September 25th

I’m off base tonight. Not on a mission exactly, but out of the PIT nonetheless. It seems my RIO (radar intercept officer) re-quals have come due and I had to report to the nearby Air Force base early this morning.

Have a mentioned I’m a pilot? A damned good one too. I can fly pretty much anything fixed wing…C5, C17, C130…although the interceptor fighter jets like the f-15 are a little out of my league even if I COULD pilot them…which I can’t. ’One’, I’m not an officer, and ‘two’ I’m a woman.

Ah the last male bastion of the armed forces…military fighter pilot. Oh, and submariner…which I think is the most unappealing job in the universe. The Squids seem to like it well enough though.

Anyhow…the fact that I can’t pilot one doesn’t mean I haven’t been up in the backseat of an f-15 SkyStriker. That is precisely what I am here to re- qualify in…all modes of the Doppler radar and air to ground mapping. Though the tandem seating arrangement does happen to position me in the rear of the cockpit, my importance by no means takes a "back seat" to the pilot's! The complex geometry of the tactical intercept and the fluid dynamics of the close-in dogfight require that both pilot and RIO operate as a precision-drilled team

I know, I know. I’m NOT Air Force…although I was thinking of switching over at one point before I ‘discovered’ Covert Ops. The thing is recent budget cuts have forced us all to multi-task.

Flint, for instance, is out in the field right now flying a transport chopper…not that he is complaining. He loves flying…and doesn’t have to fight a constant battle against a fear of heights as I do. He and Wild Bill left base in high spirits, and I bet you anything the two Warrant Officers are probably having a grand time cowboy-ing around up there.

Mind you once he finds out where I have been spending my time he is going to blow, and it has nothing to do with my flying…

More with the person I am flying with.

His name is Brad Armbruster…Captain Armbruster…but everyone calls him Ace. That nickname actually came more from his taste for gambling than his superb skills as a pilot.

The man is every inch a typical flyboy. Proud, cocky, good-looking…in fact very much like Flint but easier going…less intense and very charming. If first impressions are everything, Ace has got it down to an art. The brilliant smile, the sparkle of humor in his blue eyes… just like Maverick from Top Gun. In fact if Ace were Navy I would say that Tom Cruise’s character in the film was modeled on him.

You know…there is a reason Top Gun did so well in the box office…and let me tell you it was NOT about plot or the dog fights…

Volleyball scene…nuff said…

So you are probably wondering where all this is coming from? Well…believe it or not, Ace and I had a ‘thing’ going for little while. When I say ‘thing’, I am not talking anything serious…just a little fun after hours.

Actually, the fling started after my first re-quals with him a few years ago. We had gone up for a routine flight, trying out some new equipment the tech boys had installed on the Skystriker when we encountered Wild Weasel and the Baroness in the skies above small town NJ.

What ensued was one of the most terrifying and exciting flights I have ever had. A real dogfight…live ammo…my god it was exhilarating. There were couple of very close calls and I even took the controls for a while. Although at the time it was a struggle just to keep us from crashing I think I handled the aircraft pretty well.

The whole thing ended up in a draw…both of the Rattler and the Skystriker ran out of Ammo and were badly damaged. Ace was quiet the whole flight back but I managed to pull him out of it with a couple of Snoopy and the Red Baron jokes. After a loud de-briefing back at McGuire we ended up going out on the town together for some drinks and a bit of dancing.

We both got pretty drunk, one thing led to another…and there you go…

Hey it happens! How do you think it got started with Flint? A love-at-first- sight romance?

Nope.

We were at a pub in Scotland having a good time and boom, next thing I know I am waking up beside him. Before you go jumping to any conclusions…believe it or not I came on to him.

I guess I had better back-peddle a bit here.

As I have mentioned before, the attack on the PIT was a turning point for the two of us. That rainy night, the night he told me he had been afraid…we ended up staying up the whole night in his room just talking. He didn’t flirt, he didn’t make any rude suggestions, he didn’t even touch me; we just chatted about anything and everything.

In the months that followed I started to hang out with him more often and we became quite good friends. He was still a big jerk at times, but more and more I was given glimpses of his quiet side. I don’t think he even realized he was doing it…but he was slowly letting down his guard.

That isn’t to say that the flirting had stopped, it didn’t…just became subtler Well, subtle for Flint. Which isn’t saying much.

I think Hawk must have noticed the change in our relationship, and decided that the time was ripe to move ahead with what I found out later had been on his mind all along…to team us up. For some reason he was of the opinion that the two of us would work well together.

He was right.

That mission to Scotland was a masterpiece. Not only did we pull it off successfully, but we did it with style. I have worked with many soldiers…I have fought alongside many Joes…but Flint and I just clicked. Our personalities and abilities balance each other out so well that, as Flint once said, we accomplish more as partners than we could ever hope to achieve alone.

My professionalism holds Flint’s bravado in check, while his courage and confidence drives me to take chances that I might never even consider on my own.

After we had finished up with Destro and returned to the RAF airbase where we were staying, the two British soldiers we had been working with decided to take us out to the pubs. We ended up at the Red Lion, and quite by chance ran into my cousins Colin and Duncan, along with many other childhood friends. Actually, they were all there to see The Chieftains, who were playing live that very night. The place was so packed we almost didn’t get in until the bouncer at the door recognized me. The beer, the music, the company…it was a fantastic night.

We drank, sang and danced until the wee hours of the morning.

When we returned to base and had said goodnight to Sergeant Day and Jingles, Flint decided to escort me back to my room. I thought for sure he was going to try something, and at that point I was ready to welcome it. We had been getting along so well…and my god the man was stunning…it would have been abnormal if I hadn’t.

Much to my surprise…and chagrin…he chose that very moment to be a gentleman. We were both drunk after all. He probably thought he would be taking advantage of me…

Needless to say, I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands.

It didn’t take much…one year of pent of sexual tension exploded that night…and it was pretty awesome if I do say so myself.

We spent the rest of the week in Scotland, working side by side with RAF on some other ‘Destro’ related matters. Although our days were pretty much filled to the rim with military duties, I spent the evenings showing Flint the Scotland I knew.

My real homeland…

And at night…well…the floodgates had opened. There was no turning back…even though things had to slow down a bit when we got back to headquarters…nothing could stop it. Not that either of us wanted it to!

However, we had both made it very clear that it was nothing serious. Just for fun…

Why not? I wasn’t looking for anything more at that point…and I enjoyed his company. I didn’t see the harm in it. How could I have predicted it would grow into something much much more?

I don’t think I quite realized it until Grenada, and even then it didn’t hit me full on.

Ah Grenada…the first time I made love to Dash.

Ha! I threw you there, didn’t I? Well…I don’t know how else to put it…it’s kind of hard to explain. That vacation was one of the most emotionally draining experiences of my life…

Anyhow I have really gone of on a tangent here…back to Ace. Its not like it was a one-night stand or anything. Mind you, it didn’t last much longer than a month and a bit, but we both parted on amicable terms. There was no messy breakup…it just petered out.

Now, all of this happened two months before Flint ever joined GIJOE, and way before anything ever happened between us. In fact, I don’t know how he found out about it…I think it might have been Ace doing the ol’ bragging rights thing…but now just the mention of the pilot’s name gets him all uppity.

When he finds out I went out to the bars with him and Slip Stream AND had to spend the night at the air force base all hell is going to break loose.

Sigh*

Flint is the jealous type.

No, that is putting it too mildly.

Flint gets extremely green-eyed if I show even an inkling of friendly interest in another man. Usually he just sulks and acts like an idiot for a couple of days before he gets over it. There was one time, though, when he lost control and I saw a side of Flint I would rather not ever see again.

God…I was such a fool! I knew what had happened to him. I knew I was playing with fire. It doesn’t excuse what he did but I can’t help but admit with shame that I hurt him in Sierra Gordo.

Hurt him far more deeply than he ended up hurting me.

Jeez…look at the time! And I have to report to the airstrip at 05:00!!!!!!

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