How had he forgotten?

How could he forget that he had almost been blown up, during the assault on the boat they arrived on? And that when he came too a mile or so downstream, that the rest of the team had been taken? It seemed so unlikely yet, it happened. Still he was glad that somehow, in his state of confusion, he had managed stay on course. The drive to protect his friends was too strong to ignore and while the wiring in his mind had become scrambled, he had not lost that particular instinct completely. The vision of his team mates still with him, pushing him on must have been a part of that buried memory, struggling to emerge.

Face sat, resting against the tree he had used as an impromptu shower. With his left knee raised, arm resting limply upon it; he closed his eyes as his memory returned.

The attack was so vivid in his mind that for a moment he thought he was back there and his body reacted, as if to flee. Helena jumped back, having stooped to examine the white man. The teen fell to the damp ground, glaring back at him accusingly, as if he had planned to shock her. He shot her an apologetic smile and shrugged before relaxing once more.

"Sorry, kid."

"I told you, I am not a child!" She spat back angrily and got to her feet. "What are you even doing? Why are you simply sat there, our parents are still prisoners of those monsters."

"I'm working on it." He snarled back, his tired blue eyes flashing a warning and an anger he rarely showed. He closed his eyes briefly and mentally counted to ten. "Believe it or not, this is all part of the plan."

"You expect me to believe, this is all planned by you?"

"How did you find me, anyway?" He asked suddenly, wondering if Helena was even real. Considering he had spent the last few days conversing with a make believe A-Team, he figured he was right to question himself.

"We followed you, it was not difficult."

"Don't lie." He sniggered and slowly got to his feet.

"Alright. It was difficult." The girl conceded. Face lifted a single brow, still sceptical. "Very difficult." She mumbled before recovering her previous defiant demeanour. "What is your plan?" Face shook his head and started to walk away, recovering his shirt from the floor before heading back to base camp. "Tell me!"

"I've spent enough time talking to phantoms, I'm not doing it anymore." He stated as he slipped back under the canopy, followed by the girl. The other boy who had accompanied Helena suddenly stepped back, his mouth covered in what remained of the chocolate bar he had found and subsequently devoured.

"What do you mean by that?" Helena demanded, spotting the state of the boy, her eyes growing wide with envy while her stomach growled loudly. She quickly covered her midsection with a gentle right hand.

Face studied the pair.

"You guys hungry?" He asked and Helena at least nodded, the boy doing the same when she mumbled a few words Face didn't understand, but he had a fair idea what she was saying. "Alright." The lieutenant opened his pack, the only pack in the camp and he was again, wondering why he hadn't noticed these things before. Had the knock to his head been so bad as to cause him to live in a reality created by his mind?

He rooted around the pack, noticing more and more evidence. The pack was fit to burst because he had gathered as much of the teams supplies as he could, and carted it across miles and miles of jungle. It held rations, ammo, the guy's side arms and as much ordinance as he could carry. He sighed and pulled out two packets of MRE's, tore each one open before holding it out to the kids and held his breath. One by one their little hands reached forward and took the packets from the lieutenant who sighed with some relief.

They were real.

Face sat down slowly as the kids dung into the sandwiches, Helena stopping briefly to breathe and also thank the white man. He simply nodded and smiled.

"I am not sure if you are being serious." Helena stated in a tone far older than her years and Face had to work hard to suppress a laugh. He didn't think the girl would appreciate the fact that he found her seriousness so amusing, especially considering she doubted the plan and called into question his sanity. He found it hard to disagree with her on the later part, considering the some what surreal forty-eight hours he had endured. "Do you honestly expect this plan to work?"

"They usually do." Face stated with a wry smile as he packed his backpack with everything they were going to need.

"You have performed miracles before?"

"We have actually."

"We?" Helena looked around. "You and your spirits?"

"Spirits?" Face asked curiously, pausing from his task momentarily.

"The ones you were conversing with when we arrived." Helena explained as she took a sip of the water that remained after the meal she and her brother, 'Harry' had eaten with gusto.

"Ah no, not them." He frowned and then quickly retracted. "Well, yes them but, they're not spirits." It was clear by the look on the girls' face she wasn't following. "It's complicated, I'm not even sure I fully understand it."

"Are you crazy?"

"I hope not." Face said sincerely and Helena wore an expression of the worried kind. "What are you so worried about, I got you out didn't I?"

"That could have just been luck."

"Well pray our luck holds." He added with a grin and handed both of the kids a little packet. "Now, do you both know what you need to do?" Helena nodded and turned to ask her brother, who nodded also. "Now, what's the most important thing you need to do?"

"Run fast." Helena replied confidently.

"Run, fast." Harry repeated, recognising the phrase from the mission brief Face had provided a few minutes ago, making the lieutenant smile. It had been a tough decision to let the kids help, but Helena had made a good argument. He needed the help and was in no position to be picky. He had of course objected, but it seemed her understanding of the English language got a little sketchy when the conversation wasn't going her way. She was going to grow into a fine woman and make her suitor the happiest, unluckiest man in the tribe.

Face consoled himself with the fact that all they were doing was providing distractions. Each were armed with a dozen or so fire crackers on long fuses. All they had to do was plant the weak firework at the edge of the jungle, light it and run. The resulting cracks and flashes would mimic sniper fire, drawing the guards' attention to that part of the jungle. The fuses were a minute long, giving each kid a chance to vacate the area before they could be caught in any return fire. By the time the guards realised they were firing at thin air, the next lot of fireworks would go off, ensuring the panic and confusion continued.

The distraction caused by the firecrackers would give Face an opportunity to target specific members of the militia, namely the ones guarding the main body of prisoners. After seeing Hannibal the day before, he knew the rest of the guys had to be in that building also. If he could get them out, the rest would be easy and all the kids had to do then, was stay hidden.

"That's right. Run fast." He repeated and knelt down before them both. "And if you get scared, come back here, hide your trail and wait for me."

"I still think it is a bad idea, your whole plan rests on your friends being ready to fight."

"Oh, they'll be ready." Face said with a bright smile. "This is what we do."