A/N: Three more chapters, and we reach the big five-zero mark. As per usual, I can't thank you all enough for the love and support this fanfiction has garnished. Four hundred-plus favorites and follows…wow. Three years of my life this story has taken, and it will probably take a few more. But this is one I am determined to see complete. Any questions regarding this story can be sent via PM or review, and I'll try and get to you as quickly as possible.

P.S. if you're interested in original stories, check me out on . I use the same username as on this site ;) My inner emo keeps coming out -_- ten points if you know these lyrics.

When I was a young boy, my father took me into the city, to see a marching band/He said 'son, when you grow up, will you be the savior of the broken, the beaten and the damned?'

*Chapter 48*

Massa prepped her rifle, aiming it at Beta's chest. "Stand down!" She fired, hoping the rounds would be enough to stun the berserk AI's robotic body and possibly shut down some of the suit's systems. The DMR kicked, and the three rounds she got off did nothing to even remotely stun the AI. 'Oh hell. Any other AI, and I could make it listen by just giving it an override code of some sort. But Beta is unique; I'm going to have to stop her with force.'

Placing her rifle across her back, she ducked under a potentially deadly punch. Close quarters wasn't her forte like it was for Missouri, but she felt confident that she could hold her own and eventually wear the crazed AI out before it dished out a tremendous amount of pain. Her training under New Jersey gave her invaluable techniques for hand-to-hand combat, and he made sure to train her in ways that would help her defeat a larger, stronger, and faster opponent.

The late Freelancer had put it into words best when he was still active in the project. "Hand-to-hand combat has nothing to do with size and brute power. Think of it as something along the lines of a dance. Two partners, locked on the field, fluid in their movements to match the other and counter with a unique move of their own. Though admittedly, a mistake on the dance floor will only result in a sore foot or rolled ankles." His fighting style was unique even for a Freelancer, and replacing his limbs with robotic ones had made him a very dangerous adversary during their battle in the desert temple on Sandtrap.

But Beta was a different animal altogether. As she wasn't human, she didn't feel physical pain like New Jersey did. The bullets had that impacted on the AI's body did nothing but agitate her further. 'Ugh. I'd give anything to have New Jersey by my side, or even Wash. He could hold his own during a fight rather well.'

She lashed out with the butt of her rifle in an attempt to hit her in the spot her face would've been. To her surprise, Beta's hand caught it, and the brunette's eyes widened before she let out a frustrated swear. "Well…fuck." 'This is going to be a long day.' The rifle was wrenched from her grasp, the crazed AI bending it in half and tossing it away before countering with a high kick. Massa ducked, and tried to land a kick of her own when Beta seized her helmet, kneeing her in the face twice before punching her away.

She fell down, and rolled out of the way of a deadly punch. Beta's fist impacted on the ground, denting the floor, and the Freelancer was glad she got out of the way in time; that punch would be enough to break her ribs and puncture her lungs, even through her armor. 'She hits just as hard as Jason. If that landed on me, I'd be dead.' She got to her feet, and while the AI was in a vulnerable position, she kicked her to the ground. Beta landed on her back, and when Massa went to land a strike to immobilize her, she vanished into thin air. "What the…?" 'Where did she go?'

Suddenly, she felt fists impact on her face and chest, stunning her. She stumbled back and went to attack in the direction the strikes came from when something powerful kicked her in the back, sending her crashing onto her face. A warning blared through her suit, and a message flashed across her HUD. 'Dammit! She's fucking invisible thanks to an Av-Cam unit, and my infrared system is down. How do I…wait, I got it.'

The blue/white Freelancer drew her knife, slicing her thumb and spraying the air with blood. It stung like a bitch, but she still felt a twinge of satisfaction as a large splatter landed on something. Beta's Active Camouflage lost its advantage, and as she looked down to observe the red liquid, Massa waved her finger. "Hi there." 'Found you.' She threw the knife, the blade lodging itself in spot between her shoulder and chest.

Beta stumbled, sparks flying from her armor, and she growled before leaping back into the fight. It was pure animal rage, unnecessarily vicious. It was similar to the way the Covenant fought their battles during the war; they challenged anything that went for them, and that animal-like behavior helped humanity out in the long run. 'That did nothing but piss her off. So much for trying that. Time for plan B.'

Massa's kick was countered by a heavy punch to the chest, making her lose her footing. She fell backwards, and Beta removed the blade from her shoulder before spinning it in her hands, the razor sharp edge pointed directly at Massa's visor. "Just die!" The blue/white Freelancer pushed back with everything she had, but she sourly had to admit that her endurance and stamina wasn't as good as it used to be, and her physical strength wasn't exactly on par with some of the other Freelancers such as New York, Maine, or even Carolina. 'Bitch is wearing me out faster than I'm doing her, and I'm not as strong as my brother in these situations.'

"Beta…remember me!" she gasped out, sweat pouring down her face as she tried her hardest to prevent that damn knife from punching through her visor and killing her. It was extremely risky trying to force Beta into remembering anything from the past, as most of her memories were filled with Alpha's torture and the pain the Director felt when he lost his wife in battle. But if she could remember that Massa was one of the 'kinder' Freelancers, maybe she would calm down long enough to try and reason with. "I'm Agent Massachusetts! The one who was opposed to using you!" 'She's stronger than I thought. It's like someone gave her the AI equivalent of a rumble drug.'

A metallic scream pierced the brunette's ears, and Beta became more animalistic in nature. For her to be forced to remember everything that Alpha suffered, from being shattered into the fragments used in Project Freelancer to the real Allison dying in the Covenant War, it was evident that she was just as much of a victim, if not more. 'Forgive me. But I have no choice in this matter.' "Epsilon! Try and stop her! You're the only one she'll even consider listening to! Xei, get Jason, now!"

Xei vanished instantly, being probably the only one apart from Missouri to trust her, and Epsilon rolled his eyes before floating away from the robot bodies he was admiring as the fight took place. "Ugh. I can never get a fucking moment to be alone with my thoughts, can I? Not even for a second. Someone's always gotta fucking yell, or say, 'Hey, can you help me go through this door?' or, 'Oh wow, look at this; let's mess around with it'! Fucking assholes. God, I can't wait for this shit to be over." He looked at Massa struggling on the ground, with Beta quite intent on killing her, and he folded his arms. "What's to stop me from just letting her kill you? It would give me at least a few fucking seconds of goddamn peace and quiet."

'Fucking asshole,' Massa seethed, raising her knee to chest and flinging the AI off of her, the knife spinning away on the floor harmlessly. "Do you want to know more about who you are or not?" She got back to her feet, and she tried to kick Beta down to the ground when she rolled, dodging the attack and laughing darkly.

"Oh, son of a—" Massa didn't have time to finish the swear leaving her mouth before Beta slammed her fists directly on her back. Every ounce of power the robotic body contained was delivered in that blow, and as she fell hard on the ground, the brunette swore that she heard something break, and the prospect was terrifying. 'Oh no…don't tell me what I think just happened actually did.'

Her suit's alarm screamed, red warnings blaring across her HUD. The idea of having any sort of back injury horrified her, for they were the one kind of injury that could cripple a Freelancer permanently if the spinal cord was harmed in any way. She struggled to get up, only to having the fiercest pain she had ever felt surge up her like an electric shock. A painfully familiar beep started to ring, and a sinking feeling seeped into her chest as she realized that her recovery beacon had activated due to the injury. 'Oh God, no…not like this. I always pictured that I'd go out fighting, not lying on the ground useless with a broken spine.'

She found herself disappointed that the one to deal the crippling blow wasn't Washington. She would have preferred to die as a result of karma being the bitch she is, at the hands of the person she betrayed. As she lay on the ground like a helpless deer waiting to be slaughtered, she heard the door of the room burst open, and the ground shook with menacing footsteps. Missouri. And good God he was pissed. "Jason, get her under control!"

The powerful Freelancer was adorning his helmet, his dirty blonde hair wild, and his green eyes were dark with fury as he saw his little sister crippled. "She'll pay…" His fists were tight, and Massa felt fear creep up like a snake into her heart. The one thing that was sure to drive Missouri into killing without mercy was seeing his sister harmed in any way, and Massa didn't want him to get himself killed. They still needed Beta, as berserk as she was. 'Don't do anything rash, please. We still need her intact.'

Missouri charged headfirst into battle with a furious snarl, and a new dilemma dawned upon Massa as she propped her forearms up. "Xei, are you there? Xei!" 'Where the hell is she!? She should've been back by now!' Her AI returned to her, her hologram flickering to a vibrant shade of scarlet and shaking with fear. The way she was trembling produced another concern for the brunette; the AI had never shown such an emotion in her life. "Xei? What's going on?"

"Mariah…they're gone…" Xei whimpered. "They're all gone. Theta, Gamma, Iota…they've been erased. Missouri had tried to get through the security systems of the med ward, and it released a minor EMP wave. I barely managed to get out in time, but the rest of them are gone." The news about the AIs Missouri had taken from the Freelancers he killed was worrying, because it meant the only AIs they had left to use as possible evidence in a trial against the Director were Epsilon, who was a prick, the dangerously unstable Beta, and her own AI. She sure as hell wasn't giving Xei up.

"Dammit!" Massa looked closely at the medical report flashing across her HUD, and a sigh of relief left her lips. Beta's blow had been enough to stun her, but her back wasn't broken. 'Jason can get her secured while I take a shot of chorotazine. I don't need to risk getting paralyzed. Though at this rate, it looks as though she's not giving up without a fight.' "I'm getting a shot. Hopefully Beta doesn't injure him like she did to me."

She slowly got to her feet, able to walk despite the physical pain, and she could hear the growls of anger from her brother as he picked up where she left off. The only fear she had was Missouri would take it too far; he had allowed his rage to fuel him in battle before, when he killed three Project Freelancer instructors at once early on in the project. The only thing that stopped his rampage was Massa running on the training floor and holding him long enough to calm his fury despite the danger. She would never be able to forget the look of horror that was etched on his face after he realized what he did; he never once believed his anger would drive him to kill innocents, even if it was by mistake. 'Just don't snap and go berserk.'

She limped by an empty storage crate, and yet another problem dawned on her; it was as if there was no end to the brunette's conundrums. The Blood Gulch soldier they had 'acquired' was missing, and she felt her patience go right out the window for the second time in about the span of a day. "Wait a minute; where the fuck is Donut?" 'Great. Just fucking great. Just what I needed to deal with right now.'

"Red Team recovery beacon detected! Level Omega!"

"Ugh! Is it too much to ask for this shit to be easy for five minutes!?"

-0-

Reach pursed his lips in the shower as their captured ship soared towards the last known location of Donut, Snowbound. The Haven system's air defenses were very curious about a ship known to be put out of service several decades ago, but Alpha was able to convince them they were on official Section Three business. Perks of having the most sophisticated AI ever made, even if he was a sarcastic asshole at the best of times and a complete and utter jackass at the worst. 'We need to come up with a plan of attack. As much as I would love to charge in with our guns blazing, that isn't going to work.'

The ex-Spartan knew they outnumbered both the Meta and Massachusetts heavily, but he had to assume they knew as well. Thinking otherwise would be naïve and possibly cost them in the fight. 'I never liked having to make plans like this. Usually, it was just 'make it up as we go along'. The last serious plan ended up with me losing a goddamn arm.' It didn't help he had a lot of crap to think about as if late, with Texas being pregnant, Alpha gaining a habit of playing annoying emo rock music whenever he was around, and Washington still not at his peak despite his earnest efforts and recent strides.

He sighed as he rinsed out his messy brown hair, for he could still hear the slight noise of the bathroom door creaking open over the sound of horrible teenage angst blasting over the ship's radios. "Allison, I know it's you. I can still hear you over that jackass's horrible taste in music." 'Ambushing me in the shower now? One would think being pregnant would slow someone down, but not her.' Despite his best efforts, it was hard not to crack a small grin at the situation and the laughs he would share with his lover later on, if they lived long enough.

"Oh dear, you discovered my plot," Texas replied mockingly as she joined him, hugging him tightly from behind and kissing the back of his neck. "Maybe I should acquire more sneaking perks, hm?" To take her mind off of the idiocy and ignore Alpha's latest way to piss everyone off, she had recently found some vintage video game in an old storage crate and was rather good at it. Something about being in a medieval fantasy game where you could kill a dragon just by yelling at it appealed to her, though her greatest joy was the utter lack of logic, such as having a magical horse that can walk up ridiculous angle of a mountain, finding fresh produce in the middle of a two thousand year-old dungeon, or finding a lit torch in an underwater chest.

"I'd still be able to find you," Reach returned, tensing as his lover's hands roamed over his chest longingly. "I'd be able to smell that arousal of yours from a mile away. It hovers over you like a little cloud of lust." He knew that he was pretty much asking for it, considering how well they knew each other by now. Most nights (after frenzied sex that lasted for far too long), Reach told her more and more of what his life as a Spartan was like. So far, her favorite story was the attempted April Fool's Day prank gone horribly wrong, where Emile tried to get him with the butter on the floor trick, only for Kat to end up as the victim.

"Oh really~? And what does the scent of my arousal smell like~?" the blonde purred seductively, spinning him around and giving him a heated kiss. Normally, Reach would cave into her desires in less than a few minutes, but he couldn't help but purposely tease her; nothing got her riled up quite like him being a bit of an ass towards her before she was practically putty in his hands and begging him for it.

"It smells like someone raided the freezer and steal all of the goddamn mint chocolate chip ice cream only about five minutes ago. I thought I managed to hide that stash."

"Well, you didn't. It was very good, too~."

"Pain in the ass…" Reach mumbled out before planting a kiss on her soft lips. The taste of the stolen ice cream was still present, and he had to admit, it was rather intoxicating. She definitely knew how to press the buttons he tried hard to hide. 'At least it wasn't Grif or Tucker. Those two keep breaking into South's liquor cabinet and raiding her booze.'

The two simulation soldiers were slowly becoming as thick as thieves, despite that they spent a great deal of time yelling at each other from across a desert canyon. The way they were quickly able to put aside petty differences was amazing; Reach had made a bet with Maine that the two would be at each other's throats since Tucker was sleeping with Grif's little sister. Needless to say, he lost it and owed the big man a few mixed drinks after the fight with the Meta. 'Ah well. I didn't need that entire thing anyway.'

"You enjoy it," Texas smirked against his lips, her arms linking around his neck. Her hands began to feel the brunette's powerful chest, and she removed her lips with a contented sigh, stretching her legs. "You know, being pregnant isn't as easy as I imagined. These random cravings are a little annoying, and I feel more and more exhausted with each day. Not to mention I can't exactly do strenuous activity as much." She wanted to get payback as much as Maine and South, but they weren't limited due to their physical condition.

"I know. It isn't easy at all, especially for a fighter," Reach agreed with a murmur. "But if it makes you feel any better, you're the only one I trust to not kill Alpha over his shitty taste in music. Or Kakiana when she wakes up." 'If that happens.' The sleazy brunette was still unconscious, and even Reach was concerned.

As if on cue, Alpha's hologram appeared in the bathroom, looking at the two with an unimpressed look. "Oh look, the pregnant blonde and her cyborg lover are having fun time in the shower while the rest of us are busting our asses to make sure that overgrown mutant dickhead doesn't get the best of us. Are you going to hurry it up, or do I have to start getting more of my music collection out?"

"Don't…"

"Then get the fuck out of the shower already. Maine, South, and Wash are waiting for you two." He vanished with an annoyed huff, and continued to blast his incredibly awful emo music; Reach swore the AI was doing it on purpose just to be an asshole. To be fair, he was the closest copy to the Director even without all of his memories, but still. He definitely carried the genetic legacy of being a dick.

"Why is he always an asshole?" the ex-Spartan grumbled irritably, reluctantly turning off the water and stepping out. The question was almost rhetorical, for there was absolutely no shot of Alpha being a kind person. He was a dick who was based off of a bigger dick. The only real difference between Alpha and the Director was that Alpha was gifted with the art of sarcasm; he was good enough to roast the latest Earth celebrity.

"If you had been tortured to create who knows how many different fragments, I doubt you'd be all sunshine and rainbows yourself."

"…fair enough. Come on; let's get this over with. It's time we settled this once and for all."

A/N: Next up, Massa and Missouri vs. Beta, plus Massa vs. Wash and Tucker! This is getting really fucking fun, and I'm literally going to have a nerd-gasm thinking about it. Holy fuck…

Please, check out my other stories, and don't forget to look at the poll question on my bio ;), and just a heads-up: any lemon challenges you guys come up with are going to have to be on AO3 once my account gets set up (already had to take down two smuts, and I don't want a war that I'll lose), okay?