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. |
Love is whatever you can still betray. Betrayal can only happen if you love. - John LeCarre
Arthur was sneaking through one of the hallways on his way to the parking lot when he heard the quick footsteps behind him. His only real option was to duck into one of the rooms. The maps were stacked high near one of the walls, but Arthur ignored them as he crawled under a table and waited for whoever was behind him to pass.
Instead of passing, the feet entered the room with him. His breathing sped as he peeked out, hoping no one important was outside, but no such luck: Kayin and Habil stood between him and the door. Arthur bit his lip: there was no way around them, and they'd been known to spend hours planning together. He hoped it was going to be something quick. If not...
Well, Big Boss was waiting for his call. He would simply have to get out by himself.
"All right," said Habil, his words clipped, "you've dragged me here from my bedroom, where I was, by the way, having a rather nice dream. Maybe now you can give me some answers. Like what are you doing out here? I gave you very specific orders-"
"Oh, yes, while accusing me of being a traitor. Traitors don't pay attention to orders." Kayin shook his head quickly. "As it happens, I'm not a traitor. I'm the most loyal person on this base."
"Loyal to yourself and your own purposes." But wasn't everyone? Arthur bit his lip.
Were they really only loyal to themselves? To their own purposes? What if there was a higher goal? Big Boss said he was loyal to his superiors and his subordinates, and if that was the case, wouldn't that prove there could be loyalty to others? And what about Arthur himself? Hadn't he promised to be loyal to Big Boss? Though, that still ended up being loyalty to himself... "I'll ask again, why are you here ignoring my orders?"
"I'm going to kill the traitors on this base."
"Traitors...?" asked Habil. "If you aren't one, we don't have any. You're imagining things."
"Was I imagining the sabotage Emmerich found? No. It's the scientists." Arthur swallowed. Look on the bright side, he thought to himself. At least he hasn't killed anyone yet. "And him. That colonel isn't loyal to Russia." Where had Big Boss placed his loyalties? Were they to Russia? He talked as though he were some sort of romantic notion of a king, his loyalties wholly placed on those who looked to him for protection. Wasn't that an almost Communistic idea?
"I can't believe you're still questioning him. And your scientists were the ones who would have died if something happened. Whoever did it is not on this base, Kayin."
"Emmerich got scared. The same thing that stopped him from completing most of his escape attempts."
Arthur scowled. Not just unreliable, but a coward too? Obviously, no one knew what they were talking about. Big Boss believed in him, didn't he? And no military man would say that to someone they didn't think was brave, would they? Just because Arthur Emmerich wasn't stupid didn't mean he wasn't courageous and, damn it, reliable!
Kayin was still talking. "...the scientists aren't the only ones who would have died. Gasses in that part of the compound could have been drawn through the entire base, you've been over this base's plans as much as I have and you know it's true. And I guarantee you that the scientists would have gotten out. Do you know the cables that alert the rest of the base of a problem had been cut?"
They were? That was news. It did sound as though one of the scientists had done it, in that case. None of them realized he checked. Maybe Geoff thought he could get everyone out himself, since Arthur wasn't helping? He'd worked harder to convince him after the sabotage had been found, after all...
No, it couldn't have been any of them. They didn't have the skills to move tiles in the lab ceiling. But most of the soldiers here had enough clearance that they were allowed to look at the maps... either someone had wanted to kill all his fellows, or... or...
Habil shook his head. "It wasn't in your report. But they're still your men. You can't kill them all."
"My report... you wouldn't have read it. So are you going to stop me? I still have some form of command ability on this base, whether you tell your people to arrest me or not."
Habil stared at his brother and said nothing.
"And all the rest who stand with that man." So if it wasn't a scientist, and it wasn't a soldier, and it wasn't Kayin or Habil... "The colonel is a traitor, as are all his allies."
"I stand with him. As do my men." As did the scientists, whether they knew it or not. Arthur grinned. It was the only logical solution. Kayin was absolutely right, Big Boss wasn't a loyal Russian commander!
Kayin shook his head and spoke through clenched teeth, "I'm going to kill every last man who stands with that traitor."
"Kayin, what the hell is wrong with you? Do you think I'm going to let you go on a killing spree?"
"You don't have to let me, brother. I've got my orders from higher up than you."
"What do you mean by that?"
Here it came. The trump card, and whether or not Habil would let his brother kill them all. He just couldn't... Big Boss had to have taken this into consideration... "I talked to Ocelot, and he gave me command authority to-"
"How could you do that to me? I've tried to protect you, like Mother asked. I've tried to keep you out of trouble, to keep you in the right schools and the right career paths. And this is how you reward me? You're going to get me a court-martial too?"
"Don't bring Mother into this, Habil. I'm trying- no, I'm going to save my family name from you. My country needs me to save it from the traitors like you and the colonel!"
"How dare you-" Arthur shrank back as Habil pulled his gun out and, with a fluid motion, pointed it at Kayin's head. "Get back to your rooms and wait for your court martial. You'll see what happens to... traitorous dogs!"
"You're threatening me?" Kayin went very still and his eyes narrowed into slits. "You won't pull the trigger. I'm your brother." Arthur swallowed.
"I said go," said Habil, his voice low and dangerous.
Kayin stared at his brother for a moment before he broke eye contact and nodded. "All right." Arthur breathed a sigh of relief as Kayin turned, only to have his breath catch again in his throat when he paused a moment later. "Habil, do you remember what they said back in basic training about weapons? First, a gun is always loaded... and second, you should only aim a gun-" He spun suddenly and launched himself at his brother, hands going round the gun. "-when you intend-" His teeth were clenched. Habil was obviously winning, even with the element of surprise on Kayin's side. Kayin kneed the other man in the groin, the gun turning towards Habil. "-to fire!"
Kayin pulled the trigger. The bullet tore through Habil's chest right to the other side, and implanted itself in the floor.
He looked almost... surprised. Arthur held his breath and watched in semi-fascination. Habil's blood was oozing from him like it was a living organism itself. Habil held his brother's eyes for mere moments, four hands clutching the gun as smoke rose from the barrel in a morbid picture of sibling rivalry, before he fell to his knees.
It was like a signal to Kayin. He pulled the trigger again, causing Habil's hands to fall off of the gun. And then he fired again. And again. He emptied the clip into his brother's body. The larger man fell onto his back, still twitchingly alive.
Kayin crouched down next to his fallen brother and whispered loudly enough that Arthur could hear him even from his place hidden under the table. " That's what happens to traitors." He loaded the gun with more bullets, placed the gun against Habil's head, and fired.
And then he cradled the empty head in his lap and cried out as though his world were ending.
Arthur shuddered and took advantage of the man's... what was it, grief? Whatever it was, he took advantage of Kayin's distraction by crawling out from under the table. Security cameras were glaring down at him from overhead, but they weren't manned anymore. He crept to the door, keeping himself low to the ground, and almost crawled out into the hall.
And then he ran. The parking lot was far away.
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