The full moon cast a bright light turning the scenery around Lady Jaye into an ethereal blue light. The glow allowed her to drive her recently acquired Impala without the need of headlights. She looked down at the needle on the speedometer reading fifty miles per hour. Even thought she was a highly trained driver, she felt she was pushing her abilities past their breaking point. One false move, one over correction and she could smash into one of the old oak trees that lined the road.
Jaye looked into her rearview mirror; she was grateful, that since they had left the crumbling chopshop, there had not been headlights behind her. Her hope was the Dreadnocks she had dispatched earlier were the only ones at that particular site. Leaving her with the most pressing problem; judging by the landscape she was passing, they could be anywhere on the East Coast.
With a flick of the switch she turned on the radio, Jaye hoped something on the airwaves would give her a clue of her whereabouts. When the last verse of Chase Rice's "Look at My Truck" faded, a late night DJ came on "It's a Saturday morning, four o'clock and you're listening to 100.9 the Bull." She felt a sense of euphoria fill her; the radio station was a favorite of many Joes, which meant she was still in Georgia.
There was a GPS tracker placed inside the heel of her boot, though someone at the PIT had to turn it on. The worse part, she and Flint had made a show of leaving, on their way out she had stopped to say good night to Scarlett and Duke. Then as she promised to have pancakes with her Uncle Simon in the morning, Flint had begun to drag her out of the bar to everyone's delight, even hers.
No one would think anything of her bike sitting on the sidewalk of the bar. They would assume that he drove home in his Silverado which was sitting outside the motor pool with a busted water pump. She cursed the fact that they went to Izzy's straight from work, not going back to his place. Everyone at Izzy's would know that they were in trouble if his 1962 Shelby Cobra 427 was left unattended.
It would be another five hours; before, her Simon even thought to worry about her. So if she tried to find a place to bunker down it could be hours before either one of them received medical attention. The groans coming from the back seat told her that Flint needed help, yesterday.
As she drove through the country back road, she realized that nothing looked familiar. There were no road signs except the occasional driveway marker with some wacky name like Live Hard, Die Fast Lane and Skip to my Lou Trail.
Lady Jaye tried to plan out their next step in her head, but the throbbing in her face made it difficult to think. Banging her fist on the steering wheel, she let out a scream of exasperation. Flint rewarded her with a loud moan. She opened her mouth to tell his unconscious form if he had any bright ideas to speak up now when a worn out asphalt road came into view.
As Jaye put more miles between her and the Dreadnocks, her confidence began to grow. With trepidation, she adjusted the rearview mirror to check Flint. It was then she caught a glimpse of herself.
Jaye was not a girl who spent hours on her appearance, a little eyeliner, mascara, and lip-gloss and she was out the door. The reality, she couldn't compete with Cover Girl's Rebecca-Romjin-supermodel-looks, and her chocolate beach waved hair paled in comparison with Scarlett's amazing red hair. She was the one with the curves, which was in her mind, was a polite way of saying, that her ass and boobs were a little more well endowed than the other women on the team. Combine those curves with bright green eyes and a constant smile; she was as Flint put it the Jennifer-Love-Hewett-one.
She didn't look like Ms. Hewitt at the moment, her right eye was swollen shut, making it impossible to tell how much damage the Dreadnock had caused. If the ripping she felt when Monkeywrench finally pulled the lighter out was any indication she was glad she couldn't. Then there were the slashes; the knife had taken a chunk across her nose a centimeter wide. Running from her ear up to her temple where the bone was visible.
A loud moan from Flint put an end to her pity party. Moving the mirror off her, she noticed that his golden skin was pale and sweaty. Reaching behind her, she touched the leg that they had demolished. She groaned just touching it had caused the bone of his shin to move and shift. "Come on Flint, wake up!" He rewarded her effort with a grunt of pain.
She was about to decide to pull over and try some rudimentary first aid on Flint; when a road sign for Highway 575 shone like a lighthouse's beacon in the night.
Merging on to the highway, she felt some of the tension leave her body. Flint seemed to have quieted, at the moment, she was glad that she didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She let the Impala's engine go wide open; she felt hysterical giggle bubble at the thought of getting a speeding ticket in a 'borrowed' car, with a stolen gun, and the Joe team's executive officer unconscious in the backseat. There had to be a joke in there somewhere.
It was when her giggle turned into full-blown laughter that she spotted three military Humvees running northbound passing her. Looking back, she watched the as the lead Humvee cut through the median to make a U-turn. Praying that the Joe team had noticed something amiss at Izzy's and turned on her GPS, she followed suit spinning the Impala on the median.
Jaye knew that the odds were this was not a trap. Experience had taught her thought to put nothing past Cobra, if they could create a whole town to fool a fellow team member into spilling secrets, them stealing a few military Humvees were not out of the realm of possibilities.
She reached into the passenger seat and felt the weight of Ripper's Taurus in her hand. In a smooth motion, she dropped the magazine, examining the twenty round container. She mentally went over the firefight earlier in the garage. One round in the chamber, two in Zarana, three when Buzzer came down the stairs, that left her fourteen rounds.
She closed her eye, taking a slow cleansing breath, she pulled out what little fight she had left. Trap or not, it was only minutes before her adrenaline would run out and her body would fail. She slammed the magazine back into the 9mm, exiting the car praying that it was the Joe team.
The shine of the Humvees' headlights causes her eye, accustom to being in the dark, to hurt. The people in front of her turned to black blobs. Instinctively she reached behind her back placing her hand on the grip of her stolen pistol. "Oh my god, Lady Jaye!" in an unmistakable southern twang stopped her from pulling her weapon.
Shanna O'Hara, code-named Scarlett, Lady Jaye's best friend, came running up strangling her in a hug. Directly behind her was the team's First Sergeant Duke, he stopped and took in her face in his hands tilting it gingerly to get a better look in the light. He didn't bother to hide the sharp intake of air at the sight of the damage to her face. "Flint?" he asked afraid of the answer: if Cobra had done this to her, what of the Warrant Officer who was not standing next to her?
"He's in bad shape, Duke. His leg is gone." Lady Jaye remembered the struggle to get him standing. The thought of him falling to him knee and the look on his face it was impossible to hide it sorrow laced her voice. "I have him in the back seat."
Duke nodded in understanding, "Lifeline on my six; Lieutenant Falcon check out Jaye here!" She watched as the two men passed her and the Lieutenant slid to a stop in front of her with his aid bag.
Falcon pushed her closer toward the light that the Humvee created. He threw his aid bag on the hood of the vehicle. Warily, she watched as he put on a pair of medical gloves. "I'm fine, go help them with Flint."
"Humor Me." He was giving her a choice instead of pulling rank; she could do it the easy way or the officer's way.
She went to argue with him; not caring that he outranked her, but her knees buckled. The adrenaline rush had left her, her injuries had begun to catch up with her, and she was crashing to the ground.
Before Lady Jaye hit the earth, Falcon caught her using his lightning quick reflexes. "Whoa!" He settled her down on the grass, going to his med bag. The sounds of retching caused them both to still, Falcon waited until he heard gulping breaths and more orders from Lifeline before continuing what he was working on. "Don't worry, he is in good hands," he reassured her as he pulled out different sizes of bandages and gauze.
"What, if I'm good, you'll give me a lollipop?" He smiled at her quip but chose not to comment. Instead, he pulled out an IV bag.
Falcon roared with laughter at her expression, "I am not going to torture you with an IV, Half-stack." He taunted her. "You will drink this bottle of water I have in my bag after I'm done patching you up." He took one more look at her face and sighed. He quickly placed bandages on the worst of the cuts that were still oozing.
"Now the fun part," Falcon took a better look at her damaged eye. She panicked when he said that imagine all the ways he could torture her with what he had placed between them. "Don't worry. All I am doing is covering this eye." He quickly prepped two of everything he would need "Thing is with eye wounds, Jaye. I cover one eye; I have to cover your good one."
It was at that moment that Flint screamed her name, not her code-name her Christian name. "ALISON," Duke swore as the sound of a fist connecting with something solid. "God damn it, Flint. She's over there. Trust us."
She was already trying to get up to get to him. "Jaye!" Falcon warned her placing a hand on her arm.
She was growing frustrated; Flint needed her. They had calmed him for the moment; but, what if he panicked again? She grabbed Falcon's arm, the Lieutenant's deep brown eyes softened with understanding, "Jaye, if you behave, I think we can arrange for you go on the same bus with Flint." He stated as an EMT walked up to them.
The EMT smiled "I think that can be arranged. I have a special seat just for you."
Jaye nodded allowing him to cover her eye, sending her into darkness. She listened to the report Falcon gave to the Medics. "27-year-old female, kidnap victim. Conscious, no AMS. Facial lacerations right side, along with a separation of the eye."
As she sat there, she heard the two medics talk quietly for a brief second. It wasn't long when she felt Falcon and the EMT on either side of her helping her up. The two medics lead her to the back of the ambulance; settling her on a bench seat.
"Lil' Bit?" His voice could be heard moving closer to her. His voice tired beared that staccato tempo that it took when he was worried.
Jaye tilted her head toward the sound of shifting metal "Just stay still, big guy, we're taking you to her." She felt her shoulders stiffen with worry Flint was ornery at best when she got hurt, with him hurt, she was afraid it would be hard to keep him calm.
"I'm okay, baby." She tried to sound bright and cheery, but the sight of her face encased in bandages caused him to growl. She heard what she could only surmise was him struggling to get out of the gurney.
"God Damn it, Flint, Lady Jaye is right there." Duke's voice roared causing her to jump slightly. That started more of a struggle between the First Sergeant and the Warrant Officer. "I swear to God Flint; I will yank her out of here so fast If you don't CALM THE HELL DOWN!" Everything in the ambulance went still. "Now she can't see, I know you want to protect her, I get that, but you can't do it in a rage, you know that."
The clanking became closer almost directly in front of her. She strained her ears to figure out what was going on. Though she could guess some of the noises; others had her at a lost. The only solution was for her to sit very still and not panic.
"Easy, let me help you." Lady Jaye realized the EMT was talking to Flint. "She's blind so no sudden movements or else you might get a shiner." She felt a hand pulling hers out of her lap.
The calloused warmth of Flint's hand engulfed her smaller hand. She felt his fingers closed around hers. Her middle finger traced down a deep scar in the palm, earned when he was twelve, working on his Shelby with his dad.
She loved his hands; she didn't have to see to know where every little scar every imperfection resided. Those battle proved hands could turn around hours later, show her pleasure, take her higher than she had ever been before.
She felt Flint squeeze her hand. After a few moments, she went to move her hand, sure that the angle he held his arm was uncomfortable. As she pulled her hand out of his, he laced his fingers through hers. "I've got you, Lil' Bit." His thumb traced the sensitive skin inside her wrist in a lazy circle. This terror hit her, afraid to let go she clung to his hand. If they held on together as they had proven so many times before, they could do anything.