Childlike
Mac is sitting on his deck, tinkering with a broken microscope when there's a light knock on the front door. Bozer is having breakfast with Leanna, so Mac is home alone, and with that thought in mind, he grabs his phone as he stands and heads for the door. Mac dials Jack's number, and his thumb hovers over the enter button as he peers through the peephole, frowning when he sees no one at the door. With his free hand, Mac unlocks the door and pulls it open, looking down to see if someone has left him a package—and freezing when he sees a familiar child, no more than ten years old, staring up at him.
"Are you Mr. MacGyver?" The boy asks as Mac's thumb comes down on his phone. Mac puts the phone up to his ear as he steps back, allowing the child into the house. The call connects after half a ring and Mac gestures for the kid to sit down in the living room.
"Mac?" Jack asks, and Mac runs his free hand through his hair.
"Get the team to my house," Mac says. "We've got a small problem."
"How small are we talking, brother?" Jack asks worriedly.
"About 4'2"," Mac replies. "And his name is Cassian."
"Cassian, what are you doing here?" Matty asks sweetly, sitting down on the chair across from the boy in question, who is sitting beside Mac on his couch. As soon as Mac ended his call to Jack, Cassian repeated his earlier question, and when Mac confirmed that he was, indeed, MacGyver, Cassian sat down on the couch beside him and refused to move.
Cassian ignores Matty entirely, looking up at Mac's face and then down to the paperclip in his hands, which Mac has been manipulating feverishly ever since the rest of his team arrived—Mac knows that Cassian is by no means his father, but Murdoc must be involved in this somehow, and the memories of his past encounters with the assassin are not ones that Mac enjoys reliving.
"Mr. MacGyver, I'm scared," Cassian says softly, and Mac pauses, biting his lip. He's not great with kids—he's not great with people in general if he's honest—but Cassian seems to be focused on him, so it looks like he's going to have to be the one doing the talking.
"Why?" Mac asks as nicely as he can, channeling his inner Momma Bozer as he speaks. "Cassian, how did you find my house?"
"My daddy has a bunch of pictures of it," Cassian says, frowning. Mac glances at Matty, who looks worried, and Jack, who looks angry. "Mr. MacGyver, is my daddy a bad guy?"
"What do you mean?" Mac asks nervously, well aware that Cassian doesn't have any knowledge of Murdoc's day job—or at least, he didn't.
"We learned about some bad guys at school once," Cassian explains. "They sounded a lot like my daddy."
"How so?" Matty asks.
"They had guns and knives and funny laughs, just like my daddy," Cassian says. "And sometimes they make people disappear, just like my daddy does."
"Disappear?" Mac repeats hesitantly—regardless of who his father is, Cassian is just a kid, and he deserves to keep his innocence. How much of Murdoc's life does his son know about?
"Sometimes he brings people home with him, and they go to the basement," Cassian explains. "My daddy tells me that they've gone back to their houses, but I never see them leave. I don't think he's telling the truth."
"Why did you come to my house, Cassian?" Mac asks, and the boy looks up at him earnestly.
"My daddy told me about you, Mr. MacGyver," Cassian says in that sweet, innocent voice that only a child can have. "He said you were going to come to our house soon." Cassian pauses, frowning, and Mac tries very hard not to let his breathing quicken—although there isn't much he can do about the blood that drains from his face. "I don't want my daddy to make you disappear, Mr. MacGyver. So instead of going to school today, I came here."
"Cassian, how close is your house to here?" Matty asks softly, a nervous edge to her tone. Cassian points across the room at the closed front door.
"We live that way. I went to the bus stop at the corner and walked here instead of getting on the bus." Cassian says.
"Cassian got here at 8:53, and I'm pretty sure the local elementary school starts at 9," Mac says, running a hand through his hair. "Depending on the bus stop, he could have been walking anywhere from three to twelve minutes. Regardless, he lives in Hollywood Hills." As Mac's face pales a few shades, Jack's gains color, growing redder and redder by the second at the implication that Murdoc has been hiding out a few short minutes away from Mac's home. Bozer looks greatly discomforted by this revelation, as does Riley, and Leanna and Matty both tighten their jaws. "And he's a small kid, he probably wasn't walking as fast as an adult would." Mac continues with a shake of his head. "They probably live a few blocks away at the most."
"Matty, what do we do?" Riley asks, and all eyes in the room—minus Cassian, who is still looking at Mac—turn to the director.
"Everyone is going to the Phoenix Foundation." Matty decides. "No one is staying at this house until Murdoc is behind bars. Bozer, stay at Leanna's apartment. Mac, you'll be staying at Phoenix."
"Why can't I stay at Jack's place?" Mac protests immediately.
"There's no guarantee that Murdoc doesn't know where all of us live," Matty says. "You're his target, and I'm not taking any chances." Mac opens his mouth to protest again, but Matty lifts one hand to stay his argument. "You'll either be staying at Phoenix until this is over or I'll be placing you into protective custody, and you'll be staying at a safe house. I assumed you would want to be involved in this investigation." Mac nods, glaring at his hands and twisting his paperclip even more furiously. There's nothing Mac hates more than being sidelined—and it's not like that worked out very well the last time Murdoc was involved, anyway—but he has to admit that staying at his house doesn't really seem like the best idea, and Matty is probably right about Murdoc knowing where Jack lives, too.
"What about Cassian?" Mac asks instead of protesting Matty's orders. Matty nods, interpreting the change of subject as Mac's acceptance of the plan—which, he guesses, it pretty much is.
"Seeing as you're the only person he'll go within 5 feet of, it looks like he'll be staying with you," Matty says. "Murdoc will be looking for his son before long, and he finds out that Cassian came here to warn you I don't think he'll be thrilled." Cassian frowns at this, looking up at Mac once again.
"Hey, Cassian, do you want to see where I work?" Mac asks, and the boy nods hesitantly. Mac glances at his team then turns back to Cassian and hands him the paperclip he's been manipulating, which is now in the shape of a pair of headphones. Cassian smiles, tucking the paperclip carefully into his pocket and standing. Mac follows suit and holds out his hand, and Cassian grabs it, squeezing tightly as if he's afraid if he lets go, Mac will disappear.
"Let's go," Cassian says confidently, heading for the front door.
"We do need to go," Mac says to his team as he follows Cassian to the door. "Cassian's school will be calling his dad soon to tell him that Cassian didn't show up for class. We need to be gone before Murdoc decides that this is a good place to look for him." As if on cue, the window in the kitchen shatters and Mac jumps back, pulling Cassian with him and protectively wrapping his arms around the boy, who whimpers quietly.
"Oh, MacGyver!" Murdoc calls in a singsongy voice as Jack and Leanna jump into action, putting themselves between the front of the house and the rest of the team and drawing their weapons.
"Bozer, Riley, get Cassian to my room," Mac whispers urgently, attempting to pass the raven-haired boy off to his friends only to realize that Cassian has wrapped his arms around Mac's waist like an octopus.
"Don't leave me, Mr. MacGyver," Cassian begs, looking up at Mac with tears in his eyes.
"I believe that you have something that belongs to me!" Murdoc shouts, and another window shatters, this time next to the front door.
"Mac, go with him!" Jack whisper-shouts, waving one hand aggressively at his partner. Mac scowls but complies, heading toward the back of the house with Cassian practically hanging off of him, unsurprisingly terrified out of his mind. It's only when he reaches his bedroom that Mac realizes he and Cassian are alone—Bozer, Riley, and Matty either stayed with Jack and Leanna or went into another room.
That's about the same time that Mac registers a distinct lack of mocking shouts or gunfire, and by then, it's far too late.
"Mr. MacGyver!" Cassian screams as something slams into the back of Mac's head, sending stars bursting across his vision. Mac groans, collapsing to the ground as his knees buckle beneath him. "Mr. MacGyver!" Cassian cries out as a pair of too-familiar hands grab the boy's arms, dragging him out of Mac's sight.
"It's time to play, MacGyver." Murdoc's voice is right in Mac's ear, and he flinches away, only to groan again when the movement sends stabbing pain through his temples and makes the whole world darken several shades. Mac's eyelids flutter as he wages a losing battle against the darkness, praying that his friends realize something is wrong before it's too late.
"Mac?" Bozer's voice echoes through Mac's mind, but it sounds far away, and far too calm for Bozer to know what's happening to his best friend.
"And guess what?" Murdoc continues gleefully. "This time, we'll have a special guest." Hands wrap around Mac's wrists, and he groans, fighting weakly and only aggravating his monster headache. "Well, we can't have that," Murdoc says thoughtfully, dropping Mac's wrists. There's another sharp pain, this time in Mac's neck and his eyes close of their own accord as his fight against unconsciousness finally fails.
The last thing Mac remembers is the sound of a door clicking shut and a chorus of muffled, frantic shouts from at least three different voices.
"Mac!"