"Coffee, Faceman?"

"Yeah…thanks B.A.," Face answered from the kitchen table.

B.A. started the coffee maker and then began rummaging around first the cabinets and then the refrigerator looking for anything suitable for breakfast. He really was just trying to avoid having to make conversation with Face. B.A. wasn't one to hold back what he was thinking; if he had something to say he would just say it. But with Face it was different and that made him uncomfortable.

B.A. was relieved when Hannibal entered the kitchen just as the coffee was ready. "Want a cup, colonel?"

"Yes, please." Hannibal sat down at the table across from Face. "Hey, kid…how are your new wheels treating you?"

Face blanched as immediately a vision of his Corvette…his old wheels…popped into his head.

"Face…you okay?"

"Um…yeah…sorry."

Hannibal wasn't convinced. "You sure…you got awfully pale there for a moment." Hannibal knew that Face was trying his hardest to pretend that everything was fine…and was doing a pretty good job at it too. But the fact remained that things weren't fine; Face wasn't fine and until he admitted it to himself and the others there would be an awkward tension between them.

"I'm okay." Face picked up the mug B.A. had just placed before him. "I just need some of this to wake me up is all."

"You need more than that, Faceman," B.A. muttered under his breath after giving Hannibal his coffee and walking back to hide in the refrigerator some more.

"Back to my question, how're you doing with the wheelchair?"

Face was back on his game as he flashed a smile and quipped. "It's great…I think I can get used to being pushed around and waited on hand and foot." In reality, he hated it. Due to his healing arm, he had to rely on one of the guys to push him. And since he couldn't stand on his feet whatsoever yet and only had the use of the one arm, he needed help doing almost everything.

"Well don't get too used to it." Hannibal raised his eyebrows and teased, "and that wasn't what you were saying a couple of days ago."

"Can you blame me?"

Hannibal shook his head. "Guess not."

Face had been confined to his bed for three days before Murdock came rolling into his room in the wheelchair followed by Hannibal and B.A. who were on foot. "Look what we got for you, muchacho…you're very own Face-mobile!"

"Uh-uh…no way," Face protested.

"C'mon…it'll be fun." Murdock hopped out of the chair and bowed before Face. "And I will be your trusty chauffeur."

"Can't trust you to be anythin' but crazy, fool. And 'sides, I'm the team's driver…I'll push you Faceman."

"Wait one min…" Face started but was interrupted by Murdock.

"No way, you have enough weight to carry with all that gold you're lugging around."

"Don't make me strangle you with some of this gold…I said I'd do the pushin'!"

Face looked imploringly at Hannibal who was trying hard not to laugh. "Colonel, do something."

"What…do you want me to push you?"

"Han-ni-bal," Face whined.

The colonel put up his hand in a conciliatory manor. "Okay, okay…boys stop fighting over who gets to play with Face. You can take turns. Now behave or I'll send you to your rooms."

Face sighed. "Very funny. Listen, nobody will be pushing me anywhere because I'm not getting in that thing. And even if I did, I would push myself, thank you very much."

Hannibal sobered and walked over to Face's bed. "Face, the doc said you wouldn't be able to put any weight on your feet for at least two weeks…that's ten more days. And if you use your arm you are going to rip the stitches. You can't stay cooped up in here for all that time."

'Wanna make a bet,' he thought. But Face realized if he was going to convince them that he was okay he would have to play along. So he conceded and, after Murdock and B.A. tossed a coin to see who would indeed go first, he painfully was helped into the chair for the first time.

"I could do without the car noises Murdock makes as he pushes though," Face groused, back in the present time.

At that moment the pilot came through the door whistling.

"And speakin' of the devil," B.A. said.

Murdock stopped and batted his eyes at the group innocently. "But I'm such an angel…I can even fly."

"Don't remind me," B.A. countered. "Is that the paper?"

"Sure is." Murdock tossed the rolled up newspaper onto the table and it opened up right in front of Face.

"I call dibs on the sports page," B.A. announced.

Face sat staring at the front page transfixed by the headline…and the author's name below it: Amy Allen.

"Face…what is it?" Hannibal asked.

But Face didn't hear him; he just kept reading until the words began to jumble together and he had seen enough. He hadn't even noticed that the others were now standing behind him and reading over his shoulder.

"Can…can somebody take me back to my room?" Face asked in a husky voice.

Hannibal put a hand on Face's shoulder. "I think it's time we talked."

Face shook off the hand. "I don't want to talk…I want to be left alone."

Hannibal turned Face's chair around so he was facing them. "We've let this go on long enough…"

"Oh…we have?" Face's eyes flashed in anger and frustration. "Last time I checked, we weren't kidnapped; we didn't have a lighter held to the bottom of our feet; we weren't tied down and…and…"

They could see the wall he had built up starting to crack before their very eyes; he was breathing hard and had broken out into a sweat.

"Let it out, buddy," Murdock encouraged.

'The only thing I'm letting out is myself,' he thought, inwardly cursing the fact that he was in a wheelchair and unable to storm out of the room.

"We just wanna help you, man,"

"There's that we again. Well, I am out of here." The adrenaline coursing through his veins got him onto his blistered feet and sheer will allowed him to take a few strides before the pain kicked in, his legs buckled and he fell to the ground.

"Face!" came the simultaneous cry as the team rushed to his side.

Face had curled into a ball on his uninjured side and was oblivious to the men kneeling by his side. He was panting and gasping for air but couldn't seem to get enough to satisfy his lungs. His world began to gray around the edges.

"He's hyperventilating." Hannibal announced the obvious.

Murdock got up and scrambled through some drawers until he victoriously held up a small brown paper bag.

"What you gonna do, crazy fool, make him lunch?"

"I'm going to make him breathe...consider it an oxygen sandwich." Murdock knelt back down directly in front of Face's head and spoke loudly hoping Face could hear. "I'm going to put this bag over your nose and mouth, buddy. Just try to breathe slow and deep."

Face struggled as he felt something press against his face. Gradually, however, he started to relax as the bag worked it's magic.

Hannibal jumped on the opportunity to speak while Face was a captive audience and unable to answer back. "Face, look at me." He waited until the hesitant blue eyes met his own before going forward. "You want to know why I say 'we'? It's because we are a team and we care about you. Don't shut us out."

As Murdock removed the bag Face felt vulnerable and exposed; he felt the tears forming in his eyes and the heat rising in his cheeks. A single sob escape his throat and he tried desperately to hold the rest back. But then he saw the genuine concern written all over his friends' faces and what had been cracks in his wall became breaks; the dam broke and his wall came tumbling down.

Once the tears started to fall he couldn't hold them back. He turned his head to the floor not wanting them to see him like that, but there was no mistaking the shaking of his shoulders and the soft sounds of him crying. Nobody said a word; they thought it better to let him finally let go of his pent up emotions.

Later, Face was so drained from his catharsis that he didn't even protest when B.A. scooped him up and carried him to the bedroom and placed him on the bed. He felt a cool cloth being placed onto his forehead and a blanket pulled up to his shoulders.

"You still with us?" Hannibal asked while he took Face's wrist between his fingers and checked his pulse. It was a bit fast, but given the circumstances, acceptable.

"Yeah."

"Can we get you anything?"

"Got a clock so I can unwind time?" Face answered sadly.

Hannibal exchanged worried glances with Murdock and B.A. who were positioned by the door before saying, "I wish I could do that for you, kid."

Face grimaced and closed his eyes as his earlier rise and then fall to the floor had taken it's toll on his already abused body.

"Tell me the truth…how bad are you hurting?" Hannibal questioned, adding in his head, 'inside and out'.

"Hurts," Face admitted. After the display he had just put on for the team he knew there was no point in hiding anymore.

"Do you want something for the pain?"

"No," Face shook his head. "But I'd like to talk…if that's okay?"

Murdock and B.A. thought that Face was only talking to Hannibal and made as if to exit the room, but Face stopped them. "Please stay."

Face began by telling them about his feelings for Amy while leaving out the intimate details. "But then she took off and...well...she was one more person to add to my list."

"Your list of what, man?" B.A. interjected.

"Rejection," Face answered with a sigh.

"But how did we miss all of this?" Murdock marveled.

"Hey, you don't call me the Faceman for nothing," Face forced a smile. "Anyway, I had moved on...or so I thought...until she called last week. Bam...all the feelings came rushing right back."

They listened as Face explained what happened after they left him and Amy alone in the condo; about how she had told him she was going to shower only to escape out the window. He was able to keep his composure until he got to the part where Rico had him down on the table.

"I...I couldn't move...could barely breathe." His voice shook, as did his hands, which he clasped together and started nervously wringing. "God it hurt...I...he..." Face stopped short as the memories forced a lump to his throat.

Hannibal, Murdock and B.A. felt lumps of their own growing. All they had wanted was for Face to talk; but wanting him to talk and having to listen were two different things.

"He…he didn't do…um…it," Face finally was able to get out. There was no need to explain what 'it' was. "Oh, he did plenty…and would have if given more time…but I guess I got lucky."

"Lucky?" Hannibal asked, not realizing he had said it out loud. Only Face could make such a statement about almost being raped.

"Lucky you guys got there when you did," Face explained. "You saved Amy…and I don't think I could have survived seeing her hurt."

"Correction, buddy…you were the one to save Amy."

"Murdock's right, Faceman. Amy was on her way out when we was comin' in."

"Can you repeat that first part again, big guy?"

"Say what, fool?"

"That I'm right." Murdock slung his arm around B.A.'s shoulder. "I cherish these rare moments."

"I ain't repeatin' nothing, but my fist is gonna repeat poundin' on your face if you don't get that arm off of me."

"Spoil sport," Murdock slunk down in his chair and pouted.

Face broke out into a genuine smile that felt unfamiliar to his lips of late. It felt good to talk and to finally release his pent up feelings. But now that his mind was a bit more at ease, he was becoming increasingly aware of the pain everywhere else.

Hannibal watched with concern as Face's smile was replaced with a grimace. "You doing alright, kid?"

Face opened his mouth; his standard answer of "fine" about to roll off the tip of his tongue. But the truth was that he was exhausted and his body ached from head to toe. So he settled for a shadow of his previous smile and answered, "if I look anywhere near as bad as I feel, you might have to give me a new name."

B.A. stood and walked over to the dresser where he picked up a small orange container and shook out two small white pills. "Take 'em."

Face accepted the medication along with a class of water. "So I do look as bad as I feel?"

"Worse," came the unanimous and simultaneous answer.

Face rolled his eyes. "Gee, don't sugarcoat things on my account."

"Swallow them, man…ain't gonna take no for an answer."

Face was secretly glad for B.A.'s insistence as it took away the embarrassment of having to admit to himself, and to the others, that he needed some pain relief. It wasn't long before the effects of the drugs started to kick in and his eyelids were becoming too heavy to hold open. "Think m'gonna sleep now," he slurred.

Hannibal led the trio to the door. "We'll be right outside if you need us."

Face nodded as they started to exit. "Oh…and guys?" He waited for them to turn around. "I really did love that car."

It was obvious that although Face referred to his prized Corvette, in his heart he was talking about Amy.

"Don't worry, pal," Murdock cheered. "There are plenty of cars in the lot."

"Hmmm…but none with a body like that," he mumbled as his eyes slid shut.

B.A. was the last out the door and he shut it behind him. "Looks like Faceman gonna be alright after all."

TBC…