Phoenix Field Agent
Posts: 1,889
Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Gender: Female
Country: USA
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Season: season 3
Episode:Passages
Vehicle: Jeep
Jacket: Black leather
House: House boat
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Catastrophic Failure Part Seven
Rated: R
The victims of the bridge collapse screamed and thrashed around in the water, their pleading, terrified eyes staring up at him. Slowly, the images shifted, and now Murdoc was staring at him with the same wide, frightened eyes, being mauled to death by the mountain lion, the sound of rushing, splashing water replaced with the crunching of bones and the strangled cries of Murdoc as the lion’s powerful jaws clamped down on his jugular…
“Hey, hey take it easy! It’s all right,” Pete said, steadying MacGyver as he stirred in his hospital bed, his movements becoming frantic and violent. “It’s okay now. You’re safe.”
MacGyver’s eyes fluttered open, staring up at Pete, pleading and lost as if seeking reassurance. His body felt as if it was floating, the searing, intense pain in his shoulder and leg absent. Pete smiled down at him, his outline blurry and the sterile, white surroundings of the hospital room behind him cast in a soft glow. Looking down, he was vaguely aware of the bandages wrapped around his shoulder and his leg, but he still felt nothing. His throat felt filmy and cottony, and he licked and moved his dry, chapped lips, struggling to speak.
“Oh, here you go,” Pete said, offering a small cup of water. He gently lifted MacGyver’s head and tilted it so he could drink. “Just sip it carefully.”
When he was finished, Pete lowered MacGyver’s head back onto the pillow and set the cup aside. He turned back to his friend and wiped the excess water away from the corners of his mouth, gently dabbing at them. He hated seeing MacGyver in such a fragile state.
“You know, you really scared me,” he said, tears forming in his eyes. “When I first saw you splayed across the rocks with those arrows in you, I thought you were dead. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t found you in time…your puncture wounds from the arrows were pretty severe, and you’d lost so much blood…”
MacGyver continued to stare up at Pete, blinking his eyes slowly and tiredly. “Murdoc,” he whispered, his voice weak and raspy.
“What did you say?” Pete asked.
“Murdoc…he did this to me…”
“Oh God, I should’ve known,” Pete said. “When I saw all those arrows…well, let’s just say it looked like something he would do.”
“It isn’t just that,” MacGyver said. “He was there, Pete. He was in on this whole thing all along.”
“What are you talking about? What do you mean?”
“He sabotaged my bridge. He told me.”
“Dear God…did he say why?”
MacGyver nodded slightly. “To weaken my resolve,” he said, the anger returning to his voice. “He said he knew I would feel guilty about those villagers losing their lives, that I would blame myself because it was my design. He thought that he could make me vulnerable and more easily attack me when I was at my weakest, lowest point.”
“That certainly sounds like Murdoc,” Pete said in disgust. “He doesn’t care who he hurts or kills as long as it serves his purpose. It fits in with the new evidence our lead investigator on the case provided me with, as well. It appears there were traces of some chemical, presumably acid, along with burn marks, cuts into the structure…he was desperate. He took every measure he could to insure that your bridge would collapse. So you see? It turns out it wasn’t your design, after all. Your structure was sound. It wasn’t your fault. You weren’t to blame.”
“That won’t bring those people back,” MacGyver said sadly. “Those people still died.”
“I know,” Pete said, taking his hand and squeezing it. “I know, but at least now you understand that there were circumstances beyond your control that caused this to happen, that a madman irrationally fixated on revenge against you was the author of the destruction, not you.”
“He’s dead, Pete,” MacGyver said, closing his eyes, trying to erase the grisly images of Murdoc being hungrily devoured by the mountain lion from his memory. “I saw it. I think he’s really dead this time.”
“How do you know?”
“He fell…and when he fell, a mountain lion attacked him.” MacGyver opened his eyes and stared at Pete. They looked dark and disturbing. “No one could survive an attack from a wild animal like that. He may actually be gone this time, which is what he deserves for what he did to those people.”
“I didn’t see anything,” Pete said, “but then again I was too focused on getting you to the hospital that I wasn’t thinking of anything else. I guess we can always conduct our own investigation of the area and the remains to make sure.”
“If there’s anything left,” MacGyver said. “Scavengers could have gotten to the rest by now.”
“There could still be some forensic evidence left behind. We need that confirmation that he’s dead, Mac. We need to close that file so he’ll stop doing these things to you and harming innocent people in the process.”
MacGyver nodded, staring down at the hospital linens. A part of him feared, even knew, that they would never find anything conclusive. Pete was silent for awhile as well, as if he knew the same thing. They could hope, but no matter what they did, Murdoc would continue to elude them, perhaps even in death.
“Well, no matter what the outcome of that investigation will be, at least now you know your bridge would have worked had it not been for Murdoc’s interference and tampering,” Pete said at last after their long, uncomfortable silence. “Its design was flawless and its construction was sturdy. It would have done a lot of good for Chief Nagra’s people as well as the other tribes in the region.”
“Yeah, I know it would have,” MacGyver said, sighing.
“You can always try again, you know. You can always rebuild. I know they would be grateful. It would help them heal from the tragedy and help them continue with their lives. You know, I think it would help you, too.”
“No Pete,” MacGyver said, glaring at him. “I won’t do it. I’m never going to build something like that again.”
“Even now that you know Murdoc caused the collapse?”
“That doesn’t excuse what happened. What if something else went wrong, something that had nothing to do with sabotage? I don’t think I would ever be able to forgive myself.”
“You can’t always plan for failure. Why can’t you visualize it succeeding this time instead? You’re a brilliant man. You don’t ever give yourself enough credit.”
“I’m just not…I’m not fit for these kinds of projects, that’s all. If Chief Nagra still wants a bridge, he can have one, but it’s not going to come from me. You have plenty of engineers at Phoenix who can design and build one for him and his tribe. You don’t need me to do it, and I won’t. I’m never doing something on that scale again. Murdoc might have killed those people, but I can still see them in the water, still hear them screaming…you don’t get over something like that easily.”
“No, I suppose you don’t,” Pete said, still having vivid memories of his own of the day the bridge collapsed. He patted MacGyver on his uninjured leg. “I think I understand what you mean. I just…wanted you to know that what you designed, what you built…well, it was special. Don’t let what Murdoc did to it tarnish its value, to you or to Nagra’s people.”
“You have that much faith in me?”
Pete smiled. “Always have,” he said.
MacGyver smiled slightly back. “Thanks, Pete,” he said.
“Don’t mention it.”
Pete noticed that MacGyver was growing more exhausted, the pain medication once again taking full effect, his eyelids drooping until his eyes were open to small slits, only a trace of brown visible beneath the heavy lids that threatened to close at any moment. He smiled at him.
“I’d better let you rest,” he said.
“You’ll be here when I wake up?”
“Always. Goodnight, Mac.”
MacGyver’s eyes closed completely, and within minutes he was deep asleep, motionless and breathing softly, a contented smile on his face. It relived Pete to see him smile again after everything he had been through. Gently, he stroked his friend’s cheek and affectionately brushed back a lock of his hair.
“It’s going to be all right now, kid,” he said. “You’re safe—in more ways than one. I’m glad to have you back.”
MacGyver slept.
***
Several days later…
“I don’t know what to tell you, Mr. Thornton,” the sheriff said. “We’ve scoured this entire area and found nothing to support your friend’s claim that his assailant was killed by a mountain lion. There is simply no evidence of an animal attack at all, and no trace of human remains.”
“What about the arrows?” Pete asked.
“We’ve traced those to a sporting goods store, but we can’t seem to locate the person who made the purchase. I’m sorry, but the evidence has grown cold and slim at this point.”
“That means he could still be alive,” Pete said, staring blankly, his body growing rigid with horror, shuddering at the prospect.
The sheriff shrugged. “We’ll keep looking. It’s possible we’ll find something,” he said.
Pete shook his head. “No you won’t,” he said flatly. “You won’t find anything.”
Neither of them was aware that someone was watching them from a distance through the trees, grinning in amusement at their inept, futile attempts to solve the crime.
“That’s right, Thornton, no one will ever find anything,” Murdoc said. “No one will ever find me. But I’ll be back to finish the job, I guarantee it. I can survive anything. I’ll be back when you least expect it.”
As Pete watched the police investigators searching the area, knowing that it was useless, he thought he heard deep, bellowing laughter echo through the woods.
“Did you hear that?” He asked the sheriff.
“Hear what?”
“Oh, just…nothing, I guess. I thought I heard laughter.”
“Laughter? All I hear is that owl hooting.”
Pete turned in the direction the sheriff pointed and saw an owl perched on a nearby tree. “Oh, yeah, I guess that was all it was,” he said, smiling, blushing in embarrassment. Still, a part of him wondered if he had heard something else. He listened closely, but he heard nothing, the woods now silent.
“The hunt continues,” Murdoc said. “MacGyver remains my target, my trophy. I won’t stop until he’s mine. I’ll be back to finish the job soon, don’t you worry.”
Pete heard the vicious laughter again, but this time it faded quickly, disappearing like an apparition, vanishing into nothingness.
The End
 "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer."
--Henry David Thoreau
brains+brawn+beauty+personality=MacGyver
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First time we get to know of Murdoc's presence after one of his "deaths". Creepy!!
