Face was pulled forcefully to his feet by Gianni's two muscular brutes. Lacking the strength to stand on his own, they held him up as his head lolled forward.

"Who are you?" the mob boss demanded.

"Go to hell," Face rasped.

"Wrong answer." Gianni nodded at Rico.

Rico took a step forward and lifted Face's head up to meet his eyes. "I told you that wasn't your name." He held onto Face's hair, taking great joy in the pained expression as he cocked his other arm back and pounded it into Face's abdomen.

"Ah," Face gasped and instinctively tried to double over only to have his neck snapped back by Rico's grip on him.

"I'll ask you one more time…who are you?"

A voice from outside the room answered, "We're the A-Team."

Face heard Hannibal's voice and was energized knowing that the team was near. "And I'm a member," Face smiled at Rico before ramming his knee where the sun didn't shine.

Rico's scream of pain was drowned out by a barrage of gunfire. Face was dropped and he fell to the floor in a heap as the mobsters turned over the table and took cover behind it.

Face crawled over to the corner of the room, curled into a ball and covered his head with his arms as the fireworks went on about him. The noise was deafening, that when it stopped he didn't notice at first for the ringing in his ears. But then he felt a hand on his back and peeked through his arms to see Murdock kneeling beside him.

"Face…it's all over, buddy…you're safe now."

Face looked past Murdock to see Morandi's mob standing with their hands in the air. Their pistols had been no match for the team's automatic rifles.

"B.A., watch them," Hannibal said.

"Right…they ain't goin' nowhere."

When Hannibal approached Face the first thing he noticed was that he was still curled up in the fetal position. Murdock was rubbing his back and talking to him softly.

"Captain, help B.A. tie those clowns up."

Murdock nodded and gave Face a final pat before standing.

"You should ask pretty boy about what happened when he was tied up," Rico sneered.

"Shut up, fool, 'fore I tie your lips together!" B.A. growled.

Face felt the bile rise to his throat and he started to gag.

Alarmed, Hannibal got on his knees. "Get them out of here," Hannibal ordered, figuring it would be easier for them to move than for his injured friend.

Once the room was cleared, Hannibal turned his complete attention to Face. "Hey, kid, they're gone now."

"Amy?"

"She's fine…it's you I'm worried about. How badly are you hurt."

"M'okay." Face tried to push himself up but gasped as pain shot through his side.

'No you're not,' Hannibal thought, but instead he eased Face down and flat onto his back.

"Argh," Face grunted as his body was straightened out.

"Sorry," Hannibal apologized while taking off his jacket, rolling it up, and putting it under Face's head as a pillow. "But I need to check you over and this is the easiest way."

Hannibal went from head to toe mentally cataloging Face's injuries, the worst of which appeared to be his arm and the burns to the soles of his feet. He was also way too hot to the touch. "Besides the obvious, kid, where else does it hurt?"

Face was gritting his teeth and breathing raggedly through his nose. "Hip…right side."

It was rare for Face to so easily divulge such information. "How bad?"

They locked eyes and Hannibal had his answer before Face answered in a choked voice, "hurts bad."

"Let me take a look." Hannibal began to unzip Face's pants to gain access to the area when Face's good arm shot out and grabbed his wrist. There was sheer panic in his eyes as he pleaded, "No…don't…please."

Hannibal's radar went off; he had seen this look before and it wasn't one caused by physical pain.

Face saw Hannibal's eyes flash with recognition and he quickly schooled his features and dropped his arm. "Sorry…go ahead."

Hannibal didn't look convinced. "You sure?" Face nodded. Hannibal decided not to press the issue now, but something had happened to spook his lieutenant so badly. He tucked it away for later and continued, "Okay…let me know if I'm hurting you."

Face tensed as Hannibal finished unzipping his pants. 'This is Hannibal,' he kept reminding himself. As his pants were slowly lowered Face again grasped Hannibal's wrist, but this time it was from the pain. "Ahh," he hissed.

"Sorry, kid." The area over the hip bone was deep purple in color.

B.A. and Murdock walked in as Hannibal was examining Face.

"Ouch," Murdock winced in sympathy.

"You can say that again," B.A. muttered.

"Ouch," the pilot repeated. Under normal circumstances that would have elicited a grin from the con-man, but there was nothing but distress on the handsome man's features.

"Everything taken care of?" Hannibal asked, being vague on purpose.

"Yeah, man." B.A. noticed Face's anxious eyes on him waiting for an answer. "Ain't no need to worry no more 'bout nothin'."

'Except Face,' they all thought, but were surprised when he spoke next in barely a whisper.

"Can we…get outta…here?" His eyes rolled back in his head before he could hear the answer.

The trio sat next to the unconscious man contemplating their options.

"Maggie is about an hour north of here," B.A. offered.

Hannibal rubbed at his chin mulling the idea over. "To be honest, I'm afraid to move him. His hip might be busted and I don't want to do more damage."

"You thinking a hospital?"

Hannibal nodded reluctantly. "I don't see any other choice, Murdock. Aside from his hip, he's burning up meaning his arm is probably a mess under that bandage, and we're not qualified to care for those burns."

"You two stay here with Face. I'm going to go to the van and give Maggie a call…get her take on things."

Maggie's take was in alignment with Hannibal's and less than an hour later Face was being loaded into an ambulance. Luckily, there was a hospital in between their current location and Bad Rock in which a close friend of Maggie's was on staff. Once she explained the situation, the doctor was more than willing to help and immediately arranged for transport.

Hannibal stood outside the van giving last minute instructions. "I'll ride with Face. You two follow us. Maggie's friend is aware of our situation and assured her that he would care for Face himself and try to keep us out of sight." He looked back toward the warehouse. "What about Morandi and company?"

"They secure, man."

Murdock nodded in agreement. "Even if they manage to untie themselves, we locked them inside of a room and there is no way they can break through the lock the big guy used."

"Good. We'll call the cops to pick up the trash...that is after we let it rot for a few days."

The ride to the hospital was uneventful. Face had yet to regain consciousness and for that Hannibal was both grateful and worried at the same time. Hannibal stayed out of the way as one paramedic placed an oxygen mask over Face's mouth and started an IV while another monitored his vitals. He tried to read from their expressions how bad off they thought their patient was, but wasn't able to get anything.

As soon as they reached the hospital they were driven to a back entrance where a middle aged man wearing a white lab coat was waiting outside for them. He introduced himself as Dr. Moore before ushering them inside behind the already moving gurney.

"Wait here while I examine him."

Hannibal was about to protest, but the doctor disappeared behind the steel double doors leaving the three of them standing there.

For the next half-hour nobody spoke or even made eye contact. Hannibal paced, Murdock bit at his nails, and B.A. twisted the rings on his fingers. The room was so quiet that when the doors swung open they all startled and stood at attention.

"Gentleman...have a seat," Dr. Moore said.

"How is he, doc?" Murdock asked anxiously.

The doctor sat in a chair across from the trio. "Right now Templeton...Face...is a very sick man, but in time he should make a full physical recovery."

The way that the doctor specified "physical" recovery struck Hannibal as odd, but he said nothing as the doctor continued.

"His hip is not broken, but he has a severe bone bruise. Unfortunately, this can be just as painful and often takes months to fully heal. His arm is deeply infected and as a result he is running a high fever. I started him on a round of antibiotics and a resident is cleaning out the wound as we speak. He regained consciousness a while ago, but he is extremely weak due to the blood loss. He is also in a great deal of pain, not that he would admit to it. I started him on a morphine drip and gave him a local for his arm. I would have liked to sedate somebody with such injuries, however due to the degree of temperature elevation and his sensitivity to anesthesia, I don't want to risk it. The burns to his feet will need to be debrided, and even with the morphine I'm afraid this will be quite uncomfortable."

"Can I be with him for that?" Hannibal asked.

The doctor nodded. "It's against protocol and highly irregular, however in this case I'll make an exception."

"We are an irregular bunch, doc."

"Speak for yourself, fool," B.A. retorted.

The doctor smiled; he could see why Maggie was so fond of these men. They were a likeable group and seemed to care deeply for one another. It made what he had to say next extra tough. "There is one more thing. During my examination I discovered signs that he may have been sexually assaulted."

Even though Hannibal had suspected as much, hearing the words spoken out loud made him feel sick. Murdock's head fell into his hands and B.A. let out a string of expletives that was rare for the larger man.

After giving the team a minute to process the information, Dr. Moore added, "I'm so very sorry. My team and I will do our best to care for your friend. We are all aware of the good deeds you have done for others and want to help. This is a restricted area of the hospital and you should be safe here."

The doctor got to his feet prompting the others to rise as well.

Hannibal held out his hand. "Thank you...thank you for all you have done."

Moore shook his hand. "Just give me a few moments to check on my patient and set up. I'll have a nurse come get you when it's time."

Once they were alone again B.A. blurted out, "I'm gonna go back and tear them suckers apart."

Hannibal understood B.A.'s anger, but they had to stay calm and focused. "That's not going to help Face feel any better."

"Yeah, but it'll make me feel better!"

Murdock was rocking back and forth slightly. "Poor, Face. How much is one man supposed to take?"

Hannibal put an arm around both of his men; one brimming with anger the other with sorrow. But both hurting for their friend. "Face needs us to be strong for him. We will get him through this."

They stood linked together that way until the nurse came for Hannibal.

TBC…