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Brothers in Arms	By : ktatters Category: +M through R > Metal Gear Views: 3912 -:- 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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Laughing at Tigers

A man must pay the fiddler. In my case, it so happened that a whole symphony orchestra often had to be subsidized. -- John Barrymore

Night had descended over the base, and it meant that the work of commanding was finished for another day. Big Boss smiled indolently at Arthur. "It's nice when you're not upset," he said, savoring the flavor of a new cigar.

"So you should keep me happy," said Arthur leaning on Big Boss and lighting his own cigar. "It would work out better for us both."

Big Boss closed his eyes.

"Ocelot kept staring at you this afternoon," said Arthur quietly.

Big Boss shrugged. Ocelot wasn't such an idiot as to do something that obvious. "You're imagining things."

"Right." Big Boss opened one eye and watched as Arthur placed the cigar in the ashtray on his night stand. "About Petrovich's daughter... I don't think we need to keep her locked up."

"Can't afford to put extra men on him, Arthur."

"I know, but--"

"Arthur, it's a command decision. Monkey's men found her, and they'll keep the girl locked up until after this is over."

"If only they could find Schneider so easily," said Arthur darkly. "I still think our problem is in Edik's section."

"You've admitted before that analyzing people's motives is not one of your strong suits. Leave it to someone who has skill in that area. I'm not going to send Ocelot or Monkey to design weapons any more than I'm going to ask you to try to figure people out."

Arthur nodded slowly. "But Petrovich--"

"He had a radio. That alone gives me a reason to have his daughter imprisoned."

"If I had a radio you didn't give me, would you pick up Hal?"

"Arthur, that's completely different."

"Only because you love me."

"And because you love me, too." He smiled and put an arm around Arthur to draw him closer. "We can't let the men do whatever they want without boundaries."

"No. No, that wouldn't be safe." Arthur shook his head. "The plans Aleksandr Granin and I designed in the sixties weren't so complicated though. I don't understand all of it anymore, there's so much of the newer generation technology in there. If we alienate him..."

Big Boss shook his head. "You shouldn't have let him put anything you don't understand on there."

"It's not little bits of it, Boss. It's the whole thing put together. That year he was in control of it... it was good for me, and I needed it, but-- for the project..."

"Your health is more important than a piece of metal," said Big Boss, his mouth turning down into a frown. "But I would have thought you'd be back up to speed by now..."

Arthur looked away. "Things aren't like they were when we were younger. Neither of us is at our peak anymore." He grinned. "You less than me!"

"I'm not that old."

"We're not that young, either. Hal's going to be... sixteen this year."

"I said I'd send him a car for his birthday," said Big Boss slightly defensively. Just because he hadn't seen the boy recently didn't mean he didn't remember how old he was.

Arthur bit his lip. "Oh, that... um." He looked out the window for a moment. "Julie says you're bad for his development. She-- I mean, we... We decided it'd be best if you didn't..."

"I can't even get him a birthday present? Arthur! I--" He paused. He hadn't exactly been a second father to the boy, but even so, surely he had some rights... "I paid for him!"

"He's forgotten all of it, and we think it should stay that way. He should stay away from war. He's just not that kind of kid. He still likes cartoons, and... he's incredibly naive, and... I bring home models and he thinks they're toys, and... Well, Julie-- Julie and I think it would be best if you didn't... you know... remind him. Of any of this."

"Any of this."

"Yeah." Arthur bit his lip. "It's not you. It's just that he... It's better for him."

Big Boss lay his head back against the headboard. "What exactly are you ashamed of, Arthur?"

"Ashamed? That's not it at all..."

"I bought him a present last year. I don't see why that should change. In fact, he should be here more often," said Big Boss, crossing his arms.

"I notice you don't buy presents for yours."

"I don't know mine."

"They're still family, of a sort. I mean... long lost sons. Maybe if you got to know them..." said Arthur, his eyes on the ceiling.

"I'd stay away from yours."

"Julie and I discussed it," he said uncomfortably, "and we think it would be best."

He shook his head. "So why hasn't this come up before?" Arthur mumbled something. "What?"

"Julie's been telling me to bring it up for months." He looked away. "She also thinks I should be at home more."

"Oh, I see." Big Boss smiled with narrowed eyes. "She's trying to take you away from me."

"Don't be stupid. You know I only love you, Boss. But she's right. I mean, we got married for Hal and Emma. I feel like I'm not doing enough for either of them," whined Arthur.

"If you really loved me, you'd never have married her in the first place."

"We've discussed this--"

"And you always end it by thinking I'm just jealous. Maybe I am jealous. I don't see why that makes what I'm saying worthless."

"Not worthless. Just--" Arthur paused. "Well, you say it often enough. It's feelings, not professionalism. It's just not something I can act on." Arthur rolled over and put his hands down on the pillow, enclosing Big Boss between them. "But you know... your jealousy..." He leaned down and kissed Big Boss on the lips. "It's really sweet."

"Sweet. Why do you call me sweet? I'm not sweet."

"Bitter, then." He leaned in for another kiss, and then another.

Big Boss turned his lips away from Arthur's. "I'm not in the mood, Arthur."

Arthur rolled over and Big Boss turned his head toward the smaller man. Arthur closed his eyes for a moment, then opened one into a slit. "Julie'd be in the mood."

Big Boss closed his eyes. "You're a real shit sometimes."

Arthur laughed and slid his hand into Big Boss's. "But you love me anyways."

Big Boss turned and kissed Arthur's cheek. "Yes."

"Good." Arthur smiled contentedly. "Good night, then."

The only response was the sound of deep breathing as Big Boss regulated his body functions so that he would fall asleep. Arthur closed his own eyes and waited for sleep to strike. Instead, the sound of their private alarm hit him over the head.

"Damn it." Arthur sat up, glanced at the suddenly glowing alarm map, grabbed the phone, then dialed the number to the central switchboard. "What's going on?"

Big Boss reached over and pressed the button to switch the phone to external speakers, and Arthur put the receiver down.

"Sir! The Metal Gear-- It's going nuts!"

Big Boss jumped out of the bed, pulled on a pair of boxer shorts, and was out the door in his underwear before Arthur had even taken the statement into his mind. Arthur shook his head: only the Boss would run out to do battle in his underclothes. He stood a little more calmly, pulling clothes on hurriedly. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's firing at everyone, sir," said the man on the other end of the line.

"The automatic systems," said Arthur to himself. "It has to be... We'll be there soon." Arthur shook his head, grabbed the keys to the land rover from the dresser drawer, and followed Big Boss downstairs. "Forget something?" he asked, tossing them to Big Boss who was frantically looking around the interior of the car.

Arthur got into the passenger seat and they were off. "There's something wrong with the automatic systems. I don't know what. It's firing randomly at people. It's probably going to start on the car when we get near it: vehicles are ranked higher than people."

"How much ammo does it have? We can--"

"That'll take all night; in the meantime, the base gets destroyed. We have to disable it."

"How?"

"There's a control panel under the leg. If you smash it, it'll weaken the automatic systems. Bullets aren't going to work on it until you're really close, you'd need a guided missile because of the angle. But the closer you get, the higher you go on its internal threat rating."

"We'll need a distraction."

"Right. I'll drive the car around it, and--" He stared at the gunfire ahead. "You may already have a distraction-- they're firing at it. It's going to be looking to eliminate known hostile targets first."

"If it was working the way it was supposed to, it wouldn't be attacking. Don't count on it following the rules you set up when you try to distract it."

Arthur nodded quickly. "We're around 100 meters away. It'll be picking up on us. Pull over. I'll circle around so we don't both come at it from the same direction."

Big Boss grunted and started pulling the car to the side, but an explosion rocked them before they stopped. Arthur grabbed the side of the door as Big Boss floored it. "Change of plans: we get close to it, then you take over driving."

"Right," said Arthur, looking back over his shoulder at the crater in the road.

"Didn't feel like running there in my boxers anyway," said Big Boss.

Another screaming missile came towards them and Big Boss skillfully evaded it as they reached the clearing where Metal Gear was towering over the broken carcass of the underground labs. To either side, soldiers fired upon it, but the thing roared like an animal and batted at them with one steely fish.

"Ready?" asked Big Boss as they sped toward the giant's legs. "Take the wheel, now!" He threw himself out of the vehicle and Arthur turned the car frantically to avoid the hole before he managed to clamber into the driver's seat.

Metal Gear smashed a giant foot down behind the car. If Arthur had been able to slow down for the turn, he'd have been crushed. "Don't slow down," called Big Boss as a piece of advice to the other man, then turned to his own task.

The Metal Gear turned quickly and swiped at him with one huge metallic paw. Big Boss dodged it with a quick roll, covering himself head to toe with mud, then latched onto one of it's legs. Metal Gear shook itself and aimed one of its missiles at Big Boss, who quickly scrambled around the leg so that the only way it could shoot would end up blowing its own appendage off.

"Over here!" Arthur shouted at it as he drove by, Ocelot aiming a missile from the seat beside him. When had Ocelot got there? He thanked whatever higher power was giving him his luck and held on tightly as the machine began to charge after them, apparently ignoring Big Boss in favor of a moving high-powered weapon.

Ocelot fired at the thing's raptor-like head, missing it by a good margin. It was good enough to keep Metal Gear's attention on the car as Big Boss continued crawling up, moving back to the inside of the thing's leg.

He found the panel almost by accident as the heavy duty vehicle drove around on the now somewhat distant clearing below. One of Ocelot's blasts lit it up. Big Boss grabbed onto the machine with one hand, pulling his legs onto what might have been accesses for the scientists working on the prototype weapon, then grabbed the small handle and pulled.

He threw the panel down to the ground without bothering to look, wincing as he heard metal crunching on metal below. He didn't spare any attention to Ocelot and Arthur's escape: he had his own problems to worry about. The Metal Gear was... well, screaming was the word that came closest.

Big Boss grabbed one of the cables and pulled as hard as he could until it disconnected, then pulled another and another until the screaming suddenly stopped and the metal monster began to tumbled forward.

Big Boss swung around the leg and pushed off as hard as he could in a backwards dive, plunging headfirst towards the ground. "Boss!" he heard Arthur shout from below and off to the side. He judged his timing and was about to move into a roll to diminish his impact when he felt the warm arms around him.

They landed heavily on the ground next to the fallen Metal Gear.

Big Boss smiled at Ocelot. Ocelot smiled back, with a note of almost-tenderness that was endearing. Big Boss stood carefully after a moment too long with Ocelot's muscled arms around him. Ocelot's smile turned into a grin.

"You're too old to pull those stunts," he said, mischief in his eyes.

Ah, he loved that grin.

"You are," said Arthur, running up to them. "What were you thinking? You could have been killed doing a stunt like that! You heard what the doctor said as well as I did!"

"I'm fine, Arthur," said Big Boss, a war between annoyance and a hint of guilt unfolding in the back of his mind.

"But you could have been seriously injured if Ocelot hadn't jumped for you. It even shook you, I could tell." Big Boss raised a questioning eyebrow. "You would have gotten out of his arms faster if you hadn't been considering the consequences," he muttered.

Big Boss smiled at him. Those worried eyes, the nervous twitching of Arthur's thumb... He caught Arthur's hand and kissed him gently. "I'm fine, Arthur."

Arthur took a breath as if to argue, then nodded and fell silent as they stared at each other.

"So." Ocelot broke the silence. "What's going to happen with the weapon?"

Arthur turned and stared at the Metal Gear, his mouth turning down into a frown. "Well, it can't stay out here," he said, then sighed. "It'll be safest in the basement with the computers. Even my design can't break through 100 floors. Well, not easily anyways..."

"Isn't that the computer that controlled it?" asked Big Boss uneasily. "It sounds like it might be more vulnerable down there."

"It can't be the computer... The only people with access to that area are--" Arthur sighed and turned to face the thing. "Only heads of the departments. Me, Boss-- obviously--"

"Petrovich Madnar?" asked Ocelot, triumph in his voice.

Arthur turned with an angry look on his face and walked over to Ocelot. "Now, see here," he said, sticking his finger in Ocelot's face, "Metal Gear is as much his project as any of ours."

"I think your vision's a little cloudy." Ocelot tossed a casual look at Big Boss, who tilted his head in response. "You've been relying on him so much that you don't know what you're looking at."

Big Boss nodded slowly. "You said he knew details you didn't. And let's face it: your judgement about people has never been very accurate."

Arthur nodded reluctantly. "But he's still the only one who really knows the system. He's lead designer. Without him, this project is going nowhere. I'm not even sure I can investigate the cause of this without Dr. Madnar."

Big Boss frowned. "If it's in a detail you don't know, I'd say we can be certain it was him."

Arthur pursed his lips and nodded even more unhappily then before. "Confine him then." He turned and took a step towards the machine, then turned back. "But I won't stand for torture, Ocelot. You keep your hands off of him." Ocelot nodded minutely and Arthur turned back. "I'll supervise the cleanup. You two had better go and... lock him in a room, or whatever it is you do to misbehaving scientists when someone's speaking up for them."

Big Boss smirked. Madnar would be asleep now, or at least feigning sleep, and one didn't need torture when one had an interrogator. "Get some sleep once that's in the basement. We can afford to wait on the answers," he said, his expression smoothed into a softer smile, before turning to his more discreet lieutenant with a less than warmhearted grin. "Come on, Ocelot. Let's make sure that Dr. Madnar is safely confined."

Ocelot nodded at Arthur and Arthur inclined his head back coolly, neither taking pains to keep from showing their dislike towards each other.

Big Boss sighed internally, not allowing even the small sound of disappointment to escape to his Lieutenants. Had there ever been a time when the two were friendly? It was hard to recall now... had there been this kind of tension when Ocelot had first joined them? When Arthur had first seen the gun-toting champion of Russia?

He kept himself from shaking his head and simply turned, walking towards the barracks, Ocelot trotting behind him like some stray. "I was wondering," said Ocelot quietly, "why Emmerich has allowed Dr. Madnar to take this work. After all, he's one of only two people who created the designs in the first place. Surely Emmerich has more knowledge of the inner workings of Metal Gear than some scientist who's worked on the project for a scant few years."

Big Boss sighed. "You know he took time off. You were here while he was away."

"Still--" Ocelot paused in his speech as the pair walked. "I think it's strange. Doesn't he care enough to get back into things?"

Big Boss frowned in annoyance. "Ocelot, he's beyond reproach."

"I'm not questioning him. But--" The greying man paused as he fought to come up with the proper words, the ones that would not offend Big Boss. "I'm worried about him," he said finally.

Big Boss raised an eyebrow.

"Don't look at me like that. I don't hate him. Not that I really like him much, either," he added quickly before Big Boss could tease him. "But he's a major part of this. You want to take down the Patriots. This isn't some simple dictatorship you can oust. Everyone has to be working together."

"Ocelot, I wouldn't have brought you in here if I didn't know that. The stakes are high."

"Exactly!" Ocelot's hand reached out quickly and stopped Big Boss. "The stakes are high, and Arthur Emmerich has never been one to cope under pressure!"

Big Boss looked into Ocelot's eyes for a moment. They were staring at him earnestly, trying to convince him of something he didn't quite want to believe. Big Boss turned away from them and continued walking. "He's... always been a little unreliable."

Ocelot took Big Boss' hand as they walked, and Big Boss glanced around quickly before he allowed the gesture.

"What exactly is it you think I should do, Ocelot?"

Ocelot stopped again, his hand falling away. "Send him away."

Big Boss shook his head. "No. Metal Gear can't be completed if my two head scientists are both out of action."

"You're thinking emotionally. Haven't you always said that's a weakness?" Ocelot asked in a clear challenge.

Big Boss laughed. "Oh, I see now." He threw an arm over Ocelot's shoulder, still laughing and pulled the man close. "Don't worry, Ocelot. We'll have some time together."

Ocelot only shook his head and pushed Big Boss away. "That isn't it." Big Boss smiled condescendingly at him. "Well, maybe a little bit," conceded Ocelot, "but it's not everything. Have you ever thought that maybe Arthur's--"

Ocelot looked down at the ground for a moment, then shook his head and continued walking.

"He's what?" asked Big Boss, half-curious as he lengthened his strides to catch up with the cat-like man in front of him.

"Never mind. I haven't got proof, and I'm not saying a word without it."

Big Boss frowned. It had to be big, for Ocelot to not say it. What was he thinking of accusing Arthur of this time? He'd accused the man of disloyalty before, and he knew it wasn't true nowadays. Blindness in regards to Petrovich? But they'd all been blind at one time or another, hadn't they. It wouldn't be anything he needed proof about to say. But...

If Ocelot thought that Arthur knew about Petrovich's misdeeds... if for some reason, he thought Arthur would passively allow such things... But that wasn't like Arthur, to allow someone else to take the blame for him. He'd rather take the blame, be defiant about the situation once he was caught, daring someone to do something and then cowering when they did. That was one part of him that was very reliable.

"You don't know him very well, Ocelot," said Big Boss quietly. "You never did."

"I did, once... but that was a long time ago."

Big Boss nodded and the pair continued on in silence for a while towards the barracks that housed the scientists. The technical people all lived separately from the soldiers, more for speed than anything else: scientists were close to the labs, while soldiers stayed in areas near their posts with frequent rotations scheduled so that no one got too comfortable with any one area.

"Good cop or bad cop," asked Big Boss, one corner of his mouth turning up as he glanced sidelong at Ocelot.

"How well does he know you again?" asked Ocelot. Big Boss shrugged. "We'll wing it."

Big Boss inclined his head and allowed Ocelot to enter first. Ocelot pushed the door open with a bang. Big Boss rolled his eyes. "Did you expect to see him in the hallway?" he muttered, then gestured for a soldier who'd been assigned guard duty in the scientists' quarters to follow them.

Ocelot shot him a dirty glance and stalked forward, kicking in the door of every room as he passed. Big Boss shook his head mildly as he followed, a bemused smile hidden under his beard. "Looks like I'm the good cop."

The blond haired man kicked in another door and finally walked in. "Here you are," Ocelot said, a cruel sound touching his voice. Big Boss walked in behind him and leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms.

There were two men in the room, neither one sleeping: Petrovich and one of Arthur's other compatriots from long ago, a Geoff Bludstun, who Arthur had insisted was vital to the project. Big Boss rather doubted that, as the weapons "expert" had done nothing besides administrative work since he'd come. Petrovich, on the other hand...

"Get out," said Ocelot, grabbing Geoff by his nightshirt and throwing him bodily out of the room.

"Ocelot, there's no need to manhandle anyone," said Big Boss, injecting a bit of disappointment into his voice for Petrovich's sake. "We've been over this before."

Petrovich was staring at them rather coolly, as though they didn't phase him at all. Of course, he was well treated. Why should they affect him?

Ocelot leaned down next to Madnar and said something in the scientist's ear. Madnar stiffened momentarily. "What was that, Ocelot?" asked Big Boss, genuinely curious.

"Nothing, nothing," said Ocelot. "I expect some cooperation from this traitor, that's all."

"I haven't done anything," said Madnar quietly, looking at his hands. "Where's Arthur? Where is Dr. Emmerich?"

Big Boss frowned. "You should be concentrating on yourself, Doctor," he said in an admonishing tone. "Ocelot's not as good with his temper as I am."

"My temper is fine," snapped Ocelot. "And Emmerich isn't here to save your pathetic hide this time. He's-- busy. With other things." Ocelot smiled. "I bet you expected him to protect you the whole way through, didn't you," he said conversationally, tracing a finger up Madnar's cheek. The man pulled away.

"Arthur is a close friend, and I'd protect him too."

"A close friend?" asked Ocelot quietly. "You'd protect him? I don't think you have the ability to do that..." He leaned his head to one side. "I consider him something of a friend myself." His hand snapped out and grabbed Petrovich violently. A button fell from the man's clothes onto the floor. "I don't like that you're betraying him!" shouted Ocelot.

Big Boss stepped forward and put a hand on Ocelot's shoulder. "Now, Ocelot, nothing's been proven yet." Madnar bit his lip and nodded. "Even though he is the only one with the knowledge and ability and opportunity to have caused our problem tonight," said Big Boss, and the doctor's mouth fell slightly open, "we still need the rule of... well, not law, but lacking a better word, we'll use it."

"Can he explain it, then?" asked Ocelot dangerously. Big Boss lifted an eyebrow at the man.

"I don't even know what has happened," said Petrovich, putting a hand on Ocelot's, trying to brush him off and failing miserably. "Really, you must be making a mistake."

"A mistake?" Ocelot picked the man up one handed by his shirt and slammed him hard against the wall. "What do you think I am? I don't make mistakes."

Madnar shook his head to clear the disorientating force of his hit against the wall, then looked at Big Boss. "Big Boss, sir, you shouldn't allow this."

Shouldn't allow this? Big Boss' mouth dropped open ever so slightly. "Who are you," he asked quietly, "to tell me what I should and shouldn't do?"

Ocelot took this as a sign. He let go of the scientist and pulled out his revolver with the more dextrous of his hands, then emptied the clip. He inserted one bullet as he had so long ago. Big Boss watched impassively as Petrovich's eyes followed Ocelot's every movement.

The gun flipped around and around on his finger, a new variation on an old technique. When the first "shot" was fired, Petrovich didn't even flinch. The second was only marked by a slight tightening of the man's not-smile. On the third, the scientist blinked, and the fourth had him put a hand into a fist.

"Enough," said Big Boss, putting a hand on Ocelot's weapon and turning it away. Ocelot smiled at Petrovich, then fired. The bullet struck the metal side of the bed and rebounded off the door knob before embedding itself in the wall next to him.

Petrovich's jaw tightened slightly, but it was the only reaction.

Big Boss' eye closed for a moment. A scientist, a pure man of science without military training or physical strength was not expected to be able to keep his cool. A doctor who'd never shown any trace of a hidden reserve of mental strength, who'd never been under the pressure it took to learn to keep himself from flinching, simply could not be expected to sit unmoving while Ocelot fired upon him. While a bullet missed him by less than an inch. It was unexpected. Surprising.

Big Boss didn't like surprises.

He extended a hand to the man, who quickly reached for it, then flipped the scientist onto his back and knocked him down, hard, then crouched over the man's chest. "Who are you taking orders from?" he demanded.

"W-what?"

At least he had the decency to be scared. "I don't like repeating myself. Who is giving you your orders?"

"N-no one! I don't have any orders!"

Ocelot leered down. "Why don't you give him to me? I have an excellent record in... persuading people to tell me what I want to know."

"Torture, Ocelot? Arthur didn't want that, but then..." Big Boss smiled at the scientist. "Arthur doesn't have to know, does he?"

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," agreed Ocelot, in a luxurious tone that made Big Boss quite certain he wasn't talking only about the traitor cowering beneath him.

Big Boss showed his teeth, and then fluidly moved off of the man, picking him up and thrusting him into the arms of the soldier who'd been quietly watching them from the doorway. "Take him to the bird house and lock him in there." Big Boss smirked. The birdhouse was a cramped space on top of one of the buildings, really only useful for intimidation of the various peasants who sometimes had uprisings. "The fresh air tonight will do him good."

"Breathe deeply, my friend," said Ocelot, his eyes narrowed and an insincere smile plastered on his face. "Those breaths might well be your last."

"I did nothing! I did nothing!" cried Petrovich. The soldier quickly bustled him out of the room, though they could hear the frightened yipping for almost a minute.

"We'll let him sweat it out for tonight," said Big Boss quietly, once the sounds had died away. "And one of my agents will be here tomorrow, so questioning the good doctor will have to wait until we're finished with Grey Fox."

Ocelot nodded without any real feeling, then smiled and touched a hand to Big Boss' cheek. "About what Arthur doesn't know... it can't hurt him," he said casually. "And that bed's empty, and I never managed to say hello the way I wanted to..."

Big Boss grinned and Ocelot lunged forward to smear the smile off of his face with a kiss. Big Boss pulled back and smiled again. He was the one in control, and it wouldn't do to let Ocelot forget that. He laughed. "Hello, Ocelot."
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Brothers in Arms