A/N: Murdock's thoughts are in italics. *The voices in Murdock's head are shown with asterisks.*
Face glanced around as the elevator doors opened. Dr. Henry had just left for lunch, that should give him an hour to work a scam. As if it would take that long!
He straightened the uniform he was wearing and walked up to the receptionist desk. The nurse looked up from the paper she was filling out. "Can I help you, sir?"
"Yes, ma'am. I'm here on behalf of Colonel Decker. He requests that I leave this file with Dr. Henry."
"Dr. Henry is out at the moment, but I'll take it for him."
"No, ma'am, I'm afraid that won't work. My orders are to give this to Dr. Henry personally, or leave it on his desk."
Just for good measure, Face flashed his winning smile. The nurse looked down as her face reddened. She gave him a smile back, and called for an orderly to lead the way to Dr. Henry's office. Face followed the orderly, turning back once to gave the nurse another smile.
Once at the doctor's office, the orderly unlocked the door. Face started to go inside. "I will be a few minutes. I'm supposed to leave a note if Dr. Henry is not available."
The orderly shrugged. It was already past his time to leave anyway. This man was military, he could be trusted, right? "Just be sure to lock the door as you leave."
Face nodded and closed the door. He went to the coatrack, where Henry's white coat was hanging. Just like he knew it would be, Face found a drug vial in the pocket. He took a paper and pen out of the file he had brought and copied down everything off of the label. Once he was done and had put the vial back, he turned to the filing cabinet. His picks made short work of the lock. He raised his eyebrows at the loose papers and mixed up files. He glanced through everything as quickly as he could until he finally found what he wanted. Underneath the papers in the back, there was a partially used vial marked 'bad' taped to a paper with an address. Face quickly copied down the address, then locked the cabinet. He stuffed the fake file inside his uniform jacket and left the office, locking the door. On his way to the elevator, he smiled again at the still blushing nurse at the desk.
~~AT~~AT~~AT~~AT~~
Face followed Richter to Murdock's room. BA was already there. Murdock had had a nightmare and refused to let go of Hannibal's arm. So they had decided to hold the meeting around the bed. Face hadn't seen Murdock awake yet, and he was frightened by the clouded look in the pilot's eyes. He patted Murdock's arm.
'Face! It's Face!'
*Or someone who looks like him.*
Richter read the information Face had gotten from the vial. "If they're using the same code they used eight years ago, this batch was made two weeks ago."
"What about the address?"
"That I don't recognize."
"Well, it's nice weather for a road trip. BA, get the van ready. Face, scam any supplies we need."
Face and BA moaned. Hannibal was on the jazz again.
*Look. They're going to leave you.*
'They wouldn't leave me. Would they?'
*You know they will. They don't want a weak, useless crazy man like you.*
'But we're a team.'
*This isn't your team. They're just pretending to be to make you talk.*
'No! I'll prove it!'
Murdock let go of Hannibal's arm and grabbed his hand instead.
"No, Murdock. You'll stay here with Richter. Just till we get back."
*Some team. They're leaving you.*
'No! I want to go with them!'
Murdock shook his head.
Face tried to reason with the pilot. "We'll only be gone a few days, buddy. You'll be fine."
*See? If that was really your best friend, wouldn't he want you to come?*
'Please. I don't want to stay.'
Murdock shook his head harder.
"Murdock, you need to rest. You're still extremely weak. You need to stay here with me."
*He's probably going to send you back to Henry as soon as they leave.*
'I don't want to go back to him. I want to go with them.'
*How? They don't want you. And if they leave without you, you'll never see them again.*
'I have to go with them!'
Murdock shook his head even harder until it made him lean over the side of the bed and throw up what little lunch he had eaten earlier. Now extremely dizzy, Murdock lay back against the pillows and gave them his sad puppy dog eyes.
Face sighed. Once he saw those eyes, it was impossible for him to say no.
BA stood firm. "You can't go, fool. You can't even keep your food down!"
*He's right. You're a fool. What good could you do them?*
Face glanced at Hannibal. He knew the team leader was weakening. "Listen, son. We won't be able to take care of you properly. You'll be better off to stay here, where Richter can keep an eye on you."
*This is your beloved colonel? He wants to leave you.*
Murdock's bottom lip quivered and a tear fell down his check. Face shook his head. Murdock was going with them. There was no way that Hannibal could resist that!
Hannibal stood from where he had been sitting on the edge of the bed. "Face, be sure to get a pillow and some blankets."
'I'm going with them! They're taking me with them!'
The colonel looked at Murdock, who was grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "You will eat when we tell you to, whether you're hungry or not. Anytime we think that you're tired, you will sleep. Is that clear, Captain?"
Murdock nodded, grin still plastered on his face.
Face held Murdock's hand, staring at the pilot. Normally Murdock's grins made him seem like an overgrown child. But with the vacant look in his eyes, it made him look crazy in a bad way.
Richter couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You can't let him go with you! He still has the drug in his system."
"You said the research showed no problems with detoxing. The drug's only dangerous when being administered. He'll be fine."
"He's too weak. He needs an exercise regiment, he needs to rest where it's quiet."
"So we won't turn the radio on."
"Colonel, I don't believe you understand how serious this is."
"I understand just fine, Richter. I understand that Murdock needs us, and we need him. We're a team. Murdock is going with us."
*They're fighting because of you. They're liable to give you back to Henry just to keep the peace. They won't be able to work if they argue every time they're around you.*
Richter looked to the other team members for support. Face had sat on the bed beside Murdock, who was holding on to the con man's arm like he was scared to death, all traces of his grin gone. BA stood between Richter and the bed, as if daring him to make a move against Murdock.
Realizing that he had no chance of winning, Richter held his hands up in defeat. "Fine. But I want him to rest as much as possible. Keep him on the nutrimental supplements I started him on and three healthy meals a day, and make sure that he walks every few hours to build his strength back."
"We will, Doc." Hannibal turned to the captain. "Rest starts now. You sleep while we get the supplies."
'They're still going to let me go!'
Murdock gave a small nod, closing his eyes.
Richter followed Hannibal from the room. "Smith, you can't be serious."
"I'm not serious, I'm Hannibal."
"Murdock's not strong enough to go anywhere."
"He's stronger now then when we took him from the VA."
"And he still refuses to talk. Tell me, Smith, when has Murdock not talked?"
"When he has a reason not to. Murdock is strong, probably stronger than all of us."
Hannibal looked back at the room. "They wanted him to talk, and he found a way to keep his mouth shut. And if I know Murdock, he's not going to open his mouth until he is absolutely sure that it's safe to do so. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have supplies to pack."