I won't lie to you- this first chapter was an intro one. Let's see how this one fares, shall we?

Thanks for the reviews FernClaw, Hordak's Pupil, Solid Snake's Soldier, Jag Lady, MutantLover09, Andi Mack, Marie Nomad, drybonesreborn

2. Images

It had been going on for quite a couple of nights now. Hal was beginning to notice the symptoms, too- irritability, longing for more sleep, and other things. He wondered if it could have been insomnia, but he knew that more than likely wasn't the case. The twists and turns in bed could practically be heard across the hallway from where he was sleeping. Dave's body would shift from one side to another, muttering and moaning, while Aero would be nuzzling him slightly and circling the end of his bed and whining quietly.

Hal wondered how he got eight hours of sleep with the amount of noise in the house these days.

He sat at the computer for several seconds, staring at the screen and not typing anything. Finally, he stifled a yawn and went back to searching for whatever he could to cure Dave of his problem. "There's gotta be someone on here that knows where this cure is!" he muttered in exasperation. "Or they've got to be insane to ask for a lot of money for the thing."

There was no response to this statement as he continued his search.

It was soft at first. All voices were soft when you first heard them. It tickled the back of his mind as well, taunting him. He had tried to block out the voice, but it just kept returning and whispering thoughts to him.

The first time he had heard the voice, it merely said single words, like "death," "FoxDie," "Snake." At first, he thought it was just a horrible effect with the incidents of the past. PTSD- only with hearing voices and dreaming about incidents and other crap like that. Dave thought it would all pass over time, that he'd get over it within a couple of months. He figured it'd be better than the aftermath of the Zanzibarland incident. But he was wrong.

It haunted him more than he had ever dreamed of.

And it started that morning with a real wake-up call after Hal had left the kitchen.

Dave looked in the cupboard and groaned aloud, shutting the door and placing his hands on the counter. They were all out of meat and nearly running dry of… well, dry foods. He rubbed his head and turned to another cupboard, opening the door and finding a can of peaches inside. Smiling to himself, he walked over to a drawer and fished out a manual can opener, sliding it onto the top of the peaches can and proceeding to open it over the sink. 'At least opening this thing works SOME muscles,' he thought cynically as the lid popped off and…

"Snake…"

He stopped for a moment and looked up and at the wall, hearing a hiss in his ear. The man took a deep breath and closed his eyes. It sounded British and polished- well educated and too familiar for his taste. Dave gritted his teeth, his hands now gripping the underside of the countertop. Oh, yes- this voice that sometimes haunted his nightmares now; the one that always decided to come for him in the middle of the night. The one who once laid claim to the recessive genes of their father, Big Boss.

Liquid Snake.

"Did you like my sunglasses…?" the voice taunted him.

Dave didn't move. He wasn't going to believe in some silly little voice that had begun creeping into his dreams over the past couple of nights. No way in hell that he was going to believe in something like this. But the more he tried to convince himself otherwise, the more he got a feeling of dread in his stomach. A shiver ran down his spine as he clenched his fist. "Liquid…"

He turned around and froze. There, standing right behind him in full form- brown trench coat and all- was his golden-haired brother. Liquid didn't look to be any different than he had a year ago. He had that same smug look on his face clearly screamed "I know something you don't!" He flipped his hair back with a flick of a finger and smirked at Dave. "Hello there, brother," he greeted.

The killer didn't move. He made no sound as his brother slowly walked towards him, his hand out as if he was inviting him. "Liquid?" he whispered, his body against the counter behind him. "I… how…?"

"You really thought I would die from FoxDie?" the man asked casually. "I'm not sure if a little virus can really bring me down."

This… was this real? Was his enemy for eternity really alive?

Dave ground his teeth. "But I saw you die! Right in front of me! Meryl saw you die- you and your bloodied body fell to the FoxDie from the simulated heart attack. There's no way in hell you can be alive!"

Liquid grinned. "Can you explain why I'm here with you? And why in the world the creator of Metal Gear hasn't come out of his computer hold?"

Now that he mentioned it, Hal hadn't come into the room to see if Liquid was really there. Dave shook his head, feeling confusion mix with raw anger. Something was wrong here… really wrong. He eyed Liquid warily. "What do you want? You've failed in everything. Your dreams crashed on your head. They died with the FoxDie!"

"Did they, Snake?" the blonde inquired quietly, taking another step forward, his hand still extended. "Or are they still as alive as ever?"

In frustrated anger, Dave attempted to slap his hand away… only to have it pass right through the brother's hand. Within seconds, Liquid's form dissipated, mist flying away from where his body once stood. Surprise seemed to keep Dave rooted on the spot as he looked at his hand and the spot where Liquid once stood. Swallowing, he let out a low deep sigh. "What the hell?" he muttered.

"Hey, Dave?"

The man turned around at the sound of his companion's voice as he put his hand on the door. Aero whined softly. His voice was flat. "What is it?"

Hal looked worried. "You okay?"

Dave clenched the doorknob, keeping his voice steady. "Of course I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I couldn't help but overhear you in the kitchen. You kept muttering things about Liquid, as if you were having another dream or someone was in there or something." He crossed his arms. "What happened?"

His friend hesitated slightly. Aero nuzzled his leg again in agitation. He opened the door, and she went happily bounding into the snow, greeting her other husky friends with a cheerful bark. Dave shut the door and glanced down at the floorboards for a moment. He contemplated telling the engineer about the little encounter he had in the kitchen, but he didn't need Hal worrying more than he already did.

He looked up at Hal and shook his head. "It wasn't anything really. I was just talking aloud."

"Uh-huh." Hal sounded skeptical. "Look, if you're having more problems with your sleeping habits and stuff, you need to tell someone! You can't just go through life not telling anyone about what…"

Dave crossed his arms. "Look, Otacon. Like I said, it was nothing. I was just talking to myself in the kitchen. Kind of like reenacting a…" He realized the lie was getting him nowhere. "All right, fine. I need to ask you something." When Hal didn't answer, he continued in a lower voice, glancing around for a moment before speaking. "If you heard me talking out in the kitchen before… I need to ask you this."

Hal waited expectantly.

"Did you hear Liquid's voice?"

That most certainly was not what the engineer was ready to hear. He blinked a few times, shaking his head. "N-no, I didn't! Why? Did you hear him?"

Dave said nothing. Hal took the silence as a blatant 'yes.' He shook his head. "When did this start happening?"

"A couple of days ago. Why?"

Hal pursed his lips. "Do you think this is a really long aftereffect of what happened a year ago? Or is this something worse than before?"

Dave shrugged. "I don't know. But I hear Liquid's voice every now and again, and it's just taunting me from the day on the island." He grabbed the handle to the door in frustration. "I don't get it, Hal. Why now? Why these stupid memories and the whisperings in my ear? What did I do?"

"I don't know," Hal admitted quietly. "But we can both figure this out together. I promise."

Dave finally opened the door. "I'm going out for a little bit with the dogs," he muttered, feeling the cold air slap at his face. "Aero wanted a walk, and she's going to get a walk. Do whatever you want to in the house, but just make sure you don't try to set the kitchen on fire like a couple of weeks ago." He shut the door quietly, and the silence of the room seemed to engulf Hal in his own thoughts.

His friend was never one for talking about how he felt unless Hal insisted on an explanation for his behavior. And even then, he would only give out little detail about how he felt. Dave didn't like talking about the past- he felt as if it held him back from the future. So when he just babbled about he felt merely moments before he walked out of the house and shut the door, Hal had a right to be suspicious.

Dave was hiding something from him. And he was going to find out what it was all about… but first, he had to find something else.

There was a loud noise form the computer. Hal turned around, a stunned look unfurling on his features.

Impossible.

The cure for FoxDie? Was there really a match?

-rubs head- I dunno how long this is going to be, to be honest. Maybe it'll be ten chapters or so or more. I'm praying it's more than ten... and with a lot of stuff in those chapters and crap. Hey, SSS- was this enough for you, I hope? Reviews are loved... again.

Oh, and Liquid- bet you weren't expecting him, huh?