The Meeting Point

Time: {Data error: Conflicting data}Estimated 0525\

{Date error: Conflicting data} Estimated January 19, 2525\

{Date error: Conflicting data} Estimated Reach

The time was nearly 0530. That was easy enough to identify, thanks to the quality of light. The date was a little harder to determine. It was supposed to be summer, she could remember that much, but the chill in the air was more reminiscent of early winter. Reach early winter, which was impossible. Scientists believed that glassed planets would eventually heal themselves, but it would take over a century. So Reach was lost for another hundred years.

Except, according to everyone one of her senses, it wasn't.

Taking care to remain unthreatening, Kaine eased her eyes open. She'd already heard the quiet breathing around her, proving she wasn't alone. However, once she could identify the objects she was looking at, it took a moment to believe. There was absolutely no way this could be real. The base she and the other Spartans had been raised at had been dismantled soon after augmentations. She knew that. Eric had taken her to watch some of it. But her brain was informing her that, yes, she was back in the barracks. That, and she was looking right into the very much alive eyes of Samuel.

"Morning, Klare," he whispered, smiling slightly at her. "Ready for today? The instructors said it's the last one." She just blinked at him, struggling to process what was going on around her. It was almost as though her thoughts were draining away. Hadn't she just thought something strange about Sam?

Finally letting her eyes move away from the blonde, the redhead looked around carefully. From her prone position she couldn't see a whole lot, but what she could see were bunks of Spartans. Jeremy, Alice, Christopher, Mary, Collin, she knew them all as well as she knew herself. They'd grown up together, trained together, lived together, fought together. They were her siblings, she knew that. She also knew they were all dead. At least, she thought they were. Not that it made much sense, considering she was looking right at them.

"You look confused," Sam continued, starting to sound a little worried, though his voice stayed quiet. "Weren't you briefed?" For some reason, she didn't think he meant the meeting she remembered, where the scientists had explained the coming augmentations. Although, she also had an idea that that briefing had occurred a long time ago. Strange.

"No," she finally answered, voice rusty with sleep and disuse. With mild amusement, she watched as her friend's eyes suddenly lit up with joy. It had been a long time since she'd seen that.

"So you do talk!" the blonde exclaimed, hardly fazed as someone a few bunks down hissed at him to be quiet. "We were beginning to think you'd forgotten how. Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've heard your voice?" Eyes a little clearer as her thoughts finally settled themselves, Kaine turned back to him.

"No. I don't."

A piercing whistle ripped through the barracks. Before she could realize that it had been years since she'd heard that sound, Kaine was on her feet and pulling on the old, familiar sweats and boots. Her steps did falter for a second on her way out of the building, but then she was in formation and didn't have time to ponder what was going on. It was almost like she was stuck between two times, but her mind was quickly aligning itself with the moment.

At the head of the formation was five of the Spartans' instructors. Kaine recognized every one of them, but was startled to realize that Mendez wasn't there. The absence was almost palpable to her, but no one else seemed to notice. "Listen up, Spartans," one of the instructors barked over the silent assembly. "Yesterday you were all informed that you would be shipping out today. Due to the heroic efforts of one person, that departure has been pushed back indefinitely."

Feeling she was missing something vital, the redhead attempted the stifle her frown. According to her memories, which she was starting to question more and more, such a delay would have resulted in a lot of frustration from her family. Yet the instructor had sounded pleased, and that happiness was echoed by everyone on the parade ground. Things were clearly different. Now if she could just figure out what.

"In light of this schedule change, we will resume our previous activities," the instructor continued. "As I'm sure you are all aware, Spartan 113 returned to us last night, but she will only be staying for a day. Her mission resumes at midnight. With this in mind, we have decided to make her Squad Leader until her departure." Looking directly at Kaine, the man nodded sharply. "Lead them to the course, 113."

Just as she'd been trained most of her life, Kaine snapped a salute and spun on her heels towards the playground. Before she had taken more than three steps, the others had fallen into formation behind her. With the ease of old familiarity, her body took up the easy lope that had settled into every Spartan's bones. For a brief second she felt that the moment was surreal, but then she was lost in the rhythm of churning feet.

At the playground, the instructors announce that the Spartans would work in teams of three to ring the bell that was suspended fifty feet off the ground. A pulse of nostalgic fondness swept through the gathered children. They were all familiar with this game. When the instructors gave the order to break into teams, Kaine looked around for Zach and Luna, but frowned when she realized that they weren't there.

"Klare!" Sam called, waving to her from his place beside Cal. "Come join us!" She quickly trotted over, covertly glancing about them. Now that she thought about it, Kelly and John weren't there either. Neither was Fred and Naomi. Actually, there were several faces missing. A feeling of wrongness stirred in her chest, but she tried to ignore it. Her battle instincts weren't going off, so she felt safe, just wrong.

There must have been something on her face, because Cal smiled at her. "Our teammates are out on missions," she told the redhead. "Don't worry, you'll be back with them soon." There was a flaw in that logic, she could feel it, but Kaine lost interest in finding it. She simply accepted the words with a nod before turning back to the problem of the course. Half a dozen plans rattled through her head, but they were repeats of previously used strategies. For a strange reason, the desire to show off for her friends was lodged in the redhead's chest. When the final idea started to form, a smile slowly spread across her face. With a new glint in her eyes, she turned towards her team. By the time the instructors were ready to give the start signal, their plan was solid. Confident, Kaine settled next to the starting line, only vaguely aware of her siblings.

The redhead was moving before her brain had fully registered that the whistle had been blown. She wanted to show off, but without injuring anyone. To do that, she had to be the first to reach the bell. Not that that would be too hard, though she wasn't entirely sure where that convictions had come from.

"Someone's excited," one of the instructors mused with a smile, watching the small redhead leap ahead. In seconds there was a sizable gap between her and the others. The adults were slightly surprised when she started climbing the rope that was directly beneath the bell. That was hardly the optimal route. Then, "What do those two think they are doing?" Sam and Cal had followed their teammate's lead, but were staying on the ground while the other Spartans scrambled around to reach the goal. The slight smile on the two ground-based children made the instructors a bit nervous.

Ignoring the slight tremor in her arms, Kaine finally pulled level with her target. No other Spartan was terrible close, allowing her to observe how the bell was attached to the wood beam. Seeing only a short length of standard rope, she made a rash choice and leapt from her rope to hang from the bell. There was a yell from the instructors as they realized her plan, and then the thin rope snapped and she plummeted five stories. Unbidden, knowledge she wasn't sure she should have rose up in her mind, helping her land easily as she rolled to absorb the impact. Back on her feet, she smirked as she realized that she wouldn't even have a bruise.

Allowing the smirk to morph into a victorious smile, Kaine rung the bell in her hands before tossing it to Sam. As her teammates chimed in, she glanced up at the other Spartans. Some were shaking their heads and some were laughing, but they all bore rueful smiles. Once Cal had rung the bell she handed it back to Kaine, who chucked it back up to the course. Laughing as the other teams scrambled after the prize, all three Spartans on the ground leisurely made their way to the finish line.

The instructor waiting for them was also smiling. "Solid landing, 113," he said with pride. "I'm glad you are still using what you've learned from your mission." That explained the strangeness of knowing how to fall and land. "Now wait here while the other Spartans locate our missing bell." Barely suppressing her grin at the veiled chide, Kaine saluted before assuming an at-ease stance, Sam and Cal falling in behind her.

After being silent for a moment, Sam sighed happily. "It's nice to do this again," he said contentedly. "I've missed the playground."

"Me too," Cal agreed. "Maybe the instructors will let us start it up again. Our departure has been delayed, after all." Forcefully pushing the strange feelings that the words had triggered aside, Kaine silently puzzled over what she had seen up by the bell. It was common knowledge that the course was at the edge of the base. However, when she'd looked around, the base was clear but she hadn't been able to see beyond the borders at all. There was nothing there. Not nothing to see; literally nothing. That wasn't supposed to be possible.

"Is anything wrong, Spartan?" the instructor that had met them at the finish line asked her. "You seem upset." Schooling her face into blankness, Kaine glanced up at him, noting the ODST badge on his shoulder. It tried to trigger something, but she deftly ignored it.

"I'm...a little disoriented, sir," she finally answered. Surprisingly, he smiled slightly and nodded for her to continue. "I feel out of place, but can't remember why. There's people missing, though no one else seems to mind. I'm using knowledge I don't remember learning, but it feels natural." Taking a chance, she met the instructor's gaze. "Sir, is there something wrong with me?"

"Absolutely not," he replied easily, turning back to face the course as they waited. Both ignored the quiet chatter of Sam and Cal as the two younger Spartans tried to give them a bit of privacy. "Everyone is a little lost when they come in from a mission. If you give it time, your mind will catch up with everything that's happening."

"You speak from experience, sir?" the redhead queried. She had to admit, the words made sense to her addled thoughts. It was the meaning that she was still a little lost on.

"I do," he confirmed, eyes flicking to the right as the bell finally rang out again. It was the first time the game had been played with a mobile target, and he was thinking it was something they should continue. "We all experienced the same thing when we returned here. Coming from a mission is a traumatic experience. Our minds try to protect us by forcing us to forget. Eventually, we all realize that we are safe and the memories begin to come back. Your mind is more stubborn than most, to continue realizing that things are wrong."

"You say that like it makes sense, sir," Kaine replied quietly, watching as another team trotted over to the finish line. "It doesn't."

"It will," he assured her before striding away. Left to her thoughts, Kaine wondered if she'd ever understand. Part of her thought it would be impossible, but something told her that he was right.

After the playground, the Spartans trotted down to the rifle range. Kaine found the Covenant targets morbidly accurate, but it wasn't very satisfying to shoot plastic. Then, at the mechanic shop, she taught the other Spartans how to hot wire the supposedly hot wire proof Pelicans. The instructors were less than pleased about that, but she noticed that they didn't interfere.

By lunch, Kaine was starting to get a handle on what was happening around her. The memories had started fading back in, making her figure out what had occurred. It made every moment more precious, especially as she realized that time was quickly passing her by.

Sitting with her friends as she ate, Kaine suddenly noticed some other soldiers that were relaxing in the sun. Some strange instinct brought the redhead to her feet and she trotted over, oblivious to the sudden silence that fell behind her. The strangers spotted her quickly and waited while she crossed the grounds. "Hello," she said with a nod.

"Sir," one of the males replied, inclining his own head towards her. A faint smile played at the corner of his lips, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out why. "We weren't aware you were coming in. Is your mission over?"

"Not yet," she answered with a shrug. "The instructors say I'm just passing through." Some memory was itching at the back of her mind, but she tried not to chase after it. Better to come to the realization gradually. "Would you like to join us for lunch?"

"We're not exactly welcome with most of the Spartans," another male laughed, grinning in a slightly demented way. For some reason, when she looked at him, all Kaine could think of was a skull. "Jorge joins us when he can, but the others get a little twitchy if we come over."

"Well that's stupid," the redhead grumbled, crossing her arms across her chest. "You're not that different from us." Then she frowned, wondering what had made her say that. It wasn't like being compared to Spartans was exactly normal.

Still, she'd drawn a laugh from the group as they all relaxed. Throwing a look over her shoulder and seeing her siblings watching, Kaine huffed again in frustration before sitting down. The strange female with very short hair offered her a drink. She proceeded to laugh when the redhead took one sniff and quickly gave it back. "Avoiding alcohol, sir?"

"I prefer my drinks to not taste like piss," was the reply, startling another laugh from the four. "So why are all of you here? Did you transfer in?"

"Sort of," the skull male shrugged. "Your Jorge over there caught each one of us as we were passing through. See, we're waiting on a teammate too, and Jorge said we could stay here."

"Not that your Spartans are happy about having us," the last male spoke up, much quieter than the others. "Safe to say we don't really get along."

"Like I said, that's stupid," Kaine repeated, slowly starting to remember little things about the group. "I'm going to have to have a talk with them about this." She suddenly tilted her head, staring right at the quiet male. "What kind of name is Six anyway?"

The skull male burst out laughing while the other male and female smiled. Six just gave her an exasperated look, though the corners of his lips were slightly twitching up. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you, ?"

"Hey, guys!" a voice called, making the small group turn towards the noise. A young man was jogging up, smiling brightly though he was clearly confused when he saw the redhead. "Make a new friend?"

"Thorn, Spartan 113," Six introduced. "Spartan, this is Thorn, the laughing idiot over there is Emile, that's Carter, the female is Kat or Catherine, and you know me." Each name stuck to something in Kaine's mind, making her sure that they were important, but not knowing why. Instead, she just smiled and nodded. This not having memories thing sucked.

A sharp whistle from the Spartan area had the redhead on her feet before any of them could blink. The children were cleaning up from their lunch, ready for whatever tasks their instructors had planned for the evening. "I guess I'll see you around," she told the smaller group with a smile. "You know, someday. When I come back for real."

"We look forward to it, sir, but take your time," Carter said, getting up himself so he could offer his hand to be shaken. "The mission comes first, so don't think you have to hurry back. And we'd like to thank you for taking care of Jun for us."

Shaking the hand, the redhead smiled. "I assume I'll know what you're talking about eventually." With a small wave to them all, she chirped, "See ya around, Noble," before quickly jogging back to her siblings. By the time she reached them, the strangeness of Noble team was already in the back of her mind. However, she did give an impressive lecture to the Spartans about accepting others and how they were the last group of people that should be holding themselves aloof. She wasn't sure if anything would change, but at least she tried. It was just, for the strangest reason she felt that Noble shouldn't be on the outside. It wasn't something she could explain, but that didn't make it any less important to her. By the end, she could tell that her siblings were at least considering what she'd said. She'd take what she could get, so she quickly stepped aside, allowing the instructors to give them their orders for the rest of the day.

Considering the redhead would not be staying long, the decision was made to hold a sparring competition that would last until dinner. It was the most fun Kaine could remember having on the base. When she ended up winning, she spent the next twenty minutes chasing her laughing siblings around the parade grounds, accusing them of letting her win. By the end, they were all tired, sweaty, and out of breath, but the gins that were splitting their faces convinced the instructors to keep their mouths shut.

Dinner was a near party, by Spartan standards at least. No one outside the program would see it, but it was in their small smiles and the near silent whispers. Kaine, especially, was enjoying herself. As the day had passed, everything had come back to her and she finally knew what had happened and where she was. This meant that she was fully aware of the fact that she would not be staying much longer.

Seemingly aware of her reluctance to let things end, the instructors announced a night maneuvers exercise in the guise of a scavenger hunt. Again, the Spartans split into their teams and were released into the base's forest. Before vanishing into the trees, Kaine paused to look back at the ODST instructor. The exchange of salutes was their farewell before the trees closed in around her, separating them from view.

Despite the 'mission' that they were on, Kaine's group simply wandered through the woods. Occasionally they would meet up with other teams, allowing the redhead to say her goodbyes. Though she reminded everyone that she would be back some day, when her mission was finished for real, tears were still shed. Some farewells were just too difficult, leaving the Spartans with lingering hugs and sad waves. It was the hardest thing any of them had had to do for a very long time. For some, it was the hardest ever.

Finally, Kaine knew she had only minutes left. Stopping in a small clearing, she mustered a smile as Cal pulled her into a tight hug. "We miss you," she told the blonde girl, voice cracking in pain.

"I know," Cal replied quietly. "I miss you too. Thank you, by the way, for passing on my message." Unable to speak anymore, the redhead could only nod, giving her friend a final squeeze before forcing herself to let go. The two shared a final smile before Cal walked away, leaving Kaine and Sam alone to wait.

"Sam," she said, looking up at the full moon. "Is any of this real?"

"Does it matter?" he asked. When she threw him a glare, he smiled. "Alright, alright, calm down. Yes, it's real, but I would say that if it wasn't too. Cause if it wasn't real, I would be a figment of your imagination and would say whatever you wanted me to say. Just remember what Chief always told us. If your senses, instincts, and guts say something is real, it is. It might only be real to you, but that doesn't make it any more or less real."

"Way to answer the question without answering the question," Kaine grumbled, sitting on a log. Despite her frustration, she understood what he was trying to tell her. That didn't make her any happier.

As the moon grew brighter, Sam came to sit beside her. "You know we'll still be here when you come back, right?" he asked, trying to reassure her. "We decided a long time ago not to leave until everyone came back from their missions. Once we're all together again, then we'll move on." Smiling, he pulled her into a hug. "No Spartan left behind, remember?"

"Yeah," she whispered. "I never got to tell you goodbye before. Or that I was sorry, or that I forgave you, or that I love you." A tired smile crossed her face as the blonde started laughing. She'd missed the sound.

"I know all those things," he assured her. "We all do. But thank you for telling me." He squeezed a little, almost like he didn't want to let her go. The feeling was mutual.

The moon was painfully bright by that point. Knowing what she needed to do, Kaine stood with one last smile. Moving to the center of the clearing, she looked up at the disk of light. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and said, "Spartan 113, Kaine Faldon, ODST Commander-in-Chief, reporting for duty!" The light grew brighter and brighter, forcing the redhead to blink the tears away.

"Bright," she croaked through her dry throat, lifting a bandaged arm to shield her eyes. She could hear the machines she was hooked up to beeping, no doubt summoning an army of medics. However, she was still startled when a face suddenly appeared above her, finally blocking the damn light.

"Commander," O'Brien said, voice nearly dripping with relief. Kaine couldn't help but smile up at him, resolutely ignoring the tears on her face and in her eyes.

"Shore leave is over, O'Brien. I'm back on duty."

Time: 1730\

March 25, 2554\

Aboard the UNSC Avalon

Sighing, Kaine glared at the padd she was holding. She still got tired easily, despite having been been out of the coma for three weeks. Considering how long she'd been dead and then trapped in the coma, she tried to cut herself some slack. It wasn't easy, but it was either that or kick herself in the ass, and she was too tired to do any kicking.

Admiral Parangosky was demanding an official report of the battle that Kaine could barely remember. She'd watched the recordings, of course, and knew what had happened with Vincent filling in a few blank spots, but her thought process was still a little fuzzy. There were moments in the recordings where she couldn't believe what she had done. Punching that ONI officer hadn't been her best moment, to be sure. And calling Parangosky a homicidal mother hen was stupider still. Nevertheless, for the most part, she wouldn't change a single thing she had done.

The Covenant ship had been badly injured, she remembered that clearly, but the UNSC ship bearing the last of the Spartan IIs had been in worse shape. Of course, her own ODST ship hadn't been doing much better, but they still had propulsion. The Spartan's ship did not. So when the Covenant had powered up their weapons, she hadn't hesitated to order her ship into position to take the hit. After clearing the bridge of all personnel except herself so that she could manually pilot the hunk of metal, and evacuating the entire front half of the ship to the back, not hard to do since they'd been working with a skeleton crew as it was, she and Vincent had shifted the shields to protect the main body of the ship, leaving the front section unguarded.

And her plan had worked, just as she'd thought it would. Her ship had been hit, the Spartans were saved, the back half of her ship was untouched, and the bridge was destroyed. She'd been crushed by falling beams and had bled to death internally. Apparently, during the time she was dying, the Covenant were destroyed and her body was discovered in the wreckage. Despite being dead for twenty minutes she had been stuck in a cryotube and shipped to Earth in the vague hope that she could still be saved. Parangosky's orders, strangely enough. Seemed the old hag didn't want to deal with training a new ODST Commander.

That had been a month ago. The doctors had been astounded with how well she'd recovered. From what they said, the fact that she only suffered from mild memory loss was phenomenal. The redhead had had to talk very fast to prevent the discovery of her Spartan background. It wouldn't have worked if the other Spartans hadn't started heading off the inquiries, not to mention the fact that the ODST doctors, each one very used to the fact that she wasn't quite like other humans but not knowing why, had taken over her care.

Now, at long last, Kaine was back on her ship. There had been some major repair work done, and it wasn't totally finished, but she was back in her own quarters and safe from the prying eyes of the medics. She was using the time to write, both the official report and a personal letter to her Spartan siblings. Despite everything that she had forgotten, her time with the fallen Spartans was still clear in her mind. It was hard to write about, and she'd had to stop several times, but at long last she was done. For a moment, she wondered if she should actually send the letter. Wasn't it enough that she was burdened with the knowledge that their brothers and sisters were waiting for them? But on the other hand, did she have the right to withhold that information?

She eventually made up her mind as she thought about her time with the dead Spartans. None had been upset about where they were. They'd been excited to reunite with the Spartans that were still alive, still on missions, but had been genuinely happy when the reunion was put off. It shouldn't be a burden, knowing they were there. There wasn't a reason to keep the experience to herself. She just added two sentences to the end of the letter before pressing send. "They're waiting for us, and will be there when our missions are finally complete. But I'm sure they won't mind if we keep them waiting for a long time." Only once she got a confirmation note that the message had been sent did she put the padd down.

There would always be a part of her that wanted to go back. She knew that. The Spartans were her family, closer than her blood family had ever been, and she missed them. During that one day, she'd been able to relax and enjoy being with her siblings. So in some ways, she looked forward to the day she would leave the universe for good.

But there was the undeniable fact that she was a Spartan, same as them. She didn't even remember what it was like to not give a hundred percent to complete a mission. And they were right; she was on a mission. Life was a mission, as cliché as the thought was. If she was going to fail, it would not be because she gave up.

With that thought in mind, Kaine tossed the padd away and slowly got to her feet. Her legs were stiff, and she figured a short walk around her ship would be perfect for stretching them out again. Besides, she always enjoyed seeing how many Helljumpers she could catch off guard. It was so much fun, watching them jump in fear.

And she needed to find Jun. After all, he had teammates waiting as well. She hadn't been able to save Noble Squad, but she'd be there for Jun as long as he wanted her to. Cause that was the thing most people just didn't get about Spartans. It didn't really matter what Program they went through or who trained them. Everyone under the name of Spartan was part of a family. It was a strange one to be sure. They could probably drive themselves into insanity if they ever tried to assign actual titles, like aunt, nephew, grandkids, or whatever. Plus the plain and simple fact that dysfunctional could be their middle name without a problem. Yet when everything was stripped away and all the differences were overlooked, the facts don't change. They are Spartans. They are family. Family looks out for each other.

It was that simple.

Betaed (FINALLY!) by the lovely Mira. So if any typos have survived, let them be. They deserve a break.