"I sure hope so, Jack."

"Hey guys, over here!" MacGyver called from the river, waving to them with one free hand while supporting an unconscious Becky with the other.

"Man, are we glad to see you guys. We were half afraid you were done for when the fire broke out."

"Feeling's mutual, Jack. Give me a hand here with Becky?"

Fighting the water's strong currents, Pete reached for Mac's hand at the same time his niece was grabbed by Jack.

The two men pulled them back to the bank, where four paramedics waited; Pete waved them over.

As one pair checked Mac out he watched the others as they placed Becky's limp form on a stretcher and took her vital signs. "How is she?"

One of them spared him a quick glance. "She hasn't regained consciousness, but otherwise no severe internal injuries. Though those welts on her wrists and ankles will need to be treated and bandaged in case of infection." She nodded at her partner. "She's stable. Let's go." They loaded her into the ambulance and sped off.

"You could use a few days' bed rest, too," the paramedic examining him said. "Nothing serious, but the nose will have to be looked at."

Mac gingerly touched it and winced. "Guess you're right. Think they'll put us in the same room?"

"Don't see why not. Let's get you to the hospital."

Pete briefly touched MacGyver on the shoulder. "Jack and I will follow. Don't worry about a thing. We'll make sure the doctors take good care of you both."

"Thanks, Pete. See you later."

"Yep," Jack said as Mac was escorted into the back of the ambulance and the truck sped off, "a long rest in bed being attended to by pretty nurses sounds like a real good idea for him. He looks awful. Think we've seen the last of Murdoc?"

"I wish I knew. You saw how bad Becky looked? I wonder what he did to her. I hope she makes it."

"Hey Pete, have some faith already. She's a strong kid. Strong as Mac himself. They'll both be okay, you'll see."

It had been a long, tiring day and they were weary beyond belief, but all that paled in the face of two very important facts: Murdoc was finally gone- or so both men fervently hoped- and their friends were alive and safe.

Nothing else mattered.