Chapter Four: A case of the Mondays
Sidewinder walked into the mess hall with Firewall and Ace. They got up that morning and the entire team was out on the obstacle course. They did a full hour of sit-ups, push-ups and other basic calisthenics. When they were done, Beach Head had the entire group run the obstacle course about three times. When he was satisfied with them running the course, he shipped them off to do the rest of their days' activities. Sidewinder was absolutely feeling starved when they walked in. They walked over to the line and got their breakfast. They looked for a table and found one over by the window with Snake Eyes.
"Do you mind if we join you, Snakes?" Ace asked.
By all means Snake Eyes signed. The three of them sat down. How are you doing this morning? I don't think we've been introduced. He pointed to Sidewinder.
"I'm Cassidy Riley, but my handle is Sidewinder." She said as she shook his hand. "You can't talk?"
It's a real long story. I lost my voice a long time ago.
"Yeah, Red told me." Firewall smiled. "I think it was romantic what you did."
Snake Eyes blushed. Aw, it was nothing.
"Speaking of your lady, where is she?" Ace asked. "I didn't see her this morning at PT."
There she is. He pointed right behind Ace. The three of them turned around and saw her. Sidewinder noticed it was the red-head from the night before. Scarlett took the seat next to Snake Eyes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She looked up and noticed who was there.
"Morning Brad, Michelle." She looked over to Sidewinder. "You must be Sidewinder. Sorry about being so rude last night. It was one in the morning and I was trying to get some sleep. Don't think too badly of me. I'm usually pretty mellow." She extended her hand, which Sidewinder shook it.
"Nice to meet you, but off duty you could call me Cassie." Sidewinder smiled. "Sorry about last night. I was bonding with my new room-mate. We won't be up so late next time."
"Well on duty, I'm known as Scarlett, but like you said off duty I go by Shana. We'll have to get a little get together to have you meet the rest of the girls." She took a sip of her coffee. "Speaking of which, here comes Allie now." Sidewinder turned to see Lady Jaye walking over to the table. She didn't look too pleased.
"Morning Allie." Firewall smiled. Lady Jaye just gave her a look and turned to her coffee. Sidewinder looked at her room-mate and noticed that Firewall looked a little hurt by Lady Jaye's grumpiness. She put an arm around Firewall's shoulder. Firewall looked at her and smiled in a way that said thanks. Sidewinder noticed that Ace, Scarlett and Snake Eyes smiled to her. She was concerned about her room-mate and friend. Sidewinder turned to Lady Jaye.
"You know, Michelle was trying to be friendly. You didn't have to treat her like that."
Lady Jaye turned and glared at Sidewinder. "Don't start with me newbie. Just because you started doesn't mean you can tell me what to do."
Sidewinder was put off at Jaye's attitude. She turned back to her plate and started picking at it. There was a lot of tension at the table, so the guys tried to start a conversation.
Did you catch the game last night, Ace?
"Yeah I did, Snakes. I'll have your twenty by the end of the day." Ace smiled, along with Scarlett. Ace was infamous with his bets and most of the time he was on the winning side. "How did you know that Houston would win last night?"
Intuition. Snake Eyes signed. No, just kidding. I played the averages. They won their last six games and I just took a shot.
"Remind me that when you bet on a game with some of the others to take your side." Ace smiled. "You have a knack of choosing good teams to bet on."
"Speaking of which," Scarlett chimed in. "How many seats are open for your game on Saturday? Snakes and I were thinking of joining this week."
Before Ace could answer, Jaye snapped. "Geez, could you guys drop it!? You just won your game this week Ace and you're planning the next game?" Jaye let out a sigh of disgust. Sidewinder had enough.
"You know if you're having a bad morning, why don't you go somewhere where your sourpuss would be appreciated. I'm thinking by yourself would be nice."
Jaye's eyes widen a little. "You know nothing of what I had to go through last night. You have a lot of guts to talk to me like that. I think you need to shut your yap before I shut it for you."
Ace groaned and dragged his hand across his face. Snake Eyes scratched the back of his neck and Scarlett looked into her cup of coffee. Firewall tried to defuse the situation, blaming it on Monday.
"Look, it's been a rough morning for all of us. Why don't we just finish breakfast and just try to enjoy the rest of the day."
Jaye looked right at Firewall. "Why don't you just shut up!" Firewall started to pick at her food again, but this time she had tears welling up in her eyes. Sidewinder noticed this and started back in on Jaye again.
"Don't you dare talk to Michelle like that! Why don't you go find someone else to bother and leave us to enjoy our morning."
"Why don't you go to hell." Jaye spat back.
"Why don't you shut up before you regret what will happen to you." Sidewinder snarled.
"Go to hell you fucking bitch." Jaye said in Gaelic. Sidewinder smiled.
"I would, but I don't want your job of head demon, you cunt." Jaye looked back at her in surprise, then an evil smile came to her lips.
"So, you know Gaelic? I'm impressed that a dumb blonde could be taught."
"I know more than you, whore." Sidewinder started back at her in Gaelic. "Of course, what I'm trying to figure is what you have on our third in command. How did he get stuck with a psycho bitch like you?"
Jaye looked livid. "What did you say?"
"Did I stutter? So you decide to ride the chain of command up to the top? It makes sense why you're in this outfit. It must be interesting to fuck the third in command to stay on this team." Scarlett's eyes grew huge in horror.
"You didn't?" Firewall squeaked out.
"Oh no." Ace groaned again, slapping his forehead.
Snake Eyes just shook his head. This is going to be bad.
Jaye grabbed her coffee cup and threw its contents in Sidewinder's direction. She missed and hit Firewall in the face with hot coffee. Firewall screamed in pain. Scarlett got up and went to her side. Sidewinder grabbed her glass of orange juice and threw the juice into Jaye's face. Jaye was soaked. She stood up and was pissed off. Sidewinder stood up as well. She put her hand up and with a gesture, told Jaye to come and get her. Jaye snarled and leapt over the table to get at Sidewinder. Sidewinder grabbed her arm and with a rolling toss, threw Jaye into Bazooka. Jaye's body hit his tray, which he dropped.
"Aw man. I need more breakfast." Bazooka said, slumping his shoulders. He turned back to the line. The rest of the Joes stood up and watched in amazement. Jaye stood up and charged at Sidewinder.
"Catfight! Catfight!" Yelled Shipwreck. "Twenty bucks on the new girl!"
"Screw that! Thirty on Jaye to kick newbie's ass!" Clutch shouted.
"Thirty says that the mess gets destroyed!" Zap chuckled.
Jaye caught Sidewinder around the waist. Sidewinder smiled and brought her knee into Jaye's gut. Jaye's grip slackened and Sidewinder connected a hammer-blow to Jaye's back. Jaye dropped like a sack of potatoes, but she wasn't out. She grabbed Sidewinder's ankle and swept her leg. Sidewinder dropped on her butt and rolled to her side. Jaye was on her and applied a chokehold on Sidewinder. Sidewinder tested herself and stood up with Jaye on her back. She slipped on some of Bazooka's dropped breakfast and put Jaye and herself through a table. Both of them were winded, but it was Sidewinder that was up first. Ace ran to Sidewinder and tried to restrain her. Snake Eyes ran over to Jaye and put her in a half nelson. Both women were spitting and yowling like alley cats.
"Let go of me, Ace! I want to wreck her pretty face!"
"You're dead, bitch!" Jaye screamed. With her free hand, she found a knife on Snake Eyes and ripped it out of its home. She threw it at Sidewinder, with the blade finding its target. It sunk deep into Sidewinder's bad shoulder. Sidewinder dropped to her knees, screaming in agony. There was a collective gasp from everyone there. Ace was trying to remove the knife, but Sidewinder turned away from him. Snake Eyes let go of Jaye in shock. Even Jaye was surprised by what she did.
"I…I didn't mean…Oh God, what did I do?" Jaye was able to get out.
"WHAT IN GOD'S GREEN EARTH IS GOING ON IN MY MESS HALL?!" Everyone turned to the door and saw Beach Head storming in. He took a look around and saw the carnage in front of him. He saw Scarlett trying to help Firewall, both women not knowing what transpired. He saw Snake Eyes and Lady Jaye standing there in shock. Then he looked over to Ace trying to help Sidewinder, who at this point was on her side in the fetal position; bawling.
"I WANT THE SIX OF YOU DOWN IN THE GENERAL'S OFFICE! NOW!!" Beach Head yelled. The six soldiers got up and started towards the door. Beach Head growled and looked at everyone. He shook his head in disgust. Everyone stared at Beach Head, except for Bazooka.
"What did I miss?" Bazooka asked. Beach Head turned around. He was glaring at them.
"The only thing you missed was a war." Beach Head stated, getting angry. "I WANT ALL OF YOU THAT DIDN'T HELP STOP THIS TO KISS THE FLOOR AND GIVE ME ONE HUNDRED!! NOW!!" He walked out of the mess, leaving the rest of the Joes doing their punishment.
General Hawk sat at his desk working on paperwork. He was unaware of what transpired in the mess hall. He was working on the reports from Jinx and greenshirts Anderson and Greenwood. He was trying to figure out what transpired last night in the Midwest. He shook his head when there was a knock on the door."Come in." The door opened and it was Flint and Duke.
"How are you, sir?" Flint asked.
"I'm a little stressed out, Flint. That mission last night was a complete fiasco." Hawk said. "Is there any progress on Shockwave's situation?"
Duke shook his head. "He's in bad shape, sir. Lifeline and Dr. Talbot have been working on him since they got in this morning."
"If it wasn't for your piloting skills Flint, we would burying two soldiers today instead of one." Hawk said.
"Trust me sir, if it wasn't for both Jaye and I trying to stabilize him; we would have lost him. He gained consciousness for a short while, but slipped back out near Pennsylvania."
"He's been in worse sir." Duke chimed in. "He's a fighter and he'll fight through this."
"How is Jinx taking to all of this?" Hawk asked.
"She upset and rightfully so, sir. She took it really bad. Storm Shadow and Kamakura are with her right now." Flint said. "I've let Lifeline and Doc know that if she wanted to stay by his side…"
"Good call, Flint." Hawk replied. "She should be by his side, but we don't want her staying there all the time. She needs time I know, but she needs to be around others as well."
"Way ahead of you on that, General." Duke replied. "I talked to Storm Shadow and he said he would take care of her as well."
Hawk was about to ask another question when he heard a commotion from the hallway.
"We need to get Sidewinder and Firewall to the infirmary, Red."
"You want to tell that to Beach Head, Ace? Be my guest."
Duke stepped into the hallway to see what was going on. His eyes grew big. "General, you may want to call Doc or Stretcher. It seems your office is going to become a triage unit."
Hawk picked up the phone and called the infirmary. He spoke to Doc and asked her to come up and to bring up a medkit. He hung up the phone and looked to see Scarlett enter with Firewall holding the right side of her face. He then watched Snake Eyes escort Lady Jaye in the door. Finally, Ace was carrying in a pale Sidewinder. Beach Head came in last and closed the door.
Hawk stood up from his chair. "What the devil is going on here?"
"I'm not sure myself, General." Beach Head said. "I know there was a commotion from the mess hall. I got there too late, but I found Sidewinder here with a knife in her shoulder."
Duke and Flint looked at each other in shock. "What did you say, Sergeant?"
"I found them after a fight. Sidewinder had a knife in her shoulder. Jaye was standing there, with a shocked look on her face. Scarlett was trying to help Firewall here. I'm not sure what happened, sir."
Hawk looked at the situation. He saw that Sidewinder had a knife still in her left shoulder. Ace and Snake Eyes were trying to get the knife out without hurting Sidewinder. Scarlett was trying to help a squirming Firewall. Lady Jaye was the only one not doing anything. She looked like she was still in some form of shock.
"Beach, do you know who was involved?" Hawk asked.
"I think so sir. I believe it was Lady Jaye and Sidewinder. I think that Firewall was an unintended victim in this whole thing."
Hawk looked at Scarlett. "Scarlett, could you tell me what happened?"
"I can tell you up to when Jaye's coffee hit Firewall in the face. After that, I was taking care of Firewall." Hawk nodded as if to say continue. "Well I joined Snakes, Ace, Firewall and Sidewinder for breakfast. We were having an okay morning, then Jaye joined us. I knew that she was in a bad mood this morning, but I didn't warn the rest of them. I'll take blame on that."
"It's not your job to let people know if Allie is having a bad morning." Flint said.
"Still, I try to warn people when she's moody."
"Continue, Scarlett." Hawk said
"Well, Firewall said good morning to Jaye. Jaye responded negatively and upset Firewall. Sidewinder was trying to be nice and brought it to Jaye's attention of her attitude. Of course, Jaye responded negatively. We tried to talk about something else and it was okay for a minute or two when…"
"Let me guess, Jaye?" Hawk asked.
Scarlett nodded. "The two of them had words and Jaye had enough. She threw her coffee, aiming for Sidewinder. She missed and got Firewall."
Hawk sighed. "Which one of you want to take over the story?" Both Snake Eyes and Ace stepped forward and explained what happened next. They explained the fight, how they restrained both of them, how Jaye somehow got Snake Eyes' knife and threw it; hitting Sidewinder in the shoulder.
"I see." Hawk said after a few moments. "Scarlett, take Firewall down to the infirmary. If you run into Doc, tell her to go back to the infirmary. We'll send Sidewinder down in a little while." Scarlett helped Firewall up and started for the door. "Now, what to do with the other two? Any suggestions, gentlemen?" Hawk asked his commanding officers.
"If this was a regular unit sir, a court-marshal would be in order." Beach Head said.
Duke nodded. "This would be assault on Jaye's part. It was a fight General, any way you look at it. Both of them would have to be disciplined."
"I think that a court-marshal is a bit harsh. I agree with the discipline, but there's no reason for extreme measures." Flint replied.
"You trying to save your wife, Faireborn?" Beach Head asked.
"I'm not." Flint replied. This caused Jaye to look at Flint, confused. "We're all aware of Allison's outbursts. Most of the time, they're diffused before they escalate to physical violence. This is a first time offense with Jaye."
"That's true, sir." Duke agreed. "I'm sure that her anger got the best of her."
"I'm thinking that some time on the obstacle course would be perfect punishment for both of them." Beach Head said, grinning through his baclava.
Snake Eyes stepped up. Actually, I have an idea sir.
All of the commanding officers looked at Snake Eyes. "Go ahead, Snake Eyes." Hawk said, smiling.
I could use some… assistants for my self defense classes. I think that these two would be perfect. They seem to have the energy that is needed to help with my classes.
Duke, Flint and Hawk smiled at the proposition. Beach Head looked at Snake Eyes with a murderous look. "You're giving them the easy way out having them be his assistants. He'll take it easy on them."
Actually Beach, they will help for all of my advanced and expert classes. They aren't getting off that easy at all. I think they'll do fine. Snake Eyes signed.
Even Beach Head smiled. Hawk was the one that spoke. "I think that sounds like a better idea. Okay Snakes, they belong to you this afternoon. Try to make sure that they aren't dead by the end of the week. That's how long you have them for."
Fair enough. They'll be fine and done Friday. You have my word. Snake Eyes smiled. Jaye, you better get in your training gear. I have an advanced class in an hour. I'll take care of Sidewinder, Ace. I'll make sure that she gets taken care of.
Ace let go of Sidewinder. She smiled and mouthed a thank you to Ace. He smiled and walked out of the room. Jaye left as well, with Flint right behind her. Snake Eyes walked out of the office with Sidewinder. They headed to the infirmary.