Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

1 Bozer, Bullies, Broken Noses

When Angus MacGyver was eight he already attended 5th grade at Mission City Junior High and was surrounded by older and generally taller people. Being the youngest, smallest and smartest guy on the block with 'Angus' for a first name, the experience wasn't all that great until his school life took a 180° turn one day.

The thing about bullies, Angus MacGyver had learned early on, was that they tended to pick on people smaller and weaker than themselves because of issues they themselves feel small and weak at. Case in point, Donnie Sandoz who once again had Angus pinned against his locker after class for allegedly showing him up in class again and making him seem stupid. Really it hadn't been Angus' intention, it hardly was his fault that Donnie got the answer wrong and Angus didn't.

Alright, he might have been able to keep his mouth shut with his explanation after answering correctly in the first place. The thing was, Angus liked sharing his knowledge, liked explaining things to others so that they maybe could see that science and stuff could be fascinating and fun as well. It never was his intention to sound cocky while doing so.

But exactly that's what Donnie said he was and that he really needed to learn to keep his mouth shut. His father and grandfather both had taught Angus not to solve issues with violence which left him highly unprepared to Donnie's very violent approach. Words and sarcasm as a defense mechanism definitely didn't help against the big, trained fists of his class mate. His stomach and back ached already from being shoved against the locker and a previous punch to the gut and all Angus really could do was squeeze his eyes shut and hope for the best, when Donnie pulled back his fist to target his face next when...

"Oi, Donnie! Why don't you pick on someone your own size and level of intelligence for once?" a snarky voice sounded from their right, stopping Donnie in his tracks and making Angus look up with wide eyes. Never before had anyone tried to help him.

Angus recognised the guy as another one of their class mates, Wilt Bozer. He was a fun guy as far as Angus could tell. They hadn't really talked to one another before, Angus kept to himself and Wilt, or rather Bozer, as everyone including their teachers called him, had his own circle of friends.

"Keep your nose out of the things that don't concern you, Bozer! Or do you fancy being the next in line?" Donnie growled back, turning his head back to Angus and lining his fist up for the punch once again.

Angus yelped, squeezing his eyes shut again but the punch didn't come.

Instead he was dropped unceremoniously to the floor and the next thing the young blond boy heard in the blur of motion before him was a gasp, a dull but slightly sickening crack, followed by a pained yell.

"Bozer, you sick bastard, you broke my nose!" Donnie literally snarled in a slightly nasal voice through the blood gushing from his nose.

"Yup, looks like it, I hope it reminds you to keep your stupid hands off of him and all the others you tend to bully around or I will repeat the action until you do learn, understood?" Bozer replied, surprisingly unfazed by the whole ordeal. "You probably should let someone take a look at that though..." he added before turning to Angus, who still sat slumped on the floor. "You alright?"

"Uh... yeah, mostly I guess. Thanks, you didn't have to do this. You'll probably be in trouble now!" Angus stammered, taking the hand Bozer was holding out to him to help him to his feet.

"Ah yeah well, not the first time, I can handle it. He just really deserved that, I can't stand how he thinks he owns the place and he has the right to tryrannize everyone around for nothing. Now, you sure you're alright? You do look a little pale there." Bozer looked at him appraisingly.

"Yeah, nothing a pack of ice won't cure when I'm home. Honestly, thank you, nobody has done something like this for me before." the blond smiled, rubbing his stomach gingerly.

"Well, Angus MacGyver, consider these times over, I'll look out for you from now on, alright? That's what friends are for, eh?" Bozer smiled brightly.

To say that Angus was floored by those words would be an understatement. As long as he could remember he never had a friend before.

"Friends...?" he whispered in awe. "I'd like that, Bozer!"

"Yes, friends! Come on, let's get out of here. Just one thing..." Bozer put one arm around Angus' shoulders, pulling him along the hallway. "Don't get me wrong, 'Angus' certainly is a special name but I know that, similar to 'Wilt', it does attract unpretty attention, so, let's see... MacGyver... that's a mouthful right there... how about I call you 'Mac' from now on? That's cool, right?"

Angus blinked, thought about it and then smiled at Bozer.

"I never had a nickname before, I like that. 'Mac' it's easy and a lot better than 'Angus'. Thanks, Bozer!"

Bozer huffed.

"Anytime, Mac. Anytime!" he ruffled the blond hair, freezing in the motion when a furious sounding voice sounded from down the hall.

"Wilt Bozer! To the principal's office, right this second!"

"Uh, that doesn't sound good, I better run. You go home and get that ice on your bruise, see you tomorrow!" Bozer said, already turning on his heels to follow the angry voice.

"But, you'll get in trouble because of me, the least I should do is go with you and try to explain things!" Mac replied but Bozer turned again, walking backwards.

"Nah, that won't help a thing, I know that from experience but thanks, Mac." he waved and quickly vanished around the corner.

The next day Mac kept his eyes open for his new friend but Bozer was not in school. After class he asked Mr. Ericsson about it and found out about Bozer's suspension as his punishment. His favourite teacher gave Mac the address of the Bozer family and went by there to at least bring Bozer their homework and the lesson materials. With Mac's help, Bozer managed to get the two weeks of suspension over without really missing anything. (If Bozer was completely honest, he probably learned a lot more in those two weeks than he would have at school, so it really was a win-win situation.)

Chapter Text

2 Feelings, Friends, First Kisses

When Mac was thirteen he felt lost like he very rarely had done before. All around him his classmates started becoming all mushy and couple-y at all times. Not once Mac was able to walk down the hall without seeing someone busy making out or holding hands.

It's not that it was a problem or anything. He did understand the theories and the chemical reactions in the brain and everything that led to the behaviour. They learned about puberty and everything after all.

No, the problem was that it confused him how *he* felt about it. He hardly grew up in a loveless home but he certainly lacked the experience of familial affection. He barely even remembered the warmth and love his mother had for him, his father never had been an affectionate man to begin with and his grandfather loved and cared for him for sure but all that didn't prepare him for the whirlwind that was puberty for him. And constantly questioning himself if he actually was loveable in the first place since his own father preferred to abandon him, didn't help either.

Being an almost adopted honorary member of the Bozer family did help a little but not much, it wasn't the same after all.

So now Mac was confused about love, about his feelings and everything in between. He looked at the couples around him wondering what it felt like for them. He didn't ask of course, that would just be asking for trouble and teasing. He wondered how the feeling of love one had for a brother or sister was different to the feeling of love one had for a partner.

He tried reading about it, looked through books and various websites but was left more confused than before.

Under any other circumstance he had a trusted and unjudgmental best friend in Bozer. Usually they talked about everything, shared all their secrets with each other. Mac helped Bozer with everything related to school when needed while Bozer basically helped Mac with everything related to life. Being two years older *and* knowing Mac for as long and as good as he did, Bozer normally could tell when Mac had trouble with understanding the social cues around him. But this time Bozer was kind of the source of the problem and Mac didn't know how to deal with it. (Talking to his grandfather was out of the question with that one!)

Bozer and Mac. Mac and Bozer. The two of them were known as inseparable around school and of course Mac had heard the whispers about them being more than just friends. Until recently he would have said, of course they were more than just friends, they were like brothers, duh. But now, with all the questions swirling in his head, he was wondering. Were they? Like brothers that is? Despite everything, Mac was sure that he loved Bozer. What confused him was defining the feeling. It brought him back to the question, how was love for a brother supposed to feel in comparison to love for a -say boyfriend?

"You're doing it again, Mac. What's wrong?" Bozer startled Mac out of his thoughts, slowly stepping closer through the sand of the playground, where Mac had hidden himself away on a swing, idly moving back and forth while trying to find a solution for his current dilemma.

"Doing what exactly, Boze?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

"Getting lost in your head over something that's obviously bothering you. You don't realise how you keep everyone -me included- at arms length everytime you do it, do you? You hide yourself away and turn even more quiet than usual. So I'm asking again, what's wrong. You know you can tell me!" Bozer said softly, taking his place on the swing next to Mac. He knew sometimes he had to be careful with Mac, like a shy, frightened animal if he wanted answers.

Mac stayed silent for a little while until the quiet, inquisitive look of Bozer made him sigh and hang his head.

"It's nothing. If anything it's stupid and you, of all people, don't really want to know, I think."

"Hey, if it's bothering you, I doubt it is 'nothing', Mac. And you're my best friend, of course I want to know and try to help you." Bozer frowned, tilting his head a little to better see the expression on the younger one's face.

Mac fell silent again, seemingly debating telling Bozer or not. The play of emotion on the blond's face was a little worrying to the older. He had seen something similar only a few times with Mac and it always was something groundbreaking they would talk about later, like when he told Bozer about the time his mom died, or when his dad left. What could be troubling his friend like that?

Next to him, Mac took a deep breath, straightening his back a bit, apparently he had come to a decision. Bozer took sat up more, watching his friend.

"Alright, before I tell you, can you promise me something, Boze?"

"Always, Mac, what is it?"

"Can you promise me that you won't laugh at me? And more importantly that you won't consider me as *weird* afterwards and leave me? I don't want to lose my best friend over this. Can you promise me that?" Mac looked at Bozer, those baby blues so earnest and frightened.

Bozer would be lying if this introduction hadn't thrown him for a loop.

"I promise, Mac. There literally is nothing you could tell me that would make me leave you. I love you, bro! You're my best friend!"

The blond flinched slightly at those words and *that* concerned Bozer even more, but then he nodded.

"That's... that's actually part of the problem... you know how... I mean I'm confused about..." Mac huffed in frustration at his own inability to find the right words but gladly Bozer knew him well enough to let him work through it on his own and did not interrupt him. "It's love... feelings... I'm confused about what I'm supposed to be feeling and what it is exactly that I'm feeling... I mean, I *know* I love you too but how do I know how to define that? What is brotherly love supposed to feel like in comparison to... well *love* love. How do you quantify that? When people talk about us being more than just friends... my first thought is 'sure' but what does 'more' entail?" Mac ended his confession and slumped back in the swing seat, another unhappy huff on his lips.

Bozer had stayed quiet through it all, listening carefully. Whatever he might have expected, that surely hadn't been it. And he could see that Mac was really worked up about it. It was a good question as well, but definitely one that couldn't be explained with science or anything which might be the reason why Mac had trouble with the issue.

The older hadn't realised how long he had stayed quiet until he heard the soft and fearfully shaky 'Boze?' from the blond.

"Yeah... it's all good, no worries, let me think..." Bozer said with a small, thoughtful smile. "You know, I haven't really thought about it myself, it's actually a good question but I'm afraid there is no definite answer to it since every person is different, experiences feelings differently. Let's try and see if we can clear up what you're feeling a little at least. What kind of feelings do you associate with your grandfather for example?"

Mac thought about it for a moment how to express it.

"Warmth, safety, respect, curiosity, worry, guilt, sadness..."

Bozer nodded at that, carefully hiding the frown that was threatening to show on his face hearing that. He might only be fifteen himself but even he knew that 'worry, guilt and sadness' shouldn't be things Mac associated with his grandfather. He made a mental note to himself to ask his mother about that before he talked with Mac about it. For now they had another issue to clear.

"Alright and what kind of feelings do you associate with me?" he asked and the answer made Bozer nervous if he was honest with himself. He knew for a fact that nothing could change how he was feeling about Mac but should this conversation end with the conclusion that Mac, well was in love with him, he would have to think about how to go about that but that was yet another issue entirely.

Mac smiled at that.

"Warmth and safety too for sure. Mh... happiness, ease... like, everything is easier when you're by my side. Hope? Admiration..."

"Admiration, huh?" Bozer grinned back. "Okay, so... don't freak out on me, yeah?" the older warned, pressing his feet a bit more into the ground, pushing himself closer to Mac, using his surprise to his own advantage, pressing his lips to Mac's softly and quickly. It was just a short peck, a barely there touch before he pulled back again, looking into Mac's eyes.

The blond had his nose wrinkled in confusion, looking at Bozer expectantly.

"What...?"

"How are you feeling now?" Bozer asked.

"Confused, surprised... but otherwise not much different than before, why?"

"Would you want to do that again?"

"Not necessarily, I mean it didn't feel bad or anything but..." Mac let the sentence trail off when Bozer chuckled softly.

"Hey, no worries, I feel the same way. You see what I was trying to get at, the feelings you said you associate with your grandfather, your family, are essentially close to what you listed in association to me. For the record, it's pretty close to how I would describe my feelings for my parents and you as well. It's what I'd call 'familial' or in our case 'brotherly' love, okay? Would your feelings for me be different, more along the line of 'love' love, how you put it, you would have reacted differently to the kiss. I'm no expert in this but in the movies they usually associate it with feeling giddy, your heart is racing, hands sweaty and stuff like that. Neither of us felt that way about the kiss, right? So I would say, the 'more than just friends' talk is just that, talk. I love you like a brother and the way I see it, you do too, okay? Did that help?"

Mac listened and thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

"Yeah, yeah actually I think it did. I mean I'm still a little confused about it all but this makes a lot of sense and I'm glad you made me talk to you about it. Thank you!"

"You're welcome, Mac. And hey, I think the confusion is all part of the experience and will probably always be there. I mean I'm confused too about it all at times, you're not alone in this." Bozer winked at Mac, clapped a hand on the blond's back. "Now, you want to come over for dinner? I have it on good authority that mum made chocolate pudding for dessert."

"Really? Cool, yeah, I'd love that, thanks!" Mac's eyes brightened at the suggestion, getting to his feet.

(Some time later the two friends decided to never talk about this conversation again, it was their secret and nobody else had to know. That's why Mac, when asked about it later, would always answer that Penny Parker had been his first kiss, even though that wasn't entirely true.)

Chapter Text

3 Girls, Graduation, Grand Ideas

When Mac was sixteen he graduated from high school alongside his friends. But he didn't just graduate, he graduated of course top of their year, winning prizes left and right, getting honors and so on.

But Mac didn't like the attention because with the attention there were questions. His mum's death and how his father walked out on him were open secrets in Mission City and yet everyone thought it necessary to drag them into it. That's why Mac also intended to skip out on their graduation celebration.

"You can't Mac, it's our graduation. Come on. Let those assholes talk, you know how they are, don't let them ruin a perfectly good celebration for you." Bozer tried to argue with him, not for the first time since he mentioned it to his best friend.

"That's exactly it, Bozer. I know how they are and really, I don't care for this celebration anyway. It's just a night of boring speeches, people praising themselves above all else, I have no interest in that. I can spend my time a lot better than that!" Mac replied, pushing some papers to the side on his desk, turning his back to Bozer, who was sitting on his bed.

"Yeah I know but I don't think it has anything to do with boring speeches. You forget I know you, Mac. Even the most boring speech and presentation, you can still follow it, make sense of it and make fun of it at the same time. You love doing that. I think there's another reason why you don't want to go and it has only very little to do with people asking about your parents. It's because you're expected to dress up and have a date, isn't it? Look I'm sorry about the way the whole Darleen Martin debacle played out, alright? I told you, I'm sorry but not every girl is like her. You could still ask Penny, you could go as friends, what would be wrong with that? Come on..." Bozer huffed in frustration.

"A- true, I like making fun of terrible speeches but only if I can't help it. In this case I'm not forced to endure these speeches because it's not like my graduation depends on being present at the ceremony. B- Forget about the whole Darleen Martin thing, I told you even before I asked her that I didn't really want to go to Prom anyway. And C- Penny is going together with Frank which you would know if you actually had listened to her instead of nagging me to attend when we went to Burger Nirvana last time." Mac refuted Bozer's arguments, again not for the first time.

Bozer sighed.

"Really? Man, I seriously didn't hear that..."

"More like you didn't want to hear that because you dislike Frank with a passion..." Mac deadpanned.

"Well that's true too. But he's a pompus asshole, Penny deserves so much better than that."

"Yeah well, I'm not disagreeing with you here but she likes him for whatever reason and she's our friend. If that's what she wants, I'll support her. Which incidentally brings me to the issue at hand, you're my best friend and you should support my decision as well. I'm not going. Period."

Mac sighed a little tiredly.

"What does your grandfather say about this? Doesn't he want to watch you receive your graduation diploma?" Bozer tried his last resort.

"My grandfather says I should do what I want and if I want to skip on the ceremony, I can do that. He is totally fine with it. Are you finally going to give it a rest? I'm old enough. And it's not like I want to keep you from going, Boze. You will have a fun night without me, I'm sure! I mean, Katie seems to look forward to it, right?"

Katie was Bozer's current girlfriend. Together for about three weeks now, probably brought together by shared stress and overall craziness that was finals, Mac thought. And he wished them all the best if it lasted longer than Bozer's previous tries at relationships but he had no intention of third wheeling them either.

"Actually, I'm not entirely sure she does if I'm completely honest. You remember Spencer? Her ex who graduated last year? Apparently he's back in town. I'm kind of expecting already to get dumped in the next few days. I'm even thinking about beating her to the punch and save her the heartache." Bozer admitted after a short silence.

Oh... so that might just be the real heart of the matter.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Boze. That kind of sucks." Mac said awkwardly.

"Yeah thanks, bro. Well... actually I'm surprised we came as far as we did already so... anyway. Why don't you tell me about what's so much better than attending your own graduation? I mean, you must already have a plan, right?" Bozer said, fiddling with the corner of Mac's blanket.

"I do, a really cool one to boot. You know the old truck that has been gathering dust in the shed for years now? My grandfather told me last week that everything I need to make it work again should be in the shed as well now. Apparently he's been gathering spare parts whenever he could without telling me. He said if I can repair it, it's mine and I can drive to Boston on my own as well with it. So yeah, I have better plans I'd say."

Mac grinned.

Bozer's eyes grew wide.

"Wait seriously? That's awesome, why didn't you say so before?" he then turned quiet again, thinking. "Actually... could you use an extra set of hands?" he asked finally.

"You sure?" Mac asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah well, I still have to talk to my parents and Katie but if things turn out the way I think they will... skipping out on the celebration to fix up your truck sounds like a good place to be." he admitted.

"Hey, I'd love the company, but think about it, alright? You know where to find me!" the blond smiled.

In the end Bozer went to the celebration after all but only long enough to pick up his own and Mac's diplomas, after that he picked up some fried chicken and joined Mac in the shed behind the MacGyver home.

Chapter Text

4 Love, Loss, Life Lessons

When Mac dropped out of MIT at eighteen to join the Army, Bozer had been confused and reluctant to let him go. Saying good-bye to his best friend when he moved to Boston and left him behind in Mission City had already been hard, but saying good-bye to his best friend with the very real possibility of not seeing him again? That was almost unbearable.

But Mac, like he always did, explained him his reasoning behind the decision and even if Bozer didn't like it, he understood Mac's need to help. That need had always been a key attribute of Mac' personality.

So they said good-bye before Mac shipped out and skyped whenever they were able to. Every single time Mac talked to Bozer, they would also talk about his grandfather. The blond always had the feeling that his last remaining family member was hiding something from him and asked his best friend to keep an eye on the old man, take care of him if needed.

That's why Mac immediately had a bad feeling about the notification to call one Wilt Bozer when he got back to base after a gruelling shift disarming IEDs all over the little town in Afghanistan, set to harm innocent people about one and a half years after his enlistment.

As soon as the Skype call connected that bad feeling intensified with one look at his best friend. Deep in his heart Mac already knew what the next few minutes would be about, he could read it in the sadness mirrored in Bozer's eyes despite the grainy quality of the connection.

"Mac... it's your grandfather..." Bozer said softly, voice wobbly with barely held back tears. "I'm so so sorry but he passed last night."

Despite expecting what his best friend would tell him, the actual news hit Mac like a fright train. For a minute he just stared blankly at the screen, not knowing what to make of the situation, wondering for a moment if this was a bad dream if it wasn't for the very real sound of the military base in the background and the unforgiving heat of the Afghani desert.

"Mac?" Bozer asked after a little while, wondering if their connection had been interrupted.

"Yeah, Boze, sorry. When? How?" Mac wanted to know. He had talked to his grandfather the week before and he hadn't sounded sick or anything.

"Last night, some time between one and three in the morning they told us. He called my mum the day before, said he didn't feel well and if she maybe could take him to the hospital to get checked. They kept him over night, something about his heart. During the day it actually had looked like he was getting better again but the doctors wanted to run another test and kept him one night more... he didn't make it through the night. Mac, I wanted to call you the moment I heard he was hospitalized but you know your grandfather, he's just as stubborn as you are and made me promise not to tell you. He said you were doing dangerous and important work over there and couldn't afford being distracted just because he was feeling a little under the weather. I'm sorry, Mac, so sorry. I should have called anyway, you should have known earlier." Bozer told him, silent tears running down his cheeks and Mac was so glad that it was his best friend, his brother, who told him the news instead of some stuffy superior who had no idea who his grandfather was.

"Don't be sorry about that, Bozer. You kept a promise to my grandfather, I do understand that. And to be honest, I probably wouldn't have made it home in time anyway, as bad as it sounds. So thank you, Bozer. So what happens next?" Mac asked, needing to distract himself with information for now. He knew at some point he would break and when that time came, he wouldn't be able to think clearly enough to function for a while.

"My parents are taking care of the funeral preparations. I don't know if you knew about this, I sure didn't, but apparently your grandfather and my parents have talked about this before, how he wishes the funeral to go and every thing else in case something happens to him while you're away. So they are taking care of what they can already, they just need to know when you will be back so they can plan the time accordingly."

Mac was floored by that information. Apparently his grandfather kept even more secrets than he had expected. And although it hurt that the man hadn't told him, Mac was glad he had made the preparations already because he knew he wouldn't have been able to do it.

"Wow, no, that's the first I hear about this. Please, Boze, tell your parents 'thank you' in my name already. They didn't have to do it, so I appreciate the help a lot. I'll have to talk to my CO about flying out, can I call you back in about two hours? I should be able to get the information by then."

Mac said, in his mind he already planned the talk he would be having with his superior.

"Yeah, that's alright. And Mac... I'm very sorry for your loss!" Bozer said, choked.

"Thanks Bozer, me too!"

Mac kept himself together through the talk with his CO, his travel back and even all through the funeral ceremony. His carefully crafted walls first cracked at the tail end of all the people expressing their condolences and he soon after excused himself back to the now empty home of his grandfather. That's where Bozer found him only minutes later, having followed his best friend immediately. The moment Mac laid eyes on Bozer the dam finally broke and he cried in the arms of his friend for a long time. Bozer held him through it all, sharing his grief and offering support.

Chapter Text

5 Screams, Secrets, Shared Sorrows

Some time after Mac turned twenty-four, Bozer noticed that his friend had returned quite shaken from his recent work trip.

Bozer had been overjoyed when Mac had told him that he would finally return home for good, leaving the Army to put his smarts to work at a think tank based in LA and when he had invited him to live with him to help Bozer along with his film making career.

He hadn't expected that working for a think tank would entail that much travel but Mac explained to him that they worked closely with other think tanks all over the world and that he basically travelled wherever he was needed. It made sense and at least Bozer knew his best friend was safe now, unlike he had been in the Army. Plus Jack, Mac's Army partner turned co-worker at the think tank and the latest addition to their makeshift family unit, Nikki (Mac's girlfriend and boy, Bozer still was trying to wrap his head around that one) were always travelling with Mac. That way Bozer was sure someone would keep an eye on his friend (Jack) and take care of him (Nikki) if Mac gets sucked into the zone of science land again, forgetting to eat and sleep.

But something about their latest work trip had been different, Bozer knew even though none of the three said anything.

The older had asked Mac if something had happened while he had been gone and his friend had gotten a little evasive about the topic. The most Bozer had finally gotten out of him was the admission that they had been in Cairo for work, and that the city had suffered a terrorist attack while they were there. Apparently a bomb had gone off somewhere in the city, killing and injuring several people. Mac and the others hadn't been close but the event itself had shaken loose some of the less pretty memories of his time in Afghanistan.

*That* had been information Bozer actually could understand. It explained why his friend seemed stiff and shaken. He didn't understand exactly what it must feel like but Bozer understood Mac, he knew his friend for years, almost decades now after all.

Without being too obvious about it, Bozer kept his eyes and ears open in case Mac needed him.

Three days after the trio had returned home, his attentiveness paid off. Over the course of those three days Mac had become more and more tired, only taking very short catnaps now and then while he was busy tinkering with the old motor bike that stood in the middle of their living room. Bozer had refrained from telling Mac to go to bed for some proper sleep, he knew better after all. It was a lesson learned a long time before already.

In the end, Mac had gone by his own free will and Bozer had wished him a good night.

Only two hours afterwards, Bozer shot up in his own bed, woken up by a gut-wrenching scream coming from Mac's room even if the pained voice sounded nothing like his best friend.

Quickly Bozer had made his way to Mac's room, calling his name but to no avail.

With a heavy heart Bozer watched his friend, caught tightly in the clutches of memories Bozer wouldn't even dare to think about.

And then Bozer remembered something Mac's own grandfather had told him during one of his visits while Mac had been overseas. Helping people the best you can is a good thing, but true greatness is posessed by those who know when they reached their limit and need someone else to take over.

Bozer wanted to help his friend, wanted nothing more than to help him right this second but he knew the older MacGyver had been right, he had reached his limit in this case and that's how Bozer found himself dialling Jack's number in the middle of the night to ask for him to take over. Because Jack shared these memories with Mac, he experienced the devastation that was the war first hand, he truly understood what Mac was going through right then.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Jack's sleep raw voice came from his speaker and an uneasiness Bozer hadn't even noticed before in his gut settled at the sound of the older man.

"I know, sorry... it's Mac..." Bozer said and the younger chose that moment for yet another strangled scream.

"Shit! Say no more, I'm on my way... try turning the lights on, that might help a little already. Other than that, stay away from him but keep an eye on him. Dreams like these can turn quite violent and neither of us want you to get hurt, alright Bozer? Do not touch him unless Mac runs the risk of hurting himself, understood? And if you have to before I'm there, be careful! Hang in there, I'll be there in a couple of minutes!"

It had taken Jack only a surprisingly short time to arrive at the house, quickly taking over. Bozer retreated back to the living room, listening to the soft, calming whisper of the older man.

Bozer had promised Mac as a kid already to look after him and sometimes that included admitting defeat and letting someone else do the heavy lifting.

Chapter Text

+1 Plans, Presents, Puppy Piles

The last couple of weeks if not months had been one headache after the other for Bozer. Ever since he had joined the Phoenix, his life had become a literal tornado of action and he felt like he just couldn't keep up anymore.

Between spy school, missions, the crazy big reveal of Mac's asshole father, Mac's resulting journey of self-discovery and return back home, finding and also apparently losing the love of his life, Bozer felt like someone had pulled the rug out from under his feet.

At this point he felt like his tiredness was tired.

Mac watched his best friend with full-blown concern. He knew the spiral intimately well that Bozer was currently falling down and he couldn't have that. All of his life, Bozer had been the one looking after Mac and although Mac was also looking out for Bozer at all times, now was his chance to repay some of the life dept to the older. And with one glance at the calendar on the kitchen wall, a plan was taking form in his head but first he needed to help Bozer get some proper rest because his friend had started to develop an even unhealthier sleeping schedule than Mac himself at his worst times and *that* was saying something.

So he did something that was highly immoral but he knew for a fact that Bozer and Jack had done to him before as well and slipped Bozer something into his drink.

Mac knew his chemistry and had chosen the dose low enough that it couldn't do any harm to his best friend but high enough to knock him out for at least twelve to fifteen hours. Bozer should at least physically feel better afterwards.

And it would give him the time to share and coordinate his plan with the rest of their family.

**

A few days later, Matty called them all into the war room, briefing them on a new mission. A surveillance op with subsequent intel extraction at some luxury resort on the island of Honolulu.

"Well that sounds like some simple work with a whole lot of vacation... cool, maybe then I can finally introduce you to my buddy over there, since he wasn't around the last time we were there." Jack grinned, rubbing his hands in glee.

"I hope for your sake that you didn't just jinx the mission, Jack, or there won't be anything simple or vacation-like about this op." Matty snarked as always.

"Aw, I sure hope not..." Jack pouted, to which Mac just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah that aside, is there anything we should know about beforehand?"

"Other than that you probably need some patience, not that I'm aware of. The intel that brought this onto our radar was quite clear but it never hurts to keep your eyes open." the director said.

"Well patience and surveillance sounds awesome in my ears, when do we fly out?"

Riley took the word for Matty, she had opened the file on her laptop, reading the information.

"Flight is set for tomorrow morning, check in at the resort as soon as we arrive and then we get settled. I'll take over the cameras and we go from there, see where our target, the good Doctor Smith takes us."

"Thanks Riley, that's about it, yeah... so go, pack! Get some rest and let me know as soon as you're settled."

"You got it, boss! Talk to you tomorrow!" Jack grinned happily, followed by the three younger agents who all watched Jack with fond exasperation.

~*~

Mac had been on edge most of the time they had spent at the resort doing their 'surveillance'. The target they had followed on the cameras -a buddy of Jack's buddy on the island- had done a surprisingly good job but they still had run the risk that something would blow the whole plan out of the water.

On Saturday evening, Jack, Mac and Riley left Bozer in their base suite under the pretense that the two men needed Riley with them because she couldn't open the safe remotely. They would move in under the cover of the evening banquet of the resort, all dressed up to not attract attention. Bozer was supposed to keep an eye on the crowed, in particular the exits to the back room where they would go in. The newest agent in their team had no idea that he actually was watching a looped feed until...

"Boze, we have a little hiccup down here. You need to come down." Jack's voice sounded a tiny bit stressed.

"A hiccup? What kind of hiccup?" Bozer asked alarmed, watching the feed, trying to find out what the problem could be.

"You'll see when you get here, Boze, get dressed and come down, we'll need a bit of a distraction." Mac mumbled, sounding only half there like he was working on something else at the same time. Business as usual.

"Yeah alright, give me a minute..." he replied, shutting the laptops he had been watching, just in case and slipped into something chic but casual that should fit perfectly with the crowd he had been watching all this time.

Carefully watching his surroundings, taking note of all the waiters and guests he came across on his way to the banquet hall. He turned to one of the side doors his team mates had entered through as well.

"Alright guys, I'm here, what kind of distraction-" Bozer started to murmur.

"Surprise! Happy Birthday Bozer!" echoed back at the young agent as he stepped inside the banquet hall. Or rather what he thought had been the banquet hall but turned out to be a separate side hall, filled with people who were beaming at him.

"W-what? What's going on?" he couldn't believe his eyes. Right there in front of him were his team mates, his little family of choice including Matty. And around them, spread across the room were the Coltons, Penny, Cage was there too. His parents and a little off to the side stood a bunch of people, a couple of who he remembered from the last time they had been on Hawaii, who Bozer just assumed were the rest of the 5-0 crew and Jack's buddy, even their supposed target person stood among them.

Mac stepped closer to him, engulfing him in a tight hug.

"Happy 30th Birthday, Boze! I know the past couple of months, well the past year has been really hard on you, to give you some time away, celebrate with you and as a thank you for always being there for me, I took the liberty to arrange this and with the help of Matty we managed to fly in all the important people, family and friends, who should celebrate this special day with you."

"Wow, thank you, Mac! I didn't even realise that it's my birthday and you did all this without me noticing!" Bozer sounded a little choked.

"Happy Birthday Bozer!" Jack, Riley and Matty said once more, joining in on the group hug.

It took a while for Bozer to talk to everyone, getting congratulated by them all. His last stop of course were his parents and that's where Mac found Bozer half an hour later.

"Can I steal Bozer for a moment? There's one last guest he should greet..." the blond smiled apologetically.

"I'll be back in a moment... Mac, what's going on?" Bozer asked as his best friend led him to the doorway outside. Mac just nodded through the door and Bozer followed his line of sight, eyes growing big. "Leanna?"

True enough, outside on the terrace stood the woman he loved, and thought he'd lost, with a soft smile.

"Happy Birthday, Bozer!"

With only a few long strides Bozer had Leanna in his arms, turning her on the spot. Over her shoulder he caught Mac's eye and mouthed a silent 'Thank you'. Mac just grinned and winked, before he left to give the couple some privacy.