Hannibal stands on guard as a beaten down car arrives. It's BA and Face, looking very worried.
"Couldn't scam a better car Face? That piece of junk nearly falls apart just by looking at it." Hannibal quips, as the car stops and the door opens.
"Faceman was in a hurry Hannibal." BA grunts as he exits the vehicle. "Escaping the police wasn't easy this time. Now where is she?"
Hannibal leads the two men to Maggie's house. "She was shot twice and she lost a lot of blood. She's in bed right now and she's awake. You can go and see her."
He goes to the guest room, and he hears two "Hi there Maggie"s behind him from Face and BA. He opens the door and says "Cassie, the guys wanna see you." The smile on her face tells the whole story. She's one of them now.
Face and BA almost push Hannibal out of the way. Murdock quickly takes a step back to let the guys come closer. BA and Face stand on either side of the bed, looking down on Cassie.
"Hi guys." she says.
"Hey girl I am so happy to see you!" BA starts. He wears his usual gold, but nothing is more precious than the massive grin on his face. "We were so worried about you!"
Cassie lifts one arm as an invitation and BA carefully gives her a big hug. He puts her down gently.
"I'm fine guys. Could be a whole lot worse. I could be dead, but I'm not."
Face now came a little closer. "Don't you die on me kid." Then he smiled and kissed her hand. "You've no idea how worried we were."
Maggie entered the room. "This is a little much for the patient guys. I want you all out now, so I can change her bandages."
They all left the room and sat down in the living room.
"Hannibal, it was really difficult to lose the police this time. No van, no telephone, no nothing." Face starts. "It felt they knew who we were, because they seemed too well prepared."
Hannibal looks worried. "You think Decker talked to them?"
"Gotta be Decker man." BA chimes in. "I could've sworn I heard some military sirens right after we left."
"That's bad. We can't move Cassie, she needs to rest. Maggie wants to keep her here for a while."
Hannibal turns from his team with a thinking frown on his face. Face and BA look around for Murdock. He's standing before the door, hopping from leg to leg. Every muscle in his body looks tense. Face and BA look at each other. It's one of those looks with which you can fill an entire book. It speaks of history and knowing each other really, really well.
"Fool hasn't talked to Billy or been weird once." BA tells Face. "Something's wrong."
"Ya think big guy?"
Hannibal turns on his heels and rejoins the group.
"Hannibal, what's up with Murdock?" Face asks him. "He isn't acting like himself at all."
Their leader looks at both of his men intently. "It's Cassie. She took the bullets to protect Murdock."
Face gasps audibly and BA just grunts in surprise. They both look back at their pilot.
"That doesn't explain him though Colonel. He looks way to anxious for that." says Face. "It's not like it was his fault."
"They had everyone under control." Hannibal sighs. "Murdock missed that one guy still had a gun. He's beating himself up for that."
"Poor guy!" exclaims Face "He didn't shoot her!"
BA just goes to the pilot and puts 2 hands on his shoulders. Murdock jumps slightly. He hadn't heard BA approach.
"BA."
"He bud, come with us for a second." He coaches Murdock away from the door. The team looks him in the eyes. "It ain't your fault buddy. He shot and she jumped."
Murdock drops his gaze. "I should've caught the gun BA."
"You can find a should've on every cemetery Captain." Hannibal joins in. "Thanks to you, we won't find Cassie there as well. You saved her, you know."
Murdock seems to take this to heart. A small smile creeps on his lips. Satisfied his work is done, Hannibal changes the subject.
"Now, we need to move out guys." 3 pairs of eyes look up in surprise."Without Cassie."
They all start to protest at the same time. In the cacophony of sounds, Maggie comes through. "Hey, what's this?!"
She approaches with both hands on her hips. She looks rather furious to say the least. "What is the matter with you boys. If she hears you bicker like that, you think that's helping keeping her calm?"
Everyone looks at Hannibal, looking for a plan or an explanation.
"We gotta move guys." he repeats. "But we're leaving Cassie here. If Decker is close, we're sitting ducks here. And Murdock and Cassie will be compromised."
Silence follows that remark. Everyone understands why he's saying this, but nobody thought it would be this soon. Murdock looks up determined.
"I'm not leaving her Colonel."
Face's mouth drops open slightly. He's never heard Murdock refuse an order before.
"Explain yourself Captain." Hannibal stands just a little straighter, as if to remind Murdock who's in charge. To his credit, Murdock doesn't look away or back down.
"I'm staying with her Colonel. You guys go and do what you gotta do. I'm staying here to take care of Cassie. And when she's better I'll bring her home and go back to the VA."
Face and BA feel as if it's something neither of them have any say in. So wisely, they just take a step back and keep silent. Hannibal nods at Murdock.
"If Maggie agrees," he says, and looks at Maggie, "you can stay behind Murdock."
Maggie approaches the boys. "I'm fine with him staying here Smith." And turning to Murdock, she goes "Stay as long as you like."
Murdock smiles broadly, and salutes his commander. Hannibal looks at Face and BA. "We better go and say goodbye."
