"Fucking Shepherd..." she growled, swiping at her head. Galaxy was still shaking out her ears to numb the sharp pain spreading through her skull. "I knew it! I knew he was a goddamn snake! I should have ripped out his entrails when I had the chance... I should have..." 

She stopped when she looked up. Around her, it was pitch black, as it usually was in the Realms when she lost a life, except this time, there was a pale, white glow before her in a circle on the ground, and standing on it was a female wolf. As she stepped closer she saw that the wolf had eyes made of solid azure, no pupils to be seen.

"... Hello?" she asked.

The other wolf said nothing and slowly tilted its head. 

"Who are you?" she asked, voice firmer. "... Sasha is that you?"

Still, no response, and she turned away, glancing back over her shoulder at Galaxy.

Gal tilted an ear back, the side of her muzzle wrinkled with irritation. "Nah, couldn't be Sasha. You don't annoy me as much." She watched the wolf walking away, and carefully strode after her. "Do you talk at all?"

No response and the wolf turned, motioning her to stop with an outstretched tail. Before them, there was a hazy, grey landscape fading out into the darkness. It somehow felt familiar.

Her ears pricked forward. "That's the Battle at the Bridge..." she mused. Galaxy tucked her ears back as Zakhaev put his gun to Gaz's head, the scene fading away just as the bullet was fired. "... I still wish I could have done something different..."

The other wolf dipped her head and started away again, motioning Galaxy to follow her. This time, they came to a stop at a scene marked golden with sand. Gal furrowed her brows at the sight of Abdul in his mother's arms as she wailed for her son. 

"He never deserved that... Stupid kid should have stayed in the village with the other refugees. Maybe he'd still be alive..." She looked at the other wolf. "How old would he be now? 13? 14?" There was no response and she looked down at her feet. "Forgot, you don't speak..."

With a nod, the other wolf lead her onward, arriving at another scene where she sat down, gazing down at a compound, a helicopter resting just outside of it. Price was kneeling at the tail, motioning for the team to get inside. Soap was reaching out for him, a desperate scream piercing the foggy veil around the memory. As the door closed as the bird took off, Price was knocked backward by a shot and soon swarmed by enemy soldiers.

Gal tilted her head. "No, you're wrong about this one. Price didn't die," she said. "I know he isn't, because we just got him out of a Gulag, and now he's in Afghanistan with Soap..." She pricked her ears. "Unless..?"

The other wolf shook her head and stood, looking deeply into her eyes. Something about it felt calm, yet deeply disturbing.

"Where are we going next?" she asked.

The other wolf jerked her head and walked onward, this time very slowly. She came to rest at another scene, blurry and just barely visible against the dark. This time, Gal didn't recognize this place. It was pale grey, a city street somewhere she'd never been. She couldn't tell if it was Russian or German. Maybe Polish? She tilted her ears in quiet thought.

A church.

Gal leaned in closer.

The ringing of a bell.

An Explosion.

Soap rolled down the side of a church tower, landing heavily on the ground with debris all around him. Price picked him up and ran through the streets until they were inside another building, and Soap was laid on a table. He said something to the Captain, but whatever it was, was muffled and incoherent. Soap weakly dropped his head back and fell dead to the table.

Galaxy was breathing heavier. "Wait, this hasn't happened yet..."

The other wolf stamped her foot in the middle of the scene, shattering it to glass-like shards. She made no sound, but her lips were snarled back to reveal her teeth.

"What do you want from me? You're making no sense!" barked Galaxy, raising her tail aggressively. "Are you telling me Soap is going to die? Are you just confusing me for the hell of it? Tell me what you want!"

The shards came together, this time from inside a garage looking up at the church tower. Something about this vision was more vivid; nothing was blurry, and the colors felt more vibrant. In the vision, Galaxy had her teeth bared at a man, who turned back to look at her.

Makarov.

He connected his foot with her side as she ran toward him, and she skidded across the concrete floor. Makarov leveled his weapon with her and pulled the trigger. There was a bright spatter of blood and he fired again. Another splash of blood, and another shot. Pow! Pow! POW! 

The vision abruptly vanished and Galaxy stood panting, legs shaking under her. "... What the hell?" She looked at the other wolf and snarled. "What is happening? Why are you showing me this?"

They both looked at where the vision had been and hovering in its place, there was a pulsing, glowing blue orb. As Galaxy reached for it, it flew away, hovering behind the other wolf and illuminating her frame.

Galaxy's ears were pinned back to see the wolf looked exactly like her. "... You're a wraith..." she breathed in horror. "Are you... Did..." She felt overwhelmed and sat down, her legs too weak to hold her up. "Is that my last life? Are you telling me that this... Is how I'm gonna die?" 

The other wolf straightened, her eyes carrying a deep sadness. 

"No!" Gal spat. "I won't die like this! I have to kill Makarov! I have to win!"

"If not you," said an echoing voice. "Then those you love."

She felt her eyes well with tears. "Wraith," she cried. "Please, I'm not ready to go. I know I've been frivolous with my lives, but I beg you, there must be some other way. Surely there's a way that Soap and I can both live?" As the wraith turned and walked away, desperation overcame her. "Wait! Please! I have to know, there has to be something else I can do! Wait!"

The wraith turned back and charged her, pinning her down and sharply exhaling a blue mist that filled her lungs. Before Galaxy could fight back, she felt the black floor begin to crack under her.

"If not you," repeated the voice. "Then those you love."

"No!" The floor crumbled away and she fell, the wraith fading from her sight.

She gasped, feeling herself collide with her body. Around her, she saw a couple of American soldiers both take aim at the formerly dead wolf. Galaxy barely had time to process the situation and grasped the first soldier by his elbow and threw him against his partner. With them both on the ground, she tore one's throat free and grasped the other as he tried to scramble away, crushing his windpipe between her jaws. She stood still, holding the soldier down as she listened. No other sounds aside from the crackling of flames. Galaxy furrowed her brows. "Someone's cooking out here?" she asked. How far away had they taken her? And were Shepherd's men really so cocky as to start a barbeque after a dangerous raid?

She stood up and instantly felt her stomach rollover. Two bodies lay burning merely feet away. "No..." she whimpered. "No, no, Roach! Ghost!" Gal stumbled over to them, unable to see through the tears by the time she stood beside them. She feverishly ripped the coat off of one of the soldiers and beat out the flames until they had submitted, leaving only thin, rolling streams of smoke. She shifted and Jessica fell back into a seated position, desperately trying to catch her breath as she felt deep sobs wrack her body. "Oh, God, no..." she wept, turning her face away when she saw that Ghost's eyes were staring straight back at her. 

"Ghost!" came Price's panicked call over the com. "Come in, this is Price! We're under attack by Shepherd's men at the boneyard! Soap, hold the left flank!" He returned his attention to the comlink. "Do not trust Shepherd! I say again, do NOT trust Shepherd! Soap, get down!" His communication was cut off by gunfire, and Jessica bowed her head against her knees, tears falling down her face. 

She forced herself to breathe in and responded. "Captain Price, this is Lone Wolf," she said, voice cracking hard. "Shepherd betrayed as at the estate. Ghost and Roach are dead..."

It was silent for a few moments before Price could reply. "Is anyone else alive, over?"

"No," she whimpered. "No, it's only me, over." She swallowed hard and looked up the hill at the safehouse. She saw no movement, but there was a small helicopter in the driveway. Shepherd must have left a few men to clean up any evidence.

"Copy that, Lone," said Price. "Are you able to hold your position, over?"

"Yes, I think so," she replied.

"Good." Price sighed. "Hold fast, I'm getting a hold of Nikolai; I'll see if he can give you an exfil before he comes to us. Hang in there. Out."

As the line went quiet, she sat staring at the charred bodies. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "Shepherd will pay with his life for this. Don't worry..." She tentatively pulled the dog tags from each of their necks and carefully laid them around her own. Her eyes turned up to the afternoon sky, and though she felt so small, she felt just big enough to take on whatever fight Shepherd had left...

And end him.