A muffled sound of pain made its way through the room. Then- silence.

Silence, until a gloating laugh cut through the stillness. A wounded voice cut through the laughter, saying, "I can't believe you'd do this, Jack!"

There was no reply, but the brunet watched the blond struggle with his restraints, a smug smile plastered on his face. The cruel reply crushed all hope of leniency that the younger man might've had. "Never trust anyone, Mac. Especially people that claim to be your friends."

The speaker, one Jack Dalton, stood and began to pace around the man sitting on the floor and struggling with his cuffs. "Time's almost up, kid."

Angus MacGyver had been faced with many dire situations in his life, but none as stressful as this. He didn't raise his eyes from his hands as he continued to struggle and pleaded, "Jack, just a few more minutes. Please."

Jack shook his head slowly, almost sadly. "Ten seconds. Nine. Eight."

He continued to count, watching gleefully as the younger man's struggles increased as time began to run out. The time hit zero; there was a deafening beeping noise, and then-

MacGyver scowled up the older man, embarrassment painting his fair skin red. "Can you turn that off, Jack?"

Jack laughed, a broad grin splitting his weathered face. "Geez, someone's cranky that they lost."

The blond tried to raise a hand to smack the older man, but was stopped by his restraints. With a growl, he yanked hard on them, then winced when his fingers began to throb. Jack returned from the kitchen, where he had hit the 'off' button on the oven timer, just in time to see MacGyver's ill-fated attempt to free himself.

The brunet sat on the couch, grinning, while he pretended not to notice the glares that were being sent his way. Whistling, he grabbed the remote and began to flip through the channels on the TV.

There was a long, drawn out groan, and then MacGyver muttered, just loud enough to be heard over the TV, "Jack. Can you get me out of these."

The flat voice, devoid of inflection, made Jack grin. "Think there's something missing there, buddy."

A long silence. Jack turned off the television and moved his gaze to his trapped friend. Finally, the kid let his head thunk onto the living room table that his hands were cuffed around, and muttered, "Please."

Jack stood slowly, the picture of leisure. "All you had to do was ask, man."

There was no response other than the glare that would've made a lesser man run for the hills. Jack bent down by his friend and pretended to examine the trap his fingers were stuck in. Then he grinned, fighting the laughter that threatened to overtake him. "I cant believe you've never heard of Chinese handcuffs before. Push your fingers together."

The look on MacGyver's face as the Chinese handcuffs fell from his fingers proved too much, and Jack dissolved into laughter as his best friend grabbed a nearby pillow off of the couch and began to hit Jack with it in mock fury.

Riley walked through the door, a couple shopping bags in her hand. Bozer was right behind her, and they were laughing happily at some joke. When they turned around and were greeted by the sight of the two men roughhousing on the living room floor, they froze.

Jack looked up from the middle of the mess, surprised by the sudden interruption. Pillows were in disarray around the brunet and the blond. Jack grinned sheepishly. "He started it. I was just defending myself."

Riley raised one eyebrow, pointing her free hand to the blond that was currently being held in a headlock by Jack, his face turning red as he tried to struggle against the older man, but was held captive almost effortlessly. "I think you might be defending yourself a bit too well."

Jack looked down in comic surprise, chuckling as he released his friend, who rolled away, gasping dramatically for air. "Sorry, buddy, guess I forgot you were there. You should try and defend yourself sometimes, you know."

Jack ducked, laughing, as a pillow was launched at his head. Bozer, finally having recovered from his shock, exclaimed, "Nope. Not in my living room. Not anymore. You two pick this up while Riley and I finish getting the barbecue stuff ready in the back."

Jack and MacGyver took in the destruction of the couch and the general disarray of the room around them, then traded sheepish grins. They stood, beginning to pick up, when Jack muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Chinese handcuffs." MacGyver let out a yelp of indignation, then dove at his friend again.

Riley rolled her eyes, leaving Bozer to yell at the other two men and get them to clean up while she began to prepare the burgers for the grill. As she heard a couple of protesting shouts, she smiled.

It was good to have a family again.