Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters. Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.

Exclaimer: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.

Chapter 10

Thel quietly closed the door behind him when he saw that Rtas was still sleeping. He sneaked towards him to get a good look at him. 'The Spec Ops Commander hasn't changed one bit.' he thought to himself. He grabbed himself a chair and sat next to Rtas. He looked at Rtas while he was sleeping. Hundreds and thousands of questions zoomed passed his head as he wanted know a lot of things. Like what was Rtas doing here? Was he exiled as well? For what reason? What was going on at High Charity?

Thel shook his head at the amount of the entire question piling up inside him. He stood up when he heard Rtas stir. He looked down on him as he opened his eyes. Rtas blinked as the sudden light enter the room. It took him a moment to recognize that someone was standing over him even longer to recognize who it was.

"Thel?" he asked when he finally recognize who it was. "Is that you?"

"Yes it's me Rtas." he answered. Rtas slowly sat up and looked around the room. Then all the memories flooded back into him; the revelation of the monitor, his planning to go to the humans then Colde's confrontation. Then a thought crossed his mind, Thel was supposedly dead right? Then that must mean…

"Am I dead?" he asked. Thel chuckled.

"No. What are you doing here?" he counter questioned.

"I was looking for you. Halo, the great journey, everything was a lie." answered Rtas. Thel was taken by surprise, how did Rtas know about this?
"Who told you that?" he asked.

"The Oracle or Monitor himself." answered Rtas.

"Where? How? When?" asked Thel.

"It happened…" began Rtas.

Rtas recounted the event that had taken place over the days. He recounted everything right after Thel was exiled. He told him about trying to change the prophet's decision. He told him about Sesa and their duel; about the monitor explaining everything to him; about Colde confrontation with him on his false mission.

When he finished he asked, "Where are we?"

"We're in the human's space station called Cairo Station." answered Thel. Then Rtas looked at him bemused.

"But if this is a human space station, how are you still alive?" he asked. Thel smiled him.

"Long story…" said Thel.

"I have all the time." answered Rtas. Thel sighed and began.

He told him about how he was on Cairo; about him knowing the truth eventually with the help of Rick, Jaime and Rachelle. About him allying himself to the UNSC; this caught Rtas by surprise.

"You allied yourself?!" asked Rtas.

"Yes, I have and they accepted It." answered Thel.
"Why?"

"It's because, I wanted penitence. I wanted to clear my conscience free from all my horrendous acts on them."

"I see…"

"Rtas you were exiled, were you not?"

"I…was."

"Do you understand that you can no longer go back to High Charity?" he asked. Rtas sighed deeply then answered
"Yes I do…What am I going to do now?" asked the commander.
"Well… you could join our cause. When the Admiral named Hood heard my request to join, he only asked for one thing in exchange. He asked that if I were to join, I must give important information on the whereabouts of High Charity. I gladly accepted. The humans want to kill the prophets." answered Thel.

"Really now? Well then I think I can contribute…" answered Rtas. Thel noticed the trail and asked,

"What's wrong?" Rtas sighed.

"My son, I hope he can survive without Me." said Rtas. Thel placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"He is strong, he can and will soon learn the truth." said Thel.

Then the two of them looked up as the door slid open. Rick and Jaime came in and said to Thel,

"Interrogation time." Thel nodded and stood up.

"I'll see you later." said Thel as he walked out of his room.

"Don't try to do anything funny or we'll shoot you, got that?" he heard Rick ask as the door closed.

He sighed as he managed to convince Rtas to ally with the UNSC. Not only was it useful, but it was also somewhat needed. His intelligence on High Charity was totally outdated. Rtas on the other hand had been on High Charity when he was gone, and he would have surely known where High Charity was headed. He looked up as he saw someone approaching him. It was Rachelle.

"So how did your talk go?" she asked.

"Well, it would seem that I managed to convince him to join our cause." said Thel with a smile.

"That's wonderful!" said Rachelle.

"Yes, it is." answered Thel.

"Hey, I was planning to get some target practice, want to come?" asked Rachelle.

"That would be wonderful. It would seem that I need to get acquainted with your weapons." Rachelle chuckled.

"Follow me."

The two walked down the halls discussing the main differences about their weapons. Thel enjoyed himself once again. It would seem he feels at ease and relaxed when he was with Rachelle. Rachelle on the other hand was thinking of things. She thought to herself, "No man has ever treated me with such kindness and respect." In all her life she was never respected in this manner. Most of the boys, excluding others such as Rick and Jaime, had disrespected her. They treat her like she couldn't hold her ground on the battlefield which was wrong.

The two turned around the hallway and entered the shooting range.

"You know we've go allot of Plasma weaponry we don't use. We can use it; we just don't know how to give it energy. We've managed to snag some pretty well energized plasma stuff. Needlers are no problem since they're re-loadable. Have you ever used a bullet based gun? I'll teach you on those guns." Rachelle patted him on the shoulder and led him into the shooting range.

"Here we go." said Rachelle hefting a crate and opening it. Plasma rifles were stacked on top of each other but were turned off. Thel grabbed one and turned it on. He didn't have a HUD but he could always guess how charged up a weapon is. This was 94. Pretty good; But he decided to use the one with the least charge. There was one at 70 percent. He grabbed a plasma rifle and went to a shooting booth with Rachelle. A target cut in the form of a Sangheili descended.

"Sorry about the target but you do realize that your own race is the enemy now." Rachelle said seriously.

"I do." said Thel sadly. He figured he better get used to the fact that he would have to kill his own kind from now on. He readied the rifle and pumped out some rounds. The rifle whined as he held down the trigger; but before it over heated Thel released the trigger. After a moment he squeezed the trigger again.

"Wow your good." said Rachelle. Thel set the plasma rifle down and said to her,

"Plasma weapons are good but I prefer the energy sword." Rachelle nodded.

"But since we're short on those you should learn how to work Human weapons. They're easy once you get a bit of practice." Rachelle pulled out a SMG and fired bursts from it. The bullet tore through the target with ease and made holes in the wall behind. Once the clip was spent Rachelle released the empty one and slapped in a full magazine. The process of reloading was simple and Thel memorized it fine.

"Your turn." said Rachelle handing the rifle to Thel. Thel took the weapon and fired. The recoil was much harder than he anticipated and missed a few rounds. Rachelle sighed and walked behind him. She did a hugging manner which surprised Thel.

"Uh… Rachelle what are you doing?" she ignored him and grabbed Thel's hand and placed it properly on the gun.

"This is how you hold it, understand?" she asked. Thel was about to fire when the door opened and Jaime went in.

"Hey Rachelle I came to tell-"said Jaime before he saw the two.

"What are you two doing?" he asked. That's when Rachelle how close she really was to Thel. She was hugging him close enough that there bodies were pressed together. She could feel the heat radiating of his skin. She quickly let go of him and explained,

"I was um…Teaching how to use um…Human weapons." she explained slightly blushing.

"Uh huh..." said Jaime with a raised an eyebrow. He rolled his eyes and continued his sentence earlier.

"I came to tell you that you should ask him what those weird 'handles' were." said Jaime.

"Oh yeah right…" said Rachelle. She went to the corner and grabbed a small box. She opened it took out a hilt. Thel immediately recognized it as an energy sword.
"What are these?" she asked.

"Those are energy swords." answered Thel.

"How do you activate it?" she asked as she handed one to Thel.

"Easy, you do this." he placed his hands on the sword and gripped it tightly. He jolted his hand and at the same time applying pressure. The sword made the familiar hiss and the blade erupted from the side.

"You apply pressure as you jolt your hand." explained Thel. Jaime grabbed one onto the side and turned it on.

"Wow." he said admiring the blade.

"How do you turn it off?" asked Rachelle.

"Same procedure." said Thel. He did the same motion as before and the blade turned off.

"Smooth." said Jaime as he turned it off and placed it back onto the box.

"Well, that's what I came in here for. I'm going back to the interrogation room. Try not to do anything…funny while I'm gone." said Jaime with a mischievous tone. Thel didn't understand what he meant but Rachelle turned red and glared at him. The two watched as Jaime exited the room. She exhaled as the door closed. Thel looked at her and asked,

"What did he mean, by funny?" he asked curiously.

"Uh…It's…nothing." she answered. She didn't want to explain to him what Jaime had thought they were doing. It would be downright embarrassing. She didn't even quite understand why she did it to begin with. It just felt….nice to hug him.

"Ok." responded Thel. The two then continued their target practice. Rachelle grabbed one of the rifles and started firing but she keeps on missing. Thel noticed what was wrong and help her.

"Let me help you." he said and walked behind her. He did a hugging manner which surprised Rachelle. She stood rigid as the elite came up behind her. She could feel his breath. She could feel the radiating of his skin. Thel placed her hand on the plasma rifle correctly and said.

"This is how you hold it, understand?" he asked. Rachelle nodded looking up to the elite. Thel noticed something and asked,

"Rachelle is there something wrong, your face is…red?" Thel let go of her but did not avert his curious gaze. Rachelle quickly looked away and said,

"No, nothing's wrong, I'm fine."

Eventually the two finally finished their training session and headed out. Thel was becoming quite tired from all the day's activities and wanted to get some sleep. He yawned then said,

"Um… Where can I get some sleep?" he couldn't go back to the medical bay since he was no longer needed to be there. Rachelle stopped for a moment.

"Hmm… I think we can get you a dorm make a bed to fit you." Rachelle told him.

* * * * *

"So what are you implying?" asked Lord Hood to Rtas. They were back in their office as Hood was interrogating Rtas much like Thel.

"I'm implying that I, Rtas 'Vadum, ally with the humans. I have the same reasons as Thel." explained Rtas. He had made his decision long ago and was saying it now. He wanted penitence for all the wrong doings he has done. Sure, he hated some of the humans for killing his fellow Sangheili in the battlefield, but they have committed much worse.

Hood scratched his chin. "What do we get in exchange for your alliance?" Hood asked.

"Valuable information, which may lead to the destruction of the Covenant." said Rtas with a smirk. Hood raised an eyebrow,

"I like the sound of that. Welcome to the UNSC, what do you plan?" asked Hood.

* * * * *

The sliding doors of one of Cairo's marine dormitories opened, letting Thel and Rachelle in. The room was basic. Two drawers, bunk beds (the bottom specially designed for Thel), a bathroom to the right through a door, two chairs, and a small chessboard on a table between the chairs. Rachelle went in but Thel hesitated in the doorway. She turned around and looked at Thel.

"Thel, come on in. I don't mind you being my roommate. I actually wanted to hang out with you, more." It was true. She did like the company of Thel.

"Ok." said Thel walking in.

"Want to play chess?" she asked.

"I don't know how." said Thel sheepishly.

"I'll teach you."

Rachelle opened the chessboard and started explaining the basic concept of Chess; how to move pieces, eat pieces and how to checkmate. Thel find it quite amusing and soon was later engaged in a tight fight between Rachelle. Rachelle was a good fighter but Thel was a first learner. He quickly countered her moves and went on the offensive.

"Checkmate." said Thel moving his queen.

"I was never really good with chess." exasperated Rachelle. Thel comforted her.

"You were good. I just got lucky." Rachelle looked at him.

"You think?" she asked. Thel nodded.

"Well I'm tired, I'm going to get some sleep." said Rachelle.

"I as well." said Thel and he started fixing the chessboard. Somehow as he grabbed some pieces he felt like he was one of them; one of the pieces. The entire war between the Human and the Covenant was like a chess game; and it seems the Covenant has the upper hand. He could say that when he allied with the UNSC another piece spawned at the board to help the humans. He hoped that his alliance will help somehow. Moments later he went to the lower bunk and went under the covers.

"Good night Rachelle." said Thel.

"Good night Thel." she replied.

Thel's mind went over to what he did over the evening. He had eaten with Rick, Jaime and Rachelle. He went with Rachelle and had a good time. Then his thought when over to what transpired back at the shooting range. He remembered how Rachelle had hugged him from behind and how he hugged her back later. Each time his mind went over to Rachelle, he seems to feel fuzzy and warm inside. It was a feeling he usually felt when he was a child; when he was around his loving parents.

Could he be feeling the most sacred of all Sangheili feelings, love, for this Human? Thel could feel it no matter how much he tried to deny it. They were different species. He's a Sangheili and she's a human. It was impossible for them. He knew it was wrong and had to end it. But for some reason he just couldn't get the thought out of his head. He ended his thoughts with that and closed his eyes. Unknown to him Rachelle was also in the same train of thought.

Author's Notes: Thank you Yxme24 for pointing out the 'Ditto' error of mine. I appreciate it.

Please take some time to R&R.