A/N: So, so, so sorry for not updating in months. I know I promised a while ago that I would update, clearly that didn't happen. But I'm still here, I'm just being lazy and choosing to read fics instead of writing them. I consider this chapter to be filler, cause the next one is going to propel the plot a hell of a lot further, but you can be the judge of that.

By the way, thank you to all of those people that have stuck with me this past year. Thanks for the support!


He couldn't believe it.

He was here.

Right here, the moment he had been waiting for. Was it days? Weeks? Recker couldn't remember. But it didn't matter. Because he was finally here.

He knew what was behind the cold and bare block of stone that stood before him.

It was time, Recker told himself. Time to end this.

Indeed it was. And without any further hesitation, Recker shoved all of his weight into the door.


Recker could feel Dima's uneasiness, mostly because he was sitting next to him. "You holding up alright Dima?" Recker asked over the roar of the plane's engines. They didn't have their masks on, so Recker couldn't ask him over the mic.

"We're about to attempt to save the world a second time, for both of us. Although for you, this is too easy. You've done it before. I haven't," Dima replied while keeping his thousand-mile-like stare straight in front of him.

"What do you mean?" Recker confusingly asked.

"Remember the news reports about the Paris nuclear explosion six years ago? I was involved in stopping that explosion," Dima said.

"What happened?"

"My squad and I were assigned by GRU to stop a man called Solomon from detonating a nuke in Paris. Well, we chased after a decoy after we found him at the EURONXT exchange building. He made it to a train station before we killed him. That's when we found out the bomb he was carrying was fake, and seconds later the real one exploded several miles away."

"Wow, I'm sorry to hear that."

"That's not all. It would've been a complete failure had the American marines in New York failed to stop Solomon from detonating a nuke over there."

"Yeah, I heard about that on the news. His name was Sgt. Blackburn, wasn't it?"

"Strange thing is, I knew the man personally."

Recker was taken aback, "W-what?

"We met in a villa in northern Iran, in the Gilad Valley. We were both on similar missions: to capture an arms dealer named Kaffarov and obtain vital information from him on the nukes he stole from Russia and gave to Solomon, who by the way, was the head of the PLR."

Recker didn't know much about the whole ordeal, since a lot of it was classified and censored on the media, but a lot of information got out and spread throughout the entire Marine Corps. He felt lucky to have enlisted during that time. But his memory was foggy, and he was having trouble recalling everything that happened, or at least the stuff he knew that happened. But it was all coming back to him.

"Yeah, I remember. The PLR. I was deployed to Iran to help contain their spread, about the same time as Blackburn was. Unfortunately, I was in a different battalion."

"Oh man, Blackburn was good man. He made some tough choices and went through shit just to stop the Times Square nuke. Succeeded where I failed. He knew from me things that the American government didn't know, and that gave him an advantage in stopping the nuke. Unfortunately for him, the CIA didn't think so."

"What do you mean?"

"When we met, I had already extracted information from Kaffarov and then killed him. I heard the Americans approaching so I decided to wait. I knew I wasn't the right person to stop the nukes and I certainly couldn't be the only one to do so. I needed allies. So I waited, and it turned out only one man showed up to the pool house where I killed Kaffarov, that man being Sgt. Blackburn."

"I told him not to do anything stupid, and I held him at gunpoint. I told him everything that Kaffarov told me as well as information I already knew about the nukes. I was desperate for his help. I heard someone approaching and it was an American. I told Blackburn if he didn't shoot him, millions would die. Apparently, it was his CO, and Blackburn shot him point-blank in the chest without hesitation. I knew that there would be casualties along the way, so I didn't get upset. I was glad Blackburn cooperated."

"We both went our own separate ways after that, and we never saw each other again. After his mission at the Gilad Valley, I heard he was arrested and taken in for interrogation by the CIA. They believed it was us behind the nuclear attack on Paris. But Blackburn knew the truth, in part because of the information I told him at the villa. And he managed to succeed in stopping a war between Russia and the US."

It was all coming back to him now. Recker remembered the news reports and the constant talk among the Marines about Sgt. Blackburn. His heroism and persistence made him famous. Recker even saw the videos on social media before the government took them down. It all showed some crazy 50-year-old Middle-Easterner asking out loud 'Who wants to die first?' to two Marines, who looked beat up to shit. He then shot one in the head who spoke to another one, who was later identified as Dave Montes. Before he could shoot the other Marine-Blackburn-he ran out of ammo, and the two men got into a long fist fight with a large crowd just watching. Why no one interfered was beyond Recker. But Blackburn managed to gain the upper hand and bludgeoned Solomon to death with a brick.

Soon after, the army, the police, the FBI, the CIA, the media, and a massive crowd of civilians swarmed the scene. Recker remembered watching the whole thing on TV while on leave from the Marines. And from the rumors going around in the army, Blackburn apparently was honorably discharged due to war trauma, stress, and mild depression. Recker even heard that Blackburn's entire squad didn't make it, half of them on some mission, probably in Iran, and another one, Montes, in New York. Recker couldn't feel anything but sympathy for the man. He'd literally been through hell and back, and Recker had respect for him. But right now, Recker didn't know where Blackburn was now. Probably at some mental institution...

"What happened to you after the nukes?" Recker asked Dima after a long silence.

"I took a leave, went back home. I'll admit, I was fucked up for a while. It got to a point, and don't tell anyone this, but I came close to killing myself. I couldn't live with my failure at Paris. But then, a squad of Russian soldiers knocked on my door and took me into custody. For what reasons, I wasn't sure. But I knew after a while, I ended up at the same Chinese prison a few years before you did."

"Must've been hard for you."

"You have no idea, marine. But I guess that's what being in the Spetsnaz prepares for you for. Toughening up for the worst."

Before Recker could continue, the red light flashed on, and everyone knew it was time. Oxygen masks were secured and everyone stood up. A few seconds later, the ramp was down, and the sudden influx of cold air hit Recker pretty hard, but he stood firm, ready to do his part. All he was waiting for at this point was the green light.

And before he knew it, the green light flashed, and everyone rushed forward and dived out of the plane. Recker was the last one out, hesitating for a second before making the leap into what might possibly be his last mission, for good or for bad.


The entire squad landed on the planned drop point, the helicopter pad at the top of the complex, much to Recker's surprise. It was snowing hard, and a storm was due to come in thirty minutes. If any, they had to hurry.

"Alright guys, listen up," Recker shouted with a commanding voice, "Knives and suppressed weapons only. Let's try to keep this under wraps as long as we can. Stick to the plan, don't panic. Good to go?"

Everyone gave the nod, and Recker led the group to the door leading inside the bunker. Irish reached for the handle.

"Wait," Recker said, and knocked on the door. Seconds later, a guard opened the door, and before he could react to the infiltrators before him, Recker kicked open the door and sliced the man's throat.

"Good shit Reck, now what?" Irish asked.

"We'll split up. Dima, Kiril, clear out the western side of the bunker. Pac, Irish, Hannah, take the east. I'll go for the command center."

"Alone?" Pac questioned.

"Don't worry about me. If anyone sets off an alarm, it'll be you guys, and hopefully they'll send reinforcements away from the command center."

"Assuming he's in the command center," Irish lamented.

"Now's not the time to question our intel. Stick to the plan. Let's roll." There were times when Recker just wanted to tape Irish's mouth shut. He asked too many questions, too much for Recker as a squad leader to handle. But he needed Irish right now, and watched as he hurried off with Hannah and Pac to clear out the bunker.

After everyone left, Recker still stood at the doorway, with bone-chilling air howling right behind him. He took a deep breath and took out his SCAR-H assault rifle. He always used it because it was reliable, accurate, and durable. It was a great weapon, one that would help him take down Voronkov.

Putting on a face of determination, Recker recalled the layout of the bunker he studied back on the Valkyrie, and proceeded down the stairs to another door, which should lead to the command center.

Weapon at the ready, Recker slowly opened the door and peeked into the hallway. No one. Strange, Recker thought. Shouldn't there be at least somebody on patrol?

Pushing the thought aside, Recker silently hurried down the hall. He had to hurry, with the storm coming, it was going to be harder to get out to the evac zone, which was at the foot of the mountain.

Arriving at another staircase, Recker peeked down. Empty. According to the intel, the stairs went down for half a mile. And not a single patrol in sight. Recker felt uneasy.

Carefully descending the stairs, Recker kept an eye out for any hostiles. As he was crossing by a door, it opened up behind him. In the blink of an eye, Recker turned around and sprayed the man with bullets without thinking twice.

No time to hide the body, gotta keep moving, Recker thought.


After dispatching another one-man patrol, Recker entered what should be the adjacent hallway to the command center. Was security normally this lax? Something felt off, but Recker brushed it off.

Checking his corners, Recker proceeded to the command center. As he rounded the corner, he found himself staring at two large, stone doors with a faded imprint of two Russian words. This had to be it. Recker holstered his weapon and took out his pistol.

He couldn't believe it.

He was here.

Right here, the moment he had been waiting for. Was it days? Weeks? Recker couldn't remember. But it didn't matter. Because he was finally here.

He knew what was behind the cold and bare block of stone that stood before him.

It was time, Recker told himself. Time to end this.

Indeed it was. And without any further hesitation, Recker shoved all of his weight into the door.


A/N: Next chapter coming up on...idk. We'll see.