l1ttle_billy | Billy's...Vacation Reunion

ooc: Spoilers herein for G.I.Joe: Reinstated

There was a young man in a grey balaclava and green Gi waiting for them at the causeway.

"Who're you?" Billy demanded testily.

"Wade Collins." the Ninja replied, unfazed by Billy's rudeness. The boy's mood was expected, and in his opinion, justified. "But most call me by the name the Silent Master gave me; Kamakura."

"Silent-? Oh, Snake Eyes. Clever. He gave you an Arashikage name?" Billy squashed a momentary feeling of jealousy. Storm Shadow hadn't given him a name. Of course, Billy had kind of ditched Storm Shadow before his training was complete, so he really had only himself to blame.

"Perhaps we should get moving." Spirit Broke in. Kamakura shrugged, and moved to get into the car, while Billy looked from him, to Spirit and sighed.

"Two Caucasian ninjas and a Native American tracker. This is like a bad sit-com."

On Friday, Hawk briefed him on the situation, how his father had stolen nano-tch from the military and was turning it into a weapon. And of course, the capture of Snake-Eyes and Scarlett.

Later, Duke handed him a box, half a decade's worth of letters from his mother. "Once Spirit found out what'd happened to you, I sent word to her immediately. I can arrange for you to see her if you'd like."

"When I get back." Billy said, after staring at the box in his hands forlornly.

On Saturday he checked on his investments and bank account, several years worth of interest had assured that he'd be fine. He also followed the long ago set up protocol for contacting Destro and The Baroness.

Sunday, he waited.

Monday, he waited.

Finally, on Tuesday he received a message: CLUB OXYGEN, LONDON, WED NIGHT

Billy decided he didn't like nightclubs. There was too much noise, there were too many people, and there was far too little light. Perfect place for an ambush. Maybe he'd feel differently under other circumstances.

He supposed it was his mood that made the bartender's flirting with blond female tourists, and general ignoring of male patrons so annoying. "Hey." Billy finally grabbed the guy by the arm. "Another coke."

The bartender, who's name tag read Nigel, looked like he took exception to being manhandled, but one look at the scowling one eyed ruffian convinced him to keep mum. "And while you're at it, this kids been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes." He jerked his thumb at one of the other ignored patrons.

Finally, his pager buzzed, with a text directing him to a private room. He left Nigel a large tip in apology.

Upon entering, he heard the click of a cocking gun in the shadows to his right. In seconds, his knife was out and pressed against the Baroness' throat. He hoped it was at least as uncomfortable for her as the hard barrel of the silencer pressed to his temple was for him.

"William," she sighed. "We must stop meeting like this."

"Agreed." he said shortly, not removing the knife.

"Are you here to kill me William?"

"No, are you here to kill me?"

"No." She un-cocked the gun and pulled it back. Billy knew that she could still shoot him and get help if he decided to cut her, but it was a concession, so he withdrew the blade. They stood there for a moment, studying each other. Neither saying a word. Even though it had been about a decade since he'd seen her last, she didn't look all that different. Her's was one of those faces that never seemed to age. She could have been 30, or 50. He could feel his old crush returning.

"You still look like a teenager." she marveled.

"I am. Time's eccentric where I live now."

She raised an eyebrow, but her eyes lit on his still unsheathed knife. "That's the knife James and I gave you." she sighed, looking slightly pained. "William I really thought we were past all that."

"And I thought after all that happened you wouldn't give my father the time of day, let alone work for him again. Besides, you pulled a gun on me."

"You disappeared for ten years and then returned at almost the same time as you father. One can't be too careful. But I see your point." She sighed again, poured herself a drink and offered him one. When he politely declined, she sank onto the fancy sofa.

"I'm not working for your father Will. The situation is more complicated than that."

"It usually is." A server brought in a pitcher of water, and Billy poured himself a glass. "I've already got G.I. Joe's side of this. What's yours?"

"I can trust in your discretion?"

"Of course."

"James is dying. A hereditary disease. His son has taken control of M.A.R.S."

"Destro has a kid?"

"An illegitimate son named Alexander, yes. When Cobra Commander contacted us about re-joining Cobra, he jumped at the chance. The nano-technology could possibly cure James, but I'm afraid the boy has the wrong idea about his father's ambitions. He infected your father with the nanites, and took over cobra."

Billy face palmed. "See, this is half the reason I wanted to stay out of this. The plots, the backstabbing..."

"Then stay out of it William. Please."

"Is that a warning for my safety?"

"It's a worry that you'll try to stop us before we can cure James."

"I didn't come here to stop you. I came here to get Snake-Eyes and Scarlett. Word has it, Jr.'s got 'em."

"Yes, we're holding them." she confirmed. "How were you planning on freeing them?"

"Well I was hoping you'd just let them go. As a favor to an old friend."

She laughed shortly. "First of all, Alexander is running the show, so that's impossible. Secondly, what were you planning to do once you'd freed them?"

"Disappear again."

"That's what I thought. If you want favors as a friend then you've got to be a friend. I'll tell you where they are, that's the best I can do. If you promise to keep in touch."

"I can't tell you where I am." he protested. "With things heating up..."

"I'm not asking you to. Be as vague as you want, but don't be such a stranger. James and I worried about you. We're rather fond of you you know."

Billy snickered. "Weirdest clandestine meeting ever. Alright, you've got a deal."

She gave him the coordinates, and he gave her a brief non-specific rundown on his life since Cobra's collapse. Her eyes shone with shock and amusement at his account of their children.

"I'll definately keep an eye out for such cloning projects and let you know." she promised. "Be careful when you get your friends."

"I will." They didn't hug. She wasn't a hugger.

*****

"There it is." Spirit said quietly. He was looking through a pair of binoculars at the small compound. It didn't look like much on the surface, but Billy and his companions suspected there was more to the complex than met the eye.

"How'd you get this location?" Kamakura asked at last. Billy had requested no questions, but Snake-Eyes' protege couldn't hold it back any longer.

"I asked."

"You asked?" Kamakura prompted.

"Nicely. Spirit do you see a guard house? I like the old, 'steal the bad guy's uniforms' bit for this caper."

Kamakura sighed, but took the hint. After half an hour's observation, Spirit had mapped out a patrol route that isolated a trio of guards. Then it was a reletively simple matter for the three covert fighters to procure a few Iron Grenadier outfits.

Once inside, they made their way casually towards the control room to see if they could locate the inevitable dungeon. No one ever built a secret military installation without a dungeon. They rarely called it a dungeon, but that's what it amounted to.

"Relax." Billy muttered to Kamakura. "You look like you're either constipated or you don't belong here." Another guard approached, and Billy raised his voice to a normal level. "Not to worry, anyone tries getting in here, the alarm will sound."

The alarm began to blare. "Like that." Spirit growled.

"Prisoners escaping!" the passing guard exclaimed, just before Kamakura smashed him over the head with his rifle.

"What took them so long?" Billy snarked, as they dashed the last few feet to the control room. Upon entering, they found two raggedy looking people. A woman with red hair, and a man who's face was wrapped in bandages. They'd been stripped of their uniforms and were wearing what looked like prison pajamas. Everyone else in the room was either dead, or unconscious.

"More Iron Grenadiers!" Scarlett exclaimed, as Snake-Eyes leaped to the attack.

"Wait! Stop!" Billy cried out, parrying a blow from his old friend. There was not really any time to explain himself, the Silent Master was moving so fast. Billy dodged a thrust from the sword the Joe had somehow procured, but immediately found himself flipped to the ground.

Snake-Eyes however seemed to recognize Billy's style, if not his voice, and yanked the gauntlet from his right hand, revealing the red, staccato tattoo gracing his forearm. "That's right." Billy said. "It's me." The ninja ripped off Billy's helmet. "Billy."

There was only a brief moment of shocked silence as the two escaped captives stared at him. Then Spirit and Kamakura removed their helmets as well. "Hello Master." Wade bowed to his sensei.

The alarm was still blaring, and the moment was past. They moved as a group towards the exit. "Follow us," Spirit said. "We know a way out." Several minutes and a few more dealt with guards, and they were clear of the compound and heading for the their transport.

"I think we're clear." Billy said. "Glurk!" He found himself enveloped in a tight hug from Scarlett. Fortunately, Snake-Eyes merely gave him a firm handshake.

Then, on Friday through Sunday, Billy met his stepfather, and half sister. It seemed that his mother had re-married. Sam, her new husband was a ship builder, and had been very awkward around his wife's long feared dead son.

"Hey," Billy told him. "As long as you don't go nuts and try to either conquer or destroy the world, we're good. Truth is, with you Mom's happier than I've ever seen her."

"Are you kidding?" Sam said with an infectious grin. "Ever since we got the call that you were okay, she's happier than I've ever seen her."

His sister was also very shy around this long lost brother. She'd heard so many stories about him that he'd taken on an almost mythic quality in her mind. Now seven years old, she had to deal with a bit of a let down when she met him. He was just a kid. A big kid of course, but barely older than her baby sitter. It was the eye patch that finally broke the ice.

"You look like a pirate." she declared.

Billy laughed. "I get that a lot."

She decided she liked his laugh, and hugged him. Then tried to tickle him. In retaliation, she picked her up and dangled her upside down by the waist. "Ack!" she giggled. "Put me down or I'm telling Mom!" The fact that she had a different father actually made it easier for him to accept her.

"I pity the first guy that tries to date her." Sam remarked.

It was his mother of course who hugged him the longest and the tightest. She was barely fighting back tears as she held him. "God, I thought I'd lost you. What happened? Where have you been? You look exactly the same as you did ten years ago!"

With a smirk, Billy did his best to explain. "Remember how I told you that the place I'm living is very unusual? Well for me it's only been about six months."

All in all, the weekend was a very pleasant way to end an unpleasant week.

ooc: is long. NFB of course, and no interaction, but ooc: comments welcome.