"Now, the whole trick behind this complex little contraption, is that you hold it one way facing you and turn one side after the other, like this." Face held out the Rubix Cube and twisted the front and left side a couple of times before he had the green side completed. Hannibal removed his cigar from his mouth, squinting in the sun to see.
He chuckled lightly. "That doens't mean you're done, Face."
Face held up a finger, drawing the cube back. "But! It does mean that I'm smart enough to figure a side out."
"Oh sure."
Face sighed and sank back against the tree he was leaning on. The Washington mountains rose up from the trees as the sun lifted slowly above them in the morning sky. The cabin behind them fit snuggly into the scenery. Birds were chirping around them and Face yawned, rubbing his eyes again. They heard the front door slam shut and heavy footsteps coming down the steps towards the two. Almost right after, B.A. came into Face's prepherial view, stretching out his arms and back.
It certainly was a perfect morning, the temperature in the low seventies and the sky clear as crystal. Hannibal's stomach made a growling sound and he rubbed it absently.
"Wonder if someone is going to make a great breakfest." He wondered aloud, looking up at B.A. towering above them.
But he shook his head. "Hey, I just got up."
Face sighed lowly and closed his eyes, his head falling against the tree with a thump. The other two men met eyes and Hannibal rose to his feet, brushing the dirt off the back of his pants. "Well, I guess I'll get something on."
B.A. followed as Hannibal disappeared into the cabin, leaving Face to his peaceful thoughts. It wasn't too peaceful, though. there was a powerful force pulling his thoughts back to the thing he had been avoiding the whole time.
In two months, it would have been a year. Ten hard month that the team members had somehow gotten by.
Face wanted to just close his eyes and forget, go back to ten months ago. When he could walk into that house and hear clanging, wooping, and laughter.
Someone called for him and Face lifted himself off the ground, wandering back into the house.
Eventually, the three members seated themselves around the table, bending over their plates. Hannibal, after a few bites, spoke up. "We got a call from someone in...Miami..." He spoke carefully, trying not to stir any raw emotions back up.
Face shook his head almost automaticaly. "No. There is absolutly no way, I am going back to that damn city."
B.A. was nodding in agreement, his eyes narrowed in a fierce glare.
"We could get a nice hotel, two of us would share, and one other would get a whole room to himself. I imagine Face is going to jump for that." Hannibal was telling them as if Face had't objected. Face looked up, his eyes still dry. For now.
"No."
"We need to face this, Face. B.A.. I know it will hurt, I know we will be in pain just to walk back in that city. But we have to do this." Hannibal stood, his point across and his mind wasn't about to be changed. They were going.
Face couldn't take it, he stormed up the steps and threw himself through his doorway, slamming the door shut behind him. It was childish, he knew. But he didn't care.
"I'm not going." He muttered to himself, rubbing his face as he leaned against the wall and began to slide down. The memories of Miami, Florida began flooding back as the dam broke.
The helicopter cirlced above, Face leaned against the brick wall as he waited for it to land and pick them up. Murdock got on the radio, his words upbeat.
"I'll drop by here, then we gotta go, I got some chops on my tail!"
"Land it steady, Captain!" Hannibal was ordering.
Face saw the copter beginning to land and he ran towards it, seeing B.A. and Hannibal running to the side of him.
"Don't worry!" Murdock was eagerly saying over the radio. "We're gonna get outta here in no-"
Then the explosion.
A missel came from a copter a ways off and hit Murdock's helicopter, the whole body exploding in a bright flash and the three men were knocked backwards, the helicopter debris flying by around them, flaming.
As they sat up, they realized the helicopter was gone. The helicopter, their way out, the load of money, and Murdock.
The whole thing had exploded, anything inside would have been blown to bits in a second.
Face was on his feet first, staggering towards where the helicopter had crashed down, or what was left of it anyways. He was refusing to believe his eyes, Hannibal and B.A. catching up to him as something suddenly flew down to their feet. It was charred and red.
Hannibal gasped and turned away and B.A. swore, closing his eyes. Face, however, bent over and retrieved it. It was Murdock's red hat, the letters across the top still reading, "Airborne."
Tears of anger and deep sadness began streaming down Face's face and he gripped the hat tightly in his fist, not wanting to believe it.
Hannibal felt his eyes overflowing, not able to stop the tears.
B.A. put his fist to his mouth, pressing hard so the sobs would not escape. They had lost their ride out and most importantly, their captain. Their friend. Their family member.
Face turned when the door cracked open and Hannibal appeared, a brown duffle bag in his hands. He ignored Face's accusing glare, holding out the bag.
"I thought...you might want to use this." He waited until Face came to grab the bag and swipe it away, hardly getting the point.
Once Hannibal had left the room, Face went to the bed and threw the bag down, a odd thing catching his eye as he turned away.
Oalong the bag, were different patches.
"Airborne Ranger"
"There is no "I" in TEAM!"
"Make the impossible possilbe."
There were a few others, but Face's vision went blurry and wet, he whiped his eyes dry and ran a hang along the bag's rouch fabric. He remembered it clearly now, their crazy pilot always toting it around as they traveled the globe.
Face's suitcase was falling apart anyways, this bag was still in great condition. But Face would have been suprised it it wasn't, knowing how Murdock always took care of his small pack of belongings. He had hardly any.
Zipping the duffle open, Face realized there was still something inside. A pair of blue Converse high-tops; a dog tag; a small, blue stuffed dog, and a pair of Aviator shades. Face flashed back again, against his own will.
Face watched as Murdock slipped his Converse shoes and Aviators off. He asked what he was doing. The pilot gave him a grin. "If we blow up, I don't wanna let my shoes and shades suffer." Face knew he was joking, but Murdock was hard to question sometimes.
"We won't get blown up." Face assured him, standing and clapping a hand on Murdock's shoulder. The pilot shrugged and held his arms out. "You never know."
Face hugged Murdock back, not knowing why for sure, but had a terrible feeling.
It was if they were going to lose soemone tonight. He knew it'd be himself. He just knew it.
As soon as he had moved Murdock's items to the side of the bag, Face dropped a few of his own in. Using the extra pockets for smaller things, like his comb and toothbrush. As he dug through his suitcase, switching items to the other bag, he came across the still charred hat.
As he lifted it out gently, Face smiled warmly. He carefully placed it into the duffle and went to zip it back up, a smell caught his attention. Bending in closer, Face could still smell Murdock on the bag and it pulled fresh tears from his eyes.
He hard the other two leaving the house and knew it was time to leave.
The radio began plaing a song. Hannibal in the front lit a cigar, afraid to think. B.A. gripped the steering wheel tightly. Face covered his face with his hands.
"I miss you. I miss you so bad. I don't forget you, oh it's so sad. I hope you can har me, I remember it clearly."
Face did. The crash, the fire. That sinking feeling, when they had taken off for the nearest squad car and sped off, not looking back. Murdock would have understood.
"The day, you slipped away. Was the day, I found it won't be the same."
"Hannibal..." B.A. and Face both mutered in sync. Hannibal was unresponsive. He didn't want to speak right now, for fear of what else would come out.
"I've had my wake up, won't you wake up. I keep asking why...And I can't take it, it wasn't faked. It happened you passed by."
Face looked to the left and saw Murdock in his usual seat, grinning as his mouth ran a mile a minute. But it wasn't there and won't ever be again.
"Now you're gone, now you're gone. There you go, there you go. Somewhere I can't bring you back."
Much to everyone's immeidate relief, B.A. growled and stabbed at the button with his thumb, sending it to a comedy station. Everyone ignored the entertainer, Face eyeing the duffle in the seat next to him. When everything seemed to have calmed down, Face reached over and pulled the bag onto his lap, lifting it to his face and breathing in Murdock's scent.
He opened it, pulling out the dog tag and lifting it over his head, letting it hang around his neck. Next, he carefully put the hat onto his head. Then the shoes, he removed his own and tied the high-tops on. It fit.
Hannibal was watching him in the rearview mirror, brushing his eyes with his gloved-hand. He knew it had been extremely hard on the conman, losing his best friend, the only person he could confide in. They had come from similar backgrounds, without parents and misunderstood.
They were heading for the train station, knowing getting on a plane would not only send B.A. into an angry man rage about how he wasn't flying, no matter how professional the pilot was and how safe it was. But it was also Hannibal's choice, not wanting to breakdown in public.
It would be an hour drive.
The train was ratteling along, Face left their compartment to wander around. He kept his eyes on the floor, brushing past passengers and mumbling apologies. As he walked on, someone caught his eyes. He looked up, seeing a arm beckoning him into...the bathroom?
Face glanced around and followed it, stepping into the bathroom and shutting the door. He turned and clasped a hand over his mouth.
It wasn't his reflection in the mirror.
"What are you doing?" He asked hoarsely to the mirror.
Murdock's image shrugged, a smile tugging at his lips. "Just paying a visit. Nice hat, you thief."
Face closed his eyes and shook his head. When he reopened them, Murdock was still staring at him. "Why?"
Murdock already knew what he ment. "I had no control, Facey. I didn't see it coming."
They stared at eachother, Face wanted to pull Murdock from the mirror and bring him back. He slowly held up a hand and put it against the glass, Murdock looked down at it and lifted his own to put it against Face's. Face gasped when he felt Murdock's fingers and warmth against his hand.
"But look on the bright side. I died in the one thing I love most, besides you guys." Murdock tried to comfort him, half-smiling. Face met his eyes and lifted his other hand to touch Murdock's forehead. It felt real and he moved the hair away from his forehead. "What did it feel like?" He asked curiously, letting his hand drop but keeping his right on against Murdock's.
The ghost pilot shrugged. "Hardly anything. One moment, I'm telling you guys something the next, I'm in the cluods watching the scene from above. I imagine there wasn't much left of me."
Face shuddered and leaned against the counter, only to feel something hard sticking him in the ribs of his jacket pocket. He, confused, pulled out the Rubix Cube.
Murdock glanced at it. "Oh yeah, Hannibal was right. You're not done, you know."
Face's sudden shocked look made Murdock howl with laughter. "I was watching. What did ya think I'd left for good?"
"Kinda. I was just trying to get through the last ten months. Fine. Pop quiz, then. What was I doing when we were hiding out in Chicago three months ago at exactly eleven in the morning?" Face asked, a joking tone in his voice.
Murdock's face scrunched up and then he snapped his fingers, grinning. "Hiding in a refrigerator box from that creepy girl that had a crush on you. B.A. actually thought the fridge was still in the box and he wheeled it into the kitchen and knocked it over, sending you sprawling out and you complained about your hair."
Face laughed shocked, almost thinking Murdock had been right beside him the whole time. "Yeah. I was pulling a Murdock."
The pilot shook his head, grinning. Face's phone rang, Hannibal asking for him to come back so they could discuss their plan. Face looked longingly at the mirror, asking Murdock with his eyes. The pilot sighed. "I can't be here all the time." He then asked a sudden question. "Do you believe in ghosts?"
Face shrugged. "I'm starting to."
"Good." Murdock winked and vanished with a puff of smoke, Face's reflection taking over. He no longer felt a hand under his, but the smooth mirror.