012 Strangers

Kat sat down in the grass and lay back, exhausted.

"You all right, Noble Two?" Carter knelt down beside her and his helmet tilted slightly to the side.

Kat's hand pushed him away and she sat up. "I'm not the one you should be worried about." Kat glanced over her shoulder at Richard who was passed out. "He'll be fine really, just knocked out cold."

Carter took a seat next to his second in command. "That mission was a total mess." He reached up and removed his helmet, running a hand over his short hair.

"It wasn't that bad. We managed to kill all of our enemies and complete our objective with just the three of us." Kat lay back on the grass and looked up at the night sky above them. "Wish those cruisers would go away."

"They won't go away. Likely they'll glass this planet as soon as they are finished destroying us on the ground." Carter glanced over at Kat and lay down beside her, staring up at the sky. "You and I need to work together better."

"We will, we just have to know each other better. Give it a little time." Kat removed her helmet and set it to her side.

"Unfortunately, I don't think we really have the time." Carter turned his gaze toward the stars above. "So tell me about yourself."

"What exactly do you want to know, Boss?" Kat put her hands behind her head.

"Tell me anything you want to. Tell me about your family, your home, what you like and don't like. What do you hope for the future?" Carter shifted a bit to be more comfortable on the ground. His armor really wasn't built for lying on the ground.

"Well, I didn't have much family, only a mother and a father. I don't really remember much about them. The only thing I really remember about my home was the summer holiday. They always had a big festival in the warmer months and we went and had fun for all the years I can remember. I don't…I don't think I remember the name of the festival, or even the names of my parents." She frowned at this realization. "'As for likes and dislikes, I like technology, it is after all what I am best with. I don't like the Covenant, but that is a given. I don't like chauvinistic boys. I remember one that used to tease me back home, don't know his name or even what he teased me about, just remember him laughing at me."

"I'm sorry, Kat. I didn't mean to bring up unpleasant memories." Carter cursed his questions. The last thing he wanted to do was bring up memories that she would hate him for. He was trying to make friends not annoy her.

"I don't really think about it much, so it doesn't bother me. I used to hope for the future that I would get to kill all of the Covenant. Right after my hope was glassed, I remember being so mad at them and wanting them all to die. That changed though. Now, I just hope that humanity will survive. I don't want revenge for the death of my family, just to try to make a future at all." Kat looked over to Carter. "Now your turn. Trust is a two way street, after all."

"You're right." Carter sat up and hesitated for a moment. He reached to his belt and pulled out a small device, activating the holostill. He handed it over to Kat and she carefully sat up and took it. "That's my mother, father, and myself, before the glassing."

"They are lovely, your parents." She handed the image back to him and he stared down at it.

"Thanks. They were good people. I remember my home clearly. Biko was the perfect place to me back then. It was nice weather, long warm summers spent with friends and my family. I remember that the winter there was always hard but that we'd go out and have snowball wars. Hard to think now that things were so innocent." The two fell into silence for a moment before Noble One continued. "I like good soldiers at my back, ones that follow orders." A slight smile spread over his face and a smirk tugged at the edge of Kat's lips. "I dislike the Covenant as well. They took everything from me. My friends, my family, my childhood, all of it gone. I hate losing people that I care about. The closer they are to me the more that I hate it. When it was separated from my Alpha company team I wasn't happy. I thought they needed me, I was their leader. Though, really, they'll be fine. The Lieutenant Commander said that he was going to send them to be specially trained in duo team offensives. The two of them will be all right without me."

"You stating that or trying to convince yourself of it?" Kat raised an eyebrow and Carter looked away, knowing that he didn't want to answer the question. "What about your hope for the future?"

"I hope to destroy the Covenant. I remember how much it hurt when they killed my family. I want to make it so no other child has to go through that like I did." Carter put the holostill away and looked up at the Covenant cruisers.

"You know, I'm a bit jealous." These words brought Carter's attention back to the woman beside him. "I don't remember anything about my family. I don't even know if I had friends back home, just that I lived there. I'm a bit jealous that you do remember those things, that you had those bonds. I don't even think I really got along with my team during training. Ted never listened to my plans, just wrote them off. The one time he did, we almost won, but he said since we didn't then I had failed. Not my fault that she was just better than us."

"Well, for what it's worth, despite him," Carter motioned to Richard, "your plan back there was a good one. We would be in much worse condition without it."

"Thank you for listening to my plan, sir. All I really ask for is to be listened to every once in a while." Kat smiled at him and Carter grinned back.

"That's all I'm asking for as well. To be listened to at least part of the time." Kat laughed and Carter's smile softened. For the first time he really felt like he and Kat were getting along. For once he didn't feel like she was a stranger any more.