Author's Notes: I really appreciate the reviews I have received so far for this story. They help me tremendously.
Athenais: Mac is not really a 'houseman' in this story. I imagine him spending quality time working with children on a part-time basis. He also does the same kind of work he did for the Phoenix Foundation only as a freelance agent (being his own boss) for a law firm who can afford his fees. The rest of the time, he does what Mac wants to do (probably freelance work for others that Carter was not able to find out about). His wife takes care of the house.
As an aside, I hope you can forgive me for this, but I did not know about Phil and that MacGyver knew about aliens. In this storyline, Mac doesn't know about aliens until Chapter 21, when he first meets Daniel and Teal'c and finally starts to believe it. (I have just finished writing that chapter and so far, it is my favorite one!)
Trunksblue: I love your enthusiasm for this story. I have to smile each time I read your reviews. Thank you for those smiles!!
Secbeth: Your wish is my command. :-) See the next two chapters!
Relief washed over Mac as the plane landed in Denver. His anxiety had followed him around throughout the entire trip. Although he was doing a great job of hiding it from his wife and children, it was still there, a tangible breathing fear that had him on edge. He was relieved to have gotten his family away from their home, thinking that the danger, whatever it was, was most prominent there.
He was on his way to the car rental area when his fears were finally realized. He was grabbed from behind, his arm nearly breaking as it was twisted behind his back and he was pushed face first into the nearest wall. He heard Lanie cry out, but couldn't move to find out what had happened to her and the children.
"What's going on?" he asked, still trying to see who had grabbed him.
"Be quiet," a voice told him. "And listen carefully. I'm only going to say this once. We need something from you O'Neill and you're going to help us out, aren't you?"
"You have the wrong guy," Mac began, then groaned when his arm was twisted harder. He heard Lindsay cry out in sympathy for him. At least he hoped it was sympathy for him and not because she was being hurt. That thought caused anger to build up in him and he tried to contain it. Anger didn't help in situations like this.
"I said to be quiet," the voice growled. "We need your help in getting some translations, not to mention those handy little devices you all acquired during that 'foothold' situation. Imagine the possibilities and the things we can do impersonating someone else."
"What do you want me to do?" Mac asked, his old instincts and skills coming out during this time of trouble. He wished he could see his family; as his daughter's heart wrenching sobs were hard to listen to.
"Dr. Jackson will come in handy in translating some Asgard artifacts we have come in contact with and you have the authority to get the alien cloaking devices. That's all… for now," the voice told him.
Mac didn't know what to make of these demands. Alien cloaking devices? Were these guys X-Files fanatics, or what? "I'll see what I can do," he said, hoping to buy him some time and his freedom.
"Yes, you will," the voice told him. "You won't have a choice," he continued. Mac's blood went cold when he heard Lindsay scream, then Lanie's screams of rage as she tried to protect her daughter.
"Police business," Mac heard a second voice say. "Move on people, there's nothing for you to see here."
Lindsay and Lanie continued to make as much noise as possible, and Mac looked down when he heard a thud and saw that Pete had been thrown up against the wall near his feet. The rage building in him was unfamiliar. He couldn't remember ever being this angry. He tried one more time to get away from his attackers to help his family, but his arm was held tightly and he cried out when the man holding him punched him in the kidneys. "I'll let you go when I am ready," the cruelty in the man's voice convincing him to still his movements.
"Now listen carefully," the man demanded once again. "We'll contact you tomorrow morning to get a status update on the translations and to let you know where we want you to leave the cloaking devices. I know it'll take a couple of days to get your hands on the devices, but we can wait. The sooner you get the stuff to us, the sooner you will get to see this pretty little girl again." The little girl in question was pulled into his line of vision, a tall man with dark hair and a black mustache held Lindsay firmly in his grasp with his hand over her mouth.
Mac stared at his daughter, his anger and fear threatening to destroy him. He could hear Lanie crying quietly, probably held just as tightly as he was. Pete was sitting at Mac's feet, staring at his sister, his sobs breaking Mac's heart. Mac swore right then and there that he was going to kill Jack. Right after he destroyed the men who were hurting his family.
"One last thing O'Neill," said the man who was still holding his arm in a vise like grip. "I just thought you might want to know that there is someone looking into your past. Getting too close to your current past, if you know what I mean. But don't worry," the man sneered. "He's being taken care of. It's just a matter of who gets to him first… us or them. We can't have anyone finding out the national secret now, can we?"
"Wait," Mac said, as he remembered the paranoia from the day before. "How'd you know that I would be here?" he asked. Not only did he have his family to worry about, he now had Jesse to worry about.
"We have our ways," the man said mysteriously. "Hey, I'll tell you what. Once we get everything we want, I'll tell you how we knew, along with freeing this little sweetie, of course."
"You don't have to take her," Mac found himself pleading with them. "I'll get you anything you want. Please," he begged, "leave her alone."
"Wish I could trust you O'Neill, really I do. But you and I both know that I will probably have to fight for this stuff as it is, so just save it, okay?" With that said, Lindsay was dragged from his sight and he heard Lanie crying out before she was shoved to the wall next to Pete. Mac was let go at that point and he turned to see where they were going. Lindsay struggled to get out of their grasp and Mac paled as he saw the glint of a knife between her and the man who held her.
Mac didn't even stop to check on his wife and son, his attention was on his daughter who was being dragged away from him. He started to follow the men, but stopped when Lindsay cried out and the man holding her held up the blade to show him the blood on the blade before quickly hiding it and moving out a door that led to a parking lot. He ran to the door, but couldn't see where they had gone. He stood there on the pavement, looking in several different directions trying to get a glimpse of anything that would help him locate his daughter before finally giving up.
He went back into the lobby to find his wife on the floor holding Pete tightly, while sobbing and rocking them both back and forth. She looked up when Mac came to stand beside her and she hurriedly got up to look him in the eyes. "Where is she?" she raged. "Why didn't you bring her back?"
Mac just pulled her into a hug, holding her as she cried, her tears leaving damp trails down his shirt. He knew her fear, but instead of giving into his own fears, he was already working out scenarios to get his daughter back. First things first - he had to call Jack.
"Lanie, where's the cell phone?" he asked her as calmly as he could. "Lanie," he said again. "Come on honey, we have to get her back and to do this we need to call Jack. Where's the cell phone?"
"In my purse," she said as she wiped the tears on her cheeks. "We'll get her back, right Mac?"
"We'll get her back," Mac said with conviction. He got down on his knees and pulled Pete into an embrace. "It's going to be okay Pete. I swear it." He didn't like the look on his son's face. Pete seemed to be in shock, staring at him with a dazed look. "Pete, are you going to be okay?" he asked, as he pushed the hair out his son's eyes. He let out the breath he was holding when Pete nodded.
"What'd your girl do?" asked an old woman who had come up to get the latest gossip.
"Nothing," Lanie snapped at her. "They weren't police, they were hoodlums and you let them kidnap my daughter," she was screaming at the old woman by the end of the sentence. Her face was bright red with anger. "All of you," she said to the people who were hanging around. "You all let them kidnap my daughter."
"They had badges," the old woman said defensively, as she backed up.
"Badges can be faked," Lanie snarled, tears streaming down her face.
Mac came up to her then and gathered her into his arms again. "Lanie..." he soothed.
"She's gone Mac!" she cried out, her anger at the world spilling out. "Those men took her and these people didn't even lift a finger to help." Mac just held her, shushing her, soothing her with soft words of encouragement. "How could they not help?" she sobbed.
"They didn't know any better," Mac said, his voice still trying to calm her. "Come on, let's call Jack. He'll help us. He has to," Mac insisted.
Lanie just nodded, as she sat down against the wall pulling Pete over to her so that she could hold him close to her heart. Mac dialed the cell phone number that Lanie had pulled out of her purse along with the phone. He got Jack's voice mail, so Mack hung up without leaving a message. He needed to talk to Jack now.
"He's not answering his cell phone," Mac told his wife. "Do you have a home phone number for him?"
"No," she said, as she shook her head. "But Jesse told me that Jack works at a facility called Cheyenne Mountain. Maybe we could get a phone number for there," she said hopefully.
"Yeah, maybe," Mac replied thoughtfully. He took the phone and dialed a number he knew by heart. If anyone could help them find the number, his friend Theresa Calder could. She worked at a law firm that hired him on occasion to ferret out information that they couldn't otherwise get their hands on. He was extremely good at what he did, which is why the firm didn't balk at his exorbitant fees. Mac relied heavily on Theresa's investigative skills when it came to earning those fees, and the two had become close friends over the years.
She didn't let him down, calling him back 30 minutes later. This had given him plenty of time to warn Jesse and to get Lanie and Pete settled into some chairs with cups of hot chocolate to calm them. Theresa gave him the number, telling him that if he needed her for anything to just give her a call. He thanked her, then called the number she had given him.
