Internal Monologue
by Catwings1026
Disclaimer: G.I. Joe and all associated characters and concepts are property of Hasbro Inc. and IDW comics. I'm just one of a large family of fans who likes telling family stories – no profit needed, no profit earned.
Continuity: IDW's G.I. Joe Ongoing, set between Cobra Commandissues 10 and 12.
Dial Tone didn't expect the voice from behind her. It stopped her midway through a kata, and she wobbled on one foot before putting the second down for balance.
"Hey..." Not chipper. Not cheery. Hesitant, as if she knew she was butting in, but asking anyway. Scarlett stood in the doorway, dressed for workout, towel over her shoulder.
Oh, crap...
DT didn't usually get much company at the times she picked for tai chi - right at the start of the dinner rush, when most everyone else is either at the mess hall or on duty.
I like it that way... quiet. Just me and the mat. No corny would-be Asian flute music... no distraction from the guys working the weights or the punching bag. Just mat, mirror, and me.
Dial Tone's daily dose of of alone time.
Only today, she wasn't alone.
"Hey, Red." Not my favorite Joe under most circumstances, and I'm not exactly hers... not since Hawk had me ferret out her little secret op with Snake Eyes back-when. Working together, we can do. Pair of lifers, professional soldiers, not a problem. Otherwise, we pretty much avoid each other. Not hard to do. We don't exactly move in the same social circles, Red and me.
And these days... well...
"Mind if I join you?"
Um... yes? WAY yes? Beyond a doubt, total affirmative, no question about it, YES?
"Be my guest. It's a big gym." Wimp. Well, maybe she'll go and kick the stuffing out of a punching bag...
"I meant..." The redhead gestured at the mat. "It's been awhile since I've had a chance to slow it down. But I don't want to intrude."
Oh, great. Lovely. Sure, why not?
Smile, Dee. Be hospitable. She outranks you.
"Sure. Plenty of room for one more."
Scarlett draped her towel over a rail, slid out of her shoes, moved to the mat. Then... she waited. Dial Tone blinked, nonplussed, regarding her. Scarlett, however, did not seem at all put out.
What, you need another invitation? Besides the one you pretty much gave yourself?
"I'm joining you," she said at last, when the silence was moving beyond merely uncomfortable. "Your choice of form."
Oh.
"Yangjia Michuan Taijiquan," Did that sound as pretentious as it felt? At least I didn't trip all over the words. "I was about halfway through the second duan."
Scarlett nodded, facing the mirror, setting her feet shoulder-width apart, shrugging first one shoulder, then the other, as if working out last-minute kinks. "You lead."
Of COURSE she knows it.
Of COURSE she'll be able to pick it up the second I start.
And I'm gonna feel like a hippo at the ballet next to her, just watch.
Well, nothing you can do about it now, girl. So... breathe. Center yourself. You can do this...
They stepped into the duan in one fluid movement, slowing each gesture, slowing every breath, stepping out of time. Dial Tone sighed, closing her eyes for a moment... the katas, so much a part of her, soothed her, the rhythm and the control unlocking muscles she'd tightened when Scarlett entered the room. Silence gathered around them. The only sounds were the whisper of feet on mat, the gentle rustle of fabric as they stretched and turned, bent and pulled back in perfect slow-motion tandem.
She wasn't distracted, she found, by the movement of her companion in her peripheral vision... Scarlett had, of course, stepped into the duan without hesitation, her movements speaking of one who had years of familiarity with the form, but her every gesture, every breath, came in time with Dial Tone's.
I so wish I could hate her. It would make things easier.
Make me feel better, anyway.
What was that old makeup commercial? "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful?"
Feh. It's not that.
It's... what? Is it just that Mains is crazy about her?
She wanted to grimace, but held it in. She could still hear him whining about how he didn't stand a chance with Scarlett... not with guys like Duke and Snake Eyes as direct competition.
Know how you feel, bro.
You boys outnumber us three to one on base, and even then nobody looks twice at me.
Not that I want them to... seriously. What do I need with a pretty boy like Duke, or a head case like the ninja? Let Scarlett have 'em.
Though what she sees in Snake Eyes, I've got NO idea.
If they were friends, she could ask. Girl talk. Woman to woman. But...
We're not friends. Not gonna be friends. We've got about as much in common as you and her, Mains. The amazon queen and the fobbit. I'm not playing sidekick just to get some late night chats in.
Besides, the only late night chats that matter... are with you.
Sitting up after everyone else turns in, watching some stupid old sci fi movie, nitpicking it to pieces - "If it doesn't work... it's PHYSICS!"
Laughing our butts off at The Big Bang Theory.
Arguing about whether WWF really belonged on SyFy. You nearly stopped speaking to me over that one.
Acting out The Princess Bride sword fight scenes along with the movie.
"My name is Inigo Montoya... you keeled my father. Prepare to die." Mandy Patenkin got nothing on you, Mains. And that time Snakes walked in on us? I didn't know that guy COULD laugh... and then Shareware comes in, and wants to know what the hell we did to the ninja on the floor... and we're trying to explain, only we can't stop laughing, either... priceless.
And you know, if that was all we ever had... that would be enough for me.
If you weren't head over heels for Scarlett.
...
I don't WANT not to like her.
She's likeable... dammit.
She's decent to everyone. Doesn't act like rank means a damned thing. If you need her, she's got your back. When she needs something, she asks – doesn't order.
Of course, she can probably eat whatever she wants and burn it off in one workout, while I look at food and bloat... stupid metabolism.
Makes you want to sit on her chest and force-feed her Twinkies or chocolate or something. Maybe she'd break out.
...
But Twinkies probably violate the Geneva Convention.
...
They finished the second duan, slipped into the third, moving as though they'd practiced together for years.
She risked a glance at the mirror, at her companion.
Good god, she's got her eyes CLOSED. Show off. Who does she think she's impressing – me?
Not gonna happen, Red.
Moments stretched out, the timelessness of the exercise creating something like a temporal bubble around the mat. Then, as they were sinking down from a slow-motion kick, Scarlett suddenly grunted, then sat hard and gracelessly on the mat, hands pressed around her left calf, wincing.
What the...?
"Cramp. Stupid cramp. Ow." Scarlett was rubbing furiously at the muscle, but her cheeks were living up to her name.
"Know how THAT feels." The words were out before she could think not to say them, drawing a grateful glance from Scarlett. Awkwardly, she patted the other woman's shoulder, rising, then glanced down and prodded the taut muscle again.
I've felt more give from a bunker wall... ow.
"Dang, Red, are you always this tense? No wonder you cramped."
A genuine eye-roll. Stupid question, Dee... we've got a nuclear-armed Cobra with its own homeland now, pretty much every active Joe still on the ground over there, including Mr. Ninja, who, from all reports we've gotten from Foxtrot, has taken off on his own private op again.
And, Scarlett being Scarlett, she won't unwind one bit until we've got boots back on our own tarmac... every single one of them. Big red mama hen.
"You need more tai chi, girl."
What, we're gonna do that chit-chat thing now? Put a sock in it already, Dee... maybe she'll go away.
"Tell me about it." The voice was tired beyond measure, and shook just a tiny bit. "After we get all this wrapped up, maybe. Was that an invitation?"
Um. NO. It wasn't. Definitely not.
Don't look at me like that, Red... like we're gonna be pals now. A little tai chi and one muscle cramp do not make for girltime bonding experiences.
"Yeah... sure, if you want."
Gahhh... can you dope-slap yourself upside the head? Come ON, Dee... this is YOUR time.
"Thanks, DT. Might take you up on it sometime." The half-smile was tinged with something... the green eyes that glanced up at her seeming to echo some other place, some other time.
Like she doesn't expect to have the chance. Like she'll show up, and I won't be here – or she'll ask, and I'll "be busy." Know how THAT feels, too... but not since high school, at least. Benefit of being a geek and an introvert... you don't particularly care if your social calendar's a blank.
"I'm not going anywhere." Okay, now, look up at the clock. Yeah, like that. "Oh, my, lookathetime... is it really that late?" As if that would fool anyone."Except for now... mess'll be closing up soon. But some other time... maybe... Mains usually knows where to find me, if I'm not here."
You're babbling, Dee. Gonna take a backhoe to dig you out of this, you keep going.
"Is there anything that guy doesn't know?" A half-chuckle, but then a gaze turned on Dial Tone that was speculative, lips pursing a bit, betraying the silent thoughts behind them. "Other than what he ought to, that is." She turned, moving off the mat. Retrieving her towel, she glanced over her shoulder. "Thanks for the company."
Dang. Nothing like salt in the paper cut, huh?
If this was one of those After-School Specials, now would be when you offer to walk her to the mess hall, maybe share one of those Very Special Moments, and suddenly, everyone's BFFs.
Like it's MY fault she's... what... lonely?
Like it's MY problem?
Since when did YOU become the freakin' MWR* department, Dee?
Since when did you start wondering, "What would Mains do right about now?"
::sigh::
"Listen, Red... if you want..."
But by the time she had turned, Scarlett had already gone.
-00-
*Morale, Welfare, & Recreation – the military's department in charge of keeping emotional balance among troops and families. Every base has an MWR department, in charge of such varied things as a base movie theater, bringing concerts to a base venue, hosting fairs, running day camps for military kids, keeping a youth center open and staffed, scheduling support groups for wives of deployed servicemen, and general activities that remind active-duty personnel that there IS life outside of their unit.