Title: Standing Watch
Rating: PG
Summary: B.A. is injured on Face's watch, but he isn't the only one.

Hannibal stormed over to Face. "What the hell happened out there, Lieutenant?" he demanded. Face looked down at his trembling hands, not quite sure how to respond. Hannibal grabbed his face, forcing the younger man to look up at him. "I asked you a question, and I expect an answer!"

"I...uh...I don't know." Face stammered.

And that was the truth...or at least part of it. Face had been given first watch that evening. About an hour into his shift, he heard a twig snap and what sounded like some voices. Before he had a chance to react, he was grabbed from behind and gagged. One of the assailants yanked his arm behind his back; he screamed a silent scream as he felt it pull out of socket. He was pushed to the ground where he tried to struggle against his attackers. They took turns kicking him until he lay still. As they began retreating, he reached for his ankle gun and fired off a few warning shots. There was a sharp pain in the back of his head and then there was nothing.

"What do you mean, you don't know!" Hannibal exclaimed, his normally calm voice beginning to rise. "You were on watch...which means you should have been watching!"

"I was watching, but..." his voice trailed off as he tried to remember, but everything seemed fuzzy.

He came back around quickly, but was dizzy and disoriented. He stumbled through the brush aimlessly until he saw him. Face shuddered at the memory of the moment: B.A. laying face down in a pool of his own blood. He fell to his knees feeling for a pulse and praying that he would find one. That is when Hannibal and Murdock who had been alerted by the shots arrived on the scene.

Face's entire focus was on his fallen friend and getting him some help. His adrenaline level was so high, that he didn't feel any pain. Even in the van as he helped Hannibal apply pressure to the wound while Murdock sped them toward the hospital, he felt nothing but numb. But now that he had been sitting down for a while, he was starting to really hurt.

"You know what? I don't want to look at you right now...just leave. You've done enough damage for one day," Hannibal fumed.

Murdock's eyes opened wide with surprise, but he didn't object. Right now the only thing he cared about was B.A.; everything else would have to wait.

Face knew better than to argue with Hannibal when he was like this, it would only exacerbate the situation. He stood up holding his injured shoulder close to his side and slowly walked away with tears in his eyes.