Summary: Arianna Sarro has been living in isolation since prom night and vowed never to trust again. But when her old friend Duke offers her a place at the Joes, Ari can't help but leap at the chance. The only problem is that strange ninja who never shows his face. She wants to trust him but the sheer mystery of him both frightens and confuses her while her remaining love for Duke puts them at an awkward stage. The real test begins with revealing her own mystery, the mystery of the scars.

Ooh, now that sounded cool, didn't it? Hi everyone, first G.I Joe thing so go easy on me!...Or you could flame me, I haven't gotten one of those yet...I don't really care.

Firstly, I have to say that I'm no genius when it comes to this fandom, so if you want to see a certain character or something, tell me about it and I'll try to work it in. I'm also including a few things from other G.I Joe media like Sigma Six because Spirit and Long Range are so cool!

Also, how does everyone feel about going back to school? I find myself wanting answers so...yeah. Oh! Feedback is great too so please review cuz I like those very much!

Disclaimer: I do not know G. I Joe, really I don't.

I also apologize for massive line break abuse =_='

The gentle hum of wildlife entered the young woman's ear as she rolled onto her side, hugging a pillow close to her chest. Sunlight poured from the window but it was seemingly unnoticed as sweat broke across the woman's face. She moaned, rolling onto her back and coughing, releasing the pillow. Choking on bile and saliva, the woman kicked off the covers and suddenly her back arched over the mattress and she gave out a horrible shriek.

Hundreds of miles away, specifically in the Joes base in Cairo, Duke awoke with a start and sat up panting, taking deep breaths and grabbing the dog tags around his neck. It wasn't a nightmare about Rex-Cobra Commander, no; it was something darker; something he couldn't quite grasp but already had a fistful of it, if you follow that reasoning.

It was his day off, after saving the world and locking Cobra up, the Alpha Team deserved some rest. The only downside was that he couldn't spend his day with Ana, who was in still in observation. Rubbing a hand down his face, Duke rose from the bed to take a shower and meet up with Ripcord for training. Though, he heard Scarlett would be there as well and that meant Snake Eyes, Ripcord better know what he's doing.

He navigated the halls with ease, passing fellow Joes who congratulated him on stopping Cobra, Duke smiled in return albeit a little shyly and hurried into the training area; Ripcord was running beside Scarlett and the two of them were laughing, Snake Eyes was calming sitting in the corner sharpening his blades, his eyes were locked on Ripcord's hands. Duke chuckled and walked past the ninja and nudged him gently.

"Don't worry about Rip, Scarlett will let him know when he's pushing it." Snake Eyes sighed and nodded reluctantly, bowing his head over his swords. Breaker was nowhere in sight and he guessed Heavy Duty was doing something important or at the least, something. Duke wanted to get out and see stuff, he considered asking General Hawk for a mission but everyone was still recovering.

With a sigh, Duke dropped onto the couch and shut his eyes.

"Alpha Team to General Hawk's immediately." Duke shot up and looked at Ripcord who grinned and the two of them raced for the door, Snake Eyes offered his arm to Scarlett and mentally sighed in relief when she took it.

The young woman shot up in bed and bolted for the bathroom, throwing her head down and emptying the contents of her stomach.

It's always the same, she thought bitterly. Never changing...always the same. She brought a hand up to her mouth and stifled a sob, dragging her feet back to bed. She suddenly felt very cold as if a phantom of the past had reached in and held her heart like a fragile doll. Once again covering her body in blankets, she shut her eyes and breathed slowly, focusing on calming herself down, forcing herself not to cry.

Why is this so hard?

"You what?"

"I know her, sir." General Hawk leaned back in his chair and sighed, running a hair through his hair thoughtfully.

"Do you think she'll accept our proposal?"

"No sir." Hawk raised an eyebrow and gestured to a folder lying amongst all his other unsigned paperwork. Duke grabbed for it first and skimmed through the pages with a look of...relief?

"Is there something you're not telling me, soldier?" Duke lifted his eyes off the page and frowned, he didn't let the other members of his team touch the paper.

"This isn't her whole file; she's erased bits and pieces, even put in false jobs and such."

"How do you know?" Duke looked around at his friends and sighed.

"We grew up together, went to school together. Sometimes, I think I know her better than her own parents." Hawk gestured for the Alpha Team to sit down, and then looked at Duke for an explanation.

"She's not living in Orlando, she hates warm climates. She's never worked as a banker either, hates numbers and people." He looked at the folders contents again and shook his head.

"She called me some years ago saying she moved to Canada under a fake name, she asked me, demanded of me never to talk about her. I was in the military with Re- she made me promise not to help the military or the government find her."

"And why's that?"

"I can't say."

Sleep didn't come back easy, it slipped from her fingertips, taunting her. Dream weren't too common either, it seemed that nightmares had pulled off a siege of her mind and kicked out the pleasant memories. There was a sudden knock on her door and she growled, throwing off the covers and stomping down the stairs, she yanked the door open, ready to repeat the mantra from the last three months.

"For the last time, you paper-bomb freak- I ain't interested in your..." she opened and closed her mouth a few times before throwing her arms around the blond man's neck.

"I go in like this."

"Duke, we need to hear what going on." Breaker attempted to fasten a tiny black bud onto Duke's jacket but the man swatted his hands away with annoyed look on his face.

"She'll know if someone's listening in on our conversation, she doesn't trust anyone but me now. I'll be fine guys, really." Breaker frowned and quickly walked deeper into the chopper, fuming in silent anger. Duke laughed nervously and bid the others goodbye and started a long walk towards the cabin. He didn't recall ever visiting British Columbia, much less visiting his age old friend. He wondered how much she had changed since he announced his proposal to Ana, she was happy for him but a small part of him sensed that she would've been happier if the question was asked to her. He constantly thought of their parting words...

"See you in a few weeks." He'd called to her from the ship.

"Don't forget to come back in one piece, you asshole and for God's sake, wear clean underwear!"

Everyone on that boat had teased him for months about that, Ripcord felt the need to remind him more than anyone, Duke briefly wondered what she think about everyone. He knocked on the door and heard an angry thumping coming towards him but the moment he laid eyes on her; she threw herself into his arms laughing.

"Duke, you bastard, where'd yah been?" she asked, her expression that of anger and happiness at the same time. She moved aside to let him inside her home and shut the door.

"Ah...you know, here and there." She stared at him curiously with her eyes, green-grey with a ring of red-brown surrounding her pupil. She examined him carefully, walking him to get a better angle. She paused; staring at something behind him then put a finger to her lips.

"You've lost weigh." She said absently, jumping onto the counter and sitting there. Duke scratched the back of his head and nodded a little confused, the woman merely smiled and leapt off the counter to settle on the couch, bringing a laptop onto her lap.

"So...Arianna," she flinched slightly. "What have you been up to lately?"

"I'd much prefer that you'd call me Ari." Her eyes were locked on the screen and her lips formed a straight line, she looked up at him suddenly and then back down.

"And I haven't been doing anything as late; no one knows I'm here. Well, I'm sure the wolf pack in the mountains knows but they don't come around very often." Duke eased himself into an arm chair directly across from Ari. She clicked a few keys and Duke watched her eyes turn a little greener, which only happened when she got upset.

"Let's cut to the chase. I know you aren't here for a simple visit."

"Ari-"

"Hush. I'm not done." Duke gulped and sat back in his seat.

"You've cut your hair and I notice the dog tags. Still have mine?" Duke smiled and Ari's face seemed to brighten. She closed the laptop and rose to her feet, walking around the room. Duke watched the long dark brown braid swing left and right along her back, her bangs had covered her eyes.

"Who wants me this time?"

"The people I'm working for."

"Government?"

"Nope."

"Military then?" Duke nodded and Ari turned his back to him. It was rare she let anyone out of her sight and he tried not to look at the scars on her arms and back. It was an invitation to speak.

"It's a special branch," he began. "We do a lot of undercover operations; we're trained to the point of excellence...well, maybe not. I still can't fight hand-to-hand very well."

"You never could. I can recall many times when I had you pinned, on the floor, helpless and bleeding from several spots on your body. I mopped the dojo floor with your ass." He chuckled and stood up, placing his hands on the backs of her arms.

"My file?"

"They don't know about it."

"You sure?"

"Saw it myself." She shuddered and leaned back on him, shutting her eyes.

"I don't know if I can do it." Duke wrapped his arms around her.

"I'd be with you every step of the way, I'll personally introduce you to everyone I know." She laughed humourlessly and turned around, crossing her arms over her chest. Duke once more avoided staring too closely at Ari, trying his best to ignore the bruises and cuts.

"You can't protect me from everything, I know this and you know this. I've grown up a bit but still." She put a hand on his chest and carefully pulled the chain from around his neck; she made a fist over his tags and shook her head.

"Could you...take a walk? I just need to think for a while." Duke nodded and bent his head to kiss her cheek then he opened the door and disappeared behind it.

For the longest time, Ari stood there and stared at the door, listening to Duke's footfalls grow quieter and quieter till they disappeared altogether. She walked back to the couch and opened the laptop, re-reading an email sent to her by a friend:

My dearest Aria, it said. I finally made it to Pairs and how I wish you'd gone with me! Everything is so wonderful and Notre Dame...I can't even describe how beautiful it is. I took a lot of pictures for you but because these were so interesting, I decided to send them to you in advance. I'll be back in a month's time and did you hear what happened to the Tower, Ari, I was right there when it happened.

Anyway, I hope to see you soon.

Love, Clementine.

P.S. What do you want for your birthday?"

Ari reopened the attachment and skimmed through the pictures, stopping at one that clearly caught her attention. It was a picture of a man dressed in a sort of armour as he drove through the window of a train; Clementine always had a knack for photography because the man in the picture was Duke.

"So? How'd it go?" Ripcord asked, removing an arm from Scarlett.

"I think it went well." Duke sat beside Snake Eyes who was once again sharpening his blades, without looking at the ninja; Duke put a hand over the weapons and gently yanked them from their owner. He placed the swords on the bench next to him with a smile; Snake shrugged his shoulders and pulled out a kunai, this time Duke looked at him.

"It's called humour, Duke. I'm kidding." the ninja signed, Scarlett giggled and Snake sat forward with his elbows on his knees, somehow challenging her. Scarlett merely smiled.

Sometime later, Duke got up and headed towards Ari's house. He didn't need to knock because she was sitting on the porch with a suitcase, backpack and a long metal box. Duke reached out to touch it but she slapped his hand away with a smirk.

The two of them walked to the chopper and Ari paled.

"We aren't going in that, are we?"

"We are. Do you need me to hold your hand?" he teased as he led Ari inside; she sat beside Snake Eyes and suddenly grinned.

"No. Did you remember the clean underwear?" Instantly, everyone started laughing and Snake Eyes smiled beneath his mask as Ari leaned back and closed her eyes, mumbling to herself as the chopper rose into the air.

Once again, I apologize for the line breaks. It was too much now that I look this over. It won't happen again. In any case I hoped you like the chapter, have I left you curious?