CHAPTER FOUR
They'd decided that if all seven of them went along to talk to Amy Allen she might be a little intimidated. It would be best if only a couple of them went along and they decided that the Johnny, Michael, Danny and Brandon would be the best choices because it was easy to see the close resemblance to their fathers and even easier when they were all together.
Johnny knocked on the door and then stood back with his thumbs hooked in the back pockets of his jeans. Danny had his hands on his hips, Michael had shoved his hands in his pockets and Brandon was fiddling with a ring on his middle finger. They waited for a couple of minutes before the door opened and a middle aged woman looked at them. Her hair was brown and pinned up away from her face and Michael could see the streaks of grey that were in it.
'Yes?' The woman asked curiously, she looked tired and Michael wondered if maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.
'Amy Allen?' Johnny asked and Michael saw that she was looking at him strangely, looking at all of them strangely come to that. He had a feeling that she knew who they were and why they were there.
'Yes? Who are you?'
'Miss Allen, my name is John Smith; this is Daniel Peck, Brandon Baracus and Michael Murdock. I believe you were a friend of our fathers. May we come in?'
There was a sharp intake of breath and the woman at the door stared at them obviously wondering if they were who they said they were and if it was safe to let them in.
Danny stepped forward and smiled gently. 'Ma'am. We're telling you the truth. We just want to talk to you, nothing more. Please.'
'Dear God.' She whispered. 'You're just like him. All of you; just like them.' She seemed stunned to find younger versions of the people she'd know over 20 years ago on her doorstep. After an internal struggle she stepped aside. 'Come on in.'
They entered the house and were led into a sitting room that was filled with objects from all around the world. Obviously mementos from her travels. Michael sat down and looked at the woman who had helped the A- Team in the early eighties whilst they were on the run from the government.
'I just can't believe it, I nearly didn't believe it. Until you spoke.' She indicated Danny. 'So much like Face I would almost think you were him, all of you are your father's children. Well can I get you anything?' She looked towards Brandon with a small smile on her face. 'Milk?'
Brandon smiled his rare smile. 'That'd be great Ma'am.'
'Oh Amy please, I always hated it when Hannibal called me Miss Allen.' She laughed then at some memory of the past. 'And what about the rest of you?'
'Milk's fine.' Johnny said speaking for all of them.
'Can we help you with anything?' Danny asked getting to his feet.
'You stay right where you are Daniel.' She laughed. 'Manners just like your father, I'm surprised he's still in the country, I'd have thought either the government or all those women would have caught up with him by now. But that was always Face, always seemed to get away with it no matter what it was.'
She looked at Michael with interested eyes. 'So, do I need to find some biscuits for your invisible dog?'
Michael didn't smile back. 'I don't have a dog.' He said archly. 'I'm not crazy like my father.'
Amy made a face. 'Sorry, my mistake. I think I've got some Twinkies stashed away.'
Michael allowed himself to smile. 'Well, if you're offering.'
Amy nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. 'Well?' Danny asked.
'Seems nice.' Johnny commented without really giving away what he thought.
'Brandon?' Danny asked. 'You think we can trust her?'
'Yeah, nothin' to worry about. Just a little weird seein' us turn up and lookin' just like our dad's.'
'Mike?' Danny asked and Michael shrugged.
'Sure, she doesn't appear to be hiding anything.'
'Got your back up when she asked about the dog didn't she?' Johnny said with raised eyebrows.
'Just because we look like them doesn't mean we are them.' Michael answered shortly and began studying a small ornament of a golden retriever.
Amy came back into the room and handed them all milk and Twinkies. Michael unwrapped the bar and munched on it thoughtfully.
'Your dad gave me that dog Michael.' Amy said abruptly and Michael nearly choked on his Twinkie.
'Yeah?' He asked hoarsely suddenly wondering where she was going with this.
'When I got my foreign correspondence assignment, he gave me that said he couldn't give me Billy for good luck but that was the next best thing.' She smiled softly.
'Billy?' Michael asked carefully not sure if he wanted to hear this.
'The invisible dog your dad had. He was adamant that he was real; sometimes I think that Hannibal believed him but Face would just go along with it when he felt like it. BA, however, he hated Murdock's crazy talk and kept telling him that the dog wasn't real which of course made Murdock retaliate. They were always arguing.'
'They still do mama.' Brandon told her and Amy smiled.
'I would be worried if they didn't.'
'You're talking about them as if they're dead.' Michael said harshly and Amy's smile abruptly vanished.
'I'm sorry that wasn't the way I meant it. You came here to ask about them didn't you?'
'Mike, you want to do this?' Johnny asked. 'This was your idea.
'No, you tell her.' Michael said sitting back and sipping his milk carefully. He didn't feel like blurting out how upset he was at his father to this utter stranger.
'Until yesterday we had no idea that the A-Team even existed let alone that they were our fathers. Brandon found a newspaper article on them relating how they had been arrested for murder and theft and then escaped. Well, except for Michael's dad, the newspaper mentioned that he was at the VA at the time.'
Amy nodded. 'And you want to know more.'
'Yes.' Danny cut in. 'We want to know what they did, what they were like; we need to know it from an outsider's point of view. We want to know who they were.'
Amy sighed. 'It would take me weeks to tell you everything that they did. They were a remarkable group of men and I have never and will never meet anyone like them in my life. Hannibal with his crazy plans and cigars. When the team had to make a contact he'd dress up in some disguise and keep the contact hanging around for a while before we approached him. He never seemed to be happier then when he was putting our lives in danger but believe me, no matter what crazy plan he cooked up, it always worked, maybe not exactly how he was expecting it to work but it always worked.'
'I love it when a plan comes together.' Johnny murmured and Amy laughed.
'Yes that's right, kind of a catchphrase of his. Does he still say it?'
'Yeah.' Johnny laughed. 'He still says that and he still smokes the cigars even though Mom is always telling him to quit but he never will.' 'Sounds like Hannibal, stubborn to the bone. Your mom? Who'd he marry, Maggie?'
Johnny smiled. 'Yeah, that's right, you know her?'
'Oh we've met; she helped save BA's life once. It's how they met.'
Johnny was interested. 'I never knew how they met.'
'Maybe later I'll tell you.' She looked at Danny. 'And there was Face.' She laughed pleasantly. 'Oh he was a charmer, I never understood how he did it, he had girls falling all over him and no matter what it was he could get it. He was the team's conman and whatever they needed you could guarantee he'd have it. He might whine and moan but he'd have it for Hannibal, always big on pride was Face. Hard to believe he's settled down.'
'Nearly 15 years now and I swear he loves her more each day.' Danny said proudly. 'People always say my sister and I look just like him.'
'You have a sister?'
'Twin sister, Maria.'
Amy laughed. 'Figures that Face would have twins, he who was never keen on commitment and children.' She smiled. 'Didn't mind other peoples but didn't seem to want any of his own. Now BA, he was a different story. Adored kids, the one time you ever saw his soft side was when he was around children. Other than that he kept up the tough guy act. He and Murdock were always arguing, it was almost like BA was the big brother and Murdock was the kid brother. BA was a master mechanic, he might complain about it but he could fix it. If it hadn't been for him the team wouldn't have found their way out of half of the situations they got themselves in.'
She looked at Brandon. 'You're the image of him.' She turned to Michael and he felt a strange twist in his stomach as she looked at him, he wasn't sure if he could hear what she was going to say about his father.
'And then there was Murdock.' She sighed deeply. 'Oh Murdock was as soft- hearted and gentle as they come. Also as crazy as they come, he always had some kind of fixation, golf balls, trash bags, invisible dogs but he was harmless. Some of the time I wondered whether he was putting on the crazy talk but he was possibly the sweetest man I'll ever meet, he had a heart of gold and he loved to fly. It was never a bad kind of crazy; it was more of a fun kind of crazy, just saw things differently to the way we did. Which BA hated, he hated all the crazy talk and he hated flying. Every time they wanted to go anywhere they'd have to knock him out.'
Brandon grinned. 'They still do and Murdock still annoys him whenever he can.'
Michael shifted under Amy's gaze; he felt that she knew how uneasy he felt about his father's craziness. But what she'd told him had surprised him, of course he'd known it but it was somehow it seemed to make things better now he knew that his father wasn't some kind of madman.
'The best day of Murdock's life was when Michael was born.' Amy said and Michael's head shot up. 'It was his proudest moment.'
'You were there?' Michael asked, the first thing he'd said since Amy had begun telling her story.
'I had a job for them to do, the last job they did. You were born right in the middle of it. Some thugs had kidnapped Kelly and she started giving birth before he got there. Murdock went after her and got himself kidnapped in the process. When we burst in he was holding a baby boy, he'd helped her give birth all by himself.'
Michael listened with interest, he'd never known this story of his birth and then he realised that the story which Amy had just told them was different to the one that Murdock had told them. 'Which was ironic.' Amy continued. 'Since getting kidnapped was how they both met in the first place.' She chuckled and then looked towards Brandon. 'And then you were born in the back of BA's van.' She smiled. 'Seems like you're extraordinary children from extraordinary parents.'
'You said getting kidnapped was how they first met?' Michael said interested now despite himself. He hadn't really known the details of how his parents had met.
Amy smiled quietly. 'Well I wasn't there but I heard all about it. But its best coming from them, they were there they can tell it better than I could.' And then she told them about some of the missions and crazy stunts that the A-Team had pulled off. About how close they'd been and how they'd never ceased to amaze her with the way they managed to survive each mission.
***
Michael stopped by John's house. 'So.' He said, he'd been quiet the whole way home.
'So they were soldiers of fortune.' John had a strange look in his eyes. Michael had a feeling in his gut that John had liked what he'd heard, the kind of life his father had led obviously appealed to him.
'She knew them well clearly.'
'Yes and she still didn't tell us everything. There's something missing here Mike. Out of all their stories they're leaving something vital out and I don't know what it is.'
Michael shrugged. 'So they lie to us. What's new.'
'You're being very bitter about this. I thought everything was ok between you and Murdock now.'
'How can it be ok Johnny, after that how can it be ok. The guy was crazy for god's sake, he was in a mental hospital and he didn't tell us anything about it, any of it. How am I supposed to believe anything that comes out of his mouth again, how am I supposed to respect him.'
Johnny was quiet for a moment. 'He's still your dad Mike, he still cares.'
'Oh don't please that's all I've heard for the past few days how much he cares about me, about all of us. And how this is all my fault.'
'He didn't mean it like that and you know it kid.' Johnny had a habit of calling him kid even though he was three months younger than Michael; it was a habit he'd picked up off his father.
'Could have fooled me.' Michael muttered and walked off without another word to his own house. He walked into the kitchen and slung his bag on the table feeling a dark mood settle over him.
He went through into the living room and saw his father standing at the window with his back to him. Michael made to go upstairs.
'You skipped school today.'
Michael froze and turned back. 'Excuse me?'
'You skipped your afternoon classes and went to see Amy Allen. She called, she was worried.'
'Worried?' Michael didn't bother denying the fact that he'd skipped some classes, there was no point.
'Yeah. Worried about you.'
Michael felt his temper flare, something that since a few days ago seemed to happen quite easily. 'She doesn't even know me, how can she be worried?'
'Because it's easy to see how you feel.' Murdock hadn't turned round from the window and he stayed with his back to his son.
'What do you mean 'how I feel'?' Michael was uneasy, his father was perfectly calm and that bothered him more than anything. There was a kind of coldness in his tone that Michael wasn't used to hearing.
'Your contempt for me.' Murdock sighed. 'The fact that this whole thing bothers you. Emily and Nick have noticed the same thing.'
'I just wanted to know.'
'You wanted Amy to deny everything that's what you wanted Michael. You thought that she'd tell you we were lying or something.' 'No. I don't know what I wanted. I just needed to speak to someone outside the family who was involved with you guys.'
'That could be dangerous Michael, be careful who you go talking to.'
'Why Dad? Afraid that they might lock you up again?' He hated saying it but it just came out, he couldn't stop himself.
Murdock tensed and finally turned round. 'No. I'm afraid my son might get himself into trouble and that is the last thing I want.'
'What you want is to try and pretend that this never happened, that you're just a normal person. That you weren't some crazy fucked-up weirdo.'
'That's enough.' Murdock said sharply. 'I don't want to hear you using that kind of language again and since you skipped classes you're grounded for two weeks. You're to come straight home from school everyday.'
'Oh come on. It was just two classes. That isn't what's got you wired anyway.'
Murdock shrugged. 'I don't hold with my children doing things behind my back Michael you know that.'
'Oh here we go.' Michael rolled his eyes. 'You know what? Now I know how Nick feels having you on his back everyday. Stop acting like you're better than I am, you're a liar, what I'm supposed to respect you because of that? Wake up.'
'Sit down Michael.'
Michael made towards the stairs.
'I said, sit down.' Michael reluctantly sat.
'Now I am your father and whatever I have done in the past while you live here you'll abide by my rules. Regardless of what you think of me.'
Michael got to his feet. 'Well there's an easy answer to that then isn't there.' He went up the stairs and this time his father didn't tell him to come back, instead Murdock crossed to the phone.
'Face?' He asked and when Face responded Murdock sat down with a sigh. 'I think I just messed up.'
'What happened?' Face asked.
Murdock told him what had happened. 'You should have seen the way he looked at me. Jeez it was the way some of those scumbag lowlifes used to look at us after we'd kicked their butts.'
'That bad?' 'Worse. What am I gonna do?'
'There's nothing you can do Murdock. He has to work it out for himself.'
'Do you think I made the wrong decision Face? Do you think maybe I could have done things better?'
Face sighed. 'Murdock, you did things the way you thought was best and that's all that matters. Michael will learn how to deal with it in his own way and in his own time. Just give him some room to work it all out and cope with it.'
'And what if he doesn't Face? What if he can't accept the idea that I was, well, the way I was back then.'
'Then I guess you work that one out if you come to it. There's a lot he doesn't understand Murdock and you're not the only one who's having trouble.'
'There's a lot I don't want him to understand, that was the whole point of this remember. And what do you mean; you're having problems as well?'
'Let's just say Danny's gotten a little cockier than usual all of a sudden and Hannibal's mentioned that Johnny seems to be asking an awful lot of questions.'
Murdock rubbed his temples. 'Johnny? He seemed to deal with it better than anyone.'
'Didn't you see the light in his eyes when you were talking about us being Soldiers of Fortune, that was Jazz plain and simple. You weren't the only one that Amy called today; she called Hannibal to tell him that she was worried about Johnny too. She said she saw the look in his eyes and recognised it, she thought Hannibal should watch him, just in case.'
'You mean just in case she isn't the only one he decides to look up? In case he decides to talk to some other people we've been associated with, people like Stockwell?'
'Yeah like Stockwell.' Face murmured. 'How's Nicky dealing with it all by the way, out of all of them I'd think he'd be the one to go rushing off asking the wrong people the wrong questions.'
Murdock sighed heavily. 'He seems fine but that doesn't mean a thing and don't think I haven't thought of that too. If Nicky were to find out about Stockwell, I think he would look him up even if it was just to provoke me.'
'You know what Murdock I think we should talk, all four of us, about this whole thing and what we're gonna do. There are things we don't want the kids finding out and things we might have to deal with now. I think we should decide what we're gonna do.'
'Sounds like a good idea Facey, things are real confused at the moment, I need to know exactly what I can and can't tell Michael. And soon because I think that he and I need to sit down and really talk this whole thing out before something happens.'
'We need to talk to all of them Murdock, not just Michael.'
Michael sat at the top of the stairs and listened to his father's conversation, the more he heard the more he knew that he was going to go and see Stockwell. Johnny's instincts had been right, they were hiding something from them and Michael knew he was gonna find out what it was all about. He was tired of the lying, he was tired of the secrets; all he wanted now was the truth.
***
Kelly opened the front door laden down with groceries, she kicked the door closed with her foot and made towards the kitchen. As she put the shopping away she noticed that it was unusually quiet for this time of the afternoon. Normally her husband would have been there in a second to help her carry the groceries into the kitchen. Nicky would be seated in front of the TV and Mike would be helping Murdock with the groceries whilst holding a discussion about flying. Emily would be reading in her favourite chair. However, today there was no-one to greet her and her family were nowhere to be seen.
She put some food down for the dog and as she straightened up she finally saw Murdock down at the end of the garden. He was sitting in the old swing, moving his feet back and forth. Even from this distance Kelly was able to see that her husband was deep in thought. Something was bothering him, no guesses for what that might be.
Kelly opened the door and went down the garden to see him. He looked up as she approached and smiled a tired smile. She felt her heart go out to him. She knew that he had felt he was doing the right thing in keeping the truth from their children and she fully agreed with his reasons behind it. She was also aware that what had happened over the last few days had affected him almost as much as it had affected the kids.
'Hey.' She said softly and he took her hand, drawing her down to sit in his lap. She put her arms round him, pulling his head down to rest on her shoulder, smoothing his hair. 'You ok?'
He sighed quietly. 'Yeah, just worried about Mike. He went to see Amy today, Brandon, Johnny and Danny went with him.' Kelly looked at him in quiet surprise.
'And?'
'And Amy called me to say that he'd been there. They all skipped classes to go see her and she said that she was worried about Mike and Johnny. Mike most of all.'
'I see.' Kelly said softly. 'He's not coping is he?'
'No honey he's really not. She said he got kinda snappy about certain things she said. Things about me, things that.'
'Oh Murdock.' Kelly kissed his forehead. 'He will come around; he just needs time to sort it all out in his head. It's not an easy thing for him to come to terms with.'
'I know, I know. It's just that I thought after I talked to him the other day, I thought things were better, that he'd understand. But I guess he doesn't.'
'He's always thought the world of you; you know that. You two have always had a bond and I guess he feels that you didn't trust him as much as he thought you did. You're his idol and now you've shown yourself to be a human being, he just has to realise that things can't always be black and white.'
Murdock looked up at the woman he loved with all his heart. 'Did I do the right thing Kelly? Should I have told them?'
Kelly shrugged. 'You did what you thought was the right thing at the time. Who knows whether it was the best thing or not. That's not the point; you did what you did and can't change that. You just have to deal with the way things are right now, be there for Mike when he decides he wants to deal with it.'
Her husband nodded. 'As usual, sweetheart, you're right.'
'Are you ok?' Kelly asked. 'I know it's not just the kids this has been hard on.'
'You know Amy said that Johnny had the Jazz in his eyes. She said he looked ready to go out and start finding bad guys to bring down just like Hannibal did.' He changed the subject deftly and Kelly shook her head.
'Murdock.' She said quietly and he sighed. She didn't have to say anymore, they'd been married long enough that he could tell what she was saying even when she wasn't actually saying it.
'I know, I know. I'll be fine.' He looked up at her, smiling brightly. 'I've got someone as beautiful to you to come home to everyday, how could I not be fine?'
Kelly shook her head and laughed. Murdock took the opportunity to kiss her and for a moment they just kissed before he pulled away gently. 'I love you.' He murmured.
'Oh Murdock.' Every time he said it, it reminded her of the first time. 'I love you too honey, you know that and I'll be here whatever happens with our kids.'
He nodded and sighed. 'Guess I'd better help you with those groceries.'
She frowned. 'And how'd you know that I came home with groceries.'
He laughed. 'It's Friday honey, you always come home with groceries on a Friday.' He kissed her lightly on the lips. 'Now it's my turn to cook tonight.'
***
Up in his room Michael stood at the window and watched his parents. The knife of bitterness twisted in his heart again and he felt a strange sense of hate. That his parents could just sit there like that when his world was falling apart all around him.
Michael did not know that Murdock felt guilt and regret, he only saw his father kiss his mother, saw them laughing together, as if nothing was wrong.
He turned towards his computer and glanced once more at the e-mail that Danny had sent him. Danny had finally found the contact address for Hunt Stockwell, it had been more difficult than anything he'd ever encountered but he'd done it and against his better judgement he'd given it to Michael.
Michael wrote down the e-mail address and then grabbed his coat. He was going to get some answers and he was getting them now.
They'd decided that if all seven of them went along to talk to Amy Allen she might be a little intimidated. It would be best if only a couple of them went along and they decided that the Johnny, Michael, Danny and Brandon would be the best choices because it was easy to see the close resemblance to their fathers and even easier when they were all together.
Johnny knocked on the door and then stood back with his thumbs hooked in the back pockets of his jeans. Danny had his hands on his hips, Michael had shoved his hands in his pockets and Brandon was fiddling with a ring on his middle finger. They waited for a couple of minutes before the door opened and a middle aged woman looked at them. Her hair was brown and pinned up away from her face and Michael could see the streaks of grey that were in it.
'Yes?' The woman asked curiously, she looked tired and Michael wondered if maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.
'Amy Allen?' Johnny asked and Michael saw that she was looking at him strangely, looking at all of them strangely come to that. He had a feeling that she knew who they were and why they were there.
'Yes? Who are you?'
'Miss Allen, my name is John Smith; this is Daniel Peck, Brandon Baracus and Michael Murdock. I believe you were a friend of our fathers. May we come in?'
There was a sharp intake of breath and the woman at the door stared at them obviously wondering if they were who they said they were and if it was safe to let them in.
Danny stepped forward and smiled gently. 'Ma'am. We're telling you the truth. We just want to talk to you, nothing more. Please.'
'Dear God.' She whispered. 'You're just like him. All of you; just like them.' She seemed stunned to find younger versions of the people she'd know over 20 years ago on her doorstep. After an internal struggle she stepped aside. 'Come on in.'
They entered the house and were led into a sitting room that was filled with objects from all around the world. Obviously mementos from her travels. Michael sat down and looked at the woman who had helped the A- Team in the early eighties whilst they were on the run from the government.
'I just can't believe it, I nearly didn't believe it. Until you spoke.' She indicated Danny. 'So much like Face I would almost think you were him, all of you are your father's children. Well can I get you anything?' She looked towards Brandon with a small smile on her face. 'Milk?'
Brandon smiled his rare smile. 'That'd be great Ma'am.'
'Oh Amy please, I always hated it when Hannibal called me Miss Allen.' She laughed then at some memory of the past. 'And what about the rest of you?'
'Milk's fine.' Johnny said speaking for all of them.
'Can we help you with anything?' Danny asked getting to his feet.
'You stay right where you are Daniel.' She laughed. 'Manners just like your father, I'm surprised he's still in the country, I'd have thought either the government or all those women would have caught up with him by now. But that was always Face, always seemed to get away with it no matter what it was.'
She looked at Michael with interested eyes. 'So, do I need to find some biscuits for your invisible dog?'
Michael didn't smile back. 'I don't have a dog.' He said archly. 'I'm not crazy like my father.'
Amy made a face. 'Sorry, my mistake. I think I've got some Twinkies stashed away.'
Michael allowed himself to smile. 'Well, if you're offering.'
Amy nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. 'Well?' Danny asked.
'Seems nice.' Johnny commented without really giving away what he thought.
'Brandon?' Danny asked. 'You think we can trust her?'
'Yeah, nothin' to worry about. Just a little weird seein' us turn up and lookin' just like our dad's.'
'Mike?' Danny asked and Michael shrugged.
'Sure, she doesn't appear to be hiding anything.'
'Got your back up when she asked about the dog didn't she?' Johnny said with raised eyebrows.
'Just because we look like them doesn't mean we are them.' Michael answered shortly and began studying a small ornament of a golden retriever.
Amy came back into the room and handed them all milk and Twinkies. Michael unwrapped the bar and munched on it thoughtfully.
'Your dad gave me that dog Michael.' Amy said abruptly and Michael nearly choked on his Twinkie.
'Yeah?' He asked hoarsely suddenly wondering where she was going with this.
'When I got my foreign correspondence assignment, he gave me that said he couldn't give me Billy for good luck but that was the next best thing.' She smiled softly.
'Billy?' Michael asked carefully not sure if he wanted to hear this.
'The invisible dog your dad had. He was adamant that he was real; sometimes I think that Hannibal believed him but Face would just go along with it when he felt like it. BA, however, he hated Murdock's crazy talk and kept telling him that the dog wasn't real which of course made Murdock retaliate. They were always arguing.'
'They still do mama.' Brandon told her and Amy smiled.
'I would be worried if they didn't.'
'You're talking about them as if they're dead.' Michael said harshly and Amy's smile abruptly vanished.
'I'm sorry that wasn't the way I meant it. You came here to ask about them didn't you?'
'Mike, you want to do this?' Johnny asked. 'This was your idea.
'No, you tell her.' Michael said sitting back and sipping his milk carefully. He didn't feel like blurting out how upset he was at his father to this utter stranger.
'Until yesterday we had no idea that the A-Team even existed let alone that they were our fathers. Brandon found a newspaper article on them relating how they had been arrested for murder and theft and then escaped. Well, except for Michael's dad, the newspaper mentioned that he was at the VA at the time.'
Amy nodded. 'And you want to know more.'
'Yes.' Danny cut in. 'We want to know what they did, what they were like; we need to know it from an outsider's point of view. We want to know who they were.'
Amy sighed. 'It would take me weeks to tell you everything that they did. They were a remarkable group of men and I have never and will never meet anyone like them in my life. Hannibal with his crazy plans and cigars. When the team had to make a contact he'd dress up in some disguise and keep the contact hanging around for a while before we approached him. He never seemed to be happier then when he was putting our lives in danger but believe me, no matter what crazy plan he cooked up, it always worked, maybe not exactly how he was expecting it to work but it always worked.'
'I love it when a plan comes together.' Johnny murmured and Amy laughed.
'Yes that's right, kind of a catchphrase of his. Does he still say it?'
'Yeah.' Johnny laughed. 'He still says that and he still smokes the cigars even though Mom is always telling him to quit but he never will.' 'Sounds like Hannibal, stubborn to the bone. Your mom? Who'd he marry, Maggie?'
Johnny smiled. 'Yeah, that's right, you know her?'
'Oh we've met; she helped save BA's life once. It's how they met.'
Johnny was interested. 'I never knew how they met.'
'Maybe later I'll tell you.' She looked at Danny. 'And there was Face.' She laughed pleasantly. 'Oh he was a charmer, I never understood how he did it, he had girls falling all over him and no matter what it was he could get it. He was the team's conman and whatever they needed you could guarantee he'd have it. He might whine and moan but he'd have it for Hannibal, always big on pride was Face. Hard to believe he's settled down.'
'Nearly 15 years now and I swear he loves her more each day.' Danny said proudly. 'People always say my sister and I look just like him.'
'You have a sister?'
'Twin sister, Maria.'
Amy laughed. 'Figures that Face would have twins, he who was never keen on commitment and children.' She smiled. 'Didn't mind other peoples but didn't seem to want any of his own. Now BA, he was a different story. Adored kids, the one time you ever saw his soft side was when he was around children. Other than that he kept up the tough guy act. He and Murdock were always arguing, it was almost like BA was the big brother and Murdock was the kid brother. BA was a master mechanic, he might complain about it but he could fix it. If it hadn't been for him the team wouldn't have found their way out of half of the situations they got themselves in.'
She looked at Brandon. 'You're the image of him.' She turned to Michael and he felt a strange twist in his stomach as she looked at him, he wasn't sure if he could hear what she was going to say about his father.
'And then there was Murdock.' She sighed deeply. 'Oh Murdock was as soft- hearted and gentle as they come. Also as crazy as they come, he always had some kind of fixation, golf balls, trash bags, invisible dogs but he was harmless. Some of the time I wondered whether he was putting on the crazy talk but he was possibly the sweetest man I'll ever meet, he had a heart of gold and he loved to fly. It was never a bad kind of crazy; it was more of a fun kind of crazy, just saw things differently to the way we did. Which BA hated, he hated all the crazy talk and he hated flying. Every time they wanted to go anywhere they'd have to knock him out.'
Brandon grinned. 'They still do and Murdock still annoys him whenever he can.'
Michael shifted under Amy's gaze; he felt that she knew how uneasy he felt about his father's craziness. But what she'd told him had surprised him, of course he'd known it but it was somehow it seemed to make things better now he knew that his father wasn't some kind of madman.
'The best day of Murdock's life was when Michael was born.' Amy said and Michael's head shot up. 'It was his proudest moment.'
'You were there?' Michael asked, the first thing he'd said since Amy had begun telling her story.
'I had a job for them to do, the last job they did. You were born right in the middle of it. Some thugs had kidnapped Kelly and she started giving birth before he got there. Murdock went after her and got himself kidnapped in the process. When we burst in he was holding a baby boy, he'd helped her give birth all by himself.'
Michael listened with interest, he'd never known this story of his birth and then he realised that the story which Amy had just told them was different to the one that Murdock had told them. 'Which was ironic.' Amy continued. 'Since getting kidnapped was how they both met in the first place.' She chuckled and then looked towards Brandon. 'And then you were born in the back of BA's van.' She smiled. 'Seems like you're extraordinary children from extraordinary parents.'
'You said getting kidnapped was how they first met?' Michael said interested now despite himself. He hadn't really known the details of how his parents had met.
Amy smiled quietly. 'Well I wasn't there but I heard all about it. But its best coming from them, they were there they can tell it better than I could.' And then she told them about some of the missions and crazy stunts that the A-Team had pulled off. About how close they'd been and how they'd never ceased to amaze her with the way they managed to survive each mission.
***
Michael stopped by John's house. 'So.' He said, he'd been quiet the whole way home.
'So they were soldiers of fortune.' John had a strange look in his eyes. Michael had a feeling in his gut that John had liked what he'd heard, the kind of life his father had led obviously appealed to him.
'She knew them well clearly.'
'Yes and she still didn't tell us everything. There's something missing here Mike. Out of all their stories they're leaving something vital out and I don't know what it is.'
Michael shrugged. 'So they lie to us. What's new.'
'You're being very bitter about this. I thought everything was ok between you and Murdock now.'
'How can it be ok Johnny, after that how can it be ok. The guy was crazy for god's sake, he was in a mental hospital and he didn't tell us anything about it, any of it. How am I supposed to believe anything that comes out of his mouth again, how am I supposed to respect him.'
Johnny was quiet for a moment. 'He's still your dad Mike, he still cares.'
'Oh don't please that's all I've heard for the past few days how much he cares about me, about all of us. And how this is all my fault.'
'He didn't mean it like that and you know it kid.' Johnny had a habit of calling him kid even though he was three months younger than Michael; it was a habit he'd picked up off his father.
'Could have fooled me.' Michael muttered and walked off without another word to his own house. He walked into the kitchen and slung his bag on the table feeling a dark mood settle over him.
He went through into the living room and saw his father standing at the window with his back to him. Michael made to go upstairs.
'You skipped school today.'
Michael froze and turned back. 'Excuse me?'
'You skipped your afternoon classes and went to see Amy Allen. She called, she was worried.'
'Worried?' Michael didn't bother denying the fact that he'd skipped some classes, there was no point.
'Yeah. Worried about you.'
Michael felt his temper flare, something that since a few days ago seemed to happen quite easily. 'She doesn't even know me, how can she be worried?'
'Because it's easy to see how you feel.' Murdock hadn't turned round from the window and he stayed with his back to his son.
'What do you mean 'how I feel'?' Michael was uneasy, his father was perfectly calm and that bothered him more than anything. There was a kind of coldness in his tone that Michael wasn't used to hearing.
'Your contempt for me.' Murdock sighed. 'The fact that this whole thing bothers you. Emily and Nick have noticed the same thing.'
'I just wanted to know.'
'You wanted Amy to deny everything that's what you wanted Michael. You thought that she'd tell you we were lying or something.' 'No. I don't know what I wanted. I just needed to speak to someone outside the family who was involved with you guys.'
'That could be dangerous Michael, be careful who you go talking to.'
'Why Dad? Afraid that they might lock you up again?' He hated saying it but it just came out, he couldn't stop himself.
Murdock tensed and finally turned round. 'No. I'm afraid my son might get himself into trouble and that is the last thing I want.'
'What you want is to try and pretend that this never happened, that you're just a normal person. That you weren't some crazy fucked-up weirdo.'
'That's enough.' Murdock said sharply. 'I don't want to hear you using that kind of language again and since you skipped classes you're grounded for two weeks. You're to come straight home from school everyday.'
'Oh come on. It was just two classes. That isn't what's got you wired anyway.'
Murdock shrugged. 'I don't hold with my children doing things behind my back Michael you know that.'
'Oh here we go.' Michael rolled his eyes. 'You know what? Now I know how Nick feels having you on his back everyday. Stop acting like you're better than I am, you're a liar, what I'm supposed to respect you because of that? Wake up.'
'Sit down Michael.'
Michael made towards the stairs.
'I said, sit down.' Michael reluctantly sat.
'Now I am your father and whatever I have done in the past while you live here you'll abide by my rules. Regardless of what you think of me.'
Michael got to his feet. 'Well there's an easy answer to that then isn't there.' He went up the stairs and this time his father didn't tell him to come back, instead Murdock crossed to the phone.
'Face?' He asked and when Face responded Murdock sat down with a sigh. 'I think I just messed up.'
'What happened?' Face asked.
Murdock told him what had happened. 'You should have seen the way he looked at me. Jeez it was the way some of those scumbag lowlifes used to look at us after we'd kicked their butts.'
'That bad?' 'Worse. What am I gonna do?'
'There's nothing you can do Murdock. He has to work it out for himself.'
'Do you think I made the wrong decision Face? Do you think maybe I could have done things better?'
Face sighed. 'Murdock, you did things the way you thought was best and that's all that matters. Michael will learn how to deal with it in his own way and in his own time. Just give him some room to work it all out and cope with it.'
'And what if he doesn't Face? What if he can't accept the idea that I was, well, the way I was back then.'
'Then I guess you work that one out if you come to it. There's a lot he doesn't understand Murdock and you're not the only one who's having trouble.'
'There's a lot I don't want him to understand, that was the whole point of this remember. And what do you mean; you're having problems as well?'
'Let's just say Danny's gotten a little cockier than usual all of a sudden and Hannibal's mentioned that Johnny seems to be asking an awful lot of questions.'
Murdock rubbed his temples. 'Johnny? He seemed to deal with it better than anyone.'
'Didn't you see the light in his eyes when you were talking about us being Soldiers of Fortune, that was Jazz plain and simple. You weren't the only one that Amy called today; she called Hannibal to tell him that she was worried about Johnny too. She said she saw the look in his eyes and recognised it, she thought Hannibal should watch him, just in case.'
'You mean just in case she isn't the only one he decides to look up? In case he decides to talk to some other people we've been associated with, people like Stockwell?'
'Yeah like Stockwell.' Face murmured. 'How's Nicky dealing with it all by the way, out of all of them I'd think he'd be the one to go rushing off asking the wrong people the wrong questions.'
Murdock sighed heavily. 'He seems fine but that doesn't mean a thing and don't think I haven't thought of that too. If Nicky were to find out about Stockwell, I think he would look him up even if it was just to provoke me.'
'You know what Murdock I think we should talk, all four of us, about this whole thing and what we're gonna do. There are things we don't want the kids finding out and things we might have to deal with now. I think we should decide what we're gonna do.'
'Sounds like a good idea Facey, things are real confused at the moment, I need to know exactly what I can and can't tell Michael. And soon because I think that he and I need to sit down and really talk this whole thing out before something happens.'
'We need to talk to all of them Murdock, not just Michael.'
Michael sat at the top of the stairs and listened to his father's conversation, the more he heard the more he knew that he was going to go and see Stockwell. Johnny's instincts had been right, they were hiding something from them and Michael knew he was gonna find out what it was all about. He was tired of the lying, he was tired of the secrets; all he wanted now was the truth.
***
Kelly opened the front door laden down with groceries, she kicked the door closed with her foot and made towards the kitchen. As she put the shopping away she noticed that it was unusually quiet for this time of the afternoon. Normally her husband would have been there in a second to help her carry the groceries into the kitchen. Nicky would be seated in front of the TV and Mike would be helping Murdock with the groceries whilst holding a discussion about flying. Emily would be reading in her favourite chair. However, today there was no-one to greet her and her family were nowhere to be seen.
She put some food down for the dog and as she straightened up she finally saw Murdock down at the end of the garden. He was sitting in the old swing, moving his feet back and forth. Even from this distance Kelly was able to see that her husband was deep in thought. Something was bothering him, no guesses for what that might be.
Kelly opened the door and went down the garden to see him. He looked up as she approached and smiled a tired smile. She felt her heart go out to him. She knew that he had felt he was doing the right thing in keeping the truth from their children and she fully agreed with his reasons behind it. She was also aware that what had happened over the last few days had affected him almost as much as it had affected the kids.
'Hey.' She said softly and he took her hand, drawing her down to sit in his lap. She put her arms round him, pulling his head down to rest on her shoulder, smoothing his hair. 'You ok?'
He sighed quietly. 'Yeah, just worried about Mike. He went to see Amy today, Brandon, Johnny and Danny went with him.' Kelly looked at him in quiet surprise.
'And?'
'And Amy called me to say that he'd been there. They all skipped classes to go see her and she said that she was worried about Mike and Johnny. Mike most of all.'
'I see.' Kelly said softly. 'He's not coping is he?'
'No honey he's really not. She said he got kinda snappy about certain things she said. Things about me, things that.'
'Oh Murdock.' Kelly kissed his forehead. 'He will come around; he just needs time to sort it all out in his head. It's not an easy thing for him to come to terms with.'
'I know, I know. It's just that I thought after I talked to him the other day, I thought things were better, that he'd understand. But I guess he doesn't.'
'He's always thought the world of you; you know that. You two have always had a bond and I guess he feels that you didn't trust him as much as he thought you did. You're his idol and now you've shown yourself to be a human being, he just has to realise that things can't always be black and white.'
Murdock looked up at the woman he loved with all his heart. 'Did I do the right thing Kelly? Should I have told them?'
Kelly shrugged. 'You did what you thought was the right thing at the time. Who knows whether it was the best thing or not. That's not the point; you did what you did and can't change that. You just have to deal with the way things are right now, be there for Mike when he decides he wants to deal with it.'
Her husband nodded. 'As usual, sweetheart, you're right.'
'Are you ok?' Kelly asked. 'I know it's not just the kids this has been hard on.'
'You know Amy said that Johnny had the Jazz in his eyes. She said he looked ready to go out and start finding bad guys to bring down just like Hannibal did.' He changed the subject deftly and Kelly shook her head.
'Murdock.' She said quietly and he sighed. She didn't have to say anymore, they'd been married long enough that he could tell what she was saying even when she wasn't actually saying it.
'I know, I know. I'll be fine.' He looked up at her, smiling brightly. 'I've got someone as beautiful to you to come home to everyday, how could I not be fine?'
Kelly shook her head and laughed. Murdock took the opportunity to kiss her and for a moment they just kissed before he pulled away gently. 'I love you.' He murmured.
'Oh Murdock.' Every time he said it, it reminded her of the first time. 'I love you too honey, you know that and I'll be here whatever happens with our kids.'
He nodded and sighed. 'Guess I'd better help you with those groceries.'
She frowned. 'And how'd you know that I came home with groceries.'
He laughed. 'It's Friday honey, you always come home with groceries on a Friday.' He kissed her lightly on the lips. 'Now it's my turn to cook tonight.'
***
Up in his room Michael stood at the window and watched his parents. The knife of bitterness twisted in his heart again and he felt a strange sense of hate. That his parents could just sit there like that when his world was falling apart all around him.
Michael did not know that Murdock felt guilt and regret, he only saw his father kiss his mother, saw them laughing together, as if nothing was wrong.
He turned towards his computer and glanced once more at the e-mail that Danny had sent him. Danny had finally found the contact address for Hunt Stockwell, it had been more difficult than anything he'd ever encountered but he'd done it and against his better judgement he'd given it to Michael.
Michael wrote down the e-mail address and then grabbed his coat. He was going to get some answers and he was getting them now.
