[Rex's Notes: I've gotten 5 total reviews! WOOTUS! It's a big surprise. I have never had so many people like one of my multi-chapter stories so well. I know this late being put up. Very late. I apologize. Someone asked for a romance/lemon. The first part I can do, but the second part will get me banned from That's already happened once, and I don't want it to happen again.]
Code Name: Shadow Wolf
Rex Rodentium
Chapter 2:
Suspictions and Stories
The male Spartan woke up slowly, and nearly jumped out of his seat. Makayla was standing in front of him, her nose centimeters for his.
"What are you doing?" he growled.
She just smiled, "You were muttering something in your sleep. I couldn't hear what you were saying so I came closer."
"That could be considered invasion of privacy."
She shrugged, "So? I know so little about you."
"I would like to keep it that way,"
"Then I won't tell you anything about me," she said like a defiant child.
"I don't care," he replied.
There was a long silence. All that could be heard was the gentle hum of the ship's engine. Both Spartans were glaring at each other. The woman finally broke the silence; "I have been trying to be nice. As I told you, I am not use to being around people."
The Master Chief sighed. He wasn't quite sure how to reply or what to say in return. Choosing his words carefully, he decided it might be a good time to interrogate her, "So, how were you brought into the Spartan program?"
"I was sort of lucky," John rose an eyebrow at this, "I was never snatched from my family. Being an orphan, I had figured someone was adopting me and that I would make new friends."
"Why didn't you?"
"I ran."
"You ran," he repeated.
She nodded.
"Away?"
"Yep."
"Why?"
"I'm not really sure."
"You aren't sure?"
"What are you, an echo? Yes."
"I don't understand."
"The feeling is mutual."
The Master Chief looked at the woman's face. She looked sad and confused, no longer happy with a child-like innocence. He was never really bothered by losing his childhood, but Makayla seemed to be the opposite. It was as if she was trying to relive it.
"They found me of course. It was late evening when they did discover my location. I ended up getting supper anyway."
"Where were you?" he asked, remembering how he and his team had gone without dinner that day.
"Lounging between the two branches of a shady oak. They was my dandelion chain hanging down." Carefully, the woman pulled out a dried dandelion from her tank top. It had obviously been dead for many years, but the way it dried left color in the petals, "I kept this one for good luck. I guess it came in handy."
"You were lucky. My team finished last on the course that day so we didn't receive any supper."
"I received dinner because they were impressed with my evasiveness. Come to think of it, I had always won when we played hide-and-go-seek at the orphanage. They usually gave up on finding me after a while.
"Anyway, the next few days more guards were placed around the perimeter. All of them were incredibly observant, or they were supposed to be. I still got past them. Of course, when I got hungry, I would let them find me," she said with a small smile.
John let the corners of his mouth twitch up slightly.
"It was as if I was puppy who would run away, but find my way back when I was hungry. And the owner (that's my analogy for the program directors) was so happy to see me that they weren't mad and just instead fed me.
"After the first three times they realized I would be perfect for evasive maneuvering and scouting; mostly in solo missions. They specially trained me to use a sniper rifle, and if the need would arise, how use a knife in combat as well as Tai Chi Quan." [For those who play Dead or Alive, Tai Chi Quan is the style of martial arts Lei Fang uses! ] Getting up quickly, she began to perform a few moves.
John smiled as much as he ever did, which was just the corners of his mouth twitching up. She moved gracefully in a fluid motion, but that was probably the idea of Tai Chi Quan. His keen ears picked up the sound of her heavy breathing and he noticed her flushed face. The steel was obviously cold under her bare feet and goosebumps were forming on her arms.
"Lay back down. You are obviously still weak and most likely feverish."
Makayla scowled but sat down on the makeshift bed. She felt as though she was being treated as child. If she had been sick as a child (whether it was at the orphanage or the program) she would be told to "Stop being a baby and toughen up!" (Or something to that affect.) After her mind pondered it over some more, she realized that he was not treating her like child. The Master Chief was just looking out for her well being.
"Thank you," she said softly.
Needless to say, the man was a bit surprised and confused, but, as always, didn't show it.
"You're welcome."
"I think that my mind just wants to block out the killing, so instead, it led my personality to be that of innocence, or child-like. It's almost like I'm trying to regain the innocence that I lost at a young age."
Makayla was holding back her tears as she had been taught. Her face was stone cold, but her eyes... Her eyes told it all. John realized that she had subconsciously been wearing a mask, which was now exchanged with that of a military veteran.
"Now what?" she asked.
"What do you mean?"
"We're just going to float around?"
"No. I've been searching for survivors on Halo. We found you while doing that."
"Anyone?"
The Master Chief shook his head.
"I'm sorry."
"There is nothing we can do to change it."
She looked at his armor for a minute, "I think your armor is in serious need of repair." He looked at his armor that now had scratches, dents, and other signs of wear; "I could help you take it off."
It was simple enough to take off the gauntlets, helmet, boots, and pauldrons, but the greaves and cuirass were quite a bit harder without another set of hands.
Before Makayla even stood up, she blushed a bit; realizing there would be nothing underneath.
"Do you have some clothes on board?"
He nodded.
"Maybe you should go get them."
"All right," he replied, confused by why she looked so embarrassed.
SPARTAN-116 let out a sigh of relief. Unlike more UNFC personnel, she was not use to changing in front of people, and vice versa. Then again, she rarely changed her clothes. There really wasn't a need to with armor in place.
The Master Chief returned with a stack of neatly pressed clothes with a pair of polished black shoes on top. Makayla couldn't help but mentally raise an eyebrow at them. They were on a ship in the middle of nowhere as far as she was concerned, yet he looked as though he was ready for inspection.
"Let's get started then," Makayla said nervously.
John pulled off the heavy boots before they did anything else. Moving in back of him, the woman waited until he was done to begin working on the cuirass. She'd leave the greeves for last. Both moved quickly and efficiently as taught, though her eyes couldn't help but wander over his pale muscular body. There were scars in a few places from before their MJOLNIR armor had been created, but it was far less that Makayla. A bright blush was raising to her cheeks when she realized she had finished pulling off his greaves.
"Shit!" she yelped and turned around, her face bright red.
"What's wrong?" the Master Chief asked, looking confused as he pulled on some underwear and then his pants.
"I saw you butt!"
"So? Spartans see each other nude all the time."
"Not me!" she squeaked, still blushing bright red after her mind had decided he had a nice butt, "GAH! NO! You aren't supposed to think that!"
"What now?" he asked the corners of his mouth twitching up slightly.
"Nothing! Just put the rest of your clothes on please!"
"You really were isolated."
"I told you that already!" she said, having turned around, hoping the bright red color would leave her cheeks.
"All right," he muttered, buttoning up his shirt before turning back around, "I'm decent."
Makayla looked at him and then down at herself, "We are complete opposites."
"We are, aren't we?" he said.
He was surprised how he was starting to be more talkative. What was this girl doing to him? The last time something like this happened, he was a teenager and Dr. Hasley said it was just hormones and to ignore it. Could it be hormones again? That was supposed to pass, wasn't it?
"Um... John? Are you okay?"
The female Spartan knew what was happening to her. She had snuck on and hacked into a few computers as a teen and read stories that had a questionable nature to them. Some were described as being 'lemons'. Whenever she read them she got a strange warm sensation in the pit of her stomach. Now remembering what she had seen, it was coming back and the blush returned.
"I could ask the same of you."
"I'm fine," she replied.
"Me too."
"You aren't going to become all quiet again, are you?"
He shrugged a bit. Leaning against the steel walls, Makayla just sighed, "You are."
"Is that bad?" he asked, studying her face.
"Not necessarily," she said slowly, dark eyes staring at the cold floor.
John found his eyes drawn to her lips and strange thoughts erupting in his mind, 'What would it be like to kiss her? What would they taste like?'
Makayla could almost feel his gaze, but didn't lift her eyes. She was just going to have to accept that they were complete opposites. The Master Chief was quiet, pale, and everything that was expected of a perfect soldier, while she was talkative, tan and a complete renegade most of the time. He was given strict orders and protocols; she was ordered to complete her mission at all costs and there were no rules.
The female Spartan was jarred from her thoughts as she felt a strong hand lift her chin. Her dark eyes met his and she shivered slightly under his intense gaze. And then she was feeling sparks as his lips softly pressed against hers. 'Maybe it's true about opposites attracting.'
"Master Chief," Cortana said over the intercom, "I need to talk with you."
John quickly pulled away, standing a bit rigid. Had he just kissed her?
"What is it Cortana?"
"I need to talk to you. Some new classified information has been discovered."
"Fine," he replied, gruffly, walking off leaving Makayla standing in shock.
'Was I day dreaming or did he really kiss me?'
[That's the end of Chapter 2. I just had to leave you on a cliffy! XD Don't you hate me? Chapter 3: Mental Health should be up in about 2 weeks. School is starting back up for me.]
Dictionary:
Cuirass - armor that covers the chest and abdomen as well as the backside of that.
Gauntlets - gloves that are usually made of heavy leather, iron, steel, or anything else that is used in the making of armor.
Greaves - often meaning armor that covers the shins; in this case, it refers to the armor that covers from the knees to the waist.
Pauldrons - armor that covers the shoulders and the upper arm.