Chapter 12 - A Cool Night With No Jacket Required

Billy? Billy did ya lose my number? 'Cos you're not anywhere... that I can find you...
~ Phil Collins - 1985

"Here we are! Welcome to - well, what Murdock called earlier, the Chez Parker." A.J. offered Amy her gesturing hand inside, along with a smile. "The fireplace is at your disposal and I can give you the full tour once you're thawed out and settled in."

"Th-thanks." Amy managed a grateful smile through her quivering lips, then curiously looked around. It was a nice change after the long day of hectic cross-country air travel, sub-zero temperatures and cocky cab drivers. She freed herself from her coat and went to hang it on the nearby rack - and found a very familiar looking leather flight jacket and blue ball-cap hanging on it. It brought on a bubbling anticipation that boiled over almost instantly. "Looks like quite a nice place here. So where's…?"

"The eagle has landed, Captain!" A.J. called out.

"Well, taxi 'er on in because I'm coming in for a landing, mnnneeerrrrum..."

Amy followed his voice to the stairs as he descended them and for the first time in four long, jazz-less years, met his gaze. She stared deep into his gleaming brown eyes, wondering just how much he'd really changed from the V.A. days of past.

"Chiquita!" A wild grin spread across his face in excitement. "Wow, you look just like how I'd imagined you would. Whaddaya say we go jump out of a plane together for old time's sake?" He jerked his thumb towards the door and teased, "I got one fueled-up and ready right down the road - you in?"

Amy snickered, slowly realizing he really was the same Howlin' Mad after all. "No thanks, Murdock, once was enough with you!" She pointed at him accusingly. "And I never jumped - you pushed!"

"I did push, didn't I?" He chuckled, then looked at A.J. and saw her curious, blank expression. "And you have absolutely no idea what we're talking about. Let me explain-"

"No, you don't have to! It's okay, the past is the pa-"

"Acelynn," he cleared his throat and proudly slung his arm around Amy's shoulders. "I'd like to formally introduce you to Amy Amanda Allen, also known as Triple-A." He added with a wink, "Amy is another member of the A-Team."

"...really?!" Completely surprised at the revelation, A.J. curiously looked at Amy and now saw her in a new light. The thought of her mixed up with the team was... now very possible from the jazzy grin that spread across Amy's face.

"Well, former member," Amy corrected him, then finally leaned in for a hug.

"Yes, that's right, former - just because you decided some great job overseas making a whole lot of moo-lah was more important than playing hero with your friends 'n having M.P.s all over your keister!"

"I can see why you chose the job, Amy." A.J. nodded approvingly.

Murdock gaped at the two girls now sharing an amusing smile. "Oh sure, take her side!" When they both looked back at him, he saw a hint of the ever-contagious jazz sparkling in A.J.'s eyes too and he rolled his eyes at the very thought.

"Amy," he began, gesturing to A.J. this time. "I'd like to officially introduce you to Lieutenant Acelynn 'Ace Junior' Parker."

"Yes, we've met." Amy's inquisitive nature rose to its peak, as did her smile. "Let me guess - the newest member of the team?"

"What? Nooo," A.J. quickly dismissed the idea with a wave. "Not at all... well, unless you count the time I flew out to air-evac the guys when-"

"No, it doesn't count!" Murdock scolded, lightheartedly of course, then put his hands on A.J.'s shoulders this time. "Amy, Ace here is my business partner and fellow co-pilot." Unable to contain himself, he quickly added, "Ah, to heck with it - she's really my wife!"

Now it was Amy who was surprised - shocked actually, by Murdock's tell-all.

"Tiger!" A.J. scolded. "What happened to 'keep it under wraps' 'till after the...?"

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself, I just had to tell somebody we're newlyweds!" He offered an apologetic smile. "Besides, Amy already knows about our upcoming 'pardon plan' and she's here to get the full exclusive story, so I'm giving her our exclusive story."

Amy now questioningly raised an eyebrow at A.J. as she recalled the conversation in the hangar. "Sooo, 'this is Murdock' huh? You know for a minute there you reminded me of Face."

Amused at the thought, A.J. saw Amy's expression change at the mention of him. She looked almost like... "He's quite an influence, isn't he? Wow, where are my manners? I haven't even offered you anything to eat or drink yet. Let me get some go-juice brewing and start some kinda dinner and you two can catch up."

Amy could only shake her head in wonderment as she looked over at one Howlin' Mad Murdock, whose smitten look was obvious as he watched her walk to the kitchen.

"Go-juice?" Amy curiously asked.

"Coffee," Murdock explained with a warm chuckle.

Amy knowingly grinned. "So, who wore the dress this time, Murdock?"

He snickered, "You guys are never gonna let me live that one down, are you?"

"Never," she teased, knowing it would probably be the last time she'd ever mention it again. She then rummaged in her bag, and held out a folder to him. "So, is she really okay with you using her father's medal ceremony as a way for you to get these to the President?"

"It was her idea, for the record." He opened the folder to see the three pardon requests, ready to be signed. "It was, however, my idea to get a marriage license so I'll have full legal-bound clearance once we're in to find a place for... these." he looked back to the papers.

"I'll have press credentials to get clearance inside too, and Tawnia will be covering the outside rally at the same time."

"It sounds like we're all gonna be busy. Thanks again for coming all the way out here on practically a moment's notice."

"You guys are worth it!" Amy enthusiastically pulled out a rolled up newspaper and tossed it, hitting him squarely in the chest.

He carefully unraveled it and skimmed the headline.

"Pardon Us, Mr. President? White House Rally Proclaims A-Team's Innocence...'

His eyes widened.

"A sneak peak at the morning edition." Amy beamed at his reaction, then squared her jaw confidently. "There's more good reading inside too, seems I found a good place to publish those articles I wrote all those years ago. You remember the ones that never made it past my supervisor's desk thanks to some well-paid higher-ups."

"Perfect. It's likely to turn the right heads," He opened and curiously skimmed page after page filled with testaments of past clients. For a moment, he tried to pretend it had already happened and it suddenly felt such a weight lifted off his shoulders that he probably could've taken off in a free-flight right there... if he tried hard enough.

"Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly awayyy..." Frank Sinatra sang from the nearby radio and Murdock's eyes gleamed.

"Okay guys, dinner's on!" A.J. called out, then returned from the kitchen. "I'm confident enough to say it should be better than airline food."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Amy wrinkled her nose, knowing first hand from just a few hours ago what that experience tasted like. "Cardboard and glue, right?"

"What are you two talking about?" Murdock looked at them both like they had two heads. "That stuff tastes just fine to me!"

"Coming from the one who's eaten paint," Amy snickered and Murdock glared back, lightheartedly, of course.

"Paint too?" A.J. gaped, remembering the shaving cream line Face had mentioned earlier that day. "Geez, Tiger, no wonder you've never complained about my cooking. What else don't I know?"

"Plenty, I bet." Amy winked and they all shared a moment of gentle laughter. "Okay, so I just gotta ask, because you said you'd tell me - how did you guys meet?"

The two exchanged a knowing glance as they remembered six months ago. Murdock quickly hesitated. "Uh, maybe you should take this one, Ace. I won't look good in this story no matter who tells it."

"No way - tell her, Tiger!" A.J. teased. "Tell her how I was in the middle if a power-nap between my mid-afternoon hops and woke up to my bird startin' up without me-"

"Hey, you know our car broke down just down the turn-off, remember? Well, technically it was a little too shot-up to continue moving at a consistent acceleration, but you get my point. Amy, you've been there."

"So he snuck into the hangar, took the key right out of my desk and tried to lift my bird out from under my nose like some maniac!"

"Uh, say guys?" Amy coughed as an acrid smell tingled in her nose.

"It was just sitting there, you know." Murdock tried to defend himself. "Finders keepers!"

"Hey guys!" Amy sniffed again, this time deeply. "Is something burning?"

"Oh no, not again!" A.J. groaned and made a dash for the kitchen as fast as a thrust-vector takeoff.

Murdock's echoing laughter was the only thing keeping Amy from being too concerned as she listened to the distinct sizzling sound of what she hoped was only water.

"Uh, we don't need to call the fire department, do we?" Amy asked him, pinching her nose.

"No," Murdock answered as he reached for the phone. "But we need to call out for dinner again... uh, pizza okay?"

"Sure," Amy giggled. "At this point, airline food isn't looking half-bad now."

"Don't worry, it happens all the time." He waved his hand dismissively, then took the newspaper and kept waving - to waft away the smoke.

The echos of laughter and distant music of the radio carried well into the evening, thanks to the now half-empty bottle of Château Latou '72 sitting on the coffee table next to a couple half-empty pizza boxes.

"... so after we hopped back from what's we now call Dickenson's Isle, Murdock 'drove me home', as it were, then we, uh…" A.J. was suddenly intrigued by her presenting hand and stared with interest. A few moments later, she snapped back to reality. "Uh, what was I saying?"

"You were saying," Murdock draped his arm over her shoulder and stealthily took the half-empty wine glass out of her hand without her realizing. "That you will never put yourself in harms way like that ever again. I still can't believe you flew all the way out to get us like that. We hadn't even gone over the weight distribution compensations; de-icing systems check; test hover. You know you could've told Stockwell she wasn't flight ready."

"But then you guys wouldn't have gotten your extra mission credit and we couldn't have saved you." She poked his chest matter-of-factly, then attempted to drink from her now-empty hand. "What the... it was just here just a minute ago!"

Amy, in mid-sip, burst into laughter as Murdock shook his head in resignation at his now quite inebriated co-pilot.

"You are just a few threads short of three sheets to the wind there, feather-light!"

"Hey, I only had one!"

Amy shook her head in amazement, then gestured to the half-full glass now in Murdock's hand. "Cheers?"

Murdock stared at the glass for a moment, and shrugged. "A pilot may drink the wine of the Gods," he quoted, then downed it quickly, adding, "as long as he doesn't have to fly in eight hours." Resisting the urge to cringe, he added, "You just don't want to know what flying with a hangover feels like."

Amy propped her weary head up and wondered aloud, "There's one thing I don't understand."

"Oh, the wine-God thing? I was quoting Lindbergh."

"No, not that, and this one's for you, A.J.-" Amy reached out and took her hand as a comforting long-time friend would. "After everything Murdock did with your helicopter, you still let him come back here and work for you? Are you crazy?"

A.J. sputtered into inebriated giggles which were soon contagious. After the laughter died down, she answered, "He made it right. Love needs no logic..."

"...for its mission," Murdock finished automatically.

Amy could only stare at them blankly in confusion. Wobbly, intoxicated confusion.

Murdock quickly explained, "Lindbergh again."

Amy nodded, then glanced at her watch and gaped. "Wow, it's almost eleven already! I'd better call a cab and head out. I'm heading over to the Washington Post first thing tomorrow and see if I can get my foot in the door to start printing these papers. Tawnia should be out here with her news crew sometime tomorrow evening too."

"News crew?" A.J. gulped.

Amy nodded. "You don't expect big news like this to go unnoticed by everyone, do you? Not with all the people these guys have helped!" A sparkle of jazz appeared in her eyes. "It's time everyone knew just how many, right Murdock? See you guys in two days."

The two stood on the porch huddled together for warmth, and both waved as the cab pulled out of the driveway.

"Hey, you still flyin' loose over there?" he teased.

"Don't tease me, opening that wine was your idea, remember?" She looked up at him and smiled. "You seem to be well on the mend after this morning."

"Hey, a little bug can't keep 'Ol Howlin' Mad down for long. I happen to have a fantastic immune system if I do say so myself." After the last of the cab's taillights faded, he opened the door, then reached for her. "C'mere you!"

She giggled as her feet left the ground. "What are you doing?"

"You carried me in last time, now it's your turn." With a swift motion, he stepped over the threshold and quickly shut the door with a well executed kick. "There, now that's more like it," he hungrily growled and just before his lips touched hers, she stopped him.

"Tiger, tell me- did you and Amy ever... fly together?"

"Sure, we flew everywhere, L.A., Mexico, Borneo, Texas, Florida…" He watched her eyes bug out and he quickly reassured her, "Ace and I know what you mean. No, not to the moon. We have a strict no fraternizing rule. No clients and no teammates." He looked her square in her eyes before their lips met. "Which is why... you will never be... a member of the team," he told her between kisses.

"Fair enough."

"If you want some exclusive news of your own, and keep this just between you and me, I think Amy's more excited to see a certain Face in the crowd on Thursday."

"It's funny you say that, because Face mentioned her this morning. You know, I think he feels the same way - can't wait to see the reunion." Amused at the thought, she noticed he was staring intently at her. "Are you going to put me down yet?"

He shook his head and wagged his eyebrows. "I was just thinkin' it's our wedding night." Giving her no time to react, he headed right for the stairs, singing in his best Sinatra voice, "It's perfect for a flyin' honeymoon... come on and fly with me, let's fly, let's fly awayyy..."

The next morning...
1 day until medal ceremony

The past was something he hadn't dreamed of in a long time, but tonight he was reliving it all over again. He could hear the distinct sound of muffled gunfire rattling, while the unnamed grunts in the fuselage yelled attack positions over the intercom.

He felt the cyclic vibrate in his sweaty hand, while his brain bucket banged against the metal armor of the pilot's seat with each jarring motion. The bird at his control rocked unsteadily from the severe conditions of war - conditions no civilian chopper would ever dare fly in. One plumber ahead of the wobbly flight line had already failed to compensate and had gone down nose first, spilling uniformed bodies everywhere.

He was but one indiscernible Huey among the rest of the Calvary's birds that flew over the tall grassy fields of Vietnam, some already ablaze from various mortars and air strikes.

Suddenly, a glowing light on his right side caught his attention, and the bird next to him exploded.

"Mayday, mayday!"

The scream over his headset rattled his eardrums and brought on a wince, as he watched the metal beast tumble to the ground and explode in a ball of flames. Then the one on his left did the same.

Knowing very well he was next, he slammed his foot down on the pedal, and yanked up on the collective fast enough that his innards leapt into his throat as the bird shot straight up, the whizzing mortar whizzed by underneath him and missed the skid by mere inches. It was the same move he'd actually pulled all those years ago, saving him from certain death.

But this time was different. He felt the projectile bury itself into underside of the chopper's belly, and panicked as the loud explosion rocked his bird. The heat in his back spiked so fast, it overtook him and his body instinctively hollered in pain. The fire washed over him, and it burned into his nerves enough to paralyze. He could no longer control the bird, and could only watch in terror through the cockpit windshield as the ground tumbled towards him. He was mere inches from nose diving into the earth when…

He sat up with a jolt, bug-eyed with terror and panting hard. It was a tense few moments as his mind raced. Had he crashed and burned? Died and gone to, well, wherever it was that you go.

Looking around with a quick dart of his eyes, his surroundings finally sank in, and the adrenaline spike began to cease. Vietnam was on the other side of the world; and he hadn't crashed.

This time.

He let out the breath he'd been holding instinctively and rubbed his eyes, hoping it would clear the disturbing imagery that still floated in his vision. It was just enough that he could glance at the clock. Oh-seven hundred.

He looked over at the blanketed balled up figure on the other side of his bed, and checked for any signs that he'd disturbed her. Finding none, he sighed in relief, then a smug grin crept over his face, figuring she'd been exhausted from...

"Ready for another trip to the moon?" He leaned over to nuzzle her neck to wake her, and found his nose buried in an empty heap of blankets and pillows instead. "What the...? Nice one, 'Ol Blue Eyes," he muttered to himself, then quickly hopped out of bed.

Stepping out into the hallway, he turned to head down the stairs - then out of the corner of his eye he noticed the door at the end of the hall slightly cracked open. An open door wouldn't typically cause surprise, but this particular door hadn't been opened, well... ever. They'd simply pass by it, pretending like it didn't exist. He immediately walked over and pushed it inwards ever so slightly, just enough to peek his head in.

"...Ace?"

"Yeah, I'm in here. G'mornin' Tiger."

He ventured in slowly, then looked around the one room in the house that was still foreign to him. "What's all this?" he asked, looking down at what was essentially Wild Ace history strewn out on the bed - Uxbridge blue uniform, flight suits, ribbons, medals, pictures…

"You don't know, Pongo?" she teased.

"You know what I mean." He smiled back. "I'm surprised to see you in here of all places."

"I woke up early and remembered I still have a speech to write." She held up the pad of paper and pencil in her hand. "Needed a little inspiration and thought, what could be more inspiring than all this?"

"I can think of one thing," he replied almost instantly, then pointed to the ceiling and what was beyond it.

As A.J.'s eyes lit up, the phone rang.

"Gah, hold that thought. I'll get it," he told her, then flew downstairs and picked up the phone. "Chez Parker, Murdock speaking!"

"Hey! Mornin', Romeo. You sound like you're on the mend."

"Hey, Faceman! Juliet says thanks for standing her up at the hangar last night."

"Tell her I'm sorry, but I had to cancel my date."

"You? Cancel a date? What on earth would make you do something like that?"

"Something's up with B.A., Murdock. Ever since he came back from Chicago last night, he's been holed up in his room and hasn't said a word to anyone."

"Well, did you ask him what's wrong?"

"Yeah."

"...And?"

"And like I said, Murdock - he won't talk to anyone. Not me, not Hannibal. I'm starting to think something bad happened while he was out there."

"What do you mean - like more apartment sleaze? B.A. would've easily taken care of that."

"Murdock!" Face scolded, his tone colder than ice. "Get your head out of the damn clouds for a minute and think about what I just said!"

Murdock thought hard, then he suddenly felt the color drain from his face. "I'll be-" he choked back a sob, overtaken by grief. "I'll be right there." He dropped the phone on its cradle and felt his heart drop just the same. Wasting no time, he darted for the coat rack and grabbed for his hat and jacket.

"A-" his voice cracked hard, then he cleared his throat and yelled across the house, "Ace! I'll be right back. I'm taking the bird for a hop next door!"