Chapter four! There is a bit more action in this one, especially near the end, but I'm at the point where I think I'm just not sure what's good anymore, so let me know what you all think XD
Characters are not mine except for Anja.
Matty opened the door and stalked in, staring the Borcheks down as she approached.
"It worked? You got your man?" Veronika asked.
"Not even close," Matty said, her tone letting her guests know that she wasn't in any sort of mood for jokes or tricks. Jack entered behind her and stood by the door, grasping his wrists in front of him and doing his best to look intimidating, which wasn't hard, considering the circumstances. Anja, Riley, and Bozer were watching through the cameras in an adjacent room.
"We tell you everything we know," Vadim insisted, staring at Jack warily.
"Apparently not everything," Matty snapped, tossing a folder onto the table. The two Russians looked at each other, then down to the folder, then up at Matty, who raised her eyebrows, indicating that the two of them should open it up.
Finally Veronika reached out and opened the folder gingerly, almost as if she was worried it was going to bite her. When the folder was opened and the papers inside were exposed, the Borcheks looked like they were going to be sick.
"How did you find this?" Vadim asked, pushing the folder away as if it were poisonous.
"There was a slight change of plans at the masque tonight, and my man was taken. They said someone was willing to pay a lot of money for Vadim here, so I dug around a little bit." Matty put her hands on the table in front of her and leaned into it, staring the Russians down. "Imagine my surprise when I see that you two weren't who you said you were."
"Please," Veronika said. "We tell you."
"It is my fault," Vadim interrupted. "I turned on man I worked for for a long time."
"Who was this man?" Matty asked.
Vadim took a deep breath before he answered. "His name is Boris Vasiliev."
In the next room, Anja's eyes narrowed and she leaned forward slightly, which didn't go unnoticed by Bozer or Riley.
"You know him?" Riley asked.
Anja shook her head. "Know of him," she corrected. She motioned her head back to the TV, where Vadim was currently explaining his former employer.
"He is head of one of mob families in Russia. I was his...how you say...money counter?"
"His accountant?"
"Da," Vadim confirmed with a nod of his head. "Things were fine, but somehow police got hold of one of his accounts. Police track me down, and promised that if we give up information we know, they would help us disappear."
Matty cocked her eyebrow. "Bang-up job you've done with your second chance, guys," she scolded.
"You don't understand," Veronika shot. "Boris has men everywhere. It was only matter of time before he finds us, so we thought we would give him peace offering."
"Wow," Matty drawled. "You thought missile codes would be a good way of saying sorry to a boss that you betrayed to the cops? How did he even find you if you were under a fake name?"
Vadim and Veronika looked at each other. "He must have cops on payroll," Veronika finally said. Matty nodded; that was the logical answer.
"Where can we find Vasiliev?"
Vadim shook his head. "We do not know. We were going to get the codes, then try to find him."
"Well you must have some way of getting in touch with him," Matty replied in a sickly-sweet voice. Veronika and Vadim both shook their heads. After a few more minutes of the exact same conversation, Matty turned and left the room, followed by Jack.
Bozer, Riley, and Anja came out of their room and met Jack and Matty in the hall.
"So what's the game plan?" Bozer asked. Matty looked at Riley.
"I need you to do whatever you can to find Scorpion. Hopefully we can find them before they meet Boris."
"What happens if we don't, and Boris realizes that he's got the wrong guy?" Bozer asked. Matty gave the young man a look that answered his question.
"Let's move, people," Matty snapped. "We don't have all day." Bozer and Riley took off to find Scorpion, and Anja stepped up to Matty and Jack.
"Anja, thank you for your help tonight. The Homesec office will be pleased to have their codes back," Matty said as she noticed the young woman.
"What can I do to help find MacGyver?" Anja asked, not wanting to be benched. Matty shook her head.
"I'm sorry, there's nothing you can do. I just need you to stay here for now. We'll get you on a plane home as soon as we can."
"I could help," Anja insisted. "I cannot go home yet."
"Anja, you're not a trained field agent. The only reason you went out there tonight was because this was supposed to be a simple grab. It's turned into anything but that, and I'm not risking you out in the field. That's all I'm going to say on the subject," Matty said firmly.
Jack put his hand on Anja's shoulder as he walked past. "We'll bring him home safely," he promised. "Don't worry. Mac's been in tougher situations than this before."
0-0-0
Mac felt the control returning to his arms, but they were still heavy and took more effort than normal to move. Suddenly the truck slowed down, and from the sudden bumpy terrain, Mac realized they were now off-roading, which meant the end of the journey was near. Despite how much effort it took, Mac began moving around as indiscreetly as he could, which, as he found out, wasn't that indiscreet when one was drugged. The hammer of a gun was cocked.
"Stop. Moving," Syl ordered.
"Let him be, babe," Tristan said soothingly. "He can't do nothin'. Besides, look. There's Vasiliev now."
A few seconds later, the truck came to a complete stop and Mac heard the truck doors open. There were footsteps, then the door next to Mac's head was opened and the blond's shoulders were grabbed. He was dragged out of the truck and dumped on the ground.
"Get him up," someone ordered in a thick Russian accent. Mac was grabbed again and hauled upright. Thankfully, he was gaining more control over his body by the minute, and he was actually able to hold himself up to a certain extent.
The hood was yanked off Mac's head, and the blond winced at the sudden light coming from the headlights. It was still dark outside, and as his eyes adjusted, and he looked up into the faces of several very angry looking men.
The man in charge, Vasiliev, stared at MacGyver in confusion and anger. "This is not Brushka," he insisted. Mac's forehead wrinkled as he heard the name. Who was Brushka? Vasiliev turned to Tristan, who up until that moment had had a very smug look on his face. As soon as the words left Vasiliev's mouth, the smirk disappeared off Scorpion's face.
"What do you mean? Of course it is!"
"You think I don't know what my own man looks like?" Vasiliev yelled, angry at being contradicted.
"I don't know," Tristan shot back, defensive. Some of the men surrounding Vasiliev suddenly changed their targets, pointing them at Tristan and Sylvia. As the two Americans held up their hands, Vasiliev bent down so he was staring MacGyver in the eyes.
"Who are you?" he asked quietly. MacGyver didn't answer; he simply stared right back into the eyes of his newest captor. Vasiliev smirked and straightened, giving a signal to one of his men. Mac knew what was coming next, and he braced himself as much as he could. When the punch landed on Mac's torso, it still hurt, but it wasn't as painful as Mac knew it could have been.
"Where is Viktor Brushka?" Vasiliev asked. MacGyver once again refused to answer, and this time it was his face that was punched. As Mac brought his head back around to stare ahead, he could feel the stinging cut on his cheek, but he still simply stared back into the cold eyes of whoever this Vasiliev guy was.
Vasiliev looked at Mac and chuckled. "This will be fun," he proclaimed, straightening back up. He nodded at one of his men again, and Mac tensed himself for another beating, but instead all the Russian said was, "Load him up. We do this somewhere more private."
Mac was yanked to his feet, and as he was led away, he heard Tristan protest.
"What about us?"
Mac turned his head as best he could and saw Vasiliev give the hacker a cold stare.
"Be happy I do not kill you for bringing me wrong man," he warned. "And that I left you with your lives."
Shots rang out, and for a moment Mac was worried that Tristan and Syl had been shot, but at their outraged cries, he realized Vasiliev had shot out their tires, leaving the couple stranded. The Russian said nothing else as he turned away, and Mac was again loaded into the back of a van, the black bag thrown over his head once more.
0-0-0
Anja sat in the Phoenix war room, fidgeting. Matty had sent her there to make sure she stayed safe, and out of the way. Anja wasn't sure what was going on, but she'd been in the war room for over an hour, and hadn't heard from anyone. She didn't even know if anyone was still in the building. With a frustrated sigh, Anja stood up and began pacing, trying to decide if she should act on the idea she'd had. She was nervous, but she knew that if she wanted to help save MacGyver, she had to step up and do her part.
Finally making up her mind, Anja pulled out her phone. Unconsciously, she began biting her nails, like she always did when she was nervous. As she thumbed through her contacts, she stole a look out the window to make sure no one was watching her. She found the contact she was looking for and held the phone up to her ear as the line began ringing. Finally, someone picked up on the other end.
"Hugo?" she asked. "It's Anja. Remember that favor you owe me?"
0-0-0
Anja hung up on Hugo and looked at the address he'd given her. After a few more moments, she hit Jack's number.
After three rings, it went to the agent's voicemail. She hung up and tried again, but got the same result. After waiting a few more minutes, she tried calling him a third time, but the outcome was still the same as before. Anja growled quietly in frustration as she waited to leave a voicemail.
"Jack, answer your phone!" she griped as soon as she could start talking. "This is third time I call you. Listen, I think I have idea where MacGyver is. A friend told me Vasiliev has cabin near Angeles Forest. Just...call me back," she added before hanging up.
She ended the message, then stared at her phone for a few seconds. She sat there for another moment, nervous about leaving and trying to rescue Mac on her own, but she knew he couldn't wait. She finally got up and left the war room, heading downstairs. When she left the building, she stepped out into the street and hailed a cab.
"Take me here," she said as she got in, handing the cabbie the piece of paper. The cabbie's eyebrows raised slightly.
"That's a ways out there, miss," he said. "It ain't gonna be cheap."
"You want me to find different car?" Anja asked, trying to hold back her impatience. The cabbie shrugged and turned back around, muttering something about it being her wallet. He pulled out into traffic, and just like that, they were off.
0-0-0
Mac kept his mouth shut as Vasiliev's guards beat him. Each time a punch landed, he tried tightening the muscles to lessen the blow, but many times there were multiple shots at once, and soon the young agent was simply overwhelmed. Struggling against his captors didn't do much to help him get away, and was only rewarded by more beatings. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, Mac heard Vasiliev speak.
"Stop," the Russian ordered. The guards stepped away from MacGyver, leaving the blond panting as he recovered from the beating. The beatings had mostly been on his torso and gut, but he did have a few cuts and bruises on his face.
There were two guards holding Mac upright, but at a signal from Vasiliev, they let him go, and the American dropped to the floor, his bound hands barely stopping his fall. He stayed on the floor for less than two seconds before he pushed himself to his knees in determination, staring at Vasiliev in silence.
"Are you ready to talk yet?" Vasiliev asked, crossing his arms. In response, Mac spit a bit of blood off to the side. The Russian ground his teeth together in frustration, but quickly put on a smiling mask again. "This is fine. We leave you alone for a few minutes and see if you change your mind. If not…things might not be so pleasant for you."
"You know, you're not gonna get anything from me if you kill me," Mac panted, unable to hold back the quip. Vasiliev turned to him.
"So you do speak," he said in mock wonder. "Care to say anything else?"
Mac had taken his vow of silence again though, and Vasiliev's eyes narrowed slightly.
"We see how you feel in few minutes," he said again. The Russian jerked his head, and he and his guards walked out of the room. The door closed with a clang, and after a few moments, MacGyver noticed how cool it was getting, and began seeing goosebumps popping up on his arms.
Lowering the temperature, he thought to himself. They're trying to freeze the information out of me.
Judging by the rate of how cold he was suddenly feeling, Mac knew that it would only be a matter of time before he began to lose feeling in his extremities. He got up and moved around, trying to keep himself warm, but it was only a temporary fix. He needed a way to get out of the room now.
From what he could tell, they'd taken him to some sort of one-room cabin, secluded in the woods. There wasn't much inside the room with him, but there was a bed frame. It was missing a mattress, so laying down was out of the question, but it wasn't the resting functionality of the bed Mac was interested in. He made his way over to the piece of furniture, laid down on his back, and scooted the top half of his body underneath the bed. Getting his bound arms underneath was tricky and a bit tight, but he finally managed it.
There was a piece of metal sticking out from one of the springs on the bed, which Mac used to puncture holes in the tape binding his wrists. After putting several holes in close proximity to each other, Mac was finally able to pull on his wrists hard enough that the silver stuff ripped. Once he was free, and while he was trying to distract himself from how cold the room was getting, Mac started working on getting one of the thin springs loose. His fingers were numb and it was hard to get them working efficiently, but finally after a few minutes, Mac was holding a two-inch long spring in his hand that he proceeded to straighten out.
His ribs were begging with him to stop moving, but Mac knew that if he did that, he would freeze. Or be in for another beating. Whichever came first. After rubbing his arms to get the circulation going again, at least a little bit, Mac made his way over to the door. He glanced out the window and saw one guard standing watch. Mac knew that he'd have to take care of the guard quickly before he had the chance to alert Vasiliev or any of the others. He crouched down and prepared to pick the lock, but before he could finish, there was a grunt and a thud. Wrinkling his forehead in confusion, Mac moved back to the window and peered out. His eyebrows just about disappeared into his hairline when he saw who was outside, grabbing the keys from the belt loop from the downed guard.
The door was unlocked from the outside, but before Mac had a chance to open the door himself, it was shoved open with an unexpected force, and Anja ran in with a large branch held high. Mac jumped back, then winced and grabbed at his sore torso, which was berating him for his quick movements. Anja paused when she entered, then looked around and, after realizing that no one was inside with her besides her friend, she lowered the stick with a slightly embarrassed grin.
"Hello, MacGyver," she greeted.
"Hey," came Mac's surprised greeting. "What are you doing here?"
Anja held up the stick again. "I am rescuing you," she explained. She glanced at Mac's cut restraints on the floor. "Though I see I am a bit late to the saving part," she added with a small smile.
"No, no," Mac assured her. "This...this is more than I was expecting. What are you still doing here? Why didn't you go home, or at least stay at the Phoenix?"
Anja slanted her mouth at the agent. "I am just as capable as anyone else," she reminded him.
"No, that's not what I meant," Mac backtracked. "I just meant that you should be resting."
"I will rest when you do." Anja folded her arms and stared at her friend. Finally Mac held up his hands.
"You're right," he said. "Thank you for coming for me," he added sincerely. Anja nodded with a small grin before she turned back around.
"Come on," she beckoned. "I don't know how long guard will be out."
Mac followed his friend out into the open air, passing by the guard. "Hold on," he said to Anja as they passed the unconscious man. He pulled his belt off and bent down, wrapping it around the man's wrists. After that was done, he hoisted the man up as much as he could and dragged him around the house, hiding the guard under one of the bushes.
Finally he made his way back to Anja. He nodded. "Okay," he said. "That should buy us a few minutes hopefully."
"Hopefully?" Anja asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well yeah, I mean he's not hidden that well, and no one even knows if they'll actually look for him before coming after-"
"MacGyver," Anja said, putting her hand on his arm. "I am teasing you," she explained. Mac chuckled, and with that, the two of them took off into the woods.
They hadn't been going very long when the two of them heard shouts coming from the direction of the cabin behind them. In silent agreement, they picked up the pace slightly.
"Still no service?" Mac asked. Anja, who was keeping her phone in her hand so they could know the moment they got in range, shook her head.
"Not yet," she answered. MacGyver continued looking around for anything he could use to send up some sort of a signal to get someone's attention. However, anything he could think of was too risky, since it would also potentially attract the attention of the people hunting them.
"I left message for Jack, but I have heard nothing from him," Anja said. Mac sighed.
"Hopefully he's heard the message by now and is on his way, but if he's not, we can't afford to wait." The blond looked around. "Come on," he said. "I think there's a service road this way."
"How do you know?"
"They got me to the cabin somehow, and only the last few minutes were bumpy enough to be off-road."
It made sense to Anja, and she walked next to Mac, constantly looking behind them to make sure that they were still ahead of their pursuers.
As they were walking, MacGyver suddenly stopped and looked at the ground.
"MacGyver?" Anja asked, turning back to look at him. The blond was crouching down to pick something up. When Anja saw what the agent was holding in his hands, she looked at him in concern. "Why are you picking up sosnovaya shishka?" she asked.
Mac held up the pinecone. "We can use these."
Anja looked at Mac with raised eyebrows. "MacGyver, I do not know how you come up with ideas, but if you think it will work, I trust you."
Mac looked at the tall pine he was standing by. "First thing we're gonna need is sap."
Okay, so a bit more whump in this chapter. I know it wasn't a lot, but there is something coming that I hope will be exciting *toothy grin*
Anyway, whatcha think? I originally wasn't going to have the last part with Mac in this chapter, but I figured it fit better here. Sooooo...who loves Anja? :D
Lemme know what you guys think!