Once Bitten Twice Shy: Part 10
It was nearing 4:00 and neither Matty nor Jack had heard a peep out of Mac's room since the medical team left at Noon. Quietly, they creep into his room to discover he is fast asleep, but the baby monitor had been switched off. Matty shakes her head and flips it back on before sneaking out.
Matty smiles once they're back in the den, "Now, I know he's on the mend. That's a very Mac move."
"Yeah, well soon enough he'll be taking the thing apart and you won't be able to just turn it back on," Jack cautions.
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that. I've worked with him long enough to know what happens when he gets his hands on electronics. I Mac-proofed the handset before I set it up," Matty returns.
Jack laughs, "We'll see, I don't think Mac-proofing is a thing."
The next few days, proved to be a battle of wills over the monitor set up in Mac's room. For the first 24 hours, they simply alternate between turning the set off and back on. The next day, Mac feels a little better so he flips the station off and decides to trace the cord back to the outlet and unplug it, hoping they wouldn't notice for a while. Reaching behind the nightstand, Mac can tell the unit isn't plugged directly into the outlet, but figures it's just some sort of surge protector. As soon as he disconnects the cord an alarm starts blaring. Mac stumbles backwards in surprise, but quickly recovers and scrambles to reconnect the device as Jack and Matty, having heard the commotion, appear in the doorway and watch. The rushed movement and loud siren depletes Mac's reserves and he sinks back into the bed and groans as he pulls the blanket over his head, completely unaware of his observers.
Matty opens her mouth to say something, but the teasing remark dies on her lips as Mac tosses back the blanket and rushes towards to toilet to rid his stomach of its meager contents. After rinsing, Mac stumbles back into the bedroom and notices he has an audience. His mind quickly processes that and, deciding he's too tired to care, he crawls back in bed without a word to either of them.
Jack finds the silence completely unnerving so he approaches the bed and asks, "Mac buddy, is there anything I can get you?"
When Mac's only answer is to turn away, Matty approaches from the other side of the bed and gently tugs the blanket down to reveal Mac's face, surprised to find his eyes shut as a tear rolls down his cheek.
"Mac, what's the matter?" Matty asks truly concerned.
When Mac neglects to respond, Jack softly requests, "Mac, talk to me here. I want to help."
Mac turns back towards Jack and opens his eyes, Jack immediately notices the taunt lines that indicates Mac is hurting as Mac replies, "M'fine, Jack."
"Bullshit, you're in pain. What's going on?" Jack retorts directly.
"It's just a headache, okay." Mac admits.
"That alarm probably didn't help it any," Matty adds with a tinge of guilt.
"No," Mac sighs, "It didn't."
"I'm sorry about that Mac…" Matty begins.
"…Don't be. It was clever. You had no way of knowing that I'd have a headache when I discovered your little fail safe," Mac dismisses.
"Well, just the same, I'm sorry to have caused you to feel worse," Matty replies as the doorbell rings.
"That'll be the medical team, good, they can evaluate your headaches," Jack heads out to let them in.
"Headache, singular." Mac call after him weakly.
The medical team assures Jack that the lingering headache is perfectly normal given Mac's concussion and reminds Mac to take it easy and not push himself too hard, especially since he still has a slight fever. The next day, Mac's temperature finally drops below a 100°F.
"Alright, after 24 hours provided it stays below 100°, you'll no longer be considered contagious and can have visitors," the nurse advises.
"That's good news, man. I know Riley and Bozer are both anxious to see you," Jack encourages.
"Yeah," Mac offers half-heartedly.
Jack sighs and reminds himself not to take the kid's lack of enthusiasm personally. Jack vividly recalls not being in the best of spirits himself getting over the flu.
"Well, I know that big brain of yours has got to be bored. Why don't you start thinking of stuff to keep you occupied and we'll call them when you're cleared for company and ask them to bring those things," Jack suggests.
"Sure," Mac offers around a yawn.
"Alright Blondie, get some rest because you are to keep that temperature down. That's an order," Matty teases while leading Jack out of the room.
Mac awakes a couple hours later and quietly switches off the baby monitor, the routine has become second nature to him. He cautiously picks up the unit and breathes a sigh of relief when no alarm sounds. He traces the crease in the casing with his fingernail, but is unable to easily pry the casing apart. He retrieves his pocket knife from his belongings and starts working the crease, only to come away with a familiar residue.
"Well played, Matty, well played," Mac speaks softly to himself while planning his next maneuver.
Mac makes his way into the bathroom and rummages through the medical cabinets, but doesn't find anything he can use. He decides to bide his time and makes his way back to bed. It occurs to him that he is actually hungry. He considers journeying out to find the kitchen, but figures the adventure isn't worth the the lecture and headache.
Instead, he makes his way back to the nightstand and turns the monitor back on and asks as he sits down on the bed, "So, what's a guy got to do to get some food around here?"
Jack emerges a minute later with a dish towel draped over his forearm and addresses Mac in a bad French accent, "Yes, Monsieur. May I presume you'll be dinning off the liquid menu this afternoon?"
"You mean I have a choice?" Mac feigns shock.
"In menus, no. In soups, yes. We have tomato basil and vegetable beef. For dessert, you may choose between sauce de' apple or gelatin de' orange," Jack keeps up the pretense.
"Vegetable beef and apple sauce. Sprite if you have it. Oh, and some crackers… Please," Mac replies with a laugh.
"Very well sir," Jack bows and leaves.
After Mac manages to eat most of the food, Jack encourages him to take another nap.
"I getting pretty bored in bed all the time. You know, I let you curl up on the sofa and watch TV," Mac counters.
"Not sure the boss-lady will go for that," Jack returns.
Matty clears her throat from her position in the doorway, "The boss-lady has no objections to that so long as he lays on the couch and doesn't take anything apart."
Jack naturally wants to watch Die Hard, but Matty vetoes that. The three eventually settle on Armageddon. Mac is asleep ten minutes into the film and doesn't wake again until the closing credits.
"How'd you like that movie, hoss?" Jack teases.
"About the same as the last time we saw it, Jack. You know, there exists an entire world of cinema that doesn't feature Bruce Willis," Mac retorts.
"Well since you barely made it through opening credits, that doesn't really count as a viewing. As for your other point, I know that, but Bruce makes everything better," Jack replies smugly.
"Alright children, alright," Matty placates as the doorbell rings, "That'll be the 6 PM medical team, Jack why don't you help Mac back to the bedroom while I get the door?"
Since the medical team cleared Mac for visitors, Riley arrives bright and early the next morning.
"Hey Mac, how are you feeling?" Riley tentatively greets.
"Better. Thanks for asking." Mac returns.
"Listen Mac, I owe you a huge apology. I…" Riley begins.
"…Did you bring the supplies I asked for?" Mac interrupts.
"Yes, but…" Riley tries again.
"…Then we're all good." Mac assures.
"Well be that as it may, I still want to say this so shut up and listen already," Riley teases with no real heat in the words, "Mac, I'm sorry for how I treated you the last night I saw you. I was upset when you didn't make Jack go to medical, or so I thought, and I let that fester. Then Bozer and I got pulled away on that mission and I was worried about Jack the entire time…"
"… Hey, it's okay. I get it. I'm rather fond of the big lug too." Mac assures.
"Yes, I know. I think some part of me was jealous too, but none of that is an excuse for how I treated you. Believe me, Jack told me in no uncertain terms that I have no right to kick you or anyone else out of his home…" Riley continues.
"…Then in the next breathe, he said you'd always be welcomed." Mac figures.
"Yes," Riley confirms.
"That sounds like Jack." Mac agrees.
"But the point is I was wrong and I'm truly sorry. Jack told me that you slept on the fire escape after I slammed the door in your face; I cried myself to sleep that night. I've never been so ashamed of anything in my life. Not even going to jail. Can you forgive me?" Riley finishes.
"Already have," Mac smiles.
Riley pulls out a brown paper bag and questions, "Now about this stuff you asked for, do I want to know what you need it for?"
"Probably not," Mac huffs out a laugh.
"Well, try not to get either of us fired," Riley shakes her head with a fond eye roll.
"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone you gave it to me if you forget I asked for it," Mac winks as he tucks the bag between the headboard and the wall for later retrieval.
"Deal," Riley easily agrees.
"So what have I missed around the Phoenix?" Mac redirects the conversation.
Riley quickly begins to catch him up on the latest news and gossip. After a while, she notices that he's struggling to keep his eyes open. She gradually speaks softer and softer until he is asleep, and then sneaks out the room. Back in the kitchen, she helps clean up the breakfast dishes. Bozer shows up and the little family works out a rotation so that Matty can get back to the office and keep everything running smoothly. Mac awakes after a couple of hours and flips off the baby monitor. He retrieves the bag of supplies from behind the bed. He dips a cotton swab in the acetone based nail polish remover and begins tracing the crease of the monitor to soften the super glue until he is able to pry the casing open. He quickly disconnects the audio relay and reapplies superglue to the edge of the casing before snapping it back together and hiding the supplies in an inner zipper pocket of the duffle Jack had brought Mac. He sinks back into bed satisfied with his work and new found privacy.
After the medical team finishes their noon visit, J.J. announces, "Good news, Mac. We're going to switch you to oral antibiotics and take you off the 06:00 and 18:00 rotations."
"But not the 12:00 rotation?" Mac inquires.
"Now, don't get greedy. Jack was only removed from the rotation a couple of days ago," J.J. counters.
"Fine. Can I at least go home? I am well enough to take care of myself," Mac tries.
J.J. laughs, "Perhaps, but I'm afraid that's not going to happen after the last time."
"I swear I'll answer the door this time! I don't want a repeat of having my door kicked in by the Phoenix SWAT team. It was hard enough explaining it to Bozer and the neighbors the first time. That's a pretty extreme response. That can't have been standard operating procedure." Mac grumbles.
"If you had provided us a real door key, it wouldn't have done down like that," J.J. offers.
"It was a real door key, just not the one to my house," Mac corrects.
"Well, just the same, you burned that bridge. So suck it up, buttercup," J.J. teases while packing up the medical supplies.
After J.J. leaves the house, Jack turns to Bozer, "Why don't you go see what he wants for lunch? You can just turn on the monitor on the nightstand and let us know."
Fifteen minutes pass and the crew still hasn't heard anything from the parent station so Matty takes action, "I'll go see what's going on."
"Hey Matty." Mac greets nonchalantly when she enters.
"Hi Mac," she smiles fondly at him before turning to Bozer, "What's up Bozer? I thought you were going to relay his lunch order."
"I… I did." Bozer replies confused.
"Well it didn't go through," Matty glances at the monitor and confirms the light is on, "Why don't you go relay it in person?"
"Uh, sure thing." Bozer replies and takes his leave.
"What did you do, Blondie?" Matty's eyes narrow in on him as she approaches the nightstand and examines the unit which still appears to be glued shut.
"I'm not sure what you mean." Mac replies while avoiding eye contact.
"I mean, the monitor stopped transmitting so chances are you've either sabotaged it or built something that is blocking the signal," Matty answers looking around the room for anything different or out of place.
"The monitor stopped working? Would you like me to take a look at it for you?" Mac offers, feigning innocence.
Matty sighs as Jack, Bozer, and Riley arrive with lunch, "No, I just want you to eat and get better."
After lunch, the team leaves Mac to nap with the promise of an afternoon movie afterward. Matty disengages the alarm and unplugs the monitor unit taking it back to the kitchen to examine. By all appearances, it seems completely untampered with.
"So the Mac-proofing didn't work out as planned?" Jack asks knowingly.
"Apparently not. I just don't know how he did it. The unit is still superglued together," Matty puzzles.
"That's an easy one. He obviously unglued and re glued it," Jack states.
"But how? I made sure there was nothing in that bathroom he could have used to dissolve it. Everything with alcohol, acetone, or acid of any kind was removed," Matty returns.
"Like I said, there ain't no such thing as Mac-proofing." Jack laughs.
Matty tosses the unit in the trash, "Yeah, I guess you were right."
"What!? Can I get that in writing?" Jack jokes.
"Don't push your luck Dalton." Matty returns straight faced.
Jack chuckles easily. The trashed baby monitor providing all the proof he needs that Mac is going to be just fine. Jack sighs contentedly enjoying having his wolf pack together under one roof without any eminent danger. Right now, in this moment, life is good and that's all he needs.
"Now Matty, when have you ever known me to push my luck?" Jack banters.
Matty rolls her eyes and heads off to join Riley and Bozer in the living room. Like Jack the junked equipment elevates her mood, and she decides to spend the afternoon appreciating her makeshift family. The terrorists, assassins, and other baddies would still be there tomorrow. Today, she would enjoy life. The type of life that others take for granted, and she and her team fight to ensure can continue to be taken for granted. Matty wasn't entirely sure what she'd find taking over as director of the Phoenix after the former director turned out to be a traitor and mole, but she never in her wildest dreams thought she'd find a family and a home. In that moment, she vows to never take them for granted.
-The End
AN: Thanks again for hanging with me through another multi-chapter story and for all the favorites, follows, and reviews! I so glad the new season of MacGyver has started. I love it, but admittedly am struggling with some of the transition and changes. I'm sure the talented writers at CBS will smooth a lot of that over for us as the season wears on and what they don't myself and other fan-fic authors will tackle.