-grins- Oh, mai. Looks like Snake has some issues going on here.

Thanks for reviewing Andi Mack, MutantLover09, badkidoh, FernClaw, Dragonchild, SolidSakesShadow, Sons of Ocelot

10. Worries

It was just too strange being back on Shadow Moses. Snake kept out a wary eye with his gun kept leveled in front of him. The hulking Abrams tanks sat in the hanger to the outside canyon, and he couldn't help but feel like someone was still watching him. He felt like an old friend coming back to visit someone he hadn't seen in a long time. This friend that he had seen, though, was someone he had never wanted to visit again. Quietly, he moved forward and kept a wary eye out for anyone that could possibly attack him, even if the facility seemed deserted.

Something felt different about being here.

"I've removed all obstacles…"

Snake lowered his weapon and looked around in shock. He knew that voice.

"Now you and I will battle to the death."

He stood there for several moments, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth. What the hell was with all these hallucinations that he had been getting? A sensation of vertigo overtook him for a moment, and he had to get on one knee for a few seconds, trying to steady himself. Mei Ling's voice came into ear, sounding worried. "Snake, are you okay?"

He grimaced and grunted for a couple of seconds, holding his head in one hand and his gun in another. Finally, he took a deep breath and nodded, mostly to himself. "I'm fine, Mei Ling. Just a sense of vertigo for a couple of moments. Nothing that you have to get worked up about. Listen, I'm going on. This place gives me the creeps." He signed off and didn't move for a couple moments.

"I will kill you, or you will kill me. It makes no difference…"

Snake shook his head and walked through the entrance to the canyon, watching the door open and sighing. He had no idea where he was going, no idea why he was hearing voices again, no idea where Aero had run off to. He pointed his weapon outside into the canon when the door had completely opened and found himself face to face with the hulking pile of a tank that lay around thirty feet away from him.

Great. More memories.

Grimacing, Snake walked forward ever so slowly.

"You think we should tell him?" Otacon asked, typing in some things and watching Snake move across the canyon way and stopping.

Meryl looked lost in thought, not appearing to have heard Otacon talking. A husky moaned next to her on the couch, and she dimly remembered how fond Snake was of huskies being on the sofa next to him. Quietly, she scratched behind the dog's ears and looked up from the floor, sighing and rubbing her head. "You know what? I'll tell him. You're supposed to be keeping a watch on his progress. I'm supposed to be watching his huskies."

Blinking, the otaku nodded and turned back to his workstation as the redheaded female called Snake. "We have a problem here."

Snake sounded tired and nervous. "What do you mean by a problem?"

"It has to do with the huskies."

The shuffling of snow on the other end of the line stopped and there was a sound of a weapon being holstered. Snake's voice suddenly had a tint of worry in it. "What do you mean it's about the huskies?"

Meryl shifted in her seat slightly, scratching her head and giving a huge sigh. She tried to sound neutral, but it couldn't be helped that a twinge of sadness began to seep into her voice. "Well, they're dying one after another. Mei Ling and I are trying to figure out what happened and why they're going at such a fast pace, but there's really no answer to it right now that we can give to you."

No response. She frowned. Surely he would have something to say about the matter. "Dave, are you…?"

"I'm fine," he replied tersely. "I'm just trying to comprehend what you're actually saying. Those words coming out of your mouth- is it really true? Or are you attempting to pull some sick and twisted joke on me in the middle of a mission?"

"I wouldn't do that to you. I never would want to, and I don't plan on starting to try and make you feel worse than you probably already do," she snapped back.

Snake's feet meshed through thick snow, the grating of boot and frozen water meeting her ears. "Figure out how they're dying, and when you do that, call me."

He signed off, leaving Meryl, Mei Ling, and Otacon alone in silence for a couple of moments. The man finally just typed in some more things and sighed, wincing. Mei Ling cast him a worried look and walked over to him while Meryl leaned over the nearest husky and checked on it to make sure it was okay. She noticed it whimpering and rubbed its back, biting her lip. "What could be the cause…?"

Otacon shrugged, squinting at the screen. "I dunno. It doesn't make much sense. Huskies just don't drop dead without a fast-acting disease slamming into them or something along those lines." He turned to Mei Ling, who turned away and walked back to the computer on her side. "What is it?"

"Don't you hear it?" she asked softly.

The other two blinked and glanced at her. Mei Ling sat frozen at the station and turned to Meryl, who rubbed the dog a little more and shook her head in response. "What are you talking about?"

"Listen."

Surprised by the mysterious and frightened tone the Asian woman carried, Meryl stopped rubbing the husky's stomach and closed her eyes, listening to the silence in the room and not making any movements. Otacon quit typing after receiving an evil glare from his computer counterpart and closed his eyes as well, listening to the quietness of the room, with the exception of the whirring of the computer.

There was a hiss.

"Snake…"

Meryl froze. The hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up.

"Where are you, hero…? You're not here to watch your friends suffer while you play hide-and-seek…"

Mei Ling glanced over at her friend. Her face showed a look of petrified worry. She pointed to the air and seemed to mouth, "Who the hell is talking?"

"Snake, you'd leave your friends just to hunt for something only you care about? That's not the Snake I remember…"

Otacon didn't move. His eyes widened in shock as he slowly got up out of his chair and walked around to where Meryl and Mei Ling were, rubbing his head in shock. The other two looked around and saw nothing.

"You were fools to help him. You know this mission will never work."

The otaku gasped. "Wolf…?!"

"Correct. Saladin, Fox, and I all decided it was about time you three had a little bit of a visiting. Since Solid Snake is going to get his own little encounter of the past once more in due time…" Wolf's thick accent was clearly heard through the room, even if the trio saw no one standing anywhere. "Surely you all should realize by now that a terrible fate will befall upon your hero."

Meryl felt her blood freeze. The first thing that came to her mind was her nightmare she had just a couple hours beforehand- Snake dying on the island. He placed a hand over her mouth and felt a lump welling in her throat. "No…"

Otacon looked down at the floor with an odd feeling forming in his throat as well. "Saladin… could that Big Boss?"

Meryl shivered slightly. "What is going on? God, this is unbelievable… the ghosts of the past?"

"Who knows?" a deep voice commented. "He always seemed to have a tendency for battle and death in his genes. It does not surprise me, to say the least. The child is a soldier, bred for battle and nothing more. He will engage in battle today in more ways than you can possibly imagine…"

"Bukeneng," Mei Ling uttered, closing her eyes in disbelief. "He must be lying, right?"

There was no answer to this remark. A cold wind blew inside the room, causing them to shiver simultaneously. And it wasn't just from the frigid temperature of the air.

She dug around in the snow, whining to herself and nuzzling the frozen ice as if it was some sort of dead animal. Her master must find the cure. It was the only way to make sure he felt better, and she knew that. He had been looking so sad, so depressed these days when his friend had come over. He had not believed in anything except that he could have died a year ago. He had been having nightmares, too- horrible ones.

He had screamed "Liquid" in his sleep at one time, and it woke her up. It was just horrifying.

She nuzzled her way through once more and perked her ears up in confusion. That smell- it was kind of weird. Kind of disgusting…

The smell of medicine.

Aero looked upwards and howled slightly before running off in the snow and panting. Would she make it in time?

"What the…"

Snake blinked in astonishment. He held his gun steady and stared forward, a determined look in his eyes once more. He could have sworn he had heard footsteps. As he stood on the spot for a couple of moments, he saw a figure walking towards him… through a wall? He bit his cheek and watched the thing walk through the wall, his weapon aimed at whatever it was. 'It's nothing that interesting,' he thought to himself, feeling sweat form on his forehead. 'Nothing at all…'

The figure appeared and whined with familiarity. He lowered his weapon. "Aero?!"

Sure enough, the husky came walking through the walls and onto the battlefield where he had once fought Vulcan Raven and his rather large Abrams tank. He holstered the weapon cautiously and stared at the dog for a moment. "How did you do that?" he managed to get out hoarsely. "Where did you go? What the… I…"

Aero whined slightly and seemed to motion to Snake to follow her. Warily, the mercenary followed his companion and reached the snow bank where she had just came out of. He placed his hand on what he thought was snow and gasped. It went right through the bank and onto another side. Swallowing, Snake walked through the bank and stared at the sight in front of him.

He was in the snowfield. The one in which he had fought Sniper Wolf.

He didn't understand what was going on. Otacon came through on the Codec. "Snake- how did you do that? You went from one end of the island to another! That is physically impossible! You can't do that!"

"I know I can't, Otacon. Problem is, I'm pretty damn sure I just did the impossible again."

I bet I threw you for another loop. MGS is made of so many loops and crap... ANYWAYS, bukeneng means "impossible" in Chinese. And what was the point of going through the snow bank to reveal some location that ISN'T SUPPOSED TO BE CONNECTED IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM?!!! -smirks- Ah, but see. Therein is the beauty of fanfic. You will see in due time, my friends. It will show you what I have planned. In the meantime, go and tell me what you thought of this one. It's LOOONG. :D