Seeing as I have become a rabid MGS fan over these past couple of weeks, I figured I'd try my hand at a purely-centric MGS fic. It's odd- I've done bits and pieces from different scenes in the game MGS1, but never one that was post-game or anything. A new experience for all of us. Hope you enjoy this trip as much as I hope to.

This is post-MGS1, but doesn't have any spoilers for the future. If it does, I'll warn ya.

I do not own Metal Gear Solid. All other mentionings of anything coincidental are… well, a coincidence.

1. Whisperings

Silence. He looked up at the large nuclear weapon for several seconds; unable to comprehend that he was actually standing in front of REX. The air seemed to be chillier in this section of the whole facility than actually stepping outside into the snowfield of where he faced Sniper Wolf. His breathing quickened, his hand on the SOCOM steady and out in front of him. 'It's way too quiet in here,' he thought, looking around. 'This is not good.'

Movement. He turned around and took another breath. There was another noise. He was hearing stuff. Again. The nanomachines controlled the adrenaline flowing through his body, but he couldn't help but feel the weird tingle in his body that told him something was going to happen. Something he didn't like.

He ducked down near the stairways and checked his gun. Full magazine- check. Ammo- check. Affinity to save the world and make sure nuclear destruction doesn't destroy the earth? Check.

- - -

He felt horrible. Another terrible night's sleep filled with Shadow Moses dreams and more fights with Big Boss and Liquid… he groaned and rolled over on his side, feeling a wet nose nuzzle his hand. The man opened one eye and gave the husky a slight smile. "All right, Aero. I'm up, I'm up," he muttered, pushing away its head slightly. "I'm coming."

Solid Snake didn't move, though, for some several seconds before finally sitting up and swinging his feet over the bed ever so slowly, rubbing his head. October 2006- nearly a whole year had passed since the Shadow Moses Island incident in which he had stopped nuclear warfare and terrorists from taking control of the planet. And yet, the man still had dream after nightmare after terrifying dream of images from his past. He could see Meryl dying in front of him.

He could see Sniper Wolf's pained eyes pleading to be free from the earth where she once walked.

He could see Gray Fox's look of pain as he told his best friend the truth about Naomi Hunter.

The husky's whine jolted him out of his daydream, and he rose from the bed, leaning back and hearing a crack in his back. Wincing, he remembered his age acceleration and walked out of the room, moaning and shaking his head. He wasn't even thirty-five yet, but he felt much older than his years portrayed his image. For all Snake knew, he could have been fifty-four or something. The man had done more missions and retired so many times, he was beginning to wonder if he was taking really long breaks or extremely short retirements. Either way…

"Hey, Snake!"

The man rubbed one of his eyes free of sleep and gave his home companion a wearied look. "I told you to call me Dave, Otacon," he quipped back, reaching the table and placing both hands on it, stretching slightly. "So, seen anything?"

Hal 'Otacon' Emmerich shook his head. "Not a thing. I keep looking and looking, but nothing." He shrunk slightly at Dave's piercing gaze. "Hey, stop that! I'm trying here! I'm not a scientist of medicine; I'm a nuclear weapons designer!"

The antihero sighed and sat down in a chair, petting Aero in the process. "I'm not complaining, Hal. I'm just getting slightly frustrated at this. You've been going at this for a couple of months now, but you still haven't found a cure." He gave another stifled yawn and put his head in his hand. "Is there anything you need me to do right now- besides staying out of your way?"

Hal laughed. "Nope. I'm good for now." He continued typing some things into the computer, mumbling under his breath every so often. Snake- or Dave- watched the self-proclaimed otaku in amusement before getting up from his chair and walking out into the kitchen. Hal blinked at this abrupt leave and looked back at the screen, clicking a couple of things and rubbing his head. He wasn't watching anime for once- no, he was on a mission. A mission to help Dave have a better life.

The cure for FoxDie was apparently very elusive and had been in the hands of too many black marketers for as long as he could remember. Ever since the FOXHOUND rebellion had taken place, the creator of Metal Gear REX had spent days- sometimes long and painful- trying to search for this cure. It wasn't himself who had the virus… but Dave.

His hero from the hellhole had been infected with the destructive disease and was now living with a lifespan of who knew how long. Naomi Hunter, the one who had distributed it to him in the first place, didn't even have any idea how long Dave had left to live. She even told him that he was supposed to get injected with it in the first place- it hadn't been her place to say whether or not he should have gotten injected with it.

That still didn't make Dave have any less bitter feelings towards her now. Whenever the scientist mentioned her name, the killer would frown and merely tune out to the voice of Hal. It would stir up memories of Shadow Moses that he didn't want to remember.

Dave thought of the place enough as it was already. He didn't need to hear any more stories about evading guards and using stealth camouflage from his anime friend.

Hal looked up from the computer for a moment and walked out into the kitchen. "What is it this time?"

Dave turned away. "It's nothing. Another bad night sleeping."

"You look as if something more has happened to you," his friend observed, crossing his arms and looking all over Snake's body. "Anything bad happen to you while I was at that convention?"

"Nope."

Hal raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Dave stared right back at him. No words were exchanged for a moment.

Finally, the brunette turned back to the room with the computer and walked in with resolve, leaving the black-haired man alone with his thoughts. Sleep deprivation was either starting to get to him, or something was wrong.

Problem was, he didn't know which one was true.

Hopefully, this was pretty decent. Gods, I'm entering a new fandom again… -headdesk- Enjoy this tale and hope for more updates! Reviews are loved.