Disclaimer: Characters in this work (GI Joe/ Cobra) are the property of Marvel Comics, Hasbro
and Devil's Due Publishing, Inc., and are being used without permission. No profit is gained from the use of these characters.

Rowan Michaels (a.k.a. Trigger), Mirrored Reflections, and the Diamondback are of my own creation

Thanks to: JohnF, my muse, again.

Diamond in the Rough

By Nickelina

The Flop

It had only been a half hour since Jaye had been back in her room. She had changed back into her normal uniform. She ruffled her wet hair and sat down on the bed. The rest of the team was on radio silence. The only word she had was a message on her wrist comm from Mainframe telling her to stay put until further notice. She could not stay still for long. COBRA knew where she was and they more than likely were going to come after her.

Jaye flipped on the television for noise and went about packing the things she needed to take with her. She had put a few things in her small bag when a breaking news story caught her attention.

"A botched robbery attempt at the Bellagio ends in gunfire..." She promptly turned off the television and hastily finished packing her things. She strapped on her side arm and went to the window to look for anything suspicious. There was a rapid knock at the door. She drew her side arm and stepped quietly to the door. She responded to the knock with two of her own and it was answered back with two from the other side. Jaye knew it was someone from her team and she opened the door. She waited until Duke and Dusty entered before putting her sidearm away. Neither one of them said anything to her as they did a once over of the room.

Duke walked to the bed and picked up her bag. "Get your stuff," he said as he handed the bag to her.

"I'm ready." She replied, taking the bag from Duke. "What's going on?"

Duke did not respond to her. He looked at his watch then to Dusty. "Duke! Answer me."

"You are needed elsewhere. Please refrain from talking to anyone until further notice."

Jaye looked over at Dusty who shrugged his shoulders at her. He tried to break the ice with Duke. "When did they say they would be here?"

"Half hour."

"Who?" Jaye threw her bag on the bed. "What the hell is going on?"

Duke stood in front of Jaye and put his hands on his hips. "This mission's been scrubbed."

"No shit, Sherlock. What's going on? What happened that you can't tell me?"

Duke repeated himself. "This mission's been scrubbed. We're cleaning up."

The fact that Duke would not tell her anymore information was a big clue that something had gone seriously wrong. He simply turned his back to her and began to pace the room. Jaye turned to Dusty for any information he could give her.

"Dusty?"

He looked away from her, avoiding eye contact.

"Goddamn it!" Jaye stomped her foot. "What the hell is going on? If you tell me 'this mission's been scrubbed' again I swear I'll put my foot right up someone's ass."

Duke straightened and turned to face her again. "First of all, lower your voice. Secondly, watch your tone. This is not your boyfriend you're talking to." He stopped and put his hand to his forehead. "I'm sorry." Duke paused before continuing. "You know procedure. I can't tell you anymore."

"Duke, I was there remember?"

"I know." He stepped closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "We had a casualty, and bigger problems."

"Oh God." Jaye sat on the bed.

"There is a car waiting for you on the corner of Sahara and Paradise. We will meet up later at the command center and debrief there. I'd suggest you hurry."

Jaye looked over at Dusty and back to Duke. "That's it? I just get in a car and drive away?"

"Yes."

Dusty picked up her bag and handed it to her. "Stay strong Jaye."

Jaye walked down the hall to the elevator. The doors shut and she leaned up against the mirrored back wall. Dusty's words kept echoing in her head. Stay strong. The feeling that she was about to lose someone close to her was overwhelming. She just didn't know who.

Jaye met her car at the corner as Duke had instructed. She was driven to the airport and directly to a waiting military transport. She walked aboard the plane and sat away from the others, but still close enough to see where everyone was. She did a head count and noticed three were missing; Duke, Dusty, and Flint. Everything fell into place. She felt as if a dark cloud fell over her. Flint was the casualty that Duke mentioned. Her heart sank and she put her head down. The hatch of the plane closed and the engines roared to life.

The mood in aboard the transport was sullen to say the least. There was no need to tell what had happened. Everyone had pretty much figured it out once they noticed who was not among them. The small team tried to occupy their time by sorting through their things or talking quietly between themselves. Just before take off, Ripcord sat next to Lady Jaye. He knew by the distant look in her eyes that she didn't want his company. He stayed by her side anyway.

He placed his hand on her knee. Jaye looked down at it and waited for him to move it. He cleared his throat and placed his hands in his lap. "I just wanted to see how you were doing," He said.

Lady Jaye shrugged her shoulders but did not reply.

"This is difficult on all of us," Ripcord continued. "I can just imagine what's going through your head."

Jaye's expression had not changed. She stared straight ahead. She did not want to look at Ripcord for fear she might break down if she saw the concern in his face.

"I have to go check on Trigger. He seems to be in the same… place you are. I'll be back in a few minutes. Are you going to be okay?" Ripcord asked her.

Jaye closed her eyes. Ripcord couldn't possibly know what was going through her mind right now. As much as she wanted to think about Flint she couldn't get over how this whole mission had gone so badly so fast. Everything this team did had one glitch after another. If the first meeting with the twins had gone different, if she would have just done as she as told and not taken the mission further would this have happened? She just hoped Flint did not blame her for this. If she had the chance to talk to him again, how would she explain?

"We have to fix this." She told Ripcord.

"I know we do." Ripcord replied. He patted her shoulder before walking over to check on Trigger.

The plane made its way down the runway and took off. As it circled over Las Vegas Jaye looked out the small window that was next to her. The bright lights had lost their sparkle. The city began it fade into the distance. She felt tears come to her eyes. She quickly closed them before anyone saw. Without Duke or Flint with them, she was in charge. She was going to have to be strong for everyone else until they got back to the Command Center. She knew everyone was pretty settled so she tried to nap until they got home. Jaye only had one thought in her mind as she drifted to sleep; I'll wait for you Dash, I love you.

Across the aisle and near the back of the plane, Trigger was also trying to nap. But it didn't come easy for him. He was convinced he was bad luck. When he drifted off he found himself in the living room of his parent's house.

It was late, and five year old Rowan should have been in bed but instead he was sitting on the floor of his bedroom playing with his small plastic army men. He was left in the care of a neighbor while his parents had gone to run errands. They had been gone for hours now. The house was now quiet. His neighbor had come up to his room to check on him a few times. Her face was full of concern. She asked him if he needed anything. He told her no, but asked her when his parents were going to be home. His neighbor told him she was not sure, but she knew it would be soon. A short time later he heard a car pull into the drive way and young Rowan jumped up off the floor and ran to the staircase to greet his parents. When the door opened he expected to see his mother's smiling face, instead in the doorway stood two police officers.

"Rowan, come down here please." His neighbor said. "Rowan?"

"Rowan?"

Trigger shook himself awake. It wasn't his neighbor's voice he heard it was Ripcord. "What?"

"Are you ok?" Ripcord looked at him with concern. "You were doing that sleep thing again."

Trigger sat up straight. "How long was I out?"

"Only for a few minutes."

Trigger looked around the plane. It was obvious that no one was looking at him. He ran his fingers through his hair. He looked at Ripcord and tried to think of something to say. Ripcord understood even though nothing had been said.

"It's okay." Ripcord smiled at him. "We are all thinking the same thing. I know you probably don't want to hear it, but maybe when we get back to base you should talk to someone."

"I already did all that." Trigger cut him off. He was starting to get angry, even though he knew there was no reason to be. Ripcord was his only friend, and he was concerned.

"I mean about what happened today. What happened between you and Flint."

"There is nothing to talk about." Trigger reached down to dig through his pack to distract himself. "Shit happens, Ripcord. Missions go badly all the time. No amount of talking is going to change that. We both know it."

Ripcord shook his head. "No. That is not how it is. I just want to help you. You have some nasty demons chasing you. I just thought if you talked about it…"

"Talk about this, talk about that. I'm ready to stop talking to you all together if you don't stop bothering me!"

"All right Trigger. I'll stop. But let me suggest one thing. When we get off this plane we're going to have to de-brief. Not everyone is going to get the whole story." Ripcord discreetly pointed towards Lady Jaye. "She deserves to know everything. Please tell her."

Trigger simply looked at Lady Jaye and said nothing. He turned back to Ripcord. "I'll think about it." He crossed his arms and closed his eyes. He wasn't going back to sleep, but he wasn't going to listen to Ripcord anymore tonight.

Jaye sat very still. Her eyes were only half-open. She looked at Ripcord and Trigger. She just couldn't figure out why Trigger acted the way he did. Why was he always on the defensive. She had to find out what really happened in that room and why this mission ended so badly. If she was going to find out, going right to the source was her plan.

Destro turned off his television and laughed aloud. He knew it was only a matter of time before Cobra Commander messed things up with the Diamondback. Destro knew he should have never left it in the control of the Commander. He leaned back in this chair and lit a cigar. He knew the commander would be calling soon. The light on his intercom lit up and Destro picked up.

"I see you have run into trouble again, Commander." He said.

"This is just a minor inconvenience, Destro. "Cobra Commander replied. He made Destro laugh.

"Inconvenience you say? One of your own Crimson guard commanders was shot. You have the Las Vegas police department investigating the incident, the government can't be far behind. I'm sure they would like to know why COBRA had an operation in the city. But if that is a minor…"

"Shut up, Destro." The Commander snapped. "Everything is taken care of."

"I don't see it that way. I need to ask you, Commander." Destro paused. "Do you have the diamonds in your possession?"

The Commander hesitated before answering. "Yes, I have the stone. The Joes were unable to retrieve the proper case."

"A fluke. Bring it to Amsterdam immediately. I want it cut."

"I want to wait. Joe knows we still have it and they will be expecting us to move it."

Destro set his cigar down in the antique ash tray on his desk. He leaned forward and placed his elbows on the desk. "I can not finish your weapon without the diamond. The sooner you have it here, the sooner you can use it against the Joes. It would be wise, Commander, to finish it before they get back on their feet."

The team had been dismissed from their debriefing with the exception of Lady Jaye and Trigger. Hawk was less than pleased with their reports of the mission in Las Vegas. He was aware of the circumstances and what had happened; he needed to get as much information out of them as he could. They were both close to breaking so he took a break from the questions. Trigger sat at one end of the table, his arms were crossed over his chest, and he leaned back in his chair. Lady Jaye was leaning on the table with her head in her hands. She pulled her fingers through her hair as she sat up. She sighed and looked at Trigger.

"I don't get it." She said.

"Oh, here we go again." Trigger said.

"How did you walk away with out a scratch?"

"Stop it, Lady Jaye. We've already been through this." Hawk interrupted.

"What really happened in that room?"

Trigger got up out of his chair and walked over to her. "How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Until I believe you. You should know, you are the one who blew our cover." She told him.

"Wait one minute." Trigger said.

"No. This is your entire fault. I knew something like this was going to happen. I even told Flint, 'watch out for Trigger.'"

"Burnett!" Hawk scolded her but she didn't stop.

"I was doing my job, Jaye!"

Jaye stood up and put her hands on her hips. "You don't even know what your job is."

"Both of you stop it!" Hawk stood between the two. "Trigger, you are dismissed."

Trigger saluted Hawk and walked out of the room. Hawk waited until the door was shut before he turned to Jaye.

"Do you have any idea how close you are to being on report?" He said as he pulled a chair out for her to sit on. Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe, it's your attitude towards Trigger that has added fuel to this fire?"

"Yes, Sir." Jaye sat down, but she was not defeated.

"I'm becoming increasingly disappointed in you. This is not the Lady Jaye that I know. I want you to take a few days to get things in order. Ground yourself, meditate, what ever it takes to get you back on the top of your game. You're not to leave this base. I don't even want to hear about you sneaking off to Las Vegas. Is that understood, Corporal?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Lady Jaye, this mission is not over yet, not by a long shot. We'll get them this time."

Jaye simply nodded her head.

"Dismissed."

She got up to leave, and before she got to the door, Hawk called her name.

"Jaye, I'll call you if I hear any news about Flint. Try to get some rest."

She did not turn around; she didn't want Hawk to see the tears that came to her eyes. She walked out the door and ran into Trigger.

She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. "Is there something you need?"

"I have something for you."

She sighed. "Trigger, not now." She started to walk away, but he grabbed her arm.

He reached into his side pocket and took out Flint's beret. He held it out for her. "I didn't want to leave it there. I'm sure it's in safe hands with you."

She took it from him and felt her eyes burn. She desperately tried to hold back tears. "Thank you."

"See, I'm not such a bad guy." He reached up and wiped a tear off her cheek. "It's been one hell of a day. I know the feeling. Do you want me to walk you to your quarters?"

Jaye shook her head no.

"I'll see you later." Trigger told her. He turned the other way and walked down the hall.