I'm still re-posting parts of this story (uh...backwards ). It was on here before.

A Little Problem Part Four

Rated: PG

“How the hell did you get here?” Jack O’Neill asked MacGyver.

“What, isn’t it obvious? You were whining so damn loud I was bound to find you sooner or later,” MacGyver said.

“Yeah, very funny,” Jack muttered.

“Come on, Jack, let’s get out of here,” MacGyver said.

They descended the stairs in the doll house until they reached the first floor. Walking toward the edge of the living room, they looked down to see how far they were from the floor. It was a greater drop than either of them had expected. The doll house was on a table, elevated high above the floor.

“Whoa, okay,” Jack said. “Maybe let’s not get out of here.”

“Come on, there has to be a way down,” MacGyver said, looking around. His head spun and his palms felt sweaty. He backed away from the edge and the precipitous drop to the floor below. Even if it was carpeted, he couldn’t imagine the landing to be very pleasant.

Jack noticed how pale and shaky his cousin had become. He stood behind him to steady him. “Mac, what’s wrong? Is it your fear of heights thing again?” He asked.

“Yeah, can you believe that?” MacGyver asked, looking at Jack and laughing slightly. “I’m afraid of a ledge that, if we were normal size, probably wouldn’t even reach up to my knee.”

Jack patted him on the back. “It’s okay, MacGyver,” he said. “I don’t think it’s ridiculous at all. I mean, come on, we are mini-me’s right now. Of course a drop like that is gonna be huge.”

Recovering from his tremors and his fear, MacGyver focused again. “Yeah, well the point is, how do we get down from here?” He asked.

He continued to search until he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was pink, fuzzy, and dangled close to the doll house. Approaching it, he saw that it was a feather boa, the kind little girls played with when they dressed up and pretended they were princesses. He looked down, clutching the side of the house to feel secure, and noticed that the boa reached all the way to the floor. Carefully, he gave it a good tug to see if it would come loose. It didn’t, and MacGyver figured it would support their weight if they used it to climb down to the floor.

“Jack,” he said, motioning him over. “Come on. I think I just found a way down.”

Jack looked at the pink boa. “What? On that thing? Mac, you’ve gotta be kidding me!” He said.

“It’s stable,” MacGyver said. “It’ll hold us.”

“That’s not the point,” Jack said. “I am not, under any circumstances, climbing down on that pink…thing.” He squinted at it in disgust.

“It’s the only way down, Jack.”

“I don’t care! Find a new way! Listen Mac, I’m a Colonel in the US Air Force. I’ve repelled using some pretty damn good climbing gear, and now you want me to climb down that? It’s ridiculous! Look at it! Can you imagine if Carter, Teal’c, and Daniel heard about me on that pink thing? I’d never hear the end of it!”

“Jack, they’re never going to know.”

“Oh, yeah? And you’re not going to tell them once we get back?”

MacGyver grinned, trying to hide his laughter, his brown eyes dancing with light. “Of course not. Now come on, Jack, just get on this thing, please?” He said.

Jack sighed. “First, I’m inside a pink house…now this,” he said.

Both of them climbed onto the boa and slowly began their descent to the carpeted floor below. What was a non-threatening drop, and indeed, a minor jump for a normal sized human had become a dangerous, long, and slow climb to the bottom. They took it very seriously, knowing any sudden move could cause them to fall. They treated it as if it were any climb to the bottom of a mountain, even if the mountain was only a small child’s table with a doll house on it and the rope they used was a pink feather boa. Once they reached the bottom, MacGyver looked around, hoping to spark some ideas.

Jack looked up at the house that now towered over him. From his level, it looked like an ominous house near the edge of a cliff, in danger of tumbling off of it. “You know, I’ve gotta tell you, I’m gonna miss that kid,” he said. “She was really nice to me.”

MacGyver looked at Jack and saw a wistful look on his face, sadness around the edges of his dark eyes, his jaw set tightly. He knew his cousin was thinking about his lost son Charlie. He knew Jack had a fondness for children, and he knew how guilty his cousin still felt about his son’s death, even though it was accidental. Any contact with children had this effect on Jack O’Neill. They made him happy, yet at the same time, memories of Charlie would overwhelm him, forcing him to replay the events of that terrible day over and over again in his mind. MacGyver supposed Jack O’Neill’s guilt over his son was the same guilt he felt about the death of his parents. Both of them were struggling to relive the past through others, trying to help them where they had failed to help their own families.

“What’s her name, Jack?” MacGyver asked, trying to help him out of his sadness.

“Ellie,” Jack said, looking at MacGyver. “Sweet kid.” His expression suddenly changed from one of sadness to one of tough determination, his eyes growing harder. “So come on, let’s get out of here,” he said. “What’s your plan?”

MacGyver turned away from him and looked around again, taking in the massive child’s bedroom. He saw dozens of stuffed animals but little that would help them make their escape. “I don’t know yet, Jack,” he said.

“You don’t know? Well, get on the ball and think of something! Where’s your MacGyver magic?”

“Just give me a second to think, Jack!” MacGyver snapped. He rolled his eyes and clenched his fists. ‘My God, he can be SO annoying sometimes!’ His thoughts said loudly.

‘I heard that,’ Jack’s thoughts said in response.

Forgetting that occasionally both he and Jack could communicate telepathically because of their Ancient abilities, MacGyver did his best to concentrate and remain entirely focused on his ideas, ignoring Jack. He still wasn’t used to Jack being able to hear his thoughts and vice versa. He considered his thoughts private, as he was sure Jack did, too. Maybe that was why they rarely slipped into that form of communication unless one of them was emotional or irritated. During those times, their guards seemed to slip and allow the thoughts to flow into each other’s minds.

MacGyver continued to look around until he found the perfect object he was searching for that would help them get out of the giant fortress. Ellie might have had a lot of girl’s toys, but she also had her own collection of boy’s toys as well—cars, planes, remote control toys, trucks, mechanical toys, toy tools, building blocks—they were all there in a near corner of the room. It was the perfect setup from MacGyver to work with, and a large grin appeared on his face.

Jack noticed this. “What is it, Mac?” He asked.

“Look,” MacGyver said. His eyes settled on a toy jeep that looked strangely a lot like his own. “See that jeep? We’re driving out of here in it.”

“But how?”

“Come on,” MacGyver said, walking towards it. “I’ll show you.”

***

MacGyver had the hood to the toy jeep propped open. Jack watched as he assembled a battery he found in one of the toys, connecting it to some wires he stripped out of another electronic toy. He used some of Ellie’s toy tools since they were sturdy enough, along with his knife to rig the battery inside the hood of the jeep. All around him, he had gathered every available piece from each mechanical toy, finding use for parts from all of them. He dismantled them and found circuit boards inside some of them, and more wires and batteries in others.

“I really hope Ellie doesn’t mind,” MacGyver said, “but this is our only way out of here and back to the gate.”

“Just what are you rigging, Mac?” Jack asked.

MacGyver looked up at Jack, a broad, childlike smile on his face, excitement lighting his eyes. He was in his element. “I’m making an engine for this jeep, Jack,” he said. “Ellie’s toys are incredible! It’s like a junkyard filled with spare parts!”

“How do you know this is going to work?”

MacGyver shrugged, refusing to lower his enthusiasm. “I don’t,” he said.

“Oh, well that’s great.”

“Once I made my own car out of spare parts.”

“Did it run?”

“Well…yeah,” MacGyver said, half his body hidden behind the hood as he worked. “It didn’t move very fast, but it got me where I needed to go. That’s kinda the same concept I’m working with here.”

Jack grinned. “It’s too bad Carter isn’t here,” he said. “She’d be pleading with you to help you make that thing. She’s so mechanical, just like you.”

MacGyver thought about how often Jack mentioned Sam Carter. He knew his cousin secretly had a crush on his second in command that had developed into deep love and respect for her. He could sense that his cousin was concerned for her safety as well as the rest of his team. No matter how hard Jack tried to hide his feelings and his thoughts, MacGyver could easily read them, his Ancient abilities assisting him.

“Jack,” MacGyver said, looking up from behind the hood. “Where do you think the rest of your team is? Could they be stranded on this planet too?”

“I don’t know, Mac,” Jack said, sighing. “They might have returned home to organize a search for us by now.”

“What if they haven’t? What if they’re out there somewhere?”

Jack was prepared for that possibility. He had been worried about them ever since he woke up in Ellie’s doll house. He hadn’t seen them for hours since they had arrived, and it wasn’t like them to not try to find him or communicate with him somehow. The relaxed attitude he’d had when they first came to the planet of giants was gone. Before, he had been too mystified by the unusual scenery to think clearly about where his team might be. Now, he was more worried for them than ever. He stared down at the carpet, focusing on the enhanced texture, every fiber of the rug magnified because of his small size and his proximity to it, looking like twisted and braided ropes.

“Then we’d better find them,” he said in a quiet, serious tone. “Keep working on that jeep so you can get us out of here, Mac.”

***

“I can’t believe it,” Jack said. “Your engine of spare parts actually works! How often are you right, Mac? I mean, really?”

The tiny toy jeep carrying the tiny men rolled across the carpet, powered by the batteries and electronic components MacGyver had scrounged from various parts of Ellie’s toys. Jack released an ecstatic whoop and MacGyver smiled at him.

“This is kind of fun,” he said.

“This is cool!”

Both of them gazed up, still amazed by doors higher than the tallest buildings on earth and a ceiling that seemed to be the same height and distance away from them as the sky. The jeep rolled through wide, immense hallways, passing pictures hung on the walls that could cover entire city blocks on their planet. It was a fascinating wonder world, definitely not something they’d see everyday. They absorbed as much of it as they could, eager to describe the planet to Hammond once they got home.

“Mac, I just thought of something,” Jack said.

“What is it, Jack?”

“Aren’t we upstairs?”

“Yes.”

“Then how are we going to drive this thing down them?”

“Well…this is an all-terrain vehicle,” MacGyver said, smiling awkwardly, doing his best to joke.

Jack glared at him.

***

Lately, Allen didn’t like how Susan was conducting her research. She was sloppy and too sentimental, believing her subjects had rights. He snorted. Rights. Whoever heard of such a thing? They were aliens, for God’s sake, not members of their planet. Once they entered their atmosphere, they no longer had freedom. They had to obey by his planet’s orders, and his planet’s orders were to study all forms of alien life. Study. That meant they were merely objects for scientific research, nothing more. They could employ whatever methods they needed to in order to learn about a new race, even if that meant the subject died as a result. It was an inconvenient loss to science and their progress, but Allen never wept for them when they died. They mattered little to him beyond his research.

What right had she to blubber on about treating the subjects humanely? Their people were dying of diseases every day. He didn’t have time to waste on worrying about how some damn alien was treated in the laboratory. He needed results. That was what the ruler of his planet had commissioned him to do, and he was duty bound to fulfill his scientific mission. Susan was weak. She was growing soft towards these subjects, and Allen believed it was affecting her competency at work. She was becoming secretive. She had lied and falsified research in order to please him. Meanwhile, she was helping these alien subjects return home before he could learn a damn thing about them that might benefit his race.

Allen knew she was hiding something from him. More than once she had released a subject, sending it home before he was given the proper chance to study it. She claimed it was all for the peace and security of the universe, that she wanted to maintain diplomatic and friendly relations with these aliens. He couldn’t care less about how other races felt about his planet. If they didn’t like it, then they should not have come in the first place. He began to suspect that Susan was not only lying to him—she was also hiding the aliens from him, perhaps even in her own home.

Deciding to investigate to see if his suspicions were real, Allen entered Susan’s house to have a look around. He was in a fortunate position as her superior. He knew where she lived. It was easy to bypass all the security measures she had taken. Door locks and alarms were no deterrent to him. Extensive mechanical and scientific experience assisted him in getting inside. Once he was in, he walked around, quietly observing, looking for any clues that she was secretly conducting her own research away from the laboratory.

For the most part, the house seemed quiet. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. He looked up the stairs, wondering if something might be hidden on the second floor. He never imagined the scientific research gold mine he was about to find once he reached that floor. Ascending the stairs, he slowly became aware of strange noises. It sounded mechanical, like something running, almost like an engine. He heard voices, but the voices were faint and small, just like the engine noise. Whatever these creatures were, they were not his size. A grin spread on his face as he tried to pinpoint exactly where the noises originated. Stepping carefully, hoping not to be discovered, Allen looked all around the hallway, down at the floor, and around corners for any sign of the sounds of life he heard. He didn’t have to look very far or wait very long. The tiny vehicle carrying two small humanoid creatures appeared suddenly before him, and they were advancing his way. Apparently, they hadn’t seen him. Grinning again, he hid behind a door frame, waiting for the perfect opportunity to grab them.

***

“You can’t be serious, Mac! How are we going to drive down the stairs?” Jack asked.

“We’re not,” MacGyver said.

“Oh? Then, what are we going to do? Fly out of here? As far as I can tell, you didn’t attach wings to this baby.”

“There’s a flat piece of wood supporting the railings that we can use as a ramp,” MacGyver said. “I didn’t get a good look at it when I was dangling from the purse strap, but from what I can tell, there just might be enough room for the jeep’s wheel span.”

“Just? We’re playing with “justs” here?” Jack asked.

MacGyver shrugged. “Well, you know me,” he said, smiling awkwardly.

“Yeah, that’s comforting. You know Mac, it’s a wonder you haven’t been killed yet.”

“Like you’re Mr. Careful,” MacGyver shot back.

“Just shut up and drive us the hell out of here,” Jack said.

“I’m trying! What do you think I’m doing?”

The two were too busy arguing to notice the giant foot obstructing their path and the giant figure that belonged to it towering over them. Jack looked forward at the last minute and alerted MacGyver’s attention.

“Mac, look out!” He shouted.

MacGyver took a sharp turn, trying to avoid impact with the enormous foot, but they were going too fast and the wheels ground into the carpet, causing the toy jeep to flip. The vehicle wasn’t equipped with seatbelts, so the crash ejected them from the vehicle, sending them flying in different directions. MacGyver landed inside another bedroom, and Jack lay sprawled in the hallway, directly beneath the giant man. Trying to recover from the shock of crash, MacGyver hid behind the door frame, watching helplessly as he saw the large hand swoop down, threatening to scoop Jack up in its clutches. Jack sat up slowly and groaned, his head throbbing again. He felt dizzy and tried to orient himself to his surroundings again. He looked around for MacGyver, but he didn’t see him.

“Mac?” He asked.

‘Run, Jack!’ MacGyver shouted to him in his mind, hoping not to reveal his location to the giant man. ‘There’s a giant hand behind you, and it’s about to pick you up! Run!’

Jack looked up and saw the face of an unfamiliar being. It wasn’t Ellie, and it wasn’t Susan. He didn’t now who this guy was, but he had a feeling he shouldn’t trust him, and that MacGyver was right about suggesting he run. Picking himself up from the floor, he started to run and try to find MacGyver, but it was too late. The hand picked him up, wrapping its fingers tightly around his body. He squirmed and fought, but the fingers wouldn’t release their grasp. He was lifted higher and higher into the air until he came face to face with the man, who was grinning at him in the way so many people from other planets had grinned at him. He didn’t like that grin. It was self-satisfying. It showed great pleasure in tormenting him. He’d seen that look on Ba’al’s face. It wasn’t a pleasant, cheerful grin. It was more like a menacing smirk, the face contorted hideously by evil desire to do him harm and watch him suffer. His struggles increased, causing the man to laugh at him.

“You’re quite the find,” Allen said, staring in perverse fascination at the tiny human clasped in his hand. “I didn’t think you existed. Imagine what my discovery could do to help my research efforts! I’ll probably win the planet’s top honor, not to mention earn more grant money to advance my projects!”

“Great, another pompous bum,” Jack said. “I can’t stand pompous asses.”

Allen smiled at him. “You have quite a sarcastic, superior attitude for something so small and pathetic,” he said. “You will help me.”

“Not a chance,” Jack said, still struggling.

“You will help me, even if you resist,” Allen said. “You see…you cannot fight me. I’m much larger and more powerful than you.”

“Oh, yeah?” Jack asked. He bit the man’s index finger, clamping his teeth down hard into the flesh, drawing blood.

Allen’s fingers loosened their grip in reaction to the pain the bite caused, but he quickly regained his grip on Jack’s tiny body, closing his fingers tighter around him than before, causing him to gasp for air. He was crushing Jack’s lungs. He smiled when he saw the grimace of pain on the tiny being’s face.

“I could crush you right now,” he said.

Slowly, he released his tight grip, and Jack gasped again, desperately trying to get air back into his lungs. He felt pain in his side, as if one of his ribs was fractured. He didn’t doubt it. This sadistic S.O.B. was enjoying every minute of it. He began to struggle again once his strength returned to him, and Allen watched in amusement. The tiny man’s movements and kicks did little to force him to open his hand. He refused to do it. He had made the find of the century, and he would be damned if his little subject refused to cooperate.

“I won’t crush you, though,” he said, “not yet. You are about to make a valuable contribution to my life’s work.”

“Goody, I can’t wait,” Jack said, his breath sounding ragged. Even though Allen no longer was squeezing air out of his lungs, he felt it took tremendous pain and effort to draw air into his lungs. The jerk had actually broken at least one of his ribs. He could feel it.

Allen laughed at the small man again, pulling out a small, cylindrical plastic container used in the laboratory for collecting specimens. “You have a lot of fight in you,” he said. “I admire that, even if it is foolish and stupid, wasting your energy like that. You cannot fight against something twice your size. I am more powerful than you.”

“Yeah, yeah, bow to your god and all that blah blah blah,” Jack said. “I’ve heard enough of this crap from the Goa’uld.”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” Allen said, “but you’ll tell me, soon. You’ll tell me everything about your world, or I’ll kill you.”

Before Jack could protest, Allen crammed him inside the plastic cylinder, locking the lid tightly. Helplessly, Jack pounded on the walls of his new transparent prison.

“Let me out of here, damn it!” Jack shouted.

Even though his voice was small and muffled from the container, Allen could still hear him. While the tiny being’s pitiful attempts to escape had been amusing at first, he could no longer stand listening to him. He pressed a button on the side of the container, and a bright white light flashed inside, rendering Jack O’Neill unconscious. He was trapped, sealed inside the container in a deep sleep. Allen held up the container, looking at the sleeping, tiny man inside. He was pleased. He was prepared to find the other tiny being. He had noticed how much they looked alike, and it thrilled him to think of the prospect of having two beings that were, up until then, considered either extinct or the stuff of fairy tales. Two little, nearly identical humans from the fictional planet earth. The possibilities tantalized him. Before he could act, however, he heard a car pull up in the driveway. Susan was returning home.

MacGyver watched, terrified and helpless as the giant man walked away, carrying Jack unconscious inside the container. All he could do now was wait until the woman and her child returned home, hoping they could somehow find Jack so he could rescue him yet again.

To be continued…