Maverick (A G.I. Joe Fanfiction)

Chapter 5 : Ghost

I didn't bother to unpack the refrigerator-sized box but I did open it for a change of attire. I pushed the box over to my bed and used one of my sai to open the top. Thankfully, an outfit was waiting neatly folded on top of everything.

"Gotta love that girl," I said aloud to myself as I returned the sai to my boot.

I pulled out a pair of skinny jeans, a pair of plain black leather riding boots, a matching belt, a whitish-gray long-sleeve, and my favorite steel-gray cashmere sweater and closed the top before Storm Shadow exited the bathroom. He held out his hand to help me down off the bed but I declined. I bounced off the bed, excepting it to shriek with relief, and landed soundlessly beside Storm.

"It didn't make a sound," I mused, surprised.

"You didn't like that the other one was so small and that it made so much noise when you moved so we gave you one that is bigger and quieter," he explained, heading for the door. "Towels are under the sink."

I closed the bathroom door behind me and placed my clothes on the counter. I sat on the toilet while I took off my boots and removed my leg sheathes. I opened the cabinet under the sink and pulled out two different sized towels and hung both on the hooks beside the shower. I grabbed the long-toothed comb along with a bottle of three-in-one liquid soap out of the mirror cabinet and placed them in a corner of the shower. I undressed inside the shower, behind the beige curtain, and threw my clothes out as I took them off, hanging my neckless on one of the hooks.

The water felt amazing against my skin. I just stood under the foist for a few minutes before moving a muscle. I grabbed up the comb and ran it numerous times through my hair, getting every knot out. When the comb continued to glide through without any trouble, I squeezed a glob of shampoo into my hand and scrubbed it into my scalp vigorously. Rather than rinse my hair after giving it a good rub down, I yanked the comb through it again and continued while the water washed out the suds. After disudsing myself, I soaped up and rinsed clean.

I rang out my hair then turned off the water. I reached out from behind the curtain for my towels. I whipped myself down quickly with the bigger of the towels then wrapped it tightly around me and pulled on my neckless. I threw back the curtain and stood there a moment using both hands to rub the smaller towel on my hair. I looked over the things lying on the floor and sitting on the counter. Everything was exactly as it was before.

I blew a nice, wet raspberry, as I normally do when I'm annoyed with myself and stepped out of the shower. I pulled on my clothes, strapped on my sai, and tugged on my boots. I worked in front of the mirror, weaving my damp hair into a French braided crown around my head.

"I like it better down."

At the sound of Storm Shadow's voice, I nearly jumped four feet in the air. When I turned, he was sitting on the toilet looking at something in a folder. I pointed at the door then twisted back around, my finger then pointing at Storm Shadow. I was dumbfounded as to how he'd gotten from the door, past me, and to the toilet without me hearing or seeing him.

Stupid hair.

"Why do you like my hair down better than up?" I asked, my confusion obvious in my tone.

"I enjoy watching the way it moves when you walk," he replies, throwing me for another loop.

"Yeah, well. It cuts my peripheral vision in half so up and out of my face is the only way I like it."

He nodded, closing the folder then tossing it over the sink and across the counter. I shot out a hand and stopped it dead in front of me. I panned over to Storm, studied his face. The level of grim made my look quickly away and down at the folder. I leaned to my right and drew my sai from its sheath. This made Storm Shadow jump to his feet.

"Don't worry yourself," I said as I flipped the folder open. "I wasn't going to throw it at you."

"You will want to after seeing what that folder holds," he promised, backing his way into the bedroom.

He was right, a second after my eyes touched the photo of the blue, oval-eyed and salt-n-pepper haired woman, the sai was all the way in the other room, sunk prong-deep into the plaster wall over the bed, and Storm Shadow's ear was bleeding. We stared at each other from a moment before I asked, "Do you have her?"

He waited for a second, probably seeing if I'd calm down a bit more, then evenly replied, "No, they're not even close."

I looked back over at the folder and examined every report, picture, bank statement, credit card, and cell-phone bill. Cash withdraws were big, normal for my mom. She only had two credit cards, using one the pay for the other was how Jane kept her credit scores so high. The one thing that seemed weird to me was that the only number on Jane's phone bill belonged to a dead man. The strangest thing was that he was calling her.

"How is that possible?" I asked, more to myself than Storm Shadow.

"What?" he blurted, coming over to look over my shoulder.

"I have twenty-six question and my mom is getting calls from a deceased family friend," I retorted, holding up the most recent phone bill for him. "Either he's not really dead or someone is using his cell-phone to have quick chats with my mom."

"The name of this deceased family friend," It wasn't a question but a demand.

"I knew him by the nickname Duke."