A/N: So sorry it took me so long to update! I got distracted by a new book series and it was hard to get my head back into writing. I wanted to have this up sooner, but I actually wrote the epilogue before this. So now the ending is already written, and the way things are looking there may only be a couple more chapters before the epilogue. We'll see...
Anyway, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed and is still reading! Hope y'all enjoy this new chapter!
1969
Peck was standing before anyone had a chance to process the new occupant had even entered. He may have taken a step back, but the lieutenant's body language spoke volumes; it said he was prepared for a fight.
But the sergeant hadn't moved. Once BA was inside the hooch, his eyes locked onto the kid and glared, but that was it.
This moment gave Hannibal, and the others, the opportunity to assess the situation. The last time BA had stormed in looking for Peck, he'd been ready to tear the kid a new one, and Hannibal had barely been able to intervene. Whether it was the grief for his friend, or whatever had happened between the two in the jungle, Hannibal wasn't sure, but something was keeping the burly sergeant from speaking with his fists.
"Is McKinney gonna be okay?" Reyes asked.
BA growled, but it was Hannibal who answered. "Medics said they think they got to him in time."
"Good," Combs commented.
Hannibal nodded.
Ray was watching BA; the man's anger was palpable.
Peck, too, was watching the scowling sergeant. He prided himself on being able to read people, but at this moment he honestly wasn't sure what the big man was thinking. Of course he knew BA was upset about his friend, but the glare directed at him had the lieutenant thinking he was being blamed for it. On the other hand, in his time on the team, Peck had not known BA to be a patient man, so the fact that he hadn't moved to attack him had the kid wondering whether he would or not. Nonetheless, he remained ready to defend himself if necessary, and kept himself aware of everyone and everything around him.
The air was filled with thick tension. It was another few minutes of heavy silence before anyone spoke.
"You okay, BA?" Ray questioned gently.
"No!" the sergeant snapped, sending a glare toward the captain before locking it onto the lieutenant once more.
And now Peck had his answer. "You can't seriously think this is my fault!" he shot out incredulously.
Hannibal and Reyes rolled their eyes, while Ray and Combs sighed; all of them exasperated by the kid's inability to not get defensive and react rashly.
"Sure I can!" BA retorted.
"BA, he hasn't even been here the past few days," Combs said, trying to defuse the situation. "He's been in the jungle. With you."
"Exactly!" Peck snapped. Hannibal shot him a warning look, but the kid ignored it and continued, "How was I supposed to know he'd do something stupid like that?"
"You're the one who – " BA stopped.
Peck's eyes widened slightly, immediately regretting their talk in the jungle.
But BA had caught himself, remembering that talk, and the kid's eyes then and now. Taking a breath, he finished calmer. "You were the one controlling how much he got. You knew he was hooked. You coulda said somethin'."
The almost broken voice coming from the burly sergeant changed the atmosphere in the hooch instantly. BA seemed to deflate as his anger dissipated, replaced by sadness.
Reyes and Combs shared a quick glance; neither had seen the big man like this before.
Ray looked over to Hannibal, and saw the colonel's sympathetic eyes on BA.
Hannibal had seen this kind of defeat in BA only once before. And just like this time, it was from the loss of a friend. But this time was different. Last time, the other soldier had been killed by a VC sniper. This time, his friend was lying in a hospital after overdosing on drugs. And the colonel knew how much BA hated drugs. The sergeant had told him about losing a bunch of people back home to drugs; some in prison for selling, some dead, and some just too focused on getting their next fix to care about anything else.
Peck's body relaxed slightly. He wasn't good with emotions. It was one thing he liked about BA; the man rarely showed any other than anger. Anger, Peck could deal with. This type of stuff was something else entirely. But that wasn't the only thing causing him to look at the big sergeant with fresh eyes. The man had had a clear opportunity to let everyone else know how much of a bad guy he was, but he hadn't. BA was blaming him, but not because he was a killer and had almost killed his friend too; the sergeant was blaming him because he hadn't told anyone about McKinney's addiction.
0
Murdock's whistling stopped the moment he entered the hooch. He immediately knew something was wrong; he could feel it. "What happened?"
Combs shared a look with Reyes and took a deep breath.
"Sergeant McKinney was flown out yesterday morning after he overdosed," Ray explained matter-of-factly, but his voice was somber.
Closing his eyes for a second, Murdock let out a heavy sigh. "BA okay?" he asked quietly, looking at the XO.
Shrugging, Ray replied softly, "He will be."
"He's in the motor pool," Reyes said.
The pilot nodded his understanding. The motor pool was BA's place to calm himself down; something about working on machines relaxed the big man. "Where's Peck?"
"Dunno."
Murdock heard the unspoken 'he disappeared again' in Combs's answer. He also caught Reyes's eye roll, and the concern Ray was trying to hide.
0
"Got a light?"
Rolling his eyes, the lieutenant wordlessly flicked open his lighter and held it up.
"Thanks kid," Hannibal smiled around his now cigar as he sat down next to his newest team member.
Peck didn't respond, just downed his shot and gestured the bartender for another.
The colonel puffed on his cigar and watched the kid for a minute; as he swallowed the next shot before the bartender even had a chance to turn around. When the bartender refilled it again, Hannibal spoke up. "He's done."
His lieutenant shot him a glare, but the bartender knew better than to argue with the older man.
Letting out a petulant huff, Peck shook his head minutely as the bartender walked away.
"Let's take a walk," Hannibal said, giving the kid a pat on the shoulder as he stood up.
Peck rolled his eyes, and drained the shot, but didn't move.
"That wasn't a request, Lieutenant." The colonel's voice was firm.
The kid sighed.
0
They hadn't spoken since they'd left the bar. Peck had reluctantly followed the colonel as they walked toward the edge of camp. His posture was defensive and insubordinate, but Hannibal could tell the kid was trying not to fidget.
The colonel was trying not to make it too obvious he was watching the kid, but the deep pulls off his cigarette and the occasional eye roll told Hannibal the lieutenant knew he was being watched. In truth, Hannibal knew the kid hated being under the microscope, and was curious to see how long it would take before he cracked and said something. But by the time they were out of earshot of everyone else, walking by the fence at the edge of camp, the colonel knew the kid was too stubborn, and this was not the time to get into a battle of wills with his lieutenant.
"What's on your mind, kid?" Hannibal asked lightly.
Peck scowled. "You're the one who dragged me out here, so obviously you're the one who's got something to say, not me," he retorted harshly.
Hannibal stopped suddenly, grabbing the lieutenant and pulling him around so they were face to face. The kid's indignance was steaming out of him as he glared at the colonel. But Hannibal stood his ground. "I want a straight answer out of you." The warning was perfectly clear. From the set jaw and fury that flashed in his eyes for a split second, the colonel knew Peck understood. Softening his tone just a little bit, Hannibal asked straightforwardly, "Why didn't you ever tell anyone Sergeant McKinney was hooked on heroin?"
If the colonel thought Peck was going to answer willingly, he was sorely mistaken. The defiance and cold look Hannibal had first seen in the jail cell was back, and something told the older man that this time it wouldn't be so easy to get an answer out of the kid. When Peck knocked his hand away and moved out of reach, that suspicion was confirmed. Everything about the kid's body language told Hannibal that they were about to have a, probably overdue, unpleasant conversation that would either help the colonel get through to the kid, through that thick skull of his, or it would send Peck right back to where Hannibal had found him.
Sighing, Hannibal tried calm but firm. "Kid…"
"No!" Peck shut him off immediately. "It's not my fault McKinney OD'd. It was his choice to get high. I never forced him to do anything! He got hooked. He took too much. That's not on me."
The kid's vehement response forced Hannibal to take a breath before he responded. Right now, Peck looked like an animal backed into a corner, and he was too unpredictable for the colonel to know what he would do when pushed too far. So, Hannibal remained calm, and kept his tone light. "You sold him the drugs."
"So what?!" the lieutenant retorted. "If he hadn't gotten 'em from me, he would've gotten them from someone else!"
"But he did get them from you," Hannibal pointed out slowly.
Chuckling maniacally, Peck shook his head. Rolling his eyes, he shot back, "Yeah, till I cut him off. And that was before I even met you and you told me to quit selling drugs, which I did by the way."
Peck's voice was so cold and calm that it actually made the hairs on the back of the colonel's neck stand up. Hannibal remembered what Combs had told him about the kid's demeanor during that first mission, but this wasn't something the Army could teach; this was something you learned from experience, from surviving. There were more unknowns and questions about the kid every day, but Hannibal knew now was not the time to start asking questions he wouldn't get the answers to. So, he focused on what Peck was telling him. "Did you know Sergeant McKinney was addicted to heroin?"
Hannibal was calm, firm, and direct. He sounded like a lawyer asking a witness a question in a trial. It sent the lieutenant's defensiveness into overdrive. "What does it matter?!" he snapped.
The colonel sighed, ignoring the kid's exasperation, and his own. He lowered his eyelids so that only slits remained open, and took a long, deep breath. When he opened his eyes, he matched the lieutenant's glare and shoved the kid into the wall.
"HEY!"
But Hannibal wasn't budging. "Listen up, Lieutenant, cause I'm only gonna say this once." His voice was hard, and his face was inches away from the kid; who was obviously both unnerved and furious. "BA is one of the best soldiers I've ever served with, but he earned the 'bad attitude' name. He's got one of the worst tempers, but he also cares about people more than anyone I've ever met. And he cares about McKinney."
"Look, I'm sorry about his friend, but –" Peck started, but Hannibal gave him pushed him harder against the wall.
"I'm not finished," the colonel ground out. He forced the kid to look at him when he said, "Now, I don't know what happened between you two out in that jungle, –" Hannibal didn't miss the split second aversion of the lieutenant's eyes, but continued on as if he had. "– but whatever it was is the only reason he didn't pound you into the ground." Peck scoffed, but the colonel gave him another shove to get his attention. "Hey! You're good kid, I'll give you that. But it won't last forever, and that cockiness of yours will be your downfall."
This time Peck averted his eyes, and wouldn't look back at Hannibal.
Sighing, the colonel relaxed his grip, but spoke with seriousness. "Look kid, you've got a lot of potential, and this team could be the best thing for you. But you've gotta want to be part of a team. And that attitude of yours is going to get you into some serious trouble you won't be able to get out of." Taking a deep breath, Hannibal let go of the lieutenant and stepped back before adding quietly, "But I think you already know that."
A/N: Hope you liked that chapter! Originally, I was going to have more Murdock in this chapter, but that last part with Hannibal and Peck took precedence. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm gonna work the next chapter, but I'll try to have it up as soon as I can! No promises, but I'm gonna try to have it up within the next month. Anyway, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated!