CHAPTER 10

Face desperately tried to sleep some more, but the pain he was in prevented him from getting his much needed rest. Hannibal had told him that they would drive back to Barcelona to get him some meds for his journey back home and Face actually felt relieved. They left shortly after the conversation and Zowie ran downstairs to get a fresh bottle of water. She had promised to be back straight away.

Zowie made her way to the kitchen to get the water bottle and some clean glasses. She was nervous, but also somewhat relieved that they would get going pretty soon. She would only stop worrying when her boyfriend would be admitted to the hospital. Suddenly someone grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth with his large hand. Zowie tensed straight away and knew the bad guys were on to them. She had to get Face's attention somehow. What those goons didn't know was that her father had trained her well and she wasn't about to give up without a fight. She trashed her arms wildly and kicked her feet and was even able to bite the guy holding onto her in the hand. He pulled his hand away startled by what she did and so she managed to scream as loud as she could.

"Temp!"

Face had closed his eyes again trying to get some rest as he heard her scream on top of her lungs. He sat up immediately wincing at the pain that shot through his entire body. It didn't take him long to realize Zowie was in danger and he had to do something although badly injured. He sat up at the edge of the bed desperately trying to get a grip on his breathing and he hoped the dizziness would just miraculously disappear. He got up as fast as he could pure adrenaline running through his veins. He was the only one in the house and therefore the only one that could save her. Maybe Stockwell would even start to like him. Face took a few slow breaths to calm his pounding heart and quietly snuck out of the bedroom. Since he was only in his boxers, he decided to stop at the bathroom and quickly slipped into a t-shirt and a pair of pants. Slipping into the clothes was already harder than he thought with his bruised and battered body, but Face wasn't the type to give up. He had a mission: save his lover and he was a green beret after all. He could manage to do what he needed to do even when injured. He tried very hard to block out the pain and focus on saving Zowie.

He managed to get out of the bathroom fully dressed and tried to get a view on what was going on downstairs. Two bad guys were trying to overpower Zowie and she was kicking and hitting them while screaming on top of her lungs. She really was a feisty one and could defend herself extremely well he noticed. The goons however were a lot stronger and although she kept struggling to get out of their hands, she was starting to lose her grip on the situation.

Face needed to sneak down unseen and into the living room to get to her. And he needed a gun. He really needed a gun badly. He wondered where his gun would be. He snuck back to the bedroom and searched in the small closet for his .357 magnum. He knew he had little time to lose and he couldn't afford for Zowie to get kidnapped. He finally caught a glimpse of his gun and grabbed it before hurrying back out of the room.

The bad guys were still fighting with Zowie and she gave them a hard time as it was. Face was glad that she hadn't given up fighting. She kept kicking and screaming and yelling and the guys focused on her trying their utmost best to overpower her. She finally caught sight of Face and he motioned for her to keep quiet. The goons were fighting in the hallway with their victim, so Face couldn't get downstairs without actually being seen. He somehow had to take the guys out without hurting his girlfriend. Face had been the A-team's sniper and he could handle every situation, but this one was slightly different. This was his girl's life on the line and he wasn't well at all. Sweat was pouring down his handsome face and he couldn't keep his body from shaking which proved to be hard if he wanted to aim at the bad guy holding Zowie. He couldn't risk shooting his girlfriend. His sight was blurry and his stomach was queasy once again. He desperately tried to focus as he aimed his gun. Zowie saw exactly how bad his hands were trembling and knew she had to do something to help him. She somehow managed to push one of the goons away from her and Face didn't hesitate and pulled the trigger. The goon fell down on the floor holding onto his injured leg. The other goon now knew where Face was and was running up the stairs towards him. He tried to get his focus back which was pretty hard. The whole world was swaying. That's why he didn't see the fists of the goon as they made contact with his already bruised and battered ribs. For a second it felt as if the air was knocked out of him. He tried to get a grip of the situation again. He grabbed the goon's collar and pushed him off of him. The guy lost his balance and was about to fall down the stairs but managed to get a hold of Face's shirt and pulled him down the stairs with him. The both of them tumbled down. Zowie screamed.

The other team members were on their way to Barcelona in the van. Murdock suddenly got an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach as if something very wrong was about to happen.

"Hannibal, are you sure it was safe to leave Facey and Zowie behind?" He asked his superior officer.

"Yeah sure Murdock. Why?" Hannibal asked sounding worried.

"I don't know exactly. I just get this weird vibe as if someone in the house is screaming for help," he said. "It's like I can almost hear it."

"Shut up, fool," B.A. grunted. "You're just crazy. Their ain't nobody screaming and their ain't no vibe in your head either. Just air."

"No, I swear. Something just seems wrong. I can almost feel it," Murdock stated frantically. "We have to go back and check it out. Please, Hannibal? I have a bad feeling about this."

"I ain't turning back, fool. We need to get Face's meds to get him home. The guy is sufferin' real bad. This ain't gonna do him no good. Stop your crazy jibber jabber already," he said still continuing to drive.

"I have a gut feeling about this," Murdock tried again. "Please, Hannibal. Facey is my buddy. I can't let him down. Can we please just go back and check it out."

Hannibal thought about it for a second. "Okay, B.A. Turn the van around. By now I'm starting to get a bad feeling about the whole thing myself. I mean, Zowie called her dad by using her cell. Suppose those scumbags discovered who she was and traced her phone to get to her and to us. They might just try to get to her when we're not there and they might also try to take Face out permanently too. We can't let that happen. Let's go!"

B.A. did as he was told and stepped on the gas to get them back quickly. Murdock made sure they all had their weapons so they could rush into the house as soon as the van stopped. They immediately heard Zowie scream.

"Alright, guys. We must assume were under attack," Hannibal said. "Let's go. "Murdock, you're with me. We'll go in through the front door. B.A. you take the back. Let's go."

Hannibal and Murdock busted through the front door and made their way to the hallway. They found Face and one of the goons on the floor still fighting. The goon was clearly winning the battle. He had his hands wrapped tightly around Face's neck and squeezed as hard as he could. The other goon held Zowie as she was struggling to get to her boyfriend. Murdock grabbed him by his shirt and hit him hard knocking him unconscious easily. When the captain was defending his best friend, he got real violent. He was very protective when it came to Templeton Peck. Meanwhile, Hannibal peeled the other scumbag from his Lieutenant. He had a hard time prying him off of him and the guy kept strangling Face too. B.A. had also made his way in the house through the back and he immediately stepped up to help Hannibal. B.A. was super strong and therefore had no problem pulling the guys hands from Face's neck. He pulled him up in one swift motion and knocked the wind out of him. Hannibal kneeled down beside his injured second-in-command as he was struggling for air. Murdock had held Zowie, but let go of her now so she could tend to her boyfriend.

"Take it easy now, kid," Hannibal said. "Easy. Focus on breathing. That's it!"

Face could merely make out shapes and forms, but he did recognize the voice of his superior officer and surrogate 'dad' whom he looked up to.

"Zo …wie," he tried to say.

"She's alright, Temp. Don't worry! She sure can take care of herself. She is one tough lady," Hannibal said. "You shouldn't talk now. Just focus on your breathing."

Meanwhile, Zowie came running towards him and also kneeled down beside him.

"Oh, Temp," she said. "I was so worried about you. You shouldn't have fought with the injuries you've got." She put her hand to his forehead and felt the heat radiating from his body.

"Don't you worry, Facey," Murdock said. "We'll get you out of here in no time, muchacho."

"Zowie, we didn't get Face's meds," Hannibal explained. "We returned because Murdock had a gut feeling something was going on and he was right. Great job by the way, Captain. But what now? We don't have time to get the meds if we have to get to the rendezvous point your father indicated."

"I'll call dad and let him know," Zowie said while gently running a hand through Face's damp hair. "He has a medical team standing by on the plane to take care of Face, so they'll have to get him the necessary meds before take-off."

As they had to get moving, B.A. and Murdock carried Face towards the van while Hannibal supervised and kept a close eye on his Lieutenant.

"Hang in there, kid," he said. "You're nearly there."

Zowie called her father and explained what had happened. Stockwell was relieved to hear she was okay and that Face actually had risked his life being badly injured by attacking the bad guys and protecting his daughter. He promised that the plane was standing bye with a medical crew on board to take care of Lieutenant Peck.

The team sped off towards the rendezvous point. Face was lying down in the back of the van with his head in Zowie's lap as she kept running a hand through his hair. Murdock sat on his knees next to him. Hannibal kept glancing at the back to make sure his second-in –command was still doing okay.

By now, Face was unconscious due to the pain he was in and he was burning up. His soft blond hair was matted down and beads of sweat were clearly visible on his pale skin. Zowie kept her eye on him at all times. No matter how sick he is right now, he still is smoking hot she thought to herself.

"We're here, Hannibal," B.A. said. "The plane seems to be ready for us. It's about time too. Face needs help real bad."

He parked the van and headed towards the sliding door. Hannibal had already opened the door. Two medics came running from the plane with a gurney.

"Over here," Hannibal yelled at them. "Hurry quickly. He's in the back."

"How is he?" One of the medics asked Zowie.

"He's not doing that well," she said. "He has a concussion, a broken cheekbone and a broken nose as far as I can tell. But when we were under attack at the house, he fought with the bad guys and got himself hurt even more. I'm pretty sure he already has 2 broken ribs. The other three were severely bruised before, but I'm afraid it will be worse now. He fell down the stairs and was punched in the abdomen a lot. Right now he is also burning up. I'm really worried about him."

"Well, let's get him onto the gurney and load him into the plane. We can examine him before we take off and get some meds into his system. We'll need to get him to the hospital asap to get him checked out properly," the medic said. "Your dad will be on stand-bye."

Murdock and B.A. helped the medics put their friend onto the gurney. Face didn't wake up at all. He looked pale and beads of sweat ran down his handsome face. They quickly ran towards the plane and Zowie stayed with them. Hannibal and his team unloaded the van quickly and also ran towards the plane.

One medic was already busy examining Face. He had unbuttoned his shirt to reveal the bruised and battered chest and abdomen of the young man. He pressed down on the man's injuries and Face – even unconscious as he was – reacted to the pain of the pressure on his chest and abdomen. He was breathing superficially. The medic also quickly took his temperature.

"What's the verdict?" Hannibal asked.

"He is a very sick young man," the medic stated. "Besides the obvious concussion and broken cheekbone and nose, he also has quite a lot of broken or cracked ribs. Some of these ribs have punctured his left long, causing him to have trouble breathing on his own. I also think he has developed a chest infection due to his injuries which causes his fever to spike. I'll start him on an IV with fluids and a fever reducer. He must be in an awful lot of pain, so we'll also start him on morfine. To help him breathe, we'll also insert a nasal cannula and give him some oxygen. He'll be out most of the flight and we'll keep a close eye on him. He is still young and in excellent condition I've read in his file, so he should make it through this. I'm positive about that. But we need to get him to the hospital to get him properly checked out just to be safe."

"You hear that, Facey," Murdock said. "You'll be okay again, muchacho. You just relax and let Zowie and the other docs take care of you for now. They'll patch you up real good. I'm sure."

Despite their protest, Zowie helped take care of Face. It didn't take long before they were ready to take off with the plane. Zowie sat next to Face and gently stroked his blond hair. Hannibal sat on the other side of his Lieutenant and gently held his hand like a father would.

"I'm here, son," he said softly. "I'm not going anywhere until you get all better again. You hear me, Face. You have to get through this."

"Don't worry, Hannibal," Zowie said as she heard him almost whisper to his surrogate son. "He'll make a full recovery, but it's going to take some time nevertheless. He doesn't feel any pain at the moment due to the morfine and his fever is going down already."