Author's notes: Same as previous chapter, along with my apologies for sap and crap. I think I'm going to up the rating a notch to be on the safe side. Lola has a bad habit of cursing when she gets angry.

Also, the cradle idea actually came from an episode of MacGyver. Yeah, I know the A-Team came first, but I can't help liking the guy. After all, he is cute and sarcastic… I'll stop now. On with the story! :~)

****

"Face, Murdock?" Hannibal called as he opened the door to the beach house. Face sat in an armchair, staring blankly at the opposite wall while Murdock sat on the sofa next to Lola, who absorbed herself completely in the baby in her lap. The whole scene felt so surreal to the colonel. His men were totally out of character, and the addition of Lola and her child knocked the situation headlong into the Twilight Zone.

"Oh, hi, Hannibal," Face greeted, waking from his trance. "I didn't hear you knock."

"I didn't," replied the colonel. "I figured you wouldn't mind." He gazed at Lola for a while, but the brunette refused to meet his eyes. "I wish I could say it's a pleasure to see you again, Lola, but you're well aware of what happened a year ago June. What's the story? Why did you happen to be in the neighborhood, even though you don't live anywhere near here, just as Murdock and Face moved in? Most importantly, how did you manage to get out of prison? We heard you got nabbed by Decker when he and his Boy Scouts stormed the place."

Lola finally looked up to meet Hannibal's electric blue eyes. "It's a long story," she murmured. "A very long story."

"I'm all ears," replied Hannibal as he drew a chair in front of the sofa and sat down. "Why don't you start from the beginning, as in how did you escape prison?"

"I didn't escape," sighed Lola. "Like I told Face and Murdock, the DA failed to prosecute. He didn't think he had a strong enough case to send me to prison with the A-Team being the best witnesses. After the lawyers messed around for two months, I was finally released. Those were the worst two months of my life."

"The DA can do that?" asked Hannibal. "No review of the case?"

"Nope," Lola replied. "The DA can prosecute or drop a case depending on whether or not he or she thinks it's worthwhile for the judicial system to go through with a trial or sometimes if they think they can win or not. In my case, a huge drug lord came in behind me so I fell to the back burner. Someone like me wasn't worth the energy, so I got released from jail."

"Just in and out like that?" the colonel asked.

"Well, not in and out," interjected the brunette. She suddenly became absorbed with Billy, who was now sleeping in her arms. "I spent two horrible months in jail," she murmured. "I honestly thought about suicide almost daily until I finally figured out that the reason I was violently ill all the time was because I was pregnant with Billy here. Having a baby turns your life upside down."

"And this baby of yours--"

"Billy, Hannibal," Murdock interrupted. "His name is Billy."

Hannibal shrugged, "Ok, Billy here is Murdock's son. That's what you said, right?"

"Yes, and it's the truth," Lola sighed. "How many times do I have to repeat myself?"

"As many times as it takes us to be convinced you're telling us the truth for a change," retorted Hannibal.

"Hannibal, I believe her," Murdock said. "Just take a look at Billy an' you'll see he's mine."

"No offense, Murdock, but the last time you said you trusted Lola, it turned out that she lied to all of us," replied the colonel.

Suddenly Billy opened his eyes, yawned, and looked around in confusion as to what was going on. Lola shifted Billy into a sitting position and tried to smile reassuringly at her son. "Hey there, sleepy head," she murmured. "Why don't you sit up for a bit?" Billy stuck out his lower lip in a comical expression, causing his mother to chuckle.

"You're so cranky this time in the afternoon!" Lola smiled. Billy smiled now that he saw that his mother was more relaxed.

Murdock had a sudden flash of intuition. "Can I hold Billy again, Lola?" he asked.

"Sure, Murdock," Lola replied, unsure of what the pilot had in mind. She placed Billy in Murdock's arms, and the pilot got up and carried the baby over to Hannibal.

"Just look at him, Hannibal," Murdock murmured as he held Billy in front of the colonel. "He looks just like me with those eyes an' that smile."

Hannibal, in the middle of lighting a cigar, glanced at the baby in Murdock's arms, but quickly did a double take. The unlit cigar fell from the colonel's lips in disbelief. Hannibal looked back and forth between Murdock and Billy's sparkling brown eyes and infectious smiles half a dozen times, trying to absorb what he saw.

"Know what, Colonel?" Murdock said. "Billy's named after you—Billy John Sanchez."

A grin slowly spread across Hannibal's face. "Do you guys remember that rescue mission we did about two or three years ago where we had to bring back a judge's daughter from Italy because the mob wanted him to find one of their friends not guilty? We managed to grab the girl and made it out by posing as passengers and staff on a cruise ship."

"How could I forget that one!" moaned Face, finally breaking his long silence and sounding like himself again. "I had to convince the cruise director to put on a masquerade ball when the gangsters caught up to us so we could move around the ship easier. Why bring it up now, Hannibal?"

The colonel leaned back in his chair and continued, "I'm not sure if you were in the room at the time, Face, but Murdock was complaining about how BA wouldn't lend him a pair of his feathered earrings for the party. If I remember correctly, Murdock, you said you believed BA wouldn't lend you the earrings because he was jealous you'd get a date and that you would have the first male child born on the team."

The pilot gave his commanding officer a confused look. "Yeah, I think I remember that, but what's your point, Colonel?"

"Looks like you did have the first male child and the first child period on the team without the help of BA's earrings," Hannibal smiled, picking up his cigar.

"Does that mean you're finally satisfied that I'm telling the truth and Billy's Murdock's son?" asked Lola.

"Looks that way," Face muttered.

"Good, because I need to get Billy back home," said the brunette. "He'll need to eat and be changed soon, and I doubt you guys have ever taken care of a baby before."

"What? You can't go back to South Central!" exclaimed Murdock.

"Well, all our stuff's in my apartment, and this place is certainly not properly equipped for a baby. I gotta go home."

"Ok, I'll go with ya to get your stuff so you an' Billy can stay here," Murdock replied, then turned to Face and Hannibal. "If that's all right with you guys, of course."

"I was wondering if you were going to ask my permission or not," Face replied. "I doubt that I could change your mind anyway. Sure, I don't mind… much."

"It's up to you, Murdock," said Hannibal. "If you want her to stay here and since Face agreed, go ahead. But Lola, I'm warning you right now: think of this as probation."

Murdock grinned and grabbed Lola's hand. "C'mon, let's get your stuff!" the pilot exclaimed, pulling the brunette out the door with one hand and carrying Billy with the other.

As soon as the front door closed behind the trio, Face turned to Hannibal and said, "I sure hope you know what you're doing, Colonel. This doesn't exactly seem like a good idea in any respect whatsoever. Murdock's already attached to the kid. I hate to think what'll happen to him if it turns out Lola's lying again."

"It's a great plan, Face," replied Hannibal as he puffed on his finally lit cigar. "It's amazing in its simplicity: keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer."

"Isn't that the plan we used on her last time?" Face groaned. "That blew up in our faces!"

"But now we've got the kinks all worked out."

"You're on the jazz again, aren't you? I should know better by now…"

"This time, you run a background check on Lola Sanchez. See if anyone by that name had a baby named Billy John Sanchez in the past five to seven months. Did she tell you when Billy was born?"

"March 20th. "Do you have any idea how many kids are born in this country in a year? This is going to be like searching for a needle in a haystack, even with mother's name, baby's name, and birth date! I've never tried to find out information like this. Never had to. Why now?"

"Oh c'mon, Face! Think of this as a challenge. You haven't had to do work like this since we started working for Stockwell." The colonel took the cigar out of his mouth and pretended to admire it. "Then again, I could always get someone else to do it. They'd probably do a better, faster job than you. Y'know you're not as young as you used to be."

"Ok, that's it!" the lieutenant exclaimed, jumping up from his chair. "I've got a reliable connection in public records who could get me that information in a half hour."

"What's her name?" asked Hannibal.

"Sandra," Face answered as he picked up the phone and dialed.

****

"Hey, Face," said Hannibal when Face hung up the phone, "how's that line on Lola coming?"

"Not as good as I'd hoped," Face replied. "Sandra's checked all the birth records in California for the past year and came up empty handed. She told me she'd expand her search to the whole country and call me back when she's through."

Face sat next to Hannibal at the kitchen table and said, "I'm liking this less and less as time goes on. I'm surprised how fast Lola's gotten control over Murdock with that kid. You saw them go bouncing out of here to go get Lola's stuff like nothing happened last year. The only way I see this ending is with Murdock back in the VA for the rest of his life. You know as well as I do that he hasn't been himself since that incident. He's more serious, more withdrawn—he can't even keep a part time job for more than a month! I can't remember the last time I was this concerned about Murdock. Part of me hopes that Lola's lying so that maybe Murdock will finally get over her…and another part wants to believe Lola and the kid are for real and maybe Murdock can finally have some happiness."

The phone rang, cutting the tension. Face grabbed the receiver and answered. He talked briefly then hung up. "That was Sandra," he explained. "She did find a record of a Billy John Sanchez born to a Lola Sanchez March 20th of this year. But the weird thing is that the place of birth is a hospital in Langley, Virginia. The same one that treated me when I got shot at that Italian restaurant."

Hannibal puffed on his cigar, his eyes focused on something not in the room. "Why would Lola be in Langley?" he asked. "And when and why did she move out to LA? There's obviously more at stake here than Lola's letting on. What's taking her and Murdock so long? I say we grill her on what happened at Alliance now before Murdock becomes any more attached than he already is."

As if on cue, Lola opened the front door carrying Billy in one arm and a suitcase in the other. Murdock followed with a box.

"Hey, guys," Murdock said and smiled. "Sorry we took so long, but we tried to fit Billy's cradle into Lola's station wagon. You shoulda seen it! Lola built it herself outta an old street hockey net, PVC piping, and duct tape. It's supposed to hang from the ceiling, but we thought we could attach rockers from an old rocking chair to it instead. Even though the cradle could easily disassemble, there was no way that sucker was gonna fit!"

Lola set down her suitcase and said, "What's up? You two look awful serious."

"Lola, we have to talk," said Hannibal. "Now."

"Can't it wait, Colonel?" Murdock asked. "We need to get Lola and Billy set up."

"No, we need to talk NOW."

Lola stiffened at the colonel's tone of voice and nodded in mute agreement. She pulled up a chair at the opposite end of the table from Hannibal and Face, and Murdock sat next to her.

"What's up?" Lola repeated.

"We just found out that Lola Sanchez gave birth to a Billy John Sanchez on March 20th in Langley, Virginia," Hannibal said. "Are you the same Lola Sanchez?"

"I see you guys finally decided to do your homework. Yes, Billy was born in Virginia. Why do you care?"

"It seems rather odd that a young mother such as yourself would move cross country within the first six months of her baby's life. More importantly, how and why did you leave New Mexico? And why, after being captured by the army for breaking into a government-funded research installation and by sheer luck getting out of prison, would you head for Langley? With the CIA and other government-run agencies' headquarters being in that area, it seems to me that you'd be heading into the lions' den."

Lola sighed. "Yeah, it would seem like that to you, I guess. After I was lucky enough to escape hard time, I wanted to get as far away from New Mexico as possible. I hadn't been on the east coast in a while and got offered a better job than my current prospects, so I headed out to Virginia. I worked at an office filing and doing 'go fer' work until Billy was born. Soon I remembered why I left the east coast in the first place, quit my job, and began looking for somewhere else to go. I hoarded some money away, but there was no way it would support Billy and me for very long. I thought that if the A-Team ever got pardoned, you'd end up out here in LA again, so I came out here with the hope that I would find Murdock and tell him about his son."

"While we're at it, what's your social?" asked Face.

"Wanna check my record, doncha? Sure, and while you're at it, you might as well check Billy's too. Here, take my wallet," Lola said as she sat Billy on the table so she could get her wallet out of the back pocket of her jeans. She tossed it across the table to Face. "Check everything in there. I'm sure you know a fake ID when you see one. Y'know, we probably wouldn't be here right now if you'd gone through my purse when we first met. You guys got too trusting of people."

"Now that's the Lola Sanchez I remember," said Face. "Sarcastic and bitter to the bone."

"You would be too if you hadn't gotten a decent night's sleep in more than six months. Are you done?"

"For now. Y'know Murdock, I have no idea what you saw in her."

"Yeah, you wouldn't," Murdock said under his breath. He raised his voice. "Hey, it's getting late. I say we fix up some grub before we go at each other's throats again. We got anything in the kitchen, Faceman?"

"No, I didn't have time to stock the fridge," replied the lieutenant. "Looks like we're ordering out."

"Hey, I'll pay for it," Lola said. "After all, you guys are putting up with me again. And I'm warning you now, Billy does not sleep through the night. You're not going to want me and him around after tonight if you value sleep at all."

"Ah, quit complaining," said Murdock. "That's Face's job. It doesn't suit you. So, what do you want, guys? I could go for pepperoni and mushroom pizza."

"Have whatever you want," Hannibal said as he rose from the table. "I need to get going. I've got a make-up call at six tomorrow for this new monster flick Gila Monster. It's a great part…reminds me a bit of the Aquamaniac in his motivations, but--"

"You just don't want to stay and help baby-proof this place," interrupted Lola.

"No, I really do have a job as a giant mutated Gila monster terrorizing LA, and I've gotta go. I'll stop by after we finish for the day and see how things are going tomorrow." Hannibal stubbed out his cigar in an ashtray and headed for the door.

Curious, Billy grabbed the cigar and said, "Bah-bah!"

"No!" exclaimed Lola, snatching the cigar from the baby. "That is not your bottle! I'd better feed you before you try to stick something else in your mouth. Putting you on the table was not exactly the smartest thing to do." Billy just smiled and giggled.

"Don't tell me that I can't smoke when I come over here now!" exclaimed the colonel, who had turned around when Lola took his cigar stub away from Billy.

"No, I know better than to mess with your cigars," Lola replied. "Putting Billy within reach of the ashtray was my fault. We'll see you tomorrow, and good luck with the shoot."

Hannibal waved good-bye and closed the front door behind him. Murdock then turned to Face and asked again what he wanted for dinner. Face said, "Sure, pizza sounds good. I'll call the order in while you two try to baby-proof the living room. Hope you don't mind sleeping on the sofa, Lola, because that's the only thing we've got to offer besides the floor."

"It sure beats the mattress I had on the floor at my old place," replied the brunette as she lifted Billy into her arms. "We just need to find something to work as a cradle for Billy."

Murdock stood up, thought a total of five seconds, and said, "I've heard of people using dresser drawers for cradles when they couldn't afford a real one. Maybe we could do something like that. We've got a couple big cardboard boxes around here from moving. Throw some pillows and blankets in there, and voila! We've got ourselves a cradle with no sharp edges for Billy to hurt himself on. You might not be able to rock it, but it'll do until we can find something better."

Lola said, "That ought to work. Ok, let's get this place baby-proofed before Billy crawls all over the place and gets himself into trouble, and believe me, he's great at finding trouble in seconds."

"With the two of you as his parents, I'm not surprised," said Face.

Murdock and Lola busied themselves blocking outlets, moving breakable and small objects well out of Billy's reach, and removing other hazards while Face called in the pizza order. Half an hour later the living room was safe for Billy to crawl around and everyone was sitting at the dinette eating. Lola had Billy in her lap and fed him his bottle before eating her pizza.

"You should eat some of this pizza before it gets cold, Lola," said Murdock as he finished off his second slice. "Nothin' beats a pepperoni and mushroom pizza."

"Billy needs to eat too, and he's totally dependent on me to feed him," Lola replied.

"C'mon, let me feed him," Murdock said. "You need to eat, and I need to take on the father role sometime. Besides, I'll eat your pizza if you don't watch it."

"Ok, but you'd better take off your jacket. Billy drools when he eats and sometimes spits up. I'd hate to see something happen to that leather jacket."

"Charming devil, isn't he?" said Face.

"Taking care of a baby isn't anything like what you see on TV," retorted Lola as she handed Murdock the spit rag she had draped over her shoulder. "It's messy and tries your patience constantly, but you learn to love doing it. Then again, I am talking to the man who screams and runs in terror when the word 'commitment' comes up."

"Sounds like old times," smiled Murdock as he slipped out of his coat and tossed it on the sofa. "It's kinda weird how you two fight like an old married couple when you two weren't involved with each other."

"She starts it!" said Face.

"I am not getting into one of those juvenile fights, Templeton Peck! I've got better things to do than to slam your poor, over-inflated male ego in a pathetic battle of wits such as this."

"She got you good, Face!"

"Shut up and feed your kid, Murdock."

After Lola gave Murdock a few instructions on how to hold Billy and feed him his bottle, Billy sucked happily on his bottle as his father cradled him.

Face paused a moment while eating and asked, "Aren't you supposed to…you know…feed him…uh…"

"You mean breastfeed him," supplied Lola as she bit into her slice of pizza.

Face blushed. "Yeah…"

"You just want to see my boobs, don't you?"

Face turned bright pink and stammered while Lola laughed. "I'm just teasing," the brunette chuckled. "I didn't think that breastfeeding was the best option so I feed Billy formula instead."

"Man, this little guy's hungry!" exclaimed Murdock. "He's finished his bottle already! What do I do now?"

"This is the hard part." Lola showed Murdock how to hold Billy to burp him without the baby drooling on him.

Face suddenly stood up to throw away his paper plate. "This is getting just a little over my weirdness tolerance," he said. "First the two of you are getting along and having 'family time', next Hannibal will give up being monsters in low-budget films, BA will want to take up flying, or worst of all," he swallowed, "I'll get married for real."

"That bad?" asked Lola.

"Yes, that bad," said Face as he tossed out his garbage. "Now I'm going to watch some Sunday night football if you don't mind."

"Oh yes, nothing like watching grown men knocking each other into the ground while trying to get an odd-shaped, fake leather ball for the entertainment of the masses. Who's playing?"

"You are so weird." Face plopped down on the sofa and turned on the TV. "Looks like San Francisco and LA. Should be interesting."

Lola finished her pizza and cleared the empty pizza box along with the remaining paper plates and napkins during the kickoff and first down. Meanwhile, Billy belched and spat some partially digested formula on Murdock.

"See?" said Face when he saw his friend's disgusted look at the vomit on the spit rag. "That's why you always, always use protection. You never know when you might end up with an ex-girlfriend and your kid on your doorstep in need of help."

"Thank you, Dr. Ruth," said Murdock, wiping Billy's mouth off with a corner of the rag. "Lola, think Billy's good to go?"

"With a belch like that, definitely. Here, I'll take him off your hands now, and you can go do whatever you want."

Murdock handed Billy over to the brunette. "Scoot over, Faceman. I'll join ya."

Face made room, albeit grudgingly, on the couch for his friend, and Murdock flopped next to him. Lola carried Billy over to the carpet and sat him down. She sat in a cross-legged position in front of him, pulled over the box of stuff Murdock brought in earlier, and began arranging toys on the floor in front of Billy.

Murdock, who never enjoyed football to the extent the other guys did, lost interest in the game and watched Lola instead. "What're you doin'?"

"I'm in desperate need of a shower," said the brunette. "May I use your shower?"

"Knock yourself out," Face said. "Though I would prefer the blonde twins from next door… I bet Carol and Freda didn't come over because they saw you with the kid and got scared off. I should be over at their place, my arms around them…"

"Thanks for letting me use the shower," Lola interrupted. "Could you just keep an eye on Billy? He'll probably play by himself quietly no problem. Just make sure he doesn't get into any trouble. He's just learning how to crawl, but he's not too good at it yet. We're definitely going to watch out for him in a few weeks."

"Don't worry about anything, Lola," said Murdock. "You just enjoy the shower."

Lola grabbed a few items out of her suitcase then leaned close to Billy so that she was eye-to-eye with her son. "Ok, Billy. Mama's going to go take a shower, but Daddy's going to watch you. I know you've been passed around laps most of today so you want some time to play by yourself. Good?"

"Ee!" squealed Billy as he grinned and clapped.

Lola smiled and disappeared into the bathroom. Billy grabbed the ears of a battered stuffed dog and began chewing on it.

"What are you doing?" exclaimed Murdock. He slid to the floor and snatched the dog out of Billy's grasp. "Don't put stuff like that in your mouth! You could choke!" The pilot made gagging noises and bugged his eyes out to illustrate, to which Billy giggled. "Now what's your dog's name, Billy? What's his name?"

"Buh-buh!" said Billy.

"Bubba? That's a good name. Now why would you want to bite Bubba's ears like that? What do you think about that, Bubba?"

Murdock used the voice he'd used a long time ago for his sock puppet dog, Sockey, to voice Bubba. "I hate it! Billy, why you bite my ears? That hurts! You want me to do that to you?" The pilot "attacked" Billy with Bubba, and the baby squealed in delight.

"Will you two—three—whatever you are—keep it down to a dull roar?" asked Face. "I can barely hear the game!"

"Aww, you're no fun, Face!"

"Yeah! Why don't ya go find your tall blondes if ya don't like us playin' with Billy?" said Bubba.

Face hit his head against the back of the sofa. "Why oh why did I think you were finally sane, Murdock?"

Billy grinned, got on his stomach, and slithered towards Face. When he reached the sofa, Billy tugged on Face's pant leg to get his attention.

"What do you want?" Face asked Billy, who was now sitting at his feet wearing a broad grin.

"What?" repeated Face.

"A-ease!" he squealed.

"Hey, Billy wants to play with his Uncle Facey!" said Murdock. "C'mon, play with Billy."

"I am not playing with a six-month-old!" said Face. "He's your kid, you play with him."

"BA's more fun than you," muttered Murdock. "And that's on his bad days."

Lola emerged from the bathroom, dressed in a T-shirt and boxers and towel-drying her hair. "How's everything going? Billy wasn't any trouble, was he?"

"Are you kidding? We're having a great time! Aren't we, Billy?"

Billy squealed in agreement and grabbed Bubba and Murdock's arm in a hug.

"Aww, you love Daddy, don't you Billy?" said Lola as she combed out her hair.

Murdock stared at Billy clutching his arm and smiled. The concept that the baby in front of him was his own child still amazed the pilot; hearing Lola refer to him as "Daddy" felt more unreal than some of his weirdest dreams. Maybe if Murdock had been present during Lola's pregnancy Billy would have seemed more like his own child. Murdock shook his head to clear his thoughts and went back to being the voice of Bubba the dog, much to Billy's delight. Father and son continued playing in this manner for a long time until Billy started to have trouble keeping his eyes open.

"It's time for you to go to bed, Chiquito," said Lola. "I've got your box—err, bed all made up."

Billy whined and rubbed his eyes.

"Oh yes, you're going to bed, sleepy head. You can't fool me. Don't worry, you can play more with Daddy in the morning."

Lola went to scoop up Billy, but Murdock put a hand on her arm. "May I?"

"I was going to change him one last time before bed, but sure, you can try. Shouldn't be too bad since he's so tired he won't put up much of a fight."

"How about I just watch for now?"

Lola chuckled as she picked up Billy and laid him on his back on a large towel on the floor. She proceeded to change him on the makeshift changing table, humming and making the task seem pleasant. Afterwards, she changed Billy into a clean body suit with a little blue dog print and placed him into his baby safe box/crib. Billy was asleep as soon as Lola covered him with a blanket.

"Little guy's exhausted," murmured Murdock.

"Yeah, and so am I," Lola said. She glanced at her watch and almost cried out. "It's 10:30? I can't believe we lasted this long! Usually Billy's long gone by 8:30, 9 at the latest."

Face stretched on the couch and yawned. "Well, the game's over. LA won. I suppose I should give up the couch so you can get some sleep, Lola."

"Thanks a lot for everything, guys," said Lola. "You're angels for letting us into your home considering the circumstances. I'll try to keep Billy quiet tonight when he wakes up so he won't wake you guys up too."

"Don't mention it," Face said as he rose from the sofa and shuffled off towards his bedroom.

"G'night, Lola," said Murdock as he also got up. Before he left for his own room, he gazed lovingly at Billy sleeping and murmured, "Goodnight, Billy."

Lola flopped onto the sofa as Murdock turned off the lights behind him. "Goodnight, Murdock," she muttered before she fell asleep.

****

Murdock woke in the dead of night to Billy crying in the living room. So this is what it's like to have a baby in the house, he thought. Charming. I can see Lola said we'd want to chuck her and Billy out after tonight. The pilot rolled over to go back to sleep, but the crying didn't stop. Finally Murdock couldn't take it anymore and rose to see what the problem was.

Murdock shuffled into the kitchen just as Billy finally quieted down. The pilot rubbed his eyes to focus in the moonlight and was struck by the scene on the couch.

Bathed in a pool of silvery moonlight, Lola sat rocking Billy at half tempo to a song she sang softly and sweetly. The baby gurgled contentedly and sucked on his fist as his eyes closed. Watching mother and son in such a loving embrace reminded Murdock of why he fell in love with Lola in the first place.

"'Fill my heart with song and let me sing forever more,'" Lola sang on, apparently not aware of her audience. "'You are all I long for, all I worship and adore…'"

"'In other words, please be true,'" Murdock said from the shadows of the kitchen. "I see you still like ol' Blue Eyes."

Lola smiled. "Hey, Billy was almost named after Frank Sinatra." She kissed her son on his forehead before murmuring, "I didn't mean for Billy to wake you up, Murdock."

"It's OK," replied the pilot. "I needed a drink anyway." He grabbed a glass and filled it with water from the sink. "You want anything?"

"Nah, I'm fine, thanks."

Murdock leaned against the counter, sipping his water.

Lola sighed, "You can come and sit with us if you want. We don't bite."

"I'm not so sure about that. You hurt me bad last June. I felt like I'd been mauled by a bear about the same size and with the same attitude as BA. I don't think I could ever tell you just how much you hurt me."

"I know I can never say 'I'm sorry' enough to make you feel better after I screwed up so bad. But I have to say it again. I'm sorry, Murdock. For everything. I know it probably doesn't mean much, but screwing you and your friends over like that was the absolute biggest and worst mistake I've ever made in my life, and trust me, I've done some really stupid stuff through the years."

"Y'know, you were lucky I knocked you up. If you'd come to the door today by yourself, I would've dropkicked you to the curb without a second thought. But I couldn't turn you away with my son in your arms."

"You'd have to be as heartless as me to do that."

"You're not heartless. I saw the way you played with Billy tonight. Your face shone with love and tenderness at everything he did. You're a good mother to him."

Lola lowered her head and gave Billy a half smile. Murdock knew she was blushing from the complement. He set his glass down on the counter and sat down next to her on the sofa. "Y'know, I never thought I'd see you again, and that was both a relief and a heartache. I realized that when I heard you singing. I loved Alia. How much of her was you, Lola?"

"I'm not altogether sure," replied the brunette. "I think Alia was the part of me I kept buried so nothing could hurt me…until you came along. Alia's the person I've always wanted to be—the sensitive and caring lover and friend…and mother."

"I still remember what you said that one night just as you drifted off to sleep—'I love kids. Not babies but kids. You can't talk to babies on an intelligent level, but some of the most interesting conversations I've had were with kids between five and twelve years old.'"

"And you of course. You have one good photographic memory to remember that. But I thought you said that you'd erase everything about me from your memory once you escaped up that ventilation shaft?"

Murdock gazed down at his hands and smiled sheepishly. "I thought I could, but no matter what the Doc and I tried, I couldn't erase everything. You're a very hard person to forget, Lola."

"As are you, Murdock," Lola replied, stifling a yawn. "Sorry about that. Guess I'm more tired than I thought."

"C'mere, I'll put Billy back in his crib so you can go to sleep."

"No, I like sitting here like this. We seem to be able to talk better at night. You can hold Billy if you want though."

"He's fast asleep! I don't wanna wake the little guy up."

As if to prove him wrong, Billy opened his eyes, looked up into his father's, and smiled. Murdock couldn't resist and gently lifted his son from Lola's arms. "You've got a heck of a smile, muchacho," he murmured as he cradled Billy in his arms.

Lola smiled sleepily as she fought to keep her eyes open. She finally admitted defeat and slumped against Murdock's shoulder. "Sorry," the brunette yawned, "but you make a comfy pillow."

"I should get up so you can stretch out on the couch and get a good night's sleep," the pilot yawned in reply.

"Please don't go!" whispered Lola. She looked up at Murdock to find that her plea was not needed. The pilot was fast asleep with Billy snoozing in his arms. The brunette smiled, leaned against Murdock again, and fell into the deepest sleep she'd had in more than a year.

****

Outside seven dark figures surrounded the house, each one toting an automatic pistol. The leader gestured for everyone to check their weapons then waved them off to different vantage points. Four figures took the sliding doors and the others picked the front door. Once inside, two covered the hallway to the bedrooms, one covered each door, and the leader snuck up on Murdock, Lola, and Billy sleeping on the sofa. The final two covered their leader.

The two figures flanking the leader simultaneously pressed the muzzles of their guns into Lola and Murdock's heads. The sleeping couple woke immediately, their breath catching in their throats.

"Where is it?" hissed the leader to Lola. "Tell us where it is or I'll tell Seven here to blow your pretty little brains out all over your boyfriend. I'm sure your little brat would love to see his mommy die for disobeying orders."

"Dios mio, I don't know what you're talking about!" whispered Lola, fear edging her voice. "Leave us the hell alone!"

"Aww, isn't that sweet?" Seven laughed. "We've got a martyr. How about if you don't tell us what we want to know, Abel Four will blow your boyfriend's head off."

"Jesus Christ! Leave him out of this! He knows nothing! If you want to threaten someone, threaten me."

"Lola, what the hell's going on?" Murdock exclaimed. He tried to talk louder so that Face might hear him. "What are these guys looking for?"

"Shut up, flyboy, no one asked you!" said Abel Four as he hit Murdock in the head with his pistol.

"No! Stop it!" Lola cried, waking Billy. Billy immediately screamed for all he was worth, confused and frightened by what was going on.

Lola and Billy's crying woke Face, who ran into the kitchen to see what was happening. Unfortunately for him, the two Abels guarding the hall knocked him to the ground before the lieutenant could do anything.

"Will you just leave them alone!" shrieked Lola. "They don't know anything!"

"The boss wants back what you stole," the leader said. He glanced down at screaming Billy in Lola's arms. "And I think I know how to get it for him." He yanked Billy out of Lola's grasp and marched towards the front door with the shrieking infant squirming in his arms.

"NO! Come back with my baby!" Lola screamed, tears pouring down her cheeks. She tried to jump up from the sofa to run after the lead Abel, but Abel Seven slapped her and jabbed his gun into her forehead. "Please, I'll do anything, just give me back my baby!"

Abel One, the leader, grinned in the shadows. "That's just what we wanted to hear. You know where to find us and your brat. You'd better deliver what you stole in two days or you won't see your kid again."

With that, the Abels withdrew from the house and vanished into the night.

"Who the hell were those guys?" moaned Face from the floor.

Murdock reached over to the lamp next to the sofa and turned it on. "It was about six or seven of the Abels," he said deathly quiet, eyeing Lola who was crying into her hands.

Face sat up, rubbed his head where he'd been hit, and blinked his eyes to get used to the light. "Abels? You mean as in Stockwell's lackeys?"

"I don't know. I was about to ask Lola the same question. Lola, what the hell's going on? Why were those guys looking for something you stole? What are they looking for anyway?"

Lola balled her hands into fits and slammed them into her lap. She whipped around to face Murdock, her face puffy, red, and tear-stained. "They kidnapped our son and all you can do is ask me what they're looking for?" she exclaimed. "What kind of father are you? Don't you care about Billy?" She swung at Murdock, but he dodged her fist easily. Lola collapsed in the pilot's arms in a fresh bout of tears.

"Of course I do," Murdock murmured as he cradled Lola in his arms. "But I can't do much for him if I don't know why he was kidnapped in the first place. Now what happened?"

Lola wiped her face. "I was hoping that I wouldn't have to get any of you involved, but I realize now that there was no way I could've hid out from him and his shadows forever. It was stupid of me to come here in the first place."

"Who are you hiding from?"

"My boss from the Alliance Tech deal."

"Who?"

"I told you then. Don't you remember? Hunt Stockwell's my boss."

"What?" exclaimed Face and Murdock in union. "That low down, scum-sucking rat is your boss?"

"Yes," Lola said quietly. "And I've got a helluva lot of explaining to do."

"I'm calling Hannibal over," Face said, jumping up to get the phone. "He's gonna want to hear this."

"You might want to start a pot of coffee," added Lola. "This is going to be a long, long, long story."

****

To be continued…

Yeah, I apologize for the sap and junk. I don't know what came over me, I swear! I'm warning you all now, the next chapter's going to be long and all explanation. I'll try my best to make it as interesting and bearable as I can so you don't suffer much. Stockwell's role and history will be explained so those of you who asked me what his part was with the A-Team was in "Tangled Web" should be satisfied. We'll see about when Chapter 3 will get posted.