rlm@0: Author’s note: Hello! ^-^ This is a very short fanfic based off of
rlm@0: the Metal Gear Solid series of videogames. Solid Snake’s real name is
rlm@0: David, as he tells Otacon in the Otacon ending of MGS which I thought
rlm@0: was much more emotional than the Meryl anding. And, of course,
rlm@0: Otacon’s real name is Hal. Anyway, I hope this goes well. ^-^ As
rlm@0: always, I love to hear what you think. ^-^ Thanks for reading!
rlm@0: 
rlm@0: 
rlm@0: Rain
rlm@0: by the Amazoness Duo
rlm@0: amazonessduo@hotmail.com
rlm@0: 
rlm@0: 
rlm@0: 	Rain. Pouring in sheets from the sky as if the heavens themselves
rlm@0: were in mourning. I can hear the staccato beat outside, thundering
rlm@0: against the windows. My eyes keep telling me that there’s something
rlm@0: out there, something in the darkness. I can almost see figures out in
rlm@0: the rain. Almost, but not quite. ‘You’re being paranoid,’ Hal would
rlm@0: tell me. And he’d probably be right. It certainly wouldn’t be the
rlm@0: first time. Which is why he’s still sleeping soundly right now and
rlm@0: I’m stalking the kitchen. Couldn’t sleep anyway. Not on nights like
rlm@0: this. The whole atmosphere is just too unsettling. Surrounded by the
rlm@0: rain, by the feverish storm. Liquid. 
rlm@0: 	Gazing out the window again, I strain my eyes to see through the
rlm@0: cascading water over the glass. I still can’t see make anything out
rlm@0: besides blurry shapes. I know there isn’t anything there, but in the
rlm@0: darkness, I see them. Meryl, Fox, Natasha, Wolf, Olga... I can see
rlm@0: Big Boss waiting out there, beckoning me. I even see Liquid. He’s
rlm@0: staring back at me intently. My bleary eyes blink insistently, trying
rlm@0: to force the image into clarity. I can see him just inches from me. I
rlm@0: freeze, shock filtering through my system. It takes a moment to
rlm@0: realize it’s my own reflection. Even then, I can’t find the will to
rlm@0: relax. I know he’s out there somewhere. My own personal demon. And
rlm@0: why is that? Simply because he’s my mirror image? Some twisted,
rlm@0: distorted version? Or is it that we’re more alike than I would care
rlm@0: to admit? 
rlm@0: 	Taking another sip of coffee, I continue my silent vigil, staring
rlm@0: out the window at the surreal images that great me. I should be back
rlm@0: in bed. Hal will worry if I’m not there when he wakes up. Especially
rlm@0: if he has another one of those nightmares about his sister. But I
rlm@0: can’t tear myself away yet. I can’t work up the will to make my way
rlm@0: back to the bedroom, to force out these thoughts. 
rlm@0: 	Solid Snake. The living legend. The man who makes the impossible
rlm@0: possible. I’ve been called all of this and more. But the legend is
rlm@0: nothing more than a man. No less frail, no less human. Legends are
rlm@0: usually bad news anyway. Just look to Big Boss to see that. The
rlm@0: Legendary Soldier. And how many had to die because of him? But then,
rlm@0: how many have had to die because of me? Raven’s words come back to
rlm@0: haunt me. ‘Your path is paved with the corpses of your enemies,’ he
rlm@0: had told me. Not just my enemies, Raven. How many others have had to
rlm@0: die for me? Shneider, Fox, Meryl, Master Miller, Emma... It seems
rlm@0: like someone around me always winds up getting killed. Just like with
rlm@0: Foxdie. Only they don’t need to be programmed into it in order to
rlm@0: die. They just have to know me. 
rlm@0: I take another swig of my coffee and immediately wish it was
rlm@0: something stronger. Too bad Hal doesn’t keep alcohol around the
rlm@0: house. I’ve been trying to kick the habit since I left Alaska, but
rlm@0: nights like tonight make me wish there was something around here to
rlm@0: drink. Not a good time to be sober, that’s for sure. I’d scrounge
rlm@0: around in the refrigerator for something, but I’m not in the mood.
rlm@0: Which reminds me that I need to go shopping tomorrow. Hal’s busy
rlm@0: looking up some things for Philanthropy, our anti-Metal Gear
rlm@0: organization, so I’m going to be stuck grocery shopping again. Now if
rlm@0: only there were pictures of me shopping out there then this whole
rlm@0: ‘legendary’ Solid Snake thing would die. I’m not a legend. I’m not a
rlm@0: hero. I’m just a man. Like Fox told me, I fight for what I believe
rlm@0: in. But so do the people I run up against. What makes me any better
rlm@0: than them? I fight for what I believe in, but so did Liquid Snake,
rlm@0: Big Boss, and Gray Fox. There isn’t such a thing as good or evil.
rlm@0: Just conflicting sides and opposing forces. Most people don’t
rlm@0: understand that. They want heroes and villains. They want legends and
rlm@0: myths. So they’ll take them from anything they can. Just look how
rlm@0: easily I was made into a villain. The Patriots didn’t want me to be
rlm@0: the hero of Shadow Moses so they made me look like some madman that
rlm@0: would sink a tanker. Let people believe what they will. It didn’t
rlm@0: really bother me. At least it got rid of that whole legend thing for
rlm@0: a while. 
rlm@0: Lighting a cigarette, I lean forward in a chair near the windows,
rlm@0: watching the streaks of thunder through the blurred glass. Sometimes
rlm@0: I wonder how much longer I can go on. How much further can I go? I
rlm@0: still have so much I need to do, but I don’t know if I can keep going
rlm@0: long enough to finish it all. I still hear his words, even after all
rlm@0: this time. ‘The loser is freed of the battlefield while the winner
rlm@0: remains trapped here until his own death,’ Big Boss had said when I
rlm@0: faced him for the last time. I’m still held captive by war, by the
rlm@0: battlefield. I still find myself drawn back time and again. I can’t
rlm@0: escape it. He was right in that sense. It’s my own personal
rlm@0: nightmare. And sometimes I don’t think I can go on. I don’t think I
rlm@0: can take the endless battles, the never-ending war. Is death my only
rlm@0: escape? Is that my only way off the battlefield? Will it be Foxdie or
rlm@0: Metal Gear that finally does me in? There’s almost a sense of relief
rlm@0: with death. The knowledge that somehow I can escape all of this is
rlm@0: eerily soothing. Just as Big Boss and Grey Fox escaped the horrors of
rlm@0: war, one day I’ll be able to as well. 
rlm@0: But not yet. Still too much to do. Besides, I don’t think Hal needs
rlm@0: that right now. I couldn’t leave him alone like that. But the
rlm@0: knowledge that he is so close to me worries me. Everyone else who
rlm@0: gets close to me seems to wind up dead. I keep thinking I’ll come
rlm@0: home to find the house in ruins and Hal dead in our room, that I’ll
rlm@0: hear Liquid’s voice behind me, telling me that it was my fault for
rlm@0: growing close to him. Maybe it is paranoia. But I don’t want anything
rlm@0: to happen to him. 
rlm@0: I’d have a hard time admitting this to Hal, but he’s helped heal a
rlm@0: lot of the wounds I’ve had for a long time now. Before I met him, I
rlm@0: was up in Alaska with a bunch of sled dogs drinking too much. I was
rlm@0: trying to get away from it all. I’d been diagnosed with Post-
rlm@0: Traumatic Stress Disorder after the mission to Zanzibarland and I had
rlm@0: tried to hide from my problems. But somehow I got forced into yet
rlm@0: another mission. Shadow Moses. When I first met Hal there, the naïve
rlm@0: genius behind Metal Gear Rex, I was pissed off that he could have
rlm@0: resurrected Metal Gear. The introverted, awkward guy was so...
rlm@0: bizarre. He was shy, scared. I didn’t want to have to worry about
rlm@0: him. But he kept helping me, even up to the bitter end. That
rlm@0: impressed me. He wasn’t about to run. He took responsibility for
rlm@0: Metal Gear and he helped me handle the whole thing. Even moreso than
rlm@0: Meryl, I actually felt connected to him, that we were both dealing
rlm@0: with a lot of the same things. I was surprised when he came all the
rlm@0: way to find me while Liquid was hunting for me in the Hind chopper
rlm@0: just to ask me if love could bloom on a battlefield. I told him it
rlm@0: could bloom anywhere, but that you had to be able to protect the
rlm@0: person. I’d assumed he meant Sniper Wolf at the time, but sometimes I
rlm@0: really wonder about that. Later, when Meryl died, I gave up hope. I
rlm@0: didn’t know what to do anymore or if I could go on. But Hal helped me
rlm@0: through that. He gave me the strength to keep living. If it weren’t
rlm@0: for him, I would certainly be dead right now. I had no fight left in
rlm@0: me. But Hal gave me a reason to live. After that, we left Shadow
rlm@0: Moses far behind us to start a new life. Together. 
rlm@0: Sure, it’s a little bizarre at times. But it’s nice. A lot more
rlm@0: relaxing than when I was living up in Alaska. We’ve got a nice house
rlm@0: out in the suburbs and for the most part we’re just your typical
rlm@0: couple. Well, maybe not that typical. We started Philanthropy as a
rlm@0: way of stopping the proliferation of Metal Gear throughout the world.
rlm@0: He’s the brains of the outfit and I get suckered into going out and
rlm@0: handling the missions. But otherwise things are pretty relaxed around
rlm@0: here. Hal even wants to adopt. I can’t imagine being a father. I
rlm@0: don’t even want to think about that. But Otacon seems pretty intent
rlm@0: on the idea. Hopefully he’ll forget about it soon. Otherwise I’ll
rlm@0: probably get stuck raising Olga’s child when I finally find her.
rlm@0: Great. Raiden can give me tips on being a father. That’s the last
rlm@0: thing I need. 
rlm@0: “Dave? What’s wrong with you? You know you aren’t supposed to smoke
rlm@0: in the house,” Hal says as he pads downstairs in his boxers and a
rlm@0: robe. His hair’s frizzled and out of place, his glasses hanging off
rlm@0: the end of his nose. He looks like how I remember him back during
rlm@0: Shadow Moses. It’s nice to know some things don’t change. Yawning, he
rlm@0: opens the refrigerator door to get something to drink and shivers.
rlm@0: “We’re out of milk? Again?”
rlm@0: “Yep. I’m going to get some tomorrow,” I reply, contemplating the
rlm@0: cigarette. “I need to get Jack and Rose a wedding present, too. I’ll
rlm@0: try to find something while I’m out.” I mash the cigarette out,
rlm@0: looking back towards Hal, grinning at the look he gives me as he
rlm@0: leans against the refrigerator. Raiden’s wedding invitation came in
rlm@0: the mail a while back. I still don’t know why he sent it. Hal insists
rlm@0: that we go, especially after how I treated Raiden during the whole
rlm@0: Big Shell thing. Of course, I did ask who’d be wearing the dress when
rlm@0: I called to confirm later. It’s not my fault Jack looks so gender
rlm@0: ambiguous and Rose wears pantsuits. Hell, even the President groped
rlm@0: Jack back on Big Shell, so it’s not like I’m the only one that thinks
rlm@0: he looks like a girl.
rlm@0: “Knowing you, it would probably be a Socom or a bandanna or
rlm@0: something.” Hal shakes his head, his arms crossed. “I’ll go with you
rlm@0: to get the wedding gift. I’m sure we can find something nice for
rlm@0: them. Besides, we still need to rent some tuxes while we’re at it.”
rlm@0: I wince at his words. “Those things are worse than the sneak suits I
rlm@0: get stuck wearing. I don’t know how you’re supposed to move in those
rlm@0: damn things.”
rlm@0: “Oh, they’re not that bad. You look good in a tux, Dave. You won’t
rlm@0: have to move much anyway,” Hal reasons, tilting his head to the side.
rlm@0: His glasses shift a bit more, glinting in the dim light. My little
rlm@0: angel of mercy, Dr. Hal Emmerich. The only one who can occasionally
rlm@0: save me from my own thoughts. I’m glad he decided to intrude, even if
rlm@0: I’m usually better about catching his entrance. I must really be out
rlm@0: of it.
rlm@0: I sigh in defeat, leaning back in the chair. It tilts slightly as I
rlm@0: stare up at the roof. “At least I’ll know which one of the penguins
rlm@0: there is you.” 
rlm@0: “Oh? And how’s that? My charming good looks?” Otacon asks curiously,
rlm@0: raising an eyebrow. 
rlm@0: “I’ll just watch how you walk. You see, you have this incredibly
rlm@0: cute way of walking. And you’ve got a great butt. I’m sure I’ll be
rlm@0: able to pick you out of a crowd,” I reply casually, shrugging off his
rlm@0: earlier statement. I remember saying something similar back during
rlm@0: Shadow Moses, but of course that was a completely different
rlm@0: discussion. Not that Hal doesn’t have his own cute way of walking.
rlm@0: It’s just more subtle. 
rlm@0: “Are you sure you aren’t talking about Meryl?” he asks, pushing up
rlm@0: his glasses. I watch him for a moment in the moonlight. 
rlm@0: “Yep. I’m sure. I don’t forget these things.” We both laugh a bit,
rlm@0: the only sound other than the rain. It feels good to laugh, to forget
rlm@0: about what worried me earlier. 
rlm@0: “Well, if that’s the case, why don’t you come back to bed? Maybe
rlm@0: I’ll let you strip search me,” Hal says as he begins for the stairs,
rlm@0: smiling back over his shoulder. I groan at his impersonation of
rlm@0: Naomi. He simply laughs. “Don’t forget to bring your bandanna.”
rlm@0: I take another look back at the rain pelted window. The phantoms
rlm@0: waiting for me out in the rain are gone. I know they’ll be back, but
rlm@0: for now they have gone back to their resting places. They have their
rlm@0: peace. And for now, so do I.