A WINTER'S TALE
BY: THE BARD

Chapter Three
Men Don't Cry

  He studied the fiery light off the end of his cigarette as it glowed in the dark before placing it against his lips and drawing in its calming smoke. The silence of the night surrounded him, enveloping him in its comforting embrace...chasing off the nightmares that come to him when his head hit the pillow.

  Low Light yawned. He was tired...but as usual his memories wouldn't let him sleep so he volunteered for guard duty. It was a lonely post, but it suited him. He liked to be alone. He liked the power that the night gave him. He could see everything yet he could not be seen. He answered to no one. He held life and death in his hands as he watched over the vulnerable souls who slept around him...lost in their dreams.

  He would protect them. He would never fail them. Not like his mother, who had failed to protect him from the terrors of nightfall. Not like his father, who had thrown him out with nothing but his pajamas and a cap gun between him and the 'imaginary' monsters that his young mind had created and who roamed the dark.

  "Get out there, you chicken shit...they aren't real...stop blubbering. Men don't cry so stop that right now or I'll beat the bloody tears out of you..."

  But they were real, Daddy. They were right there in front of me clear as day as I looked into your eyes.

  Movement to below caught his attention and he shifted his sights silently towards the source. A lone figure was wandering about the perimeter of the makeshift camp, he squinted to focus, bringing his gun up but lowering it quickly afterwards when he realized it was Lady Jaye.

  He watched her as she made her way along the snowy path, carrying a hot drink in one hand and a flashlight in the other. I guess someone else was having trouble sleeping tonight.

  Low Light shifted the blanket that covered his shoulders to help block out the cold and reflected on the truism 'don't judge a book by its cover'. Truth be told, he had thought of her as a bit of a snob when they were first introduced...a judgment based solely on the fact that she came from money and dressed the part. How far off the mark he had been!

  As he slowly got to know her better he was pleasantly surprised to find a genuine, friendly, intelligent and caring person...not snobby at all...well...she could throw it around at times but all and all she was one of the guys, and quite a soldier.

  All the Joes adored her...and it wasn't just because she was a gal. Sure they drooled over Cover Girl and were in awe (and a bit afraid) of Scarlett,...but Lady Jaye...she was special. And the thing is she didn't even know it. For someone with so much going for her she had surprising low self esteem. I had something to do with her mother...she mentioned to him in passing, although she failed to elaborate. She talked very little about her family...

  It was something he could relate to.

  He was a loner by nature, and avoided contact with the others unless necessary. It came with the territory, really. Snipers were loners. They were not meant to be team players. But hanging with her, Alpine and Bazooka was pretty tolerable. Ok...it was fun, although Bazooka could be exasperating at times. How in the world was Alpine able to work with him day in and day out?

  He continued to watch as Lady Jaye stopped to take a sip of her drink, dropping the flashlight in the process. She swore under her breath and Low Light smiled. For a lady of 'proper' upbringing she certainly had quite the vocabulary! He moved to join her but froze as he caught sight of someone approaching from behind.

  Flint.

  Jay turned and said nothing as he strode up to her and bent to pick up her flashlight. Lowlight crouched low to stay hidden and listened as Flint began to speak.

  "Couldn't sleep?" he asked as he handed her back the torch.

  "No...I was having a late night snack with Leatherneck and Gung Ho. I am just heading in. Am I allowed out and about or am I to be confined to my tent as well?" Her sarcastic tone did not sit well with Flint.

  "Show a little respect Corporal..."

  "Oh...we are playing this game now, are we Flint?" she sneered, "Sorry, sir...but my respect is something you are going to have to earn back..." she turned to leave but he grabbed her by the arm before she could take a step.

  "You deliberately disobeyed me..."

  "Ripcord was in trouble. He needed help...you were going to leave him there."

  "You don't know that...you didn't even stop to think. You just took off after I told you to stay put..."

  "I know what I am doing...he is a good friend...if you hadn't come in after me with guns blazing we might have made out better than we did."

  "What was I supposed to do after you ran into enemy fire? What did you expect me to do?"

  "I expected you to tell them the truth, Flint...that YOU were the one who threw the mission. That you were the one who..."

  "YOU disobeyed my orders!" His voice rose slightly...he was trying not to yell...not to raise attention.

  "No, Flint...you let me take a fall so that no one would find out. To save your career...to hide what is happening...happened...between us. If they found out you scrubbed everything to save me, questions would be asked, ones you aren't prepared to answer..." she looked down at the snow, "...not even to yourself."

  Low Light watched as Flint took his hand off her shoulder and took a step back.

  "We...we have talked about this, Alison." He whispered, "we can't..."

  "No...we can't..." she sighed and in the soft moonlight Lowlight could see a single tear shimmering like crystal on her cheek, "I guess its over then."

  "I never said that..." Flint said quickly, "I was talking about telling people what was going on...not..."

  "Its one and the same. I'm tired of sneaking around."

  "You are asking too much...our careers, our position with the Joe team..."

  "Yes..." she turned and began to walk away, "maybe I am asking to much. I am sorry, Flint. I should never have allowed this to happen. I know how much your job means to you. We should never have taken such a risk."

  Flint looked frantic. Low Light clenched his teeth and whispered "Come on Flint, just say it...don't let her walk away like that. Don't be a fool..."

  "...so that's it then. You are ending it. I should have known. Who is it? Alpine, Low Light....Ripcord?"

  Lowlight shook his head...oh boy.

  She stopped. She didn't even turn, but her body tensed and even from his perch high above them, Low Light could feel the anger building.

  "You are an idiot, Dashiel Faireborn."

  With that she was gone...leaving Flint standing alone in the snow. He stood there, unmoving, for what seemed like an eternity...so long that Low Light was beginning to worry.

  Suddenly Flint swung around and with a shout slammed his fist into the tree next to him. The bark shattered with the force and Low Light grimaced as he imagined the pain he must now be experiencing. He watched as Flint brought his battered, bloody hand close to his body before he slowly moved off into the night.

  Low Light leaned back and shut his eyes.

  "I guess you and I learned the same lesson, Flint. Men don't cry."

  But we feel...oh god, do we feel!

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Continued in Chapter Four!
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