Author Note: I don't know how clear this was made the first time around, but the original story takes place some time after Halo 5, and operates under the assumption that Cortana has been removed as a threat and is currently under the supervision of Dr. Halsey. This story also operates under the same assumption. Also, I received some concern with a lack of character development, and a lack of maturity. On the first point, I hope to allow for far more character development. On the second point, if maturity is something you're looking for, you should definitely look elsewhere. There isn't a shred of maturity to be found here.

I kicked open the doors to the Greasy Spoon, and they slammed into the walls behind them with a loud bang. Several people turned around, wondering who could be entering with such force.

Me, an individual with an inexplicable penchant for kicking doors, that's who.

The bartender and owner, Sal, just glared at me from the bar and shook his head. The two people he had been talking to didn't even turn around. Which was completely expected from those two.

It was 3:37. So I'd gotten here a little late. Whatever. It was the best I could've done on short notice, and Vale would just have to suck it up.

What I hadn't expected was to see John with her. John didn't drink in public. He didn't used to drink at all, until I'd introduced him to the magic that was single barrel malt scotch or whatever it was. Basically, I'd peer pressured him to a bar sometime last year and ordered something akin to gasoline and had him drink it, and he'd liked it. Go figure.

I had expected to see two Sangheili sitting closely enough to hear what was said, but far enough away to not cause suspicion. Which they were. Unfortunately for them, I was always suspicious. And I was always on guard. It's a necessity when you're important to someone important. It was far from the first time two Swords had showed up to somewhere I was supposed to be, and I'd learned to recognize them. I'd been able to identify the two Sangheili at the bar as Swords here for the purpose of keeping an eye on me because of two reasons: one, they were both drinking water. Why? Less ice in the glasses that sat in front of them. Sal always puts a massive amount of ice in alcoholic drinks, and very little in glasses of water. So they were drinking water. Which clearly meant they weren't there to unwind after a hard day of being Swords of Sanghelios. The second thing was that they were sitting at the bar. Sangheili are military strategists by nature, and when they enter an establishment, they usually pick a spot that allows them to survey the establishment for any threat, while still having their backs protected. The fact that they were sitting at the bar, with their backs to the door, meant they had some kind of motive that required them to be sitting at the bar. Which meant they were there for me.

I turned my attention back to John and Vale. Judging by the amount of glasses in front the two of them, they'd both been here drinking for awhile.

Clearly, I was behind on the drinking part.

I sat between them and gestured to Sal. "Give me a bottle of vodka."

"How about I give you a glass?" Sal said, raising an eyebrow.

"If you give me a bottle, I'll stop kicking your doors."

"Deal."

He grabbed a bottle off the shelf, opened it, and set in front of me.

I took a moment to chug about half of it, then turned and looked at both Vale and John, respectively. "Okay. Who wants to tell me why I'm here and why you guys are drinking so heavily?"

They traded looks.

"You know, we've all known each other a bit of time. And we've all gotten pretty close in that amount of time. And you'd think, after that amount of time, you two would know that I really hate it when people give each other cryptic looks instead of just telling me what it is I need to fucking know." I said, leveling the two of them with a look that would wither any plant or private.

Vale put her hands up, then grabbed her drink and downed it. "This one's all you, Chief."

I looked at John. His eyes, normally sharp and clear, were clouded with alcohol and some kind of emotion I couldn't name, but definitely wasn't good.

I leaned on the bar, effectively blocking Vale from his view. "Hey. What's wrong?" I asked, softly, my eyes searching his for some clue as to why he looked like that.

"About 36 hours ago, I received a message. It was broken. Fragmented. Barely understandable." He motioned to Sal, who quickly responded with another glass. John drank that, then motioned again.

This time, when Sal put the glass down, I put my hand over it. "You want the sweet relief of your newfound coping mechanism, you have to tell me what's going on, first." I said, firmly. I wasn't going to let him drink himself into oblivion without giving him the relief of having someone else to help him shoulder his burden. Sometimes, you had to push him. Opening up wasn't his thing. But sometimes, he really needed someone there to help him out, and I was going to be that person right now.

John looked at me, his eyes carrying a heavy look, his brow furrowed. "It was from Cortana."

I sat up, ramrod straight. "It what? But she's been contained by Dr. Halsey for a while. Like, for quite a long time. That was all taken care of. How could she contact you?"

"The message didn't come from her containment unit." John tried to pull the glass out from under my hand, but due to my now full-grown half Sangheili strength, he couldn't. Nice try, sweetheart. You're not getting any of this liquid savior until you give me the dirty details and give your inner turmoil some reprieve.

"Where did it come from?" I demanded, pushing down harder on the glass.

"Give that to me." John ordered me, his eyes growing cold.

"No." I said, my voice colder.

He leaned forward, into my face. Ah, yes: drunk, emotional, belligerent John. Nice of him to make an appearance. "Now."

"Nooooo." I said, drawing out my answer, leaning forward and tilting my head as my forehead touched his, staring into his eyes, widening my own into that look of complete psycho that I was known for.

The tension was thick as we both stared each other down. I could go from caring friend to stone cold bitch just as quickly as he could go from impeccably self controlled Spartan to drunk fight starter.

"It came from Genesis." Vale cut in, sounding disgusted. Apparently, she wasn't impressed with our display of aggression. Whatever.

I blinked and leaned back. "What? How? Isn't that planet, like, dead?"

John leaned back too. "Inactive. It's been left alone since Cortana took the Guardians and left there."

"But apparently not, if you got a message from there." I said, finishing off my bottle of vodka and sliding it away from me, motioning to Sal.

"No more vodka for you." He grunted.

"Bruh, I'm half Sangheili. That's maybe like, one drink for me. Don't give me that."

"Will you stop getting into fistfights?"

I stopped and thought a moment. "No, but I'll stop throwing people over the bar?"

Sal slid me a bottle of red wine.

"What the fuck, man? This isn't vodka!"

"You didn't agree to my terms. You compromised. I'm doing the same."

I just muttered under my breath.

"What was that?" Sal asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I said, 'thank you, Sal. you're a gem.' That's what I said." I said, putting my hands up. The Arbiter may be my bitch, but I was definitely Sal's bitch. Your bartender is important, folks. Stay on their good side.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." He moved to serve another customer, but was still close enough that he could hear our conversation. I didn't blame him. This was a conversation that was pretty worth eavesdropping on. None of us minded, though, because Sal was a steel trap. He liked knowing, but he hated telling. It was the main reason we always came to this bar, instead of meeting somewhere more professional.

I turned back to John. "So what does that have to do with me?"

He leveled a serious look at me. "I'm taking my team to Genesis to find Cortana. What I need from you is something incredibly important, and incredibly serious."

"Tell her what the message said." Vale grunted, waving her hand, apparently not wanting him to tell me what his important and serious request was.

I felt very left out. Clearly, I wasn't the first person he'd told, and I resented that. I'd literally started the friendship between him and Vale, but look at them now, being all buddy-buddy and leaving me as the last to know. Although, maybe he'd told her in the time I'd been late. In which case, totally my fault. Don't be salty, Adams. You're above all that.

I raised an eyebrow at John.

He took a breath. "It said, 'I still don't know which of us is the machine'." He looked at me, that look of pain still poignant in his eyes. "I have to find her. It's her. I know it is. Not some rampant shadow of who she was. It's her."

I put a hand on his shoulder. "Okay, we'll get her back. And do whatever it takes to do that." I paused, then decided to add, "Who else have you told this to?"

"No one." They both said, in unison.

"Are you sure?" I asked, squinting at both of them.

"Yes." They both said, again in unison.

"Well, that's funny." I said, as I folded my arms and leaned back in my chair. "Because the UNSC just offered me a position as the head of medical personnel of a prestigious Spartan program. One in a facility that's very remote. Like, very far away from everything. So, you know. I just had to ask."

Vale looked horrified, and I saw John's eyelid twitch.

"They must have gotten wind of the message." Vale breathed, throwing a look around the bar.

"Yeah, you think?" I retorted. I drank the rest of the bottle of wine that Sal had given me. "So what is this thing you want to ask me?" I said, a little louder than necessary. I was rewarded with a confirmation of my suspicions when I saw both the Sangheili warriors at the bar glance over at me.

Vale glared at me. "Lower your voice, you raging idiot."

"Sorry." I whispered loudly, mostly just to spite her.

She rolled her eyes.

John laid a hand over mine. I glanced over and saw both the Sangheili twitch. Chill, dudes. We don't have that kind of relationship.

"I need you to create a diversion." He said. "Give me some time to get to Genesis without the UNSC following."

I shook my head. "So, basically, you're going to go AWOL a second time, but since the UNSC is still watching you, you need me to create a distraction that's big enough that they completely forget about you." I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair. "You realize that's a move that may end up getting me court martialed, or worse."

Vale looked away, and straight up just chugged what was left of her fifth drink.

John gripped my hand, tightly. "Kasey." He said, his voice thick. "I wouldn't ask you to do this unless it was everything to me."

I moved my hand and gripped his hand back. "I know. And I know how important she is to you. And I know that you have to do this. Trust me, I know." I looked at him, really looked at him, and saw the myriad of emotion in his eyes. "John, I'm your friend. And being your friend means that I'm willing to go to whatever lengths necessary to make sure you're happy. And I know you can't be happy unless you have her, the real her." I sighed. "So I'll do it. I'll create some kind of diversion that makes whatever you're doing seem like a walk in the park."

John leaned forward and wrapped both his arms around me. "Kasey, you have no idea how much this means to me."

"I think I do." I said, quietly, leaning my head against his. In some ways, he was still that idealistic child that was forced into the Spartan program. His sense of right and wrong. His sense of loyalty. His conviction that the people he cared about were far more important than a military organization. And that was one of the things I loved about him. That he was someone who would go to hell and back for the people he cared about. No matter what it took, if he cared for you, he would come for you. There wasn't anyone in this galaxy who could care for you the way he would care for you. He was one of the most selfless people I'd ever known, and he had answered the call to defend planets he'd never see and people he'd never know. If anyone deserved this kind of help, it was him. And if anyone else had asked me to risk my career and my life like this, I'd have said no. But it was John who was asking, and he was worth it.

I pulled back and put his hands on his shoulders. "I mean it. I'm with you. I'll do it. Go get her back."

He looked at me, a soft look in his eyes. "I don't know how to thank you."

"Thank me by bringing her home." I said, firmly.

I heard a noise, and turned to see the two Sangheili warriors getting up and leaving.

I took my hands off John's shoulders, turned back to the bar and grabbed the bottle of bullshit that Sal had given me. "Well, it was nice knowing you two."

Vale watched the two Sangheili leave. "Adams? What do you mean by that?" She said, her voice colored with suspicion.

I shook my head. "What I mean is, they were there when I came in. And now that we've gotten to the part of the conversation where I agree to do what you ask, they're leaving."

"But how did he know?" Vale demanded, punching my arm.

I rolled my eyes. "Vale, you came to talk to me literally minutes after I'd just left him. So it's not totally unrealistic to think that he had followed me and heard our conversation."

Vale groaned. "Goddamnit. That means we're in serious trouble."

I glanced towards the door. "Yeah. Unless I can manage to lie my way out of this."

"You'd lie to him?" Vale asked, looking at me like I'd grown a second head.

I shrugged. "Yeah. Yes, it's low, and yes, it's very wrong, but sometimes you have to do what you think is right and do the wrong thing to get there."

"That's some very, very shady morals you have there, Adams."

"I am aware. They're incredibly Machiavellian, but I stand by them."

"What are you going to do?" John asked, looking at me.

"I'm going to talk to him, obviously. But I'm also going to keep my promise to you. Which means that bad shit will probably go down, but I'm going to make sure it's all on me, and not on you. So don't worry about that." I told him.

I paid for my drinks, tipped Sal heavily (buying someone's silence is absolutely effective, anyone who says otherwise is lying out their ass), then turned to Vale and John. "You can count on me. Do what you need to. I'll soothe Thel's fears and do what I need to. Just get it done, okay? Don't make me do this for nothing." I leveled a look at John.

He nodded. "I can promise you it won't be for nothing."

"Good." I said. "It had better not be."

And then I left the Greasy Spoon, taking care to make sure I didn't kick the doors on the way out.