Finding Face

by Theatrefangirl014

When the A-Team (with the exception of Face) goes to Montana to help on another case, their plans are altered when Face shows up in Montana. When he suddenly disappears, they have to try to help Mr. Campton ward off Dirk Matthews and his gang AND save Face from a band of deadly mercenaries. Will they get to Face in time? Will Decker and Lynch finally catch the A-Team?

(A-Team and Emergency! Crossover)

3rd story in the Finding Series

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of The A-Team or Emergency! These characters belong to Stephen J. Cannell, Frank Lupo, Robert A. Cinader, Harold Jack Bloom, Jack Webb, and associates.

Note: If you didn't read the first story in this series (Finding The Brother) or the second story in this series (Finding Indiana), parts of this story will not make sense. But here is a short recap (SPOILERS) of what happened in the first and second story.

"The A-Team was hired to find Johnny Gage's brother. They found out that his brother was Face, but before they could tell Face, he was in a bad accident. In the end, Face comes out of the coma and meets his brother." -Summary/Spoilers from Finding The Brother

"Since the A-Team was still on the run from the military, Face came home from the hospital and stayed with Johnny and his coworkers at Station 51. The A-Team, however, got hired by Henry Jones, Sr. (Indiana Jones's dad) to find Indiana, who was missing somewhere in Peru. They eventually found out that Indiana was being held captive by a fellow archaeologist seeking revenge. In the end, Dr. Brackett (who came along) saved Indiana's life and they all head back to the US." -Summary/Spoilers from Finding Indiana

After Hannibal was released from Rampart General Hospital, everything seemed like it would get back to normal. That was until Hannibal told Face to spring Murdock from the VA.

"Hannibal, I'm still using crutches! How do you expect me to get him out with crutches?" Face asked with a huff.

"I don't know. But I'm sure you'll think of something," Hannibal said as he smiled and lit his cigar.

"Aww, Hannibal," Face whined. "Why do I have to get him? Can't B.A.?"

"Face, that's your job. Now go!"

"Fine," Face said as he hobbled out of the room with his crutches.

Meanwhile, at the VA, Murdock was intently watching the original 1960's Batman series. "Get him, Robin!" Murdock shouted at the TV. "Nice one, Batman. Crash! Pow!"

"Nurse, I don't see why you're giving me all this trouble. His results clearly showed symptoms of Lokcoughjitis," Face said as he hobbled quickly through the halls.

"Lokco-what? I've never heard of that disease before," the pretty brown haired nurse said.

"It's just been discovered. It's also highly contagious, so I suggest you show me which room before he affects the entire wing."

"Right away, Doctor," the nurse said as she led him down the hall to Murdock's room.

"Don't forget to put your mask on, you wouldn't want to catch it, too," he said as he pulled the mask over his face. "You go get a wheelchair while I go in and take a look." She nodded quickly and went off to find a wheelchair. Face entered Murdock's room and shut the door behind him. "Hey, Murdock. Why the costume?"

"Hey, Faceman. I was just watching the original Batman and Robin. You like my outfit?"

"Ya, sure Murdock. But we got to get you out of here. The key word's Lokcoughjitis," Face whispered through his mask.

"I've never heard of that one before..." Murdock mused.

"That's because I made it up. Now start coughing," commanded Face.

"Like this?" Murdock said as he made a horrible hacking sound.

"Ya, that's perfect," Face said.

"Here's the wheelchair," the nurse said as she entered the room.

"It's definitely Lokcoughjitis. I'll need you to sign these forms immediately," Face said quickly while handing her a clipboard.

"I'm not sure I'm allowed to let Mr. Murdock leave."

"You'd be doing the hospital a favor by preventing a Lokcoughjitis plague in the wing." Murdock hacked and hacked to give Face's story the correct effect.

"Well, ok," she said as she signed the forms.

"I'll need your assistance to get him down to the lobby," Face said.

"Of course, Dr." she said. "Come on Mr. Murdock, get into the wheelchair." Murdock obeyed and hacked some more.

Soon, Murdock and Face were outside the building, and the nurse waved goodbye. As soon as she was gone Face asked, "Murdock, can you push yourself from here?"

"Sure Faceman," he said as he quickly glided across the parking lot.

"Murdock, don't go so fast. I can't keep up!"

"I bet Bat Murdock will beat you to the 'Vette," Murdock said as he pushed himself even faster making his cape flutter in the breeze.

When Face finally reached the Corvette he said while catching his breath, "Murdock, please don't tell Hannibal about this." Murdock nodded, and they drove off.

When Face pulled into the apartment parking lot, Hannibal and B.A. were waiting. "Hurry up, Face! We got a possible case."

"I'm hurrying, Hannibal!" Face said as he scrambled to get out of the car.

But Murdock was faster and made his way to Hannibal before Face did. "Hannibal, can I talk to you in private?"

"Sure, Murdock. We can go over here. What's all this about?" Hannibal asked.

"Colonel, I don't think Face should go on this mission if we take it," Murdock whispered softly.

"Why's that, Captain?" Hannibal asked.

"He had quite a hard time getting me out with his crutches. The nurse had to push the wheelchair outside for him, and she almost didn't sign the release forms."

"We haven't decided if we're even taking the mission yet. But I'll think about it."

"Thanks, Colonel."

"What's all this about, Hannibal? Murdock?" Face asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Face. Murdock and I were just having a little chat...about his interesting new outfit."

"I was watching Batman and I thought that I could become Bat Murdock, and save the day!"

"Right," he paused. "Now let's get down to business."

"Ya, Hannibal. You haven't told us anything about this mission," B.A. said.

"A Mr. Timothy Campton is being run off his land, and he wants to hire us to help him out," Hannibal said while lighting a cigar.

"Is he able to pay?" Face asked.

"Our contact didn't say, but I have to get going because Mr. Campton is meeting Mr. Lee at the laundromat in thirty minutes."

"Ok, but keep the financial aspect in mind. We can't keep doing these "charity" missions."

"I will. Bye," Hannibal said as he walked off into the parking lot.

When Hannibal came back to the apartment, the rest of the team was waiting impatiently for him. "We're going to meet Mr. Campton at the docks tomorrow at 9 AM." Murdock, B.A., and Face nodded. "B.A., can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure, Hannibal." Hannibal motioned for B.A. to come closer. "What's all this about?"

"B.A.," Hannibal whispered. "Do you think that Face should go on the mission with us, if we take it?"

"Why wouldn't he?" B.A. whispered back.

"Murdock was telling me that Face had a bit of...trouble...breaking him out of the VA because of his...condition."

"If that's true, then we shouldn't take him, Hannibal. His leg might get permanently hurt if he does a mission so soon."

"Alright then."

The next morning, Hannibal woke up bright and early. "Wake up, fellas. We're meeting Mr. Campton today. "B.A., Murdock, Face, are you up?"

"Hannibal! I was just about to save all the three-legged monkeys!" Murdock said.

"Sorry, not this time, Captain," Hannibal said.

"B.A.?"

"I'm awake, Hannibal," B.A. said.

"Face?" he paused waiting for a response. "Face?"

"He's still asleep, Hannibal!" B.A. shouted.

"B.A. wake him up. Murdock, I need your help with my disguise."

"My pleasure," B.A. said as he got a bucket full of ice cubes ready. "Face, wake up," he said as he let the ice cubes and freezing water spill out of the bucket and onto the sleeping Face.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" Face screamed hopping out of the bed. His screams of surprise soon turned to screams of pain. "My leg!" Face collapsed on the floor howling in pain.

Murdock and Hannibal ran in from the other room. "B.A.! What happened?" Hannibal asked as Murdock quickly went to Face.

"I was only trying to wake him up with some ice cubes and cold water. How was I supposed to know the fool would jump out of bed and hurt his leg?"

"B.A., you wouldn't," Murdock said.

"Oh yes I did."

Hannibal knelt beside Face. "Face, are you going to be okay?" Face nodded while grimacing. "If it still hurts real bad after B.A. and Murdock help you change into dry clothes, then we'll deal with it further."

B.A. and Murdock helped Face up into the chair and then helped him change into dry clothes. "Hannibal, his leg's all swelled up," Murdock said worriedly.

"We should probably put the brace on it just in case," Hannibal said. "B.A., you hold his leg still while I put it on."

B.A. held his leg while Hannibal slipped it on. "I'm sorry Face. I didn't mean to hurt you none."

Face nodded and shivered. "C...c...can I ha...ha...have a blank...ket?"

"Sure thing," B.A. said.

"Go on, I'll be f...ff...ine. You're going to miss your meeting with Mr. Camp...pp...ton."

"If you're sure...Come on guys," Hannibal said as B.A. handed Face the blanket.

"Excuse me, Sir. Are you looking for someone?" Hannibal asked in an Italian accent.

"Uh, yes. I'm looking for the A-Team," Mr. Campton said.

"Why are you a-lookin' for the A-Team?"

"I need their help. Some guys are running me off my land because they want to drill for the oil that I discovered is there."

"B.A.?!" Hannibal called.

"He's good, Hannibal," B.A. called to him.

"Hannibal? As in Hannibal Smith? Of the A-Team?"

"You bet. You just hired the A-Team!"

"Really? That's great!"

"B.A., Murdock!" Hannibal motioned for them to come toward them.

"Now where exactly is your land, Mr. Campton?" Hannibal asked.

"Southern Montana. A town called Hardin."

"Do you have the money that Mr. Lee mentioned?"

"I do not have all of it just yet. I will get the rest when I get money for the oil." Mr. Campton said as he handed Hannibal the money.

"Count it B.A.," Hannibal said handing it over.

"There's five thousand dollars here."

"Then, we'll leave in two days."

"Thank you so much. And I will get the rest of the money. I promise."

"We'll be seeing you then."

When Hannibal, B.A., and Murdock got back, Face was sitting on the couch with his leg propped up watching TV. He turned it off when the others arrived. "Are we taking the mission?"

"What we? You aren't going anywhere," Hannibal said.

"What? Hannibal, that little spill I took this morning is nothing. I'm fine," Face said with a grin.

"Face, we all decided that you can't possibly go on the mission with us...You're not able..."

"Who told you I wasn't able?"

"Murdock...He told me how you had some trouble this morning getting him out."

"Murdock, how could you? And after I specifically asked you not to say anything," Face said with his blue eyes looking betrayed and angry.

"Faceman, I did it for your own good," Murdock said trying to make amends.

"I don't care what you did it for!" Face shouted angrily.

"Captain, Sergeant, maybe it's best that we leave him alone for a bit," Hannibal said as he, B.A., and Murdock walked off.

"Can you at least tell me when you're going?!" Face shouted as they walked away.

"Two days," said Hannibal.

Those two days went by so quickly. Face silently watched as they packed their bags and got ready to go to Montana. When they were just about ready to get in the van, Face got up off the couch, collected his crutches, and made his way over to Murdock. "Murdock."

"Yeah, Face. What do you want?" Murdock asked with a hurt expression on his face.

"Look, I'm sorry about what I said to you the other day."

"I'll forgive you, Face," Murdock said with a smile.

"Thanks, Murdock," Face said as he hugged Murdock. Little did Murdock know that Face had attached a tracking device to him.

"Bye, Facey!" Murdock said as he joined B.A. and Hannibal in the van.

Face watched as they drove away. When they were out of sight, he went back into the house and activated the tracking bug. In a few hours, I take the 'Vette and head after them. They didn't think they'd leave me behind that easily. So in two hours, he tossed his bag, ammunition, and gun into the backseat. Then he set off after them.

"Hannibal, I'm sick n' tired of waiting in this traffic!" B.A. shouted.

"Never fear! For Bat Murdock is here!" Murdock shouted as he moved around the van flashing his cape around.

"Murdock, quit your craziness," B.A. grumbled.

"Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na, Batman!" Murdock shouted at the top of his lungs.

"I'm gonna bust your nose, sucka!" B.A. shouted angrily turning around to face Murdock.

"Not now, B.A.! That's enough, Murdock!"

"Aww, Hannibal! I was just getting to the part where I save the whole world from the Riddler, the Penguin, the..." he started.

Hannibal interrupted him, "Do you think we did the right thing leaving him behind?"

"Ya, man. He's in no condition to do a mission," B.A. said.

"What do ya think he's doing right now?" Murdock asked in his normal voice.

"He's probably havin' a good ole time entertaining some pretty girl or watching TV and eating popcorn," B.A. said shaking his head.

"Ya, you're probably right," Hannibal said lighting his cigar and gazing out into traffic.

Face, however was not doing any of what Hannibal and the others thought he was. He was cruising down the highway following the tracker and wondering how the guys would react when he appeared in Montana.

After many more hours, Hannibal, B.A., and Murdock arrived just outside of Hardin. "Well guys, let's settle down for the night. Tomorrow we'll head into Hardin and check out Mr. Campton's dilemma," Hannibal said as he plopped his bag on the floor. He got into bed fully dressed and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Soon Murdock and B.A. were fast asleep as well.

Face checked in at a hotel in Red Lodge not two hours away from the rest of the team. But soon, he too was fast asleep.

The next morning, Face made sure to get up way before 6. That way he would have a chance to catch up to the rest of the team. So at 5 in the morning, he checked out of the hotel and set off toward Hardin.

Hannibal woke up at 6 like he did any other day. But instead of making the coffee like usual, he just sat at the table thinking. I still can't help but think that we shouldn't have left Face alone. I mean, he hasn't been on a mission since the car accident. Maybe I was too hard on him. But on second thought, maybe it was good to leave him alone. He'll have time to cool off. I've never seen him that angry before. I wonder what's eating him. Something can't be right... Hannibal's thoughts were quickly interrupted.

"Colonel?" Murdock asked sleepily. "What are you doing?"

"Hmmm? Oh, I was just thinking."

"Me too. I had this dream last night that Face was in danger. The Riddler, Penguin, and all of the big villains ganged up on him and tried to kill him," Murdock paused. "I believe that dreams are meant to tell us something."

"How did it end? Did "Bat Murdock" save the day?"

"No...Face died alone...You and B.A. were in it, too... All of us even missed his funeral."

Silence filled the air as Murdock's words sunk in. "Then, let's get this job done quickly so that we can go back sooner," he said softly.

At seven o'clock, they checked out of the hotel and headed into Hardin.

Face, however, was parked alongside the road. Since he didn't know the address, he had to wait until they got in front of him. They should be by any minute now. Sure enough, the van passed right by heading north.

"Hannibal, that looked like Face's car back there!" B.A. said.

"It couldn't have been. You know, Face isn't the only one in the world who has a white corvette with a red stripe. And besides, Face has a policy never to drive his 'Vette this early in the morning," Hannibal said.

"How far away are we, B.A.?" Murdock asked impatiently.

"About five minutes."

Face saw the van go by. But he knew it would raise suspicion if he followed too closely. So he waited a good ten minutes and set off after them. Soon enough, he was pulling into the long dirt driveway of a ranch. He parked his car out of immediate sight behind the barn. Then he pulled out his crutches and made his way toward the door.

"Hello, Mr. Campton," Hannibal said.

"Please, call me Tim," Mr. Campton said with a smile.

"Alright, Tim. I'd like to officially introduce you to the rest of the A-Team. This is B.A. Baracus," Hannibal said pointing to the big black man.

"A pleasure to meet you Mr. Baracus," Tim said. B.A. nodded in reply.

"And this is H.M. Murdock," Hannibal said.

"Also known as Bat Murdock. How do you do, fair citizen?" Murdock said in a polished accent.

"Ummm, good. It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Mr. Murdock," Tim said uncomfortably.

"And Face is not able to be here," Hannibal said.

"Why's that?" Tim asked.

"He's still recovering from the car accident."

Face stood at the door. He could hear what they were saying, so he decided now wasn't a good time to appear, especially since they were talking about him. So he went back out to his car and waited. In a few minutes, the van left with all three of them. He assumed they were getting supplies. When he was absolutely sure they were gone, he went to the door and knocked.

"I wonder who that could be," Tim said aloud as he walked to the door. "Yes?" he said opening the door.

"Hi, I'm Face," Face said while grinning.

"Oh...well...I...umm...Hannibal said that you were still recovering," Tim said with a confused look on his face.

"They don't know I'm here yet," Face said. "May I come in?"

"Sure," Tim paused. "Do you need help carrying anything in?"

"The guys will help me when they get back," Face said. "Now is there anything you need me to do?"

"No."

"Did they go for supplies?"

"Yes, they did."

"Did they say anything needed scammed?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Can you do me a favor and not tell them I'm here just yet? I'd like to surprise them."

"Umm, sure."

"Thanks a million."

When Murdock, B.A., and Hannibal got back, they were worn out. They brought in some of the some of the supplies. Tim had prepared lunch, so they all sat down. When everyone was seated, Hannibal said, "You know, I'm kind of regretting not taking Face. If I'm right, we're going to have a lot of trouble scamming what we need. I'm not sure what we can do about it..."

Everyone was quiet, thinking about what Hannibal had said. Suddenly, a voice cut through the silence, "How 'bout you ask me to do it, Colonel?" Face said as he moved into the kitchen.

"Face?!" everyone exclaimed.

"How did you know where to go?" Hannibal asked suspiciously.

"I attached a tracking device to Murdock," Face replied.

"What? Face?! How could you do that to me? I thought you were genuinely sorry when you hugged me before we left."

"Don't take this the wrong way, Murdock. I was sincere...but I also saw it as an opportunity. You understand. Right, Murdock?" Murdock nodded absentmindedly.

"How long have you been here?" Hannibal asked.

"I got here about 15 to 20 minutes after you. I waited until you went for supplies to come in."

"So you knew about this, Tim? And you didn't tell us?" Murdock asked.

"Well, I...uh...I didn't know until he came to the door. He wanted to surprise you."

"Well? Did I surprise you?" Face asked with a grin.

"See, Hannibal? I wasn't going crazy when I saw Face's car!" B.A. shouted.

"Face, you're to drive back at once," Hannibal said firmly.

"But, Hannibal. You said yourself that you needed help with the scam. And don't mind my leg, I can get around just fine."

"I'm half-tempted to let you stay, but you can't. If Decker comes, then you'll have no way to get out quick enough. It's too risky. It wouldn't work," he paused. "I'm sorry, Face. I know you came all this way, but it just won't work."

"Hannibal, maybe you can let him stay just long enough to do the scam. Then he wouldn't have traveled all this way for nothing," Murdock said.

Hannibal looked at Murdock then to Face, pondering what to do. "What do you think, B.A.?"

"I think you should let him do the scam."

"Alright, kid. You can stay for a while. But then you're going straight back to LA. Is that understood, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, sir," Face said. "Mind if I...uh...join you for lunch?"

While the A-Team was having lunch, Dirk Matthews and his gang were getting ready for another attack. "We need to give Timothy Campton a message that he won't forget. We've wasted our time with him long enough. It's payback time!" yelled Dirk Matthews rallying his men. "Now here's the plan, Simon, Rivers, and Abernathy, you all go on the north side of the ranch. Adams, Murray, and Parker, you take the west side. Dean, Sutton, and Wilcox, you take the east side. And Henderson, Lane, Mullins, Sawyer, and I will take the south side. We'll surround him and make him surrender," Dirk said with an evil laugh.

The team was eating in silence. But that silence was short-lived. "Campton! Give it up! You're surrounded!" a voice shouted.

"Who was that?" Hannibal asked.

"Dirk Matthews and his gang," Tim said as he and the team moved to the windows.

"How many do you count?" Hannibal asked.

"There's three on the north side," Murdock said.

"There's three on the west side," Face replied.

"There's three on the east side," B.A. answered.

"And there's four on the south side," Hannibal said. "We'll get the guns and scare 'em off." B.A., Hannibal, and Murdock scrambled for their guns. "Face, where's yours?"

"Did I forget to mention that I needed help carrying in my stuff from the car?"

"Oh, Face. You didn't!" Hannibal said.

"I'm afraid I did," Face said.

"Face and Tim, get down." Then he turned to the gang and their horses and shouted, "Hey, Dirk! We don't appreciate you and your friends running Mr. Campton off his land. We going to have to ask you to leave."

"Come out here, and we'll talk!" Dirk shouted.

"You're not really going out there, are you?" Tim asked.

"Course I am," Hannibal said as he walked out of the house towards Dirk.

"Who are you?" Dirk said angrily with suspicion in his voice.

"I'm Hannibal Smith and this is the A-Team," he said as he pointed toward the house.

"The A-Team?"

"Yes, and as I was saying, we'd appreciate if you would leave Mr. Campton alone."

"And what if we don't want to leave?" Dirk shouted.

"We'll give you ten seconds, and you better be gone, or you'll be sorry!" Hannibal said calmly. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!" No one moved at all, so he gave B.A. and Murdock a nod and then raised his pistol to shoot.

The air erupted with gunshots. The horses spooked at the noise and threw their riders. Dirk's men were soon running away in terror.

"See? Piece of cake," Hannibal said as he walked back, shouldered his gun, and lit a cigar.

"But, Hannibal, they'll be back soon," B.A. said.

"I know," Hannibal said with a gleam in his eye. "But I've got a plan."

"Hannibal's on the jazz again," B.A. said shaking his head.

"So what's the plan, Colonel?" Murdock asked.

When Dirk and his men got the horses under control again, he was furious. "Who does "The A-Team think they are? Nobody embarrasses Dirk Matthews! They're going to pay for making me look like a fool! We may not have been prepared this time, but next time we'll be ready!"

When Hannibal was sure that Dirk Matthews and his gang were gone, he turned and found himself staring face to face with Face. Hannibal's carefree attitude and smile soon vanished. He said to Face. "What in the world made you think of leaving your gun in your car? That's amateurish! You're a professional, and I expect you to act like one!"

"But Hannibal, I..." Face started.

"Sometimes I wish you would just grow up! Now stop acting like a child and bring in your stuff!" Hannibal shouted angrily as he walked away. Face opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it and clenched his jaw in anger and silence.

"Faceman, I'll help you carry your stuff in," Murdock said calmly and quietly.

"I don't need your help, Murdock!" Face said defiantly.

"Face, you need..."

"Just leave me alone. Ok? Just leave me alone!" Face exclaimed as he took his crutches and left the house.

Murdock watched as his best friend went outside and disappeared behind the barn. He stood there for a moment, waiting for Face to return. Finally, he saw Face trying to balance his bag and ammunition with his gun strapped over his shoulder. Murdock held the door open as Face stumbled into the house. "Here, let me take something for you."

"I don't need your help!" Face said as he plopped his stuff down on the couch and collapsed into the chair beside it.

Murdock turned away from Face and wandered outside until he wound up in the stables.

"Hannibal, don't you think you were a bit hard on Face?" B.A. asked.

Hannibal said nothing. He stared at the floor lost in his thoughts.

"Hannibal, did you hear me?"

"Oh, ya. There's not enough space," Hannibal said absentmindedly.

"No, I said you are being too hard on Face."

"Oh, Face. Well...he needs more discipline."

"He has a broken leg that is still in the healing process. I think you need to give the Faceman a break...and not literally."

"Hmmm...Maybe you're right, B.A. I know that, but still I can't figure what's gotten into him recently. I will talk to him, but he's too mad right now to listen to reason. I'll wait for him to cool off," he paused. "Where's Murdock?"

"I think Face told him off, and he went to the stables."

"I'll go see Murdock then," Hannibal said as he got to his feet.

"Hmmm, that is a very interesting point," Murdock said.

"Murdock, are you in here?" Hannibal said.

"Oh, I understand," he paused. "I'm over here," Murdock said.

"Who were you just talking to?"

"The horse, Diamond. You know she's a very good listener. But she also talks to me. She was just telling me what the best kind of hay to eat is. She said that this stuff right here is the best," Murdock said as he grabbed a handful of hay and stuffed it in his mouth.

"How is it?" Hannibal asked.

"I don't know if it's the best, but it's pretty good compared to the hay at the VA."

"You eat hay at the VA? Wait, never mind. I'm not here to talk about Diamond and hay, I'm here to talk about you," Hannibal said as he took a seat on the hay bale beside Murdock.

"What about me?" Murdock asked as he swallowed the hay.

"The incident with Face."

"Oh, that. I know he was just saying that in his anger and that he didn't really mean it."

"Murdock, just listen to me. I shouldn't have been so hard on Face. I admit that it wasn't right especially after all he's gone through. I'll apologize when he's in a better mood."

The two of them sat there in silence for a while. Then B.A. came in with Tim, "Hannibal? Murdock? Are you in here?"

"We're over here!" Hannibal shouted.

"So what's the plan?" B.A. asked.

"B.A., you want some hay? Diamond says it's the best, and it's pretty darn good!"

"Hannibal, what's this crazy fool talkin' 'bout? And who's Diamond?"

"The horse."

"The horse?"

"Ya, B.A. The horse, as in neigh-neigh," Murdock said mimicking the horse.

"I know what a horse is, fool! Now stop your jibba jabba before I..." he started.

"B.A., let's get back to business, okay?" Hannibal asked.

"Sure, Hannibal."

"I've got a plan, but to make it work, we need some more manpower. Tim, do you have any ranch hands?" Hannibal asked.

"Yes, there's...uh...seven ranch hands."

"If Face can scam us eight guns, we can set traps and get this slimeball to leave you alone."

By the time dinner came around, Face wasn't back to his normal self yet. He refused to eat anything or talk to anyone on the team. Finally Tim got his attention. "Hannibal says he needs you to pull a scam that can get us a few extra rifles. It sounds pretty important."

"How many did they say?" Face asked tiredly.

"At least eight."

"Alright, I'll go now."

"Not that I know anything about scams and cons, but don't you need to change into a costume or a disguise of some sort?"

"Sure I do. It's right here in my suitcase," he said tapping his bag. "I'll go change, and then I'll be out of your way."

Tim watched in silence as Face slung his bag over his shoulders, got to his feet, and meandered his way to the bathroom to change.

In a few minutes, he was in full military garb complete with a cast around his leg (which had been there the whole time) and a bandage around his head. "I'll be seeing ya, Mr. Campton. Or maybe I won't be seeing you," Face said as he quickly went to the car. He started the engine and was soon speeding down the dirt driveway kicking up dust behind him as he went. I'll finish this scam, get the guns to Campton, and get out of everyone's hair. Then Hannibal won't be able to yell at me. Murdock won't pity me. And B.A. has no chance to beat me to a pulp. After an hour of driving, he was entering the nearest gun store. "Excuse me, are you the manager?"

The bald man looked up from the magazine he was reading, "Uh, yes, sir. I'm the manager. How may I help you?"

"I'm with the United States Bureau of Firearms," Face said while pulling out of his pocket a fake badge. "We've gotten some anonymous tips that your firearms aren't up to US standards. I've been sent to check it out."

"No one's complained to me, sir," the bald man said.

"All I know is what my commanding officers told me. Ok? I'm just trying to do my job!"

"Did your job do that to you?" the guy said pointing to his head and leg.

"Ya, I was injured in a training exercise...Can I just take a look at some of your goods, so I won't get fired?"

"Sure, I...uh...guess so. Look all you want."

"Thanks," he said while examining the guns very closely and measuring them. "These four are a whole centimeter too long. These four have barrels that are too small. I'm sorry, but I'm going have to confiscate these," Face said as he wound up his measuring tape.

"Hey, you can't do that! Do you know how much money I'll lose if you take all these firearms?"

"I'm sorry. But I have orders from the president of the Bureau right here," Face said holding up the forged papers. "If you don't cooperate, you may be arrested. I don't really want to put you through all that."

"You know what, you just take those defective ones, sir."

"Bye, and thanks for the cooperation," Face said. "Mind if your employees help carry them out to my car?"

"That's your car? It's a beauty."

"Yes, it is. You see, I was on vacation when my boss called me about the complaints, so I said I'd stop by on the way to my cabin."

"Ok," the owner turned to the two employees. "You heard the man! Move these outta here!"

As soon as all the guns were placed in the trunk, Face waved and drove off. When he was a decent distance away from the store, he took the bandage off his head and opened the sunroof of the corvette to enjoy the breeze as it rushed past his face and ruffled his hair. This was the first time since the accident that he had really enjoyed the fresh air. But all too soon, he was driving down the dirt driveway of Mr. Campton. He had in his mind the plan. He would take the guns in, write a note for the rest of the team and Mr. Campton, and leave the note to be discovered by them. By the time they found it, he would be far away from Montana—far away from Hannibal, mainly. He went into the house and carefully set all the guns on the table. After that, he wrote the note and placed it on the table beside the guns. Then he left.

"Where in the world is Face? He should have been back by now!" Hannibal shouted.

"Hannibal, you should come see this," Tim said from the kitchen.

"Eight guns. These must be the guns Face brought back. But where's Face?"

"There's a note, Hannibal," Murdock said.

"What's it say?" Hannibal asked.

"It says, 'To Hannibal, B.A., Murdock, and Mr. Campton.' Here are the 8 guns I promised you. I know I was getting on all your nerves, so I have decided not to say goodbye in person. By the time you read this, I will be long gone. I hope the plan works out well. Maybe I'll see you later. Signed, Templeton "Face" Peck.'"He paused, "Great, now Face is mad at all of us!" Murdock exclaimed handing Hannibal the note.

Hannibal took it and frowned, "There's nothing we can do right now. We can't leave Mr. Campton now. We'll have to deal with him when we get to LA. Now let's get back to work."

Meanwhile, Colonel Decker was enlisting the help of Colonel Lynch. "I chased the A-Team for many years. Then I eventually retired. I think with your help as well as mine, we can catch them," Colonel Lynch said.

"I've been chasing them for quite a while as well, but I think I've been closer then you ever have," Colonel Decker replied.

"We've both been close, and this time we're going to get them," Colonel Lynch said.

"Colonel Decker?" Captain Crane asked.

"Yes, what is it?"

"We just got an anonymous tip that the A-Team is currently in Montana. Hardin area."

"Good work, Crane. We'll be leaving in ten minutes," Decker said quickly.

"Ten minutes?" Lynch asked.

"Of course, we don't want them to slip out of our fingers again!"

Soon Face was cruising down the highway with the sunroof down and the music loud. He needed something to get his mind off of the team. Little did he know that in around a bend in the road, some men sat waiting for him.

After all the ranch hands had arrived, the real work began. They began to set up traps for Dirk and his men.

"The goal is to capture Templeton Peck, and then to lure the rest of the A-Team. When they're all together, we'll kill them one by one in front of Hannibal Smith's eyes. Then we'll kill him and get our million dollar bonus from you know who," the masked man said deviously. "Here he comes. Get ready!"

Face was just rounding the bend when four cars came out of nowhere and started to follow him. At first he was not very suspicious. But when these two cars had followed him for half an hour, then he got very suspicious. He tried to go through backroads and small towns in an attempt to lose them. When he thought that he had lost them, he pulled back onto the deserted Montana highway. The sun was just setting in the distance. That was when they appeared again. They sped up until they were right beside the corvette. Then they rammed into the side of it. Face knew he was in trouble, so he accelerated and picked up the car phone careful to avoid the numerous patches of slick mud. Please pick up! Finally, Hannibal picked up. "Ya, what is it Face?"

"Hannibal, four cars have been trailing me for almost an hour. Now they're trying to run me off the road!"

"Where are you?"

"I just passed a town called Billings."

"We'll get you as soon as we can."

"Ok, please hurry," Face said as he hung up.

Once again, the black car rammed into Face's corvette. A voice shouted over a microphone, "Pull over, Peck!"

Face knew that if he pulled over, there was no telling what might happen. He continued to speed down the empty highway. When he was up to about 90 MPH, two more black cars pulled in front of him, blocking the road. He swerved and missed them, but unfortunately, his car didn't miss the mountainside. There was the sound of metal bending and twisting with the impact, then complete silence.

"What did Face want?" B.A. asked as Hannibal set down the car phone.

"Help. Four cars have been trailing him, and now they're trying to run him off the road near Billings," Hannibal said.

"What are we going to do? Dirk Matthews and his gang could come at any time. It's too late to go after Face tonight."

"Get Murdock."

B.A. nodded and quickly brought Murdock back. "What's this about, Hannibal? This big ugly mud sucker interrupted my ghost story around the campfire," Murdock said.

"It's Face."

"What about Face?" Murdock asked suddenly serious again.

"Some men who were trailing him are trying to run him off the road."

Murdock's playful attitude quickly became serious. "Where did he call you from? I'll go after him right now," Murdock said as he turned to leave.

"Hold it, Captain," Hannibal said. "You and B.A. are going to stay here. I'm going to get Face."

"But Hannibal, I..." Murdock started.

"No excuses. Now, you two must stay here and wait for Dirk. That's an order. Don't leave unless I fail to contact you within twelve hours or am missing for twenty-four hours. Call me if anything comes up."

Murdock watched as Hannibal put the van in reverse and sped down the driveway. His cheerful mood had completely vanished. He decided that he needed some peace and quiet.

"Murdock, where you goin', fool?" B.A. asked.

"Oh, I'm just going to go out back to think."

"Face'll be fine, Murdock."

"You really think so?"

"Ya man, I do. Faceman's been in tough situations before."

Murdock nodded absentmindedly and went out back. He found a vacant porch swing and took a seat. Then he sat—just sat and listened to the sounds of a Montana night. The sounds calmed him and the fireflies distracted him. Soon he was off in his own world lost among his memories and fantasies.

Hannibal sped down the dark and deserted highway. He knew there were no cops on patrol in the middle of nowhere and he was too worried about Face to care about speed limits. He was tense. His knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel so hard. I need to get a grip. Face is fine—like he always is. But he still couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.

The mercenaries pulled over. They quickly hopped out of the cars with their guns trained on the corvette. After a few seconds of silence, the tall man with a goatee spoke. "Get him out of that car immediately. It may blow up any time now!"

The men moved quickly but kept their weapons at the ready just in case the conman was pulling a trick. When they reached the side of the car, they found Templeton Peck passed out with his head against the dashboard. Blood was freely flowing down the side of his face from a deep laceration above his left eye. They pulled him free just in time before the car exploded. The explosion was so powerful that it knocked everyone including the men carrying Face to the ground.

Hannibal desperately tried to get his mind on the matters at hand. He tried listening to music. But when he turned on the radio, it was on Face's favorite station playing all his favorite songs. Soon, Hannibal turned it off and tried something else. He lit a new cigar. But that was no use either, it was a special cigar that Face had given him. Finally, he gave up trying to distract himself.

After the explosion, the mercenaries picked themselves off the ground and dusted themselves off. "How's Peck?" the one asked.

"He's still out of it," the other replied. "And sir, he needs medical attention badly."

"We'll move him to the warehouse and see what he has to say," the goateed man named Noland replied.

The two soldiers lifted Face off the ground and loaded him into the back seat of one of the black sedans. Then they raced off into the night.

About an hour later, Hannibal was just passing the town of Billings. Face said he had just passed Billings, I should be very close by now. Soon, his thoughts were confirmed. He saw multiple tire tracks in the mud on the side of the road. Then he saw it—Face's car. It was smashed against the side of the mountain—or what was left of it was. The smoke from the explosion still hung thick in the air. Hannibal pulled out his flashlight and started looking for any clues. He found blood dried on some grass and imprints in the mud that looked about Face's size. After further inspection, he also found that the tires of the getaway cars had left a trail of mud on the highway. So Hannibal got back into the van and put in a call to Mr. Campton's house. It was Murdock who answered. "What is it, Hannibal? Have you found him?" "Calm down, Murdock. No, I didn't find him. But I did find some clues that may lead to his whereabouts." "What do you mean?" "I found Face's car—or what's left of it." "What do you mean 'what's left of it'?'" "It was smashed into the side of a mountain. I assume it exploded because it's just little bits and pieces now." "What about Face?" "I found dried blood on the grass." "Do you think he got out in time?" "Yes, there were imprints of a body about Face's size on the ground. I think they stashed him in their getaway car." "So we're at a dead end?" "No, there's a ton on mud on the sides of the road. So when the cars pulled off the road, they got it all over their tires. Now there's a slight trail that leads down the road. I'm going to follow it as far as it goes and see what I find." "Ok, Colonel. You be careful." "I will, Murdock, bye," Hannibal said as he hung up. He started the engine and followed the tracks until they were no longer visible. Hannibal tried to take in the surroundings as best he could in the dark. Then he called in again, "I'm heading back now." "10-4," Murdock replied.

Murdock waited anxiously for Hannibal to return. Somehow, he fell asleep on the porch while he was waiting. Hannibal pulled in the driveway about an hour and a half later. He was exhausted and was heading into the house when he realized there was a person on the porch. His hand quickly took hold of his handgun. He cautiously approached the porch. The figure didn't move. He inched closer and closer. Soon, he was close enough to see who it was. He put his handgun back in its place and gently shook Murdock. "Murdock."

Murdock moaned softly and yawned. Then he rubbed his eyes and sleepily answered, "Hmmmm?"

"Murdock, wake up."

Murdock lifted his head. "Oh, Hannibal. I must have fallen asleep."

Hannibal nodded. He was too tired to scold him for not being on his guard. So he went inside with Murdock without saying a word.

Soon they were all fast asleep.

The next day, one of Mr. Campton's ranch hands woke up bright and early to make everyone breakfast. The smell of the fresh-baked homemade food brought everyone out of their beds and into the kitchen. Once everyone had had their share, Hannibal spoke up. "Are the traps all set, and is everything ready?" Everyone at the table nodded. "As soon as you're all ready, head out to your posts with the guns. They could strike at any moment."

After the mercenaries had gotten hold of Face, they headed to an abandoned warehouse. By the time they got there, he was still unconscious. The short, burly man named Forbes took Face's limp body and tied it tightly to a chair. "What now, sir?"

Noland replied, "The smelling salts. Let's see how much Peck knows."

Forbes quickly retrieved the smelling salts and held them under Face's nose. Within seconds Face emitted a groan and slowly opened his eyes. His vision was very blurry and it was hard to make out who was where. His head spun. He felt sick to his stomach.

"So glad that you could join us, Lieutenant," Noland said. "Now tell us, where is the rest of the A-Team?"

"Who are you?" Face mumbled softly.

"I said where is the A-Team?" Noland shouted.

"What's the A-Team?"

"Stop playing games with me, Peck."

"How can I know...where it is...if I don't know...what it is?" Face mumbled before passing out again.

"Forbes!" Noland shouted. "The smelling salts! Our 'friend' just passed out again!"

"Sir, this man is clearly in need of medical attention. If we gave him some painkiller or something, maybe he'd be more cooperative," Forbes said as he once again brought out the smelling salts.

"No! We will do no such thing! We will get what information we need from him and then—and only then will we give him help!" Noland shouted angrily while clenching his teeth.

"Yes, sir."

"And get the boss—Ackerman out here. He's more skilled in these interrogations, and he's in charge."

Forbes put the smelling salts under Face's nose. As he came to, Forbes rushed out to get the top mercenary, a man by the name of Ackerman.

Face moaned and lifted his heavy eyelids. He tried to focus on the man in front of him but found that very hard to do. So he looked at the floor and tried to concentrate. That was when Ackerman entered the room.

"Lieutenant Peck, we meet at last," Ackerman said slyly in a polished British accent. He then turned to Noland. "You require my assistance do you?" Noland nodded. "He looks to be in bad shape. Have you given him any painkillers or anything?"

"No, I figured that we would only give him help if he complied with us."

"I like the way you think," Ackerman said with a sinister grin. "Now, Peck. Look at me when I talk to you!" Ackerman shouted as he roughly shoved Face's head so that he was looking at him. "Where is the A-Team?"

"Look, I already told you guys. I don't even know what the A-Team is much less where they are," Face said.

"Maybe we can change your mind for you," Ackerman said as he snapped his fingers. At the sound of the snap, two other men entered with a needle and a bottle of mysterious-looking liquid. "If we can't convince you to talk on your own, then maybe we can convince you with this updated version of the truth serum." The men handed him the bottle and needle, saluted, and stood off to the side of the chair. "This is a truth serum unlike anything you've ever heard of before. This is stronger than the normal truth serum, and it has different doses. If you give a person the highest dose, there will be so much poison in their system that they will surely die within 48 hours unless the proper antidote is applied." He unscrewed the lid and filled the needle. "At first I will just give you the smallest amount possible. However, if you somehow resist, I will not hesitate to take desperate measures." He turned to the two soldiers and said, "Hold him still." The two soldiers immediately went to Face. One held his shoulders still while the other held his head. Ackerman inserted the needle in Face's neck and injected the serum.

Face felt a pinch and then a tingling sensation. He could feel the liquid coursing through his veins. His head started to spin.

"Where is the A-Team?" Ackerman asked.

Face's head started to spin faster and faster. His breathing quickened, and he tried to speak. But it didn't work, he stuttered incoherently and then passed out.

Ackerman clenched his jaw and folded his arms across his chest. He collected himself and then said, "We'll have to try to convince him with another way for now."

"You can't be thinking of giving up, sir! Give him the highest dosage!" Noland shouted.

"Don't you see? I can't! The serum has to wear off before I can give a higher dosage. If I give it to him now, then it wouldn't work. It might even put him in coma—in his present state."

"Then what do we do now?" Ackerman took a seat beside Noland and began to think.

After the four walky-talkies were distributed among the four groups, everyone went to their positions. Within five minutes of getting situated, B.A. saw a truck coming towards his group. He got the walky-talky, "A truck with three guys heavily armed is approaching from the south."

Mr. Campton replied, "A truck with three guys heavily armed is approaching from the west."

Murdock chimed in, "Same for the east side, too."

And Hannibal said, "There's a truck with four guys and Dirk heavily armed approaching from the north. Get ready!"

There was silence for a split second before the first land mine went off. The truck turned on its side and the three men scrambled to get out and to escape. Fortunately, B.A.'s group got there before they could get away. Soon, all of them were knocked out and tied up. B.A. left his two group members to watch the "prisoners". Then he ran off to help Hannibal, who was only given one team member. Soon, the air was filled with the sounds of gunfire as Hannibal, B.A., and one of the ranch hands tried to hold off the truck with four men.

The truck heading towards Murdock and his group soon hit the other land mine. Murdock and his two helpers quickly pounced on the men. Murdock took on the tall one and went to give him a swift punch to the jaw, but the guy quickly deflected it and gave Murdock a solid punch in the face that made him see stars. Then the man hit him again, this time in the stomach. Murdock fell to the ground panting. Suddenly gunfire surrounded the group. The guy dove on top of Murdock crushing his bones with a sickening sound. The two ranch hands quickly knocked out their two guys. They saw that Murdock was having some trouble and remembered all the times these guys had hurt them. They pushed their guns into his back and shouted for him to get off. The guy replied, "You wouldn't use those guns—not in a million years." The ranch hands both cocked the guns and aimed them. "All right, all right," the big guy said as he got off of Murdock. The one ranch hand kept his gun trained on him while the other landed punch after punch into the guy. Soon, he was out of it. The one called Dan hurried to Murdock's side while the other tied up the unconscious guys.

"You okay, Murdock?" Dan asked as he helped Murdock to a sitting position.

"Fine—I think," Murdock said as he struggled to get to his feet. He shouted in pain. "No, not fine. You two go help the others. I'll guard them. Just hand me my gun, and I'll be fine."

"You sure?" Craig, the other ranch hand asked.

"Ya, I'll be fine. Now go on!"

They nodded, shouldered their guns, and made their way towards Mr. Campton's group. They were surprised to see that Mr. Campton had shot the tires of the truck making them advance on foot. Craig and Dan fired upon them. This took them totally by surprise, allowing Campton's group to jump them. Soon, everyone was scrambling. In the end though, Mr. Campton and his ranch hands were victorious. They tied them up, left two guards, and went to aid the rest.

Hannibal and B.A. and the ranch hand had succeeded in holding them off, but their ammunition was running low. In the midst of the firing, there was the faint sound of sirens in the distance. Hannibal realized what this meant and shouted to the rest of the group, "Decker!" They all hastened to get the five remaining.

When the six came over to help, they came over the other way. Then they jumped the gunners from Dirk's gang. Dirk's men dropped their guns in surprise. Then a huge fist fight erupted. Hannibal, B.A., and the other ranch hand joined in, too.

Hannibal made a beeline for Dirk. When Dirk saw that Hannibal was headed his way, he fell back between B.A. and one of Dirk's men. As soon as B.A. got his guy, Hannibal quickly stepped over him and followed Dirk into the barn. He wasn't quite sure where in the barn Dirk was, but he knew he was there. Suddenly he saw a glint in the sunlight that was streaming through the open door. He turned quickly to see Dirk with a sharp switchblade in his hand. Hannibal's hand went to his coat pocket for his handgun. His hands found nothing. It must have fallen out. Hannibal was now weaponless. He considered his choices and slowly approached Dirk. "You're not getting away, Smith. Decker and Lynch are coming. And you're weaponless," he said with an evil glint in his eye. Hannibal lunged trying to get the knife from him. But Dirk quickly stepped back and then thrust the knife at Hannibal. Hannibal saw it coming and moved to the side. But his arm did not have the pleasure of escaping the blade. Seeing that his knife had met its target, he pulled the knife out, making Hannibal's blood pour out onto his shirt sleeve. Hannibal heard the sirens getting closer and closer, but he knew he had to take care of Dirk once and for all before they got there. He lunged at Dirk again and caught him off balance. Hannibal fell on top of him. Then they wrestled for the knife. Dirk was swifter than Hannibal and quickly rolled over so that he was on the top and Hannibal was on the bottom. He pushed the knife closer and closer to Hannibal's neck. But Hannibal pushed the knife back as hard as he could. He knew he couldn't hold off Dirk for much longer. He was weakening, and things looked grim for Hannibal. But then there was a shot, Dirk fell backwards, and the knife fell to the floor. Hannibal looked to where the shot had come from. Murdock sat propped up against the side of the barn panting hard with his gun at his side.

The sirens were getting louder. B.A. and all the ranch hands rushed into the barn. Some of the ranch hands helped Murdock into the van, and the rest went to see Dirk. "He's dead," they said. They then helped B.A. carry the half-conscious Hannibal to the van. Before B.A. started the engine, Mr. Campton came running and said, "This was taped to the front porch. It's about Face. Now hurry, and thanks for all the help."

B.A. took the note and nodded, "We'll be back when things aren't so hectic." Then he started the van and raced off.

Decker, Lynch, Crane, and a series of military police swarmed the ranch. "Where's the A-Team?" Decker shouted to Mr. Campton.

"They're gone, but we have some men who need to be sent to jail," Mr. Campton replied. "One of them is dead."

"How did that happen?" Lynch asked.

"He tried to kill Hannibal Smith."

Decker and Lynch frowned but shouted to the MP's, "Get these men to the nearest jail. Then we'll go after Smith, he can't be too far yet."

"Hannibal, Murdock, you guys okay?" B.A. asked. "What happened back there?"

Murdock answered first, "A big guy punched me hard in the head and stomach and then he crushed me under his immense weight...I think I have some broken ribs. But I'll be fine."

"What about you, Hannibal? You look really pale."

"Thanks, Murdock...for what you did back there." Murdock nodded and let his head fall back on the headrest.

"What ya talkin' 'bout man?" B.A. asked.

"I followed Dirk into the barn. He pulled a switchblade on me. My handgun must've fallen out of my pocket. So I tried to get the knife from him. He got me pretty bad in the arm. But it's ok now. Then I caught him off balance, and I almost had him. But he rolled on top of me and tried to knife me in the throat. I held him off for a bit, but I knew I couldn't last too much longer. Then there was a shot and Dirk fell over dead...Murdock saved my life," Hannibal rasped.

"Mr. Campton said he found this taped on the front porch. He said it was about Face," B.A. said as he held it out.

Hannibal took it with his good arm and read it aloud. "It says, 'We have Face. If you want to see him alive again, then come at once. The directions are as follows: Follow the highway toward the town of Billings. Go through town and keep going. Go until you see an abandoned warehouse. Come without weapons. If we find any on any of your persons, we will not hesitate to kill your beloved Lieutenant. You have less than six hours.' There's also some pictures of Face in here," Hannibal said as he looked through them.

"How's he look, Hannibal?" Murdock asked slightly above a whisper.

"Horrible, it hardly looks like him."

"Let me see," Murdock said as he reached out. "Oh man, what have they done to him?"

An hour later, after the MP's returned from the jail free of prisoners, Decker and Lynch got down to business. "Mr. Campton, do you know where the A-Team is?"

Timothy thought about it for a minute, considering whether or not he should tell them about the note. Finally he spoke, "I hate doing this, but yes, I know where they're headed."

"Where?"

"You see, I found this note taped to my front porch that was addressed to the A-Team. I looked at it, though before I gave it to them. It said that they had Face and it told where they were holding him..."

After he was sure that the military wasn't behind them, B.A. pulled over.

"B.A., what are you doing? We're losing valuable time," Hannibal asked.

"You guys need some help. Besides, we still got time," he said as he turned off the van and got the medical kit.

"Do Murdock first," Hannibal said.

"Okay, fine." He moved over to Murdock. "Where's it hurt, Murdock?"

"Everywhere."

"Murdock—"

"No seriously. The guy was huge," Murdock said.

B.A. lifted up Murdock's shirt and felt around for broken bones. While B.A. probed, Murdock tried not to scream out in pain. "He's got six broken ribs." Soon, he was finished probing. "Nothing else is broken."

"We need to wrap his ribs," Hannibal said.

"I don't know how to do that," B.A. said.

"I think I'll be good if you just wrap an ace bandage around my chest for now. It's Face that we need to be worrying about," Murdock said. B.A. nodded and wrapped up Murdock's chest. Then he moved to Hannibal.

"B.A., I'm fine. Let's get going."

"You're beginning to sound like Face. No, let me take a look, Hannibal." Hannibal finally gave in and let B.A. take a look at his arm. "Hannibal, you're bleeding everywhere. You said it was okay." Hannibal just grimaced as B.A. felt his arm. "It's pretty deep, and I think it cut some muscle. All I can do now is wrap it up."

"That's fine, B.A. Let's get going."

While Hannibal, B.A., and Murdock had been helping Mr. Campton with the men who were running him off his land, Face had been badly beaten. Noland and Ackerman tried almost every method—almost every fear tactic they could think of. None of them had worked, either Peck just sat there and beared it, or he passed out again. He was almost unrecognizable now. His face was covered in blood—dried and fresh. But then, Ackerman came up with a plan.

B.A. followed the directions in the note and soon enough, Murdock spotted the abandoned warehouse. "Hannibal, the note said to come unarmed."

"I know. But we can't just go in there without anything. We need to have something in case things do not go as planned," Hannibal replied as he concealed a very small pistol in his boot.

"They said they'd kill Face if they found any weapons."

"Then they won't find it."

But still B.A. and Murdock refused to conceal any weapons. Then they all entered the warehouse. It was filled with cobwebs and creepy-crawly creatures-as Murdock would call them-were everywhere. Eight men dressed in black stepped out of the shadows and made sure there was no weapons on them. Finding none, the black-clad men escorted them down a corridor and into a room. The men invited them to take a seat. And seeing as they didn't really have a choice, they complied with their wishes and took a seat. Another man came out and addressed them, "It was good of you to come, we almost thought you wouldn't make it in time due to your little run-in with Dirk Matthews and his gang—and of course the MP's."

"Ah, I know you don't I?" Hannibal asked.

"You should," the man said. "I'm Colonel Noland."

"From back in 'Nam. Of course I remember you. You were that slimeball who tried to leave me behind with the enemy forces."

"Ah, such good times. Pity they have to come to an end," Noland said with a sinister grin. "I have with me a revolutionary piece of equipment that will stream live video to us now," he said as he quickly produced a portable television set. "This is live from the other side of the building."

The screen showed a dimly-lit room and then it showed a man—Face, unconscious in a chair. A man walked in front of the camera and said, "Hello to you, Mr. Smith, Mr. Baracus, and Mr. Murdock. I'm so glad you could join us today for this occasion. I'm General Ackerman. You may remember me from back in Vietnam. Now first I must explain to you that your dear Lieutenant has already been given a small dose of an advanced truth serum. Somehow he withheld his knowledge of your whereabouts despite that fact. When I sent my men to look over the area to find you, they heard gunshots and promptly delivered the note knowing that you couldn't be far. So, now that you are here, I will now give him a poison. The reason for this is that my "boss" is eager to punish each of the members of the A-Team for turning in so many of his men and women and destroying his multiple businesses. The first victim will be your Lieutenant. I have been given strict instructions to administer this poison to him. If he isn't given the proper antidote within 5 hours, he will surely die. And I will make sure that that happens. As for you, you will watch Peck suffer and eventually die before your very eyes. Then I will kill each of you as well." Ackerman smiled with a wicked glint in his eye. He filled the syringe with the liquid and motioned for his men to awaken Face with the smelling salts once again.

Face came to very disoriented. He seemed muddled from his usual state of mind. Then the men held him still while Ackerman administered it. Face felt a rush of adrenaline streaming through his veins.

"Smile for the camera, Peck."

Face raised his head as high as he could bear and stared blankly at the camera. He felt like he was drunk, but no—he hadn't drank anything. Or had he? He couldn't think straight enough to tell.

Hannibal, B.A., and Murdock watched in silence as their team member began to shudder with spasms caused by the poison. Beads of sweat were visible on his forehead. His face contorted in pain, but he didn't utter a single sound. Finally after twisting and convulsing for nearly a minute he passed out. Hannibal silently prayed that somehow they'd find a way out of this—that somehow Face would survive. His prayers were soon answered by the sirens of Decker and Lynch. Their captors looked out the window towards the sound. Hannibal, B.A., and Murdock took advantage of this moment and lunged at them. With a few swift punches, they were knocked out on the floor.

As soon as the captors were disarmed, Murdock started running through the building. But Hannibal stopped him, "Murdock, we've got to get out of here. Decker and Lynch will find us. You go knock out what one of the guards and tell them about the antidote. But don't get caught."

"Will do, Colonel," Murdock said as he slipped into the shadows and disappeared from sight.

Hannibal and B.A. ran as fast as they could for the van. They knew that had to get out quickly and quietly.

Decker and Lynch had decided not to make their presence known until they were at the warehouse. They figured that if the A-Team really was in trouble, it would be best to save a life if possible instead of lose one. At soon as their vehicles came to a stop, the MP's started swarming the place. They found the men that Hannibal, B.A., and Murdock had knocked out, but they didn't find the A-Team. Decker and Crane went towards the back of the warehouse. They heard a man yelling loudly. He cautiously entered to find Colonel Ackerman—a man he had known back in 'Nam shouting at one of Decker's own MP's. He was threatening to kill the man in the chair. Upon further observing, Decker found that the man in the chair was Peck. Ackerman didn't see Decker, but continued to press the knife against Face's neck. Blood spilled slightly as Ackerman readjusted his hold on him. Yet Peck didn't make a sound. Decker quickly drew his gun and fired. Ackerman and the knife fell to the floor. Peck crumpled to the floor, as well. Crane went to Ackerman's side. "He's dead, sir."

Decker simply nodded. He and the other MP moved to Peck's side. Murdock (who was the other MP), picked up the bottle, the poison, and the syringe. "Looks like he's been injected with an advanced truth serum and poison. We need to get this man to a hospital immediately. Do you know the antidote for this poison?"

Decker nodded and said, "I'll notify the hospital and tell them what antidote is needed.'' Suddenly Decker looked into the face of Murdock. "Wait, you're H.M. Murdock! You're not one of my men!" Murdock took one last look at Face and took off running. "Get him!" Decker shouted. But soon, Crane lost Murdock. Knowing Murdock was long gone, he returned to Decker who was checking for a pulse on Face. "Help me carry him. Then call an ambulance." Decker took Face's top half while Crane got his feet. Together, they made it out to where Lynch was.

"What's this?" Lynch asked.

"Peck. He's hurt bad," Decker said as he laid him down on the ground.

"What about the rest of the A-Team?"

"Gone, but they'll come looking for their Lieutenant soon enough."

"The ambulance is on its way, sir," Crane said as he glanced down at the injured Lieutenant.

"Good. Carry on looking for the A-Team and H.M. Murdock."

Shortly after, the ambulance and paramedics arrived. Two paramedics rushed to Face's side to assess his injuries. After a few minutes, one of the paramedics motioned for the ambulance assistant to come over. He whispered in the attendant's ear. He nodded and approached Decker and Lynch. "Excuse me, are you two in charge here?"

"Yes, we are," Lynch replied quickly.

"This man's been administered the truth serum and a poison that will kill him within five hours," Decker said swiftly.

"It's important that we know the exact poison name. Do you have the bottle with you?"

"Yes, right here," he said as he produced the bottle.

"Thanks," the man said as he looked over the bottle. "I'm going to need this man's medical records and family information from Rampart General Hospital."

"Why Rampart General Hospital?"

"The paramedics said that that was the hospital on the bottom of the boot that's on his foot."

"I don't remember him ever going there. But I'll call," Decker said as he got out the directory and dialed the number. "Hello, I need some information about a patient that we believe was recently treated there. I think he would have been admitted under the name Templeton Peck."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't give that information out without the permission of Mister Peck," the nurse said.

"Look, lady, I'm with the military police."

"I'm sorry, but I..." the nurse started.

"It may be a matter of life and death."

"Well, I guess if it's that important, then I should notify his family."

"What family? He doesn't have family."

"It says right here that he has a half-brother."

"We don't have that information in any of our files."

"Yes well it says that this wasn't discovered until about six weeks ago."

"What's his name?"

"John Roderick Gage. He works for this hospital as a Firefighter Paramedic."

"Alright, thank you. Now why was Templeton Peck at Rampart General Hospital?"

"It says that he was in a car accident involving a drunk semi-truck driver and his corvette. It's a wonder he survived."

"That is all very interesting, but is John Gage there right now?"

"I don't know. He might be on call. Hold on for a bit. And what was your name again?"

"Colonel Decker. Colonel Roderick Decker."

"Alright," she said as she put down the phone and talked over the pager, "If Firefighter Paramedic John Gage is in the building, please come to nurse station four. I repeat, if Firefighter Paramedic John Gage is in the building, please come to nurse station four."

Johnny and Roy had been picking up supplies when they heard a voice on the pager calling for John Gage.

"That's strange, Johnny. They usually don't ask for you over the pager," Roy said teasingly. "I'll pick up the supplies and then stop by to get you."

"Ok, thanks," Johnny replied.

"And don't stay too long," Roy said.

Johnny made his way to nurse station four. When he saw the nurse, he tried to remember what her name was. But he couldn't come up with anything. "Do I know you?"

"Oh, sorry. My name's Tiffany."

"Tiffany, why did you call me here?"

"A Colonel Decker is on the phone. He wants to talk to you about something."

Johnny's eyes widened in alarm. What does Decker want with me? "Umm, thanks," he said as he took the phone and pressed it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hello, are you John Roderick Gage?"

"Yes, I am. And you are?"

"Colonel Decker with the Military Police. I need to ask you some questions about your brother."

"My brother? I don't..." Johnny started.

"Don't play coy with me. That nurse just told us all about Templeton Peck and his relation to you."

"What do you want with me?"

"It's about Peck...He's been badly injured. They don't know if he's going to make it."

"What is Decker saying, now, B.A.?" Hannibal asked.

"He's talking to Johnny!" B.A. exclaimed.

"Great, now they know about Johnny. Has he mentioned the location of the hospital yet?"

"No, but he's just about to get to it." B.A. listened intently to the phone tap. Suddenly static was all the sound he could hear. "Hannibal, something must be wrong with the transmitter. All I hear is static. I'm going to check out the antenna."

Hannibal picked up the headset and listened. All he could hear was static with a word here or there. B.A.'s shouting soon filled the air, "Hannibal! Some animal's been chewin' on the antenna!"

"Can you fix it?" Hannibal asked.

"Not in time to hear the rest of the conversation."

Roy stood anxiously waiting as he watched Johnny on the phone. He was just out of hearing range, but he could tell it wasn't good from Johnny's expression.

"What do you mean? How did this happen?"

"Some mercenaries caught him. We don't know what all happened."

"Did you catch the mercenaries?"

"Yes, but so far, they haven't talked."

Johnny bit his lip and pondered. "What do you want me to do?"

"Come at once. Bring his and your medical files."

"Where is this hospital he's at?"

"The hospital's called St. Peter's Hospital. The address is 2475 East Broadway Street, Helena, MT 59601."

"Where did the ambulance pick him up at?"

"Just outside of Billings."

"From Billings to Helena. How long is that?"

"From what I heard it's about three and a half hours. And there's something else you should know...We found evidence that suggests he was given the truth serum as well a poison that could kill him within five hours."

"Does it have a known antidote?"

"Yes, but they're not sure how long ago he was injected with it."

"Isn't there a nearer hospital?"

"Yes, but not with the proper antidote."

"I'll take the next flight."

"Alright then."

Johnny put the phone back. Roy approached him. "Johnny, are you okay?"

"They have him."

"They have who?"

"The military police and Decker have my brother."

"Where's the rest of the A-Team?"

"From what he said, I gathered they were nowhere to be found."

"You know you can't contact them. Now that Decker knows your relation to them, there's no telling what he may do. He might even have someone install a tap on your phone."

"But why did he call you? How did he know?"

"That nurse, Tiffany, told him what was in the files. Roy, they aren't sure if Face is going to make it this time."

Roy's eyes darkened and his face fell. He knew how much having a brother meant to Johnny. His handy-talky crackled to life and said, "Squad 51, available?"

Roy picked it up and said, "Negative. Squad 51 is not available." He placed it back in its holder and said, "Go on, Johnny. He needs you."

Johnny looked at his friend and uttered, "Thanks." Then he rushed off to catch a plane.

Colonel Decker hung up the phone. "I just had a nice conversation with Peck's brother."

Lynch approached and said, "What brother? We never knew about any brother."

"Half-brother. He's on his way with the medical files."

The paramedics nodded and lifted Face onto the stretcher. "We need to get him out of here ASAP. The clock is ticking. Five hours may be coming to an end soon." When the ambulance doors were shut, they sped off sirens blaring. Colonel Decker had decided to go in the ambulance to keep an eye on Face. Lynch decided to drive behind the ambulance and look for the A-Team.

Decker had never considered himself a particularly caring man about such things as men getting wounded and such, but when it came to the A-Team it was different. He had a certain respect for them. Now he realized that he even cared a bit about what happened to the man that lay dying on the other side of the ambulance. He had never really been this close to an A-Team member for this long. They had always evaded him, leaving him in an irritated mood. But now, he sat contemplating the long journey ahead and the possible results of that journey. "How's he doing?"

The two paramedics looked up. The one made his way over to him and took a seat on the bench beside him. "He's hurt pretty bad, but from what I can tell, he's a fighter. We've established an IV and we have him on oxygen."

"Is there anything else you can do?"

"Like I said, we've got him on oxygen and he's got an IV. There's not much else we can do."

"What's the extent of his injuries?"

"He's got a serious concussion, a fractured skull, a gash on his head that's going to need stitches, multiple cuts and bruises—some serious and others minor, his one arm's broken, his foot that was previously injured is in pretty bad shape, too. There's also evidence of a punctured lung and other internal damage."

"What about the poison?"

"We found an entry point in the neck area for the poison and the truth serum."

"Any possible side effects from those?"

"Possibly..." he started.

But he was cut short by the other paramedic yelling, "Cardiac arrest!"

The ambulance pulled over, and immediately they ripped open his shirt. They started attaching him to the EKG equipment. The man that talked to Decker got the paddles and the solution ready, then he shouted, "Clear!"

The shock from the paddles caused Face's body to lurch upward in a horrifying way. Decker stared at the monitor. He was relieved to see that his heart rate was back to normal. After that scare, the trip went rather smoothly. In three hours and fifteen minutes, they pulled in at the emergency entrance of the hospital. Lynch pulled in behind the ambulance and waited for the doors to open. The doors burst open and Face was rushed in on the stretcher. Decker stayed back a bit and told Lynch to arrange for guards. He said that he would stay with him and made sure he didn't escape. Lynch nodded and left. Decker headed into the examination room and watched as the doctors probed. Then one of them brought a needle over that was filled with the antidote. He watched as it was injected. He hoped that he had gotten there in time.

"Murdock, didn't you stay in some Montana hospitals?" Hannibal asked.

"Ya, I did, but Faceman isn't insane. They won't send him to a mental hospital," Murdock replied shaking his head.

"I know, but that means you might know some of the bigger hospitals in the area."

"Come to think of it, I did stay at a couple normal hospitals, too. Let's see, I can think of about nine."

"Good, what are they?"

"The Billings Clinic, St. Vincent Healthcare, Benefis Healthcare in Great Falls, Kalispell Regional Medical Center, St. Patrick Hospital and Health Sciences Center in Missoula, Community Medical Center of Missoula, Bozeman Deaconess Hospital, St. Peter's Hospital in Helena, and St. James Healthcare in Butte."

"Good work, Murdock. Now can you narrow it down any more?"

"Well, they'd probably not send him to a clinic or to a local medical center. So, that takes it down to seven."

"What about a healthcare center?"

"They might. It's hard to say if they would or not."

After the doctors gave Face the antidote, they ordered Decker to go to the waiting room while Face was taken to surgery. Decker put up a fight saying he was under orders to have a constant watch on him. The doctors quickly assured him that Face was in no condition to walk, much less escape. He finally retreated to the waiting room and mumbled, "Stranger things have happened."

"Murdock, what happened back there? We heard a gunshot," Hannibal asked.

"That Ackerman had a knife to Face's throat. He was threatening to kill him when I entered the room. I guess Decker saw him and was perfectly lined up to shoot. He did. Ackerman died on the spot."

As soon as Face's surgery was completed, a nurse was sent to the waiting room to inform the Colonel. "I'm looking for a Colonel Decker?"

"I'm Colonel Decker. How's Peck?" Decker replied.

"Mister Peck made it through surgery okay. But he's still in critical condition. Do you know when his family will arrive?"

"His half-brother is on a plane right now."

"And the rest of his family?"

"They'll be getting here in a few days," Decker said as he imagined catching the A-Team in the hospital.

"What about his medical files?"

"His brother's bringing them."

"Can I see him?"

"Are you family?"

"No, but I'm with the military police, and that's a wanted man you've got in there."

"He's in the ICU, that's a family only visitor zone."

"Colonel Lynch said that some of my men and I would be guarding the Lieutenant."

"Oh, you're with Colonel Lynch? Alright then, he's in Room 519," the nurse said.

"Thanks," Decker said as he radioed for his men to report to room 519 in the Intensive Care Unit.

"We're not getting anythin' accomplished by bickerin' over where they took Face. Why don't we each pick a couple and check them out?" B.A. asked.

"That's a good idea, B.A.," Hannibal said. "What were the names again?"

"Since we narrowed it down to seven, we should check St. Vincent Healthcare, Benefis Healthcare in Great Falls, Kalispell Regional Medical Center, St. Patrick Hospital and Health Sciences Center in Missoula, Bozeman Deaconess Hospital, St. Peter's Hospital in Helena, and St. James Healthcare in Butte," Murdock replied.

"Ok. B.A. you take St. Vincent and Benefis. Murdock, you take Kalispell and St. Patrick. I'll take Bozeman, St. James and St. Peter's."

Soon, all of Decker and Lynch's men had positioned themselves. Some were inside Face's room, others were just outside the door, and there were tons throughout the rest of the hospital, as well. After receiving a call from Johnny saying that he was on his way, Decker took a seat beside Face's bed and started the long process of waiting for Smith and the rest of his men to show up.

Johnny got off the airplane and headed straight to the address that Colonel Decker had given him. Soon, he was pulling into the parking lot. He briskly walked into the building and went to the first nurse's station that he saw. "Excuse me, Miss?"

The older nurse turned around and said, "Yes, how may I help you?"

"I need to know what room Templeton Peck is in."

"I'm sorry, but no one except the military police and the staff here are allowed near his room."

"No, you don't understand, I'm his brother, John Gage. Colonel Decker sent for me."

"Hmmm...Colonel Decker you say? What about Colonel Lynch?"

"I don't know any Colonel Lynch."

"Well, I have a note here from Colonel Lynch that says, "If a man by the name of John Gage comes and claims he's the brother of Templeton Peck, have him fill out the paperwork before sending him back to me."

"Paperwork?"

"Yes, I've got quite a pile here for you," she said as she handed him a mound of papers.

"All these?"

"All those."

"But there's like twenty pages here."

"Just fill 'em out honey," she said as she settled back in her chair and turned to a magazine.

Johnny nodded glumly and took a seat. He soon found that a good many of the questions regarding medication and allergies were not in the files from Rampart. Hannibal's the only one who knows these things, but I don't dare call him. Decker and Lynch are keeping their eyes on me and everything I do. I'll have to wait until he shows up.

After two hours had gone by, Johnny had finally finished as much paperwork as he could with the information that he had. He made his way back to the nurse who had long since deserted the magazine. "Here's the paperwork. The files aren't complete, though, so I can't get are the needed information at the moment."

The nurse nodded and picked up the phone. "Colonel Lynch, yes. He's done with the paperwork. Are you going to send some men over or shall I direct him?' After a long pause, she replied, "Alright." She put the phone back in its place and said, "Mr. Gage, Colonel Lynch is sending some men to escort you to him. They should be here shortly."

Johnny took a seat. He anxiously looked at his watch. Soon enough, two men wearing army green outfits with guns slung over their shoulders entered. Johnny rose to his feet and approached the MP's.

"Come with us, Mister Gage. Colonel Lynch is waiting."

Decker knew that Smith and Baracus could show up at any time, so he ordered his men to knock in order to announce and doctors, visitors, or anyone else. After about an hour of waiting, he head a low moan. Face stirred in the bed and immediately Decker summoned the doctor and nurse. When Face opened his eyes, he whispered, "Where am I?"

The nurse replied, "You're at St. Peter's Hospital in Helena, Montana. Can you tell me your name?"

When he heard the voice, he looked around the room at the doctor, nurse, and finally Colonel Decker.

When Decker saw that Face had seen him, he knew that Peck would soon try to escape. But he waited to see what would happen. To his surprise, Face didn't seem to notice Decker all that much.

Face's eyes widened and he whispered, "I don't remember."

"Do you remember me?" Decker asked.

"No, I don't know you." Suddenly, he started thrashing about wildly and shouting. The doctor quickly filled a syringe and injected Face. Instantly, he stopped thrashing and fell in a tumbled heap on the bed. The doctor and nurse resettled Face and put restraints on him.

"What was all that about? Why didn't he recognize me?" Decker asked.

The doctor did a quick once over and answered, "I'll have to run some tests to be sure, but I do believe Mr. Peck has amnesia and possibly an anxiety issue."

"Is it temporary?"

"We can't know."

"Hmmm, that gives me an idea that could help me catch Smith."

Meanwhile, B.A. made his way to St. Vincent Healthcare. He knew he would have to do a scam when he got there, so on the way over, he concocted a scheme. When he arrived, he went straight to the nurse's desk. "Excuse me, Miss?"

The older nurse looked up at the big black man and nervously said, "Yes, sir? Can I help you with something?"

"Ya, I was told that my nephew was in an accident and was taken to this hospital. They told me he needed blood, so I hurried here as quick as I could. His name's Templeton Peck."

"Templeton Peck..." she said while going through her papers. "We don't have any Templeton Peck here."

"Are you sure? They said he came in emergency."

"I'll look again." She opened a filing cabinet and hurriedly looked through. "I think you have the wrong hospital," she said.

"I'll go call his father, then and see if I did call the wrong hospital." B.A. turned around and walked from the building quickly. He picked up his phone and dialed Murdock and Hannibal.

By the time Decker had concocted a scheme, Face had started to stir. Soon enough, his baby blues fell upon the face of Decker. "Hi. How are you feeling?" Decker asked pleasantly.

Face stared at him and whispered, "Fine. But why do I feel so weird? I feel like I should know you, but I can't remember."

"You have amnesia."

"Amnesia?"

"It may only be temporary, though."

"I don't even remember my name or what happened. Could you tell me some things?"

"Sure. I'm your best friend, Roderick Decker. You call me Rod. Well, to start off, you grew up in an orphanage and later changed your name to Templeton Peck. Then you joined the military and fought in Vietnam. Two of the men in your unit and you were charged with robbing the Bank of Hanoi. You were innocent, but the other two were guilty. Although all three of you denied it, you all escaped from the military stockade and now work as 'soldiers of fortune'."

"What were the two men's names?"

"John Smith, whom you called Hannibal and Bosco Baracus, whom you called B.A."

"B.A.?"

"Bad Attitude. And they called you Face."

"Face? Why?"

"Oh, it's your nickname. Hannibal gave it to you because you're the team's conman, and your face is pretty handsome-usually."

"Oh. Well, what happened to make me end up like this?"

"Hannibal and B.A. turned on you and tried to kill you. But they needed some information you had, so they tortured you first. It's a good thing that I found you in time."

Face looked down at his sheets. "My 'so called' friends tried to kill me? But you saved me...Hmmm."

Murdock arrived at the Kalispell Regional Center in good time. He knew enough from Face that he might need a scam to pull this one off. He assumed the identity of a doctor. He also applied one of the fake mustaches that Face had given to Murdock on his birthday. When he entered the medical center, he went to the main nurse's desk. He explained that he was the family doctor of a patient that had recently been brought in. But when the nurse checked her files, she found nothing about a Templeton Peck. Murdock acted surprised and mumbled something about possibly having misheard the name of the hospital. He then called B.A. and Hannibal.

Hannibal drove to the Bozeman Beaconess Hospital. Hannibal's arm was throbbing, but he was so determined to find Face that he barely noticed. He went to the main nurse's desk and said that he was an intern assigned to take care of/observe Templeton Peck. But on checking her files, she reported that there was no such patient in that hospital. Hannibal said that he must have gotten the wrong patient's name and that he'd check back in later. Then he called B.A. and Murdock. In the middle of their conversation, Hannibal's phone started to beep. He told them that his phone was dying and that his charger was in Face's wrecked 'Vette. He said that he might not be able to check in right away and that he'd have to use a pay phone. Then he started on his way to St. James Hospital.

The MP's led Johnny down a hallway and into a small room on the left. Colonel Lynch sat there waiting for Johnny to arrive. But Johnny entered the room, he rose to his feet and shook Johnny's hand. "You must be John Roderick Gage, Peck's brother. I'd like to ask you some questions, please take a seat." Johnny hesitated and then took a seat. "First of all, I'd like to ask you when you found out about this relation with Peck."

"About a month ago, I guess."

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"Two weeks ago."

"Have you received any phone calls from him recently?"

"No."

"Do you know where the rest of the A-Team is?"

"A-Team?"

"Yes, the A-Team. Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about either."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Mister Gage, you'd make it a lot easier on yourself if you told me."

"I said I don't know. Besides, I need to see my brother. That's why I came here...not to talk to you." Johnny got up and walked toward the door. "It was nice meeting you, though, Colonel Lynch." Lynch's guards stepped in Johnny's way. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I can't let you out of this room," Lynch said. "I can't let you see Peck either."

"You mean I'm a hostage?"

"Of course not, we're simply expressing our right to interrogate suspicious people."

"I'm a suspicious person?"

"Anyone involved with the A-Team is suspicious."

"I said I don't know about the A-Team."

Lynch looked from Johnny to the guards. "Keep him here. Come and get me when he's ready to talk." And with that, Lynch left the room.

When Face awakened again, Decker was staring out the window into the distance. Face cleared his throat, "Umm, Rod?"

"Hmm? Oh, Face. You're awake."

"What happened?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What happened to those two men—Hannibal and B.A.?"

"They got away. They may even try to kill you again. That's why I'm here...to watch over you."

"Is there any way I can help you?"

"No, no. You just lie down and rest."

"Are you sure there's nothing I can do? I feel useless."

"Hannibal and B.A. may know that you have amnesia. They won't think that you'll remember what they did. So if they do come in in disguise, you might be able to recognize them or something they say. Then, if they are Hannibal or B.A., you can call out for me and we'll take them away." Face nodded and fell back asleep. Decker called for the doctor. "Is there a reason that he keeps falling asleep?"

"You must understand Colonel that he is utterly exhausted and talking drains his energy."

B.A. went to Benefis Healthcare after Face wasn't found in St. Vincent's. He was met with disappointment when he didn't find any trace of Face. He called Hannibal first. But he didn't pick up, so B.A. figured that his phone had died. B.A. then called Murdock and arranged to meet with him at Murdock's next destination—St. Patrick's.

When Hannibal arrived at St. James, he was again met with disappointment when there was no Face and no pay phone. He was so concentrated that he forgot to call B.A. and Murdock from the payphone. But he headed on to St. Peter's and prayed that they would soon find Face. When he arrived he nearly ran into the military police, but fortunately he saw them first and changed into a doctor's outfit complete with a mask. He went to the nurse's station and asked the nurse where Templeton Peck's room was. He explained that he was a new intern who was supposed to deliver Mr. Peck's medication. He met two MP's at the door. When he explained his purpose in coming, they knocked on the door and slowly opened it to let him in. So far, so good. His eyes instantly fell on the figure in the bed—Face. He looked unrecognizable. His head was wrapped with bandages and what you could see of his face was distorted with bruises and cuts. A cervical collar was around his neck. One of his arms lay limp and unmoving at his side in a cast. His foot was also in a cast. The sheet covered from the waist down and his chest was bare with the exception of some EKG patches that were connected to the EKG machine. An IV line also ran from his arm to an IV pole beside his bed. He also had a myriad of other various wires and tubes connected to him. Hannibal slowly approached the bed and whispered, "Face?"

Face's eyes fluttered open. It took him awhile to focus, but he fixed his eyes on Hannibal. Suddenly, Face's eyes widened and he shouted, "Rod!" This startled Hannibal who nearly jumped out of his skin. "Get back! Get away!"

"Face, what are you doing?"

"Stay back!" Hannibal moved to Face's side. "Rod!"

"What's the matter, kid? Who's Rod?"

His question was soon answered with the clicks of several rifles being cocked. He looked up. He was surrounded by eight MP's. Then Decker stepped out of the shadows and said, "I'm Rod."

Hannibal's eyes narrowed. "Decker," he growled.

"Take him out of here," Decker said as the MP's handcuffed him and roughly dragged him out of the room. "I'll be back soon, Face." Then he turned on his heel and went out into the hallway.

After Decker closed the door, Hannibal exploded. "What was that, Decker?! What did you do to him?!"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?! He just called you Rod and acted like I was going to hurt him!"

Decker smirked. "I'm surprised you didn't figure it out. He has amnesia, Smith!"

This caught Hannibal completely off guard. "Amnesia?"

"That combined with a concussion and everything else he's gone through has made him lose his memory. I didn't lie per say, I simply said that I saved his life, which is true. And I might have hinted that we were friends."

"That's really low, Decker! Even for you!" Hannibal said trying to get to Decker. But the MP's held him back.

"Take him to the interrogation room with Peck's brother." Then Decker went into Face's room and shut the door.

"What was all the noise?" a weak voice asked.

Decker turned and said, "Hannibal was very upset. He tried to deny everything. But it's a good thing we caught him, because he was going to give you poisoned medication."

B.A. and Murdock arrived at St. Patrick's about the same time. When B.A. saw him, he knew something was wrong. "What's wrong Murdock?"

"My ribs are giving me some trouble. But don't worry. I'll be fine."

"You're starting to sound like Faceman. Don't lie to me, fool."

Murdock's eyes went to B.A.'s. "Ok, to tell you the truth, I don't think I can go on much farther."

"Get in the van, Murdock. I'll take you to a clinic."

"No, B.A. we can't. We gotta find Face. And besides, Decker's probably got an APB out on you."

"But if you went in by yourself, no one would recognize you."

"But, Faceman..."

"Is in a hospital somewhere getting help, which is what you need."

"Fine, but not until you make sure that Face isn't in this hospital."

"Alright. I'll be right back."

Johnny had heard a commotion in the hallway. He could hear shouting. It sounded like Hannibal was doing most of the shouting. Before long, the door opened and eight MP's pushed Hannibal into the room and locked the door. Hannibal staggered a few steps before falling to the ground. "Hannibal!" Johnny rushed to him and flipped him onto his back. One of the MP's had heard the shout and went into the room to investigate. "Help me," Johnny said as he tore open Hannibal's shirt. "Get me a first aid kit." The MP nodded and left the room. Johnny's hands searched for any injuries. He eventually found the cut on his arm. He could see the blood was dripping onto the cold linoleum floor. He knew that it was bad, but he couldn't know how bad without gloves. He didn't want to infect it more than it already was. Soon the MP returned with a first aid kit in his hands.

"What can I do?" the man said.

Hannibal's eyes opened and he started to move around. "Hold him down with his shoulders." The man nodded and pressed down on Hannibal's shoulders.

Johnny leaned down close to Hannibal's face and whispered, "Try to hold still. This is going to hurt a lot." Then he put on the gloves and began to probe inside the wound as gently as possible. When Johnny's fingers made contact with his muscles, Hannibal tried to move away, but the MP held him down. All too soon, Hannibal passed out and his body went limp. "I'm almost glad he passed out. I didn't want him to be alert when I did that."

"How is he?"

"Pretty bad. That cut in his arm is infected. Whatever caused this has also cut his muscle." He felt Hannibal's forehead. "He's burning up, he needs a doctor immediately."

"You don't understand, I can't get a doctor. Lynch ordered us not to let Smith deceive us. He's tried this sort of thing before."

"Feel his forehead for yourself. I'm not bluffing," Johnny said as the MP placed his hand on his forehead.

"Alright, but Lynch isn't going to be happy." He left the room.

Hannibal came to again briefly. "Hannibal, do you have a record of Face's allergies? They weren't in his files, and it could be deadly if they give him the wrong medicine."

Hannibal whispered, "Coat...pocket...inner...zipper." Then just like that, he passed out again.

Johnny felt into his pockets and soon found a zipper inside it with papers. He pulled the stuff out and discovered small laminated cards with medical information for all four of them. He immediately went to the door and called out to the guard, "I need Templeton Peck's papers. I have some new information that needs to be put on there. It's urgent." The guard came back in a few minutes with a mound of papers. "Thanks." He filled in the papers and said, "Please see that the doctor treating him knows about these allergies." The guard nodded and went away again. Then Johnny made his way back to Hannibal and checked his pulse. Pulse is thready. This isn't good. He needs a doctor.

Colonel Lynch entered with a man clad in white clothes. "How long ago did this happen?" the doctor said as he checked out the cut.

"I'm not sure. He hasn't stayed conscious long enough to tell me when or how it happened."

"Colonel, I'm going to need to take him to surgery right now. I need you to remove these handcuffs."

"But, he's..." Lynch started.

"He's not going to escape. I promise. I'm surprised he made it this far before collapsing." Lynch produced a key and unlocked the handcuffs. "I'll have some orderlies take him up to surgery in a few minutes."

B.A. entered the hospital and was back out again in about five minutes. "Sorry, Murdock. He isn't here either." Murdock nodded and rested his head on the headrest of the van's front seat. "How ya feelin' Murdock? Any better?"

"Worse, actually."

"We'll go to the nearest clinic," B.A. said as he got into the driver's seat and started the van. "Have you heard from Hannibal?"

"No, not since he mentioned that his phone was dying."

"I hope nothin's happened."

"If he doesn't call by the time we're done, then we'll have to check out St. James and St. Peter's by ourselves."

Within twenty minutes, B.A. was pulling in to the local clinic. The parking lot wasn't particularly full. "I'll be back in about ten minutes," Murdock said as he staggered into the building.

"I'll be in to get ya if ya ain't," B.A. said.

While Face was sleeping, Decker's phone rang. He took it out of the room and answered it. "Hello? Who is this?" "What do you mean 'escaped'?" "How long ago?" "Alright, I'll notify my men, and we'll keep an eye out." "Thanks, bye."

Murdock made it inside the clinic and then took a look around. There was no one in the immediate lobby, but he could hear voices beyond the double doors. He approached the receptionist and said, "Umm, excuse me. I need some help. I got attacked by a robber this morning, and I think I broke something."

"Just fill out these forms and we'll have one of our local doctors check you out," she said with a smile. Murdock filled out the forms and gave them to the receptionist. Then he took a seat and sat down to wait. "Mister Murdock, you can come back. Dr. Evans will see you now," the receptionist said as she opened the door. Murdock followed her through the hallways to a vacant exam room. "He'll be in momentarily."

Murdock took a seat in the chair. But just as he had done so, a person knocked at the door. "Come in."

A tall man entered with a stethoscope around his neck. "Are you H.M. Murdock?"

"Yes, I am."

"Alright, since your height and weight is already on this paper, we'll skip to the examination part. But first, please tell me exactly what happened. The paper just says 'attacked by robber'."

"That's basically all that happened. My friend's house was being robbed, and I tried to stop the attacker, but he got the best of me and then fell on top of me."

"When exactly did this happen?"

"Early this morning. I don't remember exactly when."

"The receptionist said that you mentioned you think you broke something?"

"Ya, I think I broke some ribs."

"Have you had broken ribs before?"

"Yes."

"How big was this robber?"

"I'd say double or triple my size."

"I'll give you a full checkup then."

"Oh no, that's not necessary. I just need you to look at my ribs and help me out. I have stuff to do and people to see."

"No, I insist. And besides, you look positively pale, and you're shaking terribly."

"Well, ok. But make it quick," Murdock replied as he gently removed his shirt.

The doctor began to check out Murdock's legs first—to see if he had any broken bones. Then he moved to Murdock's arms and chest. When he felt the area where Murdock's ribs were, Murdock inhaled sharply in pain. "Your legs and arms are good. But you were right about the ribs. You have four broken ones. Now let me check out your head." He continued to check him out and then he concluded, "I think you have a concussion, also. But I'll need to take an x-ray to make sure. I'll be right back." In a few minutes, he came back with an x-ray machine.

B.A. checked his watch once, then twice. He's been gone well over ten minutes. I'd better go in and find him. It's already getting dark out.

"There, you see that didn't take so long. The x-rays show that you have a very minor concussion and you already knew about the ribs. I suggest that you stay the night here for observation and get some rest. I think you've been running on pure adrenaline all day, and you deserve a rest," the doctor said as he set down his clipboard.

"No, I gotta get goin' my friend needs me," Murdock said as he stood up. But he quickly regretted it when a shooting pain made him see stars. He cried out and started to pitch forward, but the doctor was quick and caught him before he hit the ground.

"You're definitely not in any condition to travel. I'll help you to a bed. Can you walk?"

"Ya, I think so," Murdock said as he grimaced and tried to walk without jarring his sore ribs. "Maybe not," he said as he passed out.

Dr. Evans called out for help and two men arrived with a gurney. "Put him on here and we can move him to a bed." The men lifted him up as gently as possible and wheeled the gurney down the hall and into a room. Then they lifted Murdock off the gurney and into the bed.

B.A. went inside. Since he didn't immediately see Murdock he went to the receptionist. "Is my friend still here? H.M. Murdock?"

"Oh, Mister Murdock. Let me see, I think that Dr. Evans treated him. I'll go get him. Please have a seat," the receptionist said.

B.A. took a seat and sighed. There was no way they were going to find Face tonight. His thoughts were interrupted with a man clearing his throat. B.A. looked up and saw a doctor. "I'm here about my friend, H.M. Murdock."

"Ah, yes. Mister Murdock."

"Did ya fix him up? Is he alright?"

"He has four broken ribs which I just finished taping, and he also has a minor concussion. He was terribly shaken and quite pale, so I suggested that he stay for a while for observation and to rest."

"A while? We gotta go find our friend. Can I talk to Murdock?"

"Well, he just took a sleeping pill, but those things take a while to kick in, so if he's not already asleep then yes. He's right over here. I'll be waiting out here for you. There's some papers I need you to sign."

"Okay," he replied as he stepped into the room.

Murdock was lying on the bed with an IV in his arm and his ribs all taped up. "I guess it was worse than I thought. Sorry B.A. You can go on without me."

"Murdock, I'm going to head over to St. James, and if he isn't there, I'll head to St. Peter's. I'll come back for you later. Ok, little brother?" But Murdock was already asleep. B.A. quietly left the room and closed the door. Dr. Evans was waiting in the hallway for him. "What papers do I need to sign?"

"I need you to sign these ones. They state that Mister Murdock is allowed to stay here until his condition is improved and all that."

"Alright."

"And this one is personal information about contacting in case of emergency, his allergies, and a brief medical history."

"Gee, I don't know it all off the top of my head."

"Are you related to Mister Murdock?"

"No, but you can contact me in case of emergency at this number," B.A. said as he scribbled down a number. "Also, one of our friends is missing and we're trying to find him. So is it alright if I call so you can update him on what's goin' on?"

"Oh yes, that would be fine. And for the papers, just write as much as you know."

"Ok," he said as he wrote. "There you go."

"We'll call you if anything changes. Bye."

"Bye, and thanks for the help."

When Decker returned to Face's room, Face was awake. "What was that phone call about, Rod?"

"Oh, um, well..." he stuttered trying to think of something fast. "Just a phone call reaffirming that Baracus is out to get you."

"Oh, ok."

"I've got to notify Colonel Lynch about this. I think he only knew about Smith. I'll be right back."

Face mumbled, "Hmm, can you bring me some water, too?"

"Sure," he said as he left and headed towards the interrogation room. When he entered it, he was met with a huge surprise. Some orderlies had pushed a gurney into the room and were putting Smith onto it. There was blood everywhere and a dark-haired man was talking to Lynch. "What is going on in here?" Decker asked as the gurney with Smith rolled past him. "Where's he going? What's happened?"

Lynch swung around to face Decker. "Remember how this morning that Mr. Campton told us that one of Smith's men shot Matthews to protect their Colonel?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"Apparently, Smith was attacked by Matthews and got his arm all cut up by his knife. Then they fought for the knife and Matthews got the upper hand. One of Smith's men happened to be in the right place and fired at Matthews, killing him. Peck's brother here, says that Smith collapsed when he was brought in."

"You're Peck's brother?"

"Yes, I'm John Gage. Now can I see my brother?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Is he even conscious yet?"

"Yes, but he wouldn't recognize you anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"He's got amnesia."

"Why has no one told me about this? I should have been notified, but no. Instead I'm being held against my will and denied seeing my brother."

"You're not being held against your will. We're doing a routine interrogation."

Hannibal was rushed to surgery and within an hour, his arm was all stitched up. He was moved to the floor below ICU where Face's room was. A handful of guards were assigned to Hannibal's room as well.

When Johnny was well out of ear reach, Decker told Lynch about the call he had received saying that Noland had escaped and was looking to finish off Face. Lynch agreed that security should be increased in both Face and Hannibal's rooms. Then Decker got the water for Face and returned to the room. This caused him some problems though, because Face couldn't hold the cup. So Decker was forced to hold the cup for Face and hope that he wouldn't spill. Fortunately, he didn't. So Decker said good night, and fell asleep on the fold out couch.

B.A. arrived at St. James, but only to be disappointed again. There was no Face. So he dialed the number of the clinic and dictated a message to be given to Murdock when he woke up. He decided that he would get a hotel room, so that he could get a few hours of sleep before heading to St. Peter's.

When Decker awoke the next morning, two breakfasts sat on the table in front of him with a note. The note said, "I didn't want to wake you. But I knew you would be hungry. So please help yourself to one of the breakfasts, and please help Mister Peck with the other when he awakens." Signed, Nurse Bakers.

When Johnny woke up, he went to the guard at the door and asked for Colonel Lynch. One of the nodded and went off to find him. Colonel Lynch walked into the room, and asked, "What now, Mr. Gage?"

"If I'm not allowed to see Face, can I at least visit Hannibal? I want to see him."

Lynch hesitated and nodded tiredly. "I'll have Crane escort you there."

Crane was waiting in the hallway for Johnny. Then he took him down a floor to his floor and said, "Colonel Lynch has given me strict orders that you are to stay no longer than thirty minutes. I will wait for you here with the other guards."

Johnny knocked on the door and entered slowly. The room was quiet except for the drip of the IV. He approached Hannibal and took a seat at his side. Hannibal's arm lay at his side with a neat row of stitches lining it. He picked up his chart and looked it over. It seemed that Hannibal hadn't woken up since surgery and that he was heavily sedated due to the intensity of the injury. He put the chart back in its place and gently touched his forehead to see if the fever had broken. His forehead was still very warm, but not as hot as the previous night.

Hannibal started to come to when he felt Johnny's hand come in contact with his skin. His eyes opened slowly and focused on Johnny. "Hiya, Johnny," he said weakly.

"Hi, Hannibal. How are you feeling?"

"I'm really drowsy and numb. I can't feel a thing," he slurred. "I'm really hot."

"Your chart says that you're heavily sedated due to the intensity of your injury. You still have a temperature, too. But they stitched up your arm last night. Look's like eighteen stitches."

"Eighteen? Where am I? Am I at Rampart?"

"No, don't you remember? You're at St. Peter's in Helena, Montana."

"Oh, ya. I remember. Where's Decker and Lynch and Face and B.A. and Murdock?"

"I think Decker's in the ICU with Face. But I don't know where Lynch and the others are."

"I'm so hot..." he said while moaning softly.

"I'll see if I can get a warm washcloth. Wait here." Johnny made his way to the door and asked for a big bowl of hot water and a washcloth. Crane went to get it. Soon, a basin of hot water was delivered by Crane into the room with a washcloth. Hannibal barely even noticed Crane. Johnny dipped the washcloth into the hot water and the wrung it out slightly and placed it on Hannibal's forehead. After Johnny replaced the washcloth a second time, Hannibal slowly drifted off to sleep.

B.A. got about eight hours of sleep before he checked out of the hotel. Before he left the parking lot, he called the clinic.

The phone rang in the office. The receptionist was in the bathroom, so Dr. Evans answered it. "Hello. Dr. Evans speaking." "Oh hello." No, he hasn't woken up yet." "Ok, I'll tell him." Then he hung up and went to check in on Murdock, who had slept comfortably all night without any complications.

When the nurse came in that morning to check on Face, Colonel Decker was just finishing his breakfast. "Are you Nurse Bakers?"

"Yes, I am."

"Thanks for the breakfast."

"You're very welcome. Now let's see how Mister Peck is doing today." She checked his chart and then lifted the blanket to check the stiches on his abdomen. After noting that none of them had been pulled out, she put the cover back over top of his bare chest and began to take his vital signs. She wrote them down on the chart and adjusted his IV. He began to stir. So, she waiting until he opened his eyes, and then said softly, "Now honey, just hold still. I'm to take off this thing around your neck." He nodded and she got the brace off. "You might be a bit sore for a while, but there's no damage to your neck. I'm going to unwrap this bandage on your head to make sure there's no infection. Okay?" Face nodded ever so slightly, so she began to unwrap it. When she pulled away the last bit of bandage, Decker peered over to get a look. The stitches were swollen, red, and very ugly-looking. "I'm afraid I'll have to clean it out. Hand me that bottle, Colonel. This is going to sting a bit, so Colonel, if you could please hold his head still."

Decker moved to the other side of the bed and firmly held Face's head while she poured the alcohol on the stitches. As soon as the liquid touched Face's skin, he could feel Face tense up. "Easy, Face. Easy."

The nurse continued to pour and dab at the stitches. When she stopped, Face was exhausted. "Now, sir, I need to ask you some questions to see if you can remember anything."

"I'm so tired," he moaned.

"This is necessary. What color are your eyes?"

Face thought for a moment and then replied, "Brown?"

"No, they're blue. How many fingers am I holding up?"

Face squinted and then answered, "Ten."

"Wrong again, five. I'll get back to you later." She turned to Decker. "Make sure that he eats his breakfast."

B.A. arrived at St. Peter's Hospital after driving for an hour and a half. He hoped that he would find Face there. He had no idea where to check next if he wasn't there. He asked about Templeton Peck's room, and she directed him there. When she was sure he was gone, she called Decker.

B.A. got changed into some spare doctor's clothes complete with a mask and then headed down the ICU hall. He found Face's room surrounded with MP's. He explained that he was there to examine the patient. They knocked and then opened the door for him. When he entered, he saw Face was awake. "Hey, Faceman," he said. "It's great to see ya. We've been lookin' everywhere."

Face's eyes widened in terror and he called out, "Stay back! Don't come any closer! Rod, come here quick!"

"What's the matter?"

"Don't come a step closer. I'll shoot," Face said as he pulled a pistol out from beneath the covers. He cocked it and took aim.

"Faceman, you crazy, fool! It's me, B.A.!"

Before Face had the chance to shoot, a dozen clicks went off as the MP's surrounded B.A. "Rod, it's him. He said so."

B.A. looked to see who Face was talking to. Decker was the one. "Nice that you finally showed up, Baracus."

"What ya talkin' bout, fool?"

"Take him out of here." Then he turned to Face. "Good work, now how about some breakfast?"

"No. I'm not hungry."

"But the nurse said to eat something."

"Fine. But I can't feed myself."

Decker sighed and proceeded to spoon-feed the lieutenant.

When Murdock woke up, he was in a strange room. His ribs were taped and he was lying in a bed. His head ached tremendously. Then he remembered that he was at the clinic. He pushed the button. Soon, Dr. Evans was walking into the room. "Ah, you're awake. How did you sleep?"

"Fine, but what time is it?"

"A little after noon."

"Noon? So I slept that long?"

"Yes, I gave you some sleeping pills. Don't you remember?"

"Yes. Did one of my friends come in looking for me?"

"Yes, he called a few times with messages for me to give you when you woke up. Here they are," he said as he handed Murdock a few pieces of paper.

"Thanks," he said as he looked at the notes. The first one read, "Murdock, he's not at St. James Hospital. I'm going to stay a hotel for a few hours and then head to St. Peter's." The next one read, "I'm on my way to St. Peter's. I have a feeling I'm close. I'll call you in about an hour and a half when I get there." "Isn't there another note? An hour and a half was two hours ago."

"No, he has not called since."

"He must be in trouble. I need to go—I have to find him."

"You cannot leave. You are still mending."

"I must leave, it may be a matter of life and death. Is there any medicine you need me to take?"

"These pain pills, take one every two hours."

"Thanks, can you help me out of the bed?"

Dr. Evans helped Murdock upright himself. Then he gave him his shirt back. "How much of an effect with these pain pills have? They won't make me drowsy will they?"

"No, it will make it so that you have a significantly lesser pain factor. But I can give you a shot now that will make you numb, but not drowsy."

"Ya, that might be best. Also, I need to buy a nurse's aide outfit from you."

"Why?"

"I don't have time to explain, just know that it may be a matter of life and death. How much?"

"Ten dollars?"

"Sure. Could you call a taxi while you're at it?"

"Ok."

So it came to be that Murdock got his shot, a nurse's aide outfit, and a taxi. "Goodbye, and thanks for all the help. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome, Mister Murdock. Take care of yourself."

B.A. was taken into an interrogation room. Johnny was already there, "B.A.," he shouted.

"Johnny, what are you doing here?"

"I was called in because of Face. But they haven't let me see him."

"I just saw him, and he pulled a gun on me. Can you believe it, he pulled a gun on me?"

"Then you haven't heard that he has amnesia."

"Amnesia? But he called Decker 'Rod'."

"I'm not sure, but I think that Decker told him that he was his best friend and had saved him from you and Hannibal who were trying to kill him."

"That's crazy, why would Faceman believe that?"

"Why else would he pull a gun on you?"

"Maybe you're right. Have you heard from Hannibal? He hasn't contacted me."

"Hannibal was caught and brought in here. He collapsed and he was running a high fever. His arm and muscles were all cut up. They took him to surgery last night. I've saw him a few hours ago."

"How was he?"

"Alright, except he still had a fever. He wasn't his normal self either, but that's due to his being heavily sedated." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "What about Murdock?"

B.A. looked the room over for bugs, he found one and crushed it under his foot. "He's at a clinic near St. Patrick's Hospital. He has a minor concussion and four broken ribs."

"How did that happen?"

"It happened right before Hannibal caught it from Matthews's knife. A guy punched him and then fell onto him. I saw the guy, and he was even bigger than me."

"Well, that explains it. What do we do now?"

"Wait, I guess."

When Hannibal woke again, he was startled. Instead of seeing Johnny beside his bed, Decker was sitting there.

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up, Smith."

"Decker, I outta get you for what you did to Face!" Hannibal's said as he sprung towards Decker. But he didn't get very far, because the restraint straps were fastened around Hannibal's arms. The thick strap cut into Hannibal's bad arm, making him cringe and gasp with pain.

"You're too weak to do any harm to me, Smith. Besides, I have what I want now—the whole A-Team."

"You don't have B.A."

"He came in this morning, and he almost got himself killed by Peck."

"What? How?"

"He startled him, so he pulled a gun on Baracus. I've got to be going, but I'll be back. You can count on that."

After the taxi got him to his car, Murdock paid him. Now all I have to do is get the rest of my disguise together. Thank goodness Face and Hannibal made me take some of these things with me. Murdock applied a mustache and beard along with some makeup. He was already wearing the nurse's aide outfit, but he added a nametag. He knew he was forgetting something important. What am I missing? What would Face do? Suddenly, it dawned on him. He needed papers to confirm that he was supposed to intern at St. Peter's. Fortunately Face had left some papers that would help. He filled them out and put them on a clipboard. He was on his way to St. Peter's.

When Murdock's car pulled into St. Peter's, he tried to run through his mind what his game plan was. When he was quite sure of himself, he walked into the building. The nurse's desk was vacant, so he quickly slipped his clipboard onto the desk and under a pile of papers. He found a chair and sat down to await the nurse's return.

When she finally did return, Murdock approached the desk. He quickly mustered up a New York accent and said, "Excuse me, I'm the new intern from out of state, can you please point me to where I'm supposed to go?"

"New intern? I didn't know anything about a new intern." She checked her papers and found the clipboard. "Here it is, I must've overlooked it. Now let's see." Her blue eyes scanned the page. "It says here that Dr. Schneider initiated this."

"Yes, that's right."

"But, Dr. Schneider left on vacation yesterday, and he won't be back for a while."

"Yes, Dr. Schneider told me that he wouldn't be here, but to go on any way."

"Alright then, he wrote that you're supposed to be helping Nurse Bakers with ICU 510-520 and rooms 410-420 on the floor below ICU."

Nurse Bakers was walking down the hallway when her pager went off for the main desk. I wonder what Nurse Winters wants now.

"I've just paged her, she should be here any minute," Nurse Winters said. Murdock looked down the hallway to see an older woman walking briskly down the hallway. "Here she is now."

"Yes, Nurse Winters? What is so important to keep me from my patients?" the older woman asked.

"Dr. Schneider arranged for this young man to intern here for a while under your supervision."

"Oh, really? I could use some extra help. Well, what's your name?"

"Michael Kramer. I was an aide at a small clinic outside of New York City."

"Alright, come on Mr. Kramer," Nurse Bakers said while leading him down the corridor.

"Please, call me Michael."

Face was fast asleep when Decker returned. He smiled and thought to himself how he had tricked a member of the A-Team so easily.

After Nurse Bakers had found more suitable clothes for Murdock, she told him a bit about the first patient they were going to see. "The man in 519 in the ICU has amnesia. The military police have been hanging around ever since he came in."

"Is the man conscious?"

"Yes, but he gets tired easy. So go easy on him."

Murdock nodded. Nurse Bakers easily passed through the crowd of MP's standing outside the door. Murdock, however, didn't have an easy time getting through.

"He's my new intern. Meet Michael Kramer. Please let him through."

The MP's complied and let the tall man into the room. The first thing Murdock saw was Face asleep in the bed hooked up to IV's, monitors, and a bunch of other things. The second thing Murdock saw was Decker sitting beside the bed. This alarmed him, and he desperately hoped that Decker wouldn't see through his disguise.

Decker looked up to see Nurse Bakers and a man whom Decker had never seen before. "Who is this?" Decker asked with an agitated voice.

"This is my intern, Michael Kramer," Nurse Bakers said with a smile.

Decker nodded and held out his hand, "I'm Colonel Decker."

Murdock had no choice but to shake it. "A pleasure to meet you, Colonel."

"Likewise, I'm sure."

"Michael, do you know how to take a pulse?"

"Yes."

"Please do so, while I prepare my instruments."

Murdock nodded and took a hold of Face's good arm. He gently pressed his two fingers into his wrist and began to count. "106 beats per minute."

"That's a bit fast," she concluded softly. "Check it with your stethoscope, just to make sure."

Murdock nodded and pulled back the covers. He placed the end of the stethoscope to Face's chest and listened.

While Murdock was doing this, Face started to wake up. His eyes flickered open and settled on Murdock, who was leaning over him. "Who...are you?"

Murdock turned to the nurse and whispered, "96 beats per minute." Then he turned back to Face and said, "I'm the new intern, Michael Kramer." Face managed to make a slight smile appear on his lips. But soon, the smile disappeared completely and was replaced by a tired sigh.

"Honey, I won't be long. I'm just going to check on those stitches on your head. Murdock gently held Face's head still while Nurse Bakers unraveled the bandage. The stitches were still red, but there weren't nearly as swollen and ugly as before. She poured a few drops of hydrogen peroxide on them and rewrapped his head in fresh bandages. "Now I'm going to check your legs, okay?" Face nodded. The covers were pulled back and with a quick observation she said, "They're coming along pretty well, except they're a bit swelled from not being used. In a few days, we'll have to start you in inpatient physical therapy." She and Murdock pulled the covers back into place. "We'll be by later." When they were out of the room, Nurse Bakers told him all about the other patients before they went into the rooms.

"Hey, can I talk to Lynch or Decker?" Johnny asked.

The MP looked at him and then said, "Are you ready to tell all?"

"I haven't got anything to say, because I don't know anything. I need to see my brother or at least Hannibal."

"I know you're not allowed to see Peck, but I'll ask about Smith."

Hannibal woke up in a sweat. He had dreamed that Decker killed Face before his very eyes, and he was helpless to do anything. That dream rattled him. He looked around the room to see if Decker had indeed come back. The room was empty, but he had a feeling that several MP's would be awaiting him outside the door if he made any moves. A sudden knock at the door caught his attention. An older nurse entered with a tall man behind her. As they got closer, Hannibal could see that the lady looked very much like Betty White and the man looked uncannily like Murdock, but not quite. Oh no, I'm delirious. This can't be good. I'm seeing pilots and comedians in my hospital room.

"It's good to see you're awake, Mister Smith. Michael, check his temperature and pulse while I check out his arm."

Hannibal watched as the man called Michael pulled out a stethoscope and pressed it gently to his chest and began to listen. When Michael was finished, he said, "90 beats per minute." Then he turned back to Hannibal and checked his temperature with a thermometer. "99.2 degrees. It's a little elevated." When Michael was sure the nurse wasn't looking, Michael gave Hannibal a wink and then left with the nurse. Am I seeing things or was that Michael really Murdock?

"I hear that you want to see Peck and Smith," Lynch said.

"Yes, that's right. I haven't seen my brother at all, and I feel a certain responsibility for that man who collapsed in here and almost died," Johnny argued.

"I see your point, but you simply can't see them. It would interfere with military business. And you wouldn't want to interfere, would you?" Johnny glared at him. "I see you're still not ready to be cooperative. Do you need some more persuasion?"

"The man don't know nothin'. Can't you jist leave him alone?" B.A. questioned.

"Johnny, answer this one question for me and you can see Smith. Is HM Murdock part of the A-Team?"

"How should I know?"

"I don't know," Lynch commented sarcastically, "Maybe because your brother is part of it?"

"I said I don't know. I don't even know who that person is. I've never heard of him."

Lynch looked at him hard. Finally he turned and angrily said, "Fine. Go see Smith. But don't think that this conversation is done."

As the days went by, Hannibal and Face grew stronger, and Murdock learned a lot of useful medical tips from Nurse Bakers. But what worried Decker was that Noland had not shown up yet. On one of the nice afternoons that followed, a man in a nurse's aide uniform said that he would be taking Michael's job for a little while. He said that he was supposed to give Face a shot. He got the needle ready and inserted it in his IV as he slept. Decker thought nothing of it. When a knock was heard at the door, the man set the needle down on the table and rushed out of the room knocking into Michael and the MP's. Michael rushed into the room. "That man—who was he?"

"He said he was taking your place for a while and was supposed to give him this shot," he said holding up the nearly empty syringe.

Murdock's eyes widened in fear as he realized what was happening. "Quick, your men must catch him. If I am right, he just poisoned him!"

Decker shouted orders to his men who took off running after the man who they all had concluded must have been Noland in disguise. Eventually they caught him and brought him back to Decker. By the time they got there, Nurse Bakers was in a frenzy. "Does anyone know what kind of poison this is? We probably don't have time to test to find the antidote."

"Noland," Decker said firmly, "what kind of poison is this? If you tell us now, your sentence won't be as bad.

Noland grinned evilly and declared, "It's sodium potassium. He'll die within the hour."

"Crane, take Michael to get Smith, Baracus, and Gage over here at once. Maybe it's not too late," Decker ordered Murdock.

Crane nodded and raced through the hallways until he arrived at the room where they were detaining Johnny and B.A. After he explained to the guards what had happened, they unlocked the door and let him and Murdock in. Since Johnny and B.A. had not yet seen Murdock in his disguise, they were surprised to see Crane enter with a nurse's aide. "Colonel Noland escaped from custody a few days ago and just now injected Peck with sodium potassium. He's not expected to live more than an hour. Colonel Decker requests that you come at once along with Smith." Johnny and B.A.'s eyes widened in fear, but neither of them said a word. When Crane wasn't looking, Johnny and B.A. raised their eyebrows questioningly. Murdock didn't want to blow his cover, but he winked at them and carried on like nothing had happened. They all walked down the hallway to Hannibal's room in silence. After Crane told the guards what had happened, they let the group into the room. Hannibal's arm was in a sling, but he looked much better than when they had last seen him. Crane told Hannibal the same thing that he had told the others. Hannibal immediately jumped out of the hospital bed and fell in line with the others.

Face had been sleeping soundly when he felt a sharp pain. He opened his eyes to see that he wasn't in the hospital room, but instead he was in a thick blackness. He was very confused, because last he knew he was in the hospital room with his friend, Rod. All of the sudden, a bright light appeared. He looked around him and saw that it was like he was watching a movie in a darkly lit theater. He saw a mother with her newly born baby. The mother of the baby was a beautiful woman with long hair and lovely blue eyes. He could tell from her expression that she loved the baby very much. There was also a man beside her with dark hair and a mustache. He too looked at the child with an expression of pride and love. But there also was fear in the man's eyes. Soon, he melted away from the picture entirely leaving the mother and child all alone. Then the scene changed to an orphanage. The mother gave the child a kiss and left him on the doorstep. When the mother turned away from the child, she wiped a tear from her eye and disappeared from his view. A man in a priest's outfit found the little boy and took him inside.

"Nurse Bakers, what do you know about sodium potassium?" Decker questioned as Crane and Murdock led Hannibal, B.A., and Johnny into the room.

"Well, I don't know much. But I do know that it puts the victim into a sort of coma-like condition. So they can hear and feel a bit, although they can't see. There have been a few cases where the patients survived and came out of it with the help of loved ones and friends, but as he said, most don't make it more than an hour. Most are in misery and have a painful death.

"So there's still hope?" Hannibal asked.

"Yes, but only a little. Remember, he has amnesia, so he may not even remember you," the nurse replied.

Johnny spoke up, "Since I'm a paramedic back in LA, I've picked up a few things on different kinds of poisons. If I remember correctly, people injected with sodium potassium have flashbacks of their life. So, if the patient had amnesia to begin with, he might recognize our voices."

"That's right," said the doctor who had just entered the room unnoticed by the others. "The best thing you can do for him now is try to talk to him. Otherwise, your friend may be dead in a little less than an hour."

"Could we...um...have a little privacy?" Johnny asked.

"But of course," the doctor said ushering Nurse Bakers, Crane, and Decker to the door. "Michael can stay here with the patient to keep an eye on him, and we will be watching from the observation window."

"Thanks," Johnny mumbled as they left the room.

"We can take turns, starting with Johnny," Hannibal stated putting his arm around Johnny.

Johnny looked around at everyone and took a seat beside Face. He took hold of Face's hand and began to speak.

Face continued to watch as the boy seemed to grow older. He went to another orphanage and then to a school. He saw the boy take the blame for other children in the orphanage and get beaten by a drunken priest. Then he watched as the boy grew older still and played football and softball and went to college. Then a beautiful girl entered the picture. She seemed to be in love with the boy who had by now grown into a young man. Then she vanished from view leaving Face to see the young man very distressed.

"Face, although we haven't known each other very long, I feel like I've known you my whole life. I never had family until I met you. It gave me hope to know that I had a brother. I can't bear to think what might happen if I lost one. Please remember my voice. I'm your half brother Johnny Gage, the firefighter paramedic. I found you a month ago when you were in the car accident. Remember my voice, please. Don't you remember Roy, my partner? And Captain Stanley, the nice captain who helped you out when I was injured at the fire? Don't you remember Marco, Chet, and Mike, the firefighters who tried to make your feel at home and be a part of our "family at the Station"?" Johnny said.

B.A. looked to Hannibal who nodded that he should go next. B.A. approached Face.

Face watched as the young man joined the military. He could see that the man could be a good fighter when he wanted to be, and he was very handy with a gun. But he also saw the dark side of this man as well. He saw him get drunk quite frequently and end up in multiple fights, disobey orders from commanding officers when in drunken stupors, and he saw that no one wanted this man on their "team".

"Now, Face, I know we haven't always been the best of friends, but I want you to know that no matter what happens, I'll always be your friend and stand by you. Remember my voice, Faceman, it's me, B.A."

"As you can see, Colonel. We had this room made for any special cases. It overlooks the room below. They can't see us, but we can see them," the doctor said with great pride.

"Yes, it's very nice, but why can't I hear what they're saying?" Decker asked slightly annoyed.

"We don't have the room bugged, that would be a violation to the patient privacy code. And besides, this isn't an interrogation room, it's a hospital."

Face saw many 'scenes' of the man getting drunk, in fights, and in trouble, but the next scene was different. He saw the man drinking like normal, but before the fight got well under way, three men intervened. These men stopped the fight and helped the man to his feet.

The first of the three men was quite tall and had blue eyes and gray hair. He seemed very fatherly to Face, even though he had no idea who this man was.

The second man was a muscled and tough-looking black man with a Mohawk who was decked out with lots of gold jewelry.

The third man was the tallest of them all. He was quite lanky and had brown hair. He seemed very friendly and yet a bit strange.

The three man shook the young man's hand and patted him on his back.

"I sure would like to know what they're saying," Decker commented. "How many minutes do they have?"

"About twenty. I fear that since nothing has happened yet, the young man won't be able to pull out of it. He would need a miracle."

Throughout the next scenes, Face continuously saw the young men with the other three. They were together in their free time, together in training, and together when they were fighting against the enemy. There was one time, however, when the young man wasn't with the other three. That was when the three of them (minus the lanky one with brown hair) were taken captive. The enemy generals picked the young man out of all the prisoners to be tortured the most. Face tried not to look, but he found that he was unable to close his eyes. He watched as the poor young man suffered. Many times, he thought the young man would die, but he did not.

"Face, I know you might not remember this, but a few days ago, we got in a fight and I said some things I shouldn't have. I never got the chance to tell you how sorry I am, I never got the chance to ask your forgiveness. I know that sometimes you disliked me a lot because I pushed you so hard. The reason I pushed you is because you're like the son I never had. I wanted you to do the best that you possibly could. I knew you could show the others that even though you were younger, you could do the job just as good as them and even better. When I first met you, I remembered all the stories I'd heard about you—how you were always getting drunk, disobeying orders, and getting in fights. Everyone said that you were never going to make a good soldier. I wanted to prove them all wrong. I had seen your skill and your potential. That's why I put you on our team. Now, you're a very big and important part of our team, we couldn't do without you. Try to think back, to remember these things. Please remember my voice, it's Hannibal. Remember our voices," Hannibal said.

Face jumped a little when he heard a sound. This was the first time he had heard anything in the place. It was the sound of war—bombs dropping, gunfire, explosions, shouting, orders being shouted. It was deafeningly loud. He tried to cover his ears to block out some of the sound, but he couldn't move his arms. The scene faded away into blackness, but the sounds did not fade away at all, in fact, they just got louder and louder. He saw little flashes of a military stockade, military police, lots of people, a younger man with black hair, and bits and pieces of other things. Above all the roar of everything else going on around him, he thought he could make out a voice that seemed to be speaking to him. The voice seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite make out who it was. It said, "It gave me hope to know that I had a brother." He could hear the voice continue to speak, but he couldn't make out everything. He could only make out bits and pieces. "Half brother...Johnny...firefighter paramedic." The rest of whatever the voice said was not heard by Face. Then he heard another voice. It also sounded familiar, but again, he couldn't place it. He heard it say "Be your friend...stand by you...me...B.A." And finally, he heard a third voice. "Face...not remember...sorry...forgiveness...Hannibal...remember...voices."

"Doctor, there's only ten minutes left," Nurse Bakers said.

"I'm well aware, Nurse Bakers," the doctor said.

"Do you think Peck will make it?" Crane asked.

"It's not likely, but stranger things have happened," the doctor.

For the first time since Face had found himself in that dark place, he felt pain. His whole body hurt. Yet, he felt that something was missing. He tried to remember what the voices had said. He mulled over the words and then suddenly it hit him. He remembered everything. He remembered the fight with Hannibal, the scam, the accident, the mercenaries, and everything. He remembered the team and his name. The voices became louder, the other sounds died down. He saw a hand reach out to him. He stretched his hand and took a hold of it.

"There's only a few minutes left," Murdock said.

"I know. But I don't know what to do," Hannibal said.

"My mama always said, 'When you don't know what to do, pray.' My mama's always been a churchgoer, and she said that prayer is a very powerful thing."

"Alright, B.A. Everybody gather around. Let's pray," Hannibal said. Johnny took hold of Face's limp hand, while Hannibal and B.A. laid their hands on Face's arm and shoulder. "B.A.?"

"Uh...Dear Lord. We come to you today on account of Faceman, here. Lord, he needs healing. Please we can't do this alone. We need your help, and we know you can heal him. Thank you, in Jesus's name, amen." B.A. prayed.

No one moved and all was quiet until Johnny exclaimed, "Face!" when Face gripped his hand.

Face didn't open his eyes right away, but he whispered, "A-Team."

"It worked," Hannibal said softly in amazement.

"Thank God," B.A. said with a smile. Face opened his eyes and saw the people from his 'dream'.

"Thank God," Johnny said as he hugged his brother.

Face smiled and whispered, "I remember."

Two days passed as Face grew stronger, and Decker grew more nervous. Why hasn't the A-Team tried to escape yet? Should I expect an ambush? Decker pondered. Finally, he decided that he would transfer them all to a military prison that very day. "Michael, how is Peck? Is he able to move himself?"

"I would say not. Yes, he is eating and looking better, but the damage done has not all healed. I will have to come along during transport. Then when you get to the prison, your medical staff can take over," Murdock advised.

"Hmm. But what to do about Baracus and Smith..."

"I have a suggestion, sir."

"Yes, what is it?"

"Well, in the past couple days, Mister Peck has been most adamant about not having you or any other military personal around or close at hand. No offense," Michael added quickly.

"None taken. Continue."

"I suggest that in order to maintain his health and state of mind, we keep Mister Smith and Baracus close at hand and you and your people more 'behind the scenes', if you get what I mean."

"So you're suggesting that you, Peck, Baracus, and Smith ride in the back and my people drive and stay out of his immediate sight?"

"Precisely. As you can recall, when he was told of your...little falsehood, his blood pressure nearly went through the roof whenever you were near. We certainly don't want that to happen again."

"No. Can we load up now?" Decker asked.

"Yes, but might I suggest that we use a proper military ambulance instead of that armored truck?"

"The armored truck isn't just for the protection of the A-Team but also for the protection of civilians. As I said, they are dangerous criminals."

"I understand, but an armored truck will jostle him too much and possibly upset stitches and cause Mister Peck more pain. Also, if certain people were in waiting for an ambush to release the team, they would not be expecting an ambulance to carry the A-Team."

"That is a good idea. I will arrange it with Lynch."

"And of course you will have trained ambulance drivers drive it to the prison?"

"But my men..."

"Aren't properly trained to drive injured patients on rough roads."

"Is that necessary?"

"Yes."

"Alright," he sighed. "I'll arrange it."

"Do you think that's the wisest decision not sending any escort or backup with the ambulance?" Colonel Lynch asked Decker.

"Well, Michael had a good point. If there was anyone who wanted to ambush them, they wouldn't be expecting ambulance. But if the ambulance was led or followed by a military vehicle, that would give away their cover."

Soon, the group was saying goodbye to Johnny. Then they loaded Face onto the stretcher and into the ambulance. After that was done, they drove away with two ambulance drivers in the front and Murdock, Hannibal, B.A., and Face in the back. When they were about an hour away from St. Peter's Hospital, Murdock called for the ambulance to pull over. When both of the ambulance drivers got out, Murdock pulled a gun on them. "I'm sorry it has to be this way, but I'm afraid this is where you get out." After he made sure they had no phones with them, he got into the front of the ambulance and drove away, leaving them in the middle of nowhere. After another hour of driving had passed, he pulled over and handed Face a lock picking kit.

"Is this the one I gave you for Christmas, Murdock?" Face asked.

Murdock nodded. While Face was picking the locks on Hannibal and B.A.'s handcuffs, Hannibal said, "You sure had us worried, kid. I was starting to lose hope."

"Ya man, that was a close one," B.A. added.

"Nice disguise, Murdock," Hannibal commented as he lit a cigar. "Even I had trouble figuring out if it really was you."

Before Murdock could answer, they heard sirens. Murdock scurried to the wheel and shouted, "Hold on tight!"

"Oh no," Face groaned looking out the back window.

"I love it when a plan comes together," Hannibal said with a smile.

Please feel free to comment or PM me about your thoughts on this story. Also, does anyone have any interest in a fourth story in this series? I am trying to decide whether or not to continue it or start a new series. Tell me what you think. Thanks :)