Title: The Siege of Yorktown
Prompt: 028. 'Children'
Word Count: 500

Their latest client is a woman – stubborn, widowed, determined that she won't let her land be taken over by anyone, no matter what risks are involved for her and her small son. They are besieged and badly outnumbered. The Evil Henchmen are not above using automatic weapons to make their point, and The Evil Boss has delivered an ultimatum – give up by noon tomorrow or else.

Piece of cake. It's a familiar story, so much so that Hannibal almost mapped the Plan in his sleep. This particular Plan involves a certain amount of waiting, however – most good plans do – and the client (impatient as well as stubborn) is getting restless and irritated. She expresses this by banging around in the kitchen, muttering and fiercely attacking dust. Hannibal, who doesn't much like restless women and has learned to avoid irritated clients, excuses himself and ducks out onto the back porch.

The aforementioned small son is out there, sitting forlornly on the edge of the porch and playing with a few of those small, jointed army-men figures. Hannibal watches him for a moment, then surveys the forest at the edge of the yard for any sign of premature attack.

Peter looks up, dark eyes filled with quiet awe at this silver-haired stranger who has (in his brief experience) been the only good guy ever to have the courage to oppose Peter's mother. He bites his lip thoughtfully (even though Mom says he shouldn't do that) and then speaks up.

"Hey mister."

The man turns, listening intently. That's one thing Peter likes about this man and the friends he's brought with him; they listen when he speaks, almost as if he were a grownup like them instead of just a kid.

Peter holds out one of his toys, his voice hesitant. "You wanna play GI Joe with me?"

For a moment the man looks confused at the suggestion; then he glances briefly back at the forest, grins, and turns back to Peter with a nod. "Why not?"

He settles himself on the porch next to Peter and picks one of the figures out of the pile, examining it thoughtfully. He smells like cigars and old leather and shaving cream, and the slow way his grin lights up his face makes Peter think of his dad.

The man – Hannibal – plucks a couple of lincoln logs out of Peter's toy pile and starts to arrange them on the floor. "You ever heard of the Siege of Yorktown, Peter?"

Peter shakes his head. Hannibal grins and starts speaking; and as his hands build a small landscape of toys, his words spin a long-ago war into vibrant life.

Later, much later, when Murdock comes looking for his commander, he pokes his head out of the back door and sees Hannibal and Peter both sprawled on their bellies, surrounded by GI Joes and talking in low, excited tones about Cornwallis' next move.

Murdock shakes his head and retreats back into the house, smiling indulgently.

Kids.