Ah, cold. Sweet, sweet cold. How Hazard had missed the cold, sighing in quiet contention and leaning back against the chopper wall. Hazard carefully probed her weapon with thickly gloved hands, wrapped up in her heavy snow camouflage coat, thermals, goggles, and mask she was on cloud nine. It was always so much easier to snuggle up in some warm clothing during the cold than to try and cool down while wearing tactical Armour in the desert, cold was best Hazard decided.

The 141 were on their way to secure a route to a docked submarine at the Rybachiy naval base, near Petropavlovsk. Not a very difficult sounding mission to them, but the tension and apprehension could be felt as the helo sailed towards to mountains. The team still weren't too sure what to feel about taking orders from Price, without MacTavish there was definitely an air of insecurity to the team. Even Ghost seemed more stoic than usual, Hazard was sat next to the Lieutenant and she hadn't seen him move or breath once. She guessed that he wasn't too thrilled with the arrangement, but Hazard herself could barely hide her excitement. She knew that nearly five years in a gulag would never be enough to wear down the mind of Captain Price, she trusted him with her life all those years ago and she would willingly do so again, Price knew that. Her attention was swiftly diverted to Ghost as he gave the signal; they were planning to parachute into this one. It was better to keep a low profile when blended in with the snowstorm, staying together would be a challenge but it was the lesser of two evils.

Hazard was never one for risk assessments, so she only took a brief pause to examine the possible dangers around her after she began hurling a few hundred miles an hours towards the white abyss. Her vision was extremely limited, but as she yanked on the chord to release the parachute her worries were eased as she somewhat gently hit the snow near Ghost and Toad. After concealing the large sheet of tarp in a nearby brush she joined her Lieutenant and tore the goggles form her face to scan the area, she sucked in a sharp breath as the icy wind shipped her wind burnt skin. Hazard spotted Archer, Rocket, Robot and Ozone approaching. The almost alien feeling of anxiety began to twist in her stomach when she saw there was no sign of Price and Roach. She hadn't kept her full attention on the radio chatter whilst she was plummeting to the earth, but as she re-grouped with Archer, Doc, Ghost, Toad, Robot and Rocket her unease grew. The other men felt it too, they each exchanged somewhat uncertain looks but were quickly brought back to the situation at hand as Captain MacTavish's voice buzzed in their ears.

"Ghost, Price and Roach landed pretty far to your west. Price requested that you proceed with the mission and re-group if possible. Over"

The Lieutenant nodded once, after confirming with the Captain that he understood the masked soldier turned his attention to his team.

"Archer, Toad and I will take the lead. If we need to take anyone out it needs to be done silently and from a distance. Robot and Rocket will fan out behind and keep an eye out for convoys and stragglers. Hazard, Doc watch our six. Make sure no-one gets past you" He was answered with a hushed mixture of 'Rogers' and 'yes sirs', Robot, Rocket and Hazard stayed put while the others moved. Once they had cleared a few metres Robot and Rocket were on the move, they parted with brief nods to Hazard and soon it was their turn. She straightened her numbing legs and silently pressed ahead with Doc following close behind. The Australian medic was a brilliant doctor but not the strongest fighter, and the extra equipment he had to carry and his role in the team meant that he needed to be protected. Which meant that he was usually sent to the back.

She still had Ghost, Archer and Toad in her sights. They weren't that far away, but with the heavy onset of snow she had to squint and regularly wipe her goggles with her equally damp gloves.

They didn't encounter much trouble, they were heading for the village to eliminate a SAM sight so they were expecting it to be more heavily guarded than it was. It appeared that the Ultranationalists had focused most of their attention towards the main road and the forest. Archer and Toad had taken care of the guards along the way, the only action Hazard had seen so far was a few German Shepherds that had bolted from their dead handlers. The village soon came into view, but there was no sight of Price and Roach. Hazard chewed her lip under her mask, she wasn't wholly worried about Price, but Roach separated from the team was just asking for trouble. Hopefully Price didn't put the fear of god himself in him just yet.

The team of eight froze as the familiar whoosh sounded overhead, they simultaneously looked up. Their eyes were drawn to the almost comforting sight of a predator drone.

"Ghost, A UAV loaded with AGMs is en route to your position" MacTavish's voice rung in their ears.

"Rodger that" Ghost answered before turning back to the team "Roach has the controls for it, keep moving" Seconds after he spoke, a shattering explosion that shook the ground beneath them rocked the forest. They looked up in alarm, which quickly drained to dead as theirs eyes followed the debris of the recently destroyed drone as hunks of flaming metal drifted down to a SAM sight. The team were silent for a few moments.

"Someone remind me" Archer finally said "Didn't the intel we looked at during the briefing assure us that there would be no SAM sights?"

"It did" Hazard answered, tugging at her mask in irritation "But now it appears we have no air support and the Russians know we're here"

"We'll take it out ourselves" Ghost asserted, shutting the team members up immediately "That's out new priority, we need all the help we can get now" the team switched from their silenced weapons to more practical ones and moved towards the village. Ghost made a grab for an AT4 lying loaded and unused against a crate of Russian standard weapons. Hazard found cover behind an unopened crate as the ultranationalists swarmed, breaking cover just in time to see the masked Lieutenant make quick work of the SAM sight. Her chest loosened with relief as she spotted two figures approaching.

"Check your fire! Check your fire! Friendlies coming up at your 12!" Ghost called over the radio as the team approached a seemingly unharmed Price and Roach.

"Nice work on that SAM" the older Captain complimented, it didn't sound sincere to untrained ears but Hazard could tell it was sincere.

"Thanks, but we better hurry. Those explosions are gonna attract a lot of attention" the Lieutenant answered, a hail of gunfire forced them into cover. Hazard found herself pressed up against a half-buried cottage, the frozen wood numbing her shoulder while she re-loaded. She managed to take out a few enemy soldiers before pushing towards the submarine docks with the others. She stuck to the left with Price and Archer, relishing fighting alongside her old Captain again.

The village was heavily defended, most of the team were forced to switch weapons for new ones since they were using so much firepower. But despite the close calls and dwindling firepower they made it to the sub docks, it was a maze of crates, stairs and platforms. Turing the fight into an elaborate game of cat and mouse. The team stood on the hill overlooking the docks, the enemy was alert. but it appeared that they didn't know they were under attack just yet.

"The second Predator is almost in position" MacTavish's voice rang out over the gunfire "Make it count, these things don't grow on trees" Hazard glanced to her left as Roach crouched beside her, she hadn't even noticed him. The younger soldier opened the laptop and began scanning for targets. He eventually released a missile upon a stationary helicopter, as the aircraft was destroyed the activity on the docks quickly intensified.

"That got their attention! The whole base is on alert! You better hurry. You've only got a couple minutes before that submarine dives" MacTavish yelled, the 141 sprang into action. Firing and running as they spread out and dived for cover. Taylor took refuge behind an empty metal crate, Roach and his laptop in tow. He crouched to one knee and once again began scanning for targets.

"No pressure Roach…" a new voce yelled over the firefight, they looked right to find a grizzled Robot "But your aim is gonna have to be pretty damn good if you don't want to hit any of us"

"Yes. Thank you Robot" Roach bit back in irritation, Hazard shook her head at the American soldier. Who simply scowled and broke cover to continue the fight.

"I've got you covered mate" Hazard called while peering around the cold metal wall to fire on the enemy, Roach nodded once. Before releasing a missile that hit a silo ahead of them, the explosion rattled the ground beneath them.

"Nice one!" Hazard commented before hauling the man to his feet "We should be able to move toward the submarine, keep it up" She led the way, since Roach was only able to use a side-arm for the moment she made sure that he had the space to control the predator drone. As they neared the wreckage the last missile crated, the fumes coming from the twisted, burning metal quickly became constricting. In seconds Hazards chest was tightening and she began to cough, her gloved hands clumsily tore the mask and goggles from her head. The sudden rush of crisp, icy air caused a brief coughing fit but she felt much better, she spat the taste from her mouth into the snow and re-focused her attention on the fight at hand.

Roach had cleared them a pretty decent path using the predator drone, they made it to the sub just in time to stop the remaining enemy soldiers from entering the base.

"I'm going for the sub!" Price yelled, commanding the attention of the entire team "Cover me from that guardhouse by the west gate!"

"Roger that!" Ghost answered before turning to the team "We have to get to that guardhouse by the west gate to cover Price! Follow me" they pushed across the thick snow and wreckage, Ghost ordered Archer, Doc, Toad and Roach to follow him to the top of the guardhouse while Hazard, Robot and Rocket were told to cover the stairs and let nothing and no-one past them. Hazard pulled her hood up to block out the noise from the wind, she half his behind the staircase and began firing at the swarming Russian soldiers.

Once her mind had caught up, Hazard felt the tightness in her chest returning. Someone should have gone with Price, not because he needed the help. But he must need cover, the Ultranationalists would be swarming the place by now. She'd already spotted two truck bypassing them and heading in Price's direction, but all she could do now was put her faith in him once again.

A sharp cry of pain forced her back into cover, she looked in alarm as Rocket, now hunched over his knees clutched his arm to his chest.

"I've been hit!" He groaned over the radio, Hazard knelt before him and began checking him over, fearing the worst. But she sighed in relief as she found the entry and exit wound on his left shoulder. She lightly tapped the Hispanic soldier's temple, directing his gaze to hers.

"It's just you shoulder mate, superficial and non-life-threatening" she began poking around in her small first aid kit, she only had time and the basic skills to crudely and quickly clean and bandage the injury. "Nowhere near Doc's standards, but it'll hold for now. Try not to pass out on me yeah?" she gave the mechanic a small smile and tried not to grimace at the blood steadily soaking the fresh bandages, Rocket nodded once. Using his good arm to grab his pistol, Hazard searched the area for Rocket. She spotted him crouched behind an ammo crate. She switched to her radio.

"Doc, Rockets been hit. It's not fatal but he's bleeding pretty badly, any chance you could come down here and work your magic?"

"On my way, I'll stabilise and bring him up" Doc replied.

"Well that's no good" Robot inserted, his usual bite surprisingly absent from his voice "Looks like we're about to be swarmed, any word from Captain Price?" Before she could answer, the Captains voce silenced her.

"All right, I'm inside the sub. Cover me, I need a few minutes!" Hazard felt a creeping relief at the missions near end, but any hopeful feeling were quashed when Ghost suddenly yelled,

"Incoming! Two trucks to the east!"

"Oh, wonderful" Hazard grumbled, she broke cover once Doc arrived. When she was sure both he and Rocket were somewhat secure behind the staircase she made her way to the right, but was suddenly and forcefully thrown forward. Her head cracked against the icy tarmac, barely missing the corner bumper of the broken down truck she had chosen to hide behind, luckily. The padding in her hood had prevented her from being knocked out altogether, but it still hurt like hell. She felt an alarming warm wetness trickle down past her cheek, nausea swirled in her stomach as she tried to stand and shell shock racked her bruised body.

"Good effect on target, enemy trucks destroyed" MacTavish praised, it was difficult for her to hear through the white noise washing through her brain. But Hazard knew she had to pull herself together, and quick. She levelled her weapon and managed to keep the onslaught of enemies pinned a few metres away, she silently willed Price to hurry the hell up so she could find Doc and possibly throttle Roach for his terrible missile shooting.

"Contact to the north, on the dock next to the sub!" Ghost warned, the direction of fire quickly turned as the 141 desperately tried the keep the Ultranationalists off of Price's back. But Hazard and Robot were being pushed farther and farther back, they couldn't keep their attention everywhere at once.

"Robot, Hazard. Re-group at the top of the guardhouse" Ghost ordered "You're getting swarmed down there"

The two soldier complied, but Hazard. Still shaken from the drone's missile barely kept the stumble out of her run, it was a chore dragging herself up the stairs. She all but passed out in Roach's arms as he hauled her onto the frozen platform.

"Shit, what happened to you?" Roach asked as Hazard braced herself against a crate, knocking an empty RPG to the ground in her daze.

"Your terrible aim. That's what happened" She bit back with more venom than intended, the warm trickle she felt on her cheek earlier had dribbled down to her neck. The ache in her head intensified and she very nearly vomited when Doc helped her up to give her injury a once over.

"Looks pretty deep" The Aussie said as he began cleaning and bandaging "You must have hit the tarmac hard, it'll need stitches" Hazard wasn't even listening, her attention was commanded by the hiss of the silo doors on the sub began to open. And icy dread spread through her, where was Price? He should have disarmed it by now.

"Price, are you there? The silo doors are opening on the sub, I repeat, the silo doors are opening on the sub!" Ghost was screaming, he sounded almost frantic. The rest of the team could only watch in confusion and alarm, no response on the radio. Hazard slowly stood with Doc's help, she calmly made her way to the railing and braced herself against the cold metal next to Ghost.

"Price, come in! They're opening the silo doors on the sub! Hurry!"

Hazard swallowed thickly, Price was still alive. She knew it, but what was he playing at? It was slowly becoming clear to her that there was an ulterior motive at work here, Captain Price doesn't just waltz in and disarm weapons, that's not Captain Price's way of doing things. Her dread grew as her mind played back to the briefing, the words Price had spoken to Shepherd.

"We got ourselves a pretty big fire. Gonna need a huge bang"

She hoped and prayed to each and every deity that she was wrong. The silo doors were fully opened now…

"Price, do you copy?! The silo doors are open! I repeat, the silo doors are open!" Ghost was angry now, he must have sensed something was wrong too.

"Good"

The ground shook, violently. Robot, Roach and Doc were actually knocked of their feet, Hazard and Ghost would have been too if they hadn't been clutching the railing for dear life. Archer and Toad, who were lying prone very nearly rolled off of the platform completely. The soldiers watched in horror a nuclear missile detached itself and steadily climbed towards the sky, another wave of nausea rocked Hazard body. She swallowed thickly, barely registering the Lieutenants enraged screaming next to her.

"Wait - wait, Price, no! We have a nuclear missile launch. Missile in the air! Missile in the air! Code Black, Code Black!"

The atmosphere in the chopper back to base was awkward, to say the least. Robot had gone completely ballistic, being the only American on the team. When Price had approached the stunned team Robot very nearly attacked, the look in his eyes was murderous. He probably would have strangled him, if Hazard hadn't got between them, she was barely able to talk him down. She honestly thought he was going to beat her to death to get to Price, but he eventually restrained himself. Barely.

Ghost was even more pissed, but he knew Price well enough to know that he wouldn't be getting answers from the old Captain any time soon. So he opted for bitching to a probably equally stunned and exhausted MacTavish, the rest of the team was silent. Rocket had finally passed out. But Doc assured them he was fine, but he still needed to be hooked up to a blood bag for the journey home. They sat in separate areas of the chopper, Ghost huddled with Robot who was looking murderous once again. Doc worked on Hazard, fixing paper stitches to the gash along her forehead. He'd confirmed that she would need stitches, something she was less than exited for. Archer and Toad sat with one another, making quiet conversation that deliberately wasn't supposed to be heard.

"Well" Doc said quietly, prodding the final paper stitch into place "When we get back to base I'll have to treat you for nausea, try not to fall asleep, and If you feel the need to puke. Do it away from us okay?" Hazard snorted, but appreciated his attempt at light humour. She nodded, watching as Doc retreated to where Robot lay. She leaned her aching head against the cold metal, willing her eyes to stay open. She glanced at the far corner where Price sat, his boonie hat pulled far over his eyes and a cigar hung loosely from his mouth, the smoke twirling lazily and dissipating into thin air. Hazard sipped from her water bottle, she had shed her heavy coat and tactical armour and was sitting relatively comfortably in her black thermals. But the cold was still biting, she waited a few more moments. The men around her were engrossed in their conversations, she slowly stood. Swallowing another mouthful of water to stem the clenching in her stomach. She carefully picked her way towards the Captain, feeling Ghost's eyes bore into the back of her skull for the whole journey.

She sat herself on the floor before Price, leaning back against the titanium wall and brining her knees up to her chest. She had no idea what to say, the man had just released a nuclear missile the incapacitated most of America. Price looked up, his brown furrowing slightly before a smirk ever so lightly touched his lips.

"That" She began quietly "Was a very Captain Price thing to do, if I may say so sir" Price seemed mildly surprised, he tilted his hat back and removed the cigar from his mouth.

"You don't seem very surprised" He replied smoothly "In fact, you were the only one who didn't look like you wanted me dead. You looked more, disappointed" He paused "That you were right, you're the only one here who knows what I'm willing to do" he held her gaze, Hazard was silent for a long time.

"I'm not going to bother asking why you fired the missile instead of disarming it" she probed the bandages on her head, breaking eye contact and fixing it to the floor.

"Come on Trafford" She glanced up at the sound of her surname, Price was smirking now. Very nearly grinning "You're still a smart woman, you know why I did it" more silence, Hazard sighed.

"The resulting EMP would destroy most, if not all electrical systems in its radius. Ruining the Russians' equipment as well as the Americans', at least giving them a fighting chance to re-claim their country" Price nodded "If they're not crushed by their own falling helicopters first, that is"

"Ah, haven't lost your sense of humour I see" Price quipped, taking a few drags from his cigar. He seemed to notice the dry blood on her face and neck for the first time "What happened to your face?"

"I fell over sir" Hazard said after another long silence. Price almost snorted, not surprised in the slightest that she had managed to get herself hurt again. Hazard bit her lip "Shepherd's gonna be furious sir, can't even imagine what he's putting Soap through at the moment" Silence.

"Someone needs to make the tough decisions, you know I've only ever looked at the bigger picture" Price said eventually, Hazard grunted in agreement. That, she knew. But there was so much she was still desperate to ask him, questions about the gulag and how he managed to piss of Makarov to the point where the Ultranationalist nearly destroyed and impenetrable fortress just to get to him, but she stuck to the most pressing question for the moment.

"Now what?" she asked. Price's expression grew serious again, he stubbed his cigar out under his boot and pulled his hat back over his eyes.

"We find Makarov"

Sorry for the wait, but there's only one more chapter left!

Hope you enjoyed :)

xxx