.:WARNING:. Brief sexual material ahead. You have been warned. To skip, scrolled to the --

It was early afternoon before they woke up again. Jessica turned her eyes up to John's sleeping face and grinned. She'd been hoping for this very thing for years and now they were here. She kissed his chest and he smothered his hands down her back.

"Good morning, handsome," she purred.

"Good morning, beautiful." He squeezed her tight, kissing her forehead. "I haven't slept that well in a while."

She hummed at the feeling of his hands stroking her sides. "Me neither." Jessica sat up on top of him to kiss his mouth and he chuckled.

"What do you think you're doing?" he crooned.

A devilish smile spread across her face. "From the feel of it, getting you excited."

He propped himself up on one elbow to meet her for another kiss but was soon pushed back down, and already, he was out of breath.

John's phone rang on the nightstand beside the bed. "Wait, wait," he moaned, stroking her hips to stop her. "I need to answer that, hold on..." He looked at the number and answered. "It's Sandman... what's the word, mate?"

Sandman's voice was grave. "Price, we lost the girl."

John looked worried and he sat up, his eyes staring straight through the woman sitting on his lap. "No, you're kidding..."

"Afraid not, sir. Looks like they took her to a diamond mine in Siberia."

He hugged Jessica close, trying to keep his mind steady. "Bloody hell... Alright. We're gonna have one shot to grab the President before he gives up the launch codes and Makarov turns Europe into glass. Once we get boots on the ground, it's going to get lively down there," he said.

Sandman chuckled over the line. "Hopefully you can keep up, old man." he jeered.

"I know you Yanks like to take all the credit." He butted his hips up to hers and she stifled a whimper; he himself closed his eyes and grinned vaguely. "So Yuri and I will keep the neighbors in check while we roll hard to secure the hostages."

"Sounds like a plan. We need regroup, refuel, and reload in the meantime. Meet up in Siberia at 1100 hours?"

Price nodded, struggling to keep himself steady as she contracted her soft muscles around him. "Copy. We'll be there."

"Stay frosty." And the call ended.

John clutched her tight and groaned into her shoulder. "Ahh... Fuck me..."

"I'm trying, but you were on the phone," she pouted.

He pushed her off of him and turned her around, pulling her back by her hips to enter her again. "You're gonna be the death of me, you know that?" he sighed, kissing her back and shoulders. "Now let me finish you off so we can get to work."

"They got the daughter?" she asked, groaning as he pressed into her and clutched the sheets.

John nodded while his movements became more rhythmic. "Yeah... Sounds like they took her to Siberia..." He shook his head. "Can we not talk about work for a little bit? We're having a moment and I don't want to ruin it..."

She pushed back against him and he gasped, feeling the entrance of her womb hugging his tip. "Okay, baby, I can do that. Now, focus," she whispered seductively. Jessica ran one of her hands down to her hip where he was holding her. He whimpered and doubled over her, resting his body on hers and breathing huskily in her ear. She moaned and sang in time with his thrusts, soon sending them both over the edge.

--

Making it into the mine had been a task in and of itself. There was an elevator into the mine shaft, and a soldier who had been standing inside lay on its floor, his face marred by a round of gunfire. The team got into the rickety elevator and Jessica dragged the dead body out onto the main floor to lighten the weight.

Sandman looked around at each person, his hand resting on the control. "Ready?"

Price nodded. "Do it."

As they started their descent, another man wearing a cap stared down through the grate floor. "Can't this thing go any faster?" he growled.

"A southern boy," thought Jessica. She hadn't gotten to meet Grinch one-on-one before, nor had she noticed his accent. What accent was it exactly? Appalachian? Teneseian? "What do you think, Sash..?"

In the silence that followed, she felt a strange relief as she remembered: she left Sasha in the Realms. She hadn't shared in the feast of souls, and now she was free, no longer sharing a body with another spirit.

"Easy, Grinch," said Sandman. "Everyone, top off your rifles and get ready."

As Soap reloaded his rifle, he made a strange face, somewhere between a thousand-yard stare and an icy shock. Yuri cocked a brow at him and inquired, and the Lieutenant shook his head. "Nothin', just..." He lowered his voice. "Do you ever feel like someone's in your head... Controllin' you?" 

"... What?" Yuri was about to ask more, but the elevator came to a halt and the doors creaked open. He snapped his attention onto a mass of soldiers outside and raised his rifle.

"Now!" commanded Price, and the team leveled the enemy soldiers. 

A young, blond man standing in the back of the elevator gasped. "RPG!" he cried.

Price saw it coming and turned back, shielding Jessica with his body as it collided with the elevator shaft, and the whole thing shook. "Everyone, hang on!" he cried.

"Oh, shit!" Grinch gripped the chainlink wall beside him, bracing for the inevitable fall. 

The floor came out from under all of them and Jessica shifted in fear. The godawful screeching and crashing were nearly deafening, and the rough landing at the bottom of the shaft rattled all of their senses. Galaxy shook her head wearily and looked around.

Sandman was rubbing his head. "Status??" he called.

"I'm good," said Grinch. "Truck? Frost?"

The blond man nodded, standing up on shaky legs. "Yeah... I'm fine." Truck beside him simply groaned but seemed able to stand.

"We're clear," said Soap.

Sandman stopped his gaze on Galaxy and jerked his rifle up. "What the f-?!"

Price grasped the barrel and pulled it down. "Don't! It's Lone Wolf."

"Am I high?" 

Yuri chuckled. "Lone, you should start taking shots every time you hear that."

Galaxy snorted, shifting. "No shit... I'd be drunker than that one time with Ghost..."

Soap laughed. "I'd pay to see it, mate."

Sandman, already bewildered, refocused outside. "Heads up!" He ducked down for cover as the doors opened and a burst of gunfire rattled off the walls. He pulled the pin on a grenade and tossed it out, firing at anyone who fled from it. It blew up in a flare of orange and white, and he slid out of the elevator. "Truck, Frost, Grinch, sweep left!"

"Everyone else, on me!" said Price, backing up Sandman. He led them all through the winding mine shafts and they came out in a large cavern full of mining equipment and loud, roaring machines. They picked off soldiers from seemingly every corner, and John pushed forward, stopping inside a dimly lit tunnel. "Got a locked door," he said to Sandman over the com.

"Truck, you're up," replied Sandman.

Truck pulled a buzzsaw off his back and nodded. "On it. Pardon me, Captain." Price stayed beside him as he cut the lock bars off of it with a shrill, metallic wailing, tiny white sparks flying around their faces. As Truck stepped back, Price kicked the door down and gunned down a trio of tangos trying to flee up a set of stairs.

The team took off up the stairs ahead of them and Jessica brush his side with her hand. "Have I mentioned how hot it is when you kick down doors like that?" she teased.

Price worked the muscles in his jaws, pursing his lips. "Stop it..." he murmured, leaping up the stairs ahead of her. "Keep moving, go!" 

Jessica stormed up into what appeared to be an office in the tunnel and quickly found some cover as the glass windows shattered to bits. "This place is too open, we need to find more cover!" she bellowed.

"This way!" called Frost. "There's a stairwell!"

Sandman motioned to the others. "Come on, stairwell, left side! Let's go, let's go!" He tapped into the com on their way up. "Overlord, this is Sandman. We're at the bottom of the mine. We're gonna need air support, over."

Overlord responded quickly. "Affirmative, Sandman. We'll chop a predator to you."

They came to a pair of closed doors and Sandman looked at Price. "You ready?" he asked.

A smirk pulled at Price's mouth. "Try to keep up, mate." With a nod to each other, they kicked the doors down into the frigid outside world. John smiled knowing Jessica was probably drooling behind him, and fired down into a surprised group of tangos.

Jessica shifted seeing a Russian hind dropping more soldiers into the bottom of the mine and she bailed over the metal railing. "Cover me, I'm gonna go eat some bad guys!" she called playfully, kicking up snow with her heels as she took off. She crunched one soldier's shoulder and collar bone between her jaws, and as he wailed for help she leaped to the next one, spinning up around quickly as he pulled the trigger, wiping out two more soldiers before she roughly pushed him down to the ground, breaking her fall with his head which made a disgusting pop when she landed. 

"Hop the rail, move it!" Sandman swung himself to the ground and drew a knife, slashing it through a man's mouth before kicking him down and cutting his throat. Sheathing his knife, he took aim with his rifle at the next soldier across the mine from him.

Price watched his six and smiled over his shoulder at the other man. "Bloody hell, man, I'm impressed."

"You said to keep up, I'm keeping up," retorted the Master Sergeant.

The Captain chuckled to himself, then noticed Gal taking out targets mostly on her own. He looked over at his team, already leaning toward her to go help. "Yuri! Get on that predator drone and help us soften their defenses! Soap, watch his six so he doesn't get himself killed."

"Worry about yourself, old man," called Yuri, opening the tablet for the drone.

Galaxy heard a call from Sandman to cut through the construction yard for cover and she helped, feeling a bullet cut the top of her shoulder. "On it! Yuri, keep up that drone fire; you're doing great!"

No sooner had she said that when there was a loud boom overhead and everyone looked up. Yuri swore loudly enough to be heard from his place behind a bulldozer. "A SAM just took out our drone!" he snarled.

"We need another way into the mine!" said Frost, firing at an advancing Russian.

"We're not going anywhere without some heavy firepower," warned Price.

Sandman nodded his head sharply. "Overlord, we need some help getting into that mine, over."

"Solid copy, Sandman. Odin Six, payload target coordinates are as follows: 7 9 4 4."

In mere moments, all hell rained down from above, wiping out most of the Ultranationalists blocking the way into the mine. Sandman sighed in relief. "Thanks, Overlord. We're approaching the target area now."

Galaxy hared down the tunnel in front of them and Grinch shook his head. "Who's the crackhead who decided the SAS needed a skinwalker in its ranks?"

Soap laughed. "When you find the answer to that question, could you pass it on to me, too?" 

She hardly stopped the whole way, shredding the calf and thigh muscles of every soldier she came across, leaving a trail of blood and agonized victims for the rest of the team to pick off. Galaxy saw a metal door and picked up her pace, muscles starting to burn. "Got a door here," she said into the com. "I'm breaching it, back me up!" She leaped up, spinning so her back legs hit the door and shot it across the room.

Soap grasped her scruff as he came in. "Wait!" he cried. "Hold up..." 

Gal shifted, her demeanor becoming relaxed. "Oh my God..."

"It's the daughter," said Sandman, quickly coming to her side.

Alena lifted her bloodied and bruised face. She barely looked alive and Jessica shifted her gaze to John who looked just as worried. "She needs medical attention... Bad," she said quietly.

"Metal 0-1," asked Overlord. "What is your status? Have you secured the President?"

"Negative, Overlord, but we have the girl."

Jessica leaned closer to Alena when he heard something like a weak breath trickle from her mouth. "Wait, Sandman, hold on. She's trying to say something."

"They took him..." she whispered. "They took him deeper into... into the... mine..."

Price furrowed his brows. "She says the President's here deeper in the mine."

"Then that's where we're going," replied Sandman.

Frost tapped the Master Sergeant's shoulder. "I'll take her to the evac, you guys go on."

Sandman made solid eye contact with him as if to ask if he was sure, then handed Alena off to the young Staff Sergeant. "Stay sharp out there, 'kay?"

Frost smiled. "Same to you, sir. Give 'em hell."

They parted ways and the rest of Metal and Bravo Team pushed deeper into the mineshaft, clearing about a dozen more soldiers on a catwalk and Price stopped them. "I hear movement below us..." he said, peering over the railing into a long drop.

Gal shifted and looked down, briefly, looking away to ease the knot in her stomach. "Let's hook up here and check it out, then."

Soap was the first to plunge into the shaft, Truck short on his heels. "There! Look there!" said the African-American, pointing at a group od tangos dragging on older man by his arms into another tunnel.

"Slot the bastards!" bellowed Soap, wasting no time to draw his weapon before his feet even hit the floor and firing at them. 

"Wait, wait!" Truck tipped his rifle away. "Don't risk it; we can't have dead hostages on our hands."

Jessica pursued them only to be stopped as they slammed a steel door shut in her face. She kicked it, but all the effort did was hurt her foot and she winced, swearing under her breath. "It's reinforced steel; we're not getting through this," she said over her shoulder to Price.

"Any bright ideas how we can get in?" asked Grinch.

Price looked around in thought and nodded. "Up top, we'll breach our way in."

Sandman headed the team up the stairs and placed charges on the floor. "Everyone in the middle!" As they stacked, the charges blew and they dropped through the floor into the room below, shooting in all directions to take out the Russian captors.

Vorshevsky was crouched with his hands tied behind his back. Sandman approached him with an excited tone in his voice. "Overlord, jackpot! The president is secure!"

The president looked around and his face was pale with fright. "My daughter..." he whimpered. "Where is she? Is she..?"

"She's alright," reassured Price. "She's alive."

"Oh, thank God..."

The mine suddenly heaved and shuttered. Truck's eyes rounded. "What the hell??" 

"The bloody mine's gonna collapse!" cried Soap. "We gotta get outta here!"

Sandman tapped into the com while Price led them out into the tunnel. "Overload, the mine is gonna collapse any minute! Need a bird to get us out of here, over."

Overlord copied, promising an ETA of thirty seconds, but as soldiers poured into the cavern, thirty seconds started to feel like ten minutes. They guarded the president until a bird finally touched down and they booked it. Yuri was taking on the most soldiers at once, when an RPG roared toward him and his vision went black.

Price turned back hearing the crash and gasped. "Yuri! YURI!" He and Grinch both turned back to grab him and with a grave realization, they both saw that Yuri was bleeding badly.

Jessica watched the carnage in slow motion. RPGs and bullets were flying everywhere, and she knew that there was no way they were all going to get out in one piece. She crouched outside the aircraft, unmoving as she took aim.

"Go on, Lone Wolf. We've got you!" said Sandman.

She shook her head. "No way, mate, you guys get out of here!"

"I can't do that in good coincidence. Price would have my ass if he knew I left you here."

Jessica locked eyes with him, expression firm. "Don't worry about me. You and my team need to get on that evac; I've got this. Don't make you throw you on board."

Sandman furrowed his brow but grinned sadly nonetheless, then nodded and went back to grasp Yuri's arm. "Come on, on the bird, let's go, let's go!" he called to the rest of his team.

Price looked around bewildered, meeting eyes with Soap, who was helping Vorshevsky and the others inside. John ran out to her, grasping her by the scruff to bring her behind some cover. "Jess," he said desperately. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm buying you some time," she replied sternly. "Go on, you guys don't have long."

"I'm not leaving you here."

"Go, John..."

"I can't lose you again," he cried. "Please..!"

She shifted and whirled around on him, snapping her teeth in his face. "Get on the damn bird. Now!"

He felt that deep knot of dread again, but he nodded hesitantly. "You better be right behind me..." he warned and darted back to the helicopter.

The whole team onboard was starting to feel sick with anxiety. "What's Gal doin'?" asked Soap.

"She's giving us a little-" Price stopped, feeling the craft shake. He looked outside, and the enemy, too, suddenly seemed fearful, hesitating their fire. "What's happening?"

"Sorry, Captain Price, we can't wait any longer," said the pilot. "I'm getting us out of here!"

As they rose through the mine, John's heart beat wildly. "No, wait!" He tapped into the com. "Jessica, you copy?"

"I copy, don't worry about me, John. I'll see you on the far side."

He wasn't able to respond quickly enough. They flew high above the snow-covered mountainside, and with a deep crackle and a bright white flash, the whole thing collapsed.

Price could catch the scream he made. "No! Jessica! Do you copy?!" he cried.

Silence.

"Jessica, are you still there..?"

Silence.

"Jessica, please..."

Yuri groaned from his place on the floor. "For fucks sake, again?" he grumbled.

"Again?" echoed Vorshevsky.

Price waited quietly and heard nothing else over the line. "She can't be gone again that soon... she can't..."

Soap watched out the door and sighed. "That would be unfortunate, wouldn't it..?"

John ran to the cockpit. "Vulture, we need to stay nearby until we can confirm Lone's status."

"No can do," said the pilot. "We have injured on board."

Sandman sat quietly beside Yuri, his head hung. "Besides, Price," he said. "I don't think even a supernatural creature like her could survive a mine collapse..."