Screams.

Screams… and fire.

And sky - pale blue with wisps of clouds.

Funny, he thought, the details one notices when dying.

Time rewound itself then, and he watched it all from her eyes: heard what she heard, felt what she felt.

The car was going the speed limit, and it was one out of only five on this backroad. She couldn't understand the need for a closed window or a seatbelt, no matter how her parents pled and pleaded. "I'll be fine, Daddy. Don't worry, Mum."

And that was exactly when a car in the opposite lane swerved and bashed in the side of their vehicle. It threw her half out the window, then with the sound of metal groaning in utter protest, it flipped the car.

That was when the screams started.

She didn't know how, but she managed to worm her way out of her fated prison while it was still in the air. Her chin hit the farmland soil with an almighty crack. She wanted to scream as she rolled over, but could not.

More screams reached her ears.

An explosion, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw fire.

Soon, sirens wailed along with the screaming people and creaking metal and crackling flame.

After several long hours, it all dispersed, leaving her with the sky – the happy sky…, the mocking sky…

There was another blow to her jaw, then, accompanied by a rather colorful word.

~yojoe~

Scarlett rubbed her knuckles. "You better be awake now," she hissed. "You never told me you were an active sleeper."

Snake-Eyes rubbed his jaw meaningfully. I'm usually not, he signed. Was that really necessary?

Scarlett slid off her boyfriend's lap and squished into the practically nonexistent space between him and the sleeping Lifeline. "Nothing else worked."

Snake-Eyes sighed heavily.

"What's bugging you?"

Nightmares.

"What about?"

I don't want to talk about it.

Scarlett nodded sagely as she curled up against her ninja's side. "Well, when you stop hiding from the world, I'll always be willing to listen."

Snake-Eyes groaned, squeezed her hand, and led her to the back of the transport. These-, he gestured to the South Carolina farmland sweeping by, -these are the lands that raised me. And this- somewhere along this road is where my family died.

Scarlett wrapped her arms around him. "It'll be okay."

Shana.

She looked up sharply, knowing it was rare for him to use her real name.

These dreams… Snake-Eyes shook his head. Do you remember when I told you Terri and I were so close, it was like we had a psychic connection?

"Yes."

It wasn't just like. It was ESP. In these dreams, I'm seeing the crash through her eyes. I haven't seen anything from her perspective since she died. What I'm saying is-

"What if she's not dead," Scarlett finished in a murmur. "Hmm…"

Snake-Eyes caught Scarlett's hand before it touched his forehead. I'm not sick. I'm hoping. He turned and walked back to his seat.

Scarlett sat on his lap again, throwing her arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder. "That's even more dangerous."

What choice do I have?

"Well, you could focus on beating Cobra but tomorrow. If we find them, that is…"

Scarlett…

"Just go to sleep."

Snake-Eyes sighed heavily but laid back, closed his eyes, and returned to the realm of his nightmares.