My first continuous fanfiction, the events of which take place after the Tanker Mission in Metal Gear Solid 2, a period of time that has always intrigued me as a fan. And thus, from that curiosity, this fic was born. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

I do not own Metal Gear Solid.....but damn....


My Brother's Body

"SNNNAKKKKKEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!"

Hal's voice was absorbed by the vociferous roar of inky black sea, which tossed him about recklessly like a bucking bronco. Rain pelted him, and he squinted in the darkness, trying to imagine that every bobbing piece of the tanker in the distance was his friend. By this time, Hal feared for his own life.

"SNNNNAKKKEE!!!!!"

No good. He couldn't even hear himself. All he could do was watch in horror as Metal Gear Ray trampled over the tanker, sending harsh gusts of wind and spray in his direction. Soon all the lights in the tanker windows would be gone, and he wouldn't be able to glimpse the ocean surface. A harsh wind careered the little boat, and Hal tugged at it to keep it from capsizing. The wind howled in his ears, and the rain left huge droplets on his glasses, diminishing his field of vision. He was about to slowly moved one hand to rub them, when a harsh wind blew them straight off his face and away into the ocean, and made the boat career to the side again.

"ARGHH..." he whimpered hopelessly, his vision cloudier than it had been before. All he could hear was that loud roaring, all he could feel was the harsh cold that was petrifying his body, and all he could see was a few golden lights in the distance, a dark mass moving above them, that opened its mouth and cried like a dinosaur. The vibrations from the roar caused his insides to quiver.

"Uuhhh...Uuhhh!"

Tears of fear began to form in his eyes. Snake was dead, and it was his fault. Now, he would die too.

Another harsh gust hit the boat, and it span again. Otacon held on for dear life. He knew the end was nigh, but despite knowing the futility, he cried out again.

"SNNNNAAKKKKKEEE!!!!! ARE YOU THERE?"

He could hear himself now, if only briefly, in this cocoon of wind. And he realised why. The mass had gone. In fact, he could have sworn that it was overhead. For a moment, it was quieter, and the water was calmer. Otacon took this brief spout of tranquillity to gather his composure; he breathed deeply, trying to ward off the sick feeling deep in his stomach. Looking out across the river, he could see only a few rows of lights; the tanker was almost completely immersed in water, and he was horrified to learn he had drifted away from it. He wiped his eyes. Then he saw it.

"OOOTTACC..."

He heard what he thought was a deep gravelly scream. It could easily have been another module of the tanker sinking to the riverbed, but he clung on his hope. As he attempted to look out again into the darkness, he felt his boat tip to the side, and he tumbled as a splash of water washed over his face.

"AHhh", he screamed, "I'm sorry! I'm going to die. Snnnakkkkeee"

Otacon closed his eyes, and screamed at the top of his voice.

"What....the....hell...."

Otacon's heart lifted when we heard the rasping voice, and he sat up with a jolt. Snake's arms were inside the boat, pulling it to the side.

"PULL ME IN!!"

Otacon grabbed his arms, and fell backwards as Snake tumbled into the boat.

"What the hell Otacon!" Snake's voice was thin and rough, "I've been following the damn boat for about ten minutes. I was shouting for you like crazy...!"

Snake began to cough wildly, spilling his guts onto the bottom of the boat.

"Get this thing out here!" he wheezed, before having another coughing fit.

"I gotcha, Snake" Otacon said, wiping saltwater out of his eyes, before starting up the motor.


It was stone silence when they returned to the apartment. For a moment, neither of them knew what to do, and then Otacon started booting up the computers. He dug his spare glasses out of a drawer, and opened up several windows in the browser, sifting through information, re-reading the hints that were supposedly from "E.E.", and tracing back the I.P. addresses. Nothing. He begun working himself into a frenzy, searching the hard drives for tracers and Trojans, matching the data that he had retrieved from the Pentagon. His pupils were beginning to dilate as he stared menacingly at the screen, until he heard a loud ping, and Mei Ling's face appeared in the periphery of his vision.

"Hal! Will you answer your damn phone I've been trying to reach you! What happened?? Is Snake okay?"

"He's fine, Mei Ling."

Otacon could hear the whirring of the shower in the bathroom.

"It's all over the news, Otacon. People are saying they saw a monster on that Tanker? Was it really....it?!"

Hal put his head in his hands, and ran his fingers through his wet hair. As he rubbed the moisture from his brow, he could smell the thick heavy aroma of oil on his fingers.

"Yeah...it was, Mei Ling...but, oh god, I've got a horrible feeling that we've been had".

She frowned, leaning closer to her screen so that her head appeared twice the size in its window.

"What do you mean?"

Otacon shook his head.

"Not here, not now. This isn't a safe line. Just...keep looking into it for me, Mei..."

Mei Ling could hear the pleading tones in her friend's voice. Her concern was coupled with even more anxiety as she looked desperately at Otacon's melancholy face, hoping he would give her some clue as to what was going on. A hand sign. Anything.

He didn't move.

"Okay Hal...I'm on it..."

He nodded, grateful that she had resisted the temptation to ask more questions.

"I'm just going to go check on Snake..."

He got up and headed towards the kitchen, listening to the tapping sounds of Mei Ling's typing that filtered through the speakers of his computer, and feeling suddenly woozy. The day's trials had begun to weigh down upon him.

He walked in, and saw Snake, in a T-shirt and jeans, trying to sew a cut in his arm together as he leant against the kitchen table. As he entered, Snake looked up, and gave him a long hard look.

"W-we screwed up, didn't we?" chattered Hal, suddenly realising how cold he was.

"Yeah," Snake grunted, breaking the thread with his teeth, "We did."

Snake walked straight past him and into the living room, sitting at one of the chairs in front of the computer. As he bent he grimaced in pain – his whole body was aching from that swim.

"Snake!" cried Mei Ling, suddenly noticing he had arrived, "Are you okay?"

He nodded gravely, appearing deep in thought. Mei Ling thought it best to stay quiet for a moment.

"I think we're in serious trouble this time Mei," said Snake quietly, when he finally spoke, "Forget what happened with the SSCEN...This time....I don't think there's going to be a way out..."

Mei Ling stared at him, and she could see the tiredness in his eyes, and the worry in his expression.

"Snake I..."

"Where are you?" he asked, suddenly.

Mei Ling gave him a sceptical look.

"I'm in D.C..."

"And how long will it take you to get here?"

She thought for a moment.

"If I drive over, and leave now...My guess is...four hours, maybe?"

"Good. I need to talk to you in person. What time is now?"

Mei Ling's eyes drifted to the bottom right hand corner of her screen.

"It's 2:31 AM. I can be in Manhattan by dawn."

"Sounds like a plan," Snake grunted.

Mei Ling's window closed, just as Otacon was shuffling into the room with a towel draped over his shoulders and two cups swaying gently in his hands. Mei Ling's window popped open again.

"Oh and Snake...Get some rest, you look terrible."

"Gee, thanks..."

Otacon placed a hot mug in front of his partner, before sitting down and cradling his own. Mei Ling smiled.

"It is far better to lie to yourself than it is to lie to one's friends."

Snake sighed in familiarity.

"Who said that one?"

Mei Ling grinned.

"No one. I just made it up."

Mei Ling's window closed once again.

"I knew it..." muttered Hal into his mug, and took a long sip. He was just about to offer Snake a little help patching himself up, when he noticed the number of unread emails in his inbox increase from zero to one.

Clicking on it, he frowned.

"Anonymous sender.....I don't think I should open it..."

Snake peered over his shoulder.

"What's the subject?"

Hal squinted at the screen.

"Well, it says 'RE: Sinking Ships', but...."

"Open it. We're in the shits as it is. I'm surprised we haven't had half the FBI raid this building already..."

"Oh please, Snake," berated Otacon, as he double clicked the email, "As if I would let them get any kind of hint on our..."

Snake noticed that his friend had stopped.

"What is it?"

"It's a link..."

"To what?"

Hal shook his head.

"CNN..."

There was a short pause. Snake leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes, wanting just to sleep for a moment.

"Click it..." he murmured, and his friend complied. Hal stared at the screen, his face blank and deathly white. Quietly and slowly, he read the headline aloud.

"Hero of Shadow Moses Sinks Marine Tanker..."

Snake eyes shot open, and he jerked forward.

"What?! They can't have any evidence for this?!"

Otacon shook his head, and turned the monitor to face his friend.

"I'm sorry, Snake. They do..."

There on the screen, Snake was surprised to see his own dark eyes glaring back at him, from where he had been hours later. On the deck of the tanker, Olga Gurlukovich's unconscious body laying close behind him.

He stared in disbelief, and suddenly remembered.

The Cypher.

"Oh, crap........."


Oh crap indeed.....

Thanks for reading.

:)