'The Hat'

By: Dragonfire100

Summary: Three times Murdock let his team wear his most sacred posestion, No Slash Bromance abounds!

Chapter 3 B.A.

Murdock gritted his teeth as Face and Hannibal hauled him towards the helicopter. Blood steadily seeped out of a wound in his side. Some bastered managed to hit him there as they'd fought their way through enemy teritory back to their hidden ride.

"Hannibal how the hell are we gonna fly this thing?" Face said through clenched teeth glancing worridly at his best friend.

"I cin do it, jus' get me there." Murdock slurred, looking blearey eyed with pain.

"Fool can't fly no plane in this state." B.A. growled following very close behind.

"Com' on, have a little faith Bosco." Murdock said straining to look back at him.

Hannibal and Face exchanged a look both wondering about two things, Murdock's ability to fly the helicopter and the lack of B.A.'s usual objections to flying.

What the two men didn't know about was B.A.'s crushing guilt. He'd been so sure that guy was down for the count, didn't even see the 9mil he had hidden in the small of his back before he'd pulled it out.

B.A. felt the bastards nose break under his fist as he punched him watching with a satisfied smirk as the guy toppled over.

Around him his teammates finished off the rest of the enemy and he started back towards Face and Hannibal.

"GUN!" He spun around at the shout that sounded like the crazy fool.

"Look out!" Murdock yelled and proceeded to shove him out of the way as the enemy fired. Face quickly took the guy out. It was the same guy he'd just punched.

"Get off me fool!" B.A. growled at the pilot who lay half on top of him. Face and Hannibal approached both looking amused.

"I'd love to Big Guy but uh, I've got a bit of situation here." The pilot said obvious pain in his words. His tone had Hannibal and Face quickly approaching and they all helped ease the Captain over.

"Shit." Face cursed noticing the blood.

Hannibal quickly put a hand over the wound causing Murdock to jerk and groan under the pressure. "Easy Captain." He looked pointedly at his Corporal knowing how the big guy felt about flying. "We need to get back to the chopper now."

B.A. had just stared at the pilot in disbelief. He said nothing as Face spoke encouraging words to Murdock, him and Hannibal helping the pilot to his feet.

"Let's move!" Hannibal ordered.

Suddenly the helicopter seemed to appear in front of them and that part of B.A. that housed his fear of flying shuddered.

"S-slow down Muchachos, o-or I m-migh' be sic'" Murdock slurred suddenly.

"Sorry Captain but we've gotta move fast." Hannibal said as he and Face had to practically drag him the rest of the way.

BA switched his gaze to his injured comrade...friend, damn it the fool was his friend and now he might die because of him.

"Get in Corporal!" Hannibal ordered and to his Face's and particularly BA's surprise he got in. Like the time Face was shot the Corporal set aside his own fears when one of them was dancing a little to close to death's door.

"Ok buddy, now what? You gotta walk us through this." Face said kneeling over his friend.

"A-any of you got flight e-experience?"

"Sorry Captain." Hannibal said, sounding unusually unsure.

"Unless you count flight simulators." Face replied joke falling flat.

"T-that'll have to do Faceman, h-hop behind the control's I'll w-walk you through it." Murdock mumbled and the Lieutenant gave Hannibal an almost horrified look. The Colonel however seemed to have regained his confidence and gave him a curt nod.

Face grimaced but made his way quickly to the pilot's seat.

This day just keeps getting better and better BA thought considering strapping himself in. Instead he knelt beside Murdock looking up at Hannibal who was currently keeping pressure on his wound.

The Colonel gave him a reassuring smile before looking back down at Murdock.

"All right Captain, now what?"

It had to be one of the craziest things that would happen to them, adding onto a steadily rising list. Murdock had stayed surprisingly coherent through it all, though as they approached the base he rapidly started to fade.

"T-Take 'er down real e'z Face." Murdock mumbled. BA felt the tight ball of worry that had formed in his gut grow at how pale the pilot was and continued to become. Face had radioed ahead that they had wounded and already there were medics waiting for them to land.

Face gripped the controls sweat pouring off him, and not just because it was hot. The landing definitely wasn't perfect and for a couple of unsettling moments BA wondered if they would even make it. Finally though the chopper came to a jarring stop the sounds of the engines winding down like music to BA's ears.

Murdock's eyes were at half-mast whole body trembling slightly. All at once BA felt scared, scared for the fools life and when he got scared he got angry. Why had he done it? The pilot was so small compared to the Corporal, and he couldn't help but feel that he would've handled the shot better.

"H-here Big Guy," Murdock said suddenly drawing BA from his inner turmoil. The Captain removed his hat with a shaky blood stained hand and held it out to him. "Promise, I'll b-be back for it."

BA stared at the red cap for a moment, and suddenly realized just what the pilot was promising, not to die. With a surprisingly steady hand BA accepted the hat and the pilot gave him an unexpectedly wide smile before the medics appeared and in a whirlwind quickly got him onto a stretcher.

They all stood there watching as the medic's wheeled the Captain away. Once they were out of sight BA returned his gaze to the pilot's prized hat. Hannibal clasped him on the shoulder but the Corporal did not look up.

"He'll be all right." The Colonel said with confidence that none of them really felt.

Almost as if on auto pilot BA placed the worn hat on his head. No comment's came from his teammates, either they didn't dare say anything or, they understood.

No one ever mentioned the fact that BA wore the hat the whole time they waited for news on Murdock. When they were finally allowed to see the pilot BA quickly removed the cap before walking in the room, keeping it out of sight. He hung back as Hannibal and then Face spoke words of encouragement and relief to the Captain.

The doctors had said that Murdock was in stable condition and would make a full recovery. Hannibal told the Captain as he started to drift off that they would be back to visit soon. The pilot had just given him a weary but happy smile before his eyes closed. Face looked a little reluctant to leave but an encouraging glance from Hannibal had him heading towards the door.

BA still stood there hat clasped loosely at his side watching Murdock. He was less angry now, more satisfied that his friend-though he would never admit that openly to anyone-was going to be all right, still he had some unfinished business with the pilot.

Hannibal placed a knowing hand on BA's shoulder. There was an understanding glint in his eyes. "Don't stay to long Corporal." He muttered not unkindly before leaving.

BA paused for a moment. He wasn't very good at all this, emotional stuff, but just his once...

Stepping quietly forward he hesitated before carefully placing the hat on Murdock's chest.

"Thanks lil brotha." He muttered. It wasn't just a thank you to the pilot for saving him but also for keeping a promise and while Murdock hadn't exactly come back for the hat, he had stayed and that was enough.

A/N hmmm, not sure how I feel about this one, your thoughts?

Also it's late so I'm sorry for any grammatical errors and such yadda yadda yadda I'm going to sleep now, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it!

~Fire