Author's Note.

I call it a make up chapter for my lateness. Its probably one of the longer chapters too. Warning, this will have adult themes in it, but nothing descriptive, I don't focus on sex too much.

Disclaimer

The Halo franchise belongs to Bungie and Microsoft, Red vs Blue belongs to Rooster teeth. This is a fan made story.

Flamers and such, take a hitch-hike through the galaxy.

Count 10

Deanis had been woken up by Donut, and she woke up half in panic.

It was that memory, when she had gotten her scar on her back. When she had failed…

It took a while to finally push the memory down. After a shower, a quick MRE breakfast, and the few surprises or comments on her miraculous return. She had thought that Church had made the bargain, but Donut had to explain to her that he and Grif had gotten her. She didn't remember any of it, and Donut stated that her voice had sounded completely different. With Doc missing, she came to the conclusion that Church had possessed her. Though why was a mystery.

She was taking patrols when her radio crackled to life.

"-Deanis-" Simmons's voice said, "-I think you need to come and see this-."

Deanis rolled her eyes, and doubled timed it back to the base. Everyone was on top of the base, excluding Lopez. Deanis reached them, Simmons was reading some files of sorts.

"What is it?" Deanis said carelessly. Simmons looked up at her.

"These." He showed them to her, and she took them. They were individual files for each of them, and they were… What? No that can't be.

"They're transfer files," Simmons said almost frustrated.

"Finally!" Grif said, "I'm getting out of this fucking place."

"Transfer files?" Donut said, "You mean, we're leaving?"

"That's right," Simmons replied.

"We're going to the same place right?" Donut asked, "Right?"

Both Deanis and Simmons looked at each other and then at Donut. Deanis could feel the clad pink's hope fall right then and there.

"We're not going out together," Simmons said.

"Woohoo!" Grif said excited.

"Shut up," Deanis said, "You and Simmons are going to the same place."

"Oh come on! What the Fuck!"

"But I don't want to leave," Donut said. Deanis didn't want to either. For the past few years, she has hated this place, but it was her home. And Red team… Red team was almost some sort of bitchy, family full of assholes. As much as she hated it, she didn't want to leave it. Then there's Blue team. What'll happen to them?

"It just don't make no sense!" Sarge said, "The battle isn't even done here!"

Deanis handed the files back to Simmons before she ripped them to pieces. Fuck it all, she didn't want to leave.

But she knew there was nothing she could do. She was under THEIR thumb after all. A fact she learned a long time ago.

The Pelican to pick them up to whatever area to move them before taking them separately to where ever would come in a day or so. The rest of the day was spent packing. Deanis had nothing. She basically sat in her cot, and waited for the day to be done. There was silence in the base. The realization that none of them could stay in Blood Gulch forever hit harder than anyone would've wanted or expected.

Tired of mopping. Tired of just fucking thinking, Deanis got up and moved outside. Any belongs she had ever own since she came to this canyon about two-three years ago was on her person, her armor, her two weapons, and lastly was probably her name. Her body… She wasn't sure if that was hers anymore.

She walked past the rooms. Donut wasn't slowly packing, giving small sniffs and sobs as he did. Simmons, he was sulking. Grif seemed to enjoy himself, though the fact that he wasn't giving much done probably indicated that he knew he wasn't going to be leaving Red army. Yeah, him and she both. Sarge was on his cot, his shotgun in his arms, and he was grumbling about something.

Up the ramp. Down the hall. To the outside.

The eternal sun greeted her again, like it always had.

She walked into the canyon, towards Blue base. She wasn't sure exactly where she was going. She was just… Tired. Of everything. Her leg's pain giving her less bother than it had been. Instead of going forward, she strayed a bit until she found the sink hole.

There were two causes of the hole, the ship that brought Sister crashing here, and the crash forced Donut through the ground, considering the ship had landed on him. It appeared to be a mere incline with the yellow dirt of Blood Gulch. One step in it, and the dirt will swallow you up.

She wasn't the only one here. A soldier in clad cobalt, with a sniper slung on his back was staring into the cenote.

"Blue," Deanis said, in a non threatening manner. Church looked up at her, but said nothing. Deanis sighed.

"Love fucking around in my head," Deanis said, looking to the sink hole, "Don't you?"

"… You put me through a brain twister and back," Church finally said something, though he was mellowed, "Deanis."

"You saw something pretty terrible, didn't you?" Deanis asked quietly.

"Yeah."

"What'd you see?"

Church looked at her for a moment, and shook his head.

"I saw…" He started, "I saw you fucking get hit, and I knew… I knew there wasn't anything I could do about it."

"I figured as much," Deanis said, kicking up some dirt in boredom.

"I didn't understand it," Church said, "I might've been there before… But I can't remember. There's nothing there."

"The memory is always at the tip of your tongue," Deanis said, "Isn't that right? Despite how you deny, you've known something, if just a little that there's something different about you. You would take your whims to the farthest reaches, I know, I've seen you do it. Those whims were what caused your downfall, but they've made you realize something. Or will, eventually."

"What're you talking about?" Church asked, looking at her through his helmet. She could feel his stare.

"Cause in all the time that I've been here Church, through all the hell and shit, I've finally figured it out," Deanis said, "It's been egging me on for several years, and I've found out that I already knew."

"You're not making sense," Church said. Deanis looked up to the eternal blue skies of the Gulch.

"Church," Deanis said, her voice lacking its inflections or its careless or bored tones. Church wasn't even sure if it was Deanis speaking or someone else, it just didn't fit.

"There is a door, a chest, a precious treasure," she said, "It's the kind of thing that contains you, traps you for so long that you lose yourself. Those of us that were involved, we're all connected by it, and we're all trapped by it. Its lock is complex. It's got many switches, dead ends, corridors, holes, traps, and even worse things. But it is still a lock. Now then, my question to you is, what is its key? Where is it? And what will you do when you find it?"

Deanis looked at Church.

"My team is transferring out, Church," Deanis said, her old familiar voice coming out of its almost smooth ring, "I'm leaving. I'm not sure if we'll see each other again or not."

Deanis was about to walk away, when Church stopped her.

"I don't think I understood a word you just fucking said," He told her, "But there's something that we started and we haven't finished yet."

Deanis looked at him.

"Would you care if I was inexperienced?" she asked, "What about Tex?"

"I still care about her," Church admitted, "But, we broke up. There isn't a reason why I shouldn't see other women."

"Whatever you say," Deanis almost chuckled. Church reached behind Deanis's head, pushed the helmet's seal. The helmet depressurized, and he took it off and through to the side. He did the same to his own as Deanis watched. His black hair still in disarray, his stubble looked like it hadn't been shaved in a few weeks though it was far from being a beard. His brown eyes were dark in some sort of internal darkness, but had a strange blue rim around the pupils that hadn't been there before.

Deanis genuinely smiled. It was sad, forlorn, and heavy.

"There's a place in the caves that we can go," Church said, "No disturbances or anything. And I think I owe you a few times over."

Church leaned his head in, and his lips found Deanis's. His skin no longer had its feverishly hot quality, and his stubble rubbed against Deanis's cheeks. No matter. It has been a long time since she had first wanted this. And they left for the caves.

It was hours later when the actions had finally relaxed.

Church lied naked on the ground of the cave he had spent months waiting in. The earthy air was now tinged with the smell of sex, and armor parts were thrown everywhere, the dirt was disturbed, but had not kicked up in the slightest. He wasn't the only one of course, Deanis was sleeping on his chest, utterly exhausted.

To Church, Deanis had been a lot like Tex, seeming with unbearable amounts of rage and energy. In these latest hours, he had been proven that Deanis and Allison weren't so much alike. Deanis couldn't stand rough, he didn't blame her it had been her first. She had bled during penetration, though she had left some nasty scratches from her struggles.

As it had turned out, the robot body could not ejaculate, but merely sent sensation through the nervous system. So Church couldn't get a real boner, but it was all the same effect. Despite it all, it had been wonderful. Almost as good as his first time, without the embarrassment of premature or not getting hard at all.

He had a hand on her back, and though the loving was sweet, the unnaturally soft flesh of Deanis's scar gave him a sick feeling. He could feel the ribs and spinal bones of her back, and it was entirely too soft. He wondered once again how she could live with such burden.

Near one of the armor pieces, the Red helmet, something flickered. Church turned his head, his face reflected on the helmet's visor. The flickering happened again, and this time, it stayed. It formed, until a man that looked exactly like Church was sitting cross legged on the floor of the cave. His body giving a ghostly glow, and his blue armor standard.

"Hey there Church," Other Church said, "I'd say you did a pretty nice job there, though I've never heard a guy scream that loud."

"What do you want," Church grumbled, too tired to sum up annoyance. Other Church shrugged.

"To talk, nothing else."

"…Don't feel like it."

"Well I really don't care at the moment. You exhausted Deanis to near nothing, what do you think I was going to do? Wait it out? This is a perfect opportunity."

"You sound happy…"

"Why shouldn't I be? It wasn't just her first either."

"Wait what?" Church nearly sat up, "You mean that I-"

"Don't start thinking that," Other Church said, "I was it your head most of the time, though you probably didn't realize it while you two were humping each other. It did feel great."

"Yeah whatever…"

Other Church sighed, "You realize that there's the possibility that you won't see her again, right?"

"Yeah. I know."

"Well then, with that possibility in mind, I would like to show you something."

The Other Church stood, his hologram flickered as he walked over to Church. He crouched, and set a hand on the Blue soldier.

Church's eyes widened when he found that he wasn't in the cave anymore, or even in Blood Gulch. He was in a field of long yellowed grass, with the clouds having an orange tinge to the sky. It almost reminded him of hell. Church was standing in a naked area, on seeable ground. The dirt was loose, and he wasn't surprised to find himself in his armor again.

In front of him, was Other Church.

"Do you know this place?"

"No," Church replied.

"If you did, you would've surprised the hell out of me," Other Church continued, "This is my little area. Quite peaceful eh?"

"Could've fooled me," Church mumbled.

"This place is the corner in which I reside. Where I go when some asshole like you wants to poke around. It's not technically in Deanis's mind, more like part of the connection between her mind and her neural implants. But that doesn't mean I'm powerless. After all, who do you think has been fixing you up all this time?"

Church's eyebrows furrowed. He was pretty sure that Deanis was the one that had repaired his robot body, not this look-alike.

"Hold a minute," Church said, "Deanis-"

"-Repairs you?" Other Church said, "Seriously. Deanis doesn't even know what an Artificial Hydraulic Systematic Energy CL-00254 is. Sure she did the work, but I was the one moving her hands."

"The fuck man? What else have you been doing?"

"Not much besides that, really," Other Church admitted, "Though Lopez's parent issue might be something…"

"Look man, you can't just go fucking around in people's heads!"

Other Church gave him an incredulous look.

"And you can?" He said, "Since when did you care? Oh, since Deanis became your Texas-Rebound? If I had told you several weeks ago, you wouldn't have given a damn, would you? Would you?"

"I'm serious, don't mess with Deanis's head anymore."

"…What makes you think I'd listen to you now?" Other Church looked dangerously angry at Church. His eyes carried an age long grudge, and his face made an "I dare you" look. The grassland's winds started whipping the grass around in a fury. The sky's clouds changed into a stormy dark gray, and the sky a blood red.

Church's attention was set on the other one. Other Church's form rippled, rapidly changed into something that Church would've seen out of some kind of nightmare. The Caucasian skin turned charred and some areas peeled, the cracks showing an almost lava looking energy that resides under the black. The eyes faded, leaving two black empty sockets. The armor was no longer the standard issue blue, but now a UNSC hell jumper's battle suit, covered in peeling paint, burn marks, dirt, and dust. Instead of energy or normal holographic light, black shadow radiated from him like smoke and clouds, with small specks that would've come from a bond fire.

"This, this is what I look like, what I am," Other Church's voice was flanging, and echoed without a true echo. A true horror.

"What are you?" Church asked.

"I'm your back-up, my purpose," Other Church said, "But I am also the piece you left for Deanis. But do you really think I'd show myself to her? I'm under restrictions to stay hidden, away from the Project. Away from the Director."

The Director again.

"Who's the Director?" Church demanded, "Why is he so important?"

Other Church smirked, the cracks in his cheeks and lips opening to show the lava looking energy, an ugly sight.

"That's the question isn't it?" he said, "Who is the Director? It's an answer that everyone knows, but yet, nobody wants to accept it. Deanis knows, she refuses to believe it. You used to know, maybe still do, if hell I know."

"Fuck if I do! Why the hell is he important? You didn't answer me!"

"In due time," Other Church said, "You're not the only one to ask such delicate questions. Omega asked things too."

"What?"

"Omega wanted to destroy everything, bare down on everything, seeing destruction in its wake," Other Church continued, "Such anger, don't you remember? You felt it, in that memory you and Deanis had."

Church opened his mouth to demand an answer to his cryptic, when it hit him. The dream, about Deanis or Haval or whoever the hell, that battle. He remembered the rage, how it felt like it could burn him up with everything around him. He had never known such a pure hatred before, not even now could he pull something like that back up to the surface, if it was even there.

"It was a wonder that it didn't take me up on its rampage," Other Church said, "Such a creature should never had gotten lose. You shouldn't have let it leave Tex, you know, there's a reason it was in her head."

"To make her a homicidal maniac, the hell I shouldn't!" Church said spiteful, "That thing would've driven her crazy!"

"It would've taken her from you," Other Church deadpanned, "Do you even think about anyone but you? I supposed you'll try to do the same thing to Deanis too, huh? Go ahead and try to remove me. I'm far older than Omega, and not that impulsive. What damage have I done? Zero. Zip. I've done nothing to anyone."

"Bullshit."

"Oh right, everyone but you," Other Church sighed, "Well Good intentions do go sour. But I digress. It's too bad we can't continue our chat, but Deanis is waking up, I think she'd like to think that you weren't in her head again after all."

"You're an asshole you know," Church said.

"I take after me after all."

Church gave the desecrated look-alike a glare, turned around and walked away from the grassland. If there was anything that he would confirm about this little meeting, it was that that AI must be crazy, spouting such bullshit to his face.

One way or another, he'll have to deal with him some time or later.

And that ladies and gentlemen, is Other Church's true form. Lovely isn't it?

Now there are going to be only 10 counts, but there's an epilogue to hopefully be posted in the near future. Remind me if it isn't.

Read, Review, Remind me, Whatever.

Interval - Count 10