Two new stories
Title: Acceptance
Fandom: G.I. Joe - Flint/Lady Jaye
Characters: Flint, Scarlett with mentions of a few others
Prompt: #97 - Bitter (Author's Choice)
Word Count: 1370
Rating: PG
Author's Notes: I wrote this shortly after I wrote the crack!fic, because I did see the legitimate possibility of a Flint and Scarlett conversation about the loss of a loved one. I meant to get this out before AE #8 came out, because I thought for sure it would make this little story AU, but it looks like it still holds mostly true. I haven't read the new comic but based on reviews this may not flow exactly with the events of that issue, but I don't think too many will hold that against me :)
Scarlett was alone in her room, and she was grateful for the silence. The other Joes had been stopping by to check on her ever since she was released from the infirmary. She appreciated their support, but all she wanted was time alone. Time alone with her thoughts and her tears.
However, time alone seemed to be an impossible goal. A short five minutes after she had politely thrown out the last visitor, there was another knock on the door. She sighed, tried to rein in her anger and walked to the door to answer it.
On the other side was the only Joe yet to visit her today, Flint. Despite her earlier annoyance, she smiled at him. She knew that if any Joe understood the pain she was feeling, it was him. She opened the door wider and invited him in.
“How are you holding up?” Flint asked.
“I don’t know,” Scarlett answered honestly. “I don’t know if I’m in shock or denial but I feel like this isn’t real. I keep expecting Snakes to come walking through the door at any moment.”
Flint nodded. “That’s normal. The feeling will fade after a while. Unfortunately, that is when the real grief starts.”
Scarlett swallowed against another wave of tears. Flint looked at her and gave her a sad smile. She was pretty sure that her eyes held a matching look of pain as his. He hesitated for a moment and then walked closer to her. He reached his arms out and pulled her into a hug. She allowed herself to let go for a few moments and she cried into his chest. Once the last of her choking sobs faded, she pulled away from him.
“Feel better?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No,” she said quietly.
“Supposedly that gets better with time. I can’t vouch for it, since it’s been over a year for me and I still feel like shit.”
“I know. I miss Lady Jaye all the time too.”
Flint stiffened when Scarlett said Lady Jaye’s name. He began to say something, but appeared to change his mind. Instead he went quiet for a few moments and then said, “I just want to let you know that if you ever want to talk…”
“Like all the talking has been therapeutic for you?”
Flint let out a bitter laugh. “That’s different. You know I’ve never been an ‘in touch with my emotions’ kid of guy.”
Scarlett nodded. She knew that’s what made this so hard for Flint. The only one he would have opened up to is the one he had lost.
Flint paused. “Scarlett, I mean it. Come find me if you ever want to talk.” He gave her shoulder a quick squeeze before he let himself out.
Scarlett stared at the door for a few minutes after he left. She was once again alone in her room, but this time it was less appealing.
A few weeks later…
Flint watched the reunion from a distance. He wanted to be happy for the couple, but all he felt was an envious burning in his gut. He had hoped and prayed for a similar scene to play out for him. Even though he had seen Alison’s body and knew that she was gone and not coming back, he still had hoped for the impossible.
He watched as Stalker and Roadblock walked over to the couple. Roadblock hugged Scarlett while Stalker first shook Snake-Eyes hand and then pulled him in for a hug. Flint sighed. He had intended to walk over with the others to welcome Snake-Eyes back, but he decided he couldn’t do it. He turned around and headed for Colton’s office.
An hour later Flint sat alone in his room, staring at the bottle in front of him. He had promised Alison a couple of months ago that he was going to stop drinking. He had poured out the liquid in his flask on the ground in front of her tombstone as proof of his intent. He had kept the promise, but now he was having a hard time justifying why he hadn’t earned a good stiff drink or two.
“I hope you’re not drinking that,” Scarlett said as she approached his chair.
“You have a habit of just walking into people’s rooms unannounced?” Flint asked as he spun around.
“I knocked, but I guess you didn’t hear me. But that wouldn’t surprise me if you were half in the bag.”
Flint stood up, grabbed the bottle and threw it back into the desk drawer. “I haven’t had a drink, yet. Do you want to smell my breath as proof?” When Scarlett didn’t answer, Flint continued. “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you and Bulletproof Boy be making up for lost time?”
“Snake-Eyes is in a debriefing with Colton. I assume it’s going to take a while. While I’m waiting I thought I would take you up on your offer to talk.”
Flint snorted. “Why do you want to talk? Snake-Eyes is alive and well, so isn’t it all good for you now?”
Scarlett walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder. “I thought you might want to talk,” she said softly.
Flint glared at her but then his look softened. He dropped his head and with a resigned sigh said, “I’m leaving the team.”
Scarlett looked genuinely shocked. “What? Why?”
“Isn’t it blatantly obvious why? I’m a liability. Everyone on this team has made a point of telling me that fact the last few months. I ignored them because I felt like I had a right to be here. But the last couple of days I have really questioned why I keep doing this. Right before Al died, I had wanted to retire. I still had that desire shortly after her death. Then at some point I had realized I didn’t know what else to do, so I had come back.
“Every time we go out on a mission, I wish that she was by my side. Or at least waiting for me back home. I know she’s not and that’s when I think that if I can only catch a bullet, the pain will be over. I don’t really care if I get myself killed. However, it’s only a matter of time before my actions gets someone else killed.
“Stalker and Colton will be glad to see me go. I’m not stupid, I know Colton wants me gone, but Stalker is vouching for me. That’s not his responsibility. I shouldn’t need a babysitter.”
Scarlett nodded. She hated to admit it, but everything he said was true. She had questioned why he had come back to the team. She believed that getting away from the Joes would be the best therapy for him. “Where are you going to go?”
“Back home. My parents are getting old, so I really should spend some time with them. I couldn’t do it after the funeral, but I believe I can now.”
“I think that’s a great idea. Does Colton know?”
Flint nodded. “Yes. I handed in my resignation shortly after Snake-Eyes got back. Colton tried to talk me out of it, but it was a half-hearted effort at best. I came back here, pulled out that bottle and was going to have a couple of celebratory drinks while I packed.”
Scarlett looked around the room. Flint didn’t have a lot to pack. Besides his clothes and toiletries, the only personal item was a single photo of him and Lady Jaye. “I can help you if you want.”
Flint shook his head. “No. You have bigger plans for tonight. Go see Snake-Eyes. I’ll be fine and I’ll give everyone a call once I get settled in Kansas.”
Scarlett nodded. Tears came to her eyes, and she hugged him. “You better, or I’ll come find you. Good luck, and I’ll miss you.”
Scarlett let go of him, and walked out of the room. Flint sighed and went to his desk. He reached into the still open drawer, pulled out the bottle and unscrewed the cap. “What the hell. It is a night to celebrate,” he said bitterly to the empty room before taking a long drink.
Title: Prologue
Fandom: G.I. Joe - Flint/Lady Jaye
Characters: Flint, Duke, mentions of Beach Head and Lady Jaye
Prompt: #40 -sight
Word Count: 758
Rating: PG
Author's Notes: I wrote this a while ago thinking that it could be the prologue of a longer fic. In the meantime that idea had gone by the wayside, but I still liked this little scene. It came about after a conversation with Calcitrix over the fic potential of the moment Flint and Lady Jaye discover their attraction to each other.
Flint stood on the viewing platform. He had a perfect line of sight to the training field. Beachhead was currently leading the Joes in a late afternoon drill. As Flint watched the various exercises Beachhead was forcing upon his fellow Joes, he smiled. Sometimes rank does have its privileges.
Hawk had asked Flint to keep an eye on the training sessions for a few days. Some of the Joes had made complaints about Beachhead’s methods, and Hawk wanted to make sure that Beachhead wasn’t abusing his position of drill instructor. So far Flint hadn’t seen anything bordering on abusive. The drills were tough, but they were supposed to be an elite fighting squad. They couldn’t keep that status if they slacked off on their training.
A flash of a green uniform caught Flint’s eye. His smile grew as he watched his often-partnered teammate Lady Jaye scale the wall in the corner of the field. She was up and over in a matter of seconds. However, as her feet hit the ground on the other side, Beachhead yelled out something Flint wasn’t able to catch. It was obviously negative based on the scowl on Lady Jaye’s face as she yelled something back at the drill instructor.
Flint’s mental list of glowing remarks of Beachhead disappeared quickly from his mind. He was irritated over the idea that Beachhead seemed to enjoy heckling Lady Jaye. Flint had noticed it also with Cover Girl and Scarlett during the morning training, but it didn’t affect him nearly as much.
He had become more protective of Lady Jaye the last few months. She had noticed, and was not all that appreciative of his extra attention. They had gotten into a major fight about it the last week. They had been alone on an undercover mission, and she had felt that he had ‘cramped her style’ by not allowing her to enter areas he had felt were too dangerous. When they had returned to base she had chewed him out and told him that if he couldn’t trust her in the field then it was time to find new partners.
He knew she had been right, but he couldn’t help his actions. It didn’t help matters that his feelings for her now extended past platonic teammates. He hadn’t yet acted on those feelings, because he knew it could be a disaster for themselves and the Joe team. However, it was getting harder and harder to keep himself in check. There were more frequent moments when he was with her and he was dying to reach out and pull her into his arms.
“Do we have a problem?”
The question made Flint jump. He turned and saw Duke standing behind him. “A problem?”
“I thought by the way you’re frowning, that we do have issues with Beachhead’s training,” Duke replied.
Flint shook his head. “Oh, no, it’s fine. He’s a little harder on the women than I think is necessary, but that’s the worst I saw.”
Duke nodded and walked to the edge of the platform. He looked down on the training field and watched the drill for a few moments. Lady Jaye came into sight again as she approached the wall a second time. Duke turned to face his XO. He cleared his throat and Flint braced himself for the lecture he was sure was coming. He knew his thoughts must have been written all over his face.
“Okay. Let me know if you see any other issues we need to talk to him about. Other than that, I think I need to sit down with the whiners and tell them what it means to be a Joe.” Duke clapped Flint on the back, and then turned to leave the platform.
Once Duke was down the ladder and out of sight, Flint let out the breath he was holding. Technically, he hadn’t done anything wrong, but Flint knew the trouble he would be in if Duke even had an inkling of the thoughts he was having earlier. I’ve got to get over this, he thought.
The workout ended, and the Joes began to walk off the field. Flint decided his shift was over as well, and descended the ladder to the ground below. He reached the bottom and began to walk to his office. However, a voice called out his name. He turned to see a grinning Lady Jaye running towards him. His breath caught in his chest and he couldn’t stop the lop-sided grin from forming on his face. I am in serious trouble.