Chapter 14

Hannibal found Face laying on his bunk with his eyes closed. He was in t-shirt and boxers, his hair still wet from bathing. His left knee was swollen and red and covered with an ice pack. Hannibal briefly wondered where he had gotten the ice pack on such short notice before making his presence known.

"Lieutenant."

Face opened his eyes and groaned. "What now? I did everything anybody asked for, the big guy is pleased, can't I get some rest?"

"You vanished from the party without a word. What's up Lieutenant?"

Face sat up. "What's up? I'm tired, okay. I've been running up and down to get all the things the Team wanted and never got some rest."

"That wouldn't keep you away from a big party, your promotion party after all."

"My party." Face snorted. "It's BA's party. I never wanted one."

Hannibal was getting irritated. "Yeah and you're doing your best to kill the mood. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"With me? What's wrong with the rest of you? It's just a promotion. No big deal. We're in the army. Promotions happen if they are wanted or not. Why does everyone have to make such a fuss?"

"It happens but not too often. Yours is the bigger one and your first real promotion on top. You should be more happy than BA and here you are, sleeping instead of celebrating. That's not normal."

"I don't give a shit about normal and I certainly don't care what you see as normal."

"Lieutenant, you're out of line. I know you had some drinks but you need to keep your mouth in check."

That did it for Face. He slowly got up, wincing at the pain in his knee, and stood nose to nose with Hannibal. "Sorry colonel," he snarled "forgot that I'm not up to your standard and have to salute before I breathe."

"Face, I'm warning you. I won't stand around and listen to your insubordination forever."

"So you'll do what?"

"I bet you don't want to spend your promotion night in the stockade Lieutenant."

"As if I cared. Wanna get rid of me colonel? Or you need me to scam some things before you toss me away?" 'Peck, what the hell are you doing? Stop this, don't let it get to you.'

"If I had wanted to get rid of you I would have done so a long time ago." Hannibal too had had some drinks, if not as many as Face, and the alcohol made the whole discussion more heated than it would have been under normal circumstances.

"Oh yeah? I bet you can come up with any number of reasons, colonel." The pair was still nose to nose.

"How about you bring the morale of the whole team down right now. Ever since this promotion came up your mood is more than down and it's starting to drag the rest of us along. I don't need any liabilities on my team."

"So now that I'm done organizing the party I'm a liability. Anyway, I don't think having a bad mood is enough to get canned. Get creative colonel."

Even after the short time together Hannibal knew when Face was trying to deflect him and when he should better not push further but the alcohol clouded his judgment. "How about because you're lying, cheating and forging papers."

Face's voice turned cold as he answered. "Yes I do lie and cheat and forge papers, but only under your command, to get the things you and the team request for." When he was done he let himself fall back a little to create some space between him and the colonel.

Face looked somehow deflated. Hannibal's inner voice told him to stop things at this point but he just couldn't help himself. "What about your file then?"

"What's with my file?" The suspicious tone was back.

"Did you forge it under my command."

"It's not forged."

"It is."

"Those scores are mine."

"I'm not talking about your scores."

Hannibal had this carefree tone, as if he was just talking about the weather and Face hated to have it turned on him in an argument. "What do you want from me?"

"What about your age?"

"What's with it?"

"You`re nowhere near twenty-four, kid." The 'kid' was drawn out and pronounced as if it was a bait.

"I am."

"Oh come off it, just look in a mirror."

Face stayed quiet, fighting for control, and Hannibal went on. "What was it, kid? Seventeen and mommy didn't give her consent or sixteen and just wanting to run away from home to prove you're a big boy?"

Face growled low and took a swing at Hannibal who was prepared and easily ducked out of the way. In turn he took Face by the front of his t-shirt and brought him close. "What is it kid? Cat got your tongue?"

'What the hell are you doing Peck, stop it.' But his mouth had other plans, whether from the influence of the alcohol or from pent up frustration he could later on not tell. "You bastard, you know I'm an orphan."

"And how would I know this part of your file wasn't doctored?" Hannibal had never had any doubts about that and didn't know where his words were coming from now. Face on the other side was clearly fighting the urge to take another swing at his colonel.

"Let go of me."

"Oh yeah? And then what?"

"Take your hands from me."

"As you want." Hannibal used his secure stand and body weight and shoved Face backwards before he let go. Face stumbled and fell over his cot that was standing just inches behind him. On his way he turned the cot over and was momentarily covered by his blanket and mattress. The renewed pain in his knee, now joined by other body parts, brought his anger back under control. 'Great Peck, congrats. You just threw away the best thing that ever happened to you. No Co would hold onto such a hothead.'

Hannibal too came to his senses by the picture in front of him. "Face?"

Face just knew that his time on the A-Team was over. He fought for control to at least end it with some dignity. First he had to get out from under his mattress. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he never heard Hannibal's concerned voice. Maybe not all was lost. "Let's just forget about this. I'm tired and I had too much to drink, go and celebrate with the others."

"No, I won't just forget about this. Your mood is not based on tiredness and I want to know what it is."

Face looked up. He mistook Hannibal's concern with gloating, he had way more experience in that field than in the field of concern towards him. 'should have known, the great Hannibal Smith will not just leave it be but demand details before he sucks me so he can tell everybody what a lost case his lieutenant was.

Hannibal on the other side knew he wouldn't get any answers out of Face if he didn't get them now and here. "Face, you got promoted today, you should be happy."

Here he stood in his underwear next to his turned over cot and his fully dressed Co, so much for dignity. "Can't you just give it a rest?"

Hannibal didn't like the deflated tone but knew he needed to push more to get answers. "No, I won't give it a rest until you tell me what's going on."

"You want to know what's going on? Yeah?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I want." Hannibal didn't like the harsh tone in his own voice but the kid was really grating at his nerves tonight. Sometimes he could be so stubborn.

'I'm done here, no need to think this would end any other way than all the times before. I was just deceiving myself. It had to happen sooner or later. I'm a screw up by birth. Might as well vent some anger, it's always refreshing to get some of it off my chest.' "You want to know what's going on? This whole promotion rubbish is going on. What's there to celebrate? Certainly nothing for me. It's unfair. I fought for my country, I risked my life, I saved fellow soldiers and yet my name does not appear on the promotion list. It's always the same."

Hannibal was stunned for a moment. "Huh? What are you talking about kid?"

"I'm talking about Templeton Peck getting promoted. Not me but Templeton Peck."

"Did you hit your head lately? You are Templeton Peck."

"No, I'm not. I don't know who I am. Templeton Peck, Alvin Brenner, Holmes Morrison… whatever. I chose to be Templeton Peck after trying several other names. Templeton Peck does not exist. He's a nobody. I'm a nobody…. I'm nobody. Templeton Peck doesn't exist."

"You're not making any sense kid."

"Templeton Peck doesn't exist. It's just a name I made up. I don't even know my own goddamn name. Nobody knows my name, or let's say those that do are not willing to tell me. Can't they just say, 'hey, nobody over there, you're now a first lieutenant.' It would have meant more to me than this little ceremony today. But no, they have to gloat and decorate that made up personality with a higher rank. No matter what they put in front of that name it's still not my own."

"You can't mean it." Hannibal was too stunned to make a lot of words. He knew his expression was anything but colonel like but he just didn't understand what the kid was getting at.

"I do mean it Colonel. I earned this promotion. I earned to be a first Lieutenant. I served my country, risked my life and yet my name is not on the promotion. It feels like someone else was promoted today and not me."

Hannibal had not expected that bitterness from Face and was taken aback. He knew Face had had a number of names as a kid but would never have guessed that the lack of identity had such an impact on him.

"Now that is just the point. You, the person standing in front of me, has earned this promotion. Does the name really matter?"

"You don't get it, do you? Anyway, I don't even know why I'm telling you this." It had seemed like a good idea a moment ago but now he felt stupid.