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Unsung Heroes: Mission One	By : RavenLadies Category: +G through L > G.I. Joe Views: 1212 -:- 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
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This is a work of fan fiction and is intended for entertainment purposes only. G.I. Joe, Resident Evil: Zero, and their respective characters are the property of their creators, owners and distributors. The overall plot and any/all orginal characters are, however, the property of the author(s).

Unsung Heroes: Mission One

Chapter One

The faint light from the streetlights outside filtered through the open drapes, the bedroom window itself opened to let in the cool night air. The bedroom was part of a large condo unit located in one of Cedar City, Utah’s better complexes. While spacious and well maintained, the apartment was modestly and comfortably furnished in tasteful muted tones mixed with dark wood in a Danish modern style. Despite the numerous years that its owner had possessed it, the condo contained only a minimal number of personal items. There were only a few photographs scattered here and there, as well as a degree from Washington State University, framed and given a place of honor on the living room wall. Surrounding the degree were a number of other framed certificates – testaments to the owner’s educational and job-related goals.

Cedar City itself was located on the edge of the Escalante Valley, a desert-like expanse that was home to not only a national park, but also the headquarters of one the United States military largest facilities – G.I. Joe Headquarters. Also known as The Pit, the base was the home of G.I. Joe – the code name given to a select group of highly trained personnel garnered from the various branches of the U.S. military; and whose primary mission was to protect the United States from terrorism.

In the bedroom, the drapes stirred by a slight breeze, the apartment’s owner slept undisturbed, one arm up over his dark head and the other draped over his stomach which was covered by an ash gray t-shirt emblazoned with the words “Medics Do It With TLC”. Completing his sleeping ensemble were a pair of plaid flannel pajama bottoms done in tones of black, white and gray.

The owner of the condo, Edwin C. Steen, was a member of this elite group of soldiers. The team’s chief field medic, in fact, who went by the code name Lifeline. It was Edwin who, on more than one occasion, had made the difference between life and death for his fellow Joes, providing immediate medical care in the field under varying conditions. It was the kind of job that Edwin had wanted since as long as he could remember, one in which he could help people and hopefully make a difference in their lives; and he loved every minute of it.

As a member of G.I. Joe, Edwin had seen and done a great many things – a number of which bordered on unbelievable; and had also had the opportunity to meet many different people. Six months ago, while on his way to a training seminar at another base, Edwin had come across a man named Billy Coen – a Marine on the run from not only the military but, as events proved later on, a terrorist organization known as Cobra, one of the Joes most bitter enemies. After a series of near misses with Cobra, Edwin had been captured and held prisoner by the terrorist group because of his association with Coen. The medic was rescued from Cobra’s clutches by his teammates, with Billy in tow, just before he was to be injected with a mutating virus as part of an experiment by Cobra’s chief scientist, Dr. Mindbender. Unfortunately however, Billy and the team’s leader, Scarlett, had been severely injured in the process.

During the Marine’s convalescence, he and Billy had become close, their friendship giving way to an attraction that neither of them could deny. After Billy's recovery, in recognition of his conduct during the rescue mission and in uncovering a plot between Cobra and a pharmaceutical company called Umbrella to unleash the mutating virus on the world, Billy Coen had been offered a place with G.I. Joe. It was an offer that the Marine had eagerly accepted, taking the code name Devil Dog.

During the ensuing months, as Billy adjusted to life with the Joes, he and Edwin had also begun to explore their own burgeoning relationship, the medic’s previously little-used condo becoming their most common meeting place. Just that night, Billy had come over for dinner, followed by a night of instruction as the Marine taught Edwin some of the finer points of Texas Hold’em poker. As the night drew to a close, Edwin had insisted that Billy stay, citing the Marine’s consumption of several bottles of beer as a more than credible reason to do so.

So it was that Billy Coen was now lying next to Edwin, the Marine sleeping soundlessly.

Since Billy hadn't entirely planned on spending the night in the condo, he'd taken to sleeping in just his boxer briefs and a t-shirt that had been a gift from Gung Ho not long after he joined the team. Black, it was emblazoned with bright red letters that read "Save water, shower with a MARINE." It was, needless to say, one of Billy's favorites, and one of the few deviations away from his typical white sleeveless t-shirts.

Since joining the Joe team, Billy and his specially formed B.O.W. Unit hadn't actually seen much in the way of field-work. Billy gladly lent a hand on several rebuilding assignments, worked with the mechanics, and done whatever else was asked of him. He and his unit drilled often, Billy proving to be a merciless taskmaster. He'd slowly grown a strong bond with each of his subordinates, and as he'd slowly started opening up to this fellow soldiers, proved to have a more easy going manner than most expected upon meeting him. Even so, it was only around Edwin that Billy felt comfortable enough to open up completely.

They didn't get as much of a chance to see each other as before, but it was a reality both had been prepared for. It meant Billy had been given ample time to consider his growing relationship with Edwin. They'd both agreed from the very beginning to let things go at their own pace, and so far, that seemed to be working. Discretion was a very high priority, it being necessary for the two men to still give the external appearance of nothing more than a good friendship. They were both military, after all. But that didn't mean that Billy couldn't appreciate the nights where he felt comfortable enough to curl up on his side in the bed next to Edwin, and indulge in the presence of another lying beside him.

The faint howl of a coyote disturbed the night. Being on the edge of the desert, the sound wasn’t all that unusual and one that most people didn’t even notice. It also wasn't odd to wake up in the middle of the night to see one or two of the nocturnal creatures nosing around the garbage bins at the edge of the complex’s parking lot. The howl barely permeated Edwin’s sleeping consciousness, although he did shift a bit in his sleep, his arm sliding from his stomach and coming to rest on the bed covers. It was a few minutes later however, when another sound broke the silence, this one a loud shrill beeping that instantly jolted the medic awake. Billy came partially awake as well, and started clawing unconsciously for the phone, old instincts from his days in Special Forces kicking in before anything else. When his hand didn't find a phone, and there was no wife growling at him to answer it, Billy forced one eye open and looked around blearily. "Hnn?"

His brain still sleep fogged, Edwin rolled to his side, his arm going out to the nightstand next to the bed. His groping hand found the wire-rimmed glasses resting there and he pulled them towards him, settling them on his face before reaching towards the nightstand once more to retrieve the other object lying there. It looked like an over-sized wristwatch, but much more high tech, with a square LCD screen about the size of a half-dollar and numerous buttons. The device was Edwin’s comm link to G.I. Joe headquarters.

The shrill beep still ringing out, Lifeline peered down at the comm link, a slight frown marring his otherwise attractive face before he turned to look at the man next to him. “It’s not mine, it must be you.” He said, yawning.

Billy reached out again, groping for his own comm link, and when he finally found it, pulled it close. "Hnn." He pulled himself from the bed grabbing his cigarettes and wandering into the other room as he answered it in a sleep-roughened voice. "Devil Dog here, talk to me."

“Sorry for the wake up call.” Main Frame’s voice sounded from the comm. “But you’re wanted back at H.Q. on the double.”

Returning his comm back to its resting place, Edwin was tempted to slide back down into bed. Pushing up his glasses, he rubbed at his chocolate brown eyes with his fingertips and yawned once again. Resettling his glasses, the medic rose from the bed and silently padded across the carpeted floor, stopping to lean in the doorway between the bedroom and the living room, his gaze on Billy.

"Don't worry about it. I'll be there ASAP. Got any specifics?" Billy's eyes flicked up to Edwin, and he smiled faintly.

“All I know is you’re going to be heading out, so you better step on the gas.” Main Frame replied from his end. “Choppers are fueling up now.”

"Understood. Devil Dog out." Billy flicked off the communicator, and headed back into the bedroom for his jeans. "Shit, this can't be good..." he muttered as he passed Edwin.

Lifeline listened intently, a slightly worried look on his face. It wasn’t as if this was the first time that Billy had been called out on a mission; in fact the Marine had been tapped during his second week with the team. It was, however, only the third mission that his unit had been sent on. Knowing full well the lengths Billy was willing to go to in order to protect a comrade, Edwin had waited on the proverbial pins and needles until Billy had returned to the base.

Stifling another yawn, the medic ran a hand through his already sleep mussed hair as he moved out of the doorway and back towards the bed, sitting down on the edge. “Just means they’re going to fill you in once you get there.”

"Call it a gut feeling," was the quiet reply as Billy pulled on his jeans and reached for his boots.

Lifeline's dark eyes regarded the other man silently, the anxiousness that he felt whenever Billy was called out already starting to build. While Edwin worried about all of his teammates, it was quite different where the Marine was concerned, even though he tried not to show it. Billy's “gut feeling” wasn't helping matters. Billy pulled on his boots, then turned toward Edwin, and offered a slight smile. "Hey," He said, "try not to worry too much, okay? I don't want you giving yourself an ulcer or something while I'm gone."

“Worry? About you?” Edwin scoffed, his tone much lighter than he actually felt.

That earned the medic a snort of laughter as Billy stood, and headed into the living room for his coat. Rising from his seat on the edge of the bed, Lifeline trailed after the Marine, his bare feet silent as he crossed the hardwood floor. Billy pulled the jacket on, strapped the comm on his wrist and slipped the cigarettes away before turning to Edwin finally, smiling a little. The medic met the Marine’s gaze, mustering up a slight smile in return. “Yo Joe,” he said, his voice soft as he looked at Billy.

"Yo Joe," Billy replied with a wink. He laid a hand on Edwin's shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze before heading outside for his truck.

Framed in the doorway, Lifeline watched Billy disappear down the stairs, the sound of the main stairwell door opening and closing a few moments later. Closing and locking his front door, Edwin returned to the bedroom, leaving his glasses on the nightstand before lying back down, his hands behind his head. It was some time however, before he managed to fall back to sleep.

As the chopper circled the expanse of forest, Billy couldn't help but reflect that under better circumstances, it would have made a nice camping spot. The forest was fairly dense, the terrain split by a river that wound aimlessly through it. Under normal circumstances, the river and the soothing sound of its waters would have been a wonderful thing. Getting ready to walk into a potential combat situation, however, meant that the river had the potential to become a severe liability. A hand on the Marine's shoulder brought Billy out of his musings. Looking over his shoulder, he found the owner of the hand to be his second-in-command, Nina “Hutch” Hutchinson, one of eight core members in his new unit.

Each member had been chosen for not only their primary expertise, but because every one of them had a secondary expertise that was useful to the unit. There was Private First Class Franklin Daniels, their sniper and secondary pilot. Sergeant Kenya Strong, who was an Infiltration Expert and a hacker. Private First Class Nancy Dale served as their Intelligence Specialist, and was also something of a hacker. Their Field Medic, Lance Corporal Marcel Hancock, had been hand-selected by Billy with Lifeline's help, the young man not only an outstanding medic, but also a master of hand-to-hand combat. Private First Class Jocelyn Freeman had been brought on as a sharpshooter, and was still developing her other skills. Because of that, she hadn't yet been designated with a secondary expertise. Billy had been adamant about having more than one mechanic, especially if they'd be dealing with Umbrella. It was an almost superstitious decision, but not without a good reason. Too often things started going wrong with some kind of mechanical malfunction. Private First Class Malcolm Morrison was a sharpshooter as well as a Demolitions expert. Corporal Raphael Kirk Hopper was their official pilot, not to mention a crack mechanic as well. And last, but certainly not least, was Billy's second in command, Second Lieutenant Nina Hutchinson, who had stood out not only for her leadership abilities, but because she was a sharpshooter as well.

As if sensing that Billy had wandered off into his own head again, Hutchinson gave his shoulder a little pat as she spoke. “Lieutenant,” she said, “we're approaching the insertion point.”

“Thanks, Hutch,” was Billy's reply as he stood. He made his way to the front of the chopper, where Hopper was anxiously scanning the terrain they were circling. “How close are we?” Billy asked, as he slipped into the co-pilot's seat.

“I'm circling now, Sir,” Hopper replied.

“Okay.” Billy made his way back into the back of the chopper, and laid eyes on his team. He was pleasantly surprised to find them already suited up and ready to go. “We'll be splitting into pairs for this run. Morrison, you'll be with Strong. Hutch, take Dale with you. Hancock, you'll be with me. Freeman, you and Daniels will be running together on this one.”

“And Hopper?” Hutchinson asked.

“He'll be staying with the chopper, in case we have to haul ass out of here in a hurry.” Billy paused a moment before he spoke again. “We'll be fast roping in and doing a standard sweep. Check in every fifteen minutes, sooner if you find anything out of the ordinary.”

There were nods of acknowledgment all around. Billy smiled faintly at that and nodded back. “Let's move out.”

There weren't many things in the world that could scare Kenya Strong. Her infiltration work meant she had been thrown into more than her share of odd situations. Still, nothing had ever really prepared her for picking her way through a forest in the middle of the night, looking for monsters and zombies. Unless you counted hours and hours of playing Doom in her spare time. Walking along next to Strong, Malcolm Morrison couldn't help but wonder, as he always did, if they weren't being thrown into a situation that would turn out to be nothing more than an elaborate hoax. “Hey, Kenya,” he said quietly.

“What?” Strong hissed.

“You ever...wonder just what the hell we're really doing out here? I mean, doesn't the idea of monsters and zombies seem kinda far fetched to you?”

Strong said nothing for several moments, frowning a little to herself before she spoke. “Maybe a little. But Hutch and the big guy seem serious enough. And I don't think the Lieutenant's much into jokes like that.”

“Yeah, I guess that's true...”

“Now quit worrying about why we're out here, and just worry about keeping an eye open for corpses, huh?”

“Lieutenant?”

Billy nearly jumped out of his skin when the radio attached to his belt crackled and Hutchinson's voice came through. “What's up, Hutch?” He asked.

“Dale and I found something...you oughta come see.”

“Where are you?”

“About a mile south of the drop off.”

That made the Marine frown as he replied. “Understood. I'm on my way.”

Clipping the radio back on his belt and checking the compass he carried as well, Billy began jogging toward Hutchinson's position, with Hancock following alongside. “What do you think they found, Sir?” Hancock asked.

“If we're lucky, it was the tragic victim of an animal mauling or something.”

“And if we're not?”

“Then I think we've got a problem.”

When Billy and Hancock found the others, the six other soldiers were standing in a semi-circle around a beaten down portion of grass. There was no immediate sign of a body, until they were practically on top of it. “Jesus,” Billy heard Hancock say in a hushed tone.

The humanoid creature had all the makings of a Tyrant or even one of the odd creatures that had broken Billy's nose during the mission to rescue Edwin, but something wasn't quite right. The limbs weren't elongated for starters, and the flesh was too whole. There weren't any of the tell-tale stitches or scars that were common on the Tyrants; and the musculature was still too human. 'But it doesn't look like a zombie, either,'he thought with a frown.

“So...what do you think, Lieutenant?” Came Nancy Dale's soft voice.

“I don't think it's an outbreak, if that's what you're asking,” Billy said thoughtfully, kneeling next to the body, one hand on his magnum. “As to what it is, your guess is as good as mine.”

Hancock knelt down beside Billy, pulling on a pair of latex gloves as he did so. “It doesn't look much like a T-Virus carrier, does it?” Hancock asked to no one in particular, reaching out and touching the corpse's flesh lightly. “Too fresh...no signs at all of decay...”

“How long do you suppose the poor fucker's been out here?” asked Freeman. “I mean, if he looks that good, it couldn't have been too long.”

“I'd almost be inclined to agree with you,” Hancock said with a nod. “Except there are some signs of animals feeding on this guy. See here, and here?” he asked, pointing to two ragged wounds in the corpses' arm. “Looks like something got a hold of it.”

“We didn't encounter any infected animals during our sweep,” Dale spoke up.

Billy shook his head. “If they're infected, and if it's anything like the T-Virus, then we may not...”

“And if it's some kind of hybrid, or another virus altogether, then it's possible that it either didn't infect the animals that were using this guy for lunch, that it may have killed the critters outright, or even that whatever guy here had was something that can't be spread that way.”

“Let's get him bagged up and get him ready for transport. Strong, help Hancock with that. The rest of you, fan out from here and see if there's anything else suspicious in the area. Regroup here in ten minutes.”

“Sir, yes sir!” Came the chorus of replies.

Ten minutes seemed to stretch on for hours to Billy. They found nothing else out of the ordinary, and by the time the unit had regrouped, Strong and Hancock had the strange corpse bagged and ready to be taken back to the base. Once they were airborne again, Billy sighed softly and pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Just what the hell have we walked into?' He wondered.
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Unsung Heroes: Mission One