He wasn't real of course; Murdock knew that.

Part of him knew it anyway. As part of him knew the dog under the bed wasn't real. But a different part of him fed the dog, because it cried if he didn't. That part of him sat up slowly and reached a hand towards Face.

Face held out his own hand, and shook Murdock's hand. That hadn't been what Murdock intended, but it did the job. Solid. Warm. Like real flesh.

"Are you okay?" The illusion of Face asked.

Might as well play along, Murdock decided. Face is here. I see him. I can touch him. Might as well enjoy it.

"Fine, Face. Except, I mean, not so fine overall, of course."

"No." Face spoke quietly and looked around the room. "Are they treating you okay here? The room seems okay."

"They treat me good, yeah." In the moonlight through the open drapes he noticed how lean and tanned Face looked. Like a man who'd been living the good life out in the fresh air should. Murdock played along. "What about you? You look well."

"Fresh air and sunshine. Does wonders. Did... um, did Ray get the letters to you? Or tell you where we've been?"

"Yeah, I've got the letters. Great plan of the colonel's."

"Well, maybe. We messed it up in the end though. Do you get the paper in here?"

"Every day. Always watching for stories about you guys."

"Then you've probably seen that we've already been spotted again, back here in LA." Face shrugged. "I guess nobody can actually vanish."

"I'm working on a method."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Oh, man, Face!" His voice rose above a whisper for a moment and Face turned to glance nervously at the door. Murdock whispered again as he went on. "It's so good to see you. I want to see the other guys too. Can you only show up one at a time? Is that how it works?"

"Um, how it...? Well, it would be hard for all three of us to get in at once. They'll come. You'll just have to wait a few days."

"I'm not going any place."

"No." Face looked down, then back at him. "Murdock, we could get you out of here, if you want that. Find you a nice private clinic, or -"

"No, Face, it's fine here really and it's helping me. Anyway, where would the money for a private clinic come from?"

Face shrugged. "We're working on something. It's sorta hard to describe. But if it works out, we could make some money. Not a lot maybe." He grimaced. "But it could work."

"Tell me about it."

"There's no time right now, Murdock. Hannibal and BA are outside and I have to get back to them in another twenty minutes or they'll come in after me. It will take me nearly that long to get out of the building."

"Can't you just sort of melt through the walls?"

"Hey, I'm Special Forces, not magic."

Imagine that, an illusion with restrictions on what he can do.

"Look, when I come again I'll make it for a longer time. Oh and I'll bring you a photo of Billy. I'm sorry you won't get to meet him in person, but we had to leave him with some people we met. He'll love it there. It's a farm, with loads of space, and there are kids..." His voice faltered. "Murdock, what's wrong?"

Murdock realised he was staring. "Billy's dead?"

"What? No! Why'd you say that?"

"We had a dog when I was a boy. When he died my grandmother told me he went to live on a farm, but she was just trying to spare my feelings."

"Oh!" Face stared back, and shook his head, looking as if he wanted to laugh at the misunderstanding. "No, he really has gone to live on a farm. His new owner is a boy called Sam. Murdock, I promise you, Billy's fine."

Murdock bent over the side of the bed and looked underneath. Billy lay sleeping there as usual. He sighed with relief and sat up again.

"Sorry, Face." He grinned. "Got the wrong end of the stick."

Face chuckled and shook his head. "Never mind, buddy, probably an unfortunate way to put it. Don't worry, Billy's going to have the life of Riley. Better off than any of us." He glanced at his watch again. "One last thing. Will you do me a favour and look after something for me? With the Army breathing down our necks, I'm kind of worried that I'll lose it if I have to abandon an apartment. Or if we got arrested and they took it. Hate to think of Lynch with his grubby paw prints on it."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Silly really. Not worth anything."

He handed Murdock a small circle of beads. Stripes and some darker ones were all Murdock could see in the dim light. He slipped it onto his wrist.

"I'll take care of it for you, Face."

"Great. Thanks." Face stood up then, and held his hand out, not for a shake this time, but coming closer and resting it on Murdock's shoulder. "Get better, Murdock."

"I'm better just for seeing you, buddy." He raised a hand and rested it over Face's for a moment, before Face moved away. Murdock watched him go to the door, check the corridor outside then, with a last look at Murdock, he slipped out. Gone.

Murdock leaned forward and touched the bed where the illusion of Face had sat. Warm. Amazing. Murdock's mind wasn't missing a trick. All the details just right. He kept his hand lingering there for a moment, then lay down. He let that same hand dangle over the bed, but fell asleep again before Billy could lick it.

~o~

Those ingrained Army habits woke Murdock at six on the dot. He sighed. Should he get up? Breakfast didn't start for another hour. He could maybe have a long, hot shower. But if you stayed in there too long they came and rousted you out. Either they didn't want you using all the hot water, or they thought you were trying to drown yourself.

So he just lay for a while, enjoying the cosiness of his bed. He had another session with Richter today, so could tell Richter about the Face illusion last night. Doc would love a really meaty hallucination like that. How real Face had appeared, how solid, warm and...

Murdock saw it then. The string of beads on his wrist. In the dawn light he saw the colours clearly now. Red, white and blue, with little, white stars on the blue. Stars and stripes.

After a frozen moment, he reached out and touched the beads. Painted wood, smooth under his fingers, except for the stars, which were slightly raised from the smooth blue surface. He tugged on the band and the elastic stretched, pulling the beads to press against his skin. He let one bead go and it slid down the elastic and fell against the next with a soft, dull clonk.

Real.

Murdock leapt out of bed, trailing blankets and sheets with him and rushed to the door of his room, to stare wildly up and down the corridor. For a second he wanted to yell Face's name. But he restrained himself. Foolishness. Face was long gone.

A couple of cleaners stared at him, and a passing nurse stopped and looked at him with concern.

"Everything all right, Mr Murdock?"

"Er, yeah... Yeah." He grinned suddenly and wanted to run over and kiss her, but they tended to look askance at that. So he just nodded vigorously, still smiling. "Yeah, everything is great."

He turned back inside, gathering up his blankets and sheets and dumped them on the bed. He looked at where Face – real, actual Face - had sat last night, then sat in the same spot.

Murdock raised his arm and looked at the string of beads again, curious about them. Why would Face care enough about this to want to hide it here with Murdock? It was just the kind of junk you got at craft fairs and flea markets. Obviously hand made, the stars rather blobby and uneven. That was the key, though. Hand made. Whose hands?

If only he'd realised last night! All the questions he could have asked! But Face would be back, and Hannibal and BA. Somehow they'd squeeze in. They didn't always go for the kicking down the front door approach. Those guys could float in and out like ghosts if they wanted.

So it looked like he wouldn't be telling Richter about Face's visit after all.

Something occurred to him then. Or the absence of something. He bent down and looked under the bed. Morning sunlight bounced off the empty spot on the linoleum where Billy used to lie.

Of course. Billy was gone. Gone to live on a farm with a boy called Sam. For real! Murdock laughed with delight. Billy wasn't watching over the guys any more, so Murdock didn't need his Billy to connect to them. Still… he'd miss that dog.

Perhaps one day Billy would be back.