June 10th, 2017
Sinclair was on the phone with a prospective client when a beep sounded in his ear, alerting him of another caller. The arms dealer promptly wrapped up his call with his potential customer and tapped the accept button.
"Sinclair," he answered.
"Your operation has been compromised. Two agents are on their way to intercept your business partner. Their mission is to acquire your associate's hard drive. They want to know everyone you've supplied over the years, and they plan to shut down your whole operation.
The two agents assigned to this mission are Angus MacGyver and Jack Dalton. I'm prepared to offer a handsome reward for the capture of Agent MacGyver. We need him alive. We have no use for Agent Dalton, so you may dispose of him as you wish. Inform me once you have them in your custody," the mysterious caller stated matter-of-factly, with no emotion detected in his tone, and disconnected the call.
Sinclair's stomach fluttered in excitement. It had been far too long since the arms dealer had any playthings to torment. This mundane week was shaping up to be far more exciting than he had anticipated.
March 3rd 2019 Phoenix Foundation Los Angeles, California
Derrick Martins scoured through the devastating headlines of the most recent terrorist attack in Europe. All the intel he had gathered thus far was pointing in one direction. As unlikely as it seemed, a supposedly deceased terrorist appeared to be active again. Derrick was like Oversight's version of Jill. He had worked solely with the elder MacGyver for the entirety of his employment at the Phoenix and DXS before that, which had totaled almost seventeen years now.
Oversight preferred the more old-fashioned files and reports he could physically touch instead of the more modern and convenient digital ones. The analyst finished compiling the report and took it into his superior's office. James sat at his desk, looking out his window at nothing in particular. The mind of Oversight was never idle, but recently the older MacGyver seemed much more contemplative than he'd ever seen him before. The thwack of a paper-clipped folder dropping on his desk snapped him out of his thoughts.
James looked up at his long-time analyst, silently questioning his presence.
"This report needs your attention urgently, Sir."
Oversight nodded, and Derrick excused himself.
James MacGyver had just received news that had sent him reeling. He had cancer. The elder MacGyver required absolute control over everything in his life to feel stable, and this was entirely out of his control. Now that Angus knew he was Oversight, he had lost a great deal of control over his son. Things were certainly much easier for him before the younger MacGyver had gained that knowledge. He felt irritated and off-kilter.
His son was not making things easy for him either. He was holding a grudge and being incredibly stubborn. Just another characteristic he had inherited from his mother, unfortunately. He was acting like a child, and James wished his son would just get over it already.
Dalton wasn't helping matters. He didn't trust his son's overwatch. He believed it was only a matter of time before the former Delta would turn just like Walsh had.
James found himself observing the camera feed for the war room where Dalton and his son were talking and laughing with each other. He was surprised by a blast of jealousy that shot through him.
James was certain that the older agent was the reason that his son was refusing to move on. The agents shared an unhealthy codependency. As long as Angus had Dalton, nothing was going to change.
He had thought that when his son had quit and cut contact with Dalton and the others, that would have severed whatever bond they had. Although it had strained their relationship, the two still seemed to be close. It was time his son learned to be self-reliant and stand on his own two feet again.
James glared at the image of the grinning Texan one last time before he picked up the folder and flipped it open.
March 7th, 2020
Not for the first time, Jack wondered how he had ended up here—far away from his kids, coming up on a year into hunting for the psycho terrorist Tiberius Kovac, for the second time. He thought he had already stomped this cockroach years ago, but apparently, he hadn't stomped him good enough because here he was, hunting down this asshat yet again. Every victim that had died at the hands of Tiberius Kovacs since his failed assassination was on him. If he had just done his job the first time, two hundred and seventy-three innocent people would still be alive. Their blood was on his hands. Jack had led the elite task force the first time as well and was the sniper who took the shot that had failed to kill the evil bastard.
When he was sent the picture of an older Tiberius Kovacs, Jack had thought it was some kind of sick joke. He found out a few days later that James had sent him the picture and that it wasn't a joke. He had turned the Kovacs mission down at first, but after a couple of conversations with Oversight, Jack decided it was solely his responsibility to remedy his failure of putting Kovacs in the ground the first time.
Jack thought back to the day James had called him in. A man sat at a desk outside James' office. He had short brown hair, a medium build, and looked to be in his late forties. Jack had never seen this guy before, so he introduced himself and stuck his hand out waiting for the introductory shake. The man said his name was Derrick Martins, but he completely ignored Jack's hand. "Mr. MacGyver will be with you shortly, you may have a seat." Martins gestured towards the seats in front of him. Jack quirked an eyebrow at the brush-off but did as he was told.
'Mr. Martins must be the life of the party,' Jack had thought to himself.
Jack didn't have to wait long before he was called in.
It was strange being in Oversight's office. He'd never laid eyes on this room in the entire time he had worked there.
Jack's stomach dropped to his feet when Oversight told him the details of all the attacks the terrorist was responsible for and all the innocent civilians that had perished because Jack had failed to complete his mission ten years ago. Eighty-one of them had been children. His self-hatred grew by the second, even now. Still, Jack had argued that he couldn't just up and leave Mac. Jack's anxiety had shot through the roof just with the thought of leaving the kid.
Jack told the older MacGyver that it was his job to watch out for Mac, that he was the kid's partner, and Mac needed him. The elder MacGyver brought up how Angus seemed to do just fine without him during his several-month-long, self-imposed exile. A flash of anger shot through Jack with that statement, followed quickly by deepening doubt. Jack had opened his mouth to argue with James but closed it just as quickly. Oversight suggested that maybe it wasn't Mac who needed Jack, but Jack who needed Mac.
Jack was caught off guard by James's comments; they had so closely resembled some of his own innermost thoughts and fears. Jack flashed back to the miserable months that his young friend had been absent. Jack had not done very well in Mac's absence. Jack had tried to stay as busy as he could, so he volunteered for every Op that needed an agent with his skills. Even with that tactic, he had still spent most of his time worrying about the kid, which had distracted him enough that he was severely injured on two of those missions during Mac's absence.
He had asked his remaining team not to inform Mac about his stays in the Phoenix infirmary. Not that their former teammate was taking their calls anyway. Jack didn't want Mac to know about it.
He had utilized Riley's tech skills almost daily to hijack satellites in order to check in on the blonde genius. He had practically begged Mac to take him with him in one of the many video messages he had sent his friend that went ignored, which had cut him to the quick. If he was completely honest with himself, Jack really wasn't sure where he stood with Mac anymore, so he couldn't deny the truth in Oversight's words.
Mac didn't need Jack, not like Jack needed him. That fact was apparently obvious even to Oversight.
Maybe Mac was sick of him and his overprotectiveness and didn't want him around anymore, or maybe Mac had simply outgrown Jack. Maybe that's what Mac had been trying to tell him when he had ignored all his calls and messages. Jack was typically not the insecure type, but Oversight had just voiced what Jack had secretly been worried about since Nigeria: that Mac didn't need him anymore.
Jack had thought it all over for two days until Oversight sent him a message telling him to turn on the news. Discovering that Kovacs had orchestrated another attack and seeing the death toll cemented his decision to accept the mission. Oversight was right; Jack was responsible for Kovacs' continued reign of terror, so he needed to remedy that before any more innocent lives were lost.
He only trusted one person to take over his job and protect his team, so he set everything up with Matty before he even started packing for this open-ended mission.
Mac may have had enough of him, and Riley may hate him for leaving this way, but the safety of his kids would always come first. Just like a true parent, Jack's love and fierce protectiveness were unconditional.
The blindsided look on Mac's face when Jack had told him he was accepting the Kovacs mission had Jack second-guessing. Maybe Mac would be bothered by him leaving. The last thing Jack wanted was to let Mac down. As soon as he had walked out of the War Room a year and a half ago, he felt like that's exactly what he had done.
This mission was really starting to get to him. Everything about it just felt wrong. The Phoenix shut down not too long after he left. His constant worry for his kids had decreased slightly since then. At least, his team wasn't doing dangerous missions without him. He had faith in Desi's abilities, but he knew how far he would go to protect his team, and that was all the way. He doubted anyone else would be willing to go that far.
Mac has been teaching since Phoenix closed its doors, and even though it's not typically considered a dangerous job, he knows that Mac is a magnet for trouble. He also has a lot of enemies, and far too many of them know where the kid lives.
It's his own fault for not being there with his family to watch over them personally. Jack missed his kids like crazy, but he wasn't even sure if they wanted him to come back anymore. Jack scrubbed a hand over his face in frustration. The Delta pushed down the guilt and replaced the emotion with anger—anger at himself and all his perceived failings. Moisture gathered in his eyes until a tear broke free and slid down his cheek. Jack couldn't help but dwell on how epically he had screwed things up.