Chapter 7:

Snake Eyes transferred?? What's going on! He gets more of an explanation, and we see how he does in a non-Joe unit. Very short chapter, but more coming quickly. Sorry for the cliffie, but I gotta stop it somewhere!

A special 'thank you' goes out to "Rutga" and "Comix28" for their constructive criticism. Despite my really disliking the modified format, when I write using the base idea of the newer style, I like it better. When I modify written stuff, it comes off as stilted, but writing it originally taking the advice, it flows better. Thank them for helping me write better, which should be a goal of all writers!

Readers allowed, but reviewers adored! As always, thank you for reading!

* * * *

General Forsyth's office:

"I know this must not be much of a shock to you." The still stunned commando was waved to a seat in front of a ornate desk. "I'm General Forsyth, and I'll be your new commanding officer. You've already met Lieutenant Gance. He'll be your top, if you have any problems you can take them to him."

Snake Eyes signed hesitantly, wondering if it would do any good. The snide voice sounded up from behind him.

"He's a mute Sir, I guess he'll have to write a lot of notes.. that's gonna be a pain."

The General gave a mild glare at that, but to the officer, not to the ninja. Then he signed clumsily but clearly. *I can sign a little*

Snake Eyes signed back quickly. *What did I do? Why am I transferred, can I talk to General Hawk, was there a mistake*

Forsyth waved at him. "Slow it down soldier. I can't follow that fast. I can guess though what you want to know. You have to realize that your... hmm.. your record of irregular behavior and multiple cases of going AWOL, your... ahem... independent nature let's say.. has been a bit of a thorn to your commanding officer." Snake Eyes knew nothing of the sort.. yes he'd had a few things.. but nothing that sounded so bad. "He's been under a bit of extra stress lately, with some of the highest generals riding him about the people considered troublemakers.. and you are one of the ones singled out. Now.. he'd been trying his best, but there's a limit to every man's patience you know." The stout General stood and clasped his hands behind his back. "I agreed to take you on, and if... if, mind you, if you can manage to keep a clean record, no black marks, for a while... perhaps I could convince him to give you a second shot at the Joe program. But.. I'm taking on a risk, because you can imagine that most people would have simply drummed you out of the service and been done with it. So I'm counting on you to do well here."

It was one blow after another to the commando. He lifted his hands but couldn't think of what to ask. Finally he signed simply. *How long*

That got him a deep mournful sigh from the sympathetic officer. "Oh... well.. I imagine six months to size you up, get some good clean records on proper behavior, send you on a few by-the-book missions that go straight and narrow.. maybe then we can get a good evaluation. Maybe that will get Hawk to at least consider a possibility of a return.. but I wouldn't get your hopes up too much. He was... peeved, let's use the term peeved." Crushed, Snake Eyes sat without responding. "So I'll let you go get settled in, I'm sure that Lt Gance will help you get settled in. I'll meet with you in one week to see if you're ready for an assignment.

Standing automatically to salute, Snake Eyes followed the scowling officer who led him out of the admin section and to the barracks. He was assigned a bunk in a room of ten, given a footlocker of greens, and had the general area outlined.

Lt Gance scowled at him, obviously certain he'd been saddled unfairly with the troublemaker. "Stay out of trouble, and report at 0500 with everyone else. And.. take off that mask, we're not going to have compromised security." Snake Eyes stood still, shocked. When Gance reached up and snatched it off, he jerked back too late. "Holy crap.. no wonder you cover that wreck up." He had the mask tossed back and caught it automatically. "Wear it until you get a balaclava instead. That'll cover up most of that mess."

Slipping his regular mask back over his head, Snake Eyes gathered up a set of fatigues, and headed for the showers, getting cleaned up and stopping to get a head covering as ordered. Looking in the mirror, he tugged the edges of the ski mask up to cover as much as possible. Nearly his only insecurity was his scarring, he'd never thought of it as a security risk to cover his face. Most of the Joes would never mention it, and even newbies had caught hell if they tried to make snappy insults about it. The regular fatigues felt odd and shabby. He kept only his boots and dog tags. The rest went into the bin. Between the sliced cloth and the bloodstains and dirt, they wouldn't have been salvageable anyway. He held his regular mask for a moment before stowing it in the footlocker. His swords and sidearm were carried around until he located the armory. The private in charge of it gave him hell, even after he wrote out a note explaining that he was newly assigned and would clean the weapons himself. Grudgingly given supplies, he settled in a corner and worked to quickly clean and check the swords, rubbing gun oil generously over the shining blades. Setting them aside, he disassembled the handgun, scrubbing dirt and grime out of the various bits.

"What is that?!" Before the grunt could grab it, Snake Eyes scooped up his sword, placing it to the side. "Hey!! I'm the armorer today, you give that to me!" He shook his head. That served to make the Private more angry and he pushed past to grab it anyway. Annoyed at the rudeness, Snake Eyes plucked it back out of his hand, and pointed a finger at him. The hard blue eyes surrounded by scar tissue served to make the young guy back off. Muttering under his breath, he returned to his chair at the front counter.

Snake Eyes settled back in, finishing the cleaning and placing the gun into the proper place and tagging it as done. He signed the clipboard as he left, and carried the blades back to his bunk, tucking both under his mattress for safe keeping. Then it was checking his throwing stars, wiping them clean, and sharpening the edges where needed. He wondered if he'd be able to requisition more when he ran out, then wondered if he'd even get to use any. The shurikens were one of his favorite throwing weapons.. but what would they even have him doing? Finishing the cleaning, he stowed those away as well and decided since he wasn't due anywhere officially until the next morning, he stretched out in the bunk and sighed, attempting to sleep. He dared not think about Scarlett... the idea that he'd be separated from her for good was too much for him to contemplate. What about his apprentices? Were they also ashamed of him? His exhaustion caught up with him finally, and he slept.

End Chapter 7

Well... Life sort of sucks for our erstwhile ninja. Will it get better as he settles in and meets his new teammates? What do you think? Like, dislike, want? I'll try to have the next chapter up soon, but I'm told I'm spoiling my readers! Ha ha! Do you think I'm spoiling you? Or are you tired of this storyline already?

Remember I write for myself, so I won't beg for reviews, but I do love them anyway! They are sprinkles on ice cream! Thanks for reading!