See No Evil, Hear No Evil
One of Decker's ambushes had finally worked. Well, half-way. Colonel Smith and Lieutenant Peck were in handcuffs and sitting the back of his MP vehicle as he and his men continued their pursuit of Sergeant Baracus and Captain Murdock.
Decker had a satisfied smirk on his face. The pair weren't in the team's usual van, so he felt confident that they wouldn't have their usual bag of tricks to call on. Plus he had radioed ahead for some of his men to take the vehicle out of commission.
The explosion he heard ahead made his driver. Captain Crane, slam on the brakes, throwing both Hannibal and Face around in the back.
They could hear Decker getting on his radio and yelling.
"What the hell was that explosion? You what? What part of taking them alive didn't you understand? I told you to take out the vehicle, not the men inside. No - no. Keep everyone clear of the area. I don't want to lose anyone else when the gas tank blows."
Face went pale at those words and gave a desperate look over to Hannibal. Swallowing hard, he leaned over closer.
"Please tell me you think he's just trying to rattle us. If he is, I think it's working."
Hannibal had shifted his position to where he could see ahead easier, then he soundlessly gestured with his head for Face to look. Not really wanting to, Face did and winced as he saw the oily black smoke he'd learned to equate to a vehicle fire. Not a little either. A lot.
It was as if Decker had forgotten that they were in the vehicle with him as he spoke to Captain Crane.
"Explosives. The idiots used explosives in the road. I meant something like a spike strip to take out their tires! Damn. The Captain wasn't a fugitive. He wasn't supposed to be hurt. The General will bust me down to latrine duty for this."
Coldly furious, it occurred to Hannibal that while he'd never liked Decker, he'd never literally hated the man until now. Two men - his men - were somewhere underneath that black smoke. Doubtlessly injured - possibly dead. And all this SOB was thinking about was his military career?
A slight nudge from Face brought him back from the redhot anger filling his brain, making him feel a little guilty. He still had a man to take care of. Hannibal finally looked straight at Face. Despite the stricken look in the Lieutenant's eyes, he knew that lying to him wouldn't be a kindness.
"We both know Decker. He's not that good of an actor."
The sound of another explosion ripped through the air, making them all jump as the vehicle they were in shook from the blast. Hannibal closed his eyes after seeing a ball of flame emerge briefly over the treetops only to be engulfed in a larger black, boiling cloud. There had been at least a chance that his men might have survived the initial explosion. But if they were still in that van when that tank blew? No chance. No chance at all.
Face blinked back the tears that were threatening. B.A. had been his protective burly big brother and Murdock was the best friend he'd ever had. Taking a deep breath, he restarted on picking the locks on his handcuffs. It wasn't taking long for anger to start replacing sorrow. At least for now. These men had just taken away the family that it had taken Face his whole life to build for himself. All he had left now was his father-figure. He'd be damned before he let them take Hannibal away from him too.