Disclaimer – I own nothing.

To Long Live BRUCAS – Thanks for your review! I agree, James is totally the odd man out, and Jack would take him down if he hurts Mac. You will find out what James decides to do in this chapter. Hope you like it!

To TerriJ – Thanks for your review! So glad you liked the last chapter and that you could see something like that happening. Hope you like this chapter as well!

To Lhaven – Thanks for your review! Yeah, protective Jack is the best! Hope you like this chapter!

AN – And I'm back with the last chapter. Sorry if this chapter is a bit rushed, but I was rushed, so, yeah. I hope you all like the last chapter though. Thank you to all who reviewed, favourited, and followed! You guys are amazing!

Enjoy!

Mac wasn't exactly sure what to expect as he slowly felt himself wake up. It didn't feel like he was still tied to a chair anymore. Instead, it felt as though he was lying down on something. It wasn't really comfortable, but it might as well have been a soft, fluffy cloud compared to how the hard chair felt. That, with the sound of an annoying beeping told him one thing though, he was definitely in a hospital, or at least, he hoped he was. As he struggled to find the strength to open his eyes, he apparently got someone's attention because someone started talking.

"Mac? Mac? You awake?" The blonde relaxed slightly when he heard Jack's voice, then forced his eyes open, and saw his former partner sitting beside him.

Jack immediately smiled when he saw his best friend open his eyes and said, "Hey buddy. How are you feeling?"

"Mm, finnnee." Mac managed to mumble, stopping when he realized that he couldn't move his jaw at all.

"Yeah, your jaw was broken. They had to wire it shut, so talking is going to be a little hard, but it will get easier with practice. Trust me on that." Jack explained, only barely understanding what Mac had said and why he looked confused after he tried to speak. He had broken his jaw back in his high school years after a rough football game. He knew from experience what it felt like with a wired jaw, and how hard it can be talking with it.

"Wha h'ppen'd?" Mac asked, his voice only slightly more clearer than before.

"Well, Riley managed to use her awesome computer skills to figure out which one of Luis Gomez's associates was buying all the supplies and ingredients that Walsh needed in order to make KX7. We used that to track down the warehouse where they were holding you and making the lab. We rounded up the cartel members that were there, including Luis Gomez himself, and we got you to the hospital." Jack filled his partner in. The blonde slowly nodded, letting the older man know that he heard him, but still looked a little out of it. A sudden thought then came to Mac, causing him to try and speak again.

"Wa'sh?" Jack let out an angry sigh at the mention of the man who had kidnapped and tortured his brother, but remained calm. Mac needed him calm right now.

"Walsh is dead. No one is going to have to worry about him again." The sniper assured him, placing his hand gently on Mac's shoulder. Mac gave him a small, but relieved smile before he closed his eyes. Though the sniper, and everyone else had been waiting two days for Mac to wake up, he knew that his partner needed his rest.

Jack watched him for a moment, but turned his head to look over his shoulder when he heard someone coming into the room. Seeing that it was Oversight, who was staring at his son with a worried and anxious expression, the agent turned back to face Mac and gently shook Mac's shoulder to get him to wake up again. While he knew that the young man needed his rest, he also knew that he needed to talk to his father, and his father needed to talk to him as well.

"Hey brother?" Jack said as he continued to shake Mac's shoulder. When he saw the blonde force his crystal blue eyes open, he added, "There's someone who wants to talk to you."

Mac turned his head a little to see who wanted to talk to him, and saw the blurry form of his Dad. As the older MacGyver started coming closer to him, Mac's vision managed to clarify. Once he reached the bed, Jack squeezed his hand before he let go, stood up, and walked out of the room, leaving the two MacGyvers alone.

"Hey Angus. How are you doing?" James asked with a casual tone though the worry in his eyes was clear. Angus tried to open his mouth to answer, causing him to grunt slightly when he was reminded that he couldn't, and while he would've tried to speak like he had earlier with Jack, he couldn't. His jaw was throbbing too much.

His Dad quickly realized what was wrong, and disappeared from Mac's view for a moment before returning with a notepad and pencil. He put it down and the table beside the bed, and turned it so it went over top of Mac so he could write on a flat surface, and said, "Here."

Mac managed to lift his arm, grabbed the pencil, and slowly wrote out the words, I'm fine, though it was a bit messy. His Dad came closer so he could read the note as Mac let his arm drop back onto the bed.

"Good, that's good. You had us all pretty worried." James replied, looking a bit relieved but still a bit concerned. Mac nodded, and closed his eyes. He knew that his Dad probably still wanted to talk to him, but he was so tired. He just wanted to go back to sleep. He forced his eyes back open though when he heard his Dad quietly add, "You had me worried."

Mac stared at his Dad for a moment, seeing a guilty expression slowly coming upon the older man's face, but stayed still and quiet as he waited for his Dad to continue. When his Dad realized that he had opened his eyes and was staring at him, clearly waiting patiently for him to say or do something, his Dad said, "Angus, son, I'm sorry, about all of this. I didn't realize, didn't think that Walsh would come after you. At least, not so fast. If I had known he would come after you, I would've gotten your security detail up faster."

The blonde's eyebrows shot up a little when he heard his Dad say that, focusing on two words in particular. He forced himself to lift his arm, ignoring that it was starting to shake a little due to lack of strength, grabbed the pencil and scribbled out the words Security detail?, before lowering his hand once more.

His Dad leaned forward again to read what he had written, then quickly turned back to his son and explained, "You may have quit Angus, but that doesn't mean that I wasn't going to make sure you were safe. You've wracked up a lot of enemies in the few years you've worked for the Phoenix, and any one of them could have gone after, and some still might."

Mac nodded a little, but didn't try to communicate again. Instead, he watched his father, who was looking a bit anxious. After a minute though, his Dad sat down on the edge of the hospital bed, placed his hand over his and said, "Angus, I know that you are upset with me, that you don't trust me, and I get that. After everything that happened, after what I did, despite my reasons, I still hurt you and I can't go back and fix that."

Both Mac and James lowered their heads when the MacGyver patriarch said that last sentence. Though Mac had done his best to hide how much it hurt that his Dad up and left him without any warning or goodbye, and on his own birthday no less, he was pretty sure that most of the time, he wasn't successful. That was why he never talked about it. He didn't want anyone to know how much it still hurt him.

"But son, I want to fix this, I do. And I will do whatever it takes to do that. If you'll let me." His Dad finished what he wanted to say.

Mac didn't say anything for a while, thinking over everything his Dad told him. The entire time he was speaking, he sounded sincere, and whenever Mac looked at him, he saw the sincerity in his eyes, along with guilt, so it was probably safe to assume that he meant what he had said. However, that didn't mean that the blonde was anywhere close to trusting him again. On the other hand, if his Dad truly was sincere about earning his trust back and actually wanting a real relationship with him, then maybe he should give him that chance.

So, the young man lifted his hand again, grabbed the pencil, and wrote out the words, I'll think about it, on the pad of paper.

"Yeah, think about it." His Dad responded when he saw what Mac had written. He then glanced over at something behind him before he looked back at the young man on the bed and said, "I'll come back after you catch up with your friends."

Mac didn't have a chance to give any sort of response before he heard the door open and Bozer's voice yell, "Mac!"

The blonde flinched a little at the loud voice, but smiled as he saw his best friend, along with Jack, Riley, Leanna, and to his surprise, Cage. They all came over to him as his Dad stood up and left. Bozer immediately came forward and gave him a careful and gentle hug. He then pulled away, letting Riley come over to him and as she also carefully hugged him, she said, "Dude you scared us."

Once Riley let go and stood up, Mac reached forward to grab the pencil and wrote out, Sorry.

"Not your fault. Just glad you're alright." Riley replied with a smile as Cage came over to him and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. Mac just smiled and let himself relax on the bed, completely relieved that he was back with his friends.

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Mac fell back asleep only about ten minutes after the team came into his hospital room, and while they all wanted to talk to him longer, they understood that he needed his rest. Now that he was safe and the doctor assured them that he would be okay, they knew they had time to talk to him later. And since they had managed to see him and talk to him themselves, Matty ordered practically everyone out of the room to go get some much needed rest. The only person she failed to get out was Jack, so she let him be, knowing nothing would make him budge from his partner's side. While she then went to go talk to Oversight, the rest of the team reluctantly did as they were told.

"You know, despite how worried I've been about Mac, and that he got hurt, it actually felt kinda of, normal. You know, the team back together, kinda of." Bozer remarked as he, Leanna, Cage, and Riley walked down the hall away from Mac's hospital room.

"Yeah." Riley responded, understanding what her friend was saying. She waited another minute before deciding to tell him what she and Matty had been talking about while they waited for Mac to wake up, "I've actually been thinking about that, and I talked to Matty, and I'm officially back on the team."

"You are?" Bozer asked as he stopped in his tracks. With a grin, she nodded, which in turned caused him to smile and he wrapped his arms around her, exclaiming, "That's great!"

Riley returned his enthusiastic hug, but when a sudden thought came to his mind, Bozer pulled away and asked, "What about Billy?"

"I talked to him, and he's a bit upset, but he gets it." Riley answered. Bozer nodded, then turned back to face Cage and Leanna.

"And you're back too, now all we need is Mac." Bozer said to Cage. However, the blonde Australian shook her head with a regretful expression on her face.

"Actually, I'm not." Cage informed them. Everyone turned to look over at her in shock. While she hadn't been part of the team in a while, since she was off due to being shot by Murdoc, they always thought once she had recovered, she'd come back.

"What?" Riley questioned.

"I got a job offer, in Australia. After, what all happened with Murdoc, and being with my sister for the last few months, I decided I wanted to stay for a while. I came back to help you all out, but also to officially hand in my resignation." Cage explained. She had called Matty a few days ago to talk to her about resigning from the Phoenix Foundation, but when Matty answered, she told her about how Mac was kidnapped. Cage immediately volunteered to come and help, but with the understanding that she would be resigning once they found him.

"We're gonna miss you." Bozer said as he gave her a quick hug.

"I'm gonna miss you guys too." Cage responded, returning the embrace, then added, "Don't worry though, I'll come back and visit from time to time."

"You better." Riley told her, her voice only slightly threatening as she took her turn in giving Cage a hug. It would be a little strange being on the team without Cage. Even though she hadn't been with them long, they had been through a lot in that short amount of time. Not as strange as it would be without Mac though, but the remaining members of the Phoenix Foundation could only wait to see what Mac was going to do.

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Despite how uncomfortable hospital chairs generally were, Jack found himself drifting in and out of sleep as he kept watch over his partner. He had barely gotten any rest since he learned that Mac had been kidnapped and now that his brother was safe, he couldn't really stop his exhaustion from pulling him into a much needed sleep. However, he was startled back into awareness when he felt a hand grabbed his. When he looked up, he found that it was Mac's hand, and that he had woken up again.

"It's kinda late for you to be waking up brother. You should go back to sleep." Jack told him, seeing the still exhausted look in the blonde's eyes even though Mac couldn't fully open his eyes due to how swollen they still were.

"Want to talk to you." Mac managed to croak out. While talking was still a bit difficult, he doubted he had the strength to write anything out, plus, he couldn't see the pencil and paper his Dad had given him. Someone must've moved them.

"About what?" Jack wondered as he put his elbows on the bed-rail before putting his chin on his hands.

"My Dad," Mac paused, struggling to find strength to keep talking even though his jaw was starting throb again. After a moment, he continued, "says he wants to fix our relationship."

"Do you?" Jack then questioned, knowing that at the moment, what James MacGyver wanted didn't matter. It was Mac who had the choice to make.

"Don't know. Don't trust him." Mac answered, looking very conflicted at the situation he was now in with his father.

"I know you don't man." Jack replied, putting a comforting hand on Mac's shoulder. Jack thought hard for a moment, wondering if he should let Mac know about everything he had seen and learned about Oversight while his son was gone. Though he still did not like James MacGyver, he decided that Mac had the right to know at least some of it, he deserved the chance to have a relationship with his father if that was what he wanted. After it being denied for over a decade, he deserved it.

"Mac, I think you should know, that even though I don't like your Dad, and that he sucks at showing any emotion, that I could tell he does care about you. Even with his cold exterior, I could tell." Jack informed him, causing Mac to look up at him for a moment.

"Told him, I'll think about it." Mac revealed the answer he had given his father when he had told him that he wanted to be in his life again.

"You know, maybe you two just need to get to know each other again, really know each other." Jack then suggested.

"Yeah, but how?" Mac asked. Jack just sighed and shrugged his shoulders. He didn't have an answer to that, and apparently, Mac didn't either.

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Four days later, Mac packed his few belongings in the bag Bozer had brought him from home. Though the doctor insisted that he had to take it easy, as it would take a few weeks for his ribs to heal, and maybe even a little longer before he could have his jaw unwired, he was discharged and allowed to go home. Mac couldn't wait for that. He hated being in hospitals and was looking forward to be resting in his own bed in his own house.

"You ready to go?" Mac turned around when he heard his father's voice, a little surprised at the man's presence as he thought Jack would be the one taking him home.

"Yeah." Mac answered, zipping up his bag as he continued to stare at his Dad. While his jaw was still wired shut and still hurt a bit, it wasn't as bad as before and talking had become easier with practice, just like Jack had said.

"I thought I could take you home, give us a chance to talk more." James answered, seeing the surprise and unspoken question on his son's face. Mac nodded, but didn't make a move to leave the room. Instead, he sat back down on the bed.

"Something wrong?" James asked, now feeling very nervous due to his son's reaction.

"I made up my mind, about something." Mac informed him, raising his head so he could look his father straight in the eyes.

"Okay. About what?" James wondered, moving closer to the young man, though keeping a small distance between them.

"If you are serious about, us, fixing this," Mac gestured to both himself and his Dad when he said that before continuing, "then, I will come back to work for the Phoenix. If you can prove to me that I can trust you on a professional level, then I will give you a chance to prove it to me on a, personal level."

Mac had spent the last four days thinking of little else than what his father had told him. He couldn't deny that his father had hurt him, tremendously with how he just abandoned him, how he never tried to contact him, and how he apparently somewhat controlled him his entire life, but he also couldn't deny that deep down inside of him, there still was that little boy who missed his father and wanted him to come back home.

He remembered his grandfather telling him that his Dad was a smart man, and that smart people have a tendency on focusing on what they think is important and ignoring what actually is important, and that was what his Dad did. But, once his Dad realized his mistake, he would come back. If his Dad truly did want to fix what he had done, then, Mac was willing to give him a chance. He could only hope though that his Dad didn't screw it up.

"But, no special favours or anything like that just because I'm your son." Mac immediately put down his condition. The last thing he needed or wanted was his father trying to give him special treatment in order to somehow make up for lost time or to get back onto his good side. Though he doubted his Dad actually would do something like that, he wanted to make sure.

"Agreed, but, if it ever comes to your safety son, that will be my first priority. It always has been and always will be." James added a condition of his own. Mac stared at him for a few seconds, wondering if he could argue with his Dad about it, but ultimately saw that that was one thing his father wouldn't back down on.

"Okay." Mac agreed.

"Good." James said, then smiled as he crossed the distance between him and his son. As he reached him, he put a hand on the blonde's shoulder and said, "Welcome back."

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Two Months Later…

Mac sat in the passenger seat in Jack's car as they drove towards the Phoenix Foundation. While he could have gotten a ride from Bozer, as he was heading there too, he left earlier that morning. Plus, he was sure that Jack just wanted to take him because he usually did. And, Mac was sure that Jack wanted to make sure that he was indeed well enough to head back to work.

As they entered the building, Mac was immediately bombarded with his coworkers giving him hugs, claps on the back, and them welcoming him back to work, which caused him to smile even though it made him feel slightly uncomfortable. Soon though, they reunited with Bozer, Riley, and Leanna, who were waiting for them in the hallway which led to the war room where Matty was waiting for all of them.

"Good to have you back man." Bozer said even though he had just seen Mac earlier that morning.

"It feels good to be back." Mac responded with a smile. Bozer then clapped him on the back as Riley also came forward and gave him a quick hug. Once she pulled away, Jack, Mac, Riley, Bozer, and Leanna made their way towards the war room.

"Welcome back blondie." Director Webber greeted the newly reinstated agent as he entered the war room with the team.

"Thanks Matty." Mac replied, coming to stand in the middle of the room with Jack, Bozer, Riley, and Leanna by his side.

"You ready for your first mission back?" Matty then asked with a grin, causing Mac to smile back as he said, "Bring it on."

AN – And that's the end of this story! I am thinking/planning on writing a sequel of sorts that if I were writing season 3, would be the finale, but depending on how season 3 actually goes, I might not. We'll see. But I do have two other MacGyver stories that I hope to be working on and posting in the semi-near future. See all then! Thank you to all who reviewed, followed, and favourited! You guys are all AMAZING! Hope to be back soon! But for now, adios!