A/N: Okay, so I've been missing from the site forever, and completely neglecting the other WIP(s) I have for work, this story, and other stuff called life, I know. I'm bad. I hope to one day get back to those other ones (I have more stashed somewhere, I promised) with more. I always hope jumping out one plot bunny will help... Anyway. I don't own MacGyver, CBS, or any other known entity. I do own Kayla, though, and her potty mouth... This will follow along with the series from the beginning, and there will be pieces/quotes from the actual series that will show up in later chapters. But for now, I hope you enjoy this intro, and please review.

Prologue: The Beginning

Mac and Jack looked at one another before looking at her. She was standing with her back to them as they approached, facing the van as the tech worked on the laptop beyond the plastic sheeting. She was 5'6", with auburn hair that stopped just at the end of her shoulder blades in soft curls. The only thing about her that looked soft… She was wearing a black tee-shirt with a white tank top poking out just underneath, and a pair of well-worn and just as well-fitting medium shade denim jeans.

She heard them coming but chose not to react as they got closer, instead looking at the phone in her hands.

The two men looked at one another again, both curiously guarded. "Hi," Mac said, hoping to break the ice a bit with… whoever she was.

She glanced over to them, her green eyes intriguingly disinterested as she looked at the newcomers standing beside her. "Hi," she replied, her voice cool, even, and rather emotionless.

"What are you doin' here?" Jack asked.

She sighed lightly, not so much annoyed at the question, but more at the phrasing. "I was summoned."

"And who the hell are you?"

"Thornton stuck me up here as your new teammate."

Jack shifted his weight and furrowed his brow. "Come again?"

She tilted her head, as if to echo his sentiment. "Yeah."

"So, you're our tech person?" Mac asked.

She shook her head, finally turning away from her phone to address the men beside her. "My tech skills are decently passable, but not nearly as good as what you always seem to need," she explained.

"So, why exactly did Thornton put you on our team?" Jack asked.

She shrugged, flicking one of her wrists. "I've been asking myself the same damn question."

"Well, since we're gonna be working together, can you at least tell us who you are?" Mac asked.

"Oh, that's a very long story, and I don't know you well enough for that," she replied.

"Well, what's your name, at least?" Jack asked.

"Kayla."

"Got a last name, Kayla?"

"I do, but does it really matter?"

"Maybe."

Mac shook his head. "I'm…" he started.

"Angus MacGyver, and he's Jack Dalton," she supplied. "Yeah, I know who you two are. The so-called dream team of DXS."

"So, you've heard of us?" Jack said proudly, looking at Mac with a grin as Mac shook his head.

She snorted lightly in amusement. "Don't let it get to your head. I know about all of it." She looked at Mac. "Sorry about your girlfriend."

Mac winced slightly as he nodded, but said nothing.

Jack scoffed. "There's no way you know about everything," he said.

Kayla smirked with a slight chuckle. "I know about Cairo," she told him.

Jack froze everything except his eyes, which looked over at Mac. "How do you know about that?"

"I told you, Jack. I know it all."

Mac smiled slightly as Jack shifted uncomfortably. "Well, welcome to the team," he said.

"Thanks, I guess," she replied.

Thornton walked up, looking at the three gathered team members. "I see we've all met each other?" she said.

"Yes ma'am," Jack said.

"Yes," Mac replied.

Kayla huffed in response to Thornton, causing Mac and Jack to look at her again.

Thornton, in turn, ignored the momentary distraction to address them. "So, you know why we're all here," she said.

"Not exactly," Kayla remarked, somewhat under her breath but loud enough to be heard.

"Let's get to work," Thornton said, ignoring Kayla's remark.

The ride back from Supermax was longer than the ride there, with the awkward silence between Jack and Riley permeating throughout the van. Jack, for his part, wasn't talking to anyone other than Thornton while Riley stared out the window, happy to see sunshine outside of prison walls for the first time in a long time. Mac looked over at Kayla, who watched the scene in silence.

"What's up?" he asked her.

"Huh?" Kayla replied.

"You're quiet."

She half-smiled. "I'm more of an observer than a speaker."

He nodded. "You said you know everything. How?"

She chuckled. "It's not like I just started at DXS in the three months you've been out."

He furrowed his brow. "How long have you been here?"

She snorted. "Long enough." She looked back at Riley, then Jack, then Riley again.

"What do you think's going on with them?" Mac asked.

"Oh, they obviously have some history," Kayla replied. "Probably goes way back before he ever knew you. We all know you two have a history all your own, but ya'll both have your own parts of your lives that you haven't shared with each other."

"Oh?"

She shrugged, not really wanting to continue the conversation but obliging all the same. "If I had to guess, what's up with them has something to do with when she was a kid, he was a parent figure and probably betrayed her somehow."

Mac tilted his head. "What makes you say that?"

Kayla looked at Mac with a bit of an annoyed sigh. "Look, Riley hacks computers. Quite skillfully, I might add, from her file. Guaranteed, she'll have all of us looked up at some point while working with us because she needs to know who we are and what we're all about. Trust is paramount with her. Hence her issue with Jack: at some point, he broke that trust, and he's gonna have to earn it back somehow.

"And you, you hack objects," she continued. "Masterfully, from what I understand about you. Your improv skills and ability to take ordinary objects and turn them into whatever you happen to need at that time is what has kept you and those you work with safe and gotten all of you out of a lot of missions when things have gone pear-shaped.

"As for me?" she said. "I hack people. I observe them. Learn what makes them tick. See why they do what they do, and what made them the way they are. I look at behaviors, at ticks and tells, and find what you don't want me to know. Like that you still think of Nikki often, even though you tell everyone you're okay."

Mac flinched slightly, but said nothing.

"And you'd hoped for things to be different, but not like this," Kayla said. "I'm sorry. Riley definitely isn't going to replace her, but you'll definitely love and appreciate her in another way. She's gonna be a part of the family before you know it."

He nodded slightly. "And you?"

She scoffed, shaking her head. "Hell only knows. But, when we get this virus or whatever back, hopefully there's some closure for you."

"Hope so," Mac said softly.

"If not, there's always beer. And another fucking mission."

He laughed. "There's always that."

"Nikki's alive," Mac said.

"What the fuck?" Kayla said.

Jack stopped. "Did you just say…" he started.

"Holy fuck, this is bad. We are so fucked."

"How do you…"

"She's been working with Kendrick this whole time," Kayla and Mac said at the same time, before looking at each other.

"Jinx," she said. "You owe me a keg when this is over."

"Whatever," he replied. "We have to find her and stop her."

Kayla stood behind Mac and beside Jack, gun drawn toward Nikki as they confronted her on the plane. She watched as Mac walked up to Nikki's drawn gun, recognizing the determined frustration in his eyes. "Go ahead," he said. "You already killed me once."

Nikki handed off the gun as Kayla kept hers trained at the other woman, not wanting her to get away that easily. "You gonna call off your dog?" Nikki asked, nodding at Kayla.

"I may be a bitch, but at least I'm not a traitor who gets the one I love get shot," Kayla shot back.

"Kayla," Jack said, tucking Nikki's gun in his waistband and reaching out toward her.

"Back up, Jack. I'm not gonna shoot her." Kayla leveled a glare at Nikki. "Yet."

"Where's the virus, Nikki?" Mac asked.

Nikki said nothing.

Mac patted her down and instructed the team to tear the plane apart.

"Don't bother," Kayla said, still staring and holding her gun at Nikki. "It's not here. This treasonous fucker already sold it."

Mac looked at Kayla before looking back at Nikki. "She's right," he said. "It's not here."

Kayla shook her head. "You know we're gonna find it. And whatever you or the buyer has planned… it isn't gonna happen. You've worked with these two jackasses for years. You know it's over."

Nikki said nothing as Mac put her in handcuffs and led her off the plane.

"How did you know?" Jack said.

"I just know," Kayla replied, holstering her gun finally. She sighed heavily, shaking her head. "I hate people," she muttered as she walked off the plane, leaving Jack and Riley behind to look at each other.