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Disclaimer: Characters in this work (GI Joe/ Cobra) are the property of Marvel Comics, Hasbro
and Devil's Due Publishing, Inc. , and are being used without permission. No profit is gained from the use of these characters.

All for fun and games.....




Calling Collect
By Nickelina

Duke sat up straight in his bed, as always when he heard his phone ring in the middle of the night. He switched on his night table lamp and checked his watch; it was two A.M. He knew this couldn't be good news. It never is when the phone rings in the middle of the night. He thought of a hundred things that this phone call could bring. It could be anything from a security breach at the pentagon to a all out attack from COBRA. Of course, this had to happen while he had a few precious days off.

He picked the phone up on its third ring. "Hello?"

"You have a collect call from Lady Jaye, will you accept the charges?" The operator on the line spoke in a monotone voice.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Duke hollered into the phone.

"Will you accept?"

"Yes, I will." Duke didn't wait for the operator to leave the line before he began his interrogation. "How did you get this number?"

"Is that really important right now?" Jaye's voice was slightly slurred.

"I asked you a question."

Jaye hesitated before answering him. "I have connections."

"What do you need, Lady Jaye?"

"I need a favor."

"What kind of favor do you need at two in the morning?"

"A ride would be nice."

"Call a cab." Duke hung up the phone.

He couldn't believe what had just happened. Lady Jaye calling him after having one too many and asking that he pick her up. Some of the people in this unit would never cease to amaze him. He turned off his light and lay back down on his pillow. He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. How did Lady Jaye get his private number? Would she be calling him if she was in trouble? Why would she be calling him for a favor? He shrugged off all of the questions and turned on his side. The phone began to ring again. He reached over and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?"

"You have a collect call from Lady Jaye, will you accept the charges?"

Duke sighed, "Yes."

This time, it was Jaye who didn't wait for the operator. "I can't call a cab! I don't have any more money. Please, please. Pick me up."

"Why?"

"I, umm," she paused, "I lost the car."


**


Duke slowed the car down when he got near the intersection where Jaye said she would be waiting. He couldn't see her, but he did see a small crowd of partygoers milling around outside of the bar. He pulled along the side the curb and shut off the ignition. It wasn't long before he spotted a woman with Jaye's description wearing a bright green plastic derby hat and a string of shamrock shaped beads around her neck walking out of a nearby parking lot. Duke rolled down his window and waved her over. She waved back to him and began to walk across the street without looking. Duke caught his breath as a passing car almost hit her.

Jaye stood in the middle of the road and flipped the car off, while she screamed a few of her best obscenities at it.

"Get in this car before you get yourself killed!" Duke yelled to her.

Lady Jaye ran to the passenger side of the car, opened the door and jumped in. "Those damn College kids, they never watch where they're going." She looked over at Duke as she bucked her seat belt. "Happy St. Patrick's Day! Thank you so much. You're such a good person for doing this."

Duke simply huffed at her. As he pulled away from the curb, he couldn't help but notice that the painted shamrock on her face was smeared. "Your shamrock is coming off."

"Is it?" Jaye flipped down the passenger side mirror and wiped it, smearing green paint all over the side of her face. "Look at it now. Is it better?" She laughed.

"No, it just looks shitty now. Where do I need to drop you off?" Duke looked over his shoulder before changing lanes.

"Oh yeah, about that. We have to pick up the guys first."

"What guys?"


"Ace, Ripcord, Flint," She paused. "And Shipwreck should be around here, somewhere. I just wish I could remember where I parked the car."

Duke pulled the car over. "Just what the hell is going on here?"

"Do you want the whole story from the beginning?"

"That would be a good start."

Jaye reclined the seat just a little bit. Her head was starting to spin. "Well it started this afternoon."


**


A small group of the Joe team had met in Washington, D.C. to spend St. Patrick's Day together. Ace, Ripcord and Shipwreck had traveled there and joined Flint and Lady Jaye, who were already in the Capitol for the week. The plan was to meet up for drinks then see the annual parade, and more drinks afterwards. A nice, relaxing day off for a group of people who at the time were a bit overworked.

Prior to leaving the hotel, the group got together to pull straws for the designated driver. This time Ripcord pulled the small straw. With the ride home secured, the group made their way to the parade route, stopping at a nearby bar for starters. Drinks in hand, they stepped out to the curb to watch the parade go by.

The five grew quiet as the police squad bag pipers marched by. Each one of them had their own reasons why the sound of the music affected them. Lady Jaye pretended to wipe a tear from her eye, while Ace saluted them as they passed. They were soon broken out of their melancholy when the next car with a popular radio disc jockey in it began throwing candy into the crowd. The five, ran into the street, trying to collect as much as they could. With their treasures in hand, they walked back to the bar they had been at to replenish their drinks.

Flint grabbed a table near the back and Lady Jaye went to fetch a pitcher of beer. Most of the afternoon passed as they chatted, and told stories of their childhoods and their best times in the military. Ripcord broke the bad news that there was no longer free beer at that establishment, so they decided to go to another bar about a block away. Much to their surprise, the very bag pipe band that they had seen in the parade was there giving an impromptu concert. Before any of the m knew it, all of them were well on their way down the path of inebriation. The place was beginning to fill up and while Flint, Ace and Ripcord stayed in the front of the bar, Shipwreck and Lady Jaye migrated to the back bar, where the police squad was. The two of them, after chatting briefly with a few of the officers, wanted to off to the next bar with the squad, seeing as they were having a great time in their company. Jaye went to the front bar to get the keys from Ripcord.

"Where are you going?" Ripcord asked.

"For a little drive." Lady Jaye mimicked steering a car.


"Are you ok to drive?" Ripcord asked her. I'm not sure if I am." He was concerned, but he had a smile on his face.

"I'm doing better than you are. Besides, I'm going just right down the street."

Ripcord handed her the keys, and raised his glass of beer to her. "Drive safely."

"As always." Jaye mock saluted him and walked to Flint's bar stool to let him know she was leaving.

"I'll be back."

"Flint put his glass down and swallowed what was already in his mouth. "Leaving already?"

"No, I'm just..."

"You're leaving with all those men."

Jaye leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Well, they are wearing kilts."

Jaye and Shipwreck made their way to the next bar, driving as carefully as they could, so no one would suspect that they had been out all day. Once they made it to their destination, they realized that they were a bit further away than they expected. Jaye parked the car on a side street, taking only her identification and what money she needed, and the two walked to the establishment where the band they were following had walked into. This bar was not up to Shipwreck's standards and he suggested they go around the corner to the gentlemen's club he had seen when they were parking the car. Lady Jaye declined his offer and made her way to the phone booth to give the other boys a ring to let them know just what was happening. She was able to get through to Ace, and told him where she was, and asked if they could catch a cab to her. Jaye wasn't sure if he completely understood what she was talking about; he seemed to laugh at everything she said. She waited for them, and found herself at the bar, talking with an older gentleman, who had spent time in the service. Before she knew it the time had flown past, and her friends were no where insight. She bid farewell to her drinking partner and took a walk down the street to find the rest of the guys. She popped her head into a few bars and didn't find them. Jaye thought she spotted Shipwreck and walked down a side street to get to him. She lost him in a crowd of rowdy college kids, and got pushed around a bit.

Jaye walked back to where she thought the car was parked, but is was not there. She was running into trouble now. When she checked her pocket for the keys, she realized that her money was now gone as well. Stuck in a neighborhood she didn't know very well without a way out or money, she had to call someone for assistance. There was only one person who was in the city who could help her out. She walked over to a phone booth and made a collect call, hoping that the person on the other line would accept her call.


**


"So I called you."

"Jaye, I just can't believe all this coming from you of all people. I thought you were responsible?"

"Yeah, well, I slipped. It happens." Jaye rubbed her temples. Her head was pounding.

"Do you have any idea where you started out today?" Duke turned the car onto a main fairway.

"It was by a park," Jaye laughed. "I'm never drinking like this again."

She looked out her window and saw three men standing near a police car. "Stop!"

Duke slowed down, but didn't stop. "Did you find them?"

"I think so."

Duke pulled back around the block pulling up a few feet behind the police car. She directed Lady Jaye to stay in the car while he rounded up the rest of the guys. He hoped that they weren't already in trouble, and that is why the police were there. After only a few minutes they all waked back to the car. Ace Ripcord and Flint got into the back, and it wasn't long before all three started in on Lady Jaye for leaving them. She let them all have their say until she heard that they were trying to file a missing persons report with the police. She promptly told them all to be quiet.

Duke drove them back to their hotel and walked them inside to make sure they all got in alright. The elevator doors opened and they were greeted by a rather upset Shipwreck.

"Just leave me out at the bar, is that how it is?"

"I'm sorry." Jaye gave Shipwreck a reassuring hug. "It wasn't on purpose. How did you get here?" She whispered in his ear, "I had to call Duke to get us."

"I got kicked out and walked back."

"Tell us all tomorrow." Duke intervened. "I think you all need to get some sleep."

"Hey Duke," Jaye walked over to him before he got back into the elevator. "Thanks again."

"Good night Lady Jaye." Duke patted her on the shoulder.

"We do this every year. Maybe next time..."

"Next time, I'm not taking the collect call."