WE ARE THE RISEN

Happy Birthday, Erica. (Part Six.)

     Even without windows, Snake could tell that she should have been asleep a long time ago. The only things she could hear were the sounds of waves hitting the boat and the low hum of the ship's engine down below. She let out a small groan as she sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. There was no way she was getting any sleep tonight.

     What more, Shifter had gone to bed in Med tonight, so there was no one else that she could occupy the time with. Snake debated going below to wake up Mailman but dismissed the thought. He needed to rest.

     Mailman. He and Shifter had worked for God-knows how long to set up that party for her, even after last year's disaster. And, for all the trouble he was sometimes, Mailman held the squad together, no matter what. It was hard to imagine him not being in the squad, but it hadn't been that long ago when they went on that Spec. Op. to retrieve him from-

     Suddenly, she heard a small thump in the hallway, not far away, followed by a string of almost inaudible curses. Snake tensed, alert, ready to deal with a possible intruder in her vicinity. Footsteps, now loud in the sheer silence of the ship, padded towards her door. Snake moved out of her bed almost silently, putting herself right behind the door, out of sight if the unknown voice was to come into her room.

     She heard a few more muttered curses, closer this time, and readied herself. Grabbing her sidearm out of the bottom drawer of her dresser, she crouched, waiting.

     The door handle turned slowly, giving Snake a chance to figure out her plan of attack, but, as the door opened, she heard him speak.

     "Snake?" Duke whispered.

     She sighed a breath of relief. "Duke, you have no idea how close you came to having a gun in your face," she said, standing up and walking back over to the dresser to put it away. "Why are you awake?"

     Duke used his free hand to rub the back of his neck, carefully balancing the long, tan box tied with a red ribbon in the other as he closed the door behind him. "Wanted to give you your present," he said nonchalantly, as if it weren't three o'clock in the morning.

     He held the box out to her and she gingerly took it, feeling the object shuffle inside. "What is it?" Snake asked, moving to sit on her bed with her new present held tightly.

     Duke grinned as he sat beside her. "Why don't you find out?"

     She shook her head, fighting the urge to smile. "Don't have to ask me twice." Snake untied the bow with little difficulty and stifled a gasp after lifting the lid.

     It was a knife. Larger than the one that she had lost in her last Op, it looked like pure steel, with a wide, curved point that tapered down into a narrow base, complete with a dark, worn leather grip and holster to match. She lifted the object carefully out of the box as if she could break it with one wrong move.

     "Since I lost yours, I figured I owed you a new one." Duke joked halfheartedly, his eyes not meeting hers.

     She stared at the box, the gears turning rapidly in her head. Knives, especially quality ones like this one so obviously was, were frustratingly hard to find, much less buy. She couldn't even begin to wonder how he got his hands on one like this. "Duke, if you hadn't done that, I wouldn't be here for you to apologize. You saved my life."

     He motioned to her arm. "Still. It's a Bowie knife, in case you were wondering," he added. " My mum always said that this knife would get a man out of any situation he found himself in. I thought you could make better use of it than I could."

     Snake was suddenly glad for the darkness, glad Duke had either neglected to or forgotten about turning on the lights.

     "Thank you," she said softly. It was too little, not enough for this priceless gift, but it was all she could think of to say without fear of her voice betraying her.

     He seemed to understand, quietly sitting next to her on her cot as she admired the blade. "Happy Birthday, Erica," he said quietly.

     They could have sat there for a minute or a lifetime, Snake wasn't sure which. All she knew was that she didn't want it to end as soon as it did.

     Duke spoke softly, trying his best not to disturb her. "We should probably get some sleep," he said. Snake agreed. 

     Before Duke could get up, the door flew open. A harried-looking Bennett came into the room, followed by a shorter, well-dressed man, looking rushed. Snake had only met him in person once, but that meeting was one she would never need a reminding of. Davis could leave quite an impression.

     "Sorry for the interruption, but he said it was an emergency," Bennett said, the poor bartender looking as if he would rather have been in any other part of the world than here.

     "And it is," Davis said, sweeping over the duo with impartial eyes. "You both need to join me in Command. Wiles has requested your immediate assistance."