Notes: This is my first submission to Fanfiction. This is not going to be a typical Halo shoot 'em up story, although there will be action. Hopefully you will enjoy reading it, and please post reviews/feedack!

Disclaimer: All things halo belong to Bungie. The story I am using I made up, from details from the opening mission of Halo 2.

November 1st, 2552

Sol System - Aboard the MAC Orbital platform Malta

Deck C Room 298

Justin awoke from his sleep a looked around the room cautiously. The same haunting dream had stirred him as it had for the previous week.

His wife Audrey lay next to him, undisturbed by his motions and frantic breathing. He calmed himself as he looked at the beautiful brunette laying beside him, thankful that she was safely beside him and not in the freefall he had just witnessed in his sleep.

He had done everything to try to save her, yet there was too much distance between them. It was somewhat if a strange sight, seeing his bride free-falling through space.

Typically a person could not last more than a few seconds in space before their blood pressure caused them to become nothing more than a dark purple matter floating in nothingness, but she had managed to quietly scream to him as she floated away.

He couldn't hear her, but her words were terrifyingly loud and clear..

"Help me"

He arose from the bed and walked toward the small bathroom in the opposite corner. The orbital stations could never boast of their amenities, but again most of the rooms were designed to house soldiers and technicians, not really the environment for lovers.

After shaving he tried to wash away the memory of his dream in the lukewarm shower, partly longing for someplace with a sufficient supply of hot water, and partly wishing he could somehow get the imagery out of his head.

Why did the dreams persist? It seemed that everyone was having horrific dreams of Covenant attack and the Earth being glassed, but his dream had no indication of Covenant even being present.

A calming hum came from outside of the shower, and Justin instantly knew what it was. He pulled the shower partly back to see Audrey looking intently into the mirror, humming some long-forgotten tune that only she would know, hoping not to notice some facial flaw or grey hair trying to make its escape from her scalp.

"I don't think that mirror has ever been happier" Justin quipped, as the Audrey's smile quickly showed the mirror was indeed a happy sight of natural beauty.

"You're not getting lucky again, you and I have a lot of work to do today" She replied, with her eyebrow sternly but playfully raised.

"And since when have you not been able to take a compliment?" He retorted as he cut the water to the shower off.

"Since I learned what their purpose is." The couple smirked as Justin started to dress, putting on his regulation UNSC Corp of Engineers suit, and started lacing up his boots.

He heard the shower turn back on as Audrey stepped gracefully in, her hair in a bun. She was in a bit of a hurry this morning since Justin had failed to wake her. It seemed lately that something had been bothering him, something that she was going to ask him about after this day was finished.

She thought maybe it was stress, seeing as how the Covenant seemed to be marching toward earth. Despite what the public was being told, as a part of the Firefly news service she knew the reports were a lot bleaker than the public was lead to believe. The UNSC and ONI were keeping a tight lid on anything that might bring down morale, including intimidation of journalists and their crew.

Audrey was part of the FireFly relay crew, pulled together for the special event happening tomorrow. It was the return of humanities' hero, Spartan-117.

Each Orbital station had been told to broadcast the Chief's return to all personnel, and her relay team was to ensure that the crew of the Malta got a good look at the fierce warrior.

The stories she heard coming across the news wire were amazing, and the first time she read about the flood simply sent shivers down her spine. Thank God that the Spartan had managed to destroy the hellish place that could contain such unthinkable horrors, and hopefully he managed to kill every last one of the Covenant in the area as well.

It was hard to believe that so many lives had been lost, but after the destruction of Reach and so many other worlds, she had almost become numb to the idea of human losses.

Audrey didn't know if Justin knew it or not, but under her usually cool façade was a person who needed some asylum from the horrible news that she continually saw from within her agency's coverage of the war.

Justin, however, was her great escape as she could make a reality with him that didn't involve aliens or death or glassing of planets. Theirs was a small world with two people learning how to be husband and wife, each trying to excel at their respective jobs.

"Audrey, I have to down to viewing deck 4 to get started." Justin calmly stated from the other side of the luminescent shower curtain. Audrey poked her head around one side of the curtain and gave him a quick but tender kiss. "Be careful, I love you."

"I love you." The door slid closed behind Justin with a slight rush of air as he made his way to the elevator at the other end of the lengthy hallway. The platforms were of a most bland color. A flat grey with the occasional black indicators signifying directions to the nearest utility, while every 50 feet were holopanels tied with the platform's courtesy AI, Chelsey.

She was a wiry build with straight sandy-blonde hair that passed her shoulders and settled on her middle back. She spoke with a soft British accent and was available to help people with locations and acquiring transport around and off the station.

Justin walked passed the AI and reached the elevator, pushing the button for the 4th floor and the doors closed. He rested against the rear of the elevator as it started its 10-floor descent into the mess hall portion of the Malta.

He thought of how he disliked being in space, and wished he and Audrey could return to Earth. They had a nice little spot just outside of Boulder, Colorado with a small private lake.

It was a good location, within an easy drive to her news service's location in Denver, and mostly his jobs with the Corp of Engineers had him traveling to different installations to check on a safety concern or mechanical/architectural project. Unlike the 20th and 21st century Corp of engineers, the UNSC had broadened their areas of expertise to include many types of structural projects, with their new primary focus being structures in outer space.

Such was the case with the Malta. There were some concerns with the rigidity of the viewing deck on the 4th floor, just outside the mess hall. He was joining some other team members to analyze the structural integrity of all the weld points and braces, as well as the condition of the materials used.

"I wonder if the UNSC will ever go with something other than the lowest bidder." Justin mumbled under his breath, but he knew that wouldn't happen.

Nope, once again it would be up to Justin Madison and his team to try to

fix the problems created from someone who got in over their head bidding on a military contract. He almost felt some bravado in the thought, like he was somehow performing the duties of the Spartans or some other valiant force, but he knew that instead he was just cleaning up someone else's mess.

He was glad that Audrey had managed to make it onto the Malta. She was originally planned to be aboard the Athens but managed to get in a transfer when she learned that Justin would be aboard as well. It was nice to have her here with him as he hated their times apart, but with all the new areas of platform development, they were becoming more frequent.

The elevator came to a cautious stop and the doors parted with a chime. Outside the doorways waiting for him were Bob Salinger, Architectural Engineer, Tom Skite, Mechanical Engineer and Davis Lee, also an ME. They all patiently sipped down coffee in the adjoining mess hall as they waited for Justin to meet up with them.

"That little girl still keeping you up at night?" Bob commented with a smirk on his face, but Justin seemed distracted.

"No, I have just had some restless nights". Justin took an extra hardhat from Davis and began adjusting it for his head

"I don't blame you. I would have restless nights with a woman like that too." Justin chose to ignore the comment. These guys were his good friends, albeit brash at times.

"Alright guys, chug down those Joe's and let's get to work. There will probably be a lot of people in her tomorrow watching the Spartan's return from the ringworld. I would hate to have them suddenly intrude on the floor below."

With that, the crew tossed their coffee's into the trash and followed behind, eagerly awaiting the next day's events.