Phoenix Field Agent
Posts: 1,889
Joined: 10 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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Short...but sweet?
Exile Part Seven
Rated: PG (Conclusion)
Nikki pulled MacGyver’s jeep up to the marina where his houseboat was docked. Both of them sat silently for a few minutes, watching the blue-gray structure rock slightly with the undulations of the water beneath it. Instead of looking worn and dilapidated, the paint peeling, it looked well-tended, perhaps even better than when he lived there.
“Pete’s waiting for you inside,” she said, smiling at him. “He’s been cleaning and maintaining your place ever since you left, not having the heart to put it on the market or sell your possessions, convinced that one day you would return, and he was right. You have.”
MacGyver stared at his houseboat, finding it familiar and yet so strange, as if he no longer belonged there, as if he were a stranger to his former life. It all seemed fantastic and unbelievable, and he was unsure whether the past five years had been a dream.
“Are you ready?” Nikki asked, watching him.
MacGyver looked at her. “You’re not coming with me?” He asked, almost wishing she would, feeling he needed her support and reassurance.
“No,” she said. “I have some things to take care of at the Foundation. We’ll all have dinner tonight, though. I’m sure we’ll have plenty to talk about. For now, just go see him.”
MacGyver nodded, staring at his houseboat again. He opened the passenger door to his jeep and was prepared to get out when Nikki stopped him, grabbing his sleeve.
“Before you leave, I wanted to wish you luck, and encourage you,” she said. “I know it’s been a long time since you’ve seen him, and you left him under terrible circumstances, but he really is anxious to see you. He loves you, Mac, and he forgives you. Just remember that.”
MacGyver nodded again, although he was uncertain, not knowing how anyone could forgive someone he thought was a good friend for betraying his trust by shooting him and then abandoning him when he needed him the most, when he was recovering in the hospital. Still, he allowed Nikki’s words to provide him with some comfort and strength as he walked onto the wobbly, rickety pier of the marina, approaching his houseboat, wondering what to expect when he opened the front door for the first time in five years.
***
“MacGyver…” Pete said, his voice choked with emotion, tears in his eyes.
Regarding him closely, MacGyver noticed that he didn’t look the way he expected and almost feared he would look. Instead of looking pale and sickly, suffering from complications from the bullet wound to his chest, he looked as he remembered him, healthy and rotund. It was as if he had never been shot at all, the horrific images of that night when he was covered in blood and near death gone. Dropping his battered rucksack, he rushed across the room and fell into Pete’s arms in a long, tight embrace, burying his face against his rounded shoulder and sobbing.
“Aw Mac…” Pete said, sighing, stroking his hair. “God, I’ve missed you…”
The two men were silent for awhile, MacGyver listening to Pete’s steady heartbeat and feeling his solid flesh, providing him with confirmation that he was indeed alive.
“I-I’m s-sorry,” he said, his voice muffled from his face still being pressed against Pete’s shoulder. “I…I shot you…I left you…”
“Shh…I know,” Pete said, continuing to stroke his hair. “I know, but it’s over now. I forgive you.”
“I should have stayed. I should never have run…”
“You were scared. I don’t blame you, not for anything that happened. You have to believe that. I’m fine now, and you’ve come home. You’ve come back to us. It’s time to move forward with our lives and put this behind us.”
MacGyver released him, looking at him with sorrowful, moist eyes. “I don’t know how you could ever forgive me,” he said.
Pete smiled and placed his hand firmly on MacGyver’s shoulder, squeezing it. “I’m your friend,” he said. “Forgiveness is the true test of friendship. Besides, I know what you did wasn’t intentional. Maybe it’s time that you forgive yourself and stop feeling guilty. I’m glad you came back. That’s an important first step.”
“When Nikki told me you were alive…” MacGyver said. “All this time…I couldn’t stay in hiding anymore. I felt ashamed. I had to see you…”
“There’s no need to feel shame, either.”
“But I acted on emotion instead of facts.”
“You reacted the only way you knew how at the time. Don’t judge yourself too harshly for that. I don’t.”
MacGyver nodded and sniffed, wiping his eyes and his nose with the back of his sleeve. He looked around the interior of his houseboat, finding his mementos where he had left them. Everything was immaculate and in order, all the burned out lightbulbs replaced, all the cobwebs gone. It was absolutely spotless, looking better than it did when he lived there, and he was impressed. It showed how much Pete cared for him.
“So…what happens now?” He asked.
Pete sighed. “Well, back to your life, back to work…but all in time,” he said. “For now, I want you to settle back into your old life and get some rest. There is no reason to rush anything. After all, we have all the time in the world now, and I plan on spending a lot of it with you.”
MacGyver smiled. “Sounds good,” he said.
They embraced again, and MacGyver found himself grateful that he had such a friend.
The End
 "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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) and when we come back a new chapter that I almost missed! Man!
That was sweet and I like it! Oooooh, Mac is gonna have dinner with Nikki! Yay! MacGyver/Nikiie forevah!! 
