Title: Atonement
Chapter 8
Rating: PG
Feedback: Thanks so much for the reviews! Sorry for yet another short chapter, but my stomach is acting up, so it was a mammoth challenge to get a chapter out today at all -_-;; I hope you all like it as the plot thickens… There's still a lot to come!

Chapter 8

"Does this place remind you of somewhere, Otacon?" Snake asked, wondering if it was just his imagination that everywhere looked like…

"Shadow Moses," Otacon finished Snake's thought, and a shudder racked his body like someone had just walked over his grave.

"You alright?" Snake said, noticing Otacon's reaction.

"Yeah, just bad memories…" Otacon said gloomily. They continued in silence, neither wanting to make conversation, and Snake had to be silent and look out for guards. They didn't really know where they were going, but Snake needed a weapon, fast. The guards were few and far between, but when they came they were extremely vigilant and Snake was afraid they'd soon be spotted, and weaponless they wouldn't stand a chance. Not that Snake could do much with a gun once he got it; his right hand was basically out of action, and it seemed even the clone of Big Boss wasn't blessed with ambidexterity.

Snake pulled himself up against a wall and peered around the corner into a room. Seeing nobody inside, but some crates possibly filled with weapons, he ushered Otacon in and followed closely behind. Once they were both in the room, alarms sounded and the doors came down and locked shut. Snake heard a hissing sound and knew the room was filling with gas. He looked up and saw a camera, its red light glowing eerily at them, and cursed for not noticing it.

"Lie flat, don't move and don't talk!" Snake ordered Otacon, who quickly complied. Snake rushed to the crates and pulled out a SOCOM pistol and ammo, and knew it was all over. No gas mask, as he had faintly hoped. He moved over to Otacon and knelt down beside him, coughing deeply as the poison gas filled his lungs.

"Otacon," he said, "I'm sorry…"

"Don't talk…" Otacon replied, barely daring to breathe, taking small breaths in hopes that it would make him live longer.

"Bit late to worry about that now," Snake wheezed, and embarked on a deep coughing fit, the gas choking him, "Hal… I wish life had been kinder to you… I'm a soldier, ready to die at any time… But you…" He wheezed, unable to talk any longer, he lie flat next to Otacon.

Otacon looked across at him, "At least I could die… fighting for what I believed in, next to the man I believed in…" He coughed, his frail body suffering worse than Snake, despite his efforts to stay alive. He took Snake's hand in his and clasped it tightly, and closed his eyes, waiting for the final moment.

Snake heard a whoosh, and the doors opened. Summoning all of his strength in one final effort, he picked Otacon up and made it outside the door, coughing at the fresh air that burned his lungs. He could make it no further, and fell to his knees, putting Otacon down as gently as he could. He took deep breaths, coughing out the poison that filled his lungs. Every sense of his wanted to shot down; every past of him wanted to give in to the darkness, every muscle ached, but he used every last ounce of strength to stay conscious. Coming round a little, he checked Otacon's pulse, it was weak, and he wasn't breathing. He pressed his lips to Otacon's to administer the kiss of life, giving him breath he could ill afford to part with, but had to if he wanted Otacon to survive. His lungs burned from the effort, but still he took deep breaths of air and gave them to his scientist friend. Snake was tainted with the blood of many, but Otacon deserved to live; his only crime had been naivety, and Snake refused to let that be punished with death, even though the rules of the battlefield dictated that only the strong survived. Even they didn't always make it, but Snake refused to give into battlefield logic, not when it concerned Otacon's life.

Snake was relieved when Otacon coughed and opened his eyes; he bowed his head in relief and exhaustion. Otacon was safe; and in that moment he realized he cared about nothing else.

^*^

"Everything is going as I suspected," Leon lied to himself, looking out of his observation window at Metal Gear, "I knew he would betray me for that Solid Snake… What does he have that I don't…? Strength, maybe, but I can offer him strength if he wants it!"

"Sir, ze Metal Gear iz veady for launch!" one of Leon's men said in a thick Russian accent, saluting to his boss.

"Take it to the rendezvous point. My father will be waiting there. Keep an eye on him and the Metal Gear; I don't trust him!" Leon ordered, his eyes narrowing in anger. He hated having to rely on his father again; but this time it seemed the only way out of the situation.

"Vat vill you do?" the soldier asked.

"I'll come along later. I have a thieving pest and a cheating boyfriend to deal with…" Leon said, drawing a gun from his belt and looking at it intently. "Clear out this place, too. I want to deal with them personally," Leon said, "Dismissed," and he shooed the soldier away with his hand as though he were a pest, and continued to look out upon Metal Gear.

"I'm waiting for you, Hal…" he said, staring out of the window, "Come to me now, lover… Neither you nor I can escape our fate…"

^*^

"How are you feeling?" Snake asked his friend. They were both propped up against the wall of the corridor, recovering slowly from their near-death experience.

"Okay, I guess… But where are all the guards? It's eerily quiet…" Otacon observed.

"Good thing, really… We'd be dead otherwise," Snake replied, "Although it does seem strange. That door opening, too… There was a camera in there. Leon must be watching us."

"This is getting creepy," Otacon said, "To think I trusted that guy…" He looked sadly down into his lap, ashamed of how blind he'd been. Leon's touch still felt fresh on him, and he felt dirty and abused.

Snake looked at him, "It's not your fault, Otacon," he said, "How were you to know he was a slimeball?"

"You knew," Otacon replied, "You saw right through him, and at first, I thought it was just a personal difference… But, after the shooting, he changed. He kept asking strange questions in the hospital. I think he knew you were onto him and was threatened by that. That's why I pretended to be blind; I wanted to find out the truth before we embarked on a mission with him… I felt terrible for doubting him. Even now, a part of me begs for some kind of rational explanation; that he's some kind of double agent on our side or something…" He sighed, looking older than he usually did, his eyes filled with sadness.

"Talking about that… Have you ever heard of an organization known as the "La-le-lu-le-lo"?" Snake asked, while he had the opportunity.

"Sounds like some kind of code-name for something," Otacon said, "Do you know anything else about them?"

"Leon only described them as "the powers that be"," Snake repeated what he had learned, "So it's possible he could be working for the government, but whether it's the American government or the leadership of some rouge state, I don't know."

"The men on the boat were Russian," Otacon said, "So maybe it's the Russian government masterminding all this." He shrugged, "We can analyse all the details later, but right now we need to find this Metal Gear and at least try to put it out of action. Only then will we get to the bottom of Leon's intentions."

"Yeah," Snake agreed, "Let's go, Otacon." He rose to his feet, and offered a hand to Otacon, who took it and stood somewhat shakily next to Snake, still not fully recovered from the gas. He gave Snake a weak smile, and Snake gave him a pat on the back, and they continued deeper into the bowels of the facility, not knowing what trials lie ahead…