Maddie blinked awake, yawning softly as she kicked the covers from the bed. She felt relaxed as the soft duvet brushed her long bare legs and the cool sterile air from the conditioning unit wafted gently over her skin. She looked about, searching the room for her clothes, stretching casually until her back clicked with a satisfying series of cracks.
A groan from beside her made Maddie smile. "I hate that noise," Jade said, straining to look up at Maddie from beneath the covers and the messy tangle of hair. Maddie grinned and clicked her neck as well, laughing as Jade bundled herself under the sheets to avoid listening to it. It had been three weeks since OPERATION: SIREN had been put into motion and Maddie had spent most of the time preparing herself, mind and body, for the coming attack. She spied her clothes in a disregarded pile on the floor. One sock on her foot still, one the couch, panties on the chair and her fatigues on the floor. Her relationship with Jade had begun soon after that kiss. Jade moved fast, blindsiding Maddie with a flurry of sexually charged confrontations until the frustrated and deeply curious young agent gave in and embarked on one of the more experimental episodes of her life. As she spied her bra on the table, sat humorously upon her cap, Maddie smiled and was thankful for Jade. She'd shown her that ONI had no right to be her master.
No one does.
Such sentiment had translated into a continued strain on herself and Drake, who both knew that her little tryst with Parangosky was only just beginning. Maddie had already spoken with her grandfather about it, which meant Parangosky knew she planned on relocating her family through HIGHCOM rather than ONI. It would be slower but they would be out of Parangosky and the Covenant's reach.
"Is it 0600 already?" Jade mumbled.
"Not for another hour."
"Ugh, you Spooks and your routines." she said, coming back up for air, and the view. "You look good," she said, tracing the outline of Maddie's hips. The touch made her shiver with delight and Maddie let loose a relaxed sigh as the tension in her body was released. For the first time in a while, Maddie felt good. She felt satisfied, too, though looking down at the athletic woman gazing longingly at her chest, Maddie could easily let her have another go. Sex had never felt special for her since her first boyfriend left for reach when she was fourteen, and she had spent the years since in a sort of hedonistic daze and, more recently, using it to get something she needed.
Katya wasn't wrong about me, was she?
Jade picked up on the look on her companion's face and sat up, her breasts sitting plainly on her chest as she leaned back, pushing them out seductively. "Still feel awkward?" she asked, referring to Maddie's newly discovered bisexuality.
"No, definitely not" she smiled, leaning over and kissing the woman delicately on the cheek. "I just… I don't know what I really want"
"Nothing long term, I hope" Jade smirked. Though she was smiling, it seemed a serious question.
"Yes, actually" she said, then upon seeing Jade frown a little, "Not with you, uh- that sounds bad, I mean-"
Jade giggled at her sincerity but mostly her awkward and adorable shyness. For such a formidable woman, Jade found it incredibly easy to disarm Maddie. "You mean in general, later?"
Maddie nodded. "You're a lot of fun, and I certainly haven't had so much fun in a while but it's not the same. I used to be a dreamer, I thought I would be with one man for my whole life." Jade snorted at that and wrapped her arms seductively around Maddie's back. "I'm serious, Jade" Maddie smirked, "I nearly was, as well, found the perfect boy to be my first. He treated me perfectly, or close to it, and we taught each other everything."
"Well, he was a damn good teacher" she purred, "what happened to him?"
Maddie winced a little as Jade lifted herself up and straddled Maddie from the front. Maddie closed her eyes as a firm slender hand moved from her back towards her shoulders and up towards her cheek.
"The war." Maddie admitted with a sharp gasp as Jade's other hand went exploring. "He was orphaned, had to leave for Reach where his grandparents lived." With her eyes shut, the sensation of touch, the softness of Jade's hands, became all the more pronounced as she expertly manipulated her body into a state of burgeoning euphoria. "I… I want to feel that way again" she added, feeling Jade's fingers rest on the side of her neck.
"You will… one day." Maddie looked into Jade's deep brown eyes and saw the mischief in them, "but for now you're going to enjoy me."
Maddie swallowed, feeling her throat push against the hand that gripped her so assertively. She nodded, letting Jade take the lead as usual, and closed her eyes, giving herself up to the intense and brand-new feelings she had become so addicted to.
}{=}{
Maddie grinned like a child as her long legs thundered along the deck in gracefully long arcs. Round and round she had gone, running around the small gym area of the prowler, revelling in the sensations of fitness. Already, she knew that she was in with a shot of a personal best, and already, she felt the chemicals in her head fizzing with delight. They filled her with a sense of determination that drove her on and pushed hard against the last of the pain that buzzed in her rapidly healing joints. Her brand new fireteam hooted and cheered as she crossed the line, Duggan held up the stop watch and Maddie joined the celebration. Even the usually stoic Sergeant Grayson smiled and patted her on the back.
"Our squad average is now higher than the Wolves." he said, matter-of-factly.
Maddie revelled in that; she knew that Katya was good for the challenge. In the weeks since their conversation at the Siren planning meeting, Katya had become far more amicable than Maddie expected. The two of them had worked closely with each other, surprising everyone, including Jack, who clearly had an increasingly large soft spot for the famed wolf. Generally, though, Maddie was pleased with how things were shaping up. The Viper and the Wolf finally showed signs of being a coherent unit, even if Katya occasionally seemed distant or resentful towards her.
"Good time." Katya stated, walking towards them, coolly. Maddie tensed, noting instantly the wraps fitted to her fists. "Care to spar for a little bit, Snake?" Maddie scowled at her but Katya seemed amused by the display, she clearly still held some kind of grudge. Duggan and Grayson shot each other a look of worry before searching out Braeburn and Baker, who sheepishly looked on from the far side of the gym.
"Sure." Maddie replied, taking the tape from a nearby bench and slipping it around her hands, "what's this about?" She asked, her brow raised and searching for any signs that this wasn't going to be a friendly bout in the ring.
She said nothing, rather, she pulled off her shoes and climbed into the ring, dipping swiftly under the ropes with ease. Maddie followed suit, removing her running shoes and kicking them aside before hauling herself into the ring as well. "I wanted to talk." She said quietly.
Maddie was taken aback and looked around at the nervous faces in the room. "Leave us." She said, authority dripping from her voice. Each of them took a long look at the other before Duggan shrugged and tugged Baker and Grayson away from them. Braeburn followed very reluctantly, watching Katya as he looked back. Maddie smiled; it was adorable to see him care for someone. As she looked back at the wolf in front of her, she wondered if she had noticed his affection at all, or if she was simply too focused on her to consider him. "What did you want, Katya?"
Katya shook her head, "we fight, cleanly, the winner of the round asks a question, and the loser must answer."
Maddie wondered what Katya wanted to ask and shrugged before taking up her stance. "Rules?" She asked as Katya did the same.
"Three rounds, each will end if the opponent is floored or knocked out."
"Sounds good"
"Then let's begin" she said, darting forward. Maddie sidestepped and aimed a kick at her legs. Katya was ready for it however, changing her direction at the last second and bringing a knee up towards Maddie's stomach. She just about parried the blow but pain rifled through her arm. Katya didn't let up, launching a flurry of kicks and punches towards Maddie's guard, attempting to grind her down until she couldn't keep up.
Maddie dodged a well-placed palm and found the opening she needed.
Maybe I should let her win. Hear her out?
The opening closed as quickly as it had begun and Katya capitalised, hopping back and spinning in place, sweeping a long and powerful leg at Maddie's ankles and cutting them from under her. With a "thwack" Maddie crashed into the floor and groaned as Katya bounced triumphantly on her feet.
Focus Mads.
"Your question, then." Maddie said, thankful for the rest.
"Why did you rescue me?"
Really?
"You were in trouble." Maddie replied, bluntly.
"You were ordered to stay on the ship and you disobeyed orders to do it. I want to know why."
Maddie swallowed, "who told you? Drake? Al-Shiran?"
"The engineer. Roberts."
Damn you, Jade.
She ranted, "You play such mind games, I can't figure you out. One minute you embarrass me in front of our peers and the next minute you risk everything to save me when you literally don't need to."
"Do you want my answer or not?" Maddie replied.
"I want the truth and don't lie to me because I will know" she scowled.
"Remember that A.I I built back on Luna?"
"Yes, the one that updated the security package without authorisation. A defence intelligence, I think it was."
"No, he was designed for espionage. He worked perfectly, only I snuck him into the fleet and got caught, Parangosky punished me by relocating my sister to Ballast with my mother."
Katya frowned and seemed to understand the severity of that, "but what does that have to do with me?"
"I wanted to remind Parangosky that my family is off limits, and that ONI wanted me for a reason. They wanted a weapon, an unorthodox weapon that might give us an edge in this war. All I did was remind them of that fact. I showed them I wasn't going to be intimidated and controlled by them and that I got results when I went off script."
"So, you had other motives."
"Of course, I did, we hadn't spoken since you read my files back in Elysium. We weren't exactly chummy at the time, if you remember."
Katya relented, taking up her stance again. Maddie wasn't sure if that was a good sign but Wolves were simple enough creatures when it came down to it. Maddie followed suit, drawing her arms into a familiar guard before nodding to her opponent.
Okay. No hesitation this time!
She moved first, driving an assault deep at her opponent, watching her reaction with hawk-like precision. Katya back peddled, dodging and parrying as she soaked up Maddie's onslaught.
Finding a rhythm, Maddie sensed that Katya was toying with her, wearing her down. Forcing herself to push harder, Maddie ground herself against Katya's guard. Like water upon rock, she threw herself into the fray with heavy, weighted kicks and wide punches laden with power.
Katya, her teeth bared, parried a kick, leaving Maddie flat footed. Stunned by the turnaround, Maddie was caught in no man's land as Katya, with lethal efficiency, placed a follow up kick towards her stomach. Maddie watched in apparent slow motion as her leg grew before her, snapping into a taught and muscular beam that careered towards her face. All Maddie could do to avoid it was throw herself backwards, landing with a swift and loud thump on the floor of the ring.
"Why are you going easy on me?" She growled, her eyes narrowing as she bore into Maddie like water seeping into sponge.
"Is that your question?" Maddie asked, flushing red with embarrassment. She actually had been trying that time.
"More games. More lies." She spat, "I wonder if anything you say is really true. Yes, it is my question. I know you; you aren't this easy to put down."
Maddie pulled herself to her feet, wanting desperately to say something sharp or witty. Good sense prevailed, however, as Maddie had been trained to remain calm under pressure. "I'm distracted. I was wondering what you wanted to ask of me. It's clear you came here with something in mind but you want to fight, to play your own games just like me."
Katya seemed to consider this; her face became unreadable for a moment before she turned abruptly on her heels. She couldn't see her face now and Maddie strained to see what it was the woman was feeling. Her body, which was usually so expressive, was taught and lifeless. Maddie simply took that as a sign to ready herself, dipping cautiously into her fighting stance.
I'll fight you on my terms this time.
Katya turned, her face a fit of rage and frustration. She launched into a wild and furious attack and Maddie was pushed on the back foot. Unlike before, it wasn't because of Katya's skill that Maddie found herself reeling and retreating about the ring. Now, she saw the raw emotion of Katya's attacks, the gaps she left in her defences seemed predestined. There was an inevitability to her loss, Maddie realised, as she lashed out and struck at whatever part of Maddie was closest to her.
Something in Maddie snapped, and she coiled as she stepped backwards, retreating to a point where she was comfortable, and in total control. As Katya swung a slow but powerful fist at her head, Maddie ducked and brought her knee up to Katya's gut. The strike elicited a mighty guttural grunt from her opponent and Maddie unfurled, thrusting one precisely calculated blow to the girl's head.
Maddie growled as Katya groaned on the floor. "I win. Happy? Now enough of this crap, tell me what you want and let's be done with this." Katya coughed and tried to sit up, but she'd been winded. Sighing, Maddie sat next to her on the mat.
"Question." She croaked.
Maddie shook her head at the woman's stubbornness. There was anger, upset, rage and frustration in Katya's actions. More than that though, the girl seemed confused and listless as she looked up at her. Maddie wondered if Katya was looking for something that she couldn't ask, or if her subconscious wanted something that her mouth couldn't ask for. "Are you trying to forgive me?" She asked, sweat running down her face.
Katya closed her eyes and let out a long breath. "She found me on Venezia." She said softly. "Draco III was attacked and my people were slaughtered. Our stories are pretty similar, I got picked up by civilian militia, too. I got caught up in defensive operations, drafted into service aged fourteen. That mall you killed a brute in? That was my whole planet. Eventually I realised it was doomed, my family died in the initial attack, the rest of the people I knew were picked off over the rest of the year."
Maddie remained deathly silent. Memories that she had long repressed flooded into her mind. The dead friends, the panic, the brutality of the fighting, and especially the torture sent a pulsing wave of dread and anxiety storming through her icy veins. "Not many people escaped Draco III" Maddie noted, more to herself than anything else. The rumours about the genocide were the stuff of nightmares, and if survivors were to be believed, the truth was even worse.
"I stowed away on a privateers vessel bound for Venezia" she replied, her glassy eyes seemed lifelessly blue, like the colour of a frost-bitten corpse. "It was… another kind of hell… the Captain was a man of renown, a feared outlaw with a small flotilla of ships that he used to plunder UNSC supply lines with. He was quite charismatic, too. He told me he would protect me from everything, he'd hide me from the UNSC, the Covenant, even the giant rodent pests that made their home on Venezia." She took a long pause, closing her eyes as she collected herself. "Turns out that pirates aren't exactly trustworthy" she said, sitting up and crossing her legs. She moved her hands forward, tightly holding her thighs in the opposite hands and shuddered. "They… kept me for their amusement. I believed they loved me, too. They always said I was part of their crew, they trained me; broke me into pieces and shared the broken shards of me with the crew. They took everything from me because they had power and because I trusted them."
You were a child Katya, why are you so hard on yourself?
Maddie already knew why, because the same had happened to her. She trusted ONI because they offered her a chance to be needed, a chance to be important. Katya had just been younger and dealing with even worse people than ONI.
"I didn't realise how far gone I was until I tried to kill an ONI operative for them, and got caught. Veronica was far nicer than she needed to be when she hauled me in for interrogation."
Maddie was stunned. She hesitated, unsure of what to do. Then, she remembered exactly how Katya felt, and remembered exactly what she had wanted when it had happened to her. She turned and wrapped her arms around Katya, pushing her head into her shoulder and squeezed tightly. A burst of emotions seemed to spew forth from her eyes like a cracked dam and Katya, surprised only for the briefest of moments, put her arms around Maddie as well.
As Braeburn watched on from the doorway, confused and unsure as to whether he should intervene, the two girls finally burst into tears.
}{=}{
A few days later, in a quiet corner of the Enigma's cafeteria, Maddie and Katya were talking, with red and sore eyes, about the pasts that they seemed to hold in trust. It had been a long and difficult conversation for the pair of them, fraught with nearly arguments and several rounds in the ring but the two women had finally said to each other what had needed to be said. Maddie finally understood her compatriot. "When I slept with the Dean… I outed your secret. Unknowingly, I gave you the exact reputation you had been trying to hide. The Dean was everything you despised, cut right to the core of you and… " Maddie looked her dead in the eye, grimacing under Kat's gaze, "and I'm sorry. For everything."
It was all that had been left to say, the two of them more than understood each other now, as they pushed cold food around their plates.
"I'm sorry too, for my part in things." She admitted, though Maddie felt it was unnecessary, Katya was too similar to Maddie for her to be told otherwise. Maddie smiled as she mentally added 'stubbornness' to their shared list of traits.
A long silence held, and the empty cafeteria just made it all the more poignant. That being said, neither woman appeared to feel uncomfortable with it. Rather, they spent the time reflecting on their choices and the hand the covenant and ONI had dealt them. Eventually, Maddie noticed the silence and looked at Katya as she gazed off to the side, to the place where Jack had eaten a few hours prior.
"You like him?" Maddie smiled, nodding to the empty seat.
"I do." She said, turning red.
"He's a good man. A loyal man." She replied, "and he means a lot to me, Kat. So, look after him" Maddie smiled, weakly, feeling a strange sadness that Jack and Katya might leave her alone. There was certainly no long-term future for her and Jade. In fact, Maddie was only interested in the release of her frustrations, the mystery and magic of discovering a new side of herself was already waning, it seemed.
Katya looked up at her and returned the smile, "Don't worry," she said, a knowing smile tugging at her lips, "I know."
"When did it happen?" Katya froze. "Come on, I'm not stupid, I know you're doing more than flirting, Maddie added, grinning a little at the discomfort she was causing her.
"Drake doesn't know," she whispered.
"You wanna put money on that?" Maddie grinned even wider. "ONI will try and use it against you both at some point. I mean it's what I would do." Katya pushed her plate away as she said this and scowled. "I think we should get to the drop bay and suit up before Drake ships you off to a penal colony" Maddie added, sensing that Katya didn't want to discuss this.
Maybe we aren't quite that close just yet…
"That isn't funny" Katya replied, standing up.
"it's a little funny..."
Katya didn't bite, but Maddie believed that the best thing she could now be was herself. They made a detour to the Ides' flight deck and picked up their new recon armour from Al-Shiran. Who cheerily wished them good luck. Maddie was thankful that he would be providing fire support. It was then that Maddie frowned as a fully kitted out Captain Drake emerged from the back of the Pelican with Jade, who carried a small set of packages down the ramp. Katya glanced at Maddie; her brow arched into a fine point.
"Thank you, Ms Roberts, can you give us a minute? I need to speak with my team before you give them their toys."
Jade nodded and shot a flirtatious wink in Maddie's direction. Maddie swallowed as Drake stood in front of them. Watching the pair of them as they stood side by side in unison, for the first time since they'd all met.
"Right, well, it seems as though my special request was confirmed, but they aren't going to make it in time. So rather than get SPARTANs, you get me."
"It'll do," Maddie smiled, secretly glad to be back in the field with her mentor.
"It'll have to" Katya frowned, "I'm not sure we can pull this off without them though, Sir."
Drake nodded in agreement, "it's a long shot but we need the Nazari's or this whole project is dead on arrival. That means no bickering, sticking to the plan, and no questions asked, understood?"
"Yes, Sir," they both replied.
Drake seemed satisfied by this and nodded to Jade and let the girl approach. She opened the first box to reveal a large knife, decorated with the crest of Draco III on the base of the blade. Katya turned it in her hands, her eyes widening with awe before turning it over in her hands and grinning savagely. There, embedded into the flipside of the knife was a Wolf's head with blood dripping from its teeth.
Katya thanked her and stood aside as Jade revealed Maddie's kit, firstly, there was the hatchet, returned to its gleaming shine. Maddie clipped open the box containing her armour and grinned as she slipped it inside.
"I managed to get this working" she said, biting her lip, "improved the design a bit, too."
Maddie's eyes glittered as she took the freshly repaired covenant wrist blade from the box and ignited it. A litany of green lit the side of their faces and Maddie smiled.
It was Jade.
It was a tone of green so specific that it could not be anything but her paramour's colour. Maddie felt her face flush a little and thanked her for it. Drake and Katya turned and headed for the door and Al-Shiran was already powering up the ship as Maddie stood before her.
"See you when I get back?" Maddie asked, hopefully.
Jade grimaced into a smile that seemed to hurt her with every moment that she wore it.
"You will, but not like that." She said, hoarsely.
"What? But-"
"I have a rule. Five nights together and then I move on."
"But we've been at it for three weeks" Maddie noted, her mouth drying.
"You were… more exciting than most." She smiled predatorily before stopping herself. "Trust me, babe, it's better this way."
"But if it's just sex"
Jade shook her head, "not with you. There's more with you and I don't want that… to complicate things"
Maddie didn't know what to say but she knew that Jade was probably right.
"Well, I'll see you around then"
"You will, Lieutenant." She saluted.
Maddie backed away, her things in her arms.
That explains the Jade coloured blade, I guess. Goodbye to you too, Jade.
"As you were, Specialist Roberts" Maddie replied flatly and turned, striding past Katya and Drake who had waited for her to catch up.
"Everything alright, Maddie?" Katya asked.
Maddie laughed. "I think I just got dumped."