First of all, I would just like to say how sorry I am that this update has been so long in coming! I've been working so hard trying to get it done, but it's been giving me fits. But I've finally got at least part of it in shape for posting - "part of it" there being the key phrase. Yep. After much trial and tribulation I have finally finished one scene. But there is still one more scene yet to go. I was going to try and hold out, but this next scene seems intent on giving me just as many fits as the first one, so yeah. This story is now going to have seven chapters.

*head desk*

If you guys want to come scream at me, I'll just be over here giving my internal editor a transfusion of red ink.

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The window in the door of Room 104 was unnaturally dark. Even with the lights out inside, Angie still should have been able to discern general shapes and shadows. Instead all she saw was black. Which meant one of her boys had not only had the presence of mind but also the means to somehow black out her window. She sighed, the memory of Alvin's blinding smile flashing through her mind. Oh, how she'd been taken.

The thought should have made her mad. The fact that it didn't, just confirmed her earlier suspicion that she'd lost her mind. She'd stood in the office of that gentle, sharp-eyed priest and completely lost her mind. If she had even one shred of good sense left, she'd go back and scour the place for it. It must be laying around there somewhere, because it most certainly was not in her head.

Sighing yet again, Angie tapped on the door. The faint murmur of voices she'd just barely been able to hear cut into silence. She twisted the door knob, but hesitated to press inside when she caught the sounds of frantic scurrying. Given that the boys had no way of knowing who'd just knocked on their door, they were both probably well on their way to panicking. But the scrambling stopped almost as abruptly as it had begun, and the room again fell into silence.

Encouraged, Angie opened the door just a crack. "Captain Murdock? It's nurse McCabe. I'm coming in and I'm going to turn on the light."

She didn't get an answer, but past experience had prepared her for that. It had not, however, prepared her to find Captain Murdock sitting up in bed, wispy hair standing on end, and a chocolate smeared grin on his face. There was a vaguely human shaped lump under the blanket beside him that Angie took to be Alvin. It squirmed a little and Murdock all but jumped on top of it, stretching himself out in a faux casual pose.

"Well, hey, McCabe. How— how are ya'?"

Angie tried not to laugh—or possibly cry—at the entire scene and the fact that the Captain had actually spoken to her. What's more he was alert, engaged, and smiling like his life depended on it. She hated that she had to take that smile away. "Murdock, I'm sorry, but it's time for Alvin to leave."

"Alvin?" Murdock frowned, holding the perplexed expression even as the lump underneath him twitched. It had fallen still with an oomph upon getting squashed, but now it was beginning to wiggle again—in earnest. The effect left Murdock struggling to maintain his casual pose, even as he tried to pin the blanket down on both ends. "I don't know what you're talking about, McCabe."

The lump bucked up, briefly unseating Murdock, only to get rolled into a tangle with the bed covers and sat on again with alacrity. Voice strained, Murdock did his best to talk over the muffled cries coming from the blanket. "There's nobody here, but me, Chiquita. I swear."

Which was naturally when Alvin decided to throw himself into a roll and go careening off the side of the bed.

His startled wail and the thud that followed, had Angie rushing around the bed. But she stopped short of actually approaching when she saw the thrashing bundle of linens on the floor. Alvin's boots could be seen poking out of one end and, after much flailing, his head appeared at the other. He sat there gasping, eyes wide and hair sticking up at all angles. It was, quite frankly, adorable. And if that wasn't the most ridiculous thought Angie had had in at least fifteen years, she didn't know what was.

The Captain didn't seem to share her opinion. He stared down at Alvin with a thoroughly put-out expression. "Where'd that come from?"

Faster than should have been possible Alvin got an arm free, grabbed his baseball cap off the floor where Murdock had thrown it hours ago, and threw it at the other man's head.

Angie was laughing before Murdock even had a chance to duck. Alvin's incoherent string of mutterings as he fought to disentangle himself from the pile of sheets and blankets didn't help at all, either.

But then the Lieutenant found his feet, finger combed his hair, and pasted on a smile like nothing had happened. The bland look faltered a bit when Murdock began waving the ball cap next to his face. But with another unbelievably quick move, he snatched the hat back and increased the wattage of his smile. "Sorry about that."

"Well, you should be," Murdock said. "All you had to do was lay there and be still. Nobody would've noticed.

Alvin rolled his eyes.

"Aw, c'mon. It could've worked. And I woulda made sure they brought enough breakfast for both of us."

"I know you would, buddy, but—"

"And I coulda fixed up a place for you to stay under the bed. Billy likes it there."

"Under the bed? Murdock, do you have any idea how much dust is under there? Not to mention the hair. You know how Billy sheds this time of year." Alvin looked completely affronted by the whole idea—as if sleeping under the bed with whoever or whatever Billy was had actually been a legitimate offer and not just the product of fantasy. But his offense was short-lived. With a small, but genuine smile he patted Murdock on the shoulder. "Maybe we can do breakfast sometime, though, huh? Split a hospital special of powdered eggs with ketchup and some peanut butter toast like we used to, hm? Just you, me, and Billy. How does that sound?"

Based on the grin that lit Murdock's face, it must've sounded more than all right to him. Angie couldn't say she agreed, but made a mental note to have ketchup and peanut butter added to the pilot's daily breakfast tray—after she spoke with the janitor about taking a closer look under the Captain's bed.

"Well." Alvin's smile faltered a bit as he took a breath, then gestured toward the door. "I guess I should..."

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess so."

"Right. So, ah, is there anything you need? Something you want me to send you or...?"

Murdock hesitated, made an abortive move toward his friend, then shoved both hands deep in his pockets. "Um, there is one thing."

"Okay." Alvin seemed to labor over the word, a somewhat wary look crossing his face. "What is it?"

"Can I... can I keep your ball cap?"

Alvin blinked, then followed Murdock's gaze down to the plain, dark colored hat in his hands. "You want this?"

"Yeah." Murdock flashed another grin, hands popping out of his jacket pockets to reach for the chosen prize. "Can I?"

Brow creasing, Alvin turned the hat over in his hands. "Are you sure you want this one, Murdock? It's not very interesting. I could find you something better if—"

"No, no. This is the one I want."

With a shrug, Alvin handed over the baseball cap and watched as Murdock held it almost reverently in his hands. "Murdock, what—?"

"It's how I knew you were real," he said matter-of-factly. "And I don't want to forget that you were here."

Angie's heart twisted a little at the admission, but Alvin... her heart almost broke when she saw how the words had affected Alvin. He looked stripped bare; pale, shaken. It made Angie question, yet again, everything she thought she knew about this young man. He had conned her to some degree, of that she was certain. But perhaps he had also shown her more truth than either of them realized.

Eyes still fixed on the ball cap, Murdock smoothed a thumb over its wrinkles and smiled. "Now, when I wake up, I'll know it wasn't just a dream because I'll have this." Snapping the cap onto his head the pilot beamed at his friend. "How do I look?"

Alvin moved in quickly and made a show of tucking in stray hairs and adjusting the hat until he had it perfectly symmetrical. By the time he was finished, every trace of that stricken look was gone.

Taking a step back, Alvin tilted his head and gave his efforts a critical look.

"Well?"

"It's not a color I would've thought to pick for you, Murdock, but I gotta admit, it looks pretty good." Alvin smiled in approval. "Much better than it ever looked on me, that's for sure."

Murdock broke into a grin, hands running back and forth over the brim of his new hat. "Thanks, Faceman. It's just what I wanted."

"Yeah, well... Don't lose it."

Interlaced fingers clamping down on top of his gift, Murdock shook his head. "No. Never."

Alvin gave a vague sort of nod, but still seemed unsatisfied. "If you do lose it though, just call Father Magill, all right? Or tell Angie. They'll know how to get in touch with me so I can get you a new one. Can't have you running around without a hat. I mean, you could but it—"

Hands suddenly leaving their place on his head, Murdock took his friend by the shoulders. His expression was intense, but strangely gentle, too. As if he had seen every hurt and knew every fear the other man was trying so hard to hide. "I'm not gonna lose it, Faceman. I promise."

Alvin nodded again, but the line etching itself between his brows told a different story. So did the tight press of his lips and the way he kept gnawing at the inside of his cheek.

"Hey," Murdock whispered. "It's gonna be okay. Just like we talked about, remember? You, me, the guys—we're gonna make this work. All of it. You'll see."

"It's not that simple, Murdock," Alvin muttered. "You know that."

"Do I?" Dipping his head down until the other man was forced to meet his eyes, the Captain gave him a soft look. "Sometimes we get these ideas in our heads, you know? About what success looks like or happiness or… or what we have to do or who we have to be before we can have those things. But winning can look like anything we want, Faceman. We just gotta let ourselves see it."

Lips turning up just a little, Alvin shook his head. His shoulders sagged, tension Angie hadn't even realized was there slowly ebbing away. "You're something else, buddy, you know that?"

" 'Course I am. They don't let just anybody into this country club." Murdock flashed his biggest grin yet and gave the Lieutenant a shove.

The move was playful, and Alvin responded with a grin of his own. "Well, country club or not, I still expect to see you wearing that hat when I come back, all right? I can come back, can't I?"

Angie froze as she suddenly found herself subjected to twin pairs of hopeful, pleading eyes. Which was completely unfair, not to mention wholly unnecessary. Like she had any intention of denying either of these boys anything in the near future.

With a huff, she crossed her arms. "You can stop with the kicked puppy looks, gentlemen. Yes, Alvin can come back."

Bouncing up on his knees, Murdock let out a cheer. He threw his arms wide and flung himself at Alvin, half-strangling the man in a hug.

The poor boy yelped, already trying to break free, and Angie smirked. "If you keep getting me results like this, Lieutenant, I may have to upgrade your status to emergency medication. How would you feel about being prescribed?"

Alvin opened his mouth, pointing one finger in her direction and grabbing at the arm around his neck with the other. But no real words came out—just a series of jumbled protests as Murdock began kissing the top of his head.

This time when Angie started laughing, she worried she might not be able to stop.

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Well, that's all I've got for now. I know it's not much, but hopefully it wasn't too disappointing.

Hope everyone is having a blessed start to their new year! Take care.