GI Joe/Marvel universe crossover.
I don't own Marvel or Hasbro.
Silence
Chapter 7: Brewing Storm
Time: 08:31 Zulu, Monday; 04:31 local time, Monday
Location: GI Joe PT training grounds
Beach Head hummed to himself, more at ease than he had been the last few days. He had finished with the telepathic scans and was now back to his normal routine. It had been an immense relief when he returned to running PT, as the Greenshirts reluctantly discovered.
Of course, he had to consider recent information while planning the Joes' PT sessions.
"You're not sweating Lifeline."
"Well…." The medic replied apologetically, "…for me this is light." The ranger stared at the doctor, who was currently lifting up a five ton cargo truck with both hands. He showed no sign of physical strain.
"Light?" Beach Head drawled. Lifeline nodded and switched to holding the truck with one hand, as if to prove his point.
The ranger considered that. Pushing Lifeline in PT had become a new challenge, one that both men were experimenting with at 4:30 in the morning. The sergeant major had 'borrowed' the truck from the Motor Pool, much to Clutch's indignation. He'd pointed out that every time that Beach Head borrowed one of his 'babies,' they were always returned with a fair amount of damage. Hawk had only given him a bemused smile when the sergeant major had informed the general of his intentions regarding the truck.
The doctor gently set down the heavy vehicle, though not gently enough to avoid crushing in the front fender. Lifeline winced slightly, causing Beach Head to smirk.
"When Clutch starts crying about Shirley's boo boo, I'm telling him it's your fault," Wayne smirked. Lifeline raised an amused eyebrow.
"Shirley? He names them?" the doctor asked, surprised but somehow feeling that he shouldn't be shocked.
"Well, it's probably the closest he'll ever have to a real girlfriend," Beach Head pointed out. Lifeline shook his head, but he wasn't able to hide the grin or the flash of agreement that the ranger felt from him.
"You know, Psyche-Out thinks we're crazy," Lifeline grinned suddenly.
"Oh yeah?" Beach Head drawled. "Imagine that. Me. Crazy."
"He thinks I'm crazy now too."
"You are," Beach Head answered with a smirk. "All these years Snake Eyes and his minions thought they were being sneaky when they escaped from the infirmary. I can't wait until Snakes finds out that you've been letting him." The doctor looked positively innocent at that.
"It would have been suspicious if a poor, pacifistic doctor somehow caught escaping ninjas every single time."
Beach Head smirked again, having his suspicions confirmed. As silent as the ninjas were, the ranger had suspected that Lifeline's acute hearing could hear them. Well that and the fact that he had superspeed meant that he could easily outmaneuver a ninja. Snake Eyes was going to be pissed when he found out.
Considering that the ninja's team was due to arrive back on base in a few hours, Wayne realized with hidden smile that he could torment the man about it later that very day.
"He also thinks we're crazy for joining the military, all things considering," the doctor added quietly. Beach Head was silent at that. He'd felt both puzzlement and admiration from the psychiatrist concerning that issue.
"Are we?" Beach Head asked after a moment. It was a question that the proud ranger would never have voiced in front of anyone else. However, despite his misgivings about pacifists in the military, he'd long respected Lifeline. Finding out that he was a fellow mutant had made the silence much more bearable.
Wayne Sneeden's only regret was that they hadn't known the truth about each other much earlier. As much as he hated to admit it, it had been difficult not having anyone else on the team who he could relate to.
"Maybe," Edwin Steen admitted. The ranger could feel that the other man was also relieved to find another mutant in GI Joe as well. Over the years, Beach Head had occasionally felt loneliness emanating from the other man. He'd thought it was simply due to having such a radically different worldview from his fellow soldiers. For the first time, the ranger realized that it probably had more to do with the fact that it was Lifeline's mutation and not his pacifism that had been at the root of it.
Beach Head knew exactly how that felt.
"Can you lift it?" the doctor asked suddenly. Wayne gave him a strange look and Lifeline tilted his head towards the heavy cargo truck.
"What?" he asked. Lifeline shrugged his shoulders in reply.
"I was just wondering if you could lift it with your telekinesis," he answered. "Or is it too big? I mean, we're out here experimenting with my powers…"
Beach Head started to shake his head, but then paused in thought. He'd never been able to lift anything that large, but then again, he'd never really tried. The last few days had taught the ranger just how little mastery he had over his own powers. Perhaps with training, he could utilize his abilities more than he'd thought possible.
The ranger concentrated his attention on the military vehicle, but despite his best attempts it wouldn't move. A bit irritated now, as he felt that he should somehow be able to do this task, he narrowed his eyes at it.
"I think it moved that time," Lifeline pointed out. The truck was shaken slightly by Beach Head's last attempt. He watched as the ranger continued to glare at the vehicle, which was now shaking more noticeably. However, it was still stubbornly refusing to budge.
"Size matters not?" the doctor offered, quoting a line from a Star Wars film. Beach Head sent him a withering look. Lifeline smiled apologetically and rolled his eyes when the other man wasn't looking. The army ranger was now glaring with such hostility at the truck that the doctor half expected it to obey for that reason alone.
Then, without warning, Lifeline's sensitive ears heard the faint sounds of cracking from the poor truck.
"Um…Beach Head?" he started to say. The supposedly bulletproof glass of the truck's windshield and side windows shattered and exploded outwards. With a flash of speed, the medic pulled the ranger out of the way. The flying shrapnel moved in slow motion to his eyes, but he knew that without acting, the other man probably would have gotten injured from the glass.
Both men stared wordlessly for a moment at the damaged truck.
"Clutch is going to kill you," Lifeline finally said. Beach Head raised an eyebrow underneath his balaclava.
"Well," the doctor amended. "He can try and fail miserably."
Time: 11:12 Zulu, Monday; 07:12 local time, Monday
Location: GI Joe PIT
Flint hid a groan as he glared irately at the sergeant major in front of him. It just figured that Beach Head would manage to start out his day by somehow damaging one of the M-927 trucks. He wasn't even sure what the man was doing with the said truck, other than that Hawk had apparently given him permission to use it, for a reason that hadn't been shared with the warrant officer.
That was another sticking point for Flint. He was third in command, but yet Hawk seemed to be making a point to not inform either him or Duke of some of Beach Head's recent activities.
"It was a training exercise," Beach Head repeated, glaring at him. "It was an accident." Flint glared back at him.
"I need more information than that in your report," the warrant officer replied, unable to hide his obvious irritation. It was a five ton truck, how does one manage to completely destroy all the windows and smash in the front fender in a short amount of time?
Clutch had taken it as proof that the army ranger really could break just about anything he touched.
Beach Head continued to glare silently back at him. Flint gritted his teeth, but managed to keep his temper in check.
"Beach Head, why does Hawk get to know and not me?" he finally asked. He refrained from pointing out the fact that his higher rank should include him in on the information loop.
However, Beach Head refused to answer that particular question. The two men had been going around and around the last ten minutes and the only thing that Flint had managed to glean from the stubborn ranger was that it was an 'accident' and that he would only talk to Hawk about it.
A knock on the office door interrupted the argument. Moments later, General Hawk stepped in and both men immediately stood at attention. Flint's eyes caught a flash of red and he curiously wondered why Lifeline was standing just outside of the door. The general regarded the warrant officer seriously for several long moments before looking at Beach Head. A look of surprise drifted through the ranger's eyes.
"But sir…" Beach Head suddenly said. Hawk frowned down at the ranger and to Flint's surprise, the stubborn man didn't say anything more. In fact, he seemed rather resigned to whatever it was that Hawk had planned. The general looked at Flint again before turning towards the door.
"Lifeline, I want you in here as well. Shut the door behind you."
The puzzled Flint watched as the red garbed doctor walked reluctantly in. Both Lifeline and Beach Head seemed to be ill at ease, which further disturbed him. Flint and the ranger often butted heads, so Beach Head's irritation didn't really bother him. However, the fact that something had also unsettled the normally calm and collected doctor was a cause for concern.
"Is this really necessary sir?" Lifeline asked quietly. Hawk gave him a stern, but patient look. The doctor hesitated, but pressed forward. "I'm not questioning you sir, but I'd rather not…"
"He's right sir," Beach Head suddenly said. "The more people that…"
Hawk glared at both men, which immediately shut them up. Flint was quite shocked that even Lifeline had attempted to question the general's decision, whatever it was. After a long silence, the general's demeanor softened a bit.
"I know this is difficult for both of you," he told them. "But Flint is your commanding officer." Both men looked distinctly unhappy, but didn't say anything.
So far Flint had kept his mouth shut. However, the situation had become so strange that he felt that he really needed to say something.
"Sir? What's going on?" he finally asked. A certain ranger sent him a brief glare before sighing again. He could tell that Beach Head really wanted to say something undoubtedly snarky to him, but the ranger was apparently more concerned with crossing Hawk at the moment.
"I understand that you and Duke had a blow up yesterday," Hawk said, to Flint's confusion. He wasn't sure what that had to do with Beach Head and Lifeline, or a damaged cargo truck.
"Uh…yes sir," he answered. As rumors tended to in an enclosed base, news of their argument had spread and been blown out of proportion. He still hadn't had a chance to speak with Duke yet about it, or apologize for losing his temper.
"What happened?" Hawk asked. Flint must have given him a puzzled look, as the general sighed. "I need to know son, it's important."
"Well…we had a disagreement over mutant registration," the warrant officer answered carefully. Beach Head was watching him with such intensity that he felt a bit unnerved. "I'm against it, but he's for it."
"You have mutants in your family?" the ranger suddenly asked, surprised. Flint gaped at him.
"How the hell did you know that? I've never told you…"
"Do you feel that Duke is anti-mutant?" Hawk cut in. Flint stared at him. The warrant officer could feel the sudden tension in the room.
"The rumors have blown it out of proportion," Flint answered. "I haven't really talked to him since the argument, but he didn't seem like it." There was a pause. "You know Duke, sir. Yeah, I lost my temper and I shouldn't have, but…" Flint paused again as he tried to find a response.
"I don't agree with him sir, but I don't think Duke's a bigot. I can tell he's upset by what the rumors are saying, even if he's trying not to show it."
Hawk silently studied the clock on Flint's office wall, deep in thought. Lifeline shifted nervously while Beach Head stared at the ceiling.
"Sir…what's this about?" Flint asked hesitantly. His usual bravado and confidence had retreated slightly since the strange meeting had begun.
"You have two mutants under your command," Hawk said calmly. "I want to make sure they won't be discriminated against."
"Two?" Flint asked, shock filtering through his system. His eyes settled on the two other Joes in the room. He could only find one response.
"Oh."
Time: 13:45 Zulu, Monday
Location: Somewhere over Europe
Silence filled the Blackbird as the X-Men flew towards Muir Island for a funeral. Moira's sudden death had hit them all hard. While Charles Xavier and Hank McCoy sat in the back of the plane, grieving next to her body, Scott Summers brooded and navigated the plane.
They had of course contacted their friends and allies, though the attack on the G8 Summit, the terrorist bombing at the art museum, and Moira's death had instantly become world news. Within hours of it, Magneto had publicly promised to get revenge. He had called the geneticist a martyr and one of the rare humans who'd been sympathetic to the mutant cause.
Wolverine, for his own part, alternated between brooding angrily and calmly studying the silent ninja with them. They had treated Storm Shadow's wounds and now, as there was nothing else to do anyway, Jean Grey was sifting through the man's mind. The telepath had been trying to undo some of the damage in the man's mind for the last couple of hours.
Logan knew from his own personal experience that it was going to take a long time for the younger man to heal. The mutant stared out of the window in thought. He knew of the Arashikage clan. As he was now the defacto leader of the Yashida Clan, it was difficult not to. He'd met even met a few once, many years ago.
He smirked slightly, remembering a brash, but highly skilled young man who would go on to earn the name Hard Master. There were many holes in Logan's memories, but he still distinctly remembered getting thrown into a koi pond by the man. Admittedly, the mutant couldn't quite remember what he'd said to irritate him. However, getting dunked into ice cold water and then drinking sake with the young Arashikage he did remember.
The man who had become the Hard Master had been killed several years ago, it was a shame. Logan had heard rumors that it was a nephew who had assassinated him. Judging from what Jeannie had pulled from Storm Shadow's mind though, that apparently was wrong.
"Well?" he asked out loud. The beautiful red head near him sighed.
"This is going to take awhile. I can't believe how bad this brainwashing is," she answered. Logan grunted. He'd heard of Cobra before, but he'd never really tangled with the terrorist organization directly. Hydra, however, he was quite familiar with.
"I probably should contact Fury," Logan said. "S.H.I.E.L.D. really only deals with Hydra, but they should know that this was a Cobra operation."
"That's probably a good idea," Cyclops finally said. "Right now, we've got the most information on what happened, even if we don't know why."
Logan grunted again as he pulled out his cell phone. He eyed the clearly confused ninja by Jean. The kid reminded him of what he'd gone through at the hands of Weapon X and Hydra. Jean and Chuck would do all that they could to remove the brainwashing, but only Logan truly understood how deep the emotional and psychological scarring was going to be.
As he searched for Fury's number, the mutant ironically realized that Charles Xavier probably wasn't the only one with a bleeding heart. Underneath his gruff exterior, the Canadian seemed to have a soft spot taking in strays and lost causes.
He just hadn't expected the most recent one to be an Arashikage ninja.
Time: 17:15 Zulu, Monday; 13:15, Monday local time
Location: GI Joe Pit
Duke ignored the stares as he made his way down to one of the storage facilities. It just figured. Ever since that stupid blow up in the mess hall, everyone seemed to think he was a bigot now.
Well, not everyone. Many Joes simply looked at him curiously or ignored the rumors all together. Some, like Beach Head and Torpedo, glared openly at him. Others seemed to stop short of agreeing with him. Only the recently returned Spirit had asked him quietly about it, to which, for what felt like the hundredth time, Duke explained what had happened.
Actually, Conrad Hauser was rather grateful for running into Charlie Iron-Knife. Even when the man disagreed with you, he had a patient understanding and a willing ear. Like Flint, Spirit also disagreed with mutant registration. Unlike the warrant officer however, he had calmly and rationally pointed out the possible flaws with it.
Duke had felt enormously better after that. Even though he still felt that the pros of registration outweighed the possible cons, at least the other man was giving him the benefit of the doubt. The blonde honestly appreciated that, even though it was obvious that the other soldier still disagreed with him.
Now if only he could get Flint to listen to him.
"You found something?" Duke asked, having finally reached his destination. Bazooka and Lightfoot came to attention before turning towards the captured Cobra weapons.
"This isn't like anything Destro's M.A.R.S. program has developed," Bazooka answered. "We think it's utilizing some of Stark Enterprise's discarded designs."
"Discarded?" Duke asked.
"Before Stark shut down his weapons programs," Lightfoot answered. "He destroyed his blueprints and prototypes, but he must not have gotten everything."
"Then how do you know it's one of Stark's then?" Duke asked.
"We're not sure," Lightfoot admitted. "But I've looked at his weapons before. I used to be a real fan before that hypocrite billionaire decided that only he's allowed to have the most advanced weaponry on the planet. These handheld rockets have a similar guiding system to what I remember."
Like many soldiers, Lightfoot didn't think too highly of Mr. "Turncoat" Tony Stark.
"You may not think much of that 'hypocrite billionaire'," Duke smiled wryly. "But if you're right, you just may be having a face to face chat with him in the near future."
Both Lightfoot and Bazooka uttered several swear words that Duke pretended not to hear.
Time: 19:03 Zulu, Monday; 15:03 local time
Location: The Xavier Institute of Higher Learning
Remy LeBeau sighed to himself as he dribbled the basketball. The former thief, or current, depending upon whom you asked, stared up at the basketball hoop. It was rather boring to play by oneself, but the game often served to relieve boredom or to keep his mind off of more depressing matters.
Mon Dieu, why did the good people always have to die? The Cajun hadn't been close to Moira MacTaggert, but he'd respected her and liked her personality. That, plus her death meant that the chances for finding a cure for the Legacy virus soon had just dropped.
If luck was a lady, den she was an ugly lady.
He aimed for the hoop and watched as the basketball dropped neatly through the basket.
"Me-twenty one, me-zero. And de crowd goes wild."
It figured that things would turn out this way. Remy's life had been one long list of disappointments, mistakes, and getting kicked in the gut. Rather than give in and let life drag him down, the X-Man often put on a roguish smile and nonchalantly flipped Madame Life the proverbial middle finger. It was far better than the alternative, in his opinion.
"N' here comes Remy LeBeau, superstar Cajun hunk, 'bout to break de NBA record for…"
A pop and the smell of brimstone alerted him to a new presence. Kurt Wagner sat perched on the basketball hoop, looking down at him.
"Come to play?" Gambit asked hopefully. It was rather boring to play alone and basketball with the German mutant was always interesting.
"Not this time, mein friend," Nightcrawler answered apologetically. "There's something on the news I think you should see." The other mutant grabbed his arm and Remy found himself in the lounge. Several other X-Men were watching something on the news. A strange man wearing a dark blue hood was speaking on the television.
"Yes, the death of Moira MacTaggert is an enormous tragedy," the strange man said smoothly. "She was a true hero, working towards the benefit of mutant kind."
"Who?" Remy asked. Cable went to shush him, but Storm answered.
"Cobra Commander. He's the leader of Cobra," she answered. Remy searched his memory. He'd run into Cobra goons before, usually because he'd been stealing something from them. The Cajun had never seen what the head honcho looked like though.
"Cobra condemns whoever was behind this action," the Cobra leader stated. "It is true that my organization has had a rather…unpleasant reputation. However, we have never been anti-mutant, or anti-human. We too look forward to a new world order, when all men and women have the ability to live freely with each other."
Gambit snorted softly. He knew a con job when he saw one.
"There have been many battles in recent years over the mutant…situation," the masked man continued smoothly. "Many would have you believe that mutants are a threat. Others, like Magneto, think that the solution is the genocide of all non-mutants." There was a pause as the man made a show of sadly shaking his head.
"It is true that people like Charles Xavier believe in a world where everyone can live peacefully together," Cobra Commander continued. "But how much of a difference has he actually made?" the man asked. "Are your streets safer? Can you walk down the street without fear of persecution, mutant or non-mutant? Can your children play without fear of the 'other?' He and his 'X-Men' couldn't even protect Dr. MacTaggert."
"Bull shit," Rogue swore. "You dang slimy…"
"Hush chère," Remy whispered.
"In fact," the terrorist leader continued. "I find it interesting that only Dr. MacTaggert, the only non-mutant in Xavier's group, was the one killed. Perhaps this is by chance, or perhaps Charles Xavier isn't as saintly as he seems…"
The uproar in the lounge room drowned out the rest of the televised speech. Gambit tightly gripped the basketball in his hands, fervently wishing that the oily, blue garbed snake was in front of him.
"I of course welcome mutants into Cobra. Mutants who are tired of persecution and tired of hypocrites like Charles Xavier bowing to the United States government's hate filled attempts to discriminate against them."
"You damn snake!" Iceman yelled. "He's not a hypocrite!!"
"And of course, I welcome non-mutants who wish to build a peaceful world with their mutant brethren, who are victims of Magneto's attempts to combat evil with evil by killing innocent…"
"Dis isn't good," Remy muttered, shaking his head. "Not good at all. I tink we just drew a Joker from de deck."
Yep, lady luck was a rather ugly lady today.
Time: 21:23 Zulu, Monday; 17:23 local time, Monday
Location: GI Joe Pit
General Hawk was speaking with Stalker and Scarlett about the North Korean mission when Breaker paged him from the communications center. Snake Eyes was currently being treated in the infirmary for his injuries while Jinx and Gung Ho escorted Major Bludd to the detention center.
"Sir, you've got a high security call from S.H.I.E.L.D.," Breaker said, popping his bubble gum when Hawk walked into the room. Hawk immediately picked up the phone while the soldier patched him through.
"This is Clayton Abernathy," Hawk answered.
"This is Nick Fury," a gruff voice answered. "We need to talk."
Author's notes:
Sorry for the delayed update. I wanted to update much sooner, but real life got in the way.
I stole Gambit's line, "Me-twenty, me-zero. And de crowd goes wild." From issue 390 of the Uncanny X-Men.
Hope you enjoyed this update. Flint found out about Beach Head and Lifeline earlier than I'd originally planned, but I felt that as one of the commanding officers, he needed to. As for Duke, he does have his reasons for supporting mutant registration, even if he isn't biased (or at least he thinks he isn't) against mutants. I know some of you don't really like what I'm doing with Duke, but it's unrealistic for every Joe to be pro-mutant and I felt that some needed to be at least ambivalent or somewhat wary, even if they're not actively anti-mutant.