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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
- 7
- 8
- 9
I do not fear an army of lions, if they are led by a lamb. I do fear an army of sheep, if they are led by a lion. - Alexander the Great

It was almost midnight. In the researchers' barracks, not a single man was truly asleep. One was playing solitaire with an old deck of badly used cards. Another was writing formulas he'd learned years ago in an attempt to stifle his nerves. Two more were chatting quietly in German.
Twenty four men were not sleeping in their rooms. Arthur Emmerich had left the building.
Geoff and one of the other scientists had too. Arthur had left them in the lab creating diphosgene-laced smoke bombs almost an hour ago. Someone was eventually going to have to get the courage to toss them into the soldier's rooms. Geoff had assured him that they would take care of it, but Arthur felt increasingly certain that it would be him.
Right now, he didn't have to worry about that though. He'd spent all afternoon and much of the evening trying to think of a distraction that wouldn't get him killed, and he'd come up with one. His back was pressed against the wall next to the rooms they'd given Big Boss. Arthur was going to get the keys to the colonel's jeep.
The big problem was that this task also required a great deal of courage. He'd worked up enough to try the main war room as well as the communication room he thought might have housed the keys, but they were not there. Habil's room had been occupied; he hadn't bothered to check Kayin's, knowing that he'd never have worked up the guts to try.
On the other hand, Big Boss liked him. This was perhaps the least likely of all the places on the base where he'd be killed if someone caught him. He still didn't want to be caught, though.
No sounds had come from the room in the last ten minutes while Arthur had tried to increase his courage. He took a deep breath and looked up and down the hall, checking one last time for guards, then turned the door knob. He pushed the door open, his entire body shaking.
Thankfully, no one was in the colonel's room. Arthur closed the door behind him and took a brief look around. A change of clothes hung in one corner of the room along with the little box he'd kept his medals in during the ride to the base. He had a number of water bottles in a line against the wall. Arthur smiled and grabbed one. He opened it and took a sip, then spit it out.
That was not water!
The bitter flavor permeated his mouth, so he spit again. "I hope that isn't anything dangerous," he whispered to himself. "Doesn't matter what it is, I need to find the keys before he comes."
His heart was beating faster and faster as he opened the drawers. One of them held an extra weapon, but the others were completely empty. He tried searching the extra uniform, which was also empty. The room was so bare... he looked behind the bottles, inside the little box, then finally in the perfectly made bed.
He tossed the pillowcases onto the floor, followed by the pillows. He pulled the sheets off the bed, then, with quite a bit of difficulty, the mattress off the bed frame, but nothing. "Fifteen minutes," he breathed. "A waste of a whole fifteen minutes..."
He let out a breath and closed his eyes, pressing his head against the wall. Click. He opened his eyes and spun around in alarm.
"What the hell are you doing, Arthur?"
"Big Boss... I..." Arthur's world narrowed as he stared down the gun barrel. Big Boss shook his head and put it back in it's holster.
"Didn't think I'd see you tonight. Why are you here?" he asked again, the voice softer and more soothing. Calming, almost. Arthur wondered briefly about whether or not the man was manipulating him with his tone of voice.
"I came to see you," said Arthur quickly.
"Did you think I was hiding under the bed?" He didn't look very impressed.
Arthur shook his head even faster than before. "I... I saw those canteens, and I drank some, I just thought you must have a list of what was in them somewhere and-"
"Which one did you drink?" he asked urgently. Arthur pointed at one of them. Big Boss picked it up and sniffed it, then let out a sigh. "You're lucky," he said with a small smile. "Some of these have serious poisons in them. This is just a painkiller." Arthur let out his own breath. "You weren't in here for a midnight drink of water. This is the last time I'm going to ask you, and I want the damned truth. Why did you come in here?"
Arthur's eyes closed. The truth or a lie? He could see the possibilities behind his eyes.
A lie: Big Boss might even believe it for a little while, if it was a good enough lie. Sooner or later, though, he'd find out, and when he did, he'd exact his vengeance. He'd come in the dead of the night with his gun and shoot without giving Arthur the chance to explain anything. Arthur wouldn't be able to join him, wouldn't have any protection if there was any truth to this questionable loyalties business. And there was a part of him that wanted to join Big Boss, that wanted to belong somewhere... He'd lived almost thirty years without it, and a part of him was worried about the next thirty.
The truth: Big Boss would give him a chance to explain, but it all would rest on whether or not Arthur had been reading him right. If Big Boss didn't want him getting the scientists out, he'd be killed, and so would the men in the labs. On the other hand, if Big Boss did want him getting the scientists out, he might actually give Arthur the keys. He'd still have the opportunity to decide what to do with his loyalty.
He had to take a chance either way... "I need the keys to your jeep." Big Boss stared at him cooly. "Kayin's going to kill us all, Ocelot told him he could, so I have to get everyone out," he said. Once he'd started, it all came out in a stream. "You know I'll stay if that's what you want, but no one else promised anything to you, and you can't make them stay here when Kayin's just going to kill us, you know that, so it would be best if you-"
Big Boss put a finger on Arthur's lips. "I already knew that. Why do you want my jeep?" He pulled his hand away.
"We need a distraction."
Big Boss sighed and picked up the mattress, placing it back on the frame as thought it weighed nothing. "Sit down, Arthur," he said, taking a seat on the bed. Arthur followed suit. "Arthur, I can't give you my jeep if I don't know it's coming back."
Arthur looked away. "Why do I have to choose now? I haven't had the time to really consider things."
Big Boss nodded. "On the battlefield, you have to make split-second decisions when right and wrong are hard to see. Sometimes, right and wrong don't even exist. Just... necessary."
"Like destroying a peace treaty? That's necessary?"
Big Boss sighed. "Sometimes, there are no good answers, Arthur. There's only the mission."
"Bet that makes you feel righteous, doesn't it. No consequences, no answers... bet there aren't even any questions in your world." Arthur crossed his arms and nervously pulled on the fraying sleeves of his t-shirt.
Big Boss rolled his eyes. "Don't oversimplify. There are always consequences and questions. The answers usually aren't very clear. Sometimes, though, it's worth it."
Arthur uncrossed his arms and put his hands in his lap. He looked down at them for a moment. "Worth helping people like Kayin?" he ased silently, raising his eyes to Big Boss' face. The other man was silent. Arthur shook his head. "I can't see anything he's involved with as being good, you know. If you want me because I'll question things, I'll question you right now."
"So you're giving me your loyalty?"
"Not yet."
"Then you really can't question me yet."
"Right." Arthur crossed his arms again. "I can't promise I'd bring your jeep back. I'm not sure I'm going to live through this."
Big Boss let out a breath and leaned back, a smile on his face as he shook his head. "It's all about will. If you want to live through it, you'll manage."
Arthur shook his head and looked up at Big Boss. His single blue eye looked so... "How can you be so certain?"
Big Boss shrugged. "I believe you can do it."
"You really are special," said Arthur. "How can you believe in me when I'm questioning myself?" Unreliable. It echoed again in his head, circling like a vulture under the desert sun. Liar and liability followed soon afterwards. "I have nothing to offer you. How can you believe in me?"
Big Boss smiled. "I'm a good judge of character. My first instincts about someone are usually right," said Big Boss, "and I had some good feelings when I first met you." He clapped Arthur on the shoulder. "I believe in you. Can you believe in me?"
Arthur smiled tentatively back. "When I first came here, for a few days, I thought Kayin was an okay kind of guy. Then he had me beaten because I wouldn't say some new idea was his. I'm not such a good judge."
"I'll help you with that. I'll help you with a lot of things. But you have to choose me."
"I know," said Arthur. He rubbed his temples. Choosing anything was a risky, difficult thing to do, especially when the outcomes were so uncertain.
Big Boss took a key from his pocket. "So, Arthur. You can't have this key unless I have your loyalty. It looks like it's time to decide one way or the other."
"Time to choose." Arthur nodded slowly. He didn't want to make this decision, not yet. He barely knew Big Boss. Sure, there was something about him, but... How could Arthur trust him?
Well, there was... He was a lot like Alek. They both had that same... glow about them. That magnetic sense of intelligence and accomplishment. Maybe it was the certainty that made them both so... special. Maybe it was because they both thought that he had something special in him. Him, Arthur Emmerich. Not because he was the son of a man who worked on nuclear bombs, not because he knew Fermi and Einstein as though they were his uncles, but because he was Arthur Emmerich.
He looked at Big Boss. The man was staring at him with that single blue eye of his. The intensity of his gaze made one forget what room one was in. Arthur barely remembered why he'd come until a jangling noise reminded him of the key.
Arthur sighed as he looked at it. It was tempting. He could just reach out and grab it, then run... He looked back at Big Boss and frowned. The man had muscles on his muscles. Arthur could never outrun him. And it would again leave him out of options.
Besides, there was a part of him that wanted to stay at the base, to see what happened. To see if being loyal to Big Boss really meant he could question his decisions. To see if he could believe in someone.
"Arthur, decide. Now."
A snap decision then? "I can't..." No more prevaricating? "I can't decide like this!" No thought to the consequences?
Big Boss' eye stared into him, around him and through him. "You know what you want- what you need- to do. I trust you. Trust yourself."
Arthur nodded, closed his eyes and stopped thinking. When his lips met Big Boss', he surprised them both. Big Boss pulled away. Arthur opened his eyes as his mouth dropped open. "Sorry," he whispered, horrified. "I've never done anything like that before. I only ever think about it. I know I didn't mean to do that."
"Arthur-"
"Really, I don't mean anything by it. Definitely not. And you're military, so you're probably just horrified."
"Arthur-"
"Anyways, you shouldn't kill me, it really didn't mean anything, I don't feel like that, it's not like to do something like that or-"
Big Boss clapped a hand over Arthur's mouth. "I damn well hope it did mean something, Arthur." He looked suddenly very serious. "I don't like it when anyone tries to mess with my feelings. The last person who did that regretted it."
Arthur nodded in terror. He really hadn't meant to do that. It was accidental, and you couldn't hold it against a man when he did something stupid after you'd told him to make some snap decision. Big Boss pressed the key into his hand. "You are coming back. Understood?" Arthur nodded again and swallowed hard. "Right. The reports said you didn't have weapons training. Do you know how to fire a weapon?"
Arthur nodded slowly and tried to calm his breathing. At least for now, Big Boss wasn't going to kill him for his mistake. "Dad used to take me hunting. For deer."
Big Boss pulled a small firearm from his ankle. "Long time ago, but you should still remember the basics. Here, take this." Arthur took hold of the gun. It was heavier than it looked. "This is an S&W double action revolver. Aim it at the door, don't fire."
Arthur held it both hands and closed one eye. Big Boss winced. "Keep both eyes open. And your hold is all wrong." His hands readjusted Arthur's on the gun. "Like that."
Arthur looked at their hands, then at Big Boss. "All right." Big Boss pulled away again.
"What's your plan?" asked Big Boss quietly.
"We're going to throw some gas canisters into the soldier's barracks. That should take out most of them. Then I'm going to drive off. I guess in a big circle. I'll lead the men away from their posts. Everyone else will get out and head towards that town you told me about."
Big Boss nodded. "You have a time in mind?"
"Before dawn?"
"Not very precise," said Big Boss disapprovingly.
"Well, I don't exactly have a watch."
Big Boss raised an eyebrow as he smiled. "I guess you don't. But I have a radio in the car. When you're going to start driving, contact me. 143.53."
Arthur nodded. "I can do that."
"I know." Big Boss smiled. "I'm glad you've decided to join me, Arthur." Arthur nodded again and moved to stand, then hesitated. He wanted to apologize again for kissing Big Boss, but he really wasn't sure how the other man would take that. Big Boss clapped him lightly on the shoulder, and then, with the barest brushing of lips, returned his kiss. Arthur closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax minutely. This was still dangerous- Arthur doubted a man like Big Boss liked things any other way- but if he was willing to kiss back, he couldn't be about to kill him for revealing something that should have stayed hidden. "We're going to do great things together. Great and terrible things."
Arthur bit his lip. He wasn't sure what he'd gotten himself into, but as he looked at Big Boss' eye, which was staring intently at him again, he couldn't help but feel that he'd found someone who was telling him the absolute truth. Great and terrible things echoed ominously in his mind. "Some wonderful things too, I hope."
"Of course," said Big Boss quietly. "You're going to be my second-in-command once you're trained properly. I'm sure you'll have some good ideas. Now put your gun away, and go complete your mission."
Arthur did as he was told with the gun, but his hand paused on the door handle. "Big Boss?" The other man raised an eyebrow. "If I'm going to be your second-in-command, I should know your name, right?"
One corner of Big Boss' mouth turned up and he grabbed one of the bottles, seemingly at random, from off the floor. "Here, Arthur," he said, the sardonic smile growing, "have some water."
Arthur shook his head, but took the water. He'd press the issue later. He raised the canteen in a toast to Big Boss.
He really was special.
- 7
- 8
- 9
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Brothers in Arms