AN: Again – this ficlet spoils a fairly major plot twist in the first 'episode' of Every End is a Beginning. It also really doesn't make sense if you haven't read it and is set the Christmas right after it ends.
MACGYVER'S RESIDENCE
LA
'You know, the first person to declare that two people should kiss under a poisonous, parasitic weed must have been really, really persuasive.'
Mac, who was standing on a chair hanging up the mistletoe that Penny had brought and demanded that he suspend from the living room ceiling, gave a snort of laughter and looked down at Beth, who was smiling rather wryly.
'Mistletoe, if I remember correctly, was a symbol of love and friendship in Norse mythology…' He finished fiddling the mistletoe into place. 'Though it is a pretty weird choice of plant.'
She nodded in agreement as Mac stepped off the chair, and raised her brows.
'Well, any excuse for a kiss, I guess.'
He stepped closer to her and tucked two fingers under her chin, a sly little smirk on his face.
'We shouldn't break with tradition…'
Beth shook her head a little, her cheeks pinking a bit and smile widening, putting her hands on his shoulders and reaching up to meet him halfway.
'Please tell me you've at least bought her dinner, Mac, or your grandfather's ghost is going to haunt you for the rest of your life.'
Mac pulled away from his girlfriend, ears reddening, to find his dad, who'd spoken, standing next to Jack by the kitchen.
He shot his partner a look, and Jack simply affected an innocent expression. A far too innocent expression.
(Mac made a mental note to assist Riley and Bozer with their plot to get Jack and Patricia caught under the mistletoe as revenge.)
Meanwhile, Beth, who was blushing rather furiously, waved awkwardly at his dad.
'Hi, Mr MacGyver.' Just as awkwardly, she stopped waving, her smile widening and becoming a bit more wry. 'And don't worry, he did buy me dinner, including some really, really delicious pie!'
James MacGyver, a profoundly happy, warm smile on his face, stepped a little closer to the young couple, addressing Beth first.
'You have to call me James now, Beth.' The young woman ducked her head a little with a slightly-sheepish smile; the Mr MacGyver, contrary to what he'd said to call him at Thanksgiving, had kind of just slipped out. James MacGyver smiled back at her, then turned to Mac, a rather familiar wry little smirk appearing on his face. A little smirk not too dissimilar from the one that his son had quite often. 'And you dodged a bullet there, Mac.'
Mac just shook his head with a chuckle.
Tomorrow's ficlet: How quickly things could change; that Christmas, that wonderful Christmas, had only been a little over a month ago…
Tomorrow's is a doozy…if padaholic_316 (Ao3) or SheWhoRunsMazes (Fanfiction) are reading this work…just saying, I think you'll like tomorrow's ficlet.
Thoughts on 2.10, War Room + Ship:
Generally, I liked the episode.
I think that the Ellwood/Jack/Riley thing was handled well, I like how it resolved. I also like that Mac talked to Jack about Matty being in the video. My heart broke for poor Mac and also poor Zoe (they'd have made a pretty good couple, methinks – I like them more than Mac/Cage, I think they have better chemistry, personally).
I'm not so happy with the Bozer/Leanne – I generally liked the whole Bozer-at-spy-school storyline, I liked how Bozer was so infatuated with her (very in-character, methinks), but I'm not a fan of them getting together. I just don't feel it, though I may have some bias because I'm a Bozer/Riley fan. I was mostly hoping/thinking that she'd be Bozer's version of Kalei, but apparently not.
Two things I'd have liked to see – a Jack/Riley conversation after the resolution and Jack talking to Mac about Zoe. Of course, my solution is to write an episode tag! I'm finishing one up right now – keep an eye out for Tea and Rocky Road!
I'm also thinking of writing another one-shot version of this episode similar to Full Circle from Two Paperclips and a Stick of Gum, my version of 1.19, Compass…anyone interested in reading that?