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One of the guys with guns was watching Face with a strange expression. People watched Face all the time, for different reasons, and he’d gotten pretty good at reading their intentions. The extremes were always easy, the ones who were into him and the ones who wanted him dead, he could pick them out a mile away. The ones in the middle, though, like the guy with a gun and short brown hair who was frowning slightly from the other side of the cage, took some time. He had about ten years on Face, held himself straighter than the other goons watching them nervously, probably something army but he didn’t look familiar at all.
The cage was a storage locker, metal bars fixed into the floor and ceiling and covered in mesh. Another horizontal metal bar to secure it all and a mesh door with a padlock on the outside. With concerted effort the three of them, he, Hannibal and Murdock, might have been able to pry the mesh off, then simply walk out between the wide-set bars, if not for the four men on the other side.
Aside from the frowning guy there was another man with the twitchy nervousness of someone much too stressed to be handling a firearm. Face had seen it a thousand times before, guys one unexpected sound from blowing their own leg off. Face had been that man once or twice, especially early in the war. The first time it’d happened in the team Hannibal had wordlessly taken his gun away, and Face, in an act he would deny up and down until the day he died, had burst into mortified tears. He had assumed Hannibal would kick him out on the spot, but Hannibal had just put his arm around his shoulders and held him there until he’d calmed down again, at which point he told him to get some sleep.
It was unlikely Twitchy would cry any time soon, he looked like the kind of guy who channelled his emotions through his gun, making him the most dangerous person in the room even though everyone else seemed to think it was the three men in the cage.
The cage was at the far end of an otherwise empty concrete basement, a flight of concrete steps at the other end leading to a door to the empty building above, and a strip light that didn’t quite reach the corners. It was cold, the bare concrete walls effectively absorbing any heat given off by the bodies in the room, and it echoed every sound.
A guy in a yellow jacket had brought down a metal chair which Face didn’t like the implications of, and another guy with slicked back hair was stalking in circles, throwing challenging glares at the three team members who all appeared like they weren’t paying him much attention.
Murdock was humming distantly to himself, sat back against the wall beside Hannibal who looked like he was falling asleep. Face sat cross-legged at the side of the cage, seeing how fast he could touch each fingertip to his thumb, first on one hand, then on the other, then simultaneously. He was, like the others, watching the men outside the cage intently.
Across the room Gary was trying not to make it obvious he was watching the blond. He’d had the weirdest feeling about him since the moment he’d seen him, like he knew him from somewhere. He stood at the edge of the room, gun loose in his hands, trying to place him and failing. Mike stood at the other side of the room, tense as hell, and Gary was beginning to worry he was going to shoot up the room the second anyone so much as sneezed.
Gary could tell Elias was trying to hide the fact he was shaking and he was sure the guys in the cage could see it too. He’d bitched about the cold and swaggered up and down, obvious bluster that clearly wasn’t doing anything for the men in the cage and was visibly irritating Mike, and Gary wanted to yell at him to quit it if he didn’t think Mike would reflexively shoot him for raising his voice.
“Who do you want?” Ted hesitated by the cage, bright yellow jacket standing out like a beacon in the bland room, key in hand, trying not to show he was nervous.
Elias frowned for a moment, casting an appraising look over the three men inside. He smiled slowly, “bring me the blond.”
Ted nodded, worrying the keyring between his fingers as he waited for Mike and Gary to take up positions with the guns. He tried to glare at the men in the cage, “everyone just stay back, ok?”
Gary found himself strangely reluctant to raise his gun. Usually he could push everything aside, get a job done. His friends had called it ‘soldier mode’, back when he’d had friends. He’d got himself deeper than he’d intended, but at least when you worked for scumbags the opposition was also mostly scumbags. This, though… he swallowed and grit his teeth. He had a job to do.
Ted didn’t enter the cage, just gestured for the blond to come out. The blond looked across at his cellmates and got up slowly, following Ted’s instructions. Mike tightened his hands on the gun, eyes flicking between the captives and the blond noticed, probably more willing to try his luck with Elias than with the guy clearly on the brink. The blond looked briefly at Gary and once again Gary felt a strange flicker of recognition that failed to ignite.
Ted locked up the cell and backed away quickly under the languid gaze of older man and the intense stare of the skinny one. He stayed out of reach of the blond as they herded him to a metal chair like a group of first year lion tamers. The blond sat and Elias nodded to Ted, who grimaced and hurried around behind the chair and cuffed the blond with trembling hands.
The older guy in the cage shifted and Mike spun on him, gun ready.
“Relax, they’re not getting out of there,” Elias said, still smiling. He took a butterfly knife out of his pocket and opened it up. He stood behind the blond but kept his eyes on the older man. “Alright,” he said, “I’m going to get some answers.” He grabbed a handful of the blond’s hair and yanked his head to the side, pressing the blade of the knife along his cheekbone. “You start talking or I start cutting.”
The blond rolled his eyes for the benefit of the men in the cage and, incidentally, Gary.
And that was it. Like a Polaroid developing before his eyes.
He almost blurted it out and clamped his mouth shut so hard his jaw hurt.
At least if the others noticed him shaking they wouldn’t call him out on it. His heart was hammering now, his whole body telling him to act. He stayed in place, hands tight on the gun, at war with himself.
“What would you like to talk about?” The older guy said.
“Who are you?” Elias pressed the knife at a flat angle against the blond’s skin, not yet cutting into it.
“The name’s Hannibal Smith,” Smith smiled, “and this is captain Murdock and that’s lieutenant Peck. We’re three quarters of the A-Team.” He paused, grinning wolfishly, “the fourth is out there… somewhere.”
Elias scowled at him, “and what are you doing here?”
“Uh, well,” Smith looked between his four captors, “you invited us, remember? Though ‘invite’ might not be the right word.” He cast a bright smile at Mike who was still aiming at him, breathing heavy.
Elias pressed the knife against Peck, causing a wince. “I don’t think you should be making jokes, Hairball.”
“That’s ‘Hannibal’,” Smith corrected, “unless that was supposed to be an insult?”
With a growl Elias yanked the knife back, making the blond hiss as the knife slid across his cheek. A line of blood followed that started running down the blond’s skin. The blond closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath but made no other sound.
Gary winced, finger twitching on the trigger.
Elias repositioned the knife an inch below the cut. “How’d you like that for a joke, funny man?” he snarled.
Smith was perfectly still, eyes fixed on Elias, “I can’t answer questions if you don’t ask any.”
Ted glanced at Elias and moved a step away, trying to act casual, then he met Gary’s eyes with a brief expression anxiety. Gary kept his expression neutral. He wasn’t going to give him any kind of comfort, it’d been him who’d dragged Gary into this shit in the first place. They’d been co-workers, maybe almost friends, and Ted had invited him on a ‘quick job’. He knew he should’ve known better, should’ve got out as soon as he realised, but the money kept him coming back. He was no better than Ted, really. No better than any of them.
Murdock was tapping arrhythmically on the ground, watching Peck.
“Who hired you?” Elias demanded.
“Nobody,” Smith said, “we consider it community service.”
Elias scowled and made another swipe along Peck’s face. This time Peck flinched but didn’t make a sound.
Murdock’s tapping got faster but otherwise he didn’t move.
At least the cuts weren’t deep, Gary thought. Elias was kind of a coward that way. They were all cowards, hiding behind their guns and their attitudes. The others, they were the ones standing for something.
“I’m going to need you to stop doing that,” Smith said evenly, smiling, though it sounded more like a threat than a request.
“What are you gonna do about it?” Elias asked, repositioning the knife, tip just under Peck’s eye, blade diagonally across his mouth, knuckles white, intending to make it hurt.
There was fear in Peck’s eyes, now. Gary could see it though he wasn’t sure anyone else was watching him. Maybe Murdock, whose tapping had reached frenetic pace.
“Well,” Smith sucked his teeth, “I have a feeling that answer would make you very unhappy. Are you sure you want me to tell you?”
Elias bore his teeth in a snarl and Peck’s whole body tensed, not even a breath.
Murdock stopped tapping.
“Wait!” Gary almost yelped, “wait, hold up,” he nodded back, towards the stairs, indicating he wanted to talk out of earshot and having no idea what to say.
Elias stared at him, then looked down at Peck and moved the knife away. Peck let out a sharp sigh and slumped down in the chair, and Elias grinned smugly at him.
“Not such a tough guy, huh?”
Gary walked briskly past, not looking towards Peck, Elias followed him and they both stopped by the stairs.
“Ok, what?” Elias asked.
Gary hesitated, mind completely blank. Elias might have been a cog in a bigger machine but he could still order Mike to blow Gary’s head off, and Mike would do it. Gleefully.
Face finally felt the cuffs come off. Shaking hands and tiny locks did not a happy couple make, especially how close he’d come to a double smile. That frowning guy had jumped in… maybe he was just into him? It wouldn’t be the first time someone had come to the defence of his ‘perfect’ face, and he’d take that all day long over some nutcase carving him like a jack-o’-lantern. He was now uncomfortably clammy but free, and Frowny was distracting Slick. Sadly that left Twitchy, Face had already discounted the guy in the canary jacket as a threat. He was too scared to look straight at him, let alone put up a fight.
Hannibal was watching him with an expression that said, simply, ‘do not’. They all knew the second Face made a move Twitchy didn’t like he’d start firing, and he was close enough to Face there’d be no lucky misses. At the same time they were running out of options. Face didn’t want to lose anything important, like his fingers or his dignity.
On the other hand he didn’t know what Hannibal was planning other than ‘antagonise the guy with the knife’. Though, that was unfair, Hannibal was trying to protect the clients, and only a moron could’ve missed the tone of his voice. Sadly he thought Slick might well be a moron.
Suddenly Murdock gasped, sitting bolt upright, and even Hannibal’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
Before Face could even process it there was a shot that echoed like an explosion through the room, Face flinched, certain Twitchy had put a bullet in him for thinking too loud, when Twitchy suddenly crumpled to the ground, dead.
Face stared at the body, then twisted slowly in the chair to look back at Frowny, who was no longer frowning, but had the kind of focussed expression that happened when someone had some kind of grim but necessary business to attend to.
Slick lay at Frowny’s feet, curled up and cradling a bloody nose. Canary jacket was just plastered against the wall, eyes wide, staring at them.
Gary had noticed Peck take off the cuffs over Elias’ shoulder and decided there was no more time for prevaricating. He had to choose a side, and now, so he’d smashed Elias in the face with the butt of the rifle and shot Mike. After that things seemed simple. Maybe it was just ‘soldier mode’ or maybe it was something he should’ve done months ago. He nodded for Peck to take the other gun and he did, looking about as shell-shocked as everyone else in the room.
“Open the cage,” Gary ordered Ted, and for a second Ted didn’t move. Peck strode over instead, taking the key from Ted’s pocket and opening the cage himself.
Smith and Murdock came out watching Gary suspiciously. Gary couldn’t blame them, he could hardly believe what he was doing himself. He dragged Elias up, ignoring his whimpering, and shoved him into the cage. Peck did the same with Ted, and then locked the door.
There was silence as the three members of the A-Team stared at him.
Gary looked between them, eyes lingering a little longer on Peck, then shook his head. “We need to get out of here. There’s a patrol up top and they’ll check in on us if we’re quiet too long.” He looked down at Mike’s body and felt a little sick. “There should be a truck outside.”
“Then let’s find it and get out of here,” Smith said. He nodded for Gary to go first, and the others followed him.
The truck was where Gary had left it. Gary passed the keys to Smith who looked at him oddly for a moment before taking the wheel. Gary got in the front passenger seat and sat back with a heavy sigh. In the back Murdock was trying to examine Peck’s face while Peck tried to push him away, it reminded Gary of him and his brothers in the back seat of their parent’s car. He wondered if he should contact them again. He wondered what they’d say.
“So what’s your name?” Smith said, breaking Gary from his daze.
“Gary.” Gary replied, “Gary Kendrick.”
“Hannibal,” Smith said, “and that’s Face and Murdock.”
Gary grimaced, “Face, huh?”
“Yeah, thanks to you he doesn’t need a new nickname,” Smith said. “Might be better if you stick with us for a while, that was a hell of a resignation letter.”
“Yeah,” Gary sighed, “maybe I should’ve plugged Elias too.”
“Which one was that?”
“The guy with the knife.”
“Ah,” Smith was quiet a moment, expression unreadable, “I’m looking forward to meeting him again.”
Gary cast him a side glance and decided shooting Elias might have been a kindness.
They were quiet the rest of the way back to town, skipping past it to a little house on the outskirts. Gary figured it had to be their safehouse and was unexpectedly relieved to think they trusted him.
The big man everyone had been so afraid of was suddenly storming out of the house as they got out of the truck, and Gary instinctively shrank back.
“Where the hell have you been? What happened?” The big man demanded, suddenly zeroing in on Peck, “what happened?” He sounded, to Gary, fearsomely angry, but Peck just smiled gently, unfazed.
“It looks worse than it is,” Peck said.
The big man grunted and dragged Peck towards the house, barely gracing Gary with a look.
“That’s BA,” Smith said, “don’t worry, he doesn’t hit anyone who didn’t earn it.”
Murdock cleared his throat pointedly, and Smith smiled at him.
“Come on,” Smith said, “let’s talk inside.”
Face let BA drag him to the bathroom to clean him up. After an examination BA decided all that was needed was two rows of butterfly tape and released him to change his shirt. His face did sting, and he took two painkillers before returning to the living room where they were all waiting for him. As soon as he sat on the couch beside Murdock he was being examined again, and Face pushed him away.
“Will you stop?”
“It does look less alarming,” Hannibal said, “how’s it feel?”
“Fine, as long as I don’t laugh,” Face replied.
Hannibal smiled, softly satisfied, and turned to explain what happened to BA. BA listened in scowling silence, then frowned, surprised, as they got to Gary’s part in it.
“So why’d you decide to switch sides?” BA asked Gary, whose eyes once again flicked to Face before he dropped his gaze to the carpet.
Face was about to step in because he could only think of couple of reasons Gary kept looking at him and it was probably more polite to grant him the privacy of his thoughts, when Gary blind-sided him.
“I was captured, during the war,” Gary said, “there were forty of us. They put us in cages and left us to die…” he hesitated, drawing a breath, “I don’t even know, really, how long we were there. Nothing to eat, no sleep… it was getting bad.” He paused, shaking his head, “I was pretty out of it.”
Hannibal tilted his head slightly, thinking, and Murdock and BA were watching in silence.
“Then, um, one day this kid… this choirboy appears outside the cage,” Gary looked at Face again, “and he starts picking the lock.” He laughed softly, “I thought I was dreaming. The captain, he wasn’t doing much better, he kept asking the kid where his parents were…” he smiled, “and the kid just rolled his eyes.”
Murdock broke into a sudden grin, “you recognised him from that?” He looked at Face, nudging him with his shoulder, “man that’s perfect!”
“So he got you out, huh?” Hannibal urged Gary gently.
Gary nodded, “suddenly everything was exploding and the kid-” he stopped, wincing apologetically at Face, “lieutenant Peck, just cut through it like…” He stopped, swallowing, “for a long time it didn’t feel real, then suddenly…” he looked at Face again. “There’s the choirboy.”
Face smiled wryly, “not much of a choirboy nowadays.” He paused, “I’m sorry, I don’t really remember-”
“No, no, it’s…” Gary shook his head, “there were forty of us and one of you. I didn’t think you would.”
“I wasn’t alone,” Face nodded to the others. “That’s your explosions,” he gestured to BA, “and your ticket to ride,” He shoved Murdock playfully and Murdock grinned at Gary.
“Every ride into hell costs a buck, every ride out is free,” Murdock said with wink and a salute.
“And I’m the guy trying to herd cats,” Hannibal said with a smile.
Something unlocked inside Gary like a door swinging open. Struggling to stay upright, shuffling with the others like a flock of wounded penguins. He took a breath, then another, and looked around the four men who had dragged him out of the jungle half dead and twice as crazy.
“Holy fuck,” Gary said, “you- you’re-”
“You’re welcome,” Smith said, “like the man said, every ride out is free.” He smiled, “but now you helped us out, that means we owe you.”
“What? No, it’s… it was-” Gary shrugged helplessly, “I had to.”
“You didn’t have to do shit, and now you’re in deep with this asshole,” BA said firmly, “let us help you out.”
It didn’t sound as much a request as an order, and Gary hesitated only briefly before nodding.
“First,” Smith said, grinning wolfishly, “tell us everything you know about your ex-boss.”