Disclaimer – Still own nothing.

To JellyBelly1210 – Thanks for your review! Hope you like this chapter!

To JustADreamer24 – Thanks for your review! Here is the next chapter, hope you like it!

To TerriJ – Thanks for your review! After rewatching the season 2 finale a couple of times, I found that though James is arrogant, and his reasonings for doing everything he had was a bit stupid, I do think he actually does care about Mac and thought I should show it. Hope you like this chapter!

To Long Live BRUCAS – Thanks for your review! You will find out what happened to Gomez in this chapter. Hope you like it!

To Lhaven – Thanks for your review! While I do love to torture Mac, I would never actually hurt him that badly or kill him. Hope you like this chapter!

AN – And I'm back early once again! If all goes according to plan, chapter 10, which is the last chapter in this story will be finished by then end of the day and be uploaded tomorrow, so, here's hoping!

Enjoy!

After the EMTs arrived, along with Bozer, Leanna, Riley, and Matty, who came later with the paramedics, they got Mac, who remained unconscious, into the ambulance with Jack, who was refusing to leave his partner for a moment unless absolutely necessary. Unfortunately for Jack, that moment came only about ten minutes later, as they were that close to the nearest hospital. The doctors and nurses immediately took Mac to run tests to see what injuries he had and if surgery was needed. That was over an hour ago.

Riley, Bozer, and James arrived not long after Jack did with Mac, having followed right behind them. Cage and Matty stayed behind to close up the scene and deal with those the TAC team had managed to arrest. Together, the team at the hospital sat in the waiting room in silence. James was fiddling with his Swiss army knife, Bozer was staring at the floor, lost in thought, Riley was on her phone, trying to distract herself, while Jack was staring at the clock, bouncing his leg in an attempt to keep himself from barging through the hospital in search of the doctor and Mac.

"He'll be okay Jack." Riley whispered when she noticed how worried and tightly wound Jack was at the moment.

"I know." Jack responded, though his leg didn't stop bouncing and he continued to grip the chair arms so tight that his hands were white. The hacker then put her hand over top of Jack's in an effort to comfort him, and the older man turned his head to give her a small, appreciative smile.

"Family of Angus MacGyver?" Everyone immediately turned their attention over to who had spoke, and saw that a doctor had entered the waiting room. They all got to their feet and walked over to him.

"How's my son?" James asked once he reached the doctor.

"Very lucky. He's sustained several cuts, and lost a fair amount of blood, and they have become infected. We've got him on antibiotics, but the infections aren't very serious." The doctor answered before continuing, "He has also three broken ribs and a dislocated jaw which we had to wire shut, and a minor concussion, but other than that, he's fine."

"He'll be okay?" Jack needed to hear the man say again.

"He'll be just fine as soon as the antibiotics clean up the infected cuts and his jaw heals." the doctor assured them again with a smile, causing everyone to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Can we see him?" Jack then asked, needing to see his partner for himself.

"You are all family?" The doctor questioned, looking over at the members of the team.

"Yes, we are his family." James replied without a moment of hesitation, causing everyone to look at their boss with a mix of surprise and appreciation.

The doctor didn't look very convinced, but didn't argue at all as he had been informed that his patient was a government agent and the man who called the patient his son looked a little scary. So he said, "Alright, follow me."

The group followed closely behind the doctor as he led them to Mac's room, all eager to see the young man. They quickly reached the room, and saw Mac lying in a hospital bed through the large windows that let them see inside the room. Jack, Riley, and Bozer immediately headed straight inside, but when James went for the door, he found himself somehow unable to open it.

James looked back up to see through the window what was happening in the hospital room. He saw Jack sit down on the chair beside the bed and grab the blonde's hand, as though it was completely natural for him to be by Angus's side. Riley and Bozer dragged two chairs towards the bed before they also sat down surrounding their friend.

In that moment, they looked every bit a family, and James knew, that he didn't belong. He didn't have a place with them, didn't have a place in his son's life. And it was all his own fault.

2016MACGYVER2016

Matty finished having her agents get all the evidence they needed and made sure that the gang members that were arrested were taken to a secure prison as fast as possible so she could get to the hospital to see MacGyver. While he was no longer a Phoenix agent, she still considered the boy a part of her team, and she was worried about him just like the others were, as was Cage.

After about three hours, Matty and Cage finally arrived at the hospital where Mac was being treated. Cage immediately went into the hospital room to join Jack, Riley, and Bozer watch over the still unconscious Mac, and wait for him to wake up. Matty on the other hand headed over to James who was standing in front of the window the showed what was happening inside the hospital room.

"We got Luis Gomez, and a few of his drug members. There are still a few of the key cartel members though, and no one is talking. We'll have to round them all up in order to completely take down their whole operation." Matty informed her boss as she came to stand beside him.

"Well, we've taken down larger cartels with less." James responded, keeping his eyes on his son.

"Yup." When James stayed quiet after that, Matty glanced from him, to the team members in the room that they were staring into. After a moment of silence, she asked, "Why are you standing out here?"

"I thought I would let them be with Angus first." James answered, still keeping attention on his son.

Matty looked back at the older agent before she questioned, "The doctor said he's going to be fine?"

"Yeah." James confirmed, nodding his head a little though he continued to stare at his injured son.

"So why do you look so upset?" The deputy director wondered. James stayed quiet, trying to think about what to say, how to explain all the thoughts that have been running through his mind in the last few weeks, or if he should even say anything. As he continued staring at his son, he couldn't help but be taken aback at the sight of his son in the hospital bed.

James wasn't blind, wasn't ignorant to what his agents all go through in the course of doing their job, how injured they could get, and he was especially aware of everything that happened to his son. He knew about every mission, what went wrong and what went right, knew about every injury his only child had sustained, and knew of every enemy that Angus had made, and the majority of that information frightened the father to his very core. He might have kept himself from Angus, but that in no way meant he didn't care about his son, didn't mean that he didn't love him.

All James wanted to do was protect his son, from his enemies and himself, it was why he left. Yet, he led his son into the army and into the Phoenix Foundation. Angus did have a point there when he brought that up, and James knew that, but after years of being closed off, he couldn't fully open up. While everyone knew how dangerous being a government agent could be, sometimes they forget how protected they could be, and with his position as the head of the Phoenix Foundation, he was in the perfect spot to protect his son.

Only problem with that and keeping his identity a secret from everyone, was that James had to do his best to keep from showing his son any special treatment. All the times his son got injured or kidnapped, James had to fight the urge to order every single agent he had to take down the people who hurt or took his son. He couldn't expose himself yet, but if he had too, he would've done it.

After Angus quit, part of the Phoenix boss hoped that maybe he would be safer, but the other part of him feared what could happen to his son without his protection. He just didn't think someone would go after him so soon. All of his worst fears came true in the last few days. An enemy from his past came after his son, and James couldn't stop it. And now, his son was safe, yet just like always, James was outside looking in with the massive feeling that he no longer belonged in Angus's life.

"You wouldn't understand." James finally answered, without actually explaining what was going through his mind.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Matty pushed, trying to get her boss, the man she considered a friend, to open up.

"It's nothing that really concerns you Matty. Don't worry about it." James told her a little harshly, wanting her to stop pressuring him to open up, not wanting to admit that she was right. She had come to him when she found out that Mac had decided to look for him, and believed that it was time to reveal himself, but James refused. He insisted it was better that way, yet Matty didn't believe it, said that if he waited for Mac to find out, it could go badly. And she was right.

"I know that it's easier for you, especially as the boss, to separate yourself from your feelings, but I know that you care about your son, even though you suck at showing it. And I know that all of your instincts are telling you to pull away now, but that boy right there," Matty paused for a moment as she pointed at the former agent lying in the hospital bed before finishing, "needs his family, all of it. That includes you."

"After all these years, don't you think he deserves that? Cause I'll tell you one thing, he didn't deserve his Dad walking out on him." Matty continued when James stayed silent.

"I know." Oversight admitted, lowering his gaze a little in shame. He knew that his son needed a father, that was why he had his father take care of Angus, but he knew that his boy didn't deserve his father walking out on him. Yet, after everything that had happened, he wasn't sure if he could repair the damage in their relationship, and wasn't even sure if he deserved a spot in his son's life.

"So, what are you going to do about it?" Matty inquired when her boss still didn't say anything. She didn't wait for answer though, she just went into the hospital room to rejoin her team, leaving James standing in the hall all alone.

2016MACGYVER2016

It was late in the night when James finally worked up the courage to go into his son's room. The only person that was still there though besides Angus was Jack. Bozer, Matty, Riley, and Cage had left earlier to go get some food with from the cafeteria, as none of them had been eating enough over the last few days. They tried to talk Jack into coming with them, but he refused.

"He's still asleep?" James wondered as he entered the hospital room. Jack glanced up at him before looking back at Angus.

"The doctor said that he'll be probably be asleep for a while." Jack answered. James nodded as he came to stand by the foot of bed.

It was the first time that James had a clear look at his son since they found him and the paramedics took him to the hospital. Both of Angus's eyes were bruised and swollen, his nose was also a little swollen and bruised, but luckily not broken. There were cuts and bruises along both of his arms, steri-stripes covered the cuts. Two IVs were in his one hand for blood, nutrients, and the antibiotics, and there was a nasal cannula wrapped around his face under his nose, aiding his breathing. That was all he could see as the hospital blanket covered the rest of his son's unconscious body.

James then took his eyes off of Angus, and looked over at Jack instead. Ever since Angus was found, Jack stayed by the boy's side. As far as Oversight could tell, the sniper hadn't slept and hadn't eaten at all. He stayed beside Angus like an overprotective older brother, or maybe even father. That didn't surprise James though. He had seen after years of keeping tabs of his son how close the two had gotten, and knew that though he did his best to keep his son safe, Jack did more of that protecting than the Phoenix boss did.

"Jack, I want to say thank you." James said, causing Jack to look over at him in surprise and confusion.

"For what?" Jack asked, completely confused as to why his boss was thanking him. For the last few weeks, especially the last few days, he had done nothing but make snide remarks and insults about him.

"For being there for him, when I wasn't." James replied, nodding his head in Angus's direction.

Jack looked back over Mac for a few seconds before turning to somewhat glare at his partner's father and said, "I didn't do it for you."

"I know, you did it for him." James responded, then added, "I'm still grateful though."

The sniper continued to stare at Mac for a few moments, before slowly turning his attention back to James and said, "I don't know what you are planning on doing now that he knows the truth about you and everything you've done, but if you hurt him in any way, shape, or form again, you're going to be the one in the hospital bed."

"I have no doubt about that." James said honestly, having no problem seeing Jack hurt him if he hurt his son. But since that was the last thing he wanted to do, he had to make sure that the sniper of that, "Believe me, hurting my son is not my intention. It never was."

Jack sighed, then again turned his head to look back over at Mac as he said, "Well, it happened just the same."

James didn't really have anything to say in his defense to that. While he may have left his son with the intention of protecting him, he knew that he had hurt Angus. He had heard from his father about how badly Angus had taken the news that he wasn't coming back. And he knew that that wound hadn't healed, which meant that it was time to fix that, and that started with being there for his son properly.

So James sat down in one of the empty chairs beside the bed and waited along with Jack for Angus MacGyver to wake up.