Wowza, I'm blown away by how many of you are excited about this! I was so excited to bring back Anja, and I hoped others would be too! ^_^

Also, thank you all for your support about the internship! Love you all!

I don't own the characters.

Mac and Jack were waiting at the airport, scanning the crowds for their friend. Finally Mac spotted her coming down one of the escalators, and he and Jack made their way over.

"Jack, MacGyver," Anja greeted warmly as she gave them hugs.

"Hey Anja," Mac said. "Thanks for agreeing to do this. We really need you."

"I owe you and Jack my life," Anja said. "I am happy to help when I can. What do we need to do?"

"First, we're goin' back to Phoenix. Matty needs to brief you on the whole situation. Plus, we've got some friends who are curious to meet you," Jack explained as he grabbed her bag from her.

Anja looked slightly uncomfortable at the thought of meeting new people, but she remembered who she was with, and how much she trusted them, and she relaxed again.

"We know you don't like meeting new people, but they're kinda crucial to the mission," Jack said. Anja shook her head.

"Do not worry," she assured him. "I trust you. If they are your friends, they are my friends." She paused for a moment. "Uh, how many are there exactly?"

"Just Matty, Bozer, and Riley," Mac replied.

"Also, someone named Jane may be running around somewhere," Jack added.

"It's Jill," Mac said in exasperation.

"Eh, potato, potahto." Jack waved his hand dismissively.

"Why do you do that?" Mac asked, giving his friend an exasperated look.

"What?"

"You know full well her name is Jill."

"She doens't mind," Jack said with a shrug. Mac opened his mouth to respond, but Anja beat him to it.

"Whatever you say, John."

Jack started at the different name. "Wh—my name's not… oh. Oh I see what you're doin'. Ha, ha, ha."

Anja smirked. "Now maybe you get her name right," she said.

"Maybe," Jack replied, not promising anything. Mac and Anja shared a look, but decided to let the subject slide, for now at least. The three of them made their way out to their car.

0-0-0

"Anja," Mac said, opening the doors and leading their friend in. "Welcome to the Phoenix Foundation."

"It's nice," Anja commented as she looked around.

"Miss Smirnov." Matty's voice sounded from the level above them, and Mac, Jack, and Anja looked up. She walked down the stairs, and when she reached them, she held out her hand. "I'm director Matilda Webber. Mac and Jack have told me about how you've helped them in the past, and we think you could be a valuable asset to us on this mission."

Anja accepted the hand and they shook. "I will help however I can," she promised. "It is nice to meet you," she added. "It is a shame about Ms. Thornton, but MacGyver and Jack have told me many good things of you."

At the mention of Thornton, Mac tensed up slightly. He still never knew how to react when people brought up that situation. Matty didn't seem to react though, and she simply nodded.

"Bozer and Riley are waiting upstairs," she said. "We've got a lot to do before the meet up."

Matty led them up to the war room, where Riley was sitting. When she saw the group walk in, she stood up and walked over to Anja.

"Anja," she greeted. "I'm Riley. It's nice to finally meet you. I uh, heard you saved Mac and Jack's bacon a couple times before." She added that last part with a wink at the older agents.

"Hey now," Jack protested. Riley raised her eyebrow at the older man. Jack considered things for a moment, then inclined his head. "Eh, she's right."

Anja and Mac chuckled.

"Yeah, this is great and all, but we've got a guy out there with highly classified government property, remember?" Matty asked as she stood in front of the screen, looking at her employees impatiently. "Bozer, Riley, Anja. Anja, Bozer and Riley. Can we move on now?" She took the group's silence as a confirmation, and she began the debriefing.

"As you know, satellite defense plans were stolen. We've got the buyers, and we have a location. Thanks to Riley, we also know who the seller is, though that does mean she can't go undercover with you guys. We'll be watching over things from here while MacGyver and Anja go to the masque, posing as our buyers. Does everyone understand?"

MacGyver and Anja nodded in agreement.

"Good. Because if you didn't, I'd be a little confused as to why you're here. Now," she continued, walking over to the door. "Mac, you've already got your tux for the masque, but Veronika said that Scorpion would ID her by wearing a green dress, so…" Matty opened the door and Jill walked in holding a dress bag. Anja accepted the bag and unzipped it, and her mouth fell open in a small "o" shape as she looked at the silk green dress. There was a slit going up one leg right above the knee, and a pair of strappy gold shoes were sitting at the bottom of the bag.

"Then there are these," Matty said, taking boxes from Jill's hands as well and handing them to Mac and Anja. The two of them pulled out the gold masks sitting in the boxes. "Riley's already outfitted them with small cameras so we can see everything you see. We only have the invitations to get the two of you in, but Jack will be outside waiting. As soon as you get the codes, get outside and meet him."

"What about the money?" Anja asked, still running her fingers over the dress.

"Phoenix will provide the money, but Riley is going to track the transfer and hopefully get us some sort of location for Scorpion, since we can't technically arrest him on Russian soil," Matty explained.

MacGyver was examining the mask with an interesting expression on his face.

"Mac?" Jack asked, nudging his friend in the side. The blond looked at Jack, who asked, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Mac replied. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"I dunno, you tell me. You're the one who looks like he's holding something dead in his hands."

"Wh-no I don't," Mac insisted, though he did put the mask back in the box and set the box down on the couch.

"What's goin' on dude?" Jack asked, wondering why Mac looked so uncomfortable. Mac was about to respond, but Matty interrupted them.

"Is this necessary?" she asked, looking at Jack with a raised eyebrow. Mac answered before his partner could.

"No, it's not," he said, staring at his partner.

"Well then, can we focus on what is?" Matty asked.

Jack stared at his partner with a curious look on his face, but didn't say anything else, so Matty continued.

"The masque begins at eight o'clock tonight. Veronika and Vadim don't know exactly when Scorpion is supposed to make contact, so it could be any time. Stay sharp, look alive, and don't get killed."

Anja raised an eyebrow at the last part of the sentence. "You think he would kill?" she asked. Mac wondered for a moment if she was going to pull out, but when he looked at her, he didn't see any signs indicating that she was changing her mind.

"The time we crossed paths, I definitely don't think he would have," Riley answered. "That was almost six years ago though, and he's always been more of a wild card than other hackers. He could have changed in that time."

"Whatever the case, we'll be right there with you guys," Jack promised Anja. "You get in, make the trade, get out, and we get our guy. We can bring him in as soon as he steps off Russian soil, so we just need things to go smoothly on your end. But no pressure."

Mac rolled his eyes at Jack before turning to Anja. "Don't worry," he assured her. "You're going to be fine."

Anja smiled thankfully at Mac.

"Lovely support group we've got going here, but you guys have somewhere to be, don't you?" Matty asked, tapping her watch to indicate the time.

"Hey guys," Jack said in excitement as everyone turned to break. "You know what this is?" The look in his eyes told Mac that some sort of joke was coming, and he tried to stop whatever it was, but Jack bowled right over him. "We're going to a 'Mac'squerade!"

The entire group groaned at the pun. Everyone but Anja. She got a huge grin on her face, which didn't pass by Jack unnoticed.

"At least someone appreciates my puns," he said proudly, putting an arm around the woman's shoulders and smirking at the rest of the group.

"Please don't encourage it," Riley begged Anja.

"They only get worse as time goes by," Bozer added.

"I do not see problem," Anja said with a shrug. "Puns are funny, and they are sign of a quick mind."

"Y'hear that?" Jack said, his grin widening even more. "Got a quick mind right here." He tapped the side of his head.

Mac chuckled and turned to leave the room, ignoring Jack's insistence that his puns were a blessing to the world. There were other things he needed to focus on.

0-0-0

Mac watched the couples on the dance floor silently, lost in thought. He didn't even notice when someone walked up to his side.

"MacGyver?" Anja asked, jerking the blond out of his thoughts as she stood next to him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he assured her.

"Jack was right," she continued, studying her friend's face. The part that she could see anyway. "You look tense. What is the matter?"

"Really, I'm fine," Mac said, but Anja didn't believe him. She looked out to the crowd, then back at her friend's face as he watched the dancers, and she had a thought.

"Can...can you not dance?"

The bottom half of Mac's cheeks were red, and Anja chuckled. "This is nothing to be, uh...sovestno…"

"Ashamed?" Mac supplied.

"Da," Anja nodded. "Nothing to be ashamed of."

"It's not that I can't dance," Mac finally said. "I'm just not very good at it."

"This is fine," Anja grinned. "I will help." With that she took Mac's hand and led him onto the dance floor. The two of them began a slow waltz in time to the music, and after a few bars, Anja looked up at Mac. "What are you talking about? You are good dancer!"

MacGyver chuckled. "This is the extent of what I can do without tripping over your feet," he promised. Anja didn't believe him for a second, and when the next song came on, a slightly faster-paced dance, she ignored his protests and kept him on the dance floor, where he proceeded to stare at his feet to make sure he was getting the steps right and not crushing his friend's toes. Anja laughed.

"MacGyver," she said with a short look of disbelief on her face. "The man who can make alarms out of mouse traps and poppers, can't dance?"

Mac chuckled as he glanced back up at Anja's smirking face. "Uh huh, go ahead, rub it in."

Anja didn't say anything else, but her eyes twinkled mischievously. Thankfully, the music ended soon, and Anja allowed Mac to lead her off the floor to the sidelines, where they watched the next dance while casually observing each passerby, wondering where their target was.

"You look absolutely ravishing in that dress, vorobey." The voice spoke from behind, and with a small jump, Anja turned to face the man who had spoken.

Back at the Phoenix Foundation, Matty, Bozer, and Riley were all watching the proceedings through the cameras on the masks. "Is that him?" Matty asked Riley when Anja turned to face the man who had spoken. Riley stared intently at the face.

"I mean, with only his jawline visible, and seeing as how the last time I saw him was over five years ago, I can't be sure, but yeah, I think that's him," she said.

"Call him by his code name," Matty instructed.

"One should not sneak up on a person so," Anja chastised lightly, doing her best to keep her tone light. "You are Scorpion?" she asked quietly.

Scorpion smirked. "Might I interest you in a drink?" he offered instead of answering her question, grabbing a few flutes from a nearby waiter. Anja nodded in consent, and she and MacGyver began walking out. However, Scorpion stopped and held his hand out, blocking Mac. "Just the lady, please," he requested. Anja gave Mac a small nod, and though MacGyver could see that she was slightly petrified, they both knew that if they blew their covers, they'd lose the codes. And potentially more.

So instead of insisting that he go with them, Mac simply gave a tight smile and inclined his head in agreement before stepping back. Anja was led away, out a side door to a rest area. Mac waited a moment, then slowly made his way towards the door, intending to listen in just in case his friend needed help.

"Not too close, Blondie," Matty cautioned. "We don't want to draw any attention to ourselves."

Mac heeded his boss's caution and stopped a few feet away from the door, right by one of the tables laden with food.

"Stop staring at the door, you're being weird," Riley admonished. "Just turn and watch the dancing, or get food, or something."

"Thanks for telling me how to do my job, Riley," Mac replied drily, though the hacker knew it was in jest.

"Any time," came the snarky response. "Don't worry about Anja, Mac." This time, Riley's voice was more understanding. "We can see everything that's going on. She's doing fine. Just relax."

Mac did as his friend suggested and turned to watch the people dancing, though he couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was off. He didn't know what, but it was making him uncomfortable. A waitress walked up to him carrying a champagne flute and offered it to him. Mac held up his hand in a polite gesture of declining the offered beverage, but the waitress insisted.

"It is from woman at bar," she explained coyly, her eyebrow cocking in an almost suggestive manner. Mac looked over to the bar but didn't see the alleged woman, though he knew the waitress probably wouldn't leave him alone until she'd delivered the drink. He let out a quiet huff of air and accepted the flute with a smile, though he didn't drink any of the liquid.

"Oh, got a secret admirer, have we?" Jack asked coyly over the comms. "Too bad they don't know you're taken."

"I'm not taken," Mac replied.

"You came with someone, didn't you?"

"Jack-"

"Enough," Matty ordered. Mac and Jack quit arguing, but Mac knew he hadn't heard the last of that strain of teasing.

He waited a few more moments before saying, "She's been in there a while. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, she's doing fine," Riley assured him. "We haven't seen the codes yet, so she's selling the act. She's starting to the transfer the money."

Back at the Phoenix Foundation, Bozer raised a question. "Uh, if she goes through with the transaction, will we ever see that money again?"

Riley nodded. "Yeah. The majority of online banking and apps are all connected. Since we have the routing number, even if he moves the money out of that particular account, it should be fairly simple to track back down."

Mac turned around to face the door, about to ask how much longer Anja had to be in there. As he turned though, he felt something sharp hit his elbow.

Mac looked down to see what had pricked him, but there was nothing there. He started to turn around, but a sudden wave of dizziness overtook him, and he stumbled, dropping the champagne flute he was still holding.

"Mac? What's wrong?"

Mac could hear Riley and Matty in his ear asking what was wrong, and then Jack began chiming in.

"I don't know, I'm just...really dizzy," Mac muttered, closing his eyes to try and stop the world from spinning.

"Sir?" a voice came from Mac's side. It was the waitress from before. Mac looked over at her, then doubled over as a pain suddenly erupted in his stomach. He let out a groan, and he barely heard the waitress say something about taking him somewhere to 'sleep it off.'

MacGyver felt like his tongue was suddenly made of lead, but he managed to get out, "Drugged." He knew that was what it had to be. The pain in his arm, the dizziness and nausea, it was all too coincidental, and Mac knew that they were in trouble.

"Mac?" Jack's voice had a determined tone, one that said he wasn't about to let anyone stop him from what he was about to do. "Hold on Mac, I'm comin' in."

"Sir, let us get you resting," the waitress said, guiding Mac across the back of the room. Mac wanted to resist, but he felt himself moving along against his wishes. He couldn't stop himself. Vaguely, he heard a door open and felt a cool breeze blow across his face. The breeze gave him a bit of clarity, and he straightened up as much as he could. In front of him was a van, and when Mac saw the back doors open, he knew he had to do something.

There wasn't anything he could do to get away, so instead, Mac simply looked up at his abductor, doing his best to give his friends a good view of who was behind it.

Before long, Mac was in the back of the van on his back. His mask was removed, though he didn't know what happened to it. He felt someone grabbing at his legs, trying to tie them down, and using his last bit of strength, Mac lashed out. His feet made a solid connection with the person trying to tie him down.

His kidnapper let out a grunt as Mac's feet collided with her midsection, and she muttered a curse before kicking Mac in the chest. The blond let out a wheeze as the air was forced from his lungs, and while he was distracted, his attacker managed to quickly bind Mac's ankles together. He was then shoved onto his side and his arms were yanked behind his back and tied together as well. Once that was done, the waitress hopped out from the back of the van and shut the back doors.

"Mac?" Matty's voice came over the come that was still in the blond's ear. "Mac, what's going on? Where are you?"

"Van...back...embassy," Mac grunted out, every word making him feel like he was running a marathon. He knew that whatever he'd been given, it must have had some sort of muscle relaxant in it, because he now had absolutely no control over his limbs at all, and he was quickly losing the ability to speak coherent words.

Mac felt the van start, felt the ground rumble underneath his body. "Starting," he said. Mac heard Jack curse under his breath. Suddenly the van took a sharp turn and Mac was tossed to the side. He hit his head, not noticing that it knocked his com out. Paired with how groggy the drug had made him, the hit to his head was all it took to send the blond into the realm of unconsciousness.

0-0-0

Jack knew something was wrong the minute he heard the glass shatter over the comms. That was when he checked his gun and got out of the van he was sitting in. Once he heard MacGyver say "drugged," Jack made his way towards the embassy.

"Mac?" Jack asked. "Hold on, Mac. I'm comin' in." Jack was almost to the front gates of the embassy, getting ready to tell the people at the gate anything to get himself inside, but then Mac replied to Matty's query of where he was with, "Van...back...embassy." Jack course-corrected, heading instead for the back of the embassy, where all the vans for the caterers were parked.

"Starting," came Mac's lethargic voice. Through the coms, Jack could indeed hear the rumble of a van starting, and he let out a curse as he tried to go even faster than he already was. However, as he rounded the corner, he had to dive out of the way to avoid being hit by the van that sped around the corner. He got to his knees, took aim, and fired off a few rounds, but they were mostly rounds of frustration, since he knew the van was too far away for the bullets to do any real damage.

"Jack?" Matty's voice came over the comms.

Instead of responding to Matty, Jack addressed Riley. "Ri, I need you to track Mac. I'm goin' after him."

It took the older agent a minute to get back to his car, but as soon as he was inside, Jack started the engine and peeled out after the people who'd taken his friend.

0-0-0

Anja followed Scorpion through the side door, trying not to seem to jumpy as she was now alone with the man.

"You have codes?" she asked as Scorpion turned around, trying to sound as confident as she was supposed to be. Scorpion nodded.

"And what did you bring?" he asked condescendingly. Anja's eyes narrowed under her mask, but she didn't let her irritation show.

She pulled out her phone and hit a few spots on her screen, bringing up the payment app Riley had shown her.

"Five million American dollars," Anja said, showing the phone to the thief. "And now the codes?"

"Hold on there," Scorpion said, holding up his hand. "Transfer the money now, then you'll get the codes."

"Bargain with him," Matty instructed.

"I will give half of money now," Anja countered. "Once I get codes, you get rest of the money."

Scorpion eyed Anja critically for a moment before a smile crossed his face. "Get to transferring," he instructed, indicating that he agreed to her terms. Anja hit a few keys, then held up the phone to show that the money was transferring.

Suddenly from outside the room, Anja heard something that sounded like glass shattering. She turned instinctively towards the door, and while she was distracted, Scorpion struck.

Something sharp was jabbed into Anja's neck. She let out an involuntary gasp of surprise and slight pain as her hand moved up to inspect the injury. However, Scorpion caught her hand and twisted her around gently, almost as if they were a dance, until she was facing him again. He began moving her back towards the couch, and as much as Anja wanted to fight and struggle and claw Scorpion's eyes out, she found her limbs unresponsive.

She looked up at Scorpion with wide eyes. Scorpion plucked the phone out of Anja's hand and transferred the rest of the money into his account. Then, after he tossed Anja's phone back on her lap, he reached into his pocket and crouched down next to her.

"I'm a man of my word, Ms. Borchek. Here are the codes."

Anja felt something shoved into her hand, and she realized that it was the USB drive with the codes on it. Scorpion continued talking.

"However, there is a third party who is willing to pay a substantial amount of money for your husband. If I'm to be a man of my word to him as well, I can't have you following me. Pleasure doing business with you."

Anja tried to move, but whatever Scorpion had pricked her with had taken full control of her body, and she couldn't move her limbs. She felt Scorpion lower her onto the couch and release her. Her head lolled onto the arm rest, and as she fought to stay conscious, she caught the briefest glimpse of Scorpion walking out towards a door she assumed lead outside.

As Anja's eyes closed, the last thought that crossed her mind was how on earth she and MacGyver always seemed to find themselves in these situations, but more importantly, wondering how she was going to get her friend back. She was also worried about what would happen if and when Scorpion found out Mac wasn't actually the man he was looking for.

Dun dun dunnnnn...

Okay, thoughts? What did you guys think? I feel like this chapter, especially the first half, was rough...

Also, did those different points of view make sense? I wasn't sure if they did or not...

Lemme know!

vorobey-Sparrow (google translate)