JOURNEY'S END
BY: THE BARD

Chapter Six
Captured

   "You have GOT to be kidding me!"

  Lady Jaye stood staring at the things in Flint's hand.

  "Unless you have a better idea..." He held up one of the wriggling forms.

  "No way! I would rather starve."

  "And that's exactly what is going to happen if you don't eat something. We can't keep this up for much longer without some form of nutrition." He was right, they had slowed down considerably since they first began their trek into the jungle, and although the change of pace was partly due to injury, the fact that they had pretty much not eaten for four days was beginning to take its toll.

  They were making more frequent stops to rest, and her knee was really starting to hurt her. In fact, she found herself a walking stick to help get some of the weight off her injured leg. Flint's shoulder was responding well to her ministrations, but she was running low on antibiotics and hoped that what she had given him would be enough until they hit civilization.

  He had been pretty good about letting her see to his wound after the initial cleaning. She still couldn't get over what had been done to him. Her heart broke every time she saw the evidence of the pain COBRA must have inflicted on him. Combined with the terrible loss of his entire troop, its no wonder he went over the edge.

  He hadn't told her much more about his experience, just bits of commentary about the different members of his team...remembrances of friends and colleagues lost. She would sit quietly, offering no words. She knew instinctively that what he needed was just someone to listen. That he needed her.

  He was most docile and open at these times when she gently tended to the damage done by the stray bullet. It was a bit like old times, minus Flint's braggart sense of humor.

  The minute she was through, he would shut her out and the walls would go back up. She was as confused by his behavior as she was hurt by it. It was as if she had been thrown back to those first days after his return from Borneo, wondering what she had done to deserve such disdain.

  But she was not the same woman she was then.

  "What does not kill you makes you stronger." She thought to herself.

  Her confidence around him had grown, and yet she was still wary. The last thing she needed was to have her heart raked across the coals again. She had built her life back up. She had just recently found someone else. An old friend who had been there at her lowest point and had patiently helped her out of it.
  
  Yet here she was in the middle of nowhere with a man who has obvious issues. A man, as she was discovering, had been hurt more than anyone had realized. A man who was as unpredictable as a wounded animal. A man who had already hurt her more profoundly than she could ever have imagined.

  And all she could think about was how much she had missed him.

  "I think I just became a vegetarian." She covered her mouth in disgust at the thought of eating grubs. They had had very little luck fishing, mainly because they didn't have the time to sit and wait for a bite, and hunting was out of the question. They had to preserve what little ammunition they had.

  Flint frowned. "Come on Jaye, its not like you have never eaten raw food before..."

  "Ok...'A', it was raw...not ALIVE and 'B', as I have been telling you for years...Sushi is a delicacy." As much as Flint liked to consider himself 'worldly', when it came to food he was all 'meat and potatoes Kansas farm boy'.

  "I'm sure this is considered a delicacy in some parts..."

  "You first, then, my epicurean friend."

  He looked down at the larvae in his hands, considering them for a few moments before sighing and dumping them back onto the ground. The look on his face caused her to burst out laughing. She couldn't help herself.

  "I'm glad you find our situation so amusing."

  "I...I..." She tried to catch her breath, "I'm sorry, Flint...Its just the...Hahahaha." All the stress of the past few weeks came out in a fit of laughter. He looked up and stared at her in utter amazement and confusion...which of course made things worse. She laughed so hard she nearly fell over, dropping her pack and scattering the contents on the ground in the process.

  She looked up at him tears in her eyes from all the giggling and found him smiling, eyes bright and clear. It stunned her. So much so that she stopped laughing and just stared back at him. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen him look at her that way.

  "God, Jaye...you are a real piece of work, you know that..." He bent to help her pick up her stuff. "...only you could see the humor in this..." He froze mid-sentence. As quickly as the smile had come it was gone.

  "Did you hear something?"

  To her right, she heard a twig snap. Flint was alert in an instant.

  "GET DOWN!"

  She hit the dirt just as the bullets started to fly overhead. Flint had taken cover behind a tree.

  "GET OVER HERE, I'LL COVER YOU!!!" He shouted as he brought his shotgun to bear on their enemy. She stayed low and ran towards him, reaching him winded but unscathed.

  "How many?" she asked as she scanned the perimeter.

  "More than we can handle..." he swore under his breath as he reloaded the shotgun. "We don't have enough ammo."

  She pulled out her Desert Eagle. "Then we had better make every shot count!"

  Turning to take aim, she let go two rounds, both of which hit their marks...but as soon as the troopers went down two more came to take their place. She then grabbed a grenade off Flint's belt, pulled the pin and let it fly. The explosion sent bodies flying in all directions.

  "Subtle!" Flint shouted over the sound of gunfire.

  "Look who's talking!" she smirked as he blew away two more COBRA troopers before stopping to reload. A bullet ricocheted off the tree inches from her head. "Flint! They're moving!!!"

  "They are trying to surround us!! We have to fall back to the water so they can't get behind us!! Stick by me!!!" He pumped his shotgun and gestured for her to get beside him.

  "GO! GO! GO!" She leaned into him as they ran side by side, guns blazing before diving behind a large moss covered log. She landed on her bad knee and bit back a cry as pain shot up through her leg. Flint was busy pulling out the last of their grenades and didn't notice.

  Suddenly, the woods went silent.

  "So...what are the chances we scared them off?" she peered around the edge of her shelter to spy a familiar figure standing in the distance with a bullhorn raised to his mouth.

  Zartan.

  "JOES! WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED! THROW DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND SURRENDER!"

  Flint frowned, "There's your answer....now lets give them ours!", with that he pulled the pin and launched his grenade into the area where the enemy was most concentrated.

  "LETS GO!" He yelled as she forced herself up and running, ever step agony. Side by side they made a mad dash for the river under the cover of the confusion caused by the explosion. She looked towards the water and swore, grabbing Flint by the arm and pulled with all her strength, yanking him down onto the ground beside her.

  "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" He glared at her, "We were home free!"

  "You're welcome!" She glared right back, angrily indicating that he take a look at the river. Four Water Moccasins were sitting idle in the water, guns trained on the shore. They would have hurled headlong into it.

  "Damn it!!"

  "NICE TRY, JOES! AS YOU CAN SEE I HOLD ALL THE CARDS! SURRENDER OR I WILL ORDER COPPERHEAD TO OPEN FIRE! YOU HAVE 5 MINUTES. STARTING NOW!"

  "Flint...now would be great time for one of your foolproof plans." She looked over to find him sitting completely still, staring out towards the river.

  "Flint? Did you hear me? What do we do?" He looked up at her, his eyes haunted.

  "Have you asked yourself why they haven't just killed us? Why they are giving us the option to surrender?"

  She looked at him blankly.

  "Think!" he sneered, "They want us alive because they want information. They want to know what we know. How many of us are down here...what Hawk has planned."

  "I...I don't think..." she was getting concerned. He was probably right, but as she studied her old friend she realized that something was very wrong with him. Before she could voice her thoughts on the situation, he grabbed her arm.

  "I have to get you out of here."

  "Let go!" She pulled out of his grip, "Flint...get a hold of yourself. Where are we going to go? We are between the proverbial rock and hard place."

  "DAMN IT, ALI...We either get the hell out of here or die trying. There is no other choice"

  "There is another option...we are almost out of ammo and I don't know how far I would get if we ran..." she gestured to her leg, "At least it will give us a chance to recoup and escape later..."

  He had gone pale and his temper was flaring. She looked into his eyes...was that...fear?

  "NO!"

  "Oh my god..." she thought to herself, as she suddenly realized what was happening. Flint was back in Borneo!

  "YOUR TIME IS RUNNING OUT, JOES!"

  "No weakness..." he mumbled as he pumped his shotgun.

  "Flint....Dash...listen to me." She put her hand on the barrel of his shotgun and gently pushed it down, "This isn't Borneo..."

  "No...its not...and its not going to be!" he whispered.

  He looked at her then, and as she watched she saw his face harden, a look she remembered all to well.

  "Flint! NO!"

  "Stay low and make a break for it once the fighting starts..." He crouched low, getting ready to charge.

  Her breath clenched in her throat. She grabbed his arm in a feeble attempt to hold him back. "Don't be an idiot Flint, we are in this together..."

  He turned to dislodge her hand..."They are not going to get at you, Jaye. Not while there is still breath left in my body..."

  "What are you talkin...." Too late, he was off, guns blazing. One man against an army...

  "Shit, Shit, Shit!!!!" she mumbled to herself as she grabbed her gun and went to follow him in. No way was he going to get himself killed without her.

  She moved as quickly as she could, following him through the hostile fire, fear and adrenaline masking the pain. She leaned against a tree and loaded the last clip into her weapon. Right on time, too...for as she watched a Cobra Trooper was taking aim at Flint's head. He was so busy blasting away at the troops in front of him that he hadn't noticed the lone man sneaking up behind him. She dropped him with one shot.

  He turned and realized what had happened.

  "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? I GAVE YOU AN ORDER!"

  "So! Court Marshall me! LOOK OUT!" He swung around just in time to stop another COBRA soldier dead in his tracks. Suddenly, there was an explosion behind them on the river and they turned to see three of the Water Moccasins go up in a pillar of fire and smoke.

  "What the...?" she saw movement in the tree's above and grinned wildly as she recognized a familiar figure.

  "Snake Eyes! What took you so long?"

  She turned and with renewed energy and hope began blasting her way through the COBRA forces. To her side she noticed Scarlett and Spirit making their way towards Flint to give him some much needed backup.

  "Fall back to the river!!!" she heard Shipwreck's voice and turned to see that he had secured the remaining the COBRA watercraft and was waiting to get them the hell out of there. She smiled and began to make her way towards her friends, when a voice spoke up from behind her.

  "I don't think so, little 'Sheila'!" She whipped her gun around and came face to face with an old enemy. Ripper. She fired.

  Click.

  He laughed and she took a step back, wincing as her weight settled on her bad leg.

  "Poor wee thing...out of ammo and injured. Let's see what I can do to help." The Dreadnock kicked her in the knee and waves of pain and nausea threatened to overwhelm her as she fell to the ground. It was a struggle to remain conscious.

  Slowly, she went to pull out her knife in a last ditch effort to defend herself.

  "Ah ah ah! Didn't your mother tell you never to play with knives. He grabbed her wrist and twisted hard, wrestling the weapon easily out of her grip. He took it and slowly ran the flat of the blade across her face.

  "So beautiful...too beautiful...Maybe I should make some changes..."

  Despite her fear, she found enough anger in her to spit in his face. His expression changed instantly to one of sheer rage.

  "RIPPER! Stop playing with her and get moving. Cobra Commander wanted prisoners and thanks to you we got him at least one." Zartan's voice boomed from behind him, "Try not to kill her before we get back to base."

  He got up and raised his gun.

  "I'll remember that, bitch. Once the big C is finished with you, I will have my fun."

  She saw the butt of his gun falling towards her...then darkness.

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  "DUKE! Water Moccasin heading towards us, moving fast!" Roadblock shouted down from his position in the tower.

  Duke looked up from the maps and looked out over the river. Sure enough, in the distance he could make out the shape skimming across the water. He swore under his breath. How could COBRA have found out where their base was located so quickly? And why send only one boat to...

  "Pass me those binoculars Gung Ho." He looked out and saw a familiar figure at the helm.

  "Hold your fire! It's the good guys!"

  As he made his way down to the shore, Duke prayed that they had succeeded in the mission that they had set out to do. They had lost radio contact two days ago and were beginning to get worried, as early reconnaissance had shown substantial movement of COBRA forces in the area.

  He reached the makeshift dock just in time to see Shipwreck and Spirit carrying an unconscious Flint from the vessel.

  "LIFELINE, GET DOWN HERE STAT!"

  "He's fine." He turned to find Scarlett standing next to him. She looked exhausted. "Snake Eyes had to knock him out so that we could extract him."

  His eyes narrowed as he studied her. They had to knock him out...why would they have to...? Oh my god...

  "Where's Lady Jaye?"

  She looked away.

  "Would someone tell me what the hell happened out there?!"

  Having handed the big Warrant Officer to Lifeline and his medical team, Spirit made his way over to the group and spoke "We found them both...alive. They were surrounded by COBRA troops and were making their last stand..."

  Shipwreck cut in "They were pretty far gone if you ask me...but leave it to this one to lead the charge." He pointed to Flint. We backed them up as best we could, but there wasn't much any of us could do. There were just too many of them."

  "We retreated, but Lady Jaye...she didn't make it. She ran into Ripper on her way out."

  "Is she alive?" He whispered.

  "As far as we could tell, yes..." Snake Eyes signed, "But we were unable to get to her. We had our hands full with COBRA and...and Flint"

  "What do you mean?" Duke eyed the Ninja warily, his eyes imploring him not to tell him what he feared happened had happened. Not now. They needed Flint. They couldn't afford to loss him to the madness that had gripped him that last year.

  "He went nuts, man!" Shipwreck exclaimed, "when he saw her go down it was all we could do to stop him from running right back into enemy fire and getting himself killed. It took three of us to hold him back before Snakes here knocked him out with the pommel of one of his Katanas."

  God...not again. I thought he was getting better. I thought he had learned to control his himself. Was it a mistake to bring him back?

  Suddenly, he heard a struggle break out behind him.

  "Sit still, Flint...I have to look at you before I...WHOA" Flint was up in a flash, grabbing Lifeline and throwing him to the ground.

  "GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME, YOU FILTHY SNAKE!!!!!!!!" Flint had drawn a knife.

  "RESTRAIN HIM!!!" Duke screamed, and in an instant Roadblock and Shipwreck were on him. Even in his weakened state, it was all they could do to keep him down.

  "LIFELINE!!!" Duke looked at the doctor, who was quickly preparing a syringe.

  "I'm on it..."

  "Hurry up, man...He's bloody strong!" Roadblock strained as Flint struggled to free himself.

  "YOU CAN'T HAVE HER...YOU CAN'T..." Lifeline injected him and within an instant he was down and out.

  "Holy...what did you give him?" Shipwreck asked as he gently lowered his friend to the ground.

  "Enough tranquilizer to bring down a large elephant." The medic smiled briefly before indicating to his medical team that they should bring him into the tent that had been put up as a field hospital.

  Duke sighed and rubbed his eyes in frustration. Spirit came up behind him.

  "He is not himself. He has gone on very little food and is injured and exhausted. It leaves him vulnerable to ghosts from the past. He will be better once he recovers."

  "I am glad you are so confident, Spirit." Duke looked at his best tracker and wondered again how the healer had managed to succeed with his old friend where so many others had failed. "But somehow I doubt it...not with Lady Jaye captured...or worse."

  God...let her be alive. If he looses her like this his oldest and best friend will never recover...will never be the same again. He looked at his men and frowned.

  None of them will.

************************************************************************


  "You meant to tell me you have had him for three days and still nothing."

  "He is very strong, Destro. I have tried my best, but still he refuses to talk."

  Flint could make out the sounds of the conversation going on behind him, but was having trouble isolating the voices. He opened his eyes, or tried to. They were so swollen it hurt to even blink. Everything hurt...the pain was almost unbearable. It was a struggle to remain conscious, although he wondered why he even bothered to try. He longed for the peace of oblivion.

  "You are testing my patience, Flint." Destro stood directy in front of him, staring straight into his battered face. "For the last time, tell me what you know."

  His voice came out in a low wrasp, his throat raw from lack or water...and his screams.

  "Faireborn....Dashiel..."

  "Doctor...I trust you can remedy this situation?"

  "If I do much more I risk killing him, which is hardly productive. However, there might be another way." He turned to the guards, "Take him down!"

  After so much time strung up to the ceiling, the movement was sheer agony. He lost consciousness for a while and when he came to he found himself in another room, strapped to a chair. He felt something heavy against his head.

  "Ah...you're back! And just in time for me to introduce you to one of my old favorites..."

  Mindbender went and fiddled with some controls across the room.

  "I was having trouble perfecting the brain wave scanner...it was just too unpredictable, didn't always give me back real memories or thoughts...so I thought to myself, why throw the baby out with the bathwater? Why not use what I had to my advantage."

  "So to make a long story short, prepare yourself for a bumpy ride, my good man...because you are about to take a journey into your deepest, darkest fears. Live your own nightmares, so to speak."

  Flint struggled to free himself from the machine as he began to understand what awaited him.

  "Ah...I see you catch on quickly." He smiled as he threw one of the switches, "You are strong, Flint...but everyone has a weakness...a breaking point..."

  He threw another and a flash of pain shot through his head.

  "Let's find out what yours is, shall we?"

  "NOOOOO!" He struggled against his bonds as his mind went dark.

  "Flint. FLINT! Stop struggling. You're among friends. You are at GIJOE base 'Anaconda', you're safe."

  He opened his eyes and saw a familiar figure leaning over him. He struggled to bring his mind back to the present, to clear his head. Yes...he knew this person...it was Lifeline.

  "How...how long?"

  "Have you been out? About a day...maybe a bit more."

  Too long. He went to get up and realized he was tied down.

  "Let me go, Lifeline..." he growled, "I'm fine..."

  "No can do, Flint...sorry. You are to be restrained. Duke's orders."

  "Then go and get Duke...Now." He tried to remain calm, but inside his mind was going a mile a minute. The memories of what had happened out there came flooding back. He knew what he had to do.

  "Hold on, Jaye...I'm coming"

****************************************************************************************************************


  Hawk sat at a makeshift desk in the command tent, going over the details of the upcoming raid. It wasn't going to be easy. He had called in as many Joes as he could find once he had realized the extent of the COBRA presence, but still he wondered if it would be enough.

  He could only hope it would be.

  As he turned his attention back to the map in front of him, he was distracted by the sounds of a commotion outside.

  "I really don't think this is a good idea. You need time to heal. You can't go waltzing back into the jungle..."

  "Watch me."

  The flap of the tent flew open and in came Flint, with Duke following close behind. They saluted and he returned it, observing his warrant officer carefully. He had cleaned himself up and put on a clean uniform, but he was obviously still far from better. Lifeline had his arm up in a sling and he looked exhausted.

  "What can I do for you?" He asked calmly, knowing full well what was going to come out of his mouth.

  "Permission to lead a rescue mission and get Lady Jaye out of there, Sir"

  He sighed.

  "I'm sorry, Flint. I can't spare anyone. We are stretched thin as it is..."

  "Then I can go it alone, sir. It is my specialty."

  "No way...you are hardly up for a solo mission right now...and to be perfectly honest I need you here."

  "I am asking you as a courtesy..." he growled. "If I have to I will do it alone. I am CIA now...no longer under your command."

  "What?"

  "Flint," Duke put his hand on his shoulder, "I know this is hard, but think about what you are saying."

  "No, Duke...let me handle this." Hawk walked straight up to Flint and treated him to one of his piercing gazes.

  "You know, I don't have the energy right now to deal with you. I brought you in on trust. I have given you another chance because you are the best at what you do. Because I know you deserve it. DON'T disappoint me."

  Flint looked away.

  "I see you have come to your senses. Go back to Lifeline and get some rest...I need you in top form very soon." Hawk watched Flint clench and unclench his fists...struggling to control himself.

  "She'll be OK, Flint. We will get her out of there as soon as we..."

  "No...she won't be ok. I need to get her out of there now!"

  "Flint...I'm warning you. You are very close to crossing the line."

  Suddenly, Flint tore his arm out of the sling and in one strong motion, ripped off his shirt. Hawk tensed at the odd display. Has he finally flipped? Then he saw his back.

  "My God..." Duke froze in shock where he stood, eyeing the ravaged skin across his friend's back.

  "This is what they do to their prisoners, sir. This...and worse."

  "I....I had no...Why didn't you tell me? This wasn't on your report..." But even before Flint could answer, Hawk knew.

  Pride...Shame...

  "They will do the same to her. They had the perfect chance to blow us both to kingdom come a couple of days ago and they didn't. They wanted one or both of us alive. They need information..."

  He finished his sentence. "They don't know what we are up to. They want to gain the upper hand...." So, Flint hadn't gone completely over the edge these past few days. He had misjudged him. They had all misjudged him...

  Flint nodded.

  "I know you think I have gone insane. There are times when I think that myself. But I am dead serious about this. I WILL NOT leave her behind. I will not have her go through what I went through." Flint paused and looked directly at him "I lost twelve of my men due to my...my...weakness. I will not loose her too."

  Hawk held his gaze, understanding for the first time the pain and fear behind them. Pain and fear he had masked with anger...then with booze. He felt responsible for the loss of his men. They hadn't died in battle. They were ambushed using information Flint, in his agony, had given them. He didn't care that it was beyond his control. He didn't care that it was not his fault.

  "I should have known. You were one of mine...I should have known!" Hawk thought to himself sadly. "I let you down, boy...I'm so sorry."

  He turned away and leaned into his desk. He felt his age weighing down on him for the first time since he began this mission. He was tired.

  He had lost men...he knew how it felt. But he couldn't begin to imagine the suffering this once happy, confident young man had gone through. They had broken him...and he had had the strength to claw his way out. On that alone he deserved this chance to redeem himself in his own eyes.

  "Take what you need, Flint. Supplies, ammo, anything..."

  Flint looked up, confused..."Sir?"

  "Get her out of there, Flint. Bring her home..."

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Continued in Chapter Seven!
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