Chapter 31:
" I swear Storm Shadow..." Isabella angrily hissed the white ninja's name through clenched teeth, "Put me down or I'll...!" As if proving her words, the young woman, with her legs hanging down his front, drove the toe of her boot into the ninja's side.
She felt his body stiffen at the meager attack before both his hands came up and grasped her firmly by her calves.
"As you wish." he replied coolly.
With a powerful lift, Storm Shadow tossed Isabella right off his shoulder.
"What the..?" That was all the young woman was able to exclaim as she suddenly found herself falling head first to the floor of the aircraft. With her hands cuffed behind her back, Isabella had no way of catching herself and so she toppled mercilessly on her head.
Pain pounded behind her forehead. Closing her eyes, the young woman shifted herself till she was lying on one side with a quiet groan slipping past her lips.
"Bella?"
At the sound of her name being spoken by a familiar voice, Isabella opened her eyes. "Duke?"
she replied before she forced herself into a sitting-up position.
Scanning the room for a moment, Isabella spotted the handsome blonde and blue eyed man sitting directly across from the Baroness, less than five feet away. Storm Shadow on the other hand stood towering right beside her.
"The hell are you doing here?" Isabella asked as she frowned softly with confusion.
"I could be asking you the same thing." her comrade replied as he carefully looked her over. "You don't look so great.."
The strawberry blonde scoffed at the comment, "I have ninja-tool to thank for that."
Despite the insult, Storm Shadow chuckled before moved to stand in front of her. "How's your head?" he asked; his dark eyes gleamed with amusement.
Tilting her head to the side as she looked up and studied Storm Shadow's features, Isabella forced a sweet smile to her face, "How's your lip?"
The boldness in her question instantly melted the humor in his face; in a flash, Storm Shadow reached out and grasped Isabella roughly by the back of her neck before hauling her to her feet.
Without another word, he pushed the young woman in front of him and forced her to walk down towards the end of the air craft.
"Hey!" Duke shouted in protest as he jumped to his feet. "Bastard, let her go!" he demanded as was instantly wrestled back down into his seat by two Viper Soldiers.
Coming to a stop at a small, closed-off back room, the white ninja opened the door before carelessly tossing Isabella inside. "Oh don't worry she'll be alright...for now" he promised with a cold smile before he followed her into the room and closed the door shut behind him.
Isabella stood in the middle of the small room facing Storm Shadow; her legs were braced apart in a strong stance while her turquoise eyes glared fearlessly at him.
"I don't know what you're up to Storm Shadow.." She announced, "But there's not going to be any funny business this time."
Storm Shadow arched a dark eye brow up in return, "Oh?" he replied as he began stepping forward, "And...do you really think you could stop me if that was my intention?" Storm Shadow stopped directly in front of her.
Isabella stared into the white ninja's ink-colored eyes silently; her strawberry blonde head shaking , "You can't scare me Storm Shadow..."she stated. To make her point, she turned her back on him and walked over to where a small metal cot was built into one of the walls before taking a seat.
She barely had time to get situated and cross her legs when Storm Shadow, who had followed her over, took her by the throat and roughly shoved her back against the wall behind her. Isabella winced as her spine met the metal barrier in an unforgiving manner. In that same moment, the white ninja had pulled forth a long knife and now held the blade against Isabella's smooth cheek.
"You sure about that?" He asked as the pressed the blade into her skin as a threat but without drawing any blood. "I've got you alone, restrained...and unarmed."
Isabella blinked at his words; she of course knew the compromising situation she was in and yet she wasn't fazed by it and instead continued watching Storm Shadow with daring eyes, "You know...if this is your idea of seducing a woman...let me just say, you fail at it." she replied in a surprisingly casual voice.
Storm Shadow's dark head dropped back as his laughter filled the small room. "My, my..." he answered, "I see that your current position hasn't affected that fiery spirit of yours."
Isabella jerked her face away from Storm Shadow's blade, "Well nothing really can..."
"Hmm..." the white ninja considered the young woman's words as he took the tip of his knife and trailed it down her jaw and then neck before stopping just at the neckline of her magenta shirt. "You sound so sure of yourself.."
Using the blade's tip, Storm Shadow tugged the neckline of Isabella's shirt down ever so slightly so that the distinctive top curves of her breasts were showing.
Isabella fixed Storm Shadow with a bitter look, "Do I need to be otherwise?"
The white ninja smirked before he withdrew his knife, " No..I have no interest for you on..that level. So for now, you can relax." He assured her, "...and in the meantime.." Storm Shadow took hold of Isabella by her wounded arm.
Then, with a swift slash of his knife, the white ninja skillfully cut through the sleeve of her black jacket, right around her bicep before completely stripping the bloodied material away and off her arm.
"What are you doing?" she demanded as she tried jerking herself out of his grasp; Storm Shadow only held on tighter as he examined his own damage. The gash left behind from where his throwing star had struck was still oozing blood and looked angry.
"Well I got you good, didn't I?" he replied before releasing Isabella. The young woman irritably huffed in response.
Reaching into one of his pants pockets, Storm Shadow pulled out a long strip of white cloth which he then proceeded to use as he carefully began wrapping Isabella's arm.
"I don't need your help.." she informed in an icy voice.
"The Doctor is going to need you to be in good health when you get back to base; I can't return you all battered up and bleeding." he replied with simplicity.
The room fell into silence as Isabella studied the white ninja with hard eyes.
A couple long minutes went by before the young woman spoke once more; she broke the stillness with a question that has lingered in her mind for quite some time now, "How are you so different from...?" Isabella however, couldn't finish her sentence and for a second, Storm Shadow's movements froze.
"You are referring to my brother, Snake Eyes." The white ninja stated knowingly as he carried on with wrapping Isabella's wound.
"Oh is that what you call your relationship?" she asked almost sarcastically.
Storm Shadow chuckled, "We are brothers...not by blood, but by the organization we trained under together."
Isabella sighed, "You ninjas are far too complicated to understand. With all your codes and rules...your secrecy.." the woman paused in her listing, "Everything about you guys is just so surreal."
"Isn't that a bias opinion?"
Isabella looked up at Storm Shadow with questioning eyes and a frown on her lips, "What's that suppose to mean?"
"You are many things Isabella...coy isn't one of them. You know exactly what I'm talking about." Storm Shadow answered, "There's only one other ninja you could be talking about besides myself.." the truth in his words left Isabella speechless. "So tell me...does he know?"
At the question, the young woman's lips parted with a silent gasp as she stared wide eyed up at the white ninja before her as he finished tying the bandaging off.
"Does..." Isabella shook her head in obvious confusion, "..what?"
Storm Shadow smirked, "You know.." the ninja carried on, "I couldn't believe it myself too...out of all the Joes to go for...but that look in your eyes when he saved you from my blow that day back in the pit..there's no mistaking it."
With a deeper frown, Isabella turned her head and looked away, "I think you are delusional."
"Oh really? Well then, how about the way he threw himself at you -to prevent you from being crushed by debris?" the white ninja inquired. "I saw that too...briefly of course, but nonetheless; it was quite the sight. My brother knocking you out of the way and covering your body with his own...it was very noble of him."
"What's your point?" Isabella asked irritably; it was obvious that she was not really liking where this conversation was going. "He was saving a comrade, nothing more."
"Oh I think it goes deeper than that...and I also think that you know it too." The White ninja replied with a smug smirk.
Isabella's head snapped back towards him, her mouth opened in protest but no words were able to come out.
Seeing her reaction, Storm Shadow chuckled, "That's what I thought...you care for him, don't you?"
Isabella averted her eyes and found herself swallowing quietly, her throat all of a sudden seemed too dry for her tastes. As she seethed in her seat, her hands, still cuffed behind her, flexed before curling into tight fists.
"Mmhmm..." The ninja carried on with a knowing smile, "...and uh..my brother...he returns your feelings then?"
At the question, Isabella lashed out with a powerful kick from her leg, "Piss off!" she snapped venomously.
The white ninja easily side stepped the blow before he skillfully nudged his way between her limbs, preventing any further attack.
"That's not very nice..." he responded in a far too easygoing tone that made Isabella's blood run hot with hatred. "You very touchy when it comes to this, huh?"
Isabella's eyes narrowed ominously as she sat back against the wall, remaining silent;
"Well no matter..." The white ninja said, "It'll only be time after all..."
Isabella scoffed and shook her head, "Time?" she repeated, casting her eyes down to stare at her lap.
"Well once the Doctor get's his hands on you again, you won't have to worry about possessing such feelings ever again." He carried on as he quietly began stepping back.
At that, Isabella drew in a sharp intake of breath as her stomach knotted in dismay.
"I'll let you be for a bit...enjoy your time..." Storm Shadow informed as he turned and traced his steps back to the door, opening it before pausing momentarily in the doorway, "...while it lasts." he finished with a chuckle.
When the door closed shut behind him, Isabella eyes closed too before the young woman shifted her position till she was falling flat on her back down on the cot.
Collapsing with a sigh, her eyes swept back open to stare aimlessly at the ceiling above. Her head was filled with the truth of Storm Shadow's words.
Her time was limited; the second she's brought back to Cobra's base, it wouldn't be much longer till the Doctor finally gets what he's been wanting, to turn her into a mindless military machine...
"No more thinking for myself...or acting on impulse..." Isabella quietly murmured to herself, "No more anything..."
When that thought finally sunk in, the image of a certain black clad ninja with his rippling muscles and surprisingly gentle touch danced across her mind.
Isabella's lips parted as she whispered his name, "Snake Eyes..."
He had been her greatest hassle, the one thing she wanted nothing to do with...
But then he tired to kiss her...
And now, he'll also be her biggest regret.
Ripcord and Heavy Duty walked speedily side by side; Scarlet and Breaker followed closely behind.
"So what about Duke? We just gonna forget about him?" Ripcord asked, "What about Isabella, huh? She's missing too."
Heavy Duty couldn't deny that at the mention of Isabella, something inside him softened; ever since she had been picked up by their team, she had grown on him a little bit.
Keeping a stoic face, Heavy Duty marched onward, leading his team over to where an aircraft was landing to pick them up. "We got our orders..." he replied in his thick British accent.
"Look man...what if it was one of your guys?" Ripcord asked persistently. Heavy Duty stopped in his tracks and turned to face the smaller black man, "Bella is one of my own..." he pointed out; his voice had lowered as aggravation flashed behind his eyes.
Seeing the large man also struggling with the knowledge that Isabella had also been taken captive, Ripcord gave an exasperated sigh, "So what are you going to do?" he demanded.
Heavy Duty scowled before he turned and carried on walking away.
Meanwhile, Scarlet and Breaker who had been lagging behind came to a stop as they both huddled over one of Breaker's portable computer screens.
"That looks pretty remote...maybe a location of a base?" Scarlet suggested.
"And there's snow...that leaves us with what? A third of the Earth?" Breaker added; Scarlet nodded her red head.
"Yeah..." she said in agreement as the two went back to studying the image on the screen.
"Hmm...hey! Is that McCullen's shadow?" Breaker asked; hearing the sudden excitement in his voice, Ripcord turned on his heel and swiftly joined their group.
"What do we got?" he asked.
The fiery redhead turned and looked over at him. "Spherical Trigonometry." Scarlet answered with simplicity.
Ripcord blinked, "I must have missed that class."
Scarlet rolled her eyes and smiled, "If you know the height of the object, the length of the shadow, and the time and date of when the image was captured, you can figure out its location." she explained.
"That's why I missed that class.." Ripcord confessed.
"Ah.." Scarlet nodded knowingly, her face not showing even a hint of surprise at Ripcord's statement.
"Alright Breaker, give it to me. What do you got?" Heavy Duty asked as he finally came over and met up with the remaining of his team.
"Ok...McCullen is 180 centimeters tall...his shadow is 46 centimeters. This image had decayed 6% which means..." Breaker paused to complete his calculations, "..this image is 51 hours and 17 minutes old."
Watching the screen intently, Scarlet pointed knowingly at the image, "That's at the polar icecap." she stated.
Breaker nodded his head in agreement, "Yup."
The group of shared a look before turning to face General Hawk who was sitting in his mobile chair ten feet away. Snake Eyes, still shrouded in his black cloak stood a few feet behind him.
"What do you say, sir?" Heavy Duty asked.
"I said you all have been ordered back to the pit..." Hawk answered forcefully. Suddenly his features softened into a grin, "But I didn't say when and I didn't say what route to take." he added.
The Joes once again passed a look between each other.
Scarlet shrugged a shoulder, "Maybe...a Northern one." she suggested.
"Well then let's get moving people." Ripcord encouraged enthusiastically as he swiftly started towards the ship. Breaker quickly fell into step alongside him.
"Time to get my boy Duke and my girl Bella back." Ripcord announced as they approached General Hawk and Snake Eyes.
At Ripcord's words, Breaker saw the black Clad ninja shift in his stance as they were about to move around him.
Right as he passed by, Breaker happily clapped Snake Eyes on the back, "Your girl, Snake." the Moroccan winked behind his glasses before hurrying along to the ship.
An unseen smile pulled at his lips; Snake Eyes' liked the sound of that. "My girl..." he repeated the idea in his head as he turned on his heels and silently made his way back to the ship with Heavy Duty and Scarlet following closely behind.
When the door to the back room opened, Isabella remained lying on the cot, not even bothering to glance up to see who it was.
"Hey Bella...how you holding up?" It was Duke.
At his voice, the young woman's head turned and watched the man with his hands cuffed in front of him cross the floor to where she was.
"Hey Duke." she replied.
"Do you mind if I take a seat?" he asked. Isabella gave a soft smile before she slowly sat up and made room on the cot for the handsome man to sit beside her.
"No."
"You're awfully quiet.." he noted out loud as he studied Isabella's form.
She shrugged in response and gave a tiny laugh, "To be honest, I wasn't expecting company."
"Eh well...since we'll be reaching the base shortly, I finally convinced our hosts to give me a few minutes to check up on you." Duke answered with an affectionate nudge with his shoulder.
"How kind of them..." Isabella replied; it was then her eyes swept downwards to stare into her lap, "Duke.."
"Yeah?" the man answered as he turned his full attention on the young woman beside him.
"I know I've had my fair share of unfortunate events in my time...but I'm not gonna lie...this one will take the cake." Isabella confessed with both a nod of her head and a sigh.
Duke arched an eyebrow in response, "What do you mean?" he returned.
Isabella raised her eyes up till she was staring back into Duke's face, "I'm saying that this is the first time ever where I don't think I'm going to be making it out of this." Surprisingly, her words came out far more calmer than she was actually feeling inside.
Duke's blue eyes widened, "Whoa...wait a minute..." he shook his head, "Bella...I don't think these people are going to kill you.." he assured.
A sad smile began pulling at her lips, "They might as well be killing me."
"I don't understand.." Duke confessed; his brows were furrowing in his obvious confusion.
"And I don't expect you to." Isabella replied coolly.
The blue eyed man shook his head, not believing a word she was saying, "Our team is going to come for us, Bella...you know they will."
"I know they will..." she agreed, "...but that's not going to change the fact that my case is going to be a lost one."
"Why do you keep talking like this?" Duke demanded in a firm, brotherly tone.
A grave look settled over Isabella's features and the young woman could no longer bear looking her comrade in the eye, "They're going to destroy me, Duke." she informed, "...not physically but in every other way. I don't know if I'll remember who I am let alone you or the rest of our team. If anything, they are going to turn me against you guys..."
"No...no that's not going to happen." Duke replied; anger was now laced into his voice. "Bella...we are going to get out of here...together. You've got to believe that, girl."
Isabella sighed and nodded her head; not in agreement but in acknowledgement of his words. "But..if I don't and you do...I need you to do something for me." She paused momentarily to turn her body so that her back faced Duke. "Can you reach down and undo the clasp on my bracelet?" she asked.
Not asking questions, though he had a few in mind, Duke did what Isabella requested and carefully released the clasp of the silver charm bracelet from her wrist.
As Duke silently held it in his hands, looking down on the piece of jewelry, observing the pink crystal rose charm hanging on it, Isabella adjusted her body's angle once more to face him.
"When you get out of here...can you give that to Snake Eyes for me?"
Hearing the quietness in her voice, Duke looked over at Isabella and was instantly taken aback; her beautiful turquoise eyes that were usually alight with her mischievous and laughter, were dull with her apparent sadness "Snake Eyes?" he repeated softly.
Isabella nodded her head, "Mmhmm...I guess you can call it a silly token of affection." the young woman gave a brief, lifeless laugh, "..I know it's not much but...he should know, you know? "
Duke gave her a small, understanding smile, "Yeah...I feel you." his hand closed around the bracelet, "You know...I always thought there was something going on between the two of you. So did Breaker and Ripcord."
"Of course they did..." Isabella grumbled lightly; her cheeks staining themselves a rosy pink.
"Breaker's exact words one night was...'an unspoken attraction'." Duke chuckled.
Isabella's blush deepened, "Well it..it wasn't my intention." she replied almost defensively. "I mean..when I first met Snake, oh, he infuriated me beyond words. Honestly, he was all I never wanted."
Her comrade chuckled again, "But?" he encouraged her to go on.
Sighing, Isabella shook her head in defeat , "But...I don't know...he just got under my skin and...everything went downhill from there. And now..." her voice carried off.
Duke smiled knowingly while giving her another friendly nudge in her shoulder, "Now...you want him." he finished for her.
He didn't think her face could have colored more but it did, "I can't believe I'm discussing this with you..." she confessed bashfully.
"Hey you can trust me." Duke promised, "I'm not going to run my mouth or anything. Your secret is safe with me."
At least with that assurance, Isabella gave him an appreciative smile before picking back up where she had left off, "So...will you make sure to delivery that to him if the worst should occur?"
Duke nodded his head, "Of course I will..." he swore as he attentively pocketed the trinket, "...But I am telling you there won't be need." he added stubbornly, "You're going to get out of here and when you do, you can tell him so yourself."
Isabella wanted to roll her eyes and continue on disagreeing but decided against it and settled with another gentle smile, "Thank you, Duke."
A moment later, a sure sinking feeling in her stomach appeared and Isabella and Duke shared a knowing look. "Looks like we're getting ready to land." she informed. Duke nodded his head in agreement.
Footsteps appeared outside the room before the door was thrown open and Storm Shadow walked in, "Time to go."
Without giving her a chance, the white ninja walked over and took hold of Isabella by her shoulder, pulling her easily to her feet before nudging her in front of him and demanded that she walk ahead. "Move." he ordered.
As Isabella led the way out into the aircraft's main hold, she found that the few Viper Soldiers that had come along were now heavily armed and watching her every move as Storm Shadow steered her up towards the ship's exit; Duke followed closely behind with the Baroness.
Feeling the ship finally land on the ground, Isabella swallowed the little lump in her throat that had briefly appeared. "No time to show fear.." she told herself over and over again.
Suddenly, the ship's side door opened with a loud hiss and a powerful gust of bitter arctic wind blew inside and struck Isabella with its full force. Her eyes closed as the frosty winds nipped and bit through her clothes and at her skin, chilling her instantly down to the bone.
Inhaling a deep breath in through her nose, Isabella gathered her strength about her. "No fear..."
When it was time and Storm Shadow gave her the nudge forward, with her head held high, Isabella smoothly stepped off the aircraft and marched straight out into the blistering snow.
