A/N; Once again I am very sorry I stop updating this story. I am more concentrated on a different story of mine because I have a clear plot line for it. It is very difficult when my only goal was to save Roach which isn't that easy. Anyway I plan to come back to this story when I advance my other story and finish it. Thank you for being here and happy reading :)
It was the day we had to hunt down Makarov. The plan was to attack two of his safehouses at the same time. Our two Captains had to go to a boneyard in Afghanistan while Roach and I were under the command of Lieutenant in Georgia. I couldn't believe that it was happening but seeing my own father as he was explaining the whole plan to us put my mind straight. Price was right when he said I had to toughen up and give myself to our goal; to do the right thing. Not trusting what Shepherd offered as a loadout I went on to armoury and got myself plenty of additional electronics and weapons.
Trip from US to Georgia wasn't a short one. I sat there in the chopper right next to Roach and in front of Ghost but I could concentrate only on one thing - making the truth come out to the surface. Convincing Makarov to give out the information about Shepherd and their common plans wasn't easy. Hell, my father was one hell of a strategist, just like Makarov, I didn't have anything to bet in their game of big stakes. On the other hand I didn't have anything to lose but it wasn't enough. How I am supposed to save others from Shepherd… was the only thought running through my head at the time.
"You okay there, Carmen?" Asked Ghost waving his hand in front of my face to stop me from staring at one point. When I was brought back to reality he leaned back and crossed his arms on his chest. "You seem way too serious for your normal state." Said Ghost and looked at me concerned. I felt his gaze upon me when I looked away and thought of what to say. Everyone seemed concerned maybe more about the mission and not me but it seemed like there was a mist of bad emotions floating around the helicopter.
I decided to be serious and instead of brushing it off like nothing I explained what I was feeling. "It shouldn't be too surprising. I went only on a few missions with you and they didn't go too well. In the first one I fucked up completely." I breathed out feeling my hands to shake. I was trying to avoid getting nervous since from the moment of our leave I was concentrated and cold-blooded but it was slowly creeping onto me. "If it wasn't for Roach who dragged me with him along the way I would have died in that favela. I think my seriousness is totally reasonable."
"You think it was our fault for being the ones in the explosion and getting taken as hostages? You need to revalue what fucking up is." Said Scarecrow and shook his head. He was one of my favourite superiors because he was always there to keep me up when I was feeling down.
"We're almost there." Said the pilot and I grabbed my rifle making sure I was prepared for the battle. I had to think and do it fast because the string that was holding us all alive was about to pop. "I already evaluated what happened before and taken it into credit. We will do this the right way." I said and looked at Roach who spent his time silent which was unusual. He looked at me surprised and a little frustrated. He knew something was off with me and it wasn't just about the mission. You could see in his eyes that he didn't buy the 'I'm worried about the mission' thing though without saying a word he put on his helmet and headgear.
"Get ready." Said the second pilot and we all got up from the seats. When the heli landed we jumped out of it and walked forward with Ghost in the lead. Archer and Toad taken the positions by the cliff with their sniper rifles. I loaded my weapon and walked up to Ghost who was giving commands to rest of us. "Strike team go. Engage Makarov on sight."
Those words cut deep in my mind; if we kill Makarov there is no way to prove Shepherd betrayed his country. We moved up towards the estate through a forest and a field that was set up with Bouncing Betties. I dropped down on the ground and rolled away from the source of explosions. Some of the team members weren't fast enough but I saw Ghost and Roach in front of me getting up from the ground and felt a little relieved. I looked around to see Ozone run past me while Scarecrow stopped beside and gave me a hand to get up. I gratefully took it and we moved after the rest when the first enemies shown up in the woods. We quickly engage them to move on.
"We got two trucks leaving the target building." Said Archer and I followed the trucks in my sights. Sending a couple of rounds I noticed that they were bulletproof. Unable to do much damaged I waited crouching for any orders. I heard Archer announce that he was firing a Javelin and took a couple of steps back to avoid being hit. "Moving vehicles have been neutralized. Be advised, we have not, I repeat, we have not spotted Makarov, and no one else has left the house. Those trucks may have been decoys. Over."
We continued moving up to the safehouse meeting even more resistance. I did my best to fight them, knowing that long hours of training paid off. I had only one precious life and it depended on my ability to shoot precisely. Once the yard was clear we moved to breach the main door to the house. The first to go in were Roach and Ghost. They were amazing in the way they managed to sweep through enemies so clean. I walked after them and looked around.
"Office clear! Ozone, make sure no one leaves through the kitchen." Said Ghost and looked at me. I walked up to him and said "I'll cover the office." He nodded and walked up to the top floor with Roach to breach any other closed rooms. In a couple of minutes the whole house was clear and we all gathered at the office.
"Shepherd, this is Ghost. No sign of Makarov, I repeat, no sign of Makarov. Captain Price, any luck in Afghanistan?" Began a long talk about the situation Ghost and I didn't feel too happy knowing that my father was to give any new orders.
"Plenty...at least fifty hired guns here, but no sign of Makarov. Perhaps our intel was off." I heard Price say.
"Well, the quality of the intel's about to change. This safehouse is a bloody goldmine." Said Ghost and I looked at the computer and other pieces of information all around there.
"Copy that. Ghost, have your team collect everything you can for an operations playbook. Names, contacts, places, everything." Said my father and gave me a perfect excuse to walk away from the whole team. I walked up to the stairs and Roach followed me with his eyes giving me a questioning look.
"I'm going to gather intel." I whispered with my earpiece turned off and sprinted up the stairs. I didn't want to listen to the rest of their conversation with my father knowing I had to do something to get in contact with Makarov. At the top floor I walked around looking and rummaging through the dead bodies Roach left when breaching. I took off one of their earpieces and took out one of the electronic gadgets to connect it to my own. Making sure that I connected it properly and others wouldn't hear my chat if Makarov responded I said "Makarov, this is Shepherd. Catherine Shepherd."
Not hearing a response I continued "I know you can hear me and I know that Shepherd betrayed you like he betrays everyone. Now my team is gathering all the intel you had here and Shepherd will have everything that he needs leaving you with nothing on him. I can sell him out to you." Hearing no response I tried to think of a way to make him communicate with me. "Proshu vas pomoch" I said in my broken Russian what I knew meant 'I'm asking for your help'.
"Who are you talking to?" I heard Roach's voice behind me and jumped startled when he shown up unexpected. I didn't know what to tell him and he continued staring at me angry and took a step closer. I stood up and he was just right in front of me looking at me intimidating. It was the first time Roach acted so harsh with me. "It doesn't seem like you are looking for intel. What are you doing?" I tried to step away but he put his arm on my waist and pulled my back up to him.
"Roach, I can't explain. Not now anyway." I mumbled trying to come up with something that would calm him down but nothing good came to my head so I just blurted out "We can't trust Shepherd and I am looking for friends." I said and heard a laugh coming from my earpiece. Luckily Ghost called Roach and he had to leave me be.
"Makarov's men are going to do whatever it takes to keep us from leaving with this intel. We need to protect the DSM until the transfer's done. Use the weapons caches and set up your claymores if you've got any left. Defensive positions, let's go!" I heard him say from the office and breathed out trying to calm my racing heart. Roach walked down the stairs and I crouched at the top of them covering the main door.
"Having problems with your boyfriend?" I heard Makarov ask through the comms. I sighed and nodded to myself. He knew why I was trying to contact him and I waited for him to make the offer himself. "Why do you need me, Catherine? I don't see any reason for you to contact me like this."
"Shepherd is planning to get rid of us. I need to stop him." I said and waited patiently knowing that I was still supposed to fight his men.
"I don't think he will get rid of you. His own daughter." He said ironically knowing that he already sold me out to him once. I didn't have much meaning to him. I continued shooting the enemies coming to the house unaware of what was going on in our team. "You know that you are offering yourself as a payment?" I stayed silent knowing that it's the only way. If that saves my friends and gives me proof that my father is a liar I had to do it. "What exactly do you need?" He asked me.
"Get us out of here. Before Shepherd gets us." I said and walked down to the ground floor to see that there's only Ghost and Roach left there. I looked around clueless when Roach took me by the hand and tried to pull me out of the house. "What are you doing?" I asked him.
"While you were chatting with your friends there we were fighting and dying for this information. Now we are getting out of here." He said pulling me outside. I wanted to stop him but didn't have a chance to.
"This is Shepherd. We're almost at the LZ. What's your status, over?" I heard my father as we were leaving. Roach let me go and continued shooting the enemies pushing forward while I stood back.
"We're on our way to the LZ! Roach, let's go!" Said Ghost and we rushed down the hill towards the LZ where Shepherd was arriving. I tried to slow them down by jumping into Makarov's men gunfire but when I stood in front of his soldiers they were aiming at me but not a single bullet flew towards me. I stood there for a second trying to understand what was happening.
"I've been shot. Need help." I said and faked a limping stumbling to walk. Roach rushed back to help me. He seemed angry at me just as much as before but he grabbed my arm and dragged with him.
"They're bracketing our position with mortars, keep moving but watch your back! Roach, I got you covered! Go! Go! Get to the LZ! Keep moving! We gotta get to the LZ! Roach, come on!" Said Ghost covering us while Roach was pulling me with him. We evaded a few explosions from the mortar and Roach managed to shoot his way through until one mortar exploded way too close to us. I went flying back like a ragdoll losing my consciousness.
When I managed to get my head clear and open my eyes I managed to see that I was being dragged up the hill. My vision was still too blurry to understand where exactly I was. I couldn't hear much of my surroundings because of the concussion. I tried to breathe deeper and use my hands to get a grasp of whatever around me. Finally the movement stopped and I saw Makarov's men around me. One of them threw his arm around his shoulders and picked me up. I regained my hearing and there was a faint voice with a lot of noise in the background coming to my earpiece.
"She's still there. Makarov got her." Roach said and I felt my heart break. I didn't manage to get him out of there. I failed. I tried to move but my limbs didn't listen to me at all. Tears came streaming down my face and the soldier sat me down by the tree that was further from the battle. I listened to distant sounds of helicopters and my father's Shadow Company communicating in between.
"Why are you crying?" Someone else walked up to me and I finally saw a man in a black suit in front of me. My first encounter with Makarov looked so dramatic when he kneeled down next to me and brushed my tears off.
"They're gone." I sobbed out to him and looked in his eyes. He called one of his men and he handed Makarov a flask. He opened it and took my hand carefully putting my fingers around it.
"We will get them out of there. It is what I promised in exchange for you." He said and took my other hand to pull me up from the ground. I was too dizzy and too heartbroken to care about was happening and I followed him wherever he led me to. I took a drink of whatever substance was in the flask and entered the chopper with his soldiers help.
Soon enough I heard the pleas of my Captains through the earpiece but I didn't respond. They thought we were dead. Maybe we are dead I thought at the moment knowing that I just sold my life, that I treasured so much, to a man that has nothing to stop him.
The chopper that we were on dust off and I could see Makarov's men around Roach and Ghost that looked in a very bad condition. We were flying in an unknown for me direction and there was only one thought stuck in my head …please don't let them die.
"Makarov, this is Price. Shepherd's a war hero now. He's got your operations playbook and he's got a blank check. Give me what you got on Shepherd, and I'll take care of the rest. I know you can hear me on this channel Makarov. You and I both know you won't last a week." I heard Price trying to contact Makarov the same way I did. Old man was a madman but I guess he survived taking my advice of not trusting Shepherd in credit.
"And neither will you." Said Makarov and looked at me with a smile on his face.
"Makarov...you ever hear the old saying...the enemy of my enemy is my friend?" Price was persistent on his goal which was vengeance.
"Well, beauty, time for you to shine your knowledge about Shepherd." Said Makarov when he turned off his comms for a second there.
"He uses Hotel Site Bravo."
"Price, one day you're going to find that cuts both ways. Shepherd is using Site Hotel Bravo. You know where it is. I'll see you in hell." Said Makarov who looked strangely happy with his remarks.
"Looking forward to it. Give my regards to Zakhaev if you get there first." Answered Price and their chat ended.
"Looks like everyone wants to work for me and do my job." He said to me and smiled even wider. "Rest now, you'll have a lot of work later."
I nodded and tried to relax. That was a trip to an unknown land and at that point I wasn't sure if I did the right thing selling myself out. Nothing about the situation seemed clear anymore. Were Ghost and Roach still alive? What Makarov wanted me to do? And what Price with MacTavish were aiming to do?