Chapter8:

The ship, Isabella noticed right when she boarded, was much larger than the last one she had come from. With one hand kept firmly on her shoulder, the man called Snake Eyes steered her towards the back of the ship where the rest of his team and the two NATO soldiers were. Once there, he directed her into a chair that was pushed up against a wall of the ship before he at last let her go. Isabella let out a quick, irritated sigh before she leaned back against the solid back of the chair. She stared up at the ceiling blankly, deeply thinking about her position now,

"This is turning out to be quite the night….." she grumbled inside her head. For a few silent minuets Isabella remained still, almost lifeless until she was brought back to reality by a quick cry of pain. She turned her head to see that, across from her diagonally, the man in the black body suit had shoved a long needle up into Ripcord's forearm.

"Ouch!!" he hissed softly; the redhead woman named Scarlet kneeled on Ripcord's other side,

"I thought Army men were suppose to be tough." She wittily pointed out as Snake Eyes extracted the needle of Ripcord's arm; Ripcord frowned softly and straightened up defensively as he watched Snake Eyes like a hawk,

"Hey, we ARE tough!!" he protested before he turned and looked over at Scarlet and quickly gave her a flirty smile, "…..but we're also sensitive." He added. Scarlet rolled her eyes before she glanced over at Snake Eyes,

"Thanks Snake, I can take it from here." She stated. Snake Eyes placed a hand upon her shoulder before he nodded and rose to his feet and moved away from Ripcord and took a seat right across from Isabella. Isabella glanced over at his dark from out of the corner of her eyes to see him looking directly at her, his head was cocked to the side softly as if he was trying to make an analysis about her. Boldly, Isabella turned her turquoise eyes upon him in a silent challenge; he instantly sensed her hostility silently and crossed his arms over his broad, muscular chest in response. Isabella's eyes narrowed along with his movement before she gracefully crossed one leg over the other. For a couple minuets, the two held each others stare, neither wanting to be the one to first look away; all the while conversations between the other people in the ship carried on but Isabella paid no mind to the words spoken back and forth. The stare down between her and Snake Eyes was then disrupted when the fiery redhead walked over and stood in front of Isabella; Isabella glanced up at the young redhead who stood with her arms crossed over her chest as well as she stared down on Isabella's form. Isabella cocked an eyebrow,

"Can I help you?" she asked daringly. Scarlet straightened up,

"You will now disarm yourself." She ordered firmly. A small defiant smirk tugged at Isabella's lips,

"And how do you suppose I can perform such a task when you have restrained my hands?" Isabella smartly pointed out. Behind Scarlet, Snake Eyes stood up and came to stand by her side; Scarlet glanced over at him before she turned her gaze back onto Isabella,

"We will undo the cuffs momentarily as long as you agree to not try anything." She stated. Isabella uncrossed her legs and slowly stood,

"Try anything??" she repeated, "Wow I must have you guys running scared if you honestly think I'd be desperate enough to 'try anything'" Isabella sharply returned. Scarlet gave a soft scowl before she looked over at Snake Eyes and nodded her head; Snake Eyes stepped forward, reached out and took hold of Isabella's cuffed hands. In a few seconds he had the cuffs off her wrists before he backed off and took his place beside Scarlet once more.

"Now," Scarlet began firmly as she quickly eyed Isabella's armed form, "Remove." She ordered. Isabella raised an eyebrow at the command and swiftly glanced around the ship to see all eyes were upon her; in response she straightened up and placed a single hand upon her hip. Everyone in the room stiffened at her simple, innocent action; Isabella couldn't help but roll her eyes softly at the paranoia in the room,

"Exactly what are we talking about?" Isabella asked, referring to her attire.

"Everything." Scarlet answered coolly. Isabella shrugged her shoulders in response,

"If you say so." She replied before her hands went to the clasp of her utility belt; with a quick snap, she undid the belt and carefully, with all its arms, took it off her hips. Snake Eyes stepped forward again and held out his hands, signaling that Isabella was to hand her stuff over to him. And so she did; after handing over the utility belt, Isabella bent over so her hands could reach the tops of the Viper's black army boots where she kept the throwing daggers. She placed the four blades on top of the belt before she bent over again and began working on the ties of her boots. She didn't have to completely undo the boots' laces before her small feet were able to easily slide out of the large shoes; with a firm push of a foot, she nudged the boots off to the side before she brought both hands up to rolled up ends of her black shirt which she tugged up over her head. She silently laughed to herself when she heard someone about to speak out against her bold move of stripping in front of everyone but stopped quickly when they spotted her blue cami beneath the black shirt. Isabella softly shook her head as she turned and dropped the now rumpled shirt over the black boots on the floor. When she faced front again, she caught Scarlet's look of slight surprise before she quickly covered it up and asked,

"Are you finished?" she questioned. Isabella glanced down on herself for a brief second before she brought her hands up to the belt buckle that was holding the extra large pants up on her hips,

"One last thing." Isabella answered as she quickly undid the buckle which immensely loosened the pants on her hips,

"Uhhhh…." Ripcord was starting to mumble in uncertainty; Scarlet also opened her mouth to say something but Isabella simply rolled her eyes once more and quickly spoke up before everyone in the ship got the wrong idea,

"Relax people. I've got something underneath this as well." She explained as she let the large black pants slide from her hips to the ground which she swiftly and easily stepped out of without undoing the button or zipper. "See?" she pointed out as she made a gesture to her skinny jeans. A look of relief passed across almost every male face in that room with the exception of Snake Eyes because his face was well hidden by his mask and visor. Dressed in her casual attire now, Isabella crossed her arms over her chest and gently stuck her hip out,

"Happy now?" she asked. Scarlet gave a soft nod before she took a step forward and bent down to collect Isabella's discarded Viper disguise which she then added to the things Snake Eyes was holding before she turned about and walked off to dispose of the things. A soft whistle came from somewhere in the room and Isabella's head snapped over to look at Ripcord; she sent him a death glare and turned her body to face him,

"Got something to say?" she fiercely demanded. Ripcord quickly shook his head,

"No….its just….wow…."he stated, "…you're...uh… tiny." He pointed out. Isabella glanced down on her form before she looked back at Ripcord who was eyeing her sudden and visibly changed figure and raised an eyebrow.

"You mean curvy? More womanly?" she corrected. Ripcord cleared his throat softly,

"Well….that too." He added softly. Isabella rolled her eyes before she turned about and took a seat back in the chair.

"Good observation." She sarcastically stated as she sat back in her seat and once again crossed her legs, keeping her hard stare upon Ripcord. Ripcord shifted in his seat before he looked away from Isabella and glanced over at Snake Eyes who had taken his seat once more right across from Isabella,

"You're awfully quiet over there. Don't you ever say anything??" he asked curiously, as he eyed the black ninja with soft caution,

"Snake Eyes doesn't speak." Scarlet stated as she walked back into the room, Ripcord glanced over at the redhead,

"Why not?" he asked.

"He doesn't say" Heavy Duty answered.

Once that was established, things got quiet and Isabella was left to sit in silence as she waited to arrive at her new destination.