Present Day

Snakes caught Hailey as she started to fall. Gently cradling her, like he did so many times with Rebecca. The thought of his daughter left a sharp pain in the center of his chest. He glared up at the man who was up on the screen. And left questions circling in his mind how did Storm Shadow know that Rebecca was his daughter? How did they find out? He tried to go over every possibility, but came up with nothing. Another feeling entered his thoughts. Fear. One that was ever present, but not in this magnitude.

Ever sense he married Hailey, he was always afraid someone might find her and use her against him. That's why he was always so careful when he saw her. Snakes always took off his armor and anything else that someone might find and trace it back to the G.I. But Snakes could never make himself regret the choices he made concerning Hailey and his daughter.

"So once we find him, what are we going to do?" asked Ripcord. General Hawks gripped the railing in frustration. Why did it have to be someone that worked for Cobra? Why couldn't it be one of the normal kidnapping gigs! It would be so much easier, they would have found her by now and she would be in the arms of her parents, Hawks thought to himself.

"So far we need to find him, but right now I'm guessing Snakes and Hailey don't mind if we bomb the pants off of these guys, but that would just make us lose Rebecca. So instead were going to stealth mode and the whole nine yards. Snipers everything," Hawks said to everyone in the room. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Snakes holding Hailey.

"Snake take her to your room. And we'll come to you if we find anything," General Hawks said. Snakes hesitated for a moment but nodded his head and walked himself and Hailey back to his room.

Once he got them there he sat down on the bed holding Hailey close. He didn't know what he would do if they lost Becka. Hailey started to stir, with one hand he removed his helmet and visor, and with the other he gently laid Hailey down on the bed. Snakes slowly laid down beside her, stroking her hair. Memorizing her face, every angle, every shadow. Snakes ran his thumb over her bottom lip. When she blinked her eyes open.

"Oh Snakes, what are we going to do," she cried as she scooted closer to him, burying her face in his chest.

Past Seven Years Ago

Hailey's POV

She glanced at Snakes as he walked into the kitchen. He was wearing jogging pants and a blue shirt that hugged his chest. Hailey quickly averted her eyes and went back to filling the water for their coffee. Why did he have to wear blue? she thought to herself. She heard the scraping of a chair across the floor. Gaining enough courage, she turned around and faced him.

"Do remember anything that happened last night?" she asked. He just cocked his head to one side. Hailey just let out a frustrated sigh.

"Okay look, I know that this may not have scared you, but it really freaked me out. So just tell me now if I should be prepared to do this on a regular basis," Hailey told him as she set the pot of coffee down and looked at him. She let out a shaky breath, as her mask of calmness started to slip. It really did scare her to see him like that, all cut up. What if the next time he died? Or what if they both got hurt? These were the kind of questions and worries that plagued her mind.

As she searched his face for an answer, she could tell that it bothered him. His eyes were troubled, but he didn't answer her. This scared her even more. He didn't have an answer, because he didn't know. Hailey was scared and angry. She didn't even know why this was happening to her, she knew that she shouldn't be angry at Snake Eyes but she missed another human voice. One of comfort, and just friendliness. She wanted to have a normal conversation, not one that had to be written out. It felt one sided most of the time. But it wasn't his fault, he had made a promise, she couldn't ask him to break it.

"I think we should go out, I have a few errands to run anyways," Hailey said, the coffee forgotten. She didn't want to stay here and wait for nothing. It felt as if something were going to happen but she didn't want it to be here. Snake just nodded, and she let out a sigh of relief.

A couple minutes later Hailey turned off the engine, parking in front of the grocery store. Snake Eyes was in the passenger seat, waiting for her next move. With a deep breath Hailey exited the vehicle. Side by side they walked together into the store.

Snake's POV

This is defiantly the opposite of what he wanted to do He had no way to comfort Hailey and her newfound fears. As they walked into the store, she grabbed a cart and started down a random aisle. He followed behind, looking for anything that might be a danger to her.

"Well, look who it is Mark!" a feminine voice rang out. Both he and Hailey looked further up the row. A very pregnant lady and a man were walking towards them.

"Mandy?!" Hailey exclaimed, abandoning the cart to embrace her friend. "Oh, you look so wonderful, all pregnant and glowing," Hailey smiled. Mandy playfully slapped Hailey on the arm.

"More like ready to pop!" Mandy joked back. "Mark here busted me out of the house, Gary has had me on lock down for what seems like forever." Snakes was totally lost, his first assumption was that Mark and Mandy were married, but now it seems that they were just friends.

"Oh what a good little brother," Hailey laughed as she patted Mark's cheek, like you would with a little child.

"Only by-"

"One minute, I know. How could you let me forget," Hailey replied sarcastically, but a smile ever present. Snake however just stayed in the background. He took in Hailey's profile as she talked and joked with two old friends. She used her whole body when she talked and laughed.

"Mark, Mandy this is…umm…Seth," she hesitated on a name for him. Snake knew that she was just trying to protect him from any questions about his unusual name. Now both of the strangers' gazes were upon him. One was appraising, while the other was critical.

"Very nice to meet you Seth, I'm Mandy and this is my brother Mark," Mandy said as she shook his hand, smiling graciously at him. Mark just nodded, not doing his best to hide his dislike. Snake Eyes could tell that Mandy was waiting for her greeting to be returned. He didn't want to be rude, so he nodded.

"Oh…umm…Seth speaks with his hands," Hailey explained quickly. "Using American Sign Language. He can hear us just fine, its his…umm throat." A new light dawned on Mandy's face. One of understanding or so she thought.

"Oh! How interesting! So were you born with out being able to speak?" she asked him. Snake shook his head. "How awful to loose your voice," she stated. Mandy then turned her attention back to Hailey.

"So can you understand all he says?"

"We're working on that, right now its all on pen and paper," Hailey replied.

"Is it hard? To be the only voice in the conversation?" Mandy whispered, but Snake just read her lips. He saw Hailey smile uneasily. "Hailey for real, I've never seen you so eager to talk to Mark, after what happened and all. Are you all right?" Mandy asked, her face showed nothing but concern.

"Well…I…its just nice to hear another person's voice that's all. Everything is fine," Hailey confessed, but reassured her friend. Snake felt his stomach sink. It had been a while since Hailey had other human interactions rather than with him. At work she was so busy, that she didn't even really converse there. And at her home, everything she said he had written out a reply. He never thought of what the lack of a voice would do. How lonely it made her feel. Then there was Mark, what had Hailey previously had with him. Was it a relationship? Had it meant anything significant to her? When the two came back to the cart, Hailey and Mandy smiled and said their farewells. After parting with the twins, the silence was deafening and awkward between Hailey and himself.

"That was Mandy and her brother Mark. Mandy and I have been best friends since sixth grade," Hailey said quickly, but left out how she was involved with Mark. Snake just nodded and followed her as she did her grocery shopping. Did she really miss another human voice? This question circled his mind for the rest of the day. He had never really thought of it. As they continued to walk through the store, he couldn't help but notice all the looks she was receiving from the opposite sex, but once they caught sight of him they looked away. Snake Eyes wasn't completely blind, he saw the looks he received from the women they came across. It was different to be among people who could see him without his armor. It made him feel vulnerable for some reason, he couldn't explain.

Snakes didn't ignore the fact that every time someone came up to them Hailey jumped a little and tensed. She was expecting someone to attack them in the middle of the store. Her eyes were always scanning the area repeatedly, with a nervous gaze. When he looked closer, he could see that her hands were shaking. It had never really dawned on him how frightening this had been for her, how it was still scaring her. He let out a sigh, at a loss on how to handle things. No one had ever taught him how to handle this type of problem or even how to comfort someone in their fears. When he was young his master had taught him to push through and ignore the doubt that came to him, to just push it aside, and sweep it under the rug. At times it helped, but when he was alone and all was quiet, those same fears came back to haunt him. He had been told never to reveal his true feelings for it showed weakness and weakness could one day equal death.

With Hailey though, it was like a completely different story. She needed some reassurance. Snakes however could give her none. How can you give away something you were never taught?