Meanwhile, Hannibal had taken Face's 'Vette and was following the ambulance as closely as possible, looking for an opportunity to pull them over and rescue his intractable lieutenant. He thought about letting them get to the VA and then posing as a doctor and pulling Face out as Murdock, but the chances of Face being instantly recognized as NOT Murdock were pretty good. To say nothing about being recognized as someone who had pulled the real Murdock out of the VA - a lot. Hannibal was always amazed that Face could keep going in there without his various covers being blown.
Damn! Hannibal shook himself out of his thoughts as he realized he only had about a mile until they pulled into the VA. He floored the gas pedal, swerved into the next lane and around the ambulance. If he couldn't pull them over somewhere, he'd have to beat them to their destination.
The ambulance driver flicked a switch on the dash, cutting off the wailing lights. He hadn't really needed the siren but he hated driving through rush-hour traffic when he didn't have to and running the siren meant he got to go home just that much earlier. A block later, he pulled into the bay and turned off the ignition. He made it to the back door before he felt a blow to the back of his head and the world faded to black.
Hannibal pulled the driver into the bushes next to the ER bay and laid him down gently. He hated knocking the poor guy out but he was out of time. He smoothed down the white medical coat and righted the fake ID badge he was wearing. Face always had fun little extras in the trunk of his 'Vette. Pulling his coat closed in front to hide the 9mm wedged in the waistband of his pants, Hannibal opened the ambulance doors and exhaled sharply as he got a good look at Face, all trussed up and tied down.
Hannibal recovered quickly as the second orderly jumped out. Curt eyed the white-haired doctor, assuming he'd come out to help. "Where's Bill?" he asked, turning to slide the gurney out.
"He clocked out early." Hannibal smirked as he pushed the barrel of his gun into the orderly's back. "You got the wrong guy, pal. Now climb back in there and untie him. Face, let's go!" When no answer was forthcoming, Hannibal shouted, "Double-time, Lieutenant!"
Face moaned softly and Hannibal turned the orderly around to face him. "What's wrong with my friend?"
Seeing that there was an actual gun in the crazy doctor's hand, the orderly stammered, "Well, uh, I uh...he was ranting and raving about not being Murdock. So, I, uh…"
Hannibal's eyes narrowed and he raised the gun a little. "What'd you give him?"
The orderly swallowed nervously. "Just a little Ativan."
Hannibal groaned.
"The guy was really worked up. It'll wear off by tomorrow, man. I didn't know he wasn't Murdock, honest!"
"Just help me get him out." Hannibal ordered, putting his gun away.
The two men pulled the gurney out and lowered it to the ground. Hannibal grabbed Murdock's jacket off the foot of the gurney and Curt helped carry Face over to the Corvette that was parked on the other side of the bushes. Hannibal tipped the seat back and they set Face inside. "Bill's in there." Hannibal said, pointing. "Give him my apologies for the headache he'll have when he wakes up."
The Corvette drove off with a wave from the crazy doctor, leaving the bewildered orderly to stare in shock. A minute later, he checked on Bill and then ran for the building to get help.
So much for that conversation we need to have, Hannibal thought, glancing over at his unconscious second-in-command. Face still had the straight jacket on, but Hannibal had untied the arms before he'd driven off.
Switching lanes and checking his mirrors to make sure they weren't being followed, Hannibal picked up the car phone and dialed the hotel room.
"Yeah?" BA's gruff voice answered.
"Bug out, Sergeant. MPs should be alerted to your location any minute now. Where's Murdock?"
"He right here, man. The lady took the tickets and left a while ago." BA did not offer any explanation as to why Murdock hadn't gone with her.
"Alright. You and Murdock get out of there and meet us at Charlie 4."
Hannibal hung up the phone and contemplated the situation. Face being so careless with his freedom, or lack thereof. Murdock and BA not following orders. It was time for some obstacle course correction. Hannibal spent the remaining drive time using the unconscious Face as a sounding board for dreaming up new and interesting structures for their next training session. By the time Hannibal pulled into the garage of the seaside condo in Redondo Beach, he was almost giddy with visions of mud pits, rope swings and trip wires.
Face started to stir as soon as Hannibal cut the engine. "Come on, Face. Let's get you inside."
"Han-bal?" Face's eyes rolled back into his head before he'd finished mumbling. Hannibal sighed. BA and Murdock wouldn't be there for at least another hour.
Hannibal walked around to the passenger side door and pulled Face out of the car and into a fireman's lift. "Alright, Lieutenant. Let's go." He really hoped they didn't run into anyone in the elevator. How he was going to come up with a plausible excuse for carrying around an unconscious man who was wearing a straight-jacket, he had no idea. As it happened, luck was on their side and they made it inside the condo without incident.
Hannibal laid Face down on the bed in the master bedroom, took his shoes off and covered him up with a blanket. He briefly considered removing the straight-jacket but he was still miffed at Face's huge lapse in judgement and decided a reminder of said lapse when he woke up wasn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, even though his hands were trapped in the sleeves, Face could still move his arms if he wanted to. From the look of things, it would be quite a while before he was conscious again anyway.