Chapter 12: Recovery and Return
Summary: "Deleted scenes" set sometime between Family Resemblance Part II and In the Wee Small Hours.
Author's Note: I couldn't decide where to put these few select "deleted scenes" that take place between the two stories, so I'm posting them here. There's a rough chronological order, but no coherent story. Hope you enjoy them anyway!
-June, 1990-
"Gin."
"Aw, man. Again?"
"Yep. And that means..." Becky counted through the toothpicks on the table alongside the discarded playing cards, "at the current exchange rate you owe me four turns at dish duty when we get home." The blue eyes sparkled triumphantly at the deep brown ones of the man sitting across from her in the hospital bed.
MacGyver ruefully shook his head. "I don't believe it. You gotta be cheating or something, Beck. How can you win so many times at this game?"
"Just natural skill and talent, I guess," she breezily replied, shuffling the cards. "Plus all the practice I've had over the years playing against Pete and Jack while waiting for you to get out of the emergency room. Care to make it five?"
"Sure, but I still think you've got somethin' up your sleeve... Hey, Pete," Mac greeted his longtime friend as he came into the room. "You're just in time to watch my card-shark niece here beat the pants off me at gin rummy for the fifth time in a row." Becky just grinned at the older man in reply.
Pete chuckled. "Well actually," he said as he leaned against the other bed in the hospital room, "I'm here to bring you both some good news for a change. I just talked to the doctor and he said you're both ready to be discharged from the hospital tomorrow early afternoon."
"That's terrific. It'll be great to sleep in our own beds again, and wear our own clothes instead of these hospital gowns. Right, Becky?" Mac looked at her for confirmation and found her staring out the window, absently rubbing the bandages at her wrists covering the ugly welts where Murdoc's manacles had dug into her skin.
He shared a look of concern with Pete. "Becky? You okay?"
Startled, the young woman turned her attention back to the two men. "Huh? Yeah Unc, I'm fine. It would be great to be back home, I guess..." Her eyes dropped down to the bandages again, only to find her small hands covered by MacGyver's larger ones.
He squeezed them gently. "Hey, don't worry about it," he said softly. "Murdoc won't be waiting for us when we get home, you know that. Everyone's been watching the place since we got here, and there's been no sign of him so far. They'll let us know if anything happens. Right, Pete?"
"Absolutely, Mac." Thornton glanced at his watch. "Speaking of which, I'd better go and check up on them. They said they were going to clean the apartment before tomorrow, and I want to make sure Jack's doing his fair share of the work. I'll be back here tomorrow with the limo. And Jack, Penny and Nikki are cooking dinner for you both to celebrate your return home."
Becky turned to him, eyes wide in alarm. "Jack and Penny are cooking? Do you really think it's safe? Guys, we all know neither of them can cook; the last time they tried, the kitchen almost burned down!"
The two men laughed. "Well, I did say Nikki was there too," Pete reassured her. "She knows how to cook; I'm sure they'll do just fine under her supervision. I'll be here when you both are ready to leave. Have a good evening."
"You too, Pete. See you tomorrow." MacGyver turned his attention back to his niece after his friend left; she was staring off into space and rubbing at the bandages again. He picked up the deck of cards and began shuffling. "C'mon Beck, it's my turn to deal. Let's see if I can win back those dish duty markers, what do you say?"
They hit the water together. He sank briefly, then swam upward towards the light. When he surfaced, Becky was nowhere to be found. Ducking back under he saw her struggling to join him, every move only serving to push her further into the murky depths. He dove to assist, but just as he reached her outstretched hands Murdoc triumphantly snatched her away and dragged her down, further and further into the endless darkness until they disappeared forever...
"No!" MacGyver's eyes flew open as he sat up quickly, heart pounding. He took long, ragged breaths, trying to calm his shaking body until the adrenaline rush finally subsided.
Another nightmare. Another darn nightmare courtesy of Murdoc. And Mac himself. The whole thing was his own fault, of course. All those years ago the assassin had promised to come for Becky and he'd forgotten all about it. Because of that, he'd been too late to prevent the kidnapping. It was a mistake that had almost cost the life of the one person he loved more than anything.
A soft moan interrupted his thoughts; turning he saw her petite form moving restlessly, obviously lost in her own dark dreams. He rose from the bed and moved over to hers, reaching down to carefully smooth the soft reddish-brown hair. He watched her tension gradually ease, soothed by his gentle touch, and wished he could relax as easily. He briefly wondered if he should wake her but decided against it, mindful of the unique bond they shared with each other, ever since she was born. What hurt him emotionally hurt her as well; it wasn't fair to burden her with his issues too.
Mac sighed, kissed her cheek lightly and returned to bed. He settled on his side to watch her now-quiet slumber, guilt and worry holding his own sleep far away.
"Almost there," MacGyver said softly as the limo moved through the familiar neighborhood streets near their apartment. "Home sweet home-"
"Sweet home," Becky finished the familiar saying and they smiled at each other. "You're right, Unc. It's good to be home." Especially since I thought I'd never see it again. She quickly wiped at the tears that threatened to escape lest he see them. It had been only three days in the hospital- and no one had any idea how long Murdoc had actually kept her unconscious before the rescue- but it still seemed like forever.
At last the limo stopped, the door opened and Pete was there to help them both out. The young woman followed the older men to the apartment door but stopped short of crossing the threshold. Knowing the assassin had once been inside waiting for her, she simply couldn't bring herself to enter.
For a while she just stood there outside until MacGyver turned back towards her, then with a reassuring smile he reached out and took hold of her hand. "It's okay, Becky," he said gently. "He's not here anymore. We're safe now. C'mon in. Everyone's waiting for us." He led her inside and shut the door behind them.
"MacGyver, what's wrong with Becky? She was so quiet during dinner."
Hearing her name, the young woman paused at the top of the stairs an hour later.
"I don't know, Penny. She's healed physically but I'm not sure about mentally, you know? Sometimes it seems like she's okay, then other times it's like she shuts down- or goes elsewhere, or something- and stays quiet like that for a long time. Well, quieter than she usually is."
"She might be going through some kind of post-traumatic stress," Pete mused. "It was here that Murdoc took her, after all. It might be triggering some of those memories. Should I see if Dr. Morgan's free to talk to her next week, Mac? She's been pretty helpful in counseling you and Becky over the past few years." Dr. Elizabeth Morgan, Becky recalled, was one of the Foundation's therapists.
"If you think she can help, then sure. But Becky's never hesitated to tell me what's on her mind before; maybe I can get her to open up first."
"Poor kid." That was Jack. "It's a good thing then that I didn't tell her the really weird thing we found when we cleaned up the place."
An unladylike snort from Nikki. "What do you mean we, Dalton? Penny and I did all the work while you kept going in the kitchen to find things to munch on."
"Not that I could find much in there to eat anyway. You should be ashamed of yourself, Mac. You've got a growing teenager here at home and hardly any decent snacks around for her to eat-"
"Jack, get back to the point! What was the weird thing you found?"
"Well I don't know if it was weird actually, but it was kinda spooky in a way. You know how bad the place looked after Murdoc took Becky? It looks like he trashed everywhere except for her room. Seems he just left it alone, for some reason."
"That is weird. You checked it for booby traps, right?"
"Sure did, Pete. No sign of any traps at all. And that's what I was doing upstairs, Nikki. I was not taking a nap in Mac's room like you thought..."
Becky turned away from eavesdropping on their conversation and went into her bedroom. Turning on the light, she saw that Jack was right- it didn't look any different from when she had left it that morning so many days ago. Nothing appeared to have changed at all.
Nothing, that is, except for herself. She wondered if would be able to sleep that night, knowing the assassin had actually been in her room.
In fact, Becky wondered if she would get to sleep soundly ever again.
Sitting at the kitchen table some hours later, Becky wearily rubbed her temples, then reached for the mug of tea. The nightmares were really beginning to take their toll and she desperately needed the extra caffeine to keep her awake.
She was mentally and physically drained from the lack of sleep and general nervousness- symptoms of post-traumatic stress, according to Pete- and as a consequence the memory of the ordeal was still fresh in her mind. But under her uncle's patient, loving care she had to admit that at last it was no longer quite so painful, and for that she was grateful.
She heard MacGyver hang up the phone in the living room after a lengthy conversation with Pete. "Good news," he said with a grin as he joined her at the table. "Pete says I don't have to check in at the Foundation until Monday, so we have a three-day weekend all to ourselves. So I thought today we'd have a couch potato afternoon, then go out and pick up some Chinese and rent a couple movies for the night. Then tomorrow I have hockey practice, so I could drop you off somewhere and meet up with you later at the rink. And Sunday we'll go to the beach and pick up groceries on the way home." He reached for his glass of orange juice and took a sip.
"Sure, Unc. Sounds like a good plan to me." Becky swallowed a spoonful of cereal, then pushed the bowl away and rubbed her head.
Mac looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "Something wrong?"
"Just tired. It's been a heck of a week, hasn't it. I'm glad we've both got some downtime this weekend."
"Me, too. And it starts," pushing the cereal bowl back towards her, "once you've finished eating your breakfast. Got it?"
She rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Yes, dad."
Naturally, the phone rang in the middle of the movie's most exciting scene. MacGyver saw Becky reach behind her and pick it up, and took advantage of her distraction to nimbly snag a sweet-and-sour-shrimp from her takeout carton with his chopsticks. "Oh come on, Unc... Hello? Oh hi, Jack. Sorry about that- Mac just stole some of my dinner..." She blocked his returning chopsticks with her own and he laughed softly.
"Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better, thanks... No, we're just having Chinese and watching a movie... No, I don't think there will be enough leftovers for you... No, I'm not gonna put him on... Because whenever I do, he suddenly has to leave and meet you and then he's gone for hours or days, that's why. We're relaxing this weekend and I'm not letting him out of my sight." Becky smiled at her uncle and winked, then laughed. "Hey, someone's gotta look out for him, after all... Yeah, he's going into the Foundation on Monday, and I'll probably go with him... Okay, see you there. We'll do lunch... Right, bye."
She hung up the phone. "That was Jack, obviously. Nothing important, just wanted to see how we're doing."
"You were pretty firm with him there," he noted. "Are you always like that when he calls?"
"Only when you come home from an assignment exhausted and he needs you to do something for him. You give in way too easily, you know that? You've gotta learn to say no every once in a while." The young woman poked around in her takeout carton, then looked at her uncle's. "Hey, can I have one of your spring rolls? Seems only fair since you stole one of my sweet-and-sour shrimp."
Mac smiled mischievously as he pointed the remote at the VCR. "Nah Beck, I don't think so."
Becky rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean you had to start saying no now, Unc! C'mon already. Please?"
"Well, since you asked so nicely..." He grinned, handing over his carton. "Anything for my princess."
A glimpse of sandy-brown hair out of the corner of her eye and an accented male voice speaking behind her made Becky stop dead in the middle of the sidewalk the next day, quaking inside with fear. She held herself still in front of a beauty salon window, hoping not to be noticed. She waited, almost holding her breath in panic until the man passed by, talking on a cellular phone, then exhaled in relief when she saw it wasn't Murdoc. God, I'm gonna drive myself crazy, she thought, if I always have to be watching over my shoulder. Get a grip, already!
Besides, according to Mac and Pete's stories of past encounters the assassin usually disappeared and didn't surface again for a long while later. An encounter with Murdoc wasn't likely to happen soon, anyway.
Four years' worth of experience living with her troubleshooter uncle had- Becky believed- taught her to keep her cool, use common sense and trust her instincts when dealing with the unexpected. But the encounter with Murdoc had truly shaken her- if he could show up at home just like that, then where else could he get to her...?
She shook her head to get rid of the thought. He was not following her today. It was time to put it behind her and get on with life.
A neon sign in the next window over caught her eye: Haircuts $4.95.
I need a change, she thought.
