A/N: Hey, hey, hey all, I'm back with Chapter 25 (probably the longest chapter so far). So, just a reminder, the next few chapters are probably gonna be long ones as this is the section all about Violet's rehabilitation. I wanted to make this as real as possible and even had to do some research on the whole phantom limb thing and other stuff regarding amputation and prosthetics and all that jazz. if I did miss anything, feel free to let me know. I don't want to fill the 'Rehabilitation' with time jumps, but I will use them when I feel it's necessary to get the story moving once more. These Chapters will obviously be focused on Violet, however, I don't know how many I'll do (I promise not to over do it). If you really don't want to read the 'Rehabilitation' sections (sub-plot/story(?)), then Chapter 29 is when there will be a break in them andpossibly an introduction to a new character that we know and love (oh the antici-pation!). Quick FUN FACT: I got the title for Chapter 23 from listening to Hold On by Chord Overstreet, definitely recommend listening to it if any of you go back and read the chapter again. Anyway, that should be everything! Love you guys, thank you so much for reading, knowing that people may be enjoying my story makes me want to continue with it. I LOVE writing this story and I honestly have NO IDEA how long it's gonna be (what have I gotten myself into? Oh well, I love it). On that note: Hope you enjoy, thanks for reading and being here and feel free to review (I know it isn't everyones cup of tea so I wont beg, I'm not that kinda guy). Have a good day/afternoon/evening/night too. - LegendsOfOnyx

Chapter 25: Rehabilitation – Rising Tension, Doubts and A Prosthetic

Reach FLEETCOM Military Complex

Fireteam Indigo's Living Quarters

Planet Reach

April 25, 2529

10:23 hrs

Clementine's Room

After Violet had woken up – and both Clementine and Violet had confessed their feelings for eachother – the rest of Indigo and even Keyes, had come to spend time with Violet in the Emergency Treatment Wing. Only after Violet had confirmed she was ok discussing what happened did they talk about events on Arcadia. The fact that that two highly trained Spartans and a whole Fireteam of them had been bested by an unknown sentient had them all concerned and one highly shaken. Clementine told Violet about her option of having a replacement arm installed, to which she agreed to immediately. One incident like that wasn't going to make her quit the program, it only encouraged her to stick with it. The Pillar of Autumn had arrived over Reach in the early hours of the morning, and had been preparing medical and technical services as Indigo was on a Pelican down to Reach. Once they arrived, Violet was wheeled into the base for a full check up.

That had been about five hours ago, and after Indigo arrived back on Reach, Clementine had gone straight to her bedroom and hadn't left since. She wasn't sure where the rest of her team was sans Minnie who was with her and Violet who was possibly undergoing health checks before she had her new arm installed. Clementine had been sat in the silence of her room since she got back, and, had been unable to get the events on Arcadia out of her head.

"Minnie?" Clementine asked, after hours of silence.

"I'm here Clem, what do you need?" Minnie replied.

"Do we have any info on those things we found on Arcadia? Biology, Physiology, whatever?"

"I... I wish I had good news for you Clem. But there's nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Absolutely nada." Minnie confirmed.

Clementine sighed exasperatedly.

"Just fucking great." Clementine grumbled.

Clementine stood up and finally exited her room, making her way to the bathroom. She made her way to the sink, turned the cold water on full blast and splashed her face.

"Clem?" Came a voice behind her.

Clementine jumped and turned sharply ready to attack, only to see Louis standing in the doorway.

"Jesus Louis. Where've you been, and how long have you been standing there?" Clementine asked, relaxing and putting a damp hand over her heart trying to slow it down.

"Where? Nowhere really. How long have I been here? Not long, just got back, and when I saw you make your way in here I thought I'd check up on you. You seem really on edge."

Clementine smiled a quick smile at him before grabbing a flannel and patting her face down.

"That's... sweet Louis. But I'm fine." Clementine told him.

Louis eyed her suspiciously.

"Why do I get the feeling you're just saying that?" He asked.

"I don't know what y-"

"Because she is just saying that." Minnie said, cutting her off and appearing to the left of Clementine's head. "She's still stressing over what happened."

"Minnie!" Clementine scolded.

"What? This worrying isn't healthy Clem! You've been sat in your room for five hours in complete silence."

"I knew something was up." Louis said from the doorway. "As Minnie said, this isn't healthy Clem. Look. We're all fine, we all made it out in one piece."

Clementine looked to Louis then Minnie then Louis again with a hurt and angry expression.

"No, Louis we're not 'all fine', we didn't all make it 'out in one piece'! Do you remember what happened to Violet and Unity or did that just so happen to slip your mind?" Clementine said, raising her voice as she spoke. "I don't need this shit from the pair of you!"

Louis visibly recoiled at what she'd said and looked away. He had to admit, he used an exceptionally poor choice of words.

"I'm sorry." He whispered to her.

Clementine exhaled sharply out her nose before bumping past Louis to leave.

Clementine walked aimlessly down the hallways, her auto-pilot taking over and directing her to the firing range. As she entered, she stopped dead in her tracks and looked around. The firing range was as clean and tidy as ever. Faraway always was a neat freak, the whole place had to be spotless and everything had to be back where it was before he'd leave the room. Clementine walked over to the clear tabletop on her left, where people would put anything and everything on. Now that she thought about it, the range was unnaturally empty and quiet. At this time there'd usually be a group of people in here, be it either Spartans, Marines, ODSTs or both, and, the table would be covered in all kinds of shit, ranging from weapons to sights and different types of ammo. Once she'd even found it lined with watermelons. Clementine took one last look around before leaving the firing range, the strange silence was unnerving her for an unknown reason. Deciding to take her aimless wandering somewhere less aimless, she headed to the canteen.

"Clementine?" Minnie asked.

"What do you want Minnie?"

"I'm sorry. I'm worried about you. We all are. I was trying to look out for you."

Clementine stopped for a second before leaning against the wall and slumping down into a sitting position.

"I get that Minnie, I do. But I'm the leader of this Fireteam, it's my job to keep everyone safe, even if that means I have to give a part of myself up to do so, or give up my life. Instead, Violet took a blow for me and almost died because of it. That's on me. Plus, we have no idea what we're up against and no one knows anything about them either." Clementine sighed. "How do we fight an enemy we know nothing about?"

"Halsey may know." Minnie suggested.

Clementine scoffed. "Like she'll tell us anything. Secretive bitch, there's too much cloak-and-dagger shit with her."

"That's ONI for you." Minnie whispered.

The two were silent for a minute before Clementine spoke up.

"Minnie. Am I... Am I a bad leader?"

"What?" Minnie asked, thinking she'd heard wrong.

"Am I a bad leader?" Clementine asked again.

"N-no, what makes you ask that?"

"The fact that I almost witnessed my best- my girlfriend die on my watch, and, the way I was with Louis before."

"Oh, Clem. Every leader almost watches someone die everyday, and conflict within a team is normal and to be expected. Especially after something like we've been through."

"But Violet took a blow meant for me."

"You would've done the same for her. Just because she took a blow for you doesn't make you a bad leader." Minnie assured her.

"Clementine?" Came a voice from above her.

"What now?" Clementine sighed, looking up to see CPO Mendez looming over her.

"For fucks sake." Clementine whispered, closing her eyes and resting the back of her head on the wall.

"Mendez, Sir. How can we help?" Minnie asked for a rather embarrassed Clementine.

"Looking rather sorry for yourself there Clementine." Mendez observed.

"With all due respect Sir: Fuck off." Clementine said from the floor, still not in the best of moods.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that, mainly because I know about what happened on Arcadia, and that's partly why I'm here. Violet, has asked to see you both." He said, gaining the full attention of Clementine, who immediately stood up.

"What, why? Is she alright?" Clementine asked.

Mendez raised his hands up to calm her. "Whoa, easy Spartan, it's nothing serious. She's currently getting her prosthetic arm calibrated, and, she wanted you both to be there when she tries it out."

Clementine breathed a sigh a relief. "Ok. Lead the way Sir."

Reach FLEETCOM Military Complex

10:50 hrs

Prosthetic Wing A-3

"How do you feel?" Asked one of the medics on Violet's left.

"Like I'm missing an arm." She deadpanned.

"I see your sense of humour survived." Clementine called, entering the room.

Violet looked up to see Clementine walking towards her and smiled at her. "Hey you."

Clementine winked at her. "Hey yourself. How're you feeling? And please don't say 'like I'm missing an arm'."

The tank top clad Violet smirked at her and chuckled. "I feel a little weird. I've been told the arm is permanent and non-removable, so I'm stuck with it. Not sure how I feel about that, but we'll see. Plus... I kinda want to put my long sleeve t-shirt back on. I'm not comfortable with the thought of having it on show in public."

Clementine smiled sadly at her. She decided to try and lighten the mood a little. "Well, looks like you're going to have one arm skinnier than the other." She joked.

Violet wore a look of dread. "I swear to God, I'm going to flip shit if you're serious."

"Don't you worry, she's pulling your leg. With these prosthetics it's all a matter of perspective sometimes. You'll be glad to know it's actually the same size as your other arm. Although, I can see why you said that. Almost done, I'm currently finishing off the calibrations, and, I can safely say it works and it's durable. Name's Michael, Prosthetic Engineer. I'd shake your hand but I need to finish this." Said the Engineer – Michael – who was on the right side of Violet, fiddling with and tweaking the arm to keep up with a Spartan.

"I understand, and thanks." Clementine said.

"It's my pleasure, didn't think I'd have to install one onto a Spartan. I'm sorry about what happened to you." Michael apologised, quickly looking to Violet before returning his gaze to the arm.

"I appreciate that Michael." Violet said. "So, where're the others?" She asked Clementine.

"Not sure, last I saw, Louis was in our living quarters. But I'm in no rush to see him again." Clementine said, folding her arms.

"Why?" When Clementine didn't answer, Violet tried again. "Clementine, why?"

Clementine sighed reluctantly. "Louis came to check on me this morning, asked how I was and Minnie told him I'd been stressing over what happened on Arcadia, he said how it was unhealthy and that we're 'all fine' and that we all made it 'out in one piece'."

"Oh..." Was all Violet said.

"Yea, so you can understand why I'm not in the best of moods with him."

Violet looked at Clementine with a worried expression. "It's not just that is it?" She asked.

"No. No it's not." Clementine said, looking down.

"Clem?"

She didn't respond.

Violet sighed sadly. "Clem, we can't hide shit from one another. The two of us... we're more than just teammates now. What's bothering you?"

Clementine nodded slightly and looked up to Violet. "I'm not sure I'm cut out to be Fireteam leader."

Violet gasped. "What? Why? What makes you say that?"

"Look at our mission to Arcadia, Vi. It was a total shitshow that you almost didn't walk out of, and, I'm pretty sure Mitch committed a war crime and broke the Geneva Convention by emptying his shotgun into the dead creature."

"You sure it was dead?" Michael asked.

Clementine looked at him. "...The second time around."

Michael looked up at her curiously.

"It's a long story, maybe we'll tell you over a drink sometime."

Michael nodded and went back to work finishing up on Violet's prosthetic.

"Wasn't the Geneva Convention years ago? Does it even still apply today?" Violet asked.

"It was created in 1864, that was 665 years ago. As for it applying today... even I'm not certain on that." Minnie said.

"Still, it was a total shitshow. One that I could have prevented." Clementine said.

"Do you really believe that? That you could have prevented it?" Violet asked.

"Ye-" Clementine paused for a minute before correcting herself. "No. No I don't believe it."

"None of us could've prepared for what we were put up against. You are a good leader Clem, don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Violet assured her.

Clementine smiled at Violet.

"There, should be all done. Give it whirl." Michael said, standing up to admire his work.

Violet looked to Michael, then the arm, then Michael again. "So... how does it work?" She asked.

Michael chuckled. "If I had a credit everytime someone said that to me... anyway, it's just like a natural arm. You think of what you want it to do and..." He trailed off, allowing Violet to fill in the blanks.

Violet nodded her understanding.

"Why don't you start with something simple? Like forming a fist?" Clementine suggested.

Michael snapped his fingers and pointed to Clementine. "Agreed."

Violet smiled nervously. "Well, here goes nothing I guess."

Clementine and Michael watched with baited breath as the fingers and thumb on Violet's prosthetic twitched and slowly came together to form a fist.

"Heh, I... I did it." Violet said to herself with a confident smile.

"Excellent work! Now, rehabilitation will take a few weeks, so spend some time getting used to the prosthetic, focus on using it as much as possible and get used to picking things up and sleeping with it. Don't neglect you're natural arm, but that goes without saying, and, come see me if you need it recalibrating or readjusting in any way." Michael informed her.

"Thank you Michael." Violet said sincerely.

"Yeah, thanks Michael." Clementine thanked him. "This means a lot, for the both of us."

Michael shrugged humbly. "As I said, it was my pleasure Spartans. You two take care of eachother and go easy on one another." Michael told them.

"We will." Clementine and Violet said in unison, looking to eachother with a smile.

The two girls and and Minnie made their way to the doors to leave.

"Wait one!" Michael called, halting them in their tracks as he made his way over to them. "Violet, something you should know. It's important."

"Ok, shoot." Violet said a little worriedly.

"You may... how do I say this so it makes sense?" Michael asked himself. "Ok, so you may get this feeling called phantom limb. It's where you get the sensation or feeling that an amputated limb is still there, still attached. Now it's nothing serious but if you get a painful feeling where your right arm should be, that's just phantom limb. Now, I recommend doing things that won't stress you out or make you anxious as that has a tendency to make the pain worse. Hell, weather changes have been known to trigger it too sometimes. Some of my other patients that have an arm prosthetic have said that they feel as if they are gesturing, feeling an itch, twitching or even picking something up, all of which are examples of phantom limb. Symptoms range from: tingling, itching, burning or aching, but on the bright side, intensity and frequency of attacks will decrease with time."

"Thanks for the heads up Michael." Violet said.

"Clementine, I trust you'll help make this transition as easy as possible for her?" Michael asked.

"Of course, I won't let her out of my sight. I'll take good care of her, like she has me." Clementine reassured him, wrapping her arm around Violet's waist and bringing her in closer. Clementine was rewarded with a heart-warming smile from Violet and an approving nod off Michael before he turned to clean up his station.

"Hungry?" Clementine asked.

"Starved." Responded Violet, after struggling to put her long sleeve t-shirt on.

"I could go for a bite." Minnie said.

Violet and Clementine chuckled at Minnie before the two girls headed for the canteen.