Disclaimer: I am not Stephen Sommers (director of G.I. Joe: the rise of Cobra) and therefore I do not own his works. What I ADD into the story is mine (example: different characters, the plot, etc.) but the original themes, ideas, plots, characters, etc. are solely the works of this awesome, famous person and his associates.

Author's Note: I'd just like to say THANK YOU to everybody who has reviewed, to those who will review, to those who just read the story, and to those who add me as one of their favourite authors or this as one of their favourite stories! Xx

I'm really sorry for how long it took to update, so here's chapter 21! :D

Chapter Twenty-One

The battlefield; Sage couldn't really say she'd had much experience in it. She was an assassin. She worked alone. She worked in secret. She worked stealthily...But this confronting anarchy; she could get used to it.

General Hawk's gaze was still glued to the place where he had last seen Sage's slinking form, and every abominable emotion was slowly playing out on his face as he froze. His men had fallen silent, fending for themselves as he stood there, and Sage was rather disappointed.

Scared of her freedom, perhaps? Or maybe the fact he knew that she could take out multiple soldiers at once? Maybe he was worried for how many fatalities his base would suffer...

Sage grinned. She was hidden well, clothed in the tight black suit Baroness had given her. She could camouflage fine—her only concern was the ghostly pastiness of her skin and the bright flaxen of her blonde hair.

But that didn't much matter. Everyone was distracted, anyway.

The woman sensed as her fingers began to twitch behind the trigger of her stolen rifle, and she deliberated silently. To shoot or not to shoot? She wasn't given a task to carry out. She wasn't hired. Cobra didn't know she was here yet...So perhaps she could make a show...

Sage lifted the gun to rest against her collarbone and hunched around the scope, scanning the room quickly. Several Joe snipers were hidden up near the roof, high on vantage points with their night-vision scopes on. The foot soldiers, mechanics, and who-knew-what-else were on the ground, physically forcing the enemy back. But Cobra was unrelenting.

Sage would have to take cover, then; just encase one of those night-ops men looked her way.

Sneaking back quietly, Sage slipped around the back of a pillar as a bullet chipped the wall behind her neck. Her head whipped around, surprised, before she frowned.

Seemed like she was found out, then.

Sighing, she crouched down behind the column and waited. Pulling out from behind her cover would be like a sitting duck—they'd shoot her down on the spot. But if she could play them...Now that was an idea.

Her eyes quickly scanned the space behind her. There was nothing to distract them, but there was a pillar ten or so meters away, also hidden in darkness. The only enemy to know where she was would be the snipers, and the Joes had no way of finding her in the shadows...

Simultaneously, two loud gunshots fired through the hall, and Sage realised they were the snipers. She'd only spotted two, and if they were both distracted...

She bolted. Flying from her crouch, she hurtled toward the pillar on her right, throwing herself behind it swiftly and waiting. No bullet, no gun. Maybe they hadn't even seen her.

Ducking around her temporary fortress, Sage flinched when the cement a few centimetres above her head received a sharp crack. Dust clouded down lightly over her hair, and she drew back behind her safety quickly.

So they were still watching her. That wasn't such a big deal.

As she brooded, Sage heard the screams of men echo off the parapet behind her. She frowned, before rifles began to fire haphazardly around the shed, ricocheting off the cool steel walls and intensifying the screams that ruptured her ears. Risking a peek, Sage saw multiple soldiers lying on the cement flooring, clutching at various parts of their bodies and groaning in pain. As white-coated medics rushed out into the bedlam to help them, Sage saw the soft silvery winks of ninja weapons sticking up out of their clothes, and rolled her eyes.

Storm Shadow sure had a tendency for histrionics.

"And why aren't you out there?" Sage whipped around at the cool, soft, charismatic voice, her hand holding the rifle instinctively flexing to bring the gun up to aim and fire. Quick as lightening, a sword flashed out and sliced at the barrel of the weapon, shearing it clean in half with ease. Sage glanced down to it, and then back up in desperation.

"Really Storm Shadow?" she exasperated, dropping the gun loudly to the floor with a clatter and standing. "I have no weapons!"

The ninja grinned a wide pearly-toothed smile and flicked a blade toward her. Sage caught it craftily by the handle and sighed.

"Yeah, 'cause a knife is really going to help me fend off bullets."

"It works for me." He said lightly, receiving a bewildered stare from the blonde assassin.

Both killers ducked when an explosion roared out behind them, licking hot flame heat around the pillar they hid behind. Sage shuddered as agonised screams pierced the air, and then shrugged helplessly.

"Lead the way."

Storm Shadow smirked. "Stay close," then he sidestepped the pillar and bolted out from the shadows. Cursing and hesitating, Sage gritted her teeth and followed him, unable to catch up to his long strong legs, but swift on her feet nonetheless.

Soldiers spun as they spotted Storm Shadow, and those that weren't with Cobra aimed at Sage's chest. She lashed out at the offenders violently, lacerating flesh and scattering blood. She darted through the pandemonic crowd like a fox, stabbing and dancing as bullets whizzed past her but no hot pain sunk through her skin. She whirled around automatically when something pricked at her instincts and ducked just in time to avoid a Joe's trigger. She slashed the blade behind his knees, causing a scream as the wound soldier crumpled to the ground and dropped his gun. Sage seized the firearm quickly before leaping to her feet and slinking through the bodies pressed around her.

"The assassin!" she heard Hawk roar. "Catch her!"

An arm snapped out from the crowd, suddenly, and caught Sage on the throat. She fell back—too speedy to stop the onslaught—and looked up into the fiery eyes of a certain redhead—Scarlett. The woman had a thick white cast over her left hand, which was the solid barrier that had smacked Sage in the jaw quiet roguishly. The blonde reached up to massage her face resentfully, glaring upwards as she did so.

"That's payback, bitch." Scarlett snarled, settling a small silver handgun between Sage's brows. "Drop your weapons and get up."

Really having no other choice, Sage slowly complied and got to her feet, glancing around as she did so and spotting Baroness a few metres away, conversing speedily with Storm Shadow before catching her gaze and expressing something close to an eye roll. Sage's lip curled, and she turned away.

"That's it, walk back to Hawk."

"Ya know," Sage drawled lazily as Scarlett prompted her with the gun. "Your commentation is really getting on my nerves."

"I honestly couldn't care less what was getting on your nerves." The redhead replied airily. "Now move."

"No," Sage spat, stopping. "I don't think I will."

"Wha—"but the woman's words were cut off with a shrill shriek when Sage's elbow was thrust back, catching the redhead in her nose and causing the sufferer to stumble back, shakily firing off a few shots as she did so. One of the bullets clipped Sage in the forearm, and she cursed loudly before spinning and slamming a roundhouse kick to the red's temple. The woman fell silently, out cold, and Sage stumbled through the crowding soldiers and into the darkness lining the edges of the shed.

"Motherfucker!" she hissed, clamping at the wound to postpone the blood flow as she reached Cobra's ship. The strong scent of melting metal reached her nose as she jogged up the ramp and drew herself inside, hiding behind the long line of Vipers defending the entrance. Storm Shadow looked up from talking and glanced at Sage's arm, cocking a brow. "Stupid redhead bitch shot me." Sage snarled, and Baroness' lips quirked slightly.

"Well, you did have it coming, Sage."

"Fuck off!" She snapped, turning a withering glare upon the woman who raised her hands in a calming gesture and brushed past, making sure to subtly slam her side into Sage's injured arm. The woman threw her head back, drawing out a long painful 'God' as hot agony flared up her limb. Storm Shadow stepped forward, peeling her hand back and seizing her suit in his strong, capable fingers. He drew a dagger from his belt and glanced at Sage as she turned a wild look upon him. Slowly, he placed the blade to the fabric covering her arm and tilted his head to the side slightly, challenging her to pull away. She narrowed her eyes, and as another explosion rocked the building, he sliced down swiftly, cutting the black leather.

Re-sheathing his dagger, Storm Shadow seized either side of the split clothing and yanked them further apart, tearing the sleeve up to her shoulder. Sage raised a slow, scornful brow.

"Eager, are we, Stormy?" She ventured snidely, and the ninja accidentally let his gloved hand slip to lightly touch her wound. She hissed, and he grinned behind his mask.

"Don't be such a woman, its only one bullet." He muttered.

"Funny thing is I am a woman."

"Shock horror..." He mumbled before drawing his dagger once more, this time placing the cool blade to her skin. "This is going to hurt—"

"Wait," she said quickly, receiving the tinted reflections of his visor. "Why can't we leave it in until we get back to base?"

"Because the bullet will eventually work itself deeper into your arm, which will make it harder to retrieve, and more expensive in surgery. And we can't leave at the moment, anyway."

"But what if it gets infected?"

"It won't. I know what I am doing. I'd be dead if it weren't for my medical abilities."

"But the extra pain—"a strong, tangy scent caught Sage's nostrils as she opened her mouth again, and she looked curiously about the ship. The loading ramp out back where multiple Vipers stood was blackened and charred, and silvery liquid dripped down from the roof that Sage realised was molten metal. "What happened?" She questioned, turning back to Storm Shadow. The ninja glanced around before looking back to her arm.

"The Joes bombed it. That's why we can't leave. The ships down. It's broken. We've called for reinforcements, and they should be here shoon. But until then we've got to sit tight."

Shit...Sage thought quietly. She'd been stranded before when her own transport had been attacked, but with the amount of force the Joes were throwing, Cobra couldn't hope to stand here much longer.

"Hold still." Storm Shadow ordered, and Sage shifted.

"But Storm—"her words were cut off suddenly as the ninja slammed his mouth to hers. The assassin gasped, temporarily distracted, and Storm Shadow took that opportunity to slice into her arm. She groaned agonizingly, lips still pressed against his, and inhaled sharply when his fingers jabbed into muscle. Her jaw snapped shut, hard, and caused her white teeth to slice through the ninja's bottom lip. He didn't seem fazed by the act, though, and continued to scrounge around in her upper limb—none too gently, either.

Thick warm blood seeped down Sage's chin from Storm Shadow's lip and blended in with the crimson liquid trickling down her arm. With a sickening, fleshy squelch, Storm Shadow popped the bullet from her limb, and it clattered loudly on the floor. He quickly put away his dagger and waited for Sage to release her lock-jawed hold on his bottom lip.

Slowly, the woman freed him, and he pulled back quickly. She gasped, her breaths coming short and sharp, and Storm Shadow seized her trembling face in both hands to look deeply into her eyes, catching her gaze.

"Breathe," he whispered quietly. "Breathe, Sage."

"You...Bastard." she hissed with difficulty. "Takin' advantage of me like that...Damn you!"

"It worked, didn't it?" He smiled. She spat the blood from her lips, glancing his gory mouth as it landed on his face. She tasted the tinny scent of his blood and frowned.

"No."

Sage broke the eye contact to glance down to her arm. It was swollen, torn and bleeding. Her stomach churned slightly, and she paled, staring at the gaping, garish hole in her arm with disgust.

"Good God." She moaned, looking up fearfully. "What the hell did you do?"

"Saved you from a very expensive and very long surgery session." he smiled again. "You're welcome—but we haven't finished yet."

"We haven't?" Her voice cracked, and the ninja crossed to a wall stacked full of supplies to retrieve bandages and a clear liquid Sage identified as Metho. "Oh no," she began, adrenalin kicking in as she backed away guardedly. "No, no, no. You are not touching me with that!"

"Would you rather a few minutes of pain, or a permanently amputated arm, Sage?" He asked, slightly irritated, and the woman narrowed her gaze.

"Well maybe if you hadn't gone and played surgeon in the first place we wouldn't have to worry about this!"

"Yes we would! Now come here!"

"Get away from me!" She snarled, detecting the escalating pain already rising up her appendage. Her lips trembled as she made her way back toward the open end of the ship, and Storm Shadow scowled.

If she weren't so angry, Sage might have actually cowered from the feeling of his murderous gaze.

"Sage—"

"Storm—"

"Baroness, restrain her!"

"Wha—"as cool hands seized Sage's shoulders she began to struggle. The black-haired woman behind her grunted slightly, and then one of her hands pulled away to grab something. Suddenly, a soft white cloth spread out over Sage's mouth and nose, and her eyes widened as she realised the sweet scent was chloroform.

Dammit! She cussed mentally, fretfully trying to hold her breath against the drug; but she'd already inhaled some of the liquid, and her eyes began to droop.

"Sweet dreams!" Baroness sang as Sage sagged to the floor and quickly succumbed to the darkness.

Author's note: Hoped you liked this chapter, thanks for reading, and I'm sure you all know that reviews are greatly appreciated! xx