Sooooo I really need to finish Chellaston cross because I lovelovelove John x Cortana, but someone went and planted this bug in my brain about, "what would happen if John had a kid with a normal human woman?" That idea eventually spawned a story exploring the HALO universe from a civil perspective and John's own character development. There'll be plenty of flashbacks and conversations detailing how each party got involved in the 'ordeal'
FYI if you haven't noticed I'm obsessed with ONI and Parangosky so expect a lot of creepy crawly secret ops material in my stories. I'm also REALLY big into science, so expect lots of science too.
"No, he's too unstable to receive treatment for the asthma." She frowned softly as her thumb depressed a lever on a pipette and dispensed a buffer gel onto a micro plate, "His father had some genetic... stuff going on when Julius was born."
"Your husband has the same thing then?" Another lab coat laden technician was working in the stainless steel hood next to her.
"We're not married - we're still together - but we're not married. His dad's..." Madelynn popped the tip of the pipet off into a small disposal unit and shrugged, "in perfect health, really. Any problem John has, he did to himself." She had hope that the conversation would continue to revolve around her six-year-old son, but her coworker zeroed in on one of the more controversial aspects of her relationship with Sierra-117.
"Not married? So what then? Divorced, dating, shacking up?" the technician chuckled through the last bit, but reality strayed far from intention and the good doctor hardly felt it was a joke.
"None of those things." She bit back a sigh, collecting herself and preparing to explain the non-verbal, non-written, and totally unspoken pact of trust she and John had made. Now that she thought of it, they had built this pact from the ground up. Piece by piece like the micro plate buffers piled in her small hand, "He's UNSC, so he's very busy wi-"
There was a loud series of submarine sonar pings from the datapad in her pocket that drew everyone's attention away from their own laboratory tasks. The plates were all placed inside the fridge and she shut the door. In a smooth motion she plucked the small device from her pocket and tucked it between her jaw and shoulders as she degloved and walked.
"Quantico Research Laboratory, this is Doctor Forsythe speaking." her brows knit and a frown pursed her nude lips as she unceremoniously peeled the nitrile gloves off her hands and listened to the voice on the other end of the line, "No no, that's fine. I'll be there as soon as possible."
A sigh escaped her as she dropped the gloves in a waste basket and tucked the phone back in her pocket.