Yay! Not worried about anything with this- just the thought of pleasing you guys. –sighs-

Thanks for reviewing Andi Mack, Jag Lady, Hordak's Pupil, MutantLover09, solid man, lily moonlight, FernClaw

3. Destinations

With as much haste as he could muster, Hal quickly walked back over to the computer and furiously typed in some letters and numbers into the computer, heart racing. It couldn't be. After seven long months of searching for the cure, the awaited beep of a match had been heard. Swallowing and staring at the screen, he waited for several tense seconds until finally, an image popped up on the screen. It showed a vial with a small amount of liquid inside.

Hal leaned back in his chair, his head spinning. He'd done it. He had finally found the cure for FoxDie.

Without even thinking, Hal grabbed the cell phone next to the computer and dialed in a familiar number. There was silence on the other end for a couple of seconds before a female voice answered. "Hello?"

"Meryl!"

The voice on the other end of the line immediately went from irritable and tired to slightly cheerful. "Otacon? I haven't heard from you in a couple of months! How've you been?"

The engineer smiled genuinely for the first time in a long while. "I'm actually doing really well right now, to be honest. Been hanging around with Dave for a little while and trying to see if I can help him in the search for the FoxDie cure." He had a soft sigh on the other end of the phone but ignored it. "Listen, Meryl- I know you two broke up and everything last month, but you can still be friends!"

"He hardly ever calls me," she complained. "That's why I broke up with him! You can't be in a relationship with a guy that never even tries to call you!"

Hal rubbed his brow in exasperation. He didn't have time to work out Meryl's problems with men. Clearing his throat quickly and taking a deep breath, he interrupted, "Look, as much as I'd like to hear about your problems with Dave, I think I really need to tell you something important. It's the reason I called."

Meryl shut her mouth. Hal could feel waves of wanted complaining coming over the end of the line, but he didn't decide to press the matter. The good thing was, she shut up to listen to him. "All right, fine. What do you want?"

"I found a cure for FoxDie."

Silence.

"Run that by me again."

Hal's voice could barely contain the levels of excitement he wanted to gush forth. "Meryl, I found out the cure for FoxDie! Someone has it up for auction somewhere and is willing to sell it to someone for a lot of money!" He grimaced after this remark but kept a happy tone. "Although I have no idea how I'm going to have to go to try and find it, I'm totally trying to figure out where they're selling it!"

Meryl's voice sounded both stunned and relieved. "The cure for FoxDie- how? How did you find it?"

Hal grinned. "I have it set up on my computer for it to have a match to any sort of cure to FoxDie. Looks as if I finally hit the jackpot after some seven months of looking for the thing!" He grinned and clicked on some other things, scratching his head. "Anyways, I'm looking right now. There's something on here where you can find out the location of where the item could be. Like a tracker.

"Why have a tracker on that thing?"

Hal pursed his lips. "They might be a lot of people that want to get their hands on it. Why they would want to is beyond me, though. I mean, no one else in the world might want it unless they know about Dave's condition." He clicked on some other things, frowning and squinting at the screen. "You know, you could come up here to Alaska. It's a nice place."

Meryl laughed dryly. "I'll stay in the warmth of Oregon for a little while longer, thanks."

"Why the hell are you all the way up there? Why not stay in Washington for a bit?"

Silence again.

"Oh."

Meryl had found out a while back that Colonel Roy Campbell was her real father and that he hadn't died when she thought he did. It was a long and complicated story, so the shortened version of the whole thing was that Campbell had known about Meryl being his daughter for a while and just couldn't tell her in time before the FOXHOUND Rebellion. The idea of being Campbell's daughter was a bit much for her to bear at the time. They hadn't spoken since the revelation.

Hal allowed the moment to pass before speaking again. "I got a question, Meryl."

"Shoot," she replied quietly.

He bit his lip. "Do you mind coming up here to Alaska and helping me with something? We have a problem up here."

Meryl sounded confused. "Problem? What do you mean?"

"I mean as in… we might need your help for this." Hal's eyes stared at the screen in shock. His hand never moved from the mouse. "For getting the FoxDie cure. It's… it's…"

"It's what, Hal?"

His voice sounded faint. "It's on Shadow Moses Island."

There was another sound of whining heard through the woods. Dave sighed and petted Aero once more as they continued their trek through the area. She seemed to be whining a bit more than usual. He was kind of bothered about it, to be honest, but he continued walking through the woods with a quiet and thoughtful demeanor.

There was a gunshot. He whirled around and gritted his teeth, but no one was there. In fact, there was no evidence of anyone being in the woods. He let out a sigh and continued with the husky at his heels. He was hearing things again.

It wasn't the first time Dave had heard Shadow Moses in his ears, either. The sounds of gunfire from the ice field rang in his ears as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and glanced down at the snow once more. Not a drop of adrenaline spiked through his system as he recalled the battle with Sniper Wolf before the elevator. It seemed like only a couple of days ago, but Dave knew it had been a few weeks since he had picked up a gun.

He rubbed his head in exasperation and sat down under a tree, Aero nuzzling him. "I know, I know," he muttered, scratching her from behind the ears. "It's hard to believe I found you a couple of months ago, Aero. When was it… April?" The husky gave a small bark in response, as if understanding him. "That seems right. You came up to my doorstep in need of a home, and I gave you one." He gave a small smile. "Kind of like a distraction, I guess."

The talking couldn't ring out the gunshots in his mind, unfortunately. The sounds of wind and bullets filled his head again as he closed his eyes and continued petting her fur. A gust of wind came forth again, and he could hear Sniper Wolf's dying words as he imagined the SOCOM being pointed at her chest. Her words echoed across the plains as he sat there. "Okay, hero…

"Set me free…"

The gunshot was heard.

She breathed no more.

Dave's eyes opened, and he looked down at the husky. The dog had a sad sort of look in its eyes as it laid its head down next to his body. "It's weird," he muttered quietly. "But I thought the memories would go away as time really did pass. But ever since I've been taken care of you, Aero… the memories just keeping slamming into me. I don't think PTSD is supposed to affect me this much."

Aero gave another soft whine.

"You're right. Let's go back."

Dave stood up and glanced at the house in the distance. He'd get memories even out here in the woods. Quietly, he walked back with Aero and rubbed his forehead, which was covered by a navy blue bandana. 'Why now?' he thought. 'Why are they all coming back to me now?'

Aero ran up ahead to greet her playmates while Dave walked back into the house. Hal seemed to be talking on the phone with someone, but he couldn't catch any parts of the conversation. Sighing, he shut the door behind him and shrugged off his coat, walking back into the kitchen for a moment and glancing down at the peaches he had opened nearly half an hour ago.

He took the can and dug around in a drawer for a spoon. 'At least I can enjoy my food without thinking about those rations from the island,' he thought, grinning slightly to himself.

FUN. So now we know a few things- the cure has been found, it's apparently on Shadow Moses Island, Aero and Snake are practically best buds, and Snake likes peaches. The last one doesn't matter. XD The other three will come into play, though. Is anyone noticing anything fishy going on here yet? If you are, do tell me. –glares at FernClaw- But not you.