I was only two months old when A-Team went off air, officially. Unless I'm an heiress, which I'm not, I can't possibly own the show.
Along Came the Spider
If anyone asked Templeton 'Faceman' Peck if he were afraid to die he would answer with a resounding 'no'. It was the truth after all. However, if he were asked if he were afraid to die alone the answer would still be no but that would have been the biggest lie he would ever tell.
Face had accepted that he might die young long before he went to Vietnam. Between abusive foster homes and neglectful nuns (though that wasn't always their fault), dying was a real possibility. But he just knew that if he were to die he wouldn't be alone, even if that meant that the only person with him was his murderer.
In 'Nam his comrades in arms would have been there. Maybe not at his side but at least close enough that he knew they were there. In the POW camps, especially, Hannibal would have never left him alone. In fact, that was exactly how things were after an 'interrogation' or when he got too sick to fend for himself.
But he was alone now and if Hannibal didn't find him soon he would die.
Early February 1974
Mr. Edmund Meadows was getting more and more frustrated. He arrived in Los Angeles three days ago and so far spoke to five people, including Mr. Lee at a Chinese laundry. Now he was standing in a dark alley waiting for his next contact. He really hoped that this is the last one.
Patience was not a virtue he possessed in great abundance. Being pushed into the back of a van by a drunk was pushing his patience to it's limits. Having that drunk climb in the van with him almost caused Mr. Meadows to snap.
Then the drunk pulled off a wig.
"I'm Hannibal Smith. You just found the A-Team." Mr. Meadows sank back in his seat in relief. "That's Templeton Peck." He pointed to a young man who looked as though he belonged in college, not running around as a mercenary. "And that's BA Baracus." The large black man had a broken arm and a scowl on his face. "Mr. Lee tells me that you have a problem with a stalker."
"Not me, my daughter."
"Why didn't you go to the police?" asked Face.
"I tried. They didn't believe me. The claim that I don't have enough proof. I have at least a dozen notes that my daughter found on her locker telling her that she belongs to him." He pulled out a stack of envelopes from the brief case he had. Face had a glance at a lot of money.
Hannibal read through the notes. Each one more threatening than the last. It was obvious that the Meadows had a real reason to be scared.
They had to help.
"Please help us. My daughter is afraid to date. The boy either disappears or breaks up with her after only one or two dates because he's scared of this stalker. As much as I hate the idea of her dating, I hate that she's so unhappy more."
"Wait? Did you say locker?"
"Face," said Hannibal lighting up a cigar. "I have a plan. BA, stay here with Murdock." He turned back to Face. "We're going to Pennsylvania."
The two men could only groan.
It was fun to watch Face. His body language was screaming 'you can't make me do this' while the whole time he was doing exactly what he was told. It was impossible for him to disobey a direct order no matter how much he protested.
Normally he had no problem scamming people. It was merely a means of survival. During the last few months these skills were tested every way possible. The key to a scam was confidence in the role you were playing.
But this was one role Face never got to play.
"I'm not going."
"Face..."
"There's a reason I left as soon as I could."
"It's not the same."
"The only difference I can see is that there's no nuns. And frankly I got along with them as long I stayed out of trouble. Why can't I stay with you? We can set up a surveillance outside"
"You need to protect Carrie Meadows. I can't do it because you didn't get what I needed. I'm sorry but we don't have any other options. You're going to school."
At the orphanage Face had to grow up fast. The only time that he felt like a normal kid was when he was playing football. That wasn't an option for Face while he was in Pennsylvania and there was snow on the ground. Even if he was invited he would have said no. It was far too cold for a California boy with limited dealings with the white stuff.
It didn't help that he was different from his 'peers' from the moment he walked into the school and it had nothing to do with being an unwanted orphan (which was why he took up football in the first place), or having Hannibal dropping him off, or even the fact that he slipped on ice before he even moved two feet from the car. He was different because he had the best of everything while many of the teens around him were wearing clothes that obviously once belonged to someone else. They kept their distance as though they knew something was off about him, that he was dangerous. That was something that most adults couldn't see about him.
It was during History that he turned his thoughts to Murdock. Face hated that they couldn't bring him with them. Hannibal believed Murdock was too unstable to leave the VA for longer than a few days at a time.
Face didn't realize how much he relied on Murdock's sense of humor, the stuff that would cause BA to call Murdock a crazy fool, until it was gone. It was one those things that, ironically, kept everyone sane. Now that no one was talking to him he really missed the constant chatter.
He felt bad that he didn't miss BA the same way. Mainly because it was BA who was the most independent of the four of them. While BA and Hannibal still had some kind of family left, Face and Murdock really only had the Team. But unlike Face, Murdock wouldn't survive being abandoned. At least that was what Face told himself.
It was only when the teacher called on him to answer a question about the Marines involvement in World War Two,which he got right though he would never tell any of the Team that, that Face pulled himself from his depressing thoughts. He couldn't afford to lose his focus.
And to think that it was only the second class of the day.
Hannibal was bored. He was a man of action. Not wanting to have nothing done with Face at school, he started reading the packet of information Mr. Meadows provided them, the boys first.
After only reading one profile, he fell asleep.
Hours later Hannibal jolted awake not knowing where he was. Soon he recognized the apartment he was sharing with Face. Glancing at the clock, he hoped Face wasn't too mad.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't maim you so badly that no one―"
"Face, I'm sorry." They both knew not to take the threat seriously, though the apology was wore than welcomed.
"Just tell me you weren't running around on the Jazz looking for clues."
"I was sleeping," he admitted feebly.
"Sleeping! I was being tortured with boredom and you were sleeping!" Face's shouting was so loud Hannibal was afraid that someone had heard him and would come over to investigate. Fortunately no one was around.
"I'm sure it wasn't that bad." There was a sparkle in Hannibal's eye that told Face that the older man was on the Jazz.
"It's almost as bad a camp Vietcong," Face exaggerated. "The food is possibly worse." Hannibal almost believed that. The two of them fell silent for a few minutes. "So, what's the plan?"
"Wait and observe." The sparkle dimmed a little. Hannibal really didn't like the plan but it wasn't as though they could shoot at a bunch of kids until one of them admits to being the stalker. But right now it was the only plan he had. "We don't know anything."
Nothing happened for an entire week since Face started school. He was a little overzealous in showing off his intelligence, even more so than Hannibal ordered him to be. He needed to do it to catch everyone's attention. It was part of the plan, though Face still had no idea what exactly the plan was.
It was also that second Monday that someone outside the staff spoke to him. Kenny Bishop wasn't exactly the most popular guy in school but he did run in the same circle as them. That included Carrie Meadows. Face doubted the kid was the stalker/killer. Kenny was only 16 and didn't know Carrie's group of friends very well, aside from his own brother, Kevin. He made the perfect mole mostly because Kevin was the most popular guy in school, in spite of the the fact no one was sure how he made it to his senior year without failing all of his classes.
Kenny was a mine of information. He talked about everything except for his own family. Face understood why with his dad being the mayor and his uncle the sheriff. He probably been told multiple times while growing up to keep the family's private life private. It wouldn't do any good if he spilled any secrets they had.
Unfortunately the information Face wanted wasn't free. He had to give Kenny information first. Hannibal had put him in charge of their back-story. He put more detail into this scam than any of the others. It gave Face the chance to act out his greatest fantasy. He claimed that Hannibal had adopted him, which gave them some leeway as to why Face didn't look like him and gave them an excuse if Face forgot to call him dad in place of Hannibal. He left what happened to his non-existent mother up to everyone else's imaginations. They didn't give details in case Sheriff Bishop decided to look deeper.
It was after Face told Hannibal about that conversation that Face learned the plan. It took everything in him not to jump the first flight home and it had nothing to do with the snow.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Carrie as she nibbled on a salad. They were currently on a 'date' to get Carrie's stalker's attention that she was once again taken.
"Oh, no, this in a terrible idea. However, it's all we got."
"This is too dangerous."
"Putting me into danger is one of Hannibal's favorite pastimes. Don't worry." He placed one of his hands on top of hers. "While Hannibal's plans never come together like he thinks they will, they do come together."
"I don't want you getting hurt." Carrie stared at him with big blue eyes and Face smiled back at her.
"I won't, I promise." He looked over his shoulder at a dark haired man with a mustache. "Besides, with Hannibal watching my every move nothing will go too wrong."
Many of Face's skills impressed Hannibal. His ability to get information when all others failed was one of those skills. And once again it was put to good use when Face broke into the file room at the police station.
The small town had a low crime rate. But there were three unsolved murders, all of them teenagers. The youngest had only been fifteen and that was just over three years ago. Everyone in town knew about it.
What everyone didn't know was that three sets of human remains had been found in the nearby coal mine. For some reason the remains had never been connected to the dead boys.
The mine was owned by Timothy Everett who just so happened to have four children of his own. Aaron was seventeen and was considered to be the biggest jerk to have entered the school. Shelby was fifteen and believed everyone should treat her like a princess. She couldn't understand why Face paid no attention to her and it had nothing to do with the fact what she wanted was illegal. Even he had standards. The other two were twelve-year-old twins Face had never met, Lance and Ross.
Face had no trouble believing Aaron and Shelby were behind the murders. It was well known fact that Shelby hated Carrie. His only problem was that he had no proof that the Everett teens were behind anything.
The location of where the remains were found was circumstantial at best. It was a bad idea to go after them with no evidence.
It didn't take long before the entire school knew that Carrie and Face were a couple. Face kept an eye out for anyone who looked like they wanted to kill him but other than a few jealous glared he got nothing. The only glare that different was Kevin Bishop's. His was resentment.
Face knew that Kevin liked Carrie. Kenny told him that three days after his first date with her. He also told Face that he should be careful dating a girl like Carrie Meadows. Face had no idea what he meant by that.
Kevin wasn't smart enough to be a serial killer... or any kind of a killer. Any military branch would reject him for that reason alone. Intelligence was very important when it came to surviving a war.
There was a chance that Kevin was the stalker if he had someone's help. But Face couldn't think of anyone who would risk everything, including jail time, for a girl.
It seemed as though the stalker grew more aggressive when Carrie had a boyfriend. Not even a week passed before another threatening note was posted on the girl's locker. Now all he had to do was get evidence that the police could actually use.
BA's updates on Murdock's condition was making Hannibal worried. He knew that Murdock needed visits from him and Face to keep him from slipping further from reality. Hannibal had hoped that having BA there would have been enough, but BA was getting more and more frustrated that he couldn't help his friend. Murdock was subconsciously picking up BA's mood and was quickly withdrawing from the world, that included eating properly.
The latest call only confirmed what he already knew. He had to go back to Los Angeles. There was no other choice if they wanted to keep him somewhat mentally stable. He hated leaving Face in Pennsylvania but Murdock needed him now.
Murdock tried to stand the moment the Colonel walked through his door. Hannibal motioned for him to stay on the bed. He watched as the older man take in he surroundings. It wasn't the first time he had been there but the way he was looking around made it seem as though it was.
"You've been here for awhile, don't you think it's time to make this place a little more homey?"
"Gee, Colonel, I was planning to do it last weekend but I couldn't seem to find the time."
"Murdock..." His tone made it clear that it was a warning. Being insane was no excuse for Murdock's disrespect.
"I'm sorry Hannibal. I guess that I'm a little lonely. BA tries but he's too grumpy and I think it's starting to rub off on me. I want you and Faceman to come home."
"I don't know about coming home but how do you feel about breaking out of here for a few days?"
It was clear from the beginning that Carrie's plan was insane. However she somehow manipulated Face in thinking that it wasn't. He didn't like it but if a party while Hannibal was away brought them closer to finding a stalker then Face would do it.
He had only been to one party when he was younger, though the Team wouldn't likely believe that since they all knew that he was in a fraternity during his short semester in college. But that one party was nothing more than an excuse to get high. If he listened to the nuns about anything it was to stay away from drugs. He had seen too many kids from the orphanage die because they overdosed. Fortunately Carrie agreed to the no drugs rule. Convincing her to have no liquor stronger than beer was a little more difficult. He didn't want to be responsible for underage drinking.
"Face,you're acting too much like an adult." She cuddled up next to hm even though no one was around.
"Kid, I am an adult."
"I know that but if you act too grown up the others might get suspicious. Besides, we are having a party not conducting an intelligence gathering mission."
"Actually..."
"You are. Face, Hannibal told you relax this weekend. Your only job is to stay alive and unharmed."
"That may be a little difficult since I invited all my, for lack of better word, suspects."
"I really like you Temp, But I don't know if I can handle it if you purposely keep putting yourself in danger."
"Hey, I'm not going to be accusing anyone of murder. Don't worry about me. Nothing is going to happen." Face bent over her to give her a kiss. He knew that she was falling for him, and unfortunately, he knew he was doing the same with her.
A loud thud was heard throughout the entire cabin of the plane. He felt rather than saw all of the sympathetic glances being sent in his direction. Hannibal had thought, or rather hoped, that being around planes would have made Murdock behave relatively normal and he probably would have if he weren't actually on the plane.
There was another thud.
He had no idea when Murdock had the opportunity to learn anything about the plane they were currently on, but by the way he was going on you would have thought he designed and built the plane himself. That was frightening because the young pilot hadn't been around anything related to planes since he was admitted to the VA.
He couldn't tell Murdock to be quiet when he was so happy. The others on planes knew that as well. Or maybe the crew was more than a little weary of the eccentric man. Murdock had asked a lot of odd questions.
Hannibal doubted the flight attendant knew anything about wind resistance and aerodynamics.
He could survive this without Face running interference. It was only a few more hours.
Face knew that he was in trouble long before he heard the sirens. It was supposed to be an innocent party. A bit loud for his liking but nothing too illegal. Face didn't want or need the attention.
But then a fight broke out between Kevin and Aaron. As much as Face hated fighting, he had to stop them before the police arrived. Two against one usually wasn't fair in high school but Face wasn't really a high school kid and had a lot more combat training than both Kevin and Aaron.
He just forgot that anger was a great motivator in a fight. Aaron was quickly floored but Kevin some how managed to throw Face through a window. Fortunately the apartment was on the first floor. Unfortunately there was a tree right outside that window. His head struck it and he knew no more.
Neither man knew what to think when they saw the police at the apartment. None of the cars belonged to the Military police so Hannibal ran into his apartment.
He shouldn't have left Face alone.
Murdock stayed back. Hannibal had grilled it in him that no one could ever learn that there was a forth member of the A-Team. He didn't like it but he followed orders.
Everyone that knew Face knew that he was bit of a clean freak. Right now the apartment was anything but clean. Cups with names on them were strewn across the floor. Food was covering every available flat surface.
They weren't surprised to learn that Face had been taken to the hospital. Quickly the two of them took off but not before seeing Kevin Bishop sitting in the back of a squad car. Hannibal gave the nearest cop a questioning glance.
"There was evidence that the kid was stalking the Meadows girl in your boy's room. Though we are going to want to know where he got his hands on a fingerprint kit." Hannibal suspected he got it during his little trip to the police station. Good thing he got rid of it's original case. Face could have gotten in huge trouble for that. At least this way they could come up with a reasonable explanation that didn't involve stealing. "We're going to question your boy when the docs give us the OK."
Hannibal only nodded at the officer. There was no way that was going to happen. They'll be in hiding and then heading back to Los Angeles long before anyone realizes he was gone. They, well Face, accomplished what they came to do and maybe now those boys will finally be able to rest in peace now that Kevin was caught.
Waking up to the scent of ammonia and the sound of the steady beeping of a heart monitor wasn't anyone's ideal wake up call. For a fugitive, no matter how innocent, it was a death knell.. if someone figured out who Face really was.
He knew that he had a concussion. The pounding in his head and the nausea were his biggest clues. Symptoms that he experienced far too often in 'Nam and in prison.
The concussion made keeping his story straight difficult. He remembered who he was pretending to be and kept reminding himself of the answers he needed to give the doctors. It was hard to keep those separate from the truth... or at least a variation of the truth.
He was lucky that for some reason no one realized that he was awake. It gave him the time he needed to remember what happened and what he was doing before the accident. Panicking slightly, he found that the memory was gone. Hannibal was relying on him to remember. Face knew that the mission depended on him.
But for one thing, a panic attack was exactly what he need to get the attention of a doctor. It was showtime. Face forced himself to focus, he had some questions to answer. The concern in the doctor's eyes was odd after dealing with so many cold military doctors.
"Do you know where you are?"
Face nodded. "Hospital." It surprised him how much pain was evident in his voice.
"That's right. You're at the the hospital." Which hospital didn't matter at the moment. "Can you tell me your name?"
"Templeton..." He racked his brain for the 'right' last name. "Smith." It was easier to use a cover name that he could remember. It was the one used for the mission.
"Good. Now, your birthday?"
That was harder since Face didn't actually know his birthday. He picked a random day that wasn't obviously random but still made him eighteen... though he probably was closer to 22. "August 19, 1955. I'm 18."
"And today's date?"
Face noted that this was the first question that he could honestly answer a question. "March 16, 1974."
"It's the 17th but you've been sleeping for the past three hours. Just a few minutes after midnight actually." The doctor looked at his watch before he said this. "Now a tougher one, who's the current president?"
That was a harder one for Face but not for the reason the doctor believed. Following current events, even politics, wasn't high on his 'to do' list. He didn't care how angry Hannibal would get if he knew that. It was more fun to study history. Although if Hannibal asked him who the country's top most wanted criminals were (other than them) he would be able to rattle off names with no problem.
"Ford, I can't remember his first name."
The hospital was much too far away for Hannibal's liking. The local doctor was well past retirement and liked his sleep. He wasn't capable of taking care of someone with a head injury.
He wished Murdock would drive faster. Until he saw his lieutenant he would never believe Face was fine.
Face was just drifting off when he realized he wasn't alone. At first he thought it was a nurse but when she didn't approach Face became worried. His second thought was that it was Lynch but that didn't make sense. Lynch was back in California. He had no reason to believe that he was in Pennsylvania.
"Open your eyes, Templeton. I know you're awake."
"Kenny?"
"Who else would it be?"
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your family. Your brother just arrested for stalking."
"Not just stalking. But for murder as well. Yeah, the police, the same police that suspended my uncle in case he might have known something, reopened the cases of those boys that were found in the mines. But I'm sure you already knew that."
"Kenny, I was just trying to find out who was scaring my girlfriend. I wasn't going to go to the cops."
"And we both now why that is."
Face stalled but he knew that only confirmed whatever Kenny believed. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Stop lying. I know you and Hannibal are members of the A-Team. I haven't told anyone, though I wished I had."
"So you're going to kill me instead? Like you did with the other boys...?
"I didn't kill anyone."
"Now look who's lying. You would do anything for your brother. I know you helped Kevin stalk Carrie. We both know that he isn't smart enough to do it on his own."
"Kevin loves Carrie. He wouldn't do anything to hurt her. So he sent a few notes? Big deal. But I think killing her boyfriend would hurt her and I wouldn't do that to Kevin. I just want to know why you're doing this."
"Because it's the right thing to do. Despite what you may believe, I do care about her. Kevin went the wrong way to go about showing his feelings. Anyways, you should go. Your family is probably missing you."
"I'm not sure about that. They most likely haven't even noticed that I was gone." With that, Kenny Bishop was gone.
Face was woken again earlier than he would have liked by someone touching his arm gently. Usually such a touch would make him feel safe but this time all he felt was malice. He tried to fight back but a needle pierced his skin before he could do anything.
"Don't worry about a thing, Templeton. I'm doing what is best for you. It'll be over soon."
Then Face knew no more.
Murdock 'causally' slipped into the hospital. Cops were swarming the building. Fortunately none of them were military police. It would be bad if MP's spotted him at a hospital that Templeton Peck was being treated, especially since he was supposed to to be at the VA 3000 miles west of his current location.
So far it seemed as though no one realized who Face really was and Hannibal made it clear to keep things that way for long as possible.
He approached the nurses' station.
"Howdy! I'm H.M. I'm looking for looking for my cousin, Templeton P. Smith."
Murdock's smile faded as the nurse paled. That was never a good sign. He could only hope that it didn't mean what he thought it did.
Face tried to remain calm even though he was terrified. It was the first time in years that he was alone. Not just merely by himself but truly alone. He had come to rely on the others and became dependent on the them.
He didn't know when that happened.
Shacking his head, he quickly assessed the situation. Cold? He was freezing. The thin hospital gown offered no protection. This made hypothermia a real possibility. Sick? The concussion took care of that. His stomach was doing flips that weren't there when he was in the hospital. He refused to give in to the urge to vomit. Risking dehydration wasn't something he wanted to do at the moment. Surroundings? Pitch black but by the smell, Face knew that he was in a coal mine.
He was going to die.
Face never put much thought into how he was going to die. He lived a dangerous life. Getting hit by a stray bullet wasn't unexpected. But at least a bullet would be faster than starving to death. The lack of water could also kill him.
Ironically the safest thing he could do was stay put... not that he would do much moving around with the way he felt. If Hannibal could find him he had a chance. Only problem with that was that he had no idea where Hannibal was.
To say that Hannibal was furious when he learned that Face was missing was an understatement. For once, because he was playing a worried father and not a somewhat callous CO, he was allowed to show his emotions. If that meant that his main emotion was anger, then so be it.
He was careful not to take his anger out on Murdock. The captain didn't deserve that. There was also no telling how fragile the man would be from one moment to the next. The last thing any of them needed was Murdock having a breakdown just because Hannibal yelled at him.
One problem though was that he had to keep Murdock busy by sending him on regular trips to the police station. It kept the risk of being recognized at a minimum. They weren't going to tell a non-family member anything so they kept to the story from the hospital that he was Face's cousin.
But after three days of no results the two men were getting frustrated. He hated that every time he went out to help look for Face he was stonewalled. But Hannibal knew that he couldn't do anything about it. Getting arrested wouldn't find Face any faster. In fact, it probably give the police less incentive to find his boy if they knew who he was. It was much easier to bring in a member of the A-Team if they were dead. He shook his head in the irony that for now the only thing that was keeping Face alive was possibly killing him at the same time.
Murdock wasn't used to Hannibal being so passive. The Colonel always seemed to have at least six different plans for any situation. Now when Murdock needed Hannibal to act even more like Hannibal, it was as though he had given up. The Jazz was gone.
Murdock had to get away from it. Away from the guilt.
The diner was quiet when he arrived. The only people there, other than a cook and a single waitress, was an elderly married couple. He ordered pie and coffee, not because he was hungry but to have have something to do. Murdock was so tied up in his thoughts that he almost didn't notice that someone had sat across from him.
"You're a friend of Templeton's, aren't you?"
"I'm his cousin."
"No, you're not." He stopped talking as the waitress came over to put a piece of pie in front of him. He waited until she was gone before speaking again. "I don't know who you really are and at the moment I don't care. But I do know that you and Colonel Smith want to save Templeton, which is more than what the cops are doing."
"How... What?" He really didn't like that this kid knew so much, though he was a little affronted that he didn't care who he was. Some acknowledgment that there was a fourth member of the A-Team would be nice.
"I was at the police station visiting my brother... The cops aren't doing anything to find Templeton. They did a cursory search but they didn't even go to the mines. No one ever talks about it but everyone knows that some bodies have been found there. They've just never been connected to being Carrie's ex-boyfriends."
"You're Kenny Bishop." Murdock finally recognized him from Face's extensive notes. The teen nodded.
"The whole town is in denial. They would rather pretend that nothing is wrong and have a killer on the loose than to catch that killer. It's my dad's fault. He couldn't stand it if it came out that his town was less than squeaky clean. Even speeding tickets are rare and mostly those are given to out-of-towners."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because it wrong. Why should we care about our reputation when so many innocent people are getting killed? Besides it would be worse if anyone discovered a coverup. And..."
"Go on, Kid."
"I'm one of the last people who saw Templeton before he disappeared." He hesitated to continue.
"What happened?"
"I yelled at him. I knew even then that none of this was Templeton's fault that Kevin was arrested. I just needed someone else to blame."
"And now you feel guilty. Don't worry about it. The A-Team is forever being blamed for doing stuff they never did."
"That's no excuse. I should have stayed with him until Hannibal got back. Templeton was nothing but a friend to me. My only friend. I betrayed that."
Murdock rubbed his face. It's been to long since he interacted with people outside his Team at this level. The Team usually had BA comfort distraught kids. "Look kid, none of this was your fault. Whoever took Face probably would have either waited until you were asleep or would have hurt you to get to him." There was another pause as the waitress came back to pour Murdock more coffee. "We're going back to the apartment. Maybe now Hannibal will actually do something to save Face. We don't have to worry about the police anymore."
Murdock was surprised, but thankful, to find BA at the apartment. The sergeant was sleeping off a thirty plus hours drive. Murdock ignored that fact as he began to pin up some maps of the area he had been looking at earlier, including one of the mines.
Kenny explained everything to to Hannibal and an irritated BA.
Soon Hannibal realized what Murdock was doing. He crossed off the three mines the boys' remains were found and the ones still in use. Kenny pointed out a few that had been caved in and Hannibal crossed those off as well. Two more were too far from where the other three were found. The killer had a pattern of where they dumped them so those were also crossed off. That left them with two mines to check.
To say that Hannibal didn't know what to think when Kenny insisted that he came with was an understatement. Only the fact they needed a fourth person, someone they sorta trusted, to help search the mines allowed him to come along.
Problem was that Hannibal wasn't sure if he could trust Kenny. Hannibal always prided himself that he could read people, quite possible better than Face. This was the reason he had Face put on his team and promoted to lieutenant instead of having him sent to Ft. Bragg back in '71. It was why he gave BA a chance to prove himself by never asking him to do something that went against his morals. It was why he trusted Murdock with his team even though since the beginning his sanity was questionable.
But this kid was causing him to have doubts. His instincts were telling him that Kenny was innocent. However, evidence was against him just as it was against Kevin.
The Team should have known that not even getting into the mines would have gone according to the plan. Hannibal never expected that security would be better here than at most army bases.
Only Hannibal and Murdock had guns. BA couldn't shoot left handed and no one would give a sixteen-year-old an automatic weapon, especially if they didn't trust the teen not to shoot them.
Hannibal kept Kenny close as he ordered Murdock and BA to the other mine. He took a few shots at a guard, purposely missing him, but forced him to back off. It was fairly obvious that these men had been trained to shoot, but, unless they had been to Korea or Vietnam, they had never shot at another person. None of them had the kill instinct he had to train his men not to act upon anymore.
Few of the guards were willing (or stupid enough) to shoot at a kid. Realizing this, Murdock took off running, telling BA the he would meet up with him as soon as possible. He smiled as he leapt into the into the air. He smiled even more when he heard a guard request for backup, leaving BA's path clear and the other mine unprotected.
Shooting at the two remaining guards' feet, Hannibal lead Kenny to the entrance of the mine. Everything went quiet for a few moments. He hoped that meant Murdock had gotten away and would be meeting BA. It was possible that he got caught but having such thoughts was counterproductive. He couldn't worry about possible dangers when Face was in real danger.
Hannibal didn't risk using his flashlight until they were a few hundred feet away from the entrance. They weren't being followed but being cautious, especially with a civilian, was a given. Kenny didn't even notice that the extra softy precautions were for his benefit.
The two traveled in silence, Hannibal two steps behinds Kenny.
Carrie was getting anxious. She hadn't seen Hannibal or any of his cohorts in hours. She had gotten pretty good at tracking the A-Team without them noticing her. There were a few close calls with the crazy one nearly spotting her. That caused her to stop going to the diner she was staking out.
Now Carrie had no idea where the Team could be... well she did but she really didn't want to think of that possibility.
Another problem was that she couldn't find Kenny. She had to find him before he came up any plans to unleash.
And most importantly she had to get to Templeton before anyone else.
It didn't take long for Murdock to realize that jumping was a really bad idea when you're being shot at. He got the attention of the security guards away from the others and now he had to get it off from him.
He dove to hide in some bushes and watched as the passed him. Murdock waited until it was quiet before leaving his position. He didn't like doing things that way but he couldn't exactly see anything from his hiding spot. Making as little noise as possible, Murdock moved away from the bushes.
He didn't realize that he had been humming the theme song to 'Mission Impossible' until he stopped. He heard voices approaching and hid behind a tree.
"I Want every tracking and hunting dog you can find out here. If it really is the A-Team I want them alive and out of here as soon as possible."
"But what about the reward? That's $10,000 that you'll be giving up."
"I don't care about the money. Everett pays me more than enough for ignoring safety codes down at the mines. There hasn't been an inspection in years. No, they have to leave... all of them. Our town doesn't need anymore scandal. It's bad enough that's Kevin's antic's are in the newspapers three counties over. If word gets out that we've had the the A-Team living among us for over a month and didn't do anything about it we will never survive the fallout.
"You really think it's them?"
"Of course I do. Kenny wouldn't accuse the Smith boy of being Templeton Peck if he didn't have proof."
Murdock took that as his cue to leave. He had to get to Hannibal and tell him Kenny betrayed them.
The quiet was getting to Hannibal. The kid wasn't acting like someone who just found the leader of the A-Team. Most would be asking questions. But Kenny's silence made him wonder what exactly Face told him.
"You want to tell me what's on your mind." It was an order not even a civilian dared disobey.
"That obvious, huh? Why do you do this? I mean, Why put your lives in danger for people you don't even know?"
"Somebody has to, kid."
"But isn't that what the police are for?"
Hannibal shook his head. "I know that you're not that naïve. After all you experienced with your brother and uncle you don't know that some cops are corrupt or just can't help because the law stops them. My Team and I, we work outside the law."
"But why? You guys could be in Europe right now, safe."
"We are Americans, Kenny. What the Army did to us doesn't change that. All we can do is our best given our circumstances. That's all anyone can do."
Kenny took a swig of his water as he thought about what Hannibal said. He could understand not wanting to leave home... though he suspected that the members of the A-Team didn't actually have homes to return to.
"Maybe you guys can stay here."
"I don't thin that's a good idea, Colonel. Not with a little traitor like him going around telling everyone he knows who you and Face are."
"Murdock?" The young captain had a .357 pointed at the boy.
"That's not true. I never told anyone about the Team."
"Then why did I just hear someone use Face's real name!" yelled Murdock.
"I swear I didn't―" A look of horror crossed Kenny's face. "Oh no! I'm so sorry. I'm really, really sorry. I didn't realize... someone must have overheard me talking to Templeton at the hospital. They could have reported that information back to my father."
"And he waited days before doing anything about it."
"To prevent a scandal? Yeah, he would."
"Captain, I believe Kenny. It was an accident. Now let's find Face before anything else happens... like a cave in." That last part was a joke to break the tension.
"Please don't say things like that. They tend to come true when you do."
"Murdock, what are the chances of that happening now? The mine had been abandoned for―" Hannibal looked to Kenny for an answer.
"Over a decade."
"For over a decade. Nothing is likely to happen now."
"When Face is near?"
"Ah, good point."
The silence at the mines was unnerving for Carrie. There was supposed to be extra security but no one was around. That either meant something was happening or the extra guards were no longer necessary. Carrie doubted it was the latter.
Holding her pistol close, she entered the mine.
Blue was usually one of Hannibal's favorite colors, connections to the Navy not withstanding. But Seeing Face that shade of blue made him reconsider his choice. Seeing Face that shade of blue made him reconsider a lot of his choices.
Hannibal had seen more death any man should have to see both in Korea and later in 'Nam. Too many young men died but that was war. He accepted that a long time ago. His men, though many could barely be called that, accepted it as well.
In spite of that, he couldn't accept Face's death. Not like this. If the younger man had been shot on a mission, maybe, but not out right murder. The worst part was that Face was unlikely to get the justice he deserved, not in this no scandals allowed town.
It tore at Hannibal to see Murdock lying next to his best friend, his brother in every way that mattered. His head was on Face's chest and tears were streaming down Murdock's cheeks. Hannibal never seen Murdock behave like that before.
"Tha-thump, tha-thump tha-thump. Hannibal, that's a heartbeat. Face has a heartbeat. He's still alive." Without thinking about it, Murdock stripped off most of his layers of clothes and wrapped himself around Face, his hand above his heart.
"Is he crazy?" Kenny asked Hannibal.
It was Murdock who answered. "Of course I am. But was does that have to do with warming my buddy? Though this would work better with less clothes."
"Less clothes?" Kenny doubted Templeton wold like that.
"Now isn't the time to argue. We need to warm Face up enough so that we can move without putting him in shock. I think I know exactly what we have to do."
Worry wasn't an emotion BA was comfortable with. Because of that his worry usually came across as anger... unless a child was involved. In this case the only child involved was safe with Hannibal.
No, Murdock was the cause of his worry this time. The crazy pilot could take care of himself, most of the time, but he always checked in as ordered. So far he hadn't checked in and that only meant one thing, something bad had happened. BA only hoped whatever it was had him going to Hannibal and didn't involve Murdock being captured or worse.
When Hannibal was a child (as far as memories went) World Wars II was just ending. Women had a very specific role, stay at home, mind the children, and take care of your war weary husbands. It very rarely involved them picking up a gun. It just didn't happen and when it did it was to shoot a rabid animal.
Hannibal still held the belief that women shouldn't be near guns but he also believed that raising them at scum should also be added to the list of unusual circumstances. He could admit that a man isn't always there to protect the woman.
Carrie Meadows had other beliefs and had no problems with raising, or using, a gun. By the way she was holding her pistol, she knew how to use it.
She also had no problem with using it to murder the very men that were hired to protect her.
Hannibal was kicking himself for not realizing that Carrie was a serial killer. No matter the fact that females are rarely classified as such. He put his men in danger, he put Face in danger.
Of course it wasn't the first time he put his Team in danger. The robbery of the Bank of Hanoi came to mind. It wasn't the first time it was his fault. Again the Bank of Hanoi seemed relevant but Hannibal also blamed General Morrison for that little SNAFU.
This time was different. He wasn't sure how but it was. Face would have explained it if he could.
Face. He was going to be crushed when he learned what Carrie did. The kid loved the girl even though he would have to leave her. He couldn't give her any sort of life she deserved. That wasn't going to stop the feelings of betrayal.
That was when Hannibal realized why things were different. This was the first time they had been betrayed since the Army accused them of treason. He knew that it would happen eventually but not this soon.
At least when he saw Kenny with a gun pointed at his head he knew the boy was on their side. But then again they only knew that because Hannibal had sent him to find BA. There had been no point in trying to convince Murdock to go. Leaving Face wasn't even an option.
Hannibal realized that he should be listening to Carrie. Bad guys always seemed to give out a lot of useful information when they ranted.
"My mother was the smartest person I have ever known. She was a scientist specializing in creating anti-venom. Mom worked mostly with spiders. She taught me to care for them and to respect them. I soon wanted the same respect.
"But Mom lover her spiders more than she loved me. I used that against her."
"You killed your own mother!" Kenny voiced what they were all thinking.
"I had no choice. I was sick of coming in second for her affections. Besides, a few years later I found better way, more pleasurable ways, of getting the love I require.
"Your boyfriends," concluded Murdock.
"That's right. Like a black widow I get exactly what I want and when I'm done I dispose of them."
"You killed innocent boys! They didn't deserve to die!" Hannibal yelled. Such a casual disregard for life disgusted him.
"They didn't love me. They used me. They deserved to die."
"Face loved you."
"Not enough. Not enough to stay with me forever. Hannibal, if Templeton wanted it enough, we could have had it. Templeton didn't have to use me as well."
"That doesn't give you the right to kill him, that doesn't give you the right to kill anyone."
A lot happened in the next moment that no one knew what really happened. They did know that Hannibal had been shot in the shoulder and Carrie was unconscious because BA had thrown a really big rock at her. For some reason Murdock found that ironic.
As luck would have it, a security guard had followed BA. He heard Carrie's confession and the resounding bang of the gun but he was too far away to do anything. It was with his help that everyone managed to safely get out of the mine. It would have been impossible with only Murdock having two good arms and Kenny being as small as he was. Kevin was the Bishop with the muscles.
Even though Murdock said that it wasn't likely they would run into any MP's anytime soon, Hannibal still wanted to get out of Pennsylvania. Not liking his other options, he ordered BA to head toward Ohio. At least that way they were going toward California. Knowing that was a small comfort. During the past two years the Team had begun to consider Los Angeles home... well except for Face since he grew up there. In Hannibal's case, that was more important because he really hadn't had a place to call home since he joined the Army.
BA pulled into the first hospital he found. It was a nice enough area but because of that it meant there was a risk of someone asking awkward questions.
There was also the problem of Face having no identification. Everything had been left behind in Pennsylvania. After a hurried conversation, Kenny agreed to destroy everything. But that didn't help them. Face needed a name that he would hopefully remember... and it couldn't be his own.
Though what possessed Hannibal to use Templeton Smith was beyond anyone's guess.
They had to separate and Hannibal hated it. He made sure that Face was never alone even though he couldn't be with him. There was already evidence of infection and neither BA nor Murdock were going to let it get worse. Paranoia wasn't something they could afford while two of them were down. Having someone at Face's side went far in relieving some of Hannibal's fears.
Besides, it was still impossible to pull Murdock away from their youngest team member.
Dr. Maxwell Sheridan was not easily intimidated. He was a Korean War survivor, retired a Major from the US Army. Getting pushed around by worried families wasn't something he let happen.
But the men that came in with his hypothermic patient just down right frightened him.
It wasn't as though they did anything that was different from any other family. They wanted the best treatment for the young man in his care. Dr. Sheridan assured the men that he would. He never gave his patient's less than his best.
No, what scared him was the intensity he saw in their eyes. There was such a fierce protectiveness he had only seen once before. It was back when he was just a boy, no more than nine-years-old. His sister got on the wrong side of a mother bear and the same look that was on his father's face as he saved his little girl was now shining through the eyes of oldest of the three men and, to a lesser extent, from the other two.
It didn't help that the 'father' of the group had been covered in blood when they first met either.
It was strange that such a thing would intimidate him. Blood was something that he dealt with on a near daily basis. But combined with that look...
It was after the man was treated for his own wounds that they fell into what was an obvious routine. In fact the older man had asked if he could have been stitched up in the same room as the kid. They couldn't allow that but after a round of antibiotics and a bag of blood to replace what he lost, they placed him in the same room as the younger man for 'observation'.
It was during the next few days that Dr. Sheridan watched the men.
The large black man had the clearest role. After demanding that someone remove his cast, he became their care taker. He never stayed at the hospital long but when he did he either brought food or tried to convince one of the others, usually the older man, to leave and get some real rest in a bed. The hospital chairs, while more comfortable than other hospital chairs, were never meant to be slept in. It sometimes worked and the older man would leave for a few hours. The black man seemed to be content with his role but, for Dr. Sheridan, it seemed wrong for someone who didn't even look 25 to have such huge responsibilities.
Then there was the other young man, the one that Dr. Sheridan suspected was just pretending to be insane. He was probably 30, maybe a little younger. He was the watchdog. Sometimes literally. It was funny how the nurses would flee from the room when he growled at them. And like any good watchdog he rarely left the boy he was protecting. When he did it was never more than a hour and only when someone was there to take his place. It was as though he believed something would happen to his friend if left alone for more than a few minutes.
Finally there was the older man, the 'father'. His role wasn't as clear as the other two. He was the only person that the patient responded to subconsciously. Dr. Sheridan didn't doubt that his young patient was close to the other two. The bond was just stronger between the youngest and oldest. It was because of this response, this bond, that had the doctor convinced that the kid wasn't in a true coma but in a deep, healing sleep.
But what was truly curious was how quickly they all fell into these roles. It was done in well practiced movements that made Dr. Sheridan wonder just how often they had to play those roles.
At the orphanage it wasn't that unusual to find a small child or two cuddled up to you upon waking, especially after a rare thunder storm. Templeton knew what it was like to be barely five-years-old, well he believed he was five, and have no one to comfort him. It was one of the few things he allowed mostly because if he did more than that he was afraid he would become attached. That was dangerous.
However that came with its own set of problems. Templeton knew that he was far more comfortable around kids than adults. Add the fact he had a lot of memories he would rather forget, even the most benign touch, especially from men, would make him flinch.
He was working on stopping that.
It wasn't that much of a surprise, at least not to him, that he panicked when he noticed someone much larger than a child sleeping next to him. His movement woke the man and Templeton lashed out. He panicked even more when the man went flying from the bed and landed awkwardly on the floor.
"Hannibal, did you have to teach him how to hit that hard?" Blood dripped from his nose. "That really hurt."
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Templeton whimpered as he curled up into a little ball. In his experience hitting someone always meant he would be hit back.
The commotion in the room had Dr. Sheridan rushing in. He wasn't expecting to find his patient awake and one of his friends on the floor bleeding. He was glad that a nurse, one of the few that wasn't afraid of the crazy man, had followed. That left him free to check his patient.
"I need you to calm down." Like usual that didn't work. "My name is Dr. Sheridan. I am not going to hurt you."
That only caused Templeton to curl up even more. He didn't notice the IV pulling itself out of his vein. He wasn't going to let some doctor he didn't know touch him.
Hannibal did see the IV as it forced itself out. He also saw blood dripping from his wrist. There was no way that he would let his lieutenant hurt himself further. That led Hannibal to follow his instincts and he began to run his fingers through Face's blonde hair. He knew the exact moment the kid relaxed. The way Face was acting scared the Colonel. It was almost as though he didn't even know who Murdock was.
"Come on, Kid. You have to let someone check you over." Face eyed the doctor with distrust. "Will you let the nurse look at you?"
"You'll stay?"
"Only if you want me to." Face's eyes slid to Murdock. "He can leave. In fact, go check in with BA. He'll want an update." Murdock began to protest. "Go. Everything is going to be fine. BA needs to know."
The nurse went to work as soon as the door clicked closed. She made note that his temperature was high at 99.7 degrees and from what she could tell his lungs were congested but not enough to worry about. She also wrapped his wrist to stop the bleeding. The nurse managed to replace the IV but only after she reassured Face that it wasn't going to hurt him. She quickly cleaned up and left the room, leaving Hannibal and Face alone with Dr. Sheridan.
The exam wasn't over.
"I'm not going to touch you but I need to ask a few questions. You have to answer honestly, alright?
Face once more looked to Hannibal. He was disconcerted by the younger man's need to constantly make sure he had his approval. The Face Hannibal knew was confident and independent. He usually made his own decisions. This Face was a scared little boy. So Hannibal did the only thing he could, he nodded.
Face only gave the doctor only his first name, much to Hannibal's relief. But she also said that he was seventeen. The paper Hannibal filled out claimed he was twenty. But when Face named the wrong president alarm bells went off in his head.
Face had amnesia.
He had no memory of 'Nam, the Army, of being part of the A-Team... of his friends. Nothing. And Hannibal couldn't help but think this was better. Face didn't remember any of the pain of the past few years.
But not remembering also made him vulnerable... made the Team vulnerable. It made it so much harder to protect him when Face didn't understand why he needed to be protected, especially when no one could tell him why he needed to be protected.
The one thing that Face did seem to remember was that he could trust Hannibal. Only Hannibal. He couldn't even remember why he trusted the older man. Even Murdock got his share of suspicious glances from his young friend.
It was hard when Face began to ask questions. Most of them, even simple ones like 'how did we meet', could not be answered in case a stray nurse overheard them talking. There was no putting the Team in danger. There was no Jazz.
Harder still was convincing Face that he wasn't going back to the orphanage. The kid had been rejected so many times that he had himself believing no one would ever want him.
Not even Hannibal.
It was a fight getting face to believe that he belonged to someone. They couldn't exactly say that Hannibal was his commanding officer when the kid had no memory of being in the Army. Though telling him he followed him home once, while partly true, wasn't something Face was going to accept without explanation no matter how much he trusted Hannibal.
Physically, other than a cold and a small fever, Face was fine. After only four days Hannibal had Dr. Sheridan's okay to move Face from the hospital. He wasn't too keen on his patient driving cross country but it was a lot better for Face than flying.
However neither BA nor Murdock were too thrilled Hannibal had bought a used car for the trip... using one of Face's aliases.
Dr. Sheridan recommended no more than eight hours a day in a car. And given his patient's distrust all things not Hannibal, going in separate vehicles was a must. With BA's fear of flying it was a necessity. Besides, it was easier to buy than rent.
There was one problem with leaving the hospital. While there Face actually managed to sleep through the night. Now Face was having nightmares. The kid refused to talk about them but with the amount of thrashing and the confused look he had afterward, Hannibal suspected they were about 'Nam. Hannibal would've been a liar if he said he didn't have a few of those himself.
It was the third day of the trip when he finally spoke up about the nightmares.
"It's really strange. I don't think I've ever been in a forest much less a jungle with people shooting at me. I'm not really the outdoor type."
"That really happened to you, Kid. It's been about two years since we've been in Vietnam."
"What?" Confusion washed over him. As far as he knew he had never been to Mexico never mind the other side of the Pacific.
That night Hannibal explained all he could of the younger man's history with the Army... well not the part they were all wanted criminals. He didn't need to know that yet.
All that really did was change the content of the nightmares.
The wounds Carrie caused were still too fresh. But when Face, at 0100, woke believing Hannibal was dead, the older man really had no choice but to tell him what he was remembering. Though it was strange that Face would dream of Hannibal being shot by Carrie. He was unconscious the whole time.
"I heard your voices." Then he burst into tears. That went far beyond Hannibal's comfort zone but he still got out of of his bed and climbed in next to his kid. Hannibal's arms went around him as he buried himself in his chest.
The next morning neither man spoke of what happened. It was awkward enough when they found themselves in the same position when they woke.
It was that day the flashbacks started. The first one happened in the car. A helicopter flew over them. It wasn't an unpleasant memory but Face came out of it gasping for breath. It scared Hannibal so much that he pulled off the road until he knew that the younger man was breathing again.
"What did you see?" Dr. Sheridan warned them this would happen but not that it would be that intense.
"Murdock, he's the tall guy that I met back at the hospital, right?"
"Yeah." he was curious where this would lead. Unlike Face, he didn't see the helicopter.
"He's a pilot."
"The best there is. You remember?:
"Not really. I remember being on a helicopter, a lot of helicopters actually, he's always the pilot. I don't remember anything about who Murdock is."
Hannibal tried not to be too disappointed. He knew that every little thing helped.
The second time it happened they were watching television in their motel room. It was a cereal commercial of all things that triggered the flashback. This time he remembered BA's love for milk. They both thought that it was a really odd thing to suddenly remember.
Throughout the next day little things constantly brought back memories of the past five years. Sounds, sights, smells. It all started to slowly come back. But each returned memory caused more stress to weakened body. More stress only more headaches...
… and more nightmares.
Hannibal couldn't do anything about those nightmares because what Face was reliving happened long before they even met.
Being back in Los Angeles helped everyone relax. BA had set up an apartment for them before they arrived. Hannibal was thankful for that. He didn't have time to hunt for some place to live. Not while he was trying to trigger more of Face's memories.
But that was the bad thing about being back in LA. The city was far too connected to his childhood. The only place that triggered anything was the warehouse. The old building brought back the first meeting with Edmund Meadows. Not something Hannibal wanted Face to remember.
After that Hannibal gave up for the night. He sent Face to get Chinese (all of his favorites were on the list Hannibal gave him) while he got cigars. It had far too long since his last one.
A few more things came back, meals with the Team mostly but there were also dinners that were just the two of them. They would talk about things then that they would never talk about in front of the others.
It was a while Face was in the shower that Hannibal finally lit up a cigar. It was the first one he had since since Face woke. Cigars helped him think and right now he needed a plan to help his kid.
He was so lost in thought that he didn't take any real notice to the bathroom door opening. The kid did like long showers but his mind was still partly stuck at the orphanage where such a luxury was forbidden. So he didn't even think about it when he came out only fifteen minutes later.
However, he did take notice when he heard Face collapse.
The sense of smell was a funny thing. It was this sense that triggered more memories than sight and sound combined. It was the reason he bought so many of Face's favorite things the past few days.
None of those things caused Face to collapse.
By the way he Kept his eyes tightly shut, Hannibal knew face was in a lot of pain. All of the lights were turned off. Face relaxed enough that he easily was picked up and placed on the couch.
The kid only started to breathe again when Hannibal slid behind him. It didn't take him long to realize that he was being matched breath for breath.
They stayed like that for hours, Hannibal once again running his fingers through Face's hair. He wasn't sure if he was giving his kid any comfort but every minute that went by he became more tense.
It was after midnight when Face began to stir. When he realized the position he was in he jumped away from Hannibal and curled up at the opposite end of the couch.
"Hey, Kid, relax!" Face worked himself into a panic attack. "Hey, calm down. You're okay!"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Face kept repeating the words.
Hannibal thought that when Face got his memory back his self-confidence would come back as well. That didn't happen. In fact, now he seemed to be an even bigger emotional mess than he was at the hospital.
That left Hannibal clueless to what to do.
He could understand why Face acted the way he did in Ohio. The kid was a long way from home with people he didn't know. Anyone would freak out under that kind of stress. But now he knew exactly who he was with and he was still scared.
"Face?"
One word was all it took to put Face on his feet. Before Hannibal could stop him he was in his room with the door locked. Picking locks was not a skill he possessed and Face knew that. It was a skill Hannibal prized when so many people frowned upon it. Even Back in 'Nam in proved to be useful while escaping the POW camps.
Just like it would be useful to have right now.
The music, The Beatles if he guessed right, didn't cover the sound of Face moving around. He was packing. That wasn't allowed... not like this. Not when his emotions were so highly charged.
"Face, get out here!" There was a pause in movement as Face fought with his natural instinct to obey Hannibal. "Face, now. That was not a request!" The order was completely ignored. "Front and center, Lieutenant Peck!"
The bedroom door slowly opened. Hannibal calling Face 'Peck' had the same effect of a parent using their child's full name... not that either of them knew that. But nonetheless it had to be obeyed or the consequences would be worse than dire.
Face stood at attention. Eyes front, betraying no emotion. That is until Hannibal grabbed his arm and dragged him back to the couch. A gentle shove and Face was sitting.
Hannibal remained standing, making Face very uncomfortable. He was getting used to being taller than Hannibal. Back in 'Nam he was always one of the shortest. Now he felt like that short kid again and her hated it.
"Just because I know you better now doesn't mean you get to runaway."
"But―"
Hannibal sent him a glare he usually reserved for scum and slime-balls. "If in a few months, when your emotions aren't giving you the run around, you still want to leave, I won't stop you. Right now I want you where I can keep an eye on you. You're unstable and that can be dangerous. Not only for yourself but for the whole Team. I won't let you put any of us at risk because you're being careless."
"I would never―"
"My turn to talk. You may not intentionally put us in danger but it can happen. I won't let it, not now.
"We will be taking a month off. No cases. We both need to heal and you need to gain weight. I'll be in charge of your diet until I no longer find being so necessary. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"Also, for the next two weeks you're grounded."
"Grounded?" Face was only partially familiar with the term.
"You're on KP duty. No television except for the news. No phone except for fifteen minutes every other day to Murdock. You are allowed to read but only in the living room where I can see you. Understood?"
"Yes, sir." Face understood having to do KP, it was standard punishment in the Army. It was the loss the privileges that confused him. Though Face would never admit it, this just wasn't Hannibal's style. Running laps until he collapsed was.
"Good. Now unpack and go to bed. Just because we won't be on missions doesn't mean the next month will be easy." Face left as he was told and Hannibal put an unlit cigar in his mouth. "I love it when a plan comes together!"
Epilogue
Mid April 1974
Face and Murdock were already at the warehouse and were waiting for BA and Hannibal to arrive with their latest client. It had been a long month for all of them but more so for Face. He was more excited than his teammates that they had a new case, especially since it meant no more one-on-one training with Hannibal. At least not until he screwed up again.
Though it was those sessions that convinced him to stay. Hannibal still cared... in his own way.
Face gave his best a smile. "You ready for this?"
"Oh, I'm always ready." He returned Face's smile.
"Good. Face looked at his watch when he saw BA's approaching van. "Break times over, Murdock. Let's get back to work."