I mixed the sauce into the pasta, and then dished up two servings of the food.
"Bozer," I called out, "Dinner's ready."
From down the hallway Bozer appeared, looking less exhausted and empty than he had in the past couple of days.
"Smells good," he said with a weak smile, picking up one of the bowls and taking it to the table.
"Thanks," I replied, "Cheese is on the table."
I took my own bowl of pasta and sat down at the table. We were quiet for a bit while we ate.

"How are you handling everything?" I asked after a while.
Bozer looked at me and sighed.
"Better," he admitted, "It's hard to believe that there was a crazy hitman in here only a few days ago." He swept his arm around the repaired kitchen area.
"Yea, everything seems so normal now," I mused.
"I can't believe Mac had been lying to me for years about work," Bozer stated.
He needed to get this out, and other than talking to Mac when it happened, he hadn't really talked to anyone else.
"You know he didn't want to, right?" I asked. "He really was only trying to protect you."
Bozer scoffed a little, "a lotta good that did," he muttered.
I hummed sympathetically. It would have worked if Mac didn't have a crazy ex who was seemed to want revenge for being arrested.
"You seem to be taking this well," he commented. And then a strange look crossed his face.
"You already knew, didn't you?" he wasn't really asking. "How long?"
"About two or three months after we started dating," I admitted.
"So Mac could tell his new girlfriend, but he couldn't tell me," he exploded. "Me, his best friend!" Bozer started to stand up and push his chair away.
"Sit down," I said, and edge of steel in my voice.
He looked at me, and noticing my expression slowly sat back down.
"Mac didn't tell me, I found out because I was asked to consult for the Phoenix Foundation," I explained. "He didn't even know that I had been called in until Patty, Director Thornton, and I walked into the debriefing room."
Bozer relaxed back into his chair a little.
"So why didn't you tell me?" He asked.
I smiled sadly at him, "I couldn't," I said, "Patricia threatened that if I told anyone she would, with Riley's help, make it like I had never existed."
He nodded thoughtfully. "Girl could do it too. But what about Mac, he was an employee, not a random contractor?"
"Yea," I agreed, "But there were protocols saying what he could and couldn't tell people. He was just trying to keep you safe." I paused for a moment. "I think the other part of it was that here, with you, he could be Angus MacGyver. He could be himself. He didn't have to worry about being MacGyver the bomb tech or MacGyver the agent. Around you, he could be himself. This was sorta his sanctuary."
Bozer nodded again, thinking it over as he ate more of his pasta.
"What about Riley?" he asked sadly. It had really hurt him to find out that not only his best friend, but the girl he liked were both lying to him.
"Nothing so deep as Mac's reasoning," I confessed, "But a lot like mine. If she'd told anyone, she would have gone back to prison."
I took a sip of my water and sighed. "Two years in maximum security was enough, don't you think?"
"She was in maximum security?" Bozer asked incredulously.
"Yea," I said sadly, "I don't know the details, but I know it wasn't nice."
Bozer finished his pasta, then asked, "What about Jack?"
I chuckled a little. "Jack was CIA, he has no problems with keeping secrets. But honestly, I think he was doing what he spends half his time doing."
Bozer looked at me questioningly.
"He was watching Mac's back, and following his lead. Mac hadn't told you, so Jack wasn't going to either."
Bozer stood up, grabbing his bowl.
I hurriedly swallowed the mouthful I'd just put in my mouth. "There's more pasta on the stove."
"Sweet," He replied, heading towards the extra food. "There's a heap in here, what were you trying to do, feed an army?"
I loaded more food onto my own spoon as I answered.
"I like having left overs, and I was hoping Mac might be home for dinner," I mumbled. He hadn't been home for dinner the last four days, but I could always hope.

Once Bozer had sat back down, I asked him a question that had been on my mind since Murdoc told Bozer that his oldest friend was lying to him.
"Bozer, do you think you'll be able to forgive Mac?" I asked with a little concern.
Carefully, he put his fork down and looked at me.
"Honestly, I think I already have," he confessed. "I think I forgave him the moment he walked back into the conference room at Phoenix, after he'd gone to the car yard to face Murdoc and get the others out. The moment I saw he was unharmed, I think I realised that it didn't matter, so long as my best mate was safe."
I let out a breath I didn't realise I was holding, relieved with Bozer's response.
"How do you do it, though?" he asked, "Knowing every time he goes on a work trip that he could be hurt or killed?"
I pushed my nearly empty bowl away, suddenly I wasn't hungry anymore.
"On the easier missions, I stay in contact with Riley or someone at Phoenix who can give me updates," I admitted. "On the harder ones, or when things go sideways, I bake to take my mind off it and I just have faith in the team. I have faith in Mac's skills to get them out of situations and I have faith in Jack to watch my boy's back. Seriously, Mac can get them out of almost anything using the stupidest things."
Bozer was silent for a second, then he laughed.
"Yea, that's my man," he gave me a proper smile, which was more than I had seen from my normally enthusiastic housemate in days. "Have I ever told you about the time…" He trailed off as the door opened, both of us on edge.
"Hey everyone," MacGyver called out as he appeared from the door way.
We both relaxed, but the spark I had seen in Bozer's eyes was more dull now.
'Forgiven but not forgotten,' I thought to myself.
"There's pasta on the stove," I told Mac, picking up my bowl to place in the sink. "You might want to reheat it."
I turned to head to the couch, leaving MacGyver to join Bozer at the table to eat.

They both ate in silence for a couple of minutes before MacGyver spoke up.
"I'm sorry for not being home these past few nights," he said to neither of us in particular. "I've had a ton of paperwork to do after the Murdoc case."
"You're like a secret agent and you still have to do paperwork?" Bozer asked.
"Yea," MacGyver admitted mournfully through a mouthful of food.
"Man, that sucks," Bozer replied, though his tone lacked any real emotion.
There was more silence, but this silence felt different. Then Bozer spoke again.
"Mac, does this mean you can do some really cool action stunts and stuff?"
Mac choked on a laugh. "Yea man, I can do some stuff like that."
"Awesome," Bozer was suddenly more excited. "You see, I was thinking that….
I didn't hear the rest of the sentence, my attention drawn away by my phone buzzing in my hand.
I opened the text to see it was from Riley. 'How's Bozer doing?' it read.
I twisted to look over the back of the couch at the two men at the table.
Bozer was sitting adjacent to MacGyver, his arms moving animatedly as he explained the stunt he had in mind. The blonde nodded and smiled in between mouthfuls of pasta, his eyes lit up in a way I hadn't seen since he had found out about the hit on him.
I took a photo with my phone, sending it to Riley.
'I think they're going to be just fine,' I replied.