The A-Team didn't shoot people. Certainly not women. He could try to wing her, but didn't trust his aim right now. His hands just weren't steady enough. Bonnie still clung to him, breathing fast and she whispered the words again.

"Shoot her."

Face glanced at the intense look in her eyes. She had the other pistol in her pocket. If Face didn't shoot Ma, would she do it herself? Perhaps she'd dreamt of it, and Face could hardly blame her. But still, he couldn't let it happen.

Anyway, kill Ma and he'd better be prepared to walk back into the house and shoot the rest of them as well. Because even bastards like the Watkins wouldn't rest until they'd taken revenge for their mother. The team could do without yet more blood-enemies.

Gotta take the narrow path.

"Come on," he said very softly to Bonnie. Ma didn't hear it over her own yelling. Bonnie made a soft protest, but Face pulled her away, staying low and sneaking away from the bushes and into the trees that surrounded the house. They had to stay under cover and follow the track that must lead to a road. Get to the road and they could hitch a ride, or find a pay phone.

He really would rather have had the car, especially as he had lost one shoe during his first escape attempt, and had to take the other off to walk without limping. But better to walk than drive the car of a woman he'd just murdered.

"Once we get to the road, do you know which direction it is to the nearest town," he asked Bonnie, "or another house, or just any place with a phone?"

"I think so," she said. "To the town, I mean. I don't know about any other houses. But it's a long way to walk."

"We'll get a ride." If anyone would pick him up looking like he did. The uniform might help, however tattered it was. Or the old trick; Bonnie thumbed the ride and Face hid until the last minute.

They stumbled on through the trees. The moonlight barely penetrated the branches above and they had to stay close to the track, or they'd lose it for sure. If they got lost... well, Face didn't want to think about it. If he'd been in better shape and alone, it wouldn't worry him too much. But he had to drag his feverish, hungry, and thirsty self through the woods and protect a woman at the same time.

Protect her? Right now, she was the one helping him, keeping him on his feet as he stumbled along. But if Ma or the brothers caught up, then Face would have to stand between her and them. They had to keep Face alive. They didn't have to do the same with Bonnie.

How long before the brothers woke up? Ma had obviously come around sooner than Bonnie expected. Maybe because they were her pills, she was more resistant. How soon would she be able to rouse her sons and send them after Face and Bonnie? And they'd have vehicles. The car, maybe the van, depending on if just changing the tyre Ma blasted would get it back on the road.

They stumbled on through the darkness, both of them listening out for vehicles, or voices. Not that Face wasn't confident he could keep out of sight of the brothers, he would bet on his concealment skills over their tracking skills any day. But keeping out of sight wasn't going to help him get a ride on the road.

Payphone. That's what Face really hoped to find quickly. Call the team, let them know he'd escaped. If Hannibal had gone to bust out the other Watkins brothers, then Face needed to stop him before it was too late. Once Face did that, then he could think about finding his way to civilisation.

After they'd walked for a period of time Face couldn't guess at, the trees suddenly opened to the road. It stretched away left and right, the blacktop shining in the moonlight like a dark river.

"Which way?" Face asked Bonnie, very relieved when she pointed downhill. He peered off into the distance, hoping he'd be able to see the town, welcoming lights twinkling, promising a short journey. But no such luck and he sighed.

"You should rest for a while," Bonnie said. Face wanted to protest that they couldn't afford the time, but he didn't have the strength and just sank to the ground, resting his back against a tree. Bonnie sat beside him.

"I should have brought some water," she said. "I had some ready to bring - some food too - but I forgot. I'm sorry."

"That's okay," Face said. "I tend to forget things when I have a crazy woman trying to blow me away with a shotgun."

"Why didn't you shoot her? She would have killed us. She still will, if they catch us."

"I can't just shoot people, Bonnie. My team, well we don't shoot people, we don't kill people. It's sort of a rule."

"You're very principled."

Face laughed. "Now there's something I'm not accused of every day."

"I... I meant it in a good way... I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he reassured her. "I'm kidding. Well, maybe we are principled. Practical, too, though. One day they might straighten out the whole thing about the bank robbery and we could be free. No good if we get arrested for murder two minutes after that."

"I suppose."

He watched her, sitting with her head down, not looking at him. Had it just been the terror of the moment, or would she have been happy to see him shoot Ma? The woman had raised her for at least part of her life, but Face could guess at how Ma had treated her and what she'd failed to protect Bonnie from. Face knew the crushed-up sleeping pills could easily have killed Ma or the brothers. Did Bonnie simply not realise the danger, or did she not care? Such a helpless looking girl, skinny and too shy to look you in the eye, but she'd done this for Face.

"Bonnie, I haven't said thanks yet," Face said, making her look at him. He took her hand. "I really am grateful to you for helping me like this."

"I had to. For you. I had to."

"Yes, well, thank you." She held on to his hand for a while longer, before Face stirred himself, knowing the longer he sat the harder it would be to move again. She helped him to his feet and down to the side of the road. Stay a little off the road, he thought, near the undergrowth and the trees. Then if the Watkins did come by in their car or van, Face and Bonnie could duck into cover fast.

So, moving slowly, socks shredded now, and feet cut and painful, Face set out for the town. Bonnie walked at his side, holding his hand.

>o<

Murdock jumped out of Tawnia's car and strode up to the van, waiting at their rendezvous point. The first shift was over, the first three houses checked out.

"Well, thanks so much for that wonderful evening," Murdock said.

"You didn't have fun?" Hannibal asked, leaning out of the van window. Murdock grimaced.

"I just watched a party," he said. "Bunch of real fun-loving, good-looking people having a barbecue and a load of beers and laughing and singing. And I'm stuck in the trees, with a couple of candy bars and some soda. I could smell the food, Hannibal!" He looked severely miffed. "I was this close to going and asking to join the party." He held his forefinger and thumb almost touching.

"They weren't the Watkins though?"

"I said fun-loving and good-looking didn't I? If those people were holding Face prisoner, they were damn happy about it. What about you?"

"Well at least you had something fun to look at. Most exciting thing I saw was an old man walking his dog and locking up the chicken coop for the night, before an old lady called him in for supper."

"How 'bout you, BA?" Murdock asked.

"Wasn't them."

BA didn't elaborate, just scowled. Got it, BA, Hannibal thought. Time's a wasting. He got out of the van, yielding the passenger seat to Murdock. Tawnia followed Hannibal out. Time to check out the last two houses on the list.

"Stay close to the radio, guys," Hannibal ordered. "Unless we're barking up the wrong tree altogether, then one of these two must be the place. Be careful."

Murdock and BA set off in the van and Hannibal took Tawnia and her car and headed for the last house on the list. When they got close, she dropped him off at the turn off from the main road and he headed up towards the house, following the track, but staying in the trees to the side of it. Tawnia would stay close by, in walkie-talkie range, so if she heard from Murdock and BA over the CB radio, she could call Hannibal.

He checked his watch as he moved though the woods. Almost four in the morning now. If all was quiet, he'd get close and check out what he could before finding a good spot to wait for the house to wake up.

If all wasn't quiet... well, he'd given the warning himself about no lone heroics; he'd contact Tawnia and tell her to call Murdock and BA.

The house was quiet and dark when he reached it, but something made him frown. No vehicles. A partly gravelled open area at the front just begged "park here", but it was empty, which seemed strange. A person couldn't live out here without transport. He stayed back from the house, deciding to circle it. Maybe the vehicles were in a yard or garage out back.

He moved through the trees, around the side of the house. There definitely weren't any vehicles parked out back - the back of the house was on a steep slope. Interesting, he thought. Defensible. At least one side that nobody can come at you from easily. Kind of place that might appeal to the Watkins maybe?

He went back to the front of the house and watched it for a while. There could be a hundred different reason for no vehicles. Maybe whoever lived here was on vacation. Or in the hospital. A hundred reasons, none of which Hannibal could make himself believe.

Before he could decide on his next move, the clouds that had been covering the moon drifted off. At once he spotted something lying in the grass. Had to check that out. He approached with caution, his handgun ready, but it was only a discarded tyre, quite a big one, and shredded. Hannibal bent down to examine it and found small pieces of shot embedded in the rubber and the rim. Shotgun blast?

He lifted the tyre up. The grass under it was crushed, but still green, not dead. Something had happened here, and not that long ago. Had Face tried to escape and there'd been some shooting? Were the brothers on his trail?

He moved back into the trees, wanting the distance, to use his radio without his voice carrying. Just in case.

"Tawnia, get Murdock and BA here. Pretty sure this is the place and something went down here earlier."

"Okay, Hannibal," she said, "Can you see anything? Are you sure it's them?"

He wasn't sure, but he trusted his instincts.

"Sure as I can be. Call me back when they're close."

He watched the house again for a moment. How long would it take Murdock and BA to get here? Could be thirty minutes at least. Dammit, he wanted to get in there. What if they'd hurt Face badly, panicked and run off, leaving him in there? Maybe injured, maybe shot.

The house felt empty to Hannibal. Not just closed up for the night, but empty. It must be empty. If Face had escaped and the Watkins were chasing him, then anyone left at home would surely stay up to wait, so there'd be a light on somewhere. No. The house was empty. He had to get inside now and check it.

Yes, he'd given the orders, no lone heroics. But hell, forget the orders. He emerged from the trees again and moved fast across the open space to the house.

Hannibal gave the orders, he didn't follow them.

>o<

Face almost missed their ride. Oncoming lights in the darkness made him fear it was the Watkins coming after them. But the lights weren't right for a car or a van, and he heard the roar of a much bigger engine. A truck. He grabbed Bonnie's hand and pulled her back out of the bushes they'd hidden in at the first sight of the headlights.

"Wave," he told her, and she took her cue, imitating Face as he waved his arms over his head. The truck's headlights picked them out and dazzled them, but Face heard the engine sound change and knew it was braking. It slowed, passed them, then stopped, air brakes hissing.

Face grabbed Bonnie's hand and ran past the long trailer to the truck's cab. He stayed cautious, one hand hovering over the pistol under his coat, but no Watkins emerged. A man, wearing a baseball cap opened the door of the cab and looked down at them.

"Well, what the heck are you folks doing out here?"

"We had some car trouble," Face called up. "And we got lost in the woods trying to find our way to a phone." The man stared at Face's badly damaged uniform, perhaps suspicious, Face thought, since Bonnie's clothes didn't show anything like the same amount of damage. "And I had an accident," Face went on. "Slipped down a ravine and tore my arm up pretty badly. Can you give us a ride to town? Or any place we can get to a phone?"

"Well sure, get aboard, both of you." He nodded at Face. "Anything to help one of our boys in uniform. Here, ma'am, let me help you up."

A moment later the two of them were in the truck's cab and heading out.

"Name's Jeff Partridge," their rescuer said, as the truck roared off again, Bonnie seated between Jeff and Face.

"Jason Cole," Face said. "And my... sister, Bonnie Cole." She flashed him a disappointed look. Sorry, he thought, you don't have a wedding ring on. Sometimes people notice little details. He kept his shoe-less feet tucked out of sight, to keep Jeff from noticing that little detail.

"Pleased to meet you, folks. Now you relax, miss, Lieutenant. We'll be in town in less than an hour."

>o<

On Hannibal's orders, BA and Tawnia drove right up to the house. Hannibal waited for them, framed in the light coming from the open door behind him.

"This is their house?" Murdock said, and rushed on without waiting for an answer. "Is Face here? What have you found?"

"There's nobody here," Hannibal said. "I think the Watkins left." He'd found the house empty of people, and showing signs of some hasty packing.

"You think they got wind we're near?" BA asked. "And maybe took off with Face?"

"Could be," Hannibal said. "But I think that Face may have escaped and they've panicked and run off for now, scared he'll lead us back here." That was Hannibal's best case scenario. The worst case he didn't want to say out loud, for Tawnia's sake. They could have accidentally killed Face and fled, fearing the team's wrath.

They'd be right to fear it.

But Hannibal was an optimistic man, and held on to that best case scenario.

"I think there's a good chance they'll be back. Most of their stuff is still in there."

"So do we go and search for Face?" Tawnia asked. She looked around at the gloomy woods surrounding the house.

"Face will find a way to contact us," Hannibal said. "Tawnia, you stay with the van, in case he calls. Murdock, BA, we need to search the house, for any clues as to where either Face or the Watkins are. Let's go."

>o<

The truck dropped Face and Bonnie off at a motel on the outskirts of Hayesville. They declined the driver's offer to take them right in to town, Face saying that the first thing they needed was rest, and it was barely six o'clock, so nothing would be open anyway.

Despite the rest he'd had sitting in the truck and the food and drink Jeff had given them, Face was staggering by the time they got to the motel room. Bonnie had to hold his arm to keep him on his feet; the fever and lack of sleep, added to the hours of walking, left him barely able to stand.

He fell down onto the bed, face first and thought maybe he'd close his eyes for just a minute...

And suddenly the sun was pouring in the window.

"What the hell?" Face said, sitting up. He had a blanket over him. "What time is it?"

"Almost nine," Bonnie said, from where she sat in a chair, her jacket off and a can of soda beside her.

"Tell me you mean nine in the morning. The same morning."

"Yes. I tried to wake you, but I couldn't make you wake up... I'm sorry."

"Okay, that's okay." He couldn't believe he'd wasted time sleeping when he should have called the team. They could be hitting that damn prison right this minute. Didn't seem like he'd had a choice though. His body had simply shut down. He needed more sleep, he knew that, but had something to do first.

He grabbed the phone from the nightstand. While he dialled, Bonnie brought him over a can of soda and put some candy bars and bags of chips on the bed beside him. He vaguely recalled seeing a vending machine in the motel's office. She must have remembered to bring some money along.

"Thanks." Come on, come on. The van's phone rang and rang and then...

"Hello?"

"Tawnia?" What the hell was Tawnia doing in the van?

"Face! Are you okay? Hang on, Face," she said, before he could answer, and he heard her voice, slightly more distant, but yelling. "Hannibal! It's him!"

Face grinned suddenly, despite his exhaustion. Caught them in time. Tawnia babbled at him for a moment, and Face was too tired to interrupt her, but then Hannibal's voice cut her off in mid sentence.

"Face?" He sounded short of breath. "Where the hell are you?"

"Hello to you too. I'm in a place in California, called Hayesville, it's northeast of Sacramento."

"You're in town?"

"In... yeah. Where are you? How long will it take for you to get here?"

Hannibal chuckled. "Maybe an hour."

"An hour? Where are you?"