Natalie smiled, kissing with her tongue, as bloody as it was. She felt comfortable, just soft in his hands. Dropping her head back a little, she smiled
"That's why I love you, Victor. Because I couldn't trust that mantle with anyone else." Natalie said, the big, wounded, Russian blooded and French hearted woman smiling. 
"And I bet whoever is on that other side will stand clear when you come running through." She added, kissing him again, as they began exiting the AO. She was in pretty bad pain, but considering this was Natalie, she was coping. Rubbing her paw-like hand against his stubbled chin, she carried on, just thankful. That was all she could be. And she was beyond happy to be with him, right here. Being this big had it's perks. Natalie knew that she was very lucky indeed to live, and had it not have been for the sequence of events that happened, she would surely have been dead. It was worse than Brussels, a couple of bullet wounds. This was terrifying, even for her. 

----

Three Days Later
Somewhere near the Pakistan-Afghanistan Border
Wakhan Province

The mountains were cold, desolate, nasty. It was a bad place to be stranded, and the last few days had been moving back across the border. The Navy Seals, as well as Ross and Carl, had lost their contact that had been chasing them. They had clambered higher into the mountain, and a helicopter extraction was expected at Point Pembroke, an LZ further up in the mountains. It had been tough work, and there was next to nobody living there. The chase had mostly died down and they'd had to evade a few patrols here and there. Though it was nothing big, for the four men, getting the fuck out was a priority. Sleep deprivation had hit, and for Ross and Carl in particular, weighed down in more kevlar and dragonskin that needed, it was going to be hell keeping a high level of stamina against the Navy Seals. They had made their way further up, and were now at about 5,000m above sea level. The snow had kicked in fully, and they had to keep moving.

The glacial river roared, as Ross moved forwards, alongside it. They had to go another 15km, and over this terrain, it was hard.
"So, how'd you end up doing this shit then?" Ramsay asked the pair vaguely, as he checked his HCAR for the millionth time, keeping an eye out behind, as the heavily armored SAS soldier looked over. Each step was hell- they had slept once in the last fifty hours, and generally hellmarched their way over. In armor like this, and with a gun like this, it was almost practically impossible.