Six POV*

"She's a friendly!"

"She's a Covenant!"

"She left that life behind her!"

"How do you know we can trust her?!"

Six groans inwardly as he sits back down in his seat, facing the desk where Rear Admiral Lynch is seated, who now wears a look of apprehension, probably in fear of what the Spartan could do to him for disagreeing with him.

Six looks away from the officer and out the small window that allows them to see into space. He sees other Orbital Platforms and UNSC shuttles as they lazily drift through space.

It has been a week since he and Shress made it to Earth and the officer in charge, Admiral Lynch, could not believe, no, refuses to believe that any Sangheili is willing to turn on the Covenant, which Six could understand. In fact, a year ago Six would be supporting Lynch for his decision, but now, after watching Shress be put in a holding cell right after they admitted their feelings, after their show of affection… Six now understands why Spartans are ordered to control their emotions; he's agitated enough to start throwing punches, an action that could have very costly consequences.

He breathes slowly before looking back at the Admiral and asks, "What does she have to do to earn your trust?"

Lynch tries to look intimidating as he sits up and says, "Help us win the war."

"That's hard for her to do considering she's locked up." Six points out patiently.

The Admiral glares at the Spartan, "This is why I prefer II's." He says more to himself than Six, "They don't question orders."

"They do when the lives of their fellow Spartans or human lives are at risk." Six says, but considering he has little contact with II's himself, he's not really confident with his claim.

The Admiral leans back, muttering to himself for a while, leaving the Spartan to look down at his lap and watches as his hands squeeze his knees in irritation.

Finally the Admiral speaks, but with a startling question, "How do you know this Elite is female?"

Six feels as if all the air was suddenly sucked out of his system and he tries his hardest not to blush. He didn't really wonder about gender when they first met, but he knew she was different because her voice was lighter than what a regular Sangheili would possess. It wasn't until later on would he notice her curvy body, her smooth leather skin, and her delicate newly formed lips.

He brings his mind out of his thoughts and simply says, "She told me." Which was partially true, she never admitted it but the small references to being a mother and all was enough for Six to piece the puzzle together.

The Admiral doesn't seem convinced and remains silent.

Six knows he's probably giving the Spartans a bad name by now, but he doesn't care, he just wants to have Shress back, he needs her. "Sir, please, who do I have to speak to in order to get my companion released?"

The Admiral's eyes widened slightly in surprise. It's most unusual for a Spartan to make a request, or even start a conversation, then again he only had experience with II's, this is his first time speaking to a III.

Lynch thinks for a moment before crossing his arms sternly and says, "I'll release her, but only if Lord Hood gives me the order to do so."

"Well where is Hood sir?" Six asks.

The Admiral shrugs, "Here, Sydney, the freaking moon, I don't know, he's been moving around lately."

Six bites back his irritation before saying, "Any idea when I can contact him sir?"

Lynch shakes his head, "None."

"You can't find your commanding officer?" questions Six.

"Are you giving me sarcasm sailor?" Demands Lynch through gritted teeth.

"Negative sir, I was just observing the situation," Six replies tediously, "And I'm a soldier sir, the II's are sailors."

The Admiral grumbles angrily to himself before stating, "Hood will be here by the end of the week, he wants to debrief you personally about your escape from Reach, then you can ask him to get your girlfriend out of the slammer."

Six hopes that his face isn't as red as it feels it is. He is sure people are unaware of his and Shress's relationship, however he hopes he doesn't look apprehensive as he asks, "Can I at least see her, sir?"

Lynch didn't miss a beat, "Negative, until I get word from HIGHCOM, she's all ONIs."

Six appears to be calm, but his mind is in a state of panic. Shress is alone, probably afraid and all she has for company are spooks who will interrogate her through means short of torture.

A silence now fills the quarters as Lynch is oblivious to the fear in the Spartan's mind. Finally the Admiral waves his hand in the air, "You're dismissed."

Six snaps a professional salute, hides his stormy expression behind a mask of somberness, and turns on his heels before walking out of the door.

He walks a few paces until he hears the door slide shut behind him. He then releases his agitated sigh, the only emotional response he, a Spartan, can give.

He is now starting to long to be back on the Prowler. He didn't realize it at then, but the days he spent onboard the ship was actually the first time he was able to express himself since he was a kid, before he was a Spartan. There were no gawking Marines, no high ranking officers, no moody mad doctors, for once he actually felt relaxed. He didn't have to stand proudly or be as taught as a string for any imminent attack from the Covenant, he wasn't a Spartan on that ship, he was something else; someone else. And he wasn't alone.

Six instantly feels his mood sour at the thought of what happened. They took Shress and him to an interrogation room; it wasn't long before they were able to ID Six. The fact that he was somehow able to travel from Reach to Earth within a few days appeared suspicious seeing as only the Covenant has that form of capability, which Six, guiltily understands. He felt for a moment everything was going to go smoothly but then he heard about Shress; they weren't letting her go.

According to Protocol F-Alpha 9102, created a year after first contact on Harvest, any and all personnel who are not human in nature are to be taken as a threat. That was the Navy's excuse for holding Shress.

These gloomy thoughts continue to go through his head as he walks by stun Marines and Sailors alike. He isn't wearing his MJOLNIR armor, the technicians in the bay confirmed it is now broken beyond repair, but standard grey military coveralls. However, this did nothing to hide his large frame and bulging muscles, he is without a doubt an intimidating sight.

As he walks he looks out a nearby window and sees into the darkness of space. Six has always viewed the dark void as a threat, hiding many dangers to the human race. However, after being caught up in the intimacy with Shress he begins to view the universe in a different light. Now he sees bright stars, newly born galaxies and a beauty that he can't believe he has missed.

He tears his gaze away from the window and enters an elevator, beginning his descent down. He closes his eyes to shield the world from his pain. He misses Shress, deeply. It isn't until now that she isn't here with him, does he realize how much of an impact she had on him. He isn't so reserved around her, he can walk by her and she wouldn't flinch and she sees him as someone special, not just because of his combat prowess, but because of who he is.

He opens his eyes when the door opens and steps out. He is now in the living quarters of the station, row after row of rooms run down the corridor. Though he's fine and well rested, the doctors have prescribed that he needs some sleep, so for the moment he is excused from duty. But he wishes he had something to do, something to keep his mind off his current miserable state.

He finally reaches his room, enters the code, and steps in. It's quite plain with one desk, two chairs and two bunks on opposite sides of the walls. There is also a small closet and a porthole looking out into space in the direction of the moon. Six sweeps the room clear of any threats before walking over to the cot on the right and collapses right then and there. He lets out a sleepy sigh as he thinks of Shress once more before closing his eyes; wondering where she is, what she is doing and if she misses him as much as he is missing her.

*Shress POV*

'This is demeaning.' Shress thinks to herself as she stares blankly at the human seated in front of her.

"What about this?" The human asks as he holds up another small piece of plastic with an image on it, "Do you know what this is?"

Dully her eyes flicker to the image: a picture of a shuttle, the Prowler if she remembers correctly.

She knows all this; she knows every image in the stack that the human has been showing her for the past few units. However she has remained silent, this being is treating her as nothing more than a youngling.

She switches her gaze from the paper to the human in question. She doesn't like him. She knows humans come in a variety of shapes and sizes but this male appears to be quite short but nonetheless is quite large, particularly in the middle of his body. He smells weird, he always seems to be scowling and he is looking at her as if she is nothing more than an insect. He doesn't wear body armor or the strange clothing she has seen most of the humans on board wearing, he wears a black color clothing with the strange pyramid emblem on the front.

His companion is a guard, that much is obvious. He is leaning against the door frame, wearing the standard green armor that she has seen worn by human warriors. He has a weapon in hand and something orange is covering his eyes, she wonders if he can even see out of it.

"Well?" The large human's voice brings Shress to look at the male once more, "Do you know it?"

In answer Shress looks down at the table she is sitting at.

"What are we even doing here? This is a waste of time." The guard suddenly said in a loathing voice. "For all we know this thing is a vegetable."

Shress doesn't know what food has to do with the matter, but judging from the tone in the human's voice it isn't a compliment. She does her best not to growl, to growl would show the males that she understood them.

The agent turns around and glares at the green clad human behind him. "Well, ONI had a science team examine the prowler that the Spartan and this one," He points over his shoulder at Shress, giving her another whiff of his foul odor, "Arrived in. My higher ups have been all over my ass ever since they took the damn thing for a test run and it made it to Io in less than two seconds."

The guard snorts in disgust as he looks to Shress. "Well obviously this freak isn't going to tell us anything. Damn hinge head doesn't even talk."

Shress curls her fists underneath the metal table between the two of them, internally furious at the comment. She wishes more than anything to leap over the table and use the energy daggers hidden within her gauntlets to stab the human for the insult, but she remains as stoic as she could knowing that if they knew she could talk, they would never leave her alone.

Finally the large male stands up and pockets the small pieces of paper, "Well, then we'll come back later." He says to the guard, "I have already requested use of either translation tech, or even better, someone who knows their language to be assigned here. The doctor really wants to know what it did to the prowler." At this he lets out a small sigh.

The guard pushes himself off the door and hefts his gun. "Well if you need some extra… Convincing, let me know. These freaks are going to get what's coming to them, and I'm happy to start early with this one. Not like I got anything else to lose."

That doesn't sound good, but Shress keeps her mandibles closed.

With one last glare, the two humans turn and leave the room. As the door slides shut, Shress hears the sound of a click. She gets up and walks to the door as was routine and presses against it. Sure enough, like all the times before, it is locked.

She releases a small growl as she looks around her room. It's all made of cold steel, two chairs, one table and a small bed of sorts. It isn't as comfortable as the one on the ship, far from it; it was just a small mat on a raised metal platform that she can barely fit on, with one small sheet that can hardly cover her body and a single hard cushion.

She walks over to the bed and virtually collapses on top of it. She lets out a heavy sigh as she closes her eyes, but this doesn't keep her mind from wandering, particularly about a certain male.

She rolls over, bringing her close to the edge as she thinks about him. The past few days were wonderful to her. She finally found a male who accepted her odd ways, a male who desires her and vice versa and loves her in an almost spoiled way. More than that, he gives her confidence, advice and comfort, things that were hardly ever available for her for most of her life.

She should've known their time on the ship wouldn't last, but she still feels surprised by what had happened. The humans have taken her as a prisoner rather than a guest. They are interrogating her and sound close to becoming violent. Her hand forms into a fist, Michael told her everything was going to be alright, so where is he now? Why did he lead her into this mess?

Just as that thought goes through her head, it disappears. She has known the Spartan for cycles now, she has come to know his personality and feelings, and she knew, deep down, that he never intended for this to happen. The care she often saw in his eyes was never exaggerated while they were alone together on that ship. Her brief anger at the human disappears just as soon as it came, but it doesn't sooth her the way he would have if he was here. He would hold her, talk to her, and kiss her, something she is starting to miss terribly. Never before has she longed for somebody this badly.

'Michael where are you?'

——UA——

A light banging brings Shress out of her slumber as she opens her eyes.

It's the human who has been bringing her food while she remains in her confinement. For some reason, the human always knocks on the door and peers inside through a hatch that can only be opened from the other side. There is another much larger hatch in the middle of the door, usually the human would push the hatch down and push her food in.

Shress thinks about just staying in bed and skipping the meal, but her stomach says otherwise. Grumbling some curses, she rises from the small miserable excuse of furniture and heads to the door to receive her food.

The larger hatch opens and the human on the other side carefully inserts the meal. As she grabs the plate, Shress looks up at the human and almost drops her food in shock. The human appears to be very young, close shaved head, bright eyes and light skin. He is also short, she supposes, but he wears the usual wear of one of the human warriors, but what shocked her is the youthfulness of this soldier. It reminds her of the youngling she slayed on the planet Reach, the one who showed her through his sacrifice that the Covenant is waging an unjust war.

The human fear filled eyes clears partially as it pears curiously at her. Shress takes the food and walks to the table, not wanting the human to see her so unnerved. She sits down and eyes her meal. It is a slab of uncooked meat, though she is used to it, she is not used to eating alone, but she puts that in the back of her mind as she slowly begins to eat her human cuisine.

When she is halfway done, she looks over to the door and is surprised to see the middle slot is still open. She leans to a better angle to see out. All she sees is another door that looks similar to hers and the human guard, who, judging by the way he is standing, is unaware that the hatch is open.

Carefully she eases out of her seat, careful not to make a sound and moves forward to better observe the outside. She looks at different angles, but all that she can see is that outside is a long hallway stretching as far as she can see with metal doors similar to hers lining both sides of it. The only living being she could see was the human who brought her meal.

She sighs and returns to her food, quickly devouring it within a few units before picking the plate up and returning to the door. As she approaches, she can see that the human is looking at something in his hands, one of the black pads with the human language on it. She pauses and watches as the human scans the words before putting his finger to the screen and scrolls down a bit before scanning a new set of words all over again.

Shress watches for a few more units before moving forward and lightly knocks the door.

The human jumps and fumbles with the pad before turning and flinches when he sees the open hatch. Shress waits patiently before holding her plate out. The human seems amazed at how fast she has eaten her food.

He takes the plate in his hand and for the first time he speaks. "I take it that the meal was to your liking."

He turns as if to walk away while getting ready to close the hatch when Shress answers, "More or less."

She jumps when she hears the sound of fragile dishes crashing onto the floor. She looks out of the hatch at the human who looks stunned, as if he couldn't believe what he has just heard. Slowly his eyes find hers, they are wide and full of wonder when he finally says "You… You can talk?"

Shress doesn't know why, but this makes her growl, causing the soldier to backtrack a step, it is then that she notices he is limping a bit. Upon seeing his weakened form she stops snarling and says, "I'm not a mute mindless savage if that's what you are thinking."

His eyes are bulging as he holds up his hands, "No! No! Of course not!" He says quickly, "It's just that…well…I heard you weren't speaking to the ONI investigator and you never said anything before so I just assumed you didn't know our language."

She eyes the youngling before her, searching for the strange pyramid symbol that she has come to recognize, as she asks, "So are you ONI as well?"

The young human stares at her before breaking into fits of laughter. Shress feels her own mandibles starting to spread in a smile as she listens to the human's strange fit of hysterics.

Finally the young looks up at her and wipes away a tear, "Nope, not me!" He begins to chuckle again, "ONI is full of smart, spooky people, and I'm not spooky or even smart." He says as he ends with another chortle.

Shress frowns slightly before replying, "You must be smart, the Sangheili certainly don't let halfwits stay on a station, so humans must not either."

The youngling is quiet before looking at her a bit strangely, "What about the grunts? You let them onto the battlefield but they always run around screaming with their hands over their heads."

She blinks for a few moments, the words sinking in before she bursts out laughing, realizing the hypocrisy of her earlier statement. After taking a moment to catch her breath she looks through the hatch to see Lin smiling lightly at her and she smiles back in return. "Well, I can see you are more competent than some of the Unggoy that have served under me, as most of them do not even know how to speak properly."

He chuckles a bit at her laughter before he looks down and appears startled, as if he just now noticed the pile of broken dishes he dropped earlier. He bends down, letting out a small groan as he does so and starts picking up the fragments. Shress observes to see what it is ailing the human; she couldn't see any damage, but then she notices his right knee is pointing in a strange direction and his back is as stiff as a board.

"You are hurt." She finally says, more of a statement rather than a question.

The youngling looks up at her before letting out a sigh as he nods and goes back to cleaning the mess, "Yeah… doc says I'm lucky to be walking, but I'm out of the war."

She couldn't help but feel sympathy for this youngling. So young and he's already injured, far too badly to enter battle, a great shame among her people.

"I am sorry." She finally said and hopes he can see how sincere she is. He does glance up, looking a bit startled as he does so, but then he concentrates as slowly picks himself up. With his hands full, the human puts his weight against the wall and slides himself up, hissing slightly as he does so.

He lets out another heavy breath before saying, "It's alright… It isn't your fault anyway."

"Yes it is." She says sadly, "I… my people… We could have stopped it if only we could see the truth, to see how much damage we are doing."

He gives her a weary look before saying, "Well this is the first time I've ever heard an Elite say that."

She feels her body stiffening a bit as she hisses, "I'm a Sangheili."

The youngling looks scared again as he says quickly, "Sorry, sorry, I don't mean to offend you."

She is silent as she looks down, feeling guilt and shame built up once again. How many young have been crippled because of this forsaken war?

"Can I ask a question?" He asks, having a slight look of curiosity in his eyes.

She thinks for a moment before looking at him in turn, "Only if I can ask you a question as well."

The youngling looks unsure of himself as he looks over his shoulder again and says, "Uh… Ok."

She then nods and gives him a continue gesture.

The youngling thinks for a moment before asking, "Why are you speaking to me? Why not anyone else?"

That's isn't too hard for her as she replies, "So far, you are the only person on this station to treat me as another living being, and don't see yourself as anything higher than me. The others are…" She thinks for a moment for the correct word before she remembers a word Michael taught her back on Reach which fits all too well, "Jerks."

The young human nods his understanding before licking his dried lips before saying, "Alright, what's your question?"

Shress ponders her enigma carefully through before asking, "Do you know how Mi-… The Spartan Noble Six is feeling?"

"Noble Six?" the youngling finally asks. Shress nods so he continues, "Well… He's walking around and doesn't look hurt, I mean, that's what people are saying. I haven't seen him yet." He then eyes her with a strange look, "Is it true what they are saying? Did the two of you come here together?"

Shress nods her head in answer, unsure how this young human will react.

He is quiet, appearing to be deep in thought before he eventually asks, "Is he your friend?"

'He's my suitor,' Shress has no idea why, but she wanted to tell this young human that she wishes for the Spartan, for the one known as Michael, but instead she just nods and says quietly, "He's a good and caring person." She looks down as she feels sadness creeping up on her, "He saved me from the Covenant and has been there when I needed him the most."

The youngling nods his head, "Yeah that sounds like him."

Now it is her turn to look startled, "You know him?"

He chuckles again, "Well not on a personal level, but he's the one who saved me on Reach when… well… when this happened." He says and gestures to his damaged body.

'Reach.' Shress thought, 'Could it have been possible that I was the one who injured this young one?'

Something in the human's leggings beeps, forcing the youngling to hold all the shards of the dishes in one arm as he reaches into his pocket. He pulls out a small black device and activates it. He looks at a miniature screen on top and his eyes widen a bit.

"Listen," He says suddenly urgent, "I need to go. no offense, but I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be talking to you." He says with a sheepish look on his face.

She nods her understanding before pausing and asks, "Can we talk, next time you bring the meal?"

He must have heard the desperation in her voice because he stops and looks into her pleading eyes before nodding, "Sure, but only briefly."

Shress feels like humming now that she has someone far more friendly to speak with, but before she could, the human slams the hatch shut in her face.

She tries not to take this as a rude gesture as she turns away from the door, but just as suddenly the hatch reopens and there stands the nervous looking human once more.

"By the way," He says rather quickly, "My name is Jaka. Jaka Lin, what's yours?"

Shress can only smile as she replies, "Shress La'Vdam."

The human now dubbed Jaka smiles and nods his head before closing the hatch slowly again.

Shress turns to head back to her bed when she hears a loud clang as the hatch is thrown open yet again, with Jaka's surprised face filling the small hole.

"Shress?" He questions, "Your name is Shress?!"

She gives the human an odd look before saying, "Yes." Uncertain of the human's reaction.

His jaw drops open as he stares at her and he begins talking, "But you… Reach, I… Noble Six, he…" Jaka shakes his head before saying, "What?"

Shress is uncertain of what to make of the human's behavior, but suddenly she hears what sounds like footsteps coming in their direction.

Jaka looks to his right before looking back at her and quickly says, "Got to go." Before slamming the hatch shut.

Shress stands in the middle of her prison, unsure with what has just occurred. She merely shakes her head as she turns to her bed and lies down. She feels her eyes growing heavy, her head and body are now full of food and knowledge. She is about to fall asleep when a loud tapping gets her attention.

She sits up and looks to the door just as it opens and the strange guard with the orange eye coloring walks in. Following him is the same large human, who is casually flipping the same small pile of plastic papers together.

"Shall we try again?" He asks with his usual superior voice.

Shress leans her head back and releases a groan.

*Six POV*

Six stares at his feet as he waits in the examination room.

This is the ninth time he has visited the med bay in a week, more times than any Spartan should visit.

Hopefully this will be the last checkup he has, he just wants to… He isn't really sure what he wants to do. He wants to get back to fighting the Covenant, but then again he doesn't want to leave. To leave would mean to leave Shress behind, and for some reason that's just not an option for him.

He looks around the room in an attempt to get his mind off things. He is sitting on an examination table with nothing but his underwear on and though he doesn't show it, the table is freezing cold. The walls are covered with posters of the human body, the skeletal system and a single small propaganda poster showing a Spartan giving first aid to a wounded Marine.

Six dully notes that the Spartan is a II, so far the existence of the III's have remained a secret for years, and most likely no civilian will ever know of them or the great sacrifices that they have made.

Suddenly the door opens and a female doctor steps in. Her tag reads Waters and her white coat looks to be brand new. She has tongue depressors, small flashlight and bandages resting in her pocket as she strolls in confidently. Her blonde locks are pulled into a ponytail, and the serious eyes behind her glasses proclaim her as a 'no funny business' kind of person.

Her eyes briefly look over Six's body before walking in, giving no sign of desire towards the Spartan. However, before the hatch closes, Six spies three women nurses who are all looking at his large muscular body with huge eyes before the door blocks their view.

Six couldn't help but smirk, if Shress was here she probably would have torn the women apart… If she was here.

"Well Mr…. Michael." The doctor says dryly, gaining the Spartan's attention, "It appears you are in perfect shape… remarkably so." She says and bites her lip. Six finds this amusing, it never fails; doctors, nurses and corpsmen are always confused and frustrated when a Spartan's body doesn't follow the natural ways of the human body.

"Any lasting damage?" Six finally asks, he knows he's fine physically, but he has no idea if the battle on Reach has done any internal damage to his body.

Waters scrolls down the pad before shaking her head, "None that I can see… I think this is it Lieutenant, I believe you are now ready to be reinserted into combat."

Six feels thrilled, excited but yet also miserable. He's a Spartan; he was literally raised to be in combat, to be in the middle of the fight. Yet this means since he is now considered eligible for active duty, then he will most certainly be transported to another location, maybe into another system entirely. Keeping him far away from Shress.

Suddenly there is a light beeping noise that causes the doctor to look at her data pad. She arches an eyebrow before looking up at him and asks, "Lieutenant, are you feeling alright? You're vitals just spiked."

Feeling his nerves starting to get to him, Six stands and begins to put his coveralls back on, "I'm fine ma'am."

The doctor just shakes her head, "I doubt that. You Spartans always give us medical personnel grief. We usually have to strap you down and give you a full examination to see whatever it is that's bothering you."

Six offers her a rare smile, "Well we were trained to ignore the pain, so…"

She just shakes her head and turns to leave. Six is zipping his suit up when a sudden thought pops into his head, before he could stop himself, he turns and says, "Ma'am, can I ask a question?"

Waters stops and turns to face the Spartan as she asks, "Yes?"

Six suddenly feels himself grow hot and wishes he can take back the request, but it's too late now.

Six takes in a deep breath before saying, "You know Spartans have been genetically altered, right?" Waters nods her head so Six continues, "Is it possible, that is if you can… Is there any way for you to see how much my body has changed?"

Waters once again arches a brow before replying, "That's an awfully big request Spartan." whether she realizes it or not, she starts to circle Six and looks him over with a critical eye. "It doesn't take a professor with a PhD to know you have changed greatly; skeletal structure, muscle density, skin repair..." She pauses in front of the Spartan, "To go through the whole list will take an hour at least, is there anything specific you're looking for?"

Six feels his cheeks starting to flush and he does his best to contain it. If this doctor knows about the augmentation, then she also knows that Spartans aren't allowed to…breed.

Waters waits for Six to answer, when none is forthcoming she glances down at her watch and sighs, "Are we done Spartan? I still have work to do."

Six remembers Shress… He did promise that he would ask.

He takes a deep breath before asking, "Do you know if it's alright, in my case, to try…reproducing?"

Waters dip her head to the side, gives the Spartan a strange look before asking, "Are you talking about sex Spartan?"

Well that was blunt. Six isn't really sure on what to say or do next. He has no idea why but he feels terribly exposed at the moment.

Waters just shakes her head, "Well, are you or aren't you Spartan?"

Finally Six forces himself to bob his head up and down in reply.

Waters tut a little before saying, "I'm sorry, but I just don't know, I know III's are different from IIs when it comes to genetics, but I wouldn't know. You would need to see a doctor who specializes in the field of genetics if you want an answer."

"Right," Six says quietly, "Thank you for your time doctor." He gives the doctor a nod before edging around her and heads to the door. His hand is about to activate the 'open' button when Waters speaks again, "Do you really want to know?"

Six turns to the doctor who is quietly observing him, "Do you really want to know Spartan?"

There's no stopping it now, heat has finally made its way to his face and he hopes he's not as red as he feels he is. He feels as if he has been struck dumb by the question, but he again thought of Shress, remembers the time when his body almost…he must admit it did feel good, especially with Shress, who he wonders if she wishes to do it almost as much as he does despite their xenomorphic differences. So he mutely nods again, feeling foolish by the second.

Waters smiles lightly at the Spartans' embarrassment as she says, "I have a friend who works in genetics, if you want, I can send the person a blood sample and he can tell us."

Six ponders this for a while, wondering if it'll be worth it. Then again, he doesn't really have anything to lose… aside from Shress, but this way they'll know if he can or not. He sighs inwardly; if he can't, he wonders if she'll stay with him if she is ever given the choice.

He shakes his head; it doesn't really matter unless he can find a way of getting her out of the brig.

"Alright," Six finally said, "You can do that."

"Are you sure?" asks Waters, "I can tell you are uncomfortable."

Six offers a tiny smile, "I'm uncomfortable just talking about it."

Waters shakes her head lightly once more before she starts to type in her data pad and says, "Alright then, it may take a while to receive a reply, but I'll inform you when it comes in."

Six takes a deep breath and says, "Thank you."

"Of course." The doctor said.

———UA———

Six opens the door and steps out of the room, intent on heading to the station's galley to get some food, muscles tensing at the noise of the intercom buzzing to life on a speaker above him. Despite his nonchalonce old-habits had died hard and he unconsciously found himself scanning for the closest weapons platform. Despite the low quality of the speakers, the clear chimes of a bell ring through the air.

'Six… Seven… Eight.'

The traditional navy announcement that a high-ranking officer has arrived. In the ensuing silence a voice resounded through the air, although Six has a bit of trouble hearing the words over the swelling of emotions within him.

"Fleet Admiral Hood, arriving."