Here we are, my friends. The moment of 'reclamation', if you will it, the day we have waited for so long. NOT RECOMMENDED FOR MINORS, if you're not at least 18 you know you should GTFO right now. Enjoy this savage trip! Lots of things await you. We're in the final lap of the story, nothing but good 'ole Jortana goodness from now to the end, see you at the bottom for more notes!
TAKE ME WHEN YOU NEED ME
PART XXIX
CAIRO STATION – Sol System
NOVEMBER, 2562
The Wayward Son was delayed.
Four days, to be precise.
He considered going into cryo and request to be loaded into the vessel when it arrived, but it had been at least three and a half years since the last time he was frozen. The ordeal wasn't pleasant at all, better to leave it for when it became inevitable. Idle wasn't good either; he was just parked on Cairo Station, awaiting transfer, with nothing to do.
After reporting to Commander Vega as it was required, the Master Chief made his way to the block in which he'd been given quarters. He merged with the large crowd waiting at Cairo's internal tram stop. A Spartan never went unnoticed amongst big groups of people -although some of them did blend-in better than others- mostly due to their towering height, and the label on the front of his BDU's shirt made it more difficult to remain anonymous. The stares were respectful, at least.
John straightened his cap and stood quietly in the back. People came and went. His was a specific car, so he had to stay put there for a while. Cairo was very populated this time of the year, his eyes made another sweep around.
Marines, officers, station personnel, ODSTs, military non-combatants…
A beautiful woman with long, dark hair and a secretive smile...
Wait. The Master Chief whipped his head back to her. She was moving. From the other side of the stage area, walking through the crowd towards him. Staring at him directly. She had a familiar grin. Her eyes were sapphire-blue. Her skin, pale and unblemished.
John swallowed hard. No, it couldn't be.
"Cortana..." he gasped, shocked.
How long had it been?
Four years, eight months and twenty-three days.
John stood eerily still, stunned. Her hair was now very long, she wore it in a tall, well-groomed ponytail. Rebellious strands framed her face, her features just as he remembered them. Her eyes, even brighter than they used to be. Slender, petite, a bit curvier than the last time he saw her; she had filled out in all the right places. Dressed in a tight blue business suit -tight skirt right above the knee, button-up white shirt and sharp-cut jacket with long sleeves-, which reminded him of a uniform.
Her scent, so sweet and maddening, caught up with his augmented senses even though the station's chemical smell burned the back of his throat.
The scent that neither drugs nor time had managed to erase.
She continued to approach, the crowd opened for her instinctively. Some were staring at him, at his colossal height and massive build, some were minding the woman who dared to walk up to him with such a nonchalant attitude. Others were looking at something behind her. But the tram was leaving, so nobody had time to lose. Little by little, the floor cleared up and so the beeline she was making in his direction became even more apparent. At last she reached him, respectfully standing about six feet away.
She kept her hands pressed down on her belly, together.
"Hello, Master Chief." she said, breaking into a wide, sweet smile.
Her voice. Oh, her voice was even more seductive than he remembered.
It made his spine prickle deliciously.
"Miss Halsey." he replied, by instinct, and saluted.
She saluted back, although it wasn't her obligation. She wasn't military. It was just like that first time: he was in his BDUs and she still looked nothing like someone who could be friends with someone like him. But he wasn't going to complain, no sir.
An old heat stirred inside John, a sensation as familiar as it was unbearable.
She tilted her head, playfully: "Isn't this quite the coincidence?"
"I'd say so, ma'am." he complied, playing along for the audience.
Was it, really? He couldn't say. Years ago, she had managed to have him transferred to a classified project in some secluded base, so they could make a baby together. To stumble upon her after all this time, so out of the blue, certainly looked like a huge trap more than a coincidence. This unexpected transfer was her doing, as well?
Again, he wasn't going to complain.
She seemed expectant.
He still couldn't move, why? How many times had he dreamed of her?
Only a handful of people awaited the next tram, now. That's when John noticed, at the back of the station, four young female Spartans in BDUs just like him, standing at attention, and an Asian woman, smiling. Her guards, by any chance?
His sharp reflexes caught sight of movement, a lot closer.
A small hand crept up behind Cortana's skirt, grabbing her leg.
John's senses focused immediately on the unknown threat, alert. The tension running up and down his spine relaxed only a little when the little girl peeked out from her mother's protective shadow, with two big steel-blue eyes and a shock of freckles across her nose. At first, he didn't know what to make of it. But then, he recognized the eyes.
The frown.
It was his own frown, on a child's face.
"Master Chief." she started again, sweeter now. "This is my daughter, Sarah."
x.x.x.x.x
"I swear, it's a huge coincidence." she smiled, dropping a saccharine capsule in her cup of coffee. "We're in transit, awaiting transport to Reach. But it looks like the Wayward Son is delayed."
John tried not to frown. He was waiting for the UNSC Wayward Son too.
And he had just been cleared for a six-month station on Reach as well.
Wasn't she going to say anything about it?
Maybe not. They were still playing the part. Their affair was supposed to be a secret.
They were sitting in a quiet area inside one of many canteens of Cairo Station, Cortana and their daughter on one side of the narrow table and John on the other, facing them. The mug of milk with a few drops of coffee in front of him was getting cold.
He couldn't stop staring at the little girl.
This was his daughter. His legacy.
In Cortana's own words, the best you could do for yourself and for Humanity.
In the last picture John had of her, the child was but a newborn baby, so tiny that he could have fitted her whole in one of his hands. The little girl had his same eyes and his hair, reddish-brown, straight. She wore it down past her shoulders, her mother had groomed her with a white headband to keep her serious face clear. Sarah was drawing with her fingers on the surface of a big pad, all pretty in her light blue outfit.
She didn't pay attention to him or to her meal.
Or did she?
Oh, yes, she was very curious about the big man. Whenever she thought he wasn't looking, she peeked at him with the corner of her eye. John felt a pinch of pride when he understood that she was being stealthy.
He had to relax. It was just a child.
This was his child, his baby!
For fucks sake, what was he supposed to do?
Some of the Marines from the nearby tables kept track of his actions. Everyone could read the label on the front of his uniform's shirt, it had the UNSC coat of arms, under it the words SECTION-III SPECOPS and MCPO JOHN-117 written in big, boxy letters. Perhaps a bit too solemnly, the Master Chief rolled the sleeves up to his elbows, then he rested his powerful hands on the table, fingers intertwined.
If anyone noticed who he was, nobody dared to come closer and ask.
Except for the little girl:
"What is that?" she inquired, frowning, her tiny finger pointing at the label.
Cortana froze in the act of taking a sip from her cup. The adults looked at each other.
"That's my name." he said, his voice was softer than usual. "I'm John."
"Like my Papa!" Sarah quipped.
John swallowed a little too hard. She knew?
His eyes met Cortana's again, she immediately caught the question hanging all over his worried face. She shook her head slightly. Alright, fine. Sarah knew her father's name but not exactly who he was. A tingle of anxiety rumbled inside of him.
"Papa Tom says my Papa John is a hero." the little girl smiled wide and went back to her pad and her drawings. "Papa Tom tells me a lot of stories about him."
Wait. Papa Tom? Who the fuck was "Papa Tom"?
John's eyes drifted to the table in mild confusion and by accident landed on Cortana's hands; he noticed a thin gold band around the fourth finger of her left hand, and around the same wrist a colorful braid with a charm shaped like a horse's head. The ring. It was a marriage ring. With her cheeks flushed, Cortana mouthed the word 'fuck' under her breath and hid said hand behind her cup, but immediately she pulled the ring off her finger and concealed the fist that contained it… then, she tried to make herself busy by moving loose strands of hair on her daughter's shoulders.
Before his blood ignited, it froze inside his veins. Everything came to a rough stop, a dangerous void opened in the Spartan's stomach. She was married. She was married to a man named Tom.
She married someone and didn't say a word about it?
OH. Oh, shit. Now everything made sense.
The texts had stopped, one day. Just stopped, and never happened again.
An untamed spark of anger exploded slowly in John's gut, but the voice of reason was strong enough to kill it before he did or said something regrettable. He couldn't keep the bitter thoughts from showing on his face, anyway; the bridge of his nose wrinkled involuntarily.
"Captain Thomas Lasky." Cortana said, apologetically.
"That's my Papa Tom." the girl looked at John again, her face bright and happy. "Do you know my Papa?"
Captain Lasky. She married Captain Lasky.
Well, at least she didn't pick herself another Spartan…
John nodded, despite himself. "I know him, yes."
He shot another look at Cortana. She was still red.
The memory of a gentle-faced man with brown eyes and easy, comforting smile floated to the surface of his awareness. They had shared a brief moment on the observation deck of the UNSC Infinity a couple of weeks before, and he didn't mention anything about knowing her. About being married to her, knowing for sure that he was standing before the father of his wife's child. John had noticed Lasky's ring and the little knit bracelet on his wrist… it was the same kind of bracelet Cortana had.
Little Sarah had one of her own, too, with a charm in the shape of a seashell.
The Chief didn't say a word for a long time, he just looked at his daughter. She was trying to draw a circle, the intensity of her focus was astounding.
A million different thoughts battled inside his head. He could look at this child and feel proud of her existence. He liked the idea of having sired such a fine young lady with this powerful woman. It relieved him to know that she was well looked after by her mother, that she was fierce and healthy. That she resembled him, so clearly.
What he couldn't bear was to know that his mate had married someone else.
She didn't belong to him anymore.
"Where are you staying?" Cortana asked, out of the blue.
His mind was somewhere else. She had made a promise. Why didn't she keep it?
"Level six." His reply was quick, mechanical.
"Officer's deck, huh?"
"There's no beds available at the barracks."
Cortana nodded and sipped her coffee, no way that she could remain nonchalant now. She rubbed softly on their daughter's back, a gesture that seemed to help the child relax and draw with more ease. John felt a light itch in his palms.
Did he want to touch the girl, or did he want Cortana to touch him?
Maybe it was both. Maybe he wanted to feel if they were real.
"We'll be parked here for a couple of days." She seemed disturbed and still attempted to keep the rouse going. "We could grab dinner together, some time. If you want, of course. I'd like to catch up."
The way she strained those last words before drinking more coffee made every hair on the back of his head stand on end. Again, his body answered involuntarily to her presence and he felt a strange warmth inside his stomach, a fire that was threatening to become a blaze. Yes, of course. Yes, his primitive instinct would sure love to. His most animal side would never stop craving her.
The real question was, did he want to submit to her games, again?
Their gazes connected, once more. She saw his anger. He saw her sorrow.
Why was she sending him back to Reach?
The Master Chief finished his beverage and continued talking with Cortana for a while longer, but didn't say a word about another meeting.
x.x.x.x.x
Again, he considered going into cryo and just wait it out until the Wayward Son arrived, but the sentimentality of it all clashed violently with the other side of his brain commanding that he kept vigilant. The problem was that, after a couple of hours on his own, the severity of the situation started to sink in and his brain couldn't stop. He was so fucking angry. He'd never been this angry about anything in his whole life.
A raw need of tearing Lasky apart roared inside him.
John knew his own temper. The little girl didn't have to remember him like this.
In the end, it was his wounded pride what kept him away from them.
x.x.x.x.x
Since his MJOLNIR armor was parked in a fridge-sized crate at Cairo Station's storage facility and the transport was still days away, John reported with the Chief of Staff and offered his free time. He couldn't stand being idle knowing that Cortana and their daughter were around. Until he could decide what to do he didn't want to come across them in such a state of frustration.
The solution was to make himself busy, any way available.
The Chief of Staff, confused, dazzled and honored to have him aboard, acknowledged that they really didn't have much for a SPARTAN-II to do. John insisted. The Chief of Staff then gave in and suggested he could help with security. Apparently, it was a task that always needed extra eyes and hands. John accepted gladly.
A full day went by without incidents -without seeing her, at least, because his thoughts were an entirely different territory- and he left his so-called shift at midnight sharp. It was a blessing to have private quarters to stay in, and this was more than he'd had for most of his life: a comfortable bed suited for a man of his size, a shelf-table that folded up on the wall, a strong chair, a few lamps and a bathroom with a showerhead tall enough for him to move with certain freedom. Nothing fancy, true. But there were frames hanging on the walls with pictures of famous UNSC warships, that was a nice touch.
Too bad it was only for a couple of days.
Around 0100 he'd already eaten and showered, and was ready to get some sleep.
Except that, when he was exiting the bathroom, the Master Chief heard fussing on the other side of his door. He noticed the faint clicking of the magnetic lock prying open, and then a line of light spread across the floor.
Someone set a foot inside. Every muscle in his body tensed up.
His training kicked in, adrenaline flooding his bloodstream like a thunderbolt. With a sharp movement his arm shot towards the shelf-table and he caught the handle of his huge knife, peeling the blade off its sheath. His other hand flew to the sensor pad on the wall and upon hitting it with his palm, the lights came online.
That's when the perfume of her clothes reached his lungs and...
"Jesus, Chief. Stand down, it's me." she whispered, surprised, raising her hands.
Cortana. His heart shot up to the sky immediately.
"I could've put a knife between your eyes, ma'am." he growled. "You don't knock?"
She gave him a sheepish smile, improper of her. Her hands went to ease the wrinkles of her outfit, again dressed in her dark-blue uniform of skirt, shirt and low-cut jacket.
She looked so fine, so professional.
"I'm sorry." Cortana said. "I heard the water running and thought I could surprise you."
Like any of that was possible, both hearing the shower from outside in the corridor or surprising him. What a silly excuse. Another detail that came immediately to his mind was the business of their daughter: if Cortana was there, with him, who was taking care of the child? It was past midnight.
"Sarah?" he inquired, the name felt sweet on his lips.
"She's with a friend of mine, I left a note."
John relaxed his hands, finally, and put the knife back in its sheath. He then proceeded to readjust the towel hanging around his hips, a little uncomfortable. He had to look away, trying to focus on anything other than her, standing in his room, alone with him, and so close again after such a long time. Instinct pulled in her general direction.
A few minutes went by, surprisingly…
"John." she started.
He cut her off right away: "You should leave, ma'am."
"I told you to never call me 'ma'am' or 'Miss Halsey' again, remember?"
He frowned hard, wrinkling the bridge of his nose in a snarl.
"I think those orders expired a long time ago."
"Oh, come on, John! I waited for you one full day, you didn't show up! I can't believe I had to come all the way here and hack your lock to see you."
She was frowning too. He didn't look at her, didn't talk back.
Frustrated, Cortana dropped her purse and shrugged off her blue jacket, throwing it to the floor carelessly, and began to unbutton the white shirt underneath until her breasts and the black bra holding them were more than visible. That indeed made him turn his head, interested. A silver chain hung between the two mounds, it gleamed under the meager lights of the room. She kicked off her low heels, all of it under the hungry watch of steel-blue eyes. Her most outrageous provocation was to untie the band that held her long, black hair in up a ponytail. It fell lazily, in silky waves over her shoulders and breast.
John froze again. She was so beautiful, more desirable than ever.
Or maybe he was so starved that he couldn't help to overreact to her presence.
His senses zeroed-in on her with incredible speed, it was almost shameful how easy it was to fall into her trap. The expectation was huge. His nostrils were flooded with her scent of female in heat, his brain literally intoxicated with overwhelming lust. It was impossible to tame the visceral reaction of his own instinct.
They both knew this was going to happen, but…
But he wasn't going to submit so easily this time.
"So, your plan B was coming here and getting naked." he observed, tilting his head.
"Basically, yes. It's always been like that between us, right?"
"You can't get away with it every time, Elizabeth."
She flinched slightly when he said her name, her true name. Cortana bit her lower lip, sensually, looking at the towel.
"So far, evidence states that I can." she purred, evoking something he said to her once.
But his male pride was wounded. She would have to work for it.
"What about Papa Tom?" John asked, ironic.
Cortana's shoulders slumped.
Why was he being so difficult? He was already hard as a rock, she could see it on the stupid towel he was wearing.
"That was my mistake: I forgot to take the ring off before meeting you." she answered, trying hard to keep her cool. "And watch your words, Lasky is a good man."
John's muscles tensed again, straining the pale, scarred skin of his chest and shoulders. Anger irradiated from him. He narrowed his eyes and inhaled deeply, huffing. Big mistake, her scent flooded his nostrils again, his mouth watered in response. He was so hungry for her. It had been over four and a half long years without her touch, her taste, her warmth; how was he supposed not to react? She smelled ripe and ready, too.
She must've calculated it all very well, a trap set to make him fall hopelessly.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't see her and not want her.
No matter how much it hurt inside, his instinct was stronger. The animal was trying to get loose, the female over there wanted to mate and he was more than willing. If this was what she wanted, then fine, he'd mate with her and just go on his way.
That conclusion twisted his gut painfully. Why?
"Why are you here?" he growled, although he didn't want to hear it.
"That's one hell of a thing to ask." she sounded angry. "I promised that you would hold your daughter. Now we're both here, and you just run away and hide without even letting me explain things? The Spartan I picked didn't run from anything."
"I did not run." John's voice turned menacing. His eyes went to her left hand; seeing it bare without Lasky's ring gave him a strange relief, but he soldiered on: "You promised a lot more than just holding my daughter. You lied to me."
Cortana's doe eyes opened wide, in shock.
"Lied!? John, I'm here! God damn you, we're here!" she said, shaking her head. "Four and a half years, and I fought every single day to see you again. What? Did you expect me to just fly to Sanghelios and risk being captured? Because I certainly didn't see you try and come find me."
The Master Chief looked away, again. "I had a duty."
A duty to be who he was made to be. A duty to protect her and Sarah, by playing the perfect soldier so they wouldn't be punished in his stead, or harmed. Quietly, he backed up to the only chair by the small shelf-desk and sat down, observing her with a predatory stare, pinning Cortana down in place.
Those were the eyes of a demon.
He was so angry that he could probably fuck her soul out of her body.
Cortana shivered just thinking about it, imagining things; her underwear felt damp and uncomfortable already. But she scoffed, crossing her arms. She didn't realize how much her breasts popped up when she did that.
"Oh, that sounds so awfully familiar. Is that the only excuse you can come up with? Well, I had a duty too, Master Chief. A duty to raise our daughter. A duty to try and find us a proper solution."
"And that involved you getting married."
"Yes! Do you know how many strings I had to pull just to arrange this? Being married to a Captain gave me those connections." she stood straighter, looking proud. "And besides, he's been wonderful to our daughter. You should be thanking him…"
"Don't!" he roared, clearly frustrated, stamping his closed fist on the shelf-table. "He stole you from me."
Cortana blinked a few times, speechless. It had to be the first time ever she heard him raise his voice in such a way, that she saw him get physically violent with anything, even if it was an inanimate object like the table that now had a deep dent in it. She felt his pain and understood. But she wouldn't budge, she was hurt too.
"I've never given him anything of what you have, John."
There was nothing he could say that wouldn't end in growls. So, he kept quiet.
"You have no idea how hard it was to trick my mother." she insisted. "To steer clear from ONI. The only way to make this happen, was to make everyone else believe that I had moved on from you." she grabbed the chain hanging from her neck and pulled forward the dog tags that had been hiding between her breasts. "But I never moved on, how could I? I could never forget you."
The jingle of metal attracted his attention.
Cortana took one step forward. The Spartan's muscles tensed up even further.
"My heart is yours." she swore, taking the tags close to her lips.
John's breath hitched, but he was still wary of her. He didn't move.
Another step closer. "My body is yours."
Closer, closer, closer.
He wanted to stretch his arm and touch that long, dark hair.
He knew that, if he moved, he wouldn't be able to control himself. This could end in a disaster. Her hands were trembling. He sensed her fear. She was afraid, excited, aroused, all at the same time. It ripped off memories from the darkest corners of his mind. Hot, careless, pleasant memories.
Cortana stopped a step away from him. She placed a hand on her naked belly.
"My womb is yours. You are to be the father of all of my children, remember?"
His cock twitched under the towel. He felt it, she saw it.
Her cheeks blushed a little.
"Tom and I… we don't have a relationship." Cortana continued, shrugging. "It's not like that. I was under ONI surveillance, we decided to get married so he could take care of Sarah in case something happened to me."
'Or to you.' the sentence also implied.
Although it was appropriate for a Spartan, the chair seemed absurdly small to contain his massive body. John leaned back on it and propped his elbows on the armrests. Nothing to say, again. The silence was draining her patience. Flustered by his attitude, Cortana made herself a place between his spread knees. She leaned forward, so close that their lips almost touched. His cold eyes wandered down for a second, to get his fill of the graceful shape of her neck and the beautiful roundness of her breasts in all their glory. He looked at the tags dangling lazily between them, recognizing them, remembering.
She wore his tags, under her clothes.
That sight sent another shot of blood to his crotch. A bit of anger just evaporated.
Cortana let her hands down carefully, to lay atop his tense wrists. The first contact was scorching hot, so intense that she almost couldn't stand it. His face was stoic, but she knew how to shake him up the right way…
"He doesn't dare to lay a hand on me. Tom accepts that I belong to another man."
Her voice was a husky whisper. Wandering fingers traced the line of the ball-chain that hung from his neck and down across his carved chest and abdomen, to play with the hem of the towel, until she got to the clip holding it in place and unfastened it.
Their eyes were deadly locked into one another, a ferocious fight for control.
Cortana had begun to draw a little smirk. Someone was losing. Someone had to.
The Spartan exhaled a strained groan when he felt the satin grasp of her fingers around his throbbing cock. What a dangerous vixen, she knew exactly how to push his buttons and drive him insane with want.
"He doesn't set my blood on fire like you do."
And she was pressing hard. Well, he wanted her more than ever.
He clenched his jaw. She licked her lips.
Cortana leaned a little closer, just a few millimeters.
"He could never fuck me like you do." she promised, her voice astonishingly low and deep, murmuring against his lips. "He will never fuck me, period."
Speaking of blood on fire…
John's augmented reflexes were too fast for her; she didn't even see him move, but his massive hand entangled itself on her long hair and forced their lips to come together. The clash was painful, unexpected. She clawed at his biceps, trying to hold back and grab at the same time. One of her palms ended up flat against his chest, right above his heart, feeling the strong and fast beats. He was still terrible at kissing, but Cortana was so worked up that she didn't care. She'd missed this. She'd missed the sense of danger, his voice, his warmth, his powerful embrace and the musky, masculine scent of his sweat, even his clumsy kisses.
No, she'd missed his clumsy kisses the most. Oh, God.
She lost her footing and ended up propping a knee on his thigh to keep some sense of dignity and not crash completely into him. John jolted and groaned. Her knee hit a nerve and the pain was intense, but he didn't care either. That kiss was explosive, a deep system-shock for both. Their skin broke in goose-bumps and exalted sense of touch, the animal part of their brains growing intensely aware of the presence of the other.
Cortana was the first to break apart, panting and trying to escape his iron grip.
"Oh, John..." she breathed, agitated. "I missed you. I've been so lonely, untouched in over four years... I can please myself but it's not the same without you."
Taking advantage of his enhanced speed again, the Master Chief pushed her back and his skilled fingers went for the hem of her skirt, ripping it in half up to the waist. She didn't see where he launched the destroyed pieces of cloth; everything happened so fast. Cortana almost screamed, but he knocked the air out of her lungs when he rammed into her, burying his hands in her ass to lift her off the floor. She sensed what was coming but still squeaked when her back hit the wall, dangerously squished between a thick layer of steel and a force made of man and lust. Her legs went to his waist by instinct, her hands to his shoulders and neck; she felt a bit dizzy, holding on to him for dear life.
At last, she managed to rearrange her disheveled hair and frown hard:
"My skirt!" Cortana cried out. "How am I going to get back to my quarters, now?"
John winced, still feeling a shot of pain on the nerve she'd casually hit with her knee.
Their eyes met again, between agitated breaths.
"I'm going to make you pay for these past four years." he growled.
"I bet you've been so miserable, going on adventures with your friend the Arbiter." she mocked him, despite herself. She was hurt, this was the only way she could retaliate, even if it was childish and unfair. "Or here on Earth, comfortably training the future generations of Humanity's heroes."
"I missed out on everything."
She felt that one deep inside her gut, low blow. Her eyes burned with tears.
"I've been dealing with a lot of shit myself, John!" she murmured. "Now, I'm trying to make something right out of this mess!"
"Don't fuck around with me, Cortana. Not when you're on the peak of your cycle."
There it was. She loved to hear her callsign in his rough voice. Elizabeth Halsey stayed behind in the quarters with their daughter, written all over that modest note she left for her friend to find. The moment she closed the door and left, her most wicked persona came forward and absorbed everything.
She would always be Cortana to him.
Her vicious smile almost made him flip tables.
"Then what are you waiting for?" she sneered, tugging on the tags he was wearing.
John chose to channel all the pent-up emotion the most satisfying way he could muster: applying extra pressure with his hipbone to keep her pinned in place. Making her feel how hard he was, because of her. He tangled his fingers on her underwear.
She gasped, holding his face with both hands. Cortana's eyes were wide open and full of angry despair:
"No! Don't you dare!" she commanded. "Don't do it, John, I mean it!"
It was his turn to grin, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.
"You know what you got yourself into the moment you crossed that door."
'The moment you picked yourself a Spartan.' his eyes added, mischievous and raw.
Cortana almost paled: "Chief, STOP!"
Of course, he wasn't going to stop, this was their game. He claimed her mouth hungrily and in the midst of the distraction teared her panties as well as her skin-colored stockings. All she could do was moan and bite and make the balls of her fists hit him on the chest and shoulders, a little too hard but playfully, nonetheless. She stopped writhing a moment later, the rough caress of his hands on her backside and bare thighs eased her temper and made her complacent. He had the skill to tame her like a wild mare. Instead of biting, she sucked on his lower lip and arched her back, pressing her breasts on his chest, enjoying the rough feel of his calloused palms as he made his way up.
"I hate it when you do that." Cortana sighed, tossing her head back. "But it's so hot. I can't stop you and it only makes me want you more…"
John grinned again, the comment had stroked his ego.
A delicious shiver of anticipation ran down her spine, they were so close...
"Just imagine how good it will feel, knowing that no other man has been inside me for years. How warm. How tight and empty." she whispered, greedy. "Nothing has been inside me again, not even my own naughty fingers."
Oh, for fucks sake, he was about to lose it…
At this rate he wouldn't last thirty seconds. He wanted her too much.
The Master Chief spread her white shirt open. He decided the garment could stay, there was something deeply erotic about that color in contrast with her long, dark hair. He wasn't merciful with the bra, though. It was promptly discarded too, in pieces, on the floor along with her underwear. She moaned, enjoying the rough thumbs that rolled above her nipples, the coarse texture of his palms massaging the heavy flesh of her breasts.
"That smell." he panted, burying his face on her neck, right under her ear.
He wallowed in the arousing scent, rubbing his nose along her throat, on her shoulder. The throb between his legs had become painful a while ago, by now. The need to claim her again was clouding his senses quickly.
"Easy, John. Easy, I'm not going anywhere. I'm here with you, at last…"
Her words were soft-spoken, feathery as the tips of her fingers on the back of his head. In an unexpected act of tenderness, Cortana pressed her forehead onto his. Then, she left a dozen tiny kisses all over the bridge of his nose, reaching every single one of his faint freckles; there was something immensely cute about them. Hard to believe that anything about such a hard-boiled man like him could be considered 'cute', but she couldn't find a better word. The kindness was so overwhelming that he just surrendered.
The affection he craved, only this woman could provide it.
"We have time." she sighed, looking for his lips. "Do you have a plan?"
"I can think of something."
More kisses. Gentle at first, but growing ravenous, rougher by the second.
The Master Chief took one step back, leaving the wall, and held her with a strong one-arm grip around her waist, his free hand propped beneath her thigh. She swallowed a moan when their bodies connected, hot and hard against hot and slick. Cortana was so ready and eager, that the first gentle push almost made her orgasm. And despite everything about him promised that he'd just take her mercilessly to placate his hunger, the first thrust was slow and calm, caring. Either he was savoring the moment and wanted her to feel every inch in increasing pleasure, or he wanted to give her time and space to adjust again to his presence, to his girth. Maybe it was both. She was enjoying both sensations, anyway.
She tangled her arms around his neck, giving in. It was a delightful forever, those long seconds they took to accommodate one another. They were a bit out of practice. Four and a half years can be a very, very long time for longing.
Still true to her nature, she had to keep pushing:
"What is it, John? Are you too old for this?"
"Don't tease me, Cortana." he growled again, low and raw. He unclasped her legs from his waist and hooked his arms under her knees, spreading her wide, exposing the glistening labia down below to his famished gaze. "I'm going to fuck twins into you."
She moaned hoarsely when the demanding tip of his cock teased her entrance again.
"Don't make a girl a promise if you know you can't keep it." she smirked.
Without further ado, the Master Chief rammed hard into her depths and slammed her against the wall, making Cortana cry out both in deep ecstasy and pain. His moves were controlled, despite the apparent illusion of blind fury; he would've broken her hip bone in half, otherwise.
Hurting her was never an option.
"Four years." John drove himself to the hilt into that welcoming warmth, then retreated completely, panting. "Eight months." he entered again, hard, she gulped air and moaned, helpless. He withdrew once more: "Twenty-four days." for the last time, he went in fast, pushing her weight up with his powerful hips. "I waited for a sign. It never came."
"It wasn't my fault!" she howled, choking in her pleasure. "I couldn't do anything!"
"You own half the galaxy." he insisted. "You can do whatever you want."
She almost bit her tongue, ecstatic.
She'd never felt him so deep, so hard or so hot. So angry.
Yes, he was right where he belonged. Inside her, filling her depths. Oh, sweet, sweet Lord. Cortana shrieked again, raking her nails along the hard bulges of his biceps.
John buried his face in the crook of her neck and began to thrust viciously, holding her legs far apart as he could manage without hurting her. He was mounting her with a grudge, like a wild animal. Cortana knew that until the beast inside him was sated she wouldn't have a chance to explain any further.
It was a long time to go over, there was so much to tell him…
So, she relaxed and welcomed him home again and decided to enjoy the ride. It would be the only way to make him tame again. All she heard were heavy animalistic growls in her ear, mixed with her own ragged moans and panting breath. So good, so fucking good. She had missed this so damn much. Their skins dotted with sweat quickly, it was getting far too hot inside the small room. Her breasts bounced freely with every thrust, the tags jingled loud. The Spartan was rendering honors to his true nature, demonstrating again why she had picked him instead of any other man she could've possibly wanted.
And she couldn't be any happier about it.
Delicious pressure was building up in her gut. He fit nice and snug in there, that hadn't changed. John did it all just the way she liked it, he hadn't forgotten. Soon, very soon she would explode. She was so slick, so hot and so ready. They were so close.
She felt it in him as well, under the tips of her fingers, he was reaching it too…
Cortana pushed her head back to look into his eyes again, half-dazed.
"Please, John. I've waited so long to do this again." she purred and sighed. "Make me another baby. I'm ready. Please, don't hold back, don't…"
She couldn't keep talking, the pressure reached the limit, her body shook with ferocity under the thundering orgasm; her inner muscles clamped hard around him, John groaned in pain, sheathing himself fast until he bottomed inside her. Her eyes almost rolled to the back of her head. Cortana's nails dug into the skin of his shoulders and howled like a she-wolf. The Spartan accompanied her all the way, swelling into her depths and pouring out the seed of years of waiting, pent-up frustration, sadness and fear. He couldn't help it, she was his only mistress, his only mate. He would give her anything.
Yes, he would make her as many babies as she wanted.
She had promised him a little unit. A little broken family.
The payload was inhumanly rich, as it had always been, the thick sperm leaked out of her almost immediately. John pushed her back against the wall and held in place until his own pleasure winded down, until she didn't twitch violently around his cock anymore and the firm grip of her velvet glove loosened up enough for him to retreat.
But he didn't move away. Not yet. It felt too good and warm to leave.
All that was left was the ragged sound of two wheezing breaths, gleaming skin covered in sweat, sharp stares piercing into each other, mouths close enough to be devoured, shaky hands and even shakier muscles.
The Master Chief couldn't remember any other time he had come so blindingly hard or so quickly. Only she did those things to him, made his skin react so aggressively, so fast, in such an intense and ferocious way.
And despite all, the kiss that followed was sweet, slow, deep.
Still nested into her, John allowed her to wrap her legs around his waist again and his hands went to rub the curves of her backside, thighs, hips and sides, up and down and so slow, so caring. Cortana left a soft kiss on his brow, still enjoying the little sparks that even the smallest movement caused to her most sensitive spots. He hummed low, making her smile. Yes, she knew what he was thinking.
It was easy to see that the Spartan was much calmer now.
She thought she could begin again:
"Somebody found out I was messaging you and cut me off. I received a warning."
It took him a while to rise his head again to look at her, and speak:
"Doctor Halsey?" John asked.
"An AI. It identified itself as Black Box." Cortana's voice softened. "I'm sorry, John. After that, I was monitored for weeks, I had to be careful. On top of that, I had no idea what the AI did to your armor, I couldn't decrypt the software again to attempt another link. Instead, I dedicated myself to the next step of the plan, to get suspicion away from us and build both a case and a new excuse to retrieve you."
"Which is why you married." their lips brushed again, softer this time.
Cortana mewled, why did it feel so good to kiss him?
Maybe because he was her Spartan and she'd been fantasizing about this moment.
"If they thought I had moved on, they would leave me alone." she repeated.
"... but Lasky never touched you."
John just wanted to make sure no other male had laid hands on her, that was all.
It worried him to the very core of his bones.
"We had to kiss, sometimes. Especially when we got married." she drew a crafty smile. Her eyes fell on John's wrinkled nose. She eased off the discomfort with her index finger, caressing that shock of freckles she loved so much. "It wasn't bad, just awkward. We barely saw each other. Tom is a good, honest man, Sarah likes him… we both made sure that she knew about her real father. Tom didn't want to lie to her, but she does call him Papa. I had to give him that, at least; he made most of this possible, you know? You should really say thank you next time you see him."
John waited in silence, considering her words. And what to say, of course.
He still didn't like that someone else called himself her husband, instead of him.
"You married him." the Spartan insisted, stubborn.
She held his face between her hands, serious now. "We divorced three weeks ago. He called me to say that his crew had picked you up from a cloud of debris and that he had you in his ship for five days. He was over the moon." Cortana smiled a little. "And that's when we decided it. Tom told me that there would be a thorough investigation in the event of New Phoenix and that it was likely that you would be retained somewhere in orbit for at least a month. We had to act fast. So, we got divorced and I rushed to get things done and move over here before it was too late."
He didn't reply, again. God, what a stubborn ass. She sighed.
"John, can't you see?" Cortana shook her head in absolute disbelief, hooked her thumb on the silver ball-chain of her neck and pulled on it, making the tags jingle. "Ever since that day, I have been married to you. I don't care that we didn't have a proper ceremony, you are my husband. I am only yours."
Those words seemed to have an effect on him. His brow eased off, he sighed.
She couldn't contain the tears this time, they rolled freely down her cheeks.
"I needed you so fucking much. I was giving birth on the Infinity and all I could think about was 'please, John, try not to die, you have to meet your daughter'. And then there she was, so small and beautiful, I couldn't believe I had failed you. I was scared, worried sick about you. Nobody would tell me anything. ONI was always stalking me. But I did it, John. I did it. We're going to be free now."
He shook his head a little, frowning again: "What did you do?"
"I fixed it. They won't be messing with me again."
Cortana caressed his face with both hands, pressing her lips together in a hard line.
She whimpered, just one more emotion away from falling apart.
And she hugged him tight. She hugged him like she never did before.
Cortana was a little scared at that very moment. Scared of not getting anything back from him even after all this time, after everything they had said and done to each other. The tears just didn't stop. At last, John closed his arms around her and brought her close, tight, with such an affection that made her heart melt. She was sure he never held her so lovingly before, and it broke her completely.
Her lips moved by instinct, her voice came as a rough gasp:
"I love you." she muttered, sobbing. "John, I never stopped loving you!"
TO BE CONTINUED
*sheds a couple of tears* HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. He's a stubborn bastard, alright. Well, the words of love have been spoken, the lovebirds are reunited and she said she fixed it all! And our hunk met his baby girl! *DOLPHIN SCREECH* I promise there will be a proper meeting of John and little Sarah, full of cute and of awkward, next chapter will be so sweet that you will need medical attention :P LOL I bet I got you all with the marriage part, I hope you're not mad. It was fun to write.
Now, some greetings for the non-logged readers!
Lovely B93, like I told another friend through PMs, the four-year-gap is sort of a parallel with the time in cryo aboard the Dawn, which concluded with the showdown with the Didact as well and Locke somewhat took John's canonical place aboard the Mantle's Approach. It hurts me too when I have to write bad or sad things happening. Thank you very much for sticking around!
Now with the friend FROG31791, well, as you could see… yes, she married Lasky, indeed. Hopefully the events in this chapter made up for any possible discomfort you might've been feeling! Thanks for your support!
My dear LIZZY OF DUNWICH, I took your comment into consideration and made an edit or two to the previous chapter. I don't dislike Locke myself, but I don't like the fact that 343 tried to use him and Osiris as a poor replacement of Blue Team. I keep saying that Locke's only misfortune has been to get the shortest straw when it came the moment to pick a "rival" for John -young, charming, handsome, promising, notorious, that had been on screen and the audience is familiar with, etc-. Locke happens to be the person he is, and I do not believe that because of that he is immune to playing an antagonistic role if push comes to shove. But still, in the sake that the audience doesn't know how or why I make creative choices and the fact that the audience has their own opinion on things, I decided to listen to you. I do not bend over to criticism easily, so consider this an exceptional exception. And, no, unfortunately I don't think there's room to bring Exuberant in, I like her too but this story's action parts are done for by now, it's all flowers and candy from now on. BIG HUGS!
To the GUEST that was going insane… I hope this chapter made you come back from that dark place! Thanks for being here!
My precious AJ, you guessed right but I hope this chapter left you more at ease, the lovebirds are reunited at last. Regarding the AWOL thing… the final chapter of Recompose is meant to tie things up with Halo 5, the same events from the beginning up to when John is declared AWOL are tweaked to fit the new narrative of the Digital Goddess Cortana. The story makes clear that she will handle everything, she's technically a deity of the Domain now, so… he doesn't really have to worry about anything, he's got nothing to lose, again. Anyway, let's assume that the Cortana from this story manages to set everything up to escape with Sarah and they somehow make John disappear with them. Cortana's ultimate goal is to give John the things that were taken away from him through his life. A life in hiding, running away from the UNSC and their Headhunters, isn't exactly what she wants for him and their daughter, so, we dismiss the going AWOL idea. Just to be clear: I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm saying it's not convenient and it's not worth it for the characters in this particular setting. In my sincere opinion, and considering all the ramifications it could have, it would be a bad idea. I love discussing these sorts of things, thank you for your input and the support, darling! ;)
Anyway, my friends! Thank you for reading, leave your thoughts in the box below, I want to know your reactions to this so-awaited moment! :D See you next Sunday for more sugar, we're approaching the end of the story, stay safe!