Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of anyone mentioned in the story. I just borrowed them because I was bored and needed something to do. If the plot is reminiscent of anything else on this site, or you have read from somewhere else, I am sorry. It seemed unique as I was writing it.

This story was written in fun, nothing else.

Broken Family

I always enjoyed going into the cafeteria to do my research, it was usually pretty quite during the day and of course Mrs. Garrett was there for any type of assistance I might need. That particular day I was busy trying to read "The Catcher in the Rye" for my English class.

I sat on a sofa, out of the mainstream cafeteria, next to the snack and beverage dispensers. That way, if someone came in, I could try to ignore them without too much of a problem.

I was on chapter two when I noticed Mrs. Garrett walk out of the kitchen and walk toward a table, mumbling about all the processed food the school was ordering. She didn't seem to notice me; no one did after the girls were placed in her care.

Speaking of girls, Blair and Jo walked into the room, complaining about everything under the sun. Of course Blair was complaining about Jo and vice versa. That was the normal routine for the two of them.

"Mrs. Garrett, will you please tell this grease monkey to keep her motor-bike off the sidewalk. I stepped in mud and got my shoe dirty." Blair complained.

I watched as Mrs. Garrett took a deep breath in and shut her eyes, probably calming herself down before trying to fix the problems others seem to bring to her.

"Jo, it really isn't polite to ride your bike on the sidewalk." Mrs. Garrett pointed out.

Jo stood with her arms across her chest and her hips cocked to one side. "First off, it's a motorcycle, not a motor-bike." She snapped at Blair. "And secondly, I wasn't riding on the sidewalk on purpose. Some bozo cut me off and I swerved to miss him. The sidewalk just happened to be in the way."

Mrs. Garrett stood up and walked over to Jo, looking her over. "Are you alright? You weren't hurt, were you?" Mrs. Garrett grabbed Jo's shoulders and turned her around to get a good look at her.

"Relax Mrs. G, I wasn't hurt. But if I ever find out who owns that van I'm gonna teach them how to drive, after I shove a carburetor up their ass." Jo said, walking to a table and sitting down.

"Watch the language Jo." Mrs. Garrett warned, then she shuddered. "I don't want to know how you're going to accomplish sticking a carburetor inside of anyone either."

Mrs. Garrett walked over to the table and sat down next to Jo; Blair made her way over much slower.

"Look, I'm sorry about your shoe." Jo said to the sulking Blair. "Why don't you just stick it in the laundry machine and wash it?"

I wanted to roll my eyes at the advice, but you did have to give it to Jo, she had spunk.

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response." Blair huffed. She sat back in her seat, in a very unlady-like manner and scowled.

"I'll fix your shoe Blair." Mrs. Garrett reassured her.

Blair perked up slightly and leaned forward in her chair. "Thanks Mrs. Garrett." If there was one thing about Blair, aside from the charisma, it was her smile. She could smile and light up a room when the power was out.

I decided to quit paying attention to the three of them and go back to my book; let their talking turn in to so much white noise. That worked for a while too. I was just beginning to read chapter five when I heard the door slam shut.

I looked up in time to see Natalie run into the room and start rambling like the apocalypse was on the other side of the door.

"I just ran into a man with an invisible pet dog!" Natalie stated, full of excitement.

"Really Natalie, if you're going to let your imagination run away with you, why not at least envision Sean Connery?" Blair scoffed again.

"No really." Natalie went out of my line of vision for a moment. I heard a slight gasp from Mrs. Garrett; then saw Natalie come back into view, dragging a tall man with a blue cap and a leather jacket.

"Natalie, unhand the man. Sir I am sorry." Mrs. Garrett said, rushing forward. "Wait a minute, who are you?"

"Not to worry ma'am, me and my dog Billy here are just a couple of strangers passing through town." The man said, with a slight southern drawl.

I saw both Blair and Jo stifle giggles while Mrs. Garrett looked around. "What dog?" She asked with all the confusion in the world.

"Billy." The man said, getting on his knees and rubbing the air like there actually was a dog there. "Right here."

"Can I pet your dog?" Natalie asked, getting down on her knees too.

"Of course you can. No one can resist the caress of a beautiful lady." The man said, winking at her.

Natalie ducked her head and giggled. "Charmed, I'm sure."

Blair stood up and walked over to where Natalie was petting the air right along with the man in the jacket. "Natalie. There isn't a dog there, this man is either pretending or from the loony bin."

"There is so!" The man said, jumping to his feet and causing Natalie to fall back on her butt. "And I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't make cracks like that in front of him. He's sensitive."

I actually believed the man to be sincerely offended by Blair's comment, but his reaction started to create an air of distrust. I could see Mrs. Garrett getting a little nervous about this strange visitor.

"Uh…" Mrs. Garrett started, walking over to Natalie and helping her up.

"I am sorry if I startled you." The man said. "We'll be leaving now." The man turned to leave.

"Mrs. Garrett!" I heard Tootie from out of my line of sight. "These men are looking for someone. Maybe him." I saw Tootie walk into the room, pointing a finger at the stranger.

"Murdock?" I heard a strong voice ask. "Are you pestering these ladies?"

"No, no Face. I was just introducing them to Billy. You know how lonely he gets and how much he likes people." The stranger, Murdock, said to a man I couldn't see.

"I'm sorry if we startled you ma'am. We were driving and may have inadvertently caused a young man on a motorcycle to take a short cut over the sidewalk. We wanted to make sure he was okay." A second voice stated.

I knew this was going to be a fun little episode, so I put the book down for a while. I watched Jo jump up, slowly, and walk toward the voices.

"I ain't a guy." She snarled. "Thanks for the driving lesson pal."

Mrs. Garrett walked over to Jo and pulled her behind herself, as if shielding her from the men.

"Relax Jo, I don't think they meant any harm."

Jo turned on Mrs. Garrett. "Didn't mean any harm. They come barreling 'round a corner like a bat outta hell, and you don't think they meant any harm. Someone should teach the driver how to drive."

Jo turned and glared daggers at the men I couldn't see.

"Colonel, I think we should just go and leave her alone. She seems okay, quick to temper, but no worse than BA." The one Murdock called Face stated.

I could almost see the man cringe, but Blair stepped in. She walked forward, swaying her hips like she was on the prowl. I figured one of the two men must have caught her eye.

"Oh, ignore the heathen." She said, leaving my eyesight. "What was your name again?"

The man chuckled nervously. "Uh, Peck, Templeton Peck." I saw Blair drag him into my view and I knew why the Murdock character called him Face. He was quite the looker. I saw him look back toward the one still out of range and mouth, "Help me Colonel."

I almost gave away my being there by laughing.

"Well Templeton," Blair started; laying the Warner charm on thick. "What a distinguished name, Templeton. Anyway, please ignore our resident mechanic. She forgets that there are some people in the world who are of a higher class."

I could hear him cough and chuckle again with the same nervous air as before. "I appreciate that Miss…?"

"Warner, Blair Warner." Blair giggled flirtatiously. I wanted to gag. What was with her and older men?

I watched Mr. Peck remove his arm from hers and take a step back. "I appreciate the information Miss Warner, but we've really got to be going." I saw a white haired man walk into view and put his ear to Mr. Peck's lips. "Colonel Lynch is still after us."

That last part was said so softly I doubt anyone heard it, or there would have been a lot of questions.

"I'm afraid Face is right. We should be going." The white haired, older man said.

"Aw, come on Hannibal, couldn't we stay. I want to let Billy run around. Maybe Natalie wants to play fetch with him." Murdock asked.

"That would be so cool! Can I Mrs. Garrett?" Natalie asked, running forward and linking arms with Murdock. I could tell the two of them were like two peas in a pod; both off their rockers.

"Natalie, we can't keep these gentlemen from whatever it is they need to be doing." Mrs. Garrett said, prying Natalie away from her new friend.

I could tell Mrs. Garrett was getting flustered; though I couldn't tell if it was Hannibal's blue eyes or the fact that three stranger men were in her cafeteria.

I started to wonder why the Colonel's name was Hannibal; if it was because of the Carthaginian military commander or that Hannibal Lector character from the "Red Dragon" book I had read over the summer.

"I'm sure all of us would love to stay and chat, but BA is waiting outside for us and we are still on the run from the Military Police." Hannibal said, trying to drag Murdock off.

This was just the thing that shouldn't have been said. Mrs. Garrett went white as a sheet, but Natalie and Tootie were clearly excited about this newest development.

Tootie walked right up to Hannibal, who stood at least a foot and a half above her face. "Are you really…that is so cool…can I interview you for the school paper?" She rambled.

"I'm sorry Miss…?"

"Tootie."

"Miss Tootie…" Hannibal gave pause for a moment, trying to come clear on the name. "But we really have to go. I don't want you ladies to get caught up in our business."

Mrs. Garrett grabbed Tootie and pulled her away from the Colonel, causing Murdock to take a rather dramatic approach to his next comment.

"They were framed I tell ya, framed!" He walked over and got into Mrs. Garrett's face, causing her to step back quickly. "They didn't do anything they weren't told to by their commanding officers."

Hannibal could tell this wasn't going to end well, so he reached for Murdock, who was giving puppy dog eyes to Mrs. Garrett.

"Come on Captain. We need to leave these ladies in peace."

"I want to show the criminal my room!" Natalie said, grabbing Murdock away from Hannibal and pulling him toward the door to the kitchen.

"Come on Billy, we're on the move!" Murdock shouted as he was pulled out of sight.

This caused a chain reaction.

"I don't have my unmentionables put away!" Blair shouted, following the two.

"I want to show them my record collection!" Tootie shouted, grabbing the Colonel and pulling him toward the door.

"Girls! Wait! We can't have you traipsing through hallway with known felons!" Mrs. Garrett shouted after the girls and following them.

That left the man called Face, with a sour looking Jo.

"Are they always this high strung?" Face asked her.

"Try living with them."

"You did see part of what I had to live with." Face said, motioning toward the door.

"Touché." Jo said.

Both of them were interrupted from further conversation by a loud crash from upstairs.

"God, if they touch my stuff I'm gonna maim them." Jo said, running through the door, Face at her heals.

I sat on the sofa, listening to the crashing as it continued upstairs. There was an occasional shriek from someone, but no one came back down the stairs. I decided to make good my escape, and hope no one knew I was there, listening to the whole conversation.

I pushed the door to the cafeteria open and stepped outside into the sunlight. I saw a large man, with a strange hair cut, leaning against a van. I assumed that was the one the fugitives referred to as BA.

He pushed himself off the van and walked toward me. I suppressed the urge to run for help, but this man, although intimidating in appearance, seemed to have a gentle air about him.

"Hello little sister. You see two men and a loon inside that building." He asked, smiling at me.

"Yeah, they kind of met their match, teenage girls." I said, laughing, when I realized who they were. I recognized BA from a news article I had used for my current events class a month ago; the infamous A-Team.

BA rolled his eyes and gave me an all knowing grin. "I'll stay out here then. How come you didn't stay in there with them?" He asked, as the two of us walked back toward his van.

"I don't think they noticed I was even in the room with them. That kinda happened after they got into trouble a couple of years ago." I said, trying to keep the hurt from my voice.

"So they ain't your friends?"

"Not anymore. We used to live together, kind of like a sorority, but then the four of them banded together after their mess up and the rest of the house kind of got lost. Now it's kind of all about them."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but you seem to be doing pretty good for yourself, why not make some new friends?" He looked at me and I could tell he was actually interested in hearing my story.

"I do have friends, I just miss our family. It's kind of broken now." I stood up, intending to leave before the Colonel managed to get himself and his men out the clutches of the girls.

"Hey." BA said to me, causing me to turn slightly. "It's only broken if you let it be. What's your name?"

"Molly, my name's Molly."

"You remember that Molly, it's all on you now. Don't let the past hold you back. Look at what it's doing to us."

I smiled and walked off, leaving BA at the van. I could hear some minor shouting from the upstairs in the cafeteria, so I knew the men had managed to get away from the girls. I could also hear police sirens from far off.

I turned one last time to look at BA as the other three ran from the building and all but jumped through the door to get inside of the van. I waved as they pealed out of the parking lot. BA was right. Nothing is broken unless I allow it to be.