Work Text
Look at him, look at me
That boy is bad and honestly
He's a wolf in disguise
But I can't stop stare in those evil eyes
You come at work in a hurry and see all your colleagues already reunited in the war room. Your boss texted you early in the morning "We got something big in our hands! Come as soon as you can".You know that it can’t be other than something about the most wanted murderer around the globe. His name is Murdoc, Phoenix Foundation has been trying to catch him for almost three years now. You don’t know a lot about his past; he works on commission but he rarely earns money from his crimes, he leaves no traces behind and acts alone. He got a son, Cassian, that is under your agency’s custody.“An organization called OMNUS is trying to get in touch with Murdoc to kill a man they refer to as "the Architect". We have found out the hour and place of the meeting: Y/L/N and Dalton, you both go with a tactical squad. Don’t come back until you got him!” Matty orders you. “Y/N, we got all exits covered. Now it’s your turn.” You hear the voice of Jack Dalton, your partner on field, through the comms.You enter in the diner, the place of the meeting, you sit at a table next to the window, and start typing at your laptop."Okay Jack, I'm next the window. Can you see me?""Okay, I got you." Your partner makes you a sign from the other side of the road. The little bell over the diner's door rings, and a man walks near you to go sit two tables ahead. He's tall and blonde, around 30, and wears a black turtleneck sweater and a black leather jacket.“Jack, we got a problem. I think that Murdoc has sent someone in his place to meet the organization” you whisper in your comms.“It did look too easy for me. Y/N, can you take a pic of the man and send it to Riley?”“Of course I can.” You say pretending to type at your phone and taking a pic of the blonde man.When you move your look from the screen, you catch him looking straight at you with his blue ice eyes, frowning his eyebrows."Jack, I think that he's seen me. He’s approaching.”“Y/N, stay calm, he won’t do anything until you are in there”The young man sits at your table and say “Sorry miss, nobody has taught you that is unpolite to stare at strangers? Even worst if you take pictures of them” his deep voice makes freeze your blood in your veins.“Sorry, but I think you confused me with someone else…”A waitress is walking towards your table so he makes you sign to come closer and he whispers in your ear “I know who you are. Your name is Y/N Y/L/N, former CIA agent, now working for Phoenix Foundation, also known as ex DXS. Now I suggest you to give me your phone and leave this place with all your Phoenix friends”“What does make you think that I’m not alone?”“You didn't get me? I know all of you. I saw your partner Jack Dalton and at least four other men around the main exits. It looks pretty unusual since this diner is never so crowded”“Okay lovebirds, ready to order?” the waitress asks you.“After you, honey” he says smiling.“I really can't choose between these two cakes” you say looking at the first two options on the dessert menu."She's always so undecided. I've been lucky that she didn't have all these doubts when she chose me" he says trying to impress the waitress."Don't you worry, guys. You can call me when you're ready" she say moving to the next table."Wow, you're really at good at lying" you say sickened by his farce."It's not lying, it's just...improvising. Give me your phone and go away if you don’t want that someone will get hurt. »“Y/N, Riley received the photo. His name is Angus MacGyver, he's an ex EOD but we don’t know anything more about him for the moment.” you're glad to come back to hear your friend's voice.“Why a former EOD should work with a guy like Murdoc? I mean, you were standing with good ones.” you say sassy while he's looking around himself. “Tell me the identity of the Architect"”Murdoc got your friends under fire and he won’t think twice to press his finger on the trigger. I don’t want anybody dies, but you have to stop looking for the Architect”"How can I know that's not just a bluff?""You can't know it: but you can choose if trusting me now or crying your friends later." saying so, he gets up and walks away.You had no choice than doing as he told you, so you go out the diner and reunite with your team.
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He licked his lips, said to me
”Girl you look good enough to eat”
Put his arms around me
Said “Boy now get your paws right off me”
Matty was very disappointed by you and Jack. In the following days you lost every track of Murdoc, his fellow MacGyver and OMNUS organization. For what you know the Architect could have already been killed.Driving back home, you are already planning to go bed early and forget the last stressful days. After you unlock the door, you have no time to turn on the light of your apartment that you feel an hand grabbing you by your waist and putting a piece of fabric on your mouth and nose. You wake up in a place that is definitely not home. Your feet are tied to a chair and your hands are handcuffed to a big iron table. All is dark around you except for a little light bulb swinging over your head. You see MacGyver walking back and forth in front of you.“You, again! What kind of psycho game is this…” you say exhausted.“No games. I didn't want to hurt you but I doubt you would have come with me after our first meeting and I need you to answer some questions” he says sitting in front of you calmly. ”Do you know this man?” he shows you a photograph of a man around 50-55 years.“I’m sorry but I’ve never seen him before.”“I have reason to think that he knows your boss, Matilda Webber. Does he work at the Phoenix?”“It could be ,but I don’t know every person working there.””Let’s make a deal: help me find this man and I will give you all the information you need to stop Murdoc””Sorry, I don’t make deal with criminals”He sighs ”Then I suppose that you will stay here with me for a lot of time” he takes the pic and goes away, closing the door behind himself. You loose count of hours, but the room is getting colder and wetter, and you start to tremble. MacGyver suddenly opens the door; coming next to you, he notices your shivers and puts his leather jacket on your shoulders."What is this? A new way to humiliate your victims, showing that they need you?" you say roughly."You can just say "thank you"." He moves around the table and takes out the things he brought in a bag."Food gives relief to our brain, so maybe after you've eaten something, you will see things differently. I don't know what you like to eat, so I bought a little of this and a little of that...""Okay, stop! I don't know where have you learned this technique but it's useless with me. I will never, and I repeat never, help you in any of your shady businesses." "I just need your help to find my father. I would never ask you to do something wrong" he scoffs his head, exhausted by your rudeness."Even if this wasn't against all my and my agency's principles, how can I trust a man that works with a serial killer?""I've never killed anybody, I-I swear it. When the situation is too dangerous to Murdoc to show himself, he just sends me to meet people or to collect information in his place; and in change of this service, he gives me the resources I need to make researches about my dad.""But why did you need my help then?""Because the last missing piece of this puzzle is knowing someone that works at the Phoenix, that can help me getting informations I can't accede otherwise""I want to believe you; you can be a very useful resource to catch Murdoc, after all. I accept your deal, but I can't assure you that I will able to give you what you want: Phoenix has a strict security system to protect classified information."He cuts the rope that kept you tied at the chair and opens your handcuffs with a paperclip: "You're free""How did you do that?! I'm impressed!" you say shocked, massaging your wrists.He gives you a fabric bag to put on your head: "Sorry, but I'm still working for Murdoc for the moment. We can't risk that you know where we're hiding." When the car stops, he slowly takes off the bag from your head: ”We’re arrived”"How I will let you know if I discover something?"“Don’t worry, I will find you”You nod and open the car's door."Wait, I just want you to take this" he says holding back your arm and giving you a piece of paper, bent on itself.”What is this?” you say opening it and reading the name written on it.”It’s the identity of the Architect.””But what if Murdoc discovers that you told me...””I thought that it worth to show you that I'm honest with you. I hope that your team will arrive to him first"“Thank you” you go out the car "And be careful" then you walk towards your home seeing the car of the mysterious man fading in the darkness.
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Thanks to the information that MacGyver gave you, the Phoenix was able to save the Architect.“Y/N, can you please repeat me how you received the hint?”“Jack, I repeated that one hundred times, I just came back home and found that message under my door.” “Yes, but you have to admit that is pretty weird. Nobody should know where we live. This means that someone who knew both you and the Architect wanted that you found him before Murdoc"“I know as much as you about this topic. But if there's someone out there that wants to help us making justice, I really don't complain at all.""Y/N, no one does favors for free, always remember that. Sooner or later they will always want something in change.""Can we just enjoy that we have saved an innocent man and stop being so paranoid?” You're trying to act cool but Jack's words describe well your situation: you promised MacGyver to look for some information regarding his father, in change of some about Murdoc; but you can't stop wondering at what cost: loosing your work? Or worst, the trust of your friends? “Riley, you said that the only thing you found about MacGyver is that he was an EOD in Afghanistan, but I am wondering if we can find something more about his past, or maybe his family..."“Yes, I will keep searching but I don’t think that Murdoc would have bring that guy with him if he still had contacts with his family. It would be too risky, in my opinion”.“I thought the same, but I think it worths to check. Let me know for first when you discover something”.“Uhm, okay”Days have passed and you had no news about MacGyver. You wonder if Murdoc could have discovered that he gave you information about the Architect, and if he may have hurt him, or worst, killed him. When you come back home that night you find the door unlocked: you slowly open it, holding a gun in your hands.“It’s just me, put that down” You see the blonde man in the center of your living room.“You have to stop breaking in my house like that” you sigh putting the gun away. “More than a week has passed from our last meeting. I thought that something bad happened to you”“After your team saved the Architect, Murdoc was very paranoid and disappointed, so I thought it was better to wait to meet you again.”“Does he suspect that you and I…?”“…work together? No. And were you worried about me?” He asks grinning.“No, it’s just…you know everything about him, so it’s important to us that you stay alive.”“Us? Did you tell anyone about our deal?"“No! If Matty or someone of my team would discover it, I’d be fired"“What did you tell them about Architect’s identity?”“I told them that someone put the piece of paper under my door, but they found it weird. Especially Jack, my partner.” “I could never work with a guy like that, he really seems a pain in the butt” you both laugh about it.“Said the man who works with a psychopath murderer. Yes, Jack is annoying sometimes, but he’s the one that worries the most about the team”“I’m happy that someone protects you out there” he looks serious. His blue eyes shine in the darkness of the room. For the first time, you think that if you would have meet him in different circumstances…“It’s better if I go, now” he says standing up.“Yes” you say walking past him to open the door. “Maybe you could inform me, the next time you plan to come” you point the lock of your door. “Sorry if I haven’t called you” his sarcastic self comes back to light. “I will find a more discrete way to break in your house next time” he says going out.“Goodnight”“Goodnight”You watch him walking down the hallway until he reaches the stairs, turning himself to smile at you one last time before disappearing in the darkness of the night.
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“Y/N, I have found something about our man” You follow Riley in the lab and close the door. “There’s a file about a certain James MacGyver in Phoenix's database, but is encrypted”“There’s no way to bypass that?”“No, I think that only Matty have access to these files; I think that we should talk to her about this.”“If it's true that she knows this man but didn’t talk about him before, I don’t think she will do it now”“You're right, but this is a national security problem: if there’s only one chance to catch Murdoc and MacGyver we should take it.”You don't have any more contacts with MacGyver for over two weeks. You take this time to clear your mind about this situation: a part of you wants to get rid of this secret as soon as possible, to stop lying to the people you love; but another one is afraid of what could happen to the young man, once you will reveal to Phoenix the truth about him. If your agency will be able to catch him, he will spend his life behind bars. If not, you doubt that you will get to see him again. Even if you feel like he’s not the bad person all people think he is, he’s still a criminal, so you shouldn't be so worried about his future, or his presence in yours; but despite of that, you can't get him out of your mind.One night, coming home late from work, you find him waiting for you out of your door.“Hey, are you crazy? What are you doing here?" you say grabbing his arm and pushing him inside your apartment.“Don't worry, nobody saw me. Then, you told me to find a simpler way to come here.” he looks amused by this."I'm glad that you find it funny"“Do you have something for me?” he asks sitting on your living room’s couch.“I’m really sorry, my hacker friend and me have searched in all Phoenix’s databases and the only thing we have found about your father is kept safe in an encrypted file. Unluckily only my boss have access to it."“Are you sure there’s no way to hack it?”“My friend probably could do it, but it would be very risky and I doubt that she would agree without a convincing explanation”You can feel his disappointment so you try comforting him, putting one hand on his shoulder and saying: “Trust me, I’m really sorry, I know how much this was important for you"He sighs and says “Yes, I've really hoped that I would have meet him this time. Maybe I should just stop trying, maybe he doesn’t want to be found”“I am sure he has his reasons to keep you away”“You kept your promise, now it's my turn: I am going to tell you all that I know regarding Murdoc”“Okay, wait, before you start talking, there are some things I need to say." he stares at you, not sure about your intentions. "I think you should come to the Phoenix and confess everything”“What? I thought we had a deal!” he says clearly surprised by your request.“Don't worry, I have no intention to betray you, but I feel like I can’t take charge of these informations all by myself; my team risks life everyday to catch Murdoc, and I think that they should listen what you have to say, too."”But you know they will arrest me"“Yes, but if you help us, I’m pretty sure that Matty will make a deal and you could be free after few months. She could even prove that you were working for us undercover: you didn't killed anybody, after all. This could be the chance to make your father expose himself, too.”“What if they don't want to make a deal?”“I will convince them, I swear. I don't think you have better options: Phoenix won’t stop pursue you anyway. Do you really want to spend all your life running? And don't you think about Murdoc? What if he discovers that you betrayed him? If you come with us, you'll be safe, at least.”"Yes, kept safe in a prison! I've always lived in this way and I've never been caught or killed""Until now! You always have this reckless attitude, you disappear for weeks, leaving people with the constant fear of losing you. The last thing I need is reading your name between Murdoc's victims.""What?" his confusion grows at every new word he listens from you.“Listen, I know that there’s good in you and I would like that other people could see it, too" you get close to him and lay one hand on his chest "If you think that you will never have the chance to have a better life, you’re wrong, because you’ve got the chance now, you just have to take it.”“Y/N I don't know what to answer right now, I have to think about this” he whispers.You nod and walk towards the kitchen to drink a glass of water. The house falls in a state of total silence and you wonder why he just doesn't go away, now that you both expressed your opinions. Leaned against the sink, you can't stop thinking about your heated words, and you wonder if maybe you're gone too far this time, letting him know that you care about him. As all answer to your dilemma, you feel his hands on your hips, making you slightly spin on yourself.“Do you mean it when you said that you are afraid of losing me?" his voice is so low that you would never hear it, if you weren't trapped between the kitchen counter and his body."Y-yes, why shouldn't I?""Because nobody has ever cared about me being alive or not, or wanted something more for me, then you come and worry about me, and I fool myself thinking we could have a chance to be together…”"It's true, we have it..." you whisper in his ear."...and I feel like I have no more reasons to keep you away but I know..."You kiss him before he could end up his sentence.You know what he was about to say: that he’s not the right man for you, that he could never give you what you deserve; but you truly hope that he could change his mind after that night.
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"What are you thinking about?" You are laid stomach against the warm mattress of your bed, pinned on your elbows, side to side with Mac.“I didn’t even remember the last time I felt so good” he says, running his fingers through your hair. The way he looks at you melts your heart; you’ve never seen him so vulnerable. “Me neither” you cup his face and kiss him sweetly.Some shy sunrays already fill your room, but you aren’t ready to leave that night behind your shoulders.“No call from your work for the moment, maybe universe doesn’t want to tear us apart” he says laughing.“I hope so” you hide your face in the hole between his head and shoulder, enjoying the thrills that his hands, running along your naked back, give you.You hear someone knocking at your door. “Do you wait someone?” he asks concerned.“No, maybe it’s just the neighbor that needs something”“So early?”“I don’t care, I don’t want to leave you” you snuggle even more against his chest.The bruise is becoming ever more annoying so you put on your dressing gown and get up puffing, to open the door.“Jack, what are you doing here?” you say panicking at the sight of him out of your door.“C’mon, dress up, we have to go to work”“Matty didn’t call me”“Yeah, she asked me to warn you and Riley because she got no time”“Thanks for letting me know, let’s see later at work.”“Since I’m already here, I will wait for you”“Jack please, I am not alone right now, so I would appreciate if you’d go...”“Wait, what?”“I’ve got no time to explain, see you later” you push him out of your apartment and you roughly close the door in front of him.Coming back to your home, you find Mac getting dressed.”It was just Jack.””That guy is really annoying." he says shaking his head. "I wish we could have spent more time together” he pulls you closer and hugs you.”Me too! But we have to be more careful”
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“So when are you going to introduce me to your new boyfriend?” A couple of days has passed from the moment Jack almost discovered about you and MacGyver, but not according to what you expected, he didn’t make you any more questions, until that moment…“He’s not my boyfriend…” you answer too much defensive to hope that he lets go like that.“So was he just one night stand?" “Neither. We’ve just met and I don’t know where all this will take us. I really like him but he’s not the kind of guy you introduce to your friends, or family…”“Y/N, I never thought you liked bad guys” he says mocking you.“I don’t even know why I’m still trying to make a serious conversation with you…”“Hey, I am joking, I just don’t want that you put yourself in troubles or that someone breaks your heart. I will always be there for you, you know”Someone’s knocking at your door, so you go open it, hoping that it’s Mac. “Tell me that you like sushi” he says showing you a bag from the Japanese takeaway restaurant at the end of your road.You just arrange the food on the little table in front of your couch, then you both sit down to have dinner. When he splits the chopsticks and easily takes a piece of nigiri between them, you say: “I would like to be good like you in using these”“Really you don’t know how to use the chopsticks?” he laughs watching you holding them, without knowing from where to start. “Okay, first of all you’re not holding them in the right way” he says moving his right arm over your back, to reach your right hand. He puts the chopsticks between your fingers and then shows you how to move them right. In other circumstances you would find this little lesson interesting, but with him being so close, you can't really focus on his instructions. You notice for the first time the little freckles he has on his face, or the cute dimples that appear at the edges of his mouth when he smiles.“Do you have understood?” He asks turning to you, your cheeks and noses almost touching, stopping your stream of thoughts.“Y-yes.”He moves your hand, helping you to take the first piece you want to eat. “Good girl” he says when you got it, lingering his look first on your hand and then on your lips.“It’s way better than I thought” you close your eyes to enjoy the salty taste of the salmon, wrapping the rice. “Let me try by myself” he takes off his hand from yours, and you repeat the same passage. “Open your mouth”“W-what?” “C’mon, or this will fall all over” you say looking at the unsteady hold you got on your maki. He shyly does as you told him, so that you can let him taste it.“How is it?” you ask impatiently.“It’s really good” You move to take another piece, but he holds your hand. “Wait, it’s my turn to choose” and he does the same you did with him before. You play this game until the end of the dinner, then he takes you in his arms, and you both lay on the couch. Your head on his chest, the only sound you hear is his heartbeat and his fingers caressing your skin and playing with your hair.“I thought about your offer of giving myself up to the Phoenix” he breaks the silence for first.“And?” you look at him not moving from your comfortable position.“And you’re right. I don’t want to run anymore. I want to do the right thing, to be a better man for you.” He leans over you, to give you a light kiss.“But this means that we won’t be together for a lot of time” you say rising your head, concerned.“I know but...I want to have a future with you, maybe having a family together one day, and the only way to make this happen is to pay for my mistakes. Maybe it can sound weird since we've already met...” “I feel the same...I want to have all of this, with you. It will be hard letting you go now that I've just found you, but it's the right thing to do. I will talk with someone of my team and we will take you to the Phoenix”
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"C'mon talk to me, I know that something is going on in your head"You've asked Jack to pass by your place to help you deal with a thing; you didn't have the courage to tell him the truth by phone call, so you and Mac are now waiting for him to come. You both know that these will be the last moments you get to spend together in a long time, but you feel like some thought has already taken him away from you."I don't want to waste our last hour together talking about this""You don't have to keep your feelings from me.""It's just that I'm scared..." he gets closer to you as he's about to revealing you a secret."There's nothing bad in being scared of prison...""No, it's not about prison. What will happen when we'll be apart?""What do you mean?""What if you meet someone, fall for him and you have the life we've dreamt of together...?""That's not going to happen." you lift up his chin and place a lightweight kiss on his lips."I am sure that you've thought the same when we first met, but let's see where we are now...You can't choose who you fall for""Yes, but my heart is already taken.""You know, it just doesn't matter. I want you to be good, and if this means that you will find happiness with someone else...for me it's okay"Before you could give him any kind of reassurance about how strong your love for him is, the doorbell rings and you get up. When you see it's Jack, you go out your apartment and half-close the door behind yourself."Hey Y/N, everything's alright? Why did you call me?""Hi Jack, I don't have time to tell you the full story but, do you remember when I found out the real identity of the Architect?" he nods so you go ahead "Truth is that it was Angus MacGyver to reveal it to me.""How's that even possible? Didn't he work for Murdoc?""Yes, but after that day at the diner, he contacted me and offered me to make a deal""Y/N, in what kind of troubles have you put yourself in? You can't make deals with people we look for without Matty's authorization""I know, but he promised me to tell us everything he knows about Murdoc and to give himself up to the Phoenix""In change of what? Because I'm sure that he hasn't done it for free""He just asked me to search informations about his father in Phoenix's databases""So, what do we have to do now?""He's inside now, we have to take him to the Phoenix so that he can confess everything" you say pointing at the door behind you."What? What the hell is doing him in your house? And why didn't you talk about this before?"Once you entered back in your home, Jack goes towards Mac, holding handcuffs in is hands: "Okay, blondie, you better play no tricks, because at the first wrong move I will send your fine ass in an high security jail for the rest of your life"You see Mac rolling his eyes, trying hard not to start an argument with your colleague, so you say: "Jack, I can do it by myself. Why don't you call Matty to say that we're coming?"When he leaves you alone, Mac gives you his wrists and you lock the handcuffs around them."We have to go, now" you voice's broken, your strong facade is beginning to crumble piece by piece.He leans to kiss you: even if it lasted only few seconds, this was not your perception of it."I will wait for you, I promise". No one speaks a word during the travel from your house to your work place. You look out of window, being finally able to let you go and cry.When you walk in Phoenix's building, you see all your colleagues already waiting for you in the hallway. You try to keep a composure in front of other agents: this is a glorious day for your agency, nobody would understand your awful mood. Some men of the tactical squad bring Mac to the interrogation room. Before he leaves, he turns his head to look at you, slightly nodding, as to say "I'll be good". You do the same, being sure not to be as much convincing.Matty reunites all of us in the war room to debrief: all your squad is dismissed by MacGyver's case, your only aim now is to catch Murdoc. Your boss asks all to exit the room, except you: "Jack told me that you and MacGyver were close, so I think you would like to know that his case is passed in my Overwatch's hands: James MacGyver. He will make a deal to let Angus go out of jail first as possible. For what concerns you, we've decided not firing you for this time: the boy is a precious resource that was moved by wrong hands, we really hope that he could commit to our cause, too; but if it wasn't for you, we would have never been able to get him. All we want is that you'll never act behind our back, going against Phoenix's protocol, again. Do you understand?""Yes, ma'am"Out of the room, you find Jack waiting for you."What did you do, still here? I thought you was angry with me""I have never been really angry, more disappointed that you kept all these secrets from us.""Well, I suppose you should form a fan club, because this is the exact thing that Matty told to me some minutes before" sarcasm is the only way of defense left to you right now."It's him, isn't he?" he asks out of nowhere."What?" it's not that you didn't get the question, but you aren't really sure to be able to face this conversation, after the events of that morning."That Angus, is he the man that was with you the morning I passed by your house? The one you've talked about with me some days ago?""Why did you ask me, if you already knows the answer? Matty said that you told her that me and MacGyver were close.""I don't know the answer, this is just what I thought when I saw you together."You laugh harshly, fighting against your tears that are claiming to run down your cheeks, against your broken voice that asks the world not making you talk about him, because that's the classical Jack Dalton's kind of sentence."I saw you crying in the car this morning, and I know how much you hate to show yourself vulnerable, and you do that only when you really can't avoid it. And even if I don't know that kid, I think that he got courage to do what he did: that kind of courage that you only got when you believe in something, when you got a purpose...an being with you definitely worth fighting for"You hug him, letting you go again to an uncontrollable weeping, but conscious of the fact that people who care about you, are still there, despite of what you did.
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6 MONTHS LATERThe sound of the door opening echoes in your head, while a guard accompanies you in Mac’s cell. Even if you’ve already visited him a lot of times in the last weeks, you’re still not able to get used to the sight of him in the orange prisoners’ suit.When he sees you, it’s like a ray of sun lights up his face for awhile. You sit in front of him, waiting for the guard to go out the room.“How are you today?”“Good now that I see you” he says leaning over the table.“There’s a thing that I need to say…”“Something wrong?” He asks detecting grief in your voice.You lengthen your arms and meet his hands, crossing your fingers. “Me and Jack have been paired to leave for an open-ended mission in the East of Europe”“What does this means?”“That we’ll stay away until this criminal will be caught. It can be for months, or years, we don’t know. There could be the chance that we never come back home, too…” you start to cry. “Do you remember that time you said that maybe universe doesn’t want to tear us apart? Well, I think you were wrong…”“Okay, I refuse to believe it. In 16 months you will be come back and I will be out of prison, and we will be in our home, laughing about this” but through your tears, you can see him hiding his face in his hands, too. You nod staring at the tears forming at the borders of his eyes, and slowly running down his face.“Damn it!” he beats his fist against the iron table, then covers his eyes with his hand, starting to cry in silence.The guard enters and say: “The time is over!”You are about to get up when Mac grabs you by your wrists, dragging you down. “Wait, when are you leaving?”“Tonight"You both lean over the table to kiss, as you used to do at the end of your past visits, but this time was different: you both know that this time could really be the last.“Take care of yourself, Mac” you says caressing his face. There are millions of things you would love to tell him, but the fact of not saying them out loud makes you think that wasn't really a goodbye.“Come back to me, baby” he kisses the palm of your hands, wet by his tears.
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16 MONTHS + 3 WEEKS LATER“Is it just my opinion or everything it’s changed, here?”You and Jack are walking down the Phoenix hallways, still bringing your backpacks on your shoulders, and your suitcases on your hands.“No, I think you’re right”Even if the color of the walls and office’s furniture are changed, there’s something that will never change: war room’s transparent glasses. You see Riley and Matty debriefing in it. When the girl turns in your direction, she puts her hands on her mouth and run out the room, towards you.“Here’s my babygirl!” Jack shouts with his husky voice.“Guys, I can’t believe you’re here!” with one arm she hugs Jack and with the other you.“Yes, even if this isn't the welcome back home party that I was expecting, Riles. I am very disappointed"While you are enjoying your little family reunion, you see a blonde young man talking to Matty, inside the room. He has short hair and wears a white shirt and a pair of dark blue trousers, but from the feeling of your heart skipping a beat, you recognize the man you love. You see him turning to look at you hugging, with a lost expression, until he meets yours eyes. You read Matty’s lips saying something like “Go to her” and he walks to reach the door of the room like in slow motion. You move from Jack and Riley and go towards him, too. You smile at each other, while he’s opening the door, and you finally meet again after 16 months a 3 weeks.“You’ve cut your hair. You are a dream.” He cups your face with his soft hands and leans to kiss you.“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there when they released you”“It doesn’t matter. I still can’t believe you’re here now"You lay your head against his chest, staying hugged for a long moment. “Let me take them” he says opening the door of his car and bringing your backpack on one shoulder and your suitcase in the other hand.“I can’t believe you got a new car, and a work, too.”You open the door of your apartment after more than one year of absence. “Home sweet home” “Ironically, a home is the only thing I miss, right now” he sighs laying down your bags.“I feel offended! I thought I was the thing you missed the most” you go sit on your couch, pretending to be angry with him.He lifts your chin and kiss you sweetly.“You’re not a thing, but if you’d be, you would be my favourite for sure”“And where are you staying, right now?”“My best friend Bozer moved to LA a couple of months ago, so I’ve stayed there for the last weeks”“I’ve never heard about him...” you sigh “ I feel like I know nothing about your life and this makes me so sad because you’re the most important person in mine”“I know, I feel the same about you, but we can start all over now”“There’s so many things I would like to do, like going out to dinner as a real couple, or just travelling to somewhere we can stay together and relax...”“With what do you want to start...?” he whispers leaning his forehead against yours.“I want that you tell me everything about your new work at the Phoenix: I can’t believe that we’re going to work together!” you playfully give him a pat on his chest.“We’ve been apart for two years, is talking the first thing that comes to your mind, for real?” “ Mmh I don’t know, I listen if you have better ideas...” He gets up and lifts you from the couch, holding you bridal style, and takes you to your bedroom “Yes, I've a couple ideas that I’m sure you will love”As he lays you on the soft mattress of your bed, you smile and kiss him sweetly, excited as him for your upcoming plans. After you practiced the long list of Mac's "ideas", relieved by the fact that you haven't lost your original chemistry even after two years of distance, you ask him:“Since you don’t have your own place to stay, what about moving in here, with me?”He widens his eyes, surprised by your offer.“Are you sure? You don’t have to feel obliged if you are not ready. It’s not a probl-... »« Shh » you put your index on his lips « I’m not asking you because I have to, but because I want it: I think this is the first step to take to start our life together. So what do you say? »« I say that I can’t wait » he hugs you tight « It’s been a while that I wanted to tell you: I love you » « I love you too » « Do you still think that universe is standing against us? »« No, I suppose you were right, but you know, I’m happy that I was wrong on this »