[MacsChick]

Here's part three!

After Deborah Part Three
Rated: PG

“So, tell me about this new date,” Nikki Carpenter said, smiling in amusement.

MacGyver looked at her from his position on the sofa in his house boat. She was standing behind his kitchen counter, a mug of tea nearby. She had her hands planted firmly on the countertop, looking in charge and about to cook him something like she was his wife.

MacGyver sighed. “She’s not a date,” he said. “She’s just a new friend.”

“Well, I think it’s wonderful that you’re finally reaching out to other women. It’s healthy. After what you’ve been through…well, you need to move on.”

Nikki picked up her mug of tea and walked toward him, sitting across from him. She looked into MacGyver’s dark eyes. Ever since the incident with Deborah, they seemed vacant and sad, even slightly fearful. She wasn’t used to seeing his eyes look like that. Usually, they shone with confidence. The closest she’d ever come to seeing his eyes as dull was shortly after Mike’s death. She wondered how much more personal anguish he’d have to suffer, and only in one year.

“This…”

“Anna,” MacGyver said with little emotion.

“Anna. You know MacGyver, she might just be what you need right now,” Nikki said. “Think of her as a positive change after all the negatives.”

MacGyver looked at Nikki with piercing eyes. “I just rescued her from her car, Nikki,” he said glumly. “I wouldn’t expect things to develop much more than that. Of course she feels close to me after that, but I don’t see us evolving into anything more.”

“Well, you never know,” Nikki said, shrugging. “I’m glad Pete gave you some time off. You’re not working on any assignments right now, and you’re not working on any environmental projects. She couldn’t possibly be another enemy, MacGyver. You’re free to explore a relationship with her, if you want to.”

MacGyver frowned at her. “Why is this so important to you?” He asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe because we’re friends and I just want to see you happy.”

MacGyver managed a slight smile. “I am happy, Nikki,” he said in a voice that showed he didn’t entirely believe himself. “Stop worrying, willya?”

A knock sounded at MacGyver’s door, followed by a woman’s voice with a distinct British accent.

“Hello,” Anna said, knocking once more.

“Anna’s here,” MacGyver said, looking at Nikki almost as if seeking her approval.
He stood and went to answer the door, Nikki following him.

“Hi Anna,” MacGyver said, smiling and letting her in. She was using a crutch to keep the weight off her bandaged leg. “Do you need any help?”

“No, I’m fine,” Anna said. She entered the house boat and saw Nikki standing there, smiling. “Who’s this?”

“I’m Nikki, MacGyver’s friend and sometimes co-worker.”

“I’m Anna.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Nikki said. She looked at the couple and smiled again. “I guess I’ll be going. See you later.” She winked at MacGyver.

Anna turned to look at the rustic interior of the house boat. “I love your house, MacGyver! It’s positively charming!” She said.

While Anna was turned away from Nikki and MacGyver, Nikki gave MacGyver a thumbs-up gesture to signal her approval. MacGyver glared at her and then grinned and shook his head, watching her as she left. As irritating as she could be, he had grown fond of her. She was a friend, sister, and protector. Once she was gone, his attention returned to Anna.

“You like the place, huh?” He asked. “It usually isn’t most women’s taste.”

Anna turned and looked at MacGyver. “I love it,” she said. “It suits you.” She hobbled around the rest of the house, absorbing the surroundings, quietly memorizing them.

“How’s your leg doing?” MacGyver asked, unsure how exactly to open a conversation with this woman who was still a stranger to him.

“It’s fine, MacGyver,” Anna said. “I’d much rather prefer to talk about something else.” She looked at him with her deep, penetrating green eyes.

“Uh…of course. Please, have a seat.”

“Thank you.”

Anna sat on his sofa, and he took her crutch from her, leaning it carefully against a wall nearby. He remained standing, watching her.

“Aren’t you going to sit down?” Anna asked, laughing lightly. “I won’t bite.”

That remains to be seen, MacGyver thought. Deborah told him he could trust her, too, and look what had come of it—pain and a broken heart. At times, he almost wished she had succeeded in killing him. Maybe she had been right—at least she would have been a “pleasant dying memory.” He would have preferred that to the pain and confusion he now felt. Sighing, he sat, keeping his distance from Anna by sitting across from her. The two of them were silent, watching each other.

“Well, I certainly hope we have more to discuss than my accident,” Anna said finally, laughing nervously. “I can only thank you so many times for saving my life, you know.”

She tapped the foot on her healthy leg uneasily. She felt like she was a high school girl on her first date. Neither of them had anything to say. She knew she was being watched and her performance was being graded by a malevolent, unseen presence. The man who hired her demanded excellence and she had promised results, but reaching MacGyver’s wounded, distant heart proved more difficult than she expected. He was doing his best to be polite to her, but she could tell he was still struggling with his feelings for her. She couldn’t disappoint her employer. To do so would be suicide. She couldn’t fail. It was not an option. She decided to try something different. It was a risk, but she had to get MacGyver to open up and trust her somehow.

“MacGyver, why are you so reserved?” She asked, watching him. She knew the answer, of course, but she wanted to hear it from him.

“What?” MacGyver asked, the question taking him by surprise.

“I haven’t done something to offend you, have I?”

MacGyver shook his head. “No, of course not,” he said, attempting a small, shy smile. “I guess that’s just how I am. People always tell me I’m a bit of a loner.”

“Does that ever bother you? I mean, don’t you ever feel like you want to open up more to people?”

MacGyver was confused by her question. He almost felt like asking her if she had talked to Nikki, but he changed his mind. “Well, I open up to people in my job. I help people, meet people. I’m not entirely alone,” he said casually, not defensive at all.

“But you’re alone at home,” Anna said. When he didn’t respond, she continued. “So that’s what you do, is it? Help people?” She arched a golden eyebrow.

“Basically.”

“Sounds like fulfilling work.”

“It is. I helped you.”

“Yes you did, and my life is better for it.” She grinned, and MacGyver returned her grin. “But really, MacGyver, I don’t mean to sound forward. I know we’re just getting acquainted with one another. I guess I just want to know why you seem so closed off from me. You almost act as though you can’t trust me.”

A small shudder ran through MacGyver’s back. He didn’t know it was that obvious. This woman was making him uncomfortable with all her probing questions, but then again he had been confronted before in a similar way by many other women in his life. Before, it hadn’t been an issue of trusting them—it had been an issue of surrendering his heart completely to them, committing to them in a serious relationship. He was afraid of losing them, he always told them. Now, he was more afraid that they didn’t care if they lost him, that they’d be callous murderers seeking financial gain like Deborah. He supposed he could tell Anna to leave, that he didn’t want to explain himself to her. But, as Nikki said, perhaps it was time to open up and trust someone new.

“Well, there is a long story to that,” he said, grinning not out of joy but out of nervousness.

“What happened?” Anna asked softly.

“I…was hurt, by someone. It’s complicated.” He rubbed his face and ran his hands through his sandy hair.

“A woman?” Anna asked, coaxing his answers gently, soothing him like a therapist. She kept telling herself not to push him, not to force him too hard. He had to give her what she wanted.

“Yeah, a woman,” he said, looking at her with those pain-filled eyes. “It wasn’t too long ago, either.”

“I think I understand,” Anna said. “Listen MacGyver, if you don’t want to tell me anymore, that’s fine. I know it must be a painful subject for you. I’m sorry I brought it up.”

“No, it’s fine,” MacGyver said. “Actually, Nikki’s right. It’s nice to have someone to tell this stuff to. It’s kind of a relief.”

“Well, I’m glad. I want to be your friend, MacGyver. I hope you can believe me.”

Friend. Maybe he could manage that. MacGyver glanced at his kitchen. “Listen, would you like some tea or something?” He asked. “I made some earlier for Nikki.”

“Sounds wonderful. Maybe we can talk about more pleasant subjects.”

MacGyver smiled. “I’d like that,” he said.

Anna watched him as he busied himself in the kitchen, making the tea. Again, she thought about his many contradictions—strong yet gentle, rugged yet graceful, confident yet vulnerable, intelligent yet childlike still in many ways. He worked very hard to build an impenetrable wall around himself, protecting himself against further harm, yet his job required him to endanger himself almost constantly. Even though she was playing the part of a woman just getting to know him, she read the thorough history compiled by the man who hired her. She knew his deepest disappointments and his highest triumphs. She almost knew where all his scars were located on his body and how he had acquired them.

Still, reading about him could never compare to actually watching him, wondering how such a man could continue throwing himself into harm’s way. Perhaps it was guilt—she knew about his friend’s accidental death as a boy. But maybe it was more than that. Either it was a death wish, or a desire to protect others, to build walls around others just as he had built one around himself. MacGyver—the ultimate protector. The only problem with his system was that he could never fully protect himself, no matter how hardened he became from past experience. There was still a part of him that didn’t want to give up his trust in others, still a little naïveté or perhaps hope in the human condition. She relied on that hope to get him where she needed him and where her employer wanted him.

She smiled watching him, feeling at ease in his presence. He seemed to have that effect on everyone he knew. She had no doubt that even Deborah had found it difficult to make her kill. He was warm, decent, and charming. She admitted to herself that it wasn’t going to be easy for her, either, doing what she was hired to do. She had to remind herself to take it slowly, that she wasn’t even the main player in this game. Someone else had a larger agenda in mind for MacGyver, and she was just the middleman. Thinking this way helped relax her and keep her focused on what she needed to do next.

“Tea’s ready,” MacGyver said, approaching Anna with two mugs in his hands and an easy smile. “Careful, it’s hot.”

“Thank you,” Anna said, taking one of the mugs.

She blew on it and sipped it carefully, and then she set it down on his coffee table. She watched as he did the same thing. It was almost time to make her next move. The phone rang, and Anna’s body tensed with excitement. MacGyver looked at her, annoyed by the ringing.

“I should just let the machine get it,” he said.

“No, that’s all right,” Anna said. “Go ahead and answer it.”

“You’re here, we’re talking…trust me, it’s fine.”

“But it might be important. Please, I can wait.”

MacGyver glanced at the phone. “My boss Pete has been trying to call me lately,” he said. “Maybe I’ll go see if that’s him and let him know I’m still alive,” he said, giving Anna a lopsided, sheepish grin that managed to look seductive at the same time. He got up and went over to the phone. “Hello,” he said.

The call wouldn’t last long. It was a diversion. Nobody was on the other end. Anna knew this. She just hoped she would have enough time to do what she needed to do. She looked at where he had placed his mug. Feeling like she was in some silly old movie filled with clichés, she opened the capsule that had been hidden in her jacket and dumped its contents into his tea.

***

A sharp slap to the side of her cheek greeted Anna when she met with her employer. She groaned in pain, holding the throbbing flesh.

“What’s the matter with you?” He asked. “Why are you taking so long?”

“Look, I told you this wasn’t going to be easy,” Anna said. “Earning his trust will take time.”

“I don’t have infinite amounts of time!” The man bellowed. He clenched his fists and regained his composure. “MacGyver is easily accessible to me right now. I can strike him at any time, but since he’s not currently on assignment, I have a better opportunity to do so now. Your delaying is making my plans increasingly difficult to enact.”

“I am not delaying,” Anna said. “Everything is working as it should.”

The man grinned and pulled out a knife with a long blade. Quickly, before she could react, he grabbed her, pinning her arms behind her, pressing the edge of the blade against her back. She gasped in shock and in pain, balancing uncomfortably on her injured leg. She tried to struggle, but he gripped her tighter.

“I’d better get MacGyver soon,” he breathed into her ear, “or I’ll hurt you more than your beautifully staged car accident did.” He laughed and pushed her away from him with such force that she stumbled and fell to the floor.

Anna winced in pain and rubbed her sore leg. She looked up at the man, who still seemed like an enigma to her even though they’d had a working professional relationship for almost a year.

“I’m moving to the next stage with MacGyver,” she said. “I did what you asked. Soon, he’ll be all yours.”

The man smiled, baring his teeth like a hungry wolf. “Good,” he said.

To be continued…

[MacGyverGod]

Good story, very connective to The Negotiator.

[Pseodonym]

Hmmm I wonder what she put in his tea...I guess I'll go find out