Shadow in my Memory.

Chapter five

The hands follow down her once smooth skin, finding the new spot to carve into. With a quick stab the metal shaft pierces through her fair skin, the girl remaining unflinching against the pain. Her breathing was constant, her mind focused. She wasn't going to let these people win, but death was never the option for an escape, she would always belive in escape.

Just the right moment.

With another caress the shaft breaks through her skin again, blood trickling down her arms.

Night Stalk jerks in her bed, stomach down. She evens her suddenly erratic breathing and relaxes, bringing a hand through her blonde hair with sleep lapping at her mind again. Sure, she had nightmares, but while they were only truth, not memories.

Just a little more mental control and she should be fine, it came easy to her.

She lowers her head again until realizing the time, perfect for a training session. Night Stalk rises from the bed quickly, changing into a tanktop and shorts. After brushing her hair and placing it on her head in a ponytail, she pads through the silent base to the training room, each piece of equipment left where it was yesterday. Her hand follows the path of a bench press as she walks by it, not her type of training equipment, and she keeps going. She takes a few more steps and reaches a mat for hand to hand combat, the perfect object. She sits on it and straightens her back, listening to the world around her. The small noises of machines heating the building, air circulating. Her heart goes blank as she puts it under complete control, and her breathing stops as well. Seconds after doing this her head lifts upwards and they start again, but a different pattern and style. She was no longer Night Stalk, her heart rate and breathing pattern making her Roadblock. She returns them to normal when someone else enters the room, Lady Jaye.

"Hey, you're up early. Want to train together?" She asks.

"Why not?" Night Stalk asks, getting to her feet.

"No, I'm not sure if I should go easy on you, or you to go easy on me." She admits, getting into a position several feet away. Night Stalk reaches over and grabs a scrap off fabric, tying it over her eyes.

"You first." She says, waiting for a sound. Lady Jaye reaches forward and Night Stalk dodges her, the ruffling of her clothes giving away her body parts. Night Stalk then takes the arm and brings it to the side, Lady Jaye already on the mat.

"Easy on me, got it." She exclaims. Night Stalk helps her up and they laugh.

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Roadblock called for Storm Shadow to attend another meeting. The new information given to them, along with their new team member, needed to be shared with their number one connection to Cobra Commander.

"Keep Night Stalk away from Storm Shadow for now. He seemed a little too interested in her at first, and she might not want to see the man who was working with the people who tortured her." Roadblock tells Lady Jaye before she goes down to training, where they suspected Night Stalk was, since it wasn't her bed.

"Not feeling trustworthy of me?" Storm Shadow asks, walking into the room as soon as Lady Jaye was gone.

"Safety precautions for our new asset." He explains.

"Tell me why I am here?" Storm Shadow asks.

"Night Stalk has given us some news; Cobra men have threatened a school and bombed a car that she and two little girls were in. Cobra Commander must want to keep her away from us, but keep her alive somehow."

"He has his reasons for everything." Storm Shadow replies.

"She will be a valuable member, and informing you of this was just as." Flint says, walking around the corner.

"No doubt your treasure will be, but remember who she is and where she came from." Storm Shadow reminds them.

"Arashikage?" Flint asks.

"She was meant for more than an asset." He says.

"More than a nanny?" Flint asks. Storm Shadow nods his head slowly, but suddenly perks up and starts walking in a direction. Roadblock and Flint make eye contact and follow him to see what was going on. Storm Shadow starts to make his way to the training room, alert and focused on something no one else could hear, determined to find the source. Roadblock and Flint start to walk faster, trying to stop him once they saw his intentions, heading down the hallway to the training room. Before any of them could stop him Shadow Storm appears in the matted area, where Night Stalk and Snake Eyes were now fighting. The battle was intense, and much longer than with Lady Jaye, who watched from the side. Night Stalk was still blindfolded, repeatedly dodging numerous blade attacks by Snake Eyes, not blindfilded. The Mental Master was ducking, lurching, dodging, and limberly moving her body to avoid practically silent attacks, until Snake Eyes stops at the sight of Storm Shadow walking before them, face showing his disbelief. Night Stalk freezes, her attacker's noises stoping, and another's starting.

She recognized that heart rate, that breathing pattern.

With a slow hand, she pulls off her blindfold to look at the man before her, her old friend from training days. Sure, she knew Snake Eyes, but her and Storm Shadow had a special connection from the start.

"You." Storm Shadow finally makes out.

"You?" Night Stalk asks, remembering when he killed the Hard Master.

"You." She repeats, voice harder. Her eyes dart to the white clothing he had one, taking in his entire body, then meeting his eyes again. Forgivness was the best thing, and she was going to give it to him. All things happened for a reason in her mind, and he must have had one.

A dumb-ass reason, but a reason.

But she was having difficulty with her emotions about him, the old friendship, the laughs they shared, and the confusion, the slight hatred. They were all mixing violently.

"I...I'm just going to take a shower." She mumbles, walking past Storm Shadow and Roadblock. Storm Shadow watches her with his eyes, but doesn't turn when she leaves his view point, knowing something had and was happening to his old friend.

His old love.

The odd pang of rejection pushed at his mind, but was replaced by the thought that she needed time. He was working with her enemy, the people who tortured her. She needed to understand that he wasn't with them anymore.

And besides, those emotions only brought weakness.

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