The foothills of the Rocky Mountains can be almost as impressive as the mountains they guarded. Mac never tired of looking at them and he enjoyed the view as he traveled south from Denver. To him the foothills and the mountains offered a chance to get out there and commune with nature and he felt the familiar pull these mountains had on his soul. Yes, he loved the rivers and lakes in his home state of Minnesota, but whenever he found himself near these mountains in particular, he felt like he was home.

The sun was low in the sky, casting shadows across the highway as he and his family made their way to Colorado Springs. It would be dark soon and Mac would be glad when they reached their destination. He looked back at his son to find him asleep in the back seat of the rental car they were in. Mac hoped this nap would help Pete recover from the shock mode he seemed to be in. Pete hadn't said more than three words since Lindsay was kidnapped.

Lanie, on the other hand, had gone past shock and was in complete anger mode. She was staring out the window toward the mountains and Mac decided to let her work out the anger on her own. He'd had to practically force her to come with him to Colorado Springs as it was, and he figured it would be easier for her to calm down if he left her alone. She had been determined to stay in Denver as that is where Lindsay had been taken. She was not leaving her daughter in a strange city with strange captors, and that was final. He'd finally got her to realize that they needed to get to Colorado Springs where Jack was. It was when Jack had told him, "If they know me, they'll know I will not negotiate over a dead hostage," that had finally convinced Mac to trust in Jack's judgment. Those words almost mirrored the ones spoken by the man who had him pinned to the wall at the airport, "…you and I both know that I will probably have to fight for this stuff as it is," the man had said. The message from both men was loud and clear: Jack was going to be in charge of the whole matter and everything was going to go his way, which is why Mac was on his way to his brother's house instead of waiting by a phone in some hotel.

Mac knew from experience how to deal with these people. He'd had to use his wits to get away from more than his share of them. He had no doubts that he would get his daughter back, he just didn't quite know how he was going to accomplish it. One thing for sure, though, Jack was going to have to tell him everything. Mac was not going to settle for 'classified', or any other excuse Jack could come up with. He felt a measure of trust for Jack, but he still planned to be right there in the thick of things when it came time to get Lindsay back, and to do this he needed to know exactly what he was up against.

He heard Lanie sigh and he glanced over at his wife as she turned to check on Pete. "He's asleep," she said, turning to look at Mac. "Do you think he'll be alright?"

"I hope so," Mac responded. "Probably will," he corrected with a small smile at her. "He's a MacGyver after all."

'Like father, like son?" she asked, as she reached over to smooth his hair. He glanced at her again, realizing that she had finally calmed down.

"Yeah."

She turned her attention to the scenery passing by the windows, her hand still absently smoothing his hair. He had gone back to thinking about the problem at hand and was brought back out of his musing when Lanie spoke up again. "What do you think they will do to her?"

He looked over at her for a moment, trying to come up with an answer that wouldn't cause her nightmares. She turned in the seat so that she was almost facing him, putting both hands in her lap, watching him. He turned his attention back to his driving, before finally telling her what he thought might happen. "I don't think they will hurt her," he began. "But I don't think they will be gentle with her either. They will have to keep her tied up and gagged in order to keep her quiet. They will be moving her to Colorado Springs which means she'll be hidden in a vehicle. Personally, I hope it's a van," he added, almost as a whisper.

"Once they get to where they are going, they'll probably keep her tied up in a bed or on a cot. Other than that, she'll be fed and kept alive and unhurt until they have what they want or we get her out of there, whichever comes first. My money is on getting her out of there first," he said with conviction.

She didn't say anything after that, just turned toward the front so that she could go back to staring out the window. Mac wished he could ease her fears, but he knew that sugar coating the situation was not going to help his wife get through this.

They drove in silence again, both lost in their own thoughts. The cell phone rang and Lanie gasped when she saw who it was. "Oh my gosh! I forgot to let Cyndi know what's going on," she said with a guilty look on her face. Mac smiled as she answered the phone, knowing that her sister would help her with sympathy and whatever else it was that women did when faced with suffering and distress.

Pete woke up as his mother and her sister were commiserating over and dealing with their separate problems. Mac turned and gave his son a quick smile before asking, "Do you feel better?"

"Yeah," Pete responded sleepily. "Where are we?"

"We're almost there," Mac told him.

"I tried to help," Pete said quietly. "They were too strong for me." Mac heard the tears in Pete's voice and he closed his eyes for a few seconds to fight off his own emotions.

"You did great," Mac assured him.

"You should have seen him Mac," Lanie said, having told her sister that she would call her back. "He jumped on that guy's back, hanging on like a monkey," she teased, as she grinned at her son.

Mac smiled at her, then glanced back at his son. "I'm proud of you, Pete. No matter what, you tried."

"Is Lindsay going to die?" Pete asked after a few seconds of silence.

"No," Mac replied. "She's not going to die. We'll get her back, you'll see."

There were a few more minutes of silence before Pete said, "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"When are we going to eat? I'm hungry."

Mac couldn't help the smile that came to his face at his son's complaint. He looked over at his wife and felt the warmth as she smiled back at him. "Pizza!" they both said at the same time.


Darkness had settled over the yard when they'd finally arrived at Jack's house. There were no lights on inside the house and Mac grumbled when he tripped over a hedge as he looked for the key Jack had hidden. He found it and headed back to the front door to let his family in.

They entered the house and Mac found the light switch after some more grumbling. There was a large envelope on the floor just inside the door and Lanie picked it up to lay it down on the table that was next to the door.

Jack's tastes were simple, Mac noticed as they walked into the living room. He immediately felt comfortable in this room and that said a lot. He walked over to where Lanie was standing, holding a picture frame in her hand. He looked at the picture over her shoulder and saw it was a picture of Jack along with a woman and little boy. Mac knew he was looking at Jack's family before it was torn apart by a tragedy, and he felt sadness for the brother he never knew he had until a week ago.

He turned away, looking for the phone. He wanted to let Jack know they were there. Pete had found a Play Station 2 and was settling in to play one of Jack's games. Lanie took it upon herself to see if there was anything edible in the man's kitchen, and if he knew her, she was already creating a grocery list.

He called Jack's office and was told that the General had just left. He then tried Jack's cell phone and was glad when it was answered. Jack was going to make a stop at the store on his way home and Mac had to relay the items Lanie insisted Jack pick up while he was there.

After he'd hung up the phone, Mac sat down on the couch, leaning back until he was staring at the ceiling. He ran his hands through his hair while still staring at the ceiling, wondering what Lindsay was going through right then. He was glad for the interruption when Lanie sat down next to him and leaned up against him.

"We'll get her back," he insisted, knowing where her thoughts were taking her.

"I believe you Mac," she said, as she curled her legs up under her. "Earlier, in the car, I was remembering the stories Pete Thornton used to tell me about. You know, the adventures you had when you worked with him. He said you had never failed to get people out of the situations they found themselves in." She grinned at him then and continued, "I have to tell you that if I hadn't seen you repairing machines and things that broke down around the house, I would never have believed him about that stuff where you deactivated bombs with paper clips."

"Not paper clips," he said, shaking his head. "Although, I suppose I could….," he stopped as he realized she had been teasing him. "Not nice, Lanie," he said as he smiled back at her.

They sat on the couch in silence as Pete played his video game. The only thing missing from this family picture was Lindsay. It wouldn't be long before he had her back, Mac swore to himself, as he reached into his pocket to pull out his Swiss Army Knife.