Chapter Thirteen

I was in one of the large hallways of the ship, staring out the viewport at Paris IV. That was where ONI had decided to send Infinity when Reach was deemed terminal-less, although no one that could talk to me knew exactly why.

There was some foot traffic behind me, so I didn't notice anyone approaching me until I heard a voice.

"You a SPARTAN?"

I turned and saw a towering SPARTAN with cropped brown hair and a scar slashing from his jawline to the bridge of his nose.

I shook my head. "N-no, I'm not a SPARTAN. Sorry."

"You're in the S-Deck." He walked up next to me and looked out the viewport.

When I looked up at the glass I caught a glimpse of myself. My bangs had been a little longer than was comfortable, and my hair had too, so I'd gotten them trimmed.

The man looked down at me. "You're that civilian, aren't you?"

"Yep, that's me." I turned to face him and held my hand out. "I'm Tawny Clark."

He shook my hand. "SPARTAN Olivan Aber."

"Nice to meet you, Aber." I smiled.

"What made you do it?" he asked suddenly. "Join the war, and everything. Everyone says you're some mercenary but I don't buy that."

I placed my hands on the sill in front of me, feeling the cold pierce into my hands. "Why not?"

"You don't look the type. Or act it."

"Good point." I looked down. "I hated seeing everyone around me risk everything to defend us from the Covenant, and then have to protect me on top of it. So I decided to help out."

"But you risked your life," Aber insisted, turning towards me a bit. "More than once, if half the rumors are true. Why was it such a big deal to you? The SPARTANs, I understand, but you're under no obligation to help anyone."

"I am, though. I-I couldn't live with myself if I'd done nothing."

His questions were weird and pointed, but I couldn't feel any ill intent with him. He was genuinely curious; there was nothing wrong with that. So I saw no reason to hide the truth.

John brushed against me through the bond. "Keyes wants us on the bridge."

"I'll be right there," I responded.

I was worried about John. Since we left Reach he'd been feeling down, and not sleeping, and I didn't know how to help him.

The last time he got like this I tried to help. I mentioned Sam and ended up making it worse. So I was scared to try and help again.

Of course, we had the bond now. Maybe that could help me help him.

I turned to Aber. "I-I have to go. It was nice talking to you."

"You too, miss."

I walked back into the recesses of the ship. Through several hallways of barracks and one rec room.

The shuttle was abnormally busy when I arrived. There was nowhere to sit at the stop, so I found a place to stand between the tunnel and the benches.

Dull undertones of conversation filled the area. There were about thirty people at the station; not all of us would fit on the tram.

When the tram pulled up an influx of SPARTANs filtered out. Then I was pushed forward by the crowd making its way onto the tram.

I found a place to stand near the back. There was a trio of handles above me, one at six feet, one at seven feet, and one at eight feet. I grabbed the lower one as the shuttle sealed its doors.

Forge was sitting next to me. "Hey, kid. Good to see you."

I grinned. "You too. Do you know what we're doing here?"

Our presence on Paris IV probably had something to do with why Keyes wanted Blue Team on the bridge, and I was curious.

"Something about a peace conference with the Swords of Sanghelios." Forge shifted. "But it's just rumors for now."

"How long are the peace talks going to be?"

"Says they're due to start today."

The shuttle stopped. A large group of people walked out and another mob replaced them.

"So where are you going?" Forge asked.

I grabbed the handle above me with my left hand - my right hand had fallen numb - and said, "Captain Keyes wants Blue Team in the bridge. I-I don't know why yet."

Forge nodded. "I'm going to visit the lady. Rion wants to talk to her again."

Rion was Forge's daughter. As much as Forge wasn't a family man, he loved Rion. She was only twelve, and she was bright and passionate.

I'd never talked to her, but Ellen talked about her a lot.

The shuttle stopped again in one of the civilian areas. Forge pushed himself to his feet. "This is my stop. See you, kid."

"Bye."

When he was gone I sat down where he'd been. I absently rolled my right ankle, listening to it crack. It hadn't been hurting lately but it always cracked when I rolled it.

The avulsion fracture I'd gotten on Requiem didn't seem to be leaving any lasting effects, though. For that I was incredibly grateful.

I leaned back against the window as the shuttle sped through Infinity.

It really was nice to be back. Not having to worry about suffocating or starving or getting shot.

Well, all things about my life considered, getting shot was still a distinct possibility. And it may become even more likely, depending on why they wanted us in the bridge.

The shuttle stopped in the upper deck. I followed a large crowd out of the tram.

The shuttle track across from me was also unloading. I saw Kelly and Linda, in their biosuits and grey cargo pants, among the mob.

"Hi, guys!" I bounced up.

Kelly smiled. "Hey Tawny."

I fell into step beside them as we walked towards the bridge. "Do you know why the Captain wants us up there?"

"No idea." Linda shook her head.

We walked into the bridge. John and Fred were already there, standing upright in front of Captain Keyes and Commanders Lasky and Palmer.

Palmer was young, younger than me, but she'd been the baddest ODST in her division near the end of the war. She'd managed to strongarm her way into the position of Commander, and from what I heard the people at ONI didn't like her.

Which of course meant I'd labelled her as an ally, if a tentative one.

She nodded to Kelly and Linda as we walked up to the holotable.

John brushed against my mind in greeting. I returned the gesture and stood next to Linda in the line.

Palmer, who was in her armor without the helmet, put a hand on her hip. "It's time to armor up again, Blue Team. You five are going down to the surface to guard the peace talks between us and the Elites."

How exciting. Dangerous, maybe, but fun. I hadn't spoken to a friendly Sangheili in so long.

"Tawny," Palmer turned to me, "you're not on guard duty, since you're not cleared for combat missions. You'll be keeping an eye on the perimeter."

I nodded. "Got it."

She was right. I'd only ever been in combat either by mistake or in an emergency. The only time I'd been intentionally assigned to a combat mission was when the Covenant laid siege to New Mombasa on Earth.

And when Del Rio assigned me to the company taking out the particle cannons, which was both a display of his lack of decision making skills and a bit of a grey area.

Other than that, most every combat mission I'd been on had only accidentally dissolved into a warzone. It had just happened with pretty much every mission I'd been on.

Lasky stepped forward. "You're due on the surface in one hour. Stay safe, Blue Team."

"Dismissed," Keyes said. "Good luck down there."

oOOOo

This peace conference was a big deal. There were rumors that the Arbiter himself was going to be present, along with Admiral Cole and Ruth Charet, the President of the UEG.

Which meant it was a humongous target for Innies and the Covenant splinters that refused to die. Security was unbelievably tight.

The complex, in the middle of the city, was surrounded by human and Sangheili security teams. SPARTANs were everywhere in teams of at least two, walking around and checking clearance and such.

I, along with the rest of Blue Team, was told to report to SPARTAN Anjella Daes for our orders.

So, when the Pelican landed on the tarmac of the massive complex, we followed the conveniently provided navmarker to Daes. We were all completely armored up.

We walked into one of the smaller - not small, but smaller - buildings encircling the tarmac.

From what I'd seen, the complex was arranged in a ring of five circles. In the very center was a sixth circle, a huge glass dome, which was where the actual council was taking place.

There was a tall woman with a short afro and MJOLNIR armor giving orders just inside the door. She didn't have her helmet on, but she had a headset and a datapad.

And our navmarkers pinned her, so it was safe to assume she was SPARTAN Daes.

We walked up. John and his siblings saluted. I stood up straight, but it would have been weird if I saluted so I didn't.

Daes turned to face us. She was a bit frazzled at all that she had to do, and it was making her snappy.

"Good, you're here." She set straight to work. "I want the SPARTANs split off in pairs. 117 and 087 are providing security for ambassador Rhea Helix. 104 and 058 are guarding ambassador Kit 'Nula."

"Affirmative, sir." John nodded.

Daes looked down at me. "You, civie. You're pairing up with one of the Elites to patrol the perimeter. Just make sure no one gets in that shouldn't."

I nodded. "Okay. I c- I can do that."

Daes turned to someone behind her. "'Mon, get over here."

A towering Sangheili loped up and nodded to Daes and me. He had big dark eyes and brown skin, and sported a few scars on the right side of his face.

"This is Tidet 'Mon." Daes nodded to him. "'Mon, you get babysitting duty. Watch the civilian and keep an eye on the perimeter."

"I understand, Commander." 'Mon bowed his head.

"Dismissed." Daes turned from us as she spoke, already focusing on something else.

I turned to Tidet and held out a hand. "Nice to meet you, Tidet, I'm Tawny Clark."

"You are the human woman who was blessed by the Forerunners, are you not?"

I nodded and dropped my hand, which had been ignored. "Yep."

"I am honored to make your acquaintance." He bowed his head again. "Shall we go?"

I turned to Blue Team. "Bye, guys. Be safe."

"You too, Tawny." Fred tapped my helmet. "Keep in touch."

"I will." I nodded to Fred and ran my fingers down John's arm. "See you soon."

When my fingers reached his hand he wrapped around mine, tapping my wrist twice. I smiled a bit, though he couldn't see it through my helmet, and tapped the heel of his palm.

Then they were gone.

I turned to Tidet. "S-so where are we going?"

"Here." He sent our route to my HUD.

In the bottom left corner was a map of the complex. Our scheduled path wove around the edge of the outermost sidewalk. Then we would make our way in until we were patrolling the dome in the center. Then back out again, to repeat the process.

We only needed to do two rounds, since there were other SPARTANs and regular soldiers patrolling the perimeter as well.

So we walked out of the building and onto the sidewalk that encircled the entire complex. Patrolling the entire thing twice would probably take several hours, and at that time we'd be off-duty.

I was keeping an eye on Blue Team on my HUD. They were making their way towards the dome.

The sidewalk that Tidet and I were on had small seasonal trees on either side, with flowered bushes between each tree. The white blossoms littered the ground but there were plenty on the branches still.

And, of course, it was bustling. Larger walkways were all around us, full of people working and visiting the conference. On the road outside the complex was a large traffic stop, so the only vehicles were security and catering vehicles, and a few news outlets.

I was keeping a closer watch on things with my mind instead of my eyes. Feeling for anyone with dark intentions. My eyes were busy taking in the grand buildings and gorgeous architecture around us.

Paris IV wasn't an outer colony, but it wasn't an inner colony either. And it was only a ten-hour jump from Sanghelios, a nine-hour jump from Earth, so it was a nice middle ground for the two species.

Tidet and I didn't talk as we moved. We were supposed to be alert, after all, and watching for threats.

We'd reached a grassy break where one circle of buildings ended and another began. The gap allowed a glimpse of the majestic glass dome that was in the heart of the complex. Its panes were shimmering prisms that refracted the light at every angle.

Then it was gone, blocked by a smooth black-stone building in the next circle.

Blue Team had reached the dome and split off into their pairs. I could see that on my HUD.

I opened a comm between only the five of us. "Is Thel really here?"

"He is," Fred answered. "He's waiting with the other Elites."

That was exciting.

I hadn't known Thel for very long, and in the time that I had he'd kidnapped, starved, and threatened me.

But he'd also saved my life, even at the risk of his own, and turned against both his government and religion to help his people and to help humanity. He'd honored Sergeant Johnson with us when Guilty Spark had murdered him. Hell, he'd even let me cry on him when Johnson died.

I wanted to see him again.

And John, as reluctant as he was to admit it, was happy to know he was doing okay. He didn't even mind the idea of talking with him a bit, if the timing worked out.

Tidet started the conversation as we walked along the sidewalk. "How long have you had a contract with your military?"

I thought for a moment. "About...four years now, I guess. B-but I was in cryosleep for most of it."

"The organization, the Office of Naval Intelligence, parades you as a SPARTAN for the masses."

"It's kind of weird."

"How so?"

I swallowed. "I-I've never been big or strong. It was...it was kind of strange."

Tidet glanced down at me, internally shuddering at the notion of being weak. "Would you ever consider becoming a SPARTAN?"

"Me? I couldn't. I would have to join the military, a-and they'd never let me do that."

"Why would they turn away such a warrior as you? The whole of the Arbiter's kingdom has heard of your unmatched abilities."

I looked down at the sidewalk. "I've got a genetic disorder. EDS. I-it's not severe, but it's enough that I can't really fight. Even with my powers...I'd never make it through basic."

"This illness, it makes you weaker?"

I nodded.

"That truly is horrible. I mourn for you, Tawny Clark."

"It's fine. I don't mind," that was a lie, "but the UNSC has bent enough rules for me."

oOOOo

It was almost midnight local time. Both Blue Team and I had been off-duty for a while. We were in one of the many buildings in the complex, a fancy hotel, where we were to spend the night.

We were resting in the common room, basking in the revelry between the humans and the Sangheili who had come.

The first day of the peace talks had gone well.

If they continued on that track, the UEG and SoS were considering jointly recolonizing a glassed star system. One where both governments had equal domain, and their citizens could merge with one another.

I was sitting between John and Linda on a metal bench along the wall. John was leaned back against it with his eyes closed, but he refused to sleep.

My helmet, along with the rest of Blue Team's and several SPARTAN IVs', was on the floor along the wall. Each one was unique so there was no chance they'd get mixed up.

John hadn't slept in several days. He had bags under his eyes, contrasting heavily with his pale skin, and his face looked gaunt.

I was so worried about him.

He could feel it, and he hated that I was worried, but he didn't know how to help himself, either.

He just knew that sleep brought nightmares. Sleep was vulnerable. Sleep left himself and me and anyone else around him open to attack.

So he didn't sleep.

And no amount of begging from me had convinced him to sleep.

Two massive Sangheili in armor walked in. Between them was one in ornate, but functional, gold armor.

His armor had changed drastically, but he hadn't.

I pushed myself to my feet and ran across the room. "Thel!"

His comrades moved to block me, but Thel stopped them with a waved hand.

I slammed into him and wrapped my arms around him. "It's been so long."

"It is an honor to see you again, little hunter." Thel handled my unexpected hug with grace.

He'd called me "quillick", which directly translated to small hunter. A quillick was a little predatory animal on Sanghelios, and a pet name typically reserved for small and feisty people.

I'd never considered myself feisty, but maybe things looked different to the people who'd tried to kill me and failed.

"And you." I let go of Thel and looked up at him. "I'm so glad you're okay."

He cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

We started walking deeper into the common room.

I looked down. "Well, when John and I got lost we didn't know if you'd made it. Th-through the portal on the Ark."

"Ah." He nodded in understanding. "It honors me that you were concerned. Your people grieved for the loss of both of you."

As true as that was, it was weird to think about. We hadn't been dead...but everyone had thought we died.

I shook myself and looked around. "It looks like you've been busy."

"Indeed. Without the cloud of the San'Shyuum, the title of Arbiter is once again one of reverence and leadership. I take great pride in my duties."

"I can tell." I sat down on a cushioned bench beside Thel. "I'm glad the talks are going so well."

Thel nodded. "As am I."

John walked up. He sat beside me with a nod to Thel. "Arbiter."

"SPARTAN." Thel returned the nod. "I am glad you are alive and well."

"You too."

None of us spoke for a bit. I leaned against John, who was on my left, and closed my eyes.

I'd walked for most of the day. Even with my armor, I was a bit sore. And John was, once again, staggered by how weak my body was.

We really were polar opposites in so many ways. But, in others, we were exactly the same.

"I heard of what you did on Requiem," Thel said.

John nodded in acknowledgement. Neither of us wanted to talk about Requiem.

"You saved countless lives, including those of my people. For that I thank you." Thel bowed his head.

John wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "We couldn't ignore the threat after we heard about it."

"Sanghelios owes you a debt. For your recent bravery, and for freeing us from the lies of the San'Shyuum."

The San'Shyuum, from what I'd heard, had gone into hiding somewhere in deep space. No one could find them. No one cared to.

I opened my eyes to look up at Thel. "You repaid us when you got rid of Truth."

Thel nodded once in agreement.

Then he looked at John and I; really looked at us. His orange eyes were calculating.

I'm sure we both looked like a mess. I was half-asleep, in the company of two people I trusted implicitely, leaning against John's arm. And John was clearly drawn. His eyes were alert, but bloodshot. He looked even paler than usual, which I hadn't known was possible.

Thel had noted John's exhausted disposition. John knew that he knew, and it made him tense.

Thel recognized John's new tension and decided to let it be.

"How are you finding the SPARTAN branch?" he asked, if only to turn the attention away from John's fatigue.

John nodded slowly. "It's not bad. The ranks are much looser than the Navy."

"So I have heard." Thel shifted. "They base their rankings upon skill and valor, do they not?"

"They do," John confirmed.

"I predict you will swiftly rise above the others, SPARTAN."

"They already offered him the rank of SPARTAN Commander," I mumbled sleepily. "He said no."

"I just need command of Blue Team," John said.

Something, a flash of warm recognition, flashed through Thel's heart. "I have worked closely with your brethren in the years following the war. They are courageous and swift."

John nodded in total agreement. I could feel the pride and love in his heart for his team. They were family.

Some small part of me wanted to stay awake and talk with Thel, like John was, but another part felt both my own exhaustion and John's and decided it was time to sleep.

And I was safe. For the first time in a while I felt completely at ease with both my safety and the safety of my friends.

My eyes slid closed.

oOOOOo

Author's Note: Hi guys! How's your week been? Mine's been hectic asf but in a fun kind of way.

Question, do you think 5'4" is short? Not in respects to Halo, because I know that Tawny is short AF compared to Everything in the Halo universe, but irl? I'm curious

Love you guys!