.

When the jeep skidded to a halt outside of Da Nang's motor pool Lieutenant Templeton Peck leaped out of the passenger seat and turned to glare at the driver, "You missed a few of the potholes Sergeant," he said complained sarcastically, "Would you like to got back and hit them before you turn this thing in"

Baracus gripped the steering wheel and scowled at the angry Lieutenant. "Ah got ya here in one piece didn't ah?"

Peck's eyes narrowed, "Two hours of travel, three snipers, sixty one pot holes and a burning truck? Our arrival is nothing short of a miracle!"

Dismissing the Lieutenants tantrum, the Sergeant snorted and poured himself out of the jeep. "What you want me ta do afta I turn in da jeep to the pool?" He asked.

Shaking his head, Peck couldn't believe the Sergeant's nerve. Even with the bulky black man's history of disrespect, the young Lieutenant expected at least an occasional display of respect for a superior officer. In the six weeks that he had known the Sergeant, it had been nothing but an exercise in frustration. Oddly enough it had become important to the young officer to earn the Sergeant's respect, the same kind of respect that the Sergeant gave the Colonel. Turning his attention back to the conversation at hand, Peck said, "I've arranged temporary quarters. If you could check with the quartermaster to find out where they're putting us for the night, it would save be some time."

"Am I bunking wit da enlisted?" Baracus asked gruffly.

Sighing, Peck shook his head. "Colonels standing order is that we bunk as a team. You'll just have to put up with me for the night."

"Good." The Sergeant said with satisfaction before turning and heading into the motor pool.

Shocked from the positive response from the ever negative Sergeant, the Lieutenant stared open mouthed as he watched the larger man's retreating back. "That was a test wasn't it!" Peck called out, suddenly excited that he had finally been given a opportunity to earn some respect. Baracus shrugged his shoulders without looking back, and disappeared inside the small hut that contained the motor pool dispatch office. Grinning from ear to ear, Peck turned and headed towards the administrative offices to put into play the groundwork for his next achievement. 'I'm on a roll today," he thought happily to himself.

"Let's roll," Kimble whispered loudly as emerged from his hiding spot. One by one five men emerged from their own hiding places and gathered around Kimble. Looking in the direction of the pilots, Kimble whispered, "The chopper has been concealed and it will take us about twenty minutes to uncover it. You'll have ten minutes after that before we need to be in the air." Murdock nodded and Kimble whispered to the group, "Let's go."

The couple of yards remaining to reach the chopper turned out to be twelve. 'Someone should tell Kimble that a couple means two or three,' Murdock thought to himself as he stumbled over a hidden root near the clearing where the chopper was hidden.

"You're awful clumsy for such a hot shot," a whisper from behind mocked.

"Fuck you." Murdock hissed under his breath as he steadied himself. He wasn't in any mood to tangle with any of Daniels verbal games.

"Shut up back there," Kimble whispered loudly. "We got work to do."

Entering the clearing, Murdock was impressed with the work that Agent Williams had done in their absence. In the place where he knew that the chopper had been set down was what looked like a gigantic 58 foot bush. "How the hell did he do this by himself?" The Captain whispered in amazement.

Tanner stepped up beside him, "Netting made of a fine fishing line. The stuff is really easy for one man to handle. And see those trees beside the clearing?" he whispered pointing to the now bare treetops that boarded the clearing. "He stretched out the net, then went up the trees, cut the foliage and tossed it towards the chopper. The branches get caught in the net and all he has to do is made a couple of adjustments and wha-la big bush."

"Seems a little obvious to me," Murdock said looking up at the bare trees.

"Shit, haven't you figured out yet that most people ignore the obvious?" Tanner said slapping Murdock's shoulder, "That's why we get away with most of what we do in the company, most people ignore the obvious and believe what they're told."

"Good evening Sergeant, I'm Lieutenant Peck and I'm wondering if the mail has arrived yet? I'm expecting a very important letter from state side." Peck said to the man behind the counter of the Headquarters Mail Room.

The tired Sergeant looked up from his paperwork. "Mail comes in at 8 am just like it does every day," he said dryly.

"But what's that over there?" Peck said pointing to a pile of tan letters on a table behind the counter.

"Those are official letters, they have to be opened and sorted." The sergeant said glancing back at the pile.

Peck took the opening and darted through the opening in the counter used by the mailroom workers. "I'm sure the letter is there," he said passing the Sergeant as he headed towards the table. With his back to the Sergeant, Peck pulled a tan envelope from his pocket and reached for the pile with letter in hand. "Here it is." He called out triumphantly raising the envelope up into the air.

The Sergeant reached up and snatched the envelop from Peck's hand. "I'm sorry sir, this is official government correspondence and all official mail has to be processed before I can give it to you."

"But that's my letter I just know it!" Peck protested as he allowed the Sergeant to nudge him away from the table.

The Sergeant quickly tucked the letter into the pile and put himself protectively between the table and the pushy Lieutenant. "I'm sorry sir, this is official mail and the area behind the counter is restricted to authorized personnel only. If you don't leave I'll have to call the MP's to escort you out."

Huffing in outrage, Peck quickly backed is way through the counter opening. "Alright, alright, but that is my letter."

"I'm sorry sir, but like I said, it has to be processed first. I assure you that it will be on your desk in the morning." The Sergeant said soothingly.

"Fine!" Peck whined loudly as he stormed out of the mailroom, leaving behind a Sergeant who was shaking his head and muttered something about pushy officers who thought they were too important to follow the rules. The Lieutenant continued his angry march away from the mail room until he turned a corner. Smiling brightly, Peck slowed to a comfortable stroll. 'This is almost too easy,' he thought to himself.

"It's easy," Murdock responded to Tanner's questions about flying a helicopter while he ran through the choppers pre-flight checks. "Heck of a lot easier than landing on a carrier I'm sure."

"I don't know about that," Tanner said doubtfully, "I got great hand-eye coordination but when you throw in the need to coordinate the feet as well I'm useless."

Murdock chuckled, "What I miss the most about flying choppers is the lack of speed."

"You fly jets?" Tanner asked curiously.

"A couple," Murdock replied coyly. Turning back he softly called out, "This baby is ready to lift when you are."

Kimble waved everyone into the chopper. Silently his team slipped through the open door of the Cobra, and when they were all in, Kimble entered himself, closing the door behind him. "Take it up Captain." He called out as he took his own seat.

"It's take her up," Murdock corrected under his breath as he reached for the ignition switch. Once flipped, the engine choked to life and the blades began to turn, picking up speed with each turn. After the silence needed during the mission, the sound of the chopper sounded like a sweet melody to the Captain. RPM's shot up quickly and Murdock could tell by feel alone when the rotors had enough lift for take off. "Here we go!" He called out has he pushed the Cobra straight up into the air.

When the helicopter rose above the treetops, Murdock turned the Cobra 180 and headed south. "Ya'll better buckle up back there," Murdock called over his shoulder, "We got about fifteen before we meet up with the same turbulence we ran into coming in."

"Turbulence?" Tanner said confused.

"You'll see," the Captain responded.

Five minutes later the first missile whizzed past the chopper. "Looks like our guys took some ground." Murdock commented as he banked away from the explosion.

"Could be NVA reinforcements heading south." Tanner said looking out the side window.

Murdock frowned, "Or maybe I just pissed em off by getting past em the first time." Another missile streaked past and Murdock had to bank left to miss the explosion.

"How fast can this thing go," Tanner asked as he watched an increasing number of flashes on the ground.

"About 147 knots," Murdock said. "Less when I have to do a lot of maneuvers."

"Well you better start doing something," Tanner said gripping his seat. "There's a hell of a lot of people shooting at us."

"I always did like playing dodge ball Commander," Murdock said slyly before breaking into song, "Off we go into the wild blue yonder, Climbing high into the sun; Here they come zooming to meet our thunder, At'em boys, giv'er the gun! Down we dive spouting our flames from under, Off with one hell-uv-a roar! We live in fame or go down in flame, Nothing'll stop the US Air Force!"

"Shut him up!" Daniels shouted angrily from the back.

"You betda shut yo mouth sucka," Sergeant Baracus growled at the Air Force Second Lieutenant.

"How dare you speak to me like that boy!" The young red headed officer snapped with a deep southern drawl. The look on his face showed an obvious distaste for the man who stood before him, "I told you to pick up my trash and by damn that's what you're going to do."

Lieutenant Peck heard the angry voices, and immediately recognized that of the Sergeant's. "Oh no," he said, picking up his pace.

"You drop it, you pick it up." Baracus growled.

"Pick it up nigger," the First Lieutenant shouted stubbornly.

The color drained out of Pecks face and he took off at a run. Visions of having to explain to the Colonel why one of his men was now locked up in the brig for murder raced through his mind.

"Take that back!" Baracus snarled.

Peck rounded the corner of a hooch used for temporary quarters at a run, in time to see Baracus take a step closer to the Air Force Officer. "Sergeant!" he called out. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

Baracus looked away from the man in front of him, "Been here, you know that."

Stopping beside the two angry men, Peck smiled at the Air Force butter bar and said, "Excuse me, the Sergeant and I have important business to discuss."

"This your boy?" The First Lieutenant asked with disgust.

Baracus snarled viciously, and Peck squeezed in between the two men and offered a half laugh. "You're kidding right?" He took on a look of complete seriousness, "You really don't know who he is do you?"

Taken aback, the Air Force Officer narrowed his eyes and looked intently at the Sergeant. "All I see is a nigger."

Letting out a overacted sigh of relief, Peck explained. "Thank goodness I got here when I did."

"Who is he?" The red head asked.

"I saved your life really, you just don't know how lucky you are." Peck said with intense seriousness knowing that he had just hooked another sucker. He almost smiled when Baracus growled again. Putting a hand on the man's shoulder Peck steered him away from the sergeant.

"Who is he?" The officer asked again with a glance over his shoulder.

Leaning towards the other man as if divulging a secret, Peck whispered. "Tell me, have you ever heard of Killer Baracus, the scourge of Vietnam?" When the red head shook his head, Peck looked surprised. "How long have you been here?"

"Three days," the man responded.

"Oh, well that explains it." Peck said knowingly, "Everyone's heard of killer. Highest kill ratio in the entire Army. Once he took out an entire NVA battalion single-handed." He paused and gave the junior officer an appraising look. "You sure you haven't heard about him? I would have been sure that one would have made it to the papers back home."

"An entire battalion all by himself?" the officer asked glancing back at the large and very angry black man.

"Yep, he's the pride of the army right now," Peck said wistfully, "They even let him get away with killing an occasional officer. He hates officers." He said with a patient sigh. "Especially the ones that remind him of his grandfather's stories from the slave days." The southern man paled and gulped. "Anyway, it's a good thing I got you away when I did."

"Thanks, thanks a lot." The First Lieutenant said unsure of himself. One finally look back at the Sergeant, the red headed officer hurried off. Chuckling, the Lieutenant waved good-by.

"What you say to him?" Baracus asked gruffly as he stepped up beside Peck.

"Basically told him you were going to rip his head off."

"Ah was."

.

.

"Colonel Smith, you have a call in the com shack." Someone called down into the bunker that served as the teams office.

"On my way." Smith called back. Pushing himself away from his desk, he glanced quickly at his watch and was surprised to find that it was well past eight in the evening. 'Time flies when you're having fun,' he thought to himself.

A few moments later Colonel Smith stepped down into the communications shack, "Who is it?" he asked as he took the handset from the waiting Corporal.

"Brigadier General Koenig."

Smith grinned and spoke into the handset, "That was fast Randy. I expected you to take a couple of days to make the arrangements."

There was a heavy sigh on the other end, "I'm sorry John, I won't be able to help you after all."

"What happened?" Hannibal asked, disappointment saturating each word.

"The orders were typed up and sent out this morning. No problem, it was easy enough to do." Koenig replied.

"And?" Smith asked.

"Let's just say that someone involved has some contacts with some very powerful people." the General said, leaving a lot to the imagination. "I had the orders I issued torn up in front of my face."

"Martin?" the Colonel asked.

"Hell if I know," Koenig said, "But one thing for sure, you're not going to get this pilot transferred. Someone has him where they want him and to hell with anyone else."

"I appreciate the fact that you tried Randy." Hannibal said sincerely.

"No problem," Koenig said, "Just watch your ass okay. Just don't push too hard with this. I got the feeling that you were stepping on some toes over this and you could end up with more than you bargained for."

.

.

"I am so in over my head," Murdock muttered as he ran watched the last of his passengers disappear into the darkness that surrounded the 27th MASH Unit heli-pad at Chu Lai. If not for the fact that he'd actually been a part of the mission, the pilot would have thought the details to be a part of some elaborate fictional story told to entertain the public. Shaking his head, the Captain flipped the ignition switch. "fifty six miles and I'll be home," he said to himself. "In twenty three minutes this'll all be behind me." Then his mind silently screamed out 'till next time!'

Less than ten minutes later, Murdock was airborne and heading north. Despite his desire to forget the mission and everything associated with it, his thoughts turned to the debriefing Kimble had given him after they had landed at Chu Lai. The Agent had made everything sound so simple. "Simple huh, don't talk to anyone about anything, and if anyone asks it was a flight to Saigon, fight with a Marine at the O Club, and then a smooth return flight. No thank you, no good job, no take care of yourself, nothing, zip, nada." Real simple, or so Kimble seemed to think. It had been a hell of a ride going through the enemy lines, coming and going, and the chopper had been rattled pretty bad a couple of times. "Mechanics are gonna know better," he said whispered out loud. "They're gonna know this baby's been in combat."

Murdock shivered slightly. At least this chopper was in better shape than the last one he had flown back to Da Nang. For the first time since leaving for this mission, Murdock thought about his Long and Trombetta. "Probably got their tickets home by now," Murdock whispered to himself. The memory of Tanner's co-pilot Lieutenant Carmichael flashed before his eyes. "Gotta fly alone no matter what." Murdock whispered with determination, "No witnesses."

"Nobody saw me," Peck said impatiently. "And nobody is going to figure it out."

"Martin gonna know." Baracus said stretching out on his bunk.

"Oh ye of little faith." The Lieutenant said dramatically before his voice lowered to a conspiring tone, "I'm willing to bet a C note that it will work."

"Ah don't bet," the Sergeant snorted. "Now shut up, ah wanna go ta sleep."

Leaning back onto his own bunk, Peck tucked his hands behind his head and smiled. A part of him wanted to be there when the orders were delivered, but he knew that it was important to the scam to arrive after the initial shock wore off. He took a quick look over at Baracus and his eyes twinkled in the dark. He knew that the transfer would work out just fine, it was one of the easiest scams in the Army. Closing his eyes, the confident young man snuggled down into his bunk. 'Yep, Hannibal be will surprised. Really surprised."

"All I wanna do is snuggle down into my bunk and get some rest." Murdock said out loud as he landed the Cobra in Da Nang twenty four minutes after leaving Chu Lai. The short hop from Chu Lai had been peaceful and quiet in comparison to the mission that had just come to an end, and it had given him a chance to realize just how tired he actually was. With the chopper solidly on the ground, the Captain turned the bird over to the ground crew on duty and headed to his hooch.

Quietly stepping into the tent, the pilot made his way to his bunk in the dark. Shocked, Murdock stopped and stared at the form sleeping peacefully in what had been Murray's bunk. Shipton had told him that a replacement was due in, but somehow it was sad and made Murray's death so final.

"He came in this morning," Shipton whispered softly. "How was Saigon?"

Murdock's head turned quickly, surprised to be caught staring at the Murray's bunk. "Rough." he taking a few steps towards his own bunk.

"Oh?" Shipton said suspiciously. "Something I should know about?"

"I had a little run in with a Marine," Murdock said quickly as he stretched out on his bunk, "but nothing serious."

"Go to sickcall in the morning," Shipton whispered, "just to make sure okay?"

"Sure," Murdock replied. "First thing in the morning."

.

.

"Are you sure!" Martin shouted as he roughly rose up from his chair to stare at the clerk in front of him.

"Ah yes sir, I have his orders right here." the clerk said nervously as he held the document out to the angry man behind the desk.

Martin snatched the papers out of the clerks hand and silently read them, certain that the clerk had misread them. "God damn it! Get Shipton in here and tell him to bring Captain Murdock with him."

"Y-y-yes sir." the young man stammered.

Less than ten minutes later, Lieutenant Colonel Shipton entered Martin's office. "You wanted to see me sir?" Shipton asked smiling. The clerk had already told him about the transfer orders received for Captain Murdock, and although he was a bit disappointed about losing a damn good pilot he was happy that the kid would be out from under Martin's thumb.

"Where in the hell is Murdock!" Martin growled, "You were suppose to . . ."

"Captain Murdock is at sickcall." Shipton interrupted.

"You know anything about this?" Martin shouted waving the transfer orders in Shipton's face.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," Shipton responded cagily, knowing full well what Martin was ranting about.

"Fucking transfer orders," Martin snarled, "if that wasn't bad enough he's being transferred to an Army unit."

"Colonel Smith's unit?" Shipton asked as he attempted to read the waving orders. Over the past month, Smith had been sending requests persistently, and deep down the Lieutenant Colonel had hoped that he would eventually be successful in his effort.

"God damn, pushy, arrogant, backstabbing, fucking asshole." Martin cursed while his face turned a bright red. "How dare he steal one of my pilots."

Shipton bit back a chuckle and tried his best to look serious. "Maybe it's for the best," he offered softly.

"Best?" Martin snarled. "I'll bet that primadonna flyboy pulled some strings to help Smith get him transferred. I'll bet this is all Murdock's fault."

Shrugging, Shipton stared at his angry Commanding Officer. "Sir nothing personal, but there isn't much we can do since the orders have been issued. You obviously don't like him so why not look at this like an opportunity to get rid of him."

At that moment, Lieutenant Peck stepped into the office. "Excuse me, this is the headquarters for the 40th ARRS, isn't it?" he asked pleasantly.

.

.

"What do you want?" Martin snapped out venomously.

The Lieutenant's eyes grew wide in genuine surprise at the Colonel's ferocity. Although he had been aware of Martin's angry reactions to Hannibal's attempts to transfer the pilot, prior experience with his own transfers left him expecting Martin to be resigned to the transfer. 'Can't go back now,' Peck thought to himself as he pull a small green note pad out of his front pocket. Looking down to avoid Martin's odious gaze, the conman ruffled through the pages, flipping back and forth until he found the page he needed. "Here it is, I found it." he said nervously while tapping the notebook.

"Get to the point!" Martin bellowed impatiently.

It wasn't hard to pretend to fidget nervously since Martin was in fact intimidating. "I've been sent here to pick up a Captain H.M. Murdock." Peck said looking up from his notepad. Focusing on the orders clasped tightly in Martin's fist, the young man smiled brightly. "Ah, I see his orders arrived. Good." Before Martin could respond, he boldly strolled over to the desk and reached out for the orders. "May I?"

"This is bullshit!" Martin snarled turning even redder than before. "How in the hell did Smith arrange this?" He asked before shoving the orders forcibly at the Lieutenant.

Peck shrugged and gingerly took the orders shoved at him and said, "Sorry sir, I'm not privy to the Colonel's connections." After carefully smoothing out the crumpled orders, the Lieutenant quickly shifted through the copies and tugged out the fourth copy and handed it back to Martin, "This is your copy sir. The rest of the copies go to the appropriate administrative offices. Since we have to report back to the unit this afternoon, I'll take care of distributing the copies."

"He won't get away with this," Martin growled as he crumbled up his copy into a ball and threw it on his desk. "I'll have him back in my squadron by the end of next week. Smith isn't the only one with connections."

"I'm not doubting you sir, but I hope you understand that I'm just trying to follow orders." Peck said frankly while neatly folding the Captain's transfer orders. "Now if someone could direct me to Captain Murdock."

Interrupting what Shipton was sure would be another round of threats, he hesitantly said "If there isn't anything else Colonel, I'll show the Lieutenant here where he can find Captain Murdock."

Leaning forward with a sneer, Martin coldly stared at Peck and said "Tell Smith he'd better watch his back when he visits Da Nang."

Pulling out his note book, the Lieutenant scribbled the information down. Once completed he offered the notepad and the pen to Martin. "Would you care to sign the threat sir?"

Martin slapped the pad and pen out of Peck's hand and shouted "Get the fuck out of my office, both of you!"

Outside Shipton breathed a deep sigh of relief and slapped the younger man on the shoulder. "Your timing was perfect. Absolutely perfect."

"Pardon me?" Peck said concerned that he had somehow been caught.

"You have no idea how close I was to hitting the bastard." Shipton said with another slap on the Lieutenant's back. "Come on, Murdock's at sick call right now so I'll help you distribute the copies of his orders before you go get him."

Confused by the Lieutenant Colonel's willingness to help, Peck asked "You don't seem overly upset that he's being transferred. May I ask why?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy to lose Murdock, he's a hell of a pilot," the older man said with a serious tone while shaking his head. "Something's been going on between him and Martin since day one. I can't quite place my finger on it, but in little over a month the kid's been on two assignments that brought him back looking like someone played punching bag with him." Shipton sighed, "I sure as hell don't like it and I think Martin's been setting Murdock up. It's seems to me that Murdock's being sent out to fail so Martin has proof that he's better than the kid. Survival is hard enough around here with out someone gunning for you." He blew out a large puff of air and looked Peck in the eye, "Am I making any sense?"

Hesitantly, Peck nodded then asked, "Has anyone ever pointed this out to anyone higher up?"

Shipton chuckled, "Hell yeah, your CO as a matter of fact. It's been a long time since I've seen anyone with those kind of balls." The older man grew silent and looked down. "He reminded me what I should be doing all along for my own guys," he added in a whisper. After a long pause, Shipton looked up, "Anyway, like I said before, I'm not happy about losing him, but with the shit Martin's been pulling, I think a transfer is in his best interest."

Unaware of the changes taking place in his life, Murdock sat nervously on the side of an examining table, kicking his feet back and forth. "It was a big ugly Marine Doc, mean as hell and drunk to boot." Murdock said innocently while staring into his hands.

"Uh huh and I'm the Marilyn Monroe." The doctor said sarcastically while palpitating his ribs. "Did you black out at all?"

"Hey, that hurts." Murdock complained when she pressed on a particularly tender spot. "And no, I didn't black out, just saw a bunch of stars."

"It looks like you may have a couple of cracked ribs, I won't know for sure until I see x-rays." The doctor commented. Stepping back she gave the Captain an appraising look that hinted at disapproval. "I'll send someone in to take you to x-ray and I'll be back."

"Thank's doc," Murdock said looking up with a smile.

Arriving at sick call, Lieutenant Peck stepped up in front of the check-in desk. "Excuse me Miss," Peck asked with a smile, "I'm looking for Captain Murdock. I was told that I might be able to find him here."

The nurse looked up from her paperwork, smiled back at the handsome man, and said "He's in with a doctor Lieutenant." Leaning forward she was about to ask him if there was anything she could do for him when she spotted someone exit one of the exam rooms. Sighing heavily for a lost opportunity she pointed at the doctor and said, "That's Murdock's Doc over there. I'm sure she'll be able to help you out."

"Thank you dear lady," Peck said, turning his attention to the approaching Doctor. "Excuse me Doctor," he said when the doctor was a few steps away from the desk, "I'm Lieutenant Peck, and I'm here to check on Captain Murdock to see if he's ready to be taken to his new unit."

"The Captain needs a few x-rays before I'll release him." She said dryly as she gave the young man an appraising look, "I don't suppose you know anything about his injuries do you?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Peck replied, "Sorry. All I know is that he went to Saigon."

The Doctor snorted, "Well I'm not buying it." Grabbing the sleeve of the Lieutenant's uniform she added, "Come on, we're short handed around here so you've just volunteered to escort Murdock to x-ray. Bring him back here when you're done."

"Ah, yes ma'me." He said as she shoved him into the exam room. Inside Peck found the pilot carefully pulling on his flight suit, but not before revealing the angry looking bruises along his ribcage. Shipton had suggested that the pilot had been used as a punching bag and the evidence confirmed it. "Captain?

You probably don't remember me but I'm Lieutenant Peck from Colonel Smith's unit." he said while trying to avoid staring at the pilots injuries.

Caught in the act of dressing, Murdock was momentarily startled. When the surprise passed his eyes seemed almost hopeful. "I remember you, you're the Face Guy." The Captain's eye looked past the young blond, "Smith? He's here?"

Peck sighed and shook his head at the nickname the Captain had used once before. 'Nicknames must be some kind of pilot thing,' he thought to himself. "No, the Colonel isn't here, but you'll see him soon enough. Your orders came in today and you're officially transferred to our unit." He finally responded.

Murdock sat heavily on the exam table and he closed his eyes. "Oh my god," he whispered. Getting through both Martin and the CIA had seemed like and impossible task, yet the Lieutenant was here telling him that he was now a part of Smith's unit.

The Captain's reaction seemed to validate what Shipton had said about how tough things were for the pilot, but somehow Peck had expected excitement. Peck covered the last few steps to the exam table and placed a steadying hand on the pilot's shoulder. "Hey, you're all right, aren't you? If you need a few days before you're ready to travel, I'm sure the Colonel will understand."

Smiling, Murdock shook his head. "I'm alright," he said opening his eyes and turning to the Lieutenant, "It's just a shock, that's all." Standing up, the Captain zipped up his flight suit and turned to Peck and said, "I'm ready to go when you are Face."

'Again with the nickname,' Peck thought as he shook his head and said, "X-Rays first."

Between the x-rays, finishing up with the doctor to confirm that the Captain had only suffered bruises, and Murdock's insistence about saying good bye to his injured crew, it took the two men over an hour to get away from the hospital. From what Peck has overheard while Murdock had been talking to his former co-pilot and Flight Engineer it seemed as if the transfer had occurred at just the right time. Both men were happy about the Captain's transfer, and had commented that he was lucky to be getting out before Martin got him killed. As an observer, Peck felt that Murdock should have been excited or even relieved to be transferred. Oddly enough, that wasn't the case. He seemed to be taking the entire event in stride.

The winds of change were blowing over the pilot's life like a typhoon and Peck found the Captains unemotional acceptance of those changes to be unnerving. It's pretty hard to con a conman, and the Lieutenant found himself suspicious of the pilot's reactions. "All we have to do is pick up your gear." Peck commented, "After that we can be on our way." When Murdock nodded in response the Lieutenant frowned. 'He's too damn accepting,' he thought to himself, 'It's almost as if he knew about the transfer in advance, which is impossible, or he's used to having his world turned upside down on a regular basis.'

From the Captain's point of view everything was happening too fast. So fast that he was beginning to wonder if the CIA had something to do with the arrangements. It was the only explanation that made any sense. Up until three days ago, Martin had been dug in for a long term fight against Smith's attempts to arrange a transfer and now, wha la, he was transferred.

The Company thought only of their needs, and Murdock wondered what in the hell they had planned by this transfer. Surely they would know that Smith kept better tabs on his men than Martin did. Smith sure as hell wouldn't be so easy to manipulate, and he sure as hell didn't seem to be the type of CO that would send his guys into danger without a reasonable explanation. Out of the corner of his eye, Murdock caught Peck's frown. 'I wonder how much he knows,' the pilot thought to himself suspiciously.

The pilot began to have doubts about CIA involvement after arriving at his hooch. Ideas about the quick transfer went out the proverbial window when Peck began to discuss transportation back to the unit with Sergeant Baracus, another member of Smith's unit who had been waiting for them in a jeep outside the Captain's hooch. Taking a moment to listen in on the conversation between Peck and Baracus as they argued over ground versus air travel, the pilot found himself taking an instant liking to the big black man with an attitude.

The Sergeant knew what he wanted and had no qualms about making his opinions known. Chuckling to himself, Murdock went inside and packed up his gear as the argument raged outside. A short time later, Murdock came back out with his duffle bag slung over his shoulder and strolled over to the jeep. After throwing his gear into the back of the jeep, he turned and called out to the two men, "Ah guys, how bout we continue this on the road, ya'll might be done by the time we git where we're goin."

Baracus looked smugly at Peck and climbed in behind the wheel of the jeep. "Ya better git yo skinny butt in tha jeep or we leavin wit out yo."

Knowing that he'd just lost his side of the argument, Peck glared at Murdock and grumbled "Thanks a lot Captain," as he skirted around the jeep to the passenger side.

"No problemo Faceman," Murdock chuckled as he climbed in the back of the jeep with his gear. In reality, a drive was exactly what the Captain needed. He needed the time to consider the latest turn of events in his life, and the hour and a half it would take to drive to Smith's base fit the bill. "Plus, this'll give me a chance to get a real tour of the place, maybe we can stop at some of the sites along the way. Bein in the air all the time, ya never get the chance to see the tourist attractions up close." He added, hoping a joke would lighten the tension inside the vehicle.

Sergeant Baracus turned back and growled at the pilot and said gruffly, "You some kinda fool?"

"No way, not a fool," Murdock said with a smile, "I'm Howlin Mad, your ever lovin tour guide to the sky's." When the When the big black man growled again, Murdock backed up against his duffle bag. "Man, you sure don't have a sense of humor."

"Uh, piece of advice," Peck said uncomfortably as he glanced between the Captain and the Sergeant, "It's best not to get on his bad side."

"Yeah, well, I've had a bad week, and I sure don't wanna be stuck with a couple of grouches for the next couple hours." Murdock said defensively as he folded his arms across his chest. "Plus, I don't think he has a good side," Murdock said under his breath.

"BA, please, everyone's gone through a lot of trouble to get the Captain into our unit and the last thing we need is to have you scare him off," Peck scolded. Sighing heavily, the Lieutenant looked at Murdock apologetically, "Why don't you get try to get comfortable and get some rest. You look like you could use it."

"Ain't no grouch," Baracus grumbled as he turned back around and started the jeep's engine.

Murdock snorted an objection to the Sergeant's statement and shifted his gear around in order to get comfortable. Wordlessly accepting the Lieutenant's suggestion, the Captain gave the two men in the front one final glance and closed his eyes. Although he hadn't intended to fall asleep, exhaustion caught up with the pilot and before they were five miles away from Da Nang, he was fast asleep.

As the pilot slept, the banter between Peck and Baracus drifted into his unconscious thoughts and for the first time in months Murdock's dreams were filled with soothing memories of a time before his world was turned upside down. Dreams filled with a feeling of freedom during daring aerial acrobatics mixed with the warm feeling of acceptance he had felt from his fellow pilots and ground crew. It was a memory he wanted to desperately hold on to, but reality hung in the distant sky of his dream world. The present clouded over the past like a horrible storm, but for this moment he stood in the eye of the storm and relished the joy he once felt in the past.

"Captain?" Peck said a little louder then he had the first two times he had attempted to wake the pilot. "Captain, wake up. We're here."

Murdock heard the voice calling him in the distance, but he didn't want to wake up. Reality was waiting for him outside the dream and he wasn't ready for it. The voice persistently called for him, overpowering the dream. "Lee me lone," the Captain objected in a groggy voice.

"Come on Captain, wake up." Peck said insistently.

Opening his eyes, Murdock looked around and sighed in disappointment. "I'm awake," he grumbled. "don't wanna be," he said softly.

"The Sergeant will show you where to stow your gear while I go talk to the Colonel and let him know that you're here," the Lieutenant said, speaking to both Baracus and the Captain. "It'll be a little different than you're used to, but the Colonel has a policy about the team bunking together."

"Yo got a problem bunkin wit enlisted?" Baracus asked gruffly. He expected the Captain to complain, just like most officers did when they were forced to suffer with the company of what they thought to be lesser men.

Snorting loudly, Murdock climbed out of the jeep and grabbed his duffle bag over his shoulder. "Ah can sleep with anyone that don't snore. You don't snore do you?" He said with a smile while at the same time hoping he was saying the right thing. His desire to keep the big guy happy wasn't so much for he obvious reason that the Sergeant could easily rip off his head without breaking a sweat. No, it was more that the Captain saw a kindred spirit who was just as unhappy as he was.

Baracus snarled an acceptance of the Captains response and started walking towards the hooches. Peck shook his head and said, "You better catch up with him. I'll talk to you later okay?" The Lieutenant paused long enough to watch the Captain hurry off after Baracus before setting off in a different direction. A few moments later Lieutenant Peck found the Colonel bent over his desk reviewing maps. "We're back Colonel."

Hannibal looked up and smiled. "Did you take care of everything?" he asked.

Smiling, Peck set a box of cigars on the Colonel's desk. "It was an extremely successful trip. The Captain's stowing his gear and I got two boxes of cigars."

"Excuse me?" Hannibal said with a look of confusion.

"I took care of everything you wanted," the Lieutenant said with an ear to ear smile. "You'll probably get a nasty letter from Martin, but other than that it was a breeze."

Hannibal leaned back in his chair and looked at the younger man in amazement. "How did you know that Koenig wasn't able to arrange the transfer?"

It was Peck's turn to look confused. "Uh, the other night, didn't you tell me he couldn't help? Didn't you tell me to get some sleep then arrange the transfer?"

Raising an eyebrow, the Colonel thought about the conversation that had taken place a few days ago in the early morning hours. The kid had been half asleep, and now that he thought about it, those had been the words that Peck had repeated back to him. It had been a misunderstanding, but obviously the kid had trusted him enough to go ahead with a scam that could place his own record of transfers in jeopardy. The kid had been warned about a potential discussion surrounding questionable transfers, and he had still gone ahead and arranged the transfer for the pilot. "So you got Murdock transferred huh?" Hannibal asked after deciding that the misunderstanding wasn't worth bringing up considering the results. Not only had the unit gained a top-notch pilot, he had earned the trust of his Executive Officer.

"Sure did." Peck said with a twinkle in his eyes and a smile on his face.

Grinning, Hannibal reached for the box of cigars and pulled one out. The once sarcastic and difficult young man seemed so eager to please, maybe the misunderstanding was a good thing after all. "I'm proud of you kid," he said as he clamped the tip of the cigar in his mouth. All said and done, maybe the team had been able to catch more than one star. "You did a good job kid."

~fini~