A/N: This chapter is a bit longer, but I hope it's worth it!

Second Chances

It was a late-January morning when a non-descript beige sedan pulled into MacGyver's driveway. Since Sam had been on assignment during the holidays and was going to be on a month-long mission in a few weeks, his editor had agreed to give him an extended leave to go back to the States provided he return with an editorial on Small-Town Americana. Wanting to surprise his dad, he had rented a car at the airport. Hopefully, Mac would agree with his plan to spend a few days at Harry's cabin in Minnesota where he could research and write an article on Mission City.

Sam quickly made his way to the front door and rang the bell. When there was no answer, he rapped on the glass, calling his dad's name. Still, there was no reply. Even Frog wasn't barking. The young man eyed the deadbolt lock and chewed his lower lip thoughtfully. He had promised MacGyver he would stop picking locks, but what if his dad was inside and sick or hurt? Just as he was reaching into his pocket for his Swiss Army knife, he heard his dad's landlord open the door on his side of the townhouse.

"What's with all the racket at this time of the day?!" he scolded.

"Hi, Mr. Rainey," Sam replied sheepishly. "It's me, Sam Malloy, MacGyver's son."

"Well, of course it is! I recognize you now! And call me Charlie like everyone else."

"Thanks, Charlie," Sam smiled. "Do you know if my dad's home? He's not expecting me and I was hoping to catch him before he left for work."

The older man shook his head slowly. "Your dad bugged outta here late Christmas night. The next morning that girlfriend of his came and packed up the dog and left. Said Mac was going to Los Angeles. A friend of his had been in an accident. Haven't seen or heard from either of 'em since."

"Oh," Sam responded both concerned and perplexed. "Sorry to have bothered you."

"Think nothing of it! And don't be a stranger now, ya hear?!"

A short while later Sam was standing in front of the reception desk at the law firm where Jo and his dad worked.

"May I help you?" the young, sweet-looking receptionist asked.

"I'm looking for Joanna Fairfax."

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No, but I'm a friend of the family," Sam replied, flashing her his winningest smile.

The young woman blushed. "Her door is the third one on the left," she told him, motioning down a long hallway.

"Thanks," he said with a parting wink.

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Joanna was sitting on the corner of her desk with Mike standing next to her. They were both laughing about a couple they had just met with who wanted a divorce after the husband lost a football bet to his wife when Jo glanced up to see Sam standing in the doorway.

"Sam!" she exclaimed, sliding off the desk and smoothing her skirt. "What in the world are you doing here?!"

"Who's he?" the young man asked, ignoring her question.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Sam Malloy, this is Mike Harlow, a co-worker. Mike, this is MacGyver's son, Sam."

"Nice to meet you," Mike said, offering his hand which Sam ignored. He then turned to Joanna. "We still on for lunch later?"

"Yeah, sure," she responded absently, her attention fixed on Mac's son.

Mike took the hint and silently left the office.

"What's going on with you two?!" Sam demanded, walking up to Jo's desk.

"We're just friends," she replied defiantly.

"Yeah? That's what you always said about my dad!"

"It's not like that." Joanna willed herself to breathe deep and speak calmly. "Mike and I really are just friends. I promise."

Sam's posture relaxed, but he didn't look convinced.

"I went by my dad's place earlier. Charlie said he's in Los Angeles. What's going on?"

Joanna motioned to a chair across from her. "Have a seat Sam," she said as she settled into her own chair. "Your dad got a call from Jack Dalton's mom on Christmas night. Jack had crashed his plane and it didn't look good. Mac couldn't get a flight so he drove out."

Sam's gaze fell to the floor. "How's Jack?"

"He's doing fine. He has some broken bones but he's recovering. In the mean time, your dad is helping out with Jack's air charter business and also helping Cynthia at Challengers."

"When's he coming home?"

Now it was Joanna's eyes that lowered. "I don't know," she replied softly.

"When was the last time you talked with him?"

"It's been a few days. I'm sorry, Sam. Mac isn't telling me much these days."

"Is it because of the jersey?"

"Huh?"

"Dad did give you a hockey jersey for Christmas, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"What did you say?" Sam sounded nervous. Almost like his dad when he first presented her with the gift.

"Nothing," she shrugged. "His cell phone rang before I could even thank him."

"So he didn't ask you about the name?"

"He tried, but Francine called."

Sam let out a pent up sigh and ran his hand down his face.

"Look, Sam, what's the big deal about what name goes on it, anyway? It's not like I have a favorite player or anything."

"Do you have a number where I can reach my dad?" he asked, ignoring her question.

"Sure." Joanna scribbled the number to Jack's office on the back of one of her business cards. "Will you be staying at Mac's place?"

"Yeah, if I can pick the lock."

Joanna grinned for the first time since seeing Sam. She rummaged in her purse and pulled out a keychain.

"Here. You're dad gave it to me. I don't think I'll be needing it anymore," she said, dropping the key into the palm of his hand.

Sam studied her face and then the key. "What's going on between you two?"

"Ask your father," she replied shortly before turning her attention to her files.

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MacGyver was scheduled to fly three CEO's to Vegas in thirty minutes. He had just completed his pre-flight check list when the office phone rang. He was tempted to let the machine get it until he remembered that Jack's answering machine was broken. Something else he had to fix. He jogged from the tarmac and answered the phone with a slightly breathless "Hello".

"You didn't ask her, did you!?" a voice on the other scolded.

"Huh?"

"Joanna. You didn't ask her to marry you like you planned. You chickened out…again!"

"Sam? Where are you?"

"I'm in Milwaukee. I wanted to surprise you with a visit before I have to leave for my next assignment. I saw Jo."

MacGyver sighed and ran his hand through his already tousled hair.

"I tried, Sam. I really did. But then Francine called…"

"Save it, Dad. Are you telling me you couldn't have stayed a few extra minutes to propose? Or did you take advantage of the call to make an escape?"

"Look, I had to get to Jack. He's my friend, and when you make a friend…"

"You take on a responsibility. I know that, Dad! But what about Joanna? I thought she was a lot more than a friend and a helluva lot more than just a responsibility to you!"

"She is, but—" the line was already dead and MacGyver slammed down the phone in frustration.

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Sam paced the apartment, seething with anger. He had come back to the States planning on celebrating their engagement, but he returned to find them further apart than ever, both physically and emotionally. It was obvious to Sam that Jo and his dad loved each other and belonged together, but something always got in the way. He stopped pacing and stared out the patio door. Maybe they just needed a little bit of help.

"Hello!" MacGyver barked into the phone.

"Dad, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things to you."

"You're right. You shouldn't have," Mac replied evenly, but Sam could hear the smile in his voice. "The thing is, you have a point. I really blew it this time, didn't I?"

"Maybe," Sam shrugged his shoulders even though his dad couldn't see him. "Tell you what. How about you meet me up at Harry's cabin this weekend? We could spend some quality time together while I write a piece on Mission City for my editor.

There was silence at first, then Sam heard papers being shuffled and finally MacGyver's voice.

"Looks like I don't have any charters so I can fly in. Meet you there Saturday morning?"

"I'll be there!" Sam answered with a very satisfied grin.

One down, one to go.

Sam knocked on Joanna's office door the following day. When he opened it he found Mike leaning over her shoulder, studying something on her computer. Sam frowned and Joanna looked up, surprise registered on her face.

"Sam! I wasn't expecting you."

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked while keeping a wary eye on Mike.

"No," she replied a bit too quickly. "We were just going over some reports."

Sam would have preferred to talk to Jo alone, but Mike did not look like he was inclined to leave any time soon.

"I'm going up to Mission City this weekend and wondered if you'd like to come along. Kinda get out of your head for a while, ya know?"

"I don't know…" she hedged.

"We'll head out Friday morning. Make a three-day weekend out of it. What do you say?"

He could practically see the gears in her head turning, just like Dad when he was thinking. Maybe that was it! Maybe both of them just thought too much!

"You should go," Mike urged her, to Sam's surprise. "You've been putting in a lot of overtime and you have vacation days coming."

"I was planning on staying at Harry's cabin, but you could get a motel room if you prefer," Sam added quickly before Jo could protest.

"No, I like Harry's cabin. And you're right, it might be good to get away for a couple days."

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What had she been thinking?! For the past few weeks she had worked so hard to get MacGyver and the chance of a future with him out of her head and here she was, planning to spend the weekend with his son at his grandfather's cabin. The same cabin they had once shared.

It was mid-afternoon by the time Sam maneuvered his rental car up the narrow drive that led to the cabin.

"You okay?" he asked as he put the vehicle in park, concern evident in his eyes.

"Yeah, sure," Joanna replied shortly as she climbed from the passenger seat.

Sam led the way and unlocked the door. He stepped inside and flipped a switch bathing the one large room in warm lamplight.

"Looks like Neil came through for us," he observed. "I called ahead and asked him to get the utilities turned on."

Joanna had met Neil, Mac's childhood friend, when she had been up here before. She walked around the room to get her bearings. Not only had Neil taken care of the electricity, but he had laid in a supply of wood for the fireplace, stocked the cupboards, and flushed the pipes as well.

Sam retrieved their bags from the car and started a fire while Joanna put together a simple supper. A little while later she emerged from the bathroom after taking a long hot shower to find that it had started to snow. Large, fluffy flakes floated down from the sky. Clad in flannel lounge pants and a sweatshirt, Joanna slipped into the double bed and willed her muscles to relax and her mind to stop thinking. She fell asleep listening to the steady rhythm of Sam's snoring coming from where he dozed on the couch in front of the television.

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MacGyver's rented SUV bumped along the snow-covered road Saturday morning. Thankfully, the storm had stayed far enough north allowing him to land in Minneapolis without a problem. He soon saw smoke rising from the chimney and a large white bump that had to be his son's car. It felt good to be back, away from the city and the demands of Jack's fledgling business and Challengers.

Mac had just walked through the door and greeted Sam when Joanna emerged from the bathroom wearing jeans and a sweater. She was the last person MacGyver expected to see here. Apparently, she felt the same way about him as their gazes locked and he saw anger spark in her deep brown eyes before being replaced with…sadness?

As if by unspoken agreement, they both turned on the younger man simultaneously.

"Sam!" they exclaimed in unison.

"Now listen," Sam replied firmly. "You two need to talk. I mean really talk and work through whatever's going on between you. I'm gonna go get more wood for the fireplace." He then slipped out the door into the snow.

MacGyver sat down at the kitchen table while Joanna walked over to the sink.

"Breakfast?" she asked politely.

"No thanks, I grabbed something on the way up here. But feel free to go ahead."

"I'm not hungry," she replied softly before filling a glass with tap water and taking a seat across from him.

"So, how did my charming son convince you to come up here?"

"You first," she challenged.

"He played the 'let's have some father/son quality time' card."

"You mean he didn't tell you about Mike?"

Mac's pulse jumped. "Mike? Mike who?"

"Mike Harlow, from work. Since you're not there Hernandez teamed us up. Sam saw us together a couple times and I believe he's jealous on your behalf."

"Should he be?"

"Absolutely not! You know Mike's a good guy. We're work friends, that's it," Jo explained.

"Yeah, I know," Mac replied. "Now it's your turn."

"Sam, with a little help from Mike, convinced me I've been working too hard and needed some time off and, to be honest, a weekend in the woods away from everyone and everything didn't sound so bad."

"Until I showed up, right?" MacGyver figured it was time to come clean.

"When I gave you that jersey, before Francine called, I was trying to propose to you."

The corners of Joanna's mouth tugged upward. "I kinda figured that out."

"You did?"

"Yeah," Jo confessed. "After you, and then Sam, made such a big deal out of which name I wanted on the back, I figured you were going to ask me if I wanted it to say 'Fairfax'…or 'MacGyver'."

"If we hadn't been interrupted and I had asked you to marry me that night, what would you have said?"

"I would've said 'yes'."

"And if I asked you to marry me now?"

Joanna's eyes fell to the untouched drinking glass on the table and she shook her head slowly. "I don't know."

Mac's stomach clenched at her answer, but if he were honest with himself, he wasn't sure he even wanted to propose again.

The uneasy silence that had fallen between them was shattered by the rev of an engine and the whir of tires. MacGyver lunged for the door, Joanna right behind him, in time to see Sam barreling down the snowy drive in Mac's SUV.

"He's probably just anxious to get into town and start his story," Mac said casually, trying to hide his concern at his son's hasty departure.

"I don't think so," Joanna replied ominously.

MacGyver turned in time to see her grab a note that had been tacked to the door.

"It just says, 'See ya Sunday'." She offered the note to Mac.

MacGyver crumpled the piece of paper in his hand.

"He's not gonna get away with this!"

"Get away with what?" Joanna asked, truly dumbfounded.

"All but kidnapping and abandoning us in the hopes that we'll get back together!"

Mac stormed back into the cabin. "Get your boots on," he commanded Jo. "We're leaving!"

A short while later, Mac slid behind the wheel of Sam's rented sedan, now free of snow, and reached under the dash to pull down some wires. Joanna sat silently next to him. Hotwiring a car came naturally to him, but today he seemed to be all thumbs and, when the stripped wires made contact with each other, the engine wouldn't fire. Biting back a curse he got out and lifted the hood.

"Terrific!"

"What is it?" He hadn't heard Joanna approach.

"The distributer cap. It's gone," he groaned, shoving his hand through this hair.

"Can't you do something?"

"No! I can't just 'do something'!" he snapped causing Jo to flinch. "C'mon," he gentled his voice as he led Joanna back inside the cabin. "I'll call Neil and have him come get us."

"I don't get it," Joanna huffed. "Why can't we just wait for Sam to pick us up tomorrow? Or do you want to get away from me that badly?"

MacGyver dropped his head and blew out a breath. "This has nothing to do with you. I'm just sick and tired of Sam thinking he knows what's best for me and trying to manipulate us!"

Mac grabbed the phone, but silence greet him when he held the receiver to his ear.

"Line's dead," he growled.

"Did you bring you're cell phone?"

"Yeah. I left it in the truck. You?"

"Sorry. It's at home. I wanted to be disconnected, remember?"

"I got an idea," he said as he grabbed Joanna's wrist and made his way behind the cabin to a small storage shed.

After clearing away the snow and prying open the door, MacGyver stepped in and began to rummage around the small, dimly lit space.

"Ever been snowshoeing before?" he asked Joanna.

"No," she answered, trepidation in her voice.

"Well, there's a first time for everything," he stated as he shoved a pair of snowshoes at her.

"You're not seriously suggesting we walk to town!"

"Nope. Just to the main road. Hopefully someone will take pity on us and give us a lift."

Mac continued searching the shed, but found nothing else of value.

"What are you going to do?" Joanna asked in a soft voice. "There's only one pair."

"Go inside, bundle up and strap those on," he instructed. "I'll be right there."

MacGyver entered the cabin, arms loaded with various twigs and branches, to find Joanna bent over and struggling with the snowshoes. She looked up at him in frustration.

"I've never done this before."

"That's okay, I got it," he replied in what he hoped was an easy, relaxed tone.

He made quick work of strapping her feet to the snowshoes.

"Could you grab the duct tape out of my duffle?" he asked as he grabbed a couple of the branches he had found.

"You're going to make your own snowshoes?" Jo asked in disbelief.

"Yep," he replied with a grin.

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MacGyver took another step and his foot sunk even deeper into the fluffy snow. Maybe taking a shortcut through the woods hadn't been the best idea since his homemade snowshoes weren't working out as well as he had envisioned. When last he had checked, Joanna had been awkwardly walking a few yards behind him. They had been on the move for a while now, and Mac figured they were about half way to the road when he heard an oomph and a thump from behind. He turned to find Jo sitting awkwardly in a snow drift.

"What happened?" he asked as he made his way back to her.

"My knee just gave out," she answered calmly. "Here, help me up." She stuck out her hand towards him.

"You should stay down. You might be injured."

Jo shook her head. "I've had problems with my knees since I was in my early teens. I'm fine," she explained as she clamped onto his arm and clamored to her feet.

Unfortunately, the next time she put weight on that leg the knee buckled again. This time, MacGyver was prepared. He caught her around the waist and gently lowered her to the ground.

"We need to get you back to the cabin," he said firmly.

"No. I just need to rest it a minute. You go ahead and track down Sam and I'll walk back to the cabin in a bit."

"Do you honestly think I'm going to leave you alone in the snow with a bum knee?" he asked gruffly as he began to unstrap her snowshoes.

"Apparently not," she mumbled as MacGyver made quick work of ditching his sorry excuse for snowshoes and putting on the real ones Joanna had worn. He then crouched in front of her, his large hands examining her knee through her jean clad legs.

"How am I supposed to walk back when you stole my snowshoes?" she asked, frustration creeping into her voice.

"You're not," Mac replied. "Your knee is already starting to swell. I'm going to have to carry you."

"What?" she squeaked as he reached out, pulled her to her feet, and bent over.

"Climb on my back," he instructed. "We'll do it piggy back."

After several seconds he finally felt Jo put her weight on him.

"Put your arms around my neck," he instructed as he straightened up holding her legs around his waist. She held on so tight he had trouble breathing, but he actually didn't mind.

Once safely inside the cabin, MacGyver lowered Joanna to the floor and watched as she gingerly tested putting weight on her knee.

"Think you can make your way to the bathroom and get out of those wet jeans?" he asked.

"Yeah," she nodded. "It seems to be getting better."

When she stepped out of the bathroom wearing her flannel lounge pants and a sweatshirt, MacGyver helped her over to the couch, raised her leg to rest on the battered coffee table, and placed a plastic baggie full of ice cubes on her knee. He retreated to the kitchen for a couple minutes before returning to the couch with two piping hot bowls of chili.

"I know I'm hungry and I figured you must be too," he said as he handed Jo one of the bowls and sat down beside her.

"You made this?" she asked skeptically.

"Yep. Opened the can all by myself and everything!" he grinned before shoveling a spoonful of chili into his mouth.

Joanna laughed softly before doing the same.

"What happened between us, Mac?" she asked quietly once they were done eating.

MacGyver sighed, leaned forward, and scrubbed his face with his hands.

"I let Jack Dalton get inside my head. That's what happened." He glanced at Jo's questioning gaze before continuing. "He tried to convince me that guys like us are incapable of settling down and the longer I was out there the more I believed it."

"And what do you believe now that you're here?" Her voice was little more than a whisper.

"I believe I need to stop listening to Jack Dalton. I suppose there will always be a part of me that craves freedom and adventure, but there's a bigger part of me that wants to fall in love, put down roots, and have a real home."

Mac looked up and locked on Joanna's eyes. "What about you?"

She shook her head slowly, sadly. "I let myself get caught up in all the ugly divorce stories I heard and I started to apply them to us."

"Like what?"

"Like how we met at work and never really dated. How we enjoy different hobbies and activities. How we've both been independent so long. And how we shut each other out when life gets hard."

MacGyver draped his arm across the back of the couch and began massage Joanna's neck.

"Some of those things aren't necessarily bad," he reasoned. "And we can work through all of them if we love each other enough to try."

Joanna simply sighed as they both turned their attention to the crackling fire that warmed the room.

"Why marriage?" Jo suddenly asked, breaking the silence that had enveloped them.

Mac shrugged. "It just seemed like the next logical step."

"And now?"

MacGyver's silence was her answer.

"That's what I thought," she replied sadly as she carefully rose from the couch and limped her way to the bed.

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MacGyver had turned on an old Western and muted the sound after Joanna went to bed. He was just beginning to doze off when a noise from the other side of the room caught his attention. When he didn't hear it again after several minutes, he figured it was just the winter wind and allowed himself to relax. Just then the noise came again, sounding like something between a moan and a whimper. Joanna!

Mac quickly ran to her bedside and found her lying with her back to him.

"What's wrong, baby? Is it your knee?"

"Cold," came the mumbled reply.

MacGyver quickly looked around the room for an extra blanket and ended up pulling the quilt off his cot and gently placing it over Joanna. Still, he could see her body quaking beneath the covers. He reached over and put his hand on her forehead.

"You don't have a fever," he murmured, "But you're probably coming down with something."

He stood helplessly watching her for several minutes as she shivered and moaned, his mind warring with his heart. When he couldn't stand watching her suffer any longer, he did the only thing he could think of. He lifted the covers and carefully crawled into bed beside her to share his body heat. He draped an arm gently around her waist and was about to pull her to him when she suddenly shimmied against him so that her back pressed against his chest. He gently kissed the top of her head before tucking it to rest beneath his chin, his arm wrapped tightly around her.

Hours later MacGyver was awakened by Joanna's coughing, her entire body shuddering.

"Honey?" she croaked.

"I'm right here, baby," Mac assured her as he held her tight.

Joanna wiggled out of his grasp and into a sitting position.

"No," she said in between coughs. "Do we have any honey?"

"Oh. Um. Let me check," he said as he slipped from the bed.

He grabbed a flashlight and rummaged through the cupboards until he had located a jar of honey and a spoon. Joanna greedily measured out and swallowed the sweet syrup, allowing it to soothe her throat and calm her cough. When the episode passed, she once again burrowed beneath the covers, this time facing MacGyver. He smiled when he felt her warm breath on his cheek and the weight of her hand on his chest.

"Thanks…honey," she murmured sleepily.

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"How are you feeling?" MacGyver asked Joanna later that morning as he handed her a steaming mug of hot chocolate and sat beside her on the sofa.

"Better," she replied after taking a sip of the hot liquid. "My knee is still stiff, but the swelling's gone down, and my cough seems to be gone but my nose is stuffed up."

"This is all my fault," Mac sighed guiltily. "I should have never dragged you out in the snow like that."

"C'mon, Mac," Jo chided. "Since when do you ever make me do anything I don't want to?"

"You got a point," he responded, tapping the tip of her nose with his index finger as she nestled her head against his shoulder. He relished the feelings of protectiveness and peace she stirred in him.

"This is why," he said huskily.

Jo raised her head. "'Why' what?"

"Why I wanted to ask you to marry me."

Joanna quirked her brow and Mac knew further explanation was in order.

"When you asked yesterday, I didn't know what to say. But now I do. I wanted to marry you so that I could always be there to love you, take care of you when you're sick or hurt, but most of all, so that no matter where we go or what we do, you'll always be my home."

The words had barely left MacGyver's mouth before the front door swung open and Sam barged into the room, dropping two packages on the kitchen table before standing in front of the fireplace.

"Man, it's cold out there!" he exclaimed. "So, did you two get everything straightened out?" he asked.

"We're working on it," Mac assured his son as he smiled at Jo. They were on the right track, but their behavior these past few weeks proved they still had some things to work through.

"So no engagement then," the younger man frowned.

"Saaam," MacGyver warned.

"Hey, no rush! But I think you'll like what I have for you."

They made their way to the kitchen table where Sam gave one box to Jo and the other to Mac.

Joanna opened her gift first and laughed. It was the Milwaukee Admirals hockey jersey that MacGyver had tried to propose with at Christmas. On the back, emblazoned where her name should be was the statement: "Mac's Girl" in big, bold letters.

Mac opened his box to find a brand new Calgary Flames jersey. He turned it around to find that it boldly proclaimed him "Jo's Guy".

"Well? What do you think? Do you like 'em?" Sam asked eagerly.

"They're perfect!" the couple replied in unison.