A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I actually had about half this written right after I finished the previous chapter, so I was able to finish it after I woke up after work. This one is a longer chapter. Enjoy!
1969
Hannibal let out a heavy sigh as he sat down with his tray in the mess tent. It had already been a very long, very exhausting day, and it was just lunchtime.
The team had spent the morning running through Hannibal's obstacle courses and other team building exercises. Normally they would've been done a couple hours ago, but between his growling sergeant and the cocky new lieutenant, along with Murdock's usual crazy antics, quite frankly Hannibal was surprised they'd managed to finish ten minutes ago. While BA wasn't actively threatening Peck, mainly due to Hannibal's order that they play nice, he was still snarling and glaring at the lieutenant at every chance. And Peck wasn't helping matters. He had a defiant devil-may-care attitude, and his surliness could rival BA's when the sergeant was in his prime. Hannibal had to give the kid some credit though, he wasn't cocky without cause. He was good. Damn good. But Hannibal knew that cockiness could go one of two ways, it would either be a great asset, or it would get you killed. And the jury was still out on which way it would go for the kid.
"Colonel."
The older man looked up as Ray sat down across from him. The captain had done well today. He'd kept Murdock's eccentricness in check and an eye on Reyes and Combs while Hannibal had put Peck through his paces and dealt with BA's bad attitude. The man was a good XO, and Hannibal was going to miss him when his tour was over.
"So?" Hannibal prompted.
Ray paused, fork in hand, and looked up at the colonel. "Honest opinion?"
"Of course."
The captain sighed, and set his fork down. He waited for a moment before he spoke, taking time to gather his thoughts. "He's good, that's not the issue."
Hannibal chuckled. "Keeping him and BA from killing each other might be."
"You knew that when you got him out of the brig and transferred him to the team," Ray retorted. "But that's not what I meant, and you know it."
The two men stared at each other for a minute before Hannibal took a deep breath. "I know what you meant," Hannibal said quietly.
0
Peck sighed heavily as he started walking back to the hooch. Hannibal had told him to stop selling drugs, and while he wasn't thrilled with the idea of burning some of those contacts, he believed Hannibal when he said that if he didn't stop the colonel would have him court-martialed to the fullest extent. He didn't really understand what the big deal was. Like he told the colonel in the brig, it was supply and demand, simple as that. Sure, he knew how bad drugs were, but he also knew that they weren't going away. But even though the thought of jail didn't really bother him, Peck wasn't too thrilled with the idea of going 'home'. He'd joined the Army to get away for a reason. Going back didn't make much sense. Even if it was just to live in a prison cell.
The lieutenant hadn't gotten very far when he heard someone calling his name. Looking around, he saw Murdock jogging over. Rolling his eyes, Peck just turned and kept walking.
"Where ya going muchacho?" Murdock asked as he caught up and fell in to stride with the lieutenant.
"Back to the hooch."
Murdock nodded. "So what were ya doing at the hangars?"
Peck cast him a suspicious sideways glance.
"I saw you leaving when I was signing my bird back in," the captain explained.
"Just meeting with a contact," the lieutenant finally answered evasively.
"Ah, okey-dokey."
Filling the silence that had fallen, Murdock started whistling as they continued their walk back to the hooch. Peck would shoot him the occasional curious glance, but said nothing.
As the two reached the hooch they ran into Reyes and Combs, who were coming out.
"Hey guys, we're just heading over to get a drink, you in?" Combs offered.
"You bet!" Murdock agreed enthusiastically.
"What about you LT?" Reyes asked, seeing the young lieutenant hesitate.
Murdock grinned and threw an arm around the kid's shoulder. "Are you even old enough to drink?" he teased.
Peck threw the other man's arm off, giving him a slight shove. "I'm twenty-two asshole," he snapped.
"Yeah, and BA's albino," Combs chuckled sarcastically.
Murdock and Reyes laughed. Peck rolled his eyes, but didn't retort.
"Come on LT, first round's on me," Reyes said lightly.
0
The others were pleasantly surprised to find that Peck could hold his liquor. By the time they had joked and laughed their way through a bottle of cheap whisky, the young lieutenant had started to relax and lose the subtle hostility that he'd had towards everyone since joining the team. It was a fact that didn't go unnoticed, and the others used it to their advantage.
"So how'd you end up in this shithole anyway?" Murdock asked the kid, taking a drag on his cigarette.
"Yeah, I bet your parents weren't too happy when you got your draft notice," Combs added.
Peck shrugged nonchalantly, "Actually, I volunteered." He took another drink, ignoring the surprise that immediately covered the other three faces.
"You what?" Combs blurted incredulously.
Reyes was chuckling. "Damn pretty boy, you musta given your mom a heart attack. Knowing her little boy actually signed up to go from sunny LA to Vietnam," he teased good-naturedly.
Again, Peck just shrugged. But Murdock was watching him closely as the blond lit his own cigarette.
"Why did you sign up?" he asked curiously.
The lieutenant looked over at the captain for a moment before smirking. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."
Reyes and Combs laughed at that, but Murdock wasn't fooled. He knew that wasn't the real reason. Murdock wasn't sure how he knew that, he just knew the kid was hiding something. But the captain didn't say anything.
"Hey BA, over here!"
The others followed Combs line of sight and saw the big sergeant and Ray heading over.
"Hey big guy," Murdock grinned widely at the sergeant, who just growled, as he sat down.
"I see we're a little late to the party," Ray chuckled, motioning to the empty bottle Combs was taking away as he went back to the bar.
"Plenty more Cap," Reyes assured him, pouring him a drink from their second bottle.
"Here ya go BA," Combs said as he returned, handing the man a glass of milk before he grabbed a chair from a nearby table as Ray had just taken his.
"Thanks man."
"Milk?" Peck scoffed with a chuckle.
BA narrowed his eyes and let out a low growl at the kid. "Yeah, you got a problem with that sucker?" The others were trying, in vain, to hide their amusement.
"Come on BA, give the kid a break. You did come into a bar and order milk," Ray said diplomatically. "That's weird to people who don't know you," he continued. The sergeant rolled his eyes, but didn't argue. "BA doesn't drink," Ray informed Peck, almost managing to hide his smirk.
"And the man loves his milk," Combs added in a drawl.
The big sergeant glared at him, hearing the teasing in his voice. "Watch it sucka."
Combs laughed. "Chill out BA, I didn't say it was a bad thing."
"Is that how you got so big and strong BA?" Murdock asked lightly, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Your mama made you drink milk all the time when you were a kid?"
Ray shook his head slightly, taking the offered cigarette from Reyes, as they watched BA grab the pilot's shirt.
"Don't be talkin' 'bout my mama fool," BA snarled, a warning scowl clearly written on his face.
The others laughed as Murdock just kept talking to aggravate the big man further.
0
"Rise and shine fellas!" Hannibal yelled. "On the course in ten!"
The command voice elicited groans from all occupants except BA, who was up by the time Hannibal was back out the door. The sergeant giggled at the haggard state of the rest of the team as they tried to disengage themselves from their cots.
Ray was the first to succeed in sitting up. Looking around for his boots, he caught sight of the others as they finally managed to sit up on, or fall off, their cots. "I am so glad I was late to the party," he mumbled.
"Hey Ray," Reyes called in a strangled voice.
"Yeah?"
"Fuck you." The medic was holding up a middle finger.
A/N: Hope you guys liked that chapter! I'm working all weekend so I dunno how much time I'll have to write, but I'll try to have an update within a week or two. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated!
