I…I am…UPDATING. Wow, that's something I haven't done for a while. I'm using my desk top for this chapter, I just hope old Desky can hang in there for a few more chapters! Probably not…Oh technology, why do thou hate thy?
….
Two weeks later
In the two weeks after Snake Eyes and Rebel had officially started dating, it seemed that these two misfits had been high school lovers. Complete opposites yet inseparable, just like puzzle pieces glued together.
"As my mother once said, 'God be with the man that thinks he can tame that woman.'" Lady T shook her head as Rebel had picked a few tough looking SEALs to spar with one day. She came away with a bruise, a few new friends and a smile on her face. "Because everything she punches loves her…."
Scarlett had found Tap's reason for acting so anti-social and cold; she was taking everyone's shifts! Getting fifteen hours of sleep a week at the most; Hawk granted her leave for a few days and she went back to herself finally.
As things in the Joe base seemed to get only brighter, they didn't know that nightfall was coming on swift wings.
….
"Nik-Nik-Nik-Nikkiam!" Rebel sang as she waved her arms over her head at their lunch table. Scarlett, Lady T, Ripcord, and Heavy Duty were all working on this 'super-tracking-missile-bullet-bomb' together. So Duke failed at beating Rebel at cards as Snake Eyes silently rooted for his girlfriend.
"Waz up mah trigga-finga?" Tap said in a Brooklyn accent as she set her plate on the table and sat down.
"What movie is that off of?" Rebel asked putting a card down to which Duke smirked confidently.
"Death Slam 2." Tap answered her brows furrowing slightly.
"Let's leave it that way." Rebel said giving Duke the royal flush. Tap laughed to herself before starting to eat her salad. "You'll never beat me at this, you know that right?" Rebel said looking at Duke as she shuffled the cards.
"I figured that out after you took my biscuit." He sighed looking at his empty plate, all his food had been lost to the green eyed woman across from him.
"Well here's your chicken fingers back." Rebel said sliding the plate to him. "Wow, I suddenly feel like I'm in middle school. Gambling with lunch items. That and the military is making us eat chicken fingers." She rolled her eyes at herself as Snake Eyes patted her shoulder with sarcastic sympathy.
'Beep!Beep!Beep! .Dom.'
"What's that?" Duke asked as Tap pulled a communicator out. She had a text message from…The Witch Doctor.
"Cats in hell…" Tap breathed as Rebel leaned over the table. She stopped Tap from opening the message.
"Get Hawk first." She told her.
…..
"How is he contacting you?" Hawk demanded from them.
"Sir, the message hasn't even been opened. After we read it, we'll have Breaker track it." Tap said, repeating her first ten sentences of the conversation. He thought awhile before giving her the okay nod.
'Awake you mongoose! There is a Cobra in your den! He cannot see him, but he is there! He is everywhere! You cannot fight him, run instead! Live to fight him in the light, follow my warning!'
"Should we take it seriously, sir?" Duke asked feeling a slight shiver run down his spine.
"We should take it into consideration, but how do we know that this…'Witch Doctor' isn't just trying to flush us out?" Hawk answered him. It made sense, but if it wasn't an ally source then how could they get a personal communicator number?
Rebel wasn't focused on their conversation; she was searching her brain for something familiar. Mongoose, why did it seem so important to her? Somewhere in the farthest part of her conscious made that seem important.
"Keep your eyes out. Dismissed." Hawk's words broke her thoughts. She saluted him with the others and left, still bother-minded. Snake Eyes noticed her silence and tapped her on her shoulder.
"Is something wrong?" He signed to her.
"Other than the creepy warning; yes. Mongoose, it seems familiar on a scale. Like, a nickname scale or something." She said biting her finger as she worked through trying to figure it out.
"I'm sure you'll get it, Reb." He signed. Something clicked in her head.
"That's it! 'Mongoose', that's what Dad used to call me! His little mongoose!" Rebel smiled and snapped her fingers.
"Why is that?" Snake signed and titled his head to show his interest.
"I don't know really." She shrugged. "He had a garden, and sometimes I'd find snakes there so I'd catch them. Pretty much it."
"You don't think this has anything to do with your father do you?" He signed as she looked down.
"I hope not, Snake." Rebel sighed. "I really hope not."
…
"Sir, look at this." Tap pointed to her screen. Hawk tried to figure it out, but gave up.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Someone messed with our system. Files have been duplicated as far as I can tell." She said.
"Is it a threat?" Hawk asked.
"No sir, not at the moment. But I haven't noticed this until now. I haven't done this, and neither has anyone else here. I've asked without giving too much away on the matter, but no one has an explanation. It means that some outside source did it." Tap informed him with a worried face.
"Keep this between us, don't cause mass-hysteria. Update me on anything and everything else you find." Hawk said before leaving her to her work.
…
Only one thing to say here, will they catch Cobra's plan in time? Is the Witch Doctor a good guy, or a trickster? Or possibly something more?