Summary: Jack was finally back where he belonged. But in the midst of trying to find his footing with his team again, some faces from the past serve to make the journey much harder than anticipated.
The week-long Cairo Day 2022 celebration starts on Monday! We can’t wait to see everything you’ve been working on. And it’s not too late to get started. Check out the prompt list
Summary: “Face it, if I didn’t want to be here, I’d be gone. I’m only as stuck as you are in these cuffs.”
He wasn’t sure what was worse– the fact that he was cuffed to Murdoc and forced to stay within such close proximity of the killer, or the fact that Murdoc was right.
Another funny thing about macgyver (2016) is how mac will go ‘I know all this stuff because when I was 10 my grandfather forced me to survive in the woods’. Bestie I hate to break it to you but that is not normal
Okay yeah no I think about this so much actually. Like, a ton of people hate on James (rightfully so imo) for being a terrible parent. And like it’s good that Harry stepped up and took responsibility for his grandson and did his best to raise Mac and all that.
HoweVER he very much did not sound like an amazing guardian at all. Like he definitely has a huge step up on James through the simple act of being Present, but like?? Taking your grandson out into the woods and having him survive on his own?? Uh?? I think I kinda see where James gets the whole “everything is a life lesson you need to know how to survive by yourself” thing from.
Chapters three and four are now posted for my heartbeat prompts fic! Each chapter uses a different character’s POV and the theme is looking for a heartbeat. I didn’t originally plan to write Patty for chapter 4 but I think it might be my favourite so far.
@impossiblepluto Jack and Dawn get tied to chairs and that’s pretty much it? Although I guess the badguy who just threw Mac out this window was also tied to a chair. THERE WERE MANY CHAIRS but Mac didn’t use them as tools iirc. Other than that I’m sure there are mardi gras beads in the background somewhere but I’ve never really looked…
okay i’m only on the 5th episode of macgyver (2016) but my favorite thing has to be how mac will go “i was bad at being a boy scout and failed 7th grade. anyway here’s how to make a car from sand and dental floss” and then It Works.
having recognized that the superbowl is today, and learning moments ago that it’s the Cincinnati Bengals playing the LA Rams, which team are the various members of Team Improvise rooting for? Who is just here for the food? The commercials? The puppybowl? The bad lip-reading videos?
I agree with all of these @rai-knightshade and @not-your-housekeeper98 thanks for playing! Not adding much of anything new, but I do have some pretty pictures! (CW: domestic violence)
Bozer is all about making those superbowl snacks. He’s been testing various dip, wings, and other appetizer recipes all season and he knows the fan favorites. Everybody is getting something they love. He’s also here for the superbowl commercials, and he will be writing and directing one someday. Plus he and Jack howl with laughter making up their own sideline conversations between the players and coaches
In general, Mac’s not super interested in football. He had an extremely short-lived football career, in which he showed up for try-outs because Bozer begged and Mac couldn’t let his best friend down. Donnie saw it as the perfect opportunity to land a hit and not get into trouble for it.
But Mac will hang out in the living room on a lazy sunday afternoon listening to Jack and Riley insult the ref’s visual acuity, while he tinkers and tastes the treats Bozer leaves next to him. More entertaining than any game is how dramatic (and competitive) his friends get. Somehow it always turns out that Riley and Matty just happen to be cheering for the rivals of whoever Jack is rooting for. And then, of course, there are boisterous discussions of the merits of American football vs. “real football”/soccer or rugby.
Mac has gifted Jack Cowboys tickets for various holidays and anniversaries and we saved the world celebrations and will happily join him in the stands but it’s more about the company than the game.
You can’t grow up in Texas and not play football.
And you can’t be in the vicinity of the Dalton Ranch and not be a Cowboys fan. Jack is extremely disappointed his beloved Cowboys didn’t make it this year. It always takes him a while to pick a team. Until he decides on the Bengals so that Riley can have her LA pride because tigers are way cooler than rams, Riley has to pretend that she is also going into the game teamless.
The first time Jack turned on a football game in the Davis home, Riley scattered. Heart hammering, palms slick. Elwood had a habit of high-stakes betting on long-shot teams and growing increasingly agitated and drunk as those teams inevitably lost. She wasn’t about to let that kind of violence or anger into their home or her mom’s life again. Gathering her courage and her anger, she sidled into the living room intending to annoy Jack enough to get him to snap, convince her mom that he wasn’t the good guy she claimed he was.
But instead of getting irritated at her questions and purposeful mistakes, Jack slid into the role of patient teacher, explaining the game, teaching the rules and finally smirking when he realized she was trying to mess with him.
It took a few weeks and a few awkward invitations, but eventually about a month after she joined the Phoenix, Riley showed up at Mac’s house with a bag of chips and a store bought dip (much to Bozer’s great offense) on a Sunday afternoon, eventually making her way into the living room.
Jack always threatens teases Mac that he’s gonna give Riley the extra ticket to the Cowboys game
Desi is way more interested in soccer (and hockey)
Cage is only here for the Puppy or Kitten Bowl. Jill is surprisingly competitive, and knows her football.
Russ also likes to annoy Jack, but Jack doesn’t find it nearly as amusing.
After Matty sends them off on a mission before the game is finished, Jack spends the whole next day trying to avoid learning who won. He’s unsuccessful.
This is my FAVORITE thing about those early days. Expecting the teasing to start. Maybe Jack is playing some sort of long practical joke? Realizing when he launches into a long rambling mac-splanation that Jack isn’t rolling his eyes or looking bored. He’s paying attention. So much so, that when Mac’s voice trails off because this is usually the point where someone will make a snide comment and tell him to stop, Jack will ask a question, asking Mac to continue, proving that he was paying attention, engaging in the content because it is important to Mac
The slow, shy smiles that give way to those wide and bright smiles. The mutual teasing and banter and eye rolls. The friendship and brotherhood.
Man this fandom ruined shipping for me. Now I’m too scared to ever say anything about my favourite ships because I know someone will jump down my throat. We’re better then this guys.
Did you ever wonder what Mac’s Instagram might look like? Well, I did… so I made one. I plan on doing the rest of Team Phoenix and maybe some special guests.
THIS FIC IS NOT INTENDED FOR READERS UNDER THE AGE OF 18. Please see the masterlist for content warnings.
Here it is, the long-awaited dark!MacRiley AU! First, I want to thank my lovely beta readers and my life-saving brainstorming/workshop buddy. You all know who you are.❤
This fic adheres to canon through 5x05 and then goes off the fucking rails. Backstory and other important tidbits of information revealed in the latter half of season 5 may be used, but timeline-wise anything after 5x05 does not exist in this fic. Also, Jack is dead and is staying dead, so don’t get your hopes up for a happy ending.
I will do my best to update this regularly, but hanging out in and writing such dark headspaces is HARD. I will definitely be taking breaks to write fluffier fic, because a big chunk of this story is all hurt and no comfort.
Without further adieu, let’s get this party started. (It’s not a party. In fact, it’s like…the opposite of a party.)
*****
They say he was a good man.
A good soldier.
A good father.
A good friend.
They say they are sorry for her loss, sorry he was taken from this world too soon.
They say Jack would be proud of the legacy he left behind, would be proud to have gone out in a blaze of glory.
Riley is sick of it.
It’s like she’s a teenager, and Jack is leaving her all over again. Only this time it’s worse. This time there’s no coming back.
The guests at the wake gaze at the folded up American flag on the fireplace mantle with deep respect, but Riley only feels anger every time she glimpses the piece of fabric the government sent back in his place. A flag and a life insurance claim feel like a mockery of the kind of man Jack Dalton was.
