A/N: As the ending scene of the previous chapter hinted at, this is my long, drawn out version of Marissa Faireborn's birth and early life. If anyone is interested in the canon version, IDW's Optimus Prime has finally put Marissa and her father together in a comic series. While I am disappointed in the backstory they came up for Flint and Marissa, it is kind of interesting seeing them interacting together.
And once again, thank you for the reviews! I love seeing the notifications pop up in my email!
Alison looked at the clock with a sigh. It was amazing how quickly the week had passed since they had landed in Dulles. Since they knew they only had a few days before she started her job and Flint returned to the Joes, they made the most of their time together. They had closed on the brownstone, shopped for furniture and other household items, and unpacked her belongings. While her new home was not fully furnished, it was completely functional. So, in theory, she was ready to start her first day at the Pentagon the following morning. However, she had the very unpleasant task of sending her husband back to Arizona first.
Alison walked down the hallway into the guest bathroom. Flint was staring at the sink. "Dash, we really should be going. You know General Bradshaw is going to be annoyed if you're late."
Flint looked at his watch. "I know. I'm just concerned that this sink is dripping."
Alison stared at the faucet for a few moments. When nothing happened she said, "I think it's okay."
"It was leaking before."
"I'll keep an eye on it. And this reminds me that I should get a toolbox, in case I need to make minor repairs."
"They're pretty heavy, and I don't want you lifting it. How about we run to the mall and I get one for you to bring back here? I'll just tell the general that I'll find my own way back tonight."
Alison knew that Flint was looking for the smallest excuse to delay his departure. While she too didn't want him to leave, she knew that eventually he would have to. And going through that pain sooner as opposed to later seemed like the better course of action. "Dash, that's not necessary. Either I'll wait until you come back, or I'll ask one of the guys to get one for me."
Flint's shoulders slumped. He grabbed her hand and pulled her in for a hug. "I don't want to go," he whispered.
She rested her head against his chest. "These last couple of weeks have been amazing and I wish they didn't have to end. I don't want you to go either, but you have to."
Flint nodded. He walked to their bedroom and came out dragging his suitcase behind him. "Let's go."
The two drove in silence until they reached Andrews. Once they parked, Flint turned towards her. "Are you going to find a new doctor?"
"It's first on my to-do list," Alison answered.
"Okay. Let me know when you do. And if they agree that everything is going well. Also, don't overdo it. It might take some time to get back into a work schedule, so try to get as much sleep as you can."
Alison bit down on her tongue to keep from responding negatively to Flint's last minute advice. However, when he cautioned her about helping the delivery men move the furniture they had ordered she couldn't help but answer sarcastically. "Thanks, Dash. I was actually planning on jumping in once I found out Brutus was too fragile to move our couch, but now I'll reconsider."
Flint looked ashamed. "I'm sorry. I can't help it. I just hate leaving you alone."
She leaned over to kiss him. "I know. And I'm sorry I snapped at you. I hate this as much as you do."
They reluctantly exited the car, and were met by Lift-Ticket. "I'm glad you're here. Anvil has been pacing for the last ten minutes."
"Anvil?" Flint asked.
Lift-Ticket smirked. "I'm guessing the general didn't tell you about his new code name?"
Flint looked at Alison, and the two grinned at each other. "It is appropriate," Alison said with a laugh. She then hugged him one last time, and watched as he climbed aboard the Tomahawk.
As she watched the chopper take off, she was hit with a deep sadness. She realized she had been putting up a brave face for Flint's benefit. She drove back to the brownstone lost in her thoughts. She unlocked the door, and when she walked it she was struck by how quiet her home was. Luckily it was late enough in the evening to justify an early bedtime.
She had hoped that she would fall asleep quickly, but despite the fact that her body was tired, her mind wouldn't settle down. Not only was she distracted by Flint's absence but she couldn't help but be nervous about her upcoming first day at work. She felt like a terrified teenager starting a new high school. Eventually, she fell asleep. However, she woke up a short time later. She sat up and let out an exasperated sigh when she realized she had only been asleep forty-five minutes. She laid back down and hoped that sleep would come quickly.
It didn't. As she rolled over trying to find a comfortable position in the bed she was alone in, she noticed a strange sound coming from the hallway. She tried to ignore it until she heard it again. With a sharp exhale she got out of bed and followed the noise. When she realized it was coming from the now dripping faucet in the guest bathroom, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
The first few weeks in DC flew by for Alison. In typical governmental fashion, most of her initial two weeks were spent in training and classes. Even though the work wasn't taxing, she was kept busy enough that by the end of each day she had just enough energy for dinner before she spent an hour or two unwinding with a novel or TV watching.
Her schedule helped keep any negative thoughts about Flint and the Joe team to a minimum. Of course she missed him, and the life she used to have with the Joes, but she tried to make the most of her new routine. And once she was able to begin her real duties, she found she liked her job even more. She had always enjoyed the intelligence gathering aspect of her job with the Joes. Unfortunately, all of her field work limited the amount of time she could spend doing it. So even though having a desk job wasn't nearly as exciting, she still found the work challenging.
Her first morning after she finished her training she went to her desk in Hawk's office, and found a man and a large stack of papers waiting for her. "Richard Morris," he said as he extended his arm to shake her hand. "General Abernathy asked me to get you up to speed."
She grasped his hand. "Alison Hart," she started but then stopped herself with a smile. "I'm sorry, I'm recently married and still getting used to my new name. Alison Faireborn."
"Nice to meet you," Richard replied. "Congratulations on the wedding. When I heard you were being assigned to my team, I read up on your file. You have some very impressive credentials."
"Thank you," Alison replied. When he didn't question her on her military discharge, she wondered if he was being polite or if Hawk edited her file to keep the unsavory bits out. To change the subject she pointed to the stack of paper. "Is that my reading assignment?"
"Yes. This is the daily summary that gets printed out each morning."
"Daily?" she asked as she wondered how anyone had enough time to go through the stack when he laughed.
"Don't worry, it's not as overwhelming as it looks. The computers do most of the work filtering out the white noise. Plus, after a while you develop the knack of figuring out on your own what are the real threats, and what can be safely ignored. The policy here is that we print everything first, in case something goes screwy with the computers.
"Your job for now is to skim through this pile each day, to get a feel for the current threats out there," Richard continued. "Flag anything you feel is important. Once you can prove that you are smarter than the computers you get promoted to the real work." He looked at his watch. "You have a little more than eight hours before all this gets sent to the shredder."
Alison eagerly dove in. She quickly realized that the Joe's intelligence that focused on Cobra was only a small part of the very big picture. She grabbed a pad of paper and began to make notes on the different terrorist cells. She also realized that her desk didn't provide the amount of horizontal space she needed, so she went down the hall into one of the larger public office rooms that had an available table more suitable to her needs. Once she got settled in again, she became engrossed in her work and only half paid attention to the various conversations happening around her. So when she heard a voice ask for a cup of coffee she ignored it. Until she felt a hand on her shoulder and the question was repeated. "Hon, is the coffee on?" an older general who did not have nearly enough hardware on his chest to be as condescending as he was asked.
Alison swiveled around in her chair. "I'm not sure. But if you can bring me back a cup of decaf, that would be great."
The general laughed. "A sense of humor. I like that. But seriously, be a doll and get the coffee going."
Alison grinned an exaggerated smile. "First of all, I don't even let my husband call me by those names. And secondly, getting you coffee is not in my job description. So either figure out how to brew a pot yourself or find someone else that is willing to kiss your ass enough to do it for you."
That evening she called Flint, and as had been typical, left him a message to call her back. One of the frustrating aspects of their current arrangement was the time difference between the two of them. When she returned home from work wanting to talk to him about her day, it was only mid-afternoon for him, and he was usually involved in some sort of activity. By the time his day wound down, she was either asleep or on the verge. She had chewed him out so badly after the second time he had woken her from a deep sleep, that he had left her in charge in deciding when to make any phone calls.
Unfortunately, that sometimes meant a day or two would go by without a chance for the two to talk. Since she wanted to share with him the details about her day, she forced herself to stay awake until he called. "So how was your official first day?" Flint asked.
"It went really well," she answered. She summed up her new duties.
"That does sound like it's going to be really interesting. I'm glad you had a good day."
"Me too. And I agree it was good, except for when this pompous general asked me to fetch him a cup of coffee."
"Uh, oh," Flint replied.
"Yeah. But I quickly realized the plus of being a civilian is that I can tell the assholes wearing stars to go screw themselves."
"Please tell me you didn't actually say that."
"No, not in so many words. But I did tell him to get his own damn cup of coffee."
"Good for you."
Alison took a seat on the couch and stretched out. "Should I expect that kind of condescension now because I'm a civilian, or is just because I'm pregnant and they assume I'm looking for homemaker activities?"
"I think it's actually neither reason, and you just came across a jackass."
Alison laughed. "So any news on whether you can come out this weekend?" They had originally hoped that Flint would visit if not every weekend, at least every other one. But thanks to Mindbender's appearance in Mexico, the Joe team's activity had risen dramatically. It still wasn't at the same level as when they were fighting Cobra, but due to the team's size being cut down, the Joes that were left had quite a bit of work to do.
Flint sighed. "I doubt it. It looks like I'm going to be traveling soon."
"Oh," Alison said simply. She thought a moment. "How about I fly out to see you? I have a few weeks left before I'm banned from airline travel, so I might as well take advantage of it while I can."
Flint balked at the idea. "I'd hate for you to go through all that for what will most likely be a waste of time. It looks like I'm going to be heading out on Sunday, and the day or two before that I'm going to be busy with the prepwork."
"Okay," Alison replied trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. While her weekdays had very little down time, her weekends were full of it. She had spent the first couple decorating the Brownstone and shopping for baby items, but she had reached the point where most of the things she wanted to do required Flint's help or input. She hated the idea that she was going to spend another weekend without seeing him. She yawned. "I should go, it's getting late."
"Al, I'm sorry. But I'm going to do my best to get there as soon as I can."
Luckily, a reunion opportunity presented itself at the end of the week. Alison received a call late Sunday morning from an excited Flint. "I'm on the tarmac walking out to my Skystriker," he explained. "I couldn't give you specifics until things were finalized, but now that they are I can tell you that I'm on my way to London."
It hardly sounded like good news to Alison, but she still tried to match Flint's enthusiasm. "That should be a great trip."
"Actually, if you saw my orders you would see that it's a load of BS in the spirit of bettering our foreign relations. But the reason why I'm excited is that the contingent I'm going over with decided to meet up in DC."
Alison gasped. "My DC?"
Flint laughed. "The one and the same. Even better our flight to England is not until tomorrow so I get to spend the night. If all goes well, I should be ready to be picked up at Andrews by dinner time."
Alison tried to keep busy before she made the trip to the Air Force base. Once she arrived, she had to wait a few minutes for Flint to wrap up a meeting. When he was done she instantly realized things weren't going to go according to plan. She went over to hug him and asked, "Where's your bag?"
He grimaced. "I'm so sorry. I'm really annoyed that the plans changed over the last couple of hours. Action Force didn't approve our version of the schedule, so we're leaving for England tonight. He put his hand under her chin. I should have time for a quick dinner if you want."
Alison tried to make the best of it. "Where do you want to go? I passed a few places on the way here."
Flint again took on a pained look. "We were asked not to leave the base, as our departure time could change. But I heard there was a commissary here."
"Okay. Let's see what's on the menu," she said with a fake smile.
The special of the day was 'Chicken Ala Andrews', which Alison guessed was a mixture of the various chicken parts that had been served the previous week. They were marinated in a dark gray liquid and served over rice. Any appetite she had was quickly lost, but she continued to try and put on a good show.
Flint watched her push around the chicken parts for a few moments before he threw down his fork and grabbed her hand. "I'm sorry this is a disaster."
She too put down her utensils. "It's not that bad. It's just this wasn't exactly what I envisioned for tonight."
"I know. Same here. But it is nicer having a face to face conversation as opposed to one on the phone."
Alison had to admit that was true. Pushing aside her plate she asked, "Did I tell you how Stalker finally snapped at Beachhead earlier this week?"
"No," Flint said with a smile. "Do tell."
She let out a laugh. "I wish you could have seen it. Ever since I checked in, I noticed that the two of them had been pretty cranky around the office. I know that's standard for Beachhead, but I think they're having a hard time adjusting to the drastic change of pace this job brings. Whenever Hawk is in the office with them, they're on their best behavior. But he was out the other day, and Beachhead starting bitching from the moment he sat down at his desk. Stalker ignored it for almost a half hour before he exploded into the biggest f-bomb laden tirade I had ever heard. He apologized to me the minute he finished as I guess he had forgotten that I was in the room with them, but I think it was what they both needed."
Flint laughed. He then told her about Shipwreck's latest antics, which led to one story and then another. Alison realized there had been so much they hadn't talked about during their phone conversations. A half hour passed quickly, and soon the staff started closing up the cafeteria.
Flint and Alison stood up. She didn't want to leave, but she wasn't sure where to go until Flint threw out a suggestion. "I think I remember passing a lounge on the way to my debriefing. Maybe that's still open."
Not only was the room unlocked, it was deserted. They took a seat on one of the couches in the room. An older movie was playing on the television set. Once Alison recognized which one it was she smiled. "This is a good one." She leaned into Flint's chest, and he wrapped his arms around her.
His fingers caressed her, and she quickly lost interest in the movie. She turned around, and just as she leaned into to kiss him, a group of guys stormed the room.
One grabbed a remote and changed the channel, while his buddy turned to them and apologized. "Sorry. The game is on."
Alison rose from the couch and Flint followed her out into the hall. "So that was a bust." She looked up and down the hallway. "But someone around here must have an empty office. Do you want to try and find one?"
Flint leaned over to give her a chaste kiss. "I'd love to, but I don't think that's a good idea. I have a feeling they're going to call me any minute, and I'd hate to start something I can't finish."
Despite her disappointment, Alison nodded. "I should probably head home, it's almost my bedtime."
"I'll walk you to your car," Flint offered. On the way there he said, "I know it doesn't seem like it now, but this schedule change may be a good thing. I should end up with a few days off at the end, which I'll use to come see you."
Alison nodded and with an enthusiasm she didn't feel she said, "That sounds great." After a quick hug, she got in her car. As she drove back to her empty house, she realized that instead of Flint's visit making her feel better, she actually felt worse.