Chapter Text
ONE EARLY MORNING AT MAC’S HOUSE... A FEW MONTHS AFTER CUTTING TIES WITH THE GOVERNMENT...
*
“Don’t leave me... not like this.” A voice said.
Mac heard a voice while he had flatlined in the hyperbaric chamber.
He then saw a white flash but more importantly; he heard the voice again, echoing in the background - saying the same words to him.
“Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me.” The voice repeated.
Mac then saw visions of the team. His friends. People he cared about the most.
The visions played like it was a video, each one being a memory that Mac had with that person.
Riley. Desi. Bozer. Matty. Russ and then Riley again, in that order.
But it was the last one with Riley that had stuck with Mac, the most.
Not only because it was another vision of her but it was multiple visions, back to back.
No one else on the team had multiple visions.
Just her.
As the visions with Riley played; Mac heard the voice again.
He knew it was Riley, calling out to him.
“Mac ? Mac ? Mac. Mac.” She said, before the sound of his heartbeat was heard and he came back.
*
Mac suddenly woke up, gasping for air and felt some sweat on his forehead.
He soon realised it was just a dream and he was in his bedroom.
Alone.
By himself.
This wasn’t the first time he had this dream and technically; it wasn’t a dream.
It was a memory.
A memory that Mac couldn’t stop thinking about.
Once he had calmed down and breathed slowly through his nose; Mac turned his head to see the other half of his bed empty.
He moved his hand over the sheets and felt them. They felt cold.
It had been like that for a while.
A lot of things had changed recently.
The Phoenix had cut ties with the government after learning their involvement with the nanotrackers.
The very thing that had put Mac and Riley through hell and almost had killed Mac, just trying to get rid of them and out of their bodies.
Mac and Desi had broken up a month later, after discovering that Desi’s fiancé, Evan - was still alive.
They had rescued him and Desi immediately went back to him, ending it with Mac.
It was for the best.
They both knew it.
But that didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt, because it did.
And then weeks later; Riley suddenly quit the Phoenix with no explanation.
It was only five days later, where she returned and finally explained her secret assignment given to her by Matty.
Turns out, the nanotrackers were still in play and because the Phoenix had cut ties with the government, they were on their own and couldn’t take the risk of being linked to bringing down the company who made the nanotrackers.
It was too dangerous and risky.
So, Riley had to pretend she had quit and gone by herself - with Brooklyn and Sara from the Brink, assisting her.
Before she could even leave her apartment; Mac had turned up, wanting some answers.
Riley refused to give him any, only asking him to trust her, like she had always trusted him.
And that’s what Mac did.
He told her that he trusted her and her let her go, despite how much it hurt them both inside.
Five days had passed and Riley had returned with Brooklyn and Sara by her side, revealing that her mission was a success.
The nanotrackers were gone for good and while Russ was slightly pissed that Matty had kept him in the dark; everyone else welcomed back Riley with open arms.
Matty had even offered Brooklyn and Sara a job at the Phoenix, much to Russ’ disapproval but one death stare from Matty, made Russ quickly change his mind.
When everyone else had eventually left the war room; it was just Mac and Riley by themselves.
Riley explained she did what she had to do and Mac understood her reason.
The two hugged and left it there, not bringing it up again.
But as Mac watched Riley leave the room, he felt his heart racing for her.
He wanted to grab hold of her and tell her how he truly felt but he didn’t.
Mac believed Riley didn’t have any feelings for him any more and so, he remained quiet.
Life had went on for the team for the next few months, each one of them ready to embrace for what the future had in store for them.
But Mac wasn’t feeling too hopeful for the future.
He didn’t see anything to look forward to.
He had his friends and his job but that was pretty much it.
Desi had left him and gone back to Evan but Mac wasn’t heartbroken too much by that.
And it seemed Riley didn’t have any feelings for him any more, so Mac left it be.
He remained quiet and hardly talked in debriefs anymore, which did not go unnoticed by Riley and Bozer.
They noticed how he hardly said a word and would give each other looks, being concerned for Mac.
Even when their missions were over; Mac would sometimes come up with the excuse of having to stay and work in the lab, instead of going home and hanging out with his friends.
And that’s what Mac did for a while.
Get up. Shower, get changed, eat and go to work.
Rinse and repeat.
And now; as Mac stared at the empty side of his bed, he thought it was just gonna be another day of doing the same old stuff.
He sighed before turning back over and removed the covers from himself and sat up on the edge of the bed, noticing the time on his alarm clock.
6:03.
A small smile briefly appeared on his face upon seeing it.
“If Riley was here and heard me building something, she would say ‘It’s 6:03, Mac.’ like she did before.” Mac thought.
Except Riley wasn’t living here with him anymore and soon, Mac’s small smile had faded.
He got out of bed and walked to the kitchen - making himself some coffee.
As he blew some air into the drink to cool it down a bit before a taking sip; Mac looked around his surroundings and remembered how quiet it was around the house.
No girlfriend.
No roommate.
Just him. By himself.
Mac sighed again because of it.
He hated the quietness.
Mac took a sip of his coffee and repeatedly tapped his mug with his thumb as he stared around the quiet room.
He was literally bored out of his goddamn mind.
Finishing his coffee; Mac decided to have a shower and get changed and then go to work.
He had nothing to do here, so he figured he might as well head in early.
AT THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION, THE WAR ROOM...
Mac walked in by himself to find Matty and Russ already in the war room, chatting with each other.
“Hey.” He says, alerting them to his presence.
“Mac, what are you doing here ? You weren’t called in. As a matter of fact, it’s early, even for you.” Matty says.
Mac shrugs his shoulders at her.
“I couldn’t sleep and I don’t have anything to do around the house, so I figured I come in early. What about you two ? Why are you here already ?” Mac asks them.
He noticed the concerned looks on their faces as they talked before he entered the room just a moment ago.
“Well; something has come up actually. About 2 hours ago, a friend of mine in the FBI contacted me and informed me of a problem he is currently dealing with.” Russ says.
Mac folded his arms as Russ tapped on his tablet and brought a picture of a young couple on the big screen behind him.
“This is Josh and Meaghan Turner. A young married couple who are in hiding after accidentally witnessing a money laundering scheme going down, near downtown LA. They were spotted and managed to escape but luckily, Meaghan had took some pictures with her phone of the operation before they were caught.” Russ says.
“The couple soon got in contact with the FBI and Russ’ friend was put in charge of leading the case. He put the Turners in hiding in a cottage in Alaska, keeping them safe there for over a year, while he and the bureau built a case against the criminals behind the money scheme but so far, the criminals haven’t been caught, due to them managing to escape before the FBI closed in on them.” Matty adds.
Mac nods at them as Russ continues.
“For the past year; my friend has been keeping in touch with them in secret, making sure they are safe and updating them on any progress in the case. But recently; he’s been having trouble getting in contact with them. They’ve gone quiet and due to him and his team leading the operation back here in LA, he can’t spare any agents to fly over there, find them and report back. Hence the reason we’re here today. He’s willing to pay the Phoenix for their services by finding the Turners and reporting back.” Russ says.
“So it’s a simple recon mission. Nothing else. I can do it.” Mac tells them, surprising Matty and Russ that he is volunteering to go by himself for this mission.
The two look at each other, before looking back at Mac.
“Mac, you don’t have to go by yourself. Wait for the others, first.” Matty tells him.
“Matty, it’s a simple recon mission. Nothing else. There’s no need to bring in the rest of the team. I got this.” Mac replies.
“You sure about this, Angus ?” Russ asks.
“Yes, I got this. Send me the coordinates and i’ll get going.” Mac says.
“Alright then but if you run into any trouble, you leave immediately. Also; you should know that the Turners had put a insurance plan in motion before they went to the FBI.” Russ says.
“What kind of insurance plan ?” Mac asks.
“The Turners wanted to make sure they would be kept safe and protected the FBI. Their word wasn’t good enough for them, so they coped the pictures from Meaghan’s phone onto a hard drive and kept it hidden, until the criminals were caught. That hard drive is the only evidence that proves of the money laundering scheme. We need to make sure if the Turners still have it on them or not.” Matty says.
“Got it. I’ll keep a eye out.” Mac replies.
“Since you’re going by yourself and this is a recon mission; you won’t be flying over in the jet. I’ll arrange a pilot to fly you over there in a small private airplane.” Russ says.
“Copy that. I’ll contact you once I find their cottage.” Mac tells them before leaving the room.
A FEW HOURS LATER IN ALASKA... IT’S ALWAYS COLD HERE...
After hours spent on small plane with the pilot and eventually landing, to begin walking through so much snow in the freezing cold for about a hour or two; Mac finally found the cottage that the Turners were supposedly living and hiding in for a year.
Even wearing a big warm coat, gloves and hat, couldn’t stop Mac from feeling cold.
He huffed, seeing his breath leaving his mouth - as he got tried to contact Matty and Russ through the comms.
“M-Matty, I found the cottage.” Mac informs them as brings out a pair of binoculars.
He was a few meters away from where the cottage was and zoomed in through the scope of the binoculars to see if anything was off with the place.
“You see anything yet, Mac ?” Matty asks.
“Nothing yet... wait, hold on. The front door is slightly open.” Mac says.
Matty and Russ look at each other.
“That’s not a good sign.” Russ says.
“No, it isn’t.” Matty replies.
“I’m gonna take a closer look.” Mac informs them.
“Be careful, Mac.” Matty tells him.
“Always am.” He replies.
Mac slowly steps closer to the cottage, eventually reaching the door.
He counts to five in his head before slowly and quietly opening the door and enters, closing it behind him.
Unfortunately; Mac had found the living room ransacked and tossed over, with the bodies and Josh and Meaghan lying on the floor.
They were dead.
Both shot in the head.
Mac was saddened to see this and closed his eyes - shaking his head because of it.
“Matty. Russ. The Turners... they’re dead.” Mac informs them.
“What ?” Matty replies.
“They’re here. Both have been shot in the head. They’re gone.” Mac says.
Matty and Russ were saddened by this news.
They were not expecting this to happen.
“We’ll let Russ’ friend know about them. What about the hard drive ? Do you see it anywhere ?” Matty asks.
Mac shakes his head as he looks around the place.
The whole cottage looked like it had been turned upside down.
“I can’t find anything. Whoever killed them, might already have it and is now gone or they couldn’t find it. Maybe the Turners didn’t have it on them. They kept it hidden somewhere else, just in case. I know I would.” Mac says.
Russ and Matty nod in agreement with Mac, thinking that is one possibility.
“Somebody knew where they hiding and found them and killed them. We’re gonna need to look into this.” Russ says, with Matty agreeing with him.
“Right. So, what no...” Mac says before stopping and hears a noise coming from another room.
“Mac, what was that ?” Matty asks.
“I just heard something. I’m gonna check it out.” He whispers back quietly.
Mac tip toes carefully and opens a door to find the room empty but he can still hear a noise.
He looks to his right to see a big brown chest drawer.
“Mac, what do you see ?” Russ asks.
“There’s something in here. It’s coming from the bottom drawer.” Mac says.
Matty and Russ stare at the screen in confusion as they listen to Mac step closer to the drawer.
He leans down and opens it.
To his surprise; Mac finds a baby inside the drawer.
The infant immediately sees Mac and starts making quiet coo noises at him.
“Uh, guys... there’s a baby here.” Mac informs them.
“I’m sorry... did you just say you found a baby ?” Russ asks.
“Yeah. Literally. It’s a girl. Looks around a month old from what I can tell. She doesn’t look hurt or anything.” Mac says as he stares at the baby.
She was wearing small, cute pink baby overalls.
The baby started to cry, with Mac immediately trying to calm her down.
“Shush... hey, hey. It’s alright. You’re safe, now.” Mac quietly says, gently touching her.
Picking her up gently; Mac holds the baby in his arms - who has now stopped crying.
He watches the baby suddenly embrace him by burying her face into his neck and wraps her small arms around his neck as well.
He hears her making a cute baby noise as she holds onto him and once she did; Mac felt his heart skip a beat.
He soon felt something for her.
Like he needed to protect her.
Keep her safe.
He couldn’t put it into words but the look on his face said it all as he held her.
“Matty. Russ. I’m heading back to the plane with the baby. I’m not leaving her.” Mac tells them.
“Mac, just wait a minute. We need to come up with a plan.” Russ tells him.
“That can wait until I get back to the Phoenix. Right now, this baby is the priority. I’ll see you soon.” Mac replies before wrapping the baby up inside his big warm coat.
As he headed out; Mac kept the baby from seeing the horror that was in the living room.
Keeping the baby’s face buried into his chest, Mac opened the door but before he left, he turned his head back around and saw Josh and Meaghan’s bodies again.
He looked saddened again by seeing this but right now; getting the baby to safety was his number one priority.
“I’ll keep her safe. I promise.” He says before leaving and closing the door behind him.
Continued in the next chapter...