Warnings/Content: Contains male/male SLASH. Also some full-bodied soldier type language. Adult themes are discussed here and relationships between men. If you don't like the thought of it please do not read. I do not wish to offend.

Part 6

"He's not coming is he?" Murdock's voice showed the strain he was feeling as he bit his fingers nervously. He was staring anxiously at his cell phone on the table.

BA growled and glanced at the clock; it was five minutes before midnight. "You want to tell me what's going on between you and Face?" he asked softly.

Murdock sniffed. "Big guy, he told you what was going on earlier," he said evasively.

"Ain't what I'm talking about sucker and you know it!" Murdock sighed and bit his lip stubbornly. "OK," BA continued "Let me tell you what I seen so far and then you can fill in the blanks. You and Amy both told me that Faceman hasn't been doing so good and I know about the court and his probation. I was expecting him to be different somehow, bowed, tired but that ain't what I seen. Man; he is on the jazz. He looks like Hannibal used to with that sparkle in his eye." He fixed the pilot with his sternest stare. "And you kissed him twice tonight."

"But …"

"Listen! Don't tell me they was nothing. I know what you feel for him. You've cried on my shoulder over him often enough but I thought it was long dead. I ain't blind sucker – I saw how you looked at him and how he looked at you."

"Awwwh BA!" Murdock cooed. "And people think you're only good at the fighting stuff. How wrong can they be?"

"People think I am good at the fighting stuff cos I am but I also known you two long enough to see what's going on."

"Nothing's going on, honestly! But I reckon given the chance it might be." Murdock's face broke into a wide, bashful smile and he batted his eyelashes. "You know I got a promise from Templeton Peck!"

"It's been almost thirty years, fool! Why now?"

Murdock sighed. "It's all about timing, big guy. Just maybe the time is right now."

BA shook his head. "Don't make no sense."

"Love don't need to make sense, you know that BA. Faceyman and me have been ignoring what's right in front of us for years and it's done us no favours. When all this is over, I'm sorta, kinda hoping that we might finally, maybe get it together."

BA snorted. "It'll be about time!" He looked back up at the clock. "Come on, we told him if he wasn't here by midnight we was going to find him. Let's do it!"

Face came back to consciousness into a world that was still black; a blindfold was tight about his head. And from the stiff pain across his shoulders and arms his hands were tied behind his back. He was seated and as he tried unsuccessfully to move his legs he knew that his ankles were somehow secured to the chair he sat on. He had lost count of the times he had awoken to such an experience but each one had been a long time ago. This time he felt old, too old to be subjected to this sort of physical abuse. His head was thumping, the drug they had given him had made his mouth dry and parched and then the memory of events before his capture came to mind. He could not restrain the moan of desperation that escaped him.

"He's awake, get Mr Stephens!" A voice from over to his left said.

Damn! Peck cursed himself – where was his self-control? In the past he would have been able to feign sleep for long minutes while all of his senses ached to find out as much information as they could about the enemy and his surroundings. If he wanted to survive this he had to pull himself together and find his once legendary control. That thought was followed by another one even more frightening – did he want to survive this?

Before he could dwell further on that hands took hold of him roughly. A plastic cup was pressed to his lips and he drank the cold water thankfully. When his throat felt slightly less raw he cleared it. "What's going on?" he forced his voice to sound calm.

There was an evil chuckle from close by. "You're in the shit!"

"I don't know…." The blow to his stomach was not unexpected but it was painful. The rest of Peck's words were lost as the breath gushed out of him.

"Shut it!" The voice counselled. "You'll get plenty of chance to beg when Mr Stephens arrives."

There was silence then. Peck used the time to investigate his bonds by minutely moving his hands and feet – they were tight and secure with no chance of slipping them. Face then concentrated of his other senses to glean as much information as he could; by using his hearing, he tried to pinpoint the number of men in the room and their location. He thought he must be in quite a large room, the echoes and the temperature made him think of concrete and he wondered if it were some sort of cell or storage facility.

He was trying to identify anything else revealing when he heard an obviously heavy door opening with a squeak and the echoes on the hard floor that announced more feet entering the room.

"Well, well, how nice," a voice said. "All trussed up and ready for me, like a turkey at Thanksgiving. Really Peck; I thought you would be more of a challenge."

Face cocked his head; there was something vaguely familiar about the voice; somewhere in the depths of his past, he was sure he had heard it before. He drew in a ragged breath. "There's been an awful mistake," he started. "If you could just untie me we could discuss this like reasonable men and …." He stopped when the air was filled by mocking laughter.

"Is that the best you can do?" The newly arrived voice was scornful. "I am not a reasonable man, you have been siphoning off my money and now I will punish you, what is there to discuss?"

"Look, Mr Stephens," Peck tried to look as ingenuous as he could bearing in mind his current position. "I know that it looks like I've been screwing you but honestly I haven't." He let out his light giggle. "I want to pay it back. I don't know how it got there in the first place. I mean do I look like the sort of guy who would mess with a powerful man like you? I mean really?"

There was a deep chuckle. "Oh how I love to hear you squirm, Peck. This really is too good to be true!"

There it was again; something annoyingly familiar about the voice. "Do I know you?" Peck asked suspiciously.

"Oh yes!" Stephen's voice dripped supreme confidence. "All will be revealed, Peck, but first I want to tell you a little story."

"A story?" Face repeated. "But I…." The fist to his stomach stopped him once more.

"Some thing's never change, you never did know when to keep your mouth shut! Now shut it and listen or I'll have them gag you," Stephens said. There was the sound of scraping and Face assumed another chair was being brought up. His hypothesis was confirmed when he heard if squeak as a heavy weight – Stephens - settled down on it.

"I'm a desperate man, Peck," he began obviously closer. "See, a couple of months ago my doctor told me I have cancer – the big C, started in my prostate but now I'm riddled with it, completely inoperable. I have six months at the most. When you get news like that it makes a man put his life into perspective. Makes you want to put things in their place, pay off any outstanding debts and leave everything in the garden rosy to pass on to your kids. You know?"

Peck gulped. "I …" he began.

Stephens continued regardless. "What the hell would you know? Never had the guts to commit yourself to anything have you? Too selfish for kids! But I wanted to make sure mine were looked out for and I started thinking about my life and started sorting things out." He let out a long sigh. "Now it's all concluded; everyone that ever owed me. I can die in peace…. Except, of course, for you."

"Me? I still don't…"

"But you will Peck, you will. I've been looking for you for a while. Imagine how happy I was when you came to me – the Lord moves in mysterious ways!"

Peck was struggling to understand what he was being told, his mind whirling. "You set me up?" he asked.

Stephens chuckled. "Gotta hand it to you Peck, you are a master at manipulating the situation to your own advantage but no, I didn't set you up. I have no doubt that you were screwing me, not knowing who I was and eager to con me out of everything you could. It's a happy co-incidence that you finally bit off more than you can chew just at the time I was searching you out. You see I am talking about you making recompense for a long time ago; the last time you cheated me and got away with it. That time your friends saved your arrogant butt, happily they're not around to save you now."

"Who are you?" Peck asked impatiently.

"Let me give you some clues – drugs, money, you, owe, me!" he spelled out.

Peck struggled ineffectually in his bonds. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about!" he hissed.

Stephens laughed. "Maybe it's time I really had my fun. Take off his blindfold!" he ordered.

There was movement behind Peck as the blindfold was removed. Bright, burning light fired on to his retinas and he blinked violently trying to restore his vision. The features of the man in front of him slowly condensed into a recognisable face that instantly froze Peck's bowels. The face was older, with heavier jowls and eyes deeper inset behind relentless wrinkles but the now grey hair was still severely short about the skull. Memories of the red dust and smoke of Vietnam and a hot, stuffy night which had promised pain but had actually delivered relief jumped into Peck's mind. He knew then that this time the ending would be so very different.

Beady eyes blazed at him and Peck knew his voice was uncharacteristically revealing of his emotion as he breathed.

"Stepford!"

TBC