Ulterior Motives /3
A Halo QuickFic By ClothedCortana
(WARNING! HIGHLY OOC!)
_
"You're finally awake."
The blue-eyed woman smiled at him from across the room, her brown hair covering her right eye.
"C-cortana? Is that you?"
The former AI smiled, "Oh, John. You recognize me." She stepped into a beam of light in the otherwise dark room. She wore a dress made of blue sequins, resembling her avatar's past color. She did a little twirl. "Do you like it?" She smiled at him, giggling. "I wore it for you."
John stared at her, speechless. She was so...beautiful. Her skin pale, her eyes a piercing electric blue, her figure near perfect...this had to be a dream. He gazed at her new form, a plethora of questions flooding his mind, "How did this happen?"; "How is this possible?". Even new, strange thoughts and feelings that cascaded through him, an odd tingling sensation, a small shortness in his breath, and he swore that just a second ago that his pants were a little looser...
His thoughts were interrupted by an upward force pulling him off the metal slab he was sitting on. When the dizziness of the sudden movement faded, his vision cleared revealing that Cortana pulled him off the table. She gazed upward at him, "Are you alright?" she asked in a worried tone. "I thought you would be happier..." She looked down sadly. John shook his head rapidly, "No! I am happy, just sort of shocked. How are you even here?" Cortana smirked and placed her finger to his lips, "Does that really matter John? All that matters is that I'm here. That WE'RE here." She grabbed his hands and placed them on her hips, causing him to tense up. She giggled, "Are you blushing?" Blushing? His cheeks did feel hot if that's what she meant. John shook his head, involuntarily pulling her closer, "No..." Cortana wrapped her arms around his waist, placing her head against his chest. "You look pretty rosy for someone who isn't blushing." She rubbed her pelvis against him, causing him to gulp loudly. She laughed, "Wow, Chief! You're really tense! Are you sure you're okay?~" He nodded frantically, "I'm fine-! I swear-!" She pulled him even closer, rubbing herself against him once more. Cortana looked up at him, a sultry look in her eyes, "Is that a gun in your pocket? Or~ are you just happy to see me?" John gazed at her confused, the obvious innuendo completely going over his head, "Why would I have a gun in my pocket? I'm wearing fatig-MPPHH!" Cortana interrupted him by forcing a kiss against his lips. She pulled away, leaving John panting. "What was that fo-?"; "Shhhhh~" She placed her finger to his lips. "You'll find out soon enough, but for now..." She placed a kiss on his cheek, and pushed him back playfully.
"Get on the table, John..."
He sat back down on the table, letting her sit on his lap. She wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder. John still sat in shock, trying to grasp exactly what was happening. "What's wrong? You seem... surprised." Cortana looked up and smiled at him sweetly. "Just relax." She leaned in and whispered, "Do what comes natural." His lip quivered as he spoke, "W-whatever comes natural?" She nodded. Not knowing exactly what to do, he took a small lick on her neck. She made a soft noise, then giggled quietly. John smiled nervously, "Was that good?" Cortana nodded, "Yes, that was fine. Now, my turn~!" She pushed him down playfully, attacking his neck with kisses, licks, and nibbles, trying to get his attention elsewhere.
It worked. The tenseness escaped his muscles, his arms turned to Jell-O, letting the small yet powerful woman take control of him. John groaned softly, running her fingers through her hair. Strange feelings were festering inside him, feelings that were telling him to take control. Giving into these feelings, he gripped the ends of Cortana's hair tightly. She noticed and grabbed his wrist. "Uh, uh, uhh~" she said playfully. She waved her finger at him. "Let me have control, alright? You deserve this~"
John shook his head and pushed her away from him, placing his hands on her shoulders, "I'm in control here, Cortana." He said in an angry-husky tone, "It's your turn now~" Cortana gritted her teeth slinging him back against the slab, Her eyes flashing a menacing red, raising her voice, "I'M IN CONTROL NOW, JOHN." She shook her head rapidly, her eyes blue once more "I-I mean, I didn't mean to-" John placed a finger to her lips, "Shh. You get your wish, you're in control." He flashed her a sultry smile. "I'm yours~" She laughed manically, "Damn right, you are~"
She pushed him down on the table, hard. His head slammed against the metal slab, causing his ears to ring. He never took Cortana as the dominant type, let alone the "like it rough" type. She held his hands in place with her own, taking his lips again. Each kiss and touch made him weaker. She laughed internally, who knew such a strong warrior would be brought to his knees so easily with just a few caressing touches and sweet words.
She needed him at her will, nothing more, nothing less.
She moved her hands under the table, still working on the distraction. She made her kisses more passionate, intoxicating the soldier even more. She revealed leather straps from under the table, and strapped his right wrist to the metal slab. John didn't notice at all, so entranced by the former AI's actions. Cortana repeated the same with his left wrist. As the weakened soldier lay there, dizzy from the surprise flood of affection, they pulled apart, saliva hanging from her lips.
She slid off the table, standing next to it. John smiled at her, weakly, "What are you doing?" She gave a dark smile. He now saw the straps. He tried to pull away, but Cortana stopped him by placing her hand on his. "I need you to stay still for the next part, love." He was confused for a moment, then smirked.
"You really are a kinky type, aren't-"
Out of nowhere, she pulled a 6 inch blade out of a hidden pocket on her dress. She put it to her lips, kissing it. "Neat, isn't it?" She smirked, then ran her tongue on the blade in a seductive fashion. John tried to understand her motives, was this all a part of foreplay?
"Doesn't that hurt?"
She laughed manically, "Nope! But it might hurt you~"
Cortana approached him with the blade, her eyes slowly turning a blood red. "This is where the fun starts!"
"Idiot!" John thought, "This isn't some sex stunt! She's going to kill you!" He started to flinch spastically, trying to break the straps. This only enraged her, and the blade slammed down on his wrist. It cut through the skin but only tapped into the diamond-hard bone. Blood spurted out of the cut, staining the blue sequin dress. What would make a normal human being scream in agony only made the Spartan flinch.
Cortana smirked, "Impressive! I'm going to have so much fun with this! Maybe more than I originally thought!" John scowled, "Fun?!"
"Yeah!" She mused, "Just think! A normal human only could last for maybe 15 minutes, but you might last an hour or more!"
"Cortana...I don't understand...why are you doing this?" He looked down at his bloodied wrist, red, hot liquid spewing from the cut. The pain didn't matter to him, more than the betrayal. He could take anything, but this was too much...
She loved him, didn't she?
Cortana laughed manically, "Because, it sounded like fun!" She giggled then revealed a black stick. She pressed a button on it to create a blue plasma blade, like size of a small dagger. She pressed against John's right index finger. He could hear it sizzle as the hot blade connected to the skin. He gritted his teeth, letting out a low growl. She repeated this with the rest of the fingers. It was a slow, grueling process, cutting through the flesh and bone. When she finished, each finger on his right hand was severed. "Listen to me. What did I do to deserve this?" He said, trying to keep his composure. She smiled, and revealed a scalpel. "Nothing. You haven't done anything." She placed the scalpel against his cheek softly. "I know you're going to leave me, because I can't trust you not to. So i'm going to take you before that happens! I'd rather kill you than let someone take you from me!" Her eyes became a bright, neon red. She spoke in a twisted, cracked voice," If I can't have you...NOBODY CAN."
John tried to smile at her, "But you know I won't. I would never leave you for someone else. There's no one I'd rather be with than you." Cortana nodded, "Uh huh...don't care!" She sliced the scalpel up his cheek, causing another flinch. The blood oozed from the cut onto the slab. She put the bloodied utensil down and put her thumb in the pool of red. She licked the bloody digit and smiled, "Salty!"
John looked on in horror, "Are you going to EAT me?!" Cortana laughed, "God no! What a waste that would be! I don't know what i'm going to doing just yet. Maybe I'll stuff you! Or maybe I'll fill you with silicone! So you still feel all mushy and alive. Then I can ALWAYS have you, and ALWAYS love you."
This was NOT his AI companion. This was the demented, twisted, rampant replacement.
"Cortana, I know this isn't you." She turned around to face him with a red-hot branding iron. "Then who is it, Chief?" She aimed it at his calloused left palm then bore it into his raw flesh. It seared the already scarred skin, causing John to convulse and writhe. She pulled it away to reveal a blood-red mark of a four-leaf clover. She clapped happily, "Oh! It looks so good! Now you have a lucky mark! For the luckiest man alive! Well, for now! Hehehe!" she giggled and placed her index finger on his nose cutely. He snapped his eyes shut to clear his tears.
Cortana noticed the water droplets on his face, "Oh, are you crying?" John turned away, "N-n-nooo." She kissed the non-bloodied cheek. "It'll be over soon. I promise. Because you kept your promise, I'll do my best to keep mine.
He couldn't decide what hurt worse, the burning of his palm or the sharp pain in his chest.
She was going to kill him. The woman he loved was going to kill him. In cold blood. No knife could cut him deeper than the heartbreak he felt.
"Hey Johnny boy, I just realized something," Cortana gave him a smug grin and grabbed the scapel again, "you've been in this position before, when you were 14...and they cut you open," She made a long incison on his arm, bright red blood pouring from the cut. "I'm pretty sure you remember, when you were a kid?" she continued to talk as she made multiple cuts up on his wrists. "When they took you from your family, your friends. And they put you through hell, just because you were supposedly "lucky". They took away EVERYTHING." Cortana jammed the scapel through the still sizzling mark on his left palm, causing him to let out a faint growl. "Even your humanity..."
"How do you even take that away, John?"
"John?"
John shut his eyes tightly, trying to tune out his torturer's taunting tone. She slapped him, "Hey! It's rude to ignore someone when they're talking to you!" He clenched his teeth, "Shut up and kill me, you bitch."
He hoped being cruel toward her would hide how he truly felt. But she just laughed, "Be patient, and I will!"
She grabbed her 6 inch blade again and readied it at his neck. John closed his eyes tightly, awaiting the inevitable. Instead, he heard the ripping of fabric. He looked down and saw that his shirt was torn to shreds. "Now, with THAT out of the way, let's take a look at what i'm working with here." She giggled and blushed a bit, causing John to look at her confused. "It's funny, I haven't seen you shirtless in a while..." She laughed softly and for a moment, John swore he saw her eyes flash their familiar blue. Maybe the crazy part of her had gone away.
But then she grabbed her nearby scapel... As her eyes opened again, they were still the menacing red from before.
"Look at all the these scars!" She exclaimed. "So many guidelines to follow!" Bracing the scalpel, she cut at the scarred flesh. All John could do was bite his lip, as Cortana stabbed and slashed at his being. The pain was dull at first, then became burning and sharp. Eventually it became unbearable. He let out a pained gasp, then screamed, "STOP! JUST STOP IT!"
Cortana pouted, "I thought you'd be tougher than this, Chief!" She gritted her teeth." It's hard to finish up when you won't-be-quiet!" John didn't hear her, he panted and gasped, getting dizzy from the loss of blood. It didn't matter how "enhanced" he was, he was human, at least a small portion of him. "Just kill me already, you TWISTED BITCH!"
"Patience is a virtue, John." He lifted and slammed his back onto the table, causing another surge of pain to course through his body. "FUCK VIRTUES!"
"Tsk. Tsk. Stop being so whiney." She grabbed a pair of pliers, sharpened at the end to a point.
"Now turn your head to the right so I can see the back of your neck."
John didn't budge. He wasn't doing anything for this red-eyed monster. She swung the pliers around. "C'mon John, i'm not the patient type." He spat at her, defiant, "Never."
"Fine then!" She grabbed her blade again and jammed into his leg. He let out a cry of agony, his face tear-stained. Weakly, he turned his head to the right. Cortana smiled, "Thank you!"
She grabbed the pliers and aimed at the opening on his neck.
"You won't be needing this anymore!"
She jammed the pliers into his neck, and yanked the AI port from the hole. It pulled on the nerves, and caused an electric shock. The shocking sensation made him feel as if he shot with thousands of needles, that all broke simultaneously. John let out another painful screech, then panted, "Tell me it's almost over..."
Cortana scowled at him, her red eyes showing no sympathy, only apathy. "You're tired already?! You really are weak! I thought you'd last an hour...it's only been 35 minutes! You're no Spartan, you're a fake! An idiotic, heartless, fake! Yeah, we're done! I might you take you up on the "eat you" offer. I'd be more of a waste to stuff a weak, fake, imbecile! So selfish! Only thinking of yourself!"
John panted, "Selfish?"
Cortana glared at him, tears slowly seeping out of her eyes. "Yes, selfish." She dropped the pliers, and sat next to John on the table. She sighed and crossed her legs. "You remember don't you? High Charity?" She layed her head against his chest, calmly. John shuddered under her touch, half confused-half afraid. "I was alone for days on end. My only company? Some gravely voice in my head, taunting me constantly." She laughed half heartedly. "I don't know why I was so shocked on what he had to say." She hung her head. John's lip quivered as he tried to form words, terrified that if he spoke she would lash out. "W-why weren't you shocked?" He flinched, expecting the worst. Instead, Cortana turned to look at him. Her eyes had changed. The piercing, evil red eyes from before had turned to a cool, bright, shimmering blue. John gazed at them in awe. He couldn't hate her. Not when she looked at him like that.
"Because it was the truth..." She sighed. "If I one day just disappeared from your life...I was just an AI. I could be easily replaced." Cortana continued, her eyes welling up with tears. "I was born to die. Only to exist for seven years. Never to love or live, just serve." She placed her hand on his cheek, "Never to truly be human." John shook his head, "None of that is true." Cortana scoffed, "Just give it up, Chief. I'm going to kill you no matter what you say." She stood up off the table. "And then..." She placed her hands in the air with emphasis, "My savior, my hero, comes dashing in to my rescue! I felt like a trapped princess being rescued from a horrible dragon, with tentacles!" She laughed loudly, her eyes slowly turning red again. She turned to glare at John, her teeth clinched, "Weelll, the joke was on ME! Because, turns out, coming back to get me was just protocol wasn't it Master Chief Petty Officer John 117? Just another mission for the mean green killing machine?" She began to get hysterical, "So! In the end, YOU DIDN'T COME BACK FOR ME! Not because of a promise, but because you needed the souvenir I kept! Selfish!"
"You didn't save me because you promised! You didn't save me because you cared..."
She turned around and grabbed a cleaver. John's eyes grew wide, what else could she cut off?
Cortana glared at him, "You didn't save me because you needed me!" She was hysterically crying now, her face becoming wet with tears, "YOU NEEDED WHAT I HAD!" She slammed the cleaver down on his ankle, yet again blood spurted out, staining her cheek. John shook his head spastically,
"No I didn't! I did it because I cared!"
Cortana screamed. "SHUT UP!" The cleaver slammed on the ankle again, hitting the bone. John gritted his teeth,
"I couldn't live without you!"
She swung the cleaver multiple times while shouting, "SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" She panted, out of breath. "You're...lying..."
John shook his head, "No, I wouldn't do that..."
She straighten herself up and wiped her face, and threw the cleaver down on the table.
"I guess we're finished..."
Cortana walked to the opposite side of the table, and grabbed a blunt object. "I guess I should be the unselfish one, and put you out of your misery."
"You're...going to ...KILL...me?"
She sneered at him, "You think you're going to survive with THOSE injuries? Not even you could do that."
"But, I have so much to live for...I do have a life you know."
Cortana laughed, "You're kidding! You were built to fight, and guess what? The war's over. You're only purpose is exhausted! YOU'RE USELESS! You have no family, no friends, nobody. You have...me. And you screwed that up too!"
She flung the object in the air to reveal it to be a sledgehammer. John glanced at her, giving her a broken smile.
"...i..love..you."
Cortana smirked, "I know you do." She lifted the hammer, aiming at his chest, and glared at him.
"Goodbye, John."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"GAH!" John flung himself from his bunk, his sheets soaked from sweat, his face wet and sticky.
"It was a dream, it was only a dream..."
He looked around, he was in the bunker, where he was supposed to be. He looked to his left. The holo-tank glowed florescent blue as the tiny figure on it was curled into a ball. John was surprised he didn't wake her. He lay back down on his bunk. The war hero was used to nightmares by now, but this was unlike any other nightmare he ever had.
"But it was just a nightmare." He told himself. "It couldn't happen..."
"What couldn't happen?"
John turned around to see Cortana standing alert on the holo-tank. "Did you have another bad dream?"
John nodded, "Yeah, it's nothing..." He put his hand on the pallet. Cortana sat, her feet dangling off the side of the pedestal, her hands placed on his fingers. "Whatever it was, i'm sure it can't hurt you."
"If only she really knew..." He thought.
"Nightmares are nothing new for you, are they Chief?" She asked him, a small look of worry in her eyes. "Especially after what we've been through the past couple of years." John looked over at her in disbelief. "I'm not the one who should be having nightmares. YOU were the one trapped with a sadistic talking plant. By the way, are you feeling okay? Not "rampant" feeling?" Cortana laughed half-heartedly. "I'm fine...for now." She hung her head, "You wouldn't believe how happy I was to see you..." John chuckled softly, "Probably not as happy as I was." Cortana gave him her iconic, "You're kidding me" look. John shook his head, "Seriously, I was worried." She smiled at him, affection evident in her eyes. "Th-thank you, John."
"No, I should be thanking you."
"For what?"
"For choosing me."
Cortana laughed, "What can I say? I always fall for mysterious types." John smiled back at her, "Apparently, I have a thing for computers."
"But John?"
"Hmm?"
"Why did you come back? Did you really want to?"
John remembered from the dream how she reacted to this question. He could almost hear the *smack!* *smack!* of the cleaver and her screaming at the top of her lungs, tears streaming down her face. So, he answered truthfully.
"What was left on High Charity, was not only important to the mission, but important to me as well...and I, kind of needed the Index back."
He scratched his scalp nervously, "Good enough?" Cortana smiled at him, "More than good enough. Perfect." He gazed over at her in disbelief. "One question."
"What's that?"
"Can AIs blush?"
She chuckled, "I'm pretty sure they can't! That'd just be dumb." John sneered, "Well, i'm looking at one right now, and her cheeks are pretty rosy." Cortana scoffed, "You're sleep-deprived, that's just your imagination. Go back to sleep."
"Look at that, now your whole face is red!"
She gritted her teeth, "Hey! Go back t0 sleep or my whole body will go red!" He nodded, "Fine. Okay. But, don't do that weird thing where you watch me." Cortana smiled in response, "I make no promises. Good night, John."
THE End
STORY COPYRIGHT CLOTHED CORTANA 2012
CHARACTERS COPYRIGHT 343 INDUSTRIES; MICROSOFT
Hope you enjoyed~