I see you came back for more, you horny savages. Today your prayers will be answered, the time has come. Today, more than ever, if you're not at least 18 years old you SHOULD GTFO. To the rest of the crew, enjoy the rewards to your infinite patience! SPICE AND NAUGHTY. See you at the end!

TAKE ME WHEN YOU NEED ME

PART XXIII

They didn't look at each other in those first minutes, not once.

Catherine Halsey knew well why, and one thing was clear: it was over, whether those two liked it or not. The room was so bare that she didn't have a place to sit -the only chair present was beside Elizabeth-, so Halsey decided to stay near the door and gift her daughter with an ice-cold stare. At least they were apart, now.

John was sitting, propped on the side of the bed, back straight, feet well planted on the floor and hands clasped on his lap, eyes up front. Elizabeth was a few feet away and ahead, near the foot of the bed, facing her. Almost like she was shielding him.

Halsey inhaled deeply, shaking her head. Where to begin? She was furious with both.

More so with Elizabeth, because no doubt she was the instigator…

Having a baby with him by traditional means was her idea, after all. So, no, it wasn't just her: it takes two for sex and John had been on the other end, by his own will. Judging by the defiant expression on Elizabeth's pursed lips and serious face, it would be worthless to talk to her now; Reach would be a better scenario. Halsey crossed her arms, so elegant in her measured movements.

The good Doctor directed the first round of the assault to John:

"You exceeded your mission parameters, Spartan." she started, grim. As she expected, he didn't respond, didn't even flinch. But Elizabeth blinked fast, her mouth open in a gasp, maybe considering a reply that thankfully she didn't voice. "I'm disappointed in you. Both of you. I told you before to say your goodbyes, and now I walk on you acting like animals. This is disgusting."

"Mother…"

Halsey ignored her and continued: "The extent of your mission, if I'm correct, was to make my daughter pregnant, right? It's what she requested of you. Fine, I suppose it's not a bad deal, all things considered… but this?" she waved her hands, gracefully, like signaling everything that had transpired in the previous minutes. "This is simply wrong. It's a breach of protocol of the highest order. I expected better judgement of you, John."

The daughter turned slightly back, uneasy, to look at him.

Those were not random words, no. It was all carefully tailored, as usual.

John felt every sentence hit him hard, like a sledgehammer. Troubled, he tilted his head down a little, now looking at the pristine rubber floor of the room. Elizabeth didn't miss the way he chewed on his lower lip, much like a scolded child. It was such an odd contrast with the man that merely a few minutes before was about to fuck her brains out.

Even in her shock, she felt bad for him, guilty. Worse than ever.

Elizabeth whirled around, frowning, to face her mother. "Abusing your authority, now? This is the lowest thing I've seen you do, mother."

"You've done enough damage as it is!" the Doctor raised her voice, managing not to lose her composure completely. "Can you even understand the procedures I'll have to apply to stabilize him again, after this?"

"I can't fucking believe you..." the daughter hissed, angry.

Her scornful reply only made Halsey furious, this time she snapped:

"Don't you see it? Your schoolgirl crush is endangering all of Humanity! You selfish, spoiled, stupid...!"

"Don't." a grave, masculine voice interrupted, suddenly.

Halsey stopped mid-sentence. It took the two women a moment to process that word; John's voice sounded low, barely a growl. Rabid, unhinged. His face remained emotionless, but Elizabeth found his steel-blue eyes: she could see the struggle inside him. To bite the hand of the woman who made him, even if he didn't raise his voice, was taking every bit of mental energy he had.

"Don't call her stupid." John continued, now staring straight ahead.

But he wasn't trembling anymore.

Mouth hanging open for a few seconds, Halsey just looked at him, stunned.

"You talked back to me…" the good Doctor muttered, took half a step back. She turned to shoot a reproachful look to her daughter. "Do you see it, now? Do you see what you've done? Your father's conditioning, his life's work, ruined!"

Elizabeth was as shocked as her mother, for very different reasons.

Her first response was to snort, encouraged by John's sudden reaction:

"Unbelievable, mother." she stated, shaking her head. "You're angry because he fought back when you deliberately picked on him? This is rich. Well, I'm sorry to ruin things, but it's about time any of them stood up to your abuse."

She shifted her position a few steps to stand before John, protectively.

And then, with tender courage, Elizabeth grabbed his massive hand, interlocking their fingers together over the bloodied bandage on his thigh. John didn't look at her, and yet he squeezed her hand a little. It made her feel even stronger.

"No, you don't understand." Halsey protested, cautious. "Efficiency is everything, it's the core of their whole system! My Spartans succeeded where everyone else failed because they're flawless!"

"Yes; so flawless that, whenever you get tired of their antics, you perform abortions on them and drug them to keep them tame?" Elizabeth spat back, feeling hot tears in her eyes. "Isn't that what you did to Alice-one-three-zero? You didn't help her, you mutilated her... I… I can't believe we're related."

Elizabeth didn't mind that John was listening; more so: she wanted him to hear this.

Halsey scoffed, her face was pale as a sheet of paper.

"What are you talking about?" the Doctor started, stuttering. "Alice-one-three-zero?"

"Are you going to deny what you did?"

"What do you think I did to her?"

"You know well. And in the unlikely case that you don't, then ask your buddies at ONI what happened." Elizabeth felt John's strong grip on her hand tighten, she answered in kind to reassure him that it was okay. "Oh, mother. You don't care about your Spartans, you just want them working in perfect order. You know them all down to the tiniest detail, you tear them apart and put them back together just like any other piece of military hardware. Pretty little machines."

Halsey shook her head again, blushing hard, half confused and half angry.

It wasn't coming out the way she had intended it, unfortunately, but she still could…

"You're one to talk yourself, Elizabeth." the mother fixed her condescending look on John, still the easier target. "Do you really think my daughter cares about you, John? You're not the first man she tried to have a child with. It was only after Commander Locke's failure that she went window shopping over my SPARTAN-IIs. And she picked you just like one would pick fruit from a stand."

The mere mention of Jameson Locke made the Master Chief tilt his head up, glancing at the woman he craved with the corner of his eye. Oh, he knew about that. Elizabeth still faced the good Doctor, her slender fingers were caught in his. So fragile and precious.

John withdrew his hand to reign in his emotions without distractions.

"I'm aware." he answered, calmly. "But she carries my child, not his. She picked well."

On her side, Elizabeth sighed in relief. His sudden retreat hurt, but she still rejoiced on the fact that John didn't seem to regret what happened between them, just as he had told her earlier that day.

Her fingers cooled down way too fast, she felt so angry, so…

"You're not going to stop, are you, mother?" Elizabeth whispered again, teeth clenched. This time, she did turn halfway towards him: "John, look at me, please."

It took an astonishingly long moment, but he complied.

He even turned his head, managing to break away the strict discipline he held until that mere second. No more lies, no more broken hearts, right?

So, Elizabeth started again:

"Commander Locke not only suggested me to get an abortion. He also let it slip that he could be the father of the next baby I decided to have, because it would be less of a hassle for me. I wonder how he reached that conclusion, you know?" she took his hand back into hers, confident. The way his nostrils flared told her everything she had to know about how John was feeling. "You were right there, between us, half-frozen. Needless to say, I kicked him out of the room; I don't want to see him ever again."

"Elizabeth, what good do you think this will do, now?" the mother complained.

Terrible timing on Halsey's part. The daughter turned back:

"Did you send Jameson to try and convince me to kill my baby?" Elizabeth spat, dryly.

An eerie silence fell on the room, leaving only the agitated pulse of accelerated hearts for the Spartan to sense. He smelled fear, surprise, irritation, the sweet scent of the woman that carried his baby inside her, her arousal and will to fight; there was also the familiar essence of the woman he'd respected and honored for so many years, always regarding her as a God-like figure.

And his own rage, burning in the darkest corner of his soul. Visceral, untamed.

A formless pit opened in the good Doctor's stomach, both upon hearing the accusation and getting a slow, chilling look from the Spartan.

She didn't react like she'd been caught. On the contrary, Halsey was outraged:

"I don't want you to get rid of your baby! Elizabeth, I don't care what you do with your womb!" the elder woman fought back, fierce. The pulse of a headache started to mine away her patience; the situation was absurd, embarrassing. "All you have to do, is stick to your plan and leave my Spartans be! I need them sharp, in their prime!"

Elizabeth exhaled a little sigh between clenched teeth.

Well, it was comforting to hear it, somehow. She knew Jameson had acted on his own motivations, but it wasn't an exaggeration to make sure. She noticed how John shifted his stance, behind her; it seemed like the little rouse had caught his attention. If she wanted to set him free from her mother's influence, even if it was just a little…

She had to lay it thick. It was nasty, but it was the right thing.

"She's lying." Elizabeth said, holding his hand tighter, making her statement as obvious as possible. "She's been lying, to you and your siblings, for your whole lives. She tried to kill our baby, John."

The pit in Halsey's stomach widened a thousand miles when she understood what kind of trap her daughter was setting. Who was picking her words carefully, now? Well, it was her own fault. She made the severe mistake of telling Elizabeth about John's best feature and deepest flaw: his sense of duty, his protective instincts. She had told her daughter that he'd feel responsible for her and the baby, that he'd get attached. Elizabeth was using that in her favor, manipulating John's emotions.

Damn that clever girl…

By accident, Halsey looked into the Master Chief's eyes again. There was murderous rage in that clear steel-blue. She'd never seen him this angry, it wasn't difficult to identify the emotion in the tension that ran through his shoulders. His jaw was trembling again, for a different reason than it did before.

He stood up slowly, resting little weight on his recently fixed leg.

Halsey almost freaked out. What was he doing? The surgery he'd been submitted to was much more delicate than all the other procedures, the correct healing of his limb would take time and proper physical training… he shouldn't even have been able to stand up on his own, and yet there he was: beyond expectations, as usual. In deep pain: it transpired off his strained, chiseled features, in the way his bandaged leg trembled, in the dark flowers of blood growing in a line across the front of his thigh. He must've pulled some of his stitches off, even the organic glue.

Both pride and a form of fear tangled up in the good Doctor's stomach.

Until she understood what he was doing: John executed two long, staggering steps just to stand behind Elizabeth and sneak a hand forward, covering her developing belly in a protective gesture.

He towered over her, in his shade Elizabeth stood powerful and reckless.

He would be the shield, she was already as sharp as the sword.

"John." the mother started, one step away from panicking. "That's not true. What can I possibly get out of doing something so vile?"

"Keep everything under your control, of course." the daughter denounced.

"You… this is wrong. Whatever you're trying to do here, Elizabeth, it's wrong."

Elizabeth pursed her lips, trying to hold herself together; the heat of John's hand on her stomach injected into her the strength she lacked. She was aware that it was wrong, she was manipulating him, but it had to be done this way. It would be the last time.

Maybe after this, everything would be easier…

"John, stand down." Halsey ordered him, calmly.

He wasn't listening to her anymore.

"Leave." the Master Chief said, holding his hand tighter around his mate's belly. "Or I will make you leave."

He would bleed everything for that baby, she understood. He didn't care about himself. Well, Robert had drilled that damned selflessness deep into them with years upon years of hard training, it was useless to regret it now. A sudden drop of blood pressure made the Doctor a little dizzy, her heart stressed by fear was galloping inside her chest. She stepped back at last, shaking her head, trying to find the door without looking. Never turn your back on a predator looking for blood.

She never thought she'd feel so helpless; her Spartans were supposed to be safe.

He was supposed to be her finest creation!

"You're not leaving me a choice, Elizabeth. I'm sorry." the mother said, composed.

Inside her head she was howling, losing her mind. It was a disaster. Nervously, Doctor Halsey flashed her wristband on the door control to get out of the room as fast as she could, before an even bitter turn of events.

x.x.x.x.x

Cortana stood still, showing him her back, for a moment longer.

Until her shoulders slumped and she exhaled a deep sigh, halfway between relief and deeper worry. What a clusterfuck. She had kept in mind the variables she couldn't control, but this had almost slipped her grasp completely, leaving her bare and exposed. If it wasn't for that set of cards up her sleeve…

"What happened to Alice?" was the first thing John asked, cautiously.

Hugging herself, she turned to look at him.

"I…" Cortana started, doubting. She was considering what to say and how, but nothing was more relevant than the truth as she heard it from Cutter's lips. "I was told that, at some point, she was pregnant… and it looks like ONI scrapped it all. I don't know how long ago or how everything played out exactly, but I don't think it's a lie."

He made his fists into tight balls, heavy as sledgehammers resting on his thighs.

"That won't happen to your baby, John. I won't let them." she swore, remembering the rest of Cutter's words. "But I'm worried about you. They can punish you for this."

"I can take it."

She shook her head and went to him, at last, to rest her open palms atop his fists.

"You don't have to. It doesn't have to be like that, you see?" Cortana whimpered.

Big drops of blood already stained the rubber floor. John wrapped his arms around her -closing his huge hands at the small of her back- and pulled her close until their foreheads connected again. She let out a long sigh, now resting her trembling palms on his bare chest. They closed their eyes, trusting completely into one another. Time seemed to slow down, or maybe it was just his warped perception of the world whenever that woman was within his reach. No matter what it was, John focused on offering relief in the only way he knew.

He couldn't reject her touch. Anyone else would've made him uneasy, but she…

Cortana tilted her head back and their lips brushed, ever so softly.

"I need to think." she uttered the words between lazy kisses, tracing the line of his jaw and cheekbones, finding his faint freckles. "It can't end like this."

"It won't."

"You speak like you could make anything happen." she smiled, kissed the corner of his mouth. "But it's me who's got to figure this out."

He growled and reluctantly let her go. They looked at each other one more time, saying everything else with a longing stare.

"I'll come back when I have a solution, I promise." she nodded.

Cortana hurried to exit the room, almost tripping with Anders' worried face on her way out of the corridor. The Asian woman carried a surgical kit on her hands, to assist John with his new injuries. Most likely, Halsey had ordered her to come.

Anders' expression wasn't exactly thrilled. Did she know?

Cortana just tilted her head in a greeting and flew past her.

x.x.x.x.x

After another hot shower and a meal, things looked a little less grim.

Overwhelmed by a thousand conflicting emotions, Cortana sat alone at the huge atrium above the Spirit of Fire's bridge. She distracted herself observing the distant space station, the ships orbiting around it and the vast expansion of the stars. It was long past night-cycle bells, the middle of dead shift. She didn't recognize any of the constellations, the colorful nebulae or the small planets in sight. She had no idea how far away from Reach they really were but also didn't want to take her pad out of the jacket to ask Serina about it.

Her options were running out, it was asphyxiating to be so aware.

Cortana hadn't heard from her mother in the past six hours, but she was certain that the good Doctor wasn't idle.

'Come on, Elizabeth, you should still have something up your sleeve!' the voice said.

'All I have in my sleeve is my heart, right now.' she thought, sad.

'Well, forget it; that thing won't help you. It got you in this trouble to begin with.'

She sighed and hugged her legs, resting her chin atop her knees.

The schedule was clear: she had until the first hour of night-cycle to do something. But what, exactly? She was the second smartest woman in the galaxy, and it shocked her to realize that her mind was blank. Cortana hadn't stopped for a second to consider that maybe her grand plan, the one she had been turning around in her mind, would require to be away from John for a while. No, her whole body just rejected the idea with an intense nausea. It wasn't the thought of being away from him per-se, but the fear of what might happen to her Spartan while she worked her way around things.

There was no such thing as a risk-free strategy, Cortana knew this.

But she had to admit that she was at a dead-end. It began to sink in, whether she liked it or not. She might have to let him go, for now. Her eyes filled with tears, she'd never felt this level of powerlessness in her life.

The sound of boots approaching startled her. Having been at the atrium for over half an hour now without any kind of interruptions, Cortana expected to be alone for a moment longer since the dead shift was, well, pretty dead aboard a ship on stand-by. But she was a little surprised to recognize Captain Cutter coming her way, holding a mug on one hand and a small plate with some pastries on the other. The man regarded her with his characteristic poker face, unreadable.

"Miss Halsey." Cutter said, not quite gleefully. "I didn't know you were here."

"I'm sorry, Captain. Am I disturbing you, by any chance?" she said, politely.

"No, no. I just come here sometimes, to be alone for a moment. Away from Serina."

She sat properly on the bench dropping her feet to the floor, and prepared to get up.

Bitterly, she nodded: "I'll leave you to it, then."

"No need, Miss Halsey. This atrium is big enough for both of us." he went around the bench and sat down, at arm's length from her. Cutter sat the plate with the pastries between them and took a sip off his mug. "Besides, I haven't seen you ever since the time you went to my bridge to complain about your fiancée, and I understand this would be your last night aboard my ship."

Cortana sighed, amused, then she smiled a little. Her fiancée.

Cutter pushed the small plate towards her, offering the pastries. Cortana wasn't really hungry, but she was indeed pregnant and her instinct wouldn't let her refuse food. So, she nodded in thanks and took one, bit into it quickly. It was sweet and crunchy, delicious.

"I wasn't going anywhere without saying goodbye and thank you, Captain."

"You better. Did you enjoy the books?"

She blinked, taken by surprise this time. Right, the books. She'd left them back in the room. Cortana took another bite of the pastry, the sweet taste and the warm memories of the stories she read for John pushed away most of the sadness occupying her head; indeed she couldn't leave that old ship without saying thanks:

"Yes, as a matter of fact. They were very useful, I can't tell you how much I appreciate them; you didn't have to give away something so precious, sir."

"Don't mention it." Cutter waved his free hand, dismissively. "How's your Spartan?"

She blushed a little. That concept still made her giddy inside like a teenager.

"Much better. Thank you for your help, really."

"Like I said, I'm not a cold-hearted bastard. Everyone likes a good love story."

This time, Cortana dared to chuckle. The Captain was in a far better mood than she had first thought, which was extremely pleasant. A man that gave away books as gifts had to be wise and interesting, right? Perhaps they could just chat, and it would help to ease her mind a little. She finished the pastry in another bite, but shook her head when Cutter offered her the plate again.

For a few more minutes, all that could be heard was the Captain sipping on his coffee meanwhile Cortana watched through the viewport at a distant ship maneuvering to dock on the station. She calculated the proper entry vector in a few seconds, without even thinking about what she was doing.

Maybe that's why Cutter's voice surprised her so much, next:

"So, speaking of love stories… when is the wedding?"

Cortana blinked, astonished again. "W-wedding?"

He smirked a little. "Yes, I suppose that's the natural course of an engagement, to get married? Unless you youngsters don't do that anymore. I was hoping to get an invitation, it would be nice to assist a wedding."

Although Cutter ended his speech with a spirited chuckle, she had ceased listening to him after the part about getting married…

Her brain began to work at a million miles per second, again.

"W-we didn't set a date yet." Cortana lied, stuttering. "It was recent, John got hurt…"

"I see." the Captain nodded. "Well, whenever you set the date, please let me know."

"Of course, I…"

She couldn't finish, every major process of her consciousness was now occupied with this new and strange concept. Marriage. It was important. People married often -more so in the aftermath of the Covenant War- because it had many benefits for civilians, it improved their credit score and qualified them to participate in government repopulation plans, to be sent to other colonies with better opportunities. Children born within a married couple also improved the benefits of the family group.

It was the natural course of an engagement, just as the Captain had said.

People in the military were usually married as well, because it had even more benefits for them. Since their job was very dangerous, it was preferred that they had a partner to inherit their pension. It wasn't just improvements on the paygrade, the higher the ranks, the better was the medical care, the more visitation, information and legal rights concerning the spouse in service could be acquired. Cortana stopped right there.

Of course! Legal rights!

SPOUSE PRIVILEGE. That was the answer she'd been looking for!

Dear God, it was so damn simple, so fucking stupid! No wonder why she hadn't come up with it by herself, how on Earth and all of her Colonies someone like Elizabeth Halsey would've considered marriage as a solution?

Rights, the same as benefits, scaled on rank. Marrying a Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy would get her decent leverage. Marrying THE Master Chief, Spartan John-117 himself, would be full score. Not ONI, not even her mother could argue with the lawfulness of a properly performed marriage. Maybe it wouldn't be enough to stop anyone from taking John away, but she would have some pull at last! It would give John some hope too…

Cortana stood up quickly, like touched by a lighting bolt.

Cutter stopped in his act to sip more coffee and looked at her, slightly alarmed.

"Is something wrong, Miss Halsey?"

"No, sir, in fact, everything is perfect at last!" she smiled, shaking her head slightly.

"Well…"

"I'm sorry, sir, I must do this…" she cupped the man's face with her hands and planted a noisy kiss on his lips, excited beyond her ability to control herself. Dumbfounded, Cutter froze and looked at her, smiling and bright as sunshine after the rain. "Thank you, Captain. You are a savior!"

He blinked fast, frowning. "You're… welcome?"

Cortana couldn't help to laugh, immensely happy. Tears swelled in her eyes, again, but she didn't let them fall. Instead, without wasting a second or another word, Cortana left the atrium and calculated in her mind the fastest route to the medical wing.

She had to make a very important proposal to a very special man.

x.x.x.x.x

It took her nearly an hour of walking, riding elevators and passing security checkpoints to make it from the vicinity of the bridge to the deserted medical wing in which John was isolated, only to discover that the guards had been changed. There were four ODSTs in full gear and weapons instead of the Spartans from Red Team.

Cortana cursed under her breath.

'This was mother's doing.' she thought, convinced. 'My ID tag must be banned, too.'

Well, she didn't want to bring any unwanted attention upon herself, so Cortana slipped away into the medical quarters and found the CMO's workspace. She'd been in her office before and recognized it, there was a terminal on her desk that she could use.

She activated the screen and when the holo-keyboard lit up, Cortana dived fast into the deepest zones of the Spirit of Fire, accessing the security protocols. She brought up a layout of the medbay and zoomed into the area she was looking for, located all the doors and the security alerts currently in effect. Just as she suspected, her clearance had been cancelled.

She could hack into the database and give herself the clearance back. The ODSTs still were a problem, she couldn't just bypass them. Or could she?

Well, she just had to keep going and find out.

Cortana was very focused on her work, so much that…

"Miss Halsey." Serina's voice startled her, sudden and somewhat cold. "Are you trying to hack my security protocols, by any chance?"

Cortana gasped and looked at the lavender figure. Serina's hologram was cast from a special pod allocated on the corner of the desk.

"Serina." she growled, not amused.

"I was warned by your mother that you would attempt to violate security on this wing. And given your medical records and Spartan-one-one-seven's, I think I know why. But I'm afraid I can't let you go any further."

"Oh, do you, now?" Cortana frowned, irritated.

"I'm afraid so, ma'am."

"Undid iridium."

Serina's hologram froze and flickered. Then, she stood straight, staring dead ahead.

"UNSC Smart AI SNA 1292-4, designation Serina. At your service, Doctor Halsey."

Cortana smirked. She had the wrong Halsey, but the right override key had been used.

"Serina, I want you to pick for me a safe, fast and undetected route into this room on the medical wing."

She tapped the room in question on the screen, from the blueprints.

"That wing is under lockdown, ma'am." Serina replied, quickly. Her tone was uniform and emotionless, she sounded like the machine she was supposed to be. "No unauthorized personnel is allowed entrance, as per your own orders."

"I know that. It's why I want you to get me inside without being caught."

Serina paused for a full second, processing.

"Understood. Calculating route. Done. Displaying route on your screen, now."

Cortana smiled slowly, eagerly. Good.

The alternative route started in the morgue, through the back door into the service alley on the far side of the medical bay, until an intersection after which she would find another corridor that would lead her into the wing she was looking for. ETA approximately sixteen minutes, if she was swift. She transferred the files into her pad, for mobility.

"You will keep all the affected doors open for me when I show my ID on their sensors. Scan it. Make sure I'm fully cleared for access." Cortana put her wrist by the casting pod.

"Done."

"Good girl. And one more thing."

"Yes, Doctor Halsey."

"Is there surveillance in this room?" she tapped John's room again.

"Affirmative, ma'am."

Cortana shook her head, a little ashamed. She should've known.

"I want you to pull every record you have from the past one-hundred hours and replace them with a five-minute loop of the patient sleeping, alone. And as of this minute, you will terminate all capture of video or audio from inside the room, until eighteen-hundred hours this afternoon. Acknowledge."

"Command acknowledged, ma'am."

"Set up subroutines to keep these commands going, then set a hard reboot of this aspect of yourself ten seconds after you're complied with all previous orders. You will delete from your memory banks any log of this override event, and any trace of me voicing commands. Acknowledge."

"Command acknowledged, ma'am."

"Good. Thank you, Serina. And I'm sorry to do this, but it's for a good cause."

"I understand."

Cortana pulled back from the desk and sighed, standing up.

She fished a lab coat out of the CMO's tiny locker and put it on, grabbed a medical pad and headed out of the office discreetly, checking out the route on her own smaller pad. At a given time, there was a quick blink of all the lights on the medbay. That had to be Serina on her reboot cycle, the AI was somewhat outdated but still worked fine. Cortana pretended to be another doctor when she passed by the ODSTs posted at the door that she couldn't reach now, nobody stopped her or told her anything.

Quickly, Cortana made her way to the morgue and the back door.

On every floodgate and door she flashed her wristband and her clearance was admitted. Her heart began to beat faster and faster, the closer she got to John's room. She still had no idea how she was going to break it to him, or even if he would understand what it meant and accept willingly, but…

Cortana stood before the last door, he was on the other side. This was it.

Her wrist approached to the sensor, hesitant…

After the bleep, the door slipped aside and the first thing she saw was John, big and tall and strong, standing by the bed. Cortana entered the room slowly, the door closed behind her segregating them from the world.

She noticed that there was a black case open on the chair, big, squared. A full body exo-suit with olive-green accents was halfway out, as if John had been checking it out. On the floor, beside her ammo crate, there were heavy boots and another case with the Spirit of Fire's signets, a package of clothes. Dark-gray fatigues pants and a big dark-gray padded jacket were laid on the backrest of the chair.

The bandage on his leg was fresh, clean. John's voice made her snap to attention:

"Did you figure it out?" he asked, his tone was tense.

Cortana exhaled a shaky breath: "I think I did. But there's something I must do first."

"… what?"

Her body warmed up with the heat of a thousand little fires.

"Why, Master Chief… I have to thank you properly for your service, remember?"

x.x.x.x.x

John's senses went into overdrive immediately.

Oh, of course he remembered. Those had been his own words, after all.

"Anyone could come in." John warned, serious.

"I took care of everything. It's just you and me, Chief."

"Cortana..."

She smiled. "It's okay. I promise."

He didn't move. Cortana approached a few steps, still at a safe distance from him. She laid two data pads on the bed, then proceeded to pull the lab coat off her shoulders along with the padded jacket and let the garments fall at her feet. Next, she kicked her boots, set them aside with her socks. After that came the t-shirt, which she lifted off her body fast; it also went to the floor on top of the coat and the jacket.

Without hesitation, she undid the clasp of her black bra, slid it down her shoulders…

"Cortana." he tried again, this time with a warning growl.

"Are you going to say you don't want it?" she whispered, pulling on the belt and fly of her pants, driving them slowly down her thighs. His stoic silence only made her bolder, she stepped off her pants. "Liar, you won't reject me. Not after what happened today."

She was right about that. But the Master Chief didn't want to repeat the events of earlier that day, fully convinced that he wouldn't take well yet another frustrated attempt.

He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with her feminine essence.

Cortana studied him for a few seconds. She licked her lips in a way that made his skin break out into goosebumps. His treacherous body sprang to attention, instantly. John felt in every cell the need to take her, dominate her, to make her scream his name. The rush of blood increased when she pulled down her black panties, stepping forward in his direction, bare and beautiful. Her skin pristine, pale. Her hair soft as the curve of her lips and her hips.

Cortana came to a stop when she was right before him, half an arm away and smelling so fucking good.

"Why are you so tense, John? It's just me."

He pursed his lips.

She seemed a bit sad upon his lack of response, but he didn't know what to say.

So much had transpired in the past days. Nothing was simple anymore, it wasn't just the two of them and her crazy idea to have a child with him as the breeding partner. He was a liar, indeed. He didn't want her to stop, not today, not ever. John remained still just until she ran her hands down his abdomen and pulled down his briefs in the same, swift motion, releasing his raging erection at last.

"We can finish what we started." she murmured, breathless.

Then, she knelt before him and raked her nails down the thigh of his unharmed leg, ripping a shiver off his spine. John just watched her, fascinated.

"I never did this before." her lips were moving dangerously close to his manhood. Their eyes met when Cortana looked up. "I've never been on my knees before a man, eager to put his cock in my mouth."

He swallowed hard, again. His breath hitched in anticipation.

Instinctively, John groaned and pulled his head back when she licked all the length of his cock from base to tip in a slow, painfully erotic motion. Clutching the mattress until his knuckles turned white, he rested his weight against the bed to endure better her sweet torture. The injured leg protested with a shot of pain, but he tried to ignore it.

She chuckled, apparently very pleased.

He didn't know why, but the idea of her sharp teeth so close to the most vulnerable part of his body always made him uncomfortable. It was a battle between the side of his brain that wanted to feel the pleasure -the wet depths of her warm, soft mouth and tongue- and the male instinct that demanded him to keep his groin covered.

She did something with her tongue, pressing it directly under the head of his cock, and John felt the touch of lightning inside his spine. Her small, busy hands worked the length of his shaft with precision, gripping and sliding up and down slowly meanwhile she lapped and suckled on the tip, driving him insane. Cortana wrapped her arm around his right leg and pressed her warm breasts onto his skin, her mouth slid all the way down his member to graze the heavy mass of his testicles with electrifying kisses and soft nips. Every touch was a spark that ignited the blood in his veins, making him burn inside.

The caress of her lips was maddening; suckling, licking, moaning…

"Cortana…" her name just fell off his mouth.

Merciful, Cortana returned her attention to the centerpiece and dunk, taking as much as she could in her mouth. John couldn't resist, searching for her head with a wandering hand, tangling her hair with his fingers and guiding her. It was too much. He knew he wouldn't last long, not like this…

A prickling sensation began to build on the small of his back. It was coming.

He was coming. She massaged his testicles, syncing her tongue, her lips and her fingers in the same, tortuous rhythm. His hips buckled, involuntarily, she choked when his cock reached far too deep, but she didn't pull away. Cortana endured and doubled her efforts; the pressure of her mouth became unbearable after a few more seconds.

John gasped, there was no holding it back. Cortana's eyes met his with a flash of pride.

She was aware of every reaction, ready to receive everything. The Master Chief tried to pull away, his instinct urged him to use his seed in a more productive way, but the orgasm ran him over like a train. Cursing under his breath, he couldn't prevent every single muscle of his body turning tight like rope, his toes curling, shivering. Pain added an extra layer to the mix, since his leg decided to be a bitch again. His cock throbbed in her mouth, pushing inhuman amounts of semen directly down her throat.

Cortana exhaled a long, satisfied moan. She kept fondling, swallowing, multiplying the surge of sensations tenfold with the lewd caress of her tongue. She didn't end her attentions at once, but slowing down to a kind caress and then, her mouth abandoned him with a stark popping sound.

John relaxed sluggishly, using the bed to support himself straight.

Cortana sat back on her heels, smiling wickedly.

"Thank you, John." she said, her voice sweet and sensual. "For everything."

Contemplating her from his colossal height was sublime.

John shook his head, dazed.

"I would do it again." he growled, still recovering. "Say the word, Cortana."

And his cock was right there, still erect and unbeatable. She bit her lower lip. Her eyes were clouded by lust, like he'd never seen them before.

"Fuck me." she demanded, her tone was dangerous. "Fuck me, or I swear to God…"

No more games, no more foreplay. He had to take her now, the raw need eroded his sanity away inch by inch. Despite the pain, he moved like lightning; John growled between clenched teeth and pulled her off the floor, swiftly.

Clutching to his shoulders, Cortana tried to climb onto him, scraping his skin with her desperate hands. The next second, they were attacking each other's mouths angrily, clawing and biting, snarling like two wild animals in an uneven battle for dominance that John was certain to win. He threw the rabid female her onto the bed, on her back, and pulled her by the ankles. Her ass slapped hard against his thighs, the lower half of her body now hanging off the bed, the length of his cock resting against her slick labia and pointing to the ceiling, defiantly. Cortana's ragged breath was only cut by her own wanton whimpers, she twisted her hips up and down, rubbing her pussy along his throbbing shaft.

"John, I'm burning, I…"

He wanted her feral, like a cat in heat. Showing off his incredible control, John smirked and kissed the ankle suspended near his shoulder, lazily.

"What do you want me to do?" he croaked again, teasing her.

"Fuck me."

"I can't hear you, Cortana."

"Fuck me!" she hissed, louder.

The Master Chief frowned and tilted his head. "You can do better than that."

"FUCK ME, JOHN! I NEED YOU!" she howled, this time.

Those three little words always did the trick for him. I need you.

It was so much more than a primal response, it was everything. John's control snapped at last and he aimed for the right place between her legs. He rammed all the way home in one single, swift push that made Cortana arch her back and breath aggressively, tensing up every muscle on her slender body. A myriad of sizzling pain-pleasure sensations, like tiny blasts, grazed the edges of John's consciousness as he thrust into her, forcing a strangled groan out of his own throat. So tight and warm. His flesh had missed her.

His whole being had missed this. Nothing would be the same without this.

Without her.

John pulled back a few inches and pushed back in, enjoying the fire of the friction and the slippery tautness of her body. She whined again, breathless. He repeated the motion a few more times, accelerating the pace until they picked up together the rhythm of the dance that would end up merging them into a single being. Cortana threw her head back on the bed, moaning, shouting, speared through by pleasure. He could feel everything in her scent, in the way her body writhed and clenched around his cock, in her choking breaths and her ragged words. She said strange things…

"…I need you with me, forever… please, John, please…"

Her skin was slick with sweat. John gripped her hips tighter, hooking his arms under her knees, and thrust harder, faster, deeper. She cried louder, her scent became sweeter. She loved it.

He loved it. Bitching leg and all.

"… oh, God, harder! John, I need it, I need you!" she mewled.

It felt so right to be back inside her. The grip, the warmth, the spicy scent... the husky tone of her voice, pushing all the right buttons. It was everything. She was everything.

This female belonged to him, nothing would ever change his mind.

"Mine!" the sound was almost unintelligible, a husky roar.

Cortana cried out another long moan, loaded with ecstasy.

"Yes!" she panted, whipping her head side to side. "Yes, yes, yes!"

He had missed the proximity, the intensity of their meetings. The Master Chief knew one thing and it was that the longing he felt had a name. Her name. His place was beside her -and above her, under her, inside her-, protecting her, listening to her stories, watching her sleep, hearing her laugh, soothing off her fears, sharing her joy, breeding her as many children as she wanted. But right beside her, always.

She was home. Never a word had described her better. Home.

"My mate!" his voice rumbled, strained, so close…

Something about those words triggered her. Cortana's breath halted, her inner muscles cramped and rippled in agitated spasms and she screamed, thrashing, panting, coming hard under his relentless assault. At this point it was more pain than anything else for John, but he was enjoying it despite all, sensations new and addictive. Cortana's own orgasm swept him off his feet and dragged him along, he came not long after and emptied himself inside her, rope after rope nesting deep.

He wouldn't have it any other way, even with the baby between them.

The pain finally was stronger than his need to fuck her, and John bent slowly over the exhausted woman lying sprawled on the bed, before him. His leg throbbed, it was probably bleeding again. Resting on his elbows so he wouldn't crush her, the Master Chief kissed the valley between Cortana's perky breasts and rested for a moment, trying to catch his breath.

After the fleeting bliss passed, reality came crawling slowly over them.

Heaving, still enjoying the prickling sensations of the orgasm in his spine, John pushed her back completely onto the bed, falling into the warm and desperate embrace of her skin, pressing his forehead on hers. Cortana pulled him closer, squeezing her legs around his waist. Her nails burrowed into his biceps, she arched her back under the reassuring pressure of his weight. She kissed him, rubbed her nose on his cheek. She was a purring kitten, all affectionate and satisfied, making his heart swell with comfort, their eyes closed as they both recovered.

"Oh, God, I missed this. I missed you." she breathed out, exhausted. "So much."

Her lips grazed the corner of his mouth, she cupped his face and kissed him. John pulled back a little to meet her eyes, her half-closed eyelids and dazed smile made his demons cheer and brawl. Something in the back of his mind kept bothering him. It was still there, lingering between the two. The assignment she'd given him was highly imprecise and that fact had his nerves on edge, he didn't like it when there was not enough intel. She knew things he didn't.

They were supposed to part ways in less than twenty-four hours and it ate him inside. What was he supposed to do with all of these... these... whatever they were?

"What does this mean?" he had to ask, because he needed to know.

She stared back at him in the middle of a tense silence.

"Marry me, John." Cortana whispered then, confidently.

TO BE CONTINUED

WELL, WHAT DID I TELL YOU? Sexy things were coming along. Now the two lovebirds are considering marriage… well, Cortana is, John just found out :P Will our hunk accept the proposal? Does he even understand what she's asking of him? There will be cake? Join me the next Sunday for the answers to all of these questions and the next big twist in this story, with special appearances from other fandom favorites.

But now, before leaving, let's thank some anons!

We have the GUEST that wants me to fuck myself because of the cliffhangers. My friend, I can tell you don't know me much, I'm the Dark Mistress of Cliffhangers and there's more to come. Also, thank you for stopping by, lemme hug you *hugs tight*

Another GUEST who wants me to update more… *dies and this fic is never completed* Thank you for the encouragement!

Then we have REXSOKA, thank you for your kind words, I can't do anything about the temporal displacement you might be experiencing, but let me stop you right here: I didn't even know what Sarah Connor Chronicles was until you mentioned it. I had to look it up. That should explain everything. This being said, I'm glad you're back!

My dear AJ, a quick tip: read these updates with candy or a very sugary drink at hand, we don't want to lose you. There's a lot more nosebleeding to do, you gotta stay strong! Thank you for stopping by!

And PHYLLYPA, I see what you did there. 'Don't stop'. That sounds a lot like Cortana when she's feeling horny. Thank you for being here, hopefully I'll see you around again :3

Thank you very, very much to all of you, even you who read and don't say shit, please consider at least ONCE not leaving without commenting on your thoughts. I want to know everything! Your reactions are the fuel that keeps this flame alive :3