Hasbro and Paramount own characters except OCs

A/N: Thanks Betherdy Babe for the beta and sorry for the short chapter, but wanted to update this.

General Clayton Hawk sat with his head cradled in his hands, which rested on his desk. A photo on his computer screen of a beautiful young woman receiving her degree was frozen in place. Knowing that somewhere in the world the little girl he helped deliver, his little angel, was being beaten or worse because of him tore at his very soul. Anger, despair, impotence could not begin to describe his feelings.

A knock at the door caused him to look up and shout, "What!"

Misha and Duke stood outside waiting to be invited in. They both had stony faces like their commanding officer was trying to achieve, but the General was failing miserably.

"What do you have for me?" Hawk asked.

"According to Anna, Zandar is an outcast. He has a group of mercenaries called the Dreadnoughts. Wanna be pirates, I guess," Duke said.

"Has Breaker gotten anything from that signal?" Hawk asked.

"Can get to a three hundred mile area in the south central United States," Duke replied.

"Ze last intelligence of Zandar was of him on a boat in ze Gulf of Mexico," Misha added. "Goes vith ze pirate theory."

"Did Anna remember anything else?" Hawk asked, his eyes pleading with Duke for some more information.

The young man's eyes glanced away and then back. "Not really, sir. Said he wasn't very smart but acted superior. Destro hated dealing with him but he knew a lot of folks that bought arms."

"What else did she say?" Hawk rose out of his seat and put emphasis on each word, speaking through clenched teeth.

Duke glanced at Misha and then stared directly into the eyes of his CO. "She said he's a bit sadistic, sir."

Hawk felt his entire body tense up. Seeing the bruise on her face and the near catatonic look in her eyes was the final straw. The General snapped and grabbed his desk, flipping it over, making Duke and Misha jump back. "I… I'll…" The rage that flowed through him had no outlet.

Misha suddenly began speaking into her ever-present headset. "I vill bring ze General to ze conference room. No, do not bring General Flagg to ze General's office."

General Lawrence Flagg was the son of the man who recruited Hawk. Larry's father, William, died many years ago from a heart attack and his son stepped into the role of leading the Joes until Hawk's appointment seven years ago. Larry was in Washington DC now and handled keeping the Joes top secret. The organization was known to very few in the government or the Pentagon. For him to be in the Pit was even more bad news.

Hawk took a deep breath and let out his anger with the air; trying to remember the breathing techniques Snake Eyes taught him was only frustrating him more.

"General…" Misha started.

"Tell them I'm on my way," Clay said, dismissing his staff with a wave of his hand.

"I vill get someone to fix your desk," his assistant said as she nodded to her boss. "Poor craftsmanship."

Hawk looked at his new assistant and nodded. Her attempt at humor was Misha's way of telling him she understood his pain.

General Lawrence Flagg was scared. He'd never been afraid in his life, which spanned service to his country from Vietnam in the 70s to the First Gulf War. The career soldier had been in Army Intelligence since graduating West Point and never felt fear on the battlefield or reviewing data. His undying faith in the military of the United States and now the team of foreign and domestic fighters, assembled by his father, himself, and Clayton Hawk, never waivered. The events of the past forty-eight hours changed all that.

The sudden arrival of General Hawk pulled him out of his musings. He spoke with confidence in his voice that he did not feel. "Clayton, thanks for taking the time to see me. Wish I brought good news."

"How could they find Kate!" the younger General nearly screamed when the door closed. Clayton settled into his standard angry pose of hands on hips and blue eyes blazing.

"It's beyond Kate, Clay," Larry replied. "We need to recall all our Joes. Our allies around the world are reporting soldiers that were on leave disappearing. Just like your Marines."

"What?" Hawk shouted.

"It appears we've all been betrayed," Larry said.

"Excellent," Zandar shouted as his technicians got the hologram projector working again. He wouldn't risk calling Hawk again, but he could record and send a message. Now for the girl. A grin spread over his features.

Since the moment he laid eyes on Katelyn Abernathy, he knew he'd have her. Her golden hair and blue eyes made her more beautiful than any of the women he'd taken before. The addition of the fiery spirit stirred his blood and fueled his desire even more.

"I'll be in the cell block for a few minutes," he laughed. It wouldn't take long for him to be satisfied and then she'd be in just the right emotional state to send a message to Daddy.

Zandar walked quickly through the corridors, causing the guards to jog along behind him. He left two of the NeoVipers his brother had sent to him from the Commander in the control room and expected to run into the others in the holding area. His own Dreadnaughts, who were not in the best of shape, accompanied him.

His body trembled as he imagined the young woman huddled in her cell. He'd take her right in front of those arrogant bastards the Commander wanted to turn into super soldiers. Laughter rang out as he let one of his men open the door.

It was quickly replaced with a scream of rage as he saw two dead men on the floor. One had his throat obviously slit and the other had glass protruding from his eye and bruising on his throat.

"Nooooo!" he cried as he ran into the cellblock to see empty, open cells. "Find them! Sound the alarm."

"What alarm, boss?" the closest Dreadnaught asked.

Zandar's only reply was a solid punch to the man's flabby mid-section.

TBC

A/N: Sorry for the long delay in moving this story forward. Had a bit of writer's block, not to mention writing a creepy guy's thoughts was difficult. I'll try to update faster.