l1ttle_billy | Arlington National Cemetery, Sunday Afternoon

The G.I. Joe memorial was a simple obelisk, engraved with the names of those members of the team who had given their lives in service to their country. One name in particular always drew Billy's eye whenever he visited.

John Connor. G.I. Joe had had it's share of unusual members over the years, but John had been the winner in that regard. He wasn't even from this world. He had been brought in on Billy's recommendation as a consultant. He had helped Firewall and Mainframe's successor keep a lookout for any signs of someone building B.A.T.'s. But when someone actually had used B.A.T.'s for terrorist actions, John had been brought on as a full member. His code-name had been Killswitch.

Then one day Billy had gotten a text from John. It had been a kind of automatic message, letting Billy know that his friend had been killed. He would never know the details, but he suspected it had something to do with the robot apocalypse John had been trying to prevent.

"Hey John." Billy said to his absent friend. He didn't feel too weird talking to the dead. He'd met angels and witches and fought Trolls. The idea that the dead could hear when you talked to them didn't bother him at all. "So...guess who contacted me yesterday?"

The Baroness had gotten in touch with him, asking to meet. He had met her last night in Baltimore. He had actually suggested Fandom, but while she balked at giving him that much of an advantage.

The meeting was tense initially. The last time they had met it hadn't gone well. She'd threatened his family, and that hurt his feelings. Amazingly, she had opened with an apology. The Baroness didn't do apologies. That had been surprising enough, but when she'd told him why she had asked to see him...well he was glad he was sitting down.

"You met my kids right?" he asked. "Tommy and Anastasia? I know I met your son one year. He told me you were pissed cause I'd used that peg leg you made me to kill a Vampire." He took a deep breath, his thoughts roiling. "Well Anastasia, the Baroness, she found the lab. Turns out my AU kids might not be so AU after all."

The trick was getting into the lab. Even with Cobra defeated, and his father locked away in some deep dark hole, the security at the place was extremely tight. There was very little margin for error here. Any mistakes and, if Billy's kids were in fact there, they would be killed instantly.

"So the catch is...only my father, Cobra Commander can get access."

To be continued...