CHAPTER EIGHT: SAYING GOODBYE

He held her hand for much to short of a time. As he begrudgingly walked away from her… making sure that no one was around to witness their degree of affection, both of their arms stretched out as their hands held, trying to squeeze every last second out of their moment of physical contact.

Their hands… held tightly together, slid apart from each other; but even their fingers slid across each others, until finally their fingertips had finally separated from each other… abruptly ending the spark of passion between them. Scarlett's hand fell to her side as Snake-Eyes walked away from her, letting it slip out of his grasp. Snake-Eyes walk quickly dialed up a notch as he realized that he actually had held her hand for too long of a period of time; the C-130 waited for him with an open ramp door… waiting for the last soldier to board.

Normally Snake-Eyes was the first man on the plane and the first into combat, but today he was the last one to leave Base Operations and board the aircraft. The others were already either on the back end of the ramp waiting in line to board, or already inside the Herc.

But he had to leave. Rubbing his fingers and thumb together, he could still feel the sensation of her fingers intertwined through his. Snake-Eyes could vividly picture his fingers sliding slowly away from Scarlett's fingers, until the very tips of their fingers parted, leaving them separate… with the last remnant of their exhilarating touch now faded away. Snake, still walking to the aircraft, held up his arm and clenched his fist, trying to recapture that spark he felt from her, to no avail.

Without so much as turning around or signing to Scarlett, Snake-Eyes thought of what he wanted to say to her, if he had more time… and maybe a little more confidence: Goodbye, Shana. I won't be seeing you for a long time – not until we wrap up this mission, anyway. The thought of being unable to see her for such a long period of unknown time was difficult for him to accept.

Scarlett, crossing one leg in front of the other as she leaned her head against the door jam and folded her arms, sighed. She watched as Snake-Eyes strolled away from her, carrying his equipment over one shoulder and his M-16 over another. You're probably not even thinking of me right now, are you, Snake-Eyes? Mission comes first… it always comes first. I understand, but… She sighed again.

For so many reasons, she had desperately wanted to be a part of this mission. He was one of those reasons, of course, but not the only reason. Not necessarily even the main reason. She missed her chance to prove herself, denied her "first mission" yet again, and she also missed another chance to be with Snake-Eyes. She was really angry – just thinking about it and remembering made her cheeks start to flush again – recalling the moment back in the briefing room when Hawk pointed to the ten members selected for the mission. The memory was vivid; she remembered how awful it felt that she wasn't one of them, as if she was cut from a sports team during the final round of tryouts.

She was angry… but, for some reason, she felt just enough sorrow to make her trivialize her anger. Just enough.

Scarlett took in a deep breath, disappointed with the way her day had been turning out. I'll miss you, Snake, she thought, regretting that she didn't actually say it to him when she had the chance… just now realizing her error. Scarlett, you fool. Her head still up against the door post, she slightly tilted it up in exasperation as she realized her mistake.

Sometimes the silence between the two spoke more volumes than words ever could, and deep down she knew that right now it had been one of those moments. He clearly knew she meant it, but still, she wished that she would have told him.

Although the two had shared numerous close, passionate moments, neither of them had professed their love for each other. She couldn't help but wonder why, though deep down she knew that Snake-Eyes wanted to keep their involvement with each other to a minimum – keep it hush-hush. He said it was because it was "unprofessional"; an idea she totally scoffed at, but for his sake, she'd give in to him.

For now.

But she did have to admit, after all, that there was a certain chain of command, and Snake-Eyes was a lot higher up it than she was. But still…

Turning around, Scarlett was startled with an intruding presence; she was no longer alone and had to quit her daydreaming. With one last glance back at the C-130, Snake-Eyes had already boarded and was out of her sight.

"G..General Hawk? Sorry, sir, I didn't realize you were standing there."

General Hawk smiled at her response, though his attention was focused on the ramp on the back end of the C-130 closing up. The Hercules finally started to taxi out of its parking spot, following the marshallers instructions as he waved both of his arms up and down in a continuous motion with the illuminated wands.

"That's ok, Scarlett. You looked deep in thought. You look like you want to be on that plane. Am I right?"

She nodded, very much wanting to have been aboard the C-130. She bit her lip, hoping that he didn't realize one of the main reasons was to be with Snake-Eyes.

"Yes, sir. This is a hard one to watch, still waiting for my first mission. I know I sound a bit anxious, but I've just been so ready to do my part for so long now."

"I see. Do me a favor, Scarlett? Report to my office in… well, let's call it in six hours. I know its already late, but I'm waiting for some important information from one of our major allies and it's going to take some time to get it. Bottom line is we may need your help after all. I suggest you get some rest until then. Sleep will be hard to come by for all of us anyway until this entire mission gets resolved."

"Yes, sir… I'll be there." Scarlett couldn't help but wonder what the General meant, exactly, but wasn't about to question him.

Hawk turned around as the C-130 rolled down the taxiway, preparing to line up on the runway and take off into the night sky.