(If you had not played ODST then I am sorry for this change of scene.)

Chapter Eleven: Reunion

There was a phantom flying through the sky away from the highway and train station. Three ODSTs stood near a wound teammate carrying a sniper rifle. One turned to a blond female.

"You always seem to make my life so interesting, Veronica," he said sarcastically.

Veronica scrunched her nose and smiled as she responded back through her teeth, "You know, Edward," she crooned sarcastically, "I prefer to be called by my last name."

Buck smiled under his helmet and raised his hands to unlatch and pluck it off his head. Veronica gazed upon an old familiar face. The Gunnery Sergeant had a slight tan and a proper, clean haircut. Age and the war had not been kind to him. Slight jowls were already forming below his cheeks and crow's feet were just visible enough to etch the corners of his eyes.

He shook his head and smirked, "Got it, Dare."

She smiled all the sweeter then swiped Buck's helmet from his grasp and put it on. Before he had time to say anything, Veronica lay an index finger softly on his lips. As he stood there cross-eyed looking down at her finger trying to figure out what to think, Dare was searching for a friend or foe tag on his HUD. She hadn't been able to give up, but with each passing second, minute, and blasted hour that went by, she began to think maybe she had been hallucinating before or…something.

"Bingo!" She chirped, removing the oversized helmet from her head and tossing it back to him, "Sorry, Buck, but looks like we're about to get a new alien friend."

"Wh-" he started to protest, unsettled by this declaration about a new 'alien friend'. Those words didn't belong together.

In the blink of an eye, Dare was through the ventral doors and hopping behind the forward main controls. Buck stood looking at his helmet for a second trying to wrap his brain around what she had just said. "Hey!" he barked, flinching as he realized what she was doing and chasing through the doors after her, sputtering his words, "No…Veronica…"

He made the inside and stepped quickly across the troop bay but before he could make it to the vehicle's forward section the cockpit door was closed and sealed, leaving him to fume and mutter curses as the ventral doors closed and the craft lifted off.

Meanwhile, Melody, Shi'rune, and Siv slowly marched on. The Elite was carrying Michelle piggy back-style while the Jackal followed close behind making whining, chattering noises. No words were exchanged. The silence which fell upon the group was oppressive in its own way; punctuated by Michelle's soft whimpers, Siv's sympathetic noises, the crunch of feet against asphalt covered in trash and bits of debris, and occasional rumbles in the distance as the war that raged on.

Melody led the way, staring at the ground as she stepped over broken metal and glass and did her best to avert her eyes from bloated and scattered dead bodies…and body parts. Smoke rose from the city transforming the color on the horizon to a dark purple highlighted with orange. She thought the colors were beautiful, hoping in vain that focusing on something lovely would distract her from the sights and smells all around and the overall horror of the previous days.

She wanted to break down and cry, but instead she let her mind wander.

Jacksonville International Airport, en route to Mayport Naval Station, Jacksonville Florida, that's where she had met Michelle and Brandon. A tropical storm had commercial flights delayed from all inbound centers, so they had all been held over in getting to the city. Contract transportation had set no itinerary for picking up the delayed personnel and by the time someone contacted command and a bus had been sent, it had been nearly three in the morning.

Melody, Michelle, and Brandon wound up on the same seat row. Three soggy, tired, and nervous but high-spirited sailors had all, finally, been on their way to their first active duty assignment.

Melody and Michelle had been the best of friends all through boot camp and had chosen the same career rating at enlistment. Following boot, the girls had been suite-mates for sixteen weeks in A school at the Navy's Medical Corps Training Command before making the half-continent flight to their assigned port after graduation. Michelle was kind and quiet, a person who kept to herself and was a bit hard to get to know, but being around each other practically twenty-four hours a day for the better part of six months had broken down her walls a little.

Still…Michelle had gone off for nearly the whole month before the ship received orders to depart, and it had seemed eerily as if embankment had been put on hold until just after Michelle returned. Melody had never been able to get her to discuss what that was about and had never had the guts to even joke that the UNSC had paused for her friend. It had been too creepy…and probably just a coincidence.

Brandon had been an ODST fresh from drop school, a bit of a technical nerd but full of classic trooper bravado and male exuberance. He had honed in on Melody from the start and became as permanent a fixture in her social life as Michelle and…well, a semi-permanent fixture in her personal life which began when Michelle had done her little vanishing act.

After that, Melody and Brandon had fallen into a comfortable routine. She hesitated to call it love. No, not like that anyway. Brandon had been familiar and safe during a time when everything else was new and terrifying. He'd get dropped into missions and come back a little more screwed up in the head each time. She would see beds and beds full of wounded and fall into his arms when he returned safe. It had been predictable. He had been an ass hole, but she had used him just as much as he had used her…it hadn't been love, just...comfort.

Brandon had never said her name the way Shi'rune said her name, full of concern for her and not himself; with so much controlled emotion; and…

"Melody!"

She snapped out of her trance and turned to face Shi'rune who was crouched down, Siv helping Michelle to her feet as they all looked up into the sky. When Melody followed their gazes, she saw an incoming phantom. Her heart sank. They were out in the open and, as evidenced by the crafts slight movements as it approached, they had been spotted. Stalled cars would provide little cover. She knew this time it was really over.

Melody looked back and saw Michelle leaning into Siv as he nuzzled her neck with his beak and petted her hair. His worried eyes were glassy but resolved. She turned to Shi'rune who looked back at her without expression, having just that quickly accepted the hopelessness of fighting what was about to happen to them.

The Jackal and the Elite were clearly traitors and the humans were…humans.

They were all as good as dead.

Melody stepped to Shi'rune and stood looking up at him for a few painful seconds as he blinked back at her. Making up her mind, she motioned for him to lean close

Thinking she merely had something to say against the increasing noise of the approaching Phantom, Shi'rune crouched down and inclined his head in question.

Melody brushed a hand along the side of the Elite's face. They were all going to die anyway, so before she could mentally talk herself out of it, she leaned in and kissed him then and there.

Shi'rune startled. In surprise at this intimate gesture, his brain remained frozen up for a fraction of a second after she withdrew the soft texture of her lips from his own. He stared at her, watching as a blush crept across her cheeks flushed with fear.

"I love you."

Melody heard her voice crack as he looked back at her with wide eyes. His features softened.

Shi'rune brushed his knuckles against her cheek. "And I love you," he said, his words full of an emotion Melody thought impossible. She felt herself smile even as the Phantom took up directly overhead and began a slowly rotating descent, kicking up dust and bits of trash in its wake.

A cylinder of purple light engulfed them all and Melody felt the pit of her stomach lurch as the gravity lift activated. She grabbed onto Shi'rune with a sob and he held her close, nuzzling her neck even as he braced himself for a fight.

Siv flailed, holding onto Michelle tightly.

Brilliant light encircled and blinded as the beam deposited them inside the small Covenant vessel. Shi'rune was quickly on his feet, trying to position himself as a barrier between everyone else, snarling Sangheili curses and threats as the glow powered down around them. His posture deflated and he curled his neck around to look curiously back at Melody.

"What?" she asked quietly, struggling to her feet and shifting to peep around him. A dust and dirt covered Gunnery Sergeant glowered back at her, his assault rifle tipped to the deck but no less at the ready. The two ODST's behind standing him were not as kind.

A smile of relief broke across Melody's face.

Shi'rune stared at this Buck, according to his name tab, and let his eyes travel to the other two, Romeo and Dutch, before he turned and looked back at Michelle. Melody was at her side speaking reassurances as Siv chattered and puffed his neck feathers. The Elite stepped aside as best he could and indicated the injured female.

Buck slung his weapon and brushed past the alien, taking a knee before Michelle. The other two humans did the same, crowding in and leaving the Sangheili to watch as they looked Michelle's crudely bandaged foot and ankle over. Medkits were pulled from a uniform pouches and Shi'rune watched as Melody assisted. He felt himself smile on reflex when she looked up and strained to see him, her face beaming with relief. He could not make himself believe what was happening and was still unsure he could take comfort in Melody's obvious happiness.

"Dare," Buck groused loudly, rising to his feet and turning, almost bumping into Shi'rune as he left the bandaging to the others. The Gunnery Sergeant scowled as he looked up at the Sangheili.

The cockpit door hissed and winked open; Shi'rune turned to see a familiar face half-turned back towards him as she kept her peripheral vision on the view screen. The woman smiled broadly, her eyes darting from this Buck person to the screen to Shi'run to the screen and back again.

Shi'rune felt his mandibles droop.

"Well hello there," Dare chirped, "Didn't I tell you to go to the LZ when I left?"

The Elite flexed his mouth to speak but could not find the words.

Dare just huffed a laugh, returning her eyes again to the view screen, "Uh-huh, I knew putting an FoF tag on Cpl Vovel was a wise decision."

Shi'rune leaned a shoulder against the inner hull of the Phantom and simply stared back at Dare as he slumped down into a seat.

"Veronica, what do you want me to do about the Jackal?" Buck hitched his thumb back toward Siv, his voice conveying bored annoyance.

The Kig-Yar straightened sharply and made a yelping sound, his eyes wide and the ruff on his crown raising almost straight up. Romeo and Dutch shook their heads, one passing a gauze roll to the other. Michelle leaned against Siv's chest and glared through her hurt at the Gunnery Sergeant.

"Discuss the weather? Talk sports? I don't know, maybe make friends; exercise what's left of your social skills before they wither away completely? Good God, Buck, do I need to hold your hand through everything?"

The other ODST's chuckled and Buck gave the backs of their heads a mean stare.

Siv made a mewling sound, hugging onto Michelle. He could feel her trembling, her body shaking all the more as she struggled to breathe against the pain, a trickle of sweat making its way down her temple. The Jackal nuzzled her neck comfortingly, his beak ruffling her hair. To Buck, it looked like a bird preening its mate's feathers.

"Oh, for crap's sake," the ODST muttered, heaving a sigh, "This has turned into a damn zoo," he paused and glanced over at the Elite who was staring blankly ahead. "I was not cut out for this," the Gunnery Sergeant growled over his shoulder toward the cockpit.

"Then improvise," Dare chattered back, "Use your imagination. Just pretend we haven't been at war for two decades and they came in peace."

Buck ran a palm roughly back and forth across his face then stood silently looking Siv over. Romeo and Dutch stood and stepped back, deeming Michelle's foot and ankle as stable as they could get it.

"So, you know her?" Buck asked, his eyes flitting to Michelle who was still leaned against the Kig-Yar's chest.

Siv narrowed his eyes and forced some bluster, the feathers on his head lying flat, "Yes," he snapped, "And her life of more value than mine."

The ODST's raised their eyebrows and cast glances at one another. Dare just cackled from the cockpit, "Bet you never expected to hear a Jackal say that."

Buck rolled his eyes toward the bulkhead and feigned a prayer before focusing again on the feathered alien, "Well, your…she will be fine," he said through gritted teeth.

"I know," the Jackal chittered, his bird-eyes studying the man, "You are ODST. I have seen your kind."

Buck set his jaw and drew his mouth into a grim line, taking measured breaths and bracing for a fight until it occurred to him the Jackal didn't mean his statement as a threat. The Gunnery Sergeant watched from the corner of his eye as Melody rose and made her way to the Elite. As the Corporal hopped and wiggled her way into an oversized seat next to the large creature the alien looked down at her.

Melody saw the concern and disbelief in Shi'rune's face and took his hand, giving him a smile. "We made it," she said, relief and exhaustion in her voice.

Shi'rune slowly nodded, "I very much wish to believe we have."

(Sorry it took me a while guys. Had a really troubling writer's block that's been plaguing me. I promise I'll try to make the next chapter longer. I also had help with this chapter.)