A/N: Hi! Sorry for the late update! I've been having finals all this while! I'm getting my marks back next week, Monday and Tuesday! Let's pray I do well :) Haha, anyway read and review!

3 hours before

The snow crunched under my boots as I landed. A large white landscape surrounded me, as the rest of the team landed as well. We immediately removed the parachutes and buried them in the snow.

No one spoke until we were done with the burial. It wasn't often to receive priority alpha missions, but then again this was 'the best taskforce on the planet' so maybe everyone was used to this. I wasn't. And from the way Prophet kept biting his lips, I figured he wasn't either.

"Move to positions." MacTavish ordered silently, and we immediately split up. There were two ground units, and two sniper units. I was assigned to sniping duty with Ghost. I didn't understand why I wasn't assigned Prophet. He was my sniping partner, not Ghost who was, at that moment, the last person I wanted to partner with. Maybe they were pulling him out of his comfort zone, like they did with me when they threw CQB at me in Rio. But were they really going to risk it on a priority alpha mission? I wasn't going to lie to myself; I didn't feel comfortable with that call. Not at all.

I tried to clear my mind of the worries and the mission in Rio. The last thing I needed was panic and memories of dead soldiers reeling in my mind.

Ghost and I silently trudged for nearly half an hour to the northeastern tower which highly resembled a lighthouse. There was a door but we opted to use the rusty metal ladder that paved a path straight to the top of the tower. I could've sworn halfway up I heard something inside the tower, but Ghost continued his way up.

Kate, get your shit together. I mean Gen. Jesus. Is this what they mean when they say 'deep in cover'?

I scoffed lightly at myself, and once I reached the top, began setting up our equipment alongside Ghost.

"Comms check. This is Team Alpha" MacTavish's voice rang through our comms.

"Beta's online."

"Sniper team one." Archer stated.

Ghost nodded at me. "Sniper team two."

"We read you all, loud and clear. Maintain radio silence from here on out."

"Copy." I replied, and muted the receiver.

Ghost was lying flat on the ground, checking his scope. He raised his hand and waved for a second at the other tower. I looked through my spotting scope and saw Archer and Toad waving back from their side. Chuckling, I leaned against the railing. The top of the tower wasn't very spacious. It was a circular roof, and the entrance to the tower was in the middle – a small structure enclosing a rusting door.

I looked over the railings and scanned the base with my spotting scope. There were tents amidst the many structures scattered around the area. Intel was that Makarov was using the base as an ammunitions depot. The reason for the high priority of the mission was that there was a high possibility of Makarov being on site. The two ground units were to search and capture Makarov. In the event that he wasn't present, once confirmed, the whole base was to be up in flames.

Seeing as I was on sniper duty, I wouldn't exactly be on the battlefield, but that didn't really help me ease my tension. I was genuinely scared. Scratch that, I was terrified. If Makarov was on base, then security would be insanely tough.

Like Spetsnaz tough.

Maybe the 141 boys could handle it, but maybe not me.

I let my eyes close and uttered a quick prayer. I wasn't very religious, but sometimes, faith was the only thing you could depend on. When I opened my eyes, they briefly looked over Ghost. His line of sight was directly at the base, and he laid stiff. We hadn't talked since we got on the Chinook, and I wasn't complaining, but I couldn't help wondering whether the lack of speech was going to stay that way til, forever. Was he just going to ignore me from now on? Or, impossibly worse, was he going to hate me and ruin my life during drills?

Bright idea, making out with the guy in charge of your drills.

Some days, I didn't understand why the CIA hired me.

Ghost and I remained silent for a very long time, in which I doubted myself about another hundred times, debated about the meaning of life in my mind for approximately half an hour, and relished the kiss for 5 minutes before realizing I was grinning to myself and that was the last thing I wanted Ghost to see me doing.

"Shadow." Ghost called out. I whipped around, startled.

"You okay?" he asked. I inhaled, before sweeping a lone strand of my hair behind my ear. "I'm good." I replied, taking my position next to him.

"Are you scared?" Ghost asked. I turned to face him, and he was less than an arm's length away. I hesitated.

"Shadow. Fear is a good thing. It keeps you alive. Be afraid." He said smoothly.

"Are you afraid?" I asked, trying to look into his eyes. Which didn't work, seeing as he was wearing dark shades.

"No. Fear isn't what's keeping mealive."

"What is?"

Ghost faced me. We stared at each other for a moment.

"You."

I thought I almost died that second. Mostly because my heart skipped two beats. First, because he said that. And second, because the moment those words left his mouth, a ground-shaking explosion rocked the entire base.

1 hour before

"Shit." Ghost said, immediately looking through his sniper rifle sights at the fiery ball that had combusted in the middle of the base. I grabbed my spotting scope and did the same.

Men in white gear with Ultranationalist patches were running amok, and pretty soon, a heavy firefight against 141 was underway.

"Someone talk to me! All I see is smoke!" Toad's voice rang over the comms, and I quickly turned off the mute.

"They spotted us!" MacTavish yelled, with a cacophony of gun shots and shouting in the background.

"No shit!" Ghost muttered from next to me.

"Do we have visual on Makarov?" Archer asked.

"Negative. Haven't spotted him yet."

"Or maybe he was never here." I suggested uncomfortably.

"What's the call? Wanna blow the place up?" Archer asked.

A long silence ensued.

"Cap, if he was here, he would've left by now. Don't risk it." Ghost stated.

"Fuck. Do it." MacTavish ordered everyone.

"Any strays you send our way, we'll pick 'em off." Archer said.

"Roger."

I scanned the area with my scope.

"Talk to me Shadow." Ghost said, cocking his rifle.

"We're outnumbered down there. But the Russians aren't moving towards where we are. They're moving away from the towers. I think they've got a getaway on the secondary LZ on the other side of the base! Hold on…yeah – they do! They've got a chopper on the secondary LZ! There's no way they're gonna cross this direction! Dammit, we should've gotten better positions!" I told Ghost, grimacing.

"Then pack up." He said, and he began disassembling the sniper rifles.

"What?"

"We'll get behind the Russians. You said it yourself, 141's outnumbered. They need us."

"What if they need sniper support?"

"Archer and Toad."

I hesitated. Ghost finished packing up and tossed my bag at me. When I caught it but remained unmoving, he sighed.

"Shadow –"

"You're right. Let's do it." I replied. There wasn't any other way, was there?

30 minutes before

Ghost and I silently made our way on the side of the base, hidden from sight by a row of rocks and bushes covered in snow. I was freezing, and it almost felt hard to breathe.

"Wait, hold on." Ghost announced, stopping before me. I halted. He took a peak over the bushes.

"How's it up there?"

"They're holding their own." He replied as he bent down.

"Well, a little extra help can never hurt. Let's get out there." I told Ghost. He didn't move.

"Lieutenant..?"

"The secondary LZ." He said.

I frowned, and then I understood what he was thinking. "No. No way. It's too dangerous!"

"They're escaping!" he hissed back at me, balling his fists.

"Exactly! There's gonna be like, 20 of them in there!"

"We can handle 20!"

"No we can't!"

"Fuck, Shadow – don't fucking cower away now! You're in the 141!"

"You're making a bad decision! We're gonna get killed!"

"No we're not!"

"Ghost –!"

"I'm ordering you. Come with me." He finally said, stabbing his finger at me.

"You're making a bad call." I responded, seething.

Ghost took a step towards me, and I froze.

And then the sounds of chopper rotors firing up were in the air.

"Your job is to do what I tell you to." Ghost said, before scaling the bushes and darting. Cursing chain of command, I raced after him as he headed for the Chinook. Bullets whizzed past us, but we managed to hop onto the chopper.

I immediately fired upon the Russian soldiers, who were mostly startled by Ghost's and my sudden appearance. But I had to give them credit, they rebounded immediately. And started firing back at us. The chopper rose for a few seconds before Ghost shot the pilot and it crashed back down.

I soon began getting overwhelmed by Ultranationalists. Ghost and i were in a chopper, with absolutely no cover at all, facing practically 25 Spetsnaz soldiers. The moment one of them lifted his weapon, I had to take him down. There was no way a Spetsnaz soldier was going to miss.

And then the one thing I expected to happen, and hoped wouldn't, happened.

Three men aimed their rifles up at me.

Shit shit shit

But before anyone of us pulled the trigger, a sharp pain pierced my skin from the back.

I could feel something in me, cold, and for a long second I just froze. Until I realized what had happened.

I screamed.

The knife was withdrawn from my back and I fell. My attacker whirled around to crouch in front of me, and as if he hadn't done enough, he stabbed me again. The pain scorched every vein in my body. I screamed again, as he raised the glittering blade.

No no no Roy – David – Frank – Alison – Roach – Archer – Tav – Proph –

Two loud shots rang out.

My attacker, in a mist of blood, had two holes in him. The first bullet went through his chest, and then pierced my shoulder. The second went in and out of his forehead. He fell backward, just as Ghost let his rifle drop to his side on its strap and dashed towards me.

My eyes began watering and I cried in pain.

Everything hurt.

My back, my front, my shoulder, my head…

"Shadow! Shadow!" Ghost yelled, crouching over me. I could vaguely make out other 141 guys entering the chopper and opening fire at the remaining Russians.

A wave of ferocious anger burst through me.

"What the hell where you playing at?!" I tried to shout at Ghost, but it came out as a strained groan.

"Shadow I didn't – I – I need a medic!"

"I shouldn't have trusted you." The words left my lips effortlessly.

"I'm so sorry Kate…hey – he – stay with me! Stay with me Kate! Shadow!"

A white hot explosion racked my brain and I shut my eyes, unable to bear the pain any longer.

The last thing I heard was Ghost shouting.

A/N: Yeap. That's what I was counting down to :) EHEHEHE :D Sorry *notsorry* Hope you guys liked it! Please review!