GI Joe/Marvel universe crossover.
I don't own Marvel or Hasbro.
Silence
Chapter 3: Mission Ready
Time: 05:00; Thursday
Location: GI Joe training grounds
He was about three miles east of the PIT when Snake Eyes caught up with Beach Head, who was finishing his morning run. The other man had been surprised when he'd joined him for the full run yesterday. Even though the ninja would have rather slept in for another hour, the chance to actually have a normal conversation that didn't involve sign language, paper, and guesswork had been too much to pass up.
As Snake Eyes left in an hour for the next mission, he only ran with him on the final leg of his morning workout. There were still last minute preparations to make, but he wanted a chance to talk with the cranky Southerner before he left.
Of course, that was easier said than done. Drawing Beach Head into a conversation was like pulling teeth, unless the topic was military related. Even so, Snake Eyes reveled in the sheer joy of talking, regardless of the topic.
"Hawk told me about your new assignment today," he said. Since he already knew of Beach Head's mutation, the general had found no reason to keep him out of the loop.
His conversation partner gave a grunt in reply. Snake Eyes thought about asking who was training the Greenshirts that day as a way to draw him out, but since Hawk had already told him that Leatherneck was taking his place, it seemed an exercise in futility to feign ignorance to a telepath.
Although…the ranger had claimed that he was harder to read than everyone else…
"Who's covering for you today?" he asked.
"Hawk already told you," the ranger replied. The ninja swore silently to himself, causing the other man to chuckle under his breath.
"I thought I was supposed to be hard to read?" he asked dryly.
"You are…when you're mind's focused on a mission. When you're relaxed, it's more open. Besides, I've been listening to your thoughts a lot the last couple of days, so it's gotten a bit easier," Beach Head replied telepathically. Snake Eyes made a mental note that the other man rarely spoke out loud if the conversation involved his powers. The ninja couldn't resist asking another question.
"Hawk told you that he told me, didn't he?" the ninja asked wryly.
"Hawk didn't tell me anything," Beach Head protested.
"So you really did 'hear' me think that?"
"You want me to trip you Snakes? My telekinesis works just fine."
"Just testing," the ninja replied quickly. He thought about adding that ninjas don't trip, but he wasn't too keen on having the ranger attempt to carry out his threat.
"Testing my ass," Beach Head said. "You're only about two feet away from me. How the hell wouldn't I hear it?" Snake Eyes's lips twitched up into a smile; however he chose not to reply. The two men ran in silence for a few minutes until the army ranger finally spoke.
"How do you do that anyway?" he asked.
"Do what?"
"Make yourself hard to read. Jinx and Kamakura are as well, just not to the extent that you are. What the hell do they teach you ninja sorcerers?"
Snake Eyes rolled his eyes as they ran by the firing range. No amount of persuasion on his part would convince Sergeant Major Wayne Sneeden to stop calling ninjitsu 'hocus pocus.'
"Mental discipline is part of our training. There are…even secret techniques handed down to select pupils that allow some of us to use a rudimentary and weak form of telepathy. However, they require intense concentration and can't be used very long."
Beach Head's interest peaked at this. The man even stopped running to look at him.
"Really?" he asked. "How the hell…" Beach Head paused when he realized that he was speaking out loud.
"It takes years of practice and self discipline. Even the most advanced ninjas rarely master them," Snake Eyes replied. He watched as the ranger considered this, somewhat surprised that the other man was interested in anything that remotely smelled of ninjas. After a moment, he realized that Beach Head had probably never had any kind of formal training in the use of his powers.
"Beach Head," Snake Eyes said suspiciously, "Hawk's having you scan some of the prisoners. Have you actually ever done a deep scan on anyone before?" It wasn't as if the man had probably ever had an opportunity to try it before.
The ranger seemed affronted by his question. A pair of intense, brown eyes glared at him. He crossed his arms, and when he spoke, his accent thickened with irritation.
"Ah've course Ah have!" he drawled. "Yew think Ah haven't bin practin'?" Snake Eyes held up his hands in apology.
"Okay okay, I get it. I'm not questioning if you're capable of doing it," he said hastily.
"Sure you are," came the reply, though it came out more as "Shaw yew ahhh."
Beach Head started jogging again, not wanting to attract attention to the fact that he was standing around and having a one-sided conversation with the ninja commando. Snake Eyes sighed to himself and caught up with the stubborn man.
"Look," the ninja sighed, "It's just that going deep into someone's mind can't be easy, even for someone like you." Snake Eyes wasn't talking about the simple logistics of it and he was fairly sure that the other man knew that. He imagined that there had to be some kind of psychological toll on the mind.
The ranger ignored him for several minutes and the ninja wondered if he'd managed to piss the other man off more than he'd realized.
"I've done it a couple of times," Beach Head finally admitted silently. "I was careful to make sure that it was when no one could see me." He paused for a few moments before continuing.
"The…the first time I did it was when I was twenty. A buddy of mine had been hit bad when we were down in Panama. He didn't have long to live and there was no way that our medic could get to him in time. He couldn't even speak, but he kept trying to talk to me."
"You went into his mind," Snake Eyes stated. The other man was silent for a time before replying.
"I hadn't meant to do it," Wayne finally admitted. "But he was dying and his mind was fading, so it was hard to read his thoughts without going deeper…I just…sort of got sucked in…"
The ninja came to such an abrupt halt that he nearly suffered the indignity of tripping over his own feet.
"Wayne," he asked, stunned, "Did you feel him die?"
"I always feel people die," Beach Head admitted. "I can't just shut my empathy off. The best I can do is just mute it."
"But that's different, you were inside his mind!"
Beach Head didn't answer. Instead, he took off again for the PIT. Snake Eyes ground his teeth and took off after the man.
"Beach Head!"
"I don't want to talk about," the other man replied firmly.
"Dammit, you can't just ignore something like…"
Beach Head turned his head slightly to shoot him a glare.
Snake Eyes recognized the futility of pursuing it, so he dropped the conversation. The two men ran in silence until they reached the PIT. The ninja checked his watch and saw that it was already 05:24. He needed to find his teammates and make the final preparations for the mission. Still, he didn't want to leave the conversation like this.
"Beach Head…good luck," he said. The other man looked at him, calmer than he'd been minutes ago.
"You too, make sure you all come home alive."
Time: 11:41 Zulu, (22:41 local time); Thursday
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Dr. Henry "Hank" McCoy stared out of the window of his hotel room. The lights of Tokyo's Akasaka district twinkled brightly in the night sky. The tasks at hand weighed heavily upon his furry shoulders: curing the Legacy virus and convincing world leaders that mutants weren't a threat. It was almost too much for one man, even an X-Man. It seemed as though every time a step was taken forward, many more were taken back.
Still, being invited to speak at the world summit was a big step forward. The X-Man known as Beast only hoped that things wouldn't turn into a complete disaster.
"Just focus on what you've got to do, Hank," his short, Canadian friend said. "Protectin' you n' Moira is our job."
Wolverine stood next to him, also gazing out of the window. He and Professor Charles Xavier had chosen to stay in Hank's room while Jean Grey, Scott Summers, and Kitty Pryde were sleeping next door in Moira MacTaggert's room.
"Logan is correct," Charles Xavier added. The founder of the X-Men, and the most powerful telepath on the planet, currently sat on the other side of the hotel room. A small laptop sat in his lap as he looked over at the other two men.
"Mr. Stark has just informed me that Black Widow and Quicksilver are also in Tokyo," the professor said. "They should be contacting us shortly."
"Fury's probably got some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents here too," Logan added, referring to the grizzled WWII veteran, Nick Fury. The Canadian took a few steps and flopped down on one of the beds. He considered whether or not to light up a cigar.
"Truth is Chuck, I'm worried about your safety too," Logan said. "Even though you're not actually speaking at the summit, the fact that you're here puts you at risk."
"I understand your concern," Xavier said. He laced his fingers together and studied his companions. "But I've already explained my reasons for being here." As he was the leader of the mutant rights movement, he needed to be present at the summit. Charles had also had no intention of staying behind in Manhattan while two friends, one of whom he had romantic feelings for, put themselves in probable danger.
"And stop calling me Chuck," he told Logan. After a moment, he added, "And don't even think about lighting up a cigar in here."
"You break my heart," Logan said.
"A bit melodramatic," Hank McCoy smiled.
"That's me, Hank, melodramatic," Wolverine said gruffly. "Just watch how melodramatic I can get if some bastard decides to tangle with us."
………………………………………………
Time: 09:27; Thursday
Location: GI Joe PIT; interrogation room #7
Beach Head grumbled to himself, but the blonde haired man in the room ignored his obvious irritation. General Hawk had seen fit to inform Psyche-Out, also known as Kenneth Rich, of his mutation…though he 'asked' permission before doing so.
Of course, Hawk didn't ever really ask permission. He'd list reasons as to why something should be done and then imply very strongly that the poor soul had better agree with him.
On a strategic level, Wayne understood his reasons. He never worked with interrogations, unless it was out in the field. Since Psyche-Out was in charge of interrogating the Cobra Vipers, it looked less out of the ordinary for Beach Head to be present if the man was still there. That didn't mean, however, that he had to like it. Wayne had a suspicion that Snake Eyes had opened his big mouth, figuratively of course, and tattled to Hawk about their conversation that morning. The general was probably going to have the blonde do a new psyche evaluation of him.
Hawk had clearly told him, in no uncertain terms, that both Psyche-Out and Lifeline needed to be informed of his mutation. As they were the team's resident shrink and medical doctor, it was only logical that they know. Wayne was a little more comfortable with Lifeline knowing of it, as the man had already made it known that he supported mutant rights. The fact that the Legacy virus hadn't yet been cured made it more pertinent that the doctor knew.
It didn't mean that Beach Head had to like it though.
"Let's get this over with," Wayne grumbled. He felt Psyche-Out studying him with a clinical sharpness. However, he felt no indication that the man looked down on his mutation.
He did feel a lingering sense of surprise and curiosity.
"How do you want to proceed?" Psyche-Out finally asked. The Cobra Viper to be scanned had been sedated, at Beach Head's request. The unconscious man wouldn't be able to put up any mental resistance and Wayne wouldn't have to bother trying to wipe the incident from his mind.
To be honest, Beach Head wasn't even sure if he could do a mental wipe, never having done one before.
"I'll scan, you take notes," he finally sighed, accepting the fact that there was no way out of this situation. He was a soldier and had to follow orders. As a man who believed that each soldier needed to perform to the best of his or her abilities, there was no way he could tell Hawk no just because he didn't want to do it.
Psyche-Out switched on a recording device and then pulled out a pad of paper. Beach Head pulled up a chair next to the unconscious man. He pulled off a glove and placed his hand on the man's head, as skin to skin contact strengthened the telepathic link. With a deep breath, the sergeant major plunged into the man's mind.
"His name's Erik Stadler, from Germany," Wayne said. The prisoner had managed to even keep that from his interrogators. After a moment, he added, "Apparently he's been recommended for the Crimson Guard. He was supposed to be tested next week."
"Guess he won't be making that appointment," Psyche-Out smirked. The ranger didn't respond as he continued to search through the man's mind. After much sifting, he finally found himself in Sierra Leone.
"It's the Joes!"
"Get the weapons out of here!"
There was a sharp pain as a bullet struck him in his right leg. The Viper hissed as it gave out under him. He reached for his gun and aimed it at one of the Joes, a woman with red hair. A flying shuriken embedded itself in his hand and the man gave a cry of pain.
"Beach Head!"
He swore violently to himself. Cobra Commander was going to be pissed if the weapons shipment failed to reach its destination. Maybe he'd be better off killing himself. His uninjured hand picked up the gun and aimed it at himself. Better to die than to be captured by the imperialist Americans.
"Beach Head!"
Wayne Sneeden gave a gasp as Psyche-Out pulled his hand off of the Cobra Viper. His mind felt as though it were being ripped from a suction cup. The ranger was vaguely aware of the sound of cracking ceramic and heard someone swear. A pair of hands hauled him away and deposited him in another chair.
"Beach Head. Beach Head, look at me!"
The army ranger groaned as he rubbed his fingers against his throbbing head. His stomach churned violently as it threatened to empty out his breakfast. A huge migraine was beginning to form and Wayne felt himself overcome with a sudden case of vertigo.
He heard Pysche-Out swear as he picked up his cell phone and hit a button.
"Lifeline, I need you in interrogation room seven."
…………………………………………….
Time: 09:53; Thursday
Location: GI Joe PIT; interrogation room #7
"What the hell happened?"
General Hawk surveyed the occupants of the room. An ill looking Beach Head was currently fending off Lifeline, who was making every attempt to examine the man. Psyche-Out looked back and forth between Hawk and the other two soldiers, before deciding that he'd better be the one to answer.
"I'm not sure," Psyche-Out admitted, "But Beach Head's body froze suddenly for some reason before he screamed and grabbed his leg. Then, well…" The soldier pointed at the table, which Hawk saw now sported several long cracks in it. The remnants of what used to be coffee and a coffee cup was splattered across the table and the floor.
"He broke the table while he was still in the Viper's mind," Psyche-Out said. "My coffee cup exploded after I pulled Beach Head away from him."
Hawk turned his eyes from the blonde to examine the other two soldiers. He hadn't previously had a chance to inform Lifeline about Beach Head, but the doctor seemed to be taking everything in stride. Clayton wondered what had gone through his mind when he'd first walked into the interrogation room.
The ranger, meanwhile, had frozen and was eyeing him warily.
"What happened?" Hawk asked him. The sergeant major's face tightened slightly.
"I…lost control," he admitted unhappily. "I got sucked into one of the Viper's memories and couldn't get out. Psyche-Out pulled me away from…" here he paused and turned around to glare at the blonde.
"And by the way, don't ever do that again!" Beach Head snarled.
"Excuse me for helping you," the other man shot back. The ranger's glare intensified.
"I was trapped in his mind," he countered. "And was ripped away from it. Who knows what could have happened. I'm lucky that I'm still all up here," Beach Head finished, pointing at his head.
"Not sure you were anyway," Psyche-Out muttered.
"What was that?" the ranger growled.
"Enough," Hawk ordered. Sudden silence descended upon the room. The general rubbed his eyes, suddenly tired.
"We don't know anything about telepathy and scanning minds, Psyche-Out," Hawk finally said. "It's probably for the best that you pulled Beach Head away from the Viper, but we need to be careful in the future." After a moment, he added apologetically.
"I'm sorry son," he said to Beach Head. "I shouldn't have put you in that position. Maybe it's too dangerous to…"
"No," the ranger replied firmly. "I can do it Hawk. I was close to the information we need. He knows who the buyers were."
Clayton Abernathy studied his subordinate. None of his Joes liked failure and none of them were willing to give up, least of all Beach Head.
"Fine," he finally said. "But I don't want you in there more than five minutes at a time."
"But sir…"
"Those are your orders," Hawk said. The other man didn't look happy. The general thought back to his brief conversation with Snake Eyes that morning. The ninja had pointed out that since Beach Head had hid his mutation his whole life, he probably had minimal control over his powers. Whatever training he'd had had been self taught.
"Um, sir? This probably isn't the best time to mention this, but…" Lifeline said nervously. Hawk looked over at the doctor. Edwin Steen was biting down on his lip, which the general had learned was often a sign that a person was having a fierce, internal debate.
"What?" he asked. Beach Head looked over at Lifeline and the general saw his mouth drop open slightly.
"No way," Wayne Sneeden gaped. "How the hell did I miss that?"
"Miss what?" Hawk demanded, growing slightly irritated.
"I'm a mutant too," Lifeline admitted. General Hawk and Psyche-Out stared at him, though Beach Head seemed the most shocked.
"I'm going to need a shot of brandy by tonight," Hawk thought to himself.
……………………………………
Time: 18:27 ET; Thursday
Location: The Xavier Institute of Higher Learning
"We shouldn't just be sitting here and doing nothing."
Nathan Summers, otherwise known as Cable, looked over at the man who had spoken. His companion, Lucas "Luke" Bishop, was currently glaring at the television screen in one of the recreation rooms in the mansion.
"And what precisely should we be doing?" Nathan asked. The other man scowled. Like him, Bishop was also trapped in the past, though from a different era than Cable. Both men knew of the horrors to come for mutants.
"Not sitting here watching TV while Beast and MacTaggert are on their way the G8 Summit. You seriously think that no one's going to take a shot at them!?" Bishop yelled. He slammed his fist down on the coffee table.
"Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," another voice said. Neither man had to look to see that the Southern twang belonged to Rogue. The young woman merely grinned as she walked into the room, followed closely behind by her Cajun shadow.
"Bishop always gets up on de wrong side of de bed, chere," Gambit quipped.
"Shut it Thief," Bishop warned. Remy LeBeau held up his hands in defense.
"Just sayin mon ami, you're always uptight…"
"Don't call me 'mon ami'."
Gambit's retort was interrupted by a 'bamf', which was followed swiftly by the smell of brimstone. A third X-Men was now perched on the pack of the couch, his arms carrying a large bowl of popcorn.
"Dammit Kurt," Bishop growled. Cable merely ignored the commotion as he continued to read the most recent issue of National Geographic. Kurt Wagner took a seat between the two men as Rogue and Gambit settled into a couple of nearby chairs.
"What'd I miss?" Nightcrawler asked.
"Just Bishop bein' Bishop," Rogue answered back.
"If you'd lived through what Cable and I have, you'd understand," Bishop answered. "I'm just concerned for the safety of our friends."
"Logan, Jean, Scott, Kitty, and the professor are there too," Cable pointed out. "I hear that the Avengers are sending a couple of their number as well."
"See mon ami, it'll be just fine," Gambit said.
"Stop calling me 'mon ami'! I'm not you're friend Cajun!" Bishop barked. Remy shrugged nonchalantly as he opened a notebook, muttering 'Touché' under his breath.
"Would you please keep it down?" Kurt Wagner asked politely. "The show's about to start."
"We're tivoing it Kurt," Rogue pointed out.
"Don't matter chere, we want to hear," Remy said. Bishop sighed as he finally gave in to the other X-Men.
"Fine," the cranky man answered. "What're we watching anyway?" The other three X-Men beamed happily as the television program in question came on.
"Welcome to another great episode of 'Cooking with Kung-fu Grip!" A dark skinned, and rather muscular man announced cheerfully. "I'm your host, Marvin Hinton and this is my assistant, Mona Bootcher." The camera panned to a buxom, raven haired woman, who held up the ugliest dog that Bishop had ever seen.
"And this is Ms. Dimples, our Kung-fu fighting sweetheart!" she chirped brightly.
"What the hell is this?" Bishop asked.
"Only the best show on TV," Rogue replied. Nightcrawler nodded in reply while Gambit held a pen to his notebook, waiting patiently.
"Don't even try," Cable advised him. "I don't get it either." Bishop shut his mouth and vowed to stay silent.
"Today we're cooking my own special variety of Texas chili, homemade corn bread, and Mississippi mud pie," the host, Marvin Hinton said. "If you do this right, I guarantee it'll be so good…"
"You'll kiss your mama!!" the television audience and three X-Men cried. Bishop raised an eyebrow and looked over at Cable, who was making a valiant effort to ignore his companions.
Bishop sighed and watched the show, unable to get into it. He watched in amusement as Remy LeBeau painstakingly wrote the chef's recipes into his notebook. A sudden, large crash from the television made Bishop jump and nearly reach for his gun.
"Pirates!" the female co-host shrieked. "Marvin. We're being attacked by pirates!" A small group of 'pirates' swarmed the stage, which the host proceeded to take out one by one.
Bishop stared at the television.
"What did you expect?" Cable finally asked, sensing the other man's confusion. "It's called 'Cooking with Kung-fu Grip'."
Bishop sighed again as Rogue, Gambit, and Nightcrawler cheered at the screen, occasionally shouting advice to the television hosts.
"Ach! Behind you mein friend!" Kurt shouted, swinging an imaginary sword in his right hand. The burly chef on the television screen ducked a blow from behind, grabbed a soup ladle, and swatted the 'pirate.'
"I don't get it," Bishop complained. "That's a fake fight. I'll bet that he can't fight in real life. What's so great about this?"
"I told you," Cable said. "Just be glad that Kurt's not doing his Errol Flynn impression yet."
……………………………………….
Time: 17:12 PT; Thursday
Location: Los Angeles, California
Marvin Hinton, AKA Roadblock, gave a contented smile as he watched the camera crew dig into his chili. It was his way of thanking them for their help. For a man who delighted in cooking, nothing gave him more pleasure than to watch others enjoy his meals.
"Another great show, Marvin," his producer said. Ellie Trieu was quite pleased with the high ratings that the show was getting. The network was going to move them to a better timeslot soon and the whole crew was excited.
"Thank you Miss Ellie, I couldn't do it without you," Roadblock answered humbly.
"I couldn't do it without you, soldier boy," she answered. If Marvin had been savvier when it came to the opposite sex, he might have detected a hint of flirtation. However, he didn't and his producer gave no further hints.
"We need to discuss who you're going to fight in the future," Ellie answered. "You're facing a couple of mad Aussies next week."
"What kind of ideas do you have?" Marvin asked. There was a long pause and Roadblock had a feeling he wasn't going to like it.
"The network wants you to fight off some mutants," she answered. "They won't be real mutants obviously, but…"
"No," Roadblock said firmly. His producer studied him carefully and readjusted her eyeglasses before replying.
"The network wants it."
"The answer is still no," Marvin repeated, his voice hardening. "The only way I would fight mutants on this show is number one, they were real mutants and were paid and number two, that I have a mutant guest star with me as one of the good guys."
Ellie didn't say a word. Like Marvin Hinton, her family had encountered its share of racism in the past, as they were of Vietnamese descent. Though a zealous businesswoman out for profit, even she was hesitant to portray mutants as the 'bad guys.'
"They won't like it," she finally said. Roadblock sighed.
"I don't care. I haven't fought and bled for this country just so my countrymen can be ostracized and prevented from having civil rights," he said. "Even if it means having my show pulled, I won't be a party to racism."
To his surprise, she reached up and gave his arm a small squeeze. Marvin was briefly speechless, as she'd never touched him before.
"I agree big guy," she smiled wryly. "I'd prefer to make a profit, but I'd rather not lower ethical standards to do it. I'll talk to the bigwigs." With that, she turned around and walked out of the studio.
Marvin unconsciously rubbed the spot where her hand had been.
……………………..
Author's chapter notes:
For the time zones, in case you haven't picked it up, will be designated PT (Pacific Time), ET (Eastern Standard Time), Zulu for standard military operations (Greenwich), and etc.
Roadblock's cooking show appeared in GI Joe Frontline #18. His producer's first name Ellie is canon, but a surname was never provided. I gave her a last name and made her of Vietnamese background, although it wasn't specified in the series.
Snake Eyes's claim that certain ninja techniques could allow the user to use a rudimentary form of telepathy comes from GI Joe: America's Elite #12, when Kamakura uses something called the Arashikage Mindset to peer briefly into someone's mind. He told Stalker that he made no guarantees while using it and it required a great deal of concentration from him, showing that it was very difficult to use.
I decided to make the Legacy virus still a threat in my story. I had originally intended for a cure to have already been found, but realized that by the time the cure is found in the comics, Moira MacTaggert is already dead. Additionally, I realized that the way I wrote it in the first chapter is pretty vague and can be interpreted as the virus still being a problem. I went back and slightly tweaked the part about the virus in the first chapter to show that a cure hasn't been found yet.