Disclaimer: I do not own GOW, only Keira and the plot.

Summary: Okay, so this is basically a prequel to Worlds Apart. Keira Sullivan is a lonely twenty one year old, with dreams of having her own family only having them to be mocked by a Damon Baird...

Abandoned House, Jacinto

She lay curled up in the corner of the ruined house; short, ear-length messy reddish-brown hair covering her face partially. Clutching a silver pendant to her chest, Keira closed her shadowed and sleepless eyes. Attempting to at least catch half an hour's worth of sleep before she knew she had to be on the move again. Like always. The concrete floor beneath her wasn't exactly comfortable, nor the right kind of bed. Though Keira supposed she ought to be grateful for the fact Locust hadn't found her.... yet. So she took the chance to make the most of it, and slowly but surely the short woman drifted off to an uneasy sleep.

Few miles away from abandoned house, Jacinto

"Baird! Get the hell over here!" The blond COG soldier groaned to himself, and shot a dark look over at the bandanna-wearing, scarred cheeked man. Damon Baird peeked over the top of his sandbags to make sure it was safe; once deciding the Locust were a little occupied with the rest of his squadmates, Baird picked himself up and dodged and hurled his way to a place next to Marcus Fenix behind a wall. "You ought to be thankful I didn't get scrapped just then," he panted. Marcus gave a typical roll of his eyes and pulled a grenade out. Throwing it out past the wall to the middle of a Locust group; both men listening and watching in satisfaction as blood and guts spattered everywhere.

"WHOOO YEAH! Oh yeah, baby! This what I'm talkin' bout right here!" Shouted a confident, male voice. Baird resisted the urge to grin at his long-time friend who was examining a few of the Locust corpses. "Jeez Cole, shout s'more and we'll have a whole army on our hands." Baird spoke irritably, but both he and Cole knew he was just playing around. Another man clapped Augustus "Cole Train" Cole on the back, chuckling slightly. 'Looks like we won this round... for now." Dominic Santiago smiled, though it was a rather distant one with Maria on his mind constantly.

Marcus pressed the earpiece in his ear, speaking loudly. "Control, this is Delta. Do you read?" He waited for a few moments before he got the answer he wanted. "Loud and clear, Marcus. Well done taking care of the courtyard. We'll be sending in troops to keep the area guarded and Locust-free. Uhh..." Anya's voice trailed off, and Marcus frowned. Her trailing off never sounded good. "What is it, Anya?"

"I'm detecting... wow. Quite a LOT of Locust activity just a few miles from your current position, Marcus. Get there now, before they take out our King Ravens. Head South." Anya spoke sharply. "Will do, Anya. Delta out." He then turned to his waiting squadmates. "We have a new objective. Gotta take out some more Locust before they take out the King Ravens. South, few miles. Let's move, Delta." Marcus reloaded his Lancer and started stomping off in the direction. Baird sent a death glare at Marcus' back, grumbling to Cole, "I swear there'd better be some kinda benefit from this.."

Back at the abandoned house, Jacinto

At the sound of guns firing and people shouting, Keira reluctantly opened her sleep-ridden eyes. She groaned softly, her back sore from the uncomfortable ground. Sitting up, Keira crawled over to a window and peeked out. Four COG soldiers had arrived to take care of the nearby Locust infestation. And then, one of the soldiers saw her. She quickly slammed herself back onto the ground, swallowing. Keira bit down on her lip as the gunfire eventually stopped. Pressing herself against the wall, she watched terrified as the door to the small house opened. Revealing the soldier who had spotted her before.

"Hey SIR! Looks like we got ourselves a Stranded.." Baird yelled over his shoulder, staring at the woman. At first, all he noticed was the bruises and cuts her lovely face had. Then he allowed his downstairs brain (which he hadn't used in forever) to take over, looking her up and down with such arrogance that made the girl tremble slightly. A smirk lit his battle-hardened face; though before Baird could say anything dirty to her Marcus appeared. Shoving his way past Baird into the house, looking down at the woman.

"State ya name." Marcus growled at Keira, who grinded her teeth and managed to stand up. She shoved some hair away from her eyes, hands on her hips. "State yours first, Gear, and then maybe I'll let you have the privilege of knowing mine." She spoke boldly, causing Baird to snicker slightly and whisper something to Cole. Marcus gave an annoyed sideways glance to Baird, and then back at Keira. "Sergeant Marcus Fenix, Delta Squad, COG. Now you.." He spoke a little impatiently. Cole, as soon as he was sure Marcus wasn't looking, whispered back to Baird. Keira gave a small sigh and licked her dry lips. "Keira Sullivan, citizen and..." -A glare at Baird- "Stranded.."

Dom gave a start, moving forward eyes fixed on Keira. "Sullivan? Was your father... Raphael Sullivan by any chance?" He asked curiously, now aware that all eyes were on him but not caring. Keira stared at Dom, swallowing slightly. She gave a small nod, crossing her arms. "And who might you be?" Keira gestured to the other three COGs. Baird grinned cockily, and he was the first to speak. "Private Damon Baird... but you can call me anything you want, sweetheart." He wiggled his eyebrows, which were only just hidden by his goggles. Marcus gave a huff of annoyance, though they had accomplished their objective so he let this roll. For now.

Keira didn't miss the flash of lust in Baird's eyes, and was about to slap him when she thought better of it. She guessed these COG soldiers probably hadn't had sex in weeks? So really, Keira knew she couldn't blame Baird, if he was indeed feeling lustful. She turned her attention to the next guy, who introduced himself as the Cole Train. And the third one, was Dominic Santiago. That name seemed familiar, though she couldn't guess why.

"What are ya doin' out here so far near those damn Locusts?" Marcus looked at Keira, his gaze hard and piercing. She gazed back, quite unnerved. "Maybe I wanna get back at those bastards... they killed m-" Trailing off, Keira studied the ground. Dom could've sworn he heard her heart break silently. "Alright, well.... we'll have someone pick you up and take you to a secure area." Fenix sighed, moving away and pressing his earpiece.

"Control, this is Delta. Objective accomplished; we've found a Stranded woman called Keira Sullivan. What's her background info?" Marcus spoke quietly, looking back to see Baird attempting to hit on Keira who merely raised an eyebrow and laughed. "Keira Sullivan... okay, here we go. Her father was a COG General. served under him at one point... but that's all we got." Anya reported. Marcus frowned to himself. "Hmm... why do I get the feeling.. she's more than she seems?"