Murdock in trouble
"Where is he?" Hannibal demanded in a low dangerous voice.
"Look, Hannibal, he is sick. He asked me to tell you that…" Murdock started to explain but the older man silenced him with a deathly stare.
"I asked you where he is, Captain. I want an answer. Now!" the Colonel barked.
Hannibal was furious at his XO. Face was supposed to meet the General with him to discuss a new important mission but the younger man had simply disappeared. Hannibal knew the previous night Face had been out with Murdock, to celebrate, but to celebrate what he really didn't know. The Colonel wasn't in the right mood to go with them; he just asked the kid to please not get too drunk because the meeting with the General was really important.
But the kid had obviously been thinking in a different way if he had got so wasted not to be able to attend the meeting. What made Hannibal furious was that he had to make excuses for Face and actually lie to the General.
Now Hannibal didn't care if the kid was experiencing the worst hangover of his life, he was determined to make Face get out of the pilot's tent and run for at least one hundred miles in order to be sure next time he would listen to his colonel. Not that a little insubordination from Face came as a surprise to the Colonel, but this time he had made a very big mistake.
Not waiting for an answer from the terrified pilot, Hannibal took a step towards the front of the tent, determined to know what was going on. Murdock was hot on his heels and actually jumped in front of him as he was about to enter his private space.
"Please, Colonel. He is not feeling well, he just needs a little time to recover…" Murdock talked again and this time Hannibal watched him with a curious look.
"Why you are covering for him? And why you didn't come to me to tell me about it?" the older man asked very seriously in Colonel mode.
Murdock couldn't hold his gaze and bit his nails. How could he possibly explain to Hannibal that it was entirely his fault?
"Look Hannibal, let me explain…" the pilot started.
"It's Colonel to you, Captain!" Hannibal barked again, louder this time.
Murdock took a step back and a deep breath.
"Alright, as you want, Han… Colonel. We went out yesterday evening and… probably it's just a bug, I'm sure he will be fine in a couple of days… there's no need to worry about it," he managed to say.
He knew the older man was furious at Face but this time the LT hadn't done anything wrong. It was entirely his fault. He also knew Hannibal could read him like an open book and that he was probably going to find out about Face one way or another so maybe it was better if he himself explained the situation to him. But how?
"I want to see my Lieutenant, now, so I'm ordering you to get out of my way Captain, was I clear?" the Colonel asked again and this time Murdock nodded. He had no chance of winning against the older man.
As Hannibal was about to open the tent, the pilot intercepted him once again.
"Be easy on him," he asked, his tone now very sad.
The older man stopped half way and watched him again with that strange look.
"Did you have something to do with it, Captain?" he asked.
The pilot was almost crying now.
"Yes… No… I didn't mean to hurt him, I swear… I didn't think he could react this way…"
Hannibal paled at hearing those words. He was now terrified that his XO, his lover was seriously hurt and it was Murdock's fault? He couldn't believe it.
"Calm down, Captain. I need to know if Face is ok. I need to see him," he stated quietly.
"You can see him but I don't know if he will recognize you…" the pilot admitted sadly.
Hannibal fought back the need to shake the pilot and shout at him, knowing if he did he wasn't going to get anything from the younger man.
"What. Did. You. Do?" he asked instead, trying to remain calm.
"I gave Face one of my pills. I put them in the Aspirin bottle and Face took two of them. He said he had a headache and I didn't remember I had switched the prescriptions so I gave him two pills. He was feeling pretty good at first, I think, but then we were at the bar and he started shouting at people. I think he was having hallucinations. I convinced him to come back here but things got bad. He didn't recognize me, tried to fight me but…" Murdock explained without even breathing, with tears in his eyes.
"I need to see him now, Captain," Hannibal interrupted him. "I need to be sure he's ok and to see if he needs medical attention. Stay out of the tent unless I tell you to come in, do you understand?"
Murdock nodded solemnly.
Hannibal took a deep breath; he was scared shitless. God knew what would happen if Face had found a gun in Murdock's tent; he didn't want to think about that possibility but as he cautiously entered the tent and heard the clear "click" on the gun being aimed at him he realized he was in serious trouble.
Face was huddled in on himself, sitting on the floor with his knees drawn up to his chest. His clothes were torn. He was sweating profusely and his eyes were red with tears; his beautiful hair was plastered to his head. He was a really miserable sight. Near his feet, Hannibal spotted a large knife and in his right hand Murdock's gun.
He was trembling and moaning; the moment the daylight filtered through the tent door, he cried out in pain.
"Get out of here! Leave me alone or I'll shoot you!" Face yelled at him, trying to hold the gun still with both hands.
Hannibal was shocked to see his lieutenant in such a state. He didn't know what to do, he couldn't take the risk of being shot by him but at the same time he didn't want the younger man to play with that weapon in his confused state, because he could hurt himself too.
He did the only thing he could think of.
"Face, it's Hannibal. I'm entering the tent. Please, don't shoot me," he stated quietly.
He heard Murdock gasp on the outside.
The LT moaned again as the older man came closer to him.
"I t-told you to stay a-away! I am an officer of the US Army. I will kill you if you don't do what I say!" he replied hoarsely.
"I just want to talk," Hannibal explained gently and carefully sat on the ground in front of him.
"I will not talk to you. Never. You can torture me if you want but I will never give you my unit's position. I would rather die!" he spat out.
For a second, Hannibal didn't know what to do. But then he realized he had to break whatever illusion Face was living in order to make sure he didn't hurt anyone and, secondly, to take him to the base hospital and soon.
He stood up in front of Face.
"Put the weapon down, Lieutenant. It's an order," he demanded in his most authoritative voice.
"No way." Face replied, still holding the gun in his hands.
"I said, put the gun down. As your superior officer, I'm commanding you to put the gun down. Now!" he barked loudly.
Face shivered and for a second he lost his grip on the weapon.
"Do as you're told soldier," the Colonel reiterated.
As if a switch had been turned off, Face uncurled from his position on the floor and carefully stood on his feet in front of Hannibal, swaying slightly. The gun slipped from his hand and fell to the floor. Hannibal kicked it away. The LT raised his right hand to salute him and then collapsed against him.
Hannibal was ready to catch him and gently held his lover in his arms, that curly head resting on his chest.
"It's ok, Face. You're going to be alright, baby. Please, hold on," he whispered in the LT's ear. He then shouted at Murdock to get help and sat on the ground, holding his mate and praying for him to hold on and don't let go. He was mad at Murdock but now he was more worried about his lover.
He would deal with the pilot later.
END