GI Joe/Marvel universe crossover.

I don't own Marvel or Hasbro.

Silence

Chapter 9: Reconciliation

Time: 06:30 Zulu, Wednesday; 10:30 local time, Wednesday
Location: GI Joe Pit

General Clayton Abernathy silently waited for his two immediate subordinates to show up. Several concerns were on his mind, including the upcoming discussion with Duke, as well as the arrival of Nick Fury later that day.

As he waited for Duke and Flint, Hawk absentmindedly rolled his prized baseball in his hands. An avid baseball fan, the general prized his autographed Mickey Mantle baseball. Ninja thefts were common in the Pit, though the items were always cheerfully returned. Hawk's prized baseball, however, was a clear 'No-theft' item.

A smart rap on the door alerted him to the arrival of his warrant officer. Less than a minute later, his second in command walked in. Hiding a sigh, Hawk returned his beloved baseball to its glass case.

"Good morning gentlemen," Hawk said. "Coffee?" he pointed to the just brewed coffee in the corner of his office. Duke waved it off while Flint immediately helped himself to a cup.

"We have a lot of things to discuss," the general said. "First of all…" he paused a moment and looked over at Duke. "There're things I need to fill you in on."

Duke raised an eyebrow. Flint nonchalantly sipped on his coffee, deciding it was better to keep his mouth shut.

"Sir?" the blonde asked after a moment.

"Duke, I'm going to be frank with you," Hawk said curtly, but not unkindly. "I don't agree with your stance on mutant registration, but I'll respect your opinions." The other man's mouth opened slightly. Conrad Hauser clearly hadn't expected this to be the first thing out of the general's mouth.

"However," the general continued. "I need to inform you that there are two mutants under your command and they're not quite so willing to see your point of view."

There was a long silence as shock registered itself over Duke's face. Flint eyed his friend over the rim of his Styrofoam cup.

"This…won't be a problem, will it?" Hawk asked quietly. The blonde continued to stare at him.

"No," The other man said after a moment. His second in command closed his eyes and then reopened them. "I'm sorry if I've given the impression that I don't like mutants."

"I'm not the one you have to convince of that, Son," Hawk said seriously. "You may have a harder time convincing Beach Head and Lifeline of that."

"May?" Flint snorted, finally speaking. Duke looked over at his friend before back at the general.

"Beach Head and Lifeline?" he asked quietly. Hawk nodded. Duke groaned.

"No wonder Beach Head's been acting pissy at me the last few days."

"He's a telepath," Flint said. Duke stared at him and the warrant officer shrugged. "Just thought I'd warn you."

"He's not well trained and it's weak," Hawk told him. "His empathic skills are much stronger and according to him, it has a range of about three klicks. Though obviously…the further away people are the harder it is. He's also a telekinetic."

Duke sat silently, digesting that information. After a moment, a pair of blue eyes met his.

"Is that why Beach was helping Psyche Out with interrogations?" he asked.

"Yes. I was having him scan the Televipers," Hawk answered. "He also tried to scan Bludd yesterday and this morning, but something is blocking his telepathic scans."

"What?" Duke asked. Clayton shrugged.

"We don't know. But based on information from S.H.I.E.L.D., there are ways to block scans. In fact, we have reliable information that Cobra has the know how to do it."

This time, both men gave him questioning looks.

"The attack at the G8 Summit was apparently a Cobra operation," Hawk said seriously, lacing his fingers together. "Firefly is the one who killed Dr. Moira MacTaggert and Storm Shadow attempted to kill Dr. Henry McCoy."

Flint cursed under his breath. Duke gritted his teeth.

"How did you find this out?" the blonde asked.

"The X-Men contacted Fury," Hawk answered. "They captured Storm Shadow. Apparently he's been under Cobra mind control. Fury tells me the telepaths in X-Men have been working to remove the brainwashing."

"At least we know why he turned traitor," Flint said.

"Do Snake Eyes and Jinx know yet?" Duke asked. Hawk shook his head.

"Not yet, but I will inform them of it later today," he answered. He stood up and began to pace the room. Hawk forced himself to stop once he realized what he was doing.

"Apparently Firefly and Storm Shadow were wearing devices that blocked telepaths," the general said. "Lifeline and Psyche Out looked for a similar device on Bludd, but couldn't find one. We can only assume that it's a more permanent device, possibly an implant. They're both looking through brain scans as we speak."

The other two men in the room thought about that.

"Sir?" Duke asked after a moment. "I forgot to ask. What are Lifeline's powers?"

"Think of Thor or Ms. Marvel, but as a pacifist," Flint smirked. "He could probably flatten anything in our arsenal if he wanted to."

Duke could only find one response to that.

"God dammit."


Time: 09:00 Zulu, Wednesday; 13:00 local time, Wednesday
Location: GI Joe Pit dojo

It had been two days since Snake Eyes had returned from North Korea. It had been exactly one week and one day since he found out about Beach Head's mutation and two days since he found out about Lifeline's.

One week. Two days. Good Lord, but it felt like it had to be longer than that.

The Silent Master found himself in a bit of a dilemma. It was time for hand to hand combat training and the two mutants in question were part of it. Beach Head he wasn't so concerned about. How the hell to train a pacifist medic with godly speed and strength was another matter.

"Okay, Lifeline, you're with…" Scarlett started to say. The ninja held up a hand to stop her. She looked at him in surprise and Snake Eyes hurriedly explained. Sort of.

*I want Lifeline and Beach Head to spar with me today,* he signed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the two men exchange looks. The ninja master also didn't miss the smug look in the ranger's eyes.

"Unless you feel like openly displaying your powers," Snake Eyes thought at him. "I don't think your telekinesis is going to help you today." The man's empathy was another matter, though his control was obviously not that great. The ninja intended to address that problem, as even weak telepathy could be a great asset in a close combat situation.

A few seconds passed before he heard the sardonic reply in his head.

"Lifeline wants to know how many attacks he should dodge," Beach Head replied smugly. "Seeing as he's faster than you and all."

Oh, they wanted to play that way, did they? Admittedly, Snake Eyes was a bit miffed that years of training apparently meant nothing to a man who could move at least faster than the speed of sound. Beach Head, too, seemed to be pretty confident in himself.

Not that he wasn't always anyway, but the ninja suspected that the man was growing more confident in his using his mutant abilities.

As Lifeline stepped onto the mat, Snake Eyes shifted between agitation and the thrill of the challenge. Think lightly of him, would they? Mutant abilities or not, he was the damn Silent Master. Neither the ranger nor the doctor had half of his combat skill.

"Beach Head, do me a favor and translate for me," Snake Eyes asked silently. The ranger lifted an eyebrow underneath his balaclava. The ninja couldn't say the things he wanted via sign language, otherwise Scarlett and some of the others might see.

"If you're asking me to help you and Lifeline have a telepathic conversation, I ain't that strong."

"That would be why I said 'translate,' now wouldn't it?" he replied testily.

"Oooh, someone's in a bad mood."

Yep, someone was definitely a bit overconfident today. Actually, two someones. He didn't fail to notice the small smile tugging at the corner of Lifeline's lips.

*Something funny?* he signed. He saw no reason to hide that.

"Sorry," Edwin Steen answered, wiping the amusement from his face.

"It's a bird, it's a plane, it's…" Beach Head sang silently.

"God dammit Wayne, shut up!"

"…it's Super Pacifist!"

If looks could kill, there would be a dead ranger. Unfortunately, Snake Eyes's glare only made Beach Head's smirk grow.

"Remember, your turn is next," the ninja warned. Lifeline, quite oblivious to the silent conversation, though somewhat suspecting that a telepathic exchange was going on, waited patiently for the ninja master's signal to begin.

"Tell him to use the speed he usually does during hand to hand training," the ninja finally said.

Admittedly, the speed that Lifeline usually used was already fast, though not as fast as any of the ninja. The man did have a black belt in aikido, which actually made training interesting.

The doctor dodged a hand strike and redirected the energy away from his body. Snake Eyes noticed that the other man's movement had been slightly faster than usual and he wondered if Beach Head had failed to communicate 'use your usual speed' or if the other man was doing it on purpose.

"I might have suggested upping the speed a little, but not so much that it's too obvious," a certain ranger replied.

"It's obvious to me," he replied. He noticed Jinx watching them spar curiously, as neither man had stopped. "It's obvious to Scarlett and my trainees too. Tell him to slow back down."

After Beach Head relayed the information, the doctor slowed back down. Snake Eyes gritted his teeth.

"Seriously you stupid ranger, are you trying to get discovered?"

The other man chose not to respond. And although the ninja's mind was focused on the spar, another part wondered about that. The two mutants were upset by recent events, as well as their continued silence about their mutations. Snake Eyes rather suspected that at least unconsciously, their desire to rebel against everything was causing them to act out in small ways.

Either that…or they felt emboldened by knowing that a few people knew of their mutations and hadn't run screaming. Or for pitchforks and shotguns.

Snake Eyes planted a hit to the other man's ribs and he went down on the ground. After a moment, he realized that his own fingers should have shattered from the impact.

"He dodges just enough that you barely hit him," Beach Head answered. "I asked him about it earlier."

Swell.

The other man stood back up and the ninja held out a hand to briefly pause the fight. If Snake Eyes had possessed near equal strength and speed, he could have seriously hurt the doctor with that move.

*Do it again,* he ordered, signing this time. The ninja showed Lifeline the correct way to block that attack. *Don't be careless or someone will seriously hurt you.*

"Beach Head," he added silently. "Tell this idiot that his mutant powers don't give him a free pass on learning good self defense."

Lifeline gave him a surprised look. Snake Eyes sighed. The ninja realized that they were going to have to have a serious heart to heart chat later regarding his powers.

*Later, you and I are going to have a chat,* he promised. The doctor looked a bit dumbfounded, and somewhat worried at that.

"Um, okay," he answered.

"Over hill, over dale, we have hit the dusty trail…"

"Shut it Beach Head," Snake Eyes silently warned.

"…as our caissons go rollin' along! Up and down…"

Damn smartass, telepathic rangers.

Fortunately, the ranger wasn't so smug when his own turn came. Beach Head had attempted to carry on with his mental harassment by singing "Whiskey Girl", but found that fighting and using telepathy at the same time was too difficult.

In the end, Snake Eyes was rather satisfied that mutant powers didn't equal into instant victory. Unfortunately, he still had to prove that to Lifeline. Teaching Beach Head to use his powers while fighting was going to be difficult as well.

After training, Snake Eyes silently made arrangements to meet with both men later, away from prying eyes. Both men had different training issues and the ninja couldn't address them during the regular hand to hand training sessions.

"Hey Beach Head," he called out silently, as everyone filed out of the dojo. The ranger sent him a questioning look.

"A hundred bottles of beer on the wall, a hundred bottles of beer…" Snake Eyes sang silently.

"Very funny."

"Pass one down, hand it around…"

"Damn it!" Beach Head swore aloud.

"…a hundred bottles of beer on the wall! Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall…"

Ah, but revenge was sweet.


Time: 11:05 Zulu, Wednesday; 14:05 local time, Wednesday
Location: GI Joe Pit

Clayton Abernathy and Nicholas Fury sat across a narrow table from each other. Each man had exchanged the necessary pleasantries and was now trying to get a feel for the other. So far, they liked what they saw.

"Any information from Bludd yet?" Nick Fury finally asked.

"No," Hawk answered. The grizzled man across from him took a long puff from his cigar. The general resisted the urge to cough. He'd always hated cigars.

"We should have a telepath scan him," Fury said, eyeing him intently. "To get what the interrogators don't." It took all of Hawk's self control to keep his face from freezing.

"Perhaps," Hawk said. Fury eyed him a moment before tapping the end of his cigar on a nearby ashtray.

"Unless…you already are," The S.H.I.E.L.D. director said dryly. Hawk felt his lips stiffen.

"And what gives you that impression," Hawk replied evenly.

"You were very interested in the fact that Storm Shadow and Firefly were wearing telepathic blockers," the other man answered gruffly. Hawk debated on his answer.

"Cut with the crap, Abernathy," Fury finally said. "I won't tell the higher ups if that's what you want."

Hawk studied him. Fury was gruff and ornery as hell, but the general knew the man's history. Nicholas Fury was a patriot, a war hero and loyal as a dog. In some ways, the man in front of him reminded him much of what an older version of Wayne Sneeden might be.

That thought oddly comforted him.

"He's untrained," Hawk finally answered. "We also believe that Bludd has some kind of telepathic blocker implanted in him." Nick Fury considered that a moment.

"Send him to Charles Xavier's school. There's about five telepaths connected to it. One of them can train him," Fury said. He took another long puff of nicotine. "You might want to consider sending him…and any other mutants you have under your command."

Damn, the man was good. He wasn't head of S.H.I.E.L.D. for nothing.

"There's two," Hawk answered, figuring he'd already gone this far. "That I know of, anyway." If Fury was on personal relations with the X-Men, then letting him on the secret was probably strategically a good move.

"You can understand if I'm hesitant to reveal them," Hawk said truthfully. Fury gave him a dry smirk, all too reminiscent of a certain sergeant major.

"I think you can trust me on that," Fury said quietly. "I know our government ain't perfect Abernathy. I'll keep quiet."

"The telepath is our sergeant major, the other mutant is our doctor," Hawk answered. Fury raised an eyebrow.

"Doctor…the one wearing the red 'human target' outfit?" the man asked. "The one that's supposed to be a bloody pacifist?"

It was Hawk's turn smile wryly.

"He's invulnerable to bullets," he answered. Fury raised an eyebrow.

"And your sergeant major?" the director asked dryly.

"Sergeant Major Sneeden," Hawk continued, his smile growing. "I'm sure you've at least heard his name. He's a legend at Fort Benning."

"I've heard the name," Fury smirked. "One of my agents went through Benning. According to him, he still has nightmares of Sneeden. Sometimes I think he's more terrified of him than me."

Hawk didn't bother to hide the amusement on his face. Only Beach Head could manage to terrify random S.H.I.E.L.D. agents without physically even being present.

"If you stick around, you can watch him running the Greenshirts or Joes through PT," the general added. Fury took one last puff of his cigar before squashing it on the ashtray.

"Interesting…I just might take you up on that," Nick Fury replied. "Though you'd better be careful, Abernathy. If he's half as good as the rumors say, I just might steal him to train my people."

Hawk only gave him another wry smile. Compliment or not, there was no way he'd give up his sergeant major without a fight.


Time: 13:40 Zulu, Wednesday; 17:40 local time, Wednesday
Location: The Xavier Institute of Higher Learning

Thomas Arashikage sat quietly on the front steps of the Xavier Mansion. Nearby, the sound of screaming and laughing children echoed from the basketball courts. How long had it been since he'd heard children playing?

The ninja wasn't really sure what to do with himself. Charles Xavier and Jean Grey had removed most of the brainwashing. The emotional and mental pain, as well as the accompanying confusion, well…that would take longer to heal.

The X-Men Blackbird had landed several hours ago. The funeral of Moira MacTaggert had only been held the previous day. Storm Shadow, fresh from taking part in the mission that killed her, was understandably awkward at the funeral.

He didn't have to attend of course, but a part of him felt obligated to. So, he'd found a set of civilian dress clothes to wear. The ninja had silently watched from the back of the funeral, taking in the grieving family and friends of the dead woman.

As for now, he simply sat on the steps and breathed in the warm, late July air. Tree leaves rustled gently in the wind. Clouds floated overhead. How long had it been since he had been able to sit like this?

"Ja, a penny for your thoughts, mein freund?"

Tommy looked up in the direction of the voice. A blue mutant was sitting on top of the roof, peering down at him. A tail swished back and forth behind the strange man.

"I'm afraid I don't even have a penny," the ninja replied sardonically. "I have a Tootsie roll though…does that count?"

The mutant laughed at that, before leaping gracefully down to join him.

"A sense of humor," the other man said with a smile. "At least Cobra didn't totally destroy that." He held out his hand toward the ninja.

"Kurt Wagner, also known as Nightcrawler."

"Thomas Arashikage, or Storm Shadow," the ninja answered, though the man obviously knew that already. The two men shook hands.

They didn't speak again for awhile. The mutant known as Nightcrawler sat silently next to Tommy, enjoying the end of a summer day. Suddenly though, there was a pop and the mutant vanished. The stench of…something…wafted around the steps and Storm Shadow gagged.

Whatever the hell it was, it smelled like something that the Dreadnoks had once blown up back at Cobra headquarters.

There was another pop and the mutant was back, holding two glasses of lemonade. Tommy hastily removed his hands from his nose, but not quickly enough for Nightcrawler to miss it.

"Ach…sorry about that," Kurt Wagner apologized. "I leave behind the smell of brimstone when I teleport."

Brimstone? That's what it was?

"It's okay," Tommy hastily said. "I just wasn't expecting it." Wasn't expecting? Some ninja you are, he thought. Expect the unexpected.

"Is that your only power?" Storm Shadow asked, wanting to change the subject. The other man grinned as he handed one of the lemonades to the ninja.

"Well, if I do say so myself, I am a dashing rogue with quite the flair for swordsmanship," Nightcrawler said.

"You're a swordsman?" Tommy asked. Kurt Wagner nodded.

"European style. I've mastered the foil, the epee, and the saber," he answered proudly. Storm Shadow held his tongue. It wouldn't do to insult Western fencing when the man was making an effort to befriend him. Even though, for obvious reasons, the ninja was biased in favor of Japanese swordsmanship.

"Maybe we can spar sometime," Storm Shadow said instead. He sipped on the lemonade.

Lemonade. Actual fresh lemonade.

"That would be fun," the mutant said. "I need a new fencing partner. Remy tends to cheat."

"Nothing wrong with cheating," Tommy said. The other man gave him a surprised look, as if offended by the ninja's breach of honor.

"Er…at least, when you don't have a choice," he added. "It's definitely bad swordsmanship though." Nightcrawler nodded his head in agreement.

"Of course, that's what I always say. Bad sportsmanship! Errol Flynn wouldn't cheat!"

"Errol Flynn?" Tommy asked. He seemed to be having a problem with keeping his mouth closed. His companion shook his head sadly.

"You mean to tell me you've never heard of Errol Flynn?" he asked in shock.

"Well…I've just never watched any of his movies," the ninja answered. "In fact, I haven't watched any movies in a long time." The blue mutant grinned slightly at that.

"Never?" Kurt Wagner asked. "Well then, I guess we'll have to watch one tonight." It was Storm Shadow's turn to look at him in surprise.

"It's not like you have anything better to do," the mutant pointed out. "You could sit out here all night and brood or come inside and enjoy some normalcy for once."

"Normalcy?" Tommy echoed. "I don't think I've ever had that."

There was a long pause as he stared down at the remains of his drink.

"I don't know what to do," he finally admitted. The man at his side sighed.

"I know it's difficult," Nightcrawler said. "My friend Logan, he's gone through much the same as you. He's been experimented on, brainwashed, and used as a weapon against his will."

"How does he deal with it?" Tommy asked. The German mutant smiled at him.

"You'll have to ask him that. If I were to guess though, being surrounded by people who care about him definitely helps."

Tommy thought back to his best friend, the man that he called brother. Suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to seek out Snake Eyes.

"What you decide to do is your choice," Nightcrawler said after a moment. "You have that freedom now, the freedom of free will."

"My free will has gotten me into a lot of trouble," Tommy admitted. "The whole reason I joined Cobra the first time was to get revenge on the man who killed my uncle."

"So you'd rather be controlled?" the other man asked softly.

"No!" Storm Shadow quickly replied. "That's not what I meant." His heart beat fast inside his chest. That wasn't what he meant, was it?

"Do not repay anyone evil for evil," Nightcrawler quoted, "be concerned for what is noble in the sight of all. If possible, on your part, live at peace with all." The mutant took a sip of lemonade before continuing. "I won't quote the rest of the passage, other than 'Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good.'"

"Who wrote that?" Tommy asked.

"St. Paul, in his letter to the Romans," Nightcrawler answered.

"Never read it," the ninja answered. The mutant didn't answer, instead looking out across the front lawn. The sound of playing children was dying away, as they raced inside for dinner.

"Revenge got you into trouble the first time," the mutant finally said. "Please don't seek it out again. I know Cobra wronged you, but revenge never causes anything but sorrow."

Thomas Arashikage silently thought that over. Birds sang overhead. The sun still shown brightly, unaware of the troubles that humans caused down on earth. Regardless of what happened, the sun continued to rise and set.

"I believe it's time to eat," his blue companion finally said. "Bobby and Jubilee made lasagna. Even ninjas need to eat," he added. Storm Shadow smiled slightly at that.

"Homemade lasagna? Of course I'm eating."


Time: 16:18 Zulu, Wednesday; 20:18 local time, Wednesday
Location: The Xavier Institute of Higher Learning

Storm Shadow took a deep breath as he knocked on the door of Dr. Henry McCoy. It was surreal. Just a few days ago he had been trying to kill this man. Now he was about to beg for forgiveness.

There was no answer and the ninja wondered if he should knock again or leave.

"Please come in," Henry McCoy called from inside the room. "I can't come to the door right now."

Tommy bit his lip. He needed to do this. He wanted to do this. Running away from it wasn't going to accomplish anything. Besides, after all the X-Men had done for him so far, he could at least apologize to the man he had hunted.

Storm Shadow slipped quietly into the room and shut the door. Laboratory equipment lined the room and for a moment, the ninja had an unpleasant flashback to Dr. Mindbender's lab. A small knife of panic cut through him and with great effort, he pushed it away.

"Ah, Mr. Arashikage. The Professor told me to expect you."

Tommy looked up to see that the Beast was hanging upside down from one of the ceiling beams, intently studying a piece of paper.

"Um…I'm sorry for interrupting," he started. The furry, blue mutant leapt down from the ceiling. His white lab coat was pristine, despite the smell of chemicals in the room. Again, the image of Mindbender floated into his mind.

Thomas Arashikage, once known as the Young Master, knelt down and bowed his head, touching his forehead against the floor.

"Please forgive me."

There was a long silence, but Storm Shadow fought the urge to look up. Finally, he felt the other man approach him. Despite his size, the mutant was surprisingly light footed. A large, furry hand touched his shoulder.

"There is nothing to forgive, Mr. Arashikage. You weren't in control of your actions."

Tommy looked up at that. The face of Henry McCoy peered down at him, kindly and forgiving. Something about it reminded him of his uncle, the Soft Master.

"It was still me," he replied stubbornly.

"Think of yourself as dead," Henry McCoy said. Tommy stared at him.

"What?" he asked. The Beast ignored him, continuing on as if he hadn't been interrupted.

"You have lived your life. Now take what's left and live it properly," he said. Henry McCoy stood up, still holding the sheet of paper in one of his large hands.

"Marcus Aurelius," the Beast explained, "wrote that in his Meditations. "He was the quintessential philosopher king…or emperor, rather."

"Everyone seems fond of quoting dead people tonight," Storm Shadow replied. Beast smiled at that.

"And pray, Mr. Arashikage, why should we ignore the wisdom of our forebears? Lives are too short to keep repeating the same mistakes. The least we can do is learn from them."

Thomas considered that. Life was indeed too short and he'd already made far too many mistakes in his life. 'Take what's left and live it properly…'

"So…what else did Marcus Aurelius have to say?" he finally asked. Henry McCoy gave him a wide smile.

"Many things, dear Thomas. The Meditations is a book about dealing with pain…"