Reunited: Part Two

"Welcome to magical, mystical, Mission City," Jack's voice boomed over the plane's intercom early Saturday afternoon. "The temperature is a balmy…well, not quite balmy…eh, never mind."

MacGyver looked at Joanna and they both chuckled. Even though it was supposedly spring, the temperatures in Northern Minnesota definitely did not reflect the season.

Mac was proud of Jo. If she had been nervous about the flight it certainly hadn't shown. She appeared duly impressed with the big leather captain's chairs and sofas in the customized cabin and even complimented Jack on his smooth take-off and landing. Something MacGyver was sure he would never hear the end of! They rented a car and drove into town.

Police sergeant and long-time friend, Neil Ryder, was the first to cross paths with the trio.

"Mac! If I'd known you were coming I'd have gotten Harry's cabin ready for you!"

"That's okay," Mac assured him. "We rented a couple of hotel rooms since we're only staying overnight. You coming to the reunion?"

Neil frowned. "Can't. Had too many officers call in sick so I'm pulling a double shift today."

"What about Chuck?"

"He's out of town at some outdoorsman convention," the officer informed Mac. That made sense given that Chuck owned a sporting goods store and his busy season was about to begin.

MacGyver, Joanna, and Jack soon arrived at one of the more upscale hotels in the city. The little town was growing daily, it seemed. They had secured connecting rooms. Joanna's boasted a king size bed while the other had two doubles. The guys would share that room. After taking time to freshen up and change into the clothes they had brought for the evening, Mac and Jo exited their rooms at the same time. Mac wore a casual suit with a collarless shirt and Joanna wore a black, knee-length sheath dress with a long-sleeved, emerald green jacket.

"Where's Jack?" Joanna asked, admiring Mac's outfit.

"When I left he was singing show tunes in the shower. I told him we'd meet him in the lobby," Mac replied as he appreciatively regarded Joanna from head to toe.

Fifteen minutes later, Jack sauntered into the gathering area wearing khaki pants, a brown bomber jacket and his well-worn flight cap.

"Does he always wear that?" Jo asked Mac between clenched teeth and a pasted on smile.

"No!" MacGyver quickly defended his friend. "Well, sometimes…usually…yeah, pretty much," he conceded.

XXXXX

Mission City High School was a sprawling, multi-story building which boasted recent additions to accommodate the growing population. The reunion was in full swing in the gymnasium when Joanna entered flanked on either side by Mac and Jack. They stopped at the welcome table. Due to the lack of an RSVP, there were no ready-made name tags for them. The volunteer in charge handed them blank badges and permanent markers for them to scrawl their names and then display on their clothing.

Moving further into the gym, Joanna scanned the large room. A DJ played songs from the late 1960's and early 1970's. A few couples danced, but most chatted in small groups, sipping beverages and nibbling hors de oeuvres. It didn't take long before her companions were recognized by fellow classmates and soon Joanna and Mac became separated from Jack who took advantage of the attention to spin yarns of his various adventures since graduation. Jo appreciated that MacGyver stuck close to her, holding her hand or placing a comforting arm around her waist. Her mind swam as she was bombarded with names and faces she would forget by the end of the night. However, she was pleased to see that Mac had been a popular, well-liked student.

As time passed, Jo became increasingly aware of the curious glances and whispered comments she and Mac garnered as they continued to mingle. 'Mrs. MacGyver', 'wife', and 'husband' could be heard as they walked past various groups. At one point, they were confronted by three giggling, forty-something, bleach blonde women.

"So you're the one who finally captured MacGyver's heart," the most boisterous lady said to Jo.

Shocked. Joanna took a moment to reply. "Oh, we're just—"

"She sure is!" Mac unceremoniously cut her off.

A brief, but polite conversation ensued, and as soon as the women directed their gossipy attention elsewhere Joanna rammed her elbow into Mac's gut.

"What?!" he exclaimed, rubbing the spot she had connected with.

"'She sure is'?!"

"I thought it would just be easier to go along with it," he innocently explained. "We're probably never going to see these people again, so what's the harm?"

Joanna had to admit he had a point as they headed to the buffet table. While Jo gathered finger sandwiches, MacGyver carefully began ladling punch into two plastic cups when someone bumped him from behind, causing the red liquid to slosh over onto his hands. He let out a disgusted groan.

"What happened?" Jo asked even as she observed the punch dripping off his fingers.

"Nothing," he grumbled. "I gotta go wash this off. Be right back."

XXXXX

Frustrated, MacGyver flicked his hands, spraying red droplets into the air as he strode down the long corridor to the men's room, too caught up in his own thoughts to notice the shadowy figure lurking behind him. Not wanting to abandon Joanna to a room full of strangers for too long, he quickly washed his hands and checked his clothes for any damage. Luckily he found no stains. He was headed back to the gymnasium when an unbidden idea began to niggle at the back of his brain. He wondered if the science labs were still where he remembered them and, if so, had they been outfitted with up-to-date equipment. He knew Jo could hold her own socially, and he'd only be gone a few extra minutes.

Before he could change his mind, he proceeded down the hallway he knew so well. He discovered the old, wooden door of the chemistry lab had been replaced by a fireproof metal one with a small window that didn't offer much of a view. He tried the handle. Locked. Making sure he was alone, he pulled out his Swiss Army knife from his interior jacket pocket, quickly chose a tool, and carefully picked the shiny new lock. Once inside, he flicked on the lights as an air of familiarity wrapped around him like a favorite blanket. He had spent a lot of happy and exciting hours in this room and his work here had served him well over the years. Grinning, he allowed himself to walk up and down the rows of heavy lab tables sporting Bunsen burners. Curious, he opened a drawer to reveal the standard issue equipment needed for just about every experiment done. Along the back wall, he noted with satisfaction, was a large glass and metal cabinet that held all sorts of chemicals. Yeah, this had always been one of his favorite rooms.

He was about to turn around and leave when he heard the soft shuffle of rubber-soled shoes and the click of the heavy metal door closing. He looked to find a lanky, balding man about his age dressed in an ill-fitting, powder blue tuxedo with a matching ruffled shirt. It was all he could do to keep from rolling his eyes.

"Ahhh, the infamous MacGyver! At last I have your undivided attention," the unfamiliar man crowed. "So sorry for bumping into you earlier."

"I'm sorry," Mac replied. "Do I know you?"

"You mean you don't remember me?" the man asked as he leveled a handgun at MacGyver's chest.

Mac sucked in a breath at the sight of the gun and automatically raise his hands in surrender. "Um, off course I remember you…Gordon," he said calmly, thankful for the name tag stuck to the man's lapel. "Gordon Grapple. We had a class together."

Gordon nodded eagerly. "Senior Chemistry. I sat three stations behind you."

"Right!" Mac quickly agreed, trying to keep ole Gordy talking and diffuse the situation.

"Do you remember my lab partner?" Gordon asked, his voice low and serious now. "She had quite a crush on you."

Doggone it! This guy was talking about a class they had almost thirty years ago! How was he supposed to remember Gordon's lab partner when he couldn't even remember his own?!

"She had long, blonde hair," MacGyver guessed, hoping his punishment for the wrong answer wouldn't be a bullet to his heart.

"Red," Gordon replied, now looking through MacGyver as if into the past. "Her name was Winnie. Well, Winnifred. But I always called her 'Winnie'. She was so jealous of your Ellen. That's why she dyed her hair. She was always trying to get you to notice her, but you never did!"

Mac thought this was a good thing, but apparently it wasn't as Gordy stepped closer, shoving the barrel of the gun into MacGyver's chest.

"You ignored my Winnie and she ignored me!" he spat. "She was so caught up in you she didn't give me the time of day! I tried everything to get her to notice me. Now, I finally have the chance to get her attention once and for all!"

"Aw, c'mon Gordon, that was a long time ago! We were kids! I'm sure if you saw her again—"

"I did see her. Tonight. And you know what?"

Mac shook his head.

"She was looking at you just like she did when we were in school. But that's all gonna change right here."

Gordon reached behind him with his free hand and pulled out two lengths of rope. He ordered MacGyver to sit on the floor where he bound his wrists behind his back and then fastened Mac's ankles together.

"That should hold you until I get back."

"Where are you going, Gordon?"

"I'm going for Winnie. I'm going to show her how helpless, how useless you are now. Then she'll want me instead!"

XXXXX

Jack Dalton was at the portable bar waiting on his second…no, third…well, maybe fourth…beer when he saw Joanna heading directly toward him, a concerned look on her face.

"I'm worried about Mac," she stated without preamble. "He went to the bathroom to wash punch off his hands, but that was over twenty minutes ago!"

"Mac's a big boy. He probably just met up with some old pals and lost track of time," Jack shrugged.

"Something's wrong!" she protested. "I can feel it! Please go and make sure he's okay."

Jack considered himself a man of many talents, not the least of which was talking unwilling participants into participating in certain ventures, but he had nothing on Joanna's big brown eyes and worried countenance.

"Fine," he sighed, "I'll go check."

Jack made his rather unsteady way to the nearest men's room. He earned some odd looks as he bent down to peek under the stalls looking for Mac's shoes. Not finding his friend, he wandered back out into the corridor. He didn't want to return to Joanna unsuccessful. After all, she was Mac's girl and he really wanted her to think well of him. It didn't take a brain surgeon to determine that Mac probably wondered off to check out the science labs. Or maybe the Ancient History classroom. But that was on the other end of the school. It had to be the science lab. At least the wobbly Jack Dalton hoped so. On his way, he almost collided with a nerdy, nearly-middle-age man dressed in, of all things, a light blue tuxedo. With a grunt as an apology, he continued down the corridor.

The pilot soon found himself standing in front of the heavy metal door of the chem lab. Light was shining through a small window. He stood on tiptoe and peeked in, but the view was quite limited and the knob was locked. He was about to head back to the gym when the sound of breaking glass caught his attention and sobered him up a bit as well. He tried peering through the window again.

"Mac?! Mac, is that you?!"

XXXXX

MacGyver didn't know how long it would take Gordon to find Winnie and convince her to come to the lab, so he had to act fast. First, he had to get out of these ropes. Ole Gordy didn't appear particularly strong, but he sure knew how to tie a good knot. Unsure of where his Swiss Army knife had gotten to, Mac looked around the room, wishing he was in the biology lab instead. A scalpel was just what he needed. His gaze fell upon the locked cabinet that held the chemicals. It was too risky to try and use an acid to eat through the ties without taking his skin with them, but he could use the glass. He scooted over on his butt and used his foot to break the glass. Turning, he tucked his hand up into the arm of his jacket and gingerly reached for a piece of the jagged glass. He had just begun to saw through the ropes that bound his wrists when he thought he heard a muffled voice call his name. Abandoning his bindings for now, he slid across the room and banged on the door with the soles of his feet.

"Mac?!"

"Jack!" he called out thankfully.

"It's locked!" his friend called.

Now sitting, with his back against the door, Mac used it to lever himself into a standing position. He tried the knob from the inside. It was locked, too, which was very strange. Classroom doors always opened from the inside. It was a long-standing safety regulation. He glanced around the room again and was struck with an idea.

"Jack!" he yelled through the heavy door. "Fire extinguisher!"

He closed his eyes and sent up a quick but fervent prayer that Jack would understand and grab one of canisters placed at intervals along the corridor. Seconds ticked by interminably before he finally heard the steady bang of metal against metal. If Jack could just break the doorknob…"

A few more blows and he heard the knob clatter to the floor. A second later Jack tumbled into the room.

"What happened?!" he asked, his eyes wide as if now first shocked by the situation.

"I'll explain later," Mac replied hurriedly. "Get these ropes off me. We gotta get back to the gym."

XXXXX

Joanna sat on a barstool waiting for Jack. What could be taking so long? All he had to do was go to the men's room and get Mac. A ball of dread began to form in her stomach. Something was really wrong. She was sure of it. Too anxious to sit, she slid off the stool and began to pace when her path was blocked by a short, chubby woman with red hair and dark-rimmed glasses. She wore an overly bright flower print dress.

"Excuse me," the woman said shyly. "You're Mrs. MacGyver, aren't you?"

Joanna felt her shoulders droop. She didn't feel like explaining. "Yes, that's me," she replied.

The woman's face brightened. "Mac and I had Senior Chemistry together. I had such a crush on him," she giggled. "My name's Winnifred." She stuck out her hand for Joanna to shake.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Joanna."

"Have you spent much time in Mission City?"

Joanna was not in the mood for idle conversation, but at least it would pass the time until MacGyver and Jack returned.

"Actually, I've only been here a couple times."

"Oh, that's a shame," Winnifred frowned. "Why don't we go for a stroll and I can show you some of the popular hangouts?"

This woman was a little too friendly.

"I don't think—"

Suddenly Jo felt something sharp poke her in the side. She looked down to find a hunting knife in Winnifred's hand.

"But I insist!" the woman exclaimed, looping her free hand through Jo's arm and guiding her out the door and into the night.

XXXXX

MacGyver and Jack hurried back to the party. Mac frantically scanned the room for Joanna but couldn't find her.

"Where did you leave Jo?" Mac asked his friend.

"She was at the bar when I left."

The two men hurried over to the bar, but she was nowhere to be found. The bartender and fellow former classmate looked up from the glass he was wiping.

"Can I help you gentleman?"

"Yes," MacGyver replied. "Have you seen—"

"Your wife?" the bartender smiled. "Yeah, she left with that weirdo from Senior Chemistry."

"Gordon?!" Mac's heart beat in triple time.

"No. A woman."

"Winnifred," Mac said under his breath.

"Who?" Jack asked.

"Where did they go?" MacGyver asked the volunteer bartender while ignoring Jack's question.

"Got me. She said something about showing Joanna the local hangouts."

Mac sighed and sunk onto the nearest barstool, his mind racing. He couldn't think of any notable, and potentially dangerous, locations except…

"Gordon said he had a crush on Winnifred," he told Jack excitedly. "And Winnifred had a crush on me!"

"So?"

"So where did we all used to go to make-out?"

Jack shrugged. His face blank.

"The Ridge!" Mac exclaimed triumphantly.

"What's 'The Ridge'?" Jack asked, still befuddled.

For a moment MacGyver's curiosity overrode his urgency. "You never went to The Ridge?"

Another shrug from Jack.

"It's that clearing in the woods above Ridge Lake. That's where Winnifred must've taken Jo!"

MacGyver jogged to the exit, Jack lagging behind. Mac stopped short and quickly turned around.

"You stay here and call Neil. Tell him what's going on and tell him we also need to find Gordon," Mac directed before hurtling through doors and out of sight.

It only took a few minutes for MacGyver to drive to the clearing, but it seemed like hours. As the dense trees began to thin out, he doused his headlights and eased the car to a silent stop. He got out and headed for the tree line, ducking low to keep his presence hidden as he moved closer to the two women standing on the edge of the cliff overlooking the lake. Moonlight glinted off the silver blade Winnifred held against Joanna's side and fear gripped his heart. He could hear their soft voices but couldn't make out what they were saying. He had to find a way to get them away from the ridge, separate them, and disarm Winnifred. Based on Joanna's shaking head and the other woman's jerky movements he figured he didn't have much time. Perhaps he needed a ploy more than an attack strategy.

With quiet, efficient steps MacGyver made his way back to where he had left his car. He opened the door and then slammed it shut. Loudly. Sometimes the best plan was the most obvious.

"Winnifred?" he called. "Winnie, are you here?"

He noisily plodded up the hill until he once again had the two women in his sights.

"Winnifred! Thank God you're okay!" he exclaimed as he continued to slowly walk towards them. "I was worried sick when I couldn't find you in the gymnasium!"

Winnie started and turned abruptly, spinning Jo around with her, still holding the knife.

"MacGyver?" she answered hesitantly.

"Yeah, sweetheart. It's me," he assured her in a deep, sure voice. He was now only a couple feet away. He looked at Joanna for the first time since his approach.

"What's she doing here?" he sneered.

"She's the only thing standing between us, and I was going to take care of that tonight." Winnie raised the knife like a newly-gained trophy.

"Don't bother," he ordered. "She's not worth it."

"But…she's your wife!"

"No she's not," Mac said harshly. "Look at her…she's not even my type! You know I've always had a thing for red-heads."

"Then who is she?" Winnie asked slowly.

"Just some chick from work. I paid her to come up here and pretend to be my wife. I didn't want everyone to know that smart, handsome, charming MacGyver was still single because he was still pining for you." He silently willed Joanna to understand what he was doing and get in the game.

"You…you want me?" Winnifred's grip on the knife as well as Jo's arm seemed to slacken a bit.

"Hold it just a minute, mister!" Joanna scolded as she freed her arm from Winnie's loosened grasp. "I agreed to our deal because you said if I pretended to be your wife you'd show me a good time, if you catch my drift! Well, buster, that 'good time' did NOT included being abandon by my date and kidnapped by a nutcase. Come to think of it, I'm not sure who's the nutcase here. Her for wanting to kill me, you for being in love with her, or me for going along with this! That's it! I'm outta here!"

Joanna ended her rant by stepping away too quickly for Winnifred to react, but Mac was ready and waiting. As soon as Jo was far enough away, he lunged for Winnie, grabbing the knife from her hand before wrapping his arms around her, pinning her own arms against her body, while walking them both carefully away from the cliff.

"Let me go!" she screeched as she struggled against him, kicking him in the shins for good measure.

"Want me to take her off your hands?" Neil smirked as he stepped out from behind a large oak tree.

"How long have you been here?" Mac asked as they transferred the prisoner between them.

Neil shrugged. "Long enough to see that you had everything under control."

"Gee, thanks for all your help, man," MacGyver replied sarcastically before growing serious. "What about Gordon?"

"We found him roaming the school corridors looking for Winnie," Neil informed him. "He's already in custody back at the station. I'm sorry I missed all the excitement. What was the reunion's theme anyway? 'Revenge of the Psycho Nerds'?"

"Something like that," Mac mumbled as Neil led Winnifred down the path to his patrol car.

"I'll need all three of you to come down to the station and give your statements before you leave," the officer called before he was out of earshot.

MacGyver turned to find Joanna with her back to him, staring out at the lake below. He cleared his throat as he approached so as not to startle her. As he got closer he could see she had her arms wrapped tightly around herself. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"You okay?" he asked calmly.

"Yeah, I guess." She turned to face him, her eyes glistening.

Without another word, Mac pulled her close. She wrapped her arms around his waist, laid her head on his chest and began to sob. When the tears had stopped, she pulled back and studied the wet stain on his shirt.

"I'm sorry," she muttered.

"You got nothin' to be sorry about," Mac assured her, his own heart crying out. "You did real good tonight. You know that, right?"

She nodded and turned back to look at the moonlight glistening on the water. MacGyver joined her, taking her hand in his.

"What did she say to you?" It was a question that sounded like a command.

"A lot of it didn't make sense. Apparently she had a huge crush on you in high school…and still does. She told me this place was called 'Lover's Leap' and that if I didn't jump off the cliff she'd stab me to death so she could have you all to herself."

MacGyver sucked in a breath upon hearing this. He was amazed at how composed Joanna was in spite of everything. He let go of her hand and instead wrapped his arm around her shoulders and nestled her against his side.

"She lied, you know," Mac informed softly. "The real name of this place is 'The Ridge'. All us kids used to come up here to make-out. Well, all of us except Jack."

He felt Jo's shoulders tremble, not with sobs, but with laughter.

"I'll bet you know this place quite well," she said, looking up at him with a playful grin.

He smiled back at her. "I never kiss and tell."

He was prepared for one of her snarky comebacks when the trees behind them began to rustle. All his sense went on alert until his mind registered a huffing, puffing Jack Dalton emerge from the woods.

"Whew! That's some hill!" he wheezed, looking around. "Did I miss anything?"

"You missed everything, Jack," MacGyver informed his friend.

"You mean…it's over? Neil got Minnie?"

"Her name's 'Winnie', and yes, Neil got her."

Jack's face fell in disappointment before brightening up again.

"So this is The Ridge, huh?" he asked. "I don't see what the big deal is…there's nothing here!"

Mac and Joanna began to laugh.

"I'm serious!" Jack retorted. "You know, this would be the perfect place for a—"

"Forget it, Jack," Mac commanded.

"But I didn't even tell you my idea yet!"

"Exactly!"