Authors' Notes: Here's another chapter, we're going to be slowing it down posting wise because we're getting close to the end and because the next part isn't completely done yet. But we'll tell you this much, it is good stuff! And it has an interesting twist in it.

Anyhow on with the current installment, Hannibal, Face and Charissa finally get to see Murdock and B.A. ... but Charissa and Face are feeling the guilt badly.


She didn't dream for once of her team being killed in Korea. She was just too tired, but she was the first to wake when the morning light filtered into the waiting room and stretched uncomfortably. She gave Face a small kiss and stood going in search of coffee for the three of them and some sort of breakfast.

Hannibal was the next to rise. Noticing that Sosa was gone, he stood and stretched, then went to find a doctor to get an update on Murdock's status. He wandered down the hallway towards the main station and gave his name, then began chatting with the hospital staff about how soon they could go in and see him.

She finally found the cafateria and returned with some coffee, juice and different pastry assortments for them. She noted Hannibal's absense and figured that he had gone to see what was going on. She sat back down next to Face and slowly waved a cup of coffee under his nose with a smirk and waited.

Face slowly woke up at the smell of coffee, groping for it like a dying blind man or a zombie might. "Caffiene..." he moaned, rising slowly and opening his eyes.

Hannibal returned, snickering at Face's desperate attempts to get his morning fix, and smiled, "Good news. Once we've finished breakfast, we can go in and see Murdock. B.A.'s with him now, they're both just coming round."

Charissa smirked and teased Face just a little by keeping the cup of joe just out of his reach, "I got some different doughnuts and such." She stated as she finally let Face have his coffee and grabbed a cream cheese Danish. She looked up to Hannibal and smiled a little, "Did they mention yet how long they have to be in here? I would assume Murdock for at least a couple of days, right?"

"B.A. can leave with us when he wants to. They just want to make sure he doesn't pass out this morning. Get lots of food in him, take it easy - that's going to be the hardest part." Hannibal nodded. "Murdock will be in for about a week."

Face dove into his coffee and grabbed a Hawaiian donut, "That's pretty serious. I'm glad the hotel is nearby."

She nodded slowly, "That's going to drive B.A. insane." She commented, agreeing with the Colonel about that clearly being the hard part. She sat back and sipped at her coffee and finished her Danish, licking some of the cream cheese off of her fingers, "You better have something too, Colonel." She slid the plate of pastries towards him.

Hannibal glanced over the plate before selecting a plain bagel and then using a plastic knife to cut it and spread a little cream cheese packet over it, "We were allowed to stay in tonight, but they'll want us to leave today when visiting hours are over. It's better for the patients' health if there are as few outside germs as possible."

"Right. So…" She looked back and forth between the two men, "Are we going to do something about what happened? I know Eddie is probably pushing what he can do to the limit, but we can't let this just go, let those assholes get away with it, can we?" She was very much up for the idea of getting even, it would be a good outlet for the anger that was still simmering beneath her surface over the whole incident.

"We are going to take them all down." Hannibal said, calmly, not looking up from his bagel, "We are going to take them, and their contacts, and everyone they are involved with."

"Sounds like a plan." She commented, her eyes flashing murderously, "I'll see what I can dig up on my end. If these guys are as bad as Eddie said then they've been in the States too pulling their shit." She finished her coffee and glanced to Face who was being rather quiet, too busy eating and filling himself with coffee, "Hold still." She commented as she reached over and removed a large crumb from the side of his mouth.

Face grumbled, "Gee, mommy, don't you think I'm a little old for that?"

Hannibal chuckled, "Good to see you two are back on typical argument terms." He stood, "I'll be right back, and then we'll go in and see Murdock, mmm?"

"I was going to lick it off, but I didn't want to make Hannibal uncomfortable." She smirked at him, then laughed at Hannibal's comment, "We try, but give us a week and we'll probably be wanting to kill each other again." She joked and sat back, leaning against Face while they waited.

Hannibal smiled as he walked off, "As long as it's in a good way."

He returned in a few minutes, gesturing, "He's down this hallway."

"Of course." She gave the older man a wink as she stood and stretched, "I have never wanted to get out clothes this damn much before in my life." She muttered as she tugged and pulled at her stiff clothing that smelled like the ocean and not in a good way. She followed Hannibal down the hall, her heart beating rapidly as she wondered how this had affected Murdock and if he'd be the same crazy guy she knew and cared about.

B.A. was sitting up and channel surfing when he saw the three of them he grinned big, "Bout time you fools visit us." He noticed Sosa and Face standing next to each other and nodded in approval.

Murdock was laying down, but had his head propped up in some pillows. There was bruising on his body, almost everywhere, and he was still pale as death. Still, his face broke into a cheerful smile and teary eyes as he saw his friends enter the room,"Faceman! Cap'n Sosa! Hannibal!"

Charissa moved forward first, and settled on the side of Murdock's bed and gave him a gentle hug careful of the tubes and such attached to him, "Thank god." She muttered and slowly sat back, blinking her eyes rapidly as she took the Captain's hand in hers, trying to keep the guilt off of her face as she sat there.

"What? No hug for me? I don't get no love here?" B.A. scowled, shaking his head, "I see how it is." He folded his arms and scooted down in his bed with a pout, "So do I get to leave this place soon Hannibal?" He wasn't much for being cooped up like this.

Hannibal grinned at B.A., nodding, "You can leave here this afternoon, when we go. They're kicking us out so we don't make sick people sicker," he explained, "but Murdock has to stay at least a week."

"Aww, come on, boss-man, can't you spring me out?" Murdock squeezed Sosa's hand. His grip strength was terrifyingly weak, still, his fingers tightened on hers, "I'm as fit as a fiddle!"

Charissa chuckled at B.A., "We love you too Big Guy." She mused then frowned at how fragile Murdock seemed now, it cut into her hard, "We'll come visit you every day Murdock. Promise." She assured him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze back.

"Yeah fool, you better rest up cuz you're gonna be makin me somma that coconut-curry tapenade every day for a month when we get back to LA in payment for all the damn blood I had to give you." B.A. looked over at the Captain, his expression serious despite the joking tone of his voice. He hated seeing Murdock like this, it just didn't feel like normal, "And don't you dare forget the toast points either sucka." He warned.

"I won't forget." Murdock grinned, waving over at Face now, who was still in the doorway, almost as though he were trying to hide in the shadows there, "Come on, Faceman, com'ere and gimmie a big ol' hug." he held his arms out, tubs and wires everywhere on his skin.

Face felt sick to his stomach, but he forced himself into the room, to sit down on the bed, to give Murdock a gentle hug. The pilot tried to hug as much as he could, but barely got his arms around the con-man before his strength gave out.

Charissa watched Face closely; she could tell he was taking it hard, worse than she was. She put a gentle hand on his arm across the bed and looked worriedly at Murdock, "It's going to be okay." She said softly, towards both of them as she stood slowly and backed away to give the two friends a moment as she wrapped her arms around herself and tried not to get all emotional again. She hated showing her emotions.

Face gently let Murdock back, fluffing his pillows and letting him sit up a little more comfortably. The pilot seemed cheerful, even boisterous, as he argued with B.A. over the sports show that he was watching.

"I am not turning it to Sesame Street fool!" B.A. argued back and looked at Hannibal, "I want outta here, go find a nurse Hannibal. Come on." He pleaded, shaking his head, "This fool's gonna put me in the looney bin." He glanced up and noticed the channel was not showing the football game he had been watching and roared as he switched it back.

Charissa chuckled a little, but she was doing all she could to keep from bolting out of the room. Murdock laying there like that, trying to act normal and no where even close to it was killing her. She tightened her arms and leaned against the wall and waited for Hannibal to tell them it was time to go.

"They want to keep you here under observation, B.A., to make sure you're not going to have any ill effects from all the blood you donated." Hannibal said with a little chuckle, "Unfortunately for them, they can't tell that your bad attitude is just you, and not a direct side effect of blood loss."

Murdock switched it back to the children's show and began singing along. He made about two lines before he was wracked by a coughing fit.

B.A. rolled his eyes, "Yeah. Yeah. Hey!" He looked over at Murdock again as Sesame Street filled the room, but stopped short of cussing the crazy man out when he saw him coughing weakly. He let it go and sat back quietly, still very much pouting in that B.A. manner however.

Charissa couldn't take it anymore and she exited the room out into the hall, she wanted to cover her ears and scream, anything to block out that weak, sickly sound of Murdock coughing.

Face did his best to hold his friend up, to make sure that he didn't fall backwards and choke on anything he managed to cough up. The pilot was soon finished, and took a sip of water from Hannibal's quickly-fetched cup. His hands shook and his teeth rattled against the plastic container as Face held it to his lips.

"Thanks, Faceman." Murdock said in a scratchy voice, coughing once more before drinking the last of the water and leaning into his friend, "I'm a little bit cold...think you could scare me up another blanket?"

She paced up and down the hallway, her eyes focused on the floor and each step she took. She hated hospitals anyways, but this was making her even more uncomfortable and triggering at her running instinct. She smoothed her hair back which was wild and full of salt, before she stopped pacing and leaned against the wall taking deep calming breaths.

B.A. just watched silently as his team mate was taken care of by the other two. He hated this, he really wanted to just storm out of the hospital and go hunt down the assholes that had done this and it killed him that he couldn't.

She watched Face leave the room clearly in search of something and worriedly ducked back inside of the room just in time to hear Murdock telling Hannibal not to blame Face. She stood there frozen for the moment,"I'm more to blame than he is." She spoke up suddenly, her voice small, "I distracted him… I'm the reason you're lying in that fucking bed." Her voice cracked a little, "So no, it's not Face's fault at all. It's mine and I take full responsibility." She stood straighter, almost in attention.

Face returned with the blanket and Murdock cheered softly, grateful as Face tucked him in, "Can you tell me a bedtime story, daddy?" he asked, with big eyes, as Hannibal chuckled and sat down on the bed beside him.

"Well now, let's see." Hannibal began, "Once upon a time, there was a young princess."

"Was she beautiful?"

"As beautiful as you, my dear. Now this princess lived in a tall castle, deep in the far-away woods..."

She felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders after admitting her guilt, but she still didn't feel any better or less guilty. She quirked a brow as nothing was said towards her and let it go, realizing it was their way of saying shit happens, but don't let it happen again. She settled on the edge of B.A.'s bed and listened to Hannibal telling Murdock a story with a sad small smile.

B.A. leaned up and placed a large hand on Charissa's shoulder, "It's gonna be fine girl." He promised her, giving her shoulder a pat before laying back again, shaking his head at Murdock and his bedtime story needs.

Murdock was clutching the extra blankets to himself, happily listening to Hannibal ramble on about the princess and her golden hair and her long, long sleep. When he got to the part about the handsome prince, Murdock babbled that he'd really like a prince to come and save him as well. Everyone went quiet after that, except for Hannibal, who finished the story with a small amount of unease.


Poor Murdock, it just tugs at the heartstrings.