Title: The Closet
Summary: A what happened next for the episode Mind Games.
Warnings: Spoilers for Mind Games
B.A. felt him falling and immediately stepped back and let his body slide carefully to the ground. "What the hell?" he exclaimed. "I didn't do nothin' but hold him."
"It's not your fault, big guy," Murdock consoled, patting him on the shoulder. He turned and went to the kitchen to get a wet rag.
Hannibal grabbed a pillow from the couch and placed under the fallen man's head. Looking at his watch, he placed two fingers to Face's neck and began to count. After a minute, he sat back on the ground and said, "it's fast…but not too bad, considering what just happened."
"But, what did just happen?" B.A. asked out loud to nobody in particular.
Hannibal looked at Murdock who returned from the kitchen and handed him the rag. "Do you know something, Captain?
Murdock pulled his cap off and ran a hand through his hair. "Not really. He looked real bad when he picked me up. He told me he was having nightmares again...but then he just freaked out. He was running like a man possessed...I just wish I knew what he was running from."
Face began to moan softly. Hannibal placed the cool cloth on his forehead and started talking to him softly. Face's eyelids fluttered open and he looked around in confusion. "What…what happened?" He tried to sit up, but decided against it and collapsed back as a wave of nausea hit him.
"Don't move yet, Face. You passed out in B.A.'s arms a few minutes ago."
"I what? How embarrassing," he groaned.
"Ain't nothin' to be embarrassed about, Faceman. I didn't hurt ya, did I?"
Something about B.A.'s downcast stance and anxious tone got Face's attention. He realized that in his attempt to handle things himself, all he had accomplished was dragging the others into it more. He had already asked Murdock to lie for him and now he had B.A. thinking that he hurt him.
He had to put a stop to it now and come clean. "You didn't hurt me, B.A. When you grabbed me it just reminded me of what happened at the V.A."
The three other team members looked at each other trying to gauge if someone had a clue as to what Face was talking about. Murdock and B.A. shrugged their shoulders at Hannibal prompting him to ask, "Face, what are you talking about?"
In typical con man style, he forced his fear aside and said with as much composure as he could muster up, "If I'm going to bare my soul, I'd rather my body not be on the floor."
Hannibal and B.A. each took a side and assisted Face off the floor. They could feel his body trembling as they took most of his weight and helped him hobble over to the couch. Once seated, he accepted the glass of water B.A. had gotten earlier and drank the whole thing straight down. Ironically, his throat still felt bone dry.
Hannibal, Murdock and B.A. sat silent, waiting for Face to begin. "When I got to the VA, they locked me in a closet stuck inside that straight jacket." Face felt his fear rising; his heart started to pound. "It was so d…d…dark. I couldn't move…or…or…breath," he stuttered. Even now, he was finding it increasingly difficult to get the air in or out.
"Oh no," Murdock groaned lowering his head. "No wonder you've been having nightmares."
Face nodded sadly. "Being kidnapped by General Chow the day before didn't help things. It's like it all came back to me at once…everything I had tried to forget…it all came back."
"Oh God, Face," Hannibal said, taking a seat next to his distressed Lieutenant. "We had no idea."
"My fault…not your problem," he said breathlessly.
"Ain't none of this your fault, Faceman," B.A. said angrily.
"Yes…yes, it is. I chose…a pardon…over you guys." Face slumped forward and was almost hyperventilating by this point.
Hannibal put a supportive hand on Face's back. "Slow your breathing down before you make yourself sick."
"Too late," he mumbled, reaching for the bucket in front of him. Hannibal kept his hand on Face's back as he heaved, while Murdock and B.A. slipped out of the room to give them some privacy.
Once Face's stomach stopped rebelling, Hannibal eased him back until he was laying horizontally on the couch. Exhausted physically and mentally, he closed his eyes in the hopes that when he next opened them he would find that it had all been a bad dream.
"Go to sleep, kid," Hannibal said. "We'll talk more later."
Later came in less than an hour's time when the three men heard a gut-wrenching scream coming from the living room. They jumped up from the kitchen table and scrambled toward the door nearly getting stuck in the door frame. B.A. held back allowing Hannibal and Murdock to go before him; B.A. hated seeing one of his friends suffer…especially Face.
Face was thrashing around on the couch, muttering incoherently. Hannibal and Murdock each stood on one side of the couch, ready to take action if need be. It had been years since they found themselves in this particular situation, but they knew what they had to do, and were ready.
Until he was fully awake, they always took extreme precaution when Face was having a nightmare. He could go from sleep to attack mode in a matter of seconds, completely unaware of where he was or what he was doing.
Hannibal looked at Murdock to see if he was ready, and received a nod in reply. "Face," Hannibal said loudly. "Face, wake up."
Face continued to moan and throw his limbs about wildly as if trying to fight off an attacker. He let out another scream and then became completely still.
"What in the…" B.A. said inching closer, his voice trailing off. This was unlike anything he had ever seen before.
