Chapter 12
Face led Murdock outside of the VA and onto the grounds. The morning was mild, a typical California early November day. The dew on the grass sparkled as the sun peeked over the trees. They walked in silence, Murdock evidently still stunned that Face was there.
They had the grounds to themselves, except for a few maintenance workers repairing a broken sprinkler head. When they were out of earshot of the workers, Face finally spoke.
"Hannibal and BA are over there, just behind the trees."
Murdock nodded numbly. Face wasn't sure if that was due to shock, too many meds, or something else he dared not think about. He certainly looked as if he hadn't been sleeping; there were dark circles underneath his eyes to attest to that fact.
Face led Murdock towards a picnic table situated in the shade of the trees. Hannibal was seated on one of the benches, dressed in jeans and a plaid flannel shirt—one of the more tolerable selections from Murdock's bag. As they drew closer, BA stepped out from behind a tree.
"Murdock." Hannibal spoke first, studying him. He reached out and briefly placed a hand on his captain's uninjured shoulder.
"It's good to see you." BA said as he approached the table.
Murdock only nodded at first, as he stood in front of them, with Face by his side. "I . . .I didn't really expect to see you guys here. It's nice of you to come. . ." He glanced at Face, then back at BA and Hannibal.
He'd dreamed about seeing them every night. Usually one of two things would happen in his dreams—Hannibal would express disappointment in Murdock's failed escape attempt or Lynch would roll up with a fleet of army green vehicles full of MPs. If it were a particularly bad dream, both would happen. He'd almost been successful at pushing the dream aside during his waking hours. Now, as he faced the rest of the team, forgetting the mistakes he'd made was impossible. He looked around nervously, afraid of what he might see if he met Hannibal's eyes.
"Have a seat." Face urged Murdock. Hannibal's inquisitive glance made him check his watch. "I got him out with no problem. The orderly on duty knows he's out on a walk, so we should have plenty of time."
"Good job." Hannibal replied, taking a seat across from Murdock at the wooden picnic table. "How's your shoulder?"
"It's better." Murdock avoided Hannibal's eyes, and instead began running the fingertips of one hand over the surface of the table. Then, without explaining, he moved from the bench so he could inspect the underside of the picnic table. He continued the process with both benches.
Face and BA glanced at Hannibal, not quite understanding. Hannibal shook his head at their silent questions and simply waited for Murdock to finish what he was doing.
"Just checking." Murdock murmured, giving them a quick glance. He still didn't see any blame or recriminations in their eyes, like he'd expected. "You just don't know who might be listening, you know." He was trying to explain; he had so much to say, but the right words seemed frozen somewhere in his brain, and they wouldn't come out.
The threads of concern Face had been feeling since the phone call with Murdock began to form into a solid fabric of worry. Checking the picnic tables for bugs seemed logical, but it also seemed too paranoid somehow. "It's okay. We've been really careful." He promised. "No one should know that we're even in town."
Murdock's gaze skated quickly over to him. He gave a nod and then looked back down at the surface of the table.
There was a long pause as they all struggled for something to say. Murdock was definitely not himself right now. The furtive glances, the nervous behavior, the silence—none of this was normal for him. They dared not ask the question that was foremost in their thoughts.
"I'm sorry. I know this is all my fault." The words that had been echoing in Murdock's mind for over two weeks burst from him like a breath that had been held for too long. He closed his eyes, afraid to hear what they would say to him.
"Your fault?" Hannibal asked in surprise too loudly, causing Murdock to jump a little. "What could possibly be your fault?" He asked again, making sure to use a softer tone.
"It wasn't a good plan. I should have seen that." Murdock explained. "I should have seen everything that could have gone wrong. I should have done a better job. . ." His eyes were downcast, focusing on his tightly clenched hand. "I know what you came here to say."
"Murdock." Hannibal watched the anxiety play across Murdock's features, and felt an echoing ache in his own heart. He understood. This whole time, Murdock had been playing and replaying the unsuccessful escape attempt—torturing himself about what he could have done differently. Hannibal could still see Murdock's pale face in his mind, as the pilot apologized for failing them after he had been shot. He reached out and placed a hand on Murdock's arm, when his voice didn't work to get the captain's attention. Their eyes met.
"I want you to hear me on this. Nothing is your fault." The colonel said, trying to pierce the veil of distraction that had settled over Murdock. "Plans fail for no reason whatsoever, except that the jazz just wasn't with us that day. You did your best and none of us blamed you. We've been worried about you, that's all. We came here today to check on you."
"Yeah. One for all, all for one." Face said, giving Murdock a smile.
"You stuck by us. We're gonna stick by you." BA said. He laid a hand on Murdock's left shoulder. "You didn't think we were gonna leave you, did you?"
Murdock shook his head. "Um…I don't know what to say." He whispered.
"You don't gotta say nothin'." BA told him. "You did more for us than anybody else. It just don't make sense to be apologizin' for that."
Murdock nodded in reply. Finally he spoke, trying to change the subject because if he thought any more about what they'd just said to him, he knew he'd lose his composure completely. "Um. . .so how did you get here? I saw a report that Face was in Alabama filling up the tank of a Camaro only a few hours ago."
While BA patrolled the perimeter, Face and Hannibal filled him in on the escape, emphasizing that the bag Murdock had left them had made the entire escape possible. They had spent almost all of the money he left them, and the guns had provided a much needed measure of security. And then there were the clothes.
"Those clothes!" Face remarked. "Murdock, the stuff you left us has got to be the ugliest clothing I've ever seen. I've been dying to ask. Where did you find stuff like that?"
Murdock shook his head, smiling as well. "Aw, I don't know. I can't give away all my fashion secrets, Faceman. I'm glad it helped though. I tried to think of everything we would need."
"You did a great job." Hannibal replied. They went through and described all the disguises they'd used. They went into greater detail as they both realized the medicine Murdock needed most was knowing he'd been able to help them after all.
After their story, Murdock told them about the visit from Lynch's men, including the lies they'd used to try and get information. Hannibal listened intently while Murdock explained what he remembered of the two hour interrogation.
"They tried, but I didn't tell them anything." Murdock said. "After a while, they put pictures of a crashed van down on the table, and told me that there had been an accident. I got real worried. They said Face was the only person who made it out." He glanced from Hannibal, to Face, and then to BA who had walked over to listen. "But I didn't say anything. I just quit listening. I don't remember too much of what they said after that. I tried to pay attention, Hannibal, but I just couldn't hear what they were saying."
Murdock paused a moment, then gathered himself and went on. "Eventually they gave up. I'm so glad you guys are okay. I mean, I was going crazy worrying what had happened. If you hadn't called me when you did, Face. . ." Murdock shook his head, unwilling to go back and relive the thoughts that had been spinning through his mind.
"And they were here on Lynch's direct orders, from what you could tell?" Hannibal asked with a steely glint in his eyes.
"Yeah. They said they were, and all the paperwork I saw had Lynch's name on it." Murdock nodded.
Face glanced at BA while Murdock answered Hannibal's questions. He noticed with alarm that BA was clenching his fists, which was always a prelude to one of his angry outbursts. In a minute, he'd be growling. He motioned BA away from the bench as Hannibal continued to glean information from Murdock.
"Don't upset him, BA. Keep it together." Face whispered. There was no need to distress Murdock any more after what he'd been through at the hands of the Lynch's goons.
"I'm gonna kill Lynch. The man better hope I don't get my hands on him, Face, 'cause I ain't likely to let go." One of BA's fists was clenched inside the other, as if BA were trying to keep his hands from destroying something in lieu of Lynch.
"I know. I'll be right there to back you up, but just keep it together in front of Murdock." He searched BA's eyes, looking for a promise that the big guy would keep himself under control. BA nodded after a moment, and let out a big sigh as he returned back to the table with Face.
"What happened?" Murdock began looking around, noticing their return.
"Nothin'. Thought I saw some maintenance guys comin' this way, but they're workin' on that flowerbed beside the buildin'." BA said, feeling guilty about the lie. But there were maintenance men working on the flowerbed. That much was true.
"Oh? You're sure we're okay?" Murdock stood up, a little unsteadily, and began to scan the area. "Maybe you guys should go." He said uneasily.
"That might not be a bad idea, Hannibal. He's been gone an hour and a half." Face said. "Much longer and they're going to start wondering . . . and looking."
Murdock looked at the three of them, feeling a real, actual pain in his heart. These were his friends, the people who knew him best in the world. They'd seen so much together and each of them had become a part of him in some way. He didn't want them to go, but they had to. They would be safer. He could feel his face start to betray his emotions and he looked down quickly, making an effort to mask his expression before anyone could notice.
"We'll be back, soon." Face promised. "Trevor will call and keep you up to date." He briefly placed a hand on Murdock's shoulder.
Hannibal had come around the table. "Don't believe anything you hear from anyone that Lynch sends. If something happens, we will contact you. If you don't hear it directly from us, then you know it's a lie. Understand, Captain?" Murdock nodded.
Hannibal went on with a smile. "I'm proud of how you've handled yourself, but then that's nothing new."
"Gosh, I feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz." Murdock quipped weakly. Saying goodbye was proving to be so hard. He turned to BA. "What advice do you have, Lion?"
"Nothin'." BA replied, and then reached out to give Murdock a gentle hug. "You just take care of yourself." Over Murdock's shoulder, he gave Face and Hannibal a glare that said they could keep any comments to themselves. Then he left, muttering something about going to get the van.
Murdock watched him stalk through the trees, not knowing what to say. "Uh… so when are you guys leaving LA?"
Hannibal glanced at Face, who nodded almost imperceptibly.
"Actually, Murdock, we all discussed it and thought we'd hang around LA for a while." Hannibal said.
Murdock's eyes brightened. "Really? You're going to stay here?" The joy was evident on his face, but then his eyebrows furrowed. "You're not staying here just because of me, are you? Because I'll be just fine. I have Billy to keep me company."
"No, Murdock." Face said. "LA's my hometown and a great place to live. We can't stay on the road forever -- we need to settle down somewhere. Might as well be somewhere warm." He shuddered as he remembered lying in the snow in Chicago. "You're just an added bonus." Face added with a smile, hoping Murdock would buy his story.
Murdock pondered what Face said for a moment, then his own bright smile returned.
"That's great, guys. Really great. Hey, Faceman! Maybe you could find yourself a girlfriend if you wear that shirt I got you!"
"That pink t-shirt that says 'Hi, I'm your Destiny?'" Face smiled broadly and shook his head. "Not a chance, Murdock. Not a chance."
6 weeks later…
Lynch mumbled to himself as he entered his dark office and flipped on the light. It had been another unproductive day trying to find leads on the A-Team.
Right after the escape, tips flooded in as to their whereabouts. Most were cases of mistaken identities, but you never knew when one might prove to be legitimate, like in the Chicago diner. At first, he thought there was nothing worse than chasing down incorrect leads. Now he knew better. Having no leads at all was worse.
It seemed as if the team had fallen off the face of the earth. No new alleged sightings had been reported in over 4 weeks, and additional interviews of both Mrs. Baracus and Captain Murdock had turned up nothing.
He was at a dead end.
Lynch sighed and tossed his hat on his desk. Then he noticed that next to the discarded hat, there was a box, wrapped in plain, brown paper and tied with twine. It was simply addressed to "Colonel Lynch", with no return address or postmark. Someone must have delivered it.
He pulled back his chair and sat down to open the package. He peeled off the paper to reveal a worn shoe box. Lifting the lid, he found a small toy pistol and army green matchbox car inside. Puzzled, he looked to see if anything else was included.
At the bottom of the box was a white index card. It read "Merry Christmas, Lynch" in black marker.
It was signed "The A-Team."
The End