Oh. Sorry about the wait there...
Thanks for the reviews FernClaw, Jag Lady, Dragonchild, lily moonlight, MutantLover09, Hordak's Pupil, cardboredbox
7. Dreams
He failed. There were no other words to describe this catastrophe. There was no cure to FoxDie. His head met his hand in shock as he watched his friend convulse on the ground, clutching his stomach in pain. "Damnit, Otacon," he whispered frantically. "We've been had. No cure… it was an accelerant! Now I'm dying faster!"
He had nothing to say. All he could do was watch in helpless horror as his best friend slowly began to process of death before his eyes. "It's my fault," he muttered to himself, turning away from the computer and trying so desperately to ignore the continuous moans from his friend on the island. He knew he would have to live with it for the rest of his life if he didn't do something.
And he knew he couldn't do anything.
Otacon had pretty much unknowing led Snake into a trap. He couldn't help but feel disgust and shame for what he had done right then. Meryl stared at the screen blankly, covering her mouth in horror and fear. She turned away from the sight of her former flame dying on Shadow Moses, shaking her head. Her voice was soft with sad anger.
"You tricked us, Otacon."
He leaned on the table, shaking his head. His voice was soft as well- soft with despair.
"No… I didn't know… it's not my fault, Meryl…" His voice was choked, full of betrayal. "It's not my fault, Meryl!"
But his words meant nothing. Snake's moans seemed to fade with time. And soon, there was not a sound but the wind blowing through the Codec. Otacon felt hot tears fall down his face. "What did I do? Why? Why us…?"
. . .
He shot out of bed, his hand gripping his chest. His heartbeat was erratic, breathing completely out of sync. Hal took a couple of deep breaths and leaned back gently on the bed, sweating profusely. He took his hand away from his chest and sprawled himself out on the bed in the guest room, shaking his head in disbelief. It was crazy, to say the least. Hal didn't know if he was supposed to do after a nightmare like that.
He didn't want to wake up Dave for fear of both getting yelled at and waking him up right before probably one of the most important days of his life. He gave a long yawn and rolled onto this stomach, burying his face into the pillow. He had never had nightmares like that before- ones of his friend dying. It was a thought that just seemed too unbearable. His breathing slowed slightly, finally coming back to its normal pace.
Hal shook his head into the pillow and closed his eyes once more, trying not to think about what had just occurred. He shut his eyes and nestled into the pillow, unaware of the tossing and turning occurring in the other rooms…
"You gotta get out of here!" he told her frantically, gesturing her to the back door. "If they find out what you did, you'll be arrested and maybe even executed. Mei Ling, get out of here!"
The woman's feet didn't move. It was like time had stopped for her. She shook her head, hearing the banging on the front door. "I can't," she whispered, shaking her head with depressed sadness. "Snake, I can't- I can't just leave you in the state you're in! I don't want to! You're just… you're one of those people who need someone to love them. Someone who can take care of you!"
The ex-mercenary reached out to her, but she pulled away in shock and pain. "No. Snake, I wanna stay here!"
"Mei Ling, you can't! I won't let you! You've got to get out of here!"
Banging on the door again.
"Don't make me grab you!"
She shook her head, backing away towards the door. "No! Please, Snake… I want to help you! It's not fair! Why should you suffer when I'm busy trying to help you? Really, I want you to have a better life! I can help you!" Mei Ling's eyes shined with tears. "Damn it, can't you accept anyone's help besides Otacon?!"
Snake looked pained. "I don't want you arrested, Mei Ling! Please!"
One more bang. "Solid Snake, you are holding a criminal against the United States in your house! Open this door NOW."
Mei Ling glanced at him in terror. He reached for her. "Mei Ling! Come on!"
"Solid Snake…!"
She reached for his hand.
"Boys, break it down!"
His eyes widened. "Mei Ling!"
She stared straight ahead, reaching…
The door broke down. Black ops rushed inside. All she heard was yells of "armed and dangerous" and "deadly weapon." All she thought about was the man in front of her, shaking his head and screaming her name…
. . .
The sweat drenched her pillow as her eyes shot open, staring into the night. "Shen shang pi hua!" she whispered.
Mei Ling sat up slowly, feeling her black hair lightly touch her backside. She shook her head in distress, swallowing and continuing to look at the blackness of night. "What the hell was that?" she muttered, feeling a small burst of adrenaline run through her body.
She knew what it was. She had known for some time now. It had been haunting her since Shadow Moses. The thought of the government finding out that she had helped in destroying nuclear weapons- she knew it would be bad for her and her family. In the beginning, she didn't know what she wanted to do. Her dreams for America had been all over the place until a couple of years ago when she finally discovered about what she wanted.
Mei Ling wanted to help people. And she wanted to do that in the ways of the military.
Quietly, she wrapped her blanket around her body and took a low, deep breath. The woman felt the muscles in her body that were tense slowly become relaxed. She glanced outside and squinted, trying to make out the gently falling flakes that covered the ground. Never would she have thought that it could snow in October in Alaska.
Then again, there were a lot of things Mei Ling didn't know. Like the dream occurring in the living room…
The first thing she saw was a body.
The next thing she saw were his eyes shut. He would have looked so peaceful, had he not been in a mess on the ground in front of her. Arms sprawled, legs twisted in strange directions- it was the most disgusting sight she had seen since shooting someone on the island so many years ago.
Her head turned away from the sight, tears flowing freely. What had he done to deserve this sort of fate? Could she have changed the past to make this not happen? She fell to her knees next to his body, feeling disgust well up inside of her. Stupid FoxDie… Why did it always have to get in the way of everything? They had been going on for so long now! Tomorrow would have been three years together.
She couldn't help but notice the huskies gather near his body, all of them giving soft whines. One of them nuzzled her gently, and she shook her head, scratching it behind the ears. "What happened?" she mumbled. "Why him?"
The gunshot wound to the chest had been placed nearly in the same spots as where Sniper Wolf had shot her. She bitterly recalled this and placed a hand on his chest, staring down at his peaceful face. "You bastard," she whispered. "Why did you have to die...?"
. . .
The dream replayed in her mind over and over and over again. Her hands were behind her head as she glared upwards, looking at nothing in particular. What was wrong? Did this dream have any meaning? And why the hell had they been together for three years in it? Meryl rolled on her side and closed her eyes, trying to fall back asleep. She knew she couldn't, though. That was virtually impossible.
The fear of possibly seeing a dead Snake in her dreams again scared Meryl. And the fact that tomorrow was probably going to change everyone's lives didn't seem to help matters. The thought of perhaps going with Dave to Shadow Moses tickled the back of her mind for a moment before she figuratively swatted it away brusquely. She knew he wouldn't let her go on this mission.
He would have to do it alone.
Of course, he would have the Codec with him and could be in contact with Hal, Mei Ling, and herself. But why the hell would he need to use it? After all, he wasn't infiltrating a top-secret compound to destroy Metal Gear. No, this time he was going to grab a cure for his sickness that had plagued him for the longest time.
And to think she had been in a relationship with him before. Meryl shook her head on her pillow.
What next…? What did the spirits above have planned for her and the one who used to be a FOXHOUND member himself?
No… it couldn't be…
"Mmm. How does it feel to know you're wrong, brother?"
Try as he might, he couldn't reach around to grab Liquid in any sort of position. The blonde had grabbed his bandana and was pulling back as hard as he could. It almost felt like they were just eleven-year-olds fighting over who got to play the Wii next. Right now, though, it was so much more than an argument over a game system. It was a fight of life and death.
"Son of a bitch."
Liquid clucked his tongue in annoyance. "Come on. Is that any way to treat your sibling? I thought you'd be happy to see me alive again. Do you hate me that much?"
He struggled against the pull, his eyes tearing up in fury. A fist was driven into his back, the sound of laughter ringing in his ears. No- he couldn't lose. Not after everything that had already happened to him! No. There was no way…
"He's got a point."
His ears perked up in astonishment. His eyes moved towards the source of the voice, only to see Aero standing there, not moving. She was giving him a plaintive gaze and whining in her usual manner. He tried to wrench away from Liquid and failed, resulting in only a harder pullback on his bandana. He screamed out, receiving another punch to the back and listening to Aero beginning to give another dog-like giggle.
"It'll be done soon, Master," she barked.
All he could do was blindly think, 'What does that mean…?'
. . .
The red digits on the clock now read 1:37. Dave's hand was on his forehead, exposed to the cold air with no bandana on tonight. That nightmare… it had meant something so mysterious, and yet something so magical. Maybe magical wasn't the right word, but there wasn't any other way of putting it. He sat up and sighed, keeping his hand on his head and now leaning on his elbow. This was just- this was becoming too crazy.
How could Aero have spoken in a dream?
He gently swung his legs over the bed and stood up, hearing the floorboards creak. Wincing, he walked out into the living room where Meryl appeared to be asleep and quietly walked to the door. After grabbing a robe from the chair, he opened it and walked outside, wrapping the robe around his body tightly. He closed the door and stood on the front porch, allowing the cool night air to wash over his covered self.
The door opened up behind him. Dave turned around and found himself face-to-face with a sleepy-eyed Meryl. She shivered and blinked. "What are you doing up?" she asked, trying and failing to stifle a yawn.
"Couldn't sleep," he replied, trying to shrug it off as if it was nothing. "You?"
"Nightmare," she said as nonchalantly as possible.
Dave frowned. "You going to be okay?"
She nodded. The tension between them was still present from the day's previous events. Quietly, the woman stepped into the doorway and slipped her hand into her ex-flame's. Her voice was quiet. "Come on. We have a big day tomorrow. Or you have a big day tomorrow, depending on how you look at it."
He gave her as best a smile as he could, being led inside by her and shutting the door behind them. Dave knew she had spoken a greater truth than thought possible- indeed, the next day would change everyone's lives forever.
The only question remained was…
What was with the dream he had? Or the ones that everyone else had seen, for that matter?
Mei Ling swore in Chinese. "Shen shang pi hua!" is "Holy shit!" in her native language. Mmm. The mystery grows deeper, and so will the drama. Sorry about the late update. Seriously. -goes to corner to write more-