Phoenix Field Agent
Posts: 1,889
Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Gender: Female
Country: USA
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Season: season 3
Episode:Passages
Vehicle: Jeep
Jacket: Black leather
House: House boat
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I know it's been awhile since I posted the last part. I appreciate your patience as I have had a long, difficult, and busy time at work lately.
Anyway...here it is! Enjoy!
Hidden Kisses Part Three
Rated: PG
A few days later, Pete returned to MacGyver’s houseboat with a thick packet of documents. He handed them to MacGyver and watched his reaction as he read through them.
“At first, all the information gathered on Vanessa seemed to suggest that she’s nothing more than your next door neighbor,” he said.
MacGyver frowned as he studied the documents. He glanced up at Pete, smiling slightly. “I guess I was being ridiculous, after all,” he said. “I’m sorry I wasted your time.”
“Keep reading. It turns out that her identity was created by our government. She was given residence, papers allowing her to stay in the U.S.—basically, a whole new life—a life as a good American girl. Mac, she’s a defector from Russia. And, she’s a former KGB agent, branded a traitor for rescuing an American agent—supposedly you.” He stopped and stared at his friend. “You were right. I don’t know how you do it, but you were right about her.”
Stunned, MacGyver set the documents aside on his counter, not wanting to delve any deeper into Vanessa’s past. The words confirmed his suspicions and made his skin crawl and tighten, gooseflesh erupting on his arms. He had an eerie sense once again of being right about something he had hoped was nothing more than his overactive imagination. He wished it wasn’t true. A part of him felt he had violated her trust, exposed her, and made her vulnerable. Another part of him knew he had to do it to save her. The warm, sweet, and passionate feeling of her lips as they pressed against his as he hung there blindly, imprisoned, returned to him.
“That means her life is in danger,” he said. “She could be the rogue KGB agent the others were sent here to assassinate.”
Pete nodded. “She certainly has moved to the front of our list,” he said. “It turns out that your hunch provided us with the background and the research we needed to pinpoint a possible target.”
“She’s coming over today. She said she wanted to see me again. What should I do?”
“See if you can convince her that she needs further protection, that her life is possibly in danger.”
“You mean…you want me to reveal to her that I’ve been…checking up on her?”
“It’s the only way.”
MacGyver sighed. “She worked so hard to create this new life,” he said. “Now, I’m going to destroy it.”
“It’s for her security.”
“I know, Pete. I just don’t know how she’ll take it.”
Pete reached out and squeezed MacGyver’s shoulder firmly, offering a slight smile. “I’ll be making arrangements for a secure location where she can go until we apprehend the agents who slipped into this country to find her. Do what you can to persuade her,” he said.
MacGyver nodded reluctantly, feeling saddened by something he had begun and now had to finish. He couldn’t turn away from it now and keep pretending that Vanessa was merely his neighbor. He had broken the pleasant fantasy of romance yet again, shattering it beyond recognition. There was no denying anymore who she really was, and it was all his doing, almost as if he had subconsciously wanted to end the dream.
“I’ll try,” he said.
***
MacGyver purposely left the documents on his counter, although he placed them back inside their envelope as if in one last gesture of hope that he could prevent her from knowing that he had discovered her truth, that they could keep up with the charade for just awhile longer and be a normal couple out on a date instead of two agents in grave danger. He waited anxiously for her arrival, alternately pacing the wooden floors of his houseboat restlessly or sitting on the edge of his sofa, tapping his feet in agitation. When he heard her knocking on the door, he already felt exhausted like a nervous wreck, but he composed himself as best as he could, trying to maintain the appearance that nothing was out of the ordinary. He supposed that longing to be in love and longing to have a regular life with Vanessa made it easier for him to follow his act without revealing that he knew the truth.
“Hi there,” she said, beaming.
She was wearing a sundress and straw hat. The breeze played with the folds of her dress, curling around her figure provocatively and sending waves of desire through MacGyver’s body. The whole situation seemed unreal. For a moment, he forgot that she was an ex KGB agent and he worked for The Phoenix Foundation, and that their first meeting was actually in a dank Russian prison instead of a sunny, beautiful morning on a houseboat. Staring at her, he couldn’t believe who she really was. Maybe Pete had made a mistake and he was just imagining things. He wanted to believe that was true, but he knew it wasn’t. He couldn’t erase what he’d done.
“Is something wrong?” She asked, frowning at him.
“N…no,” he said, feeling awkward, anticipating what was about to happen, feeling it was all wrong. He smiled. “You look beautiful.”
“Thanks. So, we are going sailing today, right?”
“I haven’t forgotten.”
“Well then, let’s go.”
She took his hand and he closed his eyes briefly, remembering when her hands first made contact with his, leading him to his freedom as he stumbled blindly. He was about to allow her to lead him again when he opened his eyes and remembered what he had to do.
“Wait,” he said. “I just remembered I need to get something from upstairs. You can wait for me inside.”
“Oh, all right,” Vanessa said.
Their eyes met, and they both seemed to know what was about to happen. MacGyver found it difficult to leave her, struggling to make the steps toward his spiral staircase, but he knew he had no choice. He tried not to turn back to glance at her as he went, but it required every effort he had. She was about to learn that he knew. As he reached the top of his stairs, he pretended to turn into his bedroom, but he stopped once he was behind a wall and hidden enough from Vanessa but could still see her. He waited and watched as she picked up the packet on the counter and opened it, and began reading. At first, she seemed as stunned as he had been, but then she grew angry and almost sad, dropping the papers on the floor, scattering them. She sat on one of his stools and trembled, burying her face in her hands and sobbing. She knew the dream was over, too. Unable to bear watching her anymore, he returned downstairs, approaching her slowly, gently placing his hand on her back.
She turned angrily to face him, tears streaming down her reddened face. “Is this what love is for you?” She asked. “Is this what you do to every girlfriend you have? Investigate them like some kind of spy?”
“Vanessa, you don’t understand,” he said. “I’ve been…hurt before by women in the past, and not in the way you think, either. It’s the nature of my job. I’ve been hurt by women willing to sell out their country just so they could be rewarded for turning me over to the enemy. I just wanted to make sure at first, but then…” he searched her eyes. “You seemed so familiar to me…I just couldn’t…”
“Do you know how often I wanted to tell you? Do you know how often I’ve thought about that day when I saved you? I’ve loved you for a long time. I loved you even when all I had on you was a profile, when you were just paper to me and not a real person. I know that doesn’t sound rational, but I loved you for what you stood for and I secretly wished you would take me away with you to your country. I dreamed that I could be with you, away from our dangerous lives. I arranged to live near you so I could recreate some feeling of normalcy.” She laughed bitterly. “I thought I could become someone else, and you’d never know because I insisted you stay blindfolded. Now, because of what you’ve done, I can never go back to that. We can never go back.” She fell into his arms, sobbing and pounding on his chest with her fists. “Why did you have to do it, MacGyver?” She asked, her voice buried in his shirt. “Why couldn’t you just trust me to love you as I was? We could have made a new life together.”
MacGyver stroked her back, surprised by her reaction. He thought she would try to leave and that he would have to try to stop her. Instead, she was clinging to him.
“We can’t hide who we are,” he said, “especially not now.” He gently separated her from him and held her shoulders, looking into her moist eyes. “Someone is after you. Several KGB agents are in this country right now, hunting you because of what you did for me. They won’t stop until they find you.”
“They wouldn’t have found me had you not decided to pry into my past,” Vanessa said, turning away from him.
“You know that’s not true,” MacGyver said, watching her, hoping she wouldn’t walk out the door and away from the safety he was offering her. Surprisingly, she remained still, seeming to listen to him even with her back turned. She shuddered occasionally, still sobbing slightly. “These agents are good. They would have found you and killed you eventually, with or without my digging.”
He hoped he was right. He knew he was, but he also wondered if he was mainly saying these things to justify his actions and remedy the guilt he felt. Vanessa remained with her back to him, sobbing quietly and wiping her face with her hands. In her sundress, she looked like a wilting flower, shriveled in defeat.
“Look Vanessa,” he said, “I know I can’t undo what I’ve done. I’m sorry. But we can’t lie to ourselves anymore. Your life is in danger, and I’m offering you protection. Remember Pete, my boss? He’s arranging things for you right now so that you can…”
“Can what? Hide again?” Vanessa asked, returning to face him, her eyes hard with determination.
“Only until I find the KGB agents after you. I promise, it won’t be forever.”
Vanessa smiled slightly, reaching up to touch MacGyver’s cheek. “Maybe we can still love each other when this is all done,” she said.
MacGyver gently took her hand in his and pulled her near him. “I’d like that,” he whispered in her ear.
He leaned over and kissed her, and she returned the kiss, his smooth voice sending shivers of desire through her body, tingling. It was a long, slow, and passionate kiss, just as he remembered all those years ago. He closed his eyes again to feel her soothing lips, the ones that promised to help him. Now, he was returning the favor.
“So, what do you say?” He asked when they separated, his eyes warm and dark. “Will you come with me until this is over? I care about you. I wish it didn’t have to be this way, but you’ll be fine—we’ll be fine. You’ll be safe.”
Vanessa sighed and looked at the floor, thinking. “The price I pay for falling in love,” she said, smiling. She looked back at MacGyver, seeing the sincerity in his deep brown eyes, eyes she was glad to see, not covered by the blindfold. “All right, I will go.”
MacGyver grinned and clasped her hands. “We should get going,” he said. “We’ll find out what Pete wants to do.”
“I’m afraid that’s completely out of the question,” a man with a heavy Russian accent said, entering the houseboat with two other men, both of them larger than he was.
“Fyodor!” Vanessa said, glaring at him in hatred and defiance.
“Hello my dear. It’s been awhile,” Fyodor said. He smirked and glared at MacGyver. “I see you would sell out your country for love. How pathetic and weak.”
Vanessa gripped MacGyver’s shirt, and he wrapped his arm around her, supporting her. He watched the other men, wondering if there were any options for escaping them. They had their hands hidden beneath their suit jackets, proving that they were armed.
“It is you who are weak,” Vanessa said, “following false ideals and a corrupt government.”
“Vanessa,” MacGyver said, trying to warn her to be quiet, but it was too late. The large men pulled out the weapons concealed beneath their jackets and pointed them at her.
“We should shoot them right now,” one of them said, his voice sounding like a low, lazy, rumbling growl.
Fyodor grinned, his eyes piercing and cold. “No,” he said. “That would be too clean and easy. I want them to suffer before they die. They’re lovers. They should watch each other endure some pain before they go.” He nodded at his men. “Take them,” he said.
“No!” Vanessa shouted.
MacGyver lunged at the men, trying to stop them, but they were too quick for him, grabbing him and pinning his arms tightly behind him. He struggled and fought, but one of the men pulled out a stun gun and pressed it to his shoulder, holding it there for several seconds, causing MacGyver to writhe and spasm in pain, the continued electric shock dazing him and making him collapse to the floor, gasping for breath.
“Stop it!” Vanessa shouted.
One of the men released MacGyver and grabbed her, pulling out a long knife and pressing it against her throat.
“Not yet,” Fyodor said, shaking his head. “Bring them. I have something better in mind. We’ll continue this later.”
The man holding Vanessa put away his knife and pulled out his gun again, pressing it hard against her ribs. “Walk,” he said. “Don’t make a sound.”
The other man yanked MacGyver up from the floor. Still dazed and feeling the lingering pain of the stun gun, he barely had the strength to fight back, and the fact that a gun was now pointed at him as well didn’t improve his chances for escaping unscathed. They had Vanessa too, and there was no way he would leave her now. They would get out of this together.
To be continued…
 "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer."
--Henry David Thoreau
brains+brawn+beauty+personality=MacGyver
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Tense! 
