Hannibal sits by the phone, waiting impatiently. He's tapping his foot, trying to get a rhythm going but failing miserably. He knows he should study the script in front of him but he just can't be bothered today. Today is the day Murdock and Cassie leave Maggie's house. He knows Murdock will get Cassie home safely, but he still needs the confirmation. It must be the father in him, he thinks. The past few weeks have been driving him insane. He just wanted Cassie to be nearby so he could look after her.
It was driving him nuts and he thinks BA and Face noticed. The team is a little quieter now. There have been no missions so far, which is a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because that means they didn't have to pull them off 2 members short. A curse because everybody could sure use the money. Hannibal stared at his phone, foot still tapping.
Ttrrrrring. Ttrrrrring. Ttrrrr... "Aquamaniac speaking."
"Hi old man."
Hannibal smiles at his telephone. He's silent for a moment. It's good to hear that voice.
"I'm happy to hear you as well, John." When they were alone, she always called him John. Not many people did that. Not many people were allowed to do that.
"I didn't say anything yet, now did I?" he quipped back.
"Yeah you did."
Another silence.
Hannibal breathes deeply and moves on. "I'm glad you made it home. How's the shoulder?"
"Still a bit stiff and sore but I'm out of that straightjacket Maggie put me in."
"Ha!" Hannibal laughs at her tone. It's exactly what he would've said. "And Murdock?" he asks.
"He just left. He had a cup of coffee here and went straight to the VA. It's been a long time for him to be without treatment."
This gave Hannibal pause. Usually Murdock isn't out of VA for long. Usually their missions only last a few days. He didn't realize his pilot might have had trouble in the past few weeks.
"How was he?" he asks.
"He was fine. I think he kept himself together for me. Billy started to appear more towards the end. He was really happy to go back this morning, yet he insisted he'd make me a cup of coffee before he left."
Hannibal smiles. "Always the gentleman."
A chuckle comes from the other end of the line. "Yeah, something like that."
From outside he hears the assistant director yell for him through the trailer door. "I gotta go love. I'll let the guys know later today. Stay at your place for now, we'll meet next week on Tuesday at 900 hours in the usual place. Rest for now. That's an order."
Now he hears a snigger, he's sure of it. "Aye aye Colonel. See you next week John."
"Dismissed." he says as he hangs up the phone. The assistant director is banging on his door, yelling something about his schedule. Hannibal opens the front door to face this exasperated man, but not even the rant about stars and tardiness can wipe the smile from his face.
"Let's go kid." he tells the guy when he takes a breath in between tirades. "We don't wanna be late now do we?"
