Two
"Whose idea was this anyway?" Hannibal panted as he sweated away on the exercise bike.
"Yours," Murdock said glancing over from the other bike.
"No, it was Decker's."
"Well he was right. We are out of shape. C'mon keep peddling."
Hannibal groaned and put some more effort into it, trying to keep up with Murdock's pace.
"It's easy," Murdock went on. "Just imagine you're in the Tour de France. You've pedalled thirty six hundred kilometres, and at last you are on the Champs Elysée. The Arc de Triomphe looms." He was leaning over the handle bars now, as if reducing wind resistance. "Your triumph looms. The yellow jersey will be yours. The crowds roar."
His eyes really are seeing Paris, Hannibal thought, not that wall in front of him. He's not here any more. God help me, I did this. The strain of pretending to be crazy, added to the stress of being stuck here have made him relapse. What the hell have I done?
Hannibal knew Face and BA were already going to kick his ass for asking Murdock to pretend to be crazy without telling them. He was prepared to pay that price for the greater good of keeping Murdock out of jail. But what the hell would they do to him if Murdock really did lose his mind because of the game Hannibal had asked him to play?
Murdock sat up on the bike, raising his arms in triumph. Crossing the finishing line, to the wild adulation of crowds of Tour loving Parisians. Hannibal peddled harder. He'd better get back in shape. He would soon need to be able to sprint very fast indeed.
~~~~
"Peck," Decker said. "I have to say that I'm impressed with the way you're dealing with this whole situation."
There he goes being nice to me again, Face thought, glancing over at Decker on the other bike. Weird. He sighed wondering what the hell Hannibal expected him to do here. Charm Decker? Wouldn't he need a flute and a basket then?
"I thought you especially would complain constantly about the hardship, but you just get on with it."
"Me especially?" Face wasn't sure what to make of that. Just what kind of reputation did he have? He shrugged. "Yeah, well when it comes to hardship… Well, we've had worse."
Decker studied him. "The POW camps?"
Face didn't answer right away. After a moment he spoke.
"Yeah, unless someone starts dragging us out to the tool shed and torturing us one by one then I think we can call this about a five on the hardship one to ten scale."
"I was never in a POW camp," Decker said. Face didn't answer. "Is that what..." Decker hesitated.
"Is that what... what?" Face prompted.
"Is that what happened to Murdock? Caused his first breakdown? And could being confined here be bringing back too many memories of that captivity?"
He's been thinking about this, Face thought.
"Maybe," Face said, cautiously. "There may be no guards, but we're still prisoners."
Decker nodded. "And do you think he crashed the plane deliberately?"
"No!" Face snapped, on the defensive at once. He took a breath, regained control. "No. He said he got lost and I believe him. It was an accident."
"Right." Decker turned to look forwards again, pedalled on for a while. Face did the same.
After a moment of staring at the grey paint work, Face sighed. The blank wall was starting to depress him. Maybe they should hike out to the downed plane and get the paintings. Then just for once he could have a conversation that went with the lifestyle he'd always wanted. A conversation where they discussed which room was the best place to put the Gauguin.
On the other hand maybe they needed something more inspiring on that wall. Like Sherry-Beth on page twelve of the Playboy. Face felt especially inspired when he looked at her. God, no, he thought, don't think about girls right now. Frankly these days it was hard to think about anything else.
Not that desperate yet?
They made a joke of those words, but right now give any of the guys a dress and a long blond wig and Face would have to be held off with a water cannon.
"You're pretty worried."
"You bet I - what?" Face glanced at Decker. Oh Murdock yes, get on track. "Of course I am. Murdock belongs in the hospital, Decker. Surely you can see that?"
Decker shrugged. "Maybe," he said.
Face turned forward again. Maybe, huh? Maybe was a good start.
"But if you think that way," Decker said. "Then why do you take him out of the hospital for your jobs?"
"We take him back at the end, don't we?"
"So you just use him?"
Ah, the being nice to me part just ended, Face thought.
"A change of scene does him good," Face said. "A little fresh air -"
"Like the fresh air he got ventilating his shoulder that time."
Face bristled, ready to snap right back and take a couple of layers of skin off Decker. And then, just as he was about to speak he suddenly stopped. He suddenly let himself really hear what Decker had just been saying. Nasty little remarks about the team "using" Murdock? Almost as if Decker was feeling... protective.
"Good to know you're so keen to take care of your prisoners, Colonel." Face's tone was provoking and made Decker snort. But inside Face wanted to sing. If Decker wanted to protect Murdock that suited Face. As long as Decker protected Murdock all the way back to the VA, that suited Face right down to the ground.
~~~~
"Tea, Face?" Murdock offered. Face looked up from the kitchen table where he was eating his breakfast of oatmeal. He'd thought he couldn't hate oatmeal any more than he had when they arrived. He'd been wrong.
"I'd prefer coffee."
"Yeah, well, that's something we need to tell you." Murdock glanced at his fellow kitchen worker for the day. "You want to tell them, Decker?"
Decker frowned at Murdock and turned to the table where Face and Hannibal were staring at him. His face was more grim than usual. Face felt terror gripping him. It couldn't be true, surely? Not that. Not the unthinkable.
"The coffee ran out."
"What?" Hannibal gasped sounding horrified.
Face stood up fast, shoving his chair back so hard it toppled over. His voice shook when he spoke.
"I'm just going take all my clothes off and walk out into the snow now."
BA glanced up from reading The Silmarillion, shook his head, muttering "fools" and went back to reading.
"There is some instant stuff," Murdock said. "But it's kind of stale."
"There has to be some somewhere," Face said, unwilling to give up hope yet. "I'm going to check the stores."
"Finish your breakfast, Face," Hannibal said.
"I lost my appetite!"
Face ran from the kitchen.
~~~~
BA sat listening to the generator. He'd just made a small but crucial adjustment
and was listening to make sure he couldn't detect any changes to the sound it
made.
He looked up as the door to the generator house opened and a heavily bundled up figure came in, closing the door quickly to keep out the wind and snow. The figure revealed itself as Face when he pulled off goggles and scarf and hood.
"Hey, Face, you come to do the refuelling? I already did it, since I was in here." BA felt a stab of guilt. He should have gone back and told Face not to come out.
"Oh, right." Face didn't seem put out though. He pulled his gloves off and crouched down beside BA and the generator.
"How's your baby, BA?"
"Holdin' up, man." The generator had only gone off twice in the last two weeks, since they began both their fuel economy drive and fitness campaign. The commonest sentence heard on the station had changed from "I'm not that desperate yet" to "switch that off!"
BA glanced at Face as Face pushed a strand of hair out of his eyes. Face was probably missing using his blow-dryer more than the fool was missing his electric typewriter.
"You need a haircut, man."
"Right back at you," Face said, grinning at BA's overgrown Mohawk. "Think we should make an appointment with barber Murdock?"
"Long as he don't start singing about no lumberjacks."
Face smiled at that memory. Then he sighed.
"Is it just me, BA, or does it seem like Christmas was months ago?"
"I guess a lot's gone on since then," BA said. He glanced at the generator. What was that tiny little noise? Sort of klika klika klika.
"Yeah," Face said. He looked very serious in the dim light.
"Murdock seems to be doing okay just now," BA said. "As okay as the fool gets." He couldn't help adding.
"Yeah, he's not bad," Face agreed, nodding. "He hasn't had any bad dreams for a few days he said."
"And how you doing?"
"Me?" Face said, surprised. He flicked on The Smile. "I'm fine."
"You wasn't getting much sleep when the fool was... having a bad time." BA fiddled with a screwdriver for a while, tapped it against his palm. He didn't look at Face. "You doing a good job taking care of him."
There was a pause, and then BA felt Face's hand touch his back, barely perceptible through his thick coat.
"You're doing a good job too, BA."
"Somebody gotta keep the lights on." BA started to unscrew the side panel of the generator. He had to track down that klika klika klika noise.
"I think the exercise is helping," Face said. "Helping Murdock I mean."
"Endorphins," BA said, pointing his flashlight into the interior of the generator. "Exercise releases 'em and makes you feel better, makes you sleep better."
"Um, yeah," Face said slowly. "Been reading, BA?"
BA just grunted in reply. Did the guys think all he ever read was maintenance manuals?
"It's been making me feel better too, I think," Face said.
"Even though you stuck with Decker?"
Face laughed. "Yeah, despite that. You want me to hold that light for you?" Face moved closer and took the flashlight. He held it up and pointed it. BA grabbed Face's wrist and moved it until the light was in the right position.
"Just call me the human anglepoise lamp," Face muttered as BA adjusted him.
BA tinkered for a while. Okay, now it was going klaka klaka klaka. Was that better or worse?
"Decker isn't so bad," Face said. BA cast him a look of disbelief. Face grinned. "I know, don't tell Hannibal that. But when you just talk to the guy, he's mostly okay."
BA turned back to his work. "I guess he's not been as big a pain as he mighta been. He's got on and done his share. Don't complain as much as you."
"Complain? Me?"
BA smiled at the outrage in Face's voice. Face was easier to wind up than that clockwork elephant BA had given Hannibal for Christmas.
"I do not complain! Tell me one specific instance when I've complained!"
"How about 'I'm gonna take all my clothes off and walk into the snow now'?" BA quoted. There was a moment of silence.
"All right, name me one specific instance where I've complained and it wasn't justified."
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