"Yeah, this was a great idea, guys," Mac's voice dripped sarcasm as they edged along the high wall of the prison, looking for a place to drop into the yard.

"You had your chance to MacGyver it up," Milton whispered with some amusement. Whether Mac knew it or not, Jack wasn't the only one at Phoenix to use his name as a verb.

Jack glanced over his shoulder and decided Mac's eyes were too big and the boy was about a whisker away from being distracted by his fear. Good natured teasing usually helped keep Mac in the moment so he whispered, "He's just touchy 'cause we're up on this wall and there's basically nowhere to look but down. He don't care much for heights."

"Shut up, Jack," Mac hissed. The last thing he needed was for another team member to tease him about that. What he didn't realize was that Jack's plan had worked perfectly because he'd stopped being afraid since he was too busy being irritated with Jack.

Instead of the ribbing Mac was expecting from their new teammate, Milton let out what passed for a low whistle. "You're afraid of heights and you're up here running around with us spec ops nut-jobs like it's a stroll in the park. Damn, son."

Jack cut off their conversation with a sharp gesture, motioning for them to drop down, and all three of them flattened themselves on the narrow ledge to avoid being seen by a guard who was out for a cigarette. After only a couple of minutes, someone inside the building called out to him and the man carefully pinched out the cigarette and put it in his pocket. When he stepped back in the lighted doorway and closed the door behind him darkening the yard again, Mac was the first one back on his feet. "Let's get over to that corner there." He pointed as the other men rose. "That should be out of the line of sight of that doorway when we come down."

Jack glanced over his shoulder at Mac. "What's goin' on in that ginormous brain of yours, Mac?"

Mac actually grinned. "I'm about to MacGyver up this plan."

0-0-0

Things had gone swimmingly knocking out the cigarette smoking guard, stealing his uniform, getting Milton suited up in it, and having him go in to clear the way to the holding area, with an artfully pick pocketed set of keys. Mac had snuck into a hallway and lifted them off a guard so smoothly, so silently, that Jack asked if that's what he'd been kicked out of the Boy Scouts for. There had been a small hitch when they couldn't find Nikolai's name on any of the paperwork at the empty guard station. Then Milton had swept the entire area, playing his part of sleepy surly guard perfectly. He got eyes on Alexei Sokolov, but there was no sign of his brother anywhere. Hiding in a dark alcove, the small team discussed their options. There weren't many attractive ones.

"Maybe Alexei knows where he is," Jack offered, but he looked uncertain.

"Maybe," Milton agreed uncertainly. "But I doubt he's in any condition to tell us."

Mac glared at him. "What the hell does that mean?"

"He's passed out on a filthy cot. He looked sweaty, but he was shivering, talking in his sleep. Not doing too hot from what I could see."

Mac puffed out an annoyed frustrated breath. "And you were gonna mention this when exactly?"

"I don't know. It didn't seem all that important until I realized he might be our only source of actionable intel about your other friend."

"Damn. Okay. I need a minute to rethink things. If he can't get out of here under his own power …"

Milton frowned, wishing he'd said something sooner. He didn't do great with the 'people' part of missions. He was more of a 'shoot your way out' kind of guy. But he was also a 'blend in with the crowd' kind of guy, a skill that Mac struggled with and Jack was flat out terrible at. And he still had the uniform on. "Alright. You guys are gonna hate this, but you head back out the way we came and go over the wall." Jack was about to interrupt. The man hated anyone else taking the lead on tactical, but this was the only fast solution that made any sense, so Milton went on, "Doing recon I saw them taking guys they've gone a little too far roughing up to a shitty little clinic up the road. I'll just throw the kid over my shoulder and if anyone tries to stop me I'll tell 'em he got lippy and I think I cracked his skull. These assholes want the guys in here alive so they can suffer."

The same disgust at the idea of treating people this way that Mac had been feeling since he learned of the mission was stamped clearly across his features. "And if that doesn't work?"

He glanced at Jack. "Then I'll give you guys some sorta signal and ole Dalton'll come rescue us, guns ablazin', Texas style."

Jack liked the sound of that, because the idea of putting a round in any of the guys who'd been beating on young Alexei enough to have him delirious in a cell was damned attractive. He could, however, tell what Mac was thinking. "Well, Todd, it would be my genuine pleasure to bust a cap into any guard in this place, but let's try not to sound any alarms since that might be not so bueno for our friend Kolya, wherever he is."

He gave them both a curt nod. "I'll do my best. We'll rendezvous in the alley with the car. Make sure it starts before I get there with the kid, okay?"

Mac nodded. The ancient Azlk was fiddly at best and Mac had spent a fair amount of time hammering on it and swearing at it all morning. "We'll be ready." In an uncharacteristic gesture for someone who was new to him, Mac reached out and patted the man's shoulder. "Be careful, man."

0-0-0

Other than a moment of stubborn frozen feet before rappelling back down the wall of the prison on the outside, during which Jack heard the frustrated whisper, "Get it together Angus," and several maddening minutes with the car refusing to start, things went reasonably well. Milton had taken so long that they were starting to expect a 'guns ablazin'' signal when he strode into the alley, carrying the thin body of Alexei Sokolov like a sack of potatoes. As they approached the car both Mac and Jack could see that the boy was conscious, but he wasn't struggling at all. Jack saw a protective look on Mac he didn't think he'd ever seen before. Well, if he was honest, he'd seen the look a lot; in the mirror. Jack knew it was the look he wore whenever he was really worried about MacGyver. Mac opened the door and helped Todd ease the kid into the back seat and then he climbed in beside him.

Jack climbed in to the driver's seat and turned on the dim dome light for a moment so Mac could see if the kid had any injuries that needed attention before they moved. Suddenly the boy's slack face lit up with wide-eyed recognition. "Mac!"

Mac put his hand on the kid's arm. "Yeah, Lex."

"You have to help Kolya, Mac," he panted. "They're going to kill him."

"Where is …" Mac stopped. The boy's eyes had rolled back in his head and he passed out. Mac tapped the back of Jack's seat. "Go. Let's get him back to the house so Rodgers can have a look at him. We don't have much chance of helping Kolya without him."