A/N: This is the first fanfiction I've bothered to publish in ages, so my apologies if the writing is a bit stiff; constructive comments/critiques are welcome. Also this is a homage to my comrade Firerwolf's long-running series 'Spartan Love' - so it's sort of a fanfic of a fanfic, if you will. I highly recommend you check out all of their stories. Thanks! :)
John tapped the terminal, finalizing the command he'd just keyed into the system. Green text confirmed that the signal was received and John locked the terminal down so that no one could potentially activate the fail-safes.
"Reactors three and four are armed," John informed his teammate over their private COM channel, turning away from the console.
"Reactors five and six are armed as well," Kelly reported. "Ten minutes until meltdown."
John flashed the green-light signal to her through his HUD, acknowledging the information. The city was being taken by the Covenant, so the Spartans were looking to stop them here. Half of the reactors in the city's power plant were powered down, but John had decided to overload the remaining reactors to clear out the large concentration of Covenant that remained in the city.
"We need to get moving, or we won't be able to get out of the blast radius," John said as he started to move toward the exit. "We're also at least twenty minutes ahead of schedule until our rendezvous with the rest of Blue Team, so we have enough time to head up town," he added.
On their way into the city Kelly had noted that the outlying area to the north, where a number of civilian homes were located, was left largely untouched by the Covenant. The invading aliens seemed to have ignored it in favor of targeting the more densely populated inner parts of the city. It was out of the range of the explosion they had just rigged, and they had time to spare - meaning they could go looking for survivors. They'd had so many losses recently, and fought on too many planets where everyone was already dead, that John could tell that Kelly was almost desperate to find someone left alive this time. Quite frankly he shared her sentiment.
Kelly met him in the hallway that lead out of the power station, a noticeable spring to her step. "A nice drive through the suburbs sounds like my kind of date."
John felt a bit flustered by her referring to it as a date, even though he knew she was only teasing. Normally he appreciated how she would often use her witty remarks to lighten the mood during a mission. It helped him be less tense and think more clearly. But right now something just didn't feel right. He kept his grip relaxed but still held is battle rifle at the ready.
The Master Chief suddenly became alert as a number of enemy contacts appeared on his motion tracker. In a flash of movement Kelly drew her pistol as John raised his own weapon, turning to face the contacts that his HUD indicated were surrounding them. The two Spartans wordlessly moved to stand back-to-back, catching sight of the Elites as the aliens deactivated their active camouflage. A few Grunts were following behind them, plasma pistols charged and ready.
"So much for our extra time," Kelly muttered over their private COM channel. "What's the plan, Chief?"
"I'm open to suggestions," John replied as he assessed the enemies that were standing around them. One Field Master and two SpecOps Minors, covered by two Grunt Majors and one Grunt Minor. It was a small squad by Covenant standards, but they still had the advantage over the Spartans by being able to attack from all sides.
"Well, we could always try shooting our way out. Mix things up a little," Kelly said wryly as she leaned slightly to the left.
After years of being partners, John read her movements easily and knew exactly what was going to happen next. "I've got your back," he said, and his finger tightened on the trigger of his rifle.
Just then, the Field Master activated his energy sword and let out a loud roar, signaling the other Covenant to attack. Kelly darted to left while John ducked to the right, dodging the plasma fire that was flying around them, and breaking their enemies' formation. John heard three rapid shots fire from Kelly's gun and knew that she had just taken care of the Grunts. He then shot several bursts at the Elite that was attempting to charge him and fire its own plasma rifle at the same time. Its energy shields flared and the alien tried to leap sideways to throw off John's aim. The Master Chief was ready for this though, and shot one more round that went right through the Elite's skull.
He turned and looked to his teammate across the hall. Kelly was weaving back and forth as the other SpecOps Minor closed in on her while firing its weapon and attempting to cut off her escape. John fired and hit the Elite in the shoulder, the bullets reflecting off of the creature's shields. The Elite's millisecond pause was all the swift Spartan needed though, and Kelly jammed her pistol right into the Elite's jaws and fired twice. Its its helmet split, sending blood and bits of brain-matter flying.
"Chief, behind you!" Kelly shouted just as John heard the ping of his MJOLNIR Armor's systems alerting him to an incoming foe.
He turned just in time to be face-to-face with the Field Master as it rushed forward toward him, energy sword poised to strike. It swung down, attempting to cleave him in half, just as John took a step back and raised his rifle. John managed to fire a round but it wasn't enough to penetrate the Elite's shields. The creature didn't stop its attack, and though the sword missed hitting John's body, it did slice his gun apart with ease. The alien then pulled its arm back to make another swipe at him, but suddenly seemed to lose its balance. Kelly had run around behind the Elite and wrapped her arms around its neck, pulling it backwards. John immediately dropped the remnants of his rifle and grabbed at the alien's wrist as it flailed and growled in rage. He felt bone break as he forcibly wrenched the sword-hilt from its owner's grasp. Kelly then let the Field Master go, shoving it back towards John, who had the energy sword at the ready. The alien could do nothing to halt its own momentum as it stumbled forward and John struck out at the Elite's chest, impaling the creature on its own blade.
The Master Chief released the sword and the blade deactivated, while the lifeless body of the Field Master fell to the floor with a thud. Kelly moved up beside John, "You've got my back…And I've got yours," she said simply as she reloaded her pistol.
John nodded in affirmation, but there was no time for any more pleasantries. "Come on, we need to double-time it out of here." He turned away and started to run towards the exit.
Kelly sprinted ahead of John in seconds, though she took care not to leave him completely behind. They exited the power station and ran for the warthog they had parked behind one of the adjacent buildings in a spot that was fairly out of sight. Kelly leapt up into the back of the vehicle and readied the machine-gun turret as John got into the driver seat. He started the engine and floored the gas pedal, speeding down the road that lead out of the power plant and away from the city's center. They passed a few Covenant patrols, but John did not slow down or change his course, and they were always well away before the aliens could even fire off a shot.
The timer on his HUD began to flash red as the countdown clock they'd set reached its final minute. John stayed focused on the road ahead, and just as they made it off the highway and onto one of the smaller roads leading to the outskirts of the city, the timer expired. Kelly crouched down and braced herself against the turret, and John kept driving even as the thunderous sound of the power plant's reactors exploding went off in the distance and the shockwaves rattled the warthog.
A few minutes later the Master Chief brought the car to a stop at the side of the road. Over the COM he heard Kelly let out a low whistle as they both turned and looked at the mushroom-cloud now looming over the city. John shook his head slightly. He was not happy with the destruction, but at the same time satisfied that they had at least eliminated a large portion of the Covenant and stopped them from getting a foothold in this area. Kelly hopped from the gunner position and slid into the passenger seat as John started up the car once more. However, instead of turning east toward their pre-designated extraction point, he continued north along the road toward the suburban area.
"Chief?" he heard Kelly ask.
John could hear the conflicting emotions in her voice and knew the entirety of what she was asking without any more words. "We still have a little extra time. If we do this quickly, we can make a sweep of the area for survivors without jeopardizing the mission," he answered her.
"Roger that," Kelly responded firmly.
Once they'd reached the neighborhood Kelly exited the warthog and darted up and down the streets, with John slowly following behind in the car. Kelly entered each house, quickly scanned the interior for any signs of life and called out in search of civilians, and then moved on to the next. John could see no real evidence of fighting - no plasma burns anywhere, and no blood on the ground. So hopefully that meant that all the people that were living here got away safely. He checked his mission clock on his HUD and saw they really were running short on time. He couldn't have Fred and Linda holding the pelican for more than a few minutes, as they had other mission objectives and other areas they needed to try and lockdown on this planet. As Kelly exited the last house on the block they were currently on, John honked the horn once to signal for her to return.
She jogged over and climbed into the vehicle. "I guess that means time's up," she said ruefully over the COM.
"I'm sorry, Kelly. But there doesn't seem to be anyone here. There's nothing more we can do now; we have to meet up with the rest of Blue Team," he replied as he turned the warthog around and started heading toward the extraction point.
Kelly nodded, and didn't say anything more for the rest of the drive. John was fairly confident that his assumption about the civilians being evacuated was correct. Though at the same time he was aware there was still the possibility that some stragglers or children had hunkered-down in their homes. If only they hadn't been held up by that firefight earlier; then he and Kelly might have been able to do a more thorough search of the area. Unfortunately it was out of their hands now. Even though the Spartans were known for doing things other people would consider impossible, they still couldn't stop time.
They were only overdue by about two minutes, and as they approached John could see Fred and Linda waiting by the rear hatch of the pelican, its thrusters already alight and ready for takeoff. He and Kelly wasted no time in ditching the warthog and boarded the transport along with their two teammates.
"You had me worried for a second there, Chief," Fred said once they were in the air. "Thought you two might've gotten caught in that explosion you set off downtown." The relief in his voice was easily heard. Fred was an excellent soldier, and had all the qualities needed of a good leader - except for his tendency to let even small setbacks get under his skin.
"Everything was under control," John stated resolutely. "We made a brief stop as we were on our way out of the city to search for stranded civilians. If any serious snags had come up, we would've hailed you." As the leader of all the Spartan-IIs, it was John's duty to maintain command authority during missions and be an example of strength, even when amongst his closest friends.
"Understood," Fred replied, and he leaned back in his seat across from John. Sitting beside Fred, Linda was silent as per the norm, holding her sniper rifle in her lap. Kelly was in the seat next to John, and stayed quiet as well. John's arms rested at his sides, with the hand that sat in the space between him and Kelly turned palm-side up. After a minute, he felt Kelly lightly place her hand over his. John gently closed his fingers around her own. They remained that way for the rest of the flight to their next drop-off point.
It was another three weeks before the planet, like so many before it, finally fell to the Covenant. On the ground, Blue Team had laid waste to more aliens than could even be counted. But in the end the UNSC could not stand up to the might of the Covenant's spaceships. They were forced to abandon the burning world and retreat.
The Spartans stood on the bridge of one of the remaining frigates as they were debriefed by the ship's Captain. They were informed that would have to wait until the ship was a safe distance away before they could contact HIGHCOM and receive new orders. After they were dismissed, the Spartans went their separate ways for a short while. John headed to the observation deck of the ship to think; he didn't like being idle, but until he knew what their next assignment was there wasn't much else he could do.
He removed his helmet, turning it over in his hands as he contemplated their last few missions, rethought various strategies, and wondered when the next time they'd get to see Reach would be. He was not surprised or uncomfortable when someone came to stand beside him. The sound of her steps was something his ears recognized right away - heavier than a marine's in combat boots, but lighter and more fluid than any other Spartan's could be.
"I knew I'd find you here," Kelly said softly.
Being alone with Kelly always seemed to take some of the proverbial weight from John's shoulders. And although they couldn't be completely open in terms of their relationship while standing in plain sight on the observation deck, he didn't have to keep up the same bravado he used when around Fred or the others. He allowed himself a short, dry laugh, "Am I really becoming so predictable?"
"Maybe just to me," she answered with a small smile. "By the way, I just read a report on the communications terminal listing the refugee statistics from the major urban areas of that planet. It included that residential district we searched a few weeks ago - and confirmed it had indeed been evacuated safely before we began our operation within the city. It feels good to know that in our rush we didn't leave anyone behind after all."
John looked to her and nodded, "That is a relief. And I'll take any good news that we can get right now." Every loss was hard for him to accept, but it was always somewhat comforting to know that at least a fair number of people had still been saved.
"You know, I'll have to catalog that skirmish in the power plant as one of our finest moments as a team so far." Kelly continued as she grinned at him and lightly bumped her shoulder against his.
"Really? Because I don't think your idea of how to 'mix things up a little' was a valid tactical suggestion." John smirked slightly as he teased her back.
"Well you have to admit, at least the line sounded good," Kelly said. She shrugged nonchalantly, something that wasn't easy to do in full MJOLNIR.
John let out another single huff of laughter, "I suppose it did. Maybe I'll have to use that one myself sometime." He quirked an eyebrow at Kelly and smiled slyly, enjoying their little game.
"I don't know, John. I'm not sure you could pull it off," Kelly replied with exaggerated skepticism. "That's why providing the clever commentary has always been my job. Besides, we both know your timing is terrible."
Before he could respond, Kelly then leaned up and placed a quick kiss on his lips.
After she pulled away, John was left staring at his partner as he tried to suppress the flush he felt creeping onto his face. He knew exactly how he wanted to retaliate: by pulling her into his arms and putting her little show of affection to shame...However, he also knew that it definitely would not be appropriate to take such action outside of a private space. Suddenly remembering where they were, John furrowed his brow and gave Kelly a scolding look. The kiss had been brief, but it was still too risky for her to have done so at a time and place like this where anyone could walk in on them at any moment.
As always though, Kelly read him like an open book - and was completely unfazed by his disapproval. "My apologies, John. The next time we're out of our armor you'll have to properly reprimand me for my misconduct," she said airily as she looked away from him, triumph plastered all over her face.
John sighed and shook his head. Yet he couldn't stop the small smile that formed on his lips. He brushed his fingers against hers and she returned the touch gently, as they stood side-by-side in comfortable silence.