Heyy all, sorry about the time between updates. This one was supposed to be up last week, but I got caught up doing things and haven't had any time to do anything other than sleep :L

Thanks go to gwb99 for betaing.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the chapter and thank you all for reviewing, following and favouriting.

SmokeTinyTom: No problem, have given it a lot of thought recently and adding others in is appearing more likely. You're right about the drama, there would be a reasonable amount, but I'll see how it goes :)

B312: - Thank you :) yeah, she defiantly is :P

- Yeah, they'll be in for a real big shock, not sure when it'll happen, so it may be a while yet :)

BloodDragonKnight: Thank you, you're in luck because there is some action in this chapter :) as for my favourite character...hummm, I'd say Agent Washington :P

jhud: There wasn't really much reason for the gun choice. As I don't know much about what guns different militaries use I just googled it, the Beretta was one that came up repeatedly so I used that.

ww1990ww: Not sure how to answer this, I'm not intending any offence on the transformers side of things, but Guardian acts the way he does because that's just him. I'm not looking to do a war on which fandom's more powerful, this is simply a "what would _ do in _ universe". Although, guess I can't do that without stepping on someone's toes.

Guest: Thank you :) I'm glad you do

tamikostubbs1: I will :)

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"Speech"

Thoughts or words stressed upon

Words stressed upon in thoughts

/Comm/

At My Wits End And Losing My Head


Six noticed that the gate had opened for her, which spiked her curiosity and made her feel a little suspicious. How did these people know she was coming? Was it Guardian? Six refrained from shaking her head; she wouldn't put it past the orb to do something like this.

"You expecting us?" Six decided to voice her question as she stopped at the red barrier.

The brown haired man looked down at something and then back at her, "could you remove the helmet please ma'am?"

With no complaint, Six removed the helmet and the man nodded in satisfaction, "you work for someone called 'Guardian's Approach'?"

Six sighed as she put the helmet back on, "yes. I'm here to collect something."

"Yeah, pretty small order, but your guy paid more than most so we took it. It's still being processed, so you'll have to wait a while," the man explained before he pulled up a clipboard and handed it over to her. "You'll have to sign you and your," he looked over at the Major's truck behind her, "guys in. They won't be causing any trouble will they?"

"No," Six replied while she signed a fake name onto the clipboard and handed it back to him.

"Nice meeting you, Miss Ambrose, if you just follow the track over there," he pointed to a similar –but larger- styled building a few hundred meters away. "Someone will be waiting to finalise the details."

"Thanks," Six said as she watched the barrier lift up.

The man sent her a small smile, "take care now."

It didn't take long to ride up to the larger building and as Six pulled to a stop the Major came in next to her. She swung her leg over the silent bike while there was a slam of the door from the truck. The Major came walking over as Six removed the helmet, lent the bike onto its kick stand an then placed the helmet on its seat.

"Maj-" She was about to greet him when he held up a hand. Six nodded in understanding and gestured for him to speak.

He walked a little closer and leaned in, his voice low as he spoke, "what name did you give them?"

"Katherine Ambrose," Six shrugged. There hadn't been a particular reason for the names except they'd been the first to come to her.

"Okay, we don't really want this linked back to us so if you need to, call me Will Carter. Did you notice the cameras?"

"Yeah, you know him, think he saw?"

Six watch as the Major's face turned thoughtful before turning into a frown, "Not sure, but we'll act as if he has so keep you guard up. I'll come with you encase there are any complications, but I'm hoping this will be as smooth as the journey."

"Aye, s-Will," Six corrected herself as she stepped away from the Major.

He grinned at her with still serious eyes, "nice try, let's get going then Katherine."

The Major seemed to find it easy to snap to being like a civilian while Six was having a more difficult time. It didn't surprise her though, she'd never truly experienced life as a civilian so trying to be something she wasn't was problematic. She hid a scowl as they walked into what appeared to be a temporary office. She could hide her emotions easily enough, that would just have to do for this short mission.

"Ah, you must be Miss Ambrose," a man in his thirties looked up from his paper filled desk. A computer was in amongst the papers on his left while a mug spewed steam on his right. A large –and from what Six could tell- genuine smile graced his face until his eyes fully took Six in. She tried to pretend to shift uncomfortably under his gaze, but it ended up barely more than a small twitch from her shoulders.

"It's, ah, a pleasure to meet you," the smile was back, but not as genuine. His eyes betrayed his strange fear of her with the way they glazed over a little.

Stepped forward in what she hoped was a non-threatening manner, Six returned the smile, "Thanks, we're here for the materials ordered by, Guardian's Approach."

The man must've snapped out of whatever it was that was bothering and instantly went into what Six summarised as 'business mode'. He placed both his hands on the table as he sat up straighter with a confident look in his eyes. Using one of his hands he indicated to one of the two chair's in front of his desk, "please have a seat. I'm Cade Johnson, will your…associate be joining us?"

The man was likely worried about the Major's weapon, which Six couldn't help but frown at. Surely if there was truly an issue they wouldn't have been allowed through the gates. She wasn't completely sure what to say about this, civilians where she was from accepted a soldier with weapons readily; they had to.

"Mr Carter, is here for security reasons," Six said in way of explanation. Although, this didn't seem to placate the man. His hands twitch a little as he licked his lips nervously.

"What possible reason could you have-"

Wanting to address his concerns quickly, Six cut the man off, "we've had problems with outside interference recently. It's one of the reasons Guardian's Approach isn't here today."

Six sighed inwardly, could the orb not give itself a human name for this? I would make everything a hell of a lot easier and perhaps the suspicious looks they'd been receiving wouldn't exist.

Cade frowned at her explanation before he nodded in understanding, "your employer has a rather strange name, huh?"

Six gave him no response other than an abrupt "yes, he does".

"Perhaps we should get this underway," he gestured again to the seats and Six complied. There was a small creak from the chair as well as a slight wobble, but it supported her weight. The Major took a seat next to her and leant forward, his gun positioned unthreateningly on his back.

"Your account will be charged once you've viewed the goods and are satisfied, but you don't need to worry about that as your employer has already given us the details. What I need you to do is sign this," Cade pulled out a multi-layer stack of paper and put it in front of Six. He then got out a pen and began going through the basis of each thing Six was signing for. She frowned a little at some of the things he mentioned, but when she quickly skimmed through the thing herself she agreed with it. Apart from one thing.

"We'd rather you didn't keep our details on record," Six insisted, pointing to the offending block of text.

Cade sent her a questioning look before he stole a quick glance at the Major. From the corner of her eye she could see the Major nod in agreement. The confirmation made Cade frown in disappointment as he probably now understood that this was only a one time deal.

"I see," he crossed over the section before handing the pen to Six. "Just sign the rest and I'll ensure it's all in order when it goes through."

Six clenched her jaw, she didn't trust the man in what he'd said. His tone of voice suggested something else and Six wasn't one for civilian games. Having a thought on how to ensure that he kept his word Six leant back in her chair slightly and sent the man an almost aggressive smirk.

"We'll know if you don't," Six intoned darkly, locking her eyes with Cade's watery brown ones. She saw the Major shoot her a look and returned her gaze to the paper before her.

There was a swallow from Cade, "I don't appreciate being threatened Miss Ambrose. We're both professionals here and don't need to stoop to such petty things."

"It wasn't a threat," Six rebutted as she looked back up at Cade. She knew she wasn't really handling this well, but she wasn't a master of manipulation with words. She was a soldier and soldiers such as her didn't really use words in their line of work. "As I mentioned, we've had security issues recently and we need to contain them."

"Understandable," Cade said as understanding filtered through his features, almost surprising Six in how quickly he came around. "I apologise for my jumping to conclusions, things have been strained in the business recently….but never mind that. Let's get on with this, I'm sure you're a tight schedule."

Six nodded as she clicked the pen in her hand. Her eyes carefully re-scanned each paragraph as she signed what was needed. She was careful not to go anywhere near the paragraph to do with keeping their information on file and when she was done she dropped the pen on the stack before turning it back to Cade.

"Thank you, Miss Ambrose," Cade' flashed Six a toothy and likely fake smile. She couldn't help but clench her fists and send him her own passive sneer, which soon took the smile off his face. The Major coughed a little as he began to get up and Six decided it best to wrap up this meeting.

"Will that be all?" She asked as she too began to get up from her seat.

Cade nodded, mentioning that he'd show them the order as he ushered them out of his office; seemingly relieved that they were leaving. As their boots crunched over the muddy gravely ground, Cade led them over to the backside of the building where there was a large opening. When they could see inside they were met with a view of multiple large crates. All of them appeared to be ordered into distinct groups with different coloured numbered and lettered boxes from different groups. The one that caught Six's eye was right at the front and looked like it had just been put there. The fresh looking wood was only marred by a triple digit number that had a letter at the end.

"Here you are," Cade said cheerfully as he walked over to it. "Fresh as it can be, you can have a look if you want to check it."

Six considered it for a moment before dismissing the idea. She doubted this man would risk his reputation being tarnished, as he had mentioned before, he was a professional.

"No, well find you if there are problems," Six told him before turning to the Major. "Could you bring the transport around, Mr Carter?"

The Major nodded as he turned away from them to radio the others. She heard a few of them say that a cop car had driven past a few seconds ago and Six didn't understand the significance until the voice of the truck rumbled over the radio.

/Barricade/ The voice was almost a growl as a tone thick with loathing ensured everyone knew the hate the truck felt towards the owner of the name. Keeping her face neutral, Six turned back to Cade and ushered him out of the storage area. As she and Cade walked past the Major they shared a look and he nodded; telling her to get everyone away from the mine. Although, Cade didn't appear too happy about leaving the Major alone with all the crates.

"I must insist-"

Six cut him off, "quiet, I need you to remain calm. The cause of our recent trouble is heading here so you and your people need to leave."

When Cade didn't' seem to be comprehending what she was saying she decided to reinforce her words with a solid, "Now!"

The man almost jumped out of his suit as he nodded in confirmation. Over the radio everyone was conferring with each other on where they'd take up positions and how they were going to handle any potential threats.

"Where're your vehicles?" Six questioned the man as they passed a significant red case. With a grin Six swiftly smashed the glass and activated the alarm. Load wails then erupted all over the complex and before anyone from NEST could raise a question, she quickly told them what she'd done.

"Over there," the man pointed to a track that led off around the side of the entrance building.

"Alarm meeting point?" She fired another question at him and he gestured to the entrance to the complex. "Any other exits?"

He nodded and seemed to just about find his voice, "Two more, one for trucks," he again pointed to the other side of the storage area. "And one to connect us to the main road. Shouldn't your associate be doing this?"

"He's ensuring your safety, I'm making sure you leave. Now, I need to know who's in today so wait over at your meeting point, I'll be a few minutes."

Cade nodded and began to slowly make his way over to where he'd pointed out the meeting point, Six made her way off in the other direction. While she was walking she quickly informed every one of the information she'd found out and where she was planning to direct the civilians to. The Major was the one to answer, giving her a brief "good" before telling her to get them out as soon as possible and that he and his men would take care of the "'Cons".

Her borrowed combat boots hit the dirt hard as she ran over to the checkpoint she'd passed through only moments before. The man she'd spoken to on the way in was still there, waiting patiently for anyone else that may arrive. He noticed her approach and frowned suspiciously. His mouth opened as he attempted to say something, but Six cut him off before he could.

"I need a list of everyone who's entered the site today," Six demanded before adding, "do you have names for the other entrances?"

He didn't make a move to hand her anything and Six snarled in annoyance, "If you don't give me the lists, someone will get left behind and they will die. Do you want that on your conscience?"

The man flinched at her tone and shook his head before handing her a clipboard.

"This it?"

"A-all attendances are logged onto each entrance, in case of emergency."

Six nodded, "Good, now, give me a line to the other checkpoints and get over to your meeting point."

A silent nod was her answer as he indicated for her to walk round to the back of the small building. She nodded in confirmation and proceeded to do just that. The door was already open when she got there and the man was quickly explaining what little he knew of the situation to his colleagues. She could hear the confusion in their voices, but he swiftly cut over them and mentioned that she would be explaining.

"Here," she held out a hand for the microphone. He looked at her briefly as he handed it over and Six wasn't quite sure what she saw in his eyes. The fear was obvious to her as was the spark of appreciation, but there was something else that she'd never seen in the civilians she'd rescued. Mistrust.

He was gone before she could analyse further and she quickly returned to the task at hand. While it initially took those at the other end of the line to believe what she was saying, when they did they were particularly responsive. They both told her their names and mentioned that they could leave the complex immediately as their transportation was already with them. Crossing both their names off the list she ordered them to leave and not return under any circumstances. Both had chuckled at ludicrous idea before thanking her for the help and she was left with nothing but static.

Glad that something had gone relatively easily Six dashed out of the building and with the list in hand, ran back to where she hoped all the mine's employees would be waiting. As she ran through the dirt she listened to what the rest of the Major's team was doing. Their plan was essentially straightforward, as they did not want to be in a prolonged engagement with the enemy due to their low numbers. In order to provide the best coverage for the civilians they had split into two teams to cover the other two exits. One robot was with each group to make them even and to try and reduce losses. Falling back would provide difficult with the team that had been paired with the motorcycle, but she doubted the Major's men would push out too far.

When the relatively large group of civilians came into view, Six hoped that the Decepticons would not direct their attention her way. A few people noticed her approach and nudged their neighbour who repeated the same movement. It wasn't long until everyone had fallen quiet and they were all looking at Six expectantly. Because of their reaction to her, Six had the feeling that Cade had explained what was happening.

"I'm going to call out your names, when I do, I want you to stand over there," Six explained as she pointed to in the direction of the exit they were going to take. "We need to do this quickly so do not interrupt."

A few people shifted uneasily, but she paid them no head as she began calling out names. During the process there were a few times when someone didn't answer on the first call. Fortunately the person had just not been paying attention and while it grated on Six's nerves she was glad that she didn't have to go looking for them. By the time she was finished she was feeling tense, her body needed to move even though something had yet to happen. As soon as the thought left her there was a loud explosion from not too far away. The sound of it made a few people jump and gasp, but they all remained fairly calm.

"We need to go, now!" She called as she ushered them into what she considered a light run. Six remained at the back to make sure no one was left behind as she called out, "as soon as we get to your vehicles, get in and get out. Don't stop until you hit a main road and do not turn around, I will make sure nothing follows you."

Her words seemed to relive some tension as they continued to run. A few people started to slow and when they did Six was right behind them, spurring them on with what could've been better motivation. Although, she saw no problem with it as it made them run faster all the same. As the explosions behind them grew quieter and the shine of the civilian's vehicles came into view a loud noise echoed through the sky. Before the civilians could even look up she snapped at them to keep moving while she looked up herself. What she saw were three jets soaring low through the sky, she knew right away that they were no allies of hers. They were flying much too low to be allies and when confirmation came through her radio in the voice of the Major she cursed.

"Keep running!" She roared at the civilians as she turned to her radio, /Dot, send Guardian!/

/My arrival is imminent, Reclaimer/ Guardian's voice came over the radio. At the same time the civilians had more or less made it to their vehicles and were beginning to pull out. She sighed in relief as she ran faster over to them to make sure they all left as quickly as possible. A few just making it to their vehicles when she reached them and she was about to say something to them when there was a scream from one of them.

A woman in navy overalls was pointing to the sky with wide eyes. Six already knew what she was pointing at, it was the jets, although there were only two. Despite knowing it wouldn't do much at their height Six pulled out her pistol.

"Go," she yelled at them as she ran away from them in hopes to draw the fire away. Her idea worked and with their attention now on her she quickly scanned the area for cover. Her eyes locked onto an unhooked-up back end of a lorry. Sliding across the dirt just as shots were fired at her, Six slid behind the large piece of cover and pressed her back against it. As she peaked out over the edge a loud thud reached her ears and the ground shook beneath her feet. Both of the jets had transformed and landed about thirty meters from her. Their red eyes stood out against their dull grey colours, telling her all she needed to know; they were the enemy and they needed to die.

"Come out, come out, fleshly," one of them cooed in a sharp grating voice.

The other spoke up, adding in its own low rumble to its partners words, "We won't hurt you, we just want to talk."

She didn't grace their lies with a reply as she took a shot at one of their eyes. The shot just missed, setting off sparks as it grazed the bridge of the robots nose. She didn't allow the small miss to put her off and promptly fired off another shot that hit its target.

The one with the sharp voice screeched angrily while the other growled and raised its cannon. Six barely had time to dive further into her cover before the area near where she'd been previously crouched exploded.

"That's not very nice fleshy," it growled at her. "But if you want to play dirty then…well, we can too."

A quick glance over to where one of the civilians were driving away told her all she needed to know. Clenching her jaw she swiftly slipped under her cover and dashed out the other side. Pushing off from the ground with as much force as possible she broke out into the fastest run she could manage. The two robots turned their attention to her, but they seemed to move slowly as she was almost on top of them. Her pistol was raised as she swiftly shot them both in the eyes. They flinched, however they were not deterred from targeting her. Unfortunately for them she was gone in an instant as she ran under them. She avoided their attempts to grab and squish her with their hands and feet, but only just. One of their hands did manage to scrape her hip, catching on the coat she was wearing and forcing her to deftly contort herself out of it without missing a beat.

She didn't stop once she was behind them as she redirected her momentum and turned on the one with the sharp voice. With her body mere meters from the alien she continued her movement with a large jump onto its back. The robot snarled as it tried to grab at her, its friend too busy growling as it dislodged the coat she had shed. Her breaths came evenly as she danced around the robots clawed hands and climbed its way to its head.

She was just about to pull up to its neck when another hand came grabbing at her out of nowhere. Sucking in a breath she dodged the side just as its claws whizzed past her. It wasn't a completely clean dodge as she noticed a sharp pain in her side, but she had to press on. Remembering what the Major had said about their weak points she saw a faint blue glow coming from in-between the plates in its chest.

The 'Spark', Six thought as her lips tilted up into a wide smile. She was about to jump down there when she noticed a blue peeking out from underneath a myriad of other grey coloured cables. Her grin grew wider as she opened fire on all the important looking cables. Blue liquid flew back at her as the cables snapped and the robot roared in pain.

"You're dead!" it hissed as it reached around with it other hand and took a swipe at her. The swipe just missed as she dropped down into its chest. Its movements became more frantic the closer she got to the blue glow. It was mere seconds before she could see the edge of the 'Spark' peeking out from the protection of its metal casing. A giggle erupted from her mouth and Six didn't hesitate as she emptied the rest of her clip into the glowing blue mass. Her actions received an instant result as the robots movement ceased and she felt him being to drop. Knowing she needed to move Six jumped back up and despite the protests from her injury she was out of the metal body in no time. Behind her she could smell the robots blood as it pooled out from what may as well have been a heart, but that wasn't all he heard. The distinct sensation of a building explosion reached her and she quickened her movements.

As her head breached the cool air she attempted to jump from the now dead robot and to the other, but he was waiting for her. A hard metal cannon connect with her body, knocking her aside and sending her off the edge of the dead robot. Gasping for the breath that had been knocked from her, Six franticly looked around for something –anything- to grab onto. Her search was rewarded when she saw one of the cables she'd shot of only moments ago swing by. Reaching out with all her might she just about managed to curl her fingers around the cable. Gritting her teeth as the cable was slick with the robots blood she slipped down it a little as she pulled herself in.

"Stubborn bag of flesh aren't you?" Her new opponent growled and from the corner of her vision she saw his cannon come into view. Not wanting to be anywhere near it when it fired, Six leaped off her makeshift rope and away from the robot just as it fired. The resulting explosion picked her up mid fall and made her pushed her away uncontrollably. Dust obscured her vision, but she made sure she was ready to hit the ground. Her arms hardly protested as she tried to turn her landing into a controlled roll. The movement worked out for the most part and she ended right back up on her feet covered in dust and with few bloodied grazes. The nerves on her side were still screaming, but she'd learned a long time ago how to block out the pain. A dark chuckled snapped her back into action and she reloaded her pistol in record time.

"Still breathing flesh bag?" Another chuckled as a metal foot made its way towards her through the cloud of dust. "I can see why they're interested in you, I'm sure they'll enjoy picking apart your corpse!"

Before he even finished his sentence Six was already trying to flank him, hoping that the he was still dealing with the earlier damage she'd done to his eye. An explosion erupted where she had been only moments ago, but she didn't stop. Her breaths kept coming and she could feel the blood pumping through her veins as she put everything she had into making another jump. Her hands connected with the warm metal at the robots hip where she saw more cables visible at the joint. Through the dirt and grime that covered her face a smirk broke out and she ripped at the cables before bringing her pistol up to shoot the pulsing blue cable that lay underneath. Specks of blood hit her as the joint buckled and she launched herself out the way of a clawed hand. Curses were thrown at her from the robot in its own tongue as it tried to shake her off. It was evidently proving difficult for the robot as Six barely noticed the rocking movements of the metal beneath her hands. She wasn't surprised as she could hear the strain the metal as it tried to keep itself in a kneeling position.

Suddenly both hands tried to grab at her from either side and as she moved out of the way of one, she felt the other curl around her.

"Gotcha!"

Knowing she only had seconds before the pressure on her body became too tight to move Six began pulling and shooting at any joints on the hand that she could get to. Sparks and blue blood flew around her as the hand was quickly rendered useless. Shallow breaths came to her as she tried to climb up the arm that was shaking her off. Her body was constantly screaming at her with each movement and she knew that this would be her only chance.

Leaping upwards onto the robots shoulder Six fired a few shots at its face in hopes of hitting its eyes again. Growls of pain form the robot told her that some of her shots had hit their marks and he became more forceful in his attempts to dislodge her. So much so that when the hand she'd ruined moments ago came swiping at her, it clipped her in the shoulder as she jumped behind its neck. While she was there she noticed that this one was different to the other. Under two layers of thin metal she could see what looked like a spinal code and wrapped around it were a lot of important looking cables. She couldn't quite get a clear shot off from where she was so she waited until he tried to dislodge her again, hopeful that it would open up the shot she needed.

Her hopes proved right and when he moved she had a clear shot of its vital cables. Grinning wildly she unloaded the remainder of her clip into the cables. It was a bloody mess as the cables snapped and the robot screamed. Six had a hunch that the attack wouldn't kill him, but it those cables had been what she thought they were, then he wouldn't be able to move. Her hunch seemed to be proved right as the robot pitched limply to its side; screaming all the way. Taking cover in the side of the robots neck Six managed to survive the crashing fall with little more than a scratch or two.

The crash of metal against dirt was accompanied by gurgled coughing from the robot as it appeared to be trying to move. Laughing to herself, Six climbed over from its neck and onto its chest to she could see its face.

Its flickering red eyes stared at her, "beaten…by a flesh bag." It coughed some more before snarling weakly at her, "heh…look at you….you're…." Another cough came her way, smelling of metal and dying electricity. "You're one of…us."

Six narrowed her eyes as she looked down at its chest. A few loose layers of metal caught her attention and she ripped them away. It made no indication that it had felt it as she continued to pull away the loose metal. Then, it started making a noise at her that, despite being distorted by its lack of feeling and blood, she still recognised it as a laugh. It wasn't long before she could see the blue glow of the 'Spark' and it stopped laughing. She doubted the silence was out of fear, it had probably accepted its death the moment she'd shot at its back.

"Why are you after me?" Six snarled at it as she reloaded her pistol with her last mag.

The robot snorted, "think I'm…going to spill…my…guts?"

"I can be very persuasive," Six responded with a menacing smile. Making her way up onto its gradually cooling face she proceeded to shoot its left eye. The robot flinched, its face contorting in pain as it roared its discomfort. It then proceeded to curse her in its own language, but other than that it did not answer her question.

Without saying anything, Six moved closer to its now useless eye and pressing the gun right up against the useless metal she shot it twice more; she swore the robot screamed louder than before. Grinning at its reaction she almost laughed, but stopped herself when she saw the Major, his team, Guardian and the robots all chagrining in her direction. All apart from Guardian were a mess and covered in blood, grazes and in the case of the robots, scorch marks. Standing up to her full height Six wiped her face of all emotion as they came to a sudden stop a few meters from her and the downed robot.

"By the All Spark!" KnockOut gasped as he eyed the two bodies of her attackers with shock and surprise.

The one call Ironhide grinned at her handiwork as he muttered, "Primus."

The Major's team looked at the Decepticons and then at her and she wasn't sure what she saw from them. While their surprise and admiration were obvious there was a certain amount of unease directed towards her, but she couldn't understand why. Although, they all muttered a "damn" or something else along those lines as they took in the carnage she'd caused.

"Six, what are you doing?" The Major asked almost hesitantly as he eyed her dirt and blood covered form. There was something in his eyes as he looked her, like disapproval or alarm, but it was barely there for a second before he blinked it away. She decided to pretend she hadn't seen it, to pretend that she was doing the right thing by getting information and showed him though her speech.

"Getting information, Sir," Six told him, gesturing to the robot she was currently stood on. The robot she was stood on rumbled with liquid laughter, but she ignored it in favour of keeping her eyes on the Major.

His eyes seemed to be debating something as he looked at her and it wasn't long before he came to some kind of decision. He glanced at the robot called Ironhide, "Ironhide, you know what to do."

The black robot grinned as his hand turned into a cannon and he walked closer to Six. When he was close enough he offered her his other hand, "c'mon, on yer get."

Six scowled, but walked onto the hand anyway as she sent a questioning glance at the Major. His answer to her gaze was a gesture to the right with his head and a few words, "Staff Sergeant Carter, patch her up, I need to speak with Six. Ironhide will deal with him."

There was another mocking laugh from her immobilised enemy before he threw some parting words at her. "See you…in the pit…flesh…bag."

She nodded to the Major and he made is way over to his men she heard a low chuckle from Ironhide before it was swallowed by the noise of an explosion. The gust caused by it beat into her back and scraped past the side of her face. She could feel his words in the force, a promise of her fate, but she shrugged it off as her mind was preoccupied with what the Major wanted. She was about to continue walking over to Staff Sergeant Carter when it appeared that the woman had found her way to Six. The woman's brown eyes eyed Six with concern as they glanced over her wounds although, despite that her mouth was pulled into a grin.

"Time to patch you up then, huh? You gave those 'Cons a real beating today, mind retelling the story?" Staff Sergeant Carter asked as she pulled her pack off her back. There were a few cheers from the rest of the team at her words, but Six remained silent. The woman indicated for her to lie on the floor and doing as she was told, Six gently eased herself onto the floor; showing no indication that her body was screaming at her.

"Not much of a talker, eh?" Staff Sergeant Carter commented and Six heard the snap of Latex gloves being put on. "Lift you top a bit, let's deal with the big one first."

Shifting a little, Six hooked both her thumbs under the bottom of her top and gradually began to pull it up. In the end she ended up pulling it off completely as she knew it would get in the way. She watched as Carter opened her mouth to say something before closing it again and wincing a little at the wound. Six noticed the woman's eyes widen a little at the sight of her scarred pale skin. She knew some of the scars were jagged and rough looking while others were most defiantly not from the battlefield; they had obviously been caused medically.

"Nicked you good, didn't he?" She pulled out a small black pack from her larger bag and set it down in front of her. "This will sting, but from the looks of you, you can handle it."

Six nodded already feeling the pain creeping in as her adrenaline left her. The stabbing at her side was the worst and it made her nerves feel like they were on fire. The rest of her body was complaining that it had been too soon after her injuries from the other day and she didn't dispute that. She knew she needed more rest, but how could she? She was a soldier, she needed to do her duty and nothing else mattered to her. Suddenly, something wet hit her wound and it burned like fire. Clenching her teeth as the pain shot through her, Six felt her muscles twitch with every drop of fire that hit her. It felt like a long time before it stopped and the burning subsided into a passive uncomfortable heat.

"Here," Carter said and Six could've sworn her voice shifted down a few octaves. She had little time to think over it before there was prick on her arm and the familiar feeling of something being injected washed over her. She was about to send an accusing glare at Carter when everything became a little less painful.

She could hear the smile in Carter's voice, "You look better already, Six."

"It's good to have you back, Six."

Six blinked at the words that had surfaced to mind, casting a look over to the black haired woman who was quickly tending to her wound. How could she get this woman confused with her late leader? It was stupid on her part; she'd never been like this before! That's because you've never had a team before, Six scoffed at the thought. It was true through, she'd never had a team before, but she was not known for being sentimental; perhaps Jorge had rubbed off on her more than she realised. The approaching sound of footsteps stopped any further thought on the subject and Six turned to see who it was.

"Shame I missed you in action." It was Sergeant Evans, as well as a few of the other soldiers. A smile was on his face, but there was concern in his eyes when he saw her wound. "Taking down two 'Cons…how'd you even manage it?"

Six smirked darkly, "killing aliens is my job, wouldn't be very good at it if I couldn't kill them."

The soldiers looked taken aback by her harsh words, if only they knew. They wouldn't be so trusting if they had seen what she'd seen, but that was it wasn't it? She didn't belong here, a place so different from her home, only not.

"C'mon, the 'Bots are good guys," Sergeant Evans said hotly as he frowned at her.

"She doesn't know them yet, so lay off Evans," Carter sighed glancing up from her position at Six's side. Six heard the rustling of packaging as Carter brought out a large gauze and the implements needed to stitch up her wound.

The man looked away, his eyes cast down as he heaved a sigh, "I'm going to go check on Anderson, he got hit pretty hard earlier."

Those behind him parted out of his way as he walked away, a few gave him some hard consoling slaps on his back as he passed. As they all shared looks, Six found herself understanding their reaction to his comment. She didn't acknowledge the fact, nor did she offer her sympathies as she didn't believe it necessary. She knew what it was like and had seen team members die often enough that she felt little towards it now.

Except Noble. She didn't even acknowledge the ridiculous thought that appeared in her mind. Noble was dead and that needed to be the end of it.

"He doesn't mean to be like that," one of the men in the group spoke up. Six frowned inwardly as she recalled his name….Williams…Gunnery Sergeant Williams. Six looked over at the group, her eyes meeting the grey orbs of Williams, which had the look of someone wiser than their years. Like all of them, his young face was covered in dirt, a few raw grazes and a sheen of sweat. If she had to guess, then she would say that under all that dirt was someone who was only a couple of years older than her.

Another one of the soldiers decided to contribute to the conversation, "Yeah, he and Anderson are close, apparently they ran a few ops in Qatar together before those bastardsappeared."

Six's eyes moved over to the female owner of the voice as she recalled her name; Master Sergeant White. The woman's brown hair was frizzing out at all angles thanks to the firefight, but her eyes were pulled into a scowl while her lips tugged into a look of disdain.

"Then he should understand why I don't like them, any of them," Six replied as she looked over White's shoulder and at the robots, who were talking to the Major.

"But, we don't blame the 'Bots," the final member of the small group clarified; Six remembered that he was Tech Sergeant Mathews. He looked at her thoughtfully as if he was trying to figure her out before he continued, "As much as I'd hate to admit it, we'd be a lot worse off without them."

"There a reason you don't like the 'Bots?" Gunnery Sergeant Williams asked as soon as Mathews finished.

"Or all aliens in general?" White added with a grim smile.

"We just don't get along."

White's smile turned into a grimace, "remind me not to get on your bad side."

They laughed at that and Mathews grinned at her, "We can see that." The grin disappeared as he continued, "we want to know why?"

Six looked at them, she really looked at them. Through all the blood and grime she saw soldiers just like her, only they were different. They fought beside aliens and wondered how she could hate them so much, whereas back home finding a reason to like them was like making an Elite cry; impossible. Six didn't understand it; how could they be so trusting? She couldn't tell them why she didn't trust aliens as she knew the Major wanted to keep the truth on the quiet. The reasoning behind his request was also something Six didn't understand about these people and only further showed how she didn't belong here.

The sooner I get back the better.

"My reasons are my own." Six decided to stick with that. It may have sounded snappy, but she wasn't here to make friends, being with and losing Noble had proven it was an unwise thing to do. There was silence for a moment as they took in what she said and it was promptly broken by a loud noise from Carter. She didn't say anything as she finished patching up Six's wound and when she'd finished Six got up.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked sternly, shooting up with Six and grabbing her arm gently.

Shrugging off the hand, Six answered Carter's question, "attend to your wounded, I'm fine."

Her eyes widened a little before narrowing in ire, "you are my wounded and you still need tending to!"

"I'm fine," Six repeated, because she was. The rest of her injuries were minor and she knew there were others who needed tending to more than her, after all she was a Spartan. Before anyone could say anything more, Six scooped up her top, slipped it on and walked away. She didn't want to be there anymore, she needed to be alone. It was a habit that had stuck from her days as a lone wolf, even during her time in Noble team; much to Carter's annoyance. Whenever they'd had downtime she'd found a quiet place to either go for a run, sleep or practice shooting. Jorge had interrupted all that though, but he'd always known when she'd truly had enough. When she was running he'd suddenly appear out of nowhere like the Spartan Two he was, picking up a conversation with her as if they'd always been friends. When she'd been practicing her aim he'd given her a few pointers and then offered to spar with her. She'd always accepted, because who wouldn't want to try their luck against a Two? A least that's how she'd justified it at first. When she'd been sleeping, he'd always have been the one to make sure she did and then he'd always been the one to get her up. But, now he was gone.

I should've taken his place, he was always too sentimental.

"Six!" The voice of the Major snapped her out of her thoughts and she stopped walking. She turned to look at him and found him running in her direction.

"Sir?" Six called back and he came to a stop in front of her a few moments later.

He sent her a look reproachful and concerned look, "You should let Carter patch you up."

"I'm fine Sir, your men need her help more than I do."

He sighed, "Six, I know this is different for you, but you need someone to look you over. You're not wearing your armour anymore, so it's not going to help you."

Six frowned at him, wondering how he knew what her armour did. He evidently noticed her frown as he answered her unanswered question, "Ratchet told me that your armour had coated your wounds in a weird substance, to stop the bleeding. C'mon Six, don't make me turn it into an order."

"I won't, Sir." She wasn't trying to be difficult, but as a Spartan she was designed to take punishment. She knew what she could and couldn't handle, and right now she could wait to receive her medical attention.

"Guess you're wondering what I want, right?" He asked as they came to a stop, there was a strain to his voice; as if he didn't want to be having the conversation. They hadn't stopped far from the others, but it was enough that they wouldn't hear their conversation.

"Yes, Sir," Six replied stoically.

He sighed, looking back at the smoking bodies of the dead robots before turning back to her. His eyes were steely, as was his voice, "What we saw you doing, that isn't what we do. We don't torture people, Six, maybe were you're from you do, but here? That's not how we do things, am I clear?"

"Yes, Sir." But, they're not people, they're aliens. They're the enemy.

He nodded, he didn't look completely satisfied with her answer so he continued, "Something bothering you, Six?"

"With all due respect Sir, they're not people. They're the enemy and they could hold valuable information." She stopped, she understood where the Major was coming from, "But, I understand, Sir."

The Major nodded, satisfied with her answer. After a moment a grin broke out on his face and he clapped her on the back, "That aside, you did great, amazing even. I can…I've never thought it possible, but you killed two of them. How?"

She tried not to back away from his touch as it was something she hardly expected, strange even. However, she put that aside and with a quick glance at her kills she gave him an answer, "I think they underestimated me. Your advice from earlier was also useful and as I discovered, their joints are vulnerable, Sir."

The Major began directing her back to the others as he spoke, "good to know. Now, let's get you fixed up, the civilians all get away?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good, Carter will patch you up," He gestured to the black haired woman from earlier. "We've got a plane incoming with a clean-up crew. They'll want us to go with them to the nearest base, so I need you to have a chat with Guardian; you're the only one he listens to."

Six almost laughed at that, but instead merely nodded and dismissed herself from the Major. Deciding to talk to the orb in question before revisiting the medic, Six began looking around for him. It didn't take her long to spot him as he stood out against the empty backdrop. He was floating on his own at the opposite side of the wide dirt road. She sighed as she slowly made her way over, her body complained at the movement, but she ignored it as always.

"Reclaimer," he greeted as he turned at her approach. "I apologise for not getting to you sooner as I was waylaid by some of the Hybrids. Although, it appears you did not require my assistance."

"Its fine, the Major wants you to accompany us to a nearby base. I'm also assuming that he wants you and the ship kept hidden," Six explained tersely. From the way he'd been acting recently she had a feeling that he wasn't going to want to come. There wasn't much she could do about him if he decided to do his own thing, unless she wanted to physically stop him. She doubted that attacking him would go well –especially in her current state- and in any case, she didn't want to attack him. They were allies for the moment, even if she didn't trust him.

Pulling her from her thought, he proved her right with his words, "I disagree, Reclaimer. This incident has proven that I need to finish this alone, and it will be a lot quicker. I shall take what we've recovered and return to complete the armour, take care, Reclaimer."

And before she could even say anything he was gone, whizzing off into the distance towards the ship. Her eyes narrowed as she remembered that Dot was on the ship. She silently cursed to herself for failing to keep the AI with her at all times. Dot was under her jurisdiction and even though the AI had demanded a decommissioning, Six was trying to do her damndest to prove that it wasn't needed.

But, why? Her mind challenged her. Six stood straighter despite the thumping through her body, she kept Dot for one reason and for one reason only. She needed to record all she could for the UNSC, not just to prove that she hadn't abandoned them, but also for the Forerunner technology. That was it, there was no sentimentality behind it, she was certain of it. Liar.

She ignored the last comment her mind made and made her way back across the dirt road. She scanned the area for the medic who'd partially attended to her earlier. As her eyes weaved around the dead metal bodies, to the living ones examining them and then around the clusters of soldiers, it wasn't long before she spotted Staff Sergeant Carter. The woman was bent over a soldier as she furiously worked at his wound. Her large bag was at her side and she would occasionally dig into it before pulling something out and returning to her work. Figuring it would be best to go and at least let the medic know that she was going to accept her aid, even if it was slightly begrudgingly, Six swiftly changed her direction. It wasn't that she was trying to be difficult, but she knew what she could handle and what she couldn't. If she could wait with her injuries then why not let someone who couldn't go first?

A loud noise overhead forced her from her thoughts and she instantly tensed, expecting more of the aliens to come raining down on them. She wouldn't put it past them to attack while they were recovering, no, she would expect them to do it. Although, it appeared she was wrong and instead of it being more aliens, two large aircraft carriers were flying over. Both were low, but one of them was lower as it cruised past her and eased onto the road before coming to a stop a good hundred meters away. The other continued overhead and eventually dropped out of sight when it reach the other side of the complex.

"Pick-up's here! Get your asses ready to load up! Ironhide and Knockout, you know what to do," she heard the Major yelling as he sprinted towards the aircraft. It was evident that he wanted to be gone so, no doubt he suspected the aliens would be back for another attack. Although, why they hadn't done so yet was a mystery to Six. With that weighing on her mind she continued over to the medic, frowning as she did so.


I feel it was a bit too far-fetched with what Six did, but they were only basic troops and they likely underestimated her. Had it been Megatron or anyone like that, then it would've been a different story.

Thanks for reading.