Flint looked up as his old teammate approached. His eyes strayed to the place where his left leg should have been and he sighed. Yes, there were those here that had it much worse than he did. He, at least, would be able to function again after rehab, and he'd be rid of this damned bandage on his face and other places on his body where he'd been burned.

He was still angry about the psychologist who had come in earlier today, asking him question after question about his feelings. How the hell did the shrink think he was feeling? However, he knew he had to cooperate – Duke had told him as much, so that he'd be cleared to work with GI Joe again. So, he had endured the breach of privacy and answered the way he knew he was expected to.

"It goes," he finally answered Footloose's question, shrugging.

"Well, not to be a spoiler of surprises, but I believe you're about to have some visitors."

Flint scowled. "I thought I had taken care of that."

"Hi," a little voice chirped, and he turned his chair to see a little dark-haired girl staring up at him, familiar green eyes staring up at him. He would know those eyes anywhere. He froze, not sure how to respond.

"Hey there, small fry," answered Footloose for him, taking pity. He had seen pictures of Allie's kid before and knew who it was. Judging by Flint's reaction, he thought he did, too.

She tilted her head to the side. "My grandma said that they found my daddy, who was lost. Are you my daddy?"

He didn't know how to answer, and continued to stare at her, mute.

Obviously, it didn't matter to her because she climbed up in his lap anyway, clung on to him, and kept chattering. "I so glad we found you! Why did you get lost? Why do you have these on your face?" she asked, patting his bandaged face. "Didn't they have any cartoon bandages? My mommy always has those in her purse. Maybe she can give you one," she finished with a smile, as if satisfied that she had solved a crucial problem.

Footloose chuckled. "Dude, you're going to have to answer her at some point."

Flint sent him a glare, then looked at the girl in his lap. Katie. How did Allie know to name her after his favorite sister, the one who had died of leukemia in her teens? She had the same dark hair as this one, only her eyes had been almost violet, while this one had Allie's bright green ones. He reached out to stroke her hair, then stopped, his hand in mid-air, when she suddenly jumped from his lap, squealing, "Mommy!"

She went running across the room, only to be caught up in Allie's arms as she caught her and squeezed her tight.

"Oh, ladybug, I missed you so much!" she whispered to her daughter, trying to keep the tears out of her eyes that had formed when she had seen father and daughter together.

"I missed you too, Mommy! You know what? We found Daddy! He over there!" she said, pointing behind her.

Martha and John came up behind her. "Katie, what did we tell you about running off?" scolded Martha, her voice shaking. She had witnessed the same scene, but was not afraid to let her tears show.

"But I found my daddy! You said to look for him, and I did!"

"Martha," Allie said in a low voice, "maybe you and John need some private time with him."

"Nonsense! We'll all go over."

"Allie, what is it?" asked John, picking up the tone in her voice more than his wife, placing his hand on Allie's shoulder.

Allie lowered Katie to the ground, but held her hand, keeping her close to her. "I didn't know how to tell you but….he….," she paused, biting her lip. How could she tell them, after all they had done for her and Katie? She took a deep breath. "He doesn't want anything to do with us, the two of us," she said, gesturing with her head to Katie. "It's one of the reasons I was going to leave today."

Martha put her hands on her hip. "Well, I can't imagine that! Obviously you caught him at a bad time. He…"

John put his other hand on Martha's shoulder. "Martha, Allie has no reason to exaggerate. We'll all go visit, then Allie and Katie can go."

Allie repressed a sigh, not even wanting to do that much, but these were his parents, her daughter's grandparents, and frankly, a godsend to her. They had accepted the fact that Katie was their granddaughter without question and had been tickled when Allie had told them her choice of name. She had known how special his sister was to Dash, and how he would have loved the name, and they had obviously agreed.

Despite what their son may feel for her now, she still liked the two of them and wanted to maintain a good relationship with them.

She let Katie grab John's hand and drag him over to where his son was waiting with a blank expression on his face. She noted Footloose making a quick exit after giving her an almost imperceptible nod. What that meant, she had no idea.

She deliberately tried to stay in the background as his parents made a fuss over him – in particular, his mother. Allie knew she meant well, but after a few minutes, she approached the group, clearing her throat.

"Katie, say your goodbyes. We'll see Grandma and Grandpop later – we need to be going."

"But Mommy," Katie said with a frown, "we just found Daddy. What if we lose him again?"

She smiled, despite the situation, at her child. Crouching down to her level, she held her daughter's hand. "Ladybug," she began, smoothing her child's hair, "he's not going to get lost again. Your grandparents and this hospital will take good care of him."

Katie's lower lip trembled. "Will I see him again?"

Allie found her eyes meeting Flint's over their daughter's head. "Of course," she replied. She focused back on her daughter's face as she saw his eyes narrow with her lie. "But we need to get home to Thor and Max, and you need to check on your chickens, remember?"

Katie's lips curved into a smile. "They miss me."

"Of course they do, 'bug."

"And you have to get back to work."

Allie smiled. "That, too."

She stood up. "Give your grandparents a hug goodbye."

"And my daddy."

Allie's glanced flickered over to him. "Sure," she simply answered.

She watched as Katie did her routine hugs and kisses with her grandparents. She was a little shy this time approaching Flint, and gave him a hug and a kiss on his unbandaged cheek. She actually thought his expression softened as she hugged him, but then again, she could be imagining things. It would be nice, however, if he had a decent relationship with his daughter, even if he couldn't stand her mother, she thought with a sigh.