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[svn r3] moved all the bad stuff to 'old'
author rlm
date Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:53:12 -0500
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1 Author’s note: Hello! ^-^ This is a very short fanfic based off of
2 the Metal Gear Solid series of videogames. Solid Snake’s real name is
3 David, as he tells Otacon in the Otacon ending of MGS which I thought
4 was much more emotional than the Meryl anding. And, of course,
5 Otacon’s real name is Hal. Anyway, I hope this goes well. ^-^ As
6 always, I love to hear what you think. ^-^ Thanks for reading!
7
8
9 Rain
10 by the Amazoness Duo
11 amazonessduo@hotmail.com
12
13
14 Rain. Pouring in sheets from the sky as if the heavens themselves
15 were in mourning. I can hear the staccato beat outside, thundering
16 against the windows. My eyes keep telling me that there’s something
17 out there, something in the darkness. I can almost see figures out in
18 the rain. Almost, but not quite. ‘You’re being paranoid,’ Hal would
19 tell me. And he’d probably be right. It certainly wouldn’t be the
20 first time. Which is why he’s still sleeping soundly right now and
21 I’m stalking the kitchen. Couldn’t sleep anyway. Not on nights like
22 this. The whole atmosphere is just too unsettling. Surrounded by the
23 rain, by the feverish storm. Liquid.
24 Gazing out the window again, I strain my eyes to see through the
25 cascading water over the glass. I still can’t see make anything out
26 besides blurry shapes. I know there isn’t anything there, but in the
27 darkness, I see them. Meryl, Fox, Natasha, Wolf, Olga... I can see
28 Big Boss waiting out there, beckoning me. I even see Liquid. He’s
29 staring back at me intently. My bleary eyes blink insistently, trying
30 to force the image into clarity. I can see him just inches from me. I
31 freeze, shock filtering through my system. It takes a moment to
32 realize it’s my own reflection. Even then, I can’t find the will to
33 relax. I know he’s out there somewhere. My own personal demon. And
34 why is that? Simply because he’s my mirror image? Some twisted,
35 distorted version? Or is it that we’re more alike than I would care
36 to admit?
37 Taking another sip of coffee, I continue my silent vigil, staring
38 out the window at the surreal images that great me. I should be back
39 in bed. Hal will worry if I’m not there when he wakes up. Especially
40 if he has another one of those nightmares about his sister. But I
41 can’t tear myself away yet. I can’t work up the will to make my way
42 back to the bedroom, to force out these thoughts.
43 Solid Snake. The living legend. The man who makes the impossible
44 possible. I’ve been called all of this and more. But the legend is
45 nothing more than a man. No less frail, no less human. Legends are
46 usually bad news anyway. Just look to Big Boss to see that. The
47 Legendary Soldier. And how many had to die because of him? But then,
48 how many have had to die because of me? Raven’s words come back to
49 haunt me. ‘Your path is paved with the corpses of your enemies,’ he
50 had told me. Not just my enemies, Raven. How many others have had to
51 die for me? Shneider, Fox, Meryl, Master Miller, Emma... It seems
52 like someone around me always winds up getting killed. Just like with
53 Foxdie. Only they don’t need to be programmed into it in order to
54 die. They just have to know me.
55 I take another swig of my coffee and immediately wish it was
56 something stronger. Too bad Hal doesn’t keep alcohol around the
57 house. I’ve been trying to kick the habit since I left Alaska, but
58 nights like tonight make me wish there was something around here to
59 drink. Not a good time to be sober, that’s for sure. I’d scrounge
60 around in the refrigerator for something, but I’m not in the mood.
61 Which reminds me that I need to go shopping tomorrow. Hal’s busy
62 looking up some things for Philanthropy, our anti-Metal Gear
63 organization, so I’m going to be stuck grocery shopping again. Now if
64 only there were pictures of me shopping out there then this whole
65 ‘legendary’ Solid Snake thing would die. I’m not a legend. I’m not a
66 hero. I’m just a man. Like Fox told me, I fight for what I believe
67 in. But so do the people I run up against. What makes me any better
68 than them? I fight for what I believe in, but so did Liquid Snake,
69 Big Boss, and Gray Fox. There isn’t such a thing as good or evil.
70 Just conflicting sides and opposing forces. Most people don’t
71 understand that. They want heroes and villains. They want legends and
72 myths. So they’ll take them from anything they can. Just look how
73 easily I was made into a villain. The Patriots didn’t want me to be
74 the hero of Shadow Moses so they made me look like some madman that
75 would sink a tanker. Let people believe what they will. It didn’t
76 really bother me. At least it got rid of that whole legend thing for
77 a while.
78 Lighting a cigarette, I lean forward in a chair near the windows,
79 watching the streaks of thunder through the blurred glass. Sometimes
80 I wonder how much longer I can go on. How much further can I go? I
81 still have so much I need to do, but I don’t know if I can keep going
82 long enough to finish it all. I still hear his words, even after all
83 this time. ‘The loser is freed of the battlefield while the winner
84 remains trapped here until his own death,’ Big Boss had said when I
85 faced him for the last time. I’m still held captive by war, by the
86 battlefield. I still find myself drawn back time and again. I can’t
87 escape it. He was right in that sense. It’s my own personal
88 nightmare. And sometimes I don’t think I can go on. I don’t think I
89 can take the endless battles, the never-ending war. Is death my only
90 escape? Is that my only way off the battlefield? Will it be Foxdie or
91 Metal Gear that finally does me in? There’s almost a sense of relief
92 with death. The knowledge that somehow I can escape all of this is
93 eerily soothing. Just as Big Boss and Grey Fox escaped the horrors of
94 war, one day I’ll be able to as well.
95 But not yet. Still too much to do. Besides, I don’t think Hal needs
96 that right now. I couldn’t leave him alone like that. But the
97 knowledge that he is so close to me worries me. Everyone else who
98 gets close to me seems to wind up dead. I keep thinking I’ll come
99 home to find the house in ruins and Hal dead in our room, that I’ll
100 hear Liquid’s voice behind me, telling me that it was my fault for
101 growing close to him. Maybe it is paranoia. But I don’t want anything
102 to happen to him.
103 I’d have a hard time admitting this to Hal, but he’s helped heal a
104 lot of the wounds I’ve had for a long time now. Before I met him, I
105 was up in Alaska with a bunch of sled dogs drinking too much. I was
106 trying to get away from it all. I’d been diagnosed with Post-
107 Traumatic Stress Disorder after the mission to Zanzibarland and I had
108 tried to hide from my problems. But somehow I got forced into yet
109 another mission. Shadow Moses. When I first met Hal there, the naïve
110 genius behind Metal Gear Rex, I was pissed off that he could have
111 resurrected Metal Gear. The introverted, awkward guy was so...
112 bizarre. He was shy, scared. I didn’t want to have to worry about
113 him. But he kept helping me, even up to the bitter end. That
114 impressed me. He wasn’t about to run. He took responsibility for
115 Metal Gear and he helped me handle the whole thing. Even moreso than
116 Meryl, I actually felt connected to him, that we were both dealing
117 with a lot of the same things. I was surprised when he came all the
118 way to find me while Liquid was hunting for me in the Hind chopper
119 just to ask me if love could bloom on a battlefield. I told him it
120 could bloom anywhere, but that you had to be able to protect the
121 person. I’d assumed he meant Sniper Wolf at the time, but sometimes I
122 really wonder about that. Later, when Meryl died, I gave up hope. I
123 didn’t know what to do anymore or if I could go on. But Hal helped me
124 through that. He gave me the strength to keep living. If it weren’t
125 for him, I would certainly be dead right now. I had no fight left in
126 me. But Hal gave me a reason to live. After that, we left Shadow
127 Moses far behind us to start a new life. Together.
128 Sure, it’s a little bizarre at times. But it’s nice. A lot more
129 relaxing than when I was living up in Alaska. We’ve got a nice house
130 out in the suburbs and for the most part we’re just your typical
131 couple. Well, maybe not that typical. We started Philanthropy as a
132 way of stopping the proliferation of Metal Gear throughout the world.
133 He’s the brains of the outfit and I get suckered into going out and
134 handling the missions. But otherwise things are pretty relaxed around
135 here. Hal even wants to adopt. I can’t imagine being a father. I
136 don’t even want to think about that. But Otacon seems pretty intent
137 on the idea. Hopefully he’ll forget about it soon. Otherwise I’ll
138 probably get stuck raising Olga’s child when I finally find her.
139 Great. Raiden can give me tips on being a father. That’s the last
140 thing I need.
141 “Dave? What’s wrong with you? You know you aren’t supposed to smoke
142 in the house,” Hal says as he pads downstairs in his boxers and a
143 robe. His hair’s frizzled and out of place, his glasses hanging off
144 the end of his nose. He looks like how I remember him back during
145 Shadow Moses. It’s nice to know some things don’t change. Yawning, he
146 opens the refrigerator door to get something to drink and shivers.
147 “We’re out of milk? Again?”
148 “Yep. I’m going to get some tomorrow,” I reply, contemplating the
149 cigarette. “I need to get Jack and Rose a wedding present, too. I’ll
150 try to find something while I’m out.” I mash the cigarette out,
151 looking back towards Hal, grinning at the look he gives me as he
152 leans against the refrigerator. Raiden’s wedding invitation came in
153 the mail a while back. I still don’t know why he sent it. Hal insists
154 that we go, especially after how I treated Raiden during the whole
155 Big Shell thing. Of course, I did ask who’d be wearing the dress when
156 I called to confirm later. It’s not my fault Jack looks so gender
157 ambiguous and Rose wears pantsuits. Hell, even the President groped
158 Jack back on Big Shell, so it’s not like I’m the only one that thinks
159 he looks like a girl.
160 “Knowing you, it would probably be a Socom or a bandanna or
161 something.” Hal shakes his head, his arms crossed. “I’ll go with you
162 to get the wedding gift. I’m sure we can find something nice for
163 them. Besides, we still need to rent some tuxes while we’re at it.”
164 I wince at his words. “Those things are worse than the sneak suits I
165 get stuck wearing. I don’t know how you’re supposed to move in those
166 damn things.”
167 “Oh, they’re not that bad. You look good in a tux, Dave. You won’t
168 have to move much anyway,” Hal reasons, tilting his head to the side.
169 His glasses shift a bit more, glinting in the dim light. My little
170 angel of mercy, Dr. Hal Emmerich. The only one who can occasionally
171 save me from my own thoughts. I’m glad he decided to intrude, even if
172 I’m usually better about catching his entrance. I must really be out
173 of it.
174 I sigh in defeat, leaning back in the chair. It tilts slightly as I
175 stare up at the roof. “At least I’ll know which one of the penguins
176 there is you.”
177 “Oh? And how’s that? My charming good looks?” Otacon asks curiously,
178 raising an eyebrow.
179 “I’ll just watch how you walk. You see, you have this incredibly
180 cute way of walking. And you’ve got a great butt. I’m sure I’ll be
181 able to pick you out of a crowd,” I reply casually, shrugging off his
182 earlier statement. I remember saying something similar back during
183 Shadow Moses, but of course that was a completely different
184 discussion. Not that Hal doesn’t have his own cute way of walking.
185 It’s just more subtle.
186 “Are you sure you aren’t talking about Meryl?” he asks, pushing up
187 his glasses. I watch him for a moment in the moonlight.
188 “Yep. I’m sure. I don’t forget these things.” We both laugh a bit,
189 the only sound other than the rain. It feels good to laugh, to forget
190 about what worried me earlier.
191 “Well, if that’s the case, why don’t you come back to bed? Maybe
192 I’ll let you strip search me,” Hal says as he begins for the stairs,
193 smiling back over his shoulder. I groan at his impersonation of
194 Naomi. He simply laughs. “Don’t forget to bring your bandanna.”
195 I take another look back at the rain pelted window. The phantoms
196 waiting for me out in the rain are gone. I know they’ll be back, but
197 for now they have gone back to their resting places. They have their
198 peace. And for now, so do I.