Once Alison was through Pentagon security, she checked her watch and was pleasantly surprised to see that she still had a few minutes before she needed to be at her desk. She ducked into the nearest ladies' room, and stopped to check her appearance in front of one of the mirrors. With the hectic morning leading to her dashing out of the house, she wanted to make sure she didn't have any kind of wardrobe malfunction.
Satisfied that all was as well as could be, she took a few deep breaths to try and calm herself down. Her first attempt at getting Marissa and herself ready before work did not go as smoothly as she had hoped. Luckily, Flint had still been there to lend an extra hand when Marissa had spit up on the first outfit she had been dressed in. But the fact that he had returned to the Joe team and wasn't going to be there for the second day had her slightly concerned. She consoled herself with the idea that the first day was probably the hardest and that it was going to be easier going forward. To reaffirm the thought, she nodded to herself. And then promptly burst into tears.
She gave herself an internal pep talk to try and snap herself out of the sudden sadness. She had dealt with enough of the violent mood swings to know that the action was useless, that she just needed to let the emotion play out and she would be back to normal in a few moments. As expected, the feeling passed and just as suddenly she felt in control again.
Alison washed her face with cold water and reapplied her makeup. Before she exited the rest room, she debated checking in with Mrs. Matthews. But she decided not to. It had only been less than an hour since she dropped Marissa off, so she was fairly sure her daughter was fine. If she wasn't, she knew Mrs. Matthews would have called her. And in her current fragile emotional state she knew she would use any slight excuse to postpone her first day back.
She entered Hawk's office, and was surprised to be greeted by a cheer and a round of applause from Hawk, Beachhead, Stalker and Richard. As she hugged each man who welcomed her back, she once again felt the threat of oncoming tears but was able to keep them at bay.
"So, what's hot?" Alison asked as she settled in to her desk.
Richard and Hawk spent nearly forty-five minutes recapping the last few weeks. Alison was grateful for the refresher course, because as she had told Flint, she felt like she had been living in a bubble since Marissa's birth. She had watched the occasional news report, but it was good to get caught up in what was happening locally, nationally and worldwide.
"It's funny how the media has been reporting that the blackout was due to aging equipment. And that a senate subcommittee had been formed to look into whether there were any negligent actions on the utilities' part."
Richard nodded. "That is an example of our government's efficient use of smoke and mirrors to mislead the public. What's genius is that it is a nugget of truth surrounded by the cloak of lies. Yes, it was outdated equipment that had been in need of replacement. And yes, there is a subcommittee taking a look at things. But what they aren't reporting is that someone sabotaged the equipment. The affected utilities are all too willing to play along, as not only do they have to admit they haven't been keeping up with maintenance, but their security is questionable as well. So as long as they play along, the government gives them a public slap on the wrist while they slip them a few dollars for upgrades on the sly."
Alison nodded as well. It wouldn't be the first time the media kept facts from the public. Most of the major news outlets had done a fantastic job of covering up some of Cobra's outrageous schemes in the interest of preventing a mass hysteria.
"I'm going to guess that the top priority right now is finding out who was the real culprit," Alison said as she glanced through her notes. "Since we're all in agreement that the Dreadnoks couldn't have done it on their own. I'm going to assume Cobra is off the list?"
"That was true until a couple of days ago when the Joes stumbled upon Arbco," Richard said.
Alison furrowed her brow. "Who or what is Arbco?"
"That is the new question the Jugglers want answered," Hawk replied. "Give Joe HQ a call, as they started the legwork over the weekend. I'm surprised Flint hadn't mentioned any of this to you, since he was the one that led the mission."
Alison smiled. "He kept the details purposely vague. I think he didn't want me getting sidetracked by work matters. I'll try and catch him before he heads back to HQ, and then I'll give the guys over there a call to see what they've uncovered."
She was able to talk to Flint before he boarded the plane. After recapping their mission to the cabin he said, "I have a small confession to make. Before I went to the airport, I paid Mrs. Matthews a visit. I wanted to make sure Marissa was doing okay."
"Was she?"
"She was fine. And Mrs. Matthews didn't seem like she was in the process of running off with her. I hung out for a few minutes and then left. If Marissa had shown of signs of distress, I was going to delay my return to HQ."
"Wouldn't there have been hell to pay if you did?"
"Yeah, probably. But I wanted to make sure you had a stress-free as possible first day back."
Alison smiled. She swallowed against the lump that formed in her throat. "Thank you, I really appreciate that."
"It's the least I can do since I haven't been pulling my fair share of the parenting duty." Flint paused as an announcement was made in the background. "I have to go, my plane is boarding."
"Okay. Have a safe flight, and I love you."
"I love you too."
Alison hung up the phone. She needed a few moments to compose herself before she made her next phone call. She wiped at the wetness under her eyes and blew her nose, and then she picked up the phone.
Talking to HQ helped get her mind off of how much she missed Flint and Marissa. Breaker was the first in a long line of Joes that wanted to congratulate her and talk about Marissa. Eventually she was transferred to Falcon who read her Chuckles' latest report. "I know it's not much and it leads to a dead end, but our resources here have been strapped. The Jugglers have been putting on the pressure that if we want to stay a functioning team, then we need to keep better tabs on the former members of Cobra."
"I understand and that's why I'm here. Send me what you have, and let me know if there is anything you need me to look into from this end. I'll check in with you tomorrow and we'll compare notes."
She hung up the phone and then turned her attention to her computer. She printed all of the documentation that Falcon sent her, and began to read through her emails. There were several reports that required her attention that she printed as well. Once it hit midmorning, she decided it was time to take care of the one activity she had been dreading, pumping. To avoid any kind of awkward conversation in the office, she had already cleared those break times with Hawk when she had spoken to him the previous week about her return. Luckily, he okayed it without wanting to know a lot of the details. With a nod to Hawk, Alison gathered up the printouts, grabbed the bag she brought from home, and headed down the hallway to one of the small empty offices.
Alison locked the door behind her, and settled into one of the chairs. Having plenty of reading material helped pass the time. She still didn't find it the most pleasant experience, but whatever she collected would be given to Mrs. Matthews for one of Marissa's meals during the day.
Once she was done she cleaned up, repacked the equipment, and then headed to the kitchen near her office to put the bags in the refrigerator. On her way back to her office, she caught a glimpse of the one man she was not looking forward to seeing again, General Cavanaugh. She debated darting into a nearby office to avoid him, but she quickly dismissed the idea. She no longer had the handicap of an advanced pregnancy hindering her actions.
"Alison, right? I heard you returned from your maternity leave," General Cavanaugh said with a leering smile. "Welcome back. You look good."
Alison bit back a few choice remarks and instead settled on a "Thank you," said as cordially as possible.
"So I guess you've decided against staying home with the little one?"
Alison mentally added the phrase 'where you belong' to the end of his statement. It helped fuel her anger. "General, I don't think it's appropriate the interest that you've taken in my personal life. And I certainly don't appreciate your tone or the misogynistic comments that you insist on making. I may have given you the impression that you scare me, but that was only because my priority was the well-being of my unborn daughter. But since that is no longer a concern, I'm going to kindly ask you to knock it off."
She turned to continue the walk to her office, but she stopped. "And don't make me ask you twice." When she turned around a second time she couldn't help the grin that formed on her face.
The rest of the day passed quickly. It took Alison until the end of her lunch hour spent at her desk to finish going through her e-mail. Once that was done, she rewarded herself with a phone call to Mrs. Matthews who assured her that Marissa was still doing well.
She dove into the Arbco mystery after lunch. It became clear early on why Chuckles and Falcon had determined it to be a dead end. The address on the return label was obviously a fake as it belonged to a vacant piece of land in a small town in Ohio. Chuckles had pulled their initial business application, but the address listed was a post office box in the same small town. A quick phone call confirmed that the box was still active, however the supervisor on site confirmed that they didn't keep records on how often it was accessed.
At that point she decided to switch tactics. She had a feeling that if someone was trying to hide illegal dealings, that Arbco wouldn't be the only dummy corporation formed. The business application hadn't listed any parent or brother-sister corporations, so she had to do it the hard way. At first she thought about going through every new application submitted in the same time and area as the Arbco one, and then working her way out from there. But the shear volume of potential applications overwhelmed her so she once again went with a hunch.
Near the end of the day she started looking up other acronyms of Cobra. She had found two others, Broca and Carbo when it was time to call it quits. She first summed up her findings with Richard and then to Hawk who commended her on a good first day back before he dismissed her.
After fighting what seemed like worse than normal traffic, she pulled in front of her house. She then quickly walked to Mrs. Matthews home. Once she was through the door she reached for Marissa who rewarded her with a smile.
"We had a good day," Mrs. Matthews said as she helped to collect Marissa's belongings. She ran through the list of Marissa's feedings and other bodily function of the day, which all sounded normal to Alison. She then went home.
As soon as they were through the door, Marissa's mood soured. Alison's biggest fear of returning to work was having the energy in the evening to deal with Marissa's colic and other issues. But she found herself in a much better frame of mind to handle it. She fed Marissa, and then made herself a quick meal. She didn't even mind that she had to eat it while rocking her weeping daughter as she stood in the kitchen. That led to bath time which calmed Marissa down. After her last feeding she put Marissa to bed.
Alison decided it was also her bedtime. She made a quick phone call to Flint to confirm he had arrived at HQ safely. She then climbed into bed, exhausted but happy.
Alison had hoped that after a couple of weeks, she would have had a better handle on the morning routine. But yet again, she was running late. That morning's undoing had been a diaper blowout as they were getting ready to walk out the door. Which meant she had practically thrown Marissa and her things at Mrs. Matthews before she left for work.
She was especially stressed because she had a meeting with several of the Jugglers to discuss her findings on Arbco and the other dummy corporations. She wanted to make a few last-minute tweaks to her presentation.
As she made her way down the D Ring, she was deep in thought and paying little attention to the people around her until she heard a familiar voice call her name. She stopped, turned and then smiled at the friend she hadn't seen for months. "Ron? What are you doing here?"
Ron Michaels laughed. "I was going to ask you the same thing. I'm here for a planning session. We have a training exercise in a couple of weeks."
"Mine is a longer story," Alison said as she looked at her watch. "And unfortunately, I don't have the time to go into it now. Are you going to be around for a few days?"
"I'm heading back tomorrow afternoon, but I am free tonight."
"Great. Come to my place, we'll have dinner. Do you still have the same phone number?" Once Ron nodded, she told him she would call him. She then resumed her walk to her office happy with the idea of the impromptu evening plans.
After saying good morning to Hawk, he informed her that the briefing had been pushed back by a half hour. That gave Alison a chance to calm down, have a leisurely cup of coffee and make the needed changes to her presentation.
Once she was ready, she walked with Hawk to the large conference room. "I'm sure you're well aware by now how difficult the Jugglers can be. But try not to let them fluster you."
"Don't worry they won't," Alison said. However, her confidence quickly eroded when General Ryan, the current leader of the Jugglers, who was also the man that derailed Flint's Action Force arguments a few months prior announced that they were cutting the scheduled length of the briefing in half.
Alison kept her composure, and not wanting to waste any time dived into a shorter, quicker version of the presentation she prepared. "Two and a half weeks ago, the Joe team discovered a cabin in Upstate New York that was home to a variety of potentially dangerous and unusual items. It was tied to a company called Arbco. Naturally, the Cobra acronym caught our attention. With help from the intelligence department of the Joe team we researched the history and ownership of Arbco. Its business license was granted about two months ago, under the general heading of retailer. The business owner listed seems to be an ordinary citizen, with no obvious ties to Cobra.
"Under a hunch I tried different variations on the word 'Cobra'. I found a half dozen other corporations. Broca, Carbo, Orbac, Robac, Arboc, and Borac. All are retailers. One specializes in farming needs such as fertilizers, another is a chemical supplier, another small containers including pressure cookers, etc. All basic everyday items that could be used for nefarious purposes. But what was really concerning is that these companies formed at essentially the same time, and all within a couple of days of the blackout."
General Ryan raised his hand. "I heard enough. It's obvious this is all connected to Cobra."
"No, sir, let me finish. I'm afraid that it's too obvious. I think somebody went to a lot of trouble to make us think Cobra is behind this."
General Ryan leaned over and whispered to General Cavanaugh. General Dyson also joined the conversation. Once they were done General Ryan nodded and turned his attention back to Alison. "To be honest, we don't care if it's Cobra or some other budding terrorist group. Somebody is up to no good, and we want to find out who it is. General Abernathy, get Bradshaw on the horn and tell him to be prepared to send a few teams out to figure out what the hell is going on."
"But General, that may be exactly what this mystery group wants us to do. We could be sending the Joes into a trap."
General Ryan smiled. "Your concern is noted. However, we give G.I. Joe a lot of money to be an elite fighting force. Make a list of the potential threats, and tell them to watch their six."
The Jugglers stood up, abruptly ending the briefing. Once they were gone, Hawk patted her shoulder. "You did good."
Alison scoffed. "No I didn't. They didn't listen to a word I said."
"Sure they did. They acknowledged there is a new threat. And they want to send the Joes in, so to me it's a double win."
Alison knew that Hawk was right, but she still couldn't help shake the feeling that they were being set up. Hawk seemed to read her mind. "I'm not going to send them in blind. The one thing General Ryan is correct about is that the Joes are an elite fighting force. They'll be fine as long as they have all the information."
Alison instantly felt better. She knew Hawk would make sure that the Joes were prepared. Plus, she had her own direct line to a member of the command staff that she utilized as soon as she returned to her office.
"Don't worry about us," Flint said once she finished recapping the briefing and her fears. "We'll be fine. Even if this is all an elaborate Cobra-like trap, we've dealt with it before."
"You're right, I'm probably overreacting. It's just a lot harder calling the shots from the sidelines."
"I know. But I'm glad you have my back."
Alison hung up the phone shortly thereafter and before she returned to her work she took a quick trip through her memories. She was reminded of one of the times that she was a captive audience on base while Flint had led a team to Las Vegas to put a stop to Cobra's telethon scheme. Hawk had been stationed on the Joe base for a number of months at that point, and Lady Jaye had paid him a visit in his office to surreptitiously get an update on Flint's mission. Whatever excuse she had planned on using was forgotten as she entered Hawk's office and caught the end of Flint's transmission that the team was in trouble.
She stood by Hawk's desk as he then called Mainframe to get an update on his status. While Mainframe reported in, Hawk waved to an empty chair for Lady Jaye to take a seat. She knew her worry for Flint was obvious, and she had been afraid that Hawk was finally going to call her on the illegal affair he had to have known they were having. But instead, once he finished his conversation with Mainframe he asked for her opinion on aspects of the current mission as well as other past encounters with Cobra. He kept her distracted until Flint radioed in again to say that they all were fine, and that the mission was a success.
Lady Jaye had expected the reprimand to finally come at that point, but instead Hawk had thanked her for her insight and her time. She took the out that was offered, and went to her room to spend a sleepless night waiting for Flint's return.
She continued to reminisce about life on the Joe team, and missions of that year until she got to the episode with the Ghost prototype and she was reminded of the fact that she had dinner plans with Ron Michaels that night. She scolded herself to stop daydreaming and get back to work so that she could leave at a decent time that afternoon.
Ron found a parking space down the street from the address Alison had given him. As he made his way down the block, he took in the houses of the neighborhood. It seemed like his old flight buddy had done quite well for herself. However, he was still curious as to how she had gone from the Joe team to the Pentagon.
He reached Alison's house, and rang her doorbell. She opened the door and enveloped Ron in a hug. "I'm sorry I gave you the bum's rush this morning, but I was running really late."
"It's no problem," Ron said with a smile. He handed her the bottle of wine in his hand. "I was just glad I saw you."
"Me too," Alison said. "You look good. The leg has totally healed?"
"Yep. I got a clean bill of health about eight weeks afterwards."
She invited him into the living room. "I apologize for not suggesting a dinner out, but I'm a bit limited these days in my ability to go out. She motioned towards a baby swing. "Ron, I'd like you to meet my daughter Marissa."
Ron was momentarily taken aback by the news. But he quickly regained his composure. "Alison, she's beautiful. Congratulations. So is she the reason you are now stationed in DC?"
"In a roundabout way yes." She brought the bottle of wine into the kitchen. "So do you want the short and sweet version, or the long and painful one?"
Ron joined her side. "Whatever you feel the most comfortable telling." Apparently it was a combination of the two options. As he listened to her story, he couldn't help but feel bad for what seemed like a raw deal for her. "I'm sorry that happened to you."
Alison poured the wine. He received a full glass while she only gave herself a couple of sips. "Thanks for the sympathy, but it's not necessary. I admit that it took me a long time to accept the outcome." The two walked back into the living room. She pointed towards Marissa. "But in the end, I ended up with a good job, and a husband and a daughter that I love."
"Well, cheers!" Ron said as he touched his glass to hers. "You've been busy. When was the last time I saw you? A year ago?"
"Closer to eighteen months." Marissa started to fuss, so Alison walked over to her and pulled her up from the swing. She walked back to the couch patting the infant's back.
"And in that time, my biggest news is that I went wild and crazy and adopted a cat."
Alison let out a laugh while Marissa let out an audible burp. She grimaced as she looked down and saw that a decent amount of spit-up was now covering her shirt. "Are you still traveling around the world testing experimental equipment?"
"I am. Which is why I got a cat and not a dog. They are a little more self-sufficient."
Alison stood up. "Do you mind holding her? I want to change my shirt, and then we can discuss our take-out options."
Ron reached for the infant with a little hesitation. Normally he steered clear of babies, especially one as little as Marissa. But he wanted to help Alison out. Marissa flashed him a smile, and he couldn't help but grin at her.
As soon as the bedroom door closed behind her, the house phone rang. "Do you want me to answer that?" Ron called out. He did once she said yes. "Alison Hart-Burnett residence."
There was no reply at first, so Ron thought it might have been a telemarketer. But then a not so friendly voice spoke. "Actually, it is Alison and Dashiell Faireborn's residence, and who the hell is answering my phone?"
"Flint? It's Ron, Ron Michaels, Alison's flight buddy."
Flint sharply inhaled. "You're in DC?"
"Just until tomorrow. Alison invited me over for dinner. Congratulations on the birth of your daughter. I'm so happy for the two of you. I have her in my arms right now."
"Thank you. Is Alison there?" Flint asked gruffly. Most of what Ron knew about Flint came from Alison's stories about him. The two had met briefly, but Ron had been out of it for most of their encounter due to his severely broken leg. Alison had admitted that one of Flint's flaws that irritated her was his jealous nature. Based on the current phone call it seemed that marriage and fatherhood hadn't mellowed Flint out.
"She is, but she's getting changed. The baby spit up on her." The bedroom door opened and Alison walked out. "Flint's on the phone."
Alison nodded. "Tell him I'll call him back later."
Ron did so which only seemed to anger Flint further. After Flint insisted that he wanted to talk to Alison, Ron brought her the phone. She rolled her eyes and took it. To give her some semblance of privacy he walked into the living room.
A couple of minutes later she rejoined him. "I'm sorry about that."
"No, it's fine. I have to imagine this has been hard on him." Ron took a long look at Alison who sat down on the couch with a sigh. "How has it been going?"
"If you asked me that question a month ago, I would have started sobbing on your shoulder. It's gotten better, but it's still not easy. It doesn't help that after the first couple of weeks, Dash has only been here a total of four days. Which is frustrating to both of us. And I know he misses us and wishes he was here, but I have a hard time consoling him when I'm so worn out."
Alison took a sip of her wine and continued. "And then I think that I have no one to blame for this situation but myself. I wonder if I should have just swallowed my pride and stayed in Arizona. I would have given up this job I've come to love, but at least Dash would have gotten to see his daughter more than a handful of times."
Ron leaned over and patted her leg. "Don't beat yourself up too bad. In that scenario, the three of you may have been together, but it doesn't sound like you would have been very happy."
Alison smiled. "You're right. And that's why I made the decision that I did. But I realize now, as a mother, that I should have sacrificed my happiness for the good of my family."
"Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think that's one of the requirements for motherhood."
Alison finished her glass and stood up. "You didn't come here to listen to me complain. Let's order dinner and talk about anything but my problems."
They settled on a local pizzeria. Alison placed the order, and then she disappeared into the nursery to feed Marissa and get her ready for bed. She was still in there when the order was delivered. At first Ron tried to do the chivalrous thing and wait on her, but after she insisted for the third time that he start without her he gave in. She finally emerged long after the pizza had gone cold.
She went into the kitchen to reheat a couple of slices but he told her to sit while he took care of it. He brought her the wine bottle. "Do you want a refill?"
She nodded and handed him her glass. "Just a little."
They continued to chat about a variety of topics until she was finished with her meal. Ron noticed that she was struggling to stifle a series of yawns, and he knew it was time to go. Alison walked him to the door and she gave him a hug before he left. As Ron walked back to the car, he came to the conclusion that while he understood the desire to start a family, he was glad he only had his cat.