Forbidden Access

"Am expert I'm not getting along with."



Hal smiled at him. "Well if that scares you stay away from YouTube.."



"You did what?"



"There are things on there you are not meant to see.." Hal said.



"I'll stand clear then" Curious now that Hal has seen something horrifying and he hasn't.



Hal nodded. "I'm glad you're excited." he smiled.



Snake smiles at him when Hal says that. "More like worried out of my skull." He adds.



Hal looked at him. "You don't have to be.."



"I know." He said, before pausing and looking over the books. "Do any of these cover why this happens?" Wondering if they make a book about parents.



"Not that I've seen." Hal replied



"Hmmm..."



Hal looked at him. "Dave don't be like that." he said going to the kitchen to get something to eat. "You know how it works." He started fixing a sandwich with peanut butter and chocolate with some potato chips in the middle. "You want some food while I'm up?" he asked.



"No thanks." He answered, reading what he could about this and finding some interesting things.



Hal came back out with his sandwich and sat on the couch next to him. "What'd you find?" he asked



"Tragically nothing as interesting as your diet."



"It's good if you try it." Hal laughed. "Maybe you should learn to try new things."



"A new brand of grenades, yes, that thing, no."



"It tastes like if you eat a peanut butter cup then eat a chip." Hal replied starting to question why he was compelled to eat it.



"It sounds terrifying."



Hal laughed and continued to eat. "You haven't been eating much.."



"You noticed that, hm." He muttered, leaving it at that as he read.



Hal looked at him. "Dave whatever mood you're in you need to knock it off." he said setting his plate down and crossing his arms.



"What mood?" He asked, looking at the plate then at Hal. "Been losing my appetite that's all. Must be the weather."



"Dave you're mopy." Hal said simply. "It's like I do something out of the ordinary, which obviously is all the time now a days, you act like it'll kill me."



"Really I just have no appetite."



"Why not?"



"I'm not very sure, that's why I said probably weather."



"It's almost fall time and it's snowing. Like always." Hal replied.



"I don't know, Hal." He replied before leaning to kiss him where he was, leaning to kiss his neck a few times as well.



Hal looked at him. "I just need positive support right now ok?" he said tilting his head a little.



"Like what?"



"Nothing negative.." Hal answered



Snake nodded and kissed him again at this. "I'll see what I can do." He answered sincerely. This war, here, was not making this a very easy task.



Hal smiled and kissed his cheek. "I know you'll be fine once you see it and know it's real." he said standing up. "That's how you are. You have to see and touch things in order for it to sink in." he added as he walked to the kitchen.



Snake watched Hal go and decided to stay where he was. 'Sink in." He thought, wondering if Hal felt any pain with that knowledge and if he could do something about it.



Hal made some more tea and put away some of the clean dishes in the sink. He glanced back slightly at Snake and hoped he wasn't going to end up going MIA on him out of some retained fear.



For example causing Hal any harm such as this.



Hal walked back out and sipped his tea. "I'm going to go take a nap..You going to be ok?"



"I'll be fine." Snake said, examining him carefully. He knew Hal got a strange impression when he got like this but there was little else he could do.



Hal nodded and went to the bedroom to lay down.



Hal spent most of his time as the next few months passed painting and buying things off the net for the extra room. Every once in a while he would have to send Snake out on short scouting missions following leads or to the store for ice cream and various other food items.



An interesting variation to intel and weaponry gathering, Snake was not about to complain about that aspect. Instead the odd interests that had surrounded Hal as of recently did call his attention. This and how close he was growing to the man physically. He'd recently noticed most of the moments he spent with Hal involved some form of physical contact for some reason.



Hal sat at his computer and sighed softly. His back was killing him as were his ankles due to the weight change. He chewed on the end of his pen as he read things that came up for his searches. The baby seemed to like moving when Snake wasn't around, such as that moment, which had given him a laugh ever so often. "Snake I got a few more leads if you want them." he called.



Snake nodded. "What do we have?" He asked. Something Coronel's visit had told him was to be careful not to be left behind and to keep up to date with his practice. The genes might be doing their part but he had to cooperate quite a bit.



"There's been a strange surge in activity in this area here near the old nuclear test grounds in, you guessed it, Russia." Hal answered leaning back slightly in his chair, stretching. "Do you feel we need to investigate or no?"



"It could be a bad sign." Snake said, frowning and thinking about this. Then there was a small urge in him to say no. Why would there be? Strangely illogical.



Hal looked at him. "We could try out the Nomad's revamped engine I spent all that time working on." he said.



"Ah, that." he said. He didn't have a reason not to trust Hal with anything electronic so far. After all he could make a giant battle tank tap dace with a satellite.



Hal stood up and got his balance as he rubbed his back. "Ok then let's pack."



"Are you alright for this?" He asked, standing to help the man out.



Hal looked at him. "I'll be fine." he said touching Snake's cheek. "I'll be flying and staying in the Nomad as usual. Safe and sound as long as the radar jammers hold out."



Originally the idea sold out to him, then he had to ask. "Jammers?"



"It's a little project I've been working on." Hal said grinning proudly. "But there's a downside. It drains the battery in the plane engine so we can't use it too long or I'd have to land..."



"How far is this place? Can't you drop me off?" Hal had mentioned something to Snake about worrying like this, but he'd seen far enough not to.



"Snake it's in Russia. There is NO way I'm letting you go in without air support." Hal answered. "We can leave tomorrow evening after my appointment." he added. "That way we'll have night cover."



"..." Sure he agreed. "Are the signal jammers really nesessary?"



"Snake I wouldn't have them if I didn't have the baby to think about." Hal replied with a sigh. "I can't think just of myself anymore you know?"



"I'm not sure about landing the NOMAD in someplace in Russia either for this information that I probably could just retrieve."



"Snake I've put my foot down." Hal said sternly. Usually when he said that the decision was final. "Do not let me catch you step one foot out of the door trying to slip past me or so help me God I will not be here when you get back." he warned.



"..." Snake stared at him. Why did Hal insist in abusing him like that? He tried to make nothing of it, though.



Hal sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Snake I just really don't want to be alone right now.."



Snake nodded at this. "You realize the first sign that we need to abort that mission I don't want you to hessitate before doing so, right?" He asked, feeling sick about agreeing to possibly endanger Hal like this.



"I know." Hal answered.



"Good, now give me a minute to vomit." Snake grumbled at him.



Hal crossed his arms. "What crawled up your ass and died?" he asked.



"Don't fight me over this, not like this, I can't see it end well." He added pinching the bridge of his nose. "You realize I can't... Let go of you... I'm not that strong."



Hal looked at him. "Dave..You know I wouldn't be coming if I didn't think it was safe." he said. "You know me better than that."



"Safe like a locker in a military base..." Snake muttered under his breath.



"I can't believe you can't trust me.." Hal said staring at him in disbelief. "I-I-I've done lots of things for you over the years a-and what d-do I get in return? 'Oh hey Hal why don't you stay home and play mommy and communications officer while I leave and go on my little treasure hunts'!" he added starting to cry a little.



Snake's eye literally twitched."..." He was bitting something back and he would rather Hal didn't force him to say anything.



Hal glared at him as tears streamed down his face. "Stop being so selfish." he said before leaving the room. A few minutes later the front door slammed.



"That's too like you." Snake muttered after he was gone before he sat down. And proceeded to worry.



Hal walked out to the hanger where the Nomad was. He shut the large doors and sat at one of his work benches to tinker with the jamming machine while he thought of what to do. He got frustrated after a while and threw the nearest object to him, a wrench, across the room. He sat down on the floor by the wall and broke down. "I-It's not fair.." he said softly as he ran his hands through his hair.



By then Dave was simply sitting and waiting for him. 'And God help him if he leaves by himself' he thought.



Hal looked down at his abdomen and sighed softly. "I-I don't know what to do.." he said to himself. He stood up and walked back outside for some fresh air. He looked at the parked Jeep and then back to the cabin trying to decide if he wanted to just leave or go back inside.