Lady Jaye climbed down from the plane. She saluted General Bradshaw who was deep in conversation with Falcon. He returned the salute, but didn't break from his talk. Lady Jaye shook her head, and decided she didn't want to sit and wait her turn. Instead she glanced behind the general and saw that Flint was hanging out doing his best to look inconspicuous. She headed towards him.
"Lady Jaye, good to see you and your team back in one piece," Flint said as she approached. "I hear it was a successful mission."
"It was, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that once again we prevented a Cobra plot for world domination."
"Maybe but, any mission you come back from is a successful one in my book," Flint said quietly.
It wasn't the first time he had said that or something similar to her, and each previous time had been her cue to hug and kiss him to reassure him that she was indeed back safe. But obviously, she couldn't do that now. So she settled on a simple "Thanks."
She had only been back on base about two minutes, but even in that short amount of time, it hammered home everything that she hated about her life and work at the present time. But even with all the time spent on the return trip mulling over her current situation, she didn't really see a plausible way of making it better. So she did what had been her fallback of the last two and a half weeks. She pushed her personal thoughts aside, and focused on her professional. "Did you hear that this time we got the Baroness's perfume?" she asked as she pulled the small bottle from her pocket.
Flint took it from her and looked it over. "I did. But I also heard it didn't work."
"It didn't seem to. I still brought it back to have it tested. Maybe it's just a bottle of cheap perfume, and not another love potion."
"If you're going to be the guinea pig, let me have a whiff of it on you. I'd love to have an excuse to act out my desires."
Lady Jaye was wondering whether the general would find the excuse of being a victim of the love potion plausible when she heard him call Flint's name. They turned and saw that the general was approaching them, so she quickly switched topics. "Also, I have a lot of screen shot prints of the people in attendance. I want to see if you can look them over and see who you remember from Airtes' yacht." Lady Jaye actually had all that information already, but it seemed like a good reason to be in Flint's office later.
"Good," General Bradshaw said as he joined their side. "I'm glad you're starting your debrief. But don't forget to include the others as well."
Flint nodded and then turned towards Lady Jaye. "How about you and I go over the photos and some of the other information from our previous mission first, and then we'll meet with them in my office later?" Flint looked at this watch. "We'll say 1600. That will give us just over an hour."
General Bradshaw nodded. "That sounds good. I'll let them know. Flint, I want you to then prepare a report that you can present tomorrow morning."
"Sir, I've written up the majority of it already, so I was wondering if I could present it?" Lady Jaye asked.
"I don't think that will be necessary."
"But sir," Lady Jaye said as she struggled to keep herself in check. "Since I was there, I can answer any questions that might come up."
"If your report is thorough enough, there won't be any questions."
Before she could argue any further, he walked away. She stood there fuming while she watched him go.
"Jaye, come on. Beachhead is going to be busy with the motor pool for the rest of the afternoon so we might actually have a few minutes alone before the others show up."
The implication of his statement was enough to cut through her anger at the General. She nodded and the two walked back to his office. Once the door was closed behind him he pulled her close and kissed her. She was lost in the sensations for a moment, but then her brain caught up and she abruptly pulled away.
"Have you lost your mind?" she asked as she looked at the camera in the corner of the room. She did a doubletake when she noticed it was gone.
"Did I forget to mention the camera went on the fritz this weekend? Breaker said it will be at least a week before he can get it looked at."
He then reached behind him to lock the door, but she stopped him. "Don't. You might as well hang a sock from the door handle and then invite Breaker and his camera crew over to film what's going on."
"Okay, but I don't want General Bradshaw to just pop in here while we're hot and heavy."
"And I don't want him to come by and ask why we're alone behind a locked door."
Flint sighed. "So what do we do? Anyone can walk in."
"We have as much fun as we can while keeping our clothes on. At least that way we look respectable if someone barges in."
Flint didn't look happy about it, but he still leaned in for another kiss. He kept his back against the door as a buffer. Their kiss intensified, and despite the limitations she had placed on the two of them, she did intend to try and have a little bit of fun. So channeling love struck teenagers hiding from their parents, they pawed and groped at each other. But each time they heard footsteps on the other side of the door, they pulled away in anticipation of an interruption. After the third such time, Flint put a stop to their actions. "Enough. This is more frustrating than anything."
"I'm sorry," she said as she pulled away.
"No it's not your fault. At least you're trying to be smart about this."
A knock on the door interrupted her response. They looked at each other and smiled. Lady Jaye headed towards one of the chairs by Flint's desk as he answered the door.
Falcon stormed in. "Good, you're both here. I know we were supposed to meet in a little while, but I wondered if we could do the turnover a little early. I have someone I need to meet. I already cleared it with the general."
Lady Jaye let out a laugh. It figured. Not only was Falcon cock-blocking them, but he was doing so because he had his own big plans for the afternoon. He was lucky that she still wasn't feeling so hot, and okay with foregoing any kind of extra-curricular activities. But as she smirked at Flint, and saw the scowl on his face, she figured he wasn't going to be as generous.
But he surprised her. "Fine. Come in, let's get this over with."
Falcon grinned and quickly took the empty seat next to Lady Jaye. "I'm sure Lady Jaye can fill in the details, but let me summarize," Falcon quickly said once Flint took his seat. "We did encounter the Baroness, who appeared to be the only Cobra member at the event. We kept a close watch on her. She made contact with several men and women in attendance, and appeared to try and use a bottle of some sort of fragrance. Chuckles commandeered the fragrance in question for further testing, but from what we saw it had no effect on any of the men in her presence that evening."
Falcon then stood. "I have to give high marks to each and every one of my team members. They were nothing short of professional, and we completed the mission successfully. If you have any other questions, please feel free to call my cell phone." He then left Flint's office before anyone else could speak.
Flint stewed for a few moments. "It's not nice to say since he is Duke's brother…"
"Half-brother," Lady Jaye corrected.
"Whatever. But I'm really starting to hate that guy."
Lady Jaye laughed. "That's what I said a few days ago. But to complete this role reversal, I have to tell you he was very much the professional on the mission. I think it might just be the lure of women and warm beds that derail him here at HQ."
"I can't say I don't understand that desire," Flint said with a smile at her.
Lady Jaye smiled in return. "When this is over, do you want to meet up for dinner? I had a lot of fun the other night."
"I did too. And that shouldn't be a problem." There was another knock on the door. Flint walked over to open it. "Call me once you pick a place. I'll meet you there."
Cover Girl greeted them both. "I just have one question. This isn't going to as long and awkward as the pre-mission brief?"
"No, and I'm sorry about that."
"Me too," Lady Jaye added. She pointed to the empty seat next to her. "This time we're going to behave."
"Okay, Cover Girl, while we're waiting on Chuckles and Short Fuse, why don't you give us a run down on what you saw from your perspective?" Flint asked.
Lady Jaye was interested to hear the answer. She thought that Cover Girl did very well at the reception, and she was curious to see what she might have picked up on. Not that they needed another female undercover agent, as she and Scarlett could handle it, but it would be good to know in case the need arose in the future.
"I have to be honest, I don't know how much intel I picked up on the Baroness as I was basically stuck in the company of others. But I have learned a few German phrases, and I got a couple of great leads if I ever decide to buy a classic Mercedes."
Lady Jaye was disappointed in the answer, until she questioned Cover Girl about certain aspects of the mission. It turned out the model did notice more things than she had originally thought. Chuckles and Short Fuse joined them, and they had a very thorough post mission brief. It wasn't really necessary to go into as much depth as they were, but since the three hadn't spent a whole lot of time in the field, in was a good learning experience for them.
General Bradshaw then joined them at the end. Flint gave him a quick recap. If the general was disappointed in the lack of results, he didn't show it. "You're going to get the perfume tested?"
"I'm bringing it to Airtight as soon as we're done here," Lady Jaye replied.
"Good. I think that covers everything. You're all dismissed. Take the rest of the day off, you deserve it."
Lady Jaye looked at her watch. It was dinner time, so there wasn't much of the day left. But she'd take what she could get. At least her dinner date with Flint was still a go. Or at least she thought it was until General Bradshaw spoke again.
"Flint, I have a matter I would like to discuss with you. Do you have any plans for this evening?"
"No, I'm free," Flint replied.
Lady Jaye stiffened as his response. Luckily, General Bradshaw had his back to her so she turned and glared at Flint, who ignored her.
"Great. Let's grab dinner and we'll talk. I hear there's a new Japanese place in town that's supposed to be very good."
"That sounds perfect. Do you want to meet up in the garage in about a half hour? I'll drive."
His answer was like a double punch in the gut. She took her time gathering her things to give General Bradshaw time to leave Flint's office. As he did, Lady Jaye turned to Flint. "You have to let me know how it is. I love Japanese food, but unfortunately my boyfriend hates it."
Flint grimaced he walked over to his open door and looked down the hallway. He waited a few minutes and then turned back to her. "I'm sorry. What was I supposed to say?"
"Oh I don't know. How about – 'Sorry, I have plans?' If you wanted to be specific you could have said you were meeting an old college friend. Or you and the guys already agreed to watch the game together. Or there's the tried and true 'I'm taking my girlfriend out to dinner.' But that's right, we can't use that one because it's the truth."
"Al, I'm sorry. But you heard him that he wants to talk to me about something. I can't just blow him off. But, once we're done, I'll call you. We can meet up afterwards."
Lady Jaye shook her head. "Don't do me any favors. When I was talking about having fun the other night, I meant our conversation in the restaurant and not what happened in the car. Don't call me expecting me once again to drop what I'm doing so you could have a quickie in a really inconvenient place. Enjoy your dinner," she added as she stormed out of his office.
The ringing phone startled her. The book she had been reading was on her chest, and she realized she had fallen asleep. She wondered who was calling her so late, but then saw it was only 8:30. She finally grabbed the phone and muttered a few curses when she saw Flint's number. He really had a lot of nerve.
He apparently read her mind. "I promise this isn't a booty call."
The nap must have restored her sense of humor. She let out a chuckle. "I'm glad you listen to some things I say."
"I listen to everything you say. I just may not act on all of it. So what are you doing?" After she replied that she had been sleeping he continued. "Already? It's kind of early."
"Well, it's really late in Greece which is the time zone my body must still be in."
"Do you want me to let you go?"
"No. I'm already awake. What did the general want to talk about?"
"A promotion. He's putting my name in for the WO-3 board."
As proof of the horrible person Lady Jaye had become, her first instinct on hearing the news was a sharp pang of jealousy. But then she hated herself for feeling that way, so she tried to feign excitement. "Oh, Dash, that's really great news. I'm so proud of you."
"Thanks. General Bradshaw told me not to get my hopes up too much, as it will be my first look, and there's a very small percentage that gets picked up on their initial go around. But he said that due to my record with the Joes, I have a really good shot at it."
"I agree with that. If anyone deserves it, it's you."
Flint continued to talk about the rest of the dinner with the general, but Lady Jaye tuned him out. Her mind started to contemplate the implications of Flint's potential promotion. A rise in the ranks usually coincided with a transfer. Most of the Joes had avoided that because of the Cobra threat, and the need to keep the elite team together. But now, as things had quieted down, she was sure that if he did get promoted, they were going to look to move Flint to an area where his talents would be needed more.
She knew she was jumping the gun, so she forced herself to calm down and not worry about it until it became an issue. But she couldn't help but wonder if Flint too considered the transfer possibility, and if he did, if he even cared that he might have to leave her.
The next morning, Lady Jaye paid a visit to Airtight to see if he had the results of the tests run on the Baroness's perfume. She hoped that he would provide conclusive evidence that the Baroness was up to her old tricks, which would give Lady Jaye the excuse to interrupt officer's call.
"Tell me you have good news," Lady Jaye said as she entered the lab.
Airtight picked up the bottle. "Do you consider it good news if I tell you that this is nothing more than a harmless vial of perfume that can be found in many of the more expensive perfume galleries of Europe?"
With a sigh, Lady Jaye answered, "No."
"Then I don't have good news for you," Airtight answered with a smile.
Lady Jaye walked over and examined the paperwork Airtight handed to her. The numbers and scientific names meant little to her. "Are you sure?"
Airtight nodded. "I ran the test three times. The last time I even told it to look for Jackyl's Bane and there wasn't even a trace of it in the make-up."
"I don't understand. I watched the Baroness use the perfume, she acted like she expected something to happen, and was then disappointed when it didn't."
"I can't explain her actions. Maybe she thought it was her Eau De Cobra, but someone double-crossed her."
"That's the current theory I'm working on, but with a plain old bottle of perfume, that's nothing more than a hunch." Lady Jaye sighed again. "Anyway, thanks for running the test."
"Anytime," Airtight answered and returned to his work.
Now that her plans for crashing officer's call was thwarted, she decided to go for a second run of the morning. Her run was more of a glorified jog, as she didn't have the energy to put in anything more strenuous. She was still feeling a little under the weather, and she wished the stomach bug that she had picked up in Greece would work its way through her system. She remembered suffering from a mild case of norovirus a few years back, after a cruise she had taken with some friends. She remembered thinking she was lucky that she hadn't been knocked flat by the virus like a couple of her friends had, but instead was happy that she only had a little bit of an upset stomach. However, as her friends had returned back to normal after a couple of days, she suffered for a few weeks. Apparently she was prone to picking up mild, but long lasting versions of gastro illnesses. It would be something to add to her list of current annoyances.
She found herself deep into the back "yard" of the base. It was another area that was usually quiet and free of other Joes. A chain link fence marked the outer perimeter of the base and every few hundred feet there were either a bench or a picnic table. At one of the picnic table areas, a few enterprising Joes had turned it into a fairly well maintained garden spot. She noticed that the bushes that had been planted had grown high enough, that while sitting at the picnic table, they blocked most of her view of HQ. Which meant that she was also mostly hidden from view. She wished she had the foresight to bring along some of her paperwork or a book to read. She figured that as the day went on, it probably got pretty hot in that area, but at the moment the temperature was perfect.
After a few moments she heard footsteps approach. She sighed as she didn't want to be disturbed. But she was happy to see who it was once Flint walked around the bushes. "How did it go?" she asked.
He didn't answer her. Instead he bridged the gap between them. While kissing her, he began to undo her pants. It took her brain a few seconds to realize what was happening, but once it did she was not only on board, but she too began to undo his pants in order to reach the goal as soon as possible.
Like the previous time, it was intense, but before she could get fully into the sensations, Flint shuddered and it was over. A fact he apologized for as he redressed. "I'm sorry. I was so worked up. This was all I've been thinking about since yesterday afternoon."
"How did you know where to find me?" she asked.
"I didn't. After Officer's Call ended, I went on a search of the whole base for you. I just wanted to tell you that General Bradshaw was happy with your report. But when I didn't find you in your normal hangouts, I started to wonder if you were hiding out somewhere. The more I thought about you being someplace alone, the more excited I got and I decided if I did find you in a private place I was going to take advantage of it. I guess I got lucky."
"You definitely got lucky," Lady Jaye said with a smile she didn't totally feel.
Flint was oblivious to her apathy. He kissed her. "I hate to run out on you, but I do have to get back. And like, I said, General Bradshaw said you put together a very good and thorough report."
"I'm sure you did a great job presenting it on my behalf," she mumbled as he left. She watched him go, and realized she felt worse than before his arrival. While she was happy that Flint at least left satiated, she couldn't say the same about herself. And she didn't just mean sexually.
She wasn't sure how much longer she could continue trying to keep up a half assed relationship while working half assed at her job. That was where she and Flint differed. At least Flint's job description and duties hadn't changed so he could still find satisfaction in his work. And she guessed that as long as she threw him a sex bone every now and then, he could be very happy with his life. Still fuming about the unfairness her life has become, she returned to HQ.