Chapter Text
The realisation started off slow. He'd catch spectres in the corner of his vision. Sometimes he'd see another face staring back at him from the mirror. More often than not, his voice felt wrong. After weeks of attributing this to battle fatigue and the unidentified chunk lodged in his forehead, he never could have imagined that the real answer lay in an unassuming cassette tape. It should have been an honour to be considered for this position - to take up the lofty title of Big Boss. Being such an integral part of his “greater plan” was something that each and every MSF soldier would fall over themselves for, but Venom hadn't agreed to this. He was prepared to die for the man, that was for sure, he had no second thoughts when he'd thrown himself in front of Big Boss all those years ago. But this? It was almost worse than death. All he had left of his old life was his face. That was all he could remember, everything else had been erased, overwritten with the mistakes and downfalls of Big Boss. He traced his fingers over the tape's label – “From The Man Who Sold The World” – handwriting that was supposed to be his, but wasn't. Rage rushed through his body as he realised that there was no going back now, he really did have to follow this through to the end.
How dare he do this? Venom leapt to his feet and hurled the cassette at the wall, the film ribbons snapping apart as the flimsy plastic scattered into shards on the floor. What sort of god complex did someone have to have to do something like this? Gripping the sides of the sink to keep his balance, he checked the mirror above it once more. This time Big Boss was hovering behind him. He could feel his breath on his neck, hear his voice mumbling something unintelligible.
There was a sharp clang of metal on metal as Venom slammed his hands either side of the wall surrounding the mirror, leering at the phantasm.
“Get the fuck out of here!”
He'd called Venom a friend in earnest, said “You're your own man”. It was a laughable statement, but he knew Big Boss saw no problems with his words. In his eyes, he was simply telling the truth. A thought crossed Venom's mind - were Kaz and Ocelot in on this too? During his coma, the intricacies of their past working relationships had been imprinted into his mind, perhaps they too had undergone this sort of hypnosis? With Kaz he wasn't sure, but Ocelot's miraculous appearance at the hospital suggested so. That and the way Venom would catch his usually soft expression holding a hint of distrust around him every so often. The question was something he would have to find the answer to himself, though he did have a rough idea of how he could attain it.
“Boss?”
Ocelot's tilted his head to the side, eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Venom had called him to a meeting in his office but since his arrival two minutes prior, he had just stood at the door, staring right through him.
“With all due respect, if you haven't got anything to say to me then I need to be on my way, I've got a lot of-”
Venom grabbed Ocelot's wrist. His face was suddenly much younger, less lines and grey; his voice was juvenile and it didn't have the silly southern drawl any more.
“Boss, what are you-”
Venom squeezed his good eye shut, pushing Big Boss' memory away. He shouldn't have this image. The Ocelot in front of him was forty years old, not twenty. Forty. Eye open again – the current Ocelot pointing his gun at Venom with his free hand, eyes narrowed and lips pursed. Venom loosened his grip and he snapped his wrist away, returning the gun to its holster.
“You sick or somethin'?” Ocelot forked his fingers through his hair.
“You've sworn your loyalty to me, right?” Venom answered with his own question.
“I-” Ocelot faltered, but quickly let out a strained laugh before speaking again, “of course. You know you have the privilege of being the only person in the world that I wouldn't betray,” he paused for a second, “John.”
“Good.”
A wide grin spread across Venom's face, one corner of his mouth pulled up ever so slightly higher than the other. Ocelot's actions confirmed his suspicions. The look in his eyes and the shakiness of his answer gave away his part - Ocelot's allegiance lay with Big Boss, not him, and he could see that somewhere in his brain, Ocelot knew something wasn't quite right here. But if he wasn't fully aware of the situation yet, there was still some fun to be had. Now he had a clear and readily available outlet for revenge. Venom proceeded forward, cornering Ocelot against the door with his hand resting on the frame. The next test was to find out just how “loyal” Ocelot could be.
“But I can't take your word for it,” he leaned in close enough to whisper into Ocelot's ear, his voice low and sultry, “you'll have to prove it.”
Glued to the spot while Venom walked around his desk to sit at the chair, Ocelot's cheeks and nose were dappled with pink and his breathing was heavy.
“Dismissed.”
As Venom pretended to busy himself with arranging papers on his desk, he heard the slide and click of the door as Ocelot left the room without another word. He'd have to test Kaz next, but that could wait for tomorrow. The shrapnel in his head throbbed as if it were a living part of his body; he slumped over the desk, resting with his cheek pressed against his arm.
A voice that might have been his own spoke, Is this really what you would have wanted?
Venom let out a frustrated grunt through his nose.
Is this you, or Big Boss?