"Shana!" Her name kept repeating itself over and over in her mind--Duke screaming her name-- before the darkness dominated. She recalled the most recent memory in her mind, which was so vividly reenacting itself over and over again. His touch, his words, and his cologne.
Scarlett stood up from the chair, next to his bed, and walked towards the window. Staring out from it, she watched people stroll down the streets, happily, some holding hands, others holding children and even some just walking alone, but all still had a glow to their features. She turned, her eyes looking at him, on the bed, not moving, not waking, and a tear slowly traveled from her eye down to her cheek.
She went back to her chair, and sat once more, her eyes never leaving his. Waiting, hoping and wishing he would wake up and just gather her in his arms and say everything would be alright. But what if that wasn't meant to be?
Memories began to fill her head, most of them had him in them. The first time they brought in the Sky Strikers, remembering how she had maneuvered her airplane to pass over his head by several inches. She remembered how angry he was, calling the pilot a bacteria brain. She had been that pilot. Then a Cobra attack came from nowhere, making them easy targets, and she felt someone tackle her, rolling her on the ground, making sure she wouldn't get hurt, and her dark blue eyes had locked on his crystal blue ones.
Another memory surfaced, of when they were captured during the satellite recovery. Then one of him calling her name, hoping she wasn't hurt when a Cobra Viper attacked her from behind, and kidnapped Dr. Shakor. Then a memory of the same mission, only she was the one making sure he didn't become a snake dinner. She still could remember his salute of gratitude.
A tear fell down her cheek, and she quickly wiped it away, hoping he didn't wake up to find her in tears. Another image rose from the depths of her memory, one of her, falling through the sky. Her Sky Striker had been hit and she'd had to eject, before the plane exploded. Her parachute opened, her hair flying wildly around her features, clutching her weapon in her hands. She watched the dark blue plane fly closer to her, a Cobra plane. Her eyes narrowed. Her crossbow raised, ready to fire at the plane engine, to knock the enemy out of the sky before they would knock her out first. Then her eyes widened, capturing the familiar blue eyes of the men in the plane. Duke and Ace, passing her by, in a Cobra rattler, heading over to add a wild card into the deck.
She landed on the floor, her parachute behind her, floating down to the ground slowly. The Cobra plane landed, she felt her heart skip a beat when she saw him walking out, alive. She had almost thrown an arrow that would have ended his life, along with their teammate's. But something had stopped her from pulling the trigger and to this day, she never knew why. Was it woman's intuition? Or was it something more powerful that anyone could imagine. She ran at full speed, her arms around his neck, pulling him close, holding him a moment, before they walked back into battle.
Another memory tugged at her, sending her back in the past. One that almost caused her to be killed, by him. But it wasn't him. Not the real Duke. His doppelganger, his clone, his counterfeit, a Synthoid. Cobra had created an image of him and had released it upon the Joe unit. She had become suspicious, almost knowing that the clone Duke was not the real McCoy. An image: they were in the plane, she lied to him, to the clone, telling him that her controls were locked and she could not eject. The test revealed the true identity of the first sergeant. Duke would have never let her perish without trying to rescue her, or anyone else first.
She followed the counterfeit through a hidden door. They fought, she attacked the fake Duke, who fought back, and sent her down to the ground, out of breath. Then her eyes locked on the weapon, ready to send her to another world, a world which she would never return from. Then her eyes saw him, charging at the Synthoid clone, punching each other. Making sure that the Cobra jell-o made man didn't hurt her. She remembered feeling relieved, seeing him alive. Her hand stroking his shoulder, her thoughts flying, happy.
Scarlett, returning to the present, blinked, fighting back tears. Her eyes rested again on his closed ones. Watching his features closely, hoping he would just open them. Those eyes, those crystal blue eyes, that were the door into his soul and into his heart. She recalled the night the Cobra's army of phantom ghosts attacked the base where several Joe members were assisting a Russian unit. She spotted the phantom plane bearing down at them behind a pile of explosives, she had tackled him, shielding him, sending them both on the ground, saving both their lives. She had shielded him, just as he had done at the church.
A lump rose from her throat and she swallowed it back down. True their lives always centered around dangerous situations, mostly because of Cobra. She would never have met him, if for not the creation of G. I. JOE, battling only for one thing, freedom from the evil clutches of Cobra. Another flashback came in her head of him, becoming another zombie, walking away, leaving her behind, from when the Baroness had captured all of the Joe men, using the powerful Siren sea shell. The Joe women had rescued them, thanks to Dr. Johnston. Without her invention, they would have never been able to release the men from the spell. A spell like in a fairy tale. How she wished at the moment, a spell would wake him and once again she would see his eyes, hear his voice and feel his touch.
Several memories raced through her head, one of him, Jaye, and other Joes along with several of the Joe's families, her own included, almost getting hurt, or even worse because of Cobra. Another, of her holding him tightly on a mission in Alaska, while riding on a dogsled. Another of her, blasting fifty B.A.T.S., then one of the robots causing her to lose her weapon, and another causing her to fall. And then like a gallant knight he appeared from nowhere, shooting the B.A.T.S., shielding her from harm.
A tear escaped, trailing down her cheek.
And then, one memory surpassed them all, the one that would haunt her life forever, never leaving, always floating around. The image of him, in her arms, on her lap. His blue eyes losing their sparkle slowly, his chest rising up and down, slowly and the blood falling to the ground from the wound, that had been caused by the evilest creature of them all, Serpentor.
She shut her eyes tightly, trying to bury that memory one more time, but couldn't. She was there, watching him almost die. Almost leaving this world, almost leaving his family, almost leaving his friends, almost leaving --her.
Her hand rose, shakily, moving towards his, then slowly lowering down, touching his skin, feeling his hand, her fingers touching his, linking them both together. Her head slowly followed the trail of her hand, lowering down, her cheek touching his skin on his hand. A tear dropped on his skin and she didn't wipe it away. Her eyes shut tight, and another tear followed the other. A sniffle escaped and the lump in her throat demanded to be released. Her heart burned with pain, sending tremors down her body. She clutched his hand tightly in hers, holding it, wanting him to know that she was there, waiting, hoping, and she would be there, waiting until his eyes opened and her eyes would be the first thing that he would see.
A sob was finally released, and she shut her eyes tightly, creating a dam for the waterfall that wanted to run down, wildly down her cheeks and on his skin. Only one word came out of her mouth, only one was needed, only one said it all, only one was important. "Duke." She whispered to the air, knowing that he would hear it, even though his eyes were closed.
Then, she felt something against her head, slowly moving downwards, though her hair, tangling and then once again traveling upwards on the tip of her head, and once again slowly moving downwards. Her eyes shot open, and a gasp came from her mouth. The feeling, the familiar feeling of his hand on her hair. She slowly turned her head, still holding his other hand with hers, holding it tighter, never letting go. Her head rose slowly up, gazing at his features, at his face and at his eyes, his crystal blue eyes, which gazed upon her tear streaked face, and to her dark blue eyes. She felt her heart skip, from his eyes, from his touch and from his word. "Shana."