A WINTER'S TALE
BY: THE BARD

Chapter Five
The Promise

 "Where...is....she?" Flint growled through gritted teeth, pausing for emphasis on every word. His face barely concealed his anger and worry.

  "I...I don't know sir..." Dial Tone squeaked. He looked like he was about to lose it, "she isn't anywhere on the base and I ...I can't seem to contact her via radio..."

  Before his warrant officer could terrify the youngest and most inexperienced member of his team any further, Duke decided it was time to cut in. Very few people could stand up to Flint when he got like this, and poor Dial Tone didn't know enough to quit while he was ahead.

  "Its ok, son," he gestured towards the group of Joes readying for the mission, "go join the others. Make sure the communications equipment will hold out in this cold. I don't want anyone getting lost out there with no way to phone home."

  He watched Dial Tone scurry off and then turned to his friend. The sun shone brightly in the early morning sky and the two of them had just joined up outside of Flint's tent to discuss Lady Jaye's disappearance. Leatherneck had been the first to notice her missing, and had come to Duke immediately.

  "I'm worried..." he had said, in a tone uncharacteristic of this tough as nails soldier, "she wasn't herself last night..."

  Lady Jaye had a way of getting to the people she worked with. Even Duke found it hard to resist her charm and good nature. Mind you, she was a mean customer if you crossed her. Not something to be trifled with.

  Her good nature was all the more endearing given that she had managed to keep herself from falling prey to anger or despair in the wake of what had happened. So few knew the truth...just himself and Hawk, and he suspected Flint as well. She didn't talk about it to anyone, and he respected her privacy.

  He thought back to the day when they had found her, had brought her onto the team. She was a rogue, an ex-army intel agent who had signed out and gone solo. Somehow through her many connections, she had managed to track COBRA on her own for two years, crossing paths every so often with the Joe team until one day Hawk decided to put her on a leash.

  "This personal vendetta of hers is going to get her killed," he had said to Duke while handing him her file, "but she is too good to break. I say we harness her skills, we need people like her."

  He also added that this way he could keep a better eye on her. Duke nodded his understanding, having already been told her story.

  She had been reluctant to accept at first. In fact, it had taken three visits before she finally relented, and Duke was certain Hawk's 'little chat' with her behind closed doors was what tipped the scales. Not for the first time he wondered what had been said.

  Hawk had teamed her with Flint immediately. The tough, no nonsense Warrant Officer was just what was needed to keep Lady Jaye in line during confrontations with COBRA, and his almost immediate attachment to the young lady meant he was also quite protective of her. Hawk was happy with that unexpected turn of events, as it seemed to ease his mind regarding her welfare.

  "I doubt he is going to be thrilled when he finds out that the 'attachment' seems to be leading somewhere else entirely." Duke thought as he shook his head, "He is not going to like it at all."

  Truth be told, he had headed straight for Flint's tent not to warn him, but to chew him out. He had fully expected to find Lady Jaye there, which showed just how suspicious he had become of the two Joes.

  Although relieved to find he was wrong, Flint's reaction did nothing to quell his doubt about the true nature of their relationship. If anything, it only served to strengthen his resolve to end the charade and end it soon lest it bring down his entire company.

  He was just sorry it had to be his best friend that was going to take the beating.

  "It's his own damn fault." He thought to himself, "Dash has to learn he can't sleep with every woman he meets."

  Duke fought down the wee tinge of jealousy that usually accompanied his acknowledgement of Flint's success with woman. No matter how long he hung out with the guy it never seemed to rub off on him.

  "That was unnecessary..." He looked down at Flint's bandaged hand. Doc told him the man had broken three fingers after a confrontation with a conifer. Idiot.

  "We need to find her..." Flint hissed, bringing his wounded hand up to his chest...it was obviously hurting him. He winced and went to continue but before he could Mutt ran up and cut him off

  "Sir" he saluted "Viper tracks. Junkyard found them all around the camp. Cobra was here last night."

  Duke watch all color drain from Flint's face. They had obviously both just come to the same conclusion.

  "Get your dog ready to hit the trail, Mutt." Duke answered him quickly, hoping to distract him from the look that was coming across Flint's face. "With any luck the scent will lead him right to COBRA's front door."

  "Yes, sir..."

  "Duke!" A voice piped in from behind. Gung Ho was running towards them at a decent clip. Could this possibly get any worse?

  "Duke," he turned to salute Flint as well but the man seemed distracted by something near his tent, "sir...Supplies are missing from our store. And Alpine, Bazooka and Low Light have not reported for duty yet this morning. No one has seen them."

  "Shit," it was becoming clearer now...

  "Mutt...any signs of a struggle out there? Blood on the snow? Anything?"

  "No Sir. Just tracks...and lots of them"

  He turned to look at his friend, and found him even paler than before. He was clutching something in his good fist. Dog Tags.

  Duke didn't even have to say it. Flint whispered the words before he had the chance.

  "She's gone AWOL".

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  Headquarters, 1 1/2 years ago...

  Flint stood silently in the doorway of the gym watching her. A cool breeze wafted in from the desert, welcome after the hot dry day they had just had.

  It was three in the morning.

  He was still furious with her. How dare she talk to him like that! He was her commanding officer...he outranked her by a good mile. He could have her up on charges. Not only for that but also for hurtling headlong into the enemy this morning, scaring him out of his wits in the process. She came within inches of getting her head blown off in her suicidal attempt to get to Cobra Commander.

  He was still shaking when he confronted her on the flight back to HQ. With anger or with fear he was not sure, but anger certainly won the day when he opened his mouth.

  Of course, Jaye being Jaye...well, she let him have it right back. Right in front of Snake Eyes, Stalker and Scarlett. The latter had unsuccessfully attempted to hide a smile the whole damn time.

  As he watched, she slammed her fists into the punching bag...hard, ruthless. Her hands were taped up and she was wearing sweatpants and a white tee shirt...feminine, yet at the same time deadly. She spun and kicked the bag in a graceful movement that he couldn't help but admire.

  Sweat ran down her face. She was working hard. Her fists flying in what he was beginning to see was almost desperation. As he moved closer, the look in her eyes took him aback. There was fury there...the same fury he had seen when she had let loose on him. But...what was that...tears?

  Must be a trick of the light.

  "Go away, Flint." She grunted as she continued to work at the bag. Right, Left, Right..Right...

  "Oh, so its Flint now...Not Bastard...Idiot..." he stated angrily.

  She didn't look up, just punched harder. Faster.

  "So you are going to ignore me now." He snarled, "I don't know why I don't bring you up on charges of insubordination..."

  "Go ahead. I don't care..." she swung in a circle and slammed a kick in that was so hard that it sent the bag flying.

  "What is a matter with you!" he grabbed her from behind to stop her. It was then that he noticed her hands were all bruised.

  She struggled against him. "Let me go!"

  "No...not until you stop this." His anger was fading, replaced with worry. Where was the sweet girl he worked with. Where did this firebrand come from? "Not until you talk to me."

  "Is that an order!?" She snarled, fighting him harder. Something told him not to let go. Something called to him...a little voice in his head...a cry for help.

  "Why did you call me back?! Why?! I could have killed him. I could have finished him off!"

  He held her tight and said nothing as she squirmed and kicked against her captor. Man, she was strong.

  He was about to give up and let her go when he noticed she had ceased struggling. He felt her body shaking, quivering.

  Was she?

  Yes...She was crying...

  "Shhh...Alison," he whispered her real name for the first time. He wasn't good at this kind of thing. Women in tears usually threw him into a panic, making him run for the nearest exit. This time...with her...he couldn't tear himself away. He cared too much. She was more than his teammate. She was his friend.

  He loosened his grip, but to his surprise she didn't move. If anything, she pressed closer...he felt something flutter in his heart but he quickly buried it.

  "Talk to me Alison," he bought his hand up and tentatively stroked her head, "Tell me what is so important that you would throw your life away for it..."

  She was silent for a while, and he wondered if she was going to close up again, but with a deep breath she began.

  "Remember when we first met you asked me what a rich girl like me was doing in the army?"

  He nodded, remembering the conversation they had had over coffee while sitting on the roof of headquarters. It was two days after she had joined and they had been teamed up.

  She sighed...

  "It...I..." she struggled to find the words, "when I graduated from Trinity I was ready to take on the world. I had finished in the top 5 of my class in Linguistics, spent three summers touring with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and had just received word that I had been accepted to Julliard with a full scholarship. I was on top of the world. I could do anything. I had money, I had the brains...all I needed to do was choose my path."

  "I wanted to be an actress, or do something in the arts. Anything. My parents were not thrilled with my choice...well...at least my father wasn't. He would have rather I continue on in academia. My mother was beside herself...finally her daughter would cut out the tomboy shenanigans and be a lady. I think she saw me as the next Audrey Hepburn!"

  She laughed softly. "God, I caused that woman so much grief growing up...it's a wonder I didn't drive her to drink."

  Lady Jaye paused then, staring off into space, remembering. He watched her quietly, waiting for her to go on.

  "I guess I should have seen it coming. Everything was going so well. Too well." She took a deep breath, " My father...Andrew Burnett...he was working on something top secret at the time. He had been so busy while I was away in Ireland finishing my last year I hardly saw him. I was curious as to what he was up to, but was so caught up in my own life that I didn't even bother to ask. Not that he would have told me..."

  "I found out later that he was chair of a small committee whose purpose was to deal with a new threat to the United States. That threat was a terrorist group simply known as COBRA. My father was helping to put together the GIJOE team."

  Flint was dumbfounded. He recognized that name immediately. Every Joe knows it. But if he was Lady Jaye's father, then...

  "COBRA killed them. He killed them all" she shuddered and tears began to flow freely from her eyes, "My father, my mother...my brother...all dead. Their private jet shot down by a Rattler on their way to my graduation ceremony."

  "Oh, God...Alison, " He pulled her closer, wrapped her in his arms, rocking her as she cried. Senator Andrew Burnett...my god... It was his money and power that had pulled the strings that had brought GIJOE to the table. It was his assassination that had pushed GIJOE through the political red tape and brought the team to life.

  She took a deep breath to calm herself and continued.

  "I went to stay with my grandmother in London for a while. She was the only family I had left. It was there, at Christmas, where I made my decision...where my life changed forever. I vowed revenge."

  "I joined the army...with my language and acting skills intel and covert ops was a natural choice. I learned everything I could...trained religiously. I didn't have time for anything else. When I was done I signed out and used my family's extensive contacts to track COBRA on my own. I was an assassin. My target was Cobra Commander."

  "Two years into it, Hawk found me...brought me onto the team. You know the rest..."

  They sat there quietly, Flint still cradling her in his arms as she slowly calmed down. He didn't know what to say. What could he say? He couldn't imagine the sense of loneliness she must feel, the loss. Flint thought back to his own family...his 2 older brothers, his mom and dad back in Kansas. His nieces and nephews. He hardly spoke to them anymore...the team kept him too busy...but to never be able to speak to them again? To be truly alone?

  The pain must be unbearable. Not for the first time, he marveled at the woman he had been chosen to work with. Her strength, her courage, her dedication and good nature.

  "I'm sorry, Flint..." she went to move away "I didn't mean to burden you with my...."

  He stopped her before she could get away. "Dashiell...my name is Dashiell."

  She turned to him, surprise evident on her face.

  "I know, I know...my mom was reading the Maltese Falcon while she was pregnant with me..." Joes rarely gave out their real identities so freely. To do so was a sign of friendship...of trust. He had kept it from her for too long.

  "I just...look...Please, don't be sorry. I should be the one apologizing about coming down on you so hard before..."

  "No...you didn't know...no one does really....I..."

  He interrupted her before she could continue. "The truth is you scared the crap out of me today. I thought I had lost you...I was more frightened than anything else. It came out the only way my, what did you call it, 'testosterone fueled brain' knows how to process fear...as anger."

  Did he just admit that to her?

  She settled back down next to him, and leaned into his chest. It felt...well...it felt right. They talked until the sun went up, and parted with a promise.

  Lady Jaye would try to control herself in battle, try and keep herself safe...and he would help her take down COBRA the only way he knew how. Through their work with the Joes.

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  Flint clutched her dog tags as he struggled to regain control of his fear and anger.

  "She promised me she wouldn't..." he whispered. They had worked as a team, excelled, the two of them working within the system and to bring the enemy down piece by piece. He had hoped she had forgotten the personal vendetta.

  "Promised you she wouldn't what?" Duke swung around

  He was silent. He had promised...

  "What do you know, Flint?" Duke was angry, "This isn't a game...there are lives at stake. What is she up to?"

  "Revenge."

  Duke went silent. He knew the story. What he didn't know was what she was capable of. What he had stopped her from pursuing early on in their relationship.

  "Oh Shit..." he whispered, then turned and shouted, "Mutt, get Junkyard on that scent ASAP. We don't have much time. We have to find them!"

  Suddenly, the ground shook as an explosion ripped through the wilderness. They all looked up in time to see a ball of flames shooting up into the air miles to the North East. The sound of gunfire followed.

  "I think I have a pretty good idea where they are." Mutt muttered.

  Flint gripped the dog tags so hard his hand began to ache.

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Continued in Chapter Six!
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