Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the MG/MGS Franchise!

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who subscribed to the story! :) As I mentioned that the new release dates are Tuesdays...so here's the new chapter! :) Enjoy! :3

CaptainMc: So far! ;D

Guest K: YAS RAVEN YAS lol. Send that man to the moon and get him some cotton candy! Heck yeah! I know one of your first reviews we were like "whoa! Two great minds think alike!" And here we are again lol xD

Rook115: The ultimate tool in stealth technology! Nobody woulda noticed a damn thing *snaps*! lol I'm dead xD

"Why do stars fall down from the sky,

Every time you walk by?

Just like me, they long to be,

Close to you."

-Carpenters

The air was overwhelmed with even more cocaine powder due to the powerful swing of the metal door. Lydia raised her A.R. and swept into the room, her eyes meeting the shocked Costa Rican and Russian faces. "Bajan!" ("Get down!") Lydia called out to the workers. "Todos ustedes bajan ahora o come una bala!" ("All of you get down now or eat a bullet!"). The workers were disoriented, probably from working with all the cocaine, but the KGB soldiers were just fine! Her eyes started to sting from the debris floating in the air. It was a hot searing pain like she was in the middle of a sandstorm with no eye protectants. She had no choice but to keep her eyes open and aware, one slip up and she could get captured, dead, or cause a hell of a lot of trouble for the DEA.

While the staff was going bonkers, in Lydia's peripherals, she witnessed the KGB soldiers readying their A.R.s. They were only moments away from opening fire on her ass. Lydia rolled forward and flipped the closest metal table onto it's side for cover. She immediately went prone and waited while bullets littered themselves onto and around the metal table. "Lydia?! What the hell is going on?!"

"Didn't I tell you just now there was only one way in!" Lydia reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a smoke grenade she was saving for a rainy day. Time to kick some ass. Lydia grinned and pulled the tag with her teeth before chucking the object over the table. She listened to it tap the ground, following by the hissing of the smoke. She spit the pin from her mouth and waited for the first sign of disorient.

"граната!" ("Grenade!") The amount of coughing to follow the exclamation was intense. Lydia took this opportunity to return to her knees and aim her gun toward the foes. Upon sitting up, a bullet grazed her left arm. Her eyes and gun turned to the left to spot a man with a pistol emerging from the massive cloud of gray smoke. Lydia placed her finger on the trigger and shot the man in both kneecaps. He instantly dropped to the ground with an agonizing yelp. Ignoring the slight sting in her left bicep, she stood up straight; eyeing five other men still drowning in the cloud of smoke.

Lydia narrowed her eyes and marched forward, examining the outline of the closest KGB operative. She reached with her left arm and grabbed onto the man's shoulder. Lydia jerked him in her direction and uppercutted him under the mandible, making him fall backwards unconscious. She heard a few more gunshot rattle off, close by, but not in her direction. The men had decided to blindly fire in hopes of hitting her. As the smoke began to dissipate, the incapacitated soldiers began to stir out of their temporary daze.

Lydia bolted toward the next individual with the closest proximity to her. She closed the distance and violently shoved him into another soldier; the both of them toppling over. While they were busy, Lydia readied her A.R. and shot the remaining individuals in the legs. Her attention turned to the two she had knocked down only moments ago. One of them was starting to get up! While on his hands and knees, Lydia took the advantage to lunge into a kick. Her boot struck the man right in the face. She could feel his jaw slide out of place at the sheer force of the kick. His body plummeted back onto the male that was underneath him, rendering him unmovable.

"Lydia! The DEA is closing in! Are you alright?!" Kaz chimed in through her eardrums. Lydia took in a deep breath and looked around the area. The moaning and groaning of the injured men was almost music to her ears. Her eyes grazed around the area, the majority of the Costa Rican workers were terrified…trembling in their bones. Some of them were dead…those who were left alive were no doubt headed off to jail.

"Yeah, I'm alright." She smiled, finally taking a look at her left bicep. The injury wasn't too deep, only a flesh wound. "Just a scratch." She scratched.

"Do you see anybody that could be the boss?"

"At this hour?" Lydia looked around. "I doubt they would be here. He probably has a nine to five." She joked, walking around to each of the KGBs; kicking away their weapons. Outside in the hall, she could hear the trampling of footsteps…heavy to exact. Her eyes floated to the door, readying her gun in the mean time. The door was knocked open, followed by a flood of DEA agents entering the room. Each of them were armed to the tee with riot gear and wore gas masks, something she was envious of.

"Manos en el aire!" ("Hands in the air!") One of the friendlies shouted to her. Each of them strategically positioned themselves across the room.

"Estoy con MSF." ("I'm with MSF.") Lydia placed the A.R. on the ground and raise her hands on top of her head.

"MSF." The assumed leader of the entourage walked in. He was a bulky tan gentleman in a gas mask. "I'll be damned, look at all this shit." He was amazed at the amount of cocaine in the room. At the familiar tone, Lydia placed her arms back to her sides. "Men, take all these guys out. Load 'em up in the trucks. I want everyone cleared out by morning so we can give their ring-leader one hell of a surprise."

"Sir!" The men responded. Their reaction time didn't take long until they began to haul out the disoriented workers and KGB soldiers scattered across the room.

"Great job soldier. When I thought that someone other the The Boss was taking over this mission, I thought for sure it was going to be a failure. It seemed like your commander was right in sending you in his place."

"MSF is not to be underestimated." Lydia spoke under the bandana. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm tired of being in this room."

"Yes ma'am." Lydia nodded at the man and walked out of the area, finally happy to breathe in the nice, cool, night air.

"Mission accomplished." Lydia roughly rubbed her closed eyelids then stretched her arms toward the sky.

"Great job." Kaz complimented. "The chief is going to wire us payment, you succeeded just how he wanted…you probably even exceeded his expectations."

"That I did Kaz…that I did." She unwrapped the bandana from around her face and stuffed in in her pocket. There's no way I'm loosing this souvenir. "I'm going to call my driver and have him pick me up. My job here is done."

"I'll see you when you get back. Maybe we can cele-" Lydia changed the frequency on the radio before Kaz could finish his advance.

"Hey Raven, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, glad to hear your voice." He responded.

"You too, bud. The mission was a success. Come on up."

"On my way." She turned her radio off, enjoying the silence and the occasional crying coming from the hidden mining area.

A voice erupted from behind her. "Hey you, wait!" Lydia turned her body to witness the boss of the operation jogging to meet her. "I wanted to thank you. This operation turned out better than I expected. There's about fifteen tons of cocaine in there. We couldn't have seized this place without you. The drug world will definitely be hurting with this one."

"Fifteen, huh? I'm glad we could make a dent in their production cycle. If you need any help in the future, you know how to contact us." Lydia held out her hand, which he happily took to shake. "It was a pleasure making things easy for you."

"Haha, you said it." He joked back. "We're going to clear up and wait here for a while. We can take it from here. Thank you again. I'll be sure to wire your business the dues."

"For sure." Lydia let go of his hand, soon hearing the rumbling of the truck coming up from behind her. "Good luck, sir." She nodded and turned to face the approaching vehicle. Lydia jogged up to the truck bed and crawled inside once it stopped. "Alright, Raven, let's go home!"

November 4, 1973: 20:46

The time was nearing 21:00. Raven and Lydia had finally made it back to base with no issue. To her liking, Raven took his time again, making sure not to rouse any suspicion on the way back. A couple of soldiers saluted their presence upon their return. Lydia hopped out of the truck bed and instantly laid her eyes on her small shack. Before she could retire, she had one thing to do. Lydia turned to face Raven, who had just approached her from behind. She stuck out her hand, waiting for him to take it.

"Thank you, Raven. You've proven yourself in many circumstances." He smiled wide and held onto her hand to return the gesture. "You have yet to disappoint me and I hope there will never be a day like that." Lydia let go of his hand and nodded. "Get some rest, soldier. We both deserve a good break."

"Yes ma'am." He saluted, then turned away to the men's dorm bungalow.

"I thought I heard someone familiar." A voice echoed through her ears from behind. Lydia sighed and turned her body one-hundred and eighty degrees to witness Kazuhira approaching from his own shack.

"Kaz." She tilted her head up to acknowledge his presence. "Did I wake you?"

"Nah, I figured you'd be back around this time. I kept a close eye on your tracking device."

"Ah…makes sense." She wondered.

"While you were en route back to base the DEA wired us the funds. They even added a few extra because of the element of surprise your granted them with."

"Really now?" Lydia crossed her arms and grinned. "I hope we can get something good with it. Don't waste that money, Miller."

"Oh, I've got something in mind, alright." He winked. "Hey, I actually went out and got some beer for our major victory. I thought you might want to celebrate?" Alcohol did sound pretty damn good at this point. Things were peaceful as could be. The majority of the MSF crew were in their bunks…what harm would come if she was unprofessional just this once?

"To hell with it." Lydia smiled and shrugged. "Cough it up, Kaz."

"Really? Wow, I'll be right back!" He nearly skipped all the way to his quarters. Lydia reached to her harness and unbuckled it, letting it slide off onto the ground. She unhooked her utility belt next and threw it to the side; finally feeling free of the extra weight. By her shack, a steel barrel was sitting dormant. Lydia walked up to the barrel and pushed it on its side, rolling it closer to the ocean. Once at a comfortable distance, she stopped the barrel and moved in front of it. She sat down on the coarse, loose, white sand and leaned her back against the object; already much more comfortable than the truck.

Lydia turned her head when she heard Kaz approach from behind. "Would you look at this? I even had it imported." He placed down a six-pack of Guinness. The beer of beers.

"Guinness, huh? Nice choice." She laughed. Kaz sat down to her left, having the six pack separate them. He reached into the cardboard holder and handed her a glass bottle.

"I didn't take you for a beer person." Lydia took the bottle from Kaz. "I guess there's something new to learn about you every day."

"I wouldn't say I'm a beer person. But when the time calls to have one…well…I can't really say 'no' to a good 'ol beverage."

"I hear ya." Kaz popped off the top of the bottle with an opener, then handed it to Lydia. Upon opening it, the strong smell of the smooth, creamy liquid filled her nostrils. "Here's to you." Kaz held up his bottle in celebration. Lydia brought her bottle to his to finish the cheer with a smile plastered on her face. She brought the head of the bottle to her lips and took a sip of the sweet substance that quickly turned bitter. It tasted like the most concentrated of coffees, but was deceptively balanced with malt. There was absolutely nothing like it.

"Damn that's a good beer." Lydia exhaled after the first sip. "Thank you, Kaz."

"I feel like you earned it." He took a sip out of his own.

"I'm not complaining. It's good to relax every once in a while." She smiled to herself as her palate craved another swig. "This will definitely help tie off the edge of that long ass drive."

"No kidding." From her peripherals, Kaz lifted up his sunglasses off of his face and folded them up. She turned her head to take a closer look at the rare scene.

"Hey, Kaz. Can I ask you something?" She took another sip from the bottle.

"Sure, ask me anything." Kaz's light blue eyes floated to meet her green ones.

"Why do you always wear sunglasses? Even at night…I've never wanted to point it out because I didn't want to seem like an ass if you forgot to take them off."

"Ha!" Kaz took another sip of his drink and grinned. "To be honest, I think of it as a trademark for myself." He gloated.

"Really?" Lydia responded with a straight face and monotone voice. She was obviously looking for some kind of logical answer.

"That and I'm a little sensitive to the light." He tapped onto his right temple with the top of the beer bottle. "I used to always get migraines when I was outside as a kid. I never realized what it was until I was older and had enough money to see an ophthalmologist."

"Wow…I had no idea." Lydia took another swig. "So what was Japan like?"

"Japan? Look at you and all your questions." Kaz chuckled. "I have to say, I'm flattered. We haven't really had time to sit down and talk one-on-one without something coming up."

"I don't know…it must be the alcohol." Lydia lied, taking another sip. By now, she was half-way through with the container; not even buzzed. Over the past few days, she actually found herself more curious about her fellow commander. He proved to be a great support; she was very impressed with his work ethic when he wasn't flirting around. Why not get to know him? They were in this business together, after all.

"Must be…" Kaz took a few gulps. "I told you I was born in Yokosuka, right?"

"Yeah. That and how all the kids used to make fun of you."

"Ahh, highlight of my childhood right there. That and running my mom's convenience store." Kaz started. "Japan is a beautiful place that is full of history. Maybe one day, we'll be able to visit and I'll show you the sights."

"Yeah, that would be nice. I've been slightly interested in Japanese culture since we met you last year. I thought it was so strange how someone, to this day, would go by a samurai's code."

"Heh, yeah. What can I say?" Kaz shrugged. "Wait…did you just agree to go somewhere with me? Man, that alcohol must be hitting you." Kaz laughed light-heartedly.

"I'm just saying it would be nice to see some place other than the Americas for once." Lydia sighed and finished off her bottle.

"You haven't been to any other part of the world? Seriously?" Kaz leaned closer to her, intrigued. He also handed her another bottle of beer.

"Thanks." She took a hold of it and opened the top. "I've been to Russia…" She took a small sip, feeling the burn travel down her throat. "I didn't really have a chance to look around tho…it woulda been nice to see what the Soviets had to offer." Lydia frowned.

"Everything I hear on that place is either about its terrible weather or nuclear weapons." Kaz added, trying to lighten the mood a bit. "You know what? Yeah, one of these day I swear I'm gonna take you to Japan. Whether you like it or not." Kaz smiled, trying his best to change the subject. Lydia couldn't help but form a soft smile with her lips and turn her gaze out to the ocean. Lydia took a few large gulps of the beer, which earned her a pat on the shoulder from Kaz. "Slow down there, Lydia. I don't want you to get sick." He laughed.

"Right." She sighed, bringing the beer bottle to ground-level. "You know what, Kaz? I'm impressed by you. For the past year, I always questioned what Snake saw in you…other than the samurai business of course…he told me that you were a 'true comrade' and that he was able to differentiate you from everyone else based solely on that last-ditch kamikaze you almost pulled. At that time, and when we were first starting MSF, I couldn't see it. But after the past few days, I've been realizing how important you are to MSF. You do a lot for us, and I'm sorry if I come off a little distant…err…difficult. From here on, I want us to get along."

"Me and you both." Kaz cut her off, scooting a little closer…but not close enough to make her uncomfortable. "Lydia, you're a hard-headed woman…probably the most challenging one I've ever met. But all those rough times leading up to this moment made everything worth it." Lydia smiled, taking in the scent from the ocean mixed with the bitterness of the alcohol. "Don't you think?"

"Yeah." Lydia's voice was soft, almost inaudible. "You know…I'd always been alone half my life." Lydia started, taking another swig of alcohol before putting the half-empty bottle down between her legs.

"What brought that on?"

"This is the first time in a long time where I really don't feel that way." Lydia kept her eyes on the waves coming up to the shore line. Her mind was racing around at her childhood, influenced by the alcohol intake. "Growing up, I didn't really have an adult figure in my life. My father had died when I was a baby and my mom offed herself when I was ten. I was always in and out of foster care just trying to get through elementary school. I mean, with a brain like mine, the foster parents thought I was some kind of special and couldn't hold onto me for very long. I was always alone. Snake was the first man in my life to show me he cared. When I landed my first job in the CIA, he trained me. He raised me to become the woman I am today. He was the first one that made me feel wanted."

"Oh…" Kaz responded, realization striking his face. "So that's what you meant by him being like your dad and all."

"Exactly." Lydia sighed. "It's not a kink, Kaz."

"I never said that." He laughed.

"I never forget, Kazuhira. You can't worm your way out of that one."

"Alright, alright. My sincerest apologies for my assumption." He quieted down.

"I was forcefully deported out of the US after a mission of mine turned south…I wasn't able to tell Snake goodbye or anything. I was living in Cartagena for eight years until Snake up and decided to drop by and recruit me for the job where we met you."

"Sounds like you've been through a lot." Kaz placed his bottle firmly in the sand. Something warm covered her left hand…it was his. Lydia turned her head to look at Kaz in his unshielded eyes. "You know, if you ever need to talk about it, you can always confide in me." Lydia's eyes moved to her hand before she slid it out from under his, replacing it back on her lap.

"I'm not one for resurfacing memories." She weakly smiled. "I'm too venerable. God, I sound like such a hypocrite right now."

"There's nothing wrong with being like that." Kaz pressed on. "Everyone has a past and it's important to accept those things that happened and move on. Whatever you went through…it looks to me like you're starting to get a hold on it."

"I don't know." Lydia shifted her body and grabbed a hold of her bottle again. "You might be right." She took another swig, feeling the buzz creep up to her brain. More than likely, Kaz was probably feeling it too, unless he was good at holding his liquor. She wasn't sure if it was because of the alcohol, but she wanted to know more about Kaz. That little outburst about her childhood came out of nowhere, but he didn't run from it. Maybe he had his own secret motives by using his listening skills. But now wasn't the time for conspiracy theories, that was the alcohol talking, and she had more to find out about this Kazuhira Miller. "So…Kaz?"

"Heh…yes?" He let out a soft chuckle.

"What's your favorite color?"

"Back at this again, huh?" Kaz smiled, taking a deep chug of his beverage. Lydia crossed her legs and turned to her left to face Kaz, interested in learning more about the man. "Green."

"Looks like we have something in common, now." Lydia laughed. "Favorite animal?"

"I like dogs. Huskies in particular. One of these days, I'll own a few." He nodded to himself at the idea. "How about you?"

"Koala bears."

"Koalas?" Kaz wanted to laugh, but kept it in. "I never would've thought!" She smacked his knee with the palm of his hand.

"What did you think it would be?"

"Uhhh, I don't know? Some lizard?"

"A lizard?!" Lydia exclaimed, half offended. She dramatically placed her right hand to her heart and held a disappointed look on her brow. "Koalas are just the cutest things on this planet! You can have your damn huskies, Kazuhira. A lizard? Seriously?" He wouldn't stop laughing, which hindered him from taking in more alcohol. His smile could be seen for miles it seemed; it was highly contagious. "How about a car?" She quickly changed the subject, and to his favor a matter of fact.

"A car? Why don't you ask me about steam locomotives."

"Wait, a train? You like trains?"

"Do I like trains? A steam locomotive is not any normal train. Ha! What kind of question is that?" Kaz finished off his bottle and opened another while continuing his statement. "The roar of the engine, the throaty steam whistle…it's really more animal than machine."

"Please, tell me more." Lydia urged with an amused smile plastered on her face, taking in some more alcohol.

"Here you go, getting me started." Kaz leaned on the metal barrel. "I can listen to those babies all day and could literally fall asleep to the sweet music they make on the tracks. Just seeing one was a rarity in Japan…I've always had my eye out for them wherever I go." It was odd thinking that one person was so passionate about something like that…but whatever floats his boat. Or…whatever drives his train in this sense. Lydia and Kaz went on talking for hours on end until they were completely done with the six-pack of intoxicating Guinness. Three beers into the night, Lydia was done. She was buzzed enough to feel good about everything.

The night was filled with laughter and far-fetched tales of their pasts; no use bringing up the bad if there was so much good to talk about. Kazuhira Miller finally etched his way into her life, even if they did find their similarities over a few drinks. He was something else, alright. Lydia could fall asleep that night knowing Kaz would always have her back.

Now I'm gonna go buy some Guinness! *peace*