Hannibal and B.A. were sitting at the kitchen table in the house Face had scammed for them in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They were playing War, the game with cards, and the rules had already been bent way out of line as they argued back and forth.

It was going on noon and the two men were getting hungry when Face walked into the kitchen, absently rubbing his stomach. "Any of you going to start some lunch?" He asked, leaning against the fridge.

B.A. and Hannibal exchanged a glance and Hannibal looked back up at Face. "Why don't you go drag our great pilot in here, Face?"

Face shook his head, going over to the cabnit and pulling down a glass. "He's still in bed. Must be exhuasted, I didn't wanna wake him. Last night was long."

Hannibal watched as Face filled the cup with water from the faucet. "Well he still needs to eat!"

"No way. It's so much quieter without that crazy fool running his mouth every waking minute." B.A. argued, slamming his cards down.

Face grinned as Hannibal tried to discreetly lean over to see B.A.'s hand of cards and the bigger man noticed, quickly grabbing his cards and shoving them under the table while glaing feircely at Hannibal.

"Well, just go check on him. Ask him if he's hungry." Hannibal ordered, sitting back in his chair.

Face shrugged, setting his cup down and went for the stairs. He opened the door to the room Murdock was using and spotted the pilot still in the tangled blankets and sheets, his head under the pillow.

Face went and sat on the edge of the bed, shaking Murdock's shoulder. "Hey, Murdock. Wakey wakey."

The pilot stirred, lifting the pillow from his head and squinting up at Face in the sunlight coming through the window. "Huh?" He groaned.

"Are you hungry? It's time for lunch." Face asked, grinning at Murdock's wild hair. "Buddy, you look like Medusa." He added.

Murdock moaned and covered his lower middle with his arms, geting a pained look on his face. "I think one of her snakes bit me."

"Meaning?" Face asked, confused.

Murdock wimpered, sitting up then gasping loudly, his eyes going wide then squeezing shut. Face automaticaly came forward, trying to move Murdock's arms. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Looking intently at Face, Murdock spoke through his teeth. "It hurts so bad."

Face nodded, trying to figure it out. He took Murdock's arm and gently pulled him, trying to get him off the bed. Murdock resisted, his arms wrapped tight around his abdomen. "Murdock, please. We need to see what's wrong. Come on!" Face pleaded, pulling a little harder.

Murdock finally gave in and let Face pull him to his feet, where his shoes were still on. He had collasped right into the bed, clothes and all, falling asleep instantly.

Using Face as a support to keep himself up, Murdock let Face slowly help him down the stairs and into the kitchen where Hannibal was losing the card game and trying to make up new rules just so he wouldn't lose.

"You can't do that, Hannibal! That's cheating!" B.A. snapped, glaring at Hannibal then noticing Face and Murdock. "What's wrong with the fool now?"

Hannibal turned and his smile faded. "Murdock alright?"

"I dunno, he isn't sure what's wrong. His lower abdomen seems to be causing him pain." Face told them, feeling Murdock swaying.

Hannibal left his chair and came over to them, placing a hand on Murdock's shoulder. "Show me where."

Murdock shook his head, looking down. Hannibal shot a look at Face and the conman grabbed Murdock's arms and tried to pry them away as gently as he could. The pilot was in too much pain to put up a big fight, but his hands remained locked in tight fists. "Where?" Hannibal asked again, his voice soft and fatherly.

Murdock pulled a hand free and unlocked his fist, pointing to the right side of his lower abdomen and Face noticed his hands. When Hannibal asked how much pain he was in, Face took hold of Murdock's wrists and held them up, getting Murdock to uncurl his fingers and they saw the blood coating his nails where they had dug deep into his palms. There was a trail running down his hands. Face and Hannibal met eyes, Hannibal having a slight idea to what Murdock's pain was from. He turned to B.A., who was staring at them. "Get your keys, B.A.. Murdock needs to go to the ER."

"You know what's wrong?" Face asked as B.A. hurried to get his keys.

"I think I do." Hannibal answered as they went out towards the front door.

Hospital

They were allowed into the small examination room when Murdock was called back. He had the nervous pilot sit on the bed and sat in his chair. "What's wrong here?"

Hannibal cleared his throat, doubting Murdock wanted to speak. "He was having some serious pain in the lower abdomen, right side."

The doctor nodded, already having an idea. "I see. Murdock, is it?" Murdock looked up through his pain and nodded. "Right. Murdock, can you please stand up?"

Murdock drew in a deep breath and slowly slid off the bed, his arms never moving. The doctor got out of his chair and stood in front of the pilot, lifting his hand. "I'm going to just give you a poke, and you need to let me know if it hurts when I do."

Face turned slightly and muttered to the other two, "He could stop talking to him like he's a child."

Hannibal gave Face a look and turned back to the doctor. He got Murdock to move his arms and used his first two fingers to pushed into Murdock's lower right side of his abdomen. When he pulled back out sharply, Murdock yelped, tears falling out of his eyes, and his arms wound themselves back around himself.

The doctor looked back to the others, his guess confirmed. "Your friend has Appendicitis. It's not uncommon, you've most likely heard of it." They all nodded and the doctor went on. "But, we will need to remove his Apendix right away, if we don't, it will burst and that will cause a more serious problem. If you'll come with me, sir, I'll dicuss the procedure and how long he will need to stay in here." He addressed Hannibal, heading out the door. Hannibal looked at each of the team before following the doctor.

Murdock wimpered again, falling against the bed and sliding downwards. Face jumped forwads, catching him before he hit the floor. "I wouldn't, hospital are germ infested."

B.A. came over and helped Murdock to his feet, growling slightly when the pilot fell against him.

"I'm scared. I've never had a sugery before." He muttered in a shakey voice.

Face stood on the other side of Murdock, putting an arm around his shoulders and hugging him. "You'll be fine. It's a simple surgery. They do this all the time."

"Yeah fool, you'll be back to your annoying self in no time." B.A. grimanced slightly at his words but Murdock offered a tiny smile.

"I just hope these are real doctors, not some crazy patient posing as one." Face winked at the memory and Murdock glanced up at B.A., who was glaring down at him, still holding that incident against him.

The doctor and Hannibal came back in, a nurse accompanying them. They motioned the three over and they walked Murdock between them to the doctor. The nurse helped Murdock onto the stretcher and Hannibal clapped his shoulder, smiling down at him.

Then they went to find seats in the waiting room.

A few hours later

"He's just so...competitive. He just wants to win." Face was saying as him and B.A. watched Hannibal and another waiting person playing over one of the side tables a game of cards that B.A. and Face couldn't follow anymore. Hannibal and B.A. had been arguing about their previous game, B.A. accusing Hannibal of his cheating and Hannibal denying when a curious girl who had been waiting for her sister to get out of her foot surgery had overheard and challenged Hannibal to a game.

Face and B.A. stared with annoyed looks as Hannibal agreed and they were getting into the game, Hannibal trying to cheat again.

"It's like his plans. He always needs to win somehow, he's too used to winning." B.A. insisted, leaning back in his chair.

Face snorted, resting his elbow on the arm of the chair and his chin in his hand. "Makes sense."

A doctor came into the room and read the name of his clipboard. "H.M. Murdock?"

The three of them, Hannibal excusing himself from the game, were over to the doctor in seconds. "How is he?"

"He's fine, woke up somehow a few minutes ago and asked for you guys. He's a bit loopy, but that's just the medicine. you can see him if you wish." The doctor told them, already leading them down the hall.

Once they were outside Murdock's room, the Doctor left and Face bounded in first, swooping down on Murdock with a huge smile and giving him a light punch on his shoulder. "Hey buddy."

B.A. and Hannibal came in, Hannibal girnning at the pilot, who was grinning back crookedly. "Hiya guuuuys! Been waiting long?" He asked, his eyes following Hannibal as he sat in the chair by the bed. B.A. went over to the bench under the window and plopped down. Face remained at the bed side, noting Murdock's hands with had been wrapped from his nails digging into the palms.

"Not too long. How are you feeling?" Hannibal asked, patting Murdock's arm.

Murdock shrugged, looking over at the other two. "I don't feel my lower half. It's weeeeird! Wanna see the stitches?" He asked and before they could object, he threw the covers back and lifted his hospital gown to the side, revealing the stitch of black string holding it. Face half smiled, half winced and took hold of Murdock's gown, pulling it back down and covering him back up with the blankets.

"He's worse when they drug him, too." B.A. muttered, shaking his head. Murdock laughed loudly and tried to sit up.

"Bosco's still here? Heeey B.A.! Come give your favorite pilot a huuug!" Murdock raised his arms and spread them out.

B.A. looked horrified and used his eyes to urge Face to do something. Face smirked and faced Murdock. "Ole B.A.'s not in the mood for a hug, Murdock. I'll give you one, instead."

Murdock shrugged and Face lowered himself into the embrace, trying not to pull at the stitches and hugged Murdock. Once he had pulled back, the pilot smiled up at him then looked over at B.A..

"But I still outta hug him, cause it's the least I could do for getting my hand blood all over your seat when I was getting in."

"What?" B.A. nearly shouted, jumping to his feet.

Murdock justed howled with laughter, ignoring the other two telling him to quiet down.