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Brothers in Arms	By : ktatters Category: +M through R > Metal Gear Views: 3907 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Gear, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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God is a bullet

There are some people that will be deterred by the fact that we have nuclear weapons, but those people are the folks we can deal with anyway. - General Charles Horner

Day 4: Istanbul to Develi

Breakfast was cold, pre-made egg sandwiches again. Arthur sat uncomfortably with Ocelot on one side and Big Boss on the other, each sending glares past him. "Would you both stop that?" he asked finally.

"Sorry," said Ocelot with a grin. Big Boss just grunted.

Arthur looked at them both. "We should be back on schedule by tonight," Arthur said finally. "Proper hotel rooms for everyone."

"Hmph." Big Boss frowned. "Another two days of travel and we'll be finished this mission. And well rid of it."

"I think I'll miss it," said Ocelot, glancing sideways at them both. "This might end up the last mission I go on. A regular soldier can't go on if he can't use both hands."

Big Boss rolled his eyes. "Ocelot, even if I believed you about the extent of that injury, we all know you're not a regular soldier."

Ocelot seemed happy enough about that, so Arthur smiled too. It was strained and tired, but it was still a genuine smile.

"So, Arthur. I heard you were a weapons designer," said Ocelot. Big Boss looked at him curiously, and Arthur nodded cautiously, hoping he wasn't about to start another fight. "Anything interesting on the horizon?"

"Oh, well, there's..." Big Boss tapped his shoulder and shook his head slightly. "Right. Well, I could tell him about other people's work though."

Big Boss sighed but nodded. "Once you get him going, though, he can go on about it for hours," he said quietly. "Just a warning."

Arthur paused. "I didn't realize I bored you when I was talking about military technology."

"You don't bore me, but I don't think Ocelot's all that interested in anything other than revolvers. He likes reloading in the middle of a battle. I doubt he'll think much of better automatics and jet-fuels."

"That isn't all I do," said Ocelot with a pout. "I bet I know at least as much about next generation weapons as you do, Big Boss."

"But not as much as Arthur," said Big Boss, closing his eye.

"I'm not a scientist. I'm a military commander-in-chief."

"At any rate," Arthur said quickly, to forestall any more words that might affect them all for the worse, "I'd like Ocelot in one of the trucks again."

"He isn't licensed to drive one, and we need to be outside. If there are any repercussions from that border attack, they're going to happen here in Turkey."

"Because I was so helpful there," muttered Arthur. "Look, I don't want Schluter near the cargo. That goes for his brother too."

Big Boss nodded slowly. "Fine," he said, sounding disappointed. "Set it up. You and Ocelot can take one of cargo trucks, they'll take the bikes."

Arthur looked at Big Boss with a little surprise. They weren't going to fight over this? He nodded uncertainly at his leader, waiting for the other shoe to drop, but Big Boss said nothing else.

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Day 4: Istanbul to Develi

It seemed they'd just finished the lunch break when he heard the cry from the back of the caravan. Big Boss immediately pulled the group over to the side of the road and turned his motorbike around in a semi-circle that spanned half the road. It was lucky there was almost no one on this particular backwater highway: as it was, he heard a car swerve before he managed to see past the trucks.

"Man down!" he yelled. How in hell had someone managed to fall off their bike? Still, he gunned the engine to get to the fallen man as quickly as he could. He pulled to a stop next to him. "Can you get up?"

Schluter nodded, laboriously picking himself up. It looked like it was mostly bruises that he'd suffered. Big Boss got off of his bike and grabbed the fallen motorcycle, then walked it and the man off the road.

By the time he got there, Arthur and Ocelot were both out of the cargo truck they had been driving. Arthur was staring worriedly at Schluter, who sat down almost as soon as they'd reached the side of the road. Ocelot had a hand on Arthur's shoulder. "He'll have to go in one of the trucks," said Big Boss without any preamble.

Arthur frowned and looked at the man, puzzled annoyance in his eyes. "How did he fall? Did anyone see?"

"I was just clumsy," said Schluter, his face reddening. "I wasn't paying enough--"

"His brother pushed him," said Edik, walking up from behind them, said brother in tow. His eyes were narrowed, and he pushed Dirgham in front of him. His eyes flashed to Ocelot before he said another word. "They were messing around, yelling back and forth about something. I think maybe Dirgham just got too close, overbalanced, and ended up using Schluter to keep himself upright."

Arthur leaned down and angrily grabbed Schluter's arm. "What were you arguing about?"

"We weren't arguing," said Dirgham quickly. "We were just talking about things."

"What kind of things?" asked Ocelot, one eyebrow rising.

"What we're going to do with our cut," said Schluter defensively. "But he got too close. What the hell were you thinking?" There was some real anger in the man's eyes. Ocelot was gazing at him with his lids half down.

"I wasn't trying to knock you over. I just haven't ridden a motorbike in a long time."

Big Boss studied them carefully for a moment. Schluter's eyes were furious, and his hands were bunched up in his clothes. There were slight red stains forming around them; he'd probably gripped the handlebars too forcefully when he'd gone down. He was lucky not to have suffered serious injuries. He hadn't been wearing much in the way of leather gear under his Turkish military uniform.

His brother hardly looked contrite, Edik's hands cooly keeping him in place. Dirgham tried to shake them off, but Edik stood stonily, his eyes moving between Arthur, Ocelot, and Big Boss himself, waiting for the command to release him.

"You'll have to go in the trucks," he said grudgingly. It wasn't an ideal situation, but it would keep them from killing each other.

"Boss?" Arthur said, his teeth closing on the word. "I will repeat what I said this morning. We cannot afford to keep troublemakers, whether they're doing this on purpose or accidentally."

Big Boss didn't fail to notice Dirgham's sharp glance: he simply didn't do anything about it. The truth was, Arthur wasn't considering things fully. If the two brothers were left here, they might go to the authorities to try for a reward that would slow the group more than anything else. The pair might end up shooting them all as they drove away. And furthermore, "I've never abandoned anyone for an accident in the middle of a mission. If you want them gone, you'll have to prove it wasn't an accident."

Arthur shook his head slowly and looked at Ocelot, who simply shrugged back. "I still don't want them in the trucks."

"Arthur, you put Ocelot in one because he got hurt." Big Boss kept himself from grimacing and laughing at the same time. Turnabout was fair play, after all. "It's only fair that we do the same for this man. Besides, we can't have the men having accidents behind us."

"It would slow us down," said Ocelot reasonably.

Arthur looked at Ocelot and nodded.

Big Boss closed his eyes for a moment. It damned well shouldn't hurt so much for Arthur to be taking someone else's advice. He was glad that Arthur was seeing things logically, but why did it have to be from what the show-off, arrogant... ex-spetznaz had to say? And why didn't he flinch when Ocelot touched him? And why in hell was Ocelot putting his hand on Arthur's back in the first place?

Big Boss wanted nothing more than to punch Ocelot. The problem was, it would only make Arthur more angry with him. "A catch 22," he said softly. Arthur looked over at him in surprise. "Feel up to getting back on a bike, Ocelot?"

Arthur started to object, but Ocelot's grin stopped him. He pulled out his revolver and twirled it around in one hand. "You're right, Boss. I've still got a good arm. I'm good enough that with one hand I can still take out twenty men."

Arthur deflated slightly, almost imperceptibly. Big Boss could see it. He was almost surprised that Ocelot couldn't... but then, Big Boss had known Arthur as lover, as lieutenant and as friend for over ten years. Ocelot was going on instinct.

Sooner or later, Arthur was going to come back to his bed because Ocelot didn't know him.

"Right." Arthur nodded toward the truck he and Ocelot had been riding in. "Schluter, Dirgham, get in the truck. If there is one more incident, though, I will not have you stay with us. Once is coincidence, twice might be chance, but three times is enemy action."

Big Boss raised an eyebrow at the words and waited for them to get out of earshot. "Arthur... remember to keep your enemies where you can see them."

"Do you two run your army on slogans?" asked Ocelot in a borderline mocking tone, twirling his gun once more. "Let's get going. We don't have time to waste."

Arthur nodded decisively. "You're still taking point?" he asked. Big Boss nodded.

"Arthur, stay at the end. Ocelot, get to the middle. Everyone else stays in position."

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Night 4: Develi

It was nighttime in the town of Develi, and Big Boss was once again sleeping alone. It had been a comfort, earlier, when he'd realized that Ocelot was also going to be by himself tonight. They'd made it back on track, despite everything, and were finally in one of the hole in the wall hotels they had booked for the way back.

Arthur had let the men have a party, paying for a round of drinks in celebration. Edik, wanting to show himself as a big man, had paid for several more before everyone found hotel rooms and went to sleep.

In point of fact, that was the problem. Big Boss wasn't sleeping anymore. Big Boss was wide awake. The question was why?

The night was still dark, so it wasn't waking with the sun. The door wasn't ajar: no one had come into his room. He honestly didn't think anyone would dare to do it, really, except Arthur, and he was still depressingly mad.

No, that wasn't--

A bang on the wall behind him made him sit up suddenly. Arthur's room. Another. And another. Rhythmic. Bang, bang, bang.

Oh, holy f--

Bang.

Now that was a gunshot. Big Boss was out of his bed, his door was flung wide behind him, and staring into Ocelot's shocked green eyes less than a second later. They each had their guns out, but they wasted less than half a second in glaring at each other before bursting into the room.

Big Boss looked around. A lone hole was in the wall opposite Arthur, who was sitting up in his bed, panting. There was blood behind him on the wall, and his eye was starting to swell. "What the hell happened?" asked Big Boss.

Ocelot rushed over to Arthur before the question was finished. He pulled the gun from Arthur's lifeless fingers and pushed him forward slightly to see the back of his head.

"Someone was in here," said Arthur as Big Boss turned on the main light. "They hit me, banged my head against the wall... I'm just lucky I had my gun loaded on the night stand."

Several of the other men were filing into the room. "Did you hit them?" asked Big Boss. He surreptitiously looked at the men, in an effort to find a man with a bullet hole in an arm or a leg. The only one with bandages was Ocelot.

Arthur shook his head slightly. "Looks like you were right. I shouldn't have slept alone."

Big Boss smiled regretfully. It was unfortunate that it took almost getting killed to show Arthur that he was being too stubborn-- "I told you so," said Ocelot. "But don't worry." Ocelot's eyes narrowed. "We'll find out who did it."

Big Boss stared, feeling more and more like an outsider. "How, exactly?" asked Arthur plaintively.

"I'll just go and ask," said Ocelot, winking at Arthur.

Big Boss shook his head to clear it. "No, no, no," he said. "All of you, get out," he said. The men looked at each other in confusion. All except for Ocelot's own men, who turned tail and practically ran off. Big Boss closed the door heavily behind the men. "I will not have you torturing people."

"Boss, we need to know. This isn't just going to go away," said Arthur.

"We aren't going to argue in front of--"

"He's not one of the men, stop pretending he is. He's too good to be rank and file, and you know it. And stop trying to distract me from the issue," said Arthur. "This mission has more riding on it than any other we've done. We can't afford to fail. Let him do what he has to do."

"Absolutely not. Ocelot, go make sure that bullet didn't hit anyone upstairs."

"No, you stay right where you are," said Arthur, pushing himself out of the bed. "Someone attacked me, and you're going to..." Arthur closed his eyes suddenly and sat down. "Fuck."

Ocelot was closer to Arthur, so he sat down beside him faster than Big Boss could, his arm going around the other man. Big Boss wanted to growl. "Are you all right, Arthur?" he asked instead.

"No. I'm dizzy. I'm not going to be able to ride a bike tomorrow."

"You and Ocelot can take one of the trucks. We'll figure this out. We'll fix this, Arthur."

Arthur shook his head slightly. Ocelot stroked long fingers through his hair. Big Boss took Arthur's hand and held onto it despite the slight increase of tense lines on his face.

"Let him do it," said Arthur finally, opening his eyes. They were blazing, but Big Boss shook his head. How could he do anything else? "Boss," said Arthur quite calmly, "I know you're against it. Under normal circumstances, I am too. You know that. But these aren't normal circumstances."

Big Boss sat down heavily on the bed next to Arthur and Ocelot. He put his hand on Arthur's shoulder for the briefest of moments, pulling back when Arthur momentarily winced. "I know they're not. That's when it's most important not to break. When it's not easy."

Arthur closed his eyes for a moment, his face bunching itself up. "If you can't do anything b-but berate me, then you might as well l-leave." Big Boss looked at him in confusion. "It wasn't my f-fault." His fault? Big Boss opened his mouth. "Not entirely, anyways," said Arthur quietly.

Big Boss closed his mouth. His fault? Why would it be his fault for getting hurt by some teammate out for himself? Unless he wasn't talking about this... What had he said... not to break? He'd taken that to mean the torture, hadn't he... "Arthur--" he paused. He had no words to give to Arthur. He hated this. "Things happen the way they happen. There's a plan out there for all of us."

"So everything happens for a reason?" mused Ocelot quietly. "I never took you for a religious man."

"God is as dead on the battlefield as any man's name," said Arthur. "Get out, both of you. I need to sleep."

Ocelot nodded and left the small room fairly quickly with a very simple "goodnight." Why he was so quick to obey Arthur, Big Boss could not have guessed, but unlike him, Big Boss lingered. He walked to the bullet hole and traced it with his finger, then looked back at Arthur.

"What shot were you trying for?"

"You want to c-criticize my marksmanship now?" His hand went to the back of his head and he rubbed it slowly. "I was only t-trying to wound him."

"I want to know how tall he is. Why are you taking everything as an excuse for an argument?"

Arthur shook his head. "I was aiming for his right shoulder. And I wouldn't be arguing if you weren't making those... snide comments."

"Damn it, Arthur. No one's criticizing you, except maybe yourself." He pulled back from the hole, following the angle down to the sparse hotel bed. "So his shoulder was around... there... That would put him at... maybe 5 foot 4..."

"He was tall," said Arthur doubtfully. "He was leaning over when I shot."

Big Boss nodded. "Add another foot then. Who's tall like that?"

"I know their names, not their heights. Didn't I ask you to leave?"

Big Boss sighed and sat down on the bed next to Arthur. He put his hand on the man's shoulder, ignored the stiffening body, and looked at the back of Arthur's head. "It's not so bad, Arthur. We heal fast in this business. You'll be back on a bike in a day."

"This mission should be over by the end of tomorrow." Big Boss nodded and pursed his lips, leaning back slightly. "I just want this to be over," he said, his voice cracking.

"I know," said Big Boss. He reached over and pulled Arthur into a hug. "Just one more day, Arthur. I promise you that. You'll be with--"

"Stop. I just can't--" Arthur shook his head and pushed Big Boss' arms away. "Your promise is enough. The day after tomorrow, we can talk, okay? About whatever you want. Just wait until the mission is over. Okay?"

Big Boss resigned himself to the situation and nodded. "I can't order you to talk to me. I won't order you to explain all your decisions. I just..."

"I understand. You can't believe in me. You don't trust me. You need me to explain it all. And I can't right now."

"I believe in you, Arthur." Big Boss took a deep breath and let it out. "And I trust you more than anyone else in the world."

"But you told Ocelot your name, and you-- you never told me. Good night, sir."

Big Boss just shook his head-- what else was there to do?
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Brothers in Arms