JOURNEY'S END
BY: THE BARD

Chapter Four
Under Fire

   Lady Jaye peered out the window of the Sikorsky S-76, drinking in the spectacular view of the Amazon basin. They were flying low over the incredible untamed wild, a lost Eden...If you looked over the horizon, you could see the Andes rising up out of the green carpet of forest. It took her breath away.

  Flint was taking his time moving towards their destination, enjoying the sights as much as she. Knowing him, though, he was probably having a blast flying this top of the line private chopper. The look on his face when he arrived at the airfield and saw the sleek black machine made her smile. It had been so long since she had seen him look that enthusiastic about anything.

  She turned to look at her old partner, who was quietly guiding the helicopter towards the coordinates Duke had given them. They had spoken very little since leaving the base, keeping things very professional. She had been concerned after they left Hawk's office...Flint had tensed considerably and she wondered what had set him off. To tell you the truth, she was worried about him. It wasn't like him to hold things in like that.

  She would have felt better had he blown a gasket or made some sarcastic comment. Flint has always had a hot temper, ever since she had known him...

  She had talked to Scarlett about him during the week of training and although Red hadn't really spoken to Flint since the team disbanded, she was in close contact with others that were. She spoke of his behavior after Jaye had left, and his disappearance after the Joes had disbanded...surfacing in Boston a year later as a high-ranking member of the secret service.

  She could imagine how bad it was, she had experienced it herself. That whole mission in Wolkekuckuckland had been a bloody nightmare. He had been a complete ass to her, angrily criticizing her every move. He was reckless and his temper was balanced on a razors edge...anything could and did set him off. He also showed a completely disregard for their safety...if Snake Eyes hadn't shown up that time they would surely be pushing up the daisies right now.

  The peak for her was when he had told her to kill her prisoner, and if she didn't have it in her he would do it for her. The guy had surrendered, he looked no more than a boy...and although he let her take him back to camp, later Flint had blown his head off with his bloody shotgun. He didn't even blink.

  Oh...and how could she forget him throwing Cobra Commander off that cliff. Enemy or not, war had rules of conduct. What he did was not only unethical it was downright inhuman.

  She had left the Joes not long after that mission.

  "You know, Jaye." Red had told her as they sat together on the roof of Snake's quarters, looking at the stars, "He seems to have dealt with his issues. But he is so quiet...too quiet."

  Lady Jaye nodded and looked up, her eyes watery.

  "Hey...you all right?" put her hand on her friends shoulder, concerned.

  "Yeah...I'll be fine. Its just a lot to handle..."

  "I understand...you know, Snakes seems to feel he is on the mend. Maybe you should give him a bit of a chance to..."

  She had laughed then, sadly..."A chance...right...a chance for him to tear into me again."

  "You have always been able to handle him before. You are the only one who could. I mean, I had never EVER seen Flint cowed until he became the target of one of your tirades. He admired your strength...he told me that in Grenada."

  "I guess I don't have it in me anymore... I am not letting my guard down with him. Not again, not this time."

  Scarlet had frowned then. "Jaye, have a heart. You have no idea what he went through..."

  "No I don't...he never shared that with me! And pray tell, Scarlett, what am I supposed to do? Lay myself bare again. I already told you... "

  "Hey...don't get angry with me. I'm just playing devil's advocate. You know I went through the same thing with Snakes. I mean it when I say I understand."

  "Well, Shana, I always told you that you were a better person than I..."

  Red sighed..."He never told anyone, you know. I think Hawk is the only one who has any idea what went on, and even then I doubt he knows the whole story."

  Lady Jaye turned to her dearest friend. She had never really gotten along well with other women, even before she joined army. Red and her had got off to a rough start, but over the years had become close. She had neglected the friendship terribly this past little while, and felt terrible about it. She had no right to jump down her back.

  "I'm sorry. I don't know why I am so snappy tonight."

  "Hey. Don't worry about it...what are friends for if not to use as a punching bag every so often!" They smiled at each other and turned back to watching the sky. They sat in silence for a while before Scarlett whispered. "It's ok to still feel the way you do. It doesn't mean you are weak. It only means you are human."

  Jaye closed her eyes. Leave it to Red to know her deepest secret.

  "We are coming up to the coordinates, Lady Jaye. See anything yet?" Flint's voice crackled through the headphones. Although he was sitting right beside her, the constant drone of the engine and blades would drown out his voice without the headset.

  She snapped to alert and brought the binoculars up to her face. From the corner of her eye she saw a flash of light, and considered telling her partner but as it was way off course she turned her attention back to the scene directly ahead.

  A clearing in the woods revealed a large villa and commune.

  "Funny..." she thought aloud.

  "What?"

  "It doesn't look like anyone is home. Can you bring us in a little closer?"

  He nodded and veered towards the compound, hovering low as Lady Jaye peered through her binoculars.

  "Nothing...hold on, let me switch to infrared." She pressed a button and the scene changed to one of darkness with the occasional hint of color."

  "And..." Flint was getting impatient. She didn't blame him...it had been a long flight to get down here and she was itching to get the job done and get back to the hotel in Iquitos for a shower and a meal.

  Suddenly, an image flashed in front of her. She turned to focus in and sighed in frustration.

  "Well...unless Cobra Commander has turned himself into a goat, I would say the place is snake free."

  "Damn it. I am going in for a closer look." Before she could voice her objection, he had broken the hover and was descending swiftly toward the courtyard. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another flash of light.

  "Flint, wait...there is something out there. To the west...towards the mountains. I keep seeing these flashes."

  He slowed the chopper to a hover and looked at her. "My operatives have pictures and satellite images of COBRA activities at these coordinates. At this very compound...I doubt that they could get it completely wrong."

  "But here we are, and not a soul in sight. From the looks of it this place has been abandoned for a couple of weeks at the least. I think we should go check out the lights I saw..." She indicated the direction with her hand, "Over there...."

  "That is completely off course...look again. There might be some underground layer beneath this thing that we don't know about...Hawk and Duke need to know..."

  "Look, Flint...trust me. I have a gut feeling that those flashes might be just the information we are looking for. We have enough fuel...and we don't have the firepower right now for a ground search of this place should we encounter any resistance..."

  He stared at her for a moment, his face pensive, and then sighed and turned away, pulling the machine into a climb in one swift motion.

  "If there is one thing I remember about working with you, Jaye, it is not to ignore your 'gut' feelings. "

  They flew in silence for a good twenty minutes before Jaye saw another flash...closer this time.

  "I saw it," Flint interrupted her before she could point it out. "Looks like sunlight reflecting off metal. Could be poachers, or forestry workers...anything. Bloody wild goose chase...what the heck am I going to report to..."

  "INCOMING! 3 O'CLOCK" Jaye yelled as she saw the SAM shooting towards them.

  "Shit! Hold on!"

  With a move worthy of a stunt pilot, Flint dropped the helicopter so suddenly that Jaye thought for a moment that they were going to crash into the trees. The missile passed harmlessly overhead and he brought the chopper to a sudden halt inches above the tree line.

  "Since when do poachers have HISS tanks! Look!"

  She pointed to the clearing straight ahead. Coming out of a cave in the side of the mountain was a veritable brigade of troops and equipment. The vipers were bringing their weapons to bear.

  "Flint...this is no drug cartel...LOOK OUT!" One of the Vipers had launched a missile, which was heading directly for them. Flint just barely avoided it, using what limited weaponry he had to blow it out of the sky a few feet from the cockpit.

  "We have to get out of here, NOW...this machine is not equipped for combat."

  "You don't see me arguing. Kick it, Flint!"

  She held on for dear life as Flint threw turned the chopper sharply around and slammed it into full throttle. Ahead of them and to the right, missile launchers suddenly appeared above the tree line, turning to take aim on their small craft.

  "FLINT!"

  "I see them! Something tells me they don't want us to leave. Get on the radio to headquarters...Hawk need to be warned!"

  She struggled to turn the knobs of the transmitter to the correct frequency as Flint bobbed and weaved his way around the hostile fire.

  "Aerie, this is Eagle, do you read? Over"

  The heat from an exploding missile blasted her the side of her face. "Can you cut it a little closer, Flint?"

  "No pain no gain..." he smiled wildly as he turned to avoid another round.

  "Eagle, this is Aerie. What's your status? Over."

  "We are under attack. I repeat. We are under attack. That drug compound was only a decoy...Cobra has got an army down here...we need...."

  A sudden jarring motion knocked the helicopter in to a spin, flames shooting out of the engine. The last thing she saw was the ground coming up fast and then darkness.

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  "Tell me where your men are hidden, Flint...We know you aren't here alone."

  "Faireborn, Dashiell R., Warrant Officer, 307-62-4107"

  "Come now. We need to know where you are positioned in order to 'escort' you out of the area. We know you didn't 'mean' to stumble across our little operation..."

  "Faireborn, Dashiell R, Warrant Officer, 307-62-4107"

  "Enough of this..." a hand punched him in the face, hard, drawing blood. He shook his head and smirked at his captors. His arms were shackled to the ceiling, his feet to the ground...they had removed his shirt.

  "You think this is a game, don't you. You are an arrogant son of a bitch." He turned to see Destro walking out of the room. "Do what you have to do, Doctor. We need to know what the Joes have found out. We need to find his men before they get word back to the headquarters."

  "My pleasure...now please, Flint, one last time....Where are your men?"

  "Faireborn, Dashiell R. Warrant Officer, 307-6....ARRRRRRRRR" He howled in pain as the first blade cut into his shoulder....

  Flint opened his eyes to find himself staring through the broken windshield of a chopper at the ground directly below. He blinked to clear his mind, and shifted his body in an attempt to discern where he was, wincing as a searing pain shot through his shoulder. The sensation cleared his mind and he began to slowly piece together where he was...

  He had been flying... scouting ... enemy fire...

  "JAYE!" He suddenly remembered what had happened and turned to the woman next to him. Blood was dripping down a gash in her temple and she wasn't moving. He ignored the pain as he turned to remove his seatbelt and carefully crawled to her side. The helicopter swung precariously, obviously hanging from the branches and vines of the tree they had hit. He looked out the window again...it was a long drop to the ground.

  He searched for a pulse and let out a barely restrained sigh of relief as he felt it beating strongly beneath the skin of her wrist.

  "Jaye," he whispered in her ear, "Wake up!"

  No response.

  "Hey...this is no time to be sleeping on the job." Flint shook her gently, "Come on, beautiful, we need to get out of here now."

  He heard a groan escape her lips and saw her eyes flutter open. .

  "Man...my head...", she looked around, determining where she was and what had happened. Her eyes made contact with his, and she frowned.

  "Remind me again why I choose to come back?" she said, touching her head and wincing.

  "Because you just couldn't resist being on a mission again with your dashing teammate." He smiled in spite of himself as she stared at him in surprise.

  She smiled "Modest as always..."

  He turned from her, suddenly uncomfortable. "Try the radio. Lets see if we can't get ourselves a lift out of this wilderness."

  There was a pause as she fiddled with the transmitter. Then a sigh...

  "Dead."

  "Damn. So much for plan A." He thought for a moment of what to do, "Ok, Grab what you can but be careful. I don't know how much longer these branches are going to hold." He bit back a moan as his shoulder hit the seat as he was making his way into the back to grab his pack and weapon.

  "You're bleeding, Flint!" He saw her hand moving towards him and before he could control his reaction he flinched and pulled away quickly, trying to ignore the hurt look that crossed her face.

  "Its nothing..." He replied, sharper than he had intended, and continued in a softer tone as he saw the flash of temper in her eyes, "Don't worry, it's just a scratch. I'll be fine. Now lets get the hell out of here before those Vipers come looking for survivors."

  He slapped himself mentally as they collected their things and made their slow and careful way down to the forest floor. There was a time when her slightest touch would send sparks of desire coursing through his veins. There was a time when he couldn't keep his hands off of her. Now he idea of her touching him sent him into a classic fight or flight reaction. Psych-Out said it was perfectly normal given what had happened.

  "Yeah, right...like I told the damn shrink anything. I only went to those sessions because Hawk ordered me to."

  Problem was, the desire was still there...but coupled with his state of mind after Borneo it became too dangerous to give in to it. He shuddered as he remembered the last time he had been with her. He hadn't meant to hurt her, but he had. Not physically...but emotionally. He knew it the minute he had 'finished'. The look in her eyes still haunted him.

  Funny, though. He had no trouble jumping in the sack with the numerous women he had seduced since he arrived in Boston.

  "God's gift to women," he remembered Shipwreck's amused comment the day they met for drinks at a pub near his office. Women had surrounded the table. "Glad to see you haven't lost your touch!"

  The problem was, he had lost something else.

  He remembered those days so long ago when he had begun his quest to win over Lady Jaye. He had met her the day he arrived to take up a position with the Joes...showing off his skills with the tank they had given him. Lady Jaye had been one of the 'targets', and was less than amused by his arrogant comments. She had caught his eye immediately upon arrival at the base, as she was very beautiful...but her angry response made her all the more intriguing.

  The fact that she seemed to resist all his moves no matter what he tried made him want her all the more. He was used to woman fawning all over him. This was a challenge his inflated ego just couldn't resist.

  Duke had warned him that she was 'out of his league'. A hardheaded but very skilled soldier from a well-to-do family. She was well educated and a consummate professional...an asset to the team that his old friend would rather he not mess with. He had nodded his assent but couldn't stop himself.

  Who would have known the tables would end up turning on him. That she would end up being the one who drove him wild, who won HIS heart.

  He still remembers that first kiss. It came a couple of days after the invasion of Fort Wadsworth and the destruction of the PITT. All of his material had failed to get even a small rise out of this woman...even after he resorted to telling her, in frustration, that she could do a lot worse than taking up with him. Of course, he would never know whether this line might have worked as she had spotted the invading COBRA EELS not long after and he, in all his macho glory, had gone running to engage.

  She had tended to his wounds after things had died down, calling him 'an idiot', 'a hothead' and various other creative names as she bandaged up his damaged wrist. It might have been the painkillers, but as she gently washed his wounds he started sharing stories with her about his life. For some reason he had turned off his 'charm' and let his hidden 'self' out of the bag.

  At the height of all this uncharacteristic behavior, which occurred as they walked to the from the command center into the pouring rain, he admitted that he had been afraid. These were not things he was used to sharing with anyone, much less a woman he had his sights on, but for some reason he couldn't stop himself.

  He was certain Jaye had been suspicious of the sudden shift in attitude. However, as they made their wet way past the crater they had once called home and looked down at the ruins in sadness and disbelief, she had taken his hand and moved towards him slowly.

  She gazed into his eyes for what seemed like an eternity before leaning in to gently kiss him on the lips. He had been so stunned that all his well-honed skills had deserted him. She smiled at him, and then turned without a word to walk away.

  He had stood frozen in that spot for a little while before smiling and turning back towards his own quarters.

  "Like putty in my hands" he had thought to himself in triumph...when in reality he couldn't help but notice, much to his chagrin that it seemed to be the other way around.

  "Any idea where we are," Jaye asked as she turned to look at the wall of vegetation that surrounded them.

  They had reached the ground and Flint was taking an inventory of what they had managed to salvage. It wasn't much.... they hadn't planned for more than a day trip. Some food, a shotgun and a Desert Eagle with limited ammo, a couple of grenades and some flares, a med kit, matches, water purifying tablets, a compass, two machetes, and a map.

  The GPS, thank god, was still working. He turned it on and waited for it to hone in on their position, spreading the map out on the ground in front of him. Jaye came up beside him to take a look. Her scent, a familiar mixture of vanilla and lily of the valley filled his senses, and he took a step away, pretending to get a better signal for the GPS.

  "Hmmm..." he looked at the map, searching for the area that the readings indicated. "We are here." He pointed to a spot on the map...far, FAR off their original flight plan...on the west side of the Amazon basin in Peru. It seems that while avoiding the hostile fire they had veered completely off course.

  He sighed in frustration. "Well...I hope you are up for a long walk though uninhabited rainforest. Looks like we have quite a trek ahead of us."

  She looked at him questioningly. "To where?"

  "The way I see it, no one knows where we are...or if we are still alive. We are going to have to make our way..." his finger traced a path to the area where the abandoned compound had been located. "...Here. I noticed a radio tower there when we were scouting the place. If we can get there we can radio for help. We certainly can't stay put and wait for rescue. We can't be certain the Joes even know where we are, and I'm sure COBRA will be coming to check out the wreck. I have no desire to be captured again."

  "Again?"

  He pretended not to hear her, angry with himself for letting that slip. "Looks to me like a good week or two of solid trekking, given the thickness of the vegetation. Which reminds me..." he threw her one of the machete, which she caught with her usual grace, "you might be needing one of these."

  "Ok...you ready?" He swung his pack gingerly onto his shoulder, thankful at least that it was lightweight.... not so thrilled by the lack of gear that made it so

  She nodded, donning her own pack.

  He grabbed a grenade off his belt and pulled the pin before throwing it into the cockpit of the ruined helicopter. Lady Jaye's eyes went wide as it burst into a ball of flames.

  "Are you nuts!?" she exclaimed angrily as he walked past her, "If COBRA didn't know where we were before they certainly know now!"

  "Yes...but this way they might think we'e dead..." he said calmly, "...and any evidence to the contrary will be burned to a crisp. It might buy us some time to get a substantial head start before they begin to track us."

  "You really think they are going to bother?"

  "They went to a lot of trouble to ensure that our small tour 'copter never made it out of the area. I think they are hiding something big. They're not going to take the chance that we get out of here to report what we saw."

  "Believe me...I know." He left that last thought to himself. He paused and looked at the trail ahead of him, and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. It would be the first time he will have set foot in a jungle in over three years. The fear that assailed him and the look of concern on Jaye's face triggered his anger.

  "Come on then," he said sharply, "lets get a move on."

  With that, he began moving forward into the dark reaches of the Amazon rainforest.

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  "We are under attack. I repeat. We are under attack. That drug compound was only a decoy...Cobra has got an army down here...we need...."

  Dial-Tone turned off the radio and turned to Hawk. "The transmission ended abruptly and moments later the helicopter disappeared from radar"

  The Joes gathered in the ops center stared at their commander in horror and disbelief.

  "Its seems, men, that we have a rescue on our hands, as well as a mission that is bigger than we originally thought."

  "A rescue?" This from Roadblock, who was sitting in shock at the back of the room, "Do we know they are still alive?"

  "Flint is quite the pilot" Wild Bill cut in before Hawk could reply, "If anyone could bring a damaged chopper down safely it would be him." "Agreed. Until we have evidence to the contrary, Flint and Lady Jaye are considered MIA. We are going to get them out of there as fast as we possibly can."

  "Yeah...before they kill each other." Shipwreck commented wryly and nervous laughter erupted from the twenty Joes that had answered Hawk's call.

  The general smiled. "Right, I had forgotten about that. Duke, how fast can we mobilize?"

  "Given the fact that we seem to be facing a bigger threat than we initially anticipated, I would say a week to get ourselves down there and ready for battle."

  "Not good enough. We have an unknown COBRA threat on our hands and two of our men lost in the depth of the rainforest."

  "Alright then..." Duke considered for a moment before continuing. "I want all personnel working to get us in the air and headed south in two days. Snake Eyes, I need you to form up a search party ASAP, I am going to send you and a team of three men down there tomorrow morning to begin the SAR operation."

  Snakes nodded.

  Hawk turned to his men, "Ok...so lets get to it! Dismissed!"

  Scarlett held back on the way out, waiting for Snake Eyes to catch up. She was worried and upset about her missing friends, especially Alison.

  Snakes felt her tension and touched her softly on the cheek.

  "We will get them out of there, don't worry. We have succeeded in tougher situations than this." He signed.

  "If they are still alive..." a tear fell down her cheek.

  "They are alive...and they will keep each other safe."

  "I hope so," she whispered as he gathered her up into his arms, "Shipwreck is right...Flint isn't the same man he used to be. He is in a jungle with very few supplies and weeks from civilization with someone he has been avoiding for over three years..."

  A voice interrupted them.

  "Flint will handle himself well enough. He knows what to do."

  They both turned to see Spirit standing beside him. Scarlett was surprised he knew enough about the Warrant Officer to say this with such conviction and told him as much.

  "I know because I trained him in the art of tracking. Where do you think he was all that time after the team disbanded?"

  Scarlet and Snakes both stared at him in surprise. The shaman turned soldier smiled a mysterious smile.

  "His spirit was lost and needed help finding its way home. I am a spirit guide. I did what I could, but she is the key... He won't let anything happen to her, for if it does he will loose himself completely..."

  Snake eyes smiled and nodded, understanding. He signed quickly...

  "He wants to know if you are interested in joining our little search and rescue team..."

  Spirit nodded.

  "Well, then, that's three..."

  "Four..." a voice chimed in from behind. Shipwreck.

  "We are going into a jungle, sailor..." Snakes signed at him "You would be like a fish out of water..."

  "Like any of us is Recondo!" Shipwreck cut him off, "A ninja, an Indian healer, a counter intelligence expert and a sailor. More like 'The Village People' than a jungle rescue team."

  Snakes scowled at him.

  Shipwreck scowled back. "They are my friends too."

  The silent ninja sighed and shook his head in exasperation as his wife smiled and put her hand on his shoulder.

  "Looks like we have a team!"

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Continued in Chapter Five!
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