The transfer to the fishing boat had been effortless; the men and their captain were happy to welcome the four of them on board without hesitation. The captain informed them that it was because the Diamond Dogs had saved them from drowning in the river when their previous vessel ran into trouble and was taken out. The bitch part had been getting through the storm on the whaling ship before they actually got to the port so they could transfer. Tretij had informed them early on that the Hippokampoi had left the vessel when the waters started to get choppy so that blew Ocelot's theory about the sirens being in the center of the storm out of the water as it were. Still, Zack remained uncomfortable after the incident with the butterflies and the way that the gunslinger had reacted to the news of the creatures following the ship. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was something the man was holding back from him when it came to their presence on the travel. It wasn't like Ocelot to hold things back from him, so it made the teenager suspect that it may have had to do with his past or with the bloodline left to him by his father.
Regardless, they were closer to their destination now.
Vicente was getting his muscle mass back, his appetite has finally started to return as well. The three of them each set a specific role for themselves to play when it came to getting him to the point he needed to be. Zack was in charge of his combat training, lending the knowledge Ocelot has passed down to him of CQC and take down techniques. Tretij was involved with teaching him mental barriers and how to dodge object that were thrown at him without source. Ocelot was still working on undoing as much of the damage to his personality and memories as he could, but he wasn't making much headway in his department. It was to the point by the time they got into the Suex Canal that the gunslinger had decided he had done all that he could for their comrade.
"I'm not sure there's going to be any more of himself I can get back," the man told Zack as they sat in the mess hall alone. The man looked exhausted, like it was taking physical strength of his own to actually do the hypnotization therapy on the man. "Whoever did that imprint on him damn well knew what they were doing and some of his memories are completely gone."
"That's distressing," the teen said with a frown as he watched his lover sip the tea that had been made for him by one of the crew members. "Do you think that it'll effect him in the long run of this operation? I don't want to think that somewhere along the lines he may end up like my idiot father."
"I don't think that will happen." Ocelot set his cup back down and smiled at the boy. "There's enough of him there for him to understand that he's not Big Boss. I can't say he'll always know that, but in the immediate time frame, he'll be fine."
"And you?" Zack frowned when the man looked down. This was the first time they had been alone and not hopped up on adrenaline and hormones so they could actually talk. He knew Ocelot must have still been hurting. "How are you holding up to what he did to you? Do I need to put you under again?"
The man shook his head before looking at the teen again. "No, I have to face the reality eventually. I can't do that if I keep letting you cloud my judgement about it. I know you're worried for me, it's written all over your face Zack. But the wounds can't heal if they're covered in bandages."
"I understand," the teen replied, taking a drink of his own tea. "Just don't push yourself too hard okay? I hate seeing you suffer because of someone else's lapse in judgement and what they thought would best."
"Seems to happen to us a lot, doesn't it?" Ocelot's smile turned sad and they boy's own smile reflected it. "I promise to let you know if I can't take it any more."
The teen leaned his head on the man's shoulder when he placed an arm around him and closed his eyes to try and relax as he felt the gunslinger rest his cheek against the top of his head. The truth was, he was hurting as well over his father's lie, but for a completely different reason. He was hurting because the men he cared enough to endanger himself for were hurting. He didn't care about the vision, not the mission or even the state of the world. He cared about Kaz, Ocelot and Vicente and that's was why he chose to fight: To protect them and give them someone they could rely on. Maybe they were older and wiser than he was, but they had all been betrayed by the same man they trusted most and were vulnerable with a broken heart. He knew enough about suffering in silence to know that if he let them do so, it would only succeed in further destroying them.
That wasn't something that he was going to let happen if he could help it.
The next morning had all of them waking up in a hot, sweaty mess and not the kind that Zack enjoyed occassionally. The ship was boiling because there wasn't much air circulating off the water to cool off the metal hull with the heat beating down on the ship in between the canyon walls. All four of them stripped off their shirts and rolled up their pantlegs with their discarded boots next to the cots they were lying on. Mantis took off the mask and put on Zack's gaiter instead, pushing his hair back out of his face and even Venom pulled his hair into a ponytail. This was that moment when all four of them were wishing their hair was short, except mayb Ocelot.
"Well if I didn't feel naked without Annie being on the ship, I certainly do now," Zack stated, reaching up to wipe the sweat off his face. Ocelot laughed to his left.
"How much longer before we're off this boat, Ocelot?" Vicente asked, reaching up to remove his eyepatch and wipe at the area with his still organic hand.
"Only a few hours, thankfully," the gunslinger replied as he sat up and reached into his coat to pull out his iDroid and clicked on the map to check their location. He could feel Zack looking at him and it did nothing to help his body temperature. "Two, according to our current location."
"Not soon enough," Tretij mumbled as he sat up too, wiping the sweat from his back using the blanket he had discarded to the floor.
"Well, this is good training for when we're out in the middle of the desert. Just think of this as a precursor, Mantis." Zack laughed as his adopted brother threw his pillow at his face. "You wanna go?! Come here!"
Vicente sat on the edge of his cot and watched as the blonde got up, tackling the redhead off of his cot and onto the floor. It was obvious to him that they were very close but the contrast was much too different for them to be related and he didn't recall from Big Boss's memories of having any other children. He looked at Ocelot who was wiping his face with his scarf, which he had removed from his neck but the red leather gloves remained on. If he thought about it, he was sure he could remember why the cowboy always wore then, but it was a memory that hadn't surfaced before Ocelot started doing the repairs to his mind. He opted to leave it alone and instead looked at the two teens again, where Tretij was now sitting on Zack's back with a look of triumph as the blone huffed and put his chin in his hand.
"I do not know why you try, Nymph," the Russian boy stated, looking down at the blonde underneath him. "You always lose."
"You cheated," Zack said to the boy over his shoulder. Tretij rolled his eyes at the remark and missed the blonde's grin. Zack josled the red head off of him and grabbed him, rolling them over so that he pinned him to the floor. "Cheaters are easily distracted by their ego, by the way. I win."
Ocelot smiled fondly at the two teenagers before he noticed Vicente staring at him with thought and it made him stand up and grab his clothes. "Get dressed you three. We'll head up to the deck and train until it's time to transfer."
"Yes sir," Tretij and Zack replied as the blonde got off of the psychokinetic.
Vicente got dressed and followed Ocelot out of the room, which Zack noticed and it made him slightly wary of not following them. But he trusted Vicente from when he was a child, so he finished getting dressed and helped Mantis put his mask on so the men could have a moment to talk together. The blonde stepped out into the heat of the sun and the breeze from the water of the canal before looking at Vicente as he came out behind him so they moved to stand to the side together.
"Ask," was all Ocelot had to say to the man. He could see the questions running through his mind but was obviously waiting for the appropriate time to bring it up.
"Did you and I know each other before all of this?" the man's deep voice rumbled. It was the only thing that they hadn't changed for some reason. It sounded alient to Vicente at times, because he could recall Big Boss's voice being smoother than his own so he had to make himself remember those were someone else's memories.
"Yes, we were close." The gunslinger walked to the side of the ship and looked down at the water, so Vicente followed him. "We met through Kazuhira; the two of you were inseparable when I arrived at the old Mother Base."
"But you were there a lot, too. I remember seeing you around frequently and you stayed close to Kaz."
"We met in Cuba through Big Boss; I'm sure you know that though." He looked at Vicente who nodded. "We grew close over a couple of years, but he followed our ex-leader and I went a different route to make sure that they remained hidden."
Vicente noticed something flash across Ocelot's features and as brief as it was, he recognized it immediately. Guilt. He thought somehow that the MSF falling was his fault? Did he think he compromised their location by meeting back up with them? The phantom wanted to reach out and touch the man's cheek and comfort him, it almost was painful how much he wanted to. But out of respect for the man's boundaries, he didn't.
"It wasn't your fault," the man finally said, catching Ocelot's attention. Vicente looked over the water as he rest his arms on the rail of the ship. "The MSF was in danger from the time that we were formed. Zack's birth was what really undid everything because Big Boss had no right to take him away from his mother like he did."
Ocelot paused and then spoke, barely above a whisper. "Do you think she told him where to find us out of revenge? Does sound like something she'd do. I never trusted her much."
"Your mom liked her too much, so of course you didn't." Vicente mentally slapped himself for letting that slip but was pleasantly surprised when Ocelot snorted and then began to laugh. He looked at him and couldn't help a small smile of his own. It was a pleasant, familiar sound.
Ocelot ran his gloved fingers through his hair and looked at the man with a fondness that he could remember seeing when the man looked at Kaz. "I wish I could say that wasn't true, but I'd probably be lying if I did."
The two men turned when they heard the sound of Zack's boots approaching them and saw him walking up with Tretij beside them. Zack smiled as he pulled his hair into a messy ponytail and Tretij pulled his jacket back on. The blonde was relieved to see some of the light back in Ocelot's eyes after how upset he had looked for the last three days. Ocelot rested his gloved hand on Vicente's arm and smiled, nodding over to the two teens before walking over to them. The two men joined the teens and for the next couple of hours, worked on Vicente's CQC training with each of them taking turns being his opponent while the others rested. When they were fifteen minutes out from the dock, the team went back below deck and gathered their things, Ocelot and Zack watched from the doorway together as Vincente put on his tactical gear this time and adjusted his ear piece to the proper frequency.
"Do you think he's ready?" Zack asked softly as Mantis passed by and went above deck to see if they had arrived at the docks or not.
"He doesn't have a choice," Ocelot replied, looking at Zack. "I can't go out there and help him. Too many of the Soviets know my face from working with the Sixth Star. If they see me-"
"You'll be hunted for treason." Ocelot nodded as Zack looked back to Venom. "Yeah, I had a feeling. I'll go in with him when we get to Da Ghwandai Khar and make sure his head stays on straight."
"You're just as emotional as he is so I'm not sure that's a good idea either, no offense Zack." Ocelot frowned, looking at the teenager. Zack could tell he was worried about them, but he knew Vicente would need help since he was just now getting back into the field of being a soldier and not a medic. "I don't know if you'll be able to handle seeing what they've done to Kaz."
"For the three of you, I'll manage to keep my head on straight." The teen gave him a serious look, placing a hand on his arm. "My top priority is the safety of you three and Kazuhira's rescue. I won't let my emotions cloud my judgement until after we've left the hot zone."
Ocelot sighed and then kissed the boy's temple, hugging him. "You really are becoming the soldier I knew that you'd be."
Zack hugged him back before Tretij appeared at the steps and nodded to them. "We've arrived."
"Let's get going then." Ocelot let the boy go and looked at Vicente as he walked up to them and gave the man a fond look. "From this point on, your training is done. We'll run drills in the mornings before we move on, but for now, consider yourself battle ready."
"Alright," the man replied simply so the three took that as a sign that he was mentally preparing himself for what was head and didn't speak further.
The four disembarked the ship, thanking the men and captain before they left and headed through the village to a clearing on the other side where they found a helicopter waiting for them and a familiar face standing beside it. Pequod smiled when he noticed them walking up and pulled his helmet on to cover his black hair.
"Good to see you again Ocelot," the man greeted and the gunslinger offered a kind smile with a nod. "Venom Snake, feeling better I hope. Nine years is a long time to be down."
"Works out a little more each day," the man replied as he rubbed at the metal of his prosthetic. Zack recognized that behavior and placed a hand on his neck.
"Lives don't go to waste, just because we're not awake," he told the man who seemed to relax just after and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Don't take too long getting used to your new self, Venom. Our commander is depending on us."
"Let's get you all on your way. Hop in."
The group of four got into the back, situating themselves in the seats as Pequod got into the pilot's seat and started up the rotars. For the first time since they found the slaughter at the camp a week and a half ago, Zack was finally starting to have hope that they would reach Kaz in time. He knew that the man must have been holding onto some kind of hope as well, otherwise he was sure Ocelot would've caught information about the Soviets gloating. The boy had to make sure that Vicente got out of the camp with Kaz, even if it killed him in the processs.