You didn't have to wait longer than you did for the last chapter, now did you?

Thing's have been pretty good lately! A TON of snow days, which means more time for me to write XD

Oh, Please go check out a story that I've started with the amazing Arhani 'Hanny' Daforcena called "Redheads of the 141." It's about Queen, my OC, and her OC, Ryuka. Please read it and review :]

QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER: Did you know that the guy who does Foley's voice in Modern Warfare 2 is the voice of the Shadowman (the main bad guy) in "The Princess and the Frog?" (He sings a song called "Friends on the Other Side" that I have on my iPod, and I always picture Foley singing it...) And the voice of General Shepherd is also Kerchak from that old Disney movie, Tarzan? Oh, and Shepherd's voice is also on that Verizon DROID commercial... :D

Read, enjoy, and review!

-ecto1B

Chapter 34:

"Never"

Day 7 – 17:13:07

Pfc. Mckinley 'Queen' Front

Task Force 141

Georgian-Russian Border

"So that's basically what happened," MacTavish finished. "He started beatin' Price up, leaving me for dead, so I pulled the knife outta my chest and threw it into his bloody eye, killing the sick bastard." Mckinley saw him visibly shudder at the thought. "Then Nikolai showed up and flew our asses here to the estate where Ghost and the rest of the team waited. Apparently Ghost had contacted him earlier about meetin' here once we'd finished in Afghanistan."

Mckinley gulped. "Did… did Ghost happen to tell you what happened after Shepherd tried to kill us?" She wanted to know. Desperately. Why had she blacked out? What had she missed? And how in the hell had they survived?

He nodded solemnly. "Aye, he did." Pausing, he cleared his throat, and then went on. "He said Shepherd took your pistol and attempted to shoot him with it, but it was empty. Ghost said you passed out seconds after Shepherd realized the gun had no bullets, from shock or somethin'. Shepherd apparently turned and hurried back onto his heli like a startled cat. He ordered some of his men to eliminate you and Ghost and then retrieve the DSM you were carrying, but Ghost contacted Archer and Toad and got them to fire the Javelin on the field where you were."

Shocked, Mckinley's jaw dropped in response. "So… how did Ghost and I get out?"

"As his men started towards you, Ghost scooped you up in his arms and ran back towards the house. Archer and Toad provided you with sniper support, and Ghost managed to get the two of you outta harm's way before Archer's Javelin hit its target. He carried your nearly lifeless body back here through waves of fire from the Russians, but Archer got another Javelin in the air to clear some of them outta your way."

"Had Ghost hoped the first Javelin would've hit Shepherd's heli?"

At this question, MacTavish itched his stubble-covered chin with his thumb.

"I… I don't know, lass. Maybe. I didn't think of asking him… really, I didn't even think of that. He could've. But…" he motioned to his heavily damaged chest, "obviously, it didn't work out. Shepherd got to Hotel Bravo just fine…" He smiled contently. "And without the DSM, might I add?"

Mckinley smirked, and MacTavish leaned over and mussed up her hair.

"You did good, Queenie. Real good. I'm very proud of you. There are many men who are indebted to you, and who would be dead had it not been for your quick thinking." Though he was still smiling, MacTavish's lips pressed together. "Ghost, for one, can't get over the fact that you reacted so quickly when Shepherd pulled a gun on you. He said it was as if you already knew what was gonna happen."

Mckinley concealed a nervous gulp from her captain.

That's the thing. I had already known he'd try to kill us.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Probably Ghost, comin' to check on ya," MacTavish murmured. He stood from the ground, wincing only slightly at the pain he received when he did so, and went over to open the door.

Instead of Ghost's skull-adorned balaclava poking through the door, Captain Price entered. He, like MacTavish, had been graced with a horrible black eye, but his face was cut, bruised, bloodied, and scared much more than MacTavish's was. Parts of his beard had been shaven away to get at the wounds dotting his skin. His body, on the other hand, wasn't as maimed as his face. Only a few pieces of gauze embellished his arms and torso, and they weren't very bloody.

"Hey, Price," Mckinley said softly, disguising her disappointment as fatigue (she'd hoped it'd be Ghost coming to see her).

Price stepped inside and went to kneel next to her, just as MacTavish had done earlier. He smiled a grandfatherly smile her way, and then glanced at the other captain, who was still standing by the door.

"You go downstairs and get clean wrappings, Soap. Doc says you're overdue. I wanna speak with Queen for a moment." There was a solemn undertone to Price's British accent that sent a shiver down Mckinley's spine. Somehow, she knew exactly what he was going to talk about. Was she ready for that talk? No way.

MacTavish nodded. "Fine." He dipped his head to Mckinley. "Get better, lass. I'll tell the rest of the team you're awake so they can come visit."

Once he'd slipped out and shut the door, Price returned his gaze to the injured woman lying on the ground.

She gulped again. His blue eyes were sad.

"So that's how the game ends, eh?" he asked her feebly. "Shepherd kills you, Ghost, and the rest of the team, and then makes us wanted criminals before Soap kills?"

Mckinley hardly had the strength or the will to do anything but nod obediently in response.

A sigh escaped Price's lips. "Not a very good ending."

"Price… I-I wanted to tell you…" she began shakily, sitting up and wrapping her arms around her knees protectively. Pain stung her stomach and back, but she didn't care. "I just… couldn't. I didn't know how exactly to tell you… it was too hard—"

"I'm not blaming you, lass," he said quickly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm just noting that some of that… never happened at all. Well, it came close, but somehow, you changed the more negative ones." Price kept his hand on his shoulder and looked her straight in the eye. "Like saving Ghost's life. Twice."

"Technically, once, actually," Mckinley corrected him. "Because the first time Shepherd was aiming for me—"

"Twice, love. The first time, Shepherd intended on shooting you both, getting the DSM, and hightailing it outta there. The second, he put a gun to Ghost's head, and the gun was empty, which was your doing." Price held up two fingers. "Twice."

"All right, fine. Twice. But Ghost would've done the same for me." She frowned. "I was not about to watch that man die. I had no choice; I had to change what was supposed to happen."

"You had all of it planned?" He sounded a bit surprised. "I thought it was all by chance that—"

"All planned," she interjected before he could continue. "I timed it just right. I made sure I had only one bullet left in my M9, and when Shepherd went to shoot me, I dodged it and used the bullet on his hand. He thought my gun still had bullets in it—he was too involved in the moment to check—and he tried killing Ghost with it." She hesitated momentarily. "And then I just had to black out and miss all the action…"

Price chuckled. "What is it with you youngsters, always hungry for conflict?"

She shrugged. "Hey, I can think what I wish. Then maybe I wouldn't have been so fricken' scared when I woke up in Makarov's safehouse."

Both of their spirits were high until Price grew solemn.

"So when are you plannin' on telling everyone the truth?" he wondered.

Mckinley gave him a confused look. "Th-The truth? About what?"

He raised an eyebrow. "About you being the seventeen year old Mckinley, not the twenty-three year old one. You were plannin' on telling them… right? 'Cause who knows how long it'll be until you go back to your time."

Mckinley felt her lungs constricting and her heart ebbing away when Price brought her back to reality. He was right; she wasn't going to be hanging around much longer. The game was past its finish. She could be transported home at any second of the day.

"Never…" she murmured forlornly. "I… I never wanna go back, Price… I… I've found my home here… my family here… and I don't wanna leave."

"But when you go back, you'll get to live it all over again," he explained. "You go back, graduate from high school, enlist in the Army Rangers… and soon enough, you'll be joining Task Force 141." He patted the top of her hand. "It's not like you'll never see us again."

"You'll be in the gulag," she said, feeling a wave of tears making their way to the corners of her eyes. "I'll be the FNG. No one will like me. I'll be a stranger; a bothersome soldier."

"It'll take some time for them to warm up to you, love. How did you think they got so friendly with you now? They got to know you, got to hear your stories and got to experience things alongside you. You'll meet members of the team that were dead long before you were transported here, and you'll watch some pass on, and new men join the team." A grin crept onto his lips. "You'll get to know Ghost more, and fall in love with him again." Mckinley blushed. "And you'll prove to Soap that being a woman doesn't matter. You've got the courage of a thousand soldiers within you. Gender plays no part." Her eyes began to water—not in sadness, but in response to how incredibly powerful his words were—and he put a comforting arm around her shoulder. "Mckinley Front… in all the years I've been involved in the military, not once did I meet someone as brave as you, and you're only seventeen, and you're a woman. Don't become so sure that you don't know what the future entails." His breathing became ragged, almost. "Love, you are going to have to tell them." She flinched. "After that, you can return home with a clean slate, ready to relive it all. And you can do it."

Mckinley, overwhelmed with emotion, found herself burying her head in his shoulder. The levy she'd constructed to keep out the tears broke, and she cried. Price let her. He pulled her close and let her cry, comforting her like a grandfather consoling a weeping granddaughter. She appreciated that.

"I'm gonna miss you, Price," she admitted through sobs. "A whole lot."

"Don't miss me. I'll be that crazy old man in the gulag, remember?" She laughed shakily and sat back again, meeting his gaze.

"Thank you," she sniffed.

"No problem, lass." There was a twinkle in his eye that reminded her of how she'd always pictured Santa Claus's eyes would twinkle. "I'm glad I could help."

Mckinley's eyes darted across the room at the adjoining bathroom. She'd just gotten a whiff of herself, and noticed that she definitely did not smell like flowers. Perhaps a shower would help? "Um… Price? Do you think it'd be okay with Doc and Chemo if I took a shower to clean my wounds?" Her voice continued to tremble, but the tears slowed. "I'm kinda craving it, actually."

"Hmm… I think it'd be fine." Price stood from the ground and offered her his hand. She grimaced when she took his hand and let her spine straighten again, but—probably because of painkillers—the throbbing evaporated after a short while. "But surely you can't do it all by yourself. Why don't you go wait in the bathroom, and I'll send someone to come help you remove your bandages and things?"

She gave him a look and wiped her eyes. "Ghost?"

"Of course." He smirked.

"Okay." Mckinley gave him one last hug before he helped her into the bathroom. He sat her down on the closed toilet seat and stepped back.

"You tell them on your own time, lass, but do keep in mind that you don't got all year to do so."

Mckinley nodded. "I know."

Giving her one last dip of his head, Price exited the room, leaving Mckinley to her jumble of thoughts pertaining to the future, the past, how the other soldiers were doing, and how embarrassed she would be when Ghost came to help her take a shower.

Foley: (singing) "~Don't you disrespect me, little man! Don't you derogate or deride!~"

Dunn: (cowering in corner with ecto1B): What's he doing?

ecto1B: I think he's quoting that song he sings... "Friends On The Other Side." O_o

Dunn: Whatever. Oh, I almost forgot to thank swordsman100 for getting ecto1B to stop hurting me! Thanks, bro! 'preciate it! ^.^

ecto1B: Well, he might've gotten me to stop 'hurting' you, but you still have to do the DUNN DUNN DUNN when I ask.

Dunn: Fine. Then I have to go buy some earplugs for Ramirez and I. Foley's gonna sing ALL NIGHT LONG. O_O

DUNN DUNN DUNN