The road in had been about what everyone had expected, but they had managed to avoid border patrols and both government and insurgent encampments. The small house they were using as a staging area was drafty and dingy, contributing to their tension. Riley was at the small dirty table trying to hack her way into the local government's server to see if she could verify that the Sokolov brothers were in the nearby camp. Jack was, predictably, looking at their tactical gear, checking loads and back-up clips, making sure the comms were all in working order, and mumbling to himself about the last time he'd been in country. Steve, the medic Matty had sent along, was checking his gear as well, and glancing at the door every so often, and then at his watch, starting to be concerned that their recon guy, who he had worked with quite a bit, hadn't made it back yet. There was little else to do. The core team didn't talk to him much. He didn't think it was on purpose, but they clearly didn't have a lot of experience having actual backup. Matty Webber had gotten a lot more flexible since first assuming command of operations at Phoenix, and everyone knew Mac and Jack had a lot to do with that, but one thing that hadn't changed was her commitment to not having her agents taking unnecessary risks or going anywhere unsupported.

Mac, who was clearly still not used to having anyone but Dalton around, was pacing. Now that they were here he just wanted to go in and get the Sokolovs. The plan was to take them to a neutral point where a Russian associate would get them back home to Moscow, but Mac hadn't thought that far ahead; he was just concerned with their freedom. Alexei was only nineteen. He was just a kid. Mac stopped himself; he was starting to sound like Jack. He'd have to watch his step. While Mac had certainly considered himself a full-fledged adult at that age; he'd been younger than that when he'd become a soldier. And he wasn't so very much older when he'd been taken prisoner in the mountains of Afghanistan, certain he was going to die there. If it hadn't been for Jack and the rest of the Delta team he would have. No matter how smart, or capable, or inventive you were, if someone starved you, beat you, tortured you, and then tied you up and threw you in a hole, whatever they wanted to happen to you would. If Mac could stop either of the brothers from knowing that helpless feeling, he was going to.

He stopped wearing a groove in the dirt floor when Riley sighed in frustration. "What's up, Ri?"

She glanced around at the rest of the team, all of whom now had eyes on her. "I can't figure out what kind of encryption key they're using. It keeps looking like I get in, but then there's nothing there. I need …"

The soft triple tap on the door made everyone flinch just a little, even though they had been expecting it. A key hit the lock and the tall dark haired thirty-something slipped in. He could easily pass for a local and had spent the last several hours doing just that. He took in the frustrated expression on Riley's face and grinned, his teeth very white against the dark beard he kept for the very purpose of appearing native in places like this. "Server problems?"

She frowned. "Yeah. It looks like I'm in, but …"

"There's nothing there. That's because there's not. Nothing important anyway. Their systems are so outdated, I bet even Dalton could figure them out."

Jack smirked at the younger man. "Very funny, Milton."

He sat down at the table across from Riley. "I'm hilarious. I also happen to be the big damned hero of the day."

Rodgers, the medic, rolled his eyes. "Todd, I've known you long enough to appreciate your flare for a dramatic reveal, but all you're doing is pissing these guys off."

They were kind of staring daggers at him so he just decided for an info dump instead of telling them the whole story. He guessed maybe his sense of humor was an acquired taste. "The old jail they're using is falling apart. No modern security I could see. Appears to be about twenty prisoners, six to ten guards. I couldn't get a full count on either. The guards all looked the damned same and some prisoners aren't allowed out in the yard."

Mac was frowning down at the agent. He was not used to intel coming in this easily, and he'd gotten somewhat used to Riley being their source. It had been so long since tech didn't really factor in he couldn't even remember accurately what that was like. Now he had a moment where he was sorry she was with them since even the simplest mission could be dangerous. "You've only been gone a couple of hours. How'd you get all that so quick?"

Milton shrugged. "I blended in with a group and went right into the prison." Mac's head tilted in a silent question. "They let guys in to throw rocks and stuff at the prisoners from behind a chain link fence every day from what I heard today."

Mac leaned against the nearest wall, jamming his hands in his pockets. "Jesus," he murmured in disgust. Then, "Did you get eyes on our objectives?"

The agent nodded. "The kid I did. He looks like hell. Just leaned against the wall like he could barely stand. Most of the guys were at least trying to get out of the way. I made sure not to hit anybody, by the way, so you can stop looking at me like that," he finished a little defensively.

Jack swallowed hard. He did not like the faraway look on Mac's face one bit; it went right past angry and straight on to horrified and maybe a little sick. Jack was, for his own part, ready to spit fire. "What about the brother?"

"I didn't see him, but I got pretty decent confirmation that he's there. One of the guards threatened to beat on the kid's brother some more if he didn't move off the wall."

Riley's hand was over her mouth and she was just shaking her head. Mac, Jack was happy to see, was back to looking angry. He looked at Jack. "How do you want to do this?"

Jack got up from where he'd been checking their gear on the floor. "Why don't you let Milton and I talk tactical for a few. You and Ri maybe get something to eat." Both of the young people shook their heads. Eating was the least appealing idea in the world after what they had just heard.

Rodgers suggested, "If they want the brains of this operation otherwise occupied, why don't you guys help me clean up the back bedroom a little. I'm pretty sure those guys are going to need my services before we move to exfil, or we won't get very far by the sounds of it, and the room is disgusting."

Riley and Mac somewhat reluctantly followed him into the narrow hallway and Jack called after him. "Don't be gone too long. This isn't going to be a complicated plan. We'll need you to hurry back so you can MacGyver it up a little."

Mac shook his head. "Stop using my name as a verb, Jack. It's weird."