Don't own at all.

Chapter 2

Even with the new addition, life went on at the PIT. Sure there were some changes, for example, the med bay storage area, the armoury, all Spirit's shaman stuff and anywhere the ninjas kept their sharp and pointy objects were kept under lock and key. Any weapons that were left out had to be five feet off the floor, out of reach of Bloom's grabby hands when she starts walking. Beach Head and Cover Girl had been correct when he said the rest of the male population as well as the female population on base would be smitten with Bloom. Flint, Lady Jaye, Cover Girl, Beach Head, Scarlet and Duke had to move into... closer quarters. The girls didn't mind as much, it took Beach Head and Flint to get used to the new set up. There were also no complaints about the newest addition, the thing was Bloom hardly cried at night or when she was teething for that matter. The six of them remember how that conversation with Lifeline went over;

Lifeline: I'm no dentist but she seems to be teething normally. Why are you guys so concerned?

Flint: She hardly cries for one. Had she not bitten my finger, I wouldn't have known she was teething.

Lifeline: Okay, that is a bit... odd.

Scarlet: Is that normal? The lack of crying I mean?

Lifeline: It is a bit unusual but then again, there are some babies that aren't as fussy as the others.

Lady Jaye: Could she be autistic due to the lack of crying?

Lifeline:It's a bit to early to tell to be honest. I don't think she is though, it's a bit to early to really be sure.

Bloom wasn't autistic, soon she was talking and walking like any other toddler. When ever one set of her parents went on a mission, one of the other two sets would look after her. Sometimes Lifeline would look after her if he wasn't busy. Bloom liked Lifeline a lot. After her parents, Lifeline was her favourite person on base, Hawk coming in a close second, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow competing for third. Soon, she was walking, running and talking. Beach Head had to learn to regulate his swearing after Bloom had accidentally told Flint to fuck off. Flint was not pleased and had yelled at Beach Head for half an hour using several swear words until Duke came in to yell at them to shut up. They did, until they heard Bloom repeating the curses they had uttered, the ladies who had heard all of that were not pleased to say the least. They told them under no uncertain terms that if they ever said those things again until Bloom was thirteen, certain mouths would be washed out with soap. When Bloom started going to school, she was told to do the very best she could. And she listened to that and like Beach Head, she studied hard, always turned her homework in on time and pretty soon she was top of her class. Every time someone asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, Bloom would always say:

- "A doctor like my uncle or a soldier like my parents."

When she got older, she would tell people that she wanted to be an army doctor, she defended her choice by saying:

- "Doctors help people when they are sick, soldiers help people when they are in danger. Soldiers protect people against threats, doctors protect people against illness. I don't see much of a difference."

She had decided that she wanted to be a doctor at around four years old and soldier around five years old. To keep herself form getting confused over who was who in her family, she called Duke and Scarlet mother and father, Beach Head and Cover Girl mom and dad and she called Flint and Lady Jaye mummy and daddy. Everyone else was called aunt or uncle depending on gender. Halloweens were always interesting. The first year she was allowed to go trick or treating, she went as Storm Shadow. The man was flattered to say the least. Duke thought that they had corrupted her. The conversation they had about that went something like this:

Duke: I swear we've corrupted her.

Scarlet: How so Duke?

Duke: Do you know what she wants to go as? Or more precisely who?

Beach Head: No idea Duke. Do humour us and tell us who.

Duke: Storm Shadow. She wants to go as Storm Shadow.

Cover Girl: And what's wrong with that?

Flint: Don't really little girls like to go as animals or princesses?

Lady Jaye: True. Should I ask how she said it?

Duke: We were in the dojo, the ninjas had just finished practice. She had been watching them practice, I ask her what she wanted to be for Halloween. She points at Storm Shadow and says: Him. Everything just ground to a halt. The only thing out of my mouth is: What? Bloom, still pointing at him says: I wanna go as uncle Storm Shadow for Halloween. I swear guys the man was blushing. Jinx, Kamakura and Snake Eyes were laughing their heads off.

So, four year old Bloom, went out as Storm Shadow for her first Halloween. Storm Shadow had to admit that the likeness was pretty impressive. She even had the three rectangles drawn onto her arm and a fake katana. She had a fake one because A) her parents weren't going to let her near a real one until they started her weapons training and B) they doubted she could lift the real thing. She went as Snake Eyes the next year. Her parents found out about it because the ninja in question signed at her parents:

*Your daughter wants to go as me for Halloween this year.*

Scarlet and the rest of the base thought it was funny. Snake Eyes, like Storm Shadow the year before was quite flattered. The very next year, to Beach Head and Flint's dismay a betting pool was set up as to who Bloom would dress up as that year. All proceeds went to the person that she had dressed up as. Neither of them were sure who started it, they suspected that it was either Shipwreck or Ace, they weren't sure. She went as Lifeline that year. The medic in question, won enough money to repaint the infirmary. To everyone's shock, the seven year old went as Bellatrix Lestrange that year. The next year, she went as Sherlock Holmes. Beach Head, thought it was hilarious. His daughter was going as the worlds only consulting detective, not what he was expecting her to do. She reused the pipe the year after when she went as general Patton. What with the hair tucked away under the cap, the sunglasses, the pipe, the look on her face and the outfit, one could swear she looked like him aside the red hair. Even Hawk had to admit it, the resemblance was uncanny. At ten, she went out as Mulan. She wore the blue dress from the ending of the movie, using washout spray-on hair die, she died her hair black, passed the medallion she was found with as the one the emperor gave her character and had a real sword. Only no on knew it was the real thing aside her, her parents and the provider of the sword (Storm Shadow). Bloom was smart enough to bring her fake sword to school. She pranked the entire base into thinking she wanted to go as Cobra commander when she was eleven. It had been Storm Shadow and William's idea. She then calmed them down by saying the she was joking and wanted to go as Katniss Everdeen. She went as Black Widow the year after. For kicks, she went as the white witch Jadis the year after. She had been grinning like a loon when she announced who she was dressing up as. Still feeling Ice Queeny, she went as Elsa next year. 14 was the year she discovered Game of Thrones and wanted to go as a Daenerys Targaryen. That was also the year she discovered that fact that she was an excellent artist and had a passion for dragons. At fifteen she went out as General Leia Organa. Training Bloom was fun. She liked watching the ninjas train in the dojo. Storm Shadow was the one who made the offer to train her. The conversation looked something like this:

Storm Shadow: I want to train your daughter.

Scarlet: What?

Storm Shadow: I want to train your daughter as in teach her how to fight.

Scarlet: I got that Storm. What made you want to make the offer?

Storm Shadow: Well, when she's not with you guys or Lifeline, she's down at the dojo watching us train. She seems to like there as much as she likes hanging around the med bay.

Scarlet: I don't know Storm.

Storm Shadow: When are you guys going to start her training anyway?

Scarlet: Well... we were planing on starting it soon. We just haven't really...

Storm Shadow: Though about it? Talked about it? Scarlet, you and the others aren't always on base. Neither am I for that matter but I have a replacement when I'm not. I'm offering to train her myself, that way, you won't have to worry about her having gaps in her training.

Scarlet: I'll talk it over with the others. If it were just me, I'd say yes. Thanks for the offer.

Fortunately, the conversation was positive and Storm Shadow was given permission to train her. At 5 years old, she was learning how to fight and how to defend herself. She learned very quickly, training wiped her out but she enjoyed it. She didn't start any form of weapons training until she was ten but she was able to identify most weapons that were on base by ten years old. Just because she couldn't use them didn't mean she couldn't know how to ID them. At fifteen, Cover Girl decided to teach her to drive and not just a car. Cover Girl tried to teach Bloom how to drive the Mauler. Lets just say, Bloom accidentally shot it and almost blew up Clutch. Hawk was not amused, Beach Head bemoaned the fact that she missed the womanizing mechanic. Clutch had another reason to avoid the redhead, a near death experience will do that to a person. Hawk made it quite clear that Bloom wasn't allowed in or behind the controls of any of the tanks until she was 18. Her room was a sight to behold, Bloom was given her own room at 9 when she was confident enough to sleep on her own. It was pretty bare at first but by the time she was sixteen, it had looked very different. The walls were painted in cyan blue and there were a pair of orange Chinese dragons that made the tour of the room going in opposite directions. The walls were also covered in posters but not the posters a typical teenager would put up. Most of them were army recruitment posters, two of them for Ranger school, a few of them were for the Red Cross, the RAMC and Doctors Without Borders. There were also multiple pictures of her in Halloween costumes or with her parents. She had a couple of pictures of her and her sensei Storm Shadow. There was also a "Things I have learned from Doctor Who" poster by her bed. She also had a ton of her dragon drawings hanging from the walls. Small dragons, large dragons, fire dragons, water dragons, ice dragons, lightning dragons, Chinese dragons, English dragons and Daenerys Targaryen on dragon back. That last one had taken over a week to complete. When she discovered her skill as an artist and her passion for drawing dragons, most of her drawings began to pop up everywhere. No one was really sure where they came from, at first. The first one was discovered when Ace slipped on one and nearly broke his neck. The members of the PIT were scratching their heads in an attempt to figure out where the drawings came from. It was Jinx who figured it out. By using the ear that sees technique, she found out who the artist of the drawings were. She was mildly surprised to find out that the artist was Bloom. The disgussion went something like this:

Jinx: You know, you're a pretty good artist.

Bloom: Thanks Jinx.

Jinx: For example, your dragon drawings are pretty spectacular.

Bloom: You got me. I'm the one who's been drawing them.

Jinx: You know, you've had most of the base scratching their heads over who drew them.

Bloom: Seriously?

Jinx: Yeah, I had to apply the ear that sees technique to figure it out. Has Storm Shadow taught you that yet?

Bloom: No, sensei hasn't taught me yet. I hope I didn't cause to much trouble with my sketches.

Jinx: You didn't, I have been hearing some pretty positive reviews about them. Just don't leave them out, they can blow off what ever they're resting on. Ace nearly broke his neck when we found your first drawing because he slipped on it.

Bloom: HA! Oops.

That incident earned Bloom her code name: Dragon. Beach Head said that because the name Daenerys would be a bit difficult to pronounce. Her love of dragons influenced the name as well. Life was the same at the PIT. Having a teen aged member didn't change a thing, Bloom wasn't allowed to go on missions unless she was recruited for team. Not that she minded much. Everything was normal, at least until Bloom, coming back from her walk, her hair a mess, her jeans ripped, powder burns on her fingers and a blonde girl about her age draped over her shoulders in a fireman's carry.

And that is that for now. Sorry about the cliffhanger, I needed a bit of dramatic suspense. Next time: Bloom has her first encounter with the magical dimension. Knut, the hunting troll and the ghouls are going to be in for a rough day. I hope you all enjoyed. Counting Shadows, out.