A/N: Alrightly, I finally managed to rewrite this Chapter! I hope you guys liked it, I really tried my hardest to make it better! x.x
Anyways, feel free to drop a review or whatnot on how this story went. I'd really appreciate it!
Thank you to all of you for being so patient and being so supportive during the progress of the story. I appreciate it so much. xo

cнαρтєя 10 - яєтυяηιηg

Scarlett and Cate weren't sure how long they had been fighting. All they knew was that the hours had gone quickly – It was turning dark now, and with a failing HUD for both of them, it would be hard to get through without sufficient night vision. Their ammo was going down quickly.
Scarlett had barely succumbed past death. She had been overpowered by a group of Zealots, who had pushed her to the ground and repeatedly stabbed her in the torso and stomach. If Cate hadn't been there, Scarlett was certain she would have died.
They had managed to find shelter in a nearby cave – The back of the cave was a complete dead end, so no way to get out if they become overpowered. However, they could hide in the shadows and hopefully, not be noticed even by an attentive Elite.
Scarlett groaned out in pain, bandaging herself up. The wounds were bleeding heavily, so Cate tossed her some Biofoam, which Scarlett was grateful for.
Cate hadn't said a lot, and Scarlett wondered if that was her stubborn nature kicking in again. After all, she had just lost Emile, so she was bound to be pissed at the Covenant.
'She's not the only one,' Scarlett mused silently. Whilst it wasn't necessarily the Covenant that had taken Jorge away from her, they had begun glassing Reach. And Reach – It was like a part of Jorge. It was all he had of his life before Halsey abducted him. That's what divided him so much from the rest of the Team – Their planets had been glassed and lost, and for the most part, they didn't talk about it – Apart from Jun, who was naturally chatty. But Jorge – He was always willing to shout out in battle his love for Reach. And to Scarlett, it was just amazing.
Thinking of Jorge again made tears well up in Scarlett's eyes. She silently took her helmet off and wiped the tears away with her gloved hands. It had been weeks since the Team lost Jorge, but it just seemed to Scarlett that the days got worse, rather than better.
It was difficult for her to deal with her grief for Jorge – She was always afraid that the Commander, or even Emile, would tell her to just get over it. She was a Spartan, after all, and whilst emotional attachments would and could form for teammates, love was something that Spartans didn't pay attention to.
All in all, what she felt for Jorge had been so much different to what she felt for Jack. They were so different, Jorge and Jack – Jack was the complete opposite of her, whilst Jorge seemed to understand and relate to her more. Perhaps that's why she seemed to miss Jorge more, than she ever missed Jack, she would often think.
Cate looked over at Scarlett, surprised to see that she was crying.
"Scarlett, what's wrong?" Cate questioned, alarmed.
Scarlett shook her head, tears pouring down her cheeks. She just couldn't find the words. But Cate nodded, understanding immediately. Jorge.
Cate comforted Scarlett, whilst keeping an eye on the entrance of the cave. She didn't want anything to take the advantage during their weak times.

"No, no, NO!" Jorge shouted, punching the console in front of him in pure frustration. Things weren't going as he had planned – He was entering Reach's atmosphere too quickly – The pure force of hitting the ground would kill him instantly. He would need to time his entrance – Locking his armor just before he hit the ground would just about save him. It would be dangerous – It could fail, and he could end up killing himself – But Jorge was open to taking chances, and if it meant seeing Scarlett again, he would do whatever it took.
A memory immediately popped into his head, when he thought of locking his armor.
"Lock your armor, Scarlett!" He had shouted to Scarlett, when the Falcon hadn't responded well to entering the Spire.
The fact that Scarlett had clearly trusted Jorge when so many things could go wrong, made Jorge want to find her even more.
So he closed his eyes and locked his armor, bracing for impact.

Jorge opened his eyes to a bad headache. All he could hear was a buzzing sound, and all he could see was a bright light. For a moment, he was scared that it really had failed, and that he was dead. But his vision cleared up and he found himself facing the dusty ground. He groaned and hoisted himself up from the ground, looking around for his turret.
His radar showed red dots coming from all angles. The Covenant in this area were obviously curious about the wreck.
His eyes spied his machine gun, thankfully laying a short distance away from him. He scrambled to grab it quickly, mowing down any Covenant that got too close or fired at him.
He didn't know if Scarlett and the rest of Noble were dead or alive. For all he knew, they could be on the other side of the planet, or had even got off the planet.
But he wasn't going to give up. Even if he had to search the entire planet, Jorge promised to himself that he would find Scarlett.

"Hm, that's weird." Cate mused aloud. She had been guarding the cave mouth; a large group of Elites had been heading over. But a General had gestured to the Elites, and they had turned back, almost retreating.
"What is it?" Scarlett questioned, having just about finished bandaging herself up.
"The Covenant…They're retreating?"
"What?" Scarlett questioned, hardly believing this herself. "No way!" She limped over to Cate, still sore from her wounds. She scanned the area and saw a whole troop of Covenant heading away from them.
"That's…weird." Scarlett said, frowning. "Well, this will give us some time to rest up."
Cate nodded, before adding, "But aren't you wondering why they're retreating? I mean, they're not glassing. And we're easy targets, why not finish us off?"
Scarlett shrugged, easing herself down again. "I don't know. Let's just enjoy it why we can."
"But don't you want to explore? Find out why?"
Scarlett shook her head. "Have you seen me?" She gestured to her wounded body. "I won't last out there! You can go, but I'm not moving yet."
Cate shook her head firmly. "I'm not leaving you. They could come back."

Jorge had fought his way through tons of Covenant. It had literally overwhelmed him. His machinegun turret had long gone; run out of ammo. He usually used his backpack to store more ammo, but this Firefight had drained even the backup ammo he had. This had never happened before, which surprised him.
However, he was determined not to use any Covenant weapons, so he had picked up an abandoned Assault Rifle, with a generous 500 rounds still left in it. It felt light and almost petty in his hands, a lot different from the heavy turret he had often had to heft around. The gun immediately brought back memories of Scarlett. If he could remember correctly, she had always favored the Assault Rifle and DMR.
Seeing that the area around him was clear – For now – He dropped his backpack and checked what was left.
A few rations lay at the bottom of it, mainly crushed by the ammo he had hastily packed on top of it weeks before.
He wasn't hungry, but he knew he needed to eat at least something, or he wouldn't get out of here. He lifted his now largely light backup and put it back on.
First thing was first; he really needed to find some shelter to get through this night.

Scarlett had eventually fallen asleep, but Cate was certain to stay awake. Wherever the Covenant had gone, it wouldn't have been far, and they were likely to return.
She heard heavy footsteps approaching the cave and immediately raised her weapon. Nothing had appeared on her radar yet, but she could still hear the footsteps – Suddenly, a yellow dot appeared at the edge of her HUD and slowly came in closer. A friendly?
It couldn't be, she assured herself, her finger twitching at the trigger of her shotgun. It could easily be Covenant, with a Spartans helmet or something.
The footsteps stopped abruptly as the owner of them halted in front of Cate. Cate looked him up and down closely.
Firstly, he was huge. He would have to duck down, just to get into the cave. For a guy so tall, he was carrying a small Assault Rifle, which didn't seem to suit him at all.
Her blurred HUD showed "S-052", marker pointing to him. She couldn't trust it though; it was damaged.
"Who the hell are you?" She asked coldly.

Jorge hadn't trudged far before he came across the cave. It was a very short distance from the crash-site, so it seemed perfect to spend the night here before he moved on the next morning.
He soon found though, he wasn't alone. He had slowly approached the cave, seeing two yellow dots. His thoughts immediately floated to Scarlett. His stomach was full of butterflies at the simple thought of seeing her again. It was a weird experience for Jorge, but then, Scarlett had taught him love.
Sure, he felt love for Halsey. But she was like a mother to him, so it was much like a sons love for his mother. What he felt for Scarlett was so much more different. He couldn't explain what this love experience felt like, but he felt happier and joyful in her presence, something that had never happened with anybody else.
He stopped suddenly at the sight of a female Spartan guarding the cave entrance. She wasn't Scarlett, or Kat: No, he would have recognized them immediately.
Her service tag read S-300 on his HUD, which made him immediately assume she was a III. SPARTAN-IIs numbers didn't go that high.
He studied her carefully. He had never seen her in his life.
"Who the hell are you?" She suddenly asked rather rudely. He chuckled slightly. Her behavior reminded him of Emile. Either way, he had not expected this welcome.
"I could ask you the same," He replied, lowering his weapon to signify to her that he wasn't hostile. "I'm Jorge-052. Noble Five of Noble Team."
Cate immediately lowered her weapon. "Well," She began. "You better get in. Quickly, the Covenant were probably following."
Jorge nodded and hurried in, sitting down slowly on the cold, dusty ground. He looked up, and just opposite him, lay Scarlett. It was dark, but he could tell it was her. Her service tag read S-312 on his HUD.
"Scarlett!" He cried, rushing over to her. He was quickly halted by Cate.
"She's resting," Cate explained. "Got badly injured by Zealots."
"Is she okay?!" Jorge demanded.
"Yes, for now."
Jorge nodded and sat back down. He wanted to talk to her so desperately; it had been so long.
"Who are you, anyway?" Jorge asked Cate after a few minutes of awkward silence.
"Cate-A300," She replied. "This is awkward, but I am your replacement."
Jorge's eyes widened. He felt hurt, almost betrayed. They had replaced him already?
Sensing Jorge's discomfort, Cate quickly added, "Noble didn't have a choice. With Reach falling so quickly, Holland was insistent that no assets go to waste. Which is why I was transferred to Noble Team."
Jorge nodded, understanding how they couldn't argue with Holland.
He looked over the barren land of Reach, realizing how much he had missed both Reach and Scarlett.

A few minutes later, and finally, Scarlett stirred from her nap. She looked around the cave, her eyes adjusting to the light. When she saw Jorge, she couldn't help but rub her eyes. She had to be dreaming – Or dead. How was he back?
"Jorge?" She questioned. He could hear the emotion in her voice.
"It's me," He replied, the tears starting to fall down his cheeks.
"Jorge!" She cried, rushing over to him and hugging him, falling straight into his arms. "I just – I – Oh, I've missed you!" She cried.
Jorge nodded, stroking her hair. "I've missed you too. So much."
She looked up at him, straight into his eyes. "How did you…?" She questioned, still not able to believe this. It was a miracle.
"I managed to the get to the bridge of the Corvette and fly it back here. I needed to find you."
"Oh, Jorge!" Scarlett cried again, unable to stop the tears falling. Jorge smiled fondly at her, the way he always used to, drying her tears. Gently, he went in for a kiss.
Cate rolled her eye and looked away. She did not do romantic moments. Instead, she reloaded her shotgun and continued taking watch.

Jorge and Scarlett eventually fell asleep in each others arms. Scarlett couldn't help but think this was the way it was meant to be. He should never had left, she couldn't help but think.
Once Jorge woke up, she pulled out his dogtags from her armor. Her dogtags had been tangled up with his again, but she sorted them out and handed him his, "I think you've been missing this." She said with a giggle.
Jorge grinned and replied, "I think you're right."
They were about to kiss again when Cate noticed a flood of Covenant heading their way.
"Guys, we've got a shitload of hostiles coming!"
Jorge and Scarlett quickly pulled apart and stood up.
"Can you walk?" Jorge asked Scarlett, who shook her head. "Not well. I'll be too slow."
Without another word Jorge lifted Scarlett into his arms and jogged out of the cave, Cate giving them covering fire.
They managed to find a place to rest behind an old building. The Covenant gave up their search, not looking around the building, but instead, hovering on the other side of them.
"Y'know, Scarlett," Jorge began, his arm wrapped around her. "I missed you a lot. I felt..Weird when I thought about you. Like butterflies. And it feels like an abomination. I'm not used to this. You'll have to help me understand this…How love works for people like us."
Scarlett nodded confidently, holding his hand tightly. "You know I will."
Suddenly, a Pelican came in, firing at all visible hostiles. It hovered above their position and the hangar door opened, revealing a marine.
"Get in, now! We're getting to the Autumn!"

The Pelican took them the Autumn. A marine guided them to the hangar of the Autumn, where the rest of Noble – Excluding Emile, who was in the medical bay were waiting.
"It's good to have all three of you back." Carter welcomed them, a warm smile on his face. He was so thankful that they had all survived.

Jorge looked around the Autumn in awe. He had never been on this ship, but there were people he recognised.
His attention turned to Captain Keyes, who was having a conversation with Cortana. He was certain that he had already met Keyes, but where he wasn't sure of. Just his face - His eyes Jorge recognized - Perhaps a younger version of Keyes he had recalled seeing. Whatever the point, he was certain Keyes was involved in his childhood.
Jorge's attention turned to Cortana. He silently mused that he looked like slightly like Halsey. He features were slightly different to that of Halsey's, but the resemblance was clear. Cortana even sounded like Halsey - Just younger and more relaxed.
Seeing Cortana made Jorge once again, worry for Halsey. She was after all, very she was much like a mother figure to Jorge and the rest of the Spartan-IIs. He hoped she hadn't sacrificed herself for the sake of an AI.
"Sir, what happened to Halsey?" Jorge asked Carter.
"Jun escorted her to CASTLE Base, before rejoining us. I'd expect that she would be safe there."
Jorge nodded, satisfied with this, before re-joining Scarlett, who was chatting to Kat and Cate. He put an arm around her waist, and Scarlett smiled up at him, leaning her head on his shoulder.
Kat raised an eyebrow before adding, "So, you two have finally admitted your feelings for one another?"
Scarlett giggled. Jorge smiled fondly at her, before replying to Kat, "Have you and the Commander made your relationship public?"
Kat blushed, looking over at Carter. "How did you know?" She asked, her attention turning back to Jorge and Scarlett.
Scarlett raised her eyebrows. "Oh, come on, it's obvious!"
Kat looked back at Carter. "I'll go and talk to him." She walked over to him and gently touched his arm. He turned to face her, and they started talking.

Keyes, having finished his conversation with Cortana, headed over to Jorge, Scarlett and Cate. Scarlett glanced over at Cortana, who had now pulled up a holographic keyboard and was typing something. She wondered what Jorge thought of Cortana.
Her attention was turned back to Keyes as he clasped his hands together and started talking to them.
"Good to see you again, Noble," Keyes greeted them.
"You too, Sir." Jorge spoke up broadly.
Keyes nodded, smiling. "Yes, I remember you." He told Jorge. "Of course, I can't tell you exactly how. You know, with ONI and all. Anyhow, I'll introduce myself again. Captain Jacob Keyes."
Jorge nodded. He knew he'd seen Keyes somewhere before. "Jorge-052, Sir. It's an honor."
"As it is for all of you," Keyes replied. "Now, shall we update your armor? It will customizable, but we will just make your shields stronger."
"Sounds good to me!" Cate piped up.
"Alright, follow me," Keyes gestured for them all to follow him to the armory. "Noble Four is in the medical bay, but you are free to see him once you have been fitted in your updated armor. He'll get his updated once he's fit for combat."
Everybody nodded. Carter was pleased that his whole Team had made it through the Fall of Reach.
It was disappointing for everyone that had lost Reach, particularly for Jorge, as it was his home. But they had each other, and for now, that was a victory in itself.