It's that time of week again ;) I hope you're excited, because this was so much fun to write for you all xD I may or may not have been a little bit hyper, so please be patient if it gets a little bit crazy. Um, so I also accidentally uploaded this a day early, so, I'm a donut xD Anyways, I have a question for you faithful readers, as this will decide chapter 13. Do you want 'Rado to go on the space mission in Season 10, or would you rather have her stay home? I have something in mind that's action packed for if she does stay home, so just leave your answer in the comments, or PM me if you wish :)

Chapter 11

Tex and I were having an easy enough time cutting a swath of destruction through the base. They tried stopping us with doors, but we blew right through them. All the men they threw at us ended up dead or dying. At one point a Gauss hog managed to maneuver its way inside behind us, but the dumbass hadn't expected us to have a rocket launcher that Tex had "acquired" from one of our victims. My shoulder was pulsing painfully from where I had gotten shot, but I did my best to grin and bear it, particularly because we were coming up to where Gray was supposed to be. Psi's concern was palpable, and I sighed.

"Psi, I'm fine, I promise."

"'Rado, that bullet struck dangerously close to an artery."

"It didn't actually hit the artery though, did it? If it had, then I'd be in trouble. I'll get it patched up when we get back to the Mother of Invention."

Psi seemed unsatisfied, so I gave up trying to reassure him. The wound stung like a bitch, but it wasn't fatal. I remembered that Psi hadn't been around for my little incident at Exile, so he only had memories of what had happened. Being sniped had been my most dangerous injury thus far, and there just wasn't a way to accurately compare being sniped to getting shot by a magnum. Tex was busy fiddling with the wires of a door that the Innies had closed to slow us down, and my feet shifted impatiently. From what Psi could tell he was still in the same place, but how long would it be until he moved? How much more back up would he have by the time we got through the door? My heart rate was rising as my anxiety grew, and I felt Psi sending me calming thoughts. I took a deep breath, flinching a bit as my shoulder muscles moved, and looked over to Tex.

"How much longer?"

"I'd probably be done by now if you would quit asking me 'how much longer?'"

The door sliding open followed her tart tones.

"There! See what happens when you treat something right?"

I sighed in resignation.

"Ya, I suppose I do…"

My original suggestion had been to just blow the door open like all the others, but Tex had wanted to conserve ammunition. The sound of our pounding boots as we ran through the hallways was eerily the only one we could hear. The shouts from outside forces had long since died off, and the alarms had gone quiet. The whole situation was making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up in foreboding. My wariness only grew with each corner we turned without opposition, and with each room we searched. This facility looked like it was big enough to house hundreds of people, so to see no one blocking our path was unnerving.

"I don't like this, Tex… they're making this far too easy for us."

"Nothing is ever too easy, Colorado. This situation is probably harder than it looks."

"Way to keep morale up."

"If you want someone to hold your hand, you should have just stayed on the ship."

I allowed a snort of amusement to makes its way out of me.

"Please, I'm sure Psi would hold my hand if I needed."

Psi appeared by my shoulder.

"'Rado, I am nothing more than an AI fragment; I do not have the substance to hold your hand."

I smiled and chuckled a bit.

"I'm well aware, Psi. I was just joking."

Realization flooded through him, and I felt him become mildly amused, but mostly exasperated. He still wasn't buying that I was ok, apparently. I could appreciate his concern, but it was like having North on the battlefield; he probably would've tried to force me to go back to the ship by now. Tex shook her head and I heard her emit an un-amused sigh. Smirking at her irritation, I followed her through the now open door, when my eye caught something as we walked by an office room. Files were left abandoned as if their owners had just got up and left. I turned to enter, and Tex turned to look at me.

"What the fuck are you doing?! Weren't you JUST saying how we had to get to Gray?"

I shot her a look and looked back into the room.

"Ya, no shit, but don't you think it's just a little bit important to see if we can dig up any future plans of theirs?"

"We don't have time, Colorado! Now get out here!"

Ignoring her, I stepped into the threshold cautiously. No one rose to meet me, and I felt my confidence grow enough to take a few more steps into the room. I felt Psi's curiosity permeating my own, and the first file I found was labeled "Operations: Seras Prime." I flipped open the file, and was mildly disappointed to find just normal logistics and status reports. However the next file caught my attention. It was titled "Freelancer: Profiles A-G," and looked to be stuffed full with information. Opening up, I flipped to multiple Freelancer profiles. Alaska, Arkansas, Alabama… every Freelancer through G. My section was just as full as the last ones, but had an added account of their "run-in" with me at Vortex. I smirked at the detailed of Gray's unfortunate amputation, but felt it wane as my fight with Arizona was described. I was still sore at having had to kill someone I once considered a friend.

Nevertheless, if there were files for Freelances A through G, there had to be files for everyone else as well. I grabbed the file and tucked it under my left, uninjured arm, but hesitation stopped me. There were at least ten filing cabinets in here, and none had any visible sorting order. For all I knew, Gray could be escaping. However, Psi's words came back to me from earlier. Some sacrifices have to be made in war, and the Freelancers that aren't accompanying us are depending on us to keep their secrets safe. The Innies had files on all of us, courtesy of Oregon. I couldn't allow that information to stay in enemy hands, no matter how much I wanted to take Gray down. Sighing, I opened up a private channel to Tex.

"Keep going, Tex. They've got files on all of us, and I'm going to take care of them."

"I'm already way ahead of you, jackass. Still no sign of any Innies; I'll keep you informed."

I snorted at her harsh tone, which was easily comparable to an angry Carolina, and looked to the first filing cabinet. After sorting through for five minutes (the cabinets each had three drawers) I hadn't found a file. In frustration, I looked at my arsenal. I had managed to refresh my two-grenade count, but beyond that I had nothing that could destroy the filing cabinet. I was not amused by the idea of using my explosives to dispose of any information, but as I continued to search cabinets, it seemed like I wouldn't have a choice in the matter.

Ten minutes later, I managed to find two more files; H-N, and O-U. If the trend were to be believed, I only needed one more file. Psi was beginning to grow apprehensive of our continued time spent in here, and my own heart was pounding. Something had to be wrong for this to be so easy. I wished I could calm my partner down, but I was finding it difficult to keep myself calm. When I found the final file, I couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief.

"Tex, I've found all of the files and," at this moment I spotted an abandoned messenger bag, "I actually have a way to transport them. What's your situation?"

"Remember when I told you this situation was harder than it looked? There are at least fifty guys standing between Gray's sanctuary and me. Get your ass over here and help me out."

"I thought you had a launcher?"

"One launcher isn't going to take down fifty guys you idiot!"

"Alright, calm your ass down; I'm on my way. Psi, direct me to her as quickly as possible."

At once, Psi's quiet guidance led me through the winding metal halls of the base, and our rhythm was so in tune with one another that I ended up sprinting along the route he gave me. The messenger back bumped loudly at my side, but the information I carried was too important for me to care about silence. Neither of us bothered with my armor enhancements either, at least not until I nearly barreled into Tex as she looked around a corner. She shoved me back at the last second and I stumbled backwards. Even with her helmet on I could feel the glare scorching me as she turned back to look around the corner. After another minute of observation, she cut her invisibility to appraise me.

"Ok, Colorado. Here's the plan. We're going to stealth in until we're close enough to drop some grenades at their feet. I'll open up with my launcher after the initial explosion, and then we'll finish the survivors off together. Ready?"

"For once, Agent Texas, I can actually agree to what you're saying."

"Whatever."

With that, Tex activated her invisibility unit, and Psi followed suit with my own. In a private channel, Tex began counting down. When she hit one and surged around the corner, I didn't hesitate to follow. I flipped out both of my grenades and primed them, chucking them down at the feet of the Innies before rocketing into an opposite hallway to listen to the inevitable explosion. As soon as it sounded, I saw Tex's silhouette appear, and even with the hazy view of her I had, I could tell she was holding a rocket launcher. Chaos had already ensued after we had dropped off our earlier grenades, and a rocket hitting their ranks and blowing apart more men threw them into further disarray. In this triangle of confusion, Tex and I made our moves. Both of us rushed forward as one entity and put our exceptional hand-to-hand skills to use. There were only about twenty guys left after Tex's rocket impacted, and together we made easy work of them. Neither of us gave an inch to the shell-shocked enemies around us, and as we lashed out with kicks and punches, the sounds of fighting eventually dimmed until there was nothing but Tex and I in the middle of groaning men and women.

Smirking, I had Psi cut my invisibility and I looked at Tex.

"Not bad… for a kiss-ass."

"Not too bad yourself… for a stubborn bitch."

Rolling my eyes, I jogged over to the door where Gray supposedly was. Clearly it was built to withstand the test of time and missile. The component was made from a metal I hadn't seen before, and even our fighting had done nothing more than stain it with blood. Raising an eyebrow, I looked over the controls, hissing at how complicated they were.

"So… do you regret not bringing York yet?"

"Move over."

As Tex fiddled with the lock, I hailed Psi.

"So is he still in there?"

"I have discovered no transmissions that suggest he has moved."

To both Psi's surprise and my own, I found myself sighing shakily.

"I can't help but think something is waiting for us in there. These grunts out here just bought him time. But time to do what?" I mulled the facts over slowly. "You said he has two bodyguards?"

"That is correct. It seems a pretty lax number when compared to the capabilities of you and Agent Texas."

"No kidding…"

Finally, Tex gave an annoyed grumble and slammed her fist into the door controls. With the controls rendered useless, I turned to her, infuriated.

"What the hell, Tex?! How do you expect us to get in the door now?!"

She tilted her heads towards the door as her invisibility stole her from view, and Psi quickly followed suit, just as the door opened. Inside was General Gray himself, and he was flanked by a man and a woman wearing ODST-looking armor. It looked state-of-the-art, and I realized that Carolina had encountered people just like this on our mission to retrieve the Sarcophagus and the briefcase. Wariness swept through me, and I felt Psi pick up on my misgiving feelings. According to Carolina, they were as much of a match in hand-to-hand as Maine was, and had given her a run for her money (though she had played her encounter with them off as nothing but a mere nuisance). Gray hand his hands clasped on his desk as he looked forward out of the door. One hand was clearly flesh and bone, but the other was the standard prosthetic that amputees in hospitals were offered. It was a fully functional hand pretty much, just with a lot more metal. His cunning green eyes stared out into the hallway, and as he swept his gaze from one side of the door to the other, I could swear he was staring right through me as a sardonic smile crept across his lips.

"You might as well give up the act, ladies. I know you're there."

My eyes narrowed, and I requested Psi to power off my invisibility. His shock was evident.

"'Rado, are you sure?"

"He already knows we're here, Psi, and I want him to look into my eyes when I kill him. I want him to know just how much I hate him."

He hesitated again.

"'Rado… I don't know if that's healthy for your… fragile… state of mind."

"Fragile my ass. Cut the invisibility, Psi, and keep an eye on my motion tracker. I don't want to see anyone flanking us."

"If you say so, 'Rado."

A flash of annoyance went through me at his unsure tone, but nevertheless he respected my wishes and cut the invisibility. I walked in front of the door and stood there, hands hovering over my SMGs.

"It's been a while, Gray. Had I known your son was one of my 'teammates,' I would have visited you sooner."

"Of that I had no doubt, Miss. Alexander. Which is why I requested the extra security."

I felt my teeth grit at the use of my actual last name.

"Shut up. The only things you know about me are down on paper."

"On the contrary, most of my information about your particular breed of menace was garnered from very reliable sources, namely reports acquired from your squad mates, especially Mr. Gunny."

My heart rate rose at the mention of Aaron, and as soon as that started, Psi began doing everything in his power to calm me down. Digging through my head held advantages for Psi; he knew exactly how sloppy I could be when my emotions got the best of me; and how dangerous as well. My breathing became sticky, and my voice dripped out like acid.

"Leave Aaron out of this. I know he loved me until his dying breath."

"Oh he may have loved you- why else would you take a bullet for someone?- but his notes mentioned his concern for your emotional ties to your violent episodes, and your lack of control."

I began walking forward, my feet slamming on the floor hard enough to dent it slightly.

"Shut up."

"Your CO recommended that you be removed from active duty due to concerns about your mental health. After the incident with Colonel Ferris- whom, might I add, was a very dear friend of mine- he recommended that you be discharged immediately, citing your past instances of brutality and insubordination. And that's when Project Freelancer picked you up. Face it, Miss Alexander. You are nothing but canon fodder for the UNSC. No one cares what happens to you."

All the memories I kept hidden and buried were all I could think about, and I saw the two armored bodyguards move into combat stances as I drew closer. As I dropped the messenger bag to the floor to make Tex came into view beside me.

"Think of North, Colorado… he'd believe in your ability to keep calm and stay in control."

I breathed out heavily.

"He doesn't deserve to be killed in a controlled way, Tex. He deserves to die the same way Ferris did."

"Save your anger for the gym. We could even put his face on targets in the shooting range."

"'Rado, please listen to Tex… just let go of everything; nothing can hold you back. You are Agent Colorado of Project Freelancer right now, not Serena Alexander."

"Changing the name doesn't change the monster."

With a yell of fury I rushed forward, ignoring Tex's orders to stay back and Psi's loud protests in my head. The woman bodyguard rushed forward to meet me, threw a hook that caught me in the left shoulder, and I retaliated by slamming my own fist into the side of her head. As she slammed into the wall, I saw Tex rush the second bodyguard. Gray did nothing; instead he merely clasped his hands in an amused fashion as he watched the battle. I snarled in fury and drew out my SMG to fire a quick burst at him. However a weight landed on me from the left and knocked the SMG from my hands. The space in the room was only around thirty by twenty feet, so I decided to take my fight out to the hallway. Drawing my legs beneath me, I flung my attacker out into the hallway and leapt up to pursue. Now that I had a clear look, I could see a symbol on her chest; a white, horizontal gradient, with a maroon colored, strange looking symbol that reminded me of Chinese or Japanese writing. However all thoughts of her identification vanished as we charged each other. Both of us were really well matched, but each blow I made held more power than necessary and eventually I began pushing her back. However when she managed to land a punch on my bullet wound, I couldn't help the grunt of pain that escaped me. With this in mind, she began to pummel my right side as much as she could when she could bypass my defense.

Each hit she landed caused me to falter a bit, but the rage I was feeling never dimmed. Finally, I dropped and swung my legs. Before she even hit the ground, I had pulled out my remaining SMG and let out a long burst into her chest, more bullets than was necessary. When I as certain she was dead, I looked to see that Tex had all but finished off the poor guy she had beaten into the floor, and Gray actually looked concerned for once in his life. Smirking darkly, I walked past where Tex was finishing off her mark. Slowly, and deliberately, I unloaded the spent clip from my SMG and slammed in a new one. Psi was still trying to calm me down.

"'Rado, you have to get a hold of yourself! This isn't going to bring Blake back, nor will it bring Aaron back!"

I ignored him, continuing my deathly march towards Gray.

"What would North think about what you're doing?!"

That stopped me. At least for a second.

"He would understand."

"No, he wouldn't! He wouldn't understand why you let dead people rule your decisions! He would expect you to take the high road and be the strong woman he fell for!"

"How would you know what North wants, Psi?"

"Because," he began slowly, "I know what you know. And you know, deep down, that I'm right."

And that is what truly halted me. My gun was pointed at Gray, and my finger was twitching by the trigger, but I heaved a shaky sigh and lowered it. I felt a presence beside me as Tex walked up, and I felt her shoot me a searching look. Psi was clearly relieved.

"See? I knew you could get yourself until control."

"Only because you were here, Psi."

"Keep thinking that. I'm just a voice of reason, not your willpower."

I couldn't bring myself to laugh at his tart tone, instead I contended myself with strapping my SMG to my side and walking towards Gray. The fear had been joined by curiosity now, and I would bet everything he was wondering how he wasn't dead yet. Honestly, I was wondering why he was still alive myself. Nevertheless, I set my palms face down on the table and leaned across it so I could be in his face.

"Well, General, I think we can both agree that it is under extraordinary circumstances that you're still alive."

"Yes. Quite extraordinary that you managed to keep your temper from brutalizing me; or should I thank Psi instead?"

I found myself in a rare moment of astonishment, as Psi himself appeared to respond.

"You should be thanking Agent Colorado for keeping you alive, though you don't deserve it. Next time you make her mad I'm going to just encourage her to do whatever she wants. Let me say, I've seen what ideas she's had for you, and they aren't pretty, or painless for that matter."

I smirked beneath my helmet as Gray's once self-assured sneer waned a bit. He may not want to show up, but he was scared of what I could, and most certainly would, do to him. With Psi finished, I took the opportunity to jump in.

"Here's what we want, Gray. I want all of the files you have on Project Freelancer. If I think you're keeping anything from me, I'll shoot you. If you try to hide anything from me, Psi will alert me, and I'll still shoot you. Don't tell me anything at all, and I'll just blow your kneecaps out and we can drag you to the file room. Your son certainly knows the agony of having a couple of busted-ass kneecaps. Maybe you two can discuss it sometime."

At the mention of his son, I saw Gray truly angry for the fist time.

"If you have done ANYTHING to my son-"

I chuckled a bit.

"Why do you think I mentioned the kneecaps? You should be thanking Agent Texas that he even got medical treatment. I was content to let him sleep in his own blood."

Almost immediately, Gray raised his fist and slammed it across the side of my visor. He didn't have anywhere near the strength to send me flying, but I had felt it.

"Now really, was that called for? After all, Chris was probably in a lot less pain than the serum you let Will use on me. Besides, he wasn't very forthcoming with information. I'll tell you what; I'll make you a deal. You give me everything you have on Freelancer, and I will allow your son to live. One transmission and I could end his life whenever I want. I'm fairly certain one of my more aggressive friends is guarding him anyway."

Actually I was almost positive that Wyoming had been slated for guard duty next, and the only thing he could kill anyone with on the ship at the moment was his knock knock jokes. They'd gotten more numerous once Gamma had been implanted.

"Fine I'll help just… please don't hurt my son."

Gray's pleading tone surprised me; I'd always thought he was a heartless bastard. I nodded and stood aside. He stood and began walking back the way we had come. I picked up my newly acquired messenger back and followed. Tex's voice flooded my private channel.

"We're supposed to get rid of him, not stall. We're on a time limit here."

"Chill out, I've got this."

I switched off my channel.

"Gray, call your men off and tell them that the threat has been dealt with. Try to call in back up and I'll call up to the Invention and have your son dealt with."

He didn't bother responding as he agreed to my wishes and called his men off. As we continued walking, Psi hailed me.

"I've never felt you so… content around Gray before."

"Well I've won, and he's lost. We're going to get the files, bring them back, and Mac this base off of the face of Seras Prime. Of course I'll shoot Gray before that, but I suppose the weapons crew up top can have some fun too."

"Are you really going to spare Oregon?"

"What, are you kidding me? Hell no."

He was silent for a second.

"Sometimes there are worse fates than death, Agent Colorado."

With that, Psi went quiet, leaving me to think. And it was only when I realized everything I had been forced to live through that I came to the conclusion that he may just be right. That didn't stop me from accepting the files that Gray passed to me. A few of them I was tempted to read for curiosity's sake, but only one I really flipped open to the first file: AI Experimentation. The file was about Psi and my various experiences with him, and I quickly grew bored. The information stored here was probably not my level of expertise anyway. I stowed all of it in my bag and drew my SMG.

"Well Gray, thank you for the information, but I hope you brought your wallet, because the rent in Hell is paid in advance."

A quick burst from my SMG and the sound of Gray's body hitting the floor left the file room silent. At least until I started laughing. Finally, after all of the anger, and all of the hopes of revenge, Gray was finally dead. For once I felt… kind of free. I mean, it didn't change everything that had happened to me already, but killing a top Innie official made me feel that much better. Psi was understandably concerned for my sudden amusement, but with a little digging, I'm sure he'd find my reason for celebrating.

"Well? Let's get the hell out of here. Someone is going to come and investigate sooner or later."

I nodded and heaved the pack over my uninjured left shoulder. Now that the adrenaline was starting to wear off, the wound really hurt like a bitch.

"Mother of Invention? This is Agent Colorado; we have eliminated the target and secured Insurrectionist information regarding project Freelancer. We wiill radio for pick-up when we are thirty minutes from the extraction point."

"Copy that, Agent Colorado."

With the radio silenced, the area quickly fell deathly silent. Before we neared the entrance, both Tex and I triggered our invisibility units and quickly and quietly made for our extraction point. As we neared the anti aircraft guns, I flipped up the detonator I still had in my pack.

"Ready?"

"Just do it."

Smirking, I pushed the button and watched as the guns blew up into charred pieces of ruined metal. We continued our way along, and I couldn't help but hum a little tune. To my delight, our ride was already waiting for us.

"Strap in, ladies. The Director has requested your presence back on the ship immediately. He wants to hear if your mission was as successful as it seems."

So how's that? :D Suck it, Gray! Next chapter will jump right into season 10; at least the Freelancer part of it. Will Colorado ever get to meet our favorite Reds and Blues? Well, I'm thinking on it xD If she does it's going to be a complicated job working her into the plot where I want, haha