CHAPTER EIGHT

1985

Kelly's dining room table was not nearly large enough to seat an entire house full of people. She'd prepared for that. As the women crowded into the kitchen to serve, the men were setting up folding tables and chairs in the living room. For almost a half hour, as people found seats and set their plates from the dishes on the kitchen counters, it was pure chaos. Then grace was said, chatter resumed, and Kelly finally collapsed into a chair beside Murdock with Stacie on her other side and most of her immediate family across the table. Her father was the only one missing, seated with his brothers at a table in the living room.

"Is everything okay?" Kelly asked, concerned.

"Why don't you try it and find out?" Stacie answered with a smile.

"It's wonderful, honey," her mother offered.

Kelly picked up her fork, but never actually made it to the food before she set it down again and pushed her chair back. "Oh! I forgot about the -"

Murdock didn't give her a chance to finish. He took her shoulder, keeping her from rising to her feet. "I'll get it. You just sit." He was up before she could protest.

"Oh, uh…" She seemed startled by the offer. "There's a… the pie in the oven. It needs to come out before it burns."

Murdock nodded and disappeared. Kelly once again tried to eat, hesitating this time. Face watched her out of the corner of his eye.

"I'll tell you what, Kelly," Stacie said. "You are braver than I for taking on the task of feeding all these people."

Kelly forced a smile. "I feel like I'm forgetting something."

Face grinned back at her. "That's probably because you've been so worried for so long about not forgetting something that it's worn a path in your brain."

She stared at him blankly for a long moment.

"Eat, damn it," Stacie ordered. "Before it gets cold."

Finally, Kelly ate. Murdock returned several minutes later, whispered something in her ear that made her blush purple, and sat down without a word to the rest of the table. The interrogation began.

"So, HM." Mrs. Stevens paused, giving him a soft smile. Her tone was by far gentler than any Face had heard since he'd arrived. "It seems odd to call you HM. What does that stand for?"

"Actually, it's on my birth certificate that way," Murdock answered comfortably. "Most everyone calls me Murdock, if that's less awkward for you."

Randy snorted with laughter. "Ever ask your parents what they were smoking when they came up with that?"

Face looked up, across the table and at Randy, with a look that could almost be considered a glare. But Murdock took it all in stride. "Actually, it was my mother who came up with it and I never had the opportunity to ask her. She died when I was five."

Good move. Shock silenced Randy for just long enough to let the wave of sympathy ripple through the others at the table. Kelly's sister was the one to speak. "That's horrible," she said softly. "How did she die?"

"An accident." Murdock took a sip from his glass. "I prefer not to talk about it."

Another good move – handing his opponent blanks for ammunition. If Murdock wasn't comfortable with this game, he still played it like a pro.

"So did you grow up around here?" Mrs. Stevens asked, changing the subject slightly.

"Texas, actually."

"What part?"

"Odessa."

"With your father?"

"For a while. And my grandparents."

"Siblings?"

"No. None."

The answer made Kelly pause, and her mother raise a brow. "Oh? Kelly said you had a brother."

Murdock choked on a response. Face watched him out of the corner of his eye. Damn that wild card. No way of knowing how much Kelly had told them. Come up with something, Murdock, or you're going to get caught in the lie.

Murdock smiled. "It's a little more complicated than that." He hesitated briefly. "He may have technically been my brother – half brother, actually – but we didn't grow up in the same house and we never got along. We don't keep in touch. We don't even share the same last name. When you say siblings, I think of the people you grew up in the same house with. And he doesn't fit that description."

"Well, by that definition," Face interjected with a smile, "I guess I'm blessed with dozens of them."

"Dozens?" Margaret asked.

Murdock breathed an almost audible sigh of relief as Face took the stage for a minute and let him recover. Face gave a brief history with such a tone as to make them believe that he was comfortable talking about his childhood in the orphanage with any random person off the street. He wasn't of course, and Murdock knew that. Murdock made a mental note that he owed Face one for this.

He felt Kelly's hand on his knee, and checked to make sure that everyone was thoroughly engrossed in Face's story before he turned and leaned toward her a bit. "Anything else you told them about me that I might need to know about?" he asked under his breath.

"I'm sorry," she whispered back. "I didn't realize it was a big secret."

Big secret? His own team hadn't known about his brother – except for Hannibal – until Alan had shown up unexpectedly on his doorstep a few weeks ago, looking for help. It was still a sore spot – one that Murdock had no desire to talk about.

But he couldn't dwell on that right now. He only had so long before they turned back to him for more questions. He took a breath, regaining his composure and his thought processes. A slight smile crossed his face. "You can make it up to me later."

Kelly blushed.

"So what do you do for a living, Murdock?"

Murdock hesitated for a moment, buying a few seconds with a quick drink. "I'm a pilot," he finally answered, comfortably.

"Oh? What do you fly?"

Murdock chuckled. "Just about anything with wings. And helicopters, too."

"For which airline?"

"Actually, I fly charter," Murdock answered. "Planes, choppers… whatever the situation requires."

Mrs. Stevens frowned and shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't understand. What company do you work for?"

Murdock hesitated too long. He was trying hard not to lie outright; verifiable facts were always dangerous. "He works with me," Face offered, giving him an out. "Yeah, we run a small business. I'm sort of a booking agent. He handles the flying and I handle the rest."

The woman smiled politely. "Oh. I see."

"Have you ever taken a helicopter through the Grand Canyon?" Face asked her.

She shook her head. "Can't say that I have."

"Oh, you should," Murdock cut in, recovering the conversation. "You absolutely should. It's a beautiful sight."

"So did you have to go to school for that?"

"Yeah." Murdock nodded. "Flight school. I did it when I was sixteen and then learned choppers later."

"So did you ever actually go to college?"

He paused. "I… did, yes. I have a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering."

"Where from?"

Shit. Murdock took a breath. "US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs."

Drew's attention focused. Everyone else seemed to take it in stride. Maybe it had been a big deal out of nothing. "You were in the Air Force?" Mrs. Stevens asked innocently.

"Yes."

"What did you do?"

Face had looked up now, too, curious about the line of questioning. It didn't seem hostile. And Murdock had nothing to tell her but the truth. "Well, I did a normal two year rotation with the Thunderbirds and then was reassigned to fly choppers."

"You flew with the Thunderbirds?" Face asked quickly, feigning shock. "I never knew that."

Face had seen his service record at least a dozen times. He was setting him up again. Murdock went with it; he trusted Face. "Yeah, I did."

Face leaned forward, talking to those across the table, specifically Mrs. Stevens. "I don't know if you're familiar with the Thunderbirds, but they're a demonstration unit that goes all over. They're really an elite unit; very hard to get into."

Murdock hid his smile. Leave it to Face to throw around words like "elite unit" to make an impression.

"How did you swing that, Murdock? And straight out of the Academy?"

"It's all about test scores." Murdock lowered his eyes modestly. "And I've always done well on tests."

Randy had been noticeably quiet, focused on his food. But in the brief pause that followed, he looked up and sipped his drink. "So you were in Vietnam, then?"

There was the trigger word. It made Kelly react immediately. "Randy…"

"No politics at the dinner table, Randy," Margaret added, not looking up from her plate.

"Was just a question," Randy chuckled.

That might have been true if not for that challenging gleam in his eye. Murdock studied him carefully. The war had been over for more than ten years and it was still considered politics at the dinner table? What was he looking for?

Their gazes remained locked for a long moment. Then, finally, Randy smirked. "So did you?"

"Randy," Kelly warned again, more forcefully this time.

"Yeah, I did," Murdock answered flatly, holding his stare. "Why do you ask?"

The smirk turned to a full smile, and he leaned back. Margaret set her fork down and put her head in her hand. "Oh, I was just wondering," Randy said.

Murdock watched him for a moment longer, then turned his attention back to his meal. For a few seconds, it was quiet. Then the punch line came. "So how does it feel to be a baby-killer?"

Face's response was quicker than Murdock's. "Excuse me?"

Randy ignored him. As Murdock looked up, they locked eyes again. He forced himself to take a breath, clenching his jaw so hard it hurt. Randy smirked as he continued. "Ever drop a shitload of Napalm on a village full of women and children just so you could watch 'em burn?"

"Randy!" Kelly cried.

"Actually, you never got to see much from the air," Murdock said quietly. His voice was ice cold, eyes dead. "It was mostly just the smell of burned flesh. But I did see plenty of photos. One I was particularly fond of was a friend of mine holding up this guy's skin by the side of -"

Kelly stood abruptly and grabbed Murdock's arm. "Murdock, will you give me a hand in the kitchen please?" It wasn't really a request. She was pulling him out of his chair before she'd even finished speaking.

Murdock didn't continue, and didn't answer her. They disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Face and Randy to stare at each other. But before either said a word, Mrs. Stevens spoke up again. "So, Mr. Ranger." Her voice was full of nervous tension, but she smiled as she looked up at Face. "What is it you do for a living?"

*X*X*X*

"What the hell was that all about?" Murdock demanded angrily as soon as the swinging door shut behind him.

"That was Randy," Kelly said quietly. "He's always like that."

Murdock stared at her. Was she kidding? "He's always like that? So that excuses it?"

She stared at him, eyes full of worry, hands making nervous fists in the fabric of her sweater. "You promised you wouldn't do this."

"Do what?" he demanded. "I promised to be normal and that was a normal reaction!"

"You promised to try! To try and make a good impression!"

"I did not start that!"

"You're supposed to be different than him! You promised. Not him."

He gestured behind him, towards the door. "What am I supposed to say that would be more polite and acceptable? 'I'm sorry, I'm afraid you've got me confused with some other soldier whose country did drop napalm on villages full of women and children?'"

She swallowed noticeably, clenching her sweater even tighter. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "Okay? For him. But you've got to-"

"No," he interrupted her. "It's not okay. What the hell is his problem?"
"Randy is…" She trailed off, her eyes dropping to the floor. Murdock didn't speak, but his eyes narrowed as he watched her. Just how many times had she found herself apologizing for him and how he acted? He had a feeling this was nowhere near the first time.

"He's my brother," she finally managed, looking up at him with tears in her eyes. "What do you want me to say? He's mean? He's a drunk? He enjoys hurting people?"

Murdock's fists clenched and released a few times as he turned and paced away from her. He wasn't angry at her. He shouldn't be taking it out on her. That would never end well. A few steps, then he turned and looked back, leaning on the counter. "You could've at least warned me, Kelly," he finally said, irritated.

"I did."

"No, you didn't. I had to hear it from your brother-in-law and I assumed if it was really that big of a deal I would've heard it from you."

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

He stared at her for a moment, and realized that what he was feeling right now went way beyond Randy's words. "Are you trying to sabotage me?" he asked, genuinely hurt. "Because when you don't give me all the pieces, how am I supposed to protect myself, let alone you? If you knew he's like this..."

When she meet his eyes the confusion and hurt was evident in her tears. "You're the only man I have ever let meet my family. This is all new to me. I..." She stopped and wiped at the tears now rolling down her cheeks.

"Well, why would you fail to mention something so important?"

She shook her head, and lowered it, chewing on her bottom lip as she hugged herself tighter and tried to stop crying. After watching her for a moment, he dropped his head and let his chin bounce on his chest. Damn it, she was stressed and worried and overwhelmed and he'd known that from the word "go." Of course she hadn't sabotaged him. She'd been too overwhelmed and forgot. It was a horrible thing to forget, but she had no reason to sabotage.

He sighed deeply, and took a few steps toward her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her close. "Don't cry, Kelly, come on..." It wasn't that he minded the tears so much. This much stress could make anyone cry. It was the fact that there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it right now. She needed to get through this. That meant keeping it together. It meant not crumbling into a sobbing mess in the kitchen right smack in the middle of dinner. Damn it, he needed to be more careful about what he said around here.

She let herself be pulled into the embrace, into him. She was hesitant at first. Stiff, like she was unsure if she could relax. She softened as he rubbed her back slowly, drawing his other hand up over her hair to smooth it back. In between silent sobs she whispered into his neck, "Please, Murdock... I need you to do this for me, I just can't."

She stopped speaking and wrapped her arms tight around him, as if trying to absorb his strength. "Relax, Kelly. Please." He pulled away just slightly and tipped her chin up so he could meet her eyes. "Please?"

She sniffled, and nodded, and tried to wipe away the tears.

"We've only got a couple more hours of this and then they'll all go back to the motel for the night, right?" He didn't bother looking at the clock. He already knew it would tell them that they weren't even half finished with the evening. Nor did he bring up the fact that this was only day one of four. She didn't need to think about that.

She nuzzled her face into his neck again and took slow deep breaths until she had control. "I'm sorry Murdock. I should have said something. I just have so much going on. I can't even think straight."

"It's okay." It wasn't really okay. He sighed as he turned his head and kissed her hair.

"I'm so sorry."

"I know. Just relax, okay? And I'll just -" Hell, how was he going to deal with this? Because he was pretty sure the comments wouldn't stop. "- try to ignore Randy. Okay? Does that work?"

She looked up at him and tried to smile, but it was a weak attempt at best. "If you figure out some way to make him stop, let me know."

He smiled reassuringly, and tucked her hair behind her ear as he leaned forward to kiss her gently, his lips moving slowly over hers. She sighed softly as she melted into him. "In a couple of hours, he'll be gone." The hand on her back slid lower, and around to her hip as he let his mouth work on hers, calming her. "Then you can take a nice hot bath and relax. Yeah?"

The tears had stopped, but he still wasn't one hundred percent sure she'd pulled it all together yet. When the kiss finally broke, she looked up at him and smiled a little more. "That sounds like heaven right now."

He smiled more fully. "Complete with your own personal angel. I'll even play a harp for you if you want, but I can't promise that your ears won't bleed."

She let out a soft laugh and then looked at the door and sighed deeply. "I guess we should get back before they come looking for us."

"Yeah."

Before she let him go, she have him a quick kiss on the lips. "Thank you."

It was clear that that was for more than putting up with her family. He smiled, and nodded, then slipped his hands into his pockets before turning and following her back to the dining room.