Chapter Text
“Hey, I mean it. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says. You’ll always have me.”
“Promise?”
“What else are big brothers for?”
“Come on, did you seriously just say that? That’s so lame. Besides, you didn’t even actually promise... And you’re only like a minute older, you can’t keep bringing that up all the time.”
“Alright, alright, I promise. But I still say it’s old enough to count. You know, studies have shown that— Ow! Hey, if you’re gonna be violent, I’ll take it back…”
“No you won’t.”
“...No, I won’t.”
“Are you with us, Blondie?”
“Hm?” Mac blinks out of his memories to find that the team is staring at him. How long had he been tuned out? “Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry, just… got lost in thought.”
“Everything alright in the ol’ melon?” Jack murmurs, only half-subtly.
Mac nods. “I’m fine, Jack.”
In truth, the revelation of Oversight’s identity has had him distracted for a while now. At first, he had even debated whether or not to stay on at the Phoenix at all, but ultimately, he couldn’t stand to leave the others behind. No matter how angry he is, he can’t just leave. Where else would he go? What would even be the point? Especially if he’s right, especially if—
Now’s not the time to think about that.
“Well if you’re done staring off into space,” Matty says, one eyebrow arched in what is a rather moderate amount of judgement for her. “I think we can consider this debrief over. Everybody go home. You’ve earned it. Now, go get some re—”
“You guys need to see this, like right now.” Jill barely even pauses to close the door behind her as she makes it to the table in three quick strides, laptop keys already clacking. Her urgent posture has the rest of them immediately on alert. “You know how I’ve got that algorithm set to be constantly dragging the internet and darkwebs for traces of Murdoc? Well, it just sent up the alarm, in a major way.”
Mac’s spine stiffens at the name. Of course, they could never be done with the psychopathic assassin. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots Riley reaching for her own rig, slipping into one of the chairs from where she had just moments ago been packing up to leave. Bozer moves to help Jill get the info up on the screen.
“What? Where?” Jack demands.
“The FBI,” Jill answers. “They just filed a report. A member of the Behavioral Analysis Team went missing from her home.”
“Okay, so an FBI agent went missing,” Jack says testily. “What does that have to do with the detector goin’ ding? Just cut to the chase here, Janice.”
“Not my name…” she mutters. The War Room screen blinks to life, and Jill sits back, gesturing to the image now plastered over it. “This… was left at the scene.”
What is clearly a crime scene photo shows a bare apartment wall. Well, almost bare. Scrawled across the bland surface in bright crimson are the words “BE SEEING YOU.”
“Please tell me that’s paint…” Bozer groans.
The corners of Jill’s mouth tighten.
Riley sighs. “Definitely not paint… The DNA matched that of their agent, and it looks like the unit’s technical analyst then ran those words as part of the database search that resulted in our ‘ding’.”
Mac steps closer to the screen to study the photo. Why would Murdoc be trying to get his attention through an unknown FBI agent? He’s always been the type to make things personal and obvious, never subtle.
“One thing that was really weird though was that I couldn’t get any information on the agent,” Jill explains, glancing around at the team. “It’s like all the files are sealed off, even from the BAU.”
“Riley?”
“On it. And…” She suddenly falters. “This can’t…”
“Ri?” Jack prompts.
She looks past him and right at Mac. “This doesn’t make any sense. It says… Agent MacGyver.” A few more clicks, and the file she’d been looking at appears on the screen over top of the incident report.
MACGYVER, B E, reads the government-issue ID.
Beside it, a pair of hauntingly familiar blue eyes stare out from beneath a golden-blonde fringe.
And suddenly, it all comes together.
Bozer breaks the silence. “What in the Twilight Zone is goin on here?”
Jack gapes at the monitor. “I second Bozer…” He turns to Mac. “What’s this all about, man?”
There’s confusion and concern and a little bit of hurt written in his face, but Mac is frozen. The sight of that face has him locked in place.
She’s alive.
At least, she is for now. But who’s to say, now that Murdoc has her.
Murdoc has her.
His heartbeat pounds in his ears, the rush making it impossible to ground himself, until he catches sight of the Director. Her mouth is pressed in a thin line, her gaze distantly scanning the file on the screen.
“Did you know?” He can’t stop the near-accusation from slipping out with a short bite. It had been bad enough finding out she hadn’t told him about his father all that time, but at least that he can understand. Her career had been on the line; his dad is her boss. She couldn’t have told him, but she still tried to lead him to the truth.
This, though? It feels like a betrayal.
She doesn’t - won’t? - look at him.
“Matty,” he pushes, “Did you know?”
The others are all watching her too now, though they’re still in the dark as to the true depth of the situation.
Matty sighs, so softly that Mac barely hears. It’s a resigned sigh, a quiet determination.
Then, suddenly, she straightens.
“I never saw this,” is all she says before she turns and walks right out of the room.
Riley faces the others with raised eyebrows. Bozer opens and closes his mouth, exchanging confused glances with Jill, but Jack’s gaze, oddly pensive, lingers on the closed door through which the Director had disappeared.
Mac is lost for words, trying to ignore the shattered shards slicing through his heart.
Bozer breaks the silence.
“Man, what the hell? Why’s Matty actin’ so weird?”
“She’s givin’ us time,” Jack explains, putting out a placating hand. “I betcha anything your old man’s got her hands tied on this, Mac— whatever's goin’ on. If she’s caught on record as knowing about this tidbit, then Oversight’d probably freeze us out. But, if Jill just-so-happened to run in here with this news right after Matty left an’ the team decided to just run with it… Well, that’s a different story.”
The icy pain in Mac’s chest gradually smooths and begins to melt away as he sees the logic in that. One of these days, he’s going to learn to trust Matty without reservations.
Riley nods. “Well… it’s a shame Jill just missed her, then.” She turns to Mac. “But now you really need to tell us what’s going on.”
“Yeah man, you gotta completely level with us, here,” Bozer adds. “Who is this chick that looks like if you got turned into a lady, and why’s she got your name on top of that?”
Mac runs a hand through his hair, turning back to the screen. There’s really no easy way to say it. Best go for the direct approach. “She’s my sister.”
To their credit, the others don’t react to the announcement. An expectant silence lingers while they wait for him to continue.
Trying to buy himself some time, Mac swallows back his emotions. “Riley, can you find anything else in her file?”
She nods and puts her keyboard back to work.
Mac exhales slowly.
“I haven’t seen her since I was ten years old. My dad… took her with him when he left me,” he begins, pointedly ignoring all the old hurts the subject brings up. It’s as good a place as any to start, if he can just push down the years of loneliness, of feeling worthless, of wondering why…
“I asked him about her, you know- when we found out about him being Oversight… I asked him outright what happened to her, where she was. But he acted so cagey about it all that I thought—” He isn’t too proud to admit that his voice broke a little there. “I thought she must have died. I couldn’t see any other reason why he wouldn’t just tell me. I mean, even if she didn’t want anything to do with me anymore…”
Beside him, Jack’s posture has gone rigid, his arms drawn up across his chest. He gets like this sometimes, when he starts getting pissed on Mac’s behalf. Normally, Mac would call him out for overreacting, but right now… he can’t help but agree.
“You had a right to know,” Jack bites out. “And if it was some kinda messed up idea of protectin’ the two of ya, well-” -he scoffs. “See how well that worked out…”
“What’s her name?” Bozer asks gently.
Some traitorous part of Mac’s mind can’t help but wonder, how many secrets can he keep throwing at his best friend before he’s had enough?
Still, in spite of everything, Mac can’t stop a smile at the thought of his sister, at getting the chance to talk about her after so long. “I always called her Halley.”
“Halley? Like that comet you’re always geeking out about?” Bozer’s eyebrow is raised in judgement, but like a good friend, he doesn’t comment further.
Jack, on the other hand, snorts in response before Mac can explain, picking up from that carefully-worded sentence what he isn’t saying. “I take it it’s just a family thing to have rotten luck with first names then?”
The replying shrug is answer enough.
Riley interrupts the Q&A when she pulls up a few new windows onto the monitor.
“Here’s what I was able to uncover…” she explains, “But her file is still pretty sparse. Probably Oversight’s meddling.”
First, middle, and last name: Brigit Ellen MacGyver. Emergency contact information with a single, nameless phone number listed. Address. Years of service in the BAU.
Anything else is redacted.
Jack gives a low whistle. “Was your dad just bored when he named you two or somethin’?” Everyone else in the room narrows their eyes at him, and he shrugs defensively. “What? I’m just sayin’! Nothin’ like namin’ your kids straight off’a fast food menu and a History Channel special.”
A long, bone-weary sigh escapes before Mac can clamp down on it.
“Really, man?” Bozer hisses. “So not the time!”
In lieu of adding to the number of people currently glaring at Jack, Jill peers over Riley’s shoulder. “What are you doing?”
Riley tears her pointed stare away from Jack and adjusts her screen. “Well, it’s like Jack was saying. We can’t let Oversight know we’re onto this. Strictly speaking, we aren’t on this, or even aware of it, so we’ve gotta go civilian style. I’m just setting up our cover.” She pauses, looking up at Mac. “I mean, I’m assuming we’re going after MacGyver Number Two?” A small smirk tugs at her lips. “Unless she’s the older twin…”
Mac good-naturedly rolls his eyes. “I’m older.”
Bozer snorts.
“Yeah yeah…” Jack waves off the banter. “So what’s our cover then?”
Riley nods, back to business. “I’m guessing this anonymous number for her EC is Oversight… right now I’m breaking into her personnel file to swap it out for Mac’s number since there’s no name anyway. And just in case anyone happens to notice the change, I’ve got a forged and backdated Contact Info Update Form waiting in the wings.”
Jill picks up her own laptop. “You’ll need some room to work… I’ll run interference here at HQ. Starting with excusing your absence…” She clicks a few keys, then fake gasps. “Oh would you look at that, some silly intern misplaced those vacation requests you guys put in two weeks ago… Good thing I found those. You’re all approved and ready to go as soon as this evening. Enjoy the Smithsonian.”
Jack chuckles. “I knew I liked you, Judy.”
Her grin melts into an exasperated glance towards the ceiling. “It’s Jill…”
“And cover-wise, what is it we’re doing in DC?” Bozer points out. “The FBI is gonna wanna know why the brother from LA just-so-happens to be in the area, along with his whole crew, and I doubt ‘suspiciously well-timed vacation’ is gonna cut it.”
“I’ve got that covered too,” Riley says, and with a few clicks, there’s a digital event brochure up on the screen. “We’re at a business conference on behalf of the Phoenix Foundation think tank. I just booked our rooms.”
Bozer whoops. “Man, after all those years of being fed the ‘business conference’ cover story, now we’re actually gonna go to one? Nice!”
Jack, on the other hand, groans. “Nah man, these things are boring as all get out unless you’re a nerd.” He rolls his eyes. “Oh wait. I forgot who I’m in the room with.”
Riley zips up her rig. “Suck it up and pack a bag. We’re going to the Capitol.”