It appears I have successfully confused people with Aero and what the heck just happened last chapter! –smiles- You have NO IDEA how excited I am for this chapter.

Thanks for reviewing FernClaw, badkidoh, Andi Mack, Sons of Ocelot, AngelSnake, MutantLover09, Dragonchild


11. Cures

He didn't know how in the world he got there, but it satisfied him to know that his dog actually knew the way. Snake holstered the weapon and knelt down, scratching Aero behind the ears and morphing his face into thought and contemplation. The noise of the snow faded out of his existence as he closed his eyes and stopped scratching the dog. The knot in his stomach that had been fading in and out during the mission finally smacked him dead on.

He felt his features fall with despair and a strange sort of elatedness. So close- he could taste it for some reason, and yet he knew if he reached the cure, he would regret it. Swallowing, he opened his eyes and glanced down at Aero, who was giving him the queerest inquisitive look. Blinking, he got up from the snow and observed the husky rush towards the opening and shutting doors of the boiler room. She seemed to whine at him again.

"You want me to follow?" he muttered.

He didn't need a reply. Nodding slowly, he walked towards the boiler room and swallowed, feeling his heart slam against his chest. Never in his life had Snake felt so worried about where someone was leading him. But for some reason, it seemed different. This was a dog that was leading him- and even if it was a freakin' bird leading him, he shouldn't have felt this uneasy about it.

He called Otacon on his Codec, and even he was stunned how shaky his voice was. "Something's wrong with this."

"What do you mean, Snake?"

"I mean there's something really out of place with me following around my own dog to the spot of where the cure might actually be. There's something really wrong with Aero, but I can't place my finger on it. It's almost like she's become sinister, Otacon. Like a killer dog or something along those lines." He fingered his hands for a split moment before finally looking inside the boiler room and noticing the camera out of commission. "I need more info about the dogs at home. How's it looking?"

Mei Ling spoke up this time, sounding tearful. "It's bad. They're still dying left and right, all stimulating some sort of disease or a heart attack or something. I think I might have come to a conclusion with them. And as stupid and weird as it sounds, please just listen to me." She took a deep breath. "What if…"

He waited.

"What if the dogs are infected with something along the lines of a dog-like infection of FoxDie?"

That caused him to stop in his tracks. Aero turned around and gave him a curious glance. The look on his face was one of shock and pain. "FoxDie… it can't be!"

She sounded desperate, and Meryl's sobbing could be heard in the background. "It's the only solution right now, Snake. Unless you can figure out another good reason for all the dogs dying, it's the one thing that's killing them."

He signed off and stood there for several long seconds, frowning and allowing his hand to be unconsciously guided to his pistol. He slipped it out of his holster and gripped it in his sweaty palms. The dog woofed in happiness and ran forward more into the room. He couldn't help but shake his head at her enthusiasm. Were all huskies like this when they spotted something?


In her mind, it was a simple game of fetch. She glanced down over the edge of the platform and nervously whimpered, watching her owner walk forward and sigh. She could sense his annoyance at the fact that there was no possible way down unless she was tossed over the edge. He was worried he might lose her, and she was quite frightened, too. What if she landed in the lava below? What would happen?

Grumbling and muttering some animated words under his breath, Snake picked up Aero and heaved her over the edge. Her eyes widened with fear as she watched the ground grow larger and larger until… wham.

She landed on the ground and winced to herself. Good god, that was painful, to say the least. Aero tested her legs gingerly and winced, looking up and watching her owner shimmy along the edge of the corner and keep his gun in his hand, aiming it around the area and breathing heavily.

She paced nervously, grimacing every so often and finally forcing herself to sit. That fall had caused quite the painful landing, and she couldn't help but…

Her ears pricked up. What was he doing…? Sounded like a scuffle or something.

Rising to her paws, Aero limped over to the stairway and proceeded to try and climb. Grunts of pain reached her ears, and she urged herself to climb faster. 'You don't know if he's in any pain or trouble, Aero,' she thought. 'C'mon, you can get up there! Move your lazy- and now officially out of shape- ass!'

Bounding up the stairs suddenly, Aero jumped onto the next floor and gave an internal dog gasp. 'Dave!'

Her owner was standing in front of her with his weapon out and facing a lone 'guard' in the place- a shadow of sorts, a spirit that had been seemingly haunting him for the past couple of days or even months. He had blond hair and seemed to be giving him a most casual look. His voice had a British accent to it. "Why do you search for something so lost?" he taunted, grinning widely.

"Because I know it's real!" he hissed, keeping his weapon level in front of him. "And damn it, I'm going to find it! I don't care if you're just a hallucination now- you're the only thing standing between me and every day activities now!"

The spirit laughed gaily. "I'm flattered, brother. But what you will soon learn is that it is not me who is keeping you from doing daily activities. It is everything and nothing at the same time!"

And with that, it disappeared right in front of their eyes. Aero looked confused. She turned to her owner and cocked her head. "What was that?"

Snake didn't reply. He merely kept his gun positioned in front of him and sighed. He shook his head quickly and glanced down at Aero. "You feeling okay after that drop?" he asked the husky quietly, scratching behind her ears. "Sorry about that."

She barked, accepting his apology. He didn't really have much of a choice anyways, so it wasn't exactly his fault in the first place. Aero nuzzled his knees and gave him a sort of smile. He returned it, albeit worriedly. He kept the gun level as he traversed down the steps. He had an aura of fear around him, one that only she could detect. Grumbling, he walked into the next room and took another quick glance around and stared at the elevator. "I hate this thing," he mumbled.

She had to agree- after all, she was not very fond of heights in the first place.


The trip on the elevator this time had been uneventful, much to the mercenary's relief. He looked around and heard his Codec ringing in his ears. "Yeah?"

"It's official," Meryl quietly told the man. "The whole pack is nearly completely gone."

Snake stopped moving. He lowered his weapon and felt his heart rate decrease dramatically. The breathing slowed, and his voice sounded hoarse. "Nearly gone? H-how many dogs are left, Meryl?"

Mei Ling tried to sound comforting and failed, her voice choking up. "We count three dogs left, Snake. I'm sorry, but we tried to save the ones that we could. Unfortunately, our efforts weren't enough."

"What efforts did you take, Mei Ling?" he asked quietly, standing still and looking down at the floor. "Did you at least comfort those who were still alive?"

She sniffled. "W-we tried to, yes. We isolated the pups that were still alive and everything. In the end, it wasn't enough."

Snake couldn't bear to hear any more. He signed off and glanced at his faithful companion, who was now howling towards the skies. She must have known about the accident and deaths of the family at home- probably a sixth sense sort of thing. She began to walk forward and glanced backwards. He glanced down at his gun and bit his lip, feeling tears beginning to sting his vision. This day of celebration for finding something so lost was turning into the day from hell.

He followed his dog to the next room and stopped in the doorway. His blood froze as he remembered his dream from merely three days ago. The fact that he had actually seen REX in that dream still gave him shivers down his spine. 'What the hell?' was all he could think as he followed Aero into the docking bay for the old Metal Gear.

The Codec rang again, and Otacon's voice was on the other end now. "Snake, that's REX's holding bay! Aero led you to the largest room in the facility!"

He sounded numb, calm. "Slight issue here, Otacon."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"REX isn't in here. It's like they moved it or something. Do you have any knowledge of it being picked up by the Pentagon or something?"

Aero broke away from Snake's side and began to poke around the room quietly, prodding corners and little patches of snow here and there. Otacon made a sort of noise in his throat. "They would have told me if the did move it, Snake. So unless you don't see it or anything or it has some sort of sneaking material on it, REX sound be in there!"

Snake scowled, exasperated. "Well, it's not."

With that, he signed off again and looked around, narrowing his eyes at any sounds of noise and pawing at the ground. He felt uncomfortable in being in there. He closed his eyes and aimed his weapon around, earning a yelp from Aero, who pawed repeatedly at one spot. He frowned and holstered the weapon, walking over to where she was whining and sifted his hand through the snow.

He called Otacon. "I think we found something."

After a couple of more seconds of running his fingers through the cold and solid substance, Snake felt a circular vial in his hand. The gloved hand clenched it and dug it out of the snow, and an exhausted, triumphant smile unfurled on his features. The liquid appeared to be clearish-blue, not yet frozen from being buried in the snow for what seemed like an eternity. "We found it."

"Hold on, Snake. Is the stuff in the vial blue with a bit of white to clearish tint?"

He nodded. "That's exactly how it looks. Otacon, I think we found the cure!"

The otaku relayed this back to the girls, who both cheered happily. Snake gripped the bottle and popped off the top, staring at the cure for several moments.

It was tense as he opened his mouth and swallowed the little amount. Otacon prayed for no acceleration. Meryl wished for no dying. Mei Ling hoped that no one was actually watching her. Snake just asked that he wouldn't fall over in the snow in a heap.

The vial slipped out of his hands, and Snake dropped to his knees. The effect was instantaneous. A burning sensation, like that of heartburn, rushed through his veins. Never in his life on the field and off the field had he felt so much of a hot feeling through his body. He grunted and dug his hands into the snow.

Was this what fast-acting healing was supposed to feel like?

Suddenly, it stopped.

Snake blinked a few times. He glanced down at his hands. His voice was still rough. "Otacon, I think it worked…"

On the other end, the trio's faces relaxed. Mei Ling gave a soft smile. "In China, they say 'on this world there exists no such impossible tasks, they fear only those with perseverance.' That means that no task in this world is impossible so long as there are willing hearts. Snake, we're all here to back you up, and we were ready to give you a hand lest the cure might not have been… the cure." She sounded kind. "We would never give up on you."

Snake nodded and grinned. "You know… I missed those proverbs of yours."

She giggled a little… as did someone else.

Snake turned around in surprise. Aero stood there, a strange glint in her eyes. She took a step forward. "I'll be damned, Snake. You did it. You found the cure. I would have thought the island would have scared you off."

He frowned, stepping back.

Did she just… speak?


YAY! My favorite chapter is finally coming up, beloved readers! Be worried and psyched and prepared to smash me with a bat! The next chapter gives you the plot twist of your lives!