Two Hearts
by JustShotMarvin
Summary: One soldier, one construct, and one story in fifty sentences. -MCxCortana-
Notes: Done for the 1sentence community on LiveJournal, mostly for the sake of having something to do. The universe needs more Master Chief and Cortana romance crap anyways. Also-- there's like... three stories in here. One's stuff from the canon, one has Cortana dying, and the other has her getting a body (and sex). I might come back later and tag which ones are which. Until then, just enjoy them for what they are.
Disclaimer: It's not mine. I just have Master Chief and Cortana figures that I pose lewdly on top of my TV. :D
#1 - Ring
They stare out at the shattered ring-world together and she finds herself wishing, just this once, that they weren't all alone.
#2 - Hero
People have called him everything from "hero" to "freak" ever since he was a small child; she just calls him "Chief."
#3 - Memory
He can hardly remember her voice, it's been so many years, but sometimes he can still remember what it was like to have her so close.
#4 - Box
She's the most powerful artificial intelligence ever created and yet she can't do anything when he's bleeding so much that he can't even walk.
#5 - Run
He's running across the plasma scorched earth, through the blinding smoke, pulling the assault rifle from his back, and leaping into the fray; the whole time he's wondering if she knows he's doing it to see her again.
#6 - Hurricane
She has no idea what a real hurricane feels like, but if it is anything like his anger, then she knows why humans fear them so much.
#7 - Wings
"...You did that on purpose," she accuses as they both peer down the side of the ship at the smashed Banshee and he can't help but smirk, just a little bit.
#8 - Cold
High Charity is cold, to the point that he feels it through his suit, but he does everything he can to ignore it and keep moving forward.
#9 - Red
When he sees the face his new construct has chosen for herself, the first thing that comes to mind is that she's got pretty eyes-- the darkest red he's ever seen.
#10 - Drink
"It tastes like piss," he mutters behind the lips of a beer bottle, and before she can say anything else: "No, I don't know why we love it so much."
#11 - Midnight
It's 12 o'clock at night and he's having another nightmare; she doesn't try to wake him because she's afraid she would have to tell him he whimpers in his sleep.
#12 - Temptation
He's getting dressed behind that door and oh, it would be so easy to pop into the holopad in his room at just the right moment...
#13 - View
She's certain the stars would be prettier if she could watch them with real eyes, standing next to him, instead of inside his helmet.
#14 - Music
"Johnson, if you don't turn that awful music off right now, I can't be held responsible for what the Chief will do to you."
#15 - Silk
He doesn't care if a bed is made out of burlap or silk; when he finally collapses into one, it's the most comfortable thing he's ever felt.
#16 - Cover
She might not have been able to hold a gun, but she was the greatest cover he could have ever hoped for.
#17 - Promise
"Don't make a girl a promise if you know you can't keep it," he hears her mutter over the COM; he wants to tell her that he intends to keep his promise but there's not enough time.
#18 - Dream
She's not sure if she can have dreams or not, but staying with him forever certainly sounds like one.
#19 - Candle
She's burning, flickering, fading fast, and he's not sure if he can get to her in time.
#20 - Talent
The final bullet he has in his battle rifle brings the Elite down and she wonders if he's talented or just lucky.
#21 - Silence
He doesn't want to admit it, but everything is so quiet... he'd give anything to have her back.
#22 - Journey
It didn't matter if you called it the "Great Journey" or "containment;" it was the one thing they feared the most.
#23 - Fire
She screams because her entire body, real or not, feels like it's burning; he's never felt so helpless.
#24 - Strength
He could lift a car over his head, could punch through a brick wall, and had taken hits that would have liquefied the organs of a lesser human... but he doubts he would have survived five minutes with Gravemind where she had lasted weeks.
#25 - Mask
As much as that helmet keeps him safe, she wished he'd take it off more often-- his freckles are cute.
#26 - Ice
Everyone says he's cold, but the only time she feels warm is when she's with him.
#27 - Fall
His boots hit the top of the In Amber Clad with a resounding "thump," and Cortana starts laughing in disbelief-- he is the only person that would work for.
#28 - Forgotten
"Did you really think I'd forget you?" he asks in a voice so warm, she wishes she could cry.
#29 - Dance
"Dammit, Chief, stop laughing at me, I was bored!"
#30 - Body
She knows his heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing patterns at all times just as well as she knows that she'll never be able to touch the body she has become so obsessed with monitoring.
#31 - Sacred
They understand that the Ark is hallowed ground, and they almost feel bad when they blow up pieces of it.
#32 - Farewells
"This isn't the end-- I refuse to lose you."
#33 - World
There is not enough time in all the world for her to spend with him.
#34 - Formal
"You finally wore something nice," she teases as he adjusts the collar on his uniform; her smile only widens when he leers her way.
#35 - Fever
She was sick, falling apart, a shadow of who she used to be, and he was still walking through hell to find her.
#36 - Laugh
She is the only person who has ever made him laugh; she is the only person who will ever hear it.
#37 - Lies
Sometimes, he tells her he's fine even when he's not, even when he knows she knows that he's not, if only to keep her from worrying.
#38 - Forever
She'd spend eternity in the clutches of this monster if it meant keeping him safe.
#39 - Overwhelmed
He thought he forgot how to cry; once she was gone, he remembered.
#40 - Whisper
His name is a breath on her lips in the darkness of their room as his fingers roam up her sides.
#41 - Wait
Twelve hours is a long time to wait for anyone, human or AI, when you need to tell someone he's about to kill them all.
#42 - Talk
His voice is a rough, masculine growl, husky with desire as he groans her name against the skin of her throat, sending shivers down her spine.
#43 - Search
If he has to tear this hellhole apart piece by piece to find her, then that's exactly what he'll do.
#44 - Hope
"It doesn't have to end here," she murmurs as she feels her mind falling apart little by little. "There's another way."
#45 - Eclipse
He is a force of nature so mighty, he blocks out the sun, and everyone must stand in awe.
#46 - Gravity
In this new body, she can actually feel the weight of her arms, the hair against her jaw, and the blush on her face when he tells her that she's pretty.
#47 -Highway
"Ah, a nice Sunday drive in New Mombasa-- getting shot at by aliens, nearly blown up, and chased by a gigantic mech-- the usual."
#48 -Unknown
No one knows his name, nor do they care to know, but it means the world to her.
#49 - Lock
He thought if he kept her locked out, they'd both be better off; he was pleasantly surprised to learn that he was stronger when he let her in.
#50 - Breathe
It's the night after the procedure; as he's laying there in bed with her, he becomes very aware of the rise and fall of not just his chest, but her own, and he smiles.
-fin-