G.I. JOE RENEGADES
Location: Harrisburg, PA.
Time: 10:32p
Mission: Uncover Cobra for what it truly is.

Set after episode 15 "Knockoffs"

Discalimer!:
I, RozBen, do not own G. I. Joe; all rights go to their proper owners.
I do not own Street Rat, A.K.A. Sarah. JCRazors allowed me to use her charater for my story.

Tunnel Rat stood on a grassy ledge. Behind him stood a tall and proud, large and immense, oak tree. Its limbs stretched, reaching for the sky, and its limbs were visible, twisted and knotted above and below the ground. Below was a bustling town, its streets swarmed with people and heavy traffic. The sky was clear and blue, vast and calm. The sun was slowly sinking down the sky.

The sunset was beautiful, light colors, the vibrant oranges, the highlighting pinks and bright yellows, slapped the darker ones until finally the darker ones, deep blues, violets and reds, chased the light down the horizon. As soon as the sun was no longer visible, the full moon began its rise in the night sky. The green grass swayed in the warm breeze. It smelled like apples and moist earth. The murmur of crickets replaced the chirping of hyper-active birds.

Leaning down, he grabbed some more firewood. His arms were stacked with it, but a few more twigs wouldn't hurt. Moving quietly through the brush and trees, he stopped in the tree line just off the side to his camp. His head was still pounding from when that idiot drove them off the road and knocked him out.

Duke was talking with Scarlet as they set up camp. They cleared away larger rocks and set up the burn pit. Roadblock was pulling out sleeping bags and some food for dinner. The ninja was off on that red motorcycle of Rat thought back to earlier today. If Roadblock hadn't told them that junk about himself, they would have attacked one another. Maybe he was right, maybe they needed to know more about one another. 'But what am I going to tell them?' he wondered as he made his way out of the trees, heading towards camp. His head ached in a dull throb.

Dropping the logs and twigs, he groaned as he stretched up. "This should last us a while." He dug into his pockets and pulled out dried leaves and a lighter. Crouching, he set the leaves on fire and dropped them into the pit.
"What's with the leaves?" asked Scarlet.
"It's an accelerant. Plus, its easier to catch fire than wood, city gal." Duke replied as he hefted a rock, placing it was a barrier around the fire.
"Oh." Tunnel Rat fed the fire smaller twigs and sticks, until he was able to put larger logs in. Soon the fire was ablaze, crackling and hissing, giving off a warm glow of orange and heat. He moved back as flames caught more wood.
"Alright! I was thinking a stew with potatoes and corn. What do you think?" asked Roadblock.
"Sure." smiled Duke as he plopped down on his sleeping bag. Scarlet nodded as she sat on the stairs of the coyote.

Scarlet, who sat by Roadblock, said "Damn, that sounds good. Get it started! I'm starved!" Snorting in amusement Roadblock shook his head.
"How about it T-Rat? That good with you?" he asked, turning. But all he saw was Nicky walking away from camp with an empty basket. "Yo Tunnel Rat!"
"Do whatever!" With that, Tunnel Rat was out of his line of sight.
"Tunnel Rat! Nicky!" Duke shouted, standing. Looking back at the others, all he got was worried looks. Turning, he ran where he saw Tunnel Rat go in at.

Immediately, he was tripped up by some brush and roots. Scrambling up, he saw movement just up ahead. "Tunnel Rat?" It stopped.
"Duke?" He moved forward a few feet and was caught off guard when Nicky appeared on his right. There had been no sound indicating he had moved. "Uh, Duke? Why're you trailing me? I didn't go far."
"Well, you just left camp." Duke looked up and around.
"I was going to grab some plants I found. They're multi-purpose." Tunnel Rat motioned for Duke to fallow. After a few quiet moments, they came to the ledge Nicky had been at earlier. A rope was tied around the tree's base, hanging off the edge, a basket next to it.
"And you weren't going to tell anyone you were hanging from a cliff?" exclaimed Duke. Tunnel Rat tied himself to the rope and snatched the basket.
"Does it look like I was going to? Seriously, Duke." With that, he climbed down the side.

The bank was steep, rocky and full of trees. It was dizzying high. Feeling a bit queasy, Duke crouched. "You don't have any fears, do you?"
"Depends on why you're asking." Nick dug through the brush and vines, pulling some plants he saw. Dumping them into the basket that was set on his lap, he continued to work steadily.
"What's that suppose to mean?" asked Duke, unsure weather or not to feel offended. He watched the city below, not wanting to think what would happen if that rope were to give…stop it! He scolded himself.

Tunnel Rat's vision blurred slightly. 'Well, that's not good.' His hands stopped momentarily. Grabbing the rest of what he came there for, he began climbing up.

Sitting by Duke, his legs hung off the edge. "Well, there a whole lot a reasons you'd want to know that." He pulled off a few small leaves and a purple petal. He munched on them. It'd clear his head.
"Well, I'm curious. You've jumped from a moving car, you've jumped off a building into a lake over fifty feet below, you've crawled through so many shafts and underground tunnels….And today! You grabbed onto that moving truck's door and hung on as it sped up and swerved all around. You ran from a helicopter. A fucking helicopter! You're fearless, it seems."
"Bein' fearless is bein' stupid. Don't forget that." Tunnel Rat hauled himself to his feet, his head feeling a lot better.
"Okay, so, if you're not fearless, what are you?"
"I never said I wasn't." Tunnel Rat led the way back through the trees.
"You're being evasive, Private." Duke said darkly.
"No, I'm not. You're just makin' assumptions. I never said I was or wasn't fearless. I just said that bein' fearless is bein' stupid."

They made it to camp in a tense silence. Duke made for his sleeping bag as Nicky dropped the plants off in the truck."What's wrong?" asked Scarlet, slightly annoyed, knowing something had happened.
"Nothing." he muttered, sinking against a log.
"Hey, guys. I was thinkin'. That thing that Cobra made-the one that could make anyone look like anybody? We don't have anything to…well, what are we goin' ta do about it?" asked Tunnel Rat as Roadblock stirred the stew.
"Simple. They may have our looks, but they don't got our memories." Roadblock answered as Tunnel Rat sat on a log next to him.
"I have to admit, the what the big guy makes sense." Scarlet put her hand-held away.
"So, what? We're goin' to have a big share fest?" asked Tunnel Rat skeptically.
"Uh, yeah. I mean, why not?" asked Duke.
"No offence, but I couldn't care what size your shoe is Duke." Nicky smirked.
"Har har. For that, you can go first." Duke said with a smug smile.
"Okay…..I was born in Africa, my actual name is Derive and I'm an illegal."
"Tunnel Rat….!" Roadblock groaned.
"Jeeze, guys. Cool it." he replied as he received dark looks. "Alright. Alright already!" Tunnel Rat rolled his eyes, sitting onto the ground and leaned back onto the log."I was born in Brooklyn and grew up there, in the same neighborhood in the same house. My mother is a psychotic woman and I have an older, over protective brother, whom you have met. I lived on the bad side of town. It cleared up in the last few years. I was caught with meth when I was about ten. I ran away from home a lot after that." Tunnel Rat leaned back a bit further, his hands laced behind his head. He ignored the looks he got. "I hid in the sewers for weeks, exploring and scavenging. I found the sewer system to be an excellent escape rout when I was about eight." He shut up after that, watching their reactions.

"Wait. Wait. Wait. You were busted for meth? When you were ten?" Duke looked surprise, shocked even.
"Yeah…?" unsure where this was going, Nicky answered defensively. "But I was just a carrier. I never touched that shit Duke."
"A carrier?" asked Scarlet, confused.
"Yes." he sighed exasperated, "Meaning, I got paid twenty bucks to carry a small backpack from one area a town to the other and hand it off. One day, I got busted by a cop who I thought was the drop off."
"You knew it was meth?" asked Duke angrily.
"No. You think I'm a idiot? If I had known, I wouldn't have done it. My mom was always harassin' me 'bout that shit."
"So why run away from home?" asked Scarlet.
"Hey, why all the questions?" he sat up abruptly. "I never agreed to tell you guys anything. How about you red? What's your story?" he turned on her.

"Well. I am the daughter of a wealthy general. My mother died when I was around four. I was home school and thrusted into the military Intel desk job by my father. I wanted on the front lines, but he wouldn't allow it. I trained with Snake Eyes for about three years. And that's pretty much it." She explained.
"Ha. I could have said pretty much the same thing. Father died before I met him, went to a nice public school and yadda yadda yadda. But this stuff is all in our files, Red. Give us some dirt." Tunnel Rat said quietly, staring into the flames of the fire.
"Well, I ran away once. Returned the next day." Duke gave her a strange look. "Well, sorry to disappoint! But I had a very controlling father. Nothing got past him."
"Controlling. Always charming." Tunnel Rat muttered.
"He was just worried….my mom was killed and he didn't want anything to happen to me."
"Killed? As in murdered?" Tunnel Rat asked the question no one else was willing to. He asked it gently.
"Yes. She was shot at a meeting." Red's eyes glistened slightly. "Duke. Your turn."

Roadblock continued stirring the stew. Steam began to whisp up. He was glad that they were opening up to one another, but this wasn't what he expected. He had expected a laughing thing, ya know? Telling funny stories. Here, they were emptying out their closets. But he understood. Most of the stuff they've done is in their files.

"Well. Not much to tell. I come from a small town. I have a little brother and my parents. I blew out my knee in my senior year during a football game and lost my scholarship. I joined the army a few months after Flint." Tunnel Rat rolled his eyes.
"Again, all on the files."
"Well. I hung out with a bunch of cops after their shifts and we'd all share a drink. I blew up the garage; a science experiment gone horribly wrong."
"Booze? Man, how old were you?" asked Roadblock.
"It started around when I was fifteen. My mom found out and flipped shit."
"You made your garage into a flaming inferno? I'll have to tell my brother that I'm not the only one whose done that." laughed Tunnel Rat.

"Alright, guys. Its ready." Roadblock said, handing out bowls.

"Okay, so we know about your shoe size, your cousin and you sang in choir. What else?" asked Duke, hoping it'd be somthing fun.
"Well, I grew up in a close knit family. But my cousin and I were always at each others' throats over one thing or another. I grew up living with my grandparents because my parents died in a car crash when I was eight. The worst thing I have ever done was take home an alligator and tried to flush it down the toilet."
"No way!" Duke laughed. Tunnel Rat tried to laugh while he was eating. It didn't work so well, he choked on his food. But when it was down he laughed. Red tried to stifle her laughter.
"How'd that work out for ya?" asked Nicky Lee.
"Backed up the entire pipe system!" he collapsed into laughter with the rest of them.

They spoke for another hour or so, exchanging funny stories and sad ones. The only one who didn't talk much was Tunnel Rat. He watched the flames flicker and dance. Everyone notcied at one point or another, and tried to draw him into the conversation, never saying aloud that he wasn't.

The fire slowly died down, turning into nothing but embers because nobody fed it. The night buzzed quietly around them. Animals scurried around, owls hooted and bats screeched in the distance. Cool breezes wafted from the north, brining the smell of decaying leaves. All in all, it was a creep fest.

Nicky Lee was the only one still awake. He had volunteered to take first watch. Not able to keep still, he walked around the camp silently, completely in tune with the music around him. Roadblock snored loudly, turning in his sleep. His foot twitched a bit. Tunnel Rat shuttered, not really wanting to know what he was moaning in his sleep. Scarlet had snuggled closer to Duke and vise vera. Scarlet was quiet, barely moving. Duke would toss one way and a few minutes later, he'd toss another way. Nicky knew that his shift was soon over, but he wasn't tired yet. He looked into the night sky, seeing the stars twinkle. A falling star scorched across the inky black sky.

"This is gonna be a long night." he muttered.