Author's Note:

Sorry this took a while to knock out, but a couple of things happened. First, life occurred, taking away some of my free time. Second was the fact that this chapter was hard to write. There's the issue of Command juggling the go / no-go decision on the mission. I may be going back to do some rewrites to reinforce Hawk's perspective a bit. For now, just put one foot firmly in the Joe world and believe they'd continue with this mission until I can fully justify it. Thanks!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 7

Flint was caught again in a twilight sleep, an ether of warmth and deep sleep where his body forgot recent events and slipped into a comfortable flow of past memories, of better times and invincibility.

He was walking down the center of the university campus, young and vibrant and ready to take on the world. He had received word that he had been accepted into the warrant officer program in the U.S. Army, his goal to fly helicopters and do his part in protecting his country coming to fruition. The Army needed him. Flint knew he would make it a career. He had wanted it for so long, and now the day had come when he would become an integral member. Training would start in two days. He had planned to spend that time living it up, because the time for games would be over once he started on his new career. He envisioned himself the hard line officer who would follow and enforce rules, demanding excellence from his subordinates. He had never demanded anything less from himself, and there was no reason he should not expect the same from others who served under him.

The day was so clear, the sky a so perfectly blue it almost looked dark in spots. The summer was almost at its end. He had loaded up on two summer school classes to finish his degree in time. It had been tough. At one point, he was not sure he could handle all he was asked to learn. What ground on his nerves the most was that the classes were not really that important. As far as he knew, no one was asked to identify flying buttress construction in cathedrals unless they were going into architecture or engineering. The graduation requirements said he had to take a class in western culture, only he did not care about Greek mythology, nor did he care about rise and fall of the Roman Empire. He made himself buckle down and get through it. If he could not excel at a class he hated, he knew he would fail both himself and the Army in a difficult situation.

A girl was walking in front of him. Flint took notice of her. He admired her shape, how her cotton dress hung on her in a natural way that made her look simple yet elegant. She walked fast. He picked up his pace, trying to follow her without being obvious. She was carrying an armload of books. He decided that would be his approach when he caught up with her. He would offer to carry her books.

He tried to keep up with her, but she remained a few steps ahead of him, just out of reach. He tried running to catch up with her, but it did no good. His legs simply were not moving fast enough. She seemed to be getting further away until finally he pushed his body to the limit, closing the distance between them. He was breathing hard, reaching out for her. He saw his hand so close to her shoulder. His fingertips just brushed the cotton of her dress.

He gave one final push of his legs until the muscles in his thighs felt enflamed. He reached out one last time and got the whole of his hand on her, pulling back to turn her around. Everything turned in a weird fast forward, frightening him. Suddenly she was there.

Allison.

"Flint."

He jumped at the soft shaking of his body and the call of his name, disoriented and not knowing where he was. His heart was pounding in his chest.

Scarlett was above him at the side of the bed, trying to calm him.

He looked around the darkened room, the corners illuminated by the light from the hallway. Suarez was awake, propped up on her elbow, watching him. The clock showed it was almost eighteen hundred hours.

"Flint," Scarlett said again. "She's awake."

It did not register with him what Scarlett was saying. His brain was still trying to process reality, ridding itself of the images of the dreamscape.

"What?" he asked, thickly.

"Jaye – she's awake."

Suarez sat up, stretching. Flint looked over to her, then to Scarlett. It finally sank in what she was saying. He looked over at the doctor, who gave no indication of surprise at Scarlett's information.

"Watch her for a second," he said to Scarlett with a nod in Suarez's direction.

He clamored out of bed and entered the hall, finding the head at the end, on the left. He relieved himself, recounting the numerous cups of coffee he had drunk in the last day. He went to wash his hands, looking at his face in the mirror. Stubble plagued his chin, and his eyes were red. He looked like he had a hangover, only a hangover did not usually involve one's friends being shot and hypothermia.

He washed up quickly, running water over his face, utilizing disposable toiletries kept on hand to get the taste of cigarettes out of his mouth and to shave. A shower later on would do him good, but it could wait for the moment. He wanted to get over to the infirmary and see her. Then, he stopped, staring at himself in the mirror again. He closed his eyes, leaning against the counter with his hands. His emotions were in a chaotic motion in his head. He had been pulled in so many directions that he found it hard to focus on one moment. He tried to arrange everything into one coherent train of thought, to put it all in order, but he simply could not get his bearings on how he should felt or where he should have aimed his anger. As much as he wanted to blame Suarez, he knew he could not. As much as he wanted to thank her for helping Allison stay alive, he found that impossible, as well. How he would explain this all to Allison when she was stronger he did not know.

He finished in the bathroom and made his way back to the bunkroom to collect Suarez. He met the two women in the hallway, with Suarez having met the same needs.

Flint kept walking, with Suarez and Scarlett following him toward the infirmary. Curious looks blazed at them as they entered the ICU area. Joanne, the floor nurse, approached him.

"How is she?" he asked.

"She's very agitated," Joanne said. She looked over at Suarez. "She doesn't like the vent. We still have her in soft restraints."

Suarez looked over the counter of the nurse's station. "Let me see her chart."

Joanne glanced at Flint for guidance. "You're not going to have her arrested again if she looks at it, are you?" she challenged.

He supposed he had that one coming. Suarez was well liked among the staff, and he had looked like a complete brute when he had her in the hallway of the ICU.

"Give it to her," he said, not backing off in his tone, lest he lose more face in the wake of his rank and position in the Joe command.

Suarez was handed the chart. She flipped through the pages, noting Doc's orders and the patient's vital statistics. She nodded her head in satisfaction.

"Looks like Doc got it all this time," she said, nodding affirmatively. "Vitals are strong. Everything is looking very good so far. She's off sedation, which is good. Still some worries about infection, but that can be handled if it happens." She closed the chart and looked into Jaye's room. "Let's see what you can do to help out, Flint."

Flint led the way, with Suarez in tow, to Jaye's room. Suarez stood just inside the door as Flint moved to the bed. He quietly pulled over a chair and sat down, taking Allison's hand in his. Gauze restraints restricted her wrists to a short distance from the rails of the bed. He did not like seeing her that way, but he knew it was necessary.

He looked down at her, guilt washing over him like an acid, knowing their roles should have been reversed. Even if Suarez had not presented such a fantastic story that events in time had been altered for his benefit, he knew he would probably feel much the same regardless of circumstance. She had been close to him. If the bullet had not hit her, it probably would have hit him instead.

"Allison," he said softly, "can you hear me?"

At first, the steady sound of the ventilator was the only response. He called her name again, this time a little louder and closer to her ear.

She stirred, her eyes rolling open in an embattled manner. They did not seem to be focusing on any one thing, the manic movement hard to follow. He put himself more in line with her vision. She began focusing on him when she saw his face.

"Hey," he said with a smile. "Good to see you awake."

She squinted as though in pain. He heard her struggle against the respirator.

"Easy," he said, putting his hand on the side of her face. "I know it's uncomfortable, but you have to let it do the work for you, at least for a while."

He stroked her hair off her forehead. "You're getting better by the hour," he said in encouragement. She seemed to settle at his touch.

She opened her eyes fully and focused on him once more, tears welling, threatening to spill down her cheeks.

"No," he soothed, his voice sticking in his throat at her fear. "You're going to be just fine."

She gripped his hand as he held it, closing her eyes again, screwing them shut. Finally, the tears that had been held at bay fell, accompanied by tiny, limited sobs against the ventilator.

Suarez had admonished him to be positive the night before, and he decided that was good advice. He cupped her chin in his hand, carefully avoiding the vent line. She looked up at him, eyes glistening.

"You listen to me," he said, determined. "I have never lied to you, and I'm not about to start. It's going to take time, but you're going to get through this. Every day, you're going to feel better and get stronger, and I'm going to be right there with you, helping you. Do you hear me?"

Her eyes closed again, but she gave a small nod to indicate that she had. She looked at him again, hand still clinging to his.

"That's my girl," he said, smiling. "Now, I have to go get some things done, but I'll be back."

He took the time to brush away another rebel strand of hair that fell across her forehead. "Get some sleep, and I'll be back to see you."

She gripped his hand again. She was smart enough and coherent enough to realize he was going on a mission. Allison was a veteran, a warrior like Flint, who knew that the war machine rumbled on despite casualties and losses. She had earned her stripes with honor and tenacity, fully willing to give her life in the fight against Cobra and its terrorist ways. She, too, had gotten things done when they were needed and knew exactly what he meant, making her a comrade in arms to him.

He concentrated on her face, memorizing its features. His mind erased the ventilator and the IV lines and everything that was not a natural part of her body. His tired wits overcame the exhaustion that plagued him to record the visage. He did not know what would happen once he returned, but he was determined to find out what the future held. He vowed that she would be a part of it.

Suarez stepped forward, looking to the monitors and aimlessly checking life support equipment to give Flint the opportunity to escape. He reluctantly broke his touch with Allison, turning completely away from her as he left the room. He knew if he looked back, he would not want to leave, would not have the gumption to embark on the mission scheduled for that night.

He walked down the hall toward the elevator. Scarlett was waiting for him. He passed by her, nearing the elevator. He pushed the button on the elevator, then backed up to the wall opposite the doors and sank down on his haunches, all energy to stand suddenly escaping him. He sat down fully, pulling his knees up toward his chin. Flint pushed his fists into his eyes, trying to push down the emotions he felt surfacing. He could ill afford for others to see him so distraught over Jaye's condition. Their relationship had been a covert operation, itself, and he had heard innuendo flying when it began. Initially, it had been easy to blow it off, to dismiss the barbs and raised eyebrows. Until the day before, it had been more of a game to him, like smoking in the bathroom in high school. Then it all became too real. At least Suarez had said it outright – he loved Allison, even if she refused to admit she loved him out of respect for the chain of command and the chance they could both lose the careers they had worked so hard to achieve in the military.

He sensed someone bend down next to him, felt a comforting warm hand on his neck. Scarlett did not utter a word. She only stayed with him, allowing the feel of human touch convey the fact that he was not alone and that she understood his pain and anguish. She was a part of the team, and he knew she felt the same anger he did that Cobra had inflicted damage on the Joe team.

There was a collective ire among them all whenever Cobra seemed to make an advance, but there were also close circles in the team. Jaye and Scarlett were friends, having formed a bond of only a handful of women serving on the Joe team. Early on, they had endured barbs, mostly good-natured but some not, from all angles. What he found unique with them was that they could handle it, dishing it right back when the situation called. There was no need for them to prove their worth. They had already done it time and time again.

Flint was not sure how long he sat there before he heard the quiet squeak of rubber soles on the polished hospital floor. When he opened his eyes, he saw Suarez walking toward them. She gave him a nod.

"She's doing well," she told them.

Scarlett looked up at Suarez with disdain. "Which is a good thing for you."

Suarez was about to rebut the statement, but she decided against it, allowing Scarlett to vent even a little of the resentment that seemed aimed solely at Suarez.

The doctor concentrated on Flint. "We need to get moving."

Flint got his senses under control, managing to stand. He turned to Scarlett. "Are we ready for the briefing?"

She nodded. "Command is waiting with baited breath."

"Okay," he said, feeling his control return. "Let's get going."

Scarlett called for the elevator. They stepped inside, riding down to the first floor in silence. When they exited, Flint found they were once again greeted by stares from the infirmary staff. He tried to ignore the feelings it elicited, but he had always enjoyed a good relationship with those on the Joe staff. It was difficult to know he had fallen a notch in their eyes, even if it was probably not as bad as he thought it was at the moment. He knew he could repair relationships around him if he tried. If anything, he could live with the fact until all the uproar died down and things returned to normal. He had to believe at some point that all would get better, that the insanity he had been through would calm and become nothing more than a bad memory.

The evening air was cool, with a lilting wind blowing steadily on the campus of the base. It woke him from his fog, the cold air reaching his lungs and providing his body with a fresh flow of oxygen. He looked to Suarez, who was once again looking up as she walked. The stars were beginning to appear in the sky. She studied them, a slight smile forming on her lips. He wondered what had changed in the future that made her thirst for such images now in his own time. It certainly smacked of an apocalyptic event that kept her from seeing what he saw every day and night. He had come to the realization that she would never tell him why, accepting that she was steadfast in that resolve.

For her benefit, he slowed his pace, walking more slowly to give her more time to look. It was not because he liked her. To the contrary, he was still angry. However, she had given him reason to trust her intentions. It was ironic how much he did not believe her, yet he found himself giving her the benefit of the doubt. He had been trying to create a successful equation of all the events that had taken place, trying to fit her into the string. For every argument he could make against her and her story, he found a plausible explanation as to how she could be a benevolent part of it all. If she were indeed a time traveler, she could go anywhere she wanted, when she wanted, and influence or change that which would normally have been impossible. It boggled his mind the more he considered all of it, until he finally put it on hold, giving his logic a break. Soon, the whole affair would be someone else's responsibility. Someone else in the chain of command or an in another agency all together would find the truth from her and get the information she so skillfully withheld from them.

He took the lead, turning them toward the command center. Suarez paid attention to their path when they neared the doors. Flint cleared her entry with the security staff. He led them down the hall toward the briefing room. Once again, Hawk and Duke were waiting. Leatherneck had arrived earlier and was waiting for them in his customary chair at the conference table.

Hawk and Duke were having a quiet discussion when the group entered. Duke looked up and gave a small nod at Flint in welcome. Hawk sized them up, taking a moment to check on the status of his troops.

"I take it you got some sleep?" the unit's commander asked.

"Enough to get our feet back under us," Flint said, sitting down at the table.

Suarez sat down next to him, reclining in the chair and folding her hands in front of her.

"Doctor Suarez," Hawk said, addressing her with a formal title, "I trust you did the same?"

"Slept like a rock, General," she answered cordially.

Flint had no idea whether or not she was lying. He did not remember even drifting off to sleep. His body had been screaming for sleep, and it took the opportunity he had given it with vigor. He had no idea if she had even slept. For all he knew, she had stayed up, watching him.

Hawk began the briefing. He quickly put control in the hands of Suarez, who laid out what they needed to do. They would jump at thirty thousand feet, pulling ripcords at two thousand above the target. They would go in with small arms and conventional explosives to take out the power plant.

"The power plant, as I said, is going to be the easy part," she said. "We need to hit it at the geothermal collectors and fry it from the inside out."

Leatherneck was listening intently. "And what will that do exactly?"

"The heat from the explosives should send the generators into overdrive, causing a feedback through the system. Once they lose power, it will be a straight shot to the main objective."

"A schematic of this place would be nice," he said.

For the first time, Suarez looked annoyed. "If you give me a box of crayons and some paper, I'll see what I can do."

Hawk was a commanding officer for a reason. He knew how to keep things on track. "I think what we're concerned about is a lack of illustration of this plan. It's not enough to point us at a target and hope that everything works out."

"Well," Suarez said, adjusting her posture in the chair, "that's exactly whatyou have to do this time. I'll be there to guide the mission and do the detail-oriented things. You're going to have to rely on my knowledge to get through this."

Scarlett was not amused. "I guess we'll just wrap you in Kevlar before we go? It would be a drag if you suddenly got killed and left us stranded."

Suarez ran both hands through her dark hair in frustration. "Listen to me carefully – for all intents and purposes, I know every inch of where we're going. I know who will be where and when, and I know what has to be done. If I had three more of me, I would never have bothered dragging all of you through this. As it is, I need you to do what you do best, which is kill people and break things."

Flint bristled at the phrase. For as much as he hated it, it was the truth. The foundation of the Joe team was to destroy that which Cobra manufactured. They killed both Cobra technology and those who had been lured by the false promise that it would some day rule the world. That was their job, no matter how unpleasant it sounded.

Still, he fully understood the position of his teammates, who were not willing to outright trust the words Suarez spoke. She was asking them to go in blind.

Flint scratched at his temple. "If that's true, then why not send three or fourfrom your unit back to do the op, if you know where all the skeletons are hidden?"

"Because we don't have the ability to send multiples through time. Otherwise, you'd see my friends here, supporting my claims. Some things need to happen simultaneously when we get to part two of this mission. One person alone can't take out the egg, and you need at least one lookout in the event there's an unplanned evolution."

He raised a brow. "So, this may not go according to plan?"

"Some things could change, yes," she admitted. "The chances of a catastrophic evolution are slim, though. There should be no great surprises."

Hawk was not satisfied. "But these small changes could be significant, could they not?"

She gave the answer a moment of thought. "If left unchecked, yes. I'm there to see that they go accordingly."

Flint stood from the table and walked to a whiteboard on the other side of the room. He picked up a marker from the tray on the bottom of it and flipped the pen over to Suarez. She deftly plucked it out of the air, catching it solidly in her hand.

"It's not a crayon," he said, slipping a look at Leatherneck, "but it'll have to do. I want an idea of the layout of this place. I'm not a fan of small, unexpected changes."

She obliged him without objection, approaching the whiteboard while he reclaimed his seat. She began to draw the main entry points of the facility, illustrating just where they would get in and where she felt the danger points were nestled amid the security net of Cobra.

Suarez laid it all out on the board. Flint noticed as the drawing took shape that she was meticulous in both her penmanship and ability to draw. Crisp corners and curves made the information clear as she illustrated the plan. She did drawings in several spots on the board, covering specific targets.

"The power plant," she said, "will be the most unpleasant part of the mission. It's going to be hot where you have to go to put it out of commission. Scarlett and Leatherneck, you're going to have to move quietly through these collectors," she said, drawing large cylindrical shapes, all in a row, on the board. "Guards are consistent in their patterns of patrol. All you have to do is watch it a while and time it out to know when you can go in. Once you're able to move around, place charges on these six collectors and get the hell out of there. Head for the surface and detonate."

The word caught Flint's undivided attention. "Detonate?" He wagged his hand back and forth between Suarez and himself. "And you will be long gone by then, right?"

"No," she said plainly. "We'll be just getting started. While they're busy making fireworks, you and I will be heading toward the big prize."

Hawk seemed to accept the first part of the plan, but the second part was not satisfying him. "I want to know more about how you intend to take out this portal."

Suarez sat down at the conference table again. Once more, she carefully contemplated her answers. "I have to walk a very fine line with this," she said. "Much of it is a need-to-know basis. What I need from Flint is for him to be the eyes in the back of my head while I deal with taking it out."

Flint liked that they were finally getting to his role in the whole matter. "And what kind of coverage are we talking? Is this thing out in the open, or are we going to have some breathing room standing there while you poke at it with a stick?"

Suarez took it in stride, as was her demeanor. "We'll have some coverage," she said. "The egg is located in a secure chamber. Once the power plant experiences catastrophic failure, attention will be drawn away from there. The guard contingent will be reduced to a minimum, which will enable use to move in virtually without confrontation."

Hawk gave a squint of disappointment. "Define 'virtually'."

"Light resistance. One or two guards will be all we have to quietly eliminate. From there, we go in and get the job done."

Flint was imagining the entire scenario. He could see them entering a small chamber, trying to get the job done, only to have the door slammed behind them, trapping them into certain death.

"Swell," he mumbled.

She heard it, even if the rest of the team did not. Still, she did not acknowledge him.

"Time is of the essence," she said, staying on topic. "If we don't get this done in the next few hours, life as you know it will change beyond the control of my unit. It will be impossible for us to repair all the damage it will do."

She looked around the room, taking in the unconvinced looks of the Joe team. Her face softened, seeming sad to Flint in some way, as though having to withhold details from them was the crux of the problem. It was at that moment he began to believe in her completely. She had been consistent in her story, and she had not lied to them. She had only held back on some information, fully disclosing the reason she could not provide the in the first place.

He thought about what Jaye would say if she were in on the meeting. She was tough in such situations, asking questions and thinking ahead of the game. He truly did not know how she would have personallyviewed Suarez. Scarlett made it clear there was no love lost, but Jaye might have been a different story. While she had a temper, she also had a streak of common sense that might have taken Suarez's story in a different light. In any case, he knew she would have drawn the same conclusion that he had. She would have decided that it was better to take the chance than to sit back and do nothing at all. If it was truly a threat, then it was best to meet it head-on and fight it inthe best tradition of Joe service to the nation and the world.

"Then we better gear up," Flint said. He turned to Hawk. "General, with your permission, we'll hit the armory and let Doctor Suarez go shopping."

Hawk looked at Flint intently. "This mission is in your hands, Flint. If you're saying it's a go, then it's a go."

"Yes, sir, I am," Flint answered confidently. "We'll adjust on the fly if needed."

The general surveyed those in the room carefully. He was looking for any dissenting opinion, finding none with Scarlett or Leatherneck. They had promised Flint they were in, and they held to that promise.

Hawk nodded. "Then you have a go."