DISCLAIMER: I don't know GI Joe, since that's the works of Hasbros. I only own Nixx/Chloe. My first Joe fic, so let me know when you're finished reading this chapter. Also, signing will be in Bold and writing will be in italics. ENJOY!

(Part 2: Nighttime, somewhere in Khanistan)

The battle was about to get ugly when Snake Eyes and Nixx jumped from the plane and took out the small band of Neo-Vipers. Nixx was able to take out more before her eyes stopped at the Baroness.

'Ana…?' Nixx asked in her mind at the sight of the woman.

As quick as that thought came into her mind, the NATO CO was after the Baroness. Nixx ran after them and caught up with the Baroness and got kicked in the face as a result. After a split second, the Baroness was gone and Nixx was left with the NATO CO and the warheads. Before the NATO CO could react, she swung her gun at him.

"Whoa, whoa! I should be asking who you work for…" the CO said before the rest of Alpha team dropped into the area.

In the next few minutes, Nixx watched as the scene unfolded before her eyes. Once Hawk was done talking, Nixx walked right up to the NATO CO and narrowed her eyes a bit. In a heartbeat, she punched him in the arm.

"OWWWW! What the hell?!"

You don't write, you don't call! What the f***, Duke?!?!?! You're as bad as Ripcord here, Nixx signed to Duke. And I thought working with you two would have meant that we would keep up like we did in SHANGHAI.

It took both NATO men a few seconds after Nixx signed to realize who she was.

"Chloe?! You're with these guys????" Ripcord shouted as he scooped up his old friend in his arms. "Man, you don't write either…what happened to you?"

Scarlett and Breaker both saw Nixx trying to break from the hug when Ripcord released her. Nixx took in deep breaths before she signed something to Ripcord.

Your hugs haven't changed, Rip…

"Yeah well…nothing I can't do about it. You still trying to read lips or did you get to learn finally?"

Oh, I can read lips a lot quicker nowadays…can't say the same about my hearing… Nixx signed as the team went to the transport, heading back to the Pit.

The team stepped out of the transport as Hawk greeted then back from the mission. Nixx was pretty quiet on the way down to the Ops Room, just watching the other Joes training and whatnot. Snake Eyes saw this and signed if Nixx was ok, which she nodded her head in response. Snake Eyes had become a guardian for Nixx, even a mentor; and the young woman was grateful for the silent companionship, but even Nixx had a feeling of Snake Eyes being more than a guardian to her.

Later that week, Nixx was getting ready for Duke and Ripcord. Snake Eyes and Scarlett already tested them, so it was left up to Nixx to assess their psychological evaluations. Both men were currently waiting for her in the Rec Room after she gathered the paperwork necessary for the psych eval.

Ok, so I have the honors to test you boys on your psych evaluations. I know what you scored already on the other parts of your assessment and I appreciate it if you don't ask what you got…that goes ESPECIALLY for you, Ripcord. Speaking of which, you're up first, Rip, Nixx signed before Rip followed her to another part of the Rec Room.

"You know that you can speak, right? You had your operation done three years ago and it was a success as far as your hearing goes…" Ripcord whispered as soon as the two of them were at the designated spot.

Nixx sighed before she played with her right earlobe.

"Yeah, I know that Rip…but it's easier for me to read lips and sign…besides, no one on the team knows that I had that operation except for General Hawk. He knew only because he read my files," Nixx replied back, her voice surprisingly showing no sign of inactive use.

"So what's holding you back from speaking to the team?"

Nixx sighed as she looked over at Duke, who was looking right at her. She then focused her attention back at the African-American pilot.

"Because the last time I spoke was at Rex's funeral. Since then, I haven't spoken to anyone. Now, if you're done interrupting, I have to get your psych eval to the general," Nixx said before she went to do her evaluation on Ripcord.

Once it was Duke's turn, he simply held up a hand before he spoke.

"Save your speech…just ask the necessary questions," Duke bluntly stated.

Nixx mouthed out a 'Thank You' to Duke and did the same evaluation on him. Soon, it was over and she went to give her results to General Hawk.

Later that afternoon, the team was relaxing in the Rec Room; Nixx was in the middle of warming up when Ripcord saw a new scar on her left side of her torso and let out a low whistle.

"Bet that had to hurt…" Ripcord said as Nixx gave him the bird. "Damn girl…no need to get all hostile with me…"

Go sweet talk to Scarlett…save your methods on someone that falls for it… Nixx smugly signed as she went into a tense yoga stance.

She didn't need to know what happened after that, for Ripcord's yelp signaled that Duke had hit him for Nixx; this allowed her to smirk slightly. Snake Eyes, who was watching Nixx, fell into rhythm with her before they went into a mock sparring match against one another. The others stopped with what they were doing in order to watch the two go at it. In the end, it was a draw and Nixx received a round of claps for it. After everyone went back to what they were doing, Snake Eyes went to balance himself on his twin katana swords. Nixx mimicked Snake Eyes by doing a hand stand of her own; Snake Eyes smiled a little as he saw Nixx's arms shaking from the effort.

Nixx, after holding the stance for a few minutes, landed back on her feet, rotating her wrists a bit to loosen them up. Snake Eyes righted himself up to inspect her wrists.

Nothing to worry about, Snake…just a little sore from holding that stance a bit longer than I wanted to. It's nothing to worry about, Nixx signed, not realizing that she was blushing from the gesture.

Duke saw this and smiled a little bit to himself. The last time he ever saw Nixx get this close to another guy, it was with Rex before he was killed four years ago. Sighing at the memory, he went back to his workout routine before General Hawk walked in.

A/N: Finally got Duke and Ripcord into the storyline. Next one is going to be EXCITING!!!! Don't forget to R+R. -JO-