Title: Atonement
Rating: PG for this chapter
Chapter 6
Feedback: Review or synth3sis@yahoo.co.uk
Notes: Seems it's another short chapter, but it reached a good moment and I didn't want to forcibly prolong it. Please keep reviewing, your input is always appreciated.

Chapter 6

"The insertion method is a rowing boat? Are you out of your mind?" Snake said, gruffly making his final preparations. SOCOM and M9 guns… check… Rations… check , he thought, his mental checklist rolling by as he expressed his dissatisfaction with the arrangements Otacon and Leon had made.

"Well, we don't have much money, Snake," Otacon explained, "We've hired a fishing boat to take us in, but it's too risky to take such a big boat into shore. The only chance we have of getting in without being spotted is to use the rowing boat for the last mile or so. I'm sorry…"

"What's wrong with the boat?" Leon asked, "I would have thought Solid Snake would be used to these things! I doubt the military gave you a private jet for infiltration."

Snake thought of a rebuke, but didn't voice it. He instead continued with his preparations, painstakingly checking and double-checking everything he needed. He was tired of fighting with Leon, and it only seemed to make Otacon look drained and sad. Everything about this mission had been difficult; to make it harder, Mei-Ling had been unreachable and Snake's old military buddies were either dead or so far into retirement they'd forgotten how to fight. Snake wished he'd been able to start a new life like they had, but the battlefield called him like a siren's song; sweet, seductive and serene – and ultimately deadly. He pulled himself from his reverie as he counted his ammunition one last time; Leon had cleared his throat like he wanted to make a statement.

"I'm not coming with you immediately," Leon revealed, "I'll provide backup from the boat until you find the Metal Gear, then I'll leave the guy we hired to look after the boat and come after you. You'll have looked after the guards by then, right?"

"Don't be stupid," Snake replied, "Killing soldiers only alerts the enemy to an intruder presence. We're going in to destroy Metal Gear; human casualties are unwanted and to be a last resort." He was getting annoyed with Leon; he wanted the man where he could see him, not hidden away on the boat telling god-knows-who they were there. Was he purposely trying to annoy Snake? Did he know they were onto him? He'd seemed so transparent the past few days; Snake was beginning to feel the whole thing stank of a set up. However, he didn't have time to voice his suspicions.

"Snake," Otacon said, "To reach the island at the optimum time, we should leave now. We don't have any more time to waste here." Otacon folded his laptop down and put it under his arm, looking nervous about what they would face. He looked to Snake for reassurance, and Snake nodded to him and Leon.

"Let's go," he said, "Let's destroy Metal Gear, for all of humankind."

^*^

They were barely an hour into their mission when things started to go wrong. Snake was edgy, pacing the control room as the rain beat down on the boat, making it sway. Seasickness gripped him, and he took deep gulps of air to stop himself from being sick. He wasn't going to voice his weakness to Leon; he'd exploited every trick in the book to wind him up and he wasn't going to provide the guy with more ammunition.

The captain was a grumpy old man who kept quiet apart from the odd mumble to himself about his ship and how it'd become a mere taxi instead of the grand fishing vessel it'd once been. They ignored him, and he ignored them, and the arrangement seemed to work quite well.

Leon was slouched on the only spare seat in the room, reading a magazine on advanced computer usage. Otacon looked at him oddly; he knew Leon knew all the things that were contained in that magazine, and he felt pained to see their suspicions about him becoming more and more obvious. Everything he said, everything he did seemed to reek of betrayal, and yet he still wanted to believe in him, to love him… He repeated it over and over again in his mind; Leon's a spy , but the more he said it the more painful it was to look at him, to see those intense eyes that had bared his soul, to see those lips that had cried out his name as they made love…

Just then, the boat shuddered and shook, and was still upon the water. The captain kicked a few things and looked around in disbelief. Otacon realized what was happening and his heart sank; the engine was dead, they were stranded in the middle of an ocean, miles from shore… they had to get it restarted! He looked at Snake, but he seemed not to have noticed, it was as if he was in a world of his own, also.

"Snake!" Otacon called to him, "The engine's died!"

Snake snapped out of his thoughts and rushed over to where Otacon was standing at the control panel. The captain was grumbling to himself how it'd been a reliable fishing boat for 30 years. Otacon tapped Snake on the shoulder and indicated he was going to check it out; Snake nodded to him and kept his eye on Leon, who was still calmly sitting with his magazine, acting as though nothing was wrong.

"Are you going to help, or not?" Snake said to Leon, who ignored him and continued reading. Snake was tired of his attitude; it was like having an insolent teenager to look after on top of the mission and the dangers they faced. He wanted to leave him behind on the ship, just so that they wouldn't have him in the way on the mission.

Snake went down to the engine room, fed up with the way the mission was unfolding. As he descended the old wooden steps into the back of the boat, he heard a scream. Otacon! He suppressed the urge to call out Otacon's name and pulled the M9 from his belt, sneaking around in the near complete darkness that filled the bottom of the boat. Every sense of his went into overdrive, compensating for the lack of light in the engine room. His heart beat in his throat, his mind contemplated a million different possibilities; from Otacon having stepped on a spider to him lying dead in a pool of his own blood. Snake pushed that last thought from his mind, focusing on what sight he had, and the sounds he could hear. His heart sounded so loud in the room, and he felt as though whoever was there could hear him a mile away.

He saw faint torchlight, and Otacon lying motionless on the floor. Two figures were there; one crouched down beside Otacon and the other looking around for anyone who had heard his scream. Snake kept himself concealed behind a wooden pillar, looking at the scene. Two against one; difficult odds in such a confined space, but not impossible. He would have to strike hard and fast, and he found himself wishing he'd pulled out the SOCOM instead of his M9 – the desire to save a few enemies' lives would do no good if Otacon were killed. He couldn't move until the soldiers turned away, and they didn't seem to be eager to do so.

Time seemed to stretch on forever as Snake waited for his chance; the infiltrators didn't seem to be in any hurry to leave, and didn't stop looking his way. It was almost as if they were waiting for something, Snake noted.

As a gun barrel pushed through the thick bush of hair on the back his head to press against his skull, he realized what. He didn't even need to turn around to see who it was holding the gun. Suddenly, the whole idea of just "going along with Leon" seemed stupid and poorly planned, and Snake cursed himself for ever thinking of it.

"I hope you didn't hurt Hal," Leon said to the two men who'd shot Otacon. They shook their heads in negative, and pointed to their guns. "Tvanquilizer dart," one said, in a very heavily Russian accented English.

Typical, Snake thought, Well, at least Hal's alive…

That was the last thought he had before Leon struck him over the head and his knees gave way, and the last thing he felt was his face meeting the cold, hard wooden planks that made up the base of the boat.