Title: Judas Kiss

Author: Therm

Copyright: 2005

Disclaimer: I do not own any character's in this story, with the exception of Jessica Stein and Gabrielle.

Warnings: Het sex (consensual) Mild angst, a swear word or two, minor character death(s). Some mental illness. Murder.

Summary: Set after season five. Sometimes the people you trust the most are the ones that betray you.

Notes: References to the episodes 'Without Reservations' and 'Family Reunion'.

Judas Kiss

'Judas, must you betray me with a kiss?'

I

Face looked his reflection in the mirror once again and adjusted his tie, making sure that it was perfectly straight.

He knew he was preening over his appearance, but this wasn't just any date. This one was important to him.

He hadn't dated much since the team had moved to Langley, which was refreshing in a way, he'd enjoyed a little time with the team and after the year they'd had, he felt he needed to relax for a little while.

Face was more determined than ever to impress this lady. He'd had a lot of time to think recently, especially after being shot and having to recuperate from that, but what he'd been thinking of was his relationship with women.

To be honest, it wasn't good. Sure, he'd had a lot of good times with a lot of ladies, but where would he be in five years from now? Still single and scamming any women who came his way? Maybe, but he didn't want to end up like that.

He'd spent so many years ripping of guys whose lifestyle he wanted, he decided it was time that he took Templeton Peck along instead of some phony guy he'd made up to sound impressive.

Taking one final glance in the mirror and brushing away imaginary dust from the jacket he wore, he stepped out of his room and made his way into the lounge.

Hannibal was the first to notice him from where he sat. He gave Face a full look, scrutinizing him carefully. "Nice." He said, returning to the paper in his hands. Face knew Hannibal had read that paper from cover to cover this morning.

"Thanks, Hannibal." Face replied with a confident smile.

BA and Frankie, having missed Face's entrance, both turned round to see the young lieutenant standing there.

"Ah, another date with that hot chick, huh?" Frankie stated.

Face smiled a little wearily at Frankie, sometimes all this guy though about was sex. "Yeah, although she does prefer Jessica."

"Well, you must be going somewhere fancy, your dressed to impress." Frankie continued.

"Frankie, I always dress to impress. And, we do have a table booked at that new French Restaurants." Face corrected. He may not make much of an effort when he was hanging out with the guys, but Jess certainly wasn't one of the guys. "Well, I best be going. I have reservations at eight." Face said, ready to leave.

"At eight?" Hannibal queried, suddenly interested again. "You're never gonna make it in time to pick up Murdock and get to Escargot on time."

"OK, firstly, it's not called Escargot, it's called Par Excellence, and secondly, I'm not going to be late because I don't have to pick up Murdock."

"How come? He's not got no transport" BA interrupted. He knew Murdock had a car, but after a few difficulties with it, had sold it and hadn't got round to getting a new one yet. BA was looking forward to when Murdock did get the car, as he'd promised him he'd tune it up for him, make it perfect so he's friend had no trouble with it.

"Yeah I know. He had something come up, so it's just me and Jess." Face had hoped to avoid telling the others that and didn't meet any of their eyes while he said it. "But hey, no big deal. I get to spend more time alone with Jess, not exactly a bad thing." He looked down at his watch. "Look, I have to go, otherwise I really will be late. You guys have fun."

Hannibal watched as Face left the house. He'd seen the brief flicker of pain and anger that Face had displayed, before he expertly masked it with his none-fussed acceptance of the situation.

It didn't fool him for a moment.

There had been a generally high level of tension between Face and Murdock since the AJ Bancroft incident. Murdock had told Hannibal about that. He'd told him the whole story and although Murdock had insisted that they had worked things out themselves, things weren't like the used to be.

Murdock wouldn't have dared to tell Hannibal about it if the two men hadn't found some level of acceptance because they all knew how strict Hannibal was when it came to team relationships.

Hannibal could tell that Murdock felt guilty still and Face had been in a private struggle between wanting to keep his friendship with Murdock and wanting to have known that man was his father.

In a way, Hannibal could understand Face's anger. He knew that it was something that he'd always wanted, to know his parents.

Maybe for Face, having that chance to just ask why he was left by him may have helped to ease some of his insecurities, but Hannibal knew that in reality that wouldn't have helped him at all. But Face would never know.

As for Murdock, Hannibal understood why he'd kept the secret from Face. It was because he had made a promise. Whether the man was dying or not, one thing that Murdock wouldn't do was betray someone's trust.

And although he knew that he was keeping a secret from Face, Murdock would never have dreamt in could backfire so badly.

Well, if that wasn't bad enough, Murdock had felt even worse when Face had been shot at the Villa Cucina. As soon as BA had brought that pizza back and Hannibal saw the 'Help' written on it, his heart leapt into his mouth.

It was one thing to get hired to help a civilian, but Hannibal liked to think that the majority of the time when he had his men out and about that they could take care of themselves.

Maybe it was his fault that they couldn't.

Frankie wasn't trained like the rest of the team were and Murdock was damn good a lot of the time, but sometimes it seemed very obvious he wasn't special forces trained like the others were. They'd had training sessions together sure, but Murdock was a difficult person to train in those days. He just couldn't stay focused on that subject for too long. So at first, it would be fun and exciting, even like a competition against the others. But the next day, he would be worn out from the physical excursion and playing with Billy would be much more entertaining.

Letting out a deep sigh, Hannibal returned to the newspaper and continued to read the days news headlines.

For the second time.