TITLE: SERPENTS IN THE SAND

AUTHOR: Cover Girl

EMAIL: Please...

DISTRIBUTION: AnnieO, Lissy & SerpyMatt's Joe Writers Anonymous Page (JWA)

RATING: PG-13

SUMMARY: Lady Jaye leads a rescue mission into a desert kingdom to recover a missing Joe team.

SPECIAL NOTE OF THANKS TO MY BRAINSTORMING BETAS!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Joes or COBRA though that would really rock. They belong to Marvel, HASBRO, and Sunbow. Devil's Due also has a license.

CHAPTER ONE: THE BRIEFING

"All right, you know the drill people. We've got a small window of time to pull off this extraction and get our men out of there," Duke said as he surveyed the team assembled, his eyes narrowing on one pair in particular, Chuckles and Falcon. Chuckles was whispering something to Falcon. Duke held up his hand, signaling the others to hush.

"I'm telling you man the women there are..." Falcon whispered back with a lazy grin spreading across his face.

"Is there something the two of you would care to share?" Duke slammed his fist down on the podium. "I have two men on the run in the Middle East and the pair of you seem to find something amusing!"

"Ah...No sir." Chuckles wiped the grin from his face.

"Just guy talk." Falcon smirked humorously. Chuckles rolled his eyes.

"Keep it out of here," Duke warned. "Lady Jaye, you're the expert on this rebel group. Fill them in on what you've learned."

Chuckles was reaching for his legal pad to take notes when he noticed Falcon's grin spread further.

"Now, if they want an expert on these guys, I'm here. She couldn't possible know what really goes on there." Falcon elbowed Chuckles.

"Falcon will you shut the hell up before we both end up..."

"CHUCKLES! FALCON! OUTSIDE NOW!" Duke roared, grabbing them by the collars.

"Duke wait...I need those two bozos on this," Lady Jaye called out from the podium.

"See, what I'd tell you?" Falcon shrugged out of Duke's grasp.

"Sit down and keep quiet," Duke hissed, pushing them into their seats. "Go on, Lady Jaye." He nodded, placing a hand on each man's shoulder.

"As I was saying, the most prevalent language spoken among this group is Arabic." Her eyes narrowed in on Falcon one of their resident Arabic linguists.

"Now, she's making sense." Falcon grinned, folding his arms across his chest. "So, when do we leave?" He winked at her.

"You and Chuckles will leave in the morning," she replied, turning her attention back to her Intel reports. "Dusty and Flint last checked in about 12 hours ago." Lady Jaye moved to the monitor pulling up a map, and opening a dry marker. They watched as she placed an 'X' on the last known location. "Chuckles and Falcon will go in as travelers."

"You're not going in with us?" Falcon's face fell.

"Unfortunately, I am." She sighed, rolling her eyes before resuming her briefing.

"You're joking, right?" Chuckles gulped, holding up his disguise and shaking out its black robes.

"Will you stop fussing! It's not like you haven't done this before." Lady Jaye growled, applying the last touch ups to Falcon's disguise.

"Well, why can't he?"

"He's fluent in Arabic. You're not... now get into your disguise." She shoved Chuckles towards the door.

"All right, but, I'm not shaving my legs this time!" Chuckles groaned over his shoulder as she closed the door on him.