Joe headquarters

Most of the Joe team was relaxing in the rec room after a furious few weeks of fighting Cobra. They had struck time and time again, and it seemed like they had a wealth of information on the various military and political targets they chose. More than usual. It caused some raised eyebrows on the team, who wondered where Cobra was getting their information.

But for now, the threat was neutralized, and they could blow off some steam and regroup for the next emergency.

The TV was on and the stereo was blasting.

Shipwreck, Ace, Gung-Ho, and Barbecue were playing pool. Although an argument broke out every few minutes, they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Scarlett and Snake Eyes were talking shop, discussing the merits of various arms and their uses.

Dial Tone and Mainframe were playing a Star Trek Collectible Card Game, much to the amusement of Steeler and Breaker, who sat at a nearby table playing gin rummy. The pairs continually traded good-natured insults back and forth.

Most of the others were simply cashed out on couches and chairs, watching the History Channel or listening to the radio, or both.

Cover Girl and Lady Jaye shared one end of the couch, playing a game of their own invention. It was Lady Jaye's turn. "Okay, um, Richard Simmons or Danny DiVito?"

Cover Girl laughed. "Oh, ew. Gross. Okay, gotta be Danny. My turn. Hugh Grant or… Tim Allen?"

"Oh, definitely Tim Allen, at least he's got a brain. Hmmm…" She leaned closer and lowered her voice. "Leatherneck or Wetsuit?"

"Eeeeeeewwww, blech. Oh, crap. Wetsuit."

At this point Flint, who had been reading a book at the other end of the couch, looked up and asked, "What the heck?"

Lady Jaye explained, "The game is called 'Death Is Not an Option.' One player names two people. The other has to choose which one she'd rather have a romantic encounter with. She has to pick one of the two, because, of course, death is not an option. You lose if you absolutely refuse to pick either one."

Flint looked at them strangely. "Okay, that's disturbing. And, might I add, kind of sick."

"No, kind of sick is the game called 'Make Me Puke,'" Cover Girl replied.

The Warrant Officer raised his eyebrows in question. "Do I even want to know?"

Cover Girl eagerly started to explain. "It's a similar idea, but there's not a real winner. Pick two people, and the other player has to imagine them romantically involved with each other. Er, very intimately, if you get my drift."

He looked at the girls and said, "That doesn't sound too bad."

Lady Jaye leaned forward with a smirk. "Duke and Martha Stewart."

Flint's eyes widened, and his head sunk into his hands. "Oh, get it out of my head…" he moaned.

The girls laughed and gave a high-five. "Okay, my turn," said Cover Girl. "Beach Head or Shipwreck?"

Lady Jaye stuck her tongue out at her friend. "You're horrible. Beach Head."

"Really?" Cover Girl asked incredulously. "Each to their own, I suppose…"

Duke interrupted them with a yell from the doorway. "Jaye! Office! Paperwork!" He disappeared again down the hallway.

Lady Jaye got up and stretched. "No rest for the wicked. We'll continue this later." She ruffled Flint's hair in passing and left the room.

She reached Duke's office a few minutes later and knocked, entering at his reply.

He looked up as she came in and nodded to a seat across from his desk.

She settled in to the chair and waited expectantly.

He sighed and looked up, regarding her for a moment. "I have an assignment for you, but I'm going to explain it before you tell me if you'll do it."

"You're giving me a choice?"

"I'm not supposed to, but… Yeah. I can't force you into one." He leaned back and closed his eyes. "It has become fairly obvious lately that Cobra has an inside source for information. Recent events have led me to believe that their source is on the Joe team."

"What?" she exclaimed. "Are you sure?"

"Not entirely. But certain enough that Hawk has asked me to do something about it."

"How do I come into this?"

He opened his eyes and met her gaze. "Hawk asked me to name one team member that I was absolutely certain of. I would have liked to name the entire team, but…" He shrugged. "I don't know anyone on this team who hates Cobra as much as you do. Your brother…"

She nodded. Her older brother had been a physicist working for the Department of Defense. An unknown terrorist organization had invaded their supposedly secret lab one night and taken the group of scientists hostage. The terrorists had proclaimed disgust at the weapons and defenses that were being developed by the DOD, and as part of their political statement had demanded the release of several prisoners. Some exchanges had taken place, but when a swat team tried to break into the building, the remaining scientists had been executed. Including her brother. No one but Duke and Hawk had access to that part of her files.

One of the prisoners that had been released was Major Bludd. Although he hadn't been directly involved with Cobra at the time, there was little doubt of the connection. The entire episode had been one of the major reasons Lady Jaye had applied to the Joe team.

"Okay, so you trust me. Why not involve Scarlett, or Snake Eyes, or Flint? Surely you trust them?"

"Of course I do. But Hawk asked for only one team member. See, the problem is, we're going to set you up. Over the next month, we are going to have to use every ounce of our acting abilities to convince the other Joes that you want off the team."

Her face went white.

"What we hope will happen is that, one, your behavior will be noticed by the real traitor, who will report it to Cobra and that, two, they will try to recruit you. Meanwhile, we will be checking every possible piece of evidence we can scrape together to find the real turncoat. We hope that he may even contact you himself during that time. But if not…"

Duke leaned over the desk. "If not, you're going to have to leave the team for real. Cobra seems to like working the 'disillusioned American' angle. If they don't contact you, you know where to find them. You'll need to get the information from Cobra themselves. If you are openly working with them, they may just have you work with the contact on the team. God forbid it get to the next step, but if need be you will have to get to their files, their computers."

He sat back. "This is going to take an enormous amount of planning, I know. But I think we can pull it off."

She sat, silent, mulling over the possibilities.

"One more thing," Duke said, "This remains absolutely confidential. No one else hears a word of it. You, me, Hawk. That's it." He caught the pained expression on her face. "What is it?"

"What about Flint?"

He sighed. "That's the main reason I'm giving you a choice about this. It's been, what—almost two months?" She nodded. "Not that I entirely approve, mind you, but… I knew that could cause some problems. It would hurt him, thinking that you were the traitor. I don't know if he could handle that. I wasn't sure if you could handle that. But you understand why I can't choose Scarlett or Snake Eyes for this? I'd rather have a pissed off Warrant Officer on my hands than a vigilante ninja, male or female. Flint can't do it—he couldn't pull it off. And when it comes down to it… Jaye, what if one of them is the traitor? Everyone on this team has their own issues to deal with, their own weaknesses. Someone is giving information to Cobra, and I don't like to think it's anyone on the team. I've been driving myself crazy, analyzing everyone to pieces over the last few days."

Duke shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "This is the best we could come up with. We've been working on this for months. We've gotten nowhere. It's time for some action."

Lady Jaye leaned back and closed her eyes. She could do it, she had the acting ability. But was she willing to do that to Flint? What if, in the end, he couldn't forgive her?

Duke knew what she was thinking. "Let me put it this way," he told her. "If this traitor gives Cobra enough information, they could find the base. They could find the Joes and their families. They could very well assassinate the entire team in their beds, including Flint."

"What if I say no?" she asked him.

"Then Hawk and I spend weeks coming up with another plan. No pressure." He gave her a wry smile. "You know what's at stake," he continued. "Think about it tonight. I'll call you in here tomorrow."

She rose slowly and walked out. She would think about it, but she already knew what her answer would be.

She was distracted the rest of the night. She tried not to let it show, but Flint commented on it several times. She finally just told him to chalk it up to hormones and leave it at that.

But later that night, lying in his arms, she found she was wide awake. She watched the slow rise and fall of Flint's chest, wondering if she could knowingly hurt him, even if it was for the greater good. She held him tightly and tried to fall asleep.

Duke called her into his office after breakfast the next morning. They sat in their respective chairs. Duke didn't speak, just sat and waited to hear Lady Jaye's decision.

She looked him in the eyes and said, "Okay. I'm in. How do we start? This is going to have to be believable."

He looked relieved. "I thought you would say yes, but—well. It's good to hear. Hawk is not going to be in on this. It's too dangerous to try to communicate with him on a regular basis. The only times we can talk about it will be in this office. I scan regularly for bugs, and whoever is on duty knows to inform me if anyone is lurking in the hallways outside."

Duke paused. "You know, we didn't plan the specifics. You need to have a very good reason to become disillusioned with the Joes. Any suggestions?"

"Well, since we can't involve anyone else, it's going to have to be you. How much of an asshole can you be?" She smiled to take the sting from her words.

"In order to catch a traitor? You have no idea. All I'd have to do is channel my anger a little bit."

They stayed in the office for over an hour, planning scenarios and working out contact information for when—if—she managed to infiltrate Cobra. It was certainly not going to be easy.