Brothers in Arms

By Rocket

Episode 9.15

Part Two

 

“No. There’s no way Phoenix can be involved in this.” Pete shook his head.

“C’mon Pete, Seeley’s right – this has Atlas written all over it!” MacGyver paced the office.

“I know.” Pete heard MacGyver pause, and the rustle of cloth as MacGyver turned to look at him. “It sounds like it to me too. But Phoenix doesn’t have any reason to be on that base, ad if you’re right and Seeley’s friend’s CO is involved, or his hands have been tied by HIS seniors being involved, there’s no way Phoenix is going to be given a reason to be on that base.” Pete held up a hand as he heard MacGyver draw breath to reply. “And Mac, think about this: Atlas know who you are, which means they know you work for Phoenix. If Phoenix goes marching into that base, all kinds of alarm bells will start ringing at Atlas, and you’ll be back in their spotlight again.” Pete shook his head. “We can’t do it, Mac.”

“You mean we shouldn’t.” MacGyver sighed. “I guess you’re right.” He sat down, and Pete heard his chair squeak as he leaned back.

“Of course, what you do in your free time is up to you.” Pete’s expression was resigned. “I know you better than to expect you to leave this alone. Just be careful, OK?”

“OK Pete, I will.” MacGyver stood, laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder, and then left the room.

* * * *

MacGyver walked up Seeley’s path to his front door. The house and small garden looked immaculate, the grass mown short. Even the doorbell looked as though it had been polished. Seeley came to the door wearing neatly pressed jeans and a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. MacGyver blinked, momentarily disorientated by the sight of Seeley in something other than a smart suit.

“Mac, come on in.” Seeley stepped to the side and MacGvyer entered Seeley’s tidy house, toeing off his battered high-tops when he saw the shoe-rack by the wall. One of his socks had a hole he hadn’t previously noticed.

“You want a beer? Juice?” Seeley’s voice floated out of the kitchen.

“Juice, please.” MacGyver looked at the photos on the wall as he walked down Seeley’s hallway. A shot of Seeley in Vietnam, standing next to a helicopter with his arms around two other young men, grinning for the camera. A toddler holding up paint-smeared hands and laughing. A movie set, focussing on a tiny figure jumping off a tall building, an airbag visible in the corner. An older couple sitting on a porch swing, the woman smiling and the man looking as though he wished the photographer would hurry up.

“Here.” Seeley handed MacGyver a glass of juice and MacGyver followed him into a tidy living room. The contrast with MacGyver’s apartment was striking. At MacGyver’s place, hockey gear and half-finished projects lined the walls, Western videos were piled up next to the television and the couch was bright with cushions given to him by Mama Lorraine. Here the floor was clear all the way to the walls. A new computer, cables neatly bundled, sat on a table in the corner. The couch MacGyver sat on was black, the carpet and curtains beige. The only colour in the room came from some large, framed movie posters on the wall.

Seeley crossed to the computer, tapped a few keys and the printer hummed into life.
“So, you’ve done stuff like this before, right?” MacGyver watched Seeley spread out the papers on a low table.

“Once or twice.” Seeley sat back, looking at the aerial photographs. “While I was with the bureau. You?”

“A few times.” MacGyver picked up one of the photos for a closer look. “Not so much in this country, though.” He looked up to find Seeley staring at him. “I was DXS.”

“So you were.” Seeley nodded, stroking the slim, brown cat who came padding into the room.

“Do we try to sneak in, or shall we hide in plain sight?” MacGyver put the photo down and sat back, the cat jumping up onto his knee and kneading his leg with its front paws.

“You are honoured – Mozart doesn’t usually like anyone!” Seeley shook his head at the cat, who blinked blue eyes at him and purred as MacGyver scratched the back of its head. “Bit of both, maybe.” Seeley marked Steve Bolton’s office and the door that Steve had suggested they use on the photo. “You still got your uniform?”

“Wouldn’t do us any good.” MacGyver moved the cat off his knee and turned the marked photo towards him. “They changed from plain green to camouflage pattern some time ago. I got a couple of spares we can use, though.”

“OK.” Seeley took a swig of coffee and set the mug down carefully on a coaster. “Here’s how I reckon we get in and out again.”

* * * *

“is it secured?” The man leaned forwards out of the shadows, the low light catching the side of his nose and the edge of his hair.

“Yessir.” The second man nodded, wishing his collar wasn’t so tight.

“And where is it now?” The first man picked up a cigarette smouldering in the ashtray and took a drag, the end glowing red.

“In the sealed box, in the safe, at the right temperature.” The second man relaxed slightly as the shadowy figure nodded.

“And the Phoenix operative, MacGyver? Has he been dealt with too?” The man tapped ash off his cigarette, the smoke curling around his hand.

“N-No Sir. Not yet.” The second man blinked as the first man exhaled smoke in an angry hiss.

“Why not?” The shadowy figure took another drag, adding to the pall of smoke in the silent room.

“He disappeared for a while, but we picked him up again at Phoenix this week.” The second man felt sweat prickle under his shirt.

The shadowy figure sat back in his chair, disappearing into the gloom. “Don’t lose him again.”

“No Sir.” The second man shook his head.

“You have a plane to oversee.” The shadowy figure made a languid wave, then stubbed out his cigarette. “Do you not?”

“Yes Sir.” The second man backed out of the room, closing the door behind him. In the darkness, the first man lit another cigarette, the lighter flame edging his aristocratic profile in gold light. He snapped the lighter shut, placed it on the table and sat back again. MacGyver was becoming a significant thorn in his side. Perhaps it was time to call in more professional assistance in getting rid of him. Those two from Berlin, perhaps – the knife expert and Olga… something, the sniper. They deserved a chance to redeem themselves for missing him in Germany.

* * * *

“This is too tight!” Seeley tugged at his borrowed uniform. “Maybe you shrank it when you washed it.”

Washed it?” MacGyver grinned as Seeley pulled a face. “It was clean enough. You’re just… stockier than me.” Ignoring Seeley’s outraged glare, he turned to the base’s perimeter fence. “The main problem I here’s the guard patrol. If we can avoid them or convince them we’re supposed to be here, we’re home free.”

“Right.” Seeley frowned as a group of soldiers walked past the nearest building. “Avoid all contact with the enemy.”

“Something like that.” MacGyver eased himself under the wire fence, then crouched and held the wire for Seeley to do the same. They waited until the soldiers disappeared around the corner, then ran across the grass. At the edge of the concrete they slowed to a walk, trying to look as though they belonged on the base.

MacGyver, his long hair hidden under a cap, picked up a cardboard box from next to the kitchen dumpster, pretending he was taking it somewhere important.

“Really? A box?” Seeley shook his head. “You going to hide under it?”

“Hey, don’t knock it. I once got most of the way across an East German base by pretending I was running an errand for the Oberst.” MacGyver hitched up the box, which was heavier than it looked. “Look like you’re in a hurry, OK? Makes it less likely we’ll be commandeered for a real errand.” MacGyver nodded approval as Seeley shrugged and picked up a box too, then led the way between two concrete buildings, heading for Bolton’s office.

“Soldier!” A loud voice made MacGyver and Seeley jump. They turned around to see an officer striding towards them.

“Yes, First Sergeant Brown?” Seeley read the officer’s name tag, standing to attention.

“Oh, never mind.” The officer turned away, hailing another soldier passing by empty-handed. MacGyver and Seeley watched him go.

“I take it back – never underestimate the power of the box!” Seeley grinned and followed MacGyver along the path.

They dodged patrols twice, once by hiding behind a truck and once by hurrying along and looking busy. Arriving at Bolton’s offices, MacGyver handed his box to Seeley and tried the door, finding it open. They went inside, nodding to the soldier on desk duty behind the door.

“Can I help you?” The soldier laid down his pen, frowning. “You guys new?”

“Yeah.” MacGyver took his box back off Seeley. “First Sergeant Brown told us to bring these here and set up the new drives on Sergeant Bolton’s computer.”

“Nobody tells me nothing.” The soldier shook his head. “Office at the end, on the right.”

“Thanks.” MacGyver grinned and set off down the corridor, followed by Seeley.
“How do you get away with that stuff?!” Seeley closed Bolton’s office door behind them and set down his box. “That doesn’t even work in movies!”

“I’m just glad it worked today!” MacGyver looked around the office, seeing a locked filing cabinet as well as the computer on the desk. “You get the computer, I’ll do the files.”

“Right Steve.” Seeley sat down at the computer, cracking his knuckles. “Let’s see what you’ve gotten into…”

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