After the Rain
"I just can't believe that the MPs found us so fast," Murdock groaned as he opened the door to his hotel room that Face had scammed him for the night.
Hannibal appeared in the doorway behind him and said, "I know, Captain, but we're just going to have to lay low for a couple days, and this seems like a nice place."
"I know," Murdock turned to Hannibal, pouting, "But do we have to get separate rooms?"
"Murdock, I already explained if Decker starts checking around," Hannibal said, "It'll be a lot harder to find us if he can't find 1 room assigned to 4 people."
"I know but…"
Hannibal patted the Captain on the shoulder and said, "It's been a long day, why don't you just get unpacked and unwind for the night, Murdock?"
He nodded glumly and replied, "Okay, Hannibal."
"Oh by the way, Murdock," Hannibal said, the pilot turned to see him again and the Colonel added, "I know I haven't had a chance to tell you this yet, but happy birthday."
Murdock sighed and responded, "Thanks, Colonel."
Hannibal patted Murdock on the back and told him, "I promise as soon as we can get back home we'll do something to celebrate."
Murdock nodded slowly, "Sounds great."
Hannibal closed the door behind him and Murdock found himself all alone. It was late, it was hot and muggy outside and a storm was threatening to hit the city, and Murdock felt miserable, even more so now that he was separated from the others. He went through a routine of precautions, checking behind the door, in the bathroom, under the bed, he even took the mattress off to make sure there weren't any dead bodies stuffed in it, could never be too careful in that regard when staying at a motel or hotel. Satisfied that he wasn't going to have a roommate for the night, he sat down on the bed and started to untie his shoes and slipped out of his jacket; then he stood up and hung his jacket over a chair and glanced out the window, feeling a bit depressed.
Here it was his birthday, and while he knew the others hadn't forgotten, it had just been a lousy day to be born on. They'd been running from Decker all day and now had to hide out like a bunch of criminals…okay so he forgot the obvious for a minute. Still, he didn't like this, he didn't like being away from home, he didn't like being separated from the rest of the Team, and he also hated having to be away from Jean for his birthday. He hadn't made any exact plans but he'd figured he could do something with her for the day; and he was almost sure she'd had something planned for him. They hadn't known that he was around a few days ago when the others were at Jean's house for a visit. She'd come into the living room carrying a large mixing bowl in one hand and was beating the contents in it with a large spoon with the other, while she talked to Face and B.A. Face had been the one to ask her, "Now what in the world is that?"
Jean lifted the spoon and let the batter drizzle off and back into the bowl and explained, "Well it will be a cake if I can ever get in and use the oven."
"What's wrong with the oven?" Face asked.
And at that moment they all heard a loud BOOM from the kitchen. Deadpanned, Jean explained, "Hannibal's trying to fix it, need I say more?"
So they'd had to send the big angry mudsucker in to shove Hannibal out and fix it himself.
Murdock was almost sure that she had been practicing baking a birthday cake from scratch, she could cook but they usually picked up a cake from a store or bakery for a special occasion. He wondered how it turned out, or if it even did?
Murdock had been so wrapped up in his thoughts and feeling sorry for himself that he hadn't noticed there was someone else in the room with him, not until he felt a pair of arms suddenly snake around him and an excited voice called out, "Hey!"
And he fell back and they both landed on the bed. Murdock turned his head and saw Jean behind him with a Cheshire cat grin on her face.
"What're you doing here?" he asked in awe.
Jean let go of him and he was able to get up and he realized that there was something different about Jean. Rarely did he ever see her out of blue jeans and T-shirts, but tonight she was dressed in what looked like a set of black pajama shorts and a black tank top. He also noticed that her hair did not stand up all the way in curls, meaning it was damp, which meant she must've washed it earlier that night.
Jean let out a giggle that sounded like a mix of satisfaction at pulling off the surprise and excitement of finally having him there with her and she told him, "I'm your present!"
"Oh no," he laughed as she crawled over to him and pinned him down and cupped his face in her hands, "How'd you get in here?"
"I was hiding in the closet, don't you know that's the third place you're supposed to look when you come in a strange room?" she asked.
He laughed as he halfheartedly tried to get away from her and found it an exercise in futility. He reached up and ran his hands up and down her in return and commented, "Ooh you're nice and soft, I see you've been using that lotion I got ya."
"Very funny," Jean remarked as she pinched him.
He sniffed her and added, "You smell nice too, you take a bath or something?"
Jean's response was to pinch him again.
"Ouch!" he yelped and laughed simultaneously, then put his arms around her and commented, "Aww, this is one of the nicest presents I ever had."
"It's not over yet," Jean told him, and pushed away from him.
"There's more?" Murdock asked as he rolled over onto his stomach and watched her head back to the closet.
He watched in amazement and amusement as Jean rolled a hotel champagne cart out of the closet, boy it must've been crowded in there.
"Sorry there's no cake," Jean said as she took a bottle out of the bucket of ice, "But you know champagne ruins the taste."
Murdock pushed up on his hands and slid off the bed and chased after her, "With you here, who needs either one?"
Jean smiled as she opened the bottle and poured them two glasses, "A toast to your birthday."
"What a birthday," he replied as he took one of the glasses, "How'd you plan this?"
"Oh come on, you don't really think Decker's suddenly gotten competent enough that he could chase you guys all over the city all day, do you?" Jean asked.
He looked at her with wide eyes, "You planned this?"
"Hannibal helped me iron out the details," Jean answered, and explained, "I reserved us this room."
"Well where're the others?" Murdock asked.
"On their way back home," Jean said with a grin, "So it's just you and me here until Monday."
"Monday?"
"That's how long I got the room for," she said.
Murdock grinned, "A three day weekend, happy birthday indeed!"
"So let's see, you're how old now?" Jean asked.
Murdock looked down and said, "I don't know, I'll have to count the rings and then get back to you."
"You're 40 years old today," Jean said.
"That's right," Murdock replied, not sounding too happy about it.
"Well that makes it official then, doesn't it?" Jean asked.
"What?" he asked.
"You being 15 years older than I am," Jean answered as she put the bottle down.
"Yeah," Murdock sighed, feeling some of the wind going out of his sail.
Jean reached over with her free hand and ran it through his hair to get his attention, he looked up at her and gave a little smile.
"You know that's never mattered to me," she said, "I hope it doesn't to you either."
He smiled a little more and leaned over to kiss her, and said, "Just feeling a little sorry for myself I guess…kind of figured I'd already be settled down before I was this age."
Now it was Jean's turn to look somber, Murdock cupped her chin in his hand and said, "'Course if I'd done that, we wouldn't be together now."
Jean gave him a melancholic little smile and they stood like that for a while before Jean finally pulled back and said commandingly, "It's your birthday, come on, might as well get nice and drunk for the occasion."
He grinned and replied, "I'll drink to that."
It rained the entire weekend, which was just fine for the two of them because they spent it all in their hotel room, practically the whole time in bed. With a few days off from the rough and tumble life of being a fugitive on the run from the military, Murdock was enjoying having a few days to just do nothing and having Jean with him to do it with. They spent the night of his birthday drinking champagne until they were both intoxicated and giddy, then spent the rest of the night rolling around on the bed roughhousing like a couple of small children.
It occurred to Murdock that while Jean's choice ensemble for the night wasn't anything particularly alluring, a full length tank top and shorts that came down near to her knees, it was the closest that she could convince herself to be seen in, and despite the simplicity of it, he loved it because it was still a side of her he was not accustomed to seeing much. He also remembered though, a previous comment she had made once before about a serious dislike of wearing pajamas due to the sick patient feeling that they seemed to give her, so to make it fair for her, he'd gotten changed out of his clothes into a pair of his own pajamas and agreed to wear them for as long as she wore hers. She seemed pleased with this compromise, but couldn't help laughing when he emerged from the bathroom in a pair of short pajamas of his own. He had figured that would be her response, and it was what he was going for because despite how much they'd had to drink, she still needed to loosen up a bit.
Saturday they stayed in bed and slept late, when they did wake up Murdock turned the TV on to the daily cartoons and they watched from the foot of the bed where they'd repositioned all of the pillows. The afternoon was spent laying in bed holding onto each other as they listened to the rain falling outside. After dinner they took turns getting cleaned up in the bathroom, and changed into a different set of pajamas, then got settled back into bed to watch a movie on TV. About halfway through the film, Murdock reached over and grabbed Jean's hand and said to her, "Darling, what would you say if I suggested we get married tonight?"
Jean looked at Natalie Wood and Robert Redford on the TV and said, "I hope you're not taking pointers from this guy, you leave me on our wedding night and I'll..."
He smacked her hand playfully and replied, "Don't be silly…come on, what would you say?"
Without missing a beat she replied, "I'd say forget it."
"How come?" he asked.
"You can't get married at your birthday," Jean told him, "Ever year after that you'd have your birthday and your wedding anniversary right on top of each other, it'd be just like having your birthday at Christmas," she shook a finger at him and said, "You'd get too spoiled."
"Alright, what about tomorrow night?" he asked.
"No," she answered as she rolled away from him and onto her side.
"How about the night after that?" he tried again.
"No," she repeated.
"Boy you are a stubborn one," Murdock said as he raised his hand over her backside as if he was contemplating spanking her, then turned away and added, "Any other woman would be jumping at the chance to get married as soon as possible, you just drag it out."
"That's their problem," she replied with a giggle.
Murdock scowled at her and suddenly grabbed her and flipped her onto her back and pinned her down and said, "You know we could have a lot more good times together once we get hitched."
Jean smiled coyly as she calmly and knowingly replied, "Oh but darling, I'm simply having too much fun as it is now stringing you along all the time."
Murdock tried not to smile or laugh but he was failing in both regards as he tried to sound serious as he told her, "You are the most stubborn woman I have ever known."
"I'll take that as a compliment," she replied, and pushed him off of her so she could roll over to her own side of the bed again. Murdock grabbed her and rolled her over towards him again and wrapped his arms around her waist and they both lay curled on their sides.
"Well one thing about it," Jean said she looked up towards him, "At least nobody can ever say I married you for your money."
Murdock dug the fingers on one hand into her hair and scratched down to her scalp like he was petting a dog and said, "It'll be great." He kissed her on the top of her head and added, "Thanks for the great birthday present, darling."
"Don't thank me yet," she told him, "We still got tomorrow before we have to go home."
Murdock made a noise of enthusiasm as he gripped her tighter and said, "I'm looking forward to it."
She turned her head to the side to see him and said, "Don't get too excited, all we've done so far is stay in bed all day and night."
"I know," Murdock said in a pleased tone, she could hear him grinning.
Jean woke up the next morning feeling a hand tracing over the side of her face, she opened her eyes and saw Murdock sitting up in the other side of the bed looking at her and wearing a big smile.
"What's going on?" she tiredly asked.
"Nothing, just watching you sleep," he said.
Jean scoffed and said, "You need a new hobby."
For a split second, a horrible thought crossed Jean's mind and she shot up in her side of the bed and tossed back the covers to look at her legs as she moved them. When they did, she let out a sigh of relief and slipped back against the pillows.
Murdock patted his hand on her shoulder and told her, "You're alright."
Jean huffed and puffed a couple times as she started to calm down. Then she pushed back the covers and got up and walked around a little, as if to prove she still could. Murdock told her to come over to his side of the bed, she did and asked, "What is it?"
Murdock surprised her by suddenly grabbing her and pulling her onto the bed, practically right onto his lap.
"I love you," he said as he held her tight and kissed her.
"Very funny, Murdock," she said as she shifted her weight to scoot off of him, but before she could, he held he in place and started making a 'hmmm'ing sound, and then he started to laugh.
"Well, looks like you're finally putting some weight on again, guess I was able to fatten you up again a little after all," he said.
"Oh yeah?" she replied, and lifted herself up and threw her weight down against him.
"Oof," he groaned.
Jean chuckled under her breath and patted him on the head condescendingly. He looked at her and said with a smile, "You know, this is nice…I like it like this when it's just the two of us and we don't have to go anywhere and can just relax like this."
Jean didn't say anything and just nodded, as if she were afraid of where this conversation might go if they both participated in it. Murdock leaned back and pulled her down with him and they both fell against the pillows.
"All those years I spent locked up at the V.A., I couldn't stay still for anything," Murdock told her, "Being here with you though…I could get used to this."
Jean reached up and hooked a finger around a particularly long piece of his hair and said, "So long as you don't wake up back in that nut ward, eh?"
"Well let's face it," he said to her, "After being on the outside for a year, who would want to?"
Jean looked at him and said, "They won't take you."
"Oh yeah?" he asked.
Assuredly she explained, "I won't let them. You kept the staff amused for 10 years but I can scare the hell out of every last one of them if need be."
Murdock chuckled a bit and relaxed against her. He reached a hand up into her hair as well and said, "I love you, darling."
She smiled back at him and replied, "I love you too."
Early Monday morning, Jean woke up in a dark room and heard the water running in the bathroom. She pushed back the covers and got up, making her way around in the dark without turning on the lights yet; she knew that they'd both had a lot to drink last night and the proof of that was still laying around the room. Practically working from memory she rounded up the empty bottles and glasses and tossed them all in the wastebasket. Then she made the bed, found her bag, changed into a set of actual clothes for the day, and then went over to the bathroom and knocked on the door.
"I'm i-i-in the sho-o-o-o-o-w-er," Murdock called out in a singsong tone.
Jean opened the door and said, "I knew that."
The curtain was pulled back enough for Murdock to poke an eye through and see her and he asked, "How ya feeling, hon?"
"Fine," she answered, "You?"
"Getting a draft," Murdock answered as he pulled the curtain shut again.
"So," Jean said as she went over to the shower, "You think they'll have a lot of questions for us when we get back?"
From behind the curtain and the wall of steam she heard Murdock reply, "Oh I doubt it, if I know those guys they probably won't even acknowledge we were gone, or that we're even there."
Jean smirked as she struggled not to laugh as she went over to the shower and said, "Yeah could be, but you know I can't help wondering something," and in one quick move she grabbed the shower curtain and yanked it open, not enough to actually see anything but enough for Murdock to take notice, which he did.
"EEEEEEEEK!" was the high pitched response.
Jean grinned and let go of the curtain and added, "What then is their response going to be when we go away for our wedding?"
"I wouldn't worry about that," Murdock said, "It'll be what they do when we come back."
"What do you think that'll be?" she asked.
Murdock pulled the curtain open enough to stick his top half out and said, "Jean, consider for a moment just what the two of us are…you really think they'll want to know anything that goes on during the honeymoon?"
"Good point," she replied. She turned away from him and added under her breath, "Two weeks in the middle of nowhere with sock puppets, an invisible dog, cut up bed sheets and a Thunderbird obsessed with white paper, if I was Hannibal I wouldn't want to know either."
Hannibal, Murdock and Jean sat at a table in an outdoor café as they waited for Face and B.A. to join them. After a few minutes of waiting, a waitress came out to take their orders, but she only took Hannibal and Jean's orders and then went back inside.
"You see?" Murdock asked Hannibal.
"See what?" Hannibal glanced over his newspaper.
"She looked around and noticed you, but not me," Murdock pointed out.
"That's because I'm better looking," Hannibal answered.
"No you're not," Jean was quick to let the air out of his balloon, "You're old, you're gray, you're pudgy, you sag, you are grandpa material, not some woman's idea of eye candy."
Hannibal didn't bother responding to that one except to roll his eyes.
"I'm telling you, Hannibal," Murdock said, "All I have to do is think about white paper and concentrate, and then I become invisible."
Jean didn't even bother getting into the middle of that one and just said, "I hope Face and B.A. get here soon."
And a few minutes later they did, and joined them at the table.
"Isn't Murdock going to be joining us?" Face asked.
"Crazy fool already here," B.A. pointed across the table.
Face looked but said, "I don't see anything."
Jean poked her tongue around in the inside of her cheek to cover up how close she was coming to laughing at B.A.'s expense.
Murdock did a few small weird gestures and then said, "You see, Hannibal? I told you, all I have to do is focus on white paper and I become invisible."
"Murdock, when did you get here?" Face asked.
"Now don't you start encouraging him, Face," B.A. warned him.
"Alright Hannibal, we're all here so what is it you called us about?" Face asked.
"Yeah," Murdock and Jean were also eager to know, especially since they'd been waiting the longest to find out.
Hannibal smirked at their inquisitiveness and said slowly, "Well…we've got a new client."
"Where?" was B.A.'s first question, asked in his typical 'we ain't flying' tone.
"Well believe it or not it's relatively close by," Hannibal said, "We wouldn't have to drive anymore than…an hour or two at best."
B.A. flashed a rare, frightening grin at that news.
"So what is it this time?" Face asked, "Another protection racket? Or…is it another cop on the take this time?"
"Are we gonna have to get some garbage trucks and fill them up again?" Murdock added.
Hannibal grinned and shook his head, "Nope…this time about all we have to do is a little house sitting."
"Huh?" everybody asked.
Hannibal chuckled at everybody's confusion and explained, "I ran into an old friend today that I haven't seen in a good number of years…seems he's having some trouble with his neighbors and wants our help."
"When you say 'some trouble with his neighbors'," Face said, "You mean…"
"Picture the Hatfields and the McCoys about a hundred years later," Hannibal answered.
"Ah!" Face replied sharply and sarcastically, as if that explained everything.
"So what's he want you guys to do?" Jean asked.
"Well he's the only one left of his family, and he's still got a houseful of violent idiots living across from him…he's an old man now and can't do very well for himself against a whole pack…so he's going to go on vacation and…his country cousins from down south are going to come and housesit for a while."
"His what?" B.A. asked.
Jean poked at her food and said, "This is a new one even for you, Hannibal."
"Thank you," he replied as he took out a cigar and lit it.
"So what're you guys going to do?" she asked.
"Well we're going to show up and make our presence known…strictly benign at first…and once we get a handle on what's going on…"
"Take out the trash," Jean said, "How long do you anticipate being gone?"
"Oh probably a few days," Hannibal answered, he looked to her and asked, "Incidentally do you have anything planned?"
Jean dropped her fork and asked him, "What, me come with you?"
"Yes," Hannibal said, "For what I've got planned we're going to need a woman with us and Amy unfortunately is unavailable at the present time."
"And what," Jean pointed to Face, "You couldn't get this Casanova to dig up a seat cushion from his little black book?"
"Hey!"
"No no," Hannibal shook his head, "No offense to Face's uh…'acting lessons'," he didn't miss the burning glare he got in return from his Lieutenant, "But we need somebody with an IQ above that of a potted cactus."
"Ouch," Murdock commented.
"Hannibal I'm really surprised at you," Face said.
"Why, because he's being honest?" Jean asked.
Face looked at her and said, "That is a very narrow minded, chauvinistic…"
"It's true, Face," Jean emphasized, "It's no secret you don't seek women out for their intelligence or their 'brilliant personalities'."
"Oh what would you know? The only time you're ever around to see any of my dates is when you scare them off," Face said.
"Now how could I do that?" she asked, feigning innocence.
"How about that time you came into the room with those fruit bats on a string and yelled 'rabid bats!'?" Face asked.
"I told you I was rehearsing my lines," Jean said, "Besides Murdock had to talk to you and it got you out of the room."
Hannibal folded his arms on the table and chuckled as he watched them argue and commented to himself, "Might as well go in as the Tuttle family again at this rate."
"Hannibal," Jean spoke up, "Why am I coming along for this job?"
He looked at her and answered, "Well you're going to be my little experiment."
"Your what?" the others asked.
Hannibal only flashed a grin that set Face on edge and he explained, "While we're there I'm going to conduct a little sociological experiment…it's no problem for these people to go after an old man living by himself, and it will also probably be no problem for them to go after a whole houseful of men…but I want to see if they're cold blooded enough that they would come after four men and a young blind woman."
"A what?" the others asked.
"Hannibal," Jean managed to keep a straight face and a calm demeanor as she reminded him, "Incase you've forgotten, I'm no Audrey Hepburn."
Face snorted and remarked, "You wouldn't even make it as Katharine Hepburn." The next word out of his mouth after they heard a noise under the table was, "OUCH!"
"You're no Patty Duke either," Hannibal replied, "But that's beside the point."
"Hannibal," Murdock interjected, "Who is this old friend of yours? Is it someone we know?"
"I don't think so, Murdock," Hannibal answered, "See this is someone that I knew before I went to Vietnam."
"That's a long way back alright," Jean commented.
"So who is it exactly?" Face asked.
"Well actually," Hannibal explained, "…he was more a friend of my parents', I knew him rather well but we were never exactly too close."
"So let's see," Jean said, "You're over 50, he was a friend of your parents…old man indeed."
"Uh, Hannibal," Face decided to point out, "We all can pass as cousins, but how're…I mean what're…" he caught the glare B.A. was giving him and sank back in his chair, "How're we going to explain him?"
"Well he did say southern cousins," Murdock said.
B.A. growled at him and Murdock too leaned back in his chair and away from the table.
"Oh it's all very simple," Hannibal explained, "B.A. will go on ahead and get set up in the house tonight, and the rest of us will follow tomorrow."
"Oh…just that simple," Face sarcastically remarked.
"We're gonna need two vehicles then," Murdock said.
Jean shook her head and told Hannibal, "You're not taking my car, if I can't drive us there we're not taking it."
"You're going to be blind," Face reminded her, "You can't drive, remember?"
"Who says I can't?" she asked.
"Face," Hannibal calmly spoke over the others.
Face looked at Hannibal and they both said at the same time, "Get us a car."
"Yeah," Hannibal told him, and added, "Preferably an older model that will fit us all comfortably and doesn't look too fancy."
"You mean an old junker," Face said.
"Precisely," Hannibal answered, "We'll get much further if we don't come off as being too bright, and appearance is nine tenths of the law, so if you can find us something that's kind of dented, kind of faded, could use a few coats of paint, maybe the tires don't match, that would be perfect."
"Hannibal, any idiot could get us a car like that," Face said.
"I know Face, but you're the only one we have on hand right now," Hannibal told him.
"Hey!"
Hannibal looked across the table and chuckled.