Murdock sighed as he sank back against the hotel room door. He was really grateful that for the last few weeks he had taken the correct doses of his meds. He usually picked and chose what he needed to stay functional, but a month ago they had transferred to a new base. The base commander, General Richards, was a by the book, no non-sense kind of a guy with no imagination. He also had a grudge against Hannibal that stemmed from when they were both in basic. Added to that the fact that the team had just beaten Gen. Richards handpicked team in an exercise for some higher ups on their first day on base.

Because of that, Hannibal had asked him to do it as a way to ease the rest of the base into his "eccentricity". Murdock had smiled at the twinkle in the Boss' eyes that said it was more of leading Richards into a false sense of security before unloading Murdock's full craziness on the base.

He was even more grateful that he had agreed now as he saw the desolate look Face wore as he curled up in a ball on the bed.

He sighed again as he pushed off the door. He uncurled Face's legs enough to start untying his boots. Once off, he placed them under the bedside table, kicking off his Converse under as well. The Pilot then laid down on the bed and curled himself around his best friend. One hand going under Face's neck to card through his hair, the other soothing up and down his back.

"Oh, Facey." He whispered brokenly as the hand on the Lieutenants back pulled him closer as silent sobs wracked through the conman.

Both he and Face had gotten off duty at the same time and as it was Friday, they were going into town. When Face had walked in to the hanger to pick him up, he had been reveling in the looks the rest of the Pilots were giving him. It was almost like they had never seen a man talking to a helicopter before. Maybe it was because he was speaking for the helicopter...and it just happened to speak Portuguese.

"Oh, do you really think that you are that special?" he had asked it, putting the finishing touches on his paperwork.

"De, é claro que eu faço. Você está trabalhando em mim.*" was the reply that had him snapping his head up, wondering if his meds were failing him, but a grin spread across his lips as he saw Face sitting in the open cargo hold.

"Não deixe que ele suba à cabeça*" he replied.

"Ready to go?" Face asked.

"Uh..." he frowned at his report. Face came over to look at it.

"What's wrong? Looks good to me."

"Yeah, but..." he pursed his lips. The report was good. It was also normal. He smiled as he added a smiley face and 5 exclamation marks at the end. He handed it in and they walked across base to the apartments the team shared. When they had arrived, there hadn't been an open house for them, so they took two apartments right above each other. Once there they went to the 2nd floor, the one that Murdock shared with B.A. He quickly changed in to civilian clothes. They were debating which bar they were going to go to as they stopped at the 1st floor apartment that Face shared with the Boss.

Murdock sighed quietly, watching Face's profile as he rummaged through his many pockets for his keys. It was two years ago that they had rescued him from the hospital in Mexico. During that time, not only had Face become his best friend, but also he had quickly become infatuated with the charismatic conman. It had also quickly become apparent that the Colonel and the Lieutenant were together. He had learned to push such thoughts away, but as Face finally pushed open the door they still tugged at his heart a little.

"I don't know." Face had said. "We could ask the Boss. He said that he had a meeting with Richards, but he should be back by now." he finished the statement with a laugh... one that stopped as they took in the sight on the sofa.

Hannibal was stretched out along the couch, shirtless. Head thrown back over the arm, one hand gripping the back. His other hand was resting on the head on General Richards, whose head was bobbing between Hannibal's legs.

It was Hannibal who saw them first. He let out a groan, twisted his head and opened his eyes, which had been screwed shut.

"Shit! Stop!" he yelled. Richards looked up, frown on his face for the interruption, till he followed Hannibal's line of sight to the two standing in the doorway. Murdock glanced at Face out of the corner of his eye. The look of shock plastered there match his own, but it was the utter betrayal in his eyes that hardened his voice when he spoke.

"Well, Col. I guess the two of you have settled your differences." he snapped out, before he grabbed Face's arm and lead him out. He pulled him all the way to the car. He drove them into town, drove them in circles to give Face time to recover from the shock. When his friend still wasn't responding after half an hour, Murdock pulled into the first hotel he saw.

The back under his hand stopped moving and Face's breathing evened out. He continued to move his hand through Face's hair, trying to sooth his friend while he slept. A buzzing sound caught Murdock's attention. He reached into the pocket of Face's pants and pulled out his phone. 12 missed calls, it claimed. Most of them from Hannibal, but the last one was from B.A. He turned off the phone and dropped it into Face's boots when his own phone stated buzzing. He grabbed it and slipped out of the room. Again, most of the missed calls were Hannibal. He leaned against the railing, deleted all the voice mails without listening to a single one of them, then called B.A. back. It only rang once before it was answered.

"Where are you, fool?" B.A. shouted.

"Hey, Bosco. Is the Colonel anywhere near you?" he asked. He could hear the frown on B.A.'s face.

"No."

"Good!"

"What's going on, Crazy? Boss called me at the garage. He was frantic, and I mean normal people frantic, not 'I'm Hannibal Smith, I don't react to anything and you can only see it if you know me' frantic."

"Col. Smith can fuck himself with an Uzi." Murdock said in a hard voice. At any other time he would have smiled at the silence that indicated the shock on B.A.'s face. With yet another sigh, he told B.A. what had happened.

"Naw, man, no! I don't believe it! Somethin' has to be goin' on. Somethin' we don't know about. I mean Boss and Richards HATE each other!"

"That's not what we walked in on"

"Come on, Murdock, do you really think that the Boss would cheat on Face? It's not in Hannibal's character. There has to be something else going on."

"Believe what you want, Bosco, but you weren't there to walk in and see Richards sucking Hannibal like a lollypop. I'm not going to let him anywhere near Face till Face tells me he wants to see him. I've booked a room for the weekend at the Oakview motel on Jefferson Ave. Room 26. We'll stay here since we aren't expected back on base till zero-seven-thirty on Monday. If we are needed, call, I'll leave my phone on. I'll only pick up if it's you. And Bosco, DON'T give your phone Col. Smith! If I talk to him before I'm ready, it won't be pretty!"

"You're really mad at Bossman?" the mechanic asked. Murdock slumped back against the railing. He looked through the open door at Face sleeping on the bed.

"How could he do it, Bosco?" he asked quietly. "How could he hurt Face like that? He has to know what their relationship means to him."

"I don't know, Crazy." Bosco sighed "I'll swing by our place and pick up some clothes for you and Face. If I see Hannibal, I'll talk to him, see if I can get his side of this."

"Okay. See you soon. Oh, don't forget to get my med case, I'm gonna need them."

It only took about twenty minute for B.A. to show up, a frown on his face as he took in the still sleeping conman. B.A. said that he wasn't staying long because as he was packing up a bag for Face, Hannibal had come in and had a bit of a meltdown. Bosco didn't want to leave him alone too long. Murdock was less then sympathetic. They said goodbye, with the Sergeant promising to call if he got any information out of Hannibal.

Murdock shut the door; he had just turned the lock when he heard a sound coming from the bed. He walked over and sat on the edge just as Face rolled over onto his back, eyes blinking sleep and dried tears away.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked. The Lieutenant didn't respond right away. After a few minutes, the conman shrugged. "Bosco brought us some stuff," Murdock went on, "how about you take a shower and I'll order us some food." Face shrugged again, stared up at the ceiling for a little while, before he finally rolled off the bed and trudged into the bathroom.

Murdock waited for the shower to start before he called a deli for sandwiches. The shower was still running when the food arrived. He went ahead and ate, planning on going to check on Face if he wasn't out by the time he was done. The last of the fries had taken a trip through the ketchup and were on the way to his mouth when the water stopped and the door opened.

A drop of ketchup fell back onto the paper; his hand froze in midair, as he took in Face standing in the doorway. His hair was dark with water, plastered to his head, and droplets still fell from the locks to trail down his chest, passed his tags, leaving tracks on his abdomen until they were absorbed into the towel that was wrapped around his waist.

A towel that was suddenly dropped to reveal a pair worn cotton sleep pants that had been cutoff at the knees. Murdock didn't know if the breath he let out was in relief or despair.

Face moved over to the bed and leaned against the headboard, pulling his knees up. When Murdock was sure that his reaction to a waterlogged Face was no longer evident, he stood and handed Face the sandwich he had gotten and a bottle of water. Then he placed himself next to him on the bed and switched on the TV. He flipped around till he found a mindless action movie.

He started up a running commentary about what they were doing wrong, how he would have flown the plane, about how the eye candy actress couldn't act and really wasn't pretty enough to rate eye candy status, and anything else he could think of to say. All of this was interspersed with prompts for Face to take a bite, chew, sallow. After the fifth time, Face started to eat on his own.

After the movie ended, Murdock took his own turn in the bathroom. He coaxed Face under the covers, turned off the lights and slipped in next to his best friend. He didn't know how long they lay there, listening to the late night traffic, eyes adjusting to the light slipping in between the closed curtains, when Face shifted to lying in his arms. Face wrapped one arm around his waist and buried his face in Murdock's neck. For a few seconds, he wondered if Face was awake, but realized that Face was probably just moving into sleeping position he was use to, so he eased his arm out from between their bodies and slipped it under Faces' head. And nearly jumped out of bed when Face started speaking.

"It was kinda inevitable, wasn't?" he whispered straight into Murdock's neck.

"Hmm?"

"I mean, it's just not the way things are for me, you know. So I'm use to it. People not staying, I mean. No one has ever wanted to stay before, so why would now be any different? I mean, the first girl I ever cared about left town without telling me to become a nun in South America.

Murdock wanted to scream, shout, whisper, and sing in all the languages that he know that he would stay, that nothing would ever be able to remove him from Templeton Peck's side. Instead he swallowed and lifted his hand to card through the Lieutenant's hair.

"Most people don't want me in the first place." Face continued. "My parents didn't, left me at an orphanage when I was 5. None of the families that came to adopt wanted me. The army was the same way. None of the CO's wanted me. The few that I had were forced to take me and couldn't wait to get rid of me. Until Hannibal." He looked up at Murdock. The Pilot could see tears forming in the red-rimmed eyes. "He listened to me, he understood. He let me do what I needed to do. He respected me when no one else would. He was everything the damn recruiter tells you a CO should be! We had been teamed together for 18 months, just after Mexico, when we realized that we both wanted something more"

Murdock took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Face was quiet, seemed to be collecting his thoughts, but as he did that he was also rocking his head from side to side, moving the bridge of his nose along Murdock's collar bone. The position caused every breath that Face took to travel down his chest, causing his nipples to harden.

"I know I mess around." He said brokenly. "But I never go to far. I mean, yeah, I flirt, sometimes I even kiss a girl, but that's for us. To protect us!"

"I know, Face."

"I mean, we got to keep up appearances. He can ignore it. He's a respected Col. But if it seemed like I sleep around, no one is going to think it too weird if we live together."

"I know, Face." Murdock said again.

"Then why? He spent the first year we were together convincing me that he would always be there. That I really was what he wanted. I really did believe that he loved-" he broke off as he stared crying again. Murdock held him, imaging all the horrible things he'd like to do to one Hannibal Smith if he got a hold of him.

The crying spell didn't last as long this time. Face was the one who pushed himself up to lean across Murdock to reach the box of tissues on the nightstand. He balled up the used tissue and tossed it in the small trashcan on the other side of the room. As he slid back into his former position, he let his hand trail across Murdock's chest, the nail of his hand lightly tracing against his nipple.

"Murdock?"

"Hmm?" Murdock had closed his eyes, trying to control his body. He felt Face lift his head to look at him. When Face didn't respond he tilted his own head to meet Faces' gaze. He was startled when he saw just how close Face was.

"Thank you." Face said softly. "Thank you for being here. I really don't want to be alone."

"Your welcome, Facey. There is no where else I would rather be." He pressed a kiss to Face's forehead. When he pulled back, he frowned slightly at the look that was in Face's eyes. He almost had it identified when Face surged upwards and pressed his lips to Murdock's. He pulled back, eyes gauging the pilot. Murdock only blinked, before Face leaned in again, kissing him more forcefully. His hands moved as well, rubbing up and down Murdock's chest, deliberately scrapping against his nipple causing Murdock to gasp.

That seemed to be what Face wanted as his tongue darted into Murdock's mouth, rubbing, caressing, and pulling a moan out of the pilot. Murdock's mind apparently went on vacation, as the only thought passing through it was 'Face is kissing me'. He started to kiss back, wanting, needing to finally taste the person that he had been in love with for the last year. They rolled onto their sides, his arms once again sliding down Face's back, this time tracing, memorizing the muscle under his hand. Everything felt wonderful, he didn't want it ever stop, but that little voice in the back of his head was screaming at him.

He trusted that voice more then anything or anyone on the planet. It was that voice that told him what was most important. It told him which doctors to trust, which officers to avoid, which planes to fly, when to duck, weave, and when to throw in a barrel roll. It had told him to go with Hannibal that day. It had saved his life, and more importantly, it had saved the lives of the team more times the he could count. And it was telling him to stop.

'Just one more kiss.' He told it, but it just got louder. That was when he noticed that one of Face's hands was toying with the waistband of his sleep pants. And as much as that was something that he wanted, a quick roll in the hay with his heartbroken best friend was not how he wanted it. He brought his hands up to push against Face's shoulders.

"Face, stop. This isn't a good idea."

"No, it's a great idea." Face replied, tongue laving up and down Murdock's neck. Murdock whimpered as he nipped the junction between neck and shoulder, before pushing him away more firmly.

"No, this isn't want you need right now. And in the long run it will just confuse things." Face let out his own whimper, but this one was much more distressing.

"HM, please," he said, reaching out. "I don't... I can't-"Murdock took the hand, enfolded it in his own and pressed it to his chest, pulling Face close.

"I will always be here for you, Templeton. I will never leave unless you want me to. Tonight, next week, next month or fifty years from now, I will be by your side!" he kept Face's eyes the whole time, when Face registered the sincerity in them a veil seemed to drop away from his. A sense of relief flashed through, before he blinked and it was gone. He nodded, repositioned himself in Murdock's arm and drifted off to sleep.

Even though Murdock stopped them from going too far, it did cause a change in their relationship. Their friendship seemed deeper and also there was a new physical closeness. There wasn't a moment during the weekend that they were not in contact with each other. Sides pressed together as they watched a movie, ankles crossed under the table as they ate, and they always slept entangled in each other's arms.

There were the times when Face would get that certain look in his eye, before he would lean in and kiss Murdock. It would lead to an intense make out session. Both seemed to know when to pull away, but it left them gasping for air as they lay next to each other on the bed, trying to contain their giggles.

Murdock was amazed by how seamlessly it fit into their friendship. Some friends hugged, they kissed. It also seemed to ground Face. It gave him closeness he was used to, but it wasn't rooted in lust. It was something to hold onto, something to give him strength, so that he would have no problem walking into Hannibal's office on Monday morning. Well, so that he wouldn't show it if he had a problem, anyway.