Disclaimer:
I do not own Dark Angel nor do I own Metal Gear Solid. I do not own them nor the
characters portrayed in them. I do not claim to own them. Don't sue me, please,
I'm really really poor. By the way, this piece of work is Copyrighted by
Rocky Valkyrie 2002, all rights reserved etc. etc. Rockythehercules@yahoo.com
AUTOR'S NOTE:
This fanfic is not very good. I can tell you that in advance. Any and all
convulsions, regurgitations, vomiting, swearing and etc. cannot be attributed
to me or my Fic. Legally. Please? ;;^_~ Enjoy the fic, if and only if you can.
Also, I aplogize for my last fics, which was really REALLY bad. Smoking is
hazardous both to your health and to your sanity. Especially weed.
The Future is Bleak- Don't Speak
Based loosely on Dark Angel, and includes characters from Metal Gear Solid
By Rocky Valkyrie
"What the hell's the hold up, Emmerich?" Snake demmands, sounding like
an angry redneck.
"Patience, Snake, the best things only come with time." Emmerich
scolds, without looking, but waving his finger.
"I'm tired of waiting. We've got to get moving." Snake says, turning
Emmerich to face him.
"Shh!" is Emmerich's reply, "The past isn't going anywhere."
"Damn scientists!" Snake mutters, letting Emmerich go.
"I'm not exactly a humanist, but I can tell you're angry." Emmerich
says, methodically, "But you can't let your anger impair your judgement."
"I'll impair you!" Alec shouts, coming at Emmerich. But he's stopped
by Snake, who grabs his arm. Alec looks back to see Snake, Snake is there,
shaking his head slowly, almost fatherly.
Emmerich is only distracted momentarily by him, before a second is up,
he returns to making maintenance checks on the machine. Then he says, "Keep
it down. Smart man trying to work here."
Alec turns around heads for the stairs. Frustrated, he punches the wall
to the side of the stairs before heading back up. Snake walks to the stairs,
also, and follows behind Alec, though not too close.
When Snake gets up to the end of the stairs, he doesn't find Alec.
Just a bit concerned, Snake discreetly starts looking for him. Pretending not
to look for him, just walking nonchalantly, Snake starts to look for Alec. He
finds one of the doors to one of the outdoors training facilities open. He
walks through the door and sees Alec, wailing away on a defenseless tree.
"However hard you it, it's not gonna hit back." Snake blurts out.
Not seeming to hear him, Alec hits it again, but then says, "What
the hell are we waiting for?"
"Otacon needs to check the thing out or it might not work," Snake says.
"What's taking him so long, then?" Alec demmands, punching the tree
again.
"That's not what you're really mad about, is it?" Snake asks, sincerely.
Alec doesn't say anything yet, but looks down and away, balling his fist,
"What do you know?"
"I know, I know. You're pissed cause you did it to her. And that you
couldn't do anything about it..." Snake says, guessing.
"Yeah, but... but that's not it..." Alec says.
A voice interrupts from the doorway, "It's that he's afraid he might
not be able to do anything, that he might not change anything."
"I was going to say it myself," is Alec's response.
"Are you done, Emmerich?" Snake asks.
"All we need to do it is you two." Otacon answers.
The three descend down the stairs, and the two test subjects follow
intsructions, and eventually, they are put in a small room. Otacon proceeds
to press some buttons and do some other things, then he presses a big red
button. The room that Snake and Alec are in airlocks and starts to let some
cold air come out at them. The two freeze in seconds, and before long, they
disappear. Otacon inspects the room, but they're not there anymore. He
sighs and hopes for the best.
In an instant that feels like forever, the unlikely pair reappear
in the not-too-distant past. Snake recognizes the place as the diner where
he and Logan met just that day, but a few days, 3 days, prior to their
meeting. No one seemed to have noticed, and the two just sit there quietly,
trying to collect themselves. Snake knows the date because of the black-
and-white swimsuit poster-calendar on the wall with "x"s on it.
Snake gets up inconspicuously and steps out, and Alec follows suit
a few moments later. The two walk around for a while, wondering if the
thing had really worked. Alec is clueless about the time. Snake walks with
assurance, not anywhere really, just around, watching the roads closely,
with careful inspection.
Then they see something that causes both their throats to go dry.
It is Max, living, and she is walking carelessly down the road, talking
to Original Cindy, not really watching where she is going. Snake hesitates
for just a half a moment, and then starts moving forward again. Alec
retreats into the shadows, but Snake pushes on, and when the two are very
close, Snake's arm brushes against Max's. Suddenly there's a sharp pain
in his arm.
A cold sweeps through his body, then it is replaced by a fierce
heat, burning right underneath his skin, waiting to burst out into flames.
Snake falls down, unconscious, and loses all of his energy in a single
moment. But because of the condition of his immune system due to the
unusual cyrogenics performed on him, instead of killing him, the new
string of FoxDie just mutates into a newer one. But Snake gets up,
confused, unharmed, and, still puzzled, walks away to a nearby park to
sit down and relax.
Alec follows not far behind. When Snake reaches the park, he
quickly finds a bench and sits on it, and starts sitting there, gloomily,
rubbing his temples. Alec comes and without actually looking at Snake,
and without looking as if he is looking at Snake, sits down next to
him.
"What happened, Snake?" Alec asks, cold sweat dropping from his
crumpled brow.
"I don't know. I should've gone..." Snake says, off in his own
world somewhere.
"Dying won't bring them back, man," Alec says, sounding like he
is giving advice, "and what happened?"
"I don't know. Must have been something to do with that time
machine thing," Snake muses.
"Well, whatever it was, it saved your ass, and now we got to
go stop you from killing her." Alec says, sounding like he's in charge.
"Well, we seem to be 3 days too soon," Snake says, confusing
Alec a bit, "But that just gives us time to plan."
"What do you mean? How do you know that? You wearing some sort
of crazy watch thing that went back in time?" Alec asks.
"I looked at the calendar at the diner." Snake states plainly.
"So how do we stop it?" Alec asks.
"Well, we've got to make plans." Snake says.
"What kind of plans?" Alec asks.
"Whatever, just remember that if we touch or come in touch with
ourselves here, we might change history for the worst." Snake explains.
"Right, so no future-spoiling for me or you, right. Wait, I think
I have an idea..." Alec says.
"An idea? Pfft! Let's hear it, kid." Snake says cynically.
"Why don't we tell Max or Logan?" Alec says, stroking his nose.
"Not Max, she'll think we're crazy. Maybe Logan, but only if
there's no other way." Snake says, his hands cupped in front of his face.
"Right. Like there's any other way now." Alec says, not leaning
back and putting his hands at the back of his head.
"We have three days." Snake explains.
"Right now we need to go get a room or two to stay in." Alec says.
"Well, then let's do it." Snake announces.
So the pair, still dazed from their trip, make their way to a
nearby hotel. Not the one where Snake had chosen to stay in that town
before, but still a low-class place, just about the same quality as the
one he had stayed in before. Alec whines a little and wretches at the
tiolet's condition, but they decide to stay there. Just for the few
days.
The next day, Alec wakes up alone. He walks around for a while in
the room, looking for Snake, but he doesn't find him. Snake had left much
earlier to scout around and snoop around to find out more about Max and
Logan's daily routines. Alec himself starts to just slum lazily about the
room.
Alec never wanted to be a hero, well, he may have a bit, but what
really drove him to travel back in time to save Max is guilt. Alec feels
responsible, although his conscious self may not know, for Max not being
able to touch Logan. He doesn't remember, or maybe his memory is selective,
and forgets what he chooses not to remember, like his reasoning for doing
that to Max. It kills a part of him, although he doesn't know it exactly.
More likely than not, it was out of jealousy and frustration. He
was, as he knew, about to be Max's perfect mate, and it was taken away,
all because of him. This destiny promised to Alec, seemingly bleak as it
was, Alec anticipated it, Alec waited for, he wanted it, because it was
better than he had.
Now Alec starts to yawn, his mouth lazily gaping open, letting a
lot of air and light into it. He sinks deeper into the chair that he's
sitting on, and his shoulders begin to slouch forward. He blinks his eyes
a bit, repeatedly, and his head nods down, but he regains consciousness
in an instant, waking himself up.
Alec gets up and puts on the parts of his wardrobe that he was
not wearing while he was sleeping. He just walks out and goes down, and
after, he starts heading for the Crash. He walks slowly over there and
starts to drink. But he leaves before the other him gets off of work and
comes to drink. Alec then remembers something: That was the day that he
paid more money for his drinks than he had owed. Maybe this HAD happened
before already. Were they really changing history?
There's no time for Alec to think, and he goes off to look for
Snake. Snake is busy trying to tail Logan and Max simultaneously. But
after 9 hours of going to and fro tailing the duo, Snake retreats to
a local bar. Just then, he sees someone he hadn't seen in a while, a
fellow ex-FOX-HOUND.
Snake greets him, "Hey, Etoile."
The quite tall, dark woman turns around, "Snake! What're you
doing here?"
"Nothing much," Snake says, approaching her.
"Still up to your old antics?" Etoile asks, "You're still in our
industry even when you've been retired for a while."
"Can you tell?" Snake says, feeling a bit guilty.
"Of course," Etoile answers him, "So what you want here."
"Ah, not much, it's not really business right now." Snake says.
"Rescue mission?" she questions.
Snake sighs, orders a beer, and then answers, "You know it."
"Who?" she asks.
"Remember Logan?" Snake puts out there.
Etoile nods, then asks, "From the 'Ruse' op? Of course, he was
a little doll back then."
"Not just Ruse, but that's the only one we were all in together."
Snake adds on, not really needed, but seemingly the right thing to say,
"Well, it's got to do with him."
"Yeah, I heard he lives around here. So it's him, or is it his
request?" she asks.
"Not his request--" Snake admits, softly.
"...but against it?" Etoile interrupts.
"Well, it sort of is him. And someone else, but it's my own
choice, Etoile," Snake adds to his admittance.
"Ouch. Those are tough, the 'save them from themselves' ones,"
she says, in a smart-aleck tone.
"Nothing worse than those," Snake finally adds on.
"You sure, sweetie pie?" Etoile asks.
"Yeah," Snake says, finishing his beer quickly, "so you wanna
take me home?"
"Is that an offer?" Etoile asks, raising her eyebrow.
"No, it's a request. I need to get back to the place I'm staying."
Snake answers, plainly.
Pouting, Etoile takes Snake to her car and the two drive off.
Then, later, when they are about 2 blocks away from his hotel, Etoile
stops the car and they walk to a park on the way. They start to talk
a bit about the past, reminicing about the good and bad times. Then,
the night is ended with an innocent kiss to the cheek from Snake to
Etoile, and then Snake hurries off.
Just moments after Snake is out of sight, Etoile falls dead
down on the cold floor. Etoile was one of the original carriers of the
FoxDie, and Snake's FoxDie had mutated to kill all bearers of the
FoxDie. Including Max or himself if either of them got in contact with
him. But unlike the others', his now-mutated version incubates in
minutes, not seconds.
Upon Snake's arrival home, he finds the place empty. He goes
to sleep with many thoughts in his head. What was he to do? He has
so many ideas that plagues him in his sleep, as is his wont. Snake
sleeps, but finds no respite in it. A few hours later, a drunk Alec
comes home, feeling useless. He falls on the floor and instantly
falls asleep.
The following day, it is Snake who is left by Alec. Alec
leaves early that day because he remembers what had happened in his
drunkeness that night. He goes to Max to apologize, and after a
short, but bitter argument, she forgives him. Hours later, though,
the other Alec falls victim to her anger yet again, but that time
just as usual.
Snake wakes up, takes a bath, then goes to a local department
store to buy clothes. He dresses up quite nicely, and pays with a
fake credit card. He then goes out again to fill his daily routine
needs. He plans for the next day, quietly, in a library. Solid
Snake is not a man who rushes into things, and now he would show
his prowess in careful planning.
Alec has now won the forgiveness of Max, and he wipes his
sweatdrops. He then leaves before the other Alec comes. So with
that done, Alec leaves the workplace to think of things to do
about their 'situation.' How would he save Max, he asks himself.
But he has no answers, he never had them. Deep in his hearts, he
knows that he loves Max, and he would do anything in his power
to help her, but... he can't help but feel helpless in that sort
of situation.
Snake, on the other hand, has forgotten all about his guilt
and is now calm, collecting and confident again. He feels the adrenaline
surging through him like it did when he was younger and just starting
out at FOX-HOUND. He maps out a course of action, 3 of them, actually,
and he knows what he is to do. Snake then returns to the hotel and
waits for Alec. When Alec does come back, Snake greets him gruffly and
then he breifs him on what to do. Alec is almost remedied of his
feeling of helplessness as snake reassures him.
The next morning, the pair wake up early and change, then
they set off to work. Alec goes and intercepts Max on her way to work
and he is to be with her when Logan calls her. He follows her around,
but when he sees his other self close by, he leaves her side. That
just happens to be the time that Max sees fit to ditch him and start
hopping on rooftops. After she takes the call, she is reminded about
the mysterious deaths. Now she goes looking for Alec, but finds the
'other' Alec.
Alec starts to swear briefly, but then ducks out and starts
looking for Snake. At about the same time, but just a little while
before, Snake is watching himself and Logan talk. He is standing
outside, smoking. Snake's cell rings, and he answers it.
"What?" he asks.
"I lost her. The other me and her found each other." Alec
answers.
"Dammit! I got to go stop myself now." he says, but just as
he is saying that, the other Snake drives off too fast for him to
chase.
"What happened, Snake?" Alec asks.
"Let's go to Logan's. It'll all end there." Snake says.
"What do you mean?" Alec asks again.
"That way we have 2 chances," Snake explains, starting to walk
now.
"I don't get it, but I'm still going," Alec says, "as long as
there's a way for us to help her."
When Alec gets almost to Logan's floor, he meets Snake at the
stairway, since Snake was waiting for him. The two walk those final
steps together and Snake knocks on the door. Logan hurries to the door,
expecting Max there early. When he opens it, his expression turns to
disappointment. Logan invites the two in, and he asks Snake about
Alec, and he just shrugs it off.
"What brings you two here?" Logan inquires.
Snake closes the door and Alec is the one to answer, "Well, it's
sort of about Max."
"Didn't I just talk to you about that, Snake?" Logan asks.
"One thing that neither of us knew then was that she's one of
the problems." Snake answers, vaguely.
"What do you mean?" Logan is puzzled.
"Well, her virus can kill other people, not just you, like Snake
here." Alec says, pointing to Snake.
The three argue for a long while, and don't agree upon anything.
Alec and Snake keep telling Logan what is going to happen and how they
could stop it, but Logan fails to believe them. In failure, the two then
exit and are going to just try to stop Snake.
The two start their walk down the stairs, quiet. Both of them
have not said a word to each other since they left Logan's room. The
tension is thicker than mud, and then descend down the stairs, slowly,
and time seems to be slowing down all around them. The first to pass
them by is Max, and they both turn to look at her. But Max just keeps
walking, up and up. They turn back down to see Alec running down the
stairs. As they descend further, they look down the stairway. Snake
then sees himself. The other Snake doesn't see him, though and Snake
starts to run down to stop him. But, just as they are only a couple of
floors away, both Snake and Alec disappear as if they had never been
there.
The two fall on the ground of Otacon's lab. Snake gets up and
starts telling Otacon to send them back, shouting obscenities and all.
Pounding on the ground and the machine, frustrated, trying to get back.
When he turns his head back, tears in his eyes, to look at Otacon, he
sees that he's not there. Neither is most of the equipment. While Snake
and Alec were gone, FOX-HOUND had found out about this rogue operation
and taken most of the equipment away to be shipped off. The piece that
Snake had been pounding was attached to the floor, and so it could not
be taken.
"YOU!" Snake says, angry, tears in his eyes, his face turned red,
"You knew about this all along."
"I thought..." Alec says, tears in his eyes, looking away in guilt,
"...I thought... maybe, maybe... we could... do something different."
Snake now feels truly helpless. He sits there, on the floor, with
a face painted with guilt, with tears. Alec walks away and closes the door,
which is the only reamining light source of the dark room. Despite all his
best efforts, Snake has failed. Just then, his cell phone rings. Snake
picks it up.
"Snake?!?" the voice is familliar.
"...what? Aren't you... isn't this..." Snake says, not believing
what he is hearing.
"I know, I'm as surprised as you are. My doc, Sam Karr can explain
better, tough" Logan says, handing the phone to the doctor.
"Well, you see," the doctor says, "Because of his exposure to your
mutated strain of the virus, Logan then was not as susceptible to the virus
as he was before all that. He still lost all his energy and things, but he
didn't die." the doctor explains.
"But... the girl..." Snake says, voice breaking.
"Well, they were lucky I was in the neighborhood, and just after you
left, I called paramedics, and she was saved." the doctor explains.
"So... they're going to be alright?" Snake asks.
"Yes... and now your mutated FoxDie saved Logan." the doctor says,
reassuringly.
"But... how did you know about that and all of this?" Snake asks,
more puzzled than ever.
"Don't worry about that... you're going to figure it out eventually,"
the doctor answers. And Snake does understand.
The End.
I do not own Dark Angel nor do I own Metal Gear Solid. I do not own them nor the
characters portrayed in them. I do not claim to own them. Don't sue me, please,
I'm really really poor. By the way, this piece of work is Copyrighted by
Rocky Valkyrie 2002, all rights reserved etc. etc. Rockythehercules@yahoo.com
AUTOR'S NOTE:
This fanfic is not very good. I can tell you that in advance. Any and all
convulsions, regurgitations, vomiting, swearing and etc. cannot be attributed
to me or my Fic. Legally. Please? ;;^_~ Enjoy the fic, if and only if you can.
Also, I aplogize for my last fics, which was really REALLY bad. Smoking is
hazardous both to your health and to your sanity. Especially weed.
The Future is Bleak- Don't Speak
Based loosely on Dark Angel, and includes characters from Metal Gear Solid
By Rocky Valkyrie
"What the hell's the hold up, Emmerich?" Snake demmands, sounding like
an angry redneck.
"Patience, Snake, the best things only come with time." Emmerich
scolds, without looking, but waving his finger.
"I'm tired of waiting. We've got to get moving." Snake says, turning
Emmerich to face him.
"Shh!" is Emmerich's reply, "The past isn't going anywhere."
"Damn scientists!" Snake mutters, letting Emmerich go.
"I'm not exactly a humanist, but I can tell you're angry." Emmerich
says, methodically, "But you can't let your anger impair your judgement."
"I'll impair you!" Alec shouts, coming at Emmerich. But he's stopped
by Snake, who grabs his arm. Alec looks back to see Snake, Snake is there,
shaking his head slowly, almost fatherly.
Emmerich is only distracted momentarily by him, before a second is up,
he returns to making maintenance checks on the machine. Then he says, "Keep
it down. Smart man trying to work here."
Alec turns around heads for the stairs. Frustrated, he punches the wall
to the side of the stairs before heading back up. Snake walks to the stairs,
also, and follows behind Alec, though not too close.
When Snake gets up to the end of the stairs, he doesn't find Alec.
Just a bit concerned, Snake discreetly starts looking for him. Pretending not
to look for him, just walking nonchalantly, Snake starts to look for Alec. He
finds one of the doors to one of the outdoors training facilities open. He
walks through the door and sees Alec, wailing away on a defenseless tree.
"However hard you it, it's not gonna hit back." Snake blurts out.
Not seeming to hear him, Alec hits it again, but then says, "What
the hell are we waiting for?"
"Otacon needs to check the thing out or it might not work," Snake says.
"What's taking him so long, then?" Alec demmands, punching the tree
again.
"That's not what you're really mad about, is it?" Snake asks, sincerely.
Alec doesn't say anything yet, but looks down and away, balling his fist,
"What do you know?"
"I know, I know. You're pissed cause you did it to her. And that you
couldn't do anything about it..." Snake says, guessing.
"Yeah, but... but that's not it..." Alec says.
A voice interrupts from the doorway, "It's that he's afraid he might
not be able to do anything, that he might not change anything."
"I was going to say it myself," is Alec's response.
"Are you done, Emmerich?" Snake asks.
"All we need to do it is you two." Otacon answers.
The three descend down the stairs, and the two test subjects follow
intsructions, and eventually, they are put in a small room. Otacon proceeds
to press some buttons and do some other things, then he presses a big red
button. The room that Snake and Alec are in airlocks and starts to let some
cold air come out at them. The two freeze in seconds, and before long, they
disappear. Otacon inspects the room, but they're not there anymore. He
sighs and hopes for the best.
In an instant that feels like forever, the unlikely pair reappear
in the not-too-distant past. Snake recognizes the place as the diner where
he and Logan met just that day, but a few days, 3 days, prior to their
meeting. No one seemed to have noticed, and the two just sit there quietly,
trying to collect themselves. Snake knows the date because of the black-
and-white swimsuit poster-calendar on the wall with "x"s on it.
Snake gets up inconspicuously and steps out, and Alec follows suit
a few moments later. The two walk around for a while, wondering if the
thing had really worked. Alec is clueless about the time. Snake walks with
assurance, not anywhere really, just around, watching the roads closely,
with careful inspection.
Then they see something that causes both their throats to go dry.
It is Max, living, and she is walking carelessly down the road, talking
to Original Cindy, not really watching where she is going. Snake hesitates
for just a half a moment, and then starts moving forward again. Alec
retreats into the shadows, but Snake pushes on, and when the two are very
close, Snake's arm brushes against Max's. Suddenly there's a sharp pain
in his arm.
A cold sweeps through his body, then it is replaced by a fierce
heat, burning right underneath his skin, waiting to burst out into flames.
Snake falls down, unconscious, and loses all of his energy in a single
moment. But because of the condition of his immune system due to the
unusual cyrogenics performed on him, instead of killing him, the new
string of FoxDie just mutates into a newer one. But Snake gets up,
confused, unharmed, and, still puzzled, walks away to a nearby park to
sit down and relax.
Alec follows not far behind. When Snake reaches the park, he
quickly finds a bench and sits on it, and starts sitting there, gloomily,
rubbing his temples. Alec comes and without actually looking at Snake,
and without looking as if he is looking at Snake, sits down next to
him.
"What happened, Snake?" Alec asks, cold sweat dropping from his
crumpled brow.
"I don't know. I should've gone..." Snake says, off in his own
world somewhere.
"Dying won't bring them back, man," Alec says, sounding like he
is giving advice, "and what happened?"
"I don't know. Must have been something to do with that time
machine thing," Snake muses.
"Well, whatever it was, it saved your ass, and now we got to
go stop you from killing her." Alec says, sounding like he's in charge.
"Well, we seem to be 3 days too soon," Snake says, confusing
Alec a bit, "But that just gives us time to plan."
"What do you mean? How do you know that? You wearing some sort
of crazy watch thing that went back in time?" Alec asks.
"I looked at the calendar at the diner." Snake states plainly.
"So how do we stop it?" Alec asks.
"Well, we've got to make plans." Snake says.
"What kind of plans?" Alec asks.
"Whatever, just remember that if we touch or come in touch with
ourselves here, we might change history for the worst." Snake explains.
"Right, so no future-spoiling for me or you, right. Wait, I think
I have an idea..." Alec says.
"An idea? Pfft! Let's hear it, kid." Snake says cynically.
"Why don't we tell Max or Logan?" Alec says, stroking his nose.
"Not Max, she'll think we're crazy. Maybe Logan, but only if
there's no other way." Snake says, his hands cupped in front of his face.
"Right. Like there's any other way now." Alec says, not leaning
back and putting his hands at the back of his head.
"We have three days." Snake explains.
"Right now we need to go get a room or two to stay in." Alec says.
"Well, then let's do it." Snake announces.
So the pair, still dazed from their trip, make their way to a
nearby hotel. Not the one where Snake had chosen to stay in that town
before, but still a low-class place, just about the same quality as the
one he had stayed in before. Alec whines a little and wretches at the
tiolet's condition, but they decide to stay there. Just for the few
days.
The next day, Alec wakes up alone. He walks around for a while in
the room, looking for Snake, but he doesn't find him. Snake had left much
earlier to scout around and snoop around to find out more about Max and
Logan's daily routines. Alec himself starts to just slum lazily about the
room.
Alec never wanted to be a hero, well, he may have a bit, but what
really drove him to travel back in time to save Max is guilt. Alec feels
responsible, although his conscious self may not know, for Max not being
able to touch Logan. He doesn't remember, or maybe his memory is selective,
and forgets what he chooses not to remember, like his reasoning for doing
that to Max. It kills a part of him, although he doesn't know it exactly.
More likely than not, it was out of jealousy and frustration. He
was, as he knew, about to be Max's perfect mate, and it was taken away,
all because of him. This destiny promised to Alec, seemingly bleak as it
was, Alec anticipated it, Alec waited for, he wanted it, because it was
better than he had.
Now Alec starts to yawn, his mouth lazily gaping open, letting a
lot of air and light into it. He sinks deeper into the chair that he's
sitting on, and his shoulders begin to slouch forward. He blinks his eyes
a bit, repeatedly, and his head nods down, but he regains consciousness
in an instant, waking himself up.
Alec gets up and puts on the parts of his wardrobe that he was
not wearing while he was sleeping. He just walks out and goes down, and
after, he starts heading for the Crash. He walks slowly over there and
starts to drink. But he leaves before the other him gets off of work and
comes to drink. Alec then remembers something: That was the day that he
paid more money for his drinks than he had owed. Maybe this HAD happened
before already. Were they really changing history?
There's no time for Alec to think, and he goes off to look for
Snake. Snake is busy trying to tail Logan and Max simultaneously. But
after 9 hours of going to and fro tailing the duo, Snake retreats to
a local bar. Just then, he sees someone he hadn't seen in a while, a
fellow ex-FOX-HOUND.
Snake greets him, "Hey, Etoile."
The quite tall, dark woman turns around, "Snake! What're you
doing here?"
"Nothing much," Snake says, approaching her.
"Still up to your old antics?" Etoile asks, "You're still in our
industry even when you've been retired for a while."
"Can you tell?" Snake says, feeling a bit guilty.
"Of course," Etoile answers him, "So what you want here."
"Ah, not much, it's not really business right now." Snake says.
"Rescue mission?" she questions.
Snake sighs, orders a beer, and then answers, "You know it."
"Who?" she asks.
"Remember Logan?" Snake puts out there.
Etoile nods, then asks, "From the 'Ruse' op? Of course, he was
a little doll back then."
"Not just Ruse, but that's the only one we were all in together."
Snake adds on, not really needed, but seemingly the right thing to say,
"Well, it's got to do with him."
"Yeah, I heard he lives around here. So it's him, or is it his
request?" she asks.
"Not his request--" Snake admits, softly.
"...but against it?" Etoile interrupts.
"Well, it sort of is him. And someone else, but it's my own
choice, Etoile," Snake adds to his admittance.
"Ouch. Those are tough, the 'save them from themselves' ones,"
she says, in a smart-aleck tone.
"Nothing worse than those," Snake finally adds on.
"You sure, sweetie pie?" Etoile asks.
"Yeah," Snake says, finishing his beer quickly, "so you wanna
take me home?"
"Is that an offer?" Etoile asks, raising her eyebrow.
"No, it's a request. I need to get back to the place I'm staying."
Snake answers, plainly.
Pouting, Etoile takes Snake to her car and the two drive off.
Then, later, when they are about 2 blocks away from his hotel, Etoile
stops the car and they walk to a park on the way. They start to talk
a bit about the past, reminicing about the good and bad times. Then,
the night is ended with an innocent kiss to the cheek from Snake to
Etoile, and then Snake hurries off.
Just moments after Snake is out of sight, Etoile falls dead
down on the cold floor. Etoile was one of the original carriers of the
FoxDie, and Snake's FoxDie had mutated to kill all bearers of the
FoxDie. Including Max or himself if either of them got in contact with
him. But unlike the others', his now-mutated version incubates in
minutes, not seconds.
Upon Snake's arrival home, he finds the place empty. He goes
to sleep with many thoughts in his head. What was he to do? He has
so many ideas that plagues him in his sleep, as is his wont. Snake
sleeps, but finds no respite in it. A few hours later, a drunk Alec
comes home, feeling useless. He falls on the floor and instantly
falls asleep.
The following day, it is Snake who is left by Alec. Alec
leaves early that day because he remembers what had happened in his
drunkeness that night. He goes to Max to apologize, and after a
short, but bitter argument, she forgives him. Hours later, though,
the other Alec falls victim to her anger yet again, but that time
just as usual.
Snake wakes up, takes a bath, then goes to a local department
store to buy clothes. He dresses up quite nicely, and pays with a
fake credit card. He then goes out again to fill his daily routine
needs. He plans for the next day, quietly, in a library. Solid
Snake is not a man who rushes into things, and now he would show
his prowess in careful planning.
Alec has now won the forgiveness of Max, and he wipes his
sweatdrops. He then leaves before the other Alec comes. So with
that done, Alec leaves the workplace to think of things to do
about their 'situation.' How would he save Max, he asks himself.
But he has no answers, he never had them. Deep in his hearts, he
knows that he loves Max, and he would do anything in his power
to help her, but... he can't help but feel helpless in that sort
of situation.
Snake, on the other hand, has forgotten all about his guilt
and is now calm, collecting and confident again. He feels the adrenaline
surging through him like it did when he was younger and just starting
out at FOX-HOUND. He maps out a course of action, 3 of them, actually,
and he knows what he is to do. Snake then returns to the hotel and
waits for Alec. When Alec does come back, Snake greets him gruffly and
then he breifs him on what to do. Alec is almost remedied of his
feeling of helplessness as snake reassures him.
The next morning, the pair wake up early and change, then
they set off to work. Alec goes and intercepts Max on her way to work
and he is to be with her when Logan calls her. He follows her around,
but when he sees his other self close by, he leaves her side. That
just happens to be the time that Max sees fit to ditch him and start
hopping on rooftops. After she takes the call, she is reminded about
the mysterious deaths. Now she goes looking for Alec, but finds the
'other' Alec.
Alec starts to swear briefly, but then ducks out and starts
looking for Snake. At about the same time, but just a little while
before, Snake is watching himself and Logan talk. He is standing
outside, smoking. Snake's cell rings, and he answers it.
"What?" he asks.
"I lost her. The other me and her found each other." Alec
answers.
"Dammit! I got to go stop myself now." he says, but just as
he is saying that, the other Snake drives off too fast for him to
chase.
"What happened, Snake?" Alec asks.
"Let's go to Logan's. It'll all end there." Snake says.
"What do you mean?" Alec asks again.
"That way we have 2 chances," Snake explains, starting to walk
now.
"I don't get it, but I'm still going," Alec says, "as long as
there's a way for us to help her."
When Alec gets almost to Logan's floor, he meets Snake at the
stairway, since Snake was waiting for him. The two walk those final
steps together and Snake knocks on the door. Logan hurries to the door,
expecting Max there early. When he opens it, his expression turns to
disappointment. Logan invites the two in, and he asks Snake about
Alec, and he just shrugs it off.
"What brings you two here?" Logan inquires.
Snake closes the door and Alec is the one to answer, "Well, it's
sort of about Max."
"Didn't I just talk to you about that, Snake?" Logan asks.
"One thing that neither of us knew then was that she's one of
the problems." Snake answers, vaguely.
"What do you mean?" Logan is puzzled.
"Well, her virus can kill other people, not just you, like Snake
here." Alec says, pointing to Snake.
The three argue for a long while, and don't agree upon anything.
Alec and Snake keep telling Logan what is going to happen and how they
could stop it, but Logan fails to believe them. In failure, the two then
exit and are going to just try to stop Snake.
The two start their walk down the stairs, quiet. Both of them
have not said a word to each other since they left Logan's room. The
tension is thicker than mud, and then descend down the stairs, slowly,
and time seems to be slowing down all around them. The first to pass
them by is Max, and they both turn to look at her. But Max just keeps
walking, up and up. They turn back down to see Alec running down the
stairs. As they descend further, they look down the stairway. Snake
then sees himself. The other Snake doesn't see him, though and Snake
starts to run down to stop him. But, just as they are only a couple of
floors away, both Snake and Alec disappear as if they had never been
there.
The two fall on the ground of Otacon's lab. Snake gets up and
starts telling Otacon to send them back, shouting obscenities and all.
Pounding on the ground and the machine, frustrated, trying to get back.
When he turns his head back, tears in his eyes, to look at Otacon, he
sees that he's not there. Neither is most of the equipment. While Snake
and Alec were gone, FOX-HOUND had found out about this rogue operation
and taken most of the equipment away to be shipped off. The piece that
Snake had been pounding was attached to the floor, and so it could not
be taken.
"YOU!" Snake says, angry, tears in his eyes, his face turned red,
"You knew about this all along."
"I thought..." Alec says, tears in his eyes, looking away in guilt,
"...I thought... maybe, maybe... we could... do something different."
Snake now feels truly helpless. He sits there, on the floor, with
a face painted with guilt, with tears. Alec walks away and closes the door,
which is the only reamining light source of the dark room. Despite all his
best efforts, Snake has failed. Just then, his cell phone rings. Snake
picks it up.
"Snake?!?" the voice is familliar.
"...what? Aren't you... isn't this..." Snake says, not believing
what he is hearing.
"I know, I'm as surprised as you are. My doc, Sam Karr can explain
better, tough" Logan says, handing the phone to the doctor.
"Well, you see," the doctor says, "Because of his exposure to your
mutated strain of the virus, Logan then was not as susceptible to the virus
as he was before all that. He still lost all his energy and things, but he
didn't die." the doctor explains.
"But... the girl..." Snake says, voice breaking.
"Well, they were lucky I was in the neighborhood, and just after you
left, I called paramedics, and she was saved." the doctor explains.
"So... they're going to be alright?" Snake asks.
"Yes... and now your mutated FoxDie saved Logan." the doctor says,
reassuringly.
"But... how did you know about that and all of this?" Snake asks,
more puzzled than ever.
"Don't worry about that... you're going to figure it out eventually,"
the doctor answers. And Snake does understand.
The End.