A/N: This one-shot is inspired by one of my other fanfictions, The Freelancers of Noble Team. My editor and I are both tired of reading boring and predictable Halo fanfictions with Noble Six being a stoic immortal robot, and we want to…shall we say, experiment a bit.

Haunted

Summary: "You shouldn't let yourself fall apart like this," Carter whispered. His arms reached out to her, and she shied away, unable to meet his eyes. "You don't understand. You never had to kill innocents. You…you never had to kill the one person you loved."

Carter sat in his quarters, flexing his fingers and opening a file on his personal computer in front of him. "Journal entry 032. It's been a week since I last did one of these. Things have started to take a turn for the worst. We've just lost Kat and Jorge due to the Covenant, and while most of our team is professional enough to hide it, I can tell they are still shaken."

The Commander glanced at the bright green numbers at the bottom, and he let out a yawn. "But, they aren't the biggest concern right now. My main worry is the Lieutenant. She's always been quiet and antisocial, but now, it seems to be getting worse with her. I know she doesn't want me to know it, but I'm aware of her entire file. Including the things ONI really didn't want me to see."

The clock red 0300 hours, and he sighed as he heard someone else outside, wandering the halls of the base. 'I know what you're doing, Lieutenant. You can't do this to yourself. You purposely cut off your suit's speakers so we can't hear you. But your eyes give you away.' "Maybe I should talk to her in private. It wouldn't be good if the rest of Noble Team finds out her secret."

Carter turned off his computer and stood up, stretching. Normally, the Commander would be asleep himself. But Noble Six's behavior wasn't something he could continue to ignore. He opened the door of his quarters and walked outside, and further down the hall, he could see a woman with red hair slumped against the wall. "Lexi…" 'I've seen your file. Every last bit of it. But something happened that ONI didn't report, didn't it?'

The Lieutenant held a hand over her face, and even though it was quiet, Carter could hear her crying. 'Just how much of your past haunts you? Is it as bad as I fear?' He walked over to her before sitting down next to her, looking ahead. "Lexi…there's no reason for you to hide it from me anymore. I know what you've been doing."

Noble Six didn't let anyone but Carter call her by her real name, and the redhead let out another sob. "I…I don't want to live with this torment anymore. I can't take it…I just can't." Carter saw a pair of tags around her neck, and he picked them up, running a finger over them. "Daniel Anderson. ODST Staff Sergeant." 'Her old lover.'

Lexi cried even harder, burying her face and gripping her sticky red hair. "Discharge me for instability. Go on. Just do it!" The Commander was shocked by her outburst, and he placed a hand on her shoulder as she cried. "I'm not going to do that to you. But after this mission to torch Sword Base is done, I will try my best to get you to a place that can help you. You might be a Spartan, but you're still prone to human emotion, no matter how much 'emotionless robot soldier' bullshit ONI loves spinning to the press." 'I wouldn't do that to you, even if I was able to. You need someone. More than anything.'

Lexi didn't answer him; her body shook with each sob, and tears were dripping from her cheeks to the cold floor. Her red hair, once very soft and the story of many jealous conversations between Kat and the many female ODSTs, had lost its shine. It was dull, and it looked as though it hadn't washed properly in awhile.

"You shouldn't let yourself fall apart like this," Carter whispered. His arms reached out to her, and she shied away, unable to meet his eyes. "You don't understand. You never had to kill innocents. You…you never had to kill the one person you loved."

Carter sighed and ran a hand up and down her back, trying his damned best to comfort the distraught Spartan. "Maybe. But as the Commander of this team, I'm still responsible for Jorge's, Kat's, and Thom's deaths. To be a good leader, you have to love your men as if they're your children. But to be a good commander, you have to be willing to destroy that what you love. It's the one aspect of command I hate."

Six winced at the mention of the now deceased Spartans, and she removed her hands from her face to reveal green eyes with puffy red rings around them. "C-carter…" She swallowed painfully, tears dripping down her cheeks. "I…I was forced to murder over a thousand civilians. All on unproven accounts of terrorism. All of them had a case for their innocence, and I murdered them on orders from ONI."

"I know," Carter murmured quietly. "Even though Section Three didn't want me to see, I had a 'smart' AI get rid of the censors. I checked the civilians' records; they had no track record of any terrorist activity. ONI didn't care; they wanted you to slaughter them to make it look like they were making progress on the Insurrection threat." 'It's not right. We're in the middle of a galactic war; the last thing we need to be doing is killing each other. To know the civilians were innocent and have her slaughter them regardless…I refuse to believe Admiral Parangosky approved that order.'

Carter ran a hand through her hair, his fingers breaking a series of knots. "But…you can't run away from it forever. Sooner or later, you'll have to accept it and let those scars heal." Lexi sniffled, wiping her eyes and resting her head on Carter's shoulder, letting out a quiet sob. "C-carter...I didn't want to do it. We tried so hard to keep our relationship secret, and yet someone close to him found out and told an ONI agent. From there…it was the end. I gunned him down; he forgave me, said he would always love me. Yet…"

The Commander let her hands grip his armor, and he held her in a tight embrace. "Lexi, never forget this; I will stand by you and help you through this. I won't tell Jun or Emile, either. You can trust me." 'Kat, Jorge, Thom…I'm not going to lose another member of this team. You especially.'

Lexi rested her head against him, flashing him a look through watery eyes. "T-thank you…" Carter rubbed her back comfortingly, and this time, she allowed the Commander to pick her up. "Come on kiddo. I'll watch over you." The redhead blinked, her body relaxing in his arms. "Y-you mean it?"

"I promise."

A/N: Short, but meh. I don't like writing long one-shots (unless it's a smut), and I sorta like a ship between a female Six and Carter. I was tempted to do a full story for it, but someone beat me to it…though if you ask me, their version of Six is too talkative for my taste. I like a quieter and darker one. See you!