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1 Author’s note: Hello! ^-^ This is a very short fanfic based off of
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2 the Metal Gear Solid series of videogames. Solid Snake’s real name is
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3 David, as he tells Otacon in the Otacon ending of MGS which I thought
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4 was much more emotional than the Meryl anding. And, of course,
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5 Otacon’s real name is Hal. Anyway, I hope this goes well. ^-^ As
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6 always, I love to hear what you think. ^-^ Thanks for reading!
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7
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8
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9 Rain
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10 by the Amazoness Duo
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11 amazonessduo@hotmail.com
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12
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13
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14 Rain. Pouring in sheets from the sky as if the heavens themselves
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15 were in mourning. I can hear the staccato beat outside, thundering
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16 against the windows. My eyes keep telling me that there’s something
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17 out there, something in the darkness. I can almost see figures out in
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18 the rain. Almost, but not quite. ‘You’re being paranoid,’ Hal would
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19 tell me. And he’d probably be right. It certainly wouldn’t be the
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20 first time. Which is why he’s still sleeping soundly right now and
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21 I’m stalking the kitchen. Couldn’t sleep anyway. Not on nights like
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22 this. The whole atmosphere is just too unsettling. Surrounded by the
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23 rain, by the feverish storm. Liquid.
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24 Gazing out the window again, I strain my eyes to see through the
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25 cascading water over the glass. I still can’t see make anything out
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26 besides blurry shapes. I know there isn’t anything there, but in the
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27 darkness, I see them. Meryl, Fox, Natasha, Wolf, Olga... I can see
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28 Big Boss waiting out there, beckoning me. I even see Liquid. He’s
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29 staring back at me intently. My bleary eyes blink insistently, trying
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30 to force the image into clarity. I can see him just inches from me. I
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31 freeze, shock filtering through my system. It takes a moment to
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32 realize it’s my own reflection. Even then, I can’t find the will to
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33 relax. I know he’s out there somewhere. My own personal demon. And
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34 why is that? Simply because he’s my mirror image? Some twisted,
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35 distorted version? Or is it that we’re more alike than I would care
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36 to admit?
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37 Taking another sip of coffee, I continue my silent vigil, staring
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38 out the window at the surreal images that great me. I should be back
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39 in bed. Hal will worry if I’m not there when he wakes up. Especially
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40 if he has another one of those nightmares about his sister. But I
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41 can’t tear myself away yet. I can’t work up the will to make my way
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42 back to the bedroom, to force out these thoughts.
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43 Solid Snake. The living legend. The man who makes the impossible
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44 possible. I’ve been called all of this and more. But the legend is
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45 nothing more than a man. No less frail, no less human. Legends are
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46 usually bad news anyway. Just look to Big Boss to see that. The
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47 Legendary Soldier. And how many had to die because of him? But then,
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48 how many have had to die because of me? Raven’s words come back to
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49 haunt me. ‘Your path is paved with the corpses of your enemies,’ he
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50 had told me. Not just my enemies, Raven. How many others have had to
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51 die for me? Shneider, Fox, Meryl, Master Miller, Emma... It seems
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52 like someone around me always winds up getting killed. Just like with
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53 Foxdie. Only they don’t need to be programmed into it in order to
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54 die. They just have to know me.
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55 I take another swig of my coffee and immediately wish it was
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56 something stronger. Too bad Hal doesn’t keep alcohol around the
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57 house. I’ve been trying to kick the habit since I left Alaska, but
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58 nights like tonight make me wish there was something around here to
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59 drink. Not a good time to be sober, that’s for sure. I’d scrounge
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60 around in the refrigerator for something, but I’m not in the mood.
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61 Which reminds me that I need to go shopping tomorrow. Hal’s busy
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62 looking up some things for Philanthropy, our anti-Metal Gear
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63 organization, so I’m going to be stuck grocery shopping again. Now if
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64 only there were pictures of me shopping out there then this whole
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65 ‘legendary’ Solid Snake thing would die. I’m not a legend. I’m not a
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66 hero. I’m just a man. Like Fox told me, I fight for what I believe
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67 in. But so do the people I run up against. What makes me any better
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68 than them? I fight for what I believe in, but so did Liquid Snake,
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69 Big Boss, and Gray Fox. There isn’t such a thing as good or evil.
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70 Just conflicting sides and opposing forces. Most people don’t
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71 understand that. They want heroes and villains. They want legends and
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72 myths. So they’ll take them from anything they can. Just look how
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73 easily I was made into a villain. The Patriots didn’t want me to be
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74 the hero of Shadow Moses so they made me look like some madman that
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75 would sink a tanker. Let people believe what they will. It didn’t
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76 really bother me. At least it got rid of that whole legend thing for
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77 a while.
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78 Lighting a cigarette, I lean forward in a chair near the windows,
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79 watching the streaks of thunder through the blurred glass. Sometimes
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80 I wonder how much longer I can go on. How much further can I go? I
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81 still have so much I need to do, but I don’t know if I can keep going
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82 long enough to finish it all. I still hear his words, even after all
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83 this time. ‘The loser is freed of the battlefield while the winner
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84 remains trapped here until his own death,’ Big Boss had said when I
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85 faced him for the last time. I’m still held captive by war, by the
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86 battlefield. I still find myself drawn back time and again. I can’t
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87 escape it. He was right in that sense. It’s my own personal
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88 nightmare. And sometimes I don’t think I can go on. I don’t think I
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89 can take the endless battles, the never-ending war. Is death my only
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90 escape? Is that my only way off the battlefield? Will it be Foxdie or
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91 Metal Gear that finally does me in? There’s almost a sense of relief
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92 with death. The knowledge that somehow I can escape all of this is
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93 eerily soothing. Just as Big Boss and Grey Fox escaped the horrors of
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94 war, one day I’ll be able to as well.
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95 But not yet. Still too much to do. Besides, I don’t think Hal needs
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96 that right now. I couldn’t leave him alone like that. But the
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97 knowledge that he is so close to me worries me. Everyone else who
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98 gets close to me seems to wind up dead. I keep thinking I’ll come
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99 home to find the house in ruins and Hal dead in our room, that I’ll
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100 hear Liquid’s voice behind me, telling me that it was my fault for
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101 growing close to him. Maybe it is paranoia. But I don’t want anything
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102 to happen to him.
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103 I’d have a hard time admitting this to Hal, but he’s helped heal a
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104 lot of the wounds I’ve had for a long time now. Before I met him, I
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105 was up in Alaska with a bunch of sled dogs drinking too much. I was
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106 trying to get away from it all. I’d been diagnosed with Post-
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107 Traumatic Stress Disorder after the mission to Zanzibarland and I had
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108 tried to hide from my problems. But somehow I got forced into yet
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109 another mission. Shadow Moses. When I first met Hal there, the naïve
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110 genius behind Metal Gear Rex, I was pissed off that he could have
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111 resurrected Metal Gear. The introverted, awkward guy was so...
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112 bizarre. He was shy, scared. I didn’t want to have to worry about
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113 him. But he kept helping me, even up to the bitter end. That
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114 impressed me. He wasn’t about to run. He took responsibility for
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115 Metal Gear and he helped me handle the whole thing. Even moreso than
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116 Meryl, I actually felt connected to him, that we were both dealing
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117 with a lot of the same things. I was surprised when he came all the
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118 way to find me while Liquid was hunting for me in the Hind chopper
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119 just to ask me if love could bloom on a battlefield. I told him it
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120 could bloom anywhere, but that you had to be able to protect the
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121 person. I’d assumed he meant Sniper Wolf at the time, but sometimes I
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122 really wonder about that. Later, when Meryl died, I gave up hope. I
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123 didn’t know what to do anymore or if I could go on. But Hal helped me
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124 through that. He gave me the strength to keep living. If it weren’t
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125 for him, I would certainly be dead right now. I had no fight left in
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126 me. But Hal gave me a reason to live. After that, we left Shadow
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127 Moses far behind us to start a new life. Together.
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128 Sure, it’s a little bizarre at times. But it’s nice. A lot more
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129 relaxing than when I was living up in Alaska. We’ve got a nice house
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130 out in the suburbs and for the most part we’re just your typical
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131 couple. Well, maybe not that typical. We started Philanthropy as a
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132 way of stopping the proliferation of Metal Gear throughout the world.
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133 He’s the brains of the outfit and I get suckered into going out and
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134 handling the missions. But otherwise things are pretty relaxed around
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135 here. Hal even wants to adopt. I can’t imagine being a father. I
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136 don’t even want to think about that. But Otacon seems pretty intent
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137 on the idea. Hopefully he’ll forget about it soon. Otherwise I’ll
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138 probably get stuck raising Olga’s child when I finally find her.
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139 Great. Raiden can give me tips on being a father. That’s the last
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140 thing I need.
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141 “Dave? What’s wrong with you? You know you aren’t supposed to smoke
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142 in the house,” Hal says as he pads downstairs in his boxers and a
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143 robe. His hair’s frizzled and out of place, his glasses hanging off
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144 the end of his nose. He looks like how I remember him back during
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145 Shadow Moses. It’s nice to know some things don’t change. Yawning, he
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146 opens the refrigerator door to get something to drink and shivers.
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147 “We’re out of milk? Again?”
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148 “Yep. I’m going to get some tomorrow,” I reply, contemplating the
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149 cigarette. “I need to get Jack and Rose a wedding present, too. I’ll
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150 try to find something while I’m out.” I mash the cigarette out,
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151 looking back towards Hal, grinning at the look he gives me as he
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152 leans against the refrigerator. Raiden’s wedding invitation came in
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153 the mail a while back. I still don’t know why he sent it. Hal insists
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154 that we go, especially after how I treated Raiden during the whole
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155 Big Shell thing. Of course, I did ask who’d be wearing the dress when
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156 I called to confirm later. It’s not my fault Jack looks so gender
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157 ambiguous and Rose wears pantsuits. Hell, even the President groped
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158 Jack back on Big Shell, so it’s not like I’m the only one that thinks
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159 he looks like a girl.
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160 “Knowing you, it would probably be a Socom or a bandanna or
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161 something.” Hal shakes his head, his arms crossed. “I’ll go with you
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162 to get the wedding gift. I’m sure we can find something nice for
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163 them. Besides, we still need to rent some tuxes while we’re at it.”
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164 I wince at his words. “Those things are worse than the sneak suits I
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165 get stuck wearing. I don’t know how you’re supposed to move in those
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166 damn things.”
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167 “Oh, they’re not that bad. You look good in a tux, Dave. You won’t
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168 have to move much anyway,” Hal reasons, tilting his head to the side.
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169 His glasses shift a bit more, glinting in the dim light. My little
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170 angel of mercy, Dr. Hal Emmerich. The only one who can occasionally
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171 save me from my own thoughts. I’m glad he decided to intrude, even if
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172 I’m usually better about catching his entrance. I must really be out
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173 of it.
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174 I sigh in defeat, leaning back in the chair. It tilts slightly as I
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175 stare up at the roof. “At least I’ll know which one of the penguins
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176 there is you.”
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177 “Oh? And how’s that? My charming good looks?” Otacon asks curiously,
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178 raising an eyebrow.
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179 “I’ll just watch how you walk. You see, you have this incredibly
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180 cute way of walking. And you’ve got a great butt. I’m sure I’ll be
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181 able to pick you out of a crowd,” I reply casually, shrugging off his
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182 earlier statement. I remember saying something similar back during
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183 Shadow Moses, but of course that was a completely different
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184 discussion. Not that Hal doesn’t have his own cute way of walking.
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185 It’s just more subtle.
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186 “Are you sure you aren’t talking about Meryl?” he asks, pushing up
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187 his glasses. I watch him for a moment in the moonlight.
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188 “Yep. I’m sure. I don’t forget these things.” We both laugh a bit,
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189 the only sound other than the rain. It feels good to laugh, to forget
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190 about what worried me earlier.
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191 “Well, if that’s the case, why don’t you come back to bed? Maybe
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192 I’ll let you strip search me,” Hal says as he begins for the stairs,
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193 smiling back over his shoulder. I groan at his impersonation of
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194 Naomi. He simply laughs. “Don’t forget to bring your bandanna.”
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195 I take another look back at the rain pelted window. The phantoms
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196 waiting for me out in the rain are gone. I know they’ll be back, but
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197 for now they have gone back to their resting places. They have their
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198 peace. And for now, so do I.
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