Somewhere in Venezuela
Mac teeters on Jack's shoulders as he works on an electrical panel in a partially destroyed-by-mud building.
Standing on a metal desk, Jack yells up at Mac, 'Can you hurry it up there, Hoss? You're getting kinda heavy.'
'Well, if you could keep me steady for more than 2 seconds at a time, then I could go much faster.' Mac drily replies, as he maintains his focus on re-wiring the circuitry.
'I would if I wasn't concerned about the gazillion scorpions sneaking up on us,' Jack retorts as he looks down at the army of invading scorpions crawling over the rubble of what's left of the former refinery control room. 'They're all different shapes and sizes but they all share the same menacing look in their eyes,' he elaborates dramatically.
'Venezuela has the most types of scorpions in all of South America, with 5 distinct families. Over 184 species. Most are dangerous to humans, some even lethal,' Mac comments as if he is reading the label of a ketchup bottle.
Jack wears his usual exasperated expression at being on the receiving end of one of Mac's impromptu science lessons. All of the sudden a grumbling can be heard in the distance. Jack's annoyed face now becomes his 'I've got a bad feeling about this' face.
'Mac – we're out of time. Get that satellite uplink done now so we can get outta here,' he exclaims over the mounting sound of the mud avalanche coming their way.
'Almost there,' Mac calls down over the clatter of what remains of the building's walls crumbling around them as the ground below them begins to shake. With the last twist of his Swiss Army Knife, Mac completes his task just as the desk beneath Jack's feet bucks them both into the air. Loud grunts are heard as Jack and Mac land hard on the ground below.
'Uh oh,' Mac utters as he looks up and sees that one of those 184 species is only mere inches away from his face.
Riley's Apartment
Riley's eyes slowly flutter open at the sound of someone tinkering in her kitchen. And not the tinkering that results in a 'Breakfast in Bed' type of outcome. Closing her eyes again with a small sigh that quickly turns into a small smile, she then opens her eyes and gets out of bed, reaching for her lingerie's matching robe.
As she starts towards the kitchen, she can already see that some appliance has garnered 'under construction' status. When she reaches the kitchen, she finds Mac halfway under the countertop where her now-dismantled dishwasher formerly occupied.
'Morning, Mac,' she casually calls out, leaning against the door jam. Mac ducks his head out from beneath the counter.
'Morning, Riles,' he begins tentatively, 'I noticed that there was an irregular noise last time we ran it, so I…'
Riley cuts him off, 'Thought you would get to the bottom of it and maybe fix the rinse cycle too?' she smirks good-naturedly.
Mac smiles when he sees that Riley isn't upset, 'Exactly.'
Riley moves to towards the coffee machine, 'Well, want some coffee while you mess up the dishwasher's warranty?' she asks with a smile.
'Love some,' Mac smiles sheepishly.
Riley hands Mac a freshly poured cup then pours one for herself. 'You know, they're gonna find him,' she announces to a surprised Mac.
'That obvious?' Mac asks ironically, already knowing the answer. Riley gives him an understanding smile.
'Your need to take things apart is directly correlated to your state of mind, so yeah,' she outlines as she joins him on the floor. 'Wanna talk about it?' she probes gently as she nudges his shoulder.
Mac heaves a huge sigh, a look of bewilderment settling on his face, 'It's just with Dad gone, I thought that all the mysteries, the breadcrumbs of truth – all the drama – would be over. Instead, the legacy he's left me is more questions.'
'Hey,' Riley reaches over to tilt Mac's head to have him meet her eyes, 'This is a Jonah Walsh issue. He's the one that's causing you grief, not your dad. Remember that.' Riley makes sure that Mac see her point. 'And he is just another criminal, and like all the others we've brought to justice over the years, we will bring him in too,' she continues.
Mac reaches for her hand and gives it a tight squeeze, 'What would I do without you,' he muses with a wisp of a smile.
'Most likely leave a trail of broken hearts along with major appliances in your wake,' she smirks. 'Good thing that I'm never gonna let you find out,' she promises softly.
After raising their joined hands to his lips, Mac decides that the sweet gesture isn't enough for him and he pulls Riley onto his lap for a proper good morning kiss. Before the kiss can explode into something much more, the familiar ding to both of their phones tells them that their plans for a relaxing morning to themselves just got put on the back burner.
'Race you to the shower?' Mac suggestively inquiries.
Riley gives him a playful look before jumping up and making a beeline for the bathroom, 'you're on' she calls over her shoulder. Mac grins and hops up from the floor, taking a more leisurely approach, all the while contemplating what they can get away with in a short amount of time.
'Come on, Mac, let's go,' Riley says as she shrugs on her backpack. 'If we make Matty wait much longer, Jack won't have to worry about getting a new place or the GTO back – we'll be gone,' she calls out.
Mac strolls out from the bedroom, hair still wet and slicked back. 'We're good, Riles. If she was truly pissed at us, she would have sent us 3 reminder texts instead of the solo one we got,' he smirks. As he shrugs on his jacket, Riley looks past him at her gas fireplace and sees that her dishwasher isn't the only thing in the process of getting an upgrade. She simply shakes her head.
'We really gotta get Jack out of your place before my security deposit is shot to hell,' she mutters to herself as she follows Mac out.
'What was that?' Mac asks absently as he looks over at her.
Riley smiles brightly, 'Nothing important,' she replies as she locks her apartment door, 'let's get to work.' Mac smiles, confidently grabbing her hand as they walk out of the building.
Phoenix War Room
When Mac and Riley arrive, they are surprised to see Leanna in the room along with Bozer, Matty, Jack and Desi. They instinctively know that her presence means that somehow the CIA is involved in their next op.
'Now that we're all here,' Matty begins, 'let's get to it. Leanna?' Matty turns the floor over to Leanna.
With Bozer standing next to her lending quiet support, Leanna outlines what has brought her to the Phoenix Foundation.
'For the last few months, I've been assigned to follow up on reported disappearances of Americans throughout Europe,' Leanna shrugs, 'nothing out of the ordinary stood out until 6 weeks ago when I noticed that in Western Europe, notably in Spain, individuals with a certain profile were being abducted.'
'Who are we talking about?' Jack asks, concerned.
'Smart people with pedigrees and trust funds,' Bozer chimes in. While Leanna looks slightly annoyed at his interruption, she quickly lets it slide.
'He's not wrong,' Leanna concedes. 'All of the abductees did come from wealthy families, attended Ivy League schools and were considered experts in their particular fields of study. And it wasn't just them that were taken. All of them had protection details, usually a lone bodyguard that also went missing with them,' she continues.
'Have any of them turned up?' Desi asks.
Leanna gives her a raised eyebrow look, 'Only two of the bodyguards …. if you call floating face down in the Guadiana River turning up.'
Desi grimaces at the news as Matty interjects.
'If there are Americans being abducted, why isn't the CIA doing anything?' Matty asks bluntly.
Leanna sighs deeply. 'The on-the-record stance is that since all of the targets eventually sent word to their families days later that they were ok, there is nothing to investigate,' she relays dejectedly.
'But off-the-record?' Mac asks knowingly
'Something is going on,' Leanna nods. 'First of all, only the families of the smart people as Bozer calls them were contacted – not the families of the bodyguards. That might be because of the line of work that they are in, but what is also suspicious is that all the families were sent emails, not called personally, and all of the targets after that initial outreach have been incommunicado.'
Jack throws a narrowed glance at Leanna. 'That seems like enough cause to me for a little looksy. Why aren't they pursuing it?'
'That's the other reason why I'm here,' Leanna says warily, 'I'm off the books on this one. Someone high up in the food chain basically told me to stand down.' She looks around the room at everybody. 'Something is off at the CIA, and I think this needs to be investigated outside of official channels.'
With heads nodding around the room, Matty agrees. 'Ok, Leanna, what do you have in mind?'
Looking much more relieved, Leanna explains the plan. 'All of the abductions have happened from Mensa related events. There is one coming up tomorrow in Seville that I think we can infiltrate. I say we send in one of us posing as an expert in one of the fields that they haven't acquired yet with another one of us as their personal bodyguard. We hopefully attract the abductors, get abducted, and then find out where the others are.'
'Let's hedge our bets – we'll send in 3 teams of 2,' Matty decides, 'but I'm not comfortable with allowing any of you to be abducted without more information. Instead, first priority is to capture the abductors to get more Intel on the situation. Now what expertise areas do you think that they are looking for?'
'So far they've abducted experts for physics, biology, geology, mathematics, genetics, and anthropology,' Leanna mentions.
Riley starts doing her thing, analyzing the abductees' emails. 'Considering the skill displayed to make the emails to the families untraceable, my guess is that they already have computer science expertise too.'
Leanna nods her agreement with Riley's assessment, 'I think so too. To be honest, I don't know what expertise areas they may be looking for next so I recommend that we give them a variety of areas, along with bank accounts healthy enough to compensate for any lack of attractiveness on the scientific field front. I've already set up a profile as an up and coming Economist for myself, complete with a multi-million dollar trust fund,' Leanna concludes.
'That's good,' Matty says as she takes over the briefing. 'We'll also set up Bozer as a Robotics whiz and Mac as a leading Chemist. Desi, you'll have Leanna's back, Jack, you'll have Bozer's, and Riley, you've got Mac's,' she outlines. 'Remember, first objective is to capture and interrogate. Once we know more, then we'll shift the mission focus as needed to recover all the missing individuals. Wheels up in 30,' she concludes.
Seville, Spain
The 3 duos crisscross the conference floor multiple times, making themselves as visible as possible. Mac, Bozer, and Leanna are appropriately dressed for their associated stereotype, with Jack, Desi, and Riley sporting the usual bodyguard apparel of nondescript, Glock-concealing business suits.
'Does anyone else feel like we just crossed over into an alternate reality where the Big Bang Theory reigns supreme?' Jack cracks over comms.
'Feeling a little uncomfortable, Jack?' Riley teases.
'Not on your life, Riley. To each his own and all that. I know that none of these brainiacs can hold a candle to me on the firing range, just so you know,' Jack retorts.
'Don't worry about the geniuses, Jack. They're one-trick-ponies whereas you're a well-rounded guy with strengths in many areas,' Bozer comments in support of his partner.
'If you call Karaoke singing a strength,' Mac wisecracks.
'People, stay focused,' Matty calls out, interrupting their banter. 'Any suspicious individuals or activity?' she asks to get them back on track.
'Negative on both. The only thing suspicious around here is lack of seating,' Desi comments and then looks at Leanna, her companion in foot pain, 'our feet are killing us.'
'Good news is that if the abductors are here, we have a 3 out of 4 chance of being their targets,' Riley announces as she accesses the event attendee roster from her phone. 'There's only one other person here that fits the profile, an Adrian Coleman, a psychology prodigy,' she continues.
'That's him,' Mac nods to a slim, cerebral looking middle-aged man in the corner, 'with the guy that looks like Drago from Rocky IV behind him.' Mac shares a look with Riley before continuing, 'Riley and I are going to stay close to him. That way, if he is their target, we'll still be able to nab them.'
Keeping a discrete distance behind Coleman and his bodyguard, Mac and Riley follow him into one of the lecture rooms. After respectively checking out the room for threats, both Riley and Marco make their way to the corridor outside the seminar room. Mac is about to chat up Adrian when his phone rings. Seeing that it is Matty, he quickly stands up and walks a few feet away from the table.
'Hey Matty,' Mac answers, 'the lecture's about to start…'
Matty cuts him off, 'I know Mac. I'm calling about our other ongoing investigation, Jonah Walsh.' Mac is silent as he waits for Matty to continue. 'We've discovered that Walsh has torn apart two of Jim's prior residences. And these weren't clinical explorations. There was a savageness to them. Do you know of anything that your dad could've hidden away that Walsh would want enough to warrant this frantic a search?' Matty solemnly asks.
Mac wears a perplexed expression, 'No idea. He was obsessed with Dad's work on KX7 but he already stole that research.' He pauses for a moment, 'it must be something else of Dad's that he is looking for.'
'Ok, we'll keep digging on this end but if you think of something, anything Walsh may be looking for, call me' Matty signs off.
Ending the call, Mac returns to his seat.
'Let me guess – Daddy issues?' Adrian smirks knowingly at Mac.
Mac gives him a grimace, 'How'd you know?'
'Almost everyone on this planet has either a mommy or daddy issue so I had a 50/50 shot,' Adrian shrugs with a smug look on his face. Mac is about to reply when the lecture begins.
Outside the room, while Mac and Adrian were listening to the lecture, Riley was able to draw out 8 words from Adrian's bodyguard. His name, Marco, and the brush off, 'don't make small talk on the job'. She was quite happy when the lecture room doors opened again and people started pouring out.
Riley quickly makes out Mac's blond head from the throng and latches herself to him as does Marco to Adrian. The foursome wander together until they hit the hotel's guest rooms' corridor, where Adrian and Marco turn into and shortly thereafter, enter their suite. Mac and Riley continue on briefly before turning around to double back to the main conference area to rendezvous with the rest of the team.
As they make their way past a couple of hotel security guards, they enter a quiet, secluded section of the hallway. Almost immediately a well-muscled man lunges out of an alcove to jump Mac. Before he or Riley can respond, the security guards they passed come up from behind and try to grab Riley.
When Mac fights back, his attacker cannot hide his surprise, and after determining that Mac is not the easy target he thought he was, he takes off towards the parking lot, abandoning the attempted abduction. Mac hesitates in his pursuit, looking over to Riley to see how she is faring with her two would-be abductors.
Riley sees his indecision. 'Mac, I got this! Go get the other guy!' she yells out between punches to each of the guards.
Mac gives her a quick nod and then takes off. He catches up to him quickly and almost has him restrained when a shot rings out from where he left Riley. In that instant, his attacker breaks free and runs off. Mac watches him for an instant, a conflicted look on his face before grim determination replaces it, as he races back to where he left Riley.
When he arrives back he sees that Riley is putting hand ties on one battered looking security guard and that the security guard is unconscious a few feet away.
'Riles…are you ok?' Mac asks tentatively, his panic from before diminishing.
'I'm fine,' Riley responds between deep breaths. She looks at and around him, 'Where's the other guy?' she asks expectantly.
The words get stuck in his throat. 'I heard a shot. Thought you needed help. He got away,' he squeaks out.
Riley is outraged, 'Mac! What the hell?! Did you not think that I could take care of a couple of rent-a-cops?'
In an instant, Mac knows that he's deep in the doghouse with his girlfriend.
After securing the guards to chairs in their suite, Jack and Bozer start their interrogation as Mac and Riley slip out to the balcony for a private conversation.
Once the door is shut, Riley whips out her first question. 'What was that back there, Mac?' she challenges him.
'I thought my partner was in trouble so I deemed that was the bigger priority,' he shrugs, taking on a defiant posture.
'I told you that I had the situation,' Riley fumes, 'would you have done the same if it was Desi in that situation?'
'You're not Desi,' he says quietly.
Riley snaps her gaze back to Mac's face. 'Don't you trust me with your life like you did with her?' she asks with trepidation.
Mac meets her gaze head-on. 'I do. But it was your life I was worried about, not mine. And I'm not going to apologize for doing anything and everything I can to make sure that you stay alive,' he says with conviction.
Riley and Mac both stare hard at the other, each too worked up to see beyond their own perspective
'Hey, you two should really hear this,' Bozer pops his head out from the balcony door and breaks up their staring contest.
They head inside to find Jack sitting backwards in a chair, leaning forward with it so that two of its legs are pressing into a foot each of the guards.
'Now fellas, what was that again about what you were hired to do,' Jack asks, easing up on the pressure on their feet.
The younger of the two answers for them both. 'The man paid us two thousand Euros to take you,' he points to Riley, 'five hundred extra if you were unharmed.'
'So you're saying that she was the primary target?' Mac asks, narrowing his eyes. Both the captured men shake their heads. The other guard speaks up this time, 'No, you both were but the man was very specific that no serious harm should happen to her.'
'And you didn't think that pulling a gun on me might be in violation of that order?' Riley asks sarcastically.
The guard shrugs. 'By then, I knew we were outmatched so my focus switched to not getting caught,' he says resignedly 'this was supposed to be a one-time pay day but it blew up on us.'
Jack gets up from the chair and goes over to them. 'I believe them,' he says quietly, 'I think that they are hired help and that's it.' The others nod their agreement too.
Riley picks up her rig from the side table. 'They may be hired help but they can probably still lead us to their employer,' she says, an idea already forming. She turns her attention back to the guards. 'When and where did the man approach you with this proposition?' she probes.
The guards look at each for a moment before jointly deciding that cooperation is their best bet to minimize the amount of trouble their facing. They rhyme off an address and time to Riley.
With a few clicks Riley has the sourced cameras around the meeting point. 'Ok, I have him,' she tells the boys as they huddle around her, 'and his car. Running the plate now…..looks like it's registered to a corporation, Leonardo Industries.'
'Got an address?' Mac asks calmly, putting their drama aside. Riley does the same, 'Yeah, pulling it up now.'
'That looks like a compound, not an office building,' Bozer comments.
'A heavily guarded compound,' Jack adds, 'there's a guard station, two patrols, for sure,' he mentions as he points at Riley's screen, 'no telling how many sentries in the building itself' he finishes.
Mac steps back, his thinking face on. 'Let's regroup with Matty, and Leanna and Des. Now that it looks like our abductors are keeping their targets alive and we know where they are holding them, we should switch strategies,' he announces.
Jack approaches Riley as she works to get more information on Leonardo Industries.
'Hey Ri, found anything more?' he asks.
Riley shakes her head. 'Everything seems above board so far but something is off. How's this for familiar – they list their mission as to solve the unsolvable by bringing the best minds and innovation together,' she says wryly.
'A think tank?' Jack asks disbelievingly.
'Yep,' Riley confirms. 'Makes sense though, when you think of the field experts they have been abducting. Guess their normal recruitment programs weren't cutting it,' she smirks.
Jack chuckles and then leans a little closer for a more private conversation. 'Now about your spat with Mac…'
Riley rolls her eyes, 'Jack….'
Jack refuses to back down. 'I don't mean to butt in,' Riley throws him a "Really" look, 'but I do want you to think about something. Is it about him or you?' he questions.
Riley wears a look of confusion. 'What do you mean? I'm mad because he didn't trust me enough to take down those guys alone and as a result, the suspect got away. He wouldn't have done that with Desi,' she answers grimly.
Jack shakes his head, an earnest look on his face. 'You've got it wrong. He did trust you. We heard it all on comms. After you said you got this, Mac took off to get the suspect. He trusted you. It was only after that he heard the gunshot did he double back to you, and to be honest, he would have done that for Desi, me, anyone for that matter, but especially for you. That's what partners do. They look out for one another.'
He pauses when he sees that Riley is taking his words to heart.
'I don't think it's about Mac at all. It's not about him comparing you to Desi or trusting you in the field. I think it's about you and you trusting yourself to watch his back and your own when you don't have a keyboard in front of you,' he finishes softly.
From the look on Riley's face, Jack knows that his message has struck home.
Across the room, Bozer is having a similar chat with Mac as he fiddles with a paperclip.
'So things looked pretty tense out there on the balcony…' he begins. Mac quickly looks up and then sighs.
'Yeah, Riley thinks that I don't trust her the same as Desi to have my back. Asked me if I would've done the same if it was Desi in that situation.'
'And you told her?' Bozer cautiously inquires.
'I told her that she's not Desi, and that I do trust her, but it was her life I was concerned about, not mine,' he explains with a 'what?' expression. Bozer closes his eyes and shakes his head. 'Wrong move, Mac,' he says simply as he opens his eyes to send Mac a 'you can do better' look.
'What do you mean?' Mac asks, confused.
'You answered her as her boyfriend, not as her partner-in-the-field,' Bozer explains. 'Let me ask you a different question. Would you have reacted the same if it was me not Riley taking on those guards?' he asks.
Mac shrugs, 'Of course. If I think my partner is in trouble, then helping them is job one.'
'And that's what you should have told Riley. Instead of answering her question about how you would have reacted, you focused on your feelings for her and the Desi comparison,' Bozer points out.
Mac stills, realizing that he misunderstood what the whole argument was about. 'It wasn't about Desi or my trust in her at all. It was about Riley's confidence as a field agent. She was looking for reassurance that I was treating her the same as any other field partner I had,' he deduces out loud.
'And there's the genius we all know and love…' Bozer smirks.
Leonardo Industries
Dressed all in black, Mac and Riley sneak past the guard post, the first phase of their infiltration plan complete. When they make it to an unguarded door, Riley goes to work on the electronic lock as Mac watches their back. Moments later they're in and furtively making their way down a long hallway, with Riley using her tablet to guide them.
At the sound of someone approaching, she indicates to Mac to take the next door on the left, 'In there.' Mac and Riley barely have the door closed when a guard passes them and then goes in to the next room.
Riley nudges Mac, 'Think that is the security control room next door,' she says in hushed tones. Mac nods and looks at the wall separating the two rooms. After spying what he was looking for, he looks back at her, 'Let's find out.'
Mac walks over to a baseboard ventilation grille in the center of the connecting wall. Crouching down, he uses his Swiss Army Knife to remove the grille. Next, he removes his phone, turns on the camera, and inserts it into the vent, placing it right up to the vent on the other side. After taking a few photos, he retracts it and sees what he's captured.
'Yep, we've got 3 guards seating in a semi-circle formation, away from the door,' Mac tells Riley.
'Probably means that going through the front door is out. Any other ideas?' Riley asks. Mac looks around the room again, with his eyes settling on the HVAC system. Riley follows his line of sight.
Riley questions his plan, 'You think you can squeeze through to the other side and get the drop on them from above?'
'I can't,' he says shaking his head, 'but you can,' he says confidently, leveling an earnest gaze at her. Riley is startled at the positive affirmation she sees in his eyes.
Riley stands a little taller and gives him a small smile, 'yeah, I can.' She gives him her gear and then moves under the opening of the HVAC vent opening in the ceiling. She looks back at him, 'Give a lady a lift?' she jokes.
Mac chuckles softly and then bends down to help lift Riley to the ceiling. After she gets in, she quietly crawls over to the next room. When she is in the center of the room, she silently removes the vent grille. An instant later, she drops into the room and starts to take out the guards. Mac holds his breath as he hears the sounds of the heated battle next door. After a couple of minutes, he hears only one set of footsteps. He leaves the room and goes to the control room door. He's not even there a moment when it opens and a heavy breathing but looking no worse for wear Riley opens it.
'These guys should look into having their ducts cleaned,' she smirks as she picks a piece of lint off of her arm.
Mac grins as he joins her in the control room.
Bozer and Jack rendezvous with Leanna and Desi outside one of the lecture rooms.
'Any sign of our friend?' Jack asks the ladies. Both shake their heads.
'No. And other than some unwanted male attention, we haven't attracted a lot of interest,' Desi relays, disappointment reeking from both her and Leanna.
'Well, Mac and Riley got jumped in a corridor along the guest suites. Let's each take a side and see if they take the bait,' Bozer suggests.
'Good idea, Boze,' Jack nods, 'we'll go this way.'
'And we'll take the other side,' Desi confirms as the two duos break apart.
Jack and Bozer saunter down their corridor and make it half-way when they notice that they have picked up a tail. As they continue on their way, pretending not to notice the two predators approaching them, Jack taps his comms twice to let Desi and Leanna know that they are about to be taken. No sooner than he does, the two abductors make their move.
Unlike the attack on Mac and Riley however, they came prepared with chloroform, knocking both Jack and Bozer out swiftly.
With the control room guards bound, blind-folded and gagged, Mac and Riley sit next to each other, waiting for the next part of the operation to begin. Despite the bonding moment earlier in the room next door, an awkwardness still hangs between them. They both speak at the same time.
'Mac, I…' Riley begins.
'Riles…' Mac utters.
Both chuckle and then Riley starts the conversation.
'Mac, I'm so sorry about before. I got into my own head and took it out on you. Guess I have still have some insecurities of my own to get over,' she reveals.
Mac shakes his head, 'I'm sorry too, and you weren't the only one in their head. I immediately assumed that we were having a personal relationship issue, not a professional one. And to make matters worse, I inadvertently made a comparison of you and Desi.'
He reaches for her hand. 'Riles, you have to know that there is no comparison to her when it comes to my heart. And as for on-the-job, I trust you even more than her since I know that you have always been, and always will be, there for me,' he confides.
Riley looks at Mac with love shining in her eyes, and maybe a couple of unshed tears, before returning to her sassy self
'Well, the one good thing about having our first real fight is that we've now got some major mind-blowing make-up sex waiting for us,' Riley quips with a seductive wink.
Mac is about to make a sassy comeback himself when their comms come alive and they hear Desi's voice.
'Mac, Riley, hostiles are incoming with Jack and Bozer. We're following them, and it looks like we are 5 minutes out from your position,' Desi informs them.
'Copy that,' Mac responds, all business now.
As Jack comes to, the first thing he notices is that he is not alone and it isn't Bozer keeping him company. Once his eyes adjust to the dim lighting in the room, he sees that Marco, Adrian Coleman's bodyguard, is pacing the room.
'Hey Marco,' Jack calls out to get his attention, 'how long have I been out?'
Marco turns, his stance rigid and a hostile expression on his face. 'How do you know my name?' he demands.
Jack shrugs, 'Bodyguards talk. And that's beside the point right now. Don't you think we should help each other to get out of here?
Marco resumes his pacing, his agitation noticeably increasing. Jack now realizes that something is not right with the hired muscle.
'You alright, big guy?' he carefully asks.
The question sends Marco over the edge. He lunges at Jack, taking a swing at him. Jack ducks the punch and tries to grab hold of him but Marco is unhinged. He breaks free from Jack's attempt to restrain him and turns the table on Jack, leeching onto him before picking him up and throwing him across the room. Jack tries to get up but Marco kicks him hard in the gut, sending him back to the ground with a thud and the sound of cracked ribs
Marco is about to land a second kick when Desi and Mac crash through the door. Between the two of them, they are able to get his attention off of Jack. They struggle hard with him, but with each passing minute, Marco seems to grow in strength. After throwing Desi from off his back, he slams Mac into the nearest wall. He is mid-lunge to take Mac out for good when all of a sudden, he stops, clutching his chest. Seconds later, he drops dead.
Mac stares incredulously at the fallen man, trying to comprehend what just happened. His trance is interrupted by Desi.
'Mac! Help me get Jack to the chair!' she commands.
Between the two of them they are able to gather Jack up and get him into the chair next to the table with a pitcher of water on it.
Mac gives Jack a concerned look, 'Jack, buddy, you ok?'
Jack nods and smiles weakly, 'nothing a few beers wouldn't cure.'
Desi picks up a nearby glass and fills it from the water pitcher. 'Here,' she says as she passes Jack the glass, 'drink this until we can get you the real thing.'
Jack is about to take a drink of it when Riley, Bozer, and Leanna barge into the room.
'Nice of you guys to join us,' Jack waves his glass of water before taking a long gulp from it.
'NO! Don't drink the water, Jack!' Riley yells at him. 'There's something in it,' she exclaims, 'something in it that made Marco go berserk.'
'What?!' Jack and Mac say at the same time. Riley shows them the room's surveillance footage, fast forwarding to the part where almost immediately after consuming the water conveniently left out on the table, Marco starts to act erratically.
Mac immediately bolts into action. He runs out and heads back to the nearby control room. He breaks apart the water cooler, scavenging the filter unit from it. With that and a spare jug of water, Mac sprints back to the others. Once in the room he cracks open the filter unit and gleans the activated charcoal from it, emptying it into a clean glass.
'Whatcha doing, Hoss?' Jack nervously asks the question on all of their minds.
'You've been poisoned. To stop the poison from entering your bloodstream, we need to bind it to something that will either prevent or delay absorption. Activated charcoal can do just that,' Mac explains as he crushes the charcoal bits with his knife. Once he is satisfied, he pours fresh water into the glass.
Mac passes the charcoal water Kool-Aid to Jack, 'Here. Drink this.' Jack drinks it without hesitation. After drinking about a third of it though, his face contorts to reflect that it's not going to win any taste tests.
'Can you may be add something to take away the gritty aftertaste?' Jack sarcastically poses.
Mac grins, 'Maybe next time.'
Phoenix War Room
The team plus Leanna are all chatting animatedly when Matty arrives.
'Sorry to stand between you and beers at MacGyver's, but I needed to assist Russ with his MI6 briefing concerning the rogue agents you encountered in Hawaii,' Matty explains.
'No worries, Matty,' Bozer replies. 'We used the extra time to debate Mac's bartending skills,' he says as he sends a teasing look Mac's way.
'Well, I'm sure Jack is thankful for how Mac mixes drinks,' she says pointedly.
'Amen to that,' Jack concurs.
'Back to the business at hand. Your time in Spain was well spent. Not only did you free Adrian Coleman, but six of the other scientists were also found in the compound,' Matty recaps.
Leanna looks confused. 'But what about the bodyguards?' she asks.
Matty turns to her, 'unfortunately, they were not found on the premises. Given what happened to Marco, we assume that the other bodyguards suffered similar fates,' she shares with a softer tone.
Everyone nods in agreement. Matty decides to change the tenor of the room.
'All of you did an amazing job! Now get out of here and save me a cold one,' she orders cheerfully.
Jack stands up, 'Wait. Before everyone runs away, I have an announcement to make.'
Everyone stops in their tracks, nervous at what Jack might have to say, particularly Mac and Riley, a feeling of déjà vu taking over them.
Once he sees he has their full attention, he gives them the famous Jack Dalton grin, 'I'm officially back from the dead – Jack Dalton is now government certified alive again!' Everyone in the rooms breaks into smiles. 'On top of that, I picked up the keys to my new apartment just before we left for Seville,' he continues, causing Mac and Riley to smile even wider. 'And to celebrate, pizza and beer are on me tonight!' Jack concludes to cheers and clapping around the room.
The commotion continues as the gang heads out the door. Matty calls out to Mac just before he leaves.
'Mac, can you stay behind for a moment?' Matty asks.
'Sure,' Mac replies, and he nods to Riley, letting her know he will catch up with her later. He moves to sit on the chair arm across from Matty, ready to hear what she has to tell him, 'What's up?'
'We analyzed Marco's blood. And while they were degenerated, we found markers for KX7 in his blood,' she relays to him.
Mac stares at her, random pieces of information crystallizing into one cohesive thought. 'Jonah Walsh is attempting to make KX7 marketable again, and he is looking for my father's secret workshop, hoping to find answers in his research to his drug's mortality problem,' he says with certainty.'
Matty nods, 'That's our conclusion too.'
'We'd better find it first then. I know my Dad abandoned his research when he discovered its fatal effects, but that doesn't mean that he didn't find something beforehand that could be of use to whomever Walsh has got working on the drug now,' Mac acknowledges.
'I concur,' Matty shares, 'and that's why I've got all of our analysts tracing your fathers' movements for the last 20 years. We've got much more Intel on Jim's potential hideaways then Walsh could ever dream to have so it is only a matter of time before we pinpoint his secret lab.'
Mac is now only half paying attention. 'When you do find it, I need to be the one to breach it. I'm the only one who could potentially find whatever needs to be found.' He looks over at Matty, 'You know that's true.'
'I do. That's why you have my word that once we find it, you'll be the first to know,' Matty promises.
MacGyver's House
The joviality around the fire pit is in full swing by the time Matty arrives. After a night of beer pong, Truth or Dare, and funny Jack stories over the years, the Phoenix team slowly leaves until only Mac, Jack and Riley are left.
'Well, man, it's been a blast living here. Thanks for letting me crash at your place,' Jack remarks, 'I'm sure you're both anxious to see me go so that you can get back to hanging out here without prying eyes and untimely interruptions.'
Mac and Riley sneak a look at each other, both hiding relieved smiles as they all make their way inside to the living room with Jack. Once inside, Riley goes to grab something out of Mac's bedroom.
'You know that you are family, Jack,' Mac replies, 'you are always welcomed here.'
'Thanks, man,' Jack gives him a hug.
'Hey Jack, got something for you,' Riley mentions as she returns to the living room, 'well, really it is for your new place. A housewarming gift of sorts but one I hope that will make you feel like it really is home.' With that, she hands a wrapped picture frame to Jack.
Jack is speechless. Under the wrapping paper is his Telly Savalas picture.
'Aww Ri….you shouldn't have!' Jack exclaims, 'but I'm really glad you did,' he adds happily as he gives her a hug.
The three of them chat a little longer before Jack decides that it is finally time for him to leave.
Mac and Riley escort him to the front door. Once there, Jack seems to have second thoughts about leaving. 'You know, I don't have to move right in, maybe I should stay here while I fix it up a bit,' Jack rambles as he crosses over Mac's threshold.
'Goodbye Jack,' Mac announces as he closes the door in Jack's face. Turning back to Riley, he levels a 'one-thought-on-my-mind' look at her.
'Now what was that about mind-blowing make-up sex…' he huskily asks.