A/N: Ahaha. I'm already back. I decided since I had some free time at *Checks clock* 11:54 tonight, I'd post another chapter, to the delight of my readers. Don't worry, the suspense will rise greatly. Heh, I have some ahead chapters written, and there *is* a small sex scene, but not enough to earn an NC-17.

There are three for sure pairings---Rose and Raiden, duh, Snake and the lovely Talena, duh, and if you haven't figured the third one it, you've got problems. Especially after that one paragraph in my last chapter. I'm not gonna focus on Rose and Raiden at all, except for what the game covers, (calling you while you're in a boss battle "Jack, I wanna talk about our relationship…"), the second pairing will be mildly covered, but THIS IS A SNAKE FANFIC! Grassy-ass.

PS. I know I'm gonna drive some people crazy with this, but I'm changing the story a bit, because it's been forever since I've played this particular area of the game.

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"S-Snake…it's…" Talena couldn't believe her eyes. She snapped out of it and watched Raiden, who was walking towards the man with a great look of suspicion on his face. Talena took a moment to gather herself, and then followed Raiden, humming quietly to herself a song she made up.

Clever as the common fox

Deep as the Pacific

Painful ghosts of tales untold

In your emerald eyes…

Bloodstained are your hands

Your face no longer clean

But safe one can always feel

In your emerald eyes…

She locked eyes with him and swooned. It was him! Those green eyes, they matched hers, but they were….perfect. Talena's eyes weren't even that green. The poem! When she had first wrote it, Raiden had thought it was about herself. Talena had just snorted and shook her head. "No, Jack." She had said. "My love's eyes."

He was bandaging his arm which had apparently been injured without her seeing.

They got around to introducing themselves. He called himself Lutenient J.G. Pliskin.

"I'm Raiden." Raiden said, sitting down on the stairs.

"Strange name." Pliskin said lighting a cigarette.

"Makes up for the boring one my parents gave me."

"And you?" Pliskin said twisting around to look at Talena.

"T." She said quietly.

"Why are you on a mission like this?" He asked.

"Because…I'm looking for someone. Someone special to me, anyway."

"Your own personal gain, huh? Careful, that's when everything goes nasty."

"Nastier than it's been for the last two years?" Talena asked sourly, covering her mouth, realizing she had pretty much given everything away.

"No wonder you didn't want me under the name Snake!" Raiden exclaimed excitedly. "Because that's who you're looking for! So, you were the redhead on the Tanker?"

"Yeah." Talena said, sighing.

"No use worrying your pretty little head about him, T." Pliskin said leaning back. "He's dead. They found his body."

"Liar. They are all lies. He's alive." Talena growled. She got up and moved away, tapping up her Codec. "Rosemary? I got a favor to ask."

"Sure, T, that's what I'm here for." Rosemary said happily.

"I want to know if they have confirmed Solid Snake dead."

"Absolutely. I'll call back when I find out for sure."

"You're a goddess, thanks." Talena said, tapping out.

She moved back to where the guys were. "If he's dead, then I have no more reason to live."

"Damn." Pliskin said. "I was going to say that if he's done with you, we could have a little fun in a locker, huh?"

This resulted in Talena's hand colliding with Pliskin's face. "You fucking jerk." But her look told him "I know who you are." Her eyes flooded and she stormed off into the next room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Find the president, huh?" Talena said sourly to Raiden, not looking at him.

"Yeah." Raiden responded quietly. He touched her shoulder, and then her other. "Are you all right?"

"Get off of me, loser." She knocked him away. "Let's just get this fucking mission done. Then I'm out of here."

"We all are, T." Raiden said. "We'll all go and cele-"

"Fuck you and your damn friends, Raiden! If Snake is dead, then what the hell do I have?! That means Otacon is dead, too! I have no one to go home to. No family, no friends, no home, period. And before you ask, yes I am basking in self-pity. Kiss my white ass." Talena growled.

Raiden backed up. "S-sorry."

"Me too." Talena said as quickly as possible, not meaning to snap at him. "It's not your fault."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Otacon flushed furiously. "What was that for?" He asked touching his cheek where she had kissed him.

"I like you a lot, okay? You're really a sweet guy. Plus, I'm not going with you. I'm going somewhere else. Should my calculations be correct, we have an old friend lurking in Big Shell, and I'm gonna go locate her." Meryl smiled.

"Yeah, okay. Keep in touch! My frequency is--"

"141.12! Yeah, I know! Mine's--"

"140.15! Heh, me too!" Otacon smiled and followed a certain Peter Stillman off.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit." The words left Talena's mouth as she watched the bullets whiz by the pretty black woman (A/N: "Who had blonde hair." Otacon: "?!?!?! What the hell?! First Raiden, and now this?" "Hush.") Raiden was whispering something to himself, but Talena couldn't hear. They watched the president be carried off by Vamp, and then the woman slaughter the men shooting at her.

They slid back inside and Raiden stared at Talena. "Oh come on, they have him, but I don't think he's dead yet." She was shaking. "N-no, not that…that woman…I know her…" Talena stuttered. She was scared, and her eyes were darting around. Raiden looked at her sadly, and then tapped into his Codec.

"Pliskin, T is spazzing. She says she recognizes some…some chick who has a sort of…barrier against bullets. I think she's gonna---Holy shit!"

"What?! What happened?!" Pliskin yelled.

"She's passed out! I'm gonna have to call ya back!"

"I'm on my way!"

"Meet me in Strut A! I took out the guard there already."

"Yeah."

Raiden tapped out and then picked Talena up, and did his best to sneak quietly back to strut A, which seemed to take ages. He pushed the computers off a table and lifted her onto it and waited. His Codec beeped.

"Raiden! What happened to T?" It was the Colonel.

"She freaked out. There was a woman down there who had the president with that vampire dude and she had some sort of barrier against bullets and Talena said she knew her and now she's passed out and Pliskin is on his way!"

"…Slow down, Jack." Rosemary said quietly. "Say it at a normal speed."

"Okay, we walked out onto the AB Connecting bridge, and we had to duck. Apparently, Talena knew a woman who was with Vamp. She was black, but she had light hair. She had a gun the size of a small whale, too. Well, some people were shooting at her, and well, the bullets, they just sorta…dodged her. And then she tore those guys up that had been shooting. Then they walked off with the president."

There was a moment of silence on the other end. "We'll have to get the story from her when she wakes up. And as for the president, was he willingly with them?" The Colonel asked, and Raiden was almost angry with him for changing the subject.

"No, he was unconscious." Raiden confirmed.

"Who is this Pliskin fellow?"

"Says he's with the SEALs."

"Don't trust him."

"Well, I won't. And T smacked him 'round the face about an hour or so ago. Pretty amusing."

"Oh, Jack?" Rosemary chimed in. "Yeah?" "Tell Talena that Solid Snake is dead. They have his body, but his right arm was missing. They took it out for testing, though."

"…Oh, okay…" Raiden said, in what he hoped was a nonchalant voice.

"What's the matter?" Rose asked, noticing the droop in his voice.

"I was…sorta hoping to meet the Legendary Hero in person…"

"Raiden," the Colonel interrupted. "There's no time for that." "…" And Raiden clicked out.

~~~~~~~~

"Kid, what happened?!" Pliskin interrogated.

"I told you what I know, the rest will have to come out of her." Raiden said quietly.

Talena woke with Pliskin standing over her. "S…Snake…?" She whispered.

Pliskin leaned close to her and touched her forehead. "You'll be alright." He lifted her head, slowly helping her up. "What happened? Can you tell us who you saw?"

"Helena!" Talena shrieked. "Helena was there! She turned bad! She's not a good person anymore!!"

"Woah, easy!" Pliskin hissed. "Who?"

"That woman with Vamp! I know her! Now she...she's with Dead Cell!!!"