Title: Beware of Darkness Lyrics by the late George Harrison Author: rita E-mail: mommacita1@juno.com Rating: R Pairings: Murdock/Amy, Murdock/Face Archive: Yes, please Series: No Website: http://www.geocities.com/jennylmr/index.html (And thanks to Jenlmr for hosting me) Disclaimer: I don't own the A-Team nor do I make any profit from my writing. I just like to play with them and I mostly put my toys back as good as new. Warnings (if needed): Suggestion of both het and slash (but of course) sex. Dream-death of a major character. Summary: Murdock has a nightmare. Where can he go to get a good night's sleep? *** "Nice, Face," Hannibal commented after Face finished taking them on the tour of the sprawling ranch-style house. "Glad you like it," Face said, smiling at the praise from his leader. Amy yawned loudly and ostentatiously, distracting the others from further praise to Face. 'God knows the man praises himself enough. He doesn't need anyone's help,' she thought, pasting a false smile on her face. "I'm beat. I'm sure poor HM is, too, aren't you, baby?" she cooed. Murdock turned away from her and rolled his eyes. The others worked hard to hide their smiles. "Where are we sleeping, Face?" Amy persisted. "How about the rec room, Facey?" Murdock said hopefully, waggling his eyebrows. "No way, fool! You'll keep all of us up with them game noises!" BA growled. "*I'm* taking the rec room." "That's fine, BA," Face said, trying to keep the peace. "Amy, how about if you and Murdock bunk down in the master bedroom? It's got its own bathroom." Without waiting for a reply, he turned to the Colonel. "Hannibal, the guest room's yours." He gestured at the room between the rec room and the eat-in kitchen. "Where you gonna sleep, Facey?" Murdock called as the blond headed past the kitchen. It looked as though he was headed for the garage to sleep in the van. "There's another room down here, Murdock. Don't worry about me. Sleep tight everyone!" He called as he waved goodnight and opened a door he had passed without mention on the tour. "'Night, Face," Hannibal called. "See you all in the morning," he said to the others, opening the door to the guest room. BA picked up his duffle and slung it over his shoulder. "'Night, Hannibal," he said. "'Night, Face," he called down the hall in a louder voice. "An' don't you come into *mah* bedroom at the crack of dawn to play them fool games, y'hear?" he said to Murdock by way of a goodnight. He grunted in Amy's general direction and disappeared down the two steps that led into the rec room. "Let's go, HM; pick up our bags," Amy ordered, walking back towards the master suite. "I'm not really tired, hon. I'll just fix myself something to eat and be there in a little while." "*Now*, HM." Murdock sighed, picked up the Amy's heavy overnight case and his own lightweight gym bag, and followed her obediently. *** Watch out now, Take care beware of falling swingers Dropping all around you, The pain that often mingles in your fingertips Beware of darkness. *** Murdock stood in a clearing. Clearly he was on a mission; he was wearing his brown leather bomber jacket and his blue baseball cap. 'I must be the decoy,' he thought. 'I gotta start palming those little red pills they give me at bedtime at the VA. I don't even remember how I got here.' Somehow he knew that the Team was protecting him, hidden in the trees that surrounded the clearing. Suddenly a bad guy appeared in the clearing, machine gun at the ready. Murdock could tell he was a bad guy by his beady eyes, too small and set too close to his nose, the three-days-growth on his chin, and the poor dental work that showed when he snarled. Oh, and the snarl. Murdock backed towards the tree line. And the bad guy shot up into the trees overhead, obviously hoping to stop him with a falling branch. Instead, Murdock was stopped by a falling body. One with a thick thatch of dark blond hair. And several holes in his Armani jacket that were oozing dark red liquid. Murdock knelt down and gently touched one of the holes. His fingers came away wet and tingling. *** Murdock sat bolt upright and stared blindly into the blackness of the bedroom. His body was covered with cold sweat and he was panting. He reached for the light switch. Beside him, Amy instructed sleepily, "Don't you *dare* turn that light on, HM!" *** Watch out now, Take care, beware the thoughts that linger Winding up inside your head The hopelessness around you In the dead of night Beware of sadness. *** He slid back down in the bed and tried to keep his mind from cycling around the dream and what it might mean. He thought about asking Amy. As if she could read his mind, she said, "And don't keep me up telling me about whatever it was that woke you. Tell me in the morning." *** It can hit you, it can hurt you - Make you sore and what is more, That is not what you are here for. *** He'd thought he wouldn't be able to fall back to sleep, but suddenly he was back in the dream. The bad guy had come up behind him as he knelt over Face's body. 'It's a dream,' he told himself. 'Face is in the spare bedroom, safe and sound.' *** Watch out now, take care, Beware of soft shoe shufflers Dancing down the sidewalks, As each unconscious sufferer Wanders aimlessly, Beware of MAYA. Watch out now take care, Beware of greedy leaders They'll take you where you should not go, While Weeping Atlas Cedars They just want to grow - Beware of darkness. *** The technique of talking about reality while inside a dream, taught to him years ago by Dr. Richter, only worked partially this time. The bad guy disappeared, but in his stead, was General Stockwell. Doing what looked like a dance routine around the edges of the clearing. Murdock stood and turned his body, following the man's movements. Stockwell gestured and Murdock took a half-step away from Face. The injured man groaned, but just then Amy appeared, shimmering, standing in the trees where Stockwell pointed. Murdock moved towards her and she opened her arms to him. He staggered into her embrace. A rustling behind Murdock distracted him and he turned his head, still in Amy's arms. He expected to see Stockwell sneaking up on him, but instead found himself watching Face, stumbling blindly into the shadows of the thick trees furthest away from him. Murdock tried to pull out of Amy's clutching hands as Face disappeared. He could hear him sobbing, just out of sight. *** Murdock awoke to find himself pulling away from Amy's embrace. In her sleep she had turned and hugged him tightly. Too tightly. He stared into the blackness of the bedroom again, listening. The sobs were still there. Quietly he slid from the bed and felt his way around the unfamiliar room. Face had graciously given him and Amy the master suite, he remembered. BA's snoring could be heard from the rec room as soon as Murdock opened the door. Behind him, Amy made disgruntled sounds as she realized her arms were empty. Again. "If you leave now, don't come back," she said clearly. Murdock nodded, although he knew she couldn't see him in the blackness. He closed the bedroom door quietly. He waited expectantly until the lock to the master suite clicked, loud in the silent house. As he passed the guest room, he smelled cigar smoke and saw light spilling from under the closed door, so he moved more stealthily towards the crying. It was coming from the smallest bedroom, a maid's room originally, the room Face had gone into the when they had parted for the night. The room had obviously been used for storage and smelled of cedar shavings. Murdock breathed in the rich scent as soon as he opened the door. There was barely room for the camp bed on which the blond lay on his side in a tight ball, unable to fight his way out of whatever horrors he had encountered in his sleep. Murdock curled around Face on the narrow bed and stroked him lightly on the arms, murmuring soothing nonsense until the sobs stopped and the tense body relaxed into his. Then, with matching sighs and twined hands, the two men fell asleep, each secure knowing the other was with him.