Epilogue
The doorbell rang just as Bozer was leaving for an evening out with a group of friends from work.
He called out, "If it's more of those band candy kids, you guys want anything?"
Neither Mac nor Jack paid much attention, beyond Mac's distracted, "We already bought a whole box…"
"A'right. Try not to kill each other over that game!"
"Mmm," Mac agreed. "See you later, Boze. Have fun."
Being on enforced leave had gotten a little boring, but for a change Mac hadn't been ready to hit the Hollywood hills and give Jack a heart attack the morning after they got home. In fact, Mac had been a little reluctant to leave his partner alone at all, regardless of Steve's reassurances that the KX crap appeared to be out of his system, and Elliot's occasional "social" calls that assured him of the same thing.
Steve did suggest Mac not start back at his running habit for another week or so either, for reasons that had nothing to do with his partner.
Mac had just grinned. "Be impressed that I haven't already been out."
Steve had shaken his head with a familiar amused look and added, "Do us both a favor and give it until at least the end of next week. Preferably until after you're cleared for duty." He didn't add that such a thing was a miracle he didn't dare expect, but Mac definitely read it in his expression.
He wondered if the suggested length of their, or more to the point, his, duty restrictions actually came from Steve having a real medical opinion or if they came from Oversight, but he didn't ask. Steve normally wouldn't have hesitated to say, "Oversight said," or to have flat out told the boss to stay the hell out of his exam room, but Mac assumed it might be a little harder to keep Oversight at bay given the expression on his face when Mac walked out of his office earlier that week.
By that seven day mark, both of the guys were going a little stir crazy, though. So, Mac had started a friendly competition out of his collection of video games. Whatever they were playing, the loser bought that night's food.
Mac had felt almost completely like himself within a few days, so subsisting on ice cream had gotten old quick. Besides, he and Jack both enjoyed the friendly sniping back and forth as they played, and then racking up the other's restaurant tab.
By the start of their second off-duty week they'd settled on sports games, because they decided those were more fun to bet on. Besides Mac didn't like the war games Jack favored and Jack wouldn't play any of the horror games Mac kind of liked.
Today, they played their way to the Superbowl on Mac's old copy of Madden, and they were in fourth quarter overtime. Mac's team had the ball and not only had Jack not managed to score during his team's possession, he didn't seem to be able to do a damn thing to stop first down after first down despite less than ideal starting field position.
"Did you get Riley to hack this game for you?" Jack demanded.
"You wish that's why you can't make a play." Mac smirked.
"You've never had a run like this," Jack continued suspiciously. "You sure she didn't just decide to help you along to make up for trying to smother you last week?"
Mac grinned again. "Maybe you should 'Ask Madden' about it. But then again, it'd probably get you about as far as it has trying to get him to call your plays today."
Jack punched him solidly in the arm.
Mac laughed, but missed the first down mark because Jack had jostled his controller when he smacked him. "You're worried about Riley hacking something I'm pretty sure can't be hacked, but you're just flat out cheating by beating up on me."
Jack got both hands back on his own controller. "You're goin' down, punk."
"We'll see."
The next couple of plays didn't swing Mac's way.
"Fourth and long!" Jack crowed. "This is what you get for picking the Steelers just to piss me off."
Mac sat forward, almost on the edge of the couch cushion and got the really intense look Jack associated with Mac working a particularly difficult problem, or maybe working on defusing a bomb that was more complicated than average.
The play clock was counting down toward another OT quarter, so the bomb thing was probably a really good analogy.
Mac moved to the edge of the cushion. "And this is what you get for never letting anyone else play as Dallas."
A couple of quick moves later, during which Mac didn't let the game do any of the assisting that was an option, maybe just to rub in what he was about to accomplish a little more, Mac had his team in the endzone after a thirty yard play.
Jack tossed his controller into the chair several feet away. "Damn it!"
"Whooo! You're buying tonight!" He jumped up and mimed spiking a football by chucking his controller onto the couch. Then he froze. "Um … Hey, Matty … Didn't hear you come in."
Thanks a lot for telling me we had a guest, Boze, he grumbled to himself.
Jack turned in time to see Matty's very amused smile. "Nice to see you both clearly feeling better. And you sounding better." She looked at Mac. "How many times have you beaten Jack in the Superbowl in the last two weeks, Blondie?"
"Only a few more times than he's beaten me." Mac grinned. "But he really hates it when it's the Steelers. Or if I take him out of the competition with the Giants. I did that quite a bit."
Jack flung one of the throw pillows at him. "Little shit."
Mac snagged the pillow out of the air and tossed it back, mostly keeping his focus on Matty. "Is something wrong?"
"No," she said, and Mac wasn't sure if he believed it from her tone. "I just thought I'd drop in and see how you were doing since your two weeks leave were up today."
"You say it like we were on vacation," Mac laughed. "You and Steve told us we were banned from everywhere other than Medical."
"True." She paused. "And neither of you came into the office today to apply for clearance to lift that ban."
Mac shrugged and headed toward the short hallway. "We just figured we'd come in early on Monday. No reason to fight traffic for a fifteen minute doctor's appointment today." He gestured toward the kitchen. "I'm gonna grab some water. Can I get you anything?"
"I'm all set, Mac."
"Jack?"
"Nah, I'm good, kid."
Matty's head tilted to one side. "Mac, would you mind if I come in and talk with you for a few minutes?"
He frowned almost imperceptibly. "Why would I mind? You know you're always welcome here." He disappeared up the hall.
Matty came over and sat down in one of the chairs. "You both seem to be doing well," she said carefully to Jack.
"Yeah," he agreed just as carefully. "Probably could've come back last week for at least some light duty, to be honest. But it's been good." He didn't add 'Probably mostly for Mac, even forgetting the surgery stuff.'
But, as was so often the case with Matilda Webber, she seemed to read his mind. "I understand that Mac needed some time."
Jack decided now was as good a time as any to play dumb. "Well, yeah. Two surgeries in a couple of days with one of 'em being to keep him from bleeding to death after some supersoldier choked him out isn't great."
"Among other things," she said in a tone he recognized as disapproval, but didn't think it was directed at him or Mac. Then she said, "Any chance I could send you off to get that takeout I heard is on you tonight. I'm willing to foot the bill."
"Matty what's this–"
"I just need a few minutes with Mac." Her expression grew softer. "It's nothing for you to worry about Papa Bear. Neither of you are in trouble."
"Aright, I can go now. But I'm buyin'. That was the bet." Jack cocked an eyebrow, but got up to grab his jacket and keys. "Mac wants southern barbeque tonight. Can I get you anything?"
"Well if you're buying, I'll have whatever Mac's having. I've seen how he eats when he's in a good mood. Since he kicked your ass on the gridiron, that probably means I'll get to bring home three days worth of leftovers."
Jack grinned at that. "Yeah, I think you just want me broke. A full rack, cornbread, potato salad, fried pickles, green beans, cole slaw, and peach cobbler. I'm gonna have to hire somebody to carry it all back here!"
"So Blondie really is in a good mood." She smiled slightly. Then she held out a twenty. "At least let me buy the beer."
Jack gave her another speculative look, but took the bill. "I'll be back in a bit." He paused. "Don't go ruining our boy's good mood. I don't want to shell out for dinner for nothin'."
"Go! Because now you've made me hungry."
Jack headed toward the hallway calling out, "Yo, Mac, I'm gonna go grab dinner. Matty's buyin' the beer. Want that Family Business stuff if they have it, since it's on her dime?"
Mac's teasing voice drifted up the hall. "Whatever you want, man. You're the one drowning your sorrows tonight."
When Mac came back into the living room, it was several minutes later. Far longer than it would've taken to get the glass of water he brought back with him.
He set it down on a coaster on the coffee table. "So…?"
He'd meant to say something like he was glad she'd stopped by because he'd been racked out the last time she'd been there, to maybe thank her for the absolutely ridiculous quantity of ice cream she'd delivered last week. But the not even half-formed question was all he seemed to be able to come up with.
Because Matty wasn't a 'just stop by' person. If she was here, she had a reason.
She made what he thought of as her inscrutable Matty face. It involved a single raised eyebrow and a tilt to her lips that could be the beginnings of a smile or just her winding up to chew you a new one. It always made him kind of want to hold his breath and today was no exception.
Then she spoke. "I was surprised you both didn't come in today. So was Dr. Rodgers, frankly. We both figured you'd be chomping at the bit to get back onto the roster."
She paused and Mac recognized it for what it was. A not so subtle interrogation tactic, inviting him to fill the silence. But he didn't. He'd already told her why they hadn't been in. And he figured she should know by now that he wasn't someone who just filled silences. That was rookie bullshit. He just waited.
"Then I realized that you must've remembered that Oversight was going to that congressional hearing that starts on Monday. And suddenly you staying out of the office until then made more sense."
He couldn't quite read her tone, but that wasn't unusual for him. Matty could be downright motherly one moment and absolutely terrifying the next. Her demeanor could often turn on a dime depending on the situation and who she was talking to, or what someone might or might not let slip during a briefing or after a mission (say nothing about on comms if you maybe destroyed something expensive).
Instead of offering anything up, he made himself lean back more casually on the couch and ask, "What makes you say that?"
Her expression softened into one he could more easily interpret. She wasn't upset with him, more worried about him than anything. "Well, I could pretend that Oversight hasn't been stomping around the office like Godzilla after they targeted him with nukes since you came in and spoke with him last week, but what would be the point in that?"
Mac sat forward again and took a drink of his water, then set it back down. It bought him a few seconds to decide what and how much to say. "I seem to have had that effect on him off and on since I was a kid," felt safe enough.
One eyebrow twitched. If he were less observant, he wouldn't have noticed it. "After he wrote up three people who hadn't done anything wrong other than cross the hall in front of him, we had a little chat."
Mac pressed his lips together for a minute. Then he sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. "And that's why we're having this little chat."
"Not exactly. He did tell me you've set some boundaries that he isn't pleased with, although he wouldn't tell me why."
"Matty, if he didn't–"
Matty held up a hand. "Like I've ever let any MacGyver being too tight lipped for their own good stop me."
He had to smile at that just a little. "You certainly never have with me. But Oversight is–"
"Jim is a peculiar man." She appeared thoughtful, like she wasn't sure how to put what she wanted to say next. Mac wasn't used to Matilda Webber being unsure of anything. "When he first asked me to leave CIA for Phoenix, I wasn't sure I should."
"Why not?" Matty had never talked about how she came to work for Phoenix or why, and he found he was actually curious, especially in light of a comment Jack had made about the change in their relationship after Murdoc had nabbed him when he got back from Paris a couple of years ago.
"You know that I investigated him when you were still a child."
Mac nodded, flushing faintly that he'd found all that out mostly from Jack breaking into her house, although it was clear to him now that she'd allowed it to happen. "He said he asked you to."
She gave a dry little chuckle. "Like a lot of things Jim says, that's his version of what happened." She sighed. "DXS asked me to investigate him because the former agency director resigned abruptly over a project he apparently disagreed with, and the organization was without anyone as Oversight and Jim wanted the top spot. They were talking about opening it up to being more of a committee, but Jim was pretty adamant that someone needed to be in charge. Because the board had concerns about how insistent he was in his application and his about there being a single individual in the role, they wanted to drill into everything about him before making the decision."
Mac folded his arms in a sort of self-protective gesture, realized it, and made himself move back off the edge of his seat again, but couldn't quite make himself uncross his arms. "I thought it was because of Walsh."
Matty nodded at that. "That's at least partially true. The split in that team was a concern."
Mac thought for a moment and swallowed hard. That doesn't change that what he told me the first time in Mexico was manipulative as hell, but, does that mean…? "Did he … um … Did he leave home when I was a kid because he took the job as Oversight?"
Matty gave him the sort of motherly look she'd started to favor after he'd gotten away from Murdoc. "Wanting the job may have entered into it. But he left before the board made a decision."
Mac wasn't sure if that made him feel better or worse.
Like she'd read his thoughts, she went on. "I'm not telling you all this to tie you into knots. I'm telling you so that you know that while I came to the conclusion that he was the right man for the job, and is a man who has since saved my life and so many others more times than I can count, he didn't necessarily do those things for selfless reasons."
Mac frowned. "I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to tell me."
She smiled, pleased he wasn't just jumping to conclusions. "That even if he's tried to tell you it was about you, I can tell you it wasn't. That it was about him and his … vision. For the organization, for our country. Which I suppose did include making the world better for you, in his own way. I decided to take the DO job when he offered it, because frankly I thought I could do more good at Phoenix than I was doing at CIA." She looked at him in a way that was openly fond. He'd seen it a few times and usually didn't know quite how to react. "I also knew it would be a chance to work with you. I knew you'd grow up to do something pretty amazing even when you were nine years old, Mac. And of course, everyone with any kind of clearance knows what you've accomplished as a grown man. I didn't necessarily approve of your methods, but I was impressed. I'm still impressed, even when I think you're trying to give me as many grey hairs as Jack."
"I … Thank you," he said, but it sounded almost like a question.
"My point, Mac, is that even if Jim doesn't, I understand your need to get some space from your relationship with him, to create some boundaries." She favored him with another very sympathetic look. "Yes, you found him, although I get the sense that you probably wouldn't have gone looking without pressure and encouragement from outside. And that maybe some of your friends have continued that because of their own family issues. So, you opened yourself up more than you wanted to or even than maybe felt safe to do."
She'd still never admitted to being the one to leave him all those clues, but Mac was just as sure today as he had been the day he'd quit, that it was her. And she'd done it because she cared about him, and didn't think his father was being fair.
Mac shrugged. "Maybe … But … wondering, not knowing … That wasn't good for me either. I think Jack could see that. He always said it was about wishing he'd forgiven his own dad just a little sooner. But I think he could always see my questions whenever I'd see him do that weird thing he does going and talking to Mr. Dalton every time we make it home after a close call. And Riley and Boze … I mean, they have their own reasons that maybe don't have a lot to do with me, but I think they've pushed because, regardless of their own stuff, they hoped it would be a good thing."
"That might be true, but once you found Jim, he's the one who pressured you to have a relationship right away, who couldn't draw the line between personal and professional. He walked out, and then decided just because you wanted some resolution to being left as a child, he could walk back in and demand to be your dad like he never left. And that's not fair. Especially because he couldn't separate it out from being your boss and he often tries to use both roles to herd you in the direction he wants you to go."
Mac drew in a breath to respond and found the ragged sound of it to be sort of a surprise. He'd been so focused on her words he hadn't realized that he was a whisker away from breaking down. "I …" He paused for another breath, forcing this one to be steadier through sheer will. "Why are you telling me all this?"
"Because I want you to know that I spoke with him, and like you've drawn a personal line around yourself, I've drawn a line between him and your team. Any decisions he wants to be involved in related to your team will all go through me and I will protect the best interests of your team and the missions I assign it."
The frown was starting to make his head ache. "I appreciate that, Matty. But that doesn't change how I feel about trying to have a personal relationship right now."
Matty shook her head. "I didn't mean for you to change your mind, Mac. I meant that I'm protecting your choices so you don't feel pressure from him from any side. You've had enough of that."
Mac swallowed hard. "Sometimes … When he says he's 'nudged' my choices … It makes me question everything about my life … even my friends."
Matty's expression darkened for a moment. "He may have moved around a few pieces, Mac. But you're your own man. From all those brilliant skin of your teeth saving the world things you do to being the kind of dumb genius that thinks Jack Dalton knows what 'normal' means whether you're talking about physics or not. That's all been you."
He shook his head. "I don't know, Matty, I…"
She looked almost stern. "Some things are on him. Like putting your ex on your team."
Mac only nodded. He and Jack thought that was as likely as Oversight putting the two of them together in Afghanistan. But Mac clung to a shred of hope that, like the good things that had unintentionally come out of his friendship with Jack, Oversight didn't know Nikki would nearly get him killed. More than once.
"But I'm hoping between the two of us, we can protect your personal decisions from here on out."
"I … I appreciate that."
"And like I said, I'm protecting your team." She gave him a moment to respond if he wanted. When he didn't, she added, "You're the team leader. You'll decide who's on your team and how it operates. With my help, of course."
He finally managed a slight smile that felt genuine. "I … I appreciate that, too. More than you know."
She gave him a genuinely fond smile of her own. "Which means no one is going to try to break up your team or mess with any relationships in it because they get jealous. I've seen what it's like to try to separate you from that codependent partner of yours, and believe me, no one wants to hear you having imaginary conversations with each other because you're not on the same mission ever again if we can help it."
That was her confirming one of the biggest, and possibly most upsetting things, that he'd suspected. Oversight had tried to split him and Jack up, had maybe even pushed Riley into the field before she was ready in order to manipulate Jack's behavior, to drive a wedge between them.
He suddenly felt the same warmth for Matty he had felt when he realized she was the one who led him to finding his father to begin with.
He returned the smile, despite a very familiar urge to shed tears over the things he had lost, and more strangely, those he gained, because his father left him. But, he didn't think he could say any of that out loud, even if Matty had kind of earned that level of honesty from him.
So, what he said was, "Riley and Boze will be forever grateful, I'm sure."
Matty looked more serious for a moment. "If he crosses any lines, Mac, personal or professional, I hope you'll feel comfortable letting me know."
He hesitated. "Do you think it would make a difference?"
"What I think is that I've told him I'll take it to the board. Crossing those lines the way he has is incredibly unprofessional. He's lucky I haven't done it already. If he weren't so good at the job otherwise, I would have once I realized that's what was happening."
Mac's eyes went wide for a second. He never would have expected anything like this when they met. "I … I guess I'm back to thank you then."
Sensing that Mac was doing his best to not have a big emotional reaction to this conversation, she flashed him a familiar smirk. "Oh, this isn't selfless on my part either, Blondie. I don't want you with your eyes on, or anywhere in the vicinity of the door ever again! You should've seen the whole office when I was trying to get literally any agent, including Jack who you'd think something would've rubbed off on by now, to MacGyver even a little!"
Absolutely ready for this serious conversation to be over, especially before Jack got back with food, Mac found a grin from somewhere. "Maybe I should run some trainings."
"You? Trying to teach MacGyvering?"
Her feigned shock got the grin to more genuine. Mac shrugged. "When I left Phoenix, I really thought about becoming a teacher. I just never thought about teaching people how to use my name as a verb."
"They already do use your name as a verb!" she laughed. "They just can't do it for themselves."
He smiled again. "I'll give it some thought. If it comes naturally to me, I should be able to teach it at least a little. Not that I'm planning to go anywhere. But … if you think it would be useful to other agents, then we should figure it out."
They sat in silence for a while then. It wasn't uncomfortable. Matty just let Mac have his space to mull over what she'd said, and Mac barely noticed the passage of time, was just lost in thought.
A little while later, Jack banged open the front door, "Mac! Extra hands, brother!"
Mac jumped up to help Jack bring in the food. As they lugged it back into the living room, Mac was poking through one of the bags he was carrying. "Where's the cobbler?"
Jack surreptitiously shot Matty a look, just to kind of check in.
She smiled at him innocently. "Yeah, Dalton, I was promised cobbler, too!"
"They were out!"
"Did you get the banana pudding then?" Mac asked.
"Don't you still have any ice cream left?" Jack groused.
"Yeah, the vanilla I saved for going with the cobbler!"
Jack grinned. This wasn't Mac putting on a show about being hungry while he planned on pushing food around on his plate to make it look like he'd eaten something. This was a man already worried about dessert for real. "I may have stopped at the diner and picked up a peach pie. Closest I could get to what you asked for."
Mac raised an eyebrow at him when he said 'diner'. It was the time of day Mac's dad was often there getting his own dinner.
Jack acted like he didn't see the look and just went to grab plates and silverware, calling over his shoulder, "I'm lucky they were even still open. Not a soul in the place. If I were the manager I'd have locked up and gone home."
"Well, then you could've done them a favor and cleaned out their inventory by getting a chocolate cream, too," Matty said as he came back into the room.
Mac took two pies out of one of the bags. "Looks like he did."
"Way to look out, Dalton."
"Well, there, Director Webber, that sounds almost like approval coming from you," Jack said lightly, pulling one of the chairs over to the coffee table, because Mac was taking up the whole couch as he moved around spreading the obscene quantity of food out so everyone could access the containers. Then Mac grabbed a plate and started loading food into it.
"Matty doesn't always disapprove of us. Just when we do something dumb like me getting your arm broken or having to recreate a Pixar movie as an escape." He paused, then added, "Come to think of it, I think I disapprove of those things, too."
Matty wasn't shy about serving herself from the containers either. "See, Mac? This new arrangement is going to work out great."
Jack, who still hadn't started gathering any food for himself, leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, giving Mac a concerned look while also eyeing Matty kind of warily. "New arrangement?"
Matty sat back down with a much more reasonable plate of food than Mac was still constructing. "Consider me your team's Oversight from here until I hear otherwise from Mac."
Mac's eyes slid to her and the corner of his mouth lifted, but he just sat back, finally satisfied with his plate, and started on some fried pickles.
"Huh," was all Jack came up with.
"Skeptical much, Dalton?"
Jack seemed to chew on the situation for a minute before he answered. "Not of you," was what he finally came up with.
Matty set down her plate on the coffee table to open a beer. "I can see why you might be concerned about that boundary being maintained, Jack. But when have you ever known anyone to scale a wall I built?"
A slight smile flickered over Jack's face. "Mac. He didn't just get you to accept his style. When he left, you were tryin' to teach the whole damn agency to be more like him."
She shook her head fondly. "Other than Mac."
"Okay, then, never as far as I know. But Oversight…"
"Isn't your team's problem. You just do your job and watch Mac's back. You let me handle Jim."
Mac had been very determinedly shoveling in food like he was completely unbothered, but he put his plate down then and wiped his hands off on a stack of napkins. "I know you're friends with him, Matty. I don't want my stuff to damage that relationship."
"Mac, have I ever struck you as someone who needs protecting from my own decisions?"
"I … No." Needing something to do with his hands, he opened a beer for himself. "But this is complicated."
"For no one more than you."
Mac leaned back and took a long pull from the bottle. He opened his mouth, then just closed it again.
Matty favored him with a look more appropriate to the office than his living room. "It's my job as the DO to make sure my teams can function optimally. And I don't believe you can with the complications that have been introduced by Oversight." She put her beer down next to her plate and gave him her full attention. "For example, take this recent run of being sick and having surgery that it turns out probably should've happened much sooner ... If Oversight hadn't butted in after the Murdoc incident, even before you knew who he was, and reminded you of how that came up when you were a kid, might you have come to the conclusion that it would be wise to take care of it sooner?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe."
She smirked then. "As absolutely reckless with your own skin as you can occasionally be, you're a shockingly sensible guy, Mac. I don't think there's any 'maybe' about it."
Jack looked back and forth between the two of them.
Mac made himself offer a slight smile at that. "I'm gonna remember you said that you think I'm sensible." Then he sighed. "But you're probably right. I don't make my best decisions around him. Especially when he reminds me of the more complicated aspects of our past."
"I can't have that on missions. And now neither of us have to worry about that."
Jack frowned more deeply for a minute. Then he grinned, unfolded his arms, and started loading up a plate for himself. "If this means we're not gonna get hauled off on non-mission side missions that belong in a bad knock-off Marvel movie, I'm down with that."
Mac flashed him a genuine grin. "I thought you didn't like the Carolina barbecue bibs?"
Jack took a bite and answered around it. "Ah, they're growin' on me."
Mac looked at Matty again, chewed his lip for a second, then picked up his plate and started eating again, determined to just enjoy his meal, to relax and trust that Matty meant what she said, even if he didn't trust that his father would respect any of it. Chewing on a bite of the ribs himself, he said, "I knew you'd come to your senses eventually, Jack." He took a swig of beer. "What do you think, Matty?"
She couldn't quite keep her pleased approval off her face at how their conversation had gone and at how Mac was handling what had to be very difficult for him. "I think I should start kicking Jack's ass at video games if this is the end result."
They enjoyed their meal, with Mac and Matty teasing Jack about losing the game and having to feed both of them, and Jack dropping amusing threats about breaking out the superpowers he'd secretly held onto.
Between a couple of beers and all the food, there was no way anyone should have had room for dessert, but when Riley dropped by, disappointed that she'd missed making Jack buy her dinner, too, Mac grabbed dessert plates and the ice cream he had left. Matty and Riley had reasonable slices of the chocolate cream, but Mac and Jack more or less split the peach pie.
"I'm looking forward to being cleared to run again," Mac said with a contented sigh as he set aside his empty plate. "If I keep up beating the Cowboys like this, none of my clothes are gonna fit."
"Haha, ya brat."
"I think I like it when you lose, Jack," Riley grinned. "Your taste in takeout is nowhere near as good as Mac's."
Matty stood then. "I should get going. I've got to prep some things to send off for that congressional hearing over the weekend, and it's getting late." She paused to give Mac and Jack a very familiar, very Director Webber, look. "Medical. First thing Monday morning. No excuses."
"Yes, ma'am," Mac said with a firm nod.
"You bet, there, Ms. Oversight. Ma'am."
"Oh, here we go," Matty said with a slightly amused eye roll.
Mac got up, too. "I'll walk you out, Matty."
They were silent until they got to the door.
"Matty … Thank you. I know I keep saying it. But I want you to know I mean it. And that I mean for all of it. Even the stuff you can neither confirm nor deny."
She gave him a sly smile. "You're welcome. For all of it." She paused. "It really is good to hear you sounding like yourself again. We've all missed Mac being Mac."
"Me, too." He grinned. "Can't give Jack a hard enough time to distract him from his game if I don't have a voice."
"There's a lot of things you can't do if you don't have a voice, Mac. And I'm glad you're okay with me making sure you get one from now on."
He pressed his lips together for a second. That's all he really wanted. And it's something James MacGyver had never really let him have, either as his son or as his employee.
"Me, too."
She opened the door. "G'night, Mac." She turned back toward him once she was on the stoop. "First thing Monday."
Mac grinned again and shook his head. "You bet, boss."
"I don't care if you have to drag Jack."
"If he remembers Steve's going to want to rub more labs I might have to, but I'll get us there. I'm looking forward to whatever you have for us, Matty. I really am."
She nodded. "Good."
He closed the door when she turned to leave.
He felt remarkably hopeful about this new arrangement. Maybe it would even give him the space to work on his personal relationship with his dad. But even if it didn't, at least he wouldn't have to constantly feel confused at work.
He called up the hall. "Hey, do you guys want me to grab the poker set? We could play for who's buying breakfast!"
Jack's rueful laugh found its way to him as he started digging in their game cupboard.
"Or we could just head to Vegas. At least that'll have some show girls to distract me from going broke!"
Mac smiled to himself. He didn't know how long this good feeling would last. But unlike he might have in the past, he decided not to worry about it. Things felt pretty great, and he was just going to enjoy that for as long as he could.
-End-
