A/N: Here, we have an emotional chapter! These poor Spartans are so tired and they just need to learn how to heal now that they're on a break.

(chapter title was taken from Contact by Trocadero, from RvB Season 12 OST)


Aboard The Athenian, outskirts of Luxor, Eridanus II, Eridanus System, December 20th, 2558

Stumbling into the hallway out of her quarters after yet another nightmare, Artemis rubbed at her eyes, scraping her shoulder against the wall before righting herself. She stifled a yawn and tried not to stagger into some dark object suddenly looming up before her, only when what could only be a large pair of hands clamping down onto her shoulders, did she stop in surprise. "...What..." She squinted in the dark, wishing her sleep-addled brain and her eyes would catch up with one another so that she could work out who it was before her.

"Hey, careful there," a masculine voice scolded, and there was a note of laughter in his voice. "What are you doing up at this hour anyway?"

Oh, that's ... Frederic-104. Fred. Right.

"I was about to as the same of you, Lieutenant," she returned, but she wasn't angry with him, more amused than anything. "Not usual for a Spartan to be prowling the halls of this old girl at night. Not even since Noble Team's occupied her."

"Actually, I was just going for a walk before bed. Helps me sleep. And the reason why I was up this late in the first place was because I was filing paperwork for Blue Team. Since I'm the ranking officer of the team and all..." Fred admitted with a light chuckle, and in the faint light she just made out one hand going up to rub the back of his neck, before dropping back down onto her shoulder. "Are you all right, Lieutenant?" There was something like a huff of laughter; it was atypical for him to address someone who held the same rank as him... well, she was a full Lieutenant, where as he was only a Junior Grade, but regardless, it was strange. "What's the reason as your being awake at this hour?"

Artemis glanced down, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. She figured that Blue Team had as much issues as NOBLE did, but still, that didn't particularly mean that she was open to talking about her problems with them. They were somewhat more... well it wasn't just the fact that they were Spartan-IIs, although that did factor into it... they didn't deal with their emotions the same way that NOBLE had learned to over the years. She had seen it in the way they acted, even among their peers. They were... not closed off, per se, but they weren't exactly the most open people, especially not when it came to discussing what they were thinking and feeling.

"Just... nightmares. It's never pretty." she admitted at last, her gaze drifting back up to look into the somewhat ghostly visage of Fred's features. Probably didn't help that his skin was rather pale, from being in his armour for years on end.

He cocked his head, then nodded. "It's never easy, huh? Tell me... is... there anything I can do to help?"

So, it seemed like they were taking cues from their younger counterparts just from the two days they'd been with NOBLE. Or was it pure coincidence, and they had already begun to get a grasp on their emotions and how to deal with them? She wasn't sure, and honestly, she didn't really want to know right now. She wanted to go back to bed, but at the same time, she didn't want to rouse one of her team by asking them to fall asleep beside her, or crawling into one of their cots and disturbing their sleep that way. The younger Spartan was silent for a time, debating.

Should I ask Fred to sleep beside me or ask to sleep beside him? Or should I not bother and just go back to bed and deal with it like the damn adult that I am? Sleep was so tempting right now, but the nightmare had left her pretty shaken... She didn't want to be alone.

Damn it.

"I... uh... I don't know if this is a weird request or not, but uh... do – is it alright if ... you'd maybe share my cot with me? It helps me sleep better, but I don't want to disturb my team, y'know? It's ... it's a habit we've all gotten used to but since everyone's tired as of late, I didn't want to wake them up and..." Yeah, she was rambling. Double damn it.

"It's okay," he cut her off, chuckling softly, "You're not the only one who gets nightmares. Come on." He drew an arm around her shoulders and guided her gently back to her quarters, recalling by memory the path which he had seen her take earlier that evening to arrive at the correct room. "Besides, it's no trouble to me. We Spartan-IIs used to be quite cuddly, back in the day. John more than anyone else, but... it changed for us, over time."

"I can only imagine." Artemis murmured, listening to the door sliding shut before stifling another yawn behind her hand. She suppressed a whine as the warmth of Fred's flank pressed against hers left her, and she heard more than felt the older Spartan scrambling onto the double cot in the room. How she'd managed to procure a double instead of a single was anybody's guess, but when it came down to cuddling with the fiery redhead, it made it all the more worth it, and nobody complained. When all was still, she padded over to the bed and all but flopped onto Fred's larger frame, finding him to be smaller in stature than Jorge – unsurprising, considering that the Hungarian was a great bear of a man – before nuzzling her face into his chest unashamed, and humming in content when the warmth of one long arm came to drape over her back, keeping her in place.

"Thanks, Lieutenant."

"Call me Fred. And it's alright." the man returned, sounding already half asleep himself. The Spartan-to-Spartan warmth did that. Artemis knew that all too well. It was a delicious sensation; a treasured thing among Noble Team. She was secretly glad to share it with Blue Team as well.

"Then call me Artemis. Goodnight, Fred." Oh, yeah, she was already on the way to la la land.

"Goodnight, Artemis."


"Commander?" Kat tapped the other Spartan on the cheek, accidentally smearing grease onto his face. She wasn't sure the man would even notice; he'd spaced out again. He was supposed to be helping her repair the Falcon they'd busted on their last mission, but so far, all he'd done was pass her the wrong tools, and space out going on five times now. Something was definitely up, and the cryptanalyst was determined to find out what. It wasn't like him to be this... well, vacant. He was always attentive, alert, keen on helping his team out wherever they needed it. Now, though, he was just out of it; had been for the past week. She was sure it was getting worse, too.

Carter blinked a few times and shook his head. "...Huh? Sorry, I was ..."

"Thinking? Yeah, no kidding. I asked you seven times if you wanted to call it quits and grab a pizza. But you zoned out. Again. This is the fifth time you've done that. Not to mention but all you've done to help is hand me the wrong tools. Is something going on, Carter? Talk to me." Kat set down her spanner and faced him, setting her hands on his face so that he would meet her gaze.

"I -... I actually don't know. I can't seem to get out of my damn mind, lately, and I don't know why." He huffed frustration and twisted his head out of her grip, scrubbing a hand through his hair. "I'm gonna take a shower. I - ..." Another sigh. "I don't know what's going on with me, Kat. I wish I knew. Just that everything feels wrong, somehow. O-Or something. I keep getting nightmares and they're all along the same lines. Falling into flames, fire... burning. And I don't just think it's because of the Pelican... Those dreams always came with the sensation of me freefalling. No, these are something else entirely. It's getting harder to sleep, to concentrate on anything at all..."

The New Harmonian frowned, lips pursed, and she gave a sigh of her own. She couldn't make heads or tails of what he was telling her. It was like his nightmares were all associated with the one thing... and he said he couldn't concentrate? That wasn't like cool, charismatic, level-headed Carter at all. "Go take your shower then. I'll finish the Falcon on my own." She patted his shoulder sympathetically and turned away, picking up the spanner again and tightening the last screw.

She heard her fellow Spartan talking quietly to himself as he wandered away, and she shook her head in disbelief. This wasn't good.


Artemis wasn't sure what had woken her. One moment, she was dozing lightly, attempting to drift off to sleep after a late night that was caused by her being rather attracted to the latest chapter of her new favourite novel; the next, she was quite certain that she was no longer alone in her quarters. She sat up, her eyes piercing the darkness, and uttered a confused noise from the back of her throat. Okay, yeah, she was a little on the sleepy side for speech, but if whoever was there announced their presence, that might change. Depending on what they wanted and all.

She felt the whoof of breath nearby, and someone seated themselves next to her. She blinked, and when her eyes sprung open again after that brief period, she noted that her room was flooded with light, and that it was Carter seated beside her. He looked... mournful, and were there tears in his electric blue eyes? Undoubtedly he'd had a nightmare. "Are you okay?" she solicited quietly.

There wasn't an answer in the form of speech; rather, he just leaned close, pressed his face into the crook of her neck, and began to cry silently, his shoulders trembling. Now this wasn't unusual – they had often cried due to nightmares; the whole team did – but something about it this time just felt... different, somehow. Artemis couldn't put her finger on it, but it just felt off, to her. She didn't think anything of it – that was for later – but wrapped an arm around him and gently stroked the nape of his neck and back of his skull, wishing for the umpteenth time that she could shelter all of her family from the storm that was the vast, daunting galaxy that their lives were caught up in.

As she held him close and continued to soothe him with her touch, she began to hum softly a song he'd stated once was something from his childhood, a song sung to him long ago by his mother whenever he'd had nightmares as a kid. Gradually, both tears and trembling subsided, though Carter still was... mournful, in some quiet way, and she continued to hold him long after she had finished humming. Without moving her arm away from him, she carefully reached up and flicked off the light before laying back, gently tugging him close, allowing his face still to be nuzzled into the crook of her neck. She closed her eyes and let out a quiet huff of a sigh, and she felt him finally relax.

She didn't ask him what had happened, didn't question him on if he was alright; just silently held him as he drifted off to sleep, before she followed him to the land of Nod.


"I wanna get a dog," Emile stated out of the blue, stretching in the warm Luxor sunshine and rolling onto his back to get more rays onto his skin. He – along with Blue and Noble Teams – was stretched out in front of The Athenian, ignoring the shadows the frigate cast in favour of soaking up the rays. It was a pleasant day and the Spartans were making the most of it by lazing around outdoors rather than cooping themselves up in the ship's interior, which was only lit by fluorescence and the odd stream of light that came in from the windows.

"Why do you want to get a dog, of all animals?" Jun questioned, wrinkling his nose at the prospect. He'd never particularly been a dog person, having been bitten by one when he was a kid, and he had always preferred cats, anyway.

"You can wait until we get home to Monastir." Carter mumbled, his voice muffled by the grass. He'd always liked grass; never knew why, unless it was to do with the fact that Biko was mostly a desert-like planet, and therefore, big, lush, expanses of grass like the one they were all lazing on, were only a child's dream.

"I dunno. I just want a dog. My big brother had one, growin' up; it'd follow us home from school every day, protectin' us. It was a good dog. Shame the Covies took it, along with my brother and my parents."

"You just had to turn the conversation dark, didn't you?" Jorge lamented.

"Hey, my past is as dark as my skin – probably darker, though not as dark as Six's "dripping with black ink" tale." Emile snorted.

Artemis made a noise of offense mixed with derision and whacked him with her elbow, straight in the gut. "You are such an ass."

The Warrant Officer whooshed quietly and curled up in a ball, trying his best not to groan. The rest of Noble ignored him; Fred, however, propped himself up on one elbow, curious. "Are you lot always like this when off-duty?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"You bet your ass we are." Artemis responded, stretching out before finding a more comfortable position in which to read her novel. "Emile's the sassy, troublemaking little fuck, but he has a lot of respect. Jun is a chatterbox – surprising, I know – who knows how to bake a mean brownie. Kat likes to be mischievous by hacking everything, but she has a sisterly nature. Carter watches over us all like a caring guardian, having been the one to form Noble's ranks. And Jorge? Well, you know him. Big man with a heart of gold. As for myself, well, I'm a mystery and an enigma but let's just say I've got a lot of love to give, especially for my teammates."

"That's...certainly something." the older Spartan offered, laying back down again and linking his hands across his abdomen. "Huh. And you guys have all been together since... when?"

"July 24th, 2552. That was the date I met these guys after being assigned to them a week or so prior. I saved everyone's asses on Reach – well, save for Jorge, who survived by... I dunno, space magic – and we've been together ever since. We're a family, with a bond forged by fire, strengthened in the storm... all that sentimental shit." Normally Artemis was a sentimental person, but right now, she was too lazy to give a damn. She just wanted to soak up the sunshine and relax.

John sat up suddenly, as though a thought had struck him. "We know where everyone else comes from, but... who are your parents? Where's your home planet?"

"That's classified, and my home planet was glassed to hell and back," the Lieutenant answered wryly, a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth, "Hell, you know where I come from. I stated it when we first ran into you guys. Unless you weren't paying attention."

There was silence, and then, "Right. New Alexandria. Why did ONI take you to Onyx, draft you into the SPARTAN-III program?"

"I was orphaned, and that's classified." Her smirk only widened. She might get around to telling Blue Team of her origins. Eventually. Preferably before Emile let part of it slip and they put two and two together.

"No wonder your assault specialist calls you a ... what was it, "a walking piece of Spook work"?"

"A walking piece of black ink, actually," the Spartan in question corrected, "But yeah, that fits well enough. Hell, we all thought she was that until Kat hacked her files."

This time, it was the cryptanalyst who elbowed Emile – only it was with her prosthetic arm, and he wound up wheezing on the ground in fetal position. "Not your story to tell," she chastised.

"F-uck...you..." Emile rasped, wrapping his arms around his abdomen. "'S'not funny, Jun, stop laughin' at me."