Thanks for all the positive feedback everyone, I am really enjoying writing this all for you.
aoa1012 - I see what you mean that Snake and Storm would have been the most likely to take Robyn's side, which is why I put in that as Robyn was taking off, Storm Shadow gave her a little nod which I meant as a sign to show that he was on her side. As for Snake Eyes, his reasons behind not believing Robyn was more to do with the hurt that clouds his judgment. All will be explained, don't worry!
The bed was comfortable and I was reluctant to leave it but I had work to do. There was only one person I could go to for help. The only thing was, he'd do one of three things. He'd either listen to me, turn me over to Hawk or just shoot me in the head and have it over with. Yup. I'm going to see General Joe.
If there was anyone who could sniff out a rat it was him, and I wasn't a rat so hopefully he'd opt for the former and listen to me. I had to prove I was innocent somehow and he was the only one who could help me. Plus it was the last thing Hawk would expect me to do.
I knew he had eyes on cameras at all times, searching for matches so I travelled quickly, keeping out of sight until I had found a train to take me to the state where Joe lived. I knew a train was risky, with all the security feeds but I could hardly take a plane and a cabbie would only laugh at me if I gave him the address, then probably offer to take me to the nut house.
So train it was. At least I was rather skilled at avoiding being noticed. The key was to look normal. I was wearing the new clothes Jessica had given me, a simple black tank top and some tracksuit bottoms. I had stolen someone's trainers and left my boots there as a replacement at the hostel, knowing that they would be recognised as army issues. I hoped the girl wouldn't mind, the boots would definitely keep he warmer at least than these tatty old things. Also, you needed to blend in with the crowds.
For most of the trip I chatted with a nice young lady with her three kids. They were going to visit their grandparents on a ranch farm. When I told them my dad was a rancher they were instantly asking questions. I did have to explain that we had had to sell when I was very young, so I didn't remember much but the three girls were happy to just discuss horses with me.
When security guards glanced over the crowds, they hardly even looked at me as I walked out, smiling and chatting with the nice lady whilst her three kids skipped about us in their pink coats. Sure, she'd been a little uneasy about me at first, stranger danger and all, but when I told her about being in the army, she warmed up to me. Her husband was serving with the navy, so she had I had a lot to discuss about and she got a few things off her chest.
She was worried, bless her heart. Her husband, Dominic Matthews, was missing at sea. She hadn't told the girls but definitely hinted at it to me. Susie, the lady, hadn't had a letter in weeks until a few days ago when she got a notification from the government. To keep her mind of it, she was going up to see her mother but I could tell she was fearing the worse. I made a mental note of the name before we parted ways.
I took a cab, gave him the address then slept for the entire journey. It had been a total sixteen hours, forty two minutes and seventeen seconds since Commander's demand. That left a total thirty one hours, seventeen minutes and forty three seconds to save the world. Brilliant. Just brilliant. What was my plan again? Walk into the house of a top Joe agent who was the first and original and would be pretty hacked off a labelled traitor was asking him for help.
Uh oh, we're here. Sucking in a deep breath I paid the cabman with the money I had stolen from a very wealthy looking guy who had worn three watches at once, all of them worth a fortune. Getting out the car I looked around, glad that it was dark before walking up to the house. I knocked on the door, figuring I'd better get this over with.
For a long time the door didn't open and I guessed that the General was checking my records. Boy was he in for a shock. Sure enough when the door did swing open, a gun was pointed at my head. Instantly I raised my hands but did so slowly, meeting his hard look evenly.
"Get in." He ordered and I moved forwards, keeping a good distance away from him so that he didn't think I was going to try anything. He kicked the door shut and I swallowed the bile skipping to my throat as he switched on a light to see me properly. He glared at me, blue eyes narrowed dangerously. He was a grim looking person, hardened by his years of military service, but he looked reasonable. Sort of. "You've got some balls coming here."
"I need your help." I tried but he only snorted.
"Why should I listen to you? You're a traitor to the division I founded." He inched closer with a threatening gleam in his eye. "What makes you think I won't blow out your brains then blend it to make a juice?" I gave a little shrug.
"I'm still alive and you haven't called Hawk yet, which means you want to listen." For a long time he just watched me. I knew he was trying to break me, to worm out the liar in me but I remained perfectly calm, not even dropping a sweat. "Alright." He relented but did not ease off his position. "You got ten seconds before I blow a hole through your skull." I began to talk faster than I ever talked before.
"Cobra's set me up to look like a traitor but I would never do something like that to harm my team. They're using an army of mutated humans to take over the world so that all power goes to Cobra Commander, who is going to take out a target anyway to prove that he's serious about his threat and wouldn't you know? He's after the President because of all the bad blood running over the bridge. Now I think he saw me as a threat because I can physically defeat him and his little pets without getting seriously hurt so he's cut me off from all support, you know divide and conquer tactic but then I think he kind of hoped that I would come running back to him and then he'd use me to take down G.I Joe which is going to happen over my dead body because they're more than just my team. They're my family." I gasped for breath then waited for my sentence. General Joe cocked his head slightly, frowning deep in thought before standing up straight.
"Okay." Instantly I made a small sound of relief.
"Thank you sir." I saluted him. "Robyn, reporting for duty." He nodded to me, walking through to his kitchen. He pushed some pasta at me, still in the pan and I began to wolf it down hungrily.
"I'm impressed. How did you survive the missile blast?" He asked, watching me with a calculating eye.
"Dived out the door on rotation point. Swam for a few hours then got saved by a pod of dolphins. Am I a lucky girl? Yes I am." I answered him between mouthfuls. "So, the thing is, I suck at planning things. I tend to prefer following orders. This is why I came to you. I knew that if any Joe was threatened, you'd be the first to want to be out there saving the world." I continued. "Any ideas?"
"I'll think of something. Get some rest. I'll wake you once I have a plan." He said then pointed to the couch. "Make yourself comfortable." I didn't need to be told twice. I collapsed on that sofa and slept from the moment my head hit the armrest to the next when General Joe was shaking me awake.
"I have a plan."
"Great." I sat up, rubbing my eyes. "Does it include me possibly going straight up to Commander and asking what he has planned?" When I read the General's blank expression, I cursed. "I was hoping for something a little more…original." I sighed then stood up.
"I'm going to send you in with a bug. You're going to plant it on a computer and it'll instantly start downloading all the information stored on the hard drive. Here, I'll show you." He led me over to his computer then pulled it around to show me the point I needed to attach the bug to. The "bug" as it were, was just a tiny black bead but General Joe assured me it'll activate the moment it comes into contact with the computer, using electromagnetic waves or something.
"He wants you alive for something. Commander intended to get you to escape from us so that you would either be out of his way or come running to him. That's exactly what you're going to do."
"Oh joy." I muttered under my breath.
"Once you've attached this bug, we'll know every detail of his plans from where he's going to book his next flight to when he wants the plumbers to come in." Joe assured me, throwing out a map of the Whitehouse. "He'll be expecting to take the President by surprise but the Joes already have him under their wing. He's well protected."
"He's well-armed." I parried. "If we can't figure out how to stop the mutants from getting to the President then we'll have no hope. They're ten times stronger, faster and have no concept of morality. They've been doped with the nanomites the Commander developed for McCullen, so they're completely under his control." General Joe thought for a while longer, looking over the map before to the computer.
"Is there a way to shut them off?"
"The nanomites?" He nodded. "I don't know." Pausing I thought for a second. "I could try finding out? Snoop around his labs and see what I can squeeze out of his little lab rats. There may be a way to block the wave signals from the recipient to the source therefore meaning that Commander would lose all control over the mutants, slowing them down a little." Blinking in shock I laughed. "I sounded smart. That's a first."
"Would they stop fighting?" I shrugged.
"They're all inmates from one of the strongest prisons this world has to offer. You think they'd walk over and shake the President's hand?"
"Point taken." We finalised the plan, going over every single detail until I could sing it to the Beach Boys Bohemian Rhapsody. Not literally but you know what I mean. The last thing to do was for me to get myself noticed by Cobra.
"I have an idea." I looked up to Joe who met my gaze. "It's risky, the military might get me first but it could work."
"What?" I gave a small grin.
"I'll do my part, you just make sure you're there to haul my ass out at the end of all this." My face dropped and suddenly I felt like a six year old child again, struggling to keep my emotions in check. "At the end of the day, I just want to go home."