A/N: So here is the second chapter already. For those not aware of my process, I generally write this stuff way ahead and do multiple edits and proofreads so then chapters can be released quicker. It's honestly a great method cause it acknowledges the writer's needs along with the patience of the reader (it helps to have an understanding of the audience who wishes to see more).
I hope you'll like the eventual direction I'm taking the story in.
Anyways, have at it! R&R please!
Chapter 2: Do Heroes Dream Too?
Snake awoke to the faint sound of rotor blades and the brightness of the blue sky. He winced and groaned slightly. "Head…hurts…What did I-…what?", he mumbled, his eye slowly opening. His vision became clearer and clearer with each second as it adjusted.
"Huh?", he saw a familiar figure sitting in front of him, with eyes wandering the ACC. The ACC…when did I get here?
He began to recognize the person in front of him. Brunette hair…ponytail…green irises. His eyes widened.
"Quiet?! Quiet!", his thoughts transferred aloud to his mouth. Quiet's head jerked to him with surprise and smiled brightly.
"Boss!", she spoke in English and quickly threw herself on him, pulling him into a tight hug.
"Whoa there! How are you speaking? I thought-"
"It's fine now! Don't ask about it. It's a long story.", her accented voice chirped. "I'm just glad you're here."
"Huh? Why?"
"So I can finish my message to you. Express my feelings."
"Yea?"
"Boss…I…I…"
Then a blinding light flashed and she was gone. But she came back…nearly dead. Her throat mutilated and crawling with parasites. Pequod's blood tainted the controls and the window, his body slumped in his pilot seat. The entire chopper was filled with a red flashing light. And from the view of the windows, they were about to crash.
"Pequod! Pequod!"
A tear began to form as he saw her gargle blood and reach out to him. "Quiet! No!", he yelled out as the helicopter fell faster and faster towards the ground, until…
[- -]
Snake awoke with a jolt, panting heavily and frantically, swallowing between some breaths. He quickly scanned his surroundings only to find he was in his own room. He was home. Safe and sound.
His hands touched his face and his body, pinching himself to check if he was still dreaming. He wasn't. He let out a heavy sigh, wiping away the single tear on his cheek and beads of sweat on his forehead.
The dream wasn't real…just a nightmare.
He was relieved in a sense. No dead Pequod or crashing helicopter. But one aspect of it upset him the most.
Quiet…
She seemed so happy. So…healthy. So alive. She looked as if she could put on a normal set of clothes and not choke to death.
That's when Snake realized just how fake the dream was. He knew the parasite therapy she went through could never be reversed, nor could the English vocal parasite…especially if it was as mutated as Code Talker said it was. And if she refused Wolbachia treatment too.
He rubbed his eyes with his natural hand. Looking down and covering his head before feeling a large surge of pain. "Oh…God…"
Snake plopped back down on his bed and rubbed his temple to ease the headache. What the hell? Did I drink last night or something?
Now the hungover feeling was catching up to him. Curse the ever fading adrenaline!
Venom closed his eyes, wincing at the light peeping in through his window. He then pushed up his pillow, placing it on top of his face lightly and exhaling deeply.
Now the feeling of panicked alertness was replaced with headaches and grogginess. A feeling like he could fall back asleep. Snake however, resisted the temptation as he always does. He patted around the bed, finding something and grabbing it.
He peeked out from under the pillow and activated his iDroid, his eyes moving from the map to the clock at the bottom right. It read "15:07".
"Jesus…I slept that late? What a night…", he mumbled, placing his head back atop his pillow once his eyes adjusted to the light.
He slowly began to sit up and rubbed his eyes, yawning. It was then that he heard a knock.
"Boss?", the voice spoke up.
"Yea?"
"Got something for you."
"Come on in."
The door opened to a masked, armed Diamond Dog and DD. "I was playing with this guy while waiting for the chopper. He seems to be really upset. So I brought him here. My deployment pick-up arrived anyways and I couldn't bring with him with us. Hope you don't mind."
Venom watched as DD pranced to him and jumped onto the bed, quickly going up to his master and sniffing his face and whining before licking him. "See ya Boss!", the soldier saluted and closed the door.
Venom chuckled as DD kept licking him. "Hey, hey. Hey boy, down!"
The wolfdog obeyed his master and moved to the side of Big Boss, twirling in a circle before laying down. Venom petted the dog while talking to him.
"Good, good dog. What's the matter DD? Huh boy?"
DD whined again, signaling that Venom probably already knew why.
"Good boy. Thanks DD."
DD turned and rested his head on his master's thigh, looking up at him. "Probably came to comfort me huh?", Venom continued petting his canine companion.
The man's sight moved from the dog to the window, glaring out into the ocean scenery and other base platforms. He sighed again. What have I become? I'm bringing everyone down with me.
[- -]
"So you're absolutely sure on this, Jackal?", Ocelot asked the soldier as he was putting on his special ops beret.
"Yes sir. I'm positive. Even DD's affected. He didn't seem very ecstatic when I was playing with him. Not even when I was bringing him to the Boss. It's different from usual, but you know how animals sense things.", the masked Jackal nodded.
"Jackal, come on! We haven't got much time! Our op better not be screwed because of you!", one of the soldiers in the helicopter called.
"Can it, Mastiff! I'm the squad leader here, you do not talk back to me again or I'll personally kick your ass and leave you out to the dust!", Jackal yelled back.
Jackal turned back to Ocelot. "Sorry sir. He's a troublemaker. And bit too time conscious."
Ocelot waved it off. "I know. It's fine. I only have one more question. What was Boss' state?"
"He looked really hungover sir. Exhausted too. He had small bags under his eyes. Whites of his eyes were a bit red too. I think his pupils were a bit dilated as well. Either way, he wasn't in the best shape."
"Right…thank you Jackal. And remember, make sure those Soviets don't reach the rebel hideout. If you have to, ditch the non-lethal weapons and get loud."
Jackal saluted. "Yes sir! Thank you sir!"
"Dismissed."
Jackal's position went back to normal as he turned and dashed towards the helicopter, jumping in as the other closed the door. The chopper took off and went into the distance as Ocelot watched.
Ocelot turned and started to head back to where he came from. "Dammit Boss. Get a grip.", he spoke under his breath.
[-]
Later…
Mother Base, Seychelles Waters
2300 hours
Venom Snake observed the stars from the top of the command platform, sitting on the edge of the helipad, his legs dangling. DD was seated next to him, his head constantly moving around, looking everywhere as usual.
He put his headphones into his iDroid and listened once again.
"I am Quiet…the absence of words…"
He continued listening to the message until it finally stopped. A single teardrop flowed down his cheek, originating from his patched eye. DD whined and licked his face again. "It's alright DD."
The wolfdog knew better. He sensed the inner pain within his master, thus bumping him with his nose and whining again.
He let out a sigh. "Thanks…but I need some alone time right now…"
D-Dog's head went down as he walked away. It hurt Venom to see one of his best companions gloomy because of him. He turned from the canine and focused back on his iDroid, shutting off the hologram and grasping it firmly like it was beloved trinket.
"Quiet…I wish you were here. Then I could…", he interrupted himself to put his whispered words back to his own mind. He reopened the iDroid to see the time. 2323 hours.
"11:11, huh?", he was never one to believe in superstitions or anything else of that manner. But for now, he did. The man closed his eyes and wished for his desires, then opening his eyes to catch the time again. 2324 hours.
He silently hoped that everything would come true. It was all he could do as a man.
[- - -]
0300 hours
And it seemed history would repeat. Venom took another swig of the Fireball liquor bottle.
It wasn't long before Ocelot came bursting into his room again. "Really? Pulling this crap from yesterday?"
Thankfully, Venom just started drinking it, so he wasn't drunk yet. "First, correction: last night. Second, you should really guard the liquor better. I was able to sneak by with nothing but empty magazines."
Typical. Ocelot knew he would steal it back somehow. He was relieved though that Snake wasn't drunk yet. "Boss…"
"I know, I know. After last night, I shouldn't be drinking again."
"Then why are you doing it?"
"It's addicting…cause of the chemicals in it."
"Boss! You know what I mean."
Venom rolled his eye. "Fine. It helps dull the sorrow a little."
"Better."
"Why'd you need me to say it anyways? You're the mind expert. And it's common knowledge too. You probably guessed it long before I confessed."
"Because. It doesn't help you if you don't admit to it and realize it yourself."
"…There's more to this, isn't it?"
"Smart man. I need to ask you about your…problem."
"Ocelot, I'm not gonna be one of your interrogation suspects. Especially not now. Not when what you're asking for is personal."
"So it's a touchy subject for you. I get that. But we can't help you if we don't know what's going on."
"I don't need help. And I certainly don't need any others to know."
"That's what you think. Emotions are different from physical wounds, Boss. Help is needed for that."
"Look, how about this instead? I'll trade you this liquor for a nice cigar, and you can do whatever with it. Toss it to the sea for all I care. Then you leave me alone and we never speak of this again."
"You'll get alcohol again anyways. So what does it matter to me?"
Boss put his hand on his mouth and stared up at the bobcat-named man. He sure caught him on that. And clearly, he won't leave him alone no matter what. No matter the offer. He breathed out and put his hand back on his knee.
"Fine. I'll tell you. But…keep it between us and only us. Last thing I need is Miller bitching in my ear about it all."
Ocelot smirked, however he was kind of defeated on the inside. Boss must've really changed since then if he's giving in this easy. It's normally a challenge to get him to open up, but when a man is nothing but a shell, he's lost a will to persist.
"Alright…so…", Boss spoke up meekly. It was hard for him to speak personally about something that didn't involve revenge against Cipher or XOF. The silence stayed for a bit before Boss finally got the guts to talk again.
"We all know about the quarantine platform thing. Killing my own men to save the rest."
"Yea. Go on."
"It hit me pretty hard. A disaster like that reminded me of what happened nine years ago. Back with MSF. And Paz."
Ocelot nodded. "It was near and dear to you and real Boss's hearts."
"Yea. What's worse about this one compared to nine years ago? It was by my own hands. Not Cipher."
Venom inhaled deeply. "Then Quiet ran away. For our sake. When I got her back, she left again. I…I just didn't know why….why she would. Then I learned about that English parasite thing after it was over. From the debriefing. Even if it made a little sense, it still… "
Ocelot noticed how his speech got a little more strained as he went on. Like he was holding back from crying. Plus, he got silent and started to change the topic, ignoring that last sentence. Looks like I caught the origin.
"She mentioned something. On the tape she left behind. How she wanted to express her feelings…but we had no common tongue."
The calm before the storm., Ocelot recognized the trend in his speaking.
"But I…I wanted to know what. What those feelings were. All the things she wanted to say to me. I wanted to hear her speak to me. Even just for a little bit. But now she's gone.", his bionic hand clenched to a fist, slamming into the wall, making a slight dent. His eyes watered still, even after the attempt to cancel them.
"She's gone. And now I may never find her again. She might be dead for all I know."
"Boss…"
"Now I'll never learn. I'll never hear what she wanted to tell me. What she needed to tell me."
Ocelot stood in silence as Venom continued.
"I never knew what it was like. To feel about someone in a way that trumps comradery. That goes beyond friendship. I didn't feel it for any woman until that point. When I first laid my eyes on her, when I saw her up close after beating her in the ruins, I just…I saw something in that woman."
"You thought she was…?"
"Stunning. But it was more than looks. When I pulled that pistol on her…I gazed and found something more. Like she needed to live. It was a flash in my mind. A sudden burst of…of…", Venom searched for the right words.
"Forgiveness? Compassion?"
"Yes! That! I knew she had wronged me in the past. At that point, I didn't remember what cause of the damn shrapnel."
"And the ambulance topple?"
"Yea. Of course, once she was gone forever, I found out she was sent to kill me at that hospital. Before the real Boss saved me by burning her alive."
"So that's why you spared her? Because you thought she was…"
"In pain? Like me at that time? Yea. I knew she was in common with me. She wanted revenge too. Against me. Against Skull Face."
"Right. But as time went on, after she came here and was imprisoned, she didn't try to break out. And so on. Then, as we let her go on missions with you…the more time you spent with her…you developed a bond with each other."
"Yea. She…saw something in me I didn't, I guess."
"If I may offer insight…"
"Go ahead."
"It's probably because you spared her. You stopped Miller and his squad from shooting her. You believed in her the most when it seemed to her that no one else did. Gave her acts of kindness the rest think she wouldn't deserve. You saw her as a part of Diamond Dogs, while the soldiers didn't."
"Yea. All that harassment and fear. Cause of Miller."
"Exactly. You treated her differently from the norm. She liked that. She liked you."
"Now that you mention it…this might be the feelings she mentioned. She…loved me."
"And?"
"I came to realize in our time together…I loved her too."
"So this is what's making you so upset? She's "the one" for you?"
"I…I think so."
Ocelot brewed in his mind for a bit, making the air of the room silent.
"So this was why you were drinking and acting strangely? Cause you miss her?"
Venom simply shrugged.
"I'll take that as a yes."
Venom ran his fingers through his hair while his eyes were trained onto the floor. "Keep this a secret. I don't know if the Diamond Dogs warmed up to her at all-"
"They did. Sorta. Most aren't as fond of her like you are, but you got some that do think highly of her. Those were the ones that went out on the field and replaced you for a bit.", Ocelot interrupted.
"Ok…but you know Miller. Once he learns about this, he'll never let it go. He always hated her because of the ties with XOF she had. With his constant vengeance-seeking attitude, he'll take the soldiers' morale down so low they'll sulk. Then you know the next stage. Miller's actions may have everyone vilify me."
"I don't think it'll be that extreme. They all swore loyalty to you. That won't change. But I agree on the Miller overreacting part."
"Keep this as classified as you can. If you recorded it, burn it or lock it down to a point that finding the tape will be like uncovering a national treasure.", Boss pointed and commanded.
"My lips are sealed. But Boss…if you do want to find her, you might have to let the info out to some people."
"If it comes to that, leave it to the special ops. They've been trained to keep their mouths shut, no matter what. Plus, they'll be better suited than most of the standard teams."
"Right. I'll keep that in mind. If you ever want to start searching for her, come to me and we'll begin. I'll upload my office location to your iDroid. Come by whenever you're ready."
"Got it. Thanks."
Ocelot did his signature sign as he walked out. As he did, Boss slowly began to wonder if he should've stayed mute.
Let's hope this doesn't end badly.
