Hiya, I'm ShanaiElizaJane1999, and this is my first time publishing on this site, I'm usually just a reader on this site so bear with me and I'll try my best to upload regularly. I don't own the characters of The A-Team and I am not affiliated with Stephen J. Cannell. P.S, I don't know anything about the Vietnam war or the Army, or any Military things so please don't leave nasty messages about how it's inaccurate.
In 1972, A crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit, these men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem and no one else can help, and if you can find them maybe you can hire the A-team.
"Hannibal, Decker's on our tail. He dropped in on B.A's place an hour ago, Murdock's on his way. He says he'll meet us in the Midnight Café on West Pine Avenue as soon as he can get out of the V.A, he'll call us on the pay phone." Face said as he approached the colonel on the set of the newest Aquamaniac film, "Aquamaniac XII: Sixteen Depths Beyond Revenge".
"How did he figure out where we were this time?" Hannibal expressed his confusion as he chewed on an ever-present cigar in his mouth, the team had managed to stay one, two, three, four steps ahead of Colonel Decker.
Now he's more determined than ever to catch the infamous A-Team, and put them in a federal slammer for three decades once and for all, which the U.S Army have been trying to do for an entire decade since their escape.
"I told you we shouldn't've taken that mission for the head of the American Embassy, but Face man bein' the sucker he is, accepted it because of the pretty mama who was the daughter" B.A growled with a grimace on his face.
"Now B.A, I'm sure Face didn't bank on the fact the head of the American Embassy, a crucial part in the U.S Government and his pretty daughter was working alongside Colonel Decker and his MPs." The white haired colonel stated sternly with a bit of a hint of sarcasm.
Face was about to protest and defend himself when the sound of sirens neared their location. Hannibal, Face and B.A got into the van and sped off with Decker in pursuit of them, jumping closed bridges, speeding down down the back streets, dodging traffic, dodging pedestrians and jumping through billboards.
"Hannibal! We were too close that time, Decker could've caught us!" Face exclaimed, well to be absolutely fair, Face is right. It was way too close, they almost got caught the time they were in Bad Rock when they were being chased by Decker's predecessor, Colonel Lynch.
"He's on the jazz, man. Hannibal's always on the jazz and that means trouble, man. Shoulda been more careful with our client screenings" B.A pointed out with his distinctive gruff voice, his nickname stands for Bad Attitude which also stems from the fact that he has one of the worst conduct records in the army.
The van phone rang, and it was Murdock on the other end "Hey colonel it's me, I'm on the back table near the bandstand, by the wall of the cartoon drawings at the Midnight café. The owls on the wall have really interesting concepts of interior decorating and beaded wallpaper" a hint of a Texan twang coming through in his voice.
"Murdock! Now listen, did anyone follow you or did anyone suspicious hang around?" Hannibal managed to query sternly.
"Nah nobody came around, Hannibal. I took the route you gave me and there was no problem. By the way, I know a place where we can go for a while, where we won't be found. Carmel Valley out in San Diego, that's the last place the military will look" Murdock stated assertively and confidently.
"Alright, Murdock! Sounds like a great place to go, we'll come and get you then we'll head there" A couple of hours after picking up Murdock at the café, the boys were on their way Carmel Valley.
For Murdock, it wasn't just a road trip to escape from the U.S Army, it was a road trip to go and visit the one girl who's been a constant throughout his life; his best friend Lauren Audrey Xander, the girl of his wildest dreams unbeknownst to her.
"Where are we headin' man? This fool hasn't told us why he suggested Carmel Valley in San Diego or why it's so special, it better be nothing like his pretend dog Billy!" B.A growled annoyed.
"Yeah Murdock, Why are we heading to San Diego? What's going on?" quizzed Templeton Peck aka Face man. He's called Face due to his oozing charm and good looks, he's also the team's con man. He once managed to scam a bunch of scuba gear by going undercover as a magician.
"Well, Carmel Valley is also the place where my best friend Lauren lives. I'm worried about her, she hasn't written a letter, visited or called for our regular conversation for three weeks now, that's not like her." Murdock confessed with his head in his hands.
"Captain, we'll do all we can to help, is it the girl in the photograph you've carried around since joining the Army?" Hannibal sympathetically quizzed. Murdock nodded sadly.
"Murdock, why didn't you tell us that you were in love? We would've understood." Face put a hand on Murdock's leather jacket clad shoulder as he said this.
"Face is right Murdock, I may think you're a fool, I may think you're crazy, but when it comes to serious things like love, I got your back man, no doubt about it" B.A said in a supportive manner.
"Thanks guys, I really appreciate the support, I just need to find out what's goin' on ya know?" Murdock sighed, he's always considered Lauren the love of his life, he fell in love with her when they were both thirteen, he's been trying to find time to tell her but to no avail.
Elsewhere, we turn our attention to Lauren and her side of the story.
"Lauren, honey! It's your dad, can I come in?" Lauren's dad Elijah called out gently.
"Sure, come in Pop" Came a shaky voice from the other side of the door.
"How are you feeling sweetie, any better? Elijah asked.
"Yeah a little better, thanks Pop. I just wish these bruises and cuts that Webber and his scum henchmen gave me would heal faster." Lauren shook with every word she spoke.
"Sweetheart, you need to contact H.M, it's been three weeks since you contacted him. I know the last letter you sent H.M was the day of the attack but he'll be worried sick about you." Elijah gently hugged Lauren to calm her down. Since Lauren's mother died when she was 16, It's just been her and Elijah. but even though it was difficult they managed to get each other through it.
"I know Pop, I better get to writing him a letter, I didn't want him to notice that my handwriting was shaky and I didn't want to call him because my voice would've been stuttering, then he would've realised that I was upset." Lauren hugged into her dad as a sign of agreement.
There was a knock at the front door, Elijah answered it carefully, hoping it wasn't anyone looking to cause trouble.
Hannibal, B.A, Murdock and Face were at the door when Elijah answered it. "Hi, Elijah. Is Lauren here? We came to see her." Murdock explained apprehensively.
"Come on in, boys. Lauren's upstairs in her room. So, this is the rest of the famous A-team! Man, it's an honour to meet you, I'm Elijah and I'm Lauren's dad."
"Elijah, I'm Hannibal Smith, This is Templeton Peck and B.A Baracas. Murdock has told us how good a friend your daughter has been to him over the years" Hannibal shook Elijah's hand.
"It's good to meet you, Elijah. Thank you for letting us into your home and it's a mighty nice home too" Face gave a smile as he shook Elijah's hand.
"Good to meet ya, man. Heard nothin' but good things about Lauren" B.A gave a high five to Elijah and grinned.
"Well, if you wanna help yourselves to drinks and snacks, we got plenty in the kitchen" with a smile and a thumb pointed towards the kitchen, Elijah showed care and attentiveness to our heroes.
Footsteps came pounding down the staircase with a voice calling from there. "Pop? Who was at the door?" It was Lauren, she came with downstairs with her pink hair brushed tidily, fully dressed in a Marilyn Monroe t shirt, a pair of Levi's, galaxy patterned Doc Marten boots, her U.S Marine corps jacket and choker necklace.
"Some visitors for you, we're in the kitchen, honey" Elijah called out.
"If that's Webber and his pack of animals, I'm ready for round 2. In fact..." Lauren's train of thought stopped at the metaphorical platform when she came into the kitchen and saw the guys sitting at the table.
"Hey Lauren. How are ya doing?" Murdock grinned, stood up and held his arms out to the rose gold pink haired beauty.
Lauren was wide eyed with shock, she couldn't believe her best friend was actually in her house. Lauren ran up and jumped into Murdock's arms, instinctively he wrapped his arms around Lauren's waist. They hugged a few minutes longer than usual.
"Ahem! We're still here, you guys!" Hannibal cleared his throat and teased the two friends.
Lauren blushed and got down from being held in Murdock's arms.
"You must be Colonel Smith, it's such a pleasure to meet you!" Lauren beamed while giving a formal salute.
Hannibal smiled and gave a slight nod. "You don't need to salute me, Miss Xander. I've heard good things about you from Murdock"
"Then you'll know not to call me Miss Xander, Lauren will do or L.A.X" She chuckled.
"L.A.X?" B.A, Face and Hannibal quizzed in unison.
"I got the name due to the fact that I was a chopper pilot in the Marine Corps during 'Nam and because it's the acronym of my initials" Lauren smiled with pride then gave a twirl to show off her jacket.
"What unit were you with, kid?" Face asked, he was genuinely interested. He had respect for any veteran who served like the rest of the team that didn't have any connection with officers who were like Decker.
Lauren took a breath before explaining "7th Marine Regiment, I was in that unit from '65 to '72. Served in all branches of that unit but mainly got stationed in South 'Nam."
"Man, you guys really took some heavy action up there. Nobody knew if anyone woulda made it or not" B.A shook his head when he thought about the desperate situation the 7th Marine Regiment got caught up in.
"So, how can the A-Team help you and your dad, Lauren? Murdock was telling us on the way here how he hadn't heard from you for three weeks, so he figured something was wrong" The silver haired colonel asked and explained while chewing on his cigar.
"There's this local wealthy scumbag called Charlie Webber, who's been having a problem with us and the rest of the locals because we've been helping the mayor organise a big formal charity ball to help the county orphanage raise money to take the orphans on trips and to be able get more educational supplies for their school building. The mayor's currently visiting other counties to continue to strengthen the working relationships with other mayors, so he's given us permission to use his mansion for the ball while he's away." Lauren looked everyone of the team in the eye, feeling guilt for not being in contact with Murdock.
"Sweetheart, did he do anything to you? Hurt you in any way?" Murdock gently asked Lauren while gently holding her hand to comfort her.
Lauren sighed, she had to show the team what damage had been done. So she stood up silently and took off her jacket, dreading what Murdock, Hannibal, Face and B.A would say about it. "As you can see boys, Webber and the mangy filth who work for him didn't hold back when it came to hurting my little girl!" Elijah's tone of voice clearly had a sign of subtle anger.
Murdock's eyes darkened with anger as he carefully took in every bruised and cut detail of Lauren's skin, B.A was mad that a man could ever hit an innocent woman, Face felt disgusted with the fact a rich scumbag like Charlie Webber would be so against locals raising money for orphans and resorting to violent methods to prevent it, Hannibal had his arms crossed while thinking of plans to stop Webber.
"Elijah, Lauren. You just hired the A-Team" Elijah shook Hannibal's outstretched hand while Face and B.A grinned, Murdock put his arm around Lauren's waist.
"We only have three guest bedrooms, so that means someone will have to share my room" Lauren explained, after making up the beds in the spare rooms. The guys were quiet for a few minutes trying to figure out a solution to the awkward situation until Murdock spoke up "I'll share with you, it'll be like old times!" Face lifted an eyebrow, he clearly took that as an innuendo.
"Great! I hope you don't mind sharing my bed H.M, I only have one bed in my room. If you want, I can sleep on the floor" To Lauren and Murdock it sounds perfectly innocent but to the rest of the team it sounded completely dirty!
"Nah, we can share! There's plenty of room for both of us." Murdock caught Face's expression but decided to say nothing until Lauren smiled, hugged Murdock and went into her room to make up her bed.
"Templeton Peck, your crudity is appalling!" Murdock mocked a posh English accent and stuck his nose in the air.
Face simply smirked; he tried not to laugh at the whole situation. "What? I didn't say anything, just standing here" B.A grunted in disgust.
End of Chapter 1.