Dr. Henry woke with a start at the sound of the phone ringing. He yawned as he looked out the dark window. He hadn't meant to fell asleep. It was bad enough being at a mental hospital during the day, he definitely didn't want to be there at night.
He finally managed to find the phone under the piles of papers on the desk. "Hello?"
"Henry, this is Colonel Decker. How is your report for this week coming?"
"It's fine, Mother. I have it right in front of me." That wasn't exactly a lie, it was somewhere in front of him.
"I am a colonel in the United States Army and you will treat me as such!"
"And I'm a convicted murderer. Big deal. Did you honestly call me just to check on my report?"
Henry could hear Decker taking deep breaths. "No, I also called to see if there have been any changes with Captain Murdock."
"None. As a matter of fact, I,,," Henry stopped talking. He heard Decker yelling at someone. "Decker, what's going on?"
"The A-Team has just been spotted on the north side of town. I'll get them this time!"
"Well, hooray!" Henry rolled his eyes and hung up. He glanced through the papers on his desk, Murdock's file, a few files of random patients, and a couple files about the A-Team. He grabbed a handful of loose papers and shoved them in the filing cabinet.
Suddenly, everything went dark. Henry stumbled to the door and into the hallway. Nurses and orderlies were hurrying around, finding flashlights. "Don't worry, Dr. Henry. This happens quite often. The patients will be fine," a nurse assured him.
Henry's heart sank. According to the hospital files that he had read, pretty much every time an unexpected blackout occurred, Murdock disappeared. Henry ran towards Murdock's room as fast as he could.
~~AT~~AT~~AT~~AT~~
Face was more nervous now than he had ever been. This would be the first time he had inside help getting Murdock out of the VA. Richter had called one of the nurses, a Miss Janice Floyd, who wanted to help Murdock. Nurse Floyd was supposed to get Murdock in a wheelchair, wait the power to be cut, then bring him downstairs. Thank heaven for the backup generators that kept the elevators running!
Face pulled his coat up around his face, adjusted the glasses, and pulled his hat lower. The nurse thought that she was going to be meeting with Dr. Richter. Personally, Face thought that Hannibal should play the part of Richter. The two of them were, well, closer to the same age. Instead, Hannibal was cutting the power, while BA lead the MP's on a chase around town.
Face glanced at his watch when the lights went off. Right on time. He figured that they would have more time than usual because no one would expect Murdock to go anywhere in his condition, but he hoped that nurse hurried anyway.
When Nurse Floyd came outside, Face's first thought was 'Lucky me, she's a Miss!' But all thoughts about the nurse's, um, alluring attributes were quickly forgotten when he saw Murdock slumped over in the wheelchair. Nurse Floyd unstrapped Murdock from the chair and Face picked him up in a fireman's carry.
The nurse followed Face as he carried Murdock to his car. "Dr. Richter, you told me I might get in trouble for this. I don't care if I do. No one should be treated like this!"
Face kept his voice in a hoarse whisper to disguise it. "Thank you, Janice. I appreciate your help, and I'm sure he will, too."
After Murdock was in the backseat, Janice handed Face a duffel bag. "I packed a change of clothes for him. And his hat and jacket. I knew he would want those."
"Thank you, Janice." It was getting harder for Face to keep his hands to himself.
"And I thought you should have this." Janice held up a file.
"What is that?" Face took the file, but it was too dark to read it.
"I'm not for sure, but it was under Mr. Murdock's mattress. I thought it might be important."
Face took Janice's hands in his. "Janice, you're an amazing person." He gave her a quick kiss on the check. "Now, hurry back inside before anyone notices you're missing!"
As Janice ran back inside, Face saw a movement out of the corner of his eye. "Perfect." He jumped in the back with Murdock as Hannibal jumped in the driver's seat. Normally, Face would have been complaining about Hannibal's driving, but there were more important things to worry about.
He stroked the captain's hair and quietly spoke to him. "Murdock? Hey, buddy, it's Face. It's time to wake up now. You're safe."
Hannibal kept glancing at the two in the back. "How is he, Lieutenant?"
"Hannibal, what did they do to him?!" Face held Murdock's shaking hands. "What kind of people would do this?"
Hannibal wasn't sure how to answer. "They're not people, Face. They're slimeballs."
~~AT~~AT~~AT~~AT~~
Henry stood in Murdock's room, looking down at the empty bed. The A-Team. It had to be the A-Team! He checked the mattress. The file was gone. Henry clenched his fists. He would find them! They weren't going to take his pardon or his research away from him!
~~AT~~AT~~AT~~AT~~
Richter paced around his study, staring out the window. How long was it going to take them? Maybe they got caught!
"Of course not, Doctor. We just had to wait for BA."
Richter jumped at the sound of Hannibal's voice. He hadn't realized that he had been thinking out loud.
BA glared at Hannibal. "You hadta wait 'cuz that shortcut road you told me about was closed!"
Hannibal shrugged. "Well, you got away anyway!"
Richter hurried to BA, who was carrying Murdock. Richter felt Murdock's pulse."Come on, let's put him in the upstairs bedroom."
Richter tried to help BA carry the pilot, but BA growled and held Murdock close. Richter shrugged and lead the way up the stairs, then turned the light on in the spare bedroom. Hannibal and Face hurried in and pulled down the covers on the bed. BA carefully laid Murdock down. Richter was surprised how gently the big man handled the captain. Face and BA straightened the pajamas that Murdock was wearing as Hannibal talked to him, trying to get him to look at them. Richter wanted to check on Murdock himself, but he knew that having his friends around him was the best thing for him.
Finally, Hannibal ordered his men to stand back so Richter could examine the captain.
"Will the fool be alright?"
"I think he will be now. I just wish I knew what this drug is."
"Oh yeah!" Face dug into his jacket and pulled out the file. "The nurse gave this to me. She said it was under Murdock's mattress. I don't know what it is."
Richter grabbed the file and looked at it. He swore under his breath as he read it.
"What?!" BA clenched his fists.
"You were right, Hannibal, it is a truth serum. The developers called it Vero. It was created for the CIA to use in interagations. I was approached about testing it on my patients, but I refused. When the developers couldn't get volunteers, they kidnapped about a hundred people and experimented on them. Of the hundred people, only twelve of them survived. After the government found out how dangerous it was, they shut the project down and arrested the people in charge of it for abduction and manslaughter."
Face stood beside the bed, as if protecting Murdock. "Why was a drug like that allowed to be used in the VA hospital?"
"Probably because it works. If Decker is as determined to capture you as you say, he probably thought that this drug was his guaranteed way."
"The fool wouldn't tell."
"I agree with you. If he had talked, Decker would be after you, not still drugging Murdock."
Hannibal chewed on his cigar. "What can we do for Murdock, Richter?"
"Right now, we've just got to let the drug leave his system. Keep talking to him and touching him, let him know you're with him. I think that will be the best treatment. I've still got the paperwork from the Vero testing somewhere in my basement. I'll find out everything I can about it."
As Richter left the room, he couldn't help but look back. Face stood on one side of the bed, stroking Murdock's hair and holding his hand. On the other side, BA patted Murdock's shoulder, while Hannibal held his other hand.
Richter smiled. If anything was going to bring Murdock back, it was these three men.