"No Hassan.", Alejandro informed as he, Soap and Ghost had cleared the last room of the house, with no terrorist in sight. "They must have moved him."

"When?", Soap asked, visibly a little annoyed that this mission now would be longer than it had to be.

"Recently."

Ghost went through documents that were scattered all over a table as he noticed a blue flag with a yellow emblem hanging on the wall.

"Quds Force.", he pointed at the it. "That's his flag."

"He was here.", Alejandro agreed.

Your eyes wandered through the room. Considering that your presence seemed to take a toll on your husbands opinion about you, you stood back and watched from the door.

Somewhere the sound of engines cut through the silence of the mountains. It was hard to tell if they approached or drove away.

The room was just the way you remembered it from many other drug houses that the cartel owned. You could spot a good hiding place for guns or drugs wherever you looked. It was very likely that there was intel hidden somewhere, most likely underneath the floor boards or inside the walls.

"Alejandro's intel was good.", Soap hummed as he examined the flag that was unknown to you.

Your gaze wandered out the window. The town seemed largely untouched, at least the part in which you hadn't fought with the cartel. All of these houses must have been stuffed with all kinds of cartel business.

If the original target wouldn't have been a terrorist this could have been considered a goldmine.

All of a sudden black vehicles appeared at the horizon.

Struck by surprise, you approached the window to get a closer look. The vehicles seemed familiar, simple and black. At first you imagined them to be the same that had payed you a visit at your house.

But they appeared to be different. Better armed.

"No...", you whispered to yourself, frowning. "That can't be..."

Alarmed by your muffled words, your husbands head turned so that he could glance at you from the corner of his eyes. He did not have to be in a good mood to notice that you had spotted something of importance.

"Comandante! Army is rolling in!", Rudi suddenly informed over the coms.

Baffled, the three men tore their heads around to see what you had watched for the past couple of moments.

"Mierda-!", with clenched teeth Alejandro joined you at the window to have a better look for himself.

"What is it?", Ghost asked.

"The army.", Alejandro stood next to you, one hand pushing away the curtains to be able to watch as three vehicles pulled down the dusty town road.

You could tell that this inconvenience stressed him. He had not expected heavy resistance. At least none that was about as well equipped as his own units.

"We got reinforcements.", Soap said with a smirk on his face.

With a huff and a shake of your head you had to be amused about how uninformed he was about your country and the current state it was in.

"Negative.", with clear displeasure, Alejandro called for his men over the coms. "0-3, retrocedan. Retrocedan, ahora!"

"Entendido.", Rudy replied.

Confused, Ghost joined the window.

"What're we doin'?", he asked in his rough voice.

Even though you usually had a good sense for people you had to admit that you struggled to figure out in what mood he was in. He sounded like he was irritated by your husbands command yet he did not want to interfere with his ability to lead.

"Covering my men.", your husband grabbed you by the arm to pull you down into hiding. "Once they're clear, we fall back."

"You want us to engage the fucking Mexican army?", Soap asked, baffled.

"No carnal. These troops are payed by the cartel. They're helping the cartel to protect Hassan. Hold your fire. We'll dig in until my men are clear."

Wrapped in silence, you watched as a heavy vehicle passed the gates of town. It was almost too broad to drive along the small road. The huge wheels made clouds of dust follow.

"Multiple vehicles.", Ghost analysed through the projectile of his sniper rifle. "Troop transports. Light-armour."

"Hold fire.", Alejandro insisted while his hand was still wrapped around your arm. "Let them get close."

One car drove all the way up to the front lawn of the house. You could see the faces of the soldiers that once had been men of honour. Men like Alejandro.

If these people were dogs of the cartel then you had heavily misjudged just how much the powers had shifted within the last few years.

You couldn't run from this. If her influence had grown all the way from lower police officers to common soldiers to entire units of the official military, there was no way for you to settle this without a confirmation.

If you liked it or not, you had to at least hear her out. Just once. For the sake of your family.

And for Alejandro's protection.

"I'll talk to them.", you said and got back on your feet.

Alejandro pulled you back down, utter shock on his face.

"What do you think are you doing?!", he hissed, his eyes trembling a bit as your gazes met. "You'll get yourself killed!"

A soft breath made your chest pull together.

"I'll bargain us a way out of this.", you tried to convince him.

Speechless, he just stared at you, both offended about just how delusional you sounded yet so confused he did not know what to respond.

"This is madness!", Soap chipped in as your husband failed to give a good reason.

You gifted the Scott a smirk.

"Can I tell you a secret? Just between you and I?", you asked in a sarcastic manner.

"Sure?", he shrugged, confused and irritated by the seriousness of this situation.

"I used to be a narco. Not just any narco, but I won't spoil that big plot twist yet."

"This is not a good time to joke about you being a criminal.", Ghost noted soberly.

"Just wanted to lift the spirit.", you shrugged. "Point is, I am in a position to talk to them. They can't just shoot me. Let me handle this. Please."

You locked eyes with Alejandro.

His lips moved. He couldn't help but exhale deeply.

"I... I trust you...", he finally managed to say. "Don't make me regret this."

"I'll do my best."