At 8:15am Face rolled over in an unfamiliar bed to the smell of coffee. It took him a moment to remember going to sleep in one of Maggie Sullivan's spare bedrooms. As he climbed out of bed he had to reluctantly admit that a good night's sleep did make him feel better. The past week had been one of the most difficult he could remember in recent years and he hadn't been able to sleep much. He grabbed the duffel off the floor that he had brought in late last night and trudged into the bathroom to shower and shave. Twenty minutes later a clean Templeton Peck clamored down the stairs to find Maggie pulling freshly baked muffins out of the oven.
"Morning."
"Hey, how'd you sleep?"
He smiled at her. "Good, thanks. I appreciate you letting me stay here last night."
"You're welcome Face. You look better. I knew that a good night's sleep would help." She couldn't help but smile back at the handsome young conman. "I just pulled these from the oven, you want a blueberry muffin?"
"Blueberry? Yeah, thanks."
The two of them sat down to eat. Coffee, orange juice, and butter already on the table.
Maggie cleared her throat a little nervous. "I suppose I should tell you that I called Hannibal after you went to bed. I figured he'd be worried about you. He was and he's expecting you later on this morning."
Face dropped his head, shaking it and closing his eyes. "I totally forgot about calling him. I really didn't want to get reamed out over the phone so I just conveniently didn't think about the fact that he was probably pretty worried." Looking back at her. "I shudder to think about what he had to say?" He worded it as a question, curious yet leery of what she'd tell him.
She smiled sympathetically, wondering again just what was going on between them. "He was glad to hear you were all right. He's understandably concerned about you Face and you ignoring him all day didn't help. John told me he'd wring your neck if you didn't show up today. I also said that whatever is going on between you two is affecting you as well. I actually think he felt better knowing that you feel bad too." Shrugging her shoulders at him, "He wants to talk to you Face. Just remember that you two are friends and nothing about that will change unless you let it."
He couldn't muster up a smile this time. "I hope so Maggie and you're right we can't go on like this. Thanks for letting me stay here and for breakfast. I should probably get going before someone comes looking for you and accidently finds me." He finished munching on another muffin before rising out of his chair. Walking around the table he pulled the doctor out of her seat as well. "You're a good woman doc and if Hannibal wouldn't kick my ass..." He let the sentence trail off grinning hugely at her. Winking, "I'll be sure to send him up here when all this settles down. He needs some more rest and recovery."
She affectionately cuffed the back of his head. "If you weren't so damn young. Besides I can only handle one stubborn, egomaniacal man at a time." She kissed his cheek while barely containing her laughter. "Give John a kiss for me and work this out will ya? Neither of you will be happy till this is resolved."
"Take care doc. I'm sure I'll be seeing you again soon." Face imparted as he peaked around her back door. Seeing no one he jogged to the tree-line and over to the barn where he left his car. Throwing the duffel in the trunk he opened the battered barn doors pushing his car out and then shutting the doors again to conceal his use of the dilapidated building. Minutes later he was on the two lane state highway back toward Malibu.
~~~~~~~~~~~
It was shortly after 11:00am when Face pulled his corvette into the garage of the beach house they were using as a base during Hannibal's recovery. Face couldn't remember the last time he was this nervous to see his commanding officer. At least the van was gone which hopefully meant that BA wouldn't be growling at him in the background during his conversation with Hannibal. Deciding that sitting in his car in the garage wouldn't accomplish anything Face reluctantly got out walking into the kitchen. Surprised that Hannibal wasn't waiting just inside the doorway for his entrance the conman passed through the kitchen into the living room where a glowering Hannibal Smith awaited him standing in the middle of the room leaning on his crutches.
Only years of experience kept the implacable expression on Peck's face, internally though he winced at Smith's withering glare. Hoping to defuse the tension in the air Face breezily walked up to Hannibal with a twinkle in his eye and kissed the colonel on the cheek. Laughing at Hannibal's less than enthusiastic response and moving out of swatting range Face answered the unasked question. "Maggie asked me to give you a kiss for her."
Not appreciating the humor. "Don't think this means you're not in deep shit with me Lieutenant."
Pinching the bridge of his nose Face sighed. "Hannibal..."
Angry, "You deliberately walked out on me yesterday. I gave you a direct order and you ignored it. You then proceeded to ignore my phone calls, not even bothering to check-in and let me know if you were okay. I had no idea where you were last night kid until Maggie thoughtfully called to let me know you were at her place. You've avoided me for the better part of a week and rebuffed every attempt to talk to you about what happened. You are on my last nerve Lieutenant and I am tired of the bullshit. What the hell happened at that house?"
"Morning."
"Hey, how'd you sleep?"
He smiled at her. "Good, thanks. I appreciate you letting me stay here last night."
"You're welcome Face. You look better. I knew that a good night's sleep would help." She couldn't help but smile back at the handsome young conman. "I just pulled these from the oven, you want a blueberry muffin?"
"Blueberry? Yeah, thanks."
The two of them sat down to eat. Coffee, orange juice, and butter already on the table.
Maggie cleared her throat a little nervous. "I suppose I should tell you that I called Hannibal after you went to bed. I figured he'd be worried about you. He was and he's expecting you later on this morning."
Face dropped his head, shaking it and closing his eyes. "I totally forgot about calling him. I really didn't want to get reamed out over the phone so I just conveniently didn't think about the fact that he was probably pretty worried." Looking back at her. "I shudder to think about what he had to say?" He worded it as a question, curious yet leery of what she'd tell him.
She smiled sympathetically, wondering again just what was going on between them. "He was glad to hear you were all right. He's understandably concerned about you Face and you ignoring him all day didn't help. John told me he'd wring your neck if you didn't show up today. I also said that whatever is going on between you two is affecting you as well. I actually think he felt better knowing that you feel bad too." Shrugging her shoulders at him, "He wants to talk to you Face. Just remember that you two are friends and nothing about that will change unless you let it."
He couldn't muster up a smile this time. "I hope so Maggie and you're right we can't go on like this. Thanks for letting me stay here and for breakfast. I should probably get going before someone comes looking for you and accidently finds me." He finished munching on another muffin before rising out of his chair. Walking around the table he pulled the doctor out of her seat as well. "You're a good woman doc and if Hannibal wouldn't kick my ass..." He let the sentence trail off grinning hugely at her. Winking, "I'll be sure to send him up here when all this settles down. He needs some more rest and recovery."
She affectionately cuffed the back of his head. "If you weren't so damn young. Besides I can only handle one stubborn, egomaniacal man at a time." She kissed his cheek while barely containing her laughter. "Give John a kiss for me and work this out will ya? Neither of you will be happy till this is resolved."
"Take care doc. I'm sure I'll be seeing you again soon." Face imparted as he peaked around her back door. Seeing no one he jogged to the tree-line and over to the barn where he left his car. Throwing the duffel in the trunk he opened the battered barn doors pushing his car out and then shutting the doors again to conceal his use of the dilapidated building. Minutes later he was on the two lane state highway back toward Malibu.
~~~~~~~~~~~
It was shortly after 11:00am when Face pulled his corvette into the garage of the beach house they were using as a base during Hannibal's recovery. Face couldn't remember the last time he was this nervous to see his commanding officer. At least the van was gone which hopefully meant that BA wouldn't be growling at him in the background during his conversation with Hannibal. Deciding that sitting in his car in the garage wouldn't accomplish anything Face reluctantly got out walking into the kitchen. Surprised that Hannibal wasn't waiting just inside the doorway for his entrance the conman passed through the kitchen into the living room where a glowering Hannibal Smith awaited him standing in the middle of the room leaning on his crutches.
Only years of experience kept the implacable expression on Peck's face, internally though he winced at Smith's withering glare. Hoping to defuse the tension in the air Face breezily walked up to Hannibal with a twinkle in his eye and kissed the colonel on the cheek. Laughing at Hannibal's less than enthusiastic response and moving out of swatting range Face answered the unasked question. "Maggie asked me to give you a kiss for her."
Not appreciating the humor. "Don't think this means you're not in deep shit with me Lieutenant."
Pinching the bridge of his nose Face sighed. "Hannibal..."
Angry, "You deliberately walked out on me yesterday. I gave you a direct order and you ignored it. You then proceeded to ignore my phone calls, not even bothering to check-in and let me know if you were okay. I had no idea where you were last night kid until Maggie thoughtfully called to let me know you were at her place. You've avoided me for the better part of a week and rebuffed every attempt to talk to you about what happened. You are on my last nerve Lieutenant and I am tired of the bullshit. What the hell happened at that house?"