On board an unknown Covenant ship
Time Unknown

"God damn it...!" He cursed with whatever little energy he had left in him as he was rudely thrown onto the floor of the holding cell. His head and chest felt heavy, as if there was a tons of bricks on his back preventing him from sitting up. With some effort, he managed to do so, pushing himself off the ground and shifting his weight to his knees.

That was when he got a clear look at the damage to both of his bare trembling forearms - countless cuts and plasma burns, and they appeared as if they were not going to stop bleeding. His stomach churned at the sight. Everyday, those monsters would attack a part of him to get him to talk. He just had no idea how much more strength he had to not give in. Pieces of his armor had also been ripped away by his interrogators, as well as the body suit underneath.

"Well, this is one hell of a pickle you've gotten yourself into."

That spiteful voice came from directly in front of Jun, and he had encountered it numerous times over the last what felt like days. It was almost tortuous. There was no way it could get any worse than this. "Oh, fuck."

"Aw," She titled her head at him, her entire eyeballs replaced with the color of bright red. "I missed you too, sweetie."

It felt sick to stare at that beautiful face with a smirk and eyes like that. "You're not Celestina! Stop calling me that!" He ordered with whatever he had in him, still on his knees.

"I'll call you whatever the hell I want, sweetie," It was just the beginning and Jun knew it. He could not prepare himself for what he was about to hear from her. "And what are you going to do about it, hm? Kick my ass? I'd save my strength if I were you... You're going to need it when you continue to scream for that Brute to stop."

How could his mind be so cruel to him and turn the greatest thing in his life into his enemy? "Leave me alone!" He hung his head, wanting to look away.

She wore a red long-sleeved long blouse that covered half on her thighs, as well as a pair of jeans. "No! No, I think it's time that you understand the gravity of the situation here! You're in some serious shit right now. You need to think about your next move."

"I suppose you're going to tell me?"

"Damn straight."

"Save your breath."

"Listen to me, you stupid bitch!" She suddenly changed her tone to a harsh one. "They're keeping you alive long enough for you to tell them something! The Covenant has AAALL the time in the world to play with you, you know, until you cough something up. My advice? Tell them what they wanna know so you can die a quick and painless death," As she spoke, she took slow steps towards him. "How long more are you going to take all of this, Jun? You're strong, but you're not that strong. Not mentally, at least. I mean..." A sick smile came to her then as she presented her body to him. "I'm evidence of that."

His arms were burning, his ribs were throbbing with pain, but he tried to maintain his cool. "Shut the hell up."

The hallucination of Celestina had no intention of shutting up. Not now. "It's no wonder you and Celestina worked together so well. Both of you are messed up in the same way except that she's got zero willpower. Pathetic, when you think about it," She commented, crossing her arms over her chest. "At least you try to work out your own problems. How the hell did she even make it to 20 years of service without losing it out there in the battlefield?"

By then, the Spartan had gotten to his feet, not without some difficulty. His head was spinning but he wanted to put an end to this. "Don't talk about her like that."

"Aw, how sweet!" The high pitch in her voice indicating her sarcasm. "Getting all angry when I talk about your precious little Italian whore."

That was did it for Jun. He swung at the hallucination but as if she was expecting it, she pulled her head back and he missed completely. As his body wanted him to give up, he fell back onto his hands and knees, unable to find the strength to get up again.

"That's all you got?" She asked, highly amused by his state as she spread her arms at him. "Come on, I've faced Grunts mightier than you!"

He felt like he had nothing else in him at the moment. "Why are you doing this...?" He asked in a whimper.

"Don't you see?" She lowered herself onto his knees in front of him. "I'm the part of you that wants you to give up! But you're too stubborn to do it! What are you trying to prove, I have no idea. That's your problem, you know. You try to damn hard to be resilient on the inside when in reality, you're just as broken as the rest of us. You've always been; you just keep it all to yourself! Try to swallow it all! But why, Jun? I mean sure, daddy dearest did teach you to be strong, but he didn't say to be a heartless brat now, did he?"

Great... Now you drag my father into this...

"But I digress, babe. Anyway, as I was saying, you holding out on the Covenant is only going to make them more inclined to do some serious damage. Are you listenin'?!" She questioned harshly and immediately delivered a hard slap to his face, knocking him down even more. "Pay attention! 'Cause if you, by some sort of miracle, make it out alive? I guarantee that a lot of you will be left behind here. Your sanity is obviously going to be one of them."

Jun had nothing to say to that.

Yet, she was not done there. "I pity poor little hapless Celestina. I mean really. You're gonna die in here, she'll never know what happened to you and she'll spend the rest of her life hating you for making her a promise you couldn't keep."

"I tried..."

"What?" She put her hand to her ear. "What was that? You're going to have to speak up, sweetie."

He did not want to give in to the hallucination but he could not help it. "I really wanted to see her again. Now considering where I am? I know that's not possible."

"No, it's not," She said as she got to her feet. "And the quicker you accept that, the quicker you can die."

Bright blue eyes gazed intensely at the hallucination.

"Lighten up! Maybe you'll pass out like you did yesterday!"

"GET THE FUCK OUT!" He turned his upper body around to grab a piece of his broken armor and fling it at her, although now... she was gone.

Twisting his body like that put only more pressure on his ribs and the pain then sunk in. He doubled over, one hand on the ground to support him.

He struggled to catch his breath and found himself needing the comfort of the only item he managed to prevent the Covenant from taking. They could not rip away his knee guards - he reached into the side of his right knee guard and pulled out the set of dog tags - Celestina's dog tags.

It was getting worse almost every single day, but there was nothing Jun could do about it. Not about the torture and certainly not about the hallucinations of his lover.

He could only wait to die.

On board an unknown Covenant ship
Time Unknown

He was flat on his stomach on the ground, his face buried in the arms when he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. Shocked, he momentarily forgot about his pains and swiftly reached up to grip that unknown person's wrist. Face-to-face with the figure's delicate hazel eyes, he heaved a small sigh. "Oh. It's you."

"You can't listen to that demonic bitch. You know me, Jun. I'm not like that."

"I know, princess. It's just the most painful way my mind can think of to punish me. I just wish that it didn't have to be you."

She ran her hand past the back of his head comfortingly - a habit of hers. "And I really wish it didn't have to be that way," She placed her hands on his right shoulder. "Come on, lean against the wall," She told him, to which he obeyed. "Easy does it."

Jun managed to do so, not without some strain but he did it. "Shit, it burns..."

"Try not to think about the pain, sweetie," She replied in her usual mellow tone as she inspected the burn mark on his left collarbone. "I know it's hard not to but I know you. You're tough as nails! You can handle this; you'll be okay."

He turned his head to her, utterly amazed by her behavior, as well as loving the sleeveless white dress she continued to wear. He knew that the evil one wouldn't be back for a while now. "How is it that you're perfectly you even as a hallucination?"

To that, she gave him her signature grin. "You know how I am. I don't have a mean bone in my body. Only when it counts." Her hands slid down to the palm of his right hand, holding it. "I wish you would be more open to me about your demons, Jun."

They had had this conversation before in real life. "I don't mean to keep my own demons from you, I swear. You have a lot of your plate, and I know how much you care about me. I didn't want you to have to worry about me."

"But I'm your family," She drawled, wanting him to fully understand those words. "It's supposed to be my job to worry about you, even when you don't want me to."

"I know..." He lowered his head, a little ashamed to look at her disappointed features. "I guess I just prefer to carry my own baggage."

"It's just you and me right now, Jun. Won't you talk to me?"

"I'm such a sucker for you that I don't want to upset the hallucination of you."

"I swear to you, you won't upset me. What's on your mind?"

Where should I start? "Kat," He glanced up. "We always fought, sure, but... it's how we were," A smirk formed on his lips right then. "There was this one time she was teaching me how to hack the elevator's control panel and she intentionally locked me in that elevator for 2 hours," The reality of her death then came crashing down on him. "I saw the whole thing. It was Sally all over again. And good ol' Jorge. I'm never going to hear him tease me about you ever again. And I don't know what became of the rest of the team. Did they even make it to the Pillar of Autumn? Are they safe?" He let out a heavy sigh in an attempt to mask some potential tears. "And then there's you, princess. I want you to know how sorry I am for making you a big promise that is now impossible to keep. For making you believe in me. Now you're not going to know what really happened to me. I can only hope that you forgive me for it all."

"Sweetie..." Her expression clearly spoke volumes about how sorry she felt for him. "I need you to understand that this isn't real."

"I know this isn't real. I know I'm losing my mind," "But I'll take it."

Another compassionate smile and she leaned in to place a tender kiss on his forehead. "Hang in there," She then rested her head on his shoulder, feeling him wrap his arm around her. "It'll be alright. I'll keep you safe and sound. Just take my hand and we'll go anywhere you want. We can leave it all behind. I'll be the one you call 'hero'."

Location: Spartan Training Bay, Hydra Base
January 3rd, 2552
10:01am

"Jun, there is something I have wanted to question you on for a while now."

"Fire away. What's on your mind?"

The two of them had just thoroughly enjoyed observing Fireteam Castle engage in a friendly game of 3-on-3 Capture The Flag amongst each other. Once again, they had a friendly bet and Jun's choice of team lose. After mocking him for it, the AI's tone then turned a little serious.

"Lady Celestina." Death replied, shifting his focus from the bay below them to his Spartan.

"What, you don't approve of me seeing her?" Jun questioned with his smirk.

"You think you are hilarious, do you not?"

"I'd like to think I am."

"Lady Celestina is the most wonderful thing to have ever happened to you, Jun. I would never doubt her about anything."

"Then what's wrong, buddy?"

The brief silence immediately told Jun that Death was about to drop a disturbing bombshell on him. "I informed you that I inherited some of those painful memories, yes? Well... one of them depicts those days you... were in captivity."

He felt his throat compress at that. "... And?"

"And even though you have never breathed a word of it to me... I know of those hallucinations of Lady Celestina."

Well, the jig was up. Jun released an epic sigh in defeat. "Well shit."

"And my question is, Jun," Death continued one. "Now that you have reestablished contact with her... are you going to tell her about those hallucinations?"

"Hell no."

"Jun-"

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her, and you know I would never do anything that even remotely threatens to break her heart," He affirmed. "This will shatter her. She will be devastated to find out that all of my negativity comes together in her form. I hated to find out that I was in that position in her mind. Imagine what it'll do to her. I won't do it. And Death, please, she can't know of this."

As if Jun had to ask! "Now, you know I will never break your trust. It is just that... I assume that you did not reveal this to your therapist either."

"No, he doesn't know," He folded his arms across his chest at that. "Nobody did. Well as it turns out, you've always known though."

"Do you not want to get past it?"

"I am past it, buddy. It's all good!" Despite his AI being faceless, Jun could tell easily that Death was not fully convinced. "That hallucination only happened because I was in captivity and the weight of everything I've ever been through came crashing down on me. And I'll admit that I never put in any effort to my physical and mental rehabilitation at first, especially after hearing about the rest of Noble. It made the hallucination worse but... it dawned upon me that Celestina would be pissed at me for giving up like that. So when I started to fight? The demonic bitch went away and look at me! I'm so much more better now! I was great after I met you and now I feel fantastic after reuniting with Celest. So Death," He put his hand on his shoulder. "It's all good, buddy. Believe me when I say so."

"You are all I have," Death then declared in response. "I trust you if you tell me that you are alright."

"You can always trust me, buddy."

A/N: I realized that I should have included a chapter on Jun's own demons, since Celestina has her own. Hence, this chapter was born! x) I might consider expanding on it in the next chapter before going onto the last one! ^.^