"The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own" - Benjamin Disraeli

Thank you again to all my friends, who motivate me every day. Michele, you're special.

"Dobey wants us to wait for him here at the hospital He says someone wants to talk to us," Hutch told his partner, while entering Murdock's ICU room and finding Starsky still sitting by the bed in a pensive mood.

Starsky nodded, still lost in his thoughts. "It's not so hard to imagine what they want to talk about."

"Well," Hutch answered in a faked distraction, "I wouldn't worry too much about it

His partner looked at him with questioning eyes and the blond detective explained with a smile: "They're gonna ask about things we have no answers for: we just found this wounded man… and you have recognized him from 'Nam. Is there anything else to know?"

Starsky smiled. He appreciated the way Hutch was trying to make things easier for him: asking his friend to lie to their Captain was a pain for Starsky, who wasn't even sure that his very honest friend could ever agree on this. The way Hutch offered his support, as if it was the most normal thing in the world, touched his partner deeper than he was able to explain.

Suddenly, while they were both moving out of the room to talk about the way they could have handled the questioning they would have had to endure, Murdock started to move slightly in the bed, groaning in pain at the tiniest movement.

Starsky came back and touched the pilot's arm with his left hand: "Please take it easy, Captain, the doctor will be here soon," he murmured in a soft tone that normally was only addressed to suffering friends, children or women. It surprised Starsky himself, who continued, "Just hold on, painkillers are on their way.. you'll feel so much better very soon".

Murdock woke up all of a sudden and he tried to cry out, "I have no idea where they are. I don't know anything!" Then he recognized Starsky and somehow recalled he previous conversation they had when he was still half sedated, so he relaxed his wide-eyed glance and remained in silence.

"You're friends are fine, Captain. Nobody knows where they are," Starsky immediately said. "We have updated them about your present condition and they're incredibly relieved to know you are out of danger."

"Y- you are a g-good man, cowboy," Murdock tried to say wandering with his eyes as if he was looking for air to breathe.

"Starsky is my name. Some water, Captain?"

Murdock was unbelievably alert, considering his state, and he went on with a stronger voice, "I remember something about you, back then in 'Nam, Lieutenant Starsky. Something the war doesn't seem to have taken away from you. Compassion. There was compassion in your eyes.

Starsky poured some water into a glass and took it to Murdock's lips, allowing only a few drops to slip into his mouth. "I'm a cop now, Captain. I've left the Army, so I'm not entitled to that rank anymore," he added.

At the word 'cop' Murdock was visibly startled but he didn't ask anything. He just stared at the other blond man, who stayed not far from his bed.

"He is Hutch, my partner." Starsky answered to the silent question, "Don't worry, he is ok".

Murdock rested his heavy head onto the pillow and turned to Hutch, "I guess you're trying to get out of debt for your partner's life, Officer. That's why you're here, aren't you?"

Hutch moved a couple of steps closer, "I guess it was like that at the beginning, but now..." Hutch said.

Both Murdock and Starsky were now watching him, hoping in a further explanation that could complete the words , but it didn't come.

The pilot was never lacking in words, not even when he was pushing the odds, and he immediately filled the silence, his voice a little more steady but his breath still short and gasping.

"Good thing to stand by your partner, officer," He half-smiled and coughed a little, looking at Starsky with a glance of complicity, and then he went on with their old game. "How was that line in 'The Wild Bunch'? Yeah… it was 'When you side with a man, you stay with him. And if you can't do that, you're like some animal - you're finished."

Hutch smiled and nodded, he knew perfectly what the man was talking about.

"They're my Team. My guys", the pilot went on in a grave voice, "I'll always stick with them, doesn't matter what, because we belong together. I would even if… I would whatever they did…", he corrected himself and both Starsky and Hutch felt confused about the direction that this conversation seemed to take. "I would even if they were guilty, officers, because we are as one and because I know them better than anyone, and I couldn't believe them doing anything bad if not for more than a good reason."

"Captain, please don't go ahead with this…the less we know, the better," Hutch interrupted, but Murdock wasn't the kind of man that could be silenced, even in spite of a hole in his side, and he continued, "I would live and die with them anyway. I'd even lie for them if necessary… but I'm saying the truth now. They are innocent. They are. You are doing the right thing."

Starsky nodded in relief, as if he had finally received a gulp of breath he was gasping for, while Hutch remained silent and immobile, till the door was suddenly open and a Doctor came in.

He had large glasses on his nose and neat mustaches. His hair was slicked down with tons of hair cream.

The Doctor stepped rapidly towards the bed, leaving a distracted "G'morning" behind his back.

At the sight of the white dressed man, though, Murdock lit up and, with a painful but confident smile, he greeted, " Hey Doc. I was in good company here, but still missing my Billy…. What about dogs here in the hospital, Doc? He could just sleep here with me."

Starsky and Hutch were confused and a little worried.

"He'll wait for you home, Murdock! " The man answered in a gentle tone, and then he added with a small laugh, "BA is gonna take care of him".

"Oh no, BA hates Billy" Murdock exploded, but his eyes had a playful spark inside.

The Doctor turned towards Starsky and Hutch and smiled, "No worries guys.. .there is no Billy. It's only in his head!

"Thank you for your help, Detectives, I don't know what we would have done if it hadn't been for you," continued the man, reaching out to shake hands with them.

"Lieutenant Peck?", Starsky asked in amazement.

"Face. Yep, that's me. No offense intended, Officer, but we needed to verify personally how Murdock is doing!"

"No offense taken!" Hutch answered, still amazed by the fact that it took less than an heartbeat for the pilot to recognize his friend in disguise. He perfectly knew what it was like to have such kind of a bond with someone. It had always been like that with his own partner.

Face turned back to Murdock and sat carefully on the edge of his bed, "So, how ya doing, Cap'n?"

"Almost ready to take off, Face."

"I'd rather have you down here with us, pal…. That was a close one!"

"So you were worried for me, buddy boy, huh? I remember Hannibal telling me…" A pang of emotion took words away from Murdock when he remembered the last speech he had with the Colonel, but silence didn't last for long. "And what about BA, Face? Did he miss me?"He added playfully but with some expectation in his eyes.

"You scared us all to death this time, Murdock!" Face answered more seriously than the pilot expected him to, " I… I thought… oh God, Murdock I was thinking that you… I would have wanted to…"

"Maybe I'm really dead and I'm in another world where my friend, the Faceman, struggles to find the right words," Murdock joked, easing the tension and taking a little smile out of the other man.

"Hannibal wanted to come over himself today, but I asked him to do it in his place. I had to see you." Face added.

"What's going on, Face?"

Starsky and Hutch shared a look... they knew very well the intimacy of a moment like this and headed towards the glass door to control if anyone was arriving, in order to provide Face sort of a back up in this vulnerable moment.

"Murdock, you know I'd never had a family, until we got together in the A-Team.

"I tried so hard to prove I was somebody, just borrowing identities that had never belonged to me. C'mon I still do it every day. Truth is, I was nobody.

"Hannibal saw something in me and trusted me enough to become 'Face' and it gave me a reason. He had found out who I was before I did it myself.

"But sometimes, it's useless to turn page if there's nobody who can read it. And you… well, your messed up head is the only one who can really do it… but sometimes we are so wrapped up in our shining armors to defend ourselves from reality that we don't tell…"

"Face", Murdock interrupted. "It's not necessary... I mean, I know…"

"You don't get what I mean..."

"Oh yeah, I can perfectly get what you mean… you have just told it… my messed up head can read quite well!"

Faced chuckled a little and watched out of the window but it was quite clear he was just trying to hide his emotion.

"And you know why I get it?" Murdock went on. "Because you were the man who stepped into a ranger station full of MP's just to collect some medical stuff for me. Because when we're in the fight I feel your rifle just behind me, and I feel you're watching my back. Because you helped me pass that psychiatric test and watched those stupid images with me again and again. Because you pretend to pat Billy and you let me be the Lone Ranger, or Humphrey Bogart, or Frank Sinatra… or just myself. That is why I know it, Face."

Starsky and Hutch could hear what was said, even if they were still in the doorframe, and they felt a deep connection, a strong emotion that was ripped apart when two men entered the corridor.

"Captain Dobey" , Hutch called more loudly than necessary, to let Face know that it was time to split. Then Starsky walked towards his commander to accidentally stop him before he reached the ICU room.

There was a man with them, he had an Army uniform, a white scarf and heavy-duty boots.

"Detective Starsky, Detective Hutchinson, this is General Fulbright, from the MP's."

"Good morning, Sirs," both partners answered back, watching Face out of the corner of their eye. He slipped out of Murdock's room and took the elevator. Both of them breathed in relief.

"The General is here to talk with Captain Murdock but, before, he wanted to ask you a few questions," Dobey explained.

Both Detectives nodded, as if they were not only ready, but also willing to help.

"As you may know, Detectives, the three men that were with Murdock are outlaws. They are violent and dangerous for anyone they meet! They are potentially dangerous for the entire Nation!"

"That's awful" Starsky answered back, seriously concerned.

"It's of vital importance, Sirs, that you let us know anything you may know to track down these criminals and assure them to justice. Obviously the Army won't forget the role you would play in capturing the most infamous outlaws that our Country has known since the time of Jessie James".

"I'm so sorry, General… I'm afraid we can't be of any help here. We just found this man bleeding and took him to the hospital. We didn't see anyone else and the Captain was already unconscious so he couldn't tell us anything of interest for you." Starsky innocently stated.

After a few further questions, the General gave up and headed towards Murdock's door. Dobey and his two Officers watched him questioning the pilot and receiving incoherent answers concerning Vietcong, aliens and pirates that would have conspired against him. The Captain rolled his eyes, shifted from a voice to another and pleaded the General to help him against evil forces.

While Dobey contemplated the poor man with pitiful eyes, Starsky and Hutch watched this man in full amazement for the extraordinary performance he was giving for his friends' sake.

"A whole life wearing a straight jacket to protect your friends… and maybe… yourself," STarsky thought with a pang of sadness in his stomach.

When the questioning was over, Fulbright rushed away, railing against everyone he found on his path, and Dobey called his men aside and watched them straight in their eyes.

"Ok, guys. It's only you and me now. And we have always been together in everything. I trust you and you know you can trust me, doesn't matter what. So… let it out now. What do you know?"

The partners watched their Captain, who had always been on their side in face of everything, and they were paralyzed by his honest and heartfelt question.

"We know nothing Cap. I'm sorry. We really know nothing." The answer was just as simple. And it came from Hutch.

A few minutes later Starsky and Hutch were walking out of the hospital side by side, in silence.

"What was the other part of your sentence, Hutch?"

"What sentence?"

"The one you were telling Murdock. When you said that at the beginning you helped me because I owed it to them… and then..?"

Before Hutch could answer, a military jeep approached the partners and a couple of men jumped out and caught them from behind. Before the Detectives could defend themselves, or even understand what was happening, the back of a M16 hit their heads and everything went black.