They made their way back to the rotor wings with their tog bags that had their essentials in it for the trip aboard the carrier to Turkey. Edge and Duke were both straight faced, not looking or talking to anyone on the way to the carrier. The rest of the team didn't talk to each other either, but exchanged questioning looks amongst them. No one but Scarlett knew what had happened in Edge's room, and she badly wanted to tell Ripcord, thinking he might know something about it. When they landed on the deck, General Hawk told them to pair up for their rooms, as there weren't enough for singles when all the JOE's boarded. Scarlett automatically chose Edge, and Edge merely nodded in agreement. Scarlett led the way to a room that she'd picked, and let Edge pick a bunk. Edge picked the top bunk and threw her bag on the floor in the corner and her katanas at the foot of her bed. She grabbed the bunk with her good arm and swung up onto her bed, not looking at Scarlett. She knew it would at least be a three day trip to Turkey, and she wondered if she could avoid talking to Scarlett for that long.
"I'm going to get some dinner. Do you want some?" Scarlett asked, sounding almost nervous.
"No thanks, I'm good. I'll get something later if I'm hungry." Edge answered, not looking at Scarlett.
Scarlett nodded and left, leaving Edge on the top bunk to do as she pleased. It was already quite late, and they'd probably start the journey in a few hours when all the JOE's were aboard. Scarlett was walking to the cafeteria, her face miserable, when Ripcord came up to her.
"Hey beautiful. What' the matter?" He asked quickly, seeing Scarlett on the verge of tears.
"It's Edge. She's so angry with me. I didn't mean to…she's my best friend, Rip…" Scarlett stopped, sounding like she was about to start crying.
"Hey hey. What happened?" He asked again, sounding sympathetic.
"I offered to help her pack, so I started in her cupboard. I was almost done when I found a little box. It had photos in it, with a guy in them. She…was so angry." Scarlett finished, not sounding so upset anymore.
Ripcord frowned. He remembered Edge was engaged when they were together in Qatar, he remembered her showing off her ring and their photos. But she never mentioned that she'd gotten married in the mean time.
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure it just a sore spot, she'll talk to you when she feels a little bit better. I think we better just give her and Duke a lot of space."
Scarlett nodded, and let Ripcord guide her to the cafeteria. The next three days for Edge consisted of nothing other than sitting on her bunk, reading some of Scarlett's books and practicing her physio for her leg. They were nearing their new base; they would dock in less than one day according to the intercom that went off every other hour. She sat up and put Scarlett's book about particle physics away, picking up her katanas and her sharpening stone. She looked at the time, it was almost 11pm and Scarlett hadn't come back yet. She shrugged; Ripcord was probably treating her to a little one on one time. She reached for her sheaths and pulled a katana out, looking at the inscription. It was in Japanese, but she could still read it thanks to Snake Eyes insisting that she should learn it.
"Life is a balance between black and white. You should always be on the grey edge between."
She smiled at the remembrance when Snake Eyes insisted that if she became his apprentice that she would have to make her own katanas in the traditional Japanese way. She had to fold and heat the metal, toiling for weeks under Snake Eyes' meticulous scrutiny. He had picked the inscription after she was done, which she remembered every day. She ran her sharpening stone down the blade smoothly, trying her best to keep the stroke even against the steel. She kept on concentrating for ten minutes when she heard a knock.
"Come in." She didn't shift her focus from the blade.
The door opened, but no one entered. She noticed a figure at the door in her peripheral vision, leaning against the frame. It was too tall and muscular to be Scarlett, so she looked to see who it was. It was Duke, watching her sharpen her blades.
"You can come in." She said again.
Duke came in and closed the door, sitting down on the only chair in the room. She put away her katana and watched him silently for a few minutes, but he wasn't looking at her.
"Duke? Why are you here?" She asked softly, trying to keep any emotion out of her voice.
"Thank you." He said as softly, and she couldn't stop her mouth from falling open.
"What for?" She couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice.
"For letting Baroness on board. I know that you were the one calling the shots over the radio when I was about to dock and you didn't have to say yes, but you did. So thank you."
She leaned back on her bunk, keeping her face straight. Duke looked up at her, waiting for her reaction.
"I was obligated to, rules of war. She voluntarily gave herself over." She said shortly.
Duke watched her reaction; he could see anger boiling underneath the cool reaction.
"What's wrong?" He was trying to keep emotion out of voice this time.
"Nothing…well Scarlett found something…I tried to forget it, but seeing it made me remember it all again."
Duke nodded and got up to leave. Before opening the door he turned to Edge again, seeing the anger still bubbling under the calm façade.
"What did she find?" He asked.
"Bad memories. I should've gotten rid of them a long time ago."
Duke looked at her again; she didn't seem to be the tough, stubborn, little dynamo she was when he first met her. He nodded and left, leaving Edge wondering what was going through Duke's head.