Word of the theft reached Washington DC the next day. It was devastating to think that such a powerful weapon had been stolen from the Joes, especially when the Joes were supposed to be the best.
"How many warheads?" The president was visibly troubled by the fact that a rouge faction of what would seem to be terrorists had gotten their hands on such a lethal weapon.
"Four, Mr. President."
"Any threats? Demands?"
"None so far, sir; but the Joe's were able to capture one of the terrorists before she could escape. They are hoping to get information out of her; however she hasn't said anything of importance yet. "
The secretary hoped that by mentioning the fact that they did in fact have a lead would put the president in a better mood. Apparently she wasn't the only one who had caught onto the shift in conversation because another one of the president's entourage decided to speak up at that exact moment. He failed to realize that the whole point of mentioning their captive had been to get the presidents mind off the warheads.
"We take the lack of demands to mean the terrorists are unfocused, no clear goals."
"No, it means they intend to use them…"
While the White House was busy trying to figure out what to do about the new terrorist threat that was now looming over America the Joe's were busy licking their wounds.
"General Hawk is stable now, but he won't be conscious for another day or so. He's one tough bastard."
It would seem that other than a few dead soldiers the Joe's had made it through the fight rather unscathed. General Hawk was the only one who ended up confined to a hospital bed, the rest just needed a few stiches and some pain meds. Jessie too had made it through the fight relatively intact ending up with a few cuts and a dislocated shoulder. After being restrained by the Joes she had been taken to the infirmary where a doctor had checked her to make sure she didn't have any extensive injuries; he had set her shoulder and stitched up the cut on her thigh. He had then advised that she have a day of bed rest to recover before the Joes started to interrogate her, something she was extremely grateful for.
And so she had spent twenty four hours confined to a bed with two guards watching her at all times. She was taken from her room at around noon the following day and taken to a different room where she assumed she would be interrogated. As she and her guard walked through the base she got a good look at just how much damage had been done. Soldiers were everywhere moving debris, fixing the parts of the structure that had been destroyed, and carting away dead bodies. She cringed as they passed a stretcher that had a white sheet over it, despite the fact that she lived with terrorists she still felt bad that people had died, these men and women had family's and she felt bad that they had been taken away from them so suddenly.
Duke, Ripcord, Snake Eyes, Scarlett, and Heavy Duty all took turns interrogating Jessie. Considering Snake Eyes couldn't actually question her he went first, simply staring her down as they sat in the silent room; they hoped that the silence would unnerve her and she would be easier to crack for the others. What they hadn't expected was for her to be perfectly comfortable with him, instead acting tense and uneasy around him she began talking to him as if they were old friends. She talked about how Storm Shadow was her teacher but how she wasn't very good at being a ninja like him. She told him how Storm Shadow had told her about their childhood and how she wished she could travel to Japan and see where they grew up. In the end Snake Eyes was the one who became uncomfortable and as he walked out of the interrogation room the Joe realized that breaking her would be harder than they thought.
Ripcord went next trying to get her to open up by being friendly to her instead of trying to intimidate her but instead of gleaming any useful information he ended up simply wasting time with pointless rambling. Scarlet and Heavy Duty both tried to intimidate her into giving up the information but neither were successful. After living with people like Storm Shadow and the Baroness she had become used to dealing with intimidating figures and no longer felt threatened by them. She knew that the Joes wouldn't do anything to her, she was their only lead as to who had the warheads and what they were going to do with them; as such, they wouldn't do anything that could potentially harm her.
Duke as the only one who had any success, he walked in and sat down casually. He wasn't going to try to become best friends with her like Ripcord had but he didn't see the point in trying to scaring her into submission either. He decided that starting out with simple questions first would be the easiest thing way to see if he could get anything at all out of her.
"How long have you known Anna?"
"A few years, Anna was already a part of the family when I joined. They saved me from living on the streets and over time she became like an older sister to me… She did love you, you know; she was just hurt when you didn't come back."
Duke winced a little; he didn't like that she knew so much about his and Anna's past.
"And what about Storm Shadow how long have you known him? You spoke as if you know him very well."
"Storm Shadow was one of the ones who found me. I was living on the streets of Scotland when he and my father found me. They took me in and I have been a part of their family ever since. Storm Shadow taught me how to protect myself and in return I helped care for any wounds he received while on missions."
"I see, and who's your father then?" Jessie gave him an incredulous look; she couldn't believe he thought that she would fall for such a poor trick.
"I'm not stupid Duke, I'm not going to tell you my father's name; I'm no rat."
"Fine, then how about you tell me your name instead."
"I'm Jessie."
"No last name?"
"Oh no I have one; you just don't get to know it." She smirked at him, she had given him information but it was useless. He was obviously annoyed with her and she took great pleasure in that fact.
"Fine then have it your way." He walked out of the room motioning to the two guards outside the door as he left. They in turn entered the room and helped Jessie out of her chair, she was then led to a small cell that had a simple cot, a sink and a toilet in the corner; the layout of the small room very similar to that of a jail cell. After the guards had locked her in Jessie sat down on the make shift bed with a sigh, she missed her family desperately and could only hope that her father and Storm Shadow were planning a rescue mission.
At the same time mile away at their secret base it would seem that McCullen could care less about his daughter's current predicament. Instead of making plans to save her he was reclined in a plush chair holding what pared to be an iron mask.
"This belonged to an ancestor of mine. He was caught selling arms to both sides. The French forced him to wear it for the rest of his life. They called him Destro, destroyer of nations."
"So why do you keep it?" Storm Shadow couldn't understand McCullen's fixation on the mask, it didn't seem very special to him; what was the point in giving them a lesson on his family's past, especially his ancestor's mistake. He believed that there were better things that they could be doing at that same moment, such as figuring out how to save Jessie. He would never voice his opinion though, McCullen was his boss and therefore it was not his place to question him.
"So that I never forget the most important rule in dealing arms."
"Let me guess, never sell to both sides?" McCullen grinned at Anna before replying.
"Never get caught selling to both sides," he got up setting the mask on a shelf behind his chair before giving out his next set of orders, "Take the warheads to Paris, have them weaponized. Then I want you to test one."
"Test one?"
"We'll let CNN show the world how well the preform."
Storm Shadow who had been standing quietly in the corner decided to throw in his two cents.
"Fear is a great motivator."
"I have a target in mind, one the French will never forget, as I've never forgotten what they did to clan McCullen."
Storm Shadow and Anna waited for a moment before disconnecting their holoforms; they had their orders, there was no point in lingering. Storm Shadow wished that he could have at least mentioned Jessie before he was issued his mission though. He couldn't understand how McCullen could be so calm when his daughter was at the mercy of the enemy. His only consolation was that he knew the Joes wouldn't hurt her. They were the good guys and as such they treated their prisoners well, or at least they better; if he found out that they had abused Jessie in any way there would be hell to pay, and nothing, not even God would be able to stop Storm Shadow from exacting revenge.
I feel so proud of myself two chapters in two days! This is partially due to the fact that I had no homework this weekend and all my friends were busy and partially because of how many people reviewed so quickly. I would like to give special thanks to Asery Aseerrmio Ecvoll Asernil and StupidDeaths for following my story/ adding it to their favorites.
To The-Darkened Abyss: Haha I'm glad you liked it. I was going for witty but I was a little worried it would be a bit cliché. Thanks for reviewing I hope you liked this last chapter.
To StupidDeaths: I'm glad you like Jessie; she's one of my favorite characters that I've created. I just felt like if she was kickass then she would become a Mary Sue and that was the last thing I wanted haha. Well thanks sooo much for reviewing and I hope you continue to enjoy my story.
To Asery Aseerrmio Ecvoll Asernil: I'm glad you think my writing is fantastic and I hope to post at least one chapter every week depending on how much homework I have. Thanks for reviewing and I hope you continue to like the story.
To ShiningWingsOfTheDragon: Thanks for reviewing again I appraise the continued input. I honestly don't think I would have been able to write this story if I didn't have the movie to reference, there's just too many things that happen for me to remember all the important details. I hope that you continue to like my story.
To IM Awesome: You have no idea how much it means to me that this is one of your favorite fanfictions. I'm extremely glad that you have enjoyed my story thus far and I hope that it continues to meet your expectations :D
To ZabuzasGirl: Thank you for continually reviewing my story it means a lot to me
Thanks to everyone who's read my story up to this point, you are all the most amazing people in the world. I hope that you all continue to read the story and please Review if you like it, or if you think that there's something I messed up on or if shoot me a PM.
-Ambercat999