Alison struggled to pay attention to the general's briefing. She tried to focus on the 3D image on the table in front of her and not her growing heartburn or the apparent tap dance routine the baby was currently performing in her uterus.

She did though pick up on an error. "I'm sorry to interrupt, general, but we never did get confirmation that the faction is currently stationed in Eastern Turkey. So we need to be prepared that they may still be in Syria."

The briefing wrapped up a few minutes later, and Hawk asked Alison to join him on their walk back to their office. "Thanks for the catch in there."

"No problem. I only interrupted because we received the updated bulletins right before you went into the meeting." She felt another burning sensation and grimaced as she swallowed against the pain.

Hawk eyed her. "Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah, I'm all right. Just dealing with another side effect of pregnancy."

"What's your game plan going forward? You must be thinking about starting your maternity leave soon."

"Actually, I was going to wait as long as I could to take it. So far my doctor is on board. The commute isn't that bad, and this job isn't physically taxing, so I'd like to hang in here as long as I can."

"I appreciate your dedication, but don't feel like you're obligated to do so."

"Thanks. And I do know that. But really, it's for my own sanity. If I had nothing to do but sit at home and wait for contractions to start, I would lose my mind. So my plan is to participate in the upcoming exercise, and then reevaluate how I feel at the end."

"Okay. As long as it is what you want. I'll make sure that your schedule is adjusted, so that you don't end up putting in too many long hours here. I don't want you physically exerting yourself."

Alison laughed. "Now you're sounding like Flint. He gives me the third degree every chance he can. Apparently he doesn't believe I know what's best for me."

"He's just a nervous new father to be. I'm sure I did the same thing to my wife when she was pregnant."

Alison was so surprised by Hawk's admission that she actually stopped walking for a moment. She quickly recovered. "You're married, sir?"

"Unfortunately not anymore. We were the clichéd high school sweet hearts that married the summer after we graduated. Back then it wasn't quite the scandal to marry so young. She became pregnant a few months later. As the story goes, it was too much too fast, and we were divorced by the time my son started preschool."

"General, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be. It was a long time ago, and I ended up with a son I am very proud of. He's getting a Masters in Mechanical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines."

"That's very impressive. But he's not going to pursue a military career like his father?"

Hawk shook his head. "No. And I have to admit I was a little disappointed. We all know it's not an easy life, but it is very rewarding. But I think the fact that I wasn't around a lot while he was growing up swayed his decision."

Alison nodded sadly. She subconsciously rubbed her stomach. She too had wondered how much of their daughter's life Flint was going to miss, and if she would grow up resenting him for it.

Hawk sensed her thoughts. "Not every military family ends up like mine did. Yes, having a parent away so often is hard on the kids. But as long as you make the most of the time together that you do have, they'll be okay. And I can tell already by how devoted Flint is to you and your baby, that he will do right by the two of you."

Alison smiled. "Thank you, sir, I appreciate that."

"Passing on wisdom to the younger generation is in my job description. And how many times do I have to tell you that you can stop calling me sir?" he added with a smile.

"I'm sorry, sir," she said with a laugh as the word slipped out again. "It's just ingrained in me."

Hawk too laughed. "Well, I still appreciate the respect." He took a quick glance down the hallway behind her before he turned his attention back to her. "Since I am doling out the advice this morning, cut Flint some slack. He just wants what is best for you."

"I know, I know," Alison replied. "I do appreciate it, it's just that sometimes it gets to be a bit smothering."

"Talking bad about me again?" a familiar voice behind her asked with a laugh.

Alison let out a gasp and spun around. Her face broke into a grin at the site of a smiling Flint standing just feet from her. "What are you doing here?"

"Did I forget to mention that for the exercise Flint will be leading the Joe contingent stationed on the Flagg?" Hawk said. He tapped her on the shoulder. "You don't have to be all prim and proper in front of me. I know you want to give your husband a hug."

She did.

Zarana looked on with exasperation to the scene playing out in front of her. The Dreadnoks had reached the point of the evening where their philosophical debate was going to turn physical.

"How many times do I have to explain to you idiots that death is not an option?" Buzzer asked.

"I'm not killing myself, I'm killing both of them," Torch replied.

Buzzer smacked his head. "Murder is still death, you moron."

The newest Dreadnok, Road Pig, chimed in. "I've done extensive research into this social experiment, and I'm dismayed to admit that I have not found concrete evidence supporting the rules of this game. Therefore, I believe Torch has a valid point."

The three Dreadnoks looked at him for a moment before Ripper spoke. "If you're just going to kill the people we picked for you, what's the point of playing?"

Zarana stood up. She walked away from the fire, and deeper into the woods where Zandar was sitting against a tree. She took a seat next to him. "I hate to admit this, but I think I miss Thrasher and Monkeywrench. With them around, the only thing those idiots fought about were their favorite mint flavor."

"It's okay, sister. You only have to put up with us until we find Zartan. Then you can go back to your new glamorous life."

"It may be new, but it's far from glamorous," Zarana mumbled. Ever since she had returned to the Dreadnoks to help find and rescue Zartan, Zandar had made it quite clear his feelings about her desertion. She had ignored most of his comments, but since she was in a particularly foul mood, she decided to finally call him on it. "If I'm remembering the chain of events correctly, you're the one that called me to come help you free our big brother."

"And some help you've been," Zandar replied.

"If it wasn't for me, you'd still be in Arizona with your thumb up your…" Before she could finish the thought, they were interrupted.

"Zarana, my sweet, I couldn't help but notice your absence," Road Pig said, as he took a knee next to her. "I hope it wasn't our skirmish that ran you off."

Zarana looked from Road Pig to Zandar and decided she had enough. She turned towards Zandar. "It's your turn to babysit tonight. I'm getting out of here."

Road Pig chased after her, but she had speed and agility on her side. Zarana hopped onto her motorcycle and quickly lost the hulking Dreadnok. She sped onto the two-lane highway heading towards town. She didn't necessarily have a destination in mind, she just needed to blow off some steam. The more time she spent with the Dreadnoks, the more she was reminded of all the reasons why she had left the team shortly after the Cobra-La fiasco. She knew she had promised Zandar that she was going to stick around until they freed Zartan, and despite her brother's attitude and the fact that the half-wits were making it very hard for her, she had every intention of keeping to that promise.

Most of her frustration didn't actually stem from the Dreadnoks behavior, but from the idea that Zartan was being held prisoner in a base only a couple of miles from their current location, and they didn't have a coherent plan to free him.

When Zandar had first called her, the Dreadnoks had been on their way to break Zartan out of Joe HQ. Despite the fact that she had left the Dreadnoks to pursue her own passions, she didn't hesitate to lend her help. She had been halfway to Arizona when they had gotten word that Zartan was being transferred. Their initial intel said that he was going to be brought to ADMax Florence, a supposed inescapable fortress in the middle of Colorado. Zarana and Zandar looked forward to the challenge, and they agreed to meet up outside Florence.

Once the twins were reunited, they began to research the facility. Zarana used her charms on a couple of the correction officers employed by the prison, and soon they had a plan to break Zartan out. But then they learned that Zartan never arrived at Florence, and instead was sent to Fort Meade in Maryland. So once again they had to relocate.

They had arrived at the campground down the road from the base a week prior. Since that point they tried to come up with a new plan of attack. At first Zarana thought it was going to be easy. If they could come up with a plan to infiltrate an impenetrable prison, breaking onto a military base should be easier, especially since they had a lot of expertise in breaching the Joes' defenses.

But apparently the US government had learned from their mistakes. The prison where Zartan was being held didn't officially exist. It was built over the past couple of years with the specific goal of keeping high profile, extremely dangerous prisoners within its walls. The construction had been such a closely guarded secret that it took Zarana five days to find a contractor that had a decent amount of knowledge about the project. It had then taken her another two days to work her magic and get her hands on a copy of the blueprints.

She had brought the blueprints back to their camp late that afternoon and they then spent a few hours trying to come up with a plan. Unfortunately, while they had made some progress, there were still too many question marks for Zarana's liking. Their biggest roadblock at the moment was figuring out a distraction that would get them into the prison section. Its defenses were high tech marvels and it looked like only a massive and crippling power outage would get them close to Zartan.

But the Dreadnoks had done their best to come up with alternate ideas. They were all ridiculous, and Zarana humored them only for a few minutes before she called an end to the discussion. The Dreadnoks had then taken up the asinine game she briefly listened to before she had made her escape.

Zarana made a right turn and realized she was heading towards one of the local bars that she had spent a significant amount of time at the past week. She also noticed a single headlight that was well behind her, and she went on alert. She instantly suspected she might have been followed, but since she had been lost in her thoughts she had no idea how long the person had been behind her.

She pulled into the parking lot of Spanky's and sat on her bike. She pretended to be engrossed in her phone as she waited. Sure enough, a bike pulled into the lot a few moments behind her. Zarana continued to watch as a woman got off the bike. However, she paid Zarana no attention and instead called out to one her biker friends that was hanging with a group at the other end of the parking lot.

Zarana relaxed. She put her phone away and entered Spanky's. She saw her contractor buddy sitting at the bar, and with a large smile she walked towards him. At best case, she might be able to pick his brain some more, and at worst, she would end up with a couple of free drinks.

After a half hour, it was clear that the latter was going to be true. With the excuse that his wife was waiting for him, he called it an early night, but he left enough money on the counter for Zarana to order another drink.

Before her drink arrived, the woman on the bike from the parking lot grabbed the empty seat next to Zarana. With a look of distaste the woman asked "Doesn't it get old constantly using your feminine assets, especially when said assets are, well, old?"

Zarana had to rein in her anger. While she had an extremely short temper, and the littlest thing could set her off, she also was not stupid. As much as she wanted to smack the nosy bitch in her smart mouth, she knew better than starting a bar brawl when she had no backup. Instead she shrugged. "As long as it keeps working, I'm going to keep doing it."

The woman scoffed. "Based on what I saw tonight, it might be time for you to consider a new approach. Especially if you want to free your brother and friends."

Zarana startled. "Have you been spying on me? Who the hell are you?"

"My name is Dela. And yes, my associates have taken an interest in your organization, so they sent me to observe your actions."

Zarana wanted to laugh at the idea of the Dreadnoks being an organization. But instead she had another question. "And who exactly are your associates?"

"Our name isn't important, because you haven't heard of us, yet."

Zarana noticed the heavy foreboding Dela put on the last word. She was reminded of meeting Pythona and Cobra-La for the first time. "I don't know what you want from us, but I can tell you right now we are not interested."

"We don't want anything from you. I know in order to help your brother, you need a major disturbance to occur. We can do that for you."

Zarana was skeptical. "Sure, okay. You're going to help us get to Zartan, and you really want nothing in return?"

"You need a distraction, and so do we. It ends up being a mutually beneficial arrangement."

"What are you going to do?"

Dela smiled. "I'm sorry, but as they say that is need-to-know information, and you don't need to know."

"If we don't know what we are getting ourselves into than you can count us out."

"That must be a new policy, since I doubt that Cobra Commander and Serpentor shared all of their grand plans with you before you did their dirty work." Dela stood up. "It's up to you whether you take advantage of the situation we set up or not. The opportunity you desperately need will happen on the fifteenth."

Zarana watched Dela walk out of the bar. She downed the last of her drink while she replayed the conversation in her head. Then with a smile, she decided it was time to head back to camp and tell her brother the good news.

Alison checked her watch as she made her way to the Pentagon's parking garage. She was once again running late for her appointment, so she picked up the pace as best as she could until she heard her name being called. She turned and smiled at Flint who jogged to catch up to her. "I thought you left for the Flagg already."

"I was supposed to, but the helo has some mechanical issues. So while I'm waiting for it to be repaired, I thought that I would go with you to your appointment."

"Are you sure you can? Sometimes they get backed up. It might be a couple hours."

"That's okay, it'll take at least that long to make the repairs. I could stay here and scream at the mechanic that drew the short stick, but I'd much rather see how baby girl is doing."

Alison was grateful for the ride and the company. The last couple of days had been hectic so it was nice to be able to have a relaxed conversation with her husband. The OB office was not that crowded and they were led to an exam room after a few minutes. The nurse ran through her standard checks, and then told her the doctor would be in shortly.

Alison became antsy as she waited for the doctor to arrive. Her due date was more than two weeks away, but she hoped that the doctor would say she had made progress towards giving birth soon.

However, once the doctor arrived and completed her exam, that didn't seem like it was the case. "Even with the Braxton Hicks contractions you've been experiencing, you're about the same as last week. Maybe slightly more dilated, but nothing significant." After Alison exhaled sharply, the doctor continued. "Don't get too frustrated. It's not going to be too much longer. And anything could happen. I once had a woman who had showed no signs that labor was imminent during her exam and then her water broke on the beltway while on her way home."

Flint let out a nervous laugh. "I, for one, hope that doesn't happen."

The doctor smiled. "I'm just saying you have to be prepared for anything. Including the possibility of going past the end of the month. I know your previous doctor adjusted your due date, but I wouldn't be surprised if you end up delivering closer to the original date."

That was a depressing thought. It was hard enough thinking she still had a couple of weeks to go, never mind a month. The doctor ran through a list of signs and symptoms that she should be on the lookout for, and gave her a brief to-do list of what she needed to do once she started to feel contractions. Alison made an appointment for the following week, and then they left.

Alison was quiet on the way back as her thoughts contemplated the idea of childbirth, and the arrival of her daughter. "Are you okay?" Flint asked as he rubbed her leg.

"I just wished she had better news," Alison admitted.

"I think it went great. She said the heartbeat is strong, the baby is a good size, and you looked well."

Alison felt a little guilty for not being more upbeat. But as she shifted in her seat to relieve the growing pressure on her lower back, she decided she earned a little slack for wanting to evict the baby as soon as possible. "I know. And I am so thankful that everything looks good. I just wish I knew she was coming sooner rather than later. We got lucky with you being assigned to this exercise, and I'd love to take advantage of that."

"Believe me, I would too. And I have given it some thought. Between the exercise and the aftermath, I will be able to stay in town for at least two weeks without needing to use any leave."

"Which will be fine if she decides she is going to arrive before her current due date. If she's not coming until mid-May, then we'll need to figure out a new plan."

"Which we will. But don't worry about that unless we have to. Like Dr. Lewis said anything can happen." Traffic had come to a standstill so Flint turned to look at her. "Does the idea of the birth scare you?"

Alison chuckled. "Why? Because everyone who has been through it describes it as the most excruciating pain one can experience? I may be a little concerned. But that's not what I'm most scared about. Maybe I'm underestimating my pain tolerance, but I think I can handle the birth process. It's what comes afterwards that has me up at night."

"That you shouldn't be worried about. You're going to be a great mother."

"I wish I had that kind of faith in myself. I know it's a lot of on the job training, but I still worry that I won't know what I'm doing. What if I can't console her when she cries? Or I don't recognize her symptoms when she's getting sick?" Alison paused as she debated how much to confess. But Flint started the line of questioning, so he was going to get the brutally honest truth. "And it doesn't help knowing that I'm going to be on my own for a lot of this."

Flint frowned, and Alison regretted coming clean. "I'm going to do my best to be here as often as I can. In the meantime, Stalker said Lydia is very excited to pitch in with babysitting duties."

"She is," Alison agreed. "I know she's going to be a big help to me, but she has her own family to take care of."

They finally arrived at the Pentagon's garage. Once they parked and exited the car, Flint went to her side. "I'm still optimistic that this long-distance separation is only temporary. I bet by the time Marissa is six months old, I'll be living here full time."

Alison didn't share the same optimism. And even if she did, six months seemed like an excruciatingly long time away. But instead of continuing to dwell on the negatives she focused on the part of Flint's statement that caught her attention. "So are we officially going with the name Marissa?"

"Before I make my final decision, I do want to see her to make sure she looks like a 'Marissa'. But the more I think about it, the more I like it."

Alison wondered how a newborn could look like any name. From all the photos she had seen of hours old babies, she had decided she was going to be happy if her baby didn't look totally like an alien.

Flint's phone rang and based on the short conversation, she guessed he was going to be leaving for the Flagg shortly. He confirmed her hunch. "Perfect timing. We're good to go."

She hugged him. "Okay, be careful. And make sure the chopper is actually airworthy before you get on."

"Will do," Flint answered. "I'll see you in a few days."