Author's notes: Ok, I reread this whole thing in its entirety and found a whole lot of mistakes. Your brain gets fried trying to remember every little detail and making sure that everything's kosher with the show itself (and it doesn't help with someone harassing you every day, JENN—j/k). So, I fixed each chapter and re-uploaded all of them. Only major difference is that the setting is in June rather than August…I think. Oh! And Alia is 35 rather than 30. No biggie.
I don't even know why I'm adding this comment, but I am. Alia is NOT an extension of me in any shape, form, or manner. We're close to total opposites, except we both happen to be female and like Murdock. Basically, this isn't a Mary Sue if that's what some of you (What am I talking about? No one reads this!) are thinking.
Most importantly, I've been working very hard on this piece in the little spare time I have, and I only have one regular reviewer (Thanks so much, Jenn!). All I want to know is if I'm improving my writing, I'm doing about the same, or I'm killing any chance I have of ever becoming a professional writer. It takes only about a minute at most to review, and I have the open offer that if you're an author and take the time to tell me how I'm doing, I'll do the same for you.
****
Alia didn't wake up and take over driving until the convoy stopped for lunch around noon about an hour away from Las Cruces. Face reassured Hannibal at one of the rest stops that Alia had told both him and Murdock the same story. This seemed to placate the colonel; the lieutenant's and the pilot's arguments on the brunette's behalf completely convinced him. Hannibal trusted his men's opinions, especially if they correlated as closely as Face and Murdock's did. The colonel figured that BA was a grouch around new people anyway and the two of them would get along great if the black man would listen to Alia's story. Besides, Hannibal appreciated the brunette's smart-ass comments.
Finally around two in the afternoon, Alia pulled into the driveway of a one-story ranch house in a middle class neighborhood. All the houses in the development were separated by four and a half foot fences from the identical adobe structures with red tile roofs next door: the standard look for homes in the southwest.
"Welcome to my humble abode, guys!" Alia exclaimed as she cut the Mustang's engine. "It isn't nearly as plush as that apartment you have in LA, Face, but hopefully it'll meet your minimum standards. It's the most I can afford on my salary."
Still embarrassed from his outburst from the night before, Face changed the subject. "So you're a project designer at Alliance?"
"Yup, the first woman on the team," replied the brunette as she got out of the car. "I know about everything labeled top secret inside the plant. I guess Gordon Jones figured that I wouldn't do anything that could jeopardize my job and just look the other way when he started selling military secrets to the opposition."
"Hopefully Jones will exercise that same lack of judgment on the A-Team as he did with you," Hannibal added as he climbed out of the van. "It'll make our job a lot easier. Speaking of which, we should get settled and find out exactly what we're up against. First, we should check the house and yard for anybody lying in wait for Alia. Face, Murdock, you go around back; BA and I'll check the house."
Face and Murdock nodded, grabbed M16s from the lock box in the back of the van, and split up to circle around the house. BA got a pistol out of the back and followed Hannibal inside while Alia started unloading the cars.
Inside everything looked intact; the place was immaculate. The colonel and sergeant entered facing the kitchen and dining area. Down to the left was a short hallway leading to what looked like two bedrooms and to the right the living room which was half hidden by a wall. Hannibal indicated for BA to take the bedrooms while he took the rest of the house.
It turned out there was also a bathroom and closet down at BA's end of the house which were clear. The sergeant searched every inch of what could only be the guest bedroom, mostly to see if Alia kept any sort of incriminating evidence on herself. BA couldn't shake the feeling that the brunette hid something from the A-Team when she arrived at the Chinese laundry the previous morning. Finally satisfied, he moved on to the master bedroom. Everything seemed in order until he checked the closet.
As soon as he opened the closet door, someone jumped out and BA drew his gun. However the gun proved useless as the person fell into a limp heap at his feet. The sergeant knelt next to the person who turned out to be a dark haired woman. He turned her over and his breath caught in his throat when he saw the woman's face.
It was Alia.
BA leaned in for a closer inspection. The woman wasn't Alia, but the resemblance was eerie. She had the same hair, the same general facial features, but her skin tone was definitely indicative of Greek heritage. The woman's eyes and mouth were wide with horror and bruises encircled her throat—someone obviously strangled her to death recently. BA rummaged through her pockets to see if he could find any ID on her and came up with a wallet. Inside he found a drivers license for Alia Benekopoulos with the dead woman's picture on it.
I knew that woman was lyin'! BA thought angrily. What've we gotten ourselves into? He threw down the wallet and yelled, "Hannibal! C'mere! You need to see this!" When no one answered, the sergeant cursed and jogged out to find his commanding officer.
When BA found everyone outside hauling in equipment, he marched over to the brunette and pinned her against the side of the van. She struggled in vain to get free while Murdock and Face tried to pull the sergeant off of her.
"BA, what's gotten into you?" Hannibal demanded.
"She ain't Alia!" growled BA.
"Of course I am!" the brunette gasped around BA's fist crushing her windpipe. She reached into her pocket and handed him her wallet. "Look at the drivers license and my Alliance Tech ID."
Sure enough the two IDs had the brunette's picture next to the name Alia Benekopoulos. BA threw the wallet on the ground and snarled, "I saw the real Alia Benekopoulos in your bedroom closet. She's been strangled. You ain't Alia!"
"BA, what are you talking about?" asked Hannibal. "What body in the closet? And let go of our client!"
The sergeant dropped the brunette and turned to his commanding officer. Murdock caught her as she slumped against the side of the van and gasped for breath. "It's just like I said," answered BA. "I found the body of the real Alia in the bedroom closet. I'll show you!" He jogged back into the house, followed by the rest of the group.
Outside the bedroom BA said to Hannibal, "She's right there on the floor. I knew that she," he pointed at the brunette and glared, "was lyin' about who she was!"
Hannibal looked inside the room. "BA, there's nothing there. No body, nothing. What's gotten into you?"
BA's face fell. "What?" He ran into the room and found that Hannibal was right; there was no body on the floor or in the closet. "She was right here when I left to get you, I swear!" He turned and glared at the brunette. "Where'd you hide the body, you?" The sergeant advanced to choke the brunette again, but Murdock planted himself in front of her.
"BA, knock it off!" the pilot exclaimed, deadly serious. "Just because you don't like Alia that doesn't give you the excuse to make up stories about her. She was only out of everyone's sight for two minutes. There's no way that she could've snuck in, strangled someone, jumped back out when you came in, and then hid the body after you left!"
"Murdock's right," added Face. "You owe Alia one hell of an apology."
"I know what I saw and I ain't apologizing to no imposter!" BA growled and stomped off to unload his van.
Hannibal watched the sergeant's retreating back and asked his other men, "Any idea why BA's acting so weird? I've never seen him like this."
"Beats me, Hannibal," Face answered. "Maybe Murdock's blood from that transfusion a few years ago is finally affecting his brain."
Murdock wrapped an arm around Alia's waist as the four went to go help unload. "Don't pay attention to BA," he whispered in the brunette's ear. "He's in a perpetual bad mood."
"It's kinda hard to ignore him after he tried to strangle me," Alia muttered back.
Outside the brunette caught two of her neighbors, a short Chinese woman and a taller black woman, leaning on the fence watching the four strange men hauling equipment into her house. "That reminds me," she said to Murdock, "I should check in with Jill and Lynn, my next door neighbors. I asked them to keep an eye on the place while I was gone. I'll help bring stuff in as soon as I'm done."
"All right, but don't take too long," Murdock replied and pecked Alia on the cheek before he jogged over to help Face with a large duffel bag.
Alia walked over to the fence smiling. "Qué pasa, Jill, Lynn?" she asked the two women at the fence. "How's your end of the plan going down? I see you made it back from LA before me, Lynn. Did dear Colonel Decker believe that you were 'Mr. Lee's' daughter?"
"He fell for it hook, line, and sinker," answered Lynn. Her rounded chin barely cleared the fence as she smiled, a mischievous glint in her almond shaped brown eyes. "He might come this way just because he's smart enough to figure out that you hired the A-Team. I wouldn't worry too much about him."
"Good," Alia answered. "How about you, Jill?"
"Once Alliance Tech found out you skipped town, they left the place alone," replied the tall, slim black woman. Jill had a similar "don't mess with me" presence as BA, but not nearly as flamboyant. She sported a black t-shirt, a heavy silver cross, large silver hoop earrings, and a short Afro. "I see your part of the operation is going more than well, but I thought that there were only three members of the A-Team."
"Officially yes," Alia answered. "Turns out that Murdock is indeed part of the team."
"He the one that kissed you?" asked Jill. Alia nodded. "You sleep with him too?" Again Alia nodded. "Damn, girl!" Jill exclaimed. "You're getting to be like Maggie and her long string of men!"
"It was just Murdock!" replied Alia defensively. "If Maggie wasn't my best friend I'd call her a slut. Unlike her, I can count all the men I've banged on one hand, all right?"
"Whoa, don't take it so personally!" Lynn interjected. "We're just kidding around. Is that Hannibal there with the white hair? He's quite handsome if I do say so myself! Do you know if he likes Chinese?"
"I dunno, Lynn," sighed Alia, "why don't you go over and ask him?"
"What's with the guy I assume is BA?" asked Jill. "He might actually be attractive if he'd smile."
"I thought you were gay, Jill," said Alia.
"Nah, bi," Jill answered. "Way I see it, I got lucky. Lot better selection that way."
"Though this is fun and all, I have something important," Alia interrupted. "BA claims to have seen the body of the real Alia Benekopoulos. Would either of you know anything about this? She was supposed to be disposed of already! The whole operation was almost blown because somebody screwed up!"
"Maggie was in charge of that," answered Lynn. "You know how much she's into the killing parts of the different jobs."
"But isn't she still on her way here?" Alia asked.
"No, she got in around eleven this morning," answered Jill. "She's sacked out in our house since she drove through the night to get here before you and the Fantastic Four. We figure she took care of Miss Benekopoulos before she crashed."
Alia muttered, "I'm going to have to have a talk with that girl. We can't have a screw up like that again; we're so close to getting out of this mess."
"Yeah, I can't wait until the boss has what he wants," replied Lynn. "I've been waiting for fifteen years to get out of this crap."
"You know that there's no guarantee that he's going to let us go after this, don't you?" asked Alia. "I mean he's lied to us before about this sort of thing. We could always disappear into four different corners of the country or the globe like I keep saying we should. Each of us could even take one of the A-Team with us since he'll be looking for them for the same reason."
"Alia," Jill said warningly, "don't start with the plan B. You know it won't work."
"How do you know?" demanded Alia. "We never tried!"
"Girl, the boss has us trapped," sighed Jill. "There's no way out except to give him what he wants. If this is about your new lover, you'd better think twice about what you're doing before you jeopardize our freedom. It doesn't matter what happens to those guys; what matters is that we get our lives back. Don't you dare go and fuck this up for the rest of us!"
Jill walked off towards her house as Lynn locked eyes with Alia. "Jill's right," the Chinese woman stated. "You're not the only one involved in this." She turned and followed Jill into the house, leaving Alia alone with her thoughts.
I'm starting to feel uneasy about this job, thought the brunette as she walked back over to the driveway. The A-Team was almost finished hauling equipment into the house so she just took her suitcases out of the Mustang's trunk and into the house.
Murdock caught Alia's despondent look as he passed her and did an about face to follow her. "Hey, what's wrong, sweetheart?" he asked. "Purple wobblies come to get you?"
Alia smiled, "No, the neighbors just said that some creeps were lurking around here earlier."
"We're here now," replied the pilot. "There's nothin' to worry about."
I wouldn't be so sure about that, thought Alia.
"All right, where do you want us to set up?" asked Hannibal.
"Well, there's a trundle bed in the guest room that two of you can use and the sofa in the living room folds out into a double bed," answered the brunette. "You can set up any equipment you need in the living room or the guest room."
"Ok, then where does everyone want to bunk while we're here?" Hannibal questioned the others.
"Couch is mine!" answered BA. "I wanna be as far away from that woman as possible."
"I'll stay with Alia if that's all right," said Murdock as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.
"That's perfectly fine with me," Alia replied. "I guess that leaves you, Hannibal and Face, with full run of the guest room."
"Ok, now down to serious business," Hannibal said. "We need everything you know about the Alliance Tech laboratory. Could you draw a layout of the compound for starters?"
"I can do even better," answered the brunette. "I swiped a current scaled floor plan from records before I left for LA."
Hannibal smiled and took out a cigar. "Then let's get cracking!"
****
The depth of Alia's knowledge of every aspect of Alliance Tech's compound amazed Hannibal. She kept detailed notes of guard movements, security cameras, key codes, and all the possible routes in and out of the building itself. If he didn't know better, the colonel would've thought that the brunette had some sort of military ops training. This oughta make things a hell of a lot easier, he thought. By dinnertime it looked as though everything would be set to go the following evening. It seemed strange that the A-Team wasn't madly carrying out a plan at the last possible second before the bad guys and/or the army showed up, but hopefully this way the opposition wouldn't figure out what was going on until after the team hit them and left.
Alia whipped up a dinner of Spanish rice and enchiladas while the A-Team drilled her for information. Everyone, save BA who grumbled something about the food being laced with poison, agreed that the brunette was an excellent cook. The rest of the evening passed relatively smooth with the sergeant sulking in the corner and the other four playing cards. Face tried to cheat but the others knew his "strategy" right off the bat.
"I think you can help me out, Face," Alia said as she reached over to the lieutenant and pulled a card from his sleeve. "Gin!" The brunette laid her hand down and smiled slyly.
Hannibal smiled around a cigar. "If you weren't going to do that," he said to Alia, "I was."
The lieutenant threw down his cards in disgust. "What is this, pick on Face night?" he whined.
"No, it's just fun and easy to harass you," replied the brunette. "Besides, you've been cheating all night; you deserve some form of punishment."
"All right, guys," interrupted the colonel. "It's getting late and we need to get a lot done before sunset tomorrow. BA, you've got first watch tonight."
"Are you sure, Hannibal? I might just let whoever comes lookin' for 'Alia' come in an' get her," BA growled.
The colonel barked, "Sergeant, you have first watch and that's an order, understand?" Hannibal hated pulling rank unless it was absolutely necessary. BA teetered on outright insubordination on this mission and the colonel couldn't figure out why. "I don't know what your problem is but you've got a job to do and it better be done right. You come and get either Face or me when you get tired, all right? Dismissed!"
BA glared, snatched up an M16, and stomped off outside, slamming the door behind him.
"Boy am I scared that I got on his bad side," Alia muttered. "Forget about Jones' men coming to get me, I'm more afraid that BA's gonna do me in long before they find me!"
"Don't fret, my lady," Murdock replied in an English accent, "I shall protect thee from the angry mud sucker and any other vagabonds that dare trespass."
Alia chuckled and leaned against the pilot who in turn wrapped an arm around her. Face and Hannibal couldn't help but notice the transformation in both Alia and Murdock since the beginning of the mission. The brunette changed from an angry bitch to a genuinely pleasant woman while the pilot acted the sanest since he was admitted to the VA hospital.
"All right, we've got a busy day tomorrow," said Hannibal as he rose from his chair at the table. "Time to hit the hay."
The others followed suit and headed off to their respective rooms. Outside the bedrooms Face pulled Murdock aside. "Now don't keep us up all night, all right?" the lieutenant joked.
"This coming from the man who could sleep through a shelling in 'Nam," retorted the pilot. "Somehow I doubt you heard us at all last night." He winked and closed the master bedroom door.
Face smiled, shook his head, and closed the door behind him.
Next door, Alia's face creased with lines of worry as she undressed for bed. "Hey, what's wrong, sweetheart?" asked Murdock as he tossed his jacket and baseball cap on a chair facing the sliding glass doors at the far end of the room. "You've been lookin' depressed all night."
"Nothing gets past you, does it?" the brunette smiled feebly as she took off her shirt.
"An' it's not BA or the goons comin' after you that's buggin' you," the pilot added, kicking off his shoes.
"Am I that easy to read?" asked Alia in an attempt to change the subject. One look from Murdock told her that she wasn't going to weasel out of talking. The brunette sighed in surrender. "All right, I couldn't help thinking whether you and I are just a casual fling or something more serious. I don't want to get too attached if once the mission's over you go back to LA while I stay here and we never see each other again."
"I think it's a little late for this to be a one night stand, don't you?" replied the pilot. "Why, do you only want to keep things light?"
"No, no, I agree that we're in a lot deeper than a one nighter," interjected the brunette as she took out her bun and brushed her hair, "it's just that—how can we keep up a long distance relationship?"
"Who said we have one of those?"
"Well, I've got my job here in Las Cruces and you're a patient at the VA in LA; we won't exactly be neighbors."
"I'm getting released soon though, I can feel it."
Alia paused in the middle of combing her hair, then tossed the brush down in exasperation. "Murdock, you can't be serious. You've been in there for at least ten years! What makes you so sure that your psychiatrist is going to release you now?"
The pilot replied patiently, "Have I acted crazy or seen things that aren't really there in the past day and a half you've known me?"
"No, not really," the brunette agreed.
"See? I haven't been able to be sane for this long in a great while. Usually it takes a lot out of me, but now I feel fine acting normal. Being with you helped me so much, Alia; I'm not about to let you go now."
"But you wouldn't leave the A-Team for me. They're your friends—I can't selfishly keep you to myself. Besides, you guys do a lot of good for people."
"Then come with me back to LA! Face and Hannibal like you, and I'm sure once BA stops pouting he'll come around. It's been awhile since we had a woman on the team and you'd come in handy. It'll be a hell of a lot more exciting than working as a weapons designer, I can tell ya that."
"I don't know, Murdock…" Alia looked at the floor.
The pilot walked over to the brunette and grasped her by the shoulders. She looked up into his gentle brown eyes with her sad hazel ones. "You don't have to make up your mind right now," Murdock said softly. "I just want you to know that I love you and I want to be with you always."
Alia's eyes welled up and she embraced the pilot tightly. "How did I get so lucky as to find you, Murdock?" she sniffed.
"I was thinking the same thing about you," replied the pilot as he held the brunette closer and gently rocked side to side.
"I've made up my mind," Alia said confidently. "As soon as the mission's over, I'm coming back to LA with you. I love you too much to ever say goodbye." She tilted her head up and kissed Murdock. Shortly the pilot felt the brunette's hands pulling up his shirt. He pulled away just long enough to yank it over his head and turn off the lights.
****
Alia lay with her head resting on Murdock's gently rising and falling chest in the moonlit bed. She had pretended to sleep after they made love for two blissful hours; there was no way she could fall asleep with so many emotions roiling inside her. The pilot had finally drifted off and the brunette watched him sleep. He looked so peaceful she had to smile.
You're using him, said a little voice in Alia's head. You know damn well you can't run off together. You have a responsibility to Maggie, Lynn, and Jill—not to the A-Team.
¡Cállete! Alia thought in reply. I love him and he loves me! These have been the best two days of my life; I can't give this up.
The voice refused to be silenced. This isn't fair to either Murdock or your team. You can't run off with your lover and leave your friends out to dry. Conversely, you can't keep leading Murdock on if you're going to go through with the plan to get you and your team's freedom. In other words, you can't bake your cake and eat it too.
Alia wanted to beat her head until the voice stopped. No! I can't make that choice! I don't have to make it; all of us, my girls and the A-Team, can just scatter to the winds. The boss will never find us and we'll all be free.
The voice laughed harshly. Do you really think that'll work? The boss is like George Orwell's Big Brother: always watching. You can't escape him. Your only choice is to do what he says and dump Murdock as fast as possible—end of discussion!
Alia couldn't take it anymore and rose from the bed, careful not to wake Murdock. She grabbed a nightgown out of a drawer and slipped it on before she flopped into the chair facing out the sliding glass doors. Dios mio, I've gotten myself in deep this time, thought the brunette.
That night Alia noticed several scars from bullet wounds on Murdock's body, one a memento from the A-Team's brief mission back to Vietnam a few months before. She could only imagine how horrible that experience was for the pilot, but she knew that if this mission went according to plan, Murdock would suffer more pain than any bullet could inflict. Though the brunette normally had no qualms about luring marks into a false sense of security before taking what she needed or killing them, she couldn't go through with this. Murdock was special; Alia sensed it from the moment she first saw him walking out of the VA.
But Jill's words echoed in Alia's ears: Don't you dare go and fuck this up for the rest of us! The brunette's friend was right. How could she choose a man she met two days ago over her life-long friends?
Why can't I ever catch a break? thought Alia as she watched the dust swirl in the wind outside. Are you punishing me for all that stuff I did as a kid, God? I feel I've suffered enough. When are things going to get better? They can't get much worse. The brunette sighed heavily.
A soft rustling roused Alia from her thoughts. "What're you doin' up, sweetheart?" yawned Murdock. "I thought you were sleepin'."
"Couldn't—again," Alia replied.
The pilot pulled on his pants and sat on the arm of the brunette's chair. "All you do is worry!" he exclaimed. "Sex is supposed to relieve tension, not cause it. You should be acting like you're on Valium with all the sex we've had in the past two days!" Alia smiled and playfully punched Murdock in the arm. "Now that's more like it," said the pilot as he kissed the brunette's forehead.
"Tomorrow will you stay here with me when the team moves out for Alliance Tech?" Alia asked. She knew it was a stupid question and what Murdock's answer would be, but she asked it anyway.
"That's my unit," Murdock answered. "You gotta stick with your unit."
"I know, but I've got this horrible feeling that if you go tomorrow, you won't come back," said the brunette. Alia hoped she could convince the pilot to stay with her while the rest of the A-Team fell into the trap waiting for them. Afterwards the two of them could mount a rescue mission and everyone would then escape back into the Los Angeles underground. It could work, couldn't it?
Murdock smiled. "We do this sorta thing all the time, Alia; we always come back safe and sound, more or less. Besides, I wouldn't leave without you." He squeezed the brunette's hand reassuringly and she smiled weakly back.
Something darted in the shadows out in the yard, catching Alia's eye. The thing moved again and with the moon backlighting it, she realized that it was a man toting an assault rifle. "Murdock," the brunette whispered, fear edging her voice, "please tell me that's BA out there."
The pilot followed her gaze and answered, "No, there's no way that could be him—an' I don't think that's Faceman or Hannibal either. You have a gun?"
Alia nodded. "In the nightstand there's a loaded .32. With the way I live I need some sort of defense."
Murdock crept over to the nightstand and opened the drawer. As soon as he picked up the gun, Alia yelled, "Murdock, look out!" The creep lurking outside in the shadows smashed in the glass doors with the butt of his rifle, sending glass shards flying everywhere. The pilot whipped around, pistol in hand, ready for a fight. The intruder grabbed Alia's arm, but she fought viciously to keep him from dragging her away. Murdock figured the intruder wanted to bring Alia back to Jones alive and probably would only use the rifle on him.
Alia and the prowler struggled so violently that Murdock feared to use the .32; in all likelihood he would hit the brunette. Murdock tossed the gun and leaped into the fight to wrestle the rifle away from the intruder. However, the intruder anticipated it and whacked the pilot upside the head with his rifle. Alia froze as she watched Murdock fall to the ground stunned.
Suddenly the rage from all the stress from the past few days welled up inside the brunette and exploded as an unearthly shriek. Alia kicked her attacker in the balls with all her strength. When the intruder doubled over in pain, the brunette yanked away his rifle and swung it at his head with the force of a baseball batter hitting one out of the park. A loud crack echoed in Alia's ears as her attacker collapsed on the floor in a heap.
Blinded momentarily when the lights turned on, Alia shielded her eyes until she could see that Hannibal had his hand on the switch with Face beside him in the doorway and BA stood outside the broken sliding glass doors. "What the hell happened?" asked Hannibal.
"Dios mio, Murdock!" Alia exclaimed as she dropped the rifle and knelt next to the pilot. She cradled his head in her lap and asked, "Are you all right? You seeing double or anything?"
"Feels like a jackhammer's pounding on my brain, but other than that I think I'm all right," replied Murdock. "What happened to the guy that tried to abduct you?"
"I knocked him out with his gun," Alia answered.
Hannibal knelt next to the intruder and felt for a pulse. "You did more than just knock him out," he said. "He's dead."
"What? I didn't hit him that hard!" exclaimed the brunette.
"We heard the crack when you connected with his skull," said Face. "You pretty much bashed in his temple."
After an awkward pause Alia said nonchalantly, "Well, I guess we don't have to worry about him anymore."
BA couldn't believe what he heard. "What's wrong wi' you?" he yelled. "How can you kill someone then act as if it's nothin'? Don't you feel at all bad about what you've done? You're one heartless bitch!"
Alia helped Murdock to his feet then turned on BA, eyes blazing. "The real question, Mr. Baracus, is what the fuck is wrong with you?" the brunette screamed back. "It was self-defense! I didn't mean to do it, although I will admit I was capable of killing in cold blood. As a kid I used to fight in gang territory disputes and rumbles with both guns and knives. Like you I've killed another human being more than once, but I haven't killed anyone in a long time. Growing up like that desensitized me. Now if anyone should understand where I'm coming from, it should be you from the slums of Chicago. Also, if you'd been paying any sort of attention on guard duty, you would've seen the attacker before he broke into the house. Maybe then he'd still be alive and you would be threatening to break his face unless he spilled his guts. Get the hell out of my sight until you stop pouting and decide to act like an adult!"
BA growled menacingly and stood toe-to-toe with Alia. The two glared at each other, waiting for the other to back down. Finally Hannibal broke up the stand off by asking the sergeant if he wanted to continue standing watch or to go to sleep. BA gruffly replied that he didn't want to continue guard duties if Alia would ridicule him more and marched off toward the living room.
Once the sergeant left the room, Alia asked, "So what do we do now with Philips?"
"That's his name?" questioned Face, pointing to the body. "Sounds familiar."
"Might be," replied the brunette. "Philips was a captain or higher in Special Forces in Vietnam before he retired and got the job as head of security at Alliance Tech. When Benito called Jones about our little run-in yesterday, Jones must have sent Philips out to retrieve me. I can't believe I killed him; he was always really friendly."
"The way I see it," Hannibal interrupted, "we have two choices. We could bury Philips out back, or we could hide out somewhere nearby while Alia calls the cops and gives them the situation, conveniently leaving us out of the story. If we bury him, we risk getting spotted by the neighbors and having the body found. If we leave for a while and Alia calls the cops, she'll be brought in for questioning, but she'll be safe and we have a smaller chance of getting caught. Most importantly, we'll have less to cover up."
Murdock nodded in agreement. "Sounds good to me, Colonel."
"All right," said Hannibal as he stood up. "Face, go get BA and start packing the van. Murdock, you search this end of the house and make sure there's no trace of us while I go check the other end. Alia, wait about ten minutes before you call the cops so that we're long gone before they get here."
Everyone nodded in agreement and split up to accomplish their assigned tasks. The A-Team, experts on leaving in a hurry, was almost ready to depart ten minutes later. Hannibal gave Alia the van's phone number so that she could contact them once she was done with the police. The men finished packing the van while the brunette placed the call to the cops. Once Alia hung up the phone, the van was loaded and ready to go.
"Now you guys stay out of trouble, all right?" the brunette said by way of farewell.
"It's not our fault trouble finds us on a regular basis," retorted Hannibal. "Now we'd better scram before the cops get here."
"Don't take too long talking to the federales," Murdock smiled. "I want to get back to that bed." He kissed Alia.
The brunette returned the pilot's smile, then shooed the four men out of the house. She watched on the front steps as BA backed the van out of the driveway and drove off down a side street to wait. Alia quickly prepared her performance of a distraught woman who'd had a break-in for the police. Absentmindedly she wondered why she hadn't tried to make it on Broadway rather than getting herself caught up in the current mess as the lights of a cruiser came into view.
****
The A-Team sat quietly in the dark interior of the van in an abandoned lot a few blocks away from Alia's house waiting for her call. Normally Murdock would've sang or tried to play Twenty Questions with someone, but the pilot remained unnaturally silent.
Finally Face decided to break the silence. "So…" he began, "why so quiet, Murdock? No jokes or stories from bozo barracks?"
The pilot refocused from staring off into space. "Sorry, Faceman, what did you say?" he asked.
"You feeling all right? You haven't been your normal crazy self lately," Face answered. "What's up?"
"I was just thinking…I asked Alia to come back to LA after this mission," said Murdock. "I said she could help out the team like Amy and Tawnia used to instead of working at Alliance."
"No way, you crazy fool!" growled BA. "She ain't gonna be part of the A-Team, not as long as I'm around!"
"Cool it, BA," Hannibal replied sternly. The colonel turned his attention to his captain once he felt the sergeant calmed down a bit. "When were you going to tell us about it, Murdock?"
The pilot replied, "That's why I was lost in thought."
"How much have you thought about this?" asked Hannibal. "Are you sure you trust Alia enough for her to become part of the team?"
"Hannibal, I can't explain it; there's just something about her that just puts me at ease," answered Murdock. "I felt comfortable enough to tell her some of my deepest and darkest secrets." The pilot turned to Face. "You know what I'm talking about, doncha, Faceman?"
"Well, I did talk to Alia about my past after some prodding," admitted the lieutenant, "but what about that veterinarian? Kelly, wasn't it?"
"See?" interrupted Murdock, ignoring Face's last comment. "Even Face thinks she's trustworthy."
"That ain't sayin' much comin' from Faceman," BA retorted. "He always picks the girls who're spies for Decker!"
"Alia's not a spy!" the pilot snapped.
"Then why did she lie and hide a body in her closet?" growled the sergeant.
"You imagined that body!" Murdock yelled. "You've just made up your mind to hate Alia for no reason!"
BA had had enough. He lunged from the driver's seat and seized the pilot by the collar. The sergeant balled his other fist to punch Murdock, but Hannibal intercepted.
"Knock it off!" Hannibal bellowed. "Sergeant, release him now!" BA hesitated for a moment, then obeyed his commanding officer's orders. "What the hell has gotten into the two of you?" the colonel asked, exasperated. "BA, your behavior is uncalled for. I will admit that I didn't trust Alia at first, but she's proven herself in the past few days. I agree with Murdock's assessment: we can trust her. Now I'm not saying that she's a member of the A-Team yet. After our job here is done, we'll take Alia back to LA with us and see how well everyone works together on our next mission. If that works out, I see no reason why we shouldn't keep her around."
BA opened his mouth to protest, but the ringing of the mobile phone cut him off. Hannibal answered it and spoke briefly. "Alia's given the all clear," he said after he hung up. "Now I want no more fighting. Don't forget we've got a mission to accomplish. When we get back to Alia's place, Face, you're going to take over watch and the rest of us will go to sleep. I'll relieve you at 0400 or before if you can't stay awake, all right?"
Face, Murdock, and finally BA nodded in agreement. The sergeant started the van and the four men rode in silence back to Alia's house.
****
"Murdock," Hannibal murmured as he nudged the pilot the following morning. The colonel felt uncomfortable waking his captain while Murdock cradled Alia in his arms. He'd had to drag Face from a few girls before, but pulling the pilot from a woman was a new experience. "It's your watch."
The pilot slowly opened his eyes and blinked the sleep from them. "All right, Hannibal," he mumbled. "Just let me—umm—extract myself." The colonel nodded and crept out of the room so as not to wake Alia.
Murdock gazed lovingly at the woman sleeping so peacefully in his arms. After the team returned the night before, the two of them stayed up until sunrise talking since Alia couldn't sleep. He told the brunette that the team would give her a test mission after they were done in Las Cruces to make sure everyone could get along and complete a job. Murdock couldn't tell if Alia was glad or apprehensive about that prospect. After that they talked about anything and everything—no holds barred. The pilot couldn't think of anything about himself that he hadn't told Alia, and he felt he knew as much about the brunette. He buried his face in her long, silky hair and inhaled her scent before he gently rose from the bed to take up guard detail.
Once Murdock was no longer touching Alia, the barrage of terrible thoughts that his presence kept at bay assailed her dreams. She whimpered ever so quietly as her boss's face congealed out of the dark corners of her nightmares.
"You disobeyed my orders," said the boss in his aggravating, condescending tone.
"Fuck your orders!" Alia screamed in return. "Why do you want the A-Team anyway? They aren't like the other marks—no politics or money involved. They're even fading into nothingness as urban heroes."
The boss smiled, sending shivers up the brunette's spine. That false grin of his never failed to rattle Alia, no matter how confident she felt. "That's for me to know, and for you to never find out," answered the boss. "You should only worry about your team's freedom, if you can call yourselves a team."
"Will you let us go if I go through with your plan?" Alia sighed in surrender.
"Do it and we'll see."
"You never give a straight answer, you snake. Why should I believe anything you say? You've done this before only to shove us off on another job as you say, 'I don't remember agreeing to let you go.'"
"If you don't do as I say I'll send all four files I've kept on your 'teammates' to the authorities. I'm sure they'd be interested in your involvement in certain unsolved crimes."
"Are you going to kill the A-Team?"
Again the boss leered at the brunette and laughed maniacally. Alia cringed; that could only mean one thing…
Terrified, Alia reached out for Murdock in her sleep. When her hands grasped nothing but air, the brunette bolted upright from her nightmare. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes only to see Murdock's side of the bed unoccupied. Fearing the worst, Alia jumped out of bed, tossed on her bathrobe, and dashed into the kitchen.
Murdock, Hannibal, and Face were sitting at the kitchen table when the brunette burst into the room, her hair in a tangle and her eyes wide in terror. Alia clutched at her bathrobe to keep it from falling off of her. The three men looked up from their coffee in different degrees of surprise.
"Heya, sweetheart," Murdock greeted Alia. "I was just about to—what's the matter?"
The brunette sighed in relief, "Thank God you guys are still here!"
The pilot rose and went to Alia's side, concern in his eyes. "What's got you so spooked?" he asked gently.
"I—had a nightmare," replied the brunette. "I thought that something horrible had happened to all of you—at Alliance. And it's not the first time I've had reservations about hiring you guys to come out here. Jones is much more resourceful that I thought. I mean he sent out a guy with as much experience as you to get me! Who knows what might have happened if I hadn't--"
"What you're sayin' is that you don't want us to go bust Jones tonight," Murdock interrupted.
Alia sighed, "Yes, that's why I told the cops about his dealings when they came last night about Philips. They said they'd take care of it—we can leave, go back to LA! You don't need to bust Jones; the authorities will."
"Alia, the cops won't go and investigate on your word alone," answered Hannibal. "Jones could be destroying evidence as we speak—we have to make sure that that doesn't happen."
The brunette sighed in defeat. "I wish you would reconsider, but I can see your minds are made up. Anyway, how long have you guys been awake?"
"Few hours," Hannibal answered. "We hope you don't mind, but we got hungry and made our own breakfast."
"No, no, that's perfectly all right," Alia said. "What time is it anyway?"
Face smiled, "It's almost noon; we were thinking about making lunch."
Alia's jaw dropped. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed. "I can't believe I slept so long!"
"It was a busy night in more ways than one, after all, and you didn't fall asleep until almost five," replied Murdock.
Alia playfully punched the pilot in the arm. "Hey! I thought you fell asleep before me!"
"Nope, you drifted off in the middle of a sentence," Murdock grinned in return. "It was kinda cute actually. You were sayin' somethin' about how you loved--" Alia hit the pilot again, this time in the ribs to get him to stop. "Ow!" Murdock moaned while rubbing his side in mock pain. "If this continues to be an abusive relationship, I might just leave and you can forget about ever becoming a member of the A-Team."
Alia apologized and helped the guys find stuff for sandwiches. BA came in a while later and switched guard detail with Face. The sergeant and the brunette restrained themselves from fighting and merely glared at each other from across the room for the rest of the day.
All too soon it was time for the A-Team to head out for Alliance Technologies. Alia stood forlornly on the front steps as she watched the four men go over the plans at the last minute. Finally Hannibal said, "All right, time to hit the road. We'll be back in a few hours after we've handed Jones and his lackeys over to the cops."
No, you won't, thought Alia. "Please, all four of you, be careful," she pleaded.
"Don't worry, sweetheart," replied Murdock, "we've done this sorta thing before. You won't even notice we're gone."
"Somehow I doubt that," Alia smiled back. "I'm missing you already."
The pilot grinned, tilted the brunette's chin upwards, and kissed her passionately. Hannibal called from shotgun for Murdock to get in the van. The pilot muttered "I'll be back" in an imitation of Arnold Schwarzenegger before hopping into the back of the van along with Face. BA started the van and backed out onto the road while Hannibal grinned and gave a quick wave to the brunette.
As soon as the van was out of sight, Alia turned and went back into the house to call Jill, Lynn, and Maggie. I tried to stop them, she thought, but they didn't listen. They made their choice, so therefore I've made mine. The operation is going down as planned. There is no Alia anymore, only me.
****
To be continued…
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