Author's Note: Thanks to Kalshion and SilentStrike'Scy' for being my proofreaders.

Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Halo universe, which is the property of Bungie Studios. However, any non-Halo species (and characters made from them) belong to me.

Chapter 26: Unexpected Find

Sari did not feel like cooking, so they decided to eat out for a change, so the pair dressed in casuals, and promised Vl'asuna they would bring something back for her before leaving. The Arbiter chose a small restaurant that was a combination of a diner and bar which was located close to the merchant district. It was a clean, respectable place where people could bring their families while the adults could still drink if they wanted, so long as they didn't start to get rowdy. Those that did were promptly tossed out on the streets by the staff.

"I was expecting a place a bit more…elegant," Sari remarked as the Arbiter parked.

"The most elegant places are where the high class and nobility go," The Arbiter explained. "And where I would be expected to go."

"Ah, more of that low profile thing then," Sari said with a smirk.

"Exactly."

The pair entered the establishment and paused for a moment to look for suitable seating. To the Arbiter's surprise, he thought he saw a couple of familiar faces seated in a booth close to the bar. When they got closer, his suspicions were confirmed: it was none other then Rtas 'Vadum himself, sitting beside Ella 'Issal. Rtas looked like he had one too many, while Ella looked like she could use a few more going by the bruises on her head.

"I am surprised to see you both here," The Arbiter said with a smirk as he and Sari stood beside the table. "Mind if we join you?"

"Not at all Azu," Ella said cheerfully, though he could hear the slight pain in her voice.

"Hey there….beautiful….where'vvvve you been my…life…," Rtas slurred, staring solidly at Sari as the pair sat down across from them.

"Is…getting him drunk part of his treatment?" The Arbiter asked, disapproving of his friend's behavior.

"Oh no, we are celebrating the success of his treatment," Ella replied proudly, elbowing him to get him to stop staring at Sari. This only resulted in the Shipmaster to start leaning to one side and Ella had to grab him by the arm and pull him upright before he toppled into the aisle. "And the start of a more…proper…relationship between us."

"Congratulations," Sari said with a smile.

"Aye, he deserves to be with a good woman such as yourself," The Arbiter agreed, nodding his head. "Though I wished you had told me you were going to celebrate in this manner before hand. I would have warned you that our dear Shipmaster rarely drinks and would not be able to handle it too well."

"I am starting to wish that as well," Ella said with a sigh. "He had only two and he is already acting like an old veteran with a whole gallon in him."

"I am not old…," Rtas protested. "I….I….," His face contorted into one of confusion. "I don't know….."

"I certainly hope those bruises are not the result of a…drunken rampage on his part," The Arbiter said, a note of concern in his voice.

"These?" Ella pointed at the bruises on her head. "Oh no…these are from that darling sister of his."

"Sister?" The Arbiter blinked at the two of them in mild surprise. "He has a sister?"

"Older half-sister to be precise," Ella replied, snarling slightly. "She was the reason he developed the phobia. From what he told me about her, I have every reason to believe she is the same 'Gala' that you mentioned over a month ago."

The Arbiter snarled. "Such a small world. If I had known of this that day, I really would have snapped that wench's neck."

"Yeah, she gave me these while trying to get me to tell her where Rtas was, was going to kill me if I did not tell her," Ella continued. "Fortunately, Rtas was able to beat back his fear to save my life and scare her off."

"Kicked….her….asssss…," Rtas slurred, who was now partly slumped over the table making designs with a bit of spilled drink with a claw.

Ella ignored him as she continued. "Got out of the hospital a couple hours ago. Damn doctors forced me to stay over night for 'observation reasons'. Rtas stayed with me the whole time."

"An incredible achievement," The Arbiter said.

"I think…his feelings for me helped out a lot," Ella confessed, blushing faintly as she rubbed Rtas' back. "I believe that is why he made such quick progress: most phobic's take months of therapy. So…how are you doing? It appears you two may be an item now."

"Over a month now," Sari replied, smiling as she nuzzled the Arbiter. The Arbiter leaned down and returned it, adding a couple of light nips to her neck. "Azu!" She scolded him.

"I see it has likely progressed past the just 'cuddling' phase," Ella said with a sly smile. "Should I expect to hear the patter of little hooves soon?"

"Someday," The Arbiter admitted, pulling Sari close. "No rush."

"You sure?" Sari teased. "Considering your actions over the last day or so?"

"Hush…my little pearl," He whispered softly into her ear. "Unless you desire a bit here and now."

"You are so naughty Azu," Sari giggled.

"Babbbies…," Rtas mumbled. "I'd like one…or two…dozen…even…."

"Great…now you got his mind on that track," Ella said in mock exasperation.

"Should make for an interesting night for you then," The Arbiter said with grin.

"Bah…It is too soon for that. I may have to lock my door tonight."

"You do know that having him eat something before drinking alcohol helps lessen the effects right?"

Ella blinked at him for a long moment. "Hun…he did eat something before he had those two drinks!"

It was the Arbiter's turn to blink in shock. "We need to work on his alcohol tolerance then…."

"Azu...," Sari said as she picked up one of the empty bottles of the beverage Rtas drank. "I think it has more to do with what he drank, not when in this case."

The Arbiter studied the label and then sighed. It was none other then Gitri Stoku, the strongest alcoholic beverage on the market. "He is going to have the worst hang over…," He groaned.

Johnson was heading to his quarters to turn in for the night after a long day of doing nothing at all. He supposed it could have been worse, such as having to attend boring political meetings or social functions. The only productive thing he did do today was relieving that data chip off the ONI spook, so he took this as a good day. When he reached the door to his quarters, he reached to punch in his code, only to come into contact with something invisible and slightly hard.

"If you poked me just a little lower I may have to start questioning which way you lean." A deep voice boomed above him. Johnson jumped back as the air in front of him shimmered and a familiar black and purple armored Spec Ops Elite materialized in front of him.

"Zeno!" Johnson scolded. "I hate it when you do that! Give an old man a heart attack why don't you?"

The Elite just straightened and folded his arms, a smug look on his face. "I just love the look on your face each time," He said.

"Yeah well one of these days I'll figure out that you are there and you'll be feeling my steel-toed boot in your crotch!"

"That is provided you can kick that high," Zeno said smugly. For an Elite, Zeno 'Ribal was big: nearly nine feet tall.

"Yeah well, we will just have to wait and see now won't we?" Johnson sighed as he stepped around the Elite to unlock his door. "I suppose you got some juicy bits for me? It's the only reason you usually come to bug me at this hour."

"The only 'juicy bit' I have uncovered is that you seemed to have stumbled upon something that belongs to one of my people," Zeno said, his expression turning a bit serious.

It took a moment for Johnson to register what he was talking about. "Ah yes the chip from that ONI spook," He said as he walked into his quarters, Zeno following him in, though having to stoop and step side ways to get in due to his size. "I am surprised you did not pounce on me about it the moment I parted ways with that guy."

"If I had done that, I would have had to explain to your High Command on why their Ambassador was suddenly a lot thinner," Zeno said with a broad grin.

"Smart ass!" Johnson groaned. "You know I don't mean literally!"

"But of course," Zeno confirmed, scratching the base of one of his mandibles. "I was going to confront that man myself once I was certain what he was up to, however you beat me to it. I only waited to speak to you about the matter because I knew it would be safe in your capable hands. Besides, it gave me an excuse to due what I just did a few minutes ago."

"Quit with the eloquent stuff will ya?" Johnson said as he picked up a bottle of brandy and poured himself a glass.

"I fail to see why I should," Zeno said, tilting his head to one side. "I know you did not have any meetings that would otherwise cause you to have brain fatigue."

"And now I know you are doing it on purpose," Johnson scowled, to which Zeno just grinned. "It's the end of the day and I am nearly dead on my feet from boredom: those are reasons enough not to want to have to shift through your eloquent talk. You want any of this?"

"No thank you. Your kind's alcohol does not do me justice," The Elite sauntered over to a couch and sat down.

"What? Too strong for ya?"

"Not strong enough," The Elite was grinning again.

"Hmm…You will have to bring me some of what you guys drink when you get a chance."

"I would rather not," Zeno said with a frown. "The ratio of alcohol in our drinks would cause a low body massed person such as yourself to almost immediately keel over from alcohol poisoning."

"Sounds like something I would want after one of my bad days," Johnson grumbled as he sat in a chair across from him. "Hear anything about whether or not High Command is going to send me on a field trip to your homeworld?"

"Nothing definitive I am afraid," Zeno said with a helpless shrug. "Your high officials seem to have learned to talk in more hushed tones whenever I am near the room."

"So much for Halfy's best Recon troop," Johnson teased. Zeno was the second highest ranking Spec Ops Elite and unofficially Rtas' second-in-command. His talent for gathering intel, however, resulted in him being sent out almost constantly on Recon missions. In fact, his recent stationing here on Cairo Station was likely the first real break the Elite has had. From what Johnson had noticed, the Elite seemed very interested in human culture, to the point of partaking in some of it himself. Johnson was certain Rtas would not approve of the tattoos Zeno had on his person now. "You have active camo, use it!"

"Ah but I figured I should give them some kind of chance to thwart me," Zeno replied with another one of his grins before changing the subject. "Now…this chip…," He said, leaning forward. "I am guessing you know something of its contents from your brief discussion with the…spook…as you call them."

"From what the spook told me, it contains the last words of an Elite that died some eight years ago during the war," Johnson said, fishing the chip out of his pocket and looking at it a moment before handing it to Zeno. "He was trying to find one of you that may have known the guy, but the idiot was only talking to Minors."

"Which would have resulted in a frustrating, fruitless search," Zeno agreed, studying the chip. Johnson was half expecting Zeno to take out a device to read the disk, but apparently, he knew better then that. "That you all but forced it from his hands tells me you suspect who it belongs to."

Johnson nodded as he said. "'Tidumee is the name of the owner. From what I know of how you guys name each other, I suspect this could be Halfy's relative."

"Sire, actually," Zeno confirmed suddenly. "Anko 'Tidumee is his full name. He was Spec Ops Commander before our dear Commander 'Vadum. I had only been in the Spec Ops for roughly a year before he was killed during an ill-advised mission, but it was long enough to learn to greatly respect the man.

"Commander 'Vadum loved his father dearly and that he never got to hear his father's last words hurt him terribly. He was reluctant to take his father's place actually, but the Prophets insisted upon it, saying he was the most qualified for the position."

"Well then, maybe this will heal those wounds," Johnson said softly.

"It depends on the contents," Zeno cautioned. "He does very well in hiding it, but I know he is a troubled man and not just because of his father's passing."

"Ol'Halfy has skeletons in the closet?" Johnson asked.

Zeno's brows furrowed as it took him a moment to catch the meaning of the phrase. "In a sense, but even if I knew what those skeletons were I would not reveal them out of respect for the Commander."

"The way you talk about him sometimes it makes me wonder if you two are closer then you admit."

Zeno let out a deep throaty laugh. "I have great respect and admiration for the man yes, but he is not my type for that sort of thing," He laughed again when he saw Johnson's mildly disgusted look. "Keep this," Zeno handed him the chip back. "As it stands you will be better able to get this to the Commander, for unless someone tells me otherwise, I am not returning to our homeworld any time soon."

"Awww you are just afraid he would shoot the messenger," Johnson said as he put the chip back in his pocket.

"Actually, he would more likely envelope you in a bone crushing hug of gratitude in this case."

Johnson winced at that. "I think I'd rather take getting shot…thank you."

A/N: *sigh* With the release of the new book (The Cole Protocol), I suddenly learn that several things I've assumed about Sangheili culture are wrong. I always prefer to keep my fics as accurate as possible canon wise, only going AU if I feel it will help the story (Johnson being alive is an example of that). Don't worry though, I am going to finish this story anyway since it's already AU due to Johnson. If I start another fic after this one I will incorperate the new lore.

I do kind of feel sorry for some of the other writers though: with the Arbiter's true name finally revealed it really screws up their fictions. No I am not saying what it is...go read the book if you want to know (or you can look on the Halowikia...)!