Chapter 12

Hannibal pulled the couch next to Face's bed and laid down trying to get a little rest while he had the chance. He didn't realize how exhausted he was until he closed his eyes. As he drifted off his last thoughts were of a conversation he had with Face on what he assumed had been his lieutenant's birthday.

"Happy Birthday, kid."

"Huh? Oh yeah…um…well…thanks…I…um…think."

"You think?"

"It's just another day."

"For some, yes, but for you it's the day you entered this world."

"And look where it got me…to this paradise."

"You are way too young to be so cynical."

"Not cynical…just telling it like it is."

"And how is it?"

"How is it? How it is' is that I don't know what my real birth date is so I made this one up. I suppose there is a 1 in 365 chance that I was right."

"Damn…I'm sorry, kid. I forgot…um…that…

"That I'm an orphan. Don't be sorry. "

"I'm sorry you didn't have a family that you could share birthdays with."

"Yeah, well, you can't miss something you never had."

"I'm sorry, kid…sorry you didn't have a family…you can miss…sorry…sorry…" Hannibal was moaning in his sleep.

Face woke to Hannibal's voice and froze at the words coming from his colonel. As he opened his eyes he saw Hannibal tossing and turning.

"Hannibal…you okay?"

"Sorry…orphan…sorry."

"Hannibal…please…wake up." Face couldn't stand to hear it anymore; he didn't need the reminders. He reached over to gently shake him.

Face never saw Hannibal's fist coming in his direction, but he felt it and heard the sound as it made contact with his side. Hannibal's couch was about the same height as Face's bed and whiles Hannibal had turned to his side in his sleep, Face was laying on his back. Since moving was too painful he had just reached out for Hannibal instead of turning to him. That now turned out to have been a clever thing since otherwise Hannibal's fist would have connected with his ribs or abdomen. The way it was, there wasn't too much damage but that was a difference Face wasn't feeling at the moment. The blow had jostled him and he hurt all over, gritting his teeth against the white hot agony.

"Face…what…oh, no." Hannibal was up in a flash as he realized that the attacker he had been fighting off had only existed in his dreams.

"Kid, talk to me. Face, where did I hit you?"

"Umgh…"

"Face, c'mon kid, say something. I'm so sorry."

"My…fault…."

"No...how can you say that. Where did I hit you?"

"Side."

"Let me see."

"No…hurts."

"C'mon, I just want to lift your t-shirt, I'm not going to hurt you."

As it turned out the blow was painful and may leave a bruise but other than that didn't leave any damage. After a while the pain died down and Face was able to breathe normal again.

"Sorry kid."

"My fault, I should know better than to touch you in your sleep without being able to jump out of reach."

"Why did you try to wake me, do you need anything?"

"No, you were dreaming."

"Oh, I don't even remember. Thanks kid."

The two lapsed into silence; Hannibal feeling guilty as hell and Face being stuck in his own head. 'So much for being a member of the family. In his dreams he thinks of me as the orphan that doesn't have any family. Aren't dreams supposed to be connected to ones thoughts? He doesn't see me as a member of the A-Team family, he just said so out of pity for the orphan.'

"Kid, you alright?"

"Hmm…my head still hurts, it's annoying." While the concussion was gone the headache was still present and the constant pain was irritating. Face tried to remember what B.A. said; he most likely wasn't thinking clearly due to the fact that he was injured. But still, he hadn't imagined the words that came out of Hannibal's mouth and they still hurt. And then, to make matters worse, Hannibal got up and left the room leaving Face utterly confused.

Hannibal scurried from the room to get a basin of cold water and some towels. When he returned a few minutes later, Face's eyes were closed but his brow furrowed in pain. Hannibal submerged a cloth into the water and wrung it out.

Face felt something cold and wet being placed on his forehead. He opened his eyes to see Hannibal sitting next to him holding the compress. "I…um…I thought…you…" Face started, and then stopped as he was too embarrassed to say it.

"Thought I left you?"

Face nodded, then winced at the movement.

"I'm sorry…I should have told you what I was doing."

"No…s'okay," Face shook his head, and winced again.

"Maybe you should just try to keep your head still," Hannibal suggested.

"Yeah…tell that to my neck that keeps forgetting," Face smiled weakly.

"How about you tell me something, kid…what was I saying in my sleep?" Hannibal remembered what he had been dreaming about, but he hoped that he hadn't said anything to tip Face off.

Face didn't have a chance to answer as the sound of the van screeching to a halt outside interrupted him. A few seconds later Murdock came flying through the door. "We gotta move…and now."

Hannibal sprung into action started picking up their things on auto pilot, they had to do this so often that they knew each move in their sleep. "What is it?"

"Military is on the way, they have been over at Richter's cabin and are headed this way."

BA threw some blankets over Face and picked him up while Hannibal and Murdock wiped their prints away.

"Leave it man, they know we're around. No need to risk a car chase with Face in the van because of hanging around for too long."

"It's a matter of a minute BA and they don't know we're here. We wiped Richter's place too." They were in the car and slowly moving away by the time Hannibal had finished his statement.

"Don't you think Richter sold us out?"

"No, besides he doesn't know where we moved too. Probably someone saw us, and if they connect us to Richter he'll be in huge trouble and I want to avoid that."

"Where to, man?"

Before Hannibal could answer a first moan of pain escaped Face's lips.

"Wherever we can hole up. But move slowly."

BA used only back roads and they never spotted the military anywhere. The ride over bumpy roads was pure hell on Face but he decided not to say anything. He couldn't however help the moans and grunts escaping him before he finally passed out. After about two hours they came across a group of little cabins for tourists and Hannibal decided it was safe to stop. They rented the far one and got settled.

Face woke up hours after they had settled him into bed. He hurt all over, much as he tried to hide it, it showed. Hannibal felt guilty but most of all was disturbed by the sad look in Face's eyes that was present since the earlier incident. As he placed cool clothes on Face's forehead he decided to change his earlier plans and not wait until the kid was able to sit up. Whoever said that you could only get adopted whiles sitting up? When Face slept again he went for requisites from the van and presented his fool prove plan to Murdock and BA.

"You nuts man, I ain't gonna wear no dress and fancy hair."

"But BA, you need to be my wife for the plan to work. They won't let two men adopt a boy, we need to act as a couple."

"You more crazy than Murdock. 'They' is Murdock and he knows I'm a man, besides Face knows."

"Face is six years old and doesn't know you but he knows that two men could never have adopted him back then. If we want him to believe that we really would have tried if we had been there we have to do this correct."

"Correct? What's correct about this nonsense? The whole ceremony is coming out of your imagination and crazy man is acting as the adoption officer. Ain't nothing correct about this."

"So you rather want Face to continue thinking he's just a visitor and not part of our family."

"Man, this is blackmail. I'll payback one day."

"So you gonna wear the dress then?"

"For the Faceman, not for you two. And if any of you laughs I'm gonna rip it off, understand?"

"Understood."

"Don't tell me the fool is acting as our biological son too."

"BA, much as I would love to call you mama I'm already playing two parts in this. I can't be your son in addition, or actually…"

"Knock it off Murdock, get ready." Hannibal was surprised himself that BA was willing to play along and didn't want to risk all because Murdock overdid it.

When Face woke up next Murdock was sitting beside him, batting his eyelashes at the sleepy figure. That was disturbing but what was worse was the fact that he wore the dress of a nun.

"Wake up Templeton dear. The couple is already waiting for you."

"Murdock? What are you doing?"

"I'm not Murdock, I'm sister Mary and you should think a six year old would listen to his care taker."

"Knock it off Murdock, I don't want to play orphanage."

"But dear, we're not playing. You're really in an orphanage but it's going to change soon." Hannibal who heard everything from outside the bedroom door smiled at Murdock's acting.

Face shifted to get a closer look at Murdock and winced at the movement. "What's wrong with everybody those days? I got the message loud and clear, you and the others don't need to remind me of being an orphan every other hour. I know it, I know where my place on this team is and I will never forget that. Stop this nonsense, it's not funny. You know I usually play along with your antics but this goes too far."

Murdock changed his voice back to normal. "Face…you don't understand."

"No…you don't understand." Face's agitation was increasing. "What do you think this is…a game?"

"No…I…um…we…"

"You what? Thought my childhood wasn't hard enough and that I'd like to relive it?"

"Don't make me say I told you so," B.A. said to Hannibal as they peaked through the door.

Hannibal shrugged. "Okay…so maybe my plan has a few kinks."

"Your plans always have some kinks. Now get in there and start workin' them out."

That would prove easier said than done, however, once Face took a look at B.A. in drag. "Why are you doing this to me? Am I that much of a joke to you?"

"Just let me explain, kid…"

"Don't call me kid. I've never been a kid…not since family after family rejected me. So what…you three decided you wanted to take your turn? All that talk about being a family…"

"It wasn't just talk, man. We was serious."

Face snorted. "Really , B.A….or should I call you Mrs. B.A.? You're wearing a dress for heaven's sake…and Murdock is dressed as a nun. How am I supposed to take anything you say seriously?"

"There is a good explanation, kid…um…I mean, Face."

"Well, you know what? I don't care!" Face was almost yelling and his body was shaking…partly from anger and partly from the increasing pain in his head and abdomen. "Get out...get out now!"

"Face…" Murdock tried.

"Did I stutter?" Face seethed. "GET OUT."

The trio looked at Face and then at each other; they had no choice but to respect Face's wishes. They knew that by them staying it was only going to escalate things more. As it was Face looked sick and was having trouble breathing from the extra exertion the conversation was placing on him. They silently walked out of the room and closed the door behind them.

Face waited for the door to close before allowing the tears to flow. What started as tears of sadness and humiliation of the way his friends had treated him soon turned into tears from the physical discomfort that just wouldn't let up. He didn't understand it, it was just physical pain after all and he had taken far worse. He behaved like a wimp, no wonder everybody teased him.

After what seemed like an eternity the door opened again and Hannibal peaked around the corner. "Mind if I come back inside kid?"

There was no reaction from the slightly shaking figure on the bed so he just entered and slowly approached Face. "Kid ? Ehm…Face I mean, sorry." When there was still no reaction he grew worried. "Face? What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Come on Face, I know you."

"Do you?" It wasn't said with sarcasm but with great sadness.

"I do." Hannibal sat on the bed and took one of Face's hands, relieved that he didn't pull away. "Face, I'm sorry about earlier on. Come on, tell me where it hurts?"

"Just leave me alone." There was sadness in Face's words he hadn't heard before.

"No I won't. You're hurting and I care about you. I can't just leave you alone when you're hurting."

"You do? Then why did you hurt me like that, it was your brilliant plan I guess."

"I do care about you, more than you think, we all do. That's why we did what we did earlier on. Yes it was my plan and as per usual it didn't work out the way it was supposed to. Probably because you didn't work it over and remove the obvious problems."

"Hmmm."

"Come on Face, stop sulking. We did it because…well…I know it looks stupid but it made sense at the time. I…we…we just wanted you to feel part of the family. All the talking never convinced you so we decided to go back in time and adopt you formally. Just to show you…well…that we would have done it had we been around at the time…to show you that you're so much more than a visitor to us."

Face didn't say a word but just looked at Hannibal wiping away some more tears.

"We would have Face, we still would."

Face still didn't talk but the look in his eyes had changed some.

"Can you now tell me what's going on?"

He cast his eyes away. "It hurts so bad, I can't take it."

"You can kid, and you are not alone. I know it hurts but it's just because of moving around and because of the long time it's going on. It's wearing you out."

"Maybe."

"Want something for the pain?"

Face contemplated the offer for a while before he slowly nodded his head, again not meeting Hannibal's eyes.

"Hey, it's okay. You're not weak, just human."

Hannibal got up to get the meds and noticed with some hope that Face was reluctant to let go off his hand. "Face?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I call you 'kid' again?"

"Yeah…I'd like that."

"Kid?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you let go?"

Face pulled his hand away as if he had been burned. "Sorry."

Hannibal sat back down and quickly retook Face's hand not wanting him to get the wrong idea. "I just wanted to go get you some pills."

"Please…don't…don't leave me."

Hannibal felt Face squeeze his hand and look at him with fear in his eyes. He sounded like a child instead of the grown man he was. "Hey…hey…it's okay." But Face wasn't okay; he was pale and visibly suffering. "I promise I'll be right back."

It took some time for the effects of the pain killer to kick in. As the pain began to dull somewhat, Face found himself able to think a bit clearer. "You don't have to stay, Hannibal…I'm okay."

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe I wanted to stay?"

"It's just that as a kid when one of us was sick, we were separated from the others and pretty much had to take care of ourselves. I…I guess…I guess old habits die hard," Face stuttered feeling uncomfortable at what he had just revealed. "

"Well then, kid, we have to make some new habits."

"I'm sorry for complaining so much."

"It's not complaining, Face. You're explaining your past…I want to know about it and so do the others." Hannibal put a scowl on his face and in his best B.A. voice said, "And stop apologizin', fool."

Face couldn't help but smile. "That was pretty good."

"I am an actor after all," Hannibal beamed. "But seriously, it's good to hear a reason for why you hide your injuries. I mean we never could understand how you could complain so much about a paper cut, but play off a bullet hole as nothing."

"Am I that bad?" Face asked.

"Uh-huh," Hannibal nodded, but patted Face's leg to let him know that he wasn't annoyed by it. "In Nam I didn't think much of it. I just thought you were some kid trying to prove how tough he was to the rest of us. "

"I was trying to prove how tough I was," Face smiled.

"Well, you succeeded. There were times you did such a good acting job that I didn't notice there was something wrong until you fell on your face."

"I did not fall on my face…if I messed my face up, we'd all be in trouble." Face's tone was light, but there was truth in his statement.

"I stand corrected…I didn't know something was wrong until you fell on your ass."

"Better."

"I thought with time and when you got to know us you would learn that you didn't have to play the part of the brave soldier all the time. By the end of our time in Nam, we were all doing that to some extent to hide our injuries, so once again I pushed it aside. It wasn't until we were back in the states and about a year into our new lives as fugitives that I realized that nothing had changed."

Face's eyelids were growing heavy and he stifled a yawn. "You're not talking about that Clarksville job, are you?" Hannibal nodded. "I have to admit a lot of the details are fuzzy."

That was Hannibal's cue to fill in the blanks. "Allow me to tell you a bedtime story, kid. You remember why we were there?"