Before hearing my story, Murdock made a call from the pay phone in the corner of his room. About an hour later, three men I recognized from reading the newspaper came into the room: the A-Team.

"I'm Hannibal Smith," one said. He was a tall man who reminded me of an albino: white hair, light skin- had his bright blue eyes been pink, I would have freaked. "This is Face." He pointed to a blonde haired, blue eyed man. "And B.A." A tall, muscular black man with brown eyes and tons of gold jewelry gave a nod. I nodded back.

"Kay Troy. I-I guess you want me to explain things?"

"Well, that would be nice," Face commented, corrosively. My gaze instantly shifted to him, a glare on my face.

"I can do without the sarcasm," I said as I crossed my arms in front of me. "I came here for Murdock's help, not yours, so feel free to leave whenever."

"Listen here, kid," he replied, shaking his finger at me. "You need to cut the attitude if you expect any help from us." My eyes narrowed, followed by me shaking my head.

"Have it your way then. I'll just handle things myself." I said nothing more- just walked to the door and opened it. I stopped just long enough to look back Murdock, form my fingers into the Vulcan greeting sign and smile. "Live long and prosper, Murdock." With that, I walked out the door.

"Well," Face scoffed. "That was uncalled for." B.A. looked at him and shook his head, an annoyed look on his face. He had always been the one to talk to about kids- he understood them better than most.

"Quiet, Face," he replied. "You could have been a tad less mordant and a bit more supportive. She may act like Murdock, but that girl is scared." He then looked over at Murdock, a questioning look on his face. "You know why, fool?" Murdock nodded slowly, then began to speak.

"Back in Nam," he said. "Before I met you guys, I was on a team with a guy who became my best friend- Jeff Troy. " He took a deep breath. "One day, we came upon something rather interesting..." Murdock reached into the box I had given him and pulled out it's contents: A small gem. It looked like a diamond, except for one small detail- it was red. Not as dark as a real ruby but not as light as a knock off. As his companions stared in awe, Murdock remembered back to the day he and my father had found the diamond. And as I rode the elevator done to the first floor, I thought of the same thing- a story I'd been told many times.

"You sure it's a diamond, Cap'n?" Dad asked as they looked at it. Murdock nodded his head.

"Do skunks smell bad?" came the reply... but it wasn't from Murdock. He and Dad glanced over their shoulders to see a fellow solider, Marine Sergeant Randal Mason, a gun in his hand and pointed right at them. "You seem to have discovered something very rare- I've never seen one before, anyway." He cocked the hammer on the gun. "And I think I'll be taking it now." Murdock looked at Dad and began to laugh. He continued to laugh until Dad started to laugh as well, although he didn't really know why.

"What's so funny?" demanded Randal, as Murdock and Dad continued to laugh. Finally, Murdock spoke up.

"You- you took that gun from my bag?" Murdock asked him.

"Yeah why?" Murdock's smile widened.

"That gun ain't loaded." Dad wasted no time in kicking the gun out of Mason's hand and knocking him down. The most surprising thing though, was that when the gun hit the ground, it went off, shooting away from the group. Dad looked at Murdock, shocked.

"I thought you said it wasn't loaded!" he exclaimed. Murdock simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Oops."

"We had the gem checked out," Murdock said, finishing up the story. "And it was in fact a diamond and I was allowed to keep it. But I ended up giving it to Jeff as a wedding present. We named it the Dragon's Eye... Jeff always liked dragons, so it seemed right." He looked up at Hannibal and shook his head. "No one's ever found a red diamond since..."

"And your guess," Hannibal. "Is that someone found out Jeff and his daughter had it, they did something to Jeff and now they're after her..." Murdock nodded.

"And thanks to him, we won't know." That comment was directed to Face and he knew it.

"Eh, she's just a kid," Face said. "How much trouble could she get into?"

"She's not just a kid!" Murdock yelled. "She's my goddaughter and that makes her my responsibility!" It was true- I was Murdock's goddaughter. And as the team looked at him in awe, Murdock remembered the day Dad had asked him.

Dad nodded and gripped the bar on the car door tightly as he and Murdock were headed to the hospital, where my mom, Jessi, was already in labor.

"Murdock," said Dad. "I know... you're not gonna kill us... even if you are crazy..." Murdock looked at him and cracked a smile.

"Thank you!" Dad chuckled and shook his head.

"But could you maybe slow down a bit?" Before Dad could say more, they arrived at the hospital. Dad and Murdock rushed inside and asked for my mother. Her doctor, James Ventura, was there in an instant.

"Jeff," he said sadly. "I'm happy to say that you're the father of a beautiful baby girl, but..."

"But?" Dad asked, worriedly.

"But, Jessi... she didn't make it, Jeff. I'm so sorry." It took Dad a moment to for what he was hearing to sink in. When it finally did, though, it hit hard. Dad told me that he fell to his knees and started to cry. But then, Murdock took him to the nursery and had a nurse show me to him. As she held me up in the window, more tears rolled down my father's face- this time, they were tears of joy.

"Damn, Murdock," he whispered. "She's beautiful... she's got Jessi's bright eyes." Murdock nodded.

"She's perfect, Jeff." Dad looked up at Murdock and smiled.

"Murdock, I want you to be her godfather." Murdock looked at him, confused. "You're the closest thing she and I have to a family anymore, Murdock and she..." He looked at me once again and sighed. "If something happens to me, Kayla's gonna need someone to take care of her- I want that person to be you." Murdock was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"Don't worry Jeff- if she needs me, I'll be there. That's a promise."

"Kay wouldn't come to me unless it was really important!" Murdock yelled at the A-Team, angrily before looking Face dead in the eye. "And because of you and your big mouth, she left!" Face knew Murdock was angry- he was acting sane.

"Calm down, Murdock- a little sarcasm never hurt anyone..."

Suddenly, an ear piercing scream filled the air, flowing into the room through Murdock's open window. It was a call for help. Murdock wasted no time in rushing to the window and looking out.

"Kayla!"

I had just walked out of the V.A. and was headed home, when a black van stopped right in front of me. Seconds later, a man stepped out- the man who had convinced me to go find my godfather. I instantly turned and began to run away, only to collide with someone twice my size. He twisted my arm behind my back and pressed a cloth over my mouth. I had just enough time to cry for help before I slowly became weak. As I felt my eyelids become heavy, I heard a voice call my name.

"Murdock..." That was the last thing I said- I had blacked out.

Back in his room, Murdock turned from the window and looked at Face. He just stared at him for a moment before taking a deep breath.

"A little sarcasm never hurt anyone." He then looked at Hannibal. "Get me out of here."