The Mission from Oz 1/4
And now for something completely different...
Summary: Pete Thornton, on assignment for the OSS, goes blind behind enemy lines. Now it's up to "Tin Man" MacGyver and "Papa Bear" Hogan to get Pete out of Gestapo custody and back to London--with a little help from some unexpected friends.
A/N: Y’all know I hardly ever take requests, and this story is evidence of one reason why. Three years ago, Sarah’s Scrawls asked me to write a MacGyver fic, with the option of making it a crossover. I did some initial brainstorming and wrote this prologue, and then it sat in the WIP pile until this summer, when I finally got to (re-)watch more MacGyver and renew my sense of the characters. The problem, of course, was that I had a million other things I needed to be doing instead of writing fanfic, not least of which was continuing to put the kibosh on health problems that flared up worse than ever last fall! But the plotbunny wouldn’t let go until I wrote it, so here it is at long last, with thanks to Sarah for the prompt, KayValo87 for her encouragement, and jennytork for being my trusty beta and brainstorming partner. Because of the nature of the crossover, I’m slotting it into my Crossed Swords AU as a prequel to “There and Back Again,” but it stands entirely alone.
This prologue, btw, was very heavily inspired by a visit to the National Museum of the Pacific War, which I recommend to anyone with the slightest interest in World War II. Also, warnings for period-appropriate language and medicine, as well as spoilers for late-season character developments in MacGyver and the events of Hogan’s Heroes “The Missing Klink.”
The Mission from Oz
By San Antonio Rose
Prologue
June 1942
Main office of the Phoenix Foundation, Los Angeles, CA
“No,” said Angus MacGyver.
“Just think about it,” countered Peter Thornton.
“No. All right? NO. I didn’t like ‘Wild Bill’ Donovan when I worked for the Bureau. I am not working for the OSS.”
“Mac-”
“Do you have any idea the hell MacArthur put me through when I was trying to get you out of Santo Tomas? Do you? Do you know how many men I had to kill? Do you know the nightmares I’ve been having because of all the people we had to leave behind?!”
“You’re not the one who promised to get them out,” Pete replied quietly. “You’re not the one they’ll blame for promising a destroyer and delivering a sub.”
Mac sighed heavily. “I’m sorry, Pete.”
“Hey, I understand. And MacArthur didn’t trust me, either. It’s not your fault I had no way of knowing how much damage they did to Pearl.”
Mac flinched but didn’t respond. Six months later, they still hadn’t heard from Jack Dalton, Mac’s best friend from high school, who’d been running an air taxi service out of Pearl Harbor. He hadn’t been declared dead, but Mac feared the worst nonetheless.
“But Magruder doesn’t want us in Asia anyway,” Pete continued. “He thinks we’d be more use in Europe, especially given your language skill set.”
“What about your sight? If the glaucoma’s getting worse, especially after the way the Japs roughed you up-”
“Mac, they’re not asking us to be sharpshooters. And the pilocarpine’s still working for now. I’ll be fine.”
Mac studied his old friend’s face for a long moment. “You’re joining up whether I come with you or not, aren’t you?”
Pete shrugged a little. “Hitler hates the blind and the lame as much as he hates the Jews and the Slavs. Someone has to stop him.”
They stared at each other for a moment before Mac stated, “Three conditions.”
“Shoot.”
“One, we still work for Phoenix first; any OSS assignments are officially secondment. Two, I don’t carry a gun. And three, you don’t do field work unless absolutely necessary.”
“Mac!”
“I’m serious, Pete. We both know your eyes could go any time. I do not want to have to pull you out of trouble again.”
“You’re acting like I knew the Japanese would invade before I went to Manila. Well, may I remind you that I arrived on December 5, when we still thought there was a chance for peace? That I was there entirely for the purpose of doing administrative work at the Manila field office? That I stayed because we had agents and civilians who needed my help?!”
“Yes, I know that, and I’m not saying you shouldn’t have! But that wouldn’t be the case with the OSS! We are at war with Germany, and they would be sending us into a combat zone deliberately.”
Pete sighed and scrubbed at his eyes. “I can’t make any promises, Mac. I just... I have to do this, for as long as I have left before my vision goes. And it’d be a whole lot easier knowing you have my back.”
There was really only one thing to be said to that. Mac put a hand on the shoulder of the man he loved like a father. “Always, Pete. Always.”
Pete smiled a little. “Thank you.”
But deep down, Mac knew they were both going to regret this decision. He just didn’t know how soon.
Next
Summary: Pete Thornton, on assignment for the OSS, goes blind behind enemy lines. Now it's up to "Tin Man" MacGyver and "Papa Bear" Hogan to get Pete out of Gestapo custody and back to London--with a little help from some unexpected friends.
A/N: Y’all know I hardly ever take requests, and this story is evidence of one reason why. Three years ago, Sarah’s Scrawls asked me to write a MacGyver fic, with the option of making it a crossover. I did some initial brainstorming and wrote this prologue, and then it sat in the WIP pile until this summer, when I finally got to (re-)watch more MacGyver and renew my sense of the characters. The problem, of course, was that I had a million other things I needed to be doing instead of writing fanfic, not least of which was continuing to put the kibosh on health problems that flared up worse than ever last fall! But the plotbunny wouldn’t let go until I wrote it, so here it is at long last, with thanks to Sarah for the prompt, KayValo87 for her encouragement, and jennytork for being my trusty beta and brainstorming partner. Because of the nature of the crossover, I’m slotting it into my Crossed Swords AU as a prequel to “There and Back Again,” but it stands entirely alone.
This prologue, btw, was very heavily inspired by a visit to the National Museum of the Pacific War, which I recommend to anyone with the slightest interest in World War II. Also, warnings for period-appropriate language and medicine, as well as spoilers for late-season character developments in MacGyver and the events of Hogan’s Heroes “The Missing Klink.”
The Mission from Oz
By San Antonio Rose
Prologue
June 1942
Main office of the Phoenix Foundation, Los Angeles, CA
“No,” said Angus MacGyver.
“Just think about it,” countered Peter Thornton.
“No. All right? NO. I didn’t like ‘Wild Bill’ Donovan when I worked for the Bureau. I am not working for the OSS.”
“Mac-”
“Do you have any idea the hell MacArthur put me through when I was trying to get you out of Santo Tomas? Do you? Do you know how many men I had to kill? Do you know the nightmares I’ve been having because of all the people we had to leave behind?!”
“You’re not the one who promised to get them out,” Pete replied quietly. “You’re not the one they’ll blame for promising a destroyer and delivering a sub.”
Mac sighed heavily. “I’m sorry, Pete.”
“Hey, I understand. And MacArthur didn’t trust me, either. It’s not your fault I had no way of knowing how much damage they did to Pearl.”
Mac flinched but didn’t respond. Six months later, they still hadn’t heard from Jack Dalton, Mac’s best friend from high school, who’d been running an air taxi service out of Pearl Harbor. He hadn’t been declared dead, but Mac feared the worst nonetheless.
“But Magruder doesn’t want us in Asia anyway,” Pete continued. “He thinks we’d be more use in Europe, especially given your language skill set.”
“What about your sight? If the glaucoma’s getting worse, especially after the way the Japs roughed you up-”
“Mac, they’re not asking us to be sharpshooters. And the pilocarpine’s still working for now. I’ll be fine.”
Mac studied his old friend’s face for a long moment. “You’re joining up whether I come with you or not, aren’t you?”
Pete shrugged a little. “Hitler hates the blind and the lame as much as he hates the Jews and the Slavs. Someone has to stop him.”
They stared at each other for a moment before Mac stated, “Three conditions.”
“Shoot.”
“One, we still work for Phoenix first; any OSS assignments are officially secondment. Two, I don’t carry a gun. And three, you don’t do field work unless absolutely necessary.”
“Mac!”
“I’m serious, Pete. We both know your eyes could go any time. I do not want to have to pull you out of trouble again.”
“You’re acting like I knew the Japanese would invade before I went to Manila. Well, may I remind you that I arrived on December 5, when we still thought there was a chance for peace? That I was there entirely for the purpose of doing administrative work at the Manila field office? That I stayed because we had agents and civilians who needed my help?!”
“Yes, I know that, and I’m not saying you shouldn’t have! But that wouldn’t be the case with the OSS! We are at war with Germany, and they would be sending us into a combat zone deliberately.”
Pete sighed and scrubbed at his eyes. “I can’t make any promises, Mac. I just... I have to do this, for as long as I have left before my vision goes. And it’d be a whole lot easier knowing you have my back.”
There was really only one thing to be said to that. Mac put a hand on the shoulder of the man he loved like a father. “Always, Pete. Always.”
Pete smiled a little. “Thank you.”
But deep down, Mac knew they were both going to regret this decision. He just didn’t know how soon.
Next