Face had fended off Billy and gotten to his feet by the time Hannibal and BA came up to him. The girl with him stopped laughing and gave them both a nervous look.

"You okay, Face?" Hannibal said. He saw the girl frown and could have bitten his tongue. Alvin. Dammit. Alvin.

"I'm fine, John," Face said with a scowl.

"I think – um - I should maybe, go back and see... something," the girl said. She picked up a box from the ground and headed for the house.

"We'll follow you in a minute," Face called.

Hannibal watched her go, then turned back to Face. "I hope you're not about to tell me you've got into trouble over a farmer's daughter."

"I'm not in trouble." Face folded his arms, scowling. "The people who live here are. They could use some help, and I can't do it alone."

"I see."

"What's the beef?" BA asked.

"Oh, no beef," Face said. "Strictly vegetarian."

"Huh?"

"And who's the girl?" Hannibal asked.

"Her name's Bluebell." When Hannibal chuckled, Face shrugged. "Hey, I can't talk. You either, Hannibal."

"Good point." The tension started to lessen. Hannibal needed to say a lot of things, but didn't think Face was ready to talk about that yet. He claimed he'd brought Hannibal and BA to help the people here, and Hannibal suspected he'd stick to that story for a while yet.

"Thought you was heading back to LA." BA, on the other hand, wasn't as sensitive.

"I am," Face said. "Once I'm done here." He looked back at Hannibal, looked him in the eyes.

Hannibal nodded. Talk about it later.

"So, report... ah… tell me what this place is and what's going on." He gestured towards the farmhouse.

"It's one of those hippie communes." Face went to put out the signal fires as he spoke. Hannibal and BA joined him, taking one each. "They're having trouble with local rednecks. And they've got this non-violence attitude, so they won't fight back."

BA snorted. "Peaceniks."

The fires were out now and they started to walk towards the farmhouse, where several people had gathered outside in the fading light.

"I think they're just stuck," Face explained. "They can't figure out how to make it stop because they think fighting back or just taking it are the only options."

"And you think there's a third option?" Hannibal said.

"Hannibal, you can always think of a third option."

Well that was true. His mind didn't even really get warmed up until several initial setbacks. The more you hemmed him in with what he couldn't do, the more he thought of what he could do.

"Whatever I do think of might sail pretty close to the edge of what these people think is acceptable."

"As long as you don't shoot anybody, or beat the crap out of them, I think they'll forgive you."

They were approaching the group in the yard now, the faces a mix of cautious and downright hostile.

"They might not thank us," Face said, in a low voice, a hint of warning. "They probably won't like us."

Hannibal shrugged. Thankless jobs were his speciality. And as for being liked...

"Ain't no law says they gotta like us."

BA put Hannibal's thoughts into words. Yeah. What he said.

Someone needs help, you help. Back when Hannibal was a boy his mom used to send him to do errands and chores for old widow Simpson, who couldn't get around much any more. Moaning old biddy never once said thank you, or even gave him a piece of candy. But his mom kept sending him. Putting a shine on his soul, however tarnished Mrs Simpson's was.

~o~

Face led his friends to the commune members waiting in the yard. He smiled at Bluebell, but she was the only one who smiled back.

One member of the team got a warm welcome though. Sam and the younger children gathered around Billy at once, petting and stroking him.

"What's his name, mister?" Sam asked Hannibal.

"Billy. Best guard dog I know."

"Animals shouldn't be slaves to humans," Jeffrey said.

Face saw Ed and Fred roll their eyes at the same exact second. Since they had cows and chickens here, he suspected they didn't share that view.

"Slave?" BA said. "We treat that dog better than your people used to treat my people."

Jeffrey blushed and thought better of answering. Breaking the awkward moment, Hannibal stepped up to Ed and held out his hand.

"John Smith," he said. "Al here tells me you people have some trouble and he thinks I can help you fix it."

He knew right away, Face thought. He went straight to Ed, picked him out as the leader, and even these people have a leader, however much they would deny it.

Introductions. BA was Dan once again. It came naturally to Face now; he'd probably have a hard time shaking it back in LA. Bluebell looked at Face curiously and he remembered her hearing Hannibal call him 'Face'. Had she recognised them? It had to be a risk, especially now the three of them were together. But the house had no TV antenna, and how often would they get newspapers, way out here? They probably had a radio, so they could have heard a description. Was the team distinctive enough to be recognised from that? Maybe not apart, but they'd all known from the start that it was the three of them together that clinched it.

Not that he thought Bluebell would call in the MPs on them. But the others... His heart sank when he saw Jeffrey standing with his arms folded, watching the three of them with a thoughtful expression. Damn.

"Alvin." Face turned, realising Hannibal had said his name a couple of times. "Come on." They were heading into the house. Face nodded and started after them.

"Can I stay out and play with the dog, Mister Smith?" Sam called. Hannibal glanced at Ed, who nodded.

"Sure, kid," Hannibal said.

"Keep him away from the chickens," Clara called out.

"Yeah, be careful, Sam," Face said. He grinned at Hannibal and BA. "After all, we all know that dogs can't be trusted around chickens, don't we?" Hannibal shook his head at that and BA giggled. Yeah we're all experts on the whole dogs and chickens scenario.

~o~

Hannibal lit a cigar as he strolled out of the kitchen door. It was almost dark now. Sam still played in the yard with Billy.

"Your mother wants you to come in now, Sam."

The boy ran over to him, Billy at his heels.

"He's a good dog, mister."

"Yeah," Hannibal said. "He is. Sam, do you go to school?"

"Of course! I'm nearly nine!"

"Summer vacation right now though?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. You go get your supper. Leave Billy with me."

"Okay."

He turned to watch the boy go in, and saw Ed, or was it Fred? No, Ed - keep it straight - standing in the doorway.

"Hi, Ed," Sam said as he passed.

"Hi, Sam. Go wash up now, supper's waiting."

Hannibal frowned, trying to keep it straight again. According to Face, Ed was the boy's father. Was this more of that non-patriarchal society stuff? Or had Hannibal got mixed up over which twin was the boy's father?

"You think I wouldn't send my son to school, John?"

Hannibal shrugged. "I thought maybe you'd disapprove of the things they teach there."

"Some of them, perhaps." Ed moved away from the door, into the yard. "But we talk about that. He understands that people have different ideas."

"Like you and me."

"Yes. But Alvin says you're a man who can come up with imaginative solutions. So I'm willing to see what you come up with."

He couldn't stop me, Hannibal thought. We're armed. When the creeps Face described came back, the team could do whatever they wanted, and these folks would still hide in the cellar. But then they'd think Hannibal and Face and BA were just another bunch of thugs whose ideas stopped at guns and fists. Hannibal wanted to... he smiled.

He wanted to show off.

He would show these people there was a third option. Nobody would get hurt. At least not more than a bruise or two. It wouldn't be violence. Not exactly. No more than tying someone's shoelaces together was violence. Not exactly.

"Ed, I see you've got an orchard here."

"Yes, what does that --?"

"And you've got netting over the trees - to keep the birds off, I guess. You got any spare netting lying about at all?"

"There's a roll of it in the barn," Ed waved a hand. "Ready for next season."

"Show me."

Puzzled, Ed obliged, taking Hannibal to one of the barns. Several vehicles stood inside, including the school bus Face had told Hannibal about.

Ed went to a corner, where a roll of netting stood up against the wall. But something else caught Hannibal's attention and he wandered over to it. A low-slung trailer, with small wheels. He puffed on his cigar and walked along the thing. It had sides, but he saw that when you slid out the bolts holding them in place they would fold right down on hinges. The whole trailer was about twenty feet long and eight feet wide. Hannibal bent down and checked the underside. A little rusty, but it didn't look as if it would fall apart if they moved it.

"The wheels greased on this thing?"

"Yeah," Ed came over. "We use it if we've got a lot of produce to move."

Hannibal stood up and rubbed his hands.

"Right. All we need now are some shovels."