Title: Metal Gear Solid: New World Order- Chapter 2: Otacon's Genius
Author: The Ice Goddess (FrozenBlueIce)
Fandom: Metal Gear Solid
Feedback: All feedback is welcome, whether it be negative or positive. I'm trying to improve on my writing so, please be honest: frozenblueice@yahoo.com
Pairings: Snake/Otacon (my personal favorite ^_^), Raiden/Mei Ling
Series: This story is a sequel to Metal Gear Solid: Elements of Destruction.
Rating: PG. (this chapter only)
Disclaimer: All characters appearing in previous Metal Gear Solid video games are the property of Konami Computer Entertainment of Japan, and of their creator, Mr. Hideo Kojima. All new characters are the property of The Ice Goddess. This is a work of fanfiction, and in no way, shape, or form will I receive any monetary compensation for it. It is for entertainment purposes only.
Type: Action/Shounen-ai
Summary: This story immediately follows the events of Elements of Destruction. A strange photograph prompts Snake and Raiden to go out and search for Olga's child. The problem is, they don't even know where to begin. When the trail finally leads somewhere, other surprises are there waiting for them.
Chapter 2: Otacon's Genius
"Here you go," Solid Snake said, offering a fresh cup of black coffee to his hard-working partner. Otacon gratefully took it, recharging himself with the caffeine-laden drink. He set the empty mug down next to his mouse pad that featured artwork from "Gundam Wing".
"Much better," he said, continuing his rhythmic keystroking.
"How's it coming along?"
"Well, I did find out a few things," the engineer answered as he kept on working.
There was silence as Hal, who was so engrossed in what he was doing, forgot to complete his thought. Snake grew a bit impatient waiting. "And…?" he prompted.
"Oh, right," the other said, coming back to that train of thought. "My suspicions were correct. The satellites that are transmitting Raiden's location are on GLONASS (Global Orbiting Navigation Satellite System), or Russia's version of NAVSTAR."
"That's strange," Dave said knitting his brow, "I would have thought that with the Patriots involved, they would have been using the American satellites."
"They may just be trying to keep all of their activities under wraps from the official government," Hal suggested, his hands still flying across the keyboard.
"I don't know, but something strange is definitely going on around here."
Otacon suddenly clapped his hands together. "Yes! I'm in!"
Curious, Snake leaned over to look at the screen. He saw lines upon lines of text in the Cyrillic alphabet intermittently interrupted by strings of complex numbers. The mercenary scratched the back of his head. "What exactly am I looking at?"
"You're looking at total access to all of GLONASS' systems."
"How the Hell did you manage that one, Hal?"
The engineer looked up at his partner and proudly smiled. "Does a magician ever share his secrets?"
Dave kissed his cheek then tousled his hair. "Get back to work, you cocky asshole."
Otacon chuckled, and began scanning the network for information.
***
"So, you found the location of the program that's tracing the beacon in Jack's implants?" Mei Ling asked for confirmation.
"That's right."
"Great, bring them by later and I'll start inputting that info into my program override."
"We should be there around six-ish. I want to compile a disk with all of the pertinent information and then grab a shower," Otacon told her.
"We'll be here. Later!" Mei said cheerfully, signing off.
Raiden stood over by the sliding glass door, rocking Iroquois to sleep. The baby lay on his father's shoulder, wrapped in a quilt to keep him warm, his eyes heavy as he struggled to fight his drowsiness. Iroquois yawned, then snuggled deeper into Jack's shoulder.
When the baby lost the fight to keep his eyes open, Jack laid him in his makeshift bed and gestured for Mei to join him out on the balcony.
It was mid-afternoon. The hot sun beamed down hard on Raiden's cold body. His stomach tightened up, twisting itself into knots. He supposed he could stand it for a little while so that they could talk without disturbing Iroquois' nap. Beads of sweat made their way to the surface of his skin, his already pale face losing its last ounce of color.
"Are you alright?" came a concerned voice from next to him.
He nodded in response. "Mhmm. I'll be fine." He looked out at the city streets fifteen stories below him. "So what did Otacon have to say?"
"He cracked through the satellite network late this morning. He's bringing me a disk later so that I can finish up that program I pulled together."
"Do you think it'll work?"
Mei's gaze dropped to the floor. "I hope so. I'm just worried about messing something up. I could inadvertently kill you just by making one wrong move."
Raiden turned back to face her. He reached out his arms and pulled the woman into his embrace. The coolness of his skin cancelled out the blaring heat of the sun making Mei feel more relaxed and comfortable.
"I trust you," he told her simply.
"I suppose it is as they say: 'A person who has lost confidence, can lose nothing more'."
***
Four hundred fifty-three.
Four hundred fifty-four.
Only forty-six more sit ups until Solid Snake was finished with his daily routine. He made it a point to run fifteen miles on the treadmill, as well as complete five hundred, one-handed push-ups, half with the left, and half with the right, five hundred weighted squats, and five hundred sit-ups every day.
Sweat coated his skin in a fine gloss as he sped up, eager to finish. He forcefully exhaled with each rise as his abdominal muscles burned.
Four hundred ninety-eight.
Four hundred ninety-nine.
Five hundred.
The seasoned warrior pulled himself to his feet, stretching his arms up to the ceiling. Though slightly exhausted, his body felt charged. The only thing left was for him to take a shower, but his partner was already in the bathroom.
***
Otacon turned on the water in the shower and waited for it to warm up. He undressed himself, placing the clothes neatly into the hamper. Looking down, he noticed Dave's towel lying on the floor again. He rolled his eyes, then chuckled to himself as he picked it up and threw that in along with his clothing.
Steam clouds began to sneak past the curtain indicating that the water was ready. Hal tested it on the back of his hand before stepping in. He stood under the massaging spray for a minute, letting the hot water beat hard against his back. Leaning against the wall and closing his eyes, the knots in his shoulders began to untangle. He imagined his flesh being kneaded by Snake's strong hands the way he had done in the Hotel in Russia and relaxed even further. He could almost feel his statuesque body pressing up close behind him.
"Snake?" he jumped, suddenly aware of his partner's presence. "What're you doing in here?"
"I just finished my workout. I needed a shower," he answered plainly.
A deep red blush made its way to tint Hal's cheeks. "I just got in."
"I know," Dave said moving his hands down to massage his lats. "You looked like you could use one of these."
Hal drew his breath in deep and released it in a contented sigh.
"So, after we get the tracers offline, what's the next step?" Snake asked, rubbing soap into a washcloth and scrubbing his partner's back.
"We search the underground. Raiden's depending on us."
"Why can't we just let the kid be? He has his son to take care of now."
Otacon shook his head. "Whether you like it or not, Snake, he's a permanent part of Philanthropy now, and you'll never convince him to quit. He's too committed to the cause."
Snake grumbled in defeat. "Well, what do we do about his appearance in the mean time? Even with the override protecting his position, he can't go walking around in public like that. He'd stick out like a sore thumb."
Dave finished washing Hal's back and handed the cloth to him, turning his back to his partner. Otacon took cue and returned the favor.
"I've already thought of a solution to camouflage the implants," he told him. "The solution to the ones on his neck and arm is simple. A turtleneck can cover those. Although, I don't suppose that Raiden would be very comfortable in the middle of July walking around like that."
Snake smirked, "I think he can deal."
"Anyways, the one on his face is a bit more tricky." Hal said handing the cloth back to Snake, having finished washing his back.
He grabbed the shampoo/conditioner blend and began to work it into the mass of brown hair that was in bad need of a good cut. Snake had not cut his hair for about six months now, the already unruly style becoming even more disorderly, falling into his eyes whenever he removed his bandana. Hal smiled to himself. He sort of liked it that way.
"I have developed a small device that will attach to the implant itself that will create a holographic projection of Raiden's missing cheek; sort of a virtual makeup job. There are a few bugs I have left to work out, but it should work quite nicely," the engineer explained.
"You can do that?" Snake said in awe.
"Well, yes. I can."
Snake threw his head under the stream of water, rinsing the shampoo from his hair. He smoothed it back out of his face, then raised his partner's chin to face him. "You're pure genius."
Otacon swallowed hard. Dave's beautiful green eyes were just too irresistible.
Author's Notes:
NAVSTAR is the network of satellites that run all of the GPS in the United States. GLONASS is Russia's equivalent.
