AN: This chapter might not be the best in the beginning but I feel good about the second part. I promise that after this I will be writing happy stuff for a while. After all, I did categorize this as a Family/Humor fic so I should get to the real humor. Please let me know what you think of this chapter, I'm nervous about it.
Sidebar: I just posted a crossover in Boondock Saints with A-Team movie. It's the second one I've done. Please check it out.
Murdock held Lilly's hand as they walked down the street. He knew a place a few blocks away that served great pasta. He watched her next to him as she smiled in the sunlight. He felt guilty at not having let her outside in over a week. Granted most of that was because she was injured but he could have at least taken her up on the roof. He smiled as that thought gave him and idea for her surprise party next month. A roof top BBQ would be just the thing.
He came back to himself as Lilly laughed when a street performer waved at her. He suddenly swept her up and started to swing her around, "And Lilly's flying high, above the clouds."
Lilly squealed in surprise and then started to laugh harder then he had ever heard. The sound made him feel as if he was flying himself. As they neared the restaurant he set her down. They walked in and were seated next to the front window.
In the middle of the meal Murdock had to excuse himself for a bit to go to the bathroom. He told Lilly to be good and to not wander off while he was gone. When he came back, what he saw made his blood boil. Standing around his and Lilly's table were four boys of about 16. They were laughing cruelly at a crying Lilly who now had her food on her head. It didn't take Murdock even a second to realize these were the boys who had hurt her in the first place.
As he walked quickly in between tables to get back to her he heard them talking to her.
"Look at the little brat. Her new clothes are all ruined."
"Wonder what idiot took pity on the snot?"
"Whoever it is must be crazy to think she's worth a damn."
Murdock didn't even slow down at he punched the last one who had spoken right in the face, knocking him to the ground, "You leave her alone you son of a bitch."
The boys stared at him in anger, one from the floor with a bloody nose. But Murdock had turned his back on the boys and was checking on Lilly, who was sobbing into his chest, "Lilly, are you alright? Did they hurt you?"
"The dumped my pasta on my head." she wailed
Suddenly a glass of water was dumped on the both of them and the empty glass shattered over Murdock's head. Lilly screamed in fear as Murdock held her tighter to protect her from the broken glass. When it stopped falling he pushed Lilly under the table and turned to the boys, blood dripping from the back of his head, "Which one of you little bastards did that?" he asked coldly
"Why does it matter to you pops?" asked the boy with the bleeding nose
At this point the restaurant was quiet. All the customers had fled and the wait staff stood to the side. But Murdock couldn't seem to care as he responded by saying, "So I know which one to beat to a bloody pulp. But then I guess it doesn't matter, since I'm gonna beat you all for what you did to my little Lilly."
"You mean that street kid hiding under the table? Why would you care about her?" asked one other the three that wasn't bleeding…yet
"Yeah. What, did you pick her off the street to entertain you or some…" the last boy didn't finish his sentence before Murdock had swung around in a perfect roundhouse that connected with the boy's jaw, breaking it instantly
The boys looked at their friend who was writhing on the floor, howling in pain. They looked at the man now standing before them, blood dribbling down his shirt from his own injury. He had a manic grin on his face and motioned with both his hands for them to attack him, "Whose next?"
They all attacked him at once, but it was over in seconds. He hit the boy with the bloody nose twice in the ribs and then kicked him in the chest, making him fly into, and break, a nearby table. The second boy tried to punch him but Murdock caught his arm, hurling the boy into another table, breaking it as well and covering him with the food that had been on it. The last boy tried to repeat Murdock's roundhouse kick. Murdock caught his ankle and in one swift movement brought his full weight down onto the teen's knee, breaking his leg with a horrid sounding crack.
As all the boys lay moaning and crying around the restaurant Murdock leaned down and picked up Lilly from under the table. She was covered in red sauce and noodles. Her eyes were wide with terror and shock at what had just happened. She clutched onto Murdock's shirt for dear life. Murdock held her tight as he walked over to the wait staff. He pulled out his wallet and went through part of the money he had made on the last job. He gave the manager $700, "That should cover the damages and our bill. Call the cops and tell them these boys attacked an average looking guy who kicked their asses. Also, tell the police that these guys have been beating up homeless people, including little children. I'm sorry I cause so much trouble." without another word he walked into the managers office, erased the tape, and then left.
As he walked down the back alley, he whispered to Lilly, "Lilly, it's over now. I don't think those boys are ever going to bother anyone again."
Lilly looked up at him, "You saved me, just like you promised." she said weakly
Murdock smiled sadly down at the girl in his arms, "Of course I did sweet pea. I always do what I promise."
Murdock carried the crying girl down the back alleys to avoid being stared at by idiots on the street. The whole time he muttered soothing words to her and just let her cry. He snuck into the back of the building and quietly went up to his apartment. He helped Lilly get undressed and sat next to the tub as she cleaned the pasta sauce off herself in the tub, unable to leave her alone. He helped dry her off and blow dry her hair. Then he put her in her pajamas, all the crying having made her very tired. He sat with her in her bed, holding her until she fell asleep. That's when the dull pain in the back of his head reminded him of his own injury. But he was so tired, just couldn't find the energy to leave Lilly's side. He decided he would just close his eyes for a few minutes, what could it hurt?
Lilly woke slowly from a peaceful sleep. She snuggled up against something warm. She opened her eyes to see Murdock curled up next to her, sleeping with his arms around her. That's when she remembered the day before. She was surprised to find she wasn't scared of the memory, but proud. She didn't remember the fear, but the awe she had felt. Murdock had beat the four boys so fast it had made her head spin. And he had done it just for her. She smiled up at Murdock and shook him to wake him.
But he didn't wake up. She shook him harder and his head fell to the side. Lilly gasped at what was revealed. The back of Murdock's head was covered in blood and cut badly. There was blood on her pillow from where he had been laying. She struggled from his grip and started to push against his chest, trying to wake him. When he still wouldn't wake she started to shout his name. He still didn't wake.
Lilly ran out of her room, out of the apartment, and to Hannibal's apartment door. She started pounding non-stop on his door yelling, "Hannibal, please, help."
Hannibal opened the door, looking like he had been sleeping. She heard the two other apartment doors open behind her, meaning she had also woken BA and Face. Hannibal looked down at her in concern, "Lilly, it's 3AM. What's wrong? Where's Murdock?"
Lilly didn't know what to say. She just grabbed Hannibal's hand and dragged him back to Murdock's apartment. BA and Face following in confusion. Lilly dragged them into the apartment and back to her room. She pointed at Murdock, propped up on a bloody pillow, and said quietly, "He won't wake up."
Instantly Hannibal shouted for Face to get the first aid kit and the blood transfusion kit. Then he told BA to get Murdock out into the living room and get ready for a blood transfusion since he and Murdock had the same blood type. Lilly just tried to stay out of the way.
Once they had moved Murdock to the living room floor they got to work on him. Lilly watched as the cuts were cleaned and stitched before his head was wrapped in bandages. Then BA was laid out next to him and the transfusion kit hooked up to them both. Soon enough Murdock was being given BA's blood directly. When that was done they took Murdock back to his own room and changed him into dark grey pajamas before tucking him in.
Lilly tried to distract herself from the situation by looking around Murdock's room. She had never been in it before. The walls and ceiling were a sky blue with hand painted clouds all over the place along with a few birds and on the left wall was a plane painted to look like it was about to fly out the window. The floor was clear of any clutter. The chest of drawers only had a small camera on top of it as well as some spare change. She could see a box under his bed, she guessed that was where the guns were. His closet door was open. The only things in it were a nice suite, a tuxedo, and what looked like a military uniform. On his side table was a novelty lamp that was shaped like Woody the Woodpecker. The lamp was on and it's head glowed. And his clock was just like the one she had. His bedding was the same color as his walls and had small cartoon airplanes on them.
Lilly was taken back to reality when Face's hands landed on her shoulders. She looked forward to see he was kneeled down in front of her, worry plastered on his face, "Lilly, what happened?"
That did it. Lilly stated to cry as she latched onto Face's neck. He picked her up and patter her back while she sobbed out the story of what had happened at lunch. She didn't want to look up and see the angry looks she was sure they all had on their faces. It was all her fault that Murdock was the way he was, and she said so out loud.
Face set her down on the edge of the bed and she saw all three of the men were gathered around her. Hannibal spoke sternly to her, "This is not your fault Lilly."
BA nodded, "Yeah, don't ever think that Lilly."
Face tried to wipe the tears off her face but they were quickly replace, "We could never blame you for this Lilly, and neither could Murdock."
"But it's all my fault. If it wasn't for me he wouldn't have been there." Lilly said before she started to hiccup
Hannibal leaned forward, "Lilly, look at me." Lilly looked into his eyes, "Murdock would have it no other way. None of us would. We all care about you. And when he wakes up, because he will wake up, he'll tell you he would do it all over again." he pulled her into his arms, "We all love you Lilly. We will never hate you, no matter what."
Lilly cried as they passed her back and forth, whispering words of comfort into her ears. Eventually she crawled under the covers with Murdock and snuggled into his side. BA had brought in the chairs from the kitchen. He and Hannibal sat in the chairs while Face sat on top of the chest of drawers and leaned back against the wall.
Murdock slowly woke to a dull pain in his head. He tried to remember what had happened. Before he could do that, he registered the sound of several people breathing around him and felt someone latched onto his side and chest. He opened his eyes but quickly closed them again against the sudden light. He tried again, slower this time. He stared up at the ceiling above him. It was his own bedroom ceiling, painted clouds and all. He tried to move his head to look at what was covering his chest but it cause him pain when he moved to fast. He moved very slowly and gasped when he saw it was Lilly.
That's when memories rushed back to him of the day before. But he didn't remember falling asleep in his room. They had fallen asleep in her room. And why did his head hurt so much. Oh, right, he had had a glass broken over the back of it.
Suddenly a sound to his right caused him to look over quickly, making him want to vomit. He fought back the urge and looked at what had made the noise. It was Hannibal, sitting in a chair next to his bed. Next to him was BA, still asleep. And out of the corner of his eye he could see Face asleep on his dresser, leaning back against the wall. Hannibal was looking at him with relieved but worried eyes, "Hannibal, what happened?" Murdock whispered
Hannibal asked, "What's the last thing you remember?"
"I fell asleep in Lilly's room. What am I doing in here? And why is everyone here?" Murdock asked in confusion
"Well, from Lilly told us, you passed out from blood loss. We were all sound asleep when she comes and bangs on my door, screaming bloody murder. It's a wonder no one called the police. She drags all of us into her room and we find you on her bed, blood on the pillow. Your lucky she came and got us when she did. Another hour and you could have died." he glared softly at Murdock, "What the hell were you thinking Captain?"
"I guess I was so worried about Lilly I forgot about myself." Murdock frowned sadly, "Did she tell you what happened yesterday?"
"Yeah, and all I have to say is that I'm proud of you Captain. You did great right up to the point where you almost killed yourself by accident." Hannibal smiled softly, "Now get some sleep Captain."
"Not tired, just in pain." Murdock said with a small smile
"Murdock?" Lilly asked sleepily from her position on his chest, looking up at him with sleepy eyes, "I'm sorry I got you hurt."
Murdock just smiled as best he could, "I'd do it again in a heartbeat sweet pea." he glanced over at the clock and saw it was about 8:30AM, "Hey, why don't you wake all these lazy guys up and help them make some breakfast for me."
Lilly rubbed the sleep from her eyes and nodded, eager to do something to help Murdock. She kissed him on the cheek and said, "Thank you." before jumping off the bed and into BA's lap.
Lilly told BA that they were going to make Murdock some breakfast. BA smiled and nodded before grabbing Face off the dresser, not even letting him wake fully before pulling him out into the hall with one arm while he held Lilly in the other.
Once the trio had left Hannibal leaned forward once more, "Captain, how much pain are you in?"
"I think some nice pills would do me good." Murdock smiled at Hannibal, "So, did BA finally get to stitch me up?"
Over the next 2 days Murdock was confined to his bed and helped to walk whenever he had to go to the bathroom, and he hated it. He knew it was stupid to be petty about it since he had treated Lilly similarly when he had first found her, but he had never been very good at being the patient. He was at least happy that he was never alone for very long. Someone was always in the room with him. The guys took turns watching the apartment and feeding him. They would come in from time to time to change his bandages. But Lilly almost never left his side. She even brought him some of her toys to play with.
When he could move on the third day without getting the urge to vomit they let him out of bed to walk around on his own. The first thing he did was take a shower, being careful of his stitches. Then he tried to make breakfast but his motor functions were still a little messed up. He guessed they would be better by tomorrow.
He was right because the next afternoon he made his own lunch, a nice sandwich. The day after that he could run after Lilly around the apartment. The day after that he put on his shoes and demanded that he and Lilly go for a walk. She changed into a light green dress he suggested and a sun hat that Face had bought her.
They walked down the street to a small park. Murdock hid the bandages under his hat, and also hid his camera in his pocket.
He sat on a bench near by while she played with a few other kids. She made friends quickly and he smiled warmly as she helped a few other kids build a sandcastle in a sandbox. When she wasn't looking he took out his camera and took a picture. She turned just as he was putting the camera back in his pocket and waved at him. He smiled and waved back.
He was startled as suddenly a hand tapped his shoulder. He looked up to see a beautiful woman standing there. She had short brown hair that went to her shoulders, curling slightly at the end in a sort of flip. She had bright hazel eyes that sparkled in the sunlight. He skin was slightly tanned and smooth. She wore a plain white shirt and jeans, a nice casual outfit. She had a big smile on her face as she asked, "Can I sit here?"
Murdock just smiled and scooted over to give her room, "Why sure. It's a public park after all."
The lady smiled and sat next to him. She held out her hand, "My name is Mary Hudson."
Murdock shook it warmly, "James Murdock, pleased to meet you." he pointed out to the playground, "Which little crumb-snatcher belongs to you?" he asked good naturedly
She chuckled and pointed to a small girl who was playing with Lilly. The girl looked like a mini version of her mother except her hair was longer and up in a ponytail. If he had to guess he would say they were about the same age, "That's my little Lisa over there, playing with that cute little girl in the green dress. Which one is yours?"
Murdock just smiled, "That cute little one in the green dress. Her name is Lilly."
The woman looked startled and then smiled, "Well isn't that cute, Lilly and Lisa." she looked at the girls playing, "They seem to get along don't they?"
Murdock's smile widened, "Yeah, I'm glade."
"I've never seen you around before. Are you new to the area?" Mary asked
"Um, yeah. Moved to the area a little over 2 weeks ago." Murdock lied. What was he supposed to say? That he had just found her in an alley and didn't legally have any right to her, "It's a little tough raising her myself in a new place but I got friends to help me out."
"Hey, I know what that's like, single mom here. If you ever need tips just give me a call." Mary said with a smile
Murdock and Mary chatted for a while. Suddenly Lilly and Lisa ran over to their respective guardians. Lilly climbed up into Murdock's lap while Mary picked up Lisa, "Murdock, guess what?"
"What?" Murdock asked
"Lisa invited me to play at her house tomorrow. But only if it's alright with her mommy." Lilly looked over at Mary with hopeful eyes
Mary looked down at Lisa who begged, "Please mom, please."
Mary chuckled and said to Murdock, "It's alright with me if it's alright with you Mr. Murdock."
Murdock just smiled, "Just call me Murdock, and it's just fine with me. Now why don't you two go finish that sandcastle while Mary and I talk it over alright?"
The girls squealed with joy and ran off to finish their castle. When they were gone Mary asked, "Why does she call you Murdock?"
Murdock looked over at Mary, "I adopted her. Didn't think it right to have her call me dad until she wanted to. So I let her call me what everyone else does."
"No one calls you James?" Mary asked curiously
"Nope, no one ever really has since my mom died. I don't mind really." Murdock shrugged
Marry just smiled, "Well, would you mind if I called you James?"
"I don't see why not Mary. But you'll be the only one, just so you know. In fact, I don't know if my friends even remember that's my first name." Murdock said, looking thoughtful
He and Mary set up the play date. It turned out she lived about 5 blocks from them. Murdock took Lilly home. She talked non-stop about her new friend all the way back to the apartment. Once she was calm enough to stop talking he sat her down in the kitchen while he made spaghetti.
"I know how excited you are to have a friend Lilly. But you have to remember the rules. You can't tell anyone about who we really are." Murdock reminded her as he stirred the boiling pot
"I know Murdock." Lilly sighed
"And also, you can't tell anyone that I leave you alone to go off for days on end. They wouldn't understand. And hey, maybe, if you become good enough friends with Lisa you could stay at her house while I'm away." Murdock suggested as he turned the heat down for the sauce so it could simmer
"Yeah, I never thought of that. Do you think her mom would be okay with that?" Lilly asked
"Well, not right away. Maybe in a few months." Murdock served them both the finished food and sat down across from her, "We'll just have to wait and see sweet pea."