Astoria Oregon, Monday
Zanya had given him a ride to Oregon. After he'd been taken to Vermont to face the wrath of his family for taking off and very nearly getting himself killed. His mother had slapped him before giving him an almost fatal hug. His sister had kicked him in the shin before doing the same. His stepfather had decided they'd punished him enough for it.
"You get lectures from everyone already? Snake-Eyes, Storm Shadow? General Hawk?"
"And Scarlett, and Shipwreck, and General Colton and Duke and Roadblock and-"
"Okay." he grinned ruefully. "Just, consider mine given then alright?"
"Check."
"How are you holding up?"
"Fine."
Then he'd been ferried off to the Pit to be debriefed, and to give his evidence against his father, and explain just how the hell he'd survived.
When he'd been continuing his training this past summer, one of the things he'd learned, was the Arashikage Sleep of the Pheonix. A way to put oneself into a kind of suspended animation that was so like death that even most doctors couldn't tell the difference. It had allowed Storm Shadow to survive being shot six times by the Baroness. It had therefore allowed Billy to survive the venom Cobra Commander had infected him with.
And now Cobra Commander was paralyzed from the waist down, and incarcerated somewhere. Billy neither knew, nor cared where. It was over. Cobra was gone, his father was finished, and he was free. He felt better than he had since he was a kid.
Except now, over a week after the fact, he found his hands shaking.
[Open for calls, texts, e-mails, even visitors.]





