Somewhere Over the Middle East

Not Easily Found Without a Top-Secret SOS

Riley sighed in contentment as she leaned against her husband on the Phoenix jet. At that moment, she didn't think about where they were going or why. All she could think about was that she had her husband all to herself. And it was quiet. Finally.

"How are you doing?" Mac asked, adjusting his arm around her.

Riley smiled up at him, "I'm great. It's nice to be away from the girls for a little while."

Mac smiled back. "I know what you mean. It feels good to just be."

Just then, Mac's phone buzzed. It was Bozer.

"It can't last forever," Riley commented.

Mac sighed and grabbed the phone. "Yeah, duty calls. What's up Boze?" he asked, answering the phone with a video call.

"Hey guys. We're not going to be able to get you as close as we want to the signal, and our landing strip has been compromised. You're going to have to skydive in over the boarder."

Mac made a face at Riley.

"Are you sure, Boze?" she asked, hoping for the sake of her husband that they could find another way to get to where they needed to go.

"Sorry guys. I tried really hard to find another option before I called you, but there isn't one. And just so you know in advance, you're going to have to get the person who sent the distress signal over the boarder again for Exfil."

Riley leaned her head against the back of the chair in frustration. "Matty wasn't kidding around about this one."

"Yeah, I guess not," Mac said.

"How are the girls, Boze?" Riley asked.

Bozer shifted a little. "They're fine. They started getting fussy around lunch time, so Matty asked an intern to walk them around the inside of the Phoenix after they were fed. They fell asleep after that."

"Make sure you burp them before you put them down for their naps," Riley said.

Bozer smiled. "Riley, the isn't my first time babysitting. They're just fine."

Riley smiled back at him remembering the long hours he had spent in their house after the girls were born. He, Matty, and her mom were the reasons why she and Mac had been able to sleep, eat, and shower those first few months.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I just haven't left them before."

Bozer nodded, "Understandable. Okay, you guys need to get ready for that jump. You're going to be over the drop point in ten minutes."

Mac took a deep breath, "Okay."

"Talk to you on the flip side, Boze," Riley responded before hanging up.

"Are you okay?" she asked her husband.

Mac sighed. "I will be as soon as we get this part over with."

Riley nodded and began securing her backpack so nothing would fall out. Then she and Mac helped each other into their parachutes and she strapped her backpack with her rig in it to her front.

"All set?" Mac asked her, his face paling.

Riley nodded. "I know it's hard, Mac. Keep your eyes on me. Don't look down. You got this."

Mac took a deep breath and nodded, gripping her hands tightly.

"Get ready to jump," Bozer called over the coms, "3, 2, 1…go!"

The MacGyvers held hands and dove out of the airplane, plummeting towards the ground. Before they knew it, they had landed in a small field outside of a dense forest.

"Alright," Riley stated as soon as she got her rig set up to track where the distress signal had come from. "Let's go," she said, taking the lead into the forest.

Unlike their earlier missions, they had no conversation on their way to the signal. She concentrated on her rig while he kept his eyes peeled for other people. They stayed that way, walking hand in hand, content to just be in each other's company. It was almost like a date. Almost.

"Mac?" Riley asked after a while of staring at the screen and wandering.

"Yeah?" he answered, his eyes still tracking around the area.

"Wait, I think we're getting close," she said, stopping him with an insistent hand on his arm.

They crouched down in the bushes surrounding a small clearing which held a compound of unfriendly looking concrete buildings.

Mac leaned over to look at the computer in her hands. "Well, it looks like it came from that building," he said, pointing out a building on the other side of the clearing.

They stood up and began to slowly circle the perimeter of the clearing. As soon as they did, they both heard a squealing in their ears that indicated the coms were dead as shots fired from the direction of the building.

They both ripped out their coms and threw them into the bushes.

"Well, I guess it's safe to say they know we're here," Riley said dryly.

Mac didn't even take the time to think. He quickly grabbed Riley and hid them both behind a large dumpster in the back of the nearest building. After ensuring that his wife was unscathed, he leaped into the dumpster in order to find some supplies to get them out of the mess they were in.

"How are we going to get out of this one, Mac?" Riley called to her husband, echoing his thoughts.

"Working on it!" he called from inside the dumpster, throwing various pieces of trash onto the ground next to her. One man's trash really is another man's treasure, she thought grimly.

"Well, hurry up!" she said, sneaking a peek around the corner of the building, "they're getting closer!"

"Almost there!" She could hear his voice, muffled and in that tone that told her he was concentrating. She peeked around the dumpster again and saw several armed guards- six of them- pacing their way towards the dumpster like a lion sneaking up on its prey.

"Mac!" she whisper- yelled, "whatever you're doing, do it quickly! They've almost found us!""

"Got it!" he called back quietly. She took a deep breath as she heard them approaching. She closed her eyes for a split second, and the next thing she knew, she heard a bang and several groans. She peeked around the dumpster again, and this time she saw Mac standing over the six guards, who were writhing on the ground, rubbing their eyes.

"Tear gas," he said, pulling her up, "Let's go find that signal."

—

The Phoenix Foundation

Somewhere in Los Angeles

As soon as Bozer stepped into the conference room where Matty was watching the twins, he was overwhelmed with the sound of crying.

"How's the mission, Bozer?" Matty asked, while trying to sooth both screaming babies at once.

Bozer took a minute to compose himself. "We lost contact. We're pretty sure whoever is running the compound that Mac and Riley found is putting up a jamming signal."

Matty nodded, "So we can't do much more than watch and hope they get out safely."

Bozer nodded back. "Here, Matty, let me take one of my goddaughters."

Matty smiled, "Our goddaughters," she corrected, before handing over Jackie.

"She's burning up, Matty," Bozer said when the hot baby was placed in his arms.

"Charlie too," Matty said, concern written all over her face. They both loved all the MacGyvers with all their hearts, and now all of them were in trouble all at once.

"Let's bring them down to the med bay."

—

Somewhere in the Middle East

Mac easily picked the lock to the door of the building where the signal was coming from.

He then poked his head in and looked around. Upon assessing that the coast was clear, he nodded to his wife, who followed him in.

They slowly made their way to a closet with a communication system, and a signal still up and running.

Riley immediately pulled out her rig. After taping a few keys, she nodded. "This is definitely where the signal is coming from."

Mac leaned over her shoulder. "Can you tell who sent it?"

Riley shook her head. "No, all I can tell you is that it originated from this console."

"Well…"

"Freeze!"

They both startled and turned around at the sudden voice in the room. There was a uniformed armed guard pointing a gun at them. Before they could do anything too get out, he released the safety on his gun and glared at them. They both hesitantly held their hands in the air.

Mac was internally kicking himself. He should have been keeping watch while Riley checked the signal. Now anything that happened to them would be all his fault.

—

In the Dark Cell

The man ran a shaking hand through his hair. Its growth was the only way he had to tell time. It and his beard were now longer than they had ever been in his entire life. He had always preferred to keep it short and neat- a habit he picked up from his time in the military. Though he had once experimented with a style that now that he thought back on it was embarrassing, especially since it could be compared to a Kewpie doll.

But his hair was really the least of his worries. Ever since he had managed to get the distress signal out (in a completely in-character moment of true bravery, he might add), he had heard rumors through his cell door that his captures were planning on moving him again. He wouldn't let that happen. He couldn't. Especially now that after all this time, he finally had a fighting chance.

Suddenly, light flooded his usually dark cell. He winced and shut his eyes tightly against the offensive brightness. The men that came in easily manhandled him into a sitting position and chained him to the wall. He was ashamed to admit that he had become rather easy to manhandle after he had been half-starved in the darkness for so long.

Before they left they gagged him with a handkerchief, almost as an afterthought.

The man closed his eyes tightly until the brightness left the cell and his eyes once again adjusted to the dark.

Then, he heard the sounds of chains and bodies being dragged through the wall that he was chained to.

Company. For as long as he had been in his captures' possession, he had been their only prisoner. Now they had at least one other person, maybe more than one.

Had they finally come to rescue him?

Oh Mac, please hurry.