CHAPTER TWO
Michael slammed into the kitchen and walked into the living room. His dad was seated on the couch with a beer in one hand. He looked up as his son entered the room.
'Hey kid, what did Brandon want?'
Michael stopped in front of him, his face dark, and his eyes blazing. He felt so angry right now like he could explode. Murdock frowned.
'Everything ok Mikey?'
Michael laughed and tossed the photocopied newspaper article he'd taken from the library into his father's lap. Murdock glanced down at it and his face paled.
'Something you want to tell me Dad?' He asked icily.
Kelly came in from the kitchen wiping her hands on a tea towel. 'Did you see Nicky and Emily on the way Mike?' She caught sight of the expressions on her husband's and her son's faces and paused. 'Is everything alright?' The question was directed more at her husband than at Mike.
'Kelly, can you call the guys, ask them to come round right away it's urgent.'
Kelly was surprised by the request, he rarely asked her to do things he could quite easily do himself. To her it seemed as if he was pushing her away, trying to get her out of the argument that seemed about to unfold. Michael and his father hardly ever argued and if they did it was never serious. Nicky was the one who picked fights with Murdock and she'd always been thankful that Michael had always been fairly even-tempered.
Nevertheless, even though it surprised her she found herself going to the phone and dialling Hannibal's number. A sense of foreboding settled down upon her, things were not right, not right at all.
***
'Mike sit down, I'm not going to explain any of this until Hannibal gets here so you might as well get comfortable.'
Mike reluctantly sat down, from the back of the house came the sound of the kitchen door opening and then Nicky, Emily, Maria, Danny, Johnny and Brandon entered the room uneasily.
'They know as well?' Murdock asked.
'They know.' Michael said refusing to look at his father.
'Sit down kids.' Murdock said running a hand through his thinning hair. 'Your dad's are gonna be here in a minute and I promise then we'll explain everything.' Everyone sat and there was an uneasy silence in the room. Michael still felt keyed up and angry. He shot a sidelong glance at his father and was troubled to find that he no longer saw the person he'd always looked up to all his life. He didn't see his father sitting there, all he saw was a liar and he felt frightened in the presence of his father for the first time in all his sixteen years, frightened of a man who had suddenly become a stranger to him.
The silence was finally broken by Murdock who could bear it no longer. 'I know you're angry Michael and I guess in a way you have a right to be. You all do.' He looked at the others who shifted awkwardly in their seats.
'You guess? You guess I have a right to be angry?' Michael laughed resentfully and shook his head. 'What's next Dad? Huh? What revelation will you spring on us next? Who knows maybe I'm not really your son, I guess that would be better for everyone.'
'Mike, don't.' Emily said unable to stand seeing her brother so angry and her father so clearly hurt.
'Michael why don't you leave judging me until you've heard the full story.' There was a note of warning in Murdock's voice and a suggestion that he was close to having heard enough. 'I'm not your enemy in this.'
'You must have known this was going to happen, you must have realised that you couldn't hide it forever.'
The door opened and Hannibal walked in. He took in the scene that was rapidly unfolding, saw the hostility between father and son and realised that something important was happening.
'Murdock?' He asked not saying anything else.
'Hey Hannibal take a seat, the others should be here soon.' He passed the article to his colonel. 'They found this in the library.'
'I see.' Hannibal said carefully, he looked at Michael surprised at how angry the kid seemed to be. He, like Murdock, like all of them, had expected Nicky to be the one who would be angered by the situation. This was unexpected.
'Do you?' Michael asked tensely. 'Did you do it? Was it you suggested that you hide it from us? Come on who was it?'
'That's enough.' Murdock said stepping in. 'You'll get the story but until you do stop accusing people out of anger at me.'
Before Michael could answer Face and BA walked in the door. BA's brow furrowed as he felt the tension in the room. He looked over at his son who nodded to him.
'What's going on?' Face asked sitting down next to Murdock and Hannibal handed him the newspaper. 'Oh.' Face said quietly as he saw the article. 'I always hated that picture.'
'Face, not now.' Hannibal said and the lieutenant was surprised by the sharpness in Hannibal's voice. He looked at his children and tried to judge their reactions but both expressions were equally unreadable.
BA looking at Brandon found him to be as calm and laid-back as always. The article seemed to have had little effect on him on the outside but BA was aware of how good his son was at hiding his feelings.
'We found the article in the library. What's the truth?' Johnny asked outright and Michael got his feet.
'Sorry Johnny, not this time. I know I usually let you take charge but this time it's got to be me.'
Johnny nodded calmly and sat down. 'Did you do it?' Michael asked looking at all of them. 'Is what they're saying here the truth? Did you murder that man, rob that bank and was Dad.' He broke off unable to say the words.
Murdock picked up the baseball cap lying on the arm of the couch and twisted it in his hands. He could see Hannibal was about to field the question and like Michael he felt that he should be the one to answer it. He looked over at Hannibal questioningly and Hannibal nodded giving him the go-ahead.
'Yes.' Murdock said simply. 'What it says there about me, that much is true.'
Michael sat down abruptly and Emily gave a choked sob. Murdock looked over at her but Danny had put an arm around her and she seemed ok.
'No.' Michael whispered; a sentiment that was shared by all the offspring present. They were a very close knit group, all of them. Each knew that if they had a problem they could go to any of the others, any of their parents for help. They all thought Murdock a lot of fun, a good friend. Maybe a little wacky sometimes but crazy, insane, not that.
'He's telling the truth, kid.' Hannibal said and Michael nodded.
'We didn't rob no bank or kill no colonel though.' BA put in. 'They got that wrong.'
'What did happen?' Maria asked softly but Michael rose to his feet almost blindly.
'No.' He choked out. 'I don't want to hear it.' He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head.
'Mike.' His father said reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder and steady him.
'How the hell can you be so calm?' Michael yelled to his friends. 'They lied to us, not just a small insignificant lie either but about a whole part in their lives.' He looked back to his father. 'God, how long were you in there for? Ten years, more than that? You just leave something like that out.'
'Well you know what; it isn't exactly something you bring up in conversation.' His father laughed; his Texan accent thickening.
'No because God forbid that you ever let us see you as anything other than perfect.' He rubbed at his forehead. 'Oh Jeez, it's one thing to find out that you guys were wanted for murder but it is a whole other thing to find out that your dad is an insane wacko. Hell, I've always thought they should all be kept locked up far, far away from any people whatsoever. Why did they let you out?'
Next thing he was against the wall and BA was staring at him, nose to nose. 'You talk that way about him again and you'll be the one that's locked up, sucker!'
'BA put him down.' Murdock said wearily. 'It's ok.'
BA set the kid down and glared at him before taking his seat again.
'Listen I know you're angry and I understand but you've got to understand about us. We did what we had to do and we lied to protect you guys.' Murdock looked round at everyone in the room. 'All of you kids, we did this to protect you. Do you realise that there are still people out there who might decide that to get back at us all they need is our kids. We made some people very, very angry and it is better for all of you if you know nothing about what we did. The military and the press would still love to know about some of the things that we did and they could use you to get what they want to know. We all care about you so much, you're our lives now, our reason for going on each day and if anything happened to anyone of you.' He couldn't finish just sat down again but there were nods from the rest of the team.
'He's right.' Face said. 'That is why we did it.'
'Well it would be easy for you wouldn't it? You were the conman of the group weren't you? Lying must just be second nature to you now.'
'Don't take it out on him Mike? It was never like that. Do you realise that you are the reason for all of this?'
'What? That is the dumbest excuse I've ever heard Dad.'
'He's right.' BA added with a nod.
'You are not just my first born, Michael, you are the team's first born. You were the one that hit it home to me that I was a father and that I had a responsibility to protect you and your mother. I couldn't just go out with the team on missions the way I used to, being away from you and your mom was hell and I realised that I couldn't do it anymore. I needed to settle down with your mother and help her raise you. Risking my life was not the way to bring up a family.'
'We all realised that it wasn't possible anymore.' Hannibal said. 'We had wives and children on the way. The last thing we wanted to do was to leave them to bring up our children on their own.'
'We decided to finish it, to disband the team.' Face said.
'It was me who decided that we should forget that the A-Team ever existed.' Murdock said quietly. 'After that nut tried to kidnap Kelly and Mike.'
There were looks of interest from the other side of the room as the children looked at their parents, seeing them for the first time as men, as people rather than as just parents.
'Yeah, this guy tried to make off with your mother and you.' Murdock continued. 'The scariest day of my life and when you become a parent you will understand this Mike, you will understand how your children change you and make you realise that you are no longer the important ones. You have another life to protect at all costs and you will do anything to do that.'
'You kept your names though.' Danny said questioningly. 'You could have been safer if you'd changed your identities and we know Dad could have arranged that for you if he had to.'
'You're right Danny, we could have but we didn't want that. We still wanted to be the people we had always been. Changing our identities would have been too easy, it would have been running away, we wanted to show the world that we were innocent and that we weren't afraid.'
***
1986
Murdock was cradling his son. Only a few days old and he had nearly lost him to some thugs who had thought it fun to try and hurt him by hurting his family. Right now he never wanted to let his wife and child out of his sight again.
The baby gurgled happily in his arms, reaching up to pat his face and Murdock admired again how tiny his son's hands were and how perfect he seemed. This moment seemed to have been a long time coming, he'd once thought that he would never be a father and now the most precious thing in the world to him was his son.
The door opened and Hannibal walked in quietly, taking a seat next to Murdock and smiling at the baby in his arms. Michael was looking round with interest at absolutely everything, he had his father's dark, soulful eyes and Hannibal was sure that the younger Murdock would one day have his father's wide grin and gentle nature. He knew Murdock was also hoping that his son would inherit his love for flying.
'You ok, Captain?' Hannibal asked finally when Murdock didn't speak.
'Yeah.' He answered quietly. 'Just thinking how close I came to nearly losing them both.'
'It wasn't your fault.'
'I can't do it anymore, Hannibal.'
Hannibal didn't speak, hoping that his friend would explain that remark. Also hoping that he didn't mean that he couldn't deal with fatherhood, Murdock made a great father, he took to it like a duck to water.
'I can't be with the team and be with my family. I have to choose, one or the other.'
'Is this your choice or Kelly's?' Hannibal asked, not really wanting to ask the question but knowing he had to. He had to make sure that this was what the captain wanted to do.
'I haven't even discussed it with her but I realised that night that I can't be away from them anymore. I mean, who's going to protect them whilst I'm gone? And I can't stand being away from them, I want to be with them both, I want to be with my family.'
'This is your choice Captain and I won't stand in your way but think it over.'
'I have Hannibal, I've been thinking about it a lot and the more I do, the more I realise that this is what I need to do.'
Hannibal nodded. 'We're not getting any younger are we?'
'No, we're not and I want to settle down before it's too late. They need me here and I want to be here.'
'Then good luck.'
'Thanks Hannibal, I was worried, thought you might be mad that I was deserting you.'
'No, Murdock, not at all. I agree with you and I'm glad you've been honest with me. To be honest with you, I've been thinking much the same thing; I don't really like being away from Maggie either. Especially not now.'
'What about the others?'
'Yes, I think they all feel the same way. We have families now, children on the way; it's not going to be like it was when we were young and single. Then it didn't matter what happened to us and we had no-one else but ourselves to be responsible for. Now it's a whole other matter. Now we have our pardons.'
Murdock paused and then voiced the thought that had been in his head. 'Are you talking about disbanding the team?' There was queasy feeling in his stomach.
'Yes, I suppose I am.'
Murdock looked at Michael and kissed the baby's soft forehead. 'I'm not going to tell him, Hannibal, when he's grown up; I'm not going to tell him about us. I understood that night that there might be people that want to get at me and to do that they might try to hurt my children. I don't want that to happen, I think it's safer if he doesn't know. And I don't want him to know that his father was once a crazy nut.'
'Captain, as Face always says, it's a good kind of crazy.'
'Doesn't matter, I still don't want him to know.'
Hannibal nodded and the two men sat there for a long time together, not saying a word, perhaps understanding somehow that this would be the last time that they had such a close and honest conversation. That it would be the last time together as Colonel and Captain before they hung up their hats and became ordinary men and not Soldiers of Fortune.
***
Michael closed his eyes against the tears stinging them suddenly. His anger had depleted somewhat but he still felt hurt and betrayed. Even though he knew that his father had the right reasons for doing what he did it still didn't change the fact that he was no longer the person he'd thought he was. He got to his feet finally and found himself walking towards the door. He couldn't bear to hear anymore of it, if he walked away then it wasn't happening, his father had never been crazy and none of it had been real.
The doorknob was cool under his palm and he turned it aware of each movement as if he was moving underwater. Outside it was still warm and he kept walking, not knowing where he was going or where he wanted to go. He just went trying to keep the thoughts and feelings bombarding him from taking control.
It didn't take him long to reach the airfield and to find his father's plane. He went and sat in it not wanting to fly it, just wanting to sit in it. He didn't even realise that he was crying until a tear dropped onto his hand and once he'd started he realised that he couldn't stop.
After what seemed like an age later, in fact it was only ten minutes, a hand touched his shoulder and his father eased himself into the co-pilot's chair. Michael turned his face away so that his dad wouldn't see the tears streaming down his cheeks even though he knew that he'd already seen.
Father and son sat there for a long time, neither speaking nor moving at all. Just sitting.
Michael slammed into the kitchen and walked into the living room. His dad was seated on the couch with a beer in one hand. He looked up as his son entered the room.
'Hey kid, what did Brandon want?'
Michael stopped in front of him, his face dark, and his eyes blazing. He felt so angry right now like he could explode. Murdock frowned.
'Everything ok Mikey?'
Michael laughed and tossed the photocopied newspaper article he'd taken from the library into his father's lap. Murdock glanced down at it and his face paled.
'Something you want to tell me Dad?' He asked icily.
Kelly came in from the kitchen wiping her hands on a tea towel. 'Did you see Nicky and Emily on the way Mike?' She caught sight of the expressions on her husband's and her son's faces and paused. 'Is everything alright?' The question was directed more at her husband than at Mike.
'Kelly, can you call the guys, ask them to come round right away it's urgent.'
Kelly was surprised by the request, he rarely asked her to do things he could quite easily do himself. To her it seemed as if he was pushing her away, trying to get her out of the argument that seemed about to unfold. Michael and his father hardly ever argued and if they did it was never serious. Nicky was the one who picked fights with Murdock and she'd always been thankful that Michael had always been fairly even-tempered.
Nevertheless, even though it surprised her she found herself going to the phone and dialling Hannibal's number. A sense of foreboding settled down upon her, things were not right, not right at all.
***
'Mike sit down, I'm not going to explain any of this until Hannibal gets here so you might as well get comfortable.'
Mike reluctantly sat down, from the back of the house came the sound of the kitchen door opening and then Nicky, Emily, Maria, Danny, Johnny and Brandon entered the room uneasily.
'They know as well?' Murdock asked.
'They know.' Michael said refusing to look at his father.
'Sit down kids.' Murdock said running a hand through his thinning hair. 'Your dad's are gonna be here in a minute and I promise then we'll explain everything.' Everyone sat and there was an uneasy silence in the room. Michael still felt keyed up and angry. He shot a sidelong glance at his father and was troubled to find that he no longer saw the person he'd always looked up to all his life. He didn't see his father sitting there, all he saw was a liar and he felt frightened in the presence of his father for the first time in all his sixteen years, frightened of a man who had suddenly become a stranger to him.
The silence was finally broken by Murdock who could bear it no longer. 'I know you're angry Michael and I guess in a way you have a right to be. You all do.' He looked at the others who shifted awkwardly in their seats.
'You guess? You guess I have a right to be angry?' Michael laughed resentfully and shook his head. 'What's next Dad? Huh? What revelation will you spring on us next? Who knows maybe I'm not really your son, I guess that would be better for everyone.'
'Mike, don't.' Emily said unable to stand seeing her brother so angry and her father so clearly hurt.
'Michael why don't you leave judging me until you've heard the full story.' There was a note of warning in Murdock's voice and a suggestion that he was close to having heard enough. 'I'm not your enemy in this.'
'You must have known this was going to happen, you must have realised that you couldn't hide it forever.'
The door opened and Hannibal walked in. He took in the scene that was rapidly unfolding, saw the hostility between father and son and realised that something important was happening.
'Murdock?' He asked not saying anything else.
'Hey Hannibal take a seat, the others should be here soon.' He passed the article to his colonel. 'They found this in the library.'
'I see.' Hannibal said carefully, he looked at Michael surprised at how angry the kid seemed to be. He, like Murdock, like all of them, had expected Nicky to be the one who would be angered by the situation. This was unexpected.
'Do you?' Michael asked tensely. 'Did you do it? Was it you suggested that you hide it from us? Come on who was it?'
'That's enough.' Murdock said stepping in. 'You'll get the story but until you do stop accusing people out of anger at me.'
Before Michael could answer Face and BA walked in the door. BA's brow furrowed as he felt the tension in the room. He looked over at his son who nodded to him.
'What's going on?' Face asked sitting down next to Murdock and Hannibal handed him the newspaper. 'Oh.' Face said quietly as he saw the article. 'I always hated that picture.'
'Face, not now.' Hannibal said and the lieutenant was surprised by the sharpness in Hannibal's voice. He looked at his children and tried to judge their reactions but both expressions were equally unreadable.
BA looking at Brandon found him to be as calm and laid-back as always. The article seemed to have had little effect on him on the outside but BA was aware of how good his son was at hiding his feelings.
'We found the article in the library. What's the truth?' Johnny asked outright and Michael got his feet.
'Sorry Johnny, not this time. I know I usually let you take charge but this time it's got to be me.'
Johnny nodded calmly and sat down. 'Did you do it?' Michael asked looking at all of them. 'Is what they're saying here the truth? Did you murder that man, rob that bank and was Dad.' He broke off unable to say the words.
Murdock picked up the baseball cap lying on the arm of the couch and twisted it in his hands. He could see Hannibal was about to field the question and like Michael he felt that he should be the one to answer it. He looked over at Hannibal questioningly and Hannibal nodded giving him the go-ahead.
'Yes.' Murdock said simply. 'What it says there about me, that much is true.'
Michael sat down abruptly and Emily gave a choked sob. Murdock looked over at her but Danny had put an arm around her and she seemed ok.
'No.' Michael whispered; a sentiment that was shared by all the offspring present. They were a very close knit group, all of them. Each knew that if they had a problem they could go to any of the others, any of their parents for help. They all thought Murdock a lot of fun, a good friend. Maybe a little wacky sometimes but crazy, insane, not that.
'He's telling the truth, kid.' Hannibal said and Michael nodded.
'We didn't rob no bank or kill no colonel though.' BA put in. 'They got that wrong.'
'What did happen?' Maria asked softly but Michael rose to his feet almost blindly.
'No.' He choked out. 'I don't want to hear it.' He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head.
'Mike.' His father said reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder and steady him.
'How the hell can you be so calm?' Michael yelled to his friends. 'They lied to us, not just a small insignificant lie either but about a whole part in their lives.' He looked back to his father. 'God, how long were you in there for? Ten years, more than that? You just leave something like that out.'
'Well you know what; it isn't exactly something you bring up in conversation.' His father laughed; his Texan accent thickening.
'No because God forbid that you ever let us see you as anything other than perfect.' He rubbed at his forehead. 'Oh Jeez, it's one thing to find out that you guys were wanted for murder but it is a whole other thing to find out that your dad is an insane wacko. Hell, I've always thought they should all be kept locked up far, far away from any people whatsoever. Why did they let you out?'
Next thing he was against the wall and BA was staring at him, nose to nose. 'You talk that way about him again and you'll be the one that's locked up, sucker!'
'BA put him down.' Murdock said wearily. 'It's ok.'
BA set the kid down and glared at him before taking his seat again.
'Listen I know you're angry and I understand but you've got to understand about us. We did what we had to do and we lied to protect you guys.' Murdock looked round at everyone in the room. 'All of you kids, we did this to protect you. Do you realise that there are still people out there who might decide that to get back at us all they need is our kids. We made some people very, very angry and it is better for all of you if you know nothing about what we did. The military and the press would still love to know about some of the things that we did and they could use you to get what they want to know. We all care about you so much, you're our lives now, our reason for going on each day and if anything happened to anyone of you.' He couldn't finish just sat down again but there were nods from the rest of the team.
'He's right.' Face said. 'That is why we did it.'
'Well it would be easy for you wouldn't it? You were the conman of the group weren't you? Lying must just be second nature to you now.'
'Don't take it out on him Mike? It was never like that. Do you realise that you are the reason for all of this?'
'What? That is the dumbest excuse I've ever heard Dad.'
'He's right.' BA added with a nod.
'You are not just my first born, Michael, you are the team's first born. You were the one that hit it home to me that I was a father and that I had a responsibility to protect you and your mother. I couldn't just go out with the team on missions the way I used to, being away from you and your mom was hell and I realised that I couldn't do it anymore. I needed to settle down with your mother and help her raise you. Risking my life was not the way to bring up a family.'
'We all realised that it wasn't possible anymore.' Hannibal said. 'We had wives and children on the way. The last thing we wanted to do was to leave them to bring up our children on their own.'
'We decided to finish it, to disband the team.' Face said.
'It was me who decided that we should forget that the A-Team ever existed.' Murdock said quietly. 'After that nut tried to kidnap Kelly and Mike.'
There were looks of interest from the other side of the room as the children looked at their parents, seeing them for the first time as men, as people rather than as just parents.
'Yeah, this guy tried to make off with your mother and you.' Murdock continued. 'The scariest day of my life and when you become a parent you will understand this Mike, you will understand how your children change you and make you realise that you are no longer the important ones. You have another life to protect at all costs and you will do anything to do that.'
'You kept your names though.' Danny said questioningly. 'You could have been safer if you'd changed your identities and we know Dad could have arranged that for you if he had to.'
'You're right Danny, we could have but we didn't want that. We still wanted to be the people we had always been. Changing our identities would have been too easy, it would have been running away, we wanted to show the world that we were innocent and that we weren't afraid.'
***
1986
Murdock was cradling his son. Only a few days old and he had nearly lost him to some thugs who had thought it fun to try and hurt him by hurting his family. Right now he never wanted to let his wife and child out of his sight again.
The baby gurgled happily in his arms, reaching up to pat his face and Murdock admired again how tiny his son's hands were and how perfect he seemed. This moment seemed to have been a long time coming, he'd once thought that he would never be a father and now the most precious thing in the world to him was his son.
The door opened and Hannibal walked in quietly, taking a seat next to Murdock and smiling at the baby in his arms. Michael was looking round with interest at absolutely everything, he had his father's dark, soulful eyes and Hannibal was sure that the younger Murdock would one day have his father's wide grin and gentle nature. He knew Murdock was also hoping that his son would inherit his love for flying.
'You ok, Captain?' Hannibal asked finally when Murdock didn't speak.
'Yeah.' He answered quietly. 'Just thinking how close I came to nearly losing them both.'
'It wasn't your fault.'
'I can't do it anymore, Hannibal.'
Hannibal didn't speak, hoping that his friend would explain that remark. Also hoping that he didn't mean that he couldn't deal with fatherhood, Murdock made a great father, he took to it like a duck to water.
'I can't be with the team and be with my family. I have to choose, one or the other.'
'Is this your choice or Kelly's?' Hannibal asked, not really wanting to ask the question but knowing he had to. He had to make sure that this was what the captain wanted to do.
'I haven't even discussed it with her but I realised that night that I can't be away from them anymore. I mean, who's going to protect them whilst I'm gone? And I can't stand being away from them, I want to be with them both, I want to be with my family.'
'This is your choice Captain and I won't stand in your way but think it over.'
'I have Hannibal, I've been thinking about it a lot and the more I do, the more I realise that this is what I need to do.'
Hannibal nodded. 'We're not getting any younger are we?'
'No, we're not and I want to settle down before it's too late. They need me here and I want to be here.'
'Then good luck.'
'Thanks Hannibal, I was worried, thought you might be mad that I was deserting you.'
'No, Murdock, not at all. I agree with you and I'm glad you've been honest with me. To be honest with you, I've been thinking much the same thing; I don't really like being away from Maggie either. Especially not now.'
'What about the others?'
'Yes, I think they all feel the same way. We have families now, children on the way; it's not going to be like it was when we were young and single. Then it didn't matter what happened to us and we had no-one else but ourselves to be responsible for. Now it's a whole other matter. Now we have our pardons.'
Murdock paused and then voiced the thought that had been in his head. 'Are you talking about disbanding the team?' There was queasy feeling in his stomach.
'Yes, I suppose I am.'
Murdock looked at Michael and kissed the baby's soft forehead. 'I'm not going to tell him, Hannibal, when he's grown up; I'm not going to tell him about us. I understood that night that there might be people that want to get at me and to do that they might try to hurt my children. I don't want that to happen, I think it's safer if he doesn't know. And I don't want him to know that his father was once a crazy nut.'
'Captain, as Face always says, it's a good kind of crazy.'
'Doesn't matter, I still don't want him to know.'
Hannibal nodded and the two men sat there for a long time together, not saying a word, perhaps understanding somehow that this would be the last time that they had such a close and honest conversation. That it would be the last time together as Colonel and Captain before they hung up their hats and became ordinary men and not Soldiers of Fortune.
***
Michael closed his eyes against the tears stinging them suddenly. His anger had depleted somewhat but he still felt hurt and betrayed. Even though he knew that his father had the right reasons for doing what he did it still didn't change the fact that he was no longer the person he'd thought he was. He got to his feet finally and found himself walking towards the door. He couldn't bear to hear anymore of it, if he walked away then it wasn't happening, his father had never been crazy and none of it had been real.
The doorknob was cool under his palm and he turned it aware of each movement as if he was moving underwater. Outside it was still warm and he kept walking, not knowing where he was going or where he wanted to go. He just went trying to keep the thoughts and feelings bombarding him from taking control.
It didn't take him long to reach the airfield and to find his father's plane. He went and sat in it not wanting to fly it, just wanting to sit in it. He didn't even realise that he was crying until a tear dropped onto his hand and once he'd started he realised that he couldn't stop.
After what seemed like an age later, in fact it was only ten minutes, a hand touched his shoulder and his father eased himself into the co-pilot's chair. Michael turned his face away so that his dad wouldn't see the tears streaming down his cheeks even though he knew that he'd already seen.
Father and son sat there for a long time, neither speaking nor moving at all. Just sitting.
