AN: Gotta say, I kinda like this one.
"Testing, testing, one two," A slightly mocking voice whispered in Jack's ear. "Spartan-035, get to somewhere private. We need to talk,"
Jack gritted his teeth. He was trying to sleep, trying being the key word.
"Don't be stupid," An infuriatingly familiar French-accented woman chuckled from his earpiece. Jack got up and trudged to the nearest supply closet. Thanks to Sheila, he knew exactly where the nearest one was.
"I am not a patient woman, 035," She teased. Jack growled something intelligible and walked faster. He got to the supply closet and resisted the urge to slam the door behind him.
"I'm here,"
"Took you long enough," The voice pouted.
"There are recording devices everywhere. I had to get to somewhere were this can't be overheard,"
"Yes, I know. You just took your sweet time getting here," She said.
"How did you know I wasn't sleeping, like the rest?"
"I've got friends in high places," she said.
"What's your name?" Jack asked.
"You are in no position to be asking questions, my friend,"
"You want me to betray my friends, commanders, principals, and the love of my life. I think you've got less on me than you think. So, quid pro quo. You want me to cooperate, then start talking,"
"I have your life," She said, coldly.
"You must not have read my file very thoroughly, if you think that matters more than the aforementioned list, you bitch. Now, before I crush this mike into dust, what is your name?" Jack meant every syllable. His hand went up, ready to take out the earpiece and squish it between his index finger and thumb.
"Despite your bravado, I think you will not throw your life away… I am Brigadier General Asef,"
"You need me as much as I need you. Is Asef your first or last name?"
"My last, of course. The world outside your little team is more professional than you think," Asef said smoothly.
"What is your first name?"
"Julia," Her voice was tight, and Jack smiled. The hostage-taker was losing power over the situation, and she knew it.
"Where are you from, Julia?"
"I told you my name. Before anything else, you owe me," She said.
"I'm willing to make a concession,"
"What is the name of the Commonwealth's new AI?"
"Easy. Galahad,"
"Good. Now-"
"Wow, it's my turn," Jack interrupted.
"A valiant attempt at being annoying, but alas, you will find-"
"Hey, hey. Quid pro quo, remember? Where are you from, Julia?"
"Biko," She sighed.
"You're lying, but I'll forgive you for that,"
"Thank you," she said sarcastically. "I believe it is my turn?"
"You believe correctly," Jack snickered.
"How do you plan to survive this war with your love intact?"
Jack opened his mouth, and closed it.
"What?"
"The Covenant are relentless. Even this early in the war, this is apparent. From your file… and that incredible little book of yours, we can expect three decades of conflict. It seems unlikely that either you or Spartan-132 will survive it. Even if you do, surely your hearts will be hardened irreparably by the carnage you will have witnessed. How do you plan to live and love and grow old together when you'll have spent two-thirds of your life fighting?"
"That's… that's…,"
"You won't. Which is my point. Work for me, Jack, and I will make you a sincere promise: One year of fighting for me, and I will give you the rest of your life to be with her, on a habitable frontier world the Covenant will never find,"
"Why would you do that?"
"Because the Spartans are hammering us," She said bluntly. "Putting two out of the fight would be almost as good as getting one, you, on our side,"
"You're lying," Jack said bluntly. She had to be lying. There was no alternative. This couldn't be true. This was exactly what he wanted, more than anything else in the world. Not just to survive the war, but to have Sheila, far away from the conflict, their own home. It was too much to give up, too much to surrender, too much too let slip by. More valuable than his honor, his values, his duty.
"You know I am not," She murmured.
"I… I fucking hate you," Jack sagged against the wall of the closet, sliding to the floor. "This isn't fair,"
"It's not," She whispered apologetically. "It may seem hard now, but it will get better,"
"I'll need to ask her. I can't decide for us both, either way. It wouldn't be fair to her… and I can't. Fuck you for making me choose," Choose between honor and love.
"You may thank me, later," She said with a hopeful tone.
"Don't hold yer fuckin' breath,"
"There's no need to be vulgar. But you had better get ready-the intercom will tell you to gather to take down the second cell in a few moments. You muster at 0500,"
"How can you be so casual about me killing your people?" Jack growled.
"Sacrifices need to be made, Jack. You know this,"
"We take down the second cell in half an hour," Sheila grinned. "We've simulated communications from the first, so the rest don't know what happened. Business as usual. Tomorrow, we'll kill the third. We get to single-handedly end the Insurrection on Reach,"
"Medals and beers all around," Jack chuckled tiredly.
"It's rather fitting, for us to personally kick them from our home," Jorge laughed.
"Let's see how far we can punt them," Li snickered.
"Armor up, then get to the drop pods," Sheila laughed. Jorge and Li said "Yes, ma'am,"
"Ma'am, permission to speak freely?"
"How freely?" Sheila narrowed her eyes.
"Supply-closet freely," Jack grinned. Sheila thought for a moment.
"You… may," She said imperiously. Jack laughed, and moved in to kiss her. It was only for a second, but in that blessed little second, all of his problems were temporarily erased. Surprisingly, Sheila broke away first.
"We've got thirty minutes," She said.
"It takes about fifteen to armor up," Jack said.
"Let's make it twenty, to be safe. So we've got about ten minutes,"
Slowly, so she wouldn't get surprised and break something of his, Jack swept his arm behind her knees, caught her, and hefted her like a sack of potatoes. Then he kissed her again.
"Better make 'em count, then," He said, then broke into a run.
Once they were in the supply closet, they got to it.
"We can't get carried away," Jack murmured as he kissed her neck and she ran her fingers through his short hair.
"I know," Sheila whispered.
"And there was something I wanted to talk to you about,"
"Really?" She arched an eyebrow.
"Just a little hypothetical question," Jack wondered if she would buy it. If not, maybe she could help. He'd need to come clean with her, tell her his whole story, so she'd understand the nature of the blackmail… he liked the sound of that idea. This business reminded him of the load he'd been carrying. Jack wanted to get it off his chest. Maybe… after the mission, he'd tell her, whether or not she bought this.
"What is it?" There was tenderness in that moment, as they cuddled next to the janitorial equipment. Jack savored it.
"You know I love you, right?" Jack asked, suddenly worried if he was the one in the relationship that cared way more than her. What if she immediately said no to running away?
"Duh. Almost as much as I love you,"
"I doubt that very much, sweetheart," He kissed her forehead, and she seemed to glow with happiness.
"So what's this hypothetical?" She asked.
"What if we could just leave this all behind?" He blurted.
"What?" Sheila blinked.
"The Covenant, the UNSC, the Insurrection… everything. Just me, you, and some planet none of those could reach?" Jack said it in a rush.
"Well, we have an obligation….," She said slowly, but Jack saw he'd gotten her thinking.
"The galaxy would carry on without us," He said. "Just picture it. No fighting. We could start something…. Awesome. A family, maybe,"
"Wait, are you proposing?" Sheila burst out. "We can't… do that. We're not even fifteen! And even if we did… that, we'd still have to fight,"
Jack couldn't help it. He'd heard all of that, and he knew he should have corrected her on his meaning, but he couldn't stop himself from asking. "You think I'm asking you to marry me? Wait, you said we can't… but not that you… would you marry me, if I'd asked?"
"You aren't asking?" She said in a tiny voice, blushing.
"Well… not right now," Jack blinked.
"Oh… ok,"
"Would you, though?" Jack persisted.
"I'm not telling you unless you ask," Sheila said.
"Um… wait. What were we talking about?" Jack shook his head.
"Are you going to ask?" She said, and maybe it was Jack's ego, or imagination, but he thought he heard a sliver of hope in her question.
"Not right this second… if I did, what would you say?"
"Not until you ask," She shook her head obstinately.
"Well, I mean… wait, do you want me to ask?"
"If I told you that, it would pretty much just tell you the answer, wouldn't it?" Sheila grinned and kissed him. Jack was defeated.
"Ok, I was talking about something serious…,"
"Marriage isn't serious?"
"…But it seems to have slipped my mind," Jack frowned.
"Your hypothetical?" Sheila asked.
"Yes! That! What would you do, if we could just run away, to be together… would you do that?"
Sheila thought a moment.
"I'm almost ashamed to say it… but yes. That sounds wonderful," She had a faraway look in her eye. Jack had a suspicion that she was seeing something similar to his dream. He hoped so, anyway.
"Just us… maybe a few others. Not like, combatants, but… neighbors. Friends. People to play poker with, watch games with," Jack tried to reconcile to images in his head-MJOLNIR armor and Superbowl parties. It didn't really mesh-at least not logically. He felt Sheila shiver in his arms.
"It's impossible," She said slowly. "It can't happen, no matter how much we'd want it. Not without the Covenant and the Insurrection somehow imploding,"
"But what if, you know?" Jack pressed, and immediately regretted it, seeing the look on her face.
"If it could happen… would you go with me?" He whispered. "Would you leave it all behind?"
"That's not a good question. Why ask if it can't happen?" She looked toward the ground.
"Please… This is important to me," Jack insisted softly. "Jorge, Li, all the other Spartans… everything. If you had a choice… Would you leave it behind to be with me?"
Sheila looked him in the eye.
"Yes," She whispered. "I love you more than anything in the world. And I want to be with you for the rest of my life, even if it costs everything else,"
Jack choked up, scaring himself, just a little. He'd never been affected by anyone more than Sheila. And he'd never been so affected that it screwed his bodily functions up. There was a massive thing in his throat, and he had trouble speaking for a second.
"Then I need to tell you something… I wasn't actually a replacement. This is going to be a long story...,"
"Well, you can tell me after we go take out that second cell," Sheila smiled. "We've got work to do,"
This plan was very similar to the last one. Except that the pods weren't crashing right next to the four corners of the target building-they were being shot like armored missiles into the building, all four, right in the center. This cell wasn't supply-they were front line. Intel suggested that this little frontier-town base was a staging area for both explosive terrorist attacks and armed and armored infantry raids. Sophisticated AI counterintelligence on the Innie's part had kept this area right under the UNSC's nose, a constant thorn in their collective sides, costing tens of thousands of lives and billions of credits over the last few years. Command had been very clear-no mercy. No survivors. Send a message. No one objected. Gold would land within feet of each other, back to back, covering all four sides.
Jack was almost as used to the drop pods as he had been with the school buses back home. A bumpy ride, with the same mental preparation: time to get to work. Jack cocked his rifle. It didn't matter anymore that these were just humans, not Elites or Brutes. Gold was equipped with Jack's cut-down sniper rifles. Without long barrels, and with big clips and iron sights, these had anti-armor punch and anti-infantry ease of use.
Jack closed his eyes and smiled the second before the pods crashed through the roof of the fort. He was picturing General Julia Asef's face and voice on each of the rebels he was about to slaughter.
There was a clap of grinding gravel and thunder, and Jack kicked the hatch off the pod. It flew ten feet , two Innies barely dodging it. To his left was Jorge's pod, his right, Sheila's. Li had his back.
Jack brought up his rifle and fired. The first round tore a soldier in half, and kept going, tearing through the steel wall. The second impacted an armored woman in the forehead, seemed to vaporize her head and neck in an explosion of pink and red gore. Jack switched his main weapon to his right hand, and brought up his heavy pistol with his left, and then he was locked in.
Six more men and women on his side alone died in less than two seconds. Not one shot missed-a few of Jack's off-hand shots tore off arms and legs, and demolished stomachs and chests.
One Innie brought up a rifle, shooting a burst into Jack's armored chest, which ricocheted off before Jack put two oversized rounds into his head and heart.
Two steps forward-Jack saw carnage all around. Gold was doing its job.
Jack was to sweep north, Sheila east, Jorge west, and Li south. Jack ran up and jumped-kicked the north door in with both feet, riding it down, and sliding for a couple inches while it skidded on the floor. He was in another room, smaller, with arms lockers on the far wall. Six Innie fighters were ready, and everyone opened fire. Jack juked left with the speed only an augmented and armored Spartan could pull off-the vast majority of rebel fire missed. Jack shot three of them mid-jump, and shot the rest before he came to a stop. Then he kept moving.
As he entered a walkway, a closet door opened up. An axe-the kind used to chop firewood-came down, aimed at his head. Jack dropped his pistol and caught the axe by its blade. He ripped the axe away, snatched it up by its handle, and swung it upward, neatly splitting the ribcage of the Innie, lodging the blade up by the collarbone. The lower part of the blade was just visible-most of it had diced up the rebel's entrails. Jack supported the weight of the axe and the rebel with one hand, brought both up, level with Jack's head.
Jack looked up at the Insurrectionist's face with his own distorted with rage. This was the enemy, that wanted to kill him, his friends. Wanted him to betray his sacred principals for selfish reasons. He hated this enemy more than he knew he could hate anything.
Jack saw the face of a young boy, no older than thirteen, who was trying to look back at him with his last seconds of life. Jack saw the boy's blue eyes searching for Jack's own. All he saw, Jack knew, was the cold gold of his visor. The eyes lost focus, the young face fell slack. Jack's fury went out like a light.
Everything fell apart.
