CHAPTER TWELVE: And Here We Are

Fenris got out of the infirmary a few days later, waiting for Snake Eyes as she ran a hand through her hair. It was longer and not nearly as blue, perhaps she'd ask him to dye it for her before Scarlet's wedding in the next week.

Scarlet was probably the calmest bride she'd ever seen, while Ripcord was almost entirely in pieces and worried about everything. The Alpha Team was due for some vacation time after apprehending Zanya and questioning her on Cobra's location, Whisper had been called in to the probe the mechanical animals obtained from the base but sadly admitted they couldn't be rehabilitated, not with so much interference. A lot of them would be euthanized.

Scarlet had informed the group that Jinx tipped them off about their whereabouts; she'd been monitoring the old Arashikage base in case anyone else was stupid enough to use it again. She and her cousin were both busy tracking down other Red Ninja, hoping to stumble upon Cobra in the process. Storm Shadow had effectively shut himself down during his capture and the intense rage he released was more like an aggressive reboot setting – he passed his psyche exam with ease.

Erebus, for all his bravado, had issues. Would he reveal them? No, but at least he was willing to set up sessions with a therapist every week. Meaning he was also recommended to stay on base until the therapist could determine he was mentally prepared for duty again.

Snake Eyes was fine. Despite whatever psychological tricks Zanya had used, he appeared to be working through them on his own in a heathy manner. He technically wasn't in active service yet and was teaching classes on base to the new recruits.

As she awaited Snake Eyes, Fenris noticed another woman walking towards her. She wasn't in army fatigues or dressed like the nursing staff, but she looked professional enough in a crisp white T-shirt and black dress pants. An I.D. tag hung off her pocket and as she got closer, Fenris could see the familiar silver chain that typically hung dog tags. She was a little shorter than Fenris with a head of bouncy chestnut brown curls, her honey brown skin was dotted with freckles. She stopped just short of Fenris's relaxed lean against the wall and smiled.

"Fenris?" she queried softly.

"Yeah, who're you?"

"Everyone around here calls me Doc; I'm afraid Snake Eyes can't make it today."

Fenris raised an eyebrow and pushed off the wall, moving in front of Doc with a cautious frown. The woman eased out of her smile into more of a smirk, not at all troubled by the height different; Fenris noticed the small bag hanging off her shoulder.

"That accent…reminds me of Gambit."

Doc chuckled and put her hands on her hips.

"I get that a lot, sugar, now how about we get something to eat?"

Fenris followed Doc to the cafeteria where they found a seat near the window where a blizzard raged on outside, the sharp spikes of ice crashed against the window without a sound.

"How are you feeling?" Doc asked, her tone soothing and warm.

"Fine, a little sore but it's manageable."

"Any nightmares?"

Fenris paused.

"N…no, not yet anyway."

"You expect some?" Doc questioned, her tone still friendly. Fenris felt her stomach clench.

"I guess. Why are you so curious?"

Doc shrugged, her hazel eyes focusing on an apple she'd picked up. She started cutting up slices, placing some in Fenris's plate. Doc proceeded to grab a knife from her pocket and started carving her own slices into easy shapes.

Fenris looked away and focused on the line of Joes coming in from what she guessed was the gym.

"I just want to make sure you're feeling alright, cher."

"Yeah, well, I'm fine, OK? Did Erebus put you up to this?"

"Why would he?" Doc asked, voice unchanged in volume.

"I don't know. He's worried I'm psychotic."

"Are you?" Doc studied her apple carving and place it on Fenris's plate, Fenris could've screamed.

It was a cluster of fireflies.

"I don't think you're psychotic, Fenris. I do think that you've repressed a great deal of fear in order to keep up with the rest of your team. I have heard you had nightmares about the past and they have everything to do with these harmless creatures."

Doc grabbed the bag hanging off the chair and unzipped it, pulling the bag open and sticking her hand inside. She produced a small mason jar and gently slid it along the tabletop, tapping the glass and few times and stirring whatever was previously motionless.

Four fireflies, their abdomen's glowing, buzzed in circles within the jar, Fenris clenched her jaw and looked away. Doc stowed the jar back in her bag.

"Have you ever heard of post traumatic stress disorder?"


The training room had long been empty by the time Fenris found herself at its doors, thankful the walls weren't glass. She gently let herself inside, shutting the door behind her and leaning against it. Snake Eyes had his back to her, a long wooden staff was grasped in his hands and he quietly moved through several different stances before Fenris let out a cough. He turned, saw her, and walked to the other side of the room where he could return the staff to its place. He paused before moving back to Fenris, gripping the edges of his mask and pulling it off his face.

There were scars, old ones, and a few recent marks that marred the skin under his eyes and near his lips. His eyes were untouched, thank God, and Fenris folded her arms over her chest. She slid across the floor and let Snake Eyes wrap his arms around her.

"I've got problems," she stated eloquently. Released a sigh. Uncoiled herself.

She put her arms around him.

"And I need to address something, aside from those problems. Before we go any further."

Snake Eyes leaned away and looked down at her, raising one eyebrow.

"I need you, you know."

His lips parted and Fenris felt as if someone was pushing her, she found herself on her toes, her lips on his. His hands slid down her back and circled her waist, pulling their bodies together, as he nudged her toes. They moved back, back, back, into the wall. Fenris felt confident enough to place her arms around his neck, moving her fingers through his hair as she kissed him.

"I need you," she tried again, sliding back down. "I've needed you for a while but I was…I was worried that I…"

Fenris swore and put her hands over her face. "I was worried I wasn't good enough. Like, you deserved someone who could look after themselves."

"And I was scared, damnit, that bad things would happen if I stayed with you. But bad things have happened. And we're still here, and I don't want to be scared anymore, Snake Eyes."

"I'm not going to be easy, but I want to get better and I want you…here. With me."

She let out a pathetic laugh, poking his chest and shaking her head.

"Please don't say, "ditto"."

Snake Eyes sighed and gently held her face in his hands, tipping her head up so he could kiss her again. His mouth smiled and Fenris felt a shiver of passion run through her, along with the beginnings of impatient tears.

"I feel the same." He signed and an enormous weight was lifted off his shoulders. "I worried that I would endanger you, get you killed, but we've survived just about the worse and here we are."

He looked sheepish for a moment. "And I've been denying the attraction between us because of that, I got angry that everyone else could see it because I thought it would never work. But it will."

"So…now what?"

"Well…you don't exactly have a room here."


Fenris sat on top of the bed with a plastic bag over her head, Snake Eyes was doing push-ups on a small mat on the floor. She was thumbing through a magazine Scarlet had left with Snake Eyes, correctly assuming he'd pass it on to her. Fenris couldn't help but feel Scarlet knew exactly what had transpired in the training room. Fenris was trying to ignore the fact that just about all her close friends would somehow guess the beginnings of intimacy between them, and she anticipated a healthy amount of teasing.

Scarlet didn't have anything in mind for what her bridesmaids should wear, so Fenris stuck to avoiding black, white, and red for obvious reasons.

"So…are you going to wear the ninja suit to the ceremony and stuff?" Fenris asked without looking up.

Snake Eyes huffed and stared at her, grunting as he stood up and sat down behind her, resting his chin on her shoulder. He put his hands in front of her view of the magazine and started signing.

"Yes, I still have an identity to protect. Scarlet understands this, does it bother you?"

"Just trying to picture the wedding photos, I need to find something that won't look…weird next to you."

Snake Eyes snickered, pointing to a puffy yellow gown.

"You can avoid that one. I'm not sure "Bumblebee" needs to be our shipping name."

"One, yellow is a great colour, Mister. Two, shipping names are made from the names of people, not their clothes…can't believe you thought of that."

"Are you looking for something in particular?"

'Comfort is key; I am sorely tempted to go barefoot."


Fenris examined herself in the mirror, ruffling her newly dyed midnight blue hair with a satisfied smile on her face. It wasn't as bright as the first dye job, and nor was it too dark that the colour couldn't be determined. Fenris sighed contented and shook her head again, shuffling out of the bathroom and flopping dramatically onto the bed. Snake Eyes eyed her curiously as she crawled along the bed and curled up beside him as he looked at the magazine.

"See anything you like?" she wondered coyly, her cheeks flushing.

Snake Eyes rolled his eyes.

"Blue or an emerald green would look good. A lot of other colours, with the right shades, would look good but those are my picks."

Snake Eyes passed the magazine back and Fenris saw a few dog-eared pages she'd look into later. She tossed the magazine onto a chair near the bed and yawned, scratching at the bandages wrapped around her legs. Snake Eyes flicked her arm and pulled a bottle of pills from the bedside table, getting off the bed for a glass of water.

"Is Doc putting you on something?"

"Not yet? I really don't like the thought of medication, I know it works and all that but I kind of…don't want it. We're going to do group sessions with Erebus and a couple other people, thought of getting a dog in case the nightmares become too much."

Fenris replied honestly, accepting the painkillers with a slight frown. She tossed the pills into her mouth, swallowing a mouthful of water and making a face. Snake Eyes chuckled soundlessly at her and turned towards the small circular window, standing sideways so he could both stare outside and sign.

"Sounds good, I'm here if you need any support…Fenris?"

Snake Eyes saw from the corner of his eyes Fenris put both hands over her face, he backtracked and dropped onto the mattress beside her. With his hands already finding comfortable spots on her shoulders, Fenris hiccupped and shook her head.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm…OK. I'm OK." She timidly peeked from in between her fingers. "I think my period is due."

"It's been a rough couple of weeks. You're starting to process everything now." Snake Eyes sighed and pulled the covers of the bed out from under them, sliding inside and gently pulling Fenris down with him.

"Is this alright?"

"Fine. Sorry if I wake you up, I know I kick in my sleep sometimes."

"I've had worse."


The one thing about OC's in the G.I. Joe fandom is that a lot of civilians tend to accept their new lifestyle of hunting down terrorists with ease, not saying that's a bad thing at all, but I kinda really wanted to go for a little more realism considering Fenris already lost her brother and brother-in-law in the first story. All the violence would have to get to a person at this rate, so mentally Fenris has a long way to go before she feels fine. And she'll probably never be truly fine because there are some things you just can't wish away.

And yes, they kissed. You were probably wondering when that was ever going to happen, right? Don't lie, I know it's been on your mind. It's been on mine. Don't know if I'm willing to write another sex scene, I really wanted to focus on violence with some sexual stuff - but! There's a wedding (or two) coming up along with the conclusion in a few more chapters.

Huge thanks to the Guests and MustangLover97 for reviewing nearly every chapter, it's a good kick in my ass to get me writing. So, come one then, kick my ass.

I am so tired :)