Yea!!! I'm back. Sorry for taking so long. School...and a cold to contend with really burned my brain. I like to thank Frank Hunter for looking over this and putting up with my writing! Thank you.

Angel

"Who the…," the guards twisted their backs toward Snake, ignoring the orders they were given. The blonde woman walked forward with a petite yet secure stride. Snake noticed gun holsters on her waist, both of which were full. Strangely, she didn't make a move to take them out. Standing on the threshold, her eyes wandered to Snake. He felt a burly, warm wind awkwardly curve in his spine as her blue eyes sat still on his emerald ones.

"Who is she and why is she staring at me like that?"

She stared at him like a bird looking at some lonely human walking down a path from its tree. It expressed inquisitiveness…nervousness…and a hint of sly. The light from the fluorescent stacks on the elevator's ceiling shone off her bright blonde hair creating a halo. Still staring at him, his ears perked as if a child's laughter rung in them.

Her stone cold demeanor weren't even melted by the menacing, red lasers that pointed threateningly at her body. The guards jiggled their weapons, taunting the woman but nothing came out of it.

"Just kill her," a yell from behind Snake ordered.

The woman only closed her eyes as the rifles cocked ready for blood.

"Move, you idiot" .Snake thought of how big of a fool this woman was.

As the guards pulled the triggers, flames of fire and smoke twisted and smoldered the air. Smoke surrounded and consumed the woman in a blaze of dense fog that's seen in a cloudy morning. As the guards slightly released their forefingers from the grips of death, the fog slowly dissipated like a curtain being raised from a stage. The guards twitched their heads looking towards the gritty ground below them hoping to see the body of their prey.

He didn't pay attention. Snake knew that when the fog lifted, a bloody body on the ground will been seen mutilated, devoid of life. The woman tried to save his life but he only thought how foolish and idiotic the woman was to slip in and play hero. She didn't stand a chance.

The halo that shone from the woman's head glistened brightly. Gasps of bewilderment filled the room as the soldiers saw their prey standing with a smile that reach from ear to ear. The soldiers realized in a moment of truth. No bullet holes stroke any surface of the metal structure. It was like they shot blanks.

"Try it again," the same guard yelled as Snake felt the man's weapon force harder on his spine out of frustration.

Again, only blanks and smoke filled the air. One of guards, who was in a fit of rage, lifted his rifle ready to smack her in the head while the other one ran toward her. Swiftly, she caught the back handle of the rifle and kicked the other guard in the abdomen causing him to clinch over. She tore the rifle from the guard who tried to hit her and twisted it against him. Smacking his face good, the guard fell back on the ground. The middle guard rammed her making her drop the FAMAS she held. Her back was against the gritty metal of the elevator's floor as the guard strangled her with his weapon. The garbles of water from her throat spit out on her uniform.

The three guards who held their guns behind Snake's back were cheering and chastising the woman… in those few seconds Snake jabbed his elbow back at the face of the man behind him. The other two were caught off-guard as swift blows to their face and kicks to their lower pressure points caused their eyes to dazzle with stars.

Snake looked back to see the woman standing over the guard that was strangling her earlier. Three tranquilizer darts were sticking from his stomach.

"That was a miracle," she bent forward taking a FAMASfrom the hands of one of the unconscious enemies. The collar of her uniform still wrinkled with her own spit.

"Who are you," Snake said. He gripped the handle of his SOCOM.

The woman's blue eyes gazed at him as she walked forward, "My name is Angel."

"Stop right there," Snake pulled out his pistol. The woman stopped and smirked. She pulled the ammo clip and dropped the weapon gently. She shined the ammo clip at Snake's face showing the 5.56 x 45 mm bullets of the twenty-five round clip. Tilting the clip, the bullets fell like rocks against the carpet floor.

"A miracle, indeed," She threw the empty clip and sat the FAMAS gently near it. Her eyes glanced right at Snake again hoping for some type of reaction. When he gave her none her playful nature subsided into the same cold demeanor as his.

Her skinny yet strong legs slowly dragged her body towards him paying no mind to Snake's pistol, "I was transferred here as part of Foxhound's squad to safely escort the weapons for the Metal Gear project."

Angel's body was athletically fit but her position felt awkward. Her chubby cheeks reflected the lights of ceiling with a creamy glow showing him the crystal pink scar on the woman's right cheek. Its jagged, deep appearance gave the impression of a wound created by a knife; a short, but sharp-edged military knife to be exact. From its pink color, he determined that the scar was maybe ten to eleven years old.

"Are you part of the Next Generation Special Forces?" Snake kept his hand on the handle of the holstered SOCOM.

"No…I'm just a regular old soldier here," she rubbed her right cheek hiding her scar from Snake's cold stare, "Well, that is until Foxhound turned rogue. I guess they grew tired of being puppets on a string."

"What happened here?"

"Well, I guess you already know about Metal Gear Rex from the Darpa Chief and President Baker." She paced back and forth with her hand scratching her small dimpled chin. "So that info is pretty redundant. So let me just tell you what happened in my words. I was here from the very beginning."

Snake's hands eased from the grip of his SOCOMsensingno immediate danger from this woman. He listened as Angel's voice carried through the walls, "Well, I was in the underground maintenance base with two other guards watching the scientists put the finishing touches on Rex."

She was staring at Metal Gear Rex from the bullet-proof glass of the Control Room. Its armaments were still being melded on the different tones of silver that colored the doomsday machine.

"Magnificent, isn't it?"

Her concentration was broken from the glaring glass as a blonde man wearing a trench coat stood at the doorway.

"Only magnificent to the wielder." Angel leaned against the PAL computers. "Weapons of mass destruction don't attract me. This weapon is dangerous to have especially in the world we live in now."

"You know politicians."

He walked forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. Coldly, she shrugged it off.

"When were you going to tell me about the nuclear weapon's capability?"

"I know how sensitive the subject matter is to you," The man still held his charming smile.

"Besides, time has been in a bind lately."

"So, no time to tell your comrades.," She turned around giving the man the coldest glare she could., "Or is it that you don't trust me?"

The man chuckled as he grabbed the woman's wrist,. "I trust you, Angel. You are a very useful woman…" Angel harshly released herself from his grip.

"Do not patronize me, Liquid."

Angel and Liquid looked at each other's eyes, staring down, seeing who would budge first. It was a test of wills. A ringing forced Liquid to turn away. His hand slid through his pockets pulling out a cellphone.

"Raven, is it time?"

"Good." His pleased voice caused Angel to shake. "Make sure the Darpa Chief and Baker are taken care of. Order the scientists except for that engineer to meet me in the canyon. Yes, bring the unit here."

Liquid snapped the lid of the phone and placed it back into his pocket.

"Liquid, what are you planning?"

"Are you loyal to me?" Liquid turned his head.

"Of course."

"Stay that way." His eyes darkened as his voice turned venomous. "It will break my heart if you betray me."

"We were ordered to escort the scientists back into their rooms," Angel said, tearing her eyes from Snake, "That's when everything went wrong. Sounds of thunder filled the air. The scientists were scared to death. As we crossed through the snow of the canyon, a squad of the genome army ordered us to head back to the hangar. I don't know what happened to the scientists after that."

"They're dead."

Snake blunt statement seemed to blow the wind from Angel's chest. She heaved in shock," All of them?!"

Snake just stood still as Angel's face grew paler, though her face was already as white as a sheep, "They were killed by a member of Foxhound."

"I'm sorry," Angel apologized, as she tried to keep her chest from bursting out.

"Anyway, I heard that Metal Gear is ready to launch. Liquid, though, has put a halt to it."

"Because of the deadline?"

"No…because of the nuclear device."

Snake remembered Otacon talking about ArmsTech's co-developers designing a new type of warhead, "What about the nuclear device?"

"I heard rumors that it's a stealth weapon."

"Stealth?"

"Yeah," Angel twined her fingers together. "A nuclear warhead that can't be intercepted by radar or other equipment."

"What?" Snake's eyes twitched. A nuke that can't be seen through electronic equipment was a nightmare to the world. Angered, Snake gritted his teeth knowing full well that the Colonel knew this all along.

"It's not that shocking when you think about."

Angel stepped forward timidly looking directly at his eyes but turned away, "Armstech claimed bankruptcy two years ago and needed something to get them higher in the military food chain. The Pentagon gave them their answer."

Her back turned staring at the unconscious soldiers.

"All you need is a desperate businessman who's willing to bend the law, young and naive scientists with energy to spare, and …"

Angel sighed tirelessly, "A unit of hardened veterans and soldiers with digitalized genes of a 20th century soldier. That's a good excuse, isn't?"

"The training exercises…"

Angel nodded her head, "Exactly. Anything that happens here was already marked by us…I mean Foxhound. Did you know Foxhound was investigated twice six months ago?"

"No."

Angel's child-like face glowed red with rage and sorrow, "Yes, Foxhound was investigated for illegally hacking into government files for gene therapy."

"You mean they were planning on making their own gene experiments."

"They already have their research from the Cyborg Ninja. There's another reason which I haven't found out…yet. I'm just glad Naomi is all right."

"Naomi?"

"I don't know where she is now, but I hope where ever she is, she is all right. "

"Anyway, Liquid is having a field day with the nuclear weapon, but I also heard there is another reason why he hasn't unleashed Armageddon ." Angel intently stared at Snake. "You."

"Why me?"

Angel's face cringed in thought. "You're twins, right?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know what's going on, do you?"

Snake just stared at her. Angel fidgeted as she looked at Snake's pistol which Snake's hand was still hovering over. "Liquid is a child screaming for attention, which his murderous madman of father deprived him of…" Angel's blue eyes stared down on the cold, blue floor, "Bastard."

"Who is Liquid?"

"Boy! You ask a lot of questions," Angel snickered.

"Liquid is your normal man who has family problems."

"What is he after?"

"What he can't have," Angel vaguely stated, "Now, the rest you have to find on your own."

A giggle seeped from the woman as she skipped towards the elevator with a melody that Snake couldn't hear. She seemed so surreal as she stood under the burning lights of the elevator. "Come on, Snake. Meryl's waiting for you."

Ignoring the fact that he never introduced himself, Snake felt pulled into the elevator, "How do you know about Meryl?"

Standing in the elevator, Angel barked lightly, "Oh! Questions! Questions! You love to be so dominant...now get your butt in here so you can save the world."

Unaffected by her statement, Snake entered the elevator. As the doors closed and the car jolted, Snake eyed the giddy woman beside him. During their whole conversation, he knew that the woman was hiding something, especially when she was telling her side of the story. It all seemed fishy and this childish persona of hers really annoyed him.

"Snake," Campbell whispered into his ear. "It seems you made a new friend."

"Yeah." Snake eyed the woman who seemed intent on staring at his body when he was not looking.

"Snake, could she be the Pentagon agent that Baker was talking about?"

"I don't know but I think I know the answer to who has been saving me."

"She's the one that saved you from the nerve gas? Are you sure?"

"The blonde hair and cute face gave it away."

"Well, I guess there are such things as angels," Naomi mused with a slight smile but in a split second, it turned critical, "I don't really see her as a threat. Why were you so hesitant?"

"She is hiding something."

Naomi thought the idea seemed foolish. "She seemed innocent to me and if she held any ill will, why would she help you?"

"Why are you so protect of her, Naomi," came another voice. Master Miller's glaring glasses shone through. His question caught Naomi by surprise causing her to stutter for moment.

"I'm not protecting her. I'm just saying that she may be as she seems."

"No one is innocent on the battlefield. She is either a fool or a liar."

Naomi let out a irritated sigh as she disappeared from the screen.

"One or the other she seemed to know a lot of classified intel," Miller continued with a hint of forceness after Naomi ended her transmission.

"I was looking her up as you two were conversing."

"What did you find?"

Master clicked his tongue in distress, "Nothing, Snake."

"Nothing?" Snake frowned.

"There's a file on her but every time I access it, my computer gets an error message like someone is intentionally blocking me. I'll keep on trying though."

Snake groaned in frustration, "Let me know if you find anything, Master."

"We will keep you posted. In any case, Snake…watch yourself." Campbell wiped his forehead with his forehand trying to hide a couple sweat droplets."

Snake veered his head sharply at Angel when he noticed that she inched closer to him.

"I take it you don't trust me." Angel arched her shoulders towards him in a innocent way. Her eyes twinkled with curiosity as she blinked into his eyes almost seeing through them.

"I don't blame ya. I trusted Foxhound and look where I am…huh huh."

Snake awkwardly flinched. Angel seemed persistent in conversation as the elevator moved up, and he wasn't in the mood for small talk. When Angel got the picture, she shut her mouth muttering something about "talking to a wall."

The elevator chimed and its doors let out a cold breeze. A melody in the background was playing in a soft yet reverberating tone.

"Well, you go meet your friend," She recklessly jumped forward opposite of Snake's cautious step. Angel directed his eyes towards the girls' bathroom.

"I'll wait for you guys in the Commander's Room…" She stepped back as Snake's eyes were still glued to the girls' bathroom. "…so Liquid's gang doesn't try to ambush you again. I'll update you. My frequency is 140.77. Okay, bye bye!"

Snake turned around to see the empty space where the foolish woman once stood.

"She's a talker," he muttered as he slowly moved towards the bathroom entrance. The door didn't budge, suggesting to him it was locked. A mumbled commotion alerted him to the silver door across the hallway. As it opened, he hid himself in the dark corner pitting his back against a brown marble pillar.

"Where is the PSG-1?" Snake peeked out of his hiding spot and saw two guards entered the hallway.

"It was there where I left it," the guard with his back turned said, shaking his head., "I'll go check again but I know I couldn't have misplaced it."

"Let's double check the area," both guards entered back into the mini room behind them. As the doors closed so swiftly, so did they open again. A guard ambled towards the men's bathroom. Snake noticed the guard's strange walk. His hips were swaying back forth and his little feet walked overtop of each other.

The guard switched directions and Snake's guess was right. He entered the women's bathroom. Waiting for a few seconds, he entered, glad that the door was unlocked.

The bathroom was very clean and it was clear that it wasn't used as often as the men's room was. The three brown stalls were gleaming metal as the sinks near them were pure white against dark marble walls.

Taking out his pistol, he checked the floor to see no feet popping out underneath any of the stalls. He knew she was here so he decided to check each stall one at a time. There was nothing from the first two. Straightening his position, his arm reached towards the third one ready for anything. As he slammed the door opened, he noticed a green uniform clumsily lying on the toilet seat.

His back stiffened when he heard the cock of a rifle. "Don't move!"

Raising his arms in the air, the voice behind him chuckled. "That's the second time I was able to sneak up on the legendary Solid Snake."

Slowly, he turned around to see a woman with short but puffy red hair in nothing but her underwear. He could have thought of a much worse scenario.

Snake's a perv. HeeHee! Though Snake seems to have second thoughts on Angel. Is she acting like a child to cover something up or is it something else? And why is Naomi defending her?

Questions! Questions! Oh well, stay tuned for my next chapter titled "Battle of the Minds Part One!"