Upon the advice of Mr. Lee, Daniel Allen had gone to the dimly lit and fairly threatening alleyway at two in the morning. He stood waiting in the gloom, waiting for the message that he had been promised. He heard the incoherent mumblings of the apparently comatose drunk who was propped up against the wall a few feet from him, and Daniel moved a few steps further away, wanting to avoid confrontation, especially now, with all of the trouble that he was in. Daniel waited, his patience wearing thin.
When at last his patience wore out, Daniel turned to leave, only to find the drunk from the alley blocking his way. While seated, the drunk had posed no problems to Daniel. After all, the man looked to be out of his mind on drink. Now, however, the man looked faintly threatening, and Daniel thought it best to turn and leave. As he turned though, he felt his shoulder grasped in a surprisingly strong grip.
"Daniel Allen?" a strong and lucid voice asked, and Daniel turned to find a startlingly clear pair of blue eyes staring into his tired eyes. Stunned, Daniel merely nodded.
"I believe you wanted to hire the A-Team?" the drunk continued, peeling off his false wig and wiping his face clean. Daniel's eyes grew wider as the implications of this revelation set in.
"I, er, well I, well yes, but…" he stammered. He turned suddenly as he felt the presence of two more men in the alley around him. He turned, his eyes widening still further at the sight before him. A giant of a man stood there, ebony muscles rippling and encased in gold. To his side stood a handsome young man with a roguish smile on a strong yet charming face.
Hannibal looked at the stunned man standing in front of him and decided to put him out of his misery.
"Mr. Allen, Mr. Lee told me that you've been having some problems, that someone is doing their best to put you out of business?"
"Err, yes. " Daniel glanced nervously at B.A. before continuing." I've run my restaurant for nearly twenty-five years now. It's a family thing, homely, comfortable and relaxed. We do our best for our customers, the food is fresh and friendly, the atmosphere wonderful. And yet, Antonelli wants to shut us down. He's walked all over the rest of the small shops that are around here, they couldn't afford to stand up to him. I think Antonelli wants to build a hotel with a huge casino, a casino of all things. Another in his long line of ways to screw people out of their hard earned money." Daniel stopped, suddenly realising he'd become fairly emotional about the subject.
He looked at the men surrounding him, as they glanced at each other and nodded almost as one.
Daniel turned, as he heard the smooth voice of the ex-drunk.
"Mr. Allen, you've just hired the A-Team. I'm Hannibal Smith, this," he gestured to the large scowling man beside him, "this is B.A. and this is Face" Hannibal said as he turned to the other man in the alley. Face smiled and shook his hand in welcome, cocking his head slightly, as if slightly confused. Hannibal looked at his Lieutenant, raising his eyebrows.
Chapter 2"What is it Face?"
"I don't know Hannibal. He's familiar, or at least something is. I can't place it, I just know him from somewhere, or maybe.." his stream of thought was interrupted by the squeak of a mobile phone. Hannibal removed the phone from Daniel's pocket, glancing at the front display.
"Who the hell would be ringing you at 2-40 in the morning?" he asked, as Daniel grabbed the phone and checked the display.
"It's my daughter and if she's ringing, then there must be trouble" Suddenly he was cut off mid-conversation, the call terminated from the other end.
"Amy? Amy?" he cried, getting louder each time. "Oh God, she's only been back for five minutes and she's exhausted. Please God, if anything happens to her" he stopped and Hannibal took the phone from him and propelled him toward the van.
B.A. jumped in and gunned the motor. Daniel gave directions and the A-Team sped towards the Allen restaurant. All this time, Face had stayed silent, with a confused look on his normally comfortable features. Amy? Amy Allen? Face sat silently, thinking things over. It couldn't be Amy. There were bound to be hundreds of Amy Allen's. His Amy was in Jakarta. His Amy? He stopped, and pushed that thought to the back of his mind, unwilling to examine the tide of emotions that that particular thought had created. Amy had left the A-Team the year before when she'd got her promotion and overseas appointment. They'd missed her, she'd been a great asset to the team. Hell, she'd been more than that, she'd been a friend. A good one, maybe even more if things had been different. Again, Face pushed that thought to the back of his head, he'd never really gone down that road, as it had never been a possibility. Still, she was beautiful, funny, vivacious and, he stopped, in Jakarta.
Hannibal glanced at Face, trying to read his normally open Second-In-Command, but finding him surprisingly closed. Before he could question Face any further, they drew up around the corner from the restaurant. Hannibal affected a drunken gait as he stumbled towards the front window, making a racket to cover Face, B.A. and Daniel's entrance to the back of the kitchen. Daniel stayed in the kitchen as the other two took up positions either side of the swinging doors into the restaurant. What Face saw there made him freeze, his sudden cessation of movement making B.A. glance at him and then turn to see what Face had seen.