Rescue Mission: Recovery

[notjustaface]

As far as hiding places go, there are worse places to recuperate than a hotel in Mumbai. At least it's quiet (for a developed city in India) the boss has been content to let Murdock take after him until he can make his way around the small room on his crutches without difficulty.

He's standing by the window, watching the city sprawl out around them when the door opens, expecting Murdock to be returning from the nearby market. "Oh, did you bring back any books this time?"

"I'm afraid I haven't got much in the way of reading material." Hannibal replies with a shallow half-laugh.

"Sorry, Boss, thought Murdock came back."

"Not yet." Hannibal shakes his head when Face turns toward him and crutches toward the end of the bed. "Good to see you up and about."

"Yeah, well... you know how it is. I'll be back on my feet in no time."

A long silence passes between them as Face settles himself at the foot of the firm bed, watching the colonel with thinly veiled interest. It was clear he didn't come to check on him, there was always something else.

Finally, Hannibal says; "We need to talk about Baghdad."

"Really? Because I was under the impression that job was done - with a ten thousand dollar bonus I might add."

"You killed an officer..."

"Who was aiming to take down the chopper! I saved your ass!"

Hannibal frowns deeper; "Your orders were shoot to disarm."

"I couldn't get a better shot, colonel. I made the right call."

A long silence falls between them before Hannibal says; "Murdock disobeyed a direct order when he waited before taking off."

"He doesn't believe in leaving a man behind. None of us do." He raises his eyes up to their leader; "At least I never thought you did."

"We all knew it had to be an option on this one..."

"You're seriously not still making a big deal out of thirty seconds..." Face shakes his head; "He made a decision and everything worked out fine."

"Thirty seconds our whole team was in danger, two civilians..."

"Well... it worked out fine." He shrugs, leaning back on his arms. "And you really need to back up off Murdock about it. He did the right thing."

"He did the stupid thing. You two are a liability the way you're carrying on..."

"Oh!" He says loudly, rolling his eyes; "Now I see what you're really talking about here. This isn't about Baghdad... this is about you hating our relationship!"

"I don't hate it, damn it Peck..." Hannibal sits down heavily in the single chair in the room, glaring at him; "I hate that you two can't look beyond yourselves and see the bigger picture."

"I see the big picture just fine. I see this being over, I see us getting out of this..."

"Until we clear our names..."

Laughing loudly, Face shakes his head. "You don't get it, do you? I'm ready to walk away. The only reason I came back is because Murdock is convinced it's right thing to do and that you can actually fix things."

"That is just like you..." He scowls, "always ready to cut and run when things get tough."

He shrugs again; "I just call it like I see it, boss. There's no way out of this mess. They're just gonna keep coming after us until we have no choice."

"Always so pessimistic... we can do this! We have people on our side, people that know what happened to us was wrong!"

"Fine," Face sighs, "you know what, you keep believing that. And, you know, I'm not going anywhere because Murdock believes that and I'm gonna watch his back." He leans back on the bed, swallowing hard; "If you can't stand the fact that we're gonna watch out for each other, then cut us loose, Colonel. I'll leave that on your hands, but you need to just get over what happened in Baghdad."

Hannibal doesn't respond. He stands up slowly and shakes his head, silently passing by Murdock as he leaves their room to go back to his own.

Comments

[notjustaface]

The praise warms him, as it always does, and he lets out an appreciative moan - fingers gripping hard at Murdock's shoulders before stroking down the wiry curls on his chest.

"You make me this way." And slowly, he's been convinced that it's for the better.

[notthatcrazy]

He practically purrs, arching into the touch.

"You're my guy," he says in a quiet shaky voice. "We're a team."

[notjustaface]

Letting his blunt nails rake over his skin, Face isn't exactly shy about letting out a low moan between solid rocks of his hips to meet each shift of his lover's body on top of him.

"Uh-huh..." he breathes heavily; "best team."

[notthatcrazy]

"Best ever," he agrees, as they slowly ease into a rhythm. It's the part he loves most, when they're close and in sync with each other.

[notjustaface]

It'd be easy to pull him down, but his bum leg won't let him do that much work so Face settles finally on resting his hands again at Murdock's hips - digging in gently the closer he gets to the edge.

"God..." he groans low and loud, shuddering against the intense waves of pleasure. "We have got to do this more often..."

[notthatcrazy]

He won't get any argument about that. The balance of control and trust is sort of perfect for them both.

He's a bit too preoccupied to put any of this into words, however.

[notjustaface]

Words can be overrated - though Face has many of them... most them single-syllable and of the "four letter" variety.

"Fuck..." he moans loudly, fingers gripping tighter against Murdock's flesh; "Harder?"

[notthatcrazy]

They've never needed words to communicate well, even before they were together. He pushes back harder, feeling the fullness inside him as he chases his own release.

"Close..."

[notjustaface]

Bearing down on his lower lip hard enough to draw the coppery taste of his own blood, Face does his best to hold back - his lover's soft moan more than enough to make it just a little hard to function let alone think.

"Hold out... just a little..." he groans low and loud, closing his eyes against the sensation.

[notthatcrazy]

"Trying."

It's hard not to lose himself in the pleasure as he gets closer and closer to the edge, but for Face, he'll try. He doesn't want it to be over either.

[notjustaface]

A soft, shaky moan escapes his throat and he lets out a deep breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"God... fuck..." he pants, trying again to lift himself harder into each push of Murdock's weight against him.

Shuddering, he cries out and digs his fingers into his partner's skin hard enough to bruise - the suddenness taking him by surprise when he'd though for sure he could hold out just a little bit more.

"Oh god yes..."

[notthatcrazy]

He manages to hold out only a little bit longer himself, groaning softly at the feeling of his partner beneath him.

"... Wow."

Further words are still not needed.

[notjustaface]

Each shift of Murdock's weight as he settles against him sends jolts of pleasure coursing through him and it's all he can do to reach up and drag Murdock down to kiss him fiercely.

"That's pretty good there..." he groans again; "wow."

[notthatcrazy]

It's only a few more moments before he meets him halfway and pulls him close to kiss him, gentle as he notices the spot where he bit his lip earlier.

"Yeah..." he sighs. "Wow."

[notjustaface]

Laughing against his lips, Face falls back against the pillows - tugging Murdock down on top of him for another warm kiss, not caring the least about the small smear of blood.

"I'm feeling better already..."

[notthatcrazy]

He's happy enough to be pulled into his arms, nuzzling up against him.

"Told you we'd get those endorphins goin'."

[notjustaface]

"I'll be feeling it soon, I'm sure..." he murmurs, returning the gentle nuzzle of his stubbled chin.

"But you take pretty good care of me."

[notthatcrazy]

"Mmm... I do try."

He kisses the corner of his mouth gently.

"And I always will, no matter what anyone else thinks."

[notjustaface]

He's pretty sure his uninhibited moans did the trick in reminding the boss of that fact, at least.

"You do a great job..." he replies even more earnestly, blue eyes taking on a serious depth. "Thanks for... you know..."

[notthatcrazy]

If Hannibal hasn't invested in earplugs by now, he's not even sorry.

"Hmm?"

[notjustaface]

They'd have to be really good ear plugs... and knowing him, they probably are.

"For taking a chance." He says softly, brushing another kiss to the corner of his mouth.

[notthatcrazy]

He wouldn't put it past him to have industrial-strength ear protection. The boss is a big fan of overkill.

"Any time, darlin'."

He reaches for his hand and intertwines their fingers, the cool metal of his rings a comforting feeling against his skin.

[notjustaface]

It means a lot to him, in ways he can't even begin to explain.

"If I take some painkillers will you keep an eye on me?" He smirks, nosing against him; "Make sure I don't do anything stupid?"

[notthatcrazy]

He's worth it. He'll say that over and over again as many times as he has to until it sinks in.

"Of course I will."

[notjustaface]

"Love you," he murmurs, kissing him again.

"More than anything."