One Last Time
"Dad?" The tall blonde came outside to talk to her father, John "Hannibal" Smith.
"You look pretty, sweetheart." He said, smiling at her.
"I'll be home just in time for the party. Mom's at the paper." Hannibal nodded.
"We'll be ready. I'm really proud of you."
She smiled. "I can't believe it's really going to happen. My first job is a movie about you guys." He smiled at his only child.
"You'll do fine, sweetheart. You better hurry or you're going to be late." She hugged him and went to her car.
"Ms. Allan." One of Amy's reporters called her over to the Teletype. "This just came in. I thought you needed to know."
"Shooting at Hollywood studios during A-Team movie. Several critical, one dead. Names being withheld pending next of kin." She read.
"Isn't that the movie Hannah's doing?" Amy threw down the paper and ran to her office to start making calls. She then drove to the hospital.
Templeton "Face" Peck, Hannibal, and H.M. Murdock were in the kitchen having lunch when the phone rang. "Hello?" Face answered.
"Is Hannibal there?" He could tell Amy was crying and was instantly worried.
"Amy, what's wrong?" Face asked as Hannibal and Murdock looked up at him, concerned.
"There was a shooting. Hannah..." She choked back a lump in her throat.
He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. "How bad is she?"
"Still in surgery."
He looked at Hannibal. "I'll tell him and we'll be right there." He hung up.
"What's wrong? Is Amy all right?" Hannibal asked.
"She's at the hospital. She's fine. There was a shooting. Hannah's in surgery." For the first time in a very long time, Face and Murdock both felt like they were going to cry and Hannibal looked stricken.
The three men ran into the hospital waiting room and Hannibal hugged Amy. "How is she?"
"Out of surgery, but it's still..." She paused, unable to complete the statement.
"Amy, is there anything we can do?" Face asked.
"Can you go get me some clothes and the box of papers under my bed?" Face nodded and left, glad to have something to do.
"I'm going to go call BA." Murdock said, referring to the other member of the team, and Hannibal nodded as he led Amy to sit in the hard chairs.
Hours passed before the doctor said, "You may go see her now, Ms. Allan." Amy and Hannibal stood and walked to Hannah's room.
The blonde was still and pale, hooked to machines that echoed loudly in the otherwise silent room. Amy sat beside her daughter's bed and Hannibal paced, hating the feeling of helplessness.
Face packed Amy some clothes and dug the box out from under her bed. On impulse, he opened it and was surprised at what he saw. Every article ever printed on the A-Team, from the ones Amy had written to the ones about the trial and their pardon, were in the box along with a picture of the team, Amy, and Hannah. He closed the box back and took it with the clothes back to the hospital.
Murdock heard BA's step kids playing in the background. "Laura, is BA there?" Although they'd all had relationships, BA was the only one to separate from the team and get married. It was times like these when Chicago seemed as far away as Jakarta.
"Yeah. He's right here." She handed the phone to her husband.
"Murdock? How's Amy and Hannibal? I heard about what happened at the studio." BA's usually strong, gruff voice had a hidden, solemn sadness in it.
"Feel like taking a trip?"
"I'll be there in a few hours." Murdock hung up and suddenly felt very old.
"Murdock?" A voice asked from behind him.
He turned to talk to Face. "Uh…the big angry mud sucker will be here in a few hours." Face nodded and they both went back to Hannah's room where Hannibal had came out for a breather.
"Hannibal?" Face asked.
"Face, you go get stuff ready."
"Hannibal, we need to stay with the girls." Face started to protest, but Hannibal gave him a look that made his blood run cold.
"Then come and pick BA and me up."
"Yes, colonel." Face left.
"Captain, I want you to stay with Amy."
"Hannah's my niece. I want to go too." Murdock argued.
"I know you do, but Amy needs someone with her." He looked back at his daughter in the hospital bed, hooked up to machines.
Amy came out to talk to Murdock and Hannibal went back in. "He's going, isn't he?"
"He's got to, Amy. They hurt Hannah."
"And I don't want to lose him too. He thinks he's still forty, fighting the war or running from Lynch, but he's not. None of us are as young as we used to be."
"Someone he loved was taken from him and he's lost too much already. You don't just take things away from the Colonel, so he deals with it in the only way he can, by going after whoever hurt her."
"He's not a cop; he's not even with Stockwell anymore. What does he think he's going to do? What happens when he finds whoever did this? He doesn't have the authority to do anything." Murdock looked at her. She looked tired, gray hair mixing with the brown, looking all of her 49 years and more.
"Face and BA are going with him. Everything will be all right, Skeeter." He told her, using the nickname he'd christened her with over twenty years before. "Amy?" BA asked from behind Amy. She turned and hugged him.
"Thanks for coming."
"I flew out here as soon as I heard."
"You? Flew?"
"Only for family."
The three watched Hannibal with his daughter, each knowing that he would kill them if he knew they were watching. He was crying and softly singing the song he'd sang to her when she was little and had a nightmare, "You Are My Sunshine". Murdock moved closer to Amy to offer support. He'd always been the one she leaned on, although all of the team was there when she needed them.
On the way back to the hospital, Face picked up his cell phone and dialed a familiar number. "Linda?"
"Daddy?" Linda was only a year younger than Hannah and, since Linda's mother, Caroline, was dead and Face had raised her, the girls had always been good friends. "Hannah. How is she?"
"Still critical. I'm going to have to go away for awhile."
"I know. Who else is going?"
"Hannibal, BA, and I are the only ones. Murdock's staying here with the girls. Can you check in with them for me? That way I'll know all of you are fine."
"I love you."
"Be good." Face hung up, unable to say the words they both desperately needed him to say.
"Linda's going to be checking in with you. Murdock will call us if..." Amy nodded.
"Take care of him for me?"
"I always do, don't I?" She nodded as Hannibal stood and came out of the room. Face and BA left and Murdock went into the hospital room with his niece.
"I have to do this. She's our baby." Hannibal said quietly and she could hear the lump in his throat as he talked.
"I know that. I just don't want to lose you too."
"You won't. We'll call." She nodded and watched him leave once again, then turned and walked into her daughter's room.
"Dad?" The tall blonde came outside to talk to her father, John "Hannibal" Smith.
"You look pretty, sweetheart." He said, smiling at her.
"I'll be home just in time for the party. Mom's at the paper." Hannibal nodded.
"We'll be ready. I'm really proud of you."
She smiled. "I can't believe it's really going to happen. My first job is a movie about you guys." He smiled at his only child.
"You'll do fine, sweetheart. You better hurry or you're going to be late." She hugged him and went to her car.
"Ms. Allan." One of Amy's reporters called her over to the Teletype. "This just came in. I thought you needed to know."
"Shooting at Hollywood studios during A-Team movie. Several critical, one dead. Names being withheld pending next of kin." She read.
"Isn't that the movie Hannah's doing?" Amy threw down the paper and ran to her office to start making calls. She then drove to the hospital.
Templeton "Face" Peck, Hannibal, and H.M. Murdock were in the kitchen having lunch when the phone rang. "Hello?" Face answered.
"Is Hannibal there?" He could tell Amy was crying and was instantly worried.
"Amy, what's wrong?" Face asked as Hannibal and Murdock looked up at him, concerned.
"There was a shooting. Hannah..." She choked back a lump in her throat.
He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. "How bad is she?"
"Still in surgery."
He looked at Hannibal. "I'll tell him and we'll be right there." He hung up.
"What's wrong? Is Amy all right?" Hannibal asked.
"She's at the hospital. She's fine. There was a shooting. Hannah's in surgery." For the first time in a very long time, Face and Murdock both felt like they were going to cry and Hannibal looked stricken.
The three men ran into the hospital waiting room and Hannibal hugged Amy. "How is she?"
"Out of surgery, but it's still..." She paused, unable to complete the statement.
"Amy, is there anything we can do?" Face asked.
"Can you go get me some clothes and the box of papers under my bed?" Face nodded and left, glad to have something to do.
"I'm going to go call BA." Murdock said, referring to the other member of the team, and Hannibal nodded as he led Amy to sit in the hard chairs.
Hours passed before the doctor said, "You may go see her now, Ms. Allan." Amy and Hannibal stood and walked to Hannah's room.
The blonde was still and pale, hooked to machines that echoed loudly in the otherwise silent room. Amy sat beside her daughter's bed and Hannibal paced, hating the feeling of helplessness.
Face packed Amy some clothes and dug the box out from under her bed. On impulse, he opened it and was surprised at what he saw. Every article ever printed on the A-Team, from the ones Amy had written to the ones about the trial and their pardon, were in the box along with a picture of the team, Amy, and Hannah. He closed the box back and took it with the clothes back to the hospital.
Murdock heard BA's step kids playing in the background. "Laura, is BA there?" Although they'd all had relationships, BA was the only one to separate from the team and get married. It was times like these when Chicago seemed as far away as Jakarta.
"Yeah. He's right here." She handed the phone to her husband.
"Murdock? How's Amy and Hannibal? I heard about what happened at the studio." BA's usually strong, gruff voice had a hidden, solemn sadness in it.
"Feel like taking a trip?"
"I'll be there in a few hours." Murdock hung up and suddenly felt very old.
"Murdock?" A voice asked from behind him.
He turned to talk to Face. "Uh…the big angry mud sucker will be here in a few hours." Face nodded and they both went back to Hannah's room where Hannibal had came out for a breather.
"Hannibal?" Face asked.
"Face, you go get stuff ready."
"Hannibal, we need to stay with the girls." Face started to protest, but Hannibal gave him a look that made his blood run cold.
"Then come and pick BA and me up."
"Yes, colonel." Face left.
"Captain, I want you to stay with Amy."
"Hannah's my niece. I want to go too." Murdock argued.
"I know you do, but Amy needs someone with her." He looked back at his daughter in the hospital bed, hooked up to machines.
Amy came out to talk to Murdock and Hannibal went back in. "He's going, isn't he?"
"He's got to, Amy. They hurt Hannah."
"And I don't want to lose him too. He thinks he's still forty, fighting the war or running from Lynch, but he's not. None of us are as young as we used to be."
"Someone he loved was taken from him and he's lost too much already. You don't just take things away from the Colonel, so he deals with it in the only way he can, by going after whoever hurt her."
"He's not a cop; he's not even with Stockwell anymore. What does he think he's going to do? What happens when he finds whoever did this? He doesn't have the authority to do anything." Murdock looked at her. She looked tired, gray hair mixing with the brown, looking all of her 49 years and more.
"Face and BA are going with him. Everything will be all right, Skeeter." He told her, using the nickname he'd christened her with over twenty years before. "Amy?" BA asked from behind Amy. She turned and hugged him.
"Thanks for coming."
"I flew out here as soon as I heard."
"You? Flew?"
"Only for family."
The three watched Hannibal with his daughter, each knowing that he would kill them if he knew they were watching. He was crying and softly singing the song he'd sang to her when she was little and had a nightmare, "You Are My Sunshine". Murdock moved closer to Amy to offer support. He'd always been the one she leaned on, although all of the team was there when she needed them.
On the way back to the hospital, Face picked up his cell phone and dialed a familiar number. "Linda?"
"Daddy?" Linda was only a year younger than Hannah and, since Linda's mother, Caroline, was dead and Face had raised her, the girls had always been good friends. "Hannah. How is she?"
"Still critical. I'm going to have to go away for awhile."
"I know. Who else is going?"
"Hannibal, BA, and I are the only ones. Murdock's staying here with the girls. Can you check in with them for me? That way I'll know all of you are fine."
"I love you."
"Be good." Face hung up, unable to say the words they both desperately needed him to say.
"Linda's going to be checking in with you. Murdock will call us if..." Amy nodded.
"Take care of him for me?"
"I always do, don't I?" She nodded as Hannibal stood and came out of the room. Face and BA left and Murdock went into the hospital room with his niece.
"I have to do this. She's our baby." Hannibal said quietly and she could hear the lump in his throat as he talked.
"I know that. I just don't want to lose you too."
"You won't. We'll call." She nodded and watched him leave once again, then turned and walked into her daughter's room.