Ch 1 red and blue
John stood up, the pain from fighting the Didact and his forces was still prevalent. But just like before, he'd push it to the back of his mind.
"Cortana, do you read?" He asked, seeing the blue sphere surrounding him.
John asked her name again, as a cold chill settled on his spine.
A bright glow was seen in his peripheral vision, and he turned to see it. To his surprise, he saw Cortana walking towards him.
"How…" he started, seeing the apparently life-like Cortana in front of him.
"Oh. I'm the strangest thing you've seen all day?" she teased.
"But if we're here…" John started, now thinking they were dead and in some form of purgatory.
"You did it. Just like you always do." Cortana softly said, a small smile on her face, but it seemed like she was holding something back.
'It's over. The Didact is dead, and earth is safe. Now for one final objective.'
"So how do we get out of here?" John asked.
"I'm not coming along with you this time." Cortana suddenly said.
"What?" John asked, shock in his voice. Cortana had always been by his side. There was no way she wouldn't be going with him.
"Most of me is down there." Cortana said, pointing to the remains of the Didact's ship. "I only held enough to get you off the ship."
John swallowed a gulp, desperately pushing the fear away from him.
"No… that's not… we go together." he affirmed. But the back of his mind was telling him that Cortana was telling the truth.
"It's already done." Cortana said, stepping closer to him.
"I am not leaving you here." John affirmed to Cortana.
Cortana raised a hand and put it on John's armor, relishing in the touch.
"I've waited so long to do that." she said, content in her voice.
John could only turn away, the weight of his failure now on his shoulders.
"I was supposed to take care of you." he said, unable to look Cortana in the eyes. Cortana moved her head to look at the Chief, getting his attention with her words.
"We were supposed to take care of each other. And we did." she said. Grabbing his helmet, she heard John take a deep breath as the helmet was removed. Cortana pressed her gentle lips against John's, savoring the moment.
'I always wanted to kiss the Chief, and here I am.'
John held her close to him, for the first time wishing he was out of the armor. Her lips felt cool like ice, only for his lips to feel warm again. Cortana backed away from John, tapping her head. John quickly put the helmet back on and voiced one final word to her.
"Wait." he desperately said, lifting his arm to her, now feeling far heavier than it should have.
Cortana looked up at John and gave him one last smile.
"Welcome home, John." she says before she disappears. The hard light bubble begins to decompose around the Spartan, mirroring his own thoughts.
The bay doors to the Infinity opened and he walked out of the Pelican, seeing dozens of UNSC soldiers saluting him. His mind went back to a moment from an old earth show called Battlestar Galactica.
'You brought them all home, Saul.' Adama said.
'Not all of them.' Tigh replied.
Not wanting the attention of the crowds that were sure to gather, John quickly made his way to one of the rooms on the Infinity, seeing planet Earth.
"It's funny, Cortana. The last time we saw Earth, it was a bombed out hell hole. Now, it's fucking thriving." he muttered to himself. He waited for Cortana's witty response, but nothing came. She was truly gone.
"Mind if i join?" Lasky asked.
"Of course not, sir." Chief said.
"At ease, Chief. Feels strange hearing you call me sir." Lasky joked, standing next to the Spartan. The two soldiers looked at Earth, the last bastion and homeworld of humanity. For now, it was safe.
"Beautiful, isn't she? I don't get to see her often enough. I grew up on New Harmony. Attended Corbulo Military Academy. Never saw Earth in person until I was an adult, but... I still think of her as home." Lasky said.
The word 'home' sounded foreign to John at the moment. Reach was bombed to hell, and he spent most of his life moving from one human base or ship to another.
"You don't talk much, do you?" Lasky asked, not getting a response from the stoic man. He quickly realized what he was going thru. Cortana must have meant a lot to him. It was no different than when he lost Chyler.
'Funny. I lost Chyler and the Chief was there. Now, the Chief has lost Cortana, and i'm here next to him. The way the universe works.'
"Chief, I won't pretend to know how you feel. I've lost people I care about, but... never anything like you're going through." Lasky said, attempting to comfort the Spartan.
"Our duty, as soldiers, is to protect humanity. Whatever the cost." John firmly said. Lasky wasn't fooled by it.
"You say that like soldiers and humans are two different things. Soldiers aren't machine's chief. We're just people." Lasky said. John briefly watched Lasky leave the room, and he looked back at earth.
"She said that to me once. About being a machine." he quietly said.