#mac's face after bozers like “you wanna take it apart and see how it works” kills me

[daltonsnightmare]

MacGyver (2016) s2e15 Murdoc + Handcuffs | Cold Open

[cozyforjate]

MacGyver 5x02 Review

We had another great MacGyver episode. That's two for two!🥳👏

This season so far has brought us back the good ole "MacGyver" feel that was partly lost in season 4. And i have a good feeling that it's only gonna get better.

As a MacGyver fan since day 1, i couldn't be happier. The characters are more open with each other. They are getting more depth. Mac is doing more hacks. I’m enjoying the lighter tone of the episodes. We are not getting any unnecessary drama between Mac&Desi. Which is a breath of fresh air! Totally helping the quality of the episodes. We have 40 mins, so we better use it the best way possible, right?

Back to the episode.

I've always been big a fan of heist plots and this episode did not disappoint. Loved the blonde thief lady AKA Jess Miller. Loved the chemistry between Desi and her. The training scenes were awesome. And we had not one but two heist plots. Go MacGyver!

This episode mainly focused on Russ and Desi. But before that i’d like to point a few things.

Matty noticing right away that Russ had an emotional connection with the case was brilliant. Nothing gets by the boss lady!

Action scenes were so good!

The songs they pick are on FIRE! I’m gonna need the season 5 soundtrack.

I wished we had more Bozer and little bit more Riley but i’m not gonna complain.

Now lets talk about Russ and Desi.

Russ & Desi

Russ:

Henry Ian Cusick is a brilliant actor. I’ve been a fan of his since LOST and so far I'm really satisfied with the Russ character. Sometimes he makes me want to shake him real hard, sometimes he makes me laugh i wanna be besties with him and sometimes i just wanna hug him badly! That's a great character for you btw. He has many layers and he is growing. His sadness over losing his protegee, the way he feels responsible for her death, the way he made the choice of sending the bad guy to prison instead of taking revenge were all great moments. And instead of keeping secrets from his team this time when Matty and later Mac asked what’s going on, he opened up and told them the truth. The last scene with the grieving family was also very emotional. 😭

Desi:

Now you know that i'm not a big fan of Desi. I've been waiting for some growth, asking the gods to save her from being a one dimensional character since season 4 episode 1. Last season didn't do good for Desi. Apart from a few good moments, she was mostly and badly used as a love interest. 

This season tho, i'm finally starting to relate to this character. In the first episode i didn't enjoy that she blamed Riley for her own wrongdoings but in the end she revealed that she was mostly angry at herself and regretted what she's done. This episode she was great from the start to the end. She tried her best without complaining, she risked her life, she bonded with Jess and it was beautiful to watch. We've seen her smile more! And she pulled a Mission Impossible level job like a professional thief.

MacRiley-MacDesi... What's happening with the triangle?

I didn't talk about MacRiley or MacDesi much in my first review bcoz i wanted to watch at least one more episode to see the situation more clearly. The first 2 episodes did not focus on romance and it's totally fine. I'm good with that. What i hate is when they "force" scenes into plots for no good reason. Romance needs to feel natural just like the action scenes or character moments.

While 501 and 502 didn’t have big “ship moments” they did hint on where all 3 characters are standing. It was done subtly and didn't feel forced at all.

In first 2 episodes the thing that caught my eye was the lack of "sexual tension" between MacDesi. The writers been forcing the sexual tension between them ever since Desi first showed up. They created so many out of the blue situations to catch the "hot couple" vibes, it was agonizing to watch at times.

The first 2 episodes announced the good news: No more forced tension between them.

But the important question is, what kept MD so far was mostly the physical attraction and now that it's gone, what's left? 

The training scene in the ring could have been one of those moments where the writers use to keep the tension going, but it didn't happen. Jess made a comment on how Mac might have lost his chance of dating Desi. But Mac seemed pretty cool about it. The look on his face didn’t say "Oh no i can't lose her"; it was more like "Lost my chance? Oh lady, i’m way passed that!"

But Desi's reaction told me a different story. She heard what Jess said and she looked at Mac with this “almost” sad expression? Like she wished he would still want to have another chance with her...

Btw- Mac coming up with a plan to electrify Desi and made it stronger than what he would do to a cow was the funniest sht ever! 🤣🤣🤣

Jumping to MacRiley…

I know we didn’t get any MacRiley solo scenes (yet) but have you all felt the "closeness" between them? The camera intentionally focuses on them a lot more.

501- Running towards each other in the corridor... Mac looking at her for ideas, her teasing him... Riley telling Mac to follow her to the medical room and Mac running after her without asking why... Them giving each other the signature MacRiley looks before they all get lifted up to the roof?

502- Mac's eyes always finding Riley's... Them sitting face to face in the plane (in both scenes).

& The cheers scene? It was reminiscent of the scene from 4x05. They’re celebrating a successful mission just like 4x05 but with one difference! In 4x05, the camera focused on the shared looks and cheers between MD, hinting what's about to come. But now the focus is on MacRiley. The way Mac stared at Riley and the smile she gave him... very telling!💯🔥❤

And i should also mention the first scene with them. MacRiley hunting down Jess in their own nerdy ways was great. Riley hacked every device possible, Mac improvised. Macsplaining was priceless as always. And Jess's "The Geek Squad" comment was SPOT ON. Yes Jess, Mac and Riley are professional geeks. That's how they roll and get the job done.🤣 Loved it so much!

5x03  

Next week we'll get the first new episode that's written and filmed with Monica Macer as the showrunner. So it's an important one. We'll be getting a confrontation between Mac and Desi. And the synopsis says they are "forced" to confront their relationship. 10 months passed and they NEVER discussed the broken trust between them? Wow... just wow.

I'm expecting a scene with less yelling this time. I'm expecting a resolution that ends with "we never worked as a couple but how about we try to be good friends?"

We need some peace between these two. Lets start over, this time with no forced romance please. (Don’t let me down writers!!!)

Of course the triangle will not be resolved that quickly. So here’s how i see it going: 

Desi slowly lets go of Mac, figures out what she really wants from a relationship (if there’ll be a season 6, she finds happiness with her true match).

Mac realizes his "hidden" feelings for Riley and finally dares to explore them.

Riley decides whether she should take the risk and act on her feelings for Mac or not.

I believe that the triangle’s fate was decided the moment Riley realized her feelings for Mac in 4x04. The writers didn’t let Riley (finally) fall for Mac for nothing. It’s for a reason. MacRiley is happening!

See you next week!

[ilkkawhat]

For the SOULMATE Alphabet prompt, can I ask E or ESP for Jack Dalton/Angus MacGyver please? All these prompts sound like so much fun!

[be gentle with me it’s been like. years since i’ve written these two. i’m being dramatic it’s only been three months.]

There’s one reason and one reason only Jack and Mac would allow themselves to be apart for long times at long distances, and that reason was something that even all of the infinite science in Mac’s brain, all of the infinite wisdom in Jack’s heart couldn’t even explain.

They figured it out when they had parted ways after Lake Como. Both had been too injured to realize that the pain they were feeling—on top of what they were already feeling—was each other’s. Mac thought the pain in his head was his mind overworking itself trying to reconcile Nikki’s (supposed) death. Jack thought the pain in his chest was the early signs of a heart attack, not uncommon in his family. 

They hadn’t seen each other in nearly a month. Mac was finally out of the hospital, Jack was at his apartment. Jack didn’t quite know what to do, give the kid space or hover over him as an emotional Overwatch support, but he ultimately figured that Bozer would tend to him and that he would just pop by for a visit—which never happened because every time he thought of going, there was a forcefield of guilt that kept him from passing through the unlocked threshold to Mac’s house.

Mac, meanwhile, thought it was bad enough that he lost Nikki, he didn’t want to lose Jack, too. His fingers would constantly key over Jack’s number in his phone that he had memorized forwards and backwards. But he didn’t want to bother him. Figured that he was busy with a new job cause the older man was always working non-stop, as much as he would “complain” about the mundaneness of a nine-to-five job; all the paperwork and meetings and lack of an appropriate amount of sick days or whining for a raise, he knew that really Jack just wanted to keep himself busy, occupied.

Or otherwise he’d end up where Mac thought he was in that moment, on a couch, wrapped up in a bathrobe.

“Jack?” Mac gasped himself awake from an almost-nap. He sat up and threw his hand to his side, expecting it to land on Jack’s shoulder, or knee, or just any part of his body that would elicit some witty remark, “the lights go out in those bright eyes of yours, hoss?”

His hand didn’t touch anything. But he definitely felt Jack there with him, on his couch. Smelled him, too. And he was overcome with some strange...sadness. Remorse. It wasn’t a foreign emotion to him at the time, so he had sort of shrugged it off, thinking his mind was playing tricks on him, that the pain meds were too strong.

And then Jack woke him up with a phone call.

“Were you just at my house?” his tone was laced with the usual paranoia that came when anything was out of place at his apartment, but there was an odd sort of seriousness and urgency that Mac felt, too.

“No. Did you come here?” 

“No, not since I drove by last night to drop off some pizza and beer.”

“That was you? Why didn’t you come in?”

“Boze said you were sleepin’ and I didn’t wanna wake you.”

“Well...you woke me up now,” Mac smiled though he knew Jack couldn’t see it.

Yet in a way, he could.

“What is going on here, hoss? It-it’s like you’re sitting right in front of me.”

“I don’t know. You wanna come over? Maybe we can sit by the fire and try to figure it out together.”

“Aight. Be there in ten.”

Jack lived fifteen minutes away.

They sat by the fire and once they passed by the awkward small talk they were able to properly catch up; though Mac didn’t have much to offer with the bed rest he had been sentenced to, but was pleased to announce that he would be beginning his rehab. Jack, meanwhile, got a gig being a stunt coordinator—disguising the fact with a cough that he was also partaking in some of the more dangerous stunts himself. 

It was good that it happened, a brief reunion before a more permanent one that came months later when they got to go back to work together, the small steps leading to a true recovery of a slightly tarnished friendship in the face of a failed mission.

It wouldn’t be the last time.

They don’t feel anything unexpected, again, thinking it was just their own emotions they were waving through and the yearning for each other’s presence, but one of the first times they were separated, it was stronger than ever before. 

And it wasn’t even that big of a separation. Just a few feet. A couple more feet. Maybe the length of a basketball court, at most. Mac moving backwards. Jack standing still. Jack could feel the panic rising within Mac as he scrambled to defuse the bomb Jack was standing on. Mac could feel the sheer dread and terror pouring out of the sweat beads on Jack’s skin. 

The stakes hadn’t been so high since Mac had to disarm a bomb within an impossible amount of seconds back at the sandbox—and in hindsight, he can’t help but wonder if that’s when they had formed this new sort of...bond. 

Jack must have figured it out too, because the next time it happened, just a week or so later, it came after Mac had been taken and drugged by the cartel. Jack was in full on rescue mode, dressed from head to toe in tactical gear—but he had to remove the helmet when he felt like he had some sort of mask smothered on top of his face. And then he felt lightheaded. And then he felt...woozy. 

He pushed through it to save Mac—and in seeing Mac the odd sensation had washed away but when Mac told him that’s exactly what he felt when he was put under, the pieces were put together in Jack’s head.

“What kind of Vulcan mind-meld shit is this!?”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s like we’re getting into each other’s heads, a-and feeling each other when we’re apart.”

“You can admit it Jack, you just miss seein’ your sunshine boy,” Mac had waved him off with a poor imitation of his accent. 

“I’m serious, buddy this is...this is real. I-I don’t know how to explain it but it’s like we’re...we’re…”

“Soulmates?”

“Yeah! That’s the word.”

“How romantic.”

Jack couldn’t help but feel slightly hurt by Mac’s downplay of his emotions, their emotions over their new transcended level of connection he never thought he would have with another man, let alone another person in his life.

But Mac would soften when his emotions got cranked to eleven. 

It was their first real argument since the Sandbox. Jack tracking Mac down to Paris—which, with this new sixth sense of being able to feel Mac wherever he was when he wasn’t with Jack, he didn’t need to work as hard but he still explained how easy it was to track him down, even without their newfound “special powers,” as Jack claimed them to be—and beyond the confusion he was secretly pleased to have such an ability, harkening back to his childhood days of reading comic books and jumping off couches with a bedsheet cape on his back. 

They both felt each other’s resentment, each other’s anger, until Jack calmed down when Mac called an apologized. He let Mac’s voice go to voicemail, but followed his call like he was lured by a siren.

Even though he tried to joke about a “groveling apology” that he knew Mac wasn’t actually going to give him despite the actual upset he had felt and truly wanted to apologize for to Jack, Jack entered the house knowing something was wrong.

Because he couldn’t feel Mac at all. Couldn’t feel him joking around with Bozer. Couldn’t feel him lost and searching for a deadbeat father who abandoned him—a sensation Jack didn’t quite understand until he felt Mac reliving it in his worst nights. Couldn’t feel him happy to be with the Phoenix family.

Mac’s house was as empty as Jack felt, and he was on the verge of losing it like never before—until he felt a cold shiver creep through is body. Felt a sharp prick, felt like his body was being pumped and drained at the same time.

Felt fear mixed with anger mixed with...vague...intrigue and the last time he felt it, Jack was at the mercy of a small red dot boring into his chest while Mac played the most dangerous game of cat and mouse.

And this time, he was the mouse.

“My spidey-senses are all telling me the same thing...It’s Murdoc.”

He hoped and prayed that he could somehow ease Mac’s terror with his own determination to find him. He swallowed down his tears, swallowed down his guilt for the sake of giving the kid some sort of hope with a forced sense of confidence that he would find him in no time.

And no time is exactly what he felt. What they both felt. Jack’s confidence turned to confusion when Mac no longer felt trapped, but instead...lost. And paranoid. Even more paranoid than Jack himself. 

So lost that even when they physically found each other, it still seemed like forever until they emotionally found each other again, with more and more separations, more victimizations on their more deadly missions with gunshots and electrocutions and gas chambers. Fits of inexplicable rage and jealousy as they explored other interests besides each other. Odd sensations of loneliness when they weren’t working together. 

Even when they were actually trapped together in Mac’s house, sitting on another bomb, it took them a whole episode of reminiscing how they got together in the first place that made them realize how no matter how often they would be lost from one another, they would always find each other, even in their worst moments. 

And it was after that near miss they both exchanged real apologies. Mac admitted that perhaps this “mind meld” was real after all. Jack said “having you stuck with me ain’t so bad after all. Toldja I’m never gonna leave you, there’s definitely no getting rid of me now.”

“But...what’s going to happen when...one of us dies?” Mac didn’t even want to ask it. Didn’t actually even say the words. 

Jack asked the same thing when he was prematurely laid to rest in a burning coffin, descending into hell and screaming for Mac both in the literal sense and the emotional sense—so much so that Mac could hardly take it—he felt like he was on fire and oh god, he actually was as he put his hands on the burning wood and freed Jack from inferno. 

“Being burned alive...was always curious,” Jack breathed, putting a hand that oddly felt ablaze on his chest, while Mac danced on figurative hot coals.

“You’re insane, man.”

“I don’t think death is the end,” Jack answered him finally, when they were being wrapped up by the paramedics.

“How much smoke did you inhale?” Mac almost laughed, confused as to what he was referring to, thinking he had some sort of existential realization on the precipice of death.

“But wh-what if when one of us dies...the other will too? Kaboom-kaboom,” Mac continued the conversation after a particularly rough day spent in the war room with a beaten, sunken black eye while Jack ran around pretending to be a lone wolf yet he was wrangling up the pack and doing a favor by helping out his daughter’s real father, the conflicting emotions of which didn’t ease Mac’s troubles, either.

“Told ya, that won’t be it. There’s gonna be something after kaboom. For both of us.”

“Then why do you always fight so hard for us not to explode?”

“Cause I can’t let you have too much fun when you’re dropping those improv-bombs to get us out of sticky situations. There’s still a few things I wanna do before I move on from this world.”

“Right, your bucket list,” Mac smiled. 

“Exactly, hoss. And what’s say...we cross another one off now?” 

They were interrupted, as always, by an emergency call that revealed the truth about Mac’s father, and a falsification of how they had been brought together.

“Who do you think pulled the strings to pair you two together in Afghanistan?”

Bullshit. And Jack made a point of pointing that out, and how dare he even make the implication that even if things didn’t work out between Jack and Mac, that there would just be another Overwatch put in his place, and another, until Oversight saw fit that his son would be taken care of like he never had done for him before?

Needless to say, there were a lot of emotions, conflicting ones at that—even Jack himself was torn between sucking up to the boss but also wanting to punch him in the face, and do minor things like refuse handshakes, accidentally trip him, anything to just...annoy him without a fireable offense, per se.

But when Mac left the Phoenix, he may as well have gone, too.

He still doesn’t know why he didn’t. Was it some sense of duty to protect the remainder of the pack? Was it the same hesitation he had when Mac took his leave of absence after Nikki’s death, wanting to give him space but still wanting to suffocate him at the same time? 

Was it fear that one day, Mac would walk away from him, too?

While the separation was brief, only a few months though it felt like years—especially when Jack felt the length of Mac’s hair on his own chin that allowed him to measure the actual length of time that had elapsed, when they came face to face again it still felt like they were worlds apart.

Because Mac abandoned his family. 

Mac abandoned Jack.

And in what godforsaken world would that happen?

The same world where Jack would do the same almost half a year later. 

“NO!” Mac shouted, rising from another cold-sweat nightmare. 

Jack laid beside him, startled awake. 

“Everything okay, hoss?” Jack whispered. 

“Just...just...had a bad dream,” Mac whispered back. 

They would keep their voices low, but their emotions high. There were certain things that just had to be said to be understood as felt between them.

“I missed you,” Mac gulped. 

“You know I’m right here, don’t ya?” Jack laughed from his own bed, Mac felt a gentle scratching at the back of his head.

“I know. I know you’re here, it’s just…”

He turned his head, he didn’t even know why he was whispering, the house had never been so silent before. No snoring Bozer. No Jack strumming the guitar on a restless night. No keys clicking beneath the speed of Riley’s rapid fingers. No phonecalls from Matty.

“You’re not. Not even alive.”

“Who in the hell told you that?”

“The...the army.”

Mac’s phone rang, he answered without even looking at the number. The ring was for a video call, so he lazily pulled the string of his bedside lamp.

Jack was on the other side, soft fauxhawk and subtle stubble tracing the start of a beard on his face.

“My God, what fucked up dream did you have, man?” 

“The kind that lasts forever,” Mac mumbled. “That felt...too real…”

“I turned down the Kovac mission, you remember that, right? The image was fake. Just a taunt. The broadcast orchestrated by Murdoc just to dick around with us again.”

“I know, I know it just...I can’t help but wonder what could have...could have happened if you…”

“You gotta stop beating yourself up so much, kid. I’ve told you, over and over, this ain’t one of those ‘you hurt me, so I’mma hurt you’ sort of games. We don’t do that manipulative shit.”

“Jack, I left you—”

“You left the Phoenix. I stayed. My choice.”

Jack suddenly felt the corners of his eyes burn. The corner of Mac’s eyes burn.

“I wanted you to come with me.”

“I know. And I wanted to.”

“I know,” Mac swallowed. “I...I felt that you did but...why didn’t you?”

“You walked away that day but you didn’t walk alone. I was there with you the entire time. You know that.”

“But you weren’t!” 

“You’re right. You’re right,” Jack shook his head, squeezing his face. He waved his tongue over his lips, Mac suddenly felt freshness over the chapped flesh that was trembling as he held the tiny screen of Jack in between his hands.

“I...I knew how you felt, being abandoned by your Dad...Cause I did that to Riley.”

“You didn’t...abandon her—”

“Then what would you have called it?”

It was a question Mac didn’t have an answer to.

“Regardless, I think it’s safe to say that you’re not the only one with abandonment issues, I’m just...on the other side of the spectrum. Worlds apart from the pain you musta felt when dear ol’ Dad leftcha and I shouldn’ta tried to push you back together without thinking how you might have felt—”

“Jack, Jack, it’s fine. I-I know you just...you had good intentions. Cause of what happened to your Dad.”

Jack nodded, wiped a hand over the running nose that Mac felt, though his was dry.

“And anyway, I just. I was scared, I guess. Didn’t know what to do. Hadn’t been on that side of the coin before. It may have hurt you but it...it hurt me, too.”

“I know it did. And I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too.” 

“So...where do we go from here?” Mac asked, clearing his throat. 

“Doesn’t matter, really. Cause no matter where you go, where I go, where we both go...We have each other.”

Mac felt Jack’s touch, though it was a poor substitute for the real deal, as he closed his eyes and envisioned him sitting next to him, his arms wrapped around him, hugging him to his chest. 

“Forever,” Mac sighed, and Jack smiled as he felt the reassurance that while it had been stretched and twisted and tested, their bond would never be broken.

Not even in a death that Jack oddly felt he had just narrowly missed by some sort of guardian angel watching over him.

[chameleon-of-the-fandom]

Abandoned Family

Words: 2569 Summary: Mac’s older sister, Aly, has news to be shared with the team, except one member already knows and supports her for it. 

"Director Matilda Webber,

Effective immediately, I am handing in my resignation. I will finish out the current day of work, but will not be back tomorrow. I apologize for the late notice, but I can no longer work at the Phoenix Foundation. Please call with any further questions. I appreciate being given the chance to grow and meet challenges here. Thank you.

Yours, Aly."

Matty looked at the team she had read the note to. Confusion was written on all but one face. Matty made a mental note before moving on to dealing with the fallout.

Jack broke the trance first, "What? What does she mean, Matty?"

Mac looked heartbroken, and Matty wished she could soothe away his hurt, "That means she quit the Phoenix, guys."

"When?" Was the only work Riley stated.

"I found this note on my desk this morning when I came in."

"So, she'll be here, still?" Bozer's voice, as usual, was filled with optimism.

Jill stepped forward, "No, she came in at 3 this morning, and clocked out at 11. Aly worked her 8 hours, thus finished her work day."

Matty turned her attention to the only person who wasn’t shocked when she made the announcement. "Jill, how do you know this?"

Jill bit her lip nervously before responding. "You guys had each other, and she was a one-man team. She didn't have an overwatch, and Oversight didn't hesitate to give her the hardest missions, even with a team. You all never checked in with her, and she did everything she could to protect you as a team. When Oversight and the board needed a fall man, she did it. Every time. But you ignored her. She was so tired. This was a monumental decision for her. And of course, I encouraged it." The blonde slowly gained confidence and anger in her speech. "All you ever cared about was if the mission was completed. There were other agents," Jill shot a look at Jack, "that checked in with her, more than her own team did. So, when Aly received an offer from a different "think tank", and it came with a team of her own? Absolutely. I told her she should go. It's not like she couldn't retire now, anyways."

Matty blinked a few times, not used to seeing the normally easy-going blonde this angry. She also took a moment though, to absorb everything said in the lecture. "Okay. Do you know where she's at now?" She asked, looking at Jill, hoping that Jill would give up the intel and Matty could go talk to Aly.

"Yes, but no. I won't give up my friend, no- my sister- like that. Guys, you broke her. She gets some time to recuperate. Besides, Matty, she did say to call her with further questions. I wish you the best of luck." With that, Jill walked out of the War Room, before shuddering from the energy that was stocked in the room.

 Aly was laying on her bed, rerunning the conversation with Jill.

Jill walked into the lab. Aly's holding a piece of paper and smiling, while reading it.

"Spill. How many times have you read that?" Aly doesn’t jump at Jill's intrusion, but rather hands the blonde the sheet. "Dear Aly MacGyver, we'd be honored to offer you a position here with us at the Medusa Initiative. Along with the standard benefits of black ops, we would also like to extend the offer of heading your own team of your choice." Jill looked up at her friend, excitement exploding like a massive firework. "Oh my god, Aly! That's awesome! What are you gonna do?"

Aly's smile droops, and she sighs, "I don't know, Jill. I agree. It's an amazing offer, but what about my team here? What are they gonna do without me?"

Jill sees exactly what's stopping the redhead. "Mac needs to stand on his own, without you helping from the shadows or clearing the way with Oversight for him. Maybe he and Jack both need to see what happens when you're not around to take the hits."

Aly looks at her with tears gathering, "I'm so tired of being checked on by the tactical teams more than them, Jill. I'm so tired of just completing mission after mission, with no reward, other than they get a reprieve and days off."

"Look at me, Aly. You deserve this. Do it, take the opportunity and see where it leads. If not for anyone else, or just you, then do it for me. Please. Besides, you might enjoy the Medusa Initiative more. The teams are all women, very few men are employed as agents. You deserve something better than what Phoenix is giving you. Take the job."

Aly nods, and sets the paper aside, while making a note to respond. Later that day, Aly calls the Medusa Initiative from the middle of the jungle in Cambodia, to tell them, she'll be taking every offer they gave her. She sets her mind to write a resignation when she gets back to the Phoenix.

Aly felt like a million weights had lifted off her chest after that, and she felt so free after meeting her new team, and new boss. She was ecstatic that what Mac had now, she would get at the Medusa.

 Mac takes a breath before looking at the man who'd become a brother after a tour in hell together, and several years at DXS and Phoenix. "Jack, this can't be real. She wouldn't quit. Would she?"

Jack looks at Mac. As much as he wishes what Jane- Jill- had said wasn't true, he knows it is. He could've checked in with her more than he did.

Bozer speaks up from where he sat down, "Did she say anything to you?"

Mac and Jack shake their heads in response and Riley steps out beyond the door. She has Aly's number, as they had swapped digits when she was first hired due to something Aly had said.

Ring. Ring. "Hello?" Riley nearly sighs in relief at the answer on the line.

"Aly." Relief floods her voice. "I'm so glad you picked up."

"Hey, Riles. Is everything okay?"

"Not really- you quit. But, that's not the reason I called."

"What's up?" "You said something to me when I was first hired with the Phoenix. You said not every war is a battle against others, and not every prison is a cage with steel bars."

"Huh. I was wondering when you'd ask me about that."

"Did you mean as an agent?" Curiosity courses through Riley's veins.

"Let's meet for coffee or something."

"Okay. When and where?"

 Aly's knee bounces as she waits for her former teammate to enter the cozy coffeehouse. Her nerves feel jumbled, and she doesn’t think the coffee is helping. Finally, she watched the brunette walk through the doors. Aly stands up to grab Riley's attention. As soon as Riley reaches the table, they both sit down.

"Okay, so you wouldn't tell me over the phone..." Riley trails off.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Riley just shrugs and Aly continues, "Not every war is a battle against another, and not every prison is a cage with steel bars." Aly sighs, "The human mind is amazing. The things we ask it to do, and it completes it every time without fail. But sometimes, it can also be the most daunting thing, especially certain things it remembers. As a covert agent, we learn to keep things, like murder, on the down low. As a human, it scars our mind to see a dead body. As a soldier, we see people, our enemies, our friends, in ways that would scar a civilian. As a person, we see someone like us being killed and you either replay it with survivor's guilt or you wonder what life would be like if that had been you. The curiosity will tear you apart from the inside." Aly runs her finger around the rim of her coffee cup. "Sometimes, the memories, they keep you from what you need. They become your prison. You can't look at a neighbor wearing a jacket without wondering what's under it, then having to fight to remember that you are at home. You aren't half-way across the world, wondering. You aren't there. You are here. You're home. You are in the US. That war, isn't one you fight against anyone else.... It's one you fight here," Aly taps her temple, "and it's against yourself. The prison, it isn't physical, it's the memories. The ones that tear you apart, the good ones that make you wonder if you'll ever be like you were at that point in time. Not every war is a battle against another, and not every prison is cage with steel bars."

Riley takes a deep breath. As much as she wishes she didn't, she knows exactly what Aly is talking about from her time in prison.

"I understand. I may not know what a soldier suffers through, but I do know what an inmate suffers through." Aly just nods and a few moments pass with both deep in thought. "To lighten the mood. Did I hear correctly that you've gotten a new job?" The redhead smiles, "Yeah. It's with the Medusa Initiative."

"Wow, really? Aren't they super exclusive?" Riley tilts her head.

"Sort of. Most of their field agents are women. But they also have a higher success rate than that of Phoenix. I think it's a good opportunity." "I agree. It's gonna suck having one less woman at Phoenix though."

"Sorry. I just.... I think the move will be good for me anyway. You have your team. I've never had anyone. Now I'll have my own team."

"Though it may be too little, too late, I want to let you know, I'm so sorry, Aly. I could've checked in with you. Seen how things were going. I'm sorry."

"Thank you, Riles. I appreciate it." The two girls hang out in the coffee shop for a bit longer before Riley needs to leave.

"Apparently I have a mission." Riley begins to stand from the table and Aly stands as well.

"I mean the second thing I ever told you, Riles. I will always be around to talk to, if you need to."

"Okay, thank you." The brunette begins her journey to the War Room.

 As Aly makes her way home, her phone rings.

"Jill? What's up?"

"Just wanted to give you a head's up, I think the boys were on their way to see you. Are you at home?" "Not yet." Aly stops walking. "I think maybe I need another cup of coffee. Wanna join?" Aly asks her friend.

"Of course. Like I'd ever turn down hanging out with you."

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate our friendship, Jill."

"Eh, don't worry about it, Al. I've always got your back. See you at the coffee house." Jill and Aly hang up, and Aly begins strolling back to the coffee house. She makes it two steps before something hard hits her head, and her vision quickly goes dark.

  Jack pulls up outside Aly's house, and shuts his car off. He'd left Mac and Bozer at home, as he wants to try this with just him first. He's definitely going to apologize, and he's hoping it'll feel less like an ambush with just him here to talk to her.  He walks up to the brick building and knocks. Jack steps back, waiting for an answer. He looks around, before knocking again. As he checks his watch, he realizes either she isn't home, or she doesn't want to talk. As he makes his way to his car, Jack shoots Matty a text asking if Riley made it to the War Room. When he receives an affirmative, Jack wonders if Aly is actively avoiding the team. He begins to wonder if she's had help avoiding them, as they haven't seen her in the building in the last week.  He peels away from the curb, heading back to Mac's, where he left the other two boys.

As Jack parks in the driveway, Mac and Boze are already on their way to him, curious looks on their faces.  

"That was fast. Is everything okay?" Asks Bozer.

"She wasn't home. Kinda hard to apologize to someone who ain't there, hoss." Jack looks at him.

"She's avoiding us, then." Mac observes, hurt in his tone. As much as Jack wants to take it away, he knows he can't do anything.

"Yeah, brother. I'm sorry." Jack apologizes, heartbroken for Mac, and still upset at Aly's news. But before too long, all their phones ding with a text from Matty letting them know they're needed in the War Room for a mission.

  When Aly finally gets home from coffee with Jill, she can see the note on her door. "Jack's been here." She says to herself, glad she joined the blonde for coffee.

"Aly,

Mac, Boze, and I would really like to talk. Please call, or text.

Jack"

"Well, that's definitely to the point. Way to pull your punches, Dalton." She mutters to herself. She can't help but wonder what the boys want, if they gonna try to drag her back to Phoenix. But she comes to the conclusion as she sits herself on the couch, that they can try but if they do, she'll cut them out of her life. After all, Jill had a point, Aly needs to do what's best for herself and stop worrying about everyone else.

  As Matty debriefs her team on their latest mission, she can see the curious looks they share. When she finishes handing them the pertinent information, she asks, "What's going on, guys?"

They share a look, and Bozer answers, "We don't usually get this type of mission. It's a simple meeting. Why us? We've never had to do this before. And why all three? Can't this be done with one?" Matty sighs. "To answer the first question, you are being assigned to this mission because the person who usually is assigned no longer works here." She sees realization dawn on them, " and to answer the second, because of the location, I need at least one lookout and one TAC member in addition to the person completing the meeting. When Aly'd go, I'd just send two TAC members, or if I didn't have any, I was ordered to send her alone." Matty grimaces at the admission.

Jack tilts his head at his boss, "You're telling me, Aly might've done this by herself? That ain't right, Webber."

Matty flinches at Jack's call out. "I know. It's not like I always had a choice, Dalton. Now, get going." Her voice hardens with the order for her team. They get up from where they're sitting, and head out the door. Matty deflates when the last one leaves, her admission hurt. She wishes Oversight would've been easier on his kids. Not leaving them, not manipulating them. But she's glad Aly pulled something he never saw coming. So glad. She's getting retribution without knowing, and if she'd had a chance, she'd have told Aly to hand her notice to Oversight himself, so she could know who he was. But, maybe it's better, Matty wonders, if she never knows her father got her where she was. Of course, she'll help Mac figure it out. She won't let Mac quit without knowing first.

The End

 Let me know what you think. I thrive off of feedback, even the negative. I appreciate it!