When the police weren't talking and questioning the Phoenix crew, MacGyver locked himself in his hotel room and didn't answer anyone knocking. After two days of statements and repeated questions, the Phoenix crew was released to head home. His friends tried to talk to him on the way to the airport and shortly after takeoff, but he watched the world out the window. Now they were asleep, leaving him to blissful isolation again.

#

MacGyver stared at the night sky outside the plane. A blanket of clouds stretched to infinity, and the full moon glistened on them. It was a beautiful sight that was lost to his dark, foul, mood.

"I'm worried about you," he heard Desi softly say.

Her voice startled him some, but he didn't turn his head. She was good at moving soundlessly and stood beside his chair now.

Desi crouched down. When she laid her hand on his arm, he pulled away from her. She stood and sat in the chair across from him.

"Talk to me."

He didn't.

"Mac, please, talk to me," she begged.

Still, he didn't.

She sighed, moving back in her chair. She pulled her legs up to sit cross-legged.

"I can't imagine what this must feel like. I've never been here or in any situation close to it. But I know that there are at least thirty-one women and girls who are alive because of you. That is a lot considering how big that fire was. They all would have died if you hadn't been there for them."

He closed his eyes.

He felt her press something into his hand and looked down. It was a napkin. The tears had come back, and he hadn't even realized it. He wiped them away.

Outside the clouds broke and he saw faintly glowing blue.

"Luminescent plankton," MacGyver said.

She leaned forward, looking down at the glow. It moved back and forth on the ocean waves. Slowly the blanket of clouds rolled back into view. MacGyver looked down at his hands. Desi sat back again, watching him.

"There weren't many bodies in the rest of the mansion," MacGyver said. "Most were…" He grimaced when the tears threatened to return.

"Most were in that basement room. I know."

"I tried, Dez. I tried to… And I… The fire was just…" The tears returned.

She moved forward, kneeling on a knee in front of him. She laid her hands on his hands.

"I know, but, Mac, you did everything humanly possible. You freed forty women and girls! You got the door off with nothing but a piece of chair. And you tried to stop them from running up those stairs. You can't control everything, but you did control what you could. And for those survivors, that means everything to them and their families."

"But I needed to save the men too. I needed to save…"

"To save who?" She pulled her head back a little. "Please tell me you do not mean Murdoc."

"No. Gerald."

"Who's Gerald?"

"One of the kidnapped men. He was sold before me."

She sat down at his feet but didn't move her hand.

"Then I guess we have to find him, don't we?"

MacGyver looked at her. He nodded. She smiled, squeezing his hand. He grimaced, closing his eyes, remembering the screams.

"I had to listen to them burn to death, Dez," he whispered. "I hear them every time I try to go to sleep. They don't stop screaming and begging me to save them."

"The women who died in the basement?"

He nodded slowly.

"Angus," she whispered as she stood. She slid onto his lap and held him, cradling his head against her chest. "I am here. I will always be here."

Safe in her arms, he let himself cry for the ones he lost.