The man stared down at his hands. He was not exactly a young man anymore, but he wasn't old either. Didn't help that they still called him kid, but that was part of the gig.
That thought set his head straight. Kid. That's why he was here. That is why he had gone through everything over the past few weeks. To set this up. To save them. It was a now or never sort of deal. And for their sake, it was now.
He raised his hand and knocked on the door in a commanding way. Everything he had done in his life was preparation. It was now that his skills would truly be put to the test. He smiled up as the door slowly creaked open and a pair of green eyes peeked out from behind it.
"Good evening, my name is…."
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3 weeks before
Shaking his sandy blond locks, he stepped out of the corvette. Templeton Peck was finally a free man, as were the rest of the A-Team. They had survived General Stockwell's gauntlet and were granted their pardons.
The first few months following their freedom had been sweet. The team had become celebrities. They were on talk shows everywhere, discussing the men versus the myth. There had been talk about book deals and TV appearances on top of a movie, or possibly a television show. Temp wondered who they would get to play him. Maybe that handsome guy from Battlestar Galactica….Nah, probably not.
The fame had been fun. Of course it hadn't really been fun all the way around and quickly wore the team out. Templeton, known by the moniker Faceman, was obviously alright with the fame. BA didn't like having the cameras in his face all the time, Murdock couldn't care less about fame and fortune, just his girlfriend, and Hannibal was more interested in being a monster in films again.
The one thing they all agreed on was that their freedom had begun to get in the way of them taking jobs. Not that they really needed the clients and cases anymore since they had been given their freedom, but it complicated their desire to do good anyway.
As such, the team had splintered a bit. BA took his fame and opened a few mechanics garages as well as a few youth centers across the country. Murdock invested some of his funds in buying the diner he had been working at, though he was still buy scrubbing the floors rather than running the place. Hannibal initially went back to find some films. Face, being face, had decided to stay in the spotlight. Heck, he was even debating the idea of running for office.
And life had calmed down a bit. The newness of their fame was wearing off and the team was able to get back to their lives. They even still took the odd case, though Face sometimes wondered if that was more so Hannibal could just keep dressing up as different characters. As soon as that thought had entered his mind, he dismissed it. He knew Hannibal only wanted to help people. It was why the Colonel had taken him under his wing in the first place.
Wait, it was General now.
That's right, with their pardons, everyone had bent over backwards to thank them. That included the US Army. Hannibal had been granted the rank of a Major General, Murdock raised to a Lieutenant Colonel, BA to Command Sergeant Major and Face on up to Major. They had also all been subsequently granted immediate discharges, making them regular citizens again. It was a strange feeling.
Things had attempted to settle into a rhythm. And they more or less had. That was until the past had trudged back into their lives.
Face had been at a ball honoring the mayor of LA. As a local celebrity, Face was invited. He had spent the evening wandering around, several different lovely young women trying to drape themselves across his arm. He was only in his mid-30s and still incredibly attractive. They did not call him Faceman for no reason. He was on his second glass of champagne when he turned and stopped in his tracks.
Before him, actually moving in his direction was none other than Amy Allen. Triple A as Hannibal had once called her. Kid as face had called her more than once. She was something special to everyone on the team. Or she had been. Her work and coverage of their endeavors had earned her a foreign correspondents position that most would kill for. The team had been happy for her…mostly.
Things had gone well for a bit. She had kept in touch when possible, but after about a year, even that failed. She drifted away from the team. And they had drifted from her.
Well, almost all of them. No one seemed to know that he followed nearly every story she had written. He watched the paper for anything he could about and from her. Not that she would ever know.
And now here she was standing before him. As their eyes met, Face felt like he wanted to melt into the wall. He really wasn't sure he could handle this. But Ms. Allen seemed to have other plans. She strolled right up to him and Face couldn't help but grin at the look of determination on her face.
"Well if it isn't Templeton Peck." She came up and wrapped him in a slight hug, one like you would expect at such a social gathering. As she did, she whispered in his ear. "I need to talk to you later."
Then she released the hug and just turned and walked away. There was no more and Face was too stunned to follow after her. His most recent "friend" grabbed his arm to get his attention and pouted when he just kept staring after the woman.
So Face went through the rest of the evening, lost in his thoughts and unsure of what exactly to expect next. It wasn't even until he reached into his coat pocket that he found the note she had slipped in. That made him smile. She may have learned something from him after all.
He looked down at the note. It mentioned a quiet road about 3 miles out of town. The note said midnight. Face checked his watch and saw that he had around 15 minutes to get there. On the other side of town and then some more. Well Amy certainly didn't make this easy. And it worried him.
