A/N: Well I'm on spring break this week so I've uploaded everything I have and will add the final chapter as soon as I write it...haha. Enjoy! and reviews are welcome!

ps. it's not edited, so sorry for errors :/

She woke up screaming. Not surprising and all her fault. She hardly sleeps for this specific reason but the past few days had exhausted her so she had gone to bed when Snake had. But those nightmares that never leave her alone came back with a vengeance.

She wrapped her arms around her knees, trying to calm her breathing and the tears that had escaped during sleep. A gentle hand touched her back and she jumped in response.

Snake-Eyes put his hands up in a "I'm not going to hurt you" gesture before slowly putting his hand back on her shaking back. She just shook her head, tried to push his hand off before he sat down beside her and pulled her against his chest. Instead of being the strong killer that she had been trained, tortured, to be, she melted into his warm body and cried. She hadn't let herself cry like she was now in years, maybe it was because she becoming soft or maybe it was simply because somebody was holding her that actually cared, whatever it was she didn't care. She just didn't want him to let go.

He didn't. Not for over a half hour until her body was relaxed against his and her breathing was normal again. Slowly, he held her away from him so he could look at her face and gently brush the few remaining tears off her red cheeks.

Suddenly embarrassed she shrugged off his hand, "I'm sorry..." she began was interrupted when his eyes seemed to turn darker. He looked directly into her eyes when he said, Never, never apologize for showing feeling. You are not weak for crying, Arianna.

At the sight of her birth name, one that only Snake had ever called her, she looked up at him like she always had with love, respect and honor. His hands held her face between them and he gently shook her to make his point known. She nodded, as much as she could with his hands holding her face, and he slowly nodded back. With a gently kiss to her head he went in the bathroom and she could hear water running.

"You alright, Tiger? You seem distracted today." Asked Breaker as he watched her trying to connect a circuit board.

She growled her frustration and pushed the piece of technology away from her before she broke it in two. "I'm fine Breaker."

He raised a brow but took the circuit board off the table, "Well, okay, but how about we call it a day today, eh?"

She nodded and without another word left Breaker trying to figure out what was up and headed for the Pit's floor where she knew Snake was busy teaching. She stood on one of the platform walkways and watched as Snake trained some Joes. His movements were so clear and precise, of course they always had been, even when he was only a kid himself. She began to remember a time when a student was picking on her for carrying a teddy bear with her everywhere and Snake had almost broken his arm. Got in trouble afterwards too, she remembered with a chuckle, but no one ever messed with her after that. Too bad he hadn't been there when she had really needed him.

"You okay?"

Tiger looked up at Scarlet's voice and nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Scarlet leaned on the railing beside her, "Breaker said you seemed distracted this morning. I have to agree, you do seem to be preoccupied with something."

Tiger shrugged, "I just didn't sleep well…"

"Weird having Snake in the same room?" ventured Scarlet.

Tiger shook her head, "No, actually at first his presence was probably the only reason why I slept for so long…I just had a nightmare. Always do when I sleep too long."

Scarlet nodded her head, seeming to understand what Tiger was saying, even though she didn't really know from experience. "Snake was there when you woke up." It wasn't a question.

Despite her confused mood, Tiger smiled, "Yeah, he was. I used to have nightmares a lot when I was little and he was always there to wake me up when I started tossing and turning in my bed…my nightmares have gotten steadily worse since I was 6 though."

Scarlet nodded, "Maybe you need to talk to him about them, I know talking about nightmares can make them go away."

Tiger chuckled, "No offense Scar, but these nightmares won't leave me that easily. They came from reality, not my dreams."

Scarlet didn't know what to say but luckily she didn't have to. Snake had seen Tiger watching and signaled her to come down to the floor. Without much thought, Tiger hoped over the railing and landed softly on her feet below, earning a few whistles form nearby Joes.

She walked over to where Snake stood and took the electro-shock baton form his outstretched hand. Without any warning he came at her with another one and their dance began. Neither of them took a hit for at least 10 minutes, their session lasting longer than most. They were an equal match, it didn't matter that Tiger was only 5'4" and Snake was nearly 6'3" or that she was only 21 years old and he was 26, it took them both a lot of work to finally get one hit to each other. Tiger's hit only landed on Snake's arm, to her dismay his was much more precise and hit her square in the stomach, causing her breath to leave her and for her vision to dazzle for just a second too long. Before she knew it, she was once again pinned to the ground with his weight holding her down.

She heard the cheers and claps and could feel his chuckle against her before he stood up and pulled her with him. "Lucky shot." She mumbled before tossing the baton over to a waiting Heavy Duty.

"Well looks like you can handle your own, Tiger. I need to see you both, along with the rest of your team, in my office." Said Hawk as he walked away from the circle.

By the time Tiger, Heavy Duty and Snake Eyes got to the conference room, the other were already there and waiting. Hawk stood in the front of the long table and sighed before beginning. "Now before I give you guys this assignment, I need to warn you; it's not going to be easy and Tiger, " he said as he looked at her, "I think you're ready to do this but tell me if you're not." He waited until she nodded her head before he continued. "We've gotten a tip that the Order of Assassins has agreed to take out the President of France, and it's been handed to the Joes to take them out before they can complete their mission. I'm sending you guys out in 2 days to take them out, we've gotten a clue as to where they are and we're going to hit them and hit them hard."

Tiger could feel the other's eyes on her and could feel Snake's tension as his he stood beside her. "General, with all due respect, I don't think I'll ever be ready, but if my team is going then so am I."

Hawk smiled at the strength and her pride that melted into the tone of her voice, "Then Snake, get her ready to go with you all. I don't want anything going wrong."

Snake nodded before they were all dismissed to begin preparing.