CHAPTER TWELVE

Several Months Later

It was two weeks after Christmas; snow lay thick on the grounds of the compound in Langley, Virginia.

Even Murdock, as much as he missed LA, could not deny that it was a beautiful sight. He wondered wistfully what Megan would think of the snow. Being in LA it was unlikely that she would see much, if any, snow. He wished she could be here so that they could all make snowmen, snow angels and have snowball fights. She'd love it; he just knew it.

As he left the compound, he drew his coat up close to him. It was icy cold out here and could see the mist on the air that his breath made. If he wasn't feeling so tired he'd probably enjoy the scenery and the snow but he'd just arrived back from a mission and as usual on Stockwell's missions, it hadn't been an easy ride. He was exhausted and looking forward to nothing more than bed.

Of course, then he'd have the problem of explaining to his boss where he'd been for the last four days. He couldn't very well tell him that he'd been off rescuing captives in the Spanish Islands. He'd probably lose his job and that was the last thing he wanted to do right now, his past made it hard enough for him to find a job and to his chagrin, he had to admit that Katie had been right. He hadn't been thinking things through properly when he'd left.

He walked past the Abel's standing guard duty on the gates, they had guns fixed in their hands and their expressions were as icy cold as the January day. It was no secret that Stockwell and his men hated Murdock but he didn't really care. He gave his craziest grin to a burly Abel and beamed. 'Beautiful day isn't it? I just love this hot weather.' He tipped his cap and walked through the gate aware of the Abel's disgusted expression as he passed.

Apparently, this Abel didn't appreciate a good dose of Murdock humour. His loss then, there were far more appreciative people to annoy, like BA for instance. At least the big guy had the decency to growl and mutter at him, the Abel just looked confused.

He shoved his cold hands deeper into the pockets of his khakis and set off for home and bed. As he walked into town and neared the more populated areas, he could hear the sounds of children laughing and playing. With a pang he thought again of Megan, it had been two weeks ago that he'd managed to get down to LA to see his daughter for Christmas and he had been surprised by how fast she was growing up. At four, she was starting to grow tall and proudly told him that she was the tallest amongst all her friends. He felt another pang at the reminder that she would soon be starting kindergarten, he'd already missed out on so much of her life and now he was missing out on even more. But he couldn't lay blame on anyone but himself; it had been his decision to come to this place. He stifled a yawn as he neared his apartment building, it wasn't one of the nicer ones but it was a place to lay his head at nights and he was comfortable enough there. He was surprised to see the shape of two figures in the doorway as he approached. Someone had obviously arrived on a visit and found that no one was home. They must be freezing.

He yawned again and dug in his pocket for his keys, as he looked up the person seated in the doorway stood. She was covered in snow and her face was very pale. Beside her, he could see the sleeping figure of his daughter with Katie's coat round her shoulders.

He was there in a second. 'Katie! What are you doing here? You must be freezing.' Instantly he had his jacket it off and was wrapping it around her shivering form. She could only stand there, teeth chattering with cold as he opened the door and scooped Megan up. The little girl didn't wake.

'How long have you been sitting there?' He asked as they entered the chilly lobby.

'I don't know, an hour.maybe two.' She was shivering violently, dressed only in a sweater under his jacket and he saw with surprise that cases and bags surrounded her. He handed Megan to her and picked up the luggage. 'I tried to call but you weren't there and I didn't know where else to go so.'

'The General had us out on an assignment.' He felt his nose wrinkle at the word assignment and hoped she didn't read the gesture for what it was. He didn't want her to know just how much animosity there was between him and Stockwell. 'What happened? You know someone would have probably have let you in.' He thought suddenly of Erica and hoped that she didn't see his cheeks colour slightly.

'Well I did buzz one woman but.she told me to go away.'

Murdock's lips twisted for a moment into a wry smile. 'Let me guess.'what are you selling? I don't buy things Dearie.you'd better go away before I call the police. They can be here in moments.I have a gun, I will use it.' That her?'

Katie found herself laughing; he had mimicked the old lady perfectly. 'That was her.'

Murdock nodded and as they past a pink door, he rapped hard on it with his knuckles. 'Mrs King?'

The door flew open and woman with her hair in rollers peered out. Murdock turned on a charming smile. 'What do you want young man? When I was your age children were seen and not heard, we didn't go knocking on old lady's doors so we didn't.'

Murdock smiled and nodded almost as if he was listening. 'I just thought I'd introduce you to my illegitimate daughter Megan and her mother, we're not married by the way, seeing as you left them out in the cold and refused to let them in, just thought you'd like to see their faces before they die of pneumonia. Oh and by the way, your cat got into my apartment again last night; don't know where he went. My invisible dog Billy chased him off.Cuddles bit him apparently.'

The old woman just stared at him and Katie bit the inside of her cheeks to stop herself from laughing. She looked as if the she was surely going to have a heart attack. 'They.. they shouldn't have let you out.you're a danger! I'll call the police on you.'

With another dazzling smile, Murdock leaned over the kissed the woman's powdery cheek. 'Love ya Mom.' Then he turned and walked away, Katie couldn't do anything but follow.

As the door shut behind them, Katie caught Murdock's arm. 'Murdock, that was mean.'

'Well she shouldn't have left you out in the cold. It's freezing out there.'

'Does she really call her cat Cuddles?'

Murdock nodded. 'Stupid name isn't it. That cat is the least cuddly thing I've ever met.' Then he grinned. 'Didn't think too much of Face when he came over.messed up his hair.'

Katie smiled. 'Heaven forbid.'

Murdock stopped and opened his door and motioned for Katie to go in. She did and once she'd laid Megan down on the couch, she took the opportunity to look around. The apartment wasn't exactly luxurious; she could imagine Face turning his nose up at it. It was comfortable, small but she could see things here and there that showed her that although Murdock faithfully sent her a maintenance cheque every month, he really didn't have a lot of money to spare.

Murdock laid the bags down. 'You can put her in my bed.' He gestured to Megan who was still sleeping peacefully. Like her mother, she slept like the dead. Murdock showed Katie into the bedroom.

'There are some pyjamas in her case; could you get them for me?' Katie asked as she started pulling Megan's snow-soaked clothes off of her. The little girl remained sleeping.

Murdock returned with a pair of Woody Woodpecker pyjamas. 'Good choice.' He said as Katie began dressing their daughter in her nightclothes.

Katie smiled. 'She picked them herself.' As Murdock pulled back the bedclothes, Katie laid Megan in the bed and drew the covers over her. Murdock instantly handed her the teddy bear that Megan always slept with, Katie allowed herself a smile that he'd remembered.

Once Megan was tucked up in bed they withdrew into the living room where a hamster was munching on food in his cage. Katie flopped down on the couch and Murdock sat next to her. ' So what are you doing here? Not that I mind but it's just a bit of a surprise.'

'I.I didn't have anywhere else to go.' Out of habit, she rested her head on his shoulder and out of an even older habit; his hand stroked her hair soothingly.

'What happened?'

'Mom had to give up the house. There were some problems, the bank and other things. Then I lost my job and couldn't find another place to live. I didn't know what to do. Mom's gone to stay with her sister but that's a two bed roomed apartment; there's no room for Megan and I.'

'She lost the house?' Murdock was aghast; Karen had lived in that house since marrying Katie's father, Tony. Even after Tony had died, she'd still stayed in the house.

Katie nodded and started to cry, she couldn't help it. In the space of a few days, she'd lost her home and her job. She'd spent the last hour and a half sitting outside in the freezing cold wondering if she had the wrong apartment, trying to make up her mind if she should try and find Stockwell's compound.

'Come on, you need to get into some dry clothes; you're soaked. Tell you what, I'll go run you a bath and you can tell me all about it afterwards.'

She allowed him to help her off with her clothes and into the bath, where he left her. He went back into the living room and straight over to the phone. It wasn't easy trying to get through to Face but finally he managed it.

'Facey? It's Murdock.you'll never guess what's happened. Katie's here with Megan.' Face's surprise wasn't really unexpected.

'Why?'

'She lost the house and her job. Why do I have a feeling that a certain General is behind this?'

'You're probably right.'

Murdock's anger erupted. 'It'd be just like him to do this, get her here to make sure that I do what I'm told.' His hand clenched round the phone and he was aware suddenly that he was being watched. Turning, he saw Megan standing in the doorway, clutching her bear and looking very much like she was going to cry. 'I gotta go Face; Megan's awake. I'll talk to you later.' He replaced the handset and went to his daughter.

'Hey sweetie, you ok?' He gave her a hug and she hugged him back, sniffling as she did so. He knew by now what that sniffle meant, she was on the verge of tears. He picked her up and went over to the couch. 'You still cold?'

She shook her head mutely and, as he sat down, laid her head on his chest. He grabbed a blanket and wrapped it round her anyway.

'I didn't know where I was.'

He stroked her hair. 'It's ok; you're staying with me for a while.'

'What about Mommy?'

'Mommy's staying too. That ok?'

She nodded again and clutched her bear tighter. 'There's monsters under the bed.'

'You had a nightmare?' He'd noticed that she seemed to have a lot of nightmares when he was there at Christmas. Katie had assured him that it was a stage that all kids went through and he could remember that she had gone though the same thing at a similar age to Megan.

Again, she nodded and he tightened his arms around her. 'How about I make us some hot milk and then we go chase those meanie monsters away?'

'Ok.' Her voice was barely a whisper and he realised how frightened she must be. Katie had just uprooted her and brought her all the way from sunny, warm LA, to cold, snowy Virginia. The poor kid probably had no idea what was going on. He kissed her forehead. 'Come on then.'

She scooted off his lap and standing up, he took her hand and walked into the kitchen. He lifted her onto one the stools at the counter and set about making the warm milk. Once it was ready, he sat opposite her. 'It's hot honey.don't drink it just yet.' To take her mind off her bad dream, he arm-wrestled her, as always letting her win. Then he told her stories of the A-Team and all their adventures, making sure to include Bogie the Bear, Therm the Lobster and Sockii the Sock.

'Daddy?'

'Yes Meggie?' He was sipping at his milk as she asked her question.

'Who were the horrible men?'

'What men honey?' His expression grew concerned. Katie hadn't mentioned any men.

'There were some meanie men who came and made us leave. They were horrible to Mommy and me.'

'I don't know Pumpkin.' His brow furrowed, this did not sound good. 'Can you describe them to me?'

Her tongue poked out the side of her mouth as she tried to remember. 'They was tall but not as tall as you but bigger than Mommy and me. They were in black and I think they had guns. They had funny names.'

'What names, can you remember?' He watched her carefully as she struggled to remember.

'Sable 6 and Sable 8.'

Murdock sat back and said nothing. It was clear that she meant Abel 6 and Abel 8. Clearly, they were Stockwell's men. His earlier suspicions had been confirmed.

'Don't you worry about them.' He ruffled her hair. 'Now let's go vanquish some monsters.'

'Yay!' Then she frowned. 'Daddy, what's vansquish?'

He grinned and lifted her off the stool. 'It means we go fight them and we get to win.'

'Oh, ok then.' She seemed much happier.

Murdock crawled partway under the bed and then came back out again. 'Nope, no monsters there, they obviously got scared.' He lifted her into bed. 'I'll leave Billy here, he'll protect you.'

'Ok.' She snuggled under the covers. 'Night Billy.' Murdock was sure he almost heard a woof in reply.

'Ok sleepy time.' He stayed until she was asleep and then went out and to the bathroom. He knocked on the door. 'Katie.you ok?'

'Yeah.' Her response was sleepy and she opened the door, dressed now in one of his old shirts and a pair of shorts. Her hair was damp from the bath.

'I'll make up the sofa bed for you.'

'Did I hear Meggie out there?'

'She had a nightmare. She's ok now.but she did tell me something. She said some guys came to the house, Abel's.'

Katie nodded and walked past him. 'Yeah.they were Stockwell's men alright.'

'What did they want?'

'I'm not sure.' She shrugged. 'All I know is that within the hour I was jobless and homeless.' She sat down in a chair and closed her eyes. 'We won't outstay our welcome, I'll find us a place to live and then we'll be out of your hair.'

'Stay as long as you want.' In his head, he was already looking for an apartment for all three of them.