A/N: I own nothing except the laptop I wrote this story on.
They'd been flying back for about three hours now. Early in the morning, the Boss had ordered them to stop at a friendly Afghan resistance base in order to refuel and resupply before the return to the Seychelles and Mother Base. It was also there that they were able to take stock of the prisoners. There were four of them in total, two men and two women. The two men and one of the women thanked Snake profusely for their rescue, but expressed their desire to return to their previous lines of work prior to their incarceration. After paying the appropriate fare, Snake had some of the Muhajideen rebels escort them to the nearest embassy. The village elder made a big deal out of promising their safety, and Snake took him upon his word.
That, of course, left the remaining prisoner. The one that Pequod had "rescued" on his own.
She was sitting in the ACC, on the bench across from where Quiet sat. While the sniper was lying down on her stomach, legs kicked back and forth lazily in the air, the other woman was sitting upright with her arms folded across her chest. She regarded the woman across from her with a raised eyebrow, and then finally spoke.
"So, uh, is there a reason she dresses like that?"
Pequod nearly veered Baby into a nosedive from sheer shock, as Quiet fixed the woman with a cold glare. Snake sighed, in the manner of an exhausted parent.
"Yes."
"…And?" The woman asked. "What is it?"
"She's not at liberty to say." Snake said. "Quiet here isn't much for talking."
The sniper shook her head, and with that reached under her bench and pulled out a worn-looking book. Pequod noticed her doing so, and resisted the urge to do a double take.
"What th-Quiet, is that my book?"
Quiet looked over her shoulder and back towards the pilot, and had a smile like a cat that had just swallowed the canary. The other woman shook her head.
"So, she's a thief too?"
"You're pushing it, sweetheart." Pequod finally said. "Quiet here could kick any of our asses."
"Is that right?" The woman asked.
"It is." Snake said. "I'd suggest against getting her angry." He turned to Quiet. "Which book did you filch this time?"
Quiet held it up so that he could see the front cover.
"Lord of the Flies, huh? That anything like Lord of the Rings, Pequod?"
"No." Pequod said pointedly. He sighed. "No, it is not."
"I might have to read it, then." Snake said, rubbing his chin in thought. "Seems like a good book."
"I, uh, don't know if you'd like it, sir." Pequod said quickly. "It's a little…dark."
Snake just stared up at him, giving the young man a moment to remember who he was talking to.
"I think I can handle it, Pequod." Snake said. He turned to the other woman in the ACC. "First things first: if you're serious about joining our cause, I'm going to be very clear with you. For starters, as soon as we land you're going to be interviewed by my chief intelligence officer. If you've got any secrets to hide, he'll find out. If you're a mole, you will be treated as a traitor deserves." He stared a hole into her very soul with that glare. "So consider this your last chance: do you really want to be a Diamond Dog?"
"Yes." The woman said. "I'd rather be fighting than jerked around."
"…So be it." Snake said. He turned to Pequod. "How much longer do we have, Pequod?"
"A few more hours, sir." The pilot said. Snake nodded, and turned to the woman.
"We have some time to kill. You have a name?"
"My name's-"
"No, not your real name. Do me a favor, and think of your favorite animal. Go."
"Dragon."
Everyone stared at her. Even Quiet put down her book to stare with a confused expression. The woman shrugged.
"What? Wales loves Dragons. I'm a Dragon." She turned to Quiet. "A sight better than 'Quiet,' don't you think?"
The sniper looked like a child who'd just had her sand castle kicked into ruins. The temperature in the ACC seemed to have dropped a few degrees. Snake sighed.
"…Dragon. Stop antagonizing Quiet. That's an order." He said. There was a harshness in his tone that shut the young woman up completely.
…
A few hours later, they arrived at Mother Base. Quiet teleported out of the ACC, drawing a shriek of surprise and shock from Dragon, and a somewhat smug look from Pequod. He didn't like it when the others made fun of or reacted with derision towards Quiet; it was nice to see when the mute sniper got one over on her tormentors. Snake placed a hand on Dragon's shoulder.
"I've notified Ocelot of our arrival. You'll be cleaning up, and then meeting him in Room 101."
"Oooh, sounds secret!" Dragon said. She had a smirk on her face. And then the door opened. She turned towards to Pequod and winked. "See you later, handsome." And then she turned towards Snake. "Thanks for your hospitality, Wujek." She hopped out of the helicopter, and followed a soldier that was to usher her to the showers and then Room 101. Snake watched her go, and then turned back towards Pequod.
"Who's Wujek?"
The pilot bit the inside of his cheek.
…
"…This is a bad idea."
"You always say that, Rabbit."
"And am I ever wrong?"
"No."
"Fuck off."
"Brother Rabbit is right." Bear said, turning towards the gleeful-looking soldier at his side. "You are going to fail, and we are going to have to drag you to Sister Chameleon to put you back together."
"Hey, if I get a chance to see Angel again…"
"Fox, at this rate I'm surprised that she hasn't reported you for sexual harassment."
"Because I know my boundaries, you dunce."
Both Bear and Rabbit exchanged a look.
"Okay, fuck you guys. I'm doing it."
Wounded Fox walked towards his target, and with a loud clearing of his throat got the man's attention.
"'Scuse me, sir."
The man turned to face him. Fox thought he looked like George Bailey from It's A Wonderful Life, if only with shaggier hair.
"What's on your mind, son?"
"Well, you were with the Boss back in the beginning, right?"
The older man took a drag from his cigarette.
"That's right."
Fox took a deep breath.
"So, uh, did you guys practice CQC back in the day?"
The older man laughed.
"Did we do CQC? Oh, we did CQC." He raised an eyebrow. "Kid, we invented CQC." He looked rather amused. "Wait…I know this tone of voice. You want me to show you a few of my moves, don't you?"
"Well, it'd be nice to not get my ass kicked by Bear and the larger guys on base. Philly rage only goes so far, you know."
"I'm from Pennsylvania, kid. If you think that 'rage' is what makes a successful practitioner of CQC, then you don't know anything at all."
"Then teach me, sir." Fox said.
Komodo Dragon looked the young man up and down, and then sighed.
"Fine. I'll train you. But first…" He held out his arm, a carton of cigarettes in his outstretched hand. "Take a cigarette."
Fox did a double-take.
"Whu-what?"
"Just take a cigarette."
Fox hesitated, and then reached his hand out. Quick as a flash, Komodo Dragon switched the pack to his other hand, and smacked away Fox's hand with his now-free hand.
"Ow! What the fuck?"
"Take the cigarettes from me." Komodo Dragon said.
Fox tried again, and this time Dragon side-stepped him and tripped the younger man, causing him to tumble head over feet to the ground. At a distance, Rabbit and Bear turned to face each other.
"This might be brutal."
"I think you are right, brother Rabbit."
"…"
"…"
"Wanna watch?"
"I have my iDroid recording, Brother Rabbit."
…
"Are you sure it was him?"
Miller turned to face the gunslinger, and there was a hateful look in his eyes.
"Positive."
"What's going on?" Snake entered the room, and saw his two lieutenants clearly in the middle of a deep conversation. Ocelot was leaning against the desk that Miller sat at, and nodded a small greeting to the commanding officer. Miller, on the other hand, slammed his fist on the desk.
"The rat-bastard is reaching out to us, dammit! That's what's going on!" He growled. Snake blinked once.
"You're going to need to back up, Kaz."
"Emmerich." Miller hissed, not speaking so much as spitting each syllable. He saw the look that passed across Snake's face, and nodded. "That's right. The same little snake that took so much from us with his 'inspection.' He's reached out to us."
"On what grounds?" Snake asked.
"He wants to defect." Miller snarled. "Defect! I wonder if he said the same thing to Cipher so that they'd spare his weaselly, pathetic skin."
"Easy, Miller." Ocelot said, motioning with his hands for the man to settle down. "We can't speculate on his reasons why he wants to come to us now, only acknowledge the fact that he's clearly unhappy working with Cipher and XOF, and wants to come back." He turned to Snake. "Regardless of how we feel about him, we need him here. Better to keep the devil you know in chains than let the devil you don't know run free."
"…I think you're mixing up metaphors there, Ocelot." Snake said.
"Intentionally so. My point is this: it's better to keep Huey here than let him work with Cipher. And who knows? Maybe he'll have some inside information on the inner workings of what they've been up to for the last nine years."
"And you think that he's just going to give that information up?" Miller asked bitterly. "He's probably spent the last nine years crafting lies and lies and lies to provide an explanation for everything he's done. Nothing he says will mean anything, and you know it."
"Miller, I'm insulted." Ocelot said. "I thought you knew my skills better than that."
He smirked, and a cold shiver went through Snake's skin. When it came to torture and "enhanced interrogation," Revolver Ocelot worked with oils and canvases the way that the rest struggled with crayon and paper. He almost felt sorry for Emmerich.
"Then figure out where his transmission came from, and have the intel team research every last piece of information I can use." Snake said. He turned to Ocelot. "I want every last bit of info available for this mission. It's been nine years; I don't want to lose him now because someone missed something."
"When have we ever let you down?" Ocelot asked, smirking. Snake rolled his eyes.
"Just don't start now."
…
He sat in his chair just outside Baby's ACC, and felt his eyes shut despite his best efforts to keep them open. It had been a long trip in Afghanistan, and he hoped that they wouldn't get called back into duty…at least a few days from now. That was unlikely, so he prayed for at least a day off duty. The other pilots were coming along well in their training, but in the end the Boss kept calling his name as his pilot. It was an honor, but it was also tiring.
He had barely closed his eyes when he sensed that there was a presence next to him. He groaned.
"Dammit Quiet, can't you let a man sleep in pea-"
He opened his eyes.
"Oh."
It was that woman that he'd rescued. She was sitting on one of the other crates strewn out on the helipad, and there was a smirk on her face.
"Did I disrupt your beauty sleep?"
"No. I didn't even get started." Pequod said. There was something that told him he should probably straighten out while talking to her, but then a larger part of him told him to not give a fuck. So he continued to lounge in his chair like a lizard. "I take it your little 'interview' with Ocelot went well?"
"Swimmingly." Dragon said. "I even got an adjective: call me 'Spitting Dragon' now. Pretty badass, I think." She smiled. "Commander Ocelot was so nice. We spent the majority of the time talking about Wales and what it's like. He said he's been trying to learn Cymraeg, though his accent is quite terrible. Did you know he speaks like eight languages fluently?"
"It wouldn't surprise me." Pequod said. "He's a smart guy." He closed his eyes, and hoped that she'd take the hint.
"What languages do you speak?"
"Nie zawracaj mi głowy, nie widzisz, że jestem zajęty?" Pequod muttered. Spitting Dragon giggled. It was a surprisingly cute sound for the way she normally acted.
"That's a rough-sounding language. What is it, Russian?"
Pequod opened his eyes wide as could be, and just stared at her.
"Polish." He growled. Dragon's grin faltered.
"Oh, sorry. Bit of a sore spot, I imagine."
"Just a tad." Pequod said.
There was an awkward silence, until Dragon spoke again.
"I'm sorry, you know."
"I know. And it's alright. I'm just…I've been busy with other things lately."
"What was her name?"
"What?" Pequod nearly fell off his chair. "How did you-who-wha-"
"Please, Pequod. I'm a woman. We can tell. And, if it makes you feel better, she must've been a real bitch to dump you. You're pretty cool, I think. Unless you're not. But I bet you are. Hopefully. Well, I'm headed to the barracks to get situated." She stood up, and brushed her strawberry brown hair out of her eyes. "Good night, Pequod. Say hi to Wujek the next time you see him." She winked, and disappeared.
A rather baffled Pequod watched her go, wondering what the hell had just happened.
A/N: Just another day in the Seychelles. And to any Polish speakers out there, hope I got the phrase right.