Lady Jaye groaned as she heard the phone ring. Reluctantly, she hit the pause button and rose from the couch. She laughed at herself as she wiped away at the tears that had fallen down her cheeks. Her favorite character had just been killed off a TV show that she had gotten hooked on the previous day. The fact that she was legitimately upset over the plot twist showed just how far into the fantasy life she had fallen.

She recognized Scarlett's number and she answered the phone. She was greeted with a chipper Scarlett. "Good morning! How's your life of leisure going?"

"I have to admit, it's been very relaxing," Lady Jaye said.

"That's good to hear. Have you been feeling better?"

"A little. I still am sick most of the morning, but it's a lot easier knowing I don't have to force myself to do PT or OC."

"I'm glad you're getting the rest you need. Are you free for lunch today? I have something I want to talk to you about."

Lady Jaye looked down at the lounge wear she had been wearing for too many consecutive hours. She then glanced at the paused image on the TV. She was a bit embarrassed by how much of a desire she had to make an excuse and blow off Scarlett. But she was also curious as to the reason for a lunch date. So deciding that it would be good for her to shower and get out of the apartment, they agreed on a time and location.

She watched the end of the episode, just to bring herself closure and then she showered. About an hour later she met Scarlett. They were shown to a table, and after they ordered their lunch, Lady Jaye took a sip of her water and asked Scarlett the reason for the get together.

Scarlett too took a long sip of her drink. "Have you heard about Snakes and Jinx leaving for Japan to train with the Arishakage clan?"

Lady Jaye shook her head. "No, I haven't."

"I'm not surprised. Both have been very quiet about their future plans. Snake Eyes was asked to return to Japan to help train the newest Arishakage recruits. He accepted, and asked Jinx to come along with him to complete her training. He then offered me a spot as well."

Lady Jaye was impressed. "Wow. That's quite an honor."

"I know. I have to admit I was shocked. The two of us have sparred together, but I never thought that he considered me good enough to join him at the clan. Once he offered me the position, I put in a request to transfer. General Bradshaw approved it this morning. So, I'm moving to Japan!"

The news shocked Lady Jaye. "Wait, when did this all happen? I haven't been gone from HQ that long."

Scarlett looked sheepish. "I admit this has been in the works for a couple of weeks. I haven't told you because I wasn't totally convinced it was going to happen, and you have been dealing with enough as it is."

Lady Jaye tried really hard to be happy for her friend. But, try as she might, it was yet another upheaval in her life. Despite the breaking of her heart, she tried to put on a good show. She lifted her water glass and said, "Cheers! I'm so happy for you!"

Scarlett laughed. "For an actress, you're a terrible liar."

Lady Jaye smiled. "I'm not lying. I am happy for you. But I'm sad for myself. You're my voice of reason, and thanks to the web of lies I've weaved, the only friend I can really talk to these days. Plus I was hoping you would volunteer as a baby-sitter."

Scarlett reached over and patted her hand. "I'm not permanently relocating, so I'll be back to meet the little one."

The waiter arrived with their food. While they both ate Scarlett chatted happily about her transfer. She told Lady Jaye about the famous masters she would not only get to meet, but to work with. She then rattled off the places she wanted to visit in Japan, as well as the different countries in the area.

Lady Jaye nodded, "It really does sound like an amazing opportunity. But are you okay with such a drastic career change?"

"I am because my first love was martial arts. I grew up with it, and my childhood dream was to become a ninja master. Obviously, that wasn't realistic so I needed a back-up plan. The army gave me the opportunity to learn real world skills while pursuing my training. My original plan when I joined the Joes was to pair off with Snake-Eyes. However, they need me in the intelligence department. It was supposed to be only a temporary assignment. Once you joined, I had every intention of getting back to my training, but thanks to Cobra's amazing ability to churn out one harebrained scheme after another, I knew you needed the extra set of hands.

"Over the years I learned that while I was good at my job, I didn't have the same knack for it that you did. Plus I don't love the intelligence gathering like you do. Now, you and the Joes don't need me anymore. Chuckles is extremely talented, and," she paused as she shook her head with a smile. "I will deny this if you ever tell him I said this, but Falcon has shown a surprising talent for the job as well."

Lady Jaye scoffed. "Based on how I left things with Falcon the other day, you don't have to worry about me telling him what you said." She studied her friend a moment. "So I guess then this isn't just a way of getting away from Duke?"

Scarlett looked down at her plate. "No," she said simply.

Lady Jaye laughed. "Now who's lying?"

"Like you, I do mean it. Sort of. I admit in the beginning, I was looking to get away from him. But as time went on, I realized there were more things I was unhappy with here than just the deterioration of my relationship. I had a great run with the Joes, but now it's time to move on." Scarlet looked down at her watch and cursed. "Damn, this went a lot longer than I expected. I hate to eat and run, but I have to get back to HQ. Do you feel up to starting an informal turnover while you're on leave? I could come by tomorrow with some files."

"I'll try to make room in my busy schedule," Lady Jaye said with a smile. Scarlett gave her one last hug and then she was off.

Lady Jaye sat at the table for a few minutes as she contemplated what other changes she was going to suffer through. With a sigh she stood up and left the restaurant as well. On the drive home she tried to console herself with the thought that she was just experiencing the normal flow of adulthood. Friendships came and went. Jobs were lost, marriages were made, children were born. Her problem was that she had basically been in a state of suspended animation the last few years while she had been devoting all of her time and energy in fighting Cobra. But now life seemed to not only be catching up, but trying to make up for lost time.

Still, all of it made her sad. And when she entered the apartment, she sat on the couch and sadly contemplated the state of her life. She was still there when Flint came in at what she assumed was a late lunch break for him. He took a look at her sitting alone in the dark and a look of fear came across his face. "Al, are you okay?"

"Scarlett told me she's leaving," she said quietly.

Flint exhaled as he looked relieved. "You scared me. I thought," he began but then trailed off. He took a seat next to her on the couch. "I'm sorry she's moving on. I know how close you two are."

Lady Jaye wrapped her arms around his neck as she let the tears she had been holding back begin to flow. She wondered how many more people she was going to lose from her life.

Flint walked out of the meeting mumbling under his breath. He thought for sure that he was going to have a chance to spend the night at the apartment, but General Bradshaw put an end to that idea. He understood that the general wanted to keep the Joes busy, and with the moratorium on new parts they needed to carefully inspect all of their existing equipment, but the aircraft recertifications weren't due for a couple of months. There was no reason why it had to be completed by the end of the week. So now not only would he be stuck on the base tonight, but he was going to be spending the majority of the next forty eight hours flying helos.

Normally, that would be an event that he looked forward to, as he did truly love flying, especially the Joe helicopters. But he hated being away from Lady Jaye for another couple of days. Especially after he saw how upset she was earlier over Scarlett's transfer.

He looked at his watch. It was late, but he knew she was waiting for him. As he walked back to his room, he dialed Lady Jaye's cell number, and she answered after a few rings. "Hey, babe. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to make it over there tonight."

"Oh, okay," she said. She sounded a lot less upset than he was expecting.

However, he continued on with his pre-planned speech. "I know, I am really sorry. But the general does want to go ahead and get the certs renewed on the aircraft."

"Okay."

He reached his door, so he juggled the phone between his ear and shoulder. "Hold on one second." He unlocked the door, nodded at Beachhead and walked into his bedroom.

"So I'm probably going to be busy the next couple of days as well."

"That's typical. Just give me a call when you're done."

Flint pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at the number he dialed. He was starting to think that he called a wrong number. "Are you okay?"

He heard some rustling in the background. "I am. I do feel better than I did earlier. I think I just needed to have a good cry."

"That's why I was hoping to be able to come by and keep you company tonight."

"It would have been nice, but it's okay that you can't. Dash, I really am fine. I'm finding ways to keep myself entertained. Anyway, I'm sorry Bradshaw has you jumping through hoops. But don't worry about me. Shana's coming over tomorrow to start her turnover, so I'll be busy with that."

"Okay, good." While he was relieved, he was a little hurt at being slighted. "I'm going to let you go. I should get started on the paperwork."

Lady Jaye barely mumbled out a farewell before she hung up. Flint again looked at the phone and shook his head. He had apparently underestimated her, yet again. He walked out into the living room, and dropped the file he needed to skim through on the table. He then walked over to the kitchen area to grab a bottled water.

"That wasn't Lady Jaye by any chance?" Beachhead asked.

Flint startled at the question, but he tried to remain cool. "No. Why would it be?"

Beachhead shrugged. "I just thought that after her meltdown the other day that you might be slightly concerned and keeping in touch with her."

Flint shook his head. "No. I haven't talked to her since the day she left." He thought about expanding the lie, and going on about how he lost that right when they broke up, but he kept quiet. He remembered Lady Jaye's one piece of advice about acting and lying, that the "Keep It Simple, Stupid" method was really the best plan. However, he needed to say something. "I think she just needs some time to regroup back home."

Beachhead nodded. "So was that your new girl?"

The amazing thing about Beachhead was that even when he was acting like a semi normal human being, he still managed to piss Flint off. "That's really none of your business."

"You're right it's not."

Beachhead remained quiet for a few seconds, giving Flint enough time to open his file. "Just, going back to Lady Jaye, what happened to her? I know she had gone through a lot with your breakup and having to adjust to General Bradshaw. But still, her behavior was really very odd the other day."

"Sneeden, please drop it. She is not something I want to talk about right now."

Beachhead, as usual, ignored him. "And voluntarily taking a medical leave? That's really not like her. I just wonder if she was using that as an excuse to get away from what was really bothering her."

Flint sighed. He knew he was not going to be able to ignore the conversation. "Which is?"

"You blissfully happy over a new girlfriend."

Flint let out a quick laugh before he clamped down on it. He was amazed at how unaware their teammates seemed to be to Lady Jaye's real issue. He was not going to talk Beachhead out of his assumption. "Maybe she is."

Beachhead stared at him a moment. "And you're okay with that?"

Flint put his palms up. "What do you want me to do?"

"I know this might be hard for you, but maybe not be an asshole about it?"

Flint again clamped down on a laugh. The conversation had really taken a turn into the asinine, but it was becoming entertaining. "What have I done wrong?'

"You haven't noticed how miserable she's been the last few weeks? And meanwhile, you've been strutting around here like you're king of the castle. Which, again, I know is how you normally act. But maybe you should think about toning it down for her sake."

"Noted," Flint said. He could argue with Beachhead and plead his case, but he knew Lady Jaye was dealing with much worse rumors. So if the worst thing that he had to deal with is Beachhead continuing to think he was an asshole, that wasn't too bad.

Lady Jaye opened the door and grinned at Scarlett. "Shana! Come in. Welcome to our humble abode. Can I get you an iced tea? Or I could make coffee. I'm pretty sure Flint has some stashed away."

Scarlett took a hesitant few steps in. She looked at Lady Jaye. "No, I'm good. And wow, you're very happy this morning."

"I am. And that's because for the first time in weeks, I woke up not wanting to puke my brains out. I think I might have turned a corner."

"That is good news."

Lady Jaye led Scarlett to the dining room table and told her to make herself comfortable. Scarlett sat in one of the chairs and then laid the five files in her hand out on the table.

Before she took her own seat, Lady Jaye poked through them. "I probably should have given you the heads up that I am feeling better. You could have brought everything with you."

Scarlett shot her a bemused look. "I did bring everything."

"All of this was active before I left. You mean to tell me nothing has happened the last few days?"

"There have been no new credible threats. And out of this massive pile stacked here, I think only two are worth following up on. I only brought the others because I wanted to run them by you to make sure that you agreed that we can close them out."

"So much for me thinking that I was going to be swamped with work."

"If this continues, you could probably take a six month maternity leave, and Chuckles would have no problem holding down the fort."

Lady Jaye had spent the last couple of days thinking long and hard about the future, but still the idea of a maternity leave sent her into a mild panic. Not only would it mean that she would have endured a birth and be home with an infant, which was nerve wracking in and of itself, but she had no idea what her situation would be like at that time. Ideally she hoped both she and Flint would be secure in their jobs and happily married. But she knew that was a scenario she couldn't count on.

"And you are obviously not hearing a word I'm saying," Scarlett said with an amused look.

"I'm sorry," Lady Jaye said. "My thoughts went off on a tangent."

Scarlett pushed away the file in front of her. "Have you given any more thought to a plan for the future?"

Lady Jaye sighed. "It's all I think about. And I'm no closer to finding an acceptable answer."

Scarlett frowned. She fiddled with the files before she spoke again. "Alison, listen. I know it's easy to get stuck in a familiar pattern that you're very comfortable in. I was there. And even though I wasn't happy it was still better waking up each morning content with the life I was used to as opposed to making a change in the hopes of a better life. It's why I had to spend a couple of days thinking long and hard about Snake-Eyes' offer. But then I decided I owed it to myself to stop being miserable and to finally take the steps to try and give myself the life I have earned and deserve."

"I want that for myself too. Which is why I'm buying the time I need in the hopes that life will return to how it was a few months ago."

"Do you really, though, want to go back in time like that? You have a future growing inside of you. You've got to realize that no matter what happens with General Bradshaw and Hawk that you are not going to go back to the life you had before we battled Cobra in the Himalayas. And why would you want to? How many times had we been nearly killed on a mission? Or scared to death that the man we loved was going to perish at the hands of Cobra? Or one of our friends that we cared deeply about?"

Lady Jaye pondered her words. Several examples of near death instances flashed in her mind. Scarlett was right that she didn't want to repeat any of those moments. But that wasn't what she missed. "Of course I wouldn't want to see Flint or any of the other guys' lives threatened again. But back then I felt like I was making a difference in the world. Each time we stopped Cobra I was proud of what I accomplished. That's the feeling I want to get back again."

"I get that. And that's exactly why I agreed to go to Japan. I knew I could do more good there than I could here. And Alison you too have an obvious path to life fulfillment in front of you. You're going to be a mother. You're going to create and shape another human being. That has got to bring you a strong sense of satisfaction in life."

Lady Jaye nodded. "It does. Or at least I think it will. Right now it's still seems like such an abstract concept. Maybe once the baby is in my arms, my feelings will change. But right not I want to be selfish and still fight for my job satisfaction as well."

"And you have the right to do that. I'm just trying to remind you that if you reach the point where you have to make a choice, your family should take a priority over this job."

Lady Jaye settled back in her chair. The last few days had given her the time to really think about her future. Both the things she had control of and the things she didn't. The unsettling part was that so much of it seemed out of her hands. She debated how many of her dark thoughts and fears she could confess to Scarlett.

But then the fact that in a few days time, Scarlett would be off on her next journey, meant she was losing her only sounding board. She could, of course, talk to Flint, but he had weathered General Bradshaw's arrival far better than she had and couldn't grasp her frustrations with the new leadership. He had also accepted his impending fatherhood easily, so Lady Jaye was afraid he wouldn't understand her trepidation and possibly even hold it against her.

The same could be true of Scarlett. But the two had developed a close friendship over the last few years. At first there had been a bit of a professional rivalry between the two but they quickly learned that they would be better off turning to each other for support. Life on the Joe team had not been easy. They had seen and experienced many incredible things through the years, that the only way to stay sane was to have a close confidant or two to talk to. Flint had been her main source of comfort. It helped that he had been on many of the same missions, so they were able to process what they had seen and been through together. But there had been times that either he had been off on his own missions, or he was the cause of her strife, or it was a topic that Lady Jaye knew he wouldn't handle well.

So she would turn to Scarlett with a rant about one of the guys who had extremely touchy-feely hands, or who had been bordering on sexual harassment, or how Flint's latest action irritated her. There was the one conversation when she had been embarrassed to admit that although Matthew Burke had turned out to be a double timing asshole, she had still found him extremely attractive and had been flattered by the added attention he had shown her, in spite of the jealous rampage it had sent Flint into.

The memory made Lady Jaye guilty over the thoughts she had the last few days. She and Flint had not only bucked the odds of combat duty by being alive and well, but the fact that they were still together and expecting a baby made them extremely lucky. And while she was grateful for it all, she still felt like she had the right to bemoan the timing, and the fears she had for her blessed arrival.

"You're right that everything else pales in comparison to being lucky enough to have a growing family. And I am trying to make sure this little guy is my top priority. But I still can't help being terrified for what the future is going to bring me. I know I should be embracing the baby's arrival, but I'm not. I like the life Flint and I had, and there's a part of me that's upset that we're never going to have that again," Lady Jaye said with a sigh. She avoided eye contact with Scarlett. "I'm sure that makes me sound like a monster."

"It doesn't. And you're not the only one to ever have those kind of thoughts. I saw it happen with my sister-in-law. She and my brother tried for years to get pregnant, so when it finally happened I thought she would be ecstatic. But, at first, she wasn't. She said she had gotten so used to the idea of not ever having a baby, that she was having a hard time accepting that the opposite was true. Plus, they had gotten very used to their no-kids lifestyle that she was afraid a baby was going to disrupt their happiness. And I'll be honest that after the baby was born in took her a little while to fully embrace motherhood, but she eventually did."

"Thanks, I needed to hear that. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one with these awful thoughts. I look at Flint, and he has so easily accepted the idea of fatherhood that I really have started to wonder if there was something wrong with me."

"No, I think that's normal too. It's easier for men. It's not their body that gets sacrificed during pregnancy. And I know despite the leaps and bounds we've come with women's rights, we more likely than not end up being the primary caregiver, at least in the very beginning, so our life is the one that gets uprooted by the process. My brother too was blissfully happy, unaware of the thoughts of his wife. I still don't think he knows all the negative thoughts she had.

"If you want I can give you her phone number if you ever want to talk about what you're going through. She really is one of the sweetest people I have ever met, and I tell my brother every chance I get that he's lucky to have her. My nephew is nearly three, and she's working on baby number two, so she's a good resource for new mom questions."

"I may take you up on that," Lady Jaye replied. "And thank you once again for being here for me. I'm definitely going to need to look into a good long distance phone plan so we can continue to chat once you are in Japan."

"The biggest problem is going to be the time difference. Although, I guess if you need some company for the middle of the night feedings, you can call me since it will only be in the afternoon my time."

That was the kind of scenario Lady Jaye was having a hard time wrapping her head around. The idea that she would be spending every couple of hours doing nothing but feeding a newborn seemed rather excruciating. So she hoped that Scarlett was right that she would eventually get used to the aspects of motherhood.

"That sounds like a plan. I'll probably need the adult conversation."

Scarlett looked at her watch and then stood up. "I'd love to stay and chat some more, but I have to get back."

Lady Jaye looked towards the files on the table. "I'm sorry that I hijacked the conversation. We didn't get a chance to go over anything."

Scarlett shrugged. "Don't apologize, I don't think it's a big deal. We basically do the same job, so it's not like I have to show you the ropes. I just wanted to bring these to you so you can go over them. It'll give you a head start for when you return next week. That is, I assume you are returning next week?"

"It's what I'm planning on. I think the worst of the morning sickness has passed, so I should be able to return. At that point, I'll just be taking it one day at a time."

"Okay. As I said, I think three of the leads have gone cold. But I think there might be something worth following up on with the other two." Scarlett gave her a hug. "Take care. And call me if you need anything."