Shadows
by UNSCShadow-105
AUTHOR'S NOTE: You know (or should) what belongs to the official Halo peeps (that's 343 these days, right?). The Shadows and at least the names of the 21 Gamma Company Spartan-III's belong to me, as do the Shadows. I write until the Muses release me from their headlock. Sometimes that means one thousand words, and sometimes it means a hundred thousand words. I am but the Muses mouthpiece. If you think having Cortana in your head can be interesting … that's nothing compared to my reality!
It took almost a week for anything dramatic to happen. At morning muster, Fred noticed that one of the men was shaking. He wasn't the only one to see it, either. Nor was the man the only one of the Spartan-III's shaking. But it was Frank who called the Spartan out.
"Talib-G191, front and center." she barked, and he did so, noticeably stiff and tense.
Frank stood a meter away from him, then looked him up and down. Talib-G191 wasn't the largest of the Gamma Spartans, but he was still a head and shoulders taller than Frank and wider than she was as well.
"Why are you shaking, Talib?" she stopped her scan and looked up at him. "Are you still upset over yesterdays loss?"
The day before had been the first game of Capture the Flag in Camp Liberty. Yoru, Schwarz and Kara Teams had all performed wonderfully, but only one team could win, and that team had been Schwarz Team. Talib-G191 had been the most upset of the losing Sparten-III's, and at the evening meeting, Frank guessed that he may be having trouble holding on to his temper. It was something that they had been on the lookout for. Good training taught them control, but without the medication, it was likely that they would have to learn the skill again, almost from the beginning.
He paused, but finally replied. "No, ma'am. I'm fine."
After a two second pause, Frank spoke, her voice a degree cooler. "One hour extra duty for lying to your commanding officer."
Talib closed his eyes, and now Fred could see that he was holding onto his temper. With both hands. "I'm fine, ma'am." he repeated.
"Going for two. Well you got it, Spartan." Frank growled. She turned to the rest of the Gamma Spartans. "Do not lie to me! Ever!" she barked. "You are all going through this. It's like you want to rip the heads off of the shoulders of anyone for any reason. I know. I've been expecting this." she looked up and down the rows. "Weakness is in fighting your nature. Embrace it. Make it ..."
Fred saw it, and knew that Chief Mendez, Kelly, Alexander and Ralf had as well. Talib had all but coiled up like a snake before he struck out at Frank. But he wound up sprawled on the ground. Frank had used her own lightening fast reflexes to, very simply and calmly, step backward, and out of his way.
Barely glancing down, Frank began to pace, ignoring Talib. "Is anyone else feeling particularly suicidal today?" she asked the Gammas.
No one replied, but that may have been because Talib had regained his feet and charged again, this time with a roar of anger and frustration that Fred could feel. Chief Mendez took a step towards him, but Fred gave him a subtle hand gesture, and saw Alexander doing the same. This was the C.O's responsibility. And the psychiatrists.
Even though Frank's back was to Talib, she undoubtedly heard the roar. From her position, she launched herself up, back and over Talib. The Gamma Spartan-III once again found himself face first in the dirt.
Landing in a graceful crouch, Frank's voice was not even winded. She kept three fingers lightly on the ground, and one of her legs was behind her. "Stop acting like a blind and drunken Jiralhanae whining over the death of his Mommy! You are better than those animals. Use that aggression for more than reminding me of fights I used to have with Fred when we were five!"
Inwardly, Fred flinched. Outwardly he narrowly avoided a grin. The Gamma's had not been told of the relationship between he and his twin. As sharp as Frank guessed them to be, they had figured it out on their own. But not a word had been said about it, as far as he knew. Now she used her relationship to taunt Talib into attacking her. Into channeling rage that he felt he could not control.
He felt a bit of pride in his twin sister that he'd never felt for any but his fellow Spartan-II's well within him.
Talib turned, still looking almost out of his mind with rage. But he did not strike. His eyes cleared just a bit, and his trembling was clearly visible. Fred could hear the young Spartans breathing from his position almost ten meters away with his bare ears.
It took him almost five seconds to begin to stand, and Frank stood with him. He stood, still trembling as she slowly approached him. "I said use it, not grab it and stuff it in some foot locker in the back of your mind!" she barked.
He looked pained. "I don't want to hurt you, Major." his voice was just the side of a plea.
"Very considerate of you." Frank conceded. "But you couldn't hurt me unless you hit me with the Warthog." she took two quick steps towards him. "So let me take you by the hand, and guide you through the finer points of following orders, Spartan." and as the last word left her mouth, she sprang at him, bringing her legs in front of her, hitting Talib squarely in the chest, and knocking at least some of the air out of his lungs.
As he hit the ground, being caught off guard, she used his chest as a board to push herself off of him again, turning as she landed, so she was facing him. The move reminded Fred of the first time he'd met the Shadows … met her. Or thought he was first meeting her.
Talib rolled over, and glared at Frank. But he didn't strike at her blindly, which Fred suspected that move was supposed to do. Invoke more ire for the seventeen year old Spartan to cope with. Poking the sleeping dragon of the potential psychopathy that lay dormant in all of the Gamma's.
Frank smiled very slightly. "Good. Very good. Redirect it." she both praised and suggested. "Use it. Stop being used by it."
He inhaled very deeply and walked to Frank, who did not back away. She assumed a fighting stance, and was ready when Talib sent a fist in her direction. That's why he missed with the first jab, but he followed up and got her with the second, sending her flying up and back.
She landed on her feet, jaws clenched against any pain he may have caused her. Dancing forward, she leapt and got him with a kick to the face and, landing behind him, used her legs to sweep his out from under him.
Talib landed with a thud and a grunt, but regained his feet in less than a second. Fred could see his eyes were even clearer now. He was gaining the upper hand. Being the taller and stronger opponent, he pushed up with his hands and kicked out with one foot, connecting with Franks rib cage.
A grunt escaped her as she was thrown a few meters distant. She recovered instantly, and if she was hurt, Fred could not tell. But now she was grinning. Running a few steps she again lunched herself into the air, but this time Talib was ready. He caught her foot and swung her around twice, finally letting her go flying through the air towards Fred.
He stiffened slightly but did not move. Frank spun herself in mid-air, and connected with Fred's chest. Using his solid frame, she pushed herself back towards Talib. Of course, she only flew about three meters before she landed, rolled and began a series of acrobatic moves that caused Talib pause. That pause let Frank land herself feet first into the younger mans face.
The blood began to flow instantly. Frank had broken his nose. But Talib did not stop. A broken nose would not even register in a Spartan-III. He landed on his back, and rolled immediately onto his feet. Striking out again, he made contact with Frank's solar plexus. But she grabbed his arm, and employing some variation on the shrimping technique, she threw him over her shoulder and face first into the ground at her feet. She lept onto his back and pinned him.
"One. Two. Three!" came Mendez's voice. "Match goes to Major Frank-105."
Frank jumped off of Talib immediately, and even offered him her tiny hand. He accepted it, and stood. Blood flowed freely from his nose, but he was smiling.
"I won the match, but you won the battle, Talib-G191." she looked up at him. "Good job." she patted him on the shoulder, and nodded for him to get back into ranks. Once he had, she stood before them all. "I do believe this is a lesson to us all." she announced. "Pair off and spar, Spartans! Use it! Control it! Dismissed!"
As they paired off, and headed towards the boxing ring that Mendez and Ralf had set up only the day before, Mendez approached Frank. Kelly, Alexander, Ralf and Fred surrounded her.
"You okay?" Ralf asked, but he was grinning.
"Oh, I'm fine." Frank told him.
"So they can't lie to you, but you can lie to yourself?" Alexander scoffed.
"Fine is a matter of interpretation, Alexander." she retorted with a chuckle. She looked over at Mendez. "Thank you for that countdown. I am not twenty-five anymore." and she winked.
"My pleasure, Major." Mendez smiled, and pulled out a cigar. "That was impressive. If I was twenty years younger..."
Scoffing, Frank nodded to the Gammas as they gathered by the ring. "Get em organized, Chief."
Nodding once, he then snapped a salute. "Ma'am yes ma'am." and he jogged across the compound.
Frank turned to Kelly. "I think that kid broke one of my nails." she shook her head. "How inconsiderate. Think you could help me glue it back on?"
Kelly almost giggled, very rare thing indeed. "Sure. I think I have some fluorescent pink polish left over from my last mission. You'll love it." and they walked off.
Alexander looked at Fred, and shook his head, grinning from ear to ear. "Beat 'em till they're sane! Shadow Psychiatry. Gotta love it!"
