Hi all! Sorry about the long delay. I had written half of it before the holidays came around and I found I had no time to finish it. After finishing it, I began my revision process, and then was hit with one awful flu right after January came around. The beginning of each year is always my busiest time, so I fell behind and had to drop this for a short time. But at long last, here is the latest chapter. Thank you as always for sticking with it! Responses to questions, comments, and reviews are at the end as always. Enjoy!

Da Shago Kallai
Afghanistan

"Quiet," Big Boss said over the comm channel, and Quiet quickly gave an affirmative hum, switching her aim from the soldier on the ground trying to rush Big Boss' position to the soldier who had peeked out from over the edge of the watchtower to spray the legendary soldier's cover with machine gun fire. Remembering his instructions at the last minute, she shifted her aim slightly to plant the rifle round into the wooden support next to the soldier, right at head height, to send him diving back to his cover and keeping Big Boss safe for at least another few seconds.

This would be a whole lot easier if you would let me hit them, she thought in annoyance, huffing into the mic. "I wish there was an easier way to do this," Big Boss said gruffly. Not for the first time, Quiet wondered if he could hear her thoughts. He certainly seems to know what I'm always thinking. The soldier popped up again but Quiet placed another round by his ear, sending splinters of wood flying.

Her mental count of bullets remaining in her magazine reached zero and she reloaded with practiced hands, pulling the slide back, removing the magazine, sliding a new one into place, and chambering a new round all within a few short seconds. She reset her mental count back to five as she recentered her aim on the soldier.

The soldier popped up again and this time, she saw Big Boss peeking out of cover, firing his small tranquilizer pistol and catching the soldier in the forehead. He went limp almost instantly and tumbled down from the watchtower, landing with a heavy thud that sent a cloud of dust floating into the air. Probably out cold, she thought, satisfied.

"Watch the one by the gun emplacement," Quiet heard the legendary soldier warn, but she had already moved her aim back to him, sending a shot into the ground by his foot. It made him jump and Big Boss finished him off with two tranq rounds to the chest, dropping him almost lifelessly to the ground.

"Good work," Big Boss said briefly. There were no more soldiers she could see in the area. Each one lay on the ground in various positions. Quiet allowed herself a satisfied nod. It had been difficult but all of the soldiers were merely asleep. None of them had been touched by her sniper rounds. "We're going to need to figure something out after tonight," the grizzled veteran continued, and she watched as he carefully made his way into the compound where the VIP was supposedly held. She kept a vigil watch over the surrounding area as he entered the building. Though it appeared there were no more soldiers to bother them, she knew they were still in enemy territory and an attack could come from any direction. As it turned out, that direction was above.

"Prisoner located," Big Boss said, at the same moment Quiet noticed one of the guards waking from his slumber on the second story. She hummed a warning, bringing her rifle to bear. The soldier looked around in alarm, taking in the sights of all of his companions unconscious across the compound. "I don't have a shot," she heard Big Boss say briefly. She could see him with the VIP slung over one shoulder and she knew he wouldn't be able to help her.

The guard ran down the stairs, directly towards one of the other unconscious soldiers. "Hold your fire," she heard on the comms, and she hummed an annoyed response. He's going to wake the whole compound, she wanted to shout. She caught Big Boss' eye as he silently exited through the door, and he shook his head slightly. The message was clear. No killing. The other soldier woke from his slumber, looking around in disbelief.

"Quiet," Big Boss said, and she turned her attention back to him. "I'm going to try to sneak around the back. Do you have a better position?" Quiet reached into her belt, pulling out her iDroid and activating the map. There was a suitable location on the other side of the compound that had a good view of the area and she hummed an affirmative, resecuring the iDroid to her belt and slinging her sniper rifle over one shoulder as she bounded off her rocky perch, cloaking as she did.

She landed with a soft thud and a puff of dust, then immediately bounded across the dusty ground. As she reached the new sniping point, she gathered her legs underneath her, pushing off and leaping into position. Quickly, she unslung the sniper rifle, taking stock of the new viewpoint the perch offered her. Satisfied, she hummed a short note, letting her companion know she was in position.

Big Boss peeked from around the corner, making sure there were no guards patrolling. He glanced to her and she gave a nod. Clear. Move. The VIP was badly injured, she saw, as Big Boss moved into view, staying close to the wall. The man had been lashed multiple times, with various other injuries covering the rest of his body. She looked at the ground Big Boss planned to traverse, then back at the VIP. She hummed a doubtful note. I don't think our friend is going to find that very comfortable. The ground that soldier seemed to want to go through had plenty of low walls for meager protection, but it was rough terrain.

Quiet returned her view back to the area Big Boss was headed into, ensuring there were no enemies waiting ahead. As she did, she spotted three guards, newly awakened, heading towards the back of the compound around the outer wall. By her calculations, they would intercept Big Boss' path, and she hummed a warning now, marking the three incoming guards on the iDroid. The soldier grunted an acknowledgement, depositing the VIP back on the ground and rechecking the number of rounds he had left in the magazine of his tranquilizer pistol.

The guards were closer now, and Quiet took aim on the farther one, awaiting the word from Big Boss. "I'm low on rounds," Big Boss said over the comms, and Quiet frowned. What now? We kill them? The thought didn't excite her. The soldier pondered for a second, then came to a conclusion. "I'll take the two closest to the wall," he said, holstering his pistol. "I need you to disarm the one farthest from the wall, and then hold your fire and I'll take him too."

Quiet hummed her acknowledgement, albeit a little dubiously. She knew the legendary soldier had some of the best weapons skills and tactics in the world, but she had never seen him in hand to hand combat. Taking on multiple enemies was difficult, she knew, and she hoped her doubts would be proven wrong. Not to mention the fact that my rifle is going to bring everyone this way. She wondered if the soldier had thought of that, then thought better of it. He's probably three steps ahead of me.

"And then after they're all down, I'm going to pick him up and run like hell for the bridge," Big Boss said, answering her unspoken question. "If need be, you'll have to slow them down with that rifle of yours." He didn't need to remind her that slowing them down entailed more of the close-placed shots that she had terrorized the soldiers with before. The utterly useless shots that I hate.

She grunted in response, settling into a more comfortable position as she watched the three soldiers drawing closer to the corner. Her sights were already set on the one farthest from the wall. He held his rifle in a ready position and Quiet aimed right in the center of his weapon.

"Try not to kill me too while you're at it," Big Boss muttered as the soldiers grew closer. Relax, Quiet replied mentally. I always hit what I aim for. Then she adjusted her statement. Usually. Just before the soldiers made it to the corner, she fired.

The rifle in the hands of the soldier farthest from the wall quite simply disappeared, wrenched out of his grasp as her rifle round tore through the metal. He cried out in surprise, stumbling backwards and drawing the attention of his companions. Quiet heard further shouting and she knew it was from the other soldiers across the compound that heard her rifle ring out.

Big Boss leapt from his cover and she watched as he easily dispatched the first soldier with a quick one-two to the ribs, then swung him around to slam his head into the building wall. As the second soldier turned back, Big Boss was already on him, flipping him and slamming him into the ground. The third soldier, Quiet noticed, had drawn a dangerous-looking knife from his belt. As she aimed at it, Big Boss knocked the knife out of his hand, twisting his arm until it popped from his shoulder socket with a grisly crack.

Even from her vantage point, Quiet could hear the man's agonized scream, before he too was knocked unconscious. Quick work, she thought, thoroughly impressed. One might wonder why he even needs weapons. And then Big Boss was back on the the run, the VIP slung over his shoulder, bouncing uncomfortably with every stride. Already, there were soldiers coming into view from the front of the compound as they pointed at the escaping figure, shouting and bringing their weapons to bear.

Time to change that, Quiet thought, a small smirk forming at the edge of her lips as she racked the slide back to chamber a new round. She sent three bullets flying in quick succession, sending soldiers diving back into the dirt and buying Big Boss more time to dash to the cover of the low walls in the field.

"Quiet, we can't fulton him out," she heard Big Boss mutter over the comms. She glanced at him through the scope as he assessed the VIP's injuries. "He won't survive the fulton. We need to get him out the old-fashioned way." Quiet grunted a reply. I don't like the sound of that. But she was too busy to offer a protest as she ducked to avoid a flurry of bullets. She bit back a curse as the dirt and rocks showered down around her. Great. Now they're shooting at me.

She stole a glance at Big Boss, watching him use the opportunity to make his way further away from the compound. At least shooting at me means they're not shooting at him. And then she heard a faint whistling sound coming from above her. Her instincts, razor sharp and alert, told her instantly that it was an incoming mortar, and she wasted no time in cloaking and throwing herself off the edge of the small cliff, stumbling slightly as she landed.

The rocky cliff exploded in pieces of jagged rock and choking, blinding dust and Quiet leapt away from it to avoid the crashing debris from the mortar. She slid to a stop, eyes darting left and right as she took in her surroundings for any remaining threats. There were none to be found, though, and she could hear faint cheering from the soldiers as they celebrated her demise. Too bad I'm not dead, she thought with grim humor, slipping a new magazine into her sniper rifle.

"Quiet?" Big Boss' voice came over the comms and she thought she detected a hint of apprehension and worry in his voice. Why would he worry about me? She hummed once in response, letting him know that she had survived. Though she pushed the thought out of her mind, she knew she would be thinking about it later on. Assuming we survive.

"I think I see the way out of here," the soldier said, all traces of his previous worry gone from his voice. He was all business again and Quiet was tempted to pass off her previous observation as a fluke, although her strict discipline told her not to ignore anything. She could hear gunfire from where Big Boss was and she knew the soldiers were still pursuing him.

She set off again, dashing through the cloud of dust slowly settling from the explosion. As the air cleared, she could see the soldiers drawing ever closer to Big Boss, pursuing with increased confidence as they believed there was no more sniper threat in the area. Then, in the far distance, she saw Big Boss' observation - across the bridge sat an armored cargo truck, guarded only by two soldiers.

"We'll get to that truck and we can exfiltrate the hot zone before we call in Pequod to transport him back to base," Big Boss said without a trace of doubt. He seemed unperturbed that a garrison of hostiles were closing in on him and Quiet marveled for a moment just how calm he really could be. "Can you get to another sniping point to keep them off me?"

Quiet hummed a quick affirmative. She already had spotted another point, this time on the other side of the soldiers, and she knew they weren't expecting her to still be alive to harass them. She bounded off towards her new perch, clearing the height with one massive leap and uncloaking. The soldiers were gaining on Big Boss as he slowly made his way across the dusty landscape, burdened by the weight of the injured VIP.

With the first shot, the group of soldiers instantly dropped to the ground, completely bewildered by the sniper rifle that rang out from behind them. Peeking out from the cover of the low walls, she watched their heads turning, desperately trying to see where the new sniper was. She fired again, trying to keep their attention distracted from Big Boss. He had taken off running as soon as she fired the first time and was almost across the bridge. For a second, she wondered how the soldier planned to take out both guards, then pushed the thought out of her mind. He'll figure something out.

As heads hesitantly poked up from behind the low walls again, Quiet fired a third time. This time, she could hear shouting as they pinpointed her new location. Gunfire began to tear at the rock of her perch and she went prone, ducking under the flurry of responding bullets. She cursed mentally as she realized she had no way of seeing if the soldiers had started to close in on her position.

"Quiet, I'm in the truck," Big Boss said, and she could hear the revving of the truck engine in the background of the comms. "Time to exfiltrate. Get out of there." Gladly, she thought, scooting away from the perch. She made her way around the large rock formation, keeping it between her and the gunfire. Quickly, she cloaked and bounded off towards the bridge, taking a quick look behind her. Just as she had thought, the soldiers were still pouring bullets into the perch as they made their way closer and closer.

They'll be confused when they find no sign of me, she thought with satisfaction. The sniper that leaves no trace and seems to be able to melt away with the wind. She also knew it was likely they would send out scouting parties through the rest of the week searching for her somewhere in the area. She didn't envy those men. They would be forced out into the rough desert by their commanders, searching for days for an adversary they knew could hit them out of nowhere, yet never have the satisfaction of finding her.

"VIP is in stable condition," Big Boss said over the comms, cutting through her thoughts. "Quiet, I already have our next location. Get to the guardpost down the road. It's labeled on your iDroid. I'll meet you there once Pequod arrives. Until then, scout out the area." She hummed an affirmative, pulling out the iDroid to check.

It was a small guardpost and she doubted there would be anything interesting, but she trusted there was a good reason. Anything in particular you want me to look for? "You should find some heavily armored soldiers there," he added, answering her unspoken question. Quiet hummed again, replacing the iDroid on her belt.

It was still early in the night and she rolled her head around, stretching her neck. She knew they would probably work through the night and return to Mother Base in the morning, but it was better than the past few weeks of being confined to her cell. Not too bad of a night, she thought with some satisfaction, shouldering her sniper rifle to head out to the next objective.

Quiet settled into her seat in the chopper with a relieved sigh, stretching and feeling the warm feeling of a successful day working its way through her body. Big Boss seemed similarly tired as he tugged the chopper door shut and took his own seat. He had plenty of smears, cuts, and scrapes, not surprising given that they had spent all of the night traversing the dusty Afghan landscape, but he looked clearly better than he had without her watching his back.

At least, I hope so, she corrected herself. She had no idea what he thought of her performance, other than that she desperately needed a non-lethal weapon like he typically used. Quiet moved forwards, to store her sniper rifle on the starboard side rack. As she returned to her seat, she noticed that Big Boss was once again looking into his iDroid, back to muttering to himself and performing various operations. No wonder he naps often, she thought. He never stops doing anything.

Quiet dug into her belt, pulling out her various magazines and bullets to count how many she needed to replace. It had been a long day of firing and she knew she needed to restock her ammunition supplies before her next outing with the legendary soldier. Assuming there will be another, she though. He still had not commented at all on her, and it made her slightly anxious to wonder what he thought of her.

"Good job today," Big Boss said, breaking the silence. Immediately, Quiet turned to look at him to listen attentively, pausing her counting. "I usually work best alone but…this worked out well." She nodded, keeping herself professional, though she did feel pride swelling inside. "We do need to find a way to outfit you with tranquilizer rounds, but I have a feeling the R&D department will know how to handle that. You'll likely end up having an entire subteam dedicated to you." Quiet stopped abruptly, taken by surprise. What?

As if he sensed her shock, Big Boss looked up to meet her surprised expression. "If you're going to go out in the field again, we need to make sure you have everything you need," he explained. "And since you are a special case, it only makes sense for you to have your own team dedicated to developing your equipment." Huh, Quiet replied in mind, unable to think of anything else to say. Well, uh, thanks. Can't say anyone has ever offered me anything from R&D...or even dedicated an entire team just for me. She nodded a thanks to him, which he responded to with a grunt before turning back to his holographic map.

Quiet didn't mind his lack of response, though. Maybe it's a good thing to join a team, she thought to herself, feeling more a part of something bigger than herself than ever before. She almost felt as if she had started her first day on her dream job and it nearly had her giddy, something that she knew a veteran soldier shouldn't feel. She couldn't remember the last time she felt giddy. Probably back as a teenager, she mused.

She finished her inventory, replacing everything onto her belt, and sighed mentally. Already she could feel the sleepy calm of success. A soldier takes all the sleep she can get, she reminded herself, the thought seeming ever increasingly comforting. She moved around in her seat before finally settling into a comfortable position. As her eyes closed, the last thing she saw before she drifted off was Big Boss.

I hope this chapter provided a little more excitement that the previous ones were missing. Thank you all for continuing to read and review, even as I ran way past my December deadline. I really appreciate it!

Guest: Yay! Glad you're back. Kept us waiting huh? Again I like how you let Quiet flow into her thoughts and actions as a character, she's building trust and respect it's more natural instead of instantly falling in love with Ahab. And you also get to see the chemistry that brings them closer that we didn't really get to see in the game. As always I can't wait for the next chapter :P

- Sorry about the wait. This one was even longer than the last one! Hopefully I can continue finding time to write, though it might not be for a month or more. What I wanted to do with this story was to develop that chemistry that you don't really see in-game by moving away from the constraints of the game mechanics and making the story flow more naturally.

Spider-man fanboi: worth the wait

-Glad to hear it! Thanks for sticking with me.

insanemaelstorm: Nice chapter. Love how each character has been portrayed. Will this follow canon( mission 45 and all) or will you change things up?. Can't wait to read more

- Thank you! To be honest, I'm not sure where I want to go with this. Originally I wanted to break off from canon and remake the ending, but I've also wondered if perhaps there's a twist I could add to it instead, keeping to canon but explaining it a bit more. Unfortunately, the only answer I have for now is that time will tell.

tjre: One of the few stories that I am hoping will be continued and not forgotten about. Especially a mgs v fic about snake and quiet. There isn't enough stories about the two and many seem to be discontinued. Excellent writing, very descriptive while traveling at a medium pace. Keep it up, looking forward to future chapters. Not sure what the endgame is for the story, but an epilogue would a fantastic ending to give some Kojima never could.

- Thank you for sticking with me! That's part of the reason I began writing this in the first place - I read through all the fanfics but couldn't find one that truly satisfied me. It is also my reason for continuing to write this. I won't even be satisfied until I finish this...whether it be months or a year from now. Hopefully my ending lives up to your expectations!

MakkuroX: So turns out I haven't reviewed... And yeahh the chapter was great and it makes my day, hopefully when this dreadful EXAM ends, I get to read your updated story :D

- Thank you! Hopefully that exam went well for you!

Black Lion: Continúa

- I do intend to! :)

AraelDranoth: Great work. Keep it up!

- Thank you very much! Glad you enjoyed it.

shanandre765: I like how you do it passively and originally keep it up and pls update soon

- Thank you! Hopefully this update lives up to your expectations. I do try my best to be original, but sometimes it can be difficult to come up with things that haven't already been written.

Infinity Comes To A End: This story is so amazing! I really enjoy the way you write Quiet. Please continue and keep it up

- Thank you! I'm glad you like my depiction of Quiet. It certainly can be hard to write a character who doesn't talk, but apparently I'm doing something right. ;) And congrats to you! As of right now, you posted your review 16 hours ago and are the most recent of the reviewers, and now you get to read the next part 16 hours later. Enjoy!

As always, thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm! I can't promise the next update within a month, unfortunately, but I shall try my hardest.