A/N: This is a story I started to work on some time ago, but I decided to take down the original version in order to rework and rewrite some things that just weren't working for me personally anymore.

Please note that this story is posted primarily on A03; I may continue to post it here as well, but it will be much more gradual.

I would still like to thank/acknowledge all of the people who helped me with this story in general, when it came to some of the MacGyverisms and idea-bouncing and general encouragement:

I would like to thank Margot_St_Just for helping with idea-bouncing and some MacGyverisms.

I would like to thank WriterRider for helping me idea-bounce and for co-authoring portions of this story.

I would like to thank Uniquelyjas for a lot of idea-bouncing, reality checks, encouragement, proof-reading, and helping to co-author portions of this fic.

I would like to thank my friend Colter for his encouragement.

I would like to thank FemaleChauvinist for her encouragement and moderate idea-bouncing.

And last but not least, I'd also like to thank Deliweil for being friendly, encouraging, and for being a nice idea-bouncer.

Now with all acknowledgements out of the way, I'd like to finish with a disclaimer: None of us own MacGyver or anything related to it, this was just done for fun because we love the show.

Chapter 1

MacGyver couldn't keep the boyish grin off his face as he pulled his Jeep into the reserved parking of the Marina. Tonight was going to be a fun night of just him and the guys, something he'd been looking forward to ever since he got home from his most recent mission.

His thoughts wandered to that of his last assignment as he hopped out of the Jeep and placed the keys in his pockets, freeing his hands so he could retrieve the two brown bags from the backseat. It was his responsibility to get the snacks and drinks for tonight's big hockey tournament, since his friends had agreed to come over to his house to watch it on his TV set with him.

Phoenix had been hired to send some of their specialists out to help investigate something that the local authorities couldn't make heads or tails of, in the hopes that some of their field agents and lab technicians could figure it out and solve the mystery. After a long and grueling three weeks of checking everything over and even following up on a similar incident that occurred near the initial location while they were still investigating that one, it still didn't make any sense.

Mac still found himself mulling it over as he carried the freshly bought bags of goods through the front door of his houseboat. He went into automatic pilot mode as he put the perishables in the fridge, his hands grabbing each item and placing them in their proper spots as he barely glanced at them, knowing exactly where they went. His primary thoughts remained on the mystery he'd failed to help solve, both out in the field alongside the crime scene investigators and in the Phoenix lab with one of their top scientists, Emerald.

It was something that… just didn't make any kind of sense, to anyone. There had been certain kinds of damage done to an old house that had been recently condemned, one which the local county had plans to demolish in the near future so that a rich person who just bought up that piece of land could build a small warehouse.

Generally, no one took any kind of notice when it came to damage done to a house that was abandoned, condemned, and about ready to fall down anyway. If there were any trespassers traipsing through for any reason, they were generally just told to stay away with a warning. Homeless people would sometimes be warned away or perhaps given a night in jail. But this ended up being something worthy of concern and closer examination.

About a month ago, a lone individual was spotted entering the building, though due to the fact that the figure was clothed from head to toe in dark clothing and moved too swiftly to be seen, the witness couldn't make out any discernible features–not even the person's gender.

The man who saw the figure go in–who happened to be employed by the person who recently bought up the piece of land–had called the authorities mostly out of concern, since the building was at risk of collapsing. When the police arrived, they had very carefully entered to find that the mysterious stranger had left… but what they found in the treaspasser's wake had been extremely perplexing.

Mac shook his head slightly and shoved the matter out of his mind, deciding that now was not the time or place to mull it over further. He had already spent a few weeks beating his brains out over it, as Pete would say, and neither he nor anyone else could figure it out. It didn't make any sense when he saw what he saw at that house, nor did it make any more sense when he saw something eerily similar in another abandoned house at a nearby location. Still… he couldn't resist a puzzle, and there were few things that irritated him more than one he couldn't solve.

He began to set the snacks out on the table near the TV set, hoping that the fun tonight would help take his mind off of things. He was long overdue for something fun and this certainly fit the bill, particularly since he and the guys had been planning this for at least three months.

The hockey tournament was going to be airing in approximately two hours, and his friends were due to arrive soon.

As if on cue, there was a rap on the door which Mac walked over to answer personally. He grinned when he saw who it was. "Michael!"

After the two men exchanged a brotherly bearhug that Michael initiated, complete with some almost mildly competitive back-slapping, the two men took a step back to get a good look at each other. It had been at least seven years since they'd seen each other, though they had gone to highschool and college together.

When they first met, they had been on the same hockey team in highschool. Then, in college, they somehow ended up on opposite teams that were constantly competing against each other, both in official matches at school and during their own private matches on ice at the local skating rink. Even though they'd managed to remain friends all these years in spite of that, a mild competitive rivalry had permanently established itself between them that would always remain present.

"So where's Bill?" Michael asked once they were finished sizing each other up and touching base briefly on how life had been treating them.

"He should be along in a little while," MacGyver answered. "Hey," he gave his friend's hand a mild swat when Michael started to grab a large handful of popcorn. "Wait until everyone is here."

"What's the big deal? We're all gonna be chowing down for the next few hours anyway!"

"There won't be any left for the rest of us the way you eat," Mac pointed out with a half-grin. "And no," he held up a finger, "I'm not getting into another snack-eating contest with you to see who can eat the most Doritos."

Michael grinned. "You afraid I'll win again?"

"No, I don't even eat Doritos anymore."

Michael's face fell. "What is this?" he asked with half-feigned horror as he picked up a bag of chips. "Oh my God, man, the rumors are true. You have turned into a health nut! Mac, these aren't even real chips…"

Mac snatched the bag of Vegetable Thins and set it aside. "Well, if you don't like it you can have some popcorn."

"Not to worry, I came prepared!" Michael opened his jacket to reveal a couple of clear, basic bags filled with a number of different candy bars. A few of them looked a little worse for the wear due to the previous bear hugging, but still intact and edible.

"Aw man, Michael! I thought I was supposed to get all the snacks and drinks! Besides, if you eat too many of those things they'll rot your teeth and run you the risk of Diabetes."

"Well, Mac my boy," Michael picked up the bag of Veggie Thins and tossed them to Mac like a baseball for him to catch in front of his chest, "if you don't like chocolate, you can have those!"

Mac grunted and shook his head. "You haven't changed a bit." He once again deposited the bag on the table beside the rest of the snacks. "Besides, I didn't say I didn't want any, just that I know how much you can munch it down without even thinking."

"Geez, Mac, you sound about as bad as my wife. What's the big deal if I like to indulge myself during my off hours?"

"Yeah well, your wife called this morning to let me know you were on your way and she happened to mention you recently had a tooth pulled because it decayed too much. Isn't that your second one?"

Michael opened his mouth and ran his tongue indicatively over the gap in his gums between his teeth. "You just wait until I get my next paycheck," he said as he pulled back his lip from the spot. "Then you'll see the beauty of a brand new gold tooth I'm gonna have put right here."

MacGyver groaned a little in disgust. "What, next are you gonna get an eye patch and a wooden leg?"

Michael's eyes narrowed into slits. "Don't knock it until you've tried it, bub."

Any response Mac might have given was cut off when they heard duo beeps from the car horn outside. Making noise with the horn wasn't Bill's usual style, though Mac was aware that the man's new girlfriend was dropping him off at the houseboat in her own car while Bill's vehicle was in the shop.

"Come on, let's go greet Bill," Mac said, already heading for the door.

Michael and MacGyver reached the parking area reserved for tenants and guests to find a red convertible parked between Mac's Jeep and Michael's brown minivan. Bill was standing near the red car with a slender young woman who was a few inches shorter than him, her long black hair spilling down her back like a thin waterfall.

Whatever conversation she and Bill had immediately ceased when the two men approached, and the girl glanced almost shyly in their direction.

"MacGyver!" Bill greeted as he grabbed his friend's hand and then pulled him closer into a brief hug. "It's been a while, but I'm sure glad we could do this!"

"Yeah, me too," MacGyver beamed. "Hey Bill, this Michael, my friend from back home in Minnesota."

"Oh hey, good to meet you!" Bill grasped Michael's briefly, just to grimace when the larger and meatier hand briefly made his knuckles crack at the pressure. Once they released each other's hands, Bill flexed his digits just to make sure everything was still there and not broken.

"So I hear you grew up in Minnesota too," Michael was saying to Bill, "and that you're a huge hockey fan, and you grew up in the same general area. So how come none of us ever crossed paths back then?"

Bill shrugged. "I guess a big part of it is because I never played hockey, I just watched it for the most part."

"And there is the fact that he went to different schools than we did," Mac supplied. "Bill and I met at the Phoenix Foundation when he started working there in the research department about a year ago. I've been over to his place a few times to watch hockey games on his TV set, so I figured I would return the favor and host this get-together."

"So you invited me along while I'm in the area on a business trip," Michael smiled with gratitude. "Well, Bill, the way Mac talks about you I think the three of us are gonna get along just fine!" He placed one big, beefy arm around Mac and then the other around Bill's shoulders to pull them close, as though sealing some kind of brotherly wolfman pact.

Even though the moment was touching in its own way, somehow Mac was the first to notice that the girl was looking away, perhaps feeling a little left out or unsure if she'd been forgotten or dismissed somehow.

Mac cleared his throat. "Ah, Bill, care to introduce us to your friend here?"

Her head snapped up as she suddenly found everyone's attention on her. Bill disentangled himself from Michael's arm and walked over to the girl's side to take her hand. "MacGyver, Michael," he said, "I'd like you both to meet my girlfriend, Ruby."

"Hello," Ruby greeted quietly.

MacGyver's first impression of her was that she wasn't necessarily unfriendly, but definitely shy and quiet… perhaps a little socially awkward. She made eye contact with him and Michael, then glanced downward toward her shoes like she wasn't sure what to say.

Bill gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and smiled. "Well uh, I guess we'd better get in there before the game starts."

"Is she joining us?" Michael asked.

"I'll be heading back home," Ruby answered for herself. "I don't like hockey."

"You don't like hockey?" Michael echoed with feigned indignance. "Whatcha doing all the way out here, then? Trying to crash our party?"

Ruby's expression was bashful, but her smile was amused.

If it had just been the three of them without Ruby present, Mac might have been tempted to tease Bill a little with a line like, She doesn't like hockey–what kind of women are you dating? However, he simply grinned and kept that to himself in this case. "It's nice to meet you, Ruby," Mac said warmly as he gave her hand a brief shake, making sure he didn't prolong contact as not to make her uncomfortable.

"Yeah, you too," Ruby replied automatically as she turned away. "Bill, call me later when you're ready for me to pick you up and take you back to your house," she said as she slipped back into her driver's seat. Then, after motioning them to back up a bit, she pulled out of the parking spot and drove away.

"You'll have to excuse her," Bill said almost apologetically once she was well out of earshot. "She's quite nice once you get to know her, but she's a bit… shy. She grew up attending private schools and she's kind of a loner."

"No need to apologize," Michael said, "I've been told I look quite a fright to the young ladies, like an ornery old grizzly bear with this beard." He fingered the long, bushy hair on his thick chin indicatively.

"Young ladies say that, you say?" Bill raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it's what Mabel, my wife, said when she first met me." Michael grinned. "I ended up shaving my mustache and beard just so she'd feel more comfortable around me the first time I asked her out. Once we were hitched, I let it all grow back."

"I guess that means she didn't marry you for your clean shaven look," Mac commented.

"As my beard grew back, it grew on her and she took a liking to it," Michael replied cheerily. "The only thing she doesn't like is the hair on my back. The first time she expressed her displeasure was on our wedding night–she came to bed with a metal can in her hand, and I thought it was whipped cream that was gonna make our first night one to remember… but it turned out it was shaving cream. She wouldn't even sleep with me until she felt I was comfortably bare-backed."

Bill made a sound somewhere between a cough and clearing his throat. "Okay, I don't think I needed to know any of this about you," he remarked.

"So Bill, how'd you end up meeting Ruby?" Mac tactfully changed the subject as the trio began to head back toward the houseboat.

"Oh we just kept running into each other at the grocery store," Bill replied with a small smile. "The first time, her cart smacked into mine when neither of us were watching where we were going. The second time, I nearly grazed her car when she was pulling out of her parking spot. The third time, just a few weeks ago when I was going in through the door and she ran into me as she was coming out… we just started talking. I ended up asking her out."

"So how'd the first date go?" Michael asked as they re-entered the houseboat. Mac gave him a look as he unapologetically scooped up a handful of popcorn and shoved it into his mouth, but he ignored Mac. "She must be something if it lasted past one date." Small pieces of popcorn kernels fell out of his mouth while he talked, getting into his beard.

Bill raised an eyebrow, but refrained from commenting. "Well, all I can say is that she really is something when you get to know her a bit," he acknowledged with warmth.

"Come on, let's get ready for the game," Mac encouraged as he went to the fridge to fetch some of the drinks.