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Rumors - Chapter 3

The team returned to base after the brutal but victorious battle with COBRA. It had taken nearly a week to locate and decipher COBRA's plan. The Joe team had been sent to all corners of the globe to stop this maniac, but the final battle culminated at Snake Mountain, a dreadfully intricate place to get equipment and men to. After the hard fought week, it was luck that most team members only had minor injuries, and except for Ace and Lift Ticket, no one would have to spend the night in the infirmary.

Ace's SkyStriker had been shot down during the final battle at Snake Mountain and had crashed into Lift Ticket's Dragonfly before either of them could eject. Stalker and Gung-Ho had been trapped in a tank and suffered some minor cuts and bruises. Lady Jaye received a broken wrist from her battle with the Crimson Twins. Duke had a fracture down his left leg from a 20-foot fall from a catwalk that he and Leatherneck occupied. Leatherneck only had a minor sprain from the fall since Alpine and Bazooka cushioned his landing.

After Snake Eyes and Scarlett were prematurely shot down in the jungle surrounding Snake Mountain, they spent their time fighting Storm Shadow and Firefly repetitively. She was lucky to walk away in the end with a sword cut to the upper arm that would require stitches. Snake Eyes had a few scrapes and bruises from his various fights with the COBRA Ninjas. Later, she found herself being flung against a brick wall for the second time that week, leaving a nasty gash on her forehead. This time, a grenade had detonated, which sent Destro crashing into her and pushing her across the room into the wall. Destro had managed to use her as a shield against the hard impact of the wall, and had the gull to thank her for the soft landing as he retreated with the rest of the cowardly snakes when Major Bludd pushed the 'self-destruct' button. The mountain lair would self-destruct in 5 minutes. Not a lot of time to gather all the Joes and escape, but thanks to teamwork, everyone made it safely out of the mountain hideout and watched as the mountain imploded upon itself.

Doc and his staff got incredibly busy as the injured Joes returned to base. Many of the injured had retired to their quarters after Doc had patched them up, but there would be many aching bodies around base for the next several days. Doc was busy setting the casts for Lady Jaye's wrist and Duke's leg.

Scarlett's head was bandaged, and a neat row of stitches and bandages graced her arm from the sword wound. Flint approached her as she sat in the waiting room waiting for Lady Jaye and Duke to be released. "Hey Red. Looks like you've been using your head again."

"Funny. Ha ha. Where are all of your battle scars, Mister?"

"I guess I lucked out this time," he said but sounded almost remorseful that he didn't have a scratch or abrasion on him. "Well, since we have a little time, do you mind if you would let me in on you and Duke's little secret?" He said with an inquisitive look in his eye.

"What do you mean?" She asked him innocently.

"You know. The whole you coming out of Duke's room at 900 hrs the other morning."

"Oh, you mean our little collision. I was going to my place to change and meet at the briefing room. Just like the entire base," she replied nonchalantly.

He raised an eyebrow and said precisely, "You know what I'm talking about." He was not going to back down.

Scarlett knew that this would come up eventually. Obviously, he and Lady Jaye knew that she was not at her quarters, and the head on collision between herself and the Warrant Officer had surely peeked his curiosity, especially since it had happened right outside of Duke's quarters. "Look, don't read too much into it Flint. Nothing happened. I stayed at Duke's quarters that night because I needed a place to sleep."

"What was wrong with your bed?" he eyed her suspiciously.

Men were so dense. "How do I put this tactfully? I couldn't sleep at my place because there was too much...um...disturbance." She said as color rose to her cheeks.

"What disturbance? It was quiet and..." he stopped suddenly. Now, he was the one embarrassed. Quickly changing the subject, he said, "I think I better go check on Jaye and see how the rest of the injured are," and he hurriedly left the waiting room.

She chuckled to herself. The light finally went on in his thick head. He should have stopped while he was ahead.

"Howdy darling. You got a little banged up on the noggin, huh?" Wild Bill asked as he sauntered over to Scarlett.

"Yeah, little bump for my hard head."

The conversation continued and ended up with Bill telling Scarlett about the Valentine's dance. "Red, you should have been there. There were so many beautiful ladies there, but no one could have compared to you."

"Bill! You were not supposed to be checking out the other ladies. Wasn't Sonja your date? You were supposed to be only looking at her." She scolded him. Bill had a wondering eye, but he was harmless compared to the wondering eyes of Shipwreck and Clutch.

"Oh yeah, Sonja was fine." He remembered fondly the recent date with his girlfriend and then continued, "You know, I heard a rumor around base that you didn't sleep in your quarters on Valentine's night. Now, seeing that I know what the probable reason was, but who did you stay with since Ace had our place?"

"None of your business, Cowboy." Damn, she was going to kill Mainframe. Those computer guys can't keep their mouths shut. If anyone wants to know what is going on, go badger the guy (or gal) on duty in the control room. They see it all.

"Oh come on, Red. You have to tell me. I've given you sanctuary many a times. Let me in on the gossip. I was off base, remember."

"Fine." She may regret this, but he would keep harassing her until he got an answer. "I stayed with Duke, and no, nothing happened. Duke wouldn't let me stay in my office, and he was a perfect gentleman." She emphasized the 'perfect gentleman' part. God only knows what the new rumor would be.

"Well, I don't know about a gentleman, but at least he is a smart man. Never let a pretty lady sleep in her office."

She rolled her eyes at her friend's connotation and let the subject end. She didn't know what, if anything, was behind the rumors that she always heard regarding her and Duke. They were good friends – best friends, but she remembered the way that Duke stared at her on Valentine's night as they worked together in the control room. At first, the rumors unnerved her because they revolved around the only woman on base sleeping with her CO, of all people. Later, after Cover Girl and Lady Jaye joined the team, she just tried to ignore the rumors, but there was so many of them. How could she not pay attention to them? Some of them were just hearsay and some were speculation about events that actually happened with the assumption that more ensued. Were they reading too much into his actions or was she to unaware of her own feelings to notice them? Relationships were definitely not her strong suit. She had dismissed most of Duke's sentimental tendencies towards her as brotherly concern. They spent a lot of time together, on and off duty. It was very unusual to see one of them without the other. They were partners. They trained together, fought together, watched each other's back, and got each other out of jams. Maybe he had been keeping a much closer eye on her than she realized. Not that she hadn't watched him. He was handsome, strong, and charismatic. He certainly had qualities that attracted her to him.

The emergence of Lady Jaye and Flint into the waiting room brought Scarlett back to the present. She got up and went over to her friend. "How are you feeling?"

"Except for this annoying cast, just peachy." Lady Jaye retorted with an annoying huff. "It's only a broken wrist, but Doc put this cast all the way up my arm."

Flint interjected, "It is so you will not move your arm and take the chance of moving those broken wrist bones." Jaye shot him an evil look. She hated to be restricted, and an arm in a cast was a huge restriction.

"Come on Jaye, let's get you home," Flint said. "You coming, Red?"

"You guys go ahead. I'm going to wait for Duke."

Flint and Jaye gave her a knowing smile and started out of the room.

"It's not what you think," Scarlett yelled after them. She knew what they were thinking, but she didn't know if it was true or not. Somehow, she had the feeling that everyone around her knew what was going on but her. She sighed and returned to her chair.