Flint walked outside and had to squint in the bright sun. He then knew for sure that he had spent way too much time of the previous few days inside. He had no choice, though, as the general had hit the ground running. He had wanted an appraisal of all aspects of life on the Joe base. It had started with a complete roster of current Joes and their specialties. He also wanted to know which Joes were residents, and which ones were stationed off base with their families. He then requested a blueprint of HQ, so he could review the layout of the base. Once that was completed, he then wanted Duke, Flint and Beachhead to submit the written procedures they followed in the day to day operations. Since they really didn't have any, the three had spent a sleepless night compiling them. That was a particularly ugly time. The only thing that stopped Flint from snapping in the pre dawn hours as they fought over what made a proper disciplinary procedure was the idea that he didn't know which man he wanted to hit first.

But luckily what they did come up with seemed to satisfy General Bradshaw. And he had lain off of the demands for the last twenty four hours, which gave Flint a chance to catch up on some much needed sleep. He had just woken from another nap, and had decided with nothing pressing at the moment, he wanted to go outside to watch as the afternoon PT session winded down.

It was all just an excuse to see Lady Jaye again. Other than quick glimpses over the last few days, he hadn't really seen or talked to her since their conversation in his office four days prior. He knew she had been busy as well gathering the data General Bradshaw had requested. And that was going to be the reason he used to justify pulling her aside after PT to talk to her.

However, as the PT session concluded, Flint tried to clamp down of his growing jealousy as he watched from a distance the scene on the course playing out. He was close enough to hear Lady Jaye's laughter, but not enough to actually hear anything that was being said. But whatever it was that Tunnel Rat was talking about, Lady Jaye seemed to be enjoying it immensely. And that was making Flint's blood boil. Especially since Tunnel Rat's face was lit up like a kid on Christmas who just got a new puppy to play with.

He took a couple of steps towards them but then stopped himself. He knew if he charged over there to berate Tunnel Rat, Lady Jaye was going to be pissed. She still hounded him about his previous jealous rampages. But in looking back over their history he felt he had been justified most of the time. Ron Michaels may have been an old flight school buddy, but he still felt the two had shared a very flirtatious banter. And she may be oblivious to it, but he knew for a fact that Alpine and Bazooka would love to get into her pants. The only exception was Matthew Burke. Lady Jaye had been more annoyed that he thought her standards were so low that she would even consider hooking up with the sleazy con artist. He had to give her that one.

Flint had almost talked himself out of having a chat with the kid, when Tunnel Rat reached over and placed his hand on Lady Jaye's shoulder. That was the last straw. It was obvious that Tunnel Rat must have gotten the memo that Lady Jaye was back on the market, and was looking to capitalize on it. Flint knew he couldn't bring an end to their deception just yet, but there was a room full of potatoes that Roadblock needed peeled, and the task had Tunnel Rat's name written all over it.

He approached them, but again had to stop. This time he saw General Bradshaw walking the grounds. He cursed to himself. He knew he couldn't make a scene. So he had to be content with watching from afar. He was relieved though when he watched Lady Jaye wiggle out from under Tunnel Rat's hand.

A ruckus off to his left distracted him. Flint watched as General Bradshaw called Shipwreck's name and approached the sailor. "Is that your bird?"

"What bird?"

General Bradshaw glared at him. "The one hovering behind you?"

Shipwreck turned around and startled. "I hate when he does that. Polly, I told you to stay in our room!"

"And I told you, the bird needs to go."

Shipwreck walked over to the general. "Yeah, sir, I was going to come talk to you about that. You see, Polly here, is practically a full-fledged member of the Joe team. There were at least two missions where he saved the day. Which is more than can be said for most of the guys on this team. I'm sure we can find a position for him here. Mutt and Law's dogs are being used as MPs. Polly can help them out. Think about it. Won't you want someone working security that literally has a bird's eye view?"

Flint couldn't help but smile at Shipwreck's Hail Mary attempt. However, the general was much less amused. "I want the bird gone by the end of the week."

Flint turned his attention back to Lady Jaye. She was toweling herself off, and Flint tried to keep his eyes and mind off the sight of her tight tank top. That was only going to get him in trouble. Instead he focused on Tunnel Rat who was still at her side, and also enjoying the view.

"Why are you torturing yourself?" Shipwreck asked, startling him from his thoughts.

"What are you talking about?" Flint asked.

"You don't have to play dumb with me. I know what's going on."

Flint ignored Shipwreck as he watched the scene play out. Lady Jaye said something to Tunnel Rat that caused his smile to dim. However, since he was either stubborn and/or stupid, he didn't take the hint. Flint decided that if the kid didn't leave her alone, regardless of General Bradshaw's presence, Flint was going to intervene. But again Lady Jaye held her own, and Tunnel Rat seemed to get the message.

Satisfied, Flint turned to Shipwreck. "I'm sorry, you were saying?"

"I know what happened between you and Jaye. And I know you were forced into it."

Flint raised his hand to silence the sailor. "Shipwreck, I appreciate the concern, but this is really something that shouldn't be discussed. If the general heard…"

This time Shipwreck interrupted Flint. "Don't worry. Us old-timers know how to keep secrets from the generals in charge. This may come as a surprise to you, but I am actually well versed in the military code, so I know what you two had to sacrifice once General Bradshaw came on base. And believe me, the last thing I want is to see either one of you court martialed."

Flint sighed. "So your point is?"

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry. And to suggest that maybe you need a night out to drink away your troubles. From what I've seen you and Duke could use some time off."

"Thanks, but no thanks. Ask Hauser, but I'm going to pass."

Shipwreck patted him on the shoulder. "Come on. If you're not getting laid, you should at least be getting drunk. Don't we still have weekends around here, or did General By-The-Book do away with those too?"

Flint couldn't help but smile. "That's one of Hawk's rules that General Bradshaw hasn't changed yet. As long as you're not on the duty roster, Saturday is a half day, and Sunday we're off."

Shipwreck grinned. "So it sounds like we need to have a bit of a drinking session Saturday night."

"Let's see how the rest of this week plays out," Flint answered. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Lady Jaye began to walk towards HQ. He didn't want to miss his opportunity. "We'll talk on Saturday."

He then, as inconspicuous as possible, chased after Lady Jaye. Once he caught up with her in the hall, they walked together in silence for a few steps. This was all new territory to him, as his normal greeting after not seeing her in a while was to engulf her in a hug, or push her against a wall for a passionate kiss. Obviously, neither one of those options was acceptable at the moment.

Lady Jaye broke the silence. "Rumor has it that Bradshaw is going to start reviewing past security tapes."

That stopped Flint in his tracks. "What? Who said that?"

"You know how the rumor mill works. I overheard Ace at lunch time telling his poker buddies that because of Bradshaw's request, they were going to have to lay low for a while. He then said he worked out a deal with Breaker to get rid of any incriminating evidence. Supposedly, Breaker and the rest of the computer guys are working overtime to help all of their buddies out. But, Flint, Shipwreck mentioned the other day that there is supposedly a whole highlight reel dedicated to the two of us."

"Don't worry. I'll take care of it," Flint said. Knowing that he lost his chance for any kind of catching up, Flint left her to deal with the newest situation.

He headed to the communications room, where he found Breaker busy watching the playback of a video. Flint opened his mouth to speak, but Breaker stopped him. "Flint, don't. I know what you're going to ask. Every other Joe with any kind of guilty conscience has already paid me a visit."

"When did Bradshaw ask for the video tapes? As of an hour ago, I hadn't seen any request."

"That's what funny about this. There hasn't been a request. I think somebody assumed that this was going to be the normal course of action. Maybe something was said, and then it snowballed into just about every Joe coming in here to bribe me with all kinds of shit to erase their dirty laundry.

"I'm going to tell you what I told them. Pulling up past footage smells too much like entrapment to me. So I promise that if any kind of request comes in, I'm going to have to tell General Bradshaw about the unfortunate accident that caused a massive data wipe of our old tapes. But from this point on, if you're caught doing something stupid, you have no one to blame but yourself."

That Saturday night, Lady Jaye wandered around HQ looking for everybody. She knew Scarlett and Jinx had taken a trip with Snake Eyes and Spirit to a retreat near Phoenix. And she had heard some rumblings of a night out on the town, but since she hadn't been invited she had assumed the plans had fallen through. But as she made her way around and saw there was a skeleton crew left on base, she began to feel slighted.

She went by the computer lab and saw Mainframe and Sci-Fi were in there playing a video game in front of the big screen. "Hey, do either of you know why this place is so quiet tonight?'

"Sure, a bunch of them took Flint out to," Sci-Fi began until he was hit in the leg by Mainframe. He turned and looked startled when he realized she had asked the question. "I mean, I think they took him out to, uh, celebrate, a um, good first week with the general."

"Oh, okay, thanks," Lady Jaye said with a fake smile. "I'll leave you two to your game." She then made a show of leaving, but she hesitated outside the door.

"What is wrong with you?" Mainframe asked. "Were you really going to tell her they took Flint out to drown his sorrows over their break-up?'

Lady Jaye sighed. Even though she knew this was just all part of their act she still felt betrayed by both her friends and Flint. Plus, she was especially annoyed since General Bradshaw was spending the night off base as well, and she had wanted to take advantage of that.

After the scare with the security cameras, they had sat down at breakfast the following morning to discretely lay out a set of ground rules. Nothing had really changed, since they had already assumed that all of their public interactions had to be on the up and up. But the idea of the general reviewing any behavior caught by the security camera added an extra layer of paranoia. They had decided that in order to be totally safe, any kind of getaway for physical activities would have to happen off base, and under a pretense that would be believable to the general. So that eliminated running off base in the middle of the night for a quickie on the side of the road.

The problem was coordinating schedules. The general had been running Flint ragged, and for the past few days he had had barely enough time to grab his meals and sleep on base, never mind finding the time to leave HQ. She had been much less busy, but as luck would have it the couple of times that he was free, she had the duty watch. So when she saw that she had the night free, and that the general had given Flint the night off, she had looked for him to see if he wanted to go to dinner, and possibly fool around in one of their cars. But apparently he had different priorities that night.

She debated going back to her room to start a pity part of one, but that seemed too depressing, so she continued her tour of the nearly deserted base. As she made her way outside, she finally found the one person who was in a worse mood than she was. Duke was sitting alone in a lounge chair, nursing a beer and staring at the pool. She took a seat next to him. "How come you're not out drinking with the others?" she asked.

Duke muttered a string of obscenities. "Because I'm sure I don't need to tell you all the ways that Flint and the others' behaviors tonight are really inappropriate. I'm more than ready to give him the ass chewing he deserves, but if you want, I can throw in a few extra punishments on your behalf."

"Thanks. I do appreciate that, but it's not necessary. I know this is just part of the macho act he has to put on for the guys."

Duke stared at her a moment, shook his head and then took another swig of his beer. "There are so many times that I wonder how you ever put up with him." Lady Jaye bit back several retorts, especially the one where she wanted to tell him she nearly asked Scarlett that same question a few times, as she wasn't in the mood to pick a fight with Duke. So, as a rarity for her, she sat quietly while Duke continued to rant and rave. "But I'm glad in the end, you made the right call. No relationship is worth risking your career."

Lady Jaye exhaled sharply. That was where her thoughts differed from Duke. Yes, it wasn't worth sacrificing everything you worked at for a casual fling or a quick lay. But if you found someone you truly loved and cared for, you shouldn't have to give up a shot at happiness for your career either. However, she didn't want to fight with Duke over it that night. Luckily, Duke seemed more than happy to continue the one sided conversation.

"I'd offer you a beer, but it's my last one. I'm clearing out my fridge."

"That's okay. I have a few in mine. Do you want me to get a couple?"

"Don't do it on my behalf. I want to be sober when I greet your ex and his friends on their return. I'm not putting up with any bullshit tonight."

She agreed with Duke on that one. She too should probably stay sober, just in case Flint's judgment was impaired. Someone needed to make sure they didn't do anything stupid. She settled back into the lounge chair and looked up into the night sky.

She finally noticed that Duke was staring at her, so she turned to face him and waited for him to speak. "I don't get it. How come you've remained so calm through this? I've seen you flip out on much more trivial matters before."

"Maybe I don't feel like having a public meltdown."

Duke laughed. "That would be a first."

Lady Jaye was torn. She obviously couldn't admit the whole truth, but in addition to being her superior officer, Duke was a good friend. So he deserved some version of the truth. "It's because, like I said, I know it's an act. We may have put things on hold but neither one of us believes it's permanent."

Duke nodded. "Ah, so that explains it. I have to commend you for the first time doing something discreet. I wondered if Flint heard anything I said during our little chat the other day."

Lady Jaye may have been annoyed with Flint, but she wasn't about to let Duke get away with badmouthing him without a fight from her. "He's not a complete idiot. He, and I, are fully aware of the consequences. But, I really love him, and I know he feels the same about me. And I don't think that's going to change with the arrival of a new general."

Duke shook his head. "Allison, it scares me a little that you make it sound so easy. I hope you're prepared for the fact that it might not be so cut and dry like you think."

"Don't worry. I've already seen firsthand these last few days that none of this is going to be easy. But that doesn't make me any less willing to try." Lady Jaye stood up. She had one last closing thought before she left Duke alone. "I, at least, am willing to fight for the person I love."

"Whoa, sit back down. You're not going anywhere," Duke ordered. "I know you all think I'm an asshole, and maybe I am. Trust me, I don't want to be the bad guy, but unfortunately it's in my job description. Being Top means I have to put aside what I want and do what's best for the team. Do you think I wanted to end things with Shana? It killed me knowing that I was breaking her heart.

"Maybe we too could have put things on hold. But we're not in the same place. You and Flint have established a long history together, so I get not wanting to walk away from all that. To tell Shana to put her personal life on hold while we wait to see if things work out professionally seems awfully cruel. I don't want to string her along, and have her hate me in the end."

Lady Jaye frowned as she looked at Duke. He obviously didn't realize how badly his actions had hurt Scarlett. If she didn't hate him at the moment, she was pretty darn close. But maybe he was right, that in the long run this was better for her. At least now she has a chance to grieve and move on.

And if Lady Jaye was honest with herself, she too was worried that this deception was going to slowly erode away her relationship with Flint. When they had been lying in bed together the night that Hawk had left, and had talked about continuing on in secret, it seemed like it would be an exciting adventure. However, the last few days had been anything but. She had thought that it was going to be she and Flint engaged in a clandestine battle, and that they could get through anything as long as the two of them were working together. But she was starting to get the feeling that she was fighting the war alone.

These were thoughts that were not helping her current frame of mind. So to distract herself she changed the topic of conversation. "So what do you think of General Bradshaw?"

Duke shrugged. "I haven't formed a strong opinion one way or the other. He's no Hawk, but those are big shoes to fill. What do you think of him?"

Lady Jaye too shrugged. "I know I shouldn't go by first impressions, since I really haven't spent any time with him. But the fact that he's ignored probably seventy five percent of the people on this base, says a lot to me. Maybe we were spoiled by Hawk, who really got to know each and every member on this team. And maybe General Bradshaw will surprise me and do that in the future. But if I had to give my opinion on what I've seen so far, I think the man is a jackass."

Duke laughed long and hard. "Thanks, Jaye, I needed that."

They sat in silence for a little while, until Lady Jaye's curiosity got the best of her and she went into the rec room to wait for the return of the partiers. She wanted to be present to hear any stories that might be shared about that night.

She was rewarded about forty five minutes later when a group came into the room to start a raucous game of pool. Flint was among them, and she could see that he had freely partaken in the drinks that night. In fact, he was so tipsy, that he didn't even realize she was sitting there until ten minutes after he arrived. He had just taken an awful shot at the pool ball, and when he looked up he caught her eye. He frowned at her and started to approach her, but he was stopped by Roadblock who whispered something in his ear. Flint nodded, and Lady Jaye decided she had seen enough. She got up and left.

The next morning she took advantage of the off day, and slept in. As she rolled over and saw that it was after nine, she was surprised with how late she did sleep. Usually she had the good intentions to catch an extra couple of hours of shut-eye only to be defeated by her natural tendency to wake up at a pre dawn hour. She was glad that she did sleep late, as it wasn't a total day off for her. She had a double watch shift that was starting at 1400. She still had plenty of time, so she leisurely got ready and then made her way to the commissary for a late breakfast.

On the way there she received a call from Duke, who apparently was making good on his promise to punish the Joes that went out celebrating. He told her that due to several Joes' misbehavior the previous night that she didn't have to report to the first of her watch shifts. She instantly started to plan her impromptu afternoon off. Her first instinct was to wonder what Flint was up to that day. But she just as quickly dismissed the idea as she would actually be okay with spending the day alone. More than likely, he still had something to do with the General, and even if he didn't she was sure he was probably going to be hungover and cranky from the night out. And to be honest, as petty as it was, she was still a little mad so that was added motivation to spend the afternoon without him.

She entered the mostly empty cafeteria, grabbed a couple of items and sat down at one of the tables. She was joined a short time later by the man she was most trying to avoid.

"Alison, I want to apologize for last night."

She tried to blow it off. "Don't worry about it. I know it's just part of our act. But I do have to say, that if we had been really broken up, going out to drink with all of our friends to commiserate about it, is a really shitty move."

"I know, and that's why I'm sorry."

Lady Jaye nodded. "Please tell me you didn't spend the whole night badmouthing me."

"No! First of all, I would never do that to you. And secondly, even if I did want to put on a show, your teammates respect you too much to let me get anyway with anything like that. When I saw you in the rec room last night, I wanted to apologize to you then, but Roadblock stopped me. He misread my intentions, and thought I was going to give you a hard time. Which in retrospect, was a good thing since I wasn't very coherent at that point."

"Yeah, I noticed. And that's why I left. So did you have a good time?"

"It was okay, but I did miss you," he added quietly.

"Yep, but I wasn't invited." That was another point that upset her. Apparently her teammates made it clear whose side they stood on.

"Alison, don't take it personally. This was just an excuse to go out, participate in male bonding and blow off some steam."

"Male bonding? Wasn't Court with you?"

Flint grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, but you know she's really just one of the guys." Lady Jaye grunted in reply and then he continued. "Look, I'm sure they'll want to take you out next week. And if you do, I recommend that you don't drink every shot they buy for you. It wasn't a pleasant experience once they caught up with me."

"I'd like to say I'd feel bad for you, but I really don't. I went looking for you last night. I had hoped that we could have dinner somewhere."

Flint sighed. "I was hoping for that too. I thought that we could go out just the two of us, before I joined the others later on, but Shipwreck ambushed me as soon as I was dismissed by the general. And you know how persuasive he could be."

Lady Jaye again grunted in response. She was actually glad it did not play out the way he wanted, because she probably would have been more annoyed if he had ditched her after dinner for a night out with their friends. "What are your plans for today? Nursing your hangover?"

"I wish. General Bradshaw is looking for a hand redecorating his office. So I'd figured I'd try and get on his good side by helping him out."

"That's a smart move. But wait, if he's redecorating, does that mean this assignment isn't as temporary as Hawk thought?"

Flint shrugged. "Who knows? General Bradshaw from the beginning claimed that he was only filling in, but based on the changes he's making he's sure giving the impression that he's going to be here a while."

"Damn," Lady Jaye said.

"I know. But that's why I want to spend some time with him. I'm hoping we can have a good chat so I can find out where he really stands on things."

"Well, good luck with that. I, on the other hand, am heading to the mall."

"The mall? Don't you have the watch later?"

"I did up until about a half hour ago. Duke called and told me one of his problem children is going to take my shift. I didn't ask who, and I didn't argue. So, I'm going shopping. I was hoping to maybe get some new lingerie items, but it sounds like I won't be needing it for a while."

Flint groaned. "Don't be hasty. If he's still around in a few weeks, we'll figure something out." He looked at his watch. "Damn it. If I had known you were going to be off, I wouldn't have volunteered to help out the general. But I don't think it should take that long. I can try and meet up with you later."

"Okay, but I still have the night shift, so I'll need to be back by dinner," Lady Jaye answered.

"That shouldn't be a problem," Flint said. "I should be done by 1300, or 1400 tops. I'll call you when I leave."

"That sounds good," she said. The conversation she just had with Flint, helped change her earlier thoughts on a rendezvous. She realized she did want to spend the time with him. But in the meantime, she had to keep up pretenses. She had noticed that the cafeteria had filled up during their conversation. Based on how several Joes looked, she guessed that most of them had spent the morning sleeping off the activity of the night before. "We probably shouldn't look too friendly with each other." She abruptly stood up. "Flint, you're a real asshole," she said in a loud enough voice for the couple of tables around her to hear. She then stormed from the cafeteria.