When he first came to Face opened his eyes to a stranger leaning over him. His first instinct was to run or fight, but he was so weak that all he could manage to do was let out a moan.

"Templeton, my name is Dr. Moore. I'm a friend of Maggie and I'm going to take care of you. Your friends are right outside waiting for you...you're going to be just fine."

Fine? He wondered if he would ever be fine again. A combination of pain and memories hit him at once and he screwed his eyes shut tight trying to make it all go away.

"Templeton?"

"Face."

"Excuse me?"

"Call…me…Face."

"Face," Dr. Moore corrected himself, "How bad is your pain?"

"Can take it," Face answered, though his fists were balled and the veins in his neck were sticking out from the strain.

"I'm sure you can, but I'm just going to give you a little something to help you get some rest."

It wasn't long before Face felt like he was floating on air; the morphine had hit his weakened system hard. He barely felt a thing as his arm was tended to or as saline soaked towels were wrapped around his feet. The next thing he knew Hannibal was sitting by his side.

"Hey, kid, how're you doing?"

Face tried to form a response but he couldn't seem to get his lips in sync with his brain.

Hannibal's lips twitched into a smile. "That good, huh? The doc's gonna patch up your feet, now."

Face came back down to earth in a hurry as Dr. Moore began excising skin from the soles of his feet. Hannibal felt sick just watching as he pulled away the dead tissue with forceps and then used a scalpel to slowly cut it away bit by bit. Face reached out for something to hold onto and Hannibal's hand was there waiting.

Face's whimpers of pain were tearing at his heart. "Squeeze my hand, kid," Hannibal soothed wishing he could magically take the hurt away.

The pain in his feet took him back to when Rico was burning him. His breathing started to accelerate and his heart began to beat furiously.

Hannibal saw that look of fear he had seen in the warehouse. He grasped Face's chin with his free hand and turned his head so they were eye to eye. "Face, look at me."

Face looked into the crystal blue eyes of his commander. "Han…bal," he gasped breathlessly.

"That's right…it's Hannibal."

"Hurts."

Hannibal stroked Face's hair paternally. "I know it does…just try to breathe…it will all be over soon." He kept up a gently patter of words until the procedure was over and exhaustion claimed him.

"I'm sorry he had to go through that," Dr. Moore said genuinely.

"That makes two of us." Hannibal still held Face's hand as he responded. "What happens next?"

"We'll get him settled in a room and keep a close eye on him. Our main concern is getting his fever to break and to ward off infection. You and your men can stay with him if you'd like."

'As if you could have stopped us,' Hannibal thought as the doctor walked away.

"Please…help me…stop…so hot…please…please…help…"

Face had been muttering incoherently for hours as he fever spiked. He was trapped inside the inferno that his body had become and he remained in constant motion struggling against both the physical and mental pain.

"Mommy…don't go…why mommy…why did you leave…please…mommy…"

They took turns sitting by Face's side and mopping his sweaty brow or placing cold compresses onto his forehead. At first Hannibal hadn't wanted to leave his side and it was only after B.A. threatened to "put him in his own hospital bed" that he gave in and let the sergeant replace him.

"Tired…so tired…can't breathe…so tired…so tired…"

It wasn't that Hannibal felt particularly comfortable playing nursemaid and caring for his injured man. Hannibal was a career military man; trained to be tough and strong and not show much emotion. It was hard for him to allow himself to be vulnerable and let his softer side show. But this was Face and Face needed him…his own feelings could take a back seat.

"Gotta get out…run…guys where are you…I need you…please…help…help me…"

It wasn't much easier for Murdock or B.A. to watch Face suffer and not be able to do anything more than hold his hand and talk to him softly hoping he could hear. But Face was their brother and would do, and had done, the same for them on countless occasions over the years.

"Don't touch me…please…stop…don't…no…stop…"

They could all see that Face was getting increasingly agitated. He was thrashing about in the bed; tears leaking out beneath his shut eyelids. His breaths were coming out in short gasps. By this point they had all taken vigil at Face's side listening numbly as Dr. Moore explained that unless his temperature went down, and soon, he could suffer permanent damage to his vital organs. It was then that they started to pray.

"Please…don't leave me…why do they always leave…don't go…I…I….I love you…"

The team had seen Face through his share of nightmares and fevered delusions over the years, but never once had they heard him utter the words "I love you". They looked at each other in shock wondering who he was referring to, but it wasn't long before they got their answer. Face's eyes opened wide and he bolted straight upright in bed.

"Amy!"

"Amy?" the trio repeated.

Face's body went limp and he fell back onto the bed, his head lolling to the side. He was drenched with sweat and deathly still…so still than Hannibal immediately put two fingers to his neck to check for a pulse. He let out the breath he had been holding as he felt it…fast, but steady. He put his other hand to Face's forehead and broke out into a smile. "Go get the doctor…I think his fever broke."

Hannibal, Murdock and B.A. stood right outside the door while Face was being examined by Dr. Moore.

"Face's outburst reminded me of one thing…Amy. We should contact her and tell her what's going on." Murdock and B.A. nodded as the colonel continued. "The doc says that now that Face's fever is down he is going to give him a mild sedative to help him rest. Why don't you two call Amy and then get something to eat."

"What about you, colonel?"

"Yeah, you need to eat too, man."

"Bring me back something, okay? I want to stay with Face in case he wakes up."

B.A. gave Hannibal a worried look. "All right. But you better get some rest or I'm gonna have the doctor drug you too."

"Yes, sir," Hannibal saluted sarcastically, but inside he appreciated the concern. "Now get outta here. But be careful and try not to draw attention to yourselves."

Murdock snorted. "Yeah, because B.A. blends in oh so well."

"Shut up fool before I blend you into the ground."

Hannibal shook his head and chuckled as the two argued all the way out the door; it was nice to have some normalcy amongst all of the chaos.

Murdock sat twiddling his thumbs in the passenger seat of the van while B.A. dialed the number yet again.

"Maybe she's in the shower?" Murdock offered after he hung up.

B.A. shrugged. "Yeah, maybe…but somethin' don't feel right."

"That something is probably your stomach...it's rumbling so much that it's rattling your chains."

"For once you makin' sense, fool. Let's get some grub."

They waited in line at the drive through at a nearby McDonald's when it caught Murdock's eye. "That's strange..."

"Ain't nothin' strange in here but you."

"No really...shouldn't that red dot have moved?"

"What you talkin' about?"

"Take your eyes off the menu and look."

B.A. looked to the spot on the tracking device that Murdock was pointing at and did a double take. "Huh? The 'Vette is back at the warehouse…but that can't be right."

"Unless Amy drove it back there."

"Now why'd she do a thing like that?"

"I don't know, but I'm thinking we should find out."

B.A. sighed giving McDonald's one last look. "I wasn't that hungry anyway."

"Hannibal, you ain't gonna believe this," B.A. said barging into Face's room.

Hannibal put his fingers up to his lips and then pointed to a still sleeping Face. He then motioned them to go out in the hall.

"Now what aren't I going to believe?"

Murdock began recounting what caused them to return to the warehouse and what they found upon arrival. "The 'Vette wasn't there."

Hannibal had his hands on his hips. "What do you mean it wasn't there?"

"It wasn't there," Murdock repeated. "Gone…departed…vanished…"

B.A. jumped back in but not before throwing Murdock a dirty look. "But the bug was in the dirt where Faceman's car was parked."

Hannibal ran a hand through his silver hair letting it rest at the back of his neck for a moment before responding. "And Amy has seen you place those bugs on other cars plenty of times."

B.A. nodded. "It would have been easy for her to remove it."

"Did you check inside to see if those creeps are still where we left them."

"I did, and they are," Murdock said. "I didn't want the big guy to go anywhere near them in his state of mind."

"I still say them suckers need to pay." B.A. pounded one fist into his other open hand.

"And they will, sergeant. As soon as Face is ready to move out we'll alert the authorities."

Murdock chewed at his lip in thought. "What I don't understand is why Amy would run again; she's safe from Morandi and company."

"I don't know either, Murdock." Hannibal looked through the door at Face. "But the bigger question is what are we going to tell Face?"

TBC…