Back at Headquarters

The ride back from Germany had been uneventful, Flint and Lady Jaye both lost in their own thoughts. While Ace tried to get a rise out of her with his flirtatious comments, her response was lackluster and soon, he too lapsed into silence. He could tell something was heavy on the mind of the covert agent and shrugged to himself, thinking that he'd have to catch her later in a less serious mood.

At the debriefing, Lady Jaye let Flint do most of the talking, only speaking about her observations of the recruitment and then explaining how she had escaped. Duke asked a few questions and she gave him her personal opinion on the matter, but then grew silent. She had not mentioned Zartan and caught Flint looking at her strangely. She sighed.

"There was also an encounter with a Cobra agent, sir," she began, watching Flint tense up out of the corner of her eye. "I managed to subdue him, but it was good that Flint showed up when he did to help with the situation. Unfortunately, he got away before we could question him further," she told Duke.

Duke nodded. "Make sure you note that on your report as well. Any information we can have on Cobra's agents will help us immensely. You did a good job," he said, patting Lady Jaye's shoulder. "I've already heard from Flint how well you blended in with your cover. We're very impressed. We expect great things," he said with a smile.

"Thank you, sir," said Jaye seriously. "I will go write up my report now, if that's okay."

At Duke's nod, she tried not to flee from the room, making herself walk at a normal pace to the room that housed the intelligence office.

Flint shut the door behind her. Duke looked at him questioningly.

"What's on your mind, Flint?"

Flint leaned against the table and frowned. "What do we really know about Lady Jaye and her past with MI-6? Do you think it could've been used as a cover? Looking at her file, there's a lot of holes."

Duke straightened up and looked hard at Flint. "Why are you asking this? What happened during the mission that's made you suspicious?"

Flint's frown deepened. "There was something about the encounter with the Cobra agent. Something about it doesn't sit right with me. I was there when I saw her take him down, but once he was down, she hesitated. Not sure why, other than it looked like they were talking to one another."

Duke laid his hand on his friend's shoulder. "I can understand your suspicions, I really can. All I can say to you at this point is to keep an eye on her."

Flint started to protest, but Duke's hand tightened on his shoulder, interrupting him. "I can't say anything more on her file. It's highly classified. I don't even know what's behind the blackout. She was recruited by General Hawk. Need I say more?"

Flint shook his head. "Look, Conrad, I'm going to keep an eye on her. The way she handled that Cobra agent doesn't sit right with me. He's had some sort of genetic mutation so that he literally camouflages with his surroundings. If she knows something about that, she needs to let intell know. Anything we can learn about these guys…"

Duke nodded. "If I don't see it in her report, I'll ask her about it, ok? If she was chosen by Hawk, one of our strongest supporters and founding members, then she's okay. I know you, Dash. You're like a dog with a bone sometimes. Just make sure your 'keeping an eye out' doesn't border on harassment, ok? That's the last thing we need."

Flint started to say something, but stopped himself. No use getting himself in trouble with Duke. He simply nodded and then left the room.

Lady Jaye frowned at her report. While everything in it was accurate, it did leave out a few of her personal details. She sighed. Like I'm going to put in that I saw my uncle and encountered my former partner at the Cobra party. Oh, better yet, that my family's business is helping Cobra. Yeah, that will go over well, she thought sarcastically.

Picking up the file, she got up to leave the small office, but was blocked by Flint's frame filling the doorway. "Report ready?" he asked, taking it from her.

Jaye frowned. She really didn't like the high handed way the second in command handled things, especially people. She bit her lip to keep from making a rude comment. He was already suspicious of her, she knew. No need to go stirring that pot!

"I see that you didn't mention your observation of the Cobra agent," he said, flipping through her report.

"I didna' say it was finished, did I?" Jaye let out, her frustration showing in her brogue. "Ye took it from me before I could say anything."

Flint gave her an intimidating stare, which she returned with one of her own. Forget that the man was her superior. She really didn't care at the moment. "That's something for intelligence to handle, isn't it?" she asked him, trying to center her emotions, her American accent back in place. "I was going to report to Scarlett about the details of the agent we encountered. Is that all, sir?" she asked, trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, but failing to do so.

Not waiting for him to answer, she took the file from his hand and pushed past him into the hallway, leaving a stunned warrant officer behind her.

"You should've seen his face," Lady Jaye told Cover Girl and Scarlett, trying not to laugh. "I don't think anyone's ever dared to say something like that to him before."

Scarlett laughed loudly, causing the others in the mess hall to look over at the three females huddled at the end of the table. So far, they had been left to themselves. "I don't think anyone has," she commented, still chuckling. "I would have loved to see it! Taking him down a few pegs. I knew I liked you," she grinned at Jaye.

Cover Girl looked over at Scarlett. "Hey, I thought he was your friend."

"Well, sure, but it doesn't mean I don't mind seeing him taken down a peg or two."

"With his arrogant attitude, maybe he needs it!" retorted Jaye. "I swear, he watches me all the time, just to catch me slip up!"

Cover Girl grinned. "Are you sure that's the reason he's watching you all the time? I hear that Ace is a bit smitten with you," she teased.

Scarlett snorted. "Hey, when there's only three of us here with boobs, we're bound to get attention and talked about! Men!" she snorted, rolling her eyes.

"Uh oh," Cover Girl exclaimed, poking Jaye in the side to get her attention. "Flint at ten o'clock!"

"Guess that's my cue to leave," said Jaye to the girls, getting up and dumping her tray. "See you later. I'm going to catch a nap since I pulled late night guard duty." She skirted around the table to the door so she wouldn't be in Flint's path. She'd had enough of the warrant officer lately and her control on her temper seemed to slip every time he was around.