Well, the wait will be worth it

Okay, I forgot about the game in The Wall XD

Joanna's reasoning is fair enough. As someone who's never been in a relationship, I'll go by the word XD

Never had the pleasure of playing Candy Crush or any of the others. Maybe someday

Chapter 34: MacGyverland (Part 2)


MacGyver was halfway across the front lawn when he heard Joanna call to him from behind.

“Hey! You can’t do that!” she yelled.

He stopped and turned. “Do what?” he asked impatiently.

“Tell me you got an agent killed and then just walk out.”

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” he replied before turning to walk away...again.

“Is it classified?” she asked, now keeping pace at his elbow.

“Not yet,” he mumbled.

“Then please tell me about it while you still can.”

MacGyver stopped in his tracks and looked at her. He should shut down this whole conversation right now. Then he remembered what Pete had said about how lack of communication ruined his first marriage to Connie and told Mac not to make the same mistake he had.

He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “A veteran field operative was tasked with handing over a microchip containing top secret information to a U.S. representative in an undisclosed foreign country. Instead, it appears he set up a rendezvous with an enemy of the state, gave him the chip, and then was killed with his own gun.”

“He killed himself?”

“The authorities are working to determine whether it was suicide or just made to look that way.”

“But what does all this have to do with you?” Joanna asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.

“The operative was the same agent that had started training for recertification using the new program. A routine cyber security check found that his computer had been compromised. It’s entirely possible the enemy hacked in through the program I designed.” He sighed again. “I should have been more careful, put more security measures in place.”

“You don’t know that for sure,” Jo countered. “And I don’t get why any agent would apparently hand over highly sensitive information to a known enemy.”

“I know,” MacGyver agreed, shaking his head. “None of this makes any sense.”

“So what are you gonna do about it?”

“What can I do? I’m no longer a Phoenix employee, remember?”

“That hasn’t stopped you from working with them before,” she said drily. “Besides, you owe it to yourself and the agent to get to the bottom of this. At least the part about the computer.”

Mac’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Wait a minute. Are you telling me to go to Los Angeles and insert myself into the investigation?”

“That is what you want to do, right?” she asked with a sly smile. “Besides, there’s no school until Monday so I can take your place at Challengers.”

“You are the absolute best, you know that?” he praised just before cupping her face in his large hands and giving her a firm, quick kiss.

XXXXX

MacGyver stared down at the Visitor’s Pass the security guard at Phoenix handed him and curled his lip.

“A tough thing to get used to, huh?” the younger man asked with a smirk.

“Yeah. Kinda makes me feel like a second class citizen around here,” Mac responded flatly.

“You? No way! You’re a legend within these hallowed halls!” the guard exclaimed as he led MacGyver to the elevator and pressed the button.

“A legend?” Mac’s innate modesty scoffed at the idea, but his all-American male ego swelled just a bit.

“You bet! You’re the best field operative Phoenix ever had. Every agent wants to be like you.”

The kid was going overboard now and MacGyver couldn’t help but laugh. “Is that part of the new HR pitch they give you when you get hired now?”

“Hey man, I’m serious! You’re still a big deal around here.”

Uncomfortable with his newly discovered fame, Mac was relieved when the guard deposited him in Craig Bannister’s office and took his leave.

“I don’t suppose I need to ask what you’re doin’ here,” the Director of Foreign Field Operations said after friendly greetings were exchanged.

“I want in on the investigation, Craig.”

“That’s not up to me, Mac.”

“But I thought you were spearheading it.”

Craig chuckled. “That’s above my pay grade, pal. They’re just letting me sniff around because Duncan was one of my men.”

“Who do I need to talk to, then?”

Bannister eyed MacGyver carefully. “You sure you want to get yourself caught up in this?”

“Listen, Craig. I know that his computer was hacked and it could be because of my re-cert program. I need to do this.”

“Fine,” Bannister sighed. “I’ll get you on board. Do you have a place to stay? This could take some time.”

“Yeah, I know. I was plannin’ on lookin’ up an old buddy and bunkin’ with him.”

“Sounds good. You go get settled in and we’ll hit the ground runnin’ in the morning.”

Late that afternoon MacGyver parked his nondescript rental car in front of the Hacienda Village Apartments. A tall, wrought iron fence and sturdy gate separated the courtyard and sprawling, four-story Mediterranean style building from the outside world. It looked like a respectable place in a respectable neighborhood. Mac couldn’t help glancing at the address he had scribbled on a piece of paper while talking to Jack. Yep. The address matched. MacGyver walked to the gate and pressed the button on the panel next to Jack Dalton’s name.

“Hark! Who goes there?!” a gruff voice asked through the speaker.

“It’s me. Mac.”

“Hey buddy!” Jack greeted in his normal voice. “I’ll be right down.”

MacGyver leisurely surveyed his surroundings while he waited for his friend who soon appeared on the other side of the fence, opening the gate to allow MacGyver into the courtyard.

“Nice place you got here. Guess the air limo service is really taking off.”

“Good pun, Kemosabe!” the pilot chortled. “But seriously, I should have taken your advice sooner and got an honest job. I mean, just look at this place! And I don’t have to worry about getting involved with, how shall I say, less than savory businessmen.”

“You mean you’ve finally decided to settle down and stop looking for that one last great adventure?” Mac asked incredulously.

“You bet!” Jack replied, just as MacGyver turned to see his friend’s left eye twitch. “Well, at least for the foreseeable future. Oh, by the way, I got you your own key,” Jack said, digging into the pocket of his bomber jacket.

“You got some pull with the manager?” Mac asked. His question was answered as a tall, blonde female crossed in front of them, waggling her fingers towards Jack. “Let me guess, that’s the manager.”

“You got it, amigo,” Jack confirmed, waggling his fingers in return.

“Sorry I don’t have an extra bedroom,” Jack apologized as Mac dropped his duffle next to the couch.

“No problem. I probably won’t be spending much time here anyway. Mind if I use the phone?”

“Help yourself!”

MacGyver started to dial when his friend interrupted.

“Um, it’s not long distance, is it?”

Mac stopped and glared at his temporary roommate. “Is that a problem?”

“No. I mean, it’s just that I’m on a limited plan,” Jack sputtered.

“I’ll pay you back,” MacGyver muttered.

“I hope you gave Joanna my love,” Jack said when Mac hung up.

“How can you be so sure I was talkin’ to her?”

“Give it up, Mac. You can’t hide your feelings from ole Uncle Jack! I saw you get all googly-eyed as soon as you started talking.”

“She’s fine. And I did not get ‘googly-eyed’!”

Jack held up his hands in surrender. “Whatever you say, compadre! Whatever you say! So, you gonna tell me why you’re back working for Phoenix?”

“I’m not working for them. I’m just helping out.” MacGyver chanced a glance at his friend who eagerly awaited more information. “There was an incidence. I can’t say anything more. It’s--”

“Classified,” Jack frowned. “Why is all the good stuff always ‘classified’?”

“Jack, an agent died! I wouldn’t exactly call that ‘good stuff’!” Mac snapped.

“Oh. That’s too bad, Mac. Really.” Jack paused and the air hung heavy between them. “So, how’d he die?”

MacGyver glared at his friend.

“Right. It’s classified.”

XXXXX

Early Saturday morning MacGyver walked into the Phoenix office building and picked up his pass from the weekend security guard. He smiled to himself when he saw that Bannister had arranged a Civilian Consultant badge for him. Less than twenty-four hours in the city and he was already climbing the ranks. He was headed for Craig’s office when he met the man in the hallway.

“As of thirty minutes ago this investigation is officially classified,” Bannister said in place of a friendly greeting. “From here on in, all information is strictly on a need-to-know basis.”

“Got it,” Mac acknowledged, falling into step beside his friend. He was silently relieved to know he hadn’t really lied to Jack. Just misled him prematurely. Oh great, now he was starting to think like Jack! MacGyver shook his head to reorder his thoughts. “So where are we headed?”

“The computer lab. There’s someone I want you to meet. Oh, and Mac…” Bannister put a hand on his arm to halt their progress. “I just got the medical examiner’s official cause of death on Duncan. The gunshot wound was self-inflicted.”

MacGyver shook his head sadly. “We’ll get to the bottom of this. We have to.”

Moments later the electronic doors to one of the computer labs slid open and Mac and Bannister entered. Several technicians, all wearing white lab coats, worked silently on consoles stationed throughout the room. Craig led them to a young Asian man on the other side of the lab.

“Jimmy Choo, I’d like you to meet MacGyver. MacGyver, this is Jimmy Choo, Phoenix’s number one computer tech. You’ll be working together on the hacking issue.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you in person. I’ve heard a lot about you,” Jimmy said as he shook Mac’s hand.

“Let me guess, the ‘hallowed halls’ speak?”

“No,” Bannister chuckled, “not this time. You might remember Jimmy’s dad, James Choo. He was a foreign operative back in your day.”

“Of course,” Mac replied. “I knew that name sounded familiar. What’s your dad up to these days?”

“He’s retired, sir.”

“Call me Mac. Tell your dad I said hello. We never worked any assignments together, but I heard he was a heck of an agent.”

“Yes, he was,” the younger Choo confirmed. A slight hitch in his voice caught MacGyver’s attention, but he decided not to question it. At least not yet.

“So, what’ve you got so far?” Bannister asked Jimmy, quickly turning the conversation back to business.

The young man sighed. “It was definitely a professional job. The mainframe was hacked externally, not from a Phoenix terminal, so we know it’s not an inside job.”

“Not necessarily,” MacGyver interrupted. “Over half the population owns a computer or has access to one so everyone, even Foundation employees, are still under suspicion.”

“Of course, I hadn’t thought of that,” Choo replied apologetically.

Craig raked his fingers through his hair in both anger and frustration. “We’re supposed to have a state-of-the-art security system throughout the building! How could something like this happen? Did Mac’s program compromise it?”

Choo shook his head. “Nope. The dude who did this was really good. He would’ve gotten in no matter what.”

“Did you find anything else?” Mac asked, leaning over Jimmy’s shoulder staring at the rows of numbers and letters on his computer monitor.

“It appears that once the hacker gained access, he honed in on Duncan’s terminal and wrote a program to piggy-back on the recertification program MacGyver created.”

“What kind of program?” Bannister asked anxiously.

“I don’t know, sir. I’m trying to decode it right now but it’s highly complex as well as encrypted. It’s gonna take some time.”

“Well, then I’ll let you two get at it,” Craig said, patting MacGyver on the shoulder.

“Uh, can I see you for a sec? Privately?” Mac asked, hoping he didn’t sound as uncertain as he felt.

Once they made their way to an unoccupied corner, MacGyver turned to Bannister and lowered his voice.

“My computer skills are a little rusty. That stuff Jimmy was supposedly reading looked like gibberish to me. I think I’d be of better use in the field tracking down whoever Duncan gave the classified info to.”

“I’m sorry, Mac. That’s not my call.”

“Then talk to somebody!”

Bannister’s eyes hit the floor as he remained silent.

“Wait a minute,” MacGyver began thoughtfully. “I got access to this assignment pretty easily. You made a deal with the board, didn’t you?”

“I promised I’d keep you here at headquarters,” Bannister confirmed.

“Aw man!”

“It’s a liability thing, Mac! You’re a civilian now. We can’t send you traipsing into hostile foreign territory! You can either stay here and help out or catch the next flight home.”

“Fine,” Mac replied through a clenched jaw. “I’ll stay and see what I can do. And don’t worry...I’ll stay out of trouble.”

“Famous last words,” Craig mumbled as he walked away, leaving Mac alone with the computer boy genius.

After two hours of watching Jimmy pound away furiously on his keyboard, MacGyver decided it was time for a break. Apparently Jimmy did, too, as he sat back in his chair and scrubbed his hands with his face.

“This is impossible!” the young man spat, frustration overflowing.

“Whoa, take it easy. You said yourself it was a complicated program. Cut yourself some slack,” Mac advised.

“I’ve been working on this for three days,” Jimmy countered. “I can decode most programs in a matter of hours. So much for being the number one computer tech at Phoenix!”

“Look, why don’t we go grab something to eat and you can come back and look at it with fresh eyes?”

“That’s it, MacGyver! You’re a genius!”

“I am?”

“Yeah! I need a pair of fresh eyes! Will you take a look at it after lunch?”

Mac hesitated. “I’m not sure I’m the right man for the job, but I’ll give it a shot.”

When the two men returned from the cafeteria, MacGyver sat down at Choo’s computer.

“I’m gonna try and see if I can find the hacker’s location,” Jimmy said as he booted up another machine.

For the rest of the afternoon, Mac sat staring at the monitor, trying to make sense of the seemingly random rows of numbers and letters. He dug into his memory and ran as many decoding programs as he could remember, fondly recalling his own computer hacking days...all done in the name of research, of course. His eyes were burning and his back was aching and he was ready to call it a day when a small sequence at the bottom of the screen suddenly looked familiar. With renewed energy, MacGyver continued his investigation.

“I think I got it,” he announced to Jimmy thirty minutes later.

“You did? How? What is it?”

“Let me get Bannister down here first.”

“We were overthinking this,” Mac explained once Craig arrived and the three men were gathered around the console.

“What do you mean?” Jimmy asked.

“The encryption as well as the code is actually very basic.”

“That can’t be! I started with the most basic decoding programs I know,” Jimmy protested.

“Exactly!” MacGyver exclaimed.

“Would you care to explain yourself?” Bannister demanded.

“I used an old program, and I mean really old, to decipher it. I doubt that most technicians these days are aware of it and, unless I miss my guess, the culprit was counting on that! It also means that whoever wrote this code is probably closer to my age than Jimmy’s.”

“Okay,” Craig capitulated. “So what does it say?”

Mac turned to face his friend. “Remember back in the late fifties when movie theaters were accused of using subliminal messages in films to advertise popcorn and stuff?”

“Yeah, but I thought that was eventually debunked.”

“Not totally. And from what I see, the hacker programed a subliminal message into my recertification program. At least the one accessed with Duncan’s password.”

“Go on,” Craig urged.

“While Duncan was practicing for re-cert, three phrases were flashed on the screen, each for ten milliseconds, in a continuous loop.”

“And what did these phrases say?” Bannister asked in a childish, sing-song voice that indicated he was growing frustrated with MacGyver’s stall tactics.

“It’s bad,” Mac warned, his stomach churning. “The phrases were: ‘Rendezvous with Ahmad’, ‘Hand over microchip’, and ‘Kill yourself with service weapon’.”

“Oh my god,” Craig muttered as the blood drained from his face. “Duncan was brainwashed.”

“Is that even possible?” Jimmy asked, clearly not convinced.

“Given the evidence, I’d say it is,” Mac replied.

“And since the coding used is basically outdated, we can assume it was probably done by someone close to our age, right MacGyver?” Craig deduced.

“Yeah. But that doesn’t exactly narrow the suspect pool,” Mac replied dejectedly.

XXXXX

That evening, per Nikki’s invitation, Craig, MacGyver, and Jack gathered around her dining room table where she served up a scrumptious meal. However, Mac couldn’t help noticing that she barely touched her food and the normally outgoing, opinionated agent barely contributed to the conversation. It was almost as if she didn’t want them there, even though she had asked them to come. When the dishes had been cleared and she was in the kitchen making coffee, Mac decided to broach the subject.

“Hey Craig, is Nikki okay?” he asked in a low voice. “She doesn’t seem to be acting like herself.”

“It’s this thing with Duncan,” Bannister sighed. “She’s taking it really hard.”

“Did they work together much?”

“A couple times over the past few years, but you know how it is.”

“Yeah,” Mac nodded. He knew all too well that underneath her oft-prickly exterior, Nikki had a soft, vulnerable heart.

“Here we go!” Nikki said with what MacGyver knew was forced cheerfulness as she carried a tray of coffee cups into the dining room. When she set a delicate cup of the dark liquid in front of Mac, his first instinct was to push it away. Apparently she had forgotten he hated the stuff. But he stopped himself. Tonight, for Nikki, he would drink coffee. But before anyone could take a sip, Jack spoke up.

“Sorry Nikki, but I gotta get going. It’s getting late and Mac’s my ride.”

Everyone glanced at their watch with Nikki being the first to speak.

“Jack, it’s not even nine o’clock. Surely you can stay for just one cup,” she protested.

“No can do, mon amie. I have an early flight booked and need to get some shut-eye. Can’t be falling asleep at the controls of my fancy new plane, now.”

“You didn’t tell me anything about a flight,” Mac countered.

“Oh, sorry. Must’ve slipped my mind,” Jack apologized to his friend before turning to address the rest of the group. “This super-rich oil baron hired me to fly him to New York for three days. Wants to leave at first light. As a bonus, he’s putting me up in a five-star hotel and covering all my meals and expenses until it’s time to fly him back. So Mac, you’ll have my place all to yourself. Don’t go throwin’ any wild parties or anything.”

MacGyver pulled a face as the others laughed before exchanging good-byes.

When Mac awoke the next morning, the apartment was eerily silent. Jack had already left. Knowing his friend had never been an early riser, MacGyver couldn’t help wondering if the pilot had really gone to sleep last night or just stayed up until time to leave. Mac mentally shrugged, rolled off the couch, stretched out his back muscles, grabbed a granola bar and headed out the door. Upon arriving at Phoenix, he headed straight to the computer lab.

“Find our hacker yet?” he asked Jimmy Choo who was already hard at work.

“No,” the technician admitted. “But based on what we found out yesterday, I’m running an older tracking program in case he’s using an older computer.”

“Good man,” Mac praised, clapping Jimmy on the shoulder before sitting down.

“Listen, Jimmy. I’ve been thinking about your dad. If I remember correctly he’s a couple years younger than me. What made him decide to retire so early?”

“Why do you care?” Choo asked in a clipped tone.

“I don’t know, I just do,” Mac replied innocently.

Jimmy stared at the floor for so long MacGyver didn’t think he was going to get an answer when suddenly the younger man pinned him with an empty gaze and began to speak.

“There’s not a whole lot to tell. My dad was up for recertification and he wiped out in MacGyverland. Phoenix didn’t want to let him go, so they offered him a job in computer program development. Not many people know that my dad was a whiz with technology. Taught me everything I know. Anyway, he turned down the job and retired instead. Said if he couldn’t work in the field he didn’t want to work at all.”

“Aw man, that’s tough,” Mac acknowledged somberly. “But he must be proud of you, following in his footsteps and all. What’s he up to these days anyways?”

“I gotta get back to work,” Jimmy mumbled, ignoring the question and turning his attention back to the computer monitor.

Uneasiness in the pit of MacGyver’s stomach grew as the afternoon progressed. He kept replaying the conversation with Jimmy in his head and didn’t care for the conclusion it kept leading to. Before leaving for the day, he sought out Craig Bannister.

“Hey buddy, how’s it going? Any new information on the hacker?”

Mac shoved his fingers through his hair and blew out a breath. “I think I know who’s behind this.”

“Well, don’t keep me in suspense! Who is it?”

“I think it’s Jimmy’s dad, James Choo.”

Now it was Craig’s turn to blow out a breath as he sank silently into his desk chair, a look of disbelief shrouding his eyes. “It can’t be,” he finally mumbled softly.

“I know. I don’t want to believe it either. He was a great agent, but all the pieces fit. Think about it. He washed out on his recertification and felt railroaded into retirement. Not to mention he has the computer skills to pull this off. What better way to get what he sees as revenge on Phoenix for ending his career?”

“Mac, it’s impossible,” Bannister said sadly. “James Choo committed suicide two days after his retirement.”

XXXXX

MacGyver flopped down on the couch. He had just gotten off the phone with Joanna. They both knew he couldn’t talk about the investigation, but he was hoping some conversation about Challengers and simply hearing her voice would calm his mind. It hadn’t. Who was behind the hacking and subliminal message sending? Theoretically, they were back to square one, yet Mac couldn’t help feeling that the answer was closer than anyone dared to imagine. The phrase, ‘Taught me everything I know’, kept cycling through his brain. He was on the verge of dozing off when suddenly everything fell into place, like tumblers in combination lock. He was reaching for the phone to call Bannister when the buzzer on the wall sounded indicating that someone was at the courtyard gate. Frustrated that he had to delay his call, he got up and walked over to the intercom.

“Jack’s not here,” he said as he pressed the button.

“It’s me, Mac. Nikki. I really need to talk to you,” came the grainy reply.

The desperation in her voice caused MacGyver’s pulse to beat double-time.

“I’ll be right down,” he said into the speaker.

Moments later he escorted Nikki into Jack’s apartment. She was halfway across the living room before she turned, pointing a revolver at Mac’s chest.

“Whoa, Nikki, what’s goin’ on here?” MacGyver asked, holding his hands up in surrender.

“You should’ve drank the coffee, Mac. It was poisoned. You would’ve come home, gone to sleep, and never woke up. Nice and clean and painless.” Her cold, monotone voice was a stark contrast to the pools of tears forming in her eyes.

“C’mon Nikki. You don’t wanna do this.” His voice was calm and gentle.

She remained silent, the gun still aimed at his heart.

“If you really wanted me dead you would’ve shot me already. Put the gun down.” His voice was firmer now.

“I can’t. I have to kill you.”

“Who said?”

“I have to kill you,” she repeated mechanically.

“Okay. Then what? What are you gonna do after you kill me?”

“Kill MacGyver, kill yourself,” she intoned.

“Nikki, you know you don’t want to do this,” Mac repeated.

“I have to.” A tear slid down her cheek.

“Who told you that?” MacGyver gentled his voice once again.

The woman’s brow furrowed slightly as her finger began to put pressure on the trigger.

Mac could feel beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead.

“You don’t have to kill me and you don’t have to kill yourself. You don’t have to listen to them, you have a choice.”

Nikki stayed silent, but MacGyver noticed her hold on the weapon waiver just a bit. His first instinct was to use the opportunity to wrestle the gun away from her, but he hesitated. The odds of one or both of them getting hurt were too high.

“C’mon Nikki, this isn’t you. We’re friends. Good friends. You don’t wanna kill me. You can’t kill me. It isn’t in you, Nikki. Now put the gun down.”

“I have to--”

“No, you don’t,” Mac interrupted firmly. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t wanna do. Don’t do anything that doesn’t feel right.”

Tears were now freely flowing down her cheeks. “But I have to,” she insisted, even as her arms lowered.

MacGyver quickly stepped toward her and wrapped his hand around the gun, easing it from her grip as his other arm snaked around her back before they both crumpled to the ground, Nikki sobbing against his chest.

“It’s okay, Nikki. It’s all over now,” he soothed as he gently rocked her back and forth, stroking her hair.

Mac didn’t know how long he sat on the floor, comforting his friend, but he would sit there all night if he needed. Suddenly Nikki sniffled, hiccupped, and pulled back, looking around before her wide eyes met his.

“MacGyver, where am I? What happened?” she asked, panic tinged her voice.

“Everything’s okay,” he quickly assured her. “You’re in Jack’s apartment. You came to kill me but thankfully had second thoughts,” he teased, hoping to coax a smile from her.

“But why? How?”

“I’m pretty sure you were brainwashed, just like Tom Duncan.”

Mac helped Nikki into the kitchen and settled her at the table with a glass of water before heading towards the telephone.

“Who are you calling?” she asked.

“I’m calling Craig to come pick you up and then I’m going to Phoenix and end this once and for all.”

“I’m going with you!” Nikki stood up so fast the wooden chair she had been sitting on skidded across the linoleum floor.

“No way, Nikki,” Mac began to protest, but then he saw the determination in her eyes and knew he was fighting a battle he wouldn’t win. “All right,” he sighed. “I’ll have Bannister meet us there.”

As soon as the trio entered the foundation, MacGyver headed directly to the security desk to sign them in.

“Is Jimmy Choo on the premises?” he asked the guard.

“Let me check the log.”

Mac waited impatiently before the guard answered.

“According to this he’s in computer lab one.”

“Great. Have the fourth floor security officer meet us there,” Mac directed before herding everyone toward the elevators.

“Do you mind telling me what’s going on?” Craig asked, clearly confused and frustrated.

“As soon as I check something out,” MacGyver replied.

The security officer was waiting for them when they arrived at the lab. He slid his key card through the reader and the electronic door slid open. Jimmy swiveled in his chair where he had been working on his computer, obviously taken by surprise.

“Get him away from there and keep an eye on him,” Mac instructed the guard before sitting down in the chair Jimmy had abandon.

MacGyver pounded away on the keyboard, easily breaking and reading encrypted programs to make sure he had the proof he needed. When he was satisfied with his findings, he turned back to Craig and Nikki.

“Contrary to what we were led to believe, the hacker also breached Nikki’s terminal and loaded it with a subliminal message code,” Mac announced.

“You can’t know that!” Jimmy cried from across the room where he stood next to the guard who had a large, meaty hand wrapped around his bicep. “You said yourself you couldn’t read the codes!”

“I’m a fast learner,” MacGyver replied facetiously. “Besides, it was easy once I figured out you were using a nearly obsolete program.”

“Wait a minute,” Bannister broke in. “Are you saying Jimmy did all this?”

“Yes sir. And if you look you’ll see that the activity can be tracked to his father’s computer.”

“But why?” Craig asked Jimmy.

The young man glared at MacGyver. “Why don’t you ask him since he seems to think he knows all the answers?”

“Because I want to hear it from you,” Bannister ground out.

Realizing there was no way out, Jimmy began his story. “I blamed MacGyver for my father’s death,” he confessed. “Mac designed the obstacle course that my dad failed on and lost his field clearance which led to his suicide. I promised myself I would get my revenge by killing MacGyver. I worked night and day to get hired on at Phoenix. But by the time I came on board, he had already left. When I heard that the board wanted to get rid of MacGyverland, I figured he come back to fight for it. And I was right.” Choo paused to send Mac a triumphant smirk.

“But if your beef was with Mac, why get Duncan involved?” Craig asked.

“I needed something big to get everyone’s attention and then divert it away from me, and it worked. You sent all you’re best operatives to track down the man Duncan met with and left me to work the computer angle alone.”

“That way you could feed us fake information about the hacker and shift any suspicion away from you,” Bannister groaned.

“And it was working, too, until you had MacGyver come sniffing around.”

“That’s what I don’t get,” Nikki piped up. “You had plenty of opportunities to kill Mac yourself. Why bother brainwashing me?”

“I couldn’t exactly off him here at Phoenix without getting caught,” Choo replied, rolling his eyes. “I needed someone he trusted. Someone who could get close to him. You were perfect.”

“Perhaps a little too perfect,” Nikki countered. “Mac was able to get into my head far better than you and because of that, he’s still alive. So you’re grand scheme failed in the end.”

“But why instruct them to commit suicide?” Bannister asked Choo.

“I wanted them to feel the hopelessness my father felt and take their own lives like he took his!” Jimmy spat.

Apparently satisfied with Choo’s story, Bannister turned his attention to MacGyver.

“And you figured all this out?”

“Pretty much,” Mac replied casually.

“How?”

“When Jimmy was telling me about his dad, he slipped up and said that James taught him everything he knew about computers. That meant he would know the old coding that other technicians his age were never taught. After that, everything else just kinda fell into place.”

“But what about all those fancy, new-fangled programs he kept running to track down the hacker?” Craig asked.

“They were fakes that he wrote himself,” Mac explained. “That’s why I couldn’t make any sense of them and no other tech could have read them either. He was counting on you assigning him to this case solo. Isn’t that right, Jimmy?”

This time, the young man remained silent and hung his head in defeat.

“And it almost worked,” Craig groaned.

“But it didn’t,” MacGyver assured his friend firmly. “Now how about we call the authorities and wrap this all up?”

XXXXX

The following morning MacGyver and Bannister stood in Phoenix’s psychiatric laboratory anxiously peering through a glass partition watching Doc Beatty “deprogram” Nikki, much as she had done to Jack several years ago when he had been brainwashed to kill a visiting foreign dignitary.

“Is she gonna be okay, doc?” Craig asked as soon as the session ended and the two women returned to the lab.

“She’s going to be fine,” Beatty assured him. “Everything in her brain is one hundred percent Nicole Carpenter.”

“Aw, man, now we’re really in trouble,” Mac groused, albeit with a playful glint in his eyes as his friends broke into carefree laughter.

She caught up quick

Mac, you're really lucky with that one XD

My last two brain cells when someone says something nice to me

Wonder who...

Wonder how he scored that...

I had to chortle, literally, because this is exactly me reacting to bad news... My sympathies, now gimme the details

If this is going to go in the direction I think it is, then that little detail means it's not Mac's fault. (Future me commenting: it did not go like I thought).

...What are you hiding, Jimmy?

I feel I should research this myself...

*sigh* That's something else I need to research now... XD

Okay, maybe reading this in the middle of the night was a bad idea XD

I feel that Nikki is going to get brainwashed next...

I legit do this though...

As soon as Mac said his theories, I thought it might ctually be Jimmy. Looks like I'm right.

Dude, you are slow

Called it

This is probably my favorite trope in existence

Dragondog...sounds like you enjoyed part 2. Hope it was worth the wait!!

Indeed

I know that that level of brainwashing is more of a sci-fi thing, but it's still kinda terrifying to read at three in the morning XD

Indeed

I know that that level of brainwashing is more of a sci-fi thing, but it's still kinda terrifying to read at three in the morning XD

Chapter 35: Christmas Quarantine

“Thanks for the update. I appreciate it.” MacGyver hung up the phone and stepped out of his office and into the rec room at Challengers. Christmas was fast approaching and the teens had been decorating for days. This afternoon, Geena and Joanna were festooning the places the kids hadn’t already gotten to. As it was, they already had three Christmas trees, but this year Mac didn’t mind. Walking towards the two women he couldn’t help overhearing their conversation.

“Shouldn’t that man of yours be helping us with this?” Geena complained as she handed a length of garland to Joanna who was standing on a folding chair, tacking the decor to the wall.

“That man of hers has a name,” Mac informed the part-time law secretary and new Challengers volunteer as he approached and casually put his hands on Joanna’s hips.

“Oh, I know that,” Geena laughed. “I’m just funnin’ her! She never blushes when I just call you ‘MacGyver’.”

“I’m not gonna fall, ya know,” Jo informed him, glancing down at his hands.

“Let’s just call it a precautionary measure,” he grinned, squeezing her hips a bit tighter as she shook her head and returned her attention to the task at hand.

“Girlfriend, if you don’t want this fine man of yours touchin’ you, he can give me some sugar anytime!” Geena gave Mac a conspiratorial wink as she walked away.

“Okay, I’m comin’ down,” Joanna warned. “You might wanna let go and back up so my foot doesn’t accidentally hit you someplace painful.”

Figuring he had pushed the envelope far enough for now he did as she instructed but stayed alert and within arm’s reach in case she lost her balance.

“So, who were you on the phone with?” she asked once back on solid ground and looking up at him.

“Craig Bannister.”

The scowl that usually appeared on her face at the mention of that name remained absent, her expression neutral. Score one for the good guys!

“He wanted to let me know they caught the guy Duncan met with and recovered the documents,” Mac explained.

“I’m sure everyone at Phoenix is relieved,” she responded as she headed toward her office.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t make up for losing a good agent,” MacGyver said sadly, following behind her.

“I suppose not,” she mumbled before stopping halfway to her desk and turning to face him. “What’s going to happen with the recertification program you created?”

Mac was glad to see her taking an interest in his work for the foundation. “It’s been put on hold temporarily. The board will eventually decide whether or not to move ahead with it.”

“Are you okay with that? You worked so hard on it.”

“Yeah. And it almost got me killed.”

“What?! How?!” Joanna shrieked, a look of horror on her face.

“Uh, I really can’t say. It’s classified.”

“Would I want to know the details if it wasn’t?”

“Considering I’m standing here alive and well, probably not. But I will tell you something else you need to know.”

“What is it?” Jo asked, concern in her eyes.

“You have to kiss me now.”

“What?” Mac almost laughed at her befuddlement but knew he had to hold back if he wanted to move forward with this new diversion.

“It’s kinda tradition,” he clarified, snaking one arm around her waist to pull her close while he pointed up to the ceiling with his other hand to the sprig of mistletoe he had hung there earlier in the day.

“You booby trapped my office?” she accused.

His only answer was a slow, crooked smile he knew she couldn’t resist.

“Well,” she gave an exaggerated sigh. “I guess we can’t go breaking tradition now, can we?”

“Guess not,” he agreed as he lowered his lips to meet hers in a long, gentle caress.

“We should go try out the mistletoe in your office,” Joanna suggested lazily once they had broken the kiss.

MacGyver took a step back. “I didn’t put any in mine.”

“Why not?” she asked, taking a step back as well.

“I didn’t think you’d care for me being tradition bound to kiss every female that walked into my office.”

“But you don’t mind me kissing every guy that walks into my office?” she countered, one eyebrow cocked.

MacGyver hadn’t thought about it that way when he hatched this little plan. Time for a little recon. He grabbed a wire coat hanger from the hook on the back of Jo’s office door and gave it a yank to straighten it before reaching up and using the curved end to snag the offending piece of greenery and toss it into the trash.

“I always thought it was a dumb tradition anyways,” he explained when his eyes met Joanna’s quizzical gaze.

“Well, it was fun while it lasted,” she laughed. “Now we better get back to work before Geena starts wondering what we’re doing in here.”

“Oh, I think Geena knows exactly what we’re doin’ in here,” Mac replied. “Besides, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“What is it?” she asked, a mix of concern and suspicion in her voice.

“Nothing bad,” Mac quickly assured her. “It’s just that I heard about this really nice ski resort a couple hours north of here--”

“You mean Cascade Ridge?”

“Yeah. I thought that once school lets out for winter break you and I could go up there for a couple days before Christmas to unwind.”

Mac held his breath as he waited for her answer. Knowing her need to plan and schedule, in detail, he expected a string of excuses to spew from her mouth.

“That sounds fun,” she replied.

“Wait, what?”

“I said, that sounds like it would be fun,” she repeated.

“Christmas isn’t until Thursday so I figure we can drive up Sunday night and be back by the twenty-fourth. That way you’ll still have the weekend for any last minute shopping,” he explained.

“Okay,” she said with a slight shrug.

MacGyver was taken aback by this easy-going, carefree side of her.

“Aren’t you going to point out that I just got back from L.A. and should spend the time here at work?”

“That was hardly a relaxing vacation,” she observed.

“But you don’t even ski!”

“I’m sure there are plenty of other ways to pass the time,” she declared. “I do like the idea of snuggling in front of a fire, drinking hot chocolate.”

“Me, too,” Mac agreed, once again reaching out to pull her close. Unfortunately, the moment was marred by his unexpected frown.

“What’s wrong?” Joanna asked, concern evident once again. “Don’t you want me to go?”

“No! I mean, I’m just not used to you being so...so…”

“So flexible and spontaneous?”

“Yeah, somethin’ like that.”

“It’s my New Year’s resolution,” she explained, extricating herself from his grasp with a grin. “I decided that if I’m gonna marry you, I have to get used to things like unexpected trips and surprise calls from Craig Bannister.”

“Aw Jo, I don’t want you to go changing because of me. I love you just as you are,” Mac protested.

“Don’t think of it as ‘changing’, think of it as ‘improving’. So, what’s your resolution?”

“To never let you forget how amazing you are,” he whispered huskily as he stole another kiss.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The following Sunday evening MacGyver pulled his Jeep up to the covered front entrance of the sprawling Cascade Ridge Ski Resort and Conference Center. Joanna couldn’t help but be impressed. She had done a bit of research and discovered that, not only did the large lodge boast an indoor ice rink, but it also had an arcade with a variety of games, several gathering rooms that each had a large stone fireplace for getting together with friends or spending time with a good book, a spa that offered manicures and massages, a number of conference rooms, and a critically acclaimed restaurant as well as a more modest cafe. Outdoor offerings included hiking and snowmobiling trails, tobogganing, and of course several ski hills from basic to advanced to accommodate all levels of ages and skills.

“Mac, this must be costing a fortune!”

“Don’t worry about it,” he replied with a lazy smile. “Consider it my Christmas present to you.”

“I think you’ve covered about five year’s worth of gifts,” she mumbled despite the anticipation building up inside her. For years, she had secretly dreamed of retreating to such a destination and now, thanks to MacGyver, she was actually here!

Once inside, the couple waited for their turn at the registration desk. A brunette woman and a blond-haired boy stood in front of them while an elderly husband and wife bickered as the clerk tried to collect their information.

“I’m tellin’ ya, Myrna, with a cough like that you should have stayed home!”

“Oh nonsense, George! It’s just the sniffles! The grandkids paid good money to send us here and I’m not going home now.”

“Fine! But if you die of pneumonia, don’t come cryin’ to me!”

Joanna glanced up at MacGyver with a smirk.

“Please, don’t let that ever be us,” he bent down and whispered in her ear, an amused grin on his face as well.

As the elderly couple worked to complete the registration process, the young boy standing in front of Mac began to voice his impatience.

“Mom, I’m hungry,” he whined. “Why couldn’t we have stopped at McDonald’s before coming here?”

“I’m sorry, honey, but how was I to know we were going to get a flat tire? We’ll go grab something as soon as we sign in.”

The boy sighed heavily and Jo noticed the brand new pair of hockey skates he had slung over his shoulder. So did MacGyver.

“Hey, those are pretty cool blades,” Mac observed, tearing the boy’s attention away from his hunger for the moment.

“Thanks! They’re an early Christmas present,” he responded eagerly.

“You on a team?”

“Yeah. I’m missing practice ‘cause I had to come with Mom to her work seminar, but she says I can use the indoor rink.”

“Sounds like a plan. I played on a hockey team when I was your age. Maybe we can do a little one-on-one if your mom says it’s okay. Name’s MacGyver.” Mac stuck out his hand and the boy returned the gesture.

This caught the woman’s attention and she turned around, a slight flush on her cheeks.

“Oh my goodness! I’m sorry if he’s bothering you. I’m Molly and this is my son, Josh.”

“I’m MacGyver and this is Joanna, it’s nice to meet you and Josh is no bother.”

“Mom, can I go skating with MacGyver while we’re here?” Josh asked excitedly just as the clerk beckoned them to the counter.

“We’ll see, honey. I don’t want you bothering the nice man,” Molly responded, sending Mac an apologetic smile.

“But maaa,” Josh whined as they moved forward.

Jo looked up at MacGyver and rolled her eyes as he chuckled.

Finally it was their turn to register. Joanna let MacGyver take care of the transaction and watched as the clerk handed him two key cards.

After taking the elevator up to the second floor and walking down a long corridor, Mac stopped in front of a well-lacquered wooden door. He slid the key card into the slot, threw the door opened, and motioned for Joanna to enter ahead of him. Expecting a modest motel room, she gasped when she saw the small suite. Directly across the room from her were large glass patio doors which presumably opened onto a balcony. The main room itself was outfitted with a couch, matching stuffed chairs, a coffee table and television. She noted two solid doors, one for the bathroom and one for the private bedroom.

“Mac, this is terrific!”

MacGyver shrugged, shying away from the praise. “The couch pulls out into a bed. This way I can sleep out here and get up early without disturbing you.”

His explanation warmed her soul. Not many people, especially morning people, understood her desire for a couple extra hours of sleep on days she wasn’t working. Suddenly she felt Mac grab her hand and she had no choice but to follow him to the patio doors.

“You can’t see it in the dark, but in the morning you’ll see the black diamond ski hill from here. Maybe you’ll catch one of my runs,” he said with a grin.

“Isn’t a black diamond one of the most advanced courses?”

“Yep!”

“Fine, I’ll watch as long as you promise not to wipe out!”

XXXXX

True to her word, the following morning Joanna emerged from her bedroom in flannel pajamas and a fluffy robe. She tugged open the heavy draperies that had been pulled across the patio doors and immediately shielded her eyes as the bright December sunlight glinted off the pure white snow of the ski hill. Once her eyes adjusted to the brightness, her gaze landed on a figure in red ski pants and jacket effortlessly swooshing down the mountain. She smiled as she admired MacGyver’s gracefulness, speed, and economy of movement. When he reached the bottom of the hill he skidded to a stop sending a rooster tail of snow into the air before heading back to the lift for another run. Joanna turned away and hurried to the bathroom to shower and dress before he returned.

Jo had just commandeered a small table for two in the main lobby where a complimentary breakfast buffet had been set up when Mac walked through the front door. His cheeks were red, his damp hair plastered to his head, and his smile larger than she had seen in a long time. He immediately made his way over to her.

“Having fun?” she asked, returning his smile.

“Yeah. I can’t believe how much I’ve missed it,” he responded, still a bit breathless.

“You looked good out there,”

“Thanks,” he replied, self-satisfaction obvious. “But all that exercise sure makes a guy hungry.”

After loading their plates with a scrumptious variety of breakfast treats, they returned to their table and made plans for the rest of the day.

After a long, leisurely hike which included hand-holding, stolen kisses, and more than one impromptu snowball fight, the couple returned to the lodge for a late lunch in the cafe during which MacGyver convinced a reluctant Joanna to resume her skating lessons. When the pair finally made their way to the indoor skating rink, they found Josh in full hockey gear gliding aimlessly around the ice, head down. Mac looked at Jo with a hopeful plea in his eyes.

“Go ahead and play with him,” she directed with a laugh. “My skating lesson can wait.”

After giving her a quick kiss, MacGyver laced up his skates and hit the ice. Joanna could see the boy’s face light up immediately.

“Promise to go easy on me. I’m not wearing any pads,” she heard Mac call to him before they dropped the puck and started a game of one-on-one.

Joanna settled herself on a bench to watch the proceedings. She instinctively knew that MacGyver would let Josh decide when it was time to quit. Given that the boy was only twelve, it could be a while. A few moments later she felt a presence beside her as Molly sat down, her eyes on her son.

“I hope he isn’t bothering your husband,” she apologized.

Joanna let the woman’s assumption about Mac slide. “Are you kidding? He lives for this kind of stuff!”

Just then, Josh slid the puck into the net. He let out a whoop and raised his hands, stick and all, into the air to celebrate.

“Did you see that, Ma?!” he called. “I’m beating Mr. MacGyver!”

“Not for long you’re not,” Mac called back as he returned to center ice with the puck.

Molly laughed. “I see what you mean,” she said to Jo. “If he does become a nuisance, just send him back to the room. Unfortunately, I need to get back to my business meeting.”

That evening, Joanna and MacGyver dined in the lodge’s five-star restaurant. The atmosphere was romantic and the cuisine delectable. After sharing a decadent dessert, they decided to forego returning to their suite and instead ensconced themselves in one of the smaller gathering rooms. Sitting close to each other on a buttery soft leather sofa, Mac put his arm around Joanna and pulled her close. She laid her head on his shoulder and placed her hand on his chest. She could feel the warmth of his skin through his shirt as well as the strong, steady beat of his heart.

“Are you having a good time?” she asked, tilting her head to look up at him.

“I am,” he confirmed with a smile. “How about you?”

“It’s been perfect. I hate to think of leaving.”

“Then don’t,” he instructed. “We still have one full day left.”

Tuesday morning Joanna made a point of waking early. She watched MacGyver make two runs down the ski hill. His speed seemed a bit slower today and his moves just a tad sluggish, but she still could not take her eyes off his athletic, confident form. When he did not return for a third run, she headed to the bathroom.

Stepping from the shower wrapped in a warm bathrobe, her brown hair still wet, she opened the door to find Mac standing by the couch, shedding his ski jacket.

“Done already?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he muttered. She couldn’t help but notice his hand reach for the small of his back and begin kneading it gently.

“Maybe you should go to the spa for a massage,” she suggested with a knowing grin.

Mac grimaced. “I’ll be fine once I get cleaned up and have a good breakfast.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

MacGyver took a longer and hotter shower than usual hoping it would soothe the kinks in his back. Two straight days of skiing plus a couple of hours playing hockey had taken their toll, though he was loathe to admit it. On their way to the lobby for breakfast, he and Joanna ran into Josh and Molly. Josh was eager to get Mac back on the ice and there was no way he was gonna refuse the kid, even when Jo shot him a sideways glance that seemed to say he should know better. They had just filled their plates at the buffet and sat down as a foursome when an ambulance pulled up at the main entrance. The hotel manager quickly escorted the medics through the room amidst murmurs and stares from other diners.

“Wonder what’s going on?” Mac mused aloud.

“Some middle-aged guy probably threw his back out trying to act like a teenager,” Jo replied snidely.

They were half-way through their meal when the medics returned with a stretcher carrying an elderly lady wrapped in blankets. A man of about the same age followed behind, carrying her purse.

“Hey Mom, isn’t that the old couple that was ahead of us in line the other night?” Josh asked.

“It looks like it could be,” Molly replied.

“I remember that couple,” Mac added. “The wife had a terrible cough.”

“It must have turned into something more serious,” Joanna observed with a frown, silencing the others at the table.

Once the remainder of the meal had been consumed, Molly headed off to her seminar, Jo returned to their suite to grab a novel to read by the fire, and Mac and Josh proceeded to the ice rink. After some quick warm up exercises and a rousing game of one-on-one, MacGyver showed Josh some easy tips and tricks for him to share with his friends and teammates back home. Acutely aware of the precious time he was missing with Joanna, he cut their session short, much to Josh’s dismay.

“Sorry buddy,” he apologized. “How about you hang out in the arcade until it’s time to meet your mom for lunch?”

The boy nodded in polite agreement and Mac set out to find Joanna.

“So, what do you want to do for the rest of the day?” he asked Jo, settling beside her on the same couch they had cuddled on the night before.

“Whatever you want,” she replied.

Mac stared at her suspiciously. “You’re taking this whole New Year’s resolution thing pretty seriously, aren’t you?”

“I am,” she answered solemnly.

“Aha! I got you now!” he exclaimed.

Twenty minutes later he had her teetering on a pair of figure skates about to step onto the ice.

“You know you don’t really have to do this if you don’t want to,” he said, gazing into her trusting eyes.

She shook her head. “Skating is important to you, and I’ve always enjoyed watching it but I was always scared to actually try doing it myself.”

Taking his hand, she gingerly stepped onto the slippery surface. Much to his dismay, she quickly removed her hand from his in order to grasp the top of the wall. Once she had her balance, she started taking slow steps forward, still clutching the padded wall instead of him. Mac sighed and followed behind, offering encouraging words. Suddenly her hand shot out towards him. He instinctively grabbed it and felt her weight shift.

“I don’t think I need to hang onto the boards anymore,” she explained. “I seem to be remembering what you taught me last time. Just don’t let go, okay?”

“Count on it,” he promised, putting an arm around her waist for extra support.

Lost in both the thrill of skating and the feel of Joanna in his arms, time went by quickly. When their stomachs began to rumble, they agreed to grab lunch in the cafe. Afterward, they decided to check out the arcade and were soon engrossed in various games as if they were kids again. Joanna’s competitive side surfaced as it had when Mac had first introduced her to his video hockey game and she practically wore out her arm trying to beat him at skee ball after she had already won one air hockey game. Aware that their time at the resort was waning, they agreed to take another leisurely stroll through the woods before climbing aboard a festively decorated old-fashioned sleigh for a special holiday tour of the grounds. They ended their day with a long, romantic dinner in the lodge’s exclusive restaurant where they drank in each other’s company with light touches and meaningful glances taking the place of conversation.

The following morning, MacGyver watched Joanna reluctantly pack her things. His duffle was already set to go, waiting by the door.

“You know we can always come back,” he told her, hoping to raise her spirits. “Besides, tonight is Christmas Eve. Aren’t you anxious to see what I got you?”

This got her attention. She turned to him, eyes wide. “You said this trip was my present.”

“I said you could consider it my gift to you. I actually bought you something before we left.”

“Well, I admit I’m looking forward to seeing the look on your face when I give you your present,” she confessed.

“Oh really?!” Mac raised his eyebrows suggestively only to earn a scowl from her pretty face.

Jo had just closed her suitcase when the telephone rang. MacGyver snatched up the receiver to be greeted by a poor quality recording.

“This is the lodge manager. All guests are required to meet in Conference Room One for an emergency announcement at 10:00am.”

The message continued to repeat itself, but Mac only needed to hear it once. His brow furrowed in concern as he met Joanna’s eyes and relayed the message.

“I wonder what that’s all about,” she commented, concern filling her voice.

MacGyver glanced at his watch. It was 9:45am. “We’ll find out soon enough,” he replied before they headed out the door and down to the main floor.

A group of worried patrons had already gathered outside the designated room when the couple arrived and found themselves standing next to Molly and Josh. It didn’t take people long to consider what this imperative meeting might be about.

“Maybe there’s a blizzard on the way and we have to evacuate!”

“Or it could be an avalanche!”

“I bet it’s a bomb threat! There are all sorts of crazies out there these days!”

More people began to add their opinions and soon individual words were indiscernible. Josh looked anxiously at MacGyver.

“It’s probably nothing more than a broken ski lift or a hot tub on the fritz,” Mac said loudly, trying to dispel the rising panic, but his words seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Once inside the large room, the manager stepped up on a podium and spoke into a microphone. Joanna glanced up at Mac, nervously biting her lip, and he reached down to give her hand a comforting squeeze.

“Ladies and gentleman,” the manager began. “It is with great sorrow that I must inform you of the death of one of our patrons.”

MacGyver had no doubt it was the woman who had been removed by ambulance the day before. But why the urgency to announce her fate?

“We now know that the deceased was suffering from a rare strain of influenza before she passed. Due to this, the local Center for Disease Control has issued a quarantine for Cascade Ridge until all persons are tested for the flu and an appropriate treatment can be found. Therefore, I must insist that everyone please remain in their assigned rooms, wash your hands frequently, and avoid other guests as well as common areas as much as possible. The lodge’s restaurant will be providing free room service and asks that all patrons telephone in their orders. These rules will remain in effect until the quarantine has been lifted. In addition, if you, or someone you know, appears to be exhibiting symptoms such as sore throat, fever, body aches, chills, or fatigue, please contact a member of our staff immediately. Later today, a physician will be coming to perform a rapid diagnostic test on everyone. Your cooperation during this time is greatly appreciated.”

“Does that mean I hafta stay in our room all day?” Josh morosely asked his mother as the crowd began to disperse.

“I’m afraid so, kiddo.”

“But there’s nothing to do! And what about hockey practice?!”

“I’m sorry, Josh,” Molly replied, sounding a bit harried by this sudden turn of events. “But we have to do as we’re told. On the bright side, I’ll let you watch as much TV as you want.”

Josh hung his head and kicked the carpet with his foot.

“Listen, Jo and I have a suite. How about we trade so Josh at least has a little more room to move around,” MacGyver suggested to Molly.

“I’m sorry, sir, but that would be breaking quarantine. One of your rooms could already be contaminated,” replied the manager who had just happened to be passing by.

Mac looked at Molly and shrugged. “I tried,” he whispered.

XXXXX

Late that evening, Joanna tossed the television remote onto the coffee table in front of her.

“I can’t believe it! Premium cable, over a hundred channels, and nothing good on TV!” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest in a pout.

“Why don’t you read the book you brought with you?”

“I finished it while we were waiting for the test results,” she mumbled.

Earlier that afternoon a doctor from the nearest town had come and swabbed everyone’s throat to test for influenza, but both she and MacGyver knew the test was terribly insufficient and not designed to identify individual strains. Nevertheless, it was a process they had to endure even though it would not be enough to lift the quarantine.

“Did you call your folks?” Mac asked in an attempt to get Jo out of her foul mood.

“Yeah. I explained everything and told them I’d call when we knew more,” she sighed. “Did you call Sam?”

“No. He and Becca are spending Christmas with Pete and Connie. I didn’t want to spoil their holiday worrying about us.”

“Speaking of the holiday, this sure isn’t the way I envisioned spending Christmas Eve.”

MacGyver sat down next to her on the couch. “You’re the one who didn’t want to leave,” he pointed out cheekily. “You got your wish!”

“Then I guess I better be careful what I wish for. I didn’t want to be held prisoner!” she complained.

“Perhaps we could find a way to make your sentence more enjoyable,” he said softly, leaning in only to be stopped by her hand on his chest.

“What?”

She felt his forehead with the back of her other hand and squinted her eyes at him. “You don’t have a sore throat do you? Or the chills, or body aches?”

“I get it. You wanna play doctor,” Mac observed with a sexy grin while attempting to move closer. He stopped when his eyes landed on her hard gaze.

“I’m making sure you aren’t gonna give me the flu,” she responded tartly.

“If you recall, my test came back negative,” he reminded her as he wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close, and kissed her deeply before raising his head to observe her reaction. “You, on the other hand, look a bit flushed,” he observed huskily.

“Why might that be?” she asked breathlessly.

“I’m not sure. I think we need to experiment a bit more to find out.”

Joanna giggled before MacGyver’s lips pressed against hers once more and he felt her muscles relax as she gave herself fully to the kiss. Riding a wave of emotion, he barely heard the frantic knock on their door. Knowing everyone was supposed to remain in their appointed rooms, he raised his head and saw Jo’s eyes mirror his concern. With a sigh, he pulled himself away from her to answer the door. Molly was standing on the other side, tears running down her cheeks, her mascara smeared.

“Is Josh with you?” she asked anxiously, shoving past MacGyver before he had a chance to greet her or invite her in.

“No. Isn’t he in your room?” Joanna asked, rising from the couch.

The woman shook her head and sobbed. “No. He was really upset about having to stay in and kept complaining he was bored and missing hockey practice. I went to take a shower and when I returned to the bedroom he was gone! I’ve already looked in the ice rink and arcade, but I can’t seem to find him anywhere!”

With his hands on her shoulders, Mac led Molly to a comfortable armchair while Joanna handed her a wad of tissue.

“I think I know where he may have gone,” MacGyver announced once Molly had calmed down.

“Where?” the mother asked.

“He’s upset about not being able to skate, right?”

Molly nodded.

“When Jo and I were out hiking we saw a small, frozen pond on the property. I’ll go check it out, but first I have to figure a way out of here.”

“What do you mean?” Molly asked.

“We’re under quarantine, remember? I can’t exactly stroll through the lobby and out the front door.”

“I’m sorry,” the woman apologized. “When I couldn’t find Josh I forgot all about that.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Mac replied absently as he opened the sliding patio doors and stepped out on a small balcony before turning to survey the room.

“What are you thinking?” Jo asked, coming to stand beside him.

MacGyver peeked over the railing with a grimace. Of course they had to be on the second floor. “Go in the bedroom and get all your sheets,” he told her, handing her his Swiss Army knife. “Cut them in half the long way and tie them together.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding!”

“I know it’s cliché, but do you have a better idea?”

Jo frowned and hurried off to her bedroom as MacGyver opened up the pull-out couch and set to work tearing those sheets as well. They quickly tied them together and secured one end around the balcony railing. Assured that all the knots were as tight as possible, Mac tossed the sheets over the balcony before climbing over himself.

“Pull these up as soon as I hit the ground so no one sees them,” he instructed

“But how will you get back?” Jo asked.

“I’ll figure that out when the time comes. First I have to find Josh.” With that, Mac shimmied to the ground and watched as Joanna gathered up the sheets.

Moving as stealthily yet as quickly as possible, he regretted leaving his warm jacket behind. But on second thought it was probably for the best since the red material would make him easier to spot and he couldn’t get caught breaking quarantine. At least not until he found Josh.

Since Mac had also forgotten a flashlight, he was thankful for the full winter moon reflecting off the white blanket of snow. He had been hiking for about five minutes before he reached the pond. He thought he saw something bobbing in the middle of it.

“Josh! Is that you?!” he called in a loud whisper.

“Mr. MacGyver! I was skating when the ice broke and I fell in! You gotta help me!”

“Just hang in there and stay calm. I’ll get you out.”

There was no way Mac could reach the boy without going onto the ice himself and if he fell through, they’d both be in trouble. He needed some type of rope. For an instant he considered returning to the lodge and getting Joanna to toss him the sheets he had used to lower himself from the balcony, but that would take too long. Reaching into the pocket of his jeans he grabbed his Swiss Army knife, thankful that Jo had remembered to return it to him before he left. He opened it up to the longest blade it had, got down on all fours and slowly crawled out on the ice, laying on his stomach, arms and legs spread wide so his weight was evenly distributed over the frozen surface. Once he got as close as he felt was safe he spoke to the boy again.

“I’m gonna slide this knife to you. Take it and stab the thickest piece of ice you can reach and hold on tight. I’ll be right back.”

As soon as Josh did what he had instructed, he carefully returned to solid ground to search for something to pull the boy out. He knew he had to act fast. It wouldn’t be long before the youngster started experiencing shock and hypothermia. With the help of the moonlight he spotted a shadowy figure that looked to be an old outbuilding several yards away. MacGyver hurried through the snow, striking his foot against an unseen rock in the process. He reached the windowless shed and groaned when he saw the door secured with a rusted padlock. Normally he could easily pick it with his knife, but Josh was currently using it to keep himself from sinking into the frigid water. Suddenly, an idea sprung to mind and he backtracked to find the rock he had stumbled upon. Wrestling it out of the snow, it wasn’t as heavy as he first thought, but it should be able to get the job done. Returning to the wooden shed, he hit the lock with the rock several times until it finally gave way. With a sigh of relief Mac entered, pausing to adjust to the darkness. He carefully made his way around the small room, reaching out and touching objects as he went. Finally, his hand landed on what felt like a rubber garden hose. He hoisted the coil from the hook it was hanging on and headed outside to get a better look. He would have preferred something more flexible, like a rope, but this would have to do. He only hoped it was long enough.

Back at the pond he found Josh barely keeping himself above water. The boy’s eyelids were drooping and his arms appeared rigid. Mac stepped as close to the edge as he could.

“I’m gonna toss you this hose. Grab on and pull yourself up. I’ll pull from this end,” he told the frightened boy.

It took a couple tries, but finally Josh, still holding onto the knife with one hand, grasped the rubber hose in the other and began to pull himself up onto the ice. MacGyver braced his legs and pulled on the other end, careful to not rip the length of hose from Josh’s hand. At last, the boy was able to wiggle out of the hole and lay belly down on the ice.

“Stay still and hang on,” Mac called. “I’ll pull you in.”

Once Josh was back on firm ground, he and MacGyver sat in the snow, wet, cold, and exhausted.

“How did you find me?” the boy asked meekly.

Mac shrugged. “I just thought about where I would have gone when I was your age and cooped up in a hotel room when I’d rather be skating.”

“I bet my mom’s gonna be pretty angry.”

“I can just about guarantee it. You gave her quite a scare. Come on, we gotta get back to the lodge and get into some dry clothes before we get into any more trouble,” Mac said as he stood up and reached down to help the boy do the same. The return trek took a bit longer due to cold, stiff limbs.

“So how did you manage to get out without anyone seeing you?” MacGyver asked.

“I snuck out the back door of the laundry room. Is that how we’re gonna get back in?”

“We’re gonna give it a try,” Mac replied with a smile.

Once at the main building, MacGyver had Josh lead the way to the door he had used earlier. Mac reached for the handle but it was locked. Instinctively he stuck his hand in his pocket then frowned.

“Looking for this?” Josh asked, grinning as he held up Mac’s Swiss Army knife.

“Yeah. Thanks buddy.”

Moments later MacGyver had the lock jimmied and they stepped into the blessedly warm room where industrial sized washers and dryers chugged away.

“C’mon, this way!” Josh motioned and Mac followed with a grin. Due to the late hour, very few staff members were present, but they did have to duck into doorways a couple times to avoid detection. When they reached the suite, MacGyver tapped a gentle cadence on the door. Joanna swung the door open before stepping back and staring at them.

“What in the world happened to you?!” she cried as Molly joined her.

“We’ll tell you all about it, but first let us in before someone sees us.”

“It’s a little late for that,” Jo responded as she and Molly stepped aside to reveal the manager of the lodge standing in the middle of the room looking extremely unhappy.

MacGyver and Josh entered the suite and before Mac could speak the manager answered his unasked question.

“Some of the guests reported seeing prowlers outside their windows. We identified you two when we played back the outdoor security footage.”

“So what happens now?” Mac asked.

The tired manager sighed. “Everyone stays put for now. I’ll call the local CDC first thing in the morning and see what the protocol is for this type of infraction. We’ll talk when I know more.”

“I’ll be here,” MacGyver promised as Jo draped a heavy blanket over his shoulders, the manager departing with a scowl.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“C’mon! It’s almost time!” Mac called from where he sat on the couch in his apartment.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Joanna responded from the kitchen before turning her attention to the bull dog waiting not-so-patiently at her feet.

“Here you go, Frog. Enjoy,” she said as she crouched down and served up a canine meal of fried chicken livers.

“Joanna!”

“I’m coming!”

Jo plopped down next to MacGyver just as he turned up the volume on the television so they could hear the countdown live from Times Square. Watching the big, glistening ball slide down the pole as the year wound down always gave her chills. The crowd soon cheered and a recording of Auld Lang Syne blared. Mac turned and kissed her deeply. When he finally pulled away, she chuckled.

“What?” he asked a bit defensively.

“This just reminds me of when I was little and my dad told me once the ball dropped it was the New Year and I had to go to bed. Then I learned about time zones!”

“Speaking of which, we still have one more to go,” Mac observed.

“If you would have warned me we’d be ringing in 1998 every hour on the hour since midnight in London I would’ve bought stock in Chapstick!”

“Are you complaining?” he asked with a crooked grin.

“Not a chance,” she replied with a smile. “It’s hard to believe that a week ago we were quarantined in a ski lodge.”

“I know what you mean. But in a way it was kinda nice,” he said softly, taking her hand and weaving his fingers through hers.

“Yeah, it was. Especially since you didn’t get punished for breaking quarantine,” she replied dreamily, remembering the three days spent in the comfortable suite, eating gourmet food, talking, kissing, talking some more, and cuddling in front of the television. “But it was still nice to be able to come home after none of the other guests exhibited flu symptoms.”

“I’m sorry we missed spending Christmas with your family, though.”

Jo shook her head. “Spending time alone with you was the best gift I could’ve gotten.”

“Speaking of gifts, we agreed to exchange presents tonight, remember?” he asked as he reached under the sofa cushion and pulled out a small box.

Joanna lifted the lid and began to laugh. “My own Swiss Army knife!”

“I was gonna get you an extra-large roll of duct tape, but I figured this was classier.”

“Oh, I love it, Mac!

“Turn it over,” he ordered.

On the opposite side she found the engraving ‘JF + AM’.

“Our initials! It’s perfect!” she exclaimed. “I’m gonna keep this forever! Now close your eyes while I go get your present.”

“You mean my Christmas gift has been here the whole time?”

“No, I brought it over this morning when you were at Challengers. Now close your eyes because I couldn’t wrap it.”

When she was sure Mac had obeyed, she hurried upstairs and grabbed the present from the back of the closet.

“Okay,” she said when she was once again standing in front of him. “You can open your eyes now!” She didn’t miss the shadow of disappointment that momentarily covered his face.

“You got me a used hockey stick?” he asked, trying to sound pleased as he examined the nicks and scrapes and dried up tape.

“Read the handle,” she instructed.

Scribbled in black magic marker was an unfamiliar script that read ‘Merry Christmas MacGyver’.

She saw the moment when his dismay morphed into curiosity. “Keep reading,” she urged, barely able to control her excitement.

He rotated the stick in his hands until he saw Wayne Gretzky’s autograph in the same handwriting.

“Jo, how did you ever…”

“You never mentioned getting a bonus from Phoenix for your work on the MacGyverland project, so I called Pete who called Craig who pulled some strings and voila! Do you like it?”

“I love it!” he exclaimed. “But not nearly as much as I love you!”

Before she knew it, MacGyver swept her into his arms and was kissing her senseless as the clock struck twelve and a whole new year began.

Sorry, took me a few days to get to this one

Interesting...

"Accidentally"

Uh oh...

Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky XD

Smooth, Mac, smooth

Mac: *is surprised Jo doesn't argue* *argues on her behalf*

*squeals* (The newest Miraculous Ladybug season came out, and it left me in a very shippy mood )

This'll lead to the quarantine, I'll bet. (future me says that his last line here is harsher in hindsight).

Surprised it took her that long to notice XD

YES!

*squeals again*

The SHADE XD

Oh, that's freakin' sad

Mood.

Wow, Mac, just pullin' out all the stops tonight, aren't ya? XD

Okay, their gifts to each other are adorable XD

Chapter 36: The Guest

Mid-January was always an odd time of year. The anticipation of Christmas, New Year’s, and holiday activities was gone. Snowfalls that were magical a month ago were now a nuisance and it seemed the whole world was yearning for spring which was still only a distant promise. MacGyver felt this bleakness more than ever this year. Upon returning to work, Joanna had been offered, and accepted, a full time teaching position at the high school to cover for an instructor who had taken a sudden leave of absence for the second semester. This meant she spent more time at school than with him. He knew that was a selfish thought, but he still missed her presence. Now, the time they had spent together at the ski resort seemed all the more precious. Even if most of it was under quarantine. The telephone on his desk rang, breaking him from his melancholy reverie and he reached for the receiver.

“Challengers Club,” he answered.

“Hi MacGyver! Guess who!” An all-too-familiar bubbly voice greeted him.

“Gosh, I wonder,” he teased as a smile tugged at his lips.

“It’s me. Penny Parker.” Her tone was serious now, almost sad, and Mac could imagine the frown on her face.

“I know, Penny. I’d recognize that voice of yours anywhere.” He’d certainly heard it enough over the years. “What’s up?”

“I’m flying into Milwaukee the day after tomorrow and was wondering if you could pick me up at the airport,” she replied, her usual cheerfulness returning.

“No problem. What brings you here?”

“The university’s drama department contacted me. They want to do a revival of Cleo Rocks and asked me to come and consult with them! Isn’t that wonderful?!” Mac swore her voice rose an octave with excitement.”

“Yeah, Penny, that’s great. But how did they find you? The original show never even opened.”

“They said they found all my information on the internet. Aren’t computers awesome?!”
“Yeah, awesome,” he agreed reluctantly. “Listen Penny, are you sure this whole thing is legit and not someone pulling a prank...or worse?”

“Oh Mac, why do you always have to be so negative?” Before MacGyver could express his doubts she continued. “Anyway, I thought it was kind of strange myself so I called the head of the Fine Arts department and she confirmed everything! This is really happening, Mac! People are finally going to get to see Cleo Rocks!”

Yep. This was definitely an odd time of year.

XXXXX

Two nights later Mac pulled his Jeep into his driveway and smiled to himself when he saw the inside of his townhouse awash with warm, welcoming light.

“Are you sure Joanna doesn’t mind me staying here?” Penny asked, biting her bottom lip.

“Jo’s fine with it,” he assured her, stepping out of the vehicle. “After all, you’re practically family.”

Penny smiled with relief as she joined MacGyver who was already unloading her luggage from the back of the Jeep.

“Here, let me help you,” she insisted as they both grabbed the same suitcase at the same time.

“It’s okay. I got it, Penny,” Mac replied as they lifted the heavy bag together.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure!”

“Okay!” Penny let go of the handle and MacGyver, caught off guard by the sudden extra weight, sank to his knees with a loud yowl.

“Mac! What happened?!” Penny asked anxiously as she crouched by his side.

“I wrenched my back,” he explained through gritted teeth.

“I’ll help you up,” she declared, reaching out to grasp his upper arm.

“No!” Mac exclaimed before taking a breath and getting a grip on himself. “I can manage. Go on in the house. Joanna’s waiting for you.”

“Well…” Penny stood and hesitated, literally wringing her hands.

Suddenly the front door opened and Jo stepped out, breaking into a jog when she saw them.

“What happened?” she asked anxiously.

“MacGyver was taking the luggage out of the car and he hurt his back,” Penny relayed like a dutiful child.

“And Penny was trying to help,” he added with a pleading gaze he hoped Jo would understand. After a moment, she raised her eyebrow indicating she realized what he was trying to say.

“Mac’ll be fine,” she told Penny. “Come on in out of the cold and make yourself at home.” With an arm around the other woman’s shoulders, Jo led her through the front door.

Gingerly regaining his feet, Mac stood and sighed. Penny, much like Jack Dalton, had a way of finding trouble. Or of trouble finding her. Either way, he always seemed to suffer the unfortunate repercussions. With careful movements and measured steps, he once again picked up Penny’s bags and made his way into the house. What he found inside made him stop dead in his tracks. Joanna and Penny stood stock still between the spiral staircase and the breakfast bar as Frog growled at them in a way Mac had never heard before, his entire chubby body quivering.

“What has gotten into you?!” Jo scolded.

“It’s okay, Frog. It’s just me, Penny Parker. You liked me the last time I stayed here, remember?” She bent down and reached out to pet the dog who immediately bared his teeth. Penny quickly snatched her hand back and moved to stand behind Joanna.

MacGyver set the luggage he carried down just inside the doorway and went to stand between the two women and the ornery canine.

“This is ridiculous! Knock it off,” he demanded, giving the bull dog a gentle shove with his foot. The growling stopped, but Frog remained seated, staring Penny down as if she was his worst enemy.

“I’ll put him in the backyard until he calms down,” Jo announced as she reached down, grabbed his collar, and unceremoniously dragged him across the hardwood floor to the patio doors on the opposite end of the room. She snapped on his lead and put him out into the night, closing the sliding door behind her.

“I don’t understand what happened,” Penny moaned. “Animals usually love me!”

“Don’t worry,” Mac told her, summoning up a grin. “He’s just getting old and cranky. Go on upstairs and I’ll bring your luggage so you can get settled.”

Penny turned to him, her big doe eyes wide. “Maybe it would be better for your back if you took the bed and I slept on the couch.”

“No way! My back is just fine. You’ll take the bed,” Mac insisted as he moved to pick up her bags, but she beat him to it, lifting them as if they weighed no more than a feather before trotting up the stairs.

MacGyver looked on in disbelief and then shook his head in dismay as he limped toward his couch.

“She’s only been in town a couple hours and already I’ve thrown out my back and my dog’s gone crazy,” he muttered. “What more could happen?”

“Do you really want an answer to that?” Joanna asked skeptically.

“No. Definitely not!”

XXXXX

The following afternoon, MacGyver was sitting at his desk at Challengers, yawning widely, when Joanna walked through his door.

“So, how did things go after I left last night?” she asked without preamble or a hello kiss.

“Depends on who you ask,” Mac grumbled. “Penny took a shower, went to bed, and slept like a baby. Frog, on the other hand, spent the better part of the night pacing, sniffing, and growling at thin air so I couldn’t get to sleep. I finally decided to watch TV when my VCR ate one of my favorite classic Westerns.”

“Oh Mac! I’m so sorry!”

“Yeah, me too,” he replied, stifling another yawn. “I decided to keep Frog here until Penny leaves. He settled down as soon as we here.”

“Ya know, I hate to say anything, but all this bad luck you’re having reminds me of when we visited Penny’s B&B.”

Mac rose from his chair, pointing a finger at Jo. “No. Don’t even go there. There are no such thing as ghosts, and even if there were, my apartment is not haunted.”

“I know that,” Jo retorted, rolling her eyes. “I was thinking about Penny and Murdoc’s ring.”

Mac shook his head. “Before we left Cloverton I made her promise to get rid of that thing. Ya know...just in case.”

“Then I guess her visit and your sudden string of bad luck is just a weird coincidence,” she concluded. “By the way, where is Penny?”

“At the university. I let her ride in with me this morning so she could borrow my Jeep. Which reminds me,” he continued, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to give a guy a ride home?”

“Mmmm, perhaps I could be persuaded,” she said with a sly smile.

“I’ll cook you dinner,” he offered, grinning crookedly.

“That’s not exactly what I had in mind.” Joanna arched one eyebrow and caught his gaze.

Wordlessly, MacGyver’s hands moved to cup her face as he lowered his lips to hers in an achingly gentle caress. “Better?” he whispered huskily.

“Much,” she murmured contentedly. “But you’re still gonna make me dinner, right?”

Mac leaned back without moving his hands and considered her carefully. “I didn’t realized you were this greedy when I asked you to marry me.”

“Take it or leave it, Angus!”

“Oh, I’ll take it. I’ll always take it,” he confirmed, moving in and kissing her deeply.

That evening MacGyver had just pulled a casserole out of the oven as Joanna eyed it suspiciously when Penny came bouncing through the front door.

“Hi everybody!” she greeted them cheerfully. “Here are your keys, Mac. Thanks again for letting me borrow your car.”

“Sounds like you had a good day,” Mac observed, taking the car keys and returning them to the hook next to the door.

“Oh, it was wonderful!” Penny exclaimed, spinning around in circle. “The director found the original script and plans to follow it just as Jacques would have!” At the mention of Jacques, or rather Murdoc, the light in her eyes dimmed, but only for a moment. “And guess what the best part is?” she challenged, her enthusiasm back in full force.

“I don’t have a clue, Penny. What is it?” He chuckled under his breath, his friend’s mood obviously infectious as he glanced to find Joanna grinning as well.

“I’m in charge of teaching Cleopatra how to do the high kick!” she replied, clapping her hands in glee. “Remember how much trouble I had with that move until I finally got it right?!” Once again she sobered, along with Mac, as they both remembered how she used the dance move to kick the gun from Murdoc’s hand as he held her captive and threatened MacGyver.

Soon the somber mood lifted and the threesome enjoyed dinner after which Joanna suggested they watch a movie. Penny flipped through the TV Guide and frowned.

“There’s nothing good on tonight,” she complained.

“That’s okay,” Jo assure her. “Mac has a ton of movies, if you don’t mind Westerns.”
Penny pulled a face but grudgingly gave in as MacGyver pulled Joanna aside.

“What are you trying to do?! Feed my VCR another of my favorite movies?!”

Jo shrugged. “So, pick your least favorite. Besides, do you really think it’ll happen again?”

“There could be something wrong with the machine,” Mac reasoned.

“Fine. If it eats this tape you’ll know you need to get it fixed, but last night was probably just a fluke.”

Not wanting to argue over something as dumb as a video tape, Mac grabbed a cassette covered with dust and jammed it into the machine. Two hours later both Penny and Joanna were doubled over in laughter and he had a headache.

“That was the absolute worst movie I’ve ever seen!” Penny offered in between giggles.

“Too bad you didn’t decide to watch that one last night!” Jo teased him.

“There’s a reason it had two years’ worth of dust on it,” he groused.

“Look on the bright side,” Joanna encouraged as she snuggled closer to him on the couch. “At least it was entertaining!”

“For some people,” he grumbled.

Jo smiled and kissed him indulgently before pulling herself away and rising to her feet.

“I gotta get going,” she announced. “It’s a school night and teaching full time is more exhausting than I remember. Are you going back to the university tomorrow?” she asked Penny.

The other woman shook her head. “No, they don’t start rehearsals until the following day.”

“Then why don’t you come with me to Challengers,” Mac suggested. “We can always use an extra pair of hands.”

XXXXX

MacGyver stepped out of his office and found Penny crouched in a corner, rubbing Frog’s tummy as the dog lay on his back, all four legs in the air. Mac would swear the canine was smiling blissfully. Upon his approach, Penny turned and looked up at him, a bright smile on her face.

“Look! He likes me again! I guess he was just in a bad mood the other night.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Mac agreed, reaching down to ruffle Frog’s ears. “Listen, I have to go pick up some emergency supplies. Joanna will be coming over in a little bit. In the meantime, Rosie and Geena will take good care of you.”

“You don’t have to treat me like a child, MacGyver,” she declared, rolling her eyes. “I’m sure I can find plenty of things to do while you’re gone.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Mac mumbled under his breath as he walked out the door and headed to the jeep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A couple hours later Joanna walked into Challengers and cheerfully greeted Geena, Rosie, and Penny who were gathered around the reception desk chatting.

“Hey ladies, is Mac around? I didn’t see his car in the parking lot.”

“He went out to pick up some supplies,” Rosie explained.

“I don’t understand why you don’t just have them delivered,” Penny commented, appearing truly perplexed.

Jo laughed under her breath. “Normally we do, but the holidays messed up the schedule. How long has he been gone?”

“Too long,” Geena replied, studying her watch with a frown. “I hope that man of yours didn’t land himself in trouble.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time,” Penny observed lightly as the others grew concerned.

“I’m gonna call his cell phone,” Joanna announced, but before she could pick up the receiver, the front door banged open and a bedraggled MacGyver tumbled in.

“For pity’s sake! What happened to you?!” Geena cried as all four women hurried to his side.

“Just had a little car trouble,” he said with a lopsided grin. “Nothin’ to worry about.”

His hair was damp, his cheeks red from the cold wind, and his nylon ski jacket dirty and ripped.

“Mac, tell us what really happened,” Jo instructed in a low, firm voice.

“It was the weirdest thing,” he began. “I was coming around a curve and the steering wheel froze. I drove right into a snowbank. Luckily, a passing tow truck saw me and helped pull out the Jeep. I drove it the rest of the way here and everything was fine.”

“You should still take it to a mechanic and make sure everything’s alright,” Joanna urged.

“Yeah, I will, just as soon as I unload the supplies.”

“We’ll help!” Penny offered eagerly.

“It’s no big deal. I can handle it,” Mac told her. Jo and Penny gave him a two step lead before they followed behind him.

The trio was standing behind the Jeep when MacGyver opened the hatch and reached for one of the boxes.

“Aw man…” he moaned.

“What is it?” Joanna asked.

“One of the cleaning solution bottles must’ve busted when I had the accident. Everything’s wet back here,” he explained before turning to Penny. “Go get me some rags. There should be some under the driver’s seat,” he instructed.

Jo divided her attention between Mac, who looked for any damage the fluid may have caused, and Penny, who searched for the rags he had requested. Joanna could’ve sworn she saw the other woman slip something in her pocket, but it was Penny’s suddenly pale face that concerned her.

“Here you go, Mac,” Penny said flatly, holding out a wad of material.

When MacGyver accepted her offering, Joanna took her by the arm and pulled her aside.

“Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

“There are no such thing as ghosts, remember?” Penny replied with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “It just occurred to me that Mac’s accident could’ve been a lot worse.”

“Yeah, it sure could have,” Jo replied soberly. “C’mon, let’s help him get these boxes inside so he can dry out and clean up.”

Thirty minutes later, Joanna and Penny emerged from the store room where they had neatly arranged the new supplies and met up with MacGyver who had just come from his office. They rounded the corner where Frog was snoozing and Penny bent down to give him a light pat on the head. The dog abruptly struggled to his feet and began to growl at her.

“Honestly, I’ve never seen him this grouchy before,” Jo complained.

“We were getting along fine earlier,” Penny informed her.

Jo looked to Mac for confirmation which came in the form of a head nod. “Must be old age,” he reasoned, before they walked away.

Later that evening, Joanna and MacGyver stood side-by-side at the kitchen counter chopping vegetables for the soup they were making as Penny prattled on about the rock opera that was to begin rehearsals tomorrow.

“Ow!” Mac cried, startling the two women.

“What happened?” Jo asked anxiously

“I cut my finger,” he muttered, more in disgust than anguish.

Joanna peered over him to see the damage for herself. “It doesn’t look deep, but we should go upstairs and clean and bandage it.”

Surprisingly, Mac did not object to her suggestion as they made their way to the bathroom where Joanna cleansed the wound, smeared it with antibiotic ointment, and pulled it together with butterfly bandages before carefully wrapping a gauze pad around his entire finger as an added precaution.

In a short while they all sat down at the kitchen table, a bowl of piping hot vegetable and bean soup in front of them when Joanna frowned.

“We forgot to put out napkins,” she observed and began to rise from her chair before Penny interrupted her.

“I’ll get ‘em!” she volunteered, standing so quickly the table wobbled causing MacGyver’s supper to land in his lap.

He let out a painful cry as if the soup had scalded him right through his jeans.

“Oh Mac! I’m so sorry!” Penny cried, grabbing a pile of napkins and dabbing where the liquid had spilled.

“It’s okay,” MacGyver assured her, putting a hand around her wrist to stop her ministrations. “If you’ll both excuse me I’ll just go upstairs and change. I’ll be right back.” His clipped tone belied his polite words.

Penny’s eyes followed him as she chewed on her lower lip before turning back to Joanna.

“This is all my fault!” she wailed.

Jo’s brow furrowed in confusion. “It is not! Granted, Mac’s had his share of bad luck these past couple days, but you certainly don’t have anything to do with it.”

“Don’t I?” she asked wearily as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a silver chain with a death’s head ring hanging from it.

Joanna immediately recognized the macabre piece of jewelry she had first seen when she and MacGyver had stayed at Penny’s bed and breakfast. It had supposedly belonged to Murdoc, Mac’s greatest nemesis who died an untimely death, and now Penny believed the villain’s spirit was attached to it.

“What are you doing with that?!” Jo whispered urgently, glancing around to make sure MacGyver was still upstairs. “Mac said he told you to get rid of that thing!”

“I couldn’t!” Penny whispered back. “Murdoc loves me. He’s only trying to protect me. I couldn’t toss him aside...again.”

Joanna took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair. She wasn’t totally sold on the idea of Murdoc haunting them, but she couldn’t completely deny it, either.

“It has to be this!” the younger woman insisted. “It explains all of Mac’s accidents and why Frog always growls when he sees me.”

“Hold on a minute,” Jo said, her voice low but no longer a whisper. “Last night we had a perfectly uneventful evening and you said yourself that Frog enjoyed your attention earlier today. How do you explain that?”

Penny’s gaze fell to her lap. “I wasn’t wearing the ring then,” she mumbled before chancing a glance at Jo. “I didn’t even realize I’d lost it, but when Mac had me grab those rags today I found it on the floor of the Jeep. The clasp was broken so it must have slipped off when I borrowed the car to go to the university. That also means Mac was alone with Murdoc when he had his accident.”

Joanna hated to admit it, but Penny did present a reasonable explanation for everything that had happened...if you believed in ghosts. Which Joanna wasn’t sure she did.

“Okay, say you’re right,” Jo challenged. “What are you gonna do about it?”

“We have to find a way to protect MacGyver. You know, keep him away from anything that could be dangerous. Do you think you could get his Swiss Army knife away from him?”

Joanna stared at Penny in disbelief. “That would be like trying to separate him from his liver! Besides, there’s a much easier solution.”

“What is it?” Penny asked, wide-eyed and eager to please.

“Get rid of the ring!”

Penny shook her head, tears pooling in her eyes. “As much as I love Mac, I can’t do that. I just can’t!” she sobbed.

“Alright,” Jo sighed. “Then just keep it away from MacGyver!”

“How?”

“I don’t know,” Joanna moaned, frustration getting the better of her. Suddenly, they heard Mac moving towards the stairs.

“Here, you take it!” Penny commanded, shoving the ring into Jo’s unsuspecting hands.

“I don’t want it!’ Jo protested.

“It’s okay. Murdoc won’t hurt you. He never met you, but he knows you’re my friend. Put it somewhere Mac never goes until it’s time for me to leave.”

“But--” the words died on Joanna’s lips as MacGyver descended the stairs. She quickly slipped the ring into the front pocket of her jeans and pasted on a smile.

Unnerved by the conversation she had just had with Penny, it was all Joanna could do to summon enough pluck to make it through the rest of the meal and make a hasty exit.

“I’m sorry to leave so soon, but I’m starting to get a headache,” she told MacGyver as he walked her to the door.

“Maybe I should drive you home,” he offered.

She smiled. “It’s just a headache, Mac. I’ll be fine.” She reached up and gave him a gentle kiss.

“Call me when you get there?”

“Sure thing,” she promised.

MacGyver stepped back, his eyes boring into hers. “You’re not gonna argue?”

Jo let out a little laugh. “You didn’t argue when I took care of your finger,” she pointed out.

“Alright. But be careful,” he warned.

Once inside her car, she pulled the ring from her pocket and tossed it in the glove compartment.

“Behave yourself, Murdoc,” she instructed, before starting the car and driving off into the night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next several days passed uneventfully, much to MacGyver’s relief, and life fell into a somewhat normal routine. He spent his days at Challengers, Joanna taught at the high school, and Penny attended the initial rehearsals for Cleo Rocks. In the evening, they would all convene at Mac’s place for supper, conversation, and sometimes a movie. However, with hockey season in full swing, it was more likely that they would watch the game. Penny got in the habit of sneaking up to the bedroom at some point in order to give Mac and Joanna some private time, and her thoughtfulness was not lost on her host.

Late one afternoon MacGyver overheard Jo speaking with Rosie who was managing the reception desk.

“It was fine this morning, then, on the way over here, the light went on,” she explained.

Mac was at her side in moments. “What light?” he asked.

“The tire pressure light in my car. I’ll check it out when I get home,” she said, waving her hand as if to dismiss the situation.

“It’ll be dark by then,” Mac protested. “I can take a look at it right now. Is your tire gauge in the glove compartment?”

“Yeah,” she replied absently as Rosie handed her some telephone messages.

MacGyver was almost out the door when Joanna called to him from behind.

“Wait! I’ll get it for you!” she suddenly proclaimed, trying to squeeze past him.

He grabbed her by the shoulders to halt her progress. “It’s freezing cold out there. I can handle it,” he assured her, a bit confused by her behavior, as he headed outside.

Using the spare key Jo had given him, he unlocked the door and slid into the passenger seat before opening the glove compartment. As he was rummaging through the maps and various contents he was pretty sure Joanna didn’t even know she had in there, he caught a glimmer of something as it slide out and fell to the floor. Meaning only to return the item to its rightful place, his blood began to boil when he picked up the silver chain with a death’s head ring hanging from it.

“Joanna!” he bellowed as he charged through the front door. She was still chatting with Rosie when she turned around at the sound of her name.

“What is this?!” MacGyver demanded, holding up the offending object in front of her face.

“The reason I didn’t want you going in my glove compartment,” she replied.

“Where did you get it?!”

She tilted her head at him as if to say ‘really’ before replying. “I was keeping it for Penny.”

“But I told her to get rid of it!”

“Well, obviously she didn’t!” she spat back, temper flaring.

Mac glanced at Rosie who was staring at them with rapt attention. “Let’s continue this in my office,” he said, grabbing Joanna’s hand and leading her across the large recreation room.

“How could you be so stupid?!” he rounded on her as soon as he closed the door. A stab of remorse hit him when he saw the hurt reflected in her eyes, but he wasn’t about to let this go.

“I am not stupid!” she shot back. “Penny was only trying to protect you and I kinda got pulled into her scheme. If you don’t like me taking jewelry from other people, maybe you want this back as well!” She ripped off her engagement ring and ground it into the palm of his hand, causing his heart to plummet to the floor.

Dropping down into the chair behind his desk, he let out a long sigh as he jammed his fingers through his hair.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come down on you like that, but you know how I feel about Murdoc.”

Joanna must have taken pity on him because when she next spoke, her voice was gentle. “I know. But I thought you didn’t believe in ghosts.”

“When it comes to Murdoc, I’m not sure what I believe anymore,” he replied with a self-deprecating laugh. “How long has that thing been in your car anyway?”

“Penny gave it to me the night you got into that accident.”

“The night I cut my finger and had hot soup spilled in my lap,” he added with a wry grin.

“Yeah. She blamed herself because she had the ring. I didn’t even know about it until then. I told her to get rid of it and she ended up shoving it into my hand.”

A grin tugged at the corners of Mac’s lips. “Yeah, that sounds like Penny alright.”

“You’re not gonna yell at her, too, are ya?”

“I probably should, but I won’t. At least now that I have the ring I can make sure it disappears for good.”

“You can’t do that!” Jo exclaimed in horror.

“Why not?” he asked, unwillingly to lose this opportunity.

“You have to understand that even if you and I don’t believe Murdoc’s somehow attached to that ring, Penny does, and she wears it as a talisman of sort.”

“Kinda like rabbit’s foot?” Mac grimaced.

“Yeah. She believes Murdoc is protecting her. It means a lot to her Mac.”

“I know,” MacGyver grudgingly admitted, holding out the silver ring to Jo. “Go put this someplace far away from me.”

“You’re doing the right thing,” she assured him with a tender smile before turning to leave.

“Hey! You forgot something!” he called.

“I did?” Her brows knit in confusion.

“I hope you still want to wear this ring,” he said huskily as he walked up to her and placed the gold band with the tiny diamond back on her finger.

“I will always want to wear this ring,” she promised, tilting her head to receive his lingering kiss.

XXXXX

The next day, Penny stood at the front door to MacGyver’s apartment, her packed bags at her feet, looking more somber than Mac had seen her in quite some time.

“You know you could stay longer,” Mac invited, hoping to lift her spirits.

“No,” she replied, shaking her head. “I need to get back to the B&B. The director has everything under control. I’m sure it’ll be great.”

“But you will come back for the premiere, right?”

“I don’t think so. It just brings back so many memories. Do you plan on going?”

Mac shook his head. “Naw. Like you said, too many memories.”

“Well then, I guess this is goodbye!” Her smile was genuine and her voice more enthusiastic.

“Yeah, I guess so. Of course, we’ll have to say goodbye again at the airport since I’m driving you there.”

This earned a patented Penny Parker laugh. “Yeah, I guess we will.”

“By the way, Joanna asked me to give this back to you,” Mac said, gently placing the chain bearing Murdoc’s ring around her neck.

Penny’s eyes went wide with surprise. “How did you find out?!”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said with a smile.

“You mean you’re not mad that I didn’t get rid of it like you told me to?” she asked, sounding like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

“I was,” he admitted. “But then Joanna explained things. Just promise to keep that thing away from me the next time we visit.”

“Oh, I promise!” Penny vowed, her face fairly glowing as she reached up and hugged MacGyver.

“At this rate you’re gonna miss your plane,” he chuckled. “Let’s get your luggage in the Jeep.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” she asked skeptically as he reached for the heaviest bag.

“I’m positive,” he replied, lifting the bag with ease. “See, no problem!”

Yeah, that's the time of year I most question if I may have some kind of depression.

She fell for it

*chokes* XD

Mac, you've got no one to blame but yourself for that one XD

I might be more baffled by Frog's behavior if I hadn't scrolled down, happened to see something about the ring, and rememered that chapter XD

Is there ever? (pretty much everything I watch these days is streamed XD)

So Frog can go nuts.

Penny's not wearing the ring.

Exactly what I thought XD

I headcanon that the reason he doesn't object is because he likes the attention, at least from her XD

Seems a little overkill, though... *old man voice* In my day, cold weather made ones hands split all over, and bleed a lot, and we just sucked it up and dealt with it. (Okay, in all seriousness, dry, cracked skin is why I hate winter most XD)

*puppy whimpering sound* Okay, that's adorable, I mean, frickin' adorable. Especially because I've always felt bad for Murdoc when Penny rejects him (not that I blame her, or anything, but still...)

I laughed at that line, and it's so true

Mac is also your friend, and Murdoc hurt(s) him all the time XD

I had to smile at this part XD

Murdoc did that on purpose, I bet.

FIIIIIIGGGHHHHTTTT XD

Oooh snap...

Oh good, that's one less thing to worry about XD

So, was Penny planning to sneak over to Joanna and ask for the ring back, or did she totally forget?

I thought you'd enjoy this chapter, Dragondog!!

Murdoc and Penny are kinda hard NOT to enjoy

Chapter 37: Valentine’s Prey

Joanna sighed as she crossed yet another name off the list in front of her and leaned back in the hard wooden desk chair. She turned her head to look out the classroom windows where darkness had fallen and sighed again. Although she loved her job as an English teacher at Lincoln Charter High School and had willingly added classes to her schedule to cover for a colleague, she still hated parent/teacher conferences. Not because she was required to stay into the evening to accommodate the hours of working parents or even because she too often had less than stellar news to share regarding their teen’s performance in her class, but because she was lucky if one third of the moms and dads cared enough about their kids’ education to even bother to show up. Yet she had to be available if they did.

The last parent she had spoken with was Rosie Garcia, Raul’s mom and Challengers part-time volunteer receptionist. The kind woman had brought platters of her famous tamales as well as empanadas and containers filled with Mexican rice to share with the over-tired, always-hungry teaching staff. They had engaged in friendly conversation about Raul’s success in his studies as well as his behavior that set an example for others in his class. That had been well over an hour ago, and now there was only one more name left on Joanna’s list: Mr. Richard Miller, father of Trent Miller. If there was one person she hoped wouldn’t show, it was this one. But something in her gut told her she wouldn’t get off quite that easily. A soft yet firm knock on her door confirmed her suspicions. She stood up, pasted on a smile, and greeted the final parent of the evening. Of average height and build with nondescript features, Mr. Miller still somehow managed to exude a dominance that made her feel a bit uneasy. Or perhaps she was just tired, her nerves frayed from the long day. Determined to remain confident and professional, she reached out to shake his hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said in greeting. “I’m Ms. Fairfax. I’ll be Trent’s teacher for the rest of this semester since Mrs. Dunham has taken a leave of absence.”

“Then I suppose I have you to thank for this!” he sneered as he tossed Trent’s tattered report card onto her desk before taking a seat across from her, his dark eyes seeming to challenge her.

Joanna calmly unfolded the piece of paper, already knowing the unsatisfactory grades and comments she would find. She pretended to study it in order to give the man before her a chance to cool off.

“Mr. Miller, I’m afraid I must inform you that these are Trent’s grades from the previous semester that ended a few weeks ago. Mrs. Dunham submitted them before she left.”

“You women are all alike,” he grumbled. “Always trying to shift the blame.”

Any trepidation Joanna had felt immediately fled as a flare of anger raised her hackles.

“While I did not issue the grades you see, I am more than happy to discuss Trent’s performance and behavior since I took over his class.”

“I don’t need no uppity teacher telling me about my son! I know my boy. He’s gonna be the first generation of Millers to go to college!”

“Sir, with all due respect, Trent is only a sophomore. Talk of getting into college may be a bit premature.”

“Is that your pretty little way of tellin’ me my boy don’t got what it takes to get a higher education?!”

Joanna took a long, cleansing breath and weighed her words carefully before speaking.

“What I’m saying, Mr. Miller, is that it might be a good idea to let Trent explore his options. From what I’ve seen, he may be better suited for a technical or trade school.”

“So now you’re sidin’ with his mother?!” The man shot out of his chair, momentarily startling Joanna before she, too, got to her feet. There was no way she would let him glower over her. “Let’s get one thing straight, missy,” he warned, shaking a finger at her. “No one’s gonna stand in the way of my son goin’ to college. Not you, not my ex-wife, no one!”

Before Jo could gather her thoughts, Mr. Miller snatched Trent’s report card from where it lay on her desk and stomped out of the room. Feeling thoroughly defeated, she sank down in her chair, massaging her throbbing temples until a light tap on her door drew her attention.

“I see you met Mr. Miller,” Ms. Braun, the young algebra teacher observed with a sympathetic smile. “I guess we should’ve warned you about him.”

Joanna waved off the remark. “No need. I’ve taught in a correctional facility. I think I can handle one ornery parent.”

“Well, I’m taking off for the night. You want to walk out together?”

Jo looked around the classroom. “No, you go ahead. I want to tidy up a bit. I’ll be right behind you.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow!”

Joanna watched Ms. Braun leave and breathed a sigh of relief. Her classroom was as tidy as ever...she had made sure of it before any of the parents saw it. She just didn’t feel like making small talk, if only for a few minutes. Once she was sure there were no more well-meaning educators waiting to accost her in the hallway, she shrugged on her coat, grabbed her purse and secured her classroom for the night. Outside, the air was unseasonably cold causing her to hurry toward her car, key in hand. She quickly opened the door and slid into the driver’s seat when her cell phone began to trill. Snagging it from the front pocket of her purse she clicked onto the call.

“Hey, you still plannin’ on comin’ over for a late dinner?” She allowed MacGyver’s smooth, warm, wonderful voice to wash over her.

“Actually I think I’m just gonna head straight home,” she replied.

“You sound rattled.”

Joanna sighed. “I’m just really tired. It’s been a long day.”

“See you at Challengers tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there,” she promised.

XXXXX

A bleary eyed Joanna slogged through her lessons the following day. Although a deep, peaceful slumber had immediately claimed her the night before, she awoke in the wee hours of the morning, thoughts of how she could have handled the meeting with Mr. Miller more positively flitting through her brain, refusing to allow her any further rest. Just when she was pretty sure she was going to doze off despite the lecture she was in the middle of giving, a soft tap on the doorframe caught her attention. Vice Principal Varga walked up to her.

“There’s a telephone call for you in the office. I’ll watch your class,” she said lowly.

Joanna’s heart, which had initially stuttered at the sight of the woman, now beat double time as she hurried down the long corridor. Mrs. Varga coming to her and offering to monitor her students meant the call was about something bad. Really bad. Upon entering the main office, the receptionist held out the receiver to her which she grabbed immediately.

“Hello?” she answered, willing her pulse to stop pounding in her ears so she could hear the caller, but the line remained silent. “Hello?!” she repeated with growing urgency. Still no answer. She hung up with a worried frown.

“Were you the one who took the call?” she asked the middle-aged receptionist.

“Yes. I was told there was an emergency and to contact you immediately.”

“Did the caller identify themselves?” Jo prodded, tamping down the panic that was growing exponentially.

“No,” the woman frowned. “In fact, I wasn’t even sure if the voice was male or female. It was a bit garbled.”

“Do you mind if I make a couple calls?”

“Go right ahead. I’ll be in the copy room.”

With trembling hands, Joanna dialed her parent’s number and huffed when the machine picked up. They were screening their calls.

“It’s me. If you’re home pick up,” she said after the beep.

“Hi honey,” her mom answered. “I thought you had classes all day. Is everything okay?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. I was sent to the office to take an emergency phone call, but when I got here the line was dead. Did you or Dad call me?”

“No. In fact, we just got home from grocery shopping.” Her mother sounded as bewildered as Joanna felt. Then her stomach plummeted to the floor.

“Mac! It must have been Mac!” Joanna cried, hanging up the phone without even saying goodbye. She quickly punched in the number for Challengers.

Geena was only halfway through her professional greeting when Jo interrupted her. “Did someone call me? Is everything okay?! Is Mac there?!”

“Joanna?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Is everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine. Very quiet, actually. MacGyver is in his office if you want me to transfer you.”

Jo took a deep, calming breath. “No. I don’t wanna bother him. I’ll see ya later.”

When Joanna returned to her classroom, the vice principal motioned her to the hallway.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, her voice full of concern.

“That seems to be the question of the day,” Jo told her boss, then continued to explain the events of the last several minutes.

“It sounds like you’ve been the victim of a prank call,” Mrs. Varga told her. “We do our best to safeguard our staff, but every now and again something slips through the cracks.”

“I understand,” Joanna assured the woman, her exhaustion returning in full force. “Actually, I’m glad it was just a prank and not a real emergency.”

The older woman smiled. “Well, you certainly have a good point there!”

A few hours later, Jo walked through the front door of Challengers wanting only to be wrapped in MacGyver’s strong, comforting embrace. What she got was a steely command.

“In my office. Now,” he instructed as soon as their eyes met.

After securing the door so they wouldn’t be interrupted he rounded on her. “Mind telling me what’s up with you?”

“What do you mean?” she replied, indignation rising above her shock and confusion.

“Geena told me about the strange phone call she got from you this afternoon.”

“Geena needs to keep her mouth shut,” she murmured, crossing her arms in front of her.

Mac blew out a breath and scrubbed his face with his hands. “Look, last night when I called you didn’t sound like yourself, and I’ll admit I was disappointed when you didn’t want to have dinner together, but I figured you were just tired and needed some space. Then you call here in the middle of the day to make sure everything’s okay. I just want to know what’s goin’ on.”

His eyes were deep and dark and Joanna couldn’t resist their plea. “The last conference of the night went pretty bad. One of the fathers really tied into me and caught me off guard.”

“And you laid awake all night thinking about how you could have handled it differently,” he concluded, a smile tugging at his lips.

“I did not!” she retorted, before turning contrite. “It was only half the night.”

“Okay. Then what happened today?” His voice was calm and gentle.

“Mrs. Varga came to me in the middle of my class to tell me I had an emergency phone call in the office, but when I got there whoever it was had already hung up.”

“And you assumed something bad had happened here.”

Joanna nodded slowly. “Turns out it was just a prank.”

“But it still scared you.”

She nodded again.

“Aw baby,” he sighed as he drew her into his arms. Finally in the place she longed to be she could’ve cried when there was a knock on his door.

“Duty calls,” he said, reluctantly stepping away. “Let’s pick up where we left off later.”

XXXXX

After spending a cozy evening with MacGyver and getting a peaceful night’s rest, Joanna felt like a new person the following day. The sun seemed brighter, the temperature warmer, and the students more cooperative. Her good mood lasted until she headed to her car after classes were dismissed only to find that her left rear tire was flat as a pancake.

“Terrific,” she mumbled under her breath, stowing her belongings in the backseat before reaching for her cell phone. A phone she hardly used until a couple days ago.

“Looks like you got a problem,” a masculine voice said from behind her.

She turned to find Mr. Miller headed her way. A heavy lump of dread immediately formed in her stomach.

“It’s just a flat tire,” she replied, trying to sound nonchalant. “My fiancé will come over and change it.”

“No need to bother him. I’m already here and would be happy to do it,” he told her almost sheepishly. “Consider it an apology for the other night. My ex always said I had a short fuse. Especially when it comes to that boy of mine. Go ahead and pop the trunk and I’ll have you on your way in a jiffy.”

Joanna opened the driver’s door and did as instructed.

“So what brings you here today?” she asked, trying to make small talk to make the time go faster.

“Thought I’d surprise Trent by picking him up. He’s stayin’ late to get some science tutorin’. Save him a long walk home.”

“I’m sure he’ll appreciate that,” she smiled.

“Listen, it’s pretty chilly out here. Why don’t you go on inside while I take care of this?”

Joanna hesitated. She wanted to trust the man and certainly didn’t want to anger him by refusing his help, so she did as he suggested. Once in the warmth of the main entrance, she peeked out a side window to keep an eye on him until Ms. Braun distracted her.

“Everything okay?” the algebra teacher asked.

“Yeah,” Jo answered. “I came out to a flat tire and Mr. Miller offered to fix it.”

“What’s he doing here?” her colleague asked, scrunching her nose in distaste.

“He’s picking up Trent.”

“Well, he wasted trip. I saw Trent leave with a bunch of his buddies a nanosecond after the final bell.”

“I’ll let Mr. Miller know,” Jo replied. “Hopefully he won’t get upset.”

“Good luck with that,” Ms. Braun said sarcastically before walking out the door.

Joanna turned back to gaze through the window and saw that Mr. Miller was putting the jack back in her trunk, the flat tire still leaning up against her back bumper.

“That was quick!” she observed cheerily as she approached him.

“Told ya it was no big deal,” he shrugged.

“Well, I still appreciate it,” Jo confirmed. “Oh, by the way, one of the teachers said she saw Trent leave school with some of his friends. It looks like he skipped out on his tutoring.” She winced, prepared for Mr. Miller’s reaction.

Instead of exploding as he had done in her classroom a couple days ago, he simple hung his head and shook it sadly.

“That boy’s gonna be the death of me,” he groaned.

Joanna couldn’t help but chuckle. “I hear that from a lot of parents. I’m sure you’ll all survive.”

Mr. Miller looked up at her then, a glint in his eye. “Since I don’t have a kid to take home, how about I buy you a piece of pie at the diner across the street?”

Jo immediately knew where this train was headed and she needed to derail it before it picked up any steam.

“I’m sorry, but I have a prior commitment and thanks to the stupid flat I’m already late.”

“No problem,” he replied brusquely. “I see how things are. I’ll just be on my way.” He reached down and picked up the ruined tire, but instead of putting it in the trunk as Joanna expected, he began to walk away with it.

“Mr. Miller!” she called. “You can put the tire in my car. I can take it from here.”

The man stopped in his tracks, but for a moment looked as if he would not comply. Finally he turned and unceremoniously tossed the tire into the trunk and slammed it closed before walking away without another word.

“A flat tire?” MacGyver repeated as she was relaying the events of the afternoon to him in his office at Challengers.

“Must’ve gone one too many rounds with a pothole,” she reasoned. “They’re absolutely terrible and winter’s not over yet.”

“And it was fine this morning? The tire pressure light wasn’t on or anything?” Mac probed.

“No. Everything was fine,” Jo confirmed, his tone making her uneasy.

“Do you mind if I take a look at it?”

Joanna tossed him her keys. “Knock yourself out.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

MacGyver frowned as he pulled the now-useless tire from Jo’s trunk. In his experience, a tire did not get that flat that quick without some help. His frown deepening, he examined every inch of the rubber until he found what he didn’t want to find...a number of barely discernable slits that no one would see unless they were looking for them.

When Mac walked back into the building, he found Joanna chatting with Rosie who sat at the reception desk, Raul next to her doing his homework.

“We need to talk,” he whispered urgently into Jo’s ear as he headed straight for his office.

“What’s up?” she asked lightly.

He hated to give her the bad news, but she needed to know.

“Your tire was slit,” he said flatly. “Several times,” he added for emphasis.

“Another prank?” Her eyebrows knit together in what appeared to be a combination of confusion and fear.

“Or something more serious. Any idea who’d wanna do this?”

“Well, the obvious suspect is Mr. Miller,” Jo stated.

“Agreed.”

“But he hardly knows me. He already knows I’m not responsible for Trent’s report card. Besides, how could he know which car is mine?”

“He probably hid outside and waited until you left the building after parent/teacher conferences. It was dark so he’d easily go unnoticed.”

“And I made a point of parking by a streetlamp that day for safety’s sake so he could’ve easily seen me get in the car,” she said, punctuating the irony of her statement with an un-ladylike snort that made MacGyver grin in spite of himself.

“But on the other hand, our lot isn’t secured and it could’ve been some kid just picking a random car to vandalize,” she added.

“True,” Mac conceded.

“So we’re back to square one?” she asked.

“Looks that way. Just promise you’ll be more careful, especially at school. Try to walk in and out with another teacher and be sure to report this to the principal first thing so the administration can take proper precautions.”

He wanted to add that he would happily drive her back and forth and watch her back, but he knew she would resist, claiming he was being overprotective. Hopefully she would be right.

They lingered at Challengers well into the evening until Joanna’s stifled yawns caused MacGyver to encourage her to go home and get some rest.

“Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday,” she said, gathering her things before heading to the door. “It’s been a really long week.”

“Listen, it’s Cynthia’s turn to take the weekend shift. Valentine’s Day is next Saturday. How about you and I just lay low this weekend and celebrate a little early?” Mac asked, hoping to spend more time with her. It seemed like since they got engaged they actually saw less of each other. He was pretty sure it wasn’t supposed to work like that.

“Sounds like a great plan,” she smiled wearily, standing on tiptoe to give him a quick goodnight kiss.

MacGyver watched to make sure she got safely into the car and stared at her tail lights until they disappeared. Soon he, too, was on the road toward home and was surprised to find his side of the townhouse ablaze with light when he pulled into his driveway. He wondered who the surprise visitor was this time. He really needed to change his locks.

Walking through the front door, Mac was met by a blur of brown and white fur that settled happily at his feet and stared up at him expectantly with big brown eyes. MacGyver could swear the dog with the long, droopy ears was smiling at him.

“Hi Dad,” Sam greeted him from across the room as the visiting canine drooled on Mac’s shoe. “You remember Cip, don’t ya?”

“Yeah, I remember him,” MacGyver replied, regarding the dog thoughtfully. “Kip with a ‘C’. Well, there are worse names. What are you two doing here?”

“Becca’s at a journalism seminar in Indianapolis. I’m dog-sitting.”

“Um, Sam?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m pretty sure she intended for you to keep Cip at your place.”

Mac’s son laughed. “That’s a good one, Dad! Can’t a guy visit his favorite father?”

“I’m your only father,” MacGyver replied dryly. “Now what are you doin’ here?”

“Relax. Things have just been slow at work so I thought I’d take a little break. Where’s Frog? I figured him and Cip might hit it off.”

“He’s at Challengers. Joanna and I were kinda planning on having the weekend to ourselves.” Mac knew he sounded pretty blunt, but a guy could be straight with his own son, right?

“Oooh...sorry,” Sam winced. “We can leave…”

“No. But you can do me a favor.”

“Sure, what is it?”

“You know Charlie, my landlord, who lives next door?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s out of town for a few weeks and I promised I’d look after the place. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you and Cip stayed over there for the weekend.”

Sam’s face lit up as MacGyver handed him the spare key Charlie had given him.

“To be honest, now that I have my own place, I’m used to having a lot more room to myself. This’ll be perfect!”

Mac chuckled to himself. “Go on over and get settled. I’ll see you in the morning.”

It seemed that MacGyver’s head had barely hit the pillow when his alarm began to ring. He swatted the clock, hitting every button he could find, but it still blasted away. Groggily, he realized it was his telephone.

“Hello?” he answered, his voice raspy from sleep.

“Mac, something’s happened.”

Three words from Joanna and he was wide awake and already reaching for his clothes.

“Where are you? I’m on my way.”

“I’m still at home.”

“Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just…”

“I’ll be right there!”

MacGyver pulled onto the Fairfax’s street to find two squad cars parked in front of their house, the family and police officers gathered around Jo’s Chevy standing in the driveway. The Jeep’s tires squealed as Mac slammed on the brakes and hurried over to find his fiancé.

“What happened?” he called to no one in particular. A number of grim faces turned to look at him and everyone stepped back to allow him a look at the car. There, scrawled along the driver’s side in black spray paint were the words ‘I’ll get you!’.

Mac was still processing the scene before him when he felt Joanna approach. He instinctively reached out and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her close.

“I found it when I came out to go to work,” she said softly. “This jerk knows where I live.”

MacGyver tore his gaze from the vandalized car to Jo’s sweet face. Any sign of shock or fear had long since been replaced with anger and determination.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” a police officer said as he approached, “But you need to finish giving your statement Ms. Fairfax.”

“You did tell him about the prank call and flat tire at school, right?” Mac asked in a whisper.

“Of course I did!” she spat before turning her attention back to the cop.

“Do you have any idea who may have done this?” he asked. “Any former students from the correctional facility or the school for at-risk teens?”

Joanna rolled her eyes. “I don’t know!” she huffed in frustration. “Anyone I suppose!”

“This isn’t some random act, ma’am. This is more personal than the others.”

“And dangerous,” MacGyver added. “Any chance we can get some extra patrols or protection for her until whoever is doing this is caught?” He knew the answer, but he had to ask anyway.

“Sorry sir, the department is short-handed as it is. I already advised Ms. Fairfax to take extra precautions.”

Mac nodded in understanding and then turned to Joanna. “Could this be the work of that Miller guy?”

“But how could he know where I live? The school considers all teacher information confidential.”

MacGyver thought for a moment. “What about when he changed your tire? Were you with him the whole time?”

“Yeah. Well, he told me to wait inside where it was warm but I watched him through a window.”

“And you never took your eyes off him?”

“No!” she exclaimed defensively before suddenly looking guilty. “Except when I was chatting with the math teacher.”

“That’s it!” Mac proclaimed, snapping his fingers. “He must have been watching you, too, and when you turned away he slipped into the car and got your address from your vehicle registration. That could’ve been why he slashed your tires in the first place.”

“We still don’t know for sure that he’s the one responsible for the flat,” Jo argued.

“I know,” MacGyver groaned, scrubbing his face with his hands. “But whoever is doing this is getting closer to you and I don’t like it!”

“I’m not exactly thrilled about it, either,” she responded wryly. “Unfortunately, there isn’t much we can do about it except be extra vigilant. Now, since you’re here, would you mind giving me a ride to school? I don’t want to be seen driving around in that.” She waved her hand at her beloved and now defaced Chevy coupe.

“You’re still planning to go to work?” he asked, concerned that she wasn’t taking the situation more seriously.

“I’m not gonna let some yahoo rule my life. I won’t give him the satisfaction,” she stated firmly.

“So this is about pride?” Mac asked, his voice rising of its own volition. “What good is pride gonna do you when he kills you?!”

“Whoa! You are blowing this way out of proportion.” Her eyes held wild concern...for him.

“I hope I am,” he admitted, knowing he was letting old fears control him. “I’d just rather be safe than sorry.”

“So what’s your plan, then?” she challenged.

“Call Mrs. Varga, tell her what happened, and take the day off. Then go pack a bag and I’ll take you to my place where you’ll be safe while we figure this out.”

Joanna stayed where she was, chewing her bottom lip as if weighing her options.

“C’mon,” he encouraged. “We were planning on spending the weekend together anyway. Now we’ll have three days instead of two.” He summoned up the roguish grin that always crumbled her defenses.

“What about my folks? Do you think he’ll hurt them when he can’t get to me?”

Ah ha, so she was taking this more seriously than she let on. But what could he say to assuage her fears that wouldn’t be a lie?

“So far everything’s been directed at you,” he reasoned. “Last night he could’ve vandalized the house, but he targeted your car.”

“Again.”

“Again,” he added sympathetically.

“Fine,” she sighed, twisting his heart. “Come inside while I get some stuff together.”

MacGyver called and made arrangements with a local auto body shop to get Jo’s car repainted as quickly as possible.

“The police took lots of pictures, but you’re gonna need to call your insurance company as soon as we get back to my place,” he told her as they headed to his apartment.

Joanna remained silently lost in thought until they pulled into his driveway. Then she gasped.

He followed her gaze to where Sam stood on Charlie’s front stoop, coffee mug in one hand and leash in the other while Cip did his morning business.

“Why didn’t you tell me Sam was here?!” she admonished, slapping him on the bicep for good measure.

“I’m sorry! When I got your phone call all I could think about was you!”

“Well I can’t stay here now! There’s not enough room for all three of us!”

Mac grinned slyly. “There’s plenty of room. Sam is staying at Charlie’s while he’s out of town. And this way, you’ll have two built-in protectors.”

“Oh, goody,” she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

MacGyver blew out a breath as he exited the Jeep. “Look, I know you don’t want us hovering over you, but I’m only trying to keep you safe and hopefully get a hold of whoever is threatening you.”

“I know,” she replied softly, eyes on the ground. “It’s just been kinda a rough morning, ya know?”

“Yeah, I know,” he agreed, lifting her suitcase with one hand while he draped the other around her shoulders and pulled her close as they walked to the door.

“Hey Joanna!” Sam called. “What brings you here?”

“A very long story,” she mumbled.

While Joanna settled in upstairs, MacGyver booted up his computer and filled Sam in on the details.

“I don’t know, Dad. Maybe Jo’s right about this guy. I mean, he has means and opportunity, but no motive. Or at least not a very good one. Maybe it is someone from her past.”

Terrific! Now even his own son was working against him! Mac turned in his chair and began tapping on the keyboard.

“Whatcha doin’?” Sam asked.

“I’m accessing Wisconsin Circuit Court Records. Tryin’ to find out if Richard Miller is as squeaky clean as you and Joanna seem to want to believe.”

MacGyver could feel the younger man’s breath on his neck as Sam peered over his shoulder to read the results that had popped up on the screen. Mac slowly scrolled through them, clicking the mouse every now and again to go deeper into the case files, and then leaned back in his chair with a groan.

“Wow, Dad! You were right to be worried about this guy,” Sam confirmed. “Do you think Jo knows any of this?”

“No. But I gotta tell her. Maybe then she’ll be more cooperative.”

Sam drew his eyebrows together and regarded his father. “You make her sound like an assignment instead of the woman you love.”

“I’m afraid that in this case, she’s both.”

Sam made a hasty retreat to the other side of the townhouse as Joanna began to descend the stairs. Mac waited for her at the bottom, dreading the news he had to share with her. He waited until they were both comfortably seated on the couch before he spoke.

“What do you know about Trent Miller and his family?”

“Not much, really,” she shrugged. “I only started teaching his class a few weeks ago. I know he’s an only child and his parents are divorced. His dad wants him to go to college, but his mom just wants him to do what makes him happy. Nothing exactly new and exciting from a teacher’s standpoint.”

“Jo, when you were upstairs, I ran a quick background check on his dad.”

“You’re not gonna tell me Mr. Miller’s an ax murderer or something, are you?” she asked, eyebrows raised.

“No, nothing quite that dramatic. But before coming to Milwaukee, the family lived in Green Bay. Last year Mr. Miller physically assaulted Trent’s male math teacher for a poor grade on his report card. The school expelled Trent and pressed charges against his dad. Miller served a few weeks in jail and paid a hefty fine before moving south.”

Joanna’s soft eyes studied his face. “There’s more, isn’t there?”

“Yeah. His parents got divorced last summer, after the incident. Mrs. Miller has taken out numerous restraining orders against her husband and he’s broken several of them. A couple of assault charges have been filed against him as well, but they were always dismissed because Trent’s mom refused to testify.”

“Okay, you’ve made your point,” she conceded, but not without a challenge. “That still doesn’t give him a reason to want to harm me. Like I said, we straightened out that whole report card business and he seemed like a decent guy after that. He even wanted to buy me a piece of pie after he changed my tire.”

“Wait a minute! What?!”

“He offered to buy me a piece of pie at the diner across the street from the school.”

“What did you say?”

Joanna rolled her eyes. “I knew he was either hitting on me or trying to get on my good side so told him I had a prior commitment.”

“How did he take it?”

“Okay. I mean, I guess he was a little short with me. He almost forgot to put my tire in my trunk. He started walking away with it.” Here she paused before speaking again. “Do you think he was planning on taking the tire away so we wouldn’t find the slashes?”

“I’d pretty much count on it. And as for a motive, what better motive is there than rejection? He got upset when you turned down his offer to take you to the diner.”

“You were right about him, Mac. I can’t believe this is happening.” Her voice trembled as she laid her head on his shoulder and threaded her fingers through his.

“I know, baby. But we’ll figure out a way to end this. I’m not gonna let anything happen to you,” MacGyver vowed, hoping fervently this was one promise he would always be able to keep.

A couple hours later, after reluctantly leaving Joanna in Sam and Cip’s care, Mac hurried over to Challengers to tie up some loose ends and collect Frog for the weekend. He returned to find his son and fiancé locked in a competitive game of Monopoly. However, everyone’s attention soon turned to the two canines who were meeting each other for the first time. After locking eyes and emitting low, guttural grumblings, the dogs cautiously sniffed the surrounding air and eventually each other. Apparently unimpressed, the two soon parted with Frog crawling under the coffee table, presumably for a nap, and Cip standing by the patio doors in a silent plea to be let out.

Relieved that the two dogs appeared to accept each other, Jo and Sam returned to their board game while Mac plopped down on the couch and turned on the television set. Unfortunately, nothing could hold his interest. Remote in hand, he surfed through every available channel twice before turning it off and pacing the floor. It didn’t take long for Sam to voice the thoughts that had been troubling his dad.

“So, what’s the plan?” he asked.

“I don’t know yet,” MacGyver replied flatly.

“What plan?” Joanna asked.

“The plan to catch this Miller dude,” Sam supplied. “Do we just sit back and wait for him to strike again?” The query was directed at Mac.

“Wait a minute,” Joanna interrupted. “I thought the whole point of me staying here was so that he wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

“She’s got a point,” Sam observed.

“I know,” Mac groaned, scrubbing his face with his hands.

“I guess we could just wait for the cops to get him,” Sam suggested.

MacGyver shook his head. “They can’t do anything unless they catch him in the act. Even now what little evidence we have is only circumstantial.” He caught Sam’s gaze, willing his son to understand what he couldn’t say aloud. That in order to draw Miller out, they’d have to use Joanna as bait. And that was something MacGyver would never do.

“Well, I can’t stay here indefinitely!” Jo huffed. “Come Monday I’m going back to work.”

Mac wanted to argue, but she did have a point. Yet, she would still be putting herself in harm’s way.

“Maybe Mr. Miller will cool down by then and this whole thing will be over,” she said as if reading his thoughts.

“I hope you’re right,” he replied. Man, he hoped she was right!

The rest of the afternoon and evening passed uneventfully and MacGyver knew he should be glad about that, but it only increased his tension. Eventually Sam and Cip returned to Charlie’s apartment and Joanna went upstairs early, novel in hand. He sat on the couch and was about to kick off his shoes until he thought better of it, his old Boy Scout motto coming to mind. Fully dressed, he sprawled out on the couch and stared at the ceiling. Slowly, he drifted off to sleep, only to be startled awake by a strange sound. He surveyed as much of his apartment as he could without moving. Frog lay snoring next to him under the coffee table. Perhaps it had been his imagination. After doing a thorough walk-through of the first floor and stopping by the stairway to listen to Joanna’s gentle snores, he peeked out every available window until he was satisfied they were alone. Settling back onto the couch, this became his hourly routine until dawn.

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Joanna must’ve been more stressed than she realized. Last night, she headed to bed as soon as Sam had left, intending to read several chapters of a novel she had been neglecting, but she only finished one chapter before the words began to blur and her eyelids grew heavy. Placing the book on the nightstand, she snuggled under the covers of MacGyver’s bed and allowed a deep, peaceful slumber to claim her. When she next awoke, sunlight was streaming through the windows and she heard muffled voices in the kitchen. She smiled as she imagined Mac and Sam working side-by-side to fix breakfast. Yips and yaps from outside told her the dogs were in the backyard, probably playing in the snow left from a storm a couple weeks ago. She stretched languidly before crawling out from under the cozy blankets, pulling on a clean pair of jeans and sweater, and heading downstairs for breakfast which, like most of last evening, was a quiet affair. Yes, she had wanted time away from work to spend with Mac, but this was not turning into the weekend she had envisioned and, by the frown lines marring his brow, she knew he felt the same.

They had just finished clearing the kitchen table when the telephone jangled. Mac picked it up on the second ring.

“Hello?”

Joanna watched as he listened intently, nodding every now and again as if the caller could see him.

“I understand. I’m on my way,” he said before hanging up.

“What’s happened?” Jo asked, feeling Sam standing close behind her awaiting the answer as well.

“That was the fire department. There’s been a natural gas leak at Challengers. Everyone’s okay, the building’s been evacuated and the supply cut off, but I need to go down and sign off on some stuff. Sam, do you mind stayin’ until I get back?”

Joanna held back a protest, but Sam was much more agreeable.

“No problem, Dad,” he grinned mischievously. “I have a Monopoly score to settle with my future step-mom.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Mac promised, bending to give Jo a peck on the cheek before walking out the door.

Joanna turned to Sam and placed a consoling hand on his shoulder. “I hate to tell you this, future step-son, but I’m gonna be upstairs cleaning your dad’s bathroom. It looks like a science project gone rogue.”

After donning heavy duty rubber gloves and liberally spraying the bathtub with a lemon scented foaming cleanser, Jo began to scrub. She was half-way through when there was a knock at the front door.

“I got it!” Sam called up to her as the dogs began to bark.

She returned to the task at hand, but soon became curious about their would-be visitor and annoyed that Sam wasn’t quieting the dogs. Dropping the sponge in the sink, she peeled off her gloves and headed toward the staircase. She was halfway down when she saw Mr. Miller standing just inside the door. The dogs’ barking turned to low growls, yet they did not advance on the intruder.

“How did you find me!” she gasped.

“Yesterday morning I hung around so I could see the look on your face when you found my message. Then that boyfriend of yours parked practically right in front of my nose. I figured you’d end up with him sooner or later so I took a peek at his registration. Ya know, you people should really lock your glove boxes,” he smirked.

Wanting to wipe that grin off his face once and for all, Joanna charged down the rest of the steps but came to an abrupt halt when she saw Sam’s unconscious body lying prone on the floor, Frog and Cip guarding him.

“Sam!” she cried, lunging toward the helpless young man as Miller’s arm snaked out to stop her, grabbing her bicep in a vise-like grip.

“What did you do to him?!” she demanded, trying to wrench herself free.

“Nothin’ a nice long nap won’t cure.”

“What do you want from me?” she hissed through gritted teeth refusing to let fear usurp her anger.

“First, I want to buy you a piece of pie. Then, I want you to go to the school and fix Trent’s report card.”

“You’re outta your mind!” she exclaimed loudly.

Mr. Miller reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small handgun, pointing it directly at her heart.

“You’re gonna wanna keep your voice down, Ms. Fairfax. You don’t wanna be disturbin’ the neighbors.”

Joanna clamped her mouth shut, even as her jaw began to tremble.

“Now slowly put on your coat and walk outside all nice and normal-like. We’re goin’ for a ride and don’t’ wanna be attractin’ no attention. Understand?”

What she did understand was that this man was in desperate need of grammar lessons, but she nodded dutifully so as not to upset him more. Once in the passenger seat of his car, she closed her eyes and sent up a heartfelt prayer for the wisdom and courage to get herself out of this situation. She heard the engine rev to life and then felt the car lurch forward. Squeezing her eyes shut even tighter, she had no way of knowing Cip had snuck out the front door and was even now following behind them.

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MacGyver was detained longer at Challengers than he had anticipated and he was anxious to return to Joanna. However, he was required to remain on-site when it was discovered that the leak was not an accident but a deliberate act. Someone had broken the valve. When Mac was finally able to return home, his anxiety ratcheted up when he found his front door ajar. He quietly crossed the threshold in case an intruder was still inside and quickly surveyed the apartment, dropping to his knees when he saw his son’s unconscious body lying on the floor, Frog licking his cheek.

He gently shook the younger man’s shoulders. “Sam! Sam! Wake up! What happened?!”

Frog’s mournful eyes watched as Sam finally began to regain his senses.

“Whoa,” Sam groaned, struggling to sit up.

Mac put a steadying hand on his shoulder and spoke softly but firmly.

“Sam, what happened? Where are Joanna and Cip?”

Sam rubbed the back of his neck before speaking. “This guy came to the door. He said he was a teacher at Lincoln High and had some important papers for Joanna. She was upstairs cleaning and when I turned to call her he must have hit me on the back of the head with something and knocked me out. Is Joanna okay?”

“She isn’t here and apparently Cip isn’t either.”

“Aw man, he must have taken her!” Sam exclaimed as fiercely as he could given his pounding head.

“How could you let this happen?!” Mac rounded on his son, his anxiety now giving way to anger. “I was counting on you to protect her and you let a stranger, who was most likely Miller, waltz right in!”

“How was I supposed to know it was Miller?! I don’t even know what he looks like and this guy looked pretty normal.”

MacGyver’s anger quickly turned to shame as he realized he had never even asked Joanna for a description of the man. Mac, himself, could bump into the guy on the street and not even know it.

“I’m sorry. You’re right,” Mac apologized as he helped Sam walk over to the couch. “This is all my fault. I should’ve gotten a description and I should’ve been here. I’ve lost my edge.”

“You can’t blame yourself, Dad. Pete would tell you you’re too close to the situation.”

“And he’d be right. We need to call the police.”

After being put on hold and transferred several times, MacGyver was finally connected to the police officer who had taken their statement at Joanna’s house the previous morning. After a heated discussion, Mac slammed down the phone.

“What’d they say?” Sam asked.

“They can’t do much. No one saw Joanna being forcefully taken and she hasn’t been gone long enough to be considered a missing person.”

“Then it looks like it’s up to us to find her,” Sam declared.

“And just how are we gonna do that? We don’t have any leads. They could be anywhere!”

“I can give you a solid description of the guy and then you’ll come up with a plan like you always do,” Sam replied full of optimism. Only Mac wasn’t sure he could figure this out, at least not before he lost yet another loved one.

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“Was I right or was I right?” Richard Miller asked gleefully.

“You were right,” Joanna agreed, unable to suppress a small smile. “This is definitely the best piece of blueberry pie I’ve ever had.” Despite being kidnapped and worried about Sam, she had somehow managed to keep her emotions in check. Any display of fear or anger would only make the situation worse. She’d been in tight spots before. But, then again, MacGyver had always been with her. She was completely on her own this time...unless Mac somehow miraculously found her.

Mr. Miller tossed some bills on the table and stood. “Now, let’s get over to the school and take care of that business we discussed,” he prompted with a self-satisfied grin. “And don’t try anything funny,” he grunted in her ear as he pressed the muzzle of his gun against her side through the material of his own jacket.

Using the key Mrs. Varga had given her, Joanna opened the main door to the school and slowly led the way to her classroom, trying to stall for as much time as possible. She didn’t know what Mr. Miller had in store for her once she completed her ‘assignment’, and she highly doubted he did either, but she knew it couldn’t be anything good.

“Get a move on, missy. I ain’t got all day,” he growled, nudging her in the back to quicken her steps.

When they reached her classroom, she unlocked the door, took a seat behind her desk and fired up her computer.

“The grading system is all computerized,” she explained in what she hoped was a calm, controlled tone. “Since Mrs. Dunham was the one who input Trent’s grades, I may not have access to them.”

“Stop all that mumbo jumbo and get to work,” Miller commanded, pacing the aisles in the room like a caged lion.

Joanna typed furiously on the keyboard to make it sound as if she was complying. In reality, she was hitting random keys and buying time. At least until Miller came to stand behind her and watch. Her stomach sank. So much for faking it. She logged onto the system, after purposely entering the wrong password several times, and set about trying to find Mrs. Dunham’s electronic grade book. At this, she did not need to fake her incompetence.

“What just happened?!” Miller demanded after several minutes of curses on his part and sighs on hers. “Why did the screen go dark?”

“Mrs. Dunham locked her electronic grade book with a personal password so no one can get into it and tamper with it.”

“You’re lyin’! You just don’t want to give my boy the grade he deserves. Now fix it!” he roared.

“I can’t!” Joanna yelled back. “I entered too many incorrect passwords and it caused the computer to shut down.” That wasn’t exactly true, but it was close enough. Mr. Miller didn’t possess the technological skills to know any better.

“Now what am I gonna do?” the man moaned, pacing and rubbing his forehead with the hand that wasn’t loosely holding the gun.

Joanna had quickly come to the conclusion that Richard Miller wasn’t the brightest bulb in the chandelier and, if he was going to harm her, she might as well make it worth it.

“Guess you don’t have a plan B, huh?” she asked wryly.

“Shut up and let me think!”

“We’re gonna be here awhile then, aren’t we?” she goaded.

“I said ‘shut up’!”

He stalked to her desk, pulling out random drawers and rummaging through them until he found what he was looking for. A roll of duct tape.

“I don’t want to hear another peep outta you! You got that?” he yelled as he firmly slapped a piece of the tape across her mouth.

He was about to return to his pacing but suddenly turned back to her. Tearing off longer lengths of the silver tape he bound her ankles and wrists in front of her.

“Can’t have you go runnin’ off on me now, can we?” he jeered.

Joanna leveled her best dagger-shooting stare at him, but he quickly turned away. She assessed the new situation she found herself in. Apparently this guy didn’t watch much TV because everyone knows that you should tie a person’s hand behind their back. Thankful for his miscue and the potential opportunity it offered, she focused on creating an escape plan.

Jo didn’t know how long Mr. Miller paced and muttered, but instinct told her it was time for action. She would either succeed or fail. As surreptitiously as possible, she moved her bound hands toward the pocket of her coat which she had hung on the back of her chair upon arriving. Twisting her torso while still keeping an eye on her captor, her fingers grasped the flap covering the pocket, allowing her to pull it closer until she could slide her hands inside and grasp what she needed: The Swiss Army knife Mac had given her for Christmas. She clutched it in her fists and turned just in time to see Mr. Miller swivel towards her. He spared her a glance before once again turning his back to her. She let out a silent sigh of relief and worked the knife until she found the blade she wanted. She then pulled her feet up as close as she could and began sawing away at the duct tape. It was a lot harder than she had anticipated and she made the crucial mistake of allowing her mind to focus solely on her immediate task and forget about Miller’s presence. She first realized her error when he wrapped a meaty hand around her arm and yanked her from her chair, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the floor. Thankfully, she still held the knife and when he reached down to grab her again she jammed it into his forearm with all her might, his piercing scream reverberating in her ears.

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“I think the eyes were a just a little wider,” Sam said thoughtfully, looking over his dad’s shoulder at the computer screen where MacGyver was using a program to recreate Miller’s face. “And his lips had a slight curl to them.”

“Sam,” Mac sighed impatiently. “We are not recreating the Mona Lisa here. Now does this look like the guy you saw?”

“Yeah, except his nose was just a tad--” MacGyver hit the print button before his son could continue. Mac was a fan of precision, but he had a feeling time wasn’t on their side so they just had to do the best they could.

Sam had just grabbed the sketch from the printer when Cip skidded through the front door and immediately sought out Frog. Soon the two dogs were nose-to-nose, sniffing, grumbling, yipping, and wagging.

“What’s going on?” Sam asked his father.
“How should I know? I don’t speak canine. But we do know Cip isn’t with Jo.” Mac’s heart fell to the ground. He had been hoping the odd little hound had been protecting her. Obviously, that wasn’t happening.

Moments later, the two dogs sat in front of their respective masters. Cip pulled himself up straight and kept moving his eyes from Sam to the door, then back to Sam. Frog crouched in front of MacGyver, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth, drool dripping on the floor, and soulful eyes wide and alert as his entire chubby body quivered with energy.

“What is it, guys?” Mac asked the doggy duo, feeling only partly silly for doing so.

“Do you know where Joanna is?” Sam asked Cip who immediately stood up and ran to the door with Frog right behind him.

“They know something!” Mac exclaimed, grabbing his jacket from the bench by the door. “C’mon!” He opened the door and the dogs took off at a run leaving their human companions no choice but to follow.

Sam and MacGyver were breathing hard by the time Cip sat down on the sidewalk in front of the diner. Frog had fallen behind, but caught up quickly and soon had his nose to the ground, walking in circles, before he sat down and began to whine.

“Do you think Cip followed them?” Sam gasped, trying to catch his breath.

“Looks that way,” Mac confirmed. “And I think Frog’s picked up Joanna’s scent. Let’s go inside and see if we can get some answers.”

“Sorry hon, we got a packed house. You’re just gonna hafta wait,” a middle-aged waitress said in way of greeting as they entered the restaurant.

“Actually, we just have a question,” Mac explained as he motioned for Sam to show her the computer-generated picture of Miller. “Did you see this guy come in about an hour ago. He would have been with a pretty brunette.”

“Yeah, I remember him,” the waitress replied. “He comes in every so often. Always orders a slice of pie. Nothin’ else. Just a slice of pie.”

“Was there a woman with him today?” MacGyver inquired anxiously.

“Yeah. Sweet lookin’ thing. Wonder how he landed her.”

“Did you see where they went after they left?” he asked.

“Honey, I’ve got enough people to worry about inside the diner. Once they leave they’re somebody else’s problem.”

After thanking the waitress for her time, father and son headed back outside to the waiting dogs.

“Now what?” Sam asked dejectedly.

With a groan, Mac slapped the palm of his hand against his forehead. “Of course! It should’ve been obvious!” he said as he looked at the high school across the street.

“That might be a little too obvious,” Sam pointed out.

“Maybe. But right now it’s the best shot we got.” MacGyver called to Frog who slowly ambled over. Mac bent down and ruffled the dog’s ears. “Frog, find Joanna! Go find Joanna!” he commanded.

Frog shook himself from the tip of his nose to his barely-there tail, sniffed the air, and took off toward the school, only stopping when he reached the front door. Mac tested the handle.

“It’s open,” he whispered to Sam, signaling that they needed to be as quiet as possible from here on in.

They stepped into the large entrance and Mac winced at the sound of doggy toenails clicking on the tile floor. He was about to herd them back outside when Frog started waddling down a long corridor.

“That’s the way to Jo’s classroom,” MacGyver told Sam, still whispering. “They must be in there.”

A sudden yowl rent the air, causing the dogs to run toward the source, barking furiously, leaving Mac and Sam to follow them yet again. When MacGyver got to the classroom, he found Mr. Miller standing next to Joanna’s desk, one dog tugging on each pant leg as he tried to kick them away. Unable to hold back his anger, Mac called the dogs off before balling up his fist and hitting the man square on the jaw, knocking him to the floor where his head connected with the hard tile with a sickening thud.

“Ow! Why do I do that?!” Mac exclaimed, shaking out his hand which stung from the force of the contact.

When he was sure Miller was down for the count, he looked around to find Sam helping Jo release herself from her bindings.

“Duct tape! Can you believe it?” she asked ruefully. “Talk about irony!”

MacGyver had her in his arms before she could say another word.

“Aw baby, I’m so sorry!” he apologized, kissing the top of her head. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, I think,” she replied, wriggling out of his grasp so she could look him in the eye, tears shimmering in her own. “I was afraid I might never see you again,” she confessed in a watery voice. “How did you ever find me?”

“We had a little help,” Mac told her, drawing her attention to Cip and Frog who were licking the face and hands of the unconscious kidnapper.

XXXXX

Valentine’s Day

A week later, MacGyver and Joanna were sitting on his living room floor, the coffee table holding the Monopoly board between them and Chinese take-out cartons scattered about. Jo rolled the dice and scowled when her little silver Scottie dog landed on one of Mac’s properties.

“Aha! I got you now!” Mac crowed triumphantly. “Let’s see, that’s Boardwalk with three houses so you owe me…”

“More than I’ve got,” she stated, tossing all her toy money at him.

“Gosh, I didn’t know you were such a sore loser.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just been a long week,” she replied as she collected the remains of their dinner and MacGyver put the game away.

“Have you gotten any updates on Mr. Miller?” he asked, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her gently onto the couch with him.

“The school administration is pressing charges but he somehow managed to make bail. He’s under orders to stay away from Trent, the school, and all staff members.”

“Are you gonna have to testify at his trial?”

She shook her head. “Given Miller’s record, the prosecutor says our police statements should be enough evidence for a solid case.”

“I’m still sorry I wasn’t here for you.”

“Would you stop with that?! You had to go to Challengers. You didn’t have a choice,” Joanna insisted, turning to snuggle into his chest.

“Yeah,” Mac grunted. “And I played right into Miller’s hands. Who would ever have thought that he’d tamper with the gas valves just to get me out of the way?”

“Well, one good thing did come out of all this,” Jo mused.

“And what was that?”

“I finally got to use my Swiss Army knife,” she replied, smiling up at him.

“I’m really proud of you. You know that, right? You must have been scared to death but you held it together and did all the right things.”

He felt her shrug against him. “I just kept trying to think of how you would handle the situation. So you see, you were kinda there with me anyway. I guess you’re finally starting to rub off on me.”

“Oh really? Well then, Ms. Fairfax, how do you think I would handle this current situation we find ourselves in?”

“Hmmmm,” she responded thoughtfully. “You’d probably do something like this.”

She reached up and, cupping his face in her hands, gently guided his lips to hers until they met in a feather-like caress. A thrill zinged through him like an electric shock as it always did when she initiated contact and he savored every moment until she slowly pulled away.

“So, was I right?” she asked, her voice low and a bit husky.

“You know me so well,” he grinned before pulling her closer and kissing her deeply.

I split this over two days, since it was so long XD

I automatcially thought of Murdoc

Can I gouge his face out? I want to gouge his face out.

Then why are you here?!

Oh good, she divorced him, I would do. What a jerk!

You know she's had it rough when she turns Mac down.

Me in a nutshell.

Anyway, I'm 100% convinced Mr. Miller prank called her, deflated her tire, and does not care that she's engaged.

Bruh

Like Angus, you mean?

Bruh XD

TWO WEEKS LATER:
Mac: Hello, son who doesn't live here.
Sam: Hey.
Mac: I gave you the key for EMERGENCIES.
Sam: I was out of doritos.

Please pay attention, Mac.

So you're just going to leave poor Cip by the door, or...?

I'll lay down my next paycheck on the likelihood that Mr. Miller caused the leak knowing it'd get Mac out of the house, freeing him to go after Joanna.

I won't lay money down on this one, because I'm not certain, but I'm theorizing that he doesn't know Sam and Cip are there, and that'll be an advantage. Better yet if Frog and Cip are the heroes...

Called it XD

He does have a point...

Well, Sam won't be much help...

Not to be dark, but in a way, she's damn lucky if that's all he wants out of her...

That being said, I wouldn't cry if Mac sterilized him with his SAK or anything...

Joanna throwing shade

Oh. I was actually on to something earlier... XD

I called it XD

Okay, I now headcanon that this is what happened:

Dogs: *growling*
Mr. Miller: *pulls out gun*
Frog: That guy's crazy!
Cip: Yeah, and we dang well can't just go bite him, not without someone possibly getting shot...
Frog: And Sam's already down!
*Joanna and Mr. Miller leave*
Cip: *glancing between Sam and the door hesitantly* I'm gonna follow them.
Frog: That's crazy, you could end up in real trouble!
Cip: Not if I stay at a distance. Someone has to help!
Frog: Then I'm coming too.
Cip: No, stay with Sam, try to wake him up. When MacGyver comes back, he needs to know what happened, and only Sam can tell him. And no offense, I know you've helped a lot in the past, but I think with my breeding and past experiences, I might be a bit better suited for tracking them down. And with your drool content, you're better at this.
Frog: I'm gonna try to forget you said that... *goes over to Sam*
Cip: *sneaks outside*

Mac, your son was literally unconcscious two minutes ago, come on.

I mean, sure, if you want to believe that she's lying, despite the fact that you have a gun shoved into her and she's been compliant so far, knock yourself out...

Me if I ever get held hostage. I mean, I'd probably die fast, but still

I repeat...

Frog: Cip? Cip! Yer alive! Didja find her?
Cip: Yes, and we gotta hurry! Think we can get Mac to follow us?
Frog: No problem, Sam's awake too!
Cip: Good job, ol' dog!

Cip: How're we gonna tell em?
Frog: Watch and learn!
Cip: I'll just... you're not doing anything...
Frog: He'll get it, just wait!

Frog: Toldja!
Cip: He understood ME not you...

Cip: This is where I last saw 'em!
Frog: *sniffing* Good job, but they're not here now. Lemme have my turn, show ya how it's done.
Cip: *watching* Gotta admit, you're better at tracking than I thought.

I can picture them barking different rants and bellows, but out of sequence so no one could tell what they're each saying XD

Classic XD

Cip: Oh dog, is he dead?
Frog: Lemme check... Nope. Ooh, c'mere, he tastes salty!
Cip: *licks* Ooh, you're right!

I like the Scottie too XD

It's Monopoly, I mean, what'd you expect?

*squeals* I've been reading a lot of fluffy fanfiction lately, so I'm in a mood XD

Thanks for all the great comments, Dragondog!! I TOTALLY love the "doggy conversations" you added!! Yeah, I think if anyone held me hostage, try to carjack me, etc. I'd be pretty snarky....and dead:(

Isn't the Scottie dog everyone's favorite!?!?

Any time

I actually ended up dreaming that I got abducted, but just spent the time playing Animal Crossing. Stayed asleep long enough to dream the part where I called the police and got rescued

LOL...that's awesome!!

Chapter 38: Spring Break ‘98

“I told you I wasn’t hungry!” Pete Thornton bellowed at his wife, Connie, as he shoved the bowl of chicken soup away causing the hot liquid to splash on her hands.

“But Peter, you need to keep your strength up!” she retorted.

“I’m not sick,” he scowled. “I’m just immobile.” He waved his hand to where his casted leg lay on the foot rest of the recliner that had been his prison since the accident.

“The doc gave you crutches,” Sam pointed out. “Maybe you’d feel better if you used them to move around a little.”

“And just how is a blind man supposed to navigate on crutches?” Pete shot back. “It’s hard enough to walk around my own home with two good legs. You want me to fall and break the other one?!”

“Peter, watch your tone. Sam’s our guest and he’s only trying to help,” Connie admonished.

“Well, he isn’t,” Pete mumbled petulantly as Cip nudged his hand with his snout. “And would someone get this mangy mutt outta here?!”

“He’s just trying to make you feel better, Mr. Thornton,” Becca replied meekly.

“Why does everyone insist on trying to make me feel better?!” Pete returned to bellowing. “I’m a blind man with a broken leg stuck in this stupid recliner for the next four to six weeks. Just how am I supposed to feel better?!”

“You need to find something to take your mind off your leg,” Sam suggested calmly.

“And what do you suggest?” Pete sneered. “It’s not like I can watch television or read a book! Don’t you and that girl and that mongrel of hers have apartments of your own to go home to?!”

“Peter!” Connie exclaimed. “How dare you speak to them that way!”

“It’s okay,” Sam replied, pushing himself up from where he sat on the couch. “We need to get going anyway.” He shrugged into his jacket and then helped Becca into her coat before clipping on Cip’s leash. “We’ll be in touch,” he promised, as they headed out the front door.

“Poor Mr. Thornton is really taking this hard,” Becca observed once they were in Sam’s car.

“I feel sorry for Connie,” Sam stated. “She’s the one taking the brunt of his attitude.”

“I wish there was something we could do,” Becca sighed.

“Maybe there is,” Sam replied thoughtfully.

“Like what?”

Sam’s lips curved into a mischievous smile. “I think it’s time we call in reinforcements.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Friday afternoon, Joanna got up from her chair in the teachers’ lounge and tossed the remainder of her lunch in the trash. Throughout her career she had made it a point to avoid this particular room set aside to act as both a school gossip mill and grapevine, but after the incident with Mr. Miller she decided it might be beneficial to listen to what the other instructors had to say about parents and students. Had she an inkling about the man prior to meeting him, she could have handled things differently and avoided the whole debacle altogether. She wandered to the window and watched fat, lazy snowflakes drift to the ground.

“Whose idea was it to have spring break the first week of March anyway?” she asked no one in particular.

“Hey, don’t knock it,” the young algebra teacher replied. “It’s still a week off of work! Got any plans?”

Jo turned to face her colleague. “I’m planning on spending most of my time at Challengers. Since I’ve been covering for Mrs. Dunham I haven’t spent a lot of time over there.”

“Considering you’ll get to spend every day with your hunky fiancé I can’t say I blame you!” she giggled.
Joanna smiled even as her cheeks turned warm. “I need to get going. I have a class in five minutes,” she said by way of excuse and slipped out the door.

To be honest, she was looking forward to spending the coming week with MacGyver. In fact, she decided to stay late and finish grading papers so she wouldn’t have to take work home. By the time she arrived at Challengers, Mac had already left, so she headed over to his place to join him for dinner. She walked in the front door just as he was opening the pizza take-out box.

“Hey! Good timing!” he said with a grin.

“So I see,” Jo replied, shrugging out of her coat before taking a seat at the table.

“Sam called this afternoon,” he said once they had both taken healthy bites of their food.

“How is he?”

“He’s fine,” Mac replied after swallowing. “He actually called about Pete.”

Joanna’s head snapped up in concern. “What’s wrong with Pete?”

“He broke his leg a couple weeks ago and, according to Sam, he’s as ornery as a hibernating bear with insomnia.”

“I can imagine!” Jo chuckled.

“Sam thinks I should go down there and keep him company. Ya know, run some interference for Connie.”

Joanna felt her blood begin to bubble with excitement. She could use a road trip and time with good friends right about now.

“I thought I’d head out tomorrow since you have off all week and were planning on working at Challengers anyway,” he said with a casual shrug before taking another bite of pizza.

The bubble of excitement Jo felt suddenly turned to boiling anger. He hadn’t even bothered to ask if she wanted to join him! He planned to leave her behind! She felt her muscles tighten and the cheesy slice of pie tasted like cardboard as she took a bite to hide her frown.

“I figured I’d take the Nomad,” Mac continued, oblivious to her change in demeanor. “It’s roomier than the Jeep and maybe I can convince him to get out of the house.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” she mumbled, refusing to meet his eyes. She couldn’t decided whether to cry or to kill him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joanna was oddly quiet as they finished their meal and cleared the table. She stood at the sink, hands submerged in frothy bubbles, washing the few dishes they had used as MacGyver approached her from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist and nuzzling her neck when he felt her entire body stiffen.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked, raising his head and turning her around so she faced him. It was then that he noticed the shimmer of tears in her eyes.

“What’s going on?” he prodded as his heart squeezed.

“Nothing,” she said in a weak voice, wiping a soapy hand across her eyes.

“Don’t give me that, baby. Talk to me.”

She turned to grab a dish towel to dry her hands and he released her but stayed where he was.

“It’s silly, really,” she finally said. “I’m just overreacting.”

“About what?”

“You didn’t even bother to invite me along,” she said softly, dashing the tears from her eyes.

MacGyver’s heart just about ripped in two. He pulled her close, resting his chin on the top of her head.

“I’m sorry. I thought after everything you’ve been through you’d appreciate some time alone.”

Joanna eased from his arms. “I know this probably sounds weak and corny, but the only place I wanna be, especially after everything I’ve been through, is with you.”

“That is not weak and corny,” he gently protested, losing himself in the dark chocolate depths of her eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask, and I would love it if you came along. But I gotta warn you, Pete in a bad mood is not a pretty sight.”

This last statement earned him a smile. “I think I can handle it,” she assured him. “And I think Connie would like to have a female around for a little girl-talk.”

“You’re right,” he agreed. “Now go home and pack and I’ll pick you up in the morning.”

Before she could move, however, he captured her mouth with his in a long, lingering kiss to let her know exactly how much he wanted her by his side for now and forever.


XXXXX

“I suppose Sam called and told you to come down and keep me company,” Pete groused Saturday afternoon. His wife was repositioning a pillow behind his head while MacGyver and Joanna stood at the foot of the recliner.

“Nope,” Mac replied flatly. “Just came to sign your cast.”

The older man harrumphed and turned his head away from the direction of his friend’s voice mumbling something about still being a lousy liar.

“You gonna tell us how this happened?” MacGyver asked, motioning towards Pete’s injured leg even though he knew the man couldn’t see him.

“I was coming out of the doctor’s office and slipped on a patch of ice. Can you believe it?!”

Mac’s brow furrowed with concern. “What were you doing at the doctor’s office?”

Pete paused before blustering, “It was just a routine check-up.”

MacGyver didn’t miss the pointed glance Connie shot Joanna over the top of her husband’s head. “Why don’t you two freshen up and get settled. By then I’ll have dinner on the table,” she instructed before weaving her arm through Jo’s and leading her to the guest room, leaving Mac to make up the couch.

A few minutes later, Mac stole away to talk with Joanna who was still unpacking.

“Something’s not right,” he stated firmly, sitting down on the bed.

“I agree. There’s something they’re not telling us about that doctor’s appointment,” Jo replied, sitting next to him.

“Can you come up with a plan to get Connie out of the house tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Joanna shrugged.

“Good. Maybe then Pete’ll open up to me about what’s really goin’ on.”

MacGyver stood up and had just stepped into the hall when he almost bumped into Connie who was headed toward the living room carrying a tray laden with food.

“You takin’ that to Pete?”

She nodded sadly. “He refuses to even try to come to the table.”

“Not on my watch,” Mac replied as he turned Connie back toward the kitchen.

“C’mon Pete, soup’s on!”

“Connie’s supposed to be bringing me my tray,” he grumbled.

“Not today. You’re gonna come in the kitchen and eat with the rest of us.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” Pete grunted.

“Didn’t the doctor give you crutches?”

“Well...yeah. But how am I supposed to use them when I can’t see where I’m going?”

“One thing at a time,” Mac instructed as he found the crutches gathering dust in a nearby corner.

He coaxed Pete to lower the footrest and gently helped him from the chair. With his friend balancing against him, he slipped a crutch under each arm and slowly backed away.

“Alright!” MacGyver exclaimed. “Ready to go to the kitchen?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“You always have a choice, Pete!” Mac replied cheerfully, patting his friend on the shoulder.

“Not with you around I don’t,” Pete mumbled.

MacGyver carefully guided Pete into the kitchen with encouraging words and a steadying hand when needed. It was slow going, but they finally got the injured man settled in a chair, his casted leg resting on another.

“Now doesn’t it feel better to get out of the living room for a change?” Connie asked with a smile.

“Doesn’t matter since it all looks the same,” her husband replied.

Mac glanced at Jo who raised an eyebrow and shrugged a shoulder. He couldn’t remember Pete ever being this bitter about losing his eyesight. In fact, at times, he handled it better than MacGyver himself.

Supper was an uncomfortable affair with Pete mumbling under his breath while barely touching his food and Connie surreptitiously swiping moisture from her eyes. As for Mac, he hated the helplessness he felt, but he couldn’t make things better until he knew what was wrong to begin with. He was thankful when Joanna cleared her throat and began to speak, breaking the stony silence.

“Hey, Connie. I was thinking tomorrow we could go out to lunch and then do a little shopping. Just us girls. How does that sound?”

The older woman sighed. “Oh, Joanna, that sounds wonderful!”

“Wait a minute,” Pete quickly interrupted. “Who’s gonna take care of me?”

“I’ll be here,” Mac announced. “I think you and I can manage on our own for a few hours.”

Pete harrumphed again, crossing his arms across his chest indicating that this conversation, and meal, was over.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Noon on Sunday found Joanna and Connie seated at a small table in a cozy bistro just outside the city.

“So, have you two set a date yet?”

Jo’s hand, fork and all, froze halfway between her salad plate and mouth. She sighed inwardly, determined to make this a good day for her friend.

“No,” she replied with a forced smile. “We’re still working on it.”

“Well, I hope you’re not letting Mac drag his feet.”

“It’s a mutual decision,” Jo said, perhaps a bit more forcefully than she intended.

“Oh,” Connie quietly responded, dropping her eyes to her plate where she pushed the leafy greens around with her fork but made no attempt to eat.

“Connie, what aren’t you telling us about Pete?”

The older woman met Joanna’s gaze. “Pete made me promise not to tell anyone. Not even MacGyver. Though I do hope some time alone today will encourage him to confide in Mac.”

“That’s the plan,” Jo smiled.

After lunch, the two women decided to take a stroll and enjoy the seasonable weather while doing a little window shopping. It wasn’t long before Connie stopped in front of a bridal boutique to eye the white, lacy confection gracing the display window.
“Isn’t it gorgeous?” she asked her companion.

Joanna eyed the wedding dress and frowned. “I suppose, but it’s not really my style.”

Connie suddenly turned, grasping Jo’s arms with both hands, a carefree glint in her eye.

“Let’s go inside!”

Jo hesitated. “I’m not really ready to look for a dress. I mean, we haven’t even decided on a season.”

“Well, a little browsing never hurt anyone,” Connie retorted. “Besides, it will give you an idea of what’s out there for when the time comes.”

“I guess you have a point,” Joanna reluctantly agreed as her friend was already pulling open the plate glass door.

Before they knew it, a stylish, grey-haired saleswoman descended upon them and began peppering them with questions, none of which Jo could honestly answer. Not one to be deterred, the woman led them from rack to rack, pulling out dresses to hold up in front of Joanna. Some she returned to the rack, other’s she carefully draped over her arm. Thirty minutes later, Jo found herself standing in a large dressing room surrounded by satin, lace and tulle. One-by-one she donned the gowns and paraded in front of Connie and the saleswoman as they discussed the pros and cons of each. Not realizing how exhausting this process could be, Joanna breathed a sigh of relief when she handed the final dress back to the saleswoman.

“I’m sorry for taking up so much of your time,” she apologized. “But I’m just not ready to make a decision yet.” She was about to head to the door when Connie came hurrying towards her, yet another gown in hand.

“I know you’re tired,” Connie acknowledged. “But I think this may be the one! Please try it on.”

“Connie…” Jo replied, just short of whining.

“For me?”

Joanna grinned. “Sure, what’s one more?”

With well-practiced movements, Jo slipped into the dress. Turning to look at herself in the mirror she could not hold back the small gasp that escaped. If she had been looking for a wedding dress, this would have been the one. Made of soft, white satin, the top of the dress boasted a modest sweetheart neckline and long, fitted sleeves. At the waist, a floor-length A-line skirt gave the illusion of a ballgown. And strategically placed floral appliques and seed pearls accentuated the dress in all the right places. As Joanna closed her eyes and imagined the expression on MacGyver’s face as she walked down the aisle to him her insides turned to Jell-O. She had barely stepped from the dressing room when Connie’s hands flew to her mouth and her eyes misted over.

“Oh Joanna! That dress is perfect! And it fits as if it was made for you!”

The saleswoman happily agreed. “Indeed! I doubt there’s a dress in this entire store that would be better suited for you!” she gushed. “May I ring it up for you?”

Jo threw Connie a panicked look. Thankfully, the older woman seemed to take pity on her.

“Could you please give us a moment?” she politely asked the saleswoman as she urged Joanna back into the dressing room.

“Connie, I’m not ready to buy a dress and I’m sure I couldn’t afford it!”

“You have to admit, it looks stunning on you dear.”

Jo frowned. “It does, but--”

“No ‘buts’ about it!” Connie declared. “Peter and I have been talking. You’ve become the daughter we never had and we decided to help pay for the wedding. Please let us buy you this dress.”

Joanna shook her head but her protest died on her lips. The rest of the afternoon passed in a haze as she struggled to wrap her head around the fact that she was now the proud owner of a brand new wedding gown.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

MacGyver opened the refrigerator door and studied its contents.

“What do ya want for lunch, Pete?” he called to his friend who had once again taken up residence in the living room.

“I don’t care,” came the disgruntled reply.

“Alright! Tofu casserole it is!” Mac proclaimed with a sly grin as he gathered fixings for some sandwiches.

“You know what this reminds me of?” MacGyver asked after taking several bites of his lunch.

“No. What?”

“That time we went skiing and I got caught in that avalanche. I survived without a scratch but you ended up busting your leg.”

“Yeah,” Pete grinned. “Ironic, isn’t it? But you’re still the only man I know who can go to pick up Chinese take-out, get kidnapped, and escape using those little packets of soy sauce!”

“I guess we both have some unique talents,” Mac observed.

Silence hung heavy in the room until Pete spoke up.

“So, when are you gonna ask me about it?” he addressed MacGyver.

“When will you be ready to tell me about it?”

Pete sighed, placed his sandwich on the plate in front of him, and leaned back in his chair.

“A few weeks ago, my eye specialist in Los Angeles called to tell me that there was a very new, very experimental surgical procedure being developed to reverse, at least somewhat, the effects of glaucoma and the trials were being done right here in Chicago. He set up an appointment for me with the physician in charge of the study. Turns out I wasn’t an appropriate candidate. I’ve had the disease too long and there’s been too much damage. I tell ya, Mac. For just a little while I had this glimmer of hope and then to have it all taken away...well, it was like going blind all over again. After the appointment, I was depressed and frustrated and not paying attention to my surroundings. That’s when I stepped on a patch of ice in the parking lot and fell adding insult to injury. Since then I’ve just lost all my confidence. I made Connie promise not to tell anyone.”

“Why? It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I didn’t want people’s sympathy...again.”

“So you shut out your friends, too,” Mac stated flatly.

“Yeah. And I’m gonna ask you to keep this to yourself, just until I’m ready to tell the others.”

“Aw, c’mon Pete! We’re your friends! Your family!”

“Please MacGyver!”

“Oh, all right,” Mac agreed, scrubbing his face with his hands.

“Thanks. You’re a good friend.”

XXXXX

After dinner that evening, MacGyver insisted Pete and Connie retire to the living room while he and Joanna cleaned up the kitchen.

“Did you and Pete have a chance to talk today?” Jo asked as soon as the older couple was out of earshot.

“Yep,” Mac replied placing a glass in the dishwasher. He hated keeping a secret from Joanna, but he also didn’t want to betray his friend.

“And?”

“Pete made me promise not to tell anyone,” he said flatly as he watched her shoulders fall.

“I understand,” she assured him quietly.

“Did you and Connie have a good time?” MacGyver asked, eager to change the subject.

“Yeah, we did,” Jo answered him, her cheeks turning an endearing shade of pink.

A smile tugged at Mac’s lips. “You gonna tell me about it?”

“I did the stupidest thing!” she exclaimed, catching him off guard.

“Somehow I doubt that. What did you do?”

“We were walking by some shops and came across this little bridal boutique. Connie insisted we go inside even though I told her I was nowhere near ready to buy a dress.”

“It doesn’t hurt to look,” MacGyver shrugged.

“That’s what Connie said. So since the day was all about keeping her happy, I let her drag me in and even try on some gowns.”

“So far it doesn’t sound that bad.” Mac wasn’t sure, but he kinda thought trying on fancy dresses was something most women would enjoy. Then again, Joanna wasn’t most women.

“I didn’t want to like it,” Jo confessed. “But it was kinda fun.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“I found the absolute perfect dress, Mac! And Connie insisted on buying it for me!”

MacGyver laughed in relief and reached out to hug her. “That’s great, baby!”

“No, it’s not!” she insisted, pulling away from him. “I had already decided to just wear a nice, sensible dress or maybe a skirt suit. I don’t need some fancy, overpriced concoction to make the day special.”

Mac found Jo’s troubled gaze and grasped her firmly by the shoulders. “I agree. You don’t need it, but I know that you deserve it. Especially if you love it. In fact, I bet you dreamed about finding the perfect dress growing up.”

Joanna shrugged and MacGyver let his hands drop. “That’s just it, Mac. It was a dream. One that died a long time ago. The dress...the wedding...none of that’s important. It’s the marriage that matters. The store is keeping the dress until I ask them to ship it to Milwaukee. I’m gonna give Sam and Becca the receipt so they can return it.”

“You sure you wanna do that?”

She nodded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joanna had just finished combing her hair the next morning when there was a knock on her bedroom door.

“Come in,” she called, knowing it had to be either Connie or Mac.

“Um, my hands are a little full right now,” came the reply in an unexpected voice.

Hurrying to the door, she opened it to find Pete waiting on the other side, leaning on his crutches.

“I let my seeing-eye-troubleshooter get away,” he said with a wry grin. “Mind if I come in?”

Joanna gently guided the older man through the doorway and to the bed where he carefully settled on the edge of the mattress.

“Seems I owe you an apology and explanation for the boorish way I’ve been acting these past couple days,” he sighed gustily.

“That’s okay. You don’t have too--”

“Yes, I do! Eventually you’re gonna marry my best friend, and you’ve become like family to Connie and me. I want you to know the truth.” And with that, Pete launched into the explanation he had given MacGyver the previous afternoon.

“I’m sorry, Pete,” Jo replied when he finished talking. She knew the words were inadequate, but couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Don’t be. I should’ve known better than to get my hopes up anyway, but now you know the whole story. And from what I hear, I’m not the only one in this house keeping secrets.”

Joanna blew out a breath and sat down next to Pete. “Mac told you about the dress,” she stated.

“He just wants you to be happy, and so do Connie and I. If you both do this right, you’ll only do it once so make the most of it.”

“Breakfast’s ready!” Connie called.

“Would you mind escorting a blind guy with a broken leg to the kitchen table?” Pete asked.

“It would be my pleasure,” Jo responded with a smile.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later that afternoon, MacGyver sat at the kitchen table studying the small electronic gadgets laid out before him. His concentration was interrupted when Joanna breezed into the room and began to pour herself a glass of juice.

“So where did you run off to earlier,” she asked.

“I took a little field trip to the Phoenix Foundation downtown and convinced them to let me borrow some things,” he replied.

Jo moved to stand behind him and bent down so her mouth nearly touched his ear. Forget about his concentration being interrupted. Her close presence totally shattered it!

“What’s that stuff?”

“It’s a surprise for Pete,” he told her, his voice husky. “Sit down and I’ll show you.”

With Joanna seated across from him and his teenage-like hormones firmly under control, he began to explain his project.

“Pete doesn’t want to move around ‘cuz he’s afraid of bumping into things, right?”

“Right,” Jo confirmed with a nod.

“Well, I’m gonna make a gadget that’ll detect when he’s getting close to an object.”

“Kinda like sonar?”

“Actually, pretty much exactly like sonar,” Mac laughed happily, duly impressed with her deduction.

“So how does it work?”

“I used one of the computers at Phoenix to write and upload the code. Now all I have to do is use these wires to connect this arduino to the ultrasonic sensor and plug in the buzzer.”

It didn’t take long for Mac to assemble the components.

“Wanna test it?” he asked.

Joanna’s eyes brightened. “You bet! What do I do?”

MacGyver turned on the mini-sonar device.

“Hear that beeping?” he asked and waited until she nodded before proceeding. “Okay, hold the palm of your hand in front of the sensor and slowly move it closer.”

Jo did as he instructed. The beeps came fast the closer her hands got to it.

“It works!” she exclaimed.

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Mac frowned playfully. “Now grab me a ball of twine from that drawer and let’s have Pete try this out.”

“Are you gonna tie it to one of his crutches?” Joanna asked as she followed orders.

“No. It works best if it’s placed in the middle of the moving mass.”

Jo quirked her eyebrows and MacGyver grinned. “I’m gonna attach it to his belt buckle.”

“Okay Pete, take it for a spin,” Mac urged as his friend stood in front of the recliner leaning on his crutches.

“I feel ridiculous,” Pete mumbled.

“Aw, C’mon! All the cool kids are wearing them!” MacGyver countered.

“I do know my way around my own house,” his friend pointed out.

“And you’ve been afraid to move around on your own since the accident. Think of it as a seeing-eye dog until you get back on two feet.”

“Okay, here goes nothin’,” Pete mumbled as he cautiously began to move forward. Soon the slow, steady rhythm of the beeps became more rapid and he stopped.

“By my calculations, I should be in the middle of the room. In open space. Connie, did you rearrange the furniture?”

“You’re right, Pete,” Mac replied instead. “There’s no furniture there. But you were just about to wipe out my fiancé.”

“Oh! I’m, ah, sorry Joanna,” Pete apologized sheepishly.

“Don’t worry about it,” she laughed. “It was all part of the test.”

“Ha! Then this thing really does work!” the older man exclaimed with a grin.

“The downside is that you can’t sneak up on anybody,” Mac observed.

“That’s a plus in my book!” Connie declared happily, causing the others to break into easy laughter.

XXXXX

“Are you sure you can’t stay longer?” Connie asked as MacGyver loaded the luggage into the Nomad while Joanna hugged the Thorntons good-bye.

“We’ve been here since Saturday. We don’t wanna wear out our welcome,” Mac replied, giving her a hug of his own.

“Like you could ever do that!” she scoffed.

“Besides, we need to get back to Challengers,” Joanna explained.

“And maybe spend some private time together?” Pete added with a knowing grin.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Mac agreed with a wink at Joanna as the couple got in the car to head home.

Forty-five minutes later, the Nomad sat stopped on I-94 in the middle of downtown Chicago, the victim of the city’s infamous traffic jams. MacGyver heard Joanna’s cell phone trill from deep in her purse. He watched as she rummaged around in her handbag until she retrieved the device. He noticed a white slip of paper escape and flutter to the floorboards. Instinctively, he bent to pick it up and his heart stuttered when his eyes fell on the words ‘Bridal Boutique’.

“Hi Ma,” Jo spoke into the phone. “We’re caught in a traffic jam...yeah, I know...I’ll see you later tonight.”

After she clicked off the call, Mac handed the receipt to her. “I think you dropped something,” he said casually.

“Oh, thanks,” Joanna replied with a slight blush as she grabbed the piece of paper and shoved it back in her purse.

“I thought you were gonna give that to Sam and Becca.”

“I was...I am...I just thought it wouldn’t hurt to hang onto it for awhile,” she stuttered.

“Can I ask you something?” Mac ventured.

“Of course. What is it?”

“We’ve been engaged for what? Almost six months now?”

“Sounds about right,” she replied.

“I know we promised to do this whole wedding thing on our terms, but I kinda thought you’d be starting to make some plans by now.” MacGyver tightened his hands on the steering wheel even though the car wasn’t moving. “Are you having second thoughts?”

“No!” she exclaimed, turning her upper body to face him. “Not at all. Why? Are you?”

He heard the fear and uncertainty in her voice and mentally kicked himself for putting it there.

“No! And I’m still fine with us taking our time, but I just wanna make sure there’s nothing more to it.”

Joanna lowered her eyes and fell silent for so long MacGyver was ready to turn on the radio just to hear another human voice.

“It’s not something I’m proud of,” she finally said in a soft voice. “You know that my grandma lived with us while I was growing up.”

Mac nodded but didn’t interrupt.

“Well, she had heart problems from the time I was little, and whenever we made plans to go on vacation or even just a day trip they’d often get cancelled at the last minute because she wasn’t feeling well. Then, when I got older, my friends and I would talk about doin’ stuff, but they’d forget or bail on me. So, long story short, over the years I trained myself not to get excited about or count on long-term plans because I often ended up disappointed.”

MacGyver relaxed as understanding dawned. “You don’t want to start planning the wedding because you’re afraid something will happen to ruin it.”

“Or cancel it altogether,” she shrugged. “In my head I know that’s dumb.”

“It’s not dumb,” Mac assured her. “And there is nothing in this world that’s gonna keep me from marrying you. I promise that I will do everything in my power to make our wedding day exactly how you want. But if things go sideways, we’ll work through it together.”

He reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand, tenderly wiping away an errant tear.

“Does this mean you’re keeping the dress?” he asked quietly.

“I know it’s not practical like I had wanted, but I really do love it,” she confessed. “And I think you’ll love it too.”

“Baby, you could wear a paper sack and I’d love it!” This earned him a watery chuckle.

“Ya know, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to start thinking about what we want our wedding day to be like,” she suggested.

“I bet you got a whole bunch of ideas in that head of yours just waiting to break free,” he teased.

“Mmm, maybe one or two,” she grinned.

Me: hmm, pretty self-explanatory- *reads first several sentences* IS THAT A PUN

Pete is officially the worst patient ever

Sam be like:

https://66.media.tumblr.com/6ea2b101b9104df...scmzo4_500.gifv

(gif won't upload directly)

I really, really want to slap him now.

It's oddly satisfying to see him realize his mistakes

Give him a Snickers bar.

Connie's behavior has me worried.

I thought that might be it. Well, something like that, anyway.

I'm starting to realize that there's a lot of similarities in the style between this fic and the Miraculous one I'm currently reading. Probably why they both put me in a fluffy mood

Okay, how long until someone makes a dolphin joke?

He had me, and then he lost me...

Idk why, but this is funny

Pete be like:



(Idk why I'm taking a liking to GIFs lately )

I can relate, tbh.

Cue the cheesy "I'd love you even if you were wearing a gunny sack" line XD

I scrolled down to see this. Close enough XD

I can relate, tbh.

That's 100% real personal experience talking. Funny how much Joanna and I have in common...LOL!

I can imagine

Chapter 39: Til Death


Macgyver pulled the Nomad into his driveway and blew out a breath. It had taken twice as long as usual to drive back from Chicago. He and Joanna had agreed to grab a quick lunch at his place before checking in at Challengers. As they made their way up the front walk, they could hear a television blaring away. Jo cast Mac a questioning glance.

“Gotta be comin’ from Charlie’s,” he told her. “I’ve noticed he’s getting a little hard of hearing but won’t admit it.”

When they got to the front door, MacGyver put his key in the lock and the knob turned easily...a little too easily. Turning toward a wide-eyed Joanna, he put a finger to his lips with one hand and used the other to gently push her behind him. He allowed the door to swing silently open only to discover that the ruckus they heard was coming from his own TV. He visually scanned the open space, stopping when he saw a brown-haired head resting on the arm of his couch, a tattered aviator’s cap balanced on top. He took a few cautious steps into the room, Jo following behind.

“Jaaack?”

The only response was a loud snore.

“Jack!” MacGyver barked.

The startled form on the couch jerked awake. “Oh, hiya, Mac!”

“What are you doin’ here, Jack?” MacGyver asked as he prowled toward his friend.

“You stayed at my place when you came to L.A. so I thought I’d let you return the favor.”

“How did you get in?”

“You’re landlord, Charlie, let me in. Said he remembered me from the last time I was here.”

“Well, you are kinda hard to forget,” Mac muttered. “Now tell me, what are you really doin’ here?”
Jack rose from the couch and made a show of straightening the wrinkled shirt under his bomber jacket as he approached his best friend.

“Normally, I would attempt to amuse you with a pithy reply,” he said loftily. “But this is too important, so I’m gonna give it to ya straight. Mac, I’m gettin’ married!”

“Hold on. Say that again,” Mac demanded studying his friend carefully.

“I’m getting married. For real. Look,” Jack pointed to his left eye, “No twitching.”

“Congratulations!” MacGyver exclaimed, embracing Jack. “Who is she? When’s the big day?”

“Her name is Nanette DuBois,” Jack answered, grinning broadly. “And the wedding is Saturday. I came here because I wanted to ask you in person to be my best man.”

Mac’s head began to spin with questions. “Whoa, wait a minute. Don’t you think that’s awful quick? I mean, what do you know about her? How did you two meet?”

“About a month ago her brother, Frank, hired me to fly him down to Mexico and then put me on retainer. He inherited his father’s import/export business and started giving me steady business. Nanette came along on one of our flights and the rest, my good man, is history.”

“What, exactly, does Frank import and export?” MacGyver asked, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.

“Don’t know, don’t care. Jack just fly plane, Kemosabe! And gets paid quite handsomely for doing so, I might add.”

“And what about you and Nanette?”

“What can I say, Mac m’boy? It was love at first sight!”

“So you’re getting married this Saturday to a woman you’ve only known for a month?! C’mon Jack, think about this!”

“There’s nothing to think about! When it’s right, it’s right. You’re just upset because out of the two future bridegrooms in this house you’re not getting married first!”

“What?! That’s ridiculous!” Mac shot back. “Besides, Joanna and I have our reasons.”

“Well, so do I!” Jack parried. “I’m not gettin’ any younger, Mac. This might be my last chance to settle down and start populating the world with little Jack Juniors. So will ya do it, Mac? Will ya be my best man?”

MacGyver pinched the bridge of his nose knowing that somehow, some way, he was going to regret his answer. “I’d be honored to.”

“I knew I could count on you!” Jack exclaimed with a gleeful smile. “I figure I’ll fly us all out to Vegas on Friday and--”

“You’re getting married in Las Vegas?” Mac interrupted.

“Sure,” Jack shrugged. “Frank is part owner of one of the big hotels out there and keeps a block of luxury suites reserved.”

“Are you gonna have an Elvis impersonator perform the ceremony?” Joanna asked.

“The King is so cliche, mademoiselle! Those of us with more discriminating taste much prefer to be joined in wedlock by Wayne Newton.”

A sudden throbbing took up residence in MacGyver’s temple.

“Look, Jack, Jo and I just got back from Chicago and we need to check in at Challengers. We’ll talk more when I get back.”

“No problemo! Can you imagine it, Mac? Me, Jack Dalton, finally gettin’ hitched. Who’da thunk it?!”

MacGyver and Joanna walked through the entrance to Challengers to find the closest thing to chaos he had seen since beginning this venture. Geena and Rosie scurried about trying to keep some semblance of control, looking contrite when they came to stand in front of him.

“What’s going on?!” he snapped.

“Cynthia’s home sick with bronchitis,” Rosie explained.

“And a bunch of volunteers backed out at the last minute,” Geena offered. “With the cold weather and the schools still closed for Spring Break, we have more kids here than expected.”

“Why didn’t you call me?!”

“We didn’t want to ruin your visit with your friend and his wife,” Rosie replied innocently.

“We thought we could handle it,” Geena added.

Before he could say something he’d regret, Mac grabbed Joanna by the wrist and strode toward his office, not stopping until he flopped into the chair behind his desk, head in his hands.

“What am I supposed to do now?” he moaned. “I can’t leave Challengers to go running off to Vegas, but Jack would never forgive me if I missed his wedding.” He slowly became aware of Jo’s soft hand soothingly rubbing his tense forearm and he allowed his muscles to relax slightly.

“You still have a whole day before you have to leave,” Joanna said calmly. “Why not have Jack help out here tomorrow and then I’ll stay behind while you go help your best friend get married.”

“You sure about that?” he asked, his heart overflowing with love for the woman in front of him.

“Absolutely.”

“You’re terrific. You know that?” he asked huskily before grasping her wrist, more gently this time, and placing a tender kiss in the palm of her hand.

XXXXX

Early Friday afternoon, Jack brought his Cessna to a stop outside a hangar at the North Las Vegas Airport. The small but well-appointed airfield was a favorite of wealthy businessmen unwilling to deal with the congestion of the more centrally located McCarren International. As MacGyver followed Jack down the steps of the plane, he noticed a black, stretch limousine with tinted windows parked nearby.

“Our ride awaits!” the pilot proclaimed with a large smile, gesturing toward the vehicle.

“Wait, you mean that’s for us?!” Mac asked incredulously.

“You bet! Courtesy of my soon-to-be brother-in-law!” Jack slapped MacGyver on the shoulder and guided him toward the car.

Once settled in the buttery leather backseat of the luxury vehicle, Jack pulled out a beer from the mini-fridge and handed Mac a bottle of high-end purified watered. MacGyver automatically took the offered drink but left it untouched, more concerned with the lead ball growing in the pit of his stomach. Over the last couple days, Jack had talked incessantly about Nanette but had still managed to say very little about her. A whirlwind courtship with a woman who’s brother provided Jack with steady business, luxury hotel suites, and limos all added up to something that smelled a bit fishy to MacGyver, and he hated himself for the question he was about to ask.

“Jack, I wanna ask you something, but I need you to promise you won’t get mad at me. I’m only asking because I care about you.”

“Okay, I won’t get mad at you,” Jack shrugged, taking another swig of beer. “C’mon, out with it!”

Mac took a deep breath to steel himself. “Are you marrying Nanette for her brother’s money?”

Jack lowered his beer bottle and turned to MacGyver, his face somber. “How could you think that about me?” he asked. “You’re my best friend.”

“Exactly! I’m your best friend. I know you Jack. Always looking for the next great business venture and here it is handed to you on a silver platter along with shiny cars and fancy hotel suites.”

“I guess I understand how you could think that,” Jack sighed. “I guess I have a rather colorful track record, but I’m tellin’ you, this is different. I really love Nanette. And she loves me. I don’t care about her brother’s fancy hotels or limousines and neither does she!”

“I’m sorry Jack, but I had to ask. I just want you to be happy.”

“I know that, Mac. And thanks for watchin’ out for me. But I promise you, this time it’s all good.”

XXXXX

Twenty-four hours later, MacGyver stood at the front of a small but famous Las Vegas wedding chapel wearing a dark suit and banded collar shirt. Jack stood next to him in a powder blue tuxedo with matching ruffled shirt and bow tie wearing a grin that had been plastered on his face since they left the hotel.

“You got the ring?” Jack whispered through clenched teeth without losing his smile.

“Yes, I’ve got the ring,” Mac assured him, but surreptitiously checked his pocket, just to make sure.

The only other person in the room was the bride’s brother, Frank DuBois, who sat in the front pew looking bored when he wasn’t impatiently glancing at his watch as if he had an important appointment to get to. MacGyver sighed, finding it strange and a bit unsettling that no other family members or friends were in attendance. To the best of his knowledge, Nanette didn’t even have a maid of honor.

Mac’s mind wandered back to dinner the night before where Jack introduced him to the DuBois siblings. Frank had been uptight and silent the entire evening. Mac wished he could say the same for Nanette. Jack’s bride was a tall, buxom blonde who giggled easily and chattered constantly about nothing of consequence. MacGyver had smiled and nodded in all the right places, which only encouraged her. Jack, on the other, couldn’t tear his eyes away from his beloved bride and was loathe to interrupt her. Later that night, alone in his room, Mac hated to admit, even to himself, how disappointed he was in Jack’s choice of a mate. Granted, Jack had enjoyed the charms of a wide array of women in the past, but MacGyver had always assumed that if his friend were to give up his bachelorhood it would be for someone like Joanna. Someone who would be a calm, steadying force in the face of Jack’s flights of fancy. A yin for Jack’s yang. Perhaps he didn’t know his long-time friend as well as he thought.

Loud organ music piped in through speakers in the ceiling and the appearance of ‘Wayne Newton’ pulled Mac’s thoughts back to the present. Moments later, Nanette appeared in the doorway and began her walk up the aisle. Her dress was little more than a long, silky negligee. In lieu of a veil, a rhinestone tiara sat perched upon her bushy blonde head.

“You’re really sure about this?” MacGyver whispered to Jack who simply nodded, apparently unable to pull his gaze from the woman in front of him.

Mac bit back a sigh, his eyes settling on the bouquet of flowers Nanette held. He couldn’t help wondering what kind of flowers Joanna would choose for their wedding. Roses, though traditionally romantic, were rather common. Would she prefer something more unique like wildflowers or lilies? His stomach did a little flip as he suddenly realized he didn’t even know what Jo’s favorite flower was. In that case, what was her favorite ice cream flavor? Vanilla. He was sure it was vanilla. Or maybe chocolate. Did she even like ice cream? He couldn’t recall ever seeing her eat it. But she had to, right? Not that it mattered. He knew her. Her heart, her soul. Everything else was trivial...wasn’t it? A sharp jab to his ribs broke his reverie. His eyes refocused to see everyone looking at him.

“The ring. Now!” Jack whispered urgently.

Mac dug in his pocket and quickly produced the requested piece of jewelry, but the questions he had been pondering hung in his brain like a smoky fog. Once the vows had been said and the proper papers signed, the small wedding party adjourned to Frank’s penthouse where he had arranged for a private gourmet meal to be served. While the newlyweds exchanged kisses and whispered sweet-nothings, allowing their food to grow cold, MacGyver tried to strike up a casual conversation with DuBois to no avail. The businessman had just swallowed his last bite of crème brulee when he excused himself on the pretense of being late for a meeting. Painfully aware that his best friend was firmly caught in the throes of wedded bliss, Mac muttered his excuses as well and returned to his own suite a floor below. A bone-deep uneasiness had him reaching for the telephone, dialing a number he knew better than his own. He waited impatiently as he listened to it ring, smiling slightly as he imagined Joanna hurriedly delving into the bowels of her purse to capture her cell phone and answer his call.

“Hello?” she breathlessly came on the line.

“Hey, it’s me. Did I catch you at a bad time?

“No,” she replied, her voice stronger. “I was just getting ready to leave Challengers.”

MacGyver glanced at his watch and noted the time difference. “You’re putting in a long day,” he stated.

She chuckled and his heart warmed. “Actually, Geena and I were talking and we lost track of time. How was the wedding?”

“Fine,” he replied flatly.

“Just ‘fine’?”

“Well, you kinda had to be there,” he explained.

“What about Nanette? What’s she like?”

“She’s...interesting.”

“‘Interesting’ as in I kinda had to be there?”

“That’s one way to put it.”

“Mac, is everything okay?”

He hesitated. He could say everything was fine, but then Joanna would know something was definitely wrong. “I just have a weird feeling about this whole thing,” he confessed. “I think I’m gonna hang around and check out a couple things tomorrow. I’ll catch a later flight.”

“Alright.”

“You’re not gonna argue about this?” he asked cautiously.

“Would it do any good?”

“Nope.”

“Then just promise to be careful.”

“Always am.”

XXXXX

MacGyver had just finished getting dressed the next morning when there was a frantic pounding on his hotel door.

“Hold your horses, I’m coming,” he muttered, emerging from the bathroom. He opened the door to find Jack, eyes wide and fearful, clutching a black briefcase to his chest.

“You gotta help me, Mac,” he said as he barreled into the room and took a seat on the foot of the bed, still holding the briefcase tight.

MacGyver closed the door slowly and ran his fingers through his hair. He had been with his friend only twelve hours earlier and assumed said friend had spent the remaining time cozied up to his new wife in the honeymoon suite. What kind of trouble had Jack managed to get himself into...and how?

“Alright, Jack. Just relax and tell me what happened.”

“I think I know what Frank DuBois is importing-and-or-exporting,” he replied in an exaggerated whisper. “Nanette was in the shower this morning when a courier dropped this off for her.” He glanced down at the case he was holding. “I put it on the desk but it, um, slid off and fell open.” His left eye twitched furiously but he ignored it. “Take a look at this!”

Jack laid the briefcase next to him on the bed and slowly opened it to reveal dozens of what appeared to be flawlessly cut diamonds sparkling against the black velvet lining.

“So Frank’s in the jewelry business,” Mac stated matter-of-factly, moving closer to examine the gems and the case. “Though you would think he would find a more secure way to transport them.”

Jack’s jaw dropped as he gaped at his friend. “So you think they’re legit?” he asked in disbelief.

“Sure. Why not?” Mac shrugged.

“Why not?! I’ll tell you why not! In my past experience a load of loose diamonds in a briefcase usually led to smuggling or payoffs or…”

“Frank was right about you, Dalton,” a cold female voice interrupted. “I’m very disappointed in you.”

Jack and MacGyver both turned toward the doorway where Nanette stood wearing a black jumpsuit. Her blonde hair was slicked back into a tight bun and she held a small but deadly handgun.

“Now put your hands up and step away from the diamonds,” she commanded.

“Pooky Bear, what is this? What’s going on?” Jack asked beseechingly.

Mac sighed inwardly and secretly hoped that the woman would refuse to explain herself. The less they knew, the better their chances of getting out of this alive. Nanette appeared to consider the question and then she began talking.

“I suppose you deserve to know, since you’re both eventually going to die anyway. Frank isn’t my brother, he’s my business partner.”

“Business partner?” Jack parroted. “You mean, there’s no dead father? No inheritance?”

“Hardly,” she spat. “Up until a few months ago, we ran this nice little operation where we delivered stolen jewels to arms dealers who then used them to buy guns for rebels in Central America. Of course, Frank and I were paid quite nicely for our services. Unfortunately, our trusted pilot suffered a most horrific demise and that’s when I had Frank hire you. I thought you were just dumb enough to keep your nose out of our business, and I was right...for a while. Frank started getting nervous. Said he thought you were catching on to our scheme.”

“I wasn’t! Honest! I’m dumb, just like you said! Ask Mac, he’ll tell ya!”

MacGyver looked at the woman innocently. “Oh yeah, Jack’s dumb. Real dumb,” he confirmed.

“Well, that hardly matters now, does it?” she commented sternly. “Frank wanted to neutralize you immediately, but I convinced him I could make you love me and keep our ‘family secret’ as it were. We weren’t expecting your friend here, so we set up this little test of your loyalty and you failed. You shouldn’t have opened the briefcase, Jack.”

“But why the brother/sister act?” Jack asked.

“In our line of work, you can’t be the same person for too long. Besides, we thought we’d look more trustworthy. You did buy it after all, hook, line, and sinker.”

“So what happens now?” Mac asked as Jack stood paralyzed beside him.

“Why, we’re going on our honeymoon, of course!” Nanette answered, grabbing the briefcase with her free hand. “Now, we’re all going to go downstairs and out to the limo. If you attempt to escape or draw any undue attention to us, I will kill you both. Understand?”

Jack and MacGyver followed Nanette’s instructions and soon the limousine arrived at the airport where they had landed two days ago. Jack’s plane was on the tarmac, ready for boarding. Nanette herded the two men out of the car and towards the Cessna, gun trained on their backs

“You got a plan, right buddy?” Jack whispered.

“Not at the moment,” Mac whispered back.

“Then what are we gonna do?” the pilot asked, voice rising an octave.

“We’ll think of something,” his friend replied nonchalantly. “In the meantime, try to keep your wife from shooting us.”

After Jack executed a textbook take-off, Nanette reached over his shoulder from behind and handed him a slip of paper.

“Those are the coordinates to our destination,” she explained.

“The Caymans?”

“Yes. I have a business meeting there later tonight. And if you stray from the flight plan, I’ll kill your friend.” Nanette moved to stand behind MacGyver who was in the co-pilot’s seat and leveled her gun at the back of his head.

Mac was keenly aware of Nanette’s presence and figured this was going to be a long six hours...less if she decided he was an expendable tag-along. He needed to get her talking.

“So, where’s Frank?” he asked.

“He had some business in the States to attend to,” she supplied succinctly.

“Just out of curiosity, how long did you think you’d get away with the marriage charade?”

“As long as it was feasible. Now shut up.”

MacGyver obeyed and, staring out the window of the plane, wished that just for once he didn’t have to be the one to come up with a plan because at this point, he didn’t know where to begin.

Several hours later, Mac glanced over at Jack who had been unusually quiet throughout the trip. He had come up with a couple ideas on how to escape from Nanette and buy them some time once the plane landed, but he was going to need his friend’s help. With their kidnapper in the cabin talking to her contact on a two-way radio, now was the time to decide on a course of action.

“Jack,” MacGyver whispered just loud enough to be heard. “I think I’ve got a plan. All we hafta do is--”

“Not now, Mac,” the pilot cut him off. “We’re almost there.”

“Exactly! We’re gonna have to move fast!”

Nanette poked her head in the cockpit before MacGyver could say more. She now had a parachute strapped to her back and clear goggles protecting her eyes.

“Okay gentlemen, this is my stop,” she declared.

“But we’re still a couple miles off-shore,” Jack protested.

“That’s the whole idea. Now I’m going to be leaving, but don’t try anything funny.” She waggled a little black box with a toggle switch under their noses.

“Oh, look, she brought her own TV remote control,” Jack quipped.

“It’s a detonator, Jack,” MacGyver informed his friend solemnly.

“Very good,” Nanette crooned. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m late for a meeting.”

With that, the woman opened the rear door to the plane and disappeared from site. Mac held his breath as he waited for the plane to explode, but nothing happened.

“Maybe she was bluffing about the bomb,” Jack commented as if reading MacGyver’s mind. “Maybe she really does love me...at least enough to not kill me.”

Before Mac could respond, the plane’s control panel began to sizzle and spark.

“I’m losing control!” Jack cried. “The steering is locked! We’re goin’ down!”

MacGyver was already inspecting the damage to the plane. “They must have wired the entire electrical system with small explosive charges that she detonated when she jumped. A plane blowing up in mid-air is a lot more suspicious than one having mechanical problems and crashing into the ocean.”

“Nice reasoning Mac, but I don’t suppose you have any ideas on how we can survive this in that oversized brain of yours?”

MacGyver tore his attention away from the instrument panel and began looking under his seat. “I don’t suppose you have an extra parachute or two lying around?”

“I keep one in the cargo hold in case of an emergency,” Jack replied.

“Well I think this would qualify!” Mac called above the whine of the engines as he scrambled to the back of the quickly descending plane and opened the hatch in the floor. He made quick work of stepping into the chute and securing the harness.

“Hey, what about me?!” Jack asked, now standing next to his friend.

MacGyver moved to the open door Nanette had bailed from and turned to Jack.

“You’re just gonna have to trust me on this one. Now wrap your arms around me and hang on tight!”

Mac let out a breath as Jack caught him in a tight bear hug. He turned to see the blue of the Caribbean speeding towards them, wondering how he managed to get himself into these situations.

“Here we go!” he yelled as he allowed himself to fall backward, away from the plane and literally into thin air.

After a few moments of free-fall, MacGyver reached for the ripcord and firmly pulled on it, breathing a sigh of relief when the parachute opened and jerked them upward before catching the breeze and gliding gently toward the water.

XXXXX

Late that evening, MacGyver and Jack sat listlessly in the terminal of Owen Roberts International Airport on Grand Cayman Island, both exhausted from the grueling events of the day. Mac held a ticket to take him home to Milwaukee while Jack would be heading back to Los Angeles. Thankfully, the captain of a large, private yacht had witnessed their not-so-graceful splashdown in the Caribbean Ocean earlier that afternoon and the small crew pulled them to safety. Once on board, MacGyver had radioed the proper authorities and Nanette was apprehended shortly thereafter. She was more than eager to share Frank’s whereabouts in exchange for leniency, and the FBI was sure to have him in custody before midnight. Perhaps the saddest part of the entire day had been watching Jack’s custom Cessna crash and explode on a tiny, uninhabited island.

“How you doin’?” Mac asked, turning to his friend who was staring blankly into the crowd milling about them.

“Terrific. Never been better,” Jack grunted.

“Sorry about your plane.”

Jack waved his hand as if swatting a fly. “No big deal.”

“Did I hear you right?!” MacGyver asked, his eyebrows shooting up under his bangs in surprise. “All you ever wanted to do was own a business flying airplanes!”

“Yeah, well, that dream came true at least for a little while,” Jack mumbled.

Mac regarding his friend more closely. “This is about Nanette,” he stated, rather than asked.

“I thought she loved me, Mac. I thought I had finally found the one, like you and Joanna. Guess I really messed that up!”

“Jack, look at me,” MacGyver maneuvered himself in the molded plastic chair so he faced the pilot. “You did not mess up! You made an honest mistake! If anyone’s to blame it’s Frank and Nanette. You trusted them. Took them at their word. That’s not a bad thing!”

“C’mon, Mac! Look who you’re talkin’ to! It’s me, Jake Dalton, king of scams and schemes and questionable business opportunities. I should have smelled this a mile away. Instead, I walked right into it!”

A disembodied voice came over the intercom to inform them that the flight to L.A. was boarding. Jack reached down and grabbed his well-worn duffle.

“You gonna be okay?” MacGyver asked, his voice laced with concern for his friend.

“Pffft! I’ll be fine!” Jack declared with renewed vigor as he rose from his seat. “I wasn’t meant to be tied down with a wife and kids anyway. I got some insurance money comin’ to me and Dalton Air Limo Service will be up and flyin’ in no time. Just promise me one thing.”

“Anything, Jack.”

“The next time I’m standing in a wedding chapel it’s because you’re finally makin’ an honest woman outta Joanna!”

“You got it!” Mac smiled and embraced his friend as the final boarding call was announced.

Well that's a little concerning...

Nice logic XD

*chokes*

>_< JAAAAAACKKKK

Jack right now:

I can feel myself losing brain cells every moment. Thanks Jack.

*Jack chokes on beer*

Drat

*thinks about title* Oh no...

Okay, who brainwashed him?

My brain, overthinking everything.

Yeah, I don't even know my own phone number (I hardly use my own cell phone, so I never really needed to learn it).

Further proof that these two are made for each other XD (I tried to find a GIF, but couldn't find the right one).

Ooooh, snap...

Pooky Bear?!

Oh my gosh I'm dying

I never get tired of these moments. They drive each other crazy, but deep down, they really care about each other

Chapter 40: Reevaluations

It was the wee hours of Monday morning when MacGyver pulled his Jeep into the driveway. A pang of disappointment ripped through him when he saw his apartment shrouded in darkness. Nevertheless, he slowly opened the front door and quietly crossed the threshold, his eyes immediately seeking out his couch. But the blanket-covered form of Joanna he hoped to find was not there. Neither was the sight of Frog lumbering toward him to welcome him home. His hope dimmed but not extinguished, he silently climbed the stairs to find his bed, bathed in moonlight, as empty as the day he had left. He sighed and jammed his fingers through his hair, chiding his selfish thoughts. Joanna had spent the weekend at Challengers, covering for him, no less, and she deserved a good night’s sleep in her own bed before returning to teaching after a full week off. Besides, after several years and hundreds of missions, he had most always returned to an empty house without thinking twice about it and often relished the solitude it afforded him to rest and refuel. But after having met and fallen in love with Jo, she had come to fill a spot in his life he didn’t realize was empty and a hole in his heart he had kept hidden for too long. Much to his own surprise, he found himself longing for the day when she would become his forever.

A loud, rhythmic pounding pulled MacGyver from a dreamless sleep early the next morning. He looked at his alarm clock and groaned. He had only been asleep for four hours. The pounding continued and Mac pushed himself off his bed which he had fallen into the night before, still fully clothed. He grabbed a light-weight jacket and stepped outside to find Charlie, his landlord, and a man in a suit chatting amicably next to a large wooden sign protruding from the front lawn. The two men soon shook hands and the stranger headed toward a sedan parked on the street.

“Hey Charlie! What’s goin’ on?”

“Hiya Mac! I didn’t want you to find out like this, but you’re a hard man to pin down! I’ve decided to sell the townhouse.”

“What?!”

“My son-in-law got a new job back East. My daughter and grandkids are the only family I got so they invited me to go live with them. Since I ain’t gettin’ any younger and don’t care to travel, I figured what the heck! Besides, I can’t take care of this place like I used to.”

“I’m sure gonna miss ya, Charlie,” MacGyver replied, putting his hand on the older man’s shoulder.

Charlie grunted with a hint of laughter. “Ya mean your gonna miss the low rent I’ve been chargin’ ya!”

“I didn’t mean--” Charlie held up his hand, cutting Mac off mid-sentence.

“Don’t worry, son. When this place sells I’m puttin’ a clause in the contract that your rent stays the same until it’s time to renew your lease. You’ve been a good tenant and even better neighbor. It’s the least I could do.”

“Thanks Charlie,” Mac said before the two men returned to their respective sides of the duplex.

A few hours later, MacGyver was sitting in his office at Challengers, mulling over Charlie’s decision to sell the townhouse when Cynthia knocked sharply on his door. She entered before he could issue an invitation.

“Thank goodness you’re back! We need to discuss Phoenix’s six-month review of Challengers!”

Mac glanced at his desk calendar. He had the day circled in red. March twenty-third, the one-year anniversary of the club...and his birthday.

“Relax. We’ve got two whole weeks to prepare,” he observed.

“That’s just it!” Cynthia replied, her voice laden with anxiety. “I was just notified that the date’s been moved up to this Friday!”

That got his attention. “What?”

“How will we ever be ready in time?”

Mac had never seen his long-time friend this anxious. He edged out from behind his desk and put his hands firmly on Cynthia’s shoulders, hoping to reassure her.

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay. This place is running like a well-oiled machine and you and Joanna have the books up-to-date so there’s nothin’ to worry about, right?” MacGyver reasoned.

“That’s what we thought last time and they cut our funding,” Cynthia countered.

“That was a budget issue on Phoenix’s end, it had nothing to do with Challengers itself.”

“I suppose you’re right,” his friend and mentor sighed. “But you’ll make sure Joanna is here as well? We need to make a strong showing regardless.”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t miss it. Now just relax.”

The rest of the day dragged on for MacGyver as Cynthia’s concerns niggled at his brain. Feeling restless, he did several walk-throughs of the building searching for areas that could use some extra cleaning or light maintenance, but found none. The place was as ready as it would ever be. He then closeted himself in his office with the ledgers to make himself as familiar as possible with all the financials of the last six months. The numbers began to blur and Mac rubbed his eyes. Looking up, he discovered it was late afternoon and Joanna was walking toward his office. He stood up, stretched out the kinks in his neck and back, and met her in the doorway.

“Welcome back,” she greeted him with a smile and quick kiss on the lips. “I thought you’d call when you got home.”

“I got in pretty late and didn’t want to wake you,” he explained as Jo settled herself in a chair across from his.

“So how was the rest of the weekend? Did you find out anything more about Jack’s new wife?”

MacGyver plopped down in his chair with a sigh. “Do you want the long version or the short?”

“Oh wow! Is Jack doin’ okay?” she asked when he concluded telling her about the events of the past couple days.

“Yeah, I guess,” he shrugged. “He seemed fine when I left him at the airport.”

Jo frowned. “Maybe you shoulda gone back with him to L.A. for a couple days, just to make sure.”

“Aw, don’t worry about Jack,” he said lightly. “He’s probably already knee deep in a scheme to buy a bigger and better plane. Besides, it’s lucky I got back when I did.” He glared pointedly at the books laid out in front of him.

“What’s going on?” Joanna asked, her brow creased with confusion.

“Cynthia got word today that Phoenix needed to move up our review to this Friday. They didn’t say what time they’re coming so I was hoping you could take the day off to be here for it.”

Jo lowered her eyes and Mac’s stomach did a funny little flip...and not the good kind. “What is it?” he asked.

“I was told today that Mrs. Varga needs to meet with me Friday to do my annual review. Since it’s only my first year there I really can’t ask her to reschedule.”

“Well, what time is it at? Maybe we could work around it?”

Joanna bit her lip and his stomach rebelled once more. “I don’t know for sure. She said it would either be during my morning prep period or after school.” She finally raised her eyes to meet his gaze. “I’m sorry, Mac, but I can’t be here Friday. But you’ll do great! Cynthia knows more than I do anyway and the club has been doing well. You don’t need me.”

“I’ll always need you,” he replied softly, “But I also can’t ask you to put Challengers ahead of your job. It’s just a case of crummy timing so it’s no use worrying about it. I hope your own review goes well.”

“Thanks,” she replied with a gentle smile.

XXXXX

“I’m sorry, Mr. MacGyver, but I must say I’m very disappointed with what I’ve seen here today and I can’t, in good conscience, recommend that The Phoenix Foundation continue funding your club.”

“What?!” Mac exclaimed as he shot out of his chair. He probably would have shot straight through the ceiling had Cynthia not reached across his desk and put a staying hand over his.

Two hours earlier, Mr. Matthews had flashed his ID and introduced himself as a Phoenix representative. Of Mac’s approximate age and height, the similarities ended there. Sporting a three piece suit, a too-short haircut, and a too-tight necktie, Mr. Matthews had proceeded to pour over the ledgers before inspecting every nook and cranny of the old building. Afterwards, he spoke with Geena, Rosie, and some of the other adult volunteers as well as some truant teens, most likely homeless, taking advantage of the services the club offered. He then had requested to speak privately to MacGyver and Cynthia once it was established Joanna would not be putting in an appearance.

“Challengers is simply not meeting our expectations. You’ve been operating for a year now yet have little to show for it.”

“That’s not true!” Mac protested. “We have a growing number of volunteers as well as members and we’re now able to stay open around the clock and act as an emergency shelter for teens or anyone else, for that matter. We’ve made significant progress!”

“The Phoenix Foundation is not in the habit of funding what amounts to little more than a daycare center. If you want our continued financial support, Challengers needs to be more active in the community. You should have a variety of structured, educational opportunities for after school as well as be initiating outreach programs to include the surrounding neighborhoods, not just be a haven for bored juveniles to spend a few hours playing video games until their parents get home from work.”

“There’s a lot more going on here and you know it!” MacGyver insisted. “Besides, if Phoenix refuses to fund us, how can you expect us to implement the types of activities you expect?”

Matthews sighed heavily. “The best I can do is recommend that you receive the same amount of funding as last time for six more months and then we’ll conduct another review.”

Instinctively knowing this was the best outcome he was going to get, MacGyver capitulated. “Thank you, Mr. Matthews. We will give serious consideration to the improvements you’ve suggested.”

Once Matthews had left, Mac and Cynthia collapsed onto a tattered couch in the rec room. Both of them exhausted and frustrated.

“You know he’s not wrong,” Cynthia stated after several moments of silence.

“I know,” MacGyver groaned, scrubbing his face with his hands. “Back in L.A. we had all sorts of programs from teaching kids self-defense to learning about and improving the environment. Matthews is right. We’re nothing more than glorified babysitters.”

“Please tell me I didn’t hear you say what you just said,” Geena called as she strode purposefully across the room toward them. “In the short amount of time I’ve been here I can see that Challengers has been a godsend to these kids and the community. Don’t let Phoenix bully you into anything!”

“Cynthia’s right,” Mac told Geena. “We need to be doing more. It’s my fault. I shoulda seen it. Taken more initiative to set up opportunities for the kids to grow and get involved in the world outside these walls.”

“Running a club like Challengers isn’t easy,” Cynthia said with a knowing smile.

“I don’t know how you and Booker did it. I respect you guys now more than ever.”

“There’s no magic formula, Mac,” Cynthia assured him. “All you need is a lot of determination and a lot of love.”

“Speaking of love,” Geena interrupted, “Joanna just pulled into the parking lot.”

Cynthia’s face immediately brightened. “Oh Mac, Joanna will be a great help! She’ll be on summer vacation in a couple months and I’m sure she’ll have some wonderful ideas to help grow Challengers. Maybe she can even get some of the other teachers to pitch in!”

MacGyver’s heart lightened. Things always seemed better with Jo around. He was so used to going through life on his own, if felt good to share the burdens and triumphs with someone else. Someone he loved. How he had missed having her by his side these last several weeks. But, as Cynthia pointed out, she’d be back soon enough and together they would be a formidable team. For now, however, the anxiety must have still shown on their faces as Jo stopped short when she entered the room.

“What’s wrong?” she asked warily. “Did something happen with the review?”

Mac approached her and put a guiding hand on the small of her back. “Let’s go into my office.”

Once settled in his desk chair with Joanna seated across from him, he detailed the events of the day including the discussion she had just missed. A lump formed in his throat when she looked up at him, her eyes sad.

“I had my meeting with Mrs. Varga today,” she said quietly as MacGyver mentally kicked himself for not remembering. “She really likes me and said a lot of good things. She offered me a full-time position in the fall and would like me to teach summer school.”

Mac felt as if he’d just been sucker punched. “You turned her down, though. Right?”

“I told her I’d think about it,” she replied, lowering her eyes.

“But I thought you preferred teaching part-time and working summers here?”

“I did. I mean...I do. It’s just that it’s a really generous offer and I couldn’t just tell her ‘no’. I have to show that I’m a team player otherwise she might not want be back at all.”

“You just said she really liked you,” Mac said, confusion furrowing his brow.

Jo sighed. “A school is just like a business. No matter how much anyone likes you, you’re still not indispensable. Teachers who take on more responsibilities are simply more valuable.”

Mac scrubbed his face with his hands and tried to order his jumbled thoughts. “Look, it’s been a long week for both of us. Whaddya say we go to my place, order some pizza, watch some hockey, and forget about life for awhile?”

His muscles relaxed a fraction as Joanna’s lips curved in a small smile. “Sounds like a plan.”

An hour later, MacGyver pulled into his driveway with Joanna on his tail. He watched as she climbed out of her Chevy and stared at the ‘For Sale’ sign on his lawn.

“So, this is new,” she observed. “When were you gonna tell me about it?”

“I’m sorry, baby. With everything going on at Challengers I forgot. Charlie decided to sell the place and move East with his family. He told me about it on Monday.” And this was Friday. How had over a week passed without Joanna coming over to his place?

“That’s too bad. I’m gonna miss him,” she said sadly, brushing past him on the way to the front door.

Once dinner had been consumed, MacGyver pulled Joanna down beside him on the couch just before the third period face-off. Unlike other evenings, when her very body seemed to melt into his, she was tense and hesitant.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, gently kneading her tight shoulder muscles.

“I guess it’s just all the stress from this past week,” she replied.

“Let’s see what we can do about that,” he muttered huskily, leaning forward to kiss the tender skin behind her left ear. He heard her sigh and couldn’t help but smile. But he soon scowled as the ringing phone broke the peaceful moment.

“Let the machine get it,” she murmured.

His response was to shift his attention to the right side of her neck, a smile tugging at his lips once again. The machine beeped. “Dad, pick up if you’re there.” It wasn’t a request, but a command. MacGyver groaned and leaned his forehead against the back of Joanna’s head.

“Dad!”

“You better get that,” Jo said, pulling away. But the words were hardly out of her mouth before her cell phone began to chime from its place on the coffee table. She scooped it up, glanced at the caller ID, and pointed to the stairs, indicating she would take the call in the bedroom, presumably for privacy.

“Daaad!!”

MacGyver grabbed the cordless receiver. “What is it, Sam?!”

“Geez, why’re you so upset, Dad?”

Mac pinched the bridge of his nose, willing himself to stay calm...and civil.

“Did I interrupt something?”

“You could say that,” MacGyver ground out. “Now what’s up?”

“Rebecca’s mad at me and I need your advice.”

“My advice? Make her unmad at you.”

“How do you suggest I do that?”

MacGyver looked longingly up at his lofted bedroom. He was finally alone with Joanna for the first time since before Spring Break and here he was giving relationship advice to his son.

“Well, whatever you did to make her mad in the first place, do the opposite.”

“Dad, would you be serious?” Sam scolded. “Besides, I don’t think I did anything wrong.”

Mac sighed, resigning himself to the fact that this was going to be a longer conversation than he had hoped. “Okay. Tell me what happened.”

“A couple nights ago I stayed late at the Tribune to catch up on some work. There was another photojournalist there and we knocked off at the same time. We decided to grab a quick dinner before going home, but we got talking and lost track of time. When I got back, Becca was waiting in my apartment, mad as a wet hen.”

“Look, she was probably just worried about you. Why didn’t you just apologize?”

“I tried, but…” Sam’s voice hung heavy on the line and Mac suddenly heard what his son wasn’t telling him.

“Sam, please tell me this other photojournalist was a guy.”

“I can’t. ‘Cause she wasn’t. But it’s not like Becca and I are exclusive or anything! I’m not like you were, Dad. I haven’t had a chance to do a whole lot of dating. And it was just dinner. I don’t get what the big deal is?”

“Then talk to Becca. Listen to what she has to say and admit that you were wrong.”

“But I don’t think I was wrong, Dad!”

“Just trust me on this.”

“Sheesh, you’re no help,” Sam grumbled before hanging up without so much as a good-bye.

Mac plopped down on the couch and looked at the TV screen. Calgary was down by two goals midway through the third and final period. Terrific. Could anything else not go right tonight?

“Do you have any idea what your son just did?!” Joanna called accusingly from where she was descending the stairs. Mac’s chin dropped to his chest and he sighed.

“Does this have anything to do with him having dinner with a fellow photojournalist?”

“A female photojournalist! That was Rebecca and she’s devastated. Sam cheated on her!”

MacGyver pushed to his feet and spun to face Jo. “What?! All they did was have dinner together! Sam said he and Becca aren’t even going steady so what’s the harm?”

“What’s the harm?!” Mac winced as Joanna’s voice rose. “Becca’s falling in love with him and he’s out running around with other women!”

“Wait a minute! First of all, one meal does not constitute ‘running around’. Second, Sam has spent most of his life just trying to survive. It’s only natural for him to want to date around a bit. And third, Becca’s too young and inexperienced to know what real love is!”

Joanna visibly bristled and MacGyver knew he had crossed a line somewhere. When she next spoke, her low, calm voice caused the little hairs on the back of his neck to stand up.

“Are you saying that just because you assume Becca hasn’t been in any serious relationships that she doesn’t know her own feelings?”

“Yeah. I guess I am,” MacGyver replied, jamming his fingers through his hair. This conversation was going from bad to worse.

“Then what about me?” Jo asked, her eyes locked with his.

“What about you?”

“I’ve never been in a serious relationship before but you believe I love you.”

“That’s different!” Mac objected.

“How?” she challenged. “How is it different? Maybe you were right in the first place. Maybe I’m like Becca and don’t know my own feelings because I haven’t spent the past twenty-odd years ‘gaining experience’ like some people in this room!”

Joanna was clearly spoiling for a fight and all Mac wanted to do was turn back time to before Sam and Becca’s phone calls. Reaching out, he placed his hands firmly on Jo’s shoulders. To his relief, she didn’t try to shrug them off.

“Listen. We’ve known each other for what, three years? Think of everything we’ve been through together during that time, both good and bad. You are a mature, intelligent woman who definitely knows her own mind. I love you and I know you love me. Or am I the one who doesn’t know his feelings?”

Joanna lowered her eyes and scowled. “I hate it when you get all logical and reasonable,” she muttered. “And I especially hate it when you’re right.”

“Are we okay then?”

“Yeah, we’re okay.”

“Can I kiss you senseless now?” he asked.

“You’d better,” she replied with a sly grin and that was all the encouragement he needed.

XXXXX

The coming days passed innocuously enough as everyone settled back into their normal routine. MacGyver made a point of chatting with Challenger members and volunteers to get a feel for the types of programs and activities that would be of most interest and spawn the most participation. With the snow steadily melting and the promise of spring in the air, this was the perfect time for a community clean-up initiative. Joanna also spent more time at Challengers as well as with Mac either at the club or his place. She was still struggling with Mrs. Varga’s offer of a full-time teaching position, but MacGyver had stopped asking if she had made a decision once his queries became met with squinty-eyed glares. They both continued to field calls from Sam and Becca, but had agreed to present a united and neutral front to encourage the younger couple to work things out on their own as well as save themselves from projecting the drama onto their own relationship.

The following Sunday, Joanna sat on MacGyver’s couch, her legs curled underneath her as she leaned against him, sharing a bowl of popcorn as they watched one of the final hockey games of the season. Much to Mac’s dismay, the Calgary Flames’ season would soon be coming to an end with no playoff hopes in sight. He had just shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth when Jo snuggled closer and looked up at him with a sweet smile she tended to save for special occasions.

“Do you know what tomorrow is?” she asked innocently.

“Monday?” he mumbled with his mouth full.

“What else?” she prodded.

He held back a smile of his own as he knew what she was trying to get at, but not before he had a little fun first. “Mmm, the first anniversary of the grand opening of Challengers?”

She chuckled and slapped him playfully on his jean-clad thigh. “No! It’s your birthday!”

“Oh really? I forgot all about it,” he replied, failing to contain the grin spreading across his face.

“Now, I know you don’t like surprises or presents, but I was thinking we could get dressed up and go out to a fancy restaurant for a nice meal to celebrate. How does that sound?”

“Depends,” he replied, nuzzling the curve of her neck. “What’s for dessert?”

“Ice cream,” she whispered huskily.

“Count me in.”

XXXXX

MacGyver was shrugging into his sport jacket when Joanna walked through his front door at six o’clock on the dot Monday evening.

“Ooh, a tie. I’m impressed,” she declared with a saucy grin as she took inventory of him from head to toe.

“Well, I figured since it was a special occasion and all...Besides, you don’t look half bad yourself.”

Beneath her unbuttoned dress coat, Jo had donned a modest yet flattering black knit dress that she accessorized with a chunky gold necklace and matching earrings. Her soft brown eyes were enhanced with tastefully applied make-up, and her wine-colored lips had MacGyver wishing they had decided to stay in for a cozy dinner instead.

“Where to?” he asked, grabbing his keys from the hook beside the door.

“Oh, no,” she scolded gently, plucking the keys from his hand and returning them to their proper place. “I’m driving and it’s a surprise. Trust me on this, Mac.” And oddly enough, he did.

Twenty minutes later, Joanna pulled up to the canopied entrance of a small gourmet restaurant in downtown Milwaukee. She relinquished the coupe to a valet before giving her name to the maître de who proceeded to guide them through the dimly lit dining room. Mac’s eyes fell upon a table for two tucked away in a corner, but Joanna continued to follow the man to a larger table where another couple sat, their backs to him. He gently grabbed the back of her dress to halt her progress.

“Where’s he taking us?” Mac whispered in her ear. She only straightened her spine, held her head high, and continued to follow the man who had now come to a stop beside the already occupied table.

The maître de pulled out a chair and Joanna smiled her thanks as she sat down. MacGyver was about to protest when he suddenly recognized the man and woman seated across from them.

“Nikki? Bannister? What’re you doin’ here?!”

“We’re here to celebrate your birthday,” Craig said, rising to embrace Mac in a manly hug...if there was such a thing. Nikki was next to greet him.

“We had some meetings at the Phoenix branch in Chicago this past weekend and have a few hours until our flight. We called Joanna last week and asked her to set this up,” Nikki explained.

“Well, it’s great to see you guys,” Mac said, smiling widely as he settled into his well-cushioned chair.

“We also have another surprise,” Nikki said, glancing shyly at Craig. “We’re married!” She held out her left hand to show off her gold band as proof.

“What?! No way!” MacGyver exclaimed. “You said you were gonna take it slow!”

“That’s what we had planned,” Craig shrugged. “But a couple months ago Nikki was on a mission that really went south in a hurry. We decided that in our line of work you have to make the most of every moment you’re given so why waste time? What’s keepin’ you guys from pulling the trigger?”

Mac felt Joanna stiffen beside him. He slipped his hand under the tablecloth and rested it on her thigh, giving her a comforting squeeze.

“Some of us actually follow the plans we set,” he replied.

“Since when, Mr. Improvisation?!” Nikki scoffed.

“That’s always bugged you, hasn’t it?” MacGyver playfully replied. “Remember our first official assignment together?

Nikki rolled her eyes. “How could I ever forget?” she groaned, before turning to Joanna and launching into the story. “So Pete drags me all the way to Zurich to meet up with MacGyver who’s in some stupid hot air balloon rally with this little Swiss miss. What was her name? Helga? No. Hilga? No. Heidi! That’s it! H-e-i-d-i...Heidi! Anyway, a top-secret prototype military plane had crashed in East Germany and Pete thought it would be easier for Mac to cross the border if we posed as newlyweds on our honeymoon. MacGyver, of course, was totally against it because it was an actual plan. But it’s a good thing I was there ‘cause I ended up saving his life!”

“Whoa, wait a minute! You did not save my life!”

“Yes I did! And I nearly lost mine to hypothermia climbing that stupid mountain to warn you that the bad guys were on your tail!”

“Okay, fine! I’ll give you that one. But who got us out of the country without getting killed?!”

“I can give credit where credit is due,” Nikki replied, once again turning to Jo. “Can you believe this one used supplies from an abandoned barracks to make an honest-to-goodness hot air balloon? It worked great, too, until we ran out of fuel. Then he decided to lighten the load which included me!”

“You were the only one wearing a parachute!”

“And who gave it to me?!”

“Time out, you two,” Craig interrupted with a laugh. “MacGyver wouldn’t have even been there if I hadn’t rescued him while he was still with the DXS.”

Mac groaned and leaned back in his chair as he watched Bannister gear up to tell the tale.

“He had just finished a mission in East Germany,” Craig began, “and had the cops on his tail when I pulled up in a borrowed police car. Everything was going fine until they started firing at us. One of the bullets hit the brake line. I tried everything to slow us down, but nothing worked. Then Mac gets this idea to pump the power steering fluid into the brake cylinder. Thing is, we’re going down this winding hill at over eighty-five miles per hour! He tells me to pop the hood and the thing goes flyin’ off! Then he climbs out the window, does his thing, and voila! Suddenly we have brakes!” He turned his attention back to MacGyver. “Those were the good ole days, hey buddy? Guess you don’t get much of a chance to do that kinda stuff anymore, huh?”

“No. And I’m not complaining,” Mac assured him.

“That’s too bad,” Craig said, his voice now serious. “After we got married, Nikki decided to take an assistant director position at the Foundation so she wouldn’t have to travel as much. I’m in dire need of a top notch foreign operative and I can’t think of a better man for the job.”

“I can’t Bannister. My life is here now.”

“Aw, c’mon, I know you gotta miss the job at least a little. And I’m sure Joanna wouldn’t mind moving out to L.A. where it’s sunny and warm all year round.”

“No way! I’m done!” MacGyver insisted. “Besides, even if I wanted to come back I probably still couldn’t pass concussion protocol.”

It appeared that Craig was about to mount a protest when the alarm on his watch sounded. He looked down and frowned. “Wow, time really got away from us! I hate to cut the evening short, but if we don’t leave now we’ll miss our flight.”

Everyone at the table rose to say their goodbyes. Mac shook Craig’s hand as he patted him on the back before giving Nikki a hug and kiss on the cheek. Bannister gave Joanna a light hug before Nikki squeezed her tight.

“It was great to finally meet you in person! I’m so glad MacGyver finally found someone to love,” she told Joanna. “I hope you know what a great guy you have here. No matter what I might’ve said tonight, he really is a very special man.”

Just as Craig and Nikki took their leave, a waiter appeared at the table.

“Can I get you anything for dessert?” he asked.

“I don’t suppose you have any ice cream?” Mac ventured.

“Only in the baked Alaska, sir,” came the haughty reply.

XXXXX

Joanna was unusually quiet during the ride home. When she entered his apartment, instead of tossing off her coat and kicking off her heels like usual she simply walked over to the kitchen table and perched on the edge of one of the wooden chairs. Setting the small carton of strawberry ice cream they had picked up at a nearby convenience store on the counter, MacGyver figured she had simply been a bit overwhelmed at dinner.

“You sure you don’t want any?” he asked her as he scooped the ice cream into a bowl.

She shook her head. “I prefer vanilla.”

“I told you we could’ve gotten both.”

“That’s okay,” she replied softly.

Something was obviously wrong and Mac was determined to get to the bottom of it, but he couldn’t help glancing at his answering machine as he made his way to the table. He frowned when there was no blinking light indicating a missed call.

“What’s the matter?” Joanna asked.

Mac sat down across from her and scrubbed his face with his hands. “I’ve been calling Jack all week and haven’t been able to get a hold of him and he hasn’t called back. I’m getting worried.”

“You know Jack,” she replied, her eyes softening. “He’s probably already got a new plane and is off on some grand excursion somewhere.”

“You’re probably right,” Mac sighed, wishing he was as certain as Jo seemed to be.

“Maybe you should go out to L.A. and check on him if you’re really that concerned,” Joanna suggested.

MacGyver looked up and caught her gaze. That certainly came out of the blue! So had the empty, hopeless look in her eyes.

“What’s going on with you?” he asked. “You were quiet all during dinner and haven’t been yourself since.”

“I think it’s time you go home, Mac,” she told him flatly, without emotion.

“I am home,” he replied, reaching across the table to take her hand which she promptly pulled away.

She slowly shook her head. “You may think that now, but you belong back in Los Angeles with your friends and the Phoenix Foundation.”

“What are you saying?” Mac’s head began to spin and he felt as if he might lose his supper.

“I saw the way your eyes lit up when Craig asked you to go back. It was only for an instant, but it was there.”

“I don’t wanna go back! Besides, like I told Bannister, I probably couldn’t pass the physical.”

“Don’t you see?” Joanna said, her voice growing stronger. “That’s what brought you here in the first place and the reason you decided to stay.”

MacGyver jammed his fingers through his hair in both frustration and fear of where this conversation was leading.

“I may have come here on an assignment, but I stayed because I fell in love with you.”

“Mac, guys like you don’t fall in love with girls like me. At least not for the long haul. You need to be out saving the world with a paperclip and gum wrapper,” Jo said sadly. “You were lonely and I was available. It’s as simple as that.”

“C’mon, you know that’s not true!” MacGyver protested urgently. “Where is all this coming from?”

“Tonight, watching you with Craig and Nikki and listening to their stories, I realized there is so much I don’t know about you.”

“It doesn’t matter! That’s ancient history! You know everything that matters.”

“And it’s not the first time I’ve felt like that,” Joanna confessed.

Mac was truly at a loss for words now. He watched as her eyes scanned the room refusing to meet his.

“Sometimes when I look at you I’m overwhelmed by what an incredibly strong, handsome, confident man you are and can’t even begin to imagine all the places you’ve been and the experiences you’ve had. I don’t know how you could ever be happy with a plain, naive girl like me who’s lived in the same city...the same house all her life. You don’t deserve to be saddled with me. You should be with someone like Nikki. Someone who’s shared similar experiences and won’t hold you back.”

MacGyver leaned forward, closing the space between them. “I don’t want someone like Nikki. I want you. I love you. I proposed to you. And you accepted because you love me, too.”

“I was wrong to agree to marry you and I’m sorry. You were right when you said there’s no way I could know what real love is.”

“I did not say that! And just for the record, before I met you, I didn’t know what real love was either! Yes, I’ve been with a lot of women, but none of them ever made me feel the way you do. I always thought I was afraid of commitment because I was afraid of losing someone I loved. Now that I have you, I know I was afraid to commit to anyone else because somewhere deep down I knew it wasn’t right. I know my feelings for you, Joanna, and I know they’re not gonna change. And if they do, they’re only gonna get stronger and better. Don’t ever question that.”

Tears pooled in Jo’s eyes but her jaw remained set. “I’m sorry, Mac. I want to believe you. I really do! But there’s this part of me that just can’t see a future for us. I feel that by me marrying you I’d somehow be taking away a part of what makes you so special, and I can’t do that. I don’t want to do anything that would keep you from being you.”

MacGyver didn’t know what to do. He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to knock some sense into that hard head of hers. Tell her she was wrong. Convince her that getting married was the right thing to do. He also knew that she was not ready to hear, much less believe, that. He had to be patient. Let her work through whatever she needed to work through.

“What do you need me to do?” he asked, his voice raspy from suppressing his own emotions.

“I need time...away from you. I need to think. Figure out where I belong in your life...if I belong in it at all.”

“That’s why you told me to go see Jack.”

She nodded.

Suddenly feeling restless, Mac pushed back his chair and stood up, Joanna following suit.

“Please try to understand,” she implored. “There’s an old saying that says ‘If you love something, set it free’. That’s what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to give you the freedom to live the life you deserve.”

Struggling to keep his emotions in check he rounded on her, grabbing her hands before she could pull them away.

“That saying goes on to say that ‘If it comes back to you, it’s yours.’ I’ll leave for L.A. tomorrow. But know this. I am coming back. And when I do, we are gonna work this out. Together. Understand?”

She nodded and turned toward the door but not before he saw an errant teardrop slide down her cheek. He watched as she got into her car and drove off into the night, his heart shattering into so many pieces that all the duct tape in the world couldn’t fix it.

Whoa! Poor Mac! Seems I´m not the only one pushing him to the edge emotionally...

Passing out fully clothed? Gettign only four hours of sleep? Been there, Mac, been there XD

What? Why?

Great minds...

I was, surprisingly, thinking something similar.

Smooth

I love how kids will interrupt at inconvenient moments, no matter how old they get

Why is Sam so terrible like that?

Oh, he gets it from his dad, I see...

Welcome to parenting, Macky XD

I caught it as soon as Sam started explaining.

Hmmm, I see why she's angry, Sam...

Ha... haha...

That was fast...

I do this too XD

They've known each other for years now, I'd hope he would XD

Well we're all just getting straight to the point, aren't we?

Nice callback XD

Nikki throws shade...

Hey, our Mac guessed right last chapter

Well, that was kinda depressing...

Just wait! When I was posting this in "real time" I took a hiatus at this point. At least you get the next chapter next week (if I remember!!LOL!!)

Just wait! When I was posting this in "real time" I took a hiatus at this point. At least you get the next chapter next week (if I remember!!LOL!!)

Can't wait

Chapter 41: Saving Jack

March 24, 1998

MacGyver rested his head on the back of the seat and turned to stare out the airplane’s small window. A bright blue sky punctuated with wispy clouds stared back. Less than an hour into the flight, some of his fellow passengers were already snoring softly. Oh, how he wished for peaceful slumber to claim him. Unfortunately, he knew from the long, lonely night before that every time he closed his eyes it would be to see the parting look on Joanna’s face. Her empty expression, her tear-filled eyes as she told him she needed time to figure out her place in his life. How could she not see that her place was right beside him forever? But Nikki Carpenter and Craig Bannister had regaled her with tales of his past adventures with the DXS and Phoenix Foundation, causing her to doubt their compatibility. Would his past always haunt him? Would it always get in the way of his future? Not if he could help it. Not this time. He would give Jo the space she needed to think things through and take comfort in the fact that she still wore his engagement ring as a symbol of their commitment to each other. He would go to Los Angeles and confirm that Jack Dalton was alive and well. And then he would return to Milwaukee. Return home. And fight for their love.

Later that afternoon, MacGyver parked his rental car in front of the Hacienda Village Apartments. He strolled up to the wrought iron security gate and scanned the buzzer panel for Jack’s name but couldn’t find it. Movement in the courtyard caught his eye and he looked up to find a tall, leggy blonde a few yards away.

“Excuse me!” he called. “I’m looking for Jack Dalton.”

“Join the club,” she replied sarcastically while giving him an exaggerated eye roll. “The rat snuck outta here in the middle of the night owin’ me three months’ back rent.”

“What? Where’d he go?”

“Ya got me, but rumor has it he’s been hangin’ out at a place called The Wingman Bar. If you find him, tell him I still want my money.” The blonde abruptly turned her back and headed toward the building. Conversation over.

Mac slid back behind the wheel of the car, his mind reeling. Up until a few weeks ago, Jack had a lucrative air limo business until one of his regular clients turned out to be an international jewel smuggler and was now in federal custody. What had Jack been doing that caused him to get in the red with his apartment manager? Nothing made sense.

A short time later, MacGyver pulled up in front of The Wingman. It must have been about ten years since he and Jack had come here to find Francine Leyland Dalton, Jack’s birth mother who had given her infant son up for adoption. Mac took a deep breath before climbing from the car and making his way to the front door. He crossed the threshold and paused, allowing his eyes to adjust to the dim, smoky interior. The place was empty except for a figure in a bomber jacket and lopsided aviator cap hunched over the bar. MacGyver walked over and took a seat.

“Whatcha doin’ here, Jack?”

“Drowning my sorrows. What are you doin’ here?”

“Lookin’ for you.”

“Well, you found me. Now go home.” Jack drained the amber liquid from his shot glass and set it down next to a number of others.

“According to some people I am home,” Mac muttered, before returning his focus to his friend. “I need to know you’re okay and from the looks of it, you’re not. What’s goin’ on?”

“Barkeep, get me refill, and get a carrot juice for my friend here!”

“I went by your apartment,” MacGyver said softly.

“Yeah, so?”

“So I wanna know what happened to you!” Mac replied, his patience quickly eroding.

“You wanna know what happened to me?! I’ll tell you what happened to me!” Jack spat. “When I got back from the Caymans the FBI raided my bank account. Turns out Frank and Nanette had been passing me funny money all along. Then my insurance company won’t pay out...somethin’ about crashin’ two planes in less than two years. To top it off, Nanette and I were never really married. Even the Wayne Newton minister was a fake. So there you go! That’s what happened to me! I’m flat broke and homeless...unless you count this place.”

“You’ve been livin’ here?” Mac asked as he surveyed his surroundings with a grimace.

“I’ve been crashin’ up in the office.”

“Where’s your mom?”

“Who knows? Probably takin’ a three month cruise.”

“Why didn’t you call me, Jack?”

“Why? So you could ride to the rescue and bail me out like you always do?”

“Yeah! That’s what friends are for!”

“Not this time, buddy. I’m not draggin’ you down with me this time. Go home to Joanna, your dog, and your white picket fence. I’ll be fine.”

“You call this ‘fine’?” Mac countered. “I’m not leavin’ til you’re back on your feet.”

For the first time since this conversation began, Jack caught MacGyver’s gaze, giving him a squinty-eyed glare.

“Somethin’s goin’ on with you, too,” the pilot stated. “C’mon, I spilled my guts, now it’s your turn.”

Mac turned away and rubbed the back of his neck. “Joanna’s havin’ second thoughts...about me,” he confessed quietly.

“Aw, man, I’m sorry,” Jack replied, the edge from his voice gone. “Wanna talk about it?”

“Not really. I was kinda plannin’ on bunkin’ with you while she sorts stuff out.”

“Mi casa es su casa,” Jack quipped, looking pointedly at the glass windows of the ‘control tower’ facade of the upstairs office.

XXXXX

MacGyver flopped down on the threadbare excuse for a couch while Jack headed to the bathroom. He grabbed the remote and clicked on the television to a national news station.

“Our top news story this evening takes us to Prince William Sound, Alaska, where an American oil tanker struck the Bligh Reef early this morning causing a massive spill. Coast Guard officials report that the spill has been contained and is considerably smaller than the Exxon Valdez disaster that occurred in approximately the same location nine years ago today. The United States Environmental Protection Agency and several smaller agencies including the Phoenix Foundation in Los Angeles are in the process of mobilizing clean-up crews to send to the area. We will update this story as soon as more information becomes available.”

“Hey Jack! Did ya hear that?!”

“Hear what?” Jack asked, emerging from the smaller room.

“There’s been an oil spill near Alaska.”

“So?”

“The anchorman said that the Phoenix Foundation is sending some people to help out. I was thinkin’ I could give them a call and see if they could use a couple extra volunteers.”

“Wait? What? You wanna go to Alaska?!”

“No Jack. I want us to go to Alaska!”

“And leave the warm sunny clime of Southern California? I’ll take a pass.”

“C’mon, it’d be good for you. For both of us. Ya know, get outta the city, get back to nature, do some good while we’re at it. What else have you got goin’? A hot date with a cocktail waitress?”

“Naw,” Jack groused. “Even the waitresses here won’t go out with me since I found out I’m broke.”

“Then it’s settled,” Mac declared, getting up from the couch and heading to the phone sitting on a battered wooden desk. He dialed the familiar number and waited until a voice greeted him on the other end.

“Hey Willis! It’s Mac! How ya doin’?”

“Hi Mac! I’m good. What’s up?”

“I just heard on the news that Phoenix is goin’ up to Alaska to help out with the oil spill and I figured you’d be the one headin’ up the team.”

“Sure am!” Willis replied with a pride and confidence in his voice that made MacGyver smile.

“Was wonderin’ if you could use some extra help.”

“Aw, gee, Mac. I know you care about the environment as much as I do, but I can’t ask you to come out to L.A. much less go to Alaska!”

MacGyver couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m already in Los Angeles,” he informed the scientist. “I’m catchin’ up with an old friend and we’d like to join your team if you’ll have us.”

“That’d be great! We plan to leave at first light. Meet us at the airport. I’ll pack some extra cold-weather gear for you.”

“Sounds good! We’ll be there!” Mac confirmed before hanging up the phone to find Jack watching him, his face contorted as if he had just eaten a very sour lemon.

XXXXX

Early the next morning, MacGyver and Jack arrived at the airport to meet the rest of the team. After everyone had been introduced and boarded the plane, Willis took command of the conversation.

“We’ll be flying into Juneau where we will board helicopters to take us to Tatitlek which is approximately a mile and a half from the site of the spill. FEMA is already on the ground setting up a command post. Since there are no motels, FEMA will be providing us with trailers to bunk in for the duration of our stay.”

Jack leaned over and whispered to Mac, “No motels? Not a one? What kinda place is this?”

“A very small one, Jack.” MacGyver had picked up an Alaskan guide book before leaving Los Angeles. “It’s very isolated and only accessible by plane, chopper, or boat. Only about a hundred people live there, give or take, and the majority are Native Americans followed by Caucasians.”

Jack looked as if he wanted to say more, but Willis’s voice grew louder. “I’ll be working with those assigned to clean-up of the actual spill. MacGyver, due to your training and experience in handling biohazardous materials, I’m putting you on wildlife rescue and recovery. Jack, you’ll be stationed with members of the EPA and local volunteers to help clean up the surviving animals and birds.”

“Will we be doing an investigation into the cause of the spill?” a young Phoenix employee asked.

“Not at this time,” Willis replied with authority. “The Coast Guard is classifying it as an accident due to dangerous weather conditions, plain and simple. Our presence is strictly to support clean-up and recovery efforts and advise as needed.”

“I thought after the Exxon Valdez incident new protocol was put in place to keep something like this from happening,” Mac remarked.

Once again, Willis was right on top of the conversation. “You’re right. Tankers must now be guided through the area with at least one Escort Response Vehicle. Unfortunately, a major squall line formed and passed through the area before they could adjust the route. The ERV began the response effort immediately and are to thank for keeping the spill as small as it is.”

XXXXX

As soon as the chopper skids touched the tarmac of the Tatitlek airport, everyone grabbed an armload of supplies and bailed out.

“Whoa! Who turned on the air conditioning?!” Jack exclaimed.

MacGyver shot his friend an amused grin. “It’s got nothin’ on those northern Minnesota winters when we were in high school. You gettin’ soft on me?”

Jack scowled and pulled up the collar of his jacket as he followed Mac to a row of black SUV’s.

“These’ll take us to the high school campus where field headquarters is set up,” Willis explained over his shoulder as he walked ahead of them. “We’ll get settled and then head on over to the cafeteria for a late lunch that’s serving as a mess hall for all personnel. Then we’ll go take a look at the spill.”

It was a short trek from the airfield to the school. A large, though obviously temporary, structure on the far corner of the campus appeared to be the nerve center of the operation.

“What are those?” Jack asked as they climbed from the vehicle.

“Those are the FEMA trailers you’ll be staying in,” Willis declared.

“They look like shipping containers!”

Willis chuckled. “They may not look like much from the outside, but the inside is quite adequate. Each unit is outfitted with a bedroom and two twin beds, a small living area, and bathroom with shower. There are two propane tanks that provide fuel for the stove and central heating.”

“See, all the comforts of home,” MacGyver remarked cheerfully.

“There’s also a kitchen area, but you’ll probably be either too tired or too busy to make use of it.”

“Hence the mess hall,” Mac deduced.

Once trailers had been assigned and meager possessions tucked away, the Phoenix group waited in line at the cafeteria. MacGyver held up his plastic tray as a stout woman behind the counter plopped a heaping spoonful of mashed potatoes into one of the compartments with a bit more force than necessary. Mac smiled and thanked her only to receive a frown in return. The other servers, all citizens of the small town, were a bit friendlier but still guarded. Granted, they must be upset with the oil spill as well as strangers descending on their land, but everyone was here to help. MacGyver gave a mental shrug and headed for a table.

Upon leaving the mess hall, everyone once again piled into waiting SUV’s that took them to the site of the incident. Environmental engineers operated booms and skimmers in an attempt to collect as much oil from the surface of the water as possible. Unfortunately, the rocky, cove-lined shore hampered their efforts. Willis led them to an official looking man in a suit who was holding a clipboard and introduced the Phoenix team.

“Have you been able to determine who was at fault for this accident?” Mac asked as he shook the man’s hand.

“Mother Nature,” the official replied in a clipped, matter-of-fact tone. At MacGyver’s quirked eyebrow he continued, “A storm blew up unexpectedly and threw the tanker and escort off course. The hull of the tanker struck the reef, but if she’d been sitting lower in the water it would’ve been a lot worse.”

This correlated with the explanation Willis had offered earlier, but something about it didn’t sit right with Mac. Willis talked to the man for several more minutes before turning his attention to his colleagues.

“I’m gonna stay here and discuss containment and clean-up strategies. Those of you not directly assigned to this aspect of the operation can return to base and wait until morning to receive further instruction.”

Back at headquarters, Jack climbed into the trailer he was sharing with Mac and took a nap while MacGyver, not wanting to waste the only free time he might have in a while, commandeered a vehicle and drove into town which was really only a couple blocks long with a limited variety of businesses lining the street. He parked in front of a small grocery store and went inside to collect some staples to keep in the trailer. The cashier at the check-out counter scanned a few items before looking up at him.

“You in town to help with the spill?

“Yeah, I am,” Mac replied.

The young woman once again looked down and fixed her attention on bagging his groceries.

“Can I ask you something?” MacGyver inquired.

The cashier shrugged.

“I’ve only been here a few hours, but I get the feeling we’re not exactly welcome. I understand our presence is disrupting the town, but we’re only here to help. Is there something I should know?”

This time the cashier looked him squarely in the eye. “We know that, and trust me, we appreciate it. No one is mad at you guys. It’s the oil companies we’re upset with. Their greed caused this to happen.”

MacGyver’s senses went on high alert. “What are ya talkin’ about?”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything,” she replied, glancing nervously around the store before taking his payment and sending him on his way.

Mac arrived back at the trailer with just enough time to put his groceries away before heading over to the mess hall with the others. For the second time that day he stood in line, clutching his plastic meal tray. He scanned the line of servers and saw many of the same faces from earlier, now looking more haggard and worn. They must have started preparing for supper as soon as the lunch crowd had been served. Mashed-potato-lady now stood at the end of the line, placing a dinner roll on everyone’s tray. When MacGyver came to stand in front of her, he half expected to have the round piece of bread tossed in his face. Much to his relief, the woman placed it gently next to his helping of steamed carrots.

“Thanks!” he offered with a friendly smile. While she didn’t smile back, she didn’t frown like earlier.

MacGyver, Jack, and Willis lingered over their dinner long after the others had left and the cafeteria volunteers had retreated into the kitchen to clean up and prepare for the following day.

“Has a course of action been decided on?” Mac asked Willis in regards to the oil spill clean-up.

The scientist nodded. “We’re going with an air drop of chemical dispersants on the main spill along with a biological agent near the shoreline.”

“When’s the drop?”

Willis sighed. “Unfortunately, the weather isn’t on our side. Conditions need to be near perfect for the chopper to release its load on the bulls eye and that may not happen for a couple more days. In the meantime, we’ll continue using booms and skimmers to contain the oil and clean up as much as we can.”

“What about me and Mac?” Jack asked.

“An orientation session has been scheduled first thing tomorrow morning with a wildlife rescue expert. Holly will explain what you need to do and you’ll get to work immediately. The sooner we get to the affected animals, the better their chances for survival.”

An hour before dawn the following day found MacGyver by the back door to the cafeteria waiting for the volunteers to arrive. Somehow it didn’t surprise him that mashed-potato-slash-dinner-roll lady was the first to appear, her straight black hair woven into a tight braid that hung far down her back.

“Mornin’!” he greeted her with a friendly smile.

“We don’t start serving until sun-up,” she replied flatly as she unlocked the door.

“I’m not here to eat. I was hopin’ we could talk. About the oil spill.”

“I got nothin’ to say.”

“You and your neighbors don’t believe it was an accident,” MacGyver ventured.

He watched as her obsidian eyes quickly scanned the area before a slight nod of her head invited him into the kitchen. She turned on the lights and quickly closed the door.

“It was an accident, alright. An accident waiting to happen,” she blustered.

“So I’ve heard. Tell me what’s goin’ on.”

She appeared to deflate before his eyes. “I cannot say anything more. You and your friends get to leave here when your job is done. But me, my family, my neighbors, we must stay.”

So, the members of this small community weren’t just angry. They were scared.

“Look, I know people,” Mac told her. “People who can fix whatever’s goin’ on here so you don’t have to keep secrets anymore.”

He held his breath as he waited for her reply. She was just about to say something when voices from outside and the jiggling of the doorknob caused her mouth to snap shut. “You must go now,” she said, turning her back to him as she walked away.

XXXXX

Over the next two days, MacGyver donned protective gear from head to toe and headed out with groups of trained volunteers to search for affected wildlife while Jack stayed at headquarters and assisted with cleaning the surviving animals. The slick, rocky shoreline made for slow progress which was further impeded by strong winds and cold, intermittent rain showers. Mac’s heart broke a little each time he found a sea bird attempting to flap its oil-soaked wings or a harbor seal struggling to breathe through pollutant-covered nostrils. He tenderly picked the creatures up and cooed to them softly as he placed them gently in carriers to take back to headquarters. His heart broke even more when he encountered those that had not survived and just as gently deposited them in the appropriate containers. At night, Jack would joke about having ‘dishpan hands’ and MacGyver would chuckle like his friend expected, silently envious that Jack had been spared the sight of so much death and destruction.

When Mac reported for his third day of work, he was pulled to the side by Holly, the wildlife rescue expert who had given the volunteers their orientation.

“Why don’t you stay here and help with the cleaning,” she suggested, her eyes full of empathy.

MacGyver shook his head. “I’m good.”

“No, you’re not,” she countered. “You’ve been out there for two days straight. I remember my first rescue and recovery assignments. I could only do a couple hours at a time. Stay here today and bathe the little guys we bring in.”

Mac nodded his acquiescence, grateful for the reprieve. He spent the next few hours next to Jack, his hands immersed in hot water treated with a gentle cleaning agent as his fingers coaxed the crude oil from the feathers of various birds unlucky enough to be on or near the shore when the spill occurred. He laughed when some would stretch and flap their newly cleansed wings, spraying him with sudsy water.

It was almost noon when a loud ruckus drew everyone outside. MacGyver caught a glimpse of a man being loaded into the bed of a rusty pick-up truck. Holly stood off to the side, concern marring her otherwise pretty face.

“What happened?” Mac asked her with Jack on his heels.

“Clyde was climbing a boulder to rescue a sea otter when he lost his footing and fell. Looks like his leg is busted. They’re taking him to the clinic now.”

“Tough break,” Jack murmured, earning him a scowl from the woman. “Sorry, it’s just an expression,” he added defensively.

“I know,” Holly sighed, “It’s just that Clyde was supposed to fly out our first group of rescues tomorrow. There’s a wildlife center in Valdez where they will recuperate until they’re ready to go back to their natural habitat.”

“Two choppers flew us in. You must have another pilot around here somewhere, right?” MacGyver asked.

Before Holly could speak, Willis answered for her. “Yes, and we need him tomorrow. The National Weather Service is predicting a break in the rain before another system comes in. We’ll only have a small window of opportunity to drop the dispersants so we need him here and ready at a moment’s notice.”

“This temporary site isn’t equipped to handle the number of animals we’re dealing with, especially not long-term. Already some of the first ones we rescued are showing signs of shock and dehydration,” Holly pointed out.

Mac turned to Willis. “You only need one chopper for the drop, right?”

“Yeah,” the scientist confirmed with a nod.

“That means we can use the other one to transport the animals,” MacGyver reasoned.

“And who, exactly, is gonna fly it?” Holly asked, her voice laden with dejection.

“Jack!”

“Me?!”

“Yeah,” MacGyver replied. “You can handle a helicopter just as good as a plane.”

“Oh, that would be wonderful!” Holly exclaimed. “Thank you, Jack!”

“Um, yeah, sure, no big deal.”

“We’ll halt the rescue operation for today so we can prepare the animals for the trip,” Holly declared. “That means you guys can rest up until we have room for the others.”

Jack and the other volunteers quickly disbanded and Mac knew now was his chance to do some investigating.

“Hey, Willis. Can you do me a favor?”

“Sure, I guess,” he shrugged.

“Can you get me an oceanic map of the area as well as the latest federal and local rules and regulations for transporting crude oil through Prince William Sound along with shipping logs from the past few months?”

“C’mon Mac,” Willis moaned. “You’re letting the locals convince you this wasn’t an accident?”

“They know it was an accident. I want to know why it happened.”

“It was a storm, Mac.”

“There’s more to it. I can feel it. Will ya help me?”

“Everything you need is in the operations office. Follow me.”

MacGyver spent the next several hours poring over the information he had requested. Every now and then, Willis would peer over his shoulder.

“What are you looking for?”

“I’ll know it when I see it,” Mac replied.

The sun was dipping toward the horizon and MacGyver was absently eating a sandwich Jack had brought him from the mess hall when suddenly all the data he’d been studying fell into place. He found the cause of the spill and the reason the townspeople were so guarded. He called to Willis who was doing his part to prepare for the chemical drop the next day.

“I got it!” Mac proclaimed.

Willis gazed at the open books and unfolded maps spread haphazardly on a large conference table. “Got what?”

“Everything! C’mere and I’ll show you.”

Willis pulled up a chair and sat down next to MacGyver who eagerly began his explanation. “The main thing that’s been bothering me all along is why the tanker was riding low enough in the water to strike the reef in the first place. After the Exxon Valdez incident, limits were put on how much a tanker could carry to avoid such a collision.”

“Go on,” Willis prompted.

“These logs,” Mac said, waving his hand in their direction. “At first I just found them confusing because the entries didn’t match up, but that’s because there are actually two sets of them. One gets submitted to government officials. The other one doesn’t.”

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

MacGyver nodded vigorously. “The new shipment limits started hurting big oil companies because they had to cut back on how much they exported as well as ship more often. Somehow they found a way to add to the cargo after it passed official clearance and then offload the same amount before the tanker reached its destination and was once again inspected for compliance to the new regulations. And the citizens of Tatitlek figured it out, but the oil companies are holding something over them to keep them from talking. It all makes sense!”

“You got all that by looking at some maps and shipping logs?” Willis asked skeptically.

“Yeah,” Mac replied as if the answer was obvious.

“MacGyver, if you’re right about this -- and I’m not saying you are -- we’re talking about a huge operation employing or paying off a whole lot of corrupt individuals possibly as high up as the federal government!”

“I know. That’s why we need to be extra careful about who we share these findings with. Is there anyone here you think we can trust?”

“The project manager seems to be on the up-and-up. He appears as concerned as we are. I’ll try to get a better feel for him tomorrow.”

“Sounds good,” Mac confirmed. “In the meantime, this is just between us.”

XXXXX

The following morning MacGyver awoke before dawn coughing and struggling to breathe. A putrid odor filled the trailer. He reached across the small space between beds and shook Jack, who was still asleep and snoring, by the shoulder.

“Huh? Wha?” his friend asked, dazed from sleep.

“We gotta get outta here. Now!” Mac instructed urgently.

“What kinda animal crawled in here and died?” Jack asked, wrinkling his nose.

“It’s propane,” MacGyver explained as he hurried toward the door, opening small windows along the way. Once outside, he ordered Jack to evacuate the neighboring units and call the fire department before heading to turn off the flow of gas, but when he got to the propane tanks, he found the handles missing. A deliberate act. Without a second thought he bobbed and weaved his way through the makeshift trailer park until he found the one he wanted.

“Willis!” he called, pounding on the front door. When it didn’t open, he called his colleague’s name again while at the same time forcing the door open. The smell of gas was strong so Mac pulled his t-shirt up over his mouth and nose as he quickly searched the trailer, only to find it empty. Once he had opened the windows he went to check the propane tank and found the handles missing as well. He was about to head back to where a small crowd began to gather when he heard someone call to him from the structure serving as headquarters.

“Mac! What’s going on?!” It was Willis!

Quickly changing direction, MacGyver headed toward the scientist and told him about the gas leaks as together they strode to where emergency vehicles now surrounded both trailers.

“Are you the one who discovered the gas leak?” the fire chief asked, approaching MacGyver.

“Yes sir.”

“It’s lucky you woke up and took action when you did. A few more minutes and your trailer would’ve blown sky high.”

Mac nodded, knowing full well the gravity of the situation.

“My men found the handles to the turn-off valves missing from the propane tanks. Any idea who might’ve done this, or why?”

The chief was certainly straightforward, a trait MacGyver admired. He shot Willis a glance before answering. “No sir. I wish I did.”

“The police are on their way to interview everyone. Let them know if you think of something.”

As the fire chief returned to where his crew was setting up fans to ventilate the housing units, Mac pulled Willis aside.

“Did you tell anyone about what we discovered last night?” he asked in a loud whisper.

“No! Did you?”

“Of course not! But somehow I have a feeling this is all connected since yours and mine were the only trailers sabotaged.”

“Then someone must’ve been listening to us.”

“Yeah, but who?” Mac murmured.

The next few hours passed quickly. Not knowing who to trust, MacGyver kept his interview with a local police officer short and direct. Others seemed to be doing the same. Was everyone paranoid? By noon, the last officials left allowing the focus to return to the oil spill and clean-up effort. Willis wandered off to join the team of environmental engineers in charge of the dispersant drop. Glancing up at the sky, Mac noticed the clouds beginning to give way to the sun and assumed the maneuver would be happening sooner rather than later. Across the way, Holly and Jack were loading cages containing various rescued animals into SUV’s. Moments later, MacGyver hitched a ride with them as a parade of the black vehicles headed to the airport. Two choppers waited. One for Jack and Holly to transport the sea birds and animals to Valdez, the other being prepared for the chemical drop over the spill. Not wanting to take up precious room in Jack’s helicopter Mac stayed behind with Willis.

“Here,” Willis nudged him, shoving a pair of binoculars in his hand. “The pilot’s doing his pre-flight now. As soon as he’s done, it’s go time. We can watch from here.”

The two men leaned against one of the cars until the chopper took off. Looking through their binoculars, they watched as the pilot flew in small circles, surveying the situation, before hovering over one spot for several seconds.

“It looks like he’s locked on,” Willis observed.

Suddenly, gallons of liquid poured from the belly of the helicopter.

“Bull’s eye!” Willis exclaimed.

“What happens now?” MacGyver asked, handing his binoculars back to his friend.

“We wait. But I think we acted fast enough to avoid any major damage. In the meantime, maybe we could do a little poking around to find whoever tried to asphyxiate us and blow up our trailers this morning.”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Mac admitted. “I think it would be best if we take the evidence back to Phoenix and launch a thorough investigation through the proper channels. I have a feeling we’re in over our heads on this one.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Willis conceded with a frown.

MacGyver grinned. “Don’t worry. I’m sure they’re gonna need you to take an active role since you’ve witnessed everything first hand. You’re input will be very valuable.”

“You think?” the younger man asked, his face brightening.

“I know. Now how about we head back and get some dinner. I’m starving!”

The two lingered in the mess hall well after everyone else had eaten and left. Their trailers had been secured as crime scenes and they were waiting to be rehoused as some volunteers were already rotating back to the lower forty-eight. The locals seemed to have taken pity on them, serving them extra desserts with friendly smiles, but they seemed even less inclined to talk than before. MacGyver couldn’t blame them. Even he made an effort to keep his thoughts to himself just in case the walls had ears.

Willis had just finished his third cup of coffee when the main door banged open and Jack strolled through, grinning widely.

“Hola compadres!” he greeted them.

“What’s got you in such a good mood?” Mac asked with a smile of his own.

“You’ll never guess what happened to me,” the pilot proclaimed, taking a seat at the table.

“You asked Holly out and she said yes,” MacGyver teased.

“Hmmm, that’s not a bad idea, but no,” Jack replied.

“Then why don’t you go ahead and tell us?” Willis urged.

“I, my good men, have been offered a job.”

“What kind of job?” Mac asked suspiciously.

“A real, honest-to-goodness one,” Jack replied, his left eye completely twitch-less. “An airline charter service in Valdez is hirin’ on extra pilots for the upcoming tourist season. They made me a real good offer and I figured what the hey! By the end of summer, I should have enough money to put a down payment on my own plane and I’ll be back in business again!”

XXXXX

The following morning, the volunteer group from Phoenix was told that their services, while greatly appreciated, were no longer needed and they could head home. Upon arriving back in Los Angeles, MacGyver and Jack headed to The Wingman Bar to collect the remainder of their belongings. As Jack packed up for his temporary move to Alaska, he appeared happier than Mac had seen him since the wedding debacle in Las Vegas. After parting ways with his friend, MacGyver headed to the Phoenix Foundation where he met up with Willis and together they explained what they had discovered about the oil spill and violations of regulations to the ad hoc committee that had been quickly formed to delve further into the case.

“You go on ahead,” Mac told Willis as they left the conference room after sharing all the information and evidence they had. “I’m gonna stop in and see Bannister and Nikki.”

“Didn’t you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“The assignment they were supposed to be working on got pushed back a couple weeks so they decided to take a belated honeymoon.”

“Oh,” Mac replied, surprised that Willis was privy to this information, but then again, a lot had changed since he resigned. “Well, when they get back tell ‘em I’ll be in touch, okay?”

“Sure thing. Are you heading back home?”

Willis had no way of knowing that ‘home’ was a relative term for MacGyver these days. “In a way. I decided to spend some time at Harry’s cabin. Ya know, get outta my head for a few days.”

“Well, enjoy yourself,” the scientist told him.

“Thanks. I’ll try,” Mac responded.

So for the time being, my laptop is broken. So unless it fixes itself soon, my detailed reviews won't be what they were. This tablet I'm using doesn't let me run more than one tab at a time, and copying and pasting into quotes are a pain with this thing. I'll do what I can, though

Saving Jack again. Joanna was right XD

Jack doesn't want to go to Alaska. I feel the same way about cold weather

Mac's not wrong about Minnesota winters.

Oh, still hanging on that cliffhanger, I see I wonder if Joanna will feel reassured that MacGyver was mature enough to back out since he was overpowered here.