Part Two

Part Two

Murdock hugged himself as he paced the small living area of the victim support unit. This little 'home' had seen much anguish in its life. Rape victims, abused children…. and people like him, parents whose children had been taken. Created to offer the victims a bit of comfort and a measure of respect. The liaison officer with him was a kindly looking pretty woman in her mid-thirties named Jill. She seemed to know what to say, how to act around him, a small thing but he was grateful for it. But then…this was nothing she hadn't seen before.

Isabelle had been missing for over two hours now.

God, it felt like a year.

The door opened, both he and Jill immediately looked up.

It was Hannibal.

Maggie followed, cradling Josh. The little two-year-old watched everything nervously and clutched at his mother.

He pointed at Murdock and grinned, "Play 'dock?"

Murdock looked up at the boy, a slight smile on his lips that never lit his eyes. He sighed, "not today, Josh."

His gaze lingered longingly on Josh and Maggie knew how empty his arms where at that moment.

That physical sensation that only another parent could ever understand. God or Whoever had given you arms to hold your children and for no other reason. When they had nothing to hold they felt useless.

Hannibal laid a hand on his shoulder, "has there been any news?"

The sound of his voice, so calm, so familiar brought tears to Murdock's eyes and he pressed a hand to his mouth and started to rock.

"It's OK, Murdock…it's going to be all right." Hannibal signalled for his wife to leave. Maggie nodded and closed the door behind her. Hannibal glanced at the liaison officer but realised she wasn't going anywhere. "We'll get her back…she'll be OK…"

Murdock continued to rock.

"It's OK, Murdock…we're here, it's OK…let it out…"

At his soft murmuring, the pilot's body shook even worse until finally he was wracked with deep sobs, just letting the pain and fear come out. He collapsed to the floor, Hannibal holding him all the way down. Then, ever so gently, Hannibal enclosed him in his arms and shh-ed him in a way he hadn't done since Vietnam. The last time he'd done this, Murdock had been found in the jungle, covered in blood, his mind as raped as his body. That had made Hannibal sick to see…. This was so much worse.

Some time passed…neither knew how much only that it seemed like a lifetime. Murdock's sobs had died to the strange little hiccups that children always got after tears.

"How…how'd ya know?"

"Face rang. I thought-"

"Face…" The sudden look of fury and…. HATE in Murdock's eyes made Hannibal gasp.

"Murdock…?"

******

Alice touched Face's shoulder, feeling his body trembling through the fabric of his jacket. She'd driven him to the police station, knowing he wasn't in any fit state to drive himself. And now he just sat in the car, unable to get out.

He couldn't face Murdock.

Couldn't bear to see the grief he felt responsible for in his friends' eyes.

She didn't know what to say to him, what to do.

She hated herself for it but a very big part of her just wanted to get as far away from the situation as possible.

"Face, you have to go."

"I can't…"

"You have too!" She told him fiercely, "staying away will only make it worse. Murdock needs you right now."

"It's my fault!"

"It's no one's fault, you have to believe that. You didn't make that man take her."

"But I made it easier for him to take her. I should have been watching her!"

"Face, he needs you!" Alice cried, "I know how much you both love that girl, everyone can see that. You didn't know this was going to happen. It wasn't your fault!" She took a calming breath, "but it will be your fault if you let this come between you and Murdock. He must be so scared, you've got to be there for him. He's your friend."

"A friend whose responsible for-"

"You're not, Face! No one is, please believe that."

******

Hannibal felt a pang of worry, "where is he? What…"

"THE BASTARD! HE WAS SUPPOSED TA BE LOOKING AFTER HER!"

"Face?"

Murdock's body trembled with rage. "How could he let this happen? Why didn't he stop it?"

Hannibal held the man tighter, desperately seeking some words that would offer comfort. Trying to fight off his own shock at the state Murdock was in.

Nothing. Not even his breakdown in 'Nam had reduced him to such depths.

He shh-ed and rocked and whispered comforts, not knowing if the pilot could hear him, not understanding the torrent of angry, bitter muttering's Murdock made.

The door opened. Hannibal looked up.

It was BA.

And he was followed by a pale-looking Face.

Face and Murdock's eyes met.

And all hell broke loose….

******

Murdock threw himself towards Face, catching the con man in the jaw, sending him sprawling. He went to rain more fists down on him but Hannibal and BA recovered from their initial shock and grabbed him, pulling him away. Face stared up at his friend, a trickle of blood dribbling down his chin.

"Take it easy, man!" BA said as Murdock struggled in his grip.

"Get him out of here!" Murdock yelled, "get that bastard out. I don't wanna see him."

"I-I'm sorry." Tears slipped from Face's eyes as he got to his feet. "I'm so sorry, Murdock."

"Sorry?" He shook his head; "this is beyond sorry. Issie could be dead right now, and if she…" His voice cracked at the thought, "if she is, it'll be because of you!"

"Your think I don't know that? You think it doesn't hurt me almost as much as it's hurting you? Do you?" He demanded, "do you think that I'm not going to blame myself for this until the day I die? Because I am."

Murdock looked away, sick of the sight of him. Face moved around, forcing the pilot to look at him. "The first steps she took…were into my arms. You know I'd die for her." He pleaded, "we shouldn't be fighting. Issie needs us to be-"

"Don't you even say her name!"

Face grabbed him by the shoulder, his anger flaring. "She may be your daughter, but I love her too!"

"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU LOOK AFTER HER?" He screamed and his legs gave way. Murdock sank down to the floor, sobbing. "Why didn't you look after her…" He whispered between his tears. "Why?"

Hannibal and BA both hugged him as he curled into a foetal ball. His crying came so hard he was no longer making sense. "Where's my baby," he murmured, "I want my baby."

The door opened and the liaison officer entered with a man they didn't recognise. He immediately went to Murdock and checked him over.

"He's a doc." Jill explained. "Thought he might be needed so I called him in. Looks like I was right."

The doctor took out a syringe and glanced briefly at the Team. "He's not allergic to anything?"

Hannibal shook his head and the doctor gently injected a sedative into Murdock. After a few moments, his sobbing eased and his body became limp.

Jill sighed. "He can sleep on the sofa. I'll get a blanket."

They laid him down, watching his feeble attempts to stay conscious as the drug filtered through his system. Hannibal soothed his brow the way he would soothe Josh when he was sick. A weak hand gripped his wrist. Murdock forced his eyes open to look up at his colonel.

"Find my baby…" he whispered as sleep overtook him, "please find her…"

******

"I didn't plan on the police being involved in this." Farrell said as Lisa marched the Kid into the house. "That fool Briggs was an amateur I should never have used. If you want a job done properly…"

"Briggs knew the score, darling, and why muddy your own hands when there's always someone to do it for you."

"The police maybe a bunch of idiots but we don't need there meddling, I've waited to long already."

Farrell stared at the kid. She hadn't murmured when they'd forced her to go with them, hadn't murmured even when they'd killed that man. Her eyes held no sadness, no tears. Just calm acceptance that her world had turned crazy.

"She's so much like her mother." Lisa smiled.

Farrell frowned. Lisa Shaw was quite a woman, wild in bed and a crack shot. Nothing fazed her and in her 'association' with Farrell she seen quite a bit. She was a hard bitch, just the kind of woman he wanted on his side. And she was a bloody good actress. The way she'd handled Briggs…

But just recently Lisa's behaviour had sparked off alarm bells.

"Mmm, Emma was never afraid of me either."

"SHE DID!" Lisa snapped and then she smiled, "I'm sure she did. And I meant she looks so much like Emma."

"Yes…" Farrell said distantly, "I'm looking forward to seeing her again."

"How are you going to contact this Murdock?"

Farrell frowned, the way she said that name…

"I don't. We go to plan B."

Lisa frowned, "which is?"

"The commish owes me a favour. I think I'll call it in."

*****

He was in The Corridor. He knew it well but it had been a long time since he'd been here. It hadn't changed much in the years he'd been gone form here. But then it wouldn't, would it?

It wasn't real. Couldn't be redecorated. Fantasies didn't get dusty or rundown.

Why was he here? He was sane now; there was no longer any need for the corridor.

You're dreaming.

The realisation came with relief. He was simply remembering. Recreating Richter's hypnotic corridor as he slept.

Richter always said he was safe here. He could go forward or back, wander through the doors into memories or nightmares…

Mostly, they went hand in hand in his life, of course.

But either way, what ever he did in this corridor, it was his choice.

He was in control

"Hey, flyboy." The blonde woman who appeared at his side had haunted his dreams every night since they'd met. Every day had seemed empty since she died. If it hadn't been for Issie…

He would've died himself.

Murdock reached out to her and brushed a lock of silky blonde behind her ear. It wasn't real, it was a dream…"I've missed you." He murmured and kissed her deeply. She moulded her body to his, the sensation more real than any dream he's ever had.

"I've missed you too," she whispered into his mouth.

After an eternity she broke away. He noticed she was crying. "Find our baby, Murdock, please?"

Issie! How could he have forgotten?

"I-I will."

"Bring her back safe, promise me?" She hugged him fiercely, "promise me? She's so scared, Murdock, I can feel it."

"I know," he closed his eyes, leaning into the embrace, sensing the fear he knew came from Isabelle, "I can feel it too."

The body in his arms changed. Grew a little taller and was thicker around the waist. The breasts were smaller too, the hair shorter and courser.

He pulled back and stared into the face of a Vietnamese girl. He screamed.

*****

Face stared down at Murdock as he slept, his chest rising and falling heavily under the effects of the drugs. He was clutching at the pillow as if it were a shield from harm, looking like a child and Face had a sudden image of him lying on another sofa, bleeding from gunshot wound. That was years ago, when they'd been on the run, but it still hurt to think how close they'd…he'd come to losing him.

Face brushed back a lock of light brown hair from Murdock's forehead, his fingers lingering on his friend's skin. They'd had some good times together during their long friendship…and some bad times. The harsh realities of the army and of war, the hell of the VC camps, the torture, the rapes and women…

Women like Kim.

But nothing like this.

He loved the Team. They were Family. His family. He trusted them without question and beyond all doubt. But especially Murdock…

Always Murdock.

He'd invited him into his home and shared his daughter with him. And this is how he was repaid.

"Lieutenant?"

Face looked up. Hannibal stood at the door and he glanced briefly at the captain.

"He's fine…" Face said quietly, "at least, he will be if…when they find Issie."

"C'mon."

"Hannibal, I'm not-"

"Stow it, Face, BA's rigged a CB in the van so we can listen in on the search."

"I am not gonna leave-"

"Work through your guilt another time, Lieutenant." The colonel ordered sharply, "you really trust the cops to find her?"

Face looked away.

"That's what I thought." Hannibal said, "there's a whole buncha scumballs out there we put away. One've 'em mighta recognised Murdock or you and took her."

Face nodded, he'd thought of that as well.

"It was the Syndicate."

Face and Hannibal turned towards the speaker. There in the doorway stood Amy Allen.

"Amy!"

"How do you know that?" Hannibal was all business. It wasn't that he wasn't pleased to see her but there was another time for this.

"Coded message to the paper. They must've known we worked together."

"What do they want?"

Amy looked at Murdock and then at Face. "Kim, they want Kim."

*****

"K-Kim's…." Face began shaking; "she's dead…I…I was…"

Hannibal gripped his arm, "Yeah…"

"I know, and that's what I told my editor but the Syndicate seem to believe she's still alive somewhere. They want to do a swap. Kim for Issie."

"Hannibal, we've gone up against a few people connected to those guys." Face pointed out.

"So why aren't they asking for one or all of us? Why Kim? She's dead and when you and Murdock knew her we weren't taking cases. For anyone. Face, did she ever mention the Syndicate?"

"No," Face replied, "Hannibal, you didn't know her very well but she wasn't the kind of person who'd get mixed up with criminals."

"Despite the fact she knew you and was practically married to Murdock?"

"That's different…Hannibal, if she hadn't been in the first grade when the War broke out she'd been one of the protestors. That was who she was. She wouldn't've got mixed up with the Syndicate."

"People don't always chose these things, Face. What about her family?"

"She didn't have any, not as far as I know. Murdock might, but neither of them ever mentioned Kim's family. No one like that came to the funeral, it was just friends. And, besides, Tailor isn't a Syndicate name."

"Hey, man," said BA, walking in the room, "quit the jibber-jabber, if they got ma princess we gotta get goin'. Ahm gonna teach them sucka's a lesson."

"Get the van warmed up, Sargent." He looked at Amy, "when is the swap supposed to take place?"

"At two p.m. tomorrow."

"That gives us some time to get in the first punch."

"Hannibal we can't leave Murdock alone! I'M not gonna leave him alone!"

"Face…"

"You saw what he was like."

"You wanna help Murdock? Get his daughter back! Or don't you wanna get Isabelle, Lieutenant?"

"You know I do! I love that girl like she was my own! I couldn't love anyone more! But Murdock…"

"…Will be fine, with me." Amy said, "Face, go…it's what Murdock would've wanted."

*****

He tried to wake up. Couldn't pull himself out of the dream. No, he couldn't go through this again. This dream, this memory of that girl, it had stopped long ago. Why was she back?

Issie! He had to wake up to find Isabelle.

"Its OK, HM. "

She spoke to him in Vietnamese. A language he'd not heard in years, in not long enough. A language she herself had taught him under the unrelenting heat of a Da Nang sun. How long had it been since he'd seen her?

It wasn't OK. He couldn't wake up.

*****

The police radio chattered in the background, giving out mindless reports. Several robberies, a hostage situation, a desperate woman threatening to jump from a bridge. Nothing about the abduction.

Face chucked down his gun, "Hannibal, we can't go in there."

Hannibal ignored him and continued cleaning his rifle.

"I said we can't go in there!"

Still he received no response. "Can you hear what I'm saying Hannibal?"

"I hear you loud and clear, Face, just don't agree with you."

"One…we're no longer on the run, we're not above the law any more. Two…we don't know where they are and three…if we go in there, they'll kill her!"

"Face is right, man, we can't take that chance."

"The moment they relies Kim is dead, she'll be useless to them. Do you honestly believe that they'll just let her go? Getting her out quickly is the only way. And Amy is on the phone to her sources. She'll find out the best place for us to hit the Syndicate."

"#…At the Green Fields Adoption agency, please respond. #"

Hannibal's head snapped up and he shot forward and turned up the CB. The voice then repeated for the officer who took the call. Someone had been found dead at the adoption agency where he and Maggie had found Josh. Possible OD.

"What is it, Hannibal?"

Hannibal felt his gut twist with sudden intuition. It was connected to Issie. He could feel it.

And that realisation was quickly followed by fear. He suddenly knew almost everything that Murdock was going through.

Josh…