"So you see, Decker," Hannibal finished explaining things to the other colonel, "Our only crime here is trespassing. Since most of the misappropriated funds for the V.A. have already been spent, there wasn't much we could do, except bring everybody to the house, feed them the General's food, let them use his hot water, his beds, so that by some stretch of the imagination, that money can still go towards the use it was supposed to have in the first place. When Bullen comes back from Waikiki, he'll find his icebox broken into, whatever money he has laying around here gone, but that'll be the bulk of it. You know as well as I do that there's damn little we can do with corrupt generals because we're in no position to personally do anything with them ourselves, and we can't turn them over to any higher authority that would believe us for two seconds. All we can do is hit him where it's clearly going to hurt and that's his wallet."
Decker had agreed to sit down and be quiet and patiently listen while Hannibal explained their side of what was going on, and now that Hannibal had had his say, Decker got up and responded, "Smith, I think this is the most insane stunt you've ever pulled, and I'm counting the time you posed as a World War One veteran and locked me and Crane in that upstairs room at the movie theater."
"Thank you," Hannibal grinned, "I'm quite proud of that one still myself. Look Decker, you and I, we can continue our race to the death after the holidays, just us, no innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire, nobody winding up hurt because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Smith…" it was becoming obvious Decker didn't quite know how to handle this situation, and Hannibal decided to use it to his advantage.
"You should know your warfare history, even World War I took a Christmas off, remember, Decker? You're old enough, you practically could've been there yourself."
"Very funny," Decker dryly remarked, still he thought about it and he shook his head and said, "It kills me to do this."
"If only that were true," Hannibal chuckled.
"Alright, Smith, you've got a deal," Decker told him, "I don't rightly agree with what you're doing but I agree even less with the fat cat generals skimming money for our walking wounded to further their own luxuries."
"Thank you, Decker, I appreciate it."
Decker pointed a finger at him and warned him, "But if you ever breathe one word of this to anybody, I'm going to hunt you down and gut you like a fish."
"I wouldn't expect any different from you, Roderick," Hannibal told him, "If word got out you actually had a heart, you'd be ruined."
Decker scowled at him.
"Come on," Hannibal nodded towards the door that would take them out of the general's office and back out into the crowd, "Let's go join the party."
Decker followed Hannibal out of the room and said to the other colonel, "There's just one more thing I want you to try and explain. What in the hell is Murdock doing here?"
"Murdock?" Hannibal repeated, "Well that's simple, Decker, he's here as a guest too, you see we took the liberty of liberating he and a few of his friends from the psychiatric ward out for the party, and just as well. When we came back from 'Nam, we made sure he was put in the best V.A. hospital in the state, and even it too has started to fall victim to Bullen's scale tipping."
"You really expect me to believe that?" Decker asked.
"Well it's certainly true and I can prove it," Hannibal looked out into the crowd and called out, "Murdock!"
The pilot worked his way through the chains of guests and said, "Yeah Hannibal?"
"Murdock, where're the other men from the hospital?" Hannibal asked.
"In the kitchen," Murdock said.
"Who all came with you for the party?" Hannibal asked him.
Murdock counted on his fingers, "Mike Sampson, sergeant in the Army till he was shipped home in 1971, nervous breakdown, Jerry Bateman, lieutenant till he was sent home for medical reasons in 1970, primarily stepping on a spiked coke-can that thankfully the grenade did not detonate upon the removal of his foot from the spike. Robert Mitchell, 'nother sergeant, 'nother nervous breakdown, 1972, same time as me, Daniel Watkins, sent back from 'Nam in 1968 courtesy of a souvenir booby trap, luckily his leg sustained little permanent damage, after that there's Justin Bell."
"Any relation to Leo Bell?" Hannibal asked, "Guy who could shove whole jars of peanut butter in his mouth?"
"Don't think so, Hannibal, this guy has enough trouble swallowing soup," Murdock replied.
"Go get them, let them all come say hi to Decker," Hannibal said.
"Hannibal, ain't they been tortured enough?" Murdock asked.
"Point taken, but do it anyway."
Murdock shrugged his shoulders, disappeared into the kitchen and came back a minute later with over a dozen men varying from their late 20s to their early 40s, one by one they all came up and shook hands with Decker, except one who insisted on standing on his head to say hello to the colonel, though every single one had some little quirk to them that made Decker generally uncomfortable.
"Okay," Decker turned to Hannibal and told him, "I believe you." Breaking one crazy person out might make sense if Murdock was truly involved with the A-Team's missions, but there wasn't any way in his mind he could justify breaking out this many mental patients if it wasn't legitimate.
"Well if you still wouldn't have," Hannibal replied, "You could always call the doctor who okayed their release for the party. You see Decker, these are the men who have no homes and no families to come see them for Christmas, or to check them out for the holiday. So we couldn't see anything wrong with taking them out for a couple days and giving them a nice time before they go right back to the hospital they've come to know as their home for more than the last decade."
"I hate to admit it but I suppose you have a point," Decker said to Hannibal.
"So," Face said as he and B.A. warily came up to them, "We okay here?"
"I think everything's fine, Lieutenant," Hannibal answered, "I don't think our old 'friend' here's gonna blow the whistle on us…" he turned back towards the colonel and asked, "Will you, Decker?"
Decker's only answer was, "You get everybody out of here the day after tomorrow," he shook his head, "I never saw a thing."
"Well that's great!" Murdock said as he came up to them, and he asked Decker, "Why don't you invite your wife over to join the party?"
Decker turned to the captain uncertainly and answered very certainly, "I don't have a wife."
"How 'bout your kids then?" Murdock asked.
Decker replied even more certainly, "I have no kids."
"And we know you don't have any friends either," Hannibal pointed out, "At any other time of the year that's just status quo, but at this time of the year that's just sad. Oh well, consider yourself invited anyway. The party will be starting soon, in the meantime we're getting the food and the drinks ready for everyone."
A light bulb must've gone off over Decker's head, he looked to Hannibal and said, "As long as everything of value in this place is already being used up in the general's absence, why don't we take advantage of the situation and crack open the good liquor as well?"
Hannibal grinned and responded, "You know, Decker, I think there could be hope for you yet." He nodded his head towards the back and said, "Come on, let's go see what's left in the larder. When Bullen comes back he's not going to have any idea what went on here."
Face waited until the two colonels were out of the room and he asked B.A. and Murdock, "Am I the only one who's just a little disturbed by Hannibal suddenly getting so chummy with Decker?"
"Man's on the jazz, that's all there is to it," B.A. said.
"Oh I don't know about that," Murdock spoke up, "I think he's just fully getting into the Christmas spirit…Decker of course needs a little more work in that regard but…who knows? Maybe there's hope for the man yet."
"That's a pretty tall order, Murdock," Face said.
"Well," the pilot replied, "This is the season of miracles after all."
A couple hours later after everybody had dinner, the party was started, and Murdock slipped out of the room long enough to put on his Santa Claus suit and he slipped back down to the first floor without anyone noticing, and entered the living room carrying a large sack on his back.
"Ho-ho-ho! Me-her-her-ry Christmas!" he addressed the children, and as they all gathered around him in surprise and awe, he explained, "Hope nobody minds, I decided to save myself the trouble and just come in the front door this time."
If one Santa Claus at the party thrilled the kids, it was anybody's guess what two did, but at that very moment, another Santa entered the room, this one with a much larger build, a much gruffer 'ho-ho-ho', and who seemed to stand a head over the first Santa, and who had a notably darker complexion under his snowy white beard.
"B.A.?" Murdock whispered.
The second Santa Claus's response was to stomp on his foot and grumble under his breath, "Quiet you crazy fool..."
"Oh well," Murdock groaned as he curled his toes on that foot, "Guess two Santa Clauses are better than one."
By now the kids were doubly excited, only then for things to take another turn as a third Santa Claus entered the room, this one who actually seemed to look the part, not too big, but not very skinny either like the first Santa, who had a very deep throated, genuine sounding 'ho-ho-ho, Merry Christmas!', but what made this one really stick out was where the first two Santas wore white gloves, this one wore very familiar black gloves.
"Oh well," Murdock said under his breath, "Guess 3 Santas is better than 2."
The kids certainly seemed to think so, except by now they really didn't know what to think or which Santa to go to first. The third Santa looked at the other two and said skeptically, "Hmmm, looks like the whole Kringle family turned out for this party."
Apparently so, because at that time, a fourth Santa entered the room, this one looking much like the third one, except maybe a bit more genuine in some regard that wasn't there with any of the others. And at this one, the first three Santas looked to one another to try and figure out who this one was.
"You don't think…" Murdock started to ask.
But, without even finishing his question, they all realized no it wasn't, because at that time, Face entered the living room from the kitchen, and he seemed equally puzzled by the 4 Santas as the first 3 of them did. And seeing him standing separate from the 4th Santa made the other 3 look to each other again, trying once again to figure out who it could possibly be. While they tried to figure it out, the 4th Santa went up to all the children and he addressed them all by their first names as he set his bag down and reached in and took out a present for all of them.
"You don't think…" Murdock decided to try again.
Hannibal just shrugged and replied, "On Christmas Eve? Who knows? It could very well be."
"But that's not possible," B.A. said.
"Well," the 3rd Santa said, "Who else could know all the kids?" Then he remembered Deakins, and looking around the room he couldn't see that old man anywhere. He backed out of the room and looked through everybody present for the party and didn't spot Deakins anywhere, and then…
"Is something wrong, Santa?"
Hannibal looked up and saw Deakins coming down the stairs.
"Well if you're here," Hannibal said, "Who's that man in the next room?"
"What man?" Deakins asked.
"There's somebody here dressed as Santa Claus who's not us," Hannibal told him.
Deakins considered it for a moment and said, "Maybe it's the real…"
"Yeah I know, I already considered that possibility," Hannibal said, "Hey, aren't you going to join the party?"
"I was just on my way," the older man replied as he came down the stairs.
The two men rejoined the others in the living room and joined a circle of adults in awe who watched as all their kids received presents from the mysterious Santa, and as far as toys went, they all seemed to get exactly what they wanted.
"I hope that everybody here gets exactly what they want for Christmas," the mysterious Santa told everybody, and addressing the kids he explained, "It pains me so to find at any time that I've missed anyone on my list, so I often have to rely on help from people closer to the source to pick up where I inevitably slack, unfortunately sometimes that doesn't always work either. So this year I decided to first visit all those who I've unfortunately missed in past years, I know the other children will understand, the ones that for whatever reason have always been fortunate enough to never be missed on the list." He looked to the other 3 Santas and added, "And what very fortunate children you all are tonight, to receive a visit from not one Santa Claus, but from four of them, it's only the most special children so lucky to have such a Christmas Eve visit."
Hannibal didn't have any idea who it was behind that white beard and red suit, but he had the fullest confidence that this man could do justice to the real McCoy quite easily. Gradually as the kids opened all their presents from the 4th Santa, the other 3 got to step up and offer their own presents, and as they did, the 4th Santa picked up his sack and headed for the door, but before he reached it, he turned around and came back.
"I nearly forgot, silly me," he said, and addressing the adults this time he said, "I know the traditional rule is that Santa only gives to the children, but this is one time he's making an exception." And he reached into his sack again and this time took out large handfuls of money and tossed it in the air, sending dollar bills flying everywhere. And now, everybody was especially shocked and at a loss for words or even explanation. The Santa continued to reach into his bag and pull out money and toss it in the air, and after the initial shock wore off, the adults started to collect it. Face bent over to pick one up just to see what it was this guy was throwing around, and he was surprised to see that it was a $100 bill. He looked at some of the others that had landed on the floor and hadn't been snatched up and saw it was $100s and $50s and $20s.
"A very Merry Christmas to all of you," the mysterious figure said as he made the last batch of money airborne and tied his bag shut again and this time headed out the door.
"After him!" Hannibal said as they charged for the door, "Let's find out where he goes."
It took five seconds for the Team to reach the door and rush out onto the porch and down the steps, and somehow in that five seconds, their mysterious visitor had completely disappeared. There was no sign of him anywhere, no vehicle anywhere for him to get away in, nor any sound from one that was just leaving, and they couldn't even find any footprints in the dirt of the yard.
"Where'd he go?" Face asked.
"He's gone!" B.A. said as he pulled off his Santa beard, "Man just…"
"Disappeared!" Murdock realized.
"How's that possible?" Face asked.
Hannibal removed his own beard and hat and turned to his Lieutenant and assuming a somewhat straight face, asked him, "What's the matter, Face? Don't you believe in Santa Claus?"
"No," Face answered.
"Don't seem to matter," Murdock said, "He sure seems to believe in everyone else."
"Hey," B.A. thought of something, "Where'd he get the money?"
One light bulb went off and was divided between four heads.
"Back inside," Hannibal told them, "We're going to take the house apart."
So, back inside they went, and they took the unoccupied rooms one by one and searched them all, and finally in the master bedroom, they found what they were looking for, a previously concealed wall safe, now plain in the open for everyone to see, as it stood wide open, and the inside as vacant as the general's own heart itself.
"I knew there was a safe around here somewhere," Hannibal said, "But we never had time to look for it."
"Somebody not only looked for it, they found it," Face said, "However much money was there is gone now."
"Well what do you know?" Hannibal folded his arms and looked very amused, "Guess even ol' Santa's got a touch of Robin Hood in him. Always knew there was something about that guy I liked."
"Hey," Face said, "How much money do you think he gave them?"
Everybody who had collected some of the money had been hesitant to put it down, actually let go of it for fear it would disappear, but Hannibal and Face had convinced everybody to put it on the table long enough for them to count out the full amount. Some of them had to have it all but pried out of their fingers for the count, but after a few minutes, both Face and Hannibal reached the concluded amount at $30,000. Not enough for anybody to do very much with given it would have to all be divided up amongst 50 or so people, but, it would be enough to at least let them make first month's rent on a new place to stay, get some food for them and their kids, spent wisely it would be enough for everybody to do something with in making the first and hardest step towards getting them and their children off the streets.
"I can't believe it," Doris looked about ready to faint, "I just can't believe it!"
"I'm having trouble believing it myself," Face told her.
"Who was that man?" Susan asked.
"Santa Claus," was Hannibal's answer, very deadpanned and straight faced.
"I guess so," she replied, "I'm with Doris, I can't believe it!"
Decker scratched his head and skeptically asked Hannibal, "That another one of your doings, Smith?"
"If it was," Hannibal replied, "I would've done it myself. Besides, how could he disappear before we even got out the door?"
"You don't really believe…"
"Decker," Hannibal turned to the colonel, "Right about now I'm not too sure what I believe."
"Well then…" Decker looked around the room and responded, "I guess that makes two of us."
Hannibal looked at him and said confidentially, "But the part I can't help wondering…what're the odds this general would only keep $30,000 in his home safe?"
Decker looked at him curiously but didn't respond to the question.
"Somehow I get the feeling this fellow's work has truly just begun," Hannibal told him.
As the night wore on, Face seated himself at the piano in the dining room and after testing the keys to make sure they were still in tune, tickled the ivories to a few Christmas tunes, which quickly got everybody joining in to supply the vocals, suddenly everybody was now especially full of the Christmas spirit. Even the kids, who refused to let go of their new toys for anything the same way their parents had to practically be forced to let go of the money to count, joined them in the dining room and though it became most crowded, everybody gathered around close and joined in the caroling. When that ended, everybody helped themselves to the food that had been set out, and the adults helped themselves to the rum punch Murdock had concocted and to both Hannibal and Face's surprise, it was actually good, while the kids drank themselves full of a more kid friendly punch that had been laid out for them consisting of frozen grape juice, lemon-lime soda and sliced oranges.
"What's the matter, Murdock?" Hannibal asked, noticing the disappointed expression on the pilot's face as he tasted his own punch, "It seems fine to me."
"Yes…" Murdock had to admit that much, "It's just that it occurred to me, I must've gotten it mixed up…it was gin punch Grandma always made, not rum."
"Oh well," Hannibal shrugged, "Write it off as a delicious accident, you can always make the gin punch tomorrow."
"Hannibal," Face thought of something, "Exactly how are we going to get the rest of the presents in here for the kids when they're sleeping by the tree tonight?"
"Don't worry, Face, I have a plan, as usual," Hannibal told him.
"God help us everyone then," Face replied.
Hannibal glared at him through one eye and eventually decided, "Oh well, it's Christmas, I'll let him get away with that."
The next morning when everybody got up, the kids were thrilled to discover that another batch of presents awaited them out in the hall. Today was the busiest day for the kitchen because both ovens were put to work cooking turkey and ham for everyone for the big dinner, and in addition to that there was plenty of stuffing and sweet potatoes and everything else traditional to be prepared.
"Well I'd say this Christmas has been a large success," Face said around noon as they took a break from the cooking to eat.
"You don't know the half of it," Hannibal told him, and addressing everybody in the room he explained, "It seems that friend of ours from last night has been quite busy. I got off the phone with Doctor Richter and he told me that somebody left an anonymous package at the V.A. last night…$50,000 so they can get their repairs made. He'd been in contact with colleagues at some of the other local V.A. hospitals, who all received rather large anonymous cash donations sometime during the night." He looked to Decker, who had stepped into the room long enough to hear the conversation, and said to him, "I told you Bullen had more money socked away than just what was given out last night. And our friend in the red suit seems to have been busy at work making sure the rest of it went where it was originally supposed to go in the first place."
"Well, looks like this is going to be a merry Christmas for everybody," Murdock said.
"I'd say so," Hannibal agreed, "But especially for all those people out there. For the first time in months or years, everything's finally coming together for them."
"It certainly is," Deakins said as he entered the kitchen, "I'm sorry, I couldn't help overhearing."
"What's up, Lloyd?" Hannibal asked.
Deakins handed him the share of the money that he'd been given last night, "Mr. Smith, I really can't accept this."
"Why not?" Hannibal wanted to know.
"Because I don't deserve it," Deakins told him, "It gives me no pleasure to admit that I've still been lying to you."
"What about?" Hannibal asked suspiciously.
"Well…about most everything," Deakins told him, and to further explain himself, he grabbed at his face and pulled off latex extensions, removing his well-worn features, and peeling back his whitening hair and revealing a full head of dark underneath.
"You see, Mr. Smith, my name is not really Lloyd Deakins, it's Mike Nixon."
"The millionaire?" Face asked with a long and surprised face, "I've heard about you from some of my associates, you're…"
"About 20 years too young to be Lloyd Deakins is what," the man explained, "You see, Mr. Smith, I'm afraid I've been giving you a dose of your own medicine, like most of the people out there, I've too heard the stories about the A-Team, about your loyalty tests for clients to determine who is sincere and who is not."
"I don't get the gag," Hannibal said.
"Well it's no gag really, you see you stumbled upon the wrong person at the wrong time," Nixon explained, "My father was a World War One veteran and I know firsthand the cold treatment his generation received once they left the battlefield. So when I started to become a success in my business, I decided I was going to put my money to use where it was most needed, naturally the veterans and the homeless came to mind first, but there was still the question of who would be sincere and who would take the money and run, be it the individuals themselves or the organizations that are supposed to aid them?"
"I follow you so far," Hannibal said.
"Well I decided I would live among them for a while and find out who was who, and who would benefit most," Nixon told him, "That's what I was doing with these people when you came up to us and told us about this party. I did want to find out if you were being sincere, so that's why I came, and when I found out you were, I did intend to leave, but when you wouldn't let me, I decided to stick this out and find out how far your own sincerity went. And I'm very pleased with what I saw. You and your friends are truly one of a kind, it mattered not that we were dirty and poor and on the street, it didn't matter who or what anybody was, even a prideful and shamed liar and coward…you still took all of us in, gave us a place to stay, a place to get clean, get warm, get something to eat, to feel human again, and to top it all off, you were willing to help everyone here find employment to get them back on their feet. I've seen more charity in you and your friends in the last 48 hours than I have in many of those aid organizations in years. I think you have a very good idea, but I have one of my own I'd like to interject."
"We're listening," Hannibal replied.
"You were willing to find jobs for everybody, no matter how long it took for some, and whoever our friend was last night, he gave everybody enough money they could get a couple months' rent to stay someplace…well, I'd like to help make things easier on them, so I'm going to take a cue from you."
"Oh?" Hannibal asked.
"You see," Nixon explained, "Even though you didn't live here, you were willing to do all the work, get everything cleaned up and ready, cook all the food, see to everybody's needs…well, my own home is a 20 bedroom brownstone in itself…I'm going to invite everybody here to stay until they get enough money stored up that they can afford places of their own and not have to worry if they come up short in a month. The ones that you can find jobs for in this area will clearly fair the best in that regard, but I'm sure between the two of us, we can find enough open employment positions for the rest that they too can build up some savings before taking your promised jobs across the country, and in the meantime they'll have a place to stay rent-free while they get their lives back in working order. I've lived among these people, as one of these people for two months, Mr. Smith, it's a very eye opening experience of what all we take for granted and how easily so many of them could be helped but sadly aren't. And if this plan gets off the ground and works, when everybody here has spread out with their own jobs and their own homes, then I'll return to the streets and find others to bring back to my home. You see, I too have no wife or kids, why then such a big house? Well, in the beginning it was little more than just a chance to say 'I could, I have that kind of money now', but I firmly believe now it can be put to very good use."
"You're a good man, Nixon," Hannibal said with a large smile on his face.
"Boy there's a sentence I bet nobody thought they'd ever hear," Face murmured to himself.
"You're also one hell of an actor, you had us all convinced," Hannibal added.
"Naturally, I had to be in order to be accepted by the others as one of them," Mike said with a small sad smile, "It wasn't hard, if you'd seen my father during the last years of his life, it wouldn't take much for you to learn it either."
"So when're you going to break the good news to everybody?" Face asked.
"It's Christmas," Nixon said, "I think they've had all the miracles for one day that they can take in…tomorrow when everybody's getting ready to leave I'll explain it to them."
"Think they'll forgive you for tricking them?" Hannibal asked.
The younger man looked at Hannibal and said to him, "You know, somehow, I don't think they'll mind it too much when the truth comes out."
Hannibal just chuckled in response.
One by one everybody else left the kitchen and just left the two colonels to talk amongst themselves.
"Well," Hannibal told Decker, "One more day, 24 little hours, then we'll all be getting out of here, these people will start to really get their lives back, and then you can resume chasing us around the city to your little black heart's content. Of course none of this has convinced you one iota that we really are innocent, that would just make too much sense, wouldn't it? Also take into consideration, the man who put you on our case is this same General that would steal money from his own people, the wounded soldiers, to finance his own extravagant lifestyle."
"I don't like it anymore than you do, Smith," Decker said.
"But politics are politics, right?" Hannibal asked.
Decker snorted and remarked, "Something like that."
"Like I said, Decker," Hannibal said, "There's nothing we can do to this guy to do justice to the people he's screwed…meaning you're still going to be taking orders from him, the very same man. How does that grab you?"
Decker wasn't quick to answer, he still seemed to be thinking about it himself.
"I don't care what you do believe about us, Decker, we did not rob that bank."
"That really isn't the point, you did break out of the stockade," Decker told him.
"Wouldn't you?" Hannibal retuned, "Look Decker, we don't have to like each other, we don't have to get along whatsoever, but can you really live with yourself knowing what kind of man you're taking orders from when you chase after us all the time?"
Again, Decker didn't answer. Then he said to Hannibal, "Just because I've got to try and catch you, doesn't mean the next time we won't mysteriously lose track of you somewhere between the two points."
Hannibal smiled and replied, "Welcome to the dark side, Decker," and chuckled, to the other colonel's chagrin.
"Yes sir," Hannibal continued, "Bullen's going to have a fine mess trying to figure out who was responsible for all this when he gets back, especially given his security system's been out of order this whole time. And first thing tomorrow we're calling in a cleaning service so by the time they finish, he won't be able to find a gnat's fingerprints, let alone ours."
Out in the dining room they heard music playing again and went to see what it was. Murdock had all the kids gathered around by the piano and they all were singing:
"Christmas comes but once a year,
Now it's here, now it's here,
Bringing lots of joy and cheer,
Tra-la-la-la-la!"
"Amen to that," Hannibal said.
A/N: I cut it close, but I got done in time for Christmas after all, I hope everybody enjoyed it. Second A/M: The song lyrics at the end are from the title cartoon, "Christmas Comes but Once a Year" from 1936. Merry Christmas everybody!