A True Patriot Pt. 2 - DANNYGROM, degenerate_otaku, toxicanvil243 (2024)

Chapter 1: Work in Rome

Chapter Text

Sorrow and Joy looked at the Tyrrhenian Sea.

It was soothing and peaceful, with a light breeze, even if a Royal Italian Navy patrol boat disrupted the atmosphere.

Joy hadn’t had a mission in Europe for a while, nor with the Cobras. For a while she had been settled in Australia, fighting against the Japanese in the Pacific War. But when she and her group were offered a mission in Rome, she accepted, as she could only do so many missions in humid jungles. It was late October, so the temperature was cool.

The group walked through some house blocks that Pain explained were "case popolari", literally "homes for the people". They were very spartan and squarely. A local opened the door.

"Signor Payn, sono loro gli alleati?" he asked Pain.

"Si, sono loro, Lorenzo," he replied. Noticing Lorenzo's perplexed glare, the Pain then added, "Qualcosa non va?"

The local responded back, looking at Sorrow and Joy, who were wearing civilian clothes to blend in, with Sorrow dressed in a tweed like a professor and Joy wearing a modest dress. "Senza offesa, ma non hanno un'aria da militari."

"Che ti aspetti?” The Pain asked, annoyed. “È un'operazione secreta. Vuoi che abbiamo scritto "Alleati" sulla fronte? Volevi che magari venissero guidando un carro Sherman?"

The local agreed, before letting him in. The team followed the local downstairs, where they reached the "cantina". A muscled and buff guy with a heavy Roman accent stopped Lorenzo and asked who were the people following him. Lorenzo explained that they were a secret team of the Allies that were on a mission to help the local resistance, so the buff guy let them in.

The team were now in the resistance's hideout. In the middle there was a table, with some papers and maps, some crates with some rifles inside and a huge flag with Italian colors, a star and the letters C.L.N. A scrawny resistance member with a beard told them.

"Benvenuti alla sede locale del Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale."

The Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale (Committee for the National Liberation) was an Italian resistance organization with the goal to free Italy from Mussolini's rule. A woman in her 30s with straight black and a bright smile, asked enthusiastically to Sorrow if he wanted food.

"Buongiorno! Posso offrirvi un piatto di pasta?"

The latter was a bit embarrassed, as he momentarily forgot how to thank in Italian, before remembering and replying while blushing. "Molto grazie!"

The buff man who was looking at the scene got annoyed and angry, having clearly misunderstood the situation, and shouted. "Aho! Ma che, c'è stai a provà con mi moglie?"

But before Sorrow tried to reply back, the buff man quickly punched the Russian in the jaw, making his glasses fall. The Sorrow was now four legged on the floor, trying to find his glasses and barely recognizing any shapes.

The buff dude continued to shout. "A secco! Ma chi cazzo ti credi di essere!"

His wife started to scold him. "Massimo! Ma che cazzo fai! Gli ho solo offerto un piatto di pasta!

Joy, noticing the confusion, went to check and ask what happened, with Pain being the translator. Massimo pointed to Sorrow and told them that the Russian was trying to flirt with his wife.

Then Joy stared at the Italian with an angry glare.

“Se non fossi una donna ti avrei gia riempito di botte,” The local buff man remarked

The Pain translated it, and Joy became even more angry. She hit him in the stomach with her knee, then his jaw with her elbow before kicking him in the leg and making him fall. The big Italian was now on the ground, crying.

"Aho, ma questa sa mená!"

The group laughed, before preparing to make their plan.

As the team was gathered around a table while Joy laid out the details, Sorrow was struggling to fix his glasses. The lenses were not only cracked, but they had fallen out of the frames. This was definitely a problem, as Sorrow was farsighted and thus could only see things in the distance, which would definitely make close combat a problem.

Joy stuck some thumbtacks into the Tiber River and Tyrrhenian Sea on the map that she had spread out. “There should be some boats around these areas. We’ll destroy them, and that should weaken their defenses. I’ll deal with the boat on the sea. Fury, I’ll give you some dynamite sticks, and you can take out the boats patrolling the river. Do not use the flamethrower.”

“Damn it,” Fury grumbled.

“End, you can sit on one of those cliffs and snipe out any guards near the dock, clear the area up for me. Fear and Pain, I’ll pair you up together, and you can gather intel.”

Each member replied with the usual “Yes, Ma’am” indicating that they understood their tasks. Joy then noticed Sorrow still fidgeting with his glasses.

“Let me help you with that,” Joy took the glasses and attempted to fix them herself, but when she tried to slide one of the lenses back into the frame, it split in half, ruining them beyond repair. Joy freaked out, while Sorrow knew what was going on as he heard the crack.

“You broke them even more, didn’t you?”

Joy was immediately apologetic. “I’m sorry! I’ll pay for the next pair.”

Sorrow sighed. “It’s fine, Joy. I appreciate you trying to help.”

“You’re not completely blind without them, right?” Joy asked. “You can still see to some degree?”

“Well, yes...just not close up.”

“Alright, then I can pair you with Fury, and you can make sure he’s doing what I told him to do.”

Fury shot a glare at Joy, before she dismissed the men.

Joy stared at the dock that was situated on the Tyrrhenian Sea, looking through her binoculars as she kneeled on the beach behind a rock. She saw that the area was full of guards. She got out her radio and spoke through it.

“End, clear them out.”

“Roger that, Ma’am.” The End was sprawled on top of a cliff hiding in some bushes, readying his Mosin-Nagant rifle.

He gave a few shots, hitting a few enemy soldiers with perfect precision. The remaining soldiers were terrified and screamed “Cecchino!” which meant “sniper”, and leaped into the water to try and swim away. However, End still managed to snipe out the soldiers, dying the surrounding ocean red.

Joy thanked End and continued to the dock. She climbed into one of the motorboats, taking control of it and piloting it towards the battleship.

Meanwhile, the Fury and Sorrow were making their way towards the river, with Sorrow struggling to see where he was going. He ended up bumping into Fury.

“Oh, sorry,” Sorrow apologized.

“This is the third time you’ve run into me!” Fury complained.

“You think I chose to have vision problems?” Sorrow snapped at him.

“Chert voz'mi, pochemu ya svyazalsya s etim idiotom?” Fury grouchily asked himself in his native tongue.

“I’m Russian, too, you know! I can understand you!”

Fury then got a call from his radio, and he answered it. It was Joy. Fury greeted her properly like always.

“I’m on the ship,” Joy informed. “Did you deal with those boats like I asked you to?”

“No…”

“What?! Why not?!”

“Sorrow, distracted me, okay?!”

“Did not!” Sorrow argued back.

“Are you two bickering again?”

Joy then started scolding the two Russians over the radio, telling the to stop arguing and focus on the mission like the elite squad they were, besides acting like mature adults

"Remember, no flamethrower, until I explicitly give you an order!"

"Yes, madame!" replied the Russian, and Joy hung up on him.

Meanwhile, The End switched to a Carcano M91/30 that Lorenzo gave him. The End was sniping and shooting with the Carcano from the cliff, as one of the Italian soldiers shouted loudly.

"Sono quegli stronzi dei partigiani!"

Meanwhile, Joy was sneaking around on the ship, with a plan to plant some TNT on the engines and sabotage it. She was advancing slowly, taking advantage of the fact that most of the soldiers were distracted by the End's fire. She crunched behind the wooden crates, careful to not be seen by the Royal Italian Navy soldiers, which were firing in the End's general direction. She almost reached the ramp, which was located near a fuel depot.

Joy was almost getting aboard the ship, when she heard a voice in Italian.

"Stai ferma, stronza!"

Joy turned around, some Italian soldiers pointing Modello 1938 submachine guns at them. The End was looking through the scope, seeing Joy being helpless, but he had no clear shot on the soldiers, so he cursed. Meanwhile, Fury was throwing dynamites at the ship, but he kept hitting the extremities and not dealing much destruction. Then Fury had an idea that he believed would impress Joy. He grabbed a Molotov co*cktail from the resistance cache, grabbed his lighter, set the cloth on fire, then started to aim. The End looked at him with the scope.

"That is a really stupid idea!" He said through the radio.

Fury chuckled, then he threw the bottle. “Sometimes the craziest tactics can win battles!"

Due to his incredible strength, the Molotov landed on an empty wooden crate that was dangerously close to the fuel depot. One of the soldiers noticed the fire and shouted.

"Cazzo! Una cassa ha preso fuoco! Presto chiamiamo qualcuno per spegnere il fuoco!"

The other turned around and started running.

"Ma sei scemo? Tra poco si accende la benzina! Meglio se corriamo.”

Soldiers started jumping from the boats to avoid being burned alive. The fire was now spreading to the fuel, which burned for a few seconds, before the fumes caused an immense explosion that catastrophically damaged the boats.

As Joy stood on the dock of the ship, she was able to see the billowing smoke in the distance.

“Dammit, Fury…” she mumbled under her breath.

“Ha! Did you see that?” Fury bragged. “Those boats went right up into flames!”

“I couldn’t see anything!” Sorrow yelled at him. “Maybe because I’m still blind as a bat!”

“Oh, quit your bitching! Joy is going to be proud as soon as she gets here and sees what I did!”

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” Joy screamed at Fury, and when Fury saw her there completely fuming, that’s when he realized he had made a mistake and was screwed.

“Boss! Um…”

“I told you to use the dynamite and you didn’t follow my owners! You put civilians in danger with your little stunt!”

“I didn’t use the flamethrower! I used molotov co*cktails!”

Joy growled in frustration. “New rule, no fire in general!”

“But you’re still going to thank me for taking care of those boats right?”

Joy sighed heavily. “Just go to the rendezvous and we’ll meet you there when we’re done.”

Joy quickled finished her tasks, weakening the defenses of the Royal Italian Army and allowing the liberators a better chance of success with their goal. She made her way back to the rendezvous, which had the plane awaiting, and waited until Fear and Pain got done gathering intel.

She saw that Fury was outside of the plane smoking a cigarette. She glared angrily at him, as he just looked at her and lowered his cigarette.

“What?” Fury asked.

“You’re on thin ice!” Joy growled at him, before going over to the plane to climb in, while Fury shrugged and continued smoking.

Inside the plane, she saw Sorrow who was in one of the seats. He noticed a figure in his vision and although it was blurry, he could make out the blonde hair.

“Joy! Is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me.” She got out a pair of glasses and put them on Sorrow. “Here, try these.”

Sorrow blinked a few times, and suddenly everything was completely clear again. “I can see again!”

Joy giggled a bit. “You honestly look better with glasses on.”

“Where did you get these?”

“Well, I found an eyeglass store…”

“Wait…how did you know my prescription?”

“Uhh…” Joy twiddled her thumbs a bit.

“Did you look at my medical documents?” Sorrow had an annoyed expression on him.

“I had to, okay?! I wanted to make sure there was information I needed to know in case you had a medical emergency. Because I’m still your boss, after all...”

Sorrow raised an eyebrow, and Joy sighed.

“And also so I can know your birthday…”

“So that’s how you found out! Nosey little stalker…”

“Hey, if it weren’t for me knowing, I wouldn’t have taken you to the Nile like you wanted to as a present! And hey, maybe I had plans for your future birthdays, like taking you to see the Amazon, or the Mississippi! Remember when you said you wanted to do that?!”

"Well, I really wanted to see the Tiber river, but I couldn't do that because of my glasses! It's the longest river in Italy and has a vast history dating back to ancient Rome!"

"You're such a know-it-all," Joy teased. "You know, I'm sure we'll be going back to Italy sometime again, you'll get a chance to see it. Hell, I'll make sure you see all the rivers in the world if that's what you want."

There was a beat, before Sorrow spoke. “Kiss me.”

Joy grabbed him and gave him one big smooch on the lips, as Sorrow’s cheeks began to dye completely red with blush. They separated for a bit, and Joy could see how stunned Sorrow was by that kiss. She gave a sideways grin as she looked him in the eye.

“Satisfied?”

“Y-yeah…” Sorrow adjusted his new glasses, and then noticed Fury peering into the helicopter, having watched the whole thing. “Do you mind?!”

Joy looked back as well, and was also pretty annoyed.

Fury just smoked as he glared back at the two. “I take it that you two are boyfriend and girlfriend now?”

“Please give us some privacy,” Joy ordered him.

Fury followed Joy’s commands and left them alone, and Joy and Sorrow decided to follow with another kiss.

Fury and Pain eventually came back with intel, and End arrived shortly after, and the group was finally able to leave the country and safely back to their homebase. The plane was currently high in the sky, flying over the Mediterranean sea. Up until this point, Joy was silent, mostly just staring at the other team members with an assertive look, as they all felt the aura of authority emanating from her. After a slight while, Joy finally spoke in her usual commanding tone.

“While the mission was a success, there were still a lot of mishaps that were made.”

Even though she didn’t directly mention Fury, he still knew that she had him in mind, especially with the prying glances that she was making towards him. Fury meekly sunk into his chair, as Joy continued talking.

“End did excellent with his part, but Pain and Fear, you took too long with that intel, and it’s because Fear here decided to stop for gelato!”

“It’s Italy, what do you expect?” Fear argued back. “For me to leave with an empty belly?”

“And I’m not even going to go into detail over your screw-up, Fury,” Joy told him, as Fury lowered his head in shame. Joy sighed. “Look, I hate to chastise you for this…but you’re all supposed to be elite soldiers, and I know you can do better than this.”

“I’m just some guy you picked up off the side of the road though,” Fury reminded her. “I’m no one special.”

“That’s true, but I know you can be a great soldier if you put your heart into it,” Joy responded back. “You just need to learn how to follow directions.”

“You really have that much faith in me? This normal guy who grew up in the slums of Moscow? Whose only experience with conflict is the fights I’d get into at school and on the streets?”

“I have faith in every single one of you,” Joy calmly replied. “I love you all, and I want to remind you about how much I care about you and want you all to succeed. Now, let’s hopefully try to do better during our next mission. Case closed.”

Joy then leaned back on her chair and started resting her eyes, as she needed the nap after yet another long mission.

After a long fight, the plane eventually arrived home. Well, not necessarily home, but rather their base in Australia, as they were still fighting in the Pacific War. As soon as they arrived, Joy dismissed the Cobras and decided to head to her tent to rest for the night before having to do work tomorrow. She pulled her shoes and socks off her aching feet and decided to wind down by listening to some of the radio. She listened to music, and then the news, before browsing other stuff on the radio. Soon Joy heard a familiar British accent speak to her.

“Joy, are you in there?”

She recognized it as David’s voice, which made her happy.

“Yeah, you can come in!”

Chapter 2: The Halloween Party

Chapter Text

David entered the tent and Joy smiled at him.

“Nice to see you,” she greeted him. “Did anything today?”

“Why, yes. I was in New Guinea helping the Aussies. And I’ve heard that you and the Cobras were doing a mission in Italy. I hope you weren’t anywhere around Genoa. The Royal Air Force is raiding that place right now.”

“Yeah…I heard it on the news. But don’t worry, we were in Rome.”

David listened for a bit to what Joy was listening to on the radio and it sounded like a bunch of legal talk, as if the people on the radio were in a courtroom. “What are you listening to right now?”

“The court hearing for Louis Bastararch. The Bayou Killer in case you’re unfamiliar.”

“Oh, right. That serial killer. I’ve heard of him…what a sick POS…”

“Listening to this hearing, he’s somehow even more unhinged. He was going on about how his father died when he was young and that his mother was an alcoholic who beat him, as if that justifies his actions. But he doesn’t feel remorse in the slightest, and laughed like a madman when the judge went over the names of the people he killed.”

“Lovely…” David groaned. “How could someone so young be so evil?”

“He’s eighteen now, so hopefully they’ll trial him as an adult.”

“Honestly, I’d prefer the death penalty…electric chairs are used in Louisiana, aren’t they? Give him that…make him feel the same pain his victims felt during their last moments…”

“Yeah, but…executing him won’t bring the victims back…”

David was confused. “What do you mean? You’ve killed a lot of bad people like him. Why wouldn’t you want him to face that kind of justice?”

“I don’t know…it’s just…” Joy sighed. “David…do you think I might be…as bad as him?”

“What?!” David was shocked that Joy would suggest such a thing. “Absolutely not! Why would you say that?”

“I’ve killed more people than him…sometimes I wonder if I’m even worse…”

Joy started thinking about when she was a teenager working as an assassin for the Philosophers, and about all those people she killed. Some of it was even for petty reasons, such as when she killed Bernardo Rizzo. She even thought about when she killed Adrian and Softbottom, and all those Axis soldiers she disposed of during missions. Even though they were monsters who deserved the worst, they were still human beings. Was killing them really the correct choice?

“It’s just…sometimes I think about all the people I’ve killed, and wonder if killing them makes me no better than them.”

“Joy, if you hadn’t killed them, they would have gone on to hurt more people.” David tried to have an assertive look on his face with his rhetoric, but deep inside, Joy’s words also had him feeling unsure. All the guilt he had over contributing to Softbottom’s murder was coming back to him, and he decided to excuse himself. “I have patrol duty, so I’ll let you be. Just let me know what they sentence him with.”

“Will do,” Joy responded in a sad tone, as David left the tent.

Eventually, Joy grew tired and decided to go to bed. She turned off the radio and got dressed in her pajamas, however, just as she was preparing her sheets, she was approached by the last person she wanted to see tonight.

It was William, sporting the usual flirty grin as if this was going to be the moment he was going to finally steal Joy’s heart, even though Joy wanted nothing more than to kick him in the face.

“What do you want?” Joy grouched at him, as she spread out the blanket.

“Oh, nothing much. Just wanted to ask how Italy was. I bet it was…romantic.” William smirked and raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not in the f*cking mood right now,” Joy snapped at him.

“Well, when will you be in the mood?”

“Never.” Joy climbed into bed and propped her feet up.

“Well, Miss Grumpy, perhaps this will brighten you up. Halloween is just around the corner, and my father is having a party at his mansion that day. Would you like to come?”

“First of all, I never even liked your dad’s parties. And second, I don’t even have leave yet.”

“Oh, my father can arrange the leave part.”

“Because he bribes them to let you go home whenever he wants you to, right?”

“That’s none of your business! So do you want to come or not?”

“If it’s going to be like any of your dad’s other boring-ass parties…”

“Oh, you don’t even have to wear a dress or tux. It’s a costume party, so wear whatever you want. And there’s going to be lots of food, sweets, and drinks. And Charlotte will be there as well.”

Joy sighed heavily. “Fine, I’ll go, under a few conditions. David and the Cobras have to be invited, and my mom isn’t allowed to come.”

William looked displeased about this ultimatum, but accepted. “Alright, it’s a deal.” He smirked again at Joy. “See you there.”

He left the tent, and immediately Joy started to regret her decision.

As the Halloween weekend crept up, Joy set out to England again. Even though she very much dreaded every minute as the big night approached, at least having David and the Cobras attend would make the night more bearable, and they can be her own personal bodyguards in case William decides to be a creep towards her.

Joy ordered hotel rooms in London for the Cobra members, while Joy herself simply decided to stay in Exeter with David and his sister. Mary was delighted to have her brother home, and was more than happy to let her stay over. They ate a nice autumn dinner of chicken pot pie, with pumpkin pie and cider for dessert, and afterwards Joy and David rode horses through the forest, which was dyed brilliant oranges, yellows, and browns, and flurries of dried leaves fell from the oak and birch trees. David wore a leather coat with earmuffs and mittens, while Joy wore a windbreaker and knit cap.

“Nice to experience cold weather for once,” Joy told David as she fed her horse an apple that she picked from a tree, as the two were stopped by a clearing with a pond to take a rest. “I think autumn may be my favorite season.”

“I don’t blame you one bit,” David replied as he chucked flat stones at the pond to try and get them to skip. “Summers are too hot and humid, springs are too rainy, and in winters you have to shovel snow; in England, at least.”

“In Kansas, spring and summer are usually when the tornados start.”

“Have you ever had your house ravaged by one?”

“Many times; in fact, every time we had to go down to the tornado shelter, I remember how scared I always was as a child. But my father would always hold me and tell me it’ll be alright and that we’ll be safe.” A tear fell from Joy’s eye. “I miss him so much…”

David gave her a big hug, his body heat feeling warm to Joy’s touch. “He’s in Heaven watching over you, and is proud of what you’ve accomplished.”

Joy wiped her tears from her face, feeling better from David’s comfort.

“Now, it’s getting rather late. We should probably head back. We have a busy day tomorrow, after all.”

They climbed back onto their horses, as Joy scoffed. “Ugh, not looking forward to another one of the Cromwells’ parties. At least I’m old enough to drink alcohol now.”

The night went by quickly, and soon came Halloween, and the night of the party. David and Joy got dressed into their costumes before they were going to begin the three hour train ride to London.

After Joy got dressed in her costume, she waited for David from outside his room. Eventually, the door opened and David stepped out. He was dressed up in a fancy suit and tie, with a bowler hat and cane. He saw what wearing. She was dressed up like a bee, with a puffy yellow and black dress that had a stinger on the back, some black tights and boots, and an antenna on her head.

“You do realize this is a costume party, right?” Joy had her arms crossed as she looked at David.

“I am wearing a costume,” David responded. “I’m dressed as Charlie Chaplin.”

“You don’t have his mustache though.” Joy pointed to her face.

“Do you really think it’s a good idea to wear that mustache?” David snarked.

“True…everyone’s just going to think you’re some guy in a bowler hat, though.”

“Oh, nonsense! Everyone’s going to tell who I’m supposed to be!”

“Oh, how adorable!” Mary gushed as she approached the two. “You’re dressed up as the prime minister!”

Joy snickered, while David sighed. “Whatever, let’s just go already.”

“I’m already waiting for it to be over,” Joy commented as the two made their way out of the house.

After a very long and boring train ride, Joy and David finally arrived in London. They rode a bus straight to the hotel to meet with the Cobras, and afterwards they were going to head to the Cromwells’ mansion. When they arrived in the lobby, they were met with the team, who like Joy were all dressed up as bees, except for Pain who was dressed up like a beekeeper. Fury wasn’t there, as presumably he was still getting ready.

David couldn’t help but laugh. “A themed costume, huh?”

Fear rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Pain here insisted that we’d all dress up like bees while he dresses up as a beekeeper.”

“Joy should have been the beekeeper, she is the leader, after all.”

“She’s the queen bee,” Pain informed.

Of course, that made David laugh some more, while Joy snapped at him.

“For the record, I’m only participating in this because Pain wanted it,” Joy matter-of-factly said. “I actually wanted to wear my Joan of Arc costume from when I was sixteen.”

David wiped a tear of laughter from his eye. “I’m not mocking you, I just think it’s cute.”

“Whatever, where the hell is Fury?”

“Right here!” Fury approached the group. Instead of wearing a black-and-yellow costume though, his costume was brown with yellow stripes with thinner wings.

Pain narrowed his eyes at him, before blowing up at him. “That’s not what a bee looks like!”

“I decided to go as a hornet since that’s more badass! Your costume idea sucks, Pain!” Fury pointed to Joy. “And why does she get a stinger while the rest of us don’t?”

“Because only the females have stingers!” Pain argued back.

As the two were arguing in the middle of the hotel, Joy sighed and pinched her forehead.

“Maybe coming here was a bad idea…”

“Oh, don’t be like that,” David assured. “We’re going to have fun, trust me.” However, Joy doubted it.

The ballroom was its usual opulent self, just how Joy remembered. Gothic and Victorian in style, which fit well for the theme of Halloween. People dressed in costumes and masks took up the floor, and there was also a buffet of food to the side, with complimentary candy in bowls, which Fear predictably ran towards.

Joy suggested they split up, and the group accepted that idea, each afterwards going in a different direction, while Joy set out to look for Charlotte. Joy decided to first check the bar, passing through a few costumed people.

Of course, Joy did see a familiar face, but it wasn’t Charlotte. Unfortunately, it was William instead, leaning against the bar counter and sipping on a glass of champagne. He was dressed up in a black-and-red nobleman suit with a cape. He had pale make-up and fangs, so Joy assumed he was supposed to be Dracula. She was honestly surprised he knew about the character in the first place, considering he doesn’t even read. Maybe he watched the movie? But Joy didn’t care either way, because he was already giving her that flirty look that Joy really hated.

“Good evening, Joy!” William greeted her, speaking in a really terrible Transylvanian accent. “I see that you’ve made it to my father’s party. What do you think, Joy? Don't I look scary?”

“You would have been scarier if you had just gone as yourself,” Joy snarked at him.

William frowned before speaking in his normal posh accent. “Well, no need to be rude; I put a lot of work into this costume! You mentioned liking monster movies, so I watched the whole entirety of Dracula just to get the character right! That was the most boring hour and fifteen minutes of my life!”

“Cut the crap and just tell me where Charlotte is.”

“She’s by the dance floor, with our father. Oh, and when you’re done talking with her, don’t forget to come back here. I can buy you a drink, we could do a slow dance, and I could give your neck a little bite-”

“And I can kick you in the balls again while I’m at it,” she threatened him, which made him shut up, then disappeared back into the crowd to look for Charlotte.

As she did so, she ran into David. He sent a death glare at William and did the cutting gesture across his neck, as the former nervously glanced to the side and sipped his drink. David then looked back at Joy.

“How about I stay with you for the rest of the night?”

“Sure, I could use the company. You know where Charlotte is?”

“I just passed by her. I’ll lead you to her.”

David did as he stated, and Joy was brought to the blonde young woman. She was wearing a pink Versailles dress, a rococo wig, and pale make-up with lipstick, blush, and eyeshadow. Joy admitted she looked quite pretty, and she even glanced at David and saw that he was admiring her as well. She was also with her father, who wasn’t wearing a costume but rather just a simple orange suit and a black tie with orange Jack-o-lanterns printed on it.

“Wow, Charlotte, you look beautiful,” Joy complimented her, which caught the two’s attention.

Charlotte was pleasantly surprised to see Joy, but ultimately happy. She gave a warm smile to her, the beauty mark on her cheek still apparent. Even though she’s always had it, it still went well with her costume.

“Oh, thank you, Joy! I’m dressed up as Marie Antoinette.” Charlotte showed off her dress a bit. “I’m delighted that you were able to make it! Your bee costume is so adorable!”

Walter also gave a slight grin and wave to Joy, a glass of bourbon in his other hand. “How is your mother doing? William told me that she couldn’t make it to the party.”

“Oh, yeah…” Joy lied. “She had to work late.”

“Well, hopefully she’ll be able to attend our Christmas party this year, and you’re free to come as well, Joy. I’ll let you ladies be now.” Walter walked off, leaving Joy, Charlotte, and David by themselves.

“No thanks…” Joy muttered to herself. “I didn’t even want to be here anyway.”

“I figured,” Charlotte replied, adjusting her wig. “You’ve always been so open about your dislike of our parties.”

“Well, I mainly wanted to come because I thought my friends would enjoy it, and because I heard you were coming. I didn’t want you-know-who to try anything again.”

“Oh, Joy, I’m not going to let his presence ruin this night for me. I love Halloween, and this is the perfect night to show off my dress! My mother had it tailor-made for me.” Charlotte sighed, a tear falling from her eye. She wiped it off. “Blanche used to sew all my dresses, but she’s gone now…if only she could have lived for a bit longer, I would have loved for her to have sewn my wedding dress...”

“Are you getting married soon?”

“Oh, not at all! But, I’m twenty-four now. I should be looking for a man to marry, and I already have my eyes on someone. Joy, you remember Brandon, right? He used to go to St. Michaels, he was a rugby player, and was popular…I think we both had a crush on him and used to fight over who got to keep him…”

“Pretty sure that was half of the boys who went to St. Micheals,” Joy snarked.

“Well, he just graduated law school, and is attending this party, dressed as Sherlock Holmes. I was thinking of asking him to slow-dance with me. That would be okay with you, right?”

“Charlotte, I don’t even remember half of the guys I had a crush on, I don’t care.”

Charlotte squealed slightly, clasping her hands a bit. “Oh, thank you, Joy!”

“Just please don’t make a mistake, like I did…make sure you know someone before rushing into a marriage.”

“Oh, Joy, I’ve dated my fair share of bad eggs. I’ll know if he is right for me.”

Joy smiled. “Good luck, Charlotte. You might want to fix your make-up though. I think you smudged it a bit.”

Charlotte got out her make-up mirror to check. “Oh, dear me, you’re right! I’ll be right back!” Charlotte ran off, leaving Joy with just David.

“In the meantime, I believe that this would be a good opportunity to find a lady for myself,” David stated, feeling optimistic. “I see a lot of beautiful women at this party, I may have a chance with one.”

“Oh, I see…” Joy became upset, though tried her best to hide it. “Well, I hope you find someone nice.”

“I’m going to grab myself a whisky, do you want anything?”

“Maybe later…I’m not too bored just yet. Might just go to the corner and smoke a cigar.”

“Alright, I’ll join you in a bit,” David winked, before disappearing into the crowd, and Joy naturally went to a remote corner and lit up one of her cigars.

After smoking for a bit, she stared into the crowd, she saw that Charlotte was happily dancing with a young man dressed as Sherlock Holmes, most likely that Brandon guy she had eyes on, and she was happy to see her having a good time.

Joy looked in the other direction. However, to her confusion noticed a girl in the crowd who was acting suspicious. She had dark hair that was short and straight. She wore a black leotard with tights that revealed her thin hourglass figure. She also wore a black cat mask that concealed her eyes and nose. She moved within crowds as if she was trying to hide from something.

Joy tried to get a closer look, but she disappeared into the crowd before she could make out any more features. Joy continued smoking her cigar, and David approached her with a glass of whiskey at that moment, lighting up a cigar for himself.

“Bored yet?” he breathed out some smoke.

“Yeah…nothing new happened. Well, I did see a lady dressed as a cat who was acting strange. Like she was trying to sneak around. Potential burglar?”

“I would assume. No doubt Mr. Cromwell’s house would be a huge bullseye.”

“Should we warn him?”

“You go ahead, I’ll just stay here.”

Meanwhile, Walter approached his son, who was already drunk at this point, having downed a few glasses of champagne, much to the former’s chagrin.

“Another glass, please…” William slurred out, hiccuping.

“No, you’re not giving him another glass!” Walter snapped at the bartender, giving him that fatherly death glare that made the bartender immediately put up the bottle and glass. Walter then glared at his inebriated son, before grunting in annoyance. “Christ, William, it hasn’t even been an hour and you’re already drunk?”

William started crying. “Why does she like that Russky over me?! I’m rich, I have money, and yet she chooses the poor village boy?!”

“William, it’s time to get over her,” Walter firmly told him. “She’d make a terrible housewife anyway, and there are lots of women out there who are more deserving of you.” He sighed heavily, resting his hand on William’s shoulder. “Look, I know that you’re an adult, but it’s time for me to start acting like a parent because I don’t want the public to think that I’ve failed you. Go to your room and stay there until you’ve sobered up.”

“But, Father-”

“Now!” Walter pointed to the exit, and William whined a bit, but obliged by his father’s demands.

Walter groaned in dismay, finishing the rest of his bourbon, before turning around to Joy and witnessing her angry face.

“So, I’m just a ‘housewife’ to you, huh?” Joy sharply looked into his eyes, as the businessman grew nervous.

“Joy!” Walter had an uneasy tone. “You know I was simply trying to get him off your back.”

“You should be lucky because I was close to leaving your ass to get robbed. I just saw someone walking around acting suspicious, like they were hiding something.”

“Oh, a burglar, huh?!” Walter slammed his glass onto the bar counter. “What does he look like? Where is he?”

“She. Black hair. Black uniform. Is wearing a cat mask. I just saw her follow William.”

“And she wants to hurt my little boy! She can say ‘hello’ to my shotgun if she dares lay a finger on either of my children!”

“Alright, let’s not do anything drastic just yet. Let’s just see what she wants.”

“Don’t worry, son! I’m coming to save you!”

William drunkenly stumbled into the bathroom, switching on the sink before splashing his face with the cool water. He looked into the mirror, his eyes tired and bloodshot, and his light blond hair dripping with water.

“Perhaps Father is right, I do need to find another woman…” He noticed in the reflection a dark-haired woman wearing a cat mask, staring at him menacingly in the corner. “Now I’m so pissed that I’m even starting to see things in the mirror…”

“I’m a real person,” the woman spoke in a French accent as she touched William’s shoulder, and William freaked out and started screaming as he grabbed objects off the counter and started throwing them at her.

“Relax, I’m not going to hurt-”

William interrupted her as held a plunger and pointed it at her, as he was now seated in the bathtub. “Stand back!”

"Really?" She scoffed. "That's the best you can do?"

“Who are you?! And what do you want?!"

“Oh, you don’t recognize my voice? Probably because you’re too drunk. Allow this to jog your memory.”

She pulled off the cat mask, and even though it took a while through William’s drunken state, he was able to see her clearly now and recognize her.

“You’re…Colette?!”

She sighed heavily. “Sophie. My real name is Sophie.”

“Oh, God…” He started to panic. “You’re here to kill me, aren’t you?! Is that why you came here?!”

“Oh, relax, I’m not here to kill you this time. Actually, I need your help. So you can calm your derriere down and stop throwing things at me. Like…” She picked up one of the things off the floor, a small tube, and read off the label. “Hemorrhoid cream?”

William snatched it out of her hand. “Erm, that belongs to my father!” He set it on the counter. “What exactly do you need my help for?”

Sophie started crying, as William grew concerned. “It’s my sister, Marie…she’s…” Sophie sniffled, before trying to regain her posture. “She was found dead. Shot in the heart. I think the organization I worked for had gotten to her, the same one that ordered me to kill you. We were on their hit list because we had betrayed them. William, I need your help. Joy’s as well. You two are the only people I have to turn to. I want revenge on those bastards for killing my sister…” Sophie looked at him with teary eyes. “You’d be willing to help me, right?”

William had a sympathetic look on his face, but then remembered who Sophie was and firmly looked at her with a face like he was about to say no. “I’m sorry, but why should I trust you? You broke my heart…and not only that but you tried to kill me!”

“Oh, William, I only did it because that’s what they wanted…truth to be told, I think I may have actually…developed feelings for you. I still think of all the good times we had over the years we were together, like our tour through the Paris catacombs.”

“You mean the same tour where I got caught trying to steal one of the skulls?”

“Well, yes, but the rest of the tour was still fun, wasn’t it?” Sophie then gave him that puppy dog look, the same look she’d always give William every time she wanted something from him, and it would always work. “I promise you that things will be different this time if you could give me another chance. No more secrets, and we’ll have that seaside mansion in Normandy like you’ve always dreamed of.”

“That does seem nice, but…” William, as enchanted by her pretty face as he was, was still hesitant. “I still don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”

“William, my dear!” He heard his father call his name from the stairs, his heavy, middle-aged body thumping with each step.

“Don’t say a word, and let me do the speaking,” Sophie whispered, and Walter shortly afterwards came to the bathroom.

“Stop right there, thief!” However, Walter’s face was that of shock when he recognized the woman. “Wait, Colette?!”

“I know my arrival may seem like a surprise to you, Mr. Cromwell, but I’ve simply come here to apologize to your son. And now, everything is good and we are friends now.” She gave a sharp glare at William. “Right?”

“Erm, yes,” William responded apprehensively. “Indeed we are.”

“I see,” Walter was relieved and a bit happy. “William was so upset over you, and wouldn’t even tell me why you disappeared off the face of the Earth. I assume you two must have had quite the nasty split-up.”

“Yes, that’s what happened,” William laughed nervously.

“Well, it’s nice to see you again, Colette, and I’m glad you two are on good terms now.”

Another pair of feet was then heard running up the stairs, albeit with less heavier steps. Joy shortly afterwards arrived at the door and was shocked at who she saw as well. “Sophie?!”

“Merde…” Sophie grumbled to herself in annoyance.

“Sophie?” Walter was confused.

“That’s her real name,” Joy established.

“Alright, I’ll admit, I haven’t been very honest about myself,” Sophie continued. “For one, Joy is right. My real name is Sophie, not Colette.”

Walter laughed. “I’m not the most honest of people either. Well, I better get back to the party. It’s a pleasure to see you again, Sophie!” He winked, before finally leaving and heading downstairs.

Joy then looked at Sophie. “Alright, what the hell is going on? Why are you here?”

“Joy, I’m so glad you’ve arrived,” Sophie said. “Because I need both of your help. I want to take down the organization that killed my sister, not just to avenge her but to stop them in general. They have become too powerful and corrupt for their own good.”

“Well, I don’t know if William would necessarily be a great choice for helping you,” Joy said. “He’s not exactly the most efficient of soldiers…”

“Hey!” William shouted.

“…however, I do have an elite squad of soldiers who may be able to help you. We can start tomorrow.”

Sophie nodded. “Sounds good. Oh, thank you so much, Joy!”

“Ugh,” William held his head as he left the bathroom. “I have a headache. I think I’ll go to bed.” He angrily looked at Sophie. “Oh, and just know that I have a whole closet full of rifles. You’ve been warned.” He gave her a threatening look, before disappearing down the hallway.

“So, why did you ask for his help?” Joy asked. “I thought you despised him.”

“I heard that he’s a good sniper, no?”

“Yes, but he’s also lazy, childish, whiny, irresponsible, egotistical, a huge pervert, only cares about himself…”

“Which is why he needs a woman like me to discipline him.”

Sophie made her way out of the bathroom, speaking to Joy. “We’ll head to Paris tomorrow to start the mission. Hope you’ll be ready by then.”

Joy watched as Sophie made her way downstairs and started to become saddened, as she was actually the cause of Marie's death. However, she simply decided to stay silent, knowing that some secrets are best brought to the grave.

Chapter 3: Night Fishing

Chapter Text

After Joy’s conversation with Sophie, she finally decided that she was ready to leave and check into her hotel for the night. She had to track down each of the Cobras and order them to a hotel room, explaining to them that they have a mission tomorrow, and although they were disappointed that they had to leave the party early, they still obliged. Joy then went to look for David to explain to her that she was leaving.

When she found him, she saw that he was trying to talk with a girl near the punch bowl, only for the girl to ignore him and then walk away. Joy approached David as he had a saddened look on his face.

“No success?”

“No…” David sighed. “They seem really disinterested in my history knowledge.”

“You’re talking too much about what you like. You should try letting a girl talk about what she likes. Girls love to talk, and I would know as a girl myself.”

“I supposed I could try that…”

“Good luck. Something just came up, so I need to leave early.”

“Won’t be as fun without you…”

Joy hugged him. “You’ll be fine. Just try to socialize. Oh, and don’t forget to take my advice.” Joy winked before taking off into the crowd, and David sighed and tried to look around for people to talk too.

However, he was still very much shy, as he absolutely knew nobody here other than the Cromwell family. He figured he could talk to Charlotte, since she was the only member of the Cromwells that he could stand.

He searched the entire ballroom through every crowd, but couldn’t find her anywhere. He got slightly worried and decided to confront Charlotte’s father on her whereabouts. David saw him near the bar downing another glass of liquor and approached him, clearing his throat before promptly speaking to him.

“Mr. Cromwell,” David spoke to him.

Walter stared at him strangely. “Hello…whoever you are.”

“Don’t remember me? I played rugby with your son. I was on the other team.”

“Don’t recall.”

“I was also a waiter at that restaurant that you and your family liked to go to.”

“Still don’t recall.”

“I was also in the SAS with your son, until he got booted, of course…”

Walter glared at him. “You’re not another one of Charlotte’s boyfriends, are you?”

“What?!” David blushed a bit. “No, not at all!”

“Look, if you want to date my little girl, then that’s fine, just as long as you have a well-paying job and aren’t some waiter.”

“Well, I’ve considered a political career once I retire from my military service…that pays well, doesn’t it?”

“Ah, so you want to be a politician? I suppose that’s good enough.” He shook David’s hand. “Alright, you’re free to date my daughter. But don’t ever think about hurting her, or you’ll be kissing my shotgun!”

David gulped nervously. “I won’t, sir. Where is she right now?”

“She’s outside in our backyard crying about something. Not sure what.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ll go check on her.” David took off.

David searched around the Cromwells’ vast backyard, trying to find Charlotte. The place was certainly very massive. There was a huge garden that looked like it was easy to get lost in, complete with a pond and a gazebo.

David could hear the sound of crying as he walked down the cobblestone path. He then noticed Charlotte sitting on the edge of the fountain, tears rolling from her eyes causing her make-up to run. David was of course concerned about this, so he approached the woman and spoke up to her.

“Charlotte? What’s going on?” David asked her.

Charlotte sniffled and tried to wipe off her tears, although that ended up smudging her make-up some more. “David? What are you doing here?”

“I was worried about you so I came looking for you.” David sat on the edge next to her. “Tell me what’s wrong. You seem upset.”

David handed Charlotte his handkerchief, and after Charlotte wiped her tears and blew her nose with it, she spoke. “I was dancing with this boy…we were having a great time, and after a while I offered to get him a drink. But when I came back, I saw him dancing with another girl…” Charlotte started weeping again.

“Oh…I’m so sorry,” David looked sympathetic as he tried to offer her comforting words. “You’re better off without him anyway.”

“I really thought there was going to be something between us…”

“Well, Charlotte, I’d hate to sound callous but life isn’t a fairytale and you should never expect to live happily ever after with someone. You’re just going to end up disappointed. I mean, just think of how many boyfriends you had, and how many where you thought the love was going to last forever.”

“Well, yes,” Charlotte twirled a tuft of blonde hair that stuck out of her wig. “I did have a lot of boyfriends during secondary school…most of them were scared away by my father though…”

“How surprising,” David sarcastically quipped. “He thought you and I were dating and threatened me with a shotgun.”

“Good grief, he needs to calm down! I hope he didn’t frighten you too much.”

“Oh, it’s fine. I’m part of the SAS, I can take that old man in a fight.”

“He’s in his 50s, he’s not that old,” Charlotte stated, rolling her eyes, before giggling. “But I’m sure you could, tough guy. Hey, I know a secret location that makes a great fishing spot. Want me to show you?”

“I suppose I could use the hike.”

Charlotte pulled off her wig. “Better take this itchy wig off first, it’s been killing me all night!”

“Your hair compliments your dress more anyway,” David flattered her, as Charlotte blushed.

They hiked through a wooded area down a cobblestone path, which the trees of course a brilliant shade of orange. It was twilight, so it was slightly dark, but lanterns kept the path illuminated adequately. Eventually they reached a medium-sized pond with a dock and a wooden fishing boat, and a small shed next to it, presumably where they kept the fishing supplies. The pond shimmered in the moonlight, as leaves fell onto the surface.

“Wow, look at that sight!” David enthused.

“You should see it during the winter when it would freeze,” Charlotte mentioned. “My brother and I used to always go ice-skating on it; he even taught me to skate when I was three.”

“Sounds like you used to be close with him.”

“Right, then he started drinking…” Charlotte said in dismay. “We also get glow worms during the summer. We rarely have them in any other part of London, because of how much light pollution is in this city. That’s why I love this spot.”

“You should come to my house,” David said. “I live in a rural area, so we get a lot of them.”

“Anyway, the fishing supplies are in the shed. You grab them while I get the boat ready.”

David did as Charlotte commanded and came back to her with two fishing rods and some bait, while Charlotte was already sitting on one end.

“Jump in, country boy,” she flirtily teased him. “There’s plenty of room.”

David threw the rods and bait into the boat and then climbed into the opposite side. The boat rocked a bit which caused small waves to ripple. “I didn’t know you liked to fish.”

Charlotte applied bait to the hooks. “Why, because I seem like too much of a girly-girl to you?”

David grabbed the paddle and began rowing the boat. “Well, yes. No offense to you, of course.”

“Oh, it’s fine. I used to do a lot of fishing with my father and brother…I do have an athletic streak, believe it or not. I played a lot of sports during secondary school.”

“Such as what?”

“Polo, croquet, swimming, golf, tennis…”

As Charlotte listed off the sports, they had reached the middle of the pond. David handed her a rod and casted his own into the pond. Charlotte did the same shortly after.

“I’ve mostly done hunting and rugby,” David continued. “But I have done some horse racing as well.”

Charlotte’s eyes lit up like the stars in the sky. “You like horses?”

“Oh, I absolutely adore horses! It is my favorite animal! My favorite breed has to be the Clydesdale, such beautiful brown fur…”

“I had a horse when I was thirteen, it was a white one.” She chuckled. “I was so jealous of Joy’s horse that I begged my father for one, and he got me one on account that I’d start taking polo classes.”

“I would have expected him to straight-up give you one.”

“Oh, he has spoiled me a lot, but still expects me to succeed…”

“Sounds like your father was putting too much pressure on you.”

“He wanted me to be his perfect daughter…but no matter how much I succeeded, he still thinks I’m incapable of maintaining a business.” Charlotte grunted a bit in annoyance. “I’m still not getting any bites. Usually this pond has a lot of barbel in the fall.”

“Because you’re scaring them away with that motormouth of yours,” David snarked.

“Hey!” Charlotte griped at him.

“Kidding, I actually like hearing you talk. What was your horse’s name?”

“Her name was Marie Antoinette.”

“Of course,” David muttered. “You must be really obsessed with her.”

“Oh, she is certainly one of the most fabulous and beautiful queens…even if she was a bit of a spoiled brat. With the whole ‘let them eat cake’ quote.”

“Actually it’s speculated that she never said that, and the quote is instead from the book, Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, which was written 24 years prior to the French Revolution.”

“I never knew that…you must know a lot about history.”

“Damn it,” David cursed. “There I go blathering about trivia again. My apologies.”

“Oh, no, no, no!” Charlotte frantically dismissed. “I love listening to your history facts! They are interesting!”

“Really? Because Joy says that I talk too much about it, and that’s why I keep driving women away.”

“Well, I personally enjoy it. And besides, you’ve let me talk so much about myself, that I want to return the favor to you.”

David smiled, and Charlotte smiled back. That’s when Charlotte felt a tug on her rod.

“I feel a bite!”

“Reel it in, reel it in!” David urged her.

Charlotte quickly reeled in the line. Eventually, she pulled out a good-sized bronze-colored barbel. They looked at each other and smiled.

“That one’s definitely a keeper,” David complimented, before returning to his own rod, firmly gripping it.

The hotel that Joy wanted to stay at was an inexpensive one, yet still comfortable enough to last her through the night before leaving for her mission tomorrow. After all, she didn’t want to indulge in frivolous spending while on her trip.

Sorrow asked if it was okay to hang out in the hotel room with her for a while before going back to his own hotel, and Joy accepted, honestly wanting a bit of company herself. The two were resting on each of the beds, as Joy kicked off her boots.

“Finally, I can take this stupid costume off,” Joy grumbled. “At least I’ve managed to restrain myself from eating the candy.” Joy recalled the times as a kid she would go trick-or-treating, and eat so much candy she would get a stomachache. Her dad would always tease her for it.

“Well, even though I am not too familiar with Western holidays, I still had a lot of fun, so thanks for inviting me.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, but I just don’t think I’m much of a party person.”

“You didn’t have to attend if you didn’t want to".

“I know, but I only did it for you guys.”

“I’d be happy just spending time with you.”

Joy blushed upon hearing that. “My dad made better parties anyway. I wish you could have met him. I know you can technically meet him, but I meant alive and in the flesh.”

Thinking about her father again, she reached to grab her rosary, which she had kept in her tights for the night due to her costume not having any pockets. But when she reached into her tights, she felt nothing.

The rosary was gone. Her heart started to drop. She frantically felt around for it but it had just simply vanished. She started to freak out.

“No…no, no, no, no…sh*t! sh*t! Mikhail…we have to go back!”

“What’s wrong?”

“My rosary! I keep it on me at all times! I remember taking it out at the party…I must have set it down somewhere and forgot about it…” Tears started forming in Joy’s eyes. “Mikhail, we have to go back and look for it! It was the last thing my father gave to me! I can’t lose it…”

“Okay, just calm down and I’ll help you. We’ll go back and search for it. It’ll be okay.”

Even though Joy was panicking, she started to feel a little better with Mikhail reassuring her. She took a deep breath before speaking again. “Let’s go.”

Chapter 4: Haunted Garden

Chapter Text

Joy searched every corner of the party, at every place she stood at and every table she sat at, but she couldn’t find any sign of her rosary. She started to grow desperate and panic even more. Sorrow came back after searching for a while and saw Joy’s distressed face, which of course made him dismayed as well.

“No luck?”

Joy shook her head, tears in her eyes. “No…”

Sorrow handed her a handkerchief. “We’ll find it, don’t worry.”

Joy took it and wiped her face. “Thank you for being understanding. I know you’re not Catholic and it may seem like a ‘silly necklace’ to you, but it is something that is important to me.”

“Well, as an Orthodox Christian, I did have a Russian cross necklace that my mother gave to me before she died, so I know how it feels to have a religious symbol that is important to me.”

“You never told me you were a Christian, I always assumed you were-”

“Non-religious? I have strayed away from my beliefs and become more of a spiritualist, mainly after discovering my medium powers when I was fifteen, but I still keep my cross on me.” He showed Joy the Russian cross necklace that he hid under his sweater.

“It’s very beautiful.”

Sorrow tucked it back into his sweater. “We’ll find your rosary, don’t worry. Do you remember any other places you went to?”

“None that I can think of…David should still be at this party. Maybe we can ask him for help. Sorrow, have you seen him anywhere?”

“Not at all…”

“I haven’t seen him either…maybe he’s outside. Let’s go check.”

Sorrow and Joy went out to the backyard and scanned the area, but initially didn’t see any signs of David.

“Where did he go?” Joy wondered. “He couldn’t have just left early…” She then thought of an idea, and turned to Sorrow. “Mikhail, you can speak to the dead, correct?”

“Of course.”

“This house has been built since the 1800’s, so there has to be some dead family members wandering around. You think you can talk to them and see if they saw David run off anywhere?”

“I’ll do my best. Some spirits just aren’t friendly, and considering that these are the dead family members of some rich assholes…”

“That’s true but…there has to be a few of them willing to talk.”

“I’ll look around then.”

Sorrow began wandering around and trying his best to communicate with the dead spirits in the garden, and although he did look like a crazy person doing it to any normal person who didn’t have medium powers, at least Joy and Sorrow were the only ones in the garden.

Some of them refused to talk and acted dismissive and disdainful towards him, namely the family members and servants who died. The ones who weren’t rude to him hadn’t seen anyone passing by. They had mostly been gardeners who had died in workplace accidents, still tending to the house and garden even in the afterlife.

What a sad afterlife, Sorrow thought to himself, as he couldn’t imagine doing menial labor for the rest of eternity. He hoped that when his time comes, he could instead get to relax in a nice location. Maybe a river deep in the forest.

He came across one last spirit, who appeared in the form of an old woman in a maid outfit. She was tending to some bright yellow pansies in the garden, making sure they were adequately watered. When he spoke to her, she turned around and warmly smiled at him, then talked in a friendly tone.

“Oh, you must be another one of Charlotte’s friends, I presume?”

“Well…no. I’m just passing by…well, actually I’m looking for someone. He’s a bit tall, has blond hair, and is wearing a suit and a bowler hat.”

“Oh, that nice young man? I saw him with Charlotte just a while ago, they went down the wooded trail that leads to the pond…” she chuckled. “I suppose he and Charlotte are having a little date together. The girl has grown up so fast…”

“Thank you, Miss…whoever you are.”

“My name is Blanche. I was their maid for fifty years. Even to this day, I do my best to keep the house neat and tidy.”

“Well, it looks like you’re doing a great job, so keep up the good work, and thank you for the information.”

Sorrow ran back to Joy, who had a hopeful look on her face. “Did you find anything?”

“Yes, he and Charlotte went over to the pond.”

“Let’s go.”

They ran off into the woods and down the trail as fast as they could. At least Joy was running very fast, meanwhile Sorrow was struggling to catch up with her and was getting out of breath. Joy eventually saw a clearing which led her right to the pond, and Sorrow followed shortly after, wheezing as he tried to catch his breath. Joy scanned over the pond and her jaw dropped as soon as she saw David and Charlotte.

They were seated in a boat in the middle of the pond, side-by-side. Joy gasped loudly, which grabbed the attention of the two. David and Charlotte were shocked and embarrassed to see Joy, who had a look of disbelief on her face. David could only sputter out a few words.

“Joy, it’s um…not what it looks like!”

Of course, that did nothing to quell the hurt that Joy felt, and she ran off into the woods with tears in her eyes as Charlotte and David both desperately tried to call out her name, but to no avail. As soon as she reached the garden again, she saw on a bench and cried her eyes out. Sorrow arrived shortly after, of course sweating heavily and still wheezing as he was out of breath. He saw the tears in Joy’s eye as she tried to wipe them off with her sleeve, and become concerned.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“No, I’m not okay!” Joy snapped. “I just saw the man I've been in love with for years with my former enemy! Charlotte’s always been stealing every boy that I’ve liked ever since we’ve been in school! Guess things aren’t any different now!”

Sorrow sat down with her on the bench. “Has this David ever showed any feelings toward you?”

“No…he told me that he just sees me as a friend and I’ve tried to respect that, but…”

“If you are jealous towards every girl that David is with, then maybe that makes you no better than Charlotte when she was like that.”

Joy suddenly had a sense of clarity as Sorrow’s words struck her. Maybe it was time to move on. “You’re right…”

“Joy!”

Joy heard David’s voice call out to her as he and Charlotte also emerged from the woods, both with worried expressions.

“Joy, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you upset…” David told her. “Charlotte and I were just talking, nothing went beyond that.”

“But we won't do it anymore if it upsets you,” Charlotte added.

Joy thought for a bit, and after a minute of pondering, she stood up and looked at the two. “I didn't mean to be intrusive…sorry for ruining the night.”

“You didn’t ruin anything,” Charlotte assured.

“I’m not going to hold it against you…I just want to find my rosary. I lost it somewhere around here.”

“The rosary? Oh, you mean that one…” Charlotte remembered the rosary she once stole from Joy to get her in trouble. She always felt guilty for it, even though she had already apologized to Joy for that. “If it comes up, I’ll let you know.”

“Thank you…I guess I’ll go back to the hotel. Let’s go, Mikhail.”

David and Charlotte watched as the two went off, and Charlotte sighed wearily, feeling guilt over possibly upsetting Joy.

“David, this night has been fun and I would love to do more of this together, but let's simply remain as friends and nothing else.”

David nodded. "I was never pursuing a relationship with you anyway. I don't even think we are compatible with each other."

Charlotte hugged David. "Thanks for the wonderful night, at least. I hope that we'll still see each other again."

“I have to go back to military service soon, but I hope so too." David looked at his watch, and saw that it was pretty late. “Suppose I better get to the train before it takes off. I had a great time, Charlotte, so thank you.”

They parted ways, and Charlotte watched him disappear into the woods.

The last night of October drifted away and November soon arrived, bringing crisper fall winds. Joy had her gear packed up, and she was ready to meet the rest of the Cobras at the hangar so they could board the plane to Paris. First she had to meet with Sophie at the Cromwell residence so that she could escort her to the hangar. Sophie didn’t really know her way around London that much, as she had always relied on William to drive her around. Joy couldn’t blame her, as London was a massive city. Joy would probably also need Sophie to guild her around Paris anyway.

The bus pulled up to the mansion and Joy exited, bag in hand. She had hoped Sophie was already outside and ready so that she didn’t have to go in, but seeing that she wasn’t in the front yard, Joy had no other choice. With a deep breath, she knocked on the ornate front door. One of the servants answered and after Joy stated her purpose, she was invited in.

The first thing she had noticed was a smell emanating from the kitchen, of freshly baked bread and cooked meat. It made Joy slightly hungry, so she followed the scented trail to where Sophie was cooking breakfast. She was only wearing a black, lacy top as well as black laced panties, which showed off her figure. Joy rolled her eyes.

“Lemmie guess, this is all for ‘the man’?”

Sophie slid the pan slightly across the burner, as the bacon was popping. “You know that he still doesn’t trust me, so I’m going to use my looks and my skills as a chef to make him trust me.”

“Can’t argue with that…if there’s anything that can win over William, it’s half-naked women and food.” Joy then heard the sound of footsteps coming from the stairs in the living room, and right then, she knew who it was. She talked in a lower voice. “Speak of the devil, sounds like he’s already woken up. I’m going to hide so I don’t have to deal with him. Just get this over with already so we can go.”

Joy then quickly hid in a closet in the kitchen, where cleaning supplies were kept, and that’s when William entered the kitchen in his pajamas, groaning and rubbing his head.

“Ugh…” William then noticed Sophie setting a plate of food down on the table. He looked at her with rage, still distrusting of her. “You again! What are you still doing here?!”

“Making you breakfast,” Sophie stated.

“Oh, you think you can win me over by dressing up in lingerie and cooking for me? It may have worked when you tore one of my Detective Comics, but it won’t work this time!” William then looked down at the contents of the plate and saw the piping hot food, consisting of sunny-side up eggs, crispy bacon, baked beans, toasted bread, and grilled mushrooms and tomatoes. “Is that Full English?”

“Of course,” Sophie said seductively, trying her best to play up her sexiness. “Can’t go to war on an empty stomach, after all~”

William sat down at the table and Sophie tied a napkin around his neck.

“Eat up, you’re definitely going to need all that energy~”

William had already shoveled some food into his mouth and talked back to Sophie with his mouth full, as Sophie poured him a cup of tea. “Alright, maybe I’ll give you another chance, but only because you didn’t try to kill me last night. And because you’re a good cook.”

“There’s also some croissants I’ve baked for when you get hungry later. Let me get them out before they burn.”

Naturally, Joy was in the closet fighting the urge to vomit from this interaction. She grumbled to herself. Come on, Sophie, hurry the hell up.

Sophie took out the tray of croissants and set it onto the top of the stove. “Oh, and by the way, your commanding officer called earlier. Major…Armfield, I believe? He wants you to meet him at his office on Downing Street.”

William briefly lowered his fork. “What does he want with me?”

“I don’t know, but I’m sure you’ll find out.”

William patted his mouth with the napkin. “Well, it better be good! Um, thank you for the breakfast, I suppose.”

“Anything for my sexy, strong soldier, of course~” Sophie flirted as she winked. She then noticed Joy peering out the closet, with a face as if she was demanding Sophie to get a move on. “I have to get going, for I have important work I must attend to. Enjoy the rest of your food, and have the bed ready for me when I get back~”

William chuckled as he lifted his tea for a sip, already imagining what kind of naughty things Sophie planned for him. “You know I will, darling.”

Sophie gestured Joy out the closet and they silently made their exit, not speaking to each other until they were far enough from his earshot.

“That barely took any effort,” Sophie chuckled.

“Whatever, just get dressed in something other than your underwear, and let’s just go already,” Joy grumbled.

Chapter 5: Saboteurs

Chapter Text

“Still haven't found your rosary yet?”

Sorrow noticed Joy’s dejected face, as they and the rest of their team were inside of the plane in midair, on their way to Paris.

“No…” Joy sighed languidly, her hand resting on her cheek as she leaned to the side. “I didn’t have time to check around before leaving for this mission. It’s probably gone forever…”

“Well, I did have some time to do a little shopping before leaving; I bought this new sweater.” He showed off to Joy the sweater he was wearing, a simple blue and white one with a wintery design.

“Looks very warm,” Joy commented.

“And I also bought you something as well.”

“You really didn’t have to…”

“Oh, no! I really wanted to get you something.” Sorrow took out a small box from his knapsack and held it out to Joy, and Joy carefully took it. “Go ahead.”

Joy looked at the box and after a bit of hesitation, she carefully opened the wrapper. Then after that, the lid of the box. Looking into the box upon opening it, she saw what was inside. An ebony rosary, slightly different from the other one which was made from brass and metal, but still beautiful. She looked up at Sorrow who anticipated her reaction.

“I know it won’t ever be a replacement for your other rosary, but I just thought you needed something to help you through the mission…oof!”

Sorrow huffed as Joy gave him a big bear hug. Her voice was audibly tearing up in a grateful tone.

“It’s beautiful, Mikhail. I love it.”

“Hey, Boss! I see the Eiffel Tower!”

Joy heard Fear call out to her, and when Joy looked out the window, she did indeed see the tower. It seems that they have arrived at their destination and were soon about to land.

“And there’s the Seine River!” Sorrow excitedly pointed out.

Him and his rivers, Joy thought, but still, she will be forever grateful of his gift to her, and promised herself to take care of it.

The plane landed in a hangar just outside the outskirts of the city, and Joy and Sorrow were the first to exit.

“You know, they call Paris the ‘city of romance’ for a reason,” Joy flirted with Sorrow. She figured she might as well give him a chance, since David was officially out of the picture when it came to dating. “Maybe if we have some time after the mission, we could do a little sightseeing.”

Of course Sorrow reacted as normal for a guy with a crush, blushing and his glasses almost steaming up. “Um, of course, I’d love that! So you’re not still interested in David?”

“Nah, I’m over him now.” Joy got a bit closer to him. “Besides, I do love men with glasses~”

Sorrow squeaked a bit, and Fury’s disgusted voice was heard as soon as he exited the plane.

“Bleh, can you guys save it for the hotel room?!” Fury chided them as he stepped down. “If you two are going to be dating after this, can you at least take us somewhere to eat?”

“Yes, please do, Boss!” Fear exited after Fury. “Paris is home to lots of delicious food! Croissants, french onion soup, steak tartare, crepes…”

“Hey, Sorrow, I dare you to eat a snail!” Fury teased Sorrow, as Pain was next to him giggling.

“Remember that we aren’t here to sightsee,” Sophie began as she was the next to leave the plane. “We are here for an important mission, and I trust Joy’s word that you are good enough to help me in this endeavor.”

“Who’s the dish you brought along?” Fury asked, gazing pervertedly at Sophie. “If there’s anything I’d love to eat in Paris, it’s her.” Fury yelled out in pain as Joy grabbed him by the ear and dragged him away.

“Alright, we’ll discuss the mission right after I give this little man a lecture on how to treat women!” Joy angrily said.

Sophie led the group into the city, to a more remote location. The place that they settled in was a small hideout for Roma people back in the 15th century, though it has long been abandoned. Fear used this opportunity to bring up his Roma heritage, to the surprise of Joy.

“I thought you were Brazilian,” Joy mentioned.

“On my father’s side, but my mother is Roma,” Fear informed. “From Eastern Europe, until she migrated to South America, where she met my father. Good thing she did…since the Nazis are targeting them as well.”

“So anything we need to know about this group?” Pain asked Sophie.

“The group is called Fondation La Belle Dormant, or ‘Sleeping Beauty Foundation’,” Sophie began.

“Doesn’t roll off the tongue as well in French,” Joy remarked.

“Yes, I do admit it sounds much better in English,” replied Sophie.

“Where did the name come from?”

“It was built in the late 1800’s, and used to be a scientific research facility focusing on cryogenics, hence the name ‘Sleeping Beauty’. But after World War I left France’s economy in ruins, they expanded their horizons in order to help build a better military. They created an intelligence branch, which my sister and I were a part of, a weaponry branch, and even continued their cryogenics research with their latest project, which they refer to as Le Projet Glacier, or ‘The Glacier Project’.”

“...which involves?”

“Cryogenically freezing fatally wounded soldiers on the brink of death, with the intent of reviving them through life-supporting technology.”

“That’s impossible. You can’t just keep a dying person in stasis and expect them to survive like that.”

“The future could hold a lot.”

“So what’s the issue with them?” Fear asked.

“They’ve become more nationalistic over the years. And with how much their research has developed, I fear they might create superweapondry on the same level as Nazi Germany which is certainly something that we don’t need in an already divided Europe. They want me dead because I know too much, and they’re afraid I may reveal their secrets to a superpower like Russia or the United States. That is why I need all of you to help take them down. While we’re at it, we should also steal any documents we can, since this research may be useful in helping the Allies win the war.”

“Sounds good,” Joy accepted.

Sophie took out a map and spread it onto a table. “Here’s the layout of the facility. I’ll give you some time to memorize it before we head out.”

“As for our positions?”

“I’ve decided to let you sneak into the labs and steal the documents. I’ll stay behind-the-scenes and be your mission control.”

“Right, because they already know who you are and you can’t risk them seeing you. It’s definitely for the best.”

Sophie smirked, before heading into the other room to smoke a cigarette. “I’m counting on you, Joy. Remember that every decision you make could mean failure or success.”

After some more planning, the group was ready to head out to the facility. Sophie brought the group to an alleyway that had an old car and a motorcycle. She handed Sorrow a map of the city with the directions drawn with red ink.

“The directions to the facility. Don’t get lost.”

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to drive the motorcycle,” Fury pointed to it, then smirked at Sophie. “With you sitting in the back.” He then yelled as Joy smacked him.

“Do we need another lecture?” Joy scolded him.

“I’m driving the motorcycle and Joy is sitting in the back,” Sophie sternly said. “You five are using the car.”

Fury grumbled, rubbing his stinging cheek, then Sophie turned to Joy.

“You’re not afraid of riding on a motorcycle, are you?”

“No?” Joy responded in a perplexed tone. “I’ve done much more dangerous things.”

“Just checking. Because I took William for a ride once and he had a panic attack the whole way through.” Sophie climbed onto the seat. “Hop on.”

Joy climbed onto the seat right behind Sophie and grabbed onto her tightly as the latter revved up the engine and then took off. Eventually they had reached another remote area which is said to have the entrance to the facility hidden somewhere.

As the motorcycle came to a halt, its sputtering slowly dying down, Joy and Sophie slipped off the slide and proceeded to survey the area. The alley was dirty and run-down with only rats populating the area. It really did seem like this area of Paris was deserted; a perfect place for a clandestine facility. Fortunately, Sophie already knew where the entrance was. She placed her hand on a tile on one of the buildings and it slid inward. An opening to the building slowly revealed itself. Sophie then handed Joy an outfit, complete with a fake nametag and a labcoat.

“A uniform to blend yourself in.”

Joy put on the disguise and made her way through the opening.

As she walked through the dark and dilapidated hallway, that was eerily silent other than the sound of her footsteps and the shrieking and scurrying of rats.

Finally, she reached another door that was guarded by men in heavily-armored military outfits. After flashing her fake ID to them, they separated to let her through. Joy then proceeded through the doorway, which then revealed a huge laboratory with a network of hallways that branched out in various directions, almost like a maze.

Workers in uniform busily flowed through the corridors like blood cells in a vein. The place felt clinical, with its unnaturally brightly-lit lights and metallic-white color scheme. It felt even more emotionless than Walter Cromwell’s corporation. Joy took out her radio, speaking into it in a hushed tone when no workers were within earshot of her.

“I’m inside.”

“Excellent,” Sophie replied. “Now head to the next floor up. There should be a lot of important documents there.”

Joy followed Sophie’s directions, carefully threaded through the sterile hallway, careful as to not look suspicious amongst the rest of the workers. Although she did get some prying glances from some of them, likely curious as to who the “new girl” was. Joy eventually reached the stairs that would lead her to the second floor and continued from that point onward.

Meanwhile, the Cobras had just arrived at the area of operation, and stood around outside wondering what to do. They are already informed by Sophie that they had started the mission, but they weren’t necessarily thrilled about them starting without them. It’s almost as if Sophie was purposely trying to omit them from the operation.

“I’m starting to think that Sophie didn’t actually want us here,” Fury pointed out.

Fury honestly couldn’t blame her, as the guilt from his destructive tendencies had started to weigh in on him heavily. He wanted to help Joy, to prove that he was capable and not detrimental, but it seemed like Joy benefited more from doing a solo mission.

“Who knew that making unwelcome advances on a woman would make them hate you?” End responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Fury got pissed. “Hey, I grew up with five brothers! I don’t know how to properly talk to women!” He sighed. “I don’t know how I could help, all I do is destroy…” He then thought of an idea. “Wait...if the whole point of this mission is to sabotage, then how about I destroy their experiment? Surely, that’d be devastating to them, right?”

The Cobras thought for a second, before concluding that it would be a good plan, since if their experiment is destroyed, then that would cost them a lot and set them back. They all nodded.

“I don’t see why not,” Fear agreed. “Fury, how about you do the infiltration, and we’ll keep in touch with you over the radio?”

The rest of the Cobras agreed, and Fury smirked.

“It’d be a pleasure.”

“How are you going to sneak in though?” Sorrow asked him. “You don’t even have a disguise.”

Fury realized that Sorrow was right. He needed a disguise to get in. He thought for a second, before noticing a cardboard box next to a dumpster. He then had the perfect idea.

Fury approached the two guards defending the entrance, wearing the cardboard box over his head. As they looked at him in confusion, he suddenly leaped out from the box and attacked them, knocking them both out.

Fury then snuck through the facility, continuing to conceal himself with the box. He got a call from one of his teammates over the radio and answered.

“Fury, I really don’t think this is going to work,” Fear pointed out, a hint of bewilderment in his voice.

“Oh, come on!” Fury argued back. “Nobody has caught me so far!”

“Intrus!”

Fury heard someone shout, and saw that a guard had stood right next to him. Fury quickly slugged him in the face, knocking him out, before speaking back into the radio.

“See, I have it all under control.”

He briefly heard Fear groan, before putting the radio away, then proceeding to his destination.

As soon as Fury entered the room and threw off the cardboard box, he took one good look at his surroundings. Fury was flabbergasted by what he saw, as it looked straight from a science fiction novel. A humongous room, filled with numerous glass tanks that contained the people selected for the Project Glacier experiment.

These were mostly combat veterans and high ranking officers of Axis and Ally nations alike, with some even missing a limb or two or had a very advanced age. They were naked and immersed in a weird blue liquid substance, with their eyes closed like they were sleeping.

Fury remembered what Joy told him about the Project. They wanted to keep the best soldiers in a stasis condition in an effort to revive them once the technology was in a state to allow them to essentially resuscitate them, and maybe even improve them into supersoldiers. The Fury was going to plant the explosives while Joy and Sophie were sneaking in the facility to look for intel and documents.

The Russian checked the TNT charges in his backpack, and imprecated in his native tongue since they weren't enough to destroy the entire room. However, he noticed that all the tanks were connected to something by some pipes.

The Fury followed one of the pipes, which led to another huge metallic tank with "Ne pas pa fumer" written on it alongside a small fire warning stamped on it. There he placed a charge and set the timer. The Fury looked around and saw three other tanks, so he thought to place a charge on everyone of them for the maximum devastation.

He walked through the tanks, which despite the toughness of the Russian, still gave him the creeps, to reach the remaining tanks. As soon as he set up the charge on the third tank, two guards came into the room.

The Fury quickly dived on the ground and started crawling towards the final tank. Meanwhile the guards were laughing loudly and talking. The Fury's knowledge of French wasn't brilliant but from the guards' tone, he believed that they were mocking the Project's subjects and saying racist epithets, especially Germanophobic to some of them.

The Fury was more worried about setting the last charge without being seen, as the two would have died in the explosion that was closer with each minute. He was starting to sweat from the tension of both being spotted and caught in the explosion. He continued to crawl, as fast as he could, with the tank being closer.

The Fury did a sigh of relief in his mind as soon he reached the tank, while setting the charge carefully and slowly to make sure the timer's click wouldn't have been too loud. He then crawled toward the door, before standing up, getting out of the room and running away from the room that was about to explode.

The Fury sprinted towards the exit and eventually out where he came from, and that’s when the explosion had happened. The entire build had shook from the blast, causing the Cobras to nearly lose their balance.

“Let’s get out of here before they come after us!” Fury urged the others, and they all packed themselves into the car.

The Pain, who was the driver, slammed his foot onto the gas pedal and the car took off, swerving and skidding through corners.

They had eventually returned to the safe haven, where they then awaited Sophie and Joy’s return. As they waited, they played poker with some playing cards that Fury always kept with him. Fury smoked a cigarette as they played, leaning back in his chair and laughing to himself.

“We showed those scientists! Just imagine the look on Sophie’s face when she sees how good we are!”

And right after he said that, Sophie came storming in, a look of anger on her face.

“What have you done?!” Sophie shouted at them, her fists clenched in a fit of rage.

Fury’s expression of happiness fell as soon as he saw the expression on Sophie, and the rest of the Cobras had followed.

“Not only did you alert the entire building, but you killed all of those soldiers! Some of our Allies were among them! I knew I made a mistake letting you tag along!”

“Well, why did you bring us along if you never even wanted our help?!”

Sophie derisively scoffed. “I only wanted the extra manpower in case we ended up in a shoot-out. You all are simply cannon-fodder to me.”

The whole group looked pretty offended that Sophie said that. Fury wiped a tear from his eye.

“Well, that’s hurtful…”

Joy then was the next to storm into the building. There was a sharp look on her face, except instead of at the Cobras this time, the gaze was now on Sophie.

“What do you think you’re doing, mistreating my men like this?”

The rest of the group was surprised, while Sophie stammered.

“Um…well, I…”

Joy then glanced at the Cobras who had nervous looks on their faces, then looked back at Sophie. “This was a sabotage operation, so technically everyone here didn’t disobey orders. The whole entire point of this mission was to ruin the federation’s plans, so they followed through.”

“But, Joy, they caused the deaths of those Ally soldiers who were in the vats!”

“They were on life support and on the verge of death, and were going to be used for nefarious purposes. It would have been cruel to keep them alive.”

Sophie’s anger started to dissipate, and she was left more saddened as she left the room. Joy then turned to her group, and then smiled a bit.

“You did great today; keep up the good work.”

Chapter 6: Island Escape

Chapter Text

Joy and the Cobras stayed overnight at a hotel, one that wasn’t particularly fancy or exciting, but still comfortable enough for them to rest up for the night before heading back to Australia tomorrow.

Joy and Sorrow shared a room, and although they found themselves too exhausted to have their date like they wanted, they did embrace each other all night, falling asleep in each other’s arms.

Being next to Sorrow certainly didn’t help quell Joy’s chronic nightmares, though. Joy woke up finding herself, on top of the Eiffel Tower, as dark storm clouds swirled over her and a wind chilled her. She heard Adrian's voice speak to her.

“Enjoying the trip so far, Joy?”

Joy turned around to see Adrian’s imposing, tall figure emerge from the shadows, as her face was that of fear.

“That’s what you wanted, after all. For our honeymoon to be in Paris; for us to have dinner on top of the Eiffel Tower, but that never happened, because you killed me, you murderer…”

Joy gasped as she felt her neck be grabbed by Adrian’s strong grip, almost choking her. She got a good look at his face, and saw that it was the same appearance it had when he died; a pale purple with foam dripping from his mouth like a rabid animal.

“Let me go, Adrian!” She gasped, and suddenly she felt herself be dragged off the edge of the Eiffel Tower, where the railings had suddenly crumbled and vanished.

Her whole body dropped as she felt herself plummet to the ground below.

Joy gasped as she found herself on the floor next to the bed, tangled up in the thin bed sheets. Another nightmare, apparently. Even though always had these “falling dreams” when she was a child, although this one particularly shook her as it involved Adrian.

Joy looked up to see that Sorrow was still asleep, unaffected by the noise that Joy’s fall had made. Joy quietly regained her composure and snuck to the bathroom to splash some water into her face and hopefully clear her mind.

It was just a nightmare, she thought. She did eat a lot of rich food last night at that restaurant she took the Cobras to. She tried to assure herself that it was only just a dream and that Adrian was dead, unable to hurt her anymore.

Sorrow must have woken up by the bathroom light turning on and the sound of Joy running the faucet, because he heard him call out her name in his gentle Russian accent, his voice echoing through the bathroom. He was only in boxer shorts, showing his pale and thin physique. He gave her a hug.

“Are you okay?” He asked in a concerned tone, noticing her scared look.

“I’m fine…” Joy assured him, despite it being far from the truth.

Sorrow kissed her hair, which had made Joy blush and her heart to flutter a bit. “How about we go back to bed? If you can’t sleep, I’ll make you some tea or some warm milk. How does that sound?”

“It sounds great. Can you make both?”

“You’re gonna knock yourself out cold that way.”

“If that means no more nightmares at least…”

“Huh?”

“Nothing…I just had another bad dream. I’d rather not talk about it.”

Sorrow chuckled. “I mean, you did have that chocolate mousse for dessert. Don’t worry, you’ll feel better after the tea.”

Sorrow led her back to the bed and then went outside to warm up some tea and rationed milk using the primus stove. After Joy drank her tea and then her milk, her eyes felt droopy. Sorrow comforted Joy as she drifted off into sleep.

There were fortunately no nightmares for the remainder of the night, and when Joy woke up, it was finally morning. The sunlight was leaking through the windows. Joy noticed that Sorrow wasn’t in bed and decided to check outside. She looked out the window and saw him outside, smoking a cigarette. She smiled upon seeing him, and went to get dressed and pack up her belongings.

The group boarded the plane and flew out of Paris. After landing in London and dropping Sophie off at the mansion, it was now just Joy and the Cobras. After boarding their own flight back to Australia, Joy spoke to the rest of the group.

“Gentlemen, it’s been a thrill working with you so far, and I believe that it’s time to take this black-ops group to the next level. How about our own headquarters? Then we’ll have a place to stay while we plan our missions.”

The Cobras all liked the idea, as that meant that they would officially be an independent military group.

“Sophie offered to help me purchase some land in France, and we’ll build our headquarters there. We’ll have an entire place to ourselves, and we’ll continue fighting the Nazis.”

“Good enough for me, I’d love to continue kicking Nazi ass!” said Fury in a hostile, yet excited tone.

The group eventually returned to their military base in Australia, prepared to rest up after what was yet another exhausting mission. Joy decided to go straight to her room, passing by soldiers as she saluted her. She saluted them back, and eventually found her room where she passed out onto the bed, hoping for a peaceful night.

However, after a few hours had passed and nightfall had arrived, Joy’s sleep was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps that echoed through the barracks. With great reflex, Joy grabbed her pistol by her bedside and aimed it straight at the shadowy figure that had entered her room. The figure raised its hands up.

“Lower your weapon,” it said in a deep voice. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

“Who are you?” Joy asked in a stern tone. “And what do you want?”

“I’m sure you’d recognize me as we’ve met before,” The figure stepped into the moonlight, and Joy was shocked to recognize him as one of the Philosophers.

Although Joy never spoke to him, she did recognize him as one of the members. He was a friend of her father, and was always called “Mr. S”. Joy never knew his actual name.

“I know it’s been a while since you have done work for the Philosophers, but we really need you back at the base right now. It’s important.”

Joy crossed her arms, angry that she had finally gotten away from these people yet they are still pursuing her. “Why? So Mr. Lawson can put his hand on my leg and call me his ‘most beautiful spy’?”

“Mr. L is dead. I’ve taken his place.”

“Dead?” Joy was surprised, although not sad about his death one bit for obvious reasons. “How the hell did he die?”

“We assume that one of Bernardo Rizzo’s followers had killed him, but that’s not important. What’s important is that you have information that the Philosophers want, but we’ll need you back at the headquarters so that we’re not discussing it out in the open.”

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about. Now screw off already.”

“Is this how you’re going to treat us? After all we’ve done for you? The training and everything else? If it weren’t for us, you wouldn’t be where you are today.”

“I had my childhood stolen from me and had to watch most of my friends die; I don’t need you acting like you ‘helped’ me.”

“So, it’s going to be like this, huh?” Mr. S developed a darkened expression. “It’s a good thing I brought someone along to help in case you decide to be difficult.”

Joy then felt another person from behind grab her, and she struggled as they put a rag over her mouth. Joy could smell the chemical from the rag and she knew what it was.

Chloroform.

She could hear Mr. S’s voice fading out as her vision started to blur.

“It didn’t have to be like this, but you’ve left me no choice.”

Then everything blacked out.

Joy had eventually regained consciousness, and in her drowsy and dizzied state, had noticed that she was in an empty and dimly-lit room. She scanned the room and tried to remember what had happened before she blacked out. That’s when the memories started to resurge.

Mr. S. The chloroform.

She tried to stand up but something restrained her. She saw that she was tied to the chair, with thick ropes binding her wrists and ankles. Then she heard the sound of footsteps tapping against the floor. She could see the shadowy figure of a man enter the room, and when he spoke, she recognized the voice of Mr. S.

"Good, you’re awake now. I assumed that you’ve had a comfortable nap?" Mr. S walked closer to her, and that’s when Joy promptly spat into Mr. S’s face. Mr. S wiped the spit off in disgust, before wiping his hand on one of the legs of his pants. “A little uncooperative, aren’t we?”

“What do you want with me?” Joy growled.

“What do I want with you? Well, let’s just say that you have information with you that the Philosophers will find…useful.”

“I don’t know anything of importance. Now let me go!”

Mr. S chuckled. "Oh, you are playing dumb. We know about that little expedition that you made with that French spy…about the research facility and the cryogenics they use…”

Joy’s eyes widened in disbelief. “How do you know?”

“We’ve been watching your every move since the beginning of the war. We know everything, even who the true murderer of Adrian LaCroix was. It wasn’t that serial killer, was it?”

Mr. S smirked at Joy, as Joy’s face turned a ghostly pale. How the hell were they able to do that? But it didn’t matter what their methods were, what mattered was that Joy’s privacy was now completely gone, and that they knew of her crime.

“But Adrian was disloyal anyway, so we won’t hold his death against you. If you tell us everything you know about the technology. Then we’ll let you go, and this will be our secret.”

Joy was fearing for her reputation, so she definitely had no other choice. “Alright, I’ll tell you…but there’s another condition…”

“Alright,” Mr. S sighed and accepted. “But only one more.”

“Just before Adrian died, he told me that my father’s death wasn’t an accident. Do any of you know anything about the details surrounding his death?”

Mr. S grimaced a little, before speaking again. “Fine, we’ll tell you. But after you tell us about the information we want.”

“Fine. There are some files in my knapsack back at the base. It should have all the information you need. Now untie me, and tell me about my father already!”

Mr. S sighed in obligement, before speaking to his helper. “Alright, untie her.”

The helper untied her from the ropes, and Joy stood up, rubbing her wrists. Mr. S then cleared his throat before speaking.

“LaCroix was right. Your father’s death was no accident.”

Mr. S breathed slightly as the room was silent, before speaking to Joy again.

“The ‘accident’ that your father was killed in was of our doing. We had planned the death of your father.”

Joy was completely stunned. She took a step back, trying to comprehend what Mr. S had just told her. She couldn’t believe her ears; that her father’s death had been planned and carried out by the very people who her father trusted. The very people who had trained her.

Her eyes started to tear up as she looked directly at Mr. S. "Why?" she asked, her voice filled with a mix of grief, anger, and confusion. “Why would you do this?!”

Mr. S of course showed no remorse, his face of coldness as he looked straight into Joy’s eyes. “Take a guess; if your father had kept his mouth shut or if you had kept your nose out of his business, then he would still be alive!”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Your father had disagreements with what the Philosophers were becoming and what our goals were. We were concerned that he was going to betray us, reveal our existence to an outsider, and he proved us right when he revealed it to you. Of course, we had no other choice but to eliminate him, as he was clearly a threat to the organization.”

Joy was silent, allowing Mr. S to speak again.

“Afterwards, we had plans to eliminate you as soon as you turned 18, but then we saw your academic records as well as your athletic skills. We didn’t want to let a potential future pawn go to waste; we saw potential in you. So we made a decision to recruit you as a spy, assuming that you’ll be loyal enough to keep our existence under wraps; and it worked out well for us. Now we have our hands on advanced technology, and we couldn’t thank you enough.”

“f*ck you!” Joy tried to attack him, but Mr. S was able to throw a punch at her, knocking her to the ground and causing her nose to bleed.

“I’m not going to hold back just because you are a woman, and I’ve been training longer than you have.” Mr. S and his helper then ran out of the room.

Joy eventually regained her awareness and attempted to leave the room, but the door was locked. She could hear Mr. S’s voice from behind.

“We really didn’t want to do this, Joy, but now with the secret out and with you no longer of use for us, we have no other choice but to dispose of you. The island is set to be obliterated by airstrikes in an hour, and by that time, all of us will be safely off the island and on our way to our new location. Except for you, of course. We’ll just find another spy to take your place. After all, there’s a million of them out there. You’re nothing special.”

And with that, Mr. S’s footsteps were heard before they slowly faded into the distance. Joy was now alone, with nothing to do than to wait for her eventual demise.

Joy waited as the countdown continued ticking, frequently checking her watch before she was going to perish. She tried looking through every corner of the room for some way to escape, but nothing came up. She was going to die, and all she could do was wait.

That is, until she felt a thud onto a door.

BOOM!

A grenade explosion happened. It was destroyed as Joy tried to shield herself from the debris. She looked as the dust started to clear up before noticing the figure in the door.

It was Sophie, to Joy’s relief. Sophie motioned Joy to follow her.

“Let’s go!”

Joy didn’t hesitate to follow Sophie out of the room, tailing her from behind as the two sprinted down the hallway.

They ran towards the exit as the building was trembling. Missiles were striking everywhere causing walls to collapse. The two spies made it out of the building on time and ran towards the coast, getting into a motorboat that was waiting for them. In the distance, they could see the ships waiting in the ocean’s horizon, there to ensure that the island was completely demolished.

Sophie revved up the boat and it bolted through the water. Gunfire and cannons were being shot at them, but Sophie, with her adept boating skills, was able to dodge them with ease.

They eventually were able to reach safer waters, with not a ship in sight. They could only see the island, or what was left of it, smoke and flicker in the distance as missiles continued to reduce it to nothing. Joy sighed, in relief that she survived near-death again. Her happiness over being alive was brief though, as she felt anger over the Philosophers betraying her.

“Those f*cking backstabbers! They killed my father, and left me to die! I want revenge on those bastards, every single one!” After Joy calmed down a bit by taking a few breaths, she spoke to Sophie. “How did you even find me?”

“I saw them take you away, so I followed them to your location. Joy, you didn’t reveal anything important to them, did you?”

“Well…I…um…” Joy began to nervously sweat, while Sophie was unamused.

“You revealed to them about the cryogenics research, did you?”

“I had to, alright?! I didn’t expect them to do this, though…now they’re probably going to take the documents; this is all my fault…”

“It’s fine…” Sophie sighed, only seeming mildly annoyed. “We’ll deal with it later. Right now, we need to get to safe land, because I have another mission for us.”

“What place did you have in mind?”

“That’s something I haven’t planned yet…I’ll let you decide where we should stay for the time-being.”

“Well, there is my father’s seaside ranch in Texas…I ended up inheriting it but I never really used it. We could lay low there.”

Sophie liked the idea, as being in a rural area could make hiding a lot easier. “Alright, take the wheel and lead us to it.”

Chapter 7: Target Practice

Chapter Text

Joy took the wheel and steered the boat towards the coast of Texas, with Sophie keeping watch for any more enemy ships. The boat ride had fortunately carried out smoothly with no problems, and eventually they were at the coast, with her father’s ranch being on a secluded stretch of coastline.

As they approached the shore, they noticed the ranch in the distance. It looked like a picturesque place, surrounded by rolling hills and billowing white clouds. It looked safe and peaceful, as opposed to the dangerous waters in the Gulf of Mexico that the Philosophers had tread. Sophie and Joy ventured through overgrown grass that had browned as a result of the autumn. The climate was dry and cold, as Texan autumns always were. After making their way through a maze of corn stalks, they had reached the ranch, which was abandoned at this point. Cobwebs were strung at various corners of the structure, the grass was unmowed and tangled by weeds, and there was even a massive hornet’s nest that dangled over the roof overhang.

Sophie and Joy entered the ranch. It was dusty and the furniture appeared to haven’t been touched in years, and the atmosphere was eerie. The house was rather large, so Sophie and Joy settled in separate rooms. As Joy settled into her room, she tried her best to rest off the stress she felt after what had happened.

Meanwhile, Sophie was sitting in the living room, going over the details for their next mission. After the two rested for a bit, Sophie approached Joy to debrief her on the next mission.

“After the explosion that had happened at the facility, the commander whom I was planning on having eliminated had escaped and relocated. I managed to gather information on his whereabouts the night after the mission. He escaped to Syria, and should be currently hiding somewhere on a French-owned military base.”

“Syria?”

“It’s a Middle Eastern country, bordering Turkey and Iraq. Currently a French colony.”

“Why didn’t you order me to eliminate him while we were in Paris? It would have saved us the trouble of another mission.”

“The facility was staffed to the point where killing him without someone noticing would have been next to impossible, and those narrow hallways don’t provide many hiding places for dead bodies. I needed more time to plan the assassination. Of course, after the entire facility was alerted by the explosion, he knows someone will be after him, and that’s why he’s hiding in Syria now.” Sophie had a hint of annoyance in her voice.

“You should have let us know about this beforehand,” Joy pointed out defensively.

“I didn’t expect your friend to set off a bomb.”

“He was just trying to help; you know, you’re lucky I’m still agreeing to work with you after you saved my life, but I’m still mad over the way you treated them back there. They’re not ‘cannon-fodder’, they’re irreplaceable teammates.”

“I know I have said some degrading things back there, and I apologize. I’ve never been the one to form close friendships because in the world of espionage, betrayal is everywhere. But now I see how close you are with your men, and I respect that.”

“They’re some of the few people I have left to count on…”

“Your ex-employers will pay for what they did, but let’s focus on the current mission first. Are you good with a sniper rifle?”

“Well…no…” Joy admitted. “I’m good with other guns, but I’ve never sniped before…”

Sophie thought for a second, realizing that putting Joy in a sniping position might be risky. “Alright, how about this…you’ll infiltrate the base and gather more information that could be useful, and I’ll let William snipe him out.”

Naturally, Joy was far from enthusiastic the moment his name was said. “We’re not bringing William along. Look, if you really need a sniper for this operation, the End would be a much better choice.”

“You mean the old man?” Sophie interrupted her, a hint of derisiveness in her voice.

“He’s not good enough for you? He’s been a sniper for a long time; he’s really skilled at it.”

“Look, I just want to see exactly how good William’s skills are. Because who knows, he may be a good addition to the team. And it might teach him a little obedience, considering how much you guys have trouble with him.”

Joy clenched her fists in anger; it seemed like there was no point in changing Sophie’s mind, so she sighed and obliged. “Fine. He can come, but this will be his last mission if he screws up. Oh, and the End has to come along on the next sniping mission.”

“Alright, it’s a deal. We’ll head to London tomorrow to pick him up, then go somewhere remote where he can test out his skills.”

The next day, the two boarded a plane that took them to London. They arrived at the city and made their way over to the mansion, although William was nowhere to be seen, meaning he must have gone out somewhere. They decided to check his favorite pub next, the place where he’d most likely be.

As they walked into the dimly lit pub, as the smell of alcohol was biting the air. Sure enough, they saw William sitting at the counter, a mug of beer in his hand. Sophie approached him and cleared her throat, garnering his attention. William turned and saw the two women, and smirked.

“Well, hello there, ladies. What brings you here?”

"We have a mission for you," Sophie said, getting straight to the point. "We need a sniper and we believe you might be the right man for the job."

William raised an eyebrow, with an expression of surprise, and he never thought he’d be willingly asked by them to do a mission. “Really? You’re really asking for my assistance?”

“Yes, but first we need to see if you are good enough. Is there any place where we can test your aim?”

“Well, my father does own a shooting range out in the countryside that he uses to practice his hunting…we could use that.”

“Perfect!” Sophie responded in a hopeful tone. “Lead the way then.”

Sophie made her way out of the pub as Joy followed, and William quickly drank the rest of his beer, paid, then followed the two women, feeling enthusiastic.

“Fancy that, I can’t believe you’d actually bring me along on a mission,” he said to Joy, with smugness in his voice. “I suppose you agree on how brilliant my skills are?”

Joy shot a death glare at him. “Just know that we’ll replace you if you screw up.”

The three borrowed one of Mr. Cromwell’s old trucks, with permission from him of course. Afterwards, William drove the two women to where his cabin was. It was in a remote countryside; a bit of a drive from London. There were a lot of woodland and farms, which were all brilliant shades of orange, red, and brown due to the autumn season.

Eventually William drove down a bumpy trail through a heavily wooded area, before reaching a cabin. It was a large and luxurious one, clearly one belonging to his father. There was also a creek next to it, and there was a clearing in the back where the shooting range was.

“We’re here!” William got out of the truck, and Joy and Sophie followed.

“Alright, now let’s go to the shooting range so we start practice.”

“Wouldn’t you rather see the cabin first? It’s quite a cozy one, and I’m sure you two could use a long rest after that roadtrip.”

“We’re not here to go camping,” Joy snapped at him. “We’re here to prepare for a mission.”

“Joy,” Sophie spoke to her. “He’s right. That was a long drive, and we should rest a bit before practicing. Helps the muscles and the mind.”

“See, Sophie’s okay with it!” William got out the keys to the cabin and walked to the front door.

Joy groaned and covered her face, as Sophie followed William towards the front door.

William opened the door to the cabin, and Joy and Sophie got a good glimpse of the interior. There was a fireplace, as well as log furniture in it. Taxidermy of animals such as deer was hung up on the walls. There was a kitchen, as well as stairs that led to a second floor.

“Make yourself at home; I’m going to go in the kitchen and cook something to eat. My father should have left a few venison steaks in the freezer…”

Sophie had already plopped down on one of the sofas, and Joy followed shortly afterwards.

“Well…I do have to admit this cabin is nice-looking. Still, I don’t want to jeopardize the mission." Joy shivered. “A bit cold in here; can someone light a fire, at least?”

“I can light the fireplace,” Sophie said as she stood up and started doing just that, grabbing some of the firewood nearby and chucking it into the fireplace, then getting out her lighter to ignite it.

Joy then decided to go into the kitchen where William was digging through some cupboards.

“Oh, lovely! My father and his mates left some of their imported beers from their last hunting trip!”

He pulled out a bottle of beer, smiling with eagerness at the shiny brown bottle.

He tried to open it, but Joy quickly snatched it out of his hand.

“Oh, no! You are not drinking before handling a damn gun!”

William looked at her with annoyance and instead grabbed a bottle of cola, cracking it open with an airy fizz.

“And by the way, I want to cook the steaks.”

William growled. “And what’s wrong with me cooking them?”

“Sophie said you overcook things.”

William grumbled and left the kitchen, before taking a swig of soda.

After a delicious meal of venison, it was now time to go out to the shooting range for practice. William had one of his hunting rifles that he brought along, a custom-made one from the prestigious London-based gun shop, Holland & Holland.

Joy and Sophie watched as he aimed his gun at one of the targets. He fired a round, hitting the bullseye dead in the center. He then shot the other targets, hitting the bullseyes as well. Sophie and Joy were admittedly impressed with his skills.

“This is too easy…I need a challenge. I need something smaller.”

He had an idea and briefly went back inside, something that Joy and Sophie were curious about. He went back out holding the empty cola bottle that he had drank from. He went into the shooting range and set it on the ground, then returned to the firing bay. He grabbed his gun and aimed it at the bottle.

“That’s glass,” Joy informed. “That’s going to explode shards everywhere.”

“Oh, relax. It’s a far-enough distance.”

Of course Joy and Sophie weren’t very confident that this wasn’t going to end badly, so they both left the firing bay. Sure enough, seconds later they heard the shot followed by the explosion of the glass, and William yelling out “sh*t!” That’s when they knew the idiot had injured himself.

Sophie and Joy went back into the firing bay and saw William whimpering as he covered his face.

“Let me see it,” Joy sternly ordered him.

William shook his head, disobeying orders.

“Uncover your face now!” Joy ordered him, in an even angrier and more demanding tone.

William ignored her yet again, so Joy stomped on his foot, causing him to cry out and uncover his face. Of course, the injury wasn’t serious. It was just a tiny shard of glass that was embedded in his left cheek, and there was only a little bit of blood. Nothing that some tweezers, disinfectant, and a band-aid won’t fix. Of course, Joy was still furious at him, as the injury could have been much worse.

“This is why you should f*cking shoot glass, moron!” She raged at him. “It could have gotten in your eye, and you could have gone blind! We don’t need you losing an eye before a damn mission!” She then slapped him on his right cheek. “And stop crying! It’s not that bad!” She then pointed to the cabin. “Now go inside.”

He followed her orders, going back in the cabin while holding his stinging face.

As soon as they were inside the cabin, Joy grabbed the first aid kit that William had informed in in the bathroom cabinet and then headed back towards the living room, where both William and Sophie had sat on the couch. Joy sat down next to William, holding up the pair of tweezers

"Hold still," Joy demanded, her voice calm yet still firm.

She carefully removed the tiny shard of glass from the wound as he winced slightly. Joy then cleaned the wound and then applied a band-aid to it.

“There. All done. No more shooting glass!”

“Now, all it needs is a little kiss to make it feel all better.” He grunted as Joy immediately slugged him in the stomach. “Okay, maybe not…” he continued in a strained voice, holding his midsection in pain. He stood up. “I’m going into the kitchen and getting myself another drink.”

"If he drinks any more pop, he's going to be staying up the whole night," Joy said with annoyance. "We need to get a good night's sleep before the mission."

“Ah, I used to always tell that to my sister, who would love to drink a coffee in the afternoon, and she’d be staying up until midnight.” Sophie’s tone was saddened. “How I miss her…she drove me crazy sometimes, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way…”

Guilt started to overwhelm Joy as she watched Sophie grieve Marie. “You…were really close to her, weren’t you?”

“She and I were practically inseparable. I remember all the times we had growing up in our small village. Climbing trees, playing by the stream, then we’d go inside and our mother would bake us fresh bread…” A tear started to fall from one of Sophie’s eyes, but Sophie tried her best to contain her sadness, wiping the tear away with the palm of her hand. “I shouldn’t let this loss hold me back. She would want me to move on.” Sophie stood up and decided to head upstairs. “I should probably get some sleep. Don’t want to be too tired before the mission tomorrow.”

Just as she was making her way up the stairs, Joy called out to her. “Sophie! Wait…there’s something I need to tell you…”

Sophie looked back. “What is it, Joy?”

“I…um…” just as Joy was about to confess, at the last minute choked on her words and instead came out with something different. “I think Marie would be very proud of you.”

Sophie smiled slightly, before heading upstairs, and Joy was still left with the guilt.

Chapter 8: Setting Out to Syria

Chapter Text

As the B-17 bomber plane soared over the rugged Syrian landscape, the three had their parachutes ready, preparing to jump and make their landing into enemy territory. However, William remained hesitant as he stared out of the plane, which was probably several thousand meters off the ground.

“Erm…” he gulped. “I don’t think I can do it.”

“You were in the Royal Air Force!” Joy yelled at him, annoyed. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of heights!”

“Joy, I’ll handle this,” Sophie assured Joy as she approached William, then without warning, pushed him right out of the plane.

William screamed in terror as he plummeted out of the plane, and Joy looked on in shock before glaring at Sophie.

“Oh, don’t give me that look. You know he wasn’t going to jump.” Sophie then dove out of the plane as if she were an Olympic diver, and Joy took her turn shortly afterwards.

As they descended in the air, Joy and Sophie released their parachutes. William, who beforehand was screaming in terror as he freefalled in the sky, had frantically opened up his parachute as well and sighed in relief as soon as he was floating down safely.

Joy, after eventually landing on the ground, then watched Sophie as she had also elegantly landed on the ground. They both discarded their parachutes, and scanned their surroundings that were mainly hilly desert with shrubs and grasses. The ambience was drowning in the buzzing of insects.

“The base should be a short walk from here,” said Sophie, looking at the surroundings while shielding her eyes from the bright sun. “Let's move on.”

“Wait, where’s William?” Joy asked. “He should have landed by now.”

“I’m right here, you nitwits!” They heard him yell to them, and they turned to see that William had apparently got his underwear caught on a rock and was now hanging by it over a small cliff.

Joy and Sophie watched with annoyed expressions, before looking at each other.

“You’re watching over him,” Joy sternly told Sophie.

The team reached a remote area of the Syrian desert, after a long trip by camel. At least they had all their equipment and some tents for camping in case of necessity. They were dressed like local Bedouins, with white robes covering most of their bodies. Joy stopped her camel.

"We can set up our training camp here,” said Joy. “But watch out for any glint or engine noises."

They started to prepare the tents, with William having some issue with the nails. He grumbled and cursed loudly.

“These bloody nails are not staying in the ground!” He complained.

Joy had no time for this nonsense. "Listen, you spoiled brat. Either you set up your tent or you are gonna sleep outside, with unbearable heat in the day, the extreme cold in the night, and dangerous animals like scorpions and snakes..."

This however didn't stop William from continuing to whine. "But it’s so bloody tiring, and the wind is making my tent move too much..."

Joy stared at him angrily, before snapping at him. "Stop whining! You are supposed to be a man, not a pathetic weakling."

This of course was a hard blow on William's ego. "You say I am not a man?” he replied angrily. “I will show you how much of a man I am!" He proceeded to set up not only his own tent, but Sophie's tent too, besides unloading some equipment from the camels such as ammunition crates and setting it up at the camp.

By the time they were done, it was already dusk. They prepared a fire, and ate some canned sausage and beans after heating them up.

Before sleeping, Joy ordered. "One of us will stay as a guard. We will take turns, and I will be the first."

William wasn’t thrilled about this proposal. “So what, I’m going to have to wake up in the middle of the night to watch the camp? I need my beauty sleep, you know!”

Joy crossed her arms. “Yes, and I’m not going to hear another word out of that mouth of yours. Now, either you cooperate or else!”

“I’ll take his place,” Sophie offered.

“Thank you, Sophie,” William thanked her in a condescending tone. “At least you still understand how important sleep is to me!” He went into his tent, as Joy glared at Sophie.

“You’re not making this easier by enabling him,” Joy angrily told her.

“No, it’s best we let him sleep,” Sophie said. “I’ve dated him for eight years, I know how irritable he gets when you wake him up in the middle of the night.”

“I’m surprised you’ve managed to put up with that for eight years,” Joy snarked, as she had got her gun ready for patrolling duty. “That’s actually a long time, though. Surprised he never tried to propose to you.”

“He actually has expressed interest in marrying me before. I told him I wanted to finish school first…which was a lie, of course.” Sophie then turned towards the tent, preparing to go inside. “I’m going to talk to him.” Sophie went through the tent flaps, and inside, she saw William sitting on his cot, pouring himself a cup of tea from a heated-up kettle. He glared at Sophie angrily, before blowing on his tea.

“Oh, I heard what you said out there. You never actually did go back to Paris to finish university, did you? Instead, you were probably in some uncivilized country fooling around with some dictator!”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “I was in Russia, and he was a Red Army officer. To be fair, he did seem like a would-be dictator.”

“Yeah, well, I can’t believe you would lie to me like this! After I’ve spent those years being faithful to you!”

Sophie raised her eyebrow in surprise. “Oh, really? You were faithful? I expected you to cheat on me the moment I left London.”

William also rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Just let me be, so I can enjoy something for once on this mission. That is, my nightly cup of chamomile.” He daintily took a sip.

“I don’t understand the English and their obsession with tea,” Sophie grumbled as she sat on the cot with him. “It has barely any flavor, unless you put sugar in it. Even then, you’re just tasting the sugar.”

“People in France don’t normally drink tea?”

“We do have our own tea culture, but coffee is a lot more popular.”

“Coffee upsets my stomach,” William informed, lifting up his cup again. “Besides, tea does have flavor, it’s just very subtle. It’s more of an essence.”

“Either that, or you’re used to food that tastes like cardboard,” Sophie snarked.

“Hey!” He snapped at her.

“After putting up with British food for the whole relationship, I can’t make fun of it?”

“If you didn’t like being with me, you could have just left!”

“I stayed because I needed to get important information from people whom your father had connections with!”

“There were other ways to do that besides honey trapping me! Maybe you secretly like me but are too afraid to admit it!”

Sophie just glared at him, before grabbing his head and pulling him in for a kiss, to William’s surprise. After a few seconds, she separated. “Will that shut you up?”

William nodded, blushing a bit.

Sophie stood up, resting her hand on her hip. “Now finish your tea and get some sleep. It’s going to be a busy day tomorrow and Joy is counting on you to do well.”

Sophie left the tent, leaving William a bit stunned. When she exited, she was met with Joy. Joy had a confused expression on her.

“What was going on in there?” She asked.

Sophie looked a bit nervous. “Just giving him a little pep talk. Nothing else.”

Joy gave her a weird look, before resuming patrol.

Morning had soon arrived, and after everyone had breakfast, they decided to do some more practicing before setting out on another long hike, in order to get used to the rifle they were going to use. William took one good look at it and was really disappointed.

"A MAS-36? Seriously?"

Sophie looked at William with confusion. "What is wrong with it?"

"Just look at it. It’s crudely made, ugly, unreliable, and worst of all…French made."

William's description of the rifle as "unreliable" was very wrong as it had a quite good reputation as being reliable. Sophie was of course pissed.

"What is wrong with French weapons?"

"They are unwieldy and unreliable. Trust me, I used a Chauchat during training. It was heavy and jammed every second."

Joy rolled her eyes. “You are comparing a WW1 gun with a modern one! All the French soldiers I’ve heard that used the MAS-36 spoke highly of the rifle."

William smirked. "It didn't help when the Nazis invaded France... the French lost after all."

Sophie glanced at him with anger, as William continued on with his big mouth.

"We could have used a Lee-Enfield instead. Well-crafted, reliable and has 10 rounds in the magazine instead of just 5 like the MAS." Then he added, with a tone full of superiority. "We English have made the best rifles for centuries, and it will be like this forever."

Sophie and Joy exhaled, really annoyed by his talking.

"You know how it’s used, right?" Joy asked Sophie

Sophie hesitated a bit before replying. "I point and pull the trigger?"

William asked Joy to give him the rifle, then he handed it to Sophie and asked with a smirk.

"Find the safety."

Sophie looked at the rifle, confused as she couldn't find the mechanism.

"There is no manual safety,” William said. “Give the rifle."

Sophie complied and then William handled the rifle.

"You can block the firing mechanism by raising the bolt handle, thus making an improvised safety."

William then demanded some ammo and Joy gave him a clip of 7,5x54mm French ammunition. Then he loaded the rifle.

"What can we use as a target?" He asked

The group was thinking before Joy had the idea to use the empty bean cans from their dinner. Then the team prepared the necessary stuff to organize a makeshift firing range, with the cans acting as targets and a crate to put the cans on.

William of course had the task to move the crate, which took him some effort and sweat. After a while of practice, it was now time to begin their hike. Joy had her own weapon in hand, which William noticed and commented on.

“Is that a musket? That thing is older than dirt!"

“Yes.” Joy replied. “It is an Ottoman musket."

William was really upset. "You aren’t actually going to use that ancient thing, are you?”

"We must look like Beduins, and this is the perfect weapon for our cover. Beside, it more likely that we will use it against wild animals than enemies, given how far we are from civilization. There could be wolves or caracals in this area..."

"What the bloody hell is a caracal?" William asked

"Is a huge feral cat, native to the Middle East. Imagine a cougar but with huge cat-like ears with fur on the tips."

William looked at her confused. "What the bloody hell is a cougar?"

Joy looked at him, weirded out. "How is it possible you don't know what a cougar is? It’s one of the most dangerous predators in the US! It’s also known as puma or mountain lion."

"In England, we don't have such wild beasts."

"I think in Europe, the closest to a big cat are lynx,” Sophie added. “They are not as big as lions or tigers, but they are still quite dangerous. On the other hand they are quite shy and avoid humans. I remember seeing some of them near my home back in the French countryside."

Eventually the four had reached the military complex, and were hiding behind a large rock on top of a hill. Joy spoke to the two.

“How about I search the place for anything valuable before we do the assassination?”

“How about something to eat?” William muttered as he rubbed his stomach a bit. “I’m hungry, and I’m not eating beans again!”

Joy glared at him. “I’ll get you something, just quit whining.” Joy carefully made her way down the hill, causing loose rocks and dirt to tumble down.

Now Sophie and William were alone together. William glanced at Sophie.

“I suppose it’s just you and me.”

“We should wait until Joy gets back before we shoot. Don’t want to cause an alert and have the target trying to make an escape.”

“What is the name of this bloke anyway?”

“Commander Claude-Henri DuBois. He’s a treacherous man. Not only is he in charge of the Glacier Project but he is also a supporter of Petain.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Philippe Petain? The famous French WWI marshall?”

“What about him?”

“He allies himself with Hitler and rules over a puppet state called Vichy France. And DuBois is in support of this puppet state.”

Sophie then got a radio call from Joy. She lowered her binoculars and answered.

“Oui?”

“Sophie, it’s me. I found a few files that might be useful. I also found the target. He’s heading outside to smoke. You can snipe him out there, while I make an escape.”

“Roger that.” Sophie hung up. “Alright, William, get your rifle ready.”

William smirked evilly as he held up his rifle. “I’m ready.”

He perched his rifle over the rock, and aimed it at the front door. There they saw DuBois exiting, and the scope of the rifle followed him as it was aimed at his head. William watched as the commander took out his packet of cigarettes and lit one up, before taking a drag.

William pulled the bolt and inserted the 5-round clip in the internal magazine, before quickly putting the bolt back into position to be ready to fire. The bolt shape was slightly different compared to the Lee-Enfield that he was used to shooting with, but it didn't affect him much, and in a few seconds he was ready to fire. He wanted to make the perfect shot, so he spent a long time perfecting his aim. Sophie was starting to grow impatient.

“What are you doing?” She asked in an annoyed tone.

“Perfecting my aim, obviously! I want this moment to be perfect.”

“Just shoot him in the head. You don’t need to ‘perfect’ anything.”

“Um, who is the expert at sniping?” William had a condescending tone. “I’d like to see you try and do better!”

“I most likely will! I would do it much faster than you.”

William was angry. Deciding to test Sophie, he gave her the rifle. “Be my guest, then.”

Sophie stared at the rifle with unease. William grinned smugly.

“What is wrong, Sophie? Aren’t you an expert assassin? Shouldn’t you know how to use a rifle?”

“I…um…never used one before,” Sophie sheepishly admitted.

“Well then,” William huffed. “The so-called ‘expert’ admits that she doesn’t know something!”

“I don’t know much about guns! And all I’ve used were pistols!” Sophie made a pouty face, almost like she was trying to act innocent. “I guess I really am not as smart as you when it comes to rifles.”

William had a guilty look as Sophie handed him back the rifle. “Tell you what, darling. I’ll take you on a hunting trip and I’ll teach you how to use a rifle.”

Sophie’s eyes lit up. “Y-You’re really inviting me to go hunting with you?”

“Well, I would have done it before, but you’ve never seemed like the type of woman who’d be into sports, but since you seem to be interested in guns, then I suppose I could-”

“I would absolutely love that!” Sophie hugged William, which started to make him blush.

William smiled a bit, smitten by Sophie as he started to develop feelings for her again. “Brilliant! We could stay at my father’s lodge in South Africa; hunt ourselves a wildebeest or two…”

Suddenly, the two heard a vehicle pull up next to them, and Sophie freaked out when she saw a Laffly S15 pull up on a dust road, just mere feet away from them. She grabbed William and jumped behind some tall shrubs, pulling him behind with her. They watched as the tractor parked and two French soldiers got out, speaking French to each other. Sophie could understand them well, and knew that they were talking about the explosion that happened at the Paris facility. She whispered to William.

“You take out the one on the left, I’ll take out the one on the right.”

After Sophie counted to three, the two rushed towards them and ambushed them. Sophie strangled one, while William slammed the butt of his rifle into the other one’s head.

“Now let’s hide the bodies.”

They dragged the bodies over to the shrubs and hid them there. As William finished dragging the other body. Sophie watched her target from binoculars. She growled in frustration as she saw that the target was now gone from his position.

“Damn it! He’s gone now!” She angrily whipped her head towards William. “You should have shot him when we had the chance, and you didn’t!”

“We got ourselves a getaway vehicle, at least! You should be thanking me! Besides, we did a pretty good job at ambushing those soldiers, so that proves that we make a fairly good team!”

Sophie sighed heavily. “Let’s just wait until he comes back out, then hopefully Joy will be done by then.”

Thirty minutes had passed, and Sophie was starting to grow impatient. Joy was still not done, and there were still no signs of the commander. Meanwhile, William really needed to defecate, but didn’t want to do it out in the open, especially in front of Sophie. He noticed an outhouse in the distance that was free of guards, and thought he could slip away without her noticing.

“Sophie, I believe I caught a glimpse of the commander over there.” He pointed to the opposite side of where the outhouse was. “You should look over there.”

“Good eye.” Sophie started watching the area that William was pointing at, as that’s when William quietly scooted away, before bolting down the hill towards the latrine.

William quickly reached the outhouse, but noticed some French guards walking towards him. He muttered a curse under his breath, before quickly flinging the door open and stepping in, slamming the door shut. As he started to perform his business, he heard the guards out there speaking French, which he only knew a bit of, with his only slight knowledge of French. One of the guards finished the conversation saying “je dois pisser”, which he knew meant “I have to take a piss”, which made him nervous. He started to freak out when the guard started trying to open the locked door, before aggressively banging on it.

“Hé! Dépêche-toi!”

William knew that speaking would be a dead give-away, so he just simply prayed that the guard would leave him alone and go elsewhere. After a few minutes of his heart pounding, he finally heard the guard speak again.

“Ugh, ça sent putain. Je vais pisser dans les buissons.”

William started to calm down, relieved as he heard the guard step away from the outhouse, albeit slightly embarrassed. He finished up and then cleaned himself, but just as he was about to pull up his trousers, he saw something crawl up next to him on one of the walls. To his horror, a massive camel spider was crawling up the wall right next to him. He screamed in horror, and started cursing in his native English.

This sure enough blew his cover to the guards, who heard the British swearing and yelling of “DIE!” from the outhouse. One of them ran up to the outside, as banging sounds were heard, then busted the lock using the butt of his gun and yanked open the door. He was sure enough greeted to the Briton, who had his pants down and was attempting to kill the arachnid with one of his leather boots.

William immediately froze up and stopped what he was doing when he noticed he was caught, his face growing pale. “Oh…sh*t.”

The guard yanked him out of the outhouse as he was still half-naked and threw him to the ground, aiming his gun at him. William placed his hands behind his head in fear, as he knew right there that he was now a goner.

Joy had heard the commotion from inside the base, as she was searching around the interior for an exit. She immediately knew it was William’s voice. She glanced out the window, and sure enough saw William being escorted by guards, gun to his head, to wherever they were planning on imprisoning him. Joy was of course far from pleased.

What did that idiot do this time? She thought, wondering why Sophie wasn’t watching over him like she ordered her to.

Joy returned to the sniping point with the documents and a pissed-out demeanor. Sophie was still keeping look-out on the same location, and grunting in frustration.

“Still no sign of him?” Joy asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

“Maybe we should try another sniping point…”

“I’m sure your little boyfriend has a good idea on where we should go…oh, wait. He’s currently imprisoned because you weren’t keeping an eye on him!”

Sophie looked up and saw what Joy had meant, as there was sure enough no sign of William. “He snuck off?”

“This is why I didn’t want to bring him along!” Joy yelled. “He’s nothing but a liability!”

“Well…I’m sure he had a good reason for going off…” Sophie tried to justify, then had a worried expression. “Joy, we have to go and save him!”

“No,” Joy refused. “He blew his cover, he’s facing the consequences. If he wants to escape, he’s going to have to do it himself.”

“Please, Joy,” Sophie pleaded. “He can’t survive there on his own.” Sophie looked at Joy, almost tearing up. “I’m not leaving without him. If you’re not going to save him, then I’m doing it myself.” Sophie grabbed the rifle that William had left behind and trudged her way down the sandy hill.

Joy was confused as to why Sophie suddenly cared about a man that she had said to dislike before, but brushed it off. She didn’t want to risk her own life saving a person that does nothing but screw her and her teammates over, so she decided to make her way to the rendezvous herself. However, Joy still couldn’t brush out the nagging guilt of leaving Sophie behind.

After only a few minutes of hiking through the desert, she let out a sigh and finally gave in, and decided to follow after her.

Chapter 9: Waterboarding

Chapter Text

Joy decided to take another route into the base by entering the opposite side. As usual, she slipped past the guards patrolling the area, slipping in through the door.

Joy snuck her way through the corridors before eventually reaching a door where she could hear the sounds of someone being tortured going on. She listened through the door and could hear what sounded like water splashing and someone gurgling, before the sound of violent coughing.

The coughing sounded like it came from William. Was he being waterboarded?

She then heard the sound of a man speaking in English in a heavy French accent, in an angry tone, as he spoke over the coughing.

“Tell me already, English dog, who sent you?! And what information do you have for us?!”

Of course, there was no reply. Just coughing, before the sound of water splashing again and more gurgling.

Joy carefully opened the door, attempting to sneak in and hopefully subdue the torturer from behind, only to be greeted by two guards in front of her, aiming their guns at her. Joy raised her hands up, feeling dumb for not considering that the door could be guarded. She took a look around the chamber and saw that William was tied with rope to a table, soaking wet with a towel over his head, still coughing and gasping for air.

The torturer had noticed Joy, and threw the empty bucket he was holding before approaching her. Joy noticed that he was the same man that they were supposed to eliminate. Claude Henri DuBois.

“And you must be with him, no?”

“You know he can’t answer you while he’s getting water poured on his face,” Joy pointed out.

DuBois just scoffed. “And it seems like this one has quite the mouth on her. Capture her; she might know a lot more than that idiot.”

“I’m not an idiot!” William muffled through the towel.

The guards tied Joy’s hands up with rope.

“Wait…” Joy spoke. “I will tell you everything I know, if you let him free.”

DuBois looked at her incredulously. “You really think I would let a prisoner go to waste?”

“He doesn’t know anything,” Joy stated. “He’s just a rookie.”

“And what makes you think that I won’t just kill him?”

“Because if word got out that a French soldier killed an English soldier, then it wouldn’t look good for France to the other Allies, would it?”

DuBois and his guards looked at each other, realizing that Joy had a point. “Alright, let him free.”

The guards untied William from the table. William pulled the towel off of him, revealing his soaking wet hair and face. He wobbled as he slid off from the table and stood up, before coughing up some water.

“As for you,” DuBois threateningly told Joy. “You’re going to be our prisoner for a long time.”

William couldn’t bear to see Joy be locked away, especially since she had saved his life, so with the wet towel in his hand and some quick thinking, he decided to do the first thing he could think of. He swung the wet towel at DuBois. He hit DuBois across the face, knocking him back and causing him to be momentarily stunned by the attack. Joy then kicked one of the guards while he was distracted, which caused him to lose his balance and drop his weapon. Joy then tackled the other guard, disarming his weapon and aiming it at them.

Meanwhile, William grabbed DuBois and pinned him against the wall, DuBois struggled against William’s grip, but couldn’t break free. The two stared into each other’s eyes as fear was in DuBois’s.

Then suddenly, there was the bang of a gun before a bullet hit DuBois, causing blood to fly from his head and killing him immediately. William stared at the scene in shock, before letting go of DuBois’s corpse and causing him to fall to the floor. William looked back to see Sophie with her pistol in hand as smoke poured from the barrel. She then shot the two guards as they were both in shock, killing them as well.

Joy and William stared at Sophie, completely speechless and a bit shook from the ordeal. Sophie rested her hand on her hip.

“Alright, looks like we’ve got that over with. Let’s go home.”

The plane trip back home was long and awkward, and William sat nervously in his seat waiting for Joy to start chewing him out as the former glared at him. Eventually, Joy did speak up.

“So…” Joy began. “Are you going to tell us about why you weren’t in your position?”

William nervously stammer. “Well, I, um…”

“Does it even matter?” Sophie butted in, sounding defensive. “He’s already suffered enough from being waterboarded. And besides, he did help you gain the upper hand with the guards.”

“Look, I risked my life to save his ass, so I deserve an explanation!” Joy shot back. “Besides, I’m sure it’s something very important!” Joy had a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

William blushed slightly, embarrassed to tell the two women, but ultimately he decided to admit it. “Alright, you want to know why? It’s because I had to take a crap!”

Sophie and Joy both were quiet, as Joy stared at him incredulously and with annoyance. “Really?”

“Yes…and there was a spider in the outhouse and-”

“Ugh,” Joy scoffed. “Imagine getting captured over something like this, how embarrassing…”

“Well, I was the one who thought to stun him with the wet towel, so you should be thanking me for my clever wit!” William boasted.

“Whatever, that’s the last time I’m bringing you along on a mission. All you ever do is screw me over!”

William had a guilty look on his face. Sophie glared at Joy, before turning towards William. “Don’t listen to Joy, you did fine out there. That was a clever idea to use the towel.”

William smiled slightly, feeling a bit better.

“Really rich coming from you,” Joy snarled at Sophie. “I’m sure if one of my soldiers did the same thing, you’d be on their ass.”

“Let’s just not dwell on it,” Sophie stated. “Let’s just relax. Today was a long day.”

William’s stomach grumbled in hunger, and he rubbed it a bit. “How about giving us some of that food that you’ve promised!”

Joy glared at him, not appreciating his rudeness. “What’s the magic word?”

“I want some damn food; give it to me now!” He demanded. Sophie angrily nudged him, and he sighed. “...please.”

Joy grabbed a couple boxes of rations and tossed them at the two. “Some French rations I found. Enjoy.”

William opened it up, but the pungent smell of the cheese in there hit him and he winced. However, Sophie wasn’t bothered by the smell as she opened hers up and began eating it.

“You couldn’t have gotten something that doesn’t stink?” William complained, as Sophie sent a death glare at him.

“That’s the only food you’re getting,” Joy snapped. “Suck it up.” Joy then laid on her seat to get some rest after her long mission.

The group spent the night back in London before heading back to Australia. However, William woke up in his bed feeling very ill. He had malaise and a fever, and also chest pain and a cough. His coughing ended up waking up Sophie, who was laying in bed next to him. Sophie had noticed him and was naturally concerned when she saw his state. He was sweating, and she felt his forehead, which was unusually hot.

“Oh, mon cher, you’re very sick.”

William grabbed a tissue from his bedside drawer and coughed into it, some phlegm coming up. “It’s just the flu, I can fight it off…”

“It could be pneumonia, I mean getting water in your lungs can cause that.”

“Oh, God…” William started to become scared when she suggested hat. “Am I going to die?”

“Don’t worry,” Sophie assured. “It doesn’t look serious. I’ll get you some antibiotics, and you’ll be fine.”

Joy later arrived at the mansion and was let in by one of the servants, who informed her that the two were in William’s room. When she arrived, she saw William sick in bed with an ice pack on his head, as Sophie was feeding him soup.

“He doesn’t look too good,” Joy pointed out.

“He is very ill,” Sophie said. “I think it might be pneumonia from the waterboarding .”

“Well, maybe that will teach him not to go off then!”

“Show some empathy!” Sophie snapped.

“I’ve seen people suffer worse than a little lung infection. Besides, he’ll be fine once we get him to the base and into the infirmary for treatment.”

“He is not going anywhere,” Sophie argued. “He’s staying here in London so he can be in a comfortable bed and with his family.”

Of course, Joy was mad that Sophie was demanding him to have special treatment. But she didn’t want to argue as she had to be back in Australia soon. She sighed and pinched her forehead. “Fine, but once he’s better, he’s going straight back to Australia.”

Joy left the room, but heard William start to talk, in a weak voice. She peered in the room and listened.

“Sophie, thank you for taking care of me. And for sticking up for me back in the plane.”

“You’re welcome, chérie.” She smirked a bit. “So do you still think I’m trying to kill you?”

“I-I guess not. I mean, you did rescue me after all, and I appreciate that.”

Joy rolled her eyes. She did part of the rescue, but whatever. She continued listening.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I rescue the man whom I love?”

Joy was in shock, and so was William.

“L-Love?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to say. I still love you, and I want you to give me another chance. And I promise no more keeping secrets from each other.”

"Well, Sophie, I don’t know what to say…”

Joy awaited William's answer, and William eventually spoke.

“Maybe I could still give you a chance. I may still have feelings for you…”

Joy was completely baffled, and Sophie was excited.

“Oh, I’m so glad you feel the same way!” She hugged him and kissed him on the hair. “Now anything else you want me to get for you?”

“Could you make me some more tea?” William meekly asked.

“Of course.” She kissed him again.

Joy took off immediately and hid in a nearby room as Sophie passed, not wanting her to find out she was eavesdropping.

Now Joy was confused. Suddenly Sophie wanted to be in a relationship with William? It didn’t make much sense.

Joy knew there was something suspicious about Sophie. What was she planning on doing? What was her end goal?

But Joy couldn’t dwell on it much longer. She needed to get back to the base.

Joy arrived back at the base, and of course was saluted by other soldiers, and she saluted back. Joy was then approached by someone that she was happy to see.

“Joy.” David saluted her, and Joy saluted back.

“David.”

“Glad to have you back here. Where were you for the past few days?”

“Let’s just say I had an important mission to take care of. Unfortunately, a certain someone caught pneumonia because he doesn’t know how to follow orders, so he’s staying in London while he recovers.”

“I see,” David huffed out. “Might I ask what happened?”

“It’s a long story. But now that I’m back, let’s focus on what’s important, and that is hunting down Hayashi. I know he’s out there hiding somewhere. We’ll search every island in the sea if we have to!”

“About that…” David sighed. “Listen, Joy. There is something I must tell you. The Major gave me permission to tell you this.”

Joy looked up at David, in slight trepidation. “What is it?”

“Well,” David stood up straight, with a determined face. “The Major’s private military company has completed development, and I’ve volunteered to join.”

“So…does that mean you won’t be staying here?”

“Unfortunately, no. I’ll be relocated somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea. But I’m sure we’ll see each other again someday. And you won’t have to worry about Hayashi anymore either. The Major and I will be taking care of him.”

“Oh…” Joy was saddened. “Well, good luck at your new base…”

David looked concerned as he saw Joy’s face. “You’re not sad about this, are you?”

“No, no, I’m happy for you, David. Um, I need to go.”

Joy ran off as David continued looking concerned, wondering if he had made the right decision.

Joy eventually reached her room and plopped down on her bed, with a saddened sigh as she hugged her pillow. She took the rosary Sorrow gave her from her pocket and held it tightly. Even though it helped her feel better, it still didn’t fill in the void that her father’s rosary did.

Weeks had passed, and David had eventually left to head to his new base. Joy had become depressed not having him around, to the point where she began to become less productive in battle. It got to the point where, on one mission in New Guinea, she wasn’t paying attention when a Japanese soldier used a flamethrower around her and her clothes had caught on fire. Although she quickly put it out, she was still left with some pretty nasty second-degree burns. She was quickly airlifted back to her base and rushed to the infirmary for treatment.

As Joy waited in severe burning pain, a lieutenant for the Australian army came in.

“Unfortunately, Private Joy, it seems like most of our medics are unavailable.”

“Most? So there are some, right?”

“Well, we have one available, but I’m not sure if-”

“I’m willing to take anyone!” Joy pleaded, just wanting any sort of relief from her pain.

The lieutenant was hesitant, before nodding. “Alright, we’ll send her over here.”

Joy continued to lay there in suffering for the next several minutes, until she eventually heard footsteps enter into the room and a familiar-sounding female voice.

“So you must be the patient, right? It seems like we’ve met before!”

Joy looked up to see that it was that Ivy Jenkins girl. She was all dressed up in her nurse’s outfit, with a huge smile on her face.

“I heard you had some pretty nasty burns,” she said genially. “Here, let me get you undressed so I can treat them.” She unbuttoned Joy’s army shirt and pulled it off as Joy flinched a bit. Now Joy was just wearing her bra. Ivy could see the blistered, red, peeling skin on various parts of her torso. “It definitely looks like second-degree. At least it’s not third-degree.” She gently smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll just rinse this with cool water, then clean the wounds, put some ointment on it, and then bandage it right up. You’ll feel better in no time.”

Joy winced as Ivy gently cleaned the burns, but they started to feel better after Ivy applied the bandages.

“There, all done!” She happily said. “Now just get plenty of rest and they should heal up in no time! Now, do you need anything else? Some water or something to eat, maybe?”

“Oh, no! I know you’re probably busy with other patients…”

Ivy had a sad look. “Actually, I don’t have any other patients. You’re the first one I’ve had in a while.”

Joy was surprised. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah…most patients would refuse treatment from me…”

“Wait, why would they-” Suddenly it struck Joy. “Oh…well, don’t worry, I’m nothing like that. Sure, I’d love some water and some food. Could you make me some macaroni and cheese?”

“Oh, I don’t know how to make that…”

“You don’t know how to make mac and cheese?”

“I grew up in a small village in Australia. I’m not really familiar...”

Joy smiled. “Well, I can show you how to make it.”

Joy got the ingredients for mac and cheese, a pot, and a Primus stove and showed Ivy how to make it, showing her how to boil the pasta and add cheese. The mac and cheese came out delicious, of course.

“You’ve been so nice to me…I should return the favor.” Ivy noticed Joy’s hair was a bit messed up, from her last mission of course. “I could fix up your hair! I know a really good braiding technique!”

“Oh…” Joy wasn’t particularly fond of braids, because her mother would always tie them uncomfortably tight when she did them. But Ivy seemed so nice, so she didn’t want to turn down the offer. “Sure, but try not to make it too tight, please.”

Ivy smiled. “Of course. I’ll be back in a second.”

She left the room and moments later came back with a brush and some hair ties. Ivy sat back down and began to work on Joy’s hair. She was so gentle that Joy almost didn’t feel anything.

“Ivy,” Joy spoke as Ivy continued to braid her hair. “Do you…not enjoy this job?”

Ivy sighed. “I just wish I could be accepted…”

Joy felt sadness for Ivy, and then an idea came to her mind. “Hey, Ivy. I think Major Armfield could help find you a better place to work.”

Ivy widened her eyes in surprise. “You really think he would?”

“Why don’t you ask him?”

“Sure, I’ll do that… ” Ivy finished braiding Joy’s hair. “All done!” She grabbed a mirror to show Joy. “Wow…you look really gorgeous.”

Joy admitted the braid looked nice, and it also felt comfortable and not tight at all. “Thank you, Ivy. It does look pretty.” Joy stood up. “I better check on my group. Thanks for taking care of me.”

Joy walked off, and Ivy continued to smile in content, glad to have a friend like Joy. Ivy then took Joy’s advice and decided to go look for the Major.

Joy wandered around the base, searching for the other Cobras, until she eventually ran into Sorrow.

“Joy! Uh-” Sorrow was surprised to see her. “You’ve been gone for a while.”

“I was just on a secret mission,” Joy told him.

“I see…” Sorrow had noticed that Joy’s hair was in a braid, and he blushed a little. “Your hair! It looks…”

“Different?” Joy smirked slightly.

“It looks very nice,” Sorrow complimented, still blushing. “It’s a good thing that I ran into you, because the liberation group gave us another mission. This time it’s in Venice.”

“Ah, Venice, Italy’s capital of romance.” Joy became all flirty. “Maybe this would be a good opportunity to have our date like we promised, since we didn’t get a chance to do that in Paris.”

Sorrow smiled. “Sounds good. But let’s not let this affect the mission, of course!”

Joy giggled. “You know I would never do that. Better get some rest then. We’ll leave tomorrow.”

Joy had walked off, but not before giving Sorrow a quick kiss, which made the latter nearly faint.

Chapter 10: Venice

Chapter Text

The next morning arrived, and Joy woke up on her infirmary bed to the sound of someone washing clothes. She looked to her side and saw that Major Armfield was in the same room as her, of course washing clothes in a bucket.

“Major,” Joy spoke to him. “What are you doing here?”

The Major was surprised to see her awake, but still smiled at her. “Good morning, Joy. I hope I didn’t disturb you. I just thought I’d clean your laundry for you before you head out on your next mission.”

“Where is Ivy?” Joy asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

“She left earlier this morning. She came up to me asking me for a place to work and I’ve made the decision to recruit her to my PMC. I hope she’ll be happier there.”

“Oh…” Joy was a bit sad to see Ivy leave so soon, but she was happy that she’ll work at a better place. “Well, I’m happy for her. I wish her the best.”

“Joy…do you miss David?” Armfield spoke up.

Joy didn’t speak. She was just simply quiet, turning slightly to avoid eye contact. Armfield walked up to her.

“You know, I’m always looking for new recruits.”

Joy thought for a moment. She would love to see David again, but knew she had her group to look after. She couldn’t just leave them behind, after all.

After thinking for a few more seconds, Joy stood up and looked in the Major’s eyes.

“Major, I appreciate the offer, but I’m going to have to decline.”

The Major raised his eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

“I don’t really have the time and energy to join another military group. If I did want to join, it would be to kill Hacket Wolff, but he’s already dead. And I do miss David but…he needs to learn how to take care of himself, and not rely on me.” Joy smiled. “And besides, I need to look after my group anyway. They really need me.”

The Major was saddened that Joy had declined his offer, but was understanding. He simply nodded. “I see. Alright, if you insist. Just let me know if you change your mind.” He handed her the military uniform he had cleaned. “Good luck on your mission.”

Joy nodded, and went off to gather the members of her group.

Inside the airplane, Joy was debriefing the Cobras on their next mission.

“So here’s the plan. Sorrow and I are going to sabotage the submarine, while the rest of you are going to take care of the tanks.”

Fury got excited over the thought of blowing up some tanks. Joy looked at him with a stoney expression.

“And Fury, please don’t use anything involving fire.”

“I won’t, ma’am!” Fury nodded obediently.

“Good. I’m trusting you.”

Joy gave a trusting look to him, and Fury was determined to not mess up this time.

Joy and Sorrow were walking in the tight streets near Piazza San Marco, avoiding the numerous patrols. It was deep and dark. Joy checked her wristwatch, which said “1 A.M.”, and started to get nervous.

"Are you sure this is the right place?” Joy scolded Sorrow. “We have been walking for hours."

"Yes, I am sure,” Sorrow said. “We just need to look for some hanging clothes on the windows. A yellow dress, a red blouse and a white shirt."

Joy started to look more carefully and regretted being harsh to Sorrow. After all, the mission was to sabotage an Italian submarine that according to the intel, was planned to head to the Black Sea, probably heading to Sebastopol, in one of the most important cities in Sorrow's homeland. She would have felt the same if she had to deal with an enemy submarine headed for New York. She then saw the clothes hanging in a similar way to what Sorrow described and then pointed it out, whispering.

"Look over there! Is it that?"

Sorrow smiled. "Yes. It is the place."

They headed to a door that was under the hanging clothes. Sorrow knocked and a young woman with black hair and a faded pink dress opened the door.

"Che volete?" she asked

"Siamo vinuti per riddarle vostro libbro,” Sorrow replied.

Of course, he made quite some grammar mistakes but the woman understood.

"Quale libro?" The woman asked back.

"Il Leonne e la Roza,” Sorrow replied.

The woman understood the code words and then said, with a gesture inviting them to enter, "Entrate prego."

Now they were inside a small house, consisting of a bed, a kitchen angle and a table with some chairs, all in the same room, with a ladder in the middle. Sitting on one of the chairs was an old man with white receding hairs and glasses, blissfully smoking a blow pipe.

Sorrow smiled. "Stiammo cherkando Marco."

The man smiled. "Americani?"

The man asked if they were Americans and despite Sorrow being Russian, he still answered yes, because he didn't want to explain it much. The man then laughed.

"Ze l'hai davanti, mona!"

"Quinddi perri piani di sottomarrino?" Sorrow then asked

Marco gave him a stern glance. "Non so di che parli."

He invited Sorrow and Joy to stay silent, with a finger in front of his mouth, then said. "Andiamo a prendere un pó di vino."

The man headed to the ladder and started climbing. Sorrow was bit worried.

"Ha bisonio di ajuto?"

"No, no,” Marco shouted. “Sono un vecchietto arzillo, io!"

It was now nighttime. Joy and Sorrow were walking in the darkness of the night.

"Follow me,” Joy ordered Sorrow. “Marco told me there was a shortcut."

Joy followed Sorrow, and they found themselves on the Ponte di Rialto, the most beautiful and iconic bridge that crossed the Grand Canal. Sorrow smiled, and pointed at the canal.

"Look."

"There is someone following us?" Joy asked with curiosity.

"No,” Sorrow said as he shook his head. “Look how beautiful it is."

"Hey, we are on a mission,” Joy scolded him. “It’s not professional right now, and we need to hurry."

Sorrow was about to explain the history but then had an idea. He grabbed and kissed Joy.

Joy was surprised. She was about to stop kissing and slap Sorrow, but after opening her eyes, she noticed that a smiling Italian soldier was staring at them, with a cigarette in his hand. The soldier quickly apologized.

"Scusate, non volevo rovinare il momento." The soldier then added, "Anzi, devo dire che siete proprio una bella coppia."

Both Sorrow and Joy had no idea of what was happening, then the former mumbled. "Uhhhh... mhmhm."

Then the soldier laughed. "Capito, levo subito il disturbo." He showed his cigarette. "Voi però non mi avete visto, va bene?"

Sorrow nodded with a loud "Mhmhm".

The soldier went away, laughing and thinking how he wanted to do the same with his fiance, which sadly was still in their hometown. He quickly gave a thought about Sorrow and Joy.

Maybe it was a soldier that took a moment with his girlfriend? Or maybe a politician or a high ranking officer with his lover?

Then the soldier quickly dismissed these thoughts, as Sorrow and Joy were heading to the Arsenale di Venezia.

The Arsenale di Venezia was opened in the year 1104 and its main purpose was to build and store the ships of the Venetian Navy. Despite being an historical landmark, apparently it was temporarily used to store some military boats. However, the site was not as heavily guarded, with just some sleepy sentries that would have preferred to sleep in their bunkbeds in the barracks, rather than a boring night of patrol, so sneaking behind them was easier than expected.

They carefully proceeded, until they reached the docks. Beside some patrol boats docked, the duo also found their targets: four CB class midget submersibles designed and built by Caproni. They were mostly used as coastal defense units, being a significant improvement of the previous CA class. Each unit had a standard (surfaced) displacement of 35.4 tons and a submerged displacement of 44.3 tons. They measured 15 metres (49 ft 3 in) in length, had a beam of 3 metres (9 ft 10 in) and a draught of 2.05 metres (6 ft 9 in). Power plant consisted of one Isotta Fraschini diesel engine and one Brown Boveri electric motor, both generating a total of 97 kilowatts (130 hp) powering a single shaft, resulting in a surfaced top speed of 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph) and a submerged top speed of 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph). Each boat was armed with two externally-mounted 450-millimetre (18 in) torpedoes, each tube could be reloaded without removing the vessel from water. The two torpedoes could also be replaced by two mines. Each boat had a crew of four, aided in navigation by a small conning tower

In Italian they were nicknamed "Sottomarini tascabili", which meant "pocket submarines" due their small dimensions compared to the usual models.

Joy scolded Sorrow, reminding him of the forced kiss. "You shouldn't have done that. It was really unprofessional...and you should ask first."

Sorrow felt guilty. "I am sorry, for real. It just... was romantic. We needed to enjoy the moment. After our talk...I feel I love you with all my heart. And also... all the presence of the spirits...the war...the situation in my country..." Then he sobbed. "I am afraid of death. I am literally scared to die before we can have a chance to live together."

A tear came from his eyes. Joy felt a deep sadness in her heart.

"Listen. I understand." Joy then smiled. "If we come back alive I will give you a hug and kiss."

Sorrow then smiled back, before entering one of the submarines, after telling Joy. "Keep me covered. I will go and sabotage these submarines."

Then he entered the small and thigh submarine, looking for the electrical system, which he slowly and carefully sabotaged, before going out.

"You took a while,” Joy scolded him.

"Yes, but I needed to be careful,” Sorrow explained. “It must not look like sabotage or they will get suspicious."

Then he entered another submarine, where instead he sabotaged the sonar system, with the same care and skill, before going to deal with the last.

Joy was getting impatient, while Sorrow was tinkering with the final submarine's air system. After Sorrow was done, he went back to Joy and told her about it proudly.

"Done. Let's get back home."

Chapter 11: Engagement

Chapter Text

“Did you see me destroy those tanks?!” As the group was back at the base after a long mission, Fury was excitingly bragging about his accomplishment back in Venice. “They were completely obliterated!”

“Yes, Fury, you did well on this mission.” Joy smiled slightly at him. “You’ve been improving quite a bit lately, great job.”

Fury had felt proud of himself after Joy had told him that. It seemed like Joy was finally appreciating him for his hard work.

Joy then dismissed the group and went to her room to relax after her mission.

The weeks had passed, and eventually, December 30th had arrived. It was the one year anniversary of Lamb’s death, and honestly Joy was not in a good mood because of this fact. Not only that, but it had been over a month and William had still not returned. Joy knew he couldn’t be dead, otherwise she would have been informed of his death by now, so she was wondering where the hell he was. That is, until to Joy’s surprise, William had showed up at the base that night.

“Where the hell were you?” Joy scolded him as soon as he had arrived.

“What do you think?” He responded back, in his usual careless tone. “I was sick.”

“You don’t look like someone who had just recovered from pneumonia,” Joy snarked at him.

“Um…” He faked coughed a couple times, but Joy’s face clearly told him that she wasn’t buying it. “Alright, so I didn’t immediately return when I got better.”

“That’s what you were supposed to do!” Joy shouted at him, angrily. “What the hell were you doing these past few weeks?!”

“Uh…” William hesitated, as Joy crossed her arms awaiting his response. “Alright, Sophie and I went on a hunting trip in South Africa.”

“Why?!” Joy yelled at him, wondering why he would be vacationing with his apparent girlfriend when he was supposed to be fighting in a war.

“I made her a promise that I would during the Syria mission.”

Joy groaned, as she covered her face with her hand. “Leaving you behind was a mistake.”

“Give him a break, Joy.” Joy had heard a familiar French accent speak to her. Joy looked to see Sophie who stood right next to William. “Besides, he did teach me how to use a rifle.”

Joy pointed to Sophie accusingly. “I’m getting sick of you spoiling him!”

“And I’m going to continue to spoil him, because William and I are engaged now!” Sophie announced.

Joy was in complete shock. “W-What?! Are you serious?!”

Sophie showed Joy her ring to prove it, and William sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “Erm, yeah…I proposed to her, and she said yes.”

“And we’re going to be having our wedding in early March!” Sophie established.

“March?! But that’s three months from now! You can’t just go and get married, not at this time!”

“Watch me, Joy.”

Joy looked at Sophie with disapproval. “So much for caring about the war!” Joy stomped off, infuriated.

Sophie and William looked at each other with concern. “Maybe I should talk to her,” Sophie suggested.

Sophie went over to Joy’s room, where Joy was sitting on her bed, fuming as she was listening to music on the radio to try and calm herself down. Sophie stepped forward.

“Joy, please. I’m in love with him and I want to marry him before it’s too late. You should understand. Aren’t you in love with someone?”

Joy then thought about it, and how much she loved Sorrow and wanted to spend her life with him, but it seemed impossible at the moment. Especially with the war and the tensions between the United States and Russia.

But then she started to wonder why Sophie was even wanting to marry this man anyway, especially since she had hated him a few weeks ago. That was the part Joy was baffled about. She stood up and looked Sophie in the eye.

“Look, I don’t know what made you suddenly want to marry him. Or even tolerate him for that matter.”

“It’s just that spending years with him…I've grown to actually care for him.”

“Oh, really? Because I feel the opposite.” Joy rolled her eyes. “Hell, I’m surprised you were quick to offer to nurse him back to health. I heard from Charlotte he can be a nightmare when sick.”

“Well, the pneumonia made him too fatigued to even be an annoyance. He was mostly just tired and sleeping all day.” Sophie grunted. “Not as bad as those times he would have a cold, and would complain that his soup or tea isn’t right or demand me to give him foot massages…”

“Okay…” Joy was starting to get grossed-out since this was veering into too-much-information territory. She then sighed heavily. “I guess I can’t stop you two from having your wedding. But remember that just because you're married doesn’t mean you’re exempt from soldier work.”

“Oh, thank you, Joy! And William’s father even agreed to help pay for the costs on your new headquarters."

Joy lightened up upon hearing this. “Really?!” She became excited.

“Yes, we found a nice house in the French countryside that would be perfect. It just needs renovation and it will be ready.”

Joy was so happy, that she had forgotten that she was angry for a moment. After Sophie had left the room, Joy went to tell the rest of the Cobras. She was sure they’d be excited too. Later on that day, Joy was laying on her bed staring at the winged dagger pin she held in her hand. Even though she was happy about the new HQ, it still didn’t ease the pain she felt over her fallen commander. Of course, William entered her room, which irritated her slightly. She glared at him.

“What do you want?”

“Are you still mad?” William meekly asked.

“Look, I’m in a bad mood because it’s Lamb’s death anniversary, and you’re making it worse. Now leave.”

“I just wanted to ask you something.”

“Make it quick, and then leave.”

“Well, I just wanted to know if you’d like to be invited to our wedding.”

Joy raised an eyebrow. “This isn’t just some way to make me jealous, is it?”

“No, absolutely not!” William denied.

“Forget it, William. I don’t have time to travel to London and attend some gaudy wedding of yours.” Joywent back to focusing on the pin. She could hear William pleading in the background.

“Please, Joy! This is very important to me! You attending is the only way I can get Charlotte to attend!”

Joy begrudgingly sighed. “Fine. I’ll attend. But I want you to promise me that when you’re married to Sophie, you’re going to be treating her with nothing but respect. I want you to be an absolute gentleman to her.”

William nodded.

“And no flirting with other women while you’re married to her. Do I make myself clear?”

William nodded again. “Yes. Oh, thank you so much, Joy! The wedding is on March 3rd in the evening, at the church my family attends. You know the one. I’ll be inviting David as well.”

“And let me guess, you’re inviting him because you want to rub it in his face that you’re getting married?”

“I just wanted to be nice. I can’t be nice now and then?”

“Well, good luck getting in touch with him. He’s working at the Major’s new PMC.”

“Oh! The Major actually hired me to work at his base and I’ll be heading there tomorrow. I’ll invite him when I see him.”

Joy was confused. “Wait, he willingly invited you?”

“Guess he really needed my skills,” William bragged.

Joy scoffed. “Whatever, as long as I no longer have to work with you again.”

“Thank you again, Joy. See you at the wedding!”

William waved as he left the room, and Joy continued to stare at the pin, placing her finger over the engraving.

A few weeks had passed, and it was now the year of 1943. One day in January, Sophie had come into Joy’s room with good news, that the headquarters was finally ready for Joy and the rest of her team to live in.

Joy was ecstatic, and gave Sophie a hug. “Oh, Sophie, I cannot thank you enough!”

Sophie smirked. “You should thank Mr. Cromwell. He helped pay for it.”

Joy grimaced , as she admittedly didn’t want to give him credit. Sure it was nice of him to pay for expenses, but she wondered if he was only doing this because she thought it would get her to attend his son’s wedding. But she just accepted it, not wanting to come off as ungrateful.

“I’ll thank him at the wedding. Now let us see the headquarters.”

“The plane is ready for take-off. Go get your teammates and I’ll lead you to it.”

The plane trip was long as Joy and the rest of her team flew across the Eurasian continent. Joy of course couldn’t contain her excitement of getting to see her new headquarters, anticipating the moment they land on French soil.

Eventually, the plane landed in the French countryside. Everyone stepped out with the bags that they had brought. Joy was the last to step out and felt the familiar pleasant climate of France in the spring as soon as she did, which brought her back to when she first joined the military and was stationed there. Sure, Adrian was with her at the time, but she still felt nostalgic about it for some reason.

Joy got a good glimpse of the headquarters. It was a quaint-looking house that certainly looked large enough to house several people. Sophie had told Joy that it used to be an orphanage back in the 18th century. Obviously, it had been previously abandoned, but Mr. Cromwell had bought it and had it renovated so that it’d be fit for her and the Cobras to live in. It had four bedrooms, a kitchen, and two bathrooms. Joy looked at Sophie and smiled.

“It looks great, Sophie. Thank you.”

“This place looks so badass!” Fury gushed. “And I guess at least two of us get to have our own room? I volunteer!”

Joy glared at Fury. “Um, no, that’s not how this is going to work.”

Fury was confused. “What do you mean? There are four bedrooms, right? So four of us get to share between two rooms, and the remaining two of us get to have our own rooms? And one of those people is going to be me, right?”

Joy sternly looked at him, before explaining. “Fury, we need one of those rooms to conduct meetings in, so we’re going to have to share between three rooms. So, yes, Fury, you are getting a roommate.”

“What?!” Yelled out Fury, not amused by this. “Oh, come on!”

“You go ahead and decide on that, while I’m going to London to plan for the wedding,” Sophie went back into the plane, and after a few minutes, the plane took off before disappearing into the sky.

“Alright, I need to determine who’s sharing rooms with who.” Joy spoke to the Cobras. She thought for a moment. “Okay, I’ve known Fear the longest so I’ll share a room with him. End and Pain, you can share rooms with each other. That leaves you to share a room with Sorrow, Fury.”

“Really, I’m sharing a room with Sorrow?” Fury was far from happy.

“You both need to learn how to work out your differences. Now everyone, go choose a room with your roommates and unpack your bags. That’s an order!”

Everyone followed Joy’s orders and dispersed, but Sorrow decided to stay behind, as he was slightly upset that Joy assigned herself to Fear’s room instead of his.

“You know, Joy, you didn’t have to feel embarrassed pairing yourself up with me…” Sorrow meekly said, afraid that Joy was ashamed of their relationship.

“Listen, Sorrow, I just didn’t want it to be a distraction. And besides, living with someone I’m in a relationship with but not married to is a sin in my religion…”

“I understand…” Sorrow was disappointed but still respected Joy’s wishes.

“Just try to get along with Fury for me, alright?”

“I’ll try…” Sorrow followed the others into the building, and Joy followed him behind.

Chapter 12: Luxembourg

Chapter Text

Joy would have never guessed that it would have only been three days and she had already been woken up in the morning by Sorrow and Fury arguing over something trivial in their own rooms. With frizzy hair and groggy eyes, she groaned as she covered her head with her pillow, attempting to drown out the sound of their yelling.

“I told you to stop leaving your dirty clothes right next to my bed! I keep stepping into them!” Sorrow’s yelling voice muffled through the walls.

“Well, how about you stop drying off your laundry next to my bed!” Fury argued back.

Joy immediately got out of her bed and stomped over to their room as they continued to argue. She barged into their room.

“Alright, what is the deal with you two?!” Joy yelled at them. “It’s seven in the morning!”

“I’m getting sick of living with this…this slob!” Sorrow pointed to Fury. “He keeps leaving his dirty clothes everywhere, smokes in the room, and never makes his bed!”

“Yeah, well, at least I don’t iron my socks!” Fury insulted back.

Joy glared at them with tired eyes. “You two need to work this out without arguing. We’re all a team here.” She turned to Fury. “Also, Sorrow is right, Fury. You need to learn how to clean up after yourself. And go outside when you smoke, please; you’re going to start a fire that way.”

Sorrow smirked as Fury groaned. “Of course you’re taking his side.”

Fear excitedly ran off into the room. “Guys, I just hunted this wild boar and found a few duck eggs by the waterside! We have breakfast!”

Joy smiled. “Good job, Fear. See? Fear knows how to bring home the bacon; literally. Now, let’s all have a peaceful rest of the morning, and after breakfast I’ll debrief you guys on our next mission.

Sorrow and Fear left the room and Fury tried to follow them, but Joy had stopped him.

“You’re not leaving until you pick up your clothes and make your bed.”

Fury grumbled and had no other choice but to obey Joy’s orders.

After what was a nice breakfast of boar bacon and duck eggs, Joy ordered everyone to come to the meeting room, as she had a new mission for the group.

“So yesterday I got a letter regarding a mission in a country named Luxembourg-”

“Luxembourg?” Fury repeated in confusion, and everyone else was confused and well, having never heard of the place.

“It’s a landlocked country bordering France, Germany, and Belgium. It’s very small; one of the smallest in the world actually. Don’t worry, I haven’t heard of the country until now.”

Fortunately, the room they were currently in used to be a classroom, so there was a bookshelf filled with books where Joy was able to find an encyclopedia of European history, so she was able to read about the country. There was also a convenient map of Europe on the wall, so Joy grabbed a teaching stick and pointed to the country.

“Right here. That is where we’ll be going.”

Of course, it wasn’t visible to the team from their distance. It was only when they got close to the map they were able to see the pea-sized country.

“Fortunately, since it borders France, we can just drive there. However, we’ll have to be careful since it is currently under German occupation.”

Joy then said that she would explain the plan in detail once they got to the border and the Cobras understood. Joy then ordered the group to gather their weapons and gear and to meet her at the truck to begin their expedition. Once they got close to the border, they were going to be sneaked in via a food delivery truck.

The Cobra Unit entered the small country of Luxembourg, specifically by crossing the border at the Esch-sur-Alzette canton. Along the way, Joy had explained the situation in Luxembourg, which was explained in the letter she had received from the resistance group that assigned her the mission.

Invaded in the 10th May of 1940 it was quickly conquered and occupied, and four months later a proclamation by the Nazi Chief Administrator of Luxembourg Gustav Simon forbade speaking French, which ironically led to a popular revival of the traditional Luxembourgish language, as it was a Germanic language. Two years later, Luxembourg was officially made part of Germany, annexed and occupied like Poland. However the population was still trying to resist, for example with a general strike in 1942, against conscription in the Wehrmacht, which sadly concluded with the execution of 21 strikers.

Despite this resistance, there was also the presence of collaborators such as the Volksdeutsche Bewegung, a militia which was created with the attempt to fully integrate the country with Germany, beside the place swarming with Nazis.

Joy had explained what the plan was. The mission was to extract an important member of the Luxembourgish royal family that joined the fight with the British, retrieve some gold that the Nazis had stolen, meet with a resistance group, then sneak the rebels through the French border to help them avoid persecution as the Nazis were currently raiding every hiding place they could find.

It seemed like this was going to be a difficult task as the place was swarmed with Nazis, with numerous soldiers, Sd.Kfz. 251 half-tracks and even some Panzer I tanks.

As the group was being snuck in, the truck driver talked with a German with a sentry that stopped him, asking for papers and what were his reasons for the transit. The dialogue was muffled by the blankets that covered the unit and thus unintelligible. After some tense moments, the sentinel told the driver to go.

Then another half hour of drive before the truck stopped in the middle of the countryside. The truck driver got out of his vehicle, then headed to the team speaking to them, pointing to a small farm that was close to them.

"This is our stop. That is the hideout of the resistance members that will help in your mission."

Joy thanked him, and then the truck driver started to go, before turning to the same direction he came from. Meanwhile the rest of the Cobra team was carefully advancing to the small farm, which consisted of a wooden shack, a small fenced area and a chicken coop.

On the wall there was a propaganda poster declaring: "Luxembourger du bist Deutsch; Deine Muttersprache ist Deutsch". which translated from German meaning "Luxembourger, you are German; your mothertongue is German.”

The tension was thick as the team had their guns ready. For this mission, their main loadout was different than usual. Joy, Sorrow and The Pain were armed with Sten Mk. IIS, submachine guns, while The End instead of his usual Mosin Nagant, was now holding a De Lisle suppressed bolt-action carbine. These guns, all of British origin, were integrally suppressed thus essential in what would have been likely a stealth mission.

The Fear had his usual crossbows, with his main weapon of choice being the William Tell crossbow. However, since Joy forbade Fury from using fire, he had to find another weapon to use. He settled on using a club, as he figured his brutish strength would make him effective with melee.

Two very young men who looked like farmers came from the shack, both of them armed with old double barreled shotguns and shouting in German.

"Beweg dich nicht, sonst sprengen wir dir den Kopf!"

"No, you drop your weapons, Krauts!" the Pain yelled.

One of the farmers laughed. "Oh, it’s the Americans. We were waiting for you.”

“Actually, only him and I are American,” Joy corrected them, pointing to the Pain, and the Pain nodded. “We also have a Brazilian and three Soviets.”

The farmer just smiled. “Oh, it doesn’t matter. We’re all allies, anyway. Come inside!” He motioned them inside.

The group went inside the shack which was decorated with very basic furniture, such as a few chairs and beds. The two men, who barely looked like adults, introduced themselves.

"I am Guillelme"

The other man was embarrassed. "My name is...Adolf."

The Fear looked at him, feeling a bit weirded out.

"It was a pretty common name around here,” Adolf explained. “Before that bastard ruined it."

Joy then tried to assure the man that it’s no different than someone being named Joseph or Benito, despite also being the names of dictators, which helped ease Adolf’s shame. Joy then tried to put his team back on the line.

"Let's focus on the mission. We know that the Prince was captured and we have little time before they may decide to execute him."

Then Guillelme told them.

"We know that he was taken to a prisoner camp located a few kilometers from here, but the place is heavily guarded."

"Like the Americans say…” the Fury started. “It will be a walk on the cake."

Joy wanted to scold him for getting the two sayings "a walk in the park" and "piece of cake" mixed up, but now she had to focus on the mission.

"You come with us,” she told the two Luxembourgers. “Guide us to the camp. Pain, give them the Stens."

The Pain complied and gave two spare Sten Mk. IIS that he was keeping on the shoulder with slings, as the in mission debriefing was also mentioned that they needed to provide the right equipment to the resistance.

"Okay, follow us," Guillelme told them.

The team reached the camp, composed of a few wooden buildings surrounded by barbed wire, heavily guarded and with watchtowers.

The End looked through his scope, commenting. "So far, I can see a guard manning a spotlight, three men patrol near the main entrance and another guard with a German Shepherd."

Joy looked through her binoculars, confirming what the End said, then told him, "End, shoot the man on the watchtower. Fear, you go next. Then start the assault."

"Can I use the hornets to stage a distraction?" The Pain asked.

Joy was initially against this idea because she didn’t want to risk getting the dog hurt, being a lover of animals, but figured that was probably the best option to avoid detection. “Alright,” she sighed. “Just don’t hurt the dog.”

The Pain used his hornet-summoning powers, controlling them and directing them to the dog and his handler. The bees surrounded them but didn’t sting. Still, the dog and his handler were frightened enough to run from the insects to avoid them, and when the handler accidentally let go of the leash, that’s when the dog bolted off and the handler chased after him, leaving them fortunately out of the way.

The watchtower guard's was then hit in the head by a .45 ACP bullet from The End's Le Lisle Carbine, while the men near the entrance where hit by darts from the Fear's crossbows, while the last surviving Nazi joined the rest of his unit, as the Fear quickly dashed and slit his neck with a knife. Joy began to shout.

"Let's go! Guillerme! Adolf! You cover the rear! Let's start the assault!"

The team quickly dashed to the camp, and the real firefight began. The Nazis were confused about what was happening, with most of them dying as soon as they were spotted by the Cobras, killed by the bullets of the Cobra's silenced weapons. One of the Nazis even surprised Joy by jumping on her from a corner and trying to stab her, but due to her rigorous training and experience, she quickly hit him on the stomach with her elbow, with her knee on his groin and then with the Sten's stock on his face.

The team started to check and clear each of the wooden building, always professional yet cautious.

The Fury opened a door with a powerful kick. He glimpsed at a Nazi officer, pointing his Walther P-38 pistol to a kneeling prisoner. Fury quickly dashed, like a quarterback running to score, swinging his club before hitting the Nazi's head with brutal force.

The Nazi fell on the ground, likely dead from the strong impact given by Fury's almost supernatural strength, but for Fury it wasn't enough. Blinded by the rage that he usually felt in battle, he continued to brutally hit the Nazi with violence. The Nazi's head was slowly shifting into a barely recognizable red pulp.

The group who was watching the scene from the doorway were in shock. They knew Fury had a temper but they didn’t know he could be this ruthless. Sorrow’s weak stomach caused him to be queasy from the sight, so he went to a nearby bush to vomit. Meanwhile, Fear and Pain had to restrain Fury and help him calm down.

“Amigo, enough!” Fear snapped at Fury in a concerned tone. “He’s already dead!”

Fury breathed a few times before looking down at the corpse, whose brain matter and skull fragments had made a mess all over the wooden floor. “S-Sorry,” he apologized, in a slightly embarrassed tone. “I may have gotten carried away.”

The group then saw who the prisoner was, and the Luxembourgians recognized him as the Prince of Luxembourg. He was blindfolded so thankfully he was spared from seeing that brutal scene. Adolf went over to help untie him.

He asked in his native language if they were here to rescue them, and Adolf replied that they were, however he advised him not to take the blindfold off until they were out of the building, to avoid seeing a gory sight.

The Luxembourgish soldiers guided the prince out of the building and the prince took his blindfold off as soon as they were outside. Joy patted Sorrow on the back and gave him some water from her canteen and a ginger candy to soothe his nausea. Meanwhile, the prince spoke more Luxembourgish, asking Adolf who the other people were. Adolf explained that they were sent to help sneak him through the border and their leader, Joy, was one of the most renowned American soldiers.

“Da muss hatt Englesch schwätzen, richteg?” The Prince asked.

Adolf nodded.

“Oh, good!” he exclaimed in English. “Then that would make speaking to her easier!”

“Alright, let’s move,” Joy ordered everyone. “Before they send reinforcements after us.”

The team was now walking through the countryside, heading towards the capital of the country, which was also called "Luxembourg", but often referred by the locals as "The City".

The situation was tense yet calm, as there was no trace of enemies for the moment.

Joy took the opportunity to ask the Prince some questions.

"Where are we heading?"

"The National Archives,” the Prince replied. “The gold was stored in a room in one of the lower levels."

Joy scolded him.

"You went in a self-imposed mission behind enemy lines without support!"

The Prince looked at her for a moment.

"I am a gallant soldier, no different than anyone else! I will fight for my country, especially to repel the Nazi threat!"

Joy remained silent as the memories of the Red Sea incident hit her.

The gunfire and smoke and blood on the desert sand. The flashbacks were all too vivid.

But it was nothing like the pain she felt from her commander being taken from her. She was out for revenge, and the people responsible were going to pay. However, Joy told herself to focus on the mission and her thoughts quickly vanished, as she proceeded carefully, following the Prince and leading the Cobras.

They proceeded slowly and cautiously, avoiding the German patrols that were becoming increasingly more common as they inched closer to the city, which was fairly intact and seemed barely touched by the war.

The team was now in the city, trying to avoid the main streets. A Nazi soldier was standing in an alley, alone and lighting a cigarette for himself. As he mumbled quietly to himself in German, his neck was slit by a cold blade.

It was the Fear, who snuck behind the German, to make sure that the team could proceed safely.

Considering that the team was now composed of nine people, proceeding without detection was a hazardous task. Of course, due their training with Joy, they knew how to proceed and how to be synchronized without any need for verbal orders, so Joy focused her attention mostly on the surroundings and on the Luxembourgers. Nevertheless, the two resistance fighters were pretty capable and of course they knew their city like the inside of their pocket.

Joy checked carefully the area, which looked clear, then made a gesture to order the team to proceed. Located in Plateau du Saint-Esprit, L-1475 Luxembourg, the "National Archives", was a nameless and anonymous building in a former Prussian military hospital that was built in 1862. As the memory of the nation, the National Archives play a key role in the preservation and provision of public or private archival materials. The Prince even mentioned that there were plans to open it to the general public after the war.

The team got a little bit closer, then Joy stopped. In front of the building there were some Opel Blitz trucks parked, with some Nazi soldiers loading some crates on it, all while being supervised by an officer. Joy was almost ready to advance and prepare an assault, when a young soldier who was barely past his teens came rushing to the officer, before shouting with an exhausted and nervous voice.

"Kommandant! Es brennt im Stalag...!"

The soldier was interrupted quickly by the commander who shouted even more loudly.

"Dann gehen Sie mit den anderen Teams und versuchen Sie, das Feuer zu löschen! Und versuchen Sie, die dafür Verantwortlichen zu finden! Schnell, schnell!"

The soldier saluted the officer and some other comrades scattered in the city, leaving a few soldiers to check if the truck cargo was loaded and safe.

"Fear, End, You take care of the soldiers,” Joy ordered. “Then we capture the trucks and head to the border of France. The Luxembourgers will drive the trucks. Fear, End and the prince will be on the front truck. I will be in the other truck, with Pain, Sorrow and Fury."

The group nodded simultaneously, then Joy told them to proceed. The Pain used his hornets to create a diversion, while The End and The Fear picked up the few remaining soldiers.

The officer was confused and shocked, as the only thing that he understood was that he was under attack. He panicked and tried to run for cover, avoiding the shots from the End and the darts from The Fear, but his luck was short-lived as he got too close to the place where The Fury was hiding. The enormous Soviet just whispered some words, before hitting him with the club.

"Umeret, Nazi govna!"

Then as the officer was on the ground, The Fury stomped on his head for good measure. As soon as every Nazi was dead, the team rushed as the time was precious, and got aboard the trucks. The Prince quickly grabbed a pair of MP40 submachine guns from the dead Nazis, as he felt he may need them during the extraction. Guillerme, who was driving the front truck, turned it on and began to drive on the main street of Luxembourg, feeling nervous yet adrenalinic.

They quickly reached the outskirts of the city, where a roadblock checkpoint was set. The soldier ordered the truck to stop by making a gesture with the palm and loudly shouting "Halt!". However, the Luxembourger knew stopping would have meant sure death, so instead he stepped on the accelerator, hoping that the Nazi's bullets wouldn't have hit him.

The guard that ordered him to stop was standing in the middle of the road, hoping that the truck would stop, but when the truck started to go faster it was already too late and the German was hit and run over, with his fellow soldier preparing his bolt-action Kar98k rifle and shooting before being killed by a burst from Joy's Countryman submachine gun.

The situation was now "hot", as now the Nazi were alerted. The Cobras prepared their main weapons, ready to fire at the upcoming enemies. They began to hear the loud engine noises coming from some Kettenkrad, which were German-made military motorbikes with sidecar attached, with soldiers equipped with MP40s sitting in them, which they began to fire. The bullets were flying, but the Cobras were returning fire.

The Pain was firing intensively with his M1928A1 Thompson, while also sending hornets to try to make the Kettenkrad's drivers' life a bit harder, while The Fury meanwhile was throwing his RGK grenades, with the Ketterkrad pilots trying their best maneuvers in order to avoid the explosions.

The End instead was calmly aiming at the head of the enemies with his trusty Mosin-Nagant, picking them one by one, at least until an unexpected bump made his lose his grip on the rifle, which fell on the road. The Prince and Sorrow were also trying to contribute by shooting their guns. For being a half-hour drive, it was incredibly intense because of all the incoming enemies. Due to the intense fight, the ammo were starting to get scarce, unlike the enemies which seemed to multiply.

As the truck was steering and drifting, it was hit by heavy fire from a machine-gun, which fortunately didn't hit anyone. The enemy vehicle was gaining on them, proceeding at a high speed, getting close enough that the team could identify it as a Kübewagen with a MG-34 mounted on it.

The Pain was about to shoot at the driver while Joy provided suppressive fire, but his gun jammed. The Cobra tried to unjam his gun, cussing heavily so the Fury tried to throw a grenade before realizing that he didn't had any more.

"Chyort! I need a grenade!"

The Pain quickly gave Fury one of his.

"This should keep them busy," Pain said.

It was an American-made Mk. 2 grenade, famously nicknamed "Pineapple" due the similar shape. The Fury wasn't used to it but tried his best throw, hoping that would at least keep the Nazi at bay. The grenade flew in the air, with the enemy machine gunner realizing it was getting close. Out of pure luck for the Cobras, the grenade landed perfectly between the driver's seat and the machine-gun emplacement.

When the Nazi gunner noticed it, he had only the time to say his last word.

"Scheisse!"

Then, he was quickly killed by the explosion, which also wrecked the car.

Exhausted and almost out of ammo, the Cobras were now crossing the border with France, with their truck riddled with bullet holes. Fortunately, they were able to make it back to their haven safely and without issue. As soon as they returned to the headquarters, they got out and inspected the vehicle, which looked like Swiss cheese at this point.

“Damn, this looks like Bonnie and Clyde’s car!” Pain said.

“Who?” Fury asked, and of course the rest of the non-American Cobras were confused.

“A couple of outlaws who were going around the States committing crimes some years back,” Joy stated. “But they’re dead now. They were shot multiple times while driving down a highway.”

“I was afraid they were going to rob my apiary and steal my jars of honey!” Pain said.

“I was living in England at the time, but I still remember Adrian kept mailing me newspapers about them because he thought it would be funny to scare me.” Joy was still mad about it, especially since Adrian was working at his uncle’s convenience store in Louisiana as a summer job at the time, and could have very well been their next target.

The Cobras of course looked uneased by this. Fury spoke up. “Joy, why did you even like this guy in the first place? He sounds like a complete asshole.”

“I don’t know…” Joy sighed. “I guess I was a fool back then…”

“Hey, you’re not a fool, you made a mistake,” Sorrow pointed out and the rest of the Cobras agreed. “Besides, they say that love is blind.”

Joy smiled, feeling slightly better. “Glad to have you guys by my side. But you’re still doing your daily chores!”

Everyone groaned. Joy then assigned them each a task to do. Joy assigned Fury to dust, which Fury was not thrilled about.

“What do I look like, some kind of maid?!” Fury argued.

“We share this house together, so that means we all pitch in!” Joy stated. “And while you’re at it, why don’t you try to work on your anger issues? I admired your performance in this mission, but you can’t get overwhelmed with emotions like that; it might cost you your life.”

“I don’t have anger issues!” Fury snapped.

Joy glared at him, and Fury immediately realized that Joy probably had a point.

“Alright, fine,” Fury grumbled as he trudged into the building. “I’ll work on them.”

Chapter 13: Wedding Dress

Chapter Text

“Fury, have you seen Joy anywhere?” Sorrow asked as he had walked into the meeting room, only to notice that Fury was sitting at one of the desks, feet up and reading a book. “Fury! You’re…reading?”

Fury glanced up at Sorrow, his eyes full of anger. “What? You think I can’t read or something?”

“It’s just…” Sorrow straightened his glasses. “I just never seen you read before. What are you reading?”

“Well, when I was dusting off the bookshelf the other day, I found this book about outer space, and I decided to give it a read.”

“Right. Do you know where Joy is? She’s not in her room.”

“She went outside. She seemed a bit aggravated though.”

Sorrow ran off and then went outside to see that Joy was sure enough sitting on a bench next to a tree, with an angered look on her face as she held a cigar in her hand. Sorrow approached her and spoke.

“Joy? What’s wrong?”

“I just got a letter from the ‘Prince’…” Joy responded. “He admitted that he’s not actually the real prince of Luxembourg and was just a body double.”

“And?”

“And?! I risked my life to save him and I found out I’ve been lied to!”

“But he was still a human life that was saved. Doesn’t that matter?”

“I know…” Joy sighed. “I just don’t like being deceived.” She took a drag from her cigar as Sorrow sat down next to her. “I would have been willing to rescue anyone, I just don’t know why they couldn't have been more honest.”

“They’re could have been many reasons. Maybe they just wanted to protect their prince.” Sorrow also got out his carton of cigarettes, which Joy was surprised to see.

“You smoke too?”

“Sometimes…not as much as Fury.” Sorrow got out one of the cigarettes and held it to Joy. “Lighter?”

Joy got out her lighter and with the flick of a flame, lit up Sorrow’s cigarette. After the two smoked for a bit, Sorrow spoke up to ask Joy a question.

“So what missions do you have planned for us next?”

“Nothing at the moment,” Joy replied as smoke poured from her mouth. “I actually need to go to Paris tomorrow and help Sophie pick out a wedding dress.”

Sorrow’s eyes had lit up. “Did you say Paris?”

“Yes?”

“May I come too? I could help out!”

Joy hesitated for a moment. She didn’t want to annoy Sophie by bringing other people along, but judging by Sorrow’s expression, he seemed really eager. After much thought, Joy gave in.

“Alright, you can come along.”

After a long drive to Paris, Sorrow and Joy proceed to settle into the city, making their walk to the bridal store that they were supposed to meet Sophie at. It was a very posh and prestigious one, and the dresses were very expensive. Fitting since Sophie was marrying a rich man, so of course her wedding was going to be luxurious.

“Joy, which dress do you prefer?” Sophie held up two dresses. One was a wedding dress with long, lace sleeves that had a floral pattern on it, and the other was a short-sleeved satin dress. “This one, or this one?”

“Sophie, it’s your wedding. You should choose whatever dress suits you.” Joy has a hand placed on her hip, while Sorrow stood behind her, fidgeting in boredom.

“It’s so hard to decide,” Sophie lamented as she inspected each of the dresses. “They both look beautiful.”

“Well, why don’t you try on both of them and see which one you look better in?” Joy suggested.

“I suppose I’ll do that.”

Sophie went into the changing room, and after a few minutes came out wearing the satin dress. She checked herself in the mirror.

“Oh, this one looks very nice! Let me try the other one though.”

She went back into the dressing room, and after a few more minutes, came out wearing the lace dress. She looked in the mirror, and immediately fell in love with it.

“This one! I think this is the right one! Oh, William is going to love it when he sees me in this!”

Sorrow yawned. “Does that mean we can go now?”

Joy glared at Sorrow. “You wanted me to drag you along,” Joy whispered. Joy then looked at Sophie. “Say, Sophie, where is William anyway?”

“He’s on a mission right now. But we’re going to meet later and have a romantic evening together! Take a walk through Champ de Mars, dine at a fancy restaurant, maybe look at some art in the Louvre…”

Joy rolled her eyes. Granted, it was nice to see Sophie happy, even if she didn’t like that man at all. Sophie went to buy the wedding dress, asking them to ship it to London, specifically to Charlotte’s residence since she agreed to keep the dress safe for her until the wedding day. While Sophie was carrying out the transaction, Joy angrily scolded Sorrow.

“Why are you now bored after you bugged me to take you with me?” Joy growled at Sorrow.

“Well, uh…” Sorrow fidgeted with his fingers a bit. “I just wanted to, uh…spend time with you, since we never got a chance to do anything during our last trip to Paris.”

Joy’s expression stopped being angry, and she smiled, flattered by this. “Aw…” she jumped towards Sorrow to hug him. “Guess I can’t be mad at you.”

“Oh, Joy!” Sophie approached Joy and smiled. “I almost forgot to mention. One of the servants found it while cleaning up the ballroom for the reception and well…here you go. Charlotte told me it belonged to you.”

Sophie handed Joy what appeared to be a necklace, and when Joy grabbed it and took one good look at it, she was in complete shock when she recognized what it was.

“Is this…” Joy blinked a few times. “This is my rosary!” Joy looked up at Sophie in disbelief. “I can’t believe you guys found it! Thank you so much!”

Sophie warmly smiled back. "It must mean a lot to you."

Joy nodded, as she caressed the beads of the rosary, a wonderful feeling that she hadn’t felt since she had lost it. "It belonged to my father. He gave it to me before he passed away.”

“I bet he was an incredible father,” Sophie assuringly said back. “I better get back to the hotel. William said that he is going to meet me there at five.”

“Have fun on your date,” Joy said, smiling

After Sophie had left the bridal shop, Joy’s eyes had teared up with pure happiness as she clutched the rosary tight. “I’m so happy right now! I can’t believe they found it!”

“I see…” Even if Sorrow was happy to see Joy reunited with her beloved rosary, he still had a hint of sadness in his voice, as he wondered if that meant that Joy didn’t want the other rosary anymore.

“And now I have two rosaries from two of the best men ever,” Joy hugged Sorrow again, and Sorrow felt better upon hearing this, his heart even fluttering from the hug. “So where do you want to go next, big guy?”

“How about…” the Sorrow straightened his glasses as he started to blush. “The top of the Eiffel Tower. Does that sound good?”

When Sorrow had suggested that, suddenly the haunting memories of Joy’s nightmare came back and she started having flashbacks of it. Sorrow noticed Joy’s terrified expression and her heavy breathing and became concerned.

“If that doesn’t sound good to you, we can do something else!”

Joy then regained her composure. “No, no, it’s fine. I’d love to see the view of Paris.”

“A-Are you sure?”

Joy nodded.

“Alright.” Sorrow smiled and gently grasped Joy’s hands, and Joy’s anxiety vanished the moment her fingers touched his. “It’ll be fun, I promise.”

After a long ride in the lift that brought them to the top of the monument, the couple eventually found themselves at the very top. Joy was nervous, but Sorrow had provided her enough comfort to where she was willing to brave it.

Soon Joy found her staring down at the cityscape, as building lights glittered in the distance. It was twilight and the sky was growing dark, as shades of red and orange painted the sky and clouds were dyed purple.

“It’s…so beautiful.” Sadness has overwhelmed Joy, as she thought about the Parisans who were suffering under Nazi rule. “Sad that it’s currently being occupied…”

Joy stared down at the greenspace below, more flashbacks of Joy’s nightmare had overcome her mind as she struggled to keep herself from panicking. She shakily placed a cigar in her mouth and lit it up with her lighter. After taking a single long drag of smoke, her stress went away and she started to feel calm.

“Hey, Joy, watch this.”

Sorrow went up to the railing and spit over it. Joy looked at him in disgust.

“Spitting is a dirty habit, you know,” Joy pointed out.

“So is smoking,” Sorrow retorted.

“You smoke too.”

“But I admit it’s a bad habit.”

“Well, it makes me feel calm.” Joy hung over the railing and smoked more of her cigar.

“How did you pick up the habit?”

“Well, when I was a kid, Charlotte dared me to try a cigarette and I ended up getting sick from it. Swore me off of smoking, until I joined the American military and Adrian urged me to try a cigar. I ended up getting hooked.”

Sorrow took a deep breath. “Joy, you need a man in your life who is good to you unlike that Adrian. Maybe that man…could be…me?”

Joy was a bit confused. “What are you saying?”

“Well…since William and Sophie are getting married, I started thinking about marriage as well, and well…”

“You’re trying to propose to me, aren’t you?”

Sorrow blushed slightly. He reached into his pocket and took out a small box. He kneeled down on one knee and opened the box, revealing the ring. “It’s not too soon, is it?”

“I mean, we haven’t been together for that long, but so far you’ve been the nicest and sweetest man to me…” Joy laughed and hugged him. “Yes! I would love to marry you!”

“Y-You will?”

Joy looked at him with a smile before giving him a kiss on the cheek. Sorrow smiled back, took the ring out of the box, and placed it on Joy’s finger. It fit perfectly.

“So when should we have the wedding?” Sorrow asked.

“I don’t know…I’d like to have it soon but…we should have it after the war. I don’t want this to interfere with our soldier duties.”

“What if either of us die though?”

Joy looked at him with determined eyes. “Then I will punch death in the face.”

Sorrow smiled and nodded, and the two shared one one kiss.

It was March 2nd. The day before William and Sophie’s wedding. The Major was going to pick her up by plane and take her to London.

Sorrow walked in as Joy was packing some clothes for the trip. He wrapped his arms around her body and gave her a kiss on the back of the head.

“Enjoy your trip.”

“I highly doubt it,” Joy grumbled. “Hopefully this will be the last party I’ll go to.”

Joy looked out the window to see a plane in the distance, which she had assumed was the one that she was supposed to board, so she grabbed her bag and sprinted out of the house. As soon as the plane had landed, Joy boarded it as the Cobras waved goodbye to her.

“Bring me back some wedding cake!” Fear shouted.

Joy went inside the plane and to her surprise saw that David was sitting in one of the seats. Ecstatic to see him, Joy ran over to him and gave him a big hug.

“David! I’ve missed you so much!”

“I’ve missed you too, darling,” David replied.

After a good long hug, Joy then sat down on the seat right next to him. “I’m surprised you even agreed to show up to this wedding.”

David shrugged. “I’m only coming for the food and alcohol.”

After a while of flying, Joy then attempted small talk with David.

“So, David, how’s the private military company treating you?”

“I can’t say any names or talk about what kind of stuff I’m doing, since I’ve made an oath to keep everything classified,” David established. “However, I will tell you that it’s quite a lovely place. I get a comfortable bed and hot, fresh food.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re enjoying it,” Joy smiled. “Any new friends? You don’t have to say their names, but I’d love to hear about some of the people there!”

“Well…”

Joy noticed that David’s cheeks had pink blush on the side of them, and she giggled as soon as it clicked to her. “You met a girl, didn’t you?”

David’s cheeks turned even brighter. “Wha-what makes you think that?!”

Joy grinned slyly. “I know that look when I see one. Come on, David, don’t be shy. Tell me about her!”

David got a bit merry as he started blabbering about his crush to Joy. “Well, she’s interested in zoology, she collects rocks, she loves cartoons, she has the most adorable smile and the most beautiful brown eyes, and the softest, curliest hair.” David sighed, feeling smitten thinking about her, then got a bit sad. “I want to ask her on a date, but I’m nervous.”

“Hey, don’t be,” Joy assured. “This girl, does she like being around you?”

“We yeah, we do talk and hang out a lot,” David started to gain more confidence. “When I get back to the base, I’m going to ask her out.”

“That’s the spirit!” Joy cheered him on.

After a while, the group had arrived in London. David and the Major had spent the night in a hotel, while Charlotte had allowed Joy to stay over at her residence, even offering to drive her to the church. Once the morning had arrived, the day of the wedding, Joy got herself dressed up. She decided to wear a pale pink dress with a floral pattern. Perfect for spring, and nothing too fancy or distracting.

When Joy had passed by Charlotte’s bedroom, she noticed that Charlotte and Sophie were both in the room, with Sophie putting on her wedding dress. However, Sophie looked slightly uncomfortable in the dress. She placed her hand over her abdomen.

“It feels snug…I could have sworn it fit perfectly when I bought it.”

“Maybe you’ve gained a bit of weight?” Joy suggested, walking into the room.

“Impossible,” Sophie griped. “I’ve been on a strict diet these past few months.”

Of course, Mrs. Cromwell, who was by the doorway, couldn’t help but chime into the conversation. “Well, darling, if you’re having trouble fitting into that dress, may I suggest to you my old corset from when I had my wedding with Walter? It did a great job hiding my pregnancy.”

Joy and Charlotte glared at her, while Sophie shot the idea down.

“I’d rather have a slightly small wedding dress than to wear those straightjackets!”

“Sophie, we still have a few hours before the wedding,” Charlotte calmly assured. “I can resize your wedding dress really quickly.”

After the conversation, Joy decided to go out to the balcony and smoke a cigar to help pass the time. She leaned over the railing staring at the Thames River as she smoked, watching as it listened from the morning sun. Shortly afterwards, Charlotte followed out to the balcony.

“Oh, Joy! Before I get to work, I just wanted to say thank you. Even if you don’t like our parties, it still means a lot when you come to them just to see me.”

“Charlotte, you didn’t have to be obligated to attend the wedding just because it’s your brother getting married.”

“I know, Joy…” Charlotte sighed. “But you know my parents. They would have given me a lot of grief if I didn’t attend. And besides, I am happy that he is getting married. He’ll finally move out of our father’s home, and perhaps having a family would teach him a few things, like empathy and responsibility. And when they have children, then I’ll be an aunt! I would make a great aunt, wouldn’t I, Joy?”

Joy smiled. “Yeah, you would.”

“I better get started on resizing that dress. Again, Joy, thank you.”

Charlotte entered back inside, and Joy continued to gaze at the river.

Charlotte was surprisingly quick at resizing the dress, but once she was done, it came out a perfect fit for Sophie, who was happy with the results. Once everything was ready, it was time to head to the church for the wedding ceremony.

Joy could only hope that this wedding would be over soon.

Chapter 14: A Deadly Wedding

Chapter Text

The church bells rang harmoniously, as guests were gathered on the grassy field outside of the church.

Charlotte and Joy were together, with Charlotte dressed up in one of her fancy expensive dresses, a ruffled, pale blue one to contrast with Joy’s pink dress, along with a white pearl necklace and a blue cloche hat. Joy couldn’t help but notice a familiar mud puddle, and was surprised that it was still there after all these years.

“Hey, Charlotte.” Joy pointed to the mud puddle, chuckling. “That’s the same mud puddle that I pushed you in during that one Easter Sunday. Remember that?”

“Oh, yeah,” Charlotte laughed. “You did that because I was being mean to you. Frankly, I did deserve that.”

“Charlotte!” Charlotte and Joy’s lighthearted conversation was interrupted when they heard the bellowing voice of a man call to them. Mr. Cromwell approached the women, dressed up in his usual nice suit and tie. “Your brother is nowhere to be found. Could you be a dear and go look for him?”

“Why are you asking me to do it?” Charlotte asked, slightly annoyed.

“Don’t give me that attitude, young lady! This is the one chance for him to finally move out of the house and I’m not letting this wedding get ruined because he was a no-show!”

“Don’t talk to her that way!” Joy snapped at him. “Firstly, you’re his father and should be looking after your own son, so why can’t you look for him? Secondly, this is his wedding. It’s not about you, so piss off.”

Mr. Cromwell was taken aback by Joy’s call-out towards him, and that’s when David decided to intervene. He was also dressed up in a nice suit and tie.

“I’ll go look for him. You two can stay here.”

David first searched around the front and back of the church to make sure he wasn’t there, and when it was clear he wasn’t, he then checked the inside of the church, but he didn’t seem to be there as well.

He was about to go back outside, until a sudden urge in his bladder hit him and he had to rush to the bathroom. He grumbled to himself about how he shouldn’t have had all of that black tea before coming as he entered through the bathroom. To his surprise, William was there the whole time. He was dressed up in the traditional groom attire, a black tuxedo with a black bowtie and red flower pin, and was shoving some pills into his mouth then downing some water from a paper cup.

“What the hell are you doing?”

William noticed David and had freaked out. “David! I was just…um…”

“If you’re going to be doing drugs, at least do it anywhere but a church.”

David then positioned himself in front of one of the urinals, pulled down his trousers halfway, and proceeded to relieve himself.

“If you must know, this is opium, it’s supposed to relax you. It also helps with diarrhea.” William then lit up one of his cigarettes and started to smoke. “David, I’m quite nervous. Do you have any advice?”

“How should I know? You know I’ve never been in a serious relationship before.”

David finished his business and zipped up his trousers, turning to face William who was still smoking. The air in the bathroom was hazy with smoke.

“I may not be an expert on relationships,” David began and he went over to wash his hands. “But if you need any advice, then, well…don’t look at the crowd. Just look at your bride, and imagine all the plans that you have with her in the future. Just think of her, and everything will be okay.”

“It’s not just the nerves, David. It’s the expectations. What if I muck everything up?”

David dried his hands on some paper towels. “We all have our doubts. But I’m sure the wedding will go fine.”

“Well, it’s not just her, but my father. I just want to make him proud for once.”

“Don’t think about what your father thinks.” David crumbled up the paper towel and tossed it into the trash. “This is your wedding. Not his.”

William sighed, and nodded. “You’re right, David. I need to stop fishing for his approval and start thinking of myself.” William smiled, feeling less worried. He snuffed out the ember of his cigarette and tossed it in the trash, before straightening his bowtie. “Thank you, David. Perhaps you aren’t such a bad bloke after all.”

David began to leave the bathroom. “We’re still not friends, you know.”

“Fair enough,” William shrugged.

After they headed back towards the entrance of the church, Joy and Charlotte were waiting.

“Thank goodness!” Charlotte exclaimed. “The ceremony’s about to start.”

Eventually the guests started to all take their seats in the church, and William took his place in the altar. After a while, Wagner’s Bridal Chorus began to bellow through the church by the massive pipe organ. The guests all turned their heads towards the entrance as Sophie, all dressed up in her flowing white gown, her face covered by a white veil, and clutching a bouquet of pink and white flowers in her hand as she inched down the aisle. William watched her, completely blown away by how stunning she looked in her dress. As soon as Sophie approached, William uncovered her face from the veil.

“My, Sophie. You look absolutely beautiful.”

Sophie smiled. “Thank you, mon amour. You look quite dashing yourself.”

The minister, an elderly man, stepped forward and began the ceremony. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the union of William and Sophie in holy matrimony…”

The minister droned, William took a deep breath and kept his focus on Sophie, just as David had suggested. Her presence was calming to him, and he was able to keep himself collected with her next to him. The couple eventually said their vows, and after exchanging their rings, the minister had spoken the final words to officially marry the couple.

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Sophie and William shared a passionate kiss, and everyone in the audience stood up and gave an applause. The pipe organ then played Mendelssohn’s Wedding March as the couple made their way down the aisle. Joy sighed in relief, as the boring part was finally over.

Now she just had to deal with the wedding reception...

The reception, which took place at the Cromwells’ ballroom, wasn’t as bad as Joy thought it would be. The food was pretty good, and other than some boring wedding toasts (including one cringey toast from William’s father, with him of course making the wedding about himself), Joy was actually having some fun. Joy even caught one of the flowers during the bouquet toss, and so did Charlotte, who was ecstatic about it.

Joy also drank plenty of champagne during the reception. Not as much as David, though, who was looking pretty drunk halfway though. Joy had noticed and had to snatch away his champagne glass before he could drink anymore.

“I think you’ve had enough,” Joy scolded.

“I can handle another, hic, drink,” David slurred.

“No, you can’t. Now go sit down.” Joy ordered him as she pointed to a table.

Joy then decided to check on Sophie. It was now 8:00 P.M., the time for the parent dance. Thankfully, the dancing was the last event of the night and the wedding was supposed to be over at 9:00. Joy could tell that the guests were already wanting to leave.

William had already started dancing with his mother, but Sophie was all alone sitting at a table, as Joy saw. Concerned about Sophie, Joy approached her and sat down with her.

“You don’t have any family to dance with, do you?”

“No…” Sophie sighed. “If Marie was still here, then I would have danced with her, but she’s gone…”

Joy was guilty, and then thought of an idea. She stood up and held out her “Well, Sophie. I know it isn’t tradition, but would you like to dance with me?”

Sophie smiled, stood up, and took Joy’s hand. The two shared a dance together as the slow piano music played.

Meanwhile, as William was with his mother, his father came up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

“William, I must speak to you. In private.”

William could tell that his father was angry about something judging by the tone of his voice. After William followed his father to a secluded location, his father then spoke to him.

“William, I haven’t seen Mary at all during this wedding. I thought you were going to invite her.”

“Which Mary? It’s a common name.”

“Mrs. Bridges. Joy’s mother.”

“Oh, right…well, I didn’t invite her.”

“What?!”

“It was out of respect for Joy, since she and her mother are on bad terms. And besides, why would I invite the same woman whom my father cheated on my mother with?”

“You know that she’s my friend, right?” Walter started to get angrier.

“Oh, yes. A very close friend.”

SMACK!

Walter swatted his open palm across William’s face with great force, leaving a red mark on his cheek. However, William didn’t seem phased by it, only being annoyed.

“Don’t you dare talk to your father that way!” Walter roared. “I paid for most of the wedding and this is how you thank me?!”

“I don’t care if you paid every last pence for it!” William barked back. “It’s still my wedding and I may invite whomever I damn please to!” William began to stomp off. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I am going to have the final dance with my new wife. Without you involved!”

Walter naturally stomped his foot in rage, before taking a huge gulp of his champagne. “f*cking disrespectful brat.”

William approached Joy and Sophie as the two were together, and held out his hand. “Mind if I share one last dance with you, my love?”

Sophie smiled and switched to William. The two dance together as Joy decides to check on David. She had noticed that David was vomiting into a trash bin, and went over to pat him on the back.

“I may have to chaperone you next time we go to an event,” Joy snarked. After some coughing from David, he lifted his head from the trash bin, and Joy patted his back some more. “Got it all out?”

“Um, yeah, I suppose so,” David muttered.

Joy watched as Sophie and William shared their dance. “Do you think they would care if we left early? I’m already ready to leave.”

David looked at his watch. “It’s not that long until 9. I’m sure it’d be fine to-”

Suddenly, a siren was heard blaring in the distance, much to the confused and frightened reaction of the guests. William and Sophie stopped dancing and were confused as well.

“What the hell was that?” David asked.

Walter had noticed the crowd growing restless and tried his best to calm them down, speaking in an elevated yet calm tone. “Everyone, don’t panic! I’m sure this is just a simple drill and nothing serious…”

Loud sounds were heard outside, and everyone turned their attention towards the windows of the ballroom, horrified to see explosions and smoke coming from the buildings as jets flew over them.

“German bombers,” Joy observed. “We have to seek shelter now.”

As the panicked guests began evacuating out of the building so that they could seek underground shelter, Joy grabbed David by the hand and was just about to follow the crowd before Major Armfield had intervened.

“I know the quickest way underground,” the Major stated. “Follow me.”

“Is there room for two more in the party?” William asked as he and Sophie approached them, with Sophie clinging onto William.

“Of course,” Armfield said. “Let’s go.”

Major Armfield led them through the exit door of the ballroom. The group quickly made their way through the city, as debris was falling around them and dust was filling the air. The sound of bombs detonating and panicked civilians was heard in the distance. The Major ended up getting out-of-breath from running so much that he had to stop and catch his breath, and Joy and David tried their best to help carry him.

Meanwhile, Sophie ended up tripping over her wedding dress and fell to the ground. William, immediately realizing what was happening, went to help pick her up. However, a bomb had been dropped on the building next to them, causing part of it to explode and debris to fall. William shoved Sophie out of the way to prevent her from getting hit, but in the process, a huge chunk of debris fell on William’s head knocking him out.

David and Armfield immediately rushed over to aid him, and saw that blood was pouring from his head as he was unconscious. Armfield frantically took out some handkerchiefs to try and stop the bleeding.

“sh*t…” David mumbled. “We need to get him to the hospital.”

Joy then noticed Sophie was already running off and abandoning the group, to her complete shock. Armfield and David also noticed and were shocked as well. Joy turned to David and Armfield. “You take him to a hospital. I’m chasing after this coward.”

Joy dashed after Sophie with great speed, as buildings partially crumbled around her. She was surprisingly fast, even despite being in her wedding dress.

After a while of running, Sophie once again tripped over her wedding dress before stumbling onto the ground. Joy approached her before holding out her revolver and aiming it at her.

“You cowardly snake-in-the-grass! How could you abandon your husband like that?! After he saved your life?!”

“You brought a gun to a wedding?” Sophie scoffed.

“Answer me!” Joy growled at her, clutching her revolver.

Sophie smirked at Joy. “You really think that I wanted to marry him because I loved him?”

Joy nearly dropped the gun in shock. “Wha-what are you saying?”

“Hell, at least if that idiot dies, then I won’t have to go through the trouble of killing him myself for the family fortune.”

“So let me get this straight, you only married him…just so you can have his inheritance?”

“And I can’t believe he was actually foolish enough to trust me again!” Sophie laughed.

“You know it's his father who owns the money, right? So if William dies, the money still belongs to Mr. Cromwell.”

“I’m a spy; I’ve murdered people and gotten away with it before. This is no different. A little poison in his tea and nobody will suspect a thing.”

“You’re willing to commit murder out of greed. What makes you think you’re any different from the people at the foundation?”

“What makes you think you’re any different, Joy? I know about your past as an assassin. Are you really going to take the high-ground?”

Sophie’s words started to get to Joy, and Joy felt an overwhelming guilt.

“Furthermore, as someone who lost her only family member left, all I want to do is retire and live a comfortable life.”

“Sophie…” Joy sighed, lowering her gun. “It’s about time that I admit to you this…I was the one who killed your sister.”

Sophie’s eyes widened, her expression morphing into that of shock. “What?! No…no…it can’t be!” Sophie’s expression then switched to anger. “How could you do this, Joy?!”

“Sophie, listen to me…”

Sophie grunted in rage as she kicked the gun out of Joy’s hands, causing it to drop to the ground. As Joy was distracted trying to grab back the gun, Sophie took off yet again. Joy noticed and took off after her. Sophie ran up to a gun shop, grabbed a piece of debris and threw it at the window shattering it. She grabbed a rifle from the display and then aimed it at Joy as Joy approached her.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t blow your f*cking head off!” Sophie snarled.

“I had to kill her, okay?!” Joy shouted. “She was working for the Nazis and attacked me first! And besides, she had a severe flu, she was on the brink of death anyway!”

“I don’t believe you!” Sophie cried out. “You’re going to die!”

Sophie tried to shoot a few rounds at Joy with her rifle, as Joy hid behind some debris and dodge them.

“You’re dead, Joy!”

Joy could hear Sophie’s voice in the distance. Joy attempted to shoot at Sophie a few times, but Sophie was able to dodge the bullets. The shoot-out lasted for a while, until Sophie was out of bullets. That’s when Joy was able to get a good shot at her, shooting her near the leg. Although it was a graze, it was enough to momentarily stun Sophie and cause her to fall to the ground in pain. Joy approached Sophie and aimed the gun at her once more.

“Do it, Joy!” Sophie hissed at Joy. “Do it like you did to my sister! Add to your body count!”

“No…” Joy lowered her gun. “I’m going to spare you, and then you can live the rest of your life in guilt knowing what you tried to do.”

Sophie stared at Joy in disbelief.

“Leave, Sophie. Run away, and never return.”

Sophie took Joy’s orders, standing up slowly before running away, while limping slightly. Joy turned her back towards her, seeing the aftermath of the raid around her.

She walked through the dusty and devastated roads of London, until she reached the Cromwells’ residence again, seeing how it was intact, meaning that bombs hadn't touched it. Joy ran into the house to see if any of the family members were still there, just to let them know what happened to their son. When Joy went into the living room, she saw Charlotte sitting at the couch listening to the radio. Joy was relieved to see that she was okay, and Charlotte was surprised to see Joy.

“Joy! You’re okay!” Charlotte ran up to Joy and gave her a hug.

“Where are your parents?” Joy asked.

“My mother is upstairs, my father…well, he’s driving over to his company to make sure it wasn’t damaged.”

Joy grunted in anger over the fact that the man cared more about a building than his family. When she finds him, she was definitely going to chew him out. Joy then sighed, feeling hesitant to tell Charlotte about her brother. “Charlotte, William…he…”

Charlotte had an anxious expression on her face the moment Joy brought up his name. “What about William? He’s not…dead, is he?”

“He…” Joy sighed. “He got hit in the head with a piece of falling debris and was losing blood rapidly. I told David and the Major to take him to the hospital, but…I’m not even sure if he’s going to make it or not.”

“What?” Charlotte looked like she was about to break down crying. “What about Sophie? Where is she?”

“Sophie abandoned us.”

“What?” Charlotte was shocked.

“It’s a long story.”

“We have to go see William!” Charlotte blurted out. “Make sure he’s okay…”

“It’s too dangerous out there,” Joy said. “Let’s wait until the morning.”

“But, Joy!”

“I know you’re worried about William, but our safety is important right now.” Joy assured Charlotte. “It’ll be okay, Charlotte. I promise.”

Charlotte accepted Joy’s orders, and with teary eyes, went upstairs to check on her mother.

It was a rather tense night. Joy could barely sleep, and Charlotte couldn’t sleep at all, instead listening to the radio constantly. Walter didn’t come home at all, and Joy wondered where he went, feeling angry that he’d leave his family behind.

Soon morning came and Joy went downstairs, noticing that Charlotte was still listening to the radio, with dark circles under her eyes from sleep deprivation.

“Any updates?” Joy asked.

Charlotte just looked at Joy, before tears formed in her eyes. “The Bethnal Green tube station had collapsed. Over a hundred people had been crushed to death.”

Joy sighed as she lowered her head. “Let’s go check on your brother.”

Chapter 15: Comatose

Chapter Text

Although Joy wasn’t entirely sure what hospital William was at, she had assumed that it was the one nearest to where they last were when William became unconscious.

Joy and Charlotte navigated their way through the city, making their way towards the hospital. As they approached the building, Charlotte’s heart raced. Even if Charlotte and William didn’t have a good relationship, he was still her brother and she didn’t want to be left an only child.

Entering the hospital, they were greeted by injured patients and overworked medical staff. Charlotte was glued to Joy’s arm as they approached the front desk, as Joy cleared her throat and spoke to the receptionist.

“Excuse me, but is William Cromwell here?”

The receptionist checked the records. “Why, yes. He’s currently in the intensive care unit.”

“Can we see him, please?” Charlotte pleaded in a hopeful tone.

The receptionist smiled. “Of course. Let me call over a nurse.”

The receptionist called the nurse over and the nurse proceeded to lead the two women to the room. Both Joy and Charlotte felt apprehensive as they stepped closer and closer to the room, but Joy held her tightly, in order to assure Charlotte that everything would be okay.

They eventually reached the room, and afterwards a doctor exited through the door. He noticed the two women. “You’re here for Mr. Cromwell, aren’t you?”

“How is he?” Charlotte asked.

“He’s currently in a coma,” the doctor explained. “We also did an X-ray on his brain and it seems like there’s a lot of damage to the frontal lobe. If he wakes up, then well, there may be some changes in his behavior.”

“Can we…see him?” Charlotte quietly asked.

“Of course,” the doctor replied, and he led the women in.

There they saw William laying on the hospital bed, unconscious with a bloodied bandage wrapped around his head. Charlotte carefully approached her comatose brother, touching his hand.

“Hey, William,” she spoke tenderly. “It’s me, your baby sister. I…know you can’t hear me right now, but I’m here. And I’ll be here when you wake up.” She grabbed his hand. “I know things haven’t been the best between us. I’m still struggling to forgive you for what had happened a few years ago. But you’re still my big brother, and even despite everything, I’ve missed having you around. Our petty little squabbles, our jokes, hell…” she chuckled a bit. “Even some of the annoying habits you have. Just…wake up soon for me, will you?”

Charlotte clutched his hand for a few more seconds, before releasing it from her grip. She then approached Joy, smiling at her with grateful eyes.

“Thank you, Joy. I have to go back to school, but I’ll visit again in a few days. Hopefully by then he’ll wake up.”

Joy and Charlotte gave each other one last hug, and Charlotte went on her way, with Joy waving goodbye to her.

Joy decided to spend the next few days in London, providing aid towards the people affected by the disaster. In addition, she also kept returning to the hospital each day to check on William and see if he had woken up by now.

It wasn’t until the third day when Joy returned to the hospital room, when to her utter surprise, William had awakened from his coma. He was sitting against a pillow on his bed, bandage still wrapped around his head as he was eating from a bowl of porridge.

“Willam!” Joy exclaimed. “You’re awake!”

“Yeah, I’ve been in a coma, I already know,” William growled. “Can I eat my porridge in peace? I haven’t eaten in three days and I’m starving.”

“And you’re still an asshole like always,” Joy snarked. She sat down on a nearby chair. “I’ll let the Major know that you’re awake and have him fly you back to your workplace. He said that if you need any physiotherapy then he’ll offer it.”

“What about Sophie though?” William asked, in a concerned tone.

Joy signed heavily. “There’s no easy way to tell you this, but…”

“Did…something happen to her?”

Joy sighed, and then finally spoke. “She was never in love with you. She only wanted to marry you for your inheritance. She was just using you, and left you for dead when you got hit by that piece of debris.”

Joy looked regretful with having to dump all of this onto him the moment he woke up, while William was in utter disbelief.

“I’m sorry, William, I know it must really hurt hearing this, but I’m sure you’ll be able find another woman who genuinely loves you-”

“You did this!” William snarled. “You let her get close to me so that she could deceive me!”

Joy flung herself out of the chair and argued back at him. “You’re not really blaming me for all this, are you?! I was just helping her out! You’re the one who wanted to fool around with her! It’s not my fault you’re so gullible!”

William threw the bowl of porridge at her, which Joy had barely dodged. The porridge splattered all over the wall as the bowl bursted into pieces with a shatter. Joy stared in shock as she stared at the mess on the wall. She looked back at William, who had a livid expression on him.

“Get out,” he ordered.

Joy immediately exited the hospital room, taken aback by William’s sudden outburst. It was strange to her, as William wasn’t previously aggressive or violent, at least to this degree. She wondered if this is what the doctor meant by “behavioral changes”.

Joy simply decided to leave him alone and come back later, hoping he’d cool down by now.

A few days later, Joy returned to the hospital room. When she arrived, she saw the doctor push out William as he was in a wheelchair, which was followed by the Major leaving the room as well.

“I’m taking him back to the base.”

After the group had reached the lobby, someone had entered at that exact moment. It was Charlotte, who immediately saw William and went over to hug him, ecstatic that her brother was awake. She cried tears of joy as she hugged him.

“William! I’m so glad you are awake!”

However, William reacted in annoyance at her presence. “Oh, but now that I’ve almost died, you’re happy to see me?”

Charlotte was confused. “What are you talking about?”

“You’ve been refusing to talk to me for years, and I’ve even sent you letters and you haven’t responded! But now you’re trying to invite yourself back into my life because I was in a coma and almost died!”

Charlotte got angry. “Look, I’m just happy that you’re alive. Why can’t we put this behind us?”

“Because you ruined my life, that’s why!”

Joy and Armfield were in complete shock and so was Charlotte. “Wha-what do you mean?”

“Ever since you were born you’ve always been the favorite and I’m getting f*cking sick of it! Hell, neither Mother nor Father showed up at all while I was comatose! The doctor had told me that! Oh, but I’m sure if the same thing happened to you, they’d be standing by your bed the whole time!”

“Listen, Mother was planning on showing up but you know how bad her alcoholism gets…”

“Oh, and who ended up with it passed down to? And I actually did try to quit alcohol at some point, but the withdrawal symptoms are hell.”

“Is this your way of refusing to take responsibility for your actions? Because I still haven’t forgotten about that one time! Also, I’ve heard about why you got kicked out of the SAS!”

William stood up from his chair, staring down at her with hateful eyes. “Well, if it weren't for you, then my cat would still be alive.”

“Enough arguing you two,” Joy ordered them.

“No, she needs to know this. I once had a cat, his name was Bandit, and Father forced me to take him out to the countryside and shoot him. Why? Because you decided to grab his tail which made him scratch you! I was twelve at the time; you know how much that traumatized me?!”

The three had noticed there were tears in his eyes.

“How is that my fault?” Charlotte argued. “I was a baby! You’re really blaming me for your cat’s death?!”

“She’s right, William,” Joy pointed out. “It’s not her fault, and you don’t have to bring up unrelated stuff from your childhood.”

“He’s just bitter because I was actually wanted!”

Joy and Armfield’s jaw dropped at Charlotte’s comment, and the words stabbed William like a knife. He covered his face and ran out of the hospital, to avoid crying in front of everyone. Charlotte then immediately regretted what she had said.

“That…was too far, wasn’t it?”

“I’m sorry, Charlotte, but I can’t take your side this time,” Joy admitted. “That was completely uncalled for.”

“I'll go apologize to him!” Charlotte frantically said.

She tried to go outside but Joy grabbed her arm. “No, don’t make it any worse.”

“I’m going to console him,” Armfield said. He began to walk out, before stopping briefly and looking back at Joy. “Are you coming with us on the plane or not, Joy?”

Joy thought for a moment, before developing an infuriated look on her face. “Just give me a moment. I need to talk to a certain someone.” She stomped out of the hospital, leaving the Major confused.

Joy eventually arrived at Silverwagon Motor Company, the company that Mr. Cromwell owned. It was slightly damaged as a result of the attack the other day. Since it was the middle of the day, she knew Mr. Cromwell was up in his office, and she was ready to give him the chewing out of his lifetime.

Joy made her way towards the entrance, though the guards had stopped her.

“Sorry, ma’am, but you cannot pass unless you-”

Joy immediately beat up the two guards, then made her way through the entrance. She marched her way to where Mr. Cromwell’s office was, as she had remembered where it was located from when she infiltrated it a few years ago. When she arrived at the office, she was of course greeted by none other than his secretary, Sarah, who was typing away at a typewriter. Joy approached her and Sarah looked up at her, one of her eyes was covered by an eyepatch and the other eye furrowed in annoyance.

“What do you want?” She rudely asked.

“I’m here to speak to Mr. Cromwell. I have a few choice words for him.”

“Mr. Cromwell is busy. Part of his office was destroyed by the attack the other day and he has a few construction workers over to fix it.”

“Seems like he was way too busy to see his son who was in a f*cking coma!”

“Look, I’m just here for a paycheck. I’m not here to deal with family drama…” then Sarah started to recognize who Joy was, to her complete shock. “Wait, now I know you! You’re that girl who stole the blueprints and attacked me! I lost an eye because of you!”

Joy laughed nervously. “Um, no I’m not!”

“You really think this is some kind of comic book, huh? That I wouldn’t recognize you without glasses? I’m going to tell Mr. Cromwell about this!”

She was about to reach for the phone to call him but Joy grabbed her by the head and slammed her against the desk, knocking the woman out. Joy then made her way through the door of the office. In there, Mr. Cromwell watched as men in uniforms were working on the damaged parts of his office. Joy tapped on his shoulder, and Mr. Cromwell turned around.

“What?”

Joy immediately slugged him in the face, causing him to stumble back. He held his nose which was bleeding now.

“What the hell?!” He grabbed a few tissues from the box on his desk and placed them on his nose to stop the bleeding. He looked to see who the culprit was and saw that it was Joy, to his shock. “Joy?! What the hell are you doing here? And why the hell did you punch me?”

“You should know why!” Joy snarled. “Why the f*ck weren’t you with your family during the attacks?!”

“Alright, I went to your mother’s house to stay for the night,” Mr. Cromwell admitted, and Joy grew more angry. “I thought Charlotte would be safe with her mother. And I thought William would be safe with you and Sophie.”

“He was in a coma for the past few days, and not once did you bother to visit him?! Oh, and that two-timing wife of his only wanted to marry him for his inheritance and left him for dead, by the way!”

“So he married a gold-digger,” Walter rolled his eyes. “Not even surprised at this point.”

“Your son almost died and that’s all you have to take away from this? Go f*ck yourself!”

“Look, I’m trying to get my office fixed and I don’t have time for this nonsense.”

“You seem to treat this damn company like more of a child then your own actual son!”

“If you’re just going to pitch a fight with me, then you can get hell out of my office!”

“Hundreds of Londoners are dead including children and all you care about is this f*cking building!” Joy grabbed one of the chairs and chucked it toward the window, causing it to shatter and the chair to be thrown out.

“That’s it, I’m calling security!” Walter announced.

That’s when Sarah came in holding her sore head, and pointed to Joy. “She’s the one who stole the blueprints! You know, the ones for that car model that never happened because the blueprints were stolen?”

“Wait…” Walter was confused. “It was you, Joy?”

Joy ran out of the office, and Walter slammed the button on his desk to call security. Thankfully Joy managed to make it out of the building and deep into the city before she could be captured.

All Joy wanted to do was return to her base and see her teammates again at this point.

The plane trip home was long as usual. Joy, David, and William all sat in the plane together, staying awkwardly silent for most of the trip. It wasn’t until they flew over the French airspace that Joy began to speak to William.

“You know, just because what Charlotte said was sh*tty doesn’t give you a free pass. You were awful to her as well.”

William just tried to ignore her, but Joy continued.

“She took the time out of the day to visit you while you were in your coma, and this is how you treat her? You should be lucky she is even talking to you after what you did back in ‘38.”

William just continued to stay silent. Joy paused for a moment, before speaking.

“You know, you should be thanking David. He gave some of his blood to you to help save your life.”

“And it could have been anyone’s blood, since you have Type O blood, which is a universal type,” David pointed out. “But I gave my blood because I felt like it was the right thing to do.”

“You know what would have been the right thing to do?” William growled. “Not saving me at all! Because I wish I was dead at this point! After all, I just lost the woman whom I was in love with!”

William turned around to avoid them seeing him cry, and Joy and David just simply stopped talking to him at this point. Eventually the plane landed in the French countryside, not too far from where Joy’s headquarters was.

Joy stepped out of the plane, smelling the familiar scent. She was thankful to be home. She said her goodbyes to David and the Major and made her way to the house. The Cobras were all waiting for her and as soon as she entered the building they all ran up to her and gave her a big group hug, greeting her with open arms.

“Boss! We’re so happy you’re back!” Pain said.

“Yeah, I’m here,” Joy said in a guilty tone. “Sorry I wasn’t back within the timeframe that I promised. Something happened back in London.”

“Yeah, we’ve heard from the radio,” said Sorrow. “We’re glad that you’re safe.”

“We were all really worried about you,” said Fear.

“Really?” Joy was surprised. “Well, thank you. I’m glad to have you all by my side.”

They all had a good long hug, and Joy was happy to be home with them.

Chapter 16: New Mission in Japan

Chapter Text

A few weeks have passed as Joy rested from what was undoubtedly a stressful week. As late March arrived, Joy announced to the Cobras that she had received a letter for another mission. She was quick to accept the mission as soon as she saw who the letter was from.

“Our next mission will be in Japan,” Joy announced as the group gathered in the meeting room. “We’ll be meeting with a friend of mine named Kayda.”

“What’s the mission about?” Pain asked.

“It didn’t say in the letter, but she said that she’ll debrief us when we get there. She told us to meet her outside of Tokyo.”

After preparing for their trip, they all gathered into their private plane to prepare for take-off. Joy was the last person to enter, and as soon as she did, she heard Fear of course talking about food yet again.

“I heard Japan has some pretty delicious cuisine!” Fear said. “I heard the Japanese like to eat a lot of raw food.”

“Raw food? Bleh!” Fury retched.

“You don’t like raw food? I think it’s more flavorful that way!”

“I don’t like my food still moving!”

“Fear, for the last time, we’re not here to go on a gastronomic adventure,” Joy griped at him. “Also Kayda did say that she’ll provide food, so you’ll get your wish.”

Fear reacted in excitement as Joy went into the co*ckpit to start the fight.

As the plane flew over Japanese airspace, the group stared out the window, seeing the bright pink forest down below. In the distance was Mt. Fiji, which had a breathtaking view.

The plane landed in a clearing which had a military base set in front of it. Kayda had explained in the letter that it was actually a resistance camp posing as an internment camp and should be safe to land on. The plane made its landing as the group were welcomed by Japanese rebels. As soon as they left the plane, they were greeted by one of the rebels who spoke English.

“You must be the Americans. Kayda is in a minka in the woods; follow me.”

“Actually…” Joy sighed, not bothering to correct him on the nationalities. “Sure. You be the leader.”

The group followed the man through the forest, which was a vivid pink hue from the cherry blossoms blooming on the trees. It was also slightly windy which caused petals to shed from the tree and fall like pink snow. Eventually they reached a minka, a traditional Japanese home whose name meant “house of the people”.

The group entered the house, where Kayda was brewing some tea. As she grabbed the tea and poured it into some cups, she noticed the group and smiled.

“Oh, Joy! You’re here, and with your friends as well!”

Joy smiled back and waved slightly. “Nice to see you again, Kayda.”

“You have food for us, right?” Fear asked as he entered the house.

“Fear!” Joy snapped at him.

“Oh, yes! I do!” Kayda went into the other room and then shortly after came out with a large wooden tray of what looked like various slices of raw fish and other seafood, all in different colors. She set it on a table. “It’s a local delicacy. It’s called ‘sashimi’, which is simply just raw fish.”

Fear’s mouth watered as he looked at the fish, while Fury just looked at it in disgust. Fear immediately sampled the assortment of seafood, savoring the texture of each cut of fish.

“Sorry, but I don’t do raw,” Fury complained.

“Fury!” Joy snapped at him.

“Oh, I could go make you something else if you want,” Kayda offered. “Like a bowl of noodles or some dumplings…”

“Hell yeah!” Fury exclaimed.

“No, don’t encourage him!” Joy raged. “If he’s not going to eat what you offer then he’s not getting anything at all!”

“Oh, come on!” Fury complained.

“Mmm!” Fear hummed in delight, as he bit into what appeared to be a white piece of fish. “Hey, Kayda, what’s the name of this buttery-tasting white fish? It’s absolutely delicious!”

“Oh, that’s called escolar,” Kayda informed. “I wouldn’t eat too much of that if I were you. It’s very oily and known to cause a strong laxative effect in large quantities.” Kayda then turned to Joy. “How about I explain the mission over tea?”

“Sounds fine by me,” Joy said.

The two sat at a table and Kayda poured some tea from the piping hot teacup in a pot.

“This is called sencha. It originated in China but it’s very popular in Japan. It has a bit of a grassy taste to it.”

Joy picked up the cup and gave it a quiet slurp. She somewhat reacted to the taste, as Kayda had noticed.

“You don’t like it?”

“I mean, it’s not bad, but…I lived in England for a while so I guess I’m more used to the tea there.”

“Ah, I see,” Kayda sounded a bit annoyed. “They certainly love to take credit for things that originate in Asia.”

“So the mission, Kayda…?”

“Oh, right! The mission! So, this mission involves my father…”

Joy clenched her fists in rage, though tried to contain her anger. “Go on.”

“My father always goes on these trips to China to carry out ‘scientific research’, but he never tells me what it involves…I’m really suspicious about it. So I want you to go to his research facility located on Mt. Fuji and find anything that could reveal what he’s doing.” Kayda slipped her folded-up paper. “Here’s a map that will help lead you to it.”

Joy took the map. “Is that all?”

“Oh! Well, since you’re all here in a group, there’s actually an Imperial camp not far from here. Maybe your men could infiltrate it and gather intel that may be useful?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Joy stood up to announce the mission to the rest of the group. She passed by Fear, who was just finishing the last morsel of salmon on the platter, licking his fingers. “Fear! You ate that entire tray of fish?!”

“What? No one else was eating from it.” Fear stated, before belching. “Excuse me.”

Joy sighed heavily in annoyance. “Alright, group meeting!”

As the Cobras gathered around Joy, Joy announced the plan. “You guys are going to gather intel from an Imperial camp.”

“What will you be doing?” End asked.

“I’m going to this research facility on Mt. Fuji to gather info.”

“Alone?” Pain was confused.

“Yes, alone.”

“I’ll go with you,” Sorrow offered as he grabbed Joy’s hand, but Joy swatted it away.

“No, Sorrow,” Joy denied. I would rather do this by myself. You go with the others.”

With the map in hand, Joy began her journey, while Sorrow looked dejected.

“That’s harsh,” Fury stated. “Well, guess I’ll be the leader now!”

Everyone glared angrily at Fury.

“Why do I have to be the one who reads the map?” Fury complained, as the five men were trotting through the forest, Fury in front while the End was trailing behind.

“You said you wanted to be the leader,” Sorrow pointed out.

“Yeah, leader meaning I get to boss you all around, not be a damn navigator!”

A loud growl was heard. Fear freaked out and hugged Pain, to the latter’s annoyance. “What was that?! Was it a bear?!”

“That was my stomach,” Fury informed. “Because I haven’t had anything to eat!”

Suddenly they heard Japanese in the distance. They followed the voice, which eventually led to a military camp, which had dozens of Imperial soldiers training as they were being bossed around by a higher-ranked soldier.

“I’m going to see if there’s any food,” Fury said.

“We’re supposed to be gathering intel, not food!” Sorrow growled in annoyance.

“It’ll just be a couple minutes,” Fury assured, before taking off.

Fury snuck past the guards, and eventually reached where the food storage was. He opened it, but was displeased as most of it was rations and bags of uncooked rice. He was getting tired of rations and wanted something fresh. He snuck around the camp, searching for something else to eat.

He passed by one of the buildings and noticed through the window a guard with his back turned as he smoked a cigarette. Right next to the window was a table that held a few bento boxes, likely the guard’s lunch. Fury could smell the fresh food inside them, and without the guard looking, quickly swiped the boxes. He then ran back to the group food in hand.

“Look what I got!”

“Food?” Sorrow guessed, while the rest of the group was annoyed at Fury for wasting their time.

“I can just smell it!” Fury opened the first box, but to his anger, the food inside it was sushi. “Are you sh*tting me?”

Just then, another sound of a stomach grumbling was heard. Only this time it was coming from Fear, and it wasn’t from hunger. Fear groaned as he clutched his stomach, which had started to cramp intensely.

“Speaking of sh*tting,” Fury remarked.

“Erm…” Fear sweated, before running off to a nearby outhouse. “I have to go!”

Fury opened the other box, expecting sushi again, but was pleasantly surprised to see that it was instead gyoza.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!”

He started stuffing the gyoza into his mouth. Pain and End looked at him while Sorrow groaned.

“We’re going to get caught at this rate.”

Joy was making a long trek up Mt. Fuji, and was already sweating profusely and growing exhausted. Mountain climbing was definitely one of the things that she hated the most, as she also remembered having to scale down Mt. Lee during a mission in Los Angeles once, and and she hated that as well. She wiped some sweat off her brow then grabbed her canteen to take a swig.

She could see a figure approaching her through her peripheral vision as she drank. She freaked out and aimed her gun at it assuming it was a guard. But to her complete shock it wasn’t. It was one of the last people she had expected to see her.

“…David?”

“Joy?” David was also in shock to see her, and the two stared at each other for a while, before Joy spoke.

“What the hell are you doing here?!”

“I should be asking the same thing,” David retorted back.

“I’m here on a secret mission.”

“Well, so am I!”

“The Major sent you here?”

“Yes.” David nodded.

“You’re going to that research facility, aren’t you?”

“Um…”

“Well, you’re going the wrong way!”

David looked embarrassed. “I lost my way, alright?”

“The Major didn’t give you a map?”

“The Major forgot to give me one. He’s getting old, you know.”

“Well, I have a map. Follow me and I’ll lead you.”

Back at the camp, Fury had just finished enjoying his gyoza.

“Mmm, those dumplings really hit the spot!” Fury exclaimed in delight.

“Great, so now that you’re done eating, can we focus on the mission?” Sorrow grumbled at him.

Then they heard Fear groan as he approached the team, having returned from the bathroom. He was looking sick and holding his aching stomach.

“Hey, Fear, I got some sushi if you want some,” said Fury.

“No, thanks…” Fear denied. “That sashimi really didn’t agree with me.” His stomach then grumbled again, signifying a second wave. He grunted and then ran back to the outhouse. “Damn it!”

“Fear!” Sorrow called out to him, as he didn’t want him to risk getting caught again. Alas it was no use. He grunted in frustration. “We’re getting nowhere at this point. That’s it, I’m following Joy.”

Sorrow tried to go out in the woods but the End called out to him. “Wait, you don’t know your way to the mountain!”

“You’re right. I need directions.”

Sorrow looked around, only to spot a Japanese soldier on guard duty. Sorrow snuck behind him and once he got close to him, aimed his pistol at him.

“Freeze.”

The soldier froze in place, becoming paralyzed with fear as he raised his arms up.

“Now show me where Mt. Fuji is, and I won’t shoot.”

The soldier didn’t understand a word Sorrow said. He just shook his head with fearful eyes.

“Answer me!”

“Eigogawakarimasen!” The soldier frantically said.

“What was that?”

“He said he can’t understand English!” Fear said through the outhouse. He exited and then approached the two. “I know Japanese. I can help with translation.”

“Show me where Mt. Fuji is,” Sorrow ordered.

“Fujisan ga doko ni aru no ka oshietekudasai,” Fear spoke back.

The soldier nodded, and spoke back that he will lead the way.

“Alright, Fear, you’re coming along to be our translator,” Sorrow told him.

“I don’t know, my stomach is still really upset.”

“Fear, you’re going to have to deal with it.”

“Alright, but don’t get mad when I have to make a pit stop every thirty minutes!”

“And Fury, you’re coming with us as well to be our muscle.”

“Do I have to?” Fury complained.

Sorrow glared at him. “Yes, you do.”

Fury groaned. “Fine.”

“As for you, Pain and End,” Sorrow said. “You can stay here and gather intel.”

Pain and End both nodded. Sorrow then lead Fury and Fear into the woods, still aiming his gun at the soldier as he led the way.

Joy and David continued towards the research facility, as Joy periodically looked at the map.

“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” David asked, getting impatient over the fact that it was taking forever.

“Yes, I’m following the map,” Joy snapped at him. She briefly stopped to catch her breath. “Ugh, I hate climbing mountains.”

“Actually, Mt. Fuji is a volcano,” David corrected.

“Thanks, smartass,” Joy snarked. “That’s really helpful.”

Just then, the two heard the sound of rocks falling. They both got concerned.

“What was that?” David asked.

“I don’t know…maybe it’s…” Joy grunted as she felt something pinch her neck. She grabbed to see what it was and saw that it was a blowdart. “Oh sh*t…” Joy immediately collapsed onto the ground.

“Joy? Joy!” David went over to help her out but also got hit by a blow dart and passed out.

Meanwhile, Fury, Fear, Sorrow, and the soldier were making their way through the woods, with Sorrow still aiming his gun at the soldier. Fear of course had to stop to use the bathroom every thirty minutes, which sure enough annoyed Sorrow and Fury.

After a while of walking, Sorrow started to get a bad feeling. He knew that something was wrong. “We have to hurry. I sense that Joy is in danger.”

The solider pointed to what looked like a trail that lead onto a mountain. “Soko ni sore ga aru! Fujisan e tsudzuku tozan-dō! Mō ika sete moraemasu ka?”

“‘There it is! A trail leading to Mt. Fuji! Can you let me go now?’” Fear translated the Japanese from behind a bush.

“Nah, I say we kill this Imperialist bastard,” Fury said. “He knows too much.”

“Kare ga nani o itta no?” the soldier asked Fear.

Fear was hesitant to translate, but did so out of obligation. “Kare wa anata o korosh*tai nodesu.”

The soldier broke down crying. “Īe! Watashi o korosanaide kudasai! Ie ni wa kazoku ga imasu!”

“Sorrow, just let him go,” Fear said.

“What?!” Fury reacted as Sorrow lowered the gun.

“You may go,” Sorrow said. “Just don’t tell anyone about this. This is between us.”

“Anata ga iku kamo shiremasen. Ko no koto wa darenimo iwanaide kudasai. Kore wa watash*tachi no ma no mondaidesu.”

“Yakusoku shimasu!” The man promised them. “Dōmo arigatōgozaimasu!”

The soldier ran off, and Fury was pissed.

“You really let him go? He’s a damn Imperialist!”

“Joy would’ve done the same thing,” Sorrow said. “At least we’re at the mountain now. Let’s go find Joy.”

Joy’s head pounded as she woke up in what appeared to be a laboratory. Her vision was blurry and it took a while to adjust to its surroundings. She couldn’t move and noticed that she was tied up in a chair. She saw David was also next to her and tied up in a chair as well. He was also on the verge of waking up. He noticed he was tied up and struggled to get himself out of the chair, but with no avail.

Suddenly the lights turned on which had blinded David and Joy. Suddenly, two dark figures jumped from the shadows and landed in front of David and Joy. They appeared to be two women dressed up in ninja uniforms, their faces cloaked up. Approaching from behind him was an old man dressed up in a high-ranked army uniform, and Joy was angry as she recognized who it was.

Hiroto Hayashi.

“You!” Joy growled.

“Sir, we found these two spies out in the mountains,” said one of the ninjas.

“Who are these women?” David asked.

“This is Doku and Wain, two of my most loyal henchwomen,” Hayashi said. “They’re highly trained in various martial arts, as well as swordsmanship and archery.”

“So they are the ones who knocked us out,” Joy said.

“Indeed,” Hayashi replied. “So I suppose this is the part where I ask you who brought you here.”

“I’m not going to tell you anything.”

Hayashi paused for a moment, before speaking again.

“Very well then. If I can’t make you talk, then I know something that will.” Hayashi went over to his work desk and picked up what appeared to be a test tube as well as a syringe. He dipped the syringe into the tube and sucked in the contents. He then approached Joy, holding the syringe. “You’re probably wondering what’s inside this syringe here.”

“Something deadly, I assume?” Joy guessed.

Hayashi chuckled darkly. “You’ve guessed correctly. Inside this syringe is a little pathogen known as the lyssavirus. You may be more familiar with the disease that it spreads. Rabies.”

Joy’s face started to grow pale.

“Just one little prick of this needle, and you’ll be infected with a disease that has no cure and a 100% fatality rate.” He waved the syringe dangerously close to Joy, as beads of sweat formed on her face. “Now tell me,who sent you here?”

Joy was about to choke out some words. “K-K…”

Suddenly an arrow shot through Hayashi’s neck, causing blood to spurt out and him to drop dead. Along the way, he dropped the syringe which caused it to shatter on the floor. Both Doku and Wain went over to aid him, albeit it was too late at this point.

“Sir? Sir!” Doku tried to wake her boss up only to get hit with an arrow in the head, which instantly killed her. Wain turned around to see who it was. Joy recognized him and was ecstatic.

“Fear!”

Wain yelled in rage as she clutched her sword and charged towards him, and Fear was quick to kill her with an arrow as well. All three were now finally dead.

Fear dropped his crossbow and ran to Joy, before untying her from the chair.

“Glad we made it here on time,” Fear said.

“We?”

Fury and Sorrow ran into the laboratory. Sorrow immediately ran up to Joy and hugged her. “Joy! I had a feeling that something was wrong! Are you hurt?”

“No…” Joy sighed. “I’m fine, alright? Let’s just get out of here.”

“Hey!” David called out to them in annoyance. “Aren’t you going to help me?”

After David was untied, Joy stared down at Hayashi’s corpse, which was surrounded by a pool of blood. Joy sighed.

“Guess we’ll have to tell Kayda the truth. Let’s go.”

Back at the minka, the group was all gathered around. Kayda poured Fear a cup of tea.

“Here’s a cup of ginger tea to settle your stomach. I’m sorry about that. Guess I won’t offer escolar next time.” Kayda chuckled nervously.

“Hey, don’t feel bad,” Fear assured. “It was my fault for being such a pig. Besides, it was a pretty tasty fish, I must say. I’d try it again, but only a small portion.”

“Do you mind pouring me a cup as well?” David asked.

“Of course!” Kayda said as she proceeded to pour him a cup of tea. “And your name is?”

“David. Pleased to meet you.”

Kayda then spoke to Joy. “So Joy, you have the documents correct?”

“I do,” Joy replied. “But Kayda, before I give you them, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“About what?”

“Well, it’s about your father. You see…”

“He’s dead, isn’t he?”

“Yes…I’m sorry, Kayda.”

“Don’t blame Joy for it, Kayda,” Fear spoke up. “I was the one who killed him. I didn’t know he was your father. I’m sorry.”

Kayda sighed. “It’s okay. I guess this was to be expected.And now I’m free to defect, which is good.”

Joy handed her the documents. “Here are the documents.”

Kayda took the documents and then read through them. Reading through them. Her expression changed to horrified and then tearful the more she read. She started to cry.

“Kayda…” Joy tried to touch her to comfort her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Joy,” Kayda thanked Joy as she wiped her tears. “Thank you for bringing me these documents. I better go to the resistance group and tell them the news about my father’s death. You may stay here and rest for as long as you’d like. Again, thank you.”

Kayda left the minka, and Joy was left confused and a bit worried.

What exactly were in those documents?

Chapter 17: Lobotomy

Chapter Text

The year had passed by rather quickly. The Cobras continued with missions, although they have mostly been in bordering countries. It had been a very productive year so far, with Joy continuing to make a name for herself as a war hero.

But of course, with fame also came even more requests for missions piling on her. It’s gotten to the point where it was starting to take a number on Joy’s stress levels. She had to even decline some of them, which she felt bad about.

One morning, Joy woke up feeling queasy. Her rushing to the toilet ended up waking Fear, who followed her into the bathroom.

“Hey, Boss, are you okay?”

Joy stopped vomiting for a moment and looked back at Fear with a pale face. “I’m fine…”

“You should probably take a break for the day.”

“No! I have to help people out! It’s my job…”

“Whatever you say, Joy. Just try not to overexert yourself.”

Fear left the bathroom, and Joy struggled to pick herself up. She poured herself a glass of water from the sink and gulped it down, hoping that would ease her nausea.

After taking a warm shower and getting dressed, Joy went over to her work desk and sat down. Shortly after, Sorrow brought her a stack of letters.

“Here’s some more mission requests.”

“Great…” Joy groaned.

Sorrow looked concerned when he caught a glance of her sick-looking face. “Are you alright?”

“I just woke up throwing up…but I’m fine now.”

“Oh, dear.” Sorrow felt Joy’s forehead. “You don’t seem like you have a fever.”

“It’s probably just stress….”

“Want me to make you some tea?”

“That would be nice, sure…”

As Sorrow went off to brew her some tea, Joy looked through the mission requests. As much as Joy wanted to help these people, she knew she couldn’t do every mission at once. She became saddened thinking about her own limitations as a war hero. After a minute, Sorrow came back with the tea and set it down on her desk. In addition, he also brought two slices of toasted baguette and a small bowl of oatmeal.

“I also brought you a few plain foods to eat,” Sorrow said. “You probably just need something in your stomach.”

Joy smiled. “Thank you, Sorrow. You’re always thinking of me.”

“So how is the mission-searching going?”

“I can’t decide…want to help everyone, but…” Joy sighed. “Why does everyone think that I’m Captain America?”

“We may not be able to help all of them…but we could at least try to help one. Here, let me help choose for you.”

Sorrow searched through the stack of letters and tried to find ones that would be relatively easy for Joy, while Joy tried her best to eat the breakfast that Sorrow had offered her.

Eventually, Fear came back into the room, holding another envelope. “You’ve got another letter, Joy!”

Joy took the letter and when she read the name on it, she was shocked to see who it was from. “It’s from…Charlotte?”

Sorrow and Fear were both surprised.

“Let me see what it says.” Joy opened the envelope and took out the letter, and then read it. “She said she wants me to visit her in London, it’s urgent.” Joy stood up from the chair. “It must be really important then. You guys stay here while I go see what she wants.”

Joy quickly flew out to London, by herself as she had simply wanted this to be a solo mission.

As soon as she reached Charlotte’s house, she knocked on the door. Charlotte was quick to answer.

“Oh, thank goodness, Joy! You’re here on time!”

“What is going on?” Joy asked, slightly worried due to Charlotte’s tone.

Charlotte looked at Joy as tears welled up in her eyes. “Joy, you have to help my brother.”

“What?” Joy stared at Charlotte with confusion. “Why? What’s going on with him?”

“He’s been having some…behavior problems, so my parents have arranged for him to get a lobotomy.”

“Wait, what?!” Joy reacted in shock. “Isn’t that where they drill a hole into your brain?”

Charlotte nodded. “I can’t have that happen to him! I heard that people who receive them become shells of themselves!” Charlotte grabbed Joy’s uniform in desperation. “Please help, Joy!”

“Okay, okay!” Joy had to slightly push Charlotte back. “When is this lobotomy scheduled?”

“Today…”

“Today?!

“It should be starting pretty soon. That’s why I’m glad you made it on time.”

“Where is it located?”

“It’s located at the same hospital he stayed at when he was injured.”

“Alright, if we leave right now, we can put a stop to it.”

Charlotte hugged Joy. “Oh, thank you so much, Joy!”

Charlotte and Joy both stood in front of the hospital.

“I should probably go by myself…” Joy said.

“No, Joy!” Charlotte grabbed Joy by the hand before she could proceed. “I want to help you!”

“I don’t want you to get hurt,” Joy sternly told her.

“I know there’s something I can do to help, maybe I could…distract one of the doctors!”

“We have to get through the receptionist first.” Joy sighed. “Just follow my lead.”

“What did you have in mind? Charlotte asked.

“Maybe we could ask for a fake name?” Joy suggested.

“But they might figure out that we’re lying!”

“We just got to be quick enough then.” Joy entered through the hospital, and Charlotte, in confusion, followed her in.

Joy approached the receptionist and cleared her through. “I’m here to see a patient.”

“Which patient?” The receptionist asked.

Joy tried to be quick in thinking up a name. “John…um…McGee.”

The receptionist shuffled through the papers. “Let me check to see if there is a John McGee.”

As the receptionist was distracted, Joy and Charlotte made their way through the door that led into the main area of the hospital.

“Alright, now that we are in, it’s time to look for Will-”

“Hey! You’re not supposed to be in here!”

Joy and Charlotte heard the shouting of a man and looked to see a young doctor who had his hands on a rolling table looking at them with an angry expression. Joy became nervous.

“Um…we were just looking for a patient named John McGee.”

“There’s no patient named John McGee here. Now leave.”

Charlotte placed her hand on Joy’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Joy. I have an idea.”

Charlotte slowly walked up to the doctor, smiling seductively at him. She leaned down against the rolling table. “You’re kind of cute, you know. What’s your name?”

The doctor blushed and sweated slightly. “Dr. Carter. But, ma’am, you really shouldn’t be here!”

“You know, I love doctors.” Charlotte twirled her hair a bit. “In fact, I’d love to see what kind of work you do.”

Dr. Carter straightened up his glasses. “Erm, well, I could show you a thing or two…”

As Charlotte was busy flirting with the doctor, Joy snuck away from them to find the room that William was in.

Joy made her way down the hallway, passing by various rooms. Eventually she came across a room with a sign that said “lobotomy room”. She carefully and slowly entered the room.

There she saw a surgeon wiping a drill with an alcohol-soaked rag. Meanwhile, William was sure enough there, strapped to a chair as he looked in terror about what the doctor was going to do to him. The surgeon turned around, drill in hand as he stepped towards him.

“Aren’t you going to use anesthesia?” William asked with nervousness.

The surgeon chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry. The brain can’t feel any pain.”

William sweated profusely as the drill began to inch closer to him. That’s when Joy suddenly grabbed the surgeon and choked him until he passed out, causing the surgeon to drop the drill onto the ground. Joy then went over to William and freed him from the straps. William was surprised to see that Joy had saved him.

“Joy! You actually came to rescue me?”

“I had a little help…”

“What do you mean you had help?”

Joy motioned him out of the room. “Follow me.”

William followed Joy out of the room and eventually came across Charlotte who was making out with Dr. Carter.

“Charlotte?! What the hell are you doing?!”

Charlotte separated her lips from the doctor, before looking embarrassed. “William! I was…um…”

William sighed. “Never mind. Thanks for saving me. Let’s get out of here.”

After some running through the city, the group eventually reached the hangar where Joy’s plane was located. Afterwards, Joy turned to William.

“Alright, now tell me, William, who agreed to this?”

“Well, um, my parents did.”

“I know, but clearly there is someone else who had a say in this.” Joy was already suspecting who it was, but wanted William to admit it.

“Well…um…the Major agreed to it.”

“I knew it…” Joy grumbled. “Alright, William, take me to your base. I need to have a talk with the Major.”

“But I can’t reveal to you the location! I’m supposed to keep it confidential and I’ll lose my job if I don’t!”

“Well then, I’m just going to have to stand up for you then. Now take me to the base.”

William sighed. “Fine…”

William was about to follow Joy into the plane, but before he did, he turned to Charlotte. “Charlotte, before I go, I…apologize about what I said earlier this year. About how you ruined my life.”

Charlotte sprung up and hugged her brother tightly. “It’s okay, William, I’m also sorry about what I said.”

They both gave a hug that lasted for a few seconds, before separating.

“I better get going. Goodbye, Charlotte.”

Charlotte smiled and waved at her brother as he boarded the plane.

Joy watched from the window of the plane as she saw a fortress in the distance, perched over a rocky island that rested in the middle of the sea. It was slightly cloudy and windy, and choppy waves foamed over jagged rocks as the plane grew closer.

It landed on an airstrip that stretched out from the island. After the plane slowly halted, Joy dragged open the plane door to take a look at his new home. She could feel the cool wind ruffle his hair. She gazed in awe at the military base, as it looked larger than any that she’s seen before.

“Joy?!”

Joy turned around at the familiar voice and could see her commander, Major Armfield. He was no longer wearing his SAS uniform, but instead was dressed up in a nice brown tailcoat and a red tie, in addition to a bowler hat and monocle. He also had his cane with him. His face was a mix of confusion and irritation, as he didn’t expect Joy to be here, much less know where the location of the base was.

“Joy, what are you doing here?!” The Major walked up to Joy. “And how did you find us?”

“You probably know why,” Joy stated as she crossed her arms.

Afterwards, William exited the plane. The Major glared angrily at him.

“You! You better have a good explanation for this!”

“Don’t yell at him,” Joy argued back at the Major. “In fact, you have some explaining to do as well! How about we take this to your office?”

The Major breathed in slightly, before exhaling. “Very well then. We’ll head to my office.”

Both Joy and William followed the Major to his office. After reaching it and entering inside, the Major sat down in his office chair, while Joy and William sat down in the two chairs in front of it.

“Now…” Joy began. “Explained to me why you arranged for him to get a lobotomy.”

The Major was silent.

“Answer me!” Joy snapped.

The Major sighed. “I had to alright?! His behavior was getting out of control. I was going to let him go, but his father suggested the procedure…”

“You really thought that drilling a hole into his brain was going to help him?”

“I suppose in hindsight it would have made it worse…”

“Look, Major. I know you’re better than this. You should be trying to support your soldiers instead of sending them out to get a medical procedure that would hurt him.”

The Major sighed. “You’re right, Joy.” The Major then looked at William. “Alright, I won’t fire you, William. But you’re going to promise not to cause any more trouble, alright?”

William nodded. “I promise.”

“You may leave.”

William left the office. The Major then turned to Joy.

“As for you Joy…” The Major smiled and held out his hand. “Welcome to Dragon Private Military Company. You may stay for the night if you want.”

Joy smiled back and shook his hand.

Chapter 18: David's Date

Chapter Text

The Major led Joy over to the room that she was going to be staying in, which was on the second floor of the barracks.

“And here is your room.”

The room itself was a simple small one with a bunk bed and some dressers. It looked to be nothing too fancy but nothing too uncomfortable either; at least it looked more comfortable than sleeping on a cot in a tent. Joy entered the room and got a good feel of her surroundings.

“You have a roommate as well; you may be familiar with her.”

The Major left, and Joy decided to make herself comfortable. Joy admitted that the bed was pretty cozy. She laid herself down, resting after a long and tiring day. Eventually, Joy heard an Australian accent speak to her.

“Oh, hello! I guess I have a roommate now.”

Joy looked up to see a familiar face; it was Ivy from back at that Australian base, to Joy’s pleasant surprise. Ivy’s face lit up when she recognized Joy.

“Oh! Hello, Joy! What are you doing here?”

“I’m just staying for the night,” Joy responded.

Ivy reacted in excitement. “Well, it’s really nice to see you again, Joy.” Ivy then noticed Joy’s hair, which looked a little unkempt. “Want me to fix up your hair like last time?”

“Sure…” Joy mumbled.

Ivy once again got out the supplies to braid Joy’s hair and then started her work, starting out by brushing Joy’s hair.

“So, Ivy…how are you liking this place so far?” Joy asked

“It has its ups and downs…”

“Can you explain?”

“Well…” Ivy was nervous talking about it at first but had eventually opened up to Joy. “I still get people treating me badly…”

Joy became saddened upon hearing this. “Oh, I see…”

“But there are people here who are really nice at least.”

Joy smiled. “Like who?”

Ivy started to blush. “Well…there is this one really cute guy; he is really sweet to me…”

Joy was intrigued. She smirked. “Who is this man you speak of?”

Ivy smiled while thinking of him. “His name is David.”

“David?” Joy was surprised. “Oh, well I have a friend named David who’s also working here.” Joy didn’t think much of it since she knew that David was a common name.

After Ivy finished braiding Joy’s hair, she showed Joy through a mirror.

“It’s very lovely, Ivy,” Joy stated in approval.

“Glad you like it!” Ivy stood up and started to walk out of the room. “I’m going to go and watch the sea animals like I always do.”

“Meanwhile, I’m just going to rest,” Joy yawned as she laid down and closed her eyes.

“Did you know that the legendary Joy Bridges is staying at Dragon?”

“No way! I would love to meet her!”

“Do you think she would give me an autograph if I asked her?”

David overheard some soldiers talking in the shower rooms as he was scrubbing his chest with a soapy sponge. He nearly dropped the sponge when he heard the soldiers mention “Joy Bridges”. He finished rinsing himself off and grabbed a towel to cover himself with, and went up to the three soldiers who were talking in the locker room.

“Excuse me, fellas, but did you mention 'Joy Bridges'?"

One of the soldiers grinned. “Why, yes. You’ve heard of her, correct?”

David grinned back. “Actually, I’m quite good friends with her.”

The soldiers laughed, as David frowned.

“There’s no way you know each other. You’re not even half as good a soldier as she is.”

David became angry. “Oh, yeah? Well, I can prove it to you! I can get her to come over to you guys and she can confirm it!”

The soldiers just continued laughing as David angrily left. As he made his way down the locker room, he had almost bumped into someone. Of course, he recognized the voice.

“Watch it, David!”

David looked and saw that it was William. He was completely naked though, as his towel had fallen off as David bumped into him. David winced and covered his eyes, and William realized this and quickly grabbed the towel to wrap it back around his waist.

“Maybe you should watch where you’re going,” David retorted back.

William just continued his way down the locker room. David found his clothes and quickly put them on, before making his way out of the locker room. Later on, David decided to visit the Major’s office. The Major warmly smiled as David entered.

“Hello, David! How are you this fine evening?”

“Doing okay...by the way, do you know where Ivy is? I’d like to speak to her about something.”

“She’s somewhere out here on the balcony, probably taking pictures of sea animals.”

“Thank you…”

“Something wrong? You seem rather upset.”

“Nobody seems to appreciate me, because ever since they had me lead the team after Lamb’s death, I kept making mistakes.”

“Everyone makes mistakes, David, and you’ll grow better over time.”

David smiled a bit, and nodded. “You're right. Thank you, Major. I’m going to look for Ivy now.” He took off to search for his crush.

He searched far and wide, until he eventually found her on the east side of the base, snapping pictures of the ocean. His heart beat faster and he got butterflies in his stomach upon seeing her. She was in her usual outfit, beige cargo pants and boots, a safari hat, and an olive green tank top that showed the tattoo on her arm.

David was nervous but it was either now or never. With a deep breath, he approached her and spoke.

“Um…h-hey, Ivy.”

Ivy turned around and gave a big smile. “Hey, Dave! So how was your last mission?”

“Oh, it went well. But people call me ‘David’, not ‘Dave’.”

“I thought I’d be easier to say,” she giggled. “You don’t mind if I call you that, right?”

David blushed, thrilled over the fact that his crush is calling him by a pet name now. “No, not at all. You can call me that if you’d like. So…” He fidgeted his fingers a bit as Ivy tried to take more photos. “Any photos you took whilst I was gone?”

“Oh, I got a few right here!” She held up some photos and David took them to have a look. It was pictures of some seals laying on the rocky outcroppings of the island. “They’re called monk seals and this particular species lives in the Mediterranean Sea. A group of them is called a ‘harem’. They’re adorable, aren’t they?”

“They are. That must have been nice to see.”

“Oh, and I also found this for my collection!” She showed him a shiny black rock, and David gently stroked it with his fingers. “It’s obsidian, a type of volcanic glass. I think this island was a volcano at some point.”

“Hopefully extinct,” David joked. He loved the young woman’s intelligence, and obviously couldn’t hold his feelings anymore. Finally, he spoke. “Ivy, I have a question I’d like to ask.”

Ivy looked up at him with curious eyes. “What is it?”

“Well…um…” David scratched the back of his head. “Would you perhaps like to do something together? Maybe eat lunch and take a walk along the beach?”

Ivy snorted and laughed. “Are you asking me out?”

David stammered a bit and Ivy pounced at him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

“Yes! Yes! I’d love to!”

David blinked in surprise, then blushed and smiled. “Oh, okay! Great! How about tomorrow at noon?”

“Sounds great!” Ivy then took off. “I’ll see you then!”

David was ecstatic that the girl of his dreams had said yes.

David didn’t want to dress too much for his date with Ivy tonight. Some simple trousers and a button-down shirt would suffice, along with a spray of cologne to make himself smell nice. He then went out to the balcony to wait for her to arrive.

Ivy was a couple minutes late, but she was still there as she promised. She was in a sundress and sandals, with a cute bow in her hair, which smelled of flowery shampoo.

“Oh, Dave! Forgive my late arrival! The Major had tons of work for me and I scrambled to get it done!”

David found her apologetic face adorable, and smiled. “Oh, that’s not a problem at all! I understand being busy. I really love your dress.”

Ivy blushed and smiled. “Thank you. So, what do you want to do first? Eat? Take a walk?”

“We could eat first. I am rather hungry. How about the cafeteria?”

Ivy beamed brightly. “Or better yet, how about instead of eating the food from the cafeteria, I could make you a traditional Aboriginal dish?”

David was intrigued, as he had never tried Aboriginal food before, although was a bit nervous. “Um…well, I, uh…”

Ivy started to freak out a bit, hoping she didn’t scare the Englishman by suggesting that. “Of course, if you’re not comfortable with that, then I’d be fine with the cafeteria food! It was just a suggestion…”

David then started to freak out over making Ivy upset. “No, no! I love learning about new cultures! I just never heard of such a cuisine before. What’s it like?”

Ivy started to feel better, and smiled. “Come to my room, and I’ll show you!”

The Australian led David over to her room, and once they reached there, she allowed David to sit on her bed as she got started on making the food. She got the ingredients out, as well as a saucepan and a primus stove.

“I’m going to make something called ‘native bush curry’. If you like curry, you might like this. It’s made from vegetables, tomatoes, chickpeas, and coconut milk, and we like to use something called outback bush curry powder as an aromantic, so I’m going to add some of that!”

David wanted to tell Ivy that he wasn’t too fond of the spiciness of curry, but didn’t want to be rude or come off as close-minded. And besides, perhaps he’ll be surprised. He watched as Ivy cooked the curry in the pan, the exotic spices and sweet coconut smell filling up the air. After fluffing up the curry with a fork, she then used a ladle to scoop a serving each in two bowls, then handed one to David, along with a spoon.

“Don’t worry about making a mess on my bed. Just tell me if you like it!” Ivy then sat down on the floor and began enjoying her food, and David took one good look at his.

It had a very strong aroma to it that almost stung his nose. Trying his best to be brave, David took a spoonful of the curry and shoved it into his mouth. The taste was surprisingly mild, nothing spicy like the Indian curries. He took a few more bites and enjoyed it, each spoonful giving him an explosion of aromas in his mouth. Eventually, he ate the curry until every last drop was gone. Ivy got excited as she noticed his empty bowl.

“You enjoyed it, huh?”

“Absolutely!” David gleefully said as he held out his bowl. “Can I have seconds?”

Ivy took his bowl and nodded. “Of course. I’ve made plenty of curry so help yourself!”

After they enjoyed a second bowl, David decided that he was ready to go on a walk along the rocky beaches of the island, and even asked Ivy if he could have some curry for lunch tomorrow, which Ivy happily accepted. As they walked together, Ivy was searching for some rocks and seashells to collect.

“Ooo! This one is beautiful!” Ivy handed it to Dave. “If you place a conch shell up to your ear, you can hear the ocean!”

David did just that and naturally heard the ocean sounds from it. “Wow, that’s incredible!”

Ivy giggled. “It’s actually just the sound of blood vessels in your ear flowing, but it’s still a pretty sound, isn’t it?”

David looked at her weirdly. “You really are an oddball, aren’t you?”

Ivy looked a bit shy, but David laughed.

“You’re a lot more interesting than the girls that I’ve dated previously! All of them just liked to talk about clothes and make-up, but you’re different. Tell me some more facts, like about rocks or something.”

Ivy got excited again. “Okay…sure! Hmm…okay, do you know what the biggest rock in the world is?”

“Um…it’s Aeyer’s Rock, isn’t it?”

“Nope!” Ivy shook her head.

David was confused. “No?”

“Uluru, which is its native name, by the way, isn’t actually the biggest rock. It’s actually Mount Augustus, which is also in Australia, which is twice the size of Uluru.”

“I…did not even know about that landmark.”

“Because Uluru has been a very popular tourist destination since the last decade, so you’ve probably only seen it on paper and assumed it was the biggest rock.”

“Right…well, I think it looks beautiful! I would love to go and see it in person sometime.”

“Maybe someday we could arrange a trip to my home country and I’ll show you all the sacred places!”

“I’d love that!” David excitedly exclaimed. “You…you’d really take me to some place like that?”

“Well, why not? I’m having fun on this date.”

David blushed and his heart started thumping rapidly as he felt his love for this woman grow. “Maybe perhaps I could take you to some ancient places in England as well. We have places like Stonehenge, which has existed since the Stone Age, as well as tons of locations that go as far back as the early Middle Ages.”

“That sounds like a deal!” Ivy excitedly said as she hugged him, but then she realized what she did and stepped back. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to-”

David laughed. “Oh, it’s fine.”

Ivy then pointed to the ocean, to some dolphins that were leaping from the surface. “Look!”

“Wow, dolphins!” David reacted in awe. “Don’t get those in England.”

Ivy took out her binoculars and looked. “I think those are striped dolphins, which are common in the Mediterranean sea. They’re so pretty!”

“Smart creatures,” David remarked. “They’re the most intelligent animals in the world, aren’t they?”

“Right, very close to having the same intelligence as humans,” Ivy sighed. “Unfortunately, that also means they are capable of being just as evil. They tend to murder and commit a lot of other cruel behavior towards their own species, just like us. They’ll sometimes kill each other for dominance, or just for fun.” She sighed again. “Not just dolphins, but other animals like wolves will kill pack members that they deem ‘undesirable’.”

“I guess there really is no difference between us and other animals,” David sighed. And thinking about this had suddenly been brought back to when he helped Joy commit an act of betrayal by killing a fellow British soldier. David started to have a nervous feeling in his gut, but it wasn’t from being around Ivy, but rather from the guilt that was coming all back to him. He started to feel sick, and promptly spoke up. “Um, Ivy, I…uh…must go.”

Ivy got concerned. “Is anything wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, it’s just…I’m just not feeling well…”

“Oh, my…” Ivy got worried. “Is it your stomach? I hope that curry didn’t upset it. I swear I didn’t put too much spice in it.”

David wrapped his arms around his midsection. “I suppose I shouldn’t have scarfed down that second bowl.”

“Yeah, you shouldn’t eat so fast, it’s not good for digestion,” Ivy nagged like a mother. She then giggled. “But don’t worry, I’ll get you to bed, get you some tea and a warm water bottle for your tummy, and you’ll feel better soon. Maybe I could even give you a massage-”

“No, no!” David frantically turned down. “The tea and water bottle are fine! Just lead me to my room.”

Ivy led David up to his room. After giving David some privacy to put on his sleepwear, she went to get the tea and bottle prepared.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she told him. “Just make yourself comfortable.” After she went off, David started to ponder about that incident back at the Red Sea.

He didn’t want to rat out Joy, but at the same time, the guilt was becoming too much for him and knew he had to tell the truth to Armfield about who actually killed Softbottom.

“I’m sorry, Joy,” he mumbled to himself as he sat up and decided to go to Armfield’s office and tell the truth, preparing himself for whatever consequences he’ll receive.

David entered the Major’s office, as he was enjoying his afternoon tea. When he saw David, he gave him a smile.

“Ah, David!” He welcomed him. “Come in! I have afternoon tea ready. Scones and sandwiches. Care for some?”

“Erm, no thanks.” David rested a hand on his stomach. “I had a big lunch. Listen, Major, there’s something that I must confess.”

“I see,” Armfield lowered his tea, setting it on his desk. “Well, take a seat and tell me.”

David sat down, dreading Armfield’s response. “Well…” he gave a deep sigh. “Vice Admiral D’Amico…he wasn’t Softbottom’s killer. I was.”

After a beat, with David’s stomach twisting as he awaited a response, Armfield finally answered with a straight face. “…I know.”

David was shocked. “Wha-what?! You found out?!”

“Joy had already confessed to me. She said you had nothing to do with it though.”

“Well, she’s wrong, because I helped her. Go ahead and have me arrested…I deserve it.”

“David…”

Just please let Joy go is all I ask of you. I don’t want her to receive the death penalty because of this.”

Armfield just laughed, much to David’s surprise. “David, you don’t have to worry about that. There’s a lot of things I didn’t know about Softbottom before his death, and only found out after a Japanese defector was sending out proof of his treachery.”

“Wha-?!” David’s jaw dropped. “He was collaborating with the Axis Powers, wasn’t he?!”

“Yes, making deals with them and accepting money from them. The government actually had plans to eliminate him, but you and Joy saved them the trouble, and because of that, Joy’s dismissal from the British military had been revoked.”

David was happy for this, although completely disgusted at Softbottom and no longer feeling bad over his death. “Traitorous scum…but, Major, Joy and I didn’t even know any of this information whilst killing him-!”

“David, I’ve wanted to murder the bastard myself ever since meeting him. I’ve seen the disgusting ways he’s treated others.”

David was thankful, glad to have Armfield by his side. “Who is the defector?”

“I won’t drop names, but let’s just say she’s young. We plan on extracting her soon.”

“Guess all that’s left is to move forward.”

“Indeed, and I look forward to more of your contribution towards Dragon.”

“I better go. Ivy is making me tea.” David stood up, then was about to walk out, but not before looking back one last time. “Thank you, Major. It feels better being able to finally get that out.”

“Enjoy your date.”

David blushed as the Major said that, then smiled as he hurried out. He ran as fast as he could back to his room, but as he arrived he was met with Ivy, who stood there, crossing her arms, with a cross look on her face. David got nervous.

“Erm, I, um…I-Ivy!” he nervously laughed. “I was just, um…I didn’t think-”

“I told you to wait on the bed!” Her voice was raised. “Your tea and water bottle are already getting cold!” Tears started to well up. “Did you…not enjoy the date? If you wanted to leave, you could have been honest…”

“No, Ivy! Please, listen…” David sighed. “Ivy, the food was delicious and the walk was nice. If you want to know where I was, I was in the Major’s office.”

Ivy wiped some tears off her face. “What were you doing there?”

“I’ve done something that I wasn’t proud of, and had to tell someone about it. I feel a lot better now.” He smiled. “In fact, even better enough to do this.” He gave her a hug, as she gasped and blushed. “I had a lot of fun this afternoon. Thank you.”

Ivy kissed him right on the cheek, which made him blush as well.

“So did I! Sorry for getting mad. Let’s do it again someday!”

David smiled, his cheeks feeling hot from the blush. “Sure.”

They continued to look into each other’s eyes, then gave a kiss to each other, this time on the lips. They felt sparks fly, and as soon as they separated, they looked at each other again, feeling love at first sight. Ivy smirked.

“Is tomorrow good?”

“Sounds fine by me.”

They kissed again.

Chapter 19: Pregnancy

Chapter Text

Joy just hadn’t been herself for a while. Things were going great, technically. Her unit was bonded and she was enjoying the start of what was a wonderful romance with Sorrow, who was incredibly caring, to the point where it was occasionally annoying, but she understood why he was so worried about her.

She didn’t know why, she just felt off. At first she just thought that perhaps it was because nothing awful was happening and she wasn’t used to letting her guard down like this, but the strange feeling lingered.

Of course, the vomiting continued every morning. Joy didn't think much of it, continuing to think that it was just stress, but Sorrow still told her to speak to the medical team that was on a nearby base.

Luckily, Joy’s dear friend, Grace, was stationed here, after being relocated to France quite recently. Ever since she had moved here, they’d talk if they weren’t busy, and sit around reflecting on their days at St. Mary’s and how that felt like decades ago now.

“Oh! I wasn’t expecting you to come and see me today, Joy. Aren’t you going on that mission tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I know, I was just kinda sick lately… wondered if you had some medication for it.” Joy said, hoping to just be in and out.

“What do you mean?” Grace asked. “Like a cold?”

“No, no, like throwing up a lot.” Joy explained.

“Just throwing up?” The redheaded girl looked in the cabinet for something that might help.

“It's been going on for weeks; I'm not sure what's causing it.” Joy sat down. She leaned back and tried to think of all the possibilities.

“I’ve not had anyone come in with a problem like that…” Grace told her. “Anything else weird?”

“No.” Joy couldn’t describe her odd feeling. It was just paranoia or something.

“Oh. You’re on your period now, right?” She asked, adjusting the pins in her curled hair.

“Huh?” Joy gave her a look. “How-”

“We’ve been synced since our second year at St Mary’s! Jasmine too…God, all three of us would get into arguments or just lie on our beds and weep.” Grace chuckled, remembering those days where your hormones were absolutely in charge of you.

“Are your periods normal?”

“Uh… actually I’ve not gotten it.” Joy looked at the calendar. “It’s the end of October now…I was meant to get it on Tuesday. It’s Saturday now.”

“That’s odd… you were usually the regular one.” Grace commented.

“Now that I think about it…. I didn’t get it towards the end of last September either.” Joy added.

“Joy… you know when you throw up, what time of day is it?”

“Uh… quite early. I mean, yesterday I woke up and then immediately felt sick.” She said, not thinking much of it.

“There’s something about you recently… you’ve not told me what it is, but you seem very happy.”

Grace leaned forward, looking at Joy in the eyes to decipher what it was.

“That look in your eyes…”

Grace then loudly gasped.

“You’re in love with someone! You only looked like that when…well, we don’t need to talk about him.”

Joy was blushing as hard as when she was 13 and Grace found out she liked Tommy from the boys’ school after they met in an audition for the school play, but that was just a silly schoolgirl crush.

“Okay… fine, I’m in love! But you have to keep this a secret… you’re the only one who knows. And what does this have to do with me being sick?”

Joy didn’t know why Grace was suddenly so excited.

“So…have you had sex with him?”

“Grace! That’s personal!” Joy’s eyes shifted to the side.

“Personal? Joy we used to stay up talking about men all night when we were at St. Mary’s. Remember when you said you wouldn’t mind-”

“Can you not stop talking about that?! And yes, okay, we had sex!” Her younger self was so embarrassing that her words haunted her endlessly.

“And did he…y’know…inside?” Grace gestured with her hands awkwardly.

“If you really must know everything then yes! What’s next in your list of weird questions, how big was it?!” She was becoming increasingly frustrated with Grace’s probing.

Grace gasped again. “So that means that…you might be pregnant!” Grace revealed and suddenly everything clicked in Joy’s head.

“Pregnant?” Joy echoed her diagnosis.

How could this be? She had an injection at the Charm School and didn’t feel the need to get more after the first one. Joy wasn’t a huge fan of needles and she knew that she didn’t want to have sex even if it was for the mission. Maybe she should have thought about that beforehand, but she was so lost in how much she wanted Mikhail that neither of them really thought to consider it.

“Likely just a few weeks in, you won’t be able to physically see yet. I could run more tests on you, but I’ve never been wrong in a diagnosis yet.” Grace wrote a note down for herself.

“Oh…” Joy placed her hand on her stomach that was still flat and somewhat hardened by muscle, toned abs she’d worked hard for. That would all disappear.

“Joy, I’m so happy for you! Is the father of the child someone you know is around? I know you’re independent and wealthy anyway but you should say something.” Grace told her.

“He’s…in my unit…” Joy spoke softly, still processing this.

“That loud one? Or the beekeeper?” Grace was still practically bouncing up and down; she was so happy for her.

“No… the man with glasses.” She told her.

“Oh… didn’t seem like your type, or the kind of man who’d like you… oh, what am I saying, so many men love you!”

And what would men think of her now? They'd probably call her names.

“My goodness, I’m going to cry, he seems so sweet, I’m so happy for you! But what about your military career? How will this affect it?”

Her frantic speech was so typical of her in situations like this, but Joy only gulped.

“Joy, I’m sorry, I’ll stop worrying you, come here…” Grace extended her arms and Joy stood up and hugged her tightly. “How do you feel?”

Joy smiled. “I’m happy.”

“I mean, I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I would love to be their Auntie Grace! Babies are just so cute, and I know your child would be so beautiful! You’ll finally get a break from all of this war nonsense, just imagine a few years from now you telling them about how you met their father in the war!”

“Yeah… I’ll tell him before I go on that mission.” Joy sighed.

“You’re still going to go?”

“I can still do my job…” Joy wasn’t going to be some delicate flower, even if she had another life to protect within her.

“Okay… well, just come to me again when you’re back… I’m here for you.” Grace smiled.

Joy thanked her and then left, knowing she’d have to explain her relationship to her unit. How would everyone take the news that she was pregnant?

She told herself she was happy, she was just shocked. What kind of woman was she if she didn’t want her child, even if it was somewhat inconvenient?

“Tonight. I’ll tell him tonight.” She said, planning how to do it.

Evening fell and Joy expected him to visit her room, as he often did. She sat nervously on the edge of her bed waiting for his arrival. She had rehearsed it all in her head, and would plainly, and calmly explain that she may be pregnant with his child. Then, she’d make sure he was alright, knowing he’d be worried, but she’d reassure him, because it was still early days, and it wouldn’t distract her from her mission in Los Alamos tomorrow.

Sorrow knocked at the door.

“Come in,” she invited him in.

Sorrow entered with a smile. “I’ve not seen you all day, so forgive me if I seem overly excited.” He sat beside her on the bed. “Are you feeling alright, Joy? You said you were sick the other day.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She played nervously with her hair.

“Worried about tomorrow?” He put an arm around her, a rather bold move, she thought, considering his tendency to be timid and overly polite. “I’m sure you’ll be alright.”

“Mhm…” She nodded.

“You’ve not got your music playing today. Should I put something on?” He asked, and Joy nodded again.

Sorrow stood up and adjusted the needle on the player. The sounds of Tchaikovsky filled the air. They’d bonded over this song, Valse Sentimentale. He’d asked her to dance, and at first she felt stupid and self conscious, dancing in her room with him by candlelight, and neither of them were brilliant at it. She was still in her combat fatigues, and her heavy boots made her even clumsier but Joy remembered laughing as she stumbled and he caught her. His arms were stronger than she thought.

“Do you want to dance with me again?” He offered his hand to her, as if this were a ball.

“No, I’m not in the mood for that…” Joy turned him down, and she caught a glimpse of sadness in his hauntingly blue eyes.

“Oh, well…what are you in the mood for?” Sorrow sat back down and the bed creaked. She shrugged and looked away from him, trying to gather up the courage to tell him.

“Oh! I understand now,” He kissed her cheek, making her turn her head back to him. “That’s what you’re in the mood for.”

“Sorrow-”

“I’m right, aren’t I?” This time it was a proper kiss, and he pulled her close. “I know I said this last time, but… I don’t know how a stupid village boy like me got so lucky.”

His sweet words made her forget her worries for a minute, and she allowed him to go back to kissing her. She cast her mind back to that night they’d danced, and how it had developed. Just a kiss like this, then all of a sudden she was on the bed and the record kept skipping but they didn’t care.

He’d never seen a woman naked before her, and she could tell from his stare when she had undressed. Neither of them had really expected to lose their virginity that night, but she didn’t necessarily regret it. It was better than she’d imagined, but maybe that was because they were really in love.

Sorrow took off his dark grey jumper and unbuckled his belt and she watched, knowing that she should stop him at some point and tell him, but her eyes were fixated on him. As if she was under some spell, Joy’s own hands were taking off her own clothes and discarding them on the floor.

“There’s something different about you today…” He smiled.

“Huh?” She looked up at him.

“I don’t quite know what it is… you are just glowing today.”

She lay down on the bed and let him take the lead, but there was just too much going on in her own head to really enjoy it.

“You okay?” Sorrow asked and she sat up.

“I’m pretty tired…” She told him and he moved away from her. “I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have gotten your hopes up like that.”

“No, no, it’s okay. You’ve got a big mission tomorrow, you should get some rest.” He put his clothes back on and was about to walk out of the door, hiding his disappointment, but she called out to him,

“Wait! There’s… something I have to tell you.”

“Yes?” He raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“Uh, I love you.” Joy grinned, acting normal and he came back over to kiss her again.

“Aww, well, I already knew that… but thank you. I love you too. Stay safe tomorrow, okay?”

“I promise,” Joy reassured him and then he left.

Joy promised herself that she would tell him when she gets back from Los Alamos as she headed to bed. She could hardly sleep that night though.

Joy looked over the mission details again as she flew the plane to Los Alamos.

The mission seemed easy enough. Her job was to assassinate one of the Manhattan Project scientists named John von Neumann, who is believed to be a Nazi spy. She was also supposed to make his death seem like an accident.

She landed the plane in a deserted location. Joy afterwards stepped out and began her trek to the laboratory.

After a long walk through some wilderness, she eventually reached an area that had multiple buildings.

Before infiltrating the building, she changed her outdoor uniform into a skirt suit and leather flats from behind a bush, in order to blend herself in among the workers there. Afterwards, she snuck her way into the building

Joy walked near a room and saw a figure she didn’t recognize.

He was a man with huge glasses and brown hair, wearing an outfit that made him look like an old university professor, with a brown jacket and pants, white button-down undershirt, and a red tie. His name was indicated as "Szymon Smokiewitz" on his badge.

He was holding a cup of coffee and discussing in Polish with another scientist, named "Stanisław Ulam". Thankfully, Joy knew Polish, so she could understand the scientists.

"Between Oppenheimer and Teller's project, which one do you think would be better?" The latter scientist asked.

Szymon looked at him, pensive before replying, "Honestly, Teller's idea seems more interesting. Besides, I can barely stand Oppenheimer. He is acting like a despot and like he is the smartest here."

"While Teller's idea might be more interesting, we must admit that it is more challenging. I think they will proceed with Oppenheimer's idea, due to the fact that it is simpler."

"Teller's bomb would be more powerful, assuming that it will work."

Ulam shook his head. "But Oppenheimer's bomb seems easier, and the Army wants results. Oppenheimer is giving them the easiest way."

Szymon added, with audible hatred in his voice, "As long as they drop it on Germany, I don't care who is creating the bomb."

Ulam stared at him silently, until Szymon asked another question.

"So you will work for Teller?"

Ulam nodded. "Yes. I will help him in his neutron bomb project and also in his theory. Even if I have serious doubts about 'Thin Man'. The spontaneous fission rate of a nuclear reactor-bred plutonium could be too high for use in a gun-type design due to the high concentration of the isotope plutonium-240."

Joy continued listening to the conversation, hoping that they could provide useful information. However, as she tried to lean into the doorway to hear better, she felt someone bump into her, causing Joy to topple over. Joy tried to maintain her balance but ended up stumbling into the room, which caught the attention of Szymon and Ulam.

“Oh…pardon me, ma’am! I didn’t see you there!”

Joy looked to see who ran into her and could see a man with shoulder-length brown hair and a beard, wearing a brown suit with a black tie and round glasses. He held a book that he was reading as he was walking, which is why he didn’t see where he was going.

“Um, I must leave!” said the man in an embarrassed tone. “Again, sorry!”

Joy heard the sound of one of the other scientists clearing their throat. She turned around and tensed up when she saw that Szymon and Ulam were staring right at her.

“Do we know you?” asked Szymon in English. “We haven’t seen you around before.”

Joy stammered slightly.

“Are you new here?” Ulam asked.

Joy couldn’t do much other than nod, hoping that she wouldn’t blow her cover.

“That man who ran into you was Dr. Emmerich,” Szymon added. “He is quite…peculiar. He always has his nose in a book, and usually spends his time alone in his office.”

“I see…” Joy narrowed her eyes slightly, resting a hand on her hip. “Actually…I was just looking for him. You see, I’m supposed to meet him for an interview as a new secretary to him.”

Szymon was surprised. “Really? Usually he prefers to work alone.”

“Oh, well, he’s probably been overwhelmed with work lately and needed the extra help.”

Szymon nodded. “That does make sense.”

“Well, I better follow him! It’s been a pleasure!”

Joy was able to leave, before Szymon ran out and called to her.

“Wait! I can lead you to his office!”

Joy became nervous. “N-No, no! I’m sure I can find it myself.”

“No, really. I know this place can be easy to get lost in.”

Joy hesitated for a moment, before finally giving in. “Okay…sure. You can lead me.”

Szymon proceeded to lead Joy through the hallway, even explaining to her some of the areas around her. He seemed very passionate about his work. Meanwhile, Joy was nervous, trying to think up ways that she can slip away without getting caught. However, her mind was too distracted by her own pregnancy to be able to think clearly.

Szymon had eventually led Joy to the office. The office was rather cluttered inside, with papers sprawled over tables.

“Forgive this mess; Dr. Emmerich tends to be rather unorganized.”

Joy then noticed a small piece of paper with something sketched on it. She picked it up and looked at it.

It was really bizarre. It looked like a concept for a tank albeit with some really odd details. A huge cannon was positioned in the front of the weapon, but the similarity with a normal tank ended there. On the right side there was a radar antenna which was likely to detect airborne threats, along with a co*ckpit like a fighter plane and a missile similar to a German V2 positioned in the back. The weirdest feature, however, was a pair of huge robotic legs instead of the usual treads. Apparently it was supposed to be 42.7 feet high or 13.0 meters, which would be really impressive.

Written in small and barely readable letters on the right side of the corner: Mobile Missile Launch System "Metal Gear".

"Metal Gear?" Joy asked.

Szymon looked at the sketch and laughed. "Oh, Dr. Emmerich has a really vivid imagination. But despite his intelligence, he is not a man with his ‘feet on the ground’. That machine could never be practical. A tank with legs? We don’t have the technology to make it possible! It would just be a huge target for enemy planes." He laughed again. "It would be more practical to just launch the bomb like normal from a plane. And that's if we ignore the laws of physics with the mass..."

“Well, Doctor…” Joy read the name on his tag again. “Smokiewitz…you seem like a very smart man yourself.” The name “Smokiewitz” sounded familiar to Joy. Then she remembered that old couple that she met during her first mission in Poland, who had the same last name. They mentioned having a son who moved to America. Was she talking to the same person? “Where are you from?”

“I’m originally from Poland. Przemysł, to be exact. My family was Jewish, and we didn’t have much growing up…but everyone always said I was gifted, so when I became old enough I moved to America to study physics. I wanted to be like my favorite scientist, Albert Einstein…” Smokiewitz’s nostalgic smile slightly dropped into a disheartened frown. “After I obtained my PhD, I had plans to return to Poland, but then those bastards invaded it. It’s been years since I’ve last spoken to my relatives…I don’t even know if most of them are still alive.”

Joy listened to his story, feeling sympathy for the man.

“I hope this project becomes a success. I want revenge on those bastards.”

Joy became slightly uneasy, but she didn’t ask further questions. She simply shook Szymon’s hand.

“Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Dr. Smokiewitz, but I’m sure Dr. Emmerich will be here soon.”

Szymon smiled. “Don’t you want to talk a bit longer? I’m sure we have the time. I could even get you some lunch if you’d like.”

Joy became frustrated, and began to push Szymon towards the door. “Look, that sounds nice and all but I really need you to go.”

Szymon became suspicious of Joy's behavior. He stared at her through the doorway, as Joy was attempting to push him out. “You seem in a hurry. Is there something that you’re trying to hide?”

Joy’s expression became that of tension when she had realized that she was now on the verge of being caught. In a drastic measure, she took out her revolver and aimed it at Szymon. Szymon’s face turned pale when he saw the gun. He raised up his hands, a look of fear in his eyes.

“Tell me where Dr. Von Neumann is, and I won’t shoot.”

“Who are you?! You’re not a spy, are you?!”

Joy was about to reply but felt a cramp in her stomach from her pregnancy. It caused her to drop the revolver. With quick reflex, Szymon grabbed the revolver off the floor and shot a round towards her stomach, which Joy had barely avoided. He shot another round towards her head. The bullet grazed her brain.

The last thing she could see before falling to the floor were confused scientists as they approached the scene, drawn by the sound of the gunshots.

Chapter 20: D-Day

Chapter Text

Joy felt herself being dragged through a hard floor, as her mind was fading in-and-out of consciousness. She could hear the sound of speaking, one of those voices being Szymon, but the other one a voice she didn’t recognize.

“So this is the legendary Joy Bridges?” The unknown voice asked. “Why did you shoot her?”

“I thought she was a spy,” replied Szymon. “There’s no reason why she should be here though.”

“She’s considered a war hero. There must have been a good reason.”

“Whether there’s a good reason or not, I’m now in trouble for shooting her.”

“They’re not going to fire you, are they?”

“No…I’m way too important here. Still, I’ve never felt more embarrassed in my life.”

That was the last thing Joy heard from him, before everything went black.

It was only a split-second before Joy had regained consciousness again. Her vision was blurry, as bright lights dizzily shone on her.

Soon, her vision became clear, and Joy found herself in what appeared to be a hospital room.

The second thing that Joy had noticed is that her stomach appeared to have grown twice its size.

But what really shook Joy to her core was when she saw the calendar on the wall. In big bold letters on the top, it read “December 1943”.

Three months. She was unconscious for three f*cking months.

Thoughts were racing through Joy’s head. How could this have happened? How was she still even still alive? And what about the Cobras? Were they aware that she was in a coma or did they assume she was dead?

She couldn’t think straight. She had hoped that this was some kind of joke. Eventually, one of the doctors entered the hospital room and saw that she was awake. The doctor looked surprised and ran out of the room, but Joy was too weak to react.

A few days had passed, and a doctor had come into Joy’s room telling her that she had visitors. Eventually, to Joy’s surprise, Joy was greeted by the Cobras who all had looks of relief on their faces upon seeing that Joy was still alive. Fury ended up crying, to most of the others’ surprise.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, Joy!” Fury sobbed.

Everyone looked at Fury weirdly, and Fury cleared his throat embarrassed.

“Sorry…I can get emotional sometimes.”

“At least you’re finally awake, Joy,” said Fear. “We were so worried about you.”

“We tried to do missions without you and it was too hard,” Pain explained. “We could barely function without you.”

“We’re just happy you’re alright, Joy,” said End. “You don’t understand how important you are to us.”

Joy teared up from this. The group all hugged together, as tears rolled down Joy’s eyes.

“I’m so happy you guys are still here for me.”

After about a minute of hugging, Joy spoke again.

“If it’d be alright with you guys, I need to speak to Sorrow alone. It’s rather important.”

The rest of the group understood, and everyone except for Sorrow left the room, leaving just him and Joy alone.

“Sorrow…” Joy sighed. “I was planning on telling you this when I got back from my mission. I’m…”

“You’re pregnant, I know. The rest of the Cobras know as well.”

“I’m assuming it’s obvious at this point.” She placed a hand on her now-protruding stomach.

“Well, yes. But we found out while you were in a coma, after the doctor did tests on you.”

Joy looked ashamed, while Sorrow just simply gave her a reassuring look.

“Hey, it’s alright, Joy,” Sorrow assured. “Nobody on the team thinks less of you. In fact, they’re all excited to be uncles.” Sorrow chuckled. “As for me, I am excited to be a father.”

Joy smiled and wiped tears off her eyes, and the two hugged.

“Now let’s get you back home,” Sorrow said.

The group returned home to their base, and Joy was happy to be back. However, Joy knew that she had to recover, and the rest of the Cobras agreed. The Cobras proceeded to do missions while Joy stayed at the base resting, with Joy giving them battle advice. The Cobras seemed to be gradually doing better.

Joy also mostly kept her pregnancy a secret, as she didn’t want to risk the news getting out. The only other person who knew of it besides the Cobras was Grace, as she was the first to have found out about it.

On the morning of June 6, 1944, Sorrow came into Joy’s room with some tea. Joy was nine months pregnant at this point, her belly having grown massive.

Sorrow handed her some tea. “Today is the planned Normandy invasion.”

Joy nodded, understanding that the Cobras had a mission to do, even though Joy was worried due to how dangerous it was. “Stay safe out there.”

“All we have to do is destroy several V2 rocket installations near Juno Beach. It shouldn’t be too difficult.” Sorrow was feeling confident but at the same time nervous. He was still going to get through this mission, not just for Joy, but for their child as well. “Well, we better leave now. Goodbye, Joy.”

As Sorrow was about to leave the room, Joy called to him.

“Sorrow! Wait…” With a sigh, Joy continued to speak. “I would like to join.”

Sorrow spun his head around, completely shocked. “You’re not serious, are you?”

Joy had a determined look on her face.

“Joy…” Sorrow ran up to her, placing his hands on her shoulder. “It’s way too dangerous. You can’t go out there while carrying our child.”

“We’ve managed to survive a bullet grazing the head and three months in a coma…I know we can survive this.” Joy looked into Sorrow’s eyes. “You need a leader, and I’d like to provide that leadership.”

Sorrow was hesitant about allowing Joy to go out on the battlefield while nine months pregnant, but Joy looked confident enough, so he couldn’t help but nod his head. “Alright, but I’m still going to do my best to protect you.”

Joy smiled, and the two left the room together, side-by-side, ready to face whatever challenges had awaited them.

The Cobras had arrived at the beaches of Normandy, after traveling by vehicle. Joy was holding her Countryman submachine-gun to gather some courage, even if she was scared as hell. However, as the leader of the Cobra unit, she had to keep up and be an example for her men, so she couldn't show fear as the Cobras were counting on her to be led to the battle.

It was also THE most important battle: Operation Overlord.

The US Navy was already shelling the enemy artillery. Joy was fatigued due to her pregnancy, but she kept her composure. Sorrow looked at Joy, heavily worried. The other Cobras had also expressed their concerns with Joy going out to battle while heavily pregnant, although there wasn’t anything they could do to convince her otherwise. They just assured that they’ll do everything they can to keep her and the baby out of harm’s way.

The vehicle was getting closer to the beach, with the Cobras looking at Joy for inspiration and to be reassured that everything was under control. It stopped as soon as it reached the closest point to the beach.

Joy ran to a crater for cover. She took a moment to regain her breath before checking the situation and waiting for her comrades.

The whole scene was a bloodbath. Huge sections of the beach were littered with blood and bodies, some of them maimed, while explosions and machine gun fire kept decimating soldiers.

Joy pointed to some bunkers in the distance. "We must either destroy them and neutralize every piece of artillery and machine gun nest that we can!"

“Yes, Boss!” The Cobra shouted in unison.

They started to advance. The beach was pretty huge and the closest bunker was very far but kept advancing nevertheless.

They were dressed with the standard olive drab uniform of the US Army, as they needed to keep a somewhat low profile. After-all, they were a secret unit and the last thing they needed was to be photographed in their usual uniforms while using their powers.

They proceeded tirelessly for hours, running and dodging the explosions and stray bullets. They ran up to a barber wire, so Joy prepared a Bangalore torpedo and ignited it, before quickly getting as far away as she could, while Sorrow watched her with honest concern.

The torpedo exploded, leaving a breach that allowed the Cobras to get closer to the bunkers. As they advanced, some enemies tried to prevent the team from reaching the machine guns and the bunkers.

Joy led her unit, shooting at the Nazis with her gun, alongside Pain. However, a German machine gunner that was manning an MG-42 had his sights on her and got ready to shoot.

Sorrow noticed the machine gun nest and quickly shot him with his American-made M1 Garand, until all 8 rounds were fired and the clip was ejected with the characteristic "ping" noise. He tried to shoot again but only heard a click.

The Pain noticed it and scolded Sorrow. "You are out of ammo! You have to reload! You didn't notice the clip flying near your face?"

Sorrow quickly nodded and proceeded to reload the gun. Joy congratulated him, however.

"Nice job on the MG!" Then she went serious again. "Now go to that bunker!"

The Cobras followed her to the bunker, as Joy continued barking orders.

"Pain, Sorrow with me! Fear and Fury cover our six! End! Provide sniper support outside!"

“Copy, Boss!" The Cobras replied in unison.

The Pain released his hornets, ready to sow some chaos among the Nazis. As the Cobras entered the bunker, the Nazis could barely react, confused by the hornet and the assault. The ones that survived the multiple stings of the hornets were quickly decimated by the bullets of the Cobras.

Joy was starting to get out of breath, so she hid behind a building to try and catch it. She looked up to the sky and could see a boat in the distance.

She recognized it as a British landing craft. It seemed like more British forces were here to help.

Chapter 21: The Birth

Chapter Text

David stared at the coast of Normandy, seeing the warfare that was occurring.

David trembled anxiously. It had been a while since he had been out on the battlefield, as he had been doing mainly infiltration missions since he had been recruited to Dragon PMC.

He took out a photo from his pocket; it was a picture he and Ivy took together. Ever since the British military had assigned him to help take back Normandy, he promised Ivy that he’d make it back safe.

David looked at William, who was stricken by seasickness and taking sips from his canteen. The cigarette that he held in his hand was visibly trembling.

David then looked back at the beach. It looked almost impossible to get through without the loss of some men. David thought they should come up with a strategy to get onto the beach without any casualties. He turned towards the rest of the crew, with a voice full of leadership.

“Alright, does anyone have any strategies?”

The soldiers were quiet for a bit. One soldier stood up.

“Can’t we just run up there and shoot those bastards?”

“The beach is heavily occupied. We wouldn’t be able to get through without some casualties. We should find another route.”

“I have an idea.” William pointed over to where a cliff was, which was less occupied. “Let’s dock the boat near that cliff and lay low.”

The rest of the soldiers, besides David, laughed at William’s idea.

“You really think we’re going to risk our arses around that cliff?” another soldier asked.

“I think William’s idea is better,” David stated. “Docking the boat near the cliff and infiltrating the beach sounds less risky than a frontal assault.”

“Are you really going to follow advice from someone who got himself kicked out of the SAS?”

William stood up and was about to assault the soldier, and David had to restrain him.

“You two can go ahead and crash the boat into the side of the cliff, but the rest of us are going the other way!” Afterwards the soldier and the rest of the crew began climbing out of the boat.

“Alright, I’ll pilot the boat,” David said to William.

William groaned as he sat back down, still feeling motion sick from the rough sea. “Just please try not to go too fast.”

David began piloting the boat carefully towards the cliff. When he reached a close distance to the cliff, he docked the boat next to the shore. David and William then climbed out of the boat and carefully waded through the water, waves swelling over them.

“Um, I’m glad you thought my idea was good,” William said to David.

David just simply ignored William, avoiding eye contact with him.

“So you’re just going to ignore me now?” William asked in annoyance.

“Just because I went with your idea doesn’t mean I’ll forgive you for the way you’ve treated Ivy.”

The two gradually reached more shallow water, until the waves were simply splashing against their ankles.

Joy continued taking shelter from behind the building, speaking out orders to the rest of her unit. She really wanted to go out there and help, but the baby inside of her was way too heavy to carry around, and simply moving a few steps wore her out.

Then Joy heard German shout at her. Joy turned around to see a Nazi staring right at her, rifle in hand. The Nazi took one look at Joy and could see that she obviously was pregnant.

“Bist du schwanger? Warum sollten sie eine schwangere Frau hierher schicken?”

Then a figure behind him knocked him out with the butt of his own rifle. As the Nazi fell to the ground, Joy could see who it was.

It was David, to her surprise.

“Joy!” David came running up to her to aid her.

“David!” Joy responded back in surprise.

David then looked in confusion as he had noticed Joy’s large, pregnant belly. He looked up at Joy’s face, as she had a nervous expression. Joy looked embarrassed, before deciding to admit to David the truth.

“Alright, I admit it. I’m pregnant, okay? Sorrow is the father.”

“And this whole time you haven’t told me this? Were you afraid I was going to judge you?”

“No! It’s not that…it’s just…” Joy sighed. “If it’s any consolation to you, I haven’t told Jasmine or Charlotte either.”

“Listen, I’m not mad about the pregnancy or you not telling me, but I am mad that you’ve decided to go out in a warzone and put that child and yourself in danger! What were you thinking?! And why would the Cobras allow this as well?!”

“They were also against it, but I insisted.”

“Well, Joy, I can’t allow this at all. Follow me, and I’ll get you out of here.”

Joy was starting to feel immense guilt from David scolding her. She couldn’t help but feel that he may be right. She nodded and grabbed David’s hand and the two made their way towards safer territory. Along the way, Joy spoke to David.

“Where is the rest of your crew?”

“A took an alternate route whilst entering the beach and got separated from them. I was with William for a brief period but we got separated as well.”

Then worry started to overcome Joy when she realized that she hadn’t heard from Sorrow in a while.

“David, it’s been a while since I’ve heard Sorrow speak over the radio. I’m worried about him.”

“Try calling him and see if he answers,” David recommended.

“Okay, I’ll try…” Joy took out her radio and tuned to Sorrow’s frequency. She attempted to call him, but there was no response. She grew increasingly worried as she tried to repeatedly call him but with no response. “sh*t…we have to go back and look for him!” Joy’s voice started to break as she teared up. “I can’t have something bad happen to him, I just can’t…”

“Look, Joy, I’ll go and look for him,” David assured. “Let’s just get you to safety first.”

David then heard German shouting and looked to see a Nazi charging at him, aiming a revolver at him and trying to get a good shot. David quickly took out his pistol and shot the Nazi in the leg just as he was about to pull the trigger. Although injured, the Nazi still managed to get one shot at David.

However, it missed David and instead hit Joy straight in the stomach.

Joy collapsed onto the ground, while David reacted in horror and attempted to aid her as fast as possible, taking out medical supplies and treating the bullet wound. As Joy laid there in agonizing pain, she felt something wet in her trousers. Then as David was bandaging the wound, the contractions came.

“sh*t…David, I think I’m going into labor.”

David was scared but tried his best to stay calm, speaking to Joy in a comforting voice. “Joy, I’ll get you to a medical tent as soon as possible. You’ll be alright, I promise.”

David then grabbed Joy by the torso and used every bit of his strength to drag her to the nearest medical tent. Even despite how much pain she was in, Joy tried her best to not make too much noise and attract enemy soldiers. Eventually, they managed to reach the hut, and David’s arms were sore at this point. Hyperventilating and fighting through the pain, Joy recognized who one of the nurses was. It was Grace. She was with another nurse who looked around her age. Grace saw Joy and looked at her with a worried expression.

“She’s going into labor,” David explained. “Can you help her deliver the baby?”

Grace nodded. “Yes, of course.”

“I’ll go and find Sorrow,” David reassured Joy. “Just stay strong, Joy.”

David then ran out of the tent, leaving Joy in Grace’s hands.

“Alright, Joy,” Grace gently spoke to Joy as she tried to calm her down. “Just relax and take deep breaths. You’ll be okay.”

Joy took Grace’s advice, trying her best to calm herself down. She wished that Sorrow was here to help comfort her, and had hoped that he was okay. Some time had passed and Grace told Joy news that she wasn’t prepared for.

“I’m sorry, but there seems to be a complication. I’ll have to perform a cesarean section.”

Joy was scared, wondering what Grace meant by “a complication”. “Please tell me my baby will be okay!”

Grace tried to calm Joy some more. “I can’t promise anything, Joy. We can only hope for the best. I’ll give you some anesthesia and we’ll get started immediately. Just try and relax.” Grace started to get the tools ready.

Surgery wasn’t something Grace was very skilled at, but she didn’t want to worry Joy anymore by saying that. She had just hoped that with the limited knowledge she had on it, that she would be able to remove the baby safely.

As Grace stuck the needle into Joy’s skin and injected her with the anesthetic, Joy could feel herself calming down and slowly falling asleep.

Her last thought before falling unconscious was of Sorrow and her child, hoping that she would wake up seeing the former’s smiling face in front of her and the latter in her arms.

David trudged through the battlefield, searching for Sorrow and calling out his name. He probably had spent a few hours or so attempting to search for him, and he was starting to grow worried and desperate.

David was about to give up, but then he started to notice something on the beach. He could see a Nazi soldier repeatedly dunking an Ally soldier’s head into the ocean. The Ally soldier had white hair and glasses. David recognized him as Sorrow.

David ran up to the Nazi and stabbed him in the side with his survival knife, causing the Nazi to fall to the ground. After shoving him aside, David went to help Sorrow. Sorrow coughed and hacked violently, expelling water from his lungs. His eyes were burning from the saltwater. He straightened his glasses.

“Thank you for saving me.”

“Sorrow, Joy is in a medical tent giving birth. We have to get to her quickly.”

“I suppose you…?”

“Yes, Sorrow. I know. Now let’s go.”

Just then, the Nazi that David had just stabbed stood up, holding the wound in pain. Sorrow’s eyes widened when he saw him.

“David, watch out!”

David turned around, and as soon as he did, the Nazi, in an upward motion, slashed David right in the left side of his face. David screamed in agony and clutched his face as he collapsed onto the sand. The Nazi afterwards collapsed from blood loss.

Sorrow looked at David as he continued laying on the sand. David groaned in pain as he held the left side of his face. Blood was seeping through his hand and dripping onto the sand. Sorrow knew whatever was underneath, it wasn’t a pretty sight, and he felt immense regret.

“I’m sorry, David!” Sorrow frantically apologized. “This is my fault! I shouldn’t have made you turn around!”

“It’s okay, Sorrow…” David croaked out, his voice audibly pained. “Just…don’t worry about me. It’s Joy you should worry about.”

“I’ll get you to the tent! Just hang on!”

“No, I’ll slow you down. Leave me.”

“But…”

“I’ll be fine, just go to Joy! She’s at the tent over by that huge sycamore tree. Just go!”

Sorrow nodded, before running off. He followed David’s orders, searching for the tent next to the large sycamore. Eventually, he managed to find it. He ran into the tent and that’s when he saw it.

His lover is sitting there on a cot, covered in a blanket, with a crying baby wrapped in her arms. Joy was looking at the baby with pure motherly love.

“Joy…” Sorrow breathed out.

“Sorrow.” Joy reacted in relief upon seeing him.

Sorrow ran up to Joy, and Joy showed Sorrow the child.

“And this must be our baby, right?”

“Yes,” Joy nodded, smiling widely. “Meet our new son, Adam.”

“Adam, huh?” Sorrow gave a half-smile. “So you didn’t want to go with my idea of giving him a Russian name?”

“You know I wanted a biblical name,” Joy reminded him, in a somewhat teasing tone.

“Adam…” Sorrow repeated the name. “I still like it. He has your hair and my eyes.”

“I’m sorry, Joy,” Grace apologized. “I’m not very steady with a scalpel so the incision came out uneven.”

“It’s alright, Grace,” Joy assured. “I’m just happy that my little boy is okay.”

“Incision?” Sorrow repeated in confusion.

“Yes, they had to perform a C-section,” Joy explained. “I hope you don’t mind that it wasn’t a natural birth.”

Sorrow teared up. “Oh, Joy, I don’t care about how he was born. I’m so happy to be a father.”

At this point, the baby had calmed down and was mostly fussing. Joy smiled some more and held him up. “Would you like to hold him?”

Sorrow wiped the tears from his eyes, and took the baby from Joy’s hands. “Hello there, Adam.”

Joy watched as Sorrow held their son, and Joy started to think about David. “Where’s David?”

Sorrow paused for a second, before a saddened expression overcame him.

“Sorrow? Where’s David?”

“I don’t know how to tell you this, but he-”

“Hey, nurse!”

Joy and Sorrow heard a Canadian accent call out from outside the tent, before entering it. A Canadian soldier was holding the arm of a familiar man in a British uniform.

“I found this injured British soldier on the beach,” said the Canadian soldier. “He looked like he was in bad shape, so I brought him here.”

Joy and Sorrow were shocked to recognize the British soldier as David. Joy was even more shocked to see David’s state. He had his hand over the left side of his face, as his hand was covered in what looked like partially dried blood.

“David, what the hell happened?”

“Ah, don’t worry about it, Joy.” David tried his best to speak in a chipper tone, even despite his voice sounding weakened. “It’s only a scratch.”

“Come on, David,” Joy sternly said. “Let us see it.”

David hesitated, but Joy had an insistent stare.

“Oh, alright,” David gave in.

David took his hand off of his face and the sight was sure enough horrific. A large, bloody gaping gash ran down from the top of his forehead to the left side of his cheek. Joy had a look of pure shock, while Sorrow had to look away. Though Grace and the second nurse seemed unfazed, having witnessed worse injuries.

“That’s hardly a scratch,” Joy remarked.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get that patched right up,” said Grace.

As Grace prepared the suturing equipment, David had noticed the baby that Sorrow was holding in his arms.

“And that must be the little one, I presume?”

Joy smiled. “Yes, he’s a boy, and his name is Adam.”

“Adam, huh? Lovely name.”

“Alright, now just sit down and I’ll get started.” Grace brought the equipment to David as David sat down on a cot, and Grace began her work.