Mac winced as the hospital's Shift Change happened, and the bevy of doctors and nurses descended upon him yet again. Gibbs and Ducky were hanging back to let the professionals check his vitals, give report to the incoming Night Shift, and discuss care plans. Mac found himself distracted from his own discomfort as he watched Gibbs' face; Gibbs was probably the only other person he knew who'd spent comparable time in hospitals over the course of his life. His old buddy was playing with one of the black duct tape roses Abby had brought over, looking as uneasy as MacGyver himself was feeling at all of the poking and prodding Mac had to endure. Finally, the doctors and nurses filed out, leaving MacGyver alone with his friends.

Gibbs pulled up a chair and dropped into it. "How're ya feeling?"

Mac made a face. "They offered me clear broth."

"Did you drink it?" Ducky asked, pulling his own chair over. "You need to keep your strength up, my friend!"

"Only because I was hungry," Mac groused. "You guys eat anything?"

While Gibbs shook his head, it was Ducky's turn to wrinkle his nose. "We did find something that they claim is tea, but was primarily dust in a little baggie."

Gibbs checked his watch. "You up for another visitor?"

Voiceover: Not really, no, if you want me to be honest… Mac blinked a few times. "Abby again, or the rest of the team this time?"

Shaking his head once, Gibbs crossed his arms. "Your Assistant Director?"

"Sam?" Mac said quickly. "How did he…? Oh, he's my Emergency Contact. Thanks for calling him."

"And he's probably landing now."

Mac had to smile. "He'll take any excuse to fly the Mustang…"

Gibbs shrugged. "Sounded plenty worried about you. Called you…Dad…?"

"Yeah, he's been known to do that on rare occasions… Makes board meetings a little more interesting."

"When I met you, I didn't know you had a kid."

"When I met you, I didn't either. Life is funny sometimes."

There were voices outside the room, and MacGyver watched as Gibbs stepped towards the door to check on the situation. He wasn't the only one who saw Gibbs' eyebrows shoot upwards.

"Jethro? Is everything all right?" Ducky had to ask.

Gibbs waved to the nurses who were talking to the new arrival. "He's with us," he called. Looking back into the room, he caught the concern on the others' faces. "I normally don't let just anybody waltz into hospital rooms… but this guy is the spitting image of you, twenty years ago."

Mac started laughing, but broke off in a wince. "Ooookay, can't do that yet… Yeah. I think I'm looking through a window in a time machine sometimes. There's just enough of his mother in him… Oh, I should warn you; he's not comfortable with outside agencies knowing we're related; he has this overdeveloped sense of professionalism at times."

"Director MacGyver," Sam exclaimed as he maneuvered the multiple bags in his hands through the door. "How are you doing?"

"We'll give you two a few moments alone," Ducky said, giving Gibbs a pointed look and herding him towards the door.

Trying to keep his brave 'I'll be fine' face on for his son, Mac knew the effort was wasted by the scowl on the younger man's lips. "I shoulda listened to you," he sighed, closing his eyes in weariness and missing Sam's startle. "You told me to get that bullet taken out right away."

Sam folded his arms across his chest, genuine concern belying the well-worn yet playful irritation he was trying to hide behind. "You know, most people pick up keychains or coffee mugs as souvenirs. You have to be different..."

"What was I supposed do? The gift shop was closed and I was gonna miss my flight!" Mac retorted.

Sam plowed right over him. "You were so sick of hospitals, you said. You were feeling fine, you said. You couldn't stand the thought of getting cut up any worse than you had been, so you decided to run around with anti-aircraft ordinance lodged in your gut…"

"You have to admit, it made getting through security at those dull diplomatic meetings a lot more interesting," Mac tried.

The last of the exasperated teasing melted from Sam's tone as he grew serious. "If you'd listened to me and had it removed when they hauled you two out of that desert, then the bullet wouldn't have gone missing today," Sam informed him.

Mac managed to get a hand up to massage his forehead. "Great… Three guesses as to where that ended up."

"I'll do my best to get it back, but I'm not going to do anything to jeopardize the relationship the Phoenix Foundation is building with NCIS. We need them on this… despite the history you both have with former Agent Da…"

"When you're at NCIS, paying your respects to Director Vance," Mac interrupted, giving his son a warning look as he caught sight of Gibbs pacing the hallway just outside of his door. "Do me a favor…" Lowering his voice so that Sam had to step closer, he gave him a brief but thorough set of instructions.

Out in the hallway, Gibbs leaned up against the wall and let out a sigh. "Who'd have thought; MacGyver has a son."

"We all keep secrets, Jethro," Ducky reminded him. "Ancient history, I know, but I knew you for ten years before I learned about Shannon and Kelly."

Gibbs tried very hard not to flinch at the names of his late wife and daughter. "Yeah…" He could see Sam and MacGyver through the window of the room, and he grew pensive. He'd known his daughter from conception to her eighth year, but lost her far too soon. From what Mac had said, Gibbs guessed that he was well into his forties before he discovered he'd had a son, but they'd had twenty years to get to know each other. Both had missed out on large chunks of their children's lives.

Sam had brought a small vase of flowers, two tiny balloons made from duct tape, and a handful of gift bags with him. He was helping his father open the bags, and both were laughing at the contents. From what Gibbs could see from his vantage point, one contained only a box of jumbo sized paperclips. The next contained a roll of duct tape. The third was full of empty chewing gum wrappers. Curious as to what was going on, Gibbs stepped closer.

Sam saw him, and waved him inside the room. "Agent Gibbs, I'm very glad to meet you in person. Thank you again for calling me. I'm glad he was in good hands, but it was still nice to know what happened."

"For someone who was heading to the airport while still on the phone with me, you got a lot put together in a short period of time," Gibbs commented, gesturing to all of the goodies spread over Mac's blanketed form. "What's all this?"

Sam chuckled, sounding just like his old man. "Getting gag gifts for a guy who could build a shopping mall from a popsicle stick and a pack of gum is pretty easy. However, I'm going to borrow this one," Sam said, scooping the duct tape up from where it rested on Mac's chest. "And I'm going to give it to you, Agent Gibbs… We need him back healthy. Don't let him do anything until he's recovered enough." He handed the silver roll over to Gibbs, grinning as his father began protesting. "I'm glad you're okay, Mac. You know I'd love to stay, but…"

"Oh, sure! Mock me, steal my get-well presents, use them against me, and bug out!" Mac teased. "I'm glad you came, Sam, but I think you're right… things are probably already falling apart over there without you."

"Besides… I forgot to sign out the Mustang, so I have to do that before Glynis from Accounting gets a hold of me."

Mac rolled his head to give Gibbs a frank stare. "Didn't I tell you? He does love that jet!"

Sam gestured for Gibbs to join him out in the hallway, and he waved Ducky over at the same time. "Thank you both for taking care of him," Sam started. "I got the report from the doctor you told me to call, so thank you. I'm just curious… where did the bullet go? The one they removed?"

"Got sent to our lab, at NCIS," Gibbs said, wondering why Sam was so interested in it.

Sam tried to keep a straight face, but he wasn't as good at it as MacGyver. Gibbs saw disappointment and…concern?…in the younger man's expression. "Oh. I'm curious why, since it wasn't part of your current case?"

"Standard procedure," Gibbs replied. "We process everything." He gave the Assistant Director a narrow-eyed stare. "Got a problem with that?"

"That mission was classified," Sam explained. "I notice that you and your team managed to download the synopsis for every op in his packet. I know you have security clearance, but…"

"We'll copy you in on our full report for this case," Gibbs promised, knowing that wasn't what the other man wanted to hear, but making it plain that was all he was going to get.

Sam read the situation perfectly. "All right, then… It really was good to finally meet the man behind the story I've heard so often."

"Safe trip back to Los Angeles," Gibbs replied.

Sam nodded, then gestured to the duct tape in Gibbs' hands. "Don't be afraid to use that if you need to. He can get pretty ornery if he stays in a hospital bed too long."