in the quiet loop. (solid snake x reader)

04 - who dares, wins?

The overhead camera feed from Shell 1 flickered once, then stabilized. You leaned in, squinting at the grainy image rendered in grayscale. You furrowed your brows, seeing bodies everywhere. The four SEALs that were members of the same Alpha team Snake had slipped into, now sprawled across the floor in unnatural, crumpled heaps. Their throats were torn open, eyes wide.

"Jesus..." Hal's voice dropped. He was already running image recognition. You saw the algorithm lock onto a blurred figure moving through the steam and motionless bodies. Then the ID flashed, confirming the subject to be Vamp, a Dead Cell operative.

"Confirmed vampire cosplay?" You muttered grimly, fingers flying across the keys.

Hal didn't laugh. "This isn't a joke. His file said he was killed two years ago."

You stared at the screen as the feed rotated, tracking movement into the far wing of the Strut B server room. Vamp moved like liquid steel, inhumanly fast, his blade glinting under cold light, the smear of someone else's blood still wet on his chin. His form was lithe, almost elegant, every movement a whisper of violence.

And up ahead, alone, was the man you saw earlier who walked into the Big Shell like he didn't know what he had just walked through.

Snake's signal spiked. You switched to a different feed just as he burst through the maintenance access on the server room's side. The camera caught the confrontation in brutal, flickering detail. Raiden backed away, his breath panicked, pistol out but shaking. Vamp closed in, savoring it. He was about to strike, but then, Snake intervened.

"Get down!"

Snake, now with an M4 rifle, cautiously enters the room. His sleeves were rolled up to the elbows as he moved like a shadow. But Vamp was too fast, ducking under the round and slashing Snake across the arm.

"Snake-!" you breathed, watching helplessly.

He crawled across the floor, nursing his arm, but Vamp lifted him up by the neck with one hand. He shoved him against the wall easily, as if studying him with detached curiosity. You saw the other man grab Snake's rifle, aiming at Vamp, but he hadn't fired yet. Snake's boots scraped metal, arms pinned, one bloodied and trembling. Vamp leaned in, smiling, knife pressing to Snake's throat.

"You smell like-!" Vamp exclaimed as he tilted his head. He jerked away from Snake, who was now crumpled to the floor.

Snake rolled across the floor, grunting. Then he turned his face to the other man. "Shoot him! What are you waiting for?"

The man with a skullsuit fired Snake's rifle at Vamp, who now pirouetted again. He hissed as he left, flickering out of reach with unnatural speed, disappearing into the steam like smoke into the cracks. The silence returned, but only broken by Snake's harsh breathing and the sting of blood dripping down his forearm.

The camera zoomed in on Raiden approaching Snake slowly, the rifle aimed at him. Snake held out a hand, enough to stop him.

"Hold on," Snake said, voice gravel-low and steady. "I'm not an enemy. Calm down."

The room stank of copper and smoke, with blood mist hanging in the recycled air like a chemical haze. Pools of SEAL blood seeped between cables on the grated floor. The hum of nearby terminals was the only thing still alive in that room, apart from the two men staring at each other down.

From the van, you leaned forward toward the screen, jaw tight. Hal said nothing beside you, only typing quietly to keep the comms stable. The man with a skullsuit didn't flinch, but you could see the hesitation forming in his eyes. Snake didn't step forward, simply reaching toward a compartment on his harness and retrieved a compact pressure bandage. Blood dripped off his fingertips as he unrolled it with practiced ease.