I hope you guys haven't lost patience on this story already!
This hasn't been easy to write, but it is something that you have to read the whole way through to see how it turns out, otherwise you'll miss the whole concept. I promise you that you'll like the end, so hang in there!
A Crack in the Foundation Part Three
Rated: PG
MacGyver hopped the chain link fence surrounding the warehouse where he was told to meet the man holding Sam. He surveyed the area. It looked abandoned. There were no signs of anyone guarding it, and it was completely dark and silent. In situations like that, he knew not to trust his first impressions. Anything could be waiting for him, so he approached the warehouse cautiously. As he got closer, he still saw no one. He entered the warehouse and turned on his pen light, trying to orient himself to the darkened interior. It had been far too easy to enter the place. He was expecting a fortress of security, but instead he was greeted with more silence. He hoped he wasn’t being diverted, the man holding Sam taking him somewhere else and using the warehouse as a decoy to throw him off course.
“Sam?” He called out, his eyes still scanning the area, pointing his pen light in all directions. He walked ahead slowly, using the pen light as his guide. “Sam, are you here?” He asked again, his voice echoing through the cavernous space. It sounded completely empty.
“That’s far enough, MacGyver,” Gorman said, his deep voice menacing in the darkness.
The lights in the warehouse came on suddenly, revealing several computer stations, stashes of weapons, and several men pointing guns directly at MacGyver, positioned on stairwells above him. Gorman appeared, still clutching Sam, pinning his arms behind him and pointing a gun at his head.
“We’re going to make a fair exchange,” he said. “You for the young man.” He released Sam and pushed him forward. “Walk!” He shouted. “Head towards MacGyver.” He looked at MacGyver coldly. “When he reaches you, you will walk toward me, MacGyver. If either of you decide to run, I’ll kill you both. Understood?”
“Yes,” MacGyver said.
He looked around, trying to think of a way out of this situation and get Sam to safety, but there were too many guns trained on them. He decided the only thing to do now was cooperate and then escape later. Maybe if Sam could get out, he could inform Pete about what was going on, but he was going to wait to see what the outcome would be. Patience wasn’t always his strength, but he knew he needed it here. He had to remain calm and let Gorman think he’d won. Then, he could surprise him.
Sam approached him, his head down, looking slightly scared. As he got closer, MacGyver was relieved that he hadn’t been abused while being held captive, his face clear of any cuts or bruises. He knew he probably wouldn’t fare as well once he switched places. This man seemed determined to have him as his hostage and was only using Sam as insurance.
“Are you all right, Sam?” MacGyver asked once the young man reached him.
Sam nodded. “MacGyver, I’m sorry,” he said.
“Don’t be sorry. Look, we’ll get out of this somehow. If he lets you leave, I want you to reach Pete and tell him where I am, okay?” MacGyver asked, lowering his voice so that Gorman wouldn’t hear him.
“Enough talking!” Gorman bellowed. “MacGyver, come to me now!”
MacGyver looked at Sam one last time before turning and walking toward Gorman, not looking forward to what would come next. He still wondered about the identity of this man that wanted him. His face looked familiar, but he couldn’t place him and he didn’t have a name in mind. He wondered if Sam had decided not to give him the intelligence he’d stolen from The Phoenix Foundation computer system, and that was why he was playing this game. Even if it had placed him in a dangerous situation, MacGyver knew he’d be relieved and perhaps even proud if Sam had decided to refuse to give away the information. He might not be his son, but he would still be proud of him the way a father would if that were the case.
Gorman smirked at MacGyver as he approached. “Welcome to my hell, MacGyver,” he said, striking MacGyver hard on the back of his head, knocking him unconscious.
***
Intense pressure on the back of his head greeted MacGyver when he regained consciousness. He groaned and tried to roll to his side to alleviate the throbbing pain, but he found that he couldn’t. Something immobilized him. Cracking open his eyes, he saw that his ankles and wrists were being held by thick steel cuffs screwed into the floor. He wriggled, but they held him tightly. He looked around the room he was being held in, finding it completely bare, leaving nothing for him to work with to attempt to escape. He heard the door to the room open, and Gorman entered, laughing as he watched MacGyver struggle.
“I’m afraid you won’t be able to manage another clever escape this time, MacGyver,” he said, pointing at the metal cuffs. “I’ve made sure of it.”
“Don’t you think it’s time you told me who you are?” MacGyver asked, studying the man’s hardened, craggy features.
Gorman smiled and removed his gloves, revealing his silver index finger. “This is who I am,” he said. “I am a man who failed the Stasi and the Soviet government. A man who failed them…because of your actions. Yes, MacGyver, you did this to me.”
MacGyver stared at the finger. “I don’t know what you mean,” he said. “I’ve never seen you before.”
“But I’ve seen you, MacGyver!” Gorman shouted. “I know who you are! Perhaps you don’t remember that mission where you managed to smuggle out several dissidents into West Germany. My men would have caught you, too, had it not been for your…fireworks.”
MacGyver remembered the assignment. He helped a family defect from East Germany. They were almost caught when he managed to improvise some explosions using chemicals he found at a nearby plant. The explosions distracted the Stasi long enough for him to get them safely across into West Germany.
“Ah yes,” Gorman said, watching the look of recognition on MacGyver’s face. “You remember. The explosions did not do this to me, but eight long months in the Gulag and torture as punishment did. You do not know me personally, MacGyver, but we have met before on that assignment. I vowed that I would find out who you were and who you worked for, and then I could have you and exact my revenge. I had that young man pose as your son to help me find what I needed and what I wanted.”
“Where is Sam?” MacGyver asked. “What have you done with him?”
Gorman looked at the door and smiled. “He is quite safe, actually,” he said. “You see, he is still quite valuable to me.”
MacGyver watched, stunned as Sam entered unguarded, with no guns pointed at his head. He stood by Gorman as if they were partners.
“I’m sorry, MacGyver,” Sam said. “I was a part of this the whole time.”
“Congratulations,” MacGyver said, his voice filled with anger.
“Ah yes, computer genius, excellent liar…Sean is a lot like you, isn’t he MacGyver? Now you see why I chose him to play the role of your son.”
“So this whole thing…you being kidnapped…it was all just another set-up, wasn’t it?” MacGyver asked, not once removing his eyes from Sam.
“I had to,” Sam said, trying not to be intimidated by MacGyver’s heated glare. “It’s my job.”
“Well, your loyalty just impresses me,” MacGyver said sarcastically.
“This doesn’t mean that I wasn’t telling you the truth back at the loft,” Sam said. “I really do admire you, MacGyver. I’m sorry it had to turn out this way.”
“Yeah, me too,” MacGyver said, his voice still gruff with anger.
“Enough of this!” Gorman shouted. He turned to Sam. “Get the computer ready. I want to see what else you have for me. Go!”
MacGyver shook his sore head, disgusted. As he watched Sam leave, he thought he saw a brief look of doubt and sadness on his face. He also seemed to hesitate for a moment, glancing guiltily at MacGyver with downcast eyes before he left the room. MacGyver wondered if he had imagined it, if he was only still desperately trying to find a modicum of decency in this young man that he had come to believe was his son at one point.
Gorman closed the door after Sam had left. MacGyver stared at him. “So, what do former Stasi agents have to gain by accessing U.S. intelligence? The Cold War is over, you know,” he said.
Gorman chuckled. “True, but elements of it remain,” he said. “Besides, as I’ve already told you, my main objective was in capturing you. Now that I have you, I’m sure there are many other enemy governments out there who have had similar experiences with you that I have and would also love to get their hands on you. You see MacGyver, I haven’t made up my mind with what I want to do with you yet. I do know that I’m going to have fun with you before I pass you on to your other enemies and let them have their way with you as well.”
MacGyver winced, imagining all kinds of unpleasant experiences from torture to imprisonment to possibly execution. He knew he had angered a lot of governments around the world and had made a lot of enemies, and he wasn’t looking forward to encountering them again.
Gorman smiled, pleased with MacGyver’s reaction. “You’re about to become the world’s plaything, thanks to Sean’s intelligence, stolen directly from your beloved Phoenix Foundation. They’ll not only receive valuable secrets, but you as well, and I will become quite rich and earn their respect. I will no longer be the failure I was back in Germany. But first, you’re mine. Enjoy,” he said. He turned and left the room, bolting the door behind him.
MacGyver stared at the ceiling, feeling powerless with rage and disbelief over the depth of Sam’s betrayal. He knew Sam was a liar, but he was willing to listen to his explanation back at his loft. It seemed so genuine, as if he really had been prepared to turn himself in along with anyone else he had given the intelligence to. Now, he had turned him over to the enemy. MacGyver never thought he would go that far. Again, his thoughts turned to the brief look of shame on Sam’s face before he left the room. There was no reason for him to continue his act, so maybe it was real. Maybe Sam was telling the truth when he said he liked him, and maybe he was secretly hoping he would succeed. All MacGyver could do was hope that was the case as he began to think of a way to escape.
To be continued…
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer."
--Henry David Thoreau
brains+brawn+beauty+personality=MacGyver
It's not easy to change something most fans accept as fact, so I do understand why some people might still be uneasy about it. The next chapter will probably come sometime today! 
