Disclaimer: Not mine… never have been, never will… All Hasbro's, Marvel's, DDP's etc. Did I forget any potential owners? I think not, but if I did… sorry!

This little fic was inspired by one special panel in the first story of Special Missions: the Enemy. It practically threw a plot bunny at me! So I hope you enjoy this. :-)

Thanks a lot to DesertVixen, Calcitrix and Alison Faireborn for the beta'ing. :-)

Standing Still

Time is a fickle mistress. When you really enjoy something, she seems to fly by at the speed of light, but when things are rough, when you're waiting for something, she seems to freeze. Minutes turn into hours, and hours turn into an eternity.

I have experienced that countless times, in battles with my fellow Joes against Cobra. Back then, when we took heat –and returned it gratefully- time used to crawl, especially when one of us got hurt or killed. But at least, in those situations, you didn't notice it that, because you had to concentrate on the mission and get your buddies and yourself out alive. It's bad, but it's even worse if all you can do is sit around and wait all by yourself.

That's when you start to think that the world is standing still.

It's been a few hours since I've received the call. Two, maybe three. Could have been days just as well to me. Whenever I look at the clock, it seems like the hands never changed their position. Somehow I feel like I an sitting aboard a transport plane heading into another battle. Only this time, the battle is raging on without me, just a few feet away, and the enemy isn't Cobra. It's time, and fate. All I can do is hope and pray that everything's turning out the way we had planned it. Our entire future life depends on the outcome of this battle, and it's completely out of my hands.

How much longer is this going to take? Why don't they tell me anything? Is this good or bad?

Suddenly, the doors I've been staring at for so long open, and out comes the man who will either end my misery or prolong it indefinitely.

"Robert," he says softly, "Lola and the baby are fine."

I don't register anything else he says after that. My mind is racing, and all I want is seeing my wife and our child.

It takes another long hour until Lola has recovered enough to go with me and see our baby. But then, finally, the moment I, we, have been waiting for is here.

Oh… my… God. I can barely breathe. As an engineer, I have helped creating lots of different kinds of things, but nothing is as perfect as this amazing little creature. Not even the incubator can change that

"She's small, but she's healthy. In a few weeks, you'll be able to take your daughter home."

Weeks? All of a sudden, hours don't seem to be that long any more.