Mac was the last one into the conference room the next morning. He'd intended to just do exactly what he said; crack a beer, ice his ankle, and doze off on the couch. But, it had been nice to have a quiet night to read some journals he'd set aside, play Xbox with no one trying to give him tips to improve his game, and wander out onto the deck when he felt like it, so he'd stayed up way too late and slept through his alarm. He didn't feel too badly though since Jack was just stirring too much cream and sugar into his coffee and sitting down with Riley and Matty. Mac greeted the team and got himself a necessary cup of liquid life before joining them at the table. Matty was at least ten minutes into the standard questions that were part of an uncomplicated debrief when Mac felt Jack's hard stare boring into the side of his face. Riley was in the middle of explaining how she had tapped into a private satellite to pose as a member of the organization that had taken over Dr. Madden's lab and taken her hostage so Mac quietly whispered, "What?"

Jack whispered back, much less subtly, "You. Are. Still. Limping."

Mac had been in a great mood when he walked in, but he felt an almost immediate flare of irritation. "I'm fine," he hissed, picking a paperclip out of the bowl and beginning to reshape it.

After a few more irritated whispers back and forth, Matty turned away from Riley and almost barked, "Am I keeping you gentleman from something?"

Mac began an apology, but Jack interrupted, "Mac got hurt last night and didn't report it. I'm just tryin' to make sure this mission report has all the information."

Matty looked Mac over from across the table. "Baby Einstein looks okay to me, Dalton."

Mac rolled his eyes at the nickname and Riley snickered. "Yeah, Jack," Riley offered helpfully. "You just like to fuss."

Jack pretended offense (as far as he was concerned, it was actually a compliment that his interest in the well-being of his team had been noticed). "I do not like to fuss." One of Mac's golden eyebrows climbed in an expression of disbelief. "I do like to know my team is looking out for themselves. And that no one is going into the field at less than their best …"

Jack had been planning to go on, but there was real fire in MacGyver's eyes at the implication that he might endanger his team with an unreported injury. Jack knew shutting up had been the right move when Mac snapped, "I would never put any of you on the line like that and you know it, Jack! You're a big football fan; you should know there's a big difference between hurt and injured. I hurt my ankle so I iced it. If I was injured I'd have reported it and gone to the infirmary!"

Jack was about to defend himself a bit when Matty gave Mac a hard look. "So you did hurt yourself then." It wasn't a question.

Now Mac was the one looking defensive. He looked down at the paperclip he was still fidgeting with. "No … I mean … well, yeah, a little. But it's fine."

He stared daggers at Jack.

Jack was ready to just apologize for bringing it up, but Matty said, in her typical no-nonsense tone, pretending that her order was merely a wise suggestion, "When we're done here, it might be good if you let someone take a …"

Mac pushed himself up from the table, face faintly pink, not with embarrassment, but with frustration. "You know what? I'm sure you're right. I'll go waste the doctor's time for a while this morning." He tossed a mangled paperclip onto the table. "Jack can fill you in on our part of the mission. I'm sure you only need the competent adults involved. And if I can't be trusted to look after myself long enough to put on a bandaid, I'm obviously not in that category." He tilted his chin toward whatever he had tossed on the table. "I don't need one of those any more than I need the human version of one."

Mac stalked off down the hall toward the elevator.

Riley's eyes widened and she looked at Matty and Jack for some explanation. "What's up with him?"

Jack looked slightly defeated at having misread his partner so badly. "If I had to guess, I'd put my money on whatever went down with him and Nikki the other night."

Matty picked up another abandoned MacGyverism off the table. She raised her eyebrows at Jack, "You sure it's just Nikki's influence, Brother Bear?"

Jack took the tiny sculpture when she held it out to him and held it up, squinting in an expression that looked like real pain.

It was a crutch.