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Kasumi felt conflicted
She watched as several emergency workers studied the giant of a man who had seen fit to save her life at the cost of his own bodily health. She could feel his eyes on her, following every one of her movements with a trained eye.
She felt like prey.
Her instincts were screaming at her to run, to return to the shadows, and plan her next move. Now more than ever, she was vulnerable, especially after taking such a blatant and open stance against her enemies. No more so than the potential threat before her.
"If I did not see it with my own eyes, I'd say someone was playing a practical joke on me." One of the doctors said to one of his equally intimidated colleagues. "This man should be dead!"
Kasumi listened to the medical worker's words, trying hard not to let her face betray the emotions she felt. This man wasn't just a man. That much was beyond question. He was stronger and faster than any man she had ever seen, an impressive feat considering the caliber of person Kasumi rubbed shoulders with.
Her training was more than learning how to fight or how to kill silently and effectively. It was also about gauging an opponent, knowing just how dangerous someone was before allowing oneself into a situation there was no coming back from.
This man was a death sentence.
But, despite her instincts screaming at her to run and despite the visible reaction his presence generated...He still saved her. This stranger, someone who she had never seen before today, went out of his way to not only save her life but to help try and capture Christie.
Kasumi had to think that anyone who would willingly stand up against anyone who worked with Victor Donovan couldn't be a bad person.
"Kasumi!" Lei Fang said as she walked up to the kunoichi from behind. Have the doctors cleared you yet?"
It was a stroke of luck that The Golden Empress had a built-in medical facility on its premises. The level of luxury and privacy given to their guests was something that LeiFangs family prided itself on afterall.
Kasumi rubbed the bandages on her sprained wrist, quietly thanking whatever spirit was watching over her that this, as well as a few cuts and bruises, was the extent of her injuries.
"They gave me a clean bill of health a little while ago," Kasumi said as she stared away from the mountain of a man to the Chinese heiress. Lei Fang suffered little in terms of serious injury during their escapade, in large part thanks to the sole male of the little trio that had formed on the rooftop. "I was just about to head out myself before you stopped me."
"Oh, don't be like that!" Lei Fang said as she guided Kasumi away and towards the window overlooking the city. It was a relief to know that not all of the hotel structure had suffered during Christie's rampage and that given enough time, the scars that were left from the attack would be healed." You can't just show up after a year of radio silence and leave without a word!"
Kasumi sighed as she looked away from Lei Fang, not entirely comfortable with where this conversation was going.
"I'm sorry, Leifang, it's just..." she started before turning away from the other woman." Its..just complicated."
"It's always complicated with you ninjas." Lei Fang said as she slung her arm over Kasumi's shoulder and gave her a light squeeze. "I can't say I'm an expert on how shinobi are supposed to operate, but I'm sure having a break every once in a while can't be against the rules."
Kasumi paused as she looked back at the older woman. She had worked hard to keep her lives separate from one another. She knew she was doing a disservice to the people in her life because of it, but Kasumi knew it had to be done.
Her quote-unquote everyday life back in Tokyo with her "Friends." Good ordinary people, the type of people Kasumi couldn't fully open herself up to because of her past. People who deserved better than the person Kasumi was only pretending to be. But even after so long, Kasumi couldn't help but feel so isolated and alone.
Maybe...
"Lady Fang!" a voice broke Kasumi out of her thoughts as a doctor with a somewhat frazzled look on her face walked towards them." About the patient..."
"Oh, yes. " Lei Fang said, twirling around to look at the doctor in question ." What can I do to help you!"
She seemed...excited.
"Well, you see, we can of ran into an issue regarding his dressings..." the doctor said, looking more flushed and embarrassed as she spoke of the man in the other room." We don't have... a gown in his size."
At the woman's words, both fighters instinctively looked through the still open door leading to the private hospital room.
That was...wow
Kasumi had never been attracted to "muscle heads," as some of her schoolmates referred to them. Bodybuilders always seemed to be vain men in Kasumis opinion, so large and bulky, they had trouble going in and out of most doors. Not that she judged anyone for liking that sort of thing, it was just not her cup of tea.
Having the chance to see the man in a more neutral time and place made Kasumi seriously rethink her previous assumptions.
She couldn't help but admire just how... naked the man was. With his vast shoulders, deep barrel chest, and arms and legs thick with muscles beneath is was easy to see just where the inhuman level of strength the man held had come from. Her eyes were drawn to the firm, dominatingly etched ridges and curvatures of his muscles. His tall, herculean figure left bare in all its glory thanks to the lone blanket concealing the equally massive bottom half of his form. But even if she was eager to see him fully revealed, what she was already seeing was well worth it.
Kasumi looked towards Lei Fang, seeing a haze overtake the heiress's vision as her lips moved to say words that were inaudible to anyone else.
Lei Fang?" Kasumi said, snapping her fingers in an attempt to break the older woman out of whatever daze she found herself in. The third snap had done it, but by then, Lei Fang had forgotten entirely what she was doing beforehand.
"W-what were you saying, Kasumi?" The heiress stuttered as she looked away from the very distracting sight just a few meters away from them." I-I was distracted by...something."
"It's nothing, Lei Fang."As she started to walk away towards the awaiting elevator, Kasumi said, "I have some things I need to take care of. I...I'll think about what you said earlier."
Giving one last turn towards the Chinese heiress allowed Kasumi to see the other woman wave goodbye to her as she continued to stare at the man in the other room. It was enough to put a smile on the renegade ninjas face as she entered the elevator.
She paused for a moment before pressing the lobby button. Her body became rigid as she sensed...something in the air. It was familiar, but she couldn't place her finger on it, like trying to remember the finer details of a dream as soon as she woke up. She took a step out of the elevator and into the now empty hallway. No doctors, no Lei Fang, no man, but still she could feel a presence. It made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
She shook her head, almost willing the feeling away from her as she did so.
"That fall might have done more damage to me than I thought," Kasumi said as she entered the elevator once again and began her short trek towards the lobby.
As the door dinged, a shimmering blue light immerged from the corner of the room. The light morphed and took shape, which looked near-identical to the woman, before disappearing into a black mist.
Johns' well-trained blue eyes watched how the redheaded young woman paced through the room, a look of contemplation etched on her face. If it was up to John, he would have grabbed the young woman the first chance he could get and demand her to tell him everything she knew about the situation she had been in the middle of.
What was her relationship with the white-haired woman on the rooftop? What were both of their relationships with Victor Donovan? But he was especially interested in what all this had to do with the young girl under his care.
But life, John had quickly discovered, had a strange way of doing the opposite of what he wanted.
The Master Chief found himself lying on a medical bed in a room on one of the hotel's lower floors, receiving a check-up on his injuries. He didn't wear a hospital gown partially because he refused to wear one and partly because he doubted one could be found in his size on such short notice. Instead, he was nearly nude, if not for the blanket covering below his waist. Purple bruises developed on his form, along with some minor swelling.
Nothing too outrageous, John thought to himself as he watched the half dozen or so medical officials run around him. It probably wouldn't even be something he noticed if he had been alone.
"That's not something you should be bragging about, John." His A.I. said with an exasperated tone to her voice. The idea that her spartan would be proud of his irresponsible habit of ignoring potential life-altering injuries was infuriating for the intelligent A.I. to think about.
They weren't the worst injuries he ever suffered from. Still, he supposed they could be considered impressive by the civilian medics looking over him. The problem, John quickly realized, was that it wasn't just medics who were looking over him.
"AS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE FANG FAMILY, I HUMBLY APOLOGISE FOR PUTING YOU IN SUCH A SITUATION," the young woman who had escorted him to the roof said in a formal and practiced tone. She was bowing her head, almost throwing herself onto the ground and prostrating herself in front of him for "not acting in the proper manner of the heiress." Honestly, John had gotten tired of telling the woman she had done nothing to apologize for. If anything, he was the one who put her in an unnecessary situation. Still, his concerns landed on deaf ears, so he let her continue without a complaint. " PLEASE ALLOW ME THE HONOR TO MAKE UP FOR MY PAST MISTAKES!"
"Seriously, John." his A.I. companion spoke in his ear as he waited for the medics to finish whatever they were doing." This poor girl is gonna hurt herself if she keeps going on like that."
John bit his tongue to stop him from responding to the A.I, out of habit. Only giving a slight nod to his head in affirmation to make sure Cortana didn't think he was ignoring her.
The young woman took a break from apologizing to him to speak with one of the medics. The lull in conversation allowed John a moment to breathe as he leaned back and let the doctors attempt to do their jobs.
He'd been on medical tables before, certainly during the war. Still, the idea of being posted in the med bay meant more time away from where he made himself useful. Especially for something as small and minor as the injuries he currently had. Not like the doctors would believe him.
"If I did not see it with my own eyes, I'd say someone was playing a practical joke on me." one of the doctors said, a balding man in his fifties if John had to guess. "This man should be dead!"
John ignored the whispers as he watched the two women he had saved speak to one another out in the hallway. Now that John had the time to study the two women, he could tell that they shared a connection. Were they partners? The dark-haired woman knew the man he fought with on one of the upper levels as well. Did that mean they were all working together?
Unlikely John thought to himself as he watched the dark-haired woman, Lei Fang; he remembers her saying, wrap her arm around the shorter women in a half hug. The redhead seemed conflicted. John had learned a long time ago the subtle and not so subtle ways to study body language. When he and his brother and sisters were in full armor, it was sometimes the only way for them to communicate with one another out in the field.
A sag of a person's shoulders after hearing a piece of news. A flex of their hands when telling a lie. A nod of the head that was just a little too quick. John had learned to look at these reactions when communicating with his brothers and sisters when wearing half-ton body armor to understand them better. For John, reading people not wrapped in 1000 pound suits of armor was like reading an open book.
John would bet his life that the redhead in front of him was isolated, from habit or more likely necessity. The way she held herself, the way she stiffened slightly at the other woman's touch, this was someone who was used to hiding in plain sight.
"Almost like they're a ninja, right chief?" Cortana said in his ear, reminding him of the words used by the newest member of their little trio when she described what kind of person her "Original" was. "And you didn't believe her."
Ninjas. Now they were dealing with ninjas, and here he thought clones were bad enough.
John paused his thoughts as he noticed the two turn to look straight at him, their conversation stopping momentarily as they...just stared at him. John stared back, unsure what to do as he tried to read the women's body language to understand just what they were thinking...And he could read nothing. Or at the very least, what emotions he could read were a complete mystery to him. Maybe his skills were just out of practice after being the lone spartan on the battlefield for so long.
The redhead turned to leave, and at that moment, John knew he couldn't let that happen. There were too many things he needed to know about.
"John, don't you dare..." His Companion said into his ear as he decided his next course of action.
He stood up, the sudden motion enough to cause two medical team members who were trying, and failing, to get a blood sample to fall onto the ground. The action also caused the team of highly trained doctors to panic at the sight. John noticed one attempt to call for help in restraining him, clearly forgetting about the chaos the rest of the hotel and surrounding area was currently in.
The medical staff scattered like ants. Each moved to a different corner of the room as John's gargantuan form took his first step towards the hallway.
"John, just stay still and listen for once." Cortona said, her tone sounding somewhere between bewildered parent and excited and entertained onlooker." did you forget I have this whole city monitored? We can find her later."
John growled in response, the only action he could take without sounding like he was crazy. Thankfully, however, the intelligent A.I. picked up his meaning without hesitation.
"I'll figure something out just, sit back down before..." but it was too late. As the bedsheet, the only thing keeping John remotely clothed in the most figurative of ways, fell to the floor.
Christie considered herself rather experienced when it came to navigating the black market information brokers of the world.
It was relatively simple, actually, more straightforward than what your average joe shmoe would assume. When a person starts hearing buzz words like "underground" and "criminal" and "black market," they begin to think the worst. But when you got right down to it, like most things in capitalist societies, it came down to supply and demand.
The best people who supplied the best information demand the most money or the most difficult "favors" to make the transaction worth their while.
Christie was very adapted in this particular avenue. She had been across the world twice over. she had seen the most splendid sights…as well as things that would sicken the average person, all thanks to her life as a top assassin. Christie had encountered many different types of people with very… extraordinary lives. But even with every contact she had acquired, nothing could hold a candle to the web of criminality and secrets that Victor Donovan controlled.
Which was one of the few reasons Christie had to bother putting effort into staying in the man's good graces for so long. God knew it wasn't his sparkling personality.
"You can't be serious." The older man said, his tone as even and sardonic as it usually was when he thought a concept to be beneath him. "You expect me to believe all that?"
Christie sighed to herself as she twirled the handle of Kasumi's broken sword in her hands. Honestly, she assumed Donovan would have been at least a little curious. When three of his operatives told him the existence of a man who nearly brought failure to one of his "master plans," she assumed he would like to know all he could know about who that person was.
Especially when one of those operatives was her.
"Do I seem like I'm the type of bird who would make up stories like this?" Christie said as she walked closer to the good doctor. He inspected what remained of the mist transport helicopter she arrived at Donovan's safe house in. Just looking at the husk of a vehicle was enough to make Christie pause.
As Donovan so elegantly coined it, the songbird was M.I.S.T.'s latest and greatest stealth transport unit. A modified h160 airbus, designed to be as mobile and fast as a transport unit could be in urban environments. It turned with precision despite armored with twice as much armor plating as its military-grade counterparts. Indeed, when it would go into production for whatever country could afford it, Donovan would make a pretty penny.
That was, of course, before it became a pile of scrap metal.
Fourteen bullets were all it took—fourteen shots placed with surgical precision to specific vital points of the helicopter to exploit design flaws. Christie had to be sure even the engineers who designed and created the prototype stealth helicopter didn't know some of these existed.
She really was that lucky to have made it here alive. Suppose the man hadn't used his first bullet to shatter Kasumi's blade. In that case, the man might have had enough firepower to have taken out Donovan's precious little prototype for good.
"I'd assumed you would want to know everything you could about Kasumi's newest partner," Christie said as she looked for a reaction on Donovan's face. The fact that Donovan had little interest in discovering just what his favorite little ninja was planning confused Christie. Was he really that broken up over Rigs disobedience? Or was the issue in Tairon that upsetting to the doctor that his usual curiosity was deluded?
"I'm not concerned with tall tales told by fools to soothe their bruised egos."
Well, christie thought as she worked the tension out of her jaw, there it was. The first sign of Donovan regaining a semblance of the control he had lost over the past few days had allowed the monstrous ego of his to return in full.
"Fool? That's a funny word to describe a woman who you literally had to beg to do a job for you, a job by the way that I finished despite the outrageous situation I was in."Christie said as she turned to face the older man, eyeing him like how a cat does an over-fed canary. "We both know you have access to C.C.T. around the area. If you don't believe me, then watch the video feed yourself."
Of course, the man was watching her. Besides being the type of "hands-on" micromanaging employer Christie hated working for, Donovan always seemed to be the type of man who enjoyed watching people while they worked. Like the creepy voyeur, she always assumed he was.
"Don't flatter yourself," Donovan said as she walked closer to the helicopter, motioning for christie to follow him as he did. "There is a reason why I pay so much. It's because I trust you to get whatever job I have for you to do without the need of such drivel."
"You trust me enough to kill for you," The hitwoman said as she eyed an especially frightened-looking engineer. "Not enough to listen to me about a potential future threat."
"Rest assured, Christie. Some roided-up gym monkey hanging around Hong Kong are the last things on my mind right now." He said as he inspected the damaged stabilizer bar of the aircraft. How someone could hit the gap of the armor plating on a moving target was still something that boggled the mind. "I have much more concrete and none imaginative things I'm worried about."
"Imaginative?" Christie balked, not exactly thrilled with the prospect of being called a liar by one of if the not the most untrustworthy men she had ever known." That's rich coming from you, don't you think?"
"What are you implying?" Donovan asked as he lit a cigarette. The tell-tale sign the man was still as stressed as he was when he was forced to contact Christie to change her job plans. "If you have something to say, I advise you to say it simply."
There were many things christie wanted to say, none more so than a simple "sod off" with a rather colorful adjective to top it off. But she was still on the job, and while she was on the job, the customer was always right. So like many times in her profession, Christie held her tongue. She still needed the man's resources after all. So while it would be incredibly satisfying to wash her hands of this whole thing, she needed to grin and bear it for the time being simply.
"That's what I thought." Donovan smiled as he inhaled a deep breath of his cigarette, the smugness in his eyes enough to make Christie want to vomit."Now forget about Kasumi. We have bigger fish to fry, so to speak."
"What exactly do you expect me to do?"Christie said as she turned away, "Run halfway around the world again, all the while dodging Kasumi and her indestructible boy toy ?"
Donovan sighed as he exhales a puff of smoke, clearly frustrated with Christie at the moment, but if she played her cards right, just about ready to concede the point to shut her up.
"If I do this for you. Will you drop this pestilent child act you're doing right now?"
"What act? Christie said with a smile, one that seemed far too innocent to look anywhere near natural on her face. "I'm just a scared woman trying to make ends meet getting harassed by some hooligan, and her employer refuses to help. For shame."
"Fine," Donovan growled as he stomped out the cigarette on the floor. "I suppose it shouldn't be that difficult to find the man you seem to be obsessed over."
"Obsessed is a bit of a strong word." Christie said with a smirk as she walked away from Donovan," Call it professional curiosity."
Well, that happened.
It was an odd reaction for someone who had just accidentally "Flashed" a room full of doctors, but it was the reaction John-117 felt when it happened to him. What was he supposed to feel?
Embarrassed?
Surprised?
Shocked?
That's what everyone in the room felt, that much he could tell. Being a spartan meant he had barely shown his face outside of his armor for so long, to the point where being without the Mjoiner battle armor made him feel naked already. This didn't feel all that much different, John supposed.
As he sat back down and covered himself, he couldn't help but noticed many in the room were looking at him differently. It was subtle, either because the feelings of surprise and shock and embarrassment were so strong they overshadowed everything else. These were the type of emotions that people generally tried to keep under wraps when in the company of others.
"..So...amazing." He heard one of the doctors say, a woman surprisingly enough. Why would a woman care about a body part that only men had? It must have been another civilian thing.
The medical staff took their leave, content knowing that their patient was not on death's door and was fully capable of leaving whenever he felt the desire. But going by some of the other doctors' faces, especially some of the younger men, the look of utter defeat and weariness overtook them.
Which meant one person was left in the room with John.
The dark-haired woman, Lei Fang, seemed to take what had happened far better than the older medical staff. Even so, he could hear her chant to herself, so low she was practically just moving her lips.
"Look him in the eye, look him in the eye, look him in.." she continued to herself before returning to how she carried herself before he had stood up.
"I know I haven't gotten the chance to speak to you before this. Everything kind of became a blur after a while." She smiled at him, and true to her word, looked him in the eyes as she spoke to him. "I just wanted to say thank you. Truly."
"No thanks are necessary." As he stared at the young woman, John said, "I just did what needed to be done."
The girl laughed. Almost sounding like a songbird, he remembered his mother had a literal lifetime ago when he was a child. But then the girl turned her head away as a somber looked filled her features.
"You know. I always hated the idea of being saved. Like it meant I wasn't good enough on my own."
John didn't speak, allowing the woman before him to continue without interruption.
"I thought if I had become the best version of myself, then I didn't need to be saved. But I always seemed to get saved. I always need someone else to swoop in and help me whenever I find myself in a situation I can't handle."
The girl moved closer to a window, looking out towards the city with a somewhat melancholy expression on her face.
It was something John could understand. It was the foundation of the O.D.S.T.'s animosity for him and his fellow Spartans during the war. No one liked the feeling of being useless when all they were doing was trying their hardest. It wasn't something John ever thought of himself. In the war, every soldier mattered. Every life mattered.
Even he and his Spartans were just another part doing their best to ensure humanity's survival.
"I get that." John said earnestly, as he continued to stare into the girls' eyes." but no one can carry that responsibility by themselves. Everyone needs help sometimes, and you shouldn't be ashamed when you find yourself in a situation where you need it."
"That's easy for you to say." the woman said as she turned back to the spartan, a stern look flashing across her features and a defensive tilt entering her voice as she looked at him." Someone like you doesn't seem like they would need anyone's help."
Someone like me?
John supposed it was easy for someone to think that. During the war, The U.N.S.C. treated him and his Spartans like they were more than just humans. Used exclusively for suicide missions, things that needed to be done but would have been impossible for regular soldiers. Living, breathing pieces of war propaganda, but that couldn't be further from the truth.
The only reason many of his brothers and sister survived the onslaught that the Covenant unleashed was that they had help. They had each other, had their units, and even had the everyday soldiers just trying their best to make it through the end of the day.
A single person could win wars. But wars had first to be Fought by people for that to happen.
"I was lucky to have people in my life. People who were willing to save me when I needed it, even when it was sometimes from myself," John said with a sigh as he remembered his brothers and sisters. Those who didn't survive the augmentations and those who didn't survive the war. Those he couldn't save."The people who saved you saw the same thing I saw when we met today."
"And what's that?" the woman said, whatever shred of defensiveness her tone held before gone as she waited for his answer. "What did you see?
"Someone worth saving."
John expected the woman to take his words to heart. A simple nod of thanks would have been enough for the spartan to know that his words had a positive effect. So when the woman simply stared at him silently, John had assumed he said the wrong thing.
Her eyes were wide, and her breath was hitched as her hand tightened into a fist at her side. She looked like her body was going through her fight or flight response as she stood there.
"Give it a second, chief." He heard the A.I. say in his ear as he waited for the woman to react.
Whatever conflict had been on her mind won out, or more accurately, Lei Fang came to a decision as she took tentative steps towards the spartan. She leaned towards him, her eyes closed, and for some reason, her lips parsed. John was about to ask what she was doing before a ringing sound interrupted her movements.
*RING*RING*RING*
Lei Fang opened her eyes, almost as if she had been shocked by her own action. Shock turned to confusion which then turned to annoyance as she took the ringing device into her hand. The irritation on her face softened into a look of concern when she saw the caller's name on the phone screen.
John couldn't hear whoever was on the other side of the line, but he could tell they were relieved based on their tone of voice. Multiple people, John corrected himself, as he could hear another distinct voice speaking into the device.
"I'm sorry I didn't get into contact with you sooner." Lei Fang said as she looked back at him with the same strange look on her face."There were...some things I had to take care of."
John sat confused. She didn't have to hold off whatever she needed to do for his benefit, did she? Maybe she really was blaming herself for him being in his current state. It always made John feel uncomfortable whenever someone tried to shoulder the blame for his own actions. If anyone was to be blamed for what he did, it should be him.
"You have nothing to be sorry for!" The dark-haired woman said seriously into the phone, her eyes going from serious to emotional in the span of a few moments."You guys are my best friends! Of course, I don't blame you for any of this!"
The woman smiled as she took an intake of breath and tried to contain tears from leaving her eyes."I know how you get Hitomi, but don't worry, everything is fine!"
The conversation ended soon after Lei Fang promised whoever she was speaking to that she would meet up with them as quickly as possible. She turned back to John, her face flushed with red as she tried to look him in the eyes.
"I'm sorry I sort of ruined the moment." Lei Fang said as she placed a strand of her long hair behind her ear as she looked from the ground to his face." I-I have to go now and make sure my friends aren't too hard on themselves for the little joke they played on me. But before I go..."
The young woman paused before adding." Can you tell me your name? I can't just leave without knowing the name of the stranger who saved my life now, can I?"
A Spartan's name was a closely guarded secret. The one last tie to the lives they had before they were recruited into the spartan-II program. Usually, the chief would have refused, claimed it as classified, and simply moved on. Still, he supposed this was why Cortana had invented an entire identity for him to use. It would have been rude not to use his name otherwise.
"My name is John." The master chief said simply.
"John?" the young woman said, testing how the sound of his name felt on her lips. She spoke his name several times in different tones and with different inflections before smiling brightly at him." I have a feeling we will see each other again, John!"
Before John could realize what had happened, Lei Fang had once again closed the gap between them, planting her lips onto his cheek. It was an alien feeling to John, something he couldn't quite remember having experienced before. He looked out of the corner of his open eye to look at the woman kissing him, her eyes were closed, and the faint blush that had dusted her cheeks a moment ago was not a blazing scarlet.
She pulled away after a few moments, her mouth opening, ready to apologize. She looked mortified, with her eyes wide and the scarlet red hue of her face creeping down to cover her neck as well. She barely even made a sound as her mind got caught up with what her body had done.
"IMSOSORRYIDONTKNOWWHATCAMEOVERMEIHAVETOGO!" she said quickly, well yelled would be the better word to describe the tone and volume the woman used before she promptly departed. Maybe the explosion did damage her hearing?
John watched as the woman left, turning towards him one last time before entering the elevator with a content look on her face. Something that only confused the spartan more. He waited for his A.I. companion to throw her opinion into the conversation before he could even begin to formulate what he had thought had just happened.
"That was impressive, Spartan," Cortana said, her voice almost sounding smug as John was left alone with his thoughts.
"I didn't do anything."
"Sure you didn't."
John began to relax a bit, but already his senses were on high alert. Something had stirred him up, and he began to look around. Years of fighting the Covenant had given him a paranoia that had saved him more than once when fighting enemies with active stealth generators.
He scanned the area carefully while running through his head what he knew of active camo in his reality and here. A familiar black mist appeared in his vision. Before he knew it, an equally familiar form entered his line of sight.
"What..." He was cut off at the appearance of the girl as she lunged towards him. For the first time in decades, John ignored his instincts, allowing the girl to throw her arms around his neck. This was a hug. It might have been the tightest hug the super-soldier could ever remember receiving. Or the only hug, now that John thought about it.
The spontaneous act was going too fast for him. He needed to slow down and analyze the situation, perhaps even talk to the girl. To calm her down, he touched her back with his hand. Instead, he got a reaction he didn't predict.
"I was so worried," the girl whispered into his neck, her sobs low but steady as she cried into his chest.
This was unknown territory for the spartan, and for the life of him, he couldn't imagine what the right thing for him to do. But he followed his gut and simply stayed still while he held the young girl in his arms as she cried, content with the knowledge that whatever little he was doing, it was enough for her.
I hope everyone who celebrates this high holey day, celebrates it safe and hopefully legally. If you don't partake in the devil's lettuce I hope you enjoyed this chapter regardless. I got nothing left to say. Please leave a review or a favorite or a follow if you haven't already. I hunger for validation. and Chinese food, but mostly validation...okay it's mostly for Chinese.
...I'm gonna get some Chinese for lunch today.
By the way, to those of you who answered my poll, thanks. I always like to know how people want me to die. Really takes the edge off of things am I right?
