A/N: Incase you caught my little mistake, where it said Murdock put his hands in his JEAN pockets, then later him pulling his hat out of his CARGO pants, I apologize about that! I tend to have shrot-term memory, so don't really take too much notice on that.
Murdock fell into step behind Face as he led them through the fancy lobby and into the elevator. Now in the small confines of the lift, Face turned and looked Murdock up and down, trying to see what had made him not recognize his friend in the first place.
Maybe it was the outfit: His black button down shirt that had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His dark jeans that rested over his black patrol boots. The sunglasses that were dangling by one arm hooked into the jeans pocket sung around a bit whenever Murdock's moved. Maybe the black hair that was longer.
But those eyes and that smile never changed, Face realized and the elevator finally came to a stop, both men stepping out.
"This way." Face stopped at a locked door and stuck his key in the lock, turning it and pushing the door open. It was a neat little place, with a huge TV and stereo system. A bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen branched off down a small hallway and Murdock wandered on over to the small, open deck.
Face scooted into the kitchen, opening the fridge and grabbing out two Dr. Pepper cans. "Alright. Let's see who's summoning us now." He chuckled as he found the remote and pressed the big, red button. As the TV powered on, Face turned and spotted Murdock leaning over the railing, watching the cars drive by with an amused look on his face. He leaned over a little more and Face insintictivly jumped forward, fearing Murdock would fall right off. "Murdock, come here."
The pilot slumped back, closing the door behind him and smiling at Face. "I like this place. So much better than my room at the VA."
The TV was on Sports Center and Face changed it to the neww channel. They both sank back with a disappointed sigh when they saw it wouldn't be on until seven that night. It was only four-fifteen right now.
"Let's go out first thing in the morning. We'll see if they're calling us again on the news, then we need to find B.A. and Hannibal." Face glanced around, then looked down at the squishy couch under him. "You can sleep here tonight."
Murdock nodded once, thinking. "Hmm. Thanks, Facey. This is gonna be fun!"
Face shook his head at the excited pilot and flipped the channel back to Sports. After a few minutes, Murdock got bored and left the couch, wandering around the apartment and eventually winding up in the kitchen. After a few minutes of banging around and dropping things, he finally came back out with the bag of tomatos Face had recently bought.
"Why don't you have a few tomatos?" Face asked teasingly, hardly paying attention to where Murdock was going. The football game continued and as asorbed into the game as Face was, he didn't miss the shriek from out the window on the streets below.
He turned and saw Murdock laughing histarically as he held the tomatos tightly. "Murdock, what did you just do?"
"It hit her head!" He whooped, grabbing another tomato out of the bag and held his arm back, but Face was faster.
He snatched the bag out of Murdock's hands and the tomato right before he tossed the second one. "You can't just throw tomatos at people! What's the matter with you?" He snapped, flicking Murdock on the back of the head.
The pilot winced, shrinking back and preparing himself for the hit. It never came and he opened his eyes, meeting Face's confused ones.
"Are you okay?" He asked warily.
Murdock straightened up. "I'm fine. Just thought you were gonna beat me there for a sec." He laughed it off nervously and used Face's confusion to swipe a tomato and took a bite out of it.
Face blinked. "Beat you? I would never beat you."
"I said forget it. Those mental hospitals are kinda mean when ya break their rules. Good tomato." He added, unkowingly spitting tomato juice on Face's shirt and wandered off back to the TV. Face blinked again and shrugged, going to return the tomatos to the fridge.
The seven PM news came on and both men sat with the volume turned up high and their eyes glued, waiting. At seven-thirty, the message was finally broadcasted again.
"My name is Lindsey and this is my husband Todd," Began a pretty woman with red hair. She was standing with her husband, a tall man with blond hair. "I need the A-Team as soon as possible, they aren't responding to any calls and they just seemed to have dropped of the Earth. Please, A-Team members, if you're listening to this, call me now!" Below the couple, a number appeared. Murdock grabbed a pen and paper and quickly jotted it down, finishing just as the news switched to a commercial. "Why didn't they tell us their problem?"
"Maybe it's a private matter, Murdock." Face stood up, turned the TV off, and went back to his bedroom. Murdock followed. "How are we going to find B.A. and Hannibal? They're probably across the country right now!" Face complained, running a hand through his hair.
Murdock grinned. "Just call them."
"Do I even have their numbers?" Face groaned, looking back at the pilot.
Murdock's grin widened as he nodded. Face's worried look turned to a glare when Murdock reached into his pants pocket and pulled out Face's cellphone. "They're in there."
"Murdock! How dare you!" Face angerly snatched it away and shoved it into his pocket. "You're going to bed early tonight. On the couch, with a blanket by eight. We're leaving early tomarrow."
Murdock pouted, slumping his shoulders and stomping out of the room. Rolling his eyes, Face flipped the phone open and scrolled through his conatacts, first finding B.A.'s number.
Then an idea came to him. He remembered installing a thing in his phone, so whenever somebody called him, it would tell him the city that person was currently in.
Perfect! He pressed send and let it ring a few times before snapping it shut again. He didn't have to wait long, for his ringer went off quickly and it read,
B.A.
New York City
Decided not to be rude, Face flipped it open and answered with a suprised, "Hello?"
"Face, did you just call me?" B.A.'s voice was just as he had remembered it. He smiled. "Why, I'm not sure. I think my phone dialed in my pocket, you know, they do that sometimes." He lied.
B.A. huffed. "I'm busy reading to the children, Face. It was great talking to you. Bye, Face."
"Oh, goodbye B.A." See you soon. He added mentally, ending the call and scrolling until he found Hannibal's name. He hit send and did the procedure over again. Only this time, Hannibal didn't call back.
Decided to try again in the morning, Face tossed the phone on the dresser and checked the clock, leaving his room. Murdock was right where he had been instructed to be and had the soft blanket over his shoulders that Face kept on the couch. "B.A.'s in New York City. Hannibal never called back. He's probably busy. We'll try again in the morning...it'll take all day to get to New York." Face explained, going over to the small hall closet and digging out a pillow.
"Hannibal didn't answer? Hmm. That must be his new thing now, not answering his phone." Murdock fell over onto his side and let out a deep sigh.
Face stoped, pillow in hand, and turned back to Murdock. "You called him?"
"Oh sure, tons of times. I was calling him nearly every week from the VA. All I ever got was his voice mail. And it was his." Murdock went into thought, a pout forming on his face. "I just thought he didn't like me anymore." The pilot shrugged, settling deeper into the couch cusions.
When Face never came over with the pillow, Murdock looked up and saw the conman still standing with the pillow all but forgotten in his grasp, a blank look on his features as he thought.
"Faceguy, you okay?" He asked warily, sitting up.
Face came out of his trance and threw the pillow to Murdock, taking him by suprise and the pillow hit his face, falling into his lap. "You thinking something, Facey?"
Face nodded absently, then shook his head. "Nevermind. Go to sleep, Murdock. We'll leave at five."
Face was too lost in his thoughts to respond back when Murdock told him 'Good-night' as he left the room.
Morning
Murdock was snoring as soon as the car pulled out into the road, heading for the airport. Face glanced voer at him as they sat at a red light. He kept thinking everytime he looked away, Murdock would just vanish and he'd wake up. Now the pilot, because of his lack of clothes, was shealthed in Face's clothes: A green polo shirt with Face's leather jacket over it. Black slacks and those patrol boots.
Face would never admit how much it bothered him, almost as if he had a clone. And it just wasn't Murdock's style.
The pilot turned with a slight groan and his head fell against the window, the snores continuing. Face reached over and turned the radio volume up, drowning out the snores. The sky was getting lighter, turning a lighter shade of black.
Face began feeling slightly drowsy, then the car hit a sudden pothole and both men were thrown up, Murdock's head hitting the top of the car. "What was that?" He cried, rubbing his eyes.
"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Face apologized, gripping the steering wheel tightly and keeping his eyes wide.
Murdock rubbed his head, sitting back and staring at the radio. A song came blasting on and Murdock gasped excitedly, bouncing in his seat.
"No way, I love this song!" He shouted gleefully before breaking into the lyrics with the singer.
"You remind me of a man. What man? Oh the man with the power! What power? Say the power of voodoo. Who do? Yeah, you do you do!"
Face tried to ignore the pilot as he focused on the road, wondering how Murdock could suddenly have so much energy at five in the morning. The airport finally came into view, a plane was just taking off into the darkened sky and Murdock leaned forward, eagerly watching it with a certain light in his eyes. Face knew just how much the pilot wanted to step foot back into those planes, they were his life.
"I know you wanna fly it buddy, but this is more convienent right now." Face told him as the pilot sat back sadly. "I promise you'll get to real soon."
Murdock nodded, his expression still sad as they pulled into the parking garage.
Once they had a spot and Face locked the car, the two headed into the airport. People were streaming by and Face and Murdock stepped right into the crowd, Murdock grabbing Face's sleeve so they wouldn't get seperated. They got to a ticket counter and Face turned around to Murdock as they waited in line. "Straight to New York?" He asked. "Or stop somwhere, like Chicago?"
Murdock shrugged, not caring as long as he got to be in the plane.
Face sighed and turned, seeing they were next. "Two for Chicago."
As Face got the tickets and flirted a bit with the brunette behind the coutner, Murdock glanced around, standing eagerly by Face's side. He heard his name and turned back to face the girl, his eyes popping when he saw her face.
"Yes, James is my brother. He likes to dress like me, you know, younger brothers." Face chuckled and the girl smiled at Murdock. He tried to smile back before Face grabbed his arm and hauled him off. "We'll stop at Chicago for some food and fly straight to JFK Airport. Our flight boards at six-thirty." He was telling Murdock as they walked away form the ticket counter. "Do you need to use the restroom before we go in there?" He asked, indicating the waiting area.
Murdock thought then nodded, Face leading them over to the restrooms.
Soon the flight number was being called and Face found himself seated by the window with Murdock and both waited to see who else would be in their row.
Face reached over and grabbed a magazine form the seat back and dropped it. Murdock laughed. "Be quiet." Face said in a teasing tone as he bent over to pick it back up, Murdock looked down and a voice overhead said, "Excuse me?"At the female's voice, both men immedietly looked up, hitting heads and Face swatted Murdock's shoulder.
A girl with long, light brown hair and a pretty face was standing in the asile, holding a purse and her ticket. "I'm supposed to sit here with you two..." She informed them nervously.
Face nodded, smiling politely. "Of course. Murdock, move your legs so she can in."
Murdock grinned at the girl as he shifted to let her between them. She sat down, smiling a small smile at both men before sliding her purse under the seat and snapping her seatbelt together.
Face tried for conversation. "You got a name, ma'am?"
"Don't be playing that hot-guy move on me. I'm not that interested." She said, smirking at Face's shocked look. He composed himself. "I'm just trying to be polite."
Murdock tapped her shoulder and she flipped her head around, her hair smacking Face in his face. "Don't listen to him, he's your typical womanizer."
She giggled and held her hand out. Murdock took it, shaking a little longer than nessecary. "I'm Natalie."
"Murdock."
"I'm Face." Face interjected, leaning forward and waving once.
Murdock snorted and Natalie smiled at him again before taking a magazine and burrying her nose in it.
Face glared at Murdock while he grinned coyly at him for a few seconds before Murdock turned his attention back to the passengers boarding still. He was about to turn away when one caught his eye.
White hair...that face...the blonde girl with him that he'd seen before...and it wasn't possible.
"Face." Murdock muttered, his eyes locked on the two as they came closer.
Face looked up and leaned to the side, trying not to let Natalie notice, and watched as Murdock's eyes followed somone as they approached. When the couple walked apst them, Face gasped.
"Hannibal!" They chimed together, making Natalie looked up and Hannibal turn slightly.