Metal Gear Solid:Ghosts of War

Chapter 1

Since Snake's last mission, Otacon had discovered a way to reverse Snake's aging problem to an extent by using a special type of nanomachine. Snake accepted but was wary of the small chance of heart failure that came along with the nanomachines After taking the injection, the effects did work and his physical appearance took that around 2009, but his muscles hadn't adapted yet and he still needed OctoCamo to get around, at least for the time being. Seven months after his last mission, Meryl showed up and told Snake that Johnny had gone MIA and presumed; killed and Snake let her stay in Otacon's apartment. A full year after his last mission, Snake had taken on a personal mission asked of him by Otacon three days earlier to go to a United Nation offshore facility near Japan to investigate an anonymous tip of a major threat to America. For the mission, Snake had taken the name Jack Pliskin and dyed his hair blond, just in case someone would recognize him during the mission. Just before Snake left, Meryl gave him a light kiss on the cheek and during the entire helicopter ride to the facility the image wouldn't leave his head, even in his sleep. A day later, Snake and the other seventeen Marines that were assigned to the facility were given a tour of the compound. Snake found it very similar to the Big Shell, but this facility was twice the size of the Big Shell and had twenty seven struts instead of thirteen. Snake himself was assigned to the twenty third strut in the lower levels of the third shell in one of the purification rooms. On the second day Snake went into the Mess Hall and, wanting to be alone, he sat in the dark corner of the room and he was joined a minute later by a young man. He had raven black hair, tanned skin and appeared to be Italian. The man asked "Mind if I sit here, sir?" Snake sighed and nodded "Yeah sure, go ahead." The man said "The name's Andrews. Ryan Andrews. What's yours?" Snake replied "Pliskin. Jack Pliskin." Ryan asked "How are you liking the base so far?" Snake said "It's dull. But it's better than hell raising." Ryan said "Hey, something is bound to happen one of these days." Snake, noticed he was done eating and took the advantage to leave the conversation. Once Snake stood up, Ryan asked with a cocky grin "Was I really that bad of a conversationalist?" Snake said "No, I just don't like talking to people." Snake turned and went to his assigned room, sat down on his bed dialed Otacon's number on his Codec. Meryl asked "Hey Snake. what's up?" Snake's eyes widened when he heard her voice instead of Otacon's. Snake asked "Meryl, what are you doing?" Meryl confused, replied "What are you talking about? You called me, dumbass." Snake said "Wha- No I didn't." Meryl said "Yes you did. 140.85. Otacon's is 141.80" Snake said "Right...where's Otacon?" Meryl said "Uh...he just put Sunny to bed, why?" Snake said "I need him to remind me why I am here again." Meryl said "Hold on, let me call him."-Snake heard Meryl call Otacon- "So, how's the place?" Snake said "It's dull, I could get out of here faster if I knew what the hell I was doing." Otacon appeared and asked "You really don't remember, Snake? Man your memory must not have recovered either!" Snake grumbled "Just remind me, Otacon." Otacon said "You're to find any evidence of an attack on the base." Snake said "So, I am going to be here for a long time, aren't I?" Before Otacon could answer, an earth-shattering explosion rattled the Shell. Snake switched off the Codec and ran into the hallway to see, not only a hole in the Shell itself, but three battleships opening fire on the facility.

It had been a day since the Russians invaded and took over the facility. They had killed a major part of the defending force and whatever was left either retreated via the helicopters or stayed around like Snake to fight. On Snake's part, it probably wasn't the best plan. He had nearly been killed twice by the Russians, he lost his headset an hour before from a stray gunshot and now he was recovering in a food pantry with the door locked. Snake was exhausted he could hardly keep his eyes open from the lack of sleep and all the hell that had broken loose over the past twenty four hours. He was covered head to toe in others' blood. The only weapon we had with him was his M4, and that only had half a clip of ammo left. The day before he had an M9, but he lost it in the initial panic. Snake sighed to himself and dialed in Otacon's number in his Codec. Otacon shouted "Snake! I'm glad to see you're still in one piece." Snake said "Yeah, me too. Listen, I need to know when that rescue is coming." Otacon said "The last helicopter is coming in one hour on the top Strut 2. Where are you?" Snake said "In a pantry, Shell 2." Otacon said "You might want to get over there ASAP." Snake nodded "Yeah, thanks." Snake signed off and slowly walked into the hallway and found it clear of sentries. After passing around a corner, he found two guards slouched up against the wall. Snake dug around his pack, took out an empty ammo pack and tossed it causing it to hit the wall making a fairly loud noise. One of the two guards proceeded to investigate what the noise was. Snake used the distraction and came up behind the other guard, snapped his neck and took his ammunition, and before the other guard could notice, Snake quickly ran through the door. Snake found himself on the roof of the Shell and waited for the helicopter, which arrived a half hour later. Snake was greeted by two soldiers. One of them helped him into the copter, when Snake looked at the men again, they briefly turned into the ghostly images of Olga Gurlukovich and Emma Emmerich. Snake mumbled to himself "What the hell?" the image of Olga asked "What's the matter? You look awful." Snake said in a low, hardly audible voice "You..you're dead." The images faded back to what they really were when bullets started to fly at the chopper. Snake picked up his M4 and returned fire on the advancing enemy troops, before the pilot turned away and started to fly back toward America. Snake asked "What did they want with the facility?" One of the soldiers said "I guess it was for the large ammo cache we had stashed there." Snake grumbled "Now what?" The soldier laughed "The UN will not let that go unpunished. You can count on that."

Chapter 2 Snake was dropped off at the hospital, where he was heavily questioned by CIA agents and United Nation War Council members about what had happened, to which Snake always told them that the Russians attacked. Nothing more. Four days had passed since he got picked up from the compound and Otacon picked him up in his car to bring him back to his apartment. Once there he was greeted by Meryl and Sunny, before the latter went back to cooking eggs again. Meryl smiled "You know Snake, you look good as a blond. You should keep it." Snake said "I'll keep it in mind." Snake went to the refresher and quickly took off his SEAL outfit, but he still found it difficult to take off his OctoCamo. Meryl asked "You need help in there?" Before he could answer Meryl silently entered the bathroom, causing Snake to turn in annoyance. Snake asked "Don't you ever knock?" Meryl smirked "I could say the same to you. Why are you wearing that outfit?" Snake sighed "I still need it to get around, at least for the time being." Meryl asked "Why's that?" Snake said "My muscles still haven't adapted properly. Doctors told me it would still be a few months before I could get around without this thing. It's no picnic, but it's better than being trapped on a bed, unable to move for a long time." Meryl watched as Snake fumbled trying to get the suit off, and laughed to herself. Snake grumbled "Something funny Meryl?" Meryl asked "You need help getting that thing off Snake?" Meryl placed a hand on his shoulder, to which Snake shrugged it off. Meryl's eyebrows slanted "You know Snake, everyone needs help every now and again, even you." Snake turned to her and looked her in the eyes "I know. I need help, but I don't need help now." Meryl said "Yes you do, you can't even get your damn suit off. Just let me help you." Snake shot back "I. Can. Do. It. Myself." Meryl asked "Why are you being so cold to me? Is this because of what I said to you in Europe?" Snake replied "What? No." Meryl said "Then tell me why you're being so cold." Snake sighed "You know the answer. You just lost Johnny, and you're-" Meryl said "I'm just looking for some comfort, for some support. I thought that if I gave you some help and support, maybe you'd give me some in return." Snake said "I'm not looking for a charity Meryl. I am sorry for what happened with Johnny, but-" Meryl said "You just don't want to listen to me. Fine, I get it." Before Snake could say another word, Meryl left the room and with effort, he could hear her crying in her room. Snake sighed to himself and after a half hour, finally got the OctoCamo off, and placed it on his dresser. Snake heard the floor creak, and he turned to see Sunny standing in the doorway holding a plate of food. Sunny asked silently "Is Meryl OK?" Snake sat down on his bed and replied "Yeah. She's just going through some stuff. Best to leave her alone." Sunny said "I heard you two fighting." Snake asked "What did you hear?" Sunny sat down next to Snake, looked up at him and said "I heard you wouldn't let her help you out of your suit. You know, I can get Uncle Hal to get a zipper or something to-" Snake said "It's fine, you don't have to do that." Sunny asked "Why didn't you want help?" Snake said "Well, i'm not all old anymore, and I shouldn't need help getting my own clothes off." Sunny said "But you're muscles..-" Snake said "I know, I know I know. I just don't want help, at least in those areas, alright?" Sunny nodded "I understand." Sunny hopped up, grabbed the plate and stopped at the door "You should probably come on out, it's time for dinner." Snake asked "Then what's the plate for?" Sunny said "Uncle Hal told me to bring it to Meryl." Snake nodded and slowly but surely walked into the living room, and found Otacon already eating. Otacon raised his fork half halfheartedly "Sunny told me you upset Meryl. Great job signing your death wish." Snake sighed "I didn't mean to." Otacon said "Take it easy on her Snake, she's an emotional wreck as is and you saying what you did just lit the fuse." Snake said "Yeah, I know." Otacon said "You should apologize." Snake sighed "Yeah, I know." Otacon said "As in now." Snake raised an eyebrow "What?" Otacon said "You heard me." Snake sighed "Fine." Snake got up and walked to Meryl's room and knocked on the door. Meryl said "Sunny, I told you I am not hungry." Snake walked in and said "I'm not Sunny." Meryl's expression changed from sadness to anger and regret. "Get. Out." Snake sighed, sat down on her bed and placed his arm around her. "Look, I'm sorry for what I said." Meryl started to cry, threw her head into Snake's shoulder and shouted "No you're not." Snake patted her on the back "Yes I am, I just didn't want to feel helpless, and I let out my frustrations out on you." Meryl said "It's...it's fine." Snake asked "Anything you want to vent at me?" Meryl said "No, but before Johnny left, he and I were talking..about something." Snake asked "What, honeymoon? Kids? An actual wedding ring?" Meryl said "You guessed it." Snake automatically knew what exactly she meant, shook his head and said "You know, I can't have kids." Meryl sighed "I know, I know. Thanks for coming in here. I feel a lot better." Snake whispers "Don't mention it."

Chapter 3 Two months passed since and Snake was able to at least walk around without the aide of his OctoCamo when he was called by Roy to visit the military compound in the city, which he agreed to show up. Snake dressed in his favorite Suit, gave Meryl a kiss and walked to the compound, where he was greeted by Campbell. Roy asked "Snake, what's with the blond hair?" Snake lit a cigarette and said "Your daughter made me keep it." Roy said "I feel sorry for you." Snake asked "What did you call me down here for,Roy?" Roy smiled "Always to the point, eh Snake?" Snake said "Just tell me what you want." Roy said "Follow me, I want to show you something." Snake sighed and put out the burnt out cigarette and followed Roy through the bright hallway of the compound where he saw dozens children soldiers training or playing through one-way mirrors. Snake asked "Roy. What the hell is this? I thought we were better then the PMC's and we didn't use child soldiers." Roy said "They're not being sent to the field now Snake, they're training. Most of them to become Cyborg Ninjas or Special Ops agents like you, and for a very special few;both." Snake asked "So why would you show me?" Roy said in a low-toned voice "Meryl told me you two were trying to have a kid of your own..despite you know it wouldn't work...-" Snake said "Get to the damn point." Roy said "The very special few who have both skill traits..they're orphans, and I was wondering if you would..." Snake said "There's a big freaking difference between getting a puppy and bringing home a kid." Roy waved his hand "Follow me if you please." Snake followed Roy into a multicolored room filled with seven children, four girls and three boys, all similarly dressed in military garb used by the MSF. Roy whistled like a bird and the children lined up in an orderly fashion. Roy walked down the line and stopped at two girls, equal height, one had golden blonde hair and dark blue eyes while the other had black hair and emerald eyes. Roy asked "What are you two girls doing?" The blonde haired girl replied "I don't know what you mean, sir." Roy said "You've been told three times now. Line up in alphabetical order...you're out of pl-" Snake said "It's fine, Roy. She's not hurting anything." Roy sighed and joined Snake in the front of the room, and as soon as Roy turned his back, he noticed the black haired girl had stuck her tongue out at Roy. Snake asked "What do you want me to do again?" Roy said "All these children are orphans Snake, and i'd like you to adopt one of them and...raise them." Snake said "If Meryl tries to kill me, i'll tell her how you're involved." Roy said "Just pick one." Snake looked at the blonde haired girl and asked "What's your name, rookie?" The girl said "My name's Catherine...Catherine Black..sir." Snake could see excitement, and fear emit through her eyes. Snake whispered to Roy "Catherine." Roy nodded and turned to Catherine "It's your lucky day." Catherine asked "What about my sister?" Snake raised an eyebrow "Sister?" Roy said "She and Katnis are not sisters, they're just friends." Snake nodded "I see. You can still visit. But until then, let's get you settled at home. Alright?" Catherine nodded eagerly and ran to her room and came back out ten minutes later holding a bag. Snake asked "You ready to go?" Catherine said "Yes sir, yes I am." Katnis said "Have fun Cat, visit soon." Catherine and Katnis hugged for a minute before Catherine said "I will Kat." Snake said "Come on Catherine, we're burning daylight." Just as he turned to leave, Roy said "Snake, that was my last request of you as a Colonel and member of the UN War Council. I'm retiring in July." Snake smirked "Yeah, and you're gonna be pulled out of retirement just as soon as you get used to it when something happens." Snake and Catherine departed from the compound and started walking toward the apartment. Catherine asked "You walked here?" Snake said "Yeah, it's not that far, plus it's a nice day." Catherine grumbled "You could have ridden a bike." Snake asked "Is there anything I need to know about you? Are you allergic to anything, have special needs?" Catherine tapped her head with her index finger and said "Uh..I'm allergic to strawberries." Snake asked "Anything else?" Catherine said "No, I don't think so." Snake asked "What do you do when not...doing whatever you were doing at the compound?" Catherine smiled "Played video games or played with Katnis." Snake asked "How old are you?" Catherine said "I'm 11. Can I ask you something?" Snake said "Sure." Catherine asked "What do I call you and...Meryl?" Snake said "In public, you can call me Jack, when we're at the apartment, you can call me Snake." Catherine said "Got it, thanks." Snake and Catherine found themselves at the apartment door, and Snake proceeded to slowly open the door and found Sunny sitting in a chair in the kitchen. Snake asked "Where's Meryl?" Sunny said "She's in the living room. Last I saw she was putting her gun back together and asked not to be disturbed." Snake walked into the living room with Catherine following close behind. Sunny looked up at the new girl and asked "Who are you?" Snake said "I'll introduce you in a second. Just hold on alright?" Sunny shrugged "Kay." Snake and Catherine walked into the living room, and as soon as Meryl looked up, her expression changed from a happy smile to a distrustful glare. Meryl asked "What did you do?" Snake said "This is Catherine, she'll be staying with us." Catherine smiled and bowed "Hi, i'm Catherine, nice to meet you." Meryl asked "Snake, can I talk to you in private?" Snake nodded and followed Meryl into her room, where she slammed the door shut and pushed Snake against the wall. Meryl asked "Who the hell is she? Why is she here?" Snake said "Her name is Catherine, I adopted her on orders by your father." Meryl asked "And you did this without asking me?" Snake said "Yeah, I know, I should have told you." Meryl sighed "Damn right...but if she's here, she's here. What do you know about her?" Snake said "She has blonde hair." Meryl gripped her nose in annoyance "I know that, dumb ass, what else?" Snake said "She's allergic to strawberries." Meryl nodded "Alright, that's a start. What else?" Snake shrugged "That's all I got." Meryl rolled her eyes "Dumb-ass." Meryl and Snake walked back out into the living room and found Catherine and Sunny talking to each other. Meryl said "I see you've met each other." Sunny said "Yep! She's awesome!" Meryl said "That's good to hear." Sunny nodded "Yep!" Catherine asked "So uh, where do I sleep?" Snake said "Uh..you can sl-" Meryl said "You can stay in Sunny's room for tonight, then tomorrow i'll clean out my room and uh...move into Snake's room." Catherine smiled and followed Sunny to her room, and just as she turned the corner she said "Sounds like a plan." After putting her materials away for the night, they sat down for pasta made by Meryl, which wasn't bad considering Meryl made it. After dinner everyone went to their rooms, and just before Snake himself went to sleep, he walked around the corner and checked on the girls and saw they were already fast asleep. Snake decided to join them and went to bed.

Chapter 4 Snake felt himself fighting ghostly images of Liquid and Solidus who were shouting "All those you care for will die, and you can do nothing to stop it!" Snake shouted back "I don't care what you say, I will do whatever it takes!" Liquid asked with a devilish grin "Even if it means losing your own life?" Snake shouted "Liquid!" Snake forced open his eyes and saw he was back in his darkened room, and after a few moments he heard a small squeak, he looked ahead of him and saw little Catherine looking back at him, and even with the lack of light, he could see her face was filled with terror. Snake asked "What are you doing in here?" Catherine said "Sunny kept kicking me in her sleep, so I thought I could come in here, but once I lied down, you kept shouting 'Liquid!' and you nearly punched me, I thought you were mad at me." Snake sighed "No, not your fault, you didn't do anything, just a very bad dream. Sorry if I scared you." Catherine said "It's alright, as long as it's over." Snake motioned for her to come closer and he gave her a hug. Snake said"I promise, it's over." Snake lied back down with the girl still in his arms and eventually she fell asleep, which came difficult to Snake due to the dream he had.

In what seemed like no time at all Snake heard a knock at his door; he looked at Catherine, still sleeping soundly in his arms and asked "Who is it?" Meryl slowly peeked her head in the door and asked "Hey, have you seen Catherine? She wasn't in Sunny's room." Before Snake could answer, Meryl saw Catherine sleeping, smiled and asked "How long has she been here?" Snake shrugged "About an hour. I guess." Meryl said "She's just so cute." Snake asked "What the hell do I do?" Meryl said "Don't be a dumbass and wake her up!" At that, Catherine grumbled, and slowly opened her eyes. Catherine asked "Is it time to get up?" Meryl said "Yes it is. Come on, i'll make you some breakfast." Catherine said "I'll be out in a minute." Meryl nodded and walked into the kitchen. Snake whispered "Try not to eat much of what she cooks, she's terrible." Catherine nodded and got up, and just before she left, Catherine asked "Can I ask you something?" Snake said "Sure." Catherine asked "Can you teach me how to shoot?" Snake said "I guess. Go eat breakfast and meet me on the roof." Catherine hopped full of joy into the kitchen. Snake walked up to the roof and proceeded to stack three boxes next to each other and placed four empty beer bottles on top of them. As soon as Snake finished setting everything up, the door to the roof opened to Catherine. Catherine asked "So, what are we doing?" Snake pulled an SAA and handed it to Catherine, who seemed to know how to at least handle the gun properly. Snake said "Shoot the bottles." Catherine raised the gun and pulled the trigger, however the bullet itself hit none of the bottles. Snake said "Bend your elbows a bit, and aim a bit to the left." Catherine nodded and tried again, and grazed the far left bottle, causing it to fall on the ground and shatter. Snake asked "What are you aiming at?" Catherine said "The tip of the bottles, why?" Snake sighed and said "Aim for the middle of the bottle, it will be easier." Catherine said "Then it would make it too easy." Snake sighed "Just do it." Catherine rolled her eyes and did as she was told, and proceeded to shoot the middle bottle square in the center causing it to shatter in a dozen pieces. Catherine smiled, pleased with her work and said "Too easy." Just then a helicopter landed on the roof beside theirs and out stepped a man who appeared to be in his late thirties, he had chin length jet-black hair and tanned skin. Catherine asked "Who's that?" The man stepped into their field of vision with two body guards armed with AK-47's. Snake said "Catherine, this is President Navarro." Navarro said "Hello Mr. Solid Snak...wow you're blond...your file said you were gray haired and....well old." Snake said "Science helped with the aging problem and....hair dye." Navarro nodded "I see. Well it's nice to see you Snake." Snake said "Please, call me Jack." Navarro raised an eyebrow in confusion "Jack? You're file said your birth name is David." Snake nodded "Yeah, that's true. But I want to start a new life; so I took a new identity." Navarro said "I see...Jack...so who's the kid?" Snake said "This is my daughter, Catherine." Catherine bowed "Nice to meet you!" Navarro said "Likewise." Snake asked "So what do you want?" Navarro asked "You get to the point don't you?" Snake grumbled "Out with it." Navarro said "Alright, alright. I came to get your permission for something..." Snake asked "What is it?" Navarro said "Well, do you remember the FOXHOUND Unit?" Snake nodded "Yeah, what about it?" Navarro said "Your father, Big Boss destroyed the unit and..-" Snake grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close. Snake said with a twinge of anger "You want to resurrect the unit just to get some damn political points?" Navarro smiled "No...Jack... I wanted to get your permission to revive the unit, put you in charge and give you the title of...Big Boss." Snake said "I'll think about it." Navarro smiled and said "We have a group of people ready to be contacted." Snake and Catherine watched Navarro re-board his helicopter and fly back off to DC. Snake said "Come on." and Catherine followed Snake back into the apartment and found Meryl sitting in the living room putting her gun back together. Meryl asked "What was with the helicopter?" Catherine said "The President wants Snake to reform something called...FOXHOUND." Meryl's eyes raised in shock "I'm sorry...what?" Snake nodded "She's right. Navarro just offered me position as leader of FOXHOUND." Meryl asked "Are you going to take it?" Snake took the hint and nodded "I guess so..." Meryl asked "Is there anything you want to ask me?" Snake replied "You want to join?" Meryl jumped up from her seat;gave a mock salute, put on a cocky smile and asked "What do you think?"

Chapter 5 The following morning, Snake gave Navarro the go-ahead to reform FOXHOUND and he proceeded to give Snake coordinates of their meeting place two weeks later. Snake, Meryl and Catherine who snuck along; arrived at an old apartment building and were lead into room 316. Once Snake opened the door, he saw it was a room full of computers and had at least three dozen government workers. Snake said "God damn..he didn't spare any expense." Meryl said "Looks like." They were approached by a man resembling Master Miller just with black hair. The man said "Hello, I take it you're Big Boss? Well I'm Leonardo da Chicago." Snake said "So you're Italian?" Leonardo raised an eyebrow "No..why?" Snake said "Only Italians do that these days." Leonardo said "I guess so, but I don't have a last name so, I compensated." Snake said "I see...so you're a member of the team?" Leonardo nodded "Yep, and you're wanted in to board room." Leonardo lead the group into a room with a few more people, that included Drebin, a woman that resembled Naomi Hunter,. Snake sat down at the head of the table, and the entire group followed suit. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Drebin asked "So now what?" Leonardo said "I was thinking Code names and giving people their jobs." Just then Raiden walked in wearing a suit. Raiden shouted "Oh hey Snake! I didn't know you were the Boss here." Leonardo asked "Wait hold on. Is this everyone, what are their jobs, what's the details of this squad?" Snake shouted "Everyone shut up!" Before another word could be said Colonel Campbell walked in. Campbell said "I am this squad's mission coordinator, don't worry Snake, i'll get down the basics for you. However, you are the one who chooses everyone's code names. It's your job." Snake sighed "Leonardo, what's your talent?" Leonardo said "I'm trained as a spotter and a spy." Snake nodded "Uh...you with the sniper...-" Campbell said "She doesn't talk much, but her name's Grace and she's one hell of a sniper." Snake nodded toward Raiden and Drebin said "I know about you two." Leonardo asked "And what's that?" Drebin said "I was contacted by the President himself to become the weapon supplier for this squad. I've worked on a couple missions with Snake before this." Raiden said "I'm a Cyborg Ninja." Leonardo smiled "Well that's great to know..what about the woman, she your wife?" Meryl said "You could say that..." Snake said "She's a member of this team, you got a problem with that, there's the door." Leonardo asked "So..what's my codename?" Snake now annoyed, replied "What's with you and these code names?" Leonardo said "They're essential." Snake sighed "Fine. Leonardo...you're code name's...Black Hawk...Grace, your code name is...Silver Wolfe. Raiden...yours is White Fox and Meryl..you-" Meryl said "I don't need one." Catherine shouted "What about me?!" Meryl said "You're a rookie, you don't get one yet." Catherine flailed her arms in protest "But whhhhy? Everyone else gets cool names!" Snake said "Pass the entrance exam and you'll get a code name." Catherine asked "Will I get to pick it?" Snake said "We'll see, rookie. We'll see." Leonardo said "That reminds me...what do we call you?" Snake said "You can call me Boss, Snake or Jack." Campbell said "Well now that the naming situation is dealt with..how about we assign missions?" Snake raised an eyebrow "What missions?" Campbell tossed a dozen or so cream colored folders out onto the table. Snake picked up one with three golden stars on it, and opened it. He saw objectives to Afghanistan, which after reading into it was an assassination mission to end a potential Gulf War. Snake next checked one of one silver star and found objectives in Alaska, which was a simple scouting mission. Snake handed Leonardo the silver star and said "Here's your first official mission. You're going to take Wolfe with you." Leonardo went to protest but Snake interrupted him. "We want all our first missions successful, that means we have to work as a team." Leonardo asked "What about Drebin back there? He's not a field agent." Snake nodded "You're right. He's not a field agent. He doesn't go on missions; he's our weapons provider. You want something, you go to him." Raiden said "Not to be rude, but I want a mission here too." Snake looked around the folders and found a mission assignment in Mexico; a simple two star mission to oversee weapon shipments into an offshore facility in the Caribbean. Snake passed it to Meryl and said "There's your mission. You're taking Raiden." Meryl asked "This looks too easy. A rookie could do this." Catherine's eyes lit up "A rookie?" Snake said "Yeah, I know. But like Le-Hawk, we want all our first missions to be successful, therefore I want you to bring in Raiden just in case hell goes down." Roy asked "And what about you?" Snake planted a folder with a four star mission in the Middle East in front of him. Snake said "A simple mission to see the UN refugee efforts."

Chapter 6 Three days had past since then and Snake had already taken the necessary photographs for the mission and sent them back to Campbell, but something had just been calling to him since he arrived in the Middle East, something begging him to return. It was the battlefield, he needed to feel the rush again, he needed to fight again, he needed it like he needed a cigarette. Snake was sitting in a truck, surrounded by a dozen other Middle Eastern Militia soldiers, dressed in an instructor outfit, armed with an AK-102 when the truck in front of them exploded and flipped into a building. At that second, Snake's car stopped and every person fawned out into the blood-stained street only to be gunned down themselves by snipers. Snake, seeing this found where the shots were coming from, and lined the sniper in his eyesight and fired his gun, killing the sniper, only for a dozen more PMC's charging out into the streets and more and more bloodshed. Snake knelt down behind an armored truck, possibly belonging to a now-dead PMC regular, and tried to catch his breath. He couldn't get enough of the battle, enough of this feeling, he was addicted to it, and he just wanted more. Snake rose up from his resting spot and tried to fire on one the the PMC's but only heard a click from his gun. Snake cursed himself and threw himself down onto the ground before getting his head taken off by another sniper; tried to take out his ammo pack from his gun, but he found that one of the bullets melded to the inside of the gun and jammed it. Snake shouted "God dammit!" and tossed the gun to the ground in annoyance. Snake thought to himself for a second before one of his supposed allies fell to the ground, missing half of his skull, throwing his blood everywhere and he picked up the man's gun. Snake smiled to the former militiaman "Thanks. Just what I needed." Snake unloaded the ammo pack and found only one bullet was used, smiled, put the pack back in and ran around a corner, dodging stray bullets. Snake, now out of breath slumped up against the alley's wall and tried to relax, which he found fairly easy, despite the raging battle happening around him. Ten minutes passed by when he heard a girl whimpering. Snake got up with a cough and followed the sounds of the whimpering and found a woman, hardly dressed slouched against a garbage bin, holding her hip, which was gushing blood. Snake looked at the girl who appeared to be no more then seventeen, barely conscious. Snake ran up to her, placed the gun on the ground and asked "Do you need help?" The girl looked into Snake's direction and replied "Euh ... qui êtes-vous?" Snake said "You're wounded." The girl shouted "Merci pour l'observation, Sherlock!" Snake sighed "You obviously speak English, can you please..." The girl nodded "I'm sorry...i'm just in pain." Snake said "I can see that..what happened, what are you doing in a war zone?" The girl said "I can ask you the same thing, you're obviously not native to this land. I'm just touring." Snake said "Not the best choice for a vacation." Snake picked up a stick and handed it to the girl. She asked "What's this for?" Snake said "You're going to bite down on that while I get this damn bullet out of you." The girl's face turned to stone, but she nodded and bit down on the stick. Snake proceeded to start working on it and after twenty minutes, Snake finally got the bullet out of her and tossed it to the ground. Once done, he looked at her and found she had already lost consciousness possibly due to the loss of blood. Snake called Campbell and said "We got two for pickup, one civilian."

Chapter 7 Two days past and Snake found himself in the meeting room, surrounded by his FOXHOUND allies, listening to Campbell on all their success on each of their missions. The girl he had rescued from the Middle East turned out to be the niece of Cécile Cosima Caminades, however she was having trouble remembering her name. Snake thought it best to let her relax and recover for a few days before questioning her again due to what she had been through. However, Meryl had had Campbell question why she was in the Middle East, and she told him that she was there not only as a tourist, but on assignment for a newspaper in New York. Snake was sitting in his chair, half asleep with Catherine not far behind him, dozing off in his lap when he looked over to Otacon who had spent the entire meeting just staring at Grace, but in particular, her sniper rifle which had a blue handkerchief tied on the barrel. Campbell turned to Snake "You have anything to add Snake?" Snake shook his head "No, not really. I think we're done here." Campbell nodded and everyone got up and went back to their daily activities. Otacon whispered "Hey Snake, can I talk to you?" Snake looked down at the sleeping Catherine and said "Hey, rookie. Wake up." Catherine slowly opened her eyes, stretched and moaned "What do you want?" Snake said "Get up, I have to talk to Otacon in private, go to the shooting range for your target practice." Catherine whined "But it's not for another hour!" Snake said "Then go to your quarters to get something to eat, alright?" Catherine sighed "Alright..sorry." and proceeded to leave the room. Snake turned back to Otacon and asked "Now what do you need Otacon?" Otacon asked "Snake...that girl..your sniper.." Snake said "Wolfe? Yeah what about-" Snake looked and saw much pain and sorrow spread across Otacon's face when he said "Wolfe." and suddenly realized that it reminded him of Sniper Wolfe. Snake asked "Grace..what about her?" Otacon said "Her handkerchief..it looks exactly like the one Sniper gave to me back at Moses...even has S.W. embroiled on the side..." Snake said "Yeah..for Silver Wolfe." Otacon asked "Snake, can I ask you something?" Snake nodded "Sure." Otacon shouted "Why would you name her that?! You know how much it hurts me!" Snake shook his head "I didn't give her that code name to hurt you Otacon. I gave it to her because she deserves it. Because she earned it." Otacon cupped his face in his hands "I'm so sorry I accused you!" Snake sighed "It's fine Otacon. Just forget it." Snake thought it best to leave him alone and proceeded to leave the room. Snake started walking down the hall when he looked passed Catherine's door and saw her quickly throw something under her pillow. Snake crept in and he smelled a hint of smoke. Snake gave her a questioning look and asked "What was that?" Catherine said "Nothing!" Snake said "Show me what's under your pillow." Catherine sighed, dug under her pillow and took out a cigarette. Snake took it from her hand and shouted "Where the hell did you get this?!" Catherine continued staring at him, causing Snake to pat down his back pocket and found his cigarette box missing. Snake asked "How many have you had?" Catherine held up her hands and raised her fingers, counting two. Snake sighed "Jesus,Catherine.." Catherine cupped her hands "I'm sorry. Please don't be mad." Snake asked "What makes you think this would be alright?" Catherine said "I've seen you do it, heck I've seen most of the adults here do it, I just thought it would make me more mature." Snake shook his head "No, don't do it again...at least not till you're older." Catherine nodded slowly "I promise." Snake proceeded to leave and again walk down the hall when he was stopped by Campbell. Roy said "Snake, our guest is awake if you want to speak with her." Snake walked into the infirmary and found the girl writing on a notepad. Snake leaned in on Campbell and asked "She speak English? I'm not in the mood to translate right now." Roy nodded "Yeah, the doctor said she was just dehydrated." Snake sat down in the chair next to the girl who looked up at him and gave him a smile, and put down her notepad on the desk next to her. Snake said "Morning. How are you feeling?" The girl replied "I'm doing much better, thank you....um, might I ask you a question?" Snake nodded "Sure." The girl asked "You're the one who rescued me?" Snake nodded "Yeah." The girl asked "And you're name's...Jack am I right?" Snake said "Yeah, how'd you know?" The girl said "I heard someone say that name...and I just guessed." Snake asked "Now that you know my name, can I get yours?" The girl nodded My name is is Sylvia Caminades." Snake said "Nice to meet you." Sylvia nodded "Are you related to Big Boss?" Snake nodded "Yeah, what gave it away?" Sylvia said "My aunt gave me a picture of her and Big Boss from an incident in Central America and you look just like him...except you have blond hair." Snake smiled "I see." Sylvia asked "So that little girl..is she yours?" Snake raised an eyebrow "Excuse me?" Sylvia said "A little blonde headed girl came in here and gave me my things." Snake said "Oh, so you've met Catherine, yeah she's mine." Sylvia made a mock toast with her bottle of water "Congratulations." Snake said "Thanks." Sylvia said "I cannot thank you enough for your help. I hope to repay you one day." Snake said "Think nothing of it." After a few seconds, Snake's Codec started to go off. Snake turned to Sylvia and said "Excuse me." Sylvia nodded "Of course." Snake left the room and answered the ring, which turned out to be one of the CQC instructors. Snake asked "What is it?" The instructor said "Boss, we have a situation. It's Catherine, she broke someone's nose." Snake sighed "Damn. Alright, i'll be right there." Snake stuck his head, told Sylvia he had to go and went down to the training room. Once there he found Catherine being yelled at by Meryl while the resident nurse was looking over the boy who was holding back tears as she cleaned off his drying blood. Snake walked up to Catherine and asked "Why did you break his nose?" Catherine looked at the boy, and instantly, an angry scowl appeared on her face. Catherine said "That little snot over there said girls aren't as good as soldiers as boys. So I taught him a lesson." Snake asked "By sucker punching him?" Catherine shook her head "No, he threw the first punch." Snake thought for a second before he walked toward the boy, whose face was now cleaned of blood. Snake asked "Did you say women aren't as good of soldiers as men?" The child nodded "I said it because boys do better at endurance tests and stuff..." Snake said "Let me tell you something. Out of all the women soldiers I've known in my career..all of them were better than me. Just because men do better at physical tests doesn't make them a better soldier. Now go apologize to Catherine." The child said "But she punched me." Snake said "And she'll be punished. But you still owe her an apology. Now go." Snake watched the kid get up, stumble over to Catherine, and the two exchanged a few words before Catherine stuck her hand out to shake hands;causing the boy to flinch before he realized what she was doing and shook her hand and left the room with the nurse. Snake walked over to Catherine and asked "Now was that so hard?" Catherine shook her head "I guess not."

Chapter 8 The following morning, Snake had just finished jogging around the track and had went to light a cigarette but after eight attempts to start it, he noticed his lighter was out of fluid. Snake swore to himself and placed the cig back into it's container and walked inside where he was met by Leonardo. Leonardo said "Hey Boss, we got your uniform ready in your room when you're ready." Snake said "Thanks." Snake put the suit on and found it was an olive colored standard military outfit with a FOXHOUND logo on his right sleeve, a commander patch on his left breast pocket, and another patch that appeared to be three snakes intertwining to form of a trident. Snake turned to Leonardo and asked "What's with the snake patch?" Leonardo said "Well..that is your name, sir." Snake nodded "I see. Thanks." Leonardo saluted and went back to working on some paperwork. Snake took the hint and walked to Catherine's room and found her still snoring in bed. Snake sighed to himself, walked in and nudged her "Hey rookie, wake up." Catherine moaned "What time is it?" Snake said "Time to get up." Catherine looked at her clock and saw it was six twenty three. Catherine said "It's only six! It's still the middle of the night!" Snake sighed "Just get up, get some breakfast and go to your training sessions." As Snake turned to leave Catherine shouted "Wait!" Snake turned and saw Catherine digging under one of her many pillows. Snake asked "What is it?" Catherine then took out a green colored box and handed it to him. Snake asked "What's this?" Catherine smiled "Open it!" Snake did so and found it was a new silver lighter. Snake said "Thanks, but what's this for?" Catherine laughed "It's your birthday dummy!" Snake said "Well thanks. Looks like someone has to remember." Catherine asked "You don't like it?" Snake said "Oh no, I do. I just...even I forgot what today was." Catherine's face changed into that of confusion and sadness, and asked "Are you alright?" Snake said "Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks." Catherine smiled "You're welcome." Snake asked "How did you even get this?" Catherine said "I noticed you were having trouble lighting for a few days. So I bought one." Snake said "You're underage." Catherine smiled "I know. I have my ways." Just then, Campbell walked past the door and said "Oh Snake, there's a visitor waiting for you in the mess hall." Snake said "Alright, i'll be right there." Catherine asked "Can I come?" Snake sighed "Sure." Catherine shouted in glee "Yay!" Snake walked down the hallway, followed on his heels by Catherine and walked into the mess hall to find a blonde haired woman sitting at a table eating a sandwich. Catherine asked "Aunt....Aunt Holly?" Holly looked up and her eyes widened "Catherine? What in hell are you doing here?" Catherine ran up to Holly and gave her a hug. Snake asked "Holly, you know her?" Holly patted Catherine on the head and nodded "Yes. She's my niece." Snake asked "Where have you been all this time?" Holly said "I've been living in Canada. I tried to track you down in Alaska, but..you vanished. Just like you always did." Snake said "It's nice to see you too." Catherine, now crying said "Where did you go, you vanished after mom and dad went away!" Holly bent down so she was on eye level with Catherine and said "I...I had to go away for a while, I had a mission I had to do alone. I'm sorry Catherine." Catherine only buried her head into Holly's shoulder. Holly asked "So, what's she doing with you?" Snake said "I adopted her." Holly nodded "I see." Just from the look on her face, Snake could see she was thankful for that. He guessed she was thankful she didn't have to grow up alone. Snake asked "So why are you here?" Holly replied "What makes you think I need a reason to find you?" Snake said "No person would travel across two countries just to find one person." Holly smiled "I wanted to find you, yes. Because you owe me something." Snake asked "And what's that?" Holly knocked on his head "Dumbass, you agreed to have Christmas dinner with me." Snake said "Oh yeah. I did, didn't I?" Holly smiled "So, as I see it. You owe me a date." Snake said "I guess I do." Catherine asked "Are you two in love?" Holly blushed and looked away. Snake said "Knock if off Catherine." Catherine raised her arms in defense "I'm just asking." Holly said "It's complicated, Catherine." Catherine said "Well..you two like each other, and Snake promised you Christmas dinner..I don't see how you can't be." Holly said "Well...I don't even know his real name." Catherine shouted "She doesn't even know your name?! Even I know your name!" Snake said "You're my daughter, you're suppose to." Catherine said "His name is Jack." Holly smiled "Really?" Snake said "Yeah...you know I could have told her, right Catherine?" Catherine shrugged "I know." Holly kissed him on the cheek "Relax, Jack. It's just one date."

Chapter 9 A month past, and Holly and Snake had been on two dates, which went well; however Snake still was afraid to get too close for Meryl's sake and instead inducted Holly into FOXHOUND as a scout. Also during this time, Catherine had officially graduated into the squad. Snake, wanting to continue the tradition, gave her the codename Black Snake and gave her private lessons in CQC and CQB. Snake and Catherine were sparing room in the garage on a mat, Catherine was wearing her CQC suit trying to beat Snake in at least one round when she tried to punch him in the head, but her attack was caught and Snake flipped her over his head and landed on the ground with a thud. Snake said "I think we're done for today." Catherine moaned "Come on, Boss. One more round! I know I can beat you!" Snake said "No, we've done twelve rounds today. It's time to stop." Catherine slowly got to her feet, still determined to go another round. As Snake was watching, it reminded him of his early days in the original FOXHOUND, during his training with Big Boss. It was surreal to him noticing this. Catherine said "Can I ask you something?" Snake said "Sure." Catherine asked "Who trained you in this?" Snake said "My father did. Just like i'm teaching you." Catherine's eyes lit up with amazement and wonder. Snake asked "What?" Catherine asked "What was your dad like?" Snake said "I didn't really know him. I grew up under a lot of people. I didn't meet my father until I was in my twenties." Catherine's face turned dark with sadness and nodded "Oh, I'm sorry." Snake said "It's fine." Catherine sighed and the two left the garage and walked into the living room, where Otacon was playing with the Mk VI with Sunny and Meryl was talking to someone at the door. Meryl shouted "Snake! There's someone here for you! He says he's got a package for you!" Snake sighed "Alright, i'll be right there." Snake walked up to the door and a man in a suit was waiting for him. The man asked "Mr. Solid Snake?" Snake nodded "Yeah. What do you want?" The man said "I'm with the CIA. After going through mountains of paperwork and data... We discovered Jack Doe's will, and as it seems. He left everything he ever had to his sons. Since you're his only living son, everything goes to you." Snake looked behind him and only saw a four seat-er black car. Snake raised an eyebrow "Where's the stuff?" The man said "In a privately owned warehouse." Snake said "Just give me the address. I'll find it." The man shook his head "Sorry, I have to give clearance." Snake sighed "Fine. Let's make this quick." Catherine appeared behind Snake, now dressed in a blue hoodie with a dog paw and the initials "ND" on it. Catherine asked "Can I come?" Snake rolled his eyes "Fine. Just behave and don't touch anything." Catherine made a mock salute "Aye aye!" The man said "Right this way." Snake and Catherine made their way into the man's car and took a few minute drive across town to an old seemingly abandoned warehouse. The man typed in a seven digit passcode and the wide door opened to show four motorcycles, several sets of clothing, three dozen boxes of ammunition, a dozen guns, and what appeared to be a prototype TX. Snake mumbled "Damn." Catherine hopped on the closest motorcycle and started to pretend to drive and make motorcycle noises. Snake said "What did I tell you?" Catherine said "Not to touch anything..." Snake shouted "So why are you touching the motorcycle?!" Catherine said "My dad used to collect Harley's, he and I used to ride them every weekend." Snake said "I see." The man coughed "I suspect you would like all the items moved somewhere?" Snake nodded "Contact Colonel Campbell. Have him move it to the military compound in town." Snake heard a small sigh of disappointment come out of Catherine and before the man could hit the call button on his phone Snake stopped him. The man asked "Something else?" Snake nodded "Yeah, i'll drive that bike home." Catherine shouted in glee "Yippie!" and nearly fell off the motorcycle in her excitement. The man smiled "Very good, sir." After the call was confirmed, Snake turned the motorcycle on, and with Catherine clinging to his back tightly, he rode the bike home to an annoyed and clearly angry, Meryl.

Chapter 10 Some time later Snake was at FOXHOUND HQ at the shooting range alone when there was a knock at the door. Snake mumbled to himself "What did Catherine break now?" Snake opened the door and found Revolver Ocelot standing there, wearing a brown long coat with a revolver on his belt, and had a five o'clock shadow and his head shaved. Snake pointed his gun at Ocelot's head and shouted "How the hell are you alive?!" Ocelot raised his hands "I know, it's a shock. But I am not the Ocelot you once knew." Snake said "You have twenty seconds." Ocelot said "Fine fine. It's a long story, but unlike Volgin i'll keep it short. I'm a clone of the man you once knew. The last thing I remember is..taking over a Metal Gear RAY." Snake asked "What do you want?" Ocelot gave a mocking bow and smirked "I live for only one purpose; to pledge my undying loyalty to FOXHOUND and Big Boss." Snake asked "And why the hell should I trust you. You've tried to kill me at least five times." Ocelot said "If I wanted to kill you today. I would have put a bullet between those blue eyes of yours when you opened the damn door." Snake grumbled, thought for a minute and lowered his gun. "Fine, you can join. But I will be keeping an eye on you at all times." Ocelot smirked "I would expect nothing more from Big Boss." After explaining the situation to Campbell, Ocelot was officially inducted into FOXHOUND and gotten an apartment a half mile from the compound where he could have an eye kept on him at all times. After Ocelot left, Snake told Campbell to look into Ocelot to see if his story checked out and he went home to Meryl looking over a field report and Catherine cleaning her Operator. Meryl asked "How was your day Snake?" Snake said "Well...I have a surprise..." Meryl said "If you brought home another kid I am going to shoot you." Snake said "No, nothing like that. Uh...I was visited by a clone of Ocelot." Meryl said "Snake, you need to lay off the booze." Snake gave her an expectant look "I'm serious." Meryl's eyes widened "Did you shoot him?" Snake shook his head "No. I let him join FOXHOUND..." Meryl got up and slapped him in the head and shouted "Why the hell would you do that?!" Snake said "He said he would die for FOXHOUND and Big Boss...-" Meryl finished "And since you're Big Boss you think he will fulfill that promise?" Snake nodded "Yeah, I do." Meryl sighed "I hope you know what you're doing..." Snake smiled "If he tries anything you can shoot him yourself." Meryl kissed him on the cheek and whispered "Oh you know I will." Catherine asked "Who's Ocelot?" Snake said "He's...he's had a history with our family." Catherine asked "Is he someone to look out for?" Snake nodded "Yeah." Catherine asked "Anything I need to know?" Snake said "Cats do love to play as snakes.

Chapter 11 Snake was slowly walking around the house, trying to overcome his hangover and his activities with Meryl the night before when Catherine poked her head out of her door and ran up to him. Snake looked down at her and he saw she had an excited, and energetic filled look on her face. Snake asked "What do you want?" Catherine said "Spar with me, please please please please please!" Out of the corner of his eye he saw Meryl walk out of his room, looking as tired as he felt, turned back to Catherine and said "Go ask your mother." Catherine cocked her head to the side and asked "Are you alright?" Snake said "I'm fine." Catherine said "Well you're usually up to fighting me. But today you're not" Snake said "Catherine. I'm just not up to it right now, alright?" Catherine sighed "Alright." Catherine went back into her room, and Snake turned around to find Meryl standing behind him, giving him an expectant stare. Snake asked "What?" Meryl said "You know she just wants to spend time with you." Snake replied "We spend half the damn day fighting, then the other half I am at that damn compound trying to lead a group of people and I..-" Meryl placed a hand on his chin and whispered "Snake. Shut.Up." Snake forced her hand off his face and nodded. Meryl said "I know it's stressful, and i'm trying to help. Catherine is just trying to spend time with you and you just shoved her away." Snake said "Catherine, come out here!" Catherine slowly crept out of her room, acting as if she was about to be yelled at. Snake sighed "Look, rookie. I'll make you a deal." Catherine asked "What's that, Boss?" Snake said "I'll spar with you every other day..-" Catherine asked "If?" Snake said "The days we're not sparing, you take shooting lessons with Ocelot." Catherine smiled "Deal." Later on, Snake watched Catherine being taught by Ocelot with a shotgun. Catherine attempted to fire the gun at a target but she missed by a foot. Ocelot said "Don't stiffen your back because it'll make the gun jump." Catherine rolled her eyes "It's not a living thing. It's just a tool." Ocelot grabbed her by the arm and said "It also demands respect, girl. Your father knows this just as well as I do."Catherine released herself from his grip and looked him in the eye. "It's. Not. A living. Thing." Ocelot turned to Snake "Your daughter here needs to be taught some respect." Catherine said "Respect is earned jerk." Ocelot said "Let's agree..to disagree, shall we?" Snake said "Break it up before I taze you both." Ocelot said "You shoot down those bottles with this revolver. I won't teach you again." Ocelot held out a revolver for Catherine to take, but when she went to grab it, he pulled it back. Ocelot continued "However, every shot you miss. I get to hit you upside the head." Catherine asked "How many bottles will there be?" Ocelot said "Three." Catherine asked "How many shots do I get?" Ocelot smirked "Six." Catherine smiled "That's easy." Snake groaned to himself "Oh someone's going to get slapped in the head." Catherine lined up her shot and just as she fired, Ocelot coughed causing her to miss. After getting slapped in the head she gave him an annoyed look. Ocelot shrugged "What? I coughed." Catherine half closed her eyes and asked "You know i'm holding a loaded gun, right?" Ocelot nodded "Yes." Catherine shouted "Then don't piss me off!" Snake said "Watch your language, rookie." Catherine lined up another shot and fired, causing the middle bottle to shatter. Catherine turned and stuck her tongue out at Ocelot. Ocelot said "Good shot. Now do it again." Without thinking, Catherine snapped out a shot and caused the bottle on the right to fall off the box. Ocelot said "Work on your aim, girl." Catherine sighed "Shut up." Snake said "Catherine. He's trying to help you." Catherine moaned "He could do it with a better tone." Ocelot said "Take your own advice..blondie." Catherine shouted "You got something to say to me?!" Ocelot said "Oh I can think of something." Snake shouted "Alright, break it up!" Catherine said "He started it." Snake said "I don't care who started it, i'm finishing it!" Catherine fired off another shot but missed. Ocelot said "Your anger clouds your judgement." Catherine craned her neck and said "Shut.Up." Snake said "Just relax, take a breath and try it again." Catherine did as she was told and fired off another shot, hitting the bottle near the bottom, shattering it. Catherine said "Told you I could do it." Ocelot said "Now only if you could do it the first time." Catherine shouted "Shut up!"