It was useless, Scarlett decided. There was absolutely no way that there were going to get to wherever it was that they were headed without at least one causality. 'Or perhaps more then one', Scarlett thought dryly as she eyed the two Joes that were currently wrestling in the back of the coyote for Roadblock's music player. Deciding that getting involved wasn't worth losing a limb over, she just shook her head and went back to checking her E-mail.
"Tunnel Rat! Roadblock!-stop rocking the boat. We can't afford an accident." Duke snapped while glaring at the two in the rear-view mirror. "Is this where you threaten to turn the car around?" asked Tunnel Rat sarcastically, grudgingly handing Roadblock back his player. He grabbed and stashed it quickly while looking at Tunnel Rat suspiciously for giving up the fight so easily. "Yeah, Duke. Aren't you supposed to be swatting at us in the backseat with one hand while steering with the other all the while yelling 'Damn Kids!'", Roadblock chuckled.
Duke just sighed and checked the mirrors for the ninja that had been following, making sure that he saw him pull off to the side of the densely wooded road. Getting out and stretching, he remarked, "We should stop for a little while and get our bearings, and formulate our next plan of attack".
With a grumble, Tunnel Rat exited the coyote and with one glance at his surroundings hated it on sight. "What's with all the greenery? The only green I like to see is some nice New York City sewer mold."
"Nice mental image, T-Rat." Roadblock muttered fiddling underneath the coyotes hood. "It's nice getting back to nature. And besides, we really need to let this sexy beast rest for awhile; we've been running her non-stop for a few days." Slamming the hood and brushing his hands off, he went to go grab some grub for the group.
"So now what?" questioned Duke sitting and leaning against a tree, his eyes squinting as he spied Snake Eyes pulling over to where the group had situated themselves. "Scarlett? Anything new intel on COBRA's database?"
"No so far." Scarlett sighed. "I did hear a rumor of a top-secret plant running out of a small town near here, but that was mostly gossip as far as Breaker could tell."
"And Breaker would know gossip." Tunnel Rat broke in. "He's worse then a girl." As soon as the words came out of his mouth he gulped and glanced at Scarlett, hoping she hadn't noticed what he said. But she was too busy frowning at her data pad.
"I just got an E-mail from Elaina Schnurr." Scarlett informed the group. "She said that apparently her father became too much of a liability to COBRA and they 'terminated him'...," trailing off and looking at the pad hoping that she was reading it wrong. When it became apparent that she wasn't however, she exploded on the nearest tree, punching it as hard as she could.
Seeing the blood fly, Snake Eyes hurried over to her side and grabbed her hand, gently turning it in his so he could inspect the damage. Scarlett just shook her head and shoved past him into the forest. Moving to follow her, Snake Eyes stopped at the hand on his shoulder. Turning around to see Duke shaking his head he nodded slightly, and made his way back to the others who were grouped around the coyote.
Sparing a glance at the forest and heaving a sigh, Duke started back to the shocked group. She needed space to deal with things, and no matter how low on time they were running, he'd give it to her. She deserved that much from them.
Running blindly through the dense thicket Scarlett collapsed on the bank of a small brook, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. 'No, not him. Not another one. Please, no.' It was too much.
She could bear the weight. Of all that she had lost, and all that she had lost for her friends. But not someone's father. Not again. Scarlett buried her head in her hands and choked back a sob. She dealt with the guilt daily, so much so that it became a part of her. Knowing that she was at fault. That her friends were on the run, lives threatened daily. Snake Eyes' accident. Everything.
But this; this was too much. She had lied to Duke when she told him that COBRA wasn't just watching his family. That they were watching hers as well. But they weren't. They couldn't. 'You can't spy on a family that doesn't exist anymore', she thought bitterly. It had just been her and her father for as long as she could remember. And now that he was gone, it was just her. And most of the time she was okay with being alone. She wasn't thrilled with it, but it was a fact of life. Nobody needed her, and she needed no one. 'Except Snake Eyes', a traitorous voice whispered in the back of her mind.
Snake Eyes. For years they had been companions. First as sensei and student, then as teammates. And now as friends. Their bond was the only constant in her life. They knew each other so well that most of the time they communicated with just a touch. He wouldn't abandon her, as much as she sometimes wished that he would.
Ever since the accident that had cost Snake Eyes so much, she couldn't shake the feeling that he would be better off without her. 'And look what staying with you has that's gotten him', the voice whispered. 'You've given him nothing and cost him everything'. She felt tears welling in her eyes. She didn't cry, damn it. She got angry and vengeful, and maybe a little obsessive. But never weepy. She was disgusted with herself.
'If the other Joe's could only see me now,' she thought with a snort. They would be shocked. But it didn't matter, she could never let them see her like this. They needed to see her as the bitch. The person who got the job done. Who didn't have time for pesky things like feelings. But it affected her. Every time she caught Roadblock looking at the picture of his mother in his wallet. Every time Duke reached for the phone to call home, only to stop short when he realized what a phone call would do to their safety. Seeing a shadow pass over Tunnel Rat's eyes when discussing family. And every time she looked into Snake Eyes masked face, knowing what she had cost him.
So she let everyone see what she wanted them to. To pretend that all the losses-the families left behind, promising careers cut short, Ripcord; meant nothing to her. But all the pain and the loss did mean something. It had to. Because she needed them to. Otherwise there was no point. No point in trying to clear their names, trying to expose COBRA for what it was; no point in all the death and destruction. Because the pain was all that she had left. 'And how screwed up does that make me?', she thought with a sigh.
But Snake Eyes saw, damn him. He saw everything about her; whether she wanted him to or not. She wondered sometimes if he really knew how much it meant to her. She knew that she had to get back to the others soon, that they would be worried. But at the moment she couldn't muster up the will to care.
Absorbed as she was in her thoughts, she never heard the footsteps quietly approaching or the fist that suddenly slammed into her face.