DISCLAIMER: I do not own GI JOE, if I did Ripcord would have never been kissed by Scarlett and Baroness wouldn't have played Hard-To-Get with Destro. Also, Storm Shadow wouldn't have been dumped in the ocean. No money is being made from this so don't bother suing me, you won't get anything. I own nothing except the plot of this story and the word processor it was typed on. EVI-8419 is my own creation as I haven't been able to find an annoying robot sidekick anywhere in the JOEverse.

SUMMERY: They say revenge is a dish best served cold. Brothers separated by a lie, a lover struggles for her man's freedom and two soldiers search for answers before it's too late.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, special thanks to Totenkinder Madchen for her offer to beta this story for me. To JasonLeeScottFan; Yes I do plan on using more of the COBRA characters from the comics who didn't show up in the movie, I'm not sure how or where they will show up as of yet, but there will be more of them [hopefully soon because my muse will not shut up lol.]

69

After a refreshingly hot shower to scrub the unflattering stink of burned rubber out of her hair and rather happily burning the prison clothing she'd worn for so long, Anastasia DeCobray was dressed head to toe in her leather and Kevlar bodysuit, the small silver COBRA emblem her brother had created stitched over the left breast. She carefully applied a coat of dark red lipstick and her favorite pair of glasses before deeming herself presentable. She glanced into the ornate mirror that hung in the lavish bathroom of her quarters in the the sprawling Scottish castle which was currently serving as their base of operations, and smiled slyly. "Well boys, the Baroness is back in action."

Spinning on her heel she marched through the doors towards the large laboratory where James and the Commander were working on the next stage of Rex's brilliant plan for world conquest. She swiped her key card through the lock on the laboratory door and stepped inside as it slid open with a hiss. The femme fatal couldn't help but grin as she watched James and the Commander argue very loudly about something that they had apparently assumed the other would be taking care of.

"What kind of incompetent moron are you Destro?!" the Commander yelled loudly, slamming his fist into the control panel in front of him. "You failed to defend our arctic headquarters, you failed to create the necessary panic required from our first tactical strike using the nanites, and you failed to keep GI JOE from discovering how to shut down the warhead nanites!" At this point Anastasia was sure that her dear little brother was frothing at the mouth from rage. He still wore his skull-like respirator, but had pulled up the hood on his ankle length black coat up to cover the top of his scarred and bald head, it made him look far more intimidating than she ever thought he could before the bombing.

"My dear, Commander," Destro drawled, his shining silver head glinting under the bright florescent lights, "Perhaps you do not understand what exactly we have achieved from all of this." The Scotsman held up his hand as he began to tick off examples on his fingers, "We have finished our work on the nanomite warheads and have successfully tested them in a combat situation. Our assault on the Pit not only revealed it's location but also the various security systems including the JOEs response time when threatened. Our neo-vipers gathered a good deal of information from the Paris mission on the JOE team as well as the abilities of their Delta6 suits which will prove invaluable as a part of the B.A.T project. And our little chameleon in Washington DC has assured me that the next steps of our plan will follow the script to the letter, so to speak." Destro glanced at Baroness, "We also had a successful test of the M.A.S.S device, though the circumstances were not quite what we had been hoping for,"

"Hmm, perhaps." the Commander replied. He began to pace back and forth, hands grasped tightly behind his back in a manner that made it clear that he was deep in thought. Finally he stopped and turned his attention back to the other two, "Destro, how long will it take to retrieve the necessary components to have the M.A.S.S device back up and running again?"

Destro frowned and took a small hand held computer from the pocket of his coat and began to search through the files it held. "Our rather unexpected use of it took a hefty toll on the catalysts the machine requires to function, however our Arctic base had been located less than half a mile from the mine containing the radioactive crystals it requires and due to the amount of time we had remained hidden there we managed to retrieve enough of the material to last for several months at the very least. It is merely a matter of having the material transported here." He plugged the computer into the control panel the Commander had been beating in anger. Pressing a few of the controls he caused a large rotating hologram of the earth to appear floating in the middle of the laboratory. Using a small laser pointer, he highlighted two more areas on the globe. "The second element is here, in the Ring of Fire in South America. Unfortunately it is located in what is now a national park and will no doubt require a good deal of political maneuvering in order to retrieve it without drawing any unnecessary attention to ourselves." He moved to the next point on the floating map. "The third and most critical of the elements is located in a narrow fissure in the Laurentian Abyss. Unfortunately, the majority of our deep sea equipment was lost during the JOE attack, so we will be forced to either rely on some of my prototype androids, which remain as of yet, untested for such tasks," He glanced over at Baroness, "Or, we could steal the necessary equipment, which risks revealing more of our plan to the United Nations and NATO." The arms dealer shrugged. "Either way it is a risk."

"So we must go with the one which has the potential for less overall damage to our plans." the Commander finished. He sighed and continued his pacing. "Baroness," He said finally, turning to face his sister, "Use your connections to locate the necessary equipment for us, for now we shall use Destro's prototypes but I want to have our Plan B ready in case of failure. Destro, make whatever preparations you may need for your androids mission to the Abyss. We must have the other two substances as quickly as possible and as much as possible. When the time comes for us to make our move we must not leave any room for possible error. You are both dismissed." The Commander returned his attention to the computer monitor in front of him and began looking through the programming for his nanomites.

"Sir," one of the Neo Vipers entered the room and saluted sharply, "Doctor Mindbender has been successfully retrieved from the Switzerland hospital as you ordered and is being transported to this facility. He is expected within the next few hours."

"Excellent, make sure that he is brought to me as soon as he arrives." The Commander ordered without looking up from his work. "While you're there have a report sent to me on the status of the satellite, remind them that we are running on a very tight schedule, and I am ready to start cutbacks if the Rattler is not in orbit by the end of the week." The Neo Viper saluted again and left the laboratory silently, remaining in the same room as the Commander when he was working was never the best of ideas.

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Mainframe frowned as he worked on the analysis of the filaments that Doc had pulled out of Snake Eye's back the day before. Breaker had taken one look at the mass of micro circuitry and immediately passed it off him with a warning that Doc wanted it finished ASAP. He slumped back in his chair and ran a hand through his trimmed hair, these things were, well completely genius. As tiny as they were it was plainly obvious that they had either been surgically implanted or somehow grew inside of the commando's injury. Of course how they had gotten there in the first place was still a mystery.

He held up the magnified images of the nanomites that were found inside of Ana Lewis and compared them to the pictures of these new ones. They were similar, but these new machines were more refined than the ones that Ana had running through her bloodstream. They also seemed to have a different base programming, which was becoming increasingly difficult to determine. "Blaine my boy," he mumbled, "This one has got ya beat for sure." He snapped the cover on the petri dish and stretched. He'd grab a coffee from the canteen and get back to this after he'd taken a breather. He slid the dish further back on his desk so it wasn't in danger of being knocked off accidentally before walking past Dial Tone and Breaker on his way to the elevator, not bothering to shut off the lamp on his desk, he'd only be gone for a few minutes.

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Storm Shadow carefully eased the Skystriker onto the sand at what he hoped was within range of the GI JOE security alarms. He also hoped that they would be willing to talk before they tried to kill him. "Alright, lets go." he said to EVI-8419 who had already begun to remove the straps holding her into the gunner's seat of the aircraft. "And cross your fingers that they want to know how I'm alive instead of just shooting us."

"Master Storm Shadow, how does 'crossing my fingers' affect the odds of hostile actions against us by the enemy?" EVI asked in an almost curious tone of voice. "Or is this one of the figures of speech, you were informing me of during our trip?"

"It's a figure of speech EVI." The ninja sighed, pulling up the white face mask to filter out the dust threatening to choke him. He dropped a heavy duffel bag containing his swords, uniform and the heavy longbow and arrows that had made him so famous among his fellow Arashikage. "But when the JOEs come out here with guns pointed at us, drop to your knees and put your hands behind your head. More than likely, they'll shoot me first."

Sure enough, as soon as the words left his mouth they found themselves surrounded by six fully armed and very angry looking soldiers. EVI did as instructed, dropping to her knees with a metallic crunch against the sand and placed her hands behind her head. "Please do no shoot us. I have spent much time repairing my Master Storm Shadow and do not wish him damaged again so soon." Tommy glanced at his robotic partner and winced as he saw her hold up on hand her middle and index fingers crossed. "See? I have even crossed my fingers to lower the odds of your hostile actions."

The JOEs surrounding them looked at one another curiously their confusion evident. Storm Shadow took their hesitation to speak. "I have information that is vital to your work against James McCullen and his nanomites. Believe this if nothing else." He nodded at EVI. "The android has all of the files we were able to download from the Arctic base related to the nanomite project McCullen was working on."

A broad chested mustached JOE in a drill instructor's campaign hat stepped forward and yanked Storm Shadow's arms tightly behind his back. "Alright then," He said gruffly, fastening a pair of energy cuffs around his wrists before hauling him to his feet and shoving him towards the sand covered door leading to the elevator down to the Pit. The JOE who had arrested Storm Shadow glared at EVI. "You too robot girly."

"Please do not damage Master Storm Shadow." EVI said, climbing to her feet and picking up the duffel bag Tommy had dropped as well as the backpack of medical equipment she had brought along. "I have spent much time in repairing him."

"Yeah yeah you said so already." One of the other JOEs grumbled, "I don't see why we don't just shoot 'em both and be done with it."

"Because we're the good guys, and we ask questions before we start shooting." The big man shot back. "Besides, from what I hear, Doc is gonna want to have words with the robot girly, if she really has the information he," he prodded Storm Shadow's shoulder with the barrel of his AK-47, "says she's got."

69

Locked in a prison cell with the most literal minded individual on the face of the planet was not the sort of thing that anyone would enjoy. Unfortunately, his cell mate also was full of questions about absolutely everything she had seen in the GI JOE base that she had seen during their trip from the desert to the cell block nine levels down. EVI was currently seated on the floor of the cell, still dressed in her lab coat and glasses fiddling with a Rubix cube that one of the JOEs had given her in an attempt to get a bit of peace and quiet from her chattering. Tommy sat crossed legged on the flat bunk that was bolted to the wall, eyes closed as he tried to meditate and calm his mind for the face to face encounter that was bound to happen soon. He still wasn't entirely sure what he would do when faced with his old friend. An apology seemed the best way to go but it somehow felt shallow, how do you apologize for dishonoring your family name? For betraying someone who was closer than a brother and then spending the next several years trying to kill him. No, there was no apology that could mend that sort of broken bond.

"Master Storm Shadow, I still do not understand the point of this object? Am I supposed to create a pattern from the colored blocks?" EVI seemed to be glaring at the Rubix cube in frustration. She had created several interesting patterns out of the colors but still hadn't managed to solve the puzzle. "The guard told me that I needed to match the colors, but this is not working for none of these colors match together. Not how Lady Baroness told me colors were supposed to match."

"You need to move all the reds to one side, all the yellows to another side so on and so forth for all of the colors." Tommy replied. He had a few moments of silence before the android began smacking the puzzle on the floor in frustration. She reminded him for a moment of himself as a child, getting easily frustrated with a task he couldn't perform perfectly on his first try. It had taken a long time for him to become as patient as his brother. "Here give it to me." He ordered, opening his eyes and holding out a hand.

EVI placed the puzzle in his palm and watched fascinated as he spun the cube. "For someone who can perform microscopic neuro-surgery," he said with a wry grin, "you are one of the most impatient creatures I have ever met." After a few more spins with the cube he held it up, each side a solid color. "It takes practice to solve it EVI and this is the first time you've seen one." He twisted it again mixing up the colors. "Try again, but this time try to look at the larger picture, rather than the individual shifts of the puzzle."

EVI nodded and settled back to try the puzzle again, more slowly this time. Tommy grinned as he watched her, only to have his attention diverted by the JOEs commanding officer who rapped sharply on the bars of the cell with his cane to gain their attention. "Tomio Arashikage, I never thought you would ever be back in the Pit. I hear that you've brought vital information for us, so then lets hear it." General Hawk's eyes were cold as he watched the white ninja get to his feet

Tommy shook his head and moved closer to the bars of the cell., "Not me, EVI has all of McCullen's files downloaded into her processors." He pointed at the robot. "I came to deliver her safely as well as offer any assistance I could provide to your organization."

"Oh? Why the sudden change of heart? Last I saw you were eyes deep in McCullen's operation." Hawk replied grimly. "I don't like traitors, even when they come from the enemy's forces."

"Serving McCullen was a betrayal to myself." Tommy said, his tone bitter. "Serving as his errand boy was a betrayal to my clan, my name and myself. Now I must do all I can to regain my honor."

Both men had their attention diverted by someone clapping from behind Hawk. They looked over to see Snake Eyes standing there. He pulled up the bottom of his mask to reveal his scarred mouth, and his hands moved quickly as he mouthed words. Hawk frowned because he didn't recognize the sign language that the ninja was using, but Storm Shadow chuckled and replied in Japanese. Their conversation was brief but at the end, Snake Eyes pulled a set of polished dog tags from the pocket of his pants and held them out to the other ninja through the bars of the cell.

"I can't believe you actually kept those all these years." Storm Shadow told his brother in English. "Sumimasen, ototo. oyurishi kudasai.**"

Snake Eyes shook his head and offered the tags again, [You are my brother. There isn't anything for me to forgive.] He signed firmly, tugging down his mask as he did so.

Suddenly EVI spoke up, "Master Storm Shadow, I have solved the puzzle!" All three men looked down at the robot to see her hold out the Rubix cube. Tommy sighed while Snake shook with silent laughter. The android had pulled the cube apart and rebuilt it with the colors lined up as Tommy had showed her, holding the pieces together using what looked like stripped electrical wires. It was neat, and well done but painfully obvious that she really didn't have any idea what the point of a Rubix cube was.

"Yes EVI," Tommy said running a hand over his face tiredly. "You did exactly what I said to do." Even though that wasn't what I meant. Why do I even bother trying to explain things to her anyway? She'll never get the hang of it, he thought. Looking over at Hawk he continued, "My swords are yours General as is any information that EVI might have to offer, no strings attached."

Hawk thought about it for several minutes before nodding. "The enemy of my enemy as they say." he replied finally, "Lets have Mainframe take a look at whatever information you've brought us and see if we can do something about these nanomites once and for all."

EVI stared at Snake Eyes, her eyes glowing brightly as she stared at his abdomen injury through his shirt and inspected his torso carefully. "Master Storm Shadow, this one is damaged. Elevated temperature, and heart rate. His injuries appear to be infected with a virus and should be treated immediately before there is permanent damage." Her optics dimmed to their normal intensity as she looked back at Tommy. "This is a variation of the virus I purged from your own systems Master Storm Shadow, but I am unfamiliar with it's specifications."

Tommy turned his dark eyes onto the JOE general. "General, I think that your technicians should begin to review the information we have brought a quickly as possible."

General Hawk nodded and ran his own key-card through the lock on the cell door. "Agreed, lets get you three down to the infirmary. Doc's probably wondering where his patient of the month ran off too right about now."

Even under the mask Snake managed to look a bit shame faced, prompting a laugh from Hawk and Tommy. EVI simply tilted her head and stared at them. "Why would anyone be considered a 'patient of the month'? Is this more humor that I do not understand Master Storm Shadow? Could you please clarify this for me?"

This merely caused the three men to laugh even harder.

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** I am sorry brother, please forgive me. Japanese, translated using a very handy pocket dictionary. Forgive me if I got the grammar wrong, I don't speak more than a few phrases of Japanese, but if anyone else does feel free to correct me.

A/N: The plot bunnies have attacked my brain yet again resulting in one more chapter of HHNF for you all to enjoy. I offer cake to anyone who can name the JOE who arrested Storm Shadow and his robot sidekick, I made it pretty obvious I hope, XD. Please remember to review, they feed my hungry author soul. Until next time everyone!