A Christmas to Belong Page 5

  Heck, Blair would love to see the comparison between Jack's and his father's DNA. They looked so similar, it would be interesting to see how close their genes were. There was also some professional interest as well. Was there really a guide gene that was passed from MacGyver to his sons and possibly his grandson? While both Jim and Cory seemed to be able to sense a guide, neither could tell Blair why. If there was a guide gene, was it in Jack's DNA as well?

  * * *

  That evening, Ellisons' Townhouse, Cascade, WA

  Amanda walked in carrying cartons of Chinese. Before she could call out, she spotted her husband in the den, frowning at the computer monitor. Worried, she set her load on the counter, then walked forward to squeeze Jim's shoulder. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

  Jim leaned back into her arms, still frowning. "Blair called. There was a kidnapping attempt on Ian and a nephew of Jack O'Neill's yesterday."

  "What?" Worried, Amanda shifted so she could see his face. "Is Ian all right?"

  The corner of Jim's mouth lifted as he took her hands. "According to Blair, Ian thought it was great fun, with DJ telling him to run then going real fast in the car."

  Amanda sighed. "Well, that's something. Do they know who did it?"

  "No. Which means they're checking all possibilities, including an enemy of mine or Blair's."

  "Any luck?"

  "None so far."

  Amanda studied him a moment. "When are we leaving?"

  "What?"

  "When are we leaving for L.A.?"

  Jim ran his thumbs over the backs of her hands. "We planned to stay here, just the two of us."

  "With the new circumstances, you're going to be worrying about Ian and the rest of Blair's family. And so am I. So we might as well be close enough to help."

  A huge smile stretched across Jim's face. "Have I mentioned how much I love you recently?"

  Amanda smirked down. "No."

  Jim stood and kissed her.

  * * *

  December 22, 1:30 pm, MacGyver's Firehouse

  DJ rubbed his eyes with both hands as he wandered down the hall. His latest 'nap' had lasted nearly three hours. Being sick was getting so old. His growling stomach added that long naps were interfering with other important teenage activities, like eating.

  As he approached the living area, he could hear engine and horn noises. He paused at the end of the hall. Blair was down on his knees with Ian, honking like a semi as he pushed the plastic truck along the carpet. Ian made idling noises as his dump truck waited for Blair's to pass. The tension and exhaustion that had hung over Blair when he first arrived had disappeared. Playing with his nephew was good for the young detective.

  "DJ!" The small boy called out. "Come play!"

  "We better let DJ eat first," Blair told Ian before smiling at their cousin. Jack suspected the kid had become adept at observing people without looking like he was studying them. He wasn't quite in Teal'c's league yet, but he was getting there. "There's some ravioli still left in the fridge."

  "Thanks."

  A few minutes later, Jack had returned with a steaming bowl in his hands. He scooped up a large spoonful as he watched the two on the floor. "Where's everybody?"

  "At work." Blair smiled as he watched Ian maneuver his truck to dump out the large Leggos it was carrying. "Sam's hoping to finish things up so he can spend the next few days at home."

  Jack nodded thoughtfully as he chewed. "That'll be nice." Suddenly, he realized he meant that. He was getting comfortable here. Was that a good thing?

  Suddenly, a loud, rolling sound echoed from above them, occasionally interrupted by a thunk. "Santa?" Ian asked hopefully.

  Blair frowned as he stood up, concentrating on the noise. "Sorry, Buddy, it's not time for Santa."

  Jack carefully sat the bowl on an end table as he, too, listened to the sound. "That sounds like a--"

  Suddenly, Ian pointed at a vent. "What's that?"

  "Smoke!" Blair and Jack shouted together as they spied the gray cloud pouring out. Blair glanced down at Ian, then back to Jack. "We've got to get Ian out of here." The smoke detector's penetrating alarm punctuated Blair's words.

  The smoke could trigger Ian's asthma. With that realization, Jack held a hand out to his cousin. "Come on, Ian." As the trio approached the front door, it suddenly flew open, revealing two men in masks.

  Ian screamed. Blair planted himself between the men and his family. "Deege! Get Ian out of here!"

  Hesitating a moment, Jack scooped Ian up into his arms and ran for the fire escape at the other end of the floor. Coughing as the acrid smoke aggravated his already weakened lungs, he still made it in record time. He set the crying Ian back on his feet before pushing hard on the metal bar. The fire door moved with heavy slowness. "Go, Ian," he forced out with his coughs, waving the boy through the narrow opening.

  As Ian scurried out and down the short set of steps, Jack followed, trying to figure out in his mind the closest safe place to run to. Either Sam's car or Cory's small pickup should be behind the building. Jack could hotwire it, then zoom to the front and see if Blair got away. Plan made, Jack stepped off onto the ground and into the muzzle of a gun.

  * * *

  Sam fidgeted in the passenger's seat of Cory's pickup. "Sorry."

  Cory chuckled. "I got that the first twenty times. But you certainly weren't getting any work done by picking up the phone every other minute then hanging up, and I wasn't getting anything done watching you do it. Your mind is on Ian, I get that." Smirking, Cory couldn't help but add, "Even though he's with your brother, the top-notch police detective, and a kid full of covert ops knowledge."

  Sam rolled his eyes at the dig. "A sick former covert ops who's now in the body of a teen and reported at least three masked men. Blair's good, but that may be more than he can handle by himself."

  "Do you really believe that? Half the time you talk like your brother and Jim are supermen."

  Sam sighed. "Jim's in Cascade. And I can't explain it. I just have a really bad feeling."

  "Bad feelings are usually my area."

  "Ian's my son."

  This time Cory sighed. "Okay, I get it. You do realize you're becoming your dad, right?"

  "No, I'm not."

  Cory was about to respond when he suddenly tilted his head. Recognizing his partner's listening stance, Sam softly asked, "What?"

  "The firehouse's smoke detector's going off."

  Sam's brown eyes widened. "Dad's got it set so that the security alarm turns off--"

  "--when the smoke detectors turn on," Cory finished. He stepped harder on the gas pedal.

  * * *

  The rental pulled up in front of the firehouse to the blaring of alarms. "What's going on?" Amanda questioned.

  Jim's head was tilted, listening. "Blair's fighting somebody." Jim turned to his wife. "Call 911 and report a home invasion. And stay here with the doors locked until I give you the all clear." Jim jumped out of the car and raced to help his partner.

  Inside, Jim coughed as gray smoke swirled around the living area. Blair was holding his own against two assailants. Jim grabbed one and punched him out. One-on-one, Blair ducked then shoved the second into the wall, dazing him. Together, the detectives pushed both men out the door. They followed them outside, Blair pausing to pick up a roll of duct tape his father had left on the entryway stand.

  "Jim!" Blair exclaimed once he could breathe. He tore off a strip of tape. "What are you doing here?"

  "Too many MacGyvers in one spot," Jim replied as he caught the tape. "Amanda and I decided we wanted to be close enough to help with the inevitable fallout."

  Finished securing his guy, Blair waved at Amanda in the car. "I should probably be mad about that, but right now we've got to catch up with DJ and Ian. I sent them out the emergency side door."

  Jim tilted his head, then frowned. "They're in trouble." Jumping to their feet, Jim and Blair dashed for the side entrance to the house.

  * * *

  Jack
felt like his stomach had turned to lead and sank to his toes. One bogey had a gun pointed at his chest. Another had a struggling Ian wrapped in his arms with his hand covering the boy's mouth.

  Barely able to breath, Jack asked just loud enough to be heard over the alarms, "What do you want?"

  "You."

  Okay, he could handle that. "If you release the kid, I'll go peacefully."

  "No. He's our key in controlling you."

  Fighting to keep from panicking, Jack pointed out, "He's just a baby who'll slow you down. Let him go."

  Suddenly, the bogey holding Ian cried out. Jack looked up in time to see him drop Ian and shake his hand. In spite of the tears on the boy's face, Ian looked particularly smug.

  "Run, Ian!" Jack ordered. The man facing him turned his gun towards the small boy. Jack jumped on the man's arm and fought to knock the gun out of his hand. The man growled and threw Jack against the stairs. The metal edge cut into Jack's arm. When the clone rolled onto his back, he spotted the second bogey reaching for Ian as the first again pointed his gun at him.

  Then out of no-where, Sam tackled the man with the gun and slammed his fist into his face. Jack blinked, then noticed that the second bogey was currently getting his butt kicked by Cory. Holding his bleeding arm, Jack found himself rather impressed by Cory's smooth and vicious moves.

  Blinking again, he discovered that Blair and... Jim? Blair and Jim had arrived. Blair dashed over to his brother and grabbed his arm. "Sam! Sam! He's down. Ian's safe. Ian's SAFE!"

  As Sam leaned back on his haunches, Ian jumped into his arms. Burying his face into his son's curls, Sam hugged his son tightly.

  Then Cory was kneeling in front of Jack, helping him to sit on the steps. "You okay?"

  Coughing, Jack nodded as he watched two fire trucks pull up to the front, patrol cars screeching to a stop behind them.

  * * *

  Sam was sitting on the garden bench in the front yard holding Ian as the chaos of police and firemen swirled around them. He knew he should probably be talking with the police and the firemen like his brother and friends, but he just needed his son close. Then he noticed the hitch in Ian's breathing. Rubbing the small back, Sam softly asked, "Hey, Buddy, you okay?" He could feel the curly head nod.

  Amanda appeared before them, giving Sam a warm yet worried smile. "There you are. Are you all right?"

  "Yeah." He ignored Amanda's stern glance at his bruised and bloody fist. "This is a nice surprise."

  Amanda smiled. "Ian was in danger. Where else would we be?"

  Sam returned the smile, comforted by the sentiment. "Ian, Aunt Amanda is here."

  "Aunt 'Manda?" Ian asked breathlessly. He looked up.

  "Hi, sweetie."

  "I bit the bad guy."

  "What a brave boy you are."

  Sam frowned as Ian's breathing grew more labored. "You need howler, Buddy?"

  Rubbing his eyes, Ian nodded.

  Sam glanced at Amanda. "You mind letting Aunt Amanda hold you?"

  Ian nodded, and once Amanda had sat next to Sam on the bench, Ian climbed onto her lap. Sam ran a comforting hand through Ian's curls as he pulled the boy's emergency inhaler out of his jacket pocket. With a little coaxing, he managed to get Ian to breathe in a little of the medicine.

  "Did he get enough?" Amanda asked.

  "I don't think so. I need to get his spacer." At Amanda's puzzled look, Sam explained, "It attaches to the inhaler and lets him breath it in without having to time it just right." Sam gently turned Ian's face to him. "I'll be right back, Buddy. You just stay here with Aunt Amanda."

  Ian nodded as he tucked his head into Amanda's sweater.

  Sam stood up and searched for the fire chief. Once he got the okay, he walked into the house towards the bathroom. The house still smelled of smoke, but it wasn't too bad. As he pulled the spacer from the medicine cabinet shelf, he heard a cough. Sam blinked. No one should be in the house except firemen. Worried, Sam tracked the sound to the guest room. DJ was stuffing clothes into his duffel bags. "What are you doing?"

  The tightening of the thin shoulders was the only evidence that Sam had been heard as the clone continued to pull clothes out of the drawers.

  This wasn't good. There was bound to be more masked men to follow the last batch. A sick DJ would be a sitting duck on his own. "DJ?"

  "Those bastards wanted me."

  "I know."

  "They pointed a gun at Ian because of me."

  "It's not your fault."

  "Ian was in danger because of me. It's better I leave."

  "Why? So I can tell Ian that his favorite cousin's a coward?"

  Prepared for a reaction, Sam blocked DJ's swing and gently tossed the slim body onto the bed. "You need to think about this."

  "Sam, don't you get it?" Jack coughed hard, then continued. "They want me, and that puts Ian in danger."

  "So today it's you," Sam agreed. "Tomorrow he could be in danger because of Dad. The next day it may be due to me. Your leaving isn't going to change that. Hell, we don't even know why they want you."

  "Sam, you don't understand..."

  "You don't understand." Sam leaned over and wiped the blood still oozing from Jack's cut with his left thumb. "Your blood." He then wiped the blood from his knuckles with his pinky. "My blood." Then he rubbed the fingers together, mixing the two together. "OUR blood. We're family, Jack. It doesn't matter how you got here. And there's two things I've learned about this family. One is that Jim's right; trouble always seems to find us. The other is that together, we can face down any trouble that comes our way. Stand with us, DJ."

  Jack stared at him. "You really don't want me to go?"

  Sam held out his hand. "I want you to stay and be a part of this family." He held his breath as his cousin thought.

  After a moment of hesitation, DJ reached out to take the hand. Sam pulled him into his arms for a brief hug. "Come on. I need to get this to Ian."

  * * *

  DJ was still a little stunned by the recent turn of events as he walked with Sam back to the garden bench. Sam really wanted him to stay, even though he was a threat to Ian? No gesture had touched him so deeply in a very long time. He looked up to see that MacGyver had arrived, hugging Ian tightly. Spotting their approach, he returned the boy to Amanda's arms. He then walked over and wrapped his arms around both Sam and DJ. It was the second shock of the afternoon. Nobody had hugged him in... a very long time. Now he'd been hugged twice in five minutes.

  MacGyver stepped back to allow Sam to go to Ian, but wrapped a hand around DJ's neck. He looked deep into his eyes. "You okay? Cory said you're the target."

  DJ nodded. "I'm sorry Ian got involved."

  "Not your fault."

  "That's what Sam said."

  "I've got a smart boy."

  Jim Ellison then walked up. "Has anyone looked at that arm yet?"

  "Arm?" Mac inquired.

  Jim gently lifted DJ's arm to show the deep gash. With the oozing blood, it looked particularly nasty. DJ tried to muffle the cough trying to work its way up, but failed.

  MacGyver frowned. "Amanda says Ian's asthma's acting up. Anyone else hurt?"

  "Sam should have his hand X-rayed," Blair replied, hearing the question as he and Cory approached. "It was bleeding and swelling, and I think he broke that one guy's nose with it."

  Mac lifted his eyebrow up. Blair added, "The perp deserved it, Dad. He pointed a gun at Ian."

  "Trust me, I would have loved to have hurt him more, but Sam was doing a fine job on his own," Cory supported.

  Mac sighed. "Guess we need to make a field trip to the ER."

  "Good, DJ needs that arm looked at," Sam interjected as he joined the group.

  Just then, the patrol officers walked by, leading the four suspects in cuffs. After subtle shifts of body position, DJ suddenly discovered that the five adults bodies had placed themselves between the defeated attackers and Ian, Amanda, and himself. The full strength of the five sentinels and guides glared at the men
, sending a pointed message. DJ suddenly felt more protected than he had since discovering the alien threat.

  The third shock of the afternoon was that he kinda liked it.

  After the bad guys were safely stowed into patrol cars, Jim's head whipped around to stare at DJ. Then he whispered to Cory, "Someone shrunk O'Neill?"

  Cory laughed as he clapped the older sentinel on the shoulder. "That requires a long, classified discussion in a less populated place."

  * * *

  Two hours later, Community General Hospital

  Colonel Jack O'Neill stormed into the ER, secure in the knowledge that the rest of SG1 was at his back. He wanted to get to the bottom of whatever insanity was threatening his clone and MacGyver's boys on Earth, and he wanted it now. Spotting Ellison, Jack quickly walked towards him. Amanda was sitting in a nearby chair as Ian worked on a coloring book. Then Ian lifted his head. "Grandpa Neill!"

  Jack could feel the anger ease as the little boy ran to him. "Hi, Ian." He picked him up and gave him a tight hug. Then he shook the hand Ellison extended to him. "Jim. Amanda."

  "Jack." Jim then nodded to Jack's team, who returned his greeting.

  What worried Jack was that there was no one else he recognized in the waiting room. "Where's everybody?"

  Amanda waved her hand to the left. "Sam's getting his hand X-rayed, and Cory's with him." She waved in the other direction. "Blair and MacGyver are with DJ as they stitch up his arm and check his breathing."