Disclaimer: Metal Gear is owned by Konami and Kojima Productions. Fate is property of Type Moon. This is a fan creation and no money was made by the author in the creation of this.
Solid Fate
"...So much for that vacation..." he mumbled quietly, adjusting his jacket as he surveyed the wreckage.
The whole district was a ruin. Houses and homes were reduced to fires and tinders. It was still smoldering, even now.
This was once a place of family and laughter, and now it was just wreckage and ruins.
Just liked battlefield.
"War..." he breathed out shallowly, full of disgust. that's what it was. There was no mistaking his instincts here. This wasn't an accident - A battle had caused it.
He turned his attention to a rustle in the rubble. Stumbling out from steaming and smoking earth was a young red haired boy.
"Fire..." the kid mumbled. "...Why?" he said, as he collapsed to his knees in front of the man, and then to his belly. He looked up at the man, as his eyes began to slowly close.
Shit. The kid was dying, he could almost feel him slipping away... Unable to bear the thought of a child dying in front of him, the man grabbed the boy by the scruff of the collar. "Hey," he slapped the kid lightly, the boys eyes blinking open. "No quitting. Hang in there," he said harshly, his Japanese heavily accented. He skooped the boy into arms, and began to carry him away from the destruction.
"Come on, soldier," he said, cradling the boy in his arms. "Don't fall asleep, or this is the end. I'll take you to a hospital, but you have to hang in there."
"What... Who are you?" the boy asked dreamily.
"Dav..." He began, before stopping himself. Faced in this wreckage and ruin, his civilian name sounded wrong. Out of place. "No. I'm Snake," he said.
"You can call me Snake."
Weeks later...
"He has no surviving family?" Snake asked the nurse, angrily chewing on the butt of cigarette.
It was a few weeks since he had found the boy, and for some reason, he kept checking up on the kid. He was apparently the only survivor of that fire, and for some reason Snake felt he owed it to him to see that he was safe.
The worst of the devastation was over... The kid had recovered (mostly, as there were apparently some lasting problems). The problem now being that the boy was ready to check out, with nowhere to go. He had no surviving relatives, no family friends. His only option was to meet his fate in an overcrowded orphanage to whither away.
Or...
"He keeps asking for you," the nurse explained. "And you keep visiting. I was wondering..."
He listened to the nurses proposal.
Was this what he wanted from his life? After Shadow Moses, he was so sure that he was done. Just him and Meryl from now on. But Meryl hadn't worked out... He had came to Japan hoping to get away from the nasty truth, the truth that he had nothing. He was just a tired, lonely soldier, getting on in his years. This, however... This was something else!
"Alright," he said aloud. He marched into the kids hospital room, a fierce grin on his face.
"Alright kid," Snake announced. "Check out time. You're coming with me."
Shirou smiled brightly for the first time in weeks.
A month later...
"It's a nice place. Really nice place. Big. Roomy. It's old too, isn't it? Got history." Snake commented, idly walking around and examining the home, dodging through the maze of boxes. "I gotta' wonder what sort of skeletons are in the closet that it's coming so cheaply."
"I won't lie - this is my ancestral family home, but that doesn't add to the value at all," explained the other man. He was tall and dark, a wisp of human being. This man, Emiya Kiritsugu, looked brow beaten and broken. To Snake, it was obvious the world had taken a dump on him. "There is a local... stigma to it, because of the history of my line. I'm rather pleased to find a buyer at all - even old Fujimura won't take it."
"Heheh, trying to put me off?" Snake chuckled before taking another drag of his cigarette. The older man didn't seem to mind him smoking in doors, and that was one of the things he liked about Kapan. "I don't scare easily. What's wrong with it? Haunted?"
Kiritsugu chuckled as well. "No, nothing like that. You'll find it perfectly safe - perhaps more so then any other home you were to purchase."
Snake nodded. Inside these walls... there was an unmistakable aura of safety. He couldn't explain why, and part of him didn't want to. There was something strange about this place, just as there was something strange about Kiritsugu. Still, the price couldn't be beat. "So I have to ask - if it's an ancestral family home, why are you selling?"
"I have business in Germany," he explained. "Business I can't turn back from. Selling my home ensures I have no place to come back to. No place to run away to, you see."
Snake nodded, understanding. "Burning your bridges."
"I have to ask, as well," Kiritsugu began. "What do you mean to do with my ancestral home, once you own it? Not to knock it down and build on it, I hope. I am still fond of it."
"I don't plan on knocking anything down. It's just a that a hotel is no place to raise a kid," Snake explained, nodding towards the porch where Shiro patiently sat. The boy was still bandaged, and still visibly burned and bruised. "My boy, Shirou," Snake explained. Kiritsugu quirked an eye brow at that, prompting Snake to quickly add "Adopted."
Kiritsugu closed his eyes, frowning. "What happened to him?" he asked, noting the boy's injuries.
"That huge fire last month? He was the only survivor," Snake squashed the urge to punch through the paper walls in anger. The house wasn't his yet. "He'll live - but the doctors say the injuries will follow him the rest of his life."
Kiritsugu opened his eyes, sadness present in them. "I see," he said softly. He turned back to Snake. "Please feel free to look around anywhere you like. I have a call I have to make."
Snake nodded. He began to wander off further into the estate. "Stay put, Shirou!" he called before disappearing around the corner.
The minute Snake was out of sight, Kiritsugu began to wander towards the boy. Shirou looked up fearfully as the older man reached towards him.
"Don't..." the boy began to protest, his voice wavering. Kiritsugu mumbled a quick verse in a strange language, and the boy eyes went black. He slackened, and began to crash towards the floor before Kiritsugu caught him.
"Don't be afraid," Kiritsugu whispered, as he lightly pressing his palm against the boys forehead. "You need the scabbard much more then I."
There was a flash of golden light, and then nothing.
Years later...
"Listen, son, I gotta take off for a few weeks," Snake explained. He handedly blocked the boys kicks and punching, moving across the dojo with expert grace and skill. His smaller opponent kept up his onslaught of punches and kicks, but was easily outmaneuvered. "Back to New York."
"A mission?" Shirou asked, before yelping as Snake's leg swept his feet from under him and soundly defeating him. The boy was grinning as he looked up to his father's face, full of love. He really idolized him "Are you going to clear your name?"
"Yeah," Snake said. He looked at his son proudly. Shirou despite the odds, he grew up strong. Over the last few years he'd taught the kid everything he'd know. Happily, too. Shirou was a bit of an idealist, and he trusted him to not use his knowledge for the wrong reason. He held out his hand and pulled his son from the ground. "Something strange is going on. I can't hide out here anymore - I gotta get back in there."
"You'll have to make do on your own for awhile again," Snake explained, as he toweled the sweat off his brow.
"I wish I could come," Shirou mumbled.
"Yeah - No," Snake said with finality. "I'd rather not put you in the path of that. You'll be fine here. Do your homework, and practice your CQC."
Shirou nodded sadly. He wanted to see his dad in action. Also... also... "What if you don't come back from this one?
Snake smiled, before pulling a gray band of cloth from the lapel of his gi.
"Here," he said, tying the gray cloth around his son's forehead. "This bandanna - It's special. I've wore it every mission. Keep it safe, because I intend to come back for it." Shirou beamed proudly, as he rubbed the head band.
"You'll be fine by yourself, right?" Snake asked one last time.
"Sure," the boy said. "What's the worse that can happen?"
Days later...
Rin held her breath... This wasn't a Saber class servant. What... what was he?
"My, my..." the stranger said, lounging calmly in the ruins of the room. He was tall and muscular, wearing a stranger rubber, form fitting body suit. That didn't phase her, however. What phased here was the modern day weaponry he was covered with. Gernades, explosives, guns, combat knives. His red hair was swept back by a black bandanna.
What on Earth did she summon? What was he?
"I sure got picked by a wonderful master," her new Servant announced snidely.
One day later...
He scrambled with the bundle of wires stashed on the counter, trying desperately to untangle him. He fumbled with the ear piece, shoving it quickly in his ear. He had to hurry, the nutso with the lance was right behind him.
His fingers were a blur, as he tuned into the codec number his dad gave him for emergencies. It was the only thing he could think to do. "Come, come on, Dad!" he spat into the mike.
There was moment of silence, before the codec hissed in reply. "...ARG... Shirou What is it? I'm a little busy!" his father's voice grunted through the codec. The sound of gunfire could be heard over his dad's codec. He absentmindedly noticed it, but was more concerned with his current prediment.
"Some guy with a lance is trying to kill me!" Shirou hissed, trying to keep his voice down. "Like, right now! He's... "
"Try to get away. And call the cops," Snake snapped.
"Dad... I don't think I can lose him..." Shirou mumbled. He's... Super-human! Like one of the guys from your stories. And I think he already killed me once..."
"What...? How?" Snake growled, a bit puzzled.
"I don't know how to explain it! But he's something else!"
"Alright, listen..." Snake's voice echoed back tiredly. I can send someone in later, but they won't get there for a few days at best. Right now, you're going to have to do this yourself. Get to the storehouse. There are few weapons I left there that you can use there. Remember your CQC, and stay hidden!
"Okay... Okay... Weapons... Stay hidden..."
"Right. Remember your stealth training, too! If you can get out of sight, for only a moment, you can turn this around."
"Right, right..."
"You're my son, Shirou. You can do this. Snake out."
One hour later...
"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Lancer called, as he stalked the halls of the estate. casually twirling his barbed spear. The boy had vanished almost totally, but Lancer could still sense him. Even if he was unseen, he'd still find him.
Sensing movement behind him, he spun around suddenly. Standing before him was... nothing. Just a cardboard box. That was weird. He could have sworn...
He growled again, before moving on once more. Where did the bloody brat go? For just a witness, the kid was a handful of trouble.
CLUNK!
Sound! Lancer spun once more, still finding nothing. Still just a box.
"Huh," the servant mumbled. He sword he had heard something! He turned around again, returning to his hunt.
A thought suddenly occurred to him. The box... The box was followi-
That line of thought was brutally cut short as he felt an arm expertly wrap around his throat in a choke hold. His arms were quickly pinned, and he felt the cold steel of knife pressed against throat. The kid had gotten the drop out on him!
This would have been the end for a normal soldier. Lancer, of course, was anything but normal. "Hah!" the servant cried, as he simply flexed his body. The Servant's supernatural strength threw the boy off of him and tossed him into the air. The boy however, was not phased. He slid across the hardwood floor, a pistol clearly clutched in his hand. He rapidly pulled the trigger, and the hall exploded in light and sound as the muzzle of the pistol boomed brightly five times.
Lancer howled in pain as the bullets tore through his face and chest. Painful as they were, they didn't kill him. He clutched himself momentarily in pain, allowing his Servant abilities to quickly close the wounds and expel the bullets. He was angry now.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Lancer screamed as he charged, lance at the ready. If he closed the distance, the kid's toy would be useless, and he could gut him like the pig he was.
He failed to notice the knife stealthily clutched in Shirou's other hand.
Minutes later...
They danced gracefully, exchanging immense blows with their respective weapons. Their parries vibrated through the air and shook the ground. The woman's invisible blade easily rebuked the spearman's huge lance as he gave more and more ground.
Shirou aimed the pistol, but constantly had to aim away. He didn't want to hit her, that beautiful girl that magically appeared before him.
His attempt to kill Lancer with the pistol and gun had failed. He had gotten a few blows in, but the spear man seemed to absorb everything Shirou hit him with. Still, it slowed him down down at least. Even now as he fought this new girl, he noticed the other warrior unconsciously rubbing areas he had slashed with his knife, moving more slowly where he was shot with the pistol.
The girl's unseen blade bit deep into Lancer's shoulder, forcing the other warrior to disengage.
"You both fight dirty!" Lancer complained, clutching his wounded shoulder. "Guns, and hidden knives, and invisible swords! Next time, cowards!" He faded from sight... Did he go invisible? He sighed, and lowered his weapon. He survived, with her help.
She was coming towards him now. "Are you my master?" she had asked earlier.
He... was nervous. He didn't know what to say. He was still silenced by the elegance of this girl in front of him.
"Dad..." he asked hesitantly into the codec. "Can love... Can love bloom on the battlefield?"
The codec hummed in static, giving no reply.
END
Author's notes: That was fun. Quick and dirty.
This was written for the "What if Shirou was raised by...?" thread on the Beast Lair forums. I had stopped writing for a little while because I was immersed in Metal Gear Solid 3 and 4, so I was on a Snake kick. Seemed the thing to follow up with.
What I really want to write is a hot and dirty Metal Gear and Metroid crossover, though. Samus + Snake OTP.