A Quiet Bond

Miller was very displeased with Ocelot's decision. To him, this mysterious woman was a threat to Snake as well as to all of Mother Base. No one knew what her intentions were and now she had access to just about everything. Her presence was toxic to the man and he even referred to her as a witch due to her inhuman powers.

"It's just one mission." Ocelot reassured amidst the rumbling from the helicopter, "If anything goes wrong, I'm sure Snake can handle himself."

"If he ends up dead on the field, then you'll know who caused it…" Miller eyed the woman with a glare

Snake sighed and climbed up into the helicopter. Their constant bickering over Quiet was quite tiresome. Quiet followed him onboard before looking back at the men standing near the heli-pad. Ocelot gave the two a thumbs up while Miller simply turned and limped away in disgust. The doors closed and muffled the sounds of the loud spinning blades outside. Quiet took her seat as Snake began to give commands through his idroid in the now Aerial Command Center.

He glanced over at the woman and she was sitting idle in her seat. She always seemed to have this melancholy gaze whenever she was not looking at another person. Was she offended by Miller's distrust? Surely not. Was she homesick? Where did she even come from?

There were so many unanswered questions but he knew the only response would be silence.

Snake checked his side ops missions and scrolled through the different options. He decided that the first mission with Quiet should be simple so they could both learn how one another worked on the field. He already had gotten a small taste of what she could do when they first faced off in Afghanistan but he knew she was capable of so much more.

After reviewing a few missions, he decided to go with the most recent prisoner extraction task.

"We're going back to Afghanistan." Snake informed in his husky voice, "We'll extract a prisoner being held captive at one of the enemy camps."

Quiet looked him in the eye briefly before looking away to give her nod. She never gave him prolonged eye-contact, at least not after the few times she tried to kill him.

Snake informed the helicopter pilots of where to land and the men confirmed the Boss's orders. The flying vehicle could be felt shifting directions as they were now on their way to the dry Afghan desert. Big Boss and Quiet took this opportunity to evaluate what weapons and equipment was to be used for their mission. Of course, Snake brought along his suppressed tranquilizer handgun however, Quiet simply had her lethal sniper rifle which was written on the file as "Wicked Butterfly". He rubbed his forehead since he really didn't want to kill anyone on this first mission but if it came to that, he was willing to do so.

They descended upon the middle eastern soil and the sounds of the helicopter soon faded into the background. The target was just over 200 meters from their landing zone so Snake checked his idroid. A part of him regretted not bringing a car along to make his way through the hot sand and blazing sun but there was no room to complain now. He marked their destination on his device and ordered Quiet to scout the area. She gave a small hum in response and within seconds, she took off.

Snake was always amazed by her teleportation-like abilities. He had never seen anything like it before and frankly, he was a bit jealous that she was already infiltrating the outpost when he himself still had a 10 minute journey. All in all, it gave him a chance to collect any medicinal plants or rough diamonds along the way.

After making it to the mission area, Snake checked his idroid again. The sight of all the red triangles scattered about the map truly demonstrated Quiet's precise scouting skills. This certainly gave them the advantage over their enemies and it was well worth not working alone for once. All they needed now was the prisoner's location.

Big Boss gradually infiltrated the camp himself and took out a few guards with his tranq gun before hiding their bodies. He chose a lone soldier standing by for his next target and grabbed him from behind. He force the man to the ground with him and held a knife to his throat.

"Where's the prisoner?" Snake hissed quietly against the struggling man's ear.

"I-I'll tell where he is…" The soldier choked and gave the location. Quiet overheard this through their communication devices so she marked the projected area onto the idroid for her commander. Snake choked the man unconscious so he would not be able to alert anyone of what just happened. He noticed the blue triangle on his map and quickly made his way to the prisoner. He noticed that everytime Quiet had her sights on an enemy, she would hum a short tune. It was the same tune she hummed when she tried to hunt him down; it was her way of saying that she was ready to kill.

Snake made it to the prisoner who was lying on the ground in a tent and freed him from his binds. The man was mumbling something but Boss did not bother to listen or understand what was being said. He picked up the individual onto his shoulders and the minute he stepped back outside, they were ambushed by two soldiers who were just passing through to check on the camp. They aimed their weapons, leaving Snake with no time to react. He noticed the green laser sight striking one of the men's heads and he could hear Quiet calmly hum.

Snake finally yelled "Fire!" and within a split second, the soldier's head practically bursted open. His partner crouched in reaction to the gunshot and tried to take cover however, it was too late for him as he too met the same fate.

Everything fell silent as there was no conscious enemy left standing. Snake placed the prisoner down on the ground before attaching him to a fulton. His body dangled like a ragdoll as it floated above ground until it finally shot up high into the sky. Snake did the same for the sleeping enemy soldiers and it always amused him to hear their frightened yells and cries as they would most likely go on to develop a fear of heights because of him. He rummaged through the camp after everyone was gone and he found a few useful materials that he could send back to Mother Base.

Big Boss now stood dead center of the camp and he noticed the green laser aiming at head. He looked up at Quiet in her sniping position but she was too far to see clearly. He used his binoculars to get a good look at her and to his surprise she was silently looking right back at him through her sniper's scope. It was the perfect shot and yet he found himself having his complete trust in her.

"Quiet." He ultimately said.

"Hmm." Quiet responded and looked away a bit shyly, lowering her weapon.

"Let's head back to the chopper." He suggested while choosing a place for it to land nearby.

They made their way to the landing zone and soon the blades of grass beneath them practically flattened from the force of the helicopter's blades. Big Boss got in first and sat along the opening. He noticed that Quiet was nowhere to be seen despite her being there just a few seconds ago. He felt himself grow disappointed as he assumed that she ran off while the helicopter began to ascend. But after a few seconds, she suddenly appeared next to him, hanging off the side of the flying vehicle. Quiet was full of surprises.

They made it back to their seats and took a moment to review what they had accomplished. Ocelot had already confirmed the arrival of the prisoner at Mother Base and obviously, stubborn Miller was yet to be heard from. Quiet leaned back in her seat and looked up at the ceiling.

"Good work out there." Snake praised, "Ocelot's right...We do work well as a team."

Quiet looked directly at him and had a surprised look on her face. Instead of turning away as she usually did, she gave him a soft smile and slow nod. As simple as the gesture was, it meant a lot coming from her. She did not have to speak for him to understand what she had to say because sometimes, silence says it all.