Note: This wasn't originally part of the story, but in a later chapter, a critical piece of evidence disappeared, and I realized I had to figure out how... Mac is good, but even he can't be in two places at once. So, since everyone in this universe seems to have at least two degrees of separation from MacGyver, I figured Sam had to get involved here too... Besides, i had to get to know his character for the next adventure in the Unforgettable Friends series.

Sam left the store, where he'd picked up a suitcase at his father's request, and slid back into his rental car. He dialed his secretary's number and leaned back in his seat to close his eyes. "My father will be the death of me," he admitted to himself.

"Assistant Director Malloy's Office, Janet speaking," his secretary answered.

"Janet, it's Sam. I need…."

"Sam! How's Mac?" Janet demanded.

Sam chuckled. "Whoever picked 'fourteen stitches' wins that pool. Put me down for 'two days' on the hospital stay before anyone else takes it. Oh, and put Gibbs & Ms. Scuito's checkmarks in the "I've worked with your father" column on the board in my office."

"I'm glad he's going to be okay, Sam," Janet said with a relieved laugh. "What can I do for you, now?"

"I'm heading to NCIS to run some errands for Mac. Please call ahead for me, and set up a meeting with their Director."

"Will do; let me put you on hold, while I make that call."

Sam waited, listening to the soft jazz playing over the hold music as he formulated his game plan for completing all of his father's instructions.

Janet was back on the line in moments. "You're in luck, sir; he literally got back to the States an hour ago, after an oversees business trip," his secretary informed him. "It sounds as though he is eager to meet you."

"Thanks. I hope to be back in the air before 6pm Eastern, which should get me back just in time for my dinner meeting with 'Acting For Freedom'. You know how much I'm looking forward to that…"

"Mac's actress friend, Penny Parker, may be eccentric, Sam, but she's raised a lot of money for her cause," Janet reminded him. "Let me know if I can be of any more help to you."

Sam thanked her, put the phone down, and fired up the engine on his rental car. Traffic was light on his way to the Navy Yard, and he made good time. After parking, going through Security, and being escorted up to the top floor of the brick building, Sam found himself being ushered into Director Vance's office. A quick look around gave Sam a pretty good idea of who he was going to be dealing with; Sam had always been a good judge of people.

Vance had been unpacking his briefcase as the door opened, but he turned and stepped forward to shake his guest's hand. "Assistant Director Malloy, it's a pleasure! You'll have to forgive me; I only just returned to my office and am still trying to get caught up. What can NCIS do for the Phoenix Foundation?"

Sam had to smile; he knew he was going to like this Vance guy a whole lot. "Actually, Director, NCIS has already been incredibly helpful on our joint op..."

Vance blinked in surprise, but covered it well. "I must not have gotten to that file yet," he admitted. "Please, fill me in!"

"We have been working with a number of agencies to help take down a nasty character by the name of Salazar, who, among other things, is attempting to grow his drug pipeline to the East Coast. He made the mistake of threatening the son of one of the Foundation's former contract-employees, and we take care of our own. My Director, a friend of this family, reached out to your Agent Gibbs, and the results have been impressive; Salazar and a large portion of his crew were apprehended earlier today and are currently being processed by your team..." Sam trailed off as he realized Vance's surprise had morphed into astonishment. "Sir?" he asked in concern.

Vance gathered himself. "I trust my people to function with a degree of independence during my absences. This Agency is able to keep a high standard without my constant oversight…"

"So you knew nothing about this?" Sam translated with a chuckle. "I'm very impressed, Director Vance. I wish the Phoenix Foundation could function so well without someone in the office on a constant basis. It's not that I don't have good people," he amended, "it's just that there are so many different kinds of projects going on all at once." Acknowledging Vance's understanding nod, Sam circled back to the original conversation. "Well, I'm glad to be the bearer of good news for you, then!"

"And surprising news," Vance allowed. "Agent Gibbs is by far the best investigator I have, but to put it mildly, he does not have the best reputation for sharing jurisdiction. I admit, it did surprise me to hear that your Director reached out to him and received such cooperation."

"The fact that my Director and Agent Gibbs have worked with each other many times in the past probably had something to do with it," Sam smiled. "Director MacGyver tends to create quite the following of excellent people."

Vance's head snapped up at that. "Director MacGyver! Of the Phoenix Foundation! Well, I'll be...! I am happy to hear that he accepted that position! It's been a few years since I've had the pleasure of seeing Mac myself!"

Sam laughed outright. "Maybe one of these days I'll stop being surprised when I find out that someone knows him! If I may, sir, and if the op wasn't classified, when did you have the opportunity?"

"I hope someday I'll be able to tell that story," Vance replied. "It was a good one!"

Sam nodded with a tinge of resignation. "His best ops usually are... Both excellent stories, and unfortunately, ones we may never hear."

Vance looked down. "I first met him when I was a kid; he'd worked Bomb Disposal in Vietnam with my great-uncle Charlie. Years later, Uncle Charlie died saving Mac's life and a few thousand others when they were called to diffuse a series of bombs planted on a cruise ship. I met MacGyver at the funeral. A lot of the choices I made growing up stem from wanting to be the kind of hero he said my uncle was."

Feeling the hairs on his arms standing up, Sam met Vance's gaze. "I remember him talking about that."

"I wonder if he knows how many lives he's impacted," Vance mused. He waited a moment for Sam's twitch of surprise to fade before changing the tone of the conversation. "Now it's my turn to ask a question that may not be able to be answered, Assistant Director Malloy... Forgive me, but when you first walked in here, I could have sworn I knew you. Bringing up MacGyver has reminded me of why I thought you look familiar...?"

Sam shrugged ruefully. "I generally prefer to keep my family relationship with him out of general knowledge, but yes, Mac is my father."

"I'll bet that's a constant adventure," Vance hedged, unable to hide a smile at Sam's heavenward gaze of frustration. "Is Mac currently in the building? I'd appreciate a chance to catch up with him."

Sam's long-suffering sigh accompanied an expressive eye-roll. "Actually, Director Vance, Mac managed to land himself in the hospital…again. That's why I'm meeting with you right now, and not him. He's gonna be fine, sir, please don't worry," Sam interrupted himself as Vance startled. "But that brings to mind a favor I'd like to ask; see, Mac was working an Op a few years back that didn't go as smoothly as we'd have liked. He picked up a bullet, which caused all of his problems today. If Abby is done with it, I would ask for that to be returned to the Phoenix Foundation. If you'll pardon a mangled metaphor, that bullet may be the 'smoking gun' we need to bring some pretty nasty guys down."

Vance was nodding instantly. "If you'd like to accompany me down to the lab, I'll have Miss Scuito sign that out to you."

Sam hesitated just enough to catch Vance's attention. "I appreciate that, sir, truly; but I have to get back to LA for a very important meeting, and I need to find somewhere to print out some files. Mac's laptop isn't working on the hospital's network, and there are some documents I really need him to see. Would there happen to be a printer I could borrow for a few moments?"

"Certainly!" Vance insisted. "I'll show you to Gibbs' bullpen, and you can use the printer there. I'll sign the bullet out of Evidence and bring it up to you."

Sam smiled his gratefulness. "I truly appreciate it, sir!" He followed Vance out of the office, down the stairs, and into the bullpen ringed by four desks. Accepting Vance's assurance that he'd be right back, Sam tugged his own laptop out of his briefcase, connected to the printer, and let the pages roll.

It was only ten minutes later when Sam was putting the final touches on the white three-ring binders. He pushed himself out of his chair, but caught his foot on the edge of the desk and teetered off balance. He caught himself on the bookshelf, causing the shelf to collapse under his grip and sending all of the binders on it to the floor.

"Are you all right, sir?" the security guard who'd been keeping an eye on him demanded as he hurried forward.

Sam held up a hand, trying to wave away his embarrassment. "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks. Sorry for the noise! I'll put this back together and clean up."

The security guard looked extremely uncomfortable as Sam quickly loaded the replaced shelf, leaving three white binders on the desk before him. "I beg your pardon, sir, but I need to look at those…"

"Sure, help yourself!" Sam insisted, flipping the binders open without hesitation. He smoothed one of the crumpled corners of the pages, making sure the security guard noticed the logo of the flying bird on the paper. "My Director's going to go stir-crazy in the hospital, and he'll appreciate the briefings from his office. It was extremely generous of your Director to allow these to be printed for him."

Vance's return backed the security guard up, and the Director handed over a clear bag containing the specimen jar. "Our forensic scientist had just logged this, so I was able to get it out of our Evidence Lockup" he explained. "I hope you were able to print everything you needed?"

Sam shook the other man's hand. "I was, and thank you! I have just enough time to run this back to the hospital before I need to get airborne. Director Vance, thank you again for all the assistance you've given me today, and for NCIS's collaboration on bringing down Salazar's criminal organization!"

"Be sure to pass on my best wishes to MacGyver, and let him know I look forward to catching up with him when he's feeling better," Vance replied. "I look forward to speaking with you again!"

Sam tucked the last binder into his bulging briefcase, pocketed the bag containing the bullet, and gave Vance a final nod before following the security guard to the elevator.

Once he was out in the car, he allowed himself a small smile. "Mission Accomplished!" Dialing his office one more time, he found himself laughing as his secretary picked up the line. "Janet? One more checkmark in the 'he knew my Dad' column, please!"

Note: Just to whet your appetite a little, the next scene is called "Morphine Interrogation"... Tony makes good on his promise to Abby to get the information they're both dying to learn... But what will they learn?