Commanding Officer
by Dandragon Wolf

All characters, minus the ones I make up, do not belong to me (although I must admit I wish they
did), they belong to their respective creators (you know who they are), I just write stories. There is no
graphic sex in here (my wife would kill me) but there is mention of violence. Enjoy.


The first time Murdock kissed Face we were all laughing.
It'd been Face's birthday party and we'd told him that we'd gotten him a girl to jump out of a
cake. He'd been completely surprised when Murdock had popped out instead. B.A. had never laughed so
hard as when Murdock gave the wide-eyed Face what looked like a helluva kiss. It'd been funny, but I'd
noticed that something was wrong. There'd been some kind of fear in Face's eyes. Murdock had
pulled away and looked apologetic.
Face had given him one of those looks that we'd all had. The look that screamed of Vietnam and
things best forgotten. It was a look that I hadn't seen on any of us in a long time, and one that I
didn't want to ever see again. Fear and that look never went well together and I'd been worried.
But then Face had recovered completely and joked and partied with the rest of us as if nothing
had happened. B.A. never noticed the look and I didn't want to embarrass Face by asking him about it with
the others around. The party went on smoothly after that but I was bothered nevertheless.
Later that night when I went to talk to Face, I ended up standing outside his door, listening in
on a conversation he was having with Murdock.
"I'm sorry, Facey, I didn't think."
"It's okay, Murdock, don't worry about it."
"Really, Face, I wouldn't have agreed had I known."
"Murdock, don't worry, I'm fine."
"All right, Faceman. You're the best."
"Okay, Murdock, you can let me go now."
I had walked off, thinking the matter resolved.
But that's how it was with Face. He could make anyone believe him if he tried hard enough.

The second time Murdock only almost kissed Face, but the results had been similar.
Murdock had been dressed up in that silly outfit to help get us out of the jail we were in and
Face just had to make that joke about how good Murdock looked in a dress. Murdock had been absently
closing in on Face as he talked and I could tell that he didn't notice, but Face had backed up
exceedingly fast and that look had come back in his eyes briefly. This bothered me because I had believed
it to be a one-time thing. Sometimes I'm a lot dumber than I think.
I decided to talk to Face about it later but then got caught up in other things. Also, Face can
be really good at disappearing when you need to talk to him. I never got around to approaching him until
much, much later. I need to pay more attention to the welfare of my men.


I sometimes wonder if I should tell Hannibal that Facey doesn't like to be called 'pretty boy.' I
know that the colonel doesn't mean anything derogatory by it but he doesn't know how much Face detests
the term. I've seen him hide many a wince when Hannibal had called him by that name. But if I tell
Hannibal not to call Faceman that, he'll want to know why, and I promised I wouldn't tell.


If I could get my hands on those suckas, I'd bash their heads in. Nobody does that to my friend!


I knew I shouldn't have told Hannibal. I shouldn't have let him get to me like that. It was
stupid. I'm usually not that easily prodded. At least he didn't do something as dirty as tricking me into
thinking Murdock had told him. Murdock would never do that. Never. I'm the really stupid one.
Damn it all, Hannibal, why couldn't you have left it alone? Now I'll have to deal with the bloody
sympathetic looks from you and the protectiveness from B.A.. I don't want that. If I did, I would have
told you earlier.


I finally tentatively approached Face about the incident. He fooled me into believing his story
that Murdock had pulled a similar prank on him in 'Nam. But then I asked Murdock if he had ever popped
out of a cake before and Murdock said no. I asked him about Face's story and he pretended that he had
forgotten that he had done such a thing before, but I wasn't fooled. I would get the truth somehow.


I almost got Facey in trouble with that comment. I need to think before I act sometimes. I wonder
if Hannibal bought that forgetfulness act.


Nobody does things like that to my unit. Nobody. Those suckas are gonna wish they were never born
once I'm through with them.


God, this is getting stifling. I'm almost tempted to bunk with Murdock at the V.A.; at least
there I'd be away from B.A. and Hannibal. This is just getting worse and worse.


I finally confronted Face head on. The whole mess had been gnawing at me for months and I finally
couldn't take it any more. I charged into Face's room and demanded an explanation for it all. Face
wouldn't tell me at first but I got him so riled up that he began to blurt things out so loudly that B.A.
heard in the next room.


I rushed into the room once I heard Face yelling. I was appalled. Poor Facey. Hannibal could be
so mean sometimes.


I don't know what set him off, but Face just started yellin' suddenly. I heard every word and was
sick to my stomach. How could anyone do such a thing to Face?


"You really want to know so badly, Colonel? Well fine! When I was in 'Nam, some of my 'pals' threw
me a birthday bash with a girl in a cake. Only it hadn't been a girl. It had been another guy. Those
guys hadn't been my friends. They decided that the 'pretty boy' was going to live up to his good
looks."


I was horrified. To think that they had done that to Face. God, I felt like it was all my fault.
He should have told me. I would have done something about it. I was the commanding officer, I should have
known. I should have stopped it. Poor Face.


Hannibal was standing there, looking ready to tip over. Face was shaking with fury. Why'd you
have to do that to Facey, Hannibal?


I punched in the wall when I heard what Face was talking about. I wanted to do that to every
sucka that had done that to Face.


"They raped me, Colonel, because I was a 'pretty boy.' They blackmailed me so that I wouldn't
tell anyone. They threatened to tell people about how I got my supplies. I couldn't jeopardize the
supplies. We would've been in trouble if I had told. So I stayed silent. And I've gotten over it. So, are
you happy now that you know? Are you satisfied? Get the hell out of my room and leave me alone."


I couldn't move. I couldn't react. Face had turned away from me and was facing the wall. Murdock
suddenly brushed by me. I hadn't even noticed that he had been in the room. He went over to Face and put
his arm around Face's shoulder. Face didn't shrug him off, but he didn't lean into him either. The two
just stood there, facing the wall together.
It was almost as if the two of them were sharing a moment that they had both experienced. That
thought frightened me. Murdock wasn't exactly ugly either.
I stopped myself from that train of thought. Bad enough that it had happened to Face. I didn't
even want to consider it having happened to Murdock too. Yet, somehow, I could see it. Face had always
been on the rash side when it came to fighting. He got beat up on more than B.A. did and he tried so
hard. And Murdock was crazy...there could be a reason for that.
I froze my brain. These thoughts were not good. No. I would not consider that having happened
to Murdock as well. It just couldn't be that way. Yet, watching the two of them standing there...
I had the sudden feeling that I was intruding and I tore myself from my spot. I closed the door
on my way out.
I saw B.A. staring at me.
"Those suckas have to pay, Hannibal," he said in a low voice.
"I know, B.A." I replied.
He looked satisfied with that but I wasn't. It was all my fault. I should have known. It was my
job to know everything that was going on among the men. I was responsible for Face's dilemna.

I was his commanding officer.


the end

Comments (good or bad) welcome. I don't claim to be a good writer, so don't go around accusing me of
being one. Feel free to not like this story.