Well, there is no excuse for my absence other than school and major writer's block. I still haven't been able to pull through it. But, I had to give you something so….
…
"Fuck..no, no, no." She began panicking when she remembered Snake had gone to take a shower. She flung open the door to see Snake Eyes fighting with a woman. She seemed to have the upper hand, when she did just what her masters had drilled into her not to do; took her eyes off of her opponent and looked up at Rebel. Snake Eyes shoved her off and hit her with the butt of her katana, knocking her out. Rebel rushed over, holding the woman's head in her arms.
"Sleep well brother." She said before breaking her neck. "Snake, we've got to get out of here."
"What's going on?" He signed before she grabbed his arm and pulled him along with her.
"Are you blind as well? We're under attack!" She said before biting her lip. "Sorry, just…find a way to get the hangers or some other exit open." He nodded, turning to go the opposite direction before she called out to him. "Hey Snake," He stopped, looking over his shoulder. Rebel looked like she had a million different things to say. "I love you." was all she said. He signed back the same thing before leaving her.
An explosion rocked the base, allowing in more enemies of human and robot kind. Rebel rushed to help her fellow fighters; dragging the wounded to safety, tossing the armed ammunition, and the unarmed weapons. When she helped those she could, she picked up a gun as Nightshade rushed to her.
"Breaker found out these drones are controlled by the same director, me and Shadow are going to take him out; you and Lady T cover us." She panted before disappearing into the chaos. The only way Rebel could cover her was Storm Shadow was wearing his white uniform and sticking close to her. They were fighting against the current of attackers, but her and T's bullets thinned out the crowd enough for them to slip through.
"Shit! Where'd they go?" Rebel cursed as she looked through her scope, trying to spot the white against the red, grey and steel.
"Reb, behind you!" Lady T shouted. Rebel swung her gun around, the barrel smashing into an unidentifiable enemy. He looked neither Brotherhood nor Cobra. Not even a mix. Just a guy in black uniform. Either way, she lost an enemy seconds later. She heard a soft explosion somewhere over head, followed by another louder one across the chaos mass. Then another. And another. Louder. And Closer. She swallowed, putting her hand on her stomach.
"It's all gonna turn out alright…"
….
"Snake, it's gonna turn out alright." She smiled weakly, gripping his hand. Twenty year old Artemis stood next to her step-father and mother, holding the hand of her fifteen year old brother Atiryum. Rebel closed her eyes, her smile slowly getting smaller. Snake laid his head on the bed, still holding her hand.
The people behind them; Nightshade, Storm Shadow, Lady T, Scarlet, Duke, Breaker and several other Joes took off their uniform hats. They met later down stairs; some standing in silence, others trying to break it. After all the bullet dodging, plane crashing, and enemy making; they expected her to be taken by war and not unknown illness.
"Hey, Art." General Johnson greeted her. Artemis looked up at the older black woman.
"Hey, T." She said tiredly. Lady T sat down next to her on the couch.
"You know…You look just like your mother. Except for your eyes and hair. You need to ditch that strange brown," She said, making Artemis laugh a bit. "What I'm really trying to say is, would you finally like the chance to fill her shoes? To be a Joe?"
"…Yes."