Mind Games.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, you guys honestly brighten my day! On with the next chapter, sorry it has taken so long...sorry if this seems a little unrealistic...
Chapter 9.
Nobody spoke. Nobody really knew what to say. Face's eyes flickered between the CIA, with their two, what looked to be hostages; examining the woman, who he assumed to be Olivia, and then back to his three allies in the room.
Murdock had begun to tremble ever so slightly, his eyes a little glazed. The pilot had been put under a lot of stress lately and Face knew they needed to get out of there before he got any worse. Murdock's father, William, also looked slightly terrified. He was not a young man, but he stood tall, reflecting a military past. He stood close by Murdock, attempting to be a soothing presence.
Hannibal, on the other hand, had frozen stock still, staring at 'Olivia'. The woman stared back, her eyes revealing a mix of emotions; defiance shone through.
Face waited for Hannibal to snap out of it, but the silence stretched on far too long, and feelings of disbelief were replaced with a need to fill it. So he cleared his throat and spoke up himself, "What do you want Lynch?"
Lynch let out a humourless chuckle before he spoke, Hannibal's unresponsiveness was starting to panic Face now, and the conman was sure it was doing nothing to help Murdock, "I want to make a deal with Smith. If he's up to it?"
To Face's immense relief the Colonel seemed to come back to himself and turned to Lynch to address the issue, "What deal?" He asked sternly.
"A trade." Lynch paused, looking like he was enjoying drawing this out, enjoying Hannibal's uncharacteristic lack of confidence, "Both...Ofelia and Julia will go free, with green cards to allow them to stay in America."
Face frowned in confusion at the name used, watching for the Colonel's reaction. Hannibal winced slightly, for reasons Face could not fathom, but recovered quickly, "And in exchange you want us to come quietly?" He asked with humour in his voice.
Beside him Face was now staring at the young girl identified as Julia. She didn't look at anyone, staring at the floor instead. The Lieutenant's brain began to add up, as he came to the conclusion of who she was, observing familiar eyes. A glance at Hannibal showed no emotion from the older man; did he know? If he hadn't before, Face was sure the Colonel had worked it out before he did.
Lynch chuckled, "No Smith, I know that's never going to happen. I just need you."
This got no vocal reaction, just a stunned silence, so Lynch continued with his terms.
"I can secure a retrial, a much shorter prison sentence for the charge of escaping lawful custody; Smith that charge can be made to lean solely on you, as you broke your team out." Lynch raised his eyebrows, "Think about it."
"Why would you do that?" Hannibal's eyes flickered briefly to Olivia.
Lynch paused for a moment, and then replied with a shrug, "I need this case closed. I have higher profiles cases that require my attention." He gave a small smile, "Not that following you around the country hasn't been fun."
When Hannibal didn't reply immediately to shoot this idea down to the ground, Face rounded on him, his expression incredulous.
"You can't seriously be considering this?"
Hannibal turned to Face, his expression almost apologetic, "Think about it Face, it makes sense. A shorter sentence, you could all have your lives back...Olivia..."
The woman looked up, her face glowing with hope as she starred at Hannibal, the Colonel couldn't continue, he just stared back; he hadn't seen her in such a long time. No matter what she'd done, or what Hannibal always secretly believed, been wrongly accused of, he still loved her. The strange thought crossed his mind that it would be oddly poetic for them both to be falsely accused and sent to jail.
Murdock finally came back to himself, taking a step forward, "No way Hannibal, we're not going to let you do that."
Despite their words, both Face and Murdock could see that their CO had already made up his mind, exchanging desperate looks.
"Colonel, you can't turn yourself in..." Face paused while Hannibal stared him down, "We need you."
"Yeah Colonel," Murdock came in to back up the Lieutenant quickly; "Don't you dare turn yourself in after all we've been through to stop us getting put back inside."
Hannibal shook his head, "This is the best deal we're going to get, and I imagine it's only a one time offer. Anyway can you see another way out of this?"
Face stepped in front of Hannibal, as if trying to block him, "You can't actually believe what he's saying?"
Hannibal lowered his voice to a whisper, "Of course I don't, but there's no other way, Face."
"There's always another way," Face insisted quietly, "Always a plan, remember?"
Hannibal didn't reply, taking a sidestep and looking away from his two men, their eyes showed too much disappointment, "Ok Lynch."
Now Murdock strode forward, stepping in front of the Colonel before he could make a move, looking angrier than his teammates had ever seen him. "Don't try an' say that this is all about helping us," The pilot told him sternly, "This is about her and you know it."
Hannibal drew himself up, using his two inch height advantage, "If it is Captain, it shouldn't matter to you," He attempted to move forwards but Murdock still stood in his way.
"It does matter Colonel, if you're going to go to..."
Murdock was cut off as Hannibal pushed roughly past him, straight towards Lynch, "Let them go, and then take me."
"Boss..."
On instruction from Lynch, the CIA agents made to release Olivia and Julia, and in less than a second all hell broke loose.
Using skills gained in the military, BA had managed to enter the house and remain undetected behind the CIA agents, by even his own team mates; distracted as they were by Hannibal's decision. BA had managed to silently incapacitate about five agents, but they were still outnumbered, and as the Sergeant sent a strong punch into the back of another's head to stop Hannibal being handcuffed, the others quickly took the hint and began to do the same.
Face smashed a right hook into ones face, but received a sharp jab to his side from another. He quickly signalled to the others, pointing at the door. They understood what he meant, they had to get out quickly, this was a fight they weren't likely to win.
Murdock's father had gotten the message, from his position avoiding the fight he edged around the kitchen, reaching the door and slowly pulling down the handle. Murdock made it to the door first, insisting that his father went out first and waiting for the others. BA and Face came next, but as the three turned to see where their leader was they saw he was trying, unsuccessfully, to break through the wall of agents to Olivia and Julia.
The agents now seemed to be ignoring the three of them and focussing on Hannibal, quickly closing in. Face thought fast, he saw the wire leading to the metal light which hung from the ceiling running up the wall and along to the light. He flicked the switch off and turned off the light, which caused no reaction in any of the agents, then grabbed and ripped the wire from the wall. He pulled it taught so it ripped away from the ceiling, pulling the light down so it came crashing down to the floor and the bulb smashed, causing a momentary distraction. BA lurched forward and grabbed Hannibal's arm, dragging him out of the garden. With help from Face and Murdock, he shoved the older man over the fence and they quickly followed, having to drag a protesting Hannibal all the way to the car. BA swerved away down the road, ignoring the Colonel's shouts.
