Chapter 16:

The pleasing aroma of food filled Isabella's nose as she drew near the Mess Hall. Ripcord and Breaker were right on her tail, but Isabella still had them by a couple feet. When Isabella finally turned the last corner that would take her into the base's food court, she found herself gliding across the smooth tile of the room. Her feet refused to grip the ground and when she passed a quick glance down at her feet, it suddenly hit her that in her rush to beat the boys, she had forgotten her boots and had run out of the bunker in her socks. Laughing at herself, Isabella steadied herself as she slowed her pace to an easy going walk while she walked further into the room, heading over to the food stands. They had beaten the rush, only a few other Joes stood waiting in line for food but the more seconds that went by, the more soldiers came pouring in. And right after Isabella took her place in the line, Ripcord and Breaker quickly crossed the room and joined her.

"Whew!" Ripcord breathed out while he hunched his upper body over slightly, bracing his hands on his thighs,

"You sure can run, Bella." Breaker stated between gasps for air. Isabella glanced behind her shoulder at the two men and smiled sweetly. Both were in the middle of catching their breaths while Isabella stood all pumped up and not even winded.

"Yeah…" she answered in a cool tone but showed her pride by placing both hands upon her hips while they each moved up in the growing line.

"You could probably give Zen Master a run for his own money." Ripcord stated.

"Ooh I don't know about that…" Breaker replied uncertainly, "….Snake Eyes is fast. Like….fast, fast!" he emphasized.

"Yeah, so is my girl here!" Ripcord answered defensively while he stepped up alongside Isabella and slung an arm around her shoulder.

"Yes but Snake Eyes…" Breaker started to explain but Ripcord held up and hand and brushed the statement off,

"Isabella's got edge. What's he got?" Ripcord quickly threw back while he dropped his arm to turn about and face the computer wiz.

"Oh boy…" Isabella stated with a soft roll of her eyes before. An argument was about to take off, and she wasn't sure she wanted in on it; especially if it involved her and Snake Eyes. After taking a few more steps forward in line, Isabella reached the front and picked up an empty tray before she swiftly set off looking for something appetizing while the two men behind her debated. Their voices seemed to follow her movement, even though it really wasn't her interest to listening in on what they had to say.

"He's a ninja!"

"Yeah and Isabella's bad ass. End of discussion!"

"No, no, no."

"Uh, yes, yes, yes!"

Ignoring the ramble that was going on between Ripcord and Breaker, Isabella settled with picking out a nice deli sandwich, a small bag of Fritos, and a glass of cool, Lipton ice tea with lemon. Holding her tray in both hands, Isabella left the food line and sought out an empty table in the back of the room. As she took a seat comfortably on the bench, Isabella picked up her sandwich and began eating. She was able to devour half of her food by the time Ripcord and Breaker came and joined her at the table with their trays of food, still bickering about who'd win at what with her versus Snake Eyes. They took their seats right across from her.

"Snake Eyes can wield a sword." Breaker pointed out.

Ripcord shrugged shoulder like the comment was no big deal, "So? Isabella can use gun!"

"Well so can Snake!"

"But could he pull the trigger before Isabella does? That's the question, my man!"

Isabella raised a hand up and smacked her forehead. "I cannot believe you guys are talking about this. That you're still talking about this." She declared with a shake of her head. The two men shared a quick glance before looking down at their plate of food like two kids being scolded by their mother.

"He started it." Breaker mumbled under his breath. Ripcord's head turned to glare quickly over at the computer wiz right next to him,

"Yeah, and all I'm saying is Isabella could end it against Sn…."

Before Ripcord could finish his sentence, Isabella quickly interrupted, "I'm ending it now." She stated in a firm tone while she casually reached out and took up her glass of ice tea, "Not another word about this from two of you so help me, I'm going to kick both your asses in front of everyone here." She finished while she brought the glass up to her lips and took a sip of its sweet, refreshing liquid.

Both men stared agape at the young woman before them. Then they passed each other a quick glance.

"Told you she was bad ass." Ripcord whispered over to Breaker before the two men grew silent and started to eat the food off their tray.

Isabella shook her head, while she too picked up on eating and finished off the rest of her dinner. When the men also finished, the three of them took their now empty trays and deposited them in their proper place before heading for the exit.

"Eh yo, Isabella?" Ripcord inquired as he and Breaker stood on either side of the young woman as they made their way down the corridor.

"Hmm?" she replied easefully.

"You workout a lot don't you?" he asked curiously. Isabella arched an eyebrow up at the question but continued on staring straight ahead,

"Yeah." She answered, "…I like keeping fit." She added innocently.

"Hey fit's good." Ripcord stated with a nod of his dark head, "A good build can come in handy in many different situations." He added before he began listing things off, "Like….when bikini season comes around, I bet that's helpful."

A laugh burst out Isabella's mouth before she could help it. Then with a shrug, Isabella nodded, "Yeah it is."

"Or perhaps…" Ripcord cleared his throat before raising a hand up to scratch the back of his head. Then the next words that came out of his mouth were mumbled, "…if you ever found yourself randomly fighting a ninja…" he suggested.

As his words processed, Isabella's eyes closed before she let out a quiet groan of frustration, "Oh Ripcord…" she started while she opened her eyes and turned to stare over at the black man beside her, "I thought I had told you to drop this." She reminded, her turquoise eyes flashing a silent warning while a frown started pulling down at her lips. "I don't wanna hear another word about me and Snake Eyes fighting, struggling, or even holding each other at gun or any other weapon point. Got it?"

Ripcord raised both hands up in a surrendering gesture, "Crystal clear. You won't hear any of that leave my mouth." He promised while he passed a quick glance over to Breaker on Isabella's other side. Isabella watched the two men with suspicion as they quickened their pace, bypassing Isabella's leisurely stroll to walk ahead of her. Once they were side by side, Ripcord turned his head towards Breaker and lowered his voice.

"Quick, who'd win in an arm wrestling match? Isabella or Snake Eyes?" Ripcord asked. Though they had made the efforts on trying to make sure the question didn't make it back to Isabella, her keen hearing was able to pick up on every word and it left her fuming.

"Snake Eyes, not even close." Breaker replied in the same hushed tone. "But she might be able to beat him at thumb wrestling."

"Alright, that's it!" Isabella exclaimed irritably, stopping in her tracks. Both men froze and glanced over their shoulder to see Isabella seething. Turning back to face front, Ripcord shouted,

"Run man!"

Without needing to be told twice, the two men took off down the hall. Isabella watched them sprint away, staying where she was to purposely let them put some distance between them and her for sport. "Wait till I get my hands on you two!" she called after them before she took off at full speed. It only took a few moments before she was hot on their retreating tail and she was quickly closing in.


(Inside the bunker….)

Everyone, after cleaning up from their day of training, had all gathered in the living room. Scarlet and Heavy Duty were sitting comfortably on the sofa while Duke had just come out of his room. Snake Eyes was still nowhere to be seen.

"Hey guys?" Duke asked as he approached the two Joes lounging on the couch, "Have you guys seen Ripcord?" he asked curiously.

Before either Joe could reply, the three of them heard the distinctive cry 'Don't let her catch you!' and all heads turned to the open doorway. Ripcord followed by Breaker flew right inside, and sought protection over by the other members in room. Isabella came into view just seconds later and when she spotted Ripcord and Breaker hiding in the presence of Scarlet, Heavy Duty and Duke, she skidded to a stop before crossing her arms over her chest. Scarlet and Heavy Duty went back and forth from the breathless Ripcord and Breaker to the flushed Isabella before they turned their attention onto the two men,

"Do we even want to know?" Scarlet asked. Ripcord cleared his throat,

"That's classified information." He stated. "Need to know, and you guys don't need."

Breaker nodded his head before he walked over and took a seat right beside the redhead. Ripcord then walked over to where Duke stood to use his friend as a barrier. Isabella's eyes narrowed in response before she crossed the room and headed for the hallway that would take her to her room. As she passed by Ripcord she sent him a hard glare and shook her head,

"You got lucky." She grumbled before she disappeared down the hallway and headed for her room.

Once inside, she closed the door and instantly went for her bed. With a frustrated sigh, she collapsed down on the mattress face first and buried her head in the white pillow. "Why him?" she mumbled into the soft padding, "Out of all the people here, why must my name get tied into his?"