I got a little inspiration to continue writing this after reading Malakia's Love in All Forms. It's a modification of an earlier draft that my dad and I came up with, but with a few twists in it. Since I know I'm gonna make mistakes on this with the bottled up knowledge that I have, please send me a PM about what I can fix.

Quick warning: I do like to change POV's. It's easier to get angles that way. Okay now on to the Disclaimer.

Hasbro owns G. I. Joe, end of story. However, Frost and this Beta team are all me.

Chapter 1

Home Base, something I thought I wasn't going to be able to see in a while. My team and I finally touched down at Joe H.Q., the Black Hawk making dust fly everywhere as it hovered over the USS Flagg. I was tired and just wanted to crash in my room when we finally touched down, but I guess the leader had other plans for us since we were all awake. Looking at the strawberry blonde woman, I could see that she was about to give us the usual lecture about performance, teamwork, and of course working with the other teams. I sighed and put my chin in my hand, listening to her talk then found my mind wondering. I wondered how the other Joes were doing, how much longer Cobra would try to penetrate out defenses and kill us, how it seemed that Team Beta was spending more time in the field with Team Alpha, how broad Snake Eyes' s shoulders were... And that was when I felt a twisty book smack me square in the face.

"Frost, get your head out of the clouds and listen to what I'm saying!"

I groaned and rubbed my nose, looking at Dreamsycle with a "Sorry" look which she didn't buy. She went back to the speech until the chopper touched down. Once the door opened, I watched as Magician was the first out as always. I knew he hated flying, but chopper rides weren't that bad... unless there was a lot of turbulence. I giggled as the E-6 as he got on the ground. The rest of the Beta Team, including myself, were off the chopper and back into the Flagg ready for a debriefing and a nap. At least I was at this point.

Orchid, my best friend who joined the Joes a year after I did, looked my direction, noticing that I had probably spaced out again which I sadly do on a daily basis unless in a fight. I felt her tap my shoulder and I could see Hawk walking to us and we saluted to him.

"At ease." We relaxed and put ourselves in position. "I want a report in the hold and be sure to be detailed, Dreamsycle. Dismissed."

I relaxed and smiled. As one of the youngest Joes, it was interesting to be able to interact with all of the superior officers. I had one that I definitely had in my mind, but I was too shy to actually hold a conversation with him, if I could anyway. Orchid and I went to the room we shared and found our mail from a few weeks ago. Orchid moved her dirty blonde hair out of her eyes and shook her head.

"Long missions are a bitch, aren't they?" she asked turning her dark green eyes on me.

"You're telling me. I really could use a shower." I looked at her before she said anything. "First dibs."

Orchid laughed. "Not fair, Frost. You always get first dibs."

I rolled my eyes. We walked in and turned on the light to find a regular two person room with my side rather plain save the mandatory vases of flowers that I arrange to keep the room smelling fresh even if we're gone. Orchid's side was a mirror of mine since she couldn't exactly keep it how she wanted it. After placing everything inside, I went straight for the shower. Orchid hated that I always called first dibs, but there were things that remained sacred. Cleanliness was one of them.

After about half an hour, I came out feeling better. Orchid was on her bed sorting through her mail when she looked in my direction with a smile. I blinked with a questionable gaze since I normally didn't get the devious look unless we were around the Alpha team and even then I didn't understand why she'd given it to me.

"You smell like roses and water lilies. Someone going out?"

I raised an eyebrow as I toweled my hair and looked at her in the mirror. With all the dirt gone, my natural tanned complexion didn't seem so dark and the frizz fest was about to begin. Pulling out a scrunchy, I pulled the mess into a tail and turned around.

"Nope. I'm going to go to the weapons dock and do an upgrade. You know how Dream is about being up-to-date."

Orchid laughed and tossed a package at me. "From your little brother in Iraq. He said you'd like it. At least that's what the writing on the front said."

I put the parcel with the rest of my untouched mail and left the room, a tank top and a pair of training sweats all I wore since it was still a little hot. I could guess that Sweetcheeks, Magician, and Dreamsycle were talking to General Hawk about the mission since I didn't hear them around. I looked and saw other Joes getting ready for missions, training new recruits, and some just hanging out. I winced when I heard a thwack of a training beater hit one of the newbies and remembered how that felt. Not the best sensation in the world, mind you.

"Frost! Hey girl, how's tricks?"

I recognized Ripcord's voice automatically and groaned. The one person that annoyed me more than Orchid when I was trying to work. I looked at the older African American and faked a smile adding a bit of the trademark chill in it to show my irritation.

"I'm fine. I'm about to head to weapons so I can do a diagnostic of damages."

He blinked when he saw and heard the little bit of ice that was added and shivered. I smiled and waved good-bye so I could go and do what I needed to do. I could hear my stomach protesting me going straight to work, but I would rather eat late than work late. Force of habit.

Please please please don't let anyone else bump into me! I seriously don't want to deal with people. I thought as I walked to my destination.

Sadly, the sound of a sword cutting air made me stop and I looked over the railing of where I was to see Snake Eyes training. The black clad ninja was training on some of the holographic simulations and I hate to say it but he would give Orchid a run for her money if she ever went up against him. Then again, she openly said that he would kick her ass if she even thought about sparring against him. Leaning on the railing, I watched him go through his usual session with the grace that most men lacked.

I admired Snake Eyes and somewhat envied Scarlett for being his apprentice, but hey that's life, right? I chuckled to myself after watching him sheath his sword and continued to walk away. Finally, I made it to the weapons dock and started working. I was not about to hear it from "Mama Dreamsycle" as I sometimes called her that I didn't do my job.

Snake Eyes knew that he was being watched. When he turned his attention to see who it was for a swift second, he let a small smile cross his unseen features as he noticed it was the weapons tech from the Beta Team. He admitted to himself that it surprised him she had only been in the Joes a year now and still looked like someone fresh out of college. There was something about the woman that told him she didn't take her work lightly, but as he had seen she didn't slack off either. While most would try to at least try to relax a little after a mission, she would be in the weapons hanger working on her teams' modifications and specs. The only time she took a break was to eat.

Hearing someone coming up to him after a good 45 minute meditation period, Snake turned to see Sweetcheeks walking to him with a water bottle and a towel. It looked like she had just finished her exercises as well seeing as her face was flushed and she was wiping it. But the smile was different.

"Hey Snake. Hate to bother you, but have you seen Frost?"

He nodded and gestured to the weapons hanger which in turn made Sweet sigh. Under the mask, Snake Eyes lifted an eyebrow out of curiosity.

"That girl... I swear she never quits. Thanks Snake Eyes."

"What's the matter with her working?" he signed out, watching the red head's eyes shift to his hands as she tried to get what he was "saying".

"We just got back. I understand that we need to stay with the modifications, but I swear that girl needs to go to sleep." The woman ruffled her hair a little bit, trying to think. "Ah, I'll get her in the morning. P.T. and all that. I can't wait to get my hands on her and build that physique up."

Snake Eyes cocked his head to one side, thinking about how the Specialist looked at the moment. In his opinion she looked fine, but with the way Sweetcheeks was talking it was like she looked anorexic. Seeing that Sweet was now in her own little world, and probably wasn't going to understand what he said if she was still in that daze she liked to slip into, he pulled out the little pad of paper he kept on him and wrote something down. He then tapped it to Sweet's shoulder making her jump and look at it.

"Just don't break her in too hard. She is still new to all this."

Sweet couldn't help the coy smile that mixed in with her sly gaze. Snake felt like she was pulling away layers of his wall that normally hid his emotions. "Someone growing soft after all these years?" She laughed at how stiff he suddenly got. It was so out of character for him. "Don't worry, Snake. I'm just going to put her in shape is all. I promise I won't kill her."

Sweet then walked off to go to her showers. When Snake turned his attention back to the weapons hanger, he saw that Frost was back on the rails with what looked like a bottled liquid. It was too far to see what it was, but she seemed to be taking a break from whatever she had been doing. He noticed her turn a little and spot him. She seemed to smile a little and wave. He waved back awkwardly and decided that it was time for him to go to his room.

Huh, for a moment it looked like Snake Eyes actually waved back. I smiled and finished my tea that I managed to get off of Heavy Duty (when one manages to get their hands on that man's tea, they enjoy it) and decided to get back to work. However, that wasn't going to happen. Cover Girl had appeared out of nowhere and blocked my way back to the hold. Oh boy.

"There you are. Sweet told me you would be up here. What are you doing?"

"Work?" It came out more of a question than a statement.

"Well, I think that we should let the mind relax for a little bit or Hawk's gonna make you take leave again. We don't need you getting sick on us."

I groaned. Leave was the most annoying thing in the world to me since I couldn't work. That and the fact that Sweetcheeks was always on my tail about staying in bed to actually relax... Moving my bangs out of my face, I met the woman's baby blue eyes with a hint of annoyance but kept it subtle since she was superior to me.

"Okay. I understand. Besides, I was getting hungry anyway."

"That's the girl. Now how about we head to mess and see what's there." Cover Girl then pinched my cheek in that annoying way she knew only she could get away with. "I don't want my little rugrat getting any thinner."

"Ha ha, you're funny." I moved her hand but smiled. I didn't mind that she was aggravating the hell out of me. It was nice to talk to someone in the Joes, even if it was an officer who outranked you.

Come to think about it, there are a lot of things that are Joe related that remind me of a family. We all stick together and understand that even though we're going to be facing hardship, we have each other's backs. But with the recent activities, one tends to wonder and worry, but hey, we're Joes. Danger is kinda part of the gig, right? Where there's Cobra, there's danger. Where there's danger, there's G.. Fact of life. However, I shook the thoughts this time 'round and walked to the mess where my team was waiting to jump me in a way that caused laughter to erupt from the Joses present. It was times like these where I told myself, Nothing -not even that- can tear me away from a family like this.