After evading Cobra forces for an entire afternoon, Scarlett, Snake Eyes, and Jinx trudged up the stairs of the apartment building. For the last two weeks, Scarlett, Mainframe, and Lifeline had been quietly living in an unremarkable little apartment building in Queens, close to Manhattan.
Scarlett was tired from the events of the last 24 hours. She had been captured, taken to the Marriot in Times Square, and threatened with torture by Snake Eyes. Jinx had failed to show up at the rendezvous in Grand Central because she had seen Duke and become suspicious. Following Scarlett, Jinx had tracked her to the hotel. While waiting and strategizing her next move, she had seen Scarlett and Snake Eyes attempt to escape and had decided that it was time for her to intervene. Jinx told Scarlett all of this when they had finally succeeded in losing their pursuers.
And they had lost Duke.
It was a lot to swallow in one day.
Scarlett knocked on the door of the apartment.
"Who's there?" Mainframe said from within.
"It's me," Scarlett said. Shortly after, the door opened, and Mainframe, holding his gun out as a precautionary measure, expressed surprised pleasure at seeing Snake Eyes and Jinx.
"You've brought friends," Mainframe smiled. "Come in."
Over dinner, the five reunited Joes sat around a small dining table, and Scarlett filled in Mainframe and Lifeline on what had happened. The relief of Mainframe and Lifeline at seeing Scarlett alive and well, after having feared for her capture or death, was plainly visible.
Scarlett now related the intelligence she had received from Dr. Mindbender, and laid out their plan.
"We have the means to carry out our mission," Scarlett said with confidence. "We have guns, bullets, grenades, flame throwers, and bombs."
Scarlett looked to Mainframe and Lifeline. Most of the arms they had obtained had come from the raid they had carried out against Cobra's arms supply line. Mainframe nodded in understanding. Lifeline just looked down and averted his eyes.
"We know how the brainwashing is being done, and we know their headquarters is at the Rockefeller Center. We're going to have to act soon. But we need to know more."
"Mainframe," Scarlett said, "I need to go on a scouting mission, and I want you to accompany me."
"When?"
"Tomorrow morning," Scarlett said. "We'll sneak back into Manhattan in disguise and try to get as close as possible to the Rockefeller Center. Find out what's going on over there. I don't even know what the place looks like. We need a better idea of what we're up against."
"What about the rest of us?" Jinx asked, sipping on her can of soda.
"The three of you stay here tomorrow. Mainframe and I will go alone. When we come back, we'll begin preparations for our real mission immediately."
Scarlett looked around the table.
"All right, everything's understood. Thanks for the dinner, Lifeline."
"Don't mention it," Lifeline said, looking at the empty plates. "It's nothing compared to what Roadblock would have made, though."
They all nodded sadly in remembrance of their fallen friend.
* * *
The others had gone to sleep. Mainframe and Lifeline were in one room. Scarlett shared the second room with Jinx. Scarlett slowly and quietly opened the door of her bedroom and walked out into the living room, where Snake Eyes had elected to spend the night on the sofa. He lay down on the sofa, covered by a blanket, with the light on. Snake Eyes was not sleeping yet.
He was cleaning his Uzi. Scarlett watched him methodically wipe the shaft of the weapon with a rag.
Snake Eyes looked up at her.
"Hey, you," Scarlett said lovingly.
All day, the two of them had been caught up in their frantic escape and flight from Cobra. They had scarcely been able to enjoy their reunion. Now, in the still of the night, with no sounds except the faint hum of the cars running through the streets below, Scarlett and Snake Eyes could finally enjoy each other's company, alone and undisturbed.
Snake Eyes carefully placed the Uzi on the coffee table, moved the blanket off the sofa, and sat up at one end. He motioned toward the sofa, inviting her to have a seat.
Scarlett smiled as she sat down next to him.
"Can't sleep?" Snake Eyes signed to her.
"We have a lot to talk about," Scarlett said.
"I guess we do."
"Snake Eyes," Scarlett looked into his eyes, "I always wanted to ask you, if you felt this way about me for so long, why didn't you tell me?"
Snake Eyes dropped his eyes downward in thought. After a few moments, Scarlett reached out with a hand and gently lifted his chin, tilting his head upward to face her. Both of them knew what the other was thinking. The painful, distant moments of their lives rose to the surface now, bobbing above the vast ocean of their memories.
* * *
"We're going down! Get ready to jump!"
The pilot's voice rose above the turbulent chaos of the moment. Scarlett felt herself shake violently with the chopper as it lurched downward in the blistering heat of the sandstorm. The desert floor rapidly rose up to meet them. Out of the corner of her eye, Scarlett could see the other chopper floundering over the desert sands, experiencing similar problems keeping a controlled course of movement. Everything was moving so rapidly, Scarlett barely perceived that the chopper was about to crash, but in a fatal moment, she hesitated. Momentarily paralyzed with fear and indecision, Scarlett looked to her left.
"Come on, let's go!" Rock `N Roll and Grunt both jumped through the open left door of the chopper.
"Scarlett, come on!" Snake Eyes shouted above the noise of the chopper's tortured engine and the diffuse noise of the sandy winds as he waved her on. He stood at the left door of the chopper, ready to jump, but he would not jump until he was sure of Scarlett's safety.
Scarlett broke out of her momentary lapse of concentration and rose to join him. At that moment, the chopper went into a horrendous spin, and before she could lurch toward Snake Eyes' side of the chopper, the right door slammed shut on her web gear.
"Arrrgghhh!" Snake Eyes cried as he was thrown off balance. He quickly grabbed the edge of the door, steadied himself, and looked back to Scarlett.
"Scarlett!" Snake Eyes shouted. She was trapped.
The chopper would crash in a matter of seconds, and the other chopper was drawing dangerously close.
"Leave me, get out of here!" Scarlett yelled to Snake Eyes. She pulled at the entrapped gear, silently cursing her misfortune at getting stuck at such an inopportune moment.
"Snake Eyes, no!" Scarlett cried out as Snake Eyes, steadying his helmet with one hand and gripping his rifle with the other, made his way to Scarlett's side of the chopper.
"I won't let you die!" Snake Eyes shouted as he attempted to force open the chopper door with his left hand.
At that moment, the second chopper's rotor blades collided with their own chopper. It pierced an aviation fuel tank, sending a searing jet of flame through the chopper window, right next to Snake Eyes' face. The glass shattered and Snake Eyes' head was instantly enveloped in flame. Scarlett saw all of this with horror. Before she could call out Snake Eyes' name, Snake Eyes succeeded in forcing the chopper door open with a titanic effort of will. Scarlett felt herself finally freed from her entrapment, and Snake Eyes grabbed her with both arms, holding her tightly as their chopper met the ground in a thunderous and violent crash.
Everything went black at the moment of impact...
Six months later
His head wrapped in white bandages, his eyes covered by dark sunglasses, his head covered by an army cap, Snake Eyes leaned on the rail of the pier and gazed out to the ocean beyond.
He said nothing.
His face, covered and concealed from the world, betrayed no emotion.
Scarlett approached him from behind.
"His head was... was on fire, Scarlett," Rock `N Roll's voice echoed in her head.
"Me and Grunt saw him carry you out in his arms. His face, his neck... were burnt. He was opening his mouth, trying to say something to us. But no sound came out."
Scarlett stood next to Snake Eyes and joined him in gazing out to the sea. It was the first time she had seen him since that fateful mission in the desert.
"You were out cold," Rock `N Roll's voice rang out forcefully in her consciousness. "But you didn't have a single burn or bruise on your body. Not even a single scratch."
He gave his body for me, Scarlett thought to herself as she and Snake Eyes turned to face each other. He gave up his face and his voice to save me. How can I possibly repay him? What words could I say to express the depth of my gratitude to him?
But as they silently looked at each other, Scarlett knew that not even the Poet Laureate could compose words fitting enough.
So Scarlett said nothing, only reaching out to put her hands on his shoulders. Snake Eyes looked down to one of her hands and stood there impassively. He trembled.
Slowly, Snake Eyes took her hands in his and stepped backward from her. They squeezed each other's hands. For what seemed an eternity, the two friends looked at each other with their hands clasped.
Snake Eyes let go, walking backward a few steps, his eyes not leaving Scarlett's face. Scarlett wanted to say something.
Say something, anything! Don't let him go. For God's sake, don't let him walk away and leave you like this...
But the words dried up in her throat. A tear trickled down her cheek as she watched Snake Eyes turn and walk away.
* * *
Scarlett moved closer to Snake Eyes on the sofa and touched his hand. Her fingers lightly brushed over Snake Eyes' fingers and curled over the edge of his little finger, and Snake Eyes responded by gently closing his hand on her fingers.
"You saved my life that day," Scarlett said. "And you never gave me a chance to thank you. I always knew you cared about me to do something like that. I wanted to become closer to you, Snake Eyes. But you pushed me away. You never let me in."
Scarlett withdrew her hand from Snake Eyes' hand and put both of her hands on either side of his masked face.
"Why?"
* * *
The days flew by, one by one. Snake Eyes had returned from the hospital and was now an active member of G.I. JOE again. He never showed his face to anyone. He was shrouded in mystery, always dressed in dark colors, and always covered his face with a mask. No sound emanated from his lips, only occasional signs and symbols from his hands. Even then, he was laconic. No one could tell how he felt inside.
But Scarlett wanted to know.
"I'd give anything to know what you're thinking," Scarlett said to Snake Eyes as they stood together in the training room.
"I wish I knew what you were really feeling. I wish you would show me a sign."
But Snake Eyes said nothing to her. He only turned his head away, as if in shame.
"Snake Eyes, I came down here looking for you."
Snake Eyes cocked his head at her, as if to ask, what the hell for?
"You've gone out of your way to avoid me. You won't share meals with me in the mess hall. You won't train with me, or even say anything to me other than hello. We can be in the same room, but as soon as I come near you, you tense up and shut up. It's as if I'm setting off your alarms in your head, and you're putting up your defenses. You're building up walls against me. I want us to be friends again, Snake Eyes. What's stopping us from being friends?"
Snake Eyes averted his gaze and stared at the floor.
"Snake Eyes," Scarlett said, putting a hand on his shoulder, feeling him tense up as she did so, "let's go someplace. We could take the ferry to Manhattan, take a walk, maybe get something to eat. Just you and me. How about it? I can tell you're unhappy. I can see how lonely you are, and I want you to be happy. You don't have to be constantly alone. I'm here for you, now. That's what friends are for."
Scarlett gave him an inviting smile and tried to meet his eyes.
"So what do you say? Come on, let's go out and have a nice time..."
Snake Eyes could only shake his head. He lifted a hand and waved at her, as if silently begging her to leave.
Crestfallen, Scarlett sighed in genuine disappointment. She turned and walked out of the training room.
"Well, if you change your mind..."
Snake Eyes wanted nothing more than to reach out to her and take her hand. He would have given the world to go out on the town with Scarlett. He knew he would have delighted in her company. The red hair flowing in the breeze as they stood together on the Staten Island ferry would exert a hypnotic effect. Her green eyes would sing to him a gentle lullaby, a song of her caring and friendship. That slender waist asking to be held... those sweet lips inviting his own--these things called out to him, drew him toward her with a tremendous magnetic pull.
He was attracted to her. Everything in her moved him to love her more. Snake Eyes loved the way she looked, the way she bore herself with confidence and steadiness, the way she could be so cheerful. Her effervescent spirit was to him a shining light. Scarlett was as beautiful as a woman could be, but she was unlike any woman Snake Eyes had ever met. There was something special about her that he could hardly put into words. He could imagine her voice, speaking to him from across a great distance, from across a vast and boundless sea, the words soothing his heart with a tender touch...
I'm here for you, Snake Eyes. All you have to do is reach out your hand into the cold night sky and extend your arm to the stars. You would touch the face of an angel if you so wished. You would touch my heart. I have a heart capable of loving another with a deep and soulful love, Snake Eyes. What a wondrous feeling it would be to discover that you held in yourself such a heart as well!
But he was unworthy of her. He knew this instinctively. It was not only his ruined face and vocal cords. His soul was dark and filled with pain. It seemed to him that his lot in life was to suffer and lose those he cared most for. He had lost his entire family and his closest friends. Could he bear to lose Scarlett? Moreover, could he allow himself to put Scarlett in danger from the dark cloud of ill fate that followed him all his life?
In loving her, he would destroy her.
No, Snake Eyes decided, it was much better to remain at arm's length, loving her from a distance. He would deny himself the happiness of being close to her. As much as it hurt him to see her disappointed by him, Snake Eyes knew that what he did was for her own good. He decided he would give up the possibility of a close friendship with Scarlett in order to protect her. He would sacrifice his happiness in order to save her.
Every day, Snake Eyes woke up loving Scarlett, and every day, he put thoughts of his love for her aside. Every day that Snake Eyes turned away from Scarlett, pushed her away, and kept her at arm's length, he could see Scarlett's growing sadness and frustration. She cared for him. Perhaps she even cared for him as more than a friend? Day by day, Snake Eyes watched the strength of her feeling for him fade. It was so very painful to him to watch her express her caring for him less and less each day. She knew her feeling would not be returned, and it discouraged her. Every time she invited him out someplace, hoping to spend time with him and nurture their relationship, she went away empty handed. Snake Eyes sensed that he was hurting Scarlett, but perhaps it was in order to save her from greater hurt that he did so.
And as Scarlett's feeling toward Snake Eyes diminished, his own feeling for her grew. The more he denied himself the pleasure of her company, the more he desired it. He wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms and let her know how much he loved her. He wrote long love letters to Scarlett but never had the courage to show them to her. Each letter that he wrote ended up folded inside his little composition book, a secret treasure that he hoped Scarlett would one day find.
One day, most of the Joes were having lunch together in the mess hall, and Scarlett sat at a table with Stalker and Cover Girl, not saying much and looking uncharacteristically morose.
"Scarlett?"
Scarlett turned around in her seat to see Duke standing near her.
"Yes?"
"A bunch of us guys are heading out to town to see a movie, have dinner, and hang out," Duke said, pointing to a table where Ace, Breaker, Wild Bill, and Shipwreck were sitting and playing a game of poker.
"Why, you slick bastard," Shipwreck said in awe as Ace showed his buddies a full house.
"I was wondering if you'd like to join us," Duke smiled at her.
"Well, Duke, I..." Scarlett paused in mid-sentence and glanced in Snake Eyes' direction. Snake Eyes was sitting alone in a corner table, quietly reading a book. She wished it was Snake Eyes asking her this question.
"Scarlett?"
"Sure, I... I'd like that. It sounds great," Scarlett said, smiling weakly.
* * *
"I never stopped loving you," Snake Eyes signed to Scarlett.
"You tried to keep it to yourself all those years, but finally you had to tell me," Scarlett said with understanding.
"I have nothing to offer you. I don't deserve to be loved by you," Snake Eyes signed.
"That's not true, you have so much to offer me, Snake Eyes. You give so much of yourself to me. No one else is more deserving of my love."
Scarlett gently pulled at the edges of Snake Eyes' mask, and Snake Eyes reached up with his hands and placed them on hers.
"Let us never again hide our true selves from one another, Snake Eyes."
The mask slowly came off, and Scarlett looked into Snake Eyes' tragically scarred face.
"Be careful tomorrow," Snake Eyes signed to her.
"I will. Take a chance on me, Snake Eyes. Won't you trust me when I say to you that everything is going to be all right? Please, don't be so afraid to love me. We've already lost so much time, shouldn't we cherish every moment together as a gift, instead of worrying for the future?"
Snake Eyes leaned forward and kissed her for the first time. The kiss was sweet and gentle, like a soft kiss goodnight.
Scarlett felt herself growing tired. She had a long day ahead of her. But she wasn't ready to go back to her room just yet. If she could just stay here in Snake Eyes' arms, just a little longer...
Snake Eyes smiled at Scarlett, sleeping soundly on his chest as he wrapped an arm around her. With his free hand, Snake Eyes reached down for the blanket and laid it over her shoulders. Scarlett gave a murmur of contentment as she snuggled closely to Snake Eyes.
Snake Eyes kept watch over her all through the night, caressing the fair tendrils of red hair that draped over her lovely face, feeling the warm breath on his hands. His mouth moved in silence, singing a sweet lullaby that no one heard but he alone.
Scarlett was tired from the events of the last 24 hours. She had been captured, taken to the Marriot in Times Square, and threatened with torture by Snake Eyes. Jinx had failed to show up at the rendezvous in Grand Central because she had seen Duke and become suspicious. Following Scarlett, Jinx had tracked her to the hotel. While waiting and strategizing her next move, she had seen Scarlett and Snake Eyes attempt to escape and had decided that it was time for her to intervene. Jinx told Scarlett all of this when they had finally succeeded in losing their pursuers.
And they had lost Duke.
It was a lot to swallow in one day.
Scarlett knocked on the door of the apartment.
"Who's there?" Mainframe said from within.
"It's me," Scarlett said. Shortly after, the door opened, and Mainframe, holding his gun out as a precautionary measure, expressed surprised pleasure at seeing Snake Eyes and Jinx.
"You've brought friends," Mainframe smiled. "Come in."
Over dinner, the five reunited Joes sat around a small dining table, and Scarlett filled in Mainframe and Lifeline on what had happened. The relief of Mainframe and Lifeline at seeing Scarlett alive and well, after having feared for her capture or death, was plainly visible.
Scarlett now related the intelligence she had received from Dr. Mindbender, and laid out their plan.
"We have the means to carry out our mission," Scarlett said with confidence. "We have guns, bullets, grenades, flame throwers, and bombs."
Scarlett looked to Mainframe and Lifeline. Most of the arms they had obtained had come from the raid they had carried out against Cobra's arms supply line. Mainframe nodded in understanding. Lifeline just looked down and averted his eyes.
"We know how the brainwashing is being done, and we know their headquarters is at the Rockefeller Center. We're going to have to act soon. But we need to know more."
"Mainframe," Scarlett said, "I need to go on a scouting mission, and I want you to accompany me."
"When?"
"Tomorrow morning," Scarlett said. "We'll sneak back into Manhattan in disguise and try to get as close as possible to the Rockefeller Center. Find out what's going on over there. I don't even know what the place looks like. We need a better idea of what we're up against."
"What about the rest of us?" Jinx asked, sipping on her can of soda.
"The three of you stay here tomorrow. Mainframe and I will go alone. When we come back, we'll begin preparations for our real mission immediately."
Scarlett looked around the table.
"All right, everything's understood. Thanks for the dinner, Lifeline."
"Don't mention it," Lifeline said, looking at the empty plates. "It's nothing compared to what Roadblock would have made, though."
They all nodded sadly in remembrance of their fallen friend.
* * *
The others had gone to sleep. Mainframe and Lifeline were in one room. Scarlett shared the second room with Jinx. Scarlett slowly and quietly opened the door of her bedroom and walked out into the living room, where Snake Eyes had elected to spend the night on the sofa. He lay down on the sofa, covered by a blanket, with the light on. Snake Eyes was not sleeping yet.
He was cleaning his Uzi. Scarlett watched him methodically wipe the shaft of the weapon with a rag.
Snake Eyes looked up at her.
"Hey, you," Scarlett said lovingly.
All day, the two of them had been caught up in their frantic escape and flight from Cobra. They had scarcely been able to enjoy their reunion. Now, in the still of the night, with no sounds except the faint hum of the cars running through the streets below, Scarlett and Snake Eyes could finally enjoy each other's company, alone and undisturbed.
Snake Eyes carefully placed the Uzi on the coffee table, moved the blanket off the sofa, and sat up at one end. He motioned toward the sofa, inviting her to have a seat.
Scarlett smiled as she sat down next to him.
"Can't sleep?" Snake Eyes signed to her.
"We have a lot to talk about," Scarlett said.
"I guess we do."
"Snake Eyes," Scarlett looked into his eyes, "I always wanted to ask you, if you felt this way about me for so long, why didn't you tell me?"
Snake Eyes dropped his eyes downward in thought. After a few moments, Scarlett reached out with a hand and gently lifted his chin, tilting his head upward to face her. Both of them knew what the other was thinking. The painful, distant moments of their lives rose to the surface now, bobbing above the vast ocean of their memories.
* * *
"We're going down! Get ready to jump!"
The pilot's voice rose above the turbulent chaos of the moment. Scarlett felt herself shake violently with the chopper as it lurched downward in the blistering heat of the sandstorm. The desert floor rapidly rose up to meet them. Out of the corner of her eye, Scarlett could see the other chopper floundering over the desert sands, experiencing similar problems keeping a controlled course of movement. Everything was moving so rapidly, Scarlett barely perceived that the chopper was about to crash, but in a fatal moment, she hesitated. Momentarily paralyzed with fear and indecision, Scarlett looked to her left.
"Come on, let's go!" Rock `N Roll and Grunt both jumped through the open left door of the chopper.
"Scarlett, come on!" Snake Eyes shouted above the noise of the chopper's tortured engine and the diffuse noise of the sandy winds as he waved her on. He stood at the left door of the chopper, ready to jump, but he would not jump until he was sure of Scarlett's safety.
Scarlett broke out of her momentary lapse of concentration and rose to join him. At that moment, the chopper went into a horrendous spin, and before she could lurch toward Snake Eyes' side of the chopper, the right door slammed shut on her web gear.
"Arrrgghhh!" Snake Eyes cried as he was thrown off balance. He quickly grabbed the edge of the door, steadied himself, and looked back to Scarlett.
"Scarlett!" Snake Eyes shouted. She was trapped.
The chopper would crash in a matter of seconds, and the other chopper was drawing dangerously close.
"Leave me, get out of here!" Scarlett yelled to Snake Eyes. She pulled at the entrapped gear, silently cursing her misfortune at getting stuck at such an inopportune moment.
"Snake Eyes, no!" Scarlett cried out as Snake Eyes, steadying his helmet with one hand and gripping his rifle with the other, made his way to Scarlett's side of the chopper.
"I won't let you die!" Snake Eyes shouted as he attempted to force open the chopper door with his left hand.
At that moment, the second chopper's rotor blades collided with their own chopper. It pierced an aviation fuel tank, sending a searing jet of flame through the chopper window, right next to Snake Eyes' face. The glass shattered and Snake Eyes' head was instantly enveloped in flame. Scarlett saw all of this with horror. Before she could call out Snake Eyes' name, Snake Eyes succeeded in forcing the chopper door open with a titanic effort of will. Scarlett felt herself finally freed from her entrapment, and Snake Eyes grabbed her with both arms, holding her tightly as their chopper met the ground in a thunderous and violent crash.
Everything went black at the moment of impact...
Six months later
His head wrapped in white bandages, his eyes covered by dark sunglasses, his head covered by an army cap, Snake Eyes leaned on the rail of the pier and gazed out to the ocean beyond.
He said nothing.
His face, covered and concealed from the world, betrayed no emotion.
Scarlett approached him from behind.
"His head was... was on fire, Scarlett," Rock `N Roll's voice echoed in her head.
"Me and Grunt saw him carry you out in his arms. His face, his neck... were burnt. He was opening his mouth, trying to say something to us. But no sound came out."
Scarlett stood next to Snake Eyes and joined him in gazing out to the sea. It was the first time she had seen him since that fateful mission in the desert.
"You were out cold," Rock `N Roll's voice rang out forcefully in her consciousness. "But you didn't have a single burn or bruise on your body. Not even a single scratch."
He gave his body for me, Scarlett thought to herself as she and Snake Eyes turned to face each other. He gave up his face and his voice to save me. How can I possibly repay him? What words could I say to express the depth of my gratitude to him?
But as they silently looked at each other, Scarlett knew that not even the Poet Laureate could compose words fitting enough.
So Scarlett said nothing, only reaching out to put her hands on his shoulders. Snake Eyes looked down to one of her hands and stood there impassively. He trembled.
Slowly, Snake Eyes took her hands in his and stepped backward from her. They squeezed each other's hands. For what seemed an eternity, the two friends looked at each other with their hands clasped.
Snake Eyes let go, walking backward a few steps, his eyes not leaving Scarlett's face. Scarlett wanted to say something.
Say something, anything! Don't let him go. For God's sake, don't let him walk away and leave you like this...
But the words dried up in her throat. A tear trickled down her cheek as she watched Snake Eyes turn and walk away.
* * *
Scarlett moved closer to Snake Eyes on the sofa and touched his hand. Her fingers lightly brushed over Snake Eyes' fingers and curled over the edge of his little finger, and Snake Eyes responded by gently closing his hand on her fingers.
"You saved my life that day," Scarlett said. "And you never gave me a chance to thank you. I always knew you cared about me to do something like that. I wanted to become closer to you, Snake Eyes. But you pushed me away. You never let me in."
Scarlett withdrew her hand from Snake Eyes' hand and put both of her hands on either side of his masked face.
"Why?"
* * *
The days flew by, one by one. Snake Eyes had returned from the hospital and was now an active member of G.I. JOE again. He never showed his face to anyone. He was shrouded in mystery, always dressed in dark colors, and always covered his face with a mask. No sound emanated from his lips, only occasional signs and symbols from his hands. Even then, he was laconic. No one could tell how he felt inside.
But Scarlett wanted to know.
"I'd give anything to know what you're thinking," Scarlett said to Snake Eyes as they stood together in the training room.
"I wish I knew what you were really feeling. I wish you would show me a sign."
But Snake Eyes said nothing to her. He only turned his head away, as if in shame.
"Snake Eyes, I came down here looking for you."
Snake Eyes cocked his head at her, as if to ask, what the hell for?
"You've gone out of your way to avoid me. You won't share meals with me in the mess hall. You won't train with me, or even say anything to me other than hello. We can be in the same room, but as soon as I come near you, you tense up and shut up. It's as if I'm setting off your alarms in your head, and you're putting up your defenses. You're building up walls against me. I want us to be friends again, Snake Eyes. What's stopping us from being friends?"
Snake Eyes averted his gaze and stared at the floor.
"Snake Eyes," Scarlett said, putting a hand on his shoulder, feeling him tense up as she did so, "let's go someplace. We could take the ferry to Manhattan, take a walk, maybe get something to eat. Just you and me. How about it? I can tell you're unhappy. I can see how lonely you are, and I want you to be happy. You don't have to be constantly alone. I'm here for you, now. That's what friends are for."
Scarlett gave him an inviting smile and tried to meet his eyes.
"So what do you say? Come on, let's go out and have a nice time..."
Snake Eyes could only shake his head. He lifted a hand and waved at her, as if silently begging her to leave.
Crestfallen, Scarlett sighed in genuine disappointment. She turned and walked out of the training room.
"Well, if you change your mind..."
Snake Eyes wanted nothing more than to reach out to her and take her hand. He would have given the world to go out on the town with Scarlett. He knew he would have delighted in her company. The red hair flowing in the breeze as they stood together on the Staten Island ferry would exert a hypnotic effect. Her green eyes would sing to him a gentle lullaby, a song of her caring and friendship. That slender waist asking to be held... those sweet lips inviting his own--these things called out to him, drew him toward her with a tremendous magnetic pull.
He was attracted to her. Everything in her moved him to love her more. Snake Eyes loved the way she looked, the way she bore herself with confidence and steadiness, the way she could be so cheerful. Her effervescent spirit was to him a shining light. Scarlett was as beautiful as a woman could be, but she was unlike any woman Snake Eyes had ever met. There was something special about her that he could hardly put into words. He could imagine her voice, speaking to him from across a great distance, from across a vast and boundless sea, the words soothing his heart with a tender touch...
I'm here for you, Snake Eyes. All you have to do is reach out your hand into the cold night sky and extend your arm to the stars. You would touch the face of an angel if you so wished. You would touch my heart. I have a heart capable of loving another with a deep and soulful love, Snake Eyes. What a wondrous feeling it would be to discover that you held in yourself such a heart as well!
But he was unworthy of her. He knew this instinctively. It was not only his ruined face and vocal cords. His soul was dark and filled with pain. It seemed to him that his lot in life was to suffer and lose those he cared most for. He had lost his entire family and his closest friends. Could he bear to lose Scarlett? Moreover, could he allow himself to put Scarlett in danger from the dark cloud of ill fate that followed him all his life?
In loving her, he would destroy her.
No, Snake Eyes decided, it was much better to remain at arm's length, loving her from a distance. He would deny himself the happiness of being close to her. As much as it hurt him to see her disappointed by him, Snake Eyes knew that what he did was for her own good. He decided he would give up the possibility of a close friendship with Scarlett in order to protect her. He would sacrifice his happiness in order to save her.
Every day, Snake Eyes woke up loving Scarlett, and every day, he put thoughts of his love for her aside. Every day that Snake Eyes turned away from Scarlett, pushed her away, and kept her at arm's length, he could see Scarlett's growing sadness and frustration. She cared for him. Perhaps she even cared for him as more than a friend? Day by day, Snake Eyes watched the strength of her feeling for him fade. It was so very painful to him to watch her express her caring for him less and less each day. She knew her feeling would not be returned, and it discouraged her. Every time she invited him out someplace, hoping to spend time with him and nurture their relationship, she went away empty handed. Snake Eyes sensed that he was hurting Scarlett, but perhaps it was in order to save her from greater hurt that he did so.
And as Scarlett's feeling toward Snake Eyes diminished, his own feeling for her grew. The more he denied himself the pleasure of her company, the more he desired it. He wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms and let her know how much he loved her. He wrote long love letters to Scarlett but never had the courage to show them to her. Each letter that he wrote ended up folded inside his little composition book, a secret treasure that he hoped Scarlett would one day find.
One day, most of the Joes were having lunch together in the mess hall, and Scarlett sat at a table with Stalker and Cover Girl, not saying much and looking uncharacteristically morose.
"Scarlett?"
Scarlett turned around in her seat to see Duke standing near her.
"Yes?"
"A bunch of us guys are heading out to town to see a movie, have dinner, and hang out," Duke said, pointing to a table where Ace, Breaker, Wild Bill, and Shipwreck were sitting and playing a game of poker.
"Why, you slick bastard," Shipwreck said in awe as Ace showed his buddies a full house.
"I was wondering if you'd like to join us," Duke smiled at her.
"Well, Duke, I..." Scarlett paused in mid-sentence and glanced in Snake Eyes' direction. Snake Eyes was sitting alone in a corner table, quietly reading a book. She wished it was Snake Eyes asking her this question.
"Scarlett?"
"Sure, I... I'd like that. It sounds great," Scarlett said, smiling weakly.
* * *
"I never stopped loving you," Snake Eyes signed to Scarlett.
"You tried to keep it to yourself all those years, but finally you had to tell me," Scarlett said with understanding.
"I have nothing to offer you. I don't deserve to be loved by you," Snake Eyes signed.
"That's not true, you have so much to offer me, Snake Eyes. You give so much of yourself to me. No one else is more deserving of my love."
Scarlett gently pulled at the edges of Snake Eyes' mask, and Snake Eyes reached up with his hands and placed them on hers.
"Let us never again hide our true selves from one another, Snake Eyes."
The mask slowly came off, and Scarlett looked into Snake Eyes' tragically scarred face.
"Be careful tomorrow," Snake Eyes signed to her.
"I will. Take a chance on me, Snake Eyes. Won't you trust me when I say to you that everything is going to be all right? Please, don't be so afraid to love me. We've already lost so much time, shouldn't we cherish every moment together as a gift, instead of worrying for the future?"
Snake Eyes leaned forward and kissed her for the first time. The kiss was sweet and gentle, like a soft kiss goodnight.
Scarlett felt herself growing tired. She had a long day ahead of her. But she wasn't ready to go back to her room just yet. If she could just stay here in Snake Eyes' arms, just a little longer...
Snake Eyes smiled at Scarlett, sleeping soundly on his chest as he wrapped an arm around her. With his free hand, Snake Eyes reached down for the blanket and laid it over her shoulders. Scarlett gave a murmur of contentment as she snuggled closely to Snake Eyes.
Snake Eyes kept watch over her all through the night, caressing the fair tendrils of red hair that draped over her lovely face, feeling the warm breath on his hands. His mouth moved in silence, singing a sweet lullaby that no one heard but he alone.