Murdock dodged through the crowd of people and stopped beside Calvin, who stood on the threshold of the French doors that led from Joy's living room to the garden. With one foot in the living room and one foot outside, Calvin was neither fully inside the house nor outside in the garden. The crowd of people inside and the large space outside made him equally nervous Murdock guessed. Perhaps a beer would help him relax. He handed Calvin a glass slippery with condensation.

"Nice party," Murdock said. "I guess it's the first one you've been to for a while."

"Yes." Calvin looked around the room inside, then out into the garden again. Murdock followed his gaze and saw Face sitting on the low wall that bordered the patch of artificial grass. For a second Murdock thought about going over to him, but Hannibal passed by, carrying two beers and headed towards Face, so Murdock turned his attention back to Calvin.

"So what's your plan? You going to stick around here in town? There is a spare house. Unless." He gave a sly smile. "You were to stay here with Joy of course."

"Murdock," Calvin said, serious, ignoring the teasing. "This little adventure has been very interesting, but I haven't changed. I'm not suddenly the friend of all humanity. I'm not Ebenezer Scrooge and you are not the ghost of Christmas future."

Murdock sighed. "So you and Duchess are just going to go and bury yourselves under the ground again?"

"Perhaps not Duchess. The mayor wants to buy my cat, for her daughter." He nodded over to where Lily Warner sat on the floor, playing with Duchess. The cat sprawled on her back batting lazily at a fluffy ball on a string, which the girl dangled over her. Calvin smiled now, losing the glum look. "I'd hate to disappoint the child. On the other hand I'm not sure if Duchess would enjoy being dressed in doll's clothing and made to have tea parties with teddy bears."

"She's been through worse," Murdock said, grinning. "Of course, if you stayed in town you don't have to be separated from the cat."

"Quite an incentive," Calvin said dryly.

Murdock sighed and looked around. Why had he decided to take on the role of Cupid for Joy and Calvin? He just felt sure they were made for each other. Of course, neither of them would say what they used to get up to on her regular visits to his bunker, but Murdock doubted they played Canasta. They just needed a little push in the right direction to move to the next level.

He noticed a picture on the opposite wall then. A small canvas, warm orange, that glowed like late summer sunshine and showed only abstract variations of colour in geometric patterns.

"One of yours?" Murdock said. Calvin nodded. "I hope it's not got..." Murdock grimaced. "Tell me you've not got some gruesome scene under there."

To Murdock's surprise, Calvin handed him the glasses that he'd given Murdock before. The ones that had allowed him to see the real picture. They must have still been in his pocket when the two of them escaped from the bunker.

Murdock unfolded the glasses, awkward, one handed, his beer in his left hand, put them on and looked at the picture, nervous for a moment about what he would see. But he needn't have worried. Smiling, he took the glasses off again and turned to Calvin, unable to resist going on playing Cupid.

"Far be it from me to give you advice about the ladies, you having been married at least twice more than I have. But you may find you do better with women if you give them flowers they can actually see."

-o-O-o-

"Face, you want a beer?"

Face looked up and nodded. Hannibal handed him a glass.

"Thanks."

Hannibal sat down on the wall, facing in the opposite direction to Face, who sat facing the street. They hadn't had a chance to talk alone since returning from the base, watching the explosions behind them as the ship accelerated away. Back in town, they had quickly loaded their gear from the hotel onto the Chicago. After a good night's sleep, they would be gone. All the haste was down to the fact Hannibal would not put it past Stockwell to sic Decker on them.

Of course, Joy wouldn't let them go without a goodbye party.

"Face, I have to ask it. Did you really intend to kill Kyle?"

Face sipped his beer and wiped away foam from his upper lip.

"The A-Team doesn't kill people."

"That's not an answer."

Face shrugged. "Didn't I say it myself at that council meeting, that the A-Team doesn't kill people."

"Actually," Hannibal said, his memory of it perfectly clear. "You said 'innocent people'. A category I'd have a hard time fitting Kyle into. And that's still not an answer to my actual question."

"What would you have done if I'd opened that door?"

"That's not only not an answer; it's a whole other question." Hannibal's irritation showed through in his tone.

Face shrugged again. "What would you have done?"

"Tried to save him. What choice would we have had?"

"That's not... I doubt you'd have succeeded."

"Don't be so sure. Amy was ready to get him back into the airlock and activate the emergency close."

Face looked at him surprised. "Amy?"

"That's who was in the landing bay. In the space suit, remember?" Face nodded, recalling the figure they'd seen on the monitor. "Joy told me." Amy hadn't mentioned it herself so far, not to Hannibal anyway.

"Why would Amy care about saving Kyle?"

"She cared about saving you, Face."

Face turned away, took a few more sips of his beer. Hannibal did the same, waited until Face spoke again.

"Actually, that's not really what I meant. I wasn't asking what you would have done right after the door opened. I meant what you would have done later. To me." When Hannibal met his eyes he saw a deep fear in them, a fear of something Face wanted even less than death. "Would I still be on the team?"

"The A-Team doesn't kill people." Hannibal repeated the words, an echo of Face's own answer.

"That means yes, doesn't it? I'd be off the team."

"No. It means there'd be no A-Team any more." Hannibal's voice was hard now.

Face stared, then tripped on his words as he spoke again, "I... I think that's a warning, isn't it?" Hannibal didn't answer. "I understand, Colonel."

Hannibal nodded. "Good. Now are you ever going to answer my question? Did you intend to kill him?"

"Honestly, Colonel, I don't know any more. I can hardly recall now what I was thinking about then. It's like trying to remember a dream." His face hardened, a glint came into his eyes. "But I won't deny I enjoyed watching Kyle find out whether I would do it or not." He frowned at Hannibal, and had a challenge in his voice when he spoke again. "Does that shock you?"

"Coming from you, it... surprises me."

"Seems everyone underestimates me." Face looked away, smiling grimly. "I won't apologise for it. He deserved that fear. I hope he wakes up remembering it and screaming."

Hannibal had to admit that did shock him just a little. He'd seen Face kill, as a soldier; he'd even seen him kill with vengeance driving him. Hell, every battle after the first one is about revenge. But he'd never seen Face take pleasure in anyone's suffering. When he had killed the enemy, he'd done it fast and efficiently, never drawn out the pain.

Perhaps Hannibal did underestimate exactly what Face could be capable of. Looking up he saw Murdock and Calvin moving away from the French doors, going inside. Murdock looked back and caught Hannibal's eye, mimed knife and fork movements before following Calvin inside.

"I think the food is ready," Hannibal told Face, standing up. Face swung his legs over the wall and stood up too. When Hannibal took a step, Face laid a hand on his arm to stop him.

"Oh, by the way, I wondered if you'd like to keep this." He reached into the pocket of his pants and held up a small key. "It's the key of the cuffs I was in, that Maggie was in."

Hannibal reached up slowly and took the key, stared at it when it lay in the palm of his hand. It felt warm.

"Face, I... thanks."

"Maybe one day you'll get to free her."

Face walked off and into the house. Hannibal stared after him, then looked down at the key. After a moment he put it into his pocket and followed Face inside.

In the living room, some of the guests had started to gather around the table where Joy and Amy were setting out plates of sandwiches and other finger foods. The team, never shy about being first to the table, stood around waiting for the invitation to dive in. Face looked a world away from the bitterness he'd displayed a moment ago, laughing and bantering with Joy and Amy.

"Are those pigs in a blanket?" Murdock said. "Oh yeah!"

"Jus' make sure you leave some for other people," BA said, scowling at Murdock.

"You mean leave some for you?" Murdock grabbed a plate and started loading it with pastry rolls.

As Ted wandered up to join them, Hannibal looked around. His team stood with Joy, Ted and Calvin, the three people they'd come to know best here. Across the room, he saw Matthew and Caithlin sitting on a sofa, Lily playing by their feet. Others he'd met stood around the room. A few council members. Alan, Ted's partner from The Great Red Spot. The Lambert kid, Russ, and his parents. And all Hannibal could see was the empty space that reminded him who was missing.

Nevertheless, he pasted on a smile and took a plate to get some food before BA and Murdock demolished the buffet.

Ted glanced at his watch and sighed. "I'll have to get back to the office soon. Feed my guest."

The reminder that Leto still sat cooling his heels in Ted's cells made Hannibal's smile more genuine. They could have sold tickets to the show that was his reaction when he learnt Stockwell and Kyle had gone, leaving him behind.

Hannibal laughed. "At least we got to hold onto one prisoner."

"What's going to happen to him?" Amy asked.

"Extradition. He's wanted on Earth, Mars and the Moon." Ted smiled. "Been a busy lad. Whoever comes to collect him first can have him."

"Well," Hannibal said, with a small sigh. "I guess we've done all we can for you guys. But I wish there was more. Stockwell will be back, in one way or another. Like he said, the Corp thinks long term."

"At least we know trouble's coming," Joy said. "We can be ready for him."

Hannibal nodded, liking her optimism. Maybe they would pull something off, before history rolled right on over them.

"Why does everyone keep saying he?" Murdock said, voice muffled with pastry. "About Stockwell. Why'd you all keep saying 'he'?"

They all looked at him puzzled. Eventually Face spoke.

"Murdock, 'he' is the way people usually refer to men."

"Eh?" Murdock looked at them frowning. "That wasn't a man."

Now they all looked at each other and then back to Murdock.

"Fool's crazy," BA muttered.

"Murdock," Face said. "Would you, um, describe General Stockwell to us?"

"Sure," Murdock said. "She was tall and blonde. Quite pretty in that ice queen way. In her thirties, I think, which is kind of young for a general, but I guess she could have been fast-tracked."

He licked his fingers, which were greasy from the pastries, then looked back into their stares.

"What?"