November 8th

November 8th,

I’m on a B1-B flying over the Atlantic on my way to Frankfurt. It seems our stellar new Covert Ops lead needs my help on a job.

Well…’our’ help anyways…as Jinx and Scarlett are with me on this one.

Why am I not surprised? With that loud shirt and heavy Arkansas accent he is sure to stick out like a sore thumb. The Germans aren’t very fond of American tourists, and even though he is there on US business, he is certainly going to categorized as such and given the good old Deutschland cold-shoulder.

He doesn’t even SPEAK German. What was Hawk thinking? I could have done this with my eyes shut. Granted, I am not quite sure yet WHAT ‘this’ is, but my god, I speak the language fluently and could pass for a upper class European without having to bat an eyelid.

Grrrr…

Ok…breath. You promised yourself you were going to act professional and non- chalant about this whole episode. This isn’t corporate America…you have got to follow orders. If this is what Hawk wants than you cannot question it and you certainly can’t go around kveching about your new boss…stuff like that is liable to get you Court Marshaled.

Sigh*

The past few days in New York were made infinitely more bearable by the mere presence of the two women I am now traveling with. Red, Jinx and I had a bloody blast…it was like a giant slumber party.

It’s nice to have Shana all to myself for a little while. This whole Snake Eyes/Ninja Force thing has really taken up a lot of her time. Mind you…I haven’t been all that available myself. When Flint is around he usually commands a lot of my attention.

Nevertheless, one should never leave your girlfriends hanging when you pursue a relationship…

What did my Aunt Sarah always say? Lovers come and go but your friends stay with you forever.

The three of us are so different yet so close. Jinx…the newest addition, has wormed her way back into my life with ease. Her confidence and fun- loving nature make her hard to resist despite the aggravating tendency to say exactly what is on her mind without applying any filters.

Scarlett, on the other hand, is the serious one. Although she has a great sense of humor, she usually ends up being the ‘adult’ in most of our dealings…holding me back from doing or saying anything foolish. Sometimes I want to knock that sensible, ‘holier than thou’ side of her from here to China…but in truth if it wasn’t for her advice and firm hand on my shoulder I would probably be in the brig by now.

Where do I fit in? I am the stuck up, snobby, drama queen. Shana says I’m spoiled, which aggravates me to no end. I don’t think she means spoiled in the sense of ‘moneyed’, she means spoiled by way of being an only child and never having to learn to share or compromise, and always having to be the center of attention.

She has me there…I do like the spotlight…hence my attraction the stage.

Having grown up with three brothers and a sister, Shana is as far from spoiled as you get. In fact, she had it pretty rough growing up. No mother…little money…and a sister who pretty much hated her guts. Yet she pulled herself through it and came out on top. You have to admire her…black belt at 15…superb soldier and intelligence operative, a great leader and with a man who loves her more than life.

She does have her bad points, one of which is her temper. But hey…its not like I’m miss serene! I mean, my upbringing has taught me to ‘control my baser nature’, but sometimes I just have to let it out...

And Jinx…boy…not someone you want to piss off.

My quick temper and attitude has gotten me in more trouble than I care to admit…and certainly adds to the volatile nature of my relationship with Flint. If Red and my arguments are intense…Flint and mine are legendary.

I guess some of Shana’s sense is finally rubbing off, because I have yet to blow my top over the Chuckles thing. Or maybe I’m just growing out of it…does turning 30 do that to you? I will have to ask Red later…

I have no idea where this irritability came from. My father was always a gentleman…loud and boisterous at times…but he never lost his temper with me. Ok…that’s a big fat lie. I think I pushed him over the limit a couple of times in my teens but it was always over quickly.

My mother was cool when she was angry. So was my Grandmother. I could have burnt the house down but they would NEVER have lost their stoic demeanor. But the look in their eyes…ooo…that was scarier than anything. The icy stare, the look of anger and disappointment, of quiet disapproval that left you quaking in your shoes wondering what your punishment would be when it finally came.

Shudder! Man…that look would give Cobra Commander the willies!

I can do the stare…ask Flint about the last time he commented on my cooking skills or lack thereof to the other Joes…the poor guy froze. He has faced an army of COBRA troops but was left a babbling mess over the patented ‘Hart’ glare.

Some times, though…I just let loose. It must be from my father’s side of the family. It’s a Scottish thing for sure. It certainly is not the type of behavior my mother would expect from her little WASP socialite.

And there’s the clincher…it isn’t what my mother would want so I do it. Am I so insecure in my own identity, am I so resentful of her that I would try this hard to be as unlike her as possible?

That is a disturbing thought…and one I would rather not deal with at the moment.

Anyhow…monitoring the COBRA communications system was boring to say the least. A lot of it was just recording activity and paying attention to any key words that flagged our system…

Most of what we picked up was regular communications…nothing out of the ordinary. There was one conversation between the Baroness and Destro that got a bit out of hand, but that was hardly worth noting on our report…although it was amusing to listen to. Jinx was practically rolling on the floor laughing…

It seems I’m not the only one in a rocky relationship.

Which reminds me, Flint and I hardly parted on cordial terms last week.

It seems that Hawk wants Flint and Duke to accompany him to the White House on November 11th for the Memorial Day gala. The mission? To schmooze with the politicians and pick up any and all information they can with regards to military funding in general and our team in particular.

It really is quite the elegant affair…at 1000 dollars a ticket it would have to be. The President and First Lady will be making an appearance and most of the top brass will be there.

Duke will fit in perfectly. The man knows how to work a crowd and can charm the pants of even the most stuck up Washington politician.

Flint, on the other hand…well…he can be charming and he is certainly intelligent enough to travel in these crowds. In fact, he might be a bit too intelligent. Dash has no patience for stupidity and he certainly has no patience for two-faced politicians. His big mouth is liable to shut more doors than open them. What could Hawk be thinking?

As it was, the General had a plan after all. After winning me over with the tickets and the invite, Flint immediately ruined the moment with an off hand remark about Hawk being right in figuring he wouldn’t have to order me to go.

Grrrrr….

Here I am all excited about going on an actual DATE with him and he goes and tells me in his roundabout way not to get any ideas…that he was ordered to ask me. It is actually ME that Hawk wants at this thing.

Double grrrr…

We go out to dinner sometimes, hang out with the other Joes or alone…but we have never gone together to a non-Joe affair…and certainly never a black tie gala. God forbid we should…I might get the wrong idea…I might actual think he was serious about me!

Of course, I lashed out at him…

“You’re just miffed because for all intents and purposes this is going to be MY gig and you are going to be relegated to eye-candy status”

He grinned and puffed out his chest like a bloody peacock and answered that he could play that part with ease. Which reminded him, even though I will not be required to wear my dress uniform…the General wants me to mingle with the crowd as a civilian in order to better pick up any relevant information…I could not wear jeans and a tee shirt.

ARGH! That exasperating, arrogant, son of a…

So…he thinks I am too much of a soldier girl to do the ‘Ball’ thing, eh? Of course, I threw the tickets back in his face.

The plane is circling, preparing to land. I had better get my gear together. Where did they put the equipment I sent for? Ah here it is. My sniper rifle, a couple of fake passports, some ammo…and…what the hell is this?

Oh it’s so cute.

A little blue Octopus stuffy…and what’s this tangled in its tentacles…

A ticket to the gala…and a note…

“On with the dance! Let joy be unconfined - D”

A Byron-esque peace offering?

Sigh*

Hawk HAS ordered me to attend with him, warning me that if my personal relationship with Flint was going to get in the way of me doing my job he was going to have to rethink his position on our little liaisons. So I guess I have a date with Dashiell after all!

Hopefully I will make it back on time…but if anyone thinks I am going to let him off that easily they have another thing coming.

Its high time Flint met Lady Alison Hart-Burnett, don’t you think?

…revenge is going to be sweet!