"How did this happen?" Hannibal asked, kneeling down to get a closer look.

"Well, I just thought this would be a good way to stop you two from fighting," Face tried to joke, but now the pain had really started to set in. He pushed himself onto his elbows and added, "When B.A. pushed me, I picked the wrong spot to land."

"When I pushed you?" B.A. asked, confusion reading all over his face. Confusion soon turned to guilt as he realized that he was the cause of his friend's current condition. "I guess we were so busy fighting, we didn't even notice."

"The question is, what are we going to do? We can't pull the stake out here…you'll bleed to death before we can get you some help." Hannibal thought out loud.

"Gee Hannibal, thanks for sugar coating things," Face whined through gritted teeth.

"Sorry kid," he said sympathetically. "B.A., do you have anything in the van that can cut through this metal?"

"I think so…what we gonna do Hannibal?" B.A. asked.

"If we can cut the stake free from the ground under Face's leg then we can leave it in until we get help," Hannibal replied. "We're not too far from Bad Rock…Maggie's our safest bet."

"Poor Maggie's gonna love this one," Face said wiping some sweat off his brow.

"Don't move Faceman…I'll be right back," B.A. said getting up.

"Don't move, he says," Face couldn't help but smile over at Hannibal, "I'm nailed to the ground and he says don't move."

"Hang in there Face. We'll have you free in no time," Hannibal encouraged. Once B.A. returned with a saw, Hannibal held Face's leg still while B.A. slid the saw under and got to work. With each pass of the saw, the pain was so great that Face thought he might pass out a couple of times. He was almost hoping he would.

Sensing Face's discomfort, B.A. tried to work faster and within a couple of minutes he felt the saw break through the other side of the stake. B.A lifted Face into his arms as Hannibal continued to hold his leg as still as possible.

They sat Face in the back of the van, propping his leg up on what was usually Murdock's seat. Face put his head back and closed his eyes trying to shut out the pain. Not to mention that it wasn't exactly pleasant seeing his leg looking like a shish-kabob. Face felt himself starting to shake…a sure sign that his body was going into shock.

Hannibal could see that his second in command was beginning to tremble and before closing the van door he grabbed a blanket from under the seat and covered him up. Walking over to B.A. who was standing beside the driver's side door he said, "We have to get him to Maggie as soon as possible…there is no telling what kind of damage that stake has done. Try to keep the ride as smooth as possible, though, we want to keep his leg still."

"You got it Colonel…I should have us there in a little over an hour." B.A. said while climbing inside the van. And again they rode off in silence. This time there was no anger behind the quiet, just guilt and worry about Face.

Hannibal glanced over at B.A. out of the corner of his eye. He was trying to figure out why he had gotten so angry at B.A. earlier. He was just being himself...he didn't get the name Bad Attitude Baracus for being all sunshine and roses. But that was what made B.A. who he is...and what made him such a valuable member of the team. Hannibal didn't like to lose his cool...especially with one of his men. But on that plane ride back from Hawaii, he just snapped. Maybe it was a sign that he needed a little break...after all, he wasn't getting any younger. Hannibal sighed and pulled a cigar out of his pocket.

B.A. heard Hannibal sigh. He felt bad about fighting with the colonel. He was not used to the older man getting so heated with him. Hannibal was always the one to help calm him down. He wasn't prepared to deal with Hannibal's reaction on the plane...especially because he was on a plane. And once he got upset, he had trouble controlling that temper of his. He could hear Mama's voice in his head now, "Scooter, that temper of yours is gonna git you in trouble." Mama was right, although it has also gotten him and his friends out of trouble in the past decade as well. Unfortunately, this time Face had gotten hurt and it was his fault. B.A. muttered under his breath and pushed down on the pedal to pick up the pace a bit.

Face opened his eyes when he heard B.A. grumble. He hoped he wasn't feeling too bad over what happened...he knew that B.A. would never hurt him on purpose. It wasn't that long ago that Face was in a similar position when B.A. was shot...and he knew how awful he felt. Face was about to open his mouth to tell the big guy not to feel bad when all of a sudden the van came to an abrupt halt. Face cried out in pain as his body jerked forward and his leg fell off of Murdock's seat.

"Faceman...you okay?" B.A. asked whipping his head around. "Darn deer ran out right in front of us." Face nodded his head yes, but the look on his face definitely said differently.

"Try to stay still," said Hannibal as he turned his seat around. He gently eased Face back against the seat and propped his leg back up. He could feel the warmth radiating from the Lieutenant's skin. "We're almost there. Hang in there just a little longer, kid." Again, Face just nodded. He closed his eyes because he didn't want the guys to see the tears he felt forming.

Maggie was waiting outside on her porch when the van pulled up. Hannibal had called her earlier to tell her what had happened and that they were on their way. As she walked over to Hannibal she could see the worry written all over his face.

"Bring him right into my examination room," she said to B.A. as he carefully picked up a pale looking Face. "How are you feeling?" she asked as they slowly made their way to her house.

He attempted a smile and said, "I've felt better."

Hannibal couldn't help but frown...Face really must be hurting for him not to be putting up his usual front.

Maggie smiled back and reassured, "Don't worry, I'll take good care of you and have you feeling better in no time."

Face lay on the table clenching his teeth as Maggie poked at prodded at his leg. Despite the pain, he couldn't help but find it amusing how she managed to look both fascinated and terrified at the same time.

"Well", she said while reaching for a roll of gauze, "what do you say we get this thing out of your leg?" Face just nodded his head. "Unfortunately, I don't want to put you under Face. You are running quite a high temperature indicating infection running through your system. And being that we aren't at a hospital, I want to give you as little as possible." She quickly added, "I'll locally anesthetize your leg. It may not take care of all the pain, but it should make it manageable."

"Couldn't we just have B.A. hit me and knock me out instead," Face joked in a weak voice, to which B.A. replied sadly, "I think I've already done enough damage for one day." Face instantly regretted his statement. His intent wasn't to hurt the big guy.

"Okay gentlemen," Maggie said looking at Hannibal and B.A., "I'm gonna need your help. Hannibal, stay up near Face's head and hold his torso still. B.A., I'm going to ask you to hold his leg."

Once the men were in position Maggie got to work injecting Face's now swollen leg with the anesthetic. "Okay Face, just take some deep breaths for me. I'll try to be as gentle as possible."

Face flinched as the first needle went in and Hannibal gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. He locked eyes with the colonel for a second and gave him a slight nod indicating that he was okay.

"Okay, that's it...last shot." Maggie said pulling the needle from Face's leg. "Let's give the medicine a few minutes to take effect and then we'll get started. I'm going to have to work as quickly as possible to minimize the amount of blood loss. Are you two okay to stay and help me?" she asked looking at Hannibal and B.A. "You aren't going to pass out on me, are you?"

"No ma'am," Hannibal replied, "after what we've seen before in Nam, I think B.A. and I can stay on our feet." B.A. nodded his head in agreement.

"I, on the other hand, am not making any promises," Face said slurring his words slightly. "I'm hoping to pass out as soon as possible." It wasn't long before Face got his wish. As soon as Maggie started pulling out the stake, the pain was too much and he passed out cold.

"Thank goodness," Maggie sighed. "I really didn't want him to be awake for this." Once the metal object was removed and Maggie felt as if she had the bleeding under control she ushered Hannibal and B.A. out of the room. "You two can wait outside now. It'll just take me some time to finish stitching him up. Go get yourself some coffee…you look like you need it."

Hannibal and B.A. made their way out to the waiting room. Both men sat down on the couch in silence staring straight ahead. It had been a long day and neither man knew exactly what to say to the other.

B.A. could hear the grandfather clock ticking. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. The sound began to get on his already frayed nerves. Finally he turned to Hannibal and said, "Listen Hannibal, I'm sorry 'bout before. I was out of line…didn't mean what I said. I was just blowing off some steam."

Hannibal leaned back and ran his fingers through his silver hair. "I'm sorry too, B.A. I don't know what got into me. What do you say we forget the whole thing and move on?"

B.A. held his hand out to Hannibal and Hannibal gladly shook it. "But man, you know we gonna owe Face big time after this?" he said with a smile.

Hannibal chuckled in response. "Don't I know it!"

And that's when they heard an all too familiar sound of late: sirens.

TBC…