A/N: ...have earned some R&R. 'Nuff said.

"So, did you manage to tell her?" Kat questioned Carter hours later, when all of the team were back aboard the frigate; everyone was fast asleep save for the two of them. The team leader glanced over to where Artemis was curled up with Emile, and heaved a sigh, shoulders slumping. He hadn't been able to bring himself to do so. He still didn't think the time was right...which meant that they'd carry that dark, dangerous secret for a lot longer.

"I'll take that as a no, then," the cryptanalyst self-concluded, shaking her head at him. "You have got to tell her sometime. Before one of us does, and you wind up feeling guilty since I know you think that that's your job."

"I know. It just – she was hurting enough as it was, and I didn't wanna make that any worse."

"Please tell me that you'll let her know soon, Carter."

"Alright. I will."

Both SPARTANs glanced out the window when they heard the unmistakable sound of rain pattering down on the metal hull of the ship. It was right at that moment that Artemis stirred awake, and when she became more aware, there was a childlike gleam in her eyes. "Oh! Rain!" She got off the bed and tugged on a sleepy Emile's wrist. "Come on, you lazy ass. Same goes for the lot of you. Let's go outside and enjoy the rain. It's nice, and we might not get an opportunity like this for some time."

"Did we just – did we wind up with an oversized puppy on our team or something?" the assault specialist grumbled, even now sounding half-asleep as he allowed the lone wolf to drag him to his feet and toward the door. "I'm sure we had a highly-trained hyper-lethal soldier assigned to us. How did we end up with a giant puppy instead?"

"I haven't the faintest idea." Jorge remarked with a shake of his head. "Maybe it's just part of her lone wolf persona?"

"That's taking it too literally; I don't think so, somehow." Jun rubbed at his bleary eyes, sitting upright. "It's probably something else."

"Bullshit," Emile said, though the faked cough he released didn't quite cover up the word, rolling his eyes at the sniper before he was dragged outside.

"It's so nice out here!" Artemis' eyes were sparkling, and though her hair was wet and hanging to her face, she did not care. She backflipped on the wet dirt, just because she could, and straightened up with a small burst of laughter. "Isn't it neat how for once we can feel the rain on our bare skin, instead of listening to it tink and plink on our suits?"

"Gotta admit, I see sense in her line of thinking," Jorge stated quietly to Carter, who gave an amused scoff in response, folding his arms over his chest. The only one who didn't seem so overjoyed about the whole situation was Jun; he was lamenting the fact that he had been coerced into it almost more than Emile, and that he was getting wet. He'd never really liked rain when he was growing up, and he didn't now.

"I have missed rain. Never got much when we were growing up; we lived in one of the drier parts of Biko." the team leader confessed, glancing up at the sky. "Safe to say, I agree."

"Rained a lot where I lived. It was nice. Me and my brothers would get out and just run around like a bunch of idiots. Was good fun." the SPARTAN-II stated, a nostalgic expression on his features.

"How many brothers you have?"

"Two. One younger by three years; one older by a year. We got up to some mischief from time to time, but mostly we were good, well-behaved kids. How we were raised, I suppose."

"Sounded like a good childhood. It was only myself and my younger brother, growing up. He'd be Jun's age by now...though I don't know if he's alive or not. Haven't heard from him since...well, you know. Since I was recruited to be part of the SPARTAN-III program. I have a feeling he's out there somewhere. He was always the smart one, out of the two of us. Me? I was the athletic one."

Jorge chuckled quietly, shaking his head. "Kind of obvious that you were the athletic one. And the headstrong leader too, I'm guessing?"

"Got it in one." Carter affirmed, his eyes drifting to track the rest of the team as they ran about in the rain, behaving like a bunch of excited children. It was rather amusing to see – a bunch of big-ass soldiers running around, doing backflips and cartwheels and whatnot in the mud.

But then, that was just the life of this particular lot of SPARTANs, now. Their childhoods had been ripped from them, and thus they were doing everything in their power to regain what they'd lost. Even if it looked funny and awkward, not a single one of them cared. They were just...happy to be happy. Glad that they were all together; that they had all survived one of the bloodiest wars in human history.

Carter awoke drenched in sweat, chest heaving. He pushed himself upright and glanced out the window, seeing that it was just beginning to get light outside.

Damn nightmares. They're just never gonna leave, are they? he thought bitterly, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and getting to his feet. Well, at least it wasn't too early. If there was one thing he really couldn't stand about nightmares was the fact that sometimes he woke up in the middle of the night and found it damn near impossible to get back to sleep. Which, of course, made him grumpy the following day. Which kinda sucked, because his team sometimes wound up suffering for it. And he couldn't stand that.

The SPARTAN-III heaved a sigh and pulled on a pair of running shoes, tying up the laces before jogging out of the room and out of the frigate entirely, deciding that perhaps a good, long run would do well to clear his head.

A long, looping course took him well around the Stalwart where it rested on a large rocky ridge; a good hour or so in total – it was quite bright and the sky was nice and clear by the time he started to slow himself down.

He was just coming to a stop when a flash of light caught his eye and he stumbled, tripped over a rock, and dived into a neat tuck-and-roll to make sure he didn't hurt himself. Probably a little ungraceful, but hell, he was a SPARTAN, not a damn ballerina or whatever. He drew himself up and brushed off the dirt on his shorts, hissing quietly when the action made his palms sting; he'd cut himself on the gravel when he used his hands to brace himself.

"Damn it..." Carter muttered, glancing around to try and see whatever it was that had caused him to trip. And then he heaved a sigh, shaking his head – there was Jun, polishing his sniper rifle on a rock nearby. It must have been the sunlight bouncing off one of the bullets that were scattered around him that had flashed right in the Commander's eye.

"Okay, seriously? You blinded me."

"Bit of a messy landing." the Warrant Officer snarked back, a smirk evident in his tone. "What, you tripped up because you were blinded by a tiny little flash from my bullets? Kind of hilarious, if you think about it."

"One of these days, I swear..." Carter sat himself down on the ground, hissing again when his palms stung even more. "See, look what you did. My damn hands hurt, thankyou very much." The sarcasm was dripping from his voice.

"Oh come on, are you thirty-two, or are you thirteen? Stop being such a baby." Seemed like today Jun was in a snarky mood.

At least he had a good night's sleep. How the hell does he even manage...? Nevermind. Not the point.

"You know, I'm sure Jorge still has that duct tape lying around somewhere," Carter threatened, his eyes glinting with amusement. That shut the sniper right up – either that or he had nothing else to say, but the Commander suspected the former. "Hm. Thought so."

Thunderstorms seemed to be fairly typical weather for New Harmony in the fall. They were loud, violent, and short – and never seemed to do much except leave the ground soaking wet and maybe a few tree branches across the way here and t here. However, as the year moved closer to winter, every now and then, there would be a longer, wilder thunderstorm. Such as the one currently taking place; the one into which Emile had decided to vanish a couple of hours ago. The others were starting to get worried. It was dangerous to be out there like this – what if a branch fell off and hit him on the head and nobody found him until hours later? Or – well, they didn't want to think about the what ifs. That never got anybody anywhere.

"Don't you think that one of us should go looking for him? It's too dangerous to be out there." Jorge questioned, staring out into the darkness that lay beyond the frigate.

"It's too dangerous to go looking," Jun pointed out, not looking up from the book he was reading. "Who would even think to go search in that kind of weather? Not me, that's for sure."

"I'll go," Artemis volunteered, getting to her feet. "I know how to lose one's self in a storm, and I know how to find others in near-total darkness. Plus weather like that doesn't scare me. And I'm fast. I can move from cover to cover quickly."

Kat cast a worried glance her way, but made no move to stop the redhead, who was already halfway out the door. "Just be careful out there, alright? I don't want you getting hurt."

"Always am, Sis." Artemis responded, glancing once over her shoulder before the door slid shut behind her.

The lone wolf trudged through the darkness, keen eyes picking out each and every landmark she came across so that if she ever lost her way, she would know when and where she was approaching someplace familiar. She didn't call for Emile, because if he was having a hard time in his head, then she knew it would make him harder to find. Instead, she searched silently, tracking the wet footprints he'd left in the mud which soon vanished, leaving her with nothing. That didn't stop her from searching, however.

She had to find her SPARTAN brother. Never leave a man behind was the team's motto, and she wasn't about to let him down. Not now, not ever.

She narrowed her eyes and scanned the area around her, finding it a lot easier to see when lightning forked the sky above like liquid fire, lighting up her surroundings. Even as brief as it was, the image was imprinted on her mind, and she would have been able to tell if anything had changed. Something shadowy moved ahead of her, and in a brilliant burst of speed she darted forward, one hand grasping a rather solid shoulder.

Emile.

"What're you doing all the way out here in this kind of weather, huh?" she asked wryly, stifling her laughter when the other SPARTAN gave a jerk that indicated he was startled. "Caught you by surprise, did I?"

"Shut up," the assault specialist mumbled, swiping his shaggy hair out of his eyes. "What're you doing here yourself? I'm surprised the others even let you go."

"Little wild weather never scared me. And I figure that you probably shouldn't be alone out here. Y'know, in case something happened to you. Nobody protested my leaving; they're all either too worried or too tired or just can't be bothered."

"Just kinda...messy in my head. You know how it is. Sit with me for a bit, kid; enjoy this weather that's as nuts as I am." Emile plonked himself on the hard ground, and patted the spot beside him.

The lone wolf gave a quiet laugh and rolled her eyes good-naturedly though the other could scarcely see it, and seated herself beside him, drawing her legs up to her chest. "Whatcha thinking about?"

"Too many things at once." the Warrant Officer stated flippantly, focusing his gaze onto the flickering sky above them.

"Ain't that the truth," Artemis quipped wryly, shaking her head before resting it on his shoulder. It was pretty nice out here; one had to admit, even though there was the danger of a branch or whatever being blown at them thanks to the wild wind. But, well...maybe it was worth it. Because the peace the two SPARTANs felt even as the storm raged around them...it was something they sorely needed.

Nothing said galaxy's greatest heroes need some R&R too as much as this.