Chapter Two: Fire of Fury
Oversight's office
Mac really wishes he wasn't here
As soon as Mac entered the office, his father had delivered a fierce slap. He blinked furiously in surprise not expecting James to lash out so quickly. He tried to ignore the burning pain coming from his cheek. What did he do wrong this time?
"That was for failing to comply immediately. When I order you do something I expect it to be followed through with the first time. Next time you'll get more than just a slap." James scolded. It was eerie how well his father could read his mind. Mac considered himself a pretty good liar when he needed to, but he could never successfully lie to his father. He always seemed to know what was on Mac's mind.
"Yes sir." Mac answered trying to ignore his burning cheek.
James perched on the edge of his seat still maintaining eye contact with his son.
"What exactly happened?" He asked.
"I hurt my shoulder."
"Angus. I thought I had already been clear. We are going to discuss your incompetence which led to that injury."
Mac shook his head. He didn't think that he'd done anything wrong to cause his injury. It wasn't even that serious of an injury. Ok, so he'd fallen badly on it but that had been a result of falling out of a building to avoid being shot.
"I wouldn't say it was due to my incompetence sir."
James let out a puff of air: a sure sign that he was beginning to get angry. Very angry.
"You got injured, Angus Dean. If you had not been incompetent that wouldn't have happened."
Mac bristled at the sound of his middle name. His mother chose it so when he heard it his mind flashed at the brief memories of her. If his father was using it meant he was pissed off, dangerously so. He needed to be careful here. Mac lowered his head in submission. It was a move he'd done several times when he was younger and had pushed his luck too far. It helped placate his father and thus was better for him.
"You're right sir. I'm sorry." Mac responded. "I landed badly when jumping from the building. I analysed the situation and concluded that the risks of jumping from the building outweighed the risks of being shot."
"And yet if you had taken out that combatant you wouldn't need to worry about that. But since you were not able to do that one would hope you'd make a successful landing. Obviously, we need to work on your landing skills."
"Yes sir."
"Now we need to discuss your disobedience. I believe that Director Webber told you to report to her as soon as you landed? And yet the first place you reported to was Medical."
"Yes sir. Jack I mean Agent Dolton sort of made me get my shoulder checked on. It hurt so I decided to do what he suggested."
"You are in control of your own actions Angus. Your injury was both minor and your fault. That is no excuse to disobey orders. Your actions reflect badly on me and Director Webber. I expect an apology."
"I'm sorry sir." Mac apologised.
"Report to my office first thing tomorrow. We'll work on your landing. You'll be working from the Phoenix for the next case. If you can't follow a simple order I can't trust you in the field. Now get out of my sight."
Mac practically ran out of his Dad's office. He raised a hand to his cheek wincing when he felt the sting of the slap. He took a minute to steady himself as a tear fell down his reddening cheek. He gave one last look in the direction of his father's office before. His father had always been this way, even when he was a kid. Whenever Mac screwed up (which could be by doing something as little as being late home) his father had always given him a stern lecture about disappointing him. Then he'd be punished. When his dad left and his grandfather had taken him in, that had all changed.
On the drive home, Mac thought about what his father had said. His father was right of course. He always was. If Mac had planned ahead and foresaw the combatant coming out of that alcove he wouldn't have needed to jump out that window. Then he'd had been stupid and landed incorrectly. He was going to pay attention tomorrow when his father trained him and worked on his landing techniques.
By the time Mac got home, he'd concluded that his cheek would have a light bruise by the morning. He'd also come up with an excuse to tell everyone other than the fact that his father had hit him and likely would have given him a hell of a lot worse if they hadn't been at Phoenix. He couldn't tell them the truth. They'd say he deserved it. That he was weak. He couldn't bear to see the look on their faces when they found out how weak he had been.
"Hey!" Mac called when he opened the door. He dumped his bag on the sofa and headed to the kitchen to get a drink. He was really thirsty.
"Mac!" Bozer called back poking his head around the kitchen door. He was cooking something. Whatever it was smelt delicious. Then again, whatever Bozer made was delicious.
"What are you cooking?" Mac asked.
"Mushroom and Bacon Pastry Twists." Bozer answered "I thought that we might want something to go with the pizza- Mac what happened to your face?"
Bozer cut himself off when he noticed Mac's cheek. That wasn't there before which meant that whatever happened to him after he'd left the Phoenix.
"Oh. It was stupid." Mac lied "I walked into the same door someone else tried to open."
"Wow. You are really unlucky. How's that shoulder?" Bozer asked him.
Mac did a few shoulder exercises before he responded.
"It's fine actually."
Bozer lingered his gaze on Mac for a few more minutes before he went back to cooking. Mac began to set up their back yard so that they were ready for when everyone came over.
A few hours later the team were around the firepit eating pizza, and pastry twists and drinking beer. They had a fun time laughing and generally had a good time. The idea of truth or dare was immediately vetoed by Matty after the last game nearly ended up with a broken bone. That though was a story for another time.
"Are you all right Hoss?" Jack asked noticing that Mac had been rather quiet for the whole evening. He hadn't even corrected Jack when he quite deliberately used the wrong words. In fact, he hadn't done much of anything. That concerned Jack because Mac was many things but quiet wasn't one of them.
"I'm fine Jack. I'm just a little tired." Mac answered.
"What happened to your face?" Riley asked just noticing his red check which was beginning to bruise.
"I had a fight with a door." Mac lied again.
"It seems like the door won." Riley commented.
"If you wanted to spar I would have volunteered." Jack offered.
"Yeah, that's just what I needed: to pin you on your ass." Mac responded eliciting a laugh amongst the group. Bozer and Riley leaned over and high fived him. Jack shook his head and protested loudly.
"Oh, you really think you'd pin me, Carl Junior?" Jack asked.
"I have three words for you Jack 'day we met'" Mac answered.
"All right I'll give you that." Jack gave in. He raised his bottle The team clunked their bottles and against theirs.
Matty observed Mac's behaviour. It worried her. Sure, he was laughing and socialising like he normally did. He was a little quiet though and while that could be explained by the fact he was tried there was something that wasn't quite right. Call it instinct if you want but something was telling her that Mac wasn't all right. There was something more to the tale than Mac just being a little tried.
Then there was his cheek. Mac said he'd banged it on a door, but it didn't seem true. Matty always knew when Mac lied. She supposed it was like how a mother always knew. She didn't like what that meant. If Mac was lying about that then it likely meant that someone had done it to him. Someone had hit Mac and it must have happened at her foundation. Matty had a hunch as to who it was. Matty really hoped she was wrong. If she was right though, they'd never find his body.
As everyone started to leave Matty approached Mac. He was alone and which made the decision a lot easier for the Phoenix Director. She needed to speak to him about his concerns, and it would be easier to do that in an informal environment. If she approached him at the foundation, Mac would see her as his boss and would be slightly on edge. She needed him to be relaxed as see her as a friend instead.
"Hey Mac, I'm going to head off soon."
Mac glanced at her and smiled softly.
"Do you have a ride fixed?" Mac asked.
"You think I'd drive after today?" Matty questioned.
"No of course not. I wouldn't think that you'd be anything but responsible." Mac answered honestly. He wouldn't want Matty to think that he thought badly of her. He respected Matty greatly and more than that- he liked her. He certainly would never disrespect her or her decisions.
"Are you sure everything is all right? Bozer said you were a while coming home but I know for a fact that I sent you home quite quickly."
"I'm fine Matty, really I am. I'm just tired after this mission. And I was a little later than what was originally planned because my father called me into his office."
"What happened with him?" Matty asked concerned.
"Nothing much we just had words that's all." Mac explained.
Matty gave him an appraising look. She doubted that was all that happened. Knowing James, he blamed Mac for the injury. He would also believe that Mac's visit to medical was deliberate disobedience. Matty knew from experience that James would have no tolerance for that.
"What did he say?" Matty asked.
"The usual. I was incompetent and disobedient. I should have foreseen that combatant; I fell badly and that was my fault as well as my lack of training. I also should have reported to you immediately. By not doing so I made the agency and you look bad which is unacceptable."
"Oh, Mac."
"It's all right Matty. He was right and I deserved-" Mac stopped himself.
"He was not right Mac. You made the right call and going to medical supersedes any orders. And you did not deserve him yelling at you."
Mac dropped his gaze to the floor. The conversation had done nothing to calm her nerves. If anything, it made worse and confirmed her fears that there was something wrong with Baby Einstein.
"Mac did your father hit you?" Matty asked, deciding that the best way to deal with the situation was to deal with it head-on. At least Matty could then see his reaction to her question. That would allow her to evaluate the situation and work from there.
"What!? No! Of course, he didn't." Mac answered. He tried hard to fake the outrage in his voice. It was hard to do and he wasn't exactly doing a bang-up job of it.
"I'm sorry Mac. I was just worried because you said had spoken to him and the last time I saw you didn't have that bruise." Matty apologised. She threw up a hand in a placating gesture.
"It's all right Matty. Your concern is apricated."
Matty opened her mouth but a beep from her phone interrupted her. She looked at it and saw a notification that alerted her that her cab had arrived.
"My ride's here." Matty announced.
"Well don't let me keep you. I'll see you tomorrow." Mac replied.
Matty debated as to whether she should stay before he decided that she couldn't do much more. After wishing Mac a good night and saying goodbye to Bozer, she left the house. Once she was in the back of her taxi she thought about Mac and his recent behaviour. A fire of fury was burning inside of her. She was certain that James had hit his son. The way Mac reacted suggested that he was lying. It was hard to fake that kind of reaction and while Mac had tried he hadn't succeeded in fooling her.
Well, Matty wasn't going to sit by and not do anything. She didn't care that James was her boss. She didn't care that they used to be friends. Mac was, well, to be honest, he was like a son to her. He meant so much to her. He meant so much to all of them. They were a family, not just a team. James MacGyver had hurt her family and she wasn't going to let him get away with it. She was going to make him pay or her name wasn't Matilda Webber.