HIDDEN TREASURE

The scene that welcomed Murdock and the S&R team was unbelievable: hidden in a little cave in the rocks of the Iraqi desert two dirty and exhausted men, uniforms covered in blood and eyes wide, close to the far end of the room, were standing on guard over a third one, unconscious and badly injured, who was laying flat on his back with his head resting on the Lieutenant's lap.

At first, they didn't seem to acknowledge that the cavalry had arrived. Eventually the youngest soldier heard them and instinctively held his rifle in trembling hands and pointed his weapon against them, only to let it drop to the ground when he recognized them. The other two figures didn't move. The soldier was immediately taken care of by the rescue medical team while the pilot approached the still figures in the background.

"Do you need any help, Captain?" one of the soldiers asked him but Murdock said no, he just needed to approach them quietly without scaring them.

"Face?" he tried, speaking softly, hoping his voice sounded steady; the last thing his fallen friends needed right now was him having a panic attack, so he took a deep breath and came closer to the duo.

But the Lieutenant gave no answer nor seemed to notice his presence, giving his full attention to the Colonel who was sleeping – or so Murdock hoped – in his arms. He was actually caressing him and murmuring reassurances to the older man, saying he was going to be alright and he had to hold on, just a little longer, for him, please.

Murdock felt his heart break into one million pieces at the sight; he noticed also the Colonel's breath was shallow and the not-so-little pool of blood under his still figure. If they didn't transport him to the base hospital soon the pilot doubted he was going to make it. Face had done his best to help him; he had covered him with the heat cover and tried to stop the bleeding. Probably, if it wasn't for him and his medical training, the Colonel would be dead now.

They had been in that cave for three days, without water or supplies, apart from what they usually carried with them in their backpacks. The soldier was exhausted and a little shaken up but alive, not hurt at all and he was going to make a full recovery.

The Colonel was seriously hurt, that Murdock could tell for sure, but there was so much blood that he wasn't certain Face wasn't injured too. He knew the younger man was able to downplay his own injuries if he was determined to and maybe this was the case: worrying about Hannibal, it was quite certain he didn't think about himself until it was too late.

"Face? Can you hear me, buddy?" he asked again and this time Face gave him a little nod with his head. Murdock felt ridiculously happy at that little sign.

"Are you hurt?"

Face watched him with a curious look, his gaze unfocused, but remained silent.

"Face, please, I need to know if you're ok? The Colonel?" he tried again, hoping his friend was able to give him the information he needed. But Face seemed lost in his own world. Murdock knew they didn't have time to waste, so he knelt down beside the couple and carefully turned Face's head in order to look in his eyes.

"Please, Face! I need to know how hurt you are and the Colonel. Can you tell me what happened?"

But despite his best efforts, the younger man remained silent. Only when the soldiers of the S&R team tried to lift Hannibal's dead weight from him did he seem to wake up from his catatonia and tried to fight them. Murdock held him in his arms and easily handled him, in his weakened state.

"Hush, Face, let them take care of him! Tell me where are you hurt? Is any of this blood yours?"

Face turned anguished eyes to look at him and cried out, trying to escape but Murdock held him close to him; he struggled for a little longer and suddenly relaxed in the pilot's arms, sobbing softly.

"Please, Murdock, I need to be with Hannibal. I can't lose him!"

"You're not going to lose him. But now let me help you!" and with exquisite care he helped the LT to get up and held him upright when he almost collapsed.

The ride to the base on the helicopter lasted 45 minutes; Murdock helped Face to sit beside him in the back of the bird, as close as possible to the Colonel. The medical team started to work on him as soon as they were in the air, checking his wounds and starting several IV's, but they lost him twice. Every time Face struggled to get to him, with reserves of strength Murdock was surprised at, and he had a hard time to restrain the traumatized man. As soon as they landed at the base, the Colonel was immediately wheeled into the hospital and they lost sight of him behind a double door with a huge sign "Personnel Only".

A doctor appeared from nowhere and took care of Face. The young lieutenant fought him at the beginning, claiming his place was with Hannibal, refusing to follow him into the treatment room; Murdock gently explained to him that he wasn't doing any good to the Colonel at the moment by fighting the man, that he personally was going to wait for the doctors that were treating Hannibal in the waiting room in order to inform him as soon as he had news about his condition. Apparently satisfied, Face let the doctor guide him to the treatment room, where he was cleaned, and his own wounds - all superficial – were dressed in sterile gauze, but otherwise he refused to be given any drugs to help him sleep and rest after his ordeal.

He went to sit beside Murdock instead, looking exhausted and torn, but at least now he was clean of the blood. BA had brought him clean clothes, not that he cared about that, but Murdock insisted on the subject and Face reluctantly did as he was instructed.

Four hours later, Face sat in the same hard plastic chair between Murdock and BA. Eyes closed, he tried to avoid the concerned glances of the two men sitting beside him; it also gave him some relief from the exhaustion and dizziness he was experiencing. He had refused the food Murdock tried to make him eat but gladly accepted the water and the hot cup of coffee, the sugar giving him new energy and making him feel more human.

Two hours later they were still waiting. At some point, BA got up to talk with General Morrison, who had heard about the rescue and had come to hear news about his men. Face heard them talking about him, he caught pieces of conversation where BA assured the General they – he and the pilot – were taking care of him and he had nothing to worry about. And yes, he was fine except for some bruises, clearly exhausted but refusing to leave them, worrying too much about the Colonel to think about himself.

If only they knew, Face thought! He was exhausted, hungry and disoriented. If not for Murdock he wouldn't have made it so far. His thoughts were focused on Hannibal entirely, and at some point he even started to pray silently for the older man to be ok, knowing it was nonsense but maybe, if there was a God, maybe he would listen to him, accept his prayer and let Hannibal live.

It was supposed to be an easy mission; they were only supposed to make a survey of the village and that was why they took Miller and Wilson with them. The two young soldiers had never been out of the base and the General assigned them to Hannibal for this routine operation.

But things didn't go as planned and there was an ambush: Miller was shot in the head and died instantly, the other three managed to escape and kill the assailants but the gunfire caught the attention of the locals.

Soon they were chased by armed villagers, who shot the Colonel twice – in the shoulder and in the leg. When it was evident Hannibal wasn't going to make it back to base, Face knew their only hope was to hide somewhere and wait for the S&R team, who would be alerted if they didn't check in at the rendezvous as planned.

Luckily they found a cave in the mountains near the village and they hid in there. Three days later Murdock found them. Hannibal was alive, unconscious but alive.

Now, sat in the hard plastic chair of the waiting room, Face felt like screaming but knew he couldn't, not in front of all the people. He needed to be alone but didn't want to leave, in case the doctors needed to talk with him about Hannibal's condition; he opted for the bathroom, which was in the corridor near the waiting room and damn! he had to empty his bladder.

The moment he stood upright his tired body refused the sudden movement and for a second his vision grayed; if not for Murdock, who rushed to help him, he would have fallen to the ground.

"Where are you going, buddy? Bathroom?" Murdock asked in a very concerned voice.

Face nodded and let his friend support him the few steps to his goal, conscious of being at the center of everybody's attention in the room. He blocked out their sympathetic expressions and released a long sigh once inside the toilet.

The concern on Murdock's features and his caring words apparently were too much and the Lieutenant crumpled to the floor, exhaustion catching him finally. The pilot held him in his arms, rocking him like you would do for a child, in a calming gesture more to his own benefit that to Face's. A few minutes later, the world stopped spinning and Face realized where he was and struggled to get up, again, because he still had to use the bathroom. This time he made it safely without collapsing.

He was going to exit the bathroom when Murdock stopped him.

"Face, do you love him?" he asked earnestly and the LT just stared at him, with wide eyes.

"Of course I do. Just like everybody else," he answered.

"That's not what I asked. I asked if you *love* him?" the pilot insisted and Face knew he couldn't lie to the man.

"God, Murdock! Yes, I do love him, more than my life. I can't lose him!"

"Does he know?"

"I didn't tell him." I wish I had, I wish I had.

"Then, when he wakes up, you just tell him, muchacho."

Face watched him with disbelief, as if he hadn't understood his words. Despite his best efforts, Hannibal was in bad shape when the Rescue team found them and it was a miracle he had survived three days in that cave, without medical help. When he coded twice on the helicopter, Face had felt like dying himself. But Hannibal came back. Now Face didn't want to hear he had died, he had prayed for him to be alright and please, God, please, let him be safe and alive. Unconsciously, he closed his eyes at the painful memories and let the tears fall on his cheeks.

Murdock gently cupped his face in his calloused hands and wiped away the tears.

"The doctors said he made it, buddy. You did a very good job and actually saved his life! He is in ICU now but if everything goes as they think he will be transferred to a regular room tomorrow."

Face didn't talk, he couldn't but the pilot knew what he was thinking.

"I overheard their conversation with the General through the bathroom door. While you were pissing."

As if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders, Face felt like crying again but this time he didn't try to hide the fact; his arms went around Murdock's frame and the pilot held him until he was calmer.

"Thanks, HM! Can I see him?"

"They said he asked about you. Let's talk with the doctors and see, ok?"

With a new hope, Face followed the pilot, determined not to miss the occasion to tell Hannibal his real feelings about him.

END?