"Faceman," Murdock's words were barely audible. His condition had deteriorated in the last few minutes. "We're going to...rough landing. Easy on the pedals, but she'll want to turn." Murdock had to pause for a minute before he could continue. "Gotta keep straight, a little at a time. I got the sticks, I think, but I can't handle the pedals. You're going to have to shut it down."

Face nodded his head in agreement and put a hand on Murdock's arm. "We got this."

Almost as soon as Face said the words, Murdock's eyes slipped closed into unconsciousness as his body finally overpowered his willpower. "Murdock! Murdock!" Amy was in an all out panic at the sight of him slumped over. She looked at Face, hopeful she would get the answer she needed. "You know how to land this, right?"

Face plastered on his best charming smile. "Done it before, sweetheart." He didn't mention that he had landed a helicopter exactly twice, both times with Murdock's verbal and physical help. This was a different ballgame entirely, but it was up to him.

"B.A.!" Face called to him. "Get Murdock out of the seat and on the floor. We're going to have to triage, Murdock's worse, so you make sure he doesn't bleed out. And I order you to NOT freak out on me here. Amy, when he's clear, you take his seat. You're going to have to help me land this." Face barked out the orders as he struggled to fly.

Within seconds, B.A. had Murdock on the floor, tourniquet applied, and his strong hands held tight over the wound. Amy fought back against the queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach as Murdock's blood on the seat started to seep into her jeans. She looked at Face as she struggled to stay in control. "Now what do we do?"

"See those pedals on the floor? Left goes left, right goes right. You'll need to make small adjustments as needed to keep us straight. Nice and easy, gentle adjustments. We are going to land this helicopter together," Face did his best to reassure her. Glancing back behind him quickly, he simply said, "Hang on, this is going to be rough."


Maggie raised her head from the newspaper as she heard a helicopter in the distance. Listening closely, she realized it was coming closer. Hearing aircraft flying overheard was such a rare occurrence that when a helicopter approached, it most certainly meant she was about to be put to work. She stood on her porch and watched the wobbly chopper approach; she didn't know much about flying, but anyone watching this one knew that it was in trouble. It struggled to stay upright and level and after it finally made contact with the ground in something that wasn't quite a crash but not quite a decent landing either, she ducked low and took off running.

The sight that greeted her was a shock. Murdock was unconscious, Hannibal barely with it. Face barked out orders as he started flipping every switch he had seen Murdock hit to power down. "Murdock and Hannibal both hit, Murdock's pretty bad, I can take care of Hannibal."

Face helped Maggie move Murdock out of the helicopter, but as they were preparing to carry him into her house, B.A. jumped out from the back. "I'll carry my fool brother in. Least I can do after he managed to not crash us." B.A.'s voice was gruff, but he handled the pilot ever so gently as scooped him up and headed in.

Maggie stared at B.A., astonished. "He was awake?"

"Had to be, we needed every bit of help we could get," Face tersely replied as he helped Hannibal out of the chopper and into the house.

Within a few minutes, both of Maggie's exam tables were full. Face had washed the blood off his hands and focused on removing the bullet from his Colonel while Maggie concentrated on Murdock. Few words were exchanged as Face gave Hannibal a morphine shot, then proceeded to extract the bullet from his shoulder. It was something he had learned how to do long ago, but the fact that it was Hannibal took his breath away and caused him to second guess every move. After it was cleaned and stitched properly, Hannibal finally spoke.

"Murdock?"

"He's right over there, Maggie's got him," Face held a hand firmly on Hannibal's arm. "And you're staying right here for now." Hannibal just glared at him until Face finally offered another cigar as a peace offering.

B.A., who had been watching quietly from along the wall, suddenly spoke. "Where's Amy?"

"Thought she was with you, B.A." Face was too busy trying to keep Hannibal down that he hadn't noticed her absence.

"I'll go find her," B.A. disappeared out the door and started the search. She wasn't in the house or on the porch, so he headed out to the helicopter. He found her sitting in the pilot's seat staring at the blood stained controls, tears running down her cheeks silently.

Amy turned to him. "Hannibal, Murdock...they'll be ok, right? They have to be ok, don't they?"

B.A. smiled at her and held out his hand to help her out. "Course they will, little sister. Doc dug that 50 caliber out of me, remember? Come on, you need to wash up."

Amy looked down at her hands, stained first with Hannibal's blood, then Murdock's. She shook her head at the sight. "Guess I do, B.A." As they started walking to the house, she suddenly stopped him. "So are you still afraid to fly?"

B.A. stared at her. "Now more than ever! Crazy Fool trying to get us killed flying when he's half shot up like that! And Faceman flying us! But when I see Hannibal or Murdock bad hurt like that, I can forget for a few minutes."

That got a chuckle out of Amy as she wiped the tears off her face with her sleeve. "Come on, mudsucker. Let's go check on them."

They found Face and Hannibal sitting on the couch, Hannibal doing his best to not be affected by the morphine. Amy washed up and rejoined the team in the living room. Silence and worry made the minutes drag by until finally Maggie opened the door, looking tired and strained. Face was first to speak.

"How is he?" He was nearly breathless from worry and exhaustion.

Maggie's voice was worn. "He's sleeping. The more we can keep him still, the better, so I helped him out with a sedative. Dug out the bullet, cleaned out the wound, tied off an artery, stitched him shut. He's on an IV antibiotic and lost a lot of blood. B.A., he could use some of yours." Maggie looked right at him and waited for his response.

"Let's go, maybe he won't be as crazy if he gets mine now," B.A. was already headed in.

Maggie allowed them all in to see Murdock after the transfusion. As they all gathered around the sleeping Captain, Face finally looked relieved. Amy sat holding Murdock's hand, Hannibal stood beside her, quiet for a change, while B.A. and Face stood on either side of the exam table.

Maggie stood quietly against the wall with a cup of coffee as she observed the team. After so many years, they were beyond close; they were family. Amy had even grafted in fairly well recently, she noticed. They all had a hand on their Captain as they talked quietly. It would take Murdock a while to bounce back, Hannibal would be fine, but the day could have very easily had a tragic outcome if it wasn't for the teamwork shown by a family that intrinsically knew the ins and outs of quick thinking, leadership, and working together.