Face was just a twenty year old kid with abandonment issues due to the fact that he was dropped on the front steps of an orphanage on his first birthday. He had never had a father or someone to look up to, until he met Hannibal.

When Hannibal had been asked to select his team, he was not happy when he looked at the band of recruits. They were a well oiled machine of course, but they were boring, no one had the spark that he was looking for.

"Any ideas yet Hannibal?" Hannibal's friend Morrison asked excitedly. It was Hannibal's first year that he could pick his own team. Morrison was a general, Hannibal, a newly promoted Colonel. Morrison liked being promoted, Hannibal, not so much. He was fine staying at his current rank but the authority wanted him to be a colonel, so a colonel is what he would be.

"I don't like them, any of them." Hannibal sighed and Morrison looked at him incredulously.

"Seriously?! Hannibal, it's like Christmas morning! There's so many options!" Morrison exclaimed and Hannibal just shrugged.

"I don't see anything in any of them." He sighed frustratedly.

Hannibal figured he would settle for any of them, he knew none of them would meet his expectations anyway.

Just as Hannibal was turning to leave, a young kid strolled into the training session and yawned.

"PECK GOD DAMMIT! YOU'RE LATE AGAIN! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING THIS TIME?" The drill sergeant screamed at the muscular brunette, Hannibal was curious so he sat back down next to Morrison.

"I was sleeping." The kid sighed, he was obviously annoyed, Hannibal resisted a chuckle.

"Him, I want him." Hannibal said to Morrison and everyone in the observation tent laughed.

"Thank God, at least now I know that I won't be stuck with that train wreck." Colonel Collins cheered and the others agreed with him.

"Hannibal, it's your first year as a colonel, don't you wanna impress people?" Morrison whispered and Hannibal smiled.

"Oh we'll impress them all right." Hannibal said sure of himself.

"Who else? You're supposed to pick three..." Morrison trailed off and Hannibal shook his head.

"Just him. That's all I'm taking." Hannibal smiled and everyone in the tent laughed again. There was a chorus of "you're crazy Smith", but Hannibal just shook his head.

Throughout the training session, Face just became more irritated and stubborn.

"PECK! THIS IS THE RANGERS NOT A GOD DAMN BABYSITTING SERVICE! I'VE HAD IT! GO RUN THE OBSTACLE COURSE!" The drill sergeant screamed at the insubordinate recruit who just smiled.

"Sir yes sir!" He exclaimed, his voice dripping with sarcasm. As he left the training room, so did Hannibal.

"Hey, Peck, is it?" Hannibal asked as he met up with the kid.

"Yes sir, what can I do for you?" He smiled a dazzling smile at Hannibal, oh yeah, Hannibal had definitely found a conman.

"Colonel John Smith but everyone calls me Hannibal. We can drop the formalities. You're on my service from now on." Hannibal said and the recruit extended a hand.

"Templeton Peck. Give me about ten minutes to break the course record and we can talk about this later. Feel free to watch." He sighed cockily and Hannibal smiled, they would definitely get along.

They were inseparable from day one, wherever Face was, Hannibal was. Wherever Hannibal was, Face was. Everyone on base knew that if the messed with Colonel Smith, they'd get his hot headed subordinate knocking on their door challenging them to a fight. If you messed with Face, you'd get a very angry Hannibal waiting for you outside of your barracks, that was something that no one wanted. The authority knew not to send one of them on an op without the other, so it hadn't happened.

That was four years ago.

"Boss, where you going?" Face asked nervously as Hannibal threw all of his gear into a backpack.

"Morrison called me in for a solo op, I'll be back soon kid." The boss sighed, he hated leaving the kid, he knew how terrified Face was of losing him.

"A solo op? Since when are either of us called in for a solo op?! I thought it was an unwritten rule that neither of us goes alone!" The kid exclaimed and Hannibal just sighed.

"I know, I did too. I'll be back in a couple of days kid, I promise." Hannibal smiled as he walked out of the door. Face watched in horror, a couple of days?!

Face spent day after day waiting for Hannibal to return to the base, but there was nothing. He would do the training that Hannibal always had him do, he'd eat, and he'd shower. He would follow that same routine everyday hoping that when he came back to the bunks, Hannibal would be there, but he wasn't. Face grew frustrated, he damned Morrison for sending Hannibal alone. It had been more than a couple of days, Hannibal promised he would be back. Frustration turned to worry when Face realized that Hannibal never broke a promise, but right then and there he actually was.

On the sixth day, someone was waiting for him in his barracks. It wasn't Hannibal though, it was General Morrison.

Face sank to his knees when he caught sight of the solemn General.

"No! No no no!" The kid whimpered into his hands.

"Face, Hannibal is dead."

"No. No he's not." The kid mumbled as he sat back on his butt.

"I sent him to Mexico, it was only supposed to be a snatch and grab! Today I got a phone call, they wanted money. Money I didn't have, so they shot him. They shot him while I was on the phone. He's gone Face, I'm so sorry." Morrison sighed but by the time he had finished telling me, Face was already kitted up and had his gear in hand.

"Where in Mexico?" He asked and Morrison shook his head.

"You can't." Morrison sighed but the kid was adamant.

"I'm not leaving him there. Where in Mexico?" Face demanded and Morrison ran a hand through his thinning hair.

"Mexico City." The general sighed and wrote down the exact coordinates.

Face made his way out to the flight deck, Morrison had made a call and sure enough there was a pilot waiting for him.

"Captain James Murdock!" The pilot exclaimed in his southern accent.

"Warrant Officer Templeton Peck. People call me Face." Face muttered as he jumped into the helicopter and handed Murdock the coordinates.

"I'll fly you over, you jump, and then complete your mission. I'll circle back around and pick you up, you'll have half an hour before I land in the backyard." The pilot said and Face agreed.

About an hour later, they were flying over the warehouse. The pilot didn't even have to tell Face before he jumped out.

Security was weak Face noticed as he pulled his weapon of choice, the M4, off of his back. Quickly he made his way around the warehouse, taking out the guards that were outside.

It was just a snatch and grab, get Hannibal's body, and get out.

Face's heart pounded as he slipped inside, he could see the outline of a body zip tied to a bar running across the length of the ceiling. It must be Hannibal.

Voices could be heard from the room to his right, rather than kill them, he decided to just grab Hannibal's body and get the hell out of there.

The sight of Hannibal made Face's stomach lurch. His body was purple from the nasty bruises, his nose was broken, and blood seeped out of the slices running up and down the length of his chest. What really caught Face's attention was the soft rising and falling of his chest, the warmth and life radiating off of his body, and most of all: the absence of a bullet hole.

"Boss?!" Face squeaked as he cut the zip ties around Hannibal's wrists and ankles. He received no answer; the colonel just silently fell into Face's arms.

"S'okay, I got you." Faceman mumbled as he caught the colonel and scooped him up into his arms. Just as they were about to leave, Face heard the heavy footfalls of people running.

"Come on! Light it and lets get the hell out of here!" A deep voice shouted and seconds later the smell of gasoline permeated through the air. The room emptied and the entryway was set aflame.

By the time Face had found an alternate exit, the building was coming down. He had just managed to practically throw Hannibal to a safe distance when a beam and rubble came down on top of him.

He heard the chopper blades stop and Murdock calling for him. He just couldn't answer, the beam and rubble were pushing on his chest, thankfully it wasn't on fire. He had no idea what to do, he couldn't move or call for help so when the chopper started up again, tears streamed down his face. His worst fears had come true, Hannibal had abandoned him.

The next day, Hannibal woke up in his bunk confused. Where was Face? How did he get back? Where was Face?! Who rescued him? WHERE WAS FACE?!

"Hannibal?" A voice asked, it wasn't the right voice, it wasn't Face's.

"Face?" Hannibal called and Morrison sighed.

"Face never made it home. He saved your life last night, the building went down on him and the chopper pilot found you. You were the priority package, Hannibal. Face was, unfortunately, left behind." Morrison explained and Hannibal sat up quickly. The stupid mask he was wearing as support for his broken nose restricted his vision, he ripped it off and looked around for Face. It couldn't be true.

"Who was the pilot?" He asked and Morrison stepped aside, a tall, brown haired man was standing there with an apologetic look on his face.

"Lets go take a walk, I want to hear everything." Hannibal sighed and the pilot swallowed hard before nodding.

By the time Morrison realized what Hannibal was doing, he was already gone. Murdock and Hannibal were halfway to Mexico already with medical supplies and an M4 resting in Hannibal's lap.

Before the helicopter landing skids had even touched the ground, Hannibal was already searching through the charred rubble. He wanted to find a shirt, the kid's trusty M4, a lock of hair, honestly anything to remember the kid by.

Kicking the wood around frustratedly and finding nothing, Hannibal screamed. He didn't care about the nervous pilot or the remains of the people Face had shot, he just wanted Face.

It had been an hour of searching and the pilot was beyond ready to go home.

"Colonel, I told you, the building collapsed on him, it crushed him!" The captain sighed, he was trying to make the distraught colonel see reason.

Hannibal continued throwing broken beams and digging through rubble when he found it, the kid's M4. The same M4 that Face broke records with, he was able to reload it in four seconds. Sinking to his knees, the colonel let out a quiet and pained cry. Luckily, the pilot was back in the helicopter.

"Did you come back for more man?! Damn, you one tough gringo!" The man who captured Hannibal shouted from across the field. He was standing next to a pile of rubble laughing with the six others who had tortured Hannibal.

"Sorry your partner couldn't be as lucky as you!" The man laughed and shot the rubble at his feet, a scream erupted from the rubble and Hannibal gasped. Face?!

Bullets flew everywhere, soon enough all but one of them were dead. Before Hannibal's final bullet ripped through his skull, he fired downwards into pile of rubble. Face screamed again. Once the body hit the ground, Hannibal was throwing beams of wood off of his beloved best friend.

"Come on Tem, come on!" Hannibal cried and threw the last piece of wood off of him.

"You...came...back...for...me..." He gasped and Hannibal smiled. One bullet wound to the shoulder, one to the thigh, nothing fatal.

"My...ribs. Can't...breathe..." He groaned, every time he said one word, it was followed by a gasp.

"Captain! Bring the stretcher!" Hannibal commanded.

"Think...I'm...gonna...die." He moaned when Hannibal gently lifted him onto the stretcher that was stored in the chopper. Murdock and Hannibal quickly got the stretcher into the helicopter and took off towards the nearest hospital.

"Hey, what do I always say about dying?" Hannibal asked as he sat next to Face on the floor of the chopper.

"We...go...together." He smiled and Hannibal nodded.

"That's right, and I'm not ready to go yet kid, so you're gonna have to wait for me." Hannibal sighed and looked down at his friend.

"You did great kid, I'm so proud of you." He smiled and the kids labored breathing slowed noticeably.

"Woah woah woah, that wasn't permission to die, keep breathing." Hannibal ordered and Face moaned.

"But...it...hurts!" He cried and a tear streamed down his face.

"I know it does kid, but please, for me." Hannibal begged and the kid nodded.

As Hannibal and Murdock carried him inside the hospital, Face passed out.

The doctors immediately took him up to the ICU and a nurse led Hannibal to the waiting room. Murdock returned to base to alert Morrison of Face's condition.

Hours later a doctor came into the empty waiting room and made his way towards Hannibal.

"Your friend suffered from a collapsed lung, two bullet wounds, and many broken ribs. He's very lucky to be alive." The doctor smiled and led Hannibal through the halls of the hospital.

Hannibal walked into Face's room and his stomach lurched. Face was lying shirtless and unconscious, over his face was an oxygen mask, but most importantly, there was a chest tube sticking out of a hole in his side.

With wide, watery eyes, Hannibal sat in the little plastic chair next to the bed.

He was only twenty, he was just a kid and he was lying in a hospital bed with tubes sticking out of him. Hannibal grabbed the kid's limp hand, he wanted him to know that he wasn't alone.

Three hours passed and Hannibal was still staring at Face's limp body. The only sign of life from the kid was the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor.

Warm fingers wrapped around the colonel's hand and a low grumble came from under the oxygen mask.

"Sorry, what was that? I can't seem to hear you under there." The boss laughed and Face ripped the mask off of his face.

"Ha ha very funny. I said, get me the hell out of here." Face chuckled.

"Glad to see you're awake, lieutenant." Hannibal smiled, Morrison had called him earlier.

"Great another promotion ceremony." Face whined and Hannibal laughed.

"I thought you were gonna leave me to die." The lieutenant choked and Hannibal shook his head.

"Never, kid. We go together."