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  With A Little Help From My Friends 
 by Darth Stitch  

 

With A Little Help From My Friends by Darth StitchDISCLAIMER: Not mine.
Belongs to 2 TV gods by name of Frank Lupo and Stephen J. Cannell and is
now a movie directed by Joe Carnahan. Will put the toys back when I'm
done. DISCLAIMER TO SAVE MY SOUL FROM GOING TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET: At
this point, I don't think I can blame Sushi anymore. I'm so screwed,
aren't I? (headdesks) OMG. at this rate, is this becoming a series? Again,
put tongue firmly in cheek and leave canon at the door. 

What would you think if I sang out of tune, Would you stand up and walk
out on me. Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song, And I'll try not to
sing out of key. Oh I get by with a little help from my friends, Mmm, I
get high with a little help from my friends, Mmm, I'm gonna try with a
little help from my friends. Paul McCartney & John Lennon, "The Beatles"
The team was never going to let Hannibal live this down. Actually, Face
would be riding him about this for months, if he was that lucky. Knowing
that smart-ass kid, Hannibal would probably get ribbed about this for
years. Face was the trouble magnet in the team, not him. Hannibal had lost
count of the number of times he had to haul his Lieutenant out of trouble,
trouble that he usually got himself into, jumping into it with both feet,
eyes wide open and with that manic, devil-may-care grin. And sometimes,
the very worst of Hannibal's nightmares included that one time and God
knew one time was all it took, when he would just not make it, be just a
few seconds too late, to save his Lieutenant's life. Hannibal just knew he
would never be able to live with himself if that day ever came. He was
pretty much the same for B.A. or Murdock  they were his men and he'd lay
down his life for any of them. Oddly enough, he wasn't as worried over
B.A. or Murdock, mainly because they seemed to be a lot better at staying
out of trouble than Face ever was. And everyone else in the world thought
Murdock was the crazy one. He smiled sheepishly to himself. Though
Hannibal would never admit it, yeah, he had trouble-magnet tendencies too
when he was younger. He too just got lucky that he kept running into the
right persons who would watch his back long enough for him to grow out of
it (or so he thought, but every now and then, he would backslide). Plus,
he just did a better job keeping that part of his past under wraps.
Sometimes, however, things like this just had a way of coming back and
biting you in the ass. Mentally, the Colonel assessed his situation,
although his head was still fuzzy from whatever painkillers they had given
him. He was in a soft bed, he wasn't restrained and he was somewhat
comfortable although there was a certain tightness around his chest that
only expert bandaging could produce and he could feel oxygen being
filtered through his nose. That was a good sign  it meant they didn't have
to give him an oxygen mask or take heroic measures to get him breathing.
He'd gotten shot. It wasn't the first time, of course, but he'd usually
been lucky so far. The memories came back easily. They'd just completed a
mission  they'd successfully extracted the family of one of the dictator's
known political enemies. Intel had reported that there was already an
order out to have them all killed and a rescue was in order. They would be
granted asylum Stateside and had already been whisked away by yet another
Alpha Response Unit waiting in the wings. So all they needed to do was get
home. But Hannibal had sensed something was wrong and had yelled a warning
to Face, knocking him down. And then he could vaguely remember Face
shouting and B.A. swearing and the chop chop chop of Murdock in his Black
Hawk taking them away and that his chest hurt and that there was blood
welling up in his mouth Blackout. Was Face safe? Hannibal figured the kid
had to be, just as he'd known the shot was coming. He never could explain
exactly how he knew things like that sometimes	he'd learned not to
question this because it had saved his life and the lives of the men who
served with him more than once. Murdock swore blind that it had to be The
Force but Hannibal was no Jedi Master, even if their somewhat eccentric
captain fervently believed he was a certain one in particular from the
Star Wars prequels. Right now, though, he didn't need that sixth sense to
know that he was no longer alone. "I'm not going to be getting any sleep
here if you keep hovering, Face," he rasped, finally opening his eyes and
finding his Lieutenant there, as expected. "Good morning! How's your day?"
Face was being his smart-ass self, at least that was what he sounded like
and he was smiling like he always was. But Hannibal watched his
Lieutenant's eyes and he could tell that the smile wasn't there. He
thought he recognized that look  hell, he'd probably seen that same
expression in his own mirror a few times over the years. Sick. Terrified.
Guilty as all hell. Yeah, he knew all that. It was the life they chose to
lead  loss and grief and death were all part of it. But they were needed
and no one else could do the things that they could do. That wasn't pride
talking  Hannibal knew the truth and he never believed in running from it.
And Face was sitting there alive and well. Hannibal could live being out
of the action for a couple of weeks. It was worth it. "Did you get me a
cigar?" Hannibal returned. Face shook his head and snapped a quick salute.
"Sorry, Colonel, sir! Doctor's orders. Can't have 'em just yet." "Keep
that up, Lieutenant and you'll be on KP duty for a week." They were
bantering, like they always did, as if things were back to normal but
Hannibal knew things weren't. At least, not quite yet. He was pretty used
to reading the younger man by now and knew he wasn't completely all right.
And then: "Told you that the Force is with him!" Murdock crowed, appearing
in Hannibal's line of sight and adopting a completely dead-on British
accent this time. Face rolled his eyes. "Great, that's all the Boss needs 
feed his ego even more." "Hey, Hannibal  you definitely lookin' better,"
B.A. offered, thankfully deciding to be the voice of sweet sane reason
today. "Don't you pay attention to either of these fools  you just rest up
a little more." "Doubt the Force you should not," Murdock abruptly
switched his mental channels over to Yoda this time. B.A. brandished a
fist. "Force this, Yoda." "Hey! Keep it down or the nurse is gonna come in
and kick us all out!" Frankly, Hannibal was too tired to play referee this
time around and quietly blessed Face for taking on the role. "Awww. Facey,
I know she's awful sweet on you," Murdock wheedled, dropping the Yoda
voice. "You just bat them big pretty blue eyes of yours" "And then some,"
B.A. snickered. Face, naturally, had to preen. "When you've got it, you've
got it, boys." "Oh, fine, feed his ego next," Hannibal mock-growled at
them, joining in the fun. "I'm not going to be responsible for yet another
SNAFU in the sordid love life of one Templeton Peck." "Hey!" Face
protested. "That gag with your friend the general's daughter was way back
and I still don't like it that you had to announce to the entire ship that
I was gay." Murdock choked. Hannibal raised a brow. "Stopped you from
getting molested, didn't it?" "Yeah, I just got pounded by her gorilla of
a fiance," Face said sourly. B.A. was laughing. "Sorry, brother  you just
got a way with the boys too, I guess." "Fuck you, Bosco," Face said
good-naturedly. Murdock was still choking. Actually, Hannibal was prepared
to swear that their good captain was strangling on his own laughter. "What
the hell's the matter with this fool?" B.A. said, pounding the pilot on
the back. "Use the Force, Murdock! Use the Force!" Face chanted. "I'm
givin' it all she's got, Captain!" Murdock managed, abruptly switching
fandoms. Not that Hannibal himself was that much of a geek, never mind his
secret stash of comic books  ahem, graphic novels, in his foot locker.
Face stared at him in mock-horror. "Heretic!" "Wot? Fellow can't be a
Trekker and a Warsie at the same time?" Murdock demanded. "Blasphemer!"
Face pointed an accusing finger at him. "For the love of Kirk and Spock I
shall smite thee!" B.A. slanted a look at Hannibal. "Anyone asks, I don't
know neither of these fools." Murdock was very, very clever  Hannibal had
to hand it to him. Face had been playing one of his usual roles this
entire time, trying to hide behind his usual masks. But Murdock wasn't
having that. Hannibal wasn't going to stand for it either. Oh well. He had
to do it, right? "Trust in the Living Force, my young apprentice,"
Hannibal deadpanned in his best impression of that Irish actor. "All will
be well." "Aw, hell, no," B.A. groaned even as Murdock cheered. It was
worth it to see Face's eyes go wide and finally get him to laugh for real.
That was a good start. The Colonel met Murdock's eyes and the latter
tipped him a mischievous wink. Hannibal really loved it when a plan came
together. - end - AUTHOR'S NOTES: a. Raise your hands, people and tell me
if Somebody around here is REAL Oblivious. Yeah? Thought so. Sigh. :P b.
It's official. This is going to be a series. Oh sweet jeebus have mercy on
my soul.. c. You guys have absolutely no idea how hard I laughed when I
read the comic book "Shotgun Wedding." For those who've never read it,
that's what Face is talking about when he refers to the whole thing with
the general's daughter. A couple of lines in here were definitely inspired
by that comic. d. Hannibal a sekrit fanboy geek? Shhhh... don't ask, don't
tell... :P    
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