A/N: Hey guys, I'm here with Chapter 44 of Agent Reach, and rapidly approaching the end of the Recollection. I know a lot of people want me to bring in the Master Chief, but for some reason, I don't want to for this particular story; it just seems like something EVERYONE fuckin' does. Now, you'll see a bit of a RWBY reference (Hint: Think of Jaune…), so see if you spot it.

Also, new author name! Don't worry guys; I'll be keeping this as it's my gamertag lol. And it's a fucking capital 'i', not an 'l'.

*Chapter 44*

Somewhere in Slipspace

Washington opened the package up, laughing to himself as he saw the haphazardly written letters of 'Happy Birthday' draped in icing across the top. "Heh heh…thanks guys. I think today's going to be a good fuckin' day after all." 'Smells fresh. I guess that's another reason why Reach had me walk around blindfolded; he wanted to keep it a surprise for me. And why Tex was groaning about the smell of fish; it looks like her handwriting, too.'

"Hey…happy 27th," Reach mumbled behind him. Washington turned around, and he saw the brunette Freelancer leaning against the doorframe. With him were Tex, South, and Maine; the big silent Freelancer held a small box filled with chocolates shaped like wine bottles, and Washington bit his tongue to prevent laughing too much. "Alcoholic chocolate, huh? What kind is in it? Whiskey? Scotch? Moonshine?" 'Ah…those bring back good memories. Some of the best moments of my life were when I had about twenty of those things in a sitting and got trashed. I still feel bad for North after I accidentally fucked with his shampoo and swapped it for pink hair dye.'

"Sake. From my own personal collection," South replied. "I had stashed them in that mini-fridge to keep a certain alcoholic blonde from stealing them at four in the morning." She gave Tex (who for some reason was STILL in a French maid outfit) a knowing look, and the blonde Freelancer put her hands up innocently, her stormy eyes wide. "Don't look at me; I can't eat that stuff anymore."

She leaned backwards into Reach's arms, and as his hand caressed her stomach, she gave a small smile. "Well…for about nine months or so." Reach's face lit up, and the brunette let out a sigh as South slapped ten credits into Maine's bear paw of a hand, the quiet Freelancer looking smug. "You guys seriously placed bets on Tex being pregnant? Fuckin' really? You two are as bad as Tucker and Grif; I heard those idiots talking about it in the shooting range."

"Well…sort of," South mumbled, scratching the back of her head. "We figured that she was, considering that she started making pork fried dumplings at two in the morning." Tex shrugged her shoulders, giving the ex-Spartan a kiss on the cheek. "What else was I supposed to make when I got the munchies? We're already out of the Pumpkin Pete cereal that we raided; those assholes Grif and Simmons ate it like a bunch of piranhas."

"Oh, so that's why they were looking terrified when you punched a hole through the cabinet," Reach muttered dryly. "That's two mysteries solved." Washington chuckled, and he gave the red/black Freelancer a look. "Wait, what the hell do you mean two? Were there mysterious brown stains on their pants or something? Because that explains why those idiots were walking like an infant with a loaded diaper." 'Man…I'm making a reminder to myself to never fuck with a girl and her cereal. Especially if they're pregnant and can still kick your ass blindfolded and with one hand behind their back.'

"No…" Texas grumbled, folding her arms. "He's talking about why I had to eat that other crap. Some sort of bootleg Frosted Wheats, I think; if I still had my fucking Pumpkin Pete, I wouldn't be eating something that tastes like rolled up and slightly sugared newspaper. Just like with the shitty diet soda because some asshole stole all my vintage Mountain Dew." She made a face, and her tongue rapidly licked up Reach's cheek. "Mreow!"

Reach wiped his cheek, and he gave the blonde an unamused stare. "Don't act like a horny cat in public…" Washington laughed, and gratefully took the chocolates from Maine's hands. "Thanks guys. I didn't know you knew. I thought all of our records were pretty much deleted from Project Freelancer's databases." 'Today's looking up. I never expected them to know when my birthday was; hell, even I forgot it for awhile.'

"Alpha told us," South replied. "The smell of seafood was just a cover up to prevent you from ruining the surprise; Tex protesting about raw fish was real though." The ship shuddered, and Washington put his cake and chocolates in the mini-fridge he had stashed by his bed; usually filled with some strong liquor to ease headaches, it was now a hiding spot for his cake and sweets in case one of the Reds or Blues came sniffing around thinking with their stomach instead of their brain. "I'll eat it later; I want to try and see if I can get in some combat training done." 'I need to get a little loose; my arms are starting to feel stiff from not having done anything really active today.'

I'll help." Reach pushed a pouting Texas off of him, and the black-haired Freelancer started to put on his new light blue/yellow armor. It wasn't the same as his old black suit, but he had to admit it looked rather good, especially since this new one wasn't riddled with bullet holes and stained with blood. 'Can't wait to repay that bitch for what she did to me. I seriously doubt I meant a damn thing to her; I was just a pawn for her to use and give Epsilon to her psychotic wind-up toy of a brother.' It fit him perfectly, and he flexed his fingers after they were encased in the gauntlets. 'She'll get what she fucking deserves.' He wanted to imagine he was squeezing her throat before shooting her in the chest, and then repay the Meta for what he did to him.

Texas strutted away into her and Reach's room, sticking her tongue out at the former Spartan. "I'll be down in the range for a while after I change. If you hurry up, I can help you shower~." Reach's face lit up, and he rested his head in his hands while South and Maine snickered before heading to the mess hall to clean up their mess from cooking. "How did I manage to catch the most perverted fish in the sea?"

"You seem to enjoy it," Washington returned. Reach shrugged his shoulders, stretching out his arms and wiping a bit of dust from his armor. "Fair enough. It does keep me on my toes more than I thought. Every other day I'm expecting her to ambush me and drag me into one of the supply closets. She actually did when we were in Blood Gulch; it took forever to clean all the crap up."

"Want to talk about it?"

"…no."

Washington and Reach walked into the new training room, and he could see the ex-Spartan wasn't kidding when he said the jellyfish did a hell of a job. It appeared to have taken every scrap of tech from Project Freelancer's training facility and made it even better. Reach took up a position on one side of the fighting arena, and he looked up at the balcony overhead. "Alpha, start it up; hand-to-hand only."

"Got it. Hand-to-hand simulation starting," Alpha replied, sounding incredibly bored. "Jesus…if you think this is long for you guys, imagine you being the most sophisticated AI ever built. A second for you is about a decade for me. I'm starting to feel a little old now; man, I gotta actually start sorting the data we snagged." Washington heard the black/red Freelancer sigh in exasperation, and he flexed his arms, raising them in a fighting stance. 'Okay…you can do this. You're probably not going to win, but you can still put on a good show.'

"Begin." Reach made the first move, his left hand taking a swing at Washington's abdomen. He jumped backwards, and the black-haired Freelancer tried to land a strike on Reach's chest with a punch of his own. He missed by an inch, and he silently cursed himself for leaving his upper body wide open. 'Ah fuckberries. I forgot that it's harder for me to judge the distance properly. Way to go, dumbass.'

He winced as he felt an impact on his chest, and he slid back a few feet. Even though it was just a training match, Washington could feel the power in that damn robot arm of Reach's. "That damn thing packs one hell of a punch." 'Gonna feel that one for a few days. Good thing this is only training and I'm fixed up.'

He ducked under a kick, and he tried to land a hit himself. His foot met Reach's arms, and he grunted as he pushed up to throw it off. "Not bad at all. You've definitely got some of Carolina's skillset." Reach spun to the left, and Washington tracked him as he spun in the air, his fist hitting his shoulder. Washington grabbed his hand, and Reach twisted it to get free, spinning and tripping him with a low kick, the blue/yellow Freelancer hitting the floor. "That said, you're still off-balance."

Washington took a breath, feeling his back as he got off the ground. "What do you mean, off-balance? I haven't felt this good in a while." 'Is this some kind of new test he's just made up? Because I don't get it.' Reach wiped his shoulder down with a towel, shaking his head. "I don't mean your actual balance. Though that could use a bit of work too. I meant I watched old footage of your fights in Project Freelancer. Especially one-on-ones."

"Let me guess. I was sloppy?"

Reach tossed him the towel, shaking his hand. "No. You were predictable. And stubborn, and maybe a little boneheaded. Do you realize you used your equipment without an AI to win a vast majority of your fights?" Washington shrugged, rubbing the towel over his face and absorbing the sweat beads that had formed. "How is using my equipment any different than CT using hers? She didn't have an AI, either."

"Right. But her equipment didn't drain over 90 percent of her suit's life support systems," Reach returned dryly. "Nor did it shut down vital features such as thermal imaging or gravity boots." Washington sighed, and he started to slump his shoulders when the former Spartan put a hand on his shoulder. "Look…equipment is a great fallback. But you mustn't allow yourself to depend on it. It won't always save you, obviously."

He let out a slow breath, looking down. "Definitely have some of my old stubbornness. It's nice to see you have a drive. But at the same time, you act like the easiest way past an obstacle is through it, as though strength is all that matters in a fight. However, if you take a second look and keep a cool head…there's a way around as well."

Washington took a deep breath, shaking his arms to loosen them up more. "Alright…one more round." 'Keep calm. Don't think about thoughts of having to go all out. Try and look for another way around.' Reach got back to his side, raising his arms up in a new stance. "Go."

Washington parried a pair of punches to his shoulders, and he countered with a three kicks to Reach's upper half. The ex-Spartan blocked the strikes with his arm and as he went to land a heavy punch on his chest, Washington jumped back, sliding. 'So far, so good. I'm feeling even better than the days of the project.'

He blocked an elbow, holding Reach's wrist, and he went to use his momentum against him with a low kick. Reach used his robotic arm to flip himself back to his feet, nodding in approval and giving a small smile. "Not bad. See what happens when you use your head? You can surprise an enemy by mixing things up."

He spun to kick at Washington's stomach, and the blue/yellow Freelancer raised his leg to negate it. He grunted from the exertion, as he could feel just how hard it was to continuously block, parry, and counter-attack against the ex-Spartan. 'For someone who says he's still not in his prime and up to speed, he's an utter pain in the ass to predict. I have a feeling the Meta won't exactly be able to keep up with him if he uses his speed in a fight.'

He gritted his teeth as he felt sweat pouring down his face, the salty beads starting to sting the corners of his eyes. 'This is an awful amount of work just to keep up. But…I don't feel stressed out about trying to win. I feel almost at ease.' Washington went for a high kick, and Reach grunted as he crossed his arms above his head to keep the boot from giving him a concussion or something worse.

He pushed up, and as Washington spun off-balance, he simply gave an almost brotherly shove to send him back to the ground. "That's much better. I think you might've dislocated my wrist, too." Washington got back up with a pant, and he could see the black/red Freelancer's left wrist was slightly bent out of place. "Sorry…" 'Whoops. I didn't mean to do that…I've gotten better if I'm capable of doing that. Nah…that was probably a bit of luck; he was going easy. He doesn't want to accidentally rip my chest open for the second time in about two weeks.'

"Don't be. You did well." Reach snapped his wrist back into place, shaking his fingers. "You improve quickly; for a 'borderline self-deprecating ass', you are a fast learner. And to let you know, I didn't go easy; you really got a chance to experience a meaningful training match. I want to ask you something; what do you plan on doing once we find the Meta and Massachusetts?"

"I'm paying that bitch back," Washington replied, trying to suppress his blood from boiling with anger at the mere mention of the woman who betrayed him. 'Keep calm; you won't be able to fight well if you blindly rush in with nothing fueling you but fury.' "That's a promise I won't break; she needs to pay."

"I meant are you actually going to kill her? I know you want revenge, but sometimes, it's better for one to put it behind and be the bigger person. Don't stoop to their level." Reach let out a sigh. "I know about wanting to get payback on someone. I've thought about killing a person who once betrayed a teammate of mine. But when I got the chance, it was better and a bit more satisfying to keep him alive and have the bastard rot in a cell for eternity. So…what are you going to do?"

"Hmm…" Washington began to think about what he was going to do when Reach put a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head. "Don't answer it now if you don't want to. Take some time to think about it carefully. We still have about five days before we reach Haven's airspace. I'm going to head to the gym for an hour or so; I seriously don't have the energy to deal with Tex's damn attempts to ambush me in the shower anymore. I swear, if I have to keep cleaning up the damage, I'm going—"

"To handcuff her as a punishment?" Washington suggested dryly, making Reach's face turn a dark red from partial embarrassment. It was no secret that he and Texas were by far the loudest couple in the bedroom; even the kid Tucker was impressed with how vocal they are, and had started to stand next to the door whenever the two were going at it. 'It's incredibly hard to sleep when the room right next to you is shaking from the roughest and most passionate sex in the galaxy.'

"How the hell…?" Reach finally muttered, rubbing his temples as if to ease a headache. Washington snorted in laughter, folding his arms and looking at the ceiling. "You two are far from quiet; I get that it's a great 'Fuck you' to the Director to be sleeping with the only physical copy of his wife and impregnating her, but come on. There are marks on the walls in my room now; any minute it's going to cave in, and I'm going to see some shit I'd rather not see again." 'I've had enough of that crap to last a lifetime. It was bad enough that I mentally scarred for seeing York and North walking around naked for losing a bet that one Christmas and I was just trying to get Wyoming and me a bottle of whiskey.'

"Sounds like a bad experience. York and North were involved?"

"Okay, now I don't want to talk about it."

-0-

Haven

Massa parked the Warthog outside a small city, looking at her brother. He had fallen asleep on the nearly 20 hour long ride, and she brushed strands of his hair out of his face. They had been on the run for far too long, and the blue/white Freelancer refused to admit to herself that they would be caught eventually. 'We still have a chance. I refuse to believe I can't get Jason out. I can do it.'

"Massa…" Xei whispered, looking glum. "There are no ONI or UNSC forces inside the city. We are more than capable of lying low here for awhile until we can come up with a semi-decent plan of getting the UNSC to drop their charges against Missouri."

"Thanks Xei." Massa started the vehicle up again and drove into the town, passing a series of small shops. The AI sighed, her hologram flashing a few times in distress. "Massa…I wanted to ask this. Why did you do what you did to Wash? He probably would've helped us if you told him the truth. You actually liked him, too; so, why?"

Massa lowered her gaze as she parked outside an almost hidden building, stepping out and shaking Missouri's shoulder to wake him up. "You should know the answer to that. I wanted to see him get the best chance to not spend the rest of his days rotting in a prison. For that, I needed to make sure the Chairman was absolutely positive that he was KIA; he's too smart to be fooled the same way twice." 'Wash is a good person. But when we cross paths again, I'm not going to stop him from shooting me if that's what he wants. I deserve it.'

Missouri blinked his eyes open, and he stumbled out, leaning on the brunette woman for support. Xei let out a sigh, burying her head in her hands and choking a sniffle. "It wasn't right…I don't know what to think anymore. How can I be certain you won't do the same thing to me what you did to Zeta? You killed an AI; what's stopping you from doing in another?"

"I'd love to tell you to trust me," Massa answered slowly as she helped her brother start walking towards the structure. "But I realize you can't anymore. It might be better for you to…be with someone else. Someone like Wash." 'She's right; how can I be certain that I'm not going to terminate her if it benefits me?'

Xei's hologram flickered, turning into a shade of magenta, and for possibly the first time in her existence, she cried. "Mariah…I trusted you. But…how can you do this? To someone who you cared for? You were actually happy around him. And yet you betray him?" The other AIs appeared, and Theta put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. "Hey…chin up. I know it's hard to believe it. But Massa will not terminate you." Xei's cries turned into sniffles, and Massa sighed before slowly pushing the door to the building open, her rifle in hand. "I wouldn't. Not to you." 'I remember you used to drive me nuts with your dancing and crappy music taste. And now, I want those days back. It's better than seeing you as a shadow of your old self.'

"Hey, who the fuck entered my place!?"

"Did that bomb just talk?"

A/N: XD I couldn't resist throwing Andy in. Anyways, I'll hopefully see you guys soon, and if you have questions as to my new name, feel free to PM me. DPLxBeAsTxSnIpE signing off