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Unsung Heroes: Mission Two	By : RavenLadies Category: +G through L > G.I. Joe Views: 1326 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the cartoon(s) that this fanfiction is written for, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 13
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- 15
Chapter Fourteen

Marcel Hancock leaned back in his chair, sighed softly, and raked a hand through his short-cropped hair. It felt like a week since Strong, Hopper and the others had left The Pit with Doctor Chambers and Lifeline, heading out to an old, defunct mental asylum to try and hunt down information. He didn't know a lot about it, admittedly. Just that the information was crucial to figuring out what was wrong with Lieutenant Billy Coen, in the hopes of coming up with some kind of treatment for the man. Since he had already seen just what was wandering around in the Marine's system, he became the logical choice to remain behind and keep an eye on him.

It hadn't been all bad. Although clearly restless and edgy, Billy was a relatively easy patient to get along with. He knew there was no leaving the containment lab, but Hancock had been given permission to bring him magazines, paperwork, and other small things to help keep the man occupied. At the moment, Billy was stretched out on the bed, flipping through the latest issue of Custom Tuner, a magazine that specialized in customized muscle cars and trucks.

The silence of the lab was interrupted a few moments later by the slightly shrill beeping of the phone on the monitoring console. The pattern of the beeps indicating that the call was originating from somewhere within the sprawling G. I. Joe complex. The sound made Hancock jump, startlingly loud in the silence. Billy looked up and Hancock shook his head as he lifted the receiver and put it to his ear. "Containment lab."

“Hancock?” The voice was female, and familiar. “Sorenson. We need you up here ASAP.”

"Is... it really all right to leave the patient alone?" Hancock asked, glancing nervously at Billy, who had heard the conversation and made his way over to the window to be closer to the intercom speaker.

“I've got somebody coming down to relieve you. She's on her way now.”

"Understood, Lieutenant."

“High tail it up here as soon as she gets there,” Sorenson instructed.

"Yes, Ma'am," Hancock said. The other end of the line clicked off without a further word.

As soon as Hancock set down the receiver, he heard Billy's voice. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure yet, Sir. They're pulling me back up to the infirmary. My relief'll be here in a minute or two."

Almost as if on cue, the door slid open, admitting a slightly harried looking young redhead. “I'm here to relieve you,” she started. “Lieutenant Sorenson was supposed to call...”

Hancock nodded, standing, and Billy moved silently away from the window, a worried frown creasing his forehead as he heard the sound of footsteps as Hancock headed out of the room and for the infirmary, alternating between a brisk walk and an outright run.

As the door slid closed, the young woman turned to regard the dark-haired man behind the glass. All she had been told was to just sit with Lieutenant Coen and that he was under no circumstances to leave the containment lab. When he knew the young woman was close enough to hear him without raising his voice, he spoke. "What's going on out there?"

The red-head jumped a bit in surprise at being addressed. “I-In – incoming, Sir.”

Billy's frown deepened. "How bad?"

“I don't know, Sir,” the young woman responded. “It's Lifeline and the others.”

# # #

The area in front of the hangar began to swarm with activity as the two Tomahawks landed. As soon as they were able, the medical crews moved in, helping the passengers down and immediately ushering them into vehicles to be taken to the infirmary in the main complex building.

It was Marcel Hancock who went to Rebecca, helping the doctor down from the chopper and escorting her to a waiting ambulance. Once she was safely ensconced inside, he signalled the driver before settling down to look at the blossoming bruises on Rebecca's neck. Rebecca tried to wave him off, but it was a half-hearted attempt at best. Hancock, however, was not to be deterred. "With all due respect, Ma'am," He said. "I need to make sure there's no broken skin."

She didn't argue again after that, simply gave Hancock a numb little nod.

Amidst the flurry of activity around the landed choppers, Lifeline was one of the last to disembark. Sliding down to the ground, he edged his way around the Tomahawk, out of the way of the waiting medical team as they tended towards the others. His presence did not go completely unnoticed however, as Scarlett caught sight of the medic while she was being ushered into one of the waiting vehicles. The red-head’s eyes were gentle as she looked at the medic, having heard the story of what happened after she and the others had escaped from Lakeview from Duke during the flight back to Joe Headquarters.

Edwin was numb, his dark eyes haunted, his nostrils full of the sharp metallic tang of blood. All through the flight back, he had sat quiet, immobile, and oblivious to everything but the realization of what he had done. Looking down at his hands, Lifeline's stomach recoiled, the backs liberally speckled with drops of dark rust, the now dried remains of the Trojan Horse carrier, which also covered his face, the front of his uniform and matted his dark hair. That sight, coupled with the smell and his own horror, were more than enough to bring the medic to his knees, with Edwin sagging down to the ground as he started to retch.

There were a few cries of alarm as Lifeline went down, with several of the waiting medical personnel rushing forward to aid him. "Sir!" It was Lydia Sorenson who reached him first, the young blonde woman going down to her knees beside him, her eyes widening as she took in the medic's gore spattered appearance and unusually pale face.

Down on his hands and knees, Lifeline emptied the meager contents of his stomach on the tarmac, a sickly yellowish bile that burned his throat and brought tears to his eyes. The muscles in Edwin's abdomen had begun to hurt by the time the retching became nothing more than dry heaves, his whole body trembling as he felt his arms begin to buckle under him.

"I need some help over here!" Sorenson yelled as she slid her gloved hands around Lifeline to keep him from falling over. Within seconds, the medic felt several more pairs of hands on him, and then he was lifted, put on a gurney and rushed to one of the waiting ambulances. Lydia Sorenson climbed in right after, the young nurse tying a surgical mask around her face as she did so. "Move it, soldier!" she barked to the driver. "Now!" Within seconds the ambulance was pulling away from the hangar, it's lights and siren going full tilt.

# # #

As a precaution, the returning Joes were all placed in quarantine after any receiving necessary medical treatment. Three of the four remaining containment units were hurriedly prepared which meant a flurry of activity on the floor around the unit where Billy Coen was being housed. One unit was set up for the female members of the returing teams, one for the men, and a separate one for Lifeline. It was decided that the medic should be kept separately since, unlike the others, he had exhbited signs of illness.

While things were being moved in and out of the other units, an orderly stopped momentarily to speak with the nurse that was monitoring Billy, giving her a brief run down of what was going on and to let her know that someone would be around to relieve her as soon as the quarantined Joes were situated. The two spoke at the door quietly while people and equipment passed back and forth in the hallway.

Their tones were low enough that Billy couldn't hear most of what had been said, and what little he managed to catch only worried him more. He had been watching and listening to the activity with a deep-rooted anxiety that made him nauseous and edgy. After the orderly departed, the young woman returned to her place at the montitoring console, glancing briefly at the dark-haired man behind the glass as she did so. "What the hell's going on out there?" Billy asked, not bothering to move away from the speaker or the glass, or even try to act like he had not been trying to listen.

Once again, the nurse jumped a bit at the sound of his voice. “Uh... the other labs,” she started. “They're going to use them for quarantine, too.”

"Just a routine quarantine, or do we have potential carriers?" Billy's already-present frown deepened a little.

“Just a few days, Sir.” the girl replied. “For observation.”

Billy relaxed just a little at that, and nodded. "I see."

“Private Hancock will probably know more when he comes back down,” the nurse offered up.

"I'll just have to wait 'til he does, then..." Billy moved away from the observation window then, making his way back toward the bed and trying not to let his imagination run too wildly out of control.

# # #

It was a couple hours later, however, before Marcel Hancock made his return to Billy's containment cell, the young medic looking a bit the worse for wear. The red-headed nurse wasted no time in leaving once he appeared, quite happy to get back upstairs to the infirmary. Billy was up and moving again as soon as he heard Hancock enter, but he found himself reluctant to say anything when he saw how shaken his medic was. "Hancock?"

"S-sir?" Hancock looked up and blinked. "I'm sorry, Sir, I didn't see you standing there."

"It's all right. Wanna fill me in on what's going on?"

"Sir, I..." Hancock shook his head. "I can't yet, Sir." Billy's curiousity was driving him half out of his mind at that point, but something in the tone of Hancock's voice made him remain silent. His chest clenched, and he felt his stomach sink. “All I can say,” the young medic said after a few quiet moments, “is that everybody has been quarantined for observation while the lab runs their blood work. Doctor Chambers got a little roughed up by something, but she seems to be okay. No wounds or broken skin.”

"That's a relief... sounds like they found a little more than they bargained for..." Billy murmured, as much to himself as to the other young man.

There was an almost imperceptible nod of Hancock's head. “They're using three of the other labs to house everybody.”

"... Let me know if anything comes up, will you?" Billy asked softly.

“Yes, Sir.” the young man said with a nod before starting to move towards the console.

# # #

The quarantine only lasted for forty-eight hours, which was forty-seven hours too long if you had asked Gung Ho. The big Cajun had been restless, not to mention quite vocal about being cooped up “like a chimp in the zoo”, until Duke had grown frustrated and ordered the Marine to sit down and shut up. Meanwhile, in the lab where the women were being housed, the atmosphere was relatively quiet. Scarlett used the time to question Nina Hutchinson further about the Lakeview facility and what had happened to her, allowing the young blonde woman to answer at her own pace without any pressure.

Hutchinson was willing enough to talk, dividing her time between answering Scarlett's questions, and getting to know Kenya Strong, when Strong was actually willing to even acknowledge her. Unfortunately, there really wasn't much to tell to her story. After her transport was intercepted by Cobra agents, she and the few others travelling with her were taken to the Lakeview Facility, to be used as test subjects. She really didn't know much more than that, until the outbreak had begun, and eventually swept through the whole facility.

While Scarlett and Hutchinson talked, Lady Jaye quietly listened in, ocassionally interjecting a question here or there to clarify something. From what the young woman could tell them, there had definitely been a Cobra presence at the facility, with Hutchinson having seen the blue-clad soldiers several times during her incarceration. The young blonde had also been able to provide them with a list of names of those who had also been captured with her so that their families could be notified.

When the tale was finished, Hutchinson fell quiet, left to her own thoughts. While the others spoke, and Strong brooded, Rebecca Chambers listened to the talk going on around her with half an ear. Still aching from her attack, and still overwhelmed with guilt over all the losses the others had sustained, she said little and generally just tried to keep out of the way in the small room.

# # #

Although he had been washed and given clean clothing, Lifeline thought that he could still smell blood and feel the dark dried stains of it on his skin. There had been no further episodes of vomiting after he had been cleaned up and placed in the containment lab for quarantine. Of course, part of the reason for that could have been that he had not eaten anything, either. The sight and smell of food made him feel nauseated and he just couldn't bring himself to eat.

All the medic seemed to do was lie in bed, saying little with that same haunted look in his dark eyes that he had been carrying since shooting the female Trojan Horse carrier at Lakeview. During those times when he could actually fall asleep, he almost always awoke with a start, his heart pounding in his chest, his body trembling and sweat soaked. The dreams were always the same, the female carrier replaced by Billy Coen's dark-haired form, the Marine shuffling towards him, tentacles snapping around him as he whispered Edwin's name, reaching out towards the medic with grasping hands before shots rang out – shots from a gun held in Lifeline's hand. After the first few such dreams, the medic had curled up afterwards, his well cut frame shaking as he cried.

When the results of the blood screenings came back clean, none of the returning group had contracted any of the known Umbrella viruses or parasites in the CDC's databank, they were all released from quarantine and returned to duty.

Once freed of the confines of the containment lab, Rebecca immediately retreated to the room she had been given upon her original arrival. While she was worried about Lifeline, and really wanted to see him, her guilt got the better of her, and she just wanted desperately to get out of sight completely for a little while.

# # #

Like Rebecca, Edwin disappeared from public view as well. After witnessing Lifeline's near breakdown after the shooting of the female creature at Lakeview and his behavior afterwards, Duke had requested that Psyche-Out see the medic, giving the resident Joe psychologist a brief overview of what had happened. Psyche-Out visited Lifeline twice during the short quarantine period, the two men talking quietly for about an hour or so. Once the quarantine had been lifted, and on Psyche-Out's recommendation, the medic was given some time off before having to report back to duty full time.

Strong, in the meantime, was spending time with Hutchinson, talking things over very carefully with the woman. After having had a taste of a real outbreak, she was starting to have second thoughts about having signed up for the taskforce. After several hours of talking with Hutch, she finally agreed to give it a little time, and let things return to some semblance of normalacy before she decided for sure.

The rest of the Joes reported back as required, Duke and Scarlett meeting with General Hawk personally to apprise him of what had happened. Their commander had shaken his head sadly at hearing of the death of Raphael Hopper and of the missing members of Nina Hutchinson's squad, who were more than likely also deceased. Hawk had also briefly inquired about Rebecca Chambers, and if they had managed to find anything that might be of some use in curing Devil Dog. Scarlett reported that they had recovered a file with the Marine's name on it but that the information had yet to be thoroughly gone through.

After General Hawk's departure, Scarlett excused herself and headed towards the elevator. Her destination was the area of the containment labs, specifically the lab where Billy Coen, Devil Dog, was currently taking up residence. Since Hopper had been under her command when he had been killed, the red-head felt that it was her duty to inform Billy of his death. It wasn't a task that she was looking forward to, but one that she knew she had to undertake.

Stepping into the outer chamber of the lab, Scarlett immediately caught sight of Marcel Hancock, the young medic seated at the monitoring console to her right. Hancock looked up at Scarlett's entrance, and rose from his chair, snapping into a salute. "Ma'am," He said quietly.

“At ease, Corporal.” Scarlett said, favoring the young man with a small smile.

The medic relaxed, but didn't return the smile. "Are you here to speak with the Lieutenant?"

“Yes,” she replied with a slight nod of her head. “Alone, if you wouldn't mind waiting outside.”

"I'm not really supposed to leave him unattended, but... I suppose he isn't if you're there." Hancock nodded. "Yes, Ma'am. I'll be right outside."

“Thank you, Corporal.”

Giving Scarlett a quick salute, Hancock headed out of the room, letting the door slide silently shut behind him. Once the door was securely shut, Scarlett stepped closer to the observation glass, her blue eyes falling on the dark haired man behind the glass. Billy was awake, clearly restless as he flipped through a magazine without really seeing it, anxious for some kind of news as to just what was going on outside the containment lab he had been in for what felt like an eternity. Scarlett raised her hand and knocked on the glass as hard as she could. Due to the thickness however, the sound came through as only muffled thumps. The Marine's eyes snapped up immediately at the sound, hand dropping for a gun he wasn't carrying, groping for a knife equally absent before he realized what he was doing and his hands dropped. Sighing softly, he made his way from the bed, over to the speaker. Scarlett watched Billy, shaking her head a bit at his actions. “Expecting trouble?” she asked through the comm system.

"Always," Billy replied evenly.

“How're you feeling?”

"Like a mushroom, right at the moment," Billy said softly. "People are tip-toing around me, Scarlett, and that makes me edgy."

The blue-eyed woman nodded her head. “I know,” she said quietly. “We retrieved a file from Lakeview,” she continued after a few moments. “I haven't looked at it, but Doctor Chambers thinks there might be something in it.”

"That's something. Are she and Lifeline and the others okay?"

Scarlett looked at Billy for a few moments before answering. “As well as they can be under the circumstances.”

A frown creased Billy's face. "... What happened?"

The redhead regarded the Marine for a few moments before starting to speak, quietly narrating the mission to Billy, the seasoned Joe even faltering a bit as she told him of Raphael Hopper's death. She spoke of the zombies and other creatures that they had encountered, the discovery of the real Nina Hutchinson and the unmasking of Zarana, before ending with their escape from the facility and their return to Joe Headquarters.

Billy blinked, his eyes dropping away from Scarlett as he was informed about Hopper. Suddenly, Hancock's earlier silence and refusal to talk to him made a lot more sense, and he couldn't blame the medic. "Jesus..." He breathed softly.

Finished, Scarlett sat down in the chair that had been vacated by Marcel Hancock upon her arrival. “I know he was one of yours, Devil Dog...I'm sorry.”

Billy couldn't reply to that, sagging a little against the observation window and running his hand through his hair. His knees were threatening to buckle and he fought against the urge fiercely. He felt hot tears trying to find their way to his face and shoved those aside, too. He was a soldier after all.

Soldiers didn't cry.

He settled for covering his face with one hand as he tried to get his wildly rocking emotions under control, half turning his back to the window. Scarlett was quiet for several long moments before she spoke again, her tone soft. “Tomorrow...I'm going personally to inform his family.” she said.

"You shouldn't have to do that, Scarlett...he's one of mine, like you said." Billy was surprised at just how calm and level his voice was.

The redhead nodded a bit. “But he was under my command, and... it's not really fair to his family to leave them hanging until you're able to do it.”

"True..." Billy nodded. "...All right."

Scarlett sat quietly for a few moments, her blue eyes on the Marine before she slowly rose to her feet. Billy let his hand drop away from his face when he heard movement, and turned toward the red-head. “Don't be too hard on Hancock,” she said. “I asked him not to say anything. I felt that I owed it to you to tell you myself.”

"It's all right, I understand," Billy replied softly. "I'd have probably done the same thing."

Scarlett took a few steps towards the door. “If you want to write something for Hopper's family, I can take it with me tomorrow if you like.”

Billy nodded. "I will..." He said quietly.

Scarlett nodded her head a bit, regarding Billy silently for a moment or two before continuing on to the door, the reinforced steel sliding open before closing with a faint hiss once she passed through it.

Hancock looked up as she stepped out into the hall, his expression questioning. The redhead said nothing, merely nodded her head to the unasked question before continuing down the hallway and the elevator. The young Corporal watched her go, and remained near the door for several long minutes. He knew the Lieutenant would need a little time alone, and Hancock knew better than to intrude on that too early.

# # #

After being released from quarantine, Edwin had left headquarters almost immediately and gone back to his condominium, wanting nothing more at that moment then to get away from the base. Upon closing the front door, the medic once again found his dark eyes falling on Billy's black cowboy hat, hanging on the wall and felt something clench in his chest. He squeezed his eyes closed for a moment before turning away and moving to sit down on the couch.

Even though it was the middle of the day, the room was shadowed, the drapes that covered the front windows still drawn. Removing his glasses, Edwin rubbed his other hand over his face, pressing his palm against his forehead as he rested his elbow on his knee.

The first couple of days passed one into the other, with the medic never leaving the apartment. The drapes remained closed, the television and stereo off, the only sign that the condo might be inhabited was Lifeline's vehicle parked in the lot outside. Edwin wandered from room to room, falling asleep here and there if he sat too long. Eating was something that he remembered to do every now and then, although he still felt a little nauseous afterwards and needed to lie down while his stomach quelled a bit.

Sometimes, as he sat in the living room, Edwin's eyes would settle on Billy's hat, his mind recalling different times that he had seen the Marine wearing it. Other times, he would fall asleep in the bedroom, waking up to find himself wrapped around one of the pillows from Billy's side of the bed. Ocassionally Lifeline would think on the conversations that he and Psyche-Out had had before he had been released. The psychologist had offered him a prescription for Xanax, but the medic had refused; although there were times, especially after being jolted awake by a nightmare, that Edwin would wonder if maybe he had been a bit hasty in his refusal.

Day segued into night, with Lifeline losing track of time within the confines of his still shadowed apartment, his mind and sleep full of jumbled images.
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Unsung Heroes: Mission Two