Wow, it's been awhile. Now before you attach me/yell, allow me to explain. You see I made the stupid mistake of trying to take two college level English/Literary Studies courses in a single semester. Not the smartest decision I've ever made since both classes had a butt load of reading as well as essays back-to-back. Nothing kills wanting to write fanfiction like having to put out an essay every given week. It wasn't fun. I lost the desire to write!

So here I am now, years after my last update and people more than likely giving up on me and this fic! But that isn't the case, I haven't stopped working on this fic and I probably never will.

So thanks to all of you out there who were patient with me and are still willing to follow this story. Thank You! And here's your overdue update!

Enjoy!

O-O-O-O-O

Chapter 2

Now don't get me wrong, I like Duke. Really, I do. But the guy can be such a killjoy sometimes.

I'm not usually the type of guy that likes to sit down and have a heart-to-heart chat with someone, that's more Roadblock's thing. I personally don't care for the whole mushy "let's get to know each other better" shtick. Like I said during that whole fiasco in Scotland, I don't like getting emotional. Too much emotional drama for my taste, I'm more of a live in the moment type of guy. Less trauma that way.

So I was a little... Ok, a lot surprised when I found that I actually liked talking to Duke. Yea, that sentence sounds weird, even in my head, but now that I think about it this is the first time I've actually had a one on one discussion with Duke. Not to sound weird or anything but this is actually the first time I've been alone with Duke since the beginning of our little misadventure.

I'm not being emotional or anything, I'm just a little miffed that I'm just now realizing that Duke's the only guy I've never had a full blown argument/yelling contest with. Aside from Snake Eyes of course, but he's mute, so the ninja doesn't really count. And I've figured out why I get along with him better than the others too, it's because we have the whole big brother little brother dynamic thing going on.

Duke's an older brother, he's used to the whole being responsible and keeping lil bro out of trouble thing. Me on the other hand, I'm the little brother, I'm used to the whole overprotective sibling who sticks his nose in your business when you don't need it sort of thing. Duke's used to being the protector; I'm used to being the protected, so his need to play "protector" doesn't aggravate me as much as it does the others, particularly Scarlett. It does aggravate me don't get me wrong, but not as much as it could. And I'm also pretty sure the only reason why my smart mouthing doesn't get on his nerves as much as the others is because he's probably used to a mouthy and rebellious little brother. We're used to the big brother little brother dynamic, hence why we can be in the same vicinity of the other for prolonged periods without wanting to kill each other.

You could say we understand each other... Ugh, and I just got sappy over something as stupid as having a conversation with someone without wanting to strangle them. I really didn't get enough sleep last night.

Thanks Roadblock. And yes, I'm being sarcastic.

Anyway, moving on...

Things were going great between me and Duke, we were talking and joking, the usual guy stuff without that touchy feely crap. We were actually enjoying ourselves for the first time in a while. Being hunted down by a corporate empire named after a venomous snake that has made the entire country…scratch that, the entire world think that you and your buddies are terrorists tends to take some of the joy out of life. But enough about that, it was actually kinda fun, talking with Duke...

Until big bro leaderman had to go and kill it!

"Don't wake up Roadblock by making him think he has a spider on him."

That comment was so random and so out of nowhere that at first I didn't realize that he had said. But then it clicked, and I wasn't happy about it.

"And why the heck not?! The dude winds me with his arm, and I can't repay the favor with a harmless prank? How's that fair?" And just for the record, I was not pouting when I said this. I was understandably a little miffed, not sulky. I don't do sulky.

Duke has the gall to quirk an eyebrow at me in amusement. "You want to be anywhere near Roadblock when he wakes up thinking he has a spider on his face?"

…oh, hadn't thought of that.

I must've had a stunned look on my face or something because Duke gives me a smug look. Shaking his head in amusement Duke stands and gives an exaggerated stretch. The ever pleasant sound of his back popping is the next thing I hear before Duke gives me another look.

"I'm going to check the perimeter real quick," He says, before pointing an accusing finger at me. "You, try to stay out of trouble."

"Me," I gasp exaggeratedly, pointing at myself in feigned shock. "Get into trouble? Never! Perish the thought."

Duke gives me another unimpressed look before shaking his head and disappearing back into the surrounding foliage. Once again leaving me alone to my thoughts with only Roadblock's snoring and Ripcord's now twitching form as my only company…

Oh, joy… Again, that was sarcasm!

O-O-O

As it turns out, Duke's 'real quick' jaunt around the perimeter is in fact a miniature tour around the freakin state. I'm not exactly sure how long he's been out there, but it's certainly to do more than take a quick peak around the area for baddies. We both went to Snake's Ninja Boot Camp; we know how to make a quick and thorough sweep of the area without attracting attention. Duke's just being paranoid…

And that's saying a lot coming from me! I'm the king of paranoia and suspicion, so you know something's wrong when I say someone's being paranoid.

But then again, Duke does have an excuse. Sorta.

We just recently got Ripcord back, and up until a few days ago we had thought the dude had been blown to bits in that Cobra den back near Spring Field. So it's understandable that big brother Duke is a little more protective than usual. Especially since Ripcord has that chip in his head that allows Cobra's cronies to not only track him, but control him as well.

Duke's got a pretty good reason to be paranoid. But pushing himself to the point of exhaustion and near collapse? Not so much.

The medic in me is having a hissy fit at Duke's stupidity, and if Duke doesn't do anything to stop his path of self-destruction, I will. Even if I have knock him out to do it…

Wait, knock him out? Hmm…

"No… NO! Duke! I-I can't… You… Run! No…"

Blinking in surprise at Ripcord's sudden panicked muttering, I turned to where Roadblock, Ripcord and I had lain out our sleeping bags the previous night to find that Ripcord's earlier twitching had escalated into panicked thrashing.

If it wasn't for the scared mutterings I would have thought that he was having a seizure. But no, this was something just as bad, if not psychologically worse. Ripcord was having a nightmare, and if I'm hearing him right it's the one where he's attacking us against his will. Again.

Without thinking I jumped from my log and sprinted to where Ripcord lay. Kneeling beside him, I tried gently shaking him. When all I got was frightened whimpers and increased thrashing I shook harder.

"Ripcord, wake up!" I hissed, trying not to wake up Roadblock. Wow, the irony of that sentence. "It's just a nightmare, it's not real! You're in control! You. Are. In. Contr-ack!"

I'm not exactly sure what happened, one minute I'm trying to shake Ripcord awake, and the next I'm on my back being pinned. His eyes were wide, panicked and wild, pupils dilated and eyes unfocused. He snarls at me, baring his teeth and pulling back his fist to strike.

Giving a surprised yelp, I close my eyes and brace for the fist to connect with my face...

One second passes, then two… three… four…

"T-Rat…?" A timid voice asks me, coming from somewhere above me.

Cautiously opening an eye in confusion, the sight that greets me is Ripcord staring down at me in confusion, his fist still poised to strike but frozen in mid-swing.

"T-tunnel Rat? W-what are you…? Why am I… Oh, oh no, did I just-I'm so sorry I..."

Ripcord's disjointed stuttering broke off suddenly as reality set in, the look of confusion and shock on his face quickly morphing into that of horror and shame. He lowered his fist slowly, as if he were trying to avoid startling a wild animal, and leaned back from where he had been looming over me. Not realizing in his shock that he had been pinning me earlier and was straddling my stomach in an effort to get at my face, Ripcord sat heavily on my still bruised stomach in a perfect imitation of a dejected child who had been thoroughly scolded for being caught doing something wrong. And he sat there on my stomach, giving no indication that he would be moving anytime soon.

…well, this is awkward. And maybe just a tab bit depressing. I may be a field medic, but I have no clue how deal with this sort of thing! I'm not a therapist! I don't do emotional counseling or those healing heart-to-hearts you see on TV. That's not my thing.

I'm not mad at the guy for jumping me, really, I'm not. We're all military here, I've been there. As humiliating as it is to admit it, I've done my fair share of jumping people after nightmares. Especially after losing Frostbite and watching Snow Job tear himself apart with the guilt. I've been there, but I can't exactly tell him this and expect him to take it well. That isn't what he wants to hear.

So I guess I'll handle this the same way I handle everything else, through sarcasm and snarky comments.

"So… Shouldn't you buy a guy dinner before getting fresh with 'im? You're taking this kinda fast you know." Oh, what? Did that seriously just come out of my mouth? I know my mouth tends to work faster than my brain, but is that really the best I could come up with?

And judging by the look that Ripcord is giving me he's just as unimpressed. "Say what?" Scratch that, he's just confused. I can't really blame him to be honest.

"You know, dinner, a movie, a walk through the park, then finished with a heartfelt parting at the door? Then maybe later an intimate experience at home where no one can interrupt? Although, you seem to have skipped everything leading up to our relationship building and gone straight to the intimate part. Not sure I'd have staged it in the middle of a forest, but whatever, it's your call. But I think I should be the one to top."

Oh, for the love of-I just keep going! Digging myself into an even deeper hole! Maybe I should take a page out of Snake's book and become a mute. Something to consider for later.

Meanwhile, Ripcord is staring at me as though I've grown a second head, but then he finally takes notice of the fact that he's sitting on my stomach and turns an interesting shade of red. Squeaking out a high-pitched string of apologies, Ripcord all but flies off of my stomach and takes refuge on the log that Duke had been sitting on earlier.

Ignoring the spiel of apologies for now, I stiffly sat up, wincing in surprise as my head throbbed in protest. Putting a tentative hand to the back of my head I winced again as another wave of pain explodes in my head when my fingers come into contact with the surprisingly bit bump on the back of my head.

Huh, I must have hit the ground harder than I expected when Ripcord jumped me.

"Tunnel Rat, I am so sorry."

Glancing back at Ripcord I realize that he had been watching me the whole time, so he likely knows about the bruise.

"It's ok." I say with a shrug, trying to appear unconcerned. "You were having a nightmare and reacted when I tried to wake you up. It happens."

As expected, Ripcord wasn't satisfied with this. "But I…"

"I said drop it." I cut him off, perhaps harsher than I intended. "You didn't do it on purpose and that's that. End of story."

There was a long awkward silence following this, and it took everything I had not to fill in the awkwardness with senseless chatter. I'd done enough of that for one day, thank you.

After resuming my seat on the log that I'd sat on earlier while talking to Duke, Ripcord and I spent the next minute avoiding each other's gaze. Quite frankly I was starting to get fidgety, I'm not particularly fond of silence (it comes from growing up in the city), and this was made worse by the fact that Roadblock had stopped snoring a little while ago. But still isn't awake, the guy really can sleep through anything.

And that's when I saw it, out of the corner of my eye something small was crawling around in the burnt out fire pit that we had cooked dinner on the previous night. Jerking around to get a better look at it, I find myself staring at a Pholcus Phalangoides. Or in nonscientific speak, a granddaddy long-legs.

That's when an idea hits me.

Duke said I couldn't use a stick to make Roadblock think he had a spider on him; he didn't say anything about using an actual spider.

Grinning deviously, I turned to Ripcord to see that he had been watching me warily.

"Hey Ripcord, what do you say about helping me pull a little prank on our good buddy Roadblock?"

A devious smile in return is all the answer I need.

O-O-O-O-O

And there it is! Next chapter Scarlett comes in along with Snake Eyes and information on a new Cobra Arms Factory. I know you guys really want the poison scene, but I have to work my way there first. So try to be a little more patient since this chapter was also me testing the waters and seeing if I can still keep the characters in character. Tell me how I did!

Also, there will be no pairings in this fic, just a lot of friendship and bromance. But I'm not above hinting. So I'll have some fun with that.

I won't do a Review Response this time so that I can get this chapter out to you faster, so I'll just answer/remark on the questions as a general consensus:

Reviews can be as long as you want, the longer the better I say.

I'll be focusing on updating Rat Poison and Rat Poison alone this summer, so updates should be better, but no promises. But come August 20th you can expect updates to be none existent again, I have every Lit. Major's nightmare this semester: Seminar.

People who have theories about the poisoned character fill free to tell me! I love mystery talk, and I'm curious to see what you come up with.

The two votes for Tunnel Rat as the poisoned one has been noted

Once again, thank you for being patient with me and I will try to be better in the future.

Review! It gives me motivation.