Alison couldn't stop herself from pacing. When she had gotten the news that a mission was okayed, she had been under the impression that the team was going to head to Mexico within a few hours. But thanks to the bureaucratic red tape, it was two days later and the team was still waiting for clearance to leave.

The unknown was killing her. Reports from the site were extremely limited which only fueled all of the worst case scenarios that Alison had dreamt up. The fact that Flint hadn't attempted to contact her again was especially troubling.

As she made another lap around her room on base she fiddled with her engagement ring, which was her new nervous habit. Once they had learned that the rescue was going to be put on hold, Duke had insisted that she needed to go home. She had argued the point during the whole drive back, but once she was home she was glad to be there.

It was obvious that she had needed to catch up on her sleep by the fact that she laid down for a nap that afternoon and slept through until morning. Once she was awake, she immediately checked in with Duke who informed her they were still on hold. She channeled her nervous energy into cleaning up the apartment, and sorting out the items she wanted to take to DC.

While she was rummaging through the drawers of the nightstand in their bedroom she came across the engagement ring. It brought on a sobbing fit as she thought about the fights she had had with Flint and she replayed the moment she gave him the ring back.

Their reconciliation was only about a week old, and she wished they had had more time together before he had set out on the ill-fated mission. She reflected on the second thoughts she had the morning he had gone missing. If she needed any confirmation that they had made the right call, the fact that she was so deathly afraid and upset at the idea of losing him was the proof. She made the decision to put the ring back on. It was a symbolic gesture, but once Flint returned she would reaffirm her love to him and tell him that she was ready to make the commitment to him.

A knock on the door startled Alison from her thoughts. She opened the door to Cover Girl who told her that the team had finally been cleared to leave. Alison raced out to the tarmac and found General Bradshaw and Duke in conversation with Falcon in front of Wild Bill's Dragonfly and Lift-Ticket's Tomahawk. Lifeline and Doc were checking out their medical equipment in the DragonFly, Chuckles was flipping through his file, and Tunnel Rat seemed to be doing his best to pester the two pilots as they did their pre-flight routine.

Alison wanted to wish Falcon luck, but she continued to keep her distance from the general. He had been extremely lenient with her the last few days, and had given her free rein of the base. However, he had made it pretty clear that she was no longer a member of the Joe team. Instead she met with Chuckles to see if he had any last minute concerns.

Once General Bradshaw patted Falcon on the shoulder and then stepped away to talk to Lift-Ticket, Alison felt it was safe to approach. She stayed a few steps away from the brothers as they said their goodbyes. "Be safe out there, kid," Duke said.

"Don't worry about me, Duke." Falcon stopped and looked behind him. He smiled at Alison. "But I'm not coming back until I bring our boys home."

Alison nodded and whispered a thank you. Falcon climbed onboard the Tomahawk and then addressed Chuckles and Tunnel-Rat who were already seated.

Alison looked at the three members of the newest Rawhides and remarked, "It really is the changing of the guard."

Duke did a poor job of concealing his disappointment, but then he caught himself. "You don't need to worry about the success of the mission. Falcon and the others are extremely qualified. I just hate watching someone do the job I should be doing."

Alison glanced at Chuckles. "Yeah, I know the feeling." Duke was right that Chuckles should be fine. But he still lacked the experience that she and Scarlett had, and Alison prayed that wouldn't make the difference in the rescue mission. But there was nothing she could do, so she just had to have faith in the situation.

Duke put his arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him. At least she knew she had someone to commiserate with until the Joes returned.

Alison waited not so patiently for the first sign of the arriving transports. She still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. It didn't help that General Bradshaw's simple announcement of, "They are on their way back," gave no indication to the health and wellbeing of the former Joe prisoners. Alison had initially chalked it up to another example of the general's less than warm personality, but as time went by she wondered if it was his cryptic way of announcing that while the Joes were on their way back, they weren't bringing good news with them. She knew that asking the question would save herself the worry, but if something was wrong with Flint, she didn't want General Bradshaw to be the one to tell her.

She wasn't one to normally put a lot of credence in fate or karma, but there was a part of her that wondered if this was payback for the temper tantrum she threw earlier in the month. At the time she thought she had a whole future plan figured out that didn't include Flint. At least not as an active part in her love life. But the one thing she never wavered on was that regardless of what happened to their relationship she held firm to the idea that he deserved to be involved in the raising of their child.

And that's what devastated her the most when contemplating his death. It was bad enough that she would have to learn to live without him, right after they had reconciled. But the fact that he would never know his child, and conversely the child would never know his or her father deeply upset her.

She heard the approaching Tomahawk before she saw it. So she shook away her thoughts and again began to pray. Her questions would be answered shortly. After it landed, she stayed a safe distance away and watched as Zap, RoadBlock, Chuckles and Lifeline walked off. Falcon remained in the front of the Tomahawk with Lift-Ticket. Her reunion, if it was coming, would have to wait for the DragonFly.

Lifeline glanced her way and then headed towards her, looking grim. For Alison, that was all the confirmation she needed. She took a step back and began to breathe heavily. Even after all her thoughts and what-ifs, she realized she was not prepared to deal with the news. She wrapped her arm around her abdomen, trying to protect her baby from the pain it was about to experience.

Lifeline reached her and said her name. But she waved him off. "No, Lifeline, please, don't tell me he's gone."

Lifeline's face flashed to one of horror. "Oh, Alison, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like this. Flint's alive. He's on the Dragonfly that was just a few minutes behind us."

Alison wasn't sure she heard him correctly. "He's really okay?"

"He is, at least physically. But that's why I wanted to talk to you. I checked him out briefly, and he seemed okay. But Roadblock told me on the trip back that Doctor Mindbender put him through some sort of mental torture. So I just wanted to prepare you that he may be returning with issues that need to be worked on."

"After the brief conversation I had with him the other day, I was expecting this. He was so out of it then, that I'm glad to hear he seems fairly normal now. Maybe that means he's on the road to recovery."

"It could be. But I'm going to keep a close eye on him the next few days, and I'd like you too."

Alison nodded. She joined Duke and General Bradshaw as they congratulated Falcon on his mission. She could see the pride written all over Duke's face. "Thank you, but save the praise," Falcon said with a measure of humbleness Alison didn't think he had. "It was the easiest rescue mission I had ever been on. Zap and Bazooka were waiting for us when we landed. They had just finished a shift of helping to dig out some of the men trapped in the mine when they had heard we were on our way. Flint and Roadblock were lending a hand as well. I would have sent you a more detailed message, but the communications at the site were pretty poor."

Alison walked away before Falcon finished his recap. The Dragonfly was in view, and once again she braced herself for a less than ideal homecoming. She was relieved that she didn't need to prepare for the worst, but Lifeline's warning was rather ominous. Regardless, she was still anxious to wrap her arms around Flint and see him for her own eyes.

Alison held herself back as she waited for the helicopter to shut down. One by one the Joes exited, with Flint being the last one off. She could see that the past few days had weighed heavily on him. But then he turned, caught her eye and grinned. Suddenly all was right in her world. She raced towards him and jumped into his arms. He hugged her tight. "I am so happy to see you. I'm sorry that I didn't call you, but I needed to see you in person before I talked to you."

"I'm just glad you're back. You had me worried for a little while." She pulled back to take a hard look at him again. Lifeline was right. Flint was putting on a good show, but she could tell that he had gone through an ordeal. She rubbed the side of his face. "Are you doing okay?"

Flint's eyes darkened but he nodded. "I'm much better now. We'll talk more about it later."

Flint looked behind her, and Alison knew General Bradshaw had joined them. Her first instinct was to back away from Flint, but she reminded herself that she was no longer subject to the general's rules. So instead she grabbed a hold of Flint's arm and then turned to face the general.

"I want to do a recap of this mission, snafus and all, but not now. It's been a long few days for everyone here, so I think we all deserve a break. I'm pushing Officer's Call back to 1000 tomorrow, to give you all a chance to catch up on some sleep. We'll do a rundown of the missions, set up the duty roster for the holidays, and if there aren't too many outstanding loose ends my goal is to get standdown started by the end of the day."

Alison couldn't believe her ears. She figured the general must have caught a healthy dose of the Christmas spirit. A fact she was immensely grateful for. She was definitely ready to get Flint off base and back to the apartment. And luckily he felt the same way. Within minutes they were in his car driving home.

"Dash, I want to talk to you," Alison said once they were settled in the apartment. She had debated holding off on revisiting the marriage idea until at least the following morning, but she was too anxious to wait. He had been quiet the whole ride home, and she knew they needed to work through what he experienced with Doctor Mindbender. Which she hoped would be an easier conversation to have after she professed her undying love for him.

"Okay," he said with a sigh. He took a seat on the couch. "But, wait, before you start. Did you have your ultrasound last week?"

Alison shook her head. "No, I postponed it again. I didn't want to do it without you. Once you get your work schedule tomorrow, we can reschedule the appointment, hopefully for the last time."

"That sounds good. I was afraid I missed it. I really want to see Junior, make sure he's okay. Especially," Flint began but then trailed off.

Alison grabbed his hand and took a seat close to him. She realized her earlier thoughts had been wrong. Her proposal had to be put on hold until they talked about his ordeal. She took his hand and put it on her abdomen.

He smiled. "You've gotten bigger."

Alison nodded. "I feel like every day I wake up and I can see a difference. Also Junior's movements have gotten stronger. They're not just little flutterings any more, but are starting to feel like real kicks."

Flint remained quiet. Alison leaned towards him and wiped at a tear that had formed under his eye. "Dash, what did Mindbender do to you?"

"Nothing, really. He never laid a hand on me. But he did make me think I was experiencing my worst nightmare."

"That doesn't sound like nothing. Mental torture could be worse than physical."

"I believe it. I actually would rather have been beaten. At least then I wouldn't be stuck with the horrific images I have in my head."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Flint shook his head. "No. Maybe one day, but not now. Lifeline mentioned that I should talk to a shrink, and I probably will. But right now, I just want to enjoy being alone with you." His hand rubbed at hers, but stopped when he felt the ring. He lifted her hand to take a look at it. With a smile he asked, "You put the ring back on?"

"I found it the other day when I was cleaning up. I was so worried about you, so when I found it, I really wanted to wear it again. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. I wanted to give it back to you, but I wasn't sure what was the right way to do it. I didn't know if you were expecting a second proposal."

"No. This time, I want to talk." She looked down at the ring as she fiddled with it in her fingers. "I had a lot of time the last few days to think about what I wanted to say to you right now. I admit when you first left on your mission, I spent some time thinking that we reconciled too fast without settling our issues. But once I got the news that you went missing, I realized how superficial those doubts were. I may not have all the answers, but I want you in my life to help me figure it out. I love you, Dash, and I want nothing more now than to become your wife."

Flint leaned in to kiss her, and for the first time in weeks Alison felt all was truly right with her world.