Oliver's knuckles were going white from gripping the rifle so tightly. At first he didn't notice he was even doing it. He loosened his grip around the weapon, giving his sweaty palms some much needed cool air.

He didn't know what to do. Never before in his life had he been so unsure about something, multiple conflicting arguments going through his mind all at once.

When he took a step back from the war and their differing species in his mind, he asked himself, 'Are we really that different from each other?'. That was the question.

During this time Shi'ae had regained consciousness, but was still dazed. Oliver noticed this just as Shi'ae turned to face him. They made eye contact, gaining a reaction that was unexpected from Oliver.

Shi'ae's eyes widened and she felt extreme uncertainty, but mixed in with that was fear. She had no idea what he was going to do, so she just closed her eyes tightly and hoped for the best.

Oliver looked down at the elite, the fearless, ruthless enemy, who had also saved him, was lying in front of him at his mercy. He could tell she was fearful for her life while he had made eye contact. He was almost starting to feel sympathetic towards the helpless elite.

He reasoned leaving her there would be the best idea. He would not have to kill anyone or help the enemy, so that immediately felt like the the best outcome. When he looked back at the sangheili's gaping wound, he realized leaving her there was a death sentence as much as shooting her would be.

That left him with two options, not allowing him to just sit on the fence.

He spent a lot of time thinking about it, searching for the answer. After a good while thinking it through, he made up his mind on what he was going to do.

When a shot had not been fired within the first few seconds of closing her eyes, Shi'ae opened one eye, almost unnoticeable, and was somewhat relieved to see that Oliver was at least thinking about his decision.

Oliver let out a deep breath that he had held for a few seconds and called out, "Shi'ae?".

Shi'ae slowly opened her eyes, unsure of what to expect. She saw Oliver looking down at her, a stressed and over exhausted look plastered on his face. She responded simply, "Yes".

He began, "Shi'ae, you've helped me before, and I think it would only be right to return the favour."

It took a second to set in fully, but when it did Shi'ae was extremely relieved and also happy, although not showing it straight away. Oliver was not finished however, and continued saying, "I'm a medic and can treat your wound, and if you trust me enough", he paused, letting out a grunt as he slung his med bag off his shoulder, "I will."

Shi'ae quickly nodded her head in conformation to Oliver that it was okay to treat the wound. Shi'ae didn't see any reason to doubt him, and she thought he seemed genuine. Even if she did, her situation could not become much worse.

Oliver was hesitant as first, he did not think Shi'ae would try and attack him while his guard was down, but he still had to be careful. A bigger issue that he had only realised just then was that he was clueless about treating elites. He assumed it would be similar to a human, but that was just an assumption.

He grabbed what he thought he would need from the bag, and began work on cleaning the wound. Luckily, the bullet had gone all the way through, as shown by the circular exit wound he saw when he got Shi'ae to lie on her side.

He managed to stop any further bleeding almost completely. He didn't want to rush, but he began to realize the amount of time he had spent out in the forest, when he looked up for a second to wipe the sweat off of his forehead with his sleeve, and saw it had goten noticeably darker.

He turned up his speed a notch and continued on. He did all he could for her in his situation and with the equipment he possessed, finishing off by giving Shi'ae some medication that would give her some strenght, aswell as painkillers, allowing for her to escape easier.

He tried to take his leave as soon as possible, but was halted when a hand was placed on his shoulder, prompting him to turn around to face the owner. Shi'ae was looking at him with a grateful look, what Oliver thought was a small smile on her. Still weak, she softly spoke, "Thank you, Oliver."

He couldn't helped but smile back, a warm feeling inside of him knowing he had saved someone and they were appreciative of it, even if he was the one to shoot her in the first place.

Still smiling, he said, "Your welcome."

He reached into his bag one last time after he had gathered up all his medical equipment, and fished out an MRE, and handed it to Shi'ae.

"They don't taste nice at all, but it will help you get your strength back up."

Shi'ae accepted it gratefully, only realising at the sight of food how hungry she really was.

"Are you um... going to be alright?", Oliver asked, somewhat concered considering they were within new UNSC territory, which would likely have many troops moving through.

"I think I should be able to walk, and I saw a place that would be good for hiding not too far ahead. And Oliver, before you go I you to know I really appreciate it, and I won't forget it.", she said truthfully.

Oliver gave a smile at the praise. He nodded in appreciation and helped her up, before turning around once more and he began the short journey back. Shi'ae did the same and made her way to a small, rundown building she had seen her earlier, hoping it would be enough to keep her safe.

Oliver surprisingly enough was not the last one to arrive back, as four others had not yet arrived back. The others who had not came back yet were the ones who were angry over the death of their comrades, and wanted to let out some steam. Even they decided they would head back soon, so they would not have to wait to long but Oliver didn't know that.

Oliver sat in silence on a fallen log, not because he didn't want to talk but because he was too distracted thinking about what he had just done. He was fairly confident no one had saw him, but there was still a chance. If anyone did and they reported it, he would be interrogated, maybe even by ONI. They probably wouldn't have evidence, so he might be able to hold his cool and lie, but from what he heard, that would be very hard to do if ONI was interrogating him.

He thought he had done the right thing, but sometimes doing the right can cause a lot of trouble. He wished he could have someone to talk to about it completely risk free, maybe seek a bit of comfort, but he didn't know anyone. He could maybe talk to Isaac, but it would be quite risky, and he wasn't sure there was much his friend could even do.

He was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't notice that all the marines had made their way back, and the group was beginning to leave. He didn't hesitate in moving once the sergeant called him though.

They walked back the rest of the way to the newly captured base, which Oliver was thankful of as he was sure he would collapse if he had to run like he did on the way out. Something he was even more thankful, was the trio of transport warthogs waiting to take them back to base.

The other marines must've felt the same, as a few 'Phew's and couple of small cheers were heard, the weary soldiers ecstatic that it was confirmed they would be going back to base.

The marines quickly climbed aboard the vehicles, and in no time they were off, making their way through the valley which they had come from.

Bit shorter but I felt like it was a good place to end. Let me know what you think of the interactions between Shi'ae and Oliver because I want to do them right so I really would appreciate any criticism/feedback on that. Small change also, I will only be displaying guest responses at the end of a chapter, and PMing all people who have accounts. I just thought they took up too much space, that's all.