"Murdock," Decker said, just loud enough to rouse Murdock from the doze he'd fallen into lying across the foot of Face's bed. Murdock sat up, rubbing his eyes and looked at Face, who was sleeping more peacefully now. They'd stripped him out of his flannel pyjamas and Murdock had sponged cold water over him till the sweating and shivering had subsided.

"Coffee," Decker said, making Murdock look back at him. Murdock took the steaming mug gratefully.

"Thanks. Time is it?"

"Almost three." When Murdock glanced at the window, Decker added, "In the morning. Smith and Baracus are sleeping okay too."

Decker sat in the chair by the bed as Murdock smoothed Face's blankets and rested a hand briefly on Face's forehead.

"Fever's down." Murdock sipped his coffee, looked at Decker. "Go get some rest if you want."

"Later." Decker shrugged. He drank some of his coffee. "The wolf's outside."

"What?" Murdock said, a bit too loud and glanced at Face who stirred. "Oh, it is?" Murdock added more quietly.

"Yeah."

Decker had glanced out the window while he made the coffee. It was dark in the kitchen, only one light over the workbench turned on. He'd seen the dark shape prowling around outside and had shivered and double checked all the bolts were closed on the exterior door.

What the hell was it still doing here? It should have moved on south. The weather was very bad now, snowing without a break for days at a time. What it was eating? Decker had seen rat traps in the food storage rooms and wondered if maybe it was feeding on any rodents lurking around the site. He just wished it would leave. It made him too damn nervous. From the way Face had been calling out before it sounded like it made him nervous too.

Decker watched the way Murdock rested his hand gently on one of Face's hands and stroked it gently with his thumb until Face stopped stirring and relaxed again.

"Murdock, can I ask you something?" Murdock looked at him. "Which of the team walked into that ranger station and took the first aid kit from under my nose?"

Murdock grinned. "That was him." He nodded at Face. He still had his hand over Face's hand.

"Really?" Decker turned his sarcasm on full blast. But he couldn't keep some amusement out of his voice. "Now however did he do that when he was the one lying on the floor of that cave with a shoulder wound and powder burns?"

Murdock just grinned some more. "That wasn't him, obviously. Nice going on putting the homing beacon in the first aid kit though." He winked at Decker. "You're figuring us out."

"Slowly." Decker said. Would any of his men have done that for him he wondered. Walked into enemy territory? Crane maybe. He sighed. He was actually missing Crane. He wouldn't call the man a friend, since he'd never gone in for making friends with the men under his command. But Crane was loyal. But these men, this A-Team, they seemed to go somewhere beyond loyal. Somewhere beyond friendship. Decker was almost ready to admit that he was, perhaps, a little jealous.

He'd called it a weakness when he'd pursued them that day, knowing they had a wounded man with them. But that had been a serious misjudgement. He should have looked at it differently. Not focused on one man. The team was wounded and, just like a wounded animal, was more dangerous because of that.

"How'd you explain away the bullet wound when you got back to the VA?"

"Oh that's the beauty of being crazy; you don't have to explain anything."

"Right." Decker said. He looked at Murdock's face. The eyes, pupils huge in the dim light, were wells of total mystery. Was this man really crazy? Decker had believed otherwise. That the VA suited him and he chose to stay there. Perhaps he'd been ill once, but now he stayed there for other reasons. He'd believed Murdock belonged in prison with the rest of the team.

But lately, living with him like this... Well of course it could be faked, to evoke Decker's sympathy. But he'd noticed even the rest of the team sometimes looked alarmed at Murdock's behaviour. But now, with his friends sick and needing help, he was suddenly calm and efficient and reliable. He'd been trying to annoy Decker with statements of the obvious for some reason, but Decker was mostly ignoring that.

Decker shook himself. No point in speculating. He wasn't a doctor. That's who would determine Murdock's mental state. For a report to the trial judge.

"Decker," Murdock said. "You like chilli?"

"Chilli?"

"I'm going to make some tomorrow. For the guys."

"Um, chilli? What about chicken soup?"

Murdock made a 'pfft' sound. "Chicken soup is for wimps. My grandmother always gave me chilli when I was sick. She said it made you sweat out the fever much faster."

"Interesting theory."

"Yeah, she had lots of interesting theories. And recipes to with go 'em. So you leave the cooking to me tomorrow. I'll make Grandma Murdock's three bean medicinal chilli."

"Beans?" Decker snorted. "What are you, Mexican?"

"Oh and I suppose you know all about chilli?"

"As a matter of fact yes." Decker folded his arms and let a haughty tone creep into his voice. "My father taught me. He considered himself the king of chilli."

"King of Chile? Really? There's a guy on my ward used to think he was the king of Lithuania, but they gave him pills and now he only thinks he's the deputy comptroller of a small province in China."

Murdock grinned and Decker frowned. Then Murdock looked thoughtful for a moment.

"King of chilli, huh? I thought he was the king of compost?"

"Chilli too."

"Your dad obviously had a pretty high opinion of himself."

Decker frowned again. Frowned deeply, making it very clear that this was a subject he didn't want pursued.

"And we're obviously not going there," Murdock said after looking into Decker's glare for a long moment. "But I still bet I'm better at making chilli than you."

"Oh really? Well how about we let your friends judge?"

"Taste test?" Murdock grinned.

"Exactly."

"I'm in." Murdock held out his hand and Decker hesitated then leaned over and shook it. "Tomorrow, the all-comers Station 12 Chilli cook-off will begin. And god help us all."

~~~~

"Good morning, Colonel Decker. How are your patients?"

"A little better this morning, Captain Baker." Decker said, and then yawned hugely.

"Are you getting any rest yourself?"

"Not much," Decker took a long drink of hot sweet coffee. "I don't know how I'd manage this if I didn't have Murdock to help out."

There was a long pause on the radio.

"You still there, Captain?"

"Yes, sorry. So Murdock helps you out? Well, I, ah suppose he's a comfort to them. Though I'm not sure if it's a good idea to let him in a sick room. Not really hygienic."

Decker frowned. Not hygienic? He was pretty sure Murdock was taking daily showers. The man smelt okay.

"Yeah. Um, I don't think there's a problem there. He's a big help. He's got some idea in his head now though about making chilli for them. Says he has a recipe from his grandmother that will make them sweat out the virus."

This time there was such a long pause that Decker was sure Baker had gone off the transmission.

"Hello?"

"Are you... are you sure you've not got a fever yourself, Colonel? I, um, I really think you should get some sleep."

~~~~

"Good morning, Hannibal. It's a beautiful day outside. Minus 27 degrees with a wind chill cold enough to freeze your bits off. Face's fever is 101.8. BA's is just over 100 and Decker has some major Daddy issues."

Hannibal struggled to sit up with Murdock's help. He managed a small smile. "Good morning to you, Captain Obvious."

Murdock handed Hannibal a bowl. "Oatmeal." Murdock said, unnecessarily. There wasn't really anything else you could mistake it for. Hannibal took a small mouthful.

"Don't worry," Murdock said. "I have something much more exciting planned for later. It'll be a taste explosion."

"That sounds interesting. What are you -"

"Murdock." Decker's voice came from the doorway. Hannibal and Murdock turned to see Decker scowling at Murdock.

"Captain Baker would like to have a word with you." Decker turned and marched off. Hannibal and Murdock stared at each other.

"Well at the risk of sounding obvious," Murdock said. "Oh crap."