"So what are you all thankful for this year?" Murdock asked while piling some mashed potatoes onto his plate. Seeing that the others were too busy chewing he added, "I'll go first. I'm thankful that I got to watch the Woody Woodpecker and Bugs Bunny cartoon marathon this morning."

"And I'm thankful that I didn't have to watch it with you, fool."

Murdock shook his head. "That doesn't count, B.A...you need to come up with something of your own."

"Fine," B.A. growled. "I'm thankful that, after last year, Hannibal didn't let you stuff the turkey again."

"And just what was wrong with how I stuffed the turkey?"

"You stuffed it with anchovies, fool...I hate anchovies!"

"It certainly was...well...um...different," Hannibal smiled at the memory. "My turn...I'm thankful for the look on Decker's face last week when he realized that he caught and arrested my empty aquamaniac suit...priceless!"

All eyes turned to Face who was quietly moving the food around on his plate and looking about a million miles away.

Face looked up when he realized they were staring at him. "What?"

"What about you, muchacho? What are you thankful for?"

"I'm thankful that I'm not alone." Face's eyes grew wide as he realized that he had actually said the words he had been thinking out loud. "Um...what I mean is that it isn't exactly easy to find a date on Thanksgiving," he tried to cover while forcing a grin.

"You must be slippin' man," B.A. teased.

"Yeah Facey..since when have you had trouble finding anything...especially a woman?"

Face laughed, relieved that they didn't seem to notice his slip up. For the rest of the meal he made a point to act as close to normal as possible, even though on the inside he felt anything but. When he finally escaped outside by himself a couple of hours later he was exhausted and was physically shaking.

Hannibal watched out the window as Face sat on the top step of the porch and put his head down into his hands. Leaving Murdock and B.A. to fight over who got the last piece of pumpkin pie, B.A. or Billy, he pulled two cigars from his pocket and opened the door.

Face jumped when he heard the door close and would have toppled down the stairs if Hannibal hadn't grabbed his arm.

"Sorry...I didn't mean to startle you. Cigar?"

Face held out a trembling hand and accepted. "Thanks."

They smoked in silence until the cigars were put out and then Hannibal felt he had no excuse not to say something to the obviously hurting younger man. "You okay, kid?"

Face forced yet another grin. "Yeah...fine...why wouldn't I be?"

"You don't have to pretend with me, son."

The concerned expression on Hannibal's face and the warm tone of his voice as he said the word 'son' was all it took to make Face crack. A lump formed in his throat making it impossible to talk without bursting into tears, so he put his head back into his hands and tried to get control of himself. He felt Hannibal's hand on his back and it made him feel safe.

"It's just that sometimes it hits me," Face said softly.

"What hits you?"

Face sat up and looked straight ahead. "It hits me that I'm not alone. Ever since I was a little kid I always thought I would grow up and be alone...it was my biggest fear." Turning to Hannibal and looking him in the eyes he added, "I've never told you this before, but I am so very thankful I have you guys. I'm not afraid of being alone anymore," before quickly looking away.

It was Hannibal's turn to get emotional; Face rarely exposed his true feelings about such personal matters. He cleared his throat and put his arm around Face. "That's what families are for. You'll never be alone, kid...you'll always have the three of us." There was a loud crash inside followed by B.A. chasing a pumpkin pie covered Murdock out the door. Hannibal sighed. "Or at least two out of the three of us."

The End