Title: Crash Into Strength
Summary: A plane crash leads to misunderstandings and greater understandings for the team.
Warnings: Descriptions of character injury
Note: Lia sent me the story idea (thanks Lia!) with the basic guidelines and I took it from there. It was a lot of fun to write this way!
"Well that was a little too close for comfort if you ask me," Face whined standing behind Hannibal and Murdock who were seated in the cockpit.
"Yeah Colonel, I thought you said that this mission was going to be a piece of cake," Murdock added as he flipped a few switches on the control panel.
"Any time Hannibal uses the term "piece of cake" we almost wind up getting killed." Face continued.
"I admit it was a bit hairy there for a while,' Hannibal agreed, "but all's well that ends well, right?" He shot Face one of his trademark "I love it when a plan comes together" grins.
"A bit hairy?" Face exclaimed. "I almost get blown to smithereens and he calls it 'a bit hairy'!
"But you didn't...and that's what counts." Hannibal pulled out a cigar and held it out for Face to light.
Face shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry, I must have dropped my lighter when I was DIVING OFF OF THAT EXPLODING TOWER!"
"Don't be so dramatic Facey...it didn't explode until seconds after you hit the ground." Murdock teased.
Face sighed in exasperation. "I give up!"
They were all exhausted and in foul spirits after the last couple of days spent in Brazil. It was supposed to be a simple "get in and get out" mission to retrieve some stolen artifacts for their museum curator client. This simple mission turned into 48-hours of pure chaos which included three gun battles, a bunch of fist fights and one rather long car chase. To make matters worse, the only car Face could scrounge up had previously been occupied by a chicken farmer. Four sweaty men, a small vehicle, and a ton of feathers…you have a recipe for disaster!
And then there was B.A. they had to contend with. He was none too thrilled to wake up in Brazil after the flight down. Hannibal had spiked his burger. Actually, he had put the drugs into Face's assuming that B.A. would refuse to eat his own. There was one very scary moment in which B.A. almost forced Face to take a bite of the tainted burger. It takes a whole lot to knock a man of B.A.'s size out; one bite could have taken the smaller man out of commission for hours! Luckily, Murdock was able to distract the big guy long enough for Face to make the switch...crisis averted.
They hadn't had time for such elaborate schemes on the way back to the plane, so they had to settle for Hannibal jabbing a syringe into B.A.'s massive arm while he wasn't looking. As usual, he fell onto the car horn and it took all three men to pull him off. In the five years they had been on the run, B.A. had gained a whole lot of muscle and a considerable amount of gold as well. Now he slept peacefully in the back of the plane. He was tied up for the safety of himself, but more for the safety of the others.
"Uh-oh," Murdock said out of the blue. He continued to look at the controls in front of him but said no more.
"You care to elaborate on that 'uh-oh', Captain?' Hannibal questioned.
"No, 'uh-oh' just about covers it." he replied, starting to fidget with the switches feverishly.
"Murdock, please tell me that 'uh-oh' means that you forgot to use the restroom before we left?" Face asked hopefully.
"No...'uh-oh' means we're gonna crash. But now that you mention it..." His voice trailed off as he started pulling up on the controls with all his might.
"Face, go strap yourself in," Hannibal directed. He watched as Face scrambled into a seat slightly behind and to the side of B.A., and then turned his attention back to the front.
Face could see that B.A. was starting to come around by the way his head was moving side to side. "Great...the sleeping giant would have to wake now," he mumbled.
"I'm on a plane! I'm on a plane!" B.A. ranted as he realized where he was. "One of you suckers better untie me!"
Face was torn. Should he undo B.A.'s restraints and risk being killed by the muscle bound man? Or should he leave him be until after the crash, in which he might be killed anyway?
'What if we crash and nobody is able to free B.A.? He would be stuck,' Face thought. 'I can't leave him like that!'
Face knew he had to move fast as he could feel the plane slanting downward, but he figured he should have enough time. He unfastened his seatbelt and stepped out into the aisle, holding onto a seat on each side to keep himself from falling. He began to step forward when they seemed to take a sudden nosedive. He fell forward, his rib cage catching the arm of one of the seats. Before he had a chance to react, the plane made impact with the ground. The last thing Face remembered was flying through the air and cracking his head against the wall. Then everything went black.