Part 6

"WHAT? You were abducted?" Pete exclaimed as Ashton paused. She had still been telling her story when he interjected. She had just told them about the needle but hadn't told them what Jameson had said yet. They still didn't know who she or her father was.

"Yeah. It was H.I.T. The agent's name is Jameson. They've been looking for Charlie and me for a long time, but..." She looked down and sighed, closing her eyes as if it pained her to say, "Someone taught me about disappearing. When I was younger."

"Is this the same someone who taught you how to care for knife wounds and chloroform inhalation?" MacGyver asked, concern on his face. He was beginning to form an idea who this someone was.

Ashton looked up at him and directed a small nod at him.

"So, how did you get out?" Pete asked.

Charlie interjected now. "Now, that's a whole other story! About two months later, I heard through some of the...err...backwater channels...that there was an important prisoner at the H.I.T. base. My 'informant' said that they were gonna kill her, so I decided to try and break her out. I acquired some fake IDs...slightly difficult, considering I'm more than five years younger than most of the assassins. I snuck in and found Ashton." He stopped for a moment and gave a slight smile. "I couldn't pick the handcuffs. I had to get Ashton a hairpin, so she could pick it."

MacGyver smiled slightly at this, too. "I thought paperclips were your preferred lockpicking method," he joked. Ashton snorted, holding back a laugh.

Charlie continued. "And then we... walked out. Used the IDs and gave myself the air of a person who was meant to be there."

"Wait, hold it, you just... waltzed out?" MacGyver asked. Something here wasn't adding up.

Ashton turned to Charlie. "You never did tell me how we got out so easy. I was pretty out of it, and H.I.T. doesn't have any child operatives that I know of for us to be mistaken for."

Charlie looked surprised. "You know... all about performance... act like you own the place and keep your head down at the same time." His attempt to dodge answering this question did not go unnoticed by the others. There was a strong tension in the room, so he quickly resumed telling his tale. "Then we came here. I took care of her wounds. We found some relatively recent textbooks to read out of since it's not exactly safe for us to go to school," he finished.

"Most recently, we've stolen a few H.I.T. files," Ashton added. "We found Murdoc's plan to try to get you. I knew I couldn't let him do that."

She paused to take a breath, but shouted in surprise when one of the glass windowpanes shattered behind her and yet another bullet whizzed past the group. Ashton shouted something she normally wouldn't have in polite company, and then, "How the heck did he find us already?" The group dove to the floor, crouching near the legs of the table.

Charlie glanced sideways at her as the door burst open, and a large, blond, strong-looking man holding a gun in his right hand and looking furious stepped inside the cramped one-room cabin.

To the surprise of most everyone in the room, it was not Murdoc.

His steely glare immediately caught on Ashton, although it momentarily flicked to Charlie. He raised his pistol to point at her heart.

"Nice to see you again, Ashton. I think we have some unfinished business to attend to," he drawled, his voice deep and menacing. "And hello to you, MacGyver. Thornton. Call me Jameson," he added, smirking and nodding as he addressed each in turn. "Fortunately for you, H.I.T. only wants the kid. Told me to ignore any... previous assignments. Unfortunately for me, they want her alive," he finished.

MacGyver slowly rose, his mind racing to find something to get them out of this. His eye caught on the closest piece of wooden furniture. He discreetly placed one hand on a chair, as if leaning on it.

Jameson moved his weapon to point at Ashton's shoulder instead. He grinned again. "But they didn't say unhurt."

MacGyver jumped into action immediately. He cried out as he launched the chair in the direction of the intimidating man. Since Jameson didn't have enough time to fully dodge the flying chair, the gun was knocked out of his hand. He was dumbstruck for a few seconds, and MacGyver used the moment of hesitation to lunge at him, forcefully knocking him to the floor. He pulled back his fist to punch Jameson, but his opponent was too fast. Jameson and Mac rolled over until the assassin was on top. With his strong arms, he was easily able to drag Mac up by his neck and shoulder. Mac elbowed Jameson with his uninjured arm, causing the hitman to wince momentarily. Jameson's retaliation was quick, though, and he shoved the younger man towards the wall of the cabin. Dazed, MacGyver leaned on the wall, holding the sore spot on his head that had collided with the wood.

Jameson wasted no time grabbing his loaded tranquilizer gun from his belt and firing, with perfect aim, at Ashton, who was shielding Charlie from their attacker. Pete dove at Jameson next, but Jameson quickly got a hold of him and thrust him towards the wall, just as he had to Mac. After a few more seconds of the poison from the dart flowing through her body, Ashton's eyes closed, and she collapsed on the floor.

Jameson grabbed one of her arms, hoisted her up around his shoulders, and bolted off into the darkness.