Lilah did what she could for Storm Shadow, which was mostly just being there. It wasn't that the fight was overly long, though it sure as hell felt like was, it was that she never really saw someone like Storm Shadow hurt. Even when she accidentally dug her dagger into his shoulder during a session, he calmly removed it and took care of the wound.
To see him like this reminded Lilah that he was human. He was a damn ninja who could kill her with a flick of his wrist, but he could die too. He could be killed just as easily as she. It brought a new perspective. Lilah smiled to herself. Storm Shadow was a bit complex too, it seemed. He was a badass ninja with regrets, could actually get hurt, and no matter what he did to prolong his life, would one day die like any other human. It was different and it was new.
Her grasp on his hand had loosened since he stopped squeezing it so hard. Lilah sighed, resting her head against the four next to him so she could a nap. There was little correspondence after she texted Joe back, but she managed to get one more message before she lost signal. Joe wasn't one to text at all, so she knew that he knew something was going on and calling was not in his best intentions. hurry.
It wasn't even with a capital letter. Lilah felt a bit uneasy about that for some reason. Joe was a stickler for grammar, even in e-mails and other forms of message. It was a small and easy mistake, but at the time, it wasn't. She hated him for it at that moment because she had to wait. Lilah was impatient when under pressure, and it just... bugged her.
He stirred, and Lilah shook away her thoughts, imagining the worst scenarios. His iron grip tensed, and Lilah squeezed back. "Anything new developing?" It was a sucky question, but she thought it was a good way to get something other than silence out of him. It didn't work. "So, I guess that we can call it nothing, huh? One we get out of here, you'll be good as new. I won't be there." Somehow it was easier to tell Storm Shadow this while he was out of it. "Joe called. He said that he needs me for something really important."
Lilah sighed. "I wouldn't expect you to understand. You were accused of killing your uncle or whatever, but I... actually did kill my parents." A small smile made its way. "It felt so good to kill them... They were beating on my brother and my sisters all the time. I was the golden child, the one that just didn't get hit." A tear slid down Lilah's cheek. "I was eighteen. I went back to my sister, and she... called me so many names, said so many things. I nearly became like them too. I almost hit my sister..." Lilah sniffled, brushing a hand under her eyes. "I don't know why I'm even telling you this."
A few minutes later, the helicopter landed. Lilah got out, helping Storm Shadow. She hefted him onto someone else's shoulders, looking at her phone. "Tell Storm that I'm sorry, alright?" The old woman nodded, and Lilah bowed respectively. She waved goodbye, hopping into the helicopter. "Take me to the ground. I'll get my own ride from there."
In jeans and a tight t-shirt with a light jacket, Lilah knocked on Joe's door. "Lilah here," she said, walking in easily. Joe dropped down behind her, and Lilah caught a fist. She pushed it down, kicking him in the chest. He grabbed her foot, and she rolled with him as he threw her back, tapping his chest in a flip. She found three Joes staring at her. "Oh... Heeeyyyy."
"Lilah, doll, meet Roadblock, Flint, and Brenda." Joe had a pen in his hand. "They're leaving now. Go on." He whistled, making them move faster. "Hurry up. Go get that proof of your treason." Lilah smirked at them as they left. "Now. We have to talk seriously."
"You called the meeting, Joe," Lilah said, crossing her arms as she took a seat on the couch, crossing one leg over the other. "Cobra Commander definitely isn't buying into me anyway. Had to get out quick." Joe looked a bit troubled as he took a seat not far from her. "What is it, General?"
"They went to your sister's house yesterday," Joe said. "Orders of the President. I had no jurisdiction. They took your son into some program that I have never heard of and have the feeling that isn't supposed to exist. Funny thing is, those Joes think the President isn't the President." He laughed slightly about that last part, Lilah staring at the table with a blank expression.
"They're right," Lilah whispered, the true meaning of what was happening beginning to settle in. "Holy shit. Zartan... Zartan has my son. Oh, God. He knows who I am, Joe. He freaking knows who I am." Lilah stood up, pacing across Joe's floor. "Oh, fuck me. Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me, fuck me!" She grabbed a pin, throwing it at the wall to have it sink in halfway into the wall.
"Lilah, it's okay. The Joes will get him back." Joe was next to her. Lilah shook him off.
"God. God, no. No. Fuck!" Lilah threw another pen, and Joe grabbed her arm. "Joe, where are your Joes staying? I have to know. If they're going after Zartan, then I want in. I want to have a chance to fuck him up, General!" Joe looked at her a long, long time. He handed her something, and she saw the red dot. "Thanks, General. As for the information you want... Project Prototype is still in the works. Zeus is the immediate threat." Lilah pulled a file from her bag after unzipping it. She handed it to him. "Everything I had access to put into simple wording. Black and white, General."
Joe nodded once, his eyes already skimming for information that proved too valuable. "Lilah, let them figure out who it is sending out military orders." Lilah walked to the door, opening it only to slam it shut. She looked at the technology once more, blowing a blonde curl from her face before going to her Mazda.
Lilah received a well placed hit to her face. Roadblock was standing above her. "Jesus. I'm after the same guy, brother. Joe wanted to make sure you guys didn't waste time." Lilah shifted under him. "He even gave me the device that showed your location, darling. I wouldn't give your asses up to the government when you're my best chance at getting my kid back."
"You're a mom?" It was Flint. "You don't look like one."
"I was eighteen. I'm twenty six now." Lilah was released. She stood up, brushing her clothes. "Believe me, I wouldn't want to be in this dusty place. Although, it is good cover. Abandoned, falling apart, a bit homeless. Love it."
Jaye looked her up and down. "You're the one hired to get back the Joes that went missing when Cobra took back the Prototype we managed to secure." Lilah grinned lazily. "I thought you joined Cobra."
"Ever heard of a spy?" Lilah said dryly. "Besides, do you know how boring Cobra is? It's all about destroying the world. Unless you're with Firefly. Then it ain't so much." Lilah pulled out a long belt of lilly bombs. "Made me these beauties. Six meter blast radius for the bigger ones, and three for the smaller ones." She pulled out one that could be held in two fingers. "These are the ones you wanna watch out for."
Jaye grabbed a larger one. "How does it detonate?"
Lilah pulled the detonator from her back pocket. "With this. I activate them separately though, so I would ask that you put that down." Jaye put it back. "I have to hold it in a certain spot. Uses prints, but I can be a bit paranoid. Sorry if I insinuated something." Lilah turned to look at the three of them. "What's your plan?"
"You're about to find out." The sun was setting, so Lilah honestly didn't know what to expect. A few hours of stalking, and they sent Lady Jaye in to trap him. Even Lilah was a bit jealous of her, though it didn't last long. She was still more awesome than her. At least in her mind.
Lilah sat up in the front with Flint as Roadblock took care of it in the back. He had one minute before he was out. "Hey, the kid that your boss took the other day. I want to know why." It wasn't a question.
"I-I wasn't-" He muffled a sound of pain. "I wasn't told!" Then his head fell and Lilah growled, low and deep.
"You have a seriously freaky growl," Flint said, looking at the road with an uncomfortable expression. Lilah couldn't press back the grin.
"It's supposed to be. Let's get the hell out of here."