Metal Gear Solid: Elements of Destruction

Title: Metal Gear Solid: Elements of Destruction- Chapter 25: Homecoming

Author: The Ice Goddess (FrozenBlueIce)

Fandom: Metal Gear Solid

Feedback: All feedback is welcome, whether it be
negative ositisitive. I’m trying to
improve on my writing so, please be honest:
frozenblueice@yahoo.com

Pairing: Tain ain pairing of this story is
Snake/Otacon, which is obvious to anyone who knows of my fondness for Hal
Emmerich, so therefore alright to disclose. There are others, but if I told you what they were, it’d ruin the
story.

Series: No.
There may be sequels in the future, but right now that is looking
unlikely due to time constraints.

Rating: PG for language. (this chapter only)

Disclaimer: All characters appearing in previous Metal
Gear Solid video games are the property of Konami Computer Entertainment of
Japan, and of their creator, Mr. Hideo Kojima.
All new characters are the property of The Ice Goddess. This is a work of fanfiction, and in no way,
shape, or form will I receive any monetary compensation for it. It is for entertainment purposes only.

Type: Action/Shounen-ai

Summary: This story takes place one year after the
events of “The Big Shell.” New
information found by Otacon sends Snake back into action. (That’s all I’m revealing!)

 

Chapter 25: Homecoming

 

The ride
home aboard the small rental boat was near silent, save for the gentle purring
of the engines and the light slapping of waves against the hull. Mei Ling, who had found the pod drifting
nearly ten miles from the expected rendezvous, sat in the cabin, beside the
still unconscious Raiden, stroking his soft, blonde hair. She regarded his face with a certain
curiosity as she watched the indicator lights on his cybernetic implants blink
in a recycling pattern. Slow, steady
streams of condensation billowed up from his slightly parted lips as he
breathed.

Otacon stood leaning on the railing
at the bow, letting the cool sea air ruffle his somewhat unruly brown
hair. Though he was no longer crying,
his eyes were still red and glossed over with wetness. He watched the shore slowly approach the
horizon as he lamented over the grim outcome of their mission.

Solid Snake was driving the
boat. He couldn’t help but look out the
window at the lone figure on the deck every now and then. His partner seemed to have regained some
composure, but Snake knew that he was probably dying inside. He frowned.
“Hal must hate this,” he thought.
“It’s his destiny after all…”
His frown lightened a bit.
“No. It’s our destiny.”

Behind him, a soft moan escaped
Raiden’s somewhat bluish-tinted lips.

“Jack?” Mei called to him.

He opened his eyes, a friendly face
coming into focus. “Princess?”

She giggled at the use of her
nickname, “Yeah, it’s me.”

Raiden held the back of his buzzing
head as he sat up slowly. He closed and
reopened his eyes a few times to clear his vision. “I must look like Hell.”

“I’ve seen worse,” Mei Ling replied,
kissing his cheek. Shivers ran their
way up her spine at the direct lip contact with his unnaturally cold skin. “Aren’t you cold at all?” the question
finally came up.

“No. I feel fine. I’ll explain
it to you all later.”

She nodded. “Glad to have you back.”

“See?” Raiden started with a grin, “I promised I’d return and I did.”

Mei Ling’s eyes welled up with tears
of joy. “I never doubted it for a
second.”

“Nven ven one tenth of a second?”

“Not even one millionth of a
second,” she answered him.

He wrapped her in his arms. Mei Ling ignored the chills that ran through
her body and concentrated on the warmth of his love.

“Thank you for believing in me.”

***

Snake and
Otacon walked slowly up the stairs and down the hall to their apartment
door. Hal fumbled with the many keys on
his ring, trying to find the righe. e.
When he finally singled out the key he wanted, he turned it in the lock and
went inside.

It felt good to be home, he thought,
or what had been home for them for the past year. Unfortunately, after all that had happened, they would soon have
to pack up and find a new home. He
sighed at that thought. Such was the
life of men like him and Solid Snake.

The mercenary followed in behind
him, dropping his equipment to the floor and closing the door. He limped his way into his bedroom, then
plopped down on the bed, grabbing his wounded thigh. sha sharply drew in his breath with a hiss, gritting his teeth.

Otacon thought he heard a grunt from
the room next to him. “Snake, are you
alright?”

“I’m just fine!” he answered quickly
so as not to worry his partner.

Hal headed quickly for the bathroom
and grabbed the first aid kit out of the cabinet. Checking that it contained what he needed, he closed the box back
up and went to Dave’s side.

“Otacon…”

“Just be quiet! I need to clean and stitch this before
infection sets in,” Hal cut him off before he could lecture him about being
able to take care of himself.

Snake held up his hands in defeat.

Otacon peeled away the sticky,
oozing bandages from his leg. After
further examination of the wound, the scientist found that it was deeper than
he had originally thought. First, he
had to clear all obstructions. He
reached to the clasp between his partner’s thighs and began to undo the over
layer of the sneaking suit. He slid it
up over Snake’s head, moving to remove the skin-tight under layer. He swallowed hard, knowing that he was naked
underneath that suit.

Dave lay completely still as Hal
undressed him, anticipation teasing him as he knew that this time Hal saw him
naked, it would be with lover’s eyes. A
wave of heat washed over his cheeks, tinting them pink. He bit his bottom lip as something burned
his skin.

The suit, thrown aside, left Solid
Snake bare and vulnerable to the hands of the one with the bottle of hydrogen
peroxide and a sewing needle. Otacon
tried his best to keep his eyes focused on the wound as he flushed it out, a
fizzing foam spewing from the gash as the chemical began to kill the bacteria
that had made their homes there for several hours. “Sorry…” he apologized as he began to dab the area dry with a
clean towel.

Snake looked down at his partner,
who was still diligently cleaning his wound.
“You know, you don’t have to do that.”

“Yes, I do,” he replied, threading
his needle with the thick, black, wiry material. Hal reached back down into the kit, pulling out a syringe filled
with a clear liquid labeled “local anesthetic”. The scientist opened the cap and tapped on the side to get out a
few air bubbles that were left in it.
He lightly pushed the plunger, spraying the surface first. He then took the remainder of the substance,
and injected it into key points around the opening.

Dave began to relax, as the pain
began to disappear. Otacon took cue
from this that the local anesthetic was working, and began his careful
stitching of the area.

***

“There,”
Otacon said getting up from his knees.
“You’re all fixed up.”

Snake looked down at his wound,
admiring the masterpiece of his partner’s skilled stitching. “Looks good. Feels a Hell of a lot better too.”

“That’s the anesthetic still
working. It’ll wear off in about 3
hours, so you should try to get some sleep while you can.” Otacon said, readjusting his glasses up the
bridge of his nose with his index finger.

The engineer caught himself looking
over the exposed body of the mercenary again.
He blushed feverishly, then turned around to leave the room. A strong hand clasped itself around his
wrist.

“Would you stay here with me for
awhile?”

Otacon was caught off guard by
Snake’s words. “Huh?”

“Would you stay here with me for
awhile?” he repeated himself. “I don’t
think I’ll be getting much sleep. I
never usually do. I have too much on my
mind to even try.”

Otacon sat down on the edge of the
bed next to him. “Do you want to talk
about it?” he asked.

“No,” Snake answered him. “I really don’t know how to go about
that. I’ve never been good at talking
about these things.

Otacon blushed again. These things… So Snake was thinking about his feelings for
him. Maybe he was reconsidering
them? Could he have just given into
love in the heat of battle?

With a touch of Dave’s hand to his,
all of his questions were answered, and relief came over him. “What about you? Aren’t you tired?”

“Yeah…” Hal said simply.

Snake slid over against the wall and
patted the bed space next to him.
Otacon timidly lay down beside his still unclothed partner. He felt the warm, muscular figure snuggle up
against him, wrapping a strong arm around his waist.

“I love you,” Otacon said in a
whisper.

“I love you too,” Snake returned,
surprised at his lack of hesitation in saying such emotionally powerful words.

It was just natural, and that was
why it was said with such ease. Snake’s
meeting with Otacon was fate. And fate
is what joined them in love.

***

Mei Ling
stood up on her tiptoes to kiss her boyfriend goodbye. “I’ll see you later, right?”

“Yeah. I’ll be right over,” Raiden replied. “I just want to gather up a few things here and take a shower.”

“Alright. See ya!” she said, parting with a wave.

Raiden closed the door and removed
his pants. He went over to the
full-length mirror on the back of the door in the bathroom to look at
himself. The cybernetically altered man
felt he looked like something out of a bad science fiction film. Showering was going to be a little odd too
with these foreign parts on him. He
sighed, turning on the water…

There was a knock at the door.

Raiden wrapped his towel around him,
grabbing for his High Frequency Blade.
He looked out the peephole.

Nobody was there.

Jack frowned, then turned the
doorknob quietly and carefully. He
cracked the door open, sword ready.

The hall window next to him was
open, curtains fluttering in the breeze.
He walked over to it and looked out, seeing nothing out of the
ordinary. He shut it so as not to let
all of the air-conditioning out of the building.

Making his way back into his apartment, he noticed
something next to his door that wasn’t there when he had first arrived back
home. It was a small, woven basket.