Chapter 27:
Jaka PoV*
"-You stand properly relieved!"
The soft grunt of the marine as he put his chatter back into one of the many pockets on his BDUs annoyed Jaka for a moment, but it wasn't long before he felt a bit hypocritical. After all, the wounded Lance Corporal was taking online courses while on duty before, so he didn't exactly have a leg to stand on.
His replacement was one of the many other marines stationed on the platform, several scars lining his face showing his status as a survivor of the decades long war.
"'Bout time." Was the only response that Jaka received before the marine stepped into the lift, uncaring to the world around him.
The dismissive behavior of the marine didn't dampen Jaka's spirits, as it wasn't exactly Jaka's fault he got pulled to talk to Lord Hood.
The stern but respectful conversation with the most powerful man alive still shook the religious marine to his core. The idea that the Fleet Admiral wanted him to directly report any conversations he had with Shress, along with any unusual behavior weighed heavily on the marine, but in the end the request was justified all things considered.
It wasn't too long before he began his short roving watch down the passageway of Cairo Station's brig. One by one, empty cells passed the marine by as he discreetly made his way to Shress's cell.
That is when his blood ran cold.
Bang
"Huh squid head?!? I can't hear you!"
Slam
Eyes wide, Jaka rushes over as fast as he could to the hatch, quietly sliding it open.
Inside, he spotted Shress prone on the floor, squirming in pain with an ONI agent and a marine above her. The green garbed soldier looked absolutely furious even as the ONI agent calmly typed into a datapad.
"All we need is a location. Your people destroyed our worlds, all we want to do is return the favor."
'What?!?'
Jaka knew for an absolute fact that no one was supposed to be down here. The horrific scene he is watching was definitely not sanctioned by Hood because the idea of peaceful observation was the overall subject of the entire conversation he was literally just returning from!
Quickly reaching down to his radio, he flipped it on without even trying to be quiet.
"Security breach in the brig!"
Six POV*
'Come on', Six tells himself, 'If you can talk to an alien about your feelings towards her, then surely you can speak to your fellow Spartans.'
Six takes in a gulp of air before sitting. He glances up and catches the Spartans II's observing him before returning to their meals.
They are in the galley, eating lunch, or so say the clocks in the room. Admittedly it is hard to tell exactly what time it is onboard floating metal stations like this.
This is the first time Six has sat with a team of Spartans since what feels like a lifetime ago. It has been a few hours since they arrived, and they were all cleaned, fed and were provided medical care. After they got settled back into routine, they were all pulled into a briefing room. It wasn't long before Master Chief told a slightly baffled Lord Hood and Six everything. The loss of the Pillar of Autumn, the death of almost everyone on board, and the discovery of Halo.
Six is still reeling from the fact that the famous Master Chief was on board the ship that he helped save when the Chief told them of the Forerunners. According to Chief, they were an alien race that is far superior to the Covenant, the race that the Covenant refers to as their gods, though Six was already well aware of that.
According to the Chief, he and the crew of the Autumn made a blind jump into slipspace that ended up with them finding Halo; a fully artificial superstructure of massive size, shaped like a ring floating in space but providing air, water, and possibly food on the surface as if it was a planet. The technology and equipment used to build Halo is light years beyond human comprehension, or even the Covenant's.
However, the bizarre story didn't stop there, while exploring, they discovered a parasitic life form only known as "The Flood." Even the Chief shivers as he describes what happened; a single bite from the Flood can transform any man into a mindless drone whose sole purpose is to pass on the parasite to other life forms.
If it was a regular Marine telling the story, Six would have suggested that the man get a psychiatric check, but seeing as it was the famous Master Chief himself telling the tale is what made the tale all the more horrifying.
While battling the Flood, the Master Chief's personal AI Cortana managed to hack into the Forerunner archives, discovering that the Flood feeds on their "hosts" and sucks every bit of knowledge the poor person knows. It wasn't long before they also discovered that the Halo ring was actually a massive super weapon, capable of destroying all life in the entire galaxy.
Apparently, the Forerunners believed that the wholesale destruction of civilization was the only way to destroy the flood, by destroying the food source they fed from.
Sadly, that food just so happens to be life itself. The only really unsurprising part of the tale is when the Master Chief said he blew it to hell using the Autumn's engine core.
After the destruction of the ring, Chief was able to find a Long Sword and escape from Halo, taking Cortana with him who had downloaded the firing mechanism needed to fire the Ring. Without it, Halo is harmless, though apparently that was just a souvenir.
Six couldn't believe the story, but the surprises just kept on coming. After searching through the wreckage of the ring, Master Chief regrouped with someone named Johnson, an ODST, a pilot and a ONI agent who somehow managed to survive the explosion by escaping inside a Pelican. They also recovered cryo-tubes that were ejected from the Autumn before it was destroyed.
Sadly, only one person in the tubes survived. A Spartan by the name of Linda-058.
Soon after they were engaged in a fight with a roaming Covenant patrol in which the Chief and his now small crew of misfits boarded a Covenant Flagship, eliminated the crew and jumped into slipspace before the remaining Covenant vessels could retaliate. From there they made the journey back to Reach in hopes of finding a small refuge to restock the ship.
Next it was Spartan 104, Fred's, turn to tell the story. Apparently while Six and Emile were making their run to the Pillar of Autumn, a total of twenty two Spartan II's, led by Fred, were dropped to the surface of Reach.
In a final desperate attempt to defend the planet, the Spartans were tasked with guarding the ground generators that power the Few remaining Orbital Defense Platforms circling in the planet's orbit. Those weapons were critical to the human's space battle against the Covenant, though at that point they were little more than covering fire for the evacuation.
They put up a valiant fight, but it ended with their demise except for four Spartans, one of whom was Fred, who were forced to fall back.
Six remembers his supposed last stand, fighting in a field full of fallen Spartan II's. That must have been Fred's teammates, or what was left of them that is. The remaining Spartans fell back to Castle Base where they met Doctor Halsey.
At that point Six butted in and asked, or rather demanded to know if Jun was with her. Fred gave him an odd look before shaking his head. None of them saw another Spartan III at Castle Base, nor did Halsey mention him. Six feels his fist curls at the idea that the doctor left him behind on the doomed planet.
'Did the doctor abandon Jun? No, most likely Jun ensured that the doctor made it safely to the base before probably going back out into the field, searching for the rest of Noble team, looks like he is still MIA.'
Returning to his story, Fred gives detail of how the Covenant found them again, forcing the Spartans, plus Halsey, to retreat further below into the underground caverns beneath the base.
Here, the Master Chief speaks again. Upon arriving to Reach, the crew, save for Cortana who stayed behind to watch their only escape route, traveled to the surface when they received an emergency broadcast sent by a Spartan. They followed the signal and discovered a three man Spartan team who were split from the rest of Fred's group and were in company with Admiral Whitcomb.
From there Master Chief led the party to Castle Base, where he suspected the rest of the II's were considering they trained there as kids. They rescued the remaining Spartans as well as Doctor Halsey. Once rescued, they returned to space and discovered that Cortana had constructed a hybrid vessel, combining the flagship and the destroyed UNSC ship Gettysburg together to empower the vessel.
They then jump back into slipspace, however before they got far, the ship was fired upon and took damaged; forcing the Spartans plus the one pilot to attempt to fix the damage. This was accomplished, but resulted with the deaths of the Spartans known as Li, Anton and the pilot, leaving only six Spartans accounted for.
From there they jumped to Eridanus II, where they stumbled upon an insurgent base built in a nearby asteroid field. At first the insurgents refused to help them, but when the Covenant arrived, the UNSC forces managed to eliminate the threat. In return, the insurgents helped the Spartans. However, something unexpected happened as Doctor Halsey went AWOL, kidnapping the Spartan named Kelly.
How she managed to do something like that, Six had no idea, but it wasn't long before he felt his blood starting to boil. He always knew Halsey would always put her own personal interests first and it would be fatal to those who depended on her. Judging from the Spartans rigid posture as Master Chief said this, it looks like he was right.
More Covenant forces arrived soon after Halsey disappeared, forcing the Spartans to jump to slipspace once more, but not before the distraught ODST killed himself in an explosion, whether it was a intended suicide or accident was apparently unknown.
Yet while en route to earth, they learned of a massive Covenant super battle station called Unyielding Hierophant. Believing the station was on its way to Earth as well; the Spartans boarded it and raided the ship. They were able to arm a bomb and place it into the station's core, destroying the large refit station, but during the attack, Spartan Grace was killed.
It didn't stop there however, the remaining Covenant ships started to chase after the Spartans, but Admiral Whitcomb and the ONI agent disentangled the Covenant flagship from the Gettysburg and rode it into battle, destroying the pursuing Covenant ships, but sacrificing themselves in the attempt as well.
Master Chief took a deep breath after finishing the story, some of which Six couldn't really understand. It is now easy for the lone wolf to understand how it was that the Chief is so famous. He probably has the best luck out of everyone else in the service.
With the story done, it became clear that the Spartans Fred, Linda, Will and Master Chief, are the last remaining II's… just like how Six was the last of the III's.
After the story telling, they contacted Hood, but he was rather busy at the moment, so the Master Chief just had to write a really long report for HIGHCOM. The supersoldier almost laughed at the poor suit that would need to read through all of that mess.
That was approximately two hours ago, now here Six is, sitting with the IIs, who feels more and more like an outcast by the second. He is at least fifteen years younger, but he is sure their level of experience is the same as his. They all have a wariness about them that unites them in combat, but Six can still see he is singled out in situations like this.
Here he was, sitting in a relaxed pose while the others sat rigidly, eating with manners fit for nobles at a formal dinner party. Yet, almost embarrassingly, he notices that they are taller than he is by a few inches, Master Chief easily towers over the III, standing well over seven feet tall, though thankfully it wasn't as obvious sitting down as they were. They all might be in the standard Navy coveralls, but with their supreme height and muscle tone they are an intimidating sight.
Six hears a burst of laughter and looks to his right. There he sees the Sergeant known as Johnson getting along well with the other Marines at his table as they all laugh at whatever it was that he said.
'Why can't it be that easy?' Six wonders to whatever being that might be out there listening.
He glances up at each and every one of them. It's obvious that Fred is second in command, he isn't as large or as lean as most Spartans, but he doesn't show any sign of bitterness towards that end, he also has streaks of silver hair on the side mixed in with the brown.
Next to him sits Linda, she is the only woman in the group, small, about six foot nine, has blood red hair, sparkling green eyes and a hard stoic look, yet what Six finds unsettling about her is that she doesn't appear to ever blink, easy to see why she's the team sniper.
Across from her is Will, another average Spartan who appears quite plain save for the twin scars caressing the side of his face as his brown eyes keep their full attention on his food.
Finally, sitting across from Six is the man simply known for his rank; Master Chief. He wonders what his real name is, but at the moment Six doesn't really have the faith that he would answer, so he'll just call him by his rank just like everyone else. He has sandy brown hair, a light dash of freckles and possesses what appear to be dark eyes. The very image of the grim reaper if Six has ever seen one.
Six looks back down at his food in deep thought. When he and Shress talk she usually would be the one to start the conversation with a question, maybe he should give it a try.
Finally deciding against sitting here in awkward silence, Six clears his throat.
"So… Are you all uninjured from your last tour?"
Almost all the Spartans look up, as if surprised that the III could speak.
It scared Six slightly when they acted as one and said in unison, "We're fine sir." The strange sound of their voices mingling with one another caused the III to shiver.
Six sighs, shaking his head in exasperation.
"Guys, please don't call me sir, it's weird enough that you salute me."
The Spartans stare at him as if he is an alien for a moment, before the Master Chief replies, "It's protocol sir."
Shifting his weight, the lone wolf feeling more and more alone by the second as he tries to explain himself.
"Yes, but you don't have to keep doing that…" Six says awkwardly, attempting to lighten the mood a bit. Gesturing to the war hero, he gives a strained smile. "Honestly Chief, I feel like I'm the one who should be saluting you."
Six hopes against hope that the Master Chief would laugh or at the very least smile, but his chiseled face remains as emotionless as it has since he arrived before he says, "I'm sure you are as worthy of your rank as I am of mine."
Six had to physically restrain himself from releasing a growl of frustration. Was Jorge really the black sheep of the Spartan II family? The giant Spartan was well known for his positive demeanor and deep chuckles. As for the other II's… Six is sure that they probably only smiled twice a year.
Trying once again to open a dialogue with them, he picks his brain for another topic before diving once more into the unknown.
"So…you were inside the Pillar of Autumn?" Six asks Master Chief.
Chief is silent before looking back at Six, "Yes…and you were the one who defended it?"
Six nods his head, remembering the dead spartans below the cruiser. A ping of annoyance overtakes him as he realizes that the conversation has yet again come to an awkward end.
"You're also the one who transported Cortana, correct?"
That question threw him off. Six tries to think of a time when he did that. Did Chief have him confused with another Spartan? Because he certainly can't remember transporting Cortana, he hasn't even met her before.
"I'm sorry Chief," Six begins, "I don't recall-"
Before he could finish speaking, his datapad beeped. Six takes it out, activating it before almost jumping in surprise. He was looking at the projection of an AI that could only be Cortana, her face filling the entire screen.
"A little edgy, aren't we Lieutenant?" She says with a smirk.
Six felt embarrassment and shame starting to blossom within him. He has no idea what is going on, but his senses seem to have dulled some over the last few months. His general demeanor has also been more open and acceptable towards others.
Like now for instance. The supersoldier would never have tried to be social, and yet here he is trying to start a conversation with people he has never met before today. Has his time with Shress altered him in some way? He hopes not. Anything that would negatively impact his fighting skills would become a problem down the road.
Normally, his training tells him that he would need to cut out the distraction, but that idea was instantly shut down in his mind. Under no circumstances does he want to stop being with Shress. In fact, he wants to be with her more than ever right about now. He finds her presence more cheerful and comforting rather than the hard Spartan demeanor being displayed around him.
Ok, he feels scared now. He has been surrounded by people like this most of his life. Why is it that he is suddenly no longer reassured being in this sort of presence?
"Lieutenant, are you alright?"
He looked into the AI's curious expression and it was about then that it clicked. He remembers that face, it was the one he often seen Doctor Halsey wear. He remembers back at Sword base, the package, and the strange glowing chip, how it looked like a woman before it was downloaded, a very specific woman to be precise.
"You were the package," Six says rather dumbly.
Cortana smirks at him, "Yes Lieutenant and for the record, I didn't enjoy the ride."
Six smiles in return, "Nor did I, I'm glad to hear you were a big help."
"As was my programming." Cortana says in reply, giving him a large smile in return. "Your skills are almost similar to the Master Chief's."
"Almost?" Six questions and looks up amusingly at the Chief, hoping a quirk from his AI companion would get some emotion from the man. The Chief's jaw tightens by a fraction before it relaxed again.
Slightly worried by this unreadable sign, Six turns back to his pad and asks, "What is it Cortana?"
The AI looks Six straight in the eye, her eye appears to be blue in nature but he notices that instead of webs of veins there are only codes streaming through.
"I've just intercepted a message that was being sent to this datapad from Lord Hood-"
"Cortana," the Master Chief interrupts rather sternly, even as his eyes flicked to Six's collar device. "That's material sent between officers for their eyes only."
The AI disappeared from Six's pad, leaving it in its original default setting. Before Six could question where she went, the lens of the camera in Six's pad suddenly releases a ray of blue light and there stands Cortana as her miniature holographic self.
She crosses her arms and glares at the Chief, "I was designed to hack into security systems and to dismantle them Chief, are you questioning the point of my existence?"
The Chief shakes his head before looking down at his food.
"How are you doing this?" Six asks as he observes the light streaming out of his Pad, "I didn't even know there was a projector in this thing."
"There isn't!" Cortana says cheerfully with a sly grin, "It's a little trick I learned from the Forerunner Archives."
"Cortana," Chief interrupts again, "You shouldn't be experimenting with Forerunner technology. You should turn it over to ONI-"
"I copied and downloaded all of my files to ONI Chief." She says, a bit of irritation clear in her voice.
Feeling a little tension rising, Six instead asks, "What is it you wanted to tell me Cortana?"
She returns her gaze back to Six, "I intercepted a message from Admiral Hood to you-"
"Which is for his eyes only," Master Chief states again.
Six glances up and sees the Spartan giving Cortana a hard look. However the III notices the other Spartans are now watching with what appears to be twinkles of amusement in their eyes as they watch their leader. Six guesses this isn't the first time the Chief and Cortana argued, or what came close to arguing.
Cortana gives a human like sigh of exasperation before saying, "It's about and for the Lieutenant and the Sangheili prisoner Chief."
Before the Master Chief could speak again, Six leans forward, and asks, "What? What did it say about me and the… prisoner?" It pained him to refer to Shress in this manner, but what can he do?
Cortana arches a eyebrow, probably hearing the desperation in Six's voice before saying, "Apparently something has happened, and the sangheili is acting extremely aggressively toward medical personnel that have been sent down to see it. He hopes that a familiar face will make it more receptive to care."
"What?!" Six says suddenly, as his heart sinks. "What happened? Why does she need medical attention?"
Cortana seems surprised at his outburst, simply opening a file and replacing the screen below with a few images that Six began to scan through furiously.
"You are to report to the brig, but before you go…"
She then turns to look at the other Spartans, "All of you," here she looks at Six pointedly before looking back and continuing. "-have been ordered to the armory at seventeen hundred hours, your new MJOLNIR armor has just arrived."
Surprisingly, Fred was the first to respond, calling out with a quick, "Thank you Cortana."
Cortana gives another of her smirks before saying, "My pleasure." And with tha, the light from the pad fades and so does Cortana's form.
It could easily be told from a distance that the mood at the table has lifted. Fred's fingers started to drum on the table, Linda's foot started to tap the floor at a rapid pace and Will actually smiled. Master Chief remains as serious as ever, but Six notices his eyes squint slightly, this must be as much emotion the Chief reveals.
But Six was no longer paying attention.
The supersoldier sat as still as a statue as his eyes flew over a hastily put together report, showing two very familiar faces in his datapad being arrested by military police. A few pictures were attached to the report, showing several items taken from the two which included a shock baton and a few odd pieces of tech, but the picture that most caught Six's attention was the last one.
The scene was obviously chaotic, as it showed a white coated doctor fleeing a darkened cell, his sleeves having a few splashes of purple blood spilled onto them with the prone form of Shress lying on the floor behind them, mandibles wide in a snarl.
Standing up, the metal chair he was sitting in screeched across the floor for a few feet behind him before crashing to the floor, causing the entire room to go quiet.
Not even bothering to pick up his plate, he stiffly made his way to the door, with a boiling rage deep within his chest.
"Lieutenant."
Six turns back to the Chief who is giving him a solemn observation, looking him up and down as if he has never seen him before.
"Yes, Master Chief?" Six asks, his voice as dead of emotion as the Spartan II before him.
The Chief looks up from his spot at the table and says, "Do you need reinforcements?"
Six took a moment to examine the Spartans, his previous assumptions about him being the odd one out were immediately proven wrong. All of them appeared to be ready to jump to his aid, showing that at the end of the day…
'We are all Spartans.'
Six replied with a simple, "No." Before making his way out of the galley, fists clenched into fists.
"I can handle this on my own."
Shress POV*
Shress coughs up another blue mass of blood before resting her head on the floor again, feeling exhausted just from that small action.
She takes in a few long and slow breaths as she tries to assess her damaged body. She commands her left leg to lift itself up, thankfully feeling nothing as she does so.
Thankfully feeling relatively okay, she shifts her weight around so she is facing closer to the ground. Pulling her unharmed leg under her, she then tries to get her right one to move to no avail, she hisses in pain from the protesting limb.
Knowing she used her left arm repeatedly to block the electric weapon, she tries to use her right one to push her body up, but she only places a small bit of weight on it when the arm gives out. She hisses once again as she makes contact with the floor. It feels as if her entire body has inherited the weak muscles of a youngling.
She has no idea how long she has been lying on the floor, nor how long the interrogation has lasted. As her honor demanded, she remained silent throughout the whole ordeal, the humans just got angrier and angrier until the guard was beating her for no apparent reason at all.
The green garbed marine struck her multiple times with the metal club like weapon, each time it shocked and bruised her skin whenever it struck flesh. The electric nature of the weapon caused her shields to drop at an alarming rate, making it to where she tried to fight back at one point, but that only resulted with her receiving an odd poking sensation in her neck that seemed to sap the strength right out of her.
She carefully directs her left hand to the exposed shoulder of her armor and feels it become slick with blood. It was the only wound she has sustained that has drawn a significant amount of blood. She carefully touches her face, but flinches as soon as her fingers touch it. Thankfully, she managed to protect her mandibles from extensive harm, but the constant stinging of her arms were the result.
Even lying here on the ground, Shress could hear the familiar tone of Jaka talking to someone else from outside of her cell that she couldn't bother to translate. All she is really aware of right now is the fact that the wounded marine was the one that saved her from the tortuous humans, and she would be forever grateful for that fact.
Glancing over to the still open hatch, she could see Jaka still pressing his back to the door. The odd protective nature of her friend caused a small smile to form on her face.
'Even if he did bring… healers.'
A bout of dizziness overtakes her, and before she fully realizes what's happening the jarring pain of her head impacting the floor stuns her.
Shress honestly didn't know why she felt so unbelievably disoriented. The constant shifting of the room added to the persistent waves pain she was in.
Her eyes widen in panic for a moment when she hears the door sliding opening. Looking over to the open hatch from her spot on the floor, she saw that it was someone wearing a black skin tight suit.
Growling to herself, she renewed her efforts to try and get to her feet. Shifting around, she got about as far as she did previously, before landing face first onto the ground in another bout of dizziness.
Sadly, she only realized now that she couldn't face whoever was entering.
She shivers when she hears the sound of booted feet entering the room before the door quietly shuts with a soft clang. She is facing the opposite wall, making it nearly impossible for her to see who has entered, especially with her weakened state ailing her from turning quickly. She hears quick footsteps heading in her direction. She tries to steal herself and release a growl, but after all the effort to lift herself, she lacks the stamina to empower it with any real force.
She becomes alert when she hears something drop down next to her. Before she could wonder further what is happening, she feels hands, nice gentle hands, grabbing her and carefully rolling her over so she is looking upwards. Her breath caught in her throat when she sees who it is.
Hovering above her is Michael. His eyes and mouth are set in a grim and angry look as he looks down at Shress, but his forest green eyes are clouded as they were full of tears and what looks like deep sorrow.
Shress couldn't tell if she is dreaming, she has longed for this moment and there is no one else she wanted more than her suitor, is her mind playing tricks on her?
That thought is as dust in the wind when he raises a hand and removes her helmet. His hand then descends and slowly starts to caress Shress's cheek, telling her clouded mind that this is no illusion. This is real, Michael is here with her once more.
"Shress,"
Her chest tightens with so many emotions when she hears him say her name in a loving yet deeply concerned manner. He looks her body up and down before looking into her face and says in a pained voice, "What happened?"
Shress couldn't form the words; she is still having a hard time believing that the Spartan is truly here with her. Instead of speaking, she moves her head forward and leans it against his chest, feeling his clothes rubbing against her skin. She gasps slightly when she feels his arm tighten around her shoulders while the other is position underneath her knees and he stands up, holding her.
She leans back to look at Michael. She knew the human was strong, but she didn't think he would have the strength to lift her up fully armored like this. He doesn't look stressed at all, but he looks as if he is drowning in self misery as he looks down at Shress.
This close next to him, allows her to smell his scent, it still smells of a forest along with the odor of male, but it is an aroma that she has missed. He carries her to the other side of the room and lowers her onto her bed.
He takes a half step back, but Shress's arm moves forward and grips his as she whispers hoarsely, "Stay with me…close."
Michael looks her body over again before leaning down and says, "I don't want to hurt you."
She raises her hand and holds it against the side of his face as she replies, "You won't… I really need you now Michael."
His eyes releases the tears and they fall down his cheek, Shress feels her own eyes starting to water. However, Michael slowly crawls into the small bed as well, their combined weight causing the metal to strain, but thankfully it holds. Shress hugs the Spartan with her one good arm and nuzzles his neck, while pulling her knees up as she snuggles against Six, wanting him to hold her. He wraps his arms around her and she feels him kissing the top of her head lovingly. It pained and exhausted her to move this much, especially while she is still wearing her tough Zealot armor, but she just wants to feel safe in her suitor's arms.
Finally she leans back to look into his eyes. The tears are gone, but his eyes still gleam as she takes in the familiar green color that she has missed for days now. She places a hand alongside his head and rubs it, mindful of her talons. Her hand eventually went upwards and runs through his fur, but as she feels the hair she tilts her head as she peers at Michael closely.
"I missed you." She says rather plainly.
Michael laughs as he looks into her eyes, a loving but distant smile covering the former serious face of her suitor, "I'm sorry I wasn't here to protect you."
She shakes her head, feeling a smile starting to take shape for the first time as she says, "Don't worry. My honor is undamaged. I know if I fought back they wouldn't have survived."
He smiles and nods his head obediently before the miserable look returns and he looks at Shress as he asks again, "Of that I have no doubt, though it isn't your honor I am worried about…"
Feeling him move his hand to the wound on her shoulder for a moment, Shress hissed in pain for only a moment before he quickly moved it away.
"Shress, what happened?"
Shress wanted to forget what had transpired, but she sees the desperate like look in his eyes.
She sighs before saying, "The two humans burst into my cell, obviously angry about something, though I didn't quite know what. They demanded for me to answer their unanswerable questions once again, and when I didn't reply…"
Michael's face hardens and Shress stiffens when she feels his arms tighten around her and burned her injuries. The Spartan becomes aware of what has just happened as he loosens his grip and says, "I'm sorry."
Shress nods, accepting the apology before preparing herself to continue. Closing her eyes as she remembers, the whole scene replaying in her mind. "They stopped asking questions soon after, simply attacking me, though I knew I couldn't fight back."
Glancing up to her suitor, she saw the confusion on his face. "Why couldn't you defend yourself."
Feeling a growl forming in her chest, she looked away from him as she buried her face into his chest, simply thankful that the ordeal that she went through ended with the result she wanted.
"The Fleet Admiral said if I harmed any more of his soldiers, he would take me far away from you."
Michael shifted his weight for a moment, causing another bout of dizziness to run through the disoriented sangheili.
"Shress, nothing anyone says here will keep me from you."
The sincerity of his voice surprised her, causing her throat to tighten a bit in an unknown emotion. Simply deciding to accept his statement, she nods into his chest before continuing.
"They…they were angry that I could talk and yet I wouldn't speak to them, they… that ONI human poked me with something that caused my muscles to collapse, then they pulled out these…these blunt weapons that spark lighting and they…"
She couldn't finish, she didn't know why but she felt her throat closing once again. Suddenly chills break throughout her body when she feels Michael's soft lips as they brush over her face. She shivers as he kisses her wounded face, causing a slight calming sensation to fill her as the slight wetness cools the agitated injuries. His multiple kisses finally causes Shress to chuckle lightly as she finally opens her eyes to look back up to Michael.
She could tell he is still angry, but his expression has softened as he looks at Shress. He runs a hand down her form and she quivers whenever his flesh makes contact with hers. He pauses when he feels a scorched area of skin on her ribs. He sighs lightly before looking back into her eyes.
"I can see if some of the doctors can come in and have a look at you if you want." He finally offers lamely, "They might not know much of Sangheili biology, but they could try and help lessen the pain."
Shress is already shaking her head before saying, "It's alright Michael," he opens his mouth to argue but she says, "It's alright, I will heal faster than you humans do and… it has always been viewed as a dishonorable act to be treated by a healer."
Michael's eyes squints slightly before replying, "I don't care about honor, it just hurts me to see you in pain-"
She runs her talons down his chest like before, feeling them make the marks beneath his clothing. She smiles as he shivers like she predicted he would.
"You might not care but I do, please Michael, no doctors."
He frowns again, "But-"
She sighs and leans against him, "Please Michael…I miss Sanghelios…" She admits in a sad, almost broken, voice. "My honor is all I have left to remember my home." She feels her tears returning as she thinks of her decision of changing to the humans side, a decision that resulted with her being beaten within an unit of her life, but she is still close to Michael, the one she cares for the most.
Michael takes hold of her again as he sighs, "There must be something that I could do."
"There is," she answers as she snuggles closer, "Just hold me."
She feels him let go as one hand gently takes hold of a part of her leg that isn't covered in armor and pulls it closer against him while his other arm pulls her upper body against his chest. He shifts his body until it could accommodate her and she could fit into his full embrace.
She sighs before saying, "Thank you."
Michael responds by kissing the top of her head and saying, "Of course…my beautiful Shress."
She feels her smile return only for a moment before her suddenly heavy eyes close and she begins to fall asleep. Before slumber takes her though, she allows her throat to thrum a bit, hoping Michael will know how happy she is just by being in his presence.
When she feels him holding her closer, she knew he understands.
-UA-
Shress feels the painful state of consciousness pulling her to wakefulness gaining her attention as she opens her eyes. Thankfully, she is still lying next to Michael, but only one arm is holding her and she hears him speaking. She blinks and sees she is pressed right up next to the Spartan's chest just like before. She begins to move her mandibles so she could reply to him, but then she realizes he isn't talking to her.
"I know, I know," he says, "Just tell them I got caught up in something, I'll be down as soon as I can."
She waits to hear the other person reply, but there is only silence. She sniffs the air carefully and smells that she and Michael are the only ones in the room.
Michael then speaks, "Look Cortana, let's just say I'm in a important meeting and…what?" his voice is suddenly filled with surprise. He carefully raise himself higher, keeping one arm on Shress's back so she wouldn't slip off. She retains from letting her suitor know she is awake, she is curious with what he is talking about and more importantly, who he is talking to.
"Damnit, that's the second time I've forgotten there are cameras in here!" Feeling the human shift for a moment, his tone becomes deadly serious. "Cortana, please delete the past two hours of footage in this room… Yes you can, you were designed to do this… Look, you can even give the footage to Lord Hood if you want, just don't let anyone else see it… Oh come on, you're the smartest smart AI ever to be made of course you can imagine how he could react!"
Shress tries her best not to shiver. She doesn't know who he is speaking to, but she knows it's about her. Apparently Michael has been worried about how his comrades might react to their feelings for each other, and why shouldn't they? She's surprised that Michael doesn't feel hateful towards her to be honest. Yet what hurts her most is hearing that he is late for something. For a moment, she forgot she was a prisoner and that Michael had obligations to meet. She knew he would have to leave again, and soon.
She tightens her embrace and slowly rubs her head against Michael's chest, quickly gaining his attention.
"I've got to go," she hears Michael says before he sighs heavily, "Yes, yes, I'll give you a full explanation later, alright, Noble Six out."
Shress blinks a bit before looking up at Michael who smiles at her. The feeling was strange as it was usually the other way around for her.
'If only he is as large as a Sangheili male', she thinks to herself, 'That way I don't always have to look down at him.'
"Who were you speaking to?" She asks.
Michael doesn't seem surprised, she wonders if he knew that she was awake at the time.
"Just a friend," he says in a casual tone, avoiding answering the question.
Shress sighs as she rests her head on his chest once more before saying, "You need to go don't you?"
She feels his whole form quiver before he replies, "Yes…but I can stay down here a bit longer."
She looks back at him and says, "We both know that will be unwise, especially if you don't want people to discover you are courting me."
Michael bites his lower lips before saying in turn, "It's not that I'm ashamed of our relationship or anything, it's just that…"
Shress sighs, "That your fellow humans won't approve of me."
Michael's face hardens as he says, "Maybe, but I swear, someday, when the situation allows it," he places a hand against her face, "I will confess to everyone that you are the one I care for and nothing will ever change that."
Shress gulps as she looks down, the thought of him leaving and the fact that she's pushing him away is growing heavier and heavier in her chest. She never wants him to leave, but she knows that they'll both be in trouble if they are caught together for much longer.
"You should leave," she finally whispers as she looks into his eyes.
She feels him only tightening his grip on her as he says in return, "I don't want to."
She licks his neck and says, "Neither do I, but we both know what will happen if you don't return to your people soon."
Finally Michael sighs as he sits up and swings his legs out of the bed. She is already missing his touch and has to keep her hand from reaching out for him. Her human suitor looks back at her before kneeling at the bedside and careful places his hand alongside her mandibles. She allows him to gently push it together with their counterparts as he leans closer to her and she moves forward to meet him.
They met and performed the strange action that humans call a kiss and Shress loves it. It sends a warm exhilarating feeling inside of her that fills her with a kind of wholeness and happiness. She has never felt anything like this and is certain she will fail if she tries to find a substitute to this emotion, this is a sensation that only Michael could provide, a sensation that she has missed.
Michael pulls away slightly, but he raises his head and kisses the area where she feels her skin blistering. It stung, but she still likes the contact as she lets her throat thrum. It is broken when she hears a light beeping originating from a device clipped to Michael's ear, a device she hasn't notice until just now.
The human sighs as he pulls back and stares at her once more. He takes her hand in his and she squeezes it. They remain locked together for a few moments before Shress hears the beep again.
Her suitor kisses her once more before saying, "I'll try and visit as often as I can."
Shress's throat has already tightened with emotions, but she finally pushes words out of her mandibles, "I'll be waiting then."
He smiles at her once more before kissing her cheek and standing. He walks to the door, pauses and looks back at her. She nods her head slightly at him and grins at him. He returns the gesture, but there is a sadness in his eyes that she is sure mirrors her own. Finally, Michael touches the device on his ear and the door opens. He steps out and cast one more sorrowful glance at her before the door slides over and blocks her view.
Shress rolls over in bed and tries to make herself comfortable, trying desperately to hang on to the memory of Michael holding her. But that only causes her heart to ache some more, forcing her to release a low whine as misery sets in once more.
Six POV*
"I don't think this is a good idea."
"Just tell me where they are Cortana."
"Lieutenant, you are aware of the consequences that will befall you if you harm ONI personnel-"
"I am aware of the risks Cortana," Six says as he paces up and down the brig, several armed military police stiffly talking to each other about the exact legality of the incident.
He overheard the argument that since Shress wasn't exactly 'human' that assault charges couldn't legally be pressed, so they might not exactly have a case against them and they would need to be let out within a day or so.
Six knew he was late for the meeting in the armory as it's already evening, but he simply didn't care. The pure rage burning within him was definitely not something he could ignore while sitting calmly through a MJOLNIR armor test.
"Got them," Cortana says in his earpiece, "They are in cell B-5, three doors down from… Shress."
The playful tone that she said the sangheili's name wasn't something that he was willing to acknowledge at the moment.
Six does an abrupt about face, finding the location, and his eagle-like vision scans the door numbers swiftly. Sure enough, he finds the unassuming door.
Scanning the surroundings, the supersoldier found that the only one within eyesight of the door was Jaka, standing next to Shress's door stiffly, hand on his radio.
Walking to the door, he quickly flicks the small hatch open and looks inside. The Spartan's gaze hardens as he analyses the man in the Marine armor. Out of the two of them, he was the one that caused the most rage to bubble up from within.
"Well well well, look who it is!" The marine says, leaning up from the cot he was lying on.
The Marine isn't just dressed in battle gear, but he has a lack of respect, that much is obvious in his pose and he has what Six assumes most people would think is a dangerous look about him.
Six simply sit there in the doorway silently, wondering what he should say, how to start. He needs to be civil; he didn't want to bring shame to the Spartans further because of his actions. He breathes slowly and evenly as he tries to calm his rage. His eyes flicked over to the disheveled form of the ONI spook, sitting at the lone table in the room as he looked towards the door. It appeared as if the ONI agent has the experience to know to be cautious even in a situation like this, but the Marine looks as if he is amused.
They stand before each other for a while before Six asks in a whisper, "Why?"
The man in suit seems to think for a moment before responding, "I had orders to get the information to find their capital by any means necessary. If they destroy Earth, then at the very least we will make them pay for it."
The memory of Shress's body flashes through the Spartan's mind. Her burnt skin, the webs of injuries that appeared after the impact of the metal baton, and the slight sliver of blood that falls from her mouth. Six feels his fists curl, the agent leans back while the Insurgent remains where he sits, either unaware of the tension or too thick to realize the situation is going south.
"I was unaware that Lord Hood gave you permission to use extreme measures for the…questionings," Six says as lightly as he could.
The agent swallows before saying, "He didn't, but it doesn't matter. We haven't committed any crimes. Assaulting an elite isn't against the law."
Before Six could respond, the Marine laughs and sits forward, resting a hand on the table, "It was actually quite fun, you should have heard the screams."
Six slowly cranes his head until he is looking directly at the man as he asks, "What?"
The man laughs again, "Its screams was so funny, it sounded like a cross between a gagging bird and a-"
The man didn't finish, as he was cut off by the loud crash of Six's fist impacting the metal door. The door bent inward, causing a visible crater to form and one of the hinges to snap off the frame. The sound reverberated through the compartment even as the sound of shouting came from down the passageway. The Marine jumps at the noise, looking visibly shaken as he stand up. He looked prepared to defend himself, reaching down to his hip only to realize that he had no weapons.
Six was trained for as long as he could remember to protect humanity, but in this moment he could only stare at this man with complete malice in his eyes. Six glares at the Marine before looking back to the agent who watches with huge paralyzed eyes from his spot at the table.
"Listen," Six growls, "Both of you, I don't care if you think what you did was justified. I don't care if you think you will get away with this, and I don't care who you work for. If you ever make it out of prison for what you did, I swear I will kill you for what you did and I don't care who you work for."
The Spartan turns to the Marine he is holding and loosens his fingers as he asks, "Clear?"
The marine appeared shaken, but he nods slowly. Six didn't think he looked nearly as terrified as he should have been, but he switched his gaze to the other man.
His face has gone stark white at this point, showing that unlike the marine, this agent knew full well what an angry spartan could do. He didn't appear to be in his right mind enough to even do so much as nod in response, causing another pit of anger to build up within the Spartan.
Six smashes his fist on the door once again, causing the men to jump in fright again as the hand leaves yet another massive crater in the armored door. Six glares at the agent before asking again, "Clear?!?"
Six wishes he could carry out his threat, there's no doubt he can't do it, he's angry enough and strong enough to do it, but he knew this small action alone will draw unwanted attention to the Spartans, and most likely end up with him also behind a cell similar to this one. After all, the UNSC doesn't particularly take kindly to cold blooded murder.
With one final glare at the two men, Six turns and walks away, hardly noticing Jaka staring at him with huge eyes, gawking at the furious supersoldier.
It isn't until he reaches the elevator and the door closes behind him that Cortana spoke up again through his ear piece, "Well that went well."
"Keep talking," Six says as he drums his hands on a metal handrail.
"About?" Cortana asks.
"Anything," Six replies curtly.
"Why?" She asks with true confusion in her voice.
"So I don't change my mind, go back there and kill them."
\/\/\/Authors Note\/\/\/
Hello everyone!
Well, that fought us. I think we had like 4 people all working on this chapter for like 3 months, just trying to meld everything we changed from the original while trying to keep this scene true to what it once was.
But then it didn't work! And we sat on it for months, poking it with a stick until eventually BAM! I did this all today. Huzzah! It's ALLLIIIVVVEEEE!
The good news is, the vast majority of the next few chapters don't nearly need to be edited and fixed like this one did. I think the next chapter is already extremely ready to be posted because the writers block was apparently focused entirely to that scene at the start where we finally just said F it and went Jaka's POV. That start began as Shress's pov but it just DIDNT. WANT. TO. BE. WRITTEN.
Anyway, hopefully this will kick in and I can focus more on my own works rather than this gem. Hope ya all liked it, and if you did, feel free to give a follow and a favorite. Thanks everyone for sticking with this painful journey of ours lol
-PyreElegy
