A/N: Surprised at the quicker updates? The reason is, while in between chapters one and two, I wrote two, three, and parts of four. I've finished five, and I'm still working on six, but I'll post five when I finish six. Also, there will be another note in the middle of the chapter, don't read it yet(spoilers) about something that happens in that part. You'll understand it when you get there.

Noble Eight- Chapter 4- First Day

Planet Reach- UNSC encampment

I bolted straight up in bed and ran over to Kat's room, still in sweatpants and my undershirt. I barged right in-without knocking- and checked to see if she was okay. Sleepily, she assured me it was fine, and asked me why I was so worried all the sudden.

Embarrassed, I explained my dream to her, replacing the petting with a kiss.

"So, uh, I guess I was still half in the dream when I came -rushed- in. Sorry," I finished.

Kat laughed and said, "That's fine. Actually, I need to talk to you. That thing I was building, I wasn't building it, per se. I got you promoted to leader of Noble team.

"Wait, what?" I asked, my eyes wide

"So, I was in a meeting last night with Colonel Holland, and we agreed on two things: One, that Noble team needs a new leader, and two, that it should be you."

"But w-what about you, K-Kat?" I stuttered. "S-shouldn't you become the new Commander?"

"Hell no, sir. Too much responsibility for me," Kat said I came close to flinching when she addressed me as sir. "Besides, Jun's too talkative and low-ranked to be commander, Commander." This time, I did flinch.

"Kat, I can't do that. What if one of you dies because of an order I gave?"

"Then one of us dies! How do you think I reacted when Jorge died because of my plan? I felt awful. But I kept going, because I had to!" Kat said. And then, softer, "because I love you." before she kissed me. "And I know you can do this, or I wouldn't have recommended you."

"Okay," I agreed.

"Good. Now, normally, there would be a huge ceremony, But Holland said that we don't have the resources for that at this time, but I hoped you'd be happy with having me give you the pins and a day off, for both of us."

"Oh, so you're using me to get leave, are you?" I asked, a small smile creeping on to my face.

"Only for you," she replied. "Now, what do you want to spend today doing?"

'You' almost slipped out of my mouth, but I managed to contain it. "I don't know what there is to do, so why don't you decide?"

"We could play paintball. Jun told me that there were thousands of pellets and about a hundred guns."

"Sounds like fun," I agreed.

And so, three hours later, the two of us walked out of the paintball arena, laughing because the marine team we were fighting had gone down in a spectacularly short amount of time. One soldier in particular had taken several comical hits. He took a paintball to the shoulder, which caused him to turn slightly, allowing me to put one between his eyes. The marine dropped, eyes watering and whimpering in pain.

"Did you see the look on his face?" I said, laughing so hard that I stumbled and knocked into Kat.

"Was it that funny? I missed it," Kat replied. I was still laughing, but I couldn't stop thinking about how good she looked in that shirt and jeans.

"Yeah, it was," I told her. Once I had calmed down, I continued. "Do you want to grab some food? I think they're still serving."

"Yeah, sure," Kat replied. We hadn't gone very far, though, when I heard someone talking. I stopped and signaled for Kat to stay quiet too. She nodded and I strained to hear the conversation.

"… weaker out of their armor. We should get them now, when they're down to our level."

"But you saw how fast they took Alpha squad down!" I looked at Kat. There was a worried look on her face, and it was obvious why. They were talking about us.

"What do we do?" Kat whispered.

"Hopefully, nothing. Those marines obviously don't know about our augmentations, which is in our favor if it does," I said. Instead of heading towards the cafeteria, like we were originally, I took us back the way we came, and towards our rooms. "But, why don't we just go back to our rooms and I'll grab us some food?"

(Kat's PoV)

I could tell that he was worried about those marines. Not because they might hurt one of us, but because we might hurt them. The rest of the day was uneventful, until we went to get dinner. Or rather, Alex did.

For the first half hour, I wasn't worried. But after an hour had passed, I began to panic. Then, a marine orderly arrived.

"Ma'am, please follow me. Colonel Holland wants to speak with you," he said grimly. "Immediately."

"What's wrong?" I asked, fearing the worst.

"I can't tell you that. It's not my place," he replied. The orderly guided me through the base, in the direction of the infirmary. My fears got worse and worse every second.

"This isn't the way to Colonel Holland's office," I said. I started getting nervous, because why would Holland be in the infirmary? He was fine the last time I saw him, and we didn't have any wounded marines, unless… no, Alex wouldn't have hurt them, would he? The orderly didn't reply.

All my questions were answered a minute later. "My God…" I breathed. The man lying on the bed was barely recognizable. "Alex, what did they do to you?" The little of his body that wasn't under the covers was covered in bandages. His shoulders were patched, bullet wounds, and one arm was in a cast. His head was basically one bid wrap except for his left eye which was bruised and closed and his nose.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Colonel Holland asked, from right beside me. I hadn't noticed his presence. "It's really bad."

"Yes, sir," I said. "So I can do the same thing those dumbass marines."

"You know who did this to him?" the Colonel asked.

"Yes, sir. Sort of. Alex and I heard a couple of marines talking about getting revenge on someone 'while they're out of armor,'" I said. "That's all we heard, because we left before something bad happened."

"Well, unfortunately, we can't exactly arrest every single marine," Holland said. "And you're sure you want to know?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay. As far as we can tell, this is what happened. Alex was going somewhere, when he was ambushed. We know there were at least five attackers, one armed. We don't know where the weapon came from. Alex killed two, but we think someone disabled him, hence the kneecapping. Then, he was beaten, shot in the shoulders, and nailed to a wall after slitting his throat." I gasped. "We don't know how he's still alive."

"I'll leave you alone," Holland said.

After Holland left, I collapsed into the chair next to Alex's bed. I sat there the entire night. I nurse came to tell me to leave about three hours in, but I told her that I wasn't leaving unless Alex ordered me to, and that was that.

(Alex PoV)

For a few blissful seconds, I was free of pain, just before I was fully awake. Then the pain hit me and I moaned. Through the pain, my other senses returned, and I heard someone's soft breathing. I tried to look for the source, but my head was completely immobile. I also couldn't think clearly; everything was fuzzy. I groaned; what had happened?

I guess my groan woke whoever was sleeping next to me, because I heard a yawn and the bed shifted.

"A… Alex?" the person asked. I realised, dimly, that it was Kat. "How… how do you… how do you feel?"

"L… lll…" I tried to say. It wouldn't come out, though. My throat felt like it was drowning in lava and I tasted metal.

"No. No, no, no, no, no! God, no! Alex, don't move a muscle," she said. I rolled my eyes when she left.

"I've got bad news, and I've got really bad news," the doctor told me. "Hold up one finger for bad, two for really bad."

I raised one finger.

"Well, the cut delivered to your throat damaged your vocal cords," he started. I raised a second finger. "The really bad news… you might not ever speak again.

I gestured to the notebook and pen on the table next to my hospital bed. The nurse had left it for this reason. The doctor reached over and handed the notebook to me. Clumsily, due to the fact that I was writing with my right hand rather than the left, I wrote, 'is there a way to fix it?' and showed it to him. (A/N: When Alex writes, it will be like 'this,' to indicate that his is writing.)

"If we were in a fully stocked, high-end hospital, maybe, but currently we don't have the right equipment to do so," he replied sadly. "Your throat might heal on its own, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. I'm very sorry."

'Thank you for being honest with me, doctor," I wrote. 'When you leave, can you get Kat?'

"Of course. It's the least I can do, Commander," the doctor said. He left, and a few seconds later, Kat walked in.

"Hey, Alex," she greeted me quietly. "So, what did the doctor say?"

"Everything will heal in a couple days…' I wrote. Then I flipped to a new page and added, 'But I might not speak ever again.'

"I'm so sorry, Alex. I should have come with you. I could have had your back," Kat said. "How are you going to lead missions if you can't talk?"

'I guess I'll have to get a voice sim, or something. We can figure it out once I've healed though,' I wrote.

"Okay." She seemed to collect herself. "I could build you a pad for your suit, like your tactical-pad, that could transmit your words over the comm. If your cords don't heal right. Which they will. I hope," she said.

'I'm sorry I caused this,' I wrote.

"What? How was it your fault?" Kat asked. "How were you supposed to know that they would attack you then?"

'If I had paid better attention, I would have noticed my attackers long before they became a danger to me,' I told her, flipping to another page. 'I could have stopped them, or at the very least run away.'

"Again, how were you supposed to know that they were going to attack you?!" Kat exclaimed. "You infuriating, stubborn, you think everything is your fault! Well, newsflash, it's not! God, how did I fall in love with you?" Kat froze.

'I love you too,' I wrote. I smiled; not that Kat could see.

"Uh, um….. what am… what did you…" she stammered. "Did you just say… that you loved me? Did I just tell you that I loved you?"

I nodded. 'I'm pretty sure we did,' I said. The awkwardness in the air was palpable. If I were able to move, I would have kissed her then and there, no hesitation.

Damn those marines! I thought. "Hey, I've got to go, Commander. Holland has me fixing all sort of stuff, since most of the were killed early on in the Covenant attack," she said. "See you later?"

'Yeah. Is Jun with you? You can't go alone, you know,' I wrote.

"No, but Fred is, and he still hasn't taken off his armor," Kat said. "I doubt that anyone would be stupid enough to attack me with him around.

'Good,' I wrote. 'Be safe."

"I'll try," she said. And when she kissed me on the cheek, all of the pain vanished. It was better than morphine.

A/N: So, how was it? HUGE plot component here, folks. Don't worry, though. Alex will get his voice back. Sort of. Hahahahahahahahahaha! *evil laugh* Well, until next chapter!

-Archangel's Blade

Update: Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I'm on winter break and I left the notebook that I was writing this in in my locker, so I can't get it, but I go back to school on this coming Monday, so I'll get right on typing up the next chapter as soon as I finish the homework I will doubtless have.

Thanks all for being so patient,

Archangel's Blade