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Matty Webber – director of Phoenix orphanage
Jack Dalton – wants to adopt a brother for his adoptive daughter, Riley
Riley Davis – 13, adoptive daughter, clever with computers
Angus MacGyver – 10, boy genius in the orphanage
Director Webber was sitting behind her behemoth office desk covered in documents and files that did not fit into the file cabinets along both sides of her office anymore.
She studied one particular file in front of her when a knock at the door disturbed her concentration. „Come in!“ she called out but Maggie, one oft he caretakers was already halfway in, huffing and puffing while dragging a young boy along by his arm.
Without saying anything, she almost threw the boy on the chair by the office desk and stomped away, slamming the door behind her.
Matilda „Matty“ Webber didn’t even have to look up from her file to know who was sitting in her office again. She finished reading in peace, closed the file and shoved it onto another pile of files behind her desk.
Then she stared quietly for a while at the boy who seemed to be very interested in her carpet.
He was ten wears old, skinny with bright golden hair and shiny blue eyes. A shy boy but maybe because he had been through so much already: His mother died a few years back and his father disappeared on him. His granddad raised him for a while until him, too, passed.
Social workers went to check on him after his teachers reported him missing school days and found him at his granddad’s house sleeping on the outside deck. Apparently, after his last known relative died, no one felt responsible to take him in, so he decided to take care of himself, alone.
They took him to Matty’s orphanage where he had been the past 2 years or so. He was a troubled kid, tormented by nightmares and got himself into trouble on a regular basis. In addition, parents willing to adopt him ended up taking him back to the orphanage after a few weeks. They just could not handle him.
Matty saw the cut shine through under the band-aid on his left eyebrow, the swollen lip and the big bruise on his left cheek. His nose showed some stains of died blood.
Not again.
The director sighed. „What was it this time, blondie? “She said in a calm and sympathetic tone but the boy just kept on staring at the carpet.
The phone rang. After a few minutes of conversation, she hung up and turn her undivided attention back at the little troublemaker.
„Randy? Really? You took on Randy and broke his arm? He’s 16, how the…“, she was speechless. A wind would blow him away in a storm, not that he could break a teenager’s arm.
„Physics…“came a quiet reluctant answer, not more than a whisper behind a shy glance tot he side.
„Beg you pardon? “
He shifted nervously on the chair to straighten up, cleared his throat and tired again.
„Physics, ma’am. “But still, he did not look up. Instead, he took a pencil and a rubber from her table. He placed the pencil above it to make it look like a seesaw and held the lower end down onto the table. With the other hand he pushed the high end oft he pencil down- the pencil snapped in half shortly after.
Director Webber gaped- the two stared at one another. Then she leaned back with a heavy sigh. The boy was way too smart for his age.
„Of all days, you had to do it on Adoption Day? “
„He was mean to Jenny. “, he tried to defend his action but Matty didn’t even bother to listen.
„Look, don’t you want to find a nice home, too? You surely deserve one. Every one of you deserves one! “ Webber gets up and rounds her table to stand eye-to-eye with him.
„Now, go clean yourself up and join the group. The party starts soon. “
*****
All the kids gathered in the mess hall, set up their arts and crafts, presented their favourite toys, chatted and played.
People, mostly couples interested in adoption started to mingle, spend a few minutes with each kid, asked questions, talked to the teachers and enjoyed the buffet.
One pair stood out like a sore thumb: It was father with a teenage girl. He was tall and towered over all the other couples in the room like a closet and looked around the hall like an exited kid in a toy store. The girl on the other hand couldn’t care less: Headphones on she just typed away whatever in her tablet.
„Dalton“, Director made crossed the hall to meet him. „Didn’t expect to see you here, so soon. Hey, Riley! “The young girl so much but nodded still invested in her tech tool. „Everything okay at home?“
„Uh, yeh, yeah, everything great. We just though we check in, see how things are going and say hello…“
„That’s nice. So, Riley, how's school?"
„Fine." she kept working away on her tablet.
„Riley… „The man hissed.
„No, no, it's fine. I'll let you two enjoy the buffet now, ‘t was nice seeing you guys again." the director turns to leave.
„Uhm, actually, Matty, we… still have an empty room in our house." Mr. Dalton started. "Riley could use some company her age, perhaps?" He looked at her in hope of receiving some kind of confirmation and indeed, for the first time she actually looked up from her screen. However, really, she was scouting out where the food was.
"Is that so?" Matty is back to business.
"Well, in that case, Jack, you know how this goes?"
The middle-aged man nodded.
She nodded back, acknowledging his interest. He was a single man, always has been. He was a hulk, a military man, constantly in combats and ops within and abroad the US. A few years back his wife got pregnant and he decided to leave the army. He found a solid job that allowed him to care for his family to be. His wife died at childbirth and the twins they were expecting didn't make it either. This loss left the man with a big house, many empty rooms and a lot of loneliness.
At some point, he had to make a choice: Go back to war or…
A year later, he met Matilda Webber who, at that time tried to raise awareness of the many children in her orphanage that desperately needed a loving home. It did not take long and Jack adopted the young tech-genius, Riley. She has lost her parents in a car accident when she was nine and stayed with Matty for two year until Jack came along and just liked her inner fire and spunk. Now, Riley was twelve, going on thirteen and knew more tech than her adoptive dad.
"Right…" Jack looked around the mess hall and saw all the lids involved in conversations and games. Some couples even started to fill out forms and applications after just a few hours.
The hopes were high on both ends.
Then, in a far corner by the windows, he spotted a young boy playing all alone with… paperclips? Jack felt instantly drawn to him like a magnet. As he got closer, he saw the bruises on the boy's face.
"Hey buddy, what's that you're doing there?" Jack asked but did not get any answer. Nervously he looked around for Riley to help connecting but she was busy munching away on some chicken nuggets while of course- her tablet.
No help to be expected any time soon since Matty was also invested in some serious discussions with the potential parents.
Therefore, it was up to Jack to break the ice somehow. In this particular, case the ice seemed to be more like an iceberg.
He grabbed a nearby chair and took a seat next to the kid, just looking out onto the autumn colored trees in the yard.
"Got into a fight?" he finally asked.
"I used to get into fights a lot when I was your age.," he continued. "Always got into trouble for… for actually doing the right thing."
From the corner of his eyes, he saw that the boy stopped fidgeting with the paperclips. He dared to look and saw a dozen different shapes and forms he made by unfolding and reshaping the clips.
"That's cool," he pointed at a bird shaped clip. "A chicken?"
A crooked smile formed on the boy's lips for a millisecond.
"How?" he asked.
"How what?" Jack was surprised he got a reaction.
"How did you get into trouble from doing the right thing?"
Jack thought for a moment before answering: "Well… there are bad guys and good guys and the ones in between that maybe cannot defend themselves. So the good people make sure to protect them from the bad ones. And sometimes when you whoop a bad guy's ass…" Jack coughed remembering who he was talking to "I mean butt, another good guy sees you without knowing what had happened beforehand, might think that you were the bad guy…" he was so proud of his very diplomatic explanation.
"So you got caught whooping ass?"
"Ssshhhhh" Jack looked around nervously for anyone who might have heard. "But, yeah… basically, yeah." he surrendered.
"It's a phoenix," the boy said unexpectedly, taking the bird shaped paperclip in his hand.
"Say what now?"
He held the piece of shaped metal up to Jack's face: "It's a phoenix. The bird that sacrifices its life to protect and then rises again from the ashes."
Jack blinked in awe.
"Wow, that's, very poetic and… creative." could he dare to go further and ask the boy's name?
Just then Director Webber announces the end of the party, thanked everyone who donated, applied for an adoption or helped in any other way and led the adults out of the mess hall. Jack looked for his girl. When he spotted her stuffing some more nuggets into the pockets of her hoodie, he sighed- time to leave and have a word with the woman. He looked one more time at the kid beside him.
"Well, see you around?" he asked stupidly.
"Nowhere else I could possibly go." that kid was a smarty-pants. "Here, it's for you."
He placed the paperclip phoenix into Jacks hand and stared at those big strong hands for a moment. He noticed the scars and calloused fingers, so the man did tell the truth and get in many fights.
"Thank you." Jack stood up and turned to leave but not before leaving a little present, too. He pulled out a small Swiss army knife from his pocket and with a last look handed it to the blonde boy.
"My father gave me this a long time ago, when I was a boy." he paused reminiscing on that very moment and then let go.
"I'm Jack by the way." he waited a second or two, then left to follow the others.
*****
At the end of the hallway, Matty was thanking and wishing nice days to everyone. When it came to Jack and Riley- they were the last ones- the ex military stopped to question her about the young boy he just met.
"That’s Angus MacGyver." she said.
"Angus MacWhat?"
"MacGyver. But he prefers Mac." she explained. "He is a quiet and troubled kid. He went through a lot for his young age. Just today he got into a fight with another kid protecting another."
So, Jack thought right. He is one of the good guys.
"Mac is very intelligent and not afraid to experiment with and build things. He can get lost in thoughts, though and needs someone to bring him back into the real world from time to time." She keeps telling him about Mac, where he came from and what he went through.
Jack listens carefully, soaking up every drop information he gets on the kid.
Finally, he looks at Riley. She shoved the tablet into her pocket and stares at him. She too paid attention to Matty's words and finally looked up at Jack with a stern expression on her face nodding in silent agreement.
***
„Welcome chez casa Jack and Riley!” Jack let Mac into the house and ran back to the car to get the suitcases. Riley just stomped passed the two straight into the kitchen with direct course to the fridge.
Mac looked around but didn’t dare to go anywhere without further instructions from Jack. He heard the door close behind him and felt a hand on his shoulder a moment later.
Jack stood next to him now. “Welcome home, Mac!”
“Yeah, welcome home!” Riley called from almost inside the fridge. It was the first time she actually said something ever since they left the orphanage.
“C’mon, I show you your room.” Jack gave Mac a slight pat on the back motivating him to follow the man up the stairs.
The room was bright with a large window facing the street. It had a cozy looking, large bed, a desk with a chair, and some shelves. Shyly he stepped into the room and found a walk-in closet with plenty of space to hang and store the few things he had.
“I didn’t know what you like, you know, colors, motives on your bed sheets, posters, so I decided to leave them white for now and when you are ready, we can go shopping. In a manly manner of course.”
Mac tried to hide a little smile but Jack just caught it in time. “I’ll leave you to breath in the new air now and see to raccoon-Riley before she plunders the whole fridge. Call you when dinner is ready.” With that, he closed the door behind him and left Mac to take in his new view.
***
As time went by Mac got used to his new home. It’s been several weeks now. There’d been good times and boy, had there been bad times. Usually because Mac took apart something- a toaster, a stereo, a motorsaw- you name it, but never seemed to manage to pot it back together, may it be because it was lunchtime, he had to go to the bathroom, or bedtime and forgot afterwards.
After the fifth week, Jack bought his third phone for the same reason. Riley almost murdered him for “repairing” her laptop. Jack found them wrestling on the ground of her room until finally, the girl won upper hand, sat on top of him, screaming and trying to rip off his head. However, he now understood, why other couples “retuned” him to the orphanage. He didn’t yell at Mac, but he did get upset and tried to talk to the boy. Several times and each time he got a bit louder, though. He then usually called him by his actual Name, loudly “ANGUS!” Each time the loud argument ended in one of them leaving the other and slam the door behind them.
One night Jack enjoyed a hot shower after a long day of hard work. Riley and Mac bickered downstairs about the last chicken nugget. If it wasn’t about technology being taken apart, or the last chicken nugget like in this case, they got along perfectly.
He was all foamy when he heard the safety switch fell and the whole house went dark.
“ANGUS!”
Jack was wet, foamy, slippery and he couldn’t see anything. He quickly rinsed as good as he could and felt along the tiled wall to the fawcet to turn off the schower. He opened the shower door and let his hand glide along the wall to find a towel. He dared to make one careful step out of the shower- the floor tiles were slippery and he wondered where the bathrug disappeard to- then he took another step. He felt confident that he’d make it to the door not counting in something that was left on the bathroom floor for him to trip on in that very moment. He fell hard with a loud thud that made the whole house tremble.
***
When he came to the lights were back on and he heard muffled voices calling his name. “Jack? Jack, are you with us?” Riley and Mac’s blurry faces appeared in front of his eyes, then a third one.
“Hey, Jack, can you hear me?”
“Matty?” he stammered. His head was pounding, he was cold and his vision blurred in and out of focus. He tried to remember and to his horror he did. He slipped on soemthing during the blackout, hit his head and must have passed out naked and wet in the bathroom. Panick rose in him that Riley somehow sensed.
“Don’t worry, Mac came in first and covered you while I called Miss Webber. I...I didn’t know what else to do. Are you okay?”
Jack slowly sat up and touched back onto the bump on the back of his head. Luckily he wasn’t bleeding but he sure felt sick. Mild concussion.
“I’ll live, honey, thank you.” She hated it when she called him that but let it slip this one time.
Matty helped him further up and held his hand all the was to his bedroom. “Shall I call a doctor to check out the wound?”
“No, it’s okay, Matty, thank you...” He groaned and excused himself to get dressed. “Riley, could you get the bag of frozen peas for me, please?”
“Sure.” The girl jumped up and ran down the stairs just to appear with those peas a moment later. She waited patiently until Jack came back out again, all dressed in Jeans and a T-shirt, then handed him the bag.
“I’m sorry.” Mac said in the usual chipper tone he had after causing chaos but this time he wasn’t prepared for what was to come.
“You! What the hell did you do now?” Jack yell out of nowhere. None of the people present expected his reaction, especially because he was hurt. Or was it because he was hurt that he reacted thad way.
“What? What did you take apart this time? Huh?”
Mac opened his mouth to say something about the light of the fridge, but Jack ran him verbally over like a train. “Are you out of your goddamn mind?! You could have killed yourself! What were you thinking?”
Director Webber has never seen Jack furious like that before and tried to calm the situation befor Jack exploded but he just saw red anymore.
“I tried, I really tried to be patient, to let you do your thing, let you be you...”
Mac shrunk and shrunk. Every word out of Jacks mouth compressed him further and further into a little black mass, like a black hole. Cold fear and hot anger began to build up iside of him at the same time and Jacks words became a cutting blade. “... really tried to be a good dad for you!”
Something snapped in Mac and the little black compressed mass exploded like an atomic bomb.
“You are not my father!” he spat with tears in his eyes and ran away. Jack was sure he would just run into his room like usual when they got into an arguemtn. However, they’d never been as bad as this time. Jack’s outburst was one of a kind ever since. But when he heard the entrance door slam shut even Jack jumped.
“Shoot!” He jumped up, throwing the bag of slightly thawed peas on the ground and stormed down the stairs, jumping three at a time and ran outsinde as fast as he could. Matty and Riley followed right behind. He was at the driveway frantically looking left and right trying to figure out which direction Mac ran off in. Then he spotted him running towards the crossroads. He dashed after him.
“Mac, wait, stop!” Mac reached the crossroads a few houses down the road but still heard Jack calling after him. He turned to look while he kept on running and didn’t pay attention to the road ahead of him.
In that very moment a car turned around the corner.
“Mac!” Tires screeched.
***
Late that night Jack was sitting by the Mac’s hospital bed. He asked Matty to watch over Riley while he was gone. It’s been hours since the accident and the surgery the doctors had to perform to dfe the kid’s life but Mac hasn’t woken yet. His right leg was broken and propped up on a pillow and his right arm was placed into a sling to take of the weight from a dislocated shoulder. An oxygen mask coveres half of his pale face and there were all kinds of tubes flowing steadily from and into his arms and body. He looked so fragile.
Jack held the kid’s cold and lifeless hand in his, drawing circles with his thumb on the soft skin. He couldn’t sleep. Every time he closed his eyes the pictures of the accident played over and over again, like a gruesome horror movie. He blamed himself for everything. There was no ill will or bad intention- he never thought that anyway. So why that angry outburst? Seeing him like this now, it finally hit him like the car hit Mac.
He wasn’t angry at what the boy did. He was angry that he wasn’t there to protect him from doind something stupid. He knew from the first moment he met Mac that he was smart and inventive, creative at problem solving with a strong sense of protection others- he was selfless. And that was the point. He didn’t care what would happen to him as long as he could help others. And this selflessness was dangerous and the kid needed someone to look out for him. It was his fault. He should have looked out for him. And now...he kept on staring at the unconscious boy in front of him- his boy.
After a while his back started to ache and he carefully slipped Mac’s hand onto the mattrace. Jack straightened up and stretched his limps and spine when he noticed Mac’s fingers twitch. He was right back at his side gently raising the kid’s hand into his, hoping he would feel him and wake up.
“Mac, hey Mac, can you hear me? Can you wake up for me please?” Jack pleaded with a shaky voice. “I need to know you are okay. Can you do that for me,Mac?”
Mac worked hard to crawl his way back up from the depths of unconsciousness. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get his body to obey. He heard someone calling his name and he desperately wanted to answer.
Mac conjured all the strength he could and managed to open his eyes a few millimeters. He made out a dark shape by his side.
“Dad?”
“No buddy, it’s me, Jack. You had an accident, do you remember? I was so worried.” Jack tried to keep his voice calm and composed when really he wanted to jump out of his skin. His boy was awake!
Mac cleared his throat- his mouth was dry and the cold plastic on his face felt uncomfortable and annoying. He wanted to remove it but his hand was still trapped in Jack’s and he was too weak to free himself. Jack seems to have felt it and loosened up a bit.
“Ssshhh, hoss, take it easy. You’re hurt, but you’re gonna be fine.”
Mac nodded weakly and sighed. He messed up bed this time.
“I’m sorry”, he whispered but didn’t dare to look Jack straight int he eyes. “I’m sorry I made you worry. I... I understand if...” Mac’s voice broke shakily. “if you give me back.”
Jack looked at him confused. “Wh...what? No.” He didn’t believe what he just heard. “What, you think because... Mac, no. I would never! Ever! Why would you think that?” He was shocked. Tears welled up in his eyes and he was sure he’d lose his shit any minute now- the wave of so many emotions boiling up inside, overwehelming him.
He took a deep breath and cleared his throat.
“Look, I know, I’m not your father,” he had Mac’s attention, “and I don’t want to be!” Jack’s voice was stern and honest.
Mac new it. His supposed legal guardian wouldn’t even come up with an excuse. He was going back to the orphanage once he was released from the hospital’s care. So many times he had his hopes higy and every time they returned him like a broken toy. He was about to turn away when Jack wasn’t finished just yet.
“But...how about a brother?”
Mac’s heart skipped a beat. Did he hear right?
“You... you’re not angry?”
“No, no, of course not and I would never...I can’t even say the words out loud. You’re with us now. We are a team now, we are family. Even Matty, I’ve known her so long that even she is something like a, a... aunt, perhaps.” Mac blinked.
“So, no, I don’t want to replace or be your father. We’ll be brothers from now on, hoss.” Jack saw the kid’s blue eyes shimmer with tears and he hoped it were tears of joy.
“What do you say?”
Mac swallowed and tried to blink the tears away but everything crashed down on him and was lifted off at the same time. He felt wanted and safe. Under tears and sobbing all he managed was a quiet higy pitched “yes”.
Mac was finally home.
***
Jack held the kid’s cold and lifeless hand in his, drawing circles with his thumb on the soft skin. He couldn’t sleep. Every time he closed his eyes the pictures of the accident played over and over again, like a gruesome horror movie.
***
Mac grew up to be a strong, confident smart-ass that he was and joined the army, just like Jack did when he was his age. Jack was worried sick of course but knowing that Riley was well and safe having her own life working as an IT-Security Specialist at a think tank, he relisted.
They were lucky enough, with Jack’s connections, to be sent on mission together, so he could have Mac’s back at all times.
***
After a while his back started to ache and he carefully slipped Mac’s hand onto the mattrace. Jack straightened up and stretched his limps and spine when he noticed Mac’s fingers twitch. He was right back at his side gently raising the kid’s hand into his, hoping he would feel him and wake up.
“Mac, hey Mac, can you hear me? Can you wake up for me please?”
Without opening his eyes, Mac whispered under his oxygen mask “Hey brother...”