A WINTER'S TALE
BY: THE BARD

Chapter Four
A.W.O.L.

 She awoke with a start, her eyes struggling to adjust to the darkness around her.

  Something was not right.

  Ever since she was very young, Lady Jaye had a kind of sixth sense...premonitions of danger or disaster that woke her, screaming, in the middle of the night. Her parents were beside themselves, desperately trying to calm their terrified child. They attributed it to nightmares that, much to her chagrin, lead to some limitations as to what she was allowed to read and watch lest they feed her rather vivid imagination.

  She herself learned quickly that the uneasiness had rather a deeper, more disturbing significance than mere monsters under the bed, and even at her young age knew that to reveal what she suspected would be the 'wrong' thing to do. That her parents would not understand. She learned to ignore the warnings that came to her, and soon they faded to a mere nagging at the back her mind that was easy to disregard.

  She had almost forgotten them until that fateful night when she had awoken to a terrible dread, and because she dismissed it, lost everything.

  Lady Jaye glanced at her watch. 2 AM. She rose quickly from her sleeping bag, donned her coat and strapped on her javelins, knife and gun. She slept fully clothed, as all Joes do when on mission, ever prepared for attack.

  The air outside her tent was icy cold and she drew her hood up over her head to protect her from the chill as she silently made her way to the perimeter. Around her the camp was silent...all the Joes were asleep and those on guard were nowhere to be seen. It was so cold that they were probably hidden deep in the two makeshift guard towers trying to keep warm.

  She crept easily toward the perimeter, making hardly a sound as she passed beside the tents containing her slumbering teammates. She was covert-ops after all. Intelligence. You learned stealth. You learned to disappear. To blend into the background until you could be standing right in front of your quarry and not be noticed. You learned to hide and observe. She knew very few could match her skill. She was a master of disguise, of stealth. She could become anyone, blend in anywhere, make herself invisible.

  Snake Eyes once joked that she would make a great assassin, signing to her in amusement after she had succeeded in sneaking up on him in a crowded Turkish marketplace and placed a knife at his throat before he knew what was happening. It was only his quick and deadly ninja skills that 'saved' him. He had her down on the ground with his sword drawn before she could blink.

  Although he had meant it as a compliment, she merely frowned. If only he knew how close he was to the truth.

  This was before she joined the Joe team. In fact, although she did not know it at the time, the whole set up was a test, which she obviously passed with flying colors for not long after General Hawk had approached her with the offer that would change everything.

  Lady Jaye crouched down as movement in the distance caught her eye, frustrated that she didn't possess Low Light's night vision. At least the clouds had cleared and the moon shone it's pale light onto the white figures moving away from the camp. Definitely not friendly, she thought to herself as she rummaged through her pack and brought up her binoculars.

  COBRA scouts.

  Her first inclination was to sound the alarm, but the thought was quickly quashed as her mind began to shift towards another, more dangerous plan. She rose quickly and quietly, making her way towards the supply tent where she grabbed what little she would need. She strapped on extra ammo and a set of snow shoes to her back before turning and making her way out into the wilderness.

  On her way out of the camp she paused by a familiar tent and toyed with the idea of waking him, of telling him where she was going...of what she was planning.

  Would he would try to stop her, as he had done long ago when he found out her secret?

  Of course he would.

  And if she asked him to join her?

  No. She could not put him in that position, for she knew now when it came down to the count he would have to answer the call of duty. What she was about to do was wrong. She was disobeying orders...she was going against deep seeded rules of military conduct.

  She was going AWOL.

  A wave of deep sadness rose in her gut, so strong it nearly toppled her resolve. When she met Flint two years ago she had fought the feelings for him that were growing inside her heart. It was a losing battle, for as much as she tried to deny it she knew she had fallen in love with the brash young officer with his dark eyes and warrior's heart.

  She had let down her guard and allowed him in. Told him things she never dared tell anyone. Let him see her at her most vulnerable...and eventually surrendered to her desire and shared with him her body and soul.

  If he only knew how deeply she felt for him. If he only knew how much he had changed her life.

  If he only knew that only he was keeping her from fulfilling her desperate, deadly vow...a promise made on a snowy winter's night so many years ago.

  But no longer.

  The events of the past few days had made things clear to her. He did not love her. She was not angry with him really...hurt beyond all reason...but not angry. No. In fact as much as the pain and loss threatened to overwhelm her, she knew in his own harsh way he was right. Some things are more important than the foolishness called 'love'. Duty. And with that she knew it was time to finally fulfill hers.

  She pulled off her hood and slowly, carefully pulled off the cold metal chain that hung around her neck, closing her eyes as she tried to hold back the tears. She brought them to her lips and kissed the tags before hanging them on the corner of one of the tent posts.

  "You are an idiot, Dashiell Faireborn," she whispered in Gaelic, "but I am the greater fool, for I love you. I hope you remember me fondly if I don't make it back. And if I do, well, I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me."

  After what had happened recently, Lady Jaye doubted the latter very much. At least she would not drag him down with her. Their elicit affair would be remain secret and he need no longer fear she would be the ruin of all he had fought so hard to achieve.

  With a sigh turned and walked off into the night

  Those Snow Vipers would lead her right back to the COBRA hideout. It was time to exact her revenge. There was no longer anything holding her back.

  She clutched the locket that hung around her neck.

  It was LONG overdue.

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  "What is that fool girl up to now?" Low Light whispered to himself as he watched Lady Jaye make her way into the woods.

  He had spotted the Vipers in the snow and was about to sound the alarm when he noticed her sneaking about. He paused at the switch that would start the siren and wake the camp before swearing under his breath and jumping off the guard platform.

  Hurrying along towards the gate, he berated himself for his soft-hearted stupidity. This kind of behavior could lead to nothing but trouble for him. Unfortunately, it seemed, his knack for keeping a low profile was fighting a losing battle against the little nagging voice in his head that demanded he follow her.

  As he made his way out of the camp, he stopped dead in his tracks as a sound to his right alerted him that he was not alone. He raised his rifle slowly and sniffed the air, taking his finger off the trigger as he caught the scent of illegal Cuban cigars and nylon rope.

  "Go back to sleep Alpine." He said quietly without turning. Sitting still, he was perfectly able to hide from prying eyes...moving...well...he was not as stealthy as he should be. How many more people had he awoken?

  "No way Low Light...something is up, I can tell. Why else would you leave your post and head out like a thief" the mountaineer smiled slyly as he sidled up next to him "And you look guilty, like someone who just ran Scarlett's bra up the flag pole."

  "Someone ran Scarlett's bra up the flagpole?" another voice piped in from behind him. God, was the entire team going to catch him leaving?

  Alpine rolled his eyes, "Its just a figure of speech, Zooks" he turned back to Low Light, who had left them behind and was heading out in the direction which he had last seen her. If he wasn't quick he would lose her completely...he had to shake these two.

  "Would you two please go back to sleep..." Alpine ignored him.

  "If I didn't know any better, from the look on your face I'd say you were after a girl...but we are in the middle of nowhere...unless you have some inuit babe hiding in the woods out there that we don't know about..."

  Low Light sighed and continued moving. Alpine stopped fooling around and got serious.

  "Low Light...what's going on? Aren't you supposed to be on guard duty? Is COBRA here...If so we had better wake Duke and Fl...."

  "No." he said, more harshly than he had intended, startling both Alpine and Bazooka.

  "Look," he continued, against his better judgment, "It's Lady Jaye..."

  "WHAT!" Alpine shouted suddenly, causing Lowlight to jump on him and place a hand over his mouth to stifle the sound lest he alert the entire base to his nocturnal foray.

  "Quiet, you crazy mountain goat...you want to get us all in trouble with Duke?"

  "What.." he hissed quietly as Low Light slowly lifted his hand from his mouth. "Are you nuts? I mean, we have all had those thoughts come to us at one time or another...but Lady Jaye? God, if Flint even got a whiff of what was going on in your head you would be in for a world of hurt..."

  "Yeah man," Bazooka added as he adjusted his scarf and hat, "and anyways, she's family."

  Alpine and Low Light both turned to him at the same time and shook their heads. Leave it to Bazooka to sum everything up so naively yet so simply.

  "It's not that, you moron..." he hissed through clenched teeth. No one could possibly know what he knew about the two Joes in question...but everyone had their suspicions. Flint was notoriously protective of her from day one. This past year that protectiveness had bordered on possessiveness. "She's gone AWOL. Probably spotted the COBRA scouts before I did and decided to track them down. I am going to bring her back before she gets herself into more trouble than she is already in."

  "COBRA scouts?" Alpine grabbed his gun which was leaning up against the tree to their right and looked at Bazooka, who nodded.

  "Then we are going with you...Zooks, go and pick up some gear..." the artillery expert turned towards the supply tent "...and do it quietly!"

  "Alpine, are you nuts." Low Light growled, "Do you know what kind of trouble I am heading in to? Go back to sleep and pretend we never had this conversation...unless you want to spend Christmas in the Brig..."
 
  "Oh no, Low Light...no way." Alpine stated as Bazooka came back with three sets of packs. "As my buddy here says, we are family. And family stick together..."

  Low Light rolled his eyes but did not fight them on it, merely turned off to follow her partially obscured trail into the woods.

  How could he argue?

  What did he know of family? His was such a cruel, laughable joke.

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  Lady Jaye crouched down behind a tree. She had been trailing the Vipers for hours and was no closer to finding the base than when she started.

  Taking a javelin out of the quiver strapped to her back, she frowned as she watched the silent white figures moving along ahead of her, seemingly oblivious to her presence. She should get up and continued on behind them, but first...

  She gave her javelin a twist and it quickly grew to twice its length, deadly sharp blades swung out from either end and locked in place with a click.

  ...she was being followed.

  She had sensed them early on, but had ignored her pursuers in favor of keeping an eye on her quarry. It would be too easy to loss them in the dark and snow, and she couldn't risk them getting away. She had only so much time before the sun rose, and she wanted to find COBRA's den before her companions awoke to find her gone.

  Jaye had played with the idea of letting herself get 'captured', being led into the COBRA base that way, but dismissed it almost immediately. It was too risky. To many variables beyond her control. As it was her current plan was no walk in the park, but at least she could dictate her fate...at least she remained armed.

  Ace would call it playing the odds.

  Now, however, the hunter had become the hunted, as those tracking her had grown closer as the miles wore on. The COBRA vipers seem to have paused for a rest, which gave her opportunity she needed to deal with the problem swiftly and permanently.

  Waiting patiently, straining her ears until she could hear the faint but clear footfalls of her shadowers crunching in the hard snow. 'Three', she thought, analyzing the sounds with her expert ear. The one leading is the most quiet, she could barely make him out above the dim of the two klutzes behind him. Quiet usually meant fast and deadly. She would deal with him first then promptly dispatch the others.

  She would have to be fast, or the noise from the struggle will alert the Vipers ahead to her presence.

  As they entered her line of sight, she tensed, ready to attack.

  Wait....wait...

  Then, like a leopard pouncing on her prey she sprang, slamming the shaft of her javelin into the lead Viper's legs, causing him to crash down on his back, knocking the air out of his lungs. In the same swift and graceful movement, she twirled the shaft about and knocked his two companions to the ground before bringing the blade to bear, swiping it down in an attempt to slit the throat of the one lying at her feet.

  "JAYE! Stop..." came the urgent hiss from her right. She stopped the blade's descent inches from her enemy's face and looked down at her prey.

  "Low Light?!" she stumbled backwards as he struggled to get air into his lungs. "What the..."

  "Holy Shit, Jaye." Alpine came towards her from where she had toppled him to the ground..."Don't you look before you leap? You could have killed us!"

  "Ow!" Bazooka moaned, holding his head...feeling the bump that was beginning to form where the shaft of her weapon had hit him.

  "What the hell are you guys doing here..." she was angry, they would ruin everything.

  "I could ask you the same question young lady," Low Light hissed as he got up on his feet, "Flint is right, you don't think before you act." Her eyes narrowed in suspicion...what?...How did he?...but before she could finish her thought he continued angrily.

  "Didn't I tell you to lay low until the heat died down. You are going to get your ass thrown right off the team at this rate."

  She felt a hand on her arm and turned to see Alpine trying to turn her around. "Maybe we can get you back to camp without anyone noticing. If we hurry..."

  "No." she whispered. "Go back..." she turned to watch the Vipers, who were milling about in the clearing about 50 feet ahead of them. What were they up to? "I have business to finish here."

  "What are you talking about..." Alpine stopped as her hand came up to silence him.

  Something was happening.

  The ground began to vibrate beneath her feet and as she watched the ground opened up ahead of her. A ramp was lowering, the light emanating from underneath the ground cut through the night sky as the Vipers disappeared down before it quickly closed again, plunging them into darkness once more.

  "Jackpot." She whispered.

  "Good. We found it. Maybe that will get you back into Duke and Flint's good graces when we get back..." she heard Alpine mutter as she made her way to the area where she last saw the enemy.

  "You aren't going back, are you?" Low Light stated from behind her. She shook her head.

  "Well...then...I'm not going back either."

  "Low Light...you don't understand...."

  "No...I don't. But damned if I am going to let a friend go into that Viper's nest by herself!" She looked into his eyes and knew he would not be swayed. He put his hand out.

  "Count me in too...lil' sis" Bazooka came in and put his hand out on top of Low Light's.

  "You guys are going to get me killed, you know that!" Alpine moaned as he came over, but put his hand on Bazooka's immediately, "I'd rather face Storm Shadow than Flint when he finds out what you are up to, Jaye"

  She looked at them all. Her friends...

  "You don't know what you are getting into...I"

  Low Light interrupted her. "You don't need to tell us. If it is so important that you would throw your entire career away for it, then we will be there to back you up. Whatever it takes."

  She looked at him closely, for the second time that night wondering at what he knew.

  How come she had a feeling that it wasn't just the mission that he was referring to?

  She sighed, lifting her hand and placing it on top of theirs. She knew arguing would get her nowhere.

  "Ok...you win." They all smiled at her but she merely frowned back. This was a mistake...she needed to do this alone. But she didn't have time to argue. She had a promise to keep.

  "Just follow my lead and stay out of my way."

  Let's just hope they had enough sense to get the hell out of there once she reached her goal.

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Continued in Chapter Five!
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