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Unsung Heroes: Mission One	By : RavenLadies Category: +G through L > G.I. Joe Views: 1213 -:- 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
- 1
- 2
- 3
Chapter Two

Lifeline made a frustrated sound as he resisted the urge to hurl the clipboard in his hand against the wall. 'God, I hate inventory.' Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes for a moment before slowly exhaling. After a few moments, he reopened his dark eyes and turned his attention back to the shelves of medical supplies before him.

"Got stuck doing the counts again, huh?"Billy asked, standing near the doorway.

So absorbed was Edwin that he started a bit at the sound of Billy's voice, a faint blush staining his cheeks at being caught so unaware. "H-Hey."

A faint smile touched Billy's lips, but he didn't move from his place. "Hey. Got a few minutes? We found another one."

Lifeline nodded, his dark brows crooking together as he looked at the Marine. Leaving the clipboard on top of a carton of gauze pads, he stepped towards Billy. Turning silently from the door, Billy headed down the hallway and for the infirmary, the faint smile falling from his face and replaced by a pensive look. Just as he had the last time he had seen the Marine, Lifeline trailed after him, the slight frown not fading from his face as he looked at Billy¡'s back. "This'll be what, body number two, or number three?" Billy asked.

"It'll be three," Edwin answered as the two reached his office, the door already open.

Billy shook his head, his jaw tightening. "I've got some pictures. You may wanna take a look at them before you see the body..."

There was silence as the two men entered the office. Billy said nothing more, only pulling something out from under one arm and tossing it onto Edwin's desk. Lifeline's frown deepened as he followed the Marine into the office. The medic's eyes immediately fell on the large manila enveloped now lying on his desk. Debating for a moment, Edwin closed the door before moving to the desk and picking it up.

Billy chose to remain standing, watching Edwin silently. He didn't need to see the photos again. He'd been there to find the corpse itself, after all, and it was still vividly branded in his mind. Billy shifted his weight to one foot, leaning against the desk as Edwin pulled the photos from the envelope, turning them over so that they were face up.

Almost immediately, Edwin felt the bile rise in his throat, just as it had when he had seen the photographs of the first body that Billy's team had recovered. As a medic, both in the military and as a civilian with the Seattle Fire Department, Edwin Steen had seen his fair share of dead bodies, some so mangled that they weren't immediately recognizable. One of his first runs with the Seattle Fire Department had been like that. Some poor soul in a head-on collision had been catapulted half-way through the windshield from the force of the impact. Edwin had managed not to throw up until after the body had been claimed by the coroner's office, slipping away into the trees so that no one would see. As he looked down at the photographs in his hand, Lifeline felt a very similar type of nausea in the pit of his stomach.

Edwin had only seen one type of the various mutations that Umbrella and Cobra had been able to create using what they had labeled as the T-Virus. That creature had been called a Tyrant, a mutated human with only one purpose ¨C to kill. It was an image that occasionally still haunted the medic's dreams, and he had hoped that with the capture of the virus and the encrypted research disk, he would never have to see one again. The body in the picture wasn't a Tyrant, but there were unmistakable similarities, too many to ignore. Somehow, somewhere, someone was once again conducting human experiments using the T-Virus. Or something very much like it.

The expression on Edwin's face told Billy enough and he sighed. "Somebody's dicking around with the virus again..."

"Unfortunately, it looks that way," Lifeline said softly as he returned the photographs to the envelope.

"This is weird...this isn't like an outbreak. Which means these poor bastards were probably chosen specifically." After a moment, Billy went on hesitantly, "Or we just haven't found the real hot zone yet."

Edwin put the envelope down on the desk before moving to lean against the edge of it. "What¡'s Duke got to say?"

"They're sending in me and my team to look and see if there's a more concentrated hot zone we just don't know about," Billy replied, shifting his weight to his other foot and hooking a thumb in one of the belt loops of his BDU pants.

The medic crossed his arms over his chest, his coffee-colored eyes on Billy. "When?"

"Tomorrow morning. And to be honest with you, Edwin, I don't like it. At all. My unit's not that big, but I'd rather not take anyone else along. If we're dealing with another outbreak..." Billy trailed off; there was no reason to finish the sentence.

Heedless of where they were, Edwin reached out and put his hand on the Marine's upper arm. "This is why your team was put together, although I think we were all secretly hoping that it would never come to this."

Billy offered Edwin a smile, and his hand came up to lay on Edwin's for a brief moment. "It's just too damn early..." he said softly. "They're not ready to deal with a hot zone yet."

Lifeline gave Billy's arm a slight squeeze. "They're Joes, Billy. They'll do what they have to, whatever it takes, just like us." The medic's hand slid away.

"They're still my responsibility, Edwin," was the quiet reply, then Billy sighed. "Look, I know I'm being paranoid, but I can't help it."

Edwin nodded. "You know more about this any of us; and after what you went through, you've got more of a reason than any of us to feel that way."

Billy nodded. "If you don't want to check out the body, I'm gonna give them the okay to ship it off."

"I doubt there's much more to learn from it than the others, which was an absolute zero."

"Okay...I'm free once I've finished giving them the go-ahead. Did you need any help up here?"

The medic shook his head. "No, I've got it covered. In fact I was planning on leaving the rest of the inventory until tomorrow anyway."

"Want to go grab a couple drinks or something?" The Marine's voice was soft.

"Sure," Lifeline replied with a slight nod of his head.

"Cool. I still need to shower and change. Should I just meet you somewhere?"

"Do you want to meet me at my place? I can stop and pick up something for dinner, too, if you want to stay for a while."

Billy thought about that for a few moments, and then nodded. "That sounds good."

Edwin fished in the pocket of the fatigue pants he was wearing, forgoing his usual red and white uniform for the day while working on the bi-monthly inventory. Reaching for Billy's hand he pressed a bronze colored key into the Marine's palm. "J-Just in case I'm not there when you arrive . . ."

Blinking in surprise, the Marine smiled some. "Uh...thanks."

"I, uh . . . I, uh, was going to give it to you anyway and this seemed like as good a time as any." The medic's voice was soft. "If you don't want to take it . . . " Edwin trailed off, faintly blushing.

"It's okay, really," Billy replied. "I was just...kinda surprised." He was silent for a few moments, before picking up the envelope containing the pictures. "I'll...see ya there, then."

Lifeline nodded his head in agreement, but before he could say anything else, the phone on his desk began to ring. Giving his departing friend a small wave, Edwin reached for the receiver. "Infirmary . . ."

Lifeline's condo was on the second floor, and as such afforded him a balcony that was accessible through a set of French doors in the main dining room. The balcony was located on the backside of the building and offered a spectacular view of the mountains of the Escalante Valley. The balcony and its view had been one of the reasons that Edwin had bought the place and he liked to enjoy his investment whenever he could.

After taking care of a few things at work, Edwin had left early, stopping at the grocery store on his way home to pick up a couple of steaks for dinner and a few other things. After putting everything away, he hadd gone into the bedroom to change his clothes, opting for a pair of loose track-style pants and a t-shirt bearing the Washington State University crest.

Opening a bottle of red wine, the medic poured himself a glass, and took a sip as he leaned against the kitchen counter thinking about the phone call he had received earlier at his office just as Billy was leaving. The call had been from his aunt, his father's sister, in Seattle to let him know that his father had been admitted to the hospital with what had been diagnosed as a bleeding ulcer. She had given Edwin the name and phone number of the hospital and his father's room number, "Just in case you want to call him". Lifeline's dark eyes glanced down at the yellow sticky note on the counter in front of him for a moment before taking his glass and leaving the kitchen. Moving out into the living room, he stopped to turn on the stereo, popping in a couple of CDs and turning up the volume a bit before moving on to the dining room. Unlocking the French doors, he pulled them opened and stepped out onto the balcony.

By the time Billy pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex, he was starting to feel a little sick again. He'd given the okay for the newest corpse to be shipped off, and then spent the next half hour going through the pictures again. Something about the whole situation bothered him. By the end of that half hour, however, Billy was no closer to a solution than he'd been before. A shower and a nap in the bed of his truck hadn't done much to help either. Now, as he left the truck behind and headed up the stairs, he felt the weight of the key Edwin had given him in his hand, and couldn't help but smile a little. No matter what was going wrong for him, being around the medic invariably made him feel better. There was often a kind of serenity to Edwin that Billy liked. A lot. It was nice to have something in his life going right for a change.

Hesitating only a moment, Billy reached up and knocked on the door. Key or not, he didn't want to invade uninvited. When even a second knock earned Billy no reply, he finally used the key, letting himself into the condo and closing the door behind him. He smiled a little when he heard the music, realizing why his knocks had gone unheard. "Edwin?" he called out.

Edwin had settled in one of the pair Adirondack chairs on the balcony, the glass of wine on a matching table between the two of them. His bare foot was unconsciously tapping to the music coming through the open doors. Between the music and his own inward musings, the medic was unaware that anyone had knocked. The Marine's call, luckily, coincided with a pause between tracks before the music started once again, the opening bars of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" beginning to flow through the surround sound speaker system. "Out here," Lifeline's voice called out in response, just loud enough to be heard over the music. ". . . dining room."

Billy wandered through the condo until he'd found his way out to the balcony, leaning in the doorway when he found it. When he finally realized where Edwin had gone, he only smiled. The balcony was one of Billy's favorite places, where he usually went to smoke when he stayed late. Letting his eyes shift from Edwin to the landscape beyond, he spoke softly, "I love this view."

Lifeline looked over at the Marine. "One of the reasons I bought this place," he said, smiling faintly as he started to rise from his seat.

"I don't blame you..." Billy's eyes stayed locked on the horizon, his slight smile fading as he stared. "It's soothing."

Stepping towards Billy, Edwin closed the short distance between them. "Sit down," he said, as he reached out and lightly laid his hand on the brunette's upper arm. I'll get you something to drink."

With a slight nod, Billy smiled a bit and moved slowly toward one of the chairs, laying his pack of cigarettes on the table. Disappearing through the open doors, Lifeline made his way to the kitchen, retrieving a bottle of beer for Billy from the refrigerator, as well as the opened wine bottle. Returning to the balcony, he offered over the beer to the Marine.

"Thanks." Billy took the beer before slumping back into the chair again, twisting off the cap and taking a swallow of the drink. It wouldn't do much to combat his uneasiness; he was craving something harder. But since he was being deployed the next morning, he didn't dare wake with a hang-over.

Edwin topped of his glass before setting the bottle down on the table and reclaiming the chair he had vacated earlier. Taking the glass, he put it to his lips and took a sip. Billy sat in silence for a time, wanting to speak, to say something. But he wasn't quite sure what might come out of his mouth if he let it run on its own. Finally, he settled for a quietly spoken, "Thanks for letting me come hang out here..."

The medic smiled a bit as he looked at Billy. "No problem . . . I don't mind. You can come over anytime you want, whether I'm here or not."

"You...sure?" Billy said, raising an eyebrow as he gave Edwin a glance from the corner of his eye. "I'd hate to intrude on your little sanctuary."

"It's fine Billy, really." Lifeline nodded his dark head a little. "It's not like I really live here any way. This place has been empty more than it's been occupied."

"I appreciate it. I hadn't really looked into getting a place off-base. I can sleep almost anywhere. It'd be different if I had Robby, but . . .¨ he cut himself off before he could pursue that train of thought too far. "The barracks are good enough."

"I don¡¯t mind staying on base, it's just . . . sometimes its nice to have a place to go just to get away from it for a while." Edwin raised the glass to his lips and took another sip.

"I know what you mean," Billy said softly. "I didn't get to stay home much, but god I loved it when I did..."

Lifeline smiled faintly as he looked at the Marine. Billy returned the smile tentatively, meeting Edwin's eyes after a moment. It wasn't often the Marine looked at the medic dead in the eye like that, and he wasn't entirely sure why. He knew part of it stemmed from the fear of seeing fear, or disgust, or pity in those dark eyes. But the rest of it was an uncharacteristic bashfulness that was as bizarre as it was maddening. The medic held Billy's gaze for a few moments before swallowing and dropping his eyes a bit, feeling the heat of a faint blush as it stained his cheeks. Billy smiled a bit at that, and took a long drink off his beer before he ventured to break the silence again. "So what'd you get for dinner?"

"Oh, um, steak," Edwin replied. "I, uh, I hope that's okay."

"Yeah, that's cool." Billy took another long drink before settling back in the chair, closing his eyes against a cool breath of evening wind as it slid over his skin.

Lifeline couldn't help smiling as he watched the Marine for a few minutes before rising to his feet once more. "You stay and hang out here. I'll go get dinner started."

"You sure? I mean, it's bad enough I invade your space, without making you cook, too."

"You¡¯re not invading my space, Billy . . ." Taking the glass and the bottle with him, Edwin headed back into the condo and towards the kitchen.

A few minutes after Edwin went inside, Billy stood and headed into the condo as well, shutting the door behind him. After the day he'd had, he decided he'd prefer not to be alone. Lifeline already had the steaks out and on the broiler pan, rubbing them down with seasoning when the Marine joined him in the kitchen. He glanced up, giving the other man a small quick smile before returning to the task at hand. Billy returned the smile, and walked over to lean against the counter near where Edwin was working, watching him with a smile as he prepared the meat. Aside from the cooking he did while he was camping, Billy had little to no culinary expertise to speak of and he enjoyed watching people who could cook in a regular kitchen.

Once he was satisfied, the medic wiped his hands off on a dishcloth before moving the broiling pan to the oven. After setting the timer, he turned back towards Billy. "Shouldn't be too long . . ." Moving back to the counter, Edwin started to clean up a bit. "I hope you don't mind just salad. I thought I had some potatoes, but . . . "

Billy only laughed. "You're cooking and you seriously think I'm going to complain? A salad will be fine."

Lifeline smiled a bit, nodding his dark head slightly. Offering a smile back, there was a visible reduction in the tension across the Marine's shoulders. He was finally starting to relax some, as he knew he would.

Moving towards the refrigerator, Lifeline took out the ingredients for the salad, having bought a bag of premixed greens and a couple of tomatoes. After setting them down on the counter, he turned back to the icebox. "Want another?" he asked the Marine, indicating the bottle in Billy's hand.

"Please," Billy said with a nod, moving away from the counter to rinse out the empty bottle in his hand and put it in the recycling bin.

Grabbing a fresh bottle from the carton on the top shelf, Edwin closed the door and stepped closer to the Marine, offering up the bottle. With a grateful smile, Billy took it. "Appreciated."

Edwin leaned against the counter next to Billy, his hands behind him and settled on the edge of the tiled-top. After a few moments, Billy shifted his weight slightly to lean subtly closer to the medic as he twisted the cap off the bottle. Lifeline's dark eyes glanced at the man next to him, seeming to debate something within himself. After a few quiet moments, he finally spoke, his voice soft, almost hushed. "Billy . . ." he said, turning a bit more towards the Marine.

"Yeah?" Billy said, turning his head to look over at the other man, perplexed by the sudden soft tone.

Edwin met the other man's gaze and held it for a few moments. Swallowing down a lump that had formed in his throat, he slowly, almost hesitantly, leaned closer to Billy. The Marine didn't move, and it seemed to him that he didn't even breathe as Edwin leaned in. The decision wasn't entirely conscious; he was as nervous as the medic and he knew it. Lifeline's dark eyes slid closed as his lips made contact with Billy's. The touch was light, a bit hesitant, and lasted only a minute. Instead of pulling back completely, Edwin raised his head up to look at the Marine, who blinked in surprise, but smiled faintly and leaned in himself, letting his lips brush Edwin's lightly. That gentle contact of lips had sent a jolt through the Marine, and he was curious if it would happen again. A purr rose in his throat when it did.

Some of Lifeline's nervousness slid away when Billy returned the kiss. He'd been unsure about making the first move, about not wanting to rush things between them. As the Marine kissed him, the press of his lips against Billy's was a bit firmer then before. Encouraged by the response, Billy held the kiss for several long moments, before pulling back a little with a smile. Edwin looked at Billy, for once not feeling his cheeks flush when he met the Marine's saphhire gaze at such a close range, smiling faintly. "Hmm...think I could get used to that," Billy said in a hushed tone.

That did pull a blush from the medic and he could feel the heat of it as it crept up his neck. The sight of the blush only made Billy smile a little more, and he chuckled softly. Edwin put a hand to his still flaming cheek and looked away from the other man. "It's not funny," he said, unable to keep from smiling a bit.

"Endearing, though," Billy said quietly.

Lifeline turned his eyes back up to Billy, his hand sliding away from his cheek as he did so. Without any of his earlier hesitation, he leaned in once more and pressed his lips against the brunette's. A quiet sound rose in Billy's throat and this time he wrapped his arms around the medic, the embrace loose and tentative. Edwin brought his hand up, the palm lightly resting on Billy's chest as the kiss lingered on for another minute or so before being rudely interrupted by the buzzing of the timer on the stove. "Figures," Billy muttered against Edwin's lips, smiling in spite of his words as he reluctantly released the medic. Lifeline found a slight smile tugging at his lips as he slipped away from the Marine.

Watching Edwin as he moved toward the stove, Billy couldn't help but smile. 'If you'd told me five years ago I'd be standing here, grinning like an idiot because I was lip locked with another guy, I'd have beaten you black and blue...' he thought, watching as Lifeline quickly turned off the timer and the stove, leaving the steaks inside while he started in on the salad making that had gotten side-tracked.

Dinner itself was a comfortable affair, the conversation light, and the food excellent. Billy helped with dishes, and the two shared another drink or two before the time finally came for Billy to head back to base, and for the barracks. "You really should stay here," Edwin said, the two of them standing in the living room. "I don't like the idea of you driving back to the base, knowing that you've been drinking, even if it was only a couple of beers."

"I can't risk being late tomorrow, not even by a few minutes because of traffic," Billy replied with a one-shouldered shrug. "I need to be in the barracks tonight."

The medic nodded, "I know. Just be careful, okay?"

"I will, I promise..."

"I know I sound like some worry wart . . ." Liifeline chuckled a little.

"At least I know you care," Billy said, as he reluctantly headed toward the door. It was extremely tempting to take up the unspoken offer to remain at the apartment until morning, but he honestly didn't dare; he might find himself too reluctant to leave.

Edwin moved as well, intending to see the other man out. Billy smiled a little at that, and grabbed his jacket from its hook near the door. The medic waited until the Marine had shrugged on his jacket. "l'll see you when you get back," he said, mustering up a faint smile for Billy's benefit.

"I'm counting on it," Billy replied with a faint smile of his own as he tugged the jacket into place and turned to face the medic.

Lifeline's dark eyes met Billy's gaze. "Good luck," he said, his voice not betraying any of the anxiety that he once again began to feel at the Marine's leaving for a mission.

"Thanks," Billy said softly, before leaning in and pressing a brief, soft kiss to Edwin's lips.

Edwin's smile became a bit more genuine as he looked at the Marine quietly for a few moments before reaching for the door and opening it. "Go get 'em, Devil Dog."

"Yo Joe," Billy shot back with a grin, before heading out the door.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen, listen up."

The low murmur of idle conversation died away immediately at the sound of Billy's voice, drawing a slight smile from the Marine. He'd been training with this particular group of young men and women since shortly after he'd become a Joe. Hand-picked with Beach Head and Scarlett's help, they had all been specially trained in combating B.O.W.s by Billy himself. His main concern in putting together his unit was that the Joes tended to take their members from all branches of the U.S. Military, and there was a certain amount of disdain for the other branches that seemed to be bred into a Marine in boot camp. The few members of his unit who were not USMC, therefore, had both surprised and pleased him with a level of professionalism that would do any Marine proud. In the end, what branch they were originally from didn't matter. They were Joes, and that was good enough.

It was Billy's pride, as well as his fierce protectiveness of this subordinates, that made him uneasy while they were in transit. "We'll be reaching our contact point soon. I just want to go over our objectives one last time. This is just a recon mission, just business as usual. We find any hot spots, we get the hell out. We find any B.O.W.s, we get the hell out fast. Once we land, split off in your normal pairs." Then he looked over at Hopper. "Hope you don't mind, but I'd rather keep you here with the chopper. If shit gets ugly."

"Then you're gonna need to get outta here in a hurry. I get it," Hopper replied with a nod and a thumbs-up before he brought the chopper in for a landing. "No sweat."

Billy nodded, another slight smile touching his lips. "Good. Now let's get to work."

Their drop site wasn't far from the location they'd found the last body. Immediately, they formed their assigned pairs and fanned out into the forest. As they did, Billy found that nagging in the back of his mind growing even louder. The forest was far too quiet, and it made his every instinct scream at him to abort the mission and get out of there before he led them into a hot zone. He dismissed the notion immediately; it wasn't an option. The higher-ups would want something more substantial than his hunches.

In retrospect, he would later muse, he should have listened to his instincts.

The attack came fast, furious, and with a swiftness that hinted at preparation. 'They knew we were coming!' Billy thought as the laser fire began singing through the air around him. 'SHIT!'

How Cobra knew they would be there, Billy didn't know. All he knew was that as spread out as his people were, even heavily armed, they didn't stand a chance against a forest full of Cobra troops and god only knew what else. As Billy and Hancock traded shots with the troopers, his free hand dropped to the radio clipped to his belt. He brought it up and adjusted the frequency before snapping, "Listen up, people. Abort mission! I repeat, abort mission! Make for the chopper!"

Before he could say more, his radio exploded into a shower of plastic and electronic components, the victim of a Cobra laser rifle. "Shit!"

Hancock's head snapped over at that. "Are you all right, Sir?"

"Fine," Billy replied with a short nod, jamming his Magnum back into its holster and grabbing his shotgun. "Head for the chopper, Hancock. I'll try to buy you some time. If I'm not there by the time everyone else is, leave without me."

"But, Sir. . ." Hancock seemed appalled by the suggestion.

"That's an order, Corporal."

For a moment, it looked like Hancock was going to argue with him. But finally, his shoulders slumped. "Yes, sir."

"Get moving."

"What do you mean you left him behind?"

Hancock winced at the shout. Although shorter than the rest of the unit and slight of build, Kenya Strong had one hell of a set of lungs. Shoving aside the urge to back away, Hancock protested, "I had to! He gave me a direct order!"

Strong didn't seem willing to give him much in the way of sympathy. "I can't believe you left him behind! We gotta go back for him."

"Enough, both of you," Hutchinson said sharply, breaking up the fight before it could really get started. "We have our orders. We're here and he's not. We're out of here."

"We can't leave him, Lieutenant!" Morrison burst out. "Marines don't abandon one of their own."

Strong nodded. "I'm with him. Who knows what the Snakes'll do to him?"

"This isn't a debate, people." Hutchinson replied firmly.

"You're right," Hopper said, stepping out of the chopper and folding his arms over his chest. Strong's exact opposite, Hopper was a solidly built man who was easily the tallest out of the unit. As such, he made a very effective barrier when he wanted to. "It isn't. And I, for one, ain't goin' anywhere without the Big Guy." As he spoke, the others nodded in agreement.

Hutchinson sighed heavily. "You're going to get all of us a court martial, you realize this?"

"Oh, get the ramrod out of your ass, Hutch," Strong snapped. "Let's just get him back and get the hell out of here before we're taking a corpse back to base instead of a Marine, huh?"

'Why didn't they listen? Why the hell didn't they leave me there?' Billy thought miserably, running along beside the medics as they rushed Freeman and Hancock toward the Infirmary's ER. He was bleeding himself, but paid it no heed. His own injuries paled considerably by comparison to those of his teammates, and he waved off the doctors who kept trying to examine him.

Their escape had been a lucky one, there was no question about that. Not a single member of the unit went unscathed. Hancock and Freeman had taken the worst of the injuries, however, volunteering to take up the rear of their retreating group. It was the kind of thing Billy had worried about from the moment they touched down. He'd watched Hancock and Freeman fall, victims of Cobra gunfire. It had been too much.

Ghosts of the past danced in his mind's eye, keeping him from really noticing when a nurse caught him by the arm and led him off so that his injuries could finally be tended to. The wounds themselves were nothing terribly severe. However, because of the insanely high potential for infection because of the kind of work they did, the medical staff had been instructed to make sure Billy's unit received prompt medical care, even over small injuries incurred on the battlefield. Billy hadn't struggled, hadn't argued, and had nearly earned himself a full psych evaluation with his lack of response to the medics. He'd only barely managed to explain it away as worry for his teammates.

The debriefing with Duke hadn't gone terribly well either, at least not in Billy's eyes. Billy had given the large blonde a full account of the events as they'd happened, only omitting the blatant insubordination by his team members when they'd come back to rescue him. They had saved his life, and Billy felt he owed them that much. Duke hadn't been pleased to find out about the information leak, but that hadn't been surprising. Once that debriefing was finished, Billy headed back to the Infirmary. Not only to see his wounded teammates, but to try and find Edwin; he needed to see his friend. Whether Billy wanted to admit it or not, Edwin was a soothing presence to him, and he needed that stability right now -- desperately.

A little asking around told Billy that Edwin had been shipped out on a humanitarian mission earlier that day, however, and no one was sure when he'd be back. Billy thanked the nurse, who identified herself as Lieutenant Sorensen, and then headed down into the Intensive Care Ward to sit with Freeman and Hancock. His own comfort would have to wait, so he would content himself with being there for his unit.

It was going to be a long wait.

Duke sat quietly at his desk after Devil Dog had departed; his fingers steepled together as he mused. Duke didn't like it when missions went wrong, specifically missions against Cobra, and the fact that the terrorist group had been waiting to ambush Devil Dog's team only rubbed more salt into the proverbial wound.

Until just recently, the Joes seemed to be getting the upper hand with Cobra, managing to spoil every scheme and scam that the organization had tried to put into motion. Now, with the introduction of Umbrella and the T-Virus, Cobra had upped the ante so to speak, opening the door to a new kind of threat and warfare, one which the Joes, despite the addition of Devil Dog's bio-weapons unit, were not really prepared for. Each of the randomly found mutated bodies that the Joes had retrieved had been like a slap in the face to the team, in Duke's mind. It was as if Cobra were taunting the Joes to try and stop them.

The blonde had a feeling that Devil Dog had omitted a few details from his story, his gut telling him that something else had happened. Something that had nothing to do with the information leak and, judging from the look in the other man's eyes, more to do with the injuries to the two young recruits under his command. Duke could understand Devil Dog wanting to protect his unit; the Joe Field Commander had observed them training, seen what a tight-knit group they had become under the Marine's leadership. On one hand, that could be seen as very good thing. On the other, it could also become a liability under certain conditions, and judging from what Duke had read between the lines, tonight must have been those conditions -- one that hopefully would not be repeated.
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Unsung Heroes: Mission One