Six and a half.
It had been six and a half years since his relationship with Face had ended and he still found himself reaching for the kid. He grabbed the extra pillow and pulled it to him instead, sighing deeply again. It still hurt. Nearly as bad now, as it did when he looked up and saw the betrayal in Face's eyes.
The real kicker was that he still didn't know why it happened. From the moment they saw each other in Basic, he and Richards had hated each other. They had immediately started a childish, yet deeply satisfying prank war. The one up-men-ship had lasted their entire careers. When the team had been transferred to Richards' base, Hannibal knew that Richards main taunt would be about making General first. So he had arranged with Russ for a base inspection by Richards superiors. One that would be topped off by a field exercise with Col. Hannibal Smith's infamous team and a team hand picked by Richards.
No one was surprised by the outcome.
The meeting that day started out as usual. They met in Richards' office, traded insults veiled as civility, finished the paperwork on the team's last mission and he was given the prep work for the next. The meeting had gone on long enough that Hannibal was craving a cigar. Richards', a stickler on non-smoking rules, told him to go ahead and have a cigar. He also offered a drink. Suspicious, but wondering where it was going, Hannibal accepted. The General sat down next to him and started reminiscing about people who they both knew.
Soon they were both laughing like two long lost friends. The bottle was empty and Hannibal offered to go back to his apartment. Richards perked up at that. Before he knew it, they were sitting on his couch, two more bottles empty. He was well on his way to being drunk and had closed his eyes to try to focus on what was being said. A hand on his shoulder had him opening them. Richards was close. He blinked and the next thing he knew Richards' tongue was down his throat.
His fuzzy brain processed the thoughts of 'this is wrong' then 'this feels good' as Richards' hands dove under his shirt. They pulled apart as his shirt flew over the back of the couch. His own hands were divesting Richards of his. He fell back as he was suddenly cupped thought his pants. A mouth was nipping at his neck as his pants were pulled down his legs. Richards was undoing his own pants as he kissed down Hannibal's chest. He arched up, grasped the back of the couch and let out a hoarse yell as Richards somehow swallowed him whole and sucked, before finding a pleasurable rhythm.
He didn't think of much else until he arched his head, a hoarse groan leaving his mouth, as he was entered for the first time in years. Richards leaned over him, captured his mouth and thrust his tongue in almost as deep as the rest of him, before starting a fierce rhythm. Pounding away, somehow hitting that spot deep inside him just right every time. It didn't take long for both of them to peak, Hannibal spilling between them. Richards caught himself on the arm, grinning, he leaned down for another kiss, then trailed down Hannibal's neck and chest, tongue sweeping from side to side, lapping up all traces of the white fluid. Reaching between Hannibal's legs, he took him into his mouth again, getting every last drop.
That was when Hannibal heard something, opened his eyes and met Face's. He was sober in that instant, watching as very angry Captain pulled his Lieutenant away. After a moment more of shock, he pushed Richards, who was leaning in for another kiss, away, grabbed for his clothes, and ran after Face.
He didn't see him again until the following Monday. Face made it clear that he didn't want to talk about it. That they would never have to talk about it as B.A. had move him upstairs and now they were just two people who worked together.
Knowing that he had hurt Face in ways he had always promised not to, he had to accept that. But if he could help it, he wasn't going to lose his Lieutenant completely. The next few months he spent making sure the team would still function. Then he went about trying to get their friendship back. He was glad that was successful, even if he had to hear about all the women Face had slept with.
He lay there a few more minutes more, before realizing he wouldn't get back to sleep. Rolling out of bed, he grabbed a coat to combat the cool night air of Washington State.
All was just as quite in the hallway. He could hear snores coming from the slightly open door to the house's guest room as B.A. slept peacefully. The house was owned by a couple with twin boys. Their room was on the other side of the hall. It was the room that Face and Murdock had claimed as theirs.
Maybe because he knew the hope he still held that he and Face could get back together was fruitless, he had found his attention drifting to someone else. He had been feeling the situation out over the last few months. Seeing how receptive his target was and his mixed results were promising. While confused, his enchanting pilot had flirted back the last few times.
For a few years he had heard about the army ranger who was a pilot. A damn good one, who did stints with the Thunderbird and rumor had it that the Air force would give almost anything to him if he would transfer over. He was also supposed to be... a little off. Stories abounded of aerial stunts that defied the laws of physic, of singing opera while doing barrel rolls, of a medical file thicker than a dictionary. But it was the other part of the stories that had caught Hannibal's attention. The part where they all said "But he saved our lives."
He had followed his career, waiting for the right time to try an recruit him and was deeply saddened when he heard of the crash the had killed the crew of the chopper and sent the Captain to the hospital. After being assigned the mission in Mexico a few years later, he looked into the pilot's file again, hoping to see if he would be able to use him. But when he saw him standing there in the hospital hallway, that glint of madness in his eyes, the same one that people claimed he got sometime, he was deeply attracted. If, after that mission, things with Face didn't work out as they did, he would have pursued the pilot then.
At the top of the steps, he could see the mess that was left in the living room. When he had gone to bed, B.A. had already gone up and Face and Murdock were playing video games. The coffee table was littered with junk food and various empty bottles. He started to descend the stairs when a voice froze him.
"Facey, are you still in love Bossman?"
Hannibal's heart froze as well. It beat once, twice, before resuming it's normal rhythm. He knew he should go back upstairs or let them know he was there, but he wanted to hear what the conman was going to say.
"Why would you ask me that, Sham?" Hannibal's brows furrowed. About four months ago, Face had started calling the pilot that. When he or B.A. asked, neither responded, but the smirk on Face's lips had always intrigued the Colonel.
"It's just...lately..." Murdock trailed off
"Boss has been flirting with you?"
"Yeah, and was wonderin', after that first night, you've never talked about it. Not even-" he cut off with a giggle.
"After that?" Face asked.
Hannibal's frowned deepened. He couldn't see them but had assumed that one was on the couch and the other was on the floor, but it sounded like they were both on the sofa. It wasn't that big. He risked taking a step down as he heard Face sigh.
"There was never much to say. Boss cheated, we broke up, managed not to destroy the team in the process."
"Have you forgiven him?"
"It's in the passed."
"But what if he wanted you back? What if you were the one he was flirting with? Would you take him back?"
Hannibal's heart was pounding in his chest. He stood as still as he could, straining to hear what Face would say, but Murdock continued. "I mean, the boss is kinda awesome. And I know that after you two split, he was more upset that he hurt you, then that you weren't together anymore. Not that he wasn't upset about that, and he was really jealous when you were dating El Diablo. And last month, he threw that plane stunt in because he realized that I hadn't flown in a while. And he always gone along with my obsession. And...I just...I just don't see any reason for you to hesitate if he wanted you back."
There was something in the way that Murdock said that last sentence that made Hannibal hold his breath. He heard shifting on the couch.
"James, look at me."
"No."
"Come on." Face sighed. "There. HM, you are the one that Hannibal is flirting with."
"Because he can't have you anymore."
"No, he wants you because you are gorgeous, because you have more knowledge in this head then the rest of us put together, because, of the four of us, you have the best most innocent heart. You are the awesome one."
Hannibal nearly forgot himself and agreed with the Lieutenant. It was only Face continuing that stopped him.
"And yes, I'm still in love Hannibal. If tomorrow at breakfast he announced that he would spent the rest of his life trying to get me back, only one thing would stop me from jumping into his arms. Do you know what that is?"
"Facey" Murdock said, his embarrassment clear.
"It's because four months ago I told you I love you. And I'm not leaving you for any reason." there was a sound, that Hannibal now identified as a kiss. "Why don't we go upstairs because I want to spend the rest of night with you making love to me."
Hannibal stumbled back up the stairs in shock. He hurried into the master bedroom, shut the door as quietly as he could and fell back onto the bed.
They were together.
He squeezed his eyes shut as images popped up. They would look so good together. Face's radiant eyes and Murdock's bewitching smile. He could see them as they must have been on the couch. Face laying on his back with Murdock curled up next to him.
His beautiful Lieutenant and his sweet Pilot were together.
He scrubbed his face with his hands as he remembered the feel of Face naked next to him, and he could imagine what Murdock's wiry form would feel like.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he heard a noise in the hallway, a giggle and a door shut. He pulled a pillow over his face as his throat tightened and his eyes began to sting.
