*Disclaimer: I own none of these fine characters. They all belong to Marvel, Image, Sunbow, Hasbro, Devil's Due, and if there are any others, I STILL don't own any of these guys! This is just a work of fun. I have no intention of making money off of this story. I'm just a penniless fan.

*Thank you so much for all the encouraging reviews ^__^ It helps me a lot to hear what you all think. Case in point. Matt of Ravenclaw? Um, funny you should ask about Falcon…

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The sleek black rental car drove the short distance from the Pentagon to Arlington National Cemetery in deep silence. In the front, Steve and Lady Jaye exchanged worried glances. "Sir," Jaye finally said. "We're almost there."

In the back seat, free of his jacket and hat, Hawk looked up from icing his shoulder and just nodded. He let the silence once again smother any further conversation.

Steve and Jaye exchanged another look, the furrows in their brows deepening.

While Low Light rested in the home of Retired General "Iron-Butt" Austin, the Joe's former CO, Steve and Jaye had donned their dress greens and accompanied Hawk to the Pentagon. Wanting to keep Steve's true ID hidden for as long as possible, he had asked the older man to guard the car while Jaye acted as his aide for the day.

That had been six hours ago.

As Steve chaffed at the inaction, Jaye found herself barred from more meetings and corridors than her lack of rank could explain away. Her Intelligence Clearance should have given her free run of the building.

Something was going on.

Even more telling to her was Hawk's brooding. That was always a bad sign. She'd have felt much better if the General was growling, shouting, even kicking or hitting things.

The man nursing his shoulder in the back was scaring her with his silence.

Steve threw the car into park and cut the engine. "Hawk? We're here."

Hawk nodded and put the ice pack down. A stiff rust-brown stain marred the clean shirt.

Jaye reached into the glove compartment and fished out the sling. "Hawk, your stitches---"

"Leave it, Jaye." Hawk's first words since announcing their destination. Flat and uncaring. She couldn't take it anymore.

"Fine," she snapped, throwing the sling back into the glove compartment. "Be a stubborn old fool then!" She shoved open the door, got out, and slammed it shut as hard as she could.

She waited for the reprimand.

Hawk just struggled into his jacket without comment. He didn't even say anything when Steve got out and opened the door for him.

Not a word.

Her heart sank as she and Steve fell into step behind Hawk. She wasn't even fazed by Steve's own disapproving look upon her.

Suddenly, unbidden, the memory of Hawk's lifeblood spilt over her shoulder rose up, the nightmare feel of his spirit hovering for release under her hands washed over her skin again.

Lady Jaye shivered.

"Hey." Two strong hands gripped her shoulders, returning her to the present. Steve's blue eyes looked at her worriedly as Hawk obliviously kept walking on without them. "What's gotten into you," Steve asked softly, gathering her under his arm, prompting her to keep walking.

"Borovia," she murmured, rubbing her hands over her arms.

"Excuse me?"

"Just…remembering a mission. A very bad mission."

"Oh."

"I just wish he'd talk to us," Jaye said, exasperated. "This is worse than when he was building up to tell us about Hueah. At least he talked to us. Eventually." She looked up at Steve, green eyes troubled. "Call me fey, but I don't think we can wait too long this time."

As it turned out, they didn't have to.

Hawk stopped under a young cherry tree at the top of one of the sloping hills. "Jaye," he said, his voice soft and even toned. "I know you want to pay your respects too…but I'd appreciate it if you stayed here." He looked at her with mild eyes. "I'd like to talk to the Captain in private."

Lady Jaye searched his eyes, looking for any hints of redness or tears or…anything.

Hawk, misunderstanding, told her, "Don't worry. I'm not letting my emotions rule me this time."

Jaye shivered again. Hawk's eyes had become dark and hooded, like Fury, Carter…and, she sadly realized, Duke. Too many secrets, too many compromises, too many sacrifices…too many manipulations.

The memory of Hawk's hovering spirit under her hands flashed again.

"Clayton," she said sharply, startling him. "Clay, don't play this game on their terms. You'll lose yourself." She stepped into his personal space. "And you simply cannot do that on my watch. Not here of all places. Do you think the boys would want that?"

Hawk blinked, a flash of guilt in his eyes…and Jaye gave a sigh of relief at the sight. "No," he said softly. "They wouldn't." Hawk gently touched her chin. "But as long as I have my guiding stars, I'll never lose my way."

"What?"

"It'll be OK, Alison," Hawk told her, using her real name. "Do you trust me?"

She gave an unlady-like snort. "That's a stupid question. You know I do."

"Then please, stay here. Check-in with Flint, let him know where we are. Tell him I want to double the guard on our dummy Duke in ICU, and a guard with him and BeachHead at all times."

"Hawk?"

"Just a hunch. Let me be paranoid."

"They won't like having guards," she warned him.

"Tough luck. If they don't like it, they can peel potatoes in the stockade until I get back." He gave a sudden feral grin. "Too bad my personnel clerk is here instead of at base. Otherwise, I might worry about transfers." He turned to face the Pentagon, hazy in the distance. "Didn't think about that, did you? HA!" He shook a fist at it. "You pencil pushing pukes aren't the only ones who can foul things up in red tape!"

Impulsively, she threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.

"Well," Hawk said. A surprising blush colored his cheeks as he held her. "What was that for?"

She wrinkled her nose at him. "Just because." She gave him a gentle shove. "Go. Give my love to the boys."

"I will. Captain? Will you join me?"

Steve hesitated for a second before nodding.

Lady Jaye folded her legs beneath her as she watched the two men walk on without her. She leaned against the young tree and lifted her com to her lips. "Lady Jaye to base."

"Flint here," came the prompt reply. "What's your status?"

She smiled and pressed her cheek against her com, enjoying the feel of Flint's voice as much as the sound. "We just got out of the Pentagon. We're at Arlington now. Hawk wanted to say 'Hi' to the boys."

There was a pause. "Anything else to report?"

"He wants to double the guard on 'Duke.'" She took a deep breath. "And he wants a guard on you and BeachHead too."

A low, irritated growl drifted up.

"Orders," she said simply.

A hand covered the transmitter on the other side of the com, but Jaye could still hear the Warrant Officer curse. "Anything else," he finally asked in a clipped tone.

"Not yet. Hawk's being pretty secretive. Officially, that's all I have to report for now."

When Flint spoke again, his voice dropped the professional edge, becoming deeper, tender. "And unofficially?"

She sighed, letting the last of the pent up emotional tension drain out of her. "I miss you, Dashiell," she said, calling her husband by his real name.

"Alison? Honey, what's wrong?"

"Just talk to me, Dash. I just need to hear the sound of your voice."

A throaty chuckle rumbled from the com. "Is that all you need?"

She reddened. "Dash, I'm in the middle of a cemetery---"

"Kinky," he mumured huskily.

"Dash! Have you no decency, man?"

"I thought that was one of the things you loved about me," he said, his voice as intimate as a caress, making her shiver for a much more pleasant reason.

"Oh, wow," a strange woman's voice sighed over the com. "Lucky gal."

Jaye gasped.

"FIREWALL," Flint hollered over the com. "What did I say about hacking into the commlines!"

"You're right, sir," Mainframe's voice said hastily. "It won't happen again."

"MAINFRAME!"

"Busted," another man's voice laughed.

"Shut up, Daemon!"

Jaye moaned and covered her head with her arms as her husband chased the eavesdroppers away.

"Ummm…so," Flint finally said. "How about those Red Soxs?"

Further down the vale, Hawk knelt before a white headstone and took off his hat. "Lifeline must be having fits," he murmured.

Steve knelt next to him, black beret in hand. "Why?"

Hawk nodded to the fresh yellow rose that laid ontop of the white marble. "Duke's nearby."

"Is that a signal?"

Hawk shook his head. "No, nothing so cloak and dagger. If he's in the area, Duke always makes time to visit this one grave, no matter what."

Steve read the name on the headstone out loud. "Captain Vincent R. Falcone." His eyes darkened as he read the date of death. "September 11, 2001. The Pentagon?"

Hawk nodded.

"Was Duke there?"

"No. I was." Hawk bowed his head. "I was the one who told Duke."

"They were close?"

Hawk nodded. "Brothers."

Steve flinched. "Another family." He reached out and touched the carved name, as if trying to burn the name into his memory.

Hawk watched him for a second before dropping his eyes. "It wasn't your fault," he told him.

"I couldn't stop it," Steve said softly. "Any of it." Steve looked at him, and Hawk saw the full weight of his age look back at him. "This wasn't like Pearl Harbor, Hawk. I was RIGHT THERE this time. I was in New York, only a block away from the Towers and I couldn't do a thing to stop any of it. All I could do was dig and hope that someone, anyone was still…the next one HAD to still be…" He bowed his head and swallowed hard. "Nick tried to snap me out of it right afterwards by trying to throw me on a plane to the Middle East…but…I COULDN'T LEAVE. Not while there was a chance someone was still alive under all that rubble." He rocked back on his heels and sat, plucking at the grass. "Nick understood and backed off. He even ran interference for me, made sure I had space."

Hawk was silent for a beat. "Did you find anyone," Hawk asked. "Anyone alive?"

Steve stiffened. He shook his head.

Hawk touched the headstone. "Neither did I," he admitted.

Sad understanding dawned in Steve's eyes. "You're the one who found him."

Hawk nodded. "I kept thinking, if I could only get him out of the smoke…but he was already…" He sighed as he rocked back and just sat in the grass. "I…I never know what to say to family, to let them know…" He rubbed his forehead. "I contacted Duke…" He plucked at the grass, unable to look up. "I was sure Duke was going to hit me, hate me…I wouldn't have blamed him. I wish he did."

"Hit you or hate you?"

"Both. Either." Hawk shook his head. "He did neither." He tossed the grass to the side. "He actually thanked me for bringing his brother out. He could have blamed me for any number of reasons. For not knowing, for not getting to Falcon in time, for not letting him avenge his brother's death against al-Quida." Hawk shook his head again. "Duke never did."

"We tried our best, kid," Steve said softly. "That was all anyone could do that day. It wasn't your fault either."

"I ordered Duke to take time off, to be with his family," Hawk said. "I told him I'd understand if he didn't want to come back." He smiled. "That's when he finally got mad at me."

"What did he say?"

"He said he HAD to come back, for Falcon's sake. It's what his brother would have wanted." Hawk chuckled. "I hope that womanizing, slick talking, hot-shot Green Beret appreciates the irony, wherever he is. He spent his entire tour with Joe trying to live up to his brother's reputation."

"And now Duke is trying honor his brother's memory," Steve concluded.

Hawk nodded.

Steve crossed himself and touched the headstone again. "Post tenebras spero lucem."

Hawk's eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me?"

"It's Latin. 'After darkness I hope for light.'" Steve smiled. "Another man named Falcon taught me that. It's the motto of falconers, symbolic of removing the hood from a bird. After that day…I needed to hear something like that." He tapped his chest. "It gave me hope. It felt like the right thing to say here."

Hawk smiled sadly. "Thank you. It is."

Then Steve's eyes took on a shrewd look. "But we're not down here to council each other through survivor's guilt are we?"

The smile slid away from Hawk's face. "No. We're not."

More silence passed between them. Steve stretched out his legs and leaned back onto his hands, trying to catch Hawk's eye.

Hawk steadfastly refused to look at Steve.

"Out with it," Steve ordered at last. "You're not the type of fella to be beating around the bush and I'm not the type to tolerate it. Whatever it is, get it off your chest."

"Captain America…" Hawk sighed. "Sir."

Steve sat up straight. "This doesn't sound good."

"No, sir."

Steve's blue eye narrowed. "Out with it," he repeated.

Hawk ran a hand through his cropped hair. "Sir…these past few days, you've proven yourself a better friend to me than a lot of people I've known. Not many men would side against a friend of many decades AND the woman they love for the sake of what's right."

"It's my way," Steve said. "My duty."

"Duty," Hawk repeated. "Some people would do anything for the sake of duty, and damn whatever was right."

"That way of thinking is a trap," Steve said.

Hawk bowed his head. "One I almost fell into." He finally looked at Steve square in the eyes. "Things in the Pentagon are going badly. The Jugglers are arranging it so that GI Joe can't operate within the States. Soon, they're going to take the women, ALL the women, off of the Joe team. Supposedly to act as advisors for DHS, but that is so much bull, I could fertilize the whole of Iowa with piles to spare. We'll be crippled. To add insult to injury, they've convinced the Secretary of Defense to base us in Europe."

Steve's eyebrows shot up. "I think," he said carefully, "that you've wiggled on that hook long enough for Nick and Sharon. We've tried it their way, its just making things worse. This has to stop."

"Don't you think I've tried," Hawk asked bitterly. "I talked to the Secretary of Defense, I talked with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They…" Hawk gripped his hair and gave a bark of incredulous laughter. "They're blackmailing me. For my loyalty."

Steve did a double take. "What?"

"You heard me. Blackmailed. Again."

"Hueah?"

Hawk nodded.

"For your LOYALTY?"

Hawk nodded again.

"OF ALL THE STUPID, IDIOTIC---!" Steve jumped to his feet. "I've had enough of this sneaking around! We're going back there, and this time I'm walking in with you---"

"Sit down, Captain," Hawk snapped. "We're not done."

Steve dropped back down. "Make it quick, my patience is just about out."

Hawk winced. "That wasn't what I needed to hear."

"I told you before, I'm the type of solider that destroys evil as soon as I can reach it." He tugged on his black beret. "And when it comes to upholding this nation's honor, I am not a patient man."

"We're not talking about the nation's honor, we're talking about mine!"

Steve pointed at Hawk. "You are a General Officer of this country's Army. Your honor is a reflection of it's own."

"Then we're in trouble," Hawk retorted. "Because I haven't exactly been acting honorably toward the Living Symbol of this nation, namely you!"

"What are you talking about?"

Hawk glared at the ground. "I was so determined to save GI Joe I was ready t-to pull a Juggler on you." He took a deep breath. "Manipulate you to get you to go along with something I have in mind."

Steve just looked at him, his face unreadable.

Hawk hunched his shoulders. "You're disappointed in me."

"Yeah, kid, I am."

Hawk flinched as if he'd been kicked.

Steve crossed his arms. "So why didn't you?"

Hawk glanced over his shoulder. Lady Jaye waved down at them. Hawk lifted his hand. "My guiding star," he murmured. A small twinkle lit his eye as he touched the headstone. "Though to tell you the truth, Falcon would have appreciated my moxy, trying to string you along."

"Not amused, kid."

Hawk grimaced. "Sorry, sir." Hawk took a deep breath and looked Steve straight in the eye. "I AM sorry, sir."

The silence stretched between them, neither looking away for an instant.

Finally, a smile cracked across the older man's face.

"Oy," Steve chuckled. "If only I had a camera. You look like what the Avengers must mean about me being too sincere for my own good."

Nonplused, Hawk wasn't sure whether to be hurt or relieved.

Steve leaned his hands against his thighs. "But seriously, son, I'm not as naive as people think. I read your file. I know you've done things, used people. In a lot of ways, you and Nick are very much alike."

"Your pardon, Captain, but that's doesn't make me feel better."

"Wasn't supposed to. Just making an observation."

"Oh great."

"The difference between you two is…somewhere along the line, Nick abandoned honor for the sake of expediency. Despite what you may think of yourself, you haven't. You still hold to the code of West Point. Duty. Honor. Country. It's why I helped you. It's why I'm still helping you." He leaned forward, eyes intent. "So what do you have in mind?"

Hawk squirmed. "You're not going to like it. Truthfully, I don't even have the right to ask this of you."

"If I asked you to do the same, would you?"

Hawk looked at him steadily, seriously. "Yes."

"Then ask."

Hawk nodded.

Then he told the Captain.

**"WHAT?!"**

Lady Jaye jerked her head up and saw Captain America jump to his feet. Furiously, he paced back and forth, hands clenched at his sides. Even from that distance, she could see him grinding his teeth together.

And Hawk just sat there, looking for all the world like a cadet before a drillmaster.

"Flint, I have to go," Jaye said hastily.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know."

"Is it Hawk? Is he in trouble?"

She bit her lip. "Not…like you mean. Flint, I'm sorry, I need to sign off."

"Dammit! Fine, but I want a report later! Flint out."

She was already bolting down the hill when the Captain suddenly swung around with a LOOK that practically burned through the air. The next thing she knew, she had her back pressed up against the tree again. She felt frozen to the spot. Captain America pinned her with his gaze for a moment longer, his body language screaming for her to butt out. Only when he looked away did she realize she had forgotten to breathe.

Inhaling deeply, she watched in horrified fascination as Captain America verbally tore into Hawk. She couldn't make out what was being said, but the emotions were all too clear.

Captain America was less than happy.

And Hawk, quietly, respectfully, was agitating him further.

Finally, after a few tense moments when it looked as if the Captain was going to strike Hawk, he stopped and covered his face with his hands. His shoulders sagged.

Captain America nodded.

Hawk's shoulders heaved in relief.

Captain America turned on his heel and marched straight up the hill. Hawk followed.

"Steve?" Jaye reached out to the older man.

Captain America blindly walked right past her, his face haggard and suddenly showing far too much of his true age.

"Steve?"

"Leave him alone, Jaye," Hawk told her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "He just agreed to do something very hard."

"Hawk, what's going on," she demanded.

He sighed. "Politically, we're being outmaneuvered." He looked the retreating man regretfully. "I just asked the Captain to handle one of my contingency plans. He's not happy with it."

"What---"

Hawk cut her off. "I just called Duke. He's going to sneak in and meet us at the White House. We need to talk to the President. I need his support, Duke's…" He squeezed her shoulder. "…and I need yours."

"Hawk?"

He offered her his arm. "Let's go. Hopefully, the Captain's calmed down some."

She slipped her hand over his arm, regarding him carefully. "You…seem a lot more relaxed."

He patted her hand and smiled. "Things are going to be alright."

They walked a few steps before he stopped, looking around. "Post tenebras spero lucem," he said softly to himself.

"Sir?"

"I forget how beautiful it is here," he told her. He turned his face to the bright afternoon sun. "So peaceful."

She shivered. "It'll be a long time before you get to rest here," she said fiercely. "You have too much to do."

A rare summer wind blew down to caress their skin, filling the silence with the rustling of the trees.

"Come on, Jaye. Let's go."