Shade grabbed a DMR from the nearby rack and Nick did the same, hoping to follow her example. ''Hey, Nick. That Elite earlier mentioned a Tavu 'Nacam. I that you?'' He nodded in reply.

''Yes, the name I left behind with those ruthless killers.'' he said. He managed to figure out how to use the DMR and smiled to himself.

''If you two are done talking, we got hostiles to take care of.'' Jorge reminded them, throwing a flare down the open hall. Just some easy to deal with Grunts and the occasional Elite. Few shots here, few broken Grunt necks there. The next room, however wasn't as easy. It was much more open, but there was two Elites here, although Shade didn't notice.

''Flush 'em out. I got you covered.'' Jorge said as he stayed at the nearby edge. Shade headed down a slope, grabbing a spare grenade from the dead marine on the way. She dealt with the Grunts in a pistol shot and one grenade before taking on the Elite. It was evasive, but fell to Shade's fist nonetheless. She thought that was everything, but she didn't notice the other Elite. But it noticed her.

''Think that's everything.'' she called to Jorge, but the last Elite used this moment to it's advantage. It crept behind Shade and plunged the Energy Sword it was carrying into her back and through her armor. Everyone was caught by surprise.

''SIX!''Jorge yelled, firing away at the Elite in an attempt to save her. But it was too late as Shade went still and was thrown aside. Everything went white before black.

Shade opened her eyes not too soon later. She was staring at the slope leading into the large room she just died in, but she was alive.

''Six? Are you alright?''Jorge asked. He didn't seem to know what just happened.

''Yeah, somehow.'' Shade said. Nick seemed to be unphased by it, as if it was an everyday occurrence. The female Sparten looked at him, but he gave her a look of ''I'll explain later.''

Jorge repeated the line from last time, and Nick went with Shade. ''Lure the Elites to me. I'll wait right here.'' he said, activating his camouflage. Shade nodded and ran out, dealing with the Grunts like before. She easily took care of them and lead the Elites back towards the slope where Nick was. Nick waited until the right moment to steal the Energy Sword from the one Elite and use it to kill said Elite. He then impaled the other Elite and kicked it off into the wall Shade was standing at. The area was clear on second try.

''Noble Five reporting. Targets neutralized.''Jorge said over comms to Carter.

''Kat needs you to reset a junction, do it and get back here.'' Carter replied. Nick headed over and reset the junction for the team before heading back to the slope to join the others. But he was stopped by the the Elite he had kicked into the wall who grabbed his ankle.

''Tavu. Why...did you leave?'' it asked, it's voice weak. ''You were a...respectable warrior. Your mate...worries about you. About your...life. She wants...to see you...again. Will...you...come...back?'' it handed Nick some sort of device, and Nick took it. ''Make...your...choice... Heretic...'' The Elite went limp after it spoke it's last word. Nick said nothing as he turned and walked past Shade and Jorge. The Spartans exchanged looks of confusion before following Nick out.

When they got back to the others, Nick went past them and waited away from everyone else. Kat and Carter were talking between themselves about the condition of the relay outpost.

''How long?'' Carter asked to start with.

''Question of my life.'' Kat replied. ''If the question is, when will this station be back online, two weeks, earliest. This is plasma damage. All major uplink components are fried.''

''Two minutes is too long.''

''Which is why I'm splicing into the main overland bundle to get you a direct line to Colonel Holland.'' That was enough to make Carter shut up. Just to make sure, Kat added, ''You're in my light, Commander.''

Carter turned to Jorge and the girl he was next to. ''Find out what she knows.'' Jorge knelt down next to the girl and began talking to her. Shade, on the other hand, wanted to check on Nick. He would normally have grumble by now, but he was looking at the device in his hand every time Shade looked at him. Sometimes he was looking at her and muttering something. Emile gave a small chuckle when he noticed the female's concern.

''Worried about your boyfriend, Six?'' came his smart remark. Shade glared at him.

''Tavu isn't my boyfriend, Emile. But...yeah. I am worried.'' Shade replied. She looked over at Nick once more. While they had been talking to each other, Jorge had been talking to the girl. Naturally, Emile couldn't resist making a remark about it.

''Big man forgets what he is sometimes.'' Typical Emile.

Jorge came over and stood threateningly over him. ''She just lost her father.'' he said through gritted teeth. He walked over to Carter to explain the situation. ''She needs a full psychiatric work up.''

''She's not the only one. Six's boyfriend could too.'' Emile said. Shade was so glad she hadn't taken her helmet off. She was blushing harder every time boyfriend was mentioned. Nick, on the other hand, just got annoyed.

''Do you wish to have your blood splattered on my armor?'' the Sangheili snarled, marching towards Emile. ''It can be arranged, skull faced Demon.''

Luckily, before it got to that, Carter stepped in. ''Lock it down, both of you. No-one is killing anyone else.'' Nick gave a growl to Emile before walking over to Shade and standing near her. He seemed to want comfort from her. ''Get her on her feet. The body stays here.'' Carter instructed Jorge.

''Thank you, sir.'' Jorge replied. He gave a hard glare at Emile before helping the girl to her feet.

''Signal!'' Kat exclaimed. ''It's patchy, but it's there.'' Carter took off his helmet.

''I'll take it.'' he replied. Kat paused her leave for a moment.

''Best not touch anything. You wouldn't want to ground this place.'' Everyone else but Shade and Nick had left already. ''Come on, Six. Best not to listen in to this.''

Shade nodded hesitantly and lead Nick out slowly. With no-one looking, Nick stopped moving, and so did Shade. Nick removed her helmet for her, and looked into her blue eyes. She was still blushing from earlier. ''Does he speak the truth about you and I?'' he asked.

Shade thought for a second. Did she really like him? Would he hate her is she said no? There was only one way to find out. ''It's...not that advanced yet. I wouldn't say you were my...boyfriend.'' she replied nervously. Nick cocked his head as her nervousness.

''You sound nervous. Why would that be?'' he asked. Shade didn't respond, just looking away and blushing. ''Are you afraid I would be offended?'' Shade still didn't say anything, but did nod in confirmation. Nick sighed a little. ''It is true I have a mate on my home world, but I wouldn't be safe to return to her. Every act of heresy I've done will make me a target for any guard. This could all be a trick. She's probably given up on me since I left...'' He looked away from Shade, looking at the device once more.

Shade put a hand on his shoulder. ''I'm sorry to hear that.'' was all she could say. Nick put the device away and turned back to Shade. Despite her not having much to say for comfort, Nick did something she didn't expect him to; he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She was too surprised to react, so just let her arms hang by her sides. He rested his head on hers and closed his eyes for a bit.

''I admit, Shade, I do feel closer to you then anyone else on Noble Team. Perhaps that goes some way to explain...my feelings towards you.'' Nick muttered to her. She looked up at his face and could tell he was blushing slightly. ''I'm just not sure if anyone else would be fine with...us.'' He let go of her and put her helmet back on her. ''Come on, I think that Carter is almost done. We should get to the others.'' Shade nodded her agreement and they both started to run.