"In wartime, Truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies." -Winston Churchill
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
He followed the kid into the house and took his boots off the moment he got inside, shaking the snow off them so it landed outside the door. He took off his beanie and jacket, hanging it up in the hall closet where other jackets, skis, boots, scarves, poles, skates, and other equipment were kept. It was sort of the catchall closet, and always had been.
He turned and found both his brother and nephew staring, standing with their arms folded. They were about to team up on him, he knew it, but for what?
"What?" he asked somewhat irritated. People had been giving him strange looks all day, but it was another thing to get those looks from family. Family, wow, what a concept. He had just gained another member.
"You're hurt," Mac stated rather bluntly. It seemed that every time Jack showed up, he was injured.
"I'm fine." It was an automatic response.
"No you're not," this time it was SAM. He had obviously gotten a lot from his father. He pointed to his face and winced slightly, "You've got some good coloring there and I don't think that you're the kind of guy to wear blush, besides it's the wrong color."
Confused, Jack turned to face the mirror that hung in the hall and for the first time since his release, gazed into his reflection. Across his cheek was a large bruise that extended down to his chin.
"Dammit," he had walked around in the freakin' airport with that and hadn't even realized it. No wonder mothers had avoided him and the rental clerk was overly cautious. He sighed, knowing that Mac wouldn't let up on his interrogation, "It doesn't hurt, honest," he turned back to them, but kept his head down, suddenly finding his feet interesting, "Sore, maybe, but it doesn't hurt."
"What happened?" SAM asked before either Mac or Jack could change the subject. Jack's head shot up, and they both shared a quick worried look that didn't go unnoticed by SAM. He was too tired to be convincing. Besides, he was trying to fool a MacGyver. He knew it wouldn't happen.
"Training accident."
"For what?"
"Deep Space Radar Telemetry," he grimaced internally. They were going to have to work on a better cover story, this one was wearing out quickly. He couldn't be in an accident at least once a month, or sometimes, more. He could tell that the young man didn't buy it.
"BS, what really happened?"
"SAM!" Mac was astonished at the way his son was acting,
"Dad, he's hurt, it was worse than just that bruise. Don't you want to know what happened!"
He did have a point, Mac thought. He could tell that his brother was making light of his injuries; it was something that they both did.
"It's okay Mac, he should know. He's too smart to fall for that lousy cover anyway. See SAM…I …uh, a mission went bad," Mac winced in sympathy, knowing the nature of his work, "Me and my team were attacked by natives. That's why I wasn't able to get your phone calls till this morning Mac, I was, um, out of town."
"A mission?"
"SAM, meet Colonel Jack O'Neill, United States Air Force," Mac was full of pride, announcing his rank like it was the coolest thing in the world, and SAM looked quite impressed.
"Do you fly?"
"Unfortunately, not so much anymore."
"Hey SAM, you never did get that firewood," MacGyver nudged him on the arm gently teasing.
"Kay Dad, I'll be right back. Maybe this time I won't be held up," he joked as he exited the cabin once more. SAM knew that he still wasn't getting the whole truth; after all, he was a journalist albeit photojournalist; plus, he was just plain smart. He also knew that they wanted him out of the room for a second so that they could talk. That meant that his father was in on whatever it was that his uncle really did. He was a little irked that he was being dismissed like a little kid, but for right now though, he would do as he was told. He would find out the truth eventually. It was what he did. It was in his blood.
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"Jack," Mac prodded. The older twin muttered something under his breath that Mac couldn't figure out, "Jack," he chided.
"It was nothing, just, uh, there was something about a sacrifice. The natives thought that they could please their god by offering me up,"
"A human sacrifice! Jack!"
"I'm fine, look, still here. The rest of SG-1 showed up in time. I just got knocked around a bit, that's all."
"How much is a bit, Jack?"
"Umm… a few broken ribs and nasty bruises. I've had worse ya know." And they both did. Boy, how they knew. Mac had been the one to rescue Jack from the Iraqi prison where he had been held and tortured for four months.
"Yeah….well, just be careful."
There was a slight pause that was filled with silent worries.
"What about you," Jack asked, "How's Phoenix?"
"I, uh, I quit Jack."
"What?! Why?"
"SAM: I missed out on the first 20 years of his life. I want to be there for him for the rest of it. I wanted to spend some time with my son, to get to know him, so I…uh…I retired."
"You know Mac, take some brotherly advice, I've done the whole retired bit, a couple times. It sucks. It just didn't stick, and I know it'll only be so long before you start climbing the walls."
"Maybe, Jack, but you know…I'm gonna give it a try. SAM deserves it."
"He seems like a nice kid, how'd you find him?"
"Actually, he kinda found me," he said sheepishly as he proceeded to inform Jack of the circumstances of their meeting.
"Wow, he's something alright. Takes after his old man."
"Hey! You're the old one!"
Jack meant to comment on that, but it was then that SAM made his entrance, his arms full of wood, which he stacked by the fireplace. Jack took the time to really look him over. He was about 5'11, with wavy dark brown hair, and dark brown eyes, definitely from their side of the family. From the story that Mac had just told him, he gathered that he must have also gotten his smarts from Mac. He really did look a lot like him, there was no doubt he was his father's son. Seeing SAM now, Jack couldn't help but wonder if Charlie would have grown up to be like him, minus the dark hair of course. Charlie had been a blonde, after his mother.
Thinking of Charlie sent a pang of pain through his heart, as it always did. He shook his head to stop his mind from wandering down that path and instead decided to ask a vital question,
"What's for dinner?"
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
"So then, he decides that it would be hilarious to tie Jane Pryce's pigtails together during math class. She didn't even know it until some other girl pointed it out to her," Jack said around a bite of stir-fry. It had been a compromise: Mac had wanted vegetarian and SAM and Jack had both wanted meat, a stir fry was the only way to appease both sides. Jack was glad to find that SAM was not a health nut, finally, someone sane in the family!
The table erupted into laughter.
"Dad, I can't believe you did that!"
"Wait until you hear the time when we were seven where he-"
"Oh no you don't!" Mac said, interrupting, he knew exactly where Jack was going. The night had become a spontaneous embarrass-MacGyver-with-tales-from-his-childhood night, much to the amusement of Jack and SAM, "Don't you dare go there Jonathan O'Neill! I will hunt you down and murder you in your sleep!" he said with mock vehemence.
"Gee, getting a bit violent aren't we Dad?"
Mac just stuck out his tongue at the both of them. 'It must be a good story if Dad doesn't want it told. I'll have to ask Jack later, or maybe Mr. Thornton would know,' SAM thought.
With his belly full and laughing with the good company, Jack suddenly felt exhausted; the day was catching up with him. The meager rest he got on the plane just wasn't enough, and he couldn't stifle the yawn in time for Mac not to notice.
"Okay bro, I think it's time for bed. It's been a long day for you. You can take the guest room. SAM do you mind taking the couch?"
"No, sure Dad. I can handle it, I'll let the old farts take the beds, we don't want one of you to throw out your backs now do we?" SAM wasn't fast enough to avoid the swats on the back of the head from both of the "old farts", and smiled at the easy banter that they had all fallen into. As he watched his dad and uncle, he could help but feel happy. Everything about them made him smile, and it seemed like he was smiling more now than he ever had before.
A few months ago, he had felt so alone in the world, knowing he had a father somewhere, but not knowing if he was ever going to find him. Well, he had found him, quite by accident mind you, but he was determined to make the most out of it. He would never be alone again, and he was thrilled to find that he actually like the man who his father was. SAM had decided that there was no way he was going to let MacGyver out of his life, so he had agreed to go on a trip with him, to get to know each other better.
Well, Mac had taken him to his cabin, which his great grandfather had left to him. He constantly quoted Harry, which was something he found quite entertaining, but never had he once mentioned a twin brother, until tonight where he was held at gunpoint by said uncle.
Looking back on it, it was quite comical. The irony of their first meeting would leave him chuckling for a long time. He had developed an immediate bond with Jack, he was easy to be around, and he liked his sense of humor. The fact that they could team up against his Dad had absolutely no bearing whatsoever on his feelings.
But something about him was nagging at SAM. He felt that way when they were discussing, briefly, how he had gotten hurt, and therefore what he did. He was in the Air Force, that much he knew to be true. He had been around many military personnel in his travels, and Jack just had that aura of a career military officer. SAM knew that there were hidden depths to both his father and his new uncle that he had yet to breach.
SAM yawned loudly as he tidied up the rest of the little kitchen, putting the dirty dishes in the sink and making sure that the rest of the food was placed back in the fridge. When he left the kitchen to go to the den, he saw his Dad already there. He had pulled the table off the side of the room and had opened up the couch to reveal a pull out bed. He was currently trying to wrestle one of the sheets on, but every time he got it around one corner, it popped off another one. After watching this happen quite a few times, he couldn't resist the chuckle that was begging to come out.
Upon hearing him, Mac turned around and flopped on his back onto the bed, letting out a sigh of exasperation.
"How about giving your old man a hand, huh?"
"Gee, I dunno. I don't really feel like it," he teased as he walked over and offered a hand to help him up. He walked to the end with the unruly corner and tugged it down as Mac did the same with his own side.
"There you go," he said as he tossed more blankets and some pillows onto the impromptu bed. "It's not the Ritz, but it'll do."
"Thanks Dad, I've slept on worse before, trust me."
In all seriousness, Mac replied,
"I do son, I do." There was a moment of weighty silence before Mac asked, "So, what do you think of Jack?"
"I like him, he's a lot like you, but different. I can't wait to get to know him better."
"Good, I think he's really taken a liking to you as well."
"Dad…what does he really do?"
MacGyver sighed, not wanting to lie to his son. He suddenly felt odd, being on the other side of this conversation. He had never had to tell any of his family what he did when he was with the DXS. His parents and grandma were already dead, and it was during the time where he and Harry avoided each other. This is what it must feel like for Jack all the time,
"I can't tell you SAM. It's classified. I would if I could, but I can't. Jack would get in a lot of trouble if I did," He got up and slowly started off down the hall, leaving SAM to get to sleep. Before he got far, he stopped, "Just… know that what he does protects us all. He's a hero. Be proud of him…Good night, see ya tomorrow." With that, he turned and went to bed.
"So are you Dad, so are you," SAM quietly muttered before succumbing to his own drowsiness.
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So...? How's it going so far? Tell me what you think? I've been putting quotes at the begining of every chapter, what do you think? Like it or hate it?