AN: The previous chapter contained the last fight scene that'll occur for a long time. These next few chapters are going to focus more on emotional interactions between Snake and Jill. Enjoy the chapter, my wonderful reviewers!
Otacon could not believe his ears, they did it, they rescued Old Snake from Wesker. He was happy, he was giddy, he was absolutely ecstatic at what Chris had just told him. The otaku could feel his heart soar on wings of gratitude and joy.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he spoke into the codec, tears of joy falling from his eyes, "You've freed him from that monster".
"Hey, we were just doing our jobs," Chris replied to the otaku with civic pride in his voice, "No need to thank us".
"No you two deserve praise," Otacon retorted, "If I hadn't contacted you guys, we may never have gotten Snake back".
Chris chuckled lightly on the other end of the codec, "Well if you insist. The ETA for our arrival at Harvardville is ten minutes".
"Okay, see you then," Otacon replied before he turned off the codec. He just had to find Sunny, the little girl would be so happy to know Snake was coming home. He scurried up the stairs to the upper floor of the Nomad. When he reached the top of the staircase, he found Sunny lying on her bed staring up at the ceiling.
"Sunny!" he cried excitedly like a child in a candy shop, "I've got some great news!"
Sunny swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up straight, "What is it, Uncle Hal?"
"Sunny," he began "Chris and Jill rescued Snake and their bringing him back home to us right now".
The expression on Sunny's face was one of shock but it quickly changed to one of happiness. She jumped out of bed and went over to Otacon, a smile on her face, "They rescued Snake, for real!?" the forlorn otaku nodded in reply. The little girl let out an overjoyed squeal and Otacon, "He's coming home, Snake's coming home!"
"Yeah," he said as he hugged Sunny tightly, "He's finally coming back to us".
The raining had finally stopped and the dark storm clouds cleared revealing an orange sky and the sun setting in the distance. This served as a reminder of a job well done to the BSAA as their vehicle drove down the highway to Harvardville airport.
Jill laid her head back on the leather headrest and let out an exhausted sigh. So much had happened all in one day alone; they had discovered that Albert Wesker was still alive, she helped Chris defeat the superhuman, she even rescued a living legend, who was currently unconscious in her lap.
"You too?" Chris asked from the driver's seat.
"What are you talking about?"
"You're tired and so am I," her partner said in reply, "The first thing I plan on doing once I get home his plop myself down on the couch and go to sleep".
"Keep dreaming about it, Chris. We still have to take Snake back to Hal and Sunny," Jill told him, as she straightened herself in her seat.
She glanced down at the unconscious legend in her lap. The look on the visible half of his face was one of pain. She could easily tell by his expression that during his time with Wesker, he was harmed not just physically but probably psychologically considering Wesker's lack of respect towards humanity. Snake groaned and lightly shook his head, probably fighting off a nightmare.
His current condition brought back memories of her own of when she suffered PTSD upon returning from Africa. It was like hell, constantly suffering nightmares of events that were thought to have been over. She clearly remembered all the nights when she'd wake up from nightmares about Wesker or the atrocities she had committed while serving him, completely drenched in a cold sweat. It was especially painful in the first couple of nights when she had to combat the PTSD on her own, but luckily Chris had decided to help care for her until she was well.
"Hey Jill, we're here," Chris said interrupting Jill from her thoughts.
The massive Nomad came into view as, parked in the same place as it had been in last time. Chris drove the car to the back to the aircraft and beeped the horn to tell Otacon that they have returned. After a few moments the cargo door of the aircraft lowered allowing them entry into the aircraft.
Chris and Jill exited the car and then together they pulled Snake out of the backseat. They then dragged him up the ramp of his home slowly to avoid hurting him. A certain otaku waited eagerly at the top pf the ramp for his best friend and his saviors.
"Hal, mind giving me a hand here? He's pretty heavy," Jill asked slightly panting. She was not as physically strong as Chris, who had little trouble hauling the soldier into the Nomad, so carrying Snake wasn't as easy for her.
"Sure of course," Otacon took the arm Jill was carrying and placed it over his own shoulder. Together the male BSAA agent and otaku carried Snake across the room to a bed that was located near the staircase and placed him there.
"Jill!" a jubilant little voice cried. The blonde turned her head to see Sunny making her way over to her, and once she did she wrapped her little arms around her waist, "You kept you promise!"
"I told you, we'd bring Snake back to you and Hal safe and sound," Jill said as she ran her hands through the small girl's hair.
"Thank you," Sunny said quietly as she lay her head against Jill, "You brought Snake back to us".
Jill didn't reply, she just stared down at the little girl against her, happy she could reunite her family.
"Sunny!" the girl let go of Jill and turned around to Otacon, "Come here, somebody's waking up".
Sunny ran over to Snake's bedside as fast as she could in order to witness his awakening. The old man began to stir and soon his eyes opened.
"So back from the dead?" Otacon greeted the soldier with a kind smile on his face.
"O-Otacon," Snake groaned as his eyes adjusted to the light.
"Welcome back, Snake," Otacon said, welcoming his friend back to the conscious realm, "How are you feeling?"
Snake didn't answer his question, instead his eyes wandered to the two BSAA agents standing beside his friend, "Who are they?"
"Oh I almost forgot about you guys," the otaku chuckled sheepishly, "Snake, these two are from the BSAA".
Chris took it upon himself to introduce himself to the old man, "Hi, my name's Chris Redfield. My partner and I here rescued you".
"Chris Redfield," Snake repeated the name of one of his saviors, "You defeated that man?"
Chris nodded his head to the soldier, "I can't take all the credit, Jill did her fare share of the fighting too," Chris stepped to the side and let Jill approach Snake, "This is my partner, Jill Valentine".
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Snake," Jill greeted politely. Snake responded to her by giving her a piercing gaze, as if he was staring straight in to the depths of her soul. This made Jill feel very uncomfortable.
"You, I've seen you before," he rasped as he kept his eyes locked on Jill, "I just don't remember where".
"I was the one who helped remove the device on your chest that was controlling you," Jill told the soldier to remind Snake of where he'd seen her, "You know, before you blindly attacked Wesker?"
"I don't remember," he stated, "All I remember was Wesker, my body moving as if on its own, and that I was seeing in red with one eye and normally with the other, similar to how I'm seeing right now".
"Red?" Jill said puzzled. She then remembered the half of the bird mask was still on his face, "You were probably seeing through the mask".
"Mask?" Snake brought his hand to the left side of his face and felt a metal surface. He placed his fingers behind the mask and pulled it off.
The BSAA agents and Otacon's faces contorted into expressions of horror and disgust and Sunny covered her mouth at the sight of what lay behind the bird mask. Snake stared at them puzzled at why they were staring at him the way they were.
"What?" he asked, wanting an answer. Otacon reached for a mirror by the bedside and handed it to Snake. Covering the left side of his face was a hideous burn scar that distorted his already horrid appearance. Snake was originally shocked at the look of his face, but he then turned his face away from his reflection, in shame.
"Snake," Otacon placed a hand on his friend's soldier, knowing fully well how much his appearance has been bothering him since the start of his accelerated aging, "I'm sure it'll heal over time". "No it won't," Snake simply put it, "It's a scar, it doesn't heal".
"Let's leave him alone for now," the otaku gave Snake a sympathetic look before heading off to the main living area of the Nomad with Chris not too far behind him.
Jill felt a stinging sensation around her heart. She felt her hand move unconsciously to where her own scar was located. She cast the old soldier a sad look before heading off to join Otacon and Chris, "He's marked us both," she whispered to herself as she walked away.
When the adults left Snake alone, Sunny finally got a chance to see her friend. She stood by his bedside as if she was waiting for him to say something. The soldier refused to show his face to the little girl so he avoided her gaze.
"Snake," she said his name in a quiet voice. Snake still refused to face the girl so he pretended that she wasn't there, "I-I was worried about you".
"Thanks," was his blunt, monotone reply. Sunny didn't like the fact he was trying to ignore her, she tugged on the man's arm to signal he wanted him to look her straight in the eye. The soldier gave into her attempts and turned around to face her. As soon as he turned around Sunny's eyes became fixated on his scar, "Repulsive, isn't it?"
Sunny shook her head, surprising Snake, "I d-don't think it's r-repulsive, I actually think its kind of c-cool".
Her comment brought a bit of warmth to Snake's heart lightening his mood a little. He placed a hand on Sunny's shoulder, "you're a good kid".
Meanwhile, the BSAA operatives were getting ready to return to their headquarters back in the city. They were exhausted from everything that had happened all in one day and the two wanted more than ever, to just rest.
Otacon walked up to Chris and held his hand out to him, "Thanks again, you guys are real life savers".
Chris shook the other man's hand, "No problem, I'm just glad we could help".
Otacon let go of Chris's hand and then held it out to Jill, "Thank you for your help, you were able to bring a smile back to Sunny's face by bringing Snake home".
Before Jill could reply, a frantic scream was heard. They all turned to see the source of the scream which was Sunny who was standing over old Snake who had somehow got on the ground, "Uncle Hal, I-its Snake!"
The soldier was holding himself off the ground on all fours, choking and gagging. He leaned forward and vomited on the floor, he then fell over to his side, sweating and gasping for air.
Otacon rushed over to the soldier and pulled him in to his arms, "Snake, what's wrong!?" He turned to the dumbstruck Chris and Jill for help, "What's happening to him!?"
Jill recognized what was happening to the soldier like the back of her hand; he was starting to feel the withdrawal effects of the P30 device's serum. She suffered the same ailments along with PTSD upon her return from Africa.
"He's staring to suffer from withdrawal effects of the device that we removed from him at the TriCell base," Jill informed the worried otaku, "I experienced the same effects that he's suffering right now".
"What do we do?" Otacon asked pleadingly, "Do we take him to a doctor or something".
The blonde shook her head, "No, his body will probably recover within a week's time. It's not going to be pleasant nut he'll recover".
Snake looked at the otaku, his eyes barely open, "O-Otacon I can't see well," he muttered, his voice weak. The soldier's body was shaking and sweat continued to pour down his face.
Otacon lifted Snake up off the ground and placed him back in bed. He pulled a blanket over him to stop the shivering.
Sunny was visibly distressed at Snake's current condition. He had just been brought back to her and Otacon and now he was suffering from an illness. She looked down at her feet and muttered 'why' over and over to herself.
Chris grabbed Jill by the arm, Come on Jill, let's go," he gave her arm a tug signaling for her to follow but she wouldn't budge, "I'm sure he's going to be fine, let's go".
"No," she murmured in a low voice. She pulled her arm out of Chris's grasp and turned to face him, "As of now, I'm taking an indefinite absence from the BSAA".
"What? Why?" he asked incredulously, not knowing why Jill was staying behind.
"They need my help," Jill stated with a determined expression on her face, "I know what he's experiencing and how to deal with it".
"Jill, you're not a doctor, you can't do much for him," Chris retorted.
"I don't need to be a doctor to know how to handle this, Chris," she threw back at him, "They need my help".
Chris sighed at his partner's steel determination, "Fine, I'll leave you with them," the male BSAA operative made his way to the cargo door, but not before turning back to Jill one last time," I don't know what's inside your head telling you to do this, but I'm not going to argue with you anymore".
Jill watched Chris depart the Nomad, knowing full well that this would be the last time she would see him for a long time. As she turned back to the worried and distressed family of three, Wesker's words from earlier echoed in her head.
"You and him are one in the same!"
AN: This chapter marks the first real interactions between Snake and Jill and as aforementioned the next couple of chapters will be the same. For all of you who want to see Chris again, he's not going to appear until later in the story. As for the burn scar, I just thought Snake's scar in MGS4 was so cool I had to find a way to include it.
This chapter was heavily influenced by the works of Solid Snake's Aurora. It was so heavily influenced, I had to resist making Sunny call Snake, Epyon.
Please review, I'll respond to any and all reviews.