Author's Note: Yeah, it's me again. I know I said on DA that I wanted to hold off publishing this story here while Disease is updated regularly (more or less) but since it is finished I feel really bored. Originally the first fanfiction was a kind of experiment for me, an experiment to figure out if I'm able to write a whole story in English. It worked and well, I decided to continue it but I wasn't really happy with it all the time (no worries, that doesn't mean that the ones of you who like Disease won't get the ending). Since many readers found it very amusing (all the banter etc.) I considered that the next one had to be more serious - and Haunting Shadows is what finally came out. Please don't get me wrong, humor was in the spotlight of Disease and I was glad that so many people appreciated it. :)

So what is expecting you? More action, more character depth, a berserker and many more. It may well be that this story is similar to the first one on some points. If so, I'm sorry but I guess it's just my style of writing. Another thing, I'm keeping away from adult scenes this time. ;)

Last but not least I would particularly like to thank Mana4X2 for being my beta. We got into a conversation and she was interested in the story, read the first two chapters and gave me worthwhile feedback. :) You should check out her epic story, Deployable Weapon. It's one of the best around this site.

I don't own any of the characters (except some Stranded OCs in the last chapters); they are all property of Epic Games.

Chapter 1: Welcome back, Soldier

Yes, she had lost the child. But it hadn't been her fault; why should it have been? What should she have done when the polyps overran the COG base? Abandon her comrades – her family – to their fate and save her own ass? She'd been pregnant but that didn't mean that she'd been inoperativetoo.

However, now the baby was gone and she was going to return to duty.

When she knocked on the head quarter's door und finally entered the room, she was full of hope to be allocated to a mission or at least to one of the squads even today – after having had bed rest for the last few days.

"Private Byrne." Hoffman was looking at her. Needless to say that he was up to date. Every fucking person on this fucking island was up to date. All these pitiful views alone could have made her vomit.

"Colonel." Samantha Byrne just nodded, keeping her thoughts to herself.

"Good to see you again. Admittedly, the circumstances are a bit…" Hoffman paused for a moment.

C'mon. Just say it. Sucking ass.

"… unfortunate, but a soldier of your caliber was really missing."

Sam nodded again.

And that's how it works. You can't handle to do your bit for saving humankind from extinction – so you gonna end where you started from.

"I was told that you want to return to duty as quickly as possible. So I would have two options for you. Either you are due to keep company with Alpha Squad or you rejoin Del-"

"The latter," Sam interrupted the Colonel.

Now it was Hoffman who nodded. "You can find Fenix and his squad at the port, watching over the sea."

"Got it." The brunette woman then left the control room, not sure why she'd chosen her usual squad. Must have been instinct or something like that…

The further she approached her mark, the more the thoughts in her head began to circle. This would be the first time in days since she'd seen him.

From a distance she could already see Cole who was turning his head towards her at this moment. Inconspicuously he nudged his buddy Baird's boot with his own. When the blonde didn't react he repeated the procedure – with the same result. Okay, it was time for the hard way.

"Hey Sam, you are back!" he finally called. Marcus, Jace and Dom were now looking up, too. Baird was the only one who didn't do anything.

"That's how it goes," she answered, standing still next to Cole. For a moment she wondered why Anya wasn't with them, but then her view focused on Baird. The blonde obviously treated her as if she wasn't there. It hurt, but basically she should have been aware of that. It had been all just a sense of obligation on his part.

Cole closed in to Baird a bit, leaving enough space for Sam to take a seat. It was already dark and the squad had made itself comfortable around a fire, considering that everything was peaceful at the moment. Since the said Lambent attack on the base no more incidents had happened.

Sam sat down beside Cole. Then silence infected the stifling air. For minutes.

Marcus was the first one who took a peek at the circle. Perhaps he was also the only one who was able to understand what was going on between Sam and Baird. A blind man could see that Sam was anything but okay. Even Baird; he had to notice it. And Marcus was damn sure that he did. In fact all the blonde did wasn't too different from what he'd done himself all the time. Terrifying similarities which Marcus now observed, recognizing himself from the outside. All that on-again, off-again, the sex, vanishing in the middle of the night, the frantic getting back to business as usual the next day…

"Shit." He got up and disappeared somewhere in the darkness.

Dom watched him go, knowing for sure what was going on in his head.

You see the similarities, don't you, Marcus?

But yes, of course, Dom had noticed the tension in the atmosphere as well. Somehow it made him feel sorry whenever he came into contact with people who didn't have the ability to be quite clear about their feelings. Baird and Sam were the latest example. They had hurt each other day after day once more. And since this special incident the lack of communication was dominating them both.

Dom finally raised his head; his gaze first met Baird's, then Sam's. The tension increased when they both looked at each other for a second. In spite of everything Dom had great respect for Sam, after experiencing all this shit. If there was one person who was able to understand how it felt to lose your children then it was definitely him. He closed his eyes, shaking his head and then stood up too. Someone had to give Corporal Bigmouth a piece of his mind.

Dom departed several meters from the group. Under a pretext he then enticed Baird to follow him. "Hey Baird, can you have a look at this boat here? Looks… broken!" he yelled in the blonde's direction.

Baird straightened himself, sighing. "What would you do without me?" He then trailed Dom's voice. "Where?"

Dom pointed at a small abandoned boat. The blonde gave it a cursory glance, before he finally smelled the rat. He lifted one eyebrow and turned his head towards the bearded man. "Are you kidding me? There's nothing!"

Now Dom was looking serious. "Listen. I don't know how often I've said this to Marcus in recent years, but… God, go and have a straight talk with her! Can't you see that she's feeling shitty?" Baird's silence almost burned him up. "She was pregnant by you! Don't you latch onto this? You two nearly had a child."

"Fft! Exactly. Nearly." The blonde tried hard to look unimpressed. "Not anymore. So why should I care any longer?"

"Don't act like it only would've mattered if you'd actually had the child!"

"You are funny, Santiago. No kidding. You can see where all this shit leads when looking at your own life. Wife dead, children dead. Thumps up." Baird patted him on the shoulder, making his way back to the fire. Okay, so these hadn't been quite his wisest and nicest words but somehow Dom had to get that he couldn't change the world the way he would like to. Nevertheless this time he really had been an asshole, he had to admit that.

Arriving at the group Baird finally sat down, followed by Dom who now kept quiet but didn't discontinue his doubtful glances. The blonde felt like he had to ease the situation, defuse the ticking bomb. "Where's Sergeant Dickhead?"

Dom flashed his eyes at him. "I guess he's rethinking his behavior. Other persons could also do with that."

Suddenly Baird jumped up. "You have a fucking problem, Santiago?"

"You are my problem!" Dom followed suit, looking him straight in the eye.

The mouthy Gear grunted threateningly and held Dom's gazeuntil Sam sighed, joining the club by also jumping up. "So what? We are all in the know. Everybody here and on this island knows that Baird and me had a fling with each other. Everybody knows that this ended up in a pregnancy and everybody knows that Baird makes no secret of being an asshole," the brunette woman said, looking at Baird.

"You better watch your mouth!" he threatened.

"Why should I? You can't trash me away like garbage; you've already done this! So what do you want to do?"

"What should I do with a woman who apparently is too stupid to take it easy? Hell, you were suspended from duty, may I remind you of that? If there's one person who should have a remorse then it's definitely you, Sam! It's your fault what happened, just for the record!" Baird pressed his forefinger against Sam's chest. "Fucking bitch."

That was it. There was prompt silence once again. Sam stared at him, stunned, while Cole shook his head and buried his face in his hands afterwards. Dom on the other hand was about to say something when he noticed Sam clenching her fist and punching Baird right in his face. The blonde could hear his nose cracking and shortly after that he could taste blood in his mouth.

"Goddamn asshole!" the female Gear yelled at him. "I'm through with you! Fuck you! I just hope that one day you will choke by your own shit!" Then she left the squad at a quick pace.

"Yeah, yeah, fuck you, too!" Baird called after her, speaking through his nose readily. He wiped away the blood which didn't stop running out of his nose.

"That's your own fault, Damon Baby." Cole finally stated, ready to go after Sam. When Dom wanted to do the same he stopped him. "I'll do that." The former Trashball player left, searching for the woman.

"Baird, you can't be all there!" Dom gave his full attention back to Baird.

"Well, screw you, Santiago! Why the fuck are you interfering in this? Stay out of this!"

"Pissing others off permanently and being surprised about their reactions?"

Suddenly the remaining Gears turned their heads. Marcus was back.

"Never thought I'd ever say that in my life, but… Baird, you are even more emotionally crippled than me." The Sergeant then sat down again.

Meanwhile Dom pulled Baird around. "Fuck, go and apologize to her. She wasn't responsible for what happened. Go and blame these Lambent bastards who nearly ripped out her guts!" He knew for sure that his big mouth was a defense mechanism once again. It was obvious that the whole situation wasn't easy to handle for him either. Yes, it was a sad story but, in spite of it all, accusing each other wasn't the solution.

"What do you know?" Baird first cursed and then went away.

"You are on duty right now." Marcus reminded him.

"You were, too. And it didn't matter to you, did it? Do me a favor and don't show off, okay asshole?" This were the last words Dom, Marcus and Jace heard from the blonde.

"Someday I'm gonna break his jaw," Marcus murmured.

Sam wandered around aimlessly. Her eyes were already burning, while she tried to keep her tears under. She didn't want so come out the girl. But in the end she no longer had success in maintaining her composure; her tears began running down her cheeks.

She moved along. Cole was following a few meters further back. He didn't rightly know what to do but then he decided to catch her attention. "Sam! Baby, hang on!"

Sam didn't react – not even when Cole finally put his hands on her shoulder, making her stop. She was trembling. He guessed that she was already crying and just didn't want to show it. Out of respect for her he let her go. "The idiot didn't mean it…"

Sam didn't answer. Instead she desperately tried to wipe away her tears, but they came back again and again. "Shit…" Her voice was shaking. From then on it was all the same to her; she turned around to Cole, her hair already stuck to her wet cheeks. "Why? Why does he say all this shit?"

Cole looked lost, before Sam pressed against him. "Why's it my fault? Fuckin' tell me!"

"It probably just… He quite often doesn't think about what he says."

Wow, Damon. This time you really did a good job…

Sometimes Cole felt like he was the only one who understood women. Maybe Dom could have outstripped him. However, he couldn't really understand his best friend. Sure, they all were used to his bitchy behavior and the fact that he was often overdoing things, but this time he definitely went too far. Man, he had never seen Sam like this before…

He was jolted out of his thoughts when someone was clearing his throat. It was Baird.

Wow, shit. What must this look like?

At least Cole had still put his arms around Sam.

"Well, did you have to moan at Cole about how oh-so horrible I am?" Baird immediately continued where he had ended before Sam left.

"Baby, cut the crap!" Cole tried his best to shut him up before he could get obsessed about the whole issue further and further.

"I wasn't talking to you." Baird fixed the brunette woman. Apparently it was another bizarre way on his part to express an apology. A new language; Bairdish or something like that. Nobody knew.

Sam, who had regained her poise, was staring back at Baird now. "Fuck off!"

"You would like that, wouldn't you?" Baird put his hands on his hips. "Leaving you alone with Cole."

Okay, so now it was absolutely clear that the blonde viewed Cole as an intruder at this moment - an intruder into his territory.

Holy shit, why does this always happen to me?

Cole gently pushed Sam aside and lifted his hands, apologizing.

"You have a problem with me and Cole being alone?" The brunette's eyes flashed at Baird. She then pulled his buddy back to her and quickly pressed her lips on his.

Cole's eyes just widened, watching the other man from their corners. He didn't look too amused.

Shit, man! What's the point of that?

Now he was fully included in this whole drama. There wasn't a way out. And when Sam finally stopped kissing him, flipping Baird off and then leaving, he was more than sure that he would get a clout off his friend. Indeed he did. It didn't take long until the Corporal came towards him and socked him on the jaw, making him lose his balance and fall to the ground. After that Baird was gone, too.

Cole looked at him while he passed by, his hand reaching his chin. Fuck, that hurt. "Holy shit, I didn't do a thing…" he murmured.