There were times in the military when things were going on that made time seem to slow down. Someone on your team dying in front of you, getting the news that someone you cared about had died, or see something that will be permanently imprinted in your brain. Alex had been through all of that. She's lost team mates, she had to hear about her brothers' deaths, and she's been to places where she saw dead bodies piled up on top of each other that were either burned, covered in blood, or were in such a gruesome state that it made her skin crawl. And in all those times, she felt time and the world kind of just…come to a halt. Loud sounds became quiet and muted, like when you put your head underwater and you can hear your heart beat in your ears. Your body becomes stiff from emotion and your mind becomes blank. You can't think, you can't move, and you can't speak. This is exactly how Alex was feeling as the Fed soldier dragged her down the hallway after the sound of gun shots filled the air and she saw the dead body of Elias Walker.

The Fed was ordered to get her to the helicopter immediately after the gun fire began going off and on the way down the hallway, Alex saw Elias's body. He was on the floor, his eyes open, with five bullet wounds in his torso and then the life ending one in his head. When Alex saw him, she stopped walking, but the Fed kept pulling her along. He told her to keep moving, but she could barely hear his voice as he pulled her away. When she was able to pull her eyes away from Elias, she looked at the Fed. A fiery feeling of anger, hate, and sadness filled in her chest and spread throughout her body. They killed Elias. Elias, the man who gave Alex a chance to be a Ghost and treated her like a daughter…they killed him. Rorke killed him.

Not even thinking about what she was doing, Alex's emotions and actions out ran her brain as she twisted out of the Fed's grip and sent her fist across his face. He stumbled back a bit and Alex didn't waste a second to finish what she started. She kicked him square in the chest, sending him back and on his ass. She went over to him as he reached for his gun and kicked him across the face before reaching down and pulling the pistol out of his holster and firing a shot in his leg, then his stomach, then his chest, and then his head. Her eyes were filling with tears, but she refused to cry. She didn't cry anymore.

Alex took the ammo off the Fed and his AK-47 as well. Once she was armed, she began walking down the hall to find the others, but she stopped. Elias. Alex turned and walked back to his body. She set her gun down and kneeled down next to him. His eyes were still opened so very gently, she closed them. He was face up and the way was a Ghost was buried was face down, their head pointed in the direction of their home with their weapon next to them. Very carefully, Alex turned him over, his face pointing towards California so his face was towards her. She laid down the AK47 next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry." She said, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them again. She remembered that he always carried a family photo in his back pocket. Carefully, she reached in his pocket and pulled it out. It showed a younger Elias with Hesh and Logan as teenagers at their home in San Diego. "I promise…I promise you we will kill him. Thank you, for everything, Elias." Alex set the photo down next to Elias as well and then stood up, looking at him once more before taking off down the hall, finding another automatic weapon down the hall. She never turned around to look at Elias after that.

As she walked down the hall, Alex heard footsteps coming towards her from down the way she came. She turned into a doorway of a room and hid in the shadows. She waited for whoever it was to get closer and once they were, Alex went after them. She tackled them against the wall on the other side of the wall and they threw her down onto the floor. Alex looked up and saw it wasn't a Fed, it was Keegan. "Oh my God Alex!" he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her up. "Are you alright?" he asked as he looked her over. She nodded. He put a hand on her face and turned her head to the side to look at her face where it was now badly bruised. "I'm fine." She told him, pushing his hand away to look at him. "You're here."

"I promised I wouldn't be late, remember Princess?" he retorted.

"Where are the others?"

"On my way to regroup with them. Let's go."

Alex and Keegan walked down the hall and through a few rooms to get to the kitchen, Alex anticipating to see the others. She hasn't seen Hesh or Logan since they got gassed and Merrick was ready to murder anyone last time she saw him. The closer they got to them though, the more Feds seemed to be present. "Hesh what's your location?" Keegan asked as he and Alex took cover while a small group of Feds passed them. "Movin' to the kitchen, why?" Hesh's voice sounded. "Did you find Alex?" he quickly added, sounding a bit more concerned. Alex smiled at the sound of his familiar voice. He was okay.

"Alex is with me now, we're almost there. You better find a place to hide. Lotta guys headed right towards you."

"How many?"

"Too many."

A few moments later, Keegan and Alex opened the doors to the kitchen and Alex saw Hesh and Logan. All Alex wanted to do was run over and hug both of them. Logan was bleeding through his shirt with a pained expression on his face and Hesh…Alex just wanted to wrap her arms around him and never let go. But then she saw Merrick was missing. Before she could panic, he came around the corner and fell into the one of the mobile food racks, making a loud crash in the process. Alex sprinted over to him and went to help him up. "Broken ribs…" Merrick explained as Hesh came over and helped her when Keegan told them to hide. Hesh and Alex helped Merrick into the side office, setting him down right next to the door below the window. Before Alex could get down, the kitchen door opened and Hesh grabbed her hand and pulled her down next to him. She was on her side facing away from him and he was right behind her. She looked at Merrick and he looked at her in relief and worry. Not knowing else what do to, Alex just gave him a reassuring smile.

Several Feds came through the kitchen and were shining flashlights around, one of them landing on Alex's face. The Fed turned and walked into the office, Hesh tensing up as the Fed's eyes landed on the both of them. Before the Fed could alert the others, Keegan stood up, grabbed him, covered his mouth and jammed a knife into his back. Keegan fell to the floor with him and kept the Fed's mouth and nose covered so he couldn't breathe. The Fed squirmed for a few moments until his body went limp.

Keegan tossed the Fed off of him then they all stood up. "Keep low. There's gonna be more of them." He warned. Alex helped her brother up who instantly pulled her into a quick, tight hug. Alex returned the gesture, but pulled away quickly. "Come on. We gotta go." She told him.

The team left the kitchen and entered the shopping center where they stopped while Feds chattered on the radio in Spanish and Rorke came over the PA system. "Attention everyone." He sounded. Anger flared inside Alex again as she thought of Elias. "Some of my friends have gone missing. Return them to me dead or alive and you will have done your country a great service. Merrick, Hesh, Logan, Alex…good luck." Good luck? Alex pondered that for a moment. The way he said it, it made Alex just stop again. She couldn't tell whether he was actually being sincere or smug. Probably both. Either way, Alex still hated him, but the fact that he told them good luck stuck in her head.

"Thanks for the shout out, asshole." Merrick spat as they began moving again.

The Feds were heading straight for them and when they got to the front entrance of the shopping center, they were filing in. "Keegan kick it off." Hesh said. Alex and Logan were crouched behind the one wall at the top of the stairs, Logan looking at where he was bleeding. "We're almost done." Alex assured him.

"It'll never be done." Logan replied flatly, meeting her eyes. For the first time, Alex noticed Logan's features. He didn't have green eyes and black hair like Hesh did, but rather a pair of brown eyes that matched his messy light brown hair. His face wasn't as thin as Hesh's either since he had a stronger jawline. You could see the resemblance to Elias in Logan, but not so much Hesh. Hesh must have taken after their mom the way Alex did.

Keegan threw out a grenade and it sparked the impending firefight in the mall. Not having any protection on made Alex feel much more vulnerable to the Feds. All she had was a t-shirt and cargo pants. No vest, no helmet. She felt so exposed. If they weren't careful, their life could be over in a second.

"We need to get through that gate!" Hesh told the others.

"I got it." Keegan said, jogging over and kneeling down. He grabbed the bottom and lifted the gate up, allowing everyone to go under it. Alex ducked underneath it and gripped the bottom of the gate. "Come one Keegan." She said. Keegan let go and moved to the other side. "Wait where's Riley?" Hesh asked as Alex let the gate drop.

"Got pretty chaotic pretty quick." Merrick said "Haven't seen him since we came to."

"We'll find him, don't worry." Alex told Hesh, earning a small smile from him.

The team jogged down a hall and down an escalator, Merrick telling them it wasn't much farther. Ale allowed a sigh of relief escape her lips as they entered the hotel area again. Hesh and Merrick took their stances at the door while Logan, Alex, and Keegan stood with their guns aimed in front of the door in case someone came through. Hesh opened the door and they were immediately greeted by about eight Feds as they opened fire on them and threw gas canisters at them. "Back it up! Back up!" Merrick yelled as he rushed down the hall. Hesh stumbled forward and Alex grabbed his arm, pulling him with her ahead. The hall they originally came down was filled with the same gas and they ran straight down the corridor, only to be greeted by more gas. "Go left!" Hesh yelled, pulling Alex with him. They turned into a room and he ushered her ahead. "Through the window!" Merrick yelled. Keegan shot at the window to break the glass and went first who was followed by Merrick, Logan, Alex, and then Hesh.

Sliding down the side of the building was not fun in the slightest and right when Alex asked herself how this could get any worse, she felt herself falling. As she did, she saw the sky above her through the window and ceiling and felt the air rush past her as she fell. It was another moment where time slowed down a bit, but then it rushed up again all at once as she landed on the hard ground.

She blacked out for a moment, but woke up just as quickly. Her leg hurt and so did her back, but what hurt the most was the glass imbedded in her forearm. She was so fucking done with glass right now. "Alex?" Logan's gruff voice said. Looking up, she saw Logan getting to his feet. "I'm alright." She told him. He limped over to her and extended a hand. She took it and he hoisted her up just as Keegan helped Merrick to his feet. "You okay?" Keegan asked him. "I'm good, but we have to move before those choppers find out where we are." Merrick told them.

"If we make it to the strip, I can get us a ride out of here."

"Take it slow, we're gonna be outnumbered."

Alex didn't take more than five steps when a familiar bark sounded. Looking up, she saw Riley take down a Fed and rip his throat out. "Riley!" Hesh yelled. Alex smiled at the sight of the German Shepherd when another gunshot sounded and a loud cry escaped the dog's mouth and he fell to the ground. "No!" Alex yelled, firing at the Fed who shot him. She rushed ahead, firing at the soldiers in front of her as she went over to Riley. She kneeled down next to him and stroked his face before looking at his leg where he was shot. Hesh joined her quickly and noted that the bullet went straight through. "I'll carry him. Alex told Hesh.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Logan is shot and Merrick's ribs are broken." Alex reminded him. "You and Keegan cover us. I'll carry your dog."

Alex slid her arms underneath Riley and hoisted him up, Hesh thanking her before taking point with Keegan. She carried him ahead and set him down behind an Egyptian statue to help the others take out some Feds. "Command, we're on the exterior of the hotel taking heavy fire from enemy birds! Where's our exfil?!" Keegan yelled though the comms.

Keegan didn't get a response.

Once she reloaded, Alex picked up Riley again and carried him through the strip, taking out helicopters and Fed soldiers with the others. For a while she thought they were going to have to walk through the desert to get out of here, but then Keegan got a response on the comms. "Ghost Six this is Gator One, coming in hot." The voice said. Next thing they knew the enemy helicopters were shot down and the team's saving grace came for them. "Ghost Six, we got a ride home if you want it." the pilot said.

"Hell yeah!" Hesh yelled.

Alex rushed ahead with Riley in her arms towards the helicopter. She laid the dog on the floor and climbed into the helicopter after Merrick and the Walker brothers, Keegan climbing in after her. She sat down next to her brother and put her head on his shoulder. He put an arm around her and kissed her head. "I love you Merrick…" Alex exhaled as they took off.

"You too, Alexandra."

Looking out the chopper, Alex watched as they flew over the casino. Elias was still there…still lying on the floor of the hallway with an AK47 and a photo of him and his sons next to him. "Good bye." Alex said quietly so no one else would hear her.

OOOOO

During the helicopter ride back to the carrier where they were before they were on the submarine, Alex noticed Hesh hasn't said a word since they got on the chopper. She understood why because she knew now that they weren't being chased by Feds or had adrenaline coursing through their veins, the realization was setting in. Him and Logan's dad, their only parent left, was dead. Alex wanted to comfort him, but she knew he needed some space.

When they got close to the carrier, he finally spoke up. "Merrick, we've got to go after him. I want Rorke." He growled. Alex knew everything he was feeling and how all the anger was building up in his chest ready to explode.

"Negative Hesh." Merrick replied. "The Federation satellites are moving into position. If they go live, the Feds can strike anywhere on the globe."

"Then what's the plan?"

"We risk everything we have left, including our last carrier. And we take it straight into the heart of Federation territory. We hit them on the ground and in the sky…it's all or nothing." All Or Nothing.