Chapter 7

"You know you can be crazy."

Nicolette looked at Section as she walked like she belonged towards the favela and pretending that nothing was wrong. She didn't quite blend in because of her hair color but she knew how to make herself invisible. She replied, "And I learned that you don't always need to make a statement with a gun. Too noisy." She pointed at the two militia that were just standing there.

It was nothing to move up and grab them from behind and kill them. Section looked over and said, "Nice."

Nicolette picked up the weapon and checked it. She looked at Section who picked up the other. "Thanks. You should go."

"I can help."

"And I won't allow you to be declared AWOL," Nicolette countered. She glanced around to make sure that they weren't being watched.

"I won't. I can help you know."

"Negative." When it looked like Section was going to protest, Nicolette explained, "Look I know you mean well but I can't let you do this. If you want me to help you, my rules and my way."

Section looked at Nicolette and actually felt the urge to salute her. Still with everything that he was hearing coming out of the favela… He didn't want to lose his chance of putting some ghosts to rest. He replied, "And I would agree to that but given what is going on… you might need a hand."

Nicolette studied Section with a raised brow. This was a new relationship and she wasn't sure how to work it. She may have agreed to help him but she needed some measure of control. Otherwise how was she going to do her job and carry this on the side?

S64 I am picking up something. It is coming in from NORAD.

It was fine time for Addy to be making an announcement but it was how Nicolette kept up in the world. She had uploaded the AI to give her access to the surveillance systems. It was a gamble but Addy had her parameters and never tried to break them. It also enabled her to connect to the 141 easily and there were a few extras that she had been working on in her spare time to keep the AI happy with programming and other things. "Patch me in."

Section watched as she spoke and realized that she was talking to someone else. He noticed the earwig that wasn't standard issue. He looked at his wrist reader and saw that he was getting something too and paused to look.

Zulu X-Ray 6. Signs in your sector of some 100 bogeys, please advise.

They're everywhere!

Sierra Delta repeat!

How the hell did they get through!

All station be advised: satellite surveillance has been disabled. SOSUS and Pave Paws are inoperative at this time.

"Addy are they talking about satellite defense?"

Affirmative. Russian air force has been detected in US airspace. NORAD has dispatched the 75th Ranger Battalion.

Nicolette looked around listening to Addy. She muttered, "Fuck I knew this would happen. Russians copied the ACS module. We should have run a diagnostics. Then Moscow happened… Fuck this." She started pacing and thinking about what the next steps would be. "Addy do you have visual on the attack?"

Tapping into surveillance over sector in northeastern Virginia.

Nicolette felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked to see Section holding out a pair of what looked like sunglasses. When she gave him a look, he explained, "Just something to see with."

Like anything else on this crazy trip, it was a gamble. Nicolette took the proffered glasses and put them on just as Section pulled out another pair and put them on. First glance they were regular sunglasses but then a screen popped up so she could see what was being shown.

S64 I am picking up two signals in your location. Energy readings are similar to those in your wrist com but newer.

Nicolette looked at Section who was looking back at her. It wasn't anything new that organizations like JSOC and CIA would have technology like that but where she got Addy and her com was from Jensen and Shadow Protocol with the whole research and division thing. She was willing to go out on a limb and said, "It's okay Addy. Run sequence and patch in to both on all systems. Connect."

Copy that. Patched in. Lieutenant David 'Section' Mason is now active on the system.

"Copy that," Nicolette said. "Sync up with wrist com." She tapped on her 'watch' and was able to get a read on what was going on. "Completed."

"Kind of thought you were the best."

Nicolette turned to look at Section. "Big risk sharing this considering this is an unofficial contact," she said.

"Like I said… I'm willing to risk it. Seems like there's trouble at home."

"All the more reason for you to get back to base," Nicolette replied with a firmness in her tone. She had seen the vitals pop up on Section and it was going to be interesting considering that she was actually younger than he was by approximately ten years. This was going to be one of those things. "I mean it Section. You want my help we do it my way."

"And I agree to that but not this time," Section replied. He knew that he was being difficult on purpose and he was trampling on any semblance of authority because of their age difference. He wasn't stupid since he had figured it out and he did his homework once he saw the feeds from the Bogota mission and under the pretext of a training too. "Look you and I know that they have the home field advantage. They know the place well and could easily take you out."

"I have been in worse situations… believe me," Nicolette replied. She listened to the feed. "All units are being called back in."

"And because of the attacks, I would need to find a different ride home."

"And knowing you, you would have something ready to go at a moment's notice. You took the time to track me down and come down here to ask me for help." Nicolette paused. She could use that 'expecting something in return' card but that was for extreme cases. Section so far had proven somewhat in that status of friendship she had with Roach. "Why are you still here?"

Section looked around. People were still running and screaming and the gunfire had picked up from the favela and they hadn't gone down into it. He then looked at Nicolette and said, "Because I want to help."

"I think that response is total bullshit but I'll let it go for now," Nicolette replied after looking at Section long and hard. She sighed and looked around. "Okay I am trying to link up with the 141. We have been tracking the arms dealer for Makarov. Turns out he supplied the stuff for the Zakhaev International incident. Our guy is here in Rio."

"How do you know this if you are trying to link up?" Section was curious about how she was putting things together.

"I was chasing the same guy but before what happened in Moscow. We were going to disable and cripple Makarov's supply. They were here to follow the bullet and get any intel on Makarov," she explained. Again it was a gamble but since Section was with JSOC the counter terrorism unit, she was going to take a risk. She was trusting her gut on this since it was the same one that was telling her to be wary of Shepherd.

Section realized she was being more open and honest with him than he had been so far. It had him wondering if there was some card she had that gave her the advantage or not. Still it was odd and it had him wondering if that open honesty would trip her and he would fall. It was like an innocence of a sort even though it was obvious she had been in this job for some time. He nodded, "From the looks of things, you guy must have been hiding here. Shouldn't take long to find them."

"You sound strangely confident," Nicolette replied with a raised brow as she took off the glasses to hand them back.

"Keep them. Since you did your thing, it should be easy to give a call right?" Section felt his lip twitch in a slight smile. "Besides we just follow the gunfire," he added as he cocked the gun he had taken.

Nicolette gave a slight smile since it was the funniest and logical thing to do. She nodded and made sure her weapon was ready and with a go sign, they started making their way through the favela. She called, "Addy, key to the city."

Copy that. Captain MacTavish and the 141 are with primary target. Transmission attempted.

"They're not going to get anyone on the horn," Nicolette said as they moved through. They hadn't encountered much so far but they still needed eyes open. Section covered the flank while she took point. "Patch me through to Nikolai."

Patching through.

Nico, I didn't expect to hear from you. I thought you were meeting up with our mutual friend for transport.

"That got sidetracked," Nicolette replied as she peered around the corners. "Things are a little dicey back on my side of the pond. We're gonna need exfil."

Da. Already on it little Nico. I'll wait for the call since we have too much fun being prepared.

"Contingency, Nikolai. Someone told me it is always good to have a contingency plan," Nicolette replied.

Alright. I will see you when I see you. Udachi.

"Blagodarya moim drugom," Nicolette replied with a smile. The signal was cut off as she rounded another corner.

"Friends with a Russian?"

Nicolette looked at Section. He was looking at her curious in her choice of friends. She nodded and replied, "Yes. Nikolai is an asset that had infiltrated the ultranationalist camp like I did. We passed information. Not all Russians are against us."

"No arguments there. Just surprised," Section replied as he raised his hands in surrender. "Must come in handy."

"Nikolai's a good friend and he hasn't let me down," Nicolette replied as she turned to keep moving. She paused to see the visual updates Addy was feeding her through the glasses. They were actually pretty neat and something she was going to have to ask about when she saw Jensen again. They continued on for some time and not finding much and even managed to pass off as militia to avoid a fight. She looked at Section and said, "Seems like the escort wasn't too exciting. I don't like this then again I never do."

"No one does. The quiet is what scares us all."

Suddenly there was the sound of gunfire. Nicolette said, "Talk to me Addy. Sit rep on Soap?"

Everyone get ready! Lock and load!

Let's do this!

Nicolette heard the radio transmissions going back and forth. She could hear the gunfire over the radio. It looked like they were going in fast and hard. They actually weren't that far away. She looked at Section, "Looks like I was wrong. Let's go."

"Following your lead." Section took the flank and took the opportunity to tap into his wrist console. She was right about meeting her friends so he was going to make adjustments to the arrangement he had.


Roach! Roach! Wake up!

Roach opened his eyes and felt every sore spot in his body. His vision was a bit blurry but he heard the urgency and forced them open. He remembered that he had pushed Duke helping Royce over so they would make it but it didn't help his momentum. He fell short and slipped. It was like being on the Tian Shan mountains again when MacTavish reached to give him a hand but he missed.

Actually Roach had slipped and fell. The adrenaline was rushing and he really didn't think about when his best mate taught him how to fall. He just went with it. Now as he was slowly waking up and trying to clear his head, it looked like he was lucky. And that's why they call me Roach, he thought to himself.

Roach! We can see them from the chopper! They're coming for you, dozens of 'em!

Hearing Ghost's warnings, spurred Roach to get to his feet. He could make out the shadowy outlines of the militia making their way over. Looking around, he found that he had lost his gun in the fall. That was just bloody brilliant. He got to his feet and dusted his hands and looked around. Turning he saw the shadowy shapes of what looked like MacTavish and the others on the rooftops. He rubbed his head since it was throbbing quite a lot. He wasn't going to think about the possibility of a concussion and just shook his head to clear his vision.

Roach! There's too many of them! Get the hell out of there and find a way to the rooftops! Move!

Luckily the com wasn't smashed. Roach replied, "Copy that." Taking a breath he looked around for an exit that would get him to the rooftops. The crowd sounded like it was getting louder.

Run for it! Get to the rooftops!

Roach found a house that looked promising since it would hide him and started running through. He wasn't fast enough since someone saw him and started firing through the walls. He ducked and blinked as ricochets and sparks flew. "Bloody hell."

Roach, we're circling the area but I can't see you! You've got to get to the rooftops!

"Working on it," Roach replied as he looked around. He rounded a corner and came face to face with a militia. He took a step back and fell over. He thought he was dead when the gunman was going shoot him. He thought he was when he heard the shot but then a spray of blood hit him.

Looking up and blinking, Roach saw another gunman. Only this time it was someone he was glad to see. "Bloody hell. It's you."

Nicolette looked down at Roach with a grin and replied, "You really need to work on your corners bug." She grabbed him to haul him to his feet and motioned, "Come on. We've got to go. I've got a dozen more coming."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Roach replied as he followed her up a flight of stairs that would lead them to the upper levels and to the rooftops.

"Bol'shaya Ptitsa . Vy slyshite?" Nicolette called into her com.

Da. I read you. I was waiting for your call.

"On my way. I've got Roach and we're making our way to the rooftops," Nicolette replied as she led the way. They ran through a couple more houses until they found the stairs that went up. As they rounded the corner though, she caught sight of a lone militia and turned to gun him down but he was taken out.

Didn't think that I'd leave ya without an escape?

Nicolette heard the transmission and grinned. Section and she split the moment they could. He said he'd be okay and she handed him a com piece. They were able to talk to each other and he was able to tell her that the 141 had made it to the rooftops. She had picked up the pace to intercept and get up until Section said that one of her guys fell. He was up high somewhere and could see and was able to tell her she was within a short distance of Roach.

She replied, "Copy that. Exfil your station now. On the rooftops. Go!"

Roger that. Good luck.

"Who the bloody hell was that?" Roach managed to ask the question even though he was almost out of breath.

"Someone I was working with and he stuck around," Nicolette replied. She looked around to make sure that there was nothing around before continuing up.

Roach! We're running low on fuel! Where the hell are you!

"On our way," Nicolette replied. She could almost hear cursing on the other end. They found the rooftops and jump on them and started running,

I see you, keep going and meet us south of your position! Go!

Nicolette led the way. They were lucky that the militia were such terrible shots. She had never seen such bad shooting unless that was the intention. That wasn't too big of a stretch. At least they had a couple of weapons. The bad thing was that she wasn't in Kevlar so if she got hit, she was hit and she wouldn't hear the end of it from MacTavish. She tapped her com, "Acknowledged. Bol'shaya Ptitsa, fuel status?"

Gas is very low. I must leave in thirty seconds.

"Copy that," Nicolette replied as she started running faster. This was where the fun began and it was a race for their lives. "Come on Roach."

Roach followed behind and picked up the pace. Without a gun he could technically run faster and it wasn't slowing him down. Still when you had bullets flying trying to shoot at you, then that was a different story. Still he managed to put the extra spurt into his legs and followed Nicolette in a southern direction over the uneven rooftops. They were running and leaping on and over the rises and falls of the hodgepodge of sheet metal that they called roofs. It was just like running a pit run on the uneven ground.

We're running on fumes here! Get your arses moving!

Nicolette and Roach heard but didn't acknowledge as they ran and leapt. Roach always had liked watching her run the courses. She actually seemed to fly when she ran and was very sure of her footing. She landed where she wanted and even if it wasn't where she wanted it, she made do with it and kept going. It's what made the others in the 141 want to train with her. He had noticed a few try to imitate her but they stank at it. He could give them credit for the effort though.

Time marked on the clock.

Nicolette knew Addy had been listening in and had activated the timer on her watch. She could see the clock ticking. Plenty of time now that she could see the chopper. She turned left and grabbed Roach by the shoulder strap, "Left. We go left and jump down."

Roach had no choice but to follow since he was being yanked by her. She was a strong bugger and when it was serious… He joked that when she got going she must be a man in disguise. She ended up laughing and said that once she was mistaken for a very short man. They had good laughs on that one but he never doubted that she could be formidable.

They jumped down and turned right. It was a steep slope so the best thing to do was to slide down. They ran and dropped to slide to the next rooftop. Nicolette raised her rifle and fired at the couple of militia she had spotted before they went out of sight. The wall stopped their momentum and they pivoted to keep going. They jumped down a couple more and ran and dropped to slide into a house that luckily was empty.

Twelve seconds and counting.

Roach saw that they were going to have to jump. He wasn't looking forward to it and the distance seemed to be a little much. Also it was a ladder. If one hit their weight would make it swing and the other would miss. That meant that someone could fall to their death. "We're not going to make it both at the same time," he said.

"We'll make it," Nicolette countered, "Trust me." They were in a perfect line to make a run. She pushed Roach, "Go!"

They made a mad dash towards the edge of the roof. They had to time it just right to push off and get the most lift. Roach went first as Nicolette pushed him. He grabbed the ladder and turned to see Nicolette flying through the air using her legs to gain momentum. At first he thought she was going to miss but she grabbed the ladder just under him. They were both on.

Nikolai, we got them both! Get us out of here!

Where to my friend?

Just get us to the sub.

Roach hooked his arm and looked down. He saw Nicolette hanging on below. He was always the one saying that they weren't going to make it and yet they did when she said they would. He shook his head at her.

I told you we would make it bug.

"Yeah you did. Nice going Ryan," Roach called. He took a breath and looked at the landscape as the chopper flew in the direction they needed to go and meet the sub. Just another one of those days he supposed.

~0~0~

Translation (Google Translate): Udachi(Good luck); Blagodarya moim drugom (Thanks my friend); Bol'shaya Ptitsa . Vy slyshite? (Big Bird. You copy?)


A/N: And time to shoot our way out and Nikolai is on the rescue. This and more next time on Cry Havoc...