THE TIES THAT BIND
BY: THE BARD

Chapter Six
Words of Wisdom

  Flint sat quietly on the observation deck of the USS Flagg, looking out over the calm blue waters of the Mediterranean. It was a clear sunny day, and he had decided to come up from the hold in order to await the arrival of the chopper from RAF.

  It had been a whirlwind of activity since Destro had revealed COBRA's plans to the small group in England. Flint had called Duke immediately, and agreed with his assessment of the situation. They needed to go in full force; their small covert operation would no longer suffice. The mission was over, he was to report to the small US Navy outpost in Italy where the FLAGG was waiting. Duke was going to join him there with the Joes.

  He had very little time to get everyone packed and out of there, and he wasn't thrilled at the prospect of having to drag Destro with him, but he wasn't one to disobey an order. Needless to say all of this put him on edge. So it wasn't surprising that he blew it with Jaye.

  Flint had tried to say goodbye to her in a civil and professional manner. He thought he would keep it short and sweet. No use getting riled up. Mission accomplished. See you around. He had almost convinced himself that it was truly over and this was it. The last time he would see her. He was over her. Let her have William and be done with it. Why should he waste his time with her? He had wasted too much time already.

  Of course, easier said than done.

  It all fell apart when he saw her. She hadn't been easy to find, apparently she was doing her best to try and avoid having to confront him. He wasn't going to let her get off that easily. He searched the house until one of the maids told him she had gone out to the stable. He found her sitting in the sun on a small hill, wrapped in a horse blanket, watching the horses graze in the field below.

  "I am heading out now...we all are." He announced casually as he approached her from behind, "Just came out to thank you for your help."

  She nodded without looking at him. "Yes...it was nice working with you again too. Stay safe."

  There was a moment of silence, broken only by the occasional neigh of a foal calling his mother.

  Flint could feel the emotion welling up inside him..."Is that all you have to say? Are you even going to look at me?" Good one, Flint, he though to himself...that's right...you keep it professional...idiot!

  "What do you want me to say? You told me last week not to expect your friendship or your trust. You believe I am a traitor and I cannot tell you otherwise. You are going back to the US and I must continue my life here. What can I possibly say that would make any of this better?"

  He heard the break in her voice, felt her despair...it surrounded him like a veil. He sensed her sadness, her fear, and her loneliness. Her emotions mingled with his, breaking down all the hard won barriers with ease. He tried to gain control of it, but he couldn't.

  He knelt down, took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him She was too stunned to move, shivering like a rabbit frozen in the beams of a headlight.

  'Tell me who forced you to bring Destro that disk? I know you didn't do it on your own. It wasn't for your uncle either...if so you could have done this long ago. You had ample opportunity. You were following orders from someone, though, weren't you? Weren't you!?"

  He saw the slight shift in her eyes...Bingo! He was on to something.

  "Flint...I...."

  "Ali!!!" It was William, coming up the path from the house. He saw her and Flint and waved "I just got off the phone. It seems we are needed in London, love...our chariot awaits!"

  Flint shook her gently, "Is it him? Is he the one behind all this?"

  "I...I have to go with him, I have..."

  His temper, stoked by jealousy, shattered his patience like a crystal into a million shards of glass.

  "FINE.... Be with him! He is your new 'partner' after all!" He got up and started to walk away.

  "Flint! WAIT! You don't understand!!!"

  He didn't look back...

  He was so close, and he blew it. Scarlet was right, he had to learn to control his ego driven jealousy better. "How can one man be such a bloody idiot", he said aloud to himself as he watched a pod of dolphins frolicking in the waves.

  "I ask myself the same question," answered a voice behind him. He swung around and stood face to face with Destro.

  "You!" Flint exclaimed, "Don't you have anything better to do than follow me around?' Working with this man had put all the Joes for a loop, Flint especially, as he had been the one assigned to him. He had asked Duke to be transferred off this duty to no avail. Apparently Destro had requested him specifically and would work with no other.

  The Joe team had been brought up to date on the situation, and now all this talk was flying about Jaye being related to Destro, and it wasn't kind. It was reopening old wounds among them. Flint couldn't listen to it anymore...one of the reasons he had come up here was for some quiet.

  "Not really..." Destro stepped forward and leaned over the rail next to the warrant officer, "and in any case, I needed to talk to you alone."

  "And what could you possibly have to say that I would be interested in hearing?"

  He didn't have time for this. The chopper carrying their British counterparts would be here any minute. Jaye would be here...and he was trying to figure out a way to protect her from the angry mob of Joes sure to accost her without getting slammed himself in the process.

  When they had learned that she would be part of the squad with whom they would be working, there had been protests all around. Hawk warned them to be on their best behavior or suffer serious consequences...but Flint knew there were ways around it. Not everyone was as patient and tolerant as Snakes and Red. Not everyone was as easy going as Shipwreck. He was beginning to see why this particular group was chosen for the British mission.

  "Ach, you are a stubborn one, aren't you..." Destro shook his head and smiled, "But then again so is my niece. It's a wonder you two haven't killed each other yet."

  "We've come close..."

  "I'm not surprised. Once, when she was younger...I think she must have been about thirteen at the time, she decided that her interpretation of this piece by Liszt was correct, and her instructor...one of the best...disagreed. They fought for days over it, and finally I had to intervene. She relented quickly, which in retrospect should have clued me in to the potential danger. She agreed to play the piece his way, the conventional way, at the benefit that was being held that weekend. The elite of the arts community were in attendance, and she, with a glint in her eye, winked at me as she was going on. I knew then that she was going to play it her way regardless."

  Flint couldn't suppress a small grin. That sounded very much like the Jaye he knew. Destro continued.

  "The audience's reaction was stupendous. They loved it. She is quite a talented musician, comparing favorably to the great pianists of the day such as Claudio Abado or Daniel Barenboim. She inherited the ear and skill from her late mother, herself a celebrated Cellist. The reviews were rave. I was furious at her for disobeying me...we are all taught early on that we must obey our elders without question...but at the same time I realized that she was right. When she feels she is right, she will not back down. Regardless of who stands in her way. It is a great annoyance, but I have learned to trust her instincts."

  "So I have decided to trust her instincts again. God knows why, but it seems my niece has become quite fond of you. So much so that it has begun to strain her effectiveness as an mi-6 agent. I regret now the necessity that brought her into this mess, as she has not been the same since last years fiasco."

  That got his attention, "You got what you wanted from her, why would you care..."

  "Don't be a fool...I love my niece more than you would know. I will protect her with my very last breath...as I think you would as well, if you were man enough to admit it."

  "Watch it..." Flint warned...

  "I most certainly will not. Not where she is concerned. " Destro sighed, "Look, I did not come up here to fight you, but to give you a word of advice. Trust her...she is my blood; my clan revolves around the concepts of honor and loyalty. She would not willingly betray GIJOE to COBRA any more than she would betray me to GIJOE. It is not her nature."

  "And yet I saw it with my own eyes."

  "Looks can be deceiving."

  "If you are so interested in clearing her name, then why don't you tell me what really happened out there. You obviously were a party to it."

  "Unfortunately, I am bound by the same restrictions that keep her silent, although believe you me, I have tried my best to work around it."

  "So again I get the same answer...nothing." He shook his head, revealing his frustration

  "You set out to find her once, to prove her innocence..." Flint turned to look at the man standing next to him...how did he know? "Why did you give up so easily? Why do you fight what it is that is in your heart?"

  Flint looked incredulous. Who was this man...his enemy...who could see through him like this? Why was he standing here taking it without challenging him on his presumptuousness?

  "You wonder how I presume so much with a stranger, an enemy. Am I right?" Destro smiled enigmatically, " I see you are a good man, Flint. An honorable one. I have watched you with Alison as well...yes, you would be surprised at what I know, young man...quite surprised. I know you are fighting it, but it's obvious you feel deeply for her. I wish to see my niece happy...she is with you. Do not give up on her."

  So intent was he on this conversation that he failed to notice that the RAF helicopter had arrived. He looked over to the landing pad just in time to see it touching down. Joes were already gathering around the area...

  "Damn...I have to get down there..."

  "To protect her from an angry mob?" Destro laughed, "I thought you knew her better than that...watch"

  The troops British troops descended from the chopper to greet their American counterparts, and behind them came a beautiful figure dressed in a tight black pants and boots and a white tank top. Her eyes were hidden behind a set of sunglasses, her hair was tied back in a long braid down her back, strapped to her legs were two Desert Eagles in their holsters, the buckle on her belt sporting the same symbol of the lion on crossed swords as her tattoo. Across her back was strapped a very menacing looking set of javelins.

  Jaye stood proud among the troops as she glanced at the scene before here, calmly taking in the group of stunned and angry Joes...her former friends, before signaling to the man on her right to start unloading the equipment.

  Duke greeted her and gestured to the door of the operations room, she nodded and followed behind. Flint saw Beachhead break from the crowd and moved to intercept but a strong hand on his shoulder held him back..."

  "Watch..." Destro whispered.

  Beachhead came closer to her and said something that was less than polite from the look on his face when he said it. The crowd went silent...the soldier behind her brought up his gun but she gestured for him to stand down. She turned to look at Beachhead...giving him a look of such disdain and disgust that Flint could feel the vibe from up where he was standing, the look of a noble looking down on some dirty beggar. Beachhead shrunk from it, and she turned to continue on her way.... Suddenly he struck out with the butt of his gun.

  "Traitorous Bitch!!!!!!!!!"

  He was on his back in a second. Lady Jaye in one swift and fluid movement worthy of Snake Eyes had turned his momentum against him and brought him to the ground. She had a knife out in an instant and held it steadily against his throat.

  Before the other Joes could react, she had sheathed her weapon and was back making her silent way towards ops. They cleared out of her way, mouths hanging open. They had forgotten how deadly she could be...

  ...But they had never known her to be so cold.

  He didn't realize he had said it out loud.

  "Frightening, isn't it. This is what she has learned from her military training in Britain. Her relation to me combined with her position among the aristocracy made her a pariah among her fellow soldiers...this was the only way she found she could deal with it. She has learned to shut off her emotions, her personal misgivings, her feelings for the people around her and concentrate only on the mission. Quite ironic really...this along with her sharp mind made her the perfect candidate for mi-6.... something she wanted to avoid."

  "Her stint with the Joe team managed to break down those barriers...much to the chagrin of her superiors in London."

  Flint nodded, just now understanding what Jaye had meant when she told him that she had been herself with him, more than with anyone else.

  "And now she has to build them back up with us..."

  "Yes...I see you understand. I do not want her to go through this again. Damn her father. He never knew her or understood her. He only saw what he wanted to see. She ripped her away from the only life she knew and threw her to the wolves...she was happiest with the Joe team. I would give that back to her, despite knowing that to do so would mean losing her again."

  Flint studied the man standing next to him. What was Destro playing at? For all intents and purposes, this could be a well-conceived ploy to get his 'mole' back among the Joes, appealing to his emotions so that he would work towards this very thing without suspecting any foul play. For some reason, however, his gut feeling about this whole conversation told him otherwise. Something about his eyes, his posture...his tone of voice...it all felt genuine. Still, he hesitated. Destro was not someone you dropped your guard with...uncle or not...he was someone to be feared. He was a cunning opponent.

  "It won't be easy...she is, after all, related to the enemy."

  Destro frowned, "The sins of the father...I thought you were more intelligent than that, Flint."

  Flint noticed some activity at the chopper and turned to see a figure emerging from the cockpit. His body went rigid. Destro followed his eye to see what had upset him.

  William...

  Destro shook his head and turned towards the stairs, leaving Flint with one last remark...

  "I am not asking you to trust me anymore than I trust you, Dashielle Faireborne. Once this truce is over and our task is completed, we will go to our separate and opposing sides of the battlefield."

  "What I am asking is for you to trust her...to trust your heart."

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Continued in Chapter Seven!
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