Thank you everyone for reading the first chapter and commenting. Thank you for favoring and following as well. So I guess that means I should write a little more.
Okay, so first off, I'm warning you that I have no idea what I'm doing. But some of you wanted me to continue with this series (I'm not sure what else to call this. I don't know how far I'll get but I'll write until I run out of ideas.)
Sorry, to those of you with high standards. I will endeavor to keep the grammar and punctuation correct. I even went back to the first story to try to correct mistakes. No, I don't want a Beta reader. I'm insecure enough that I don't need someone critiquing my ideas before I publish and too impatient to wait for someone to finish proofreading.
I write more in the cartoon style so there will be outlandish situations and silly plots. Oh, I also realize why I haven't written for this fandom earlier. I know squat about the military. So excuse me if I get anything wrong. I ended up researching stuff but you never know how reliable the internet is.
Disclaimer: I don't own GI Joe.
Slowly, he became aware of his surroundings. He seemed to be lying on something soft. His head throbbed as he regained consciousness, realizing every part of his body ached.
"About time you woke up." Beach Head knew that voice anywhere.
"Cover Girl?" He was surprised at how raspy he sounded.
"No, it's the tooth fairy." It was her typical sassy reply.
He tried to come up with a clever rejoinder but his head hurt too darn much. So he resorted to the next best thing. "Watch it soldier. You'll be running laps till your legs fall off."
"Yeah, yeah, you make me do that anyway." Then in a softer tone, she asked. "How are you feeling?"
"What happened?" He rolled over and realized his naked face was now embedded in her stomach. His head quickly shot up. Big mistake. A massive wave of pain jolted through his head to his neck.
"Take it easy, ranger boy. You took a nasty tumble." Cover Girl's voice was gruff but the hands supporting him were tender.
Beach Head tried to think back to what happened to them. The pain, however, was making it hard to think.
"We were part of a convoy delivering basic supplies to the military research facility when Cobra ambushed us." Cover Girl began.
Beach Head frowned, thinking back. He remembered the ravine, the high cliff walls, and narrow passage way. "That's right. But we routed them."
"You routed them." Cover Girl corrected. "But they managed to shoot out the tires on your jeep."
"It spun out of control." Beach Head closed his eyes remembering.
"You were flung out and rolled off the side of the cliff." Cover Girl continued. "And this is why we wear seat belts."
"I don't remember that part." Beach Head grumbled as he sat up. The wave of pain had passed and left him feeling dizzy instead. "How did you get here?" He half turned to look at her.
She sighed. "Let's just say you literally swept me off my feet." She gave him sheepish smirk. "We went down the cliff together."
"Shouldn't we be dead then?" He found his balaclava and pulled it back on to hide the blush he could feel forming.
"Well, luckily it wasn't a straight drop. We ended more like rolling, sliding down the side." Cover Girl grimace as she stretched her shoulder. "Got road burn on top of my bruises."
"Where are we now?" He asked trying to assess the situation.
"I don't know. I kinda blacked out and woke up a little before you did." Cover Girl admitted.
"Did you radio anyone?"
"My radio got busted in the tumble."
"And mine was in the jeep. Well, the Joes should be looking for us." Beach Head replied trying to get up.
"Or Cobras." Cover Girl stood up and gave him a hand. "We don't know what happened during the battle."
"I'm sure we won." Beach Head said confidently.
"And in case we didn't?" Cover Girl raised an eyebrow.
"Well, we better stick to the shadows and try to get back to base." Beach Head tested his legs before putting his full weight on them. "Let's go."
Cover Girl got up and they started walking.
After walking for what seemed like forever, Cover Girl asked. "Do you even know where we're going?"
"Of course I do." Beach Head snapped.
When it was clear that he wasn't going to say anymore, Cover Girl continued, "You know, it's customary to follow that up with and we are heading… insert place or direction here."
"Look, Cinderella, don't question a commanding officer." He huffed.
"I'm not questioning you. I just want to know where we're going. You don't know do you?" Cover Girl challenged him. "Look, it's okay to say we're lost… or is it some male pride thing."
Beach Head kept walking ahead. Cover glared at his back for a several seconds before jogging after him.
"If we're just walking around in circles, it'll be better to stop and get our bearings first before wandering all over the desert." She said as she caught up to him.
"Do you ever stop talking?" He barked at her.
"Do you ever stop yelling?" She countered.
They stopped and glared at each other. Both knew how to do a proper stare down. They would have been there all day if it wasn't for the rumbling of motorcycles from the distance.
"Are those ours?" Beach Head wondered out loud.
Cover Girl closed her eyes and listened closely. Her eyes flew open. "No, I'd know the roar of our bikes' engines anywhere. Those belong to the Dreadnoks."
Without another word Beach Head grabbed her arm and dragged her behind some outcroppings. Just as they disappeared behind the rocks, the Dreadnoks pulled to a stop. It was Buzzer and Torch.
"Oy, wot are we doin' lookin' for a couple of joes, anyway?" Torch grumbled.
"I dunno, Zartan says them joes got something the Commander wants." Buzzer seemed equally annoyed.
"Can't we just say we couldn't find the blokes? I'm missing wrestling on the telly." Torch complained.
"You wanna tell Zartan we couldn't find them?" Buzzer challenged.
"Fine." Torch huffed. "Wot do they have anyway, that's so important?"
"Beats me, but it must be important if they are wastin' our time." Buzzer revved his bike and rode off. Torch followed after.
Cover Girl looked at Beach Head. Her eyes narrowed.
"Is there something you want to tell me, ranger boy?" She asked in a fake sweet voice.
"That's classified." Beach Head said tersely.
"Uh-huh, so I'm guessing we were not just delivering tee-pee, were we?" Cover Girl questioned.
"We need to get back to base pronto." Beach Head said ignoring her question.
"Fine, but whatever I'm dying for better be worth it." She muttered.
"You're not going to die!" Beach Head turned on her fiercely.
"Calm down. I was just joking. But it would be nice to know what I'm risking my life for." Cover Girl was a little surprised by his sudden irrational anger.
Beach Head spun abruptly around and marched off. Puzzled, Cover Girl just followed.
They kept to the sides of the cliff. After awhile, they reached a dead end.
"Oh great, we're going to need go vertical." Cover Girl grumbled.
"Just climb." Beach Head already started scaling the cliff. Cover Girl was just getting a foothold, when something wrapped around her middle. She was yanked back violently.
"Hey!" She squealed. Looking down, she saw a chain wrapped around her middle.
"Lookie, wot I caught." Buzzer sneered.
"Aww, it's a little fishy." Torch joined in on his bike. "We gonna cook 'er?"
Beach Head jumped down. "Let her go." He said in a dangerously low tone.
"And wot are you gonna do 'bout it?" Buzzer challenged him. To provoke him, he pulled the chain hard. Cover Girl grimaced but did her best not to give him the satisfaction of hearing her scream.
"I'm going to shove that chain straight down your gullet till it comes out your…"
Torch revved his bike. "Your not gonna do nothing, except hand over that thing Zartan wants."
Beach Head slowly reached into the pouch on the side of his belt. "You mean this?" He pulled out something that looked like a CPU board. "You want it?... Go get it!" He threw it over their heads.
The two Dreadnoks watched it fly above them. Buzzer lessen his hold on the chain. Cover Girl used the distraction and tugged the chain hard, pulling him off his feet. Beach Head tackled Torch. They tousled on the ground. Beach Head straddled the Dreadnok and began punching him. Cover Girl removed the chain around her waist. As Buzzer started getting up, she kicked him in his head, throwing him backwards. She quickly wrapped the chain around Buzzer's arms and legs. Beach Head got off the now unconscious Torch. He glanced at Cover Girl's handiwork.
"Nice hogtie." He said approvingly.
"Thanks, I though so." She clapped the dust off her hands. She scooped up the electronic off the ground. "So this the thing we're really delivering?"
"No, that's the computer part from my walkman." He said smugly.
"Seriously?" Cover Girl eyed him incredulously. "Who even has a walkman anymore? So what did they want?"
"Come on let's go before Cobra comes looking for these two." Beach Head started back up the cliff, ignoring her question.
"You know, ranger boy, I have a better idea." Cover Girl called out to him.
Beach Head turned around.
0o0
A cloud of dust appeared in the distance. Junkyard and Mutt spotted it first. He immediately reported to Duke that something was approaching the base.
"Well, what is it?" Duke snapped.
"There's too much dust. We can't tell." Mutt replied.
"Send a transport to intercept it." Duke ordered.
"Yes sir!" Mutt ran off.
Dusty was dispatched in the tank to see who dared approach The Pit. He didn't get far when he recognized Beach Head with Cover Girl on the back riding a Dreadnok's bike.
"Duke, it's the missing Joes." Dusty quickly reported.
Beach Head and Cover Girl were quickly escorted back to base.
"You better not have damaged my tank, Dusty." Cover Girl teased him.
"Oh no, I'd be in fear of my life if I did." He said amicably.
"Come on you two. Duke wants to know where the heck you've been the last 8 hours." Flint ushered them into the conference room.
After Cover Girl gave her story, she was immediately dismissed. She saluted but looked curiously at Duke and Beach Head. She noticed that he had not spoken yet. But orders were orders.
When the door closed behind her, Duke turned to Beach Head.
"Well?" He asked.
"They fell for it. They thought I had the satellite control board." Beach Head confirmed Duke's worse suspicions.
"Then there's a mole in our ranks." Duke sighed audibly.
"With all due respect sir, I trust any of these men with my life." Beach Head protested.
"So do I. But the evidence speaks for itself. Only a handful of people knew that the board was being transported by you. Now how did Cobra get wind of it?" Duke asked.
Beach Head remained silent. He knew Duke was right. There was a traitor among them and he or she had to be flushed out.
Okay, the Cinderella and Ranger boy nicknames were from other people. Thought I'd integrate them into my story... because why not?