Chapter 7 : Skeletons In The Closet

I'm sorry for the long delay in updates recently. I just got back to the daily grind of college life and it's starting to take a noticeable toll on me of late. Nevertheless, I hope to keep both ongoing stories as updated as possible. Aside from that, thank you for the views on my stories. I do hope that some attention is shifted over to this story from the other one but we'll see. Until then, enjoy this rambling…

"Our very nature is by and large a murderous one. What is this fascination with death? Yet while my brother seeks something impossible, I believe in something else. I believe… in acceptance." – Ryan Eisenhower.

"You have to understand. I didn't want to hurt you. But I had no other choice. What would you have done in my position?" – Unknown.

FLASHBACK

Three years had passed since his initial move to the inner colony that is Reach. Three years since he was uprooted from his place back home on Earth and plopped on the grassy soil beneath his feet at the moment. Yet time seemed to be on Isaac's side at the very least. While Catherine began to mellow out and show in all the right places, aging like a wine left in the cellar, Isaac had barely changed at all. His youthful appearance was none the least bit tarnished and he could not seem to place down a reason why on the tip of his tongue. But then again, it would have been disastrous to even attempt to research said phenomenon, not with ONI spooks bearing down upon him. He even dreaded the days when all personnel would have to report for a mandatory check-up, somewhat less after the first couple of times. Most of his peers credited it to longer-lasting health and the use of great skin care products. 'I highly doubt they're in the right ballpark to begin with and they're scientists for crying out loud!' he let that thought slip through his mind as he basked in the morning glow of the rising sun.

Those three years were nothing short of frustrating and aggravating for the fake scientist. For some inexplicable reason, his progress on the AI methods have fallen through, many of his attempts at rectifying key errors failing miserably and costing his employers another fat wad of cash. For someone who was so used to success in the first year of his masterpiece, this came as a sort of wake-up call to Isaac. He had to get his shit together before the UNSC High Command saw fit to terminate his work indefinitely. So it was that after a grueling day of working hard did he find himself outside, basking in the warmth of the sun and the crisp air of the still-barely untamed planet. Stress was no laughing matter and he needed to focus to keep him on the straight and narrow.

Then again, those same years marked a change for the usually bitter soldier. For once, he could share his moments and revel in others alongside his mentor, her lover and sometimes even the staff on hand at times. Catherine Halsey and Isaac Eisenhower had become fast friends in no time flat, both experts accomplishing great feats in the R&D facility and producing brand spanking new items to serve their soldiers on the field. Over those three years, they had created more than enough brand-new advances in their fields. Their main pride and joy was the initial designs for the new powered armor suits made by both of them. While its first stage design was not suitable for actual combat use, it did set the UNSC on the right track to helping develop more advanced models. On top of the world, if one could say such a thing. Even Isaac and Jacob got along nicely, hanging out like any other boys during high school, having fun and drinking a heck of lot of alcohol while doing so. Many in the office called it the dynamic trio, a nod to a very-old series that pushed past its prime centuries ago. All that came as a form of relief to Isaac as he lazed about, thinking about his next innovation in his ultimate journey for redemption. That all changed a few seconds later.

As his eyes looked upon the yellow of the bright, blazing sun up in the sky, his ears picked up something else. The sounds of little footsteps sneaking up to his position removed his façade of the easy-going scientist and back into the mindset of his former military and rebel attitude. Instantly, he felt the footsteps grow closer and closer both in distance and vibrancy. When it was merely a few feet away, he chose to make his move. He quickly spun about as best he could in his lab coat to face his opponent, only to come face to face with a small child. His hand already raised in a pre-emptive strike, Isaac quickly retracted his notion of violence as fast as it was raised, his eyes falling upon the kid right in front of him.

From Isaac's perspective, he seemed like a quiet, young and totally normal boy. His face was as cute and flush with color like a strawberry, yet his smile was yet another lie Isaac cringed at. His true demeanor was in his posture. Like Isaac, he too was prepared to do his worst, his hand raised to strike and his legs taking a defensive stance almost instantaneously. His head was completely bald, not a single shred of hair to discern his true hair color. Even his clothes were an odd choice, a mix between a rookie's standard uniform and a pajama made for little tykes with parents loaded with cash. In essence, they looked smooth, comfortable, luxurious and not at all suited for military colors. Isaac's curiosity took hold but chose to reign in the more sensitive questions with more lighter tones.

"Hey there…" Isaac whispered to him in a gentle tone. The boy seemed taken aback by his manner and clenched his fists in anticipation. Isaac immediately raised his hands in surrender. 'Need to calm this kid down before both of us get hurt.' He muttered to himself.

"No, don't worry. I'm a scientist. See?" he pointed at the badge and name tag embedded in the fabric of his white coat. Still the boy refused to budge, taking a step back from Isaac and treating him like an enemy.

"What's your name? Could you tell me your name?" Isaac tried to calm and reassure the boy. Nothing changed.

"Come on, don't be shy. I'm not gonna hurt you." He gently asked yet again, still keeping his hands above his head. Finally, Isaac had a light bulb moment. Gently, he let his silver tongue do the work for him.

"If you tell me your name, I'll get you a bar of candy. Does that sound okay?" he questioned the young boy. The boy took his offer into consideration, craning his head to weigh the pros and cons of Isaac's olive branch. Eventually, Isaac smiled warmly when the boy turned back to face him and nod slowly, all the while relaxing into a less aggressive posture.

"Okay. Come with me." He gave a quick gesture to show him the way. The boy tepidly followed behind the white, billowing cloak that was Isaac Eisenhower back to his lab, two thoughts on his mind. One was whether or not to trust this stranger. On the other hand, he could not resist the temptation of free candy. What little boy his age could?

Ten minutes later and he was sitting comfortably on a waist-high chair, his mouth stuffed with the contents of a double-fudge chocolate bar. The oozing brown sweet stained his otherwise pearly-white dentures and coating his fingers and in extension his fingernails with the finger-licking goods. The wrapper remained discarded on the ground, all but forgotten by the little boy as he took another massive chomp into his delight. All the while, Isaac sat on the sofa and watched him with his sky-blue irises, his hands scratching away at his temple and skin, trying to solve the mystery before him.

'Could he be a civilian?' he at first believed, only to shrug off the notion a mere nanosecond later. 'Not likely. Civilians aren't allowed on the premises and there's too much security.' He grimaced, rubbing his eyes in pained pondering.

'Maybe he's one of the scientists' kids or something. Maybe some sort of take your kid to work day kinda thing.' He shrugged his shoulders at that thought. He didn't really know the other scientists all too well. The only one he did know was Halsey and he was damn sure she and Jacob didn't have a kid.

'Could he possibly be some hot-shot son who wants to follow in his or her footsteps one day?' taking in the military aesthetic that he was presented in. 'What is he?' he repeated after every iteration he could put his mental palms around. Nothing came together. At least nothing good… Before he could ponder yet another possibility, the boy made his first words to him.

"It's John." He morosely spoke in between chewing his favorite dessert.

"Huh? I'm sorry?" Isaac shook himself out of his stupor and glanced towards the boy, asking him to repeat his words.

"My name. It's John." He plainly stated to the point in a rather flaccid tone. Isaac did not bother to register that, preferring instead his progress in opening up to this shy boy.

"Thank you. You didn't have to tell me, you know." He patted thee kid on his back, eliciting a small smile from his face.

"I made a promise. I keep my promises." He declared proudly.

"That's true… That's true…" Isaac said as his words struck a chord within him. 'Can't say the same for me…' he pondered.

"What's your name?" the boy named John asked after a brief silence. Isaac frowned slightly at that.

'I hate lying to kids. But I have to do it anyway…' he figured, seeing as nothing more than an extra scruff mark on his already stained soul. After all, what's one lie compared to everything else he's done? "It's Ryan Eisenhower. Most people just call me Ryan." He finally answered.

"Okay." The boy nodded nicely.

"How's that candy bar?" Isaac steered the subject out of those murky waters.

"It's really yummy." He replied as he held up the half eaten chocolate bar in his hand.

"I'm glad you like it." Isaac responded with a grin.

It's great. Do you have more?" he asked with all the innocence that all kids possessed. He even used the puppy eyes, which made Isaac roll his own with a hint of laughter rolling through his mind. He just could not deny him his wish.

"Uh… Let me check." He said, raising a finger and getting off his seat. His feet shuffled around his lab and quarters, looking in every nook and cranny to seek another one of the boy's desired delights. Everywhere he went, his hands fingered through everything he could. Drawers, cupboards, tables. Nothing was safe from his prying hands, determined to feed the kid's unending appetite. It was his compulsive desire to do right by someone, especially someone of his age. Once again, Isaac had to ask himself one hard question. Was he doing this for himself or for them? Who was he really trying to help? Said questions fell by the wayside when he finally found a bar of chocolate stashed in an end table next to his bed. But when he made his way back to the main lab, a different sight awaited his eyes.

The boy was standing tall and proud, his feet firmly on the ground and his behind off the leather high-chair. His hand was raised in a general military salute and his posture was completely professional. In front of him stood two people. One was a gruff military petty officer in full military garb. His bald head reminded Isaac of a dictatorial fanatic who just so happened to wreaking havoc on his home the day he left. It did little to help Isaac's agonized feelings over his home and it certainly did not help to temper his fury. His hands clenched instinctively and shook violently at his own flashback to his own experiences with Archer Holden. The brown eyes looked solely upon the young boy, his face slightly contorted in a manner of great disappointment. Isaac would have been more worried and defensive had it not been for his companion. And it was someone he knew far too well…

"Halsey?" Isaac spoke incredulously. Halsey and the unknown officer spun about in a shock when they heard his voice echo into their ears. Both Halsey and the officer exchanged a withering and concerned glance between one another before they chose to address Isaac's question.

"Oh, Isaac… I didn't see you there." She spoke demurely, under the pretense of nominal and altogether normal circumstances. Isaac however chose to ask questions that she hoped would have never been asked of her.

"I work here. What's going on? Who is that boy?" He fired off each and every question rapidly and without a single break or stop within each line of query, leaving no time for Halsey to answer properly. Her face contorted into a stiff demeanor but she finally found the courage to lie back to his face.

"He's Petty Officer Mendez's son." she pointed towards the officer right next to her. As usual standard military fare, Mendez gave rapt salute to Isaac when he was introduced. 'Great, another military jargon head…' he sarcastically mused.

"I must apologize, sir. He must have wandered off while I was on duty. I'm sorry if he was any trouble." He profusely apologized. Isaac instantly shook his head at his words.

"It's quite alright. We were just making small talk." He said, looking at the boy while he did so.

"Was he now? That's nice." Mendez gave a glance to the boy as well. However, his glance was more cautionary and disciplinary in nature. The boy seemed to get the hint as he instantly turned away from Isaac. He raised an eyebrow at this, curious as to why he felt so obedient in a sense. Catherine however caught his attentions yet again with a timely interruption.

"Well, I believe the issue has been resolved quite adequately. Come along now, we need to get you two home."

"Of course, ma'am. Follow me, John." He said. As the two were about to walk out of the lab, Isaac called out at the top of his lungs.

"Hey!" he screamed. John turned around at his voice and was startled to see a lighting blur hurtle towards him. He held out his hand and caught the impromptu projectile which turned out to be a chocolate bar.

"Here you go, kid. Compliments of the chef…" he jested with a beaming smile. The kid returned the favor, grinning sheepishly to Isaac.

"Thank you, sir." He said. With that, both father and son disappeared into the darkness outside, leaving only Halsey and Isaac alone in his lab.

"I'll see you later, Dr. Eisenhower." Catherine mumbled after a prolonged awkward silence. She walked away without giving him time to come up with his own response.

"Alright… Goodbye, Dr. Halsey." He waved to the retreating figure and watched as his door automatically closed behind her. No sooner had she left the building, Isaac was undoubtedly intrigued at her bull-faced attempt to keep the truth from him. She seemed far too twitchy for her own good and Mendez's odd behavior was a big red light in itself. On top of that, the boy seemed far too well versed in military communiqué than he should be at his age. Whatever was going on, it was certainly nothing good. Isaac resolved to get to the bottom of it, for the sake of his sanity and to ensure that the boy was in good hands.

You know what they say… Curiosity killed the cat…

END FLASHBACK

"He's stable but his heart rate is plummeting by the minute. We need a crash cart, stat!" A doctor yelled at the top of his lungs as he followed a stretcher holding their savior rushing down the corridor like his grand day at his own wedding. John's condition was by no means completely critical but his status was alarming enough and his prognosis far from okay to warrant his own team of roving doctors, one of which was the enigmatic Doctor Catherine Halsey. She looked worse for wear compared to the last time he saw here. Then again, that was many years ago. Her age was well and truly showing, crinkles and wrinkles smearing her once beautiful face. Her hair was completely pale-white and her skin was far from smooth anymore. To compound this further, her forehead was drenched in sweat and so too were her palms.

"Get me another dose of Zolpidem now!" Another doctor yelled as John's heart rate plummeted even further.

"Stay with me, John. Stay with me, Spartan." Halsey leant in and whispered into his ear, not that he was in any condition to listen… The pace was breakneck. The wheels on the stretcher burned rubber on the steel floor. The smell of the heated material was foul and rancid yet none of the doctors complained. Not when they had a patient this important depending on them. Eventually, they finally arrived outside the main medical center.

"Clear the room! Clear the goddamn room!" One doctor rushed and shooed as many things out of the way as he could. Medical trays, carts and spare beds. Everything not nailed to the damn floor was being wheeled out of the room itself or shoved into a mess on the other side of the room.

"Priority level one package coming in! Get your tools ready!" Halsey yelled as she rechecked her pulses. At her words, every doctor scrambled to grab any decontaminated tools to use. Isaac meanwhile had by then set the makeshift platform on one of the end tables. Cortana immediately emerged from her shell and her blue eyes rested upon John's unconscious form, laid to rest on a white sheet. Both Cortana and Halsey were so focused on the Chief along with everyone else that no-one noticed Isaac start to wobble in his place. His feet began to give way as he felt his brain slip in and out of consciousness. Finally, he blacked out and slumped to the floor head-first, the bone-crushing thud of his body impacting on the ground the only warning sign they received that something was amiss.

"Oh, God…" Cortana muttered when she spun around to check out the source of the commotion.

"Someone get him medical attention!" A doctor screamed loudly, her voice almost inaudible to the weakening soldier.

"Uhhhh….." Isaac groaned in numbness.

"Dr. Velasquez, take care of Private Eisenhower for me. I have my hands full with the Chief here." He heard Catherine utter to an unseen figure behind her. His head rolled back and forth on the floor, trying to see past the blurry outlines. His hands and legs felt far too heavy, like someone had placed weights on him or in him.

"Understood, Dr. Halsey." A female voice responded out of the blue.

"Okay, we don't have time to dilly-dally! Let's get him on the bed." She bellowed out to those still present. Those were the last words that Isaac Eisenhower heard pass in his eardrums before all systems went into emergency shutdown mode and his mind retreated back into the darkness that was his subconscious.

"Ah, I see you've had the pleasure of fainting yet again and coming to visit." a sneering tone emerged from out of nowhere.

"Here's an idea. How about you shut up, Ryan?" he proposed sarcastically.

"Is that how you treat family? I thought you were better than that." The voice taunted menacingly. No response followed his words. Isaac merely rose from his fetal position and cringed as the emotional pain of his stomach wound seared deep into his body, causing the disgruntled man to twitch in agonizing pain. Eventually grasping tightly onto a chair for support, he pushed past it and seated himself firmly and stubbornly on the oak chair. The voice merely grunted at this action and took residence on the chair opposite him, merely a few feet away. Both men, one a fragmented soul and the other, a manifestation or otherwise were illuminated by a swinging light bulb, dangling from an unseen ceiling that stretched to the heathens. The rope that tethered it was also infinite, the copper wires reaching insurmountable lengths. One second, its light flickered dimly upon the voice's pure and well-kept face, not a single blemish present save for the hole in his temple. The next, it was revealing a disheveled man with a long beard, unkempt hair and brooding red eyes. The difference was clear from the get-go, yet it was all completely subjective. Both parties merely glared at one another for a time, while the light bulb did its best oscillation impression. The silence was palatable and rightly so. Eventually, Isaac chose to make his voice heard.

"So, what do you want?" he sneered in a grimacing tone towards his brother.

"What do I want? I merely want what's in your best interest." He simply replied drily, raising his hands in mock surrender.

"I didn't realize my best interest was having your dead brother's voice floating through your head. Or being told by said voice that he's going f*&#ing insane." He bellowed furiously.

"As I've stated before, that was an unfortunate circumstance." He reminded him. It wasn't exactly planned, after all.

"Tell me something I don't f&*#ing know already." Isaac tossed his hands up in the air as he swore yet again, pacing the room several times in frustration.

"So, I see you've met Ms. Halsey again." The voice veered into the main issue concerning his brother at that moment.

"Yeah?! What of it?" Isaac snorted at the mere mention of her name.

"I just find it curious that you did not react strongly to her presence. After all, the two of you did not end on amicable terms." He meticulously pointed out. Isaac nearly fell into an uncontrollable rage at that point and vented his frustration in the only way he possibly could at that moment, that of berating his brother.

F& * you! You don't know crap about me! Besides, her precious Spartan was in a critical state. I thought it best to keep it private between me and her rather than get my brains blown the f& ( out by everyone in the room. He yelled uncontrollably at the top of his lungs, his tongue waggling at the expletives he hurled out the door.

"Give me some credit. I'm your brother after all." Ryan shrugged complacently.

"So what if we ended on bad terms? What's the big freaking deal?!" Isaac threw his arms up yet again and stepped ever closer to his brother's mental projection.

"I merely wish to state that she may be of use to you." He surmised, shrugging his shoulders yet again in response. To his credit, Isaac didn't explode until at least ten seconds later as the meaning of his words slowly sunk in into his fractured psyche. To say he took it well was an outright lie.

"Useful!? That f#& ing bitch did some really messed-up bullshit to little kids and you think she's useful!?" he taunted, jabbing his brother in the gut with his finger. Ryan looked less than amused with his enraged persona but understood where he was coming from.

"Would she not help? Surely she must feel guilty about what she's done?" he stated explicitly, placing greater emphasis on the word guilty. Instantly, Isaac sobered up completely, his once bulging veins receding back into his temple.

"That doesn't excuse the facts. What she did to those kids was completely unacceptable and you know that." He muttered in a hushed tone, as if he was trying to convince himself.

"Do we not all deserve forgiveness? Is it not one of the cornerstones of human behavior?" Ryan explained his reasoning.

"Look at me, brother. Think again about what I've done. Remember that? Do you really think that anyone could see past that? Do you think I could see past that?! Well, do you?" Isaac asked in a raised voice, his voice dry and empty of any of his signature wit. This time, Ryan looked lost for words, which Isaac immediately capitalized on.

"Once again, you remain silent. I f&#ing knew it…" he groaned with a deep frown as he scoffed at his brother's half-finished arguments. 'He can be straight-to-the-point but he can't see anything through. Hypocrite.' He found himself thinking.

"Regardless, we have overstayed our welcome. We must retrieve the shard and the Kronostyl-2 as soon as possible. The longer we stay here, the more they are at risk of attack from Holden. And we both know that outcome is not a pleasant one."

"Fine… I'll do my best."

"I merely wish to see them dead. Same as you, Isaac. Can we agree on that?" he said. Isaac had no choice but to comply with his answer. More than anything else, he wanted them dead. Not for the crimes they've committed but rather for more personal reasons. Reasons that he kept close to his heart and secret from all. All except the persona within his head that is…

"Yes, we can. Halsey? No. She did some horrifying things to those kids. If I have to suffer for my crimes, so should she for hers." Isaac replied, eliciting a curt nod from his brother as he rose from his seat and stepped back into the blank slate of darkness.

"On that, we are also in agreement." He said.

The real world came back into focus once again for the fainting man of the hour. At some point, Isaac was about ready to believe that all the crap that had happened to him, all the shit he had seen over the past few years was nothing more than a complex dream and that he would wake up to the beaming smiles of his family once more and live a normal life. Like all stories however, his was never going to come true. It was nothing more than a fairy-tale, a tale he himself threw into the fire and watched burn before his very eyes. So he grunted in displeasure and discomfort every day after a long sojourn into the madness that is his subconscious. Even more so today as he was still resting on a bed far too hard for its own good. His demonic-like irises scanned the room he was in again. He was in a plain gray patient room, looking at another door in front of him. The window above him was too high for him to encapsulate the view in his eyes but the rays of sunlight still made its presence known, the light shining ever so bright on his lap and making him consider taking a bottle of sunblock next time he came here, if at all. Pushing himself further up on the bed, he groaned as the pain in his abdomen shot back up his spine and nervous system, like an elephant had just trampled its way all over him. Looking down, he saw a fresh bandage over his deep gash, biofoam foaming over it. It almost looked like as though he had rabies. A sudden jerk of his body elicited a creak from the old bed, which in turn startled a nearby figure snoozing away in a plain chair. The figure shot up in a shock and Isaac could see that it was someone rather familiar to him.

"You're awake." He said. The armored soldier was still clad in his garish power armor, now however coated in a mirror polish that gleaned brightly in the artificial sunlight.

"Yeah, I guess I am." He chuckled in a low tone. Isaac could not help but tag along.

"How are you doing, soldier?" he asked with a hint of concern.

"I've been better. Still feel like ass." Isaac groaned sarcastically.

"Considering what you did for me, for the both of us, I would expect nothing less." A cool female voice emerged from John. Isaac simply sat back and watched as the attractive form of Cortana slowly digitalized itself right before his very eyes and hovered mere feet from his bed.

"Ah, good to see you too, ma'am." He made a smart-alec remark with a big shit-eating grin. Cortana placed her hand on her hip and tried to look annoyed, only working to amuse him even further.

"Welcome back, Private." She spoke softly. The garbled and distorted voice made a comeback tour and both John and Isaac winced when it filtered through their ear canals.

"So you look all fit as a fiddle. The doctors fix you up good?" Isaac steered the conversation away from him.

"They did. Halsey helped out a lot, which is tough considering her situation." Isaac had to restrain himself when her name was brought up. The mere thought that her name was used in a polite way and described so nicely made Isaac sick to the bone. Still, he kept up the lie, forcing himself to look utterly worried.

"Really? What's she gotten herself into?" he spoke flaccidly.

"She allegedly took several Spartans and ran to the safety of a Forerunner shield world. She's being indicted for various charges, the most outstanding of which is treason." Cortana rattled off in her signature clinical tone.

"Jeez, I know you act quite clinical but that's just too much." Isaac said.

"Believe me, Private. I'm not too pleased with it myself." She sadly intoned. Isaac chose not to press any further.

"Speaking of which, did you manage to get a consultation for her, sir?" he remembered.

"We're doing that today. Hopefully, she can do something about it." John looked optimistic and Cortana shared or rather reveled in it as well.

"Here's to hoping." Isaac said, raising an imaginary glass for an imaginary toast.

"Thanks. From both of us. You did good, soldier." He replied happily. Isaac simply nodded and waved off the unnecessary compliment.

"Just doing my job. That's what they pay me for, isn't it?" Isaac laughed at his own comment. John joined in, chuckling to himself.

"We must be off. The captain of the ship wants to see us after our little detour." John stated.

"Go on. I'll be fine. Go save us yet again, Chief." He gave a rousing talk and waved his fist in the air. John took it in stride, his voice reaching an all-time low as he whispered in Isaac's ear.

"With pleasure, Private." He said, determination flooding his speech patterns. With that, John rose back into a standing position and giving one final salute walked out of the room, Cortana in tow. Isaac beamed with a smile as he watched their silhouette disappear behind the edges of the doorway. In a way, he was glad that he had someone on his side at last. On the other hand, he had to keep a level distance from him, lest they both get dragged in to his crusade. As he was about to settle back into a nice long nap for the afternoon, the door wheezed open and revealed to him the one soul he thought would never show her face to him, especially after the events that transpired.

"Hello, Catherine." He taunted menacingly at the figure in the doorway, his face contorted into one of complete fury and rage.

Meanwhile in another place altogether, Archer Holden was shuffling his feet across the steel floor of the corridor en route to James Raynor and Sarah Kerrigan's private quarters on the Scarsion. Alongside him was his loyal aide, Terrence who matched his pace albeit with a slight hint of excitement in his movement. So much so that he could not keep it in for long periods of time.

"I can't believe we managed to find it so quickly. I expected it to be long and arduous." Terrence exclaimed incredulously as they passed by various personnel of the White Phoenix.

"Our Holy God saw it fit to aid us in our great crusade and provided us with the means to strike at our enemy. It is a good day indeed." Holden walked along, his hands clasped behind his back. It was a good day indeed.

"Yes, Father. Indeed it is. Most of our followers are frantically scrambling to ready themselves for the battle that is to come." Terrence rattled out excitedly.

"Are they scared?" Archer raised an eyebrow. Terrence bowed his head down in shame, not willing to disappoint him.

"They do not voice it but some are no doubt worried that their servitude may come to an abrupt end, Father." Terrence proclaimed sadly. To his surprise, Holden merely smiled and placed a warm hand on his shoulder.

"Then tell them that the Holy God shall have a place for them in his land and all those who carry out his wishes shall be rewarded." He reassured his slightly terrified disciple. His words were like crack to him. Once he had been fed, he was in a state of delirious happiness.

"As you command, Father." Terrence bowed to Archer.

"Remember. Keep our faith concealed from our guests. I do not wish to cast suspicion upon us at this crucial moment." He forewarned with a grim tone. Terrence did not need any further encouragement. Those who defied him paid a terrible price. One worse than death…

"Your bidding shall be done, Father." Terrence bowed yet again.

"Good, child. Run along now." Archer smiled warmly. Terrence immediately dashed in the opposite direction and disappeared out of sight behind a corner, drawing looks from various onlookers along the way. Holden merely smiled eerily and sauntered forth, eager to relay the important news to his most valuable assets.

Meanwhile, James and Sarah were enjoying a relaxing evening of doing what any hot-blooded young couple in love would do. The bed was completely unkempt, the blanket was strewn across the mattress and their clothes… well you can guess where they were. In all honesty, they needed this. It had been a long journey to get where they were today but it was worth it. Not only was the Dominion Empire completely dismantled, save for a few fanatical and stubborn strongholds, they also had a firm grasp on the Hybrid threat, thanks in no small part to the aid of Archer Holden and his group of men and women. The private room that they had received aboard the Scarsion was simply the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Who could not enjoy themselves in the lap of luxury after a long day of saving the sector? A light tap on the door threw off for several moments. Both James and Sarah sat there on the bed, covered only in the blanket provided to them. Their brown and auburn hair respectively was utterly disheveled from their rutting session and their backs were no doubt littered with the scuff marks of their love-making. Archer stepped in after they gave the all-clear and it was no surprise that their cheeks were flush with pink when he took too long to stare at them.

"Well, well. I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Archer jested and chuckled at the sight of them on the bed.

"Oh, it's not a problem. Probably should have locked it up before we got…down to business." James rubbed his hair in embarrassment as he felt his eyes fall down to their bare private parts, covered only by a thin sheet of feathers.

"Indeed. I would suggest you keep your voice down. These halls are not exactly soundproof and neither are those walls." Archer twisted the knife even further, reveling in the shocked sight of both James and Sarah having their jaws literally hit the floor.

"Um… Is there something you need?" Sarah intoned politely.

"I have good news. We have managed to procure a sizeable sample of the Kronostyl-2 crystal." Archer smiled as he said this.

"You did? How?" James asked quizzingly.

"Let's just say that we have several… benefactors who wish to see this criminal apprehended just as much you and I do." Holden spoke cryptically. Regardless, Sarah did not care. Opportunity was in sight and damn if she wasn't going to go for it.

"That's awesome. We can finally nail this son of a bitch down." Sarah almost fist-pumped into the air with sheer excitement. 'At last! Now's my chance to make good on my promise.' She pondered.

"Rest assured, Miss Kerrigan. You will get your chance soon. For now, we must prep and plan our strategy of attack. I would hazard a guess and say that our prey has not exactly been just sitting on his laurels all this time."

"It's been 13 days. How much could he have done?" James asked.

"Time does not flow in the same way as you think. Every realm, including yours flows at a preset rate, unique to yours and yours alone. Now, the good news is that said time distortion does not apply to foreign objects. For example, you could age into an elderly citizen and I would still have the physique of my current body, albeit slightly aged. The bad news is that they experience time as normal." He explained patiently.

"So what you're saying is that he could be a place where one week equals one year." Sarah picked up on his point.

"Exactly." He replied sadly, putting on a show for his audience.

"No matter. We can do this. We have to." James steadfastly responded to it. Sarah merely nodded in agreement.

"I do not disagree there, Mr. Raynor." Archer said. He could not fail their Holy God another time. They needed this to truly succeed and their new guests were the ace in the hole. Archer Holden beamed at them with all the gusto of a professional actor. Inside however, his mind was already deciding how to best manipulate the situation to serve him and his following even further. How to extract the necessary information from him. How to best serve his masters.

In the end however, Archer could not help but agree… Their guests were nothing more than pawns in a game that they did not understand.

One that may end in tragedy for all parties involved…

Sorry about the quality of this chapter. I have been getting more and more tired with each passing day and I'm running out of inspiration. Plus, since this fanfic has been getting very few views, it's been hard for me to just take the easy route, write a quick ending and move on to the next act. Nevertheless, I will not do that. So please, tell your friends and spread the word. Your support is always appreciated…