Role Reversal
Mac stops outside of the house and frowns, his eyes automatically drawn to the wide-open front door.
Okay, here's a tip most horror aficionados already know: an open door is never good.
"Hello?" Mac asks, cautiously poking his head inside.
But that's only in the movies, right? I mean, the guy who lives here could've just left it open.
Mac pushes the door open the rest of the way, and his frown deepens when he sees that the furniture in the entryway has been knocked over.
Or he could be dead somewhere, after a violent struggle for his life.
Mac pauses when he hears the sound of someone moving, hand inching toward the pocket where his Swiss Army Knife is resting.
Oh, and in case you're wondering what I'm doing here, let me start from the beginning.
"Mac? What are you doing here?" Matty asks as Mac takes the seat across from her, clasping his hands together in front of him.
"We need to talk," Mac says simply.
"Okay," Matty replies. "It's gonna have to wait. I'm about to start a meeting." Mac smirks at this and Matty frowns.
"With Deputy Director Michaels of the FBI's LA field office?" Mac questions. "Yeah, he's not coming. I canceled your lunch." Mac opens his bag and pulls out a printed copy of the file Riley gave him. "Do you know what's on this?" Mac asks rhetorically. "Probably not, so I'll tell you: it's the complete, unredacted dossier you compiled on my father."
"If that's true, do you have any idea how many laws you're breaking by being in possession of it?" Matty asks.
"Oh, yeah," Mac replies offhandedly. "But I'm not here to talk about what I've done. This is about what you've done. You investigated my father for months, Matty. Ran surveillance on him, tapped his phones, had him followed. You even interrogated him yourself, for a week. But when I asked you if you knew my father, you lied to my face. And now, you're gonna tell me why." Matty hesitates, clearly struggling internally about something. After a minute, she looks back up at him and shakes her head.
"MacGyver, I can neither confirm nor deny any details related to any investigation that I may have been a part of during my tenure at the CIA," Matty merely says, and Mac scowls.
"That's it? That's your answer?" He asks incredulously.
"It's the only answer I can give you," Matty replies.
"Well, then, this is gonna be a lot easier than I thought," Mac says with a shake of his head. "I cannot work with someone I do not trust, so I quit."
"I'm sorry, Mac, but you can't quit," Matty says, sounding almost sympathetic. "Not like this."
"Just did." Mac points out, standing to leave.
"You can't quit to me, because I don't have final say," Matty explains hesitantly. "Oversight does. So if you really want to quit, you need to tell him, in person." Mac pauses, then nods, fixing Matty with an impatient look.
"How do I find Oversight?"
And that is how I ended up in this ransacked McMansion.
Mac rounds a corner and spots a man with his back to him, messing with something in what appears to be some kind of chest. He takes a step forward, and the floorboard creaks beneath his foot, causing him to freeze instinctively.
"Wouldn't take another step if I were you." The man says without turning around. "That weak floorboard is actually a pressure plate attached to an IED."
"You're lying," Mac replies, his voice much more confident than he feels. IEDs aren't exactly something he likes to take risks with.
"Maybe." The man says. "Take another step, and we'll see." He pauses, still not turning around to face Mac. "What do you want?"
"Director Webber sent me here to speak with Oversight," Mac says hesitantly—there's no guarantee that he's not talking to someone he shouldn't be.
"Oh, then, you got him." The man says, turning around, and Mac's eyes widen.
"Dad?" He asks in disbelief, and the man grins, reaching for the gun at his side.
"Duck!" A voice yells behind Mac, and he instinctively obeys, dropping to the ground just as his father starts firing. "Time to go!" The same voice repeats and a hand grabs Mac's arm, pulling him to his feet. Mac sprints after the stranger, glancing over his shoulder just once to see that his father has disappeared.
"Who are you?" Mac asks breathlessly as he drives away from the house—and his father—with the stranger in the passenger seat of his Jeep.
"Oversight." The man replies. "Also known as Jonah Walsh."