Mini MacGyver Fic
(Look, ya’ll keep filling my timeline with irresistable prompts sooooo have sleepy, sick Mac just trying to take a nap mini fic!)
No one could find Mac. He'd been spotted coming in, spotted saying hi to Matty, spotted in the lab tweaking Sparky's joints, spotted in the gym repairing a treadmill rumor had it he’d broken... But all those reports were now hours old. No one was worried, they were just curious. Had he gone to fix something else for someone? Had he disappeared into the cafeteria? Was he busy inventing something somewhere? No one knew.
Well, almost no one knew.
Bozer's phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw Matty's name on screen. "Uh oh."
"What?" Riley asked, looking up from her screen in the tech room.
Bozer held out his phone. "Matty's calling."
Riley shared his alarm. "Okay, okay. Just stay calm and focused on the goal here, okay?"
"You just said okay three times," Bozer said.
"Answer it!" Riley hissed.
Bozer did as he was told. "Hey, Matty. Whassup?"
He saw Riley's barely restrained facepalm.
"Bozer, where are you?" Matty sounded suspicious. Then again, that wasn’t exactly new for her. She always sounded like that when she needed an answer.
'Breathe!' Riley mouthed at him.
Nodding, Bozer took a breath and answered Matty. "With Riley. She's been showing me a few things in the tech office."
Which was technically true...
"Is Mac with you?"
Bozer could do this without messing up. He could totally fool Matty. "Sorry. Still haven't seen him. You know what he's like when he's thinking."
"Yeah, I do," Matty said. "It's why I'm thinking of putting a bell on him."
Bozer snorted with laughter. "Riley and I will get right on that."
"She could go one better and track his phone."
"Isn't that a major violation of Mac's privacy?" Bozer asked, trying to keep his voice light.
"Unfortunately," Matty said. "So make me a bell, or better yet, find him."
"Is it urgent?" Bozer asked. “Y’know, the thing you need him for?”
"No," Matty said. "But it's starting to feel like he's avoiding both myself and Jack."
Sounded like Mom and Dad were worried. "I will keep looking."
"Thanks."
Matty ended the call. Bozer sank down in relief. "I think she bought it."
"Good," Riley said. "Because Mac needs the nap."
They both looked over to the tech room's couch. Mac was there, uncharacteristically oblivious to the world. He was fast asleep, resting on his side, arms curled in front of his face. His hair flopped over his face, his cheeks slightly flushed. Even from across the room they could hear the congestion in his breathing.
"Think we'll convince him to take an actual sick day tomorrow?" Riley asked.
"No," Bozer said. “Because Mac doesn’t catch colds. He is above them.”
"That is ridiculous," Riley said. Not that she sounded angry or frustrated. She was too worried for that. "Aren't guys supposed to get man flu? He should be at home complaining about how he has a little bit of a sniffle and acting like it’s the end of the world, not hiding in here. The fact that he is sleeping through all of this says it all! He’s sick. And if I catch whatever this is off him, I am going to confiscate every paperclip in LA."
"Getting Mac to admit he's sick is like getting you to admit Uncharted 2 is the best in the franchise," Bozer said.
"That's because Uncharted 3 is the best and I will die on that hill," Riley said. "And yes, I get your point."
"So we have two options," Bozer said. "Either we continue hiding him, or we wake him up and get him to Matty, hoping she doesn’t notice that he’s feverish."
Riley sighed.
Bozer sighed.
They shared a look. "Wanna go Rock, Paper, Scissors?" Bozer offered. "Winner makes the call."
"No way! Loser makes the call!"
"Deal." Bozer held out one hand.
Riley stood and held out hers. "On three."
Bozer nodded. "One." He slammed his fist against his open palm.
"Two!" Riley said, her fist hitting her palm.
"Three!"
Bozer: paper.
Riley: rock.
"Damn!" She groaned.
"Yes!" Bozer cheered. "The pressure is off."
"Argh!" Riley scrubbed at her hair. "Fine! I say we give him another hour. Then we wake him up and send him to Matty."
Except exactly five minutes later, Jack walked in. He looked pissed. "Hey! What the hell are you two - "
"Sssssssshhhhh!" Bozer and Riley ordered, pointing to the couch.
Jack looked to the couch tucked up against the back wall, and his expression softened. "Well, now, there he is." Jack looked over his shoulder. "He's sick, ain’t he?"
"It’s a cold," Bozer said.
"Mac Flu," Riley said. At Jack and Bozer's looks, she shrugged. "What? He should be resting at home but instead, to avoid calling in sick, he's taking a nap on my work couch! If that ain't Mac Flu, I dunno what is."
"Alright, I had a feeling something was up when he turned down a ride this morning. He thinks he’s so smart, trying to hide this from me," Jack said. "I'll let Matty know. You guys keep an eye on him. And under no circumstances is he to drive himself anywhere."
"Oh, he won't." Bozer held up both Mac's keys and his Swiss army knife.
Jack looked impressed. "Nice work."
Bozer nodded. "We've got him. You go tell Matty everything's cool."
"No need."
Matty entered the room. She took one look at Mac. "Blondie!" she bellowed. “Let’s go! Up and at ‘em!”
Mac jolted awake and fell right off the couch. Squinting, Mac stared at everyone gathered around him. “Uh…”
"Sorry, Mac," Riley said. "Bozer and I did our best."
"Yeah, you have been asleep for three hours so we did pretty good!" Bozer said.
"I will deal with you two later," Matty said.
Riley and Bozer fell silent.
"Mac, you're going home and you are staying there until you're well enough to be here," Matty said.
Mac leapt to his feet. "I'm well! I'm..." The colour flushed out of him.
"Whoa there!" Jack caught Mac before he hit the deck.
"Okay," Mac said, voice muzzy. "I'm okay."
"Yeah, that little blackout says otherwise." Jack helped Mac steady himself. " I can feel the heat coming off of you like –”
“Please,” Mac begged. “Do not finish that sentence.”
“Fine,” Jack said. “You need a trip to medical?"
"No," Mac said. "I just... I should probably go home."
"And that's exactly where you're going," Jack said.
Mac looked through his messy hair at Riley and Bozer. "Sorry I got you in trouble."
"Oh, don't worry, you're in plenty of trouble yourself," Matty said. "Just as soon as you can stand up without fainting."
Mac smiled ruefully.
"Take him home," Matty ordered Jack.
"You got it, boss."
Continues here!