Chapter 5:

As the black car pulled came to a stop, it hit a small pothole causing Isabella's limp head to lightly bounce against the floor which instantly brought her around. Her turquoise eyes snapped open, at first in confusion but after a few seconds she remembered what had happened. When Isabella tried pushing herself to a sitting up position on the floor, she found that both of her hands had been tightly secured in front of her. Her eyes narrowed at the restraining bonds before her mouth turned down in an irritated frown. The car's back door was suddenly thrown open, causing Isabella to jump slightly before her head turned to face her captor; a deep loathing settled within her as her eyes landed on the man dressed in white,

"I should've known that you'd be behind this." She snapped at him. With his mask down this time, the man smirked triumphantly before he reached into the car and grabbed Isabella by her arm and forcefully pulled her out of the vehicle. The moment her feet touched solid cement, her knees buckled slightly before she steadied herself and glared dangerously at the man in white while jerking her arm out of his grasp. He made a soft disapproving clicking noise with his mouth and shook his head,

"Now let's not be difficult." He stated with amusement behind his dark eyes as he took hold of Isabella once more, "Walk." He ordered as he gave her a nudge forward. Isabella faced front as she let her feet carry her to wherever her captor was directing. While they walked, Isabella quickly eyed her surroundings; they were in the middle of a clearing, far from any road and civilization and less then 50 feet from a large jet which they were approaching; its ramp was already down and waiting for them. Isabella felt another vigorous push against her back which took her up into the ship and once inside it, the ship's door closed behind them. Isabella barely had a second to glance back at it before the man in white took her firmly by the arm and practically dragged her over to one of the seats lying in the ship. He carelessly tossed her into one, forcing her to sit down before he turned away and called up to the pilots,

"Take off!" he ordered, "Set a course for the base." Once the order was given out, he turned back around to study Isabella. His head cocked itself to the side slightly as his dark eyes traced over her features which were radiating with anger. "You sure are a funny one." He stated as he crossed his arms over his chest, a small smirk pulling at his mouth. Isabella's eyes narrowed and she opened he mouth to make a vey rude response but was cut off as a life size holographic showing of a man dressed in a suit appeared out of nowhere.

"Was it a success, Storm Shadow?" James McCullen asked. Isabella's mouth dropped open slightly before she glanced over at the man in white who nodded and with a slight jerk of his head, signaled over to where she sat,

"You tell me." He answered. Both men turned and looked down at Isabella who in turn, glared up at them. James McCullen quickly eyed her before he nodded his head in approval,

"Very good." He stated, "And she hasn't been causing much trouble for you?" he asked as he turned his attention back on the young woman.

"It was nothing that I couldn't handle." Storm Shadow replied. James McCullen looked back over at Storm Shadow,

"You've done well. Just make sure that when you bring her to the base, she's to be completely unaware of its location." He reminded.

"Of course." With that said, James McCullen faded from scene. Isabella raised an eyebrow up at the tall man in white standing before her,

"Storm Shadow, huh?" she repeated his name, "….what kind of name is that?" she asked. Storm Shadow also arched an eyebrow before retorting,

"What kind of name is Strider?" At the mention of her military nickname, Isabella tensed up,

"How the hell did you know that?" she demanded. Storm Shadow smirked softly,

"Oh we know quite a bit about you, actually." He answered in a laid back tone before he took a seat in a chair directly in front of Isabella; Storm Shadow placed both of his hands comfortably behind his neck as he leaned back against the chair and closed his dark eyes.

"Well that's a comforting fact right there." She grumbled softly as she stared down at her bound hands and tried to secretly loosen the cords,

"Don't even try it." Storm Shadow's voice spoke out suddenly as he opened one of his eyes to glance over at Isabella. Isabella instantly ceased her efforts and forced an innocent look upon her face,

"Try what?" she asked sweetly as her eyes narrowed softly in defiance. Storm Shadow smiled and let out a soft chuckle before closing his eye again,

"Good cover." He knowingly stated. She let out a huffed sigh before she irritably leaned back against her chair. Isabella sat quietly, impatiently, thinking of ways she could try and escape for the next two hours. She ran the ideas and stages through her head before she gave up, thinking planning won't do any good till she knows exactly where she's being taken to. A device on Storm Shadow's person started beeping which woke him up from his nap; he reached inside his pants pocket and pulled out the device before he glanced at the screen,

"We'll be arriving shortly." He casually stated as he stood up from his seat and put his device away once more. He swiftly strolled out of the area and entered the cockpit and spoke a few soft words with the pilots before he came back out, carrying something in his hand. Isabella could see that he was holding something but she couldn't make out what it was until he was directly in front of her holding it out for her to see; her eyes widened and her body tensed up,

"So sorry about this but it's simply for precautions." He stated as he held up the long syringe. Isabella shook her head before she sent him a deadly warning with her eyes. Storm Shadow reached one hand out and firmly took her by the neck before he forced her head back, completely exposing her neck. Isabella hissed through her teeth before she started jerking her body around in his grip; Storm Shadow painfully tightened his hold, securing Isabella to her seat before he brought the needle down and stuck it into her neck. She let out a soft yelp as the needle pierced deep through sensitive skin and tissue before it injected its contents into her blood stream. By the time Storm Shadow had removed the needle from her neck, Isabella was out cold…..

The moment their ship had landed, Storm Shadow scooped Isabella up into his arms and carried her off the jet. A gust of freezing, snowy air hit them dead on when he had stepped off the ramp causing him to naturally quicken his long strides so that he could get out of the bad weather. Once he entered the opening into the ice cave, a viper solider activated a secret door which opened up to him, giving him access into the Cobra's Base. As he came through the main door he was greeted by both James McCullen and The Doctor.

"Ah good….." the Doctor spoke, "…you've made it." he stated. Storm Shadow nodded silently before he glanced down on the young woman in his arms,

"Of course." He replied, "….so what do you want me to do with the sleeping beauty?" he returned. The Doctor chuckled softly before he signaled Storm Shadow to follow him with a wave of his hand,

"I have her cell already prepared for her. Follow me." The Doctor answered as he turned and led the way further into the base. Storm Shadow and McCullen obediently followed the doctor until they came to a single door cell. It opened with a soft hiss before the three men entered the small room. The only piece of furniture inside it was a simple black cot; the rest of the room was grey with a metal floor.

"If you will." The Doctor offered Storm Shadow as he directed the white ninja to place the unconscious woman on the cot. Storm Shadow did so without hesitation and was considerate enough to carefully set her down upon it. "Thank you." The Doctor finished as he stepped up to the side of the cot to study Isabella's limp form; Storm Shadow moved away till he stood leaning against the cell's doorframe. "How long has she been out?" he asked curiously as he reached two fingers down to check the pulse in her neck. A strong and healthy flutter moved beneath his touch and he straightened up, feeling satisfied with her physical state,

"No more than 30 minuets." Storm Shadow answered lazily.

"And there were no complications?" The Doctor questioned persistently.

"None what's so ever." The white ninja assured.

"Excellent." Spoke the very pleased Doctor before he turned away from the cot and walked back over to the cell's door,

"Aren't you going to wake her up, Doctor?" McCullen asked curiously as he and Storm Shadow exited the small holding cell.

"She'll come around…….eventually. Right now I have a few last preparations I need to make now that she's here. And it will be easier to get them done when she's still out of it then trying to do it when she's awake and on the alert." He explained casually as he typed in a code into the keypad outside the cell which closed and locked the door tightly.

"Well then while you're doing that, I'll send a message to NATO about the warheads and have the Baroness ready with some men to recover the case." McCullen stated before he broke away from the group and went in the opposite direction. The Doctor turned around to face Storm Shadow, who was waiting patiently for orders,

"Keep a sharp out and be at the ready should your assistance be needed." The Doctor informed. Storm Shadow nodded his head silently before he too turned and walked off in a different direction, leaving the doctor to walk back to his lab alone.

(25 minuets later…….)

Isabella's cell door slid open with a quick hiss before The Doctor strolled on into the room carrying with him a silver tray. He walked over to the bed and bent over to carefully place the tray on the ground before he picked up the small bottle on it and unscrewed the cap off its top. He leaned over Isabella's sleeping form, bringing the vial about an inch away from her nose where he let the unpleasant aroma draw Isabella back to senses….

An incredibly strong scent, one that was even fouler then the smell of nail polish remover, drifted up into Isabella's nose; she had unknowingly inhaled the fume in through a deep breath before her body jerked itself awake. Her head instinctively turned away from the horrid smell, her eyes were closed tightly and her nose had scrunched up in displeasure.

"Welcome back to the Land of the Living, my dear." A male voice spoke, bringing her to her fullest attention. Isabella forced her eyes opened before she turned her head in the direction of the voice; her vision was still unfocused and blurry from the effects of the drug she had been injected with but she could still make out the tall figure dressed in black hovering above her. She blinked a few times which helped clear her vision before she tried to sitting up; she had completely forgotten that her hands were still tied so she ended up collapsing back onto the cot with a groan. The man in black chuckled,

"Take it easy now." He spoke, "….that drug can have some pretty nasty effects." He stated. Isabella glared up at the man before she brushed her tongue across her dry lips and tried again. This time, she managed to sit up properly but her body felt drained of strength and she had to resort to using the wall behind her to hold her up. She bowed her head in exhaustion before she swallowed and realized how parched and sore her throat was. When she lifted her head up to look up at the man in black he was kneeling before her with a knife, cleanly cutting through her bonds and then extending a small glass of water out for her to take. Isabella eyed the glass suspiciously as she rubbed her now free wrists, trying to get some circulation back into them before she reached a hand out and firmly pushed the glass away from her.

"No…" she determinedly murmured. The man chuckled, it was a low chilling sound that made Isabella's flesh crawl,

"Come now, there's no need to be difficult." He began, "…it's just water." He promised. Isabella swallowed again and shook her head while she tried turning her body away from the man before. Now that her vision was back, she quickly noted the mask that he wore over his face for what she guessed was there for necessary reasons. "Drink it." he ordered. Isabella glanced over at him out of the corner of her eye, giving him a look of pure insubordination. The man sat back on his heels, "Fine." He stated as reached a black gloved hand out and roughly took Isabella by her jaw. At the sudden hostility, Isabella tightly sealed her mouth off; the man forced her head back and used some surprising pressure on her cheeks which forced her to involuntarily open her mouth. He held her mouth open long enough to put the glass to her lips and pour some water inside; though physically, Isabella was lacking the strength to fight the man off, she used what strength she did have to make things hell for the man in front of her. Refusing to swallow the contents in her mouth, Isabella pushed the top part of mouth out and spat the liquid out through her teeth. The man let go as his face was sprayed with the water before made a low growling sound from his throat and resorted to a different method. He reached down to his tray and picked up a needleless syringe which he swiftly filled with water from the glass before he violently seized Isabella once more and forced her back against the wall. With one hand he held the syringe while he used the other to painfully pry open Isabella's mouth. When the opening in her mouth was big enough, he once again forced her head back before he stuck the syringe inside and had it pointing down her throat. He squirted the contents directly down her it before he used his hand to lightly massage her throat muscles to make her swallow the liquid. Finally, reluctantly Isabella downed the water and once she did, the man in black pulled away.

"Now was that so hard?" he irritably stated as he placed his syringe back down on the tray.

"Who are you?" Isabella demanded while she ran a hand across her mouth from where the water had dripped down her chin from her struggles,

"A Doctor," He casually replied, "…nothing else." The Doctor reached out for Isabella again, his hand going for her throat; Isabella stiffened and smacked his advancing hand away,

"Don't touch me!" she threatened, her turquoise eyes narrowing in a deadly warning; the Doctor chuckled,

"My, my, my aren't you the tense one." He stated with amusement, "I was merely going to check your pulse." He confessed casually.

"Listen Doctor, if I wanted to get a physical, I would've gone to a Clinic on base." She boldly pointed out. The Doctor cocked his head to the side as he studied Isabella's face,

"Well think of it this way, your on a base right now, and with me being a doctor, you're in a Clinic." He smartly threw back as his hand reached out once more and found the pulsating spot on the side of her neck. He held his two fingers there for a few seconds before another chuckle escaped from his mask,

"Nervous Lieutenant?" he mockingly stated as he drew his hand away. Isabella raised her own hand up and covered the place where his hand had just been, feeling the fast fluttering of her heart herself.

"Nervous isn't how I would put it." she grumbled; which was in fact true, she wasn't nervous, just a bit jumpy from all that's been happening to her in last few hours.

"Mmm….." the Doctor murmured to himself as he considered her answer. Then he collected his tray off the ground and rose to his full height above her, "Well despite the fact that your body is still recovering from the drugs, everything else seems to be in perfect order." He addressed as he turned and walked over to the cell door which slid automatically slid open for him. "I'll be back for you in a little while so please feel free to get settled in, Lieutenant." He mockingly finished before leaving the cell; the door sealed itself shut with a hiss and then everything was quiet. Isabella stared across at that closed door blankly, knowing full well now that she was going to be stuck here for some time.