It takes a lot to wound a man without illusions. - Ellis Peters
He knew the risks.
That's what Stockwell had said, as if they didn't know. It had just been a reminder.
None of the guys believed Hannibal was dead. No body, no proof. And Face had held onto that. Glad of it, when they finally found Hannibal alive.
But after...
Watching him in the pool, smoking a cigar, calm and confident. Face had turned away, lost himself in the women. Woke up in some hotel with two of them sprawled across the bed. Smiled at Hannibal's wink when he caught up with the team at the airport.
Now, at Langley, everything was back to normal. BA and Frankie working on some explosive toy, Murdock looking through the want ads for the next temporary job, Hannibal reading some dry tome of military history...
But Face couldn't stop the shudders that ran up his spine every time he pictured the house without Hannibal.