Disclaimer: I don't own the A-Team and I make no money from this.
Chapter 42 Recognition of Love
Hugging her knees to her chest, Sydney stared into the bonfire and sighed in contentment. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt this relaxed and happy. On one side of her, Jak held a marshmallow on the end of a long fork over the fire – a treat that Trish and Mama Baracus had collaborated to bring them from home – s'mores. And they had brought enough to feed an army.
Sydney had never had the gooey treats until tonight. At the moment she was stuffed full, having eaten them as fast as Jak could make them at first. Now Jak was working on catching up to her. Neither of them had a chance of catching Murdock, though, who was still going strong.
On the other side of Kate from Sydney, Murdock was sitting in a pose similar to Jak's, explaining in detail the method for achieving the perfect roasted marshmallow for a s'more.
"… and if ya keep the fork turning, ya get nice even color and it's nice 'n warm through n' through. I'm tellin' ya, it's an art."
"Gason, you de only one I know kin talk tha' much 'bout roastin' a fuckin' marshmella," Gravy said from the other side of the fire.
"Remington Lee Gravois, you best watch your mouth," BA's mother said sternly.
Gravy's face fell and he looked at the matronly woman contritely. "Regret, Maman."
"It's not just you, Remmy," Mrs. B said, voice much gentler. "You boys all got mouths on ya like I have never seen. Even my Scooter has slipped up a couple times. And I know he was taught better."
"I apologize, Mrs. B," Hannibal said. "I'm afraid the language around base gets pretty rough at times, and we all pick it up. We forget we're back amongst civilized people. We'll try our best to be more respectful. Right, guys?"
Hannibal's tone allowed no room for argument, and all of his men nodded silently. Sydney found herself following suit, knowing she wasn't any better than the rest of the Team. Of course, there was a time when her mother could swear with the best of them. Syd had never really been taught any better.
For the first time in several months, Sydney found she could think of her mother without sadness or guilt. Having never truly allowed herself to grieve openly, she could look back over the past year and recognize that she had gone through the various stages of grief, nevertheless. She had experienced shock, followed by pain, and then anger before dipping into a deep depression over being alone in the world.
But sitting here, with this rag-tag group of people that had become more important to her than anything in her life, she finally felt a glimmer of hope for the future. Her future.
Laying her head on her knees, she found herself studying HM's profile. His smile was wide and the firelight reflected in his eyes, which literally appeared to dance with amusement. He caught her gaze and gave her a surreptitious wink before continuing his chat with Trish and Ray. She closed her eyes and basked in the warmth that that little show of affection had spread through her body.
She could imagine her life with him back in the Real World, and it was as warm and vivid and comforting as the man himself. It was more than she had ever dared hope for in the past. HM made her want to be the kind of person who deserved that life… who deserved him.
Her eyes popped open and she turned to frown into the fire. Digging her chin into her knees, she wondered what kind of person that would be. Was it someone like Katie, who selflessly helped those around her? Sydney was no Katie – never could be.
"Hey, sweetheart," Jak said, rubbing Syd's shoulder and giving her a light hug. "You ok?"
Looking up at Jak, Syd shrugged. "I'm ok. Just… thinking."
Jak kissed her forehead. "Don't hurt yourself."
"Smart ass," she said as she dug an elbow into his side.
"Sydney!"
Grimacing, Sydney said, "Sorry, Mrs. B."
"Call me Mama, baby." BA's mother said, then waved a dismissive hand and chortled. "Ah, it's alright, anyway… I mean, when you're right, you're right."
"No doubt!" Katie said with a giggle.
Jak sat up, eyes and mouth wide with indignance.
"Hey! I think the ladies are gangin' up on me over here."
"Whatcha complainin' 'bout, Petey?" HM asked with a grin. "They only speak the truth."
Trish snorted. "Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, HM."
With an accepting shrug, HM glanced around the fire.
"Hey, speaking of smart asses, where's Face?"
Anh reached behind Jak and tapped Syd on the shoulder. Speaking in rapid Vietnamese, Syd caught the woman up on the teasing conversation. Anh's English had improved rapidly while they were traveling together, but Syd knew she still had trouble when the conversation went too quickly.
Anh smiled at her and said, "Thank you," in clear English.
Syd gave her a thumbs-up, and then looked up when HM stood and brushed himself off.
"Really, did anybody see where Faceman went?" HM asked, tone now worried.
"He went ta get 'is chick aftah dine," Gravy said. "Said she had ta work tonight."
HM dropped back to the ground. "Oh, that girl that was with 'im las' night… what was 'er name?"
"Lilly," Kate supplied. "She seemed… nice enough."
Glancing over at Kate, Syd could tell her friend didn't think much of the woman Face had picked up. Not that Syd was surprised.
Kate's definition of 'nice' was very different from Face's.
fffff
Face rattled the ice in his empty glass with a suggestive smile at the brunette bombshell. Lilly was leggy and curvaceous, with breasts that could make a grown man weep. Face had spent some quality time exploring those lovely, firm mounds last night and was hoping to get another chance at them tonight.
Lilly had been more than happy to accompany him back to his room the night before. They had spent a few intimate hours assuaging one another's loneliness until they were exhausted enough to fall asleep. It had been just the remedy that he needed after dinner.
The night before had been nothing compared to tonight's dinner. With the arrival of Syd, Jak and Anh, there were now four happy couples to cope with. Ray and Trish were one thing – at least being happily married they had an excuse for hanging all over one another. But Murdock and Kate were cozy enough to about make him puke, let alone Gravy and Anh. He preferred not to even think about Sydney and Jakowski – that one bothered him way more than it should.
"Hey there, soldier," Lilly purred as she set another whiskey in front of him. "I just talked to the boss. He said I could take off early tonight. What do you say to making love under the stars on your veranda?"
"My friends are having a bonfire tonight out on the beach," Face said. "I was thinking we could join them for a little bit before heading up to the room."
Sliding into the adjacent chair, she gave him a tight smile.
"You know this is all just for fun, right, Temp?"
"Yeah. Sure."
"It's not that I mind playing girlfriend, but it really isn't my style. In fact, I'm usually more of a one-night-stand kinda woman." Her smile turned alluring as she drew tiny circles on the back of Face's hand. "But, I really think you're worth making an exception to that rule. You are… remarkably talented."
Face returned the smile. "I guess we could skip the bonfire tonight."
Lilly floated to her feet. "I just need to cash out, and then we can head upstairs."
Watching his buxom lover glide away, Face picked up the whiskey, his mind preoccupied with thoughts of the evening ahead. He took a sip and wrinkled his nose as he swallowed.
It was watered down.
rrrrr
Ray kissed Trish's head, inhaling the scent of sand, sea and eucalyptus with a contented sigh. She squeezed his waist and smiled up at him.
"I wish this could last forever," she said.
Her gaze drifted forward, and Ray followed it up just ahead of them. Jak, Sydney, Murdock and Kate walked in a loose group. Ray found the arrangement of the couples telling, and wondered idly if Trish noticed it, too.
"Ray, I'm a little… confused," Trish murmured.
Smirking as Murdock and Syd bumped together, slightly leading Jak and Kate, who talked to one another behind them, Ray wasn't surprised by her bewilderment. A moment later, Sydney glanced over her shoulder. She flashed him a tight smile before shifting closer to Jak and lacing her fingers into his. Jak pulled her to him and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pressing his lips to her temple.
Ray urged Trish forward. "Yeah, I imagine you are, honey. Somethin' tells me that our young friends up there might be kinda confused themselves."
As they approached, Ray caught the puzzled look that Murdock was casting at Sydney. The pilot then seemed to notice that he and Trish were there and quickly moved to Kate's side, dropping an arm around her waist.
"Hey, Ray. Trish. Didn't realize you two were still here," Murdock said casually. "Figgered you'd be headed back to the room for some privacy."
Ray leveled Murdock with a challenging smirk. "Kinda like you are?"
"I s'pose," Murdock said, tone cautious.
Waving a finger between the two younger couples, Ray asked innocently, "You all have connecting rooms, don't you?"
Murdock's mouth gaped slightly as he turned a pleading look on Ray, his head shaking imperceptibly.
Sydney answered, her tone clipped. "Our rooms are next door to each other."
"But I don't think they connect, do they?" Kate asked, voice just a tad shrill.
Beside him, Trish pressed her lips together in censure and then hissed, "Ok, Raymond. You've made your point. Now you can stop."
Ray gave Kate a little shrug. "Guess ya might not've noticed."
Trish tugged on Ray's arm. "C'mon, tiger, this is our stop. Let the kids run along and have their fun."
Looking down at his wife, Ray caught the stealthy wink she directed at Murdock, as well as the grateful smile Murdock flashed her in return. That was when he noticed the hard set to Syd's jaw. His pushing had obviously set her on edge. Shit.
"You're right, honey," Ray said hastily. "We'll see you all tomorrow. Have a nice night."
Murmured 'good nights' followed them through the side door nearest their room.
Ray sighed as they started up the stairs. "You don't think I screwed things up too much for Murdock, do ya, babe? Syd looked more than a little uptight about my questions."
"There are times when you don't seem to know when to keep your mouth shut, that's for sure," Trish said.
"Dammit."
Patting his stomach, she smiled up at him. "Based on what you've shared with me, HM and Sydney have overcome worse things than your teasing to be together. I wouldn't worry too much about it, honey."
"You're right," Ray said in relief. "I do wonder why they're keeping up pretenses here, though. Lew's nowhere around."
"They must have their reasons," Trish said. "I'm looking forward to getting to know Sydney this week. Maybe I'll be able to get the truth out of her."
Ray snorted. "Good luck with that. Syd's mighty evasive."
"But I'm very persistent."
He couldn't argue with that.
mmmmm
Murdock closed the hallway door and leaned against it. Damn Ray, anyway.
"I think Ray knows," Kate said.
"No shit? Really?"
Kate wrinkled her nose at him. "Sydney's right. You are a smart ass."
"Stating the obvious, once again." Murdock pushed off the door and headed toward the connecting room just as that door opened.
Jak came through, followed by Sydney. Making a beeline for Kate, Jak flashed Murdock a sympathetic smile as he passed.
Eyes tight with worry, Sydney had her arms crossed as if trying to hold herself together. Thanks a million, Ray.
With a sigh, Murdock walked up and wrapped his arms around her. Keeping her arms stubbornly crossed, Sydney resisted the embrace. He sighed and put his hands on her shoulders, looking into those beautiful, blue pools intently.
"C'mon, sugar. It was kinda inevitable that one of the guys would figure it out."
Sydney grunted. "Hannibal suspects something, too. We're so screwed."
"Ray and Hannibal knowing really doesn't bother me. We'd be screwed if Lew knew something," Murdock said. "I told you I thought it was pointless keeping the guys in the dark, anyway."
"I agree," Jak said. "Ray ain't gonna rat us out."
"And neither will Hannibal," Kate said. "In fact, I get the impression he'd really like to help."
Syd shrugged off Murdock's hands and paced away from him. Her back and shoulders were stiff, jaw clenched, fingers drumming erratically on her arm.
"You are all missing the point," she snapped, making them all jump. "I'm not worried about keeping the guys in the dark. I'm worried about being able to keep up this ruse in front of Lewis. If we can't pull it off here, how the hell are we going to pull it off back at Nha Trang with Lew breathing down our necks?"
Murdock closed his eyes. He should have known what she was up to. Why she was being so insistent about maintaining appearances. She was treating this like a trial run. It was a test to see if they were capable of maintaining the charade. And they had failed miserably.
He took a deep breath and turned to look at her.
"So we talk to Ray and Hannibal. See what tipped 'em off and learn from our mistakes. We still have most of the week to work on it, and a couple more oblivious teammates to use as guinea pigs." He flashed a cajoling grin at her. "Honest to God, sugar, if I'd known this was the final exam I woulda studied harder."
Sydney's shoulders finally relaxed, and she met his grin with a tired smile. "More like a midterm, but we did pretty damn awful."
A nervous giggle from Katie drew their attention.
"Are we ok?"
Syd smiled softly at the nurse. "Let's not worry about it anymore tonight."
Jak wrapped an arm around Kate, and raised an eyebrow. "And tomorrow?"
Murdock felt Syd's hand slip into his and heaved an internal sigh of relief. She tugged him back toward the connecting room.
"Tomorrow we're back to the drawing board," Syd said firmly. "Let's agree to meet in here tomorrow morning at seven a.m. We can regroup then. Until morning… no worries."
"Seven a.m.?" Jak groaned.
"We'll see you then," Murdock reiterated sternly, unwilling to chance upsetting Syd anymore tonight.
"Fine," Jak said. "Seven a.m. We'll order in some breakfast."
"It's not that early, Petey," Murdock said as he followed Syd toward their room.
"It's early 'nuff," Jak muttered. "Now get the hell outta here so's we can enjoy a few hours alone afore you're knockin' on the fuckin' door again."
"Thank you, Jak."
Sydney's voice was gentle and sweet, and Jak gave one of those aw-shucks kind of shrugs and flashed her an affectionate smile.
"Anythin' for you, Syd."
Murdock was about to make a wise-ass comment when Sydney closed the door in his face. She wagged a finger under his nose.
"Don't go there, HM Murdock. I'm warning you."
"Jus' wonderin' what 'anything' might include…"
"I said 'don't,' so don't."
"Just how friendly are you and Jak, sugar?"
"Friendly enough that he and Kate are willing to go to one hell of a lot of trouble to help the two of us. Need I say more?"
Murdock pressed his lips together and shook his head. "Nope."
"Good."
Sydney took both of his hands to steady herself as she stood on her tiptoes to give him a warm, inviting kiss.
"What do you think about a shower?" she murmured as she pulled away.
"I could stand to wash off the salt and sand," Murdock said in agreement.
He watched in fascination as Syd headed toward the bathroom. She didn't miss a beat, slipping the straps of her bathing suit off her shoulders and pushing it down over her hips as she walked. She stepped out of the suit as she was stepping through the doorway. Turning, she looked back at him, the come-hither smile on her face bringing his slowly-stiffening member to a full, throbbing hard-on.
"Are you coming?"
He couldn't even form a coherent response to the simple question, so he just nodded, stumbling after her while at the same time trying to get his bathing trunks off. The eight inches of rock-hard flesh standing upright between his legs seemed to be in control, pulling the rest of his body forward. His suit kept getting hung up on his erection as it twitched toward the beautiful siren that was luring him to the shower.
Sydney chuckled and ducked into the bathroom as soon as she saw that he was following. He finally managed to trip out of his bathing suit, stepping through the door in time to watch Sydney lean over the tub to adjust the water temperature. The creamy, pale skin of her firm buttocks parted to reveal the pink folds of her womanhood, swollen and moist, promising easy entrance.
Placing his hands lightly on her hips he was pleasantly surprised when she broadened her stance. He took it as a tacit invitation, deciding to tease her. He slid his hardness between her legs, sighing at the silky feel of her crevice, her juices providing frictionless passage of his member along her slit. Though the angle was wrong for entry, he didn't mind. This was just a prelude to what he knew would be a long evening of immersion in one another. For now, it was enough.
He leaned over her back and cupped her breasts in his hands, kneading her nipples to stiff points as he teased the back of her neck with his lips.
God, he loved this woman.
sssss
Moaning, Sydney pressed back into him. Still bent over, she braced one hand on the edge of the tub, reaching between her legs with her other to massage HM's length, using the motion to push him harder against her clit.
He rocked his hips back and forth in a series of shallow strokes, intensifying the need that was mounting between Sydney's legs. She used her hand to maintain the pressure against her clit until she could no long deny the desire for more. On the next stroke, she guided him into her well, groaning with relief as he finally slid into her.
His arms wrapped around her as she braced herself more securely against the tub. Straightening somewhat, Syd positioned her hips to allow HM deeper penetration. She threw her head back against his shoulder nipping at his ear and smiling at his sharp intake of breath as she sank further onto him.
He pulled her body tight to his with one arm as he reached between her legs with his other hand. She gasped when he found her clit, bringing her to orgasm within seconds. Each additional stroke of his long fingers jolted her entire being with electric shocks of pure pleasure that left her trembling and clinging to the arms that held her.
She was dimly aware that he now supported her fully, gripping her firmly against him as he thrust further into her pulsing well, straining for his own release. He came moments later, exploding deep inside of her, rejuvenating her waning orgasm with another surge of pleasure that left her gasping with the intensity of the coupling.
The feel of his spent member slipping out of her brought her back to her senses. HM had taken a seat on the toilet and shifted her to his lap, cradling her like a child against his chest. Steam from the shower was thick in the air as she looked up at him, seeing the same contentment on his handsome face that she felt deep in her soul.
He smiled and stroked her cheek with his thumb.
"Wow, sugar, I was just planning to tease ya a little before our shower. That…" He leaned his forehead against hers, looking deep into her eyes. "That was mind blowing."
Still reeling from it herself, she could only nod in agreement. Cupping his face in her hands, she pulled him in for a kiss that she hoped conveyed the depth of her own feelings for him. Feelings that she couldn't put into words, but that she'd do anything to hold onto. Being with HM like this was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to Sydney in her entire life. She wanted nothing more than to have it go on and on and on.
If only that were possible.
kmc
