After playing through MGSV: The Phantom Pain, I really wanted to further expand Quiet's story and how she evolved over time and this story is a result of it. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own MGSV: The Phantom Pain or any of the characters.

Aabe Shifao Ruins

She could still remember the days long past. She could still remember her final orders - the ones that had led to her fall from the ranks of the XOF elite soldiers and rendered her expendable in the eyes of her commanding officer, the man known as "Skull Face", whose face appeared in the nightmares of those who feared him. In those days, her fellow soldiers and her enemies equally feared and respected her. She was the ruthless, resourceful specialist who left no witnesses and who chilled the blood of her targets with a single icy glare.

The mission had been no more difficult than any other she had been assigned to. The hospital's security team had been laughably incompetent and she had no problems executing each one in quick succession. The nurse had died quickly and silently. By the time the doctor had fished out a tiny handgun from his pockets, she knew he was already dead. All that remained was her target and the other man in the next bed over, cowering in fear. Neither of them registered as a threat to her in such pitiful states.

And yet, against a handful of handpicked elite XOF strike teams, a thin, sickly man missing an arm and an eye who just woke from a nine year coma was able to survive XOF's best with the help of just one other person wrapped in bandages. Lucky, she scowled to herself. They were lucky and I was sloppy.

Her gloved hands tightened their grip around her modified RENOV-ICKX sniper rifle as the emotions and memories washed over her like a storm, every muscle in her body howling for revenge. In just one mission, she had lost her life, the only family she had ever known, and the cold, hard reputation she had carved out for herself with a long list of successful murders and assassinations, all in the name of XOF. Silently, she cursed the bandaged man for intervening. It was only because of him that the pitiful heap of skin and bones that was once the legendary soldier known as "Big Boss" had survived while she was engulfed in flames and left for dead.

To her, it was only fate that they had both survived, however, and she forced herself to calm and relax. Although the fire had burned fiercely at her, her lust for revenge had burned hotter. Having been given the experimental strain of parasites, she had been given two more chances to bring about the death of the man who had robbed her of her life. Big Boss will die, she promised herself. Whether it be by bullet or vocal cord parasite, he will suffer, he will break, and then he will die.

And yet, a glimmer of doubt remained in her mind. Skull Face had very clearly explained what would happen if she ever spoke English again. To speak English would mean certain death for Big Boss and all of his followers, but it would mean her death as well. She scowled again, making a small noise of frustration as she made sure her rifle was completely loaded. Despite seeking the revenge she lusted for, she could not bring herself to accept subjecting herself to the slow and torturous death given by the vocal cord parasite. But such thinking was unbecoming of an elite soldier like her, fallen as she was.

No soldier ought to fear death, she told herself. Orders are orders. I follow them to the letter. To disobey is to fail. It had been her silent vow to herself in all her years of field work as a reminder of the disciplined, ruthless soldier she was. But now, for the first time, the words meant little to her, and that alarmed her.

With a sigh of frustration and exasperation, she fiddled again with her rifle, this time playing around with the scope as she considered the possibilities of what to say to activate the deadly parasites in her throat when the time came to exact her revenge on Big Boss. She had never been one for speaking and communication, opting instead to say as little as possible and preferring instead to just follow orders. Her mind had always been the safest place for her words.

Her musing turned to her name, Tixij, given to her by the Soviet troops as they whispered stories of her sniper rifle fire cutting through their ranks like butter before she disappeared from her sniping point without a trace. The name meant "Quiet" in English, which was almost too fitting for her current state. It seemed that with the loss of her language and the freak that she had become, her original name had been forgotten and lost to history, even to her. She felt a pang of regret at the fact, for her name had been the only thing she would truly ever own and Big Boss had taken that from her too.

Still, the satisfaction she would get from finally completing her mission and ridding the world of Big Boss would be a good enough start to easing that regret from her mind. I was reborn in fire, she reminded herself, deep determination coursing through her. Reborn as Quiet.

She glanced up at the sun, feeling its rays nourishing the parasites in her skin as she lounged around. The recent Soviet forces had been talking about a man with shrapnel embedded in his head riding a horse towards the ruins just an hour ago. Estimating it was just before noon, Quiet rose into a crouch as she watched the only road leading up to the ruins. The large, majestic gate that she had chosen as her sniping point offered a perfect view of the surrounding area, which allowed her to watch for any movement. She estimated her target would be arriving within the next hour and she allowed herself a small smile as she rested her rifle on her knee. Big Boss won't know what hit him.

It was just a little past noon when Quiet spotted a lone figure riding up the sloped path to the entrance gateway of the ruins atop a white horse. Having been watching the road for over an hour, she already had her rifle trained on the entrance and she followed him as he continued to ride all the way to the gateway. He was clearly recognizable through the scope. No other man carried so much firepower on their person, and that was even before taking into account the trademark eyepatch and the shrapnel embedded in his head. There was no doubt in Quiet's mind that this was Big Boss.

My name is Quiet and you robbed me of my life, she said in her mind as she brought her finger over the trigger. She could feel her muscles rushing with adrenaline in anticipation to the thought of watching the man who ruined her life topple off his horse with a hole between his eyes. It threatened to shake her concentration and she cursed to herself as her aim shook. Her finger brushed the trigger. Just a little further and she knew she would have a perfect shot on him.

Almost as if by some sixth sense, the Big Boss dismounted, leaving his horse by the side of the road. Quiet huffed in frustration. He had stopped just shy of where she wanted him. The man continued on foot further, seemingly aware that someone was watching him. Doubt flared in her mind as she realized his guard was up. She had assumed he would be an easy target, yet here he was walking between the crosshairs fully aware something was wrong.

Just as he lined up where she wanted him, he rushed forwards, taking her by surprise as he ducked in the cover of a line of tall stones. Her nerves got the better of her and she missed him as he darted to safety. Quiet cursed again in her mind as she realized she had missed her chance because her aim shook. Next time won't be the same, she promised herself. She steadied her aim back to where she knew he was hiding, humming a song gently to herself to keep her aim from shaking.

The stones were more than enough to hide Big Boss and as he peeked over them to search for her location, she realized she had no choice but to open fire, lest he played the game patiently as he devised a path to flank her position. Quiet brought her finger back to the trigger, pulling it once and sending a bullet speeding towards him. He ducked at the last second and the bullet only met the rock he used as cover, glancing off harmlessly. She reached up and ejected the spent casing from her rifle, sliding the bolt back into place to load a new bullet into the chamber for the next time he peeked up.

This time, he peeked from the other side of the rock, throwing her aim off, and she wasted precious seconds readjusting to his new location. She fired again, immediately following through to load a new bullet as Big Boss evaded death once more, with this bullet doing nothing more but adding another chip in the rock. Although he had foiled her initial plan, she knew she still had a few tricks up her sleeve that he had never seen in his life, and she counted on them to confuse him enough for her to land a bullet on him.

From the side of the rock cover, she watched as he peeked in with binoculars and she immediately knew he had found her. She knew he was quickly determining an approach path to her location and that staying put would hold no tactical advantage for her. Time to move.

With a mighty leap, Quiet jumped off the gateway, landing with a large impact on the ground. The long fall would have killed any normal person, but it only jarred her slightly, and she was grateful that the parasites in her skin offered her such useful abilities. She turned invisible as she took off running, hurdling and dodging obstacles as she made her way to a nearby ruin that she knew would offer her a better shot at Big Boss. With one final jump, she landed in a crouch at the corner of the building, pulling her sniper rifle from her back and aiming back at Big Boss.

He was still searching for her new position with binoculars and Quiet waited for him to peek out a little further before she fired to take advantage of her new position. Big Boss did just that, rushing out of cover before quickly diving to avoid her next shot as it whizzed harmlessly past him. She grunted in frustration, ejecting the spent cartridge and reloading the chamber of the rifle with another bullet. Big Boss was proving harder to kill than a snake, slipping out of her grasp each time.

She traced his path as he ducked and weaved around cover, circling around her new location. As he peeked out from behind his new cover with his binoculars, she fired another warning shot, sending stone shards flying from the pillar he hid behind but doing no damage to him. Her frustration from playing sneaking and hiding game threatened to overwhelm her, but she focused on humming the song as she played along. Sooner or later, he'll slip and I'll make him pay.

Her patience paid off as he moved cover again and she fired off her fifth shot at him. She knew her shot had grazed him as he moved and although it was nowhere close to a critical shot, she had drawn blood and demoralized him. Big Boss would be even more hesitant to make a move on her position and that would only serve to increase his wariness of her.

Quickly, Quiet reloaded as she spotted a new location directly across from her and the cover where Big Boss had turtled under. She dropped off the building to the ground, rushing at full speed towards him. Gathering her legs underneath her, she leaped over his position, pulling a grenade from her belt and dropping it on him as she continued her run towards her new sniping point.

As she settled into her new position, the grenade went off and she spotted Big Boss barely escaping the blast radius. He was only winded and darted behind the cover of another pillar. She expected him to continue his game of hide and seek as he searched for her with his binoculars when suddenly, he peeked out from the far side of the pillar and opened fire on her with his assault rifle. It was a sloppy salvo of bullets that posed no threat to her, but it threw her aim off and she ducked for cover with a gasp of surprise.

He can see me, she realized, and the thought brought a chill to her. She had been counting on her abilities to keep her hidden and send Big Boss reeling in surprise, but somehow he had devised a way to track her location, cloaked or not. Bringing her rifle to bear on him, she fired twice in quick succession, sending him ducking back into cover.

Big Boss peeked out again and, to her surprise, he had shouldered the assault rifle in favor of a tiny handgun. Had she not been focused on killing him, she would have allowed herself a small laugh at the absurdity of the situation. As if by magic, she felt something stinging at her neck as Big Boss ducked back into cover. She pulled something out of her neck, examining it to find that it was a dart of some kind. At the same time, her vision flickered slightly and she felt a small weakness in her body. Alarm and panic rose in her. Tranquilizer dart, she realized, steadying herself. She could already feel the effects working into her system and she came to the conclusion that she was running out of time.

Her mind raced as she tried to figure out a new course of action. Water. The thought leapt into her mind. Water and sunlight nourished her parasites and she knew it would give her the stamina to ignore the effects of the tranquilizer for longer. Gathering her resolve, she opened fire again, emptying her magazine into the stone pillar that Big Boss hid behind before reloading, cloaking, and making her way to the nearby stream.

Quiet splashed down, uncloaking and allowing her parasites to drink their fill. Already, she felt energy starting to return to her body as the water rejuvenated her. Then, a familiar pop-whisper noise sent her stumbling off balance. Another tranquilizer dart embedded itself into her back, then another as she desperately tried to force her legs to make a leap to escape. She had no idea how Big Boss had managed to track her down and ambush her from behind and panic once again threatened to overcome her.

Just as Quiet's feet left the ground and she launched into the air, a third tranquilizer dart hit and she lost control of her jump, falling and tumbling to a hard stop in the middle of the ruins. Her muscles shut down on her and as her vision faded, her last thought was of failure.

Quiet awoke to the sound of a pistol's hammer being cocked into firing position. The memories of her fight with Big Boss instantly returned to her, but her eyes failed to open and her muscles failed to work as she pleaded her body to get up and fight. She could feel Big Boss standing over her body, pistol aimed at her head and ready to make her a corpse. The stories told of the legendary soldier feared around the world who showed no mercy on the battlefield, and she prepared herself for her death. It would be nothing more to the man who had already robbed her so much from her, and it seemed only fitting he would now rob her of her life too. Deep in her, she felt only regret and anger as she realized the man who had put her through so much suffering would go on living unpunished.

And yet, the end did not come and as she opened her eyes slightly, Big Boss slipped his gun back into his holster. The act of mercy from such a famed soldier filled her with fear and dread. He had no reason to spare her. She could not talk, so that left interrogation out of the question. She would not work with them and that left a converted allegiance out of the question. The only things that remained were torture, enslavement, and other heinous acts of war that would only result in her prolonged suffering.

The thoughts of them were almost enough to make her vomit in disgust and she made up her mind. Forcing her arm to move, she withdrew her pistol from the holster, bringing up up to her head and placing the barrel under her chin. She closed her eyes, preparing herself for the end to escape the suffering that awaited her after her capture.

Two strong hands grabbed her pistol just as she was about to fire and her eyes shot open. She glared at him, trying to draw upon the enhanced strength that the parasites gave her, but the tranquilizer that remained in her system left her weak and he was able to rip the gun away from her, pulling out the magazine and emptying the chamber before stuffing it into his belt. The exertion left her winded and her eyes drooped shut again as she reserved what remained of her strength for another try when he was distracted.

Quiet counted silently in her head to twenty before she heard the telltale clicking of what she assumed to be handcuffs. As she opened her eyes again, she saw her assumption was correct and she feebly tried to push him away to no avail. The handcuffs clicked around her wrists and the attempt left her lightheaded again. She cursed to herself. Although the handcuffs were a bother, she knew she could easily escape them when given the chance.

Vaguely, she felt hard, gloved hands sliding under her body and fear stabbed at her. She knew how the parasite forced her to wear as little as possible and she prepared herself for the worst. Disgust already ate away at her as she imagined all of the possibilities, lamenting at how low she had fallen from her days among the elite. She would be used and tossed aside, forgotten until the next time Big Boss or any of his other comrades would want to take advantage of her.

Big Boss grunted and she found herself gently lifted off the ground and settled onto his shoulders as she heard the noise of a helicopter approaching. Relief poured into her, followed by a tinge of doubt. Quiet had been vulnerable, and yet Big Boss had not only refused to kill her, but also refused to touch or take advantage inappropriately. The sounds of the helicopter grew louder and louder until she recognized that it had made its way to their location, hovering nearby.

Quiet grunted in discomfort as she was jostled on the shoulders of Big Boss before being unceremoniously tossed onto the deck of the helicopter. Her muscles still refused to work and Big Boss pulled himself into a sitting position beside her. She heard a zipping noise followed by a click, and she assumed he had strapped himself into the helicopter so he wouldn't fall.

As the helicopter gained altitude, he remained seated at the edge, legs hanging out, and an idea suddenly came to her mind. Her knife was near her hand and it wouldn't take much to quickly slice through the strap securing Big Boss to the helicopter and send him plummeting to his death.

Just as they reached the proper altitude, however, he quickly unstrapped himself, moving away from the door and closing it behind him, and Quiet realized the opportunity had been lost. She felt his presence over her and again, she wondered if he would finally do what she knew would inevitably come.

Two arms slid under her, one flesh and blood and the other cold and metallic. Both were gentle, however, as Big Boss lifted her off the ground and set her down gently onto a row of seats. She knew his eyes were glancing over her as he set her down, yet she never felt his gaze linger on anywhere in particular.

A worm of doubt made its way back into her mind. With the way he placed his hands and the restraint he showed with his eyes, it almost as if he seemed to be making a point of not making her uncomfortable or doing anything remotely inappropriate to her. The thought battled with her idea of the legendary Big Boss and only served to confuse her further. This wasn't the Big Boss she was briefed about.

He checked her handcuffs, making sure they were secured, before turning away from her and fumbling with some sort of fabric. Before she knew it, something heavy and suffocating was placed onto her, covering her up from the sun and air that her parasites desperately needed. Adrenaline flooded her system as she suffocated and at last, her eyes flew open and her muscles responded.

Big Boss had already turned away from her, moving towards the back of the helicopter, and she used the distraction to throw the suffocating fabric off her. The fabric, a jacket of some sort, landed on the floor and brought Big Boss' attention swinging back towards her. Quickly, she phased one hand out of her handcuffs, grabbing the jacket off the floor and throwing it at him, distracting him as she cloaked herself and yanked the door to the chopper open.

Quiet was faced with the choice of living to fight another day or returning to the enemy base to kill them all. Glancing back at Big Boss as he fumbled with the jacket, she remembered her anger at him. It had always served to harden her resolve and give her control over her emotions again, but this time it failed. She backed away from the door, sitting down on one of the seats and watching Big Boss as he threw the jacket off of him.

The man looked frantically around the chopper, searching for any sign of her and seemingly bewildered at how she had disappeared. Quiet watched as he stared out of the door, seemingly with a look of mild disappointment before he closed it and settled back into his seat. She herself sat watching him, wrestling with her own conflicted feelings. Her mission for the past months had always been to kill Big Boss but now, faced with a man who was nothing like what the reports had described, she had no idea what to do.

Big Boss closed his eyes, slouching slightly in his seat as he quickly dozed off. Quiet knew it would be easy to take any of the firearms laying around in the chopper and bring an end to the life of the person who brought her so much pain and suffering. But the more she thought about it, the more she was against it. Whether it was the moral compass she always kept hidden or simply a token of her appreciation, she couldn't find it in her heart to kill him now.

She sighed mentally, since physically sighing was no longer a possibility for her. Killing had never been a problem for her in the past, except for in her very early rookie days when killing would leave her so sick to her stomach at night that she couldn't sleep. And yet here she was, unable to complete her professional and personal mission to kill Big Boss even after the pain she had endured because of him.

She glanced at the pilot, but he seemed to be too preoccupied with flying to notice anything else. It would be a long flight, she knew. Hopefully long enough to figure out this mess in my head. Quiet sat back in her seat, relaxing as best she could and resigning herself to trying to think through her thoughts for the rest of the flight.

Hope you enjoyed my telling of the events. Next chapter should be out soon.