David Thompson had joined the army with one single purpose in mind: make it to the elite unit known as GI Joe, where the enigmatic Snake Eyes served. He had studied the man for years and had pieced together enough information to confirm some very interesting theories indeed, and he was intent on confronting him about these.
He'd been thrilled when his skills in infiltration and close combat had landed him a position within the team. As a greenshirt, he was not entrusted with much secret information, but because his skills were directly related to Snake Eyes' specialty, he was confident he'd end up training with the silent man. Also, at least one of the theories he agreed with had been casually confirmed several times by longer standing Joes: Snake Eyes, just as the evidence clearly demonstrated, was indeed a ninja. The clan that had trained him had also trained the ex-Cobra Storm Shadow, and the two considered themselves brothers.
Thompson chuckled to himself as he patrolled the grounds on the warm summer night. He had already known that the two were somehow linked, so that brought his score to two rights. He felt chances were good he'd soon be able to prove to anybody's satisfaction the rest of the theories about Snake Eyes that his research had confirmed.
As if to prove this optimistic thinking right, he suddenly heard howling. He grinned and carefully headed in the direction of the howl, hoping to catch a glimpse of the infamous Sierras Werewolf, also known to a select few - such as himself - as the GI Joe Sergeant Snake Eyes.
Nancy Clearwater's eyebrows disappeared under her bangs.
"No. Way," she breathed.
Thompson smiled smugly and nodded.
"Saw it myself, howling at the full moon. Looks just like a wolf. Well, a wolf with a bandaged paw, at the moment."
"Really? I thought they were supposed to be bigger, with longer limbs."
"That's just how they're portrayed in fiction, and you're missing the point: bandaged paw, front left…just like Sergeant Snake Eyes."
Clearwater's eyes went a bit wider still. A third voice inserted itself in the conversation.
"Whoa. That IS freaky. I figured you were crazy to see a wolf and automatically think it was a werewolf, but…"
"Electrified fence, Hart," Thompson said, wagging his finger at him. "No animal other than birds and insects can get on the grounds. I knew the second I heard it howl that this wolf had to be a resident of the base."
"Right," Clearwater piped in, nodding energetically.
"I assume you have checked the files and that nobody on base actually does have a pet wolf, or a dog that looks like one?" a fourth voice chimed in.
Thompson, Clearwater and Hart turned as one, gaping at their fellow greenshirt: Maggie Holmes, who had turned being antisocial into an art form. As a matter of fact, her expression conveyed she felt she was bestowing them a great honour by addressing them.
"Of course I did," Thompson sneered. "Before I even started here. There are no pet wolves and only two dogs on base, and neither of them looks remotely like a wolf."
"It didn't occur to you that you would now have access to slightly less public information?" Holmes asked. "Let's look again, shall we?"
As she said it, she turned her attention to her perennially-present laptop and played around with the mousepad and the keyboard for a bit.
"Well, your information was accurate in at least that regard," she said after a few moments. "Two non wolf-like dogs, no wolves."
"My info is always right."
"Do you really think Sergeant Snake Eyes is a werewolf?" Clearwater asked.
"I'll admit, he does show several signs," Hart replied. "Not that it proves anything, but… isolationist tendencies, secrecy and hidden face, physical prowess, speech impediment…"
"His vocal cords were supposedly damaged, but older files fail to demonstrate he ever talked before the alleged incident," Thompson interrupted.
"I heard he had a fight with Scarlett," Clearwater said, "and that's why he's been meditating so much and listening to that relaxation tape. Maybe it's because she found out he's a werewolf?"
Holmes fixed her eyes on her screen to avoid rolling them: Clearwater believed every rumour she heard. She was constantly telling everybody in their dorm, in complete seriousness, about every bogus warning that could be found on the internet, and she regularly informed them that Cover Girl was secretly engaged, citing a different husband-to-be every time.
"I've heard the meditation explanation for why he's been smelling like incense since he's been back too," said Hart, "but I don't think it's related to Scarlett, they don't look like they're fighting at all."
"It's possible his condition has worsened and he's meditating to try and keep control," Thompson said.
"IF he's really a werewolf," Hart specified.
Thompson let out a long suffering sigh. "Have you been listening at all?" he asked in an exasperated tone.
Holmes cut off Hart's reply.
"If you wish," she said calmly, leaning back on her chair and joining her fingers thoughtfully, "I will investigate. I should be able to confirm or disprove that theory, especially if you all agree to assist me. Snipers have good eyesight, always useful, so I could use you, Hart. As for you, Clearwater, I expect you will be able to inspect the fence for flaws and to find out whether it faulted recently…"
"She's a mechanic, not an electrician," Hart interrupted.
"And you're not in intelligence, last I checked," Thompson added.
"Investigation is a hobby, and for future references, Hart, Clearwater has both licenses, in addition to also being a certified plumber and carpenter. She's like the ultimate handy woman," Holmes replied dismissively. "I was wondering until I found that out why GI Joe had been interested in you, Clearwater. As for you, Thompson, you obviously have a lot of insight on the subject and you're basically trained as a spy. You may come in handy as well."
Thompson rolled his eyes, but he couldn't deny that having a bit of extra help to do some legwork investigation would be nice.
"If you all want to help, you're welcome to," he said. "It's nice for a change to have people with some sense around me. Even you, Holmes."
That night, Holmes could be found out on the grounds, ears peeled in an attempt to hear the howl that had led Thompson to the alleged werewolf the previous night.
She frowned as she thought of the covert operation specialist, still stung by his remark that she was not in intelligence. It was technically true, but it was only due to a stream of bad luck that had prevented her from following her preferred career path.
For one thing, her first interview for an investigator's position had been grossly unfair: the interviewers had looked rightly impressed with her right until they had presented her with a scenario to solve; the supposed solution – which they had revealed to her afterward - was completely crazy, straight out of a bad soap opera. The solution SHE had presented was the logical one, the only one left once you eliminated the impossible…unless of course the scenario happened to have been dreamed up by a particularly twisted and nonsensical writer.
Her second interview, over a year later, had been even worst. Who in their right mind presents would-be investigators with a scenario where there ARE no guilty parties and the murder turns out to be an accident, but where there are ten different likely suspects? Logic dictated exactly what she had presented as an answer: several of the suspects were in cahoots. The interviewers had not only refused to see things her way, they had cut the interview short when she wouldn't give up on explaining why she was right.
Disgusted with investigative police work, she hadn't known where to turn for a while and had accepted an IT job at the Pentagon. By the time she had fixed a few security holes, tinkered a few servers and rewritten some of their older software, she'd had an offer to join GI Joe, which she had accepted with the hope that she'd be able to get involved with the intelligence sub unit.
This investigation could be her ticket into her dream career. She did not know yet whether Snake Eyes was a werewolf, but based on Thompson's observations, it was a possibility. An unlikely one, but as her favourite detective would say, once you eliminated the impossible, whatever remained, however improbable, had to be true. Holmes intended to eliminate all the impossibilities and to be able to conclude either that her fellow greenshirts were crazy and to convince them they were wrong, or that they actually were right. Although the first scenario would be impressive, seeing it involved convincing a conspiracy theorist to abandon a theory, Holmes was rather hoping Snake Eyes would turn out to be a werewolf. Proving something like that, when the ninja had gotten away with this secret for years, would basically guarantee her an intel job.
It wasn't that she didn't like working with computers, and there was no denying she was good at it, but the reason for that was why she knew she would be good in investigation as well: all she ever did was apply logic principles, observation and deduction to the problems she found in hardware and software. It was child's play to her, a waste of her capacities.
While this? This was the life. Out in the field, looking for tracks…and finding them. She stopped and grinned at the clear paw prints and followed them backwards. They faded in the dryer ground and disappeared altogether on the pavement, but a few stray hair here and there were enough for an expert like herself to confirm the wolf had come out of a maintenance door that just happened to be the closest low-traffic door to Sergeant Snake Eyes's quarters.
She went back to the tracks and carefully followed them - forward this time - until she caught a sight of the beast itself, sniffing at the ground, its white bandage standing out sharply in the full moon's light. As she looked, trying to spot behaviour patterns that would identify it as an animal or a monster, it raised its head and looked straight at her.
She bolted.
"I still don't know about this," Simon Hart said the following morning, over breakfast. "I mean, yes, there's obviously a wolf around, but…"
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Thompson sighed. "This from the guy who thinks lacing his right shoe first is vitally important AND who thinks the PT course is haunted!"
"It IS haunted, and there's nothing wrong with liking order as long as it doesn't have a negative impact on your life," Hart said, shrugging. "As I was saying, all we know is that there's a wolf on the grounds."
"And how would you explain that?" Holmes asked.
"Maybe someone has an unregistered pet wolf?"
"The dogs would have smelled it, Storm Shadow would have heard it, and someone would have seen it."
"You guys did see it. And why would Storm Shadow in particular have heard it? You're still thinking it's connected to Snake Eyes?"
Holmes rolled her eyes, imitated by Thompson.
"Storm Shadow can hear a person's heartbeat two floors down from where they are. If anyone's heard a wolf, it's him," Thompson explained.
"Not TWO floors down," Holmes scoffed. "That's just silly. Just the same, that's a good point: Storm Shadow probably knows about his friend's predicament."
"Or pet," Clearwater cut in. Hart nodded energetically.
"I think we can dismiss that possibility," Holmes stated. "If it were a pet, Storm Shadow would have reported it to General Hawk. He swore loyalty to him, he wouldn't let even Snake Eyes bring a dangerous animal on base without permission."
"Well-known fact," Thompson agreed. "Ninja discipline: once you've sworn loyalty, you obey perfectly."
"Unless of course doing so goes against another unbreakable oath of loyalty," Holmes continued. "If Snake Eyes had smuggled in a wolf, Storm Shadow would report it because it's the rules and doing so would not harm his brother – at the worst, it would piss him off. But! If Snake Eyes is a werewolf, reporting him could lead to his being killed – be it out of mercy or to protect the rest of the base. No can do."
"Ninjas break rules all the time," Hart objected.
"No, they don't," Thompson argued. "They skip medical leave, but that's only because they know what their body can take better than the medics. They'll fool around a bit to show off, but they don't actually go square against rules and orders, IF they come from someone they have agreed to serve… ninja masters break even thinking of disobeying right out of you. Perfect discipline. Look, I've researched this; I know what I'm talking about. I guarantee you, if Snake Eyes had a pet wolf, or anybody else of course, Storm Shadow would have reported it."
"So… no pet wolf, but there's a wolf coming in and out of the base," Hart piped in, looking a bit paler the more he thought this might indeed be real. "Are you SURE about this?"
"Not yet. I haven't seen the tracks inside the base, so there is still a possibility that a wolf has just been walking up to a door. That would require said animal to have entered the grounds, however. Clearwater, have you checked the fence yet?"
"I checked its status in the security computer. According to that, there's no hole and it hasn't failed recently."
"Someone might have created a hole and tricked the system," Holmes mused, "whether or not it's related to a wolf. We need to investigate every possibility before we reach a conclusion. I suggest you inspect the fence visually over the next few days. Is that something we can help with or is your expertise needed?"
"You can help," Clearwater answered. "I can give you sensors that will detect whether the current is going through any particular section. If a section is on, you can be sure it's through every bit of that section that's connected at all to the rest. You just need to walk along the fence, check each section, and check for holes in the fence itself or in the ground in case something dug under it. It goes six feet into the ground, so that's doubtful, but it's not totally impossible."
"So the only challenge is getting to the fence," Holmes reflected. The electrified fence was about ten feet outside a non-electrified inside fence.
"Not a problem: we can just jump the inside fence," Thompson said.
"Good," Holmes said. "Clearwater, get us those sensors today, we'll sweep tonight."
"Agreed," Thompson said, shooting a glare at Holmes. "And Holmes… I appreciate the help, but stop ordering us around, will you?"
Holmes shrugged amiably, but made a mental note to make sure she allowed Thompson to maintain an illusion of being in charge to avoid problems.
The four accomplices spent a few hours thoroughly inspecting the electrified fence that night, and concluded that it was fully functional and that there were no deep hole that would have allowed a wolf to sneak in underneath.
Their discussion, the following morning, was entirely made of nervous whispers. Holmes alone seemed to still be calm.
"It's official, isn't it?" Clearwater said. "It can't be a wolf sneaking in and out, yet it's not there during the day."
"Okay, wait. Let me think this through," Hart said. "Fact one: it's not outside the grounds during the day and in at night because it can't get in and out. Fact two: there's no wolf in the grounds during the day because people would have seen it. Fact three: there's not one inside the base either, because Storm Shadow would have heard it and reported it and it would have been kicked out. Fact four: Snake Eyes has the same bandage on the same paw…err, arm… limb as the wolf."
"Fact Three is not quite established yet," Holmes interrupted, "and Fact Four is circumstantial."
"Not THAT circumstantial," Thompson said. "He reported a training accident, and it would be his first in… ever. We're not talking about some clumsy shmoe, here, this is Snake Eyes. He's not just a ninja, he's the best ninja in the whole World. He can't have actually injured himself just because a piece of equipment came loose. He just can't."
"Fanboy," Clearwater snickered.
"Still, point taken," Holmes conceded. "That injury report IS highly suspicious. And you know what? Storm Shadow was the witness."
"He just keeps popping up, doesn't he?" Thompson mused. "We should talk to him."
"You want to interrogate a ninja?" Hart asked, his eyes wide.
"Me? No. I do believe this falls within Holmes' expertise."
Holmes raised an eyebrow.
"Why?" she asked. Her tone clearly indicated the reason had better be a good one.
"You like investigating, so he'll have more trouble lying to you than to Clearwater," Thompson explained.
"Why not you or Hart?" Holmes countered.
"Because he's a guy, and he's single," Thompson snickered. "He's more likely to be nice to a random girl than to a random guy."
Holmes sighed. She didn't like the idea much, but she couldn't really think of a good counter argument and she liked the idea of chickening out even less than that of talking to the former Cobra agent.
"Fine," she said. "However, I have work for you too, Thompson. Last night wasn't really the full moon anymore, yet we still heard the wolf. Find out what you can about whether that's even possible with werewolves and…"
"It is," Hart interrupted. "It's only phase I victims that only turn on full moon nights: the metamorphosis occurs every night in phase II victims, and phase III victims can turn during the day if they're in the shade or even if it's really cloudy."
Thompson nodded smugly.
"Absolutely correct. A Phase III case has been reported just ten years ago in Russia: a man turned into a wolf while driving under a tunnel, as witnessed by his wife. He crashed the car as he was coming out of the tunnel, but of course the sunlight turned him back at that point."
"I'm pretty sure last night was close enough to a full moon to turn a Phase I anyway," Hart said in conclusion.
Clearwater gulped, suddenly picturing Snake Eyes transforming into a wolf in the middle of a hand-to-hand session because of a power outage.
"All right then, just sit here while I go hassle the deadly ninja," Holmes sighed. "You owe me for this."
Clearwater nodded enthusiastically, while Thompson shrugged and Hart refused to meet her eyes.
Holmes hung back at the end of the evening's hand-to-hand session, rubbing the shoulder she had landed on the most often. The other one hurt too, but not quite as much. She approached Storm Shadow as he was putting the wooden swords away.
"Err… Sergeant?"
He turned towards her, one eyebrow raised.
"What is it, Holmes?" he asked. "If your shoulder really hurts, you'd better go to the infirmary."
She stopped rubbing the sore joint and shook her head.
"It's not that," she stuttered. This was a lot harder than she had ever imagined. She had often played out interrogations in her head, but they did not usually involve a ninja or supernatural concepts.
Storm Shadow held back a sigh, turned fully to face the greenshirt and did his best not to look like this was an unacceptable waste of his time. There was, after all, the off chance that whatever Holmes had to say was important.
Holmes swallowed, took a deep breath, reminded herself that Storm Shadow wouldn't risk the consequences of beating up a team member, and forced herself into interrogator mode.
"Have you heard a wolf on the grounds these past few nights?"
Storm Shadow cocked his head.
"No, I can't say that I have. To be honest, I can't hear much of anything that goes on outside from down here, and I'm not usually up past the third basement in the evenings. Why? You didn't hear one, did you?" He resisted the temptation to try and talk her out of thinking she had heard a wolf so as not to raise suspicion by protesting too much.
"Heard and saw," Holmes said. "How do you think it got past the fence?"
Storm Shadow widened his eyes.
"You SAW it? Inside the fence?" Again, he resisted elaborating and suggesting she had seen one of the two dogs. "It must have dug under it."
"We didn't find any hole. How did Sergeant Snake Eyes injure his left wrist?"
Storm Shadow carefully dosed his expression of surprise to convey nothing more than his being caught off guard by the sudden change of subject. In reality, he was a bit taken aback by the fact the transition from the wolf to Snake Eyes did not sound random at all; obviously, Holmes saw a connection there. Did she think Snake Eyes had been bitten by Timber and was hiding it? Had she figured out who the animal belonged to?
"A bar came loose in the gym," he said. "I assure you he didn't get into a fight with any wild animal," he added with a smirk. He resisted asking her why she was even asking these questions, for no reason other than the fact they would not have bothered him in the least had he not been hiding something.
"Shouldn't his ninja instincts, or senses, or whatever you want to call it, have warned him about a bar not being properly attached?"
Storm Shadow scowled.
"Yes," he said. "They should have."
"The wolf I saw had his left front paw bandaged as well," Holmes said.
He blinked at her, pretending to be lost and cursing on the inside – she knew Snake Eyes had been looking after the wolf, her questions made no sense otherwise. Why she was beating around the bush so much, he had no idea.
"You think he bandaged the wolf and got hurt doing it?" he asked hesitantly, as though taking a wild stab in the dark. "I'll be the first to admit he's a bit of an animal lover, but I can assure you, he got hurt in the gym. I haven't heard anyone else talking about bandaging a wolf, either."
Holmes held back a smirk – Storm Shadow was certainly a good liar, but he was jumping much too easily to the wrong conclusions on her train of thoughts.
"I just wanted to confirm that Sergeant Snake Eyes really did get hurt in the gym. Thank you."
She bowed in an effort to be more amiable to him and left, grinning as soon as her back was turned to him. Storm Shadow had deliberately ignored the fact the wolf and Snake Eyes had the same bandage on the same limb, and he hadn't said that he didn't hear a wolf: instead, he had said he couldn't admit to hearing it, confirming her earlier guess that he was covering for the animal – something he wouldn't do unless the wolf was his brother himself. She had herself a werewolf and her chance to prove she could work in intelligence.
Storm Shadow frowned at her back: her pulse and breathing had been all over the place during their short conversation and he couldn't make much sense out of it, but she definitely sounded happy when she'd left, which didn't bode well for his brother and Timber. He cursed inwardly – he'd TOLD Snake Eyes that letting Timber out was a bad idea, but his brother had felt it abusive to keep the wolf cooped up all day and all night and had refused to hear reason, merely renewing his assurance that Timber would not hurt anybody.