"So, beers by the fire pit?" Jack asked as they walked out of the war room.
"Um, not tonight," Mac replied. "I'm kinda tired. Just want to go home and crash, you know?"
Jack eyed the blond for a moment.
"Yea see, I'd believe that hoss," he drawled. "Only you slept on the jet. Look at me."
Mac turned and raised an eyebrow at Jack, only he couldn't quite meet the other's eyes.
Jack sighed.
"You're not going home to run another search on Nikki, are you?" he asked.
"No," Mac replied emphatically. "Definitely not."
"Good," Jack replied. Then a few beats later turned back to Mac.
"You aren't going back to her apartment, are you? Tell me you aren't going to Nikki's apartment, Mac."
Mac sighed and spun to look at Jack.
"No," he said. "I am not going to run a search on my traitor of an ex and I am not going to search though her apartment either. Seriously Jack."
Jack held up his hands.
"You can't blame me for asking," he said defensively. "You have been caught doing both of those things in the past. And you're being awful cagey about what you're actually going home to do."
Mac tucked his hands into his jacket pocket and sighed once more.
"Mac..." Jack said hesitantly.
"Okay, okay." Mac knew when to admit defeat, sometimes. "I've got a date, alright."
Jack cheered.
"Look at you. Gettin' back out there and having a date. Good on ya, man."
Mac checked his watch.
"Look, beers and pizza tomorrow?" he asked. "But right now, I gotta go. I don't want to be late again."
"Sounds good, brother," Jack agreed and slapped him on the back. "Wait, what do you mean again?"
Mac neatly side stepped Jack, turning to face Jack as he walked down the hall away from him.
"Uh, this might be a second date?" he mentioned.
Then Mac turned and ran down the corridor, both to ignore any follow up questions that Jack had and because he was genuinely worried that he'd be late for the second time.

I sat at a table in the little cafe area in front of the mini golf greens, reading something off my phone as I waited for my date. Thankfully this was our second date so I wasn't worried about being stood up, but considering that he had been ten minutes late to our first date, I didn't have high hopes for him to be on time today either.
However, the door opens and I looked up and, just as the clock ticked over to 6pm, Angus MacGyver walked though. I raised a hand to get his attention and he visibly relaxed when he saw me and walked quickly over.
"Sorry I'm late, again," he apologised as he took a seat opposite me.
"Perfectly on time actually," I smiled, flashing my phone screen at him.
"Still sorry," he said. "I don't have any flowers or anything for you. I really would have been late if I had stopped." He grimaced.
I waved him off.
"We're about to go play mini golf," I reminded him. "Where would I put the flowers? I'm awful at mini golf without that sort of handicap."
Mac snorted.
"Why did you pick this if you aren't any good at it?" he asked.
I shrugged.
"Seems like fun. And we'll both get a laugh out of my total uncoordination."
"I am a bit competitive," Mac mentioned.
I tried not to let it show on my face, but that was a worrying comment. A competitive man could be good, or he could be like that in every aspect of his life which was a total no go.
"Don't worry, I do know how to lose as well," he laughed.
"Do you read minds too?" I asked with a smirk.
"Nah," Mac replied. "But I've seen that look on people's faces before. Being the youngest and smartest in the room means you learn to read expressions."
I pushed my chair back and stood.
"Shall we then?" I tipped my head toward where the mini golf greens were.
"By all means," Mac agreed. "But considering I didn't get you anything, let me pay?"
"You really don't have to," I started to argue.
Mac raised an eyebrow and quirked his lips.
"But if you insist," I finished with a shake of my head.
"Jack would never let me hear the end of it otherwise," Mac laughed. "Not that I tell him everything or anything like that."
"He's the workmate and close friend. Your overwatch, right?" I asked.
"Yea," Mac agreed.
"Understandable that you'd mention this then," I smiled. "Don't worry. I get it."

The date part of the mini golf was wonderful. Mac wasn't overly competitive and was more than willing to help me try to improve my abilities by giving me the occasional pointer and, when that failed to help in the slightest, physically guiding me. We also had more than one laugh at the completely ridiculous themes for some of the greens.
The actual mini gold part of the date was also as expected. I showed off my utter lack of coordination and Mac got a hole in one on pretty much every green.
"How are you doing so well?" I asked. "I didn't take you for a jock."
"Definitely not a jock," he replied, turning back to me. "I mean, I do go for a run often but in school..." He trailed off.
"I was moved up a grade or two. I was the class nerd who could do calculus in my head and knew more than the chemistry teacher."
He shrugged.
"Okay, first of all. That makes me think your high school experience wasn't the greatest," I commented as I tried to time the spinning blades of the mini windmill.
"It wasn't so bad," Mac replied. "I had Bozer."
I nodded. "He's your house mate, yea?"
Mac made a noise of affirmation.
"But the second thing," I hit the ball and watched as it in turn hit the spinning blade. "Damn. Are you telling me that you're doing the trigonometry and physics for each green in your head?"
Mac ran a hand through his hair and blushed slightly.
"Yes?"
I walked back to where he was standing.
"That's actually pretty cool," I told him. "I'm a biologist more than a chemist or physicist. But I had to take freshman physics and man, that sucked. I am in awe of anyone who can even understand it, let alone the fact you do it in your head."
"I got a C in biology," Mac responded. "So I don't think I'd ever understand your job either."
"I've got half my textbooks at home still," I laughed. "If you wanted to take a look."
It turned out that this was the last hole. We wandered towards the desk and handed the clubs back over.
"You know," Mac said. "I might just take you up on that offer."
"Anytime," I laughed. "But you might have to come over and get them."
I winked at him.

We had only really planned the playing mini golf part of the date, but I wasn't keen on the night ending so soon and I could tell that Mac felt the same.
"Did you want to maybe get dinner?" I asked him.
His face lit up.
"I really would," he agreed. "Why don't you pick somewhere and I'll follow in my car."
Mac shrugged self-consciously.
"I don't want to make you feel trapped if I drove, or make you come back here later in the night to drop me off."
I bit my lip as I was thinking, and I noticed his eyes follow the movement. Oh, interesting.
"There's a diner just down the road," I told him and gave him the address.
"I know that place," he agreed. "I drive past it on the way to Jack's."
We had reached where my car was parked.
"I'll see you in a few," I said.
I walked to the driver's side of my car but Mac beat me to it, and opened the door for me to walk in.
"I'll be right behind you," he agreed and shut the door once I was settled behind the wheel.

It was a classic American diner, vinyl seats and Formica tables and laminated menus filled with milkshakes and burgers.
"Oh, I'm sorry," I said once we'd been seated at a table.
"What for?" Mac asked in confusion.
"I never asked you how your work trip went," I told him.
"Ah," Mac paused and I could see his fingers twitching. I had noticed that he didn't stay still and usually it was his fingers that twitched and reached for something.
"The trip was alright," he said after a moment. "Even after everything I saw I'm still shocked when I see the conditions that some people have no choice but to live in."
Mac walked quietly around the side of a shipping container. Jack was on the other side and would meet him at the front. When they reached the heavy doors they found it locked with a heavy padlock.
"Can't snap that one, hoss," Jack said quietly.
"Snap, no," Mac said. He held a hand out to Jack.
"What?"
"I know you have a paperclip hidden somewhere. Gimme," Mac hissed, hand still out.
Jack grumbled but handed one over.
"Are you seriously going to pick that lock?"
"Yea? Why not?" Mac asked.
He crouched down and started working at the lock while Jack, as usual, watched Mac's back. When the door eventually swung open it took them a few seconds for their eyes to adjust to the gloom. But once they did, the first thing they saw were thin mattresses and filthy moth eaten blankets. It was only once they stepped in and the beam of Jack's torch swept through the dark that they saw the girls huddled in the far corner of the container.
They were half starved and covered in dirt and their own sweat, shaking in fear with wide scared eyes.
"Shit..." Jack whispered.
"You do good work with the Think Tank," I said, smiling at him.
Mac shook his head, blond hair falling across his eyes. He had to blink a couple of times before the far away look in his eyes faded.
"Thanks," he said, voice barely above a whisper.
"Do you," he coughed and cleared his throat. "Do you want to order now?"
"Yea. I think I've decided. Though I may change my mind three times between standing up and actually ordering," I laughed.

We talked some more, mostly getting to know each other sorts of things, before the meals came. And then we started swapping high school, college, and in Mac's case, army stories. It was a good thing that the diner was open 24 hours because it was well into the night and we were still sitting there talking and nursing hot chocolates and dessert.
Mac stood and excused himself, and as he walked towards the rest room I noticed that he was dragging his feet. Not much, but he was noticeably fatigued compared to earlier when we were playing mini golf. I got lost in my own thoughts until Mac sat back down in front of me.
"They're probably going to kick us out soon," Mac mentioned.
"Nah," I shook my head. "24 hour diner."
"We should head home soon though," I told him, fiddling with a sugar packet. "It's not that I'm not enjoying the date. But you look beat."
"I've run on far less sleep," he said wryly.
"You weren't quite stumbling before, but you're slower," I replied. "And no offense, but even with that brain of yours, you're starting to struggle to follow the conversation."
"I know it's getting late," Mac said with a sigh. "But I don't want this to end."
"There's nothing to say we can't meet up again," I told him. "In fact, there's nothing I'd like more."
He looked at me shyly and I smiled right back.
There was something in Mac's eyes, like the gears were turning and he was thinking something over in great detail.
"Look, tell me if this is too forward but," he leant towards me a little, leaning his arm on the table. "But, what I saw has kinda stuck with me. I can't get it out of my head and Bozer's out of town for some workshop..."
"Are you inviting me home, MacGyver?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
"I don't want to be alone with everything that's on my mind," he replied. "The spare room is all yours. But please, stay with me tonight."
"There is so much wrong going on," I agreed. "And you know, there's no reason to add to it."
"You'll follow me?" Mac asked.
"Nah," I smiled. "My car will be fine here. I want to see the inside of that Shelby you pulled up in."
"It's not mine," he admitted. "Though I do occasionally do some work on it."
Mac stood and I followed suit.
"So, what do you say we leave this place?" he asked.
"Lead the way, darling."

A short while later we pulled up outside Mac's house. It was larger than I expected and I wondered how he was able to afford it on a Think Tank wage. Even if he had an additional army pension, the house was large and in the hills.
"It was my grandfather's," Mac said as we walked to the front door. "He left everything to me when he died, including the house which was already paid off."
"Wow," I murmured. "I know it's bad taste to say you're lucky. But this was one hell of a place to be left in LA."
"Yea."
The door swung open and Mac walked in first.
"Welcome to my home," he said. "I'll show you around and, oh."
"What?" I asked, starting to think that maybe he had changed his mind.
"You don't have anything to sleep in or clean clothes or anything."
Well, if that was all that it was.
"Don't worry. I have a change of clothes in my car if I don't have time to get home before work tomorrow," I explained. "And as for something to sleep in."
I winked. "Maybe you could lend me something of yours."
Even in the dim light I could see that Mac had blushed.
"Right," he said and cleared his throat.. "Right, I can definitely do that."

We did spend another couple of hours sitting on the couch, talking until neither of us were able to keep our eyes open for longer than a few seconds.
"I think the spare bed's made up," Mac said, pulling himself to his feet tiredly.
"Don't bother," I mumbled. "I trust you. I'm sure your bed's big enough for two."
"If you're sure," he sad hesitantly.
"Don't go getting cold feet on me now, Mac," I smiled.

And if I was a few minutes late to work the next morning, no one commented. But there was definitely a new name added to my emergency contacts.