Hey guys! So, it's been a crazy couple months! My social life crashed, my entire family decided to go haywire, my computer decided to completely die 100% with zero chance of recovering it, and my sister has been territorial. After much begging, cajoling, and pleading I have finally managed to commandeer it! SO, I'm now completing this chapter on my sister's computer.
Matty glared at her boss' back as he screamed at Nicki to find Jack. The young technician looked about near tears as the large man loomed over her, hurling threats and accusations her way and threatening her job. Matty forced herself to turn her back to the War Room and headed to her office, knowing what she needed to do. She quietly slipped into her office and locked the door behind her. Pulling out her phone, she made a quick call to someone who she knew could help Jack and Mac.
"Hello, Worthy residence," the voice responded with the typical fresh veteran crispness to it.
"Caleb Worthy," Matty snapped, knowing these people would hep Jack, "listen close and listen fast. I'm calling on behalf of Jack Dalton," she could hear the shift in mood from civil to business.
"Listening," he snapped, "paper and pen ready, shoot."
"Last known area," Matty snapped, "San Francisco, headed to the capitol. Travelling with a young blonde, age twenty-seven years, name Angus Macgyver. Government kill-force will be on their heels. Find them and help them in whatever they're taking on. Junglebook," Matty hung up using the code word that Jack had entrusted to her long ago from his delta days.
She sighed, unlocking her door as she heard Walsh's thundering footsteps headed for her office. She jumped behind her desk and sorted through papers as he barged in.
"I see knocking has gone out of style," she raised an eyebrow, forcing her calm facade to remain in place, "can I help you?"
She settled in, zoning out slightly as he ranted on and on about the Macgyver's and their dangerous ways. She stared at the man in front of her and silently thanked Jack for entrusting her with the information needed to send him off the books backup. Now that they had it, they could do this. She was sure of it.
***Line Break***
"Look, Mac," Jack glanced over at his friend in the passenger seat of the stolen car, "you know that I would follow you to the ends of the Earth and that I would kill to protect you," he sighed, "but I would kind of like to know why I just helped you escape from a secure facility and why in the world we couldn't have just sat back and let Matty handle whatever your dad's cooking up in the psycho brain of his."
Mac sighed, "look, Jack," he ran a hand through his ragged hair, a sign of his stress that Jack was very familiar with, "I need to find a way to tell you this without you freaking out..."
"Well know I'm freaking out anyways so you might as well spill all your secrets," Jack smirked, flipping on the turn signal and turning onto the highway, "come on, man, you know I know you better than anyone on this planet. Out with it. It's just you and me, come on."
"So..." Mac ran a hand over his face, "my dad was building a nuke. You knew that, because that's part of what I told Matty. I didn't know why he built it, and I didn't know what for, but the thing with this one is that it's a nuke, yes, but it also had a biological component in it that, were it to explode, could easily infect the entire United States plus parts of Canada, Africa, Europe, and South America."
Jack couldn't respond, his words trapped in his throat. So, he blinked. he knew that his silence plus the blink carried a whole lot of weight with Mac, who was attuned to his every action.
"I know," Mac replied, acknowledging the other man's shock, "thing is is that it didn't click until I was in the hospital room and Thomas started asking all these questions and then I tried to answer but it all got stuck and then I-"
"Mac," Jack cut off his partner's rambling quickly, "easy kiddo. Take a breathe. I get it. You're good."
Mac sagged a bit, some relief shining in his eyes, "sorry, I'm calming down, sorry."
Jack pulled to the side of the road, turning to full face Mac, "hey, look at me," he snapped, gentling his tone as Mac's head snapped up in worry and fear, "this is not your fault, kiddo. This is your ass-hat of a father's fault. Do not ever blame yourself for your dad's actions."
The fear in Mac's eyes abated somewhat and he relaxed a bit, "you're not mad?"
"Hell naw, kiddo," Jack smiled sadly, he'd almost forgotten how much Mac blamed himself for everything that went wrong, "this isn't your fault at all, buddy."
Mac nodded slowly, "you're sure?"
Jack nodded at the younger man, "I'm 100% sure," he reached over, giving in to his paternal instincts to hug the hurting and scared boy, "c'mere kiddo. I've got you."
They sat and talked for quite a while, Mac shifting the talk from personal to shop. Jack allowed him too, slowly pulling back onto the road.
"So, is there a way we can track your dad?" Jack asked, "a method to find him?"
Mac frowned, "the only thing I can think is tracking the guys that work for him. I know most of them. But we'd need access to the streetcam database and last I checked we didn't have that ability."
Jack frowned, thinking quietly for a moment, "well... I might know a girl..."
Mac glanced over at him, "why do you sound so hesitant?"
Jack pursed his lips tightly together in thought, "well... she's kind of," he hesitated, "in prison..."
***line Break***
Caleb Worthy grinned as he watched his teammates load up for their mission. His grin faltered as he wondered what trouble Jack could have possibly gotten in to. Junglebook wasn't something to take lightly. When Matty had hung up with that crisp word, chills had danced up and down his spine. The delta unit had sworn to always come to each other's aid should that word be used. He cocked his weapon, shooting it experimentally at
***Line Break***
Prison guards were morons. One flash of Jack's Phoenix ID and he was able to get them through the gates and into the prison. He watched through the window as Mac talked to the young prisoner. He hadn't exactly wanted to talk to her and he knew she wouldn't want to talk to him. They didn't exactly have a good past. Jack shook his head and cleared his thoughts, focusing back on the interrogation room.
"You are working with Jack Dalton," the girl raised her eyebrow in surprise, "Jack Dalton. Mr. I can do everything by myself and I fly solo without ever calling, Jack Dalton. Really?"
"We've been over this," Mac looked about ready to break his own skull on the table, "yes. I work with Jack Dalton and we want to recruit you to help us track down a fugitive."
"Right," she clearly didn't believe him, "so, Jack is the brawn, and that would make you... what? The brain?"
"Pretty much," Mac nodded, "I'm the brains, Jack is the brawn, and we need you to help us do everything else."
"So, if you're so smart, why do you need me?" she challenged, staring him down.
"Well," Mac acted as if he was thinking, dropping his hands on top of hers, "you hack the one thing I can't. Computers."
She considered him, sizing him up carefully, "prove it. Prove you can hack things."
Mac pulled away his hands and grinned as her cuffs fell to the table, he held up his paperclip, "proof enough?"
A smile ghosted across her face, "hmm," she feigned thinking about it, "one question," she held up a finger, "is this gig legit?"
Mac hesitated and sighed, "well, not exactly. Phoenix's boss doesn't really like me and so we're on the run. But," he stared at her meaningfully, "you can either spend the rest of your life in here or you can come with us and save the world. Your choice."
Riley ghostly smile turned into a grin, "you drive one hard bargain, Macgyver," she sighed, "but... what the hell. I have a life sentence anyways. Why not add a couple notches on my belt."
Jack grinned from behind the glass, "that's my girl," he whispered, before entering the room, "Mac, we gotta go."
Riley's expression turned to ice as she glared at him, "Jack," she snapped curtly.
"Good to see you, Riley," he smiled somewhat ruefully, "I really am sorry."
She raised an eyebrow at him, scoffing slightly, "then you would have called," she turned back to Mac, grinning coyly, "we leavin' or what?"
Mac smiled, "let's get her out of here, Jack."
They made it all the way to the yard before the guards realized something was wrong. Alarms blared and Jack cursed colorfully.
"Mac," he yelled as guards swarmed the yard, "time to go."
"What do we do?" the blonde demanded, "I don't know what to do! This wasn't part of the plan, Jack!"
Their heads swiveled as a huge truck roared up to the entrance and a group of men leaped out of the back. They raised their weapons, mostly AR-15's and the like, pointing them directly past the small group. Their masks hid their faces and only their eyes shone through, bit it was enough for Jack to identify them. There were five of them, and one in the driver's seat.
"Hey Jack," Caleb called, sticking his head out the driver's window, "get in! Your uber's here!"
Jack grinned, "jump in, boys," he yelled as he ran to the car, "damn, Worthy am I glad to see your ugly mug!"
He yanked Mac inside the truck, pulling Riley in after him, "let's go boys!"
The three fugitives curled up in the corner of the truck as bullets flew towards them, riddling the side of the truck. Jack sheltered the two youngers underneath his arms, using his body to shelter them. He hissed in pain as one of the bullets ricocheted off of the wall and skidded across his arm. Mac's head jerked up in alarm, twisting and throwing Jack to the ground to where he was on top and shielding them. It was an old tactic, one practiced over and over between the two while in the army. Jack landed on the floor with a heavy thud and Mac gently checked his friend's arm.
"Just a flesh wound," Mac confirmed, dropping his friend's arm, "you're fine."
"Fine?" Riley gasped, staring in horror at the blood now coating Jack's arm, "he got shot!"
Jack grimaced, "I'm fine, kiddo," he shifted under Mac as the car hit a bump, "Mac, kiddo, could you just back up a bit and let me breathe?"
Mac shifted back and sat on his heels as the car turned and left the lot. The truck screamed to a halt and immediately the back was swarmed with their saviors. They pulled off their masks, revealing a gang of sweaty-headed, bright-eyed men dressed in military uniform and armed to the teeth with guns and explosives.
"Well, Dalton," one man drawled laughingly, "looks like you've got yourself in a bit of a pickle."
"Fitzy Chang," Jack grinned, grimacing as the truck shot off again, "never though I'd see the day your wife let you put the uniform back on."
The Asian man laughed good-naturedly, "well, it took a lot of convincing, especially when she found out it was you we were rescuing."
Jack chuckled, "still hasn't forgiven me?"
"Never," came the immediate response, eliciting laughter from the rest of the group.
Mac and Riley exchanged confused expressions. Jack clearly knew these men, but they had no idea who they were. Jack laughed and joked back and forth with them for a bit before seemingly recognizing the two's confusion.
"Oh, yeah," he grimaced at his own forgetfulness, "boys, this is my partner, Macgyver. He was an EOD tech in the army and I was his Overwatch. Fitzy, you and he'll get along great," he shifted and gestured to Riley, "and this curly-headed convict is Ms. Riley Davis. Genius extraordinaire, can hack anything you want her to. She'll fit in just fine."
The large man in the corner raised an eyebrow, "and why did we just help break someone out of jail?"
"Well, Big Guy," Jack replied easily, "she's kinda an intergrate part of this here operation."
"Integral, Jack," Mac corrected automatically, looking up from where he was wrapping a make-shift bandage around his friends arm, "the word is integral."
Jack rolled his eyes, "yeah, well, not in Texas."
Mac let loose a long-suffering sigh and glanced at the others as if to say 'see what I had to deal with', before turning back to his job, "we need her to hack the street cameras to track my da-" he hesitated and corrected himself, "our guy. It's really important that this stays quiet, so it's vital that no one has anything on them that could be tracked."
"You heard the man," Jack snapped, "phones are gone. Send your families one last hoorah text message and then chuck 'em. That's an order."
The men exchanged uneasy glances, "how long'll we be gone for?" Fitz demanded, looking concerned.
Mac grimaced, "w don't know. As long as it takes to catch my- our guy," he caught himself again, cursing his verbal clumsiness, "if anyone wants out, they should go now. No hard feelings if you wanna leave. We'll understand."
The men all stiffened, "no one said anything about quitting," one man snapped, looking highly offended at the suggestion.
"Easy there, Sid," Jack held up a hand to calm the men before they could go off at Mac, "he's just not used to people sticking around. Give him some grace, it'll take him some time to learn."
Mac cast him a scathing glare, "I can learn just fine, thank you. It's just that if these men don't want to be away from their familiaes for so long-"
"We aren't pullin' out on you, kid," another man spoke up, glancing at him with carefully disguised sympathy, "we wouldn't have come if we planned on leavin' so just get that hair-brained idea outta your head right now."
Mac smiled briefly and gratefully at them before glancing at Riley, "what do you need to work with?"
Everyone except Jack was caught slightly off guard by the sudden topic change. It bothered Riley that Mac could go from being so blatantly honest to so business-like in seconds. But, she'd seen plenty of it in jail before so, she flowed with it. Her fingers itched to get back on a keyboard and so anything that got her closer to that she was happy with.
"I'm going to need access to a computer, first of all," she explained, "then all I need is wifi, a charger, and 24 to 48 hours to work with and I'll have your man for you, no problem."
Mac nodded, "we can stop at Nicki's and grab a computer there, I know she won't mind. There's a coffee house about an hour away that has a code-less wifi router. We can grab that there, and maybe a coffee or two," he glanced around the group, "or twelve," he grinned cheekily, receiving several smiles in response, "then we can set up..." he thought for a minute, "my old tree-house. It's a little ways out in the country but there are plenty of towers around there and a plant just a few blocks away so a wifi signal won't be out of the ordinary."
Jack grinned, reaching over and tousling his hair, ignoring his squawk of indignation, "look at my little genius all grown up."
Mac ducked away from his hand, although he was unable to completely rid himself of the smile that graced his face, "shut up, Jack," he rolled his eyes and laughed quietly, "you're such a dork."
Jack mocked offense, turning to the others, "did you hear what this little turd just called me? A dork! I'm offended!"
Sid raised an eyebrow, "why are you offended? He's telling the truth."
Jack dramatically turned his nose up, "you're all beneath me. I am not a dork. I am a master of martial arts, an American Force Delta Commander, a king among the common folk, a-"
"Dork," Mac offered, grinning mischievously at Jack's performance.
Fitz laughed, "he's just calling it like it is, Jacky-boy."
The soldier sniffed in 'irritation' before dropping the act and grinning, "at least I don't have the periodic table memorized-"
"Oi!" Mac interrupted, "I am a nerd, not a dork. There is a difference."
Jack grinned, "I was talking about Fitz, but thank you for incriminating yourself."
Mac's cheeks flushed bright red in embarrassment, "jerk," he muttered, before turning to talk strategy with Riley.
Jack settled down next to his team, smiling as he watched the two youngers converse. He didn't even try to control the fondness in his expression as he watched them plot someone's demise. It was adorable to see the way Mac's tongue stuck out of his mouth as he concentrated, and the way Riley's eyebrows creased as she thought particularly hard about something Mac said.
"It looks good on you," Oman interrupted his train of thought as he sat beside Jack and followed his gaze.
"What does?' the delta commander questioned, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion at the man's vague statement.
"Parenthood," Oman replied, watching as Jack went from confused to denial in a microsecond.
"I'm not a parent," the man protested, "and I'm definitely not parent material."
Oman shook his head, grinning and rolling his eyes, "okay, okay," he placated, "I get it," he glanced over at Mac and Riley, "but I don't think you're trying to convince me."
Jack glared at the man until he backed off and settled back for the ride, dropping the subject. Deciding that he'd thrown his friend off the scent, Jack settled his gaze back on the two younger members of their team. He knew they were his kids, but he didn't need anyone else knowing that. He was so focused on his kids, that he missed the knowing look that passed between his former teammates. They all knew. They made a solemn, unspoken pact in that moment. That small, dysfunctional family in the corner, the scary brilliant blonde brother, the freaky hacker sister, and the fierce soldier father, would come out of this alive. No matter how many of them had to die in the process.
Alright my dear readers! This chapter is complete! Again, super sorry for the wait and I'll try to be better! leave a review and tell wht y'all thought! Love y'all!
- storyspinner16