If you haven't seen the Snake/Naomi cut scene part 1from MGS4, please watch BEFORE reading story on unless of course you're familiar with MGS4 already - This is the fictionalized account of the transpired during that scene. Of course, I don't own or make any money off fictional stories about MGS.

A SNAKE'S SKIN

"That's why I want to examine you," Naomi whispered. Her voice was like a cradle, full of things meant to lull you into dreams. It was as soft and full as an infant's pillow. It entered the ear and moved deeper to the center, plucking your strings like a song, making you believe for a moment that you could trust her.

One moment, and that was all she needed.

Snake remembered.

As she stood there in front of him expecting him to undress, he began to think about that moment nine years ago when he allowed her to examine him. It was then that he was injected with FoxDie to serve as host and victim. It had systematically killed everyone around him, including those he was meant to save in Shadow Moses. "Hmm..." he muttered to himself. Naomi was already across the room making preparations for the examination. "What?"

"If I do this," Snake stepped forward "how do I know you won't just inject me with something else?"

Naomi, with her back turned, looked up and felt the sensation of pain in her eyes. In that instant, her nanomachines intercepted a signal from her occipital lobe. Though they were keeping her alive, they had the unfortunate side-effect of inhibiting her emotions. If ever she thought to cry, the pain of the nanites regulating and absorbing the tears would finish it. Only under certain heart-wrenching instances could a tear actually accumulate enough to fall.

She turned to him, no longer on the verge of tears but fueled by pain. "Don't you want to know the cause of your aging?" As he stood thinking, she walked toward him. She was a full head shorter and looked up into his eyes. "I want to see if I can help," she said, coolly. Snake tilted his head and looked into her dark brown eyes. They were red... irritated. "Your eyes aren't the same as I remember." Snake said bluntly. She pulled away, masking her swollen eyelids with one hand. "Neither are you, Snake."

Naomi realized she was getting off track. "Look Snake, you've never been under the system's control. You deserve to know..."

Snake turned away. His thoughts had returned to Liquid and the SOP. She watched him, examining what parts she could with her eyes. His face, neck and hands were wrinkled beyond his years. He was deteriorating, just as he was designed to do. He is a clone. His DNA had been manipulated beyond his understanding. He was never anything more than a pawn...

Suddenly she felt a certain companionship with the man before her. They were both considered the best as what they did... they were both were being used by others... and they were both dying. She gently walked up behind him and placed a light hand on his waist. Snake thought to pull away like he normally did when someone tried to touch him... but Naomi had a point.

"Alright Snake... undress."

In that silent moment, she knew she had won. Snake was dying, but until he was dead she would need his permission to touch him. Without that, she couldn't hope to get close. Snake was unbelievably strong... even for a walking corpse.

Snake stepped away. Sensing her grip lost, she cut him off. Snake once again, allowed her to intrude.

"Snake, what's gotten into you? Hurry up."

He thought for a moment. In the brevity between her command and his acquiescence, he thought for the first time about what she might think about his body. Ever since the aging accelerated, no one has seen it except himself. He grunted...

It didn't matter anymore.

He turned to a window and locked his eyes on the blue roses growing outside. From there, they did not move. He disarmed each weapon, emptied each chamber and stripped without once looking down. And although his eyes couldn't see her face, the sounds she made were unmistakable.

She was gasping for air. It was as though she were drowning...

"Snake..."

In one quiet motion, he turned to face her. Naomi hadn't even tried to contain her emotions. The pain didn't matter. She cried, sobbed at the wretch before her. All at once she understood the severity of his sickness and for a moment she imagined if the cancer inside of her was just as ugly. Only Snake was carrying his disease on his skin, while hers was nestled deep inside. It was when she realized that they were the same that she forced her tears away.

"Alright, let's get this over with," Snake grunted.

"Yes... of course," she attempted. "I'm sorry..."

It was the first time in his entire life that a woman had looked upon his body in disgust. He'd always been at the peak of physical condition. Even now he was stronger than most men. Each muscle in his entire body--each individual striation was visible. Through extensive training he'd existed in a sort of anatomical oneness--able to manipulate himself to do the impossible. But now it meant nothing beyond his mangled completion and wrinkled skin. He was a stranger to himself. His body was no better than anyone else's.

The examination was textbook. She drew blood, measured his blood pressure and bone density, monitored his heart rate and scanned his body from the top down. Snake lay on his back on an examination table. For a moment, she could not help but think of him as a tamed Snake--if only for the moment, allowing her to manipulate his body. While lying on the table, his affliction didn't seem so bad to Naomi. And she could clearly see that he truly was in peak physical condition--save for the obvious problems. He was as strong and capable as ever.

Snake lay vulnerable before her. She could do what ever she wanted to him at this point. Under the guise of caring for him, she once again examined Snake like a book. He could feel her on his skin. Her hands slid across his body, pressing at his joints and muscles. She started at his neck and moved along the perimeter of his body until she reached the other side. Though his body had aged, his sensitivity was still sharp, and the instant he felt Naomi's hands moving near his most sensitive parts, he grabbed her wrist.

She was surprised by his speed. "Fast...," she thought. In an instant he'd gone from completely prostrate to up and in control of her. He only looked at her, as if that were enough. In truth he did not know what to say... embarrassed that she would even think of it. She took his hand and lowered it to the table, assuring him she was just feeling his hip joint for weaknesses. He lay back down, hesitantly and allowed her to continue. And she did. She was at his hip, her fingers bent downward, pushing at his upper thigh. There was not an ounce of fat on him. He was a machine--an instrument made fore one song. In truth, Naomi though he was beautiful. A machine designed for a purpose and then left to die. How poetic.

Snake was thoroughly miserable like this. He had no defenses beyond his own hands--plenty enough to kill a man, not enough to keep Naomi's hands from wondering.