Chapter 11:

'Man up Peck, you are pathetic. Here you are, member of the A-Team, ex green beret and war vet, and you can't even make a few steps? Come on you escaped from a POW camp in a far worse state, you'll sure be able to make your way through a house. Next time I'll scam him a cabin instead of a big house. Just don't step on your left foot again. Hobbling on one will do. Okay, here goes nothing.'

Self motivation worked only so far. Truth was, adrenalin did a lot in such situations and the adrenalin he felt now was nothing compared to when half of the VC is after you and your life depends on the next step. And his team had been with him to give support to each other. He had been lying flat for so long, getting up without time to adjust wasn't the brightest idea. He was dizzy and his head swam. He had used the walls for support to get this far. Opening the door he was leaning on for support didn't also quite prove his ability to think clearly at this moment. As the door swung open all intentions of not stepping on his injured foot were forgotten. The pain made him yell and he lost the little balance he had gained and came crushing to the floor. However, he never felt the impact since he was out before he hit the ground.

The next time he opened his eyes he was back on the bed, a fresh IV bag connected to his arm, his head pounding even worse than before and four concerned faces around him, or rather three concerned one mildly irritated plus concerned. It was that one that spoke first.

"I thought I had told you to stop being stupid. Are you trying to kill yourself at all costs or what was this stupid stunt about?"

When he didn't get an instant reaction from Face Hannibal went on. "Is it really so terrible if someone tells you that he cares? Do you need to run away even if you are not up to? Can't you simply accept the fact that not everybody is out to harm you but there are people whom you really mean something too?"

His head was pounding so hard that all he heard was Hannibal's angry tone, and not the actual words he was saying. He wanted to tell him that he was sorry for not answering him. He opened his mouth, but the words wouldn't come. All that came out was a pitiful moan which seemed to anger the colonel even more.

Hannibal was hurt. He considered Face to be his son and he assumed Face looked up to him as a father. He told him he loved him and Face said nothing but let him stand there like a fool. Hannibal felt rejected…it was coming out as anger, but the truth was that he was just disappointed. He felt a hand on his shoulder gently pulling him away.

"C'mon man, you don't mean to be yellin' at the Faceman."

"I wasn't yelling," he said, allowing B.A. to lead him over to a chair. "I was…I was…"

"Talkin' loudly?"

"Yeah that."

B.A. pushed him down into the chair. "Just take a minute to cool off."

Face felt as sick as a dog, Hannibal was angry and he let the team down once more. 'You screwed up yet again,' he thought. Murdock and Maggie were still hovering over him, but they were getting fuzzier. His eyes began to close and he gladly gave into the darkness.

"Is he okay, Maggie?" Murdock asked.

"I'm sure he will be." At this point, however, she was really beginning to wonder.

Murdock could see the strain on the doctor's face and the bags under her eyes. "Are you okay?" Tears sprung to her eyes, and she tried unsuccessfully to hold them back. "Why don't you take a break?"

She shook her head 'no". I have to check Face's foot...it probably needs to be drained again after he put his body weight on it."

Murdock wrapped her into a hug. "You've done enough for us." Murdock looked over to Hannibal and B.A. and motioned with his head for them to come over. "We have been watching you clean the wound for days now...we can take care of it."

"Murdock's right, lil' mama," B.A. agreed. "And that ain't somethin' I say too often."

Maggie smiled at that last remark and then looked over at Hannibal, who concurred. "We'll take it from here. You go get some rest."

"Okay...but call me if you need me." She was headed out the door when she turned and added, "And, John Smith, don't you yell at that boy anymore. He's sick and in pain. I don't care what happened between the two of you, now is not the time to get into it."

Hannibal blushed. "You're right. Maggie, as always, you're right."

"I know," she grinned and went on her way.

The three men stood next to Face's bed and looked down at the unconscious man. His skin looked grey and he was covered in sweat. Hannibal's heart ached knowing that he had played any part in his coming to be so ill. "This stops right here...right now. No more nonsense...no more games. We have one mission now, and that is to get Face well. We repair him physically and then we get to work on repairing the rest of him...and us. Agreed?"

"Agreed," B.A. and Murdock said at the same time.

They tried to channel their inner-Maggies as they tended to Face's foot which appeared badly inflamed and swollen. They knew what they had to do, but it didn't make the task any easier.

"Okay...let's get to work," Hannibal ordered.

Face woke with a start as he felt a searing pain in his foot. He was held down and started to struggle against his enemy. Before he recognized what was going on he heard Hannibal's stern voice.

"Stay still, this is getting done whether you like it or not."

The tone in Hannibal's voice made him freeze. He now recognized he was being held down by his friends and Hannibal was cleaning his wound. He couldn't think straight, why were they doing this to him and where was Maggie? She had done it not long ago and said every day not several times a day. Didn't they know she had done it?

"Stop, please stop. Maggie…"

Murdock was leaning over his face "Maggie is tired Face, she tended to you for days without much of a break. Now it's our turn."

"But…argghhh" the sentence died on his lips when the next round of peroxide was poured into his open wound.

"Hold still Lieutenant or this is only going to hurt more than necessary."

They seemed all business, no emotion. Sure they knew Maggie had already cleaned his wound so why did they do it again? Had he screwed up so bad they now intentionally hurt him? He turned pleading eyes on Murdock, his best friend but all he could say was "Why?"

"Just stay still Face, almost done."

Apparently Hannibal had changed his mind about loving all his boys. Why he had actually believed those words to be true he could not remember. It always ended like this. Why had he not been able to answer when Hannibal had talked to him? And why of all things had he tried to follow him knowing full well he would not be able too. Looked like a good idea then, but quite stupid now. Had he just waited for the next person to come to the room and assist him, he would actually have been able to talk to Hannibal and would not have screwed up again. He could kick himself but even that was not possible while being held down. He jumped when they suddenly released him.

"We are done Lieutenant." That was all Hannibal said before he turned away and removed the tools he had been using.

Nobody talked until Hannibal was done and turned his attention back to Face. "Since you're apparently intent on causing harm to yourself at any given chance here is a new set of rules for you, Lieutenant."

'All business and talking rank. No 'how do you feel' anymore. Much as I hate to admit it, that old nun is right again; once a screw up, always a screw up.'

"You will stay in this bed, you won't even move without being told to. You will be cooperative in your treatment, take all medicine that is given to you, eat and drink whatever is being brought to you. If you so much as think of getting out of this bed again without permission I'll personally tie you down. Did you understand that, Lieutenant?"

'What ever happened to I love you with all my heart? We play soldier now, okay, I can do that.'

"I asked you a question, Lieutenant."

"Geez, yeah I understand."

"What was that, Lieutenant?"

Face exhaled loudly. He hated this. "Yes sir."

"Good. One of the three of us will stay with you at all times. No more games until you are healed. Now rest, I'll take the first turn."

Murdock made a move to pull the cover more up around Face's shoulders; he knew that he liked it this way, as warm as possible. But his movement died before he even touched the cover.

"Captain, I said I'm taking the first turn."

Murdock shrugged apologetically at Face and then followed BA out the room.

Face was trembling. He couldn't tell if it was from the pain of the procedure he just endured or from the attitudes of those who had just done it to him…most likely a combination of both. He clenched his hands into fists trying to stop the shaking and closed his eyes to keep the room still.

Hannibal saw Face's fists and the defiant way he was blocking him out. A spark of anger flared up in him, but then he remembered what Maggie said. Face was suffering and the pain was probably driving most of his actions at this point. He took a deep breath and reminded himself that priority number one was getting the kid well. The only way this was ever going to happen was if he took his emotions out of it. He was a soldier, after all, and that is what soldiers were trained to do during battle. And this was one of the biggest battles he had ever fought.

'Lead with your head, Smith,' he thought, 'and not your heart.' The trouble was that he didn't know how long his heart would allow him to do so.

Face tried to breathe in and out slowly from his nose and to ignore that his foot felt like it was on fire. He could feel the nausea building. He opened his eyes and looked at Hannibal sitting in the corner watching him with an impassive stare. The colonel had made it crystal clear that he was tired of taking care of him, but Face figured it was better to ask for help than to get sick all over his sheets.

"I'm going to be sick, sir," he moaned, wrapping his arms around his midsection as if it would help keep the contents inside.

Hannibal grabbed a bucket and was at his bedside in seconds. He handed the bucket over and stood stoically as Face repeatedly vomited. The lieutenant barely had time to take a breath in between heaves and his face had turned bright red from the effort. His heart ached watching him, but he had to stay strong, stay removed and stay the course.

Face felt like he was dying...he just couldn't seem to stop. Just as soon as he thought he might be okay, his stomach would clench up and another round would begin. Gradually, the time in between attacks became spaced longer and longer apart until they subsided completely. Face handed the bucket to Hannibal who had remained unmoving at his side, a poker-faced observer.

Exhausted, he collapsed back against the pillow.

Hannibal moved away to empty and clean the bucket for the next time, knowing it would surely be used again. 'This doesn't feel right, not at all. It feels complete and utterly wrong.' Anytime Face was sick, which for some reason happened to him way more often than the rest of them, and Hannibal was close he would hold his shoulders or rub small circles on his back to give a little support. To just stand by and do nothing more than provide the bucket felt so wrong. But he had to stay in character; no emotions allowed. Much as he wanted to he knew he couldn't. He had let his emotions towards the kid show before and look where it got them. Now he was worse off than before. He should have known that the kid would bolt and run at his words. Face didn't want to get into any kind of relationship for fear of being rejected. He had thought that after all the time they had spent together Face would know what he thought of him and the other two and thought saying it out loud wouldn't make a difference. Apparently Face didn't share his view about things concerning their little family.

Face was watching Hannibal's back as he was once again cleaning away his mess. His whole body language was saying just how tired he was of doing so; how disappointed he was in his second in command. Hannibal would usually provide some comfort when he was sick but this time he didn't even give him water to wash out his mouth. He wasn't about to ask for it either; wasn't going to add oil to the fire by whining about minor discomforts. At the rate he was going he would anyway be sick again, just a waste of water then. He had been in and out of it for days now with big gaps in his memory. Now he wished he would pass out or at least fall asleep but no such luck. He was laying there for quite a while with Hannibal reading a book in the far corner of the room before exhaustion blissfully allowed him to escape the situation for a while.

In the mean time BA and Murdock were sitting at the kitchen but neither of them had much of an appetite.

"It's just not right big guy. I know we agreed to get him well physically before mentally but this is only adding mental pain. How can he be so cold?"

"We don't know what happened between the two of them in there."

"Whatever it was, I've never seen Hannibal acting in strict command mode towards one of us unless he was really pissed and that happens rarely. In addition Face is sick and not himself right now."

"Yeah you're right fool. But he's been acting crazy with no respect for his health…deserves some cold shoulder too."

"But not like this, he's sick BA and don't forget it's our fault he got into this position in the first place. Come on, you know how he craves little comforts and touches when he is sick. It's the only time he will allow himself to show some weakness and accept it. I mean, I only wanted to tuck the blanket around his shoulders, we all know he likes that. How can Hannibal deny him such a little comfort? He's completely void of any emotion."

"Don't like it neither but trust the colonel, fool, he always has a plan."

"Plan or not it's not right to treat him this way. Remember how he once told us he hated to be at the infirmary in the orphanage because he was mostly alone there? He doesn't need to relive such feelings, trust me I'm expert in this."

At that moment Hannibal entered the kitchen with two radios on him. "Captain, your turn. Take a radio and tell me to come as soon as he shows signs of waking up. You two will sit with him while he is asleep, I'll take the times when he's awake."

Murdock just shook his head and left the kitchen. When he entered the bedroom he noticed how pale and thin Face was. He had not eaten much in over a week now and the little he took in didn't stay there for long. Murdock's first action was to tuck the blanket over Face's shoulders. Face stirred and snuggled into Murdock's touch…that's when Murdock made a decision. Since when did Hannibal's plans work without improvisation and little changes? He draped the blanket firmly around Face, then climbed on the bed beside him and curled up close to Face. Face sighed in his sleep and snuggled a little closer to Murdock, savoring the body heat and the comfort he provided.

BA was trying to talk reason into Hannibal. "You telling him you were glad Leslie left him after what he just went thru was probably too much. And treating him cold like this just ain't right…no matter what happened."

"BA…I…."

He could not go on since a furious Maggie just stormed into the kitchen. She was on her way to her patient and wanted to get some coffee first. She had heard what BA had said.

"John I need to talk to you… alone."

Hannibal followed her out of the kitchen and she started before they were out of earshot to the kitchen.

"John Smith, are you completely nuts?"

"Actually that is Murdock's dep…."

"Don't you get witty on me. You told him you were glad Leslie left him? In his state of mind? I thought you were able to think on your feet but apparently I was wrong. And what was that about being cold to him?"

Hannibal explained his plan.

"Great, just great. That's about the last thing he needs. You're just pissed about whatever happened between the two of you."

"You want to know what happened? I apologized to him after BA and Murdock had already done so; told him how I loved him and the others and this unthankful little brat just got defiant and didn't say a word."

"You're really truly stupid! I'm surprised how wrong I was with my assumption about you. After all he's been through you expect him to be ever so thankful and accept your apologies without further thinking? It won't happen."

"Oh come off it Maggie, years of caring for him versus one time we did him wrong. He should not be this defiant."

"Years of caring? Come off your high horse and see the truth. In the short time I know you and your team, how many times did I patch up Face because your plan went wrong? You hang him out as bait…you sent him into the lion's den! Do I need to go on? He has the right not to trust in your judgment again. And now excuse me…I have to go check on my patient."

BA had listened to the whole tirade. Much as he bickered about having a lady doctor treat his leg when they first came to Bad Rock he had to admit this woman had guts. To face Hannibal like that and tell him everything she did…BA could not have done it better.

Face slept straight through Murdock's shift curled in a ball into the pilot's side. He didn't even stir when B.A. opened the door a couple of hours later to relieve him.

"What you doin', fool? Hannibal is gonna kill you," he whispered emphatically.

"Not if a certain gold-plated giant doesn't say anything," Murdock replied as he gently slid away from Face and off the bed.

"I ain't gonna say nothin."

"Good."

"I ain't gonna say nothin' because I'm about to take your spot," B.A. said slowly lowering himself onto the mattress.

Murdock's smile could have lit the room. "Take care of him, B.A." He turned toward the door, then looked back and added, "and try to keep him sleeping as long as possible. The longer Hannibal is away from him, the better."

Murdock grabbed a shower before heading to the kitchen. He expected to find Hannibal, but instead found a note on the table. His stomach dropped immediately; he had a feeling he knew what the note said. "Chuck, we have a very, very, very, big problem," he said after a quick read confirmed his fears.