Flint woke with a start, automatically reaching out to the empty space next to him. Damn it! he swore to himself. The dream had been so vivid! She had been right there, in his arms. He should have refused to let her go….but it had been a dream, he sighed. Only a dream.
She was out there somewhere, though, he knew it. He had noticed the looks of sympathy from some of his teammates that they gave him when they thought he wasn't looking. Even Snake Eyes seemed to be avoiding him lately, his sixth sense disappointing him as well.
Sighing, he got up and dressed, knowing he wouldn't get back to sleep that night. Might as well get to work, he thought grudgingly. His team had stayed behind for clean up detail, but so far they had turned up nothing. Maybe going over the data again, even with the few hours of rest he had gotten, would somehow yield results this time.
Sitting at the desk in the small conference room the hotel had granted the team, he was watching the numbers blur in front of his eyes when a cup of coffee was placed in front of him.
"Looks like you could use a whole carafe, but it seems they're fresh out," Shipwreck commented leaning back against the wall and studying him. "What's the matter? Bad dreams?"
Shipwreck stood up suddenly and smiled. "Or maybe it was because a dream was too good?"
Flint glared at the sailor. "What do you want?" he managed to ground out, his teeth clenched.
Shipwreck shrugged, giving him an enigmatic smile. "Don't know. Maybe the question is what you want. Do you know what you want, Flint?"
Flint sighed. "I don't have time to play games right now. Why don't you and that irritating parrot of yours go take a walk or something." Flint paused, then looked over at Shipwreck. "Where is your parrot?"
"Polly? Oh, I sent her out on recon," grinned Shipwreck. "She's good at finding things that are lost. The question is, are you?"
Flint rubbed his forehead, feeling the beginnings of a headache. "What's with all the double talk? Just come out and say what you mean."
Shipwreck gave another smile, then leaned forward. "You want to find Lady Jaye. So badly, you just dreamed about her, didn't you? Interesting thing, dreamwalking. Almost as interesting as that amulet you found around the old spider witch. That, Flint, is the key to finding Lady Jaye."
Flint stood up so suddenly, his chair fell backwards. "What the hell are you talking about?" Only he and Snake Eyes knew about the amulet, and he was sure as hell the ninja hadn't told the jokester sailor about it! The fact that he had also mentioned "dreamwalking" also flitted through his mind briefly before it disappeared again.
"Sorry," shrugged Shipwreck. "I can't figure everything out for you. Why don't you take a sip of that coffee before it gets cold and wake up?"
Flint awoke with a start, finding himself with his head laying on his desk. The conference room where he was working was empty except for himself and a steaming cup of coffee. Had he imagined the whole conversation with Shipwreck?
He rubbed his forehead and leaned back in his chair. He knew he was under a lot of stress, but he didn't think he'd be suffering from delusions, hallucinations, or lucid dreams. He glanced at the coffee, taking a sip thinking it might not hurt. By the looks of the sky from the window, dawn was coming soon. He'd have to have his team up and about so they could once more scope out the area around Destro's castle. Destro was still out there somewhere, and he'd rather they find him first before Cobra. He definitely had a few questions to ask the man!