Chapter 17:

It took a while, but eventually sleep settled over Isabella. The problem with that though was the fact that she went to bed much earlier then use to and the effect of that was finding herself wide awake before 5 AM. After staring blankly up at the ceiling for a good fifteen minuets, Isabella sat up and got out of bed. With one hand, she undid her hair from the braid and lightly raked her fingers through the wavy silk before she gathered her hair together and pulled it up in a high pony tail. Then quietly, Isabella left her room, stepping out into the hallway while closing the door behind her.

Sighing, she moved slowly out into the deserted main room. But then, not knowing what else to do the young woman decided to go exploring about the bunker. As she crossed the main room and headed over to an open doorway on the far side that would lead into another room, a restless ache began in Isabella's legs and there was nothing more that she wanted to do right there then go for a nice, long run. Cautiously stepping into the fairly dark, extra room, Isabella placed a hand on the wall and sought out the light switch and flicked it on. When light flooded the room, her turquoise eyes scanned the area; then a smile pulled at her lips. The room wasn't a room at all but a mini gym complete with treadmills, weights and other workout equipment.

Without a second thought, Isabella found her feet carrying her over to one of the few treadmills that they had set up on the right side of the room before she was stepping up onto the machine and was already starting it up. As it began moving, Isabella set the pace at an easy jog for a warm up and she kept it that way for ten minuets. Then once her blood was pumping, Isabella reached her hands down to her blue cami and tugged it up over her head so that she was left in a sports bra and her gray pants before she draped it over the top of the machine and quickened the pace to a decent run. She was normally use to running with music blasting in her ears, but as of right now she was just happy that she was able to run period. The sense it brought to her deeply reminded Isabella of home since running was all she ever did on her free time back then.

It was exhilarating for Isabella to be running like this again. The familiar feeling of adrenaline rushing through her veins was ongoing, and Isabella feeling empowered, lost track of time. When the distinctive, growing sound of boots treading across the ground reached Isabella's ear, she turned her head just in time to see Heavy Duty walking into the room. The large, muscular black man looked surprised when his eyes landed on Isabella.

"Bloody hell," he stated, "….you're up early."

Isabella shrugged a shoulder but kept on running, "Is it really all that shocking?" she returned coolly.

"After yesterday's performance? Yeah." He answered while he strolled into the room and walked over to a bench-pressing station. While he took off his T-shirt he glanced over at Isabella, "I figured we'd have to get a bit forceful to get you out of bed on time."

Isabella's mouth turned up at one corner, "Do you guys honestly find me that difficult?" she asked.

As Heavy Duty laid himself down flat on the bench, his hands already reaching for the bar above his head, the man chuckled quickly, "Insubordinate would be the more fitting word for you, sweetheart." He answered. As he began lifting the bar off the rack, without looking over at Isabella, he called out, "How long have you been in here?"

At the question, Isabella glanced down on the screen that was keeping track of her time, speed and distance. "Uhh…..hmm…..about 30 minuets." She answered.

Heavy Duty opened his mouth to say something but both his and Isabella's attention was drawn back towards the door as Scarlet walked on in.

"Ah. I see I wasn't the only one who wanted to get some morning exercise today." The redhead stated as she gracefully strolled across the room, stopping at the other treadmill on Isabella's left side. The two women shared a silent greeting that consisted of a slight nod of acknowledgement before Scarlet stepped up on the machine next to Isabella and turned it on. Right as Scarlet started running, the voices of Duke and Ripcord could be heard from the main room. In less than a minuet, the two friends joined Isabella, Heavy Duty and Scarlet inside the room. Heavy Duty, now finished with his reps on the bench, watched the chattering men for a couple seconds before he placed the bar back up on its rack above his head before he got up and moved on to his next workout; like Heavy Duty, Ripcord and Duke quickly shed their shirts before they started their own workout.

Licking her lips, Isabella took in a deep breath through her nose while she glanced back down on the screen before her; the monitor now read 38 minuets. She waited till she hit a solid 40 before she shut the machine down to a walking pace. Then once she had cooled down enough, Isabella hit the power button, collected her cami and hopped off. Spying a towel rack in the back of the room, Isabella casually walked over and picked one up before she raised the soft material up to wipe her forehead and her neck. Movement out of the corner of her eye caught Isabella's attention and her head turned slightly to see the black clad ninja walking into the room.

"Hey Snake." Scarlet greeted from the treadmill. He nodded at in response.

"And now the only one we are missing is Breaker…" Isabella mumbled to herself with a soft shake of her head. Breaker came in just moments after those words left her mouth.

Snake Eyes didn't seem to be interested in using any of the equipment that was in the room, instead he headed on over to a clear section on the left side. And for a quick moment, Isabella found herself actually watching the black ninja as he moved across the floor; but she was brought back to her senses when his dark head turned so that he was looking in her direction. Isabella quickly averted her gaze and turned her body away so that her back faced him before she mentally kicked herself for eyeing the ninja in the first place.

"What the hell was that, Bella?" she asked, reproaching herself quietly.

"What was what?" Ripcord asked from behind. Isabella almost jumped at the sound of his voice and slowly turned about to face the man.

"Ripcord…" Isabella breathed out to show her surprise. He grinned in response,

"Morning sunshine. Good to see you up and about." He stated.

"Yeah, likewise." Isabella replied while she brought the towel down from the top of her neck to her side.

The action caused Ripcord to do a very common thing for a guy; his brown eyes swiftly swept down the full length of Isabella's body. A look of surprise then displayed across his handsome face,

"Whoa!" he stated; his eyes locked on Isabella's bare stomach. Isabella followed his gaze in slight confusion before she looked back up into Ripcord's face,

"What?" she replied while she started moving about the room once more, heading over to where Duke was lying out on a bench.

"Are those real?" he asked in disbelief as he followed behind. Isabella paused in her step for a brief moment, her head inclining itself to the side at Ripcord's question before she glanced down on what she presumed he was referring to; her breasts.

"Are you really asking me that?" she returned as she continued on walking over to Duke. When she reached Duke's side, Isabella turned about to face Ripcord who seemed to be still eyeing her torso as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Yeah, girl I am. I mean…I didn't realize you had such detailed abs." He answered. Isabella arched an eyebrow before she looked down on herself again and understood what had caught Ripcord's attention.

"Oh….my abs…" Isabella laughed softly, "…right, those." She finished as she reached a hand up and lightly placed it on her stomach. Now it wasn't like Isabella had a distinguished 6-pack like the men in the room, but you could definitely see a few small protruding Ab muscles on the flat plane of her stomach.

"Yeah I mean, I knew that you were you know, fit and toned but wow…I never would've guessed." He stated.

Isabella shrugged a shoulder in response, "It's no big deal." She stated as she dropped her hand. Before Isabella could blink, Ripcord reached a finger out and lightly jabbed her in the stomach. A tiny laugh escaped her lips in response before she brought both hands up to cover her exposed stomach.

"Aww…." Ripcord knowingly stated, a grin flashing across his face, "…little Bella here is ticklish."

Isabella glanced around the room quickly, before she turned and glared back at him before raising a finger up to her lips, "Ssshh."

"Oh! She confirmed it!" Ripcord declared a bit more loudly.

"Ripcord!" Isabella threw back, her tone carrying a silent warning for the man who in turn raised both hands up,

"It's alright, Isabella, your secret it safe with me." He stated.

"Rip?" Duke suddenly spoke up. Ripcord instantly moved behind his friend's head to help him lift the weighted bar off the rack. Once Duke was able to take it on his own, Ripcord pulled back slightly before he reached his hands up to surround his mouth,

"Isabella's ticklish!" he announced. His voice was loud enough for everyone in the room to have heard his words perfectly. Isabella's eyes had closed in response.

"Thanks for the proclamation, Ripcord." She mumbled as her eyes opened themselves up before she turned her head to glare over at Ripcord. When Isabella felt eyes staring at her from all angels now, heat came to her cheeks but she dared not turn about to see who was watching.

"Ohhh and now she's blushing!" Ripcord added loudly with an even wider grin.

"Ha! Keep pushing it, Ripcord." Isabella threw back in her deadliest tone.

From his little punching bag a couple feet away, Heavy Duty laughed,
"I'm surprised that you're not already trying to throttle him, Isabella." He stated in amusement.

"Oh trust me, that'll come later." Isabella replied, "….when there's no witnesses." She added.

Soft laughs went around the room at that statement before everyone went back to what they were doing.

"Eh yo, Duke." Ripcord addressed his working friend on the bench, as he now directed his attention onto someone else in the room. Isabella followed his gaze and when her eyes landed on the object that held Ripcord in a daze, she rolled her eyes and smiled,

"Wow…" she murmured quietly while shaking her head.

"Breaker's been telling me how Scarlet graduated college at the age of 12. She's like some freaky, little, dangerous genius." Ripcord stated as he eyed the redhead still running on the treadmill. Unbeknownst to Ripcord, he began leaning down on the bar that Duke was still trying to lift,

"Rip…" Duke began, "…Rip!" he called snapping his friend back to his senses. Ripcord quickly leaned back and mumbled a swift apology, his eyes still locked on Scarlet's form. "I get it, Rip. You like her." Duke added. Ripcord sighed in response.

"To hell with it." Ripcord declared before he moved around the bench and headed on over to the other treadmill beside Scarlet.

"Rip!" Duke tried calling at his friend's retreating back as he was now struggling with the bar he was lifting. Isabella quickly stepped up as his spotter and helped him put the bar back on its rack. When he sat up, he glanced over at Isabella and smiled gratefully before he rose off the bench,

"Thanks." He breathed out. Isabella smiled and lightly clapped him on the shoulder,

"Don't mention it." She replied. When Isabella glanced over at Scarlet, she instantly took notice of how the redhead seemed to have already figured out what was coming for she then took up a book and started to 'read' as Ripcord hopped up on the machine beside her. Duke then found himself a jump rope and began at that, taking a place just a few feet away from the treadmills, not doubt to listen in on Ripcord. Isabella decided to go have a seat by Breaker, who was also planning on seeing how things turned out.

"Hey." Ripcord greeted with a charming smile as he started running on the machine. Scarlet glanced out of the corners of her eyes at Ripcord but remained silent. Ripcord took that sign to try a different approach so he nodded at her book, "Doing a little beach reading?" Again Scarlet stayed silent. Feeling bold, Ripcord licked his lips,

"Ok I'll just make this easier for the both of us; I'm attracted you." He stated, "… and you, you're attracted to me. And Zen Master over there?" he said nodding his head in the direction of where Snake Eyes was; the ninja was balancing his entire body on his katanas, his feet sticking straight up in the air. "He creeps me out. So what I'm trying to say here is…"

"That we're attracted to each other." Scarlet finished for him. Ripcord slammed his hand down on the treadmill's monitor triumphantly in response, shutting the machine off.

"Thank you!" he declared.

"That's what you're saying." Scarlet added, "…that's not what I'm saying."

Ripcord was thrown off by that statement, "…its...its not?" he returned. Both Isabella, Breaker and Duke, who had been listening in, did their best to try and contain their laughter. "Well then what are you saying?" he asked.

Scarlet sighed before pausing the moving treadmill and closed her book. Then the redhead turned her body to face Ripcord, "Attraction is an emotion. Emotions are not based in science; and if you can't quantify or prove something exists…well in my mind, it just doesn't." she answered before turning away and starting the treadmill back up again.

Ripcord looked even more lost then before and since he didn't know how to exactly respond to such words, all he could do was slightly nod his head, "Ok…ok...I'll get back to you on that." He stated before he hopped off the machine and walked over to where Duke stood jumping in place. Suddenly, Heavy Duty's voice sounded off.

"General on deck!" he announced. Everyone froze at what they were doing before jumping to their feet to stand at attention, all their eyes looking towards the door as they watched General Hawk stroll in.

"At ease." He stated before his eyes landed on Duke and Ripcord standing side by side. He had completely ignored Isabella as he approached the two men to address them. "Duke, you scored in the top half of all people we have ever tested." He informed before he turned to Ripcord, "Ripcord, if we average your score to Duke's, you'd pass too." he added with a smile causing both men to smile and laugh quietly in return. General Hawk then extended his hand out for them to shake.

"Congratulations. Welcome to the team…" he stated, "…provisionally of course." He added.

"Thank you sir." Duke and Ripcord replied.

Nodding at them and the rest of Joes in the room, General Hawk smiled briefly once more, "As you were." He finished before he turned on his heel and began to walk away, not even bothering to glance once at Isabella who stood in the front of the room beside Breaker. And Isabella could tell by the expressions on Breaker and Ripcord's face and the tension that was hanging in the air that everyone was still waiting to here what's happening with her results.

"What abo…" Breaker started but Isabella quickly placed a hand upon his shoulder, silencing him.

"It's alright Breaker." She whispered, "….obviously I'm not Joe material."

Though on the outside, Isabella looked as composed and professional as any soldier, on the inside, she was doing a happy dance, "I'm going home!" she sang inside her head.

Right as General Hawk reached the doorway, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, "Oh…" he spoke out before he turned about to face everyone once more, "Lieutenant Wright?" he addressed, his serious blue eyes landing on Isabella for the first time since he had walked into the room.

Isabella straightened up at the formal address, "Sir?" she returned calmly, waiting desperately for the words 'Pack your things, you're getting out'.

"Welcome aboard." He declared, his serious expression melting away to a sincere smile.

"….what?" Isabella quietly exclaimed. Before she could utter another word, General Hawk nodded and fled the room, leaving Isabella to stare blankly after him.