"Gifts for All: Gift Wrapped" - The A-team
Fandom: The A-team
Title: Gifts for All
Author: captsoontirfel
Rating: T
Characters: Hannibal, B.A. Face, Murdock and Colonel Decker
Notes: I don't own any part of the A-team. this story was written for the ateambigbang challenge. Artwork was done by radoka and can be found Here. Thanks to my friends who helped keep me going when I struggled through certain parts of the story and giving me that extra push when I need it.
Summary: The holiday season draws near, but for two brothers their holiday cheer is all but gone. With threats from a local businessman Jebediah Thomas, and a sudden increase in robberies, Daniel and Jacob Wright are faced with the potential loss of their family owned bank. Their only hope lies now with a plea for help.
V. Gift Wrapped
“Are you ready Murdock?” Hannibal asked, looking over at Murdock who was still dressed up as Santa.
“Ready Hannibal,” Murdock replied.
Hannibal smiled as he watched B.A. guide the four wrapped men into the van. As soon as they were in, he climbed in the front passenger side of the van and kept watch on them while B.A. climbed in and started up the van. They followed Face’s directions and pulled up in front of Jebediah’s office building. The lobby was empty, and rather than pushing the buzzer, Hannibal took out his own gun, fired a couple rounds into the glass on the door, and broke it. He opened the door from the inside and held it open while B.A. pushed the men inside.
“Where’s Jebediah’s office?” Hannibal demanded once they were all inside.
“Down the hall on your left, it’s the open door,” Mac replied, glaring at Hannibal the whole time. “You won’t get away with this you know.” He added as they were pushed down the hall. “Jebediah will come after you, and he won’t stop until he’s collected on his debts.”
“We’ll see about that,” Hannibal replied confidently.
They paused outside the office which was dimly lit. “Doesn’t look like anyone is in at the moment,” B.A. observed.
“I would hope not, Santa’s greatest secret lies in not being seen by those who are getting presents,” Murdock quickly stated. “Can I?” He asked, looking at Hannibal with pleading eyes.
“Go ahead,” Hannibal said, waving Murdock into the office.
“Oh thank you, colonel.” Murdock hefted the small sack and walked into the office, alert to his surroundings. “All clear,” he called back. Carefully, he lifted the sack and placed it on Jebediah’s desk and opened up the sack. Once he was done with that, he reached into his coat pocket and took out a folded note. Very gently he opened the letter and set it down next to the sack.
“You’re going to regret this,” Mac snarled once more.
“B.A. if you would,” Hannibal said, holding out the roll of tape once more
“My pleasure,” B.A. giggled as he took the roll of tape and tore a piece off. He placed it over Mac’s mouth, being careful not to cover his nose in the process. He repeated the process three more times before taking the bow that Hannibal offered him and placing it on the group leader’s head.
“You’ll have to let us know what Jebediah thinks of his gift when he gets in,” Hannibal said, addressing the four wrapped me before leaving them there with the sack and note on the desk. “Let’s go, we have work to do.”
Jebediah returned to his office and froze. The sight of the shattered glass and the door left ajar made him wary. No one ever dared break into his office. He had nothing of value there that could be easily stolen. He listened carefully for sounds of movement, and after hearing none he pulled out his own gun, and entered the building.
“If anyone is in here, you better come out now!” he called out, surveying the lobby.
Noting the lack of damage, aside from a few bullet holes where the rounds that went through the glass struck a solid surface, he started down the hall. “Mac, you here?” he called out, wondering if they had returned.
Silence followed his call, but was short lived when he heard muffled cries coming from the direction of his office. Hurrying along, Jebediah burst into his office and stopped suddenly. Sitting on the floor, in front of his desk were Mac and his men, each with a piece of tape over their mouths. Their hands were bound by tape, their torso’s wrapped with Kraft paper, and taped securely so they couldn’t break loose. On top of Mac’s head sat a red bow and each man look furious with their situation.
Before he could say anything to the four men on the floor, he saw the sack sitting on his desk. He walked over to it, and pulled it open, causing a handful of coal to fall from the bag. One of the pieces landed on the note that had been placed next to the sack, with Jebediah’s name on it. He took the note and opened it up. The note read:
Jebediah Thomas,
I am highly disappointed in you and your actions. Your failure to perform good deeds especially during the holiday season when it is a time for giving has put you on the naughty list. As a result, I have left you an early gift of coal, which I hope serves as a reminder to you of your transgressions. As for your henchmen, they too have been placed on the naughty list and I will be making sure that anything you wish to have this holiday season is not delivered to you. That includes the First Community Bank which I know you have your sights set on. Remember I am watching you, and should you continue along your current path I will see to it that you receive more than just a sack of coal for Christmas.
Merry Christmas,
Your Special Santa Helper
H.M.M.Kringle.
Jebediah growled under his breath as he crushed the note and threw it in the garbage. “Whoever those fools are, they are done for. I will have that bank no matter what, even if I have to kill them.”
“Mmph,” Mac grunted, trying to get Jebediah’s attention once more. Jebediah walked around his desk and grabbed the piece of tape. With a flick of his wrist he ripped the tape off quickly, resulting in an uncontrolled yelp from Mac. “Thank you. Now, before you…” he started.
“Shut up.” Jebediah snapped. “You four are poor excuses for help. Not only did you fail to eliminate them, but you also let them tie you up, break their way into my office and make a mockery of me!”
“But sir, these men are trained professionals. And we’re not talking about your average run of the mill security guards. The way they fought they must have had some kind of military training.”
“I don’t care what kind of training they had, you still let them beat you,” Jebediah snarled. “You’re not paid to get beaten up. If I wanted that I’d throw you out on the streets like trash.”
The four men nodded in understanding, and listened
“Would you care telling me what in God’s name happened to you?” Jebediah had already figured out what happened but he wanted to hear it from them as well.
“Well boss, we went to the bank like you said,” Mac explained. “We saw the security guards, one older man with gray hair and a burly, mean looking guy. Naturally we knew who was in charge and went to have a chat with him.” Mac paused for a moment, licking his tender lips.
“Go on.”
“So anyways, we told him who we worked for, and that gave him our business proposition. He refused, so we were going to try some other form of persuasion.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Somehow, he managed to signal his friend to come help him, and got the drop on us. He knocked out Fred there with a single blow, and the two of them just overpowered us. When we came around again, we were bound just as you see us and there were four of them, including that lawyer who had been here earlier with the new proposal to sell.”
Jebediah perked up when he heard mention of Barry Ford. “I wonder what the lawyer was doing there?” he said mostly to himself.
“From the looks of it, he was with the others, not really a lawyer at all by my guess.”
“Did you happen to hear any names?”
“If I remember correctly, the leader’s name was Hannibal,” Mac answered. “And the big guy went by the name B.A., I think.”
Jebediah mulled over this latest bit of information while he freed the four men from the bonds. The first thing he did was remove the tape from their mouths, knowing that the pain would serve as a reminder for them to do better in the future. After that he tore the paper open and cut the tape that held the men’s wrists, as well as the tape holding their arms securely to their chests, preventing them from breaking loose.
“Let this serve as a warning to you,” Jebediah announced. “Don’t ever fail me again. If you do, you might not like what happens.”
“Yes sir,” the men replied in unison.
“Now, get out of here, and take this sack and the garbage out of here,” he instructed. As the men gathered the trash he called Mac over. “Make sure the lobby gets cleaned up,” he said. “Make sure you get the glass on the door replaced as soon as possible.”
“Is there anything else you need?” Mac inquired before departing to see to his appointed tasks.
“That’s all for now,” Jebediah answered, waving Mac out of the office.
Jebediah sat down at his desk and massaged his temples. He had developed a headache and he knew he needed to relax and just think things through. He knew the names, but he couldn’t remember from where, and that nagging sensation was back too. The same thing went for the lawyer. His face looked familiar. But again, he couldn’t remember where he had seen it. He reached over and grabbed the small stack of newspapers sitting next to his desk, intending to sort through them before throwing them away when his phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Have you closed the deal yet?” the voice on the other end inquired.
Suddenly very nervous, Jebediah glanced around his office. “Not yet. There have been some complications with the negotiations. We’ll have them worked out by tomorrow for sure.”
“That was not what you promised, Jebediah. Our deal was reliant upon you taking control of the bank by tomorrow.”
“I know that, and I will, I just need to work out a couple of small details and then the bank will be mine,” he said, trying to keep his nerves in check.
“You have until midnight tonight to close the deal. Should you fail, our deal is off.”
“That is not the original deal we agreed upon,” Jebediah argued.
“Neither were your complications,” the voice stated harshly, causing Jebediah to flinch. “Midnight or the deal is off. Do you understand?”
“I understand,” Jebediah answered solemnly. “I will make sure the bank is mine, one way or another.”
“Good, if I don’t hear from you by midnight, I will assume you have failed.”
Jebediah hung up the phone and let out a sigh. He had to figure out some way to get the Wright brothers to agree to sell, and he would do it by force if he had to. As he thought about it all he picked up the paper, unfolded it and scanned the front page before setting it aside. He repeated the process two more times before picking up the fourth paper and pausing. He stared at the picture, and instantly recognized the face of the lawyer. He looked at the headline which read ‘A-team Breaks up Drug Ring. Evades Government again.’
“That explains a lot,” Jebediah muttered to himself. “Those two brothers went and hired the A-team. If they think they can help, they have something else coming.”
He read through the article about the A-team noting the names of each team member, but as he did so, the name Murdock never once appeared. Must be some local person they asked to help them he thought as he folded the paper up once more, keeping the bottom portion of the article visible. He read the part about the A-team evading the government, and noted Colonel Decker’s name. He grabbed a pen and some paper and scribbled down a phone number before picking up the phone and dialling.
“Yes, Colonel Decker, please,” he said when someone picked up. “Sure I’ll hold.”
A moment later a different voice spoke, “This is Colonel Decker.”
“Colonel, my name is Jebediah Thomas. I have some information you might be interested in.”
“What sort of information?” Decker asked harshly.
“I know where the A-team is,” Jebediah announced bluntly. He went on explaining where they were hiding and how long they have been there. He even told the colonel about the damage they had done to his own office building, stating that the criminals needed to be locked away, to which the colonel seemed to agree.
“Mr. Thomas, I can assure that my men and I will be there as soon as possible to capture and detain the A-team. Their freedom is at an end, and soon they will face justice once and for all. That is a promise.”
“Thank you, colonel. I am honored to be of help. If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to ask.” As soon as he hung up the phone, Jebediah called Mac back into the office.
“What is it boss?” Mac asked as he entered.
“Did you get the mess cleaned up?”
“Yes sir, I did. A new window has already been ordered and will be in place by tomorrow morning. In the mean time I boarded it up so no one else could get in.”
Jebediah scowled, but nodded. “Good enough. Now, we have some other business to attend to.” He said as a grin spread across his face. “It turns out, we have the A-team here in town, and the government has been after them for some time. Now, I already tipped of the authorities who are searching for them, but we need to make sure they don’t escape.”
“Where are they hiding?” Mac asked.
Smiling, Jebediah answered, “First Community Bank. It turns out those two brothers decided to hire them for help.”
Mac nodded in understanding, trying to hide his uneasiness. “What do you have in mind, sir?”
“It’s quite simple really. We’re going to take out the A-team, and make the brothers sign the bank over to me. And if they refuse, we’ll be sure to give them a reason to reconsider. One they can’t refuse.” Jebediah smiled as his mind worked through several possible ideas. “Get your stuff and your men. We’re going collect my Christmas present.”
VI. Christmas Cheer
Title: Gifts for All
Author: captsoontirfel
Rating: T
Characters: Hannibal, B.A. Face, Murdock and Colonel Decker
Notes: I don't own any part of the A-team. this story was written for the ateambigbang challenge. Artwork was done by radoka and can be found Here. Thanks to my friends who helped keep me going when I struggled through certain parts of the story and giving me that extra push when I need it.
Summary: The holiday season draws near, but for two brothers their holiday cheer is all but gone. With threats from a local businessman Jebediah Thomas, and a sudden increase in robberies, Daniel and Jacob Wright are faced with the potential loss of their family owned bank. Their only hope lies now with a plea for help.
V. Gift Wrapped
“Are you ready Murdock?” Hannibal asked, looking over at Murdock who was still dressed up as Santa.
“Ready Hannibal,” Murdock replied.
Hannibal smiled as he watched B.A. guide the four wrapped men into the van. As soon as they were in, he climbed in the front passenger side of the van and kept watch on them while B.A. climbed in and started up the van. They followed Face’s directions and pulled up in front of Jebediah’s office building. The lobby was empty, and rather than pushing the buzzer, Hannibal took out his own gun, fired a couple rounds into the glass on the door, and broke it. He opened the door from the inside and held it open while B.A. pushed the men inside.
“Where’s Jebediah’s office?” Hannibal demanded once they were all inside.
“Down the hall on your left, it’s the open door,” Mac replied, glaring at Hannibal the whole time. “You won’t get away with this you know.” He added as they were pushed down the hall. “Jebediah will come after you, and he won’t stop until he’s collected on his debts.”
“We’ll see about that,” Hannibal replied confidently.
They paused outside the office which was dimly lit. “Doesn’t look like anyone is in at the moment,” B.A. observed.
“I would hope not, Santa’s greatest secret lies in not being seen by those who are getting presents,” Murdock quickly stated. “Can I?” He asked, looking at Hannibal with pleading eyes.
“Go ahead,” Hannibal said, waving Murdock into the office.
“Oh thank you, colonel.” Murdock hefted the small sack and walked into the office, alert to his surroundings. “All clear,” he called back. Carefully, he lifted the sack and placed it on Jebediah’s desk and opened up the sack. Once he was done with that, he reached into his coat pocket and took out a folded note. Very gently he opened the letter and set it down next to the sack.
“You’re going to regret this,” Mac snarled once more.
“B.A. if you would,” Hannibal said, holding out the roll of tape once more
“My pleasure,” B.A. giggled as he took the roll of tape and tore a piece off. He placed it over Mac’s mouth, being careful not to cover his nose in the process. He repeated the process three more times before taking the bow that Hannibal offered him and placing it on the group leader’s head.
“You’ll have to let us know what Jebediah thinks of his gift when he gets in,” Hannibal said, addressing the four wrapped me before leaving them there with the sack and note on the desk. “Let’s go, we have work to do.”
Jebediah returned to his office and froze. The sight of the shattered glass and the door left ajar made him wary. No one ever dared break into his office. He had nothing of value there that could be easily stolen. He listened carefully for sounds of movement, and after hearing none he pulled out his own gun, and entered the building.
“If anyone is in here, you better come out now!” he called out, surveying the lobby.
Noting the lack of damage, aside from a few bullet holes where the rounds that went through the glass struck a solid surface, he started down the hall. “Mac, you here?” he called out, wondering if they had returned.
Silence followed his call, but was short lived when he heard muffled cries coming from the direction of his office. Hurrying along, Jebediah burst into his office and stopped suddenly. Sitting on the floor, in front of his desk were Mac and his men, each with a piece of tape over their mouths. Their hands were bound by tape, their torso’s wrapped with Kraft paper, and taped securely so they couldn’t break loose. On top of Mac’s head sat a red bow and each man look furious with their situation.
Before he could say anything to the four men on the floor, he saw the sack sitting on his desk. He walked over to it, and pulled it open, causing a handful of coal to fall from the bag. One of the pieces landed on the note that had been placed next to the sack, with Jebediah’s name on it. He took the note and opened it up. The note read:
Jebediah Thomas,
I am highly disappointed in you and your actions. Your failure to perform good deeds especially during the holiday season when it is a time for giving has put you on the naughty list. As a result, I have left you an early gift of coal, which I hope serves as a reminder to you of your transgressions. As for your henchmen, they too have been placed on the naughty list and I will be making sure that anything you wish to have this holiday season is not delivered to you. That includes the First Community Bank which I know you have your sights set on. Remember I am watching you, and should you continue along your current path I will see to it that you receive more than just a sack of coal for Christmas.
Merry Christmas,
Your Special Santa Helper
H.M.M.Kringle.
Jebediah growled under his breath as he crushed the note and threw it in the garbage. “Whoever those fools are, they are done for. I will have that bank no matter what, even if I have to kill them.”
“Mmph,” Mac grunted, trying to get Jebediah’s attention once more. Jebediah walked around his desk and grabbed the piece of tape. With a flick of his wrist he ripped the tape off quickly, resulting in an uncontrolled yelp from Mac. “Thank you. Now, before you…” he started.
“Shut up.” Jebediah snapped. “You four are poor excuses for help. Not only did you fail to eliminate them, but you also let them tie you up, break their way into my office and make a mockery of me!”
“But sir, these men are trained professionals. And we’re not talking about your average run of the mill security guards. The way they fought they must have had some kind of military training.”
“I don’t care what kind of training they had, you still let them beat you,” Jebediah snarled. “You’re not paid to get beaten up. If I wanted that I’d throw you out on the streets like trash.”
The four men nodded in understanding, and listened
“Would you care telling me what in God’s name happened to you?” Jebediah had already figured out what happened but he wanted to hear it from them as well.
“Well boss, we went to the bank like you said,” Mac explained. “We saw the security guards, one older man with gray hair and a burly, mean looking guy. Naturally we knew who was in charge and went to have a chat with him.” Mac paused for a moment, licking his tender lips.
“Go on.”
“So anyways, we told him who we worked for, and that gave him our business proposition. He refused, so we were going to try some other form of persuasion.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Somehow, he managed to signal his friend to come help him, and got the drop on us. He knocked out Fred there with a single blow, and the two of them just overpowered us. When we came around again, we were bound just as you see us and there were four of them, including that lawyer who had been here earlier with the new proposal to sell.”
Jebediah perked up when he heard mention of Barry Ford. “I wonder what the lawyer was doing there?” he said mostly to himself.
“From the looks of it, he was with the others, not really a lawyer at all by my guess.”
“Did you happen to hear any names?”
“If I remember correctly, the leader’s name was Hannibal,” Mac answered. “And the big guy went by the name B.A., I think.”
Jebediah mulled over this latest bit of information while he freed the four men from the bonds. The first thing he did was remove the tape from their mouths, knowing that the pain would serve as a reminder for them to do better in the future. After that he tore the paper open and cut the tape that held the men’s wrists, as well as the tape holding their arms securely to their chests, preventing them from breaking loose.
“Let this serve as a warning to you,” Jebediah announced. “Don’t ever fail me again. If you do, you might not like what happens.”
“Yes sir,” the men replied in unison.
“Now, get out of here, and take this sack and the garbage out of here,” he instructed. As the men gathered the trash he called Mac over. “Make sure the lobby gets cleaned up,” he said. “Make sure you get the glass on the door replaced as soon as possible.”
“Is there anything else you need?” Mac inquired before departing to see to his appointed tasks.
“That’s all for now,” Jebediah answered, waving Mac out of the office.
Jebediah sat down at his desk and massaged his temples. He had developed a headache and he knew he needed to relax and just think things through. He knew the names, but he couldn’t remember from where, and that nagging sensation was back too. The same thing went for the lawyer. His face looked familiar. But again, he couldn’t remember where he had seen it. He reached over and grabbed the small stack of newspapers sitting next to his desk, intending to sort through them before throwing them away when his phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Have you closed the deal yet?” the voice on the other end inquired.
Suddenly very nervous, Jebediah glanced around his office. “Not yet. There have been some complications with the negotiations. We’ll have them worked out by tomorrow for sure.”
“That was not what you promised, Jebediah. Our deal was reliant upon you taking control of the bank by tomorrow.”
“I know that, and I will, I just need to work out a couple of small details and then the bank will be mine,” he said, trying to keep his nerves in check.
“You have until midnight tonight to close the deal. Should you fail, our deal is off.”
“That is not the original deal we agreed upon,” Jebediah argued.
“Neither were your complications,” the voice stated harshly, causing Jebediah to flinch. “Midnight or the deal is off. Do you understand?”
“I understand,” Jebediah answered solemnly. “I will make sure the bank is mine, one way or another.”
“Good, if I don’t hear from you by midnight, I will assume you have failed.”
Jebediah hung up the phone and let out a sigh. He had to figure out some way to get the Wright brothers to agree to sell, and he would do it by force if he had to. As he thought about it all he picked up the paper, unfolded it and scanned the front page before setting it aside. He repeated the process two more times before picking up the fourth paper and pausing. He stared at the picture, and instantly recognized the face of the lawyer. He looked at the headline which read ‘A-team Breaks up Drug Ring. Evades Government again.’
“That explains a lot,” Jebediah muttered to himself. “Those two brothers went and hired the A-team. If they think they can help, they have something else coming.”
He read through the article about the A-team noting the names of each team member, but as he did so, the name Murdock never once appeared. Must be some local person they asked to help them he thought as he folded the paper up once more, keeping the bottom portion of the article visible. He read the part about the A-team evading the government, and noted Colonel Decker’s name. He grabbed a pen and some paper and scribbled down a phone number before picking up the phone and dialling.
“Yes, Colonel Decker, please,” he said when someone picked up. “Sure I’ll hold.”
A moment later a different voice spoke, “This is Colonel Decker.”
“Colonel, my name is Jebediah Thomas. I have some information you might be interested in.”
“What sort of information?” Decker asked harshly.
“I know where the A-team is,” Jebediah announced bluntly. He went on explaining where they were hiding and how long they have been there. He even told the colonel about the damage they had done to his own office building, stating that the criminals needed to be locked away, to which the colonel seemed to agree.
“Mr. Thomas, I can assure that my men and I will be there as soon as possible to capture and detain the A-team. Their freedom is at an end, and soon they will face justice once and for all. That is a promise.”
“Thank you, colonel. I am honored to be of help. If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to ask.” As soon as he hung up the phone, Jebediah called Mac back into the office.
“What is it boss?” Mac asked as he entered.
“Did you get the mess cleaned up?”
“Yes sir, I did. A new window has already been ordered and will be in place by tomorrow morning. In the mean time I boarded it up so no one else could get in.”
Jebediah scowled, but nodded. “Good enough. Now, we have some other business to attend to.” He said as a grin spread across his face. “It turns out, we have the A-team here in town, and the government has been after them for some time. Now, I already tipped of the authorities who are searching for them, but we need to make sure they don’t escape.”
“Where are they hiding?” Mac asked.
Smiling, Jebediah answered, “First Community Bank. It turns out those two brothers decided to hire them for help.”
Mac nodded in understanding, trying to hide his uneasiness. “What do you have in mind, sir?”
“It’s quite simple really. We’re going to take out the A-team, and make the brothers sign the bank over to me. And if they refuse, we’ll be sure to give them a reason to reconsider. One they can’t refuse.” Jebediah smiled as his mind worked through several possible ideas. “Get your stuff and your men. We’re going collect my Christmas present.”
VI. Christmas Cheer