CHAPTER THIRTEEN: LADIES NIGHT

Sitting in the back of the limousine, her legs crossed and pulling down the hem of her very short black and silver evening gown, Scarlett couldn't believe what she was doing for her first mission.

General Hawk was right. This was far from what she had expected. Or even wanted. Reaching up her short hemline and between her legs – more out of instinct, than anything – she made sure her firearm was tucked away (for the twentieth time). Scarlett shook her head as she looked outside the window watching the green trees pass them by along on the highway. Still, she tried to be grateful to be on her first mission. Well, they say "Be careful what you ask for", she thought to herself. They were right…

Of course, as she watched Ripcord drive them, she realized that saying that he was less than thrilled with this mission was a huge understatement. Not that she could blame him; who would want to play the chauffeur to three rookie girls? She wanted to ask, "What did you do to piss off General Hawk?" But she thought better of it at the last minute, seeing as he still had more experience than the three girls put together.

Scarlett looked over as Mayday adjusted the front of her knee-length blue dress, trying to keep her breasts from spilling out. Apparently Paige isn't used to wearing evening dresses, either. Glad it's not just me. Mayday seemed to be content, happy to do her part. Scarlett almost pitied her naivety, as this was only an intelligence gathering operation. Then again, maybe Mayday was just happy to finally be doing something. "Ready for this one, Paige?" Shana asked her. Mayday smiled a bright, chipper smile in return, winking at her. "Of course! Just glad we can do our part."

Scarlett smiled back; Paige did seem truly grateful to be on this one. Maybe I should, too. It was hard for her to feel the same way, though. This mission was important, yes; but action would be almost non-existent and it would most likely be over before they knew it... even in a place as volatile as Borovia. Oh well, Scarlett thought. I guess I have to start somewhere and build up my experience. Take notes, Shana.

Jinx, on the other hand, was something of a mystery. She seemed to have all the confidence in the world. Just like Scarlett, she wasn't happy with her attire… but vocalized it.

Loudly.

"Can you believe they dressed us up like this to sneak in as a part of the upper-class Harem? This Vorona better have some good information," Jinx said, adjusting her own red gown, which felt a little too tight (and a lot too short, in her opinion) to her body. She had a habit of fidgeting with her earrings; it was clear to Scarlett that Jinx was very unaccustomed to wearing jewelry. Had her earrings not had a hidden microphone in her earrings, allowing Ripcord to collect audio information, Scarlett guessed that Jinx would have ripped them out of her ears by this point. This also held true for the red jeweled eye-shaped necklace with the tiny camera inside.

Mayday seemed the most comfortable of the three girls… and as far as Scarlett could tell, looked the best out of the three in her blue evening dress. Nonetheless, Mayday did agree with Jinx. "Tell me about it," Mayday said, setting down the folder with the mission information and photographs of their contact Vorona along with a sketchy picture of Dr. Walker, tired from studying it for the last several hours. Uncrossing her legs, she added, "This Dr. Walker sounds like an extremely vain and twisted person. I mean, really, who on earth has a mansion full of women all to himself? Not to mention, who could even afford that?"

Scarlett tried to stifle a laugh, but Jinx was a little more blunt. "Have we forgotten who Mr. Heffner is, honey?"

Paige shook her head, "Oh yeah… good point. I guess I didn't think of it since our attire is… quite different, in that respect. Could be worse, right? At least we're not wearing bikini's right now!" For the first time, all three girls laughed. It was taking some time, but slowly they were finally starting to feel like a team.

Ripcord finally spoke up. "Hey, could be worse. You could be driving a bunch of bratty teenagers to some rich warlord's mansion." All three glared at him, but before any of them could say anything, he simply smirked and said, "Hey, I'm just teasing. You ladies look gorgeous. I consider myself lucky."

Smooth talker, this one, Scarlett thought as she rolled her eyes. He was a bit cute, even if he was a bit mouthy. She spoke up, ignoring him and replying to what Mayday had said earlier.

"Ok, Charlie's Angels," Ripcord told them, "We're just about at the mansion. Time to get mentally ready to do your thing."

The three in the back looked at each other with blank stares.

Sensing this, Ripcord re-iterated, "Charlie's Angels… you know… old TV show? From the 70's? They made a few bad movies some years later…" Realizing they still weren't get it, he sighed out a "Nevermind…"

"Well, at least these outfits will make it easier for us to sneak in and pretend to be among his 'trophy' collection, whether or not we're angels." Scarlett emphasized the word "trophy" with disdain in her voice. Men like that were pigs. Even if they gave sweet compliments like Ripcord did. They always had an ulterior motive. Just look at Clutch… but if nothing else, at least he was up front and didn't hold back. Nothing hidden or secretive about that swine.

But still, it's too bad Snake couldn't see her dressed like this… dressed to kill. You wouldn't stand a chance against me, Snake-Eyes, she thought to herself, with a subtle raise of her eyebrow and a sparkle in her emerald eyes, looking out the window of the limo.

The mansion became larger and larger in the window as it appeared over the horizon Scarlett put one hand on the window as she took in how truly enormous the mansion was. She couldn't help but open her mouth in amazement.

Even driving up the driveway took several minutes – it must have been at least three times as long as the road that led up to her parents house back in Georgia.

Pulling up through the circular driveway, Ripcord brought the limo to a stop. A young blonde lady wearing a tight little black dress and a smile full of confidence strolled down the steps with her arms held out wide to greet the arriving guests. Scarlett, Jinx, and Mayday looked at each other with an assumption that this must be Vorona but wanting confirmation from the others in order to avoid saying the wrong thing and consequently blow their cover.

Next to the lady they assumed was Vorona, a tall, bald butler dressed in an expensive tuxedo – resembling more of a bodyguard, Scarlett deduced, given his enormous size –opened the door for the ladies.

And now, here they were, forced to not only trust a complete stranger (…and a foreign stranger, at that) but acting as if the four of them were lifelong friends.

Scarlett was the first to step out, carefully putting her black stiletto heel to the pavement as her calf muscles tightened. Looking up at the mansion in wonderment, she couldn't help but feel like royalty. Still, she knew it was a false sense of royalty, and there was a mission to be done that was depending on her acting abilities. Going undercover had its moments; good, like this moment of grandeur… and bad, like wearing an evening dress. No matter what role she played, she had to remember, she was fully trained and qualified in undercover operations just like every other member of the unit.

Vorona immediately embraced Scarlett, catching her a bit off guard. "Darling!" she said in English, but with a deep Russian accent. "How long has it been? Three years? You look wonderful, Scarlett!"

Scarlett smiled. Boy, this chick is good. She even knows who's who between us three. Good thing half of the population here speaks English; I don't think my rusty Borovian would cut it.

"Good to see you too, Vorona! It's been too long!" Scarlett, playing along with Vorona, leaning in to give a kiss on each cheek, as was the custom of Borovia. Both were pretending as if they were lifelong friends that hadn't seen each other in ages, even though the two in reality had never met until now. This was the only way to play it off and keep the prying eyes of the other ladies and armed guards in the mansion away… to keep them unsuspecting of their true motives.

Vorona smiled, looking at Scarlett as if she was reminiscing on old times, though Scarlett suspected she was studying her. "Aren't you just as pretty as a preacher today?"

Um.. preacher? Scarlet thought, puzzled, but still smiling politely. Oh, she must mean picture. Language barrier. She smiled at her new Czechoslovakian friend, not wanting to seem rude by correcting her and realizing she must have mixed up her similies. "Why, thank you, Vorona. You look… just as pretty as well."

Mayday had just stepped out of the limo with Jinx in trail. Vorona gave them similar greetings, hugging each one of them with such adoration.

Escorting the three ladies inside, Vorona said, "Please, you must be exhausted after the long drive. Let me take you inside and give you rest."

Vorona walked up the stairs gracefully in her high heels, followed by Mayday. Scarlett and Jinx brought up the rear, walking cautiously and observing their surroundings while trying not to appear too cautious. They didn't want to look like military soldiers going room-to-room, even though this was exactly what their instincts were telling them to do.

The mansion was decorated exquisitely. As the ladies stepped through the doors, they were in awe of the enormous size of the mezzanine and the priceless decorations and artwork within. The crystal chandelier alone dominated the center of the room; one could almost notice it without looking up to find it. Several small table stands adorned the walls of the room, each one holding precious vases or statuettes. Paintings from some of the world's most famous artists hung on the walls, making the mansion seem more like a museum.

As Vorona took them up the left side of the double stairs, Jinx noticed a painting that caught her eye. It was a small, simple dojo, of beautiful decoration and structure, in a quiet and serine setting in the wilderness. A single cherry blossom tree stood outside the dojo and in the forefront of the painting. "Scarlett, look at this! Isn't it beautiful?"

Scarlett turned and nodded; it was rather beautiful. "I always wanted to visit Japan, I would absolutely love to find a quiet little dojo like that!"

"This reminds me of the one that Snake-Eyes and I trained at," Jinx casually mentioned.

"You… and Snake-Eyes?" Scarlett was stunned.

"Yep! Well, I was much younger then. We had some absolutely amazing times in Japan. At least we did when he was there… you know, before he left." Jinx seemed to be elsewhere, thinking of another place in another time, as she gazed at the painting.

Scarlett tried as hard as she could to not sneer. Snake-Eyes knew Jinx before she joined the team? Why didn't he tell me? She wanted to slap the look right off of Jinx's face and snap her into reality, as if to say, "Hey, we have a mission to do, rookie!"

Scarlett felt her cheeks turning flush.

"You know, Scarlett, can I tell you something?" Jinx said with a quiet calmness but not really waiting for a response before continuing. "Snake-Eyes gets a bad rap on the team. You know, he really can be sweet, despite his quiet and reserved nature. He's not simply the steel-hearted warrior that most people think he is... there's really more too him than that."

Wondering if the inside of her cheek was bleeding, Scarlett kept biting down, disregarding the pain. I already KNOW that, missy!

She knew she was being jealous, but couldn't help it. She had already made the mistake of being jealous once before, when it turned out to be nothing. Scarlett took a deep breath. No, I'm not going down this road again. I already made the mistake of thinking Snake and Firewall were an item. Just because Jinx knows Snake-Eyes better than most on this team, doesn't mean she knows him better than I do. Even if she did, it doesn't mean anything. Besides, Snake-Eyes can choose who he wants…

She knew she was fooling herself with that last thought. Still, she wasn't sure if she was more upset with Jinx… or with Snake-Eyes. Why hadn't he mentioned this before? He was always so secretive with her, which frustrated her to no end. Sure, a person has their own past, and everone needs to keep some things to themselves, but with Snake… well, it seemed everything about him was one big secret. It was hard to get inside the man… his thoughts, his desires, his past. Sometimes it felt like he was just secretive with her only, even though she knew better. But the fact that Jinx seemed to know him so well made her wonder.

A sweet Russian voice at the top of the stairs broke her thought: "Ladies, it is a beautiful painting, isn't it? But… should we, perhaps, continue to your rooms?"