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     1.4 +Author’s note: Hello! ^-^ This is a very short fanfic based off of
     1.5 +the Metal Gear Solid series of videogames. Solid Snake’s real name is
     1.6 +David, as he tells Otacon in the Otacon ending of MGS which I thought
     1.7 +was much more emotional than the Meryl anding. And, of course,
     1.8 +Otacon’s real name is Hal. Anyway, I hope this goes well. ^-^ As
     1.9 +always, I love to hear what you think. ^-^ Thanks for reading!
    1.10 +
    1.11 +
    1.12 +Rain
    1.13 +by the Amazoness Duo
    1.14 +amazonessduo@hotmail.com
    1.15 +
    1.16 +
    1.17 +	Rain. Pouring in sheets from the sky as if the heavens themselves
    1.18 +were in mourning. I can hear the staccato beat outside, thundering
    1.19 +against the windows. My eyes keep telling me that there’s something
    1.20 +out there, something in the darkness. I can almost see figures out in
    1.21 +the rain. Almost, but not quite. ‘You’re being paranoid,’ Hal would
    1.22 +tell me. And he’d probably be right. It certainly wouldn’t be the
    1.23 +first time. Which is why he’s still sleeping soundly right now and
    1.24 +I’m stalking the kitchen. Couldn’t sleep anyway. Not on nights like
    1.25 +this. The whole atmosphere is just too unsettling. Surrounded by the
    1.26 +rain, by the feverish storm. Liquid. 
    1.27 +	Gazing out the window again, I strain my eyes to see through the
    1.28 +cascading water over the glass. I still can’t see make anything out
    1.29 +besides blurry shapes. I know there isn’t anything there, but in the
    1.30 +darkness, I see them. Meryl, Fox, Natasha, Wolf, Olga... I can see
    1.31 +Big Boss waiting out there, beckoning me. I even see Liquid. He’s
    1.32 +staring back at me intently. My bleary eyes blink insistently, trying
    1.33 +to force the image into clarity. I can see him just inches from me. I
    1.34 +freeze, shock filtering through my system. It takes a moment to
    1.35 +realize it’s my own reflection. Even then, I can’t find the will to
    1.36 +relax. I know he’s out there somewhere. My own personal demon. And
    1.37 +why is that? Simply because he’s my mirror image? Some twisted,
    1.38 +distorted version? Or is it that we’re more alike than I would care
    1.39 +to admit? 
    1.40 +	Taking another sip of coffee, I continue my silent vigil, staring
    1.41 +out the window at the surreal images that great me. I should be back
    1.42 +in bed. Hal will worry if I’m not there when he wakes up. Especially
    1.43 +if he has another one of those nightmares about his sister. But I
    1.44 +can’t tear myself away yet. I can’t work up the will to make my way
    1.45 +back to the bedroom, to force out these thoughts. 
    1.46 +	Solid Snake. The living legend. The man who makes the impossible
    1.47 +possible. I’ve been called all of this and more. But the legend is
    1.48 +nothing more than a man. No less frail, no less human. Legends are
    1.49 +usually bad news anyway. Just look to Big Boss to see that. The
    1.50 +Legendary Soldier. And how many had to die because of him? But then,
    1.51 +how many have had to die because of me? Raven’s words come back to
    1.52 +haunt me. ‘Your path is paved with the corpses of your enemies,’ he
    1.53 +had told me. Not just my enemies, Raven. How many others have had to
    1.54 +die for me? Shneider, Fox, Meryl, Master Miller, Emma... It seems
    1.55 +like someone around me always winds up getting killed. Just like with
    1.56 +Foxdie. Only they don’t need to be programmed into it in order to
    1.57 +die. They just have to know me. 
    1.58 +I take another swig of my coffee and immediately wish it was
    1.59 +something stronger. Too bad Hal doesn’t keep alcohol around the
    1.60 +house. I’ve been trying to kick the habit since I left Alaska, but
    1.61 +nights like tonight make me wish there was something around here to
    1.62 +drink. Not a good time to be sober, that’s for sure. I’d scrounge
    1.63 +around in the refrigerator for something, but I’m not in the mood.
    1.64 +Which reminds me that I need to go shopping tomorrow. Hal’s busy
    1.65 +looking up some things for Philanthropy, our anti-Metal Gear
    1.66 +organization, so I’m going to be stuck grocery shopping again. Now if
    1.67 +only there were pictures of me shopping out there then this whole
    1.68 +‘legendary’ Solid Snake thing would die. I’m not a legend. I’m not a
    1.69 +hero. I’m just a man. Like Fox told me, I fight for what I believe
    1.70 +in. But so do the people I run up against. What makes me any better
    1.71 +than them? I fight for what I believe in, but so did Liquid Snake,
    1.72 +Big Boss, and Gray Fox. There isn’t such a thing as good or evil.
    1.73 +Just conflicting sides and opposing forces. Most people don’t
    1.74 +understand that. They want heroes and villains. They want legends and
    1.75 +myths. So they’ll take them from anything they can. Just look how
    1.76 +easily I was made into a villain. The Patriots didn’t want me to be
    1.77 +the hero of Shadow Moses so they made me look like some madman that
    1.78 +would sink a tanker. Let people believe what they will. It didn’t
    1.79 +really bother me. At least it got rid of that whole legend thing for
    1.80 +a while. 
    1.81 +Lighting a cigarette, I lean forward in a chair near the windows,
    1.82 +watching the streaks of thunder through the blurred glass. Sometimes
    1.83 +I wonder how much longer I can go on. How much further can I go? I
    1.84 +still have so much I need to do, but I don’t know if I can keep going
    1.85 +long enough to finish it all. I still hear his words, even after all
    1.86 +this time. ‘The loser is freed of the battlefield while the winner
    1.87 +remains trapped here until his own death,’ Big Boss had said when I
    1.88 +faced him for the last time. I’m still held captive by war, by the
    1.89 +battlefield. I still find myself drawn back time and again. I can’t
    1.90 +escape it. He was right in that sense. It’s my own personal
    1.91 +nightmare. And sometimes I don’t think I can go on. I don’t think I
    1.92 +can take the endless battles, the never-ending war. Is death my only
    1.93 +escape? Is that my only way off the battlefield? Will it be Foxdie or
    1.94 +Metal Gear that finally does me in? There’s almost a sense of relief
    1.95 +with death. The knowledge that somehow I can escape all of this is
    1.96 +eerily soothing. Just as Big Boss and Grey Fox escaped the horrors of
    1.97 +war, one day I’ll be able to as well. 
    1.98 +But not yet. Still too much to do. Besides, I don’t think Hal needs
    1.99 +that right now. I couldn’t leave him alone like that. But the
   1.100 +knowledge that he is so close to me worries me. Everyone else who
   1.101 +gets close to me seems to wind up dead. I keep thinking I’ll come
   1.102 +home to find the house in ruins and Hal dead in our room, that I’ll
   1.103 +hear Liquid’s voice behind me, telling me that it was my fault for
   1.104 +growing close to him. Maybe it is paranoia. But I don’t want anything
   1.105 +to happen to him. 
   1.106 +I’d have a hard time admitting this to Hal, but he’s helped heal a
   1.107 +lot of the wounds I’ve had for a long time now. Before I met him, I
   1.108 +was up in Alaska with a bunch of sled dogs drinking too much. I was
   1.109 +trying to get away from it all. I’d been diagnosed with Post-
   1.110 +Traumatic Stress Disorder after the mission to Zanzibarland and I had
   1.111 +tried to hide from my problems. But somehow I got forced into yet
   1.112 +another mission. Shadow Moses. When I first met Hal there, the naïve
   1.113 +genius behind Metal Gear Rex, I was pissed off that he could have
   1.114 +resurrected Metal Gear. The introverted, awkward guy was so...
   1.115 +bizarre. He was shy, scared. I didn’t want to have to worry about
   1.116 +him. But he kept helping me, even up to the bitter end. That
   1.117 +impressed me. He wasn’t about to run. He took responsibility for
   1.118 +Metal Gear and he helped me handle the whole thing. Even moreso than
   1.119 +Meryl, I actually felt connected to him, that we were both dealing
   1.120 +with a lot of the same things. I was surprised when he came all the
   1.121 +way to find me while Liquid was hunting for me in the Hind chopper
   1.122 +just to ask me if love could bloom on a battlefield. I told him it
   1.123 +could bloom anywhere, but that you had to be able to protect the
   1.124 +person. I’d assumed he meant Sniper Wolf at the time, but sometimes I
   1.125 +really wonder about that. Later, when Meryl died, I gave up hope. I
   1.126 +didn’t know what to do anymore or if I could go on. But Hal helped me
   1.127 +through that. He gave me the strength to keep living. If it weren’t
   1.128 +for him, I would certainly be dead right now. I had no fight left in
   1.129 +me. But Hal gave me a reason to live. After that, we left Shadow
   1.130 +Moses far behind us to start a new life. Together. 
   1.131 +Sure, it’s a little bizarre at times. But it’s nice. A lot more
   1.132 +relaxing than when I was living up in Alaska. We’ve got a nice house
   1.133 +out in the suburbs and for the most part we’re just your typical
   1.134 +couple. Well, maybe not that typical. We started Philanthropy as a
   1.135 +way of stopping the proliferation of Metal Gear throughout the world.
   1.136 +He’s the brains of the outfit and I get suckered into going out and
   1.137 +handling the missions. But otherwise things are pretty relaxed around
   1.138 +here. Hal even wants to adopt. I can’t imagine being a father. I
   1.139 +don’t even want to think about that. But Otacon seems pretty intent
   1.140 +on the idea. Hopefully he’ll forget about it soon. Otherwise I’ll
   1.141 +probably get stuck raising Olga’s child when I finally find her.
   1.142 +Great. Raiden can give me tips on being a father. That’s the last
   1.143 +thing I need. 
   1.144 +“Dave? What’s wrong with you? You know you aren’t supposed to smoke
   1.145 +in the house,” Hal says as he pads downstairs in his boxers and a
   1.146 +robe. His hair’s frizzled and out of place, his glasses hanging off
   1.147 +the end of his nose. He looks like how I remember him back during
   1.148 +Shadow Moses. It’s nice to know some things don’t change. Yawning, he
   1.149 +opens the refrigerator door to get something to drink and shivers.
   1.150 +“We’re out of milk? Again?”
   1.151 +“Yep. I’m going to get some tomorrow,” I reply, contemplating the
   1.152 +cigarette. “I need to get Jack and Rose a wedding present, too. I’ll
   1.153 +try to find something while I’m out.” I mash the cigarette out,
   1.154 +looking back towards Hal, grinning at the look he gives me as he
   1.155 +leans against the refrigerator. Raiden’s wedding invitation came in
   1.156 +the mail a while back. I still don’t know why he sent it. Hal insists
   1.157 +that we go, especially after how I treated Raiden during the whole
   1.158 +Big Shell thing. Of course, I did ask who’d be wearing the dress when
   1.159 +I called to confirm later. It’s not my fault Jack looks so gender
   1.160 +ambiguous and Rose wears pantsuits. Hell, even the President groped
   1.161 +Jack back on Big Shell, so it’s not like I’m the only one that thinks
   1.162 +he looks like a girl.
   1.163 +“Knowing you, it would probably be a Socom or a bandanna or
   1.164 +something.” Hal shakes his head, his arms crossed. “I’ll go with you
   1.165 +to get the wedding gift. I’m sure we can find something nice for
   1.166 +them. Besides, we still need to rent some tuxes while we’re at it.”
   1.167 +I wince at his words. “Those things are worse than the sneak suits I
   1.168 +get stuck wearing. I don’t know how you’re supposed to move in those
   1.169 +damn things.”
   1.170 +“Oh, they’re not that bad. You look good in a tux, Dave. You won’t
   1.171 +have to move much anyway,” Hal reasons, tilting his head to the side.
   1.172 +His glasses shift a bit more, glinting in the dim light. My little
   1.173 +angel of mercy, Dr. Hal Emmerich. The only one who can occasionally
   1.174 +save me from my own thoughts. I’m glad he decided to intrude, even if
   1.175 +I’m usually better about catching his entrance. I must really be out
   1.176 +of it.
   1.177 +I sigh in defeat, leaning back in the chair. It tilts slightly as I
   1.178 +stare up at the roof. “At least I’ll know which one of the penguins
   1.179 +there is you.” 
   1.180 +“Oh? And how’s that? My charming good looks?” Otacon asks curiously,
   1.181 +raising an eyebrow. 
   1.182 +“I’ll just watch how you walk. You see, you have this incredibly
   1.183 +cute way of walking. And you’ve got a great butt. I’m sure I’ll be
   1.184 +able to pick you out of a crowd,” I reply casually, shrugging off his
   1.185 +earlier statement. I remember saying something similar back during
   1.186 +Shadow Moses, but of course that was a completely different
   1.187 +discussion. Not that Hal doesn’t have his own cute way of walking.
   1.188 +It’s just more subtle. 
   1.189 +“Are you sure you aren’t talking about Meryl?” he asks, pushing up
   1.190 +his glasses. I watch him for a moment in the moonlight. 
   1.191 +“Yep. I’m sure. I don’t forget these things.” We both laugh a bit,
   1.192 +the only sound other than the rain. It feels good to laugh, to forget
   1.193 +about what worried me earlier. 
   1.194 +“Well, if that’s the case, why don’t you come back to bed? Maybe
   1.195 +I’ll let you strip search me,” Hal says as he begins for the stairs,
   1.196 +smiling back over his shoulder. I groan at his impersonation of
   1.197 +Naomi. He simply laughs. “Don’t forget to bring your bandanna.”
   1.198 +I take another look back at the rain pelted window. The phantoms
   1.199 +waiting for me out in the rain are gone. I know they’ll be back, but
   1.200 +for now they have gone back to their resting places. They have their
   1.201 +peace. And for now, so do I.