JOURNEY'S END
BY: THE BARD

Chapter Five
Haunted by the Past

   I would give my right arm for a doughnut right now," Lady Jaye thought to herself as she felt her stomach gurgle. They had been walking for two days straight and had eaten very little. Her body was beginning to feel the strain.

  She looked up at the figure walking ahead of her. Flint kept a steady pace, pausing every so often to chop at the vegetation ahead with his machete. However, even he was showing signs of exhaustion.

  In fact, now that she looked more closely, her partner seemed to be slowing down quite a bit. Jaye watched in concern as he paused in mid stride and leaned against a tree.

  "As pleasant as it is to watch your behind for miles on end, I could do with a change of scenery. Mind if I take point?" she asked him softly, jokingly, not wanting to 'hurt his pride' by pointing out that he might need some rest. Things had been going too well to risk a confrontation now.

  Jaye had been pleasantly surprised by the skill Flint had shown negotiating this dense wilderness, even more so by the fact that they had managed to keep a civil tongue and work together as a team. It wasn't easy, but the situation was perilous enough that they could not afford to let their guard down. Although they had seen neither hide nor hair of COBRA, Flint still contended that they were being tracked.

  The first day and night had been the worse. Flint had pushed her hard to put as much distance between themselves and the chopper before nightfall. They marched in silence, the only sounds that of their feet hitting the ground and the calls of the diverse wildlife around them.

  Her knee, still sore from the previous week's training, was hurting her, and her head was pounding as a result of the crash. It was a struggle to keep up, but her pride prevented her from saying anything. Her pride and the fact that she really didn't want to deal with the backlash that would be sure to follow if Flint found out she was not 100%.

  Somehow she had found it in herself to keep going despite the pain and managed to make it to the first 'camp' without incident. Flint had selected a small, protected area in the trees near the Amazon which was far enough off the game trail that they had been following so that any COBRA patrol would not be able to spot them easily and close enough to the river so that they could restock their water supplies without much effort.

  They had eaten what they could spare, too exhausted and too uncomfortable to converse. She could tell that he was on edge and was no fool... the similarity to the terrain and climate of Borneo was obvious and this situation was most likely bringing back bad memories. She had seen the expression on his face as they left the crash site. This couldn't be easy for him, and despite everything, her heart felt his pain. She wasn't about to make it worse if she could help it, which considering the state of what remained of their relationship meant keeping her mouth shut.

  She had first watch that night, and after making sure he was asleep Jaye quietly and carefully made her way down to the riverbank. She lay herself down on the mossy ground, took off her boot and sock, and rolled up her pant leg. As she slowly dipped her leg into the cold dark water, she prayed that the water was not infested with piranha, crocodile, snakes...or her all time favorite...leeches.

  "You have definitely got to stop watching the Crocodile Hunter", she mumbled to herself, gasping as the cold hit her knee. "It's not an icepack, but it will have to do."

  She sat back and listened to the sounds of the night, her mind drifting as she tried to shut out the dull throb of her swollen joint.

  Suddenly, she felt something drop into her lap and jumped in alarm...reflexively reaching for the gun by her side. He looked down to see a bottle of Advil Gel-Caps lying where it had fallen beside her and turned to see Flint standing over her, holding a tensor bandage.

  She turned red with embarrassment and then anger, putting up her defenses for the fight that was sure to come.

  "I thought Lifeline was supposed to look at that before we took off..." he said in as neutral a tone as he was capable. Jaye looked up at him with narrowed eyes, how did he know about that? As usual, he read her mind...

  "You think I wouldn't notice you favoring your right leg during training?"

  So it was HIM that had ordered that physical! She pursed her lips and attempted to remain calm. "I am fine. I am just a little sore. I won't hold you ba..."

  He interrupted her with a gesture. "Still as stubborn as ever, I see..."

  "STUBBORN!" she lost it, "If that isn't that pot calling the kettle black! Why if I had a dime for every time I had to put up with your bloody..." She stopped in mid rant when she noticed in the moonlight that he was smiling.

  "What's so funny?"

  "Nothing, nothing" he said as he moved closer and sat at her side handing her the canteen with the treated water. "Here, take the Advil. It will help a bit."

  She studied him for a moment, watching his eyes for signs of the disdain and rage she had grown to fear. Instead she saw exhaustion, sadness...and something else...could it be fear?

  No...not Flint.

  Sighing, she took the canteen from his hands and swallowed two pills. They sat in silence for a bit looking out over the water. She thought he had fallen asleep again and was startled when she heard his voice beside her.

  "So, how did that happen?" he asked, indicating her knee, still floating underwater.

  "Oh...um....Rugby. I got hit hard from the side. Managed to avoid surgery, but the thing hasn't been the same since."

  "Rugby?" he laughed softly, "Why am I not surprised, Tomcat."

  Tomcat...her heart jumped at the sound of his old pet name for her. He had come up with it early on, after traveling with her to the Vineyard while on leave to meet some of her old friends. Amused by her nickname, Ali-Cat, which had been given to her in grade school and which she hadn't been able to shake since, he had put his own spin on it a couple of days later. It was a reference to her tomboy nature, and was usually used when they were alone together.

  "Boy...I haven't heard that name in a long time," she whispered sadly.

  "We haven't really talked in a long time, I guess. Talked without coming to blows that is..." he shifted beside her handing her the bandage, "I think you can take your knee out of the water now. Wrap it up tight and get some sleep. I want to be on the move as early as possible tomorrow morning.

  With that he was gone.

  He was right. It had been the first time in over three years that they had spoken to each other without ending up in a verbal brawl. That brief interlude by the water seemed to have weakened the barriers that had been raised between them, enough that the next day and night were much less tense, although just as quiet. They talked a bit when they made camp, Flint commenting on her thesis, asking her questions about McGill and her travels after they had left the team. At one point, he even let her in on the mystery of what he was doing in New Mexico.

  "I was with Spirit. Its hard to explain...I needed help and he, he was there..."

  That was as far as he got on the subject, but at least it was something. Part of her was hurt at the thought that he went to what amounted to a stranger for help instead of her...had driven her off no matter how hard she tried to work through his pain. The other part admitted that the Shaman was probably the best thing for him. He was a healer after all, and although she would be hard pressed to understand the nature of his skills, she would be a fool to question the results.

  He might not be the same man he used to be, but he was certainly better than when they last saw each other. "I'm fine. Lets keep moving." He moved forward again, and stumbled, hitting his shoulder against a tree. He swore in pain and held it with his free hand. Jaye saw fresh blood seeping through his shirt.

  She stepped forward instinctively, grabbing his arm to steady him, which caused him to jump back so quickly that he slammed his shoulder into another branch...this time hard enough that he nearly passed out from the pain.

  "This is ridiculous, Flint...Its obvious this is more than just a scratch. You have got to let me look at it..."

  "I said I am fine...just leave it be, Jaye" He replied through gritted teeth.

  "Yes...you look fine to me. Come on, Flint...two nights ago you were busy telling me that I was stubborn" she moved forward again and Flint took a step back, his eyes blazing.

  "I SAID LEAVE IT BE!"

  She stopped. This was what she remembered. This is what she feared. She had been deluding herself. Nothing had changed...he despised her. He didn't want her near him...

  She was afraid of him.

  Jaye watched him struggle to get up and move forward through the bush, when Scarlett's words from the other day flashed through her mind.

  "You could always handle him before..."

  Yes she could. She had been confident around him. She never let him get away with the crap he was pulling now. But she had also trusted him, was confident that he loved her and no matter what she did or said he would never hurt her. After Borneo she was no longer so sure.

  "He admired your strength..."

  He stumbled again, and somehow, somewhere deep down she found the courage to do what she did next.

  "No Flint. You are going to let me look at it now!" she told him, grabbing his arm and holding him tight so he wouldn't jump off.

  "Let go..." he growled menacingly.

  "No."

  "Jaye...I'm warning you."

  "And what are you going to do to me, Flint? Kill me? Because that is what you are going to have to get me to sit still back there and watch while you suffer like this."

  He glared at her, his eyes like ice.

  Somehow, deep within, she found the strength to glare back. Strength and confidence she had thought she lost. The compassion for him that she had all but given up on.

  "Hawk needs us to get him this information. We have to warn him. You are not going to be able to do that in this condition."

  Nothing.

  "Come on, Dash." she said softly, "I know you are in their somewhere, behind all this anger...let me in for a little while. You can go back to hating my guts later, but for now I need to treat your injury. I need you in top form. I need you to get us both out of here alive."

  She felt him relax under her grip, saw his eyes soften.

  "Fine." He grunted, and looked away.

  "I need you to take your shirt off. Give me your pack...I need your med kit."

  He removed his shirt and stood before her. She looked up from the kit and saw the big hole in his shoulder, swollen and an angry red.

  "Just a scratch...JUST A SCRATCH! That's a bloody bullet hole. And it looks like it is infected. Jeez, I hope this med kit is up to scratch...turn around, lets see if the bullet went through...although from the look at the blood on your shirt I suppose it did."

  He looked at the ground. His shoulders hunched...What was with him? He used to LOVE to show off those washboard abs and broad shoulders. She sighed in frustration and took him gently by his good shoulder and spun him around.

  She could barely restrain a gasp of shock and horror at what she saw. Flint's head dropped lower...his posture a study in shame.

  "Oh, Dash...what did they do to you?" she said quietly, "What did they do to you?"

  His back was a ravage of scar tissue. Welts crisscrossed skin, here and there the signs of a burn...the flesh melted like wax. There were areas where it looked as though pieces of skin had literally been peeled away from his body, leaving long gouges along his ribcage. It was a veritable landscape of pain and suffering.

  Tears began to fall freely from her eyes as she slowly and gently attempted to put her hand on his back. He flinched as her skin touched his, but stayed still, his breathing shallow, his body tense. Her fingers softly traced the line of scars.

  How could she have missed this? How could she have been so blind?

  "Ugly, isn't it," she barely heard his quiet, broken voice. "Mindbender's handy-work."

  "Dash..."

  "I was captured while on patrol. I was alone. I left my men holed up at our secret base camp and went out. I needed space. I needed to breath. I was angry and not paying attention. I was angry at being stuck in that jungle. I wasn't taking things seriously enough. I had let my guard down...they caught me easily."

  "It seems my little group had stumbled across something bigger than we had originally thought. Destro didn't want any of us leaving, although none of us really knew the secret he was so desperate to hide."

  "I was there for days...they...they...worked on me for days..." He stopped and took a breath...

  "Eco-Force...what a joke. Bloody neon clowns is what I considered it to be. So did the others. But I was their leader...I should have taken my job more seriously. I should have buried my resentment at being sent away from what I thought was the 'real' action..."

  He buried his face in his hands and breathed in suddenly, obviously trying to pull himself together. He succeeded, because the next thing she knew he was looking at her, eyes dry.

  She didn't know what to say. What could she say? There was more to this story than Flint was telling her, but to even get this much, after so many years of silence...

  "Dash, I..."

  "Don't. Please..." he whispered, "I don't want your pity. Just fix me up...you're right, we need to get out of here. I need to get you out of here. Oh...and Alison..."

  "I have never hated you..."

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  "Well, I'll be..."

  "What is it CleanSweep?" Ozone came to sit next to his friend, who had settled in front of the fire with a letter from home. Flint sat with them, sipping on his coffee.

  "You won't believe this guys...but I'm going to be a dad!"

  "You're kidding! Oh my god, congratulations old buddy. That's great news!"

  "Hey that's wonderful, Sweeps..." Flint looked up at his soldier and smiled. The three of them had actually become pretty close while working on the team. They all got along from day one, and tended to hang together after they had completed their duty. Flint was never one to let his command position deter him from nurturing friendships with his men.

  "How's the little lady doing?"

  "Oh, she's fine. God, I wish I was there with her."

  "Hopefully, we can get ourselves out of this hell hole and home soon." Flint commented between sips.

  "You guys are so lucky to have women waiting for you when you get back," Ozone said sadly.

  CleanSweep laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Zones...you'll have your day. Look, if an ass like Flint can bag someone as stunning and intelligent as Lady Jaye, there is hope."

  Flint laughed, "Thanks a lot!"

  "Its true. How in the world did you manage to get her, much less keep her for...how long..."

  "Almost five years...and it wasn't easy."

  "Worth it I bet!" Ozone piped in.

  Flint sat back and smiled his famous lopsided grin as he thought of Alison. His Alison. You had better believe it was worth it.

  "FIVE years! So any plans on making an honest woman out of her?"

  Flint nearly choked on his coffee, it came spraying out of his mouth.

  "HA! Sorry Flint, " Cleansweep laughed aloud, "Didn't mean to scare you. I guess I am just settling into my role as family man."

  The scene shifted suddenly. He was crawling through the mud, making his way towards the firefight going on ahead of him. He was in terrible pain, but he had to get to his men. He had to warn them. He shook his head to clear his mind. Everything was fuzzy. He was having trouble separating fantasy from reality. Bloody Mindbender...

  His hand hit something soft. He grabbed it and brought it closer to his face for a closer look. He recoiled in horror. It was a human hand...he tried desperately to get a hold of himself as his eyes traveled down to the body attached to it. It was covered in blood and charred beyond recognition. Smoke was still rising from the body. It smelled like cooked flesh.

  Slowly, he reached for the dog tags still hanging around its neck...they were still hot enough to burn his hand but he was beyond caring about such trivial pain. He brushed off the blood and read the name...Price, Daniel L.

  CleanSweep.

  "NOOO!"

  He woke up with a start, disoriented. It was pitch black, moonlight barely breaking the thick canopy of trees above him. A shape a few feet away from him drew his eye...a body. He tensed, and then realized it was just Jaye, sleeping soundly. His mind began to clear and he remembered where he was.

  He swore under his breath as he sat up and took a deep breath to steady his nerves. It had been a while since he had had a nightmare like that. For a long time they haunted his sleep...but they had faded as time went by, so much so that he thought he was rid of them for good.

  He wiped the sweat from his brow. Obviously he had been wrong.

  Lady Jaye shifted in her sleep, turning, trying to find a more comfortable position on this hard, wet ground. She came to rest facing him, and he looked down at her face and sighed.

  "You had to push it, didn't you" He whispered to her, not expecting a response. Not really wanting one.

  He had no doubts about what triggered this relapse. She had seen it. Seen the mess that had been his back, the disgusting mass of scars that marred the body that he had so prided.

  She had seen the permanent reminder of his shame.

  In a way, it had been a relief showing her, telling her. He wondered how he had managed to keep it hidden from her for so long.

  When the Australian troops found him half crazed, they had him airlifted to a hospital in Sydney, where he spent a month recovering alone. He touched base with the Joes, told Hawk what had happened, but had asked that they leave him be. He was happy that he was half way round the world. No one would see him in this state, especially not her.

  When he returned he went to the families of every single one of his men and told them of their loss. Him alone. He owed them that much. The worst had been CleanSweep's wife, now showing signs of the baby growing within. A baby who will never meet his or her father...a widow who will never see her husband's smile again.

  Her cries of grief and loss are still with him.

  He had given a full report to Hawk, leaving out his capture and subsequent torture. No one knew but him. No one was left to dispute his claims. The general was no fool, but Flint had never given him reason to doubt him before, and he was telling the truth, just not the whole truth.

  Even after tonight, he hadn't spilled all. Even now he held things back. Despite all they had done to him with the knives, the acid, he hadn't broken. He hadn't revealed the position of his base camp.

  But there are worse things than physical torture...

  He shuddered and his hand came up to his shoulder. It was still tender but much better than it was. She had done a good job cleaning it out.

  "You learn a lot when you live with a medical student..." she had said. He closed his eyes and fought down a twinge of pain. She had moved on, of course, why would he delude himself into thinking otherwise.

  "You can go back to hating my guts later..." That one statement had shocked him enough to break his anger at being held and allow her to treat him. How could she think that? Nothing could be farther from the truth.

  But what was the truth?

  His mind drifted back to another difficult moment, this time the burden on Snake Eyes' shoulders. Scarlett was in a coma. The doctors didn't know if she was going to recover. Snakes face was covered in bandages to hide the damage done by that crazy Doctor and COBRA at the so-called 'Bern Institute'.

  Snakes had been out of his mind with worry and anger. He had taken a swing at the doctor at the hospital and he and Lady Jaye had taken him outside to cool off. Then, to everyone's surprise, most of all his, he, Flint, the macho hard headed egomaniac, began to lecture the man on 'Not feeling sorry for yourself and taking out your hurt on other people'.

  Too bad he couldn't, what was it Lady Jaye had told him...'practice what he preached'. He had done precisely what he had warned the silent ninja NOT to do.

  "There are very few people as strong as Snakes. I thought I was...but I'm just a bloody fool in uniform."

  Of course, Lady Jaye had meant something entirely different when she said those words. The scene came back to him clearly.

  "You have to go on with your life. That's what Scarlett would want you to do. You have to be thankful for the time you had together and not mope over your regrets, all those 'should have dones' like telling her how much you loved her..."

  Snakes had taken him by the shoulders and swung him around to face Jaye. She smiled...understanding instantly the meaning behind the gesture. He hadn't got it until later, when they were alone at the base eating dinner.

  Jaye wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, as she was worried about Shana. They had found a quiet corner and began to eat in silence, when he suddenly started to think of how he would feel if it was Alison in that hospital bed. If it was him that was sitting by her side, hoping that she would wake up, knowing full well that the chances were slim.

  Suddenly, Snake Eyes' actions made sense. He looked up from his meal and took her hand. Her eyes met his and looked at him questioningly. He gathered his courage and spoke...

  "Ummm...Ali. You know how I feel about you, don't you?"

  She smiled at him, amused by his anxiety over the subject, "I know, Dash. Its just nice to hear sometimes."

  "I love you."

  Her eyes brightened and she leaned forward to kiss him.

  "I love you too..."

  "So many years ago...given what had happened it might well have occurred in another lifetime." He thought as he reached out through the dark and gently touched her face. She stirred in her sleep and he quickly pulled away.

  He felt his anger growing.

  "Don't be a fool!" he berated himself aloud.

  He had to get his mind off this track. He could not afford to go soft now. He could not afford to let things get 'personal' again. He was on a mission, and this time there were going to be no mistakes. This time he was going to get everyone out alive.

  This time he would show no weakness.

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  "My god, what a mess!" Shipwreck said softly as he stared up at the burnt out hulk of what used to be a helicopter, "I hate to state the obvious guys..."

  Scarlett had sat down on a nearby stump, in shock. She knew what the sailor was trying to say. No one could possibly survive this. She put her head in her hands and tried to hold back the tears.

  It had taken them a day to get down here, and then another day and a half to find the crash site. They had kept each others hopes alive...talking about their missing friends, stories about their missions together, amusing tales about how the two of them used to interact on missions. They even went over what they were going to do as a group when they finally found them and got back to civilization.

  Now grim reality was staring them in the face. Their friends were gone.

  She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see her husband standing over her.

  "At least they died together," he signed, "Despite all that happened I don't think either of them could have handled the loss if it had been just one."

  Shipwreck was watching them. His face was a study of grief.

  "That doesn't make it any easier on us, now does it. The people they left behind," he put his head in his hands, "God, he was my friend. She was like a sister to me..."

  In their misery they had failed to notice Spirit, who had been quietly walking the perimeter of the area.

  "Ah, Brother...smart...very smart." They heard him mumble.

  He turned and walked towards them.

  "Save your grief, they are alive. Although not for long if we don't move quickly."

  "What do you mean? Take a look at what is right in front of your eyes..." Shipwreck exclaimed, pointing at the twisted metal.

  "I am looking at what is in front of MY eyes...which are trained to see things more subtle than what might be obvious to you. I have trained Flint to see the same." He turned and made his way toward the perimeter.

  "Here..." he indicated to a tree and then to the ground, "and here. Flint has left a subtle message...one that only someone similarly skilled would be able to read. He is alive and she is with him. Chances are if we took the time to look closely enough at the wreck we will find the remnants of the grenade he used to blow up the aircraft."

  "Is this some kind of Native magic? How..." Shipwreck asked, and Spirit laughed and picked something up off the ground.

  "Not magic...observation." He threw the object at him...a grenade pin.

  Snake Eyes shook his head in admiration.

  "Lets go then. I can track them easily and we have got to catch up with them soon." He indicated to the ground around his feet, the tracker seeing things invisible to the untrained eye, "From the looks of it they have got a substantial force of Vipers on their trail as well."

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Continued in Chapter Six!
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