AN: Thoughts on 3.02, Bravo Lead + Loyalty + Friendship at the end of this chapter, complete with spoilers.
BRANCH OF A MAJOR ACCOUNTING FIRM
(IT'S SUSPECTED OF DOING SOME MONEY LAUNDERING FOR AN ARMS DEALER)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA
(HEY, THAT HAD TO HAPPEN EVENTUALLY…)
'…And I said to her mama, ain't she the most adorable thing?'
Jack grinned proudly, every inch a proud papa, wrapping his arm around his 'daughter', Riley, who huffed and crossed her arms with a scowl, every bit an embarrassed daughter.
(They needed to get Riley in so she could hack into the branch's local network to determine if the money laundering was actually happening and who was involved.)
(Luckily, it was Bring Your Daughter to Work Day at the firm, so Jack had been 'sent by head office' and brought along his 'daughter'.)
Riley tugged herself out of her overbearing dad's grip and shot him a look.
'Seriously, Dad, I'm twenty-eight years old. I'm not a kid. Stop talking about me like I am one!'
The man they were talking to just chuckled, waving them through, and Jack just wrapped his arm around her shoulders again with a grin.
'Come on, kiddo, you know you'll always be my little girl…'
Riley rolled her eyes.
PHOENIX VAN
NEAR (BUT NOT TOO NEAR) THE ACCOUNTING FIRM
PHOENIX, ARIZONA
In the van, Bozer and Mac, watching and listening to the scene via Jack's camera-glasses (new and improved with an added microphone thanks to Mac getting very bored on a very quiet day at work four days previously) and Riley's necklace, which had an audio-and-video-recording pendant on it, exchanged grins that were practically smirks.
Bozer stifled his giggles with a hand as he downloaded the recording onto his phone (for later personal use – namely teasing the hell out of both Jack and Riley), while Mac's grin just widened further and took on even more of the character of a smirk, absent-mindedly shaping a paperclip into a ballet slipper.
(Jack was telling another guy they'd run into a story of how young Natalia – AKA Riley – had looked so, so sweet and cute at her first ballet recital.)
(Riley thwacked his side hard enough to hurt a little in retaliation.)
On the screen in front of them, Jill (who was filling in for Matty, who'd been called away on more urgent matters), just crossed her arms and tut-tutted with a fond, slightly teasing smile on her face as Jack launched into yet another tall tale, making Bozer erupt into another fit of giggles and Mac smirk, chuckle and start destroying another paperclip.
'Come on, boys. You've got a job to do, remember?'
PHOENIX FOUNDATION HEADQUARTERS
SOMEWHERE IN LA
As Bozer did a much-exaggerated but honestly flattering impression of Riley kicking a bad guy's butt and being cool and snarky while doing it (Riley rolled her eyes in fond exasperation, Mac gave an amused smile while re-shaping a paperclip and Jack agreed and chipped in enthusiastically) to illustrate exactly how their last mission had gone to Andi (who was listening and nodding politely), Matty strode into the war room.
She arched an eyebrow at Bozer, who really quickly finished off his impression with a rather lame 'and then he fainted', before turning to Andi. The two women had a conversation that was entirely silent and seemingly told through subtle changes in their eyebrows.
(It was really rather impressive.)
Then, as Andi left the room to presumably carry out Matty's orders, their boss walked over to the screen, tapped it and turned to the four of them.
An image of two children, with dark hair and light brown skin, appeared. The boy looked to be about six, the girl younger, maybe three.
'Your mission is to kidnap these two.'
Bozer made a wait, what? face, while Riley raised her eyebrows, crossing her arms. Mac's brow furrowed in thought, while Jack rubbed his hands together and started talking.
'Good old fashioned blackmail, eh? Is their daddy a drug lord? Or is he an ex-Colombian separatist turned merc/assassin?'
Matty shook her head.
'He's the, as of five months ago, former US ambassador to Colombia.' She tapped the screen again, and a photo of a man that Mac recognized as said ambassador appeared. It looked to be of decent quality, but was clearly some kind of surveillance photo that the two people in the shot didn't notice. That wasn't surprising, given how occupied the ambassador seemed to be with the extremely beautiful and much younger Colombian woman in a slinky red dress that he was entwined with. 'The young lady is his mistress and the mother of those kids.'
Bozer made a face.
'Poor Mrs Former-US-Ambassador-to-Colombia.'
Matty gave a very dry, very wry smile.
'It gets worse.' She tapped the screen again, and a video began to play. The beautiful Colombian woman, now wearing very tight skinny jeans, high heels and a white T-shirt that probably cost a small fortune and toting a designer handbag, got out of an expensive-looking armoured car, followed ten seconds later by a pair of Colombian women dressed in neat, clean but inexpensive-looking identical outfits, clearly household staff, each holding the hand of one of the ambassador's children. The children's mother paid them no heed as she strode into a mansion housed in a compound (an actual compound, with a high fence, security guards and plenty of CCTV), followed by the kids and the maids. The video then skipped forward, and two hours later, the two maids re-emerged, but no kids. 'As you can imagine, she's not happy about the ambassador's recall…because it's seriously impacting her cash flow. She's holding their children hostage in an attempt to extort the State Department for millions of dollars.'
Jack let out a low whistle, while the paperclip in Mac's hands took the shape of a long-stemmed rose.
(This was a thorny problem, to say the least.)
(Yes, it was a terrible pun, but it was in his own head.)
(He had very little control over the tornado of thoughts that resided there.)
Bozer seemed to be taking in every detail to use for a movie script at a later date. Riley slapped him in the arm and shot him a look that clearly said read the room!
Matty took in the looks on their faces and just nodded in agreement.
'State Department is demanding the Colombians arrest her and send the children to the US to live with their father, granting him sole custody. Colombians are insisting that the kids' mother should have full custody, since they were never married, and that he owes her child support and additional funds to maintain the lifestyle that she and the children are accustomed to. Neither side is budging and this is rapidly descending into a significant diplomatic incident.' She tapped the screen again. 'Additionally, State is concerned about potential blackmailing attempts or even kidnappings of the children while they're unsecured on Colombian soil, leading to the ambassador leaking classified information that could seriously endanger the lives of US operatives.'
Mac dropped his rose-shaped paperclip on the table, quirking an eyebrow.
'So we, foreign agents, are going to kidnap two underage Colombian citizens on Colombian soil, taking them away from their legal guardian and to a foreign country?'
'State is framing it as a rescue mission, but yes, Blondie.' Matty's expression grew very serious and she looked them all in the eye. 'Because this is a kidnapping of Colombian kids on Colombian soil and forcibly removing them from their guardian and the country, if you are caught, you will be disavowed. There'll be nothing we can do to help you.' All four of them nodded in understanding and acceptance, and Matty tapped the screen one last time. A video appeared, a candid, slightly shakily made home video, of the ambassador in a T-shirt and jeans, sitting on the floor and doing a puzzle with his kids, all three of them laughing. The little girl reached over and hugged her dad as the video ended. 'Good luck. Bring them home safe.'
PHOENIX JET
SOMEWHERE OVER MEXICO
ON-ROUTE TO COLOMBIA
'…Kinda feels wrong, you know, taking Sebastian and Valeria from their mama…'
Jack shifted in his seat as he mused out loud.
Jack's closest personal experience with motherhood, aside from his own mother, is with Diane Davis, who 100% deserves one of those World's Best Mom mugs for Mother's Day.
Jack himself, by the way, deserves the matching one.
So it's no wonder that he thinks that way.
But if what the ambassador writes about Adriana, Sebastian and Valeria's mother, is true…we shouldn't be losing any sleep over taking them away from her.
Apparently, apathetic (except for when they made adorable fashion accessories) and borderline-neglectful (she made sure they had staff to care for them, but absolutely refused to do any of the caring herself and strongly preferred they be kept out of her sight and hearing) best described Adriana as a mother.
Even Murdoc (if you ignored the whole took-his-son-on-a-cross-country-murder-road-trip and got-really-angry-when-he-thought-Cassian-was-turning-against-him bits…which was asking a lot) was a good dad, if you looked at it a certain way.
Now that was a disturbing thought.
ROOFTOP NEAR-ISH ADRIANA'S COMPOUND
(TENTH ROOFTOP IN TWO HOURS)
(MAC AND JACK ARE GETTING PLENTY OF CARDIO)
BOGOTA
COLOMBIA
Jack lowered his binoculars with a groan.
'Ain't got a decent line of sight from here, either.'
Adriana was either paranoid, or just damn lucky.
Probably both.
They couldn't see into her compound at all from anywhere on the ten rooftops they'd tried.
Mac stopped staring, squinting slightly, at some of the other rooftops and taking notes in permanent marker on a newspaper he'd gotten from…somewhere. Capping the marker, he tapped his earpiece.
'Riley, Boze, how's it going?'
Bozer and Riley were in the hotel room that was serving as their base of operations for the mission. Bozer was putting the finishing touches on the wardrobe of disguises they'd brought with them (Bryce Villanova was here in Bogota to do an edgy new photoshoot with models Riley and Mac, assisted by Bozer, an up-and-coming, eccentric young designer), while Riley tried to hack into Adriana's CCTV system.
The hacker's voice was very dry with more than a hint of frustration in it when she responded.
'I got into the CCTV system, but the feeds are useless.' Both Mac and Jack could see her crossing her arms, raising her brows and leaning back in her seat, with that look on her face, in their minds' eye. 'She put duct-tape over the cameras.'
Yeah, Adriana was definitely paranoid.
Jack snorted.
'Talk about a crazy conspiracy theorist!'
Mac turned to look at his partner, an eyebrow arched in disbelief.
(In the hotel room, Bozer and Riley exchanged an amusingly-similar look.)
Jack just looked at him as if to say, what?
Mac just shook his head in fond exasperation with an awful lot of exasperation, glancing down at the newspaper in his hands.
He looked at it for a beat, his thinking face appearing instantly, before it changed to his I-have-an-idea face.
He turned back to Jack, a little smirk-smile growing on his face.
'I can get us a line of sight.' The smirk-smile grew a touch sheepish. 'Well, not a direct line of sight…but for our purposes, it'll do.'
Jack spread his hands wide, shooting Mac an incredulous look.
(By now, Mac was usually already putting together his thingamajig, giving half a science lecture as he went.)
The blonde rolled his eyes (in a way that Jack swore up and down was affectionate), and flung the jimmied-open door that led down from the roof open and started down the stairs two at a time, motioning for Jack to follow.
'We have to go do a little shopping first!'
ONE HOUR AND FORTY-SIX MIRRORS LATER
Mac muttered to himself, drawing some diagram in thin air, then nodded once, decisively, and shifted the last mirror, turning it slightly clockwise.
Then, he gestured to the mirror placed opposite and slightly offset from the one he'd just moved, and Jack, who was already trying to come up with a way to explain forty-six mirrors on the expense report (Matty would be cool with it, but Oversight was probably gonna ask Mac why he couldn't do it with twenty, since he was sure he could, and sometimes, they got a bean counter or a newbie in Accounts who just didn't get the Phoenix axiom that you didn't question the expense reports from missions Angus MacGyver was on, not even when they included cowboy hats or vitamin A cream or garden gnomes), did a wide-eyed double-take when he realized that he could see a bird's eye view of Adriana's compound.
He looked around the mirror-covered rooftop, and caught glimpses of several other angles, and let out a low whistle, then pointed at Mac.
'Not sure if we should all dread or look forward to the day you lose your patience with your old man and run off to join the circus and create one of those Houses of Mirrors…'
Mac just raised his eyebrows and nodded slowly.
A, I don't think I'd last longer than three months away from the Phoenix.
It's where my family is; I'd miss them too much to stay away.
And…look, I'm really trying not to sound like my dad – we sound too much alike too often for my peace of mind – but I have a gift.
A power, if you like.
And with great power, comes great responsibility, as your friendly neighbourhood Spiderman knows.
If Murdoc or The Ghost or someone else that I might have been able to stop struck while I was away…well, I don't think I'd sleep well for weeks. And if that attack cost me my family…honestly, I'm not sure I'd be able to live with myself.
Sadly, in all honesty, I'd probably wind up like my dad.
You know, bitter, angry and full of guilt but refusing to deal with it all properly, resulting in being an asshole more than from time-to-time.
Not a happy thought, I'm sure we can agree.
B, why would I run away and join the circus, of all things?
TEN HOURS LATER
HOTEL ROOM HQ
BOGOTA
COLOMBIA
Mac's clever surveillance system had become useless once darkness fell.
Still, it'd given them a good general layout of the compound (which Riley was now digitizing based on the map that Mac had drawn on some poster paper with his marker, which Jack still didn't know the providence of), as well as some other useful details.
Adriana was definitely really, really paranoid.
The children never, ever came outside. Not even to play in the courtyard in the middle of the compound.
Which was pretty insane, given the security that their mother had.
She might have put tape over the surveillance cameras, but she was definitely not taking the trade-off of no surveillance.
There were regular and through patrols of guards with dogs.
Mac and Jack hadn't managed to spot any substantial flaws in the patrols they could exploit.
Which meant that she'd hired some serious pros.
As Mac did some kind of math on a napkin (something to do with guard rotations) and Riley (probably futilely) kept trying to get something off Adriana's computer systems, Jack flopped into a sitting position on the bed and said what they were all thinking.
'We gotta get inside.'
An hour and a half later, Riley was wearing a perfect replica of the uniforms worn by employees of the cleaning company that Adriana employed, and the usual cleaners had been told that their services weren't required that day as Adriana had a 'special visitor' that it'd be (by implication) inappropriate for them to catch sight of.
(She was going in to do their initial scouting, since she'd be by far the least conspicuous.)
(Besides, people like Adriana tended to view people like waiters and cleaners as part of the furniture.)
Jack walked with her out of the hotel, cracking jokes as usual. Riley ribbed him back as usual (his domestic skills had left much to be desired when she was a teenager – she remembered very clearly his attempt to clean a casserole dish after he'd burned the casserole he was trying to make to a crisp), and as they reached the bottom of the fire exit, he clasped her shoulder.
'Be careful, Ri.'
He knew full well that she was a good agent and a big girl who could definitely look after herself, but he always worried a little more when she went off on her own.
(It was a little hard to turn off the 'dad' part of himself.)
(He had no idea how James MacGyver could do it so well.)
(He also had a feeling he didn't want to be able to do it that well.)
Riley smiled a little smile back at him, nudged him with her elbow.
'We always are.'
PHOENIX FOUNDATION HEADQUARTERS
SOMEWHERE IN LA
Beth put a couple of Frozen Band-Aids (making sure that at least one was an Olaf one) in her scrubs pocket, as well as a snack-size packet of M&Ms, before stepping out of her office to greet her patient.
(Cassian had been brought to the Phoenix so Matty and a psychologist with a very high security clearance could pick his brain – gently – to try and learn anything about his dad or his dealings that Cassian might not realize he actually knew.)
(Matty had assigned her to give him a health check while he was here, since Cassian had responded well to her and liked her so much – he'd drawn her a picture, which hung pride of place on the wall in her office – last time.)
The little boy was sitting on a prepped infirmary bed behind a curtain…with two burly agents wearing mostly black on either side of him. Cassian looked a little nervous and kept glancing at the two men.
Beth really wanted to narrow her eyes and glare at them, but for Cassian's sake, she just smiled and waved at the boy.
'Hello, Cassian!'
He beamed back at her.
'Hello, Dr Beth!' He jumped off the bed (which made one of the men call out hey!) and wrapped his arms around her. The same man who'd called out made to step forward, but Beth narrowed her eyes at him over the top of Cassian's head and shook her head firmly. He thankfully stayed where he was. When he let go of her, she crouched down, putting herself well below his eye level, and Cassian leaned closer to her, voice quiet and a little scared and very plaintive and every inch his eight years, maybe even younger. 'Do…do they have to stay, Dr Beth?'
Oh, that did it.
She gave him a little smile.
'No, no they don't, Cassian.' She reached into her pocket and handed him the M&Ms. 'Why don't you sit back down and have a snack while I talk to them?'
He smiled back at her, looking relieved and much happier, and bounded over to the bed, sat down again and opened his pack of chocolate.
Meanwhile, Beth looked expectantly at the two guards and led them outside the curtain, ten feet away from Cassian.
'I'm going to have to ask you to leave.'
'No can do, little lady.'
'Boss's orders.'
She really didn't like these guys.
Beth crossed her arms, wishing that she wasn't so short and didn't have to look up at them so much.
(They had at least a foot on her.)
'My name is Dr Taylor. And Matty wouldn't object to-'
'They're not her orders.'
'They're Oversight, the big boss's, orders.'
She was really going to have to give this Oversight a piece of her mind one day.
As angry as she was, Beth forced her voice to be quiet when she responded.
She didn't want Cassian to have to hear this.
'He is a sweet, kind, brave eight-year-old boy who loves to draw, whose favourite Frozen character is Olaf and prefers grape to strawberry on his PB&Js!'
The guard who'd said hey (the one that Beth disliked a little more than the other one) dared to respond.
'His dad-'
Oh, this man was a piece of work.
And if he was following Oversight's orders and example, she really, really, really had to have a word with whoever he or she was.
For the sake of her patients.
'Deserves the prize for Worst Father of the Decade, at the very least.' She jabbed a finger at the air in front of the nearest guard's chest. 'Which means you really should have some sympathy and empathy for him.' Beth paused and took a deep breath, calming herself down and speaking with the rational authority of a medical professional. 'This is the infirmary. In here, my authority trumps Oversight's. So, you two are going to wait outside while I take care of my patient, please.' She tilted her chin up fiercely. 'If Oversight gives you any trouble about that, they can take it up with me.'
Two hours later, Beth reviewed Cassian's blood test results in her little office.
His Vitamin D levels were low, low enough to elicit some concern and for her to write him a prescription for supplements, but not so low that he was at risk of health issues.
He was otherwise physically healthy, but she had plenty of concerns about her youngest patient.
He was doing remarkably well, all things considered (an amoral assassin for a father was a lot for an eight-year-old to deal with), but seemed lonely and a bit melancholy.
And a light-skinned eight-year-old boy living in sunny LA absolutely should not have Vitamin D deficiency.
She pursed her lips and continued to write her report with renewed fervour.
This was going to have to be an extremely thorough report, with all the 't's crossed and 'i's dotted.
She was quite sure that Matty would be on her side as soon as she raised her concerns, but Oversight was a whole other matter.
HOTEL ROOM
BOGOTA
COLOMBIA
'And the Miss Riley Davis is back in the house!'
Bozer grinned and reached out a fist to bump it to Riley's as she strode back into the hotel room, her mission a success.
Mac smiled at her, tossing down a paperclip shaped like Riley's audio-visual-recording necklace, and Jack wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
'Good work, kiddo.'
Riley gave a proud smile, and reached behind her back to unclasp her necklace, tossing it over to Bozer to transfer the intel she'd collected over to her laptop.
'Mama, can I please take Sebastian and Valeria to the park? Or to go play in the courtyard, at least?'
The cook's nineteen-year-old daughter, a very pretty young woman with long, dark hair and high cheekbones, implored her mother in the kitchen, and the cook, a shorter, rounder and older version of her daughter, shook her head as she chopped vegetables, dumped them in a pot and started stirring.
'Senora forbids it.'
'She's not here-'
The cook shushed her daughter, glancing around furtively, as if fearing they were being eavesdropped on.
(Which was true, since Riley was mopping the kitchen floor on the far side.)
'Sofia, do not say these things. Not here.'
The teenage girl crossed her arms with a frustrated, even angry, huff.
'Children cannot grow up, cannot live, this way!'
With another furtive glance over at Riley, the cook smiled sadly but fondly at her daughter.
'Children are very strong and resilient.'
She leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to her daughter's head, then returned to her cooking.
Sofia returned her mother's smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.
'Sofia!'
Three-year-old Valeria toddled over to the young woman as soon as she saw her in the corridor, pulling away from the harried and exhausted-looking maid who'd been looking after her. She flung her arms around her legs, and was followed a moment later by her big brother doing the same.
Sofia laughed and wrapped her arms around the kids as well, smiling at the maid as Riley dusted some shelves further down the hall.
'I can take them for a few hours, Gabriela.'
The maid smiled at her.
'Gracias, Sofia.'
She hurried off to the servants' quarters to get some much-needed rest, and Sofia and the kids started walking in the opposite direction, towards their playroom.
(Not ideal – outside would have been far better – but it was the next best thing.)
(It had a lot of toys but no windows.)
Sofia, Sebastian and Valeria all giggled as they enthusiastically knocked over the huge castle they'd made out of blocks.
Destruction over, they all flopped onto the ground, Valeria pillowing her head on Sofia's stomach, and lay there for a moment, catching their breaths, the older girl running her hands through the younger's hair in the way she loved.
Then, Sofia gently nudged the girl into a sitting position, sat up herself and grinned conspiratorially at the kids.
'Do you want to build a blanket fort next?'
Sebastian and Valeria all nodded eagerly, Valeria clapping her hands together.
'Yay!'
Sofia's grin widened.
'Come on, then, let's build the best blanket fort ever!'
As she folded up the last blanket (it was an hour and a half to lunch time, and Sebastian and Valeria were expected in the dining room today for some reason and had to be cleaned and dressed up first), Sebastian tugged on her sleeve.
'Sofia, how long is it until you go away again?'
He looked so sad that her heart broke a little. His little sister, not quite old enough to understand, nonetheless came up to them too, her big eyes sombre.
Sofia's heart broke a little more.
She almost didn't want to go back to America for college again after Winter Break.
She almost thought to stay, because Sebastian and Valeria needed her.
But her Mama and Papa had worked so hard, and she had studied so hard, to get into college in America…
She crouched down so that she was at their eye level.
'I am going again in a week, but I'm going to be back in a few months.' Two crestfallen little faces looked up at her, and she reached out and pulled them both close. 'But I still have a week! We can have a lot of fun in one week! Blanket forts and pillow fights! Making cookies! Building the tallest block tower in the world!'
That, just as she'd intended, made both kids perk up substantially.
(Some things were so much simpler when you were small.)
'Poor things, we gotta get them out of there…'
Jack gestured at the screen, and started pacing across the hotel room, throwing out some really bizarre suggestions of plans.
(Even weirder than their usual plans, anyway.)
(Somehow, Mac didn't think pretending to be ghosts and haunting Adriana and her guards out of the compound was going to do them any good.)
Behind his back, Mac, Bozer and Riley exchanged a glance, fond and exasperated all at once.
A, Jack Dalton is, despite the tough-guy exterior, a softie.
B, he is remarkably stubborn once he's made up his mind…but frequently changes it.
PHOENIX FOUNDATION HEADQUARTERS
SOMEWHERE IN LA
Sitting on one of the uncomfortable chairs in the lobby, Cassian swung his legs, bored out of his mind and unhappy.
(He'd wanted to go see Jill, because she had really cool glasses and an even cooler lab and was really smiley and nice, and besides, he had promised her last time he'd visit her!)
(But the big scary guys that Dr Beth had scared away – he didn't think she was scary, but Mac, who Bozer said was a really bad liar and Cassian trusted maybe more than anyone else said she was, so she had to be – wouldn't let him, made him sit in the lobby between them and wait, even though they were supposed to have left two hours ago but hadn't and wouldn't be for ages because there'd been some Emergency and the people who were supposed to be going with them for security had to do something else more important first.)
He let out a dramatic sigh in a way that only an eight-year-old could, and then, after a moment, with the optimism of an eight-year-old, decided to try one last time.
'Can I please, please, please go see Jill? Just for a few minutes? I promised her…'
'…but you're not supposed to break promises! That's what Mrs Maple said, and that's what Mac said too! I promised Jill I'd visit her, so I gotta keep that promise!'
Diane walked into the Phoenix's lobby that afternoon (on the request of Matty with the reassurance that it wasn't bad news, but with no other information whatsoever) to find a dark-haired boy who couldn't have been older than eight or nine with his arms crossed, arguing ineffectually with two big men more than twice his size wearing matching scowls.
One of them rolled his eyes.
'Seriously, kid, just put a-'
She'd already started walking over to them as soon as the kid had mentioned Mac, and arrived just in time to arch an eyebrow elegantly at the man, then cut him off with a glare that'd made Riley listen in the midst of her teenage get-my-bellybutton-pierced rebellious phase.
'I'm sure Director Webber won't mind you taking Cassian to visit Jill. She'd welcome the visit…'
'And you are…?'
The man who'd been about to tell Cassian to put a sock in it (or worse) looked rather belligerently at her.
Diane refused to let him disturb her equilibrium with his rudeness and simply responded calmly, coolly.
'Diane Davis. I'm here on the special, personal request of Matty. She needed to speak with me personally urgently.'
The two men exchanged a wary glance and began to speak with each other in low voices that weren't quite low enough for her excellent ears to miss.
(Diane used to think that secret agents were supposed to be subtle.)
(Then her daughter became one, she found out her ex-boyfriend was one and she met a few more.)
'…You know it's not what Webber thinks that matters…'
'…Dalton's one of the few nutty enough to disobey his orders; you really wanna channel him?'
Diane smiled to herself when she heard Jack's name. She had them now.
'Dalton? Jack Dalton? Former CIA, former Delta Force, two-time winner of the Annual Phoenix Foundation Shoot-Out?' They nodded, and Diane nodded levelly in response. 'Good man, good agent, but with several, easily-exploitable weaknesses…'
She used a tone that implied she knew them all.
(Which was true. He had a very ticklish spot just under his left anklebone, and another one just on the edge of his ribs, and there was a spot behind his right ear that could make him just about useless if you stroked it correctly…)
The two men exchanged another glance, before the less belligerent one spoke, almost to himself.
'Well, I guess we can take him to visit Jill quickly, since we got held up and all…probably good to encourage him to be a good guy, keep his promises and all…'
As they walked down the hallway towards Jill's lab, Cassian looked up at Diane and shot her a grin and a thumbs up when they were out of view of his guards.
Diane smiled at him, and with all the tact and curiosity of a kid, Cassian bounced a little in his steps and spoke.
'Are you Riley's mom?'
Diane smiled a little wider and nodded.
'Yes, I am.'
'You're awesome and pretty just like her!'
Her smile widened further. He was a really sweet kid.
'Thank you!'
'Jill!'
Cassian bounded away from Diane and threw his arms around the analyst when she came out of her lab to greet them. The blonde woman laughed and hugged him right back.
'Hi, Cassian!'
'I kept my promise! Even though some people…' He punctuated that with a dirty look at the two guards that Diane was pretty sure he'd picked up from Bozer. '…tried to make me break it.' He gestured at Diane. 'But then Riley's mom came and scared them, so I got to come see you!'
Jill grinned back at him, ignoring the looks on the two guards' faces (in fact, ignoring them entirely), and led Cassian into her lab.
'Well, you're just in time! I've got an experiment I need your help with.' She gestured to a metal lab bench in the corner, which had a whole jar full of crayons (wrapped in plain, unbranded white wax paper – they were a Phoenix invention with more field applications than one would think) in various colours on it, as well as small slabs of just about every surface – concrete, brick, glass, tile, chalkboards, whiteboards, drywall, various fabrics and even a skin analogue. 'Think you can draw lots and lots of pictures on those for me?' Cassian nodded excitedly and enthusiastically, seemingly containing himself from running across the lab (Jill had told him very firmly last time that running in the lab was against lab rules, because it could be dangerous) and starting to draw. Jill grinned, and with a flourish, reached into a nearby drawer and pulled out a child-sized lab coat. 'Don't forget your PPE!'
She helped Cassian into his lab coat, then walked over to the bench with him, helping him get onto a stool that brought him to the perfect height for drawing and making sure he was settled. Diane followed, with one last look at the two guards who'd taken up stations by the door, leaning close to Jill to speak quietly into her ear.
'Are those child-safe?'
Jill nodded immediately.
'They're 100% non-toxic and edible. We're hoping agents can use them for make-up and disguises in the field...'
ADRIANA'S COMPOUND
BOGOTA
COLOMBIA
Horns sounded repeatedly as the traffic lights seemed to go slightly crazy, the green periods seemingly growing shorter and the red ones longer.
Meanwhile, foot traffic built up just across the road from the compound as several of Bogota's most popular food trucks started setting up shop.
(They'd all been told that there was a huge number of potential customers here, due to an evening street party.)
(Which hadn't really been the case when they'd gotten there – it'd been pretty quiet – but word had quickly spread about the trucks' presence, and the street party had started to spring up anyway, so no-one had any complaints.)
Meanwhile, Mac and Jack, makeshift gas masks over their mouths and noses, waited for one of the very short gaps in the guard patrols of the perimeter of Adriana's compound, the blonde counting down silently on his fingers.
When he reached one, the two of them started to scale the wall with the aid of DIY crampons Mac had put together.
As they descended the wall on the other side, a guard (without a dog) passed below them.
'Hi!'
He looked up, to see Jack waving and grinning at him (not that he could see, due to the scarf obscuring Jack's face) like a maniac.
He didn't have time to react before Mac sprayed something sweet-smelling at him using the spray can he was holding.
Jack raised his eyebrows as the guard toppled over, sound asleep.
'Wow…you weren't kidding when you said that stuff was quick, brother.'
As they hauled the fourth unconscious guard into a handy coat closet, Jack whispered loudly to his partner, grousing as always.
'…Seriously, brother, I get it, you had to give us a little cologne to saturate the dogs' noses and all so they won't smell us, but did you have to make it so stinky?' He sniffed his armpit, through his makeshift gas mask, and recoiled to make a point. Mac made a disgusted face. 'We stink, man!'
The blonde rolled his eyes as he stuck his head out of the coat closet to check for incoming, then pulled it back in to glance at his partner.
'Just make sure you take a shower…or two…or maybe three before you go see Diane when we get back, and it'll be fine, you'll smell like roses.' He paused. 'Well, like your soap, but you get what I mean.'
As they made their way down the corridor, Jack groused a little more, before (Mac was sure, he couldn't actually see it on Jack's face due to the bandanna over it, but he was sure nonetheless, just from the tone of his voice) smirking.
'You gonna be following your own advice, brother?'
Unbidden, in the little part of his mind not focused on the mission, an imaginary Beth (for some reason, wearing her green-and-white striped shirt and candy-cane-and-holly skirt from Christmas with his favourite leather jacket over the top) popped up and shrugged with a wry, slightly teasing little smile.
'Well, I've smelled worse. I've also smelled better. At least it's not as bad as the time you went for a dip in the sewer…and it's an excellent idea that drastically reduces your likelihood of needing treatment for mauling, scratches, bites or rabies, so you get brownie points for that…'
They were almost at what Riley had pinned down as Sebastian and Valeria's room when a young woman whom they instantly recognized as Sofia opened her bedroom door, wearing pyjamas and a robe, presumably going to the bathroom or for a glass of water.
Wide-eyed, she stared at them for a moment. Mac and Jack stared right back at her, then exchanged a glance.
They didn't want to hurt her or knock her out with Mac's sleep spray (completely safe, but still)…but if she screamed for the guards or tried to stop them, they'd have no choice.
Mac tugged down his bandanna and gave her his best reassuring smile.
'Uh, Senorita, we're-'
Sofia cut Mac off.
'You're American. Are you taking the children to their father?' Mac nodded, face guileless, and Sofia considered for a moment. 'He loves them and he will let them play outside and go to friends' houses and…be kids.' She smiled and nodded, putting her hands over her eyes, then a finger to her lips. 'I didn't see you.'
Mac and Jack (who'd also pulled down his improvised mask) both smiled at her, then pulled their masks back up and kept heading down the corridor.
Fifteen minutes later, Mac and Jack, each carrying a deeply-sleeping child (they'd given them a little dose of Mac's sleeping spray – it was much safer for all involved that they were out for this) hurried into the laundry, where they were met by Bozer and Riley, pushing a covered laundry cart.
Carefully, they lowered Sebastian and Valeria into the nest of blankets that Bozer and Riley had made in the cart, and then, the two less experienced agents headed out the servants' exit, pushing what appeared to be for all the world a massive load of laundry.
Jack turned to his partner with a smirk, cracking his knuckles and pulling out his gun.
'Ready to make some noise, draw some attention, cause some trouble, brother?'
They were going to be the distraction for this part of the plan to let Riley and Bozer get the kids to the relative security of the Phoenix van and then several clicks away. They'd rendezvous there for ex-fil.
Mac smirked back.
'You know I'm always down for that.'
PHOENIX FOUNDATION HEADQUARTERS
SOMEWHERE IN LA
Beth strode down the corridor from the infirmary towards Matty's office, a tablet in hand, and looking fiercely determined.
Diane strolled down the hallway towards Matty's office, where she presumed she'd be meeting her, a look on her face that reminded everyone of a mama bear, or, perhaps more accurately, a lioness, guarding her cubs.
Any and all agents who were even somewhat near getting in her way quickly scurried out of her way.
This was a woman on a mission, and God help anyone who got in her way.
Checking to make sure that Cassian was settled in and happily drawing, Jill gave the two guards her best stink eye as she walked out of the lab, towards her boss's office.
She was going to get them banned from her lab at the very least.
'Boss, I have some serious concerns about Cassian's health and well-being that I need to discuss with you…'
'Matilda Webber, there's something else far more important that we need to speak about first…'
'We have to talk about Cassian.'
Matty, standing in the doorway to her office, glanced at the three women before her, from the petite brunette in scrubs holding out a tablet with something fiercely protective in her eyes and the tilt of her chin, to the tall, elegant woman with a cool posture and fire in her lioness's eyes, to the blonde in the lab coat with something strong and uncowed in her eyes that Matty had first seen when she'd had a gun held to her head.
She smiled knowingly, and then, her expression grew more serious.
'I know.' She turned to Diane. 'That's why I called you here. I've got a very special mission for you.'
PHOENIX JET
SOMEWHERE OVER MEXICO
ON-ROUTE TO LA
'…yeah, they're doing pretty good, all things considered…' Video-calling Matty on Mac's phone, Jack gestured to Valeria and Sebastian, who were happily eating the yoghurt-topped cereal bars and trail mix from the medical kid and Skyping their very relieved father on Riley's laptop. Valeria grinned and laughed, clapping her hands together. 'They're tough kids…' Diane walked into view on the screen, and Jack did a double-take. 'Darling, what are you doing at the Phoenix?' He turned to his boss. 'Matty, you recruiting her or something? Should I be worried 'bout losing my job or being shot 'cause I left my socks lying around or stabbed 'cause I snored too loudly in the middle of the night?'
Mac didn't even bother to hide his amused grin-smirk, as Matty put her hands on her hips and replied.
'It's an extremely important, need-to-know assignment that Diane has the perfect skill-set for.'
Diane, perfectly in-sync with Matty, just gave a knowing little smile.
'We'll brief you when you get home, honey.'
With that, they hung up.
Bozer reached out and clapped Jack on the back.
'Man, you are so screwed.'
With Matty and Diane plotting, there'd be no possible escape from anything for Jack Wyatt Dalton.
His days of doing whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted were completely, totally, absolutely over. Forever.
Jack, who was grinning, probably because he found the idea of Diane being a badass secret agent really hot (Riley really didn't want to think about that), suddenly paled.
'I am, aren't I?'
PHOENIX FOUNDATION HEADQUARTERS
SOMEWHERE IN LA
As soon as Mac walked into the Phoenix and met his boss (who was waiting for them at the entrance from the carpark, for some reason) he said to Matty what had been bothering him ever since he'd watched Sofia argue with her mother in Adriana's compound as they walked towards the war room.
'Matty, Cassian can't grow up in a safe house with agents for guardians, we have to find him a real home…'
Matty just smiled in a way that was almost a smirk.
'A little slow on the uptake, Blondie.' They turned the corner and approached the war room, where Cassian was sitting on the brown leather couch, curled up against Diane, who was smiling as he enthusiastically showed her one of his pictures. 'What did you think Diane's special mission was?'
Cassian couldn't be fostered to ordinary civilians. And while there were many great people in the system, working to make life better for kids who'd been dealt a rotten hand, it wasn't the best place to grow up, either.
He also couldn't be raised by agents of the US government, who had to think of security and professionalism and not about raising a kid.
He needed someone to raise him whose only concern was Cassian and helping him grow up to be a happy, well-adjusted, good person.
And that person needed to know the truth about the Phoenix and Murdoc and be able to keep a cool head in a crisis.
Besides, Diane Davis already had security on her.
(She was the girlfriend and the mother of two highly-talented, extremely-important US covert operatives. Three others considered her family. She knew the truth about the Phoenix.)
(An upgrade in security was always easier and used fewer resources than a whole new detail.)
And she really did have the perfect skill-set.
Matty opened the door a crack, letting Cassian's voice drift out to them.
'…That's Mac, and Dr Beth, and her sheep Py…Jill says that Bozer says that Py's really their sheep and it's a fake fur baby, to practice for the real fur baby which is kinda practice for the real baby…'
Mac shot his BFF a look. Bozer shot him back a look that was half who me? and half but it's true, bro!
Riley smiled, proud of her mother, and Jack grinned in pride too.
'She's gonna do a real fine job.' He reached out and put an arm around the closest thing to a daughter he'd ever had. 'Already done it once, after all.'
Later, all alone in the war room, Matty pulled out her phone and dialled a number that she had on speed-dial.
She waited for him to pick up, but didn't let him get a word in before she spoke.
'Jim, you need to call in a favour with State…'
'…and Cassian is being moved into the guardianship of Ms Diane Davis.'
'Matilda, this is going to need to go up for discussion. There are arguments for and against, and security protocols will need to be designed and reviewed-'
Matty cut him off, glancing at the scene in the conference room opposite the war room.
Cassian, Diane and Bozer were reading Esio Trot, with Bozer doing funny voices. Jack watched with a fond smile on his face, his hands crossed behind his head as he lounged in his seat, while Riley was keeping an eye on Mac, Beth and Jill, who were putting together a fun little science lesson for Cassian – it involved tortoise growth rates and the construction of a tortoise-lifting claw. (She seemed concerned that Mac might decide to pull a Mr Hoppy. Thankfully, Beth didn't have a somewhat disturbing attachment to a tortoise.)
(James MacGyver was absolutely every inch as stubborn as his son. Unfortunately, he tended to be stubborn and pedantic about things like this.)
(Mac could be stubborn and pedantic about really annoying things too – like the difference between a snow cave and an igloo, or between a llama and an alpaca – but Matty would take those over James' hang-ups any day.)
'There are no arguments, Jim. A kid can't grow up in protective custody at an undisclosed location while being raised by guards and agents. It was acceptable in the short-term, until I could get the right security and guardian sorted out, but now that I have, he's moving.' She paused, voice growing firmer, making it clear that this was a hill she'd die on. 'I'm not asking your permission, Jim. I'm just letting you know. The full security dossier should be arriving in your inbox any moment now.'
She hung up.
There wouldn't be any problems.
Jim knew better than to say no to her when she was in one of these moods.
He also knew that he wasn't exactly qualified to be commenting on the right way to raise a kid either.
James MacGyver would never, ever win any Father of the Year awards, after all.
TWO WEEKS LATER
THE FORMER AMBASSADOR TO COLOMBIA'S HOUSE
WASHINGTON D.C.
'Daddy's got to go out for dinner tonight…' Valeria pouted and Sebastian's face fell as they and their dad entered the house through the mudroom after an afternoon at the park. '…but I'll be here when you wake up, and you've got a really nice, really awesome new babysitter coming to look after you! She's going to be here any minute now…'
On cue, the doorbell rang.
The former ambassador opened the door, revealing a pretty Colombian girl with high cheekbones wearing a University of the District of Columbia sweatshirt.
Valeria and Sebastian grinned, and rushed at her, practically tackling her into a hug.
'Sofia!'
AN: Let's hear it for the badass ladies of MacGyver! It is pure chance/coincidence (statistically inevitable!) that this ep is timed like this – I planned for Jill to have this role in this ep months before 3.01, Improvise, occurred. I hope you guys like the themes and story of this ep, and were cool with the slight shift away from the usual Mac-(and-Jack)-save-the-day to look at some perhaps more ordinary heroes. I really do hope you like the idea of Diane raising Cassian – honestly, ever since Matty told Diane all about the Phoenix and in that very same episode Cassian was taken by Murdoc (most unexpectedly!), I wondered if Matty had brought Diane into the fold as a guardian for Cassian. (Matilda Webber is always thinking many steps ahead and never does anything without a reason, after all…)
There will be an episode tag in Detours for this, and here's the summary:
Ice Cream, tag to 3.15, (Safe)House to Home. Jack treats the gang to ice cream, unknowingly making one of Cassian's most cherished childhood memories.
Hint, hint – there's a glimpse into the future of this 'verse in there! I'll probably put it up on Tuesday.
Press release for the next episode (there's a time-skip of a couple months involved):
3.16, Supplies to Hospital. Mac and Jack brave treacherous and dangerous conditions to smuggle much-needed supplies to a blockaded Yemeni hospital. Meanwhile, Mac celebrates his 28th birthday and James MacGyver attempts to atone for past sins.
Thoughts on 3.02, Bravo Lead + Loyalty + Friendship: Oh, God, the feels…I really loved this ep, more than Improvise, honestly.
Poor Jill (gonna miss her!)…on the other hand, it was a good (and slightly unexpected) way to bring Mac back into the fold. I do wish that they had taken the 'hard way' and had it come via some level of reconciliation between the MacGyvers and both of them being less stubborn though – though I get it; the show's not one to go very deep and tends to make things more simple, and doing that would require them paying Tate Donovan to appear in more eps (which he might not be available for). I'm really glad Mac and Jack got to have that little chat in front of the jet and at the end (so necessary!) and glad to hear that Mac and Nasha are going to try long-distance (though now I worry that she's being set up to die, with Mac finally catching up with Murdoc in her village in Nigeria – the writers don't seem to like Mac not being single, and Matty did say Murdoc could be anywhere in the world, and they love to make him suffer, so having him lose Nasha permanently at Murdoc's hands because he had to stay in LA and re-join the Phoenix to catch Murdoc to get justice for Jill seems like something they'd do). Also – Bozer, Riley and Leanna getting to go on mission together was great, I loved the Teen Titans references (I love Teen Titans!) and Riley and Leanna's dynamic was especially great and fun (Bozer is in big trouble but is going to love every minute of it) – I really liked how they showed off each of the character's strengths and skill-sets, and that we got something light but still with some great feels. (I'm still not sold on Bozer/Leanna, but I really like Bozer, Riley and Leanna as BFFs for some reason…)
I'm very glad we got to see some of Jack's Delta days, and the trauma that he carries from it, as well as the lives that his old Delta teammates have built for themselves and that bond of brotherhood they all have, plus him sharing it with Mac. It was poignant and emotional and funny to just the right amount and just beautiful. This is what the show does best, and this is what keeps me (and I assume most of us) coming back for more – not crazy drama or Mac suffering.