"So do you trust me now?" Wilder Vaughn asked Dela Eden once their final planning session concluded.
"I never doubted you," Dela Eden said without a hint of hesitation.
Vaughn let out a laugh. "My Dela, you and I both know that isn't true. But I thank you for feeding me the line of bullshit."
Dela smiled. Wilder Vaughn had an intense, bordering on a manic personality. Many people had underestimated how quickly his mood could turn and they hadn't lived to tell the tale. Even though Dela knew that she was one of his closest confidants, she still worried about pushing him too far and incurring his wrath.
However, Vaughn had been in an extraordinarily good mood as of late. His grand plan to send a message to the government of the United States was finally going to be launched in a few days' time. And thanks to the actions that Dela had once considered to be a waste of time, it was going to come as a complete shock.
"I noticed our last campaign was dubbed the Tax Day Blackout. I wonder what not-so-clever term will be used to describe the attack that's coming six months to the day later?" Vaughn asked.
Dela thought about it for a moment. "'Chaos at the Pentagon'?" she offered.
Vaughn grimaced. "Hopefully they have a little more imagination."
"That might depend on whether you leave the Red Shadows calling card this time, or if you set up Cobra again."
Vaughn flashed her a cryptic smile. "I know you had wondered why we had wasted so much time and resources setting up false leads pointing to the remnants of Cobra. I told you that I didn't want there to be any hint of suspicion towards us while we continued our mission. Which was true. The US government would want to bring the blackout's responsible party to justice. And that they would send their favorite go-to team, the Joes, after them.
"The Dreadnoks made for an easy and willing patsy to play the part. But they were too easy. I knew it wouldn't take long for the Joes to realize that they weren't the ones that caused the blackout. So I needed to keep them busy. Because when we make our move in a few days, I want the Joes to be completely surprised about the new threat that popped up on their watch."
Dela kept quiet as Vaughn began to pace. "I watched the Joes battle Cobra from the beginning. I learned early on that the Joes need their happy endings, their 'Saved the Day' moments. They think they've achieved the ultimate ending now with the destruction of Cobra. But they're going to see that their nightmare is just beginning."
Dela grinned as she nodded. "Vaughn, you really are a genius."
Vaughn's grin matched her own. "That is a compliment I will accept." He reached his hand out to her. "Come, let's have a toast to our soon to be achieved victory!"
Alison juggled the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she worked to get Marissa into her high chair. The baby was starting to fuss, and she knew she only had a few seconds more before the wailing started.
"It sounds like you have your hands full. Do you want me to let you go?" Flint asked.
"No, it's okay. Just hang on one second." She put the phone down, got Marissa settled, and began to feed her from the bowl in her hand. Once she was sure the baby was content she picked the phone up again and balanced it on her shoulder.
"What's for dinner tonight?" Flint asked.
"For me, it's the leftover of my salad from lunch. For Marissa, it's rice cereal." Marissa cooed happily as she ate. Alison smiled at her daughter. Cereal was a recent addition to Marissa's menu. "She really is adorable when she eats. She gets so excited for each spoonful."
"I can't wait to see that."
"Well, if you're still coming this weekend you'll be able to see her introduction to vegetables. Since she's turning six months on Saturday I think it's safe to expand her food options again."
"I will be there. My leave is approved, and I'm taking two extra days to meet with a couple of commanders of local units. Anvil thinks that meeting with them face to face might convince one of them to find me a spot. Right now I'm scheduled to return Tuesday night."
Alison grinned. Not only was she happy about the extended visit, but she hoped that meant that Flint was closer to obtaining his goal of moving to DC. "Marissa, Daddy is going to be here for four whole days this weekend. I should see if Mrs. Matthews will watch you one evening. Maybe Daddy and I can go on a date."
"Mmm, that sounds nice," Flint said.
"Speaking of sitters, a spot opened up at the Pentagon daycare center. Marissa can start on Monday."
"Are you still going to sign her up for that? I thought you love Mrs. Matthews?"
"I do. And I love the individual attention Marissa had been receiving, but I think it might be time for a new arrangement. Mrs. Matthews confessed to me last week that she's been postponing an elective surgery because of her commitment to Marissa and me. This will free her up to take care of it. Plus having Marissa at the Pentagon gives me the chance to spend more time with her during the day."
Flint didn't respond at first. Alison braced herself for the argument that was coming. She didn't realize she began to shake her head in annoyance until she noticed that Marissa too was frowning and shaking her head. Alison laughed.
"What's so funny?" Flint asked.
"It looks like we have a copycat here," Alison replied. To further test the theory, she stuck her tongue out at Marissa who mirrored her action again. She made a mental note to keep Marissa's new talent in mind, especially for the times she wanted to talk bad about her father.
"Alright, we'll talk about the daycare situation when I get there."
Alison sighed. Luckily, Marissa didn't repeat that action with a mouthful of food. "The daycare needs an answer by tomorrow, or they're going to give away her spot. Dash, we don't have to commit to them long-term, but I think we should at least try it out."
"Okay, fine. I'll have some time on Monday so I'll do a spot inspection"
Alison put the phone aside. She then brought her head close to Marissa's. "Dads can be so silly."
Marissa laughed showing she agreed with her comment. "What was that?" Flint asked.
"I said that she was being silly," Alison said as she winked at Marissa. She was truly enjoying every moment of the conversation with her husband and daughter.
"I'm going to let you go. I'll see you Friday. I'm flying commercial again, and I'm scheduled to land late afternoon."
"Sounds good. Let me know your itinerary and I'll pick you up after work." Alison said and she hung up the phone. She began to clean up Marissa. "Let me give you a piece of advice, baby girl. You're going to find out sooner or later that when it comes to boys, you can't live with them, and you can't live without them."
Alison walked out of the Pentagon daycare center Friday morning regretting the decision to change Marissa's childcare. After she had talked to Flint she had called Mrs. Matthews to let her know about the opening at the Pentagon. Mrs. Matthews was disappointed, but she also seemed a little relieved.
Alison had spent her lunch hour the following day completing the required paperwork to get Marissa enrolled at the daycare. They told Alison that the spot was immediately available, but she stayed with the plan to let Marissa finish out the week with Mrs. Matthews. Until she had learned that the sitter had a doctor's appointment early Friday morning. Normally, Mrs. Matthews would have taken Marissa with her, but Alison decided to give her a break, and start Marissa in the Pentagon daycare a workday earlier.
Marissa had seemed to know something was amiss from the moment she woke up that morning. She hadn't launched into a full-fledged cry, but she was extra cranky and whiny. Alison had hoped that once Marissa met the women who worked in the daycare, and saw the other children there, her mood would improve.
However, the opposite happened. Marissa let out a shriek as soon as they walked through the door. She clung to Alison as she tried to get her settled. Joann, one of the daycare attendants, tried to assure Alison that what Marissa was doing was completely normal. Even though she said that most kids went through a bout of separation anxiety on their first days, Alison still felt bad for subjecting her daughter to it.
Eventually, Marissa calmed down enough to allow Joann to hold her. Lisa, the second attendant, told Alison to begin to make her exit. The two walked to the door while Joann kept Marissa distracted.
"I can come by in a little while and check on her," Alison whispered.
"Actually, unless there is a problem we'd rather you didn't," Lisa replied. "Coming here might upset Marissa again, especially after she figures out she's not going back with you. Once she's used to the routine here you can visit at any time."
Alison reluctantly agreed and then snuck out the door. She felt horrible as she walked to her office. Beachhead was the first to greet her. "Rough morning?"
"No, just another bout of mom guilt. Today is Marissa's first day at the daycare on site here, and it didn't go well. Hopefully, it will get better, though."
Alison sighed as she took a seat at her desk. She debated calling Flint, but she wasn't in the mood for a round of 'I-Told-You-So's. Plus she hadn't told him that Marissa was starting daycare on site early. She had assumed that all would have gone smoothly and she would be able to give him a successful report when she picked him up from the airport later that afternoon. She forced herself to stop dwelling on the fact and turn her attention to her work.
She felt better an hour later when she figured enough time had passed to call the daycare to check on Marissa. She was happy to hear that Marissa hadn't had a repeat of her earlier tantrum, and seemed to be enjoying herself. She was relieved that the day may not be as bad as she had earlier feared.
However, a couple of hours after lunch, the day took a dire turn. The shaking of the building was the first indication that something drastic had happened. The alarms sounded a few seconds later, confirming that something was amiss. As the Joes went on alert, the room was plunged into darkness. A second, closer explosion then sounded.
Alison's first thoughts were for Marissa. She jumped to her feet. "Sir, Marissa is in the daycare, I have to get to her."
"Alison, I understand the concern. But you can't go running out there until we know what's going on. Start calling the different departments. We need to find out what sections was affected, and what happened. Maybe there was a catastrophic accident, but for the time being we need to assume we are under attack."
Despite every instinct in her body pushing for her to run to her daughter, her training forced her to follow Hawk's command. She hoped and prayed that the explosions were nowhere near the daycare and that it had a procedure in place to protect the children.
Her first six calls were futile, but then she finally got an answer in the Navy Submarine Reserves department. The petty officer explained that an explosion happened in the 300s section of the F-Ring. Shortly thereafter, shots were fired and a second explosion occurred farther down the ring from them. They hadn't seen any hostiles, but they could still hear shots ringing out.
Alison passed along the information to Hawk. She felt better when she realized the daycare was on the opposite side of the Pentagon from where the attack was happening. She forced herself to focus on the problem at hand. They had no hint of a brewing attack, so she wondered who was behind it.
The emergency lighting kicked in, which galvanized Hawk. "Grab your weapons, we're going out there."
Flint was in a deep doze in his seat on the airplane when the ding of a captain's announcement woke him up. He figured it was the standard 'we'll be landing soon' message so he tried to tune it out and go back to sleep. But he quickly realized there was nothing standard about it.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we've just received serious news. There is a reported attack on the Pentagon. At the moment details are few and far between, but what we do know is that they have closed the airspace around Reagan National. Current plans have us being diverted to Dulles, but this is a constantly changing situation. I thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. I will update you once I have more news."
Flint did what just about everyone on the plane did. He reached for his phone. His first call was to Alison, which could not be connected. Despite the fact that he was expecting that, it didn't calm his nerves any. He tried the other Joes stationed at the Pentagon, but he got the same result. His final call was to Joe HQ.
After Breaker answered, Flint asked for an update on the Pentagon. "Flint aren't you on a plane to DC?"
"I am. The captain just made an announcement about the attack and that we are being diverted. We're all hoping we get to land in Dulles. So what happened?"
"We don't have complete confirmation, but there seems to be a coordinated attack on the Pentagon. It looks like they used a massive amount of explosives in a truck to blow open a portion of the east wall, while a smaller truck bomb hit the North East wall. They then followed up with a ground attack."
"Who's they?" Flint asked. "Cobra?"
"We're working to confirm that, but we don't think so."
"Okay, thanks. Hopefully we'll be on the ground shortly, and I can get a firsthand look. I'll be in touch."
Flint hung up the phone just as the captain announced they were clear to land in Dulles. There were a few gasps from the passengers, as they were able to see a distant view of the smoke coming from the Pentagon. Flint leaned back in his seat and prayed that Alison was safe.
Alison and the other Joes kept weaving in and out of the myriad corridors, searching for the source of gunfire they sporadically heard. They turned down another hallway and ran into a group of American soldiers that were crouched behind an impromptu barricade out of office furniture. They made quick introductions, and Hawk asked for a status report.
"After the explosions, we ran down the hall and found this barricade. From what we can tell, there are about a dozen enemy contacts bunkered down on the other side. We've been waiting for a few more guns before we storm them."
"You've got them now. But let's not run into an ambush." Hawk answered. They cleared away enough of the furniture to take a closer look at the situation.
They were immediately hit with a barrage of gunshots. They returned fire and once the firefight died down, the remaining attackers raced down the hall. Hawk and the others chased after them, until Alison reached the corridor that led to the daycare. She looked down it, to see another group of soldiers heading towards them. Knowing that Hawk had more than enough men to take up the fight, she grabbed Beachhead's arm, who was the closest Joe to her. "I have to get to Marissa and make sure she's okay."
Beachhead looked at the team giving chase then back to her. "Let's go. I'm not letting you go off alone."
They stopped long enough to tell the approaching soldiers to follow after their team, and then they were off. At the next corridor intersection, they came across two soldiers who had been shot. One was less severely injured than the other, but he had stayed behind to wait for help. Beachhead looked from Alison to the two soldiers.
"Beachhead, get them the help they need. I have to get to Marissa, I'll be fine." Before he could protest, she continued on her quest.
The corridor was clear until she got to the next intersection. Shots rang out around the corner from where she was. Alison stopped and tiptoed towards the end of the hall. A bullet ricocheted off the wall, and hit her in her left shoulder. She bit her lip in pain. She backed away a couple of steps and carefully poked at the wound. She could feel the entrance hole in the front of her shoulder. She didn't feel one in the back. Any movement of her left arm sent a shockwave of pain through her system.
Despite the pain, Alison knew she had to get to Marissa. She looked down the hallway. The daycare was three doors down from the opposite end of the hallway intersection. She was not going to be deterred from reaching her goal. She again peaked down the adjoining corridor and saw no movement. She checked the other end, and it too was quiet. Hoping she wasn't making a fatal mistake, she raced across the intersection.
She made it to the other end without another shot being fired. Taking no time to reflect on her good luck, she raced to the daycare. She tried the handle, even though she knew it was going to be locked. Finding that to be true, she banged on the door. "Hello? Is anyone in there? This is Mrs. Alison Faireborn, and I want to pick up my daughter."
No one came to the door. Again, Alison was not surprised. She figured the daycare had a shelter-in-place plan. But she was not going to rest until she had her daughter in her arms. "Please let me in. I have my I.D. proving who I am."
Alison received no response. She again tried knocking and reciting her name, but no one came to the door. So she decided to try a different tactic. "I know you have rules for this situation, and I don't blame you for not opening this door. But I can prove my little girl is in there, and all I want is to get in there to hold her in my arms. Her name is Marissa. This is her first day of daycare here, and I'm sure she's terrified. She cried when I brought her this morning, and you know I didn't want to leave her, but I had to."
Alison rested her head on the door. "Marissa has a head full of curly brown hair, and blue-grey eyes that may be turning hazel. Unless she had a diaper blowout, she's wearing a pink Minnie Mouse long sleeve onesie, and dark grey leggings. I sent her in this morning with three bottles, and a mixture of rice cereal for lunch. You may have noticed that she loved the cereal."
The door slowly opened, and Alison saw half of Joanna's face covered in shadows peeking out. "This is going against protocol, but I figured only a mother would know those things. I know who you are, but let me see your ID and tell me your code word."
Alison did as was requested, and soon she had Marissa in her arms. Despite the pain in her shoulder, Alison hugged her as tight as she could. "You haven't seen any of the attackers?" Alison asked Joanna.
"No. We've heard the gunfire, but thank God it hasn't come here."
"Hopefully that continues. What's your plan?"
"To hunker down here until it's safe to evacuate."
Alison nodded. It was the best plan with a room full of infants and toddler. Now that she and Marissa were reunited, Alison was able to think more clearly about the attack. She hadn't gotten good looks at any of the hostiles, but they hadn't worn the telltale uniform of Cobra troopers. She again wondered how she and the rest of the intelligence department missed any hints of an attack. Maybe the Joes had some answers for her. At the very least, they might be able to give her news from the outside. "Do you have a working phone?"
Lisa shook her head. "No. We've been trying all afternoon. We want to get word to the emergency contacts that the kids are okay."
That was disappointing news. She wished she hadn't left her cell phone behind at her desk. It probably wouldn't have worked either, but it would have been another avenue to try. She then remembered that Flint had been flying in that afternoon. She figured he was worried sick. If he was anywhere in the vicinity he was probably moving heaven and earth trying to find her.
Flint was beside himself. He felt so helpless. The Pentagon was on lockdown. None of the guards was letting him on site, no matter how many credentials he had flashed them. He had briefly considered storming one of the entrances, but he knew that would only lead to him getting shot. Lacking any other plan, he had parked himself outside the visitor entrance closest to Alison's office and waited for word.
He asked everyone he saw exiting the building if they had seen any of the Joes. Finally, one Air Force Officer explained that he did see one of them escorting a couple of injured men. They were heading to the exit just to the south of them. Flint raced there and he caught sight of Beachhead helping a couple of injured soldiers out of the building. Despite the protests of the guards, Flint raced to his side. He helped support the severely injured man Beachhead was carrying. "Are there more injured inside?" Flint asked.
"I'm sure there are, but these are the only two I came across."
Flint and Beachhead brought the two men to one of the many ambulances parked outside of security. Once they were taken care of Flint asked, "Where are Alison and the other Joes?"
Beachhead shook his head. "I'm not sure. Alison and I left Hawk, Stalker and a team of soldiers that were chasing down the assailants. She insisted on trying to get to the daycare to get Marissa."
Flint's heart stopped. "Marissa? She's here too? She wasn't supposed to start until next week"
"I don't know what happened, but Alison said she was in the daycare today."
"So where are they now?"
"Once I found the two injured soldiers, she told me to get them to safety while she continued on. I haven't seen her since."
"Damn, it!" Flint said and he charged the security entrance again. He was not going to be denied going in. Beachhead joined his side, flashed his Pentagon badge, and after explaining who Flint was, he was finally gained access.
Most of the activity in the building had died down. They had no problem getting to the daycare, where once again Flint found himself at an impasse. The woman on the other side of the door refused them entry. But then he heard a familiar voice vouch for him, and the door opened. Flint grinned when he saw Alison standing there with Marissa in her arms.
He enveloped them both in a bear hug which earned an annoyed squawk from Marissa.
"Is she okay?" he asked once he finished kissing them both.
"She's fine. These women have done a great job of keeping them safe."
Flint looked around and realized there were a dozen children in the room. He looked at Beachhead and debated their options. "We're not going to be able to get them all out safely with just us. But I don't like the idea of being trapped in this room."
"I agree. Let's see if we can recruit some help."
Flint looked at Alison. He didn't want his family to separate again, but he knew Beachhead shouldn't go out on his own. She nodded. "We'll be okay. Get some help so we can get out of here."
It was easier than he expected. The halls were still quiet and they found a few men patrolling the hallways. After getting a status report that the activity in that area had died down, Flint recruited the men to help evacuate the daycare.
Once they returned, the adults divided the children up among them. Flint offered to take Marissa, but Alison declined. "It's better if you have both hands free. You can provide the cover we may need. Just help me strap her in."
Flint noticed that she was grimacing as she adjusted the sling and Marissa to her body. "Are you hurt?"
"I got a graze on the way over. It's not bad, though."
Flint doubted that was the case, but he knew the quicker he got everyone out, the quicker they could deal with her injury. Beachhead too had his hands free, and the two lead the group out of the building and toward the makeshift triage unit that had been set up.
Once they were safely away from the building, Flint turned towards Alison. She looked extremely pale and was swaying on her feet. "Dash, take her please," she said weakly.
Flint called for a medic as he pulled Marissa into her arms. Alison collapsed to the ground moments later.