Sebastian's hand went to his lips as if hers were still on his. He never thought he would get that far in ever. On the bright side, he didn't feel like keeling over, so his migraine wasn't threatening to blind him. "Dove, did you see that?"

She appeared a moment later and was physically beaming, "Hmm, I don't know, if you are referring to if I saw a certain Spartan lip-locked with my Guardian? Then, no I didn't."

"Dove..." Sebastian said with a groan. "I honestly didn't believe that I would get this far with her. I know she knows how I feel about her, but… how do I respond to that?!"

"Well, you could just accept it. Be glad your feelings are returned. In most cases, about 72% of people who admit their feelings are usually not returned. So consider yourself lucky," Dove shrugged, as well as a Ghost could.

Sebastian huffed, "I know, which is why I am itching to get up and move. I've been sitting for far too long."

Dove floated in front of him, "We need to talk before you go anywhere," the playful tone now replaced with a serious tone. "It is about your arm. I still have a copy of you with it, even after all these years and before you say I lied to you about it; you never asked about if I ever kept it. The guilt from these past few years has caught up with me. I'm asking you once and for all, do you want your actual arm back?"

Sebastian looked shocked that she would bring it up, but the Void flared in his veins, causing the Void arm to reappear, albeit vaguely. Dove just rolled her eye and disappeared and then seconds later she came back.

With it being only seconds for Sebastian, it was actually a lot more time for Dove, she had guided the three sparks to co-exist with each other. It was interesting to finally feel the warmth of Solar, the rush of Arc, and the eerieness of the Void all at once. Her Guardian felt just a little bit more whole than before, compared to recent years. Once that was done, she appeared in the physical plane, "Alright, I just balanced the three sparks of Light inside you and the Void is tame, for now. Speaking of, how did you get it? I thought you never wanted it."

"You're correct. I didn't but it was the reason I escaped. It pushed me forward, and the Huragok guided me to an escape pod and sent me spiraling down to Reach." Sebastian got a far-off look into his eyes, "As for the copy of my arm, I'm not mad at you for keeping it. You were looking out for me, and I appreciate it, but I've gotten used to having a robot arm, it makes for a great party gag." Sebastian chuckled but Dove rolled her eye. "However, I would like an arm back, please."

Dove searched through her files and found three files with his robot arm. Dove selected one and transmatted it in his open hand. With some fumbling, he lined his other arm up with the dock of the robot arm. With a single nod to Dove, Sebastian put the arm up to his nub and he let out a tense breath. Soon after, he could move those fingers. A relieved sigh left Sebastian's mouth.

"To answer your other questions, I was on their ship, and I fell into a coma or a drug-induced sleep, or it might have been the Huragok," he looks at Dove, "One moment, let me finish. I was out and I was dreaming and I felt like someone was there with me in my mind. It wasn't you, but it felt like you. I had deduced it down to the Traveler, and that's because I saw the Long Night of Solace explosion again. I watched Jorge be evaporated like nothing. I had guessed it wanted me to suffer from my guilt but that was when I saw it-the shard-it just seemed to have… appeared. I watched as it spun out of the wreckage," Sebastian took a big breath. He still doesn't really believe it, but it happened. "Then it shot me with a beam and then all of a sudden, I had the Void."

"Okay, that explains that but how do you explain my metadata? Your ribs and body were healed multiple times, obviously not by me. So, what healed you? Was it these Huragok?" Dove questioned after he was done speaking. Sebastian laid back on the bed.

Another sigh, filled with tension, escaped the Hunter, "After they beat me senseless, multiple times, my ribs caved under pressure. There were five Sangheili, all of them female, who just beat on me for hours. They wanted to know where you were. I refused to tell them. One of them almost went to the extreme of cutting my other arm off. The smell of my burning flesh still lingers in my mind and I'm pretty sure that my blood coated the entire wall at one point." He looked to Dove, who was watching with serious intent. "I want to believe that I'll be fine, but I'm expecting nightmares, possibly daymares if it gets bad."

Dove had to push him, "You flinched when Faye grabbed your hand, want to explain that?"

"Isn't it a good thing I flinched when she touched me? If I didn't, I would be concerned. I mean, I'm not complaining about it with her actions, but with how I was handled, you can let that one slide. It's just something I hope fades away with time. It seems I can't catch a break with trauma. You think that trauma and I would be best buds?" Sebastian joked.

"Sebastian…" Dove warned. "Tell me more about these Huragok. You go on tangents too much."

"At least you can keep track of them," Sebastian said as Dove glared at him. "Right. The Huragok were these creatures that had a dark blue neon-like shell with jagged edges, and tentacles that glowed a fluorescent blue-violet. They chirped and warbled a lot and they also float. One even cuddled with me, and it provided me with a small level of comfort, which surprised me more than anything," Dove gave him a look to continue and he did. "When the Sangheili broke my ribs, the Huragok prodded my chest and I felt my ribs regrow beneath my skin. It felt odd, but it wasn't painful, I was actually terrified of what was happening. When they healed me, I would always get tired afterward. My first, and only guess, was that they kickstarted my healing process and in doing so made me go to sleep since it made my body work overtime."

Dove bristled over the information she just received, " So you felt it when they healed you, they float, they do these sounds," Dove then chirped and warbled, "and they cuddle, out of all things. Mind if I bounce a theory or two of my own off you?" Sebastian nodded, "What if these Huragok were first-generation Ghosts? Or a version of them at least?"

Sebastian's jaw would have hit the floor for the amount of speculation thrown into that sentence. Much to Dove's surprise, he nodded. "I had my own theory on that, but I scraped it. It just felt too easy to piece it together, and in my mind, if a puzzle is too easy for a Hunter, then we're most likely wrong and we hand it off to the Warlocks. However, I won't deny that one did 'snuggle' with me, similar to what you do, and I got a familiar sense of warmth. I didn't want to believe it, but I was too busy trying to escape a Sangheili Commander's flagship to worry about the Huragok."

"Given the obvious similarities, it brings me to my second theory: The Traveler has been in this universe before, meaning it can jump from universe to universe. Those Huragok were the Traveler's first attempt at making Ghosts."

"Elaborate," Sebastian demanded.

Dove deadpanned him, "Think about all the similarities you just listed, and compared it to me, as I did. Surely you can connect the dots. The Traveler has been busy."

Sebastian laid back for a moment before his eyes bulged, "Where's the shard?"

"We passed it on our way here, but if you want my estimate, about fifteen kilometers south from here. Let me guess, you want to see it?" Dove inquired to her ever-faithful Guardian. She settled right on his chest and felt it rise and fall. "I know you do, but I want you to stay and rest so I can watch over you." She vibrated on his chest, "I'm not ready to be separated again."

Sebastian's hand came over her and his fingers stroked her shell, "I refuse to be separated from you again, little bird. We should go see the rest of the team, I think they have a plan."

"Are you going to want to go now?" Dove asked.

"Mmm no," Sebastian whispered as his breathing became much more relaxed, and for the first time since this whole ordeal started, he was as content as he can be. He didn't realize his eyes had shut until sleep had laid claimed to him.


Faye had made it back to her room without too much difficulty. She wanted to get back into her armor as soon as possible to hide her flushing face. That kiss was something she never thought she would do in her life. Everything felt so right when she kissed him. It felt liberating. Liberating that she could finally express something she thought she would never have the chance to experience. War was all she knew, and that was until she met Sebastian. The wrench. An unwelcome wrench at first, but once she found out that he was actually caring, and dare she say charismatic.

Once she entered her room again, a smirking Kat greeted her, "So, what did you do?"

"Uhm, nothing," Faye averted her eyes and sat down on her bed, putting her crutch beside her, not really needing it, but it was something to stabilize her if she fell.

"Uh huh," Kat said in unveiled disbelief, giving Faye a look that meant 'spill'.

Knowing she can't really hide it from her, Faye relented, her voice a tiny whisper, "I kissed him."

Kat's face turned into shock at her sister before smiling wide, "Oh? And?"

Faye recoiled, "What? I just told you!"

"Details little sister, details," Kat said, much more interested in this conversation than whatever she was doing before. "You can't just say that and not tell me. I've been waiting for you to finally get some emotions and maybe much more." It is no secret that even as Spartans, they have ways to get what they want.

Faye has never indulged in this type of thing before. Pleasure. Every Spartan, the ones who made it out of basic, needed some sort of release. Sometimes, the stress of war isn't actual stress, just sexual frustrations, and those made for wonderful moments. Kat got lost in her own thoughts as Faye spoke, "Well, it went about as well as I expected. I think I put him in a sense of shock, but I will tell you this in confidence, I wouldn't mind doing it again."

Kat laughed boisterously, "Good, I'm glad. You'll learn to savor those moments, and if you're lucky, you can sneak them in when a perfect time arises."

Faye gave her a look, "It sounds like you have experiences that I'm unaware of, care to enlighten me?" Faye could have watched over and over again to see Kat's face go from tan to a deep crimson. "Oh, have I gotten the brainiac to blush, you deviant."

"This isn't about me, this is about you," Kat tried to steer the conversation back to her, but Faye wasn't having it.

"I'm still processing, and he probably is too. His message, he told me about his past and his harbored feelings for me," Faye dropped another bombshell on the Slavic Spartan.

"Were you right?" Kat immediately asked, thankfully not asking for the finer details.

"It wasn't pretty, but he does in fact, have a robot arm. Which he didn't have come the crash, so he managed to escape with only one arm?" As Faye was speaking she got more confused. "Hmm, I'll have to ask him that directly."

"Other than that, we have an opportunity to counter-attack. When you get the all-clear to come back, which should be soon, I'm going to need you to take down Covenant Jammers located in three buildings, once those are out, we can move on," the conversation went from casual to formal so fast and if Faye wasn't a Spartan, there would certainly be whiplash.

"Well then, when do we start?"


Sebastian felt calm and rested once he opened his eyes again. For a moment, he thought he was back in his own world, but once he saw the walls, he snapped out of it. Dove still rested on his chest, her optic blinking rapidly, meaning she was being a light sleeper. Sebastian didn't know how long he was out, but at least this time he wouldn't be getting a beating for waking up.

A low groan from him woke Dove, "Hey Seb, how do you feel?"

"Sorta tired and sorta well-rested," he answered, his voice thick with sleep.

"Well, I mean you slept for eight hours, twenty-four minutes and thirty-seven seconds. You normally get 45% less than that. Any more sleep and I would have called the medical team," Dove may have been joking, but she was extremely worried about him. He slept with no nightmares, but Dove knew they would appear, just when he thinks he's at peace. She doesn't want her Guardian to suffer any more than he already has.

"Hmm, is this what being a normal Guardian feels like?" Sebastian joked, as he usually does. Sebastian rubbed his eyes and looked to see his helmet looking back at him. With a sigh, he reached over and grabbed it, and underneath it, a piece of paper, yes paper, was left sitting there. Sebastian reached for the paper and opened it. All that was on the paper was Thank you, written in beautiful calligraphy. At the bottom of the note, it was signed F. Did she come in? Did Dove know? "Dove, did someone come in here while I was out?"

Dove froze, but soon chirped, "Mayyybeee."

Sebastian didn't question her further on that particular topic. His smile was genuine, and it actually reached his eyes. While his other smiles were genuine, they didn't have that same spark as this one did, Dove noticed. Oh, he is smitten with her. However, he was getting quite bored sitting now. He's done more laying down and sitting than he has done in the past seven years, or at least, it feels like it. Considering his circumstances, one couldn't blame him. So, with newfound determination, he stood up and felt all of his joints crack and readjust to moving. He slipped the note into one of the slots on his armor, knowing it'll be safe. Sebastian rolled his shoulders, feeling them pop and loosen up, even his robotic arm felt relaxed. He slid his helmet on and with some armor checking and other miscellaneous things done, Sebastian finally left the room he's been in, and immediately, everyone was scrambling.

A soldier came up to him, "Good, you're up, Noble Leader wants you in the Command room. Says it is imperative that you are present."

Sebastian nodded under his helmet, "Lead the way, the only thing I remember was passing out, so I didn't get the grand tour." Sebastian gestured to the soldier that was in front of him.

They chuckled nervously, "Of course, right this way." They began to lead him through more twists and turns and for a second his vision flashed to the Supercarrier. He dismissed the thought and continued moving with the soldier. Dove, meanwhile, noticed the seismic increase in his brainwave activity. The Ghost would be keeping a close eye on him and when he was alone again, she would ask. She knows that PTSD can and will come around, but not this quick. Then again, there were some minor details that she doesn't have, and that's alright. Most of the time, people don't immediately like recalling their trauma as it makes them feel worse than they already are, and Dove doesn't want that for him. Right now, his happiness is her priority, and that happiness just so happens to be a certain Spartan who was lip-locked with him just short of ten hours ago.

Dove continued to monitor Sebastian as she thought about herself, not selfishly either. Since the shard came in, she hasn't felt as alone as before. While having the Traveler is amazing, she missed interacting with her siblings. Maybe one day, there will be another Ghost, but for now, she's alone.

The Traveler must have sensed her concerning feelings, as did Sebastian because she felt two different sources of warmth. At least I have him still. She never wants to go through that again. It just brought on so much pain.

Sebastian kept an eye on Dove whilst also paying attention to the path that the Soldier laid out, "Just take your second right and the door should be at the end of the hall, take care, and give them hell." The soldier left but quickly rephrased, "The Covenant, not the Spartans."

Sebastian let out a chuckle that sounded like a huff, but his shoulders slightly shaking meant he was withholding a laugh that threatened to come out. He would have to tell them that when he got inside, if the mood called for it. Once he turned right, the door was already opened, and he could see Noble Team crowded around a holo table. Well, that's something he hasn't seen in a hot century. The Golden Age bypassed most of this technology. To be somewhat formal, his hand knocked on the door, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "Did you miss me?"

Emile chuckled while Jun chuckled a little bit louder. Kat took a glance at him and then did a double-take at his exposed arm. Normally he would have covered it, but considering they have probably seen him without it, it didn't matter at this point. "Well, Six, you weren't kidding."

At the mention of Faye's alias, he turned to see her leaning on a support pillar, but she wasn't looking at him. Her helmet was on, as was her armor, of course. Turning back to Carter, "So, anything did big happen while I slept for an actual normal amount of time?"

Carter spared a glance at Sebastian, "Besides the massive Covenant fleet holding their spot in high orbit, nothing major," he turned to face him, "Which gives us the perfect time to ask what happened to you after the explosion."

Sebastian tensed, he wasn't ready to talk about it again. He only told Dove because she's with him almost 24/7. "I knew I shouldn't have come in here, and you damn well know that I'm not too keen to talk about it. If you must know then you'll be happy to hear they were interested in only me. There wasn't one mention of you or any of you for that matter." Sebastian could feel his emotions rise and the Void responded in kind. His arm glowed a light purple, almost accenting his entire arm. Sebastian shook his head. His left arm then had a glowing blade protrude from under his wrist. "Well, that's actually new," he said inspecting it in awe. "I sorta feel like those Golden Age video games with this."

"When did you get that?" Much to Sebastian's surprise, it was Emile who asked.

Almost in a dream-like state, "When the Traveler visited me in my dreams, without the Void, I wouldn't have escaped. I would have died there, and I would have accepted it." Snapping out of his trance, "Speaking of, I need to go see the shard that impacted Reach."

Sebastian saw all of them glance at each other, already reading their body language, "If you don't let me go, then I'm leaving the base, and don't doubt me either."

"Why must you go to it?" Jun asked.

"I have questions that I need answers to, and this might be my only chance. From what I heard, and what I saw, it survived two small glassing beams," Sebastian reasoned.

Dove's disembodied voice projected through Sebastian, "Add on to the fact that no one had managed to get through it until Noble Six brought me there, says something. It is not advisable to keep my Guardian here. If you haven't already noticed, he's sat around enough."

"That's quite enough, Dove. You've made your point," Sebastian said taking over. "I could either find a way back home or find out how to pull some people from my world. Sure, you might think of that notion as selfish, but if you want to think about it, I don't belong here, in this universe."

No one objected to his claim, but Faye almost said something, should've said something, but she didn't. Sebastian felt just a pang of hurt that she didn't speak up, but he stuffed the feeling away because he knew she didn't project her emotions normally. The silence was tense, and when he deemed it enough, he turned and left, without another word. Sebastian had Dove get his weapons, which thankfully, were not lost. It was a comforting feeling to hold his weapons again. He never thought cold metal would be this comforting, and he won't take them for granted ever again.

He can already feel himself cutting them off, and while he should just leave them, he can't. What he wanted to say was Even if I left, I wouldn't be whole. That's true, she's stolen his heart and he doesn't want it back. He was almost back at where his room was until a hand grasped his wrist. "Where are you going?"

He turned to see her visor staring back into his, "Where does it look like I'm going?"

"You're going somewhere, without us, without me," she emphasized.

"Well, you didn't say anything in there when I said I didn't belong, so yes, I was going somewhere, without you, as you are needed here," he said with much more annoyance than he wanted.

Faye didn't like that, so she looked around, making sure no one else was around and pushed him into the room before shutting the door.

Sebastian recovered quickly, "What the hell? Do you honestly think you'll keep me here?"

"I'm trying to make you see reason before you get yourself killed, and if you can't see that, then I will make you stay here. You can't run off again. It was bad enough the first time," her voice started loud and went down to a mere whisper.

Sebastian sighed, "I need to see that shard because if it comes down to it, I'll defend it first. There are multiple different species in my world that would rather see it destroyed, and if anyone tries to harvest it for their own purposes, then I will lash out. The UNSC will try to harvest the Traveler's energy and your ONI will also attempt it, and that will not fly with me. I have an innate part of me that needs to see the Traveler alive because, without it, I wouldn't be standing before you. I wouldn't have been able to tell you how far I've fallen."

Faye couldn't deny his claim about ONI. If it is something that can benefit them, they will use any means necessary to achieve it. At his last words, she raised her eyebrows, "Fallen?"

Sebastian stepped closer to her, his helmet clinked against hers, "How I've fallen for you." He slacked slightly against her and the pain in his heart lifted slightly. He wasn't going to say those words right away, not now. It wasn't the right time, but if he said them now, what could happen? The potential repercussions were deemed too great for him. But isn't that the point of relationships? To be with the other person through it all?

"You don't know how far I've fallen as well," she replied. One arm wrapped around his waist while the other was against the door for stability.

Sebastian let out a breathy laugh, "So, it got you too?" The 'it' being their respective feelings; Dove would call it a 'lovebug'. Sebastian wrapped an arm around her waist, and even through the armor, it was getting warm in the room. The temperature started to feel like Mercury's surface, and Sebastian relished in it. So this must be the tension, Sebastian thought obviously. "What are you doing to me?" he asked himself but Faye heard him.

"The better question is what are you doing to me?" She whispered back, breathless. The need to just feel him was high and Faye didn't know what to do.

Sebastian didn't care and with one hand, he gently lifted her helmet off, and she did the same to him. Sebastian made sure that she had the 'permissions' to take his helmet off, just so the moment didn't end. Their helmets dropped and clinked against the floor, hopefully, no damage comes to them. For a moment, nothing else mattered. Sebastian had Faye and Faye had Sebastian. They weren't just Guardian and Spartan; no. At the moment, they were a man and a woman who have fallen in love with each other but haven't admitted it, at least not verbally. Their body language has done that for them.

Sebastian stroked her cheek while gazing into her murky brown eyes that he would no doubt drown in one day. Faye cupped his cheek and stared into those defiant cobalt irises. "May I?" Sebastian asked, his voice hoarse with pent up desire. Lust is a powerful thing, but I know this is more than lust.

"May you what?" Faye asked, genuinely curious at what he was asking. She's a little oblivious, but maybe this will help. Sebastian leaned in and claimed her lips with his and Sebastian thought an adrenaline rush was great, but that takes a back seat compared to this. That fuzzy feeling he got in his head, his chest, his other head. He never felt more complete.

Faye's eyes widened slightly, but she eventually closed her eyes and accepted it and she let him lead the kiss. He was going slow, almost agonizingly slow, but it was blissful torture. She finally gets to feel something and it was most definitely better than nothing. Sebastian was so happy that he could have cried, but he held his tears back. On the other hand, he had to restrain himself from laughing because Dove was preaching that her 'ship had set sail'.

The only unfortunate part about the kiss was that they had to breathe at some point. Sebastian pulled back first, his eyes darting everywhere around her face, his inner self wondering if he pushed just a bit too far. Faye, however, smiled and gave him a quick peck in response, "You don't know how long I've been without any affection like this. The closest thing to this was on the battlefield," Faye felt light-headed, from the kiss, and just clutched to Sebastian to maintain her equilibrium.

"Well… if an opportunity ever arose, I could show you. However, I will respect your decision either way," He said, relieved that she didn't flip out on him. He realized that he was holding her as close as possible and he was thankful that he wasn't flush against her. She would most certainly feel that.

Faye leaned off the door and she felt that she couldn't stop her eyes from widening. Faye's thoughts ran rampant for a few seconds before Sebastian cleared his throat, leaning down and picking up their helmets. He handed Faye hers and he slipped his helmet on to hide his extremely flushed cheeks. "I'm still going to the shard, you are welcome to come with me, but do not expect me to bail you out if we caught."

Faye looked up from her helmet to see his helmet back on and that serious tone. It didn't help that she shivered slightly from his tone. Has it always been like that? "Who said anything about being caught? We have about another eight hours before our counter attack on New Alexandria."

With that being said, the two snuck out of the base with relative ease. That and Dove was extremely helpful in the process. She was constantly 'fangirling' over them. She wanted to know how it made him feel. Dove already knew to the answer to that, if it wasn't already obvious.


Once outside the base, both of them were left to their own thoughts. Sebastian's were half on the Traveler and Dove, while the other half were on the woman next to him. Getting one kiss from her was awesome, but two? On the same day? That's just nuts. Sebastian wore a grin under the helmet but kept his guard up. For all he knows, the Sangheili could be watching him, and they most likely are.

Faye was completely lost in her thoughts, her footsteps in line with his. No one knew that they left the base, and they would soon find out, but this shouldn't take long. They needed to see the shard, but that means they would have to be in and out. They couldn't linger. Sebastian's voice took her out of her thoughts, "Dove, how close?"

"Approximately two kilometers, Guardian," Dove's voice whispered between the two of them. Two kilometers? Faye must have really blanked out if they've walked that far, the good thing was she did have her weapons, just in case someone ambushed them. Sebastian was constantly surveying the area, and once they marched over a hill, he saw it and he did not like the site.

Covenant have swarmed over the site, and it looked like most if not all, UNSC personnel were dead. "Well, this just complicated," Faye observed. "I had expected the UNSC to be here. We didn't hear any distress calls."

"They probably jammed their comms and came in swiftly," Sebastian's voice was no longer gentle. It was filled with malice. Faye didn't understand why right away. She followed his line of sight, as best she could, and she saw a high ranking Elite. Sebastian was gritting his teeth as he knew who it was. Why the hell is he here? Sebastian's Light wanted to burst out of his body and kill every last one of them for what they did. Not only to himself but to those who did nothing to them.

Thel 'Vadamee stood there at the edge of the crater with Zesa and Boxa. Khaso, Roea, and Shoya were surveying the area that the shard lay. His Honor Guards were also with him, also keeping watch to make sure their Supreme Commander was secure.

Faye laid a hand on his shoulder, "They are the ones responsible aren't they?" She didn't need to elaborate to know he was vibrating in anger. He was starting to feel warm again, and not that kind of warm. This was a wave of boiling anger, and every bit of him wanted to go down there and slaughter and savor the kills. The only thing keeping him there was Faye. "You need to sneak in there, not rush in there, understand? I will back you up, but do not get captured."

Sebastian growled, "They won't get me twice. They only got me because of severe injury." His voice calmed down, but his body was still tense, "It just angers me that they are attempting to get to the Traveler. Faye, if something goes wrong, call for backup. Do what you have to and I will too." He could already sense her rebuttal, and it's ironic, at least to him. He was in her shoes at one point and it seems to have come full circle, "Notice I'm not asking you to run. You do what you have to, please?" His tone went soft for her, showing his vulnerability.

The female Spartan laid there next to him, surprised, but eventually responded with, "If they try anything, they have not only you to deal with, they have me as well."

He leaned over to her and lightly clinked his helmet against hers. Sebastian could count it as a 'kiss' but it doesn't feel official because he's gotten the real thing.

Sebastian let his Light flow, with Dove's silent assistance, and he went invisible. What Faye couldn't see was his blue eyes flashing under the helmet.

The Hunter made it to the outside edge of the Covenant perimeter, where only a few Grunts were stationed. The Covenant obviously didn't expect that he would come back here. This could also be a trap. Thel was smart and Sebastian knows not to underestimate him. Dove took a scan of the area and found over five full squads one shy of a full platoon of soldiers. There didn't seem to be any Covenant Hunters in the mix though.

Sebastian continued to stealthily sneak past them. What he didn't expect was a Huragok floating close by. Dove was easily fascinated by their design. She could also see and feel the technology within them. They are similar, and I guess that confirms it, the Traveler has been in this universe before. The Huragok chirped inquisitively as it attempted to reach out to find this unfamiliar technology. Dove quickly put up her advanced firewalls. She wasn't going to having that, not one bit.

While it was distracted, Sebastian concentrated on staying invisible, because being invisible for a long period of time shouldn't be possible, but Sebastian was making it work, somehow. Sebastian had made it to the middle of the area, just across from Vadamee. Sebastian uncloaked and held his hand up to the barrier. Thankfully, no one had spotted him yet, which was astounding considering he was across from his captors. The barrier parted for him and took his opportunity to step inside. The moment Sebastian, and Dove, stepped inside the shard began to glow, even Dove noticed the change from her dimension. The Traveler pushed a feeling of relief towards the two of them, and as a result, Sebastian's shoulders sagged. "So it's not a dream. For a moment, I really thought this was a figment of my imagination."

A snarl was heard from behind him, in front of him, next to him. The sound reverberated around the barrier and pierced his ears, like a faint whisper-shout. He didn't wince, but once he made eye contact with Thel, he sucked in a breath.

Thel was merely amused at the fact that he came. Whether or not he came because he was here, he didn't know, nor did he care. "So, we meet again, 'Seb.'"

Funnily enough, he heard the words clearly. "Commander," he replied respectfully.

Dove made the executive decision to appear and Thel's eyes centered on Dove, "So this is your construct. A tiny, delicate thing, is it not?" Thel began to pace, and the rest of the Covenant surrounded the barrier. Some remained on the outer edges of the area.

"She has a name, Thel. Can I call you Thel?" Sebastian genuinely asked. All he got back was a snarl. "Okay, guess not. You're here because?"

"You intrigue me, and when we saw you puny humans crowding around this place, I decided that it was deemed important to you. I'm glad to have found out I was right," Thel said staring right at his eyes, acting like the helmet wasn't even there.

That was when Sebastian noticed that all the females were around Thel, and even though they couldn't get to him, he flinched and stepped back towards the shard. He chose to ignore the laughing from the Elites. Dove immediately rested against his chest, sending comfort to him. Sebastian let out a small sigh of relief before circling the shard and slowly reached his hand out.

Faye was watching through the scope of her DMR and she wanted to go down there and help. What she did do, however, was giving a signal back to the UNSC base, the old fashioned way. Before she left, she wrote a note. A note saying where their coordinates are and if they aren't back within two hours, they've run into trouble. No doubt that the rest of the team is furious that they left. She saw him flinch backward and that made her blood boil. She flicked her zoom over to the Elites and noticed the similarly colored armor. These were the females, I bet. Faye quickly put her DMR on her back and pulled out her knives. She needed to get him out of there.

With the utmost ease, she sliced through the Grunts and silenced the Jackal skirmishers before they noticed. She did, however, leave the Huragok alive, as it actually didn't see her as hostile. It actually seemed glad to see her, even though it was close to pitch black. Hopefully, the Elites would be too focused on Sebastian and not her. Faye continued to sneak around, making sure to count the Elites, because she knew one of them was a Stealth Elite, and if she lost track of her, it could end up being a bad time. Every chance she could, she took a count. While she was taking a count, her blood ran ice cold. One of them was missing.

Her grip on her knives tightened. She didn't like this, and her head was now a swivel. She constantly checked behind her, in front of her, to the left and right of her, even above her. Where are they?

A faint shimmer caught her eye, it was moving. Shit. Faye continued to look around and she dodged out of instinct, and it was a good thing she did. An Energy Sword was lodged where Faye just was seconds prior. The shimmer became the Stealth Elite. Her grips on her knives loosened enough to still hold them firm, but it would allow her to do some knife tricks. The Sangheili rushed and Faye countered with a slide slash. The attack scraped off the armor, and Faye remained unharmed.

If they didn't know she was here before, then they definitely know she's here now. The Sangheili took advantage of her small lapse in attention and attempted to slash. All it did was graze her armor and just barely knick her shoulder. I'm getting rusty. Faye had already gathered that this one was more of a blades person, preferred her left side, compared to the right. Faye was also keeping track of other potential combatants. What she didn't expect was her assailant to lunge at her and knock the Spartan back. With the tumble, Faye recovered into a roll. When she stood up, she was almost immediately shot in the shoulder with a needle. Sniper. It threw her off balance just enough for the first Sangheili to send her across the area, landing just mere feet from the shield.

She expected the hit, but she didn't expect the wind to get knocked out of her. Her hand went to her abdomen and it felt sticky. Oh no. Then, she felt it. A glowing blue blade under her throat. If she moved, that would be a nasty scar, or quite possibly a beheading. "So you are with him? We thought he came alone." I knew there was another one. A hand wrenched her arm behind her back, while another hand wrapped around her throat. Faye made her armor lock her arm, so they couldn't snap it out of its socket. Her free hand, coated in her blood, latched onto the Sangheili's wrist. "Luckily for you, Demon, the Commander wants to see anyone we capture. A shame really, Boxa and I would have some fun with you first," the Elite didn't know whether to be intrigued or concerned, but she had other urgent matters to attend to.

The grip on her throat tightened and at that point, she was gasping for breath, her blood was beginning to coat the front of her armor and the ground. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her gripped slacked. She was at their mercy, and hopefully, that backup arrives sooner rather than later. Her last thought before going under was about him and hoping he wouldn't do anything stupid.

Sebastian snapped out of whatever trance he was in and when he saw Faye bloody, and at their mercy. It was like someone flicked a switch inside him, and then everything became much brighter.

...

Real Talk: I actually had a lot of trouble naming the chapter. I name them because I want my stories to have a small uniqueness to them.

Naming them means I've finished the plot point I wanted to cover and I can progress to the next one. They normally just mean a small summarization of what is going to happen. Think of it as a thumbnail on a YouTube video or something.

I also didn't want to leave out Characters, as I have a small tendency to do that. I introduce them, get their plot out of the way and then never use them again. This time is different.

PS: Sorry for the later update. I started playing Assassin's Creed Odyessy, I got addicted. That and Division 2 (it was only $3, so why tf not amirite?)

Hope you all enjoy! Try not to hate me too much!