"Anya..."
This word conveyed more than she knew, more than she could ever imagine, especially when Makarov said it.
But now, everything had changed. Everything had changed...
"They will not stop until all of us are dead, Anya," Makarov told her, loosening his hold over her. His hands, they were holding hers. The very moment that he had placed his orders to attack anyone not on their side, this included her as well. Her sapphire eyes, they were trained on a target that had taken aim on her. That man was an American, and she shot him in the leg. "You won't kill him?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow.
She returned her gaze back to him, and answered, "I don't want another American to die because of me," she told him. "Other than Shepherd..."
Her days in the Task Force 141 were very limited, but she could feel the effect of the deaths that she had caused. Meat and Royce, they had been indispensible parts of their team. From the time that she had joined the 141, she had known that all of their own had been like one big family...
Makarov looked at her, and he knew that she was on the verge of breaking... She had been a fiery soul at the very beginning, but because of her need for vengeance, and the need to stop a madman, she was forced to kill more than just innocent victims... That fire was true fire, and now he knew, that it could never be addled with anything else.
"Makarov..." she murmured. She was not supposed to be there. She was supposed to hand him to Price and MacTavish... But no. She was there with him, where she had felt safer than anywhere in the world. They were right in the heart of the boneyard, where Shepherd's men were not able to track them yet... She knew that from their tracking devices, she would look as if she had been engaged in close-quarters combat with someone.
"A stubborn one, aren't you?" Makarov asked her, caressing the side of her face. She lightly grasped his wrist, and leaned closer to him. Her sapphire eyes, these sapphire eyes that were filled with determination, yet, only just so much left... "Anya..."
She smiled, and rolled her eyes. "Is my name all that you can say now?" she asked him, causing him to let out a sound of wry laughter. She kissed him on his forehead, and brought his eyes to her, as he had done the same to her. "Where is Site Hotel Bravo?"
She was not asking him, nor had she been pleading him... But she was demanding that location of him. Makarov smiled. That girl was learning, and she was learning fast. In the past, she had learnt to see the causes and effects of the actions of others, but now, she was slowly able to make her own moves based on the information that she had obtained...
"I know that you would ask me that," he told her, and whispered its exact location into her ear. With that, he knew that they could not stay together for long. They had already delayed their parting for too long. "Anya... when will I ever see you again?" he asked, after kissing her softly. He would sorely miss the taste of her lips after that day.
Her answer was a blunt one. "Hopefully not," she said.
Capt. John "Soap" MacTavish
Task Force 141
The Boneyard, Kandahar, Afghanistan.
He could not believe it... He was being attacked, not only by Makarov's men, but also by Shepherd's. Shadow Company... these men were not loyal to the American flag, these men were loyal only to Shepherd. "Roach... Ghost?" he asked through his comms. The signals of those that were sent to the Caucasus Mountains had all disappeared, indicating only one possibility, and he hoped that it was not true. "Ghost, do you copy? Does anybody copy?"
"Captain, nobody's answering!" Anya replied, panic laced through her voice. No... that was impossible. They were the Task Force 141. They could not have been eliminated by Makarov's forces there. Unless... "Captain... Now you know why I couldn't die."
What the hell? What was she talking about?
"They're dead, Soap," Price replied. "Shepherd's cleaning house. I'm working my way back to you with Anya."
Shepherd... Everything happened because of him. "Shepherd betrayed us... Anya, you knew this all along!"
"Of course I knew," Anya replied, appearing right next to him. "I saw through everything when Makarov shot me, Captain. I told myself that I won't stop until Shepherd is dead... He betrayed not only us, he betrayed the United States of America."
Price interrupted the two of them. "You have to trust someone to be betrayed," he said. "I never did... Nikolai, come in. Do you have our location?"
The answer from Nikolai was prompt. "Da, inbound, Price," the Russian said. "But I am not the only one. You've got Shepherd's men on one side, and Makarov's on another."
That was not a good situation indeed. Already, Anya and MacTavish were busy sniping off any enemies from the broken airplane they had taken cover in. "We'll have to take them all out, then," Price said wearily. However, Nikolai had the better idea. They could let them take each other out, the Russian thought. "Anya, did you see Makarov anywhere?"
"No news is good news, Price," she replied. She knew that Price had a very great sense of suspicion. He could already have guessed that she and Makarov... "I can't even see him if I want to..."
"Makarov is a slippery fox, don't worry," Price replied. "Soap... Anya, Shepherd's trying to wipe out us and Makarov at the same time. Head for rally point Bravo to the West, go, go!"
The two of them did not need Price to tell them twice. Switching to their UMP 45s, they began to run into the middle of the battlefield. "Anya, tell me the truth, what happened after Kamarov saved you?" MacTavish asked her, looking into her sapphire eyes. Come to think of it, Kamarov never told him what happened to her after he had rescued her.
There was no point hiding that fact any more... "I went to Makarov's safehouse... And he told me to get back into the 141 as a double agent. I know that you are angry, but I promise you, Captain, that all I want is to see Shepherd dead."
"Soap, what she said is true," Price said. "If Anya wanted to kill all of us, she would have done so without all this needing to happen." MacTavish sighed, and closed his eyes. Price was right. If Anya had anything up her sleeves, she would have done something earlier.
She said nothing else, focusing mainly on getting to the LZ. "So, that's why you didn't want us to tell Shepherd that you were alive in the first place," he told her. A weak smile could be found on her face, signifying her answer. They looked towards the west, finding only more enemies... Makarov's men and Shepherd's...
"Captain, it doesn't matter whose side I'm on," she told him. "What matters is that we take Shepherd down, and make sure that he isn't the one who'll write history."
History is written by the victor... Those words were words often said by Shepherd. He should know. Anya, she may be just a young Corporal, but she could see everything around her with such amazing clarity that it amazed him. However, it did not change the fact that she had been a double agent. She was sent from the Task Force 141 to feed Ultranationalist information back towards them, and not the other way around as well. He should have known better not to trust her the moment she showed him that she was a real member of the 141.
However, that did not change the fact that they had more important things to take care of...
Together, they ran towards the LZ, taking down the men that came towards them. "I'll try to contact Makarov," Price announced, when they were halfway towards their destination, slowly creeping through the dismantled parts of airplanes, tanks, and Hummers strewn all across the place. "Makarov, this is Price, Shepherd's a war-hero now. He's got your operations playbook and a blank check. Give me what you have on Shepherd, and I'll take care of the rest..."
There was no answer from Makarov. Anya knew, that he was busy calculating what he had at stake. She also knew that Makarov could not possibly win this by himself... This much, she already knew that he would find his own way to escape. MacTavish looked at her, and found that her smile that he had previously seen had widened, just a little, but it was there.
"I know that you can hear me on this channel, Makarov," Price added, almost threateningly. "You and I both know that you won't last a week."
"And neither will you," Makarov answered. It would be the first time Price and MacTavish heard his voice, so cold in tonality, so sharp in quality. "Make sure that Anya gets out safely with you, Price, or I'll come after you myself."
Immediately, MacTavish shot a questioning look towards her. "Makarov, you ever hear the old saying: the enemy of my enemy is my friend?" Price asked Makarov, urgency increasing in the manner of which he spoke.
And this time, Makarov's reply was swift. "Price, one day you will find that it cuts both ways," he said. "Shepherd is using Site Hotel Bravo. You'll know where it is... I'll see you in hell..." With those words, nothing was heard from Makarov anymore.
"I'll tell you where it is when we get on the plane," Anya announced, shooting down another one of Makarov's men who was about to hit MacTavish with the butt of his rifle. "Captain, let's go!" She knew that it was useless to keep stopping and shooting whoever would shoot them down. "We don't have any time left! Come on!"
Within mere minutes, Price had arrived at the LZ in a Jeep. "Soap, Anya, we're leaving!" Price shouted towards them, his arms flailing about wildly, gesturing them to get into the Jeep. Immediately, they reloaded their weapons and shot down as many enemy vehicles as they could.
"Nikolai, drop the bloody ramp!" Price shouted when Nikolai's plane was in sight. They were going at break-neck speeds, so fast that Anya knew that it was useless if they tried to aim anymore. Her sapphire eyes, they looked towards a familiar-looking Little Bird which flew across the skies... It was Makarov's.
"Rook!" MacTavish shouted. The 141 soldier responsible for driving the Jeep was killed by one of the gunners on a rampaging technical. He quickly took the wheel, seeing as Rook's foot was still on the accelerator. Within seconds, they were in the plane...
And that was where everything began.
The very moment Anya got off the jeep, she felt her entire body being struck against the cold walls of the plane. "Talk, Anya, what did Makarov promise you?" MacTavish asked her, pounding his fist next to her head. "Why did you help us to save Price? Why didn't you tell us earlier that Shepherd was a traitor?"
"You wouldn't even believe me if I just told you that straight out!" Anya shouted back. "If I came back with Price, Shepherd would most probably have us both killed on the spot!" She knew that Price would not easily trust Shepherd immediately, and Shepherd would most likely be wary with the old SAS captain as well. Although Price was immediately absorbed into the 141, she could not reveal herself at that moment in time. "He would have told all of you that I was an Ultranationalist, and all of you would kill me then and there!"
"But aren't you one?" MacTavish answered back, receiving a slap from Anya in return.
"I am an American, MacTavish," she spat. "But that doesn't change the fact that I owe Makarov my life!" Her sapphire eyes, they were filled with burning vehemence, so much different from what she had been just a few moments ago. "Without him, I could not have been able to even stand next to you right here!"
Price quickly pulled the two of them from one another. "Alright, you two, break it up!" Once he had spoken, neither of them dared to do anything else. Ice blue eyes and sapphire orbs they remained in each other's gazes, each threatening to kill one another if the other made a false move. "Soap, you're just angry at yourself over what happened, it wasn't Anya's fault," the old Captain said to his former subordinate. "And Anya, what were you thinking? Did you think that going with Makarov, you could solve all your problems?"
Anya could not answer that question at all. She used to think with her brain, and never with her heart... At this one time, when she decided to take her own matters into her own hands, and followed her own instincts... The world had turned 360 degrees. She knew that she would not be able to live the life she had once lived, but she knew, that even if anyone else would denounce her as a traitor to her own country, it would be what she had wanted to do, once Shepherd was dead and gone.
HAN: Hey there! It's been a long, long time since I've talked to all of you! How are you guys? Well, I would like to take the opportunity to thank ecto1B for all the support she's given me, and the other reviewers as well, especially NoRussianYouFool, who is my friend in real life. As you can see, this fic is coming to an end, but it's not too late in telling you that I really appreciated all the constructive criticism given to me. Ehehehehehe. What can't kill me would only make me much stronger, eh?
And oh yes, I've come up with two songs that would set the mood a little for the fic, especially in those Makarov-Anya scenes. For Anya's part, I chose the Catalyst by Linkin Park, which I think fits her rather well, based on the lyrics and the meaning that they carry. As for Makarov, it's Starlight, by Slash, featuring Myles Kennedy. These songs rock to the max, and I hope that you would enjoy them as much as I do.
Well, until the next update, bye! Thanks for reading and reviewing!
