Nearly a whole day had gone by with no word from Laswell. Gann lit a new cigarette with the butt of an old one and flicked the ashy stub to the sand. "You think somethin' happened to her?"

NAG shrugged. "Don't know. Graves only told me she went back into the field with Captain Price. I didn't hear anything after that."

"If they went out in AQ territory, there's no tellin' what happened to them. It only takes one misstep to get caught, and those thugs aren't terribly merciful when dealin' with anyone from the West. Could'a shot 'em, beheaded 'em, put weights on their feet and drowned them in the gulf..." he noticed the deep, distraught shadow over her face and furrowed his brows, reaching into his pocket for his packet of cigarettes. "Sorry. Please..."

She raised her hand to stop him when he offered her one. "No thanks. I appreciate it, but I don't think that'll help."

The steady sound of footsteps had them turning around to see Graves. The Commander locked eyes with Gann. "That Marlboro?"

"Uh, yeah?"

Both of them were surprised when he stretched out an open hand. "May I?" Gann handed Graves the cigarette and felt his stomach drop as he crunched it in his gloved hand and hurled it into the wind which carried it far out into the streets of the base.

"Hey!"

"What'd I tell you about smoking near the barracks?"

Gann grimmaced. "I'm more than twenty feet from the door. Fuck's sake, take a drag and get it out of your system, you're makin' everyone miserable."

Graves leaned closer and pointed to his face as he chrunched a fresh piece of Nicorette between his teeth. Gann sighed through his nose and turned around, and Philip stood between him and NAG. "Finally got word back from Laswell."

A sigh of relief withered Novaleen's lungs. "Holy shit. What happened?"

"AQ took her. Shepherd thought she was a goner and called Captain Price back, but he conducted a rescue operation instead and got her back. She's okay, thank God, and she found out Hassan had guideance systems, courtesy of the Russians."

Gann's grey eyes were round and his mouth nearly fell open. "Fuck. Where'd they get those?"

"The bigger problem is where they are now." He rolled his neck, rubbing a sore spot behind his ear as he continued. "They're on the missiles, and the only person who knows where they are is here in Las Almas."

Novaleen cocked a brow. "Who?"

"La casa de Sin Nombre?" Soap peered through his binoculars far out into the hills overlooking the city. It was a lavish looking estate, standing out against the blue darkness with its white plaster walls, anitique Spanish architecture and a luminous azure pool positioned procariously at the very edge of a sheer cliff. Amid the soft golden lights inside the mansion he could see black sillhouettes meandering from room to room.

Alejandro shook his head, leaning against the wall of their post with his arms crossed. "No. One of his Lugartenientes."

Soap handed the binoculars to Graves. "A cartell lieutenant."

"Órale, güey. Estás aprendiendo- Nice, brother, you're learning." Alejandro gave Soap an impressed nudge and looked over his shoulder out into the hills. "My sources tell me all of the VIPs in Las Almas will be there tonight. Some are invited, others are, umm..."

"Voluntold?" inserted Philip.

"Yes."

The Commander shuffled his feet on the smooth rooftop under them. "What's the meeting about?"

"Us. Las Almas is burning and they want to know who lit the fire."

"Sin Nombre will be there, yeah?" asked Ghost.

Alejandro shrugged with a sigh. "No guarantees, but this is our best shot."

"Then we take it," said Graves, tugging on his plate carrier. "I've got enough Shadows here to take over the whole damn country."

"I'd prefer if you didn't," warned the Colonel with the suggestion of a growl.

Novaleen looked between the two men with a pit of dread in her stomach. Good intentions or not, threatening to take over a country, let alone a city, carried too much weight after his antic just two nights before, and for a moment, she wondered if Philip was serious.

"... I'm just sayin', one house shouldn't be a problem," Graves corrected, his mouth twisting up in a half grin to ease the tension.

Ghost stepped in between them, meeting his dark eyes with the Commander's. "We need Sin Nombre alive."

He hated that a Lieutenant was telling him what to do, but Ghost was right. If they wanted to find those missiles, he couldn't fuck up again and kill their last resource. "Well, then... We need to meet him."

"How?" asked Soap.

"Give 'em what they want: intel. They wanna know who's here, let's tell 'em."

Alejandro's thick brows settled on his eyes. "In person..?"

"Correcto. Get one of us inside, find the boss..." He steepled his hands together and pulled them back apart, as if presenting an imaginary gift. "And roll him up."

It was risky. They all traded uncertain glances, weighing their options carefully when Soap lifted his head. "I'll do it."

NAG furrowed her brows. "What? No, Soap..."

"You go in there, they'll kill you, hermano..." said Alejandro gravely.

He pursed his lips and his vivid blue eyes flashed with determination. "I'll take my chances. We came here to stop a missile, let's stop it." Soap squared himself to the Colonel. "I'll offer intel for a meet with Sin Nombre, and if he's there, we pounce."

The corner of Alejandro's mouth turned up with a grin. "Órale. Tienes huevos, cabron- Hell yeah. You've got balls, you son of a bitch." He grasped his shoulder with a nod. "You go in, you'll need eyes and ears; I'll go too."

"NAG and I'll take overwatch. Shadows will circle 'round in a helo," said Ghost.

"Roger that." Graves looked back to Soap. "They're gonna want proof. Show 'em this." He produced a patch from his pocket with the Shadow Company insignia and laid it in the Sergeant's hand. Soap took it gratefully and bumped his fist against the Commander's. "Call me when you need me. Let's gear up and get after it."

NAG gulped as Soap was dragged away into the estate with a black bag over his head. "I don't like this..."

"You don't have to like it," replied Ghost. "It has to be done."

"I know it has to be done, Ghost, I just don't like that we aren't going to see him unless he survives the interrogation." She sighed, wiping the perspiration from her forehead with her wrist. "Plus, I don't like being overwatch."

He chuckled mildly to himself. "What's not to like? You're in a position of power over people who have no idea you're even there, with a weapon capable of touching them without anyone hearing the shot coming." His deep brown eyes slid over to her. "You have the opportunity to be the deadliest motherfucker in a two-mile radius and you're whining about it?"

"I'm not whining," she protested, her green eyes flashing. " It's not that I don't like the power, it's just been a long time since I was a sniper; I'm uneasy about it."

"Why?"

She brushed a stray strand of strawberry blonde hair away from her face, her middle finger grazing the scar running through her brow and across her nose. "Had a bad experience once."

Ghost normally would have let it go, but Alejandro's advice weighed on his mind. "You never did tell me about that..."

Novaleen looked over at him, taken aback that he was carrying the conversation for once. "Ab... About what?"

"What happened that day in Khazakstan, you never told me."

She settled back down, looking through her scope at the estate. Truthfully, she didn't like to talk about it much. Telling people the basics, that she lost her team, that Ghost had saved her, was no big deal, but delving into the details...

She sighed forlornly. "That day in Khazakstan, we were looking for someone. We'd been told a rogue Russian operative was forming in the mountains there and were posing a threat. I was on overwatch with Captain Howl while a few of my guys went into a compound..."

Howl dug his fingers into the snow as he watched the compound through his binoculars, popping the fistful into his mouth and sighing quietly. "Got several guards on the second floor, two more in front of the front door."

"I see them." She pulled her balaclava higher over her nose, sniffing at the cold as she peered through the scope of her rifle. "All guards can see each other, and the guards on the right balcony are in front of a window."

"Yeah. The ones on the first deck are also likey to hear someone fall over their heads."

"What's your advice, sir?"

The Captain squinted his eyes in thought. "I say we risk taking the ones at the front door first before we take the balconies; from there we'll start with the left side and then take on the right."

"What about them standing in front of the window?"

"Hopefully they'll move away from the window to see what happened to the other guys," he replied. "If they don't, double-tap 'em. Take their legs, then their heads."

She swallowed. "Alright. On your go, Howl."

He took a steadying breath and, when he was settled with his rifle tight to his shoulder, he murmured. "3... 2... 1..."

POW, POW.

The two guards in front of the door dropped. Nova racked another round and adjusted her view to the left-balcony guards. The guard on the right looked down at the dead men below and she put a shot in his head before he could react.

As the final guards were neutralized, Howl tapped the com. "Stalker-2, how copy?"

"Good copy, Stalker-1, we're moving in from the southwest."

He nodded. "The front door is good for entry, we'll keep an eye on you from out here. Out."

Silently, the group of six moved in from below the hill where Howl and Novaleen were perched and stepped through the door. Nova sighed and sniffed again. "You think we'll bag this guy?"

"No reason we wouldn't," he replied. "We know the Ultranationalists are out here and we have their correspondence with their leader. We're going home with Kingfish today, Nova."

"Yeah... What's his real name again?"

Before Howl could answer, Stalker-2 tapped into the com again. "Stalker-1, there are no tangos on the first floor, moving to the second floor, over."

Howl furrowed his brows. "No one on the first floor?" Novaleen shrugged and he responded. "Copy, Stalker-2 keep it tight. Don't let your guard down, over."

"Copy."

He hummed and looked through the scope. "That's weird... Six guards outside and no one on the first floor?"

"Maybe they're all on the second level. I doubt we're gonna get out here and find no one inside."

Her heart swelled in her throat when three more guards stepped outside onto the balcony and immediately bristled upon seeing the dead guards. "Shit, we've got company. Stalker Team, this is Stalker -7, we've got three tangos on the right-side balcony, they've seen the bodies. Stay out of sight."

The Captain was breathing slowly and he felt a chill in his core. "There's more coming out on my side, too. We're gonna be busy in a minute, Nova." He looked over at her and curved up his black brows, teal eyes brimming with concern. "You good?"

"Yeah, I'm good, Howl." Novaleen smiled reassuringly, but in her gut, she felt nervous.

One of the guards turned around and took a side step, looking through the window. "Fuck... I think he sees our guys."

"We don't know that..."

The guard flinched to raise his rifle and Novaleen couldn't wait any longer. She took the shot and he sank to his knees. Quickly racking another round, she downed the second but wasn't quick enough to stop the third from making his way back inside.

"Fuck, Nova!" Howl picked off one of the guards on the left balcony, sending him pinwheeling to the ground below. "Stalker-2, the guards know we're here, what's your location, over?!"

Stalker-2's voice was broken up with painting. "Stalker-1, this place was a setup! There's pictures up here in an office of some military unit... 141? But there's no sign of Kingfish here. We're on the second floor, we're clearing the last room, but- SHIT!"

A loud rumble like the eruption of C4 cut through the com. Howl's nape was bristling. "Stalker-2??"

No response.

"Stalker 2, do you copy?!"

No response.

"Fuck..."

"H-Howl," Novaleen started. "I'm sorry..."

"No time!" He stood up, motioning her to stay down. "Stay low, I'm going after them."

"Alone?!"

"No other options, Nova, it's this or we leave them, and I'm not leaving my team." In a flurry of white, he dashed down the hill, sliding part way until he made it to the bottom and he disappeared through the front door.

She watched in panicked silence. "Howl?"

Silence...

Novaleen was shivering, terrified that she was alone in the middle of a hornet's nest. There was no movement outside, the only thing stirring around her was the wind across the snow drifts. More silence passed and she slowly reached for the com again. "Howl, what's your status, over?"

"Come on!" came Howl's call through the com. "Nova, I got two of them out, the other four are dead, over."

Shit. "Copy, alright. I'm watching for you, where are you exiting from, over?"

"Back through the front door..." He growled abruptly. "Negative, negative, we're looking for another exit now, probably out the back or the left side. Keep an eye out for us, over."

"Copy." She sighed wearily and looked through her scope, her stomach rolling over as nearly a dozen Russian soldiers came barrelling out of the doors, tripping over dead bodies as they went. Howl and the two others came out the back door and were running around the side of the building. Novaleen cleared a path as best she could, but one of the men leaning on Howl's shoulder slumped as a bullet bit him in the hip.

Howl found cover behind a rusty dumpster and he gritted his teeth. "Nova, keep up the fire! Johnson's hit!"

She fired into the mass, taking out two men with one bullet. As she kept firing, more soldiers joined the fight. How had there been so many men inside when the first floor had been empty?

Despite her best efforts, Howl was soon waving the other soldier beside him away and he was retreating, leaving Johnson against their cover. "Nova, fall back! It's getting too hot down here, over!"

"What about Johnson??"

"He's dead, we'll have to come back for him, just move!"

With a heavy heart, she picked herself up out of the snow and started down the hill toward the landing zone, lifting her knees high so she wouldn't trip in the deep drifts. A bullet whizzed by her ear and she weaved sideways. Novaleen looked over her shoulder to see where Howl and the other soldier were only to see a Russian standing on the hill she had just descended.

ZZZIP!

She yelped, feeling a sting on her face. Her skin was burning but she didn't have time to worry about it. "Howl!" she cried into the com. "I'm taking fire, and the LZ is a long way out! There's no cover out here, DO NOT come directly over the lake!"

Howl sounded scared when he replied. "You're on the lake?! Fuck, hang tight, I'm coming, just get out of there!"

Bullets hailed around her and she felt her legs lock up with fear. There was nowhere to hide but an old, twisted tree on the bank, and getting to it was certain death with the incoming fire. She looked all around, but there was no way out.

Her feet began to slip and she looked down at the ice. With no time to think, she aimed her rifle at the smooth surface and fired, the round sending shatter marks through the ice. The bullets were getting closer around her, she could feel them tearing at her coat, and she fired again, this time breaking through the ice.

The water was bitter cold and it nearly knocked the wind out of her. She held her breath and stayed under the surface, watching as swirling shadows drifted closer and closer. The clatter of bullets sounded like the applause of a sinister audience, clapping on and on over her head. She swam away from the hole, afraid the enemy would wait for her at her breathing hole to blow her head off. The water was rippling and loud until it seemed the commotion abruptly stopped. Her lungs were starting to sting when she saw feet walking over the ice. "Shit..."

"Nova! Novaleen!"

Oh, God. It was Howl.

And he was alone.

She pounded her hands against the ice. "Howl!" she wished she could cry.

"And then a bullet split his skull."

Ghost was quiet and his eyes looked heavy with sympathy. "I remember seeing that... I was angry at myself for not getting there sooner."

She shrugged. "It's alright. Not your fault." Novaleen kept her eyes on the courtyard, relieved to see Soap and Alejandro walking through the halls and slinking up to the top floor.

As she watched them, she noticed that Ghost was not watching the men below, but her. She looked at him, curving her brows. "What?"

"I just know what it's like to lose people," he said softly. "And as someone who knows, I can also lend an ear if you ever need it..."

Astonished, she squared her face to him. Was he being... personable? Friendly?

Just as suddenly as the moment had set upon them, Ghost broke the ambiance and pointed, looking through his scope. "Uh-oh. We've got commotion on the roof. Look."

Soap and Al were on the heels of a lithe-looking woman with shoulder-length dark hair. As they aimed their weapons at her, the low whoop of Graves' helicopter came ever closer until he was shining a spotlight on her.

"Down!" he commanded over the speaker. "Get down, now!"