A/N

Hiya, everybody! I know, it's been literal ages since I've uploaded anything but life has gone to all hell and I've been trying to pull myself outta the gutter. Along with life just being a huge asshole, I also got sick and injured in the same week. My injury still hasn't healed fully and color guard is kinda just making it worse. (partially my fault, I refuse to sit out...) Anyway. Here's another chapter from Blood and Ash, and this one is longer than the last couple have been. I hope you enjoy and can't wait to see what comes next for Tai. I'd also like to thank the many new followers I've gotten. It's what's been truly keeping me going. Have a good day/night, and I'll see ya next time. :)

Twelve

The nightmares had made a harsh return. Tai thought she'd gotten over them, and had managed to make it past the horrible years before her rescue, but apparently her mind had different ideas. They were always the same any time she had them. It started with her adoptive parents deaths, Tai was forced to watch in slow-motion as the Covenant sent bomb after bomb down on her home town over the news while she was held in school.

She was forced to watch as her parents' bodies got buried underneath the piles of burning rubble. And Tai couldn't even do anything about it. She was never able to do anything to try and save the lives of the people who had saved her. Later, as the nightmares continued, she'd go back further in time, the nightmare never wanting to pick a damned point in time to stick with.

Tai was always back in the old labyrinth-like estate. The other children her aunt and birth-mother had experimented on had been kidnapped, much like the Spartans of today, but at a much earlier age. The teen remembered when she first started her own trials, the pain and fear her child-self had to endure. It was always absolute torture and left the teen in a state of endless exhaustion that just couldn't be dealt with. It was like the exhaustion seeped into her very bones, weighing down every fiber of her being.

Her nightmares were always so clear, so detailed that sometimes, when she woke up in the cot of her dorm aboard the New Hope, she had to physically remind herself that she wasn't back in the chambers of the estate. They were always so vivid in her sleep, yet for some reason, she could never backtrack and see what had happened. Some people called that PTSD, she was pretty sure.

And the nightmares always seemed to occur whenever something important was about to happen, and every time they played out in her mind's eye, Tai saw something that didn't belong, something that wasn't even in her earliest memories. The Spartans had been in the nightmare, surrounding a stiff and cold body that laid on the ground, blood seeping from the injuries gathered on its body. And beside them stood Doctor Catherine Halsey, her aunt and birth-mother just in front of the Doctor, almost like they were trying to protect her.

For some reason, when Tai woke up drenched in sweat, she got the distinct feeling that there was something missing from her memories. And, as she looked around at herself, she couldn't help but notice the harsh, bloody lines that marred her skin.

The Spartans were beginning to worry for their smaller friend. The teen hadn't shown up in the mess at all in the past two days. Not even the Woods' family had seen her. They didn't quite know what was happening, but they'd be damned if they didn't get to the bottom of it.

Just when Frederic was about to say something to the Chief, the teen in question finally showed up to the mess. His bright teal eyes narrowed when he caught sight of the small redhead. Something was wrong. Tai was slouching, and that was just about as rare for her to do it as it was for the Chief. Her eyes had dark bags under them, the bruises showing grossly against her pale skin.

If the Spartans hadn't been worried before, they most definitely were now. The girl's once bronze-like skin had turned ashy and pale. As she got closer to the table, they could also see some very noticeable bruises and cuts along her arms and legs. The bandages were still around her neck and shoulder, and they looked fairly clean. But that brought up the question of where the hell she'd gotten injured.

There hadn't been any other fights aboard the ship since the Covenant a couple weeks ago.

John watched as the less than herself teen sat down next to him. They had all noticed that the girl almost always sat next to him if she could. And for some reason, the Chief wasn't bothered by the fact that the girl wanted to be next to him. Any time she couldn't sit next to him (either because the seat was taken by an unsuspecting Marine who didn't know who they were, or by some needy female soldier who was trying to get his attention) she'd basically throw a hissy fit. With some occasional death stares and mental threats, of course.

Tai wasn't hungry. She hadn't been hungry for the past few days now that she thought about it. She was never that hungry when it was close to the anniversary. The time of her adoptive parents' deaths. Sure, it had been a while ago, almost four years, but that didn't make it any easier. Tai always tried to put it in the back burner of her mind whenever she could, but the memory always showed up on their death date. And any time she had that damned nightmare she couldn't fucking remember.

The teen glared moodily at her food, pushing the supposed spaghetti around on her plate. Her eyes looked vacant, void of any real emotion. It was startling for the Spartans. Normally, they could read just about anyone, it was part of their job description, but the teen had managed to put up such a good front, that they almost couldn't see past it.

Almost.

Her once bright blue eyes were dark, like a cloud before the storm struck. Frederic thought they looked to be filled with turmoil and pain. He couldn't figure out why. They hadn't heard about anything that could possibly bring such a change in attitude to their normally spit fire of a teen. Nothing in the girl's once hidden files showed anything that could affect the girl so much. And it brought back their worry in a harsher light.

The Spartans at the table glanced around at each other, trying their best to figure out a way to breach the subject with the girl. Their breach came in the form of a messenger, telling the group of five to meet Captain Warren on the bridge with the Woods' family. Something dropped in the pit of Frederic's stomach. He couldn't help but think that the reason the Captain wanted to see them would only make the teen more distant.

The Spartans practically had to drag Tai with them to the bridge, the teen refusing to stand from the table. At least that bit of her seemed to be normal. She never was partial to authority. And so, fifteen minutes later, the group found themselves on the bridge with the Captain.

Frederic swore he got whiplash with how quickly Tai's demeanor changed when she was in front of the Woods' family. She was no longer slouching, she held her head high, and even her eyes seemed to get a certain gleam to them. But, apparently, only the Spartans could still see the turmoil and harshness to her. Even though the gleam returned to her eyes and her face had gained the usual determination to it, they could still see that the teen was a shell of her normal self.

Tai watched as the Spartans saluted the Captain and took a seat at the empty meeting table, deliberately leaving an open space between the Chief and Frederic for her. She chose to ignore the stare of the Captain and just sat down, not waiting for the man to allow her to sit.

The Captain let out a disgruntled sigh before he started the meeting. Even he could tell that the teen wasn't up to her normal standards. As soon as Tai was out of sight from the Woods', her mask dropped and she almost seemed to wilt.

However, her expression quickly changed to one of disgust and fury when the Captain brought up the topic of the Infinity. And the crew aboard.

"Captain Lasky is wanting to transfer the civilians onto the Infinity and he wants the Spartans to go with. Doctor Catherine Halsey will be there, as well as her colleagues Doctors Elise Hover and Kelsie Right. And I do believe we've notified them of your safety, Tai."

The teens blue eyes widened and suddenly, the air in the briefing room was suffocating. The Spartans could pick out the sudden rise in the girl's heartbeat, Frederic could see the sweat forming on her brow when he looked out of his peripherals. For the first time, everyone in the room could see the fear crossing the teen's face. The tension built was almost palpable.

"You did what?" Tai asked quietly, trying to keep her voice from shaking with no avail. And a thought crossed the Captain's mind. Whatever the Covenant were to do to him, was nothing in comparison to what the living time bomb would do if he let those scientist anywhere near her. Warden didn't know anything about the girl's past, but he knew full on terror when he saw it. He saw how the Spartan's seemed to get slightly closer to Tai, the Chief and Frederic pressing against her arms. She seemed to relax when she felt the touch.

"How long do we have? Before the Infinity gets here, Captain?" Kelly asked, seeing that no one else was willing to break the oh-so palpable tension.

"Just about 72 hours from now."

"Then we have just enough time to prepare. If that's all Captain, I'd like to get my team out of here. Along with the girl." The Chief stated, sensing the downward spiral to the teens already strange mood.

With the Captains' dismissal, the Spartans walked out, Frederic steering the shell of one Tai Hover in front of him. The scene they left behind could've been comical had it not been for the severity of the situation. The Woods' family had no clue what they had just witnessed, but they knew something was up with Tai. The teen hadn't said anything to them, had barely spoken aside from her slight outburst at the mention of those three scientists.

They couldn't help but wonder what that was all about.