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LOLGarageDoor
Always with da advices.
icanhastofu.com
Episode: The Battle of Tommy Giordano, Season 4 Screen Capture from: macsyourman
Always with da advices.
icanhastofu.com
Episode: The Battle of Tommy Giordano, Season 4 Screen Capture from: macsyourman
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Present Day
His phone rang, and Mac picked it up, squishing it between his head and his shoulder as he continued to rapidly type strings of code. “MacGyver,” he said in greeting, focus still on the screen in front of him.
“…Quit typing, or I’ll come and cover your computer screen with duct tape,” a rough voice grumbled. Mac quirked an eyebrow, and just for the sake of making a point, kept typing.
“Jack, what’s up?” he asked. There was a pause where his brother took notice of the continuing tapping of keys, and Mac was awarded with an annoyed huff.
“Wanna go fishing sometime soon?”
“Sure, your cabin?” Hmmm, that code should have been shorter…where was the redundant part…
“Actually, was thinking a bit closer to home.”
Mac frowned, partly at the code, partly at his brother. “Didn’t know you had a pond in your back yard in Colorado Springs.”
“Wrong home,” his brother added cryptically, before adding, “I warned you!”
Catching on just a touch too late, Mac whirled around in his chair as his brother entered his houseboat. Immediately, he stood protectively in front of his computer. The roll of duct tape in his brother’s hand merely emphasized that the threat was real.
“You could have just said ‘hi’ like any normal person,” Mac countered. Jack paused, tilting his head. “I suppose you’re right…”
They continued to stare at each other for a while. Then Jack threw his hands up in surrender. “Alright already, it’s been too long since we last saw each other.” He rolled his eyes, and put the duct tape back in his duffel bag.
Mac smirked, relaxing his stance. “Well, whose fault is that?”
Jack huffed, and muttered something under his breath, but when he turned back to his brother, Mac could see the genuine affection and longing in his eyes. And now that he looked more carefully, also a distinct weariness. “You work too hard,” Mac grumbled. “Beer?”
Jack nodded, turning to sit on the couch. The events from three weeks ago hadn’t left him alone. He’d known he would have to deal with a whole lot of emotions first before he could face his brother without blowing the secret of Cheyenne Mountain. That had been…unpleasant.
A cold beer being dangled in front of his face interrupted his thoughts. “Thanks,” he acknowledged, accepting the bottle. Mac sat down across from him with his own beverage.
“So… why are you here?” Mac asked after a short silence.
“Remember when the garage exploded?” Jack asked. Mac blinked in surprise.
“Yes, of course.” Jack had been in the Air Force, but while he was on leave, he was living home with Mac again. Mac had had several projects and experiments he’d been working on in the garage. One of them had been rather special, and Mac’s archaeological heart still ached for the loss of that strange document with the odd drawing. He had tried to create a three-dimensional model of it, but he’d had to improvise heavily. All had been lost in the explosion. And though he’d tried, he hadn’t been able to replicate it from memory. And of course, it was rather overshadowed by the fact that they had lost pretty much every tangible memorabilia they’d had of their deceased parents. In particular the few photos they had. The fire brigade had managed to salvage a few odds and ends, but none of those held any special memories for the brothers.
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Mac winced. Why was Jack bringing this up? The explosion had happened under suspicious circumstances… had something come up after all those years? While his memories of what had happened just before the explosion had seemed very real to him, he had to admit that they seemed a bit far-fetched… and he had had a pretty bad concussion. In the end, he had decided that his concussed mind had played a trick on him. Maybe now they’d finally figured out what had caused the explosion? No, that would also be weird. It had happened years ago, and the police were busy enough trying to solve current cases.
Jack had been studying his brother’s face, watched as the emotions were clearly displayed. Well, for him at least.
When his brother had claimed all those years ago, that a strange man had been inside the garage, one who had saluted Mac before the garage door closed and an explosion had caused severe damage on the interior of the house, Jack had been doubtful. His brother had had a pretty bad concussion, and his claims that he’d gotten the concussion before the explosion rather than because of it, had not exactly helped the credibility of his story. Of course there had been an investigation, but there had been no remains of a human body in there. And if Mac had been even somewhat right, there was no way someone could have escaped that explosion. So he had grudgingly concluded that Mac’s concussion was to blame for the unbelievable story. The exact cause of the explosion had remained a mystery.
And now here he was, all these years later, with the fresh knowledge that Mac had been completely and utterly right. And with the unexpected and almost cruel twist that he, Jack himself, had been responsible for his brother’s concussion, for destroying those precious memorabilia, and for the pain that loss had brought over the years. Not a picture of their parents left. Luckily Harry had still had some old pictures of their mother when she was young. But that was it.
No, Jack corrected himself, that used to be it. He shook off the melancholy mood, and smiled. The smile took his brother by surprise.
“What?” Mac asked suspiciously.
Jack knew he’d have to twist the truth, but he hoped the surprise would be enough to ward off any suspicions.
“Well, you know how we thought all the photographs were gone?”
Mac’s wince turned quickly into an angry frown. Had to be angry, because otherwise that tiny sliver of hope would cut through, and he couldn’t bear the thought of having that hope crushed. Angry it was then. “Don’t be cruel, Jack.”
Jack gave him a knowing look, and cut to the chase. “Not all of them. Found some.”
A strangled whisper escaped Mac. “Jack, please…” he begged, not sure for what exactly.
“I was at my cabin, just flipping through some of Grandpa O’Neill’s old books… I guess Mom had had a few photographs ordered double.” As he spoke, he carefully withdrew the two photographs he’d salvaged while his team had dialed the gate.
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Mac hardly dared to breathe. Two pictures.
One of them a wedding picture of their Mom and their biological father, John O’Neill. Their father had died when his sons were very young, killed in a bank robbery gone wrong. He’d died protecting his family.
The second picture was of the two brothers, their mother, and their stepfather, James MacGyver. It had been taken the summer before Celia Jackson and Peter had died in the car accident.
Mac stared at them in awe, his fingers hovering just over the pictures.
“I ehm, I already had them professionally copied and reprinted… several prints.” Jack shrugged self-consciously. “You can keep these… if you like.”
“You sure?” Mac asked, a quick look at his brother, who nodded, then quickly returning to look at the pictures. Finally he dared to touch them. Real. They were real. Joy bubbled up, and his eyes shone when he regarded his brother. “They’re real!”
Jack grinned and nodded. “Worth tearing your attention from those squiggly lines of code then?”
Mac pulled a face, but he couldn’t form a witty retort. It had been so long since either of them had seen a picture of their parents. Mac regarded his brother. “How about we both keep one original, and a copy of the other?” he offered. Jack raised one eyebrow. Then he nodded, his own spirits lifting as well. Mac’s joy was infectious.
Jack cleared his throat. “So…Fishing then?”
Mac chuckled. “Yes sure ya betcha.”
It was the end of the weekend when Jack left his brother’s floating home to return back to duty the next day. The two brothers looked at each other for a moment, eyes taking in as much as they could, to remember until they next saw each other again.
Then Mac spoke up. “Thank you.”
Jack shrugged. “Yeah, well, right back atcha.”
They grinned, and after a brotherly hug, Jack left.
Mac went back inside, still in a good mood. He looked over at the – now framed -pictures, and smiled. Then something caught his eye, and he groaned.
His computer screen was completely covered in duct tape, a message written across in black marker. “Warned ya.”
“Jack!!”
Jack chuckled, and quickly escaped. Served him right. Just because he’d been asked to have a look at some weird language written on a ring of stone, had not meant he had had to try and replicate that ring in the garage of their home back then. Which reminded him… he’d have to call Catherine and figure out why she had thought it a good idea to send such a drawing to a young MacGyver. And what he really wanted to know was… had his brother unknowingly contributed to the Stargate project? Not that it really mattered, he supposed. Although now he wondered… had Catherine known that Jack and Mac were brothers when Jack joined the Stargate project? Yes, he definitely had a call to make.
First things first though… As he made his way home, he started weighing the pros and cons of smuggling a GDO off base to see if it would open his garage door too…
The End
Finally. Hope you enjoyed! Sorry about hogging the space! If this should have gone somewhere else, let me know.
An enormous thank you to you, Beth, for providing the inspiration!
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Thank you! Woohoo!!
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My face is still rather swollen, even though it's already much better than what it was. I'm not complaining though; so far, the painkillers do a fantastic job at keeping the recovery pain-free. Yay!
So, yeah: back on a computer, means: I'm ba-ack! ;)
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