*Awkward grin* 'allo... yes, I shot my child...please don't hurt me XD

There's only one chapter after this, so :( Or maybe :) if you don't like the story XD

Characters are not mine, except for Anja, whom I love, even though it may not seem like it based on the last chapter :D

Mac's eyes widened as he watched his friend collapse. He immediately spun on his heel and crouched down next to Anja, looking up to see how far away the Russians were. They were approaching the two, but suddenly Mac's flaming pine cones did their trick, and the vehicle Vasiliev and his men had been driving exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere. Mac covered Anja with his body and winced as he felt some of the shrapnel slice across his back. Warm blood began slowly trickling its way out of the wound, but as he tried to relieve pain from the slash, it just made the pain in his torso from his earlier beatings remind him that they were there too.

The surprised shouts from the Russians made Mac look up, and he saw that they were all distracted by the burning car, at least for a moment. The blond straightened, trying to ignore his own pain as he helped Anja up.

"Where'd they get you?" he asked. He saw the young woman clutching at her left side, just below her ribcage, but before he could see anything else, Anja moved.

"I am fine," she insisted, pushing Mac's worried hand away. "We need to go, now."

Mac knew she was right, but he also knew gunshot wounds shouldn't be taken lightly. He was about to say something, but Anja simply began moving through the trees, though Mac could see her moves were jerky.

Not feeling the most fluid himself, the agent took off after her. However, as he quickly caught up to his friend, he knew that their pursuers wouldn't be far behind, and with how slow they were going due to their injuries, they'd be caught within five minutes if they didn't do something.

Thankfully, it was getting dark, and Mac knew that would make it harder to track them. Quietly, he tapped Anja's shoulder and motioned for him to follow. Every few steps, he would change direction. Zig zagging their way through the forest would help keep the men confused for a few minutes, at least long enough for Mac and Anja to get somewhere and hunker down for the time being.

After running for a few minutes, slower than Mac found comfortable, he finally pulled his friend to a stop.

"We gotta climb," he said, wrapping his arm around his sore torso. He could feel the blood dripping down his back, but he couldn't pay attention to it at the moment. Anja looked at Mac, and though she looked strong and determined, Mac knew her adrenaline was going to wear off soon. He needed to get her resting. "Come on," he said. "We're almost there. I'm gonna help you into the tree, but you have to grab and hold on. Then I'll climb up and pull you the rest of the way up."

Anja nodded, and Mac cupped his hands together. When Anja put her weight in his hands, the blond fought the urge to groan as his injuries protested. Gritting his teeth together, he began lifting, and Anja was soon able to grab a sturdy looking branch. Instead of waiting and holding on like Mac had instructed though, she continued to climb higher into the tree until she was high enough that it was hard to see her. MacGyver didn't try to stop her.

When Anja was finally settled on the thick branch, she looks down at MacGyver. "How will you get up?" she called quietly.

"Can you toss down your belt?" he asked. There was a confused silence, but after a few moments Mac heard the belt falling through the the branches. With the light fading fast, Mac was worried that it would smack him in the face, but thankfully he spotted it and was able to catch it.

Pulling off his own belt, he hooked the two straps together and slung them around the trunk of the tree. Grabbing either end in his hands, Mac began climbing his way up the trunk.

By the time he got to the lowest branch, the one Anja had grabbed first, he was sweating and his torso and back were aching. He rested for a minute when he reached the branch, but suddenly he heard noises coming through the forest, and he knew that he was still too visible. Pushing past his pain, he turned and grabbed the nearest branch and hoisted himself up, slowly bringing himself closer to Anja.

With a few moments to spare, Mac finally reached the same branch as his friend, and she helped pull him up next to her. He immediately put a finger to his lips, though it was hard to see in the twilight.

The two of them froze and barely breathed as the men hunting them passed underneath, speaking to each other in Russian. Mac's Russian was rusty, but the things he understood did not make him feel any better about their situation. They were talking about bringing in more manpower to help them search through the night.

Eventually their noisy pursuers got further and further away, allowing Mac and Anja to finally relax. Mac looked at his friend, whose hand was still covering her injury.

"We need to keep pressure on that wound," he said, pulling off his very battered cummerbund and balling it up before handing it to the young woman. He was suddenly very grateful for the fact that he'd been abducted in his tux.

"You are hurt too," Anja said, shaking her head and trying to push Mac's hand away.

"Anja," MacGyver said, his mouth slanting in frustration. "I wasn't shot."

When the Russian still refused to take the cummerbund, the blond sighed. He unhooked their belts from each other, then turned around and grabbed a fistful of leaves.

It was the middle of summer, so thankfully there were plenty of leaves on the tree. Mac handed Anja back her belt.

"This is the best I can do to stop my bleeding," he said, holding up the leaves and his belt. "I'm not worried about me, I'm more worried about your wound getting infected. I don't have anything to cauterize it with."

"Let me help," Anja said, reaching out to take the leaves and belt, but MacGyver held them out of her reach.

"We're taking care of you first," he insisted, his tone letting her know that he wasn't going to budge until she was patched up. After a moment, Anja finally consented. MacGyver took the belt and handed her the cummerbund.

"Hold it in place," he instructed. "Once I put the belt over it, you can let go, but make sure it stays over the wound."

Anja did as instructed, and soon there was a makeshift bandage and tourniquet helping slow Anja's bleeding. Once MacGyver let go of the belt, Anja twirled her finger at her friend.

"Your turn," she stated. "Turn around."

Despite the circumstances, MacGyver couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped his lips. "Yes ma'am," he said, turning himself around slowly so that his back was facing Anja. The young woman took the leaves and balled them together, then pressed them against the slice on Mac's back.

"You have your belt?" she asked. Mac held up the belt, even though it was nearly impossible to see it. "Good. Wind it around yourself," she said, taking her turn to instruct her friend. Mac passed the belt around his back, and with her free hand, Anja helped guide it back around to the front, and soon Mac was tightening the belt around his own chest, holding the makeshift bandage in place.

Once that was done, MacGyver turned himself back around on the branch carefully so that his back was facing the trunk of the tree.

"What do we do now?" Anja asked quietly. In the distance, MacGyver could still hear the men faintly, and he knew that he and Anja were too slow on the ground to outrun them.

"Wait for a bit, then get down and get back to the road, see if we can send some sort of signal," Mac answered. Anja nodded.

"You should get some rest," Mac added. Anja looked at him.

"Where?"

"Turn around," he instructed. Anja raised her eyebrow, though it was dark and MacGyver couldn't actually see the gesture. "I won't let you fall," he promised after listening to the silence for a moment.

Finally Anja began to turn around, until her back was facing her friend. He reached out and grabbed her shoulders gently, pulling her back until she was resting against him. She was tense at first, but after a minute she relaxed. MacGyver leaned back into the trunk of the tree so that he was in a reclining position, giving him and Anja both more comfort as they sat there. It also applied even more pressure to his own wound to help it stop bleeding, since Mac wasn't actually sure how much good the leaves were doing.

Even though Mac's chest started aching even more with the added pressure of Anja, he didn't say anything, and he didn't shift. At the moment, her comfort was more important than his. Soon he felt his friend relax deeper and deeper until she was breathing more evenly than she had been the entire night, though there was still a slight hitch every time she breathed in.

From what MacGyver had been able to see of the wound, he didn't think any vital organs had been hit, but it wasn't a simple graze. Mac knew that the longer they waited, the more chance the wound had to become infected and turn septic. However, he also knew that moving Anja at the moment wasn't a smart idea, what with the men still chasing them and all.

Besides, Mac reasoned to himself. She needs the rest.

After a few minutes, it became apparent that Anja wasn't the only one who needed the rest, and despite his best attempts to stay awake, he eventually drifted off to sleep himself.

0-0-0

A loud buzzing woke MacGyver and Anja up suddenly. Apparently being up that high finally allowed her cell phone to get service. However, the buzzing was so unexpected that both of them jumped, and the phone, which had been sitting on Anja's lap, fell. Thirty feet later, Mac and Anja stared at the device, now on the ground, still lighting up with an incoming call.

Mac winced as the sudden movement exacerbated his wounds, which had been enjoying the break they'd been having while he slept. Pushing past his soreness, Mac looked around and noticed that it was still dark. They hadn't been asleep for very long then. However, the cell phone was still ringing, and it lit up like a beacon in the night. Thankfully the sound was turned off, but the buzzing seemed unnaturally loud in the quiet of the night.

They both held their breath, hoping that the noise had only seemed loud to them. After a moment, Mac let his breath out silently, but he'd celebrated too early. As Anja turned around to look at him, Mac suddenly caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and he grabbed Anja's shoulders gently, preventing her from moving. When she gave him an inquisitive look, he inclined his head slightly, and she followed his gaze. She spotted the man down below, and she nodded in understanding. It was hard to see him, and Mac realized that he probably actually wouldn't have seen him moving around if it hadn't been for the bright cell phone screen. It was impossible to tell who it was, but Mac wasn't going to take any chances.

Suddenly, Anja's bent over, clutching at her stomach. A small moan escaped her lips, despite her efforts to remain silent. MacGyver was worried for his friend, and he gripped her shoulders to try and provide support, but when he glanced down at the man below them, he saw their pursuer staring up. It didn't seem like he'd actually spotted them yet, but Mac knew that they'd been found. The Russian man let out a shout as he trained his gun on the tree, though he didn't quite aim it at the two agents, giving away that he still couldn't see them.

Desperately, MacGyver looked around for something he could drop or throw at the man, but before he could, there was a sudden crash through the underbrush, and Vasiliev and his men came out as well. One of them turned a flashlight on and shined it up into the tree, illuminating the people they were chasing.

All the guns were aimed up, now pointed directly at the two of them.

"I'm impressed," Vasiliev called up to MacGyver, giving them a slow clap. "But game is over now. Come down now, and we will make your friend's death painless. Or, I should say less painless than now."

Anja was still curled in on herself, and Mac knew that if he didn't get her help soon, things were going to get real bad, real fast.

The blond noticed the hair tie keeping Anja's hair in a ponytail, and he reached forward.

"I'll get you a new one," he promised as he removed it from her hair. She didn't respond, which concerned Mac, but he knew that there wasn't much he could for her unless they got to the ground. He reached up and grabbed a stick from the branch above him, but as he was preparing his contraption, there was a bunch of yelling suddenly, and more lights flooded the area. The Russians seemed just as confused as Mac was, but that was good, because their confusion meant that no weapons were fired, and Mac was able to pull himself and Anja back further against the tree as far as they could.

The two groups on the ground began shouting at each other, but Mac clearly recognized one of the voices, and a feeling of relief swept over him. Within a few minutes, the Phoenix agents had Vasiliev and his men in custody, and soon a ladder was brought in to help the two treed people down.

"She needs a hospital," MacGyver said as an agent appeared on the ladder, gently transferring his friend into the agent's waiting arms. Anja seemed to be pretty out of it, but she clung to MacGyver, as if she were afraid to let go. He muttered assuring words to his friend until she finally let him go, and then he followed down the ladder himself, trying not to let on how sore he was. Anja was the one who needed attention; he could get himself looked at aftertwords.

When he reached the ground, he made his way over to Jack, and both of them watched as Anja was carried away.

"You traced her phone?" Mac asked Jack, bending down and picking up his friend's now-shattered phone from the ground.

"Yeah. Plus, it's really quiet out here, and once we heard shouting, it wasn't very hard to find you guys."

Mac nodded, and Jack shined a light in his friend's face. Mac winced, knowing that his face was a wide variety of colors.

"C'mon," the older agent said, trying to steer Mac in the direction Anja had been taken. "You're goin' to get checked out too."

"I'm fine," the blond insisted.

"Do not make me throw you over my shoulder and carry you there myself," Jack threatened. Mac stared at his friend, unsure if he would actually go through with his threat. Finally deciding it wasn't worth risking the pain, Mac nodded.

"Fine, fine," he conceded, holding out his hands in surrender and walking forward. After a minute, he looked over at Jack. "Thanks for coming, man."

Jack brought his hand up to clap his friend on the shoulder, but Mac held up his own hand to stop him. Jack took that as an opportunity to high-five his friend and replied, "Any time, brother."

Okay, only one short chapter left. Whatcha think?

Also, I've got a tag to the finale that I'm working on. I'm thinking it's going to be a couple chapters, nothing super long, but I should have it up soon!