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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
- 6
- 7
- 8
Chapter Seven

The Lakeview Institution for the Criminally Insane was an impressive facility. Or at least, there was evidence that it had been while in its prime. The largest of the massive red brick buildings stood at the top of a small, gently sloping hill. Several other buildings and the lake the institution got its name from could be seen distantly. The walls were starting to show some wear and tear, several of the windows on the lower stories broken from passing time, all of them sporting solid iron bars. Those bars were the only indication that this was something more than a resort-like hospital.

Waist-high grass swayed lightly in the breeze, a tranquil sight juxtaposed against the soft moaning of that wind as it raced to and fro within the decrepit building. Beneath their feet, what had once been an elegant mosaic walkway led up to the main doors. Time and weeds had slowly undone the carefully laid stones, pieces of concrete jutting up from the ground just enough to catch and unwary person by surprise and send them tumbling. Rebecca couldn't help but regard the complex with a mixture of disgust and wariness. “Man, whatta dump,” Gung Ho said as he looked around, his laser rifle leaning against his muscled shoulder.

Standing next to the big Cajun, Lifeline's dark eyes flicked over the abandoned building and he could help but shiver a bit, almost as if a chill finger where sliding down his spine. A few feet away from Rebecca, Scarlett unfolded a copy of the building schematics that Main Frame had provided for the group, the rendering showing the different floors and rooms as specified in the original engineered drawings.

Looking at the sprawling group of buildings, Kenya Strong shook her head and reached to flip her corn-rowed hair off her shoulder. "They sent the Big Guy here?" She asked, incredulous, while beside her, Raphael Hopper stood in silence, his expression as he looked at the former institution warily.

Rebecca flicked her eyes toward Scarlett as she spoke softly. "Where were the records kept?"

Looking up from the drawing, Scarlett's sapphire gaze glanced at the building for a moment before turning to Rebecca. “There are two rooms marked file storage, one on the first floor and one in the basement level. Of course, that's not counting the individual staff offices...”

“Or that things more than likely probably were changed around since the original plans were filed.” Lifeline added as he stepped closer to the two women.

"Sounds like we should probably split up, then," Rebecca said thoughtfully.

“Possibly,” Scarlett said as she refolded the map and tucked it into her belt. “But for now, we stay together.”

Rebecca nodded. "All right. Let's start with the file storage on the first floor, if that's agreeable with everyone?"

Hopper and Strong both nodded. "As good a place as any," Hopper said quietly.

“That will also give us access to some of the staff offices, too,” Lifeline added, his hand unconsciously going to the holster strapped on his hip and the unfamiliar weight of Billy's Magnum. Despite the medic's protests, the Marine had coaxed Edwin into carrying the gun, if only for his own peace of mind. Edwin hated guns and violence, but as he had looked at Billy, he couldn't find the heart to refuse, the Marine's dark blue eyes earnest as he had pressed the holster into his lover's hands.

"Then let's get moving," Strong said, looking around uneasily. "Sooner we find what we're looking for... or not... the sooner we can get the hell outta here."

“I'm with you, lady.” Gung Ho chimed in.

Adjusting her hold on her laser rifle, Scarlett nodded. “Gung Ho, you take the point, followed by Hopper, Doctor Chambers, Lifeline, and then Strong. I'll bring up the rear. Now, let's move out.”

# # #

Raphael Hopper wasn't the kind of man who was easily spooked. He was a pilot after all. That meant being able to handle insane situations without breaking a sweat. As he and the others made their way through the reception area of Lakeview, he couldn't help but feel an oppressive sense of claustrophobia. "... Place gives me the creeps," he muttered quietly.

Standing nearby, Kenya Strong nodded her agreement. Her eyes roved the building, taking in the cracking plaster, the pieces of glass littering the floor. There was evidence the place was inhabited by mice and birds, and occasionally one or the other could be heard moving about. A wheelchair could be seen here and there, one left on its side, the other sitting next to badly worn couches and empty gurneys.

As impressive as Lakeview had been on the outside, the interior was quite a different story. The walls were pale and stark, the tiled floors cool and hard underfoot. As the group made their way down the main corridor, the wind coming in through the broken windows seemed to moan a bit, a slightly mournful sound that sent a faint shiver down Lifeline's spine.

Following behind the others, Scarlett's sapphire gaze swept from side to side as they passed several doors, both opened and closed. As she passed one of the rooms, she could see a chair and a desk, the latter overturned on its side, glass from the broken barred window glittering on the floor.

"How long has this place been shut down again?" Rebecca asked, clearly perplexed by the overall condition of the institute building so far.

“Three years, I think Main Frame said.” Lifeline answered his voice echoing slightly despite his soft tone.

“Looks more like thirty years, if you ask me.” Gung Ho interjected.

Rebecca frowned. "This doesn't make sense... what happened here? There's not a medical board in the world that would let a place keep running... if it's this bad now..."

“Don't forget, Doctor,” Scarlett said from her place behind Kenya Strong, “what kind of people were housed here... it might sound harsh, but I doubt that anyone was too worried about a bunch of psychopaths.”

Billy was here..so maybe the others weren't so crazy, either. Rebecca thought, shaking her head and then sighing. "They're still people. Now, where to from here?"

Calling the small column to a halt, Scarlett once again dug out the map and consulted it, holding it to catch the light coming in from one of the opened doors. “There should be a juncture up a head. According to this, we take the left corridor and it should take us right to the records room.”

Rebecca nodded, exhaling a small breath and looking down the hallway. "Then lets get moving. If there are any records left here, I'd rather have as much light as possible to use to look through them."

“Agreed,” Scarlett said with a slight nod as she refolded the map. “Okay people, back in line and lets move out.”

# # #

The walk to the records room was one taken in silence. Rebecca had very little else to say, Strong and Hopper both tense as they looked around. The echoing of their footfalls on the pale floor was the only sound as the group approached a large gray steel door at the end of the corridor, the presumed file storage area as marked on the map. According to the information that Main Frame had given them, the room was supposedly designed to be fire-safe, with a reinforced door and walls to safeguard both the facility's patient files and research documentation. Rebecca couldn't help but feel a sense of apprehension as they stopped, looking at the stenciled letters on the door. While she didn't expect to find Billy's files so easily, she couldn't help but wonder if she was about to be cast in the part of Pandora, opening a box meant to remain closed.

As the group slowed and gathered around the door, Scarlett stepped forward, her eyes scanning the dark gray portal. Just above the handle was the hasp of a padlock, hanging as though it had been pried open with a crowbar or similar tool. The lock itself was nowhere to be found as the flame-haired woman looked down at the floor in front of the door. “Looks like somebody already been here,” Gung Ho said to no one in particular.

“This place has been abandoned for three years Gung Ho, a prime target for vandals. Probably how all the windows got broken.” Lifeline said.

“Even so, I bet they didn't stay around once it got dark.” The big Cajun replied.

"Nobody in their right mind would," Strong chimed in, frowning as she looked around.

“Enough with the chit-chat people,” Scarlett said as she turned to look at the assembled group.

Rebecca threaded her way through the crowd, stopping next to Scarlett. "Let me step inside and see how crowded it is in there," She offered. "I'd rather not have more people in there than we need."

The flame-haired woman nodded her head. “Gung Ho, get the door for Doctor Chambers.”

“You got it.” Shouldering his laser rifle, the big Marine stepped forward as Scarlett and Rebecca moved away from the door. Reaching for the handle he pushed it down and set his shoulder against the cold steel and slowly pushed the reinforced door open.

The door opened with a loud creak and the distinct sound of metal rubbing on metal. Rebecca winced at the noise, but stepped forward, looking into the room beyond. “Oh hell...” She whispered.

The room was in complete disarray. Those filing cabinets that had not been knocked over were standing open, their contents spilled everywhere. Some of the papers were bloodstained, and in a far corner, a body that was little more than a skeleton grinned. “Looks like a tornado went though here,” Gung Ho said from over Rebecca's shoulder, the big man's eyes flicking around the room as he spoke before settling on the skeleton. “And Halloween's come early too.”

“What's going on?” Scarlett asked as she steeped around Gung Ho and stopped in the doorway behind Rebecca.

Rebecca looked up at Gung Ho incredulously. "Does every Marine in the world have a morbid sense of humor?" She asked, before glancing back at Scarlett. "Looks like things were... less than peaceful the last time this door was opened."

The red-head's blue eyes scanned the room within taking in the disarray – the torn and bloodied papers littering the floor and what appeared to be splashes of blood on the walls and overturned file cabinets before coming to rest on the apparent human remains in the corner. The skeleton was, from what she could see, still intact, the figure sitting somewhat upright against the wall.

Rebecca pressed a little further into the room, kneeling beside some of the papers. The blood-stains were dried, and there was a layer of dust over everything, indicating that some time had passed since the event occurred. Frowning to herself, Rebecca kept walking into the room, stepping cautiously.

Scarlett followed the younger woman into the vault-like room, Gung Ho right behind. Both Joes had their weapons up as they fanned out, sharp eyes and ears alert while Lifeline and the others brought up the rear. The medic's nose wrinkled a bit at the musty, sour smell that assailed him as he stepped into the room, his dark eyes widening a bit as he saw the dark stains splattered on the plain concrete walls.

Rebecca made a beeline for the body, kneeling beside it and looking it over carefully. What had before seemed to be a completely stripped skeleton, revealed itself to be closer to mummified upon closer inspection. Rebecca frowned a little, and shook her head; had the victim been a carrier? Lifeline's dark eyes followed Rebecca as she made her way over to the corner. Stepping between the overturned cabinets, he moved towards her. She glanced back at him as he approached. "This is very strange, Lifeline," She said. "It doesn't look like this man was attacked in here... I suppose he could have been a carrier before... it would explain the blood and the advanced decay..."

“Or he could have been some poor vagrant who got trapped in here somehow,” the medic said as he kneeled down on the other side of the body.

Rebecca shook her head. "He's a little too far gone for that..." Then she gave a weak smile. "But I suppose I also may be overreacting because of paranoia. But this was a place receiving funds from Umbrella..."

“Not all of Umbrella was just a front,” Edwin countered. “Although I can see your point.”

While the two spoke, the rest of the group had spread out in the room, Scarlett and Strong bent down as they looked through some of the pages strewn on the floor, disturbing the dust layered over them so that faint pale puffs rose up in the air.

Rebecca finally stood, and shook her head. "You're probably right, he was most likely just a vagrant. I've wasted enough time jumping at shadows," She concluded, standing up. "We'd better see if we can find anything useful."

With a nod of his dark head, Lifeline rose to his feet as well and moved away to rejoin the others.

# # #

The air was choked with dust by the time Scarlett called a halt, the flame-haired Joe gauging that they had spent more than enough time sifting through the jumbled mess. Rebecca sighed softly, pinching the bridge of her nose. They had found precious little so far that could be counted as useful, beyond copious evidence that some truly bizarre treatments had been tried in the facility. As the group gathered around Scarlett, her sapphire gaze settled on Rebecca. “Looks like this room is a bust,” she said. “I think it's time to move on before we lose daylight.”

"You're right," Rebecca agreed. "So shall we check the staff offices, or venture down into the basement?"

Pulling out the map, Scarlett unfolded it and laid it on one of the file cabinets. “This is the stairwell that leads to the basement,” she said, pointing at the map after a few moments scrutiny. “We can backtrack our way down the hallway towards the main entrance or take this corridor,” her gloved finger traced the route on the page. “It looks like it loops back.”

“What's down that corridor?” Lifeline asked, his eyes on the map.

“Treatment rooms.”

Rebecca shivered, and looked at Lifeline. "What do you think?"

The medic wasn't sure that he wanted to see the treatment rooms of the Lakeview Institution after reading over some of the scattered papers himself. “I'm all for going back the way we came. We can check out some of the offices on the way.”

"Any objections?” Rebecca looked around at her companions quietly.

“No offense Doctor, but this isn't a democracy.” Scarlett said as she refolded the map and tucked it into her belt. “We don't have time to take a poll.”

Rebecca bit down a sharp retort and counted to ten before she replied. "Then the easiest way to cover ground quickly, and to make sure we're thorough, would be to split up," she said, and then added with no small amount of venom. “Like I suggested originally.”

Scarlett frowned a bit, not altogether she liked the idea even though it was a sound one. After a few moments, she nodded her head in agreement. “Alright. We'll split up. Lifeline, you and Hopper are with me. We'll take the offices up here. Gung Ho, you go with Strong and Doctor Chambers down to the basement level.” The big Cajun nodded. “Keep in radio contact,” the red-head instructed. “If we don't turn up anything in...” she glanced down at her watch. “...two hours, then we'll meet back at the main entrance.”

"Let's go," Rebecca said, glancing at her own teammates. "That doesn't give us much time."

“Lets move it out,” Scarlett said with a nod of her head as she headed for the door, Hopper just a few steps behind her. Lifeline flashed Rebecca a faint smile before turning to follow.

# # #

Parting ways with the rest of the group, Scarlett led Hopper and Lifeline back down corridor, retracing their steps towards the front part of the building. As they approached the various doorways lining the hall, the three broke away from one another to investigate them. Some were just empty rooms, usually containing only glass from the broken windows scattered on the floor. One or two had overturned office chairs and desks, the latter with their drawers opened and empty.

Edwin was beginning to think that they were just wasting their time when he pushed open the half-closed door of one of the offices, his dark eyes quickly scanning the interior before stepping in further. The interior of this particular office seemed to be a bit nicer than the others, the walls lined in wood paneling with scrolled wainscotting and the remnants of wine dark drapes hanging from the barred window. Obviously, this office had belonged to someone of importance on the institution's staff, probably someone who had to deal with visitors and relatives of the patients judging by the understated but still tasteful décor. It wasn't these amenities that drew the medic's attention however, it was the large desk in the center of the room whose wood matched that of the paneling on the walls.

# # #

On the opposite end of things, Rebecca and her team were turning up next to nothing. The basement was cold, the floors and walls all concrete, which reminded Rebecca of nothing so much as a dungeon. The file storage room mentioned on their map was a large one, and the three of them spread out through the room to check it and its contents over.

# # #

Scarlett let out a small sneeze as she rose from the floor where she had been kneeling. The blue-eyed woman had been examining some papers on the floor of one of the offices. So far, her group had turned up nil and as she sneezed a second time, the flame-haired Joe couldn't help but think what a waste of time the entire trip was turning out to be.

# # #

Searching through the drawers of the desk, Lifeline found only a few scraps of paper, a pencil and a large spider that had made the medic jump a bit when it had scuttled out of the darkness of one of the drawers. He was about to give up when he glimpsed something shining on the floor underneath the desk. Getting down on his knees, Edwin reached under the desk, hoping that he wasn't about to pick up the skeletal remains of the spider's latest meal when his fingers encountered the unmistakable shape of a key.

# # #

As she worked carefully, Kenya Strong couldn't help but grumble a little to herself about all the different, decidedly weird jobs that had become day-to-day chores since joining Billy's unit. She liked her CO, and she got along with the others, but it was hard sometimes not to think that maybe insanity was catching, and that maybe Billy was a little less grounded than she had thought.

# # #

The key that Lifeline had found turned out to fit into the lock on what apparently had been a closet in the office. Taking a deep breath before he opened the door, the medic had found his hand unconsciously going to Billy's Magnum in it's holster on his hip as he slowly opened the door.

# # #

Rebecca finally rocked back on her heels, checking her watch. Their time was almost up, and she fought the urge to scream or cry. They hadn't turned up anything useful, and failure wasn't something she wanted to entertain. She refused to give up on the hope that there was a treatment for Billy's condition, and that it was only a matter of finding the right information to do it.

# # #

Edwin's dark eyes flicked over the labeled tabs on the manila folders as he flipped through the drawers of the filing cabinet. The wooden cabinet had been the last thing that the medic had expected to find inside the closet when he had opened the door. That it had been unlocked was yet another surprise. Pulling out one of the folders, he opened it and began to sift through the pages within.

# # #

Scarlett met Hopper in the hallway, the two other soldiers having come up empty-handed in their search. “Where's Lifeline?” the woman asked the pilot, her cobalt gaze flicking up and down the hallway as she spoke.

"I saw him head into one of the offices, he's been in there awhile," Hopper replied, dusting his hands off on his pants and then pointing toward the door.

Adjusting her laser rifle on her shoulder, the red-head moved towards the indicated office, calling out as she reached the doorway. “Lifeline?”

“Here,” the medic responded, looking up from the typed page he had been reading.

Stepping into the office, Scarlett looked around, her eyes falling on the opened closet door, Lifeline's red and white clad form standing in front of what appeared to be a wooden file cabinet. “Did you find something?” she asked, stepping towards her fellow Joe.

“Not sure. Looks like a lot of internal correspondence – memos, staff reports, requisitions...”

“We should probably get moving,” the blue-eyed woman said. “Its almost time for us to rendezvous with the others.”

The medic was just about to nod his head in assent when his eyes alighted on something on the page in his hand.

“What is it?” Scarlett asked as she stepped next to Lifeline, having noticed the intense scrutiny that the medic was currently giving the folder in his hand.

Intent, Edwin flipped through a few more pages in the folder.

“What do you have?” The red-head's eyes flicked to the pages in the folder.

“A memo to the staff about archiving patient files,” the medic answered, looking from the folder to the woman next to him. “According to this, there's another storage area.”

# # #

Down in the basement, Rebecca finally sighed and called out to the other two. "Strong, Gung Ho... c'mon... I don't think we're going to find anything, and we have to meet the others soon. We'd... better get going."

“You're the Boss Lady,” Gung Ho said as he rose to his feet and resettled his laser rifle. The big Cajun was more than happy to leave off the search and get out of the basement if truth be told and he wasted no time heading towards the door.

Strong rose to her feet as well, and headed off after the Marine, glancing back at Rebecca to make sure the woman followed her. Strong noticed the hesitation in Rebecca's first few steps, and couldn't really blame her. Rebecca had pressed pretty hard to talk the higher-ups into letting them come check this place out, and it had to hurt knowing they would be going back empty-handed.

# # #

The trek back to the rendezvous point was a silent one. Strong really didn't have much to say, and Rebecca was lost amidst her own thoughts.

Scarlett, Lifeline and Hopper were milling around when Rebecca and the others made their appearance, their footfalls echoing slightly in the empty corridor.

Rebecca shoved away her looming depression and looked at the three as they approached. "Did you find anything?"

“Maybe,” Edwin answered, stepping forward, several folded sheets of paper clutched in his hand. “I found a bunch of internal staff memos. According to one of them,” the medic raised his hand slightly to indicate the pages in his hand “There's another storage area, one reserved exclusively for discharged patient files.”

"But why wouldn't they have been upstairs, unless..." Rebecca trailed off, blinking. "They've gotta be there... if they're still in this building anywhere."

“It says something about a service corridor between the main complex and Building B, whatever that means.”

"Probably down in the tunnel systems under the complex, then..."

“Tunnel systems?” Scarlett asked as she and Hopper joined the others.

Rebecca nodded. "All of the old asylums had tunnel systems linking the buildings. Most of the time they were used for pretty mundane stuff like laundry or food, letting the staff keep mostly out of sight. On the less savory end of things, they were used to cart out dead patients."

“And that's where these files are supposed to be?” the red-head asked, her gaze flicking to Lifeline.

The medic nodded his head. “According to this.”

Scarlett glanced down at her watch. “There's only a few hours of light left.”

"Then we'd better get moving now," Rebecca said, tone grim. "I don't want to waste more time than we have to, if there's still somewhere left to look."

“No offense Doctor, but so far this entire trip has been nothing but a big zero. Personally, I think we should just cut our loses now.”

Rebecca shook her head. "Right now, if I have to go down there alone, I will. If the records are down there, they shouldn't be hard to find. If they aren't, then all I've lost is daylight."

“I'm the one in charge of this operation, Doctor.” Scarlett said. “Nobody is going anywhere without my say so.”

A few steps behind Rebecca, Gung Ho watched the exchange between the two women with slight amusement. While the bald Marine was easily three times Scarlett's size, even he knew better than to argue with her.

It was Hopper who spoke next. "I think we oughta check. We haven't really lost anything if it comes up a bust, but what if there really is something useful in there?"

Strong nodded her agreement. "I think we should check too. I mean, we're supposed to do everything we can to help a teammate, right? The Big Guy's part of our unit. We wanna help him."

Scarlett looked at each one of the group in turn, a slight frown on her face as she did so. “C'mon Scarlett. What can hurt? “ Lifeline asked. “Maybe all we'll find is an empty hallway, but at least we'll know we covered all the bases.” His dark eyes on the red-head, he continued on. “Neither one of us – or even Gung Ho for that matter, might even be here today if it wasn't for Devil Dog. It's the least we can do.”

If she had been wavering before, the medic's final words finally cinched it. Without Devil Dog's help, the Joes might never have been able to rescue Lifeline from Cobra's clutches and stop the terrorist group's plan to unleash the Umbrella-created T-Virus on the world. Her sapphire gaze snapping back to Rebecca, Scarlett nodded her titian head slightly. “Alright, we'll take a look.” A chorus of relieved looks surrounded her. “One hour, that's it,” she added to reinforce her position as head of the team.

"Thank you," Rebecca said, returning the small nod with one of her own.

Turning her eyes away from the younger woman, Scarlett looked at the others. “Alright, let's move out.”
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Unsung Heroes: Mission Two