in the quiet loop. (solid snake x reader)

06 - something warm... yet cold

"Attention! Arsenal Gear is ready for launch! Evacuate the upper levels immediately!"

Hal flinched. The parrot squawked at the noise, fluttering its wings slightly but staying perched on his hand. Slowly, Hal blinked through his tears. His face hardened. He placed the parrot gently back inside the cage.

"We have to get the hostages out," Snake said.

"We won't be able to get everybody aboard..." Raiden said, almost in defeat.

"We'll just have to take as many as we can."

The intercom buzzed once more.

"We will be commencing the countdown shortly. Personnel in the upper levels, head for the evacuation area immediately."

"Otacon, Y/N," Snake said. "Take care of the hostages."

Hal blinked as though shaken from a daze, then looked to Snake. "What about you guys?"

Raiden turned toward Snake, waiting for an explanation. Snake gestured toward the looming metal doors visible through the window.

"There's our ride out of here."

The door to Arsenal Gear stood like a monolith, humming with dormant menace.

"We're gonna have to sink that thing if the virus doesn't work."

"We should be going with you," Hal insisted.

Snake shook his head. "You've got your job. We've got ours."

"You mean... we'd only get in your way..."

Snake stepped forward, placing firm hands on Hal's shoulders. "Wrong. Only you and her can save those hostages. Got it?"

The weight in Snake's voice was more than a tactical directive. It was a reassurance. A trust. Hal took a breath, managing a small nod. His shoulders squared, even if his heart still ached.

Then, he looked at both Snake and Raiden. "Listen... the two of you won't be able to destroy that thing. Eliminate the enemy. That's your only option."

You stepped up beside him, quiet but solid, the tension in your chest only matched by the pace of your heartbeat. As the four of you made your way out of the computer room, the door to Arsenal looming ever larger, a part of you wanted to look back at Emma's still form, at the cage with the quietly watching parrot. But there was no time for mourning now.

Snake turned one last time. "Otacon, Y/N... Try to get as many hostages out as you can. It's a short flight to the shore, so don't worry about overloading the Kamov."

You met his eyes. "Leave it to us."

He held your gaze a second longer than necessary. Then, without a word, he turned to Hal. Snake reached out, pulling him into a firm embrace. Brothers not by blood, but by everything they'd endured.

You knew this was it, the last moment before everything shifted, before the mission swallowed all of you whole again. You reached into your pack, fingers brushing over compartments until you found it: a small, matte-black silencer.

You stepped forward and offered it to Snake. "You'll need this."

He glanced down at it, then to you, and reached out to take it. But when his gloved fingers touched yours, both of you paused. Just a whisper of skin through fabric. A contact so brief and so still, it almost didn't happen. But neither of you pulled away. The world held its breath with you.

His fingers curled around the silencer slowly, deliberately, but his eyes never left yours. The silence buzzed between you, full of everything that hadn't been said since the mission began, since this strange closeness started to grow beneath the weight of gunfire and blood.

You reached up to adjust his earpiece. An excuse, maybe. A small task to fill the silence. Your fingers brushed against his jawline as you tucked the communicator securely in place. But you didn't pull away immediately. Your hand lingered, brushing the edge of his cheek, your thumb resting at the corner of his face. Close enough to feel the warmth of him beneath all that armor and restraint.

And the thing is... he didn't stop you.

He didn't flinch. He just closed his eyes for half a second. Like maybe, if the world were quieter, if war didn't exist, and time could just pause, he would've leaned into your hand and stayed there.

You swallowed hard, eyes softening. "Come back in one piece."

His eyes opened again, sharp blue softened around the edges. He nodded once, but there was something behind it. A promise, maybe, or a wish he didn't dare put into words. You stood there a moment longer, the silencer case still in your hand as your skin tingled from the phantom warmth of his touch.