CHRISTMAS 1979

 

 

He didn’t really need to check the van to confirm what he already knew. It wouldn’t have taken an expert to realise that the smoke rising from the hood was not a good thing. Sighing, he slowly walked back to the where Hannibal was leaning against his door, yet another cigar in between his gloved fingers.

 

“Well, BA?”

 

“We ain’t going nowhere, Hannibal. One of Lynch’s rounds musta hit the radiator.” 

 

He watched as Hannibal nodded, a groan coming from the inside the van as the side door was pushed open.  

 

“You mean we’re stuck here?” 

 

BA didn’t bother responding to the familiar whine. 

 

“Could be worse, Faceman,” Murdock said with a grin, slapping his friend on the shoulder as he moved to step out over him. “I don’t have to get back to the VA ‘till New Years, thanks to that pass you got me.” 

 

“Well, speak for yourself,” Face moaned getting out as well. “I just so happen to have a date planned for tonight with the very lovely Layla.”

 

BA rolled his eyes. 

 

“Thought it was the ‘very lovely’ Laura,” Hannibal injected mildly. 

 

“Laura was last week,” Face corrected.

 

“What happened?” 

 

“Yeah, Face,” Murdock chimed in.  “Thought she was your type.” 

 

“She was,” Face replied. “We just weren’t seeing uh, eye to eye.” 

 

“She refused to put out, kid?” 

 

“Hannibal! I have you know, that's never a problem. She just, well, she wanted me to be around more often. You know, spend more time with her and all that.” 

 

“And she got fed up with you running out the door every time you heard sirens.” 

 

“Exactly.” 

 

BA bit back a sigh.  It was an old story, one that seemed to be being repeated more and more.  Especially when it came to Face.  Dating was hard enough under normal circumstances.  Dating while running from the law was more challenging still.  Face seemed to be managing it better than the rest of them though.  Although stories like that didn’t put BA’s mind at ease.  In fact, he had more or less given up on the hope of being able to have a normal, steady relationship.  His mama probably wouldn’t be too happy about that.  She’d always made it clear that she would love to have grandchildren some day.  But knowing his mama that also meant marriage, something that was looking increasingly less and less likely.

 

“So, where exactly are we?” Murdock’s question drew them back to the point, one that BA was more than happy to return to, even though all eyes now turned to him.

 

He had to admit, the surrounding area was reasonably impressive, if only due to its normality. They were in the middle of nowhere, but the type of ‘nowhere’ that could have been anywhere. The only road to be seen was the one they were on, and that stretched until the horizon, running more or less straight. Behind them the Californian hills provided a nice backdrop to the slowly setting sun in the somewhat cloudy sky.

 

He turned back to the others and shrugged. “Dunno,” he admitted gruffly. “Hadda take the back roads ‘cause of Lynch. Could be anywhere.” 

 

“Great!” It was the expected response from Face. “You know, Hannibal, at this rate we’re never going to get back to LA in time for Christmas. And what’s the bet that Lynch is still out there?” 

 

“He has a point, Colonel,” Murdock said, perching on the floor of the van, his legs dangling over the edge. “And we can’t exactly get away particularly quick even if he did turn up.”  

 

They had a point, but BA was more than used to the look in Hannibal’s eyes. He had a feeling he knew what was going to come next. 

 

“Yeah, I know,” Hannibal replied with a grin. “Exciting, huh?”

 

BA bit back the sigh and walked to the back of the van. Might as well get moving. The sun was setting and he was already starting to feel the cold. He figured that if they had to do what they had to do, then it was better to start doing it while there was still light. 

 

“Anyone gonna help?” 

 

Once sure that the smoke wasn’t going to develop into anything more serious, it didn’t take them long to push the van off the road and hide it away. Or, as BA thought, it didn’t take *him* too long to push the van since the others didn’t seem to do much to help him; Murdock was practically dead on his feet after the long mission; Face complained about mussing up his clothes or something, and Hannibal never seemed to do any of the hard physical work anyway.  

 

“So what now, Hannibal?” Face asked, throwing the last branch onto the van, making sure to cover the rest of the red stripe. “It’s got to be about twenty clicks back to that town we passed.” 

 

“Yeah,” Murdock yawned, stretching. “And I’m totally beat. Sitting in a van for so long is exhausting, with or without Lynch turning up.” 

 

BA found himself nodding in agreement. “I ain’t going nowhere, Hannibal. Even if Lynch is still out there.” 

 

Hannibal looked at them, searching in his pockets for another cigar. “Thanks, kid.” He lit the one Face handed him. “Whatcha say to getting the stuff out the van and making camp, then?” 

 

“What about Lynch?” Face asked. 

 

Hannibal grinned, the jazz clearly showing in his eyes. “He’ll never find us,” he said with a shrug. “It’ll never cross his little mind that we didn’t leave the county. It’ll be great. He’ll drive right past and first thing tomorrow we can set out and get what we need. So, whatcha think, guys?” 

 

BA made sure that the camp was set up and the fire burning before Hannibal could change his mind or come up with an even more jazzed idea. The last one to settle in, he checked again that neither they nor the bush covered van were visible from the road. Satisfied, he sat back down by their small fire. Although it wasn’t particularly late, they were all tired from the long mission. Murdock was already snuggled down in his sleeping bag, watching as Face and Hannibal tried to out cheat each other at gin.

 

BA took the opportunity to watch all three of them. For a moment they reminded him of his cousins, the games they had played as kids, especially around this time of year, around Christmas. It had been years since he had seen most of his cousins but he found he didn’t miss them as much as he had once thought he might. Maybe he was just growing older, moving away. Maybe too much time had passed. Or maybe he had found something just as good. 

 

“You’re smiling, big guy. Thinking about something good?” 

 

He grunted as Murdock grinned at him. Since it was Christmas he decided to forgo his usual ‘shuddup, fool’. After all, thinking about it, Murdock wasn’t that much more annoying than his cousin Lewis had been. He smiled slightly. “Merry Christmas, Murdock,” he whispered softly. 

 

Murdock’s grin grew. “Merry Christmas, BA.”

 

*-*-*

 

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