When they disembarked, Oversight made another comment about Mac having not availed himself of the medic's services. Mac didn't necessarily think he shouldn't, just he'd be damned if he was going to take an order about it at the moment, and that's what it felt like.

This wasn't a concerned family member making a suggestion. The tone said the boss told you to do a thing and you are being insubordinate and I ought to write you up for it. Come to think of it, that was kind of how he'd treated him as a kid, too. That was even worse.

Mac just smirked slightly and said, "You always were an observant guy, Dad," before heading off to claim his Jeep and take it home to his garage for repair work. "Pick me up for the debrief?" he called out to Jack who was pleased to find Matty had his car dropped off here too for when they returned.

"Agent Dalton has details I need to be filled in on. I'll send a car for you," Oversight said tersely before Jack could respond.

Mac frowned, "Alright, I guess."

Then he drove off, listening for any strange rattles and attentive for any odd smells or strange lights. He didn't think the Jeep had been hit anywhere important but focusing on that was easier than thinking.

He parked, covered the back of his Jeep with a roofing tarp, and looked around.

It was good to be home.

He coughed a little and grumbled to himself. He'd probably be tasting that nasty crap for days, say nothing about coughing and blowing his nose every ten minutes in an effort to get rid of it, if his past experiences with burning buildings were any indication.

Since he had to wait around for a ride, unless he wanted to take his motorcycle to work, which he kind of didn't, remembering how his father had disapproved of even his bicycle when he was a kid, he decided to go try to shower off more of the fire smell and change clothes to see if that helped with the coughing. He really didn't want to show up to work for the debrief still doing it.

Freshly showered (again) and dressed in clean clothes, Mac determined that he felt loads better. Then he coughed again. He was outside looking at the Jeep again and grumbling to himself a little bit about it when one of the Phoenix cars pulled in.

"Hey Evan," he greeted the driver, climbing into the passenger side instead of the back just like he always did.

Evan grinned at him. "Hey, Mac. Rough mission?" he tipped his chin at the Jeep Mac had just finished pulling a blue vinyl tarp back over as Evan had pulled up. "More than some," Mac answered with a wry smile as they pulled out of Mac's driveway and back onto the road.

"You've had kind of a rough stretch here lately," Evan observed. He'd been the driver that had gotten him back to Phoenix after he ate pavement the day Murdoc had kidnapped him. Mac didn't remember much of that ride, but he very nearly blushed at the memory of being half passed out practically on Jack's lap.

"It sure has. But at least today didn't end with Jack having to practically carry me home like last time you had to pick me up," he laughed lightly to cover his slight discomfort.

"Yeah, well, I think you probably should have let him that day, man." He paused. "Jack okay?" he asked, letting his surprise that he wasn't picking up both of them or that Jack hadn't been Mac's ride if the Jeep had gotten damaged show plainly.

"Yeah, definitely," Mac replied, taking out his phone to see if there were already a million texts asking where he was. There wasn't. Just one. 'Debriefing with Sir Oversight. Find you when I'm through.'

Mac smiled at first, then frowned. They rarely if ever participated in a formal debrief separately from a joint mission. Of course, nothing about this mission was exactly standard, Mac thought, starting to brood about it a little.

Evan waited a few minutes, but the expression didn't fade.

And Mac didn't say anything else.

"You okay, Mac?" he asked tentatively.

Mac nodded. "Yeah, sure. Why?" Then he cleared his throat and it started him coughing again and it went on for a full minute until his face was red and he was swearing under his breath. "Okay, not awesome," he admitted in response to the driver's expression. Then he explained, "Chemical fire."

Evan just nodded. Then he made a face, like he didn't want to say what was about to come out of his mouth but was going to do it anyway. "So when we get back, do you think …"

Mac raised on eyebrow. "Tell me I should go to Medical. Go ahead. I double dog dare you."

Evan laughed. "So you don't think that's a good suggestion?"

Mac couldn't help laugh a little at the way the guy said it. "Probably, but … who told you to say so?"

Mac did an admirable job hiding the real suspicion that Oversight was somehow constantly engaged in getting him to do what he wanted, but the feeling was there, intense, and making him question every little direction he'd gone in since he was seven years old.

"Nobody, man. Just … smoke is bad news and probably a little oxygen would knock that cough out for you. No reason to suffer through a long debrief trying to hack up a lung."

Mac studied the driver for a minute. That was just genuine concern and helpfulness, something he realized characterized just about everyone at Phoenix. Mac smiled a little to himself, thinking regardless of his father's motives or manipulative behavior, he'd created something pretty great. Mac decided he was going to talk to his dad before he made any choices about what to do next.

Quitting had felt right when he thought Matty was up to no good, but now … now he just wanted his family back to normal. Maybe he could figure the new stuff out like Jack seemed to think.

When they got back to the office, Mac decided to do the smart thing and just stop in to the infirmary. He lurked around the desk for a few minutes until he ascertained who was working.

When he saw that it was Dr. Patel, he saw no good reason not to admit why he was there. She laughed and said the boss had called down and suggested she go hunt him down, but after the things she'd seen him simply walk off, especially in the last year that seemed a little silly.

"I didn't expect to see you, to be honest," she added.

His lips twisted into a wry smile. "I'd hate to think I was getting predictable."

Then he asked if Jack had called too. She smiled and shook her head. Agent Dalton had stopped by in person, asked for a print out of symptoms of smoke inhalation, and made sure he knew who was on duty every shift for the next three days. Mac smiled and shook his head. That sounded like Jack alright.

While he was waiting around, putting up with more general fussing than he'd intended when he made the decision to stop in, he had a fair amount of time to think. He started to feel like some of the puzzle pieces were at least getting closer together in his mind.

He was on his way out when something occurred to him. He wondered just how worried about him his father had actually been. "Dr. Patel, is it common for Oversight to call down here about agents?"

She frowned, a little confused. "I've never spoken to Oversight, Mac."

Now Mac was frowning, too. "Earlier, you said 'the boss' and …"

Her eyes brightened with realization. "I meant Director Webber. I'm sorry I forgot hearing Oversight was involved in your mission. That must have been a bit intimidating I imagine?" Her expression was frankly curious. Oversight was a mystery to everyone here at Phoenix.

"You have no idea," Mac replied with a slight eye roll. Then he processed the rest of what she had said. "Director Webber called down here about me?"

Dr. Patel laughed lightly. "Mac, she checks up on you more than your partner. Not just today either."

Suddenly it all made sense.

0-0-0

Mac stopped and took a deep breath outside the door to Matty's office. He'd been so angry when he'd spoken to her the other morning. He wondered what her reaction to him would be now. Regardless, there were things he needed to say. Even if she didn't answer him.

He was about to open the door when his phone chimed an unknown number text alert. He took it out and looked. 'Glad you decided to be sensible. I'm free to talk now.'

Mac frowned at the phone for a moment, wondering if the offer came only because he'd complied with his father's wishes and seen the doctor, or if he was genuinely reaching out just because he knew Mac was in the building. He shrugged to himself, moving to slip the phone into his jacket and remembering he'd left it at home, settling on his pants pocket instead.

He felt a little naked without his jacket but he'd have to see what the dry cleaner could do with it before he wore it again. Damn thing reeked and the smoke smell was still permeating his every breath. Dr. P said that might take a little while to get rid of, and he neither wanted to subject anyone else to the smell from his jacket, or make just breathing any worse than it was.

Feeling he'd delayed the moment long enough, he tapped lightly on the door and opened it. "Hey, Matty," he greeted softly.

Matty turned and Mac felt an instant sort of relief.

She didn't look hurt or angry because of how he'd spoken to her before. She looked happy to see him, relieved that he was here. She smiled. It was an altogether affectionate, very nearly, motherly expression. It made his eyes burn, and he very nearly lost his nerve. "Glad you made it back, Mac," she offered with genuine warmth. He opened his mouth to talk and realized if he did so at that moment his voice was going to crack. And not from the minor damage he'd sustained in the fire.

She seemed to sense something, because she gave him a minute by filling him in on the intel that she'd gathered since Phoenix had located them in Mexico. He walked across the room toward her, fixing his face in an expression that would have conveyed to anyone who knew him a little less well that he was totally interested in talking about the mission.

However, as good as Matty was at subterfuge, she didn't manage to look as surprised as she might have hoped when Mac sat down on the coffee table and face her.

"Thank you, Matty."

Damn it all to hell anyway, he sounded as much like he might cry as he felt.

Then she made him smile just a little with feigned surprise. "For what?" she asked, blinking with saccharin innocence, completely unbelievably, which Mac knew was as much for his benefit as anything he was here to thank her for.

He felt his eyes starting to water and decided it didn't matter. He was going to get this out anyway. "The watch. The dossier … All the bread crumbs. I know it was you."

It sort of made him feel a little better when Matty swallowed hard and blinked slowly. Not because he'd figured it out, or not because she was upset or worried anyway. But because this was emotional for her too. He didn't know why, and he supposed it didn't matter. He just needed to acknowledge it. "You took an enormous personal risk …"

When she spoke again, pretty clearly near tears herself, "Mac I can neither confirm, nor deny …" he just followed his first impulse. Trusted his gut, so to speak, thinking briefly that Jack had either been a very good or a very bad influence. He just wrapped Matty in a spontaneous hug, and somewhat to his surprise (say nothing about her own), she just hugged him back. Neither acknowledged whether they might have felt the others momentary tears slip onto their shoulders, but later they would reflect that the moment still changed a lot of things.

For both of them.

0-0-0

A little while later, after downing about three bottles of water, splashing his face repeatedly to get rid of the evidence of his emotional conversation with Matty, and vaguely considering going back downstairs to take the doctor up on her offer of the magical beads of cough suppressant that didn't zonk him out, Mac finally made his way up to the next level of offices where Oversight was apparently waiting to speak to him.

When he hadn't responded to the earlier text, apparently it was taken a little personally because the next message came through Matty. She looked at her phone and said, "You're being summoned, Mac."

Mac had smiled and shaken his head. "I'm on my way." He's paused. "Thank you," he repeated.

It felt important that she know how grateful he was. He wasn't sure why. His brain was tied in too many knots to be sure of much of anything, but going with his feelings today was starting to feel pretty good.

She must have let Jack know he was coming because his partner met him as he got off the elevator. "You good, bud?" he asked carefully.

If anyone could tell he was a little bit of a mess, it was Jack of course. But he just offered a small smile letting him know that maybe he wasn't, but it would keep until later. He thought maybe after they got out of here he might be ready to let Jack know about Matty, and about some of the things his father had said. But crying at work once in a … ever … was too much for him, so he was way over his limit for today. And he realized he probably wasn't done. This was just … a lot. "I'm gettin' there, pal."

Jack pushed the door open and held it. Mac needed to talk, Jack could tell, could feel his tension. And Mac wasn't exactly letting him know what he needed so Jack decided to test the waters. "Well, we finally found your long lost father." The immediate click of a dry-mouthed swallow and the flexing of Mac's jaw said now was not the time for anything serious. "You got any other relatives you wanna go lookin' for real quick?"

Mac cracked a smile, but then sighed quietly. He suddenly wanted to very explicitly tell Jack how he felt too. He didn't want to turn into a man that would leave people who loved him wondering. If he got nothing else out of finding James MacGyver, it would be that. That he didn't want to be like him. "Honestly, I feel a little stupid spending all this time looking for my absentee father when the only family I really need has been right in front of my face all along."

Jack glanced at him. Rarely did Mac ever say anything so openly demonstrative. "Ah, well the feelin's mutual there, brother," he said, trying to keep his tone light.

Mac's whole being spoke of tension right now, and Jack really didn't want to pile on. But he also, didn't want Mac to close himself off to his dad just because he was still hurt and angry. Jack truly believed he'd regret that later.

Besides, he'd spent several hours with James, and while he thought the man was oddly determined to hide it, he detected a real interest in Mac, and a strangely fierce desire to protect him and see him realize his potential. Jack thought how the man was going about it was sure as Hell misguided, but then again, he didn't really know him. And he didn't need to. But Mac probably did. And he sure had spent a lot of time trying to get the change to.

He hurried to add, "But, you know, that's the great thing about family is it's never too late to add one more."

Mac bit his lip, having the distressing thought that sometimes it is too late. He really hoped it wasn't, but the four texts he'd received since Oversight had called down to Matty's office looking for him that more or less amounted to 'I'm waiting' had Mac very on edge, even if he was being asked to come have the talk he'd been asking for for the better part of the last two days.

Jack misread his tension though. Meaning to be reassuring, Jack half joked like the notion was ridiculous, "Hey, hey, this, uh, well, this whole dust-up between your old man and Walsh Something like that could never happen to us, could it?"

"C'mon," Mac said derisively, suddenly wondering in a very specific way what his father might have said to Jack while he was gone. "Besides, if you went to the dark side, I'd just figure a way to bring you back."

As he'd hoped, Jack's face lost a little of the concern with the dropping of a Star Wars reference, and when it devolved into Jack making wookie noises, Mac figured he'd lived up to his end of the partner bargain and gotten Jack back out of his own head after whatever Oversight might have planted there.

Jack figured he probably ought to get out of there and give Mac some space. The kid would probably be tied up for a while anyway, and if past experience told Jack anything, it was that Mac was going to want some space after this talk was over. You just couldn't push the kid at times like this. If you did, the walls would go up so fast, they'd be crushing you before you realized they'd been built right on top of where you were standing.

But when Jack saw how tentative Matty looked, just standing their eyeballing the open door, he stopped where he was. What could have Matty looking so concerned now that everyone was home safe and Oversight had finally agreed to talking with Mac?

Mac walked into the office, feeling a little apprehensive after some of things his father had already told him about the past, but also a little relieved that the man wasn't just avoiding him. "You wanted to see me?" he asked, not pointing out that calling Matty and texting him repeatedly was mabe a little overkill to get that done.

James nodded. "Yesterday, you came to me asking to quit Phoenix …" His eyes bored into Mac's. "So, do you want to work with me or not?"

Seriously, Mac wanted to yell. Father/son chat? After everything you unloaded on me, telling me it was basically my own fault for growing up without a father, and don't you dare try to dress that up, that's what you said, after all of that this is just about whether or not I'm going to let you keep trying to get me killed?

Nothing like that came out of his mouth though. He felt like he was going to cry. Or shout. Or do something else he would hate himself for later.

He took a deep breath.

His grandfather had always said, whenever you're overwhelmed, feel like you don't know what to do, just calm down and take a breath; the solution to whatever your problem is will present itself.

He knew what he had to do.

"I'm really glad I found you, and that we were able to talk about things that haven't made sense to me over the years." And as for me working here, I'll tell you the same thing I told Matty … I can't work with someone I don't trust." His father blinked like he was confused. Mac swallowed hard. This was the hardest thing he'd ever done. And a grown man anyway. Getting up and going to school the day after his father had left, that was probably the other thing that came close. "I'm sorry, Dad, but I can't work for you."

James MacGyver blinked in surprise, mouth hanging open. All of his carefully laid plans seemed to fly out of it, like flies. "You're quitting?" he said with almost horrified disbelief.

Mac's jaw firmed fractionally, his shoulders squared slightly. This was the right thing. He gave an almost imperceptible nod. "Effective immediately."

Mac turned on his heel and left, breezing passed his stunned family, his real family. He'd explain his reasons to them later. For now he just needed to get out of here. Before Oversight figured out some new and interesting way to make his little work project jump through the expect hoops. When that thought crossed his mind some of his original anger returned and his pace quickened.

The rest of the team stood in stunned silence. Jack, especially, seemed at a loss. After Mac had disappeared out the doors, they remained staring after him for several minutes in stunned silence. After another passed by, Matty finally spoke. "What are you waiting for, Jack? If our boy ever needed somebody to watch his back, it's now."

Jack nodded, not even turning to see what Mac's father was making of the situation.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, and started toward the door.