"Remind me to never tell my mother happy news again."

"What this time?" Melissa didn't look up from the program she was running. It was two days after Christmas, and even though she had New Year's Eve and Day off, she still had work to do in between then. Hereford had minimal staff at the moment and Melissa had to work a lot of intel with almost no other techs to help her.

"We only told her the news yesterday and it's like she's trying to plan the wedding in one day." He gave her a quick kiss in greeting "We don't even know where we want to get married yet."

"All in good time. I want to enjoy this blissful feeling of being engaged first."

"And enjoy signing your name as Morton while you can."

"Melissa MacTavish. I like the way that sounds."

"You're not the only one." Soap growled and he attacked the skin of her neck, causing Melissa to squeal and laugh.

"John, I have to get this done!" she tried to protest, but failed between bouts of laughter "Mac wants a report by the end of the day!"

"Forget about him. I want you for lunch." Soap kissed Melissa's lips, making her drop the control tablet, which switched the screen from the data analysis to the news.

"- please be advised, the following video is disturbing." The voice of the news reporter popped Soap and Melissa's bubble as they turned their attention to the screen. Soap's eyes widened in surprise.

"That's Private Frank Conlin; he went missing six months ago. We assumed he was dead after we lost contact with him during his undercover assignment."

"How do you know this?"

"I was there when Mac was given the news."

"He should be watching this." Melissa tore herself from his grasp and walked over to her desk to dial her phone. "Mac? It's Melissa."

"Yes poppet?" Commander MacMillan's Scottish accent came out of the speaker. "I'm in a meeting."

"This is more important. Are you watching the midday news?"

"No – what's going on?"

"Private Frank Conlin." Soap heard silence at first, then another man's voice saying that Conlin was assumed MIA/KIA.

"Okay, we're watching now." Melissa ended the call and went back to her fiancé's side.

"To the men and women of the world." That voice made the blood in her veins freeze and she could see Soap's head immediately turn towards her "You try to put me on display, to humiliate me and burn me, but time and time you have failed." Ursa Makarov came on the screen. She was wearing an expensive dress and heels, which was stark amongst the gritty backdrop of the dirty cell. Private Conlin was tied to a chair and putting on a brave face. There was blood matted in his blond hair and gashes down his face, his clothes ragged and torn, from the looks of it he had taken quite a beating. "And here is another point to add to your tally." She leaned down so her mouth was next to his ear. "Tell them your name." He swallowed and licked his lips.

"Private Francis Conlin, Special Air Service."

"And what were you doing that got you into this position?" Ursa asked in a sickly sweet voice. Conlin's nostrils flared and he turned his face as best he could to see her.

"Fuck you." Ursa said nothing. Rather, she stood up straight and held out her hand. A gun was passed to her and Soap grabbed Melissa, pulling her to his chest so that she wouldn't have to see what he knew was coming. The sound of the gunshot echoed through the office and the screen was spattered with drops of blood. The reporter's voice came back.

"Similar videos of SAS spies being executed by the Ultranationalists have been uploaded to YouTube today, and a request for comment has been ignored." Soap grabbed the control tablet from the floor and turned the news off. He didn't know what to say. But his fiancée filled in the silence.

"We can't get married." His head snapped to her so fast he was surprised he didn't break something. Melissa's hazel eyes were hard, but bore tears. "Not until she's gone."

"Ursa's made a comeback for a reason; she wouldn't have laid low for this long otherwise." Rook said ten minutes later in Melissa's office, where Price Melissa and Soap were being briefed by MacMillan.

"Nikolai's caught up with one of his contacts recently." Price spoke up "Ursa's been burning through money like it's been going out of style, but because we kept taking out her plans, all of it went to waste. She's been staying underground until she can accumulate more so that she can bring the best game she's got."

"And she just played the game-changer with that video." Mac said "MI5 has sequestered the tape from the news company, but it'll take a few days to figure out where it was made. Do Nikolai's sources have any idea where Ursa is?"

"Last place they saw her was Georgia, but that was 48 hours ago. She could be anywhere."

"No use tracking down lukewarm leads. Tell Nikolai to squeeze harder for information, we need as much as we can get. We've lost twelve men in ten hours, and the body count's only going to get higher. I've been contacted by our generals; they're planning to put a new taskforce together. Anything to stop this madness."

"Understood." Mac looked at Melissa, who was sitting at her desk with her face in her hands. His eyes zeroed in on the ring.

"Price told me you got engaged, poppet." That brought her out of her reverie with a startled expression "I never got to say congratulations." He walked over and took her hand so that he could admire the ring "What a time for her to come back."

"What a time indeed." She said lowly, then looked up at him and forced a smile "Thanks, Mac." He smiled back and then turned to Price.

"You three are coming with me to meet the candidates for the taskforce. We've gotten the best men available." Price nodded and followed him out with Rook trailing behind. Soap went to Melissa's side.

"Are you going to be okay here on your own for a while?" he asked. Melissa's looked into his eyes and could see that he was concerned. She grasped the hand that was on her shoulder and nodded.

"I'll be okay. I'll see you at home." She nodded. Soap nodded back and leant down to give her a quick kiss before he walked out the door.