Motivation - H/F - Part 14

[indigo_angels]

Hannibal froze as he stared at the space on the kitchen floor where he had left Dougie laid and then let out a string of colourful expletives. Fishing the gun from the waistband of his jeans he turned back to the front door and slipped out, heading for the car port at an anxious jog.  

 

The second he rounded the corner, he saw movement over by his car and he froze as he made out his old friend dragging Face’s immobile body over to the passenger side, “Stop!” Hannibal yelled, gun pointing straight at Dougie’s chest, “Get away from him McArthur, right fucking now!”

 

Dougie smiled through the blood in his mouth and showed Hannibal the knife in his hand and where the point was resting, just to the left of Face’s rib cage, right over his heart. His grin widened as he saw Hannibal recognised the danger.

 

“Put him down and walk away from him,” Hannibal repeated, “You know I can put a bullet in your head no problem from here. And you know I will.”

 

Dougie’s eyes narrowed, “Yes, but you know that that would make me push this little beauty a little further in than she is already,” Hannibal’s eyes flicked to the creeping red stain on the front of Face’s borrowed t-shirt and his heart began to race. “You ready to stand and watch the boy die Hannibal?”

 

Hannibal didn’t answer and Dougie knew he was beaten. “Put the gun down, Hannibal, and get over here to open this car door for me.”

 

There was a minute’s silence when nobody moved.

 

“Now!” Dougie shouted, jabbing the knife in even deeper, making the crimson blush grow even bigger.

 

“Okay!” Hannibal yelled back, “Okay, just take it easy, don't hurt him!”

 

“Don’t hurt him?” Dougie sneered, “Oh, John, this has gone too far for that! I’m gonna fucking kill him when I’m done with him! And that’s all your fault for not letting him go when you had the chance!”

 

“Dougie...”

 

“Enough!” Dougie yelled, his eyes wide and almost insane, “Open the fucking car door Smith and then get out of my way!”

 

Hannibal dropped his gun and slowly walked up to them eyes raking over Face and the blood seeping from the cut on his temple where the spade had hit him, he flicked his eyes up to Dougie again and the hatred was clear for all to see.

 

 

 

Dougie smirked at him, “Open the car door,” he repeated.

 

Frowning, Hannibal turned and opened the car door as wide as it would go before turning back to Dougie. “You know I will kill you,” he whispered, his eyes cold, hard, blue, “Unless you give him back to me right now, I will not rest for a single day until I hunt you down. You know that right?”

 

Laughing coldly, Dougie just dropped Face on the floor and started walking backwards towards Hannibal’s gun, “Well maybe I’ll hunt you down first old friend,” he whispered, “Maybe you can have a bit of what that boy has got coming to him, eh?” Hannibal stared at him in hatred. “Or maybe I will just put a bullet in your head right now instead?”

 

Dougie bent for the gun and Hannibal reacted instantly, reaching down behind him for the spare Walther he had stashed for Face under the passenger seat of the car. Both men got to the weapons at the same time, but Hannibal had the advantage of being better prepared, of knowing exactly what he was going to do before he did it. As both men lifted their guns, Hannibal got his shot in first, slamming a bullet home into Dougie’s shoulder just as Dougie squeezed his own trigger, shot going wide and slamming into the wing of the Aston Martin.

 

Hannibal followed his shot through as Dougie fell to the ground, hand grabbing for the gun to take another shot. He didn’t get the chance. Hannibal’s boot was there first, kicking it well out if reach and instead pointing the barrel of the Walther right into his forehead, “Give me a reason,” he muttered murderously, “Oh, just give me one fucking reason, McArthur and I swear I will do it!”

 

For a second, it looked as if Dougie was going to give him that one reason, but then he flopped back on the ground, hands held out at his sides, just as the far off sounds of sirens filled the air. Hannibal kept the gun pointing at him, but took a step back, taking a forced deep breath.

 

“You’d better pray that kid is okay,” he whispered as he took another step back, “Because if he isn’t, I’m coming for you anyway. You got that?”

 

Dougie sneered in response, but Hannibal had seen the fear flash into his eyes, and that had been more than enough.

 

 

________________________

 

Hannibal looked up as the door to Face’s room opened and Russ walked in. The two men embraced briefly before Russ turned to the still figure on the bed and shook his head, “Hell of a carry on here Hannibal, I always knew there was something off with McArthur.”

 

“Yeah?” Hannibal couldn’t keep the scepticism out of his voice.

 

“Yeah,” Russ held Hannibal’s eyes steadily, “I saw him with you, John. I knew.”

 

A flush crept across Hannibal’s cheeks and he nodded, looking away and moving to Face’s side. Russ followed him, “So, he was trying the same act with the kid here, then? That’s why you were so eager to get back that day?”

 

“Yeah,” Hannibal sighed, “but I didn’t think he would go quite as far as he did.”

 

“No,” Russ agreed, “I don’t suppose anyone did.”

 

They stood and stared down at the bed for a moment until Russ broke the silence again, “So what have the docs said then, Hannibal?”

 

Hannibal let out another sigh and sank back into his chair at Face’s side, “They don't know, Russ,” the exhaustion was clear in his voice, “They are just waiting to see if he’s going to wake up.”

 

Russ nodded, “How long has he been out?”

 

“Three days now.”

 

“Long time...”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“But if,” he cleared his throat, “when he wakes up - they think he’ll be okay?”

 

There was a long silence and Russ watched as Hannibal reached out, just resting his fingers on Face’s still arm, “Chances are there will be some residual brain damage,” Hannibal’s voice was flat and emotionless, “He’s taken some pretty hefty whacks on the head these past few days, that one with the fucking spade fractured his skull. His brain was bleeding, they had to put a drain in to ease the pressure, but it had been too long,” Hannibal’s expression was totally bleak, “So, no. Chances are he won’t be okay, even if he does wake up.”

 

“Shit...” Russ sat heavily in the seat next to Hannibal, “Brain damage - what does that mean then?”

 

Hannibal shrugged, “Memory loss, problems speaking, difficulties understanding language, motor control issues, trouble with hand-eye coordination, mood swings, personality issues,” he met Russ’ eye, “Any or all of the above.”

 

“Shit,” Russ repeated. “Well where’s his family? Kid needs his family around him going through something like this.”

 

Taking a deep breath Hannibal replied, “He doesn’t have one; he’s an orphan. There’s some priest back in LA who has been with him a while, but he can’t get over, had a heart bypass three weeks ago and isn’t fit enough to travel.” 

 

“I’m sorry Hannibal,” there was genuine sorrow in Russ’ voice, “I know you had high hopes for this one.”

 

Hannibal turned on him in an instant, “You can’t just chuck him out, Russ! Throw him onto the garbage heap just ‘cause he doesn’t make the grade anymore!”

 

Calm eyes looked back at him, “You know I wouldn’t do that, but if he’s not fit for active service, then he’s not fit for active service. Nothing any of us can do about that, Hannibal.”

 

Silence fell as Hannibal turned back to the figure in the bed. “The Army though,” he eventually responded, “It’s all he’s got.”

 

Russ sighed and got to his feet, clapping Hannibal on the shoulder as he headed for the door, “Keep me informed,” was all he said.

________________________________

 

Three months later...

 

Hannibal shuffled awkwardly on one of the wooden chairs set up outside in the sunshine and strained forward to check his view of the small stage set up at the front of the lawn, “Relax Colonel,” came a softly lilting Irish voice from the seat next to him, “He will be fine, and we have a grand view, your wriggling is starting to get on my nerves.”

 

Shifting an embarrassed glance sideways, Hannibal made a concerted effort to keep still, smiling tightly at the elderly priest, “I’m sorry Father,” he muttered tugging his tie away from his neck and shuffling again, “I just want it to be perfect for him.”

 

Father Magill chuckled and patted Hannibal on the knee, “It will be, it will be. Just relax.”

 

Running a hand through his hair, Hannibal let out a long breath. He liked Father Magill a whole lot and was so glad that Face had him in his life. He was also developing his own close relationship with the priest, but there had been a very sticky moment however, the first time they had met.

 

~~~~~~

 

It was a little over a month since the incident at the Lake House and the Father had finally been given the okay to travel. Hannibal had offered to collect him from the train station, recognising him immediately and they’d had a friendly enough meeting until they were weaving through the rush hour traffic.

 

“So,” Father Magill had started, “Are you aware that my Templeton is in love with you, Colonel Smith?”

 

Hannibal had almost swerved off the road at the statement and turned to stare incredulously at the old guy. “What on earth makes you say that?” he retorted, his heart thumping hard.

 

“Well,” Father Magill looked straight ahead through the windshield, “Possibly because it has been obvious in every letter and every conversation I have ever had with him since he first met you.”

 

Hannibal stayed silent, considering.

 

“I imagine, if that were true,” he eventually replied, “Then it would be a great disappointment to you. I know that the Catholic faith does not look too favourably on homosexuality.”

 

To his great surprise, Father Magill let out a full belly laugh, “Son,” he wheezed, wiping his eyes, “You cannot spend too much time with that boy of mine and still worry about what the Catholic faith does or doesn’t approve of. He must have broken every commandment at least once, some repeatedly I would imagine...” he sat, shaking his head and Hannibal was gratified to see the obvious affection for Face in his eyes.

 

He smiled back at the priest but his heart stuttered again when all traces of laughter disappeared and were replaced by a worried frown, “God loves Templeton, Colonel Smith, but sometimes I have struggled to see how that love has been manifested. The boy has had a hard life, I’m sure you know a lot about that, but I’m sure you don’t know the full story, sometimes I think even the boy doesn’t know the full story anymore...” Father Magill seemed to drift off for a moment, lost in years gone by before snapping back to the present, “But anyway, as I said, God loves him and both God and myself want him to be loved and secure. We want him to be happy.”

 

Hannibal nodded and swallowed hard before pulling over at the side of the road and turning to look at the priest, “Father,” he whispered, his throat dry, “He is in love with me, and I am in love with him. Deeply. He is everything I have ever wanted out of my life, and I intend to give him everything he will ever need. I can make him happy, Father Magill, and I know I will.” He looked hard at the old priest, feeling raw and naked, he’d never opened up to anyone like this before.

 

His heart sank as Father Magill looked less than thrilled at the news, closing his eyes, his lips moving in a fast, silent prayer and Hannibal hoped with everything he had that he wouldn’t turn his back on the kid, after everything he’d been through, everything he was still battling through every day, it would crush him.

 

The priest’s watery blue eyes opened again and fixed on Hannibal, sadness obvious in their depths, “I won’t lie to you, Colonel Smith, you seem like a good honourable man,” he shook his head, “But this is not what I would have wanted for Templeton.” The words were like a bullet through Hannibal’s chest as the priest dropped his head to study his clasped hands, “The boy has always yearned for a home, a family of his own and he’s a good looking boy, could have found himself a really special lady, he’d make a fantastic husband and father, would love the chance to be someone’s son in law, brother in law...” Father Magill shook his head sadly.

 

“But I can give him all that!” Hannibal was having to sit on his anger, “He will become part of my family!”

 

“No,” Father Magill said quietly, “What you can give him is ostracism. I know homosexuality is becoming more accepted by certain members of society, but for others it is still just as abhorrent. I have nothing at all against you personally, Colonel, but how can I want for my boy to suffer from that kind of prejudice the rest of his life? All he has ever wanted is somewhere he can fit in; you are providing him with another reason to be left out.”

 

For a moment Hannibal was speechless, “You want me to turn him away?” he whispered, horrified.

 

“Oh, no!” Father Magill turned to him, his own eyes wide in shock, “Nothing of the sort! If it is you that Templeton wants then I will stand by you both for the rest of my days!” Hannibal felt his pulse slow just a little, “I was simply being honest with you, if you are going to be part of my family then I think that is a very important aspect of our relationship.”

 

Hannibal nodded guardedly, “Well, I appreciate your honesty, Father Magill, and I guarantee that I will do everything in my power to make him happy every day of his life. I won’t let him suffer just because he’s chosen me.”

 

Father Magill smiled at him then, a genuine smile, full of hope and he reached out to squeeze one of Hannibal’s hands, “Bless you,” he whispered. Hannibal nodded, his throat choked with emotion, and pulled back out into the line of traffic.

 

~~~~~~

 

That had been a little over two months ago now and no such thoughts had been expressed again. Hannibal allowed himself to act as naturally with Face when Father Magill was there as he did when they were alone. Well, not quite the same obviously, he didn’t want to give the old priest another heart attack, but he did want him to see just how much he loved Face. How much they loved each other.

 

He often caught the priest watching them with nothing more than a look of complete acceptance in his eyes and Hannibal knew that had helped Face enormously; Father Magill was a very important part of his life.

 

The first time the priest had come over, he had stayed for a fortnight, and then he had returned last week for this very important day in Face’s life.

 

Hannibal fidgeted again and looked at his watch, five minutes to go. He glanced along the row to his right and frowned as he noticed the rest of the unit looking back at him, amusement clear in their faces. They had all insisted on coming along today to support their baby lieutenant and Hannibal had been touched at how much they thought of the kid. But now they were all just laughing at his nervousness, Hannibal wondered if it was such a good idea.

 

He threw them a dark look and glanced around the rows of chairs seeing who else was here and his eyes immediately fell on Tosh’s huge bulk, standing talking earnestly to Tag. Hannibal lifted his hand in greeting and both men waved back before returning to their conversation.

 

Tag had done a first rate job on the case against Dougie. One of the things that had terrified Hannibal at first was that Face might have to testify against Dougie in a Court Martial, or that the case would collapse because Face wasn’t able to testify...

 

In the end, neither scenario had arisen, Tag’s case had been so thorough, so convincing, that the defence council had persuaded Dougie to plead guilty to all charges. Some kind of deal had been struck that meant Dougie had not gone away for the rest of his life, but Hannibal had heard he had entered therapy while he was in Leavenworth and he was pleased. The guy obviously had some fairly major problems to work out...

 

He’d even written to Hannibal; a long letter full of apology and no excuses which was something. Hannibal had burnt it though. The letter had arrived in the dark, bleak days when Hannibal was still devastated by the lasting damage Dougie had done to Face so it had been turned to ash almost as soon as he’d read it.

 

Hannibal watched as Tosh laughed at something Tag had said and felt a surge of gratitude towards him. It had been largely due to Tosh that Tag had managed to put together such a strong case against Dougie. Not only had Tosh been one of the biggest victims himself in Dougie’s sexual and violent manipulations, but he had also been able to back up the stories told by the other victims, of which there were surprisingly many. And all of that meant that Face did not have to go through the ordeal of getting involved in the case against Dougie when he was fighting so hard just to get some kind of life back for himself.

 

Guilt niggled at the edge of Hannibal’s mind as he thought of the other reason he was so grateful to Tosh; it had been his phone call to Hannibal that had alerted him to the trouble Face was in that fateful morning at the Lake House.

 

Hannibal felt his cheeks flush in mortification yet again as he remembered how he had decided that Face had walked out on him and was just about the leave the hotel himself when Tosh called him. Seems that Dougie had phoned his lieutenant as soon as he had discharged himself from the hospital and had demanded Tosh come by and pick him up. Fortunately for Tosh, he’d already left the area, probably, Hannibal reflected later, because he knew just what Dougie would do.

 

Dougie was furious that Tosh was already across the other side of the country and out of his clutches; he had apparently been planning on Tosh ‘helping’ him with Face... So as soon as he’d shared his twisted plans with Tosh and ordered his lieutenant to get back on a plane immediately, Tosh called Hannibal and told him everything.

 

The horror that Hannibal had felt during that phone call was surpassed only by the horror he had felt on peering through the French doors into the master bedroom of the Lake House and seeing Face naked and chained to the bed, Dougie prowling around him like a sadistic jailor. Managing to chase that racoon over the deck had provided him with the distraction he had needed to get Dougie away from Face, but even so, things had not turned out quite as well as Hannibal had wanted them to. Without Tosh’s warning, however... well, that had been the subject of many, many nightmares for Hannibal until he had eventually got Face back into his bed.

 

It still needled him though, every time he thought about it, that he had abandoned Face. Not eight hours after promising him that he was loved and had a home for life, Hannibal had been prepared to walk out on him and leave him in Dougie’s clutches. He shook his head in self loathing; it had been a view into a side of his personality that Hannibal had not enjoyed. But at least now that he knew it was there, he could make damn sure it never surfaced again, and of course Face didn’t know just how close he had come to being abandoned... and Hannibal vowed he never would.  

 

Suddenly the animated chatter of the audience stilled and Hannibal looked up as Major General Isaac Winston took to the stage. Nervous anticipation surged through Hannibal and he glanced to the side of the stage to see if he could spot Face. He managed to see a couple of wheelchairs just manoeuvring to the bottom of the ramp to the stage, but no sign of Face. He felt Father Magill pat his knee reassuringly, and then the Major General cleared his throat to begin.

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