A/N: Usual disclaimers. This is a continuation from where "What Happens In Vegas" left off, but can also be read independently. As usual, love for you to read and review! Thanks
Lady Jaye stood with her hands on her hips, her eyes surveying the scene once more. Flint watched her silently. She had already pointed out things to him he never would have noticed before.
She looked at him and finally spoke, her voice flat and emotionless. "It was Zartan all right." She pointed out several clues to Flint that he had left.
At his questioning gaze, she simply said, "I've seen his work before. You learn to notice things."
"Okay, so since we now know it's Cobra, we need to…" he stopped as Lady Jaye held up a hand. She shook her head.
"Not here," she mouthed.
He was learning to trust her instincts, so he waited to speak until they were out of the building.
"What are you thinking?" he asked her.
She flipped open the folder, even though she had already memorized its contents. It was more that she wanted something to do with her hands. She just hoped they were steady enough. Inside, she felt shaky, but hoped Flint wasn't picking that up.
"I'm not sure if he left clues so we'd know it was him or not. It's not like he spray painted a tattoo on the wall," she commented with a wry smile. "We need to check out the places Scarlett's marked for us, starting with this one," she said, her finger pointing to the third on the list. "The others are too obvious."
Flint sighed, not particularly fond of jungles. "So we need to assemble a backup team then."
She glanced at him, wondering at the sigh. Normally, he was very professional in these situations. She wasn't fond of jungles, either, and she'd be sure to pack her bug repellant.
"We need to have one assembled, yes, but I think it should just be the two of us going in, just to make sure we're not wasting anyone's time. We'll keep them on standby."
She patted his shoulder as they drove off. "Don't worry. I have this great stuff that takes down even the largest, hairiest bug!" She gave a little laugh at his expression.
She had to admit, she was enjoying working with him. He was intelligent and insightful. It was nice to be able to bounce ideas off of someone, instead of just working off your gut instincts.
"How do you do that?" he asked quietly. "Be able to look around and spot things. Other than the sign of a struggle, I wouldn't have noticed the other things you did."
She smiled. "Practice. As a kid, I used to spend a lot of time doing jigsaw puzzles and hidden pictures. I guess you could call it early training," she chuckled. "That and reading Agatha Christie and watching old detective movies."
"Kind of like you have an eye for strategy," she continued, feeling a reciprocal compliment was in order. "I'd hate to play you in chess!"
He glanced at her, smiling. "Thanks. I'll have to take you up on that sometime."
"Let's get through this one and we'll see," she said, leaning back and closing her eyes. "Let me know if you need me to drive."
"I've got it….but thanks," he replied sincerely. "I'd get your rest now. Not sure what the next few days have in store for us."
"True," she answered, not opening her eyes, knowing she probably wouldn't sleep.
She was surprised later when Flint shook her gently awake.
"We're almost back at base," he told her when she slowly opened her eyes, blinking at him in the darkness.
"Sorry," she said, arching her back and stretching. "I didn't realize I'd actually fall asleep."
"Don't worry," he teased, "the snoring kept me awake." He didn't want to tell her how appealing she had look as she had slept, the soft smile she had worn, the way her body had relaxed….not to mention the more enticing sight of her stretching after she woke up.
She rolled her eyes, but sent him a smile.
"Have you thought about who you'd like for the team?" she asked.
"Considering the terrain, I was thinking Recondo, Gung Ho, Snake Eyes, Roadblock, and Scarlett."
She considered it for a moment, then nodded.
"I called ahead and talked to Hawk about the situation. We're going to brief about the mission as soon as we get back, then basically pack up and leave. I hope that's okay."
She glanced at him and shrugged. "It's the life," she merely replied. "Good thing I actually managed to cat nap then."
After briefing the team, which included a few more members that Hawk recommended, they prepared to leave. The plan was for Lady Jaye and Flint to jump from the plane carrying the other members of the team into the heart of the jungle. The others would make their way to a rendezvous point where they would await further instructions. It was their hope that the two would slip their way in under any radar Cobra had set up. Once they found the base, they'd communicate to the others the location.
She tried not to dwell on the jump. Of all the things the military required her to do, she hated jumping from planes the most. There was something unnerving about falling through the air with just a bit of cloth between you and death. It took a lot to hide her fear from the others, but she thought she was being somewhat successful until Flint approached her.
"You okay?" he murmured quietly, wanting to place a reassuring hand on her, but refraining. He figured she probably didn't want to draw attention to herself at this point.
"Fine," she said, giving him a bright smile. "You nervous about the mission?"
He had to chuckle at that. "Let me check your pack one more time," he told her. "You can do mine, make sure we didn't miss anything."
"Sure," she murmured, wondering what he was up to. While they checked, he told her a story about one of his first jumps, one that never failed to make the listener laugh, and was pleased to see her body start to relax. However, she stiffened once again as they approached their target.
"Just relax," he murmured, putting a hand on her shoulder as they stood by the door. "I'll be there if anything goes wrong."
She shot him a grateful look, glad that he understood but wasn't being condescending or arrogant about it.
The door opened and, after a quick indrawn breath, they jumped.