Discovery 2a
Title: Discovery
Author: Soulseeker
Fandom: The A-Team
Part: 2a/?
Status: Final Draft
Rating: R 17 for mature adults
Beta: The wonderful Kerensa who was very patient with me
Warning: adult situations, deals with rape, bad language, mentions torture, physical, mental and sexual
Summary: Hannibal and B.A. find out about Murdock and Face. They’re not happy
Feedback Level: 2
Disclaimers: I owe nothing but bills. You can have those if you really want to.
Part two
Friday
It had been two weeks since Hannibal had discovered that not only were two of his teammates gay, but that they were also bedding each other. However, if that news hadn’t been bad enough, he and B.A. had also been informed that Murdock had been raped by the V.C. Hannibal was still having trouble adjusting to that particular bit of information.
He and B.A. had gotten together several times since that fateful meeting with Face.
Neither of them had been able to come up with a solution to their problem. Hannibal had tried to contact Face, but the man refused to meet with them unless it involved a job. Trying to contact Murdock was also out of the question. How could he look the other man in the eye knowing what he knew? And how could Murdock stand being touched in an intimate way by another man after all that he had gone through?
Hannibal thought back to the months that they had spent in the bamboo cages as prisoners of the enemy. Murdock had been slipping from reality long before then; erratic behavior, bar fights, the fact that he volunteered for every suicide mission to come down the pike had been but a few examples of his bizarre personality. He had fit in perfectly with his team and Hannibal never bothered to question the closeness that the pilot and lieutenant had seemed to developed overnight.
And then they were taken prisoners and the colonel had been glad for that friendship. While they had been struggling to survive and he had been thinking up a plan for escape, Face had pretty much taken over Murdock’s care completely. Once Koa had discovered that Murdock was a pilot, no thanks to that scum Tommy Angel, then Murdock’s life had truly become a living hell. Like most of the V.C., Koa had a special hatred of pilots and, one by one, the other pilots died. General Koa had then focused all of his sick attention on Captain Murdock.
Hannibal and the others had watched helplessly as the abuse escalated out of control. They had tried to protect Murdock as best they could under the difficult circumstances. They made sure that he had extra rations and water whenever possible, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the captain’s mind from slipping further and further away from them.
It had been Face who had bandaged the many wounds that Murdock came back with. It had been Face who held the jerking pilot after the enemy used jumper cables and a jeep battery to shoot electricity though his body. It had been Face who fed Murdock when the man had no interest in food or water or living. It had been Face who had talked for days at a time to the unresponsive man. And years later, it had always been Face who held a shrieking Murdock after he had woken up from night terrors about the camp.
Hannibal wearily dry washed his face. All of these years, Face’s and Murdock’s homosexual relationship had been right in front of him and he had never seen it. ‘Face it, Smith’, he told himself. ‘You wouldn’t have seen it if they had been dressed in drag and waving a pink flag it front of you.’
Wondering what else he had missed, Hannibal reached for his latest script. He wanted to stop thinking so much and he wanted to escape reality. He especially wanted to escape this new knowledge he now possessed of his men for just a little while longer.
******************************************
Across town at the Inter-city Day Care Center
B.A. looked at all of the work he had scrounged up. He had managed to find all of the newly donated toys that had been broken or were missing parts out of the neighborhood contribution box. The big man knew that he could have gotten a few of the kids to help, could have taught them how to repair just about anything and not just toys, but he wanted to loose himself in the work.
The sun felt warm on his back as he kept one eye on his work and the other on the kids in the playground. B.A. couldn’t keep his mind from wandering as he recalled that it had been Face who had managed to get the donated playground equipment. And it had all been brand new stuff too, nothing rusty or broken down like he had expected. He and the guys had fun putting everything together, despite the fact that Face had whined about messing up his manicure and Murdock pestered everyone until he got to test out each slide and swing. Even B.A. himself had climbed the jungle gym, making sure that it could hold a lot of weight at one time.
The big man’s tiny smile at that remembrance faded as he thought about what Face had told them. The fool had been raped in the P.O.W. camp. Not because he was gay, but because he was a pilot. The torture and starvation had been bad enough without the fear of rape being thrown into the mix. He remembered the helpless rage he felt every time the enemy dragged the crazy man back to them, beaten and starved, unable or unwilling to speak at all. And he remembered the all consuming fear each time he was assigned to a burial detail; digging shallow holes in the humid, rotting jungle floor to put the bodies of their fellow prisoners in and wondering each time that they buried a pilot, if they were going to bury Murdock next.
B.A. brought himself out of the past with a shiver. He didn’t often think about the camp, but when he did, it always made him wonder if all of Murdock’s problems came from there. Sure, they had all been changed by the experience, but not to the frightening level that Murdock had gone to.
A fresh wave of shame washed over him as he recalled his words about Murdock asking for it. B.A. didn’t think that feeling would ever go away and he wasn’t even sure if he even wanted it to. What was the use of being absolved of anything if you’ll just go out and do it again? That feeling of shame just might help him keep a better hold on his temper around Murdock the next time the fool goes on one of his crazy rants and tries to take the big man with him.
The sound of arguing drew B.A.’s attention. Three larger kids were surrounding a smaller boy, Cody, if B.A. remembered the name right. The big man got up with a sigh. He had better stop this before a fistfight broke out.
One large hand gripped the tallest boy’s shoulder just as the kid raised a clinched hand.
‘What is goin’ on? Y’all know that there’s no fightin’ here,” demanded B.A.
One of the other kids pointed to Cody. “Tell this dummy that nobody has two mamas.”
“I do too gots two mothers,” Cody shot back. His face was red from yelling and tears were forming in his large green eyes.
“Hey, no name calling,” admonished B.A. “I think what Cody means is that he’s got one real mother and a step-mother. Ain’t that right, Cody?”
“No, I gots two mothers,” said Cody, his mouth in a stubborn pout.
B.A. recognized that look. It was the same look that Murdock sported every time he mentioned Billy. No matter how much B.A. yelled, argued and threatened the fool, Murdock still insisted that there was an invisible dog. Thinking about the crazy fool made B.A. even more depressed then he already was.
“Come on, Cody. You can help me fix these toys until your mama comes for you.”
He lead the little boy away from the crowd and smothered a smile as Cody turned one last time to stick his tongue out at them. That was also something that Murdock would do.
Sitting the little boy down right beside him, B.A. began his lesson on toy repairs. Cody was an eager pupil and B.A. wondered about how much time the boy spent with his father. Time flew by until the moment Cody’s mother came to pick him up.
B.A. watched as Cody excitedly screeched, “Mommy!” and flew in to the arms of a dark haired woman. Her hair and skin coloring spoke of an Italian heritage. Her heart shaped face was neither beautiful nor plain, yet she was still strangely attractive.
The sight of this olive skinned woman holding the fair-skinned, red-haired and green-eyed Cody was proof-positive in B.A.’s book that she was his step-mother. Besides, he had always made it a point to meet the parents or guardians of all of his kids and B.A. had never laid eyes on this one before.
Concerned for his charge, B.A. went to meet the woman he had assumed was Cody’s step-mother. Maybe if he had a word with her, Cody’s confusion could be cleared up.
“Hi, I’m B.A. Baracus. I’m one of the volunteers here,” he said as he extended one bejeweled hand.
“Oh, you must be the one that Cody’s always talking about. I’m Susan, pleased to meet you.”
They shook hands as Cody continued to babble in Susan’s arms. The word ’fight’ caught the adults attention. B.A. clarified it for the now worried looking Susan.
“It seems that Cody has been tellin’ everyone that he has two mamas. I’ve tried to explain to him that he has one real mother and one step-mother. Maybe you can explain it to him that even though you and his father are married, you didn‘t actually give birth to him.”
Susan stiffened and her hands briefly tightened her hold on Cody and B.A. saw fear flicker in her dark expressive eyes as she put the little boy down.
“Cody, go get your things. It’s time to go.”
Alerted by the sense of urgency in his mother’s tone, Cody dutifully did as he was told. B.A. didn’t know what to think about this new attitude as Susan’s dark brown eyes darted around as if looking for some big, bad evil that was just around the corner.
“Look, Mr. Baracus,” Susan strained to say. “You won’t have to worry about Cody after today. We don’t want any trouble. I’ll find another daycare center and you’ll never hear from us again. Just, please don’t say anything about us to anyone. I’d been told that this a very tolerate and progressive place. Obviously my friend had been wrong.”
“Huh?” That was all that B.A. could think of to say. For some unknown reason, he had scared the woman without meaning to.
“Was it something that I said? Are you on the run from somebody? Has Cody’s father hurt you? Tell me how I can help you.”
Susan looked at him strangely, as if he was some alien who had just landed from another planet.
“You mean that you really haven’t guessed?” she asked B.A. The big man still looked a bit bewildered, so she explained it a bit further. “Cody’s birth mother is my life partner.”
Still the puzzled look at the unfamiliar phase.
Susan took a deep breath and a slow blink. “I’m gay. Cody’s mother is gay. We’re *lovers*. Do you understand now? I really would appreciate it you don’t say anything nasty to Cody. He’s used to leaving daycare centers and friends behind. One more won’t make a difference.”
B.A. just stood there, stunned as if a semi-truck had just landed on top of him. First Murdock and Face, and now Cody’s mother. His day had just took a hard left turn at Weird Town.
He was still standing in the same spot as Cody returned with his things. He was silent as Cody and his mother walked to Susan’s car.
Some internal debate happened deep in B.A.’s brain. He wasn’t aware of it and later, he couldn’t really say what had made him do what he did next. But, decision made, his brain controlled his body and he walked over to the couple. Reaching out, he tapped Susan on the shoulder as she buckled Cody in to the car. She flinched as if he had struck her and B.A. felt a sense of hurt.
“Look,” he said before she could speak. “I don’t mean any harm to you or to Cody. I’ve just recently found out that two of my friends are, well, kinda like you. You know, gay. Except that they’re men. And they like each other. You know, in *that* way. And it just took my by surprise, that’s all. ‘Cause you look normal. I mean, not in the way I always thought a gay lady would look like. I mean, you look like you don’t have to be gay, you know. I mean, you’re pretty and you could get any man that you wanted. I mean, I don’t know what I mean and I won’t blame you if you want to hit me. And Cody’s more then welcome here.”
B.A. silently begged himself to shut up. His mouth was running off worse then Murdock’s. The thought of his friend saddened him and Susan saw it reflected in his dark brown eyes. She took pity on him.
“I’m taking a wild guess here, but it seems as if this came as a sort of surprise to you.”
“Yes ma’am. A *complete* surprise. A surprise that I didn’t handle very well at the time. I said some things that I didn‘t really mean at the time, but now I don‘t know how to make it up to my friends.”
“Listen, you look like you need someone to talk to. If you can knock off early, why don’t you follow us to our house and maybe we can talk about it. That is, if you don’t think that you can catch homosexuality by visiting a lesbian’s house.” That last sentence was said with a bitter and brittle edge, as if that topic had come up before.
B.A. surprised them both by agreeing to it. As he followed her car in his van, B.A. silently cursed himself. Not only had his mouth ran off, but apparently it had decided to take his body along for the ride.
B.A. frowned as the car left the run down part of L.A. and headed for the suburbs. He counted at least five daycare centers along the way. Why did Susan take Cody all the way to the inner city instead of just enrolling the boy somewhere closer ? It would save a lot of money just in gas and B.A. knew that the places that he passed weren’t that expensive. So, why go all the way out to his particular center?
After nearly an hour of driving, Susan finally turned into a driveway of a pleasant looking middle-class home. B.A. drove past it and parked the van around the corner, out of sight of the rest of the neighborhood. He reached Susan’s house just as she was unlocking the door.
“You could’ve parked in the street you know. No one will think that you’re gay if they see your van parked outside.”
B.A. winced at the still bitter sting of her words. “I didn’t think that at all. I just didn’t want to cause you any trouble if somebody sees an unfamiliar car in your driveway and calls the cops.”
Susan gave him a look that said that she didn’t believe him, but was willing to let it go for Cody’s sake. B.A. followed her and the little boy into the house.
***************************************************
At about the same time across town in an upscale restaurant.
“Temp, you’ve barely been paying any attention to me. You’ve been in a strange funk all afternoon. What’s wrong with you?”
Face looked up with surprise at his lunch companion. Jennifer was smart, beautiful, blond and a successful real estate agent. She was also a lesbian, one of the many that the conman dated for appearances. Today, he was playing the part of Jennifer’s boyfriend for the partners of the real estate company that she worked for. She was up for a promotion and didn’t want to blow her chances. She might be out of the closet to her family and close friends, but until she was offered to head her own branch office, she kept her personal life out of business. Hence the reason that she and Face was at the expensive and exclusive Chez Fontaine.
Face thought that he played his part of a successful business man very well. He had talked about investments, lamented about politics, complained about high taxes and fawned all over Jennifer. With his help, Jennifer should be put in charge of the new offices that were opening up within six months. It could be made official before then if she could unload two white elephant houses that has been listed for the last five years. Not only would she be the first woman in charge of her own branch office in that firm’s history, but she would also be the youngest. She would be able to write her own ticket for a brighter future.
After a suitable time to get comfortable in her new office, they would have a spectacular break up, complete with a very public argument. And if that went well with no repercussions to Jennifer’s career, she was finally going to come out to everyone at the firm. By then, they couldn’t blast her from her position with dynamite. Not without the risk of losing the high paying clients that she was planning to bring in, most of them from the gay community.
The partners had finally gone and the golden couple were lingering over coffee. There was a company picnic coming up in a few weeks and they were going over a list of various questions that might be asked and trying to decide on the answers. They had to be consistent if they were to appear as a convincing and committed couple. After all, it really wouldn’t do if Face said that they met in a supermarket and Jennifer said that they were fixed up by a friend.
The conman knew that it was the little details that created a successful scam. No matter how complex, how big the con was, it was the little things that people remembered; a name printed on a business card, the proper tone of voice, a certain wardrobe for certain jobs was all essential in running a convincing game. One slip, one innocuous detail out of place and the whole house of cards could come crashing down around his ears.
After all, who would believe that someone was a high-power expensive attorney if he wore beat-up blue jeans and talked as if he just stepped off the family farm? And who would listen to some poor, overworked government schmuck if he wore a three hundred dollar suit, custom-fitted shoes and spoke as if came from Harvard? It was always the tiny details that could make or break a deal. Face was very, very good at the little details.
“I thought that everything went smoothly. They both adore me and Bullard was practically drooling over that stock that I had mentioned. Don’t worry so much, everything’s going according to our plans.”
“You forget that I know you Temp. Something’s bothering you, so you might as well spill it. You know that you can trust me with anything.”
Face took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, letting all the pent up tension leave his body. The fact of the matter was, he did desperately need to talk with someone about all of this. Hannibal and B.A. were obviously out of the question. They were the cause of this whole mess. And Murdock, well Murdock was at a very fragile stage right now. Face was still reassuring his lover over the phone every night that everything was going to be ok.
But the real truth was, Face was floundering around, trying to fix everything by himself and he had no idea what the hell to do next. He needed help and it seemed that Jennifer would be the only sympathetic sounding board that he would get right now. His life felt like it was unraveling and he had no idea how to stop it.
“To tell you the truth, Jen, there *is* something that’s been bothering me. Murdock and I are out of the closet at work. Needless to say, my business associates haven’t been very supportive of our relationship. They’re angry and Murdock’s constantly worried that I’m going to dump him. I keep telling him that I can fix all of this, but the truth is, I’m backed into a corner. I haven’t got a fucking clue about what to do next. Got any ideas?”
Jennifer chewed her lower lip in concentration. Temp sounded like he was in great pain and the fact that he actually used a swear word in her presence caused her some concern. The strongest words that she’d ever heard him utter was a ’gosh darn dang it!’ and that had been when the tire iron slipped as he was changing her tire and he nearly broke a finger at the time. Temp had always struck her as someone who would never used ‘gutter’ language in front of a lady, even if she did grow up on a farm as the only girl in a family of very large overbearing brothers.
And as for his partner, she’d met Murdock several times before and had always thought that he and Temp made a great couple. Besides, she had been in his shoes before and knew what he was going through. Anger and awkwardness had ruined many family holidays for a while and until she had Cody, her father had refused to speak to his only daughter for years.
Jennifer’s heart swelled at the thought of her father and one special little boy. Daddy called Cody his little buddy from the first minute that he held him in his arms and was a proud of him as any Grandpa ever was. Cody spent one month each summer at the family farm in Idaho, mucking out the stalls and fishing with his best friend in the whole world. It always amazed her how one small boy could heal years of hurt and anger.
Jennifer laid a compassionate hand on Face’s arm. “It doesn’t sound as if it was a planned coming out.”
“They walked in on us making love. So no, it wasn’t planned.”
Jennifer winced at the pain in Temp’s voice. She couldn’t think of a worse way for someone to come out of the closet.
“I take it that there was a confrontation.”
Face snorted. “Confrontation is a the mild word for it. It was a house-shaking screaming match. It might have come to blows if Murdock hadn’t gotten so upset. So, I threw them out and calmed him down. I had a meeting with my so called ‘friends’ later. That didn’t go any better. So, have you got a magic wand to make all of this disappear?”
Jennifer thought about it for a long moment. She really liked Temp and his partner. Her son adored both men and they in turn thought the world of the her little imp. She didn’t know much about Murdock, only that he had been ill for some time after the war and he talked a lot about flying and planes. They didn’t talk about his sickness and she didn’t pry. But she had become close friends with Temp and knew that he was head over heels in love with the other man. Besides, she kind of owed him for all of the help he had given her though the years.
“Come on, let’s go to my place. You can relax, play with Cody and we’ll barbeque dinner tonight. Perhaps Susan will have a good idea. Or maybe you just need a night off from thinking. Something is bound to come clear by tomorrow morning. What do you have to lose?”
Tired, and more then a little depressed, Face reluctantly agreed. Anything was better then the uncertain limbo that he was in now.
He followed Jennifer to her house and parked in his customary place at the curb. There was a male voice as they walked into the house that sounded strangely familiar to the blond man, yet out of place in this setting.
B.A. and Face stared in shock at each other in the living room. Time stood still.
“What are *you* doing here?” they both asked each other at the same time.
“Have you been following me?” Face asked though his clenched jaw, his whole body tense with anger. His seemingly pleasant evening had just bit the dust.
“How could I have followed you,” asked B.A. incredulously, “if I got here first?”
Susan and Jennifer looked back and forth between their two suddenly hostile house guests.
“B.A., is this the friend that you were telling me about?” asked Susan.
“Temp, is this one of the business associates you were telling me about?” asked Jennifer.
B.A. felt a brief flair of pain at that innocent question from Jennifer. He had regarded Face and Murdock as friends, but apparently Face didn’t feel that connection. The big man knew that they hadn’t been bosom buddies lately, but still, ‘*business associate*’? Now that really stung.
The tension in the room was broken when Cody came barreling out of his room, a model dinosaur clutched in both hands. Seeing the other man, he changed his course and threw himself at Face.
Face caught the boy in mid-air and whirled him around in a circle. Cody broke out into infectious giggles, causing all of the adults to grin in response and the tension level to drop.
“Uncle Temp, Uncle Temp, have you met my friend B..A.? He works at the daycare center you told us about. He’s great. Are you going to eat dinner with us? B.A. can stay too, can‘t he? Huh? Huh? Can he? Huh?”
Before either men could say anything, Susan took control of the situation. It was now very obvious that the two men knew each other, but she could see the barely held in hostility between them. She didn’t know exactly what was going on between them, but she knew that this much tension could become explosive.
Taking her son out of Face’s arms she told him,” Sweetie, Uncle Temp and B.A. have some daycare business to discuss. Why don’t you help me and your mother decide on dinner while they talk in private?
Again, before either men could speak or react Jennifer, having already caught on to her lover’s intentions, grabbed each man by a hand and hustled them out of the living room, through the kitchen, out the back door and onto the tiny porch that looked out over the miniscule back yard.
“Don’t think of coming back inside until the two of you can work something out,” she announced. She shut and locked the door just as Face raised a protesting hand and opened his mouth.
t.b.c.