A/N: I took the liberty of giving Jaye a nice house in Bethesda, MD. Both close and far enough away from the Vineyard to suit her, I think. Why shouldn't she have a house, anyway? It's sort of assumed that she's rich, though there's not that much solid evidence in the comic/show (aside from reloaded and the fanfic, of course!). God forbid she still live at home. I think I want to anchor her somewhere near DC, anyway, for my own future twisted use (the idea of a house party springs to mind...)
Flint had awakened refreshed from his nap, feeling more settled than he had in days. The stress had been wearing him down, but he knew he couldn't have done differently. A few days spent looking after his closest friend on base-- who just happened to share his bed on occasion– was worth any amount of lost sleep if it helped her to heal.
He sighed, not quite ready to get up yet. When she came in from her solitary contemplation in the desert, he knew she would find him. That he was still alone meant that she was still sitting out there. He glanced at the clock. She'd been out there for just about four hours. I understand that you need to think things through, he silently told her, but please don't take too long to come back to me. I need you, too.
Closing his eyes again, he pictured her how she had been before her capture, playing snippets of scenes in his mind:
Lady Jaye helping fight off a Cobra attack in the mountains, using one of her javelins in a move that had saved their lives. Her grace and surety of movement, the fluidity with which she pulled the weapon from the pack, extended it to full length, and let fly... It was amazing to watch. The teasing she received about her unconventional weapon was cut dramatically after that incident.
The time she nearly got stuck sneaking in through the back opening of a Cobra base in a series of caves... She had been the only one small enough to fit through the tiny side passage, and she almost hadn't made it. He pictured her, stuck in the hole, legs waving like Winnie the Pooh after a visit to rabbit's house. After listening to an impressive tirade of curses, he and his teammates had stopped laughing long enough to grab her feet and push her through. She had managed to sneak in and disable the defenses on the front entrance, giving the Joes the chance they needed to attack in force.
The way she had held back from the perfect opportunity to utterly embarrass him the first time they had been paired together in hand-to-hand combat practice. They were the 'example pair,' showing various moves as the rest of the class looked on. At one point, he had held her in a bear hug from behind, arms pinned to her sides as Beach Head postulated on the various defenses available to a smaller opponent. Flint had become rather visibly aroused as she had struggled against him, completely unaware of the effects her rear end was having on his front end. When she had finally locked her feet around the back of his knees and jerked his feet out from under him, landing on him in an ungraceful heap, she had started to get up, glancing as she did so at the front of his not-quite-loose-enough cotton work-out bottoms. She had immediately realized his problem, and much to his chagrin had pretended to fall backwards over his stomach, one arm landing strategically over the awkward bulge. She had whispered, "Breathe deep. Think unsexy thoughts," and told Beach Head she had twisted her knee and needed to rest a moment. When she had felt–literally–that his problem had passed, she had gotten to her feet and said her knee felt fine. He had been deeply grateful for the cover-up.
The times she teased him, able to disarm him completely with a smile or a word.
How he had felt when he had nearly lost her to the incompetence of a parachute rigger. Beach Head had managed to save her, but for the few moments she had been freefalling, both parachutes failing to open...
He shuddered at the memory, forcing his mind back to happier times...
The first time he had kissed her, taking her so completely by surprise that she had dropped the can of soda she was carrying. It had exploded all over them both, interrupting the moment but acting as a nice metaphor for the way it had made him feel.
The night, almost a month later, when he had finally gotten up the nerve to approach her quarters when they were both off-duty. She had answered the door wearing loose shorts and a tank top, the book she had been reading held at her side. Flint had stammered something nearly incomprehensible at her, but she had merely smiled coyly and invited him in. He didn't think he had managed one complete sentence the first five minutes he had been in her room, but she saw the way he was looking at her and she knew what was on his mind. Speech had left him completely when she began to undress in front of him, not teasing, but slowly, methodically. She had turned to face him, completely naked, holding his gaze as his heart hammered in his chest. She hadn't said anything, had simply held her hands out to him in invitation. With that gesture she had told him that her body belonged to him, belonged with him, and he had found that he hadn't needed words after all...
The few times since then that he had taken possession of her, the unbearable need he felt as soon as he saw that look in her eyes, and when she touched him...
And if I keep thinking about it, he told himself, mind back in the present, I am going to need another shower. A very cold one.
Lady Jaye found Dusty and Cover Girl first, sitting in a corner of the nearly abandoned mess hall. She sat across from them, noting the fact that they were holding hands under the table. Good for them, she thought.
"I really need to thank you two," she started. She still felt...disassociated... but it was getting better. She turned to the desert survivalist. "And Dusty, don't you dare feel guilty about what happened to me. After all, maybe if I had done things differently, we could have both escaped and neither of us would have been strapped to that machine. There's just no way to tell. So I won't feel guilty if you won't. Deal?" She held out her hand, and he took it. It felt solid, substantial. The pain was starting to recede. But it wasn't gone yet.
Cover Girl looked at her over the coffee she held in her free hand. "Glad to see you're doing better," she told her friend. "Take my advice and go see Flint."
Lady Jaye gave a small smile in return. "I will. But I have someone else to visit first."
She found Lifeline in his office. He rarely left it, even when his work was done. He looked up at her knock, surprise evident in her features.
"Alison, have a seat," he said. He leaned back, waiting for her to speak.
She took a deep breath. It wasn't him, she told herself. It wasn't him... She faced him squarely and said what she had come to say. "Lifeline, I'm sorry about the way I treated you earlier. I know the way I reacted to you hurt. You know I'm not crazy about hospitals... that played itself out in my nightmares. You were just a convenient figure for the machine to use. I... I trust you. I hope you know that."
He nodded, obviously relieved to hear it.
"I also know what you did in the Cobra base. That took a lot of courage. If anyone ever teases you about being a pacifist while I'm around, I'll lay them flat. You saved a lot of lives, and without you, Dusty and I might never have gotten out. We owe you so much..." She closed her eyes for a moment, forcefully suppressing the images of her dead teammates that rose in her mind.
"Will you be... okay?" His soft voice interrupted her thoughts.
She nodded and rose from the chair. "I'm not back on my feet yet... but I'm getting there."
She left to find the one other person she needed to see. I'm not going to be a whole person again without his help, she admitted to herself. I've always hated relying on others, but if that machine taught me one thing about myself, it's that I'm not in this alone...
Flint's eyes snapped open when he heard his door handle turn. The door opened just wide enough for Lady Jaye to slip in; she closed it behind her, and he heard the sound of the lock engaging. He sat up, but she came to him, sitting next to him on the bed and wrapping her arms around him. He held her, not speaking, not daring to break the moment. But he had to know.
Flint gently held her at arm's length, looking into her eyes. She still looked scared, hurt, vulnerable, but there was strength and determination there, too– and something else.
She reached out to him, whispering a single word. "Please..."
He shivered, hearing so much in her voice: fear, need, longing. He bent forward and kissed her softly, aware that her most recent 'experience' with this had not been gentle or pleasant. He vowed to overwrite those memories as best he could. Something Lifeline had told him upon Jaye's release from the infirmary rose in his mind, making sense to him now as it hadn't then. I can't do anything else now... But there are different kinds of healing...
His every move, every touch, conveyed his feelings, told her that he would love her and protect her as long as he was able. He had never been particularly delicate with her in the past, and he found that this was an entirely new set of experiences for him, at once more arousing and deeply satisfying than it had ever been before. Perhaps because no one had ever needed him this much before.
She held on to him tightly, tense at first, but finally relaxing in his embrace, finding the healing and release she needed in his arms.
Having just had a nap, Flint was not particularly tired. Instead he held Lady Jaye in his arms while she slept, watching as the dark shadows fell from her face and she smiled in her sleep, snuggling closer against his chest with a sigh.
Two weeks later...
Lady Jaye sat with Flint in the front cab of the convoy rig. The Joes were transporting a new plane to the base, and they were on the lookout for Cobra, as usual. This was her first mission since her escape from Mindbender's lab... not that it was really a mission. Escort duty for the experimental plane was fairly low-key compared to things she'd done in the past.
She thought over her what had happened since then. She and Flint had been granted a week's "medical" leave, and had spent the time at her home in Bethesda, Maryland. He had never been there before– in fact, they had never been on leave together before– and he had been impressed with his surroundings. She had been afraid he might be intimidated by the obvious fact that she was well-off, but he enjoyed the hot tub, and the work-out room, and the library...Well, they had both enjoyed those rooms, actually...
She had returned to base feeling more herself than she had in a long time. She was slightly nervous about how she would perform in a battle... But Duke had confidence in her. Flint, too– he had suggested she join him for this mission, knowing she would continue to feel insecure until she faced Cobra again. And she was... But not as much as she might have been.
She shook her head. She needed to be alert for any signs of a Cobra attack. They were well guarded and armed, but another pair of eyes never hurt.
She listened to the banter of the other Joes on the back of the truck. Snow Job was fantastically happy with the surrounding snow... Alpine was making fun of Bazooka, as usual... Recondo was sick of the cold... same old, same old, she thought. What would I do without you all...
Her stomach lurched as she heard the voice over the radio announcing a squad of Snow Serpents ahead. They had barricaded the roadway, and were already beginning to fire. This is it...she thought. The real test...
They managed to blast through the roadblock, but things turned heavy when the Fangs and Rattlers showed up. She knew she needed to help her friends fend off the attack. Lady Jaye climbed out of the passenger window, leaving Flint to continue driving the giant rig.
"Was it something I said?" He quipped on her way out. She smiled. Always the comic-- on the surface, anyway.
Despite the generous cannon attached to the back of the truck, the Cobra assault was going strong. She took a deep breath, readying herself for her first real battle since... Block it out, girl, she told herself. Concentrate...
She fired the cannon again and again; she and the other Joes were fighting for all they were worth. Cobra planes and helicopters were falling around them like rain. But the cannon couldn't rotate fast enough to keep up with the circling vehicles. "Oh, what the Hell..." she muttered, climbing out of the cannon.
She grabbed a javelin and cocked back her arm to throw. It was a perfect shot. One more Fang down in flames. She readied another, looking for a good target...
There. The rattler, turning around for another strafing run. Damned if I'm gonna let you get a shot at my teammates, she vowed silently. She threw.
Lady Jaye took a moment to cheer when she saw the plane start to smoke. Then she watched in horror as its trajectory became obvious.
"Flint!" She screamed, not knowing if he could hear her inside the rig, "That cabin!"
He stopped the truck with a squeal of tires as the Cobra planes retreated. She was off the truck and running before it had even stopped.
Oh, God, the cabin is on fire... She ran, desperate to help. Two forms lay in the snow outside the small A-frame. She crouched next to a young boy as he sobbed. She caught some of what he was saying, and her heart dropped. "Sally... Where's my sister?"
Lady Jaye stared at the front door of the cabin. Flames were already shooting out of the opening; the air was thick with smoke...
She froze, her mind remembering the smell of her own seared flesh...
His sister was in there...
She didn't even remember making the decision to enter the house. She just ran, trying to block the heat as much as possible with her jacket. It was difficult to see, difficult to breathe... The flames licked at her hair, began to burn her arms... Her flesh started to smoke; she could see the skin turning black, starting to peel away from muscle... No, damn it! I will NOT give in to the fear!
The girl was in the kitchen, lying near the table. Lady Jaye scooped her up, but lost the way out in the confusion of smoke and noise around her. She started to panic... Then she heard Flint calling her name. She followed the sound of his voice out into the snowy night...
A/N: Yup, that's a wrap for this one. Of course, this last bit is from the first season "Eye For an Eye." I needed a good episode to end it with, and that one came immediately to mind.
Hope you liked it– thanks for all of the fantastic reviews, everyone!