Author's Note: You're still reading - I like you! Up next is Bozer. Like Riley, Bozer was challenging to write, but I feel like the way he relates to the group is just...so important? Yet overlooked? Let me know what you think in a review!

Disclaimer: disclaimed

BOZER

"And then I was like, 'Man, my bike is so much better than yours' and he was like 'whatever' and y'all know what that means, am I right," Bozer said, and the crowd around him laughed with him.

The bell rang, and the crowd quickly dispersed to go to their various classes. Bozer let out a sigh of relief. Middle school was hard, but it was even harder if you weren't either cool or funny. Bozer regularly hung out with known science dweeb Angus MacGyver, so being cool wasn't an option. The only other choice he had was to be funny, so that's what he did.

After third period, he headed for the common area. A few guys he recognized were already there and he made his way over to them.

"Y'all ain't gonna believe what just happened, right," he said, walking up and jumping right in. He'd found that getting the conversation going first meant you could control it, direct it. "Carl the Basket Case thought it would be a good idea to ask Cindy Lambton to the Spring Fling, right? And he walks right up to her and is tryna get her attention and she's just talking, right, and then he shouts 'Will you go to the dance with me?' but Mrs. Henderson had just started the class." Bozer paused to let the crowd of kids around him, which had grown as he talked, giggle and anticipate the finale of the story. "And not only is Cindy sittin' there glaring at him, Mrs. Henderson walks over and is all 'Mister Baskin, I invite you to sit down immediately and to detention after school.'" Bozer did his best impersonation of the teacher's nasal voice. The crowd erupted into laughter.

"What a loser."
"Can you imagine? God, how embarrassing!"
"I mean, really, who would go to Spring Fling with Carl the Basket Case? He is so weird!"

The bell rang again, to Bozer's relief. He was just trying to protect himself, but he knew he was throwing Carl under the bus to do it. He could just picture Mac's look of disappointment, but a man had to do what a man had to do to survive these mean halls. And the safest place to be was in a group. There was safety in numbers – they'd just learned that in biology last week. The weakest member of the pack was vulnerable to predators, so Bozer did what he had to do to make sure he wasn't at the very bottom of the ladder. Besides, the safer Bozer was, the more he could try to protect Mac, too.

Bozer sighed. Middle school was not for the faint of heart.

Bozer was, in a word, shocked.

"We want you to work at the Phoenix Foundation," is what Mac said. What Bozer heard, was a bit of a buzzing noise in his ears.

"And this was Thornton's idea?" Bozer asked, eyebrow raised.

"It was mine," Mac admitted.

Bozer smirked. "So you want me to be a secret agent? Globe-trotting across the world, puttin' my life on the line to make sure this country's safe for all the men, women, and chil –"

"Actually, it's going to be more of an entry level position," Mac cut across him.

Bozer sobered. "I love you, Mac, but I am not getting your coffee."

Mac choked out a laugh. "That'd be great, cuz I do love your coffee, but these right here," Mac picked up the touchscreen he'd set down on the table and woke it up, "are a lot better." Mac turned the screen to reveal a photo of Bozer's work station back at the house. Oh great, another evidence photo, proof of the Phoenix snooping around in his stuff at the house.

Mac continued. "Thornton's really impressed with these prosthetics, and I told her about your mad science skills."

"So you're nerding me out?" Bozer couldn't believe it. After all the work he did in middle school and high school to protect Mac and his big nerdy heart, his best friend was gonna out him as a fellow big nerd to his potential new boss. Had Mac learned nothing from their time at Mission City High? "Thanks."

"Hey, those skills are what got you a position in our lab. It's like our old science class but like, a million times cooler," Mac explained, setting the touchpad back on the table. So he did remember their MCHS days – and chose to nerd him out anyway. Rude.

"So I won't be in the field?" Bozer asked, his mind now catching up to what exactly Mac was telling him. Working for the Phoenix Foundation, the super-secret spy organization the government barely knew about – wow.

Mac looked uncomfortable. "Well, not at first," he admitted. He shrugged his shoulders. "It'll happen eventually…"

Bozer decided he'd messed with his best friend enough.

"Oh, thank God, man. I was just tryna be macho, but danger is so not my middle name," Bozer admitted. He let the relief show in his voice. Mac laughed again.

"So you'll consider the position then?" Mac asked.

Bozer grinned wryly. "Yeah, I'll consider it," he conceded. "Since clearly it means I'll have to put my budding film career on hold." He sighed and turned to look out the glass windows behind him, and twisted back around again. "Okay. I'm in." Mac's grin was wide and genuine. "Let's do this."

The two best friends clasped hands. Despite their fight, Bozer had a good feeling about the Phoenix Foundation, now that he knew what his friend actually did there. He'd watched the feeds in the War Room as Mac solved problems on the fly and not only rescued everyone at the embassy, but kept hold of their prisoner, too. A place like this didn't just hire people, even the best friends of secret agents. The Phoenix Foundation must have felt that Bozer had a skill they could use, in order to keep him both in the know and out of Witness Protection.

And who knows? Maybe it would feel good to be part of a group that needed him for his various skills, rather than for entertainment. Even at the burger place, he was pretty sure it had been his sparkling personality that won him the position at the drive-thru window instead of mopping the floors. But he and Thornton had definitely not started on the best of terms, and if she was still wanting to hire him then, well, Bozer would just have to give this genuine team-member thing a try, wouldn't he.

He could still be there to keep an eye on Mac, though, and crack the necessary jokes to keep his friend smiling. He knew Mac better than anyone; the dude could get too serious sometimes and needed to lighten up. Bozer figured he could do both well enough.