"Second Impressions"
*******************
The next morning Scarlett put on her Class A's and reported for duty at G.I. Joe headquarters. She was greeted and brought onto the base by the team's Ranger.
"You must be Sergeant O'Hara," the black man in camos greeted her.
"What gave me away?" She asked, knowing what the answer would be.
"You're female," he told her, "first one we've had here so you're kinda hard to miss. Sergeant Wilkinson, but you can call me Stalker."
"Pleased to meet you Stalker." She shook his extended hand.
"Hawk wanted to greet you personally but he got called off base a few hours ago so I'll be takin' you to the second in command," Stalker informed her as he led her through the halls in the main building. "So you're the martial arts expert?"
"Oh, you could say that I know enough to remind a boy of his manners," she said wryly.
"I bet! So you're gonna be instructing hand-to-hand combat to the team, wow."
"Wow you're going to learn hand-to-hand combat? Or wow you're learning from little ol' me?" She asked skeptically.
"Both?" Stalker laughed. "Hey I ain't mad at you for bein' here, I'm on your side. Some of these boys could use a lesson in manners, as you put it."
"I'll bet they could." Scarlett smiled to herself at Stalker's good nature. She doubted she would have as much luck with the rest of the Joe team. Women in any sort of military unit were less than revered. Well tough shit for them, she hadn't come this far to be scared off by some testosterone clique.
"Here we are," he told her as they stopped in front of the C.O.'s office to check in. With her paperwork clutched in her hand, Scarlett walked into the office.
*******************
A well-built blonde man in a perfectly pressed and starched mustard colored shirt sat behind the desk with his head down as he made notes on his paperwork.
"Sergeant O'Hara reporting for duty, sir," Scarlett declared as she stood front and center.
"No need to call me "sir," O'Hara. I'm not an officer," he stated with slight annoyance. Shit! She cursed herself. She had assumed that the second in command would naturally be an officer. They always were.
"I'm sorry. What would you like me to call you?" She couldn't help letting a slight annoyance of her own slip though for the attitude she was already receiving. He couldn't even be bothered to look up at her! Probably his passive-aggressive way of expressing his anti-female sentiment, she huffed to herself. After all, he has to have the alpha-male quality to him if he's in a command position. This was to be expected and something she was no stranger to.
"I'm Master Sergeant Hauser but they call me Duke around here - ," he finally said as he looked up from his paperwork then stopped mid-sentence. Suddenly a pair of too-familiar piercing blues were looking directly at her. She thought her heart was going to stop.
"Drink Man," she muttered under her breath as the events of the prior evening came flooding back to her. Great, she lamented to herself. The man she gave the brush-off to just happens to be her commanding officer! Sure, she would have a nice long career in G.I. Joe to look forward to - NOT. Male ego would surely thwart that possibility. She already hated him for it.
"Look I - ," Duke started to state.
"Wished upon a star?" Scarlett finished his sentence. She wasn't sure if she was trying to go down in flames or just using humor to try to lighten up the situation. Duke let out a soft chuckle.
"Well it would seem so, wouldn't it? My mother always told me to be careful what I wished for," he quipped. Scarlett smiled out of the corner of her mouth. Underneath that strong confident exterior Drink Man was a nervous wreck!
"Well here I am, what do you want to do with me now?" Scarlett bit her lower lip, silently kicking herself for how that sentence came out. Drink Man wasn't the only nervous wreck, though judging from the slightly flushed tone that now washed over his face, she probably didn't want him to answer her question. She didn't want to know that her C.O. was having depraved sexual fantasies about her. A smile turned up on his lips.
"The first thing I want to do is welcome you to the Joe team," he stated more formally as he stood up and extended his hand out to her. Scarlett quietly breathed a sigh of relief as she shook his hand. Maybe he would erase the prior evening and give her a fresh start after all. Did his handshake grip linger just a moment longer than necessary? She wondered then chalked it up to her nerves in overdrive.
"Come on, I'll give you a tour of the base," he said as he walked around the desk and showed her to the door. As she followed him into the hall he quipped to her, "So you're a Falcons Cheerleader in your spare time, huh?" He let out a small chuckle as Scarlett's face started to blush in embarrassment. She drew a deep breath.
"Only when I'm not too preoccupied with raising your children," she retorted with a raised eyebrow. There, that ought to shut him up. She could hardly contain her smirk for it.
"Touché," he replied. "So what's your weapon of choice, O'Hara?"
"My hands."
"Oh that's right, the Karate," he reminded himself out loud.
Scarlett was quiet for a moment. "San Soo," she finally corrected him.
"Come again?"
Scarlett smiled out of the corner of her mouth. "Kung Fu San Soo, not Karate. It's my preferred fighting form," she clarified.
"What's the difference?" He asked.
"To put it in layman's terms, Karate is a defensive technique whereas San Soo is more offensive and aggressive. Haven't you ever heard that the best defense is a good offense? San Soo is the finest hand-to-hand combat ever devised by man, not to mention deadly," she explained. "Because of its effective, no-nonsense approach, San Soo is the latest fighting form preferred by many military and law enforcement agencies across the country."
"And this is what you're here to train the new team for."
"You got it."
"Hmmm, interesting. I'll look forward to that."
"To what? Me kicking your butt all over this base?" She taunted him. "Just because you're in command doesn't mean I'll go easy on you, Master Sergeant."
"Good. I was hoping you wouldn't," he replied with a smirk. She looked sidelong at him, wondering what he meant by that. Maybe she was reading too much into his statement.
*******************
"Duke, take a look at this." Scarlett was working in the control room. "This just came in from Intelligence."
"What do we have here?" Duke asked, walking up behind Scarlett to look at the screen.
"Sebastian Bludd, former Major turned terrorist, assassin and soldier-for- hire. He's one of the most notorious mercenaries in the world and we have reason to believe he's working for Cobra now."
"I've heard of this guy, a real creep. He'd kill his own mother just to sell tickets to her funeral. What else do you have?"
"The Baroness Anastasia DeCobray, born to wealthy European aristocrats. Started in student radicalism and moved on to international terrorism. Real rich spoiled brat turned bad. She's believed to be working for Cobra now as well.
"If they've joined the Cobra ranks then we've really got our work cut out for us. See what else you can dig up on them, Scarlett."
"Will do. Oh and Duke, don't forget training starts tomorrow."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world."
*******************
Scarlett lay awake in her quarters, staring at the ceiling. One advantage of being the only female on the team was that she didn't have to share her quarters with anyone. Quite a luxury indeed, it was the most privacy she had ever since she had enlisted in the Army years ago. And a two-bedroom suite to boot! Of course as more female members joined the G.I. Joe ranks over time she would eventually have to share this suite. But not right now. Right now she could be alone with her thoughts. She didn't know what to make of her C.O. aka "Drink Man." What was his story? And why did she care?
"Stop it," she told herself as she tried to shut off her curiosity about the man.
*******************
*******************
The next morning Scarlett put on her Class A's and reported for duty at G.I. Joe headquarters. She was greeted and brought onto the base by the team's Ranger.
"You must be Sergeant O'Hara," the black man in camos greeted her.
"What gave me away?" She asked, knowing what the answer would be.
"You're female," he told her, "first one we've had here so you're kinda hard to miss. Sergeant Wilkinson, but you can call me Stalker."
"Pleased to meet you Stalker." She shook his extended hand.
"Hawk wanted to greet you personally but he got called off base a few hours ago so I'll be takin' you to the second in command," Stalker informed her as he led her through the halls in the main building. "So you're the martial arts expert?"
"Oh, you could say that I know enough to remind a boy of his manners," she said wryly.
"I bet! So you're gonna be instructing hand-to-hand combat to the team, wow."
"Wow you're going to learn hand-to-hand combat? Or wow you're learning from little ol' me?" She asked skeptically.
"Both?" Stalker laughed. "Hey I ain't mad at you for bein' here, I'm on your side. Some of these boys could use a lesson in manners, as you put it."
"I'll bet they could." Scarlett smiled to herself at Stalker's good nature. She doubted she would have as much luck with the rest of the Joe team. Women in any sort of military unit were less than revered. Well tough shit for them, she hadn't come this far to be scared off by some testosterone clique.
"Here we are," he told her as they stopped in front of the C.O.'s office to check in. With her paperwork clutched in her hand, Scarlett walked into the office.
*******************
A well-built blonde man in a perfectly pressed and starched mustard colored shirt sat behind the desk with his head down as he made notes on his paperwork.
"Sergeant O'Hara reporting for duty, sir," Scarlett declared as she stood front and center.
"No need to call me "sir," O'Hara. I'm not an officer," he stated with slight annoyance. Shit! She cursed herself. She had assumed that the second in command would naturally be an officer. They always were.
"I'm sorry. What would you like me to call you?" She couldn't help letting a slight annoyance of her own slip though for the attitude she was already receiving. He couldn't even be bothered to look up at her! Probably his passive-aggressive way of expressing his anti-female sentiment, she huffed to herself. After all, he has to have the alpha-male quality to him if he's in a command position. This was to be expected and something she was no stranger to.
"I'm Master Sergeant Hauser but they call me Duke around here - ," he finally said as he looked up from his paperwork then stopped mid-sentence. Suddenly a pair of too-familiar piercing blues were looking directly at her. She thought her heart was going to stop.
"Drink Man," she muttered under her breath as the events of the prior evening came flooding back to her. Great, she lamented to herself. The man she gave the brush-off to just happens to be her commanding officer! Sure, she would have a nice long career in G.I. Joe to look forward to - NOT. Male ego would surely thwart that possibility. She already hated him for it.
"Look I - ," Duke started to state.
"Wished upon a star?" Scarlett finished his sentence. She wasn't sure if she was trying to go down in flames or just using humor to try to lighten up the situation. Duke let out a soft chuckle.
"Well it would seem so, wouldn't it? My mother always told me to be careful what I wished for," he quipped. Scarlett smiled out of the corner of her mouth. Underneath that strong confident exterior Drink Man was a nervous wreck!
"Well here I am, what do you want to do with me now?" Scarlett bit her lower lip, silently kicking herself for how that sentence came out. Drink Man wasn't the only nervous wreck, though judging from the slightly flushed tone that now washed over his face, she probably didn't want him to answer her question. She didn't want to know that her C.O. was having depraved sexual fantasies about her. A smile turned up on his lips.
"The first thing I want to do is welcome you to the Joe team," he stated more formally as he stood up and extended his hand out to her. Scarlett quietly breathed a sigh of relief as she shook his hand. Maybe he would erase the prior evening and give her a fresh start after all. Did his handshake grip linger just a moment longer than necessary? She wondered then chalked it up to her nerves in overdrive.
"Come on, I'll give you a tour of the base," he said as he walked around the desk and showed her to the door. As she followed him into the hall he quipped to her, "So you're a Falcons Cheerleader in your spare time, huh?" He let out a small chuckle as Scarlett's face started to blush in embarrassment. She drew a deep breath.
"Only when I'm not too preoccupied with raising your children," she retorted with a raised eyebrow. There, that ought to shut him up. She could hardly contain her smirk for it.
"Touché," he replied. "So what's your weapon of choice, O'Hara?"
"My hands."
"Oh that's right, the Karate," he reminded himself out loud.
Scarlett was quiet for a moment. "San Soo," she finally corrected him.
"Come again?"
Scarlett smiled out of the corner of her mouth. "Kung Fu San Soo, not Karate. It's my preferred fighting form," she clarified.
"What's the difference?" He asked.
"To put it in layman's terms, Karate is a defensive technique whereas San Soo is more offensive and aggressive. Haven't you ever heard that the best defense is a good offense? San Soo is the finest hand-to-hand combat ever devised by man, not to mention deadly," she explained. "Because of its effective, no-nonsense approach, San Soo is the latest fighting form preferred by many military and law enforcement agencies across the country."
"And this is what you're here to train the new team for."
"You got it."
"Hmmm, interesting. I'll look forward to that."
"To what? Me kicking your butt all over this base?" She taunted him. "Just because you're in command doesn't mean I'll go easy on you, Master Sergeant."
"Good. I was hoping you wouldn't," he replied with a smirk. She looked sidelong at him, wondering what he meant by that. Maybe she was reading too much into his statement.
*******************
"Duke, take a look at this." Scarlett was working in the control room. "This just came in from Intelligence."
"What do we have here?" Duke asked, walking up behind Scarlett to look at the screen.
"Sebastian Bludd, former Major turned terrorist, assassin and soldier-for- hire. He's one of the most notorious mercenaries in the world and we have reason to believe he's working for Cobra now."
"I've heard of this guy, a real creep. He'd kill his own mother just to sell tickets to her funeral. What else do you have?"
"The Baroness Anastasia DeCobray, born to wealthy European aristocrats. Started in student radicalism and moved on to international terrorism. Real rich spoiled brat turned bad. She's believed to be working for Cobra now as well.
"If they've joined the Cobra ranks then we've really got our work cut out for us. See what else you can dig up on them, Scarlett."
"Will do. Oh and Duke, don't forget training starts tomorrow."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world."
*******************
Scarlett lay awake in her quarters, staring at the ceiling. One advantage of being the only female on the team was that she didn't have to share her quarters with anyone. Quite a luxury indeed, it was the most privacy she had ever since she had enlisted in the Army years ago. And a two-bedroom suite to boot! Of course as more female members joined the G.I. Joe ranks over time she would eventually have to share this suite. But not right now. Right now she could be alone with her thoughts. She didn't know what to make of her C.O. aka "Drink Man." What was his story? And why did she care?
"Stop it," she told herself as she tried to shut off her curiosity about the man.
*******************