Epilogue:

Jennifer Mui felt something rip open the top part of her fatigues and plaster some kind of material over her shoulder. She was still going in and out of consciousness. She heard movement. A helicopter. Another set of footsteps. She felt more pressure on her chest. At last, she managed to open her eyes. Price was standing over her. "Come on, up you get." He slid an arm behind her and helped her to her feet. There was a man by the helicopter.

"Nicolai, I thought I told you this was a one way trip."

"Looks like it still is." The Russian replied. He had already secured Soap inside the chopper. Nicolai helped Price get Mui in as well. "They'll be coming for us soon. Look, I know a place where we can go."

The helicopter ride wasn't too long. Turns out, Nicolai's place was a hide out on the Russian border. He had a lot of 'friends in high places'. Soap and Mui were taken to the medical wing to be patched up. Both required surgery to repair what damage Shepherd had caused. Once that was over with, Mui woke up, not too sure where she was. She tried sitting up, and felt a hand reach over and push her back down.

"Wouldn't try that…hurts like a bitch." Soap chuckled. She looked over at him.

"I take it you did that already?"

"Ha, yeah…not fun…look, what you did for us…we can't ever thank you enough…and telling me about the knife…"

"You know Soap, us mercs, we're resourceful." She coughed, wincing in pain. "We make do with what we have." Her voice came out strained.

"Hey, save your breath. I get it…and call me John." Mui looked up at his bright eyes. She held out a hand.

"Call me Jennifer then." He shook her hand gently.

"Did you ever serve in the SAS?"

"I did…for five years." Soap looked at her with a smile.

"Who dares…"

"Wins." Jen finished the slogan. "So many memories."

"What made you want to be a mercenary anyway?"

"It was a few things. I had joined MI6 after being in the army and I was there for a while. The pay wasn't sufficient for me. So I left and just decided that, enough was enough. Being a merc…I loved the freedom, the ability to feel like you're on top of the world and unconquerable…bloody fantastic." Soap laughed, leaning on his elbow in his bed.

"Mui…I uh…I've got your pay cheque here." Cpt. Price walked into the room, fiddling with an envelope between his fingers. He set it down in her lap.

"And the other great thing about it is…" Jen said, smiling brightly to Soap. "The pay-cheque."