Disclaimer: I do not own G. I. Joe nor any of the characters except my own Oc's of Lt. Col. Jane Abernathy "Demon Rose" (or Emily Rose), Sgt. Jake Henderson "Pile-Driver", Corporal First Class Jana Ling "Amethyst", and Col. Roger Stevenson "Cap". Here's Amethyst's story,

Synapse: Amethyst had been captured by Cobra nearly one year ago and now she was finding herself imprisoned by another. This man is using her, keeping her hidden, and now he expects more from her. Now she wants out.

G. I. Joe

The Amethyst Stone

Chapter 7

Hours went by and Storm Shadow had not heard a sound from Amethyst's room. He crept up the stairs and opened the door a little. There she sat, perfectly still on her bed, legs crossed together and hands on either knee. Her finger's curled into perfect 'o' shapes. Even her eyes were closed, breathing shallow. She was focusing her energy.

He debated if he should interrupt her but instead he sat on the ground in front of her imitating what she was doing. He had no idea what her meditation was like but he figured it had to do more with channeling 'qi' and clearing the mind.

Amethyst woke up a little from her meditation-nap. Every time she started meditating without incense she fell asleep and this was one of those times. Her limbs were stiff and heavy. Eyes flickered open to see that she was not alone in her room. In front of her on the floor was Storm Shadow imitating what she had been doing. She laughed a little. "Storm Shadow…you don't actually have to meditate."

Her voice sounded sleepy but gentle, like a caring mother over an innocent child. "No, but I would like to gain your respect." The words stunned even him. Why would I want her respect?

Because she is your equal and in her own way she is teaching you something she promised never to teach. He answered himself.

"You have it Tóngkǒngi, you earned it when you saved my life." She stood up and stretched a little before yawning. "Falling asleep while meditating, don't do it."

Confusion filled his mind again: "You were asleep?"

"Yeah," Amethyst held her hand out to Storm Shadow. "Understand one thing Tóngkǒng, I do respect you, but I do not trust you."

"Nor do I trust you." Storm Shadow said back as he took her hand. He figured she wasn't insulting him bluntly to his face. Instead he thought the word Tóngkǒng as some form of endearment. "I must ask however, I noticed when I was treating your injury, the markings along your spine, what are they?"

"What are they or what do they mean?" She asked back in her blank tone.

"Both,"

"They are the mark of the Ling familyii. Each one represents learning of something new. The first, the one at the base of the skull, is Tóngkǒng or pupil. After receiving Tóngkǒng the marked receives: Xiǎo ling iiior Healer, Zhànshì ivor Warrior, Xiōngshǒu vor killer, Bǎohù zhě vior Protector, Jiātíng viior Family, and finally Qíngrénviii." She didn't finish her statement; instead she fell silent, almost resentful of the last mark.

"Would I receive those?"

"No you wouldn't, not unless I insisted that you receive them…which I won't. Trust me; it hurt enough getting them myself." Her eyes widened then closed. She didn't want to remember that pain for the last mark. Her hand went over the cup of her back where Qíngrén was located. Forcefully her father had her get the mark even though she had not earned it yet. The mark meant that the person had become someone's lover, had even possibly married, but Amethyst had done none of those things. She figured her father made her get it because he feared she would never get it if she went about things her way.

"What does the last one mean?"

"Nothing," she whispered before walking away.

That surprised Storm Shadow; she had received a mark that meant nothing? His curiosity took over and he went to his computer. Normally someone else would do what he asked but he figured that she would be insulted if he asked her to look up words in Chinese for him. The fact that she spoke it fairly often meant she grew up hearing the language, it also didn't help that her family was from China. To his surprise, when he ran the word 'Nothing' the translation was Shénmeix, not what Amethyst had said.

He didn't know how to spell the word Amethyst had said so he would ask her sometime later.

Amethyst made her way into the kitchen and found that the fridge and everything was empty. The cupboards weren't filled, not even with dust. She swore under her breath. "What do you have to eat around here you stupid ninja?"

Amethyst noticed a few take-out fliers lying on the kitchen counter. "Oh, so the cranky ninja orders take-out."

Storm Shadow walked out of the computer room and heard Amethyst cracking small jokes at his expense. Under normal circumstances he would have hit the insulter but these weren't normal circumstances. He had saved her life twice, and she in return was teaching him something she vowed not to. Calmly he walked into the kitchen to see her reading the take-out fliers. In truth it looked more like she was glaring at the fliers.

"Why does everything have to be in Japanese? I can't read it!" She screamed before throwing the flier

"you speak Japanese but you don't know how to read it?"

"Of course I don't know how to read Japanese, I was never taught." Amethyst stated while trying to focus her energy on not being pissed off.

"That makes absolutely no sense!" Storm Shadow walked towards Amethyst.

"Jinx taught me a few words of Japanese, and in return I taught her how to speak some in Chinese."

"But no reading the language."

"No, but there's a reason…" Amethyst rubbed her shoulder nervously. She didn't want to tell him her worst weakness.

Hand on one hip, Storm Shadow felt like yelling at her but contained his anger. "What's the reason?" He hoped that the body language he was giving off would get the point across that he was becoming impatient with her.

"I'm Dyslexic."

i Tóngkǒng: Pupil

ii The Mark of the Ling family is also associated with the Seven Hidden Blades. Each step the Undertaker must learn to become something. First is the Pupil, second the Healer, third the Warrior, Fourth the Killer, fifth The Protector, sixth is to be Family, and seventh is to be a Lover. With each of the Seven Blades that is learned one mark is given to the Undertaker, even though the marks actually have nothing to do with the Seven Hidden Blades at all.

iii Xiǎo ling or Healer,

iv , Zhànshì: Warrior

v , Xiōngshǒu: Killer,

vi Bǎohù zhě: Protector,

vii Jiātíng: Family

viii Qíngrén: Lover

ix Shénme: Nothing

A/N: all right, a cliffy, aren't you so special! No, that's not it, i haven't got anymore typed up for this one, currently working on the next chapter. also if you want to see what hte marks look like i'm going to post in the next chapter what they look like. anyways r&r please, it maketh my world turneth roundeth. oh and the Seven Hidden Blades technique is something i made up, along with the ceremony of the marks that Jana got...and...oo i would tell you but tututut Spoilers.