The MSF has fallen. Those words felt like acid in their tongues as they sat on the helicopter, Kaz enraged about being backstabbed. Big Boss was trying to get him to be quiet as Venom Snake and White Stallion worked on getting the bomb out of the little girl. Most of their medical equipment had been lost during the ambush and evacuation, so the surgery wasn't pretty. Ocelot was staying silent, an unusual trait for him, until they realized Zack was clinging to him like he was a lifeline.
"I got it!" Venom said, a clear relief in his voice as he removed the bomb from Paz's body. "Close her up, Stallion!"
Ocelot listened intently, drowning out the sounds of everything around them as Venom threw the bomb out of the door. He could hear a frequency that they couldn't.
"There's another bomb," the blonde suddenly said in horror.
"What?!" Kaz barked in shock and horror. "Ocelot wha-"
But the blonde didn't answer and made a critical decision, grabbing Zack in his arms and jumped out of the door as the four men called after him in shock.
"Hold your breath, Zack," he told the boy who took a deep breath just before they landed into the water below them.
Ocelot knew the consequences, and he watched through the cloudy surface of the water as the second bomb exploded. He was thankful Zack was young so he wouldn't remember this later...

* * *

"Take him ... and hide," the man said just before he passed out. Kaz and Ocelot were horrified as they watched the two men they cared about most simultaneously fall into a coma.
The two blondes exchanged looks before the nurses all but shoved them out of the room, Clinton was still working on Paz, who was unconscious from blood loss.
"... What do we do?" Kaz asked, looking at Zack who was asleep on his shoulder. "If they find out about Zack-"
"They won't," Ocelot cut him off, clearly in thought. "Boss told us to take him and hide, so that's exactly what we're going to do. No one needs to know whose son he is."
"We can't just leave them like that, Ocelot!" the commander sneered. He was at odds with the fact that him and the Russian were the only two capable after the fact. They didn't see eye to eye most of the time.
"He's not alone." He suddenly sounded way too calm, Kaz thought, and he actually frowned. "Stallion is here and I'll give Eva a call. She can have them relocated somewhere safer. For now, we focus on Zack and make sure he's safe."
Kaz stayed silent for a moment before letting out the breath he was holding, and conceded. It was going to be a hard winter...

* * *

The ranch had needed work; eight years of it lying abandoned had caused some growth and decay around both the house and in the fields. But it was the perfect place - the only place - where they could pretend to be a married couple raising their adopted son. Ocelot watched Zack run ahead of them, chasing a green and black butterfly as Kaz walked around the front of the truck to stand beside him.
"Think this will work?" the younger male asked, watching the little boy as he played in the grass. It was sad when Kaz realized this was the first time the boy had ever actually seen anything besides metal and the ocean.
"Have I steered you wrong before?" the Russian-American asked, a smug smile on his face that absolutely infuriated the blonde. But at the same time, he knew he was right. He usually always was. "It'll be good for him and for us. We have a lot of exploring of this relationship of our own to do. But right now, you better get ready to get your hands dirty, little prince."
"I hate it when you call me that," the blonde growled, just as Zack called for Ocelot off to the side of the house.
"I know, that's why I do it." The gunslinger winked at him and pushed off the truck, heading over to where the little boy was excitedly waiting for them to join him.

* * *
29th May, 1978

"I'm home!" Zack called as he closed the door behind him.
"Welcome home, Zack," Kaz called to the little boy from the kitchen. He was still working on dinner so he didn't get to go greet the little boy properly.
Zack took his boots off and went to head for the kitchen, but was intercepted by Ocelot who smiled lovingly at him. "Uh uh, pasha. Go wash your hands and put your bookbag in your room."
The little boy blew a raspberry at him but complied regardless and went to his room and the bathroom right outside of it.
"He's getting big," Kaz noted as Ocelot entered the kitchen and began to retrieve the dinnerware from the cabinets. "I'm worried he'll start asking for his mother soon."
"He's adaptable, Kaz," the man replied, a smile. "Besides, the coexistence has been good for him and for us as well."
"Speak for yourself."
The two smirked and Ocelot put his arms around the man's waist, kissing behind his ear.
"Do you still dream about it?" the gunslinger asked, watching as the man stirred the vegetables in the skillet. "The song, I mean."
"Some times. Most nights it's just recurring nightmares about John and -"
"Hey." Ocelot turned the man around, gently moving his aviators up which made Kaz squint against the light from the windows for a second before their eyes met, blue on grey. "I told you, when you have those you need to talk to me. I can help ease them until they stop."
"I don't want hypnotherapy, Ocelot. I'm holding onto these nightmares for a reason and some day, it'll be worth it."
"Alright, alright just... Just don't talk about it in front of Zack, okay?"
"I won't, I promise."
The two leaned in and shared a quick kiss just as Zack came in and made a gagging sound, causing both of them to laugh. Timing was everything and the two clearly had none anymore.

* * *
17th September, 1980

"It's been five years, Ocelot," Zack heard Kaz say as he peeked in the room through the crack in the door. Kaz was sitting on the bed, Ocelot was walking out of their bathroom with nothing but a towel around his waist. His hair was down to his cheekbones and starting to turn a silvery color.
"It'll take time, Kaz," he told his lover, pushing his hair from his face. "They were in a helicopter crash, for crying out loud. But they'll wake up."
"Stop," the blue eyed beauty said as he stood up and grabbed the Russian's arms. "Stop lying and tell me the truth, Ocelot!"
The older man was silent for a moment and frowned, sighing. He took his lover's hands and placed them over his heart, against his skin. "I don't know if they'll wake up.. Maybe we're the only one's left, but is that so bad? Aren't you happy here? Happy with me?"
Kaz stayed silent before he pulled his hands out of the other man's, Ocelot looked upset until Kaz pulled him close at the waist and kissed him, his free hand on the back of his lover's head. Ocelot held onto him, returning the kiss immediately and allowing the man to take lead if that was what made him feel better, both unaware of the preteen watching them.

* * *
4th, April 1984

Ocelot drew his revolver at the noise outside of the door and went to the window, pressing his back to the wall. He moved the curtains and blinds ever so slightly to look out and saw someone lying on the porch, he could smell blood.
"Ocelot," Kaz called out quietly but the man made a motion for him to stay with Zack who was watching from behind his guardian in question.
The Russian opened the door, looked down and saw a boy, about Zack's age kneeling next to the body.
"Don't shoot!" he cried, almost literally, his hands went into the air in surrender. The boy's face looked like he'd been beaten to hell and back.
"Adamska..." the man on the porch grunted, holding the wounds in his chest.
"Markov!" the gunslinger said in shock, putting his pistol away and knelt down. Kaz heard the name and ran over to see the man barely clinging to life. "What happened?!"
"C- Cipher..." the man rasped, both looked confused but listened. Zack came out, though Kaz tried to force him away, he didn't move. "Th- they know...where he is.."
"Oh no..." Ocelot whispered, frowning as the man coughed blood, some of it splattered on his face. "Don't worry, we'll work it out."
"Father!" the boy called, grabbing his shirt. Markov put his hand on the boy's face.
"These men...they're allies.. They will protect and..train you. I am..sorry Alek."
"Father!" the boy yelled as tears ran down his face when the man's hand fell from his face. He let out a scream as he closed his eyes and a massive wave of energy sent all of them flying backwards.
Ocelot grunted, sitting up inside the door, looking at the boy in surprise as Kaz pulled himself up off the porch with the same expression behind his aviators. Zack got up from the bottom of the steps and walked over to the sobbing boy, placing a hand on his back. After a moment, the red head turned and hugged onto the other teen who held him close.
"We'll keep you safe, we promise," he told the red head, looking at the dead man sadly. Ocelot and Kaz walked over, looking at the man and the two boys with a frown of their own.
This weren't looking up any more...

* * *

Ocelot buried the man on the back of the property near a willow tree, where he thought he'd be happiest since he always said he could hear nature's voice on the wind. He had only known Markov a short time when he was in his twenties, but he knew that no man deserved to die the way he had, not in front of their child.
"He'll rest easy here, knowing his son is safe," Ocelot told the man as he came in the back door, noticing that Kaz was watching the boy intently where he had cried himself to sleep in a chair. "He's going to have a tough time learning to control that power he has."
"Who was he talking about when he said Cipher?" Kaz wondered aloud, looking at the other blonde who shook his head. "You don't think-"
"Kaz I know where your train of thought is going and the answer is no," the man replied, sternly. "We're not ready yet, it's not time. That boy in there is our first priority."
Kaz sneered, looking over at the red head but tried to calm himself down. "Well if it is him, he'll know the son got away. He'll need a new name to keep people from being supicious of him."
"I'll think of something in our native tongue," Ocelot noted, watching as Zack put a blanket over the boy. He could sense the tension growing between him and Kaz. He scratched at his wrist through his glove and sighed. "May just call him Tretij, since there's three of you now that I'm looking out for. I need to go for a swim. Keep an eye on them until I come back."
The only thing he got was a hum in response as he turned to head back outside. He knew they were on the brink of falling apart, it was only a matter of days.

* * *

"This isn't a good idea," Ocelot groaned, watching Kaz as he packed everything. After the call from Eva, about some soldiers snooping around the area, the inevitable was happening. "Kaz if you go out there-"
"We can't depend on just Eva anymore," the blonde told his partner, closing the suitcase before turning to him. "If the XOF is still after him, they'll get through Zero's defenses and Eva won't be enough."
"And if you go, something bad is going to happen!" the Russian yelled, grabbing the man's wrist when he went to walk away. Kaz drew back and slapped him so hard he fell to the floor from the shock of it.
"Kaz!" Zack yelled in shock, running to Ocelot who sat up, holding his face with an expression between anger and hurt. "How could you do that?!"
"The façade is over, Ocelot," Kaz told him, his voice soft with regret, but his face showing resolve for his choice and anger. "The fantasy that we could remain in hiding was never going to last. You and I both know that."
"You can't just leave like this," Ocelot told him, standing up so Zack followed as Tretij walked in, sensing the tension. "I can't lose you, too..."
Kaz lifted his hand and slowly took off the wedding ring, putting it in the blonde's hand. "I'll radio you in the private frequency as soon as I have a unit together."
Kaz went to kiss him but he pulled away, looking off to the side. Zack slapped his hand away when he reached for him and glared the blonde who sighed and grabbed the suitcase, walking out passed all three of them.

* * *

Zack walked into the room when he sensed the man's pain, the nightmare about the man with no face fading from his mind as he heard Ocelot crying. He frowned, walking around the bed and sat beside him, pulling him close and Ocelot held onto him tightly as the teen pet his hair. It had been over two months since Kaz left the house and he couldn't take hearing the man suffer like this anymore. He pulled away and Ocelot looked at him in confusion until the teen lifted his legs and put them on the bed, pressing one hand to the Russian's chest to guide him to lay down. He swung one leg over his hips like he was getting into a saddle and rested both hands on the older man's chest as they stared at each other. Ocelot was in shock, his hands held up almost in surrender as to not touching the boy anywhere.
"I don't want you to hurt anymore, Ocelot," the teen whispered to him, running his hands along the man's arms and guided him to rest his hands on his lower back. "Let me help you get passed the ache he left you with."
"Zack, this isn't-" the man said in shock, but didn't move his hands. If anything, he dug his gloved fingers into his back. This was not what he'd envisioned when he woke up this morning. "You're thirteen. I don't want to take advantage of you!"
"It's not taking advantage of me if I want it as well," the platinum blonde whispered as he rested his hands on his chest and leaned down, kissing his lips just slightly, enough for Ocelot to feel it but not to seal it. "If I have since I was very little. I watched you and him, many times and it always made me curious. Now that he's not here, let me warm you, body and soul, Ocelot. Teach me how to be intimate."
Ocelot knew he'd probably regret it later, but to hell with it at this point. He was tired of hurting, of ignoring the bond that he knew he had with the boy since they met. He wrapped his arms around the boy and leaned in, kissing him on the mouth for the first time as their eyes closed.

* * *

"Oh, my god, what happened?" Ocelot asked as he went over to the boys and knelt down, looking at the red head's bruising face.
"Some of the kids in the city have started picking on him, calling him a monster," Zack informed the man, rubbing his knuckles. They were red and bruising as well, which told the man that Zack had to fight some of them off. "Tretij can't go anywhere without people treating him like a freak."
The Russian man moved to sit on the couch, pulling the boy close to him, so the red head hugged him tightly. He had been expecting there to be complications eventually, but not this soon. Luckily, he was in touch with Laila again and she was a surgeon. He gently guided the little red head to sit back and their eyes met, Ocelot using every ounce of control to keep the psychokenetic out of his mind.
"I know someone who can help, okay? I'll give her a call and you'll get better. Do you trust me, Tretij?" he asked the boy, putting a hand on his cheek to comfort the boy.
The red head looked at Ocelot for a moment, then to Zack, who nodded with a smile so the green eyed boy looked back to their guardian and nodded.
"Yes, I trust you. I want to get better, so I can help you with whatever made Kazuhira leave," Tretij replied with his heavy accent. He looked Zack then. "We both do."
Ocelot smiled and kissed the boy's forehead before standing up and went to get the phone. These boys had too damn much resolve for their own good.

* * *

22nd February, 1985

I'll radio again as soon as I have something new. Kaz said, clearly getting ready to move out from where him and the small group of soldiers were positioned.
"Copy, be careful out there," Ocelot told him before disconnecting the transmission.
He sat back in the chair and rubbed his face, the ring that had replaced the bullet on his necklace, now hanging against his chest catching the light above him. He heard a knock on the door frame and moved his hand to look over. Zack was back from taking his adopted brother to have his bandaging and stitches removed. Tretij was a little scarred, but looking better, though the fact he was floating almost a foot off the floor now gave away that he was still unique. He smiled and stood up, walking over to hug Zack and kissed his forehead before looking at the red haired boy next to him.
"Hey, you look great, Tretij," he told the boy, gently touching along one of the scars. Laila really did a great job, reconstucting that particular part of his left eye. "These will fade with time, don't worry."
"It's okay, Ocelot. Zack says some day I'll find someone who appreciates me the way I am," the red head said with a smile. "You are stressed though, because Kaz is relocating again."
Ocelot sighed and then smirked at the boy. "Stay out of my head, unless I give you permission, kiddo."
"I'm sorry, I can't help it," the boy frowned. "Most times it hurts me too because I can sense so many thoughts at once..."
"He was talking about that in the hospital," Zack said, frowning. "We need more training, Ocelot. Especially Tretij so the pain won't be so bad. If we're going to help you and Kaz bring back the group, we need to get stronger."
Ocelot held his chin in thought, looking at the two boys before his attention went to something on the wall so he went over and took it down. It was a mask of a fox demon that Kaz had left, one that had apparently been passed down from someone in his family. He didn't like it much, said it reminded him of the bad times in his childhood in Japan, but Ocelot knew that even things that held negativity could be given positive memories.
"Let's try this," he said as he placed the kitsune mask over Tretij's face, so Zack reached up and tied the strings at the back of his head. Ocelot knelt down to look at his eyes behind the darkened holes in the mask. "Think of this as a barrier, make it so the thoughts stop at the muzzle. You can't hear them and they can't hear you."
The red head reached up and touched the cheek fur of the mask before nodding to the Russian who smiled and stood up, patting his head.
Now the real training started.