Snake was out of the Lab and was just about to be out of the Warehouse. He used the key Granin gave him to open the door and walked outside and immediately recieved a call from EVA.

Call Frequency: 142.52

EVA: Snake, you there?
Snake: EVA? Where are you?
EVA: In the fortress - in Groznyj Grad. Dr. Sokolov is here too.
Snake: Is he all right?
EVA: He`s fine. Right now he`s busy putting the finishing touches on the Shagohod.
Snake: Good. That`s means they haven`t killed him...
EVA: Not yet, anyway. But you better hurry. They`ve already finished the Phase 2 tests. Once the final preparations are complete, they`ll have no use for him. The colonel won`t hesitate to kill him if he thinks the CIA is closing in.
Snake: EVA, you can`t let Sokolov out of your sight.
EVA: I know. Snake, do you know where Groznyj Grad is?
Snake:
Granin told me that I should be able to get there through an underground tunnel in the mountains.
EVA: Granin told you?
Snake: Yeah.
EVA: Why?
Snake: Because he was drunk, I guess.
EVA: You`ve got to be kidding me... Anyway, there`s a problem with that route.
Snake: What problem?
EVA: The mountain entrance that leads to that tunnel is sealed. You`ll need a key to get in.
Snake: What about the key Granin gave me?
EVA: That key won`t work. But don`t worry, I`ll figure something out. I have an idea: There are some ruins at the top of the mountains. Meet me there.
Snake: The top of the mountains. Got it.
EVA: Wait, there`s something else I`ve got to tell you.
Snake: What is it?
EVA: I heard that one of the Cobras is waiting for you at the base of the mountains. He`s a legendary sniper called The End.
Snake: You mean that ridiculously old guy?
EVA: Don`t underestimate him. He`s known as the father of modern day sniping. Snake, he`s part tree.
Snake: Does he have a spotter?
EVA: No, none.
Snake: You serious?
EVA: Yes. Be careful.
Snake: EVA...!
EVA: Yes? What`s the matter?
Snake: ...
EVA: Spit it out, Snake. I don`t have time.
Snake: Kisa... Is she there with you? How is she? Is she alright?
EVA: Kisa? No, I haven`t see her yet. Why do you ask?
Snake: Um... No apparent reason really...
EVA: ...?

End Transmission

In Snake`s mind, he was still a bit worried about Kisa`s well being. While he wasn`t exactly sure why, he might have thought it had something to do with the fact that she left him in an overwrought state. Her face wasn`t gleaming and she looked more like a zombie than a beautiful young woman. And while we all know deep down Snake is a good guy, there had to have been something more to this than just him trying to help her out. Snake, himself, knew it aswell. He didn`t want to admit it, but any idiot can tell you what was going on inside of him.

He shook his head and kept treading forward. He didn`t like his thoughts being cumbersome. He was able to make it out to Svyatogornyj West in one piece and that`s when he hit trouble. Snake removed his scope from his bag and checked out the number of guards surrounding the area. He thought of a quick way to disperse the enemies and hurry onto Groznyj Grad - or rather - his fight with The End. Lowering himself, he crawled around on the ground to better hide himself from the enemies. Taking out his tranquilizer gun, he was able to shoot accurately and knocked his first prey down. He grabbed his body and dragged him behind a tree. This would suffice, considering these guards had an IQ equivalent to a goldfish. Snake looked around for anyone else, and saw no one. He figured it was safe to continue and walked around, hugging the walls as he went.

(This is too easy. Something must be up...) He thought.

And so it was. As he was about to make it through towards the other area, someone saw him.

"Who are you?" shouted one of the patroling guards.

Snake grunted and dashed for the opening. Only he was unfortunate as his foot got caught in a rope trap. He yelled as he was flipped upside down and left to dangle. There was no time to lose now. The guard who had spotted already called for reinforcements and time was ticking away. Snake lifted himself to cut the rope. He fell onto his feet and sprinted onto the passing.

Meanwhile, Kisa had already arrived safely at the cabin in Svyatogornyj East. She was passed out onto one of the bunks inside the room. Now, she remained unconcious in a deep and much needed slumber. Infact, she was so tired that not even the sounds of gunshots and screaming men would stir her. Why was this relevant? Well, as he predicted earlier, someone had already found his way there and how could he not want to explore the contents of this cabin?

Snake was quick to dispose of his opponents and now knew that it was smooth sailing from here. But because everyone was knocked unconcious, the air around him became unbearably silent. He pulled out his _ and knife and slowly got into his aggresive stance. He took cautious steps approaching the cabin. He slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open. Holding his breath, he jumped inside and looked all around him for any signs of the enemy. Once he was satisfied that no one was there, he calmed down and replaced his weapons back into his pouch. Now the real fun begins. Snake began to break into every cabinet, shelf and crevice in search for just about anything: food, weapons, ammunition and more food. He looked throught both of the rooms and there was just one left. For some reason, he felt anxious about opening the door. As his fingers curled around the door knob, he slowly pushed the door open to reveal some more supplies and bunks for the soldiers. And while everything was just dandy as candy, someone had caught his eye. The moment he saw her, he felt like something had impaled him deep in the throat.

"Kisa...?" He said a little too loud.

Lucky for him, she didn`t stir. She was still sprawled out on the bed as she was hit hard with sleep. Snake let out a sigh of relief and gradually approached her. He didn`t want her to wake up, but at the same time he did. She was very innocent looking when she wasn`t awake. Her usual smug was replaced with something more suitable for her delicate face: a smile. It was obvious that she was dreaming of something quite pleasant. Snake also noticed that she continued to clutch his jacket with a hard grasp. He took the hint and figured that he wasn`t going to be getting his jacket back for a long while. And while he was okay with it, he couldn`t keep walking around half naked forever. Of course, that was his own fault for not changing his camouflauge. It wasn`t like he had only one jacket or anything. He just was too stubborn to bother changing into something else. With all that aside, he was a bit relieved to see that Kisa was getting some well needed rest; she looked a lot better than last night. Since she was asleep, Snake decided to ransack the shelves of supplies for anything he deemed useful. While he was poking around, he squeezed something rubbery. It made what sounded like a croaking noise which alarmed him. He pulled it out and was face to face with a green frog. Snake`s face fell.

"Damn this toy..." he grumbled. "It`s like it`s stalking me! Why?"

The frog was named Kero-tan and Snake had seen this thing just about everywhere he went. He would shoot at it, but all it did was bounce around and croak. He tried many attempts to knock it over, but none failed. It`s like it was indestructable or something! Either way, Snake did not enjoy its company at all. He hated toys in the first place, and wondered why there were so many of these things lying around.

From across the room, Kisa was starting to rise. She sat up and rubbed her tired eyes. Yawning, she looked to her right and saw a very familiar figure messing with a green blob. Squinting her eyes, she realized that it was Snake, choking a Kero-tan. Kisa sat there, watching him with a baffled guise.

"What are you doing...?" She inquired with a perturbed appearance.

Snake grunted and stopped what he was doing. He looked to see Kisa wide awake. Tossing the meaningless toy out the window(that he subsequently broke whilst on his rampage), he approached her and took a seat next to her.

"So, you`re awake now, toots?" He asked. "See? I told you we`d meet again."

Snake smiled. Kisa looked at him and felt her face burn a bit.

"So, what are you doing over here? Aren`t you supposed to be at your home base or something?" He questioned.

Kisa shrugged. Taking a deep breath she wasn`t sure what she was supposed to tell him.

"I-I don`t know... Lately, I`ve been feeling a bit different is all... I`m just here to take some time off by myself." She moaned.

She crossed her legs and hugged her knees.

"I know something about me has changed, and I`m not quite sure what. I just feel different... Like, I thought I was certain about everything, but now I`m not. I can`t explain it..." She said softly. "This must be very weird for you to hear. I mean, here you are, just trying to do what you`re orders tell you and I`m supposed to be stopping you, but I`m not. Instead, I`m sitting down and having civil conversations with you and telling you about my issues. Egh, well it`s not like I care what you do anyway. So far the only major thing you`ve done was beat up on my boyfriend, which I thank you, because he really needed his ass kicked by someone other than me."

Kisa laid back down on the bed and rubbed her eyes.

"You`re a very intriguing man, you know that? You are strong and mysterious to me. I... I-I think it would be nice if I got to know you better, but I don`t think that would be appropriate considering that you`re my enemy and I`d probably have to kill you sooner or later. What a shame too, Ocelot seems to really like you." she said with a straight face.

"Well, gee thanks. I really appreciate it." Snake replied with a tepid tone.

"Something`s changed around here and I know it`s your fault. Okay, well, I`m not saying I`m blaming you, buuuut I`m blaming you. Ocelot`s little man crush on you isn`t really bothering me, in fact, it has nothing to do with that douche bag."

"Then what is it?"

Kisa`s lip quivered. What was she supposed to say? It`s not like she knew the reason herself either. All of these emotions were running rampant insider her being and they`d have to spill out sooner or later(maybe just sooner).

"I-I have no clue...!" She began to cry.

Snake`s eyes widened.

"Hey, hey! I didn`t mean for you to cry or anything. Calm down, woman!" he exclaimed.

He turned around and placed his hand on Kisa`s shoulder. Kisa trembled at his touch and looked up into his galliant eyes. What was his deal? What kind of sorcery is he trying to pull? Whatever it was, it seemed Kisa was taking it harder than she should have. Yet, as much as she wanted to get away, the more he would talk with her, the more she wanted to stay. There was something Ocelot told her once: "Your heart is your most vulnerable spot. Once somebody has taken control of it, you won`t be able to save yourself anymore." And how true this was, because after reevaluating her thoughts, Ocelot wasn`t just the only one in control of her heart; someone else had thrown himself into the picture. Her eyes widened as she was more upset than relieved at her revelation. She crawled to Snake`s side and looked at him dead in the eyes.

(I like you...) she thought. (Snake, what have you done to me? My heart feels for you when you speak to me. I like it, but I know I shouldn`t.)

"Hey, Kisa are you alright?" Snake said with a bright red guise. He watched as tears continued to pour down her astonished features. He grumbled and wiped them all away with hesitation.

"You know, the whole 'oh-god-i-think-i-just-saw-a-ghost' look doesn`t really suite you. You should try smiling. It fits you better."

Kisa gulped and quickly turned away from him. She rubbed here eyes and adjusted her uniform.

"I-I`m sorry..." she murmured.

"Not to be rude or anything, toots, but you look terrible."

"Yeah, I know. I just realized something..."

"What was that?"

"It doesn`t pertain to you." She snapped back.

Snake winced and shrugged his shoulders. Kisa twiddled her thumbs and now they were stuck in another awkward silence. Her mind was running wild now. What was she going to do? More importantly, how was she going to look Ocelot straight in the eyes knowing that her heart feels for someone else other than him? She felt like a terrible person for playing with him. Ocelot has been there for her since she first fell into his lap - literaly. And while he can be questionable at times, at the end of the day he was no doubt there because he loved her. Kisa undoubtledy loved him back, of course! He was the only thing she knew when she was tossed back into the real world. Her time here was spent in good company and she was wonderfully acknowledged by many, but now her feelings were thwarted by this stupid man. She was jostled out of her own mind when she felt a warm pair of arms around her body. Snake embraced her and held her tightly.

"I`m not sure what your problem is, toots, but I can`t just sit here while you`re crying a storm. Hugs usually make people feel better, don`t they? C`mon now, stop with the water works, you`re making me feel bad."

Kisa smiled as she buried her face into his chest. Unknowingly, she had continued to cry while in her pensive state.

(I`m torn between two guys, what is wrong with me? Hah. Stupid female emotions...) she thought.

For now, she`d just have to relax and enjoy her time with him while she could.