"Do you know that you would be even more dazzling if you smiled more?" Makarov asked Ryuka the very moment she had emerged from her room in the black dress that he had bought her a few days previous. He himself had donned a tuxedo, but had a gun holstered onto his shoulder, while he handed her the Desert Eagle that she had already taken from her, along with its thigh holster.
Ryuka already knew why the hell Makarov wanted her to attend that diamond exhibition. Her presence about Shanghai had already started ripples of rumors, and there was no use to have her hidden. Anyways, it would not be logical that only three men would cover all the security details for an exhibition of that scale. Besides, she was an able warrior; he could use another helping hand.
"What is it that you plan to do, Makarov?" she asked him, putting on a pair of sapphire earrings, the new tattoo on her arm visible to the world. He knew it to be the insignia of the Task Force 141 that she had just gotten in utter defiance of him. It depicted a skull above a winged sword, a strange motif for an elegant woman. Her dark eyes, they were watching his every move like a hawk, ready to pounce at him with every chance that she would have.
"You already know it, darling," Makarov told her, placing the diamond choker around her neck, noticing that she had expertly covered the love-bites that he had left with some kind of cosmetic product, everything, save for that one tattoo. "We are just going to make an appearance, pretend to work for a few moments, and then, perhaps, get you a few diamonds…"
Ryuka rolled her eyes. He was teasing her, and she knew it well. "Just cut to the chase," she interrupted him, checking her hair for anything out of place. It had been kept simple, tied into a small bun, adorned with Swarovski crystal-lined pins. Her katana had to be carried in a long, slim pouch, masquerading as some sort of a camera tripod.
Makarov chuckled, and said, "I plan to gain an airfield in Harbin, where I can hide some of my more… precious aircraft." The Task Force 141 and the Shadow Company would not be the only "hidden" units that the Western countries had against his forces, and there would be countless of others more. He was using some form of reverse-psychology, because the U.S. would assume that he would not continue to hide his resources in foreign lands, due to a Task Force 141 mission where they had thought that they were able to recover the ACS module… In fact, he would continue to use the same tactic, and hide it in China, to see if the Americans would dare to try to take it from him by force or by covert means indeed.
"And what would you give him in return?" Ryuka asked, walking up to Makarov. In her Christian Louboutin heels, she was almost taller than he was, and he smirked at the strange exchange of height.
"That is for you to find out later, darling," he said, kissing her forehead before reaching for a shopping bag that she had not noticed was there before. It had been a beautiful white fur-shawl, which he had wrapped around her shoulders. "It is cold out there, darling, even here."
She raised an eyebrow, and brought the shawl around her body tighter. They left the suite, with her arm wound around his, just for show. "I would rather freeze to death than to be with you any moment longer," she whispered to him in Russian, but from afar, and with her radiant smile, she seemed to be whispering sweet nothings into his ears.
Makarov was amused. "How many languages do you speak, darling?" he asked her.
For the first time in the day, she smiled a little. "Only Chinese, English, Russian, Japanese, Spanish, French and German…"
"You are men of iron will," the Chinese official before Price, MacTavish and Nikolai said in perfect English. "Anyone could have given up if they were in your position…" Chen was like General Lee, an influential player in the Chinese Army, but unlike Lee, he often worked closely with the Americans, knowing that the Ultranationalists would not always be working with China for "mutual advantage".
"We've been trying to take Makarov down for five years," MacTavish said. He among all, knew how it had been in those years chasing after Makarov. One step forwards, and two steps back… How many men had he had lost due in each of those missions, he did not even want to remember. How many innocents had died, just because of Makarov's acts of terror, he did not even want to know. "We're gonna make sure that he never sticks his head up again."
Chen put a hand on MacTavish's shoulder, and nodded in agreement. "I like a man of determination," he told MacTavish. "And you are in luck, gentlemen. I have information that your subordinate is acting as one of the security personnel-cum-guests of the event. However, you must be careful if you are to meet her."
Relief rushed over MacTavish, Price and Ryurei the very moment Chen said those words. Ryuka was alive, but upon hindsight, it was already known that Makarov had no intention to kill her… "What is the plan?" Price asked. They were playing not in their own court, but that of the Chinese, Price knew that they could not take charge of the situation, they would have to play according to the rules of the Chinese.
"You are to attend the exhibition as well, my friends," Chen answered. "However, you will not be doing anything else. Contact your subordinate, and tell her that she is to feed information back to you regarding all of Makarov's actions. We will stop that beast before it is too late…"
Immediately, three suits and a gown were brought towards them, along with enough weapons to last them for any eventuality. "Don't worry, we'll do our best to behave," Ryurei reassured the General with a smile. MacTavish looked at her, and was once again reminded of Ryuka. She smiled just like that as well… And he would see her again. "But we'll have to hope that Ryuka-chan can recognize the three of you in tuxedoes."
"Ah, my friend," Lee said to Makarov, shaking his hand. "Here is the beautiful little angel that we have heard so many rumors of this past week." The General's eyes moved to Ryuka, who gave him a polite nod, and a brilliant smile. Makarov had to hand it to Ryuka, she was not just named one of the world's top Black Ops specialists for no reason. This woman was perfectly able to be placed in every single situation, able to turn her face into a complete and total mask.
"Ryuka, this is General Lee," Makarov introduced, speaking to her in Chinese before the General. "He has been a valuable friend and ally for many years."
She shook the General's hand, and said in the same language, "I am honored, General Lee." A Japanese speaking in Mandarin, well, it immediately pleased the General greatly, who roared loudly in laughter. "Your exploits during the Xinjiang uprisings were utterly inspirational…" In fact, she was the one who started investigations on the General. He had his men rouse the Xinjiang Uyghurs against the Han Chinese majority, while he tried to ease the inter-ethnic tensions between the two races.
"She is both intelligent and beautiful," the General praised, and turned to Makarov. "You must not let this one go. She seems to be your match through and through."
If they had been in other settings, Ryuka would have already rolled her eyes. She was Lieutenant Ryuka Algren, a sniper and a Black Ops specialist… She would never be a match for Vladimir Makarov. "Darling," he said to her, "You heard the General. Please, do not let me go."
Ryuka chuckled as the men around her laughed again, playing coy. "I will check on the quadrant alpha," she feigned a report, and moved away from them. And when she was far away enough from Makarov, she shook her head as much as a beautifully-coiffed hair and intricate jewelry would allow her to.
She had moved to the aforementioned sector, and found nothing at all. However, when she closed her eyes, she began to feel something that she had not sensed in a long, long time. No… it could not be… It was impossible. She had seen his injuries. He could not have recovered in such a short time.
Her dark eyes, they then fell upon a single ring. Its six diamonds were made to resemble a star in the night sky, but under the lights of the exhibition center, it shone greater than any star. It was more beautiful than anything that she had seen before. The central diamond, it was a Hearts and Arrows diamond, weighing about eight carats itself… The band of the titanium ring, was encrusted further by countless black diamonds, which also glittered like their clear counterparts.
"It is as beautiful as you are, darling," Makarov's voice interrupted her awe. "It is yours if you wish for it."
"I do not think so," Ryuka replied, "You can buy a hundred Tomahawk missiles with this ring alone…"
Something stopped her words… That flare of Ki… She knew that it well enough… She should have been able to recognize it the very first time she had felt it. It was MacTavish. He was somewhere close, she could feel it… While Makarov motioned for one of the exhibition's personnel that he would buy the ring, she turned around and found her Captain standing right in the sea of people, clearly for her to see.
He nodded towards her, and using the sign language that they of the Task Force 141 had formulated themselves, he told her that he would meet her in a secluded part of the exhibition, where they could be alone for a few minutes. Ryuka responded, and turned back towards Makarov, to avoid his suspicions.
The Russian looked towards her, and found that her eyes were red, as if she would almost start to cry. "Darling…" he said, his voice sounding as if it had been filled with genuine concern. "What is the matter?" he asked, bringing his fingers to her cheek tentatively.
"It is nothing," she told him. "Just… something in my eye. Please, excuse me."
Makarov nodded, and let her go, but not without placing a kiss to her forehead. "Be careful," he warned her, and she nodded before moving away from him.
MacTavish had never seen Ryuka more beautiful in his entire life. It was as if she had been a different person altogether, and not the strong, feisty soldier that he had known. In a beautiful one shoulder-gown, adorned with previous stones, she looked as if she had been a modern-day princess…
But when he held her in his arms again, when he had smelt her scent once again, he knew that she was none other than Ryuka Algren, his Ryuka… "Reddie…" he called her by her call-sign, and she responded with a nod, a teardrop falling from her eye and onto the shoulder of his tuxedo.
"John…" she replied, and he kissed her, not caring about a thing in the world. Yes, this was the man that she had loved. There was no mistake about it. "Please… forgive me…" she apologized, remembering what she had done… "Makarov…"
MacTavish put a finger to her lips. "You did what you had to do," he reassured her. No sane man would have allowed and tolerated the touch of another man upon the woman he loved, but he knew that in times of war, it was the price that they had to pay. "Ryuka… We'll start over, after all this has ended. Right now…"
"I have to bring whatever Makarov has back to you…" she finished his sentence. There was no mistake about it. This was Ryuka, in all her beauty and her cunning intuition. "I know what it is that I must do…" To see MacTavish right there, alive and well, she also knew that Price would be in the same state as well. Her dark eyes, they were misted with tears, not of pain, like those that Makarov had seen, they were of joy.
"Go, Reddie," he whispered into her ear. "Makarov's gonna want to find out where you've been when you're gone this long."
Ryuka nodded, and closed her eyes as he kissed the top of her head before he released her from his arms. "Be safe, John," she told him, and squeezed his larger hand in hers before she left him. "Do not worry about me."
"I never did, Ryuka," he told her, and gave her a small, dark object, which could be attached to the back of her earring.
By the time when she had returned to Makarov's side, word had passed throughout the exhibition venue that he would purchase one of the most expensive pieces there, costing about fifty million U.S. Dollars. Ryuka had been all-smiles, but she told the man standing behind the display to place it back. "I do not need a single ring," she told him, in a tone of voice loud enough for everyone around them to hear.
In the boldest display of the sheer iron will of all those in the Task Force 141, Ryuka kissed Makarov right in the eye of the public. "Darling…" he murmured, half-shocked, and half-amused.
"I have you now…"
HAN: Ahahaha... So this chapter is extremely similar to the one in the Red Dragon. Would you guys want it to end like the original one, or would you like me to extend the fic for something... more?