Metal Gear Solid: The Fountain of Youth Project
Chapter One
A young girl sat quietly in the passenger seat as an older gentleman drove them to what would be her new home. The girl looked to be about fifteen years old with blue eyes; short brown hair pulled back into a small ponytail and looking a little worse for wear as she had just lost her mother. It had been a very long journey for her as they drove straight from Texas to Alaska as he barely spoke a word to her the whole time he drove. The only time he did speak it was to someone else she couldn't hear, but she knew who it was based on the conversation. However, to be perfectly honest her journey had started one month earlier.
Ashlynn had been straightening the house up as asked by her mother that morning before she headed off to work. She was looking forward to when her mother got home as they were going to go out and celebrate her fifteenth birthday at her favorite restaurant in town. Her mother had only been gone for a few hours when she heard a knock on the door. Putting the broom down she was using Ashlynn starting making her way over to the door to open it as she could hear shuffling footstep on the porch nervously. Getting to the door she barely got the door open when the officer started speaking to her.
"Are you Ashlynn Warner? The daughter of Rebecca Warner." Rushing out the question anxiously.
"Yes, sir, I am. Why? Has something happened to my mom?" Looking concerned.
"I'm afraid so, dear, and I've been asked to take you to the hospital." Looking and sounding very sympathetic now.
"Oh, o-okay, uh, let me get a few things and lock up then we can go." She started to panic as she rushed back inside the house.
A few moments later she was running out of the house and around to the passenger side of the officer's car. As soon as she was in the car he rushed off to the hospital with her. The seconds seem to pass by as he drove and Ashlynn prayed her mother wasn't dead. As she was finishing up her plea the hospital came into view before her. Ashlynn barely let the office get his car parked before she was jumping out of the car and rushing into the hospital.
The hospital was going crazy as people were getting wheeled in and put into rooms from whatever entrance they could get gurneys and wheelchairs in from outside. Ashlynn had to move quickly a few times to let them get by as she made it to the main lobby. From there Ashlynn recognized a few of the people being wheeled in and started to run that way, but before she could take a step she was grabbed.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. You can't go over there yet. They've all been exposed to radiation and need to be cleaned and examine first." Stated the officer that brought her in.
Ashlynn looked up at the officer in horror before turning back at the scene before her now realizing how the hospital staff was dressed and she bit her lip. Radiation exposure! But how?! Weren't there procedures for preventing things like this? There were a thousand questions running though her head as tears started to well in her eyes as she watched everything thing before her. Soon the tears started falling as she realizes that even if her mom survived the explosion she was still going to die. The question would be how fast and what was going to happen to her.
After a few moments the officer escorted her to a waiting room where others were being filtered to as they waited to hear or see anything of their loved one. It seemed like days, but in reality it was only a few hours when one by one each family was being notified about the family member and being escorted back to them. Ashlynn bite her lip as it started getting very empty in the waiting room and she hadn't heard anything about her mom. Finally she heard her last name and jumped up immediately running over to the nurse.
"I'm Warner!"
The nurse smiled at her warmly and led her out of the room then down some halls. The hospital was very eerie and quiet now as the craziness of before was gone as they walked down several more halls. After passing a few rooms the plastic started showing up and the further the nurse led her in the more it became until they stopped in from of a room.
"MOM!" Starting to go in.
"No, no! You can't go in just yet." Grabbing Ashlynn. "It's not safe yet, but you can speak to her from here." Handing her a phone.
Ashlynn looked at her mom who smiled at her then back to the nurse before taking the phone from her. Her mom smiled who had already picked up her phone as Ashlynn brought the phone up to her ear. The nurse gave a warm pat on Ashlynn's shoulder than quietly left leaving them to speak privately seeing that her job for now was done.
"Hi, sweetie." Smiling weakly this time.
"Hi, mom." Starting to tear up.
"I'm okay, baby. Momma's okay." Trying to not tear up herself. "Not quite the birthday party I had planned, but at least we're together."
Ashlynn let out a small laugh as she wiped away a tear. Her mom the jokester. Even in the upmost serious moments she always had a joke to lighten up the mood.
"Now I want you to listen carefully for what I need to you to do tonight when you get home."
Ashlynn goes to say something, but hushes up quickly from the look her mother gave her.
"You remember looking up to see how to get a hold of your father encase something bad happened to me."
Ashlynn nodded her head as she wiped away a few stray tears from her face again.
"Good. I want you to send him a message and if we're lucky he'll respond." Smiling at her.
"What should I say, mom?" Her voice cracking.
"The truth, baby. Tell him the truth about you, what's going on right now and why you're contacting him. Everything. Okay."
"Yes, ma'am."
Chapter Two
Somehow her message worked and five days later Ashlynn was staring at two men in her front door. The younger of the two had glasses, long brown hair and seemed generally interested in what was going on. Meanwhile the other was an older man with gray hair, a burn mark on his face and looking like he wanted to be somewhere else other than here. The both of them were dressed like they were on their way to some sort of casual business meeting or date. Odd, she thought, but quickly Ashlynn let them in then led them to her mother's room.
"Mom… They're here." Walking into her mother's room.
"Welcome, gentlemen." Straining to sit up and Ashlynn rushed to help her. "I'm okay, sweetie." Smiling at Ashlynn before turning back to the two men. "I want to thank you both for coming on such short notice. I'm sure you're full of questions and I wish things were better, but they are what they are. Please sit down." Pointing at the kitchen chairs Ashlynn had brought in earlier.
The younger looking man sits down while the older looking one remained standing arms crossed. Ashlynn stared at him wondering what his problem was. After a couple a seconds her mother began again as Ashlynn leaned against the wall by her mother not realizing she was copying the older man as she continued looking at him, but the younger man did and smiled.
"My name is Rebecca Warner and this is my daughter, Ashlynn." Motioning towards where Ashlynn was standing next to her.
"I'm Hal," stated the younger of the two, "and this is Snake." Pointing up to the older man. "And you are correct, ma'am. We do have a lot of questions."
"Well, than I will go ahead and get the elephant out of the room about Ashlynn." Looking over at Snake. "She was created similar to the way you were from Big Boss. It was called the Eve Project as only one baby, a female this time, was to be created. Hence the name. The only difference is they used your DNA, Snake, so she isn't a clone of Big Boss or a clone period." Pausing for a brief moment.
"Your DNA was however manipulated to where it wouldn't be any different than a doctor injecting sperm into an egg and I was the sole supplier and carrier of her. So I am one hundred percent her mother. Therefore, she is like any other child, but was created for a purpose." Pausing again. "Ashlynn's sole purpose was to replace you once you died, Snake, but that changed six months in."
"What changed?" Asked Hal.
"The project was scrapped and it was decided to terminate the pregnancy. Only I had already grown attached to her and I couldn't let them end her life." Looks over at Ashlynn and smiles. "So I ran at six months pregnant with her and changed as much of myself as I could to hide from them and it has worked." Taking Ashlynn's hand and giving it a squeeze.
"I've given her as much of a normal life I could give her given the fact at how special she is from other children. It's not been easy, but I got her educated and she's managed to make some friends who were able to look passed at how much smarter she is compared to them." Letting go of her hand.
"So why contact me now?" Asked Snake finally a little curious.
Snake watched as Ashlynn looked down and away biting her lower lip at the question.
"There was an accident at work and I was exposed to an extremely high dose of radiation."
"So you're dying."
"Yes, and Ashlynn still needs someone to take care of her and protect her." Looks back towards Hal and Snake. "And I was hoping you could do it because I'm not entirely sure if they ever truly stopped looking for us."
"The answer's no."
"Snake!" Hal cuts in. "She's your daughter!"
"The answer's still no." Walking out of the room.
"SNAKE!"
"I knew he'd say no!" Storming out of her mother's room.
"Ashlynn!"
Snake turned briefly as he watched her storm off to her room before heading outside, but as he did he couldn't help but see a bit of him in her at the way she was acting and looking. Hal and Rebecca both stared out the door than turned to each other sighing. They didn't have to say it as they knew pretty much what the other was thinking.
"Let me go talk to him. I'm sure I can change his mind." Getting up from the chair.
"Okay." Laughing slightly. "And I'll see if I can talk to mine."
Chapter Three
Ashlynn woke up when the truck hit a hole in the road and she looked over at Snake wondering if he done it on purpose as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. As she did she notice a large house started coming into view then saw Hal and a young girl standing in the driveway bundled up. The young girl was jumping up and waving as Snake got closer. Soon he pulled up to them, parked it and Ashlynn quickly got out happy to be free of her prison.
"How was the ride up, Ashlynn?"
"Quiet. Very quiet." Giving Snake a sideways dirty glare as she starting gathering her things out of the front passenger seat.
"I see." Watching Snake get out of the truck, get his bag and starts walking off. "Well." Laughing awkwardly. "I guess it's up to the three of us to get your things out, inside the house and to your room." Looks at the young girl next to him. "OH! By the way, this is Sunny, my niece. Sunny, this is Ashlynn."
"Hi, Sunny, it's nice to meet you." Smiling and holding out her hand.
"Hi, Ashlynn!" Smiling back. "Uncle Hal told me you were coming." Laughing and taking Ashlynn's hand excitedly.
Ashlynn smiled bigger at her before taking her hand back from her and went back to gather her things as Hal escorted Sunny to the back of the truck to get started. After a couple of hours the three of them got everything inside and to her new room. From there Hal and Sunny went off to do what they had been doing before Ashlynn arrived to let her unpack.
Sighing, Ashlynn looked at all the boxes and bags scattered about trying to decide where to begin while putting her headphones on and getting some music going. It took her the rest of the day, but she managed to get everything unpacked and put up where she wanted everything at. She even rearranged some of the furniture it fit some of her thing better. She stood back and looked at her new room smiling as she saw Sunny step into her room. Quickly, Ashlynn pulled down her headphones.
"What's up?"
"Dinner's ready."
"Oh! Okay." She finished taking off her headphones, turned off her music and sat her MP3 player down on her dresser than followed Sunny out and to the dining room.
Dinner was good and Ashlynn, Hal and Sunny got to know each other a little better and Hal could already see that Sunny and Ashlynn were going to get along great as they talked amongst themselves making future dinner plans and such while cleaning up the dishes and kitchen. Too bad Snake missed it all, but he wasn't too keen on the idea of having Ashlynn here to begin with and only went along with it because Hal had insisted on it.
Later that night Ashlynn woke up from a bad dream about her mother's death. After calming down from it she found herself too wide awake to go back to sleep. Quietly, she got up, went outside and sat down in one of the chairs on the porch. As the night air finally hit her sweat soaked skin she drawled her legs up to her chest in an effort to stay warm. Alaska nights sure were different than Texas nights this time of year she thought as she got comfortable.
After a few moments of just staring out into the night some movement caught her eye and turned to see her father walking back up to the house. As he got closer she shifted in the seat which caught his attention and she heard him mumble something under his breath as he stepped up onto the porch.
"Hi… Sunny and I left you a plate of food on the stove."
Snake just gave her a sideways glace as he opened the door and walked in without saying a word. Ashlynn narrowed her eyes at him as he shut the door. Well, fine then! She thought while drawling her legs back up to her chest than rested her chin on her knees as she went back to staring out into the darkness. She stayed like that for the rest of the night thinking about different things and watched as the sun came up.
Chapter Four
Ashlynn had been there almost a week now and Snake avoided her like she had the plague. Every time she would try and cut him off he would just find a way around her or he would get Sunny to play or talk with her while he made his escape. However, the more he would push to keep away from her the more she would try to get in his way. Hal notice this cat and mouse game between them and he knew this was going to come to a head sooner or later.
One morning Ashlynn got up extra early, got dressed and gathered up a bunch of things into a backpack than quietly sneaked out of the house. Once outside she found a place to hide and waited for her father to come out. Right on cue he came out and off into the woods he went. She waited until he got a ways away from her before she stepped out and started following him. Everything was going great until she lost sight of him.
Stopping and closing her eyes, she listened quietly to see if she could hear any footsteps. The next thing Ashlynn knew she was face down on the ground with one of her arms pinned back behind her back. Ashlynn tried fighting back and only managed to get herself flipped onto her back, but Snake quickly pinned both of her arms down at the wrists to the ground and straddled her. Ashlynn looked up angry at him as he did the same in return.
"What in the HELL do you think you are doing?" He growled at her.
"Following you!" She snapped back. "I wanted to see where you were going."
Snake growled at her before hopping up off of her, yanked her up to her feet than spun her around and gave her a slight push.
"Go home!"
"No, I'm not." Spinning back around.
"Yes, you are!" Getting in her face. "Now go!" Pointing towards the house.
"And I said NO!" Getting back into his face.
Snake growled again, grabbed her, spun her around again, pinned both her arms back behind her back and started marching her back to the house. He was not about to have this argument with her nor was she going to continue to follow him. However, Ashlynn began fighting back at being taken back to the house and the more she fought the more he would he applied pressure to her shoulders until one of them popped.
Ashlynn's eyes widen at the sudden pain, but she never made a sound as tears started running down her face. Inwardly, Snake started cursing at himself as he hadn't meant for that to happen, but at least now she was no longer fighting with him as he continued to escort her back to the house. The rest of the way back was long and quiet as the two walked back. It wasn't until Snake reached the front door did he talk again.
"Otacon!" Letting go on one of Ashlynn's arms to open the door. "Come and get her!" Pushing Ashlynn through the door as Hal appeared from the dining room with Sunny in tow.
"What on earth happen?" Looking at the two of them.
"Make sure she stays here this time."
Letting go of her entirely for a moment before he spun her around for a third time than placed his hand near her shoulder before grabbing her wrist and giving her arm a swift yank. Hearing it pop back into place he let go of her arm and stormed out of the house. Hal sighed as Ashlynn dropped her head angrily while holding back a snuffle. He then walked over to Ashlynn than put an arm around her before directing her to the dining room to get some breakfast and some pain relievers for her shoulder.
After breakfast Ashlynn went to her room tossing her backpack to the side and flopped down onto her bed with her back to the door. She couldn't understand why he was being like this. Didn't he not what to get to know her? She was his daughter after all. About thirty minutes later there was a knock on the door and Ashlynn glanced over her shoulder to see Hal in the doorway holding a huge file.
"Can I come in?"
"Yes." Sitting up on the bed.
"Thank you."
Hal walked in, grabbed the chair from her desk and pulled it next to her bed where she sat before sitting down in it. She watched as Hal opened up the file than looked at her as he turned it so she could read it while he explained. She looked up at him curiously as he began talking to her.
"There's something you should know about Snake, uh, your father."
"Okay." Giving Hal her full attention.
"There's no other way than to just say it." Looking sympathetic. "He's dying too and we don't know exactly how long he really has." Pausing for a moment. "As you know Snake was created from Big Boss's DNA, but he had additional coding added to where he wasn't able to have children and his life was shortened through a progress of sudden rapid aging. That's why he looks much older than he is."
"Then he should want to get to know me or let me get to know him if he's dying too." Not really liking the fact she's about to lose another parent so soon and be an orphan. "Plus, thanks to scientists in lab he did have a child. On top of that my life is a normal one and I can have kids. Mom even had me checked out a couple of years ago to make sure. A part of him will live on because of me." She argued back while revealing a lot of unknown information to Hal about her and her creation.
"I understand your point, I really do, but Snake doesn't see it that way." A bit relieved to hear that he won't have to deal with this problem twice. "He doesn't want you to get close to him knowing he won't be here much longer." Signing. "The only reason why you're here is because I insisted on it." Pushing his glasses up.
Ashlynn looked away for a moment angrily crossing her arms in the process. Great! I'm only here out of pity. She thought as she looked down at the file in his lap. Hal couldn't help but see a bit of Snake in her when she did that especially when she made an upsetting noise, but when she looked back at Hal it was like a light bulb went on in her head.
"Have you not gone to doctors or scientists to fix this?"
"We have and there's nothing that can be done." Looking a little sad. "Snake has accepted it and he's just making the days he has left doing what he wants."
Ashlynn was really quiet for a long time looking at the first page of her father's file again before looking back up at Hal still milling around her idea. She wondered if she could pull it off again.
"I take it that you brought this for me to look at and read?" Pointing down at the over stuff file.
"Uh, yes. Yes, I did." Handing her the file. "You have a right to know everything about him even if he won't tell you himself."
"I see. Thanks, Hal." Smiling.
"Not a problem. Happy reading." Placing a hand on her shoulder.
She smiled again at Hal as he got up and replaced her chair back to where it was at than left her room to let her read.
Chapter Five
For the next week Ashlynn read, studied and took notes from her father's file before she gave it back to Hal. She even scanned a few pages she deemed important to have for her research she was going to work on in secret. After that during her spare time when she wasn't hanging out with Sunny or Hal she was working on trying to come up with a way to reengineer her father's DNA.
However, this wasn't the first time she had done something like this. When she was twelve she did a science project on Alzheimer's where she developed a theory on how to reverse the disease, but even possibly prevent it if caught early enough by genome theory. So she taught herself how to read the human DNA and how medicine and the human body worked then set out to cure this disease theoretically. She gotten third place on it as two boys had beaten her out by building war machines.
After two months of working on this she was finally finished with it and after running a few more tests that morning through the same online program she used for her science project she was convinced she had all the bugs worked out. Now could she convince Hal and her father to actually make it and try it on him was the question. As she was pondering this she heard a lot of racket outside and peeked out the window of her bedroom.
Ashlynn's eyes went wide when she saw men with guns piling out of three different vehicles. Quickly, Ashlynn saved her work, pull out her thumb drive and ran into the bathroom with it than hid them behind the medicine cabinet in her bathroom. After securing the medicine cabinet back to the wall she took off running into the storage closet under the stairs to hide.
Hearing the men shout out to Sunny to shut up when she started crying Ashlynn turned looking for something in the closet to use as a weapon and saw a couple of lockers in the closet among a few other things. Quickly, she went over to the first one and pulled it open. Nothing but military clothes and other items! Shutting it she with to the second one and opened it. Jack pot! Reaching in she pulled out a 45 auto and three loaded clips. Quickly, she slid one of the clips into the gun loading it in the process and the other two in her back pocket of her jeans.
Quietly, she cracked opened the door and looked out it. As she did she watched as a couple of men started to enter her room. She could hear them talking about her as they started turning her room upside down looking for something and her. Oh no! She thought. They finally found me after all these years. As she thought this she saw them begin to come out of her room not happy that they found nothing.
"Check the other rooms! She's got to be here somewhere!"
Before they could search the other bedrooms Ashlynn took a deep breath and swung open the door shooting the two men in their legs crippling them than ran down the hallway towards the living room. Hearing shots and cries of pain Hal, Sunny and the three men holding them turned towards the hallway as Ashlynn came running out of it. Without missing a beat Ashlynn she shot the first guy in both his legs and the second guy in one, dropped the clip, reached into her back pocket pulling out the next clip, loaded it and continued shooting until all three guys were on the ground screaming in pain too.
"What? How?" Stuttered Hal as he looked at Ashlynn then the men on the ground. She's defiantly Snake's kid see her handle herself and the gun.
"No time to explain. Will later." Trying to push Sunny and Hal towards the front door. "Front door. Out now."
"I wouldn't do that if I were you three."
Hearing someone come back through from the other end of the house Ashlynn pointed the gun in their direction while pushing Sunny behind her. From the dining room came four men with three of them with rifles drawn and pointed at them.
"If you are as smart as I think you are I would put that down along with anything else or I'll order my men to shot you and your friends." Stated the one who appeared to be the leader.
Reluctantly, Ashlynn laid the gun down on the ground, pulled out the extra clip and laid it down beside it while keeping her eyes on him.
"Good girl!" Walking over to her as he ordered his men to take Sunny and Hal. "Tie them up in the dining room for Snake to find them with my message for him." Points at the three on the ground. "Also, gather up these assholes and the ones down the hall and get them in the vehicles. I'll deal with them later."
Walks over and stands in front of Ashlynn as his men grabbed Sunny and Hal and left the living room with them.
"I must say, young lady, you turned out to be more than I expected." Grabs Ashlynn's face. "You managed to take out five of my men and almost got away from me. Mommy taught you well." Laughs as Ashlynn jerked her head out of his hand while giving him a dirty look. "Oh! Someone's got an attitude problem. So you did get more from dear old dad than those blue eyes of yours." Hits her across the face, but she makes no sound. "Let's see if that cures that attitude of yours or should I order my men to kill your friends."
"No! Don't do that! I won't fight you."
"Good girl." Grabs her arm. "Come along then we have some business to talk about." Escorting her outside and to the backseat of one of the cars.
Soon they were off and Hal and Sunny were left gagged and tied to the chairs in the dining room with an envelope on the table addressed to Snake.
Chapter Six
Later that night when Snake returned home he found the house eerily quiet and dark As he walked in he kicked something on the ground and stopped to pick it up, but before he could he heard a noise coming from the dining room. Quickly he walked to the noise and turned on the light to find Sunny and Hal tied up.
"Otacon!" Rushing over to Hal and pulled out the gag. "What happen?" Beginning to untie him.
"We got ambushed and they took Ashlynn. I don't know why they took her, but they left that for you." Motioning to the envelope on the table as Snake got him untied. "I know they were also looking for something else too. Something Ashlynn was working on in secret because they kept asking me where it was or her, but they seemed to have never found it or forgotten about it when they got a hold of her." Running over to Sunny to get her untied.
"I see." Reaching for the envelope.
"That's not all." Getting Sunny untied. "Ashlynn managed to take down a lot of them before we were out gun. To keep us from getting hurt she surrendered." Checking Sunny over before standing back up and facing Snake.
"Managed to take some down? You mean to tell me she tried defending off these guys?" Looking up from the letter he was reading.
"Yes, she shot them all in the leg. The darndest thing I've ever seen since watching you do it was her reload speed." Sounding impress as he walked back around the table towards the living room with Sunny in tow.
"Really?" Looking at Hal sounding skeptical.
"Yes, really!" Turning on the living room light. "Just take a look at the evidence yourself." Pointing into the living room. "There's more down the hallway."
Snake turned around and looked into the living room. There on the floor was his 45 auto still loaded that he had kicked when he walked in and there were two of the clips. One still fully loaded and the other empty with empty casings about. Then there were the three blood stains also on the floor from where each man had fallen. As he walked further into the living room and towards the hallway he saw two more blood stains and open doors.
As Snake walked down the hallway he looked into the closet that held his lockers and other items he noticed his gun locker was still open. His other locker showed evidence that it too had been open from the fingerprints on top of it from where Ashlynn had smeared dust. As he stared at her fingerprints thinking about what he had seen and what Hal described about what he saw he heard Sunny speak.
"Oh, Uncle Hal! They messed up her room."
"It's alright, Sunny. We'll get it picked up and straighten later. Right now we've gotten to figure out what they were looking for and why they wanted her so badly we can get her back."
"Otacon's right." Walking in and started looking through the mess left in her room. "Let's search and see if we can find it."
"Right!"
The three of them searched her room coming up empty until Hal went into her bathroom. After looking under the sink he stood up and looked at himself in the mirror of the medicine cabinet. That's when he saw the dust from the sheetrock on the counter. Reaching up he pulled out the cabinet from the wall finding a large yellow envelope taped behind it.
"Snake! I found it." Setting the cabinet down on the counter and pulling off the envelope from it.
"Good! Let's take it to your office and see what it is."
"Right!"
The three of the rushed off to his office leaving the mess behind for now.
Chapter Seven
Getting to his office Hal opened the envelope and pulled out the contents almost dropping the thumb drive. Quickly he inserted the thumb drive pulling everything up on it besides looking at the few loose pages she had of scribbled notes and copies of documents from Snake's file also written on. As he looked over it he couldn't believe what he was reading and almost got lost in it when Snake drawled him back.
"So what is it, Otacon?"
"You're not going to believe this." Shifting through a couple more pages as he pushed his glasses up. "I'm not even sure myself and I'm looking at it, but Ashlynn has come up with a way to reverse your rapid aging and kill both versions of FoxDie in you by recreating your DNA with genome therapy."
"Genome therapy?! What are you trying to tell me, Otacon?" Remembering a bit about being told about genome therapy years ago when Naomi injected the first FoxDie into him and everything told to him since.
"What I'm saying is Ashlynn has found a way no one else could to cure you, Snake, and reverse the aging so you look and feel like you should if all of her calculations are correct." Looking up at Snake. "It means you get to live longer and die as old man like everyone else."
"OH! That sounds wonderful!" Chimed in Sunny. "You can stay with us longer." Being her sweet innocent self.
Snake looked at Sunny than back to Hal milling over what was said. Even though he had come to terms he was dying and was making the most of his time left he couldn't help but ponder. If there was really was a way to stop this and allow him to live longer than he would be stupid for not giving it a try. It was honestly a worthwhile shot and if it truly did work he had a lot of apologizing to do to her.
"You think you can create this drug or whatever it is without her?"
"Yes, I can with Sunny's help. We should have it put together by tomorrow afternoon if we work on it all night. It's surprisingly not complicated which is the amazing part and we have everything here that we need already." Smiling at the fact that Snake still had the will to keep on living as he shifted through the pages again on his computer and lap.
"Good. You do that." Getting up off the counter he was leaning up against.
"Oh, by the way, Snake. What did the letter say?" Stopping him.
"It said, 'I'll be in contact once she gives me what I want.'" Crumbling up the paper and throwing it into the trash can on his way out.
Hal and Sunny watched as Snake walked out of the office before quickly getting to work on Ashlynn's research. Hal was really impressed with Ashlynn's work and had no idea she was this smart though she said she was. He wondered which parent she got it from as he worked. She really had a bright future ahead of her if she kept this kind of work up. Provided they got her back in one piece.
As promised he and Sunny worked all night and by late afternoon they had it put together. All that was left was to inject Snake with it and see if it would work. Hal felt a little sorry that Ashlynn wasn't here to see her work come to completion and see it actually work which he prayed it would, but she would see it had worked when she saw him again.
The three of them stared at each other as Hal walked over to Snake. Hal could tell Snake was tired from being up. He had been outside all night thinking over how much the girl had tried to get his attention only to have him avoid her at all costs. He even accidently hurt her that one time when she followed him into the woods and this is what she does for him. What kind of kid does that? He couldn't help but feeling like an asshole, but furthermore to think if she had more time to work with she could have done the same for her mother. Now, looking at Hal he was ready to see this through and go get her back where she belongs.
"All right, Otacon. Let's get this over with."
"Okay. Now I want you to understand there's no telling what's going to happen after I inject you with this so be prepared for anything."
Snake nodded his head and Hal injected him with Ashlynn's genome therapy. At first nothing happened, but suddenly Snake doubled over in pain. Pain so bad it nearly took his breath away, but he felt something going on inside and out as he tried to catch his breath. Hal and Sunny gasped as they watch as Snake started aging backwards. Slowly at first, but soon grew faster. Soon it was all over and a much younger looking Snake stood before them.
"Snake, how do you feel?"
"Fine. Now that the pain is gone." Looking at his hands seeing how much they had changed and noticing he even sounded more like his old self.
"Oh, wow. The burn on the side of your face has even improved."
Quickly, Snake went and found the nearest mirror to look at himself. Finding one he was taken away at his appearance. He looked like himself again before the rapid aging took off and more brown hair instead of being all grey. He pretty much looked like someone should for being in their early to mid forties. Hal also wasn't making it up when he said the burn to the side of his face improved. As he continued to look at himself Hal walked up behind him.
"Now, I still like to run some tests to see how everything is going as I'm sure she would like to be able to do, but as far as I can tell it's worked like she theorized." Smiling. "I do have to say she's something else."
Suddenly they heard Sunny shriek and came running to them. They turn to her.
"What is it, Sunny?"
"Uncle Hal, its Ashlynn! Come! Look!"
Both Snake and Hal rushed back into the office to see a message flashing on all the computer screens. It read: I'm okay at the moment, but please come and get me. Here's a map of the building. I'm located here on it and here are the coordinates. Hal only had a few minutes to get the map and other information saved before the message disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Snake smiled. Smart kid. Led me right to her.
"Let's go get her." Snake stated as he walked out to go get geared up and ready to leave.
"Right!" Smiling down at Sunny as he printed off a copy of the building map and coordinates.
"All right, kid. You just hang on just a little while longer. I'm on my way."
Chapter Eight
Ashlynn yawn and gentle rubbed her face to save herself from wincing in pain as the whole right side of her face was one big bruise from repeated hits from Garret. The past forty-eight hours had been very grueling to say the least as she worked on her different projects and got her message out to Hal and Snake. She prayed that they were on their way as she delayed giving Garret what he thought he was getting and got her virus completed to wipe out everything here.
While she pretended to look busy she went over several things in her mind. Starting with how Garret killed his men after deeming them worthless because she shot them in the legs. The whole point of why she shot them in the legs was so they could live and rethink what they were doing. Instead she got them killed and was forced to watch has he finished them off by shooting them in the head before they boarded his helicopter back to his base. It took everything she had to not vomit while he shot them as they begged for their lives.
As they flew back he tried striking up a conversation with her, but she wouldn't give him the time of day until he mentioned her mother. How he hired someone to sneak in to tamper with the equipment and set off the explosion. The next thing Garret knew he was holding back Ashlynn by the wrist, who had managed to swipe a knife off one of his men next to her and tried to stab him. Quickly, the man whose knife she grabbed had her in a head lock and as he squeezed it got hard for her to breath.
"Best to let go of the knife, girl, if you don't want to be choked out."
Angrily, she let go of the knife and the man released his hold on her. Garret than reached up with his other hand hitting her across the face then grabbed it pulling her down to him.
"You try that again, young lady, and I won't hesitate to kill you. Understand?!"
"Yes." Glaring daggers into him.
"Good! Now sit back down and loose the attitude." Shoving her back to her seat.
Ashlynn sat back down as instructed and stared out the window in silence. She wanted to cry. She wanted to be angry. She wanted revenge, but she was greatly outnumbered and she wasn't about to look weak in front of this man. So she just sat there trying to think of how she could get out of this mess and get her revenge on this murderer in front of her.
A few hours later they were landing in a remote place surrounded by mountains, but she was too far into her plotting to notice until Garret hit her across the face again. Suddenly she snapped her head in his direction. It took her a couple of seconds to realize what was going on and she quietly followed him out of the helicopter. After a few different hallways they came up to a room and he quickly unlocked it than pushed her inside.
"Now, listen to me carefully as I'm not going to repeat myself." Grabbing a file from one of his men. "You will do what you plan to do for your old man for me. Because of him I suffer from terrible side effects of the FoxDie he spread years ago. I want you to cure me of it than maybe I'll let you watch me kill your old man before I possible spare you as my thanks." Laughing a bit.
"No, I won't. You killed my mother, her friends, her co-workers and your own men. You think I'm just going to…"
The next thing Ashlynn knew she was on the floor and she could taste blood in her mouth as Garret screamed at her about her attitude and such. When she didn't respond to him he grabbed her by the front of her shirt and slammed her against the wall. She stared at him as he yelled at her some more. As he did it came to her on how she could get her revenge on him.
"Fine! I'll do it." Trying to get him off of her by pulling at his hands. "Just stop hitting me you asshole."
"Good." Letting her go and reached out for his filing again that had fallen to the floor. "You do that." Handing her his file. "And loose the attitude."
She took his file and watched as he and his men left the room then listened to the door lock as she cracked out his file. Reading it, she found the only chair in the room, sat down in it and started plotting on how she could turn this into a way to kill him instead of healing him like he wanted. She also needed to make sure this never gets into the wrong hands and she wanted to find away to get a message out to Hal and her father.
Now, here she sat two and half days later with her message sent nearly twelve hours ago, virus ready to upload as soon as her father got there and Garret's death sentence sitting in a drawer. Slowly she felt herself start to nod off again as she thought about other things. However, her head snapped up and she looked towards the door as she heard it being unlocked. Watching the door she witness a man she had never seen walk in, but at the same time she had and as tired as she was two things stood out to her.
"Da…Snake?!" Jumping up from her seat.
Chapter Nine
Snake briefly smiled at the slight slip up before she caught herself as he enter the room, but honestly being almost called dad didn't seem all that bad to him as he quietly shut the door behind him.
"Yes, it me, Ashlynn." Walking to her. "Are you…" Sees her face and gently grabs her chin looking at the side of her face getting a bit pissed off.
"I'm okay. It hurts, but I'm okay." Pulling out of his hand and stared up at him in awe.
Snake looked at her not buying it as he could tell she wasn't okay. The kid looked like she hadn't slept since she got here and been through or seen some crap that she didn't need to. As he was about to rebut her statement about her being okay she spoke up again.
"Are you wearing some mask or something? You don't look like yourself." Reaching up to touch his face.
"It's no mask." Pulling back from her hand before she could touch him. "It's your research. Hal found it and he and Sunny put it together."
Snake watch as Ashlynn's eyes widen at hearing that. Her research worked?! It actually worked! All of a sudden she had a million questions to ask him and Snake could tell that she did, but he quickly put up his hand.
"Later with the questions. Right now we need to get out of here and back home."
"Y-yes. You're right. Questions later, escape first." Smiling.
He started pushing her to the door when she broke from his grasp and ran back to the desk.
"What are you doing? We need to go." He hissed.
"Just give me a few seconds." As she reached into the drawer and pulling out the syringe she made.
"What's that?" As he watched her stick it in her back pocket.
"Hopefully something I won't have to use on Garret though it was part of my original plan." Stepping over to the computer and started typing in a bunch of last minute coding.
"And that is?" Snake question walking back over to her watching her work.
"He wanted me to do the same thing I did for you only I didn't. This will actually kill him." Stops midway in typing in her coding and turned to Snake a little bit upset. "He killed mom, Snake, by hiring someone to make that explosion happen. He then used mom and me to find out where you were." Managing to hold back tears. "He's pissed because you infected him with FoxDie, but unlike the others you infected it didn't kill him. It made his life miserable and he wants revenge. That's why he came after me first than he was going to lure you out using me after I gave him his cure." Sighing. "I want him dead, but not by this. I want true justice. Not revenge. It's what mom would have wanted." Turning back around to finish up what she was doing.
"So why did you make it in the first place and what are you doing now?" Watching her.
"As a last resort for just encase you didn't get here in time and I had to do something on my own." Typing furiously. "And this is a virus. I'm getting it uploaded now and started. It should give us thirty minutes to get out before it sets off Garret's destruct mode to blow this place up giving us another ten minutes." Looks up at him. "I also want my research destroyed on this. This is something I don't want someone getting a hold of as it is dangerous in the wrong hands."
Snake looked at her a little surprised and taken back just a bit by all of this information. He knew how she felt as he himself had been there before from losing close friends and how he wanted those to pay for their transgressions, but the fact that she wanted it destroyed showed him how much she valued life and right and wrong. It also reminded him what he was fighting for all these years. Not to mention he was seeing more of himself in her by the second.
"All right. Hurry though."
Ashlynn nodded her head and went back to finishing up the last bit. As she worked on the last bit, Snake updated Hal on the situation at hand and to be ready to pick them up soon. Once she was finished she motioned to him that she was finished and he quietly led her out of the room than back the way he came. They were almost out when their path became blocked. Quietly Snake handed her his spare gun and motioned her to stay put as he went to sneak up on the soldiers that come to investigate why the others weren't responding anymore. Ashlynn nodded her head and watched as he went to take out these soldiers.
Chapter Ten
Watching Snake she was impress at how quite he was as he snuck up on them. Seeing this it now explained why she couldn't find him that day in the woods when he stuck up on her and pinned her to the ground. She smiled thinking about if she could get him to teach her how to do these things too. When he was almost upon them Ashlynn heard a voice come from behind her.
"What are you doing out of your room?!"
Ashlynn turn to see that two more had walked up on her while she was watching Snake. The two that Snake was sneaking up on heard the other soldier and turned to see what was going on while completely missing Snake in the process. Ashlynn slowly walked away from the wall she was leaning against and stood in between the four of them with the gun at her side.
"And where did you get that?" Pointing at the gun.
"You know that's a really funny story. One I'm sure you're not going to get the chance to hear."
"HUH?!"
About that time Snake came up behind the first two, reached out and shot the two that came up behind Ashlynn. The next thing that happened was the first two were turning back to Snake as Ashlynn spun the gun to where the barrel was in her hand and went to hit them on the back of the head. However, before she could do that she saw three others start walking up behind Snake.
"BEHIND YOU!" Yelling at Snake.
Snake turned around about that time to see them drawl their weapons and pointed them at him. While Snake was taking care of them an alert went out and Ashlynn could hear more footsteps heading their way.
"AH FUCK!"
Quickly, Ashlynn spun the gun back to where the handle was back in her hand and fired at the two in front of her in their legs like before. While the two were crying out in pain she than snatched up one of their rifles draping it over her shoulder and pulled the clip out of the others. As she was stuffing the extra clip in her other back pocket Snake grabbed her and started running with her. Entering what looked to be the garage area where they were met with gun fire and Ashlynn and Snake got separated taking cover behind different things.
Quickly, Ashlynn crawled under the truck she ducked down by and got set up to cover Snake who seemed to be making them a path. As she started picking them off Snake couldn't help but be impressed. However, she was still very green and shooting them in the leg really didn't solve anything. Something he would have a talk about with her later, but for now at least she was helping him.
Things were looking good until he got surrounded by four of them and Ashlynn couldn't get a clear shot without hitting her father in some fashion. She slowly growled as she heard Garret walk up to her father. Great! Five against one. This wasn't looking good and she needed to figure out something quick to get him freed up to escape.
"Well, I must say Snake. You're looking good these days aren't you." Looks at his men. "Boys!"
Two of his men grabbed Snake while a third disarmed him. The fourth whispered something to Garret and Garret quickly scanned the room seeing several of his men shot in the legs again. Laughing and shaking his head he called out to her.
"Oh, Ashlynn, darling, why don't you come out of your little hiding spot and show yourself. I got dear old dad here and while he's still okay I can't make any promises how long that's going to last." Still scanning the room.
About the time Ashlynn pulled the trigger on the rifle and took out the fourth man next to him. Garret turned to him and saw him lying dead on the floor. His eyes widen just a little as he realized she was aiming for him, but he moved and got him instead. Lucky for him he moved when he did or that would be him. Even Snake was impressed at the shot.
"My, my! Moving up from leg shots to head shots I see. Too bad I moved." Laughing as he stepped over the dead man.
"Ya, too bad you did, especially since I don't like killing people even when they deserve it." She whispered regretting pulling the trigger now.
Gritting her teeth as she tried lining up another shot, but as she was about to pull the trigger again he walked right behind her father and she immediately took her finger off the trigger. However, she kept watching through the scoop and nearly hit her head on the bottom of the truck when Garret grabbed her father by the top of the head and placed a knife up against his throat.
"STOP! I'm coming out!" Crawling out from under the truck.
A few seconds later Ashlynn appeared in front of them still holding the rifle up. Garret grinned from behind her father.
"Well, well! Looking what we got here. A little toy soldier." Leans in while still keeping a hold of Snake. "Aren't you impressed, daddy? Mommy taught her so well. Too bad it isn't enough."
"You leave my mother out of this and let him go!" She demanded as she adjusted the rifle.
"I don't think you're in a position to make demands little girl." Pressing the knife deeper into her father's throat.
"I think I am or have you forgotten about what you wanted out of me." Reaching into her back pocket and pulled out the syringe.
Garret looked at her from behind Snake than looked at his third man and motioned for him to go get it from her.
"Let go of him first." Reaching back up to the trigger on the rifle and pointed it at Garret's man.
"Shoot him. I don't care." Laughs. "In fact you can shoot all of them. It won't change a thing."
"Ashlynn, just give it to him and put the rifle down." Snake said making eye contact with her.
Ashlynn looked at Snake hesitantly for a moment, but seeing the look he was giving her she lowered the gun as ordered and held out the syringe. Garret's man finished walking over to her and took the syringe from her than gave it to Garret who by this time had put up his knife and let go of Snake. As Garret took the syringe Ashlynn bit her lower lip and looked at Snake again like okay this wasn't what I wanted, but here we go.
"Finally, I get be rid of this wretched pain." Looks at Ashlynn. "Thank you, young lady."
Chapter Eleven
Quickly, he jabbed himself in the neck with it and injected the contents into him. At first nothing happen than all of a sudden he doubled over in pain. Snake watched as Ashlynn's eyes widen as she watched what was happening to Garret. It was like something out of the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when the traitor drank from the wrong cup only not as quickly and gross. Even Garret's men became concern as Garret started changing.
"Oh, God! Why do my insides feel like they're on fire? And what's up with my hands?" Looks at Ashlynn again. "What did you do to me you little brat."
"What you deserve!" Growled Ashlynn as she watched Garret start aging rapidly.
"You little piece of shit!" Growling again. "Now you're going to pay for trying this again!"
Quickly, he stepped around his men and Snake and while he still had the strength to do it he pulled out his gun shooting Ashlynn nearly point blank before she had time to react to what was happening. Without warning Garret cried out in pain as the recoil from the gun broke his arm making him drop the gun before he could shoot her again. When he tried to reach up at her in anger with his other hand he found he no longer had the strength to stand and fell to the ground at her feet in agonizing pain.
Meanwhile, Garret's men who had grown more concern about their boss than keeping a hold of Snake loosen up their grip allowing Snake to break free of their grasp and ran over to Ashlynn. By this time Ashlynn was looking down at her chest as a stream of blood went down the front of her shirt from where Garret had shot her at. She reached up and touched the blood than pulled her hand back looking at her fingertips.
"Dad?" Looking back up at him scared as he approached her and not bothering to correct herself.
"Stay calm. You're going to be okay. I promise."
As Snake was about to check to see how badly she was shot the base started doing all kinds of wacky things starting with the lights shutting off and an announcement began.
"Ten minutes to detonation; I repeat ten minutes to detonation."
"Ah, shit!" Cussed Snake as he reached Ashlynn. "Come on, Ashlynn, we got to go." Grabbing her by the arm.
"Go?" Looking like she was a thousand miles away as she looked up at Snake. "Right, my virus has started. Doors shutting soon." Looking towards the large doors.
Snake knew that look very well. She was going into shock which wasn't good especially how far out in the mountains they were. Quickly, he picked her up into his arms and started running towards the large doors along with the rest of Garret's men, who were leaving him behind to die along with anyone else who couldn't escape. As he ran he managed to get a hold of Hal.
"Otacon!"
"What happen, Snake? I thought I would have heard from you sooner."
"We ran into a problem and Ashlynn's been shot. She's already going into shock." Squeezing through the doors as he and three others run out the doors as they begin closing together.
"OH CRAP!"
"That's not the worst of it either." Running down a series of stairs.
"Nine minutes to detonation; I repeat nine minutes to detonation." Coming from loud outside speakers.
"Snake, did I just hear that right."
"Yes, Ashlynn's computer virus set it off. We originally had forty minutes, but like I just said we ran into a problem." Looking down at Ashlynn for a second before dodging a few vehicles racing down the road.
"Right. Anyways, I see a clearing just outside the base north of you. I'll meet you there."
"See you there." Finally reaching the gate and followed up a path up towards the clearing Hal mentioned.
Chapter Twelve
A few seconds later Hal landed and Snake ran up to the helicopter as another countdown announcement was made. Hal quickly opened the door than help Snake get Ashlynn onboard and laid down onto the floor of it. Snake quickly got the door shut as Hal went back up to the front getting the helicopter airborne again as the detonation called out four minutes left. Turning from the door Snake kneeled down beside Ashlynn and saw how pale she was.
"Otacon," Looking up from Ashlynn. "First aid kit?"
"Top right compartment." Hal yelled back.
Snake got up and pulled it out of the compartment than went back over to Ashlynn. As he was about to open it the compound blew up and even though they were far enough away from any real danger the shockwave could still be felt as is pushed the helicopter around just a bit. Looking up after the helicopter settled down Snake and Hal could see a huge mushroom cloud forming over it. After a few seconds of watching Snake sat the bag down beside her and kneeled down again. Opening he rummaged through it until he pulled out a large gauze bandage than hesitated as he looked down at Ashlynn.
"It's okay, da…Snake." Sounding very tired and weak. "I understand what needs to be done."
Snake looked down at her a few seconds longer before applied the gauze over her chest and to the gunshot wound. It didn't take long for it to be soaked through and he quickly placed another one over it before looking up at her once again thinking. It was now or never and he decided now would be better for the both of them.
"Dad." Brushing a few strains of hair out of her face. "Call me dad. You don't have to keep correcting yourself."
"Really?" Sounding breathy and starting to fight to keep her eyes open.
"Yes, really." Smiling at her than became a little concern. "Ashlynn keep your eyes open."
"Trying…to." Sounding worse than before. "Just…tired."
"I know you are, but you got to stay awake just a while longer." Looks up towards Hal. "Otacon!"
"I'm already been working on it and got in touch with an old friend." Looking back at Snake briefly. "Campbell has already given us clearance to land at Malmstrom Air Force Base though he wants answers." Having heard everything between the two of them.
"Right." Looks back down at Ashlynn who kept fighting to stay awake. "You hang in there, okay. It won't be long."
Ashlynn smiled weakly and nodded her head, but she was quickly losing the battle and Snake knew it. He just hoped they made it to the base before things got worse.
"Talk to her, Snake. Get to know her." Hal called out which earn him a look from Snake.
"Someone should work on teaching him subtlety." Ashlynn chuckled weakly.
Snake chuckled too at her comment while settling further down beside her, but Hal was right. He should talk to her. It'll keep her awake and alert until they got to the hospital so he started asking her questions and vise versa with her.
A short time later Hal was landing and the medical team was already approaching the helicopter before Snake could even get the door open. Quickly, they got her out and onto the gurney, but the moving around sent her into heart failure and she quickly passed out. The medical team started rushing to get her inside while keeping her alive. Snake and Hal followed for as long as they could inside the hospital and they watched through the glass windows in the doors as they wheeled her into the first room.
"Come on, Snake. Let's go sit down." Placing a hand on his shoulder.
Chapter Thirteen
Snake stood there a bit longer before finally following Hal to the nearby waiting room. Upon entering it they found it was already occupied by none other than Roy Campbell. Both Snake and Hal were surprised to see him.
"Campbell! I wasn't expecting you to be here already." Snake stated as he held out his hand to greet him.
"It just so happens I was already here when Hal contacted me finishing up business." Gets a better look at Snake as he shakes Snake's hand. "I must say you're looking better from when I last saw you. Are you wearing one of those masks?"
"I see and no, this isn't a mask." Looks at Hal. "It's actually me thanks to my kid."
"Your kid?" Looking puzzled at first. "Snake…"
"You ever hear about the Eve Project?" Cutting Campbell off.
Both Hal's and Campbell's eyes widen at how bold Snake was stating that in the atmosphere they were in, but Campbell nodded his head nonetheless.
"Yes, I have surprisingly, but it was my understanding that the project was terminated before it even began sixteen years ago."
"You're partly right. It was terminated, but not before they created her. Her mother ran before they could completely terminate it."
"Now, that you mention it I do believe I remember hearing something about that and there was a search for the mother. My guess is they didn't search that hard or other impressing things were more important if the child is alive." Pauses for a bit. "Speaking of her mother, where is she?"
"Dead. She was murdered by the same man that shot my daughter." Sounding strange to him to call her his daughter.
"How long has this been going on, Snake?"
"Almost four months now, but it's been something in the works for years actually." Looking towards Hal again.
"Years? Snake, explain." Demanded Campbell.
"Yes, please do." Added Hal.
Snake re-explained what Ashlynn told him about Garret's plan and what started it. How that her genome therapy she created for him to cure him of his FoxDie, the rapid aging process and reverse the damage done by it put her on Garret's target to get a hold of. Because of this he wanted the same done for him so he could enact his revenge on Snake.
However, Ashlynn didn't do that for him and when she was forced to hand over what she did make it killed him thus putting her in the situation she in now. Snake also informed Campbell about her computer virus that set off the self destruct protocol, which has blown up the compound and where it was located at for any retrieval of men and such.
Campbell was surprised to hear all of this as well as Hal. It was obvious the girl has unknowingly put herself on the line for multiple parties to come after her and her research, but in the right situations it could be helpful to mankind should she chose to do so. As Campbell was milling around with the information Snake gave him Hal decided to inform Snake about the tests he ran before they left the house.
Snake was relieved to hear that he was going to be fine from here on out and Campbell congratulated Snake on the clean bill of health. As the three of them continued to talk about Ashlynn, Garret and Snake's health the doctor walked in. The three of them turned to him when the doctor managed to get their attention.
"Evening gentlemen. The surgery went well and we've got her resting in a room. Also, we ran a few other tests and find she has some light facial fractures to the right of her face, but they should heal up fine in time. Other than that, she's just a bit sleep deprived and getting rest will fix that up in time."
"That's good to hear, doctor. When can we go see her?" Spoke Hal.
"You should be able to see her in a few minutes. I'll have a nurse come get you when she's ready."
"Thank you."
The doctor smiled and left the waiting room to go get cleaned up and the three sat in silence for a bit milling around all of this new found information that was passed around when the nurse came in. Getting their attention Hal and Snake immediately stood up wished Campbell a goodbye to which he replied they'll be in touch later than watched as the nurse, Hal and Snake left the room.
Chapter Fourteen
A month later Snake and Ashlynn are in the front yard and they have been squaring off with each other. Snake decided after seeing how well she could handle a gun he wanted to see how well she could handle more hands on combat than correct any mistakes and teach her some new moves. He had to admit she was pretty good. Her mother defiantly taught her a lot, but she still had room to improve and more to learn.
However, after the sixth straight time losing to him she was starting to get pretty salty and a little careless. He chuckled a little at her. She was his kid already. However, he was starting to read her moves and he needed to correct that pretty quickly, but he gave her two more tries to best him and to correct herself before he would say something to her. She wasn't able to do it.
"GOD DAMMIT!" She yelled as she laid face down in the grass with both her arms pinned behind her back.
After a couple of seconds he let her go and she rolled over than sat in the grass fuming. He chuckled just a bit again as she reminded him of himself at this age. She defiantly had his temper and attitude. When she looked up at him hearing him he held out his hand and she reached out and took it. When she went to set up to go again he stopped her.
"Not yet, kiddo." Picking some grass out of her hair. "Let's take a break." Walking over to the front porch.
"Okay." Following him.
As they reached the porch Snake leaned against the front railing and Ashlynn followed suit, but crossed her arms in the process still stewing. Seeing this he turned his head to her slightly.
"Quit being so hard on yourself. You're still learning."
"I know." Kind of rolling eyes. "It's just that I want…"
"You don't have to prove to me on how good you are." Cutting her off. "I know how good you are and you're just going to get better as time goes. Just be more patient with yourself and listen and watch me."
"You really think so?"
"I know so. Besides, you are my kid. It's just a matter of time."
Ashlynn tried not to smile at the comment, but she couldn't help it in the end. He laughed and started playfully roughing her up thus she started giving it back just as much. Hearing the commotion and laughter Hal and Sunny picked out the window and saw the two of them horsing around. Sunny looked up at Hal who was smiling at the display before him and she laughed before going back to watching the two of them playing around which was slowly turning more serious as time went by.
Just as it looked like Snake was going to get the upper hand again he suddenly stopped as a car started driving up the drive. Ashlynn looked up to see what was going on and quickly got up at the car came to a stop.
"Are we expecting company?" Brushing some hair out of her face.
"Not that I'm aware of." Answered Snake.
By this time Hal and Sunny had come out of the house and walked up beside them as the car door open than a gentleman stepped out of the car.
"Campbell?!" Looking puzzled as he took a couple of steps forward. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm sorry to interrupt your family time, but there's been some development, Snake." Shaking his hand. "I know you're retired again, but we could really use your help on this. Hers too." Pointing at Ashlynn.
"Okay, sir. I'm listening."
"How about we go inside and talk more privately, everyone."
"After you, Colonel." Seeing Campbell inside.
Ashlynn looked a bit surprised at hearing all of this. She wandered how many times this has happened to her father as she followed everyone back inside the house to hear what this new development was. She was curious as to why she was needed to be involved too. This was going to be interesting to hear nonetheless as Hal shut the door behind everyone.
Epilogue
"Hello, sir! Yes, sir, I'm looking at it now. It's defiantly her. Our lost little Eve and she has turned out more perfect than we ever hoped for. Yes, sir, I agree. Deciding to let her mother go in the end worked in our favor as she's with her father and she seems to have cured him of what our predecessors did. It's just too bad that her mother's life was cut short by a mad man." Flipping back and forth between Ashlynn's, Rebecca's and Snake's files.
"Yes, sir. The girl appears to be very healthy and on par for her age group despite a few hiccups along the way." Looking at a few pages of hospital visits of a broken arm, sprain ankles and other normal incidents of childhood carelessness she did besides the recent stay from being shot.
"Correct sir. He's been training her in the same method as he was since the incident. I also believe her mother was training her too from some of the things that have been reported. However, the girl has a thing about not killing, but I'm sure in time she'll be a killing machine just like her father soon." Reading many different reports of testimony from Garret's men who had been all shot in the leg that survived the explosion.
"No, sir. I don't think we'll have any worries where her loyalties will align. I'm certain they'll line right with her father's as she seems more geared to saving and protecting others just like he is. Speaking of which it appears she has taken more after her father in many other ways too. She's very competitive just like her father was when he was a boy." Looking at her father's military track record and how Ashlynn had being doing through school and such.
"I believe so, sir. Her attempt to get rid of that particular research proves she's not out to harm people and the fact that she has come up with two different cures and one killer in the past three years. However, someone has managed to get a hold of what was left of the one and from what we were able to get there's enough to fill in the blanks and recreated it. Possibly on a global scale if given enough time to make it." Looking at all of her research projects.
"Yes, sir. That's right. Campbell has raced over to them and explained the situation to them. Knowing how Snake is he's not going to let this go without a fight and being that it's her research she probably going to get involved too to correct this. She seems to be the type of righting wrongs in the world just like her father." Setting all the files down on his desk.
"Yes, sir. It's going to be interesting to see how father and daughter are going to work together, especially since Snake is used to working alone or with little assistance." Laughs. "Will do sir. Goodbye, sir." Hangs up the phone.
"All right, my little Eve show me that we didn't make a mistake letting you live after all." Leaning forward in his chair smiling.