Chapter 6

Hannibal, Face and Murdock were met by a lot of angry faces as they pulled into the neighbourhood. Although BA’s face was hidden by the bandana he wore, feelings of irritability and frustration were radiating of him.

Nobody had been hurt in the fight; the apposing gang’s sole intent seemed to be less about shooting holes through the people of the neighbourhood and more about destroying inanimate objects belonging to them.

BA and the people who were able to help did a good job at fending them off, but the damage that had been done to the homes, vehicles and valuables was undeniably bad and would take a hefty sum to fix or replace. Sadly though, some of the things that’d been damaged were just irreplaceable, adding the neighbours misery and anger.

Their feelings though, after Reagan’s gang had left had quickly turned from anger towards the real culprits to anger towards their four new acquaintances, who had told them to fight for themselves, who had told them that if they just stuck together they would beat Reagan. Well they’d stuck together, they’d fought for themselves, and this is where it had gotten them. They were worst off now then they had been before many of them thought and unfortunately for BA, seen has he was the only one of them there, he’d received the full force of their displeasure.

Although when Faye and Richard had tried to calm them down and attempted to defend the disgruntled Sergeant some of the angry mob had turned on them too.

The three bandana masked, coverall dressed men got out of the cab, taking a look around at their surroundings.

‘Oh yeah, yeah, you take a real good look around, take a look around at the mess that you’ve caused!’ An averaged sized middle aged man with short fair hair pointed accusingly at the three of them.

‘Gregson stop that, you’re being unreasonable!’ Richard reprimanded, ‘Now these gentleman have come here to help us, to try and save this neighbourhood!’

Gregson snorted, ‘Oh yeah, and a great job they’ve been doing so far!’

‘Things sometimes have to get worse before they can get better.’ Hannibal shrugged.

‘There’s worse and then there’s catastrophic.’ Gregson pointed to their surroundings, ‘This is catastrophic!’ He got a grunt of approval from his fellow neighbours.

‘Don’t over exaggerate.’ Faye folded her arms crossly, ‘Yes this is bad, but at least nobody got hurt, I mean yes, we all feel the sentimental pain but this isn’t nearly as bad as it could have been, so lets all look to the positives instead of dwelling over the negatives.’

‘What positives?’ Gregson questioned, ‘There’s been nothing positive since they got here!’

Hannibal looked at the finger pointing towards the four of them, ‘And nothing positive happened before we got here either.’ His brow furrowed, ‘Reagan is attacking harder now, and do you know why? Fear, that’s why because he’s seen what you’re capable of, he knows now that you’re not going to let him walk all over you without a fight…’

‘Well they sure didn’t look afraid.’ A young woman with flowing auburn hair called out.

They still weren’t getting the point so Face attempted to help, turning on his charm he added, ‘Don’t you see, they don’t need to look afraid, their desperation speaks volumes.’ He carefully scooped a piece of broken glass off the floor, looking around at their surroundings, ‘They’re trying their hardest to scare you all again, they need to scare you all because that’s what their whole operation is about, fear, and without that Reagan and his gang have nothing, and that is what’s scaring the hell outta them.’ Face glanced at the people, satisfied that by the looks on their faces he seemed to have won the majority of them over.

Not all of them though, ‘Oh, that’s fantastic and all, but how exactly does that fix any of this?’ Gregson demanded, ‘Where are we gonna get the money to pay for all of this?’

‘Oh I think I may know just the person who could help.’ Hannibal grinned, walking towards the Carpenters house, his friends and the Carpenters following him inside.

‘Can I get a reward for guessin who the person is Colonel?’ Murdock requested knowingly.

Hannibal just smirked, ‘I’m sure Reagan like so many others would be only too happy to give us a donation.’

Face groaned, ‘Great, and let me guess, we’re going in the front way right?’

‘Is there any other way?’ There was a hint of mischief in their CO’s voice that worried the three of them.

‘And if they’re expecting us?’ Face shot Hannibal a look.

‘So you’re gonna go up to Reagan and just ask that he gives you the money to pay for it all?’ Jack asked incredulously.

Hannibal shrugged then nodded, ‘Yeah.’

‘Wow, you’re crazy.’

Hannibal pointed to Murdock, ‘No he’s crazy, I’m just on the Jazz.’

‘Man when you on the Jazz you are crazy!’

Hannibal laughed at BA then turned his attention to the task at hand, ‘Right, well Face and BA you’re with me, we’ll go and get the donation, Murdock you stay here in case anyone else turns up.’

‘Got it Colonel.’

‘Face you go and get the makeup kit from the van.’

‘The makeup kit?’ Face sounded shocked, ‘You mean we’re wearing a disguise under our disguises?’

‘Well yeah in case something goes wrong, they may take our bandanas off.’ Hannibal looked at the surprised expressions on his friends’ faces, ‘What, you don’t think I’m that reckless do you?’

The three of them looked at each other, then at Hannibal, exclaiming, ‘Yes.’ in unison.

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‘Can’t I just take this back and then meet you there?’ Face spoke into the radio as he drove the cab behind the van.

‘No.’ Came Hannibal’s voice from said radio, ‘Reagans first, then you can take the cab back, this shouldn’t take long.’

‘But the hours almost up Hannibal, and I…’

‘Face!’

‘Alright, alright!’ Face sighed, ‘But this is gonna cost us you know.’

BA and Face pulled their vehicles up to Reagans headquarters and got out of them, weapons in hand.

Hannibal signalled for them to follow him, whispering, ‘Now BA!’

With that BA kicked the door down.

Reagan shot to his feet perturbed, ‘We just got that fixed from the last time you visited!’

‘Aw, shame.’ Hannibal rolled his eyes, he shot a round in the air, ‘Now a couple of your goons were a little clumsy, broke a few things, and well, being the upstanding citizen that you are I expect you’ll be only too eager to pay for the damages.’

‘You’ve come here to ask for my money?’ Reagan sniggered confidently, a little too confidently for Hannibals liking. The three of them were suddenly more alert, they looked around but it was too late, they were surrounded. It was clear now that Reagan was expecting them. Face and BA shot their calm as ever leader a look.

‘Tie em up!’ A few of Reagans men nodded, taking their guests weapons, grabbing hold of their arms and dragging them away. ‘Lets see how well the people do now with them out of the way.’ He walked after them, ‘Oh and I’m curious, what do you look like behind your masks?’

Hannibal turned his head around to look at his friends as they walked, ‘Hey, you were right Face, they were expecting us.’

Face was too exasperated to talk to his CO so instead he just settled with a dirty look to tell Hannibal exactly how he was feeling. Behind him BA had a very similar expression on his face which was also aimed at their trusted leader. This only seemed to add to their Colonels amusement.

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The Carpenters living room was filled with laughter as the three of them chatted to their houseguest. The atmosphere was great and their spirits were high. Faye and Richard had been a little concerned when the guys had left but the calm and carefree vibes from Murdock had quickly put an end to their worry.

Unbeknown to them though Murdock had been keeping a subtle but careful eye on the clock, watching the minutes pass by.

Jack gasped from laughing so hard, ‘Man you tell the best stories.’

‘I agree, got anymore for us Murdock?’ Faye wiped a tear from her eye.

Murdock cuddled the air, ‘I’ve told loads already, I think Billy wants to hear some of yours.’

‘Hmmm, well let’s see, there was this one time when me and Faye had both started dating.’ Richard began, ‘It was a cold evening an-’

‘Oh no, not this one Dad!’ Jack protested, ‘I’ve heard it so many times before I feel like I lived through it, and I wasn’t even born.’

‘Yeah, well Murdock hasn’t and it’s quite humorous too.’

‘It wasn’t funny the first time you told it Dad, so I can’t see how it’d be funny now.’

‘Oh let your father tell the story honey.’

‘Thankyou.’ Richard nodded, ‘Well...’

Murdock suddenly stood up.

‘See even he doesn’t wanna hear it.’ Jack sniggered.

‘They’ve been gone to long.’ He said simply, ‘I’ll go see what’s keeping em.’

‘Perhaps they just stopped off to give the cab back?’ Faye reassured.

Murdock smiled warmly, ‘Maybe.’ he put on his bandana, ‘Hey, can I borrow your car?’

‘Sure, I’ll come with you if you’d like?’ Richard offered, tossing him the keys.

Murdock put his hand out and caught them, ‘No, that’s ok.’ He made his way to the door.

‘But what if you run into some trouble?’

Murdock grabbed his rifle, slipping the strap over his shoulder before turning to Faye, ‘I’ll be fine.’ He opened the door, ‘Take good care of Billy for me while I’m gone.’

Murdock jumped into the red car and turned on the ignition, ‘What trouble have you guys gotten yourself into this time?’ He muttered, tapping on the steering wheel impatiently as he waited for the old car to kick into action. Luckily the Carpenters car was one of the few that hadn’t been shot up. Unfortunately though it must have been one of the oldest and slowest vehicles in the neighbourhood.

‘Don’t wait up guys, this could take some time.’ Murdock spoke dryly as the car finally started to move, ‘Why did the Faceman have to take the cab with him?’

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

‘…looks like we’ll just have to wait until Murdock gets here.’ Hannibal whispered.

BA groaned, ‘Man we’re never getting out!’ He spoke just as quietly.

The three of them were tied against wooden pillars, easily broken if BA put his mind and strength into it but the three rifles pointing towards them, two from the front and one at the rear prevented him from doing so. They had their bandanas around their necks, a moustache and fake eyebrows on each of their faces.

Face wriggled his wrists against the ropes trying unsuccessfully to put them into a more comfortable position, ‘I just hope he gets here before they decide to dispose of us.’

‘Man if you keep squirming like that you’ll get us all shot!’ BA warned.

‘Well look on the bright side fella’s, at least if they kill us Face won’t have to worry about paying for returning the cab late.’

Face glared at Hannibal, ‘I’d hardly call that bright.’

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Murdock stopped the car just out of site of Reagans place. It had taken longer than desired to get there but considering the speed of the old rust bucket Murdock hadn’t done half bad.

He got out and scouted the area. Two of Reagan’s men were standing guard outside, luckily for Murdock though they were not stood together, so it looked as though getting into the vicinity at least was going to be relatively easy.

He scooped a stone up off the ground and made his way stealthily up to the first guard, ‘Nice day huh?’

The guards spun himself round, ‘Hey, you!’

‘Catch!’ Murdock threw the stone at the man who held out his hands to catch it, sending him momentarily off gaud and giving Murdock a chance to land a solid punch on his nose. The man fell unconsciously to the ground.

He repeated the tactic on the other guard, smiling as it worked wonders once again.

That was the outside sorted, now he just had to find his unit and get them out.

He peered through a window and spotted Regan sat at his desk and a few of his men chatting in the corner but no Hannibal, Face or BA, which meant they were probably in the back somewhere so that’s were Murdock headed.

Looking through the back window a small smile flashed across his mouth as he spotted his friends. Finding them was the easy part however; he still had the task of breaking them out. He needed to find some sort of a diversion; fortunately diversions were usually one of Murdock’s fortes.

Murdock looked around before noticing BA’s van and the cab. He crept over to the van and slid the door open, getting into the back. He began searching around, ‘Gotcha!’ He beamed, holding out a box of dynamite, ‘You were right Colonel, this baby will come in handy one day, and that day is today!’ He removed a few sticks from the box before safely placing the box back into its place and getting out of the van.

Murdock then turned his attention to Face’s cab, which was going to be the essence of his diversion. He got into it and drove it slowly around to the back of the building before getting out again.

He stood away from the vehicle and took out a match from his pocket, hoping that Face would be so glad of their escape that he wouldn’t care about the damage that was soon to be inflicted on his borrowed cab. He knew that wouldn’t really be the case but he didn’t care, setting the match alight he placed the flame onto the fuse of the dynamite and threw the explosive towards the cab.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

‘What was that?’ One of the men who were guarding the captives asked as he heard the loud bang, the other two men looked at him then each other before the three of them rushed out of the building.

The good thing about being in such a close-knit unit meant that they did not always have to tell each other the plan when one was formulated. BA did what he had wanted to do since being tied up to the wooden pillar; he used his strength to snap it in two then quickly went over to his friends, untying the knots.

‘See, I told you Murdock would get us out.’ Hannibal rubbed at his wrists as they made their way out of the building.

Another explosion was heard as Murdock threw a stick of dynamite at the three guards, all of whom dived out of the way and to the ground, giving his friends chance to get to the van. All except for Hannibal, they still hadn’t gotten what they’d come for in the first place.

By now everyone was standing out of the building, curiosity getting the better of them. Murdock and BA shot at the rival gang keeping them occupied as Face and Hannibal ran inside the building for the money.

‘Face, the safe.’ Hannibal pointed into the safes general direction.

‘Right.’ Face knelt down on the floor, putting his ear to the safe, he began turning the dial and within a minute or so it was opened. Hannibal helped him to grab the cash, and also their weapons that Reagan’s goons had taken from them.

The two of them ran back outside and towards the van as their friends covered them, they both jumped into the van, ‘Go BA!’ Hannibal ordered.

It was as BA drove them away that Face caught sight of what had been the cab, ‘What-‘

‘Distraction.’ Murdock explained carelessly.

Face groaned, ‘Somebody out there hates me.’

‘Cheer up Face; at least we got what we came for.’ Hannibal smirked.

TBC

A/N - Thank you very much to everyone who have read or reviewed this story so far.

I was intending on including some Murdock and Webster parts in this chapter but I realised that it would probably make the chapter too long so I've decided to split it in half.

The past couple of chapters have been concentrating more on their clients than the actual Murdock storyline so the next chapter will be more about the main storyline.