Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading! I'm overwhelmed by the reviews. And here, after a very, very long wait, is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Forty: When You're Busy Making Other Plans, Part Three

When I got back to my brother's room, thankfully unnoticed, I wasn't too surprised to see he was already awake and waiting at the door when I arrived.

"Good morning, Nat," he said. He leaned curiously against the door jam, dressed in his ONI fatigues.

"Morning, big bro," I returned, cheerier than usual as I stepped past him to get inside. I felt his gaze follow me as I bent to grab a fresh uniform, underclothes, boots, and a towel from my sea bag.

"Imagine my surprise this morning when I woke up before 0500 to see you gone." He folded his arms across his chest. "Where've you been?"

I could tell by his tone that he wasn't upset with me, just genuinely intrigued. So I answered, "You know, everyone seems to have forgotten that I have a regiment to run. Who says I wasn't working?"

My brother pointed to the rather large pile of clothing I'd collected, sitting on my cot. "Well, maybe that."

"Could've been out for a run, too."

"Yeah, but given that I normally find you sound asleep when I get up, somehow that doesn't seem like the most likely explanation."

I finally pushed my bag back under my cot, huffed a mock sigh, and stood. Then I flashed my new ring at him, unable to keep the grin off my face. "Well...I got married last night."

A corner of his lips turned upward. "Oh, yeah? To who?"

"My husband."

Mark's face went from mild amusement to a genuine grin. "Hey. You two actually worked it out. That's great news, Nat. Congrats." He reached over to give me a quick hug, which I returned. "I'm happy for you guys. Really."

"Thanks, big bro." I turned to grab my pile once he released me. "I'm going to take a quick shower right now, but I'll be bringing my stuff over to Will's after, so we can put this cot away. Bet you're glad to get me out of your hair, huh?"

My brother chuckled. "It's been real, sis. But yeah, I'll be glad to have my space back. And you two yours."

My expression suddenly fell then as I walked past him again and out the door. I stopped. "What about Cal and his team? Any word yet?"

"Nothing to report, Nat. As always, you'll be the first to know."

"Well, if you haven't heard anything by noon, ping him. It's time."

Mark nodded. "Will do."

Murphy and the 8th had put up makeshift showers for us on the UNSC side of the courtyard, out by my regiment's quarters. The building meant for me and Willis had its own bathroom, but, not surprisingly, it wasn't at all measured right for humans - or practical, either. So, one of the first things I'd had my former battalion help with was setting up a new one. It meant I had to use the same facilities as the rest of my Marines, but I was good with that.

The showers were open to all, regardless of gender, with two partitioned stalls sharing one large showerhead above. They were tall enough that privacy was maintained, but they were still able to share water. A row with the same layout extended for a total of fifteen two-person cubes. Enough for a platoon to shower at once, if needed, though that was rarely essential. But with over fifteen hundred Marines in the keep, some amount of redundancy was necessary. I couldn't have everyone trying to jam into a small handful of stalls.

There were a few benches lined up outside where I laid out my change of clothes, and it was also there that I was supposed to meet Willis. It was still quiet this early in the morning, but I knew a few dozen Marines would be heading in soon to get clean. The next group of Marines on perimeter watch would be moving out at 0600, while others would be rotating back in. I checked my watch. It was 0535 now.

I spent a few minutes waiting for Willis, but when he hadn't shown up yet, I figured I'd better hop in before my regiment arrived. I'd just turned on the water to its hottest setting - barely lukewarm - and soaped up when I heard someone else enter the stall.

Not the one across from me that I shared water with. My stall.

"Surprise." Willis scooted in beside me to get under the stream as I rinsed. The water dripped down his short hair and face until he ran a hand over it, getting the water out of his eyes. Then he grinned.

"Uh-uh. Will, you need to get out, now," I said to him. "I told you, I can't...we can't..." Seeing him start to lather up his body with the soap, standing so close to me, was doing a number on my faculties right now. I swallowed. "We won't be alone in here, you know. Marines are coming in from shift in twenty minutes. My Marines. That I'm in charge of."

"I know. But it's empty now."

Willis raised an eyebrow at me as he rinsed. It felt a little like a dare.

I was still feeling torn when he reached out and put a hand behind my head, pulling me in for a kiss underneath the stream. It ignited everything inside me that I'd felt the night before, in bed with him, and I couldn't help but kiss him back. Harder. More fiercely. I wrapped my arms around his slick neck and pressed into him, until he groaned against my lips.

"The things you do to me, Cooper," he said, smirking at me as the water flowed around us. I'd pulled my hair down earlier to wash it, and he gently pushed the wet, shoulder-length strands out of my face. After that he leaned in to kiss my collarbone and my neck, and I all but melted in his arms.

"We'll have to be fast," I breathed.

Willis made a grunt of acknowledgment, but I don't remember a single thought going through my head after that.

It was difficult keeping a straight face later, as Willis and I toweled off and dressed in our uniforms mere seconds before the first group of Marines arrived. We rushed out before a line formed inside.

I barely suppressed a giggle once we'd finally emerged. "We are not doing that again," I said, shaking my head but still smirking. "My heart is beating so fast."

Willis just grinned behind his sunglasses. "It was fun, though."

I glanced over with my own and felt the urge to kiss him again, but since we were out in the courtyard now - and decidedly not alone - I refrained. "Are we going to be like newlyweds now? Christening places as we go?"

My husband let out a guffaw as he put his arm around my shoulders. "I sure hope so, Coop." Then he sobered. "But for now, I propose a pause in the...festivities. I'm starving."

"Same."

He pulled back and we settled for walking side-by-side as we approached a larger group of Marines clustered beyond. The morning was livening up as the watch rotated in, and personnel inside the keep were waking up for the day. I figured we'd have to get our food in now, before the mess got too crowded.

To that end, I decided that first, it was time to check in with my XO.

"Delaney? Anything new from F Company's commander?" He'd been the OIC of the overnight patrol.

"No, ma'am," Delaney replied. "Perimeter's been quiet all night, and all morning so far. Nothing to report."

"Good. Let me know if anything changes. I'm about to grab a bite and then I'll gear up and come take over for you."

"Understood. I'll be here."

I hesitated, then said, "Be sure to - "

Schwoop!

It'd been so long since I'd heard the sound that it took me an extra second to identify it. Once I did, I immediately pushed Willis and I to the dirt and yelled, "Incoming!"

We barely got down in time. As I covered my head with my hands, without helmet or armor or gloves - or even a damn weapon, for that matter - I cursed the fact that I'd left my sidearm back at Mark's. I'd just been going for a shower. No need to carry it in there, I'd thought.

Apparently that wasn't the brightest idea I'd ever had, because now we were about to engage the enemy - whoever it was - without so much as a rock to throw at them.

The first hot, glowing blue round crashed into the center of the courtyard, vaporizing the fire pit and benches away, but miraculously hitting no one. The next one wasn't as lucky.

I heard piercing screams as I shut my eyes tight against the blast, then the smell of burnt flesh and metal wafted into my nostrils, along with the dirt. When I opened my eyes again against the dusty ground, the scene that greeted me was pure chaos. A smoldering crater in the center, where the pit had been…and another just a few dozen feet from my husband and I, with what looked like charred meat inside it. My stomach roiled against the sight and smell.

"Natalie! Natalie! Are you okay?"

Willis was screaming at me, even though we were right next to each other. I gathered he'd asked me the question a few times already and I still hadn't answered him.

I shook it off. All of it. Had to. "Yeah. Yeah," I said louder as I coughed to clear my lungs. "I'm fine. I'm…not hit."

We rose cautiously, just as another round came hurtling in overhead. This time we didn't dive for the ground, but instead just turned and shielded our faces from the massive orb of plasma heading in.

Willis and I both lost our balance when it hit, nearly tumbling into the dirt together. Instead, we caught ourselves on each other. When our eyes met, I could see my husband's face was already streaked with dust, his hazel eyes wide. I figured I looked pretty similar as I stared back.

No one had expected this. Human rebels, maybe, but not the Sangheili civil war coming right up to our front door.

I gripped his forearm, suddenly seeing that the sleeve of my battledress jacket was just as dirty as his face. "Get to the birds, Will. Now. Go get your pilots and send 'em up. Go!"

Willis hesitated for the briefest of seconds, probably worried for my safety, but quickly nodded and took off in the direction of the keep's barracks.

Glancing down at myself, weaponless, I realized I needed to do the same.

"Marines, this is Lieutenant Colonel Cooper!" I said into my earbud as I sprinted through open ground, trying to get back to my brother's room on the Elite side for my armor and rifle. "If you haven't heard all that yet, we've got incoming. I repeat, we are under attack! Everyone up and out, now!"

I ducked as I heard another round swoop through the air. I didn't stop running, though. I had to make it to my gear so I could fight.

But apparently, the enemy had other plans.

The mortar round hit jarringly close by and I was knocked right off my feet. I fell hard into the dirt with a groan, only then realizing just how much punishment my helmet and armor plates had taken for me over the years. My head was swimming when I opened my eyes. I could taste blood in my mouth.

I was looking up at the sun until I wasn't. A fourth round momentarily blotted out the light.

That's all I needed to scramble back to my feet. Another Marine rushed to stand beside me and, without thinking, I grabbed hold of his collar to pull him up with me. Together we ran the length of the open yard until we got to an awning by the officers' barracks.

I heard a thud when the Marine's back hit the wall beside me. He took several long, deep breaths before turning to face me.

"Colonel Cooper? What - Who's fighting us?"

Pressing my own back against the wall as I took in air fast, I responded, "A very old friend of ours, Sergeant. The other Elites."

I had to run from where I'd ended up after the blast to where I really needed to be to reach my stuff – the Sangheili side of the keep. When I got there, I could see that part of the field where the younglings played was destroyed – thankfully, none had been outside this time. In the moment I couldn't even try to figure what the odds of that were. I just knew I had to get into Mark's room.

I reached the spot and saw that the door had been broken by the small quakes; the top part was off the hinge. That meant I'd have to muscle my way in.

Though I was already pretty battered and tired from the run, I squared up my shoulders and rushed the door. Grunting at the impact, I felt the door creak, but nothing else happened.

"All right," I growled to myself. "Let's try again."

I ran into it the second time, and now pain shot through my arm like a bolt. This wasn't going to work, I realized. This wasn't –

"Let me, human."

I looked up from holding onto my hurt shoulder with my other arm to see Torran. I'd never been so happy to see a damn Elite in my life. I turned my head to the side and spat blood on the ground, then said, "Have at it."

Torran snarled - but at the door, not me. He went crashing through the thick wood, destroying it as if it were no more inconvenient than a piece of tissue paper. If the circumstances were different, I would have laughed at how absurdly easy it'd been for him – something I would have struggled greatly to do myself.

"Thanks, Torran. Always good to have a Sangheili friend in a pinch."

When I ran inside, my primary concern was for my older brother. I didn't see him. I didn't even see traces of him – most of his stuff was gone. I wondered if he'd gone off on an ONI mission this morning. If he had, I wondered why he hadn't told me. In any case, he'd been lucky to miss this.

There. I spotted my things propped against the wall in the corner, by my cot. The cot I hadn't slept in the night before. I'd spent all of last night in Willis's arms. And now, my good fortune had run out.

I gathered up my gear as fast as I could, strapping on armor, gloves, and my helmet before picking up my rifle. I paused just long enough to check its load. It was ready. So was I.

By the time I ran out, Torran was gone. I bet he'd gone in the direction of the outer keep, to go help his brothers. Or maybe to go get Sennu. In the meantime, I had my own troops to direct.

"Delaney, this is Cooper. Status," I said into the command channel, now that I had access to it again.

No answer. I wondered if his helmet or comm bud had been damaged in the attack. Likely. I hailed my other battalion commanders instead."Mullen? Murphy? Please respond."

The former Helljumper's gruff voice came over the channel first. "Murphy here with the 213th, ma'am. On your left."

"Major Mullen here, Colonel! On your six!"

I nodded inside my helmet. "All right, good. Anyone know the status of - "

Another explosion rocked the courtyard. But this time, for once, it didn't hit inside. It landed outside the keep. And judging by the whoops coming over the general channel, it wasn't us on the receiving end.

"Colonel, this is Talon with the 87th Air Wing in the skies," Willis said. "We're here to save your ass, ma'am. Again."

"Or, at least to help." I smirked briefly, then sobered just as fast. There wasn't time for this right now. "You and your flyboys do what you can to keep the tanks down, Flight Leader. We'll handle the rest."

"Yes, ma'am. Just know you've got infantry headed your way as well."

Of course we do, I thought. To Willis, I grit my teeth and said, "Bring 'em on."

While I waited for the pilots' overhead view to hit my HUD - and show us just how many enemy Elites we were up against - I focused my attention on what lay before us. Marines were hit and injured from the blasts, as were a number of civilian Sangheili. That was something I trusted our medics - and theirs - were taking care of. What I needed to help ensure now was that no more rounds made it through our defenses. That we pushed the enemy back.

"Torran? Murphy? Mullen?" I said into the command channel as I brought my rifle up to fire a long-distance burst at the incoming fighters. "Everyone still good?"

"Ready, Colonel."

"By your command, ma'am."

"Yes, human. Though you must make it quick; I will not stand idle while my home burns."

"We'll get it under control, Torran," I answered, quickly ducking by the side of a building to avoid a plasma shot from afar. The Elites' accuracy was, as always, too close for comfort. As soon as the round hit, I emerged again, rifle aimed and pulled tight against my shoulder as I fired off several more bursts. In the distance, I saw two towering but otherwise indistinct forms drop into the grass. "Is Sennu safe?"

"Yes, but I do not know for how much longer, should this bombardment continue."

"It won't. My air commander and his ships are upstairs now to provide coverage." I paused behind the wall again, reloading. "Just tell your troops to hang tight, T. I've got a plan."