Skirting the elevator in favor of a bit of physical activity, Mac hit the stairwell and started down. Pausing on the landing between floors, MacGyver leaned against the wall. "You'd better be careful, Mac. She said she'd trust them with her life, but you could get everyone in a world of hurt if you say the wrong thing," he told himself in an angry whisper. Feeling properly chastised, he continued on towards Autopsy.

If there was one thing Mac hated worse than heights, it was morgues. He wondered why that hadn't come to mind when he'd hatched the plan to come down here in the first place. He hesitated outside of the gleaming silver doors, pushing away nightmares before they tried to surface. He'd seen way too many of his good friends for the last time in a place like this. A quick glance through the glass window showed that the Doctor was in, but he didn't have any 'patients' on the tables.

Ducky noticed the shadow playing through the window and came to investigate. "Ah, good afternoon, MacGyver!" he greeted in his cheerful brogue. "I must beg a favor of you; I appreciate the invitation to call you 'Mac'; however, 'MacGyver' is so much easier for me to say."

MacGyver had put his 'game face' on, but found himself able to offer the Scotsman a genuine smile. "The way you say it, Ducky, I agree! I took my son to Scotland on one of our trips, just to hear my name spoken the way it was meant to be."

Ducky's smile was broad, with a hint of friendly teasing. "I'll bet it was a little easier hearing your full name spoken there; forgive me, Lad, but I was curious and looked it up," he admitted when Mac winced.

"A little easier, maybe," Mac allowed. "How my mother came up with that one…?"

Ducky shrugged. "In the original Scottish, 'Angus' means 'Superior Strength', or "First Choice'. It makes sense to me."

"That makes one of us, then," Mac said with a disarming smile. "Let's just say that it was a hard name to survive public school with. Hence, 'call me Mac'…"

Ducky patted him on the shoulder in a friendly manner. "I can imagine." Turning back to the door, Ducky gestured for MacGyver to follow. "Please, come in and share a cup of tea with me. Rumor has it that you like Darjeeling?"

Mac didn't quite know how to respond to that; he'd enjoyed the steaming cup that was offered to him back in the bull pen, but the reverence with which it had presented to him still confused him. "I… uh… Sure?"

"Young Timothy begged some from me this morning. Knowing he prefers coffee, I was curious, yet happy to oblige. I overheard later that it had been prepared for you. I have replenished my tea supply over lunch, if you would prefer another flavor?"

"Whatever you're pouring is fine with me," Mac replied. "If I may ask, what else did you hear about this morning?" He watched the other man putter with the tea kettle, warming the water as he spooned the tea into the diffuser.

Ducky's eyes twinkled. "I overheard a great deal of appreciation for the skills and experience of our new guest. Visitors who have the wherewithal too keep up with the team are somewhat rare."

"That explains a lot, actually," Mac nodded to himself. "Thanks, Ducky." He accepted the Scotsman's nod and the china cup of fragrant brew.

"How are you feeling, MacGyver?" Ducky queried as they sipped. "After three days without sleep, I find it hard to believe you're up and around already."

Mac chuckled. "I've always been able to bounce back from things faster than expected. I guess it's a combination of a high pain tolerance and boredom." He grinned at Ducky's exaggerated nod that encouraged him to keep believing that if it made him happy. "I've got another question for you; Rumor has it that you have a background in psychology… You mind if I pick your brain a bit?"

"I'd be delighted," Ducky said, pulling out a set of chairs. "I am between tasks at the moment, and would enjoy spending the time in pleasant conversation." Once they were settled and had sipped their tea, Ducky leaned forward. "What troubles you?"

"Me? Oh, ah… That's not exactly where I was going with this…" Mac stammered, caught off guard by how Ducky had cut right to the point.

Kind eyes smiled at him from over the rim of the tea cup. "If I may, you strike me as someone who has a lot on his mind."

"You could say that twice and not be accused of overstatement," Mac agreed, puffing an overwhelmed breath out.

"I am familiar with the Phoenix Foundation's many facets. That is a complex organization. You are a Director there?"

"Director of Field Operations; yes."

"And I get the feeling that you hold this job out of a sense of commitment?"

Mac squirmed as a nerve was touched. "I feel like we're missing the leather couch here," he said, trying to cover his sudden discomfort.

Ducky changed the subject smoothly. "I just received a call from the hospital. Young Andy Schwimmer has been moved from the ICU to a private room. They are quite pleased with his recovery."

"That is good to hear," Mac agreed gratefully. "His parents are on their way…"

Ducky's eyebrows rose as he heard something in MacGyver's tone. "His adopted father is a friend of yours."

"That's kinda what I wanted to… Yeah, he is, sorry." Mac stopped, took a deep breath, and let it out. "I haven't seen Jack in fifteen years." He waited to see if Ducky was going to ask any questions, but the Scotsman was willing to wait him out. "When Jack and I spent any kind of time together, we usually ended up over our heads in trouble. I got pretty good at getting us out of it, but there were times I needed a little help. My best friend, Pete, was the Director of Field Ops at the Phoenix."

"You inherited his job," Ducky nodded, getting a feel for where the conversation was heading.

"Yeah," Mac said, unable to hide the sadness in his voice. "But when I needed bailing out, Pete was always right there. He knew I couldn't say no to Jack."

Ducky nodded, the last of the pieces falling into place. "You're concerned that since you now are in Pete's position, you don't have that resource to draw upon for backup. If Jack attempts to lead you astray, it will have to be you alone that provides the resources."

"I haven't heard from Jack in years. I get a phone call from him begging for me to watch out for this kid, and now look at me. I dive right back in, rushing in where angels fear to tread."

"You enjoy helping people. I can sense that about you. You look for the best in people with unfailing faith that you will find it, no matter how hard it is to see."

"You're making this weakness of mine sound virtuous instead of naive," Mac said with an attempt at a smile.

Ducky grew serious. "I don't view that as a weakness at all, MacGyver! Certainly, caution must be employed when dealing with those who stubbornly refuses to live up to the faith we attempt to place in them, but placing that faith in the first place requires great strength of character."

Mac chewed on that thought for a while, realizing that had dredged up a question about something that had happened many years ago, something he'd never been able to figure out. "I'm going to give you a hypothetical situation, and I want your honest opinion. Say there is this guy who has this 'silver lining outlook' about his fellow man. He's asked to help rescue an innocent who has been put in danger. Normally not a big deal, right? However, the person asking our 'silver lining outlook' character just happens to be his mortal enemy; a crazy assassin who would stop at nothing to kill him."

"We're not talking about Jack here, are we?" Ducky asked with growing concern.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Mac said, his words speeding up as he warmed to his subject. Although his mortal enemy, Murdoc, had been dead for a long time… wasn't he?… Mac could still feel his adrenaline kick in as his heart started to pound. "No, we're talking about a different guy… hypothetically, remember… a genuine assassin working for an underground organization of hitmen, who haunted our hypothetical optimist's nightmares for over a decade, trying time after time to blow him up. The hypothetical maniac suddenly appears in our optimist's life and begs him for help in rescuing someone else; let's say, an innocent bystander used as leverage against the maniac. The optimist wants nothing to do with his nemesis, but he can't stop himself from helping him rescue the innocent. Does that make the optimist… crazy?"

Ducky blinked a few times as he tried to make sense of the tangled example. "Is our optimist crazy for his desire to lend his skills to rescue someone in need of help?"

Mac was about to protest, but he realized Ducky was breaking the scenario down into smaller chunks. "When you put it that way, it doesn't sound so crazy."

"Obviously, our optimist made the best of a…bizarre… situation. I assume the innocent was rescued?" Registering MacGyver's affirmative nod, Ducky kept going. "I also assume our optimist did not expect the maniac to see the light, change his ways, and start serving meals at soup kitchens?"

"The deal we had was that he'd turn himself in to the police, and give me everything he had on his cronies so we could shut that organization down too."

Ducky hid his smile as the 'hypothetical' pretense was abandoned. "And did you honestly expect him to go through with that?"

Mac had to shake his head. "I'd hoped, but no; I knew he wasn't going to hold up that end of the bargain. He gave me enough to take down his former associates, but I think that was more to clear the way for his next moves than anything else."

Ducky watched him closely for a few moments. "One does hope that the maniac was finally brought to justice…"

That was one rabbit hole MacGyver didn't want to get lost down again. There was no way Murdoc could have survived their last skirmish, but once again, there'd been no body. There'd also been a two decade silence afterward, which was not Murdoc's style at all. "Let's go with 'Yes'," he hedged.

Ducky seemed to agree that conversation wasn't worth continuing. "If it had been Jack that had asked you for help, would you have hesitated?"

"No," Mac admitted. "But while Jack consistently got me in big trouble, it wasn't his published goal to bring me to a sticky end. As it is, I took a long vacation from the Foundation to chase after that kid of his the moment he'd asked."

"And you saved his life," Ducky reminded him. "Now, you're wondering if, after fifteen years, Jack still has the same kind of power over you."

Mac startled. "In a nutshell, yes!"

Ducky lifted his teacup and savored a sip, allowing MacGyver a long moment to think. When the Medical Examiner began to get the impression that the exhausted man's thoughts were still tangled, he lowered his cup to catch his attention. "Is it Jack… or our 'hypothetical' maniac… that made you jump to the rescue of those who were unable to help themselves?" He waited until Mac's head started shaking. "Did having the possibility of Pete 'bailing you out' provide the freedom to think outside of convention, to be able to go that extra mile in protecting innocent life?"

Goosebumps rose high on Mac's arms. "I found a list in Pete's desk, after he…"

"After he passed the baton?" Ducky supplied.

Blinking hard, Mac nodded his thanks for the save. "It was one of those 8-1/2x14 yellow legal pads. Every page, front and back, had three columns of names, written in Pete's handwriting. I recognized every single name on that list." A shaky inhale turned into a watery smile. "The list was labeled, 'Impossible Saves'."

"I'm guessing that because of your assistance, every name on that list had a story to share with their grandchildren?"

Mac leaned back in his chair, consciously channeling his overwhelming emotion into a smile that lit up the room. "We did good work."

Ducky raised an eyebrow. "You still do."

Watching that realization hit home, Ducky smiled to himself. Giving the other man the time he needed to process, the doctor stood and went to the tea pot. Mac was still staring at the far wall as the wheels spun in his mind. Ducky refilled the pot and put it back in the heating element. Sensing that Mac was nearing the conclusion of his thought process, Ducky took advantage of his distraction. "If I may; that wasn't the only question you wanted to ask, is it?"

Mac blinked, tugging his thoughts back to the present. He gave the doctor a searching gaze, then nodded to himself. "Yeah, I heard you were good."

Ducky checked the temperature of the water, wondering at the meaning of that last statement and curious to see if he could draw MacGyver into answering it. "So, my friend; What's really on your mind?"

Mac's gaze shuttered a bit as he raised his guard. For the briefest of moments, he seemed angry, and Ducky sensed that he was angry at himself.

MacGyver's Voiceover: You know, this isn't the first time in the last few days that I've made a bone-headed mistake. First was probably answering the phone the day that Jack called and asked for help. Then, dropping everything and racing to DC to find this kid without getting more information from Jack wasn't the brightest move… although from what I knew of Jack, I'd get quite a story and I couldn't see his left eye twitching over the phone to know which parts were an outright lie. Then in my exhaustion, I made some comments that let slip that I knew these people. And now I come down to talk to a psychologist / medical examiner whom I've been told can practically read minds… I'm either losing mine, or I need his professional head-shrinking services more than I thought!

Ducky's voice cut into his self recrimination. "I feel the Darjeeling was a big heavy. I think a lighter flavor, apricot, perhaps, would satisfy."

There was a moment of quiet while both the tea and MacGyver brewed, and then Ducky returned to the table. "Having just become acquainted, I do not expect a full disclosure of your life, my friend," Ducky said with gentle teasing in his voice. "You were the one who requested to 'pick my brain', as the saying goes, so I leave the topic of conversation entirely up to you." He waited a moment, watching the tension drain out of MacGyver's shoulders. "However, I do count us as friends, MacGyver, and I sense that something is deeply troubling you. If you wish to share it, I would be honored to offer what assistance I can."

Mac stared at his tea cup, watching the ripples as he rubbed a finger around the handle. "The thing is…" he started, then hesitated and fell silent.

"You cannot ask the question that is burning inside you right now," Ducky discerned. As Mac made no response, other than the unconscious rippling of his jaw muscle, Ducky raised his eyebrows and nodded. "I see. That does present a challenge." He waited a moment, then softly added, "I should have mentioned at the outset of our conversation that anything discussed here is covered by 'Doctor-Patient Confidentiality'."

It didn't seem as though Mac had heard that. "I guess, to boil it down to the basics, what I want to ask is…" He paused, wracking his brain to boil it down to something that wouldn't get him in trouble. Losing the battle, and afraid he was going to blurt everything out, he spread his hands and asked, "Why?"

There was silence for the space of several moments. "I believe that is the question to end all questions."

MacGyver's Voiceover: Why can't I ask the question I really need to; why does National Security, which is supposed to protect people, actually harm them right now? Why do people create such hurtful problems that others have to clean up? Why am I, as usual, caught in the middle?

Mac cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and launched in. "Why can't I say, 'no' when I'm asked for help? Why am I the 'go-to' person for people who get themselves into trouble? Why do I collect 'friends' who demand so much of me?"

MacGyver's Voiceover: Okay, I wasn't expecting to say all of that…but I have to admit, those questions have been rattling around in my brain for over thirty years.

Ducky's expression was thoughtful as he tilted his head to the side and stared into the middle distance. "Because…you can, MacGyver!" He leaned forward, catching MacGyver's gaze and holding it. "You possess an unusual skill set, with an uncanny ability to think outside of convention. You see a big picture and an end result that very few others can fathom. You also have the deepest sense of understanding for the fabric of human existence that I have ever seen." He paused as he realized MacGyver needed clarification on that point. "You care so deeply for your fellow man. You recognize that life is sacred. You abhor violence; ergo, you go further to find solutions that protect life. Your 'inability to say no' is a direct reflection of your moral integrity."

MacGyver's warm brown eyes were wide over his slack-jawed surprise. "Ducky, I…"

Ducky smiled and put a friendly hand on Mac's shoulder. "You are a good man, MacGyver. It is a pleasure to know you."

MacGyver's cellphone rang at that moment, forestalling any further conversation from Mac's side. He tugged his phone free and pressed 'talk' with numb fingers. "Uh… yeah?" he invited, still staring at Ducky with awe.

"Mac? Gibbs. Get up here. Got something!" And the line went dead.

Mac waved the phone. "Ducky, I gotta… um…" He gathered himself and focused on the man before him. "Ducky, Thank you. What you've said…"

"You'd best get up there; Gibbs does not like to be kept waiting," Ducky said, waving him towards the door. As Mac backed away, Ducky raised a hand and brought him to a momentary halt. "One thing, MacGyver," he began, his tone warning. "Don't lie to Gibbs."

"I wouldn't…"

Ducky shook his head. "I meant when I said you are a good man. Whatever you're holding back from him, you'd better have a very good reason. I hope you understand that."

Mac met his gaze, and the temperature in the room dropped. "I do."

Startled at the intensity in the other man's eyes, Ducky had to ask, "You have a reason, or you understand?"

"Yes." With that, MacGyver walked through the doors.

Murdoc was played by Michael Des Barres, who was actually in an episode of NCIS (2012) playing a character called Del Finney. The scene where Ducky was the one interrogating him was beyond brilliant!