Author's Note: So my spring semester starts today, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to get the next chapter up. It's been a long and wonderful winter break, but now it's back to studying and exams. :-( Anyway, I'll do my best to work on this story whenever I have free time, but expect updates to slow up again. Sorry. The good news, though, is that I've got this new chapter waiting for you, so I hope you enjoy it! As always, reviews are much appreciated and loved.

Chapter Thirty-Six: It's All in Your Head

0834 Hours, October 6, 2552. Near the Town of Lienz, Austria. "The Return," Planet Earth. Day Fifty-Seven of the Invasion of Earth

I could see my breath in the air as I hiked up the snowy slope ahead of my team. Having the bitter cold and biting wind sting my face may have seemed like a bad thing at first, but after wearing my helmet for so long---which had only circulated the rancid air of the Covie camp---I took it all in with relief. I was breathing in clean mountain air, and it was nothing at all like the nauseating smells my nose had been subjected to earlier. I counted myself more than lucky to have finally escaped that living hell.

With my helmet hooked conveniently to the top of my pack, I'd donned a black patrol beanie instead, to keep warm. Now though, as the sun came up and the wind began to die down, I realized that I probably didn't even need that much anymore. Still, I couldn't bring myself to take it off quite yet; I didn't want the sweat on my forehead to freeze.

Another few meters up the steep incline, I decided to call for a halt.

By now, we were getting so close to Bravo Company's position I could taste it, but this was what my Marines needed. We'd already been marching hard for three hours straight, to make up for the time we'd lost during the night because of the blizzard; the hike should've normally taken about a day, but had ended up taking nearly two since the weather hadn't cooperated. Especially after the prolonged fighting, I figured we could use the quick rest.

"Take five, Marines," I called aloud. "Make sure you keep your wits about you, but go ahead and have a break."

Luckily, Doc Reynolds had had two more doses of precious morphine left upon getting out of the objective area, so I'd managed to push myself hard even through the pain. That didn't stop my leg from throbbing like hell once I sat down on a protruding rock, though.

Damn, I sure hope this heals up soon, I thought sourly. I want to be a leader, not a liability.

Sighing, I glanced over at the rest of my team, noticing that Willis was still hovering near Reynolds; it seemed that my husband had suddenly turned into a PA, although he'd never even come close to studying medicine at the Academy.

But really, it was just the simple fact that it took two men to haul a badly wounded Marine up a mountain.

Thanks to a remarkable intervention at the eleventh hour, Lance Corporal Castillas had actually made it through the last day or so, with the hopes that he'd continue on this path. Doc's latest assessment, however, hadn't really indicated as much, and so I had the feeling that they were just trying to make things as comfortable for the dying lance corporal as possible.

Shit. I shut my eyes tight at that last thought. I couldn't stand losing another Marine. Another one of my men.

It was as I was about to get up to go visit Castillas that I heard something slip out of my pocket. I didn't think much of it at first---until I saw the object glinting in the morning sun.

Lieutenant Ackerson, Ethan James.

The frigid air suddenly caught in my throat when I bent to pick up his dogtags.

Funny. It almost felt exactly like the time Ethan had tried to choke me, all those years ago.

"Captain? Did you know Lieutenant Ackerson?"

I was shaken out of my lovely trip down memory lane by Lieutenant Commander Glorio's curious voice---and even more startled to find her standing right beside me.

Damn, no wonder she worked for ONI. Only spooks had the ability to be that friggin' stealthy.

"Huh?"

The Naval officer pointed to the set of bloody tags dangling from my hand. "That officer was on my Intelligence team, Cooper. How'd you end up with those?"

"I…I found his body, ma'am," I answered slowly. "In one of the far rooms, near where we encountered you." I shrugged, trying hard not to remember the way he'd looked as a Flood form. "Thought it was the right thing to do."

Glorio raised an eyebrow at me. "Is that so?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Then why didn't I see you do the same for the others? The ones we fought later on?"

I let out a controlled sigh, still feigning indifference. The last thing I wanted to do---right now or ever---was talk about Ethan, especially to a stranger. "You know what those last several minutes were like, Commander. There wasn't any time for niceties in that room."

The lieutenant commander didn't answer, but she didn't leave, either.

Exasperated, I curled my fingers into a fist around the dogtags, then shoved them quickly back into my pocket. I didn't want to lose them again. "Look, we went to the same high school together, ma'am. I met him when we were both seventeen, and now I'm twenty-five and I hadn't seen him since then. It was a pretty big shock to find…to find him like that." No matter how much he may have deserved it for what he did to me.

The ONI operative nodded as a faint, sad smile of understanding crossed her lips. "Ah, you never do forget your first love." Noticing the stunned expression that came upon my face at her words, she added, "It's ok, Cooper. I can tell by the way you talk about him."

"Yeah, well. That was a long time ago," I replied quietly. And besides, that's not the main reason why I remember Ethan, anyway. Gesturing to where Willis was, crouched next to Castillas and Reynolds, I said, "My real first, last, and only is that El-Tee right over there, Commander."

She seemed slightly amused. "When'd you meet him?"

"High school. Seventeen." I really hoped she thought the heat rushing to my cheeks was because of their exposure to the icy weather. "Got married when we were twenty." And I fell for him in part for defending me when I couldn't bring myself to do it alone. He beat the crap out of Ethan, because Ethan beat the crap out of me. "I gotta admit, this isn't exactly how we'd envisioned spending our life together, though."

Much to my surprise, Glorio actually chuckled at my response. "Yeah, I'll bet." She looked down at her sidearm, idly checking its load as she took in my much-abbreviated life story. "You probably don't have any kids yet, Cooper; you're still young. But I'm thirty-four, and I have a six-year-old daughter, Stacey. And even before I realized I wasn't in love with my now ex-husband anymore, I knew the day Stacey was born that she'd always be my first, last, and only priority." The lieutenant commander glanced up at me again. "That's my secret, Cooper. That's what kept me going, while I was holed up inside that place, watching my own men die and get turned into crazed monsters."

Although I could tell she was mentally in rough shape about it, I knew I had to ask about the story of the Covenant encampment. I needed to know if there ever really was a Prophet and, if so, whether we'd have to go back to find him or not.

"I actually do have a kid, ma'am, so I know all about that. My husband and I have a two-year-old son named Gabriel." I frowned as I glanced down at the shotgun in my hands. "But, if I may ask…what really happened in that place, Commander?"

She didn't answer for a long time, choosing instead to stare at the snow sparkling in the sun. Then, eventually, she looked up again and shrugged. "Serious case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time, Captain. Six of us were sent in about a week ago, to gather intel for Operation Everest. We were supposed to have updated reports ready for you just before your company arrived, then bug out when you showed up." The lieutenant commander snorted. "Place was designated Covenant only; I don't think that even they knew what was about to hit 'em. Anyway, a couple days into the op, they managed to capture us, and locked us in those rooms you saw. A few hours after that, those freak creatures suddenly swarmed in, took over everything and nearly everyone. And somehow, I ended up the only one of my team, and of all the alien bastards, to get out with my body intact."

I shuddered; I couldn't imagine having been trapped inside the Flood-infested camp for days, all by myself. Just those hours we'd spent in there had nearly done me in. "And the Prophet, ma'am?"

"Believe it or not, one of the first casualties," she replied. "Son of a bitch had four Brutes in its Honor Guard. All of 'em fought like crazy, too, but none of them stood a chance. There were just so damn many Flood…"

Glorio didn't go on, and she didn't need to. We'd all witnessed what was in the former Covie camp; the results of the skirmish spoke for themselves.

Something inside me fell in dejection then. So that was it? I'd risked the lives of a dozen Marines---and lost two, possibly three---to capture an enemy leader that hadn't even been alive anymore? But, I thought to myself, at least we were able to rescue Glorio. Without her, we wouldn't even know what had happened in there.

Staring absently at my wet combat boots, I asked slowly, "So now that the target's been neutralized, what are your orders, Commander?"

"We'll rendezvous with the rest of your company first, Cooper. I'm sure you and your men could use a few hours to eat, sleep, and rest. Then we contact Phillips. He'll want a sitrep, and he can tell us what he wants from there."

I felt beyond relieved when we finally reached the edge of Bravo's perimeter, though it was going to be tricky to make initial contact without getting shot at. Holding my shotgun in my lap as I crouched behind a boulder, I put a fist in the air to signal the rest of the team to halt behind me.

After pulling the beanie off my head, I replaced it with my helmet and opened a COM channel to First Lieutenant Lewis. "Dean, this is Cooper. Please respond."

There was a good minute or two of silence and static on the line. Worried, I was about to try hailing him again when the lieutenant finally answered. "Captain? Is that really you?"

"Yeah, Lewis," I replied with a creeping grin. "We're a few men short, but we made it back. Tell whoever you've got running patrol that we're coming up from the southeast, so don't shoot."

"Certainly, ma'am. I'll let Lieutenant Samson know right away." He paused, then let out a relieved sigh. "It's good to have you back, Captain."

"Good to be back, El-Tee." Images of torn and maimed bodies coming at me in the dark suddenly flashed before my eyes. For a moment, there was even the scent of blood, vomit, and Flood juice in the air again. I shook my head to clear it of the fresh memories and took a deep breath. "Real good."

When my infiltration team and I reunited with Bravo Company a short while later, I granted the Marines a few hours of rest; after all we'd been through in the past couple days, they definitely deserved it. But although I was just as mentally and physically exhausted---and still in plenty of pain from my leg wound---I knew I had to get some things done before I could indulge in the luxury of sleep.

I spent the next half-hour meeting with Lieutenant Lewis and Lieutenant Commander Glorio, discussing what had gone on in my absence, what we'd found at the camp, and what we'd do next. My XO explained that over the last forty-eight hours, the Flood had been harassing some of the patrol teams manning the perimeter, but nothing too serious had happened yet. The company was maintaining the lines well for now, and though ammo and food were beginning to run low, we weren't quite at the point of having to ration our resources. The main problem was going to be coordinating the eventual link up with Battalion, and then, finding a way out of Lienz. Since our base had been destroyed a week ago, overrun by the Flood-fleeing Covenant, the fate of the 102nd Battalion was officially up in the air. We'd probably end up having to fight both if we wanted to make it back to friendly forces.

Checking up on the severely wounded Lance Corporal Castillas came next. Doc Reynolds informed me that his condition hadn't changed much in the past hour; the young Marine was still hanging on by a thread, and there wasn't much left that the medic could do for him. It was a wait-and-see game for now, with little hope of a positive outcome.

It was only once I'd walked through the barren perimeter, spoken to the men, and made sure the patrols got rotated that I finally went to look for Willis. I was tired, hungry, and, despite the freezing temperatures, sweaty as hell, and all I wanted at the moment was to be near him when I fell asleep. The pain raging through my broken femur wasn't helping much, though…but at least it masked the dull throb of the bullet I'd nearly taken to the side of my gut.

Luckily my husband wasn't too hard to find, considering that, like me, he was one of the few Marines who'd opted to remove their helmets in favor of a black beanie. My own helmet had come off again during the meeting, so I had to squint to see Willis in the distance, but I could tell it was him. He was sitting with his legs sprawled out in front of him, back leaning against a dark brown, leafless tree, when I came up.

I tapped the sole of his combat boot with the toe of my own in greeting.

"Hey, Cooper. Where've you been?"

"Attending to my duties, even though my leg would like to murder me for it." I winced as I sat down, then eased my leg into a more comfortable position. "I keep hoping it'll get better, but without the morphine, it hasn't changed much so far. Doc says he'll give me a check-up within the next few days."

Throwing Willis a sideways glance, I realized for the first time what he was doing: using his combat knife to shave the short beard he'd grown since leaving Foxtrot Base. For some reason, the mundane action seemed out of place given our current situation.

"You know, I wouldn't have preached the regs to you for that. We're in the middle of a mission, so it's ok to bend the rules a little."

Willis chuckled. "Why? Did you like me better with a beard?"

"Didn't really notice it till now, to tell you the truth. A hell of a lot's happened, Will. And in a short amount of time, too."

"Yeah, I know, Coop." He slipped his knife back into its sheath on his hip, finished with his impromptu shave, then used some canteen water to rinse off his face. "But at least we're out of there now."

I closed my heavy eyelids and leaned my head back against the tree, remembering for a disturbing moment what the approaching Flood had sounded like. None of us had slept in days, and the exhaustion was overwhelming---yet I knew there would now be a price to pay in nightmares.

So, at least in that sense, had we really made it out?