Murdock held his hand to his forehead as he staggered off, his legs feeling wobbly like they were full of jelly and with circulation only running through his feet and his knees. Off somewhere he heard people calling him, and he realized it was Hannibal and Jean; they were running towards him to see if he was alright. He didn't know what had happened, everything had been fine upon takeoff, but even though that little needle said they were filled up with fuel, the camera chopper had started to drop only a couple minutes after he got them off the ground. The cameraman was a stuntman since emergency exits had to be made on occasions and this was one such occasion; he'd bailed out of the chopper before it hit the ground, saving himself and the $2,000 movie camera, but Murdock had stayed in the cockpit to the bitter jarring end that left him rattled like the end of a snake's tail. In fact he would almost swear when he shook his head he could hear his brain rattling around inside of it.

"Murdock, are you alright?" Jean asked as she ran up to him.

"Oh sure," he answered, "I just got an unexpected urge to fall down," and promptly did, right onto his knees.

"That was a rough landing you took," Hannibal said as he slipped Murdock's arm over his shoulder to help him up, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I got a little headache, Colonel, but other than that…" Murdock trailed off.

Jean flicked off his cap and felt along his scalp, "You hit your head in the crash, didn't you?"

"Just bumped it a little," he insisted.

"All the same," Hannibal told him, "I already called Face, he's going to come by and pick you up, you're done for the day, Captain."

"Aw but Hannibal," Murdock started to protest.

Hannibal stuck his gloved finger in the pilot's face and told him, "That is an order, Murdock, they're already talking the possibility of mechanical error on that chopper, and if one's got a problem the next could too, I don't want to take anymore chances with you here today. Just go home with Face, take it easy and get some rest."

Murdock slowly nodded and gave in, "Yes, Colonel."

"That's a boy," Hannibal smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"We'll be home when we get done with our scenes," Jean added.

"I won't be long," Hannibal told him, "We'll shoot 40 minutes to get 2 minutes of useable footage then I'll peel off the scrubs and mask and swing by to see how you're doing."

Murdock grumbled something as he closed his eyes like a migraine was already setting in and said, "'Preciate it, Colonel."

"Smith!" a voice called out from somewhere on the lot.

"Uh-oh," Jean said, "One of the director's yes men."

"Smith!" the assistant said as he came up to them, "What're you doing out here? You're wanted in wardrobe, now!"

"Relax, pal," Hannibal smugly replied, "After years of rubber suits, getting changed into a doctor's uniform will be a breeze." He leaned over to Jean and said confidentially to her, "I'll bet this guy has heart attacks for the fun of it, he couldn't calm down to save his life."

Murdock turned and caught something from the corner of his eye. It couldn't be…could it? He blinked and pulled a piece of eye crust out of the other corner and looked again, there was nobody there. He saw Face's corvette come up to the studio front and he went to meet the Lieutenant. He swung his legs over the door on his side of the car and Face stepped on the accelerator and did a wide U turn and headed back the way he'd come.

"So what happened?" he asked, "Hannibal said there was some kind of accident."

"Oh, problems with the chopper," Murdock said as he felt the back of his head and winced, "We went down and I landed it but I did it the hard way."

"You alright?" Face asked.

"Yeah, the Colonel just recommended I take it easy for the rest of the day."

"Well it sounds like good advice anyway," Face replied.

"Face," Murdock looked over to him, "I left Billy's leash at B.A.'s apartment when I was there last week, can we swing by so I can pick it up?"

"Oh, we'll do that another time, Murdock," Face said, "It'll just take us out of the way and I think it'll be a good idea to get you home and get some ice on your head."

"Alright but when I take Billy out I gotta make sure he don't get out of the yard," Murdock told him, "You know how fast that boy can be."

Face turned to the side as he rolled his eyes; the way Murdock's imagination worked, an invisible dog could run as fast as a cheetah on rocket skates.

Once they got back to the house, Murdock got an icepack out of the freezer and put it on his head and settled on the couch to lie down for a while. Face stayed with him, watching TV in the chair by the couch, and after a while they both fell asleep. A short while later Murdock was jerked awake by somebody screaming and he realized that it was Face and they both wound up falling on the floor in the process, and that woke him up finally.

"Face, what's the matter?" Murdock asked.

Once Face became aware of his surroundings he calmed down and said with a heavy sigh, "Nothing, Murdock, just a nightmare."

"Oh!" Murdock shot up, and was suddenly bouncing up and down like an overeager student with his hand raised, "Ooh ooh ooh! Let me guess! Was it the one where you're skydiving and you've just jumped out of the plane and up above you hear the instructor yelling 'hey! Where's my knapsack?'?"

"No," Face replied as he got up again, "That wasn't the one."

Murdock tried again, "Was it the one where you're being chased by a porcupine who keeps asking you for a hug?"

Face cracked at the mention of that one, "No, Murdock," he barely managed to keep from laughing.

"Well then what was it?" Murdock asked as he recollected his icepack which had seen better moments of frigidity.

Face sat back down and explained, "Just usual stuff, the Hanoi Hilton."

"Ah," Murdock nodded understandingly, "Yeah…the porcupine would've been an improvement."

Face looked to his friend with a hint of desperation in his eyes as he asked, "Do you think we're ever going to get over what happened back there?"

Murdock just shrugged neutrally, then he said, "You know I thought it was just me today. Right after the chopper crashed, I thought I saw…no, forget it, it's too crazy even for me."

"What was it, Murdock?" Face inquired.

Murdock looked like he was preparing himself for the worst and finally said, "I thought I saw Cong soldiers at the studio," he laughed nervously and added, "Now isn't that crazy?"

Ordinarily the Lieutenant might try and be reassuring, but this time he didn't say anything.

"Hey Face," Murdock said, "You know…I get it that no side's better than the other really, but it's never really made sense to me."

"What didn't?" Face asked.

"Why did they do it? Why does anybody do it? What drives people to torture and maim and kill like that? I've been trying to come up with the answer since day one, and nothing."

Now it was Face's turn to shrug and he replied, "I wish I knew."

Murdock shook his head, "No…maybe you don't, maybe we're better off not knowing…maybe knowing why the monster is the monster makes the rest of us into them as well."

Face laughed and said, "You should try that philosophy when and if Hannibal ever gets his job back as the Aquamaniac."

Murdock thought about it and laughed.

And in fact, he did try his philosophy about monsters on Hannibal when he and Jean came to the house later that afternoon. Hannibal had been his usual encouraging self but also told Murdock, "It has potential but if we were to have a sudden legion of Aquamaniacs running around then I'd probably be out of a job permanently."

"Unless you could make the original Aquamanaic the leader of them all," Jean told him, "In which case they'd have to keep you."

Hannibal seemed to glow when he heard that suggestion.

"Hannibal," Jean said, "Why don't you and Face stay for dinner?"

"Yeah!" Murdock's eyes lit up and he was practically jumping on the couch, "That'd be great!"

"Oh…" Hannibal tried to wave it off, "I'd love to but…"

"Come on, Hannibal, you don't already have plans do you?" Jean asked.

"Actually yes, I'm having dinner with the director of The Creature from Camp Runamuck, we're in negotiations of my getting the lead role back."

"What about you, Face?" Murdock asked, "You can stay for dinner, can't you?"

"Oh I'd love to, Murdock, but I…" Face was stalled on his explanation when he saw the hurt puppy look on the pilot's face, Murdock was about to swallow his bottom lip, "I'd love to, Murdock, but I've already got a dinner date set and you know how mad Felicia is when she's kept waiting."

Jean reached over and patted Murdock's shoulder sympathetically and told him, "We'll have them over another time, Murdock…hey, maybe we can drop in on B.A. tonight and surprise him."

Murdock perked up and practically floated off the ground, "Yeah, I haven't seen the angry mudsucker for a while, it'll be good to see him again!"

"You see? There you go," Hannibal said as he headed for the door, "We'll see about coming over tomorrow night."

"Yeah, see you later, Murdock," Face waved as he followed Hannibal out the door.

As he closed the door behind him and followed Hannibal down the sidewalk, he told the Colonel, "I hate Christmas shopping at this time of day, everybody and his brother is out and about."

"Yeah, but it's the only time we can when Murdock's not going to be with us," Hannibal pointed out, "So we better take advantage of it."

"Yeah yeah," Face grumbled, "But we're never going to be able to find a place to park."

As it turned out, getting a parking spot wasn't as much trouble as he'd thought, but getting into the store without being run over by somebody else was another story altogether. Hannibal wasn't with him, he'd decided to take his business to another store on the block, leaving Face to fend for himself in the toy shop, and one glance at the place made him very grateful he didn't have Murdock with him. Knowing the pilot as well as Face did, he'd probably run around touching everything and trying out anything with a button on it and probably want one or two of everything.

He had to admit, they were making toys a lot snazzier than they did when he was a kid: he looked over all the action figures, from G.I. Joe to Star Wars to Indiana Jones, he also saw the talking teddy bears that gave him a slight case of the creeps when the eyes and mouth moved. And of course any toy store would cash in on merchandise from any hit TV show or movie, but in California, and in Hollywood especially it was even worse: there was everything from stuffed E.T. dolls to MacGyver motorcycles, Inspector Gadgetmobiles, Rambo action figures and Gizmo dolls, there were even still some Battlestar Galactica Cylon action figures being sold there.

One thing he could not find were the airplanes, he managed to find one of the people working at the store and asked for some help; the worker wasn't quick to lead him to the airplanes and inquired as to what kind of a child he was buying for. Face did a double take and shook his head; how do you explain to somebody that the child you're buying a toy for was 6'1 and almost 40 years old? But, he managed to get around that and finally got the worker to point him in the direction of the remote control airplanes. Apparently that was something else that people were trying to cash in on because there must've been 20 different models to pick from, but he finally found the red German Fokkers. He got it paid for and had it gift wrapped and walked out of the toy shop grinning like he was carrying the secret of the Lost City of Atlantis in the box.

He carried it out to his 'Vette and found a note from Hannibal on the passenger side; it said that he would be busy for a while and not to wait around on him, he'd get a cab back to his apartment when he finished. Face didn't get it but he stuffed the note in his pocket and decided to head for home; though he couldn't help wondering just what Hannibal was going to get for Murdock.

Once Face got back to the place he was currently scamming, he decided against trying to hide Murdock's present there since for one thing, Murdock would be over someday that week and might tear the place apart looking for it, and for another, his most of all were not the most permanent of addresses and it might be a better idea to stash it at Hannibal's apartment. He wound up calling five times and the last time it rang for a minute and a half before Hannibal finally answered; he didn't sound like he'd just gotten in the door though, and Face considered the idea that Hannibal was just having fun screwing with him. He told Hannibal about his idea and the Colonel agreed he could bring the present over to stash it there.

"This ought to be interesting though," Hannibal told him, "Jean just called and said she wants to come over. She just dropped Murdock off at the V.A. because he wanted to visit with Dr. Richter for a while."

Face agreed, "This ought to be very interesting, I wonder what she wants."

He hung up with Hannibal and drove his 'Vette over to Hannibal's apartment, and grunted when he finally opened the door, "3 floors up and you couldn't get an apartment in a building that has an elevator."

Hannibal just smirked and told him, "You're getting soft, Lieutenant." He eyed the brightly wrapped package and asked, "So what'd you get him?"

"Oh it's great, Hannibal, it's a remote control airplane."

Hannibal nodded and replied, "Well, it's something that he doesn't have."

There was a knock at the door, Hannibal went to answer it and Jean came in carrying a package the same size as Face's but in a different wrapping paper. When they saw each other's presents, Jean stopped in her tracks and they both looked at the other package in dread and exchanged a couple of 'Oh no's.

"Don't tell me," Face said, "You got Murdock a present too?"

"Yeah, what'd you get him?" Jean asked.

They both answered simultaneously, "A remote control airplane."

"Oh this is just great," Face groaned, "And I suppose you got him a German Fokker too."

"No," Jean sharply replied with a shake of her head, "I got him the Sopwith Camel biplane with Snoopy."

Face rolled his eyes and let out a sigh of relief, "Well, that takes care of that. Then he can still get both of them."

"Yeah," Jean said as she handed her present to Hannibal who took it and Face's gift to hide somewhere, "But I get the feeling that we're both going to be outdone by one angry mudsucker."

"What do you mean?" Face asked.

"I went by B.A.'s apartment earlier to get Billy's leash for Murdock," Jean told him, "And while I was there I did a little snooping around because I've never really seen his place, and I found a package on the back of the top shelf in his closet, and it's the size of those giant remote control helicopters that they're selling at the same toy store where we got our planes, it's as big as both of these put together."

"B.A.?" Face asked in disbelief, "It couldn't be."

"Hey, Christmas brings out surprises in everybody," Jean said, "Even an angry mudsucker can take a day off from his grumpy disposition, can't he?"

"But still, why would B.A. do that?" Face asked.

"Because he likes Murdock, even if he'll never admit it," Jean said, "Besides, there's no name on it, no tag saying that it's from anyone, so it wouldn't surprise me if he just plans to drop it in with the rest of the presents anonymously and let Murdock wrack his brain trying to figure out where it came from. And of course if Murdock ever puts the pieces together, B.A. will deny everything and say he's crazy, just as he always does."

"Have to admit, it's a good idea," Hannibal told Face.

Face shrugged and said, "We'll see."

"Hey Face," Jean said, "What do you think Murdock's going to get you guys for Christmas?"

"Murdock? Who knows? I mean we're talking about a guy who runs around in cut up bed sheets and talks to his feet all day," Face reminded her, "There's no telling with that guy."

"You can say that again," she replied.

The next day was Jean's day off from work, but she still wasn't able to sleep in because Murdock got her up early jumping on the bed like a monkey, trying to get her opinion on what he should get the guys for Christmas. He stressed the fact that with this being his first Christmas out of the V.A. that he wanted to really do something special to make it memorable; and Jean listened to all of this with one eye half open and her head nodding more out of reflex than actually listening to him.

"Murdock," she said as she swung her head back and hit the pillows, "Whatever you get them will be fine, you know that."

"I know but I don't want to settle for just anything, I want it to be something amazing."

Jean chuckled through a closed mouth, then opened it slightly to reply, "Murdock, nothing you do is ever mediocre anyway, so why worry about it?"

"Well I don't expect you to understand," he said, "But this is the first time since I was living with my grandparents that I'll be spending Christmas in this country, out of the hospital, and with my new family. I want to do something spectacular for it."

Jean nodded again from where she lay, then she opened her eyes and said, "Alright, I'll tell you what, since this is my first Christmas in L.A. I have to go out later and get some new Christmas decorations, you can come and while we're out we'll take a look around and see if we can't find something for the others. And if there is something that's good enough for them, it'll pop out at you when you see it, right? You've got a sixth sense about these things, right?"

Murdock nodded anxiously.

"Alright, so you see, we'll go shopping later and get the whole thing settled," Jean calmly told him, and then added, "Now go back to sleep!"

He lay back down beside her, but he didn't go to sleep, instead he turned over on his side, somewhat hovering over her as he watched her close her eyes. A few seconds passed and he said to her, "Jean."

"What?" she asked with her eyes still closed.

"Jean."

"What?"

"Jean?"

"What! What? What is it, Murdock, WHAT!?" Jean shot up screaming.

Murdock managed to resist the urge to start laughing though he couldn't hide the humorous smirk on his face. He quickly became somber though and said, "I need to talk to somebody."

Jean turned and looked back at him, "What about?"

"What…" he sat up in the bed and asked her, "What do you think makes people the way they are? I mean why do you think so many people are bloodthirsty barbarians, do you think it's hereditary or does something make them that way?"

Jean also sat up but couldn't bring both of her eyes to open fully, "I get the feeling I'm about to get a history lesson here, you talking about back in Vietnam?"

"Well, for lack of a better example, yes," he said.

Jean shook her head, "I don't know, Murdock…I've tried to figure it out myself, I mean people like us, we do it out of necessity, but we don't go into overkill, other people they drag out torture and death as long as they can because they enjoy watching their victims suffer…I can't figure out what would make anybody like that, war or no war."

"You know," Murdock said, "Back in World War I, there was a ceasefire between the British and the German soldiers."

"I remember," Jean said as she pulled the covers up, "The Christmas Truce."

Murdock nodded and replied, "I never could figure it out if they were able to do it once, why couldn't they do it again?"

"Well by the time of the second war, it was a whole other ballgame, everybody was more of a cutthroat, they found new and more fantastic ways to kill people and torture them," Jean said, "And it's just progressed on that from every war afterwards. Face it, Murdock, the majority of the human race is a miserable excuse for human beings, no matter where you look: Germany, Korea, Russia, Croatia, Japan, Vietnam, even here in America we must have 100 million jerks who we'd be better off bombing the daylights out of, and we don't, why? Because we're so civilized, that's why we're not allowed to do it, but they're just a bunch of rampaging animals that should be put down like killer dogs because they have no respect for any life, human or otherwise, except their own."

"And that's where we come in," Murdock said proudly, "Have cause, will travel."

Jean smiled tiredly and said, "We need more of you guys, that's the only way humanity's going to survive."

"Well that may be true, but in the meantime I think four of us do just fine," he told her.

By the time they got home that afternoon, Jean was exhausted and as soon as she dropped her bags onto the floor, she likewise fell back on the couch and was ready to succumb to unconsciousness. She heard Murdock come into the room, and then heard him trip on something, and then the next thing she knew, there was a sudden 50 pounds pressing on her legs; she opened her eyes and saw the new tool box Murdock had gotten for B.A., filled to the brim with new tools, had landed on her.

"Get off me!" she told him as she pushed the metal toolbox off her knees and it made a crash landing on the floor.

Murdock let out a strained groan and said, "Sorry about that, Saint."

Jean sighed and remarked, "It's alright…now where are you going to put that thing so B.A. won't find it when they come over to visit? Hey! They're supposed to come over for dinner tonight, so where're you going to hide it?"

"I got the perfect place," Murdock told her, "Up in the game room, he's not going to go in there."

"True," Jean said, "Somehow he doesn't strike me as a Tron type of person."

"I just wish I could've found something for Face and Hannibal though," Murdock said as he shook his head.

"It's still early, you'll think of something," Jean told him, and reached out to pick up one of the bags she brought in, "Alright, let's see what all we've got."

Murdock grabbed her other arm and pulled her up into a sitting position and sat down beside her. They had two bags full of lights, tinsel garlands and other Christmas ornaments for the house. There were also a couple bags of groceries, one for the contents of dinner, and the others for, at Murdocks' insistence, making fruitcake and Christmas cookies.

"Fruitcake for the fruitcake," Jean murmured, and she told Murdock, "Well, as it turns out I do know one recipe that doesn't manufacture multicolored rubber bricks. Though I gotta tell you, I still feel weird about being away from my mom this Christmas."

Murdock reached over and gripped her shoulder sympathetically.

"But I'll tell you," she added, "If I have to spend it with somebody else I think I found the closest second there is."

Murdock smiled in response.

"Though that reminds me of something," she told him, "You keep going on about what to get Hannibal and Face and B.A…what do you want for Christmas?"

He thought about it for a minute and finally said, "I don't know, as far as I can tell, I've already got everything I need."

As planned, Hannibal and Face came to dinner, but they brought the unfortunate news that B.A. wouldn't be joining them since he didn't trust anything that Murdock would cook. The Colonel and Lieutenant proved they were more willing to try it, though they noticed Face came prepared with a roll of antacids. Jean pretended to be insulted and threatened never to cook for company again, Face took the lid off one pan, got a nose full and commented, "No loss there."

All the same, everybody grabbed a pan or a bowl and took the food out to the dining room table and made themselves at home.

"So Murdock," Hannibal said over dinner, "How do you like your new arcade?"

"Oh it's fantastic, Hannibal!" he said, "You'll have to try it sometime, it is simply unbelievable, and she's right, you don't need any quarters for them."

"I figure with the frequent flyer miles he'll get on those games," Jean explained, "They'll have themselves paid off within a few months anyway. Incidentally, Murdock, did you ever cause any of the ones at the V.A. to ever short out or explode?"

"Not as I can recall," he answered.

Face rolled his eyes at the pilot's remark.

Once dinner was over, Face was drafted to help with the dishes, and once again he moaned and groaned the entire time about getting dishpan hands, to which Jean only told him, "Suck it up, I do this every night."

"Yeah but you…" he restrained himself from saying what he was thinking and instead said, "You are a stunt person, I rely heavily on my appearance to come by what we need on our missions, that includes smooth, unblemished skin and…"

"Spare me, pretty boy," Jean told him, "Besides your hands were already callused from all your work in the army, a little suds work ain't gonna kill you."

Hannibal laughed and said, "You know Face, you two could work well together."

Face groaned and replied, "You're not serious."

"Well that's the thing about me, you just never know," Hannibal told him.

After the dishes were done, Face collapsed on the couch and fell into a semi-unconscious slumber, though that didn't stop Murdock from talking to him the whole time while he watched TV. Hannibal followed Jean into the kitchen and took a detour into the laundry room; he stayed in the doorway as she opened the dryer and took a batch of clothes out to fold.

"So how've things been going here between the two of you?" Hannibal asked her.

"Oh, can't complain," Jean said, "Some days are good, some days are better, I doubt it's anything that you all haven't been through with him."

Hannibal shrugged and replied, "Maybe. Of course we've all had years of experience with him."

"Yeah well, I'll admit there are still plenty of surprises with him," Jean said, and as if to demonstrate, she pulled a pair of men's bikini briefs with cherries and bananas on them out of the dryer and held them up for him to see.

Hannibal threw his head back laughing.

Hannibal had gone to see B.A. at his place the next morning, he hadn't said why he was coming over, and even once he was there he didn't say why he had come. He just smoked his cigar and paced around the room, B.A. guessed that he was thinking something to himself, that part was a safe bet but just what it was was anybody's guess.

"Hannibal," B.A. finally said, "Is there a particular reason you had to come over here so early or is this just another one of your jokes that ain't funny?"

"B.A., I need your help with something," Hannibal said, "I've been trying to think of what to get Murdock for Christmas."

"Easy," B.A. snorted, "A one way ticket back to the crazy hospital."

Hannibal ignored his comment and said, "You remember that decoder ring Murdock had right after he got committed to the V.A.? And he lost it when we went over to Kafiristan in '73?"

B.A. nodded, "Fool lost it when we went over to liberate that stupid colonel out of the prison."

"I've been checking some second hand shops trying to find a replacement one to get him but with no luck," Hannibal said, "You can't find those things anymore."

"So watchu need my help for?" B.A. asked.

Hannibal looked at him knowingly and flashed one of his trademark grins, "Well B.A., you're good at building things."

B.A. looked like he might fall off the couch, "You want me to make that sucker a new ring?"

"Well, a rough facsimile of it," Hannibal replied, "I know it would mean a lot to him and you do know a lot about jewelry of the showoff variety."

B.A. grunted and rolled his eyes, "Aw man, Hannibal, why do I let you talk me into these things?"

"That's the spirit, B.A.," Hannibal beamed, "Incidentally, have you gotten anything for Murdock for Christmas?"

"Why would I?" B.A. asked as he got up and headed to the kitchen, "Only thing that crazy fool ever gives me is headaches."

"I see…" Hannibal nonchalantly replied, "So if I were to take a quick peek in your closet I wouldn't find a 24 inch remote control camouflage Huey chopper, would I?"

B.A. stopped and turned around on one foot and glared at Hannibal in shock and disbelief.

"Don't worry, Sergeant, it'll be our little secret," Hannibal said with a chuckle.